Thursday, February 10, 2011
"You're looking happy, Dad," Taylor noted as she ate breakfast. Her father was definitely in a good mood, smiling to himself as he went over some paperwork on the table next to his plate.
"I have every reason to, dear," he replied, not looking up from the sheet he was reading for a moment, then absently picking a piece of bacon off the plate next to his elbow and eating it. "Things are going so well at the moment I'm almost afraid to look away from them in case something ruins it all."
"If it does I'll hit it until it fixes it again," she grinned.
Looking up at her, he smiled more widely. "I would expect nothing less, Taylor."
He read the paper again, then pushed it across to her. "Have a look at this."
Curious she picked it up and started reading, after a moment staring at him wide-eyed. "What the hell?"
He chuckled, going back to eating. "I thought you'd find it interesting."
"I think Varga must be contagious," she mumbled while hearing a laugh inside her head, going back to the document, which seemed to be a certificate of incorporation for a company called 'Brockton Bay Family Operations, LLC' with Danny Hebert listed as General Manager. There was a legal contact she recognized as the DWU lawyer, as well as the DWU accounts department being down as financial contacts. The registered address was one of the buildings at the DWU complex.
Saurial and Raptaur were both mentioned as providing 'Specialist professional Parahuman services, including but not limited to, Security, Client Protection, Debt Collection, Construction, Demolition, and Engineering Support Facilities.' Also mentioned were 'Other Parahuman individuals providing equivalent or supplementary services on a contractual basis as needed.'
Turning it over she read the other side, seeing that professional indemnity insurance, Parahuman involvement waivers, and a number of other things she had no idea about were listed by document number. All in all it looked very professional and she assumed it was all legal.
"How did you do all this?" she asked in a dumbfounded voice, "WHY did you do all this?"
Her father leaned back in his chair holding his cup of coffee in both hands, watching her with amusement. "It's not hard to arrange, the Parahuman part is the most difficult, but I've had our legal people looking into everything we need for weeks now, just in case. It's completely legal. Setting up a limited liability company is a straightforward operation, you can do most of it online in about an hour. Originally I thought of just having you in your various incarnations working directly under the aegis of the DWU, but this is actually a simpler and easier method that also gives a few advantages. The DWU will simply subcontract work as needed to BBFO, LLC, who then carry out the work. I'm a non-remunerated officer of the company, while the DWU provides legal representation and financial services on a contractual basis for a reasonable rate."
"Holy crap," Taylor muttered, still gaping at him. "I know you mentioned something like this but I never thought you'd actually do it."
He shrugged, smiling at her. "Why not? It makes things much easier in many respects, it stops the PRT having much of a leg to stand on as long as we don't do anything illegal, and it means we can, or rather, you can, offer the city as much work as you want to do and get paid for it. I know you're not planning on asking for money for this project, and I'm grateful for that, as is the Mayor, but even so in future you might want some income. This makes that possible without too much fuss."
She shook her head in wonder, glancing at the document again, then handed it back. "Thanks, I think," she laughed.
"You're welcome, of course. When you're eighteen you can take over as General Manager if you want, which would make the company entirely yours, but while you're a minor there are all sorts of limitations and potential pitfalls on being involved in a company like that. There are less age issues surrounding Parahumans under eighteen, oddly enough, so there's no problem with Saurial and the rest of you providing services. And if you find any other capes who want a job, you can hire them."
"Wow." Taylor went back to her own breakfast, her expression thoughtful. "I can see some possibilities with that."
"I thought you would. If you want to make and sell costumes, that can be done through the same company, or we can set up a subsidiary one easily enough now that the holding organization is available. That's a fairly common approach." He smirked. "Obviously the DWU would like preferential rates."
Taylor grinned. "I think we can come to a suitable arrangement. Although I've heard that the top DWU negotiator is a hard man to work with."
"I've heard the same thing. Be careful, he's a dangerous man."
They smiled at each other, then laughed. He reached into his pocket and removed an envelope, sliding it across the table to her. "Here, you'll need this as well."
"What is it?" she asked, picking the lumpy envelope up and slitting it open with a flick of a taloned finger, the claw disappearing when no longer needed. Tipping the envelope up she shook it, a key-ring with three high security keys on it and a folded sheet of paper dropping out onto the table.
"The keys for the front and back doors of the relevant building, the main gate key, and the alarm codes and instructions," he replied. "We've installed new alarms throughout the entire facility, upgraded the physical security, and cleaned that building out. It's fifteen thousand square feet of two story warehouse backing onto the water you can do anything you like in, officially. BBFO is leasing it from the DWU for a nominal sum on a ninety-nine year lease. Pretty standard. There's three phase power, water and drain services, all the usual stuff. The floor is a bit chewed up since it used to be used for storage of some heavy equipment which has been moved out, but I know that between you and Varga you won't have any trouble dealing with that. There's also the bank account details for the main BBFO account I've opened and put two thousand dollars into as an initial retainers fee. The bank cards and other stuff should be here next week."
Getting up and going around the table, she hugged him. "Thanks, Dad. This is amazing."
"I'm glad you like it," he smiled. "You can meet Armsmaster there if you want."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea," she grinned. "I'll call him at lunch. I'm really curious to see what he has in mind."
"So am I," her father admitted. After a moment, he went on, "I'm also going to put Saurial, Raptaur, and Kaiju down as fully paid up DWU members. It seems appropriate, and you wouldn't believe the number of people at the Yard who have asked when that would happen. You have a lot of fans there. Only about half a dozen know so far that Raptaur and Saurial are the same person, and I'd guess that they'll all work out that Kaiju is as well, but they're not going to tell anyone."
"OK, I don't mind," she smiled. "Do I have to do anything?"
"Sign these forms, ideally in different handwriting," he told her, pulling two sheets of paper out of a folder on the table and pushing them across to her. Taking on both Saurial and Raptaur alter egos one after the other she did as requested, then looked at the documents side by side.
"Hmm. That actually worked, my handwriting looks different," she smiled, resuming her base form.
"Great." He accepted the documents back. "You'll need to come down to the Yard and get photos taken as well for your ID cards. I'm not quite sure how we'll handle Kaiju yet, or that huge swimming thing that eats Dragon's tech. Which must have annoyed her."
Taylor shrugged with a wide grin. "She shouldn't poke me in the face with things if she wants them to survive. I bite."
"I expect she noticed," he chuckled. "Armsmaster seemed impressed with that little bit you picked out of your teeth. I'll show it to you, the guys in the shop did a great job mounting it for me."
Taylor stared at him, then giggled. "Oh my god, you actually did that as well? Then Armsmaster saw it? God, he must have wondered how the hell you got it."
"I think he's now picturing that enormous thing slithering up out of the bay and into the Yard and knocking on the door," her father grinned. "I could swear he went a funny color. He certainly sounded confused, poor guy. Try not to completely break him, he's a good man overall."
"I know he is, I have a hell of a lot of respect for him," she replied. "Amy has told me a lot about him as well. She thinks his sense of humor needs a lot of work but still says he's a decent person."
"Have you thought of a name for that swimming form?" he asked curiously, standing up and taking their empty plates to the sink to wash.
"Amy, I, and Varga talked it over for a while the other night," she replied, moving to help dry the dishes. "She suggested sticking with the Japanese naming scheme for the big ones, if we're going with Kaiju. It sort of fits, Princess Luna's culture had a lot of similarities to ancient Japan, even the language was a bit similar for some weird reason. Anyway, we looked it up online and came up with 'Umihebi' which actually means Sea Serpent in Japanese. I think it fits."
"It does," he laughed. "Umihebi. I like it. I wonder what she does for BBFO?"
"Deep sea operations and salvage or something like that," Taylor replied. "Or maybe research? I could offer to take pictures on the bottom if we can work out some sort of camera that would survive the pressure."
"The one thing I'm certain of with all this is that you'll never lack for a source of income," he smiled. "You can support me in my old age in the style to which I would very much like to become accustomed."
Putting an arm around his waist she hugged him for a second. "I hope your old age is a long way off, but yes, I'll do anything I can to help, Dad," she said quietly.
He ruffled her hair tenderly. "I'm sure you will, dear. Now, I need to get to work and you need to get to school. Stop by the Yard after school and we'll get those photos done. We can also talk more about you helping take those buildings down, I'd like to do that tomorrow ideally. Don't forget to call Armsmaster."
Releasing him, she stepped back, folding the drying cloth she'd been using and putting it down on the counter. "I won't forget," she smiled. "I'll see you later."
Picking up the key-ring and documentation which she put in her pocket, she went upstairs, quickly brushed her teeth, grabbed her backpack and homework, then left the house, shortly sprinting down the street under the cloak as Saurial, smiling to herself.
The day had started well so far.
Vicky looked at the image on the tablet in her hands as she went into her sisters room just before breakfast, her eyes wide. Amy was sitting in front of the dresser mirror brushing her hair and looked up as the blonde girl walked over to her, a small smile on her face that was subtly different from the normal sardonic smirk. Not wildly, but enough for someone who knew her as well as Vicky did to see. The girl looked… content.
Much more so than she had been for a long time. It was something the made her sister very pleased, as had the news that Amy had finally taken the sensible step of reducing her hours at the hospital. Maybe she'd get a life, Vicky had thought to herself when she'd heard.
Looking at the image on her tablet, she thought, 'I didn't expect this amount of life, though!'
"You look confused, Sis," Amy noted calmly, going back to brushing her hair for a moment, then putting the brush down and getting up, heading for the closet and a shirt.
"I'm a bit… surprised," Vicky admitted, staring at her sister's back, which was all she could see now that the rest of her was buried in hanging clothing. "There are some kind of odd photos on PHO and a really weird thread. About you. Last night."
"Oh." Amy reappeared from the depths of the closet, holding up two shirts, a dark green one and a nearly black blue one, looking between them with an evaluating expression, before putting the blue one back. "That's nice."
"It's fucking bizarre is what it is," Vicky exclaimed. "Mom is going to go nuts when she sees these! Where did you get that costume anyway?"
"Raptaur made it for me last night," Amy explained mildly, pulling the shirt on and doing up the buttons. "It's pretty cool and completely bulletproof." She glanced at her sister. "Which was a nice thought since all these years I've been going to Endbringer fights in a set of cotton robes, which oddly enough, aren't bulletproof. She seemed to think that was a little dangerous." The brunette smiled slightly. "She said that people who are both important and crunchy should take precautions so they don't get squished."
Vicky winced at the comment and the image it brought to mind. It also made her realize for the first time that her sister was indeed the most vulnerable member of New Wave and the one who had the least protection. It suddenly seemed odd to her than no one had even pointed this out before or thought to do something about it.
"Crap. I should have thought of that," she muttered.
"Apparently no one did," Amy shrugged. "To be honest I never did either until she brought the subject up, but she's right."
She went over to her desk and began packing her schoolbooks and notebooks into her backpack, closing the one on top which was full of her tiny neat handwriting. A case of pens went in on top. Vicky could see a flash of white under everything, her sister's normal costume. Now worried, she pointed.
"What about your robes?"
Zipping the pack shut, Amy turned to her and studied her for a moment, before smiling slyly. "Those aren't my original robes. Saurial upgraded them for me. Both of them were concerned about me being vulnerable. These are lined with that stuff she uses to make weapons out of, it stops impacts like you wouldn't believe. I think even you couldn't punch a hole in it. A bullet or a knife doesn't stand a chance."
"Wow. That's amazing," Vicky replied after a wide-eyed look. "Are they going to start making costumes for other capes? There's a lot of money in that, I bet."
Amy shrugged. "I don't know for sure but she did mention it as a possibility."
Suddenly smiling, Vicky replied, "I'm sorry none of us ever thought about that, but I'm glad you have friends like those two. As terrifying as they are. You're at least safe with them, no one in their right mind would attack you knowing your friends."
Her sister grinned a little. "Probably not, no. I think that either one of them would be a little pissed about that. They seem to look after people they like."
Holding up the tablet which had an image of Amy standing next to Raptaur, Assault and Battery apparently talking to them, Vicky asked, "Can I see it? It looks really badass."
"It's in the closet in that bag on the floor," Amy noted, pointing. Putting the tablet on her sister's bed, she pulled the backpack out and knelt next to it, opening it to reveal the new costume, the helmet on top. She lifted it out and inspected it, whistling softly in appreciation of the workmanship.
"This is wild," she smiled. "And incredibly well made, it looks really professional. Like it came out of a factory." Tapping it with a fingernail, she asked curiously, "What's it made of?"
"The outer surface of the helmet is that special material, and the inside is lined with more of it the same as the suit is, with some sort of foam or something between them," Amy said as she came over and knelt next to her sister. "It's really comfortable."
"Pretty heavy," Vicky noted, hefting the helmet.
"Once it's on you don't notice, it's very well balanced," Amy replied. "The faceplate is a huge single crystal of transparent ruby with a really fine mesh of the special material on both sides."
Vicky experimentally tried the helmet on, finding it fitted, but not wildly well, being somewhat tight. Tapping the side of her head, she was impressed at the way she didn't really feel anything. She tried harder, then harder again, stopping when Amy began laughing.
"If I video this and put it on PHO people are going to wonder why you're trying to punch yourself in the head," she snickered. "Even for a blonde that's strange."
Grinning at her sister through the amazingly clear faceplate Vicky laughed. "Sorry. I'm just seeing how much impact it can take."
"More than you can apply, I think," Amy noted. "Although there are limits to how much I could survive, even if the helmet did."
"It'll certainly stop a club or a bullet, though," the blonde said as she took it off, then inspected the rest of the suit as much as she could without unpacking it. There were gloves and boots all in the same style in the pack as well as the suit itself, all very soft inside and slick and tough on the outside. "This is really good work. At least as good as that new Rogue, Parian, I've seen some of her things as well. Maybe Raptaur or Saurial should talk to her about some sort of partnership."
"From what I've heard about Parian I don't think she wants to work with other capes, but I guess it might be something that would be worth looking into," Amy replied after a thoughtful moment. "I'll mention it the next time I see either of them." She looked at her watch, then stood. "Put it away, we need to get breakfast or we'll be late for school."
Tucking the helmet back into the pack Vicky zipped it up, then returned the thing to where it had come from, before grabbing her tablet and following her sister downstairs to the table, still thinking about that new costume. It was a little weird to think that someone who looked like Raptaur was also good with making things like that, but she was very impressed.
Breakfast was odd. Their mother was in a very funny mood even for her. They were both quite happy to finally escape.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on out there?" Director Piggot's voice was full of sarcastic politeness as soon as they all sat down for the morning meeting.
"I'm not entirely sure what you mean, Director," Battery replied when the gaze of the PRT director passed over Assault, who was leaning back in his chair trying to balance a pen on the end of his nose again, winced slightly, and landed on her.
"Are you not?" Piggot stabbed a control on the console in front of her, an image that the heroine recognized with a small inner sigh appearing on the large screen hanging from the ceiling. Everyone looked at it, then her. Triumph seemed somewhat amused, Miss Militia looked thoughtful, and Armsmaster didn't have any particular expression visible other than one which indicated that he was thinking about something else more interesting. Velocity snickered, nudging Assault, who sat up and paid attention. Dauntless was listening with curious interest.
"I'm not the only one who has noticed that you and your irritating husband had an encounter with Raptaur last night. That part I'm not too interested in, while she's absolutely horrifying, by all reports she's also both polite and helpful and as long as she stays like that we'll keep out of it for the sake of everyone's sanity. Most importantly, mine."
Ethan chuckled, making her glare at him for a moment.
"However," she said, emphasizing the word, "I am very curious as to how Panacea got involved, where she got that apparently professionally made costume from, why she decided to rebrand herself, whether the rest of New Wave are involved and if so, how, and what the pair of them are doing. They seem awfully casual with each other which I find interesting. How long have they known each other?"
The blonde superhero shrugged a little. "I'm not able to answer most of those questions, Director," she replied. "I filed a report on the encounter just before the meeting, from the notes I took last night when we got off shift, but I didn't think it was important enough to disturb you at home over at the time since it was so late. I'm sorry if that was the wrong call."
Piggot sighed a little. "No, it wasn't the wrong call, I suppose, under the circumstances. Let me have a look at the report for a moment." She pulled up the relevant file and quickly read it on the screen next to her elbow, making a few notes on a pad as she did. Everyone waited patiently, Armsmaster staring off into space and apparently designing something in his head.
Finishing her reading, the Director shook her head a little, an odd expression on her face, then looked at Battery again. "That explains a few things but raises a lot more questions." She glanced at Miss Militia, an unreadable look passing between them, then turned back to the pair who had met Raptaur and her companion the night before.
"I'm particularly curious about Panacea's involvement. Several things seem out of character there, the most visible and obvious one being the new costume."
"It was extremely good quality," Ethan replied with a smile. "Better than mine from what I could see. I'd love to know where she got it made."
"Parian, perhaps?" Robin suggested. "She's beginning to make her name known, she produces very high quality work."
"I don't think she does armored costumes, though," Miss Militia pointed out, flipping through the PHO images. There were a lot of them, the number of spectators had been significant due to the location and time of day. Everyone looked at the monitor. She zoomed in on Panacea's helmet, then on another screen on her torso. "That helmet looks very similar to me to Saurial's breastplate in the way it catches the light, and some of the armored inserts on the torso are the same. I think it's that SaurialSteel material. Which in turn probably makes the entire costume bullet-proof at the least."
"Cool," Assault grinned. "Good to see someone's finally taking the girl seriously. She's needed a decent protective costume for years."
Now they all looked at him. He shrugged, looking around the table. "What? Hasn't anyone else ever noticed that the girl who can heal practically anything and is the sole reason at least half of us are still alive, yet can't heal herself, has been attending Endbringer fights in basically normal clothing? Really? No-one?"
A number of glances were exchanged between various Protectorate members. He sighed a little. "God, and people think I'm oblivious…"
"Relatively few of either the Wards or the Protectorate in Brockton Bay have costumes that are sufficiently protected against impact or projectiles in my opinion," Armsmaster noted in the quiet that followed. "I have mentioned this in several reports over the years. Group efficiency would be significantly improved if this was rectified, by a minimum of sixty-eight point fifteen percent during combat against medium level threats. I can provide documentary evidence of my calculations if required."
Piggot looked at him and sighed. "I have explained that the cost of providing armored costumes to the level you think is 'sufficient' is prohibitive, as is the ongoing cost of maintenance of the Tinker technology that would inevitably be required. PRT policy is that only Capes who are both particularly vulnerable and likely to enter live combat situations be provided with such protection, unless they can provide it themselves. I happen not to agree with it but my hands are tied."
"'Live combat situations' describe day to day life in a lot of Brockton Bay," Velocity pointed out with a small frown. "And I would respectfully mention that Panacea, of all people, could be considered particularly valuable. Ethan's right, she's saved almost everyone around this table at least once, Director. Including you."
The Director didn't look too pleased about that part, but didn't mention it. "She is also not a Protectorate member, either full time or as part of the Wards scheme, so we have even less reason or responsibility to provide support for her. That is down to internal New Wave practice and if they see fit to allow her out in ordinary cloth, that's their business."
"Most of New wave have either inherent essential invulnerability to at least low level attacks, or have countermeasures that amount to the same thing," Colin commented. "Panacea has neither."
Battery was thinking about the fact that her own Kevlar and ceramic-fiber-lined costume only provided minimal protection to low caliber bullets and blades, enough to stop the average thug with a handgun or a knife, which in combination with her own powers had kept her intact so far. But something heavier wouldn't be stopped. She wondered if whoever had actually provided Panacea's new costume was interested in commissions and how much it would cost. Looking around the table she could see that there were a number of others probably wondering the same thing.
"Additionally I would take issue with the argument that ongoing maintenance would be an issue, Director," the Tinker continued, making Piggot look mildly annoyed. Not something he'd notice, in all likelihood. "If the costume Panacea was wearing during these photos is indeed manufactured entirely or partially from electron-degenerate matter, made permanent via whatever method that is used, it is very unlikely to require any maintenance at all. Most likely for timescales that exceed normal life expectancy by a considerable margin. The substance has truly remarkable physical properties." He studied the images on the monitors with interest, while Director Piggot seemed to sigh very faintly. "I was unaware of any way it could be made transparent, though, so I am intrigued by the helmet faceplate. It may be made of something else."
"I appreciate your professional interest in the costume, Colin, but we seem to have drifted away from the main point of my own interest, which is how and why Panacea came to be wearing it in the first place and where she got it from?"
Everyone fell silent, looking at the images, then each other. "Maybe Raptaur just noticed that her friend needed protection and did something about it?" Rory asked after a few seconds. "If it's made out of that magical supermetal maybe Saurial made it? Or Raptaur? Or maybe one of her sisters."
Director Piggot winced, looking pained, while Hannah got a weird expression for a moment. "Yes. Her sisters. Like that horrendous swimming thing that could practically swallow the Rig. Your report mentioned that she casually referenced more of her family. Did she go into any detail?"
"Not as such, no, Director," Battery replied, glancing at her husband who was looking mildly amused yet also a little worried. "She commented that the bigger they got the deeper they went, though. That could explain the contact that Armsmaster and Dragon had. It could also imply that there are bigger ones out there somewhere."
"She also said that they wanted to come and visit the city but everything up here was too fragile," Assault added. "Like us humans. But that we made nice food and were interesting to talk to."
The Director looked sharply at Miss Militia, who seemed somewhat shocked, then turned back to the smiling man. "'Humans.' She said that?"
"She did," he confirmed. "As in, I'm not one but I like them even so. Weird, right? I was thinking that she was a cape like a case 53 or something, but..." He looked puzzled. "The way she said it really sounded like she didn't consider herself human."
"How… interesting," Piggot muttered with another glance at Miss Militia who was making some notes, her brow furrowed.
"I hope that when she said that humans made nice food, she meant that they created nice food, not were nice food," Velocity joked, making Assault grin.
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually eat people, although she seemed capable of eating anything. Panacea actually confirmed that. We saw her eat an entire Bob's Belly Buster burger, in the wrapping, in one bite, which was… terrifying. Also a bit disgusting. Do you know how many calories one of those things has?"
"Way too many," Battery mumbled, feeling ill at the mere thought of the horrible thing.
They discussed the incident for some time, Director Piggot going over the entire encounter in minute detail, then asking more questions about Panacea's involvement.
"I have to say she looked happier than I've seen her for a long time," Battery noted.
"Master influence?" the Director asked sharply, a worried expression on her face.
"I… don't think so," she replied slowly. "Without putting her under Master/Stranger protocols we can't be certain, of course, but I think she was just enjoying herself. That's the impression I got, anyway. Like she was simply having fun with a friend. One she trusted implicitly."
Eventually, after more discussion, Director Piggot held up a hand, stopping an argument between Assault and Velocity about who would win in a fight, Raptaur or Alexandria. Even Battery had no idea how they'd ended up on that subject. She blamed her husband, since it was normally his fault. "Enough. We could go on like this all day and frankly I have better things to do. Moving on. Is there anything else to report that stands out as unusual before we get to normal business?"
"Danny Hebert has a fragment of Dragon's destroyed probe sitting on his desk," Armsmaster said somewhat reluctantly after a long pause. Everyone stared at him.
"WHAT?" the Director squeaked, before clearing her throat and trying again. "I mean, are you sure, Colin?"
"Almost certain," the Tinker nodded. "I recognize the unique appearance of the alloy used. It's one that Dragon invented although I had some input, and we both use it extensively. My current armor is made in part of the same material. The fragment is small, perhaps half the size of a pencil, and shows signs of extreme stress and chemical attack. It's mounted on a small wooden plinth, probably reclaimed teak, from a ship, with a brass plaque next to it."
"How the hell did he get that?" she asked, wide-eyed.
He shrugged. "I have no idea. I would assume that the… sea serpent… gave it to him, or one of her sisters who then passed it on. Which does also provide more confirmation that they are related."
"Does he know what it is? Where it came from?"
"I would think so, yes," the man replied, frowning slightly. He told them what was written on the plaque, which made Assault chuckle, which in turn made his wife plant an elbow in his ribs.
"A man with a sense of humor," the red-clad hero snickered. "I think I like him."
Glaring at him for a moment until he subsided, the Director turned back to Armsmaster. "Why were you at the DWU facility in the first place?" she asked slowly.
"I wished to contact Raptaur about acquiring another larger sample of the electron-degenerate matter I have been referring to as SaurialSteel and the only person I could think of who might be able to arrange that was Danny Hebert," the man replied immediately. Battery looked closely at him, she was almost certain he was leaving out something, based on his tone of voice. Piggot seemed to think the same but for some reason didn't call him on it, merely nodding.
"Is he able to?"
"He took my card and promised to pass it on to her as soon as possible. I requested that she call me. So far she hasn't."
The Director seemed to be thinking hard. Eventually she replied, "Be careful and don't push too hard, Armsmaster. Thank you for reporting the matter." Everyone else seemed somewhat surprised about the response, having half-expected either a considerable amount of argument or a flat order to stay away from the reptilian cape. "Unless there's anything else, I'd like to finish up normal business."
No one seemed to have anything particularly unusual to report, so they went back to the standard shift assignments and other PRT business which kept them occupied for another half hour. When the meeting, which had lasted over an hour longer than usual, finally ended, Director Piggot looked relieved. "Thank you, everyone. You're all dismissed. Hannah, if I could have a quick word before you leave?"
Battery, along with most of the others, rose and headed to the door, wondering why Piggot and Miss Militia were closeting themselves away in private meetings so often these days, and whether it was related to the sudden security crackdown throughout the PRT building and the Rig. At least three PRT operatives seemed to have disappeared in the last few days as well, which was a little strange.
A particularly bad joke from her dear husband distracted her and made Velocity groan, shaking his head. Sighing she poked the man in the tender spot under his rib-cage, hard, then as he yelped, grabbed him by the shoulder and towed him away, Robin laughing behind them.
"Puppy, that hurt," Ethan protested.
"No it didn't, and even if it did you deserved it, you great idiot. Come on, we're already late since that damn meeting went on for so long."
Wearing the same small smirk he greeted most of the world with her husband followed dutifully, although she could hear him snickering under his breath.