Friday April 15th

17.

I woke up many times during the night, not because I couldn't sleep but because I had instructed Aria to awake me anytime the assembly line needed attention. After automating as much as possible I have given control of the rest to Aria but there were still certain things that if I didn't do would lead to a significantly inferior result.

Taylor tossed and turned, waking up several times, until I whipped up a sleeping pill designed to help restless sleepers get the most out of short amounts of sleep. She later reported it was the best sleep she had ever had from a pill, and she had gone through multiple prescription brands after the locker experience. I guessed this was my perks making what would have been an off the shelf product just that much better. I was glad I had made quite a significant amount and, so after printing off some packaging to make them look legit, I gave her half.

Rather than disassemble the entire miner and smelter set up I just extracted the important parts. What I left behind was just a large frame that I could easily use to reassemble the units. There was nothing left that could be used to reverse engineer any of it.

Though I now had a good thirty drones that had been flying around for half the night there was a good chance that many wouldn't survive for long and that many still only covered a small amount of Brockton Bay. Even during the night they weren't exactly stealthy, especially once scouting well-lit downtown which is where we had sent most. We weren't going to fly them during the day, everyone from the police to gang members tended to take shots at unknown drones. The police at least tended to use special drone nets whereas the gang members didn't care and just used firearms not concerned with what was in the line of fire or that the rounds would come down somewhere.

My drones weren't anything special. Better than the commercially available ones but nowhere near at the level of even the simplest Tinker built ones. Certainly not able to stand up to a round from even a small caliber pistol or a well-aimed rock.

"Aria, any luck finding Coil?" I asked as Taylor and I brought in the last of the parts from the smelter. It was getting close to sunrise and we needed to get a move on.

"From city records I have five possibilities worth investigating. Four in which power usage is either above or below expected amounts and one where records are within normal amounts but there are inconsistencies in their processing."

"Where are we watching?"

"Twenty drones are monitoring approaches to those five locations, eight are airborne and the other twelve have fixed location and will be able to remain in place during the day. Eight or the others are monitoring potential targets for conflict between Empire and Coil's men I have three good locations for daytime monitoring. I also have two drones looking for unusual traffic from high altitude."

"There must be something more we can do." Taylor stated and not for the first time.

"I don't see what. We are not exactly known heroes which means we can't just roam downtown. Until we know where he is and or what he is watching whatever we do could make him go into hiding. If we are reading Tattletale's clue right then we are checking out the right area. We're just going to have to wait and then strike hard. Even if don't go to school I won't be able to do much work as my parents will check up on me, I'm not far off finishing your suit anyhow. I'll have that done before dark."

"Is there no way you can get out of home earlier?"

I shook my head, "No, pretty sure that even if I told them I was meeting a school friend or going on a date they would insist on driving me or having my sister escort me. Dad's even going to ride the bus with me to my job on Saturday morning."

"Don't you ever go anywhere by yourself?"

We had finished packing up all the equipment now and started jogging back towards home but as we had been speaking over the comms system whenever we were outside my base this didn't interrupt our conversation.

"No, never have needed to." That did seem a little strange thinking about it, but I guessed it never really bothered me before and I it didn't seem anything worth thinking about.

We went right to Taylor's home this time. We opened a door to my base using the shed door of a derelict house nearby and I waited outside whilst Taylor got changed. She left her costume inside so I could work on it during the day and after school. I couldn't complete much work on that last night without leaving her bereft of a costume but I had managed a little preparation.

I also had created a small earpiece linked to her phone so Aria could pass any alerts direct to her. We hadn't got as far as setting up something so she could subvocalize a reply, so to talk she'd have to talk into her phone. Something that she didn't want anyone to know she had.

I returned home and spent the rest of the morning completing Taylor's chest piece just prior to my mum knocking on my door to wake me. Thankfully small doses of my sleeping pills throughout the night meant that even with the small amount of broken sleep I was feeling well rested.

I had managed to automate certain parts of the construction such as the internal and external sensors that were common to all parts and the kinetic shield nodes. The actual assembly had become the most time-consuming part. Once I completed automation of the powered muscles the legs and arms would be even quicker to create and build.

On the bus I zoned out and focused on my chemistry skills ignoring the conversations around me. I could pull up the recipe for an excellent performing topical healing agent that could be slathered over a wound that would do a good job as a blood coagulant, an antiseptic, and a pain killer. Most likely not in widespread use because it almost seemed like a home brew medicine using several herbs as well as some interesting and, verging on illegal, drugs. One of the active ingredients was a hair's breadth away from ecstasy. Thankfully all the ingredients could either be purchased, made from off the shelf substances or I could whip up decent substitutes for. So, I put together a list of requirements and forwarded it to Taylor.

She immediately messaged me back that she'd get them in the afternoon after her lunchtime simulation practice. I frowned at that; I hadn't meant to give her an excuse to skip out of half a day of school. I had already known she was looking for a reason, so I really needed to think through my actions a bit more. I was just glad school really wasn't that important as far as education was concerned.

Since she was already going shopping for me, I used first class continuing my research on chemical-based utility items. Any that had any relation to leisure narcotics I dismissed from consideration.

A smoke pellet was surprisingly easy, and more ingredients were added to the list. A hundred or more different explosives were just as simple, but I initially shied away from those only thinking of grenades and the like. But by the end of class I did return to the recipes and add a few chemicals to the shopping list so I could make a cord that could burn fast and hot enough to cut a hole in a reinforced door or thin metal wall. The other thing I decided to make were tear gas pellets, they were very potent and people would be barely able to function under their influence - but they were a lot safer than the knockout gas option though a lot less pleasant to the recipient.

At lunch I went to the music room and set up at the drums whilst Taylor went through and into the base and closed the door behind her. I left the key in the lock and used it to hang my school bag. Even though we had tested that it was safe to close and relocate the door with Taylor inside we would reserve doing that for emergencies. We had also tested the reverse but no matter if I was inside or outside Taylor could only open and close the door. She could not remove the key.

Kurt came by on his crutches after a bit and we played a couple of songs together, traded a couple of CDs before he headed back out to catch up with his friends. I continued to play the drums until Taylor came out, presumably after getting the all-clear from Aria.

"Thanks Sparky. That was a good workout."

"Workout? It's just a simulation." I asked wondering if Taylor had discovered something about the room that I hadn't. It would have made sense; she had used it about a hundred times as long as I had.

"Yes, I guess that's true. But I had the Aria simulate me when I was already really worn out after a lengthy battle. I suppose it didn't actually help me physically. It did help me deal with being sore, tired and injured."

I blinked at that, "You had it simulate an injury?"

Taylor nodded, "Yep, I have it set to be as realistic as possible. If I'm a hero I'm not going to let being wounded put me off. I mean your suit is really good but if I don't practice for the worst-case scenarios I can imagine, then I won't be ready as I could be. Anyhow I better be off, best leave whilst there are still crowds in the corridors."

I waved as she left. I guessed that was the difference between a hero and support staff. While I could see the logic in training that way, I would have put in plan to slowly work my way up to anything like that. Taylor was already at the realistic level after two days whereas I had set up scenarios where I didn't have to run around. I added a note to schedule in at least an hour of training that night. Not combat but support training. I needed to be ready to assist Taylor and a little more fitness shouldn't hurt… too much.

I finished off the lunch break playing hard. Interrupted only briefly by a new room and a new power. The room was tiny, I barely fit inside it. Rickety old shelves covered three walls and were filled with an assortment of jars, cards, beads, and talismans. Half of them were glowing. This was magic, and ancient magic at that. I could feel the age and strength of the ingredients that surrounded me. I knew when I next entered my base, I would find these same ingredients waiting for me. If only I had any idea what to do with them.

I stayed in the room after lunch until me music teacher joined me for my weekly lesson. It was a bit of a joke really. She was a classically trained pianist and opera singer but since she was the only music teacher, and part time at that, she was my drumming teacher. It was something about extra funding for the school though I wasn't sure of the details. She was nice though. As per normal we chat for a bit and then she picked a piece and I'd put together a drum accompaniment. I guess it was good practice for me, but it wasn't like she could advise me on my technique, occasionally she would question why I did a certain combination and explaining it was good for me. Even so, best lesson of the week.

As was normal after my music lesson I paid close to zero attention to class. It usually took me a good amount of time to come down after playing music especially with someone who could play at a decent level. For all that she didn't know her drums, Ms. Bailey certainly knew how to play.

By the time school finished I had some really big plans for my kit. It was going to be epic. I was also going to need to go shopping after work. It would bite into the cash that Taylor had put towards the cause, but we already had some credit cards travelling to a post box we had rented anonymously so I'd be able to pay her back shortly. Not that she was asking for it back. I wasn't rolling in money but there was enough coming in to cover both dad's wage, supply all my current projects and start purchasing a few of the more expensive ingredients I needed.

"You know their suspension finished today?" My sister asked out of the blue as we rode home on the bus.

"Huh? Eh, no I didn't know." I was sure that wasn't the response she expected because she looked at me strangely.

"Do you even know which girls got suspended?"

"No?" I answered confused. As far as I could tell the bullying had stopped, at least during breaks since Taylor was always with me.

There was a pause until my sister prompted me to continue with a wave of her hand.

I shrugged, "Emma, Sophia Madison and Lucy I guess."

"I thought as much. Everyone's been talking about it, but I guess you weren't listening." She didn't seem surprised or disappointed, so it wasn't like I had missed something important, "Sophia wasn't suspended, she was transferred out. Sophia told Rachel H. that the transfer had been planned for weeks, but Mary Delk said that was a lie and she should know. Her aunt is in admin. It was a rush transfer and guess where! Arcadia! Everyone thinks she must be related to someone important or powerful. Some say it's Skidmark but I don't believe that. But it must be someone with serious power or money, though why she was going to Winslow in the first place if they could get her into Arcadia I don't know."

"Who was suspended then?" I asked a little taken aback. It didn't make a lot of sense, but I believed my sister. She had a good ear for rumors and knew how to filter the dross out.

"Emma wasn't, but she hasn't been at school this week either. Madison, Lucy, Sandra and Julia were all suspended for a week. The rest had just got detentions."

She looked at me for a moment and then frowned, "Just you be careful on Monday right. I don't trust those girls. You'll be at the music room like normal right? That's where you hang with Taylor."

I nodded, unsurprised that she knew.

"Good. Me and my friends will come past occasionally. Don't worry, we won't disturb you."

"Okay." I nodded in agreement. That was fair. If someone threatened my sister, I'd make sure I went out of my way to look after her too.

By dinner I was halfway through with installing the final components on Taylor's outfit pausing occasionally to check up on all the chemicals I had brewing. Taylor had left all her purchases hidden in Kim's old house and it had been easy to slip out with my bracelet and retrieve them after getting home and saying hello to mum and dad.

After dinner I played drums for a bit, finished off Taylor's outfit and set a new batch of chemicals brewing before taking a nap. If we were lucky, we might have a place to investigate tonight and a twelve-year-old to rescue. I wanted to be well rested by nine. I had been tempted to pull apart the M-3 Predator and build two pistols from the parts but with Taylor refusing to have anything to do with guns there seemed to be no point to risking playing with new technology still especially if there was a risk I might end up with a partially dissembled pistol when news of Dinah's location came in.

At half past seven Aria woke me

"Huh?" I asked as I yawned.

"Robert, I have Taylor and she needs to talk to you."

"Oh, okay."

"Robert is listening now, Taylor."

"Robert, I need my suit now. Lisa, I mean Tattletale's in trouble and I'm going to help. Is it ready?" Taylor sounded breathless and her voice a little uneven. I guessed she was jogging though I couldn't hear any background noise to confirm that. That might have been Aria's filtering though.

"Oh… yes. It's all ready but it hasn't been tested." I protested. I had only just remembered I hadn't quite stuck to the original plan for version one of the armor.

"Since when has anything you have made not worked perfectly. I'm about two minutes away, can you meet me at that old house with it?"

I nodded which of course she couldn't see, "Kim's. Yeah sure, I'll be right over there but I can't be out for long. My parent's will check up on me. Are you sure about this? She is a villain."

"I know. I'll be careful, but I really think she is in trouble, and she's not really that bad. I'll keep you updated and we'll meet up after."

"Do you trust her?"

There was a pause, "Not fully, but I don't believe this is a trap, at least not for me."

She wasted no time in jogging into my base when I opened the door at Kim's. I had loaded up her new suit with smoke pellets and tear gas grenades. I hadn't completed the explosive cord yet. It was formed but still needed another hour to set.

Once she was jogging towards the docks I explained over the comm system what was in each pouch and how to use it. Everything else about the suit she had already practiced in the simulator so beyond wishing her good luck that was as much as I could do. So, I went back to my room, laid down on my bed and had Aria patch a feed from her camera into my vision.