the inspiration for this fic came from one of Aleister Crowleys power from To Aru Majutsu No Index, in case anybody wants to investigate it further.
Also, please review. I know that my use of English is not the best (I am not a native English speaker) and if you notice things out of character please let me know!
Something is off.
As Director Piggot stares out of her office's large window over Brockton Bay she struggles to pinpoint exactly what it is that is wrong. It is not just the city that feels off, the world feels wrong, like something is fundamental is missing. But her desk is no different from how it was yesterday, there are no alarms blaring and the numerous sensors that fill the building are no different to how they were before. She may not be an emotional person but something is just plain wrong.
Why does everything feel different?
The directors musing is broken by the sound of the small communicator between herself and her secretary buzzing.
"Director Piggot? Chief Director Costa-brown wants to speak to you, apparently it is urgent."
Costa-Brown? What could she want?
"Thank you, you may continue your work," she states in a business-like tone as if such things are an everyday occurrence and not a sign that everything has or soon will go to hell. Piggot settles herself into her chair.
Alright, before talking to the Chief Director she needs information, better to not seem like an incompetent.
"Dragon," she calls and at once the artificial intelligence responds.
"Yes Director?"
"Have any of the Endbringers moved since I was last in the office?"
"No director. Behemoth is currently two thousand three hundred miles beneath the Sichuan province of China, Leviathan is in the Pacific Basin and the Simurgh is in orbit above Ecuador."
"Anything else that I should know?"
For a moment there is a pause.
"Outside of classified material, no, director."
Now that certainly piques her interest.
"Can you tell me what I could possibly need to know that is classified?" she asks.
Another pause.
"Chief Director Costa-Brown will cover the classified material Director. I am afraid that I cannot reveal that information myself."
"Alright, thank you Dragon."
Taking a seat and preparing herself for what is about to come Director Piggot boots up her computer.
Within moments the screen has diverted from its usual start up to instead show a Woman's face, the leader of the Protectorate, Chief Director Costa-Brown.
The usual pleasantries are exchanged, and then right to the point, Costa-Brown begins to speak.
"Director Piggot, are you aware of the new S-class threat that has emerged?"
S class threat? What on earth is Costa-Brown talking about?
If a new S-class threat has arisen, then surely she would have heard of it? It is not like such things just grow on trees or sprout out of the ground, there is always casualties, monstrous actions that lead to the whole world trembling at the mention of their names. The Endbringers, the Sleeper, Ash Beast, all of them are the modern equivalent to demons and bogeymen, seemingly invincible beings that would take terrible losses to destroy.
She was one of only two survivors of an S-class threat, Nilbog, she knows perfectly well just what sort of threat they pose!
How does she not know about this?
"Pardon?" she asks.
Costa-Brown's face does not change as if such an answer was expected.
"I see that the information has escaped you, unsurprising considering the nature of the individual. However, seeing as they are a current resident of Brockton Bay it is essential that you are fully updated of the situation," the woman explains as Piggot finds herself beginning to hyper ventilate.
An S-class in Brockton Bay?
How? The city is still standing, just this morning she drove to work and not a single thing went wrong, no capes fighting a last desperate duel to the death, no buildings collapsing or civilians fleeing for their lives against some terrible horror. Everything was perfectly normal.
"-are you quite alright Director?"
Her superior's words snap her back to attention.
No, she cannot panic at a time like this, not when there is a potential S-class threat in the city she is supposed to be protecting. She should be organising every asset that she has under her control to deal with whoever, or whatever it is that has appeared in Brockton Bay.
"I am quite fine thank you, just shocked. Please tell me all."
Costa-Brown nods.
"At eight-twenty yesterday our various monitoring systems reported an anomaly centered around Winslow High School in Brockton Bay." Piggot eyes widen.
Has Shadow Stalker, that disgusting villain, done something?
As soon as the thought springs into her mind she pauses. She does not recall feeling this much dislike for the former vigilante.
"At the time they had no idea what the nature of the anomy was, only that it has led to the corruption, overwriting and even deletion of key information within our systems, with entire system's brought down for a period of time. However, the information recovered does not correspond with what we currently know, rather it is as though it was written by ourselves but under different conditions, entire things we take for everyday messed around and illogical with fundamental concepts corrupted," she begins to explain as Piggot begins to take notes.
Anything she can find out will be essential.
"At the same time, various capes who has been located in alternate spaces and dimensions created by their powers and various pieces of Toybox Tinkertech informed us that 'something felt wrong' when they returned. All of their reports corresponded with the information we took from our databases, even after master/stranger protocols were put in place. Essentially, at eight-twenty something happened that completely altered concepts Humans take for granted."
A short silence ensues during which Piggot can only stare at the Chief Directors blank face.
Surely she cannot be serious?
Sure, Cape powers can be absolute bullshit, as many of her Ward's would put it, but changing the law of the universe?
"You are quite sure about this?"
Costa-Brown nods, not a trace of levity on her face.
"Do you know what Jungen Archetypes are Director Piggot?"
"I am afraid not, Chief Director."
"Essentially it is the notion proposed by the psychologist Carl Jung that within the collective Human conscious exist certain archetypes of person and behavior, automatic and hidden but instantly recognisable. Things such as the notion of heroes and villains, for example. People self-identify as one or the other, in the classical theory there are twelve categories; creator, caregiver, ruler, jester, regular person, lover, hero, outlaw, magician, sage, innocent and explorer. You can instinctively recognise action that falls into these categories or a person that could be described as one of these, correct? Good, well in any case, it is currently believed that a Cape with the ability to manipulate these archetypes has triggered within Brockton Bay and that already the effects of her power is being felt around the world."
"Her?" Piggot asks, mouth dry.
Images of Elisberg flash through her mind, of a city deserted and left to a monster.
In response images instantly fill her screen beside Costa-Brown, showing a teenage girl or around fifteen with long brown hair and glasses. She looks perfectly normal.
"This is the person in question. Taylor Hebert, fifteen years old, subject to an intensive bullying campaign by three girls leading to a trigger event yesterday."
As Costa-Brown speaks Piggot attempts to memorise the girl's features. Yet she cannot do so. Something about the plain, perfectly regular girl is impossible for her to remember, the moment she looks away the image she has made in her mind is gone as quickly as it came, leaving only the knowledge of the girl's existence and her name, which is also difficult to remember.
As if sensing her difficulty Costa-Brown give's a smile, but it is not pleasant.
"Let me ask you, Director, what do you think of Shadow Stalker?"
The name brings wave of disgust to Piggot even as she wonders why the chief director has brought her up. Weren't they talking about a possible S-class threat just moments ago? Her hatred for Shadow Stalker is illogical and quite out of place as well.
"A disgusting, reprehensible Human being, the very worst of the worst. I have no idea how she got onto the Wards but if I could she would have a kill on sight order on her head for the things she has done."
The words escape her mouth before she has really considered the question.
"Ah, but what has she done?"
The question seems loaded. Costa-Brown knows about the girl surely she already knows just why Piggot hates her?
"She almost killed a man, pinned him to a wall with deadly crossbow bolts and over her time here she has been nothing but caustic to my operation."
"Sounds to me like a small time vigilante now doing her best to contribute towards our side, doesn't she? She has never killed or committed any crime whilst a member of the wards, has she? The worst she deserves would be a bit of jail time for assault with an unregistered weapon, yet you want to kill her. Do you want to know why?"
A cold feeling settles over Piggot. The Chief Director is correct, so why does she feel like this?
It has to do with this Hebert girl doesn't it, this supposedly S-class threat whose face she cannot even remember.
"You seem to have worked it out. Taylor Hebert changed her archetype, or at least, the archetypes of everybody in the world, with regards to Sophia Hess, a.k.a. Shadow Stalker, one of the three girls who bullied her. Everybody who has any knowledge of her, even ones who have just heard her name instinctively think of her as the lowest of the low. Armed mobs have formed with the sole intention of killing Hess despite her doing nothing wrong to them and according to our systems before her trigger event Hess was by no means liked but at least respected and tolerated by members of the wards, now she is outright loathed, including by yourself despite all preexisting experiences and knowledge you have of her."
Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker wasn't always thought of as the lowest of the low, the worst person she has ever met?
Costa-brown nods.
"I think you see what I mean now Director Piggot. In a single moment Taylor Hebert rewrote the collective opinions of the entire Human race with regards to a single person, and it gets worse from there. If she could only target one person then it would not be too bad, some Masters have done the same thing in the past, made people be seen as saints or sinners. The difference is that Taylor Herbert's perception affects the entire world, if she wanted to then she could reverse the place of heroes and villains at a whim. If she casually thinks of somebody as a 'smart person' or 'an idiot' then her power will make them be that, and there is nothing we can do to stop her."
"Nothing, nothing at all? Surely she could be contained, you said that people in pocket dimensions weren't affected? Why not lock her away inside one and close it?" Piggot replies at once. She refuses to believe that there is nothing they can do, there must be something. If the Protectorate could do something about Nilbog and the
A wry smile from Costa-Brown.
"We thought of that, but the problem is that who could we find to do it? Nobody is immune to her power and the moment she is threatened she could make it so that the person becomes such a 'saint', with herself as an 'innocent', that they would refuse to harm her. If we tried to destroy her with the usual S-class countermeasure of intercontinental ballistic missiles then she could alter the archetypes so that she is not an S-class threat and we are, effectively turning them around to attack us. For all intents and purposes, Taylor Hebert cannot be touched by us, and we should avoid doing so at all costs."
Piggot steeples her hands and rests her forehead against it. The display of weakness seems perfectly justified right now with the knowledge that she has an S-class reality warper living in her city.
"Has there been any attempts to contact her?"
Perhaps the girl is reasonable, erring on the side of heroes with the exception of Sophia Hess? She may not like Capes, but they can be just as reasonable as normal people.
If she can do the things that Costa-Brown has said then she could be an invaluable asset not just to the PRT, but to the Protectorate and Humanity as a whole. Turning Villains into Heroes, improving conditions for all
"Alexandria talked to her," Costa-Brown replies and Piggot lifts her head to look at her superior. "She is aware of her power but she did not seem to have a full understanding of it at the same time, and it was not until Alexandria inadvertently explained the idea of the archetypes that she got it, before then she just thought she could make people hate others."
"So Alexandria has made her into an even bigger threat?"
The Chief Director give's a grave nod, eyes clouding over. Piggot cannot tell exactly what the woman's opinion of the member of the Triumvirate is but by the looks of it, it is hardly positive with regards to this interaction.
"Yes, although currently Hebert has no intention of doing anything. She is getting over her trigger event and it would be highly risky to disturb her at this time. Alexandria offered the Protectorate's assistance in gaining control of her powers and she has promised to give it consideration. Her father is calling for blood with regards to her bullies, but it would seem a bit premature, as only Hess is still alive…" Costa-Brown pauses to take a drink then continues. "The other two were killed within hours of the trigger event, the apparent ringleader, one Emma Barnes," Piggot feels a wave of fury spread through her at the name, "was strangled to death by her father in a homicidal rage. The other, Madison Clements fled her house but was captured by an armed mob of her fellow students and former friends who ripped her apart. The largest part that has been found was a part of her spinal column."
All this Costa-Brown states blankly, emotionlessly.
Ripped apart? Their own females and friends, wild animals all joining in on the slaughter of two teenage girls? This Hebert girl could sentence anybody in the world to being ripped apart with just a moment's thought?
"Has… has Hebert been told about their deaths?"
"Yes, Alexandria told her. She did not show remorse, although considering what she was subjected to and the obvious signs of shock it is to be expected. Alexandria threatened to take her in and she just looked at her, and Alexandria at once felt that it was wise to leave it there. She also felt that whilst in shock she is not a sociopath, and we are hoping that her morals will stop her from performing a Heartbreaker."
"What do we do now then with regards to her?"
"Nothing."
Nothing? It feels wrong, not to do anything at all about a threat as severe as this girl. Every part of her is itching to do something, anything. She knows it would be useless if what Costa-Brown has said is true, though.
"I want it understood that we will do nothing about Taylor Hebert. If her future choices bring her to us as an ally then we will accept her, if she doesn't want anything to do with us we will not push it. The last thing we need is somebody with her power considering us as an enemy and causing the rest of Humanity to turn on us. You will not tell anybody about Hebert's existence, consider her along the lines of Sleeper and take no action whatsoever. She is to be referred to among those in the know simply as 'Archtype'. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Chief Director."
The woman give's a short, sharp nod, and then gives her farewell and ends the call.
Piggot checks her clock.
Eight thirty.
It is going to be a long day.