Furor 3.01

"Does the name 'Nick' mean anything to you?"

Alec replied to my query with a dismissive "nope."

Ever since I'd managed to… Let's go with 'recover,' from the bank job, I'd been thinking about what I'd learned while beating down on Glory Girl. I could read minds… but apparently only when I wasn't trying.

"You ready to give up yet?"

'No," I responded. "I swear to God I read her mind."

"Yeah, okay, good for you." Alec was less than sincere. I think. "But why do you have to practice on me?"

"Because," I said, "Brian and Lisa don't live here and Rachel's out walking her dogs."

"Okay," Alec accepted, "But do you seriously want to see in my head?"

I thought for a minute… Oh crap. Alec's emotions were all scary, why would… Why didn't I think… Ugh, aren't psychic people supposed to be smart?

Alec must have noticed a change in my expression, because he flashed me what I'm pretty sure was a fake smile. "Exactly. Besides," he continued, "I've got things I really don't want people to know, so if you could just stop."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I..." What could I say? That I got caught up in being able to actually read minds and forgot to ask first? That- "Rachel's back."

"Cool. You gonna go talk to her?" I nodded, "Tell her I said hi."

I left Alec's apartment in time to see Rachel heading down the hall, towards the basement door.

"Hey," I greeted. "Alec says hi."

Rachel gave a noncommittal grunt. I've managed to put together that that means hello. I think. Rachel's emotions have been more confusing to read than normal since the Bank.

I walked down into the basement with her, mostly since I had to go through it to get to my room. Oh god I was so bored. I didn't want to go bac up and hang with Alec… I don't know if he was upset, or if he even could get upset, but… I could hangout with Rachel for a bit… If she'd put up with me. I've noticed that sometimes she's fine hanging out with the others and sometimes she gets annoyed and wanders off to do her own thing. We've really only hung out just the two of us the one time and-I felt a dog brushing up against my leg. I turned to see Judas, and I reached down to pat him on the head. Rachel's dogs have been really friendly ever since…

"So, how was.. Walking, Rachel?"

Rachel responded with a shrug. I… The hatchery needed more time, and I couldn't build anything else or have any real fun until that got done. Well, I could have gotten to work on… I shuddered, that's not something I want to work on yet.

So, yeah. Boredom. Unless somebody else comes down the stairs with… Speak of the devil, a fourth person had entered the building, heading this way. Normal emotions, no hostility, so either Brian or Lisa. I could feel excitement or anticipation… They had something they wanted to share…

I turned back to the door just in time to see Lisa walking in with a store bag at her side.

"Taylor," she said, "We're going out today."

"...What?"

"I hacked the PRT ENE mainframe," she replied. "It's no big deal, I do it all the time. They, the white hats, have changed their stance on you."

Oh god, now what? "Let me guess, S-class threat with a kill order?"

"No, but I can understand why you'd think that." Lisa winked at me. "You're listed as an A-class threat with threat ratings of 'Brute 7, Mover 3, Striker 3, Shaker 8, Thinker 7. Possible Trump.', and their official policy on you is to leave you alone unless you start it."

"Leave me alone unless..." It's a trap. It's got to be a trap, it's-

"I'm pretty sure that it's not a trap, Taylor." How did she- "I told you when we met, pretending to be psychic is my thing." Lisa gave what I've come to recognise as her characteristic smile. "I'm good at it."

"...You know, Lisa. That can get annoying really fast…" I thought for a moment, focussing on her and trying to find a name. She started it, turnabout is fair play.. "Does the name James mean anything to you?"

Lisa gasped and… She was faking. "Taylor," she said in the hammiest tone imaginable "how did you possible find out about by dear uncle James, who was shot dead by Marquis himself when I was but a young girl?"

"...Kind of overdoing it, Lisa."

"Don't play this game with me, Taylor. I've been at it longer than you have."

Then the two of us both burst out laughing, for like, half a minute, while Rachel just ignored us and fed her dogs.

"Seriously though," I asked Lisa, "what do you mean?"

"Basically, Taylor… Did you see the News the night of the robbery?" I shook my head no. "Well, a lot of the hostages believed your story." Lisa set down her bag and started stretching her neck. "When the news covered our robbery, those hostages told the news what you told them, and about how you acted in the bank..." Lisa smiled again "particularly the bit about how you put yourself at disadvantage to keep the fight that the 'heroes' started away from the civilians… Well, apparently the local news decided that 'Innocent girl driven to villainy by unjust persecution' would get more ratings than 'psycho cape beats hero half to death.' It's a new take on the narrative, after all."

I blinked. "And this means?"

"It means that a good chunk of the city is on your side," Lisa answered. "That, coupled with the complete thrashing you gave Glory Girl and the Wards the other day-Seriously, the threat ratings that they gave you are insane, and well, the PRT doesn't want to antagonize you. They're not sure that they have someone who can beat you, and they know that trying and failing will just make you stronger. On top of that," Lisa continued, "enough people belive Best case scenario it makes them look bad, worst case you beat the shit out of one of their guys."

That made sense, I guess and… Wait, did that mean-

"It means," Lisa continued, getting into my head again, "that if we as a group were to rob another bank or crash a fundraiser, the White Hats would be all over us. But, if you're just walking down the street minding your own business, they'll leave you alone."

I swallowed. "You mean..."

"It means you should be able to go outside during the day without too much trouble… I mean, some people might run and scream and I can't fully account for New Wave, but I don't think we'll have too many problems." "So," Lisa finished with a big grin, "you and I are going out."

I blinked. "But… Won't people figure that something's up when Empress is seen around town hanging out with a blonde girl? I mean, it's gonna be pretty obvious that the blonde hanging out with one of the Undersiders is Tattletale."

"Of course it will," Lisa replied. "Because Tattletale will be in full costume."

…"What?"

"I'll be in costume. Well, and a jacket to make it look casual. I picked you up some casual clothes I think you'll like, too." She gestured to the bag. "They won't fuck with me while I'm with you, and well, two villains acting like normal teens? Refuge in audacity does the rest."

"Okay… Yeah, let's do it!"

Lisa smiled and handed me the bag. "I think you'll like what I picked out for you."

"Can I come?"

Lisa didn't jump when we heard the new voice. She turned to Rachel with an inquisitive look on her face, and I could feel confusion coming from her, like this was out of character for Rachel.

"You, you want to come with us?" Lisa asked, a crack in her all-knowing facade.?"

"Yeah," Rachel replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why I asked. Can I come?"

Lisa seemed to feel confused for a bit, and then looked to me, and back to Rachel, and then judging from her emotions something clicked for her. "Of course you can, Rachel. We'll make it a girls day out. I need to go get changed. Taylor," she turned to me, "go try on our new clothes. We'll all meet in the hallway in about ten minutes?"

Rachel and I both nodded, and I turned to go down to my room. Then I stopped.

"Wait, I said, "Rachel lost her mask back at the bank. Ist that going to complicate things?"

Rachel scoffed, "I'm like you. They already know my name and face."

I blinked, "Okay then."

Lisa turned and added, "Yeah, she's a fugitive. She just doesn't give a fuck." Rachel nodded proudly at Lisa's declaration and, my latest worry soothed, I began again to head down to my room. This might be fun. And if Lisa was right, then maybe I could visit Dad

Long Live Empress Taylor

It'd been two days since the Bank robbery, and I'd been called in to speak with Mayor Christner. I knew what it was about. Taylor had robbed a bank. There was no way that he could help me with Taylor anymore. Now that she's actually done something wrong, helping her would look bad. Mayor Christner's a politician. Anything that makes him look bad is something that risks his chances at re-election. I sighed as I was let into his office.

Mayor Christner got up to greet me, offering his hand, which I took half heartedly.

"Are you alright, Mr. Hebert?" he asked. "You seem..." He didn't seem to know how to finish the question.

"Let's just cut to the chase, Mr. Mayor."

"Ahh. If you don't want to talk about t then first I'd like to thank you and 'Bastion' again for your help over the last few days. Come, sit." The Mayor gestured to the Chair in front of his desk as he took his own seat once again. Once I'd sat down he continued. "And now down to business. I've received requests, from Boston, New York, Chicago, and from Chief-Director Rebecca-Costa Brown of the PRT. They've all heard about the Tinker providing technology to Brockton Bay PD, and they'd like to get into contact with you. I just figured it would be courteous to let you know, rather than let you be blindsided when one of them figures out how to contact your directly."

That was not at all what I was expecting. Th-at was good news. Well, I'm not so sure about letting the PRT get a hold of my tech, but more markets meant more income. It'd be awhile before production got to the point where I could sell to four cities, but more income means more funding, and more funding means more research-better tech, which then means… I'm getting ahead of myself.

"But, Mr. Mayor, what about Taylor?"

He raised an eyebrow, "What about her?"

"She, she robbed a bank!" This was so surreal. "Are you still going to help after that."

Mayor Christner blinked, and responded flatly: "yes."

"Why?"

Mayor Christner stood up from his desk again, and motioned for me to do the same. As I complied, he led me to his office window, looking out into the city. "What do you see out there, Mr. Hebert?"

I answered "a city on the decline."

"A diplomatic answer, Mr. Hebert." The mayor took a deep breath. "I see a festering cesspit." I turned to look at him, and he must have been able to tell what I wanted to ask from my expression, because he continued. "I respect you too much to mince words, Mr. Hebert. Brockton Bay has been "on the decline" for a long, long, long time. You know this. The PRT and the Protectorate… There are good, hardworking people in those organizations and they try so hard, but all they've managed to do is barely maintain the status quo-If I didn't know better, I'd think that all of the Heroes and villains in this city were just playing a big game." Mayor Christner began walking back to his desk. "You, within mere months of getting powers, near completely wiped out one of the gangs in this city-and no one has risen up to take their place yet. You changed the city, in some small way, for the better. That's not including what some of our boys in blue being seen with your shiney new technology has done for public relations, or the effects that seeing Parahumans working with normal cops had on the populous."

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't speak. After a moment of silence, the Mayor continued. "All things considered, what your little girl did at the bank? It wasn't quite that bad. The Stansfields, that is to say, a very wealthy family, has donated the money needed to repair the wall, and do you have any clue what the insurance is like in a cape city? Your daughter did very little permanent damage. Continuing to back her is risky, yes, but not that risky. One bank robbery is more than a fair price to pay for the help you've given this city."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Now, I'm not saying that this doesn't cause us some problems," the Mayor began, "bank robbery isn't something that can just be hand waved away like stealing food to live, or resisting an unjust arrest, but as long as she doesn't kill anyone or, I don't know, take over the city with an army of monsters, then it shouldn't be too hard to get her home to you, assuming that the investigation goes well." He smiled at me, "and from what I've heard, a few kids from Winslow have started talking to the investigators since thursday. So, short of her committing cold blooded murder or treason, the worst case scenario will simply mean I'll have to call either my friend in the DA's office or my friend in the governor's office."

"Again, Thank you Mayor Chrisner."

"Think nothing of it, Mr. Hebert. So, how goes the production of your technology?"

"I've managed to train a few people to help me build, but mass production will have to wait until I have enough spare funds to build facilities for it."

And after a short exchange of pleasantries, I left the Mayor's office, feeling better than I have in days.