Walking into the Principal's office's outer waiting room, where she'd never been before, Taylor looked around with both aspects. The secretary looked up as the door opened, her eyes widening slightly when she spotted 'Saurial' although she recovered nicely. "Oh, wonderful, that was quick," she said in bright tones. "Thank you both. If you'll just wait a moment, I'll let them know you're here." Picking up one of the three phones in front of her next to her computer screen, she dialed a two digit code, then waited. Taylor could smell several familiar scents nearby, including Director Piggot.
"Yes, Miss Hebert and Saurial are here, sir," she said a moment later. There was a short pause after which she nodded and said, "Yes," then she put the phone down again. "You can go in," she said, indicating one of the three doors opening off the reception room. Taylor glanced at her other aspect, which the Varga was currently running, then headed towards the door. It opened as she reached it.
"Hello, Miss Hebert," Vice-Principal Howell said, looking at her approvingly. "Excellent. And Saurial… I'm pleased to meet you," she added, holding out her hand, which the Varga shook with a small smile. "Come in."
Once they were inside, they could see that in addition to the woman, the PRT director was there, along with Miss Militia. A man she assumed was the Principal of Arcadia was sitting next to another man, who she didn't recognize, but by the looks of him he was probably ex-military or something like that. She knew the type from the DWU. This one was keeping his eyes on her Saurial aspect, not in a hostile manner, but more in the way of someone who knew who the greatest threat in the room was and didn't intend to be taken by surprise.
There was also a PRT lieutenant present, one of the ones that had been present at the meeting at BBFO, Lieutenant Pratchett she recalled.
"Have a seat," Howell said, indicating a spot next to where she was heading for. Taylor sat in the next chair, with the demon moving the one next to that out of the way and also sitting.
"Well, Director, we're all here." The Principal looked across the table at the PRT head, who was watching Taylor and 'Saurial' closely. "What's this all about? We've signed your latest NDAs and we're all very curious. I'm not altogether happy about a Parahuman, or indeed any, threat to this school or any of my students."
Director Piggot sighed very faintly as she glanced at him. "No, I expect you aren't. Believe me, I would prefer the situation to be different, but we have to deal with what's going on, regardless." Looking back at Taylor, she went on, "Hello, Miss Hebert, as you may have gathered I'm Director Piggot from the PRT ENE here in the city. I'm sorry we're finally meeting under such circumstances. And I'm more than sorry about what happened to bring us here."
Taylor shrugged. "It happened, like you said we have to deal with the fallout. But thank you."
"I assume that you're fully up to date with the situation, thanks to your friends?" the blonde woman asked, looking at the lizard-girl next to her. Taylor nodded.
"Yes, I am, Director."
"Good." She rubbed her forehead for a moment, abruptly looking very tired. Taylor wondered if she'd actually got any sleep at all yet, she looked like she was running on caffeine more than anything else. Miss Militia looked a lot better, but then she apparently didn't need to sleep so that wasn't surprising.
"I'm sorry to have to risk bringing up bad memories, but do you have any objections to me discussing what happened at Winslow with everyone else here?" the director asked. "It will make things easier to explain."
"I don't mind," Taylor said. "I think I'm pretty much past that now, so if you need to talk about it, go ahead."
"Thank you." Appearing mildly relieved, as if she'd been expecting something else, Director Piggot turned back to the school staff, who were looking between both of them with varying expressions of curiosity. "Everything I'm about to tell you is to be considered covered under those NDAs and is not to be discussed with anyone else. Understand?"
All three people nodded, although they were now looking at Taylor with a certain level of extra interest. The director noticed, shaking her head as a result. "No, I'm not saying that Miss Hebert is a Parahuman, or a Ward. She is neither. This relates to someone else."
With another faint sigh, she glanced at Miss Militia, who handed her a thick folder, which she accepted and opened. Removing a stack of documents, she sorted quickly through them for a moment. Looking up again, she said, "The situation that ultimately resulted in Miss Hebert transferring to Arcadia from Winslow started nearly two years ago, and to my great shame involved someone who was ultimately accepted as a Ward. Sophia Hess, code name Shadow Stalker, along with two friends, engaged in a protracted bullying campaign towards Miss Hebert there that ended up with an event that could easily have resulted in her death..."
They all listened as she competently summarized the entire story, showing the school people various documentary evidence, including the results of the investigation into the PRT officer involved, Sophia herself, the administration of Winslow, and a number of other relevant things. Taylor was quite impressed, the PRT had clearly put a lot of time into a genuine investigation, rather than trying to hide it. Director Piggot didn't whitewash or underplay the responsibility that her organization bore as a result of failing to detect and stop Hess, although she obviously wasn't pleased about the whole thing. That wasn't going to stop her doing what she felt she needed to do, though.
By the time the story was finished twenty minutes later, both the Principal and Vice Principal were regarding Taylor with significant sympathy and a certain level of appalled horror, and 'Saurial' with definite approval. The Director had explained how seriously the Family apparently took the Hebert's safety, at which the Varga had silently nodded. The third man, who was from what they could work out something to do with school security, was now inspecting the lizard-girl with a somewhat different level of interest, she noticed.
"As soon as I became aware of the situation with Miss Hess and Miss Hebert, I immediately restricted the former to confinement in the PRT building and arranged to have Armsmaster supply a device which both neutralized her abilities and allowed us to track her," the director went on. "When our investigation showed how thoroughly the girl had broken the terms of her probation, not to mention how revolting her behavior to Miss Hebert had been, as well as a slew of other lesser bullying cases that came to light in the process, I pushed to have her suitably tried and sentenced. There was no doubt we'd have been able to secure a conviction. Unfortunately..."
She shook her head with a small sigh. "Politically it proved to be infeasible. There are more reasons than we either have time for or I am cleared to explain, so let's just say that I was stuck with the girl for the time being. Her house arrest was made official and indefinite, subject to later consideration by my superiors. I personally disagreed with the situation but I had no choice." Taylor looked around at the school staff, who were all looking both thoughtful and rather annoyed for various reasons.
"That brings us up to Sunday. As you might have noticed, there was an incident yesterday which caused significant chaos in the city..."
"I don't think anyone who ever smelled that horrible stench is likely to forget it very soon," the vice-principal said with a shudder.
"I personally am very glad I live far enough away that I couldn't smell it," the principal added with a smile. "I've had it described to me. And that was bad enough."
"Worst thing I ever smelled," the security man muttered, his face showing disgust for a moment.
"Yes. Well, as you might imagine," the director continued when they'd gone quiet again, with a glance at Saurial, "we had our hands full since a large amount of the city was evacuated. The PRT was supplying backup to the BBPD, as was the DWU, and things did become quite confusing for a while. Unfortunately, due to a series of unpredictable failures of both equipment and people which happened to coincide at a moment that our attention was elsewhere, Sophia found herself with an opportunity to evade our surveillance which she promptly took."
"She escaped." The security guy sounded entirely unsurprised.
"Yes."
"And you have no idea where she is or where she's heading, but you think she'll come back and go after Miss Hebert here."
Director Piggot shrugged, looking deeply annoyed. "That is our assumption. Our psychological assessment of Sophia Hess tell us that she is someone to whom vengeance for slights, real or imagined, is of high importance. Unfortunately, she is also someone who tends not to think through the consequences of her actions very much, if at all. No one who is aware that the Family is friendly towards not only the DWU in general, but the Heberts in particular, would think that attacking any of them was a particularly intelligent course of action, for example." She nodded at 'Saurial' who smiled a little grimly.
"Sophia was under some severe restrictions, but she had read access to the public internet and I think she must know that Miss Hebert was trained by Saurial, is a friend of hers and indeed the others, and so is her father. Yet our precogs agree with the analysis that she is likely to return, sooner or later, to attempt to… 'take revenge,' I suppose… against the Heberts who she blames for her activities coming to light. Due to the randomness of her actions, though, we can't narrow it down very well. 'Eventually' is about the best we can come up with at the moment, although as and when she makes concrete plans we may have better luck."
The blonde woman shrugged slightly. "Despite the public preconceptions of precogs, most of them can only give fairly vague warnings for events more than a short distance into the future, and even then they often have a large error margin. There are a couple who are a lot more effective but it also generally requires exactly the right question to be asked, and the answer is sometimes not obvious until after the fact. As a result we can't rely only on that route to preventing the girl trying something stupid."
"How does this affect the school?" the principal asked after a moment's thought, when she fell silent. "In general, I mean. I know how this threatens Miss Hebert, of course, but is there a larger threat?" He looked apologetically at Taylor, who smiled at him.
"We're not completely sure, I'm afraid," the director replied. "We're aware that Miss Hebert has a number of close friends here, including both Dallon girls, and we have to assume that there's a non-zero chance that Sophia may well discover this and possibly attempt to use them as leverage against Miss Hebert, or as sources of information. None of our analysts believe that there is a general threat to the school or the students as a whole, there's no benefit to Sophia to do anything like that we can determine, but it's definitely possible she might try something to perhaps half a dozen or so of the student body."
"Is Carol Dallon aware of this?" Mrs Howell asked, looking concerned.
"Yes." Director Piggot grimaced. "I had a rather intense conversation with her early this morning. I've offered PRT support if the Dallons wish to accept it, and they're discussing their options."
"I assume you're about to do the same here," the security man said knowingly. She looked at him, then nodded.
"That is the reason for this meeting. The PRT, since this is both our responsibility and our area of expertise, is happy to assign a squad to Arcadia for the duration of this problem. We're hoping that one way or the other it won't last more than a month or so, but..." She spread her hands. "At the moment we can't say for sure."
"What would that entail?" the principal asked, leaning back and folding his hands on the table, watching her intently. "While this is a very troubling issue, we also have to consider the safety and the educational well-being of the student body as a whole."
"Lieutenant Pratchett here would be your PRT liaison officer," Piggot replied, indicating the man sitting next to her, who nodded at the school head. "He would have an eight-man team, armed with containment foam and a number of specialist devices that would neutralize Shadow Stalker and allow her to be restrained, without risk to the students. Protection of innocents is our highest priority, of course."
"I'm not sure that a number of heavily armed troopers prowling the grounds would present the best light for Arcadia," Howell noted, frowning a little.
"We're not planning on, um, 'prowling' as such, Ma'am," the lieutenant said with a small smile. "We would set up some very discreet surveillance systems at key points, dedicated to detecting Shadow Stalker using her abilities. It's not perfect but it would be better than nothing. If we detect her approaching, hopefully we could intercept and detain her before she was even noticed by the students. Assuming Saurial and her relatives don't get her first, of course." He looked at the lizard-girl who grinned at him. "Personally I'm not going to bet on it either way. We would also arrange methods whereby you could contact us instantly and we could respond in less than a minute if something happens we missed. Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary, but better to be cautious."
"I see," the vice-principal said, looking thoughtfully at the man. "I assume that your Wards are already, or will shortly, be aware of the situation and also ready to step in if required?"
"Yes," he replied, glancing at his superior.
She nodded, adding, "Obviously it's a little difficult since we definitely don't want any of them outing themselves except in the most serious of situations, so we'd hope that you'd help us there, but they will be fully briefed and ready to respond if required. We will issue them all with standard PRT tasers, which they will be required to carry at all times."
All three of the school staff looked surprised by this, the principal opening his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand. "And they will be informed in the strongest possible terms that they are not to use them, show them off, or talk about them under any circumstances except those where their use is unavoidable. We don't want that any more than you do since there would be questions, but at the same time we feel it's a useful backup. The young men in question are trustworthy and sensible, I doubt there will be any problems."
"Sensible..." Mrs Howell actually looked amused for a moment. "I believe that description applied to at least one of them may be something of a stretch, but I will take your word for it."
Taylor suppressed a smirk, knowing the woman was referring to Dennis. Personally she thought the guy was actually a lot more practical than people usually gave him credit for, but she could well understand the comment bearing in mind his nature. Like her, he enjoyed a good joke, but he tended to show it a lot more obviously, and of course had been here for a lot longer.
"Be that as it may, I doubt there would be any issues," Director Piggot resumed after a moment. "We would like Lieutenant Pratchett to primarily liaise with your security department, discuss the best methods of securing the grounds and buildings, and work out locations for the surveillance equipment. We'll keep both of you completely informed and you can contact me at any point if there's any trouble, but it would be simpler if you went through the lieutenant."
They looked at each other, then the principal nodded his understanding. "I think we have little choice in the matter. We can't risk a Parahuman fight in the school, obviously, and we certainly don't want any of our students put at risk. Including but not limited to Miss Hebert."
"Quite." The PRT director seemed satisfied.
The principal looked at his security guy. "Does that sound all right to you, Ed?" he asked. The other man visibly thought for a few seconds, turning his attention to the lieutenant, then Taylor herself, and finally Saurial. Eventually he nodded slowly.
"It'll do, I guess. I don't like the idea of a battle on school grounds, those things tend to escalate even if you try to control them, but you're right, we don't have much choice. If this Hess girl is going to try something, here is one of the better targets, since she could blend in with the students. The other obvious place is at Miss Hebert's home, of course, but I'm assuming that the Family have that covered?" His tone was slightly questioning by the end of this, clearly addressing it to 'Saurial.'
"This man is far from stupid," the demon commented approvingly, making Taylor nod inside. "He reminds me very much of Mark. I wonder if they were in the same military branch?"
Out loud, he replied, "We have a number of plans to prevent any harm coming to the Heberts, yes. At home or here. But we're also aware that we can't be everywhere and the school is a… shall we say, 'target-rich environment?'" His voice was dryly amused and the security man briefly grinned, apparently feeling the same. "Taylor's old friend Sophia could cause significant chaos with little effort and try to use that as a diversion. It wouldn't work, of course, but students could easily get hurt in the process, so all of us are happy to have backup. Or provide it if required."
"She's not really a friend, you know," Taylor commented with a small grin.
"Acquaintance, then." The Varga chuckled. "I wouldn't raise her to the level of 'honored enemy' as she has little honor and it doesn't seem appropriate."
At this Ed the security man actually snickered. "I like you," he said, shaking his head. "For some reason." Turning back to the principal, he went on, "I'll go over the school security systems and protocols with the lieutenant, and I'd like Saurial to sit in on the briefing, since it would help all of us if we're all on the same page. Personally my opinion is that this girl isn't going to attack anyone here, she seems the sort who likes sneak attacks and it would leave too many witnesses, but I've been wrong before. No harm in preparing for the worst."
"If nothing else it will be a good chance to update our disaster plans, I suppose," the principal replied with a slight frown. "It's very annoying, though, I have to admit." He looked at the director, adding, "If you could keep better tabs on your prisoners in future that would be appreciated."
Director Piggot looked like she wanted to glare, but eventually merely sighed faintly. "Fair enough, I suppose. The PRT is sorry for the inconvenience. As am I, I would prefer that the damn girl was behind bars and had been for the last two months, but..." She produced a small shrug. "Politics is a pain in the ass at the best of times."
"Agreed," Mrs Howell said with a frown. "And when it impacts on the safety of this school, it is far more irritating. I shall have to write a letter to your superiors expressing our dissatisfaction with their decision to overrule you in this matter."
The director smiled momentarily. "I'll email you the address for complaints of that nature," she offered, appearing darkly pleased. "I doubt it will help, but in this case who am I to stand in your way?" Both women exchanged a look of understanding, before Piggot turned to Taylor and her other aspect. "I'm curious about how you intend to proceed here, Saurial, if you don't mind me asking," she said.
Taylor and her demon looked at each other.
"For as long as the threat exists, we intend to make sure that a member of the Family is in close proximity to the school," the Varga said after a short soundless discussion with his head-mate. "Most of the time we'll stay well out of the way, we don't want to disrupt the school any more than necessary. You'll hardly know we're here." He looked at the school representatives as he said the last, smiling a little. "But we'll be able to respond to a threat in seconds if required, whatever that threat is. And if there is any serious trouble from other sources, we're happy to help out as well."
"I see," the PRT director replied after a pause during which everyone else seemed a little worried. "So you're going to lurk in the air vents or something, then jump out if Sophia turns up?"
"Not precisely, the air vents are probably a little small in this place," 'Saurial' grinned, looking up at the ceiling AC outlet which was directly above them. "We have other methods, though. Nothing that will cause problems." The lizard-girl looked at the principal and his staff. "Honestly, you'll hardly see us unless there's a problem, we'll do our best to stay out of your way. Although I may join Taylor in the cafeteria if that's OK with you, I'd like to talk to her friends, and if it's all right I'd be interested in sitting in on one or two of her math classes." 'She' looked at Taylor, who shrugged.
"Fine by me. I'm interested in seeing what you think about the class." Both of them turned to the principal, who was staring back.
"I… see no real issue with you auditing some Miss Hebert's classes, I suppose," he finally said. "Assuming it doesn't cause any disruption to them. I will let the relevant teachers know. And you can certainly join her in the cafeteria if you want."
"Thanks," the Varga said, sounding pleased.
There was a brief pause during which Director Piggot and Miss Militia seemed somewhat confused, exchanging another look, then the latter pulled a couple of pages of documentation from the folder in front of the former. "Miss Hebert, could you look at this list of names and confirm it's correct? Saurial gave us the details of the people you are particularly close to here, we just want to double-check so we don't miss anyone. We're going to contact their parents to make them aware of some of this, although we're hoping not to have to go into full details unless necessary for security reasons." She pushed the pages across to Taylor, who accepted them and quickly scanned the list of names.
"Mandy, Lucy, Rich, Eric, Amy and Vicky of course… Yes, those are the main ones. I know quite a few more people here now, but those guys are the ones I'd call my best friends in school," she said after a few seconds. "I guess if Sophia was going to try something stupid she'd go after one of them. Although if she tries either Amy or Vicky she's going to regret it pretty quick. Vicky will unscrew her head, and Amy will probably break every rib in her body. She can check to make sure she got them all, you know." Grinning at the look on the older woman's face, she handed the document back. "The addresses all look right too."
"Ah… thank you, Miss Hebert," the military cape replied after a second or two.
"Call me Taylor," she smiled. "Miss Hebert sounds weird."
"Taylor, then." Miss Militia smiled back. "Based on what I saw with that Merchant, you could also take care of yourself under most circumstances."
"Saurial is a really good trainer as well as a really good friend," she laughed. "But I don't know if I could handle a Parahuman. Merchants are easy enough, that guy was so stoned he could hardly stand up anyway."
"Sophia Hess, despite her many, many faults, is a young woman with significant training and skills in hand to hand combat. Even leaving her abilities out of the picture it's probably best not to get into a fight with her, I have to admit," Director Piggot commented with annoyance. "If the girl had been less aggressive and somewhat smarter she could have been a valuable member of the PRT, but you'd know better than anyone that she's less… people-orientated… than ideal, I suppose."
"She sure wasn't the most friendly person I ever ran into," Taylor sighed. "To put it mildly."
"Knowing what I do about the whole sorry affair I agree entirely." Director Piggot looked very tired again. "I regret more than I can say that you had to go through all that for so long."
"It's not your fault, Director," Taylor assured her. She was being honest about it, although she'd gone through a phase just after finding out that Sophia was a Ward where she might well have blamed the PRT. They held some responsibility for the damn girl, as the briefing earlier had shown, but it wasn't something the director had known about or caused. Not to mention that as soon as she'd found out she'd done her job and investigated the entire thing very carefully, and if it wasn't for her superiors, Sophia would have been somewhere a lot more secure weeks ago.
Taylor wondered if it went as high as the Chief Director. There was definitely something strange going on with that woman…
"We should probably look into that at some point, Brain," the Varga remarked. "Bearing in mind that whole odd interaction with Eidolon, and knowing that the Chief Director of the PRT is also Alexandria, there's certainly some oddities surrounding the upper echelons of the organization."
'It's not important at the moment, I guess, but we should keep an eye open, I agree,' she replied.
"Thank you for understanding, Taylor," the blonde woman replied, entirely unaware of their internal conversation. She managed a weary smile for the girl.
"Thanks for being open with me about all this, and letting me hear about what you're doing and have done," Taylor replied. "It was interesting and makes me feel that it's being taken very seriously."
"It is, I assure you," Director Piggot told her.
Vice-principal Howell glanced at her watch. "I suspect that we have probably taken up as much of Miss Hebert's time as we need to by now, unless there's anything specific you require her presence for?" she commented, looking at the trio on the other side of the table.
The director looked to either side, both Lieutenant Pratchett and Miss Militia shaking their heads. Returning her attention to the vice principal, she said, "I believe we're through with that part." She looked at Taylor then. "Normally I would insist on you also signing an NDA covering Shadow Stalker's civilian ID. However… In this case, bearing in mind who your friends are, who your father is, and your own involvement in the entire thing, I don't think it's quite appropriate. I suspect that you've probably known all about her for some time in any case…" She glanced at 'Saurial,' who merely smiled very faintly,"…and there's no evidence that you have passed the information on. All I will ask is that you continue to be discreet about that knowledge and refrain from telling anyone outside the people who already know. Could you do that for me?"
"Of course, Director," Taylor assured her. "My father also knows, of course, and so does Amy, she was there when we were discussing it and I don't have a lot of secrets from her. She won't say anything either. You know how well she can keep her mouth shut."
"Panacea is covered by more NDAs than I am, as it happens," Miss Militia put in with a slightly amused look. "Bearing in mind the number of Parahumans she's healed over the last few years. Does Glory Girl know?"
Taylor shrugged. "I don't know. I never mentioned it to her, although I did tell her about the bullying at Winslow a while back, but I asked her not to talk about it to anyone and as far as I know she didn't."
"New Wave are generally discreet so I doubt we'll have any trouble on that score," Director Piggot commented, making a few notes. "I'll discuss it with Carol Dallon though. All right, in that case, thank you again, Taylor. You'd probably better get back to class."
The vice-principal quickly wrote out a note which she tore off her pad and handed to Taylor, who accepted it. "If anyone asks for a reason you missed your first class, show them this."
"Thank you, Mrs Howell." Standing, Taylor looked at her other aspect, seeing the amusement at the bizarre situation in the very familiar glowing eyes. "I'll see you later, I guess."
"Yep," her lizard-girl aspect replied, the Varga thoroughly enjoying things just as she was. "Try not to get into trouble before then."
"Hey, you know me."
"Which is why I said that..." They grinned at each other, then Taylor's base form aspect left the room with a polite nod to the other people present and a small wave.
"If only they knew the truth," the Varga sniggered.
'Their heads would probably explode for a start,' she replied as that aspect headed for the next class, which would start in about ten minutes. She'd missed biology, but she didn't want to miss chemistry, which she found very interesting for a number of reasons.
"Let's not tell them, then," he said with a mental grin. "We don't want to upset them considering how well things seem to be going with the PRT in relation to the Family and the DWU at the moment."
'Sounds like a plan to me.' Both of them took turns switching off on driving the 'Taylor' aspect at the same time they guided the 'Saurial' one through the next hour or so with the PRT visitors and the school staff, all of whom finally ended up feeling they had a solid plan to follow.
Lauren watched as the door closed behind Saurial, Ed accompanying her and the PRT lieutenant back to the security office where he wanted to go over a couple of last details with the pair of them regarding the current camera installations and such things. She was impressed. The reptilian cape seemed very quick witted indeed, dedicated to Taylor Hebert to a level that was more akin to a family member than just a friend, and extremely competent. Momentarily wondering if it would be worth asking if the scaly cape would be up for talking to the students at some point, in the same way the Wards did, she turned back to the remaining people.
"That was… quite enlightening," she said quietly. "If your missing Ward does indeed try anything where Saurial or her relatives are ready for her, I suspect you will have very little time or reason to intervene. She isn't fond of the girl and is very fond of Taylor."
"So we've found," Director Piggot said, shaking her head. "If you'd seen some of the things I've… Well, I can't go into details, but dangerous is an understatement. The girl is in good hands. I just wish it wasn't necessary."
"Hopefully her presence won't be too disruptive to the normal school procedures," Miss Militia remarked. Lauren glanced at Donald, who returned the look, then shook his head.
"I don't think she will. The Family has quite a number of fans here, and of course we have the Dallons as well, so the students are used to minor celebrities and know not to bother them too much. Admittedly none quite as… distinctive… as Saurial, but I doubt we'll have any trouble. It may take a day or two for things to settle down even so, but we can live with that."
"In your honest opinion, Director, what do you think the chances of Shadow Stalker causing trouble here actually are?" Lauren asked.
The other blonde woman rubbed her eyes, looking abruptly exhausted. "Honestly? My gut says she'll try something somewhere else, as your security chief suggested. Man has good instincts. But… we can't risk merely assuming that's correct."
"I understand, and I agree," Lauren replied with a small grimace. "As worrying as it is. I do hope that Saurial and her group can protect the Hebert's home, since that would seem to be the obvious target."
"I suspect that their house is going to soon be, if it isn't already, one of the most heavily protected places in the entire city," Miss Militia put in, frowning in concentration.
"Probably," Director Piggot grunted, as she stood up and stretched with an expression of mild pain. "They don't want our help there, and to be honest I don't know that we could add anything anyway. We'll make sure that we have a vehicle patrolling the neighborhood on a regular basis, just in case they get lucky, but we'll steer clear of the Hebert house. At least it means we can concentrate on the other places, like here."
"How are you planning on protecting the young woman's friends, if I can ask?" Donald asked curiously. "Assuming you don't want to go through all this again with each set of parents."
"Which we don't if we can avoid it," the director said. "Far too much opportunity for information leaks. We'll arrange discreet surveillance of their homes and some regular patrols. We're going to have to talk to BBPD about some of this as well, although we don't need to pass on any details yet. With any luck we can catch the girl before knowledge of any of this needs to be spread any further."
"What about the times Miss Hebert's friends are all gathered at her house?" Lauren said, thinking about the math lessons that the girl was known to give. Looking a little confused, the other woman raised an eyebrow.
"Does that happen a lot?"
"Miss Hebert is highly gifted at mathematics, to a level I have seldom if ever come across before," Lauren replied. "Based on the results of her most recent tests, we're probably going to skip her up a grade or two at least. To be frank, she could probably teach most of the classes here, according to her own tutors who are very impressed. She's been helping her circle of friends with their own mathematics, apparently to great success, over the last few weeks. It appears to be a regular event now."
"Is that so?" Director Piggot glanced at Miss Militia, who seemed slightly surprised. "The girl has many talents."
"She does," Lauren noted with a smile. "I'm very pleased how seriously she takes her academic responsibilities. She's helped her friends considerably based on their own recent results."
"Saurial is, according to Armsmaster and Dragon, and Legend for that matter, a mathematical genius," Miss Militia commented. "I wonder if she has also tutored Taylor?"
"I would be unsurprised if that was the case," Lauren said. "They do seem to get on exceptionally well and Saurial appears perfectly happy to pass on her skills when asked."
"Thank you for the information," the director remarked after thinking it over for a few seconds. "It complicates things slightly in some respects, but simplifies them in others. If the young people are all in one place, which is under the protection of the Family, we can probably assume that they're going to be at least as safe as when they're at home or at school. There's a small chance of collateral damage if Sophia did try anything there, but considering how much effort all of them seem to put into minimizing harm, it's acceptable."
The woman shrugged. "If nothing else with them in one place it makes our own job that much easier for that time, since we know where they are. Hopefully that will simplify things a little. I can't see it being an issue, really."
She gathered up her papers and put them back in the folder, then slipped the pad she'd made quite a few notes into it as well, handing the entire thing to Miss Militia, who put it into the briefcase she picked off the floor. "Thank you both for your time, your patience, and your understanding in this unfortunate matter. I'm sorry it was necessary."
"So are we, but these things happen from time to time," Donald said with a small smile. "Especially in this city. I'm relieved to see how seriously you're taking it, both personally and officially."
"We haven't got a choice, aside from my own feelings in the matter," she told him. "There's far too much scope for chaos if we don't find that damn girl. We really don't need that."
"No, I would say we don't," he agreed. "Especially since the city is at what must be an all-time low for general criminal activity. It would be nice to see that continue."
"At least it means we have more manpower available," she replied absently, checking the time. With a yawn, which she hastily put a hand over, she headed for the door. "We'll be in touch soon to keep you informed on our progress. Principal, Vice Principal."
"Director?" Lauren followed her to the door, Donald and Miss Militia bringing up the rear. "If I might make a suggestion? Get some sleep. You've obviously been up for far too long and you look much too tired to be thinking correctly. Two or three hours would make a world of difference."
Director Piggot stopped with a hand on the doorknob, looking at her for a moment. Eventually she sighed. "You're probably right. I've been going since four in the morning yesterday, which is pushing it."
Lauren nodded, satisfied. The very tired-looking PRT head nodded back, opened the door, and left, her associate smiling with her eyes at them over her scarf, whispering thanks as she passed, then followed the older woman out. Closing the door, Lauren leaned her back against it and regarded Donald, who was now sitting on the edge of the table looking at her with a vaguely amused yet slightly worried expression.
"If you retire you'll miss all this, you know," she said with a tiny grin.
"That is a very good point," he chuckled. "Would you like to take over earlier than scheduled? I can move up my plans."
"No, I think the end of the year is fine," she smiled. "You're not getting away that easily. If nothing else it will be interesting to see the results of having one of the Family wandering about. I expect it will cause a certain amount of talk among the students and staff alike."
"I don't doubt it," he said, standing up and shaking his head. "I don't doubt it at all. This city never fails to surprise me."
She turned around and opened the door, both of them leaving and heading off to inform various relevant staff members about what to expect, both hoping that the precautions they were taking would ultimately be unneeded, and both fearing that they wouldn't.