Watchdog
Chapter 3: Convergence
The tracking of Taylor Hebert continued through the closing days of March 2011. Dragon had been given much to think about as she continued her surveillance, and considered both Colin's words and Taylor's actions.
Meanwhile, she had reached out to a reasonable figure of authority with the hypothetical she brought up to Armsmaster before attempting the nuclear option of directly contacting the Triumvirate. Perhaps a simpler solution existed with PRT resources beyond her access.
"And you think this has actually happened."
"Yes."
"Does this have anything to do with the Master/Stranger Protocol misfire on Watchdog two weeks ago?"
"No, Chief Director."
A long pause.
The dark-haired woman sighed, and clasped her hands in front of her face. Even slightly hunched on her desk, the woman seemed to loom.
"Dragon, you should know better. Ms. Hebert was victim to a bug in the system."
"I have looked very closely at the systems behind Protocol notifications and the multiple levels of verification behind them. I do not believe it was a misfire." The digitized woman frowned.
"We still don't know who set them off, so we cannot act as if we understand the full scope of the situation," Rebecca Costa-Brown countered. "Perhaps a Tinker was probing PRT defenses and trying to create a distraction in the Bay area, given the localized nature of the warning to Protectorate and PRT locations in the region. Once IT confirmed the error and our mobilization ended, it has not come up since. We just don't have the full picture while Network cannot find a path to the source."
Dragon did not react outwardly to the Chief Director's ignorance of yawning chasms in her own reasoning. "Perhaps someone had reason to frame Ms. Hebert."
"Why do you think someone would do that? She is just an intern in the facilities staff. I recall remarking at how odd it was to have a 15-year old intern doing maintenance duties, but there's not much there beyond that."
"I have gone through her history, and I am uncertain as to what would make someone interested in her," Dragon lied smoothly. "Nonetheless, she is staff at a high-security facility, and if someone is interested in manipulating her..." She left the implications of infiltrating and subsuming the PRT intelligence community to one of the current victim of such a scenario.
Costa-Brown was silent and gave this a few moments of thought with narrowed eyes, before staring penetratingly at her webcam.
"As you stated earlier, you believe we need a Cape immune to Masters to tend to this situation."
"While a framing is a lesser threat than the hypothetical undermining of the PRT and Protectorate Master/Stranger Protocols, we cannot be certain we do not have another Nice Guy in our hands. Better safe than sorry, especially given the importance of WEDGDG. Someone unaffected by Masters and Strangers, or a power canceller, should be able to investigate." Dragon's digitized voice was steady.
"Very well. I will send such an 'incorruptible' cape to investigate. I will keep you posted on the matter. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."
Later, as she awaited the follow-up to her conversation with the Chief Director, Dragon considered the conundrum of Taylor Hebert. Mastering was illegal. While taking advantage of being a Stranger was a different matter, the grey area was ephemeral and still stilted towards 'illegal' in the case of stealing government secrets. Colin's comments rang deep within her, as well. Yet too many variables were unknown: was it a memetic power? Was Taylor herself a puppet to the scenario that played out over them?
And why was Dragon immune? While she coordinated often with the Protectorate, she was not nominally part of it. Was that degree of separation enough? Spatial and cybernetic separation were irrelevant: the Chief Director had been swayed from D.C. Was it because of her inhumanity? This would hurt Taylor's case in the future, because it might mean she could not be used against Endbringers, yet could not be trusted in the Birdcage due to the risk of having a force for unity in the prison.
On top of it all, she was conflicted because she wasn't sure what to think of the smiling girl, who approached every day with bright eyes and a tangible passion. It seemed that Taylor took every day on as if it were completely new, and so full of potential. She considered the girl's history before stepping into Watchdog.
Records for Taylor Hebert were scant prior to early 2011. Newspaper features on the Dockworkers Association of Brockton Bay sometimes noted her name, and the obituary for her mother mentioned whom she was survived by. She became a figure on PRT databases on January 10th. The girl joined the PRT as an intern, but transferred to WEDGDG just over a month later through the Pathways program. An overview of the documentation attached to her name showed nothing inherently suspicious, although Dragon had never looked more closely.
High praise and a recommendation from Taylor's computing teacher began a winding road, based to her cover letter, which led to her awareness of an upcoming administrative intern opening in the Brockton Bay PRT HQ. The teenager nominally supported, on a part-time basis, filing efforts for console requests and Parahuman containment and response logs. As she was not part of a formal intern program, there was no mention of her increasing hours over the month, according to accessible records: Dragon noted that she began logging full work days beginning only on her third day at Brockton Bay PRT.
She paused, imperceptibly to most humans, before deciding to dig deeper into the history. Understanding her connections could also assist with determining potential threats to her as well. It was worth a try. With a casual motion, Dragon violated every one of the girl's security measures and began riffling through her personal data. The records of all data exchanged through t_hebert322 bell. us and taylor. a. hebert prt. gov were laid bare before her. She explored the new content for useful information.
January 19: the first report penned by Taylor Hebert on a non-console-related matter appeared, as she mailed it to her direct supervisor. CC'd to Armsmaster. This was her first online interaction with the hero. He never replied, although the supervisor, a Lt. Nowacki, was pleased.
Over the next two weeks, however, correspondence with Armsmaster became a constant. Taylor provided insight on the effectiveness of Protectorate and PRT resources deployed across the city, and proposed more optimal measures of force distribution and deployment schemes. A mentoring relationship grew over time: Armsmaster put his name on her plans to lend them significant, and submitted them to PRT leadership.
The girl was consistently BCC'd by Armsmaster on reports of increased efficacy by PRT and Protectorate forces.
February 5th, coinciding with a recent retirement at WEDGDG, the girl emailed Armsmaster. She sought out his knowledge on Thinkers. A follow-up email confirmed some topics spoken of in person. A link exchange occurred, with the girl acquiring a recommendation and USAJOBS application referral. Dragon deigned not to violate Colin's privacy, but she imagined the quick job opening was related to his support.
After everything, he is closer to this situation than anyone.
"Colin," she pinged.
"Dragon," he replied a moment later. The question was implicit.
"Is this a good time?" She had many questions.
"Is twelve minutes enough?" He offered after a brief pause.
Not that many questions, but the 'yes' went unspoken as she proceeded: "Are you able to speak about one of your previous employees right now?"
"Is there a situation?" His voice was suddenly urgent. "What context are you looking for?"
"No, I'm looking to get some information about a staff member at Watchdog who has come to my attention. Do you remember a Ms. Taylor Hebert?"
She heard a soft exhale. When he spoke again, some warmth colored his voice. "Ms. Hebert was my intern earlier this year. She was nominally PRT staff but worked primarily under me while she was there. She supported some coordination tasks with the Wards oversight branches, and worked with me on higher-level strategy. She is in the Facilities Division at Watchdog now. How did you meet her?"
Dragon took a moment to absorb this. She became aware of a notification from the Chief Director, but retained her focus on Armsmaster.
"I'm surprised you never mentioned her. I was curious about her age and recent transfers." Based on her overview, he would have been speaking to this girl multiple times a day. She felt... not jealous, but somewhat upset that she had never heard of 'his intern'. Was that part of Taylor's normalizing effect on people?
"I guess she never came up." She could almost hear his shrug. "She was very talented. Highly-efficient at personnel distribution, doubly so considering her inexperience. Very clever, creative solutions. She was key in capturing Lung in early February. With my help, she developed the deployment of the Wards and Triumph that kept him contained until I could successfully deploy new measures against him." She was surprised to hear such an effusive endorsement from him.
She nudged him. "How did Triumph fare? This was his first big Protectorate deployment."
"He was adequate," he offered. "He definitely has a lot to learn, but he has an intrinsic understanding of the current Wards. He was particularly effective at leveraging Vista's and Clockblocker's powers in his tactics."
... Ah. So, she does stand out, even if he seems to be in a good mood.
"I see," she began disengaging.
As they finished the short conversation, the bulk of Dragon's attention shifted towards Costa-Brown's message.
Alexandria was at WEDGDG awaiting directions. Dragon presumed the Triumvirate heroine had been sent in without intel to minimize the threat of Master/Stranger effects taking hold. She appreciated the Chief Director accounting for her recommendations, even if the woman disagreed with them.
Dragon pondered Costa-Brown's choice. Alexandria was, for all intents and purposes, unstoppable, unmovable, and unmarrable. The heroine had never felt injury aside for the horrific wound suffered at the hands of The Siberian. Even Endbringers could not keep the woman down. However, some of her greatest strengths were born from her mind. Just as she was implacable in combat, she was immune to most recorded Masters and Strangers.
Notably, she followed protocols on fighting Simurgh based on principle, but could apparently ignore the Endbringer's maddening scream to no recorded effect. However, she was neither a Trump nor a power canceller. Dragon imagined that Costa-Brown sent her because she valued immediate and overwhelming response, but did not want to jeopardize Eidolon.
Alexandria quietly walked through the reception of Watchdog. Cream-colored tile, white walls bordered by tropical wood, with the PRT shield in a place of prominence. It was a warm entrance, with shocks of color in red furniture and a cherry oak receptionist's desk. Dragon followed the woman's movements by taking over the WEDGDG surveillance systems once more.
The heroine casually leaned against the desk, coolly ignoring the star-struck receptionist currently experiencing a close encounter with a living legend.
"Dragon, Alexandria here. I am at Watchdog. Director Costa-Brown notified me of a potential situation."
"Alexandria, thank you for the fast response." Alexandria gazed around and found a camera. Her helmeted head faced it directly as she replied.
"What is the situation?"
Dragon guided her up to the third floor, where Taylor Hebert puttered along the halls. Under one of her arms was an overstuffed manila folder that camera logs showed her acquiring from a cubicle with the assistance of its rightful occupant. She walked with clear direction, but no hurry.
Dragon set Alexandria to intersect with Taylor's path as soon as possible, on a long hall with no turn-offs, just in case the girl tried to run.
She did not.
A familiar look of awe lit up the girl's face. Excitement visibly coursed through her body, and it seemed to be all that Taylor could to not skip towards the heroine as she approached.
Alexandria slowed down on the approach, and gave Taylor a cursory glance.
"Wow, Alexandria! Ma'am, it's so nice to meet you!"
"Hi. Nice to meet you too." She affected warmth in her tone, but did not seem to have changed upon interacting with the girl. "You seem a little young, are you an intern?" The woman seemed genuinely curious.
This might work.
"Yes, my name is Taylor Hebert. I just wanted to say that you're one of my biggest heroes. You've really inspired me to do some good for this world. Thank you. I wouldn't be here without you."
She seems so genuine. It was somewhat heartbreaking.
Alexandria smiled. "It is nice to hear that. I appreciate it, Taylor. What documents are you moving around?" She gestured at the manila folder.
Taylor glanced down at the papers threatening to spill out of the folder. She spent a moment deliberating something with a look of obvious thought on her face.
Is this it?
Then she hefted it up and opened the folder, leaning it against her torso. "I'm moving a compilation of data on the Mordovia bubble." She flipped some papers over and gestured at an aerial view of the famed site. "Some guys upstairs in the Oceania Affairs office have been discussing the Australian response to Simurgh last month, and it sounds like they're trying to build it from the ground up," she chattered at Alexandria.
The heroine hummed in confirmation, prompting Taylor to continue.
"I think that what we learned from helping the Russians build the Sleeper zone can help a lot with Canberra. So I'm passing along some information on the infrastructure put in place for it. It could help us integrate into Australian efforts more effectively," she postulated.
Dragon paused completely, letting commands linger in her headspace. She could not consciously vocalize or even formulate a thought.
Alexandria smiled, and nodded. "Good call. The Australians are making their response a partisan effort and mostly turning away external support. Providing infrastructural support is a soft touch that might just break through the shock the country is feeling. It may help our cohesion when the time comes to fulfill our mission."
Dragon remained silent.
"The time? Our mission?" Taylor furrowed her brow.
"Of course, the whole reason any of this exists. Saving humanity."
Alexandria was so matter-of-fact about this.
Taylor, however, flinched and stumbled back into the wall beside her as she seemed to lose her balance. She gazed into empty space, eyes wide and face twisted in a rictus of acute pain as Alexandria steadied her. The manila folder had slipped from her arms, but the heroine had snatched it up with preternatural speed and dexterity.
"Are you alright?" The strongest woman in the world shifted her steadying hand to lay a gentle (but presumably hard as steel) hand onto Taylor's shoulder.
The girl inhaled sharply and clutched at her chest. She hunched up briefly again, before looking at the Triumvirate member with wide eyes.
"Yeah... sorry about that. I think I'm OK." She exhaled loudly, shaky and visibly out of her depth.
"Alexandria," Dragon cut in through the woman's earpiece, with her digitized voice showing none of her panic. "You need to head out. I have a lead in San Jose."
"I'm sorry, but I need to go," the heroine offered apologetically, as she handed Taylor the folder.
Taylor nodded absently, and watched Alexandria go.
Taylor gazed at empty space for a few moments more, before gathering herself. Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly turned her head to stare directly at the nearest surveillance camera.
"I think it's about time we have a talk."
