Alright, time to buckle down and get to work. Let's do this! Reminder that I own nothing except my OCs
—(X)—
"It's reasonable to assume that, if you haven't been living under a rock these past few years, you've seen videos and images of a double-helix symbol. This is the symbol of the pro-Infected organization known as Reunion. Now, last week, before I let you go with the homework on the interpretation of Terra's flags by different ethnic and cultural groups – and yes, you're still handing that in today – we talked about symbols and their meaning. Now, inferring what we can, what can you tell me the symbol means? Yes, Jonas?"
"It means…well, they're fighting for equal rights, right? For people who have Oripathy? Maybe it's supposed to show that they're all the same inside?"
"A good deduction, Jonas, and a perfectly sensible one at that. But no, I do not believe that that is all it means, or to put it more accurately, we put too much focus on the message of the group, instead of what the image itself means. What is the first thing one thinks of when they think of DNA? Yes, it makes up who we are, but that is not what I'm looking for. Aah, yes Bill?"
"Evolution?"
"Exactly! Evolution. Reunion is more than just a movement for equality. It is a movement for change, to evolve not just the treatment of Infected, but to evolve culture, people's worldview, their prejudices and perceptions. And it is my belief that Reunion, no matter if it is the main branch or the various splinter factions and radicals, will be just one of the powerful catalysts for change. As for the others? Well, we'll just have to wait and see."
- Voice clip from a recorded World History class, BCIT, date unknown
—(X)—
The sound of the alarm going off was the first thing to pierce through the haze of sleep. The second was the sensation of two tails laying over her like warm, scaly blankets. The third was her stiff tail.
Drowsily opening her eyes, Taylor looked around the hotel room. It was a comfortable place, with two beds, a small chair and desk, a chair in the corner, and a bathroom. For one person, it was quite large, with two, potentially four being able to sleep in it. Of course, that was under the impression that there were two people per bed. With three people sharing one bed, things were a little cramped.
Not that Taylor really complained. After the battle yesterday, when the delegation had all arrived safely at the hotel (which was just down the street from the Valkyrie headquarters in the city), Taylor had been visited by Ch'en in the room Talulah and she were sharing under the guise of "not trusting the security to do their jobs", though Taylor noted that she had bags under her eyes.
Ch'en never liked discussing her nightmares, so Taylor didn't bring it up. Besides, it was nice to have the company. And so, they stayed up late into the night, finally falling asleep well past midnight. Though it looked like Talulah and Ch'en had decided that they didn't like sharing Taylor with each other; if she didn't know any better, she'd think that both were really dragons in a human disguise, with all the hoarding that entailed.
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, of course. Even before taking up the Doctor's mantle, she'd been the target of a multitude of attacks, some in the field, some not. After the threat was dealt with, it wasn't unusual for one or both of her 'adopted' relatives – it wasn't formal, especially since things were still…awkward between Talulah and the rest of her family – to go to her room. They would disguise it (thinly, and even they knew it) as them simply protecting her, and it was almost always at night, but the last time someone took pictures of the three sleeping together…well, let's just say Lin and Ch'en almost murdered each other over that photo. She was also ninety percent sure there was a racket going on in the LGD that involved similar pieces of film and photography. Now that she thought about it, Nine had never confirmed nor denied that it was actually a thing…
Her musings were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Hey, Taylor? You up?" Tyrus asked, his voice muffled by the door. On either side of her, the dragon girls stirred, .
"Yeah, I'm up. Just gotta…get out of…this!" Taylor grunted, trying to remove the tails from her successfully got them off, though the grumbling from her 'adopted' sister and cousin increased the more they woke up.
"Get out of what?" Tyrus asked, curious. Taylor got up, careful not to wack Talulah or Ch'en with her tail and walked to the door, opening it and revealing Tyrus, who was already dressed in his uniform.
"Ch'en and Tally are here, so I had to get out of their tail blanket," she said, leaning an arm on the door and rubbing gunk out of her eyes, yawning. "You need something?"
"Yeah…though you might wanna get dressed. And tame your hair," he said, amusement clear in his voice and face. Taking a piece of it, Taylor winced as she saw how tangled it was. She could only imagine how much of a mess she must look.
"Alright, just hold on…" Taylor said. She moved to close the door before both of them heard a thump from behind her. Turning, she saw Talulah had fallen off, and was groaning as she got up. Ch'en was also stumbling around.
"I'll leave you to take care of the zombies," Tyrus said, moving on with a wave. Taylor could practically feel the laughter radiating from him. Hanging her head, she closed the door and went to help her sister and cousin…and also take care of her bed hair.
—(X)—
It took a while, but the trio finally got downstairs to the lobby, Taylor with her mask on with the visor depolarized. It was a fairly large one, too, with enough room to house the multitude of VIPs that were a part of the delegation. Taylor felt conflicted when she saw the scene downstairs. On one hand, no one was trying to murder each other, a considerable feat considering she was pretty sure almost all the nations on Terra had been at war with each other at some point or another. On the other, just outside was the dreaded enemy of anyone who was even a little bit famous: the paparazzi. Thankfully, the various guards, soldiers, and Knights helped keep them at bay.
"You feeling alright? Not feeling sick or anything" Ace sidled up alongside Taylor, keeping an eye out for any threats.
"I'm…fine. Where did this come from?" Taylor asked, blinking a few times and looking at Ace with a confused expression.
Ace shrugged. "Just curious, I suppose. It's the first time you've coordinated such a large group, after all, and even if no one died, there were injuries. I'd be surprised if you didn't feel even a little guilt."
Taylor gave a small grunt, looking over the crowd. In truth, she had felt somewhat guilty about the injuries some of her allies had sustained, though it was a small guilt. After all, when you've seen people get killed following your orders, people being injured was almost trivial.
"Well, I suppose you've gotta get to thinking about the whole parahuman situation," Ace said, moving away. "I'll leave you to it."
Taylor looked at him for a few moments before shrugging, walking around while thinking about the meeting. So lost in thought was she that she bumped into a certain Sarkaz who was chatting with Tyrus.
"Hey, Tay-tay!" W said, a devilish smirk on her face. "How are you today? Got any more fun missions for me?"
"Err, no, there aren't any planned right now," Taylor nervously said, looking behind W at Tyrus for an escape. Sadly, she only received a contrite expression and a mouthed, "sorry" in response, betrayal ripping through her.
"Aah well, I'll probably have some more fun later," she complained, moving closer to Taylor. She could practically feel her heartbeat skyrocket. "Say, Doctor," and yup, there was the name she really, really didn't want coming out of her mouth, especially paired with that smile, "what do you have planned for later? If it's work, I suppose I could help out, even if it's just training those 'parahumans'. Maybe that'll be some good practice for when-"
"W. That's enough," Tyrus put a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her spiel. Blinking a few times, W looked at Taylor's face through the mask. At this distance, she could clearly see Taylor's eyes even through the polarization. W's face relaxed, a sort of sad frown coming over her face – across the room Scout almost ran into a pillar when he glimpsed it, so unlike her as it was – before stepping away.
"…Ahaha, sorry about that," W forced out a laugh, which at least didn't have the same 'pizzaz' as her normal one did. "Guess I got a bit carried away there."
W turned to walk away, raising a hand in a lazy wave and moving to the hallway. "See you later then, Taylor."
Tyrus and Taylor went to a table, sitting down beside each other.
"…It still hurt?" Tyrus asked, side-eyeing her. Taylor gingerly laid a hand over her stomach, wincing a little.
"A little," Taylor said, leaning back into the chair and going limp, looking up at the ceiling. "Most of the time it's manageable, but it acts up every now and then."
"You using the medicine?"
Taylor gave a small hum, nodding. A silence settled over them, the droning of the conversations around them barely filling it in.
"I would've understood if you didn't want her on the delegation. I'm sure she would've as well. So why didn't you ask?" Tyrus looked at her, concern on his face.
"It's…" Taylor petered off, trying to find the right words to describe her feelings. "It's just that…you remember how we were before, right?"
"Before Kazdel?" He blinked a few times, looking off to the side as if remembering something. "You were pretty close, if I remember right."
"Yeah, we were." When Taylor was growing up in Babel, W had been the mischievous, cool older sister. They'd always caused headaches for the other Operators, Babel workers and the mercenaries with their antics, especially the Doctor. He didn't like Taylor and Amiya mingling with the mercenaries, but they'd always found ways to join them.
"I heard you two were absolute hellions. Always giving poor Kal'tsit a rise in blood pressure," Tyrus said, chuckling. "…Then Kazdel happened."
"Then Kazdel happened."
The silence that settled this time was awkward. Tyrus didn't know how to broach the topic, and Taylor didn't like remembering it. Eventually, Tyrus stood up, patting her on the shoulder in comfort.
"Well, it's almost time to go. Come on, let's get to the car before an idiot paparazzi decides to slash a tire or something," Tyrus joked, trying to lighten the mood. With a grunt, Taylor stood up and followed him outside.
—(X)—
"Dr. Taylor, do you copy?" The voice came from a radio Taylor had on the ground. In background, the sounds of explosions and screams was slowly dying down. She cut the stitch she was doing and gave her patient – a Sarkaz boy – a once-over, nodding to herself on a job well done and another life saved. Only once her patient was carried away by his sobbing parents did she pick up her radio.
"This is Dr. Taylor, I'm here," she replied, radio tucked under her ear as she peeled off her gloves, "What do you need? Over." She felt a drop land on her hand. Looking up at the grey sky, she saw a few more droplets fall.
'Looks like it's gonna rain. Not the best omen, but at least it waited until the battle was over. This would've been even more messy than it already was, otherwise.'
"We have enemy stragglers headed towards W's position. She reports some of her team took casualties, and we're sending reinforcements their way. We'd like to know if you can send a medical team, over."
Looking around, Taylor could see other medics working on their patients. And if she remembered correctly, the other medical stations were also being swamped. She was the only one who didn't have any critical cases, and she said as much into the radio.
"…Can you make it there in time?" the voice, one of Tyrus' officers she idly realized, asked.
"I should, though it may be tight," she replied. "What's the location, over?"
"St. Issiah Road, about ten minutes if you hurry. Over and out."
"Roger. I'm on my way," she replied, moving to get her stuff.
—(X)—
Fifteen minutes later, Taylor made it to the location of W's squad. The reinforcements hadn't arrived yet, and W's team had taken cover in an abandoned house, though the term 'house' was being generous. With the amount of Arts and explosive damage it was taking, it looked more like a pile of rubble in a junkyard than something people used to live in. Nevertheless, it was one of the few places with reliable cover in the area.
Sliding into the cover under a hail of bolts and mud, Taylor was greeted with about a dozen groaning and moaning bodies in various states of pain, with half-a-dozen people taking defensive positions, including Ines, Hoederer, and of course, W.
"So, looks like the tiny dragon's our reinforcement," Hoederer said, smirking before stabbing a bandit who was foolish enough to come close to the wall, who screamed before he was silenced by a knife to the throat.
"You're still mad about the Great Eyepatch Prank?" Taylor shot back, moving towards one of the more critically injured – a man with a missing leg – and began to look through her medical bag. She unwrapped the bandage, grimacing at all the dirt and dried blood clinging to it before throwing it away. Injecting the wounded man with a painkiller, she swiftly tied the veins in his leg. Both of them were lucky that the cut was not only a relatively clean one, but also didn't necessitate the leg getting cut up any further. "Get me another lighter, would you?" she said, fishing once again in her bag.
"Here," one of the mercs said, passing her one. Taking out one from her bag, she flicked them both on, directing their flames to cauterize and heal the man's wounds. Once that was done, she wrapped it up in a fresh bandage and moved onto the next person.
"I still have photos of that for sale," W cheekily said, lobbing over a few more grenades, the bandits diving for cover. The first ones to pop their heads above the rubble again were met with a bullet to the face, courtesy of her rifle.
"If it has the time he almost jumped off a crane, I'll take one," Ines smirked over Hoederrer's annoyed, "Hey!" before stabbing a bandit with her sword in the throat, kicking him away, and blocking another bandit's strike before they were swiftly decapitated by Hoederrer.
As the mercenaries, newly-hired Operator, and Taylor bantered, the group fell into a steady rhythm; suppressing the enemy, Taylor healed the injured, they went back into the fray, rinse and repeat. All while waiting for their reinforcements to arrive.
It took half an hour before Taylor could stop using her flames.
—(X)—
The sergeant in command of the reinforcements, a female Feline, whistled as she looked over the battlefield. Around the house the defending forces had hunkered in, the multitude of corpses from the attackers – intact and not-so-intact – riddled the wasteland of used ordinance, improvised weaponry and Arts. A soft rainfall pattered around them, making the ground slightly muddy and leaving their breath visible.
"Just how many of these bastards were there?" she asked, taking a look at a body by her feet. Kneeling, she rummaged through the body's pockets looking for maps, papers, anything that could help them get a rough idea on the location of the bandits.
"There were more than a few dozen when I was here. I wouldn't be surprised if there were eighty of these guys before," Taylor commented, looking at another body and searching it after confirming the bandit had had nothing on him. "It's surprising to see how many there were, actually."
The sergeant hummed, turning towards Taylor. "Yeah, bandits with these kinds of numbers are pretty rare. I'd bet that these were simply different bandit clans, families and whatnot banding together, though," she said, motioning towards the different symbols on the few vehicles around them.
"That happen often around these parts?" Taylor asked, wiping her hands on her coat. The sergeant grunted, shrugging as she leaned on her crossbow.
"Not really, no. These guys must've been pretty desperate.
After a bit more idle chatter, the sergeant left to coordinate with the others, leaving Taylor to her information collection. After a few minutes, Taylor stood up and looked around for other corpses that looked like they'd been leaders. Spying W off in the distance, she jogged towards her. As she got closer, she noted that W was also rifling through a body.
"Find anything?" Taylor asked, moving behind her.
"Nope. Their equipment's basically scrap for all the good it'll do," W replied, holding up a partially-rusted knife and tossed it away. "The only reason we had trouble with them is because they had the numbers."
With a non-committal hum, Taylor idly looked at the body. It wasn't all that interesting, if covered completely – 'Possible Oripathy,' she idly noted. Curiously, the only part of him that wasn't covered were his hands, which were clenched in a fist-
'Wait, those weren't like that before-!'
"W, look out!" Taylor shouted pulling her away. The Arts user – because that's the only thing he could be, with that black fog coming out of his hands – rocketed towards W, catching her by surprise and grazing her face before they got away. Taylor and W both tumbled to the ground before the Sarkaz shot the bandit in the head, the man collapsing to the ground.
Both of them panted, surprise and adrenaline pumping through their veins. Rising to her feet, Taylor panted, looking at the body.
"That was…way too close," she panted. "You alright, W?"
W didn't answer, moving to a kneeling position and just staring at the body. Blinking a few times in confusion, Taylor nudged W's shoulder.
"W?"
Suddenly, Taylor was tackled to the ground, so surprised she didn't have anytime to react. Surprised, she looked up at W's face, which was unnaturally blank.
"W? What's going on?"
"…monster…"
"…What?"
"You're a monster, you know that Doctor?" W told Taylor. Her face was still impassive, her body unnaturally still, but her eyes…her eyes shone with hate. "I wonder what face you'll make as you die?"
"W…" Taylor tried to get up, but W stabbed her in the stomach, making her gasp in pain.
"You killed them…you sent them to die…so show me," W growled, unholstering her grenade launcher and aiming it at Taylor's stomach. Her face slowly morphed into a feral grin. "Show me the face I remember
"W? W, snap out of it!" But W only chuckled, a dark smile forming on her face, her eyes unfocused.
"Show me…show me that face," Taylor could see her finger slowly pull the trigger, every second stretching into an eternity.
"W! It's me, Taylor! Please, please, please don't do this!" Taylor pleaded, looking in her pockets looking for something, anything to get her out of the situation. Suddenly, she felt the metal casing of the lighter. Desperate and not caring about her clothes, she lit the flame and gathered it around her stomach, the smell of burnt fabric reaching her ears. Through the haze of fear and ever-increasing rain, she heard people running towards them, shouts filling the air.
"W!" she begged, trying to reach W, praying to whatever gods were out there that the flames would be enough to protect her.
"Goodbye…Doctor."
She pulled the trigger.
And the world became pain.
—(X)—
"…aylor…Taylor…Taylor."
Slowly, Taylor woke up, blearily trying to rub her eyes before she remembered that she had her mask on. Grumbling, she looked up at Tyrus, who sat across from her.
"We're here," Tyrus explained, before looking back at his tablet.
'Ugh…it's been a while since I had that dream,' Taylor thought, looking through the window of the car. Outside, she could see a small complex of buildings, with a glass building in the middle, with the words, "PRT Department 22" placed just above the doorway, large and bold.
"Had a good nap?" Tyrus asked, his voice teasing before opening the door and walking out, holding it for her.
"I've…had better." It wasn't necessarily a lie, at least. Tyrus frowned at her before shrugging. Slowly, Taylor follow Tyrus out, yawning and stretching her body, cracking her back.
"So, what are we doing first?" Taylor asked, moving beside the leader of Valkyrie.
"What am I, your manager?" he snorted. Nevertheless, he handed her what looked to be a copy of the schedule. "First off is meeting with Director West of the PRT department here and Trilogy, the Protectorate leader here. After that, it's meeting the Wards, then a tour. All in all, it shouldn't take that long." He paused, rechecking the schedule. "It's actually not even gonna take more than a few hours."
Looking through the schedule, Taylor nodded and gave it back. "Well, at least it's to the point. Come on, let's go," she said, swiftly moving towards the front door. However, she was interrupted by Tyrus, who grabbed her arm. Looking back she saw a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you sure you're alright? You were tossing and turning in the car-"
"Tyrus," Taylor said, gently pushing his hand away. She gave him the most convincing smile she could, though Tyrus didn't look convinced. "I'm fine. Really. Let's just get this over with, alright?"
She then walked ahead into the building, the doors automatically opening. Behind her, she heard a sigh, then footsteps as Tyrus followed her.
—(X)—
Taylor was patient. She had to be, because as he had once said, "Patience is the first lesson of war everyone forgets. It's why so many people die". That said, just because she could be patient didn't mean she had to like it. So it was with a not-so-disguised relieved sigh that she and Tyrus were admitted inside the office.
It wasn't all that dissimilar to most government offices she'd seen, though the spareness set it apart from most others. While there were a few personal touches here and there, like the framed medal on one wall, the entire room screamed that this was someone who wasn't much for smokes and mirrors. Considering what she had to work with sometimes, that put this Director on her 'favourite politicians' list almost instantly. The fact that there weren't a couple of guards standing there to help 'intimidate' her was also a nice touch.
The man seated in front of her was a portly sort of man, not unlike those images of the stereotypical British middle-aged man, who smoked with a pipe and had a maid fetch his slippers. But it didn't fool her for a second, and she'd take a dare to touch Patriot's horns if Tyrus was fooled himself. It wasn't the perfect posture, the meticulous clothes or the faint hints that the portliness wasn't the cause of fat. No, it was the eyes. Those were eyes that screamed, "I've seen shit. Mess with me and I'll make your grandma's spoon look like a love tap". Seeing as she was meant to reach an accord with the PRT, she didn't feel like poking that Ursus anytime soon.
The man beside him, who was standing, was covered in a skintight, blue and white bodysuit. The design on it was a simple arrow, with two more branching off to the arms. His face was covered by a full, cloth mask, though faint ridges suggested that it was armoured in some way, shape or form. She saw similar edges along the torso, arms and legs. Taylor could approve. After all, an enemy who couldn't see your face was a dead man, and the faces of those who thought he'd be taken out with a punch before having their fingers broken must've been priceless.
"Doctor Taylor, Mr. Tyrus, welcome," the Director said, reaching over to shake their hands while they sat down, a polite smile on his face. "I am Director West of PRT Department 22." He nodded to the man beside him. "This is Trilogy of the Protectorate in the Washington area."
"Nice to meet you," Trilogy said, raising a hand in greeting.
"Likewise," Taylor said in return. Tyrus raised his hand in greeting, but said nothing. Once we both sat down, we waited for business to start.
"Ms. Taylor, I've heard quite a bit about you," the Director said, handing us cups of coffee. I took a sip. It wasn't as strong or as good as Kal'tsit's brew, but then again most people almost died when they drank it. Even Tyrus looked like he was drinking tar when he lost a bet and took a sip.
'I wonder if that means there's something wrong with me?' Taylor thought, idly noting the nutty flavour. '…Eh. A coffee addiction to the strongest coffee on Rhodes isn't the weirdest thing ever.'
"Oh? What have you heard about me?" Taylor asked while raising an eyebrow, sipping her coffee.
"Simply hearsay and rumours," Trilogy explained. "We simply wish for you to confirm them, if that's alright with you."
"Sure," was Taylor's quick response. "Though may I ask why?"
"We simply wish to know who you are, and why you've come here," Director West elaborated. "You must understand, it's not just our government that has…certain qualms about Terra gaining access to parahumans."
"Fair enough." Taylor couldn't really refute that. Hell, she shuddered to think just how bad Bolivar could get with the parahumans. 'Probably why only a small delegation was allowed for them.'
"Good. First off," Director West began to leaf through a pile of files on his desk, "we'd like to ask what your intentions are for the parahumans you recruit."
"They'll become Operators under contract to a specific faction or nation," Taylor answered. "After the contract is over, they'll have the choice to either go home or accept another contract. Nothing complicated."
"Aah, forgive me, I was being too vague," The Director said, leaning forwards. "What I meant was, how do you intend to use the parahumans?"
"As any other Operator would be used," Tyrus explained. "Combat ops, search and rescue, research…everyone in the Delegation has their own agendas for parahumans." Tyrus smiled sardonically. "I can at least assure you that no nation has any intention of attacking Gaia with them. No one's stupid enough to burn that much capital on a no-gain scenario."
"I see…very well. Now, why the USA? Why not go to, say, Europe or Africa?"
"Don't think yourselves so special," Tyrus sharply stated. "You're just the first ones we've gone to, not least because you admittedly do have some of the most powerful parahumans in the world; some well known, some not as famous." He shrugged. "The other nations in the world will get their turns too. Don't get such a swelled head from being the first continent to gain our attention."
"Hmm. Why do you need parahumans?"
"It's not so much need as want in this case," Taylor explained. "We could probably handle our problems by ourselves, but with such a readily available resource nearby- sorry," she gave Trilogy an apologetic nod, "it just makes things easier."
"…Alright, the last question." The Director shuffled his papers, as if preparing for a backlash. "Do you remember how you both came to live in Terra?"
At that, both of them stiffened. It was inevitable that they'd know of Tyrus' ancestry, but how did they know Taylor's? Tyrus stated as such.
"It's your blood," Trilogy explained. At their confused looks, he chuckled. "I don't know the details, but the place of your birth has a weird effect on your DNA. For one, most Gaians are born with a low amount of Originium in their DNA, if none at all, while Terrans are born with a good amount." He pointed towards Taylor, indicating her horns which peaked through the hood. "And while you look Terran, your Originium levels are abnormally low, especially for the regions you've been to."
"You couldn't have gotten that from the blood tests," Tyrus stated. "Those were classified, so it couldn't have been those."
"You're right, we didn't," Director West explained, cutting off Trilogy. "Our resident Tinker made a machine that evaporates blood from a certain area. Perfectly harmless."
"That's…not exactly harmless," Taylor said incredulously. "Boiling blood isn't exactly healthy when it's inside of someone."
"Tinker bullshit. Don't ask, don't get a headache," Trilogy quipped. He raised his hands in surrender when the Director gave him a flat stare, showing him just how amusing his joke was. The Director then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"While extremely general, he's not wrong," The Director said, "Anyways, I believe we've gotten off track. Can you tell us how you got there?"
"…There was a boat and fire. That's about all I remember," Taylor admitted, looking to Tyrus.
"I remember a bit more, courtesy of being a bit older," Tyrus said, reminiscing. He tilted his head towards the ceiling in thought. "I only know that it was fairly large, at least to me at the time. And the name on the side…started with a 'P', I think."
"That narrows it down a bit," the Director muttered. "Though we'll have to look at quite a large range of ships that went down near Terra…"
"Why?" Taylor interrupted him.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you helping us?" Taylor bluntly expanded. "We never sought any interest in our birth families. Why now of all times are you helping us? What do you want?"
The Director and Trilogy were silent for a long while, collecting their thoughts. The faint buzz of the light above them was the only sound for a while.
"I will not lie and say it's from the goodness of my heart," Director West said, leaning back in his chair. "The truth is that just as you want parahumans, we want more support from Terra."
"What do you mean?" Tyrus asked. The Director and Trilogy looked to each other for a second before nodding in agreement. The Director thumbed a button on his desk, the wall window behind him darkening before multiple reports and news clippings were projected onto it.
"The world has been thrown into turmoil ever since parahumans started coming out of the woodwork," Director West said, showing off a few articles in various languages that showed said parahumans over a field of rubble. "I'm sure you've heard of a few more…interesting incidents."
"The Royal Family of Russia has been the target of multiple assassination attempts in the past three years alone. China and America both had a joint fleet turned to scrap metal. Belfast got turned into a Originium wasteland, and let's not even get started on the disaster that was Texas." The Director sighed, the window becoming transparent again. "And those are just the more visible incidents."
"What is the point of telling us all this?" Taylor prodded, though she felt she already knew the answer.
"You want parahumans. The PRT is willing to sign over a number of our own as a sort of 'exchange program' if you will." The Director leaned forwards, looking Taylor in the eye. "What can the Terran nations offer us?"
"That doesn't answer the question," Tyrus asked. "What is the purpose of telling us your problems?"
"We want you to help with ours, and in exchange we'll help with yours. Is that so hard to understand?" The Director didn't so much as blink. "So I'll ask you: what can Terra offer us?"
"…Valkyrie can give you a discounted contract for five years. 25% off, full support," Tyrus grumbled, clearly not as happy. "That offer may be subject to change as we move around."
"Ten years."
"Oh hell no. I have contracts that need doing, ten is stretching it. Seven."
"Eight years."
"Six, take it or leave it."
"…Very well. Six years, 25% discount, full support?"
"As much as I can allow, yes." Both people nodded, neither completely happy with the end result, but satisfied nonetheless.
"Now, Ms. Taylor," the Director turned to her, "What can Rhodes Island offer?"
"Medical advancements, readily-available clinics and medicine…we're a pharmaceutical company, anything that has to do with medical needs, we can provide."
Tyrus snorted. "Which should be kinda obvious." He raised his hands in surrender at the dry look he received from Trilogy
"What else?" Director West asked, ignoring the bantering duo.
"Huh?" Taylor was confused. What else did they want from Rhodes Island? "What do you want?"
"We want your assurance that any Rhodes Island branch, if they have Operators, will work with the PRT in any cases that we may need."
Taylor balked at that, narrowing her eyes. "Those Operators are there to help guard RI interests, not to interfere in international affairs. I will not waste time-"
"In exchange, we will also help you with your research. We can put in a good word with the government; the best and brightest, all working on an advisory basis for Rhodes Island. Anything else – resources, equipment, money, anything you need will be provided." The Director never once broke eye contact. It took all of Taylor's willpower not to balk. This was more support the Gaians had offered…any Terran organization for the past twenty years. "Your people aren't the only ones suffering from Oripathy nowadays, Doctor. So. Your assurance?"
Taylor gritted her teeth. In the end, though, Rhodes Island couldn't afford to let this opportunity go; as much as it grated her, if he held up his end of the bargain this would be a goldmine for the research against Oripathy and possibly help normalize relations between the Terrans and Gaians.
"…Alright. We can hash out the exact deals later." As much as she didn't like that she'd left Rhodes Island vulnerable to influences outside of Terra, which could be devastating, the potential prizes far outweighed the risk.
"Excellent." The Director leaned back and smiled, checking his watch. Taylor didn't exactly feel like celebrating, even if the negotiations hadn't been terrible. "I believe we should break for lunch, then go on to meeting the Wards, yes?"
"Fine by me. I'm beat," Tyrus yawned, blinking a few times. "Come on Taylor, let's find a cafeteria around here," he continued as he stood up and moved towards the door. With one final glance at the Director and the Protectorate leader, Taylor followed him out.
The two walked down the hallway, Tyrus using his map to get them to their destination. They didn't speak to each other until in the elevator, down towards the second floor.
"Why would they want to use our own people as soldiers? It doesn't make sense; after all, they can take care of their own problems by themselves, can't they?" Beside her, Tyrus pursed his lips before looking away, though not before Taylor noticed. "Can't they?"
"…Taylor," Tyrus began, taking a deep breath, "How much do you know about the villains situation?"
"Enough to know that if they just buckled down, they wouldn't have one anymore," Taylor answered, confused.
"They probably won't have time to implement any changes you would suggest."
"…What?" Taylor felt dread settle in her stomach, making her scar ache. "What are you talking about?"
"Estimations show that, with the Endbringers, the new strain of Oripathy, and the parahumans all happening in such a short period of time…" Tyrus turned to her, his face grave before lowering his voice. "Estimations put total societal collapse within the next twenty years, global collapse within twenty five." And the dread went all the way down to bedrock now.
Before she could say anything, the door opened, a few PRT workers stepping inside. Tyrus and Taylor swiftly stepped outside, their faces masks of calm. Swiftly, they moved to an abandoned hallway, making sure they couldn't be overheard.
"What do you mean by that?" Taylor hissed, furtively keeping an eye out.
"Exactly what I'm saying," Tyrus whispered back, leaning on the wall. "The Endbringers take down shipping and destroy cities. Villains and heroes cost billions in damage every year and take out vital small businesses, strangling the economy. The fact that Triggers are caused by trauma, leaving broken people with powers, meaning a higher rate of parahumans becoming villains or rogues instead of heroes. I could go on."
"…And you think sending our people into the line of fire will change anything?" Taylor asked.
"Sometimes, it's best not to think," Tyrus leaned in, looming over her while pushing away from the wall. "Sometimes, you need faith. Faith in my comrades, and those who walk beside me." With that, he turned and headed down the hallway. "Coming for grub? 'Cause I'm starving."
"…Yeah," Taylor replied, shaking her head. "Yeah, I'm coming." She jogged up to his side, matching his pace when she reached him. While she was outwardly chatting with him, however, she was thinking furiously inside about the situation.
'What are you planning, Tyrus? Why did you want me to come here, to America? What's so important that you made entire nations send their people over? Why are you so interested in the Gaians?'
'Tyrus, you'd better know what you're doing. For all our sakes.'
—(X)—
And that's a wrap! Sorry if I've been gone for a while, life and school haven't exactly been helping me out. But here I am, and with a new chapter! I'm not the happiest with this chapter, and I think it could use some work/editing, but that's a problem for future-us to worry about. For now, just enjoy some more background info (and a new chapter). Don't worry, the main chapter will happen soon…I'll just say that it'll be a blast.
Remember, review and tell me what you think! I accept it all! Well, as long as it isn't pointless (anyone else get those…slightly creepy reviews about 'read something or die'? Yeah, stuff like that) or offers nothing useful (saying I suck is only acceptable if you have an actual reason and actual advice to offer. If not…the door's there. On the exit button of your tab). If it doesn't fit in those two categories, then you're good. Alright, that's all from me for now. See ya next time!
