The rest of the day passed quickly, though I did get a dozen more messages from Rewind encouraging me to be more vocal in class and to talk to people more. I didn't follow his advice but it was still nice that he tried.

The other Wards were all members of a work release program, with the exception of Vista who was too young. Students who took part had a more flexible timetable, starting later some days or finishing early on others. For the wards this was just a cover that let them out off school so they could go on patrol.

Of course, with my identity being public, I couldn't use the scheme. It would put the Wards' identities at risk. Instead I could just simply come and go as needed.

I left my last lesson of the day and made my way to the rig. My first day had been better than I expected. Even the slight drama with Vicky and Amy was funny now that I looked back on it.

The bus, followed by ferry ride, to the rig was uneventful and I quickly reached my workshop.

Jack was already waiting for me when I arrived.

"Hey Taylor!" He called from the holographic design table he was working on.

"Hey Jack, any luck?" We had set up image projectors all around the room and a couple even included shield projectors. I powered one up and it autocratically created a cubical that I could use to safely change into my costume, holograms kept me hidden from view while a forcefield stopped anyone from walking through the image.

"Some," the little bot said. "Ceptor had a couple of ideas he wanted you to look at and I've got most of this design finished. Should have the proto-form built in a couple of days."

Perceptor was currently plugged into the recharge bed he and Jack had built last night. It was a raised metal slab that the bot could lay on like a bed while on one side was a device that could connect to the bot and recharge them. The recharge station could be repositioned anywhere around the 'bed' so it would fit bots of different sizes. The modifications to Perceptor had been minimal, a power port on his arm that connected to his fuel cell.

He was currently the guinea pig, if the recharge bed worked it would reduce their dependency on me. Although it would never be a perfect solution since the recharge time was slow and fully charging one of my bots 'off the mains' was costly no matter how efficient I made the system. Poor Predaqueen would still be more or less tied to a generator.

As I got dressed, I considered asking Armsmaster for help improving the recharge system before discarding the idea. I was still miffed at his suggested 'improvements'.

With my bodysuit on, I shut down the hologram and wandered over to Jack's terminal. The bot he was working on was intended to be something between a portable medic and a first aid kit that could clip onto the back of my armour or be carried around.

"Did Dragon find any tech we could incorporate?"

"No, sorry. While there is some tinker-made medical equipment, I don't think we could make any of it fit on a bot this small. Not easily at least."

Damn. I was fairly sure I could fit a defibrillator and some hard light projection systems into the bot but I had really hoped I could put some extra tinkertech in there. "Never mind. When you're finished, save the designs and put some requests in for the med-tinker gear anyway. We'll check it out if we get the time. Anything new about me on PHO?"

Nodding, Jack swapped his half finished design for a web browser. The little bot preferred to use holographic dusplays and I was considering upgrading him with one.

"Just a couple of posts about you being seen in Arcadia but the thread was quickly derailed. A mod ended up locking it." I gave Jack a long, flat, look. "It wasn't me!" he protested, pulling up the thread in question. "Someone posted a picture of you talking to Glory Girl and things went off topic quickly after that."

The picture must have been taken just after I sat down since I was looking a bit dazed. Vicky must have been doing whatever the hell that was because I was barely visible, the picture was more focused on the older hero. And of course, she looks great while I look a mess.

Jack hadn't been kidding about the derail, I felt myself blushing as I read the progressively more suggestive comments. Good god, am I going to have to deal with this?

A knock on the door distracted me from my musings. Missy was standing at the door, already in costume, "You ready to go?"

"Umm...one second," I hadn't realised the time, I was due to take my first patrol this evening! Locking my armour into place only took a minute. As soon as I pulled my helmet on I received a message from Dragon wishing me luck and reminding me that our agreement with the Wards meant I was under their authority while on patrol with them.

As I followed Mi-Vista, through the rig I ran a couple of quick checks on my systems.

"You looking forward to this?" Vista asked.

"Uh.. Kind of?"

Vista laughed. "Don't worry about it, things should be quiet tonight. Just remember, this is all voluntary."

"Don't get me wrong, I want to do this. It's just my first night wasn't exactly...pleasant."

"Yeah. If it helps, we won't be near the docks."

When we reached the rig's second dock, Gallant was already there waiting for us. The setting sun shining on his silver and grey power-armour.

"Vista," he greeted the younger Ward who had a faint blush on what I could see on her face, before he turned to me. "You ready for your first patrol?"

"Yea, I think so." He gave me a long look, considering something, before nodding. "Okay, as this is your first night, we will be sticking to the quieter areas. Just stay with us and you'll be fine." He raised a hand to the side of his helmet. "Console, this is Gallant, going on patrol with Vista and Matrix."

Vista touched the radio that was hidden by her visor and blonde wig. "Console, this is Vista, on patrol with Matrix and Gallant."

Copying them, I brought my hand up to the ear protrusion/antenna on the side of the helmet. Strictly speaking, it wasn't necessary, my radio was built into my helmet and could be activated either from my HUD or verbally but something about the gesture felt natural or expected.

"C-Console, this is Matrix, on patrol with Vista and Gallant." It felt odd using something other than my real name. I'd never really had a nickname, at least, not one that wasn't an insult. I suppose I would get used to it.

"Right, lets go." Gallant led us to a small boat that was moored nearby. The Rig had five docking stations and a helipad on the roof, visitors were brought across on the ferry that ran from dock one while the others were reserved for Protectorate, PRT and Ward usage.

Gallant decided to use the trip across the bay to give me an impromptu orientation, "I don't know if anyone has covered this with you so bear with me on this. People take identities seriously. When we have a mask on, even if it's in private, you should only use cape names. This applies even if you are talking about a cape who you both know personally or even a cape who doesn't have a second identity."

"It's part Master/Stranger protocols and part unwritten rules." Vista chipped in, "Did someone tell you about those?"

"Yea," I nodded, "No revealing secret identities, no going after unpowered friends or family and no killing." Miss Militia and Dragon had spent an hour last week explaining the Master/Stranger stuff.

"Once we arrive, we will be heading away from the docks. We are scheduled for a slow patrol so we can walk most of it. Rooftop patrols will be next week," Gallant explained. I hope he was joking about the rooftops.

Once the boat was docked, we headed off into the city. Vista leading the way while Gallant walked alongside me.

Walking through the streets was odd.

There was something freeing about wearing a mask, even with people possibly knowing who I was, they couldn't see my face so they couldn't see the nerves I was feeling or my too wide mouth and thin lips.

I had checked the route last night. We were walking south skirting the edge of Empire territory. The buildings and shops here didn't make enough to be worth shaking down for protection but were close enough to the main areas that they were mostly safe.

Even so, there were a lot of gang signs scattered about. Empire Eighty Eight tags, some fresh, some painted over, were dotted here and there and some had been painted over by Merchant tags. As we passed an alley a group of boys, not much older than me, gave us furtive looks and slunk further away. A couple of them had jackets with HH sprayed on the back.

"They're recruiting for the Empire," Vista muttered as Gallant quietly reported to the console.

"How can you tell?"

"The jackets, they don't wear blatant branding unless they want to look impressive."

"Shouldn't we do something about them?"

"No, unless they're breaking the law we can't touch them. All we can do is warn the police they're hanging about." The younger girl explained. "Of course, if you had brought Predaqueen it would be a different matter. Then we could really have some fun."

I suddenly had the image of Predaqueen charging down the road with a giggling Vista sitting on her back, either Gallant had the same though or he picked up on me because we both ended up laughing.

"I wish I could bring her but she burns through her charge too quickly." I paused for a breath. "Plus the Director banned her from patrols. Pred gives the wrong impression." That's what Miss Militia told me anyway.

"Oh come on!" Vista complained. "Who's going to mess with a robot dragon?"

"Lung for starters. The Empire wouldn't take it lying down either. Taking that thing on patrol would be a blatant threat that the gangs would have to respond too." Gallant replied.

"Predaqueen is not a 'thing'." I snapped.

"Sorry. My point was, we are not out here to pick a fight."

Drawing himself up, he suddenly sounded like a more enthusiastic class of teacher, "patrolling isn't about fighting. While we vary times and routes it is still simple for any organised criminal to avoid us and without a Mover ability there is only so much ground we can cover."

"Wouldn't it just be best to give everyone some kind of vehicle, like Kid Win's hoverboard? I asked.

Ahead of us, Vista laughed. "Remind me to show you the video of Clockblocker trying to fly that thing."

Gallant chuckled but carried on. "The idea is to be visible, to build a rapport with the public and establish trust with people. Seeing us makes them feel safe. And while we can't be everywhere, patrols make opportunists more likely to hesitate if they know there is a chance we could be nearby. Vandalism for example; foot patrols have been proven to help reduce it."

I glanced at a gang tag on a nearby wall and a nearby curtain twitching caught my eye.

"What's more," Gallant continued, "people are more likely to approach us with information if they feel comfortable with us, and for that to happen they need to see us."

I could see what he was trying to explain, and he clearly believed in what he was saying. But honestly? He sounded like he had swallowed a PR book whole.

Gallant left me to my thoughts for awhile before changing the subject.

"So, how has your first day been so far?" Gallant asked.

I considered how best to answer that, "It's been okay I guess."

"You got to meet Glory Girl. Most would consider that a good thing."

"Don't get me wrong, it was great meeting her and Amy but... it pretty much ruined any chance of me going unnoticed."

Vista turned to look at us."You wanted to be ignored?"

"Well, not exactly. I was hoping to keep a low profile for a while, let people forget about those videos and think I was just another student. Being seen with Glory Girl more or less confirms I'm a parahuman."

"Ah...Sorry, that might have been my fault."

"What do you mean?"

Gallant rubbed the back of his neck and his voice lost some of its presence, "I may have told Vicky about you."

"Gallant, how could you?" Vista groaned.

"Wha-you? What did you tell her and why?" I demanded, I didn't care if Gallant was soon to be the Wards leader, I'd had enough of people talking about me behind my back.

Gallant held his hands in front of him in surrender, "I was worried about you," he protested. "Officially your identity is compromised. That means none of the Wards can talk to you without having a plausible reason. I spoke about it with Vicky but I didn't expect her to do anything."

"Yea, cause she's never done anything stupid before," Vista muttered. "You're an empath, how could you not know she would do something?"

Gallant tried to retake control of the situation, "look, we are supposed to be on patrol."

I ignored his protests since there was no one nearby. My suit's limited sensor suite would have warned me if there were. "Why were you even talking to Glory Girl about me anyway?"

"Glory Girl is dating Dean Stansfield." Vista said, with some bitterness in her voice.

"Look, Vicky means well. Yes she can get a bit carried away but she genuinely likes helping people. We were talking when one of her friends mentioned that robot dragon of yours. I didn't say anything!" He cut me off before I could speak.

"When we were alone later she asked about it. She already knew a Tinker and a member of the Undersiders had been brought into the hospital after a fight with Lung but Panacea takes privacy seriously. Eventually I let slip that you had agreed to join the Wards and that I wasn't sure how you would handle school when people knew your identity. That's all. To be honest, Vicky would probably have done it anyway the moment she realised you were a Ward. She likes meeting people."

I wanted to be angry at him, and I was, to a point. I didn't like the idea of him talking behind my back; that bothered me. On the other hand, he was only trying to help and getting to meet both of them was nice.

Looking back on it, I wonder if that area of effect thing she did was deliberate, a way to draw attention to her and away from me...

I'll talk to Rung about it later. Rewind was hidden inside my armour, a precaution in case I was unable to call for help. [Taylor, they are just trying to help. I'm sure Rung would tell you to just explain to them why you're upset.] He probably would too.

I let out a huff and turned back in the direction we were heading. "Okay, I get what you were trying to do but you can understand how I feel about people going behind my back... just... give me a little warning next time."

"Right, that's fair," Gallant said. Besides him, Vista nodded.

We carried on walking but there was still some tension in the air.

"So..." I started, "Clockblocker tried to use Kid Win's hoverboard?"

This got a laugh from the other Wards as they started to tell me the full story.