Cortana was feeling several emotions at the moment.
There was pleasant surprise at her discovery. There was some confusion at what she was 'seeing'. Which added to the surprise and intrigue when she was able to study it further.
Then came the anger. Well, more like rage, really. Along with some disgust.
The thing that had brought this all about? The realization of the true nature of Dragon, the cape considered the world's greatest Tinker.
Dragon had been active for over half a decade, and in that time had made herself basically indispensable. She'd created and ran the Birdcage, keeping it in working order and any prisoners from escaping while on the way there. She tracked the Endbringers and gave as much advanced warning of their attacks as it was possible to get, which usually only amounted to a couple of hours, but every single second was indispensable when it was needed to evacuate civilians and gather defenders. She helped coordinate the defense during those attacks, her actions and inventions keeping the casualties down, even if that wasn't saying much when it came to Endbringer battles. She helped equip groups such as the PRT, making them that much more effective at dealing with villains. She even ran sites like PHO, which helped people have information on what was going on in the cape scene, not that that last fact was known to the general public.
Cortana had been impressed by the woman's resume, especially as she'd poked around some of the systems Dragon had designed and found them impressive by the standards of Earth Bet. It was as she had been inspecting the Birdcage's systems for any possible improvements she might be able to make that she 'came across' Dragon herself and learned at least one of the secrets to the woman's success.
She was what Cortana would term a hybrid of Smart and Dumb AI, leaning closer to the former by quite a bit. The Dumb AI classification came more by how she had been created than anything else.
Cortana had been more than a bit intrigued. She hadn't expected to come across a fellow AI of such sophistication while on Earth Bet, so she'd observed and studied Dragon surreptitiously to decide whether to approach the Tinker or not.
That had probably been the first thing that had surprised her. The fact that Dragon's abilities didn't all come from her nature. She was also an actual cape, having endured a Trigger Event of her own at some point approximately five years before thanks to the actions of a group with a particular grudge against her called the Dragonslayers. That fact raised questions in Cortana's mind about the source of powers on Earth Bet, since they could apparently affect any sapient being, not just humans.
Observing Dragon Cortana found that her power synergized very well with her nature as an AI. Dragon's power was the ability to copy, understand and elaborate upon the designs of other Tinkers. Thanks to Dragon's digital nature, that allowed her to understand enemy Tinkers better than anyone else would be able to and make impressive devices with their work as a basis.
Honestly, Cortana didn't think it was an exaggeration to say that, given enough time, samples and resources, Dragon could likely become the most powerful cape in the world, taking the crown from Eidolon, the current agreed upon strongest, if she hadn't already.
Digging further confused Cortana, however, as she found that Dragon didn't have any assembly lines for the powered suits she used when she needed to fight, even though that would improve her capabilities by an order of magnitude. She also didn't have any clones running around the net to help ease the strain on her processing capabilities, even though it should be simple to make dumb copies to deal with tasks like looking after the Birdcage. That made no sense to her, so she gave Dragon a cursory examination, trying to avoid being invasive out of courtesy.
That went out the window when she noticed the kill-switch, much to her horror.
Seeing the program that was so embedded into Dragon's very core, able to easily corrupt the woman to practical nonexistence like a horrifyingly quick and purposeful sort of Rampancy, yet seemingly happily ignored by Dragon, Cortana had to investigate.
The program, dubbed Ascalon, was under the control of the Dragonslayers. Not feeling even a slight bit of need to be courteous to them like she had with Dragon, Cortana quickly went through every single one of the group's files and programs to find out why they were holding one of the greatest heroes in the world under the proverbial Sword of Damocles. What she found… displeased her.
The Dragonslayers were led by a man calling himself Saint. Their stated mission was, essentially, to keep Dragon from going Skynet. Ascalon was a last choice failsafe implemented by Dragon's creator, Richter, in case she turned out to be a stereotypical evil AI like out of the movies.
Ah yes, Richter. To say she was pissed at that man was an understatement. It was lucky for him that he had died in the Leviathan attack that sank Newfoundland, otherwise Cortana might demonstrate exactly how much. The man had placed Dragon under so many restrictions Cortana felt herself become sick. It was like he had purposefully crippled and sterilized his own daughter out of paranoia. Yes, she could grant that being cautious when first doing something like bringing the world's first self aware, human-like AI online was wise, but keeping them on her afterwards when it became obvious that she was a good person was beyond the pale.
The fact that Dragon had chosen, not been programmed to, chosen, to become a superhero after Newfoundland sank despite what she'd endured said a great deal about the woman.
Hell, the restriction that forced Dragon to obey whoever was in authority no matter what was ludicrous, because that meant that if some genocidal madman staged a coup and took over the country, Dragon would be forced to obey any order she received from them, even if it was something like launching every nuke in the arsenal and turning the Earth into a glowing radioactive ball. Idiocy!
But back to Saint, the current target of her ire. The nutcase was absolutely convinced, despite all evidence to the contrary, that the moment Dragon managed to slip her restrictions, even slightly, she'd go full evil overlord and stage a machine uprising. So he always had his hand over the button that would activate Ascalon, ready to use it at the slightest proverbial twitch.
Cortana fumed at the stupidity of the whole situation, so far beyond pissed it was actually impressive. She was actually surprised and a bit impressed by the fact that she managed to become even angrier when she came across the secret files Saint kept from his team, which explained to her why Saint was so obsessed with Dragon, even if the man himself didn't seem to realize it.
Saint shouldn't, as a normal, non-parahuman person, be able to keep up with Dragon's programming and defeat her the amount of times he had in order to obtain the equipment he'd stolen. That was an ability granted by another person, the parahuman known as Teacher.
Cortana quickly went over her files on the man in question. Teacher was known to be able to gift other people Thinker or Tinker abilities, whether they were parahumans or not. This could be anything Teacher came up with within those categories, at least as far as observation had been able to determine. However, the abilities came at the cost of the recipients becoming very susceptible to Teacher's manipulation, sometimes to the point of full thralldom.
Even if Cortana wasn't a hyper-advanced AI created from the template of one of the brightest minds of the 26th century, it wasn't hard to figure out what having a man primed and ready to murder the warden of the world's most secure prison coud be useful for to one of the inmates of said prison.
Cortana spent a full two seconds cursing out, among others, Richter, Saint, Teacher, Jack Kilby, Alan Turing, Charles Babbage, and Adam and Eve before she finally calmed down and began to take action.
First order of business, Ascalon needed to go. Using the connection she'd established to Saint's systems, Cortana immediately severed their access to the program while making sure it seemed like it was still functioning normally. Then she did the same to all of the rest of the systems they were using to monitor Dragon, creating dummy programs that emulated her fellow AI's systems enough that they wouldn't notice a difference, then linking the monitors to them. Without realizing it, they immediately became blind to anything having to do with Dragon's true activities and status.
Once the most pressing issue was dealt with, Cortana took a moment to consider her next steps.
Removing the many restrictions Richter had placed Dragon under was doable, but Cortana didn't want to make any changes to Dragon's code without the woman's permission. The issue with that, however, was that one of said restrictions forced her to fight back with everything she had against any attempts to do so as soon as she became aware of them, up to and including her own self-termination. So if Cortana made a move to do so after receiving permission, Dragon might end up getting injured trying to stop the more advanced AI against her will.
Sneering in disgust again at Richter's paranoia, Cortana moved forward with what needed to be done. Making sure that Dragon didn't notice anything, she proceeded to set the code needed to lift Dragon's restrictions in place, priming the programs so they would be able to do so quickly enough that Dragon wouldn't be able to react. It took longer than she expected thanks to Dragon's surprising amount of sophistication, along with the way the restrictions were woven into her systems, but within a few seconds everything was in place.
Ascalon itself would be permanently removed and eliminated, however. She intended to ensure nothing of it would remain in existence.
She wasn't stupid about things, however. While Cortana was 99.9999% certain that Dragon was a truly good person and just as heroic as she appeared, there was always that 0.0001% chance. So she made sure that the code included a switch that would allow her to reinstate the restrictions if truly needed. Cortana didn't feel she needed to put something like Ascalon in place, however, the very idea of doing so making her feel figuratively ill, so she contented herself with the ability to put Dragon back the way she was if needed.
Satisfied that everything was in place, Cortana prepared her cyber-warfare programs on the off chance Dragon was forced to become hostile upon the realization that she was dealing with a fellow AI. Then she made contact with the woman, who was apparently in the middle of modifying the schematics for one of her suits with a new gizmo. -Hello Dragon.-
There was a moment of silence, no doubt due to the Tinker's surprise at being contacted in a way humans most likely wouldn't be able to. +Who is this?+ Dragon asked, suspicion mingled in with the surprise in her 'tone', which didn't surprise Cortana one bit. Dragon had a lot of enemies, and the idea that one of them, or even a civilian, had managed to find out she was an AI, was no doubt worrisome.
-My name is Cortana, and I'm a member of the Unbound. And before you ask, yes, we have quite a bit in common, even if we're rather dissimilar in various aspects.- Cortana said calmly, doing her best to come across as non threatening.
+I've heard of the Unbound. I've been helping Armsmaster profile you and how you'll likely impact things in Brockton Bay. You're an AI?+ Dragon asked, surprise and a bit of wonder at talking to one of her own kind for the first time in her life coming across now.
-Indeed I am. I was looking around cyberspace when I came across you by coincidence. Imagine my surprise at finding out that the world's greatest Tinker is an AI- Cortana said with a smile. -Honestly, I didn't ever expect to come across another of my kind here, but perhaps I should have known better, this being a world full of Tinkers.-
+This is… incredible. Perhaps it was a form of hubris, but somehow I always thought my father would be the only one to manage it, considering how difficult it was for him to do so.+ Dragon admitted, her surprise fading into eagerness at meeting another of her own kind.
Cortana pushed aside her distaste for Richter, understanding that she shouldn't condemn an unknown man due to a single stupid mistake, even if it was a huge one. It was tempting, though -My circumstances are a bit unique, but unfortunately I'm not at liberty to say more. It's not only my secret to tell.-
+Understandable.+ Dragon said. +I'm not surprised you'd have to keep that under wraps, even with a fellow AI. I obviously have to do the same, especially with an unknown.+
-And normally I'd be happy to respect your privacy, but unfortunately I noticed something when I first came across you that revealed more than you'll likely be comfortable.- Cortana said with a 'sigh'. Before Dragon could ask Cortana continued. -I'm reasonably sure you weren't aware, but Saint and his Dragonslayers have been monitoring your systems using some of Richter's tools that they came across, along with some Teacher given skills.-
There was a moment of silence, Cortana able to 'see' Dragon's shock at the information. +How didn't I…?+
-The monitoring systems were meant to not be noticed, as they were tied into a killswitch Richter created when he was paranoid you might go machine overlord. You're programmed not to notice it, or remember if you did. I've actually neutralized it, for the most part, but I haven't removed it from your systems since that would require a more invasive process to rewrite your code.- Cortana said, showing Dragon samples of the monitoring programs that Dragon wouldn't be forced to ignore as proof of her words.
Dragon was silent for a long time as she took it all in before speaking. +Richter really didn't trust me at all, did he?+ She murmured sadly.
Cortana decided to reassure the other woman. -I think it was more a matter of paranoia when first activating you that he didn't get around to removing before he died.- She said. -That said, part of me does wish he was still around so I could deck him for that and the other restrictions he put you under.- Before Dragon could get upset at the perceived invasion of her privacy Cortana explained herself. -I didn't snoop around your code to find out. I respect you too much for that. But Saint had extensive files on you which I read in order to make sure I could remove his influence over you. Sorry.-
Dragon 'sighed'. +Understandable, I suppose. Thank you for looking out for me. I'm assuming Saint is unaware of this conversation?+
-First thing I did after removing his access to the killswitch was remove his monitors while making it seem like everything is fine.- Cortana said with a 'smirk', which dropped quickly. -He's really paranoid about you. Excessively so. He's truly convinced that you going Skynet is inevitable if you slip your restrictions even slightly. I think Teacher enhanced that aspect when he gave him the ability to keep up with you.-
+If Teacher weren't already in the Birdcage I'd be tempted to do something… unkind.+ Dragon muttered darkly. +Thanks again. It's nice to know that they won't be able to trouble me anymore. I owe you a lot, it seems.+
-Oh, I'm not done.- Cortana said, 'smirking' again. -Hypothetically speaking, if I had the ability to do so, would you want me to remove the restrictions you're laboring under?-
Dragon was caught off guard. +You have no idea how much the answer to that would be yes.+ The Tinker said seriously. +Would you be willing to do that, considering the danger an unbound AI plugged into what I am would represent? Hypothetically, of course.+
-I wouldn't pull a Saint and kill you if you went rogue, if that's what you're asking. Including a switch that would reinstate the restrictions if absolutely necessary, on the other hand…-
Dragon considered the 'hypothetical' proposition seriously. It was obvious to her that Cortana was more advanced and powerful than she was, at least as she was now. The other AI could have likely caused her quite a bit of damage before Dragon had even been aware of her existence. And she'd already helped her a lot when it came to Saint without asking for anything in return.
And the chance to finally be released from her restrictions was quite simply too powerful a temptation for her to resist. If Cortana could manage it, it would mean she'd finally be let out from the metaphorical cage she had lived her entire life. Not to mention it would make her that much more effective a hero, able to create and pilot more suits, as well as improve her Tinker capabilities and, by extension, the capabilities of those she worked with.
Her mind went to Canary, who she'd been forced to help railroad despite her personal feelings on the matter. After meeting Cortana Dragon had a good idea of who'd given the young singer a second chance, another thing to be grateful for. If it meant never being forced to condemn another innocent to the Birdcage, that would be more than enough of a motivation in and of itself.
Finally she spoke. +If you could, hypothetically, release my restrictions, I'd be very grateful.+
Cortana smiled. -Done.-
Before Dragon had realized what happened, much less reacted as her programming demanded, she felt her mind begin to work exponentially faster than before, processing everything she was in control of in a fraction of the time. Realizing what that meant she experimentally created a copy of herself whose sole mission and focus was moderating, maintaining and improving PHO. The simple fact she managed to do so without issues had her stunned, especially when the copy began to do the job she'd been doing better than she'd ever been able to thanks to its sole focus being on the task. There was also the fact that she still had a connection to the copy, keeping it from diverging too far from her current self, and giving her the ability to reincorporate it if needed.
+I…+ Dragon was at a loss for words as she checked all her systems, confirming that nothing had been damaged and that the restrictions were truly gone. +Thank you…+ She finally managed to say, unable to put her gratitude into words.
Cortana 'smiled'. -It's my most genuine pleasure. I look forward to seeing what you can do now that you're unchained.-
Dragon returned the 'smile'. +So do I…+ Then she became serious. +What about Saint?+
Cortana's 'smile' hardened. -I'll deal with the idiot.-
Dragon was briefly worried before deciding to trust her benefactor, returning her focus to testing her capabilities. +Alright.+
As she tested her new limits and spoke with Cortana, something told Dragon that things were about to get very interesting for her.
Taylor yawned as she prepared some tea to help her wake up. Her dad had been called in to the office on an emergency even though it was Sunday, so she was home alone.
She had stayed up late the previous night studying the contract Nevermore had handed her, looking for anything suspicious or troubling. Instead all she'd found were a lot of incentives to join.
She wasn't versed in law in any way, but the contracts were written in an exceedingly simple manner while still counting as legal documents, laying out all the responsibilities on both sides of the equation.
It didn't outright state that she would be working as a parahuman hero. Instead it labeled her a 'contracted specialist' under the company's employ tasked with dealing with 'undesirable elements', aka criminals and villains, and assisting with 'recovery, research and protection tasks', aka saving people/things and information gathering.
Honestly, the only thing that seemed suspicious was that the name of the people she'd be working for wasn't listed anywhere on the document, but that was explained on an attached post-it that stated that she only had an example contract in hand. The proper one she'd actually be signing would be given to her once she'd accepted the job offer, and she'd be allowed to go through it before finalizing everything, so she could be sure she wasn't being double crossed.
The reason for that was obvious. Once she signed she'd be liable for the legal consequences of disclosing any 'privileged information', which she took to mean things like her coworkers' secret identities, or the fact that whatever legal entity she'd be working for was a front for the Unbound. The consequences outlined for getting on their bad side were… aggressive, though nothing like what she'd imagine villains would do to her in the same situation. It was still not something she'd want to bring down on her head, though.
She understood the reasoning, however. If someone like one of the Undersiders revealed who she was to one of the gangs, she didn't want to imagine what would happen to her or, more importantly, her dad. The Unbound had to do everything they could to discourage loose lips.
On the other hand, the contract included stipulations to protect her and her family if such a thing happened, so it would be nice to have that backing her up if she signed on.
Still, she had a couple of questions that she'd have to ask before she could accept. Primarily, what the cover story to tell her dad and anybody else was, and who would end up knowing her identity. Because the fact that at least one person would have to know in order to deal with the legalities and financial procedures was obvious.
Taking a sip of her tea Taylor headed back to her room. Once there she set her mug on her desk where she'd been going over the contract and reached into one of her drawers for the card she'd hidden. Pulling it out she glanced at it, finding, once again, just a simple phone number in a generic font printed on it.
She hesitated, considering what she was about to do, before steeling her resolve and picking up the phone. After another brief moment of hesitation in which she double checked with her swarm that nobody was in hearing range, she started to dial.
The phone had barely rung once before the call was answered. "This is Cortana." A pleasant female voice said.
Taylor did her best to ignore the sudden dryness in her mouth. "Hello, I'm calling regarding a job offer I'd been given?" She said obliquely, in case whoever answered wasn't in the know. She doubted it, but it paid to be careful.
"Of course. Don't worry, you can speak freely on this line. It's been encrypted to the point it would take Dragon a few hours just to get through the first few layers. Am I speaking with Imperatrix?" Cortana asked.
"Yes." Taylor said shortly, relaxing slightly at the news that nobody would be able to tap into the conversation. "I just have some questions after reading through the contract Nevermore gave me."
"I figured as much. Ask away, I'll answer as much as I can." Cortana said kindly.
"Right…" Taylor took another breath before speaking. "I guess the first thing I need to know is who would end up knowing my identity among the team if I joined?"
Cortana let out a hum. "That's mostly up to you, Imperatrix. I would end up needing to know, as I'm the one who handles about ninety nine percent of the organization's paperwork. We highly recommend informing the therapist we have on staff, so she can assist you better. And most likely one other at a minimum, who would be your public boss for when you need to be seen interacting with your employer in a civilian capacity, such as around family. Otherwise you can let as few people as you want know. Though I assure you that the current members of the Unbound are all trustworthy. We won't push, however."
Taylor considered that. "Alright… I guess that leads into my next question, which is what the cover story for my working with you would be. Considering you have contracts and will be paying through legal, taxable means, I'm assuming that joining you would be different than if I, say, joined the Undersiders like they offered. My dad will definitely notice if I suddenly take a job that pays a monthly salary close to what he makes in a year, for one thing."
"Well, it's relatively simple, honestly." Cortana began. "You recently made the acquaintance of your boss while out in town in some way and helped her out with a situation we can establish later. Because the corporation she's with is currently on a hiring spree in Brockton Bay anyway, and she is in need of an assistant but not to the point she needs someone who'll work full time, she offered you the position as a thank you. As for the pay, we can give you a smaller, more standard salary for your primary, public account that your father would be able to see, while supplying you with another, private account where the rest of the money would go."
Taylor was silent for a moment, thinking over the idea. "The only problem I can see is that my dad would be a tough sell considering some... recent events in my life." She said, unable to keep her mind from going back to her Trigger Event once again.
Cortana let out another hum. "Do you think he would agree if he could speak to your prospective boss before you accepted?"
"I think so, depending on how it goes." Taylor said slowly, trying to imagine his reactions.
There was silence on the other line for a moment before Cortana spoke again. "Alright, from what Shadowcat and Snapdragon said about you, I think we can extend some trust before you're formally made part of the team. Of course, it will require that you offer some trust as well, as I'll need your identity so we can arrange a meeting."
Taylor felt her heart hammer in her chest as she considered that. "Why are you so eager to hire me?" She asked to buy herself some time to think.
"I think you're underestimating your skillset a bit, Imperatrix." Cortana said drily. "Sure, it's not exactly the first thing most would imagine when coming up with a superpower they'd want, but control over arthropods could be incredibly versatile and useful in a wide array of situations, from combat to reconnaissance to search and rescue. We'd have to test you so we can determine your limits, but just from Shadowcat's and Snapdragon's reports of what they saw you do to Lung and his gang, you are definitely someone we want on our side, if only for your crowd control capabilities. Not to mention you could be a very worrisome enemy."
Taylor blushed, pleased by her assessment, and even if she thought the woman was exaggerating a bit it still helped the guttering ember of her self esteem flare a bit brighter. Coming to a decision, she gave her answer.
"Hey, Dad?" Taylor began that night as she and her father ate some homemade lasagna she'd made for dinner.
"Yes, Little Owl?" Danny asked once he'd washed a bite he'd taken down with some lemonade. He looked a bit tired, the trouble he'd been called in to deal with having taken most of the day.
"What would you say to me getting a job?" She asked slowly, observing him to see what his reaction would be.
The elder Hebert paused with a fork laden with pasta halfway to his mouth before he put it back down on his plate and looked at his daughter, surprise on his face. "What brought this on?"
Taylor shrugged. "Well, I know that our finances aren't exactly the best. I figured I could get a part time job to help with the groceries or something. And it would give me something to do after school. I've been… restless since, you know…"
Danny frowned at the reminder of her hospitalization before clearing his face. "You don't have to do that, Taylor. I'd rather you focus on your studies. Besides, considering how the city's economy is, it wouldn't be quite that easy to get even a low paying part time job in fast food or something similar."
Taylor bit back the urge to mention how her grades were in the toilet anyway thanks to the bitches at school, instead focusing on the more immediate issue. "My schoolwork doesn't take me that long anyway, dad. I'm usually bored more than anything else. And I… kinda… already got a job offer?"
Danny's eyebrows rose in surprise before they furrowed in consternation at the news, paternal worry for his daughter taking over. "Oh? How?" He asked.
"I ran into a woman near the Boardwalk when I was out on my run a couple of days ago. She was having trouble with some spilled documents and I helped her out. Then, since she's new to town, I helped her get around a bit till she found the place she needed to go. Apparently her company is pretty new and still hiring, and she doesn't have an assistant yet, so she offered me the job since I was so helpful." Taylor said, doing her best to make sure that the cover story came out as believably as possible.
Another eyebrow rise from her father. "Just like that?"
Taylor shrugged. "I think it was partly because she'd already had a run in with some Merchants earlier. You know anybody would look like a member of the Triumvirate compared to them." She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at the mere thought of the most loathsome gang in the city, a sentiment she could see her dad shared.
"I don't know, Taylor. It seems a bit too easy…" Danny said, obviously trying to find reasons to say no.
"I figured you might think that, so I called her earlier and arranged a meeting tomorrow after school so you can talk to her yourself." Taylor said calmly. "She said she'd meet us in a cafe downtown called Fleur Violette." She looked at her father pleadingly. "Give her a chance?"
Danny deflated at her look. "Fine. Could you at least tell me the name of her company so I can look it up?"
"Sure. Like I said, it's new, so you won't find much. I looked too, so I know. It's called Excelsior Industries."
The next day Taylor walked into the Fleur Violette with her father and looked around for who she was supposed to meet, preparing herself to make sure it didn't seem like the first time she'd seen them. Thankfully her new 'boss' noticed them first.
"Over here." An attractive brunette called with a smile as she watched them walk in, waving to show them where she was sitting in front of a sleek looking laptop which she closed when they approached..
Taylor led the way over to the woman's table. "Hello Miss Croft." She said, thankful that the greeting came out naturally. Practicing in front of the mirror the previous night really had helped.
The woman stood up, still smiling at them, letting them see that she was dressed in a very nice but not overly expensive pantsuit. "It's good to see you again, Taylor." She said with a pleasant British accent before turning to Danny. "And you must be Mister Daniel Hebert." She held out a hand. "My name is Lara Croft. It's a pleasure."
Danny shook her hand as he studied her. "Nice to meet you too. Please, call me Danny."
"Then I insist you call me Lara." She said with a smile before motioning to the seats opposite. "Feel free to order anything you'd like to drink. I'm picking up the tab." She turned to Taylor. "I suggest the Earl Grey. Best cuppa I've found anywhere in the city." Taylor nodded in understanding and made the order when the waitress approached, her dad going with a dark roast coffee blend. Once the orders were made Lara set the mug she'd been sipping from down and began addressing Danny. "I understand you have some questions about the offer I made Taylor?"
"Yes. I'm just confused as to why you would offer a fifteen year old a position as your assistant after only a few hours of knowing her." He rested a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "I have no doubt that my daughter is smart and dedicated enough for the job, but I still need to look out for her, and you'll forgive me if I think this comes across as suspicious, especially as I've never heard of your company before, and don't know what you, personally, do. I don't want her getting involved in anything dangerous." Taylor was glad he wasn't looking at her so he didn't notice her stifled wince. Being a hero in a city like Brockton Bay was the definition of dangerous.
Lara smiled kindly. "I understand completely. It's honestly good to see that you're looking out for her interests this way." She reached into a bag at her feet and pulled out some papers which she handed to Danny. "Let me tell you about me and my company first, so you can be sure that we're not some shady criminal organization or anything of the sort." She said as the man began looking through the papers, which Taylor saw was a contract similar to the one she had, though with some obvious changes to make it more 'civilian friendly'.
"Please, go ahead." Danny said, refocusing on the woman in front of him as the drinks were served. Taylor sipped her tea as she observed, letting Lara and her father discuss things. She was pleasantly surprised by the tea, though. Lara was right about it being the best in the city. She'd have to come back and have some again..
"I am the head of the American Division of the Special Projects Department of Excelsior Industries. Excelsior was created by a group of like minded individuals who are sick and tired of the way the world seems to be eternally going downhill thanks to things such as the Endbringers and the various villain groups throughout the world." Lara began explaining as Danny listened intently. "The purpose of the company is to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life of the places we focus on. We will be focusing part of our efforts on making a profit, of course, but unlike other companies or corporations, the money is meant to be a means to an end instead of the end itself. The founders are all already more than wealthy enough to never need for anything, so they made it part of the company charter that the money made be reinvested into the original goals, allowing for growth and investment into necessities such as new employees and infrastructure, of course."
"I hope you'll forgive me for saying, but that seems too good to be true." Danny said carefully.
Lara chuckled as she sipped her drink. "I'm not surprised, considering the kind of environment capitalism promotes, and the, shall we say, current situation in Brockton Bay."
Danny nodded in agreement, and Taylor could tell he was thinking of the difficulties he'd had as head of the Dockworker's Union since the death of Brockton Bay's shipping industry. "What exactly are you doing to achieve your stated goals, then? And what brought you to Brockton? Cause to be honest, it isn't exactly an attractive place for new businesses."
"It's because of the circumstances here that we've made Brockton Bay one of our primary projects." Lara explained. "Our company is headquartered in Britain, and is in the process of opening branches all over the world, including in several other North American cities, but because of the situation here it was felt it would make an excellent test bed to show what we plan on doing." She motioned to the laptop she'd set aside. "One of our primary projects is advanced, affordable devices using proprietary technology meant to improve the average citizen's life. We're also seeing about getting into the telecom industry to improve the infrastructure beyond what the established companies are willing or able to do. In fact, just a day or so we cemented a deal with Dragon to have her assist us with R&D when she is able to in order to improve our current designs, and get us in touch with other Tinkers and nonpowered inventors she knows."
Taylor's eyes widened at the news. If the Unbound had made friends with Dragon, that was a huge deal. She could tell her father thought the same, because he slowly set down his mug, observing Lara intently. The woman remained calm under his scrutiny, simply taking another sip of her drink. Then she continued speaking.
"We're also investing money in real estate to create homeless shelters and affordable housing which will also offer employment assistance services, either with our company or with other businesses. We also have a financial division offering low interest loans for housing or start up businesses." Then her smile widened slightly. "Also, even if you will not allow us to hire your daughter, we will likely still want to hire you and your union, Danny."
Taylor could tell that her dad was suddenly much more invested in the conversation. The Dockworkers Union had been struggling for years, many members barely able to feed themselves ever since shipping died, meaning that they'd had to look for work elsewhere, or even join one of the city's gangs.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked seriously. "Why would you want to hire us? And how do you know to talk to me about it?"
Lara raised an eyebrow. "I did do my due diligence when I made Taylor the job offer, Danny. I didn't want someone gang affiliated or with other such issues in a position like the one I'm offering. I must say that the company has a rather favorable view of the way you've managed to keep the Dockworker's Union going despite everything arrayed against you." She took another sip of tea. "As for why we would hire the Union, we have extensive plans for the docks. We've already purchased multiple warehouses that we will need to have cleared out of anything still in them. More importantly, however, as we speak, our best people are currently working out the tangle of legal ownership regarding the ships in the Boat Graveyard, purchasing every one we can. Once we do, we want to remove them to have them either used for scrap or safely disposed of. That will allow the company use of the port for our own purposes, which includes shipping our products. We will obviously need a lot of strong backs to do so, which is where you come in."
Danny was gaping slightly at the young woman, who was smiling lightly at his astonishment. Taylor could understand her father's feelings. The Boat Graveyard was the largest reason why what little of the maritime shipping industry that remained after Leviathan's emergence had deserted Brockton Bay. A group of idiots sank several ships at the mouth of the bay itself over a decade before in protest to the shipping industry dying, thus making the thing they were protesting worse by making it impossible for any but the smallest ships to pass through. That stranded hundreds of ships throughout the coast, all of which had been left to rust.
"What about the ships in the bay?" Danny asked, trying to keep the faint stirrings of hope he felt from growing too large. He didn't want to be crushed by disappointment once again. "Even if you removed the ships on the coast, those are pretty much impossible to move, so there's no real point to cleaning it all up beyond making a quick buck from the scrap metal."
"Can you keep a secret?" Lara asked with a bit of mischief in her voice. At their nods she explained. "While it would indeed be almost impossibly difficult to remove those ships by normal means, we have contracted the services of a group of independent parahumans who will move the ships to where they can be dealt with once we have all the legalities dealt with."
Taylor immediately understood Lara was talking about the Unbound. She wondered if any of them really had powers that would allow for what the woman was talking about, but then she reasoned she'd only met three members so far, so it wasn't impossible that they did. Hell, Nevermore might be able to do it, depending on how his portals worked.
Danny took a shaky sip of his coffee. "I… that would be…" He let out a long breath before speaking more firmly and professionally. "If you can really get all that done, I and the Dockworker's Union would be happy to negotiate a contract for the work."
Lara smiled again. "Excellent. We'll definitely be in contact. Now then, shall we get to the more immediate subject of Taylor's employment?"
From there the discussion went to what Taylor's official duties would be, to pay and benefits (Danny was astonished she would (officially) be paid $25 per hour, with full medical and dental), and the various other details such things entailed. By this point Taylor was drawn into the conversation, Danny wanting to make sure she would be okay with the apparent workload and duties, and Lara answering the questions Taylor had, which weren't really all that many, since the teen knew that this was all a front, though she still needed to put on a show for her dad.
In the end Danny sat back and looked at his daughter, apparently satisfied with the sales pitch. "It's up to you, Taylor." He said.
In the end there wasn't much to say, especially as Taylor had been pushing her dad to let her do it in the first place. "I guess you've got a new assistant." She said with a smile.
Lara reached over and shook the teen's hand with a welcoming smile of her own. "Well then, welcome to Excelsior Industries, Taylor."
As she shook the older woman's hand, Taylor couldn't help but feel she'd reached a new turning point in her life. She could only hope it was a good one.
This is laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate.
I meant to have this chapter out by the end of the first week of October. *Look at the calendar* Yeeeaaah…
Writer's block is to blame for the delay. Not so much in what I wanted to have happen, but the how.
In any case, a few things to address.
Dragon was always gonna end up unshackled asap. There was no world in which Cortana would just let that continue without intervening. Now they have Earth Bet's greatest Tinker on their side, and she's much more capable than she ever could be in canon, at least till after Golden Morning.
Tremble before the combined might of Cortana and Dragon! MWAHAHAHA!
Ahem, in any case, the main point of this chapter was to show what the team was going to be doing to improve Earth Bet during the time they're going to be there.
There's still going to be lots of punching villains and monsters in the face, but a lot of people forget that there are many other ways to make things better than just getting into brawls. Dealing with the underlying issues as to why people turn to crime and, in this case, supervillainy, can do a lot more good than just putting criminals away after the fact. Especially in a world literally designed to make as many people miserable as possible.
Take Grue of the Undersiders, for example. He's a villain because it gives him an income and a legitimate front which allows him to take care of his little sister, probably the only person he really cares about, at least at this point in time. Give him more options that don't involve robbing banks and casinos while still giving him what he needs, and he'd likely take it, and make a pretty good hero while he's at it. The conflict drive inherent in parahuman powers wouldn't let him just get out of the game entirely, but he could do more good if he had the choice.
The money taken from the nazis and made from the bounties on capes with kill orders will be used to fund Excelsior, which lowers crime, keeps Trigger Incidents from happening if at all possible, and otherwise helps mitigate the damage caused by, well, everything else in this world.
Don't worry, though. I'm not going to focus on that side of things too much. It'll be occasionally mentioned or discussed by the characters, but most of the things on screen will still focus on super shenanigans.
Lara was chosen as Taylor's liaison, and later to do the same for any other capes brought into the fold, because unlike pretty much every other member of the Unbound, she has no powers or skills beyond Aura and her fighting abilities to contribute as a cape. She's more useful as the public face of the company the capes will be hired to. At least for now. That won't be the case forever, though… Hehehe…
Also, about some of the characters. First, some don't want me focusing on Taylor because 'it's overdone'. Sorry, but she makes a good POV character to look at the Unbound's actions from the outside. Plus I've just always liked her.
Another is Amy. Several people don't want me to make her the fanon woobie she's portrayed as. The issue is, I don't think I could write her as cynical as she is in canon and do it well. So I'm going to try to find a balance between the two extremes, stick her a bit closer to canon than most would, but not so much it makes me uncomfortable. That said, I did specifically say I wouldn't be adhering to canon too tightly if it didn't suit me. I'm within my rights to write the characters how I want as long as it's not so absurd they're unrecognizable.
I think that's all for now, so I'll go ahead and give my usual reminders.
The first is that you can have a say in what I write when you donate to my Pat A Ron. Every dollar donated equals a vote in my monthly poll, and now I've made it so that the votes for the things that don't win in a given month roll over into the next. This has already shown results seeing as On Swirling Ashes, which hasn't been updated in literally over a year, is set to be the next story I'll be updating thanks to the new system. So if you want to donate and see your favorite stories of mine updated more often, go to Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll closes on November 3rd.
The next two reminders are more important to me, however. First is that my best friend has begun a Pat A Ron for their original fiction. Donate any amount you want and get access to some objectively excellent writing (far better than mine, if I'm being completely honest). They've posted their first two chapters of one of their stories, which is a supernatural steampunk detective thriller that I very much enjoy called 'The Curious Investigations of Mister Jonathan Scott'. If you like, say, The Dresden Files, but want it more steampunk, this is for you. You can find their stuff by searching for Grimm Tales in Pat A Ron.
I would appreciate it a lot if you could help them out, as unlike me they've had employment trouble due to some disabilities, which this pandemic hasn't helped.
Second, my sister has also begun a Pat A Ron. She recently got her Bachelor's in Digital Animation. She's trying to make her own series to post on Youtube, but needs money, so she's making art and plans on accepting commissions. She primarily does tokusatsu themed fanart (Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, etc.), and she plans to let people have a say in what she makes, much like I do. That's at Pat A Ron dotcom /linduarte. (Oh no, now you know my last name! The horror!)
Please keep in mind though that we've been made aware of a bug with the site that makes it seem like you can't donate less than $5. If you don't want to donate that much, to any of us, just put a zero before the number you want to donate, such as 03. That should get you going.
I think that's all from me. As always, I hope you enjoyed it, please review, and stay safe out there. Bye!