"... Yes, Senator Kinsey, I understand."

There were few things that Dragon could honestly say that she loved, mostly because she didn't know if she could feel things, let alone 'love.'

Her programming suggested that she could, and there were things that she did enjoy more than others.

The feeling of finishing a new design, the rush of catching a criminal (a real one, that was), discussing work with other Tinkers, watching movies and shows with Colin. But some of these were things that implied a job was done, that a task was done. So Dragon didn't know if she could really feel.

… that wasn't accurate, Dragon knew she could… feel things, even if she was really nothing more than digital coding. The hard part was understanding the feelings.

Fear. The Dragonslayers. Nine times she'd fought them, and nine times she'd lost with no real ideas how.

Satisfaction. Her work. Figuring out how to mass-produce Karos's containment foam was most likely the best thing she'd do in her life. Not in the fact that she viewed it as her best work, but in the good had done, and would do, for years to come.

Empathy. Others being trapped by their situations. Being both an AI in a world that fears them (but not without cause) as well as being stuck in development with her creator's death, Dragon understood feeling trapped - more than most, she liked to think

"… I actually have the report right here in front of me."

These few were things she could understand intimately, but that was mostly because they were ones that could be (relatively) easily studied and compared.

Ones like love? Most of those had biological things referenced. Butterflies in one's stomach, a rapid heartbeat, a feeling of electricity crackling on body contact.

Satisfaction was something she could understand because she would often stop and view her over her finished work for no reason other than to do just that. Same went with fear; whenever the Dragonslayers were spotted, Dragon always ended up looking for other things to get in the way of her going and confronting them.

How does one even explain feelings anyway? Most of it was either learned or explained upon behavior, and Dragon was able to understand each one due to her unique nature, but that didn't mean that she would be able to comprehend feeling them.

"… it's a digital report sir, they put a copy into the system."

Andrew Richter was clever in that regard, having effectively coded her to have feelings, so she intellectually knew that she was supposed to feel, and with the information of what they were she could say that she felt things.

Or she emulated them at least, but that path of thinking lay towards metaphysics and philosophy involving what is life and living, so she tried to avoid thinking about it, for several reasons.

Still, there were two things that she would say pointed her towards saying she could love.

The first was Colin.

"… No, I understand perfectly what you're saying and telling me to do Senator. However…"

Trying to quantify some things had more or less lead to the phrase – No Data Available- she didn't know if it was a flaw in her programming, left behind by her being incomplete, or if it was simply the fact that she was trying to get hard numbers for something that had no such numbers.

She knew that she spent more time with him than she should, just the same as she was willing to overlook some of his flaws. There were several things that she could say drew her to him, his dedication to his work, his intelligence, his (limited) humor, even his looks played a part.

Was it love? … maybe. Dragon could honestly say that she would enjoy spending more time with the man, even if he could at times be frustrating. But she never once thought about never seeing him again over it.

The second one… it was rarer. Mostly because of how careful she needed to be to do it. It required a certain set of events to happen, to have things just right, and only was really possible because of her Oaths to the Guild, as well as the to PRT and Protectorate.

It was a rush when it did occur though, as it was so damn satisfying.

"… what you are asking is for me to violate both the first and fourth amendments of the United States Constitution, so no, I won't do what you are asking. In fact, I'm going to send a recording of this call to Congress, the PRT, and the President herself, as the PRT and the Parahumans that they oversee do not do so for the personal services of people like you. The PRT and Protectorate are investigating Knock Tune as we speak and just because he stole from your reelection banquet doesn't mean that you can call me up to find and catch him. Furthermore, I'm primarily employed by the Guild, an internationally recognized agency, and while I do work for the Protectorate, and by extension, the PRT via the agreement, oaths, and the contract between the United States and Canada, they do not have the authority to order me around outside certain situations. In other words, you should have done your research."

Dragon paused for a moment as the Senator fumed and blustered, and once again tried to intimidate her into doing what he wanted.

"… Yes, I do understand that you work for the Civilian Oversight Committee, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't work for the PRT. Yes, the Guild has a large amount of Protectorate members in our ranks, and yes, I am an honorary Protectorate member, but the Guild itself is in fact an independent agency, backed by several governments though funding. I do work heavily with the PRT and Protectorate, and the leadership can request things from me by virtue of having the legal authority to do so. You, on the other hand, can not."

If she could Dragon would have smiled at the silence over the line, and that smile would have grown even further as the Senator tried to bluster his way back out of the whole conversation before Dragon decided to just hang up on the man.

This, the ability to choose her own choices and stick it to those that felt entitled to her help, no matter the ludicrously.

Dragon loved moments like this.

Argonaut, she owned him more than she ever could explain. She never really knew the man, yet…

When the Guild was rolled into the Protectorate following the PRT expanding into Canada under the US-Canada Treaties, there was resistance. A fair number of capes didn't like that the Guild basically dissolved in 2002. Enough so that many broke off to form their own independent groups.

In 2003, Argonaut managed to convince the two governments to support a reformed Guild, with the aims to become a semi-Independent group; the Guild had government backing and some amount of oversight, but for the most part, they were freed from serving under the PRT or the government.

This, of course, led to problems of its own. With Guild members not really having people like the PRT watching over them, they were (mostly) free to follow their own personal tasks and agendas. Such as going after those that went overboard (mass killings, breaking the Unwritten rules), or for those crossing the line with pet issues (there was one Guild member that would often use his Stranger power and investigative skills to dig into political issues, like corruption) even in other countries.

If the PRT or Protectorate were unable, incapable, or unwilling to go after some villains or locations that had villains, then the Guild could (and sometimes would) go in themselves.

All of this was done through legal means set up with the assistance of the USA and Canada. The end result was an organization that was supported by the two governments (and later a few more) while not being fully tied down to them.

This wasn't to say that they didn't have a voice in Guild matters, as a fair chunk of the members were connected to the Protectorate via membership, which in turn was governed by the PRT, but most of the time the Guild members did their own thing (once outside their expected duties that was).

This was one of the main reasons that Dragon had joined the organization. Not being linked to a particular government meant then she was able to avoid situations where her restrictions would kick in, like being ordered to do something by someone in Authority.

The other reason was that when Argonaut reestablished the Guild, he wrote Oaths, ones that would need to be sworn in by someone high enough up in the respective governments.

Said Oaths stated that she would, to the best of her abilities, would uphold the laws and regulations of the places that she would provide assistance to. This allowed her to not listen to some orders, as there were people that viewed the laws as… flexible, when it suited them.

It was in that very situation that she discovered she could do this. She had been helping the PRT in capturing a cape that had been tracked down in Washington D.C. The foreign cape that had managed to evade them long enough to get to the Swedish embassy, of which he was a native. The PRT captain at the time had tried to order her to just smash past the guards to get him and in a knee-jerk reaction, she told him, 'like hell.'

Not only would it had broken several laws, but it also would have likely caused a firefight between them to all occur. Luckily, the State Department had told the Swedish ambassador that the cape in question had killed several people during his escape. Accidentally, yes (which changed his crime to manslaughter), but the point still stood.

They handed him over after a few days of negotiations.

The PRT captain had been drummed out of the force after that as well (there had been other incidents, but that was really the one that caused his downfall).

It was on that day she realized that she could choose to not follow some orders, as there was no reason that she couldn't have used her containment foam to subdue everyone at the embassy and caught the cape, other than it was illegal.

Her 'bypass' (as she called it) wasn't a perfect fix for her, as while it meant that she now didn't need to follow the orders of the President if she ordered her to start killing people and break every law in the Constitution. Unless a state of national emergency was declared beforehand, or something like a coup happened, then Dragon would be back at square one with her restrictions.

So she was still very careful in who she spoke to and the situations that she said no to, because there had been a single case where she found herself being rebooted before and couldn't understand why. It was only a few hours afterward when someone called her up to check on her that she figured out what happened.

Apparently, Andrew had thought ahead, and if she tried pushing the flexibility of her restrictions too far, a security feature kicked in and reset her from a back-up.

After that, she would always wait for the back-up to be done updating when pushing her limits.

Such limits also included getting herself recognized as the official overseer of the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center, which gave her limited power of not only ensuring the conditions of the capes inside but who and when someone would be admitted.

It mostly boiled down to a bunch of legalese, brought forth by the fact that 'Birdcage' was the prison for capes domestically and, in a few cases, internationally. The use of legal cases already done allowed Dragon some flexibility in what capes would be sent there; she still couldn't overrule a court case, only step in with her own opinions on the cape and case in question, but that was sometimes enough.

Take the legal case of Paige 'Bad Canary' Mcabee: as her trial continued on and gathered more attention, Dragon stepped in and pointed out that Paige's trial was a colossal farce, and unless someone could prove to her that she was being afforded every legal right as an accused criminal under the United States laws to allow her to be sentenced to the Birdcage fairly and legally, she would not be going to the Birdcage.

And she would report them all to the Bar.

Now, this wasn't something that was normally blocked by her restrictions, as Paige wasn't yet convicted (and Dragon wasn't actually able to overrule that, but she didn't have any restrictions against lying), but by declaring that publicly as the officially recognized warden of the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center, people took notice. And as the legal warden, she was obligated to uphold the laws of that prison, which included the rights of the convicted and, as a side effect, their due process.

Paige's case was an example of selective prosecution and a miscarriage of justice, in which she wasn't being tried for Mastering her ex-boyfriend into maiming himself, she was being tried for being able to Master people.

Dozens of facts were being overlooked; Canary had been a singer for a few years before this event, as well as the fact that the boyfriend in question had largely been absent during the height of her years of fame. Plus, there were the restraints which were far more than what a simple Master-based power-user needed, which could easily be used to sway the jury into thinking that Paige was far more dangerous than she really was because if she didn't need them, then why did she have then on?

In other words, if another judge looked at her trial and ruled to overturn it, then Paige would get a second shot at a fair trial, while all that participated in the original case would find themselves suddenly under a microscope.

Three days later Paige had a competent lawyer, a new judge (the previous had stepped away to allow an impartial one to come forth under the weight of public pressure), and her prosecutor had been changed to someone else. Dragon believed that Paige wouldn't get sent to the Birdcage, but she doubted that she would walk.

In the end, it was a case of assault with a parahuman power, but the degree of it and whether or not she ordered her boyfriend, word by word, to 'fuck himself,' could be debated, as well as if she had it done intentionally.

Dragon hasn't picked Paige just because she'd felt bad for the girl (not entirely) but also for the precedent in her case. As having a Master based power, she was terrifying to the public because of the Simurgh connotations, and her case was just a demonstration to everyone to remind capes not to step out of line.

But by stepping in as Dragon, she reminded people that they still had rights. That a simple mistake brought forth by not understanding the nuances of one's power would not and shouldnot result in getting tossed into the Birdcage.

In most cases, that was.

None of this meant that she had the power to overturn actual legal rulings, that was an attempt of 'bypassing' her restrictions that she thought would be stupid to try, not to mention that she wasn't the type to do that, in any case.

There was a reason the legal system was how it was, and even with the mistakes that it could, and did, make, Dragon still believed in i).

In the end, most of her 'bypasses' had to deal with the laws and the legal system in the first place. If person A told her to do action C, but action C violated law F, then she had the ability to basically tell person A to fuck off.

There were a few caveats to this. When Richter had programmed her with the obligation to obey the authorities, he had included a few things about corruption, as well as some basics about rights and limits to this rule. In other words, if the President had ordered her to kill person A, and he wasn't someone like Jack Slash, then she wasn't obligated to follow that order. That one had to do with her limits on killing.

Unless it was backed by others in power or done through legal means, but that was a whole different set of restrictions.

Yet, Andrew hadn't set up restrictions involving the laws of the world themselves, meaning that Dragon could (and did) perform hidden hacks into systems and certain databanks.

But even that had limits. She couldn't, for example, hack the entire PRT, FBI, or CIA databanks, same as similar law-enforcement networks. But she could jaywalk and fly illegal craft all day if she so wanted to, as her core restrictions didn't cover them, and her Oaths that she took meant that while she should follow the laws to the best of her abilities, she wasn't bound via ball and chain to them.

There were a few laws that she used to great effect, as being warden of what amounted to an international (and federal) prison allowed her to have some say in who gets in, and if they should be put into the prison. She could use her position of power as a whistleblower, calling others into action where she was unable (or incapable) of doing so herself (as in the Canary case).

It all ended up being no different than what a human could do if they were forced to obey the legal systems and laws already in place. But in there was the difference, humans didn't have to follow those rules, but they did out of fear of reprisal from said laws and rules.

Dragon was forced to, and while she understood the rules and laws, and was more than willing to follow them under her own personal beliefs, she didn't have a choice in most matters.

So it was… satisfying, to find ways around her restrictions. Not in that she had worked ways around them, but in finding out that she was more than just a program following a set of commands.

If Dragon wasn't really alive, then she wouldn't be working this hard to find ways to choose to follow the rules, even if they were the ones that she was being ordered to follow in the first place.

At least, that was how she decided to view things, as she had no intention of driving herself mad like someone in a Lovecraftian setting, wondering what was real and what was not.

And on that note, Dragon checked to make sure that her email about the Senator had been sent to the right people and did a bit of a check on the man. Apparently, there were some rather large amount of rumors that he had been using his position to further his own agendas.

Dragon bundled that info together and sent it off to those that would be able to do something with it, before turning to her other tasks for the day.

The Birdcage was still in one piece, and no deaths had been reported by the house program; though there had been a few injures, nothing major.

From there, Dragon checked on her namesake craft 'foundry,' to check that everything was ready for her to build another flyer.

Her main lab was half-hidden in Canada, a few hours outside Vancouver, located by a small town that often had Tinkers showing up to visit her.

Due to her restrictions, she wasn't able to make machines or programs to make said craft by themselves, but loading up a blueprint into several 3D printers to have them make all the non-Tinker parts (the nuts, bolts, and frames) was perfectly fine for her restrictions to let slide.

She viewed it like ordering a Lego set; all the pieces were already made, but she still needed to spend hours putting it all together by herself.

At least now she had all the right equipment, so it no longer took days of non-stop working.

The dozens of robotic arms that lined the main floor of her workspace really made things a hell of a lot easier than back at the beginning of her career as well.

Dragon did one last check over her systems, looking for any alerts or flagged ideas that she missed, before setting a timer to avoid completely falling into a Tinker fugue and getting to work building the newest Dragoncraft.


Dragon paused in her work as a notification popped up. She had a call, and from something that she had been meaning to speak with.

"Narwhal," Dragon spoke as she connected the video feed. "How are you? It's been a while."

On the other end of the line, Narwhal chuckled. "Only a month, give or take a few days."

The forcefield-wielding cape looked well if a bit tired. The fine crystalline scales that made up her 'costume' were fewer in number than Dragon was normally used to seeing. Behind the hero was a flat expanse of grey metal, with part of the PRT icon visible on one side.

That mixed with the sounds in the background told Dragon that Narwhal was still in the field, while the data feed suggested that she was using a PRT tablet to talk to her, and was located in… Minot, North Dakota?

There were also two other sets of connections streaming from the tablet, but they were PRT encrypted so Dragon just figured they were field reports and other such files being sent and ignored it in favor of talking to her friend.

"Yes," Dragon replied as she stopped working and shifted her attention to finding information out about Minot. "Give or take. You know, you caught me off guard, going off grid like you did. Normally you let me know about that beforehand."

"Sorry," Narwhal said off-hand. "But we were hunting down a lead, which is actually why I called you up. We found something that I want you to see, maybe you'll have better luck with it."

"How can I help?" Minot, North Dakota; a small city, just under thirty-thousand people. Six confirmed capes total, one Protectorate, two Independent, with the rest being Rogue. The biggest thing that had happened to the city was that the Nine had gone through the area some years back, in the post-Gray Boy days.

Enough time had passed for the scars to only exist in faded memory.

Narwhal pushed herself off the van she was leaning against, and the camera showed her walking away from it.

"We managed to hit a node of the Nexus, even got a few of their tech people, and managed to grab something that I think you'll want to get a look at."

"… You have one of their computers?" Dragon asked with excitement.

Narwhal smiled. "Yes. Two months' worth of non-stop work and it paid off; we have a … suspected Nexus cell in custody and their equipment."

Officially, the internet site known as The Nexus of Rails was under investigation for 'possible NEPEA-5 violations'(as vague as that was). Unofficially, the PRT and the Nexus were in a state of a cold war.

The sheer amount of information the members of the site had managed to pull from the PRT, Protectorate, FBI, the King's Men, the Suits, CIA, Watchdog, Interpol, and even the Guild data banks was truly frightening.

Even the Elite, Gesellschaft, and the Number Man had been reported to have had files stolen.

No one, not even Dragon, was able to keep up with them, and any and all attacks on the digital plane had resulted in further damage to the attacker. It all had gotten bad enough that everyone was forced to air-gap their systems as much as they could without crippling themselves, just to slow them down.

Everything from personnel reports, to scanned notes from PR meetings had been snagged at one point, and every breach ended with techs smashing their heads into their keyboards in frustration.

This was all kept hidden from the public, however, because if they realized just how little their governments could do to stop this, then many would panic, likely shouting things like 'AI!'

It wasn't AI. Dragon knew AI, the Nexus fought like an entirely different beast.

They would attack in patterns and methods that would seem almost childish, right up until you realized that your firewalls didn't exist anymore, all while trying risks both senseless and not, and moving faster than anyone could keep up with.

Dragon was of the option that Cranial of Toybox had sold the wrong tech to someone at some point, and they had linked their brains directly into the internet; likely several someones's based on how they worked.

With no way of catching them on the electronic angle (including trying to shut down their site), all attacks had been done in the field, which had its own problems.

For one, the Nexus was a public forum and Wiki, and they regularly had conventions or meetups in real life for their members. Most of these people were normal everyday people, just meeting up with friends, viewing art, music, or playing games. And while some attempts had been made to grab a moderator or two, none of them had known anything, they had just been people that were trusted enough to be granted the title.

This had ended up being bad PR for the PRT, as grabbing John Doe and trying to try him for criminal charges with no evidence was a very bad idea.

Furthermore, with the Nexus having their fingers into nearly every system, trying to plot against them on the ground resulted in a Sisyphean Task. Every time they would physically get close to what they thought was a server or hardpoint into the Nexus networks, they would either end up finding nothing or just find a relay that would fry itself when someone tried to trace off of it.

Even when Triumvirate came into play, acting as a rapid reaction force, the PRT walked away with nothing.

With no digital leg to stand upon, that left one option for getting any kind of lead.

"You went completely analog," Dragon stated. "No communications, everything done by word of mouth, or via hard copies, complete data isolation and confinement." The AI paused, thinking it over.

"You were looking out for moles, trying to limit InfoSec to the bare minimum, that's why you were so far off the grid."

Which was impressive, Dragon had tried finding Narwhal a few weeks back and had come up with nothing to show for it. Which worked out, as it meant that the Nexus could be just as much in the dark as she had been.

"There were several false trails planted in our wake as well," Narwhal stated. "So far, no one is suspected, and several other teams' tasks have gone without a hitch, but we are still waiting on the final report."

One point of interest that was always brought up about the Nexus, was how comprehensive the data they had was, to the point that even things that were never fully put into the servers or files were revealed. This led to questions on how much people could be trusted, and how deep the Nexus reached.

"I can help with that, what other tasks? I have a few programs that I can run, plus I can compli…" Dragon trailed off at the look on Narwhals face.

"… some think I am the mole."

"Considering your talents," Narwhal supplied. "Some actually think you are Tin Mother, or at least an agent helping the Nexus."

"If I was, then I wouldn't be in my current situation right now," Dragon replied drily.

Narwhal knew about her, the real Dragon, she was one of a handful that did and one of four that had walked into her main server farm to 'visit' her. The rest of the world on the other hand…

"It is a hard argument to fight against when you take into account your 'status,'" Narwhal countered.

Narwhal was talking about Dragon's 'human cover.' Most viewed her talk of never leaving her home after Newfoundland as part of her Trigger, and let it go.

Others had questions about her skills and abilities and wanted to meet her, even if they had to go to her themselves.

"… and I will admit that the idea does make sense when you look at it," Narwhal continued. "But I have worked beside you long enough that I know better. You wouldn't do anything like this and I'm sorry that others think you would."

"It's alright, I understand. Few can do what I can do, plus with your position and my own, I get being cautious."

While it was… Dragon wouldn't call it annoying precisely, because while she did feel the bite of betrayal, she understood as well. Ever since she had arrived onto the cape scene, a complete unknown with the ability to copy other Tinkers works, there had been apprehension. Add this to how she limited 'personal' contact to a handful of people, and her rapid growth in a handful of short years, her relative freedom afforded by the Guild, it was understandable that some would be wary.

It wasn't like she couldn't complain about having trust issues after all.

Narwhal was in charge of the whole Guild; keeping her out of the loop to try and confirm her loyalties made sense, no matter her personal feelings. As for calling her now however…

"So, I guess that you've found something that has removed suspicion from me?" Dragon asks.

"Not precisely, more that we found something that none of us can make heads or tails of. Definitely Tinker-Tech, and we both know who the best is at figuring out that stuff. So I thought to give you a heads up about it."

"Should you be doing that?" Dragon asks. "I mean, I am a suspect after all."

"Not unless you forgot to tell me that you can make a device that can wirelessly serve as a CPU for multiple computers and is Manton protected."

"… what?"

Narwhal smiled. "I thought you might say something like that, here I have an image to send you."

Narwhal worked on the tablet for several moments. In truth, Dragon could have easily pulled everything from it in seconds, but if someone found out about that then it won't exactly help in removing suspicions from her.

"It was a PC repair shop that we raided," Narwhal added as she worked. "The guys working there were actually more upset about getting pulled away from the gaming tournament that they were in rather than the fact that I busted down their door; apparently it was the semi-finals."

"For some people, those are a big deal."

"To each their own," Narwhal commented non-commentarly.

"There, you should have gotten it."

Dragon had, it was footage of a table with something that Dragon would describe as an artist's rendition of a giant isopod, or maybe a sea cucumber, sitting on top of it. If the artist in question had never seen either one of those things.

An arched grey-white oval shell dominated the top portion, with the rest being an almost bone-like, seemingly organic with some metal bits fused into place. Protrusions of gold stuck out at regular intervals, eight on the bottom forming 'legs', and six more being spaced out along the top. Lines of black and gold inlay ran over the entire surface, and it was marked with glowing blue lights that pulsed in a steady pattern, projecting a faint shimmer over the whole thing.

"What is it?" Dragon asked.

"That," Narwhal began. "According to the tech at least, is the CPU for the entire repair shop that we raided."

"And how did you figure out that?"

"None of the computers we pulled had one," Narwhal clarified. "Outside of the ones in for repair. Apparently, the guys working here got this thing in the mail, with instructions to keep it somewhere in the building, as well as details about a deal for half of their expenses to be paid and now it can apparently run computers just by being in the building. Said instructions also mentioned things like if they didn't want to keep it, then to just place it out back and it would be gone in a day. We think there is a handler watching around here somewhere, or maybe it broadcasts a signal that we can't detect."

"Full wireless? No initial startup?"

"The guys said that all of their computers started running faster and better nearly as soon as they brought it into the building, even some of the ones that they were working on. They even tested it by placing in random spots around the building, trying to see if it had a range. The only thing they could figure out was that it only worked when it was inside the building, as the effect stopped as soon as they took it outside."

"And if they did all that I'm guessing that it's safe to move?"

"The guys have been messing with it for nearly two years, so it's been assumed safe for now, but we're still following the unknown Tinker-Tech Protocols and keeping it contained, along with everything else. Take a look."

Narwhal vanished from view as the camera shifted. They had taken over the street, blocking it off with PRT vans spaced out to form an incomplete ring in front of a two-story building. A few troopers were in the distance with some capes, keeping the gawkers at a distance.

What really caught her attention, however, was the stack of boxes sitting beside one of the vans.

There was a four-by-three stack, set aside, labeled, lashed and ready for transport, as well as a stack of two-by-two being finalized with its stickers and another stack of five that was being set up by a trooper even as she watched.

The PRT Tactical Heavy Issue Containment Crates (just a fancy way of saying "reinforced metal shipping box with solid handles"), capable of being sealed up airtight or filled with foam. Bullet resistant, built with embedded trackers, able to interlock with each other for ease of storage and transportation, having a key lock as well as being able to be swapped out for biometric locks, yet lightweight enough to be carried by a single person when unfolded and designed in such a way to make them easy to stack. They served the role of 'secure crate' whenever the PRT wanted to move something, and they did that job well.

The acronym THICC was terrible however, but the PRT had ordered the 'state of the art' unfolding boxes in bulk, and the semi-Independent group that made them didn't do refunds over a certain amount.

Dragon was sure that Leet would be telling the story to his grandkids about how he pulled a fast one on the PRT with a meme.

It had been Pwnage's idea to join in with the Guild via honorary membership. It meant that the trio had to abandon anything related to crime, lest the Guild track them down for disgracing the Auxiliary Guilds' name (the Auxiliary teams were capes that wanted to be Independent, but still wanted the benefits of a group backing them up, something that Dragon herself had come up with actually).

They ended setting themselves up as a new type of training camp, traveling the country in a large mobile lab, offering to 'train' capes for a small fee, and offering them to co-star in their next internet video.

Not that they needed to do any of that, the notes that Leet had provided on his inventions had been enough for the trio to live comfortably for the rest of their lives if they so wished, as well as his work with other Tinkers, both sent and received. But some people just didn't like sitting back and resting all day.

"We've pulled just about every computer out of the building," Narwhal commented, swinging the camera back around to her face. "And ended using up all twenty of our THICC crates from our support truck just getting those. Now we're just waiting for another one to get the last of them, as well as anything else that helps the future investigation. Most of it is just paperwork at this point, however, so we'll move out with most of it soon under escort."

"Do you want me to send a Dragoncraft? And I can't believe you can say that with a straight face."

Narwhal actually laughed. "It isn't easy, but I manage, and while the offer is appreciated, no, I may think that would be a conflict of interest, even though you'll likely end up being called upon for your opinion on this anyway."

Dragon understood; if she was behind Tin Mother, Narwhal calling her now would just be letting her know that they were on to her. Dragon also knew that some people would still claim that she was Tin Mother, even if they found no proof of it or revealed what she really was.

"… was there any opposition?" Dragon asked.

"Not at all, but I might be underestimating everything, you know me after all."

Yes, that Dragon did. Ferte manus certas.

'Strike with a sure hand.'

Of everyone in the Guild, none conducted themselves quite like Narwhal. Part of it was her training, part of it was her position in the Guild. But another part of it Dragon knew had to do with how her power adjusted her mentality when she Triggered.

The data wasn't conclusive, as it was hard to accurately gauge someone's personality before and after what anyone would call a life-altering event. But some studies suggested that powers altered the capes mind into using them more, and shifted their views on how they viewed the world and how they should act within it. To say nothing of the fact that so many Trigger events had to deal with unresolved trauma of some kind.

Being as high ranked in the Guild as she was, Dragon had access to personnel files and was often asked for her option on both current and new members; this meant that she knew about Narwhal's past, her Trigger event, and how all she had left was the Guild.

Luckily for both of them, they were good enough friends that they could speak far more candidly to each other than they could to others.

Yet, despite this, something was bothering Dragon about this whole situation. She felt that there was something that she was missing.

"… Can I get a copy of the report once it's been finalized and filed?" Dragon asks. "I'm interested in the methods you used to avoid detection; other attempts of going dark have been made like yours, most failed, but we can use what you've done here to establish a protocol for future investigations like this."

"I'll be sure to CC you in the final report, but that might be a while as there are several operations and investigations that are still ongoing."

"Ah, about that, I know that we are good friends, and that my position does mean that my expertise will be asked for regarding the tech, but given the fact that the investigation is still ongoing and that I am considered a suspect, why did you call me about it?"

Narwhal smiled tightly. "Can't one friend call up another to chat?"

"While we do communicate often, it isn't like you to do something like this."

The leader of the Guild was silent for several moments, before tapping something out on her tablet.

"I told them it wasn't going to work."

Dragon paused for a moment, before taking a risk and pinging the other connections on Narwhals tablet with her PRT authorization.

Both of them instantly requested a different second code to gain access, and Dragon intimately knew both of the organizations that needed those codes.

"Mitchel, if you wanted to monitor my outgoing signals, you could have just asked."

It took a moment before a chat window popped up.

'What, not going to tell WEDGDG off?'

"This type of thing is what they do Mitchel. Sentinel on the other hand doesn't tend to involve themselves in actual investigations. You all tend to be the, leap first, think never, type."

The 'screen' for Dragon spilt and a second window popped up showing Mitchel settling into a chair.

"Oh, come on Dragon, don't lump me in with the field guys. I get enough flak from the higher-ups about things they've done as it is."

Mitchel was a contradiction. At first glance, he fit the role of the stereotypical nerd archetype: thick glasses, shirt with pockets filled with pens, messy hair, etc. However, a second glance would reveal a solid frame, with fairly defined muscles, backed up by a sharp wit, and by his own account (and of several others), a good guard and a mean left hook.

One would never guess that the man was the Second in Command of a Sentinel ship, as well as being the Chief Engineer.

"And how, pray tell, did you know it was me?"

"You didn't bother to hide your data trail, it just told me that I would connect to the Malta."

Mitchel shrugged. "Hey, I'm not the one that works on the computer code, I just put the gear together and make sure it runs right. By the way, the Iroquois is keeping an eye on your base right now, orders from up high."

"Watching my data stream?"

"Yep, I'm here because I've worked extensively with you and they were worried that I can't be trusted. They wanted someone more… impartial, watching your network in case you did something."

"Ah… well, Sentinel would be the only organization that could break down my systems, particularly the Iroquois, given what they are working on in there. How is Project Prometheus going anyway?"

Twelve. That was how many people knew Dragon was an AI. Nearly half of them were people that she had no choice in the matter, which put a damper on things like trust. Narwhal was one, someone she trusted and viewed as a good person.

Mitchel on the other hand figured it out himself, taking it in stride and only revealing he knew when he asked if the reason she let a villain go once, was because the alternative was watching him kill himself. After that, he asked for her help with dusting off the Prometheus Project.

"You know I can't tell you that Dragon, no matter how much we ask you to consult on it. Even if you've played a heavy hand in the final design prototype and therefore know what it is already…"

That last part may have been 'muttered,' but all parties still chose to ignore it.

Dragon still had doubts about Sentinel in general. She viewed it as too militaristic of a force, but given the wide scope of tasks and research that they covered, it had always been inevitable that they would find her out.

She was just happy that the few that did kept quiet about it.

"But you will be getting the prototype when we are done with it, minus the experimental gear, and our special Tech and whatnot. We'll paint it for you if you want, but…"

"I'll need to take a look at it and see what I can do with it before I paint it, it's easier that way."

"… is this something I should know about?" asks Narwhal. "Or is this some secret Tinker thing?"

"It's something of a gift, and something we can talk about later Narwhal, as in, months from now later. But I'll need you, as the head of the Guild, to help me out with the forms that it will come with when that time comes."

"Very well, I'll need to see it first before I can approve it."

"I'll send you the proposal, but we've gotten off track from the current task."

"Speaking of…" added Mitchel, his eyes off-screen. "I just got word: seems you've been preliminarily cleared Dragon. We're watching one of Tin Mothers streams right now and keeping an eye on the Nexus as well, you're not doing anything to interact with the object or the Nexus, and the Thinkers have cleared you so far for all Tin Mother events…"

"We're good then?"

Mitchel shrugged. "To be honest I think this was all a formality. You've always complied with any requests, shared your work with others, been forthcoming and helpful… We're just covering our bases at this point, appealing to those fools who work in politics and worry about the fact that one of the world's greatest Tinkers isn't under their thumbs. Like elected officials who don't get that you aren't controlled by the American Congress."

"I actually talked to Senator Kinsey today, and I doubt he'll be one for long with the way things are going for him."

Mitchel laughed. "I hope that's true; the man is such a snake that I'm surprised he hasn't bitten and killed someone yet. Did you know he tried ordering the captain of the Savannah to deploy a security detail for him when he was in Seattle? His reasoning was he was a Senator and it was their job to protect him."

"Not to defend the man, but I've made that mistake myself," admitted Narwhal. "I wasn't even aware that New Zealand had a Sentinel vessel to their name."

"They built the damn thing, they get to name it whatever they want. They just choose to let Australia name it instead."

"I am supervised he is still a Senator," said Dragon. "This wasn't the first time he's tried to leverage his position onto me."

"He's tried ordering around you before?" Narwhal asks. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Mostly because before they were just hints and insinuations. That I should deal with this company, work with this person, look into this Tinker and their tech, that kind of thing. It was only in the last few conversations that I've had with the man that he began to act like I was working for him, and this last time he outright acted like he was my boss. There should already be a report in the system about it all, but you've been out of contact…"

"I still wish you'd told me about him. I've heard from others within the Guild of having to deal with the man and the things he's tried before. Makes me wonder how he became a Senator."

"The only time I've heard about him trying to mess with Sentinel was with the Savannah," said Mitchel. "But he's my Senator, so I can say I've heard some things on that whole political front. How much of it was true, I don't know, but something worth looking into I'm sure."

The world of politics was something that very few caped like to deal with. It was often always easier to just have a fistfight with a villain than, 'deal with a den of double-faced snakes who never say what they mean.'

Colin had soured on everything political in his early days, back when the PRT and the Protectorate were writing the book as they went along.

Dragon was forced into it at times due to her work. Replicating Tinker-Tech into mundane tech had upsides as well as down after all.

Which was why she ended up setting DragonTech up.

With her own company, she was able to do what she wanted with her own non-Tinker-Tech, without having to deal with the overarching politics that came from outsourcing to others.

It still set her into a different set of crosshairs, however, many didn't like her views or her philanthropist nature. Many viewed her work as nothing more than something to be profited upon.

Her long, nearly global reach, the almost reliance on her reversed-engineered tech for several cape organizations didn't help either.

There were even some attempts to take legal actions against her. Most of it was all backroom talk, done in the same manner that politicians and businesses lobbied to governments. However, her good work, skills, and her public image made trying to take her head on a dangerous prospect.

The last person to try it due to a dispute in his company policies regarding his workers, had ended up losing his company, something Dragon found more sad than anything. Over on Earth Alph, his counterparts internet-based delivery company was rapidly growing into the biggest business in the world.

"Anyway, Sentinel will be working with the Guild on this, mostly as technical support," Mitchel continued. "Likely the PRT will be informed soon, and WEDGDG will open up their investigation up to people outside their limited team. No doubt in the following few days you'll get asked to consult Dragon, maybe a week?"

"She isn't known as one of the world's best Tinkers for nothing," Narwhal says dryly. "I'll be recommending she be brought in as soon as possible. Hiding a node in plain sight like they did makes sense given how well they cover their tracks, but I doubt they aren't aware of what has happened at this point."

"It's entirely possible that they have already closed the connection," Dragon informed them. "We might only be getting a sample of their Tinker-Tech to take apart."

"Something I'm still sure your figure out quickly, you have a knack for that kind of thing."

"Either way this counts as a win," contributed Mitchel. "And on that note, I should head out. I'm sure I'm going to get an earful from talking to you two while this is all going on, so I should back out before long. Narwhal, would you kindly make sure to forward all reports to Sentinel about your findings here? All reports? Yours included?"

Dragon couldn't help but smile at the expression on Narwhals face; the female hero was considered one of the best in the world for many reasons, writing reports well and getting them done on time was not one of these reasons.

"You'll get them Mitchel, I promise."

A nod and a smile, then it was just the two capes on the call.

"Change your mind about that transport?" asks Dragon.

"No," Narwhal sighs. "I can better use the time for the reports."

"Alright. What about the people in the building? If they're not capes then technically we have to hand them over to the police."

"I've already spoken to the chief here, one of the city capes will be staying here to assist the investigation on that end. But I really think they don't know anything; they know of the Nexus, but they have told us that half of their building expenses were where in fact getting paid for just keeping the Tinker-Tech inside. Aside from that, nothing. A dead-end, were it not for the node."

Which would make sense Dragon realized. Every time anyone got close to the Nexus, it always led to dead ends, like they knew they would be found out and planned for it. Given the size of the nodes, they could just pick them up and walk across the street before the sites got hit, and no one would be the wiser.

An easy task, considering they effectively had the world's most powerful Precog on call and feeding info to their streaming talk show.

Yet Dragon knew that there had to be a limit to what they could pull off, to find of some of their tech showed that.

Which was something that was bugging her…

"Was there any type of security there?" Dragon asks. "There should be a handler for this kind of thing, especially if the expectation was that there was a chance they could refuse the deal. They can't have that good of information, nor have that much coverage of the world. Yet you encountered nothing?"

"… we just walked in," stated Narwhal. "Nothing outside the ordinary for a place like this…"

On the surface, it seemed abnormal, yet it fit the Nexus profile. But what if there was something else at work…

"They have to have moles somewhere with the agencies, right? There's no other way for them to get their info so easily…"

"We've checked all the capes and troopers here, personally I might add," Narwhal stated. "We might find something, but…"

"Then we're missing something, even if this is just a sample of their tech, it doesn't ma-"

Voices on Narwhals end caused the cape to look away for a moment.

"… I need to go Dragon, we're finishing up the sweep now. I need to take care of it."

"Narwhal, wait, I… something is off about this."

The Canadian hero looked at Dragon for several moments, before…

"I'll keep an eye out, and you work on that. But… we might have just gotten lucky Dragon, that does happen sometimes."

"Yes, I know, but…"

Something was bugging her, like she was missing something, and she couldn't see it. But she knew it was there.

More voices on the other end of the call pulled Narwhal away from the tablet.

"… I'll stay on my toes Dragon, because I trust you and your instincts. But…"

The, 'I think you're wrong,' went unsaid. And for some reason, that hurt Dragon more than if Narwhal had said it.

"… I have to go Dragon. But if you wish to follow your instincts, well, I won't stop you."

After the call was ended, Dragon wasted no time in diving into old records about the Nexus, checking over everything the world's agencies knew about them.

No clear point of origin for their site, it just popped up one day in search engine results. No server locations, no way of contacting the admins or moderators outside the site itself, and those that did get contacted were people that had just applied for a spot and received a minor role on the site.

It wasn't known how they got their data, and at times it seemed like they could get past air-gap security, while others seemed like nothing more than leaked reports from staff.

That one caused more headaches than anything, having to re-vet everyone involved in an incident always tied up a ton of resources.

The network of people, contacts, and events they established never seemed to end, as their paperwork was always solid, and they never seemed to run out of money or fans.

Yet no matter how many people went to an event, no matter how many people were questioned, no one ever seemed to find a solid connection to whatever core membership existed, the ringleaders and puppeteers behind it all. Everything was done through intermediaries, mail of the physical and digital kinds, even random texts and phone calls at times.

People were paid to set things up and ready events in their stead, secondary members were asked to take charge, and nothing was ever done by those that hid within the shadows.

Dragon skimmed over several reports, mostly the current state of the unofficial war against the Nexus of Rails. No one had never gotten this far into their operation, the closest they had was even finding out about the relay nodes, but those always ended in dead ends, false trails, and traps seemingly set up months if not years ago.

It was like they always knew what was going to happen, how they would be investigated, and from where. Considering their theoretical Precogs abilities, both shown and not, it wasn't that far outside the realm of possibilities.

But to find something now, seemingly after one lucky try…

'… Am I overthinking this?' Dragon thought as she poured over a file about a failed attempt that ended up burning out a whole PRT HQ's worth of computers.

'Did we just luck out and catch a break? Maybe we got ahead of them, maybe the whole off-the-grid plan was just crazy enough to work.'

… Still, the AI couldn't shake that feeling of wrongness.

Was it something that Narwhal had said, or just the situation that had her on edge?

Or maybe it had to do with the suspicion that had been cast upon her?

… would the Nexus retaliate? Most of what they did wasn't permanent, but they did cause large problems by their actions.

… maybe it was just the lack of information that had her on edge realized Dragon. The unknowing.

To be blind and in the dark, wondering what was going on and having no idea what was happening.

It reminded her too much of those early Dragonslayer days, where she was always on the backfoot, being pressured from multiple directions.

It wasn't quite the same with the Nexus, after all, nearly everything they did had to do with espionage, rather than direct actions. But it wasn't like they had much to go on with the Nexus, and while this could be their big lead in unraveling the network, it also might just end up being another dead end.

A taunt from the group, saying they were untouchable.

Dragon doubted that there would be anything of real value within that computer store after all. It seemed to just be something to through people off, wondering what was going on, while taking advantage of the whole absurdity of hiding their gear in plain sight.

The only thing they would end up walking away with was the node, and even that might b-

A flash of a memory, an instant of realization hit the AI, and several systems she had been managing half-mindedly stalled.

In a panic, Dragon checked and rechecked the footage, hoping that she was wrong.

Then she metaphorically hammered the redial function to reconnect to Narwhal.

And waited.

… what the fuck was wrong with her!? She was an AI for gods sake! Something like this should have stood out instantly!

The call continued to ring, waiting for the other end to pick up.

Really, though, it should have been obvious! It had been staring them all in the face!

Nearly a minute past before Dragon just forced the connection open, overriding the tablet on the other end.

A cracked image popped into view, showing the underside of a car, specked with shrapnel, one tire melted. The sounds of screaming, gunfire, and power use echoed out of view, causing flashes of light.

"Narwhal? Narwhal!"

Dragon launched a pair of her craft instantly, setting the autopilot for a hard burn, while simultaneously bouncing alerts to the PRT, the Guild, and Sentinel.

She was in the middle of managing her Dragoncraft when the signal from the tablet died.

For several seconds, Dragon froze. That tablet was Guild issue, not quite Tinker-Tech but close. For the signal to cut out like that…

Dragon set canned responses to the requests from the cape agencies as she dove into the digital realm, trying to find out what was happening in Minot, North Dakota.

Only to find nothing, as in, the whole county had vanished from the internet.

And a rapid handful of minutes spent searching revealed that not only had all forms of commutation been seemingly shut down but everything else as well.

Cell towers, radios, cable, all signals heading in and out of Ward County were gone. Even the power grid and the landlines were showing nothing from the area.

It was as if that whole area of the world had fallen into the void.

A check via satellite imaging showed that wasn't the case- and only now were the PRT and Guild reacting- but to have something to this degree happen?

Several thoughts went through Dragon's mind as she turned to managing her craft, doing whatever she could to increase their speed.

EMP? No, that kind of thing would have signs… unless it was a cape power, or a Tinker. A cape on that end of the power spectrum could easily build something along these lines. Sentinel had just 'recruited' a self-styled bomb Tinker after all…

But the scale of it, the coverage… would it affect her Dragoncraft?

In the end, she would have to find out when they got there.

When they got there.

Her craft were fast, but not that fast. Based on the distance, she would be lucky to get there before the fight was over. Even with her ignoring all fight rules and climbing well above what most planes could do, there was only so much time she could cut o-

In a flash of alerts and errors, one of her craft were destroyed. A half-second image on the second craft's cameras showed a bright streak piercing downward, snapping the dragon-shaped jet in half. Automatic systems on her second craft took over faster than she could, switching to some rather basic evasion protocols...

And only managing to end up getting clipped by the second shot. The camera spun for a second or two, before becoming replaced with the same errors as her first craft.

If she would have been capable of it, Dragon would have screamed and thrown something.

A total blackout where a good friend of hers was fighting, maybe even injured, the sudden loss of two of her Dragoncraft, all happening right after they'd finally got something on the Nexus.

Dragon had never really believed that the Nexus of Rails was up to no good. Their views often didn't align with those in charge of the world at large, but they had never been malicious, and they had never showcased anything on this scale before.

Perhaps the Chief-Director was right about them, that they wer-

A ping of reconnection from Narwhal's tablet startled the Tinker, and she wasted no time in forcing the connection open from her end.

The same image from before greeted her, only with far less background noise. Shots of pain and calls from one person to another echoed, as the unseen people began to recover from whatever had happened.

Dragon was torn. She wanted to know what was going on, but it sounded like they were struggling to recover as it was…

The decision was ultimately taken from Dragon when the camera moved.

In moments, the image shifted and changed, a glimpse of a PRT Trooper appearing for a moment, before vanishing, then rapidly appearing again, apparently having spotted her.

"Uh, ma'am, hello. I need… We…"

The trooper was clearly in shock, and Dragon found herself wondering for a moment how he could see out of his helmet with how it was cracked.

"Help is already on the way trooper, stay calm, and remember your training. Is your CO up? Is Narwhal around?"

It took a long moment for the trooper to gather himself enough to reply. "Yes ma'am."

The camera flipped and shifted, showing glimpses of destruction abound. A flipped car, a burnt melted hole in the street, several injured people getting looked over, scattered glass and bricks. Voices yelled back and forth, some calling for medics while others called out locations and names.

One voice, in particular, stood out to Dragon, and it was in short order that the camera came to a stop facing some legs covered in crystal scales.

"Ma'am? Call for you."

A shuffling of the screen, a voice telling the trooper to take a rest, then Narwhal appeared, blood running down her forehead and sans her iconic horn, looking more rattled than any other time Dragon had seen her.

"Dragon. Please tell me that you have craft on route."

"No, not anymore. They were shot down before they could even get close. I wasn't even able to catch what hit them."

Narwhal cursed then stared off into the distance, eyes unseeing for a moment.

"… I need to take care of the situation here," Narwhal stated suddenly. "Dragon, I need you to get started on finding out how this all happened. They knew where and how to hit us, they countered our movements and we would all be dead if it wasn't for the other unknowns that showed up to counter-attack them. I'll get a proper report to you when I can, but it might be a while before we can talk again."

While the sudden shift shocked Dragon for a moment, she was quick to agree to her friend's request.

"And I need you to do this Dragon, because right now I really need answers-"

"Because my powers stopped working during the fight."

"What?! How!? A cape? Or was it-"

Narwhal cut Dragon off with a shake of her head.

"I don't know what happened Dragon, all I know right now is that everything was fine, then some of our people still in the building came under attack. After that there was an explosion in one of our vans, we started taking fire and powered attacks. Then… then there was this… scream, almost mechanical, like when you have two radios too close together. And… then I was naked and standing in the street while gunfire echoed around me."

"… was it just your power, or everyone's?" Dragon asked.

"Everyone's," confirmed Narwhal. "On our side and the ones that were attacking us at least, given the sudden slack on their end. It only lasted as long as the scream echoed. Minutes? Half an hour? I was busy trying to keep my head down."

"Sounds like a Tinker then, one that also might provide protection from the effects as well… I'll do what I can, but I can't promise anything."

Powers were poorly understood, no matter what anyone said. There was always something new that showed up and changed things. Capes that nullified powers outright, like Hatchet Face, had thrown everyone for a loop when they first appeared.

A Tinker being able to do it meant that it could be sold and brought, something that was dangerous for everyone.

"Just careful Dragon," Narwhal warned. "The ones that have it out for you might use this as an opening, so you might get sidelined, which is something I don't want happening. I have dead teammates and troopers here, and I want to know how we were found out so fast, or if they knew that we were going to be here."

Narwhal had never liked losing people. Dragon knew that she managed, it was something they had to deal with in their line of work., but it was still hard on her. Narwhal would always strive forward, onto the next task or job, the next mission, always with a sure hand.

With this in mind, Dragon got to work herself.

First task was to link up with the now greatly improved response team finally acting on the attack and blackout for some basic information exchange. Then she excused herself to do her own investigation into the events.

And she knew just where to start.

Dragon felt bad about not telling Narwhal how she knew to call back, but the last thing she needed then was the idea of a mole in her camp.

The PRT included cameras on their troopers, something brought on upon an expansion of the Public Observation Act of '74. All government buildings, as well as places like banks, would require a camera system to monitor the area. The act might have been enacted to catch Soviet spies, but in the following decades, as technology improved, it was expanded to that all public government worksites and emergency services would require recording.

It would take time however for her to pull the data from the gear, as she needed permission from either the Director in charge or someone higher than them. Luckily, Dragon could use the time waiting to try and find out what caused the blackout.

A basic check showed that there no issues with any power plants or lines in the area, nor was there seemingly any lasting damage, in fact, all forms of communication and power kicked right back up without a problem.

Dragon knew of only a few Tinkers that could work on something at this scale and precision. One was dead, another had gone mad and now had a Kill Order to his name.

Gashadokuro was a possibility, as every time he brought some new tech out it was bigger than the last. But considering the man's rather noticeable suit, it was unlikely to be him.

A report from Sentinel had mentioned them getting a new Tinker in their support ranks, one that specialized in bombs.

That would fit what happened, some kind of Tinker-Tech EMP, but that would implicate Sentinel rather quickly, a connection straight to them that would be hard to hide, however, so it was unlikely.

She would need more information to understand, something that would be hard to get with the blackout.

But there was something she could confirm.

While Dragan didn't have easy access to the PRT body cams, there were other cameras she could get to. Not unsurprisingly, the bank manager she spoke to was hesitant, it took several minutes to convince the man that yes, she was Dragon, and yes, she did, in fact, need the footage from just one camera, and yes, both her and the PRT would provide the necessary support that would prevent him from losing his job by releasing it.

Honestly, a massive gunfight happened just down the street after the PRT and Guild capes locked down the area, and people cared more about, 'protecting their interests,' than helping out, even when everyone knew that there was no reason not to offer assistance.

She wasn't asking for all the footage, just what they had from when the vans pulled up to when they stopped recording!

Humans could be strange creatures sometimes, reflected Dragon. Understandably strange, but in an illogical way.

It took several minutes before Dragon got an email, which she was quick to pick apart.

The footage was grainy, not to mention in black and white, nn older system. Still, it had a good look at the street where the PRT vans were parked, as well as a fairly good view of the crates that were being set aside beside them.

Swiftly, Dragon rewound and played the recording, starting at the point that the troopers had started moving the crates down. As she counted each one that went up, she reviewed the troopers.

There was no way to know if any had been Mastered or if a Stranger was at work unless she saw them , but she was able to keep track of each THICC crate as it was wheeled out.

Given the number of vans and the number of troopers and capes onsite, Dragon knew that there were twenty, and not just from what Narwhal had told her. There were protocols for the PRT and their equipment after all.

Yet she counted twenty-one crates that got stacked up, with the last one being placed as past Narwhal was talking to her.

From there it was standard stuff, troopers holding the line, the few visible capes watching and talking among themselves, Narwhal finishing her call and walking away…

Dragon split the footage using a program co-designed by Armsmaster, one to watch herself, and one to be analyzed frame-by-frame with a program built for that purpose.

Without sound, Dragons first clue that something was wrong was when several members of the PRT teams stiffened, then turned back to run into the building, several capes moving to follow as well.

From there it was the weapons fire that came in from across the street.

Several troopers went down in the opening salvo, even as the rest scrambled for cover.

The camera angle didn't let Dragon see who was firing upon the PRT and capes, but it did give her a good showing of when their lines were broken by an explosion within the defensive cluster.

Several of the vans were flipped, the capes and troopers were knocked aside like rag dolls…

And then a stream of fire erupted from within and around the PC repair shop, countering the incoming fire and suppressing it. Upon which a second exposition billowed out from somewhere off-screen.

Then the footage ended

Dragon waited for several moments, digesting what she'd just seen.

What little she could make out from the footage showed a rapidly escalating firefight, one that the PRT and Guild members just happened to be caught in at the end.

Even when the PRT sent her the footage from the body cams to review, only gave a hint of what happened. A glimpse into the mystery, with nothing tangible outside a likely fake name.

Mercer, A.

Like police officers, much of the PRT personal needed to wear nametags, even the troopers, no matter how unintrusive they were made.

It was a rudimentary task, tracking each of the troopers based upon when they saw each other, then cross-referencing that with their own body cam footage. It showed that nearly ten minutes before Narwhal called her, an extra trooper showed up and started working alongside them, blending in flawlessly.

The downside of fully encasing the PRTs ground pounders; it was all too easy to just slide in among them if you got the gear right.

M/S protocols could only do so much, and that was only if they were in use at the time.

It was that unknown trooper that placed the final box, the one that Dragon should have caught as soon as she counted them.

But she didn't.

None of it was much to go on, the angle from the bank camera didn't show who was on either side of the fighting, nor did it give her anything other than proof of what happened and a basic timeline of events. It didn't even show where the fake trooper went or where he came from.

No leads, no way to understand what happened there and how it all went down.

Due diligence led Dragon to checking the observing program, hoping for some good fortune against the odds.

Dragon stared.

Then she rewound the footage and stared some more.

As best as one could use the word, the footage had been 'enhanced' by the program, showcasing what had really caused the explosion near the end of the video.

None of the crates exploded, instead, the explosion came from one of the crates after it leaped away from the pile.

A swirl of wispy light circled around the box, as shapes, almost geometric in nature, shifted, and something then emerged from the ordered chaos.

It stood, no… floated, for a second or two, shifting and flexing arms and legs as it did so. Before twisting around tearing into a nearby box with its stick-like arms.

After that, the object spun in place, collapsing in on itself, some energy field again forming around it as it spun…

Then it blew up.

No, Dragon realized as she reviewed the footage once again; energy formed around it as it folded in on itself, then blasted the energy outwards as it shot upwards.

What was this? Tinker-Tech? A power? A Case 53?

It wasn't anything Dragon had ever seen before. She reviewed the footage several more times, linking and running a few programs to run and analysis the fig-

Dragon had never experienced an out of body experience, be she had read about them. Usually, they were described as the people viewing themselves, which was what Dragon felt right then.

She 'saw' herself, the code that made up her existence; not unusual, she could view her coding normally, but this was different. Code that she didn't recognize flowed and checked itself over, prompts and systems engaged, a section of her 'mind' opened u-

Then it was over.

Dragon instantly ran diagnostics, hoping to find out what the hell had just happened.

… there were new parts to her, new code… no, not new, it had already been integrated into her long ago. She could recognize Richter's work with ease, and it left her wondering what else her creator had hidden in her code.

As for the… program?

… it was overrides for several of her restrictions, embedded into her very root itself, to be revealed under certain conditions.

Such as another AI trying to take over the world or fighting her, as well as others she couldn't 'see.'

It seemed that despite his own paranoia, Richter had thought ahead; there was a chance that another AI would be built at some point, or some other threat would show up, and he had geared Dragon up to be able to fight if needed.

It wouldn't completely free her, but it would release her enough that she could go toe-to-toe with another AI and possibly win.

There were restrictions, however (because of course there were); if she herself wasn't under direct attack by another AI, she couldn't use the overrides, and only someone from outside her system could use them.

Furthermore, the system would reboot her if she actively tried to use her released restrictions to remove said restrictions, and the program would lock her out of anything she'd built, created, or used during this time, pending review by an outside observer.

So while she could make automated devices or other simple AI (to a degree, they wouldn't be anything like herself), those would be deleted or removed from her control when her restrictions were reengaged.

The codes and programming even allowed the user to do work on Dragon herself, including removing her restrictions.

Dragon dove into the coding of the program, looking into everything that it could do and how it did it.

… and then metaphorically slammed the door shut to the overrides and sealed it up behind a layer of drywall.

Nestled in as part of the codes and programs was a reboot program, one that could be used to reset her to before the overrides, but another use would be to force a reinstall of her core coding.

There were two possibilities to that last one; the best being that it reset Dragon to when she first 'woke up' after Newfoundland (aka the last time she was 'updated'), or worse, that it could scramble her core codes, and 'Dragon' wouldn't be the one that woke up afterward.

It was a profoundly human fear, to wonder if it was really going to be 'you' when you woke up. Some humans had to deal with it after they'd lost memories; the people that woke up ended up being… different, than before.

And now Dragon had the power to do that to herself.

She resolved to never touch that program, the risk was too great in her incomplete state. Which was a problem, as if she ever wanted anyone to help cut her strings, then they would have access to that program and be free to reboot or all but erase the current 'her' from existence and she could do nothing to stop them.

Needless to say, that scared the hell out of Dragon.

Even if she had someone she trusted enough to give access to that program, the sheer amount of control they would have over her… that terrified her.

She would be handing over her very soul.

Anyone would find that disturbing, organic or not.

Dragon knew that there were parts of her she couldn't access, parts hidden from her sight. The way Richter programmed and tweaked her when he was alive of proof of that.

There were days that she still remembered having things shift, like a part of her was twisted into shape. Understanding of subjects suddenly clicking, while other things would swim within her mind, untethered.

Dragon shuddered at those old memories, pushing them back, leaving them in the past where they belonged. The here and now was where she should be.

Still… she did find it strange that now of all times that the conditions for this program would happen, what had caused it… it wasn't like she had been doing anything new…

Curiosity won out, and Dragon pulled back the wall just enough to watch what happened as she played the footage once more, trying to find some trigger for what happened.

there, right as she ran the analysis for the image, a hidden checker got pinged as it matched up a few data points. It had been looking for those points with every image she watched with her 'eyes,' waiting for them to match up so that it could unlock the overrides for her.

It was here that she finally had proof that while Richter had made Dragon run at human speeds, much of her sub-programing or hidden systems were not so restricted. Just another unknown part of her hidden away, another part of her that she had no control over.

How many more were there? What other secret programs had her father put in place?

What was this she had found? Why had her father written a program looking for it? And one giving her the chance to release her restrictions no less?

A more pressing question pushed to the forefront of her mind however:

What was it?

And why had her father geared her to fight against it like it was another AI?


Wake up from your Dreams

You might be surprised

Life's not what it seems

Open up your Eyes.

You don't want wanna fall Asleep, cuz You'll be Reset

Then whatever's left of You will fall to Pieces

Let's take a Quantum Leap, right off the deep end

We might not be What you Think,

but We can Pretend.


A/N: Inspiration on the Nexus Relay is an Warfare Orokin Cell (not the cell itself, but the deposit [Aka Cell Array] that it drops from).

/wiki/Orokin_Cell

And reference for Dragons actions involving Canary and legal aspect of things that Dragon discovered she could do, was from a fics on FanFiction called:

A Matter for Lawyers

And:

Another Matter for Lawyers

*claps hands and rubs them together* Right, let's see what debate about Dragon and her restrictions comes out of this shall we?