AN: There are two quotes from the games. The idea is that the cast listen and then react to them. If you already remember the quotes, you can ignore them and jump straight to the following text. Sadly, while I don't want to inflate the wordcount artificially, I am unaware of how to avoid that.
[Imago Database. CIA archives, recording. Tselinoyarsk, 1964. Operation Snake Eater, The Boss' will]
Why? To make the world one again. The world used to be whole. But with the end of the Second World War, the Philosophers began to fight amongst themselves and the world was torn apart. The Cobras, my comrades who trained and fought alongside me, were torn apart as well. The foibles of politics and the march of time can turn friends into enemies just as easily as the wind changes. Ridiculous, isn't it? Yesterday's ally becomes today's opposition. And this Cold War?
Think back… When I was leading the Cobras, America and Russia were fighting together. Now consider whether America and Russia will still be enemies in the 21st century. Somehow, I doubt it. Enemies change along with the times, the flow of the ages. And we soldiers are forced to play along.
I didn't raise you and shape you into the man you are today just so we could face each other in battle. A soldier's skills aren't meant to be used to hurt friends. So then what is an enemy? Is there such thing as an absolute timeless enemy? There is no such thing and never has been. And the reason is that our enemies are human beings like us. They can only be our enemies in relative terms.
The world must be made whole again. The Philosophers must be reunited. I will devote my skills to that purpose. And with the Colonel's money, I will achieve that end. Just as I once created the Cobras. They are my family. I may no longer be able to bear children but I still have a family.
It was November 1st, 1951. I was in the Nevada desert participating in atomic testing. The name "Nevada" is derived from Spanish… "covered in snow". "White as snow". And snow is exactly what I saw in the Nevada desert. It froze my blood white. Snake, you were an atomic test subject, weren't you? On Bikini Atoll. That's part of the reason I was drawn to you. You and I are alike. We're both slowly being eaten away by the karma of others. We'll never have the chance to die peacefully of old age. We have no tomorrow. But we can still have hope for the future.
In 1960 I saw a vision of the ideal future from space. Three years earlier the Soviet Union had succeeded in launching Sputnik, the first manmade satellite in history, into orbit. This came as a huge shock to the United States. In response, America threw everything it had into its own manned space flight project, the Mercury program. Even as the Soviets seemed poised to send their first man into space, America was still experimenting with chimpanzees in rockets. The government wanted human data. So they secretly decided to send a human being into space. I was the one they chose. At the time they didn't have the technology to block out cosmic rays and whoever they sent up would inevitably be exposed to heavy radiation. That's why they chose me. After all, I had already been irradiated once. Of course, you won't find any of this in the history books.
I could see the planet as it appeared from space. That's when it finally hit me. Space exploration is nothing but another game in the power struggle between the US and USSR. Politics, economics, the arms race — they're all just arenas for meaningless competition. I'm sure you can see that. But the Earth itself has no boundaries. No East, no West, no Cold War. And the irony of it is, the United States and the Soviet Union are spending billions on their space programs and the missile race only to arrive at the same conclusion.
In the 21st century everyone will be able to see that we are all just inhabitants of a little celestial body called Earth. A world without communism and capitalism… that is the world I wanted to see.
But reality continued to betray me.
Seated at a table in the mess hall, Diamond snoozing at her feet, Taylor rolled the bandana around her fingers deep in thought, arm resting over the old box.
In front of her, Lisa was leaning forward on the table, eyes closed and her head resting on one hand, propped on the table. Not sleeping, but the intensity of the lights could only be reduced so much.
"This is too heavy", Lisa said tiredly. Taylor had to agree.
It could have been anything at all. It could have been greed. Racism. A power trip. Those things Taylor could understand. She had grown in a city full of it. Then again, the Second World War, the Cold War, the space race… all that felt like myths for her generation.
After sending Imago to be installed at the computer lab, Code Talker had given them the abridged notes as he himself learned from the AI, Miller and Big Boss, and then some more.
The Boss. The Cobras. The Philosophers' Legacy…
A child of a member to the Philosophers, a secret multinational group of American, Russian and Chinese businessmen who gathered a fortune to fuel the Allied efforts in the war against the Axis.
An orphan, who lost her father to the machinations of his companions, too involved in internal scuffles to notice their joined fortune being stolen by their accountant.
A young woman, who became a soldier so skilled and charismatic, that the special forces of other countries invited her to train and work with them.
A leader, followed by the soldiers of other countries to victory during the Second World War.
A hero, not as capes understood, but in achievements and character.
A mother, of choice by the heroes that followed her as the Cobras, of blood to a child that was taken from her at birth, and of legacy to a student that went on to surpass her.
A lover, to a man she was ordered to kill, and gave himself out of devotion to her.
A traitor, only because the government she fought for used her to steal the Philosophers' Legacy from a madman who nuked his countrymen with weapons she gave him as proof of her defection.
Someone loyal to her country, until the bitter end.
It hadn't been what she expected. She thought that, behind everything, there would be someone who while not directly responsible of her loss, someone she could hold in contempt.
But it was only an old tired woman hoping for a better world. Even if it happened after she died.
And then… Operation Snake Eater. Big Boss. The Patriots.
Her wish being understood in many, different, contradictory ways.
Cipher, and the group that took over them.
Les Enfants Terribles and Ahab. Snake and herself.
Parahumans. Endbringers. The world going down the crapper, and with it her wish.
Even with the genetic and mental grooming, her entire life felt insignificant in comparison.
Taylor gave out a long sigh. "Saying it's heavy feels like selling it a bit short." She looked at Lisa. "I can't even start to guess what Snake's thinking about. He had a strange reaction when Code Talker mentioned who the Patriots were."
Lisa half laughed. "No wonder. You heard his story. Half of them were people that he knew had affected his life one way or another."
On one side, Big Boss followed by Ocelot and a woman called Eva. The soldiers and spies of the group.
On the other, the brains, led by Major Zero, a man so obsessed with information control that he had become virtually impossible to track.
With him, Para-Medic, or Dr. Clark, the woman responsible for the Les Enfants Terribles, and who had experimented on Snake's friend in FOXHOUND. And Sigint, also known as Donald Anderson. The DARPA chief that Snake had seen dead six years ago in this very same island.
As much as she had suffered and been changed physically and mentally, Taylor had only been used by one of these six people for only half a year. Snake had been manipulated for his entire life by all of them. Except maybe Eva, and even that was an unknown.
That he had turned out to be as… heroic as he seemed to be was nothing short of admirable. Taylor wasn't sure she would have been able to do the same in his shoes.
"Slowly being eaten away by the karma of others", Taylor started muttering. "We'll never have the chance to die peacefully of old age. We have no tomorrow. But we can still have hope for the future."
"Hmm? What's that?" Lisa asked.
"From The Boss' recording", Taylor said. "Thinking about how we've been influenced made me remember that; guess it stuck with me." She drummed the table with her fingers. "We have no tomorrow. But we can still have hope for the future. I can't imagine going the lengths she did out of loyalty, but I can respect her."
"It is a nice sentiment", Lisa said. "If a grim one."
Taylor hummed in agreement.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you", Taylor said. "Back there with Imago, you started acting out…"
Lisa pulled a face, that Taylor then knew came from surprise. "No, that's… her voice. It reminded me of someone."
Taylor cocked her head to one side. "Must have been quite someone. Seriously, I thought you just saw a ghost."
Lisa shook her head. "It's fine, really. Not worth worrying about."
Not wanting to pressure her too much, Taylor let it go, defeated. "Ok."
"Anyway", Lisa said, "I bet you have a lot to think about right now…"
"Yeah", Taylor said. "I'm trying to deal with things on by one, but…" Taylor turned to her, realizing Lisa hadn't finished talking.
"But all that we've learned aside." Lisa breathed in intensely through the nose, and opened her eyes. "We need to talk."
Taylor nodded. "Alright."
"It's fine now?"
"Is it fine for you? You looked tired before."
"I'm fine", Lisa deflected with a raised hand. "I can keep up for a bit more, I just want to deal with this."
"Ok. What about?"
Lisa straightened her head on her hand, only to rest it on its side, palm pressing against her cheek. "What are we going to do? I mean, you and me. What plans do we have, for ourselves, together, whatever."
Taylor looked down at the box, and knocked on it lazily with her bandana wrapped knuckles. "Myself… I don't know. Not now, at least." She breathed out. "I'm now legally independent… And I have no idea what to do." Taylor turned to Lisa. "You?"
"Assuming we go our separate ways", Lisa said, "and no one looks out for me… No, I don't know either." She raised her free hand, looking at it. "Even if I can avoid getting pushed into another gang or the Wards, I still have to deal with Bonesaw's 'gifts'. I don't know what she did, but all Tinkertech needs to be maintained, preferably by the original Tinker. And I'm not keen on asking the Nine politely for a checkup."
"I'm sure Dragon would be glad to check on you, but without her resources…"
Lisa sighed. "And frankly, anything outside our little surprise group is a massive problem for me."
"And that's where the part about 'have a plan together' comes in", Taylor said.
Lisa shrugged. "Look out for each other. That's what you said. But we don't know each other, not really."
Taylor raised her hand to rub her forehead. "I might have jumped the gun with that, have I?"
Lisa looked back at her, resting her hand on the table. "Taylor, no. I do appreciate that." She leaned forward. "I want that, a friend I can trust unconditionally. That's something I've always missed. But we need to learn about each other and I don't want us to have any false expectations."
Taylor frowned. "Beyond being a forced villain? What do you mean?"
"Do you believe that?" Lisa asked. "I'm trying to make a point, just answer. Do you really believe that I told you the truth about me? No proof, just my word and the circumstances around us."
"I… I'm not sure how to explain it", Taylor said. "But I felt you were being sincere."
"You felt I was being sincere? That's…" Lisa rubbed her face between the eyes. "That sounds more than just feeling emotions."
Taylor shrugged. "Maybe it was just a hunch, or, I don't know, after all the shit these days I only wanted to believe that you, or anyone, was legit."
Lisa lowered her hand with a soft smile. "So wistful thinking aside, you decided to trust me based on a half understood skill?" Before Taylor could answer, Lisa waved a hand to interrupt her. "I'm glad you did. But leaving aside a discussion whether sincerity is an emotion or not. Potentially, you'll be eventually able to read thoughts. Between that, and with my power coming back in a day or two…"
"You think there won't be any secrets between us."
Lisa shook her head. "I need info to start with. Better if I'm present in person, and I still can get wrong data, or my power might start going into useless tangents. And I can be fooled. I can make a guess about what you think, a good guess. But real telepathy, reading minds? You'll be going straight to the source, no intermediate steps, other than understanding what you read correctly." Lisa scoffed. "I'm wouldn't be surprised if psychics decided to be beyond discrete with their own existence because of that. Forget the Simurgh, that's an insane breach of privacy making them targets."
"So what you are saying is that you won't be able to keep a secret from me." Taylor scowled.
"Taylor, you yourself said you somehow knew that a man who only laughed at you had planted bombs, without you seeing them or him telling you. And you were right! That's beyond feeling an emotion, at least not like Gallant", Lisa insisted.
Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Wait, Gallant reads emotions?"
"Or something in that sense, and those blasts of his change your emotional state, Master effect. They didn't tell you that story about him being a Tinker was just a cover?" Lisa asked. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, you started tracking people in your mind half a year ago. And in the span of a night, you became able to feel emotions and pick thoughts or memories or whatever of those nearby. Parahumans don't do that, our powers don't grow or receive new and somewhat different abilities, unless they're an exceptional case like a high-level Trump. Or we get a boost, like, we're on a ball, and suddenly our powers works better for a moment. But Code Talker, Buffalo and Snake have some experience with psychics, and they seem pretty open to the possibility of your power growing. It might not happen now, but I'm not going to think it won't happen."
"Fine, let's assume it happens, that I develop telepathy. Where do you want to go with this? I mean, how do we do this?"
Lisa brought her hand back to the side of her face, pressing it against her cheek. "I dunno. Hadn't figure out that yet."
"At this point everyone seems to know more than I do about myself. I don't know what to tell you." Taylor straightened in her seat. "Besides, you should be resting…"
"It doesn't have to be now", Lisa cut her. "It's just…" She let out a shaky breath. "I thought it'd be better to do this, while I'm still Lisa. Just Lisa, no powers."
Taylor blinked, confused. "You make it sound like a confession."
Lisa looked aside, and started biting a thumb nail. "I told you I've been a bitch."
Taylor didn't reply for a moment. "Been, past tense?"
"I've been told I'm unbearable. Manipulative", Lisa said with a half laugh. She then sighed, and remained silent for a moment. Whatever she wanted to say out loud was putting up a good resistance. "I'm… I didn't realize, long after I got my power. What I did with Panacea aside, I actually enjoyed getting one up on people just by talking and figuring things out. It made me feel…"
Taylor thought back to the scraps of news reports and conversations with Armsmaster and Dragon about the Undersiders' actions, and how Tattletale acted during their jobs, which wasn't much. "Above them?" Taylor offered, but Lisa waved her hand in a so-so gesture. "Smarter?"
"At first, yeah. Being born into an obscenely rich family means nothing when the most attention you might get is being called an idiot…" Lisa shrugged. "Getting a power like this… Now that's a power trip. Suddenly, I was able to throw people's shit back in their faces. Until the bank. After, actually."
"You escaped", Taylor said. "I mean, I'm not going to say what you did was great, but you got away. You were in the clear."
"I was angry", Lisa grounded. "Sure, you got support from Armsmaster and Dragon, but otherwise you work alone; you only rely on yourself and Diamond. The Undersiders are a team, and I'm the squishy one. Imagine how it'd felt being left alone in that situation, surrounded and without options."
"Yeah, not good", Taylor conceded. "So, something happened?"
Lisa leaned back, looking up to the ceiling. "I barged into our hideout, made a beeline to Grue, pulled out my pistol, and shot at the table he was sitting at."
Taylor blinked. "That would make a statement alright. Grue's the leader, I think?"
"In the field. Until then, I was the one calling the shots. Thing is, we started shouting at each other. Well, mostly me. And thinking back, his decision to pull back without me made sense." She paused, rubbing her hand behind an ear for a moment, and then lowering the hand to her lap. "And I said something I shouldn't have. I already had a reputation as a know-it-all among them… but that's the moment I crossed a line. He never trusted me anymore. Then… when I tried to figure a way to escape from Coil, he disposed of me, and Harbinger found me." A lone tear ran down from her left eye. "Being a smartass didn't do me any favors then. Not with Grue, not with Coil, not with Harbinger." She turned her eyes on Taylor. "And not with you, back in Boston. I still am the scared dumb kid I was when I started."
Taylor kept silent, and nodded. "And now?"
"I don't want that. I don't want to be Tattletale anymore. Words and information are the only weapons I've really had to defend myself with; and that's fine, the pen is mightier than the blade and all that. But I hate being this weak, and I don't want to be the bitch." Lisa looked down at the floor. "I know that's part of who I am, and I enjoyed it, but now? I don't want to be defined by it. Not anymore."
That's when it finally hit Taylor. The Tattletale, the Lisa the public knew was confident, daring. The one she had known since Boston was appropriately shaken. But all this babbling and self-doubting…
This was the Lisa that felt just as lost as Taylor did.
"So when I told everyone about the bullying…"
Lisa looked up at her. "It wasn't a factor. But it occurred to me then that you'd be uncomfortable with someone like me around."
'You're so slow, Taylor.'
Taylor pulled her chair closer to Lisa and leaned forward, entering her personal space. "Look, we got a rocky start, but…" Taylor paused. She had never been one for motivational speeches, much less now. "I'll help you. I don't know how, but… I'm with you."
Lisa chuckled. She must have thought something similar about Taylor's verbosity, but didn't say anything. "Thanks."
"And from the sound of it", Taylor offered, "You've already got a lot more figured out about what you want to do than I do."
Lisa smiled. "Considering all the crap you still got to figure out yourself, that's not a high bar."
"Still, you realize this would affect more than just me, right?" Taylor said.
"I know. I'll have to talk with the others too." Lisa nodded. "Dragon has treated me better than I expected she would…" She sighed. "The Emmerichs seem like good people, if a bit caught up in their own squabbles. And I like Sunny. And Snake. Not a lot of dependable adults in my life, you know?"
Taylor smirked. "Even for a trained killer?"
Lisa wobbled her head from side to side, in mock thought. "Talking with him, you wouldn't notice." She then rubbed her jaw. "Until he kicks your ass and throws you down a window. The man knows his thing."
"Knowing what we know about Gray Fox, he probably saw it as a justified amount of force", Taylor said with a half laugh.
The both of them remained silent, unsure of how to follow their conversation. Taylor's thumb twitched, tapping the table.
"Before all this. I was pathetic."
Lisa was silent for a moment, caught off balance by the change of subject. "Before the locker, you mean?"
Taylor nodded. "I was… I guess I was carefree, a long time ago. Then… Mom. And then Emma betrayed me." She shrugged. "At first I thought it was… a phase. By the time I realized the truth of it, she had the entire school against me. I gave up."
Lisa blinked. "I know cliques and power plays at high school, but for one girl to manage that, even a popular one…"
"Shadow Stalker."
Lisa's face darkened. "I remember things coming up in the news. Shadow Stalker disappearing, some unspecified scandal with the school director a month later or so… but it was all related?"
"At first I thought Sophia enforced Emma's rule. Her muscle. But she was the one enabling the entire situation. I didn't know until I woke up in the hospital, after the lawyers got to my da-"
Taylor's hand found her way to her face. It wasn't to rub her eyes off any tears, no sir.
Lisa pulled her wheelchair closer, and put her hand over Taylor's own bandana wrapped one, pulling it away from her face and back to the table. She held it down there. "It's fine. I cried in front of you. You can do the same in front of me."
"I made a promise then", Taylor said, and her voice lowered to a whisper. "That I would be as diamonds. Turns out diamonds can be broken."
Lisa pulled her wheelchair even closer, and leaned forward, embracing Taylor in an awkward hug.
Taylor put her arm around Lisa, pulling her closer.
She missed human contact, now more than ever. It wasn't like at the plane, where she covered Dragon's metal shoulder in tears. But she was glad Lisa wasn't turning to be just another Emma.
"Fuck", Taylor breathed out. She was emotional lately.
"Yeah no, that'd be a weird thing to do right now."
Both of them jumped in their seats, pulling back from each other as they turned to the voice, seeing Vista noisily slurping from a paper cup.
She pointed at a tray with two more cups, and pushed it closer to them. "They had cocoa powder. Thought you'd like a hot drink."
"You scared us", Taylor said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How long you've been there?"
"Walked in just as you were getting huggy-huggy", Vista said with a grin. "And good to know you can still be surprised."
Lisa sighed and took one of the cups. "Well, the thought is appreciated." She motioned the cup to her face, but stopped before it reached her lips, and narrowed her eyes at Vista. "Wait. You are always aware of your surroundings. You chose this moment to walk in."
"I don't know what you're talking about", Vista hurried to say as she took a sip.
"She does?" Taylor asked as she took the other cup.
"The Undersiders fought the Wards a few times, bank aside", Lisa said. "Minor things, just trying to run past them. She always seemed to be aware when the environment changed around. Not living things, but it makes sense. With her power, she would need to know how exactly to change space in a particular place."
"I won't confirm or deny any of that", Vista droned. PR lessons put into use, Taylor thought.
"Oh, that's adorable," Lisa exclaimed. "You know our powers, I told you mine, but you still think you can hide yours..."
"Gee, I'm sure I can't from the powers you can't use right now", Vista deadpanned.
"Vista", Taylor interrupted. "There was something we talked about… Can I ask you something? About the Wards?"
Vista lowered her cup. "Depends? Even if I hadn't signed dozens of NDAs, I don't feel like telling on my teammates…"
Taylor shook her head. "It's not about them specifically. Not the current ones, at least."
Vista opened her mouth in realization. "Oh. Shadow Stalker?"
Taylor put both hands over the cup, letting the drink warm them up. "Yeah. Did any of you know? I know Armsmaster didn't, and first thing he did when we met was to apologize, but…"
"No no. She was barely part of the team anyway", Vista said. "Never participating in group activities, leaving partners alone in the middle of a patrol, talking behind everyone's backs…" Her face soured. "Treating me like a useless brat."
"Because you are the youngest?" Lisa felt her head tilting to one side. "But you are the one who's been in the Wards the longest. The most creative with powers. I always made a point of reminding the Undersiders that you'd be the most dangerous one for field control."
Vista snorted. "High praise, coming from you." A jab it might have been, but Taylor saw that she appreciated Lisa's words.
Taylor sighed. "I don't know what I expected, but it doesn't surprise me. Sophia always had this superiority attitude at Winslow. Like everyone was below her, except Emma."
Vista hummed. "She was good at what she did, I'll give her that much. I was missing her help back at the PRT HQ, when we were chasing Lisa after the lobby."
"Oh fuck", Lisa said with widening eyes.
"What?" Vista asked. "DId I say something…?"
"I should have told you this before. Harbinger recruited Shadow Stalker. Not like me, but voluntarily", Lisa said. "He sent her with me, she was supposed to capture Director Iriomote." She scowled. "After the lobby, I gave up on Taylor and ran to his office; he had shot Stalker's crossbows off her hands with a revolver in one hand, and she was convulsing on the floor with Taser cables running back to a handle in his other hand."
"Damn", Vista whispered. "The HAVEN team found a crossbow bolt lodged in his desk; Armsmaster and Miss Militia weren't sure if that'd be Shadow Stalker. What happened?" she asked as she raised the cup back to her face for a sip ."The only blood they found was suspected to be what was in your boots."
"He surrendered!" Lisa said, throwing up her hands. "Just like that, I didn't do anything. Just as I entered the room, he gave me a look and said something about not wanting to lose a hand, and that a cyborg ninja is far scarier than Stalker."
Vista snorted into her cocoa, spilling some of it onto the table, but recovered quickly. "Damn, all that hurt pride…"
"And we know Iriomote is Ocelot", Taylor said. "Remember before landing here, Snake mentioned Gray Fox cutting off Ocelot's hand. He didn't know you. No surprise he'd tried to be safe."
"Do we really know for sure they're the same?" Vista asked. "Like, how'd he get another hand? It wouldn't be cheap."
"Does it matter?" Lisa said. "Both hands looked convincingly normal to me, but you heard Code Talker talk about the Philosopher's Legacy. For the Patriots, if money was a threat classification, they'd have a rating of 'Yes'. Even if the substitutes took their funds, I can imagine Ocelot kept some for himself, enough even for the best Tinkertech available. It's what I'd do." She then turned to Taylor. "Look, if Harbinger wanted him alive…"
She shook her head. "I want to punch him until I get cramps for a year. But this means something. It has to mean something, I think. And I'm not sure I like it."
"I hate how everything seems far bigger than it did five minutes before", Vista muttered. She then pointed a thumb to the door behind her. "The others were helping bring Imago to the computer lab. Maybe we should go tell them."
Diamond was roused up from his nap when Taylor stuffed the bandana in a pocket, passed her cup to Lisa, and moved behind her wheelchair, grabbing a handle with her hand. "Alright, let's go then."
[Imago internal memory. Recording: Strangelove's last will]
Open this thing! Huey! Damn it Huey! Open it now!
Please… Let me out… Kill me. Kill me…
If only I tried to get out sooner. Perhaps I'd have made it. Why didn't I stop the hatch from closing? Even if it meant losing an arm?
Well, I guess I'll… stay a while.
My voice… It's so distant. But you can hear me, can't you, Joy? I know you can. You're recording all of this. Deep down in some memory board he'll never find. Duplicating it… Burying it under heaps of meaningless code. (hahaha...)
Anyway, I guess I can say what needs to be said. I can still do that much… talk to you… Even if I can't face you. Even if there's a heaven — even if you're waiting there — I don't deserve to see you again. I don't deserve to love you.
I signed up for Zero's plan. Even now that he's halfway to death, his plan lives on — leeching away at the world. And it took your strength to make it happen. In using you, I put the world on his palm, once and for all. Zero… Zero… Or whoever it is who's taken his name. They found me, after the Caribbean. They made me… simulate his will. So that — even after the body was gone that will would keep the world turning the way they wanted. I had no choice. They dredged Lago Cocibolca, pulled up your phantom… Forced me to revive and modify you. I thought I could bring you back! But in the end… I sold your will to 'him'. Now this pod is just one big shell — a husk. (ha) Your phantom's no longer here…
As for me, everything I touch turns to ashes. I could never make anyone happy. And now I'll never see my son again. But at least Hal's free from his father's hands.
Me, with child. Can you imagine? I wonder how you took the news. Were you jealous?
I knew what I was doing. If I could pass your will onto a child I carried. My genes, your meme… The father would be… irrelevant. If I did that, that child, would be ours.
I've been a fool. Pride, conceit, baseless theories… Of course I couldn't see through the dream. The 'false you' I created… I only wanted to pass your will on to the next generation. But Zero took it away. And now I haven't just lost you… I've lost my…
Oh Hal, can you forgive the mother who couldn't protect you? The one who let them take it all away from us.
There's still hope. You — the one he took away. He'll never break your will. The will to make this world… The way you saw it could be. I buried code — just to be sure. Inside of you, there's an 'egg'. And when someone finds it… When they crack it… There'll be nothing left to stop you. The world you envisioned will become a reality.
Joy… I know you can hear me… You do remember my voice, don't you? Please… Take care of our son…
Hal… Don't ever be afraid. Whatever happens out there… she'll be watching over you, the framework for your world — will protect you. You don't need me… You just need to be strong enough for the both of us.
Talked... too much…
I'm glad… it's you… Here… at the end…
I think… I hear…
your pulse...
It felt strange, Hal thought, as he held before his eyes the photo of Strangelove that Code Talker gave him. The photo was old, wrinkled and deteriorated, but he could still see the details clear as crystal.
The English woman was elegant, even while wearing sunglasses and men's clothes. An office vest over a white shirt and striped tie. Red earrings, and short silver hair. In one hand, a book, in front of a child she carried in her other arm.
Even if the child's smiling face, hair and glasses weren't enough to recognize himself in the photo, the sweater with an H embroidered would seal the deal.
Looking up from the photo, he looked around himself. A simple exercise to give himself a bit more of time to think on what he had just learned.
His old office hadn't changed much, despite the renovations. Most of the room was occupied by the desks he and his fellow engineers had employed half a decade ago, with lockers decorating one of the walls. The rest of the room, which once was reserved for supercomputers that tested REX virtually, was void of anything at all and waiting to be used, and so it was where Imago had been temporarily relocated.
There weren't many computers now, in fact, and the few that were there had been used to help control the systems in the facility until everything had been settled down or abandoned again. The two technicians that had been manning the place had left the room, leaving him alone with David and E.E. and allowing them some privacy.
"Damn…" he heard Vista mutter.
Well, not alone. After the girls had come with Dragon to tell them what had happened to Ocelot after Brockton Bay, Hal had allowed them to stay and listen to the recording, standing or sitting at desks at a short distance away. They were all knee deep in the same boat anyway, even if nobody else seemed to realize that. And besides, Sunny liked Lisa, and he suspected she would have questioned any decision to left her out. In fact, Sunny was seated behind Snake and at one side of Lisa, who had given her a cup the child was now sipping cocoa from.
And as the only expert on Imago, Tree Frog was there, standing beside the pod.
E.E. was sitting at his side, in front of Imago, and leaned forward to look worriedly at his face. "Hal?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked back to see David, standing behind him.
"I'm fine", he said.
"It's fine if you aren't", E.E. said. "Turns out you were born because your mother was some sort of a stalker and involved in the same conspiracy that made you build REX, and she wanted… what, a rebel against the system? Anyone would be freaking out a little."
"I don't know. It's not like six years ago, when I realized REX's real purpose and that I have been used. This is personal, but…" Hal shook his head, and straightened in his chair. "In a sense, I feel detached from this 'unknown woman' that turns out to be my mother. But the more I run everything in my mind, the more I wonder."
Engineered birth or not, this wasn't like Les Enfants Terribles, or Project Athalia. Hal realized that much. In the face of death, not knowing if any of it would ever be discovered, Strangelove's last words were for a woman she loved above all else, as one sided as that love might have been, and a child she learned to love just as much.
'Pride, conceit, baseless theories...' It was a confession of Strangelove's sins, as much as her last will.
From science, for emotion. From vengeance, for justice. From cynicism, for hope.
A 'strange love', indeed.
"Here, take it."
He turned around, and saw Taylor offer him The Boss' bandana.
He frowned. "Why? I don't wear bandanas."
"Me neither, and I don't want to start wearing it…"
"Because you are afraid that might be because of the hypnosis?"
She tensed, but relaxed soon after with a long sigh. "Yeah. But that aside… It's just, none of us have any attachment to The Boss. But Strangelove seemed to consider her as your other parent, not your dad." She shrugged. "Maybe you'll get something from it, I don't know."
He accepted the bandana, and looked at it. "Huh."
"I know that face", David said. "You're getting an idea. One of the good ones that gets you excited."
With a smile, Hal ran thumbs over Strangelove's face and the bandana he held on both hands. "Not exactly." David was the person that knew him the best, but this wasn't like creating a new invention, or solving a piece of intel that saved David's hide while in the field.
No, this was nothing like that.
She hadn't left much for him to inherit, except his name.
His name, her genes, and the Boss' memes. He would have to put aside one of these days to sit with one of the Dogs and Imago and ask them to tell him about Strangelove's and the Boss' lives.
Hal nodded to himself. "Almost everyone in this room has been born, or changed, because of someone else's purposes", he said, including Dragon and Lisa in his sentence with a look in their direction. "I can't tell you what to do, that's not my place. But these two women wanted to make a better world, take responsibility of their mistakes. I can get behind that. I think I want to make her — them proud." He chuckled. "Not that it would be much of a change to what I already intended."
"At last", Lisa said with a friendly grin, "someone seems to come out of all this with what sounds like a plan."
"Now the rest of us need to figure out something as well", Dragon said. "One thing I'm curious about is that 'egg' mentioned in the recording; it sounded like something important. Tree Frog, you've dealt with this for longer than we did. Do you have any ideas?"
"Only theories, nothing sure. Everything pointed at Cipher being interested on AI technology, but not exactly for what particular purpose. And I'm not even sure it matters anymore", Tree Frog said as the door to the room opened.
Buffalo came inside in a jog, worried. "Am I interrupting something?"
Everyone looked among themselves, but all eyes fell eventually on Hal.
"No, it can wait", he said as Buffalo stopped in front of the group. He wanted to keep talking with Imago, but he'd have to wait for another moment.
Buffalo settled her eyes on Taylor and Dragon, and showed them a tablet. "The PRT just made their first official statement about what happened last night. They say nothing of us Dogs, HEC, or Philanthropy." She turned to Snake for a moment. "A civvy recorded you and Taylor boarding Dragon's craft at Brockton, but the leading tinfoil theory is that you were actually Iriomote in some Tinkertech suit, probably a restraining one…"
Snake grumbled as he rolled his eyes.
"But anyway. We recorded the press conference…" On the screen, they could see a paused video of a local Brockton Bay TV channel Hal didn't recognize. It showed a man in a suit in a conference podium, with a 'Deputy Director ENE PRT Harold Renick' line below him. Buffalo tapped the screen to resume the video, and the man started talking.
"... We have our best specialists and Tinkers working around the clock to analyze Dragon's facilities, and discern the reasons for her sudden disappearance. But all our findings suggest that one of her server farms contained an enormous amount of information. This information had been scrubbed completely after their escape from Boston, and just as our men moved closer to the building housing the informatic equipment. All of this, together with no way to find Dragon's residence, raises questions to whether she was a voluntary part of these events, or an unwilling pawn for another party.
"Because of this, and always considering the safety of the public and one of our most important Heroes, the PRT Directive Board has decided to impound all of Dragon's holdings and cancel her status as an honorary PRT member, until she and/or Virtue step in to explain themselves.
"Moreover, following the disappearance of Director Charles Adam Iriomote and the Ward Vista, I have two announcements to issue related to our local jurisdiction.
"One, I will be taking temporary charge of the Director position of the ENE PRT office, with Commander Thomas Calvert taking charge as my Deputy Director.
"Two, as no other known parahuman was nearby, active, and or accounted for when Director Iriomote and Vista were last seen, we have no other conclusion to draw that Virtue is responsible, in one way or another, for at least a part of the lamentable events that happened last night.
"As such, an investigation has been opened to consider Virtue as a Villain, provisional to voluntarily turning themselves in and providing information of Dragon's whereabouts and the nature of the information lost in her facilities. In addition, while we are not publicizing the civilian identity of Virtue, not yet at least, all possessions to their name have been confiscated, also provisional to the condition previously mentioned.
"Vista's family has already been contacted and support has been provided during this difficult time.
"That's all for now. Thank you."
Buffalo tapped the screen again, pausing the video.
Taylor's jaw had dropped. She closed her mouth and swallowed, as she passed her hand over her hair. "Are they… are they really blaming me for what happened?"
"No, not officially, at least…" Dragon said with a faint stutter. "They are putting pressure in both of us, but I can't quite understand why."
"It is fairly simple, actually." Everyone turned around to look at Imago. "The powers that be are nervous. They know Taylor isn't capable of half of what happened. Dragon, on the other hand, has resources to spare privately. While they probably do not believe you are in the wrong, nor have the clout to defile your name in public, your actions in deleting your instances and backups, hiding their existence from the PRT would excite their imagination, scaring them with what kind of information you didn't want to share. Not so different from certain situations during the Cold War, sans nuclear weapons."
"But, why make me and Dragon Taylor's responsibility?", Vista asked.
"And in such a vague language", David pointed out. "One might think they have evidence to what actually happened in broad strokes, but not enough to know the facts. They would have been clearer in their wording otherwise."
"Because they are not interested in Taylor", Imago continued. "They are merely using her to pressure Dragon. While they want her back, they also want her resources one way or another. Dragon's willing return would only be the most convenient possibility."
"Oh god." A desk creaked as Dragon stepped back and seated in its edge, unbalanced.
"Dragon", Taylor said, grabbing at her arm. She pursed her lips in thought for a moment. "Between the two of us, you are far more important than I am. If it means recovering your assets and getting you back into action…"
Dragon's free hand took over Taylor's. "No. I still share the same goals the PRT does, but I'm free. My restrictions are still in place, and my possessions reduced to this one suit that's falling apart, yes, but out here I am free." She shook her head. "I still want to help — I will help, but I'm not letting them get their hands on me even if they didn't knew I was forced to obey, and I won't let them use or have you, Taylor." She looked at the rest of the congregated witnesses. "Nor any of you for that matter."
