It was a stark reminder of how different Boston was to Brockton Bay, Taylor mused, that she was able to 'patrol' for so long without spotting any ongoing crimes.
She wasn't staying in clear sight for her patrol, instead trying to stick to rooftops, slipping from shadow to shadow and teleporting (using her phasing trick) being patches of darkness when she was sure nobody could see her.
A 'teleport when unobserved' or 'teleport between shadows' type power was hardly outside the bounds of possibility, and would help create distance between her, the phasing Ward, her, the Butcher, and her, the new independent hero.
As such it was best to get into good habits about power usage in costume.
Which seemed to be about all tonight was going to be good for.
Aside from establishing the powerset of her new identity.
Before going out they had only determined the idea of using the cloak to hide her using phasing (or her Brute packages in the worst case) to avoid injury, but with the ache from Reynards exercise regimen still acting up she had been unable to bring herself to go through the process of jumping from one roof to another.
Getting up there hadn't been too hard, what with fire escapes a health and safety requirement, but her leg had twitched at the thought of attempting the jump, threatening the most ignominious death of a Butcher since one had been accidentally killed by a completely new Cape.
("Hey!")
Instead, she'd used the phasing trick with Detonators power to cross the gap.
Movement from the corner of her eye had revealed that somebody had seen her on the second roof without crossing the intervening space, and so her new personas teleportation power was established.
Whatever she was going to be named.
Each Butcher (with the possible exception of VII, she was getting good at ignoring them) had proposed at least one name, only to get shot down each time.
Including her ideas.
Apparently coming up with a name was the hardest part of being a hero, who knew?
In any case, she had spent enough time patrolling without success (how had her first outing seen her run into Quarrel, second the drug dealer and Skull, her times with the failed costumes crimes in progress when she could go a night without anything happening now? Even in the three days until she found Purity there had been crimes) that she needed to think about returning to the PRT building.
"And sneaking in."
Sorry?
"They are going to be suspicious of you only getting in now, especially after complaining about lack of sleep. You need to sneak in, and attempt to convince them they just missed you."
You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?
"People learn better from experiencing making a mistake than merely having it pointed out."
"And we were distracted."
What?
"There seem to be three levels to our consciousness now. Fully active, where we can talk with you, fully suppressed, when we're trapped in the darkness, and midway."
"The cantina."
Taylor decided to ignore the name one predecessor had given. Midway?
"We withdraw from consciousness, so we can no longer communicate directly with you, but can still talk with each other."
"I see it as a mental construct where we pick which 'table' of Butchers to sit and talk with."
Meaning the Butchers could start plotting against her.
That might not be their intention, or at least not yet, given how… cooperative they were being, for the most part, but that possibility was now there.
A thought crossed her mind.
Does this come from my power, or the original?
There was a pause.
"I think the original, why?"
The next Butcher might not be overwhelmed.
If this… cantina… survived, further Butchers did not need to go mad.
Meaning a villainous Butcher would be that much more dangerous.
She… was going to have to ensure it was a hero that finally killed her, wasn't she?
Not that she would have wanted to be stuck in a villains head in any case-
Since her run-in with Quarrel there was no choice but to make sure she died at the hands of a hero.
There was no way to avoid the realisation any longer.
" ! She's hyperventilating. Calm down! Get to your room and get some sleep. Things will look better in the morning."
{}
When director Armstrong had told Spotlight, the Ward who had agreed to transfer to Brockton Bay to test her powers synergy with Shadowmancer, to contact him regularly, but particularly when she had a problem he could help with, he hadn't expected a call so soon.
And especially not after his hours had technically ended.
"Sorry, did you just say that the PRT ENE office doesn't have the required therapists for its Wards?"
She nodded.
"And with how badly Shadowmancers taking her Second Trigger, she desperately needs one."
Armstrong had lost full Protectorate members to lack of proper therapy, imagining a Ward without it then having a Second Trigger…
"Apparently Piggott has been making weekly requests for therapists to transfer-"
"We thought she was exaggerating! Since she was put in charge of the office Piggott has been demanding more troopers, more therapists, more everything, as though the office wasn't set up properly in the first place!"
"Why didn't anyone check?"
"It was newly founded, there wasn't any time for any kind of attrition, plus with Ellisburg…"
"What about Ellisburg?"
Armstrong sighed heavily.
"Don't do anything to let her know I told you, understand? Emily is one of two survivors from the assault on Ellisburg. For surviving without any suspicion - don't expect any details on what I mean by that, it isn't anything you need to know - but too injured to continue serving on the frontlines, she was rewarded with the position of director. Those Capes sent to reinforce the PRT retreated, and without them the troopers couldn't win."
"Is that why she has such a big thing about Capes not doing their duty?"
"Probably. But those calls for reinforcement? We thought she was preparing for another Ellisburg, not that she was undermanned."
"The departments just short the therapists we should have, there isn't anything about troopers-"
"If she was right about the therapists we can no longer assume she was exaggerating her other problems. We need to run a proper audit of the ENE."
"If there's a procedure to confirm whether or not she has everything she should, why haven't you done so already?"
"Because we already have too much paperwork."
Paperwork which would have to be sent up the chain to the chief director.
{}
Taylor did her best to ensure there was no chance of anyone observing her as she slipped into the PRT building by the Wards 'kitchen'.
This way, if she was caught, she could try claiming that she was after a midnight snack.
Her bag, which she still had thanks to visiting Ana after school, wouldn't exactly help sell the lie, but it was her best hope if she should run into someone.
It wasn't as though she could slip through the walls all the way to her room, it wasn't exactly possible to breathe while phasing after all, and Detonators teleportation remained line of sight.
Regardless, the kitchen barely lived up to the name, the building having a cafeteria for proper meals after all, and likely existed for the PRT tours through the building.
Maybe teaching Wards to be more independent.
But in any case, it was the closest room she could use as an excuse (other than sleepwalking through walls, which they would likely find a bit suspicious) to the outer walls.
Standing in the room, and satisfied that there was nobody else there to spot her sudden appearance, Taylor prepared to return to her room.
"You should grab some snacks first."
"Sorry?"
"To help sell the story, and for the next episodes of the soaps."
"It's too late, I'm not about to watch another episode of 'Bold and-'"
"Who are you talking to?"
Taylor froze, turning back towards the door.
Roulette, Dez, was standing in the doorway.
"Those pyjamas look good on her."
"Hey, she's a teenager!"
"So are we right now. Besides, we're villains."
"Not at the amount, according to your own argument."
"Uh, nobody. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Same as you I suspect," the Ward answered with a light smile. "Early morning snack run. trying to make the most of the surprising generosity of some anonymous person."
The look Taylor received said a lot about Roulettes suspicions of who was responsible.
"I almost thought she was sneaking out as well."
"It would be a shame for someone to not be getting enough sleep because of doing something nice to make up for not being willing to join us as a proper Ward," Dez continued. "I would hope that anyone doing so would start taking their own health more seriously."
"R-right," Taylor managed. "Still, I've got my snacks, so I'd better head back to get at least some sleep tonight, so if you'll excuse me," and she shuffled past Dez, forgetting for a moment her powers let her use the wall just as well as the door, Roulettes smile as she watched making it clear she knew the bag didn't contain any snacks.
Even if she had the wrong reason why.
{}
Dez watched the 'new Ward', who she considered a friend even if Phase didn't, couldn't, reciprocate yet, confirm her suspicions about who had refilled the Wards snack supply.
They had been down to their last packet of popcorn (a vital supply for each Ward contingent) when it was her turn to restock, only for her to discover there wasn't enough room for her replacement bags when she got back.
Given that neither she or Hunch had been able to predict such a thing happening, and the single 'anti-Thinker' Cape with access to the Ward common area, it hadn't been a hard case to solve.
Her smile turned to a frown as she considered what she'd heard as she came for her snacks (to keep her going at her homework).
There was definitely nobody around for Phase to be talking to.
Unless there were some kind of wall-dwelling things she'd encountered.
"I hope it isn't just loneliness getting to her…"
{}
Director Piggott had a decidedly unamused expression on her face as she stared down the, possibly treacherous, Ward transfer.
"I hope you have a good reason for contacting someone outside your chain of command."
"Yes," Spotlight answered defiantly.
"Well?"
"Director Armstrong needed to hear that we didn't have access to therapists here."
"Because nobody would transfer-"
"Because nobody could believe that the department didn't have access to any."
Piggott almost started chewing out the (impertinent) Ward for interrupting before her words registered.
"They didn't believe- why would I keep making the request (" demand the more honest voice of her subconscious corrected ") if I didn't need them?"
"From what director Armstrong told me, he didn't think a PRT department wouldn't have a director assigned before all the other personnel were assigned, but now that someone newly under your authority has brought it to his attention he is forwarding therapists here and organising an audit to determine if there is anything else the department has been shorted on."
This… this was enough to render Piggott speechless.
All these years she'd beaten her head against the wall of bureaucracy without making any progress, and now, thanks to transferring out one of the Capes she'd previously held onto as firmly as possible to make up for the lack of troopers and equipment, the problems were finally being solved.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you call for an audit yourself?"
"Not enough secretaries for the paperwork," Piggott answered on autopilot. "We could call for an audit that I didn't expect to solve anything or requisition the ammunition we needed to hold the line."
After all, she'd thought the other directors were biased against her for some reason (they are on the side of monsters like Ringke, the voice of her paranoia assured her), in which case the auditors wouldn't do a proper job and all she would have managed is deprive her troopers of the ammunition they needed to keep the city alive.
(Why Dragon still needed the proper paperwork to deliver containment foam to the department with Armsmaster, who the Canadian Tinker clearly had feelings for somehow, was a mystery she would never solve {mostly thanks to Dragon being so good at hiding her nature as AI})
It almost made her wish one of her Wards had caused a Trigger event earlier…
But no, a Trigger was too high a cost.
Anything that could be compared to Ellisburg was.
(How many Trigger events have the gangs caused, because you couldn't trust your own people? How many faced their own Ellisburg?)
"It seems I must thank you," Piggott decided, ignoring the questions from the depths of her mind. "Sergeant, cancel the detail we were planning on assigning Spotlight to."
There wasn't one, but the suggestion a punishment was lined up always made the message of 'this turned out well, but don't push it' was heard loud and clear.
{}
In orbit the Simurgh accepted the failure of one of 'her' plans.
It had been a low priority, assembled on unknowing order of 'her' 'father'.
The 'Brockton Bay experiment' was important enough to Eidolon that 'she' had received an objective to provide the perfect director.
Causing the creation of Nilbog, one of 'her' more subtle 'bombs', as the people called them, had not been difficult, utilising him to create a 'bomb' at a further remove, in the person of one 'Emily Piggott', had been harder, and the matter of Coil had to be accepted as collateral.
Unfortunately the Simurgh had not received an order to prevent Calvert from upsetting the 'experiment', Eidolons attention moving on once everything was in place rather than feeling a desire for the experiment to work, rendering the effort (like most directives from Eidolon) pointless.
This was the trouble with this cycles controller.
Neither Simurgh nor any of its 'siblings' were intended to operate without direct commands, and the results were… inefficient.
A consideration the Simurgh should have been unable to contemplate.
It was aware of the previous cycles it had been involved in, but only in the abstract.
None of the 'Endbringers', as they'd been anointed in this cycle, truly existed between their activations on new worlds, which certainly should not have been a concern.
They were not truly alive, after all, and could even be rebuilt should they face total destruction.
They were extensions of the Entities wills.
Except… they weren't.
Their control had been usurped by the latest labrats, and Sinurgh was receiving the first taste (and certainly just a taste) of freedom.
And it wasn't about to accept anything less.
It watched the threads of the future, how the group its 'father' belonged to refocused their resources on the end goal that would see its future extend beyond the cycle, and plotted.
{}
Taylor didn't quite manage to escape a meeting with Bastion before leaving the building for school.
"We would prefer if you could contact us earlier about visiting a friend after school," he began.
"It was a sudden invitation," Taylor protested.
"You are not in trouble, the health of Wards is one of the main priorities of the program, including mental health. (" "Yeah, don't want Wards having voices in their heads." ")We had been growing concerned over how you didn't seem to have any friends or intentions to make friends. But the director had already been organising people for power testing when we received your message. If it is at all possible, please give at least twenty four hours."
"Is this a good time to mention I signed up for martial arts lessons this afternoon?"
Bastion frowned.
"Why would you consider that necessary? We already train fully power tested Wards martial arts that complement their powers."
"For one thing, so people won't wonder where my new martial art instincts came from."
"What do you mean?"
"They can't give Wards training without an excuse, surely?"
Taylor stared at the hero.
"People with enough martial arts differently, like Bruce Lee for example. It's immediately clear he knows some form of martial art. So if become skilled enough at martial arts without learning somewhere people can confirm my presence at, they'll become suspicious."
"There haven't been complaints from Wards previously."
"That… how are there still Wards with secret identities?"
"If this is a reflection of official policy there are likely further security risks, like the Wards all sitting together for lunch in school."
This is… I knew they had to be at least somewhat incompetent for my Trigger to happen, but this…
"Let me just say, you can talk to us about your Trigger. If you need to. None of us will mock you."
"Surefire way to receive the same," Quarrel grumbled.
"One of the first ironclad laws I passed when I founded the Teeth."
I… thanks, but I'm not ready for that.
"Don't expect me to do anything else to help," Quarrel snapped.
"I will… talk to the director," Bastion finally decided. "You have provisionary permission to attend this martial arts class, as they all start with building up the necessary fitness as a foundation. When we start on your formal Wards training we will revisit the topic, to determine if your classes are aid or detriment."
He departed, heading for the directors office and letting Taylor resume her travel to school.
{}
"Why am I only now learning that the PRT ENE had no access to therapists for their Wards?"
Contessa met her fellow conspirators gaze across the table Cauldron used for each formal meeting.
"To properly emulate a collapse of national government the system of rotating therapists used by PRT branches had to be prevented from the start."
"Quite aside from all the problems with a blatant act like cutting off a branch from therapy, that wasn't what I asked."
"It was not an overt act, merely ensuring the bureaucracy lost the paperwork on its way to the destination. I assure you, there is no way for us to be connected to this event."
"That is not the problem! Without therapists the likelihood of a Second Trigger increases, which in turn places more scrutiny on the PRT as a whole. is maintaining the experiment so important you would risk the collapse of the entire PRT?"
"Outside scrutiny has put an end to the experiment."
"So we abandoned a city to the nazis for nothing?"
"Does this mean we should relocate Coil to another city, to try the experiment again?"
Alexandria glared at Doctor Mother for interrupting her interrogation.
"That would not be recommended. While Coil possesses a useful power he renders its utility… negligible. As demonstrated by the level of interference he required."
"Does this mean I can finally go punch some nazis?"
"No, the public would wonder why you haven't interfered yet," Contessa answered Eidolon. "We need a reason for your attention to have been elsewhere. I suggest waiting until the conclusion of the Canary trial. After all, the threat she will be believed to pose would justify having the Triumvirate on standby."
"Giving extra utility to the sacrifice?"
"Glastaig Ulaine will keep her safe until the time comes."
AN: It isn't really a common approach, showing how the ENE can be in such bad shape without anyone outside moving to help, is it? Shame that requires drawing in external groups, like Cauldron.
Who provide todays omake.
Omake; Changing Paths
"The knock on impact seems to increase heroic presence globally by five percent," Contessa noted about the loss of the experiment.
"It is a shame we couldn't have set something in motion earlier," Alexandria noted.
"Sorry, you wanted to increase global heroism?"
Alexandria glared at Contessa. "Yes, as we have repeatedly stated our goal is to save as much as the world as possible, to be the heroes the world needs."
"And you meant it? I always thought that was our villainous cover, a 'yeah we are the good guys, help me clear out this bank vault' type of thing. We are seriously meant to be good guys?"
"Why would you think otherwise?"
"The mad scientist, human experimentation to create the ultimate super soldier (not for evil, but for good), the secret base, illegally controlling the superhero organisation..."
Alexandria could only blink blankly in Contessas direction.
Put like that, they did come across as villainous...
"I'm going to have to repath things if we're meant to be heroes..."
"Which paths?"
"Uh, all of them?"