Skin
With the Endbringer fight long over Ray had the barracks to himself as he finally slipped into a bunk to sleep sometime after Three AM. At Seven AM sharp the lights blinked on and a soft voice spoke from a speaker somewhere in the room.
"Dogfight, you have a meeting with Director Piggot at Eight Fifteen, full breakfast is still being served in the cafetorium until Eight AM. The shower has been activated and a set of undergarments along with a PRT standard issue costume is available along with a selection of masks of varying design and fit. Please come prepared for a day of onboarding, and we look forward to working with you at The Protectorate."
"Ay, dios mio, thanks for the wake up call, lady", he responded.
No follow up came.
"Guess it's one of Dragon's computer things. Damn if it ain't got a butter smooth, sexy voice."
"Thank you, Dogfight, but I am not a robot or program."
Ray stumbled out of the bunk half asleep, "The fuu- nk, Jesus. I'm sorry."
The voice audibly cleared it's throat and began speaking again with more authority in her tone, "This is Officer Innocenti and I'll be your chaperone today as we onboard you to your first day with the organization. So get cleaned up, dressed, and I'll see you at breakfast."
"Right, okay. I got this", he picked himself up off the cold laminate floor and slunk to the shower.
The rivulets of hot water that poured down his scalp, face and chest felt cold on the older scars where nerve damage had taken much of his skin's sensitivity beyond the basic sense of pressure. When Ray was changing into PRT issue sweats before bed his escort mentioned they had contact with a cape with incredible healing powers. So the odd cold touch of the steaming water and the reminder he'd be seeing a shitload of people through the day via tours, introductions and meetings the suggestion was going to nag in the back of his thoughts all damn day.
He didn't bother with shampoo or body wash instead he shut off the water, diffused and was essentially dry when he stepped out of shower and solidified. He dressed quickly into the basic matte black and silver trimmed costume and took time to select a mask. He truly didn't have an identity to hide but his face was unmistakable. He decided on a combination of masks: a matte black neck gaiter that can be raised over his ears, nose, and mouth along with a white, hard plastic mask with a simple thick but comfortable black elastic strap to pin it to his head. The white full face mask fit snugly to his head, the gaiter padded the bulk of it and it was cut low enough at the top to let his newly exposed horns to poke freely from above the mask.
For a moment Ray felt a taste of last night's exhilaration as he gave himself one last look in the mirror in full costume.
~~x
It was Seven Fourty by the time he made his way to the cafetorium. Officer Innocenti caught him off guard having already gotten a coffee and sat in front of an empty plate, with a covered plate just across from her next to a tall bottle of Orange juice and another coffee. She was out of uniform, wearing a simple white tee with a PRT logo on the left-hand corner of her chest, black training pants, and white tennis shoes. The only thing that really communicated it was her was her excited waving as Ray passed through the automatic sliding door.
"Hey, there Hero. Looking way more put together today", she spoke in her softer tone.
There was a tinge of redness to her olive skin, an after effect of the hypothermia he suspected.
"Ahh, same to you, ya know, you sound way different with a rifle in your hands and a bucket of a helmet."
The Officer laughed, "Truth, but you should eat, you got a meeting with Piggot, she's my Boss's Boss's Boss - Boss."
Ray sat down and uncovered his food: bog standard bacon and scrambled eggs, side of undercooked hash browns, a slice of bread and a small cup of what chain grocery stores dare call salsa.
"Your job's higher anarchy sounds like a rave. Boss-boss-boss-boss untss-untss-untss-untss."
She scrunched up her face and laughed while glancing at her watch, "What? Hierarchy? Whatever, just eat - let me talk, Horndog."
Ray pointed his spork at her accusingly before raising his mask and lowering the gaiter to shovel his first bite of breakfast into his mouth.
"Alright, I just want to thank you for helping my unit out last night. I'm sorry I dragged you into that messed up situation but desperation makes for strange bedfellows, ya got me? You did really well for a rook, sorry you got hurt but for a cape audition you did real nice, so kudos. Anyway, once word spread Dragon made you an offer you couldn't refuse I kinda went against doc's orders to race over and return the favor."
By the time she finished talking, Ray wolfed down the last bites of oily, transparent shredded potatoes.
"Just happy to help uhhh, Naomi Innocenti."
She rolled, "Weak, Dogboy. It's Noemi - No Amy. Say it with me now."
"Noemi."
"Right, anyway, Piggot doesn't brook no guff from rooks, especially. So be straight up with her. Keep your answers short and sweet, only the most factual need to know info in all your responses. I heard she's ex field ops, so if you have any military or emergency services background play it up. She's about keeping the peace between Humans and Capes, so first impressions are important. Got it?"
Noemi cocked her head to the side, her ponytail slid down her shoulder and rested against her chest. Ray stared past the brunette braid half a second too long and immediately fixed his gaiter and mask in place to break his faux pas.
"I'm going to assume you were listening the whole time?"
Ray nodded as he lined up the eyeholes of his mask.
"Okay let's review: you're speaking to Director?"
"Piggot."
"Nice. She does not like?"
"Nonsense talk?"
"This ain't Jeopardy, but yeah you're right. Soooo Daily Double, what color are my eyes?"
"Hazel."
Noemi frowned.
"I'm scarred up not blind, they're hazel with flecks of gold."
"I'm messing with you, Hornhead. Yes, you're right. Well, it's - shit, past Eight, go dump our plates. I'll refill our cuppa joes and I'll walk you to her office."
Ray nodded, stacked the plates and felt awesome. Back in school he wasn't much to look at and now, he was a walking piece of roided out chewing gum yet here he was talking not to a girl but a woman who carries a big gun and fights monsters for a living.
To Ray being a hero was the shit.
~~x
If looks could kill Director Piggot would be an SS-Tier threat. The short haired, blonde corpulent authority figure stared into Ray's soul and apparently found it wanting as they sat in silence for the past two maybe three eons since Noemi closed the office door as she left. A monitor recessed into the wall to Ray's right switched on and again Dragon was on the screen.
"Hello, Director, Dogfight", Dragon spoke neither curt nor cordial, no the famous tinker was all business now. Even a major player in The Protectorate tiptoed around the Director of The East-North-East branch of the team.
"Dragon", Piggot spoke cooly.
"Hi there, Dragon, it's a beautiful morning", Ray piped up.
Dragon's eyes opened just a fraction more in response. What's the point in being part of one of the hugest teams on the planet if you're just another one of the unsung. Reputation matters everywhere you go, you just need to put yourself out there. Now Ray Alcaraz was raised to keep his head down, be part of the crew, but here he wasn't Ray he was Dogfight, and Dogfight doesn't back down because a bigger dog enters the fight. It's a matter of who wants the W, and Piggot is reputation incarnate, but does she want this more than Dogfight?
Piggot didn't seem phased at his response as she continued talking to Dragon asking about her direct recount of last night, a summary of Officer reports about the same, and detailed analysis from Ray's testing in Boston.
"I understand that you initially protested testing at one point?" The Director finally directed her attention to the masked hero.
"Yeah, my Guardian at the time said to speak up whenever I felt unease or was hurt and I jokingly said I felt unease fighting a robot when Dragon's drone was introduced to the testing arena instead of a hero like mentioned before."
Piggot pointed at Dragon, "Play the clip."
Footage of Ray standing in the testing area replaced Dragon's face, the look on his face showed genuine misgivings about fighting the drone. A wave pattern analysis of Ray voicing his concern showed stressor spikes in it's inflection. An alternate view shows Arkady, the technician hitting a switch on the control board, a caption highlighted the next series of Arkady's movements as the technician struggled to retake control of the drone during the fight.
Piggot gestures for the video to stop, "Halt playback. That was a hacking intrusion on the PRT in Boston, and a direct attack on you, Mr. Alcaraz. Someone or something wanted to know what you could do whether you wanted to or not... and that is no joking matter."
"The back channels and ports exploited on the intrusion have been - air gapped, and for additional security I am tracing the botnet used as a vector by which they initially deployed their intrusion", Dragon offered.
"In all truth, Director, Dragon, I was a scared kid. I had no clue about anything I could do or what was happening to me. A week before I was a kid, a human kid who just wanted to make it through okay with his Grandma when the city got attacked. Now I can run around the city moving people out of the way of danger, at the same time zip right up to Leviathan and plant bombs on his body before he even knew I was there."
"So you recognize the severity of the situation by which you find yourself?"
Ray nodded.
"Good. Dragon, I want a full sweep of this facility's Data Access Points and for any non-air gapped vulnerabilities we need to fix."
"If I might add, Director, I understand you carry a burden of command that some see as you being strict or mean, I know it's actually concern because you know what my Grandfather knew. He was in the service a long time before he met my Grandmother. He knew the world before heroes came, when it was just men fighting men with just really fancy sticks and rocks. He told me of an old African Proverb - an abandoned child will burn his own village down for the warmth it was denied. You want Men to know Capes are part of this world and you want Capes to know Man was here before them."
Piggot sighed, "That's all Dragon, notify Officer Innocenti to retrieve Dogfight for his onboarding paperwork and his introduction to encounter protocols since she's volunteering her time originally meant for the Medbay."
"Thank you for meeting me, Director Piggot. I appreciate the concern and your time."
Piggot waved her hand dismissively with a noncommittal grunt and Ray hustled out the door to Noemi's care.
~~x