Aisha kicks her feet in the air over the arm of the sofa while she lies there watching cartoons. Everyone that's been staying in Taylor's suite is doing stuff today, and she's not been to school for 2 days now. So she's bored with a capital B. She always wondered what it would be like not having to go to school, or keep half an ear out for the latest boyfriend, and now she knows. She'll also find out tomorrow if she has to return to hell or not, she very much hopes not, as there's no way she wants to keep barricading her bedroom door when she's at home. Not that her father's much better, self-medicating with booze for the pain, and then lashing out when he's good and drunk.
A soft knock on her door has her on her feet and skipping for the door, when she opens it Vista is standing there.
"Um, hi."
"Er, hi? Do you want to come in?"
"Thanks."
"What brings you to my door?"
"Just wanted to see if you wanted some company."
"So bored and lonely huh?"
"Yep."
"Why don't you just go…" – Seeing Vista's body language start to shut down, Aisha mimes poking something with a barge pole – "Right, that topic, not touching it with a barge pole. I think there's some micro-popcorn here, would you like some?"
"Sure, thanks."
Half an hour later Vista muses, "I wonder what's so special about Taylor's basement."
"Why don't you have a look?"
"Dunno where she lives."
"I do."
"Huh? Why?"
"She's the locker girl. The sacrificial lamb the teachers gave to the preppy kids. Gotta know where not to go, as it's bad mojo to be associated with that sort."
"What? Why were you so friendly then?"
"Cos she ain't in school no more. Obviously. Look sister, you need to know that in high school, perception is reality. The bitches there'll make up shit if they even have half a hint that you're fair game. It may have escaped your notice, but I'm black. They sink their fangs into me and I'm meat. Winslow is, fuck, I dunno how to explain it without it sounding like I'm making stuff up. All the teachers are slow boating to retirement, so they don't care anymore, if they ever did. Rumour has it that Mrs Knott still has some fire, but can't do shit. I've seen two stabbings since I started, and the police turn up and nobody seen nothing, they go away and the kid goes to ER to be stitched up. If ya ain't a chink or white, you keep your head down."
"To be honest, I think I only understood about half of what you just said, and that was bad enough. So what happened to Taylor?"
"Dunno, there's video going around of her being pushed into her locker by the trio, Sophia Hess, Madison Clements, and Emma Barnes, the current queens of the school. After that, she disappears for a month, and comes back different. You could see her spine straightening every day. Hey, do you want to explore her basement?"
"I can't go out in uniform."
"Then don't, I've got a Benjamin in my shoe, why don't we meet at the donut place, get some donuts and then bus over there."
"Benjamin?"
"$100."
"Oh."
"Also, it's probably my last day here."
"Why's that?"
"I looked it up on the handy dandy computer they let me have, emergency removal only lasts for 72 hours. After that, I either go back to my Mum's or a court puts me in the system."
"Well then, let's go."
Aisha smiles, "You need to get changed first."
"Oh yeah."
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After the novel sensation of being thanked for using a Benjamin, and getting loads of smaller notes from the donut shop as well as a massive box of donuts for the two of them. Vista finally makes it over the road.
Aisha looks her up and down critically before dragging her around the corner and adjusting her clothing slightly, and applying a touch of gel to her hair. Making similar changes to her own clothing and body language, they look as though they're a couple of 15 year olds heading home.
"Ready to go Missy?"
"What? I haven't introduced myself."
"Look, it's no biggie to work out. Honestly you were the hardest one I've worked out. It's fairly public knowledge that Dean is dating Victoria. It's also very public knowledge that Glory Girl hangs out with Gallant. From there, just head over to the arcadia sub board on PHO and see what the gossip says about them and who their friends are. The big clue for you was Dinah asking you to hand work in for her. I haven't worked out who browbeat is yet though."
Missy stares at Aisha gobsmacked, "How did you learn to do that?"
"Girl needs skillz if they're going to survive Winslow. Ya need the same skillz if you want money for food and clothes."
Impulsively Missy hugs Aisha, "I'm sorry you needed those skills. But please don't tell anyone."
"Look, I'd like to think you're a friend, or becoming one. It's why I said. Anyway, let's go and we can chat more on the bus while pretending to gush about Makeup and fashion. Be warned you're likely to get called a race traitor more than a little, and I'll be called all sorts of things until we're solidly into the south docks. That's where the E88 and ABB transition, after that you may get more than a few suggestive comments. You need to ignore them, if you react you make us a target. I do not want to be dodging catchers, do you understand?"
Missy nods seriously, "Do you know where all the gang territories are?"
Aisha shakes her head, "No, just the boundaries around docks and market. Oh, and that most of Downtown proper is gang free cos that's where the PRT are. So, the ABB pretty much control everything to the north of Winslow and a large chunk of the Docks. E88 controls the commercial district, and up into the south docks. And the Merchants are in around the Market, Trainyard, and docks. Nobody wants the slums on the south end, as there ain't anyone there that can afford anything. Come on, there's our first bus."
Missy is very glad that Aisha warned her about what was going to happen on the bus, as once they had a seat together, Aisha pulls out a set of in ear headphones. After showing Missy that they weren't plugged in to anything she hands her one while putting the other in her ear. Aisha then takes a week old copy of a teen mag from her bag, and the two of them talk quietly, while Missy tries to ignore the threats and slurs that are hurled their way from the marked gang members. There's a bit of peace when ABB gang members board, and the two factions stare at each other. Finally, by the time they get off the bus, Missy feels like a piece of meat. Eventually, the journey is over, and Aisha pulls her off the bus.
"Sorry about that, are you ok?"
Missy nods, "I'm ok, how do you stand it?"
"Go to the Boardwalk, I try to avoid Downtown wherever possible. And you'd probably catch me dead if I ever set foot in the commercial district after dark. I know I miss out on the cheaper outlets, as the Boardwalk is more boutique services, but it's better than being shanked."
"Which way now?"
"We can get another bus to the docks, then backtrack, or it's a 20 minute walk towards the docks from here."
Missy shudders, "Can we walk?"
"Sure."
As they walk, the houses in the area turn from being well kept and maintained into just well maintained, and finally as they get closer to Taylor's house the houses gain a very much patched up look about them, with fading paint, cracked putty in the windows, the odd broken roof tile that has been glued or taped back into place.
Suddenly Aisha grabs Missy's hand and pulls her back round a corner, "Goon squad."
Missy looks round the corner searchingly, "Where?"
"The battered red Ford pickup, the black Mustang, and in the house."
"How can you tell?"
"No rust and clean licence plates."
"Huh?"
"Look at the other cars. Ain't none of them been cleaned in a while, and the chrome has rust spots."
"How do you know this stuff? Actually, I probably don't want to know, as it's going to be horrifying."
"It's not that bad. Truancy officers make the same mistakes."
"Maybe, but most kids I know would be playing hookie to go to the beach or to catch a film, and I have a feeling that's something you've not done too much."
"Oh, I have. It's a great way to avoid attention."
Missy looks at her as if she knows there's a lot that just hasn't been said, "Ok oh wise one, how do we get into the basement?"
"Can you make fences shorter?"
"I can, why?"
"Look over this fence, tell me what you see."
Missy stands on tiptoes and looks over, "The side of the house, why?"
"Look at the bottom."
"It's the basement window there's no way you'd get in there it'll be locked."
Aisha pulls out a library card, "This is my window opener. Come on, let's go around the back and find a basement window that can't be seen from the street, and I'll teach you how to open this sort of window with a card. Then I'll tell you how you don't even need the card."
5 minutes later, and a couple of applications of Missy's power, the two of them are crouched down beside the window.
Aisha whispers, "Now, windows like this almost never have locks on them, just a bar latch, if you watch as I push this gently, the window has a little give in it, that's cause the spacer that the latch sits in when it's closed is larger than the latch. So what I do is push the card around the bottom of the window like this, then jiggle it back and forward till it pushes the latch up like that. Et Viola, one open window. Course on basement windows like this it's just a party trick as they're thinner than my head is, and if you can't get your head through you can't get your body through. If you were doing this, I'd just expand this bit here where the latch fall into the window, then push gently and it will open without needing to do anything else."
Taking the hint, Missy manipulates the space so that they can crawl into the window and not need to climb down to the floor.
"Can you do anything about getting more light through that window?"
"Sorry, no. It's still taking up as much space for the suns rays, it just looks bigger locally. Ok, that's not quite true, but I can't do it without us getting caught, as I need to compress the space around the window as much as I expanded the window."
Aisha pulls out her phone and unlocks it, allowing the screen to illuminate the basement slightly, "Huh? That actually makes sense."
A few hours later, they both wake up on the floor to Missy's phone ringing insistently. Groggily Missy brushes a massive spider out the way and pulls her phone out of her bag, "Hello?"
Dean's voice comes over the phone, "Missy, where are you? Your shift started 15 minutes ago."
"Shit, I guess we fell asleep. I'm out with Aisha and we had plenty of time."
"What were you doing?... No don't answer that, it's your own time, just get here as quickly as you can."
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Dinah walks into the courtroom with Director Piggot, "What's the chances someone will try to kidnap me if I go home with my uncle?"
Urgently she tugs on the directors sleeve, then when she stops, she whispers into her ear, "63.5% chance someone will try to kidnap me if I go home with my uncle."
"What about your family being hospitalized during the attempt?"
"46.5%"
Dinah and Director Piggot both sit through 3 or 4 hours of discussion between social services, Mayor Christner - Dinah's uncle, and the judge. Eventually the judge says, "Ok, I think I've heard enough." At this point Director Piggot stands up.
"Your honour, I believe that there is one person you haven't heard from. I think that her opinion probably carries more weight than anyone else in this court room."
The judge nods, "Come on up miss and take a seat."
Dinah dutifully takes a seat in the witness box.
"Now before I ask any questions about where you're going to stay, is there anything you'd like to say?"
"I'd like the director to be my guardian."
Apart from the judge, everyone in the courtroom just stares at her, "And why would that be?"
"She's nice, though she can be a bit too serious at times. She took me to see mum and dad. And she's less likely to get hurt if someone tries to kidnap me again."
"Someone tried to kidnap you?"
Dinah nods, "I had to run away from them, and Taylor and Commander O'Donnell saved me in the mall."
"Who's Taylor?"
"Um…" Dinah looks at the Director.
Piggot sighs, "I need everyone except the judge and Dinah to leave the room."
When nobody moves, the judge bangs his gavel, "Everyone out."
With the courtroom clear, the judge turns to Piggot, "What is it you couldn't say in front of the others?"
"Miss Taylor Hebert is a monstrous cape who's powers are slowly transforming her from a human form into some sort of hybrid. She has also granted Dinah parahuman powers. I can also confirm that the home invasion was actually a kidnapping attempt."
Dinah pops across the room and back, then turns invisible and reappears, just to prove a point while the Director puts a hand over her face and sighs.
"I see, and you'll be putting her in the wards?"
Piggot shakes her head, "We have created Watchdog ENE, and a mover stranger like that is ideal for that sort of work. It will also keep her off of the streets where she could be kidnapped again."
Everyone else files back in, "In light of Miss Alcott's statement, and information that was brought to my attention I am going to award custody to Miss Emily Piggot. Mayor Christner, if it wasn't for the kidnapping risk, Miss Alcott would be going home with you. We will revisit this in a years time if Miss Alcott's parents have not woken up."
As they leave, Dinah whispers to herself, "Chances Director Piggot will die in the next year?" 20.43%
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Taylor squirms uncomfortably in the passenger seat of a PRT issue unmarked car while Hannah drives them to the next office they need to visit.
"Take the next left."
Hannah nods, and Taylor goes back to thinking. At the moment she really envies Lisa, who has been tasked with ensuring that plenty of locals know that she's just moved in, and that she "works from home", which basically means taking her laptop to the local café and people watching while she keeps an eye on the hive mind.
"Pull over, I need to concentrate on something."
Hannah looks over even as she pulls over to the side of the road, "What's going on?"
"Close your eyes, you should be able to feel it. A couple of eggs have hatched."
Hannah closes her eyes, and tries to find what Taylor's feeling, then she feels the face huggers latch on, though they don't have good enough senses to identify who or what they latched on to.
"Ok, they're not being destroyed. We can worry about it later when who ever it is joins the hive."
"What do you mean by they're not being destroyed?"
"I get vague feelings of loss and anger occasionally, as though the eggs have been destroyed. But they're always still there. I really want to find a better place for my nest, but so much has been happening recently."
Hannah nods, "Maybe we can take a drive at the weekends. What's going on with your schooling?"
"I have no idea, the only thing I've been told is that there's no rush for it."
"What do you think of our new offices?"
"I think they're neat, fairly hard to find, and kinda pokey on the outside, but lovely and spacious on the inside with plenty of internal rooms we can teleport into and out of. What about you?"
"I think that the hardest part I'm getting my head around is being an open cape to disguise the fact that I'm Miss Militia."
"I think the idea that Piggot and her advisors had is that as I can't exactly hide the fact that I'm a cape, or that I can grant powers, we shouldn't even try. Instead we should limit what people see of those powers. That's why it's so important for Lisa to establish an identity in her new city. There's enough people that know who she is, that they'll assume we placed her there for protection."
Lisa smirks over the hive, "Oh you do love me. You're missing the biggest detail. We're forcing people to guard against teleporting strangers. By focusing their attention on that, they're going to be less defensive against purely thinker based deduction. Which is where Dinah and I will be coming in. It will look like I'm a glorified secretary that happens to be able to teleport and go invisible. And Dinah will be taking on a more traditional wards role, costume and mask included due to her age. She will then be seen accompanying you or O'Donnell as she learns the ropes. If there were any other wards with good data gathering abilities, and weren't already so well established as wards, I'd be wanting to poach them. As it stands, Vista is probably the only ward who's abilities could be turned to watchdog requirements, being able to warp space so that she can listen in on conversations, or even bend space so that she can use a laser microphone from around a corner. We'll also be doing our fair share of criminal chasing, just to be seen doing stuff."
"As you seem to be so clued in, what else will we be doing?"
"Initially, we'll be investigating the gangs in Brockton Bay and around the three states we cover. What we're looking to do is shut down their finances, identify people in official positions on that are on the take, and develop routs for parallel construction of evidence where they are not parahuman related. Dinah and I will be coordinating to also try and predict major gang activities. Finally, you will be performing out of hours cleaning operations in all PRT and protectorate facilities. By you, I mean anyone that doesn't have a directly useful thinker ability. It shouldn't be too onerous, as you'll be using your house elf abilities. I do have to wonder why they're called house elves, as they look more like traditional goblins or hobgoblins rather than brownies or elves. Anyway, you were wondering about where to build a hive, my power really hates the idea of Mars, so that's probably a good place for your main hive. Then find a cave in the mountains for your secondary nest."
"Right here, and we should get into the town in a couple of miles. According to the notes, the PRT office is above the Walgreens."
"That would be great, but I don't currently know where Mars is. Additionally, I'd prefer somewhere that we could evacuate our friends and family to without needing to worry about if they're going to suffocate or not."
Hanah laughs out loud, "Taylor, you can just look up at the right time of night and see it. Also, aren't you waiting on a large shipment of wood samples to come in? Once you have a wand you can make a habitat there easily."
"Don't forget that one's I've got one, everyone else will be getting one too."
Hannah skilfully pulls into a parking space outside the pharmacy and they both go up to inspect the office. Much to the mild consternation of the staff, though Lisa assures Taylor and Hannah that it's because they're disrupting their work rather than because anyone at this PRT branch is doing anything more than being lax on how long their lunch hours are taking.
