The Light of Day
Sunday, February 13th turned out to be a crisp, clear morning. Dawn breaking over the bay as Taylor and I got a somewhat later start to our day than previous mornings. Of course we were trading that luxury out for a longer route for our run.
I set the timer on the coffee pot while downing the last of my morning juice. Taylor was loading sports drinks into a small pack, and as the clock flipped around to 7:30, we headed out the door. Our breath fogging in the brisk, mid-twenties winter air.
Then something happened that I had not experienced in almost three years.
Taylor laughed.
'Not the wry, this instead of tears, or the dry chuckle that had seemed to replace her old expressions of joy. No, this was a bright, bubbling noise that seemed to relate more to the giggles of the tickle fights she and I and you, dearest, once engaged in.'
I felt her hand slap against my shoulder.
"TAG!"
And she was off, already at speed before I could take the first step. Shaking my head I launched after her, my own laughter still a little rueful at what I had roped myself into, but happier. We sprinted for two blocks before my longer legs let me overtake her. With a grin at me she slowed to our normal morning pace before nudging me with her arm. I nudged her back as we turned the corner toward downtown.
After two weeks of doing this every morning, my body had settled into the rhythm and now that we were both used to the Mover2 suits, it felt like we could maintain this pace forever. Lift, stretch, plant, pull, spring, lift, stretch, plant, pull, spring, lift, stretch, plant, pull, spring.
The steady slap of our shoes on the pavement, the chill morning air sweeping past our cheeks, the light burn of the muscles in our thighs and calves.
Damn, I missed this! 'We used to run every morning, you and I.' I glanced over at Taylor and the sudden melancholy was swept away as she grinned back at me.
On a whim, I stepped up the pace a little.
=NM=
Robin stretched as he settled his red, form-fitting costume into place. Grabbing the waist, he twisted it a little, then high stepped a couple times before nodding that the slight bind in the right leg was gone. Slipping his helmet on, Mr. Swoyer stepped away and the Protectorate hero Velocity took his place.
Out in the public, people thought of him as the local team's 'Mover'. What he actually was, though, was a Breaker 5. His ability, only extending a little past his skin, altering his state and manifesting as a perceived increase in speed. Its main drawback being that as his speed increased, his ability to effect, or be effected by the world decreased.
In his breaker state he could casually stroll from one side of the city to the other, while from outside, it looked like a red blur moved from one point to the other, inside his breaker field, it still took him just as long to make the transit as it would a normal person. In other words, he spent a very good portion of each of his days bored stiff... and his power made each of those days far longer than it had any right to be.
Even in the midst of a fight, he had so much time on his hands that it took intense concentration on his part to mentally slow himself down enough to be effective in the fight. He had to balance his speed with his ability to actually make contact with his opponent with any appreciable force. Not something easy to do when the adrenaline urge kicked in.
As such, to aid his focus and concentration he had embraced the concept of 'meditative running'. Sinking into himself as he would blur along his patrol route. Achieving, through the combination of his power and that practice, the mythical state the Tibetan Buddhist called Lung-gom-pa. The steady slap of his feet on the ground a metronomic beat constantly moving him to his center as he wove through a static world.
Much of his patrol, however, was conducted at normal human speeds. He saved his power for when he needed to be somewhere. After-all, why make the day longer if he did not have to. It's not like he could bring a book along to read. His power would not extend far enough to encompass the book.
And e-readers gave him a splitting headache.
Today's route would swing along the border between E88 territory and the richer neighborhoods around Captain's Hill, then a turn through downtown and out to meet up with the Wards at The Boardwalk before heading up through the docks and the ABB/E88 border.
He would travel that route at least twice today. If things were quiet, three times.
=NM=
We slowed a little as we passed through downtown. Sunday morning traffic being thick enough that we could not just blindly charge across any intersections. Pulling up to jog in place at the junction beside the Medhall Building, we waited for the light to allow us across.
Turning there, Taylor and I jogged along two sides of the block size footprint of the building before angling off toward City Hall and the large park that bordered between it and the waterfront. Without breaking our slow-jog stride, she passed me a drink while taking one herself. We quickly drained them and stowed the empties in her pack. The park was several open acres with a few scattered, winter-barren trees. Its central feature was a classic, white, band-stand, with a black, shingle roof. Picnic tables and the odd pole shelter dotted the otherwise grassy field.
Heading south, we followed the perimeter path of the park down to the road leading to the public boat access ramps. Turning toward the water, Taylor nudged me and picked up speed again. As we rounded the waterfront turn at the ramps we were each adding a little speed to see if the other would keep up.
The burn in my legs felt like a pleasant heat as the breeze whipped past our wind-reddened cheeks.
With a sly glance toward Taylor, I added a bit more speed.
=NM=
"Hi Velocity!" Vista grinned as the elder hero lightly jogged over to where she and Clockblocker had been signing autographs for a family from out of state. "Come over here and take our picture!"
The kids and Mom were giggling as they all hung their toboggans on their Dad after he let Clockblocker freeze him with his arms outstretched and fingers splayed wide. The silly shot would surely be the highlight of the family's vacation album.
Velocity smiled broadly as he accepted the camera and the two Wards posed on either side of the wife, three kids and the temporarily petrified husband.
"...really sure this... uh... huh?"
Several clicks and silly poses later the father's expression was immortalized as he came out of the time-freeze to find his fingers had become toboggan racks for his family's knit headwear and his daughter and Vista were standing on his kneeling sons' backs so they could each kiss his cheeks while his wife stood slightly to one side, the back of her hand dramatically placed against her forehead as she stared off into the distance while Clockblocker was sneakily crouched and reaching out from behind to touch her coat.
Velocity handed the camera to the bemused man as the family excitedly thanked the heroes and moved off toward the shops, the younger of the two boys blushing furiously from the peck on the cheek Vista gave him in thanks for supporting her in the picture.
"Fan for life there Vista," Clock tilted his blank-faced mask toward her.
"And the daughter wasn't star-struck with you?"
"Ah, but Matt is eleven while Delilah was only eight," Clockblocker moaned dramatically. "Two years between you is nothing, yet the eight between myself and her shall ever be a gulf unbridged."
"Dork." Vista whacked the back of his head as Velocity laughed at their antics.
"Boardwalk patrol, Console."
Velocity tapped the button on his earpiece. "Console, Velocity with Clockblocker and Vista. What's your traffic?"
"Possible unknown parahumans inbound from the south. One male, one female, both tentatively classed as movers. Expected to enter the Boardwalk from City Park."
"Threat?"
"Unknown. Report came from a citizen call that was verified by park security cameras. So far they are just running."
"Acknowledged." He glanced at the two younger heroes and cocked an eyebrow, getting a nod from each in response. "We'll check it out and report in."
=NM=
"Uh oh," Taylor muttered as we flew along the waterfront. "Heroes ahead."
At that moment, I glanced up and caught sight of one of the security cameras on the light poles lining the running path. "Crap. I got caught up in the run and forgot to look for cameras." I cursed myself for letting my carefully cultivated paranoia fall out of practice. Time was I would never have let something like that slip.
Taylor snorted at my self-recriminations as she eased back on her speed to something more in line with a morning jog. Luckily, it just looked like we were slowing for a more populous area and not that she had spotted the heroes before we actually came in sight of them.
The sun was now above the level of the buildings, though the shadows were still long. We kept to the outside edge of the wooden planking as we moved from the park to the Boardwalk, slowing to a more sedate pace as we entered the tourist district.
"Nice morning for a run." Came the deep voice of the red suited hero now at my elbow.
"And good morning to you Velocity," I replied. Taylor looked a little star-struck. I noticed two of the Wards, Vista and Clockblocker about a block ahead of us. "And no, it is an excellent morning for a run. The air is crisp and fresh, the wind is calm, the sun is shining and my daughter is laughing."
The hero laughed himself. "For a second there, you sounded like a man in love."
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Taylor stumble, but she recovered quickly. However, she was now snickering. "Ohhkaay, now I know what to look out for," she chirped.
As we had approached the Wards I decided to be nice and slowed until Taylor and I were pretty much jogging in place.
"So," Velocity started. "Not to sound like every highway cop stereotype available, but. Do you know how fast you were going?"
Laughing, Taylor slipped out of her small pack and handed it to me as I shook my head ruefully. "Hey, if there's a speed limit along there, they should have posted it."
All three of the heroes laughed at her comment.
We were now jogging in place in the bright morning sun and the temperature was already up above freezing. Slipping out of her sweatshirt, she tied the arms around her waist then took the pack back from me and dug out a couple more sports drinks.
"It's not the speed," Clockblocker started. "Well it is, but it's more who saw it. It's not a good idea to show off powers in public without a mask."
I smiled as Taylor choked on her drink. At least I think she choked on it. From the twinkle in her eyes it was probably intentional. Especially after she burst out laughing, stopped jogging and grabbed her knees while seriously guffawing.
I stopped jogging and decided to pull off my own sweatshirt since the gigglebox wasn't going to be much of a fashion model for a bit.
"Actually, no powers here at all." I pointed at the logo on my sleeve. "They're not cheap, a few hundred dollars, in fact, but anyone can buy these."
"Mover2?" Velocity asked.
Taylor straightened up. "Yup! I told my Dad I was considering taking up SCUBA diving, so a couple Saturdays back we headed out the cape to this dive shop where he knows the owners. I got to talking to the nice sales-lady... what was her name Dad? Oh Etta! Yeah, I told Etta about taking up running to get in shape and she convinced us, for a really sweet discount on the gear, to get a couple sets and... well... show off a bit."
Vista blinked at the sudden flow of words from my daughter's mouth. "Show off?"
"Advertising!" Taylor chirped. "The Mover2 is something the Namode's came up with as a training aid."
"Training aid?" Now it was Clockblocker sounding taken aback.
Taylor traced her hands along the bands crossing her elbows and shoulders. "The bands reinforce and resist motion in specific directions. They force you to really think about your form when first learning to use the suit but then they really help strengthen the muscles in the normally weak direction, creating greater coil speed and strength on the release."
"Uh Taylor?" I interrupted. "Did you memorize her whole schpiel?"
"Hey, she offered finders fees for sales leads!"
Raising a hand to my brow I shook my head slowly while Velocity started laughing.
Reaching into her pack, Taylor pulled out a rubberbanded stack of business cards for the dive shop, handing one to each of the heroes.
"Maybe you should consider picking these up as training aids yourselves." Taylor winked at Velocity.
"What are you doing Taylor?" I groaned.
"Think what the finder's fee would be for an order from the Protectorate ENE for the Heroes and Wards teams!"
Vista suddenly started giggling as Taylor stood there with dollar signs in her eyes. "That's a lot of ice cream!"
Taylor nodded vehemently.
"So, on top of the training resistance effects," Velocity noted. "The suits also act to increase the total strength of the user as well."
"Shhh!" Taylor put her finger to her lips. "Using them that way is cheating! Well, unless you're showing them off for sales purposes."
'Oh sweetheart, I see she has fully inherited your guile!' I had to fight not to laugh my ass off.
"Well," she turned back to the two Wards. "What he said is true, but only in certain directions, like running or throwing a punch."
She pulled her right arm back, fist high and tight to her armpit, forearm level with the ground, the muscles trembling a bit. She turned so Vista and Clockblocker could see it in profile.
"See how I have to concentrate to hold the arm in this position against the resistance. That's the bands forcing the muscles to work harder, which means if I ever have to throw a punch without the suit, then my arm will naturally pull to the proper position... well once I've trained some more."
She snapped her fist straight out in front of her, the wrist rotating it 180 degrees at the end.
"When you throw the punch, all that stored energy unloads along with your own muscles. Same thing happens in the legs while running. Once you train your body to perform the moves properly, the suit then reinforces and increases your own effort in the effected directions."
Vista raised her hand to my daughter's elbow. "Can you do that again, slowly?"
"Sure!"
Taylor coiled her arm back into the loaded position and then slowly moved through the release of the punch while Vista kept her fingers on the bands as they stretched and contracted.
I started chuckling at the youngest ward's whispered. "Does it come in green?"
We were starting to draw a bit of a crowd as Taylor continued to explain the suit to the Wards and Velocity so I snagged the stack of cards from her hand and played to her patter, handing out cards to interested looking individuals.
With the cards now gone and the descriptions and demonstrations getting a bit repetitive I cleared my throat and tapped the top of my left wrist.
Taylor glanced around at the gathered throng and blushed. "Ah... I guess we need to get going."
=NM=
Colin Wallis sat at the computer terminal in his lab on the Rig, the Protectorate ENE's floating headquarters in the middle of the bay. He had been reviewing the records that he and his best friend Dragon had dug up on Corporal Thicket's finances, making sure that all the logic trails and evidence chains were clear and untainted for the warrants that Director Piggot was going to request that evening. He had already completed his review of the similar requests relating to Winslow's administrative records on Federal Grant BBWFS1008SS.
As usual, he was monitoring console communications for the active patrols of his people and the currently deployed PRT teams.
"Console, Velocity. I have a preliminary report on the requested contact."
"Velocity, Console. Ready to copy report."
"Negative, say again negative parahuman contact. Joggers were one Daniel Hebert and his daughter Taylor..."
Collin's ears perked up.
"...who were both wearing new, mundane technology, mechanical feedback suits. They have provided contact information on their source." There was a wry chuckle over the speakers at this point. "As well as a somewhat impassioned sales pitch from the younger Hebert on behalf of the company they acquired them from. I'll provide a copy of the company's business card and contact information with my written report. Company is Namode's Dive Shop in Barnstable, Massachusetts."
Pulling up another open file he typed in a few notes relating to Velocity's report and added a reference to the earlier Parahuman Mover report while his browser was searching the Dive Shop. When the browser opened, prominently displayed on the front page was an advertisement for their new Mover2 line of mechanical feedback suits.
Intrigued, he clicked on the link for more information.
"Now why is the name Namode familiar?" He mumbled.
=NM=
"I'm still not sure about this," Alan said as he lowered an armload of dresses from his youngest daughter's closet into the open cardboard box on the bed.
Zoe glanced back from where she was replacing all of Emma's lacy, satin and silk underwear with plain, granny-cut cotton. "We both know that the therapy we've scheduled to begin later this week won't do her any good unless she sees there are consequences, both for her actions and for not embracing it."
"That's the last of the closet. I'll start hauling these up to the attic."
Zoe Barnes nodded. "I'll start getting the stuff we bought hung up."
"She's due back from the Clement's in about seven hours," Alan replied as he hefted the first box.
Zoe wiped the sweat off her forehead. "And we still have her bathroom to go through."
"And I still need to arrange to meet Madison's father."
=NM=
"They actually seemed... nice." Taylor's puzzled tone caught me slightly off guard.
"The heroes?" I queried as we reached the end of the Boardwalk and turned onto Bay Avenue bordering the active warehouse district between the Boardwalk and the Docks. Any further north would take us into the nebulous region that regularly swapped hands between the ABB and the Archer's Bridge Merchants.
She shrugged. "The Wards." It came out with a sigh.
We pounded feet through the better part of a block before she spoke again. "S.. Shadow Stalker's a Ward..."
"And you expected Vista and Clockblocker to be like her."
"Yeah... but they weren't. They were..." she trailed off, looking for the right words.
"Normal?"
Taylor snorted out a giggle. "Normal! I guess, for a given value of the term. They are Parahumans, after-all."
Now it was my turn to laugh. "Hey, this is Brockton Bay. Around here, being a cape is normal."
'Honey, she's trying to glare at me like you used to.'
'Annette, your daughter is scaring me.'
'No. Seriously. Make her stop.'
=NM=
"Hello, Hank? Yeah, it's Alan." He lay his hand on the photocopied stack of documents sitting by the phone. "Listen, can we meet up at the club, say in an hour?"
Alan listened to the other man's reply.
"No, I'd rather not discuss this with either of our daughters around and it really needs to be today."
Once again he listened to the response.
"Yeah, this is definitely 'not good'."
Alan flinched as the man on the other end cursed in the phone.
"I'll call ahead for one of the private dining rooms." Not that he expected either of them to have much of an appetite once he shared the situation and evidence. "I'll see you at one."
Hanging up the phone, Alan Barnes slumped against the wall. The drama of Family Law was always entertaining, right up to the point where you became enmeshed in it yourself. And this situation...
He was mired hip deep and the edge of the bog was nowhere in sight.
=NM=
Emily looked at the two solemn heroes sitting across from her desk. She could not avoid an irritable glare toward the clock over her door. The fatigue poisons in her bloodstream not helping her mood.
"Well?"
Assault fidgeted in his seat while Armsmaster straightened. "Dragon and I completed our review of the records retrieved under the warrants issued for Shadow Stalker's Protectorate issue phone and also her personal phone. The cell phone companies were only mildly obstructive until they could confirm the veracity of the warrants.
"As expected, Shadow Stalker's Wards' phone had no incriminating material. Her personal phone, however, contained several incriminating text message conversations dating back for at least three months. This includes the planning of the 'prank' that resulted in Miss Hebert's hospitalization. In addition, several of the emails that Norm Man provided in the evidence packet were found as originating in her records, clearly showing an extensive pattern of abuse."
Straightening in his chair, Assault nodded, as much to himself as to the Director. "As the Wards' Supervising Officer, it is my duty to officially inform you that Shadow Stalker is suspected to be in violation of her probation and is being immediately removed from the Protectorate ENE active roster pending the outcome of the required judicial review of her case status."
Piggot turned to the Protectorate ENE Leader. "Do you concur with this, Armsmaster?"
"Yes Director. While much of the documentation provided by Miss Hebert via Norm Man would be hearsay in court, there is enough information there between the printed emails and the corroborating evidence of documented events from Shadow Stalker's phone to show a clear and willful violation of the terms of her parole. As her actions took place during her employment by a Federal Agency, namely the Protectorate East-North-East Wards, I concur with with her removal from active status and recommend turning this case over to the Federal District Attorney for prosecution."
"So be it. I will contact the Federal Prosecutor and request his presence for this afternoon's..." The Director's face twisted into a shark-like grin. "Meeting."
Both men shivered at PRT-ENE Director's exposed dentition.
"Armsmaster, I'll expect you here a half-hour beforehand. Assault, I want you escorting Shadow Stalker into this office at 3pm sharp."
"Yes Ma'am," the two heroes responded.
"Now get out of my office. I have an appointment in medical in fifteen minutes."
=NM=
Alan looked up as Henry Clements stepped through the door of the private dinning room at the Captain Edmund P. Lord Golf Club. Knocking back the finger of whiskey in his hand, he stood, eying his acquaintance and father of one of his daughter's more recent friends. The man's weathered, yet healthy appearance the result of years outdoors building his residential construction business.
"Hank."
"Alan," Clements replied as they took their seats. "What's this all about?"
Pushing aside a thick bundle of papers he slid the club's menu across the table. Glancing at the waitstaff Alan shook his head. "Let's order first."
With their order's placed and fresh drinks in hand, the waitstaff stepped out, closing the door behind them. Unbuttoning his jacket, Hank leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow.
Swallowing, Alan took a deep breath. "Admitting fault is never easy. I've screwed something up royally and now its come back to bite me in the ass. What's worse is I was blind to it and it grew..."
Clements filled the over-long pause. "What's this..."
"I'll get to that." Alan interrupted. "I'm taking steps to fix my end of it... but first you need to know what happened, where I screwed up. My first mistake was a bad driving decision eighteen month's ago..."
=NM=
Sophia signed in at the Ward's base a half-hour early, stowing her bag in her on-base quarters, ignoring the inane jokester and the whiny child on her way through. Both of them trawling a swimwear website from what little she saw. There were days she wished she could do to them what she was doing to the Hebert cunt at school.
Unfortunately, here she did not have a position of power to work from. There was no pack to help her cut a victim from the herd. Not a single one of them understood the necessity of strength. If you were not on top, then you would be torn apart by the jackals.
Wimps. Every one of them.
There was a knock on her door and Aegis voice followed. "Stalker, Assault said he needs you in his office right away."
"The shit does he want? I'm not on duty until three."
"Doesn't matter," the Ward's team leader's mean darkened at having to deal with her attitude. "He knows you're signed in on base."
"Crap!" She screamed at the ceiling before continuing in a half-growl. "See if I bother coming in ahead of my shift from now on."
Turning, she slammed the door in the team leader's face and got changed into her costume.
=NM=
Standing on her front porch, Emma waved goodbye to Madison and her Mom as they pulled away from the curb. Opening the front door she yelled "Mom, Da..."
They were both standing in the foyer. Her mother looking thunderous, while her Father looked both wrung out and disappointed.
Stepping forward, her father closed the door behind her.
"Emma Alicia Barnes, we need to have a talk." Her mom's voice harder than stone.
Not thunderous. Emma gulped, looking to her Dad, who just shook his head and waved toward the kitchen.
Pissed.
=NM=
Emily looked at the two men in her office. Armsmaster, as impassive as ever in his reinforced chair, sitting to the left, in front of her desk. The other man, well dressed in a dark gray business suit over a peach button-down shirt and a light gray tie sat at the left end of her desk with his briefcase on a tray-table beside him for easy access. Directly in front and to the right-front of her desk were two empty seats.
Precisely as the clock struck three, there was a knock at the door.
"Come!"
The door opened admitting Shadow Stalker with Assault immediately behind her. As the hero latched the door, Emily's right knee pressed against the button under her desk, arming the room's defenses.
Pointing at the chair in front of the desk Assault simply said, "Sit."
Sophia's head turned toward her escort, her body stiffening.
"Miss Hess," Emily growled. "Before you open your mouth I strongly suggest you do as Assault instructed you."
With a huff, Sophia flopped into the chair.
Armsmaster cleared his throat. "Sophia Hess, also known as Shadow Stalker. It has come to the attention of both the Parahuman Response Teams and the Protectorate that due to actions taken at your school, you are in violation of your probation. Whereas on January third of this year you were directly responsible for a physical assault on the person of one Taylor Anne Hebert involving unlawful confinement, a biological assault on the person of the same victim involving rotting and fermenting human waste products. The volume of materials involved being above the legal minimum to qualify as biological terrorism. Infections from said effluvia having lead to the victim's hospitalization and near death but for the extensive intervention of medical professionals. As such, as of this moment, you are relieved of all duties required and rights granted as a member of the United States Parahuman Protectorate and being as these actions occurred while you were willfully employed in a law-enforcement capacity, you are hereby placed under arrest, to be held pending resolution of these matters in Federal Court."
"Federal?" Sophia's voice squeaked.
The man in the suit looked over at her. "As a Protectorate Ward, did you or did you not swear the oath to uphold the law, to protect and to defend the Citizens of the United States of America?"
Emily's eyes bored into Sophia's mask. "You thought you'd end up in Juvenile Detention? When you accepted the deal to join the Wards, you were warned that punishment for violation of your parole would be harsh. The fact that you were employed as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer means that even the theft of property that we have uncovered in our investigation would have resulted in Federal charges. The fact that you are sitting here facing charges of Felony Assault, Felony Unlawful Imprisonment, Felony Biological Terrorism and Felony Attempted Murder means that upon conviction you will be remanded to a Federal Detention Facility that is at minimum, designed to contain parahumans with powers like your own."
Leaning forward on the edge of the desk the man in gray gave her a very hard look. "As the Federal Prosecutor assigned to this case, it is my intention to seek conviction and appropriate punishment for each of these charges. It has also been brought to my attention that the only Federally backed facility currently rated to hold a Parahuman of your recorded abilities long-term is the Baumann Correctional Institution."
Emily picked up a small, laminated card off her desk. "Now that you know just how badly you have fucked things up, Miss Hess." She held up the card and began to read. "You have the right to remain silent..."
=NM=
Madison and her Mom came through the side door from the garage after dropping off Emma only to find her father standing in the kitchen. On the counter was the wooden paddle that usually hung behind the door of his home office. Beside it was a very thick stack of photo-copied papers in a binder-clip.
She gulped, trying to figure out why her father would have pulled 'The Persuader' out.
"Talk to me about Taylor Hebert."
A/N: And with that there should only be 2 more chapters to go in this story. The last chapter will be heavily PHO based so if you want to be a part of it, please visit the Return of Norm PHO Roleplay forum (link on my homepage) create a Wormverse persona and post in the 'Hi I'm New Here' thread.