Elements of Change

**Striker V: Elements of Change** is the first book in the Striker V series. It was originally published as individual novellas in 2017, and was later collected into a complete novel in 2018.

## Striker V: Elements of Change

### Part 1: That Little Voice

Neil Harris, the titular Striker, is thrown from the top of the SunTrust Center in downtown Orlando, Florida during a battle with Erica Ramirez, who he thought was his best friend. After dying and regenerating, Neil leaps to the top of the building where he subdues Erica using his sift ability to see into her mind. During their meld, Erica implants a version of herself that resets Neil's mind, and drives him to do better in his personal life.

After the battle, Neil is driven to his base, which is set in the underground portion of the nearby defense contractor, Lockheed Martin. There, he is told by his supervisor, Colonel Olivia Ray, to attend a meeting in the northern part of the state, at the Florida Department of Emergency Management that same day. Neil arrives at the meeting where he learns that there have been other incidents lately of Heroes going rogue. Erica was not the first among them. Two had even been killed. Neil argues that there has been a systemic failing that led to their betrayals, but he is shot down by Kyle Song.

The meeting ends and Neil returns home. Restless, he takes a walk to the nearby coffee shop, which is closing down for the evening. There, he meets with his boyfriend, Evan Hill. He begins to question the events of the day, and finds himself having a panic attack. During his episode, Neil accidentally engages his sift ability, which allows Evan to help him regain control. Grateful for his partner's help, Neil has Evan escort him home. They have sex, after which Evan notes that Neil's mind is clearer than it's ever been.

The next day, Striker receives an assignment to attend to a rampaging swamp golem in the Everglades, assisting Ryan Baker. Neil once again uses his sift to connect with the golem, finding that it is being controlled by an outside force. During the initial scuffle, Neil is knocked unconscious. The Golem dissipates and rematerializes near Miami. Neil and Ryan are met by Ultra in Miami. The three successfully beat down the Golem and have a plan to disrupt the end user's connection with an electromagnetic pulse bomb. In the middle of their battle, the voice in Neil's head that he's been hearing since his battle with Erica tells him that he needs to refocus his attention on his job. He says that he is, but it protests, saying that he needs to focus on the smaller-scale problems. Listening carefully, Neil hears a woman who is being mugged. Neil subdues the mugger, saving the woman. Soon after, Striker rejoins the battle, but is chastised by Kyle for his brief absence.

The Swamp Golem is ultimately defeated, though Ultra reports Striker's actions to Colonel Ray. Later that evening, Striker receives a text message from her ordering him to report to the office early the next morning.

### Part 2: The Associate

The incident with the Swamp Golem is weighing heavily on Neil's mind as he lies in bed waiting for his meeting with Colonel Ray. Eventually, he makes his way to the base where Ray is waiting for him with a cup of coffee. She then begins going over Neil's various breaches of protocol, including his relationship with Evan and the incident from the previous evening with the woman he saved. All these incidents have led her to the conclusion that Neil needs to have someone more freshly attuned to the rulebook, so she assigns him the task of choosing an Associate.

After several interviews, and with the assistance of Mike Brodsky and Coral Rogers, he selects Tykie Georgiou. Later that evening, Neil and Tykie meet at Café Nordquist where he introduces his new associate to Evan. The two Heroes discuss their various abilities. Tykie reminds Neil that his primary ability is Luck, an extremely rare power.

The next morning, Neil and Tykie meet on top of a building in downtown Orlando where they engage in a sparring match to learn about each other's fighting styles. During their fight, a fire erupts on the nearby Lake Eola. While investigating, the flames take the form of a massive snake that soon begins tormenting and taunting Neil. He soon realizes that this is the same entity that was present at the Swamp Golem battle. Striker accurately concludes that, because of the being's ability to easily control Fire and Water, he is an Elemental, a legendary type of Super. The snake then erupts, setting the nearby building ablaze.

Neil and Tykie spring into action to rescue those nearby. While they are able to save some, they find an older woman who has died of smoke inhalation. Eventually, Tornada joins the fight and is able to put out the fires by removing all air from the area. Once the blaze is contained, Neil abandons the scene to return to the base to report on his realization about the Elemental. Colonel Ray does not believe him, and grows increasingly concerned with his stability. Neil reveals the copy of Erica that resides in his mind, which alarms Ray, and causes her to order him to the Neuron Psychic Research Institute for further study. At this point, the two come to an understanding that they must pursue their own agendas separately. Neil disobeys the order, and Ray calls in a 614, an order that indicates a Hero has gone rogue. Both Tykie and Ultra appear on the scene, and are able to quickly subdue Striker.

Neil is remanded to house arrest. He then receives a cryptic message from Colonel Ray to leave his blinds open that night.

### Part 3: Captivity

Meanwhile, Erica's mental doppelgänger has taken a form that only Neil can see. She chides him for the events of the past week. Later that night, Colonel Ray's text finally makes sense as a terrifying shadowy creature emerges in Neil's living room. It turns out to be Lucian, using one of his many methods of teleportation. Using yet another method, Lucian transports Neil via Hell, to the mountains of Alaska to find the real Erica. Lucian departs, leaving Neil on his own.

Neil wanders around the forest looking for the prison where Erica is being held, but to no avail. After several hours, a plane flies overhead and a Hero jumps out. At first, Neil is convinced it's someone coming to take him away, but realizes that it's Tykie. The two once again fight, but Tykie backs down, explaining that he was sent by Ray. The two then continue their quest to find the prison, which they eventually do, thanks to Tykie's Luck. This also allows Tykie to guess the correct code to enter a long-abandoned service entrance.

Inside the prison, they find a storage area and put Neil in handcuffs, which they use to disguise him as an incoming inmate. They end up crossing a guard, who asks for verification. Tykie reveals that Ray sent documentation along with him in case it was needed, also doubling as insurance should it come to that. The guard points them in the direction of Erica.

Neil has a particularly vitriolic response to seeing his friend.

Part 4: Elemental Fury

## Development

*Elements of Change* is Vidmar's debut novel. Vidmar described having written the first chapter after having a dream in which a superhero fell off a building with a flash of pink overhead. When the hero hit the ground, everything went black and the Roman numeral V appeared. He then went and wrote what would become the first chapter.

Vidmar has described the process as a painful but valuable learning experience. He initially relied on his own experiences and expertise, but quickly found this was insufficient. Starting with the cover art, he contacted Morgan van de Carr, a former classmate to produce the original four covers for the audiobook. Later, he had Kerin Scott, a coworker, serve as his editor to run through the book for grammar and spelling issues. The book would go through several rounds of edits.

After a lengthy audition process, Patrick Boylan produced the audiobook in 2021. Melinda Beck also auditioned and would later be cast as Julia Cromwell in the fourth book.