Trial 2.03

I'd finished constructing communicators for the Raiders last night, sort of a Tinker-Tech Walkie-Talkie. Once I'd had two to test, it was surprisingly easy to make enough for everyone. I was considering building more for the dockworkers who weren't Raiders, but that was a something for later.

"And this button here allows you to send out a general message to every active communicator on our private channel. It's meant for use in emergencies or if you find information that everyone needs to know." "So," I asked, "any questions?"

The Raiders all responded with nos or shakes of the head, so I dismissed them and returned to my office. I might be a superhero now, but I'm still in charge of the dockworkers association, and that meant paperwork needed to be filled out. I'd been getting behind on it in the last few days, worrying about Taylor… I still couldn't focus on the paper work. There were two more things I could think of to set my mind at ease enough to get back to work. First, I had to go speak with my private contractors.

*Break-Taylor*

"What are you laughing at Taylor?"

I stopped chuckling and got back to work" It's just that I never thought I'd see the day when it'd be easier to put the nails in by hand then it is to use a hammer."

Rachel wanted to convert part of the basement-the real basement, not my sub-basement, into kennel space, so she could have some of her dogs close to her. Brian and Lisa were out and Alec was in his apartment doing god knows what Since I've got nothing better to do right now, I volunteered to help. Rachel shrugged in response to my statement, and I took another nail and forced it in place.

I stepped back and looked at the bit of drywall I'd finished installing. This wasn't going to be a big or fancy kennel, just a few gated cubicles for individual dogs. "You're not much of a talker, are you Rachel?"

"No," she said, as she went over to a corner where her dogs were sitting, waiting for her, and pet one of them-The rottweiler, Brutus.

As she did that, I went over to where the rest of the supplies were. We had cuts of drywall, wooden frames, dog beds, and those little gates you put in doorways to keep dogs or small children from wandering out of a room. Like I said, this was a pretty simple kennel.

I picked up one of the dog beds and placed it inside the kennel… cell? Cage? Neither word fit, it was pretty sizable and and this bed certainly felt comfortable. "I think this one is ready."

Rachel gave a signal and brutus stood up, and she walked him over. Another signal and the dog sat upon the dog bed. I think he seemed comfortable, but dog emotions didn't feel like human emotions. They were off and… Oh. I tried feeling Brutus's emotions, then Rachels and… Okay, that made so much sense.

"People are hard, aren't they?"

Rachel looked at me, but she didn't say anything.

"There are just so many rules to talking to people, and-"

"Shut up!" I didn't need my psychic powers to tell how irritated she is.

"I'm sorry. I'll..."

She didn't say anything. She just walked over to the supplies to get one of the gates.

After about a minute, I could sense her starting to calm down but now I felt fear and regret from her. Was she afraid of me? To change the subject I gestured to Brutus. "Can I pet him?"

She looked at me, then at her dog. She turned her head inquisitively, and didn't feel as scared anymore. "Let him smell you and get your sent. If he let's, you can pet him."

I presented the back of my hand to the dog, who gave me a sniff. After a moment he was rubbing his head against my hand. I took that as a sign that he was okay to pet, so I gave him a pat on the head, taking care to keep my claws pointed away from me. Rachel was hard to read, but it's obvious that she loved these dogs more than anything in the world. I don't doubt for a second that she'd never forgive me if I hurt one of them, even by accident.

"Whats with you?" Rachel seemed confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You just met us, but you're already talking like a friend. Trying to get us to tell you stuff. What's with you?"

Ah. That make sense. I stopped petting Brutus and turned back to Rachel. "It's simple. I can feel your emotions. I know you're not planning to hurt me, so it feels safe to be open with you. I know we just met, but it feels like I can trust you. Besides, if we're gonna be working together and living together, we might as well be friends."

Rachel didn't respond, though her emotions shifted in ways that were hard to read. She came over and put the gate down by the kennel, then started petting Brutus. "Dogs are so much easier than people. Dogs don't want anything big. They just want food and walks and to be petted. People are hard."

"I get it Rachel. I don't understand people sometimes either. The stories I could tell you about someone I thought was my friend…" I sighed. "Let's make a deal. I won't lie to you, and if you want to know something about me, I'll just tell you. No tricks, no games." I didn't think she'd ask, but if she did I'd tell the truth. I don't want her being scared of me. I'd rather be friends.

Rachel didn't say anything else, but… well she didn't smile, but her mouth kind of curled upwards just a bit. It's a start. She got back to work, and so did I.

*Break-Danny*

It was late afternoon when I was finally able to get away from the dockyard long enough to head to the headquarters of my independant contractors. "Uber, Leet. Can I have a word with you"

Leet looked up from a device her was working on-Another one of his flying cameras from the look of it, and Uber was on the far end of the room.

Uber cracked his neck as he walked over to me. 'What do you need, boss?"

I cleared my throat. "Look, this might be a lot to ask, but ever since the night of the fight, we have a general idea of where Taylor is. Could, could I bother you to look for her when you have the time? I know that's not covered under our arrangement, but-"

Uber cut me off with a raised hand. "I get it. You're worried about your girl. It's not that hard to take a walk through the docks for any sign of her, and I think Leet can have one of the Sky-eyes set up around where she disappeared around. Right?"

Leet wasn't paying attention he seemed so utterly focussed on the Sky-Eye in front of him that-and then he switched it on. It floated up, and he grabbed a tablet and started making the eye maneuver around the room we were in, doing several complex twists and turns. He even made it do a barrel roll. When it landed safely, he jumped from his seat and began jumping up and down laughing like a lunatic on amphetamines. "This proves it! Hahaha this proves it!"

I looked to Uber, but he shrugged, so I turned back to Leet. "Proves it?"

Leet pointed to his sky-eye. "This makes four. Four, exactly the same. They all work perfectly. Nothing malfunctioned. Nothing blew up. Hehehe!"

I got it now. I knew his reputation, and I've known him for a few months. He's the tinker who can make anything once. If he could build the same thing four times….

Uber spoke up. "Anyway, Leet, our boss is asking us if we'd mind keeping an eye out for his kid. You think we can dedicate a Sky-Eye to keeping an eye on places we know she's been?"

"Oh, yeah that's really easy! You want a Sky-Eye, you can have it." Leet then picked up the one he'd be working on and handed it to me. The villain in my employ seemed quite manic.

"You, you're quite chipper today, Leet." It was actually a bit frightening, and that's coming from another Tinker.

"Why wouldn't I be? This is… This all happened since I worked for you. If you need a tool you can't make, you can ask and if I can do it it;s yours. If you want a dozen sky-eyes they're yours. You want the BFG from Doom or some Spartan Armor, it's yours. You want a Giant Robot… Excuse me" Leet then ran from the room. I knew the feeling. He just got an idea for some kind of gadget and just had to do something with it before he lost it. It'd happened to me before, and from my understanding it happens to all Tinkers.

I put the flying camera down on the Table Leet had been working from. "Okay. That happened."

Uber laughed. "Well, he's got a lot to be happy about. He's spent years having stuff blow up in his face or losing gadgets forever in freak accidents. Now he doesn't have to worry and he can tinker all he wants on whatever he wants. He got the idea for the Sky-Eye after we started working for you, and he thinks that his problem was some kind of mental block. He thinks that working for you has something to do with overcoming that block. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to keep an eye out for your girl. I'll remind Leet about the cameras later, and I'll take a look in person in a bit."

I sighed. "Thank you." A handshake and an exchange of pleasantries later, and I was on my way back to the dockyard.

*Break-Taylor*

"So what's this one do?" I was playing a videogame with Alec. A multiplayer shooter. It was just something to pass the time, and well, I really should try to get to know him even if he… Kind of gives me the creeps.

"Well," he said, "That's one's probably one of the easiest class to get used to. You've got the highest defense, the most health, and the big gun. Really all you do is shoot and soak up damage. The others have their tricks to them and you need practice to play them well." Then he shifted in his seat.

"Well, I guess I'll take this one then." I hit select and then we had to wait for the last guy out of nine on our team to pick his. Alec had chosen his, a guy with a flamethrower, and… God damn it. "Alec, really, it's a bit flattering, but I'd appreciate it if you'd stop looking at my boobs."

Alec stumbled in his seat. "Well, um… You know, if you didn't want people to look you could cover up some."

I traced a claw across the now opaque carapace on my lower ribs-It even kind of looked like ribs now. All my carapace was a nice, solid, and shiny bluish silver. I'd put on a bit more muscle mass over the last few days, and gotten like, half an inch taller. The claws on my toes had grown out nicely too."I'm still growing and changing from the other night, and I only really had the one complete set of clothes. I don't want to get something, only for it to be too tight the next day or get torn by a spike growing on my arm." Besides, it's not like anyone could see anything particularly interesting anymore.

"...Okay, whatever." Alec went back to focusing on the game, and the last guy on our team picked his character.

We played in silence for a bit. This game was actually pretty fun. It of a challenges running around corners, falling back at just the right time to get healed or pick up more ammo. After about ten minutes I figured I had the hang of it and went off ahead, deeper into enemy territory to draw their fire and shoot them up and… "And I'm dead. What happened?"

"You got cocky," Alec said. "You went off on your own and got outnumbered by more experienced players. What you tried might have worked if you'd played more, gotten a better feel for how your guy plays, or unlocked some of his better alternate gear. But since you're a total newb, you got yourself killed."

I thought on that for a bit, but then I respawned and got back in the game. We played for another few minutes, but then the session was over. I stepped up from the couch to stretch for a bit,and I looked over at Alec again and… Damn it.

"Look, I'm sorry if this comes out bad, but Alec… What's wrong with you?"

He set down his controller. "What do you mean?"

"You know that I can feel emotions," I said as I gestured vaguely around my head in a way that I hoped would make it clear that I was talking about being psychic… His laugh told me that I was wrong. "Your emotions, they feel wrong. Every time I focus on you in particular, I can't help but notice how wrong they feel and it creeps me out. I wasn't going to say anything, and playing this game with you was fun so don't get me wrong, but… What's wrong with you?"

"Oh," he said. "I'm a sociopath." H then picked his controller back up. "The next session is about to start."

"...What?"

"It means I don't feel emotions as strongly as other people do. Some I can't feel at all. I really don't like talking about it."

I was a bit freaked. I'd seen the movies. A sociopath was… "What?"

He rolled his eyes. "Look, this isn't like the movies. I'm not some psycho who kills people and tortures bunnies for fun. I don't particularly care about most other people, but I'm not going out of my way to hurt them. Even if I did get off on that stuff, it's just not worth my time when I can just turn on a video game.

Was that why he played these games? I blinked, and he continued. "Look, you don't have to worry. Even if I was some psycho killer, you're cool. Even if you weren't cool, I know better than to piss you off. Now can we get back to the game? Seriously, I don't like talking about this."

I took a deep breath and went back to playing. Learning he was… like that was a bit of a shock, and his emotions were still weird and scary and wrong, but as far as I could tell he didn't mean me any harm so I just kept playing. It was a bit weird, but after a bit it started being fun again, so.

*Break-Danny*

I'd just finished my initial sketches for a set of surveillance cameras better than anything non-tinker on the market-Just a little something to help clear my head, when I heard a knock at my office door. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mr. Hebert" Uber.

"Come in, Mr. Dabney"

The villain in my employ stepped into my office, dressed in civilian garb. "I um, took a stroll though a certain part of town. Nothing on the development you're looking for, but some stuff you should know." He was speaking in vague and general terms, in case of bugs or eavesdroppers. I didn't think it was too big a risk, but he's been a villain longer than I've been a parahuman at all, so if he thinks it's a risk...

I blinked. "Go on."

"Well," he started, "the Azn Bad Boys… You'd think after what happened to Lung, they'd be itching to prove they were still on the top, but they all seem to be watching and waiting for something. They haven't even been reacting to the groups of Empire Eighty-Eight thugs sneaking around through their territory. I'm just a little worried that sooner or later things are gonna get heated and since the ABB have territory on the docks…"

"The fight might spill over into the dockyard." Shit. This all just kept getting worse. "Anything else?"

"No."

""Okay, thank you. If you could-"

"Keep an eye out. Got it."

"Thank you again, and goodbye Mr. Dabney." Uber showed himself out. It looked like I'd need these surveillance cameras more than I thought.

*Break, Taylor.*

After a long day of helping Rachel and hanging out with Alec, I figured it was time to check on my latest project. Down in my sub-basement, in my little experimentation corner, I had a small structure growing. I didn't exactly have enough room for a full sized structure down here, but the pillar and hooks of this downscaled version were forming well. Just in case, though I grabbed a beater and scooped up some creep from the floor by the tumor, added some crushed up beetles, and poured the mixture over the miniature hatchery.

"Taylor? You down here?" That was Brian coming down. I didn't think that he or Lisa would be here at all today.

"Yeah, I'm down here." I placed the empty beaker on my table. "What do you need?"

Brian was coming down the stairs as I turned to see. "We've got a job. Everyone else is already in the meeting room but I want to make sure on you're on board with it."

I didn't like the sound of that. We'd already talked about the kind of jobs I'd be willing to do. If he wanted to check if I was onboard, well, we probably weren't robbing Nazis. "What job?"

"Well, Taylor. Our boss wants us to rob a bank." He wasn't looking at me as he said it.

"I don't feel comfortable doing that job. I think I'll be sitting this one out."

He was looking at me now. "Yeah, and that's what we agreed to, but… There are some other concerns that might change your mind."

I raise an… Well, I don't have eyebrows anymore, but the general area an eyebrow would be I guess. "Other concerns?"

"This is the first job we've gotten since you joined. We all think the boss wants to see how well you do on a job."

"Really now?" I said. That made sense. "Anything else?"

"You've got a reputation now."

That was surprising. "I do?"

"Yeah. Uber and Leet had a camera in the sky. They caught the tail end of your fight and it's all over the internet. By now the whole country knows you as the girl who beat Lung so bad he ran away."

"That's not what happened." It wasn't. Lung called a draw when he heard the sirens, if that had gone one for another minute I'd-Brian cut off my train of thought.

"Yeah. I know. I was there. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that everyone in town thinks that's what happened. If the Undersiders get caught robbing a bank and we don't get out in time, we're either getting New Wave or the Wards. The second it gets out that the girl who thrashed Lung is with us..."

I saw where he was going. "The Wards get called back and they send in the Protectorate"

He nodded. "And we can clear out in the confusion. "

Okay, that was a good reason, but… "The people in the bank?"

"That'll be your job." He gestured to my arms. "You stand there, make a big speech about how if nobody moves, nobody gets hurt, and then stand there and be intimidating. With your emotion sensing you'll know if someone is going to try something before they try it."

"And that way, no one gets hurt. They just lose their hard earned money." Yeah, this was sounding better, but still…

"Not really. We're not taking money out of people's hands or draining the accounts. We're just going after what's in the vaults. Banks have insurance for that. Only the bank loses money on this. Banks have plenty of money and they screw over the little guy all the time. I figure losing a few thousand every now and then isn't that bad."

He was trying to convince me that robbing the bank wasn't that different from robbing criminals. I could feel it in his emotions, but there was another reason why he wanted me on this job. "What else? You really want me on this job. Why?"

He sighed, and he clearly didn't want to tell me this, but he did. "Look, the reason I do this is because of my sister. My Mom's a neglectful crackhead, my Dad's not fit to raise a teenaged girl. I'm trying to get custody, but for that I need all sorts of things that need money. The only way to get enough money for all of that is villainy. Our boss is the only guy in town who can pay out enough and fake up a paper trail to make it all look like legitimate respectful work."

'

Ah. Okay, I got that. It's a good reason to want me to go, but… "That doesn't really answer my question."

"Lisa… Lisa didn't want to tell you the whole story yet, but our boss isn't a good person. I don't know all of the details, Lisa's our line of contact, but the most important thing is that the second we get inconvenient, we're gone. The best case scenario is that the money and paper trail both get cut off and my sister stays in a bad home." Brian looked at the ground. "Worst case scenario, our boss kidnaps her and uses her to control me. If you come with us on this job and show off, we become more valuable, and the boss is less likely to screw us over. At least that's what Lisa said."

I took a moment to pick my jaw up from the floor. "Why-why do we work for someone like this?"

"Well, we didn't know he was this bad when we were hired. Now we're kind of stuck. Lisa has a plan to take him out, but she needs more time. Until then, we keep working for him."

He was telling the truth. About all of that. But… "What's your sister's name?" Shit, why did I ask that?

"Her name is Aisha."

God damn it. "Okay, I'll do it. Just… Promise me that, that we'll try not to hurt anybody."

He extended his hand to shake "I promise." I took his hand and we shook on it.

"Okay," I said as I started heading upstairs. "I'll do it, this one time. And I want the full story on this guy we're working for."

"You'll have to ask Lisa," Brian said as he himself began to climb, "She's the only one who knows the whole thing."