When the room was empty except for the two of them and Hannah had disconnected the security camera, Emily met her companion's eyes. "How is Panacea involved? This worries me. Could she be our mystery Biotinker?"
The other woman was obviously thinking hard, reading the notes she'd made during the meeting, and Emily's ones as well, but finally shook her head a little. "I can't see how, to be honest. Her power isn't a Biotinker one, it's a Biokinetic Striker specializing in healing. Admittedly she could probably do more, but creating new life forms from scratch? Sentient ones at that?"
She shrugged slightly, looking confused. "Not to mention that once again the timeline doesn't make a lot of sense. Panacea Triggered nearly two and a half years ago. In all that time all she's ever done is heal people. Probably tens of thousands of them by now, the girl spends almost all her free time at either Brockton General or one of the smaller hospitals in the city, or at Endbringer fights. She hasn't missed one since she Triggered. Ethan's right, there are hundreds of capes who owe her their lives."
The woman sighed slightly. "But in all that time that's all she's done. It's clearly been stressing her out more and more, she's looking more tired every time I meet her, but there's no sign that she can do much more than what she currently does. Going from that to full-blown biotinkering like Blasto or god forbid, Nilbog, seems a stretch. Without a lot more evidence I can't see how it could be her work. If nothing else because I can't see how she had time to do it."
Emily was nodding along with the points made, agreeing on the whole. She couldn't see a flaw in the logic, although for a moment it had looked like a distinct possibility. Even so… "Ask the Wards to keep an eye open for any aberrant behavior," she requested. "They attend school with her and know her, if anything odd is going on they might be the first to notice. Also, see if Carol or Mark Dallon have noticed anything amiss. Discreetly, of course. We don't want to make them start looking into any of this themselves. It's essential we keep this to the minimum number of people until we either get to the bottom of the truth of it, or circumstances force our hand."
She sighed heavily. "The panic that could result… I don't want to think about it. This city is on the verge of erupting at the best of times."
"Although in the last couple of weeks things do seem to have calmed down significantly for some reason," Hannah noted. "Some of it is certainly down to… 'The Family' for want of a better description, but definitely not all of it. The E88 capes seem to be being unusually quiet and we haven't heard anything of Coil for close to three weeks now."
"Hopefully he had a massive stroke and died in a corner," Emily muttered. Her companion smiled a little.
"I doubt we're that lucky, but it is odd. Lung is keeping to himself and seems to be keeping Oni Lee on a short leash, the Undersiders are being very quiet too… It's odd, but I'm happy about it."
"So am I except for the horrible feeling that they're all just waiting to unleash something on us when we least expect it," Emily replied sourly. "Things never get better in Brockton Bay, only worse, one way or another."
"Perhaps the situation is changing for the better?"
"That's just what they want us to think." Emily smiled faintly as the other woman raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I know, I know, I'm being over-paranoid even for me."
"You are a little, Director," the cape smiled. They both mulled the current state of affairs over for a moment. "Have you contacted the Chief Director about all this yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm going to have to very soon but I wanted something more concrete to go on than 'Oh, yes, we have an infestation of wildly over-powered reptilian capes that are popping out of the woodwork and then mainly running around amusing themselves at everyone else's expense, don't worry, it's all under control, honest,' to tell her," Emily replied with heavy sarcasm. "Somehow I doubt that would go down very well. We need something we can prove, about where they came from, what they really want, who is responsible… anything, really."
"I'm more than half hoping that we're both wrong and it really is a ridiculously powerful Changer of some sort," Hannah said. "It would still be worrying but at least there would only be one person to deal with."
"This latest information doesn't seem to make that likely, though, does it?" Emily asked. "Raptaur implying that she's not human, and knows it… That's certainly odd at best. Either she's a bioconstruct, or… what, an alien?"
"I very much doubt that last idea," Hannah laughed. "Aliens seem somewhat unlikely. But if she's aware that she's an artificial life form, that could be an interesting data point. It's not impossible that if we can get her to trust us we could also find out who is behind all this."
"Any lead to the group responsible would be a good thing at this point," Emily sighed. "I'll let Colin deal with that side of things for the moment. I suppose it's possible that he'd have more luck relating to someone who isn't human than he does otherwise. Since he's already taken it upon himself to initiate contact we may as well see what happens."
Hannah smiled a little at her words, nodding for a moment. "I'll keep an eye on him, Director."
"Thank you."
She shook her head in annoyance. "We seem to be spending most of our time reacting to either those two lizards or people they know. It's getting irritating." After a moment, she changed the subject with some relief. "Any more luck on the internal security front since the last report?"
"I've found another mole, this one seems to report to Kaiser, or one of his men," Hannah nodded. "Not high in the PRT structure so his access was limited, which hopefully means that the damage is small, but it's still concerning. His computer and phone are being exhaustively examined at the moment. He's not talking himself although I'll keep working on him."
"Good. Or rather, not good, but good work. Keep me updated, please." She looked at her watch. "Normally I'd be going for a long dialysis session about now but since the other day I have a lot more time available. I'm grateful for that although not enthused about the circumstances."
"You do look much better, Director," Hannah noted with a smile. "I'm pleased to see you so well. We were getting worried the last month or so."
Emily grunted, not replying, but couldn't help smiling just the smallest amount as she got up without any pain at all. It was a wonderful change from the last few years. Not that she planned on mentioning it, of course.
"All right, thank you for the information. We both have work to get back to. Dismissed."
Nodding politely, Hannah re-wrapped her scarf around the lower part of her face, stood, and left, reconnecting the security camera on the way. Emily considered the device, wondering for a moment whether these extra security precautions were needed, then decided that until she was absolutely certain they weren't, she'd keep doing them, regulations or no regulations. There was too much potentially at stake to risk it over a few minutes of video and audio recordings.
Mentally composing, for about the hundredth time, the conversation she was inevitably going to have with Chief Director Costa-Brown, she headed back to her office, stopping by the cafeteria on the way to get a slice of cherry pie. Jon and his diet could wait until Monday.
Taylor watched Amy talking to the various Wards, who were discussing her wardrobe change and new hobby of riding Raptaur, which seemed to amuse them and confuse them equally. Chris seemed very interested in examining her new costume, as was Dennis, Carlos merely seemed puzzled about the entire situation, and Dean was watching her with a mildly worried expression. He glanced over at Taylor who smiled very slightly at him, which didn't seem to make him any happier.
After a few minutes, Amy excused herself and came over to the table Taylor and the others were sitting at. "Can I join you again?" she asked.
"Of course, Amy, any time!" Mandy exclaimed, waving at a free seat. "You're always welcome."
"Thank you," the Dallon girl said as she sat, smiling at them. She had her tray with her, putting it on the table with theirs, then picking up her fork. "So, what's new with you all."
Everyone stared at her, then at each other. Mandy started giggling. "What's new with us?" she asked with an incredulous look. "We're not the ones going into Fugly's and buying huge bags of burgers for Raptaur of all people. What the hell is going on with that?"
Amy grinned. "I'm not entirely sure, I seem to have just ended up a friend of The Family," she said, then laughed as the others all did. "Sorry, it sounds completely stupid when I say it like that."
"It sounds like you've got Mafia protection," Eric snickered. She grinned again.
"They're way more dangerous than the Mafia," she replied. He nodded, still laughing. "You wouldn't wake up next to a horse's head, it would probably be Leviathan's or something." This had them in hysterics, even Taylor.
"They can make you an offer your grandparents can't refuse," Lucy commented with a smile of her own when she stopped giggling, which set everyone off again. An entire series of steadily worse Mafia jokes, suitably modified to fit a family of semi-aquatic reptilian creatures of gradually increasing size, kept them entertained for several minutes.
By the time they finished, half the cafeteria was staring at them due to the howls of laughter, while Dennis had come over and joined in, coming up with some really funny ones. Chuckling to himself he looked around for a moment. "Whoops. Sorry, everyone, go about your business. Nothing to see here." Dozens of people looked at him, then slowly resumed eating. Clapping Amy on the shoulder the red-head grinned to the others then went back to his own table.
"He can be very funny," Mandy smiled, watching him for a moment.
"When he's not being very annoying," Amy noted, momentarily looking mildly irritated, which made them all look at her with amusement.
"Anyway, that aside, how did you end up wearing that costume and riding Raptaur again, not to mention making Assault and Battery look really, really confused, Amy?" the Chinese girl asked curiously.
Amy shrugged a little helplessly. "I'm not entirely certain, to be honest. It sort of happened. It all seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Where did the costume come from?" Mandy asked. Amy explained most of the previous night's entertainment, leaving out the Medhall caper as Taylor was thinking of it, and all the private stuff as well. By the end of it her small audience was staring at her with amusement, a certain amount of envy in one or two cases, and respect. "Wow." Mandy seemed speechless.
"I know, right?" Amy laughed. "I never expected all that to happen when I invited Saurial to a restaurant on the spur of the moment." She met Taylor's eyes. "I made a very good friend as a result. More than one, actually."
"That's so cool," Eric commented, looking impressed.
"I'm pleased for you, Amy," Taylor smiled.
"Me too," the girl replied, grinning happily. "My life has definitely taken a turn for the better recently. Although my mother seems confused." She smirked a little, making Taylor sure there was a story there, one she intended to get out of her later.
They spent the rest of the lunch period swapping stories, Lucy somehow managing to extract a promise from the healer to introduce her to Saurial at some point soon, which made Taylor grin internally while she tried to work out the best way to arrange it.
When the intercom buzzed, Roy looked up from his notes on the meeting he was about to attend after lunch, then reached out and pressed the button. "Yes, Maria?" he asked.
"Your sister and niece are here to see you, Mayor," his secretary said.
Smiling, he replied, "Send them in, please,"
"Of course, sir," she said, then the intercom went silent. Moments later his door opened to admit the two, his sister smiling as she closed it behind her, Dinah grinning widely as she trotted across the carpet to his desk and came around behind it. He swiveled his chair around and leaned forward, hugging her. "Hello, Dinah. This is an unexpected pleasure. What brings you two here?"
"We brought you lunch, Uncle Roy," Dinah said happily. Cheryl held up a bag from the local Chinese food emporium down the street, one she knew he liked. He smiled widely.
"We were just down at the PRT building where they were running some more tests on Dinah's abilities and on the way out she suggested we visit you since we were so close," his sister said quietly, moving over to him as he stood. Embracing her for a moment, he nodded his thanks.
"That's very nice of you and saves me a trip out," he replied. "Come on over here, we can eat at the table." He quickly pulled the small table, which was just big enough for the three of them, out of the alcove, then rolled his office chair over to add to the two already there. Dinah opened the bag and carefully began taking the various containers out, handing out plastic forks with a grave look.
"Thank you," he said with a small bow, before sitting, making her giggle.
"You're welcome, Uncle Roy," she smiled. Shortly they were all sitting and eating.
"How's business going, Roy?" Cheryl asked after a while. "Is that secret project of yours any closer to becoming not a secret?"
"It is, actually," he replied. "In…," he checked his watch, "just over an hour, I'll be explaining to the city council what the plan is, then we'll be voting on whether it goes ahead. Hopefully everyone, or a majority at least, will see sense. In that case we'll be making a preliminary public announcement early next week. The initial stages of it could start by the weekend after that if everything goes well."
"Do you really think it's going to make as big a change as you said it would the other night, Roy?" she asked curiously.
He grinned. "Oh, yes. Definitely. A very big change. In more ways than one."
"It sounds very… interesting," she smiled. "I hope it all works out for you."
"So do I," he said. Looking at Dinah who was battling a reluctant Beef Chow Mein which seemed not to want to be eaten based on how much trouble she was having with the chopsticks she'd decided to use, he picked up one of the plastic forks and held it out to her. "This might be easier, Dinah."
Scowling a little at the food, she accepted the fork and stabbed the recalcitrant bit of beef which was causing the problem, eating it with relish. "Thanks, Uncle Roy," she said.
He smiled at her, then looked at Cheryl again. "How did all the PRT testing go? How is the entire thing going, actually, we haven't spoken for a few days."
"It's going very well, actually," she told him, seeming slightly tired for a moment. "It's a little exhausting dealing with all the paperwork but that's finally settled. Jim is satisfied with it, as are the PRT lawyers, so I think it's fine. Without your help we'd probably still be trying to work out what was wrong with Dinah, though, assuming something worse hadn't happened." She shivered for a moment, making him put his hand on hers.
"It didn't happen, Cheryl, and now it's very unlikely ever to. You know the odds." He grinned, as did Dinah. His sister sighed slightly but nodded, smiling a little.
"I do, and the PRT says we can trust what Dinah says. They're extremely impressed with her abilities. All the tests they can come up with put her at a very high level of precognitive ability, with a few limitations. The main one being that she can't answer more than half a dozen or so questions without a long rest between sessions of several hours at least. They're very reluctant to push her because they're worried about hurting her. Which is something I agree with a hundred percent."
"Of course you do," he said. "I do as well. But I'm very pleased that you have gotten to the bottom of all the headaches. Have you picked a Cape identity and name yet, Dinah?"
The girl looked up from her meal, then shook her head. "Not yet, Uncle Roy. I've been reading about people who can tell the future and trying to come up with a good name that fits, but there are a lot to choose from. Not all of them are any good either."
"I can imagine. Don't worry, you'll come up with a good one in the end, I'm sure. And a costume of some sort. Although I expect that you're not going to be out on the street much, if at all."
Cheryl looked extremely relieved about this. Dinah did as well to a somewhat lesser degree.
"Do you want to ask me some questions?" Dinah asked. "I could probably manage, um, maybe four? If it would help you work."
Startled, he looked at his sister, who was giving her daughter a look of fond exasperation. "Are you sure, Dinah?" he asked. "I wouldn't want to hurt you."
"They asked me their questions hours ago, Uncle Roy," she smiled. "My head doesn't hurt that much now. I can do some for you."
"Is it OK, Cheryl?" he asked his sister, who put her hand on her daughter's head and stroked her hair for a moment.
"If Dinah wants to do it, why not?" she asked. "Just don't push yourself, OK, sweetie? You know what the PRT doctors said."
The girl nodded, finishing her lunch and wiping her mouth, then folding her hands and looking serious at him. "Ask the Great Dinah your questions, supplicant," she intoned with great ceremony, which she immediately ruined by giggling.
Grinning, he bowed from his seated position. "Of course, Great Dinah. As you command," he replied gravely, making his sister smile. "I just have to think carefully. An opportunity such as this doesn't come up very often."
This was actually very true. After a moment, he got up and retrieved a pad and pencil, slowly writing out some ideas and thinking which four questions would produce the most useful information. Eventually he narrowed it down to the ones he thought would be useful to know the answers to.
"All right, then. Let's see how this works out. Question one: what are the chances that the proposal Danny Hebert gave me, as modified by my friend Phil, will achieve the goals we want?"
Dinah thought for a moment, then replied, "Ninety-one point three five percent if carried out as planned."
He wrote the answer down, whistling silently to himself. That was higher that the first time more or less the same question had been accidentally asked at his sister's house.
"Great. Thank you. Question two: what are the chances that a majority of the council will vote this proposal be carried out as planned in the meeting I'm about to have?"
"Ninety-six point seven five percent."
He smiled broadly at this, Dinah matching the smile. "That's extremely good news, dear. Thank you very much."
"You're welcome, Uncle Roy," she replied happily. "I can manage one more at least."
"OK. Hmm. What are the chances that we can prevent the PRT and the public panicking when Kaiju is introduced if we proceed as I am planning?"
"Seventy-eight point four one percent. Who's Kaiju?"
"A very large friend, Dinah. You'll meet her quite soon, I expect." He grinned mysteriously. The girl looked intrigued.
"Those odds aren't as good, Roy," Cheryl commented with a frown of concern. "And by the sounds of it if your plan goes badly it could end up being a problem."
"It could, but I haven't finished working out the details. When I have, if I can ask again, Dinah? It would be very helpful."
"Of course you can," she smiled. "I can do one more, but after than my head will hurt too much to concentrate."
"Are you sure you want to?" he asked.
"For you, yes," she replied.
Tapping his pencil on the two questions remaining, he tried to work out which one he wanted to know the answer to more, then came to a decision. "OK, then. Question four: What are the chances that Kaiju is a member of The Family?" He didn't think it was likely that she wasn't, but he was extremely curious about the provenance of the huge cape and the other two that had so far popped up that people, including Danny Hebert, claimed were all related.
Dinah concentrated, a look of puzzlement slowly crossing her face. "Um..." she began, frowning, not in pain but confusion. "Something's wrong."
"What do you mean, Dinah?" he asked, concerned. Her mother also watched her.
"I don't know. Normally when I hear the right type of question a number just pops into my head along with sometimes a little more information, like whether it depends on something else. But this time it didn't." She shook her head slightly as if there was something stuck in her ear. "For some reason whatever gives me the odds is saying 'Not a Number'. Not really, but that's what it comes out as. I can't explain it any better."
"That's… very weird indeed," Roy replied slowly. It almost sounded like a computer error of some sort. "Did it make your head hurt?"
"A little but not as much as usual," she told him.
"Can we try again?"
"OK."
"All right. How about, what are the chances that Saurial is Kaiju's sister?"
"Not a number."
Roy stared at her, then met his sister's eyes. She looked as puzzled as he felt. "Chances that Raptaur is Saurial's sister?"
"Not a number." Dinah looked like she couldn't work out what the problem was, something he sympathized with. They tried several more questions, even Cheryl asking a couple when she'd worked out the pattern, with the same result every time. Any question which directly involved a prediction about any of the reptilian capes produced what he could only call an error message. Questions which included them as a byproduct, such as the one about the public reaction to Kaiju's introduction, worked. It was beyond strange.
"Are you sure you don't have a computer in there, Dinah?" he joked, reaching out and tapping her head. She looked both amused and puzzled.
"I don't think so. But I can't get any numbers on those guys."
"How odd," he commented, rubbing his chin and staring at her.
"Should we tell the PRT, Roy?" His sister looked worried. "It might be important."
Thinking it over, he slowly replied, "I think it can probably wait until Monday. We know that Raptaur and Saurial are heroes, so I don't think there's any threat there. Kaiju is a bit of an unknown but she's been vouched for by a man I trust so I tend to think we're all right there as well. It's very peculiar but it might just be some weird effect of Dinah's power."
"Who is Kaiju, Roy?" Cheryl asked. He considered her for a moment, then Dinah.
"You can't tell anyone until after the big event, OK, you two? Promise, it's important."
Dinah immediately nodded, then nudged her mother when Cheryl was a little slow in following suit. Eventually she did. "You're sure it's safe?" his sister asked anxiously.
"Yes, I think I am, Sis," he smiled. "She's impressive, but not a threat. Just a big help. A really big help." After a moment to gather his thoughts, he told them the story of his meeting of the vast aquatic reptile, which made two pairs of very round eyes appear on the other side of the table.
"Nearly a hundred feet tall?" Cheryl squeaked in a stunned tone. He nodded, grinning.
"That was my reaction at the time. Danny Hebert played it for all he could, the sly devil. I'm sure, thinking back on it, that they planned the whole thing like that for maximum impact. It sure worked, I nearly crapped a brick."
Dinah laughed, making him smile and his sister look mildly annoyed. "Sorry, Sis. But it was extremely impressive. Especially in the dark like that. Frightened the life out of me for a moment." He grinned darkly. "I'm looking forward to see Director Piggot's face when Kaiju walks out of the bay."
"Don't push it too far, Roy," his sister warned, although she was now smiling as well. "The Director doesn't like surprises from what I know about her."
"We'll see," he smirked. Glancing at his watch, he added, "I'm sorry, but the meeting starts in ten minutes. I can't be late for it. It was wonderful to see the both of you. Thank you for bringing me lunch, and for answering those questions, Dinah."
"Any time, Uncle Roy," the girl smiled. "Are you going to come and visit soon?"
"Of course. Maybe over the weekend?"
"I'd like that," she laughed, jumping up and hugging him. Cheryl rose and did the same.
"It was nice seeing you, Roy. Do stop in soon. Let us know how your meeting goes."
"I will, Sis. Give my best to Jim."
She nodded, smiling one last time at him, then they left. Watching them go, he felt pleased, then as he looked down at the pad in his hand, puzzled.
After a few seconds he pushed the peculiarity surrounding Kaiju and her relatives to one side, going back to his notes on the upcoming meeting and quickly revising them, before straightening his tie and heading down to the council chambers and one of the most important meetings of his life.
Even with the high percentage of success given by his niece, there was no excuse to slack off now. That would just be careless.
"Armsmaster." Colin answered his PRT issue phone with a gruff word, still concentrating on his screen.
"Hello, Armsmaster, this is Raptaur," an incredibly deep voice said, making him suddenly pay attention to the call. "I was given your card by Danny along with a request that I contact you?"
"Yes. Thank you for getting in touch so quickly," he replied, dredging his memory for the social niceties. It seemed correct as far as he could tell.
"It's no problem," she assured him with what sounded like amusement in her voice. "What can I help Brockton Bay's premier Tinker with? I must confess to being very curious about what you need my help for."
"I have studied your electron-degenerate matter, using the sample you gave to Leet, who passed it on to me," he said with no further small talk, getting down to business. "The properties of it are remarkable and would seem conducive to manufacturing a very powerful weapon that stands a good chance of damaging, or at an outside chance, destroying, an Endbringer. I, and Dragon, are hoping that you would agree to help us construct this weapon."
She was silent, which he took as a good sign.
"The next Endbringer attack is due at approximately the end of the month, plus or minus up to five days. It will most likely be the Simurgh, who is also the prime target for the weapon as designed. We don't have much time to work on it before then. Would it be possible to meet somewhere private to discuss the plans of the device?"
After a moment, the lizard-like cape replied slowly, "You want me to make you a weapon to kill the Simurgh with?"
"Yes. Both Dragon and I calculate that actually killing the Endbringer is unlikely but driving it off without further force required is distinctly possible. The weapon is very destructive."
"I see. Let me think about this for a moment, please."
"Of course." He waited patiently for about thirty seconds.
"I can't in all honesty see how I can refuse. If you want, you can meet me tomorrow at the DWU in the afternoon, around four PM. I would prefer not to become involved with the PRT in general. I have access to a building at the DWU which is completely private where we won't be disturbed."
"Thank you. That will suffice. Is it permissible to bring Dragon? She is willing to fly down for this discussion and can be there by then."
"That's fine. I'll look forward to seeing you both. Just ask at the gate for me, someone there will tell you how to find me." She hung up, making him do the same.
Colin smiled slightly. The cape sounded somewhat puzzled, which was understandable, but pleasantly rational and easy to talk to.
He approved.
Turning to his left, he tapped the control to contact Dragon, wanting to tell the woman the good news as soon as possible. While he waited the few seconds it took her to answer he wondered what Raptaur was doing for the DWU which required an entire private building.
Taylor looked at her Raptaur phone, slightly bemused, then put it away as she changed back to her base form, heading back to the school and dismissing the cloak as soon as she found a suitable place that her eyes and nose told her was unobserved. She'd taken a few minutes away from the end of the lunch period to find somewhere private to call the Tinker.
'That's… odd,' she said as she walked.
"He seemed very sure of his design," the Varga remarked curiously. "I am very interested to see what he's come up with."
'You're not the only one,' she told him. 'I can't see what we can make that would be that powerful except maybe the Hammer of Ultimate Destruction, or the blast voice. Neither one of which he should know about.'
"I suppose we'll have to wait to find out," her demonic companion replied calmly. "It should be an educational experience."
'I think so too,' she smiled as she reached the door to the school. Amy was standing outside next to Vicky, who seemed to be just floating there. Taylor walked up to them, staring at the blonde, who smiled at her. Amy shrugged.
"She's not allowed to fly inside, so she comes outside sometimes and does this for a while. It's like stretching, I think."
They both looked at Vicky, who grinned at them. "Hey, if you could fly, would you walk everywhere? I get twitchy if I can't float around regularly."
Grinning back, Taylor said, "I guess that makes sense. Kind of." She turned to the other Dallon sister who was giving Vicky a long-suffering look. "Want to come over again for a while after school? I can help you with some more math, then we can hang out." She winked very slightly at her friend, whose eyes widened a little, then narrowed.
"I… think I'd like that. Thank you, Taylor." Amy smiled. Glancing at her sister, she asked, "Can you drop me off at Taylor's house on the way home, Sis?"
"Sure," Vicky answered. "No problem. Nice to have met you, Taylor, Amy has told me some good things about you."
"Likewise," she replied. The bell rang at that point, making all three of them look at the school. "Later, guys. Chemistry awaits."
Waving, she headed inside, smiling to herself, eager to tell her friend about BBFO, LLC.