Chapter Seven

"Why…?"

Cherie sat in a numbed shock. She stared into my eyes, a budding desperation to understand. To be given a reason for what had occurred before her.

"I told you there would be consequences. There was nothing we could do about it." That wasn't entirely true, but I wasn't going to be discovered early on. I didn't have the reputation to keep the Protectorate from outright attacking me yet.

We were stationed in one of Poughkeepsie's apartment buildings. Not nearly as pleasant as the last place, but that made the process easier to hide.

The 6th Agent stood in the corner of the room, its sound horn nearly brushing the ceiling. I waved it away, knowing its skill wasn't needed anymore.

"This was the only way to remove memories without obvious long term effects. And it's not like they can remember the process anyway."

The girl's grip on the chair tightened, "But- but…"

"Unpleasant, eh? Did the front row seat give you a new appreciation for empathy?" And here I thought she was the crueler between the two of us. Not that I could blame her. The process was hard to contain. Leaking emotions tended to lash out.

My partner tried to scoff, but it came closer to denial than it should've. "Of course not- I could've killed them in a heartbeat. But that..."

She received a poignant look for her lackluster reply.

There was a brief tranquility as neither of us spoke. The room was dim, only a set amount of light allowed through the black curtains.

Chest rising and falling—Cherie prepared herself for her next question.

"Okay, I'll say it. What was the deal with the [Degrad-" Cherie's hand shot up to her mouth as the string of information left her lips.

A chill went down my spine at the foreign communication.

"What the fuck was that!" The girl panicked, jumping out of her seat.

"Hm." I ran my hand through my hair. "I think that's a side effect of witnessing and gaining some comprehension of my Agent in action. Kind of like a memetic hazard."

I needed to confirm something. "The process you were about to say was the simulation and compression of perceived time in order to- huh. I'm not affected at all."

As it turned out, I didn't know everything there was to my power. Somewhat troubling, but that only elevated my reason to go to NY City.

"Why do you even want to kill the Nine. You'd fit right in with them, honestly." Composing herself, Cherie adjusted her clothes.

"You'd think." Aside from that, I only gave her a sardonic smile to work with.

And as usual, my partner did not disappoint. "You were one of them! The whole 'Pit' nonsense with the Slaughterhouse Nine; you were the rumored member who suddenly disappeared."

"Ding ding—and the award for guessing my backstory goes to Cherie!" I clapped my hands.

"Then why do you want to kill them? Did they murder your family or something?" She scratched her head, unable to ascertain my motive.

My smile slowly slipped off my face. "That so happens to be personal."

I slapped my hands together, this time to signify the end of the conversation. "Anyway, get ready to leave. If we're quick about it, we should be able to make it to New York before dinner."

Cherie mumbled some complaints under her breath, but otherwise complied.

— — —

We entered the department store covered in snow and water. I could feel my soggy clothes stick to my skin. Worst of all were my drenched socks sticking to my already soaked shoes.

The designated Master wasn't much better, with damp hair catching in her eyes and thin blouse doing little to hide what was beneath.

"I thought you said you had 'everything' in that backpack of yours!" Cherie could barely raise her voice over her own shivering.

Rolling my eyes, I removed the aforementioned pack from my shoulders. "How was I supposed to know it would snow?"

I tossed a thick towel at the ungrateful girl as I dried my hair off with my own.

"It's the east coast in the middle of January, how could you not?"

An irritated breath left my lips as I dug around the bag for one of my other wallets. "Here, you take half of this and buy what you need. Clothes, an umbrella, whatever. I'm going to look for some appropriate clothes for this climate…"

Truly a miracle that we got to the city in the first place. I was worried we'd have to switch to the snow tires. Something that neither of us knew how to do.

"Excuse me, is there something I could help you with?" A lady, one of the workers, approached me in my disheveled glory. Must've looked better than I thought if she was willing to offer help.

"Yeah, could you point me to the men's clothing? To, y'know." I glanced down and left it at that—putting on the best embarrassed grin I could.

My act paid off as the worker simply laughed. "It's right over this way, if you could follow me."

For a moment I thought that would be the end of it. Apparently, that was too good to be true. "So… was that your girlfriend? I'm not one to pry, but that was really something."

Why she was she bringing it up after claiming to not pry, I would never know. It a fairly innocent question, so I took no real offense.

"No, we're not in a relationship, just friends." My reply was short and concise. There was no way she could misinterpret it.

"Just friends. Right…" The lady shook her head in the 'what can you do' fashion. "New to the east coast? Touring with a local perhaps?"

The small talk was a little jarring, but it'd be rude to ignore her now. "Yeah. We've been driving around the state for a couple days. Stopping when necessary and staying where it's nice."

"Aww, a road trip? How romantic! Traveling from sight to sight, alone with only the comfort of your significant other- have you visited Niagara Falls yet?" We passed a section of the store that seemed familiar.

But more importantly, "Niagara Falls is in New York?"

The employee blinked, nearly double taking at my question. "Uh, yeah. Did you not already-"

"Wait." I raised my hand, pointing to one of the support pillars. "This is the second time we've passed that."

Peaking over my shoulder, I found what I was looking for right behind me. "Thank you for the help, but I can go the rest of the way."

"Ah, hold on-" I disregarded the woman and sped walked to the clothing section.

— — —

Picking out enough to last me a week without repeats, I did my best to keep the pants and coats in my arms.

When I found Cherie, she was having far more trouble keeping hold of her items. She also had far more than me.

"If you're going to buy that much, shouldn't you have grabbed a bag first?" Chastising the girl, I showed no thought towards the hypocrisy of my words.

"Shut up." My partner's comeback was amazing as usual.

After purchasing the clothing, I requested if we could use the changing room. Thankfully, the cashier said yes.

Several minutes later and we were back outside, now in suitable wear for the cold. I had put on black slacks, a thick short coat, and snow boots. None of these meshed well with my red t-shirt, but it was comfortable.

Cherie had changed into a pair of jeans, stylish winter boots, and a light blue winter coat that ended just above her knees.

Both of us were carrying large bags with the store brand plastered on top of them. 'Seams' it read.

I led us to a more secluded area behind a couple buildings. Shoving all the clothes into my backpack didn't need any unwanted watchers.

"What now? Are we going on another wild goose chase for this illusive villain of yours?" The girl watched with muted curiosity as I filled the bag with far more than it could realistically hold.

"Yes and no. We are looking for a villain—group of villains I should say—who have caught my attention. Knowing why Ravager is here would be nice, but finding her is no longer a priority."

Shouldering the backpack, I stuck my hands in my new coat pockets. It was nice and warm. "Like before, we cannot use our powers blatantly, if only because this city is far more populated. You do recall what happened earlier today, yes?"

Turning a few shades paler, my partner responded with a curt nod.

"This time, we're looking for potentially volatile parahumans. They are called the Travelers. To find them, just search for the usual parahuman indicators, along with sudden bouts of aggression, frustration, hopelessness, and hunger." I paused, allowing Cherie to give her input.

"If you don't mind explaining," Earning a smirk and raised eyebrow for an answer, Cherie continued. "Is this a plan B for your 'kill the Nine' goal? And why the Travelers?"

Looking up at the sky, I noted how dreary it was. Completely opposite to how I felt at the moment.

"In a sense, it is another plan. They could help me with defeating the Nine. However, there are other eccentricities specific to their group that interest me."

"For example, have you ever seen a Simurgh bomb up close?"