A/N: I don't know what the fuck I am doing.

Rebecca Costa-Brown, Chief Director and thus effective leader of the Parahuman Response Team, abbreviated as P.R.T., was having a bad day. Problems on top of problems slowly building up that needed to be dealt with. However, this was normal.

In all of her 16 years as Chief Director, 17 in a few days, nothing seemed to get by her... And in the case of seemingly impossible odds, it would somehow work itself out in the end, such as a potential S-Class threat dying before it became one, or someone suddenly deciding to change their mind regarding a stance that would hamper the PRT somehow which Costa-Brown deemed crucial.

Of course, anyone who thought she might have had a hand in these instances of 'luck' certainly found nothing that could be traced back to her. This all changed up until two years ago. Nobody quite knew what happened two years ago, but a scenario that the Chief Director needed dealt with a certain way... wasn't dealt with. Nobody knows why she didn't get a lucky break that time, but she was slowly becoming more and more affected by it; especially since the number of "lucky breaks" she'd receive went from a 75% success rate at worst to a 25% success rate at best.

In unrelated news, that Carmen Sandiego looking bitch known in the criminal underworld as 'the boogey man' has been making less frequent appearances around the world. Hell, some shmuck could swear he saw her riding on the same commercial airliner he was instead of doing her 'out-of-sight' horror movie styled teleportation thing. He thought she was there to kill him.

In even more unrelated news; parahumans that fall under the Anomalous Case Files #53 (Case 53s for short) have been appearing at less frequency. When Case 53s first started appearing in the world, they made up at least 80% of the Monstrous Cape (or mutant) community, set apart from their relatively normal peers due to appearing out of seemingly nowhere, having an Omega Tattoo, and not remembering anything about their past. Now, the number of Case 53s appearing per year compared to their memory retaining, non-tattoo'd kin is at best a one to one ratio. Three individuals total over the last two years instead of the usual eight per year like during the first nine years.

Of course, these three things have nothing to do with each other... Or so Rebecca Costa-Brown wanted everyone to believe.

"Chief, we got a call from Director Piggot from East North East's PRT Office," she could hear her secretary say. "Something about a mass Stranger Effect that could be spread memetically?"

'Oh shit, have the Fallen made a move on Brockton Bay!?' the Chief Director screamed silently. 'We need that city to test Parahuman Feudalism! If the Mathers family got their hands on it...'

"Patch her through," Costa-Brown said calmly, trying to forget the possibilities she had been thinking about.

...

"Assault was not initially effected because he kept his mouth shut on the subject and Margatroid herself didn't speak of it," Director Piggot said over the phone. "When we tested the Stranger effect on him by having a PRT officer repeat what Rumia had described, it did effect him. And he was effected again when he spoke of what Rumia said from memory."

"So, the Parahuman Rumia speaking it aside," Costa-Brown said, "Anyone who speaks of it triggers the Stranger effect on literally anyone who isn't a Parahuman themselves, excluding Rumia, Margatroid, Triumph and Battery? And while Miss Militia can see what she had forgotten, she'll still trigger the Stranger Effect if she speaks of it herself?"

"Yes."

Something people generally didn't know about Rebecca Costa-Brown was that she had a perfect memory. She was repeating summation because of how ludicrous it sounded. That said...

'Triumph and Battery are not natural triggers, Doctor Mother created them via the vials,' she noted to herself. A gag order could put on the knowledge of the agents, however; especially since the P.R.T., Protectorate, other government agencies and the general public couldn't confirm Rumia and Margatroid's claims safely.

"In spite of this," the Chief Director continued, "Rumia and Alice Margatroid are both normal humans according to your scanning equipment."

Rumia needed to stay out of the Birdcage, lest she killed and ate all of the criminals kept there. Alternatively, Margatroid or Void Cowboy could be hired to put Rumia down for good if her killing sprees didn't encourage natural trigger events.

'The Slaughterhouse 9 might not survive since it is no longer receiving constant aid.'

She sent a message to Contessa to see if they would have to intervene regarding Rumia...

"Yes." Piggot was sounding more and more exasperated as the Chief Director repeated what she told her, if only in summation.

"If Alice Margatroid's claims about teaching the independent hero 'Void Cowboy' how to make his technology are true, this may be less of a case of Parahuman abilities at play and more of 'Clarke's Third Law.'"

Contessa replied, implying that they didn't need to waste energy on freeing Rumia.

'Who would want to spring a known cannibal and vicious killer from armed transport?'

"I am not familiar with the term, ma'am," she heard Piggot answer.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," the Chief Director quoted. "Alice Margatroid is also from another world, she may be part of a culture that doesn't see much of a difference in using terminology we think is strange or wrong."

It should be out of the PRT's hands. However... there were some oddities surrounding Alice Margatroid's appearance in Earth Bet. While Rebecca Costa-Brown didn't believe in magic, a random girl on the cusp of High School with no signs of being a parahuman bringing another human from another world right after opening a book and chanting random words did seem... worth reopening the investigation of.

'Because even with Contessa working every waking hour, our plans are not sustainable long term without Doormaker.'

Someone woke up the Sleeper and tried to use him to fight an Endbringer. The Endbringer was driven off in almost record time, but the outcome was one of the most catastrophic among Endbringer fights. Cauldron was unable to create as many stable Parahumans as quickly as it used to, reobtaining powers took longer, and hiding Cauldron's existence was harder. To say nothing of potentially useful Parahumans constantly committing 'Suicide by Shrine Maiden' in Japan.

The last 2 years have proved just how badly Doormaker's disappearance affected everything.