This chapter is where the lack of options on FF dot net for link inclusion really bites. The original posting had embedded links to Youtube for suitable musical accompaniment throughout the chapter, which gets filtered out here, annoyingly.
For reference, they are in order as follows (replace : with . to get a URL):
www:youtube:com/watch?v=egzfvjy6sqk
www:youtube:com/watch?v=lV8i-pSVMaQ
www:youtube:com/watch?v=Nox-xs61dmU
www:youtube:com/watch?v=vJFJ_uGlMVY
www:youtube:com/watch?v=fMPj8c676po
I've bolded and underlined the point in the original where the links were.
Roy watched Danny raise the radio to his mouth, pressing the transmit button, then looked back to Phil who was also watching. "An interesting person, I suspect. Not quite what I was expecting, but... interesting. He picks up the subtext of a conversation very quickly I think."
"He's a very experienced people person, Phil," Roy smiled. "He's had a lot of practice talking to some very hostile audiences for something like seventeen years, which he wouldn't still be doing if he wasn't very good at it."
"That is a valid point," Phil nodded, still watching the DWU man. "Thank you for introducing us. And inviting myself and my people along to watch." He glanced at Director Piggot, who was now talking to the Governor, looking slightly less irritated but not exactly happy even so.
"I suspect there will be some amusing expressions shortly."
"Probably," Roy grinned. "That's certainly what I'm hoping for. I have to start, but I'll be back soon."
"Please don't let me delay you further, old friend," Phil said equably, retaking his seat then minutely adjusting the position of his chair.
Smiling to him, then his companion who he still didn't know the name of, Roy headed to the place at the front of the helipad's impromptu viewing platform where there was a lectern put up, a couple of his aides and his PA standing next to it checking some notes. He cast a glance at the cloudless sky and sent up a brief prayer of thanks for the spectacularly good, almost flat calm, sunny day. Visibility was unlimited and he could easily see the other side of the bay, the tanker, and even the Atlantic in the distance.
Moving to stand behind the lectern he had a quick word behind his hand with his PA, then straightened up. She called for everyone to pay attention, which made the bulk of the sixty or so people standing around look over, then nudge their friends. He saw that Director Piggot and her people were in the front row, watching him intently, with Governor Scott and his party next to her.
The local TV station and the Boston one's OB units both had cameras focused on him, while the lectern was miked up with both his own peoples' microphones and ones from several news organizations. Tapping the one that was linked to the PA system, he nodded when he heard it through the speakers that were dotted around the area.
"Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for coming. We are entering a new era of prosperity for Brockton Bay, as a result of hard work from several directions, most notably the Dock Workers Union who have been tirelessly laboring to make this project a success." He paused, wondering why he could hear music, very faintly but apparently getting louder. Putting it down to a car in the street below with the stereo up too loudly, he continued.
"For far too long we have allowed our fine city to decay about us. Crime is rampant, driven primarily by the three gangs we are troubled by. Even with the aid of both our own Brockton Bay Police Department, who work extremely hard under difficult conditions, and the Protectorate and PRT who provide us with Parahuman help, we find it almost impossible to win the war although we can win individual battles."
Roy looked around at the faces watching him. Director Piggot was looking like she was trying to work out if he'd in some way slightly insulted her agency, while Governor Scott was nodding slightly.
"The economy of the city has dropped and dropped for years, mirroring the general state of the country, but even under those standards, we are not doing as well as we should be. There are many causes of this, of course, but if I had to point to the two main ones, it would again be crime, and nearly as importantly would be the terrible state of the bay itself. This city has a long and proud seafaring tradition. We were once one of the largest ports in the country in terms of per-capita shipping."
"Those days are, of course, long behind us. Shipping is down globally due to Endbringer attacks, the economy worldwide is in the doldrums, and even without those points, the general strike years ago left the city with a terrible legacy of suspicion, damaged or destroyed infrastructure, and that." He pointed at the tanker on the horizon, sixty plus heads turning to look at it. "That wreck is the largest single problem we face in restoring the port of Brockton Bay to it's former glory. Many studies have been carried out over the years to determine the best way to at first salvage it, then later simply to remove it, but in every case it was deemed too expensive or too difficult."
"It's no mean task, of course. The ship itself weighs in excess of thirty thousand tons, I'm reliably informed, and it is firmly hung up on a reef that is in deep water making work on it very hazardous and expensive. As it is blocking the shipping channel, no vessel large enough to move it can actually get past it to move it. The seaward side is very difficult to work from making the job even more expensive. As a result despite close to twenty years of talk, nothing has been done. It sits there, choking off trade and costing jobs and money to the citizens of Brockton Bay. A port that forty years ago employed over eight thousand men and women now only has the small die-hard remnants of that labor force still in work."
Taking a sip of water from the glass at his elbow, he discreetly checked the time. Five minutes. Everyone seemed to be listening intently, several of them nodding to various points he'd made.
"Despite the problems, the Dock Workers Union has stuck it out, providing work for hundreds of people that would otherwise have nothing and in many ways keeping much of this city working, even to the extent that it does. Their people are behind a large amount of the reconstruction efforts that are called on far too often after a Parahuman altercation, for example. Without them, a significant part of the city would be unusable. Yet, we can barely afford to pay them a living wage and certainly not grow the number of workers to make a real difference. Something needs to be done."
"A few weeks ago, I was approached by the man who above any is key to keeping the DWU as functional as it has been for many years, Danny Hebert. Many of you will recognize that name, he and I have crossed swords time after time. He was a thorn in the side of the previous administration as well." He grinned as a number of the councilors standing around listening nodded, some rather irritably. Danny wasn't universally popular outside the DWU, definitely. "He presented me with a draft of a rather bold proposal, one that if carried out and successful, would revitalize the port and as a result the city."
Roy sipped some more water, noting idly that the music seemed to still be there and still getting louder, although it wasn't intrusive. In fact it was providing a nice background theme, one he vaguely recognized from a movie of some sort. Some Aleph SF one with people fighting aliens with laptops, from what he could remember. Dismissing it, he resumed his speech.
"I was very dubious about his proposal, it sounded both risky and outlandish. However, his figures were well researched, everything hung together, and he assured me it was in fact possible. I asked him to go away and work out all the details, recalculate everything, and allow me to pass on the results to independent experts for verification. Less that a week later he did exactly that. Much more detailed, all the data clearly presented, all with citations and sub reports on the resources required. He and his people at the DWU did a damn fine job."
"I duly passed this data and proposal to a number of trusted advisors whose conclusions I trust implicitly." He noticed Phil watching him with a tiny smile, evaluating the entire event. He'd probably write him a two page report on how to improve on it in future, something that amused Roy. "They all came back with the evaluation that the plan was sound, financially viable, and in fact something that might well be the only possible way of saving the economy of this city. Minor improvements were suggested in some cases, all of which have been included, but the plan was sound."
The music swelled and he found himself speaking slightly more forcefully to be heard over it, yet it if anything seemed to improve the speech. "The City Council met last week, discussed the plan, and approved it. It wasn't unanimous, there were some concerns raised, but these were merely about whether it was the right time to do it, rather than whether or not it would work." This was basically true, although somewhat simplistic. "The DWU, which had already begun preparatory work, which was mostly of a nature that required actioning sooner or later anyway, swung into high gear. Over the weekend five derelict warehouses along the shoreline in the Docks area were cleared away, with the help of a new company, Brockton Bay Family Operations LLC, a company formed to market the abilities of the newest Parahuman residents of the city. You know them as 'The Family.'"
There were a number of gasps at his words, and glances were exchanged. "Yes, they exist. Saurial, and Raptaur, are only two of their number. Today we will be meeting a sister of theirs, by the name of Kaiju. As I said in my initial press briefing, I met her recently and we discussed what she could do for the city. She is an… interesting… individual, and more than willing to donate her time on this project. As a matter of fact, she has already cleared out the shipping canal all the way from the docks to the entrance to the bay for us, doing in two nights what it would take a dredging company at least three months to do, at a cost in the millions of dollars."
He noticed that Director Piggot was looking startled and thoughtful, making him smile inside.
"Today, Kaiju will begin the initial stages of the Brockton Bay Port Reclamation Project, with the eventual aim of restoring the port to full functionality, generating several hundred jobs directly over the next couple of years, and in the medium term producing opportunities for massive inward investment to the city that could create thousands more. It is the beginning, as I said, of a new era."
He checked his watch. Right on time. "Without further talking from me, allow me to introduce Mr Danny Hebert, who will issue the order to start work."
As he was stepping down from his lectern, Director Piggot took a step forward and spoke loudly and clearly. "Mayor Christner, while I find your speech both impressive and interesting, you have neglected one crucial detail. What precisely is this… Kaiju… going to do?"
"My apologies, Director Piggot," he smiled. "Of course, you're right. Kaiju is going to move that for us." He pointed at the tanker again, his smile widening. "It will be taken to the Docks, cut up, and recycled. I'll answer more questions at the press conference later but now we must begin to keep to the schedule. Danny, over to you."
The PRT Director was staring at him, then the distant tanker, her brow furrowed. He moved to the side, grinning to himself. That had been fun.
The music he'd been hearing had died away, suddenly enough that he looked around. 'What the hell is doing that?' he wondered. Still, whatever it was had been a nice accompaniment to his speech.
Danny moved over to behind the lectern, clearing his throat. "Hello, everyone. As Mayor Christner has said, so flatteringly, I'm Danny Hebert of the DWU. It's been my pleasure to work alongside BBFO for the last few days and coordinate their efforts. Now, we are ready to begin the largest operation this city has seen in a generation, with the removal of the wreck that has blocked the bay for decades. We expect this to take the rest of the day, but Kaiju will introduce herself to you all in the process."
Turning to look towards the water, he raised the radio to his mouth, pressing the transmit key. "This is Danny. Begin when ready."
"Confirmed, Danny," Amy's voice came back to him clearly, carrying over the now-silent crowd. "Kaiju is on her way."
The crowd of people all turned to look the same way he was, waiting with various expressions.
Roy's was of extreme satisfaction.
Kevin snickered as he turned the music down, both he and Randall watching the feed from the Snitch which was hovering above the City Hall helipad, focused on the lectern. His little remote audio pickup was hidden in among the press microphones, while the audio inducer generator was out over the water about a quarter mile offshore and a similar distance up, invisible thanks to purloined Squealer technology. The woman would probably be very irritated about it, but considering she was probably in a drug-fueled haze at the moment, would never know.
He shook his head. It was a shame, the female Tinker had a lot of talent, and annoyingly to him could reproduce it over and over again.
"I wonder if they've worked out yet that almost everyone in the city heard that speech even if they didn't have a TV or radio," Randall chuckled.
"No idea. They will soon enough." Kevin picked up his binoculars and held them to his eyes, peering over the edge of the old warehouse they were perched on the roof of, about half-way between the DWU and the Downtown area. "Here she comes."
"Fuck me, she's enormous," Randall breathed. His smile grew. "This is going to be absolutely epic."
Kevin watched the traces of something very big indeed moving fast underwater, trying to work out her likely movements. After a moment, he said, "She's not going to stop. This pass is for effect, I think she's going to go to the tanker and come back." He selected an appropriate theme, giggling to himself.
Leet grinned, then stabbed a control on the master unit with his index finger. Music started playing, audible to most of the city and certainly anyone within half a mile of the shore.
It probably reached out into the water as well, to one specific set of ears. "OK, Miss Kaiju. Play along and make this even better."
Mandy and Lucy exchanged a glance as the speech from the Mayor wound down, the soundtrack to the speech in 'Independence Day' dying away as well. Looking around everyone had apparently heard it, and a lot of them were looking approving. "He made a lot of friends with that," Lucy commented.
Eric and Rich, behind them, were looking around. "What's the problem, guys," Mandy said, peering back at them.
"We're wondering where the speakers are," Eric said, staring up at the buildings behind them. "That sound was perfect, and it looks like everyone along the shore heard it as well, but I can't see any speakers anywhere."
"Weird," Lucy commented, following his eyes, then looking around as well. "Maybe it's some Tinker thing."
"I guess," he replied sounding slightly doubtful. "The sound quality was amazing."
"I wonder if Taylor and Amy are around anywhere," Mandy asked, standing on tiptoes to see.
"Probably, but look around you, there are tens of thousands of people here, we'll never find them," her friend said reasonably. "The only way we're together is that we came together."
"Hey, look, it's Glory Girl," Mandy suddenly said, pointing up and to the right. Sighing a little at her best friend's short attention span, Lucy looked, to see Vicky Dallon floating a hundred feet up and about three hundred feet away to the right, wearing her new costume that she'd seen on PHO.
"You've actually met her, you know," Lucy grinned. "We go to school together. Her sister is one of our friends."
"I know, but doesn't she look cool like that!"
Mandy grinned back, pointing. Lucy had to admit that the girl looked very heroic.
The end of the speech and the introduction of Taylor's father passed them by but they listened as he called for Kaiju to start. "Let loose the Kraken," Mandy intoned in a deep voice, then giggled, making Eric, Rich, and Lucy all laugh. The sound of what was clearly Amy's voice responding then made them exchange surprised glances.
"I didn't know she was involved in this," Mandy exclaimed.
"Me neither," Rich commented. "She didn't say anything about it."
"Taylor's probably at the DWU with her," Lucy pointed out. They all craned their necks to see towards the Docks, the shoreline a hundred feet away being somewhat lower so they could just make out the water.
A few seconds passed, then another set of music began. Slowly at first, the perfect fidelity of the sound swelling up from inaudibility to clear music. The crowd fell silent, the four teenagers exchanging awed glances.
"Wow," Lucy breathed in excitement. "They went all out for this."
Danny watched with satisfaction and pride as the event unfolded. Roy, beside him, was chuckling quietly to himself. Whoever had arranged the music deserved a reward, it was perfect. Hopefully Taylor would make use of it. He had an idea who was behind it and decided he needed to talk to them at some point soon.
The two men exchanged glances, smirked a little, then went back to watching what unfolded.
Emily listened, then sighed slightly. "Really? The 'Jaws' theme?"
"It's very clear, Ma'am," one of her escort said admiringly. "Much better than my stereo at h..." He trailed off abruptly when he caught her twitching jaw muscle. His companion discreetly thumped him on the shoulder behind her back.
Dismissing the two idiots, she watched, her eyes widening comically when she realized exactly what she was watching.
"Bullshit!" Dennis yelled out the word, pointing at the bay. He turned to the rest of the Wards who were standing on the roof of the PRT building along with several dozen PRT personnel who had all decided at once that they needed some air. "That's complete bullshit! And where's the music coming from?"
"My money is on Über and Leet," Chris laughed. "It's their style. I wonder how they pulled that off?"
Carlos watched through binoculars, not speaking, but his shoulders were tense. "God, I hope no one hits the sirens," he muttered. "That would cause total chaos."
"I still say it's bullshit," Dennis grumped, folding his arms across his chest. He didn't turn away though.
A hundred feet down, over that in length, and standing a shade under ninety feet tall on her hind legs, Taylor began swimming fairly slowly. Her tail sweeping back and forth in lazy arcs she powered through the water, rising gently. As she passed the last of the warehouses, she heard music.
Listening for a moment, she grinned a wide reptilian grin. 'Oh, those boys deserve a favor for this,' she giggled. 'I wish I'd thought of it.'
"It seems appropriate somehow," the Varga chuckled. "You recognize the music?"
'I do. I'll have to show you the movie, it's not bad for an old one. I bet they've got lots ready as well. I hope I can recognize them all and react correctly.'
"Well, let's see if we can put on a show for the public, complete with musical accompaniment, shall we?"
'I think we shall. Keep it light, though.'
"Light in general, or light horror, as you're so fond of saying?"
She snickered. 'Probably best light in general. I have some ideas.'
Going over them with him, she rose to the point where just her spine was above the water and sped up.
"Look!"
Everyone stared at the woman who'd shouted, then followed her finger. Danny grinned a little more widely. 'Don't overdo it, dear,' he thought, amused.
Heading towards them from about half a mile away was a huge bulge in the water which hinted at something vast and fast traveling just under the surface. As the music swelled, a long, darkly scaled spine broke through the water, leaving a wake behind it. From their height hints of motion could be seen behind and below the wake, hints that suggested a long serpentine tail moving back and forth, leaving eddies on the surface.
The swimming creature passed the city hall at a good thirty miles an hour, then began to sink out of sight again, until all that was visible was a bulge traveling towards the distant tanker. Dead silence, except for the music, reigned over a large part of Brockton Bay as something like seventy-five thousand people stared after it.
"What the fuck was that!" Victor was on his feet, hands pressed on the window, as he stared after the thing that had just swum past two hundred yards out from the shore. He turned, pointing after it. "You saw that, right? What was it? It must have been over a hundred fucking feet long!"
Max didn't reply, he was engaged in following the ripple in the water with his eyes and mentally totting up how much money he could lay hands on within twenty-four hours.
"Perfect," Leet crowed. "She knows what's happening and played along perfectly. That's great. OK, next track, next track..." He dropped the binoculars and frantically flipped through selections on the tablet that formed the core of his control system, until he stopped on one, then began laughing. Randall looked over his shoulder and burst out giggling as well.
"It only just came out, you think enough people will have seen it?"
"It was really popular before Christmas so I think so. Anyway, can you think of a better one?"
"Nope."
They grinned at each other, then went back to watching, waiting for the Hebert sea monster to return from whatever it was she was doing.
"I think one every… two hundred and fifty yards or so?" the Varga suggested, looking at the thing they'd designed which was currently sitting on the floor of the bay near the tanker, not yet buoyant enough to float. She swam around it, then nodded.
'Sounds about right. Got the pattern? We need to do these in sequence smoothly for the best effect.'
"Please. I could do these if I was asleep, Brain," he laughed. "You do the swimming, I'll do the demonic matter creation."
'Sounds fair,' she replied, turning around and heading back towards the DWU facility, more slowly this time. Every two hundred and fifty yards, her companion generated another of their devices, along with an anchor system which would stop it drifting away. They shot towards the surface, lifted by the floats he'd added, popping up one after another behind her.
Brian looked at Lisa, who was rolling around on the roof laughing her head off, then exchanged a glance with Alec. Both of them sadly shook their heads.
"She's lost it. Completely nuts. Maybe we should push her off the roof? It would stop the noise if nothing else."
Brian sighed at his friend's comment, although he was also smiling.
"She's going to swim back and forth winding them all up, then do something insane, I can feel it," Lisa chortled, lifting her head to look after the enormous underwater form. "Über and Leet are helping, without even being asked! NO ONE will ever forget this Tuesday."
Laying her head back down again, the blonde roared with hilarity, to the point that Brian was reconsidering Alec's suggestion...
"Look!"
'Will someone please shut her up?' Danny mentally sighed, as everyone stared into the distance. There was a huge roar of displaced water echoing around the bay seconds after a massive cylindrical buoy popped out of the sea, leaping its own length into the air before settling back with a splash then bobbing around. A bright reflective orange, it was almost painful to look at. The thing must have been a good twenty feet high and at least twice that around. Circling its circumference were the words, "Construction Zone, No Entry," in letters ten feet tall. Sticking out of the top was a pole that stretched a further twenty feet up with a sign, the standard diamond shape, mounted on the end.
On the sign was a stylized figure of a huge bipedal lizard wielding an enormous shovel, the entire thing in black silhouette against the yellow sign. Above it was written "Caution" in huge letters, while under it were the words "Kaiju at work."
He read the warnings while grinning to himself. Another one popped up, two or three hundred yards closer, bobbing back and forth as the water ran off it. Everyone gaped, while the music changed. He tried to recognize it, feeling that he should, then laughed when he did. It seemed somehow appropriate in a weird way.
"Why did you pick that?" Randall asked.
"Because it's an epic piece of music that's associated with the sea and I couldn't figure out a better one to play while a fucking enormous lizard lays warning buoys," his friend said idly, his finger on the track he'd originally picked out, waiting for the right moment.
"Fair enough." They watched as huge marker buoys popped out of the water one by one in a line half a mile from shore, heading back from the tanker to the Docks.
Erwin listened to the music, tapping along to it with his pint glass, while the rest of the regulars from the Tavern watched open mouthed. "Liked that movie," he grunted, pouring the last of the brandy into his glass, then lifting it in salute as the line of mysteriously appearing buoys passed them. "Good work, lass. Should have said you were going to work for the DWU, I wouldn't have been so worried."
He swigged brandy and grinned to himself.
Taylor smirked, listening to the main theme from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' play above the water. 'Odd choice but I like it,' she commented with a snicker.
"It's an inspiring melody," the Varga replied approvingly. They reached the end of the line, marking the seaward side of the shipping channel, turned around, and headed back. This time she stayed deep, leaving a ripple on the surface but no wake, until she was opposite the point she could see the breakwater outside the City Hall area. Sinking to the bottom she prepared herself, then moved closer into shallower water, staying low. When she heard the music change, she grinned at the choice, approving instantly, before slowly rising...
Lucy froze, gaping in disbelief, even as she recognized the music. It was weirdly appropriate, she thought, although oddly inverted. The enormous creature stood up, looking around, the…
She squinted. Yes, she was seeing it right. It really was wearing… a bright yellow hard hat large enough to hide a truck?
The Chinese girl glanced at her friends. Mandy was looking shocked, Eric seemed to have forgotten to breath, and Rich was laughing a little hysterically.
The creature reached full height, its shadow stretching across the water, then stopped. After a moment it reached down under the surface again, felt around, and retrieved a huge quantity of eye-piercingly bright orange cloth which it shrugged on, showing it to be a high visibility jacket big enough to cover a house.
Lucy stared, then giggled, while the music played.
"You have fucking got to be kidding me," Victor breathed. He stared at the reptilian creature standing in water up to its waist in total disbelief. "That fucking thing must be a hundred feet tall. Look at it!"
Max was. In fact, he was looking so hard he'd forgotten to hold onto his glass of spirits, which had slipped from numb fingers to shatter on the floor. Once again, a pair of shoes were ruined.
Behind them, Brad was hiding under the desk and making little sounds that suggested he'd like to go back to a nice safe custody cell now, please. Dimly, Max was aware of this and half-thinking he'd like to join him. Krieg was totally silent and his eyes were wider than one would think possible.
Randall and Kevin watched with wide grins, approving mightily. It was beautiful.
Emily gaped at the vast reptile that had heaved itself out of the freezing waters of the bay, to the soundtrack from the recent Aleph movie 'Pacific Rim' which she thought in poor taste under the circumstances. Bearing in mind that it was about a group of people who fought aliens called…
"Oh, for fuck's sake," she sighed. "Another one with a warped sense of humor."
This was readily apparent from the little show with the fucking enormous hard hat and high visibility safety gear. On the back of the vest was written:
Kaiju
Marine Reorganization Operative
BB Dock Workers Union
member #1834
BBFO, LLC
"A Family Business"
Proudly associated with
the City of Brockton Bay since 2011
"cathg sgn'wahi nnnshugg"
This was easily visible as the creature was looking in the other direction.
"People of Brockton Bay, your attention please!" an incredibly deep voice boomed out, audible for miles. Emily winced a little. Danny Hebert seemed to be laughing fairly hard, while the Mayor was grinning like an idiot.
There was a pause, then in a lower voice, the thing muttered, "Hey, where the hell are..." It looked both ways, then over its shoulder, the long neck allowing this easily. She found herself staring into glowing yellow-orange eyes several feet across in a head that was big enough to eat a full-size car.
"Oh, there you are." It turned around. "Sorry about that. You can get mixed up very easily down there." Even at a more conversational volume the voice was audible across a large part of the city. It looked around at the huge crowd of people who had gone eerily quiet. The background music lowered in volume and changed to something that Emily thought was from one of the Godzilla movies of the late nineties, which was horrifyingly apposite under the circumstances. Kaiju tipped her head a little to the side, listening, then smiled, exposing fangs longer than a man was tall.
The PRT director could almost hear the massed gasp of horror from the populace.
"I like that one. Anyway, like I was saying, or about to say, please give me your attention." She looked around, then down at the crowds in the park. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed. "Hey, you, yes you in the yellow shirt. I said pay attention."
At the back of her mind, in the part that wasn't gibbering in horror, Emily wondered what poor bastard had just been picked out. And whether he'd ever get over it.
"Great. OK, as the Mayor has told you, I'm going to be taking that old ship over there," she pointed with one hand to the wreck, "to the Dock area where it's going to get cut up over there." The other hand came up, a six foot plus talon tipping a fifteen foot finger pointing in the other direction. "The marked area is going to be a hazardous zone until later tonight. Please don't go into it, or neither I, the Dock Workers Union, or the City of Brockton Bay can be held responsible for what might happen. Got it?"
She looked around, appearing satisfied. Half the city was holding its breath, while most of the rest of them were nodding frantically. "Great, thanks very much. Hi, Mayor Christner!" Kaiju waved, looking directly at them. Emily heard a thud and glanced sideways to see that the irritating woman who kept screaming 'Look!' had collapsed in a dead faint. No one else seemed to care.
"Hello, Kaiju," Roy called, his words being broadcast by whatever method had been put into place. Emily suspected a certain pair of video-game themed minor villains were to blame. Roy didn't seem to mind, happily taking advantage of it. "Thank you for agreeing to help us."
"Oh, it's no trouble, Mayor. I like moving things around. Ships, oil rigs, small mountains… I'll give it a go." She smiled. Emily shuddered again. Kaiju took a step forward, then stopped, looking down. "Hold on." Bending down she felt under the water again, then lifted a somewhat squashed aluminum-hulled fishing boat about twenty feet long out of the bay, having apparently stepped on it. "Does anyone want this?"
The vast creature looked around, then shrugged when nobody claimed the sunken boat. "OK." She used both hands to wad it up into a ball as easily as a child with a candy wrapper, then flipped the remains into her mouth and chewed. "Aluminum is pretty tasty," she announced when she'd swallowed.
Emily could feel that she was a very pale color. Looking around she could see it wasn't restricted to her.
"I'd better get on with it, I don't want to miss the tide," Kaiju said. "It was nice meeting you all. Remember, stay out of the marked area. See you soon." She waved, then turned around and waded out into deeper water, before sinking out of sight. The bulge in the water that marked her presence swiftly moved off towards the tanker. Emily felt around for her chair, then sat and watched, thinking frantically.
'Well, if the Chief Director didn't know before, she sure as fuck does now,' she thought in a peculiar mix of glum despondency and gut-wrenching terror. 'How the fuck do I explain that the DWU has a friendly Endbringer on staff?'
Some distance away, Leet and Über were laughing nearly as hard as Lisa still was, while closer to hand the various Wards were sitting down staring out to sea. Dennis was muttering 'Bullshit' to himself repeatedly.
Dragon turned to Colin, both of them feeling a sense of total unreality. Even Ethan had stopped joking around with the rest of the staff present and was staring after Kaiju with an odd expression on his face. She indicated the direction the impossibly large reptile had disappeared in.
"I suddenly think I know what Raptaur had in mind," she said quietly.
"I believe you're probably right. We'll need to look at the plans again."
"Later. I want to see what happens next."
Colin nodded, turning back to watch.