Lisa dropped me off a block away from my house. We hadn't stayed long at the lair and didn't go in. Instead, she told me to stop by after school, and she would spend the morning breaking the news gently to the team. After that, we would have real introductions. That made me anxious. Introductions. Socializing. These were not things I had much experience with anymore. But it was a good thing, I knew. I could get through it.

It was three past midnight, and I had school tomorrow. Dad wasn't awake, and I successfully snuck back into my bedroom. The house was quiet, and I was tired…

I was trying to sleep, rolling around fitfully. I was tired… exhausted, actually, but apparently too wired to sleep. Moonlight poured through the window in straight lines. The curtains were still and bright, letting the moonbeams pass through, making them glow. I rolled over, shutting my eyes tightly. I needed the dark, and the stupid glowing curtains were making the room brighter, not darker.

"Murderer."

I sat up, looking around for the source of the sound, but saw nothing. It was dark, except for the spill of moonlight that cut its way across my floor and the red numbering of my alarm clock. Two-thirty, it said.

"Who's there?" I whispered. There was no response. Did I imagine that voice?

I had no other Perspectives, so there weren't any capes in the area. A normal human wouldn't have any idea what had happened. I shook my head. It was just the exhaustion and adrenaline. That's it.

I had just laid my head back down on the pillow when I heard it again. "Mur…der…"

That time I flipped the covers off my bed and took the pistol I had stashed under the mattress. The door was shut tight, and I had a small room with nowhere to hide. Only a small closet that someone could fit in… barely. It was cracked open, and so I approached it, weapon pointed and ready. I absently thought that I hadn't even handled a gun before tonight, but already I seemed to be proficient at it.

I creeped toward the closet door and reached out for the handle. Behind, and in the slit of darkness I could hear a thump, then drip. Thump, drip. All at once I flung it open and stepped back quickly, wrapping my left hand around my right in the appropriate grip, and raised the pistol fully.

"Murdered!" Calvert yelled from the floor of my closet. His right hand pressed against his stomach as dark red blood gushed out in time with his beating heart. Thump, drip. His other hand, he pointed at me, "MurderaaaaAHH!"

I squeezed the trigger and fired, hitting him in the face and shattering his nose. "You. Ruined. My. Sleep!" With each word, I fired again, and again, and again.

bang! Bang! BANG! beep! Beep! BEEP!

****ADMINISTRATION****

I sat up in bed to the noise of my alarm clock blinking six o'clock, screaming like the Simurgh herself. The closet door was closed. Reaching under my mattress, my fingertips brushed against the cold steel of my pistol. The curtains on the window hung a dull green and the morning outside was a colorless pre-dawn gray.

A dream. It was just a dream.

Dad came bursting into the bedroom at the noise, "Taylor!"

Luckily I had pulled away from under the mattress, and I held the sheets up to my neck. I was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts because of the cold nights, but it was the principle of the matter. "Dad!"

He stopped short after seeing nothing was wrong, "Taylor... you were screaming. Are you OK?"

I gave him a smile and a nod, knowing it looked like the fake it was. "Yeah, just a crazy dream." After a significant look, Dad got the hint and closed the door. I let out a breath and rested against the headboard for a moment before flipping the covers off. Forget the dream, I told myself. I had things to do.

****ADMINISTRATION****

The bus ride was normal, except for the fact I could barely keep my eyes open. After the third time I caught myself nodding off, I sat up straight and looked out the window, where the bright morning sun was just beginning to shine. The buildings look so different during the day, I thought as I watched the rundown buildings of the outer docks flash by. The paint was faded and chipped, and the planters set in between the sidewalks and street were trodden down into dirt, occasionally holding the stump of a cut down tree. The fog had long since burned away under the sun's glare, leaving the docks stark and exposed. Everything seemed more… honest this way.

School now had a new normal. The three bitches ignored me, and their second tier followers had gotten the hint that messing with me was no longer a method to gain favor. So I was exhausted, looked terrible, and ignored by pretty much everyone. Well, almost everyone.

It must've been the lack of sleep, because I had stopped paying attention at one point and allowed my path to brush up against Shadow Stalker and Emma as they moved to their first class of the day. Entering a bathroom, my second Perspective barely caught a flash of me entering. Fortunately, Shadow Stalker ignored my presence and continued on with nothing more than a slight scowl.

"Soph, I'll be right back," Emma said to Shadow Stalker. I watched via my second Perspective as Emma broke off from her circle of followers and doubled back, towards me. Shadow Stalker just shrugged and continued into the classroom, and I lost awareness of my one-time friend. But I knew where she was going.

Screw this.

I had just finished washing my hands when Emma walked into the bathroom. It was just the two of us, with everyone else heading towards class. The tardy bell rang, and for some reason it sounded to me like it was ringing in the beginning of a boxing match.

"Look who it is," Emma said, "The nobody. You've been making yourself hard to find recently."

I looked her in the eye, not caring that I looked like crap. "What do you want?"

"Now, Taylor, no need to be like that. I'm just concerned about you. You aren't looking well. Maybe you're coming down with something serious?"

I just rolled my eyes. "Don't waste my time, Emma. There's no one else to show off to. Sophia isn't here to see how strong you are. Let's talk about something real, instead. Something important. Tell me truthfully, what happened? Why did you just throw away our friendship?" This wasn't me. Taylor wouldn't say that. What was I doing?

Emma just laughed. To someone who didn't know her well it sounded light, almost like ornaments on a Christmas tree. But to my experienced ears, there was a cruelty there, "Throw it away? That makes it sound like it was worth something in the first place. You're worthless, Taylor. That's all there is to it."

That should've hurt. We had been friends for so long. For her to be able to say it, to believe it, should have still hurt. But for some reason I didn't care anymore. I sunk into the new apathy that was growing within me. There was a cold calculation running through my thoughts now.

I shook my head. I had heard this over and over. I had been in Sophia's head for the past week. I knew that wasn't really it. Emma… she had something to prove with me. She was the reason the Bitches harassed me. I just shook my head at her, mustering a tired smile, "That's not true. We were friends for years. It was worth a lot, to both of us. Now come on, seriously, why did you buy into Sophia's way of looking at things? You know it's total bullshit, right? This whole predator and prey thing? It's so flawed I don't even know where to start."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about Hebert. That's something a friendless loser would say." Some of her façade broke. Good. My tired smile grew a little bit, my wide mouth expressive and sharp. It was Lisa's smile.

"No, it's what a normal, sane person would say. Sophia isn't stable, and apparently you aren't either. What was it?" I was trying desperately to leverage my Perspective, digging deep into their history. Trying to piece together the scraps of Shadow Stalker's thoughts into a more cohesive whole. Her mind wasn't giving me details though. I was simply going over what I had gleaned during the past week. Something bad had happened to Emma. Something Shadow Stalker was involved in and respected her for. But that was all I knew.

"Go fuck yourself, Hebert. You want to know the real reason? Fine. It's because you were a worthless friend. You wasted years of my life, and so you owe me." Emma was pissed now.

I tilted my head. "No, that's still not it. Look at yourself, Emma. You're obsessed with me. For some reason you can't let it go. You know who else acts like that? Insane people. Schizophrenics, people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, people in strait jackets and white padded rooms. The only difference is that you can hide it, barely. Face it, there's something wrong with your head."

Before I could react, Emma slapped me across the face, hard. My vision flashed red from the impact, and my mind went blank with shock. I must have looked like a gaping fish, because Emma began to smile, the cracks in her veneer vanishing when she got her fix.

My hand went to my burning cheek, and Emma's smile widened even further. "See, Emma, that's what I mean. You hit me, and now you're feeling validated. It's like a drug. You're addicted. There's something wrong with you."

I brushed past Emma the smirk back in place, and surprisingly, she let me go. I didn't look back to see her expression. I didn't want to. For the first time since the bullying began, I realized I didn't care. I had murdered a man last night. It was for the right reasons. He was evil to the core, trying to control my new… my only… sort-of friend. Emma and her issues were something small now.

If I had tried to confront her before, it wouldn't have worked. Even if I had said the exact same words, I knew that Emma would be able to see through it. Back then I wouldn't have meant it. It would have been a lie. Now? Every word I had spoken to her was genuine and she could tell.

The cold calculation had taken me over, shown me something I could never have seen before. It was Purpose, distilled. I was done. I simply didn't care about the touched-in-the-head girl still standing in the bathroom. There was so much more to this wide world than lowering myself to the level of someone like Emma. There was so much more now, and I was going to learn exactly what was out there.

The rest of the day went well, all things considered. Emma didn't mention her encounter to Sophia. Soon school was out, and I caught a bus to the Undersider's lair. I didn't have a mask, but that was fine. Four new perspectives popped up as I approached the lair.

The Undersiders were lounging around their loft, all relaxed and out of costume. Brian was sitting at the kitchen table filling out some sort of government paperwork. Rachel was petting her dogs and watching videos on YouTube. Alec and Lisa were playing video games, a shooting game to be precise, with Alec getting his teeth kicked in as Tattletale used her power to great effect. I watched the screen from two perspectives as Tattletale would consistently pick him off through a corner or particularly thin wall. Alec, for his part, was taking the beating in stride, not concerning himself that he was getting thoroughly thrashed. In fact, he was completely nonplussed at the loss. Strange. I hadn't really focused all that closely on his internal dialogue and emotions, but he was rather muted compared to the others.

Lisa suddenly put down her controller and announced that Specter was here. Once again I was reminded at how completely broken her powers were. It was a combination of knowing exactly what the bus schedules were like, doing a quick lookup of when Winslow's school day ended. And inferring how fast I would walk and if I would take any detours, based on what she knew of my personality. Then she thought to me via her Perspective. Come on up, mind reader. If you're there that is. Gah, hopefully I didn't mess up the timing. That would be embarrassing. Her stream of consciousness continued on as the rest of the Undersiders wrangled themselves together, more or less. Yep... Lisa, ladies and gentlemen.

Showtime. With a deep breath, I entered the bottom floor of the lair with a creak of hinges, and the dogs started barking. Rachel immediately silenced them with a sharp command, but she was dangerously tense.

Lisa met me at the bottom of the spiral staircase. "Hello again. So everything is looking good. The ah, accounting went well, and I've already told the rest of the gang that we're getting raises, thanks to Specter." I would have been suspicious with the way Lisa had phrased what we agreed on yesterday even without the telepathy, but her thoughts made any sort of inference unnecessary. She hadn't told them Coil was out of the picture yet.

"Lisa!"

"I know, Taylor, I know! I just… well. I sort of wanted backup when I broke the news? Grue is going to be the hardest to convince because-"

"Aisha."

Lisa gaped like a fish for a second, then closed her mouth with a click. Then she muttered, "That's right, how could I forget? OK, well come on up. They're waiting, as I'm sure you know."

I didn't enforce any changes on my four Perspectives and I got a strange look at myself as I came up the stairs behind Lisa. For a strange, surreal second, it felt like I was a supermodel making her first appearance, with cameras capturing every angle of me.

Grue was the first to talk, "Welcome back… er…"

"Taylor," Lisa supplied helpfully.

"Taylor," Grue repeated. "I'm glad to hear Lisa say you decided to come around. You'll be a great addition to the team." He thought I had decided to integrate with the Undersiders as a villain. The intention was loud and clear in his mind. My gaze snapped to Lisa and I could see my scowl in exquisite detail. Brian turned to look at Lisa as well. "Lisa?"

"Ah, well guys… about that. Maybe we should all sit down?"

Brian folded his arms, "What's going on Lisa?"

"First off, I want to say that everything I said this morning is totally true. New teammate, big raises, more freedom in jobs. What I may have failed to mention is why we are getting all the new perks."

"You said it was because the Boss totally floored once he found out what Specter's powers were," Brian said. God damn it Lisa.

"Knew this was a bad idea," Rachel growled.

"Yes I did say that," Lisa said. "That last part may have been a bit unclear."

I could feel tensions rising, specifically in Rachel and Brian. Alec was… amused. Like, seriously amused. Unable to keep the grin off his beautiful stupid face, amused. I wanted to say something, but I hesitated. Yesterday I had been Specter, the ghostly parahuman. It was a role. Now, I was just Taylor, vulnerable to the Undersiders. Should I say something? Was it my place? I opened my mouth and took a breath, but was interrupted.

"Shut up," Rachel growled, addressing me.

"Alright, alright just cool down," Lisa said, getting the same read from the room I had. "The boss broke the rules. He recruited me at gunpoint in my civilian identity. Would've killed me if I refused." She paused, then continued on, "We, ah, are no longer connected with the boss."

That got Brian's attention. His thoughts jumped immediately to Aisha as he rounded on his teammate, "WHAT?"

Lisa backed away with her hands in front of her, "Its fine, its fine! Your arrangement is totally fine. I took care of it!"

Brian stood tall and took a deep breath, "Explain, now."

Everyone was quiet, and tensions were strung tight. I knew that if Lisa didn't play the tune properly, it would snap. I was in danger... real danger. Rachel was glaring at me, blaming me for the sudden shift in status quo. I understood too. She had a good thing going, comparatively. Being a member of the Undersiders had given her stability far beyond anything else she'd had since she had triggered. My appearance threatened to tear that away from her.

"It's like this. We are now independent, and extremely wealthy. The boss is out of the picture, and I was able to acquire most of his liquid assets. I've already invested in some local businesses who be more than happy to, y'know, hire you," she said, air-quoting the last part.

"You stole from the boss? The guy you've said is somehow making our jobs successful from behind the scene? The thinker who out-thought you?"

"Yeah, Lisa," Alec said, "I try to steer clear of decision making and responsibility in general, but that seems like a pretty dumb move."

"He broke the rules," Lisa said with significance. "He won't come after us. Can't, actually."

"And that means what, exactly? Why can't he come after us?" Brian hadn't budged an inch since he took up his Mr. Clean wide-footed, crossed arm stance, but I felt the concern and fear oozing from his Perspective.

"Er well, it's best you don't know. Plausible deniability and all that. Taylor and I took care of it. We're free. There's no chance that the boss will come after us. Zero percent." Lisa gave Brian a winning smile and thumbs up to drive the point home. A double-handed thumbs up, as a matter of fact. And a smile that should have given off a glint of incisor.

"New girl offed the boss?" Regent asked. I flinched guiltily at the offhand comment before I could stop myself. He was joking and hadn't seriously thought I killed Coil. But I hadn't.

Lisa shot me a look before responding, "No, of course she didn't. Look, the boss is out of the picture. He has no more money, no support, and certainly won't be coming back for revenge in the future. His mercenaries have already realized they won't be getting any more pay, or they will soon, and simply leave. I couldn't tell you guys before, but he was seriously bad news. Now we're in a spot with more freedom and money, and safer, even though you guys didn't know about the danger."

Brian was still quiet, with his arms folded, staring balefully at Lisa. Finally he broke away and looked at me, "And you were a part of this?"

I cringed a little, shrinking back from the attention, and the sudden reminder of what had happened the night before. I just nodded.

"Taylor was the one who made it all happen," Lisa said, her eyes on me. "We're going to get to new heights with her on the team."

My mind was blank. I could feel the thoughts of the capes around me. The bad guys, but ones who were redeemable. As they all looked at me, waiting to see if I would say anything, I shrank into myself even more. Quickly in his mind, I could feel Brian's doubt at Lisa's proclamation grow, Rachel scoffed audibly, so her doubt was made clear even without the Perspective. Alec hummed playfully as he looked at me, head tilted upward slightly.

"And in related news," Tattletale said. "I think it's about time we go legitimate! We'll need to vote on it of course, but I think this is the perfect opportunity to get out of this low brow crime."

"Aww..." Alec said.

I blinked at the proclamation. There was certainly nothing in her mind that hinted she would be actively pushing for rogue status for the Undersiders, either from last night, or since she had been a Perspective this morning. The vibe I had gotten from her was more along the lines of-

"Mostly, of course," Lisa said flashed smile. "After all, a cape team with more money than they know what to do with will have all sorts of interests, some legal, some not so much. And we'll still need to build up rep- a lot of it."

"Yesss!" Regent said, pumping his fist in the air.

****ADMINISTRATION****

In the end, the vote was unanimous. Both to go 'legit' and for me to join the team as a full member. I was... torn about the way things had gone. While we weren't going to be doing anything violent or morally abhorrent, the whiteboard that Lisa had carefully wheeled out of her room had hinted at other activities that would certainly fall under the realm of white collar crime. Indeed, the stick figure doodled in the corner holding a wad of cash left little doubt as to what Lisa's 5-year plan consisted of. In a way, it felt like we were replacing Coil more than anything else.

As the dust settled with a small cheer from Lisa, three of my new teammates came over to congratulate me and welcome me to the team. Bitch simply began tending to her dogs, but her Perspective showed that she was surprisingly content with the situation. More money, more security, more ability to help her dogs. For her it was as simple as that.

Brian was there first, and he stuck out his hand. I hesitated, and the hesitation bothered me. It's just a stupid handshake, Taylor. What's the worst that could happen? "This happened rather suddenly, but thank you for helping out Lisa. I didn't realize that she was in such a rough spot." I mustered my courage and grasped Brian's hand.

Nullification.

With a yelp I released Brian's hand as I felt an electric shock run through my arm. My tailbone hit the floor and I laid back with a groan. There was a clacking of claws, and a snuffling huff of breath as Angelica pattered over. She sniffed my hair for a bit, then licked my face.

"Taylor, are you alright?"

Brian was leaning over me with a concerned look. His brown eyes were wide and expressive, and I blushed, embarrassed and flustered. "Yes, I'm fine. Just... I dunno."

Brian offered me a hand again to help me up, and I forced myself to take it.

Nullification. Adult Primary. Warrior.

What the hell, power?

There was no electric shock this time, but in that moment of physical contact I felt like I understood Brian's power. No... not that I understood Brian's power. More like I knew his power. Personally knew... Nullification?

I needed to think on this. But first, I had to give an explanation. Everyone was looking at me now. Brian was concerned at why I had flinched away from him, Bitch was considering how Angelica had shown me kindness, Regent was amused, but also rightly considering if this was a new aspect of my power, and Lisa was once again going into overdrive. "Sorry, I just... I... well..." I looked at Brian. "Is your power still working?"

Brian's stomach twisted as he processed my words, and I grimaced. Real smooth Taylor. Then pure nullification began to roll off Brian's form and flood the lower half of the room, covering everything up to my shins, and up to Angelica's shoulders. "Seems to be."

I let out a breath I was holding. "OK. Sorry. I just... well when we shook hands... did you know your power can block radiation?"

Brian was still for a second, but he glanced at Lisa. "I suspected. Lisa told me that was probably the case." Of course Lisa would have drawn that conclusion.

"OK. Because it will. Heat, light, sound. Pretty much any sort of energy, actually."

"Hey," Alec shouted suddenly, "When I voted, I thought we were getting some bad ass ghost girl. I didn't sign up for Lisa 2.0! Ow!"

"Don't be rude," Lisa chided as Alec rubbed the back of his head.

For the first time, I cracked a little smile. Alec, Lisa, Brian, even Rachel. They were all just kids, like me. Sometimes serious, sometimes goofy, and always awkward. Most of all, as I felt their thoughts ebb and flow, brushing against my consciousness, they were just themselves. This was something I could do.

I turned my smile on Alec. "Sorry to disappoint. I can make Specter hang around instead. He's really good at hovering right over you while you sleep, popping into the mirror behind you when you're brushing your teeth..." I left the rest hanging.

Alec's eyes widened as he realized the implication. "Ah, no, that's OK. I'd rather not experience a literal haunting, thanks."

With a slight tweak of his Perspective, I replaced my eyes with the depths of the Milky Way, two small windows into infinity. "You sure?"

"Yep!" he yelped, "I'm definitely sure!"

I canceled the illusion and shrugged. "OK then."

"You've got an unusual mix of powers, Taylor," Brian observed. "Projections and some sort of touch based Thinker power, right? Normally capes have exact one power, or multiple powers with a clear synergy. I'm not seeing how yours are related."

"Well, I don't know what this new one is, exactly." I looked to Lisa, "Mind if I try on you?"

Lisa came over, and I took her hand.

Negotiator. Adolescent Primary. Warrior.

The telltale jolt was there, but I realized that it wasn't actually something physical. Just like my powers, it was simply a sensation, and nothing I physically reacted to. Just like Brian, I came to know Negotiator. It was a strange sensation that I was struggling to put into words, what it meant to know a super power. It was like... knowing how to count to a hundred, or recite the alphabet. The knowledge was so complete and ingrained, it didn't even feel like it was something I remembered. It was just a part of my worldview.

"So?" Lisa was looking at me with a curious expression.

I gave a shaky laugh and broke the handshake. My hand went to my head, and then through my curly hair. "I just... wow." I looked over to Lisa's whiteboard and the steps she had laid out for the Undersiders to become the dominant economic player in the city. "I think we're in good hands with you at the helm the business side of things."

"Me next!" Alec said, practically jumping between Lisa and I. Taking his hand, I make sure to not let the jolt of knowledge and sensation knock me over.

Dominator. Juvenile Secondary. Warrior.

I blinked. That was... strange. Alec's power was somehow younger and less experienced than both Lisa and Brian's. I knew that he had a bad past, and that he didn't like his family, but he hadn't actively though about his past enough for me to glean the full story. His power must be related to that. One of both of his parents must have also been parahumans. Not wanting to bring up bad memories, I said, "Very impressive."

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and getting to know the rest of the Undersiders a bit better. Rachel left, intent on running errands for her kennel. Shortly after that Lisa wheeled the whiteboard back into her room, intent on pushing her high level plans forward. I wasn't big on games and Brian said he was planning on heading back to his apartment, so I thought it was time to go.

As I started down the spiral staircase, I noted the pistol laying innocently on the table next to the opening. How funny, not 24 hours ago, I would've been unnerved by the presence of a gun. But now, not only was I desensitized to them, I had actually used one. Was it possible to have a perspective change so much in a single day? I wanted to say no, but here I was, a sixteen-year-old girl with superpowers who had taken down a particularly twisted villain on her first unofficial night out. My stomach twisted as I remembered what I had been able to forget while I met and joined the Undersiders.

"Hey, Taylor!" Lisa was leaning over the railing, looking down at me just before my head dropped down below the floor. "You'll be needing this."

She tossed me a small object, a cell phone I saw. I had thrown away the one I used yesterday at Lisa's instructions.

"Oh... well..."

"Look, I know you don't like them, but its needed." Once again I was amazed at how quickly Lisa read my tells and came to the right conclusion. "That one is for long term use. Only use it to call one of us. The numbers are programmed in. Anything else, use a burner. Consider it Specter's cell. Not Taylor's. For official business and all that."

It made sense. The team needed a way to get in touch with me. Lisa's whiteboard had been full of planned proactive moves, predicted fallout, and expanding interests. A cell phone would be just the beginning of the changes in my life. With a breath, I nodded.

"Good. Things are going to heat up once everyone realizes Coil's out of the picture. We'll need to move quickly and announce our intentions to the Protectorate and PRT, then proceed to kick some Nazi and ABB ass to show everyone we're serious." She paused and gave me a little smirk, eyes bright. "It's gonna be fun."

****ADMINISTRATION****

The next morning I woke up exhausted. Another nightmare had struck, making me unable to sleep for the majority of the night. I stumbled down the steps into the kitchen and saw Dad eating a bowl of cereal, newspaper unfolded before him.

He did a legitimate double take when he saw me and said, "Are you feeling OK? You look..." He waved his hand to explain the rest.

"I look awful, I know," I replied. How else would a person look when they had to revisit someone's brains spraying out of their skull two nights in a row?

"What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"I- no. I just couldn't sleep last night. I'm really really tired."

Dad folded his newspaper and set it on the table, taking my appearance in fully, "It is school, Taylor? You promised you would speak up if you had any more trouble."

"No, school is fine," I said. And it was, mostly. "I just- can I stay home? Just for today?"

Dad held my gaze for a moment longer, then relented, "Sure, of course you can."

****ADMINISTRATION****

I texted Lisa shortly after my Dad left and made the trip over to the lair.

"Hey," Lisa called out to me from her door once I topped the spiral stair. "Get over here and check out phase one of Operation Bwnage."

I blinked, "Operation what?"

"Bwnage. Its a mix of-"

"Bay and Ownage I know. Who came up with that?"

"It's cool and it fits!" Alec shouted over his shoulder, not tearing his eyes away from the TV in the main area.

Lisa just shrugged and ushered me inside her room. "Coming up with names for things keeps him happy." She shut her door and said, "So! It's fortunate you're here. You can help me contract Faultline's crew."

"We're hiring Faultline's crew?"

"Yup! On a semi-permanent, non-competing basis."

I looked at Lisa's board where Operation Bwnage was broken out into simple steps:

Hire Faultline's Crew

Eradicate Merchants

Establish Fiefdom

Defend Fiefdom to build rep

The steps continued on, including small tasks such as 'Negotiate with PRT/Protectorate for Rogue Status' and 'Cause Gang War between ABB and E88'.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Lisa asked, "I thought you would know about the plan as soon as you got off the bus."

"I've been suppressing the whole mind reading thing with you guys. I don't like doing it to friends."

"You can do that?" Lisa asked, surprised.

I nodded, "It makes you and the rest a lot more... Well it makes..."

"Makes us not seem so much like puppets? That's so sweet!"

I ducked my head in embarrassment, "Yeah."

Lisa was quiet for a moment, placing the dry erase marker at the base of the whiteboard, "You know that is isn't your fault Coil is dead, right?"

That brought me up short. I stilled, looking like a small rabbit facing down barreling headlights. "That's not-"

"Seriously Taylor, I mean it. Responsibility for that falls in this order. One, Coil. He broke the rules. He press ganged me in my civilian ID. He knew all about my family, and threatened to murder me. That alone justified it. Beyond that, he took a stupid risk when he was down on that street, at our mercy. He chose to lash out, and that had consequences."

I glared at Lisa, "No, just stop. I knew you brought a gun with you from the very beginning. Psychic, remember? I didn't stop you! You suspected he would end up dead- not captured. I let you. I ignored it intentionally. Its like... you don't know what it's like!"

Lisa game me a hard look, "There's very little I don't get, Taylor. Let me take a guess. From your perspective, it was like you turned the gun on yourself and pulled the trigger. You, me , him... you knew what was happening from every angle and let it play out. A puppet master tugging at the strings. Am I close?"

I saw sullen eyes reflected from Lisa's Perspective. "Yes," I whispered.

"Well... it's bullshit. Just because you are in our heads doesn't mean we lack free will. I pulled the trigger because that bastard was lunging at my friend. That's it. Capes play a dangerous game. Just because your power trumps his doesn't mean that he was helpless. Those sorts of situations can turn around in a heartbeat when capes are involved, especially a Thinker like him. He made a decision, took a risk. I made a decision. Yes, I'll admit you made a decision to let it happen. Your actions were, at most, one-third of the equation. Don't start thinking we are automatons, Taylor. That's a scary path to start down, got it?"

At that point my mouth was hanging open at Lisa's outburst. She was right, of course. I couldn't think of my friends as puppets while they were under my influence. In fact, I hadn't even been adjusting Lisa's Perspective when she pulled the trigger.

She smiled, "Thought so."

****ADMINISTRATION****

The Palanquin was a few blocks off of Lord street, away from the Market, and opposite the area under heavy ABB influence. Faultline's crew was in an interesting gray area of legality that was rare in a highly divided city like Brockton Bay. They were officially dubbed Villains by the PRT, but were ignored for the most part. Faultline's ownership of the Palanquin was an open secret, as many members of her crew were impossible to disguise, but the Protectorate left them alone. Lisa had called it a shameful, amicable relationship since Faultline was well known for her "ethical" behavior in adherence to contracts, avoiding killing in all cases, and causing local trouble or "pissing in the bed she sleeps in" as Tattletale put it. She approached the Palanquin in her full costume regalia, and I slipped into the grocery store across the street as Taylor. I had a backpack with a mask in it just in case, but the idea was for Specter to be involved, rather than any physical presence by myself. Taylor had no purpose to be there physically. The store was large with its entrance opposite of the orientation of the Palanquin. Perspectives popped up gradually as I made my way to the back of the store, pretending to browse the frozen food section. Tattletale was a given, of course. Then there was Newter, Gregor the Snail, Faultline, and… whoa.

One of my Perspectives was standing an Alice in Wonderland world, complete with checkerboard ground, trees with fruit that looked like water balloons filled with paint, bushes in the shape of mythical animals, and marble columns that twisted and turned in non-Euclidean directions. In the distance was a clock that was suspended in the sky like the sun, its second hand ticking backwards with an echoing tick that sounded like your ears were right next to the clockwork of Big Ben. The marble columns were of various sizes, twisting as if they were clay wrapped around metal coat hangers poorly imagined high school art project.

Labyrinth stood in the center of it all, looking in every direction half in admiration and half in frustration. She was trying to find her way home, and completely failing at the task. That was… depressing. Her platinum blonde hair hung down limply, as if it could feel her desperation and depression as she searched. I could feel her mask resting on the top of her head via the Perspective, and the swish of emerald green robes around her legs. Labyrinth traced her fingers along a marble column that looped around itself like a ram's horns, then continued on. Her feet were bare, and underfoot the black and white checkerboard turned into soft spring grass as she stepped. The change from marble to grass was silent, as was everything else, with the exception of the rhythmic clonk of the giant clock that was so far away. Everything in her world was silent, besides the clock, and the thoughtless humming coming from Labyrinth herself.

That was… wow. I was looking into the fridge at the different types of ice cream the supermarket had to offer, but my entire being was devoted to that one Perspective. No wonder Labyrinth was rated as she was. Shaker 12. She had, literally, an entire world to herself.

That power, however, came with drawbacks. She was lost as the moment, and frustrated that she was taking so long to find the exit. Her thoughts revealed that this was one of her bad days, where she couldn't be lucid and aware of what she thought of as the 'surface,' where her friends and teammates lived.

Tattletale had approached the bounced and was given access. She climbed the stairs to the VIP balcony where Faultline and Gregor, acting as her second in command, waited. Newter was hanging out in a common area, half watching TV and half keeping an eye on Labyrinth, who was sitting on a beanbag and tracing patterns in the carpet. But she wasn't on the beanbag and tracing the carpet. Not really.

Faultline spread her hands in a magnanimous gesture. "Well well, if it isn't the mysterious Tattletale of the Undersiders. How can I help you today?"

Tattletale twitched at Faultline's tone, but reigned in a retort. Instead she let her power loose with our goal in mind. "Faultline, Gregor," she nodded to the two parahumans. "How is the rest of the Crew?"

"They are well," Gregor said in a thick accent that sounded eastern European. His thoughts were methodical, his disposition unusually even for a cape. At least, in comparison to all the capes whose Perspectives I had gained thus far.

"That's good," Tattletale said with a grin. Well I suppose I'll get right down to it. The Undersiders have acquired a new member recently and we've had something of a change in direction. "

Faultline leaned forward, her welding mask hiding her intrigued expression. She, apparently, loved these sorts of conversations. "Oh? I haven't heard of any newbies in the city. Who is it?"

That was my cue, I supposed.

I enforced Specter's presence on all parahumans in the building. Black mist seeped in from every crack in the floor, from behind every unseen place, to coalesce into my spectral avatar. To my other Perspectives the human shaped void to the stars stood before them and spoke, "Me. Hello Faultline, my name is Specter."

There had been no visible reaction from either Faultline or Gregor in the few seconds I spent forming my avatar, but the shift in their mindsets was drastic. The game was different now, dangerous. Specter was an unknown with what seemed to be heavy duty Stranger and Changer powers.

The tension was heavy, pushing down on the shoulders of Faultline and Gregor. It was very much hidden if only the normal indicators were considered. Faultline wasn't gripping a weapon with a creak of leather gloves. Gregor wasn't shifting his gaze between Tattletale and Specter. Tattletale wasn't standing sideways to minimize her profile, hat drawn low over her brow to protect her eyes from the burning noon sun. No, there was none of that.

In fact, Tattletale was smiling pleasantly, definitely not reaching for the knife she had slipped past the guard. Gregor had turned his fearful lean away from Specter into a relaxed slouch, his slushy form molding to his chair and hiding the organs that began concocting sticky, noxious chemicals. Faultline had no visible tells at all. Her welding mask hid her face completely and her rigid form hadn't budged an inch since Specter had been enforced upon her. The only way I could tell was via the pounding heartbeat, her constricted throat. She was ready for a fight. They all were.

Tattletale decided to break the ice. "Sorry about the entrance. Specter has certain limits on how and when he can appear." She shrugged her shoulders as if it was of no importance. "Anyways, now that everyone is here, let's get down to business, yeah?"

Faultline's tension eased as Tattletale brought the conversation back into familiar territory, "What sort of job are you looking for?"

"Well, two things. First we'd like your help eradicating the Merchants."

"We don't murder," Faultline said instantly. Her eyes flicked to my form unconsciously, her head moving just a few millimeters in my direction. Too scary? Nah.

Tattletale waved her hand dismissively, but failed to contain her growing smile. She had caught the slip as well. "We're reforming, remember? Capture only, and then turn the Capes over to the PRT. We want to clean up the train yard and surrounding areas. A gesture of goodwill for the city to prove we're serious."

"I see," Faultline said, "And the second thing?"

"We want to keep your Crew on retainer as a semi-permanent arrangement, using the destruction as the Merchants as a trial run of how well we work together."

****ADMINISTRATION****

"Augh!" A world away, Labyrinth kicked on of the stone pillars, her frustration at being unable to find her way back to the surface finally beating her. Looking at her Perspective, she was a totally normal person. Her mind was intact, if slightly childish, and she was stuck here in a world that was half real, half imagination.

I knew what it was like, being alone.

I really wanted to help her.

"Hello? Are you alright?"

Labyrinth startled at the voice, which I had crafted to be a mix of childlike, and animistic, since the voice came from a bird fluttering down onto the nearest pillar. The bird had electric blue feathers and large yellow eyes. A crest of crimson feathers created a mohawk that trailed down its long neck. Its legs were also slightly elongated and covered in crimson red scales, with sharp black talons rounding out the ensemble. It stood vertically like a flamingo but slightly smaller and stockier, and a lot more talkative.

Labyrinth startled at the question with a sharp, "Oh!" and locked eyes with my bird. "Hello bird!"

"Are you alright?" my bird repeated, snapping its head back and forth with bursts of intermittent movement to stare at her with one yellow eye at a time.

"Yes! Well... no. I wasn't, but now I'm better. I was looking for my friends who live on the surface, and sometimes its really hard for me to find them. But now you're here, talking to me! I've never met anyone else down here. I thought I was alone."

My bird shook its head. "Not alone. Not anymore, that is," it croaked. "Friends? Do you want help finding your friends? How can I help?"

"I need to find the window," Labyrinth said. "I need to be able to see the surface, so I can get back. Sometimes I forget what it looks like, so I get lost down here. When that happens I look and look, until I find the window and remember where I was."

That... seemed doable. My bird hopped up and down a few times in a reflection of my excitement and took to the air. I don't know why I was playing within the 'rules' of Labyrinth's power, taking the time to fly my bird away to find an object similar to what she was expecting. It just seemed right, somehow. So I made my bird disappear from Labyrinth's view over a hedgerow shaped like the parapet of a castle wall, and then returned after thirty seconds of rustling. In its talons was a small hand mirror. My bird dropped the mirror into Labyrinth's waiting hands and squawked, "Found one! This game was so easy I could do it all day!"

Labyrinth was caressing the mirror with her fingertips, tracing the tarnished silver that made up the body and handle, then looked at the bird with shining eyes. "Thank you Mr. Bird! Come on, I want you to meet my friends! You'll love Newter and Gregor! Faultline is strict, but really nice too!"

Labyrinth reached up to grab the body of my bird, and that's when something very very strange happened. Labyrinth touch my bird avatar. Actually physically reached out and touched my illusion.

Then, before I could even process what was happening, she focused on the mirror which also became solid in actuality rather than my enforcement of the illusion, and focused on the image it showed- herself siting on the bean bag, tracing lines in the carpet.

And then, with a strange slurping sensation from both the Perspectives of Labyrinth and Bird, they were suddenly back on the surface world. Bird was on the surface world. Bird, which has been an illusion in the labyrinth, was now physically there in the break room, hopping up and down on the floor, wings flapping, lungs breathing, heart beating, and totally under my control as a new Perspective.

The six pack of strawberry yogurts I had been pretending to examine slipped from my fingers and clattered to the supermarket floor.

Holy shit.

"Elle? You back? Nod if you can hear me. Holy shit! That your bird?" Newter had perked up at Labyrinth's sudden motion, then immediately spotted Bird. I hadn't enforced Bird onto his Perspective. Bird wasn't a mental construct.

Bird was intelligent... sort of. I could feel its thoughts, simple, and very like my own. It was both aware of and completely loyal to its Master, but also had a fondness for Labyrinth.

I suppose it was time to roll with the punches. I released my hold over Bird, allowing myself to simply observe from it's eyes, and listen to it's thoughts. "I have a name, you know!" Bird croaked.

"Elle Your bird can talk! I didn't know you could make animals!"

"Yes. Isn't he gorgeous?" Labyrinth said in a dreamy voice. Bird hopped into her arms, and she pet his crest of blue feathers.

Elle's Perspective, now that she was back on the surface, was wrong. Everything was seen through a transparent sheen of the world below. The questions that Newter asked her were distant and hard to understand, as if they were echoed through a long tunnel. Bird's feathers felt almost sticky to the touch, despite the fact that Bird's own Perspective showed me his feathers were finer than silk. It seemed that Labyrinth's power superimposed the world below onto the real one, which scoured her senses of anything concrete. While her power was incredible, I could feel the frustration building in her mind. She just wanted to be able to talk to her friends, just be able to spend time with the people she cared about.

That was something I could help with. With a tweak of her Perspective, the world below dropped away, and the real world came back into focus. Newter's voice lost its ethereal, echoing quality, and Labyrinth blinked. Then she jumped to her feet and spun in a circle, laughing. Bird fell away with an indignant squawk and a flap of feathers. "Everything is so clear! Newter! You sound so close to me! Did you do this, Mr. Bird?"

From his place on the floor, Bird took a moment to compose himself by shaking out his feathers as if he was talking a bath, before replying, "No."

Newter shifted on his feet, tail sticking out in the direction opposite his lean for counterbalance. He smiled at Labyrinth's good mood and apparent lucidity.

"Where's Faultline and Newter?" she asked.

They're out in the main club, but- hey Elle, wait!"

Labyrinth ran out of the door as soon as Newter had told her were to find her other teammates, leaving him alone with Bird, who was currently preening his feathers. At the sudden commotion Bird looked up and saw he was alone with Newter. "So..." Bird said, taking in Newter's orange skin and long tail, "You look funny."

Newter glanced away from the doorway and looked at the strange creature on the floor of the kitchen, "Thanks, I guess. Back at you."

****ADMINISTRATION****

I had progressed past the yogurt and cheeses and was now in front of the milk, a smile on my lips. Faultline was being coy with Tattletale, dodging questions and attempts to lock her Crew into a long term arrangement. Faultline's Crew was not rich, but they were well off enough to be selective about their jobs. That, combined with the fact that she didn't like Tattletale's attitude meant that she was charging much more than normal for the Merchant job. In other words, Tattletale's ego was screwing up the deal.

As Labyrinth ran down the hallway leading to the Palanquin proper, I spoke up for the first time since introducing Specter, "Tattletale, let's shelve the conversation for now. I believe we're about to be graced by another of Faultline's crew."

Labyrinth rushed into the room, Bird right behind her on outstretched wings just as Faultline turned with a confused, "What-?"

"Faultline, look! I'm back and I found a new- oh!" Labyrinth stopped as she noticed Tattletale and my avatar self.

Faultline was off balance at Specter's interruption and Labyrinth's subsequent appearance, and I decided to keep pushing. "Hello Bird. I see you've found a new friend." Specter turned towards Labyrinth, taking in blonde hair framing a mask painted with a green maze. "He hasn't been bothering you, has he?"

"No!" Labyrinth said immediately. "He hasn't, uh, well... wait! He was down below! Only I can go there. How did he get there? Did you do that? Can... can you help me remember every time?"

"Labyrinth! Go find Newter and see if he needs any help, now that you're back. I thought you two had plans?"

"There's no need. I believe he's hanging just beyond the doorway," Specter said.

Newter's Perspective had been creeping up on the conversation in pursuit of Labyrinth and Bird. Just out of sight he had leapt up to conveniently placed rafters, which I suspected were installed just for him. He dropped down and stuck his head into the balcony, an embarrassed look on his face. "Sorry Faultline, she got really excited over the bird."

"My name is Bird!"

Newter raised an eyebrow at the blue bird, who took the short silence following his proclamation to hop into Labyrinth's arms and settle himself. He shrugged and said, "Sorry. Bird."

I deliberately had Specter shift his stance to grab the attention of the other capes. I was finding that the form had a drawback in that it didn't have any facial expressions I could use. Instead I had to rely on tone of voice, word choice, or broad movements of my starry form.

"To answer your question, Labyrinth, I think I can help you, yes." I paused and turned towards Faultline, "We came here with the intent of simply hiring your Crew, but after meeting Labyrinth, I think something more like an ongoing friendship between our groups would be more beneficial to all."

Faultline didn't say anything at first. Through her Perspective I listened to her weighing the benefits against the dangers- the largest of which was the risk of betrayal. Faultline... she was a good person. She had something of a mother hen instinct that resulted in helping certain types of capes. Case 53's, those like Labyrinth who suffered serious drawbacks from her power, and so on. That was one side of her. The other side was demanding. No one got a free ride with her. Everyone did their part. It fit very well with the group's status as mercenaries, and also explained why she had such a good reputation in a career that was normally talked about with distrust. "What is your power?" she asked my avatar.

Fishing for information. Expected. "I won't go into specifics, but consider me to be a type of shaker, just like Labyrinth. I can change things in small ways, or, in the case of Labyrinth, make them not change."

Tattletale, ever observant, jumped in at that point, "Labyrinth's power involves other dimensions a lot more heavily than you guys realize. A little part of her is always there. Specter's power is similar. It's a lot subtler most of the time, but he has more control. Enough to help your teammate."

"Faultline?" Labyrinth spoke up, "It helps. Bird helped me get back, and now I'm floating better than ever! I don't feel like I'm sinking at all, and that's never happened before."

There was good reason for that, of course. Labyrinth's perspective was heavy. It wanted to sink down into a lower realm of perception, into the place I had found her originally. It wasn't anything physical, of course, just mental, and so I had complete control over it. Tattletale was right when she had said the other places were real. Labyrinth's true power was to perceive, color, and pull. She perceived other realities, colored them to her desires, and then pulled them into existence. What she saw in that other place. The feel of the grass at her feet, the cool marble columns, the chunk-chunk of the clock-in-the-sky was too deep and solemn to be simply imagination. I could feel that her world below was, in most ways, as real as Earth Bet. I hadn't gotten the chance to fully explore the part of my power that allowed me to sense other Parahuman's, er, sources. It was hard to do when I was currently avoiding all direct interaction with any capes I couldn't explicitly trust. But I really really wanted to know more about Labyrinth's power.

I had move past the dairy section in the supermarket. Now I was browsing the section that could only be described as dairy-esque products, a bottle of Cheese Whiz in my hand. I turned it over and over, admiring the red cap as I managed my Perspectives, kept Labyrinth afloat, and marveled at Bird's autonomy and intelligence. The things I could do, they were fake. Imitations. They were at best a reality-substitute. But when combined with Labyrinth, and her ability to make what she saw into reality? That was pure cheddar...

I snorted in laughter and woman with a red plastic basket glanced at me before moving on. God what a dumb line.

"I... think an arrangement can be made," Faultline said. Labyrinth clapped her hands in excitement, accidentally dropping Bird to the ground with an undignified 'squawk!' Lisa grinned her grin, and I dropped the bottle of Cheese Whiz into my basket, along with a roll of crackers.

"Great!" Lisa said, taking the reigns of the conversation back from Specter. "I think our two teams will have some really good bonding moments when we take down the Merchants! Here's how I see it going..."

I continued my stroll down the aisles of the store, basket in the crook of my arm and a smile on my lips, listening in as the Lisa and Faultline planned the big day.