Note: I don't own anything, ESPECIALLY this time, don't sue me pls
Interlude 2.1: Questions
*beeeep*
*...*
*beee-*
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Um, hello, this is Taylor He-"
"Ah, Taylor Hebert! It's been, like, three days since we talked. How have you been?~"
Taylor was nervous and conflicted. The voice on the other end of the call undoubtedly belonged to the Villain that PRT called Unlocker. On one hand, he was definitely a criminal and a Villain, and what remained of her previous black and white morality was screaming at her that this was a bad idea. PRT didn't really have any evidence against him, but there were multiple cases of small and large sums of money mysteriously vanishing from ATMs across the city. Taylor had a pretty good idea about how it could have happened. The Cape opened and closed a window from the outside with just a touch, and explained his power as soul manipulation, so it wouldn't be surprising if he could use the same technique to get the money from ATMs.
On the other hand, he saved her life, showed her early on that she had powers, which saved her the possible trouble of using those powers in public by accident, and helped to punish at least one of her tormentors. Yesterday her dad talked with director Piggot, personally, in her office. The local PRT leader was, in her father's own words, "a massive bitch", pun definitely intended. At first she tried to use the laws to scare her father off from using their knowledge of a Ward's identity against them, which failed because her dad came prepared and well aware that there were no laws against revealing a Cape's civilian identity. Then. she tried to intimidate and threaten him into signing an NDA, which also failed because her dad was one of the most influential people in the city. Then she tried to guilt-trip him, make him think of Sophia's family, talked about some Unwritten Rules, which non only didn't work, but it also made him even angrier because everything played out almost exactly as they were told it would, or at least exactly as she told him, as she decided not to tell him about Unlockers night visit and her powers.
She didn't want to believe it, but in the end, the Villain was right about the PRT. Armsmaster and Miss Militia were both in the office as well, yet neither of them even tried to go against the director, some Heroes they were. Their actions, or lack thereof, was the biggest disappointment so far. That was one of the reasons why the first thing she did after hearing this was throwing her Armsmaster underwear in the trash. Well, that, and it was also just embarrassing to own something like this in the first place. The meeting ended with Piggot promising that Stalker will either be sent to Juvie or relocated to LA to serve under Alexandria, depending on what PR and other directors would collectively decide this Sunday. And here she was now, calling a Villain on a phone to ask for advice.
"Fine, everything's fine. So, uh, you said that I could ask-"
"Yes, questions, ask whatever you want!"
"Damn it... Okay, It feels kind of awkward to talk about this over the phone. Can we meet somewhere and talk face to face, please?"
"Sure! How about the Broadwalk?"
"Yeah, that will do."
"'Kay, so you know that "new" coffee shop that opened there, like, a month and a half ago? The one that still has that overly colorful {We're finally open!} sign near the entrance."
"Yes, I know. The one that's close to the middle of the Broadwalk, {Lifeblood}, right?"
"That's the one! I'll meet you there, bye!~"
"Wait, how-"
*beep-beep-beep-beep*
"-will I know it's you... Ugh, whatever."
The Broadwalk was the nicest and safest part of the city, especially during the day, so it should be fine to meet a known criminal there. Her father was at work, so if she was careful then he wouldn't even notice she came out of the house today by the time he returned.
Taylor stood near the entrance to the {Lifeblood} Coffee Shop. She felt pretty uncomfortable because of all the glances from the passers-by, not that she could do anything about it. She knew that it was probably because of her clothes. Cheap and dark clothes like hers really stood out in a crowd of rich tourists. She arrived pretty quickly and was waiting for what felt like at least ten minutes at this point. The cold weather didn't bother her, all thanks to her new power. Drawing just a little bit of the mysterious energy out of her soul was more than enough to make the January cold completely irrelevant. She didn't have anything to do, so for the last five minutes, she was just staring at the Protectorate HQ.
'Heroes...' - she thought to herself - 'I wonder if all the others are just as terrible as those three. No, Taylor, bad thoughts!'
Taylor shook her head, trying to clear it from the negative thoughts that always came swirling back for the last few days. It wasn't this bad until yesterday when dad told her about his talk with Piggot. There was a big difference between knowing that just one so-called hero was a terrible person, and knowing that two of the biggest local heroes, as well as the whole organisation they worked for, were full of shit. She knew that thinking about it right now was useless, but she really couldn't do anything about it, not when their little Ivory Tower was shining right in front of her eyes.
'I need a distraction.'
For the second time since she arrived here, Taylor decided to use one of the new techniques that she has recently discovered. Drawing a bit more energy out and into her body, she released a weak energy pulse in all directions. It bounced off of all the other living souls in her vicinity, giving her an idea about where they were at the moment and how strong they were. Most souls she sensed so far were of a relatively similar level of power, but sometimes she stumbled upon a few that were way, way stronger. One such soul belonged to Panacea, although from what little information Taylor got it didn't feel right. Another such soul belonged to an old man that was lying on the same floor as she did. A nurse told her that this man was a war veteran. Unlike Panacea's, his soul was smaller and less powerful, but it felt normal.
This time she felt four powerful souls in her range. Three of them were grouped together, and they reminded her of Panacea's soul. The last one was moving quickly in her general direction and was the most unique soul she felt so far. It was definitely a single soul, yet it felt like there were two souls in the exact same place. It was bigger and much, much more powerful than the soul of that veteran or even that of Panacea, but it felt absolutely natural.
'What a strange soul.'
Finally, the weird double soul stopped moving at the same time as a taxi arrived. The car door opened and a tall young man came out. He was wearing a dark blue coat over a grey hoodie, blue jeans and heavy-looking brown boots. He had short brown hair, very pale skin and amber, almost golden eyes. The man thanked the driver, closed the door and started moving towards her.
"What's up, Taylor Hebert!" - the man said calmly.
And now Taylor had no doubt that the man in front of her was indeed Unlocker.
"Hello."
"The weather sure is lovely today, but we better come inside."
She nodded in agreement and Unlocker moved towards the door, opening it for her. While Taylor didn't care much for the common etiquette between men and women, even such small gestures of common politeness as this one felt rather nice after two years of social hell that was her life. She walked inside first, Unlocker following right behind her and closing the door. The change in temperature was barely noticeable. The interior of the shop looked rather nice at the first glance, but something was definitely off about it. It took her brain a few seconds to catch up and realise what was off. There was just too much wood, and all of it was of the same color. The exposed brick walls were also painted in a similar color as the wood. The lack of color diversity in the interior design was painful to her eyes. At least the background music wasn't that bad.
They moved towards the counter and when Taylor looked at the prices she realised that she could only afford one cup of the cheapest coffee here. The prices were simply ridiculous and she didn't bring that much money with her.
"Welcome to {Lifeblood}. What can I get for you?" - a young woman behind the counter asked.
"Hello, do you serve cold brew coffee here?" - Unlocker asked in return.
"Yes, we do."
"Then I'd like some cold brew in a mug, no ice and no straw."
"Anything else?"
"Hmm, yeah, I'd also like some americano, to go. That's it for my order."
"Alright, and the young lady?"
"Pick whatever," - Unlocker interrupted Taylor before she could decline - "my treat."
She hesitated for several seconds. Her thoughts were an utter mess.
"That panicked look, you must be a beginner, right?" - the woman behind a counter asked - "Then I'd recommend you our vanilla latte."
The woman was wrong. It wasn't Taylor's first time in a coffee shop, nor was she ignorant about all the different kinds of coffee that were commonly served in places like this. No, what Taylor was concerned about was her being a burden, as well as Unlocker probably using stolen money to treat her to a drink.
"I'd like a cup of black tea, two sugars and no milk."
"Here or to go?"
"Here."
"Anything else?"
"No, thanks, that's it."
"Alright, can I get your names, please?" - the woman asked after a small pause.
"Odis."
"Taylor."
"Alright, it will be $18.89. I'll call out when your order is ready."
"Thanks, and keep the change." - Unlocker said as he paid up with two $10 bills and put another one into the tip jar, then turned to look at Taylor - "Let's go sit at the corner table near the window if you don't mind."
Taylor nodded in agreement and they moved towards the table in question. As soon as they got there, Unlocker took his coat off and hung it over the back of one of the chairs as Taylor did the same with her jacket. They sat down and an awkward silence settled in.
"So, Taylor Hebert," - Unlocker began - "I guess a proper introduction is in order. As you've already heard, my name is Odis, Odis Bright."
"Wait, really? Odis is your actual name?"
"Yeah, I hated my name when I was in high school. It's, like, one letter away from Otis, so people that didn't like me called me doggo. And don't even get me started on all the "you're supposed to be the bright one" jokes. Anyways, Odis Bright, that's my name. Also, I go by Borrow now in my Cape identity. You can just call me Odis out of costume."
"Okay, Odis. You can call me Taylor, I guess. Hearing you say my full name every time is kind of awkward, honestly."
"Alright, Taylor. You had questi-"
Before Odis could finish their names got called out by the woman behind the counter.
"I'll go get our orders while you think about your questions here. Be right back.~"
While Odis was away, Taylor tried to remember the priority list of questions from her new "Cape stuff" notebook. The first thing that she wanted to know was his name, which she already knew now if he wasn't using a fake one of course. Asking him to show his ID and confirm it would be just rude and awkward, not to mention that he could just have a fake ID up his sleeve. Second was...
"So, your questions?" - Odis said as he put her cup of tea in front of her and sat down. How did he carry a cup on a plate, a mug and a paper cup with just two hands she had no idea.
"Did you pay for these drinks with stolen money?" - Taylor asked the first question that came to her mind to buy herself some more time to think. Odis almost spilt his coffee as he tried his best not to laugh.
"Damn, you got yourself an AMA with a Villain and this is the first thing you ask?~" - he said, teasingly - "Okay, yes, I paid for these with the cash I stole. So, anything else you want to know?"
"Uh, yeah, I actually wanted to ask you about the Unwritten Rules." - she replied.
"Hmm, how do I explain it..."
Odis has fallen silent for a while, slowly sipping his cold brew coffee and tapping his index finger on the table, thinking. Taylor, figuring that it will take some time before Odis will respond, focused on her own drink instead. Her tea was served in a relatively large white teacup that was placed on a plate along with two sugar cubes and a spoon. She dropped the sugar cubes into the cup and started to stir it. About fifteen seconds later the sugar completely dissolved and Taylor gave the five-dollar tea a try. It was way better than the cheap crap they had at home, but it was a bit worse than she expected it to be and definitely not worth the money. She took a closer look at the Villain's face as she enjoyed her tea. It was barely noticeable, but he had small violet bags under his eyes. That, combined with his almost corpse pale skin, made him look like he was sick.
"Alright," - said Odis, finally done thinking, putting the mug on the table - "first, I'm going to give you a brief summary of what the rules are, then explain why they exist and why anyone follows them in the first place. Then I'll explain why you shouldn't easily trust the others to follow the rules. Where did you hear about them anyway?"
"My dad had a talk with local PRT director yesterday and she mentioned the Unwritten Rules when she tried to guilt-trip him." - Taylor explained.
"Ahaha, I expected no less from the "fairest" bitch of them all!~" - Odis said, mockingly - "But back to the topic. The Unwritten Rules are actually more of a set of guidelines that Capes obey and live by, or at least pretend to." - pulling out a notepad and a pen, the small-time Villain continued his explanation while also writing something down - "The rules themselves are pretty simple. One, don't kill other Capes. Two, don't rape, mutilate or torture other Capes. Three, don't unmask other Capes. Four, don't target the Capes' families. Five, don't blackmail other Capes with your knowledge of their civilian identity. Most Capes who break these rules publicly get punished by other Capes, regardless of their affiliation." - he ripped a page out and gave it to Taylor - "There are a bunch of other rules as well, but these are the big ones that most Capes at least pretend to follow. That's it for the summary, by the way. Questions?" - he asked while leaning back and once again sipping away at his drink.
Taylor looked down at the page in her hands. Odis' handwriting was, plainly speaking, just horrible. An elementary school student would've done a better job. The only good thing that could be said about it is that it was readable, with some effort. The numbers looked fine, but only because you had to be a very special kind of person to fuck those up as well. Overall, he wrote down the same things he just explained to her, the only difference being the exclamation marks beside the first three rules, probably to highlight that they were more important than the other two.
"Your handwriting sucks." - Taylor voiced her thoughts unintentionally, which she realised only a second after it was already done. Her eyes opened wide and whatever else she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
"Whatever." - he said and turned his head away, but because of his skin tone, it was obvious that he was blushing. An awkward silence settled in between them once more, until Taylor finally calmed down and found the correct words.
"Uh, sorry about that. I didn't-"
"Eh, just forget it." - Odis interrupted her, turning his head back towards her, a slight smile on his face - "I'm used to hearing things like that, just not from someone so much younger than me. That one was a first. Anyways, questions?"
"Why is there no mention of regular civilians in the rules?"
"'Cause these rules were made by Capes for Capes, duh." - he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world - "Not to mention that even if there was a rule about not getting civilians involved then most Villains would ignore it anyway. Though it is kind of implied that you shouldn't go S9 crazy and mindlessly slaughter the normies, cause that's a good way to earn yourself a Kill Order."
"And what about Capes like Lung, or Hookwolf?"
"Ah, you want to know why they get away with their bullshit despite killing lots of people and not holding back in Cape fights. Well, in Lung's case he is just that strong, while also being way quieter than other capes most of the time. Hookwolf is, obviously, not as strong as Lung, and definitely not as quiet, but he is one of Empires heaviest hitters, and Empire is the strongest gang in the city. Basically, sometimes you can get away with breaking, or at least tiptoeing around the rules for one reason or another, though mostly it's just because PRT is incompetent."
"Alright, I think I got it."
"Splendid!~ Now, moving on to why the rules exist and why people follow them. First, the Endbringers and the Truce. The more bodies there are to throw at the Endbringers, the better. Most Heroes participate in Endbringer fights, so Villains with at least a few working brain cells to rub together try not to make everyone's lives, including their own, harder by killing Heroes. Same applies to Villains that participate in the fights, only with them its a bit more extreme. If they do participate and survive, then they are likely to get less heat for their crimes for a while, and if they don't participate while causing lots of problems for everyone with their crimes, then the Heroes may focus on dealing with them, or they may even become a public enemy.
Second, this country has a lot of powerful Capes, and the three biggest hitters around are all on the Heroes' side, so if some Villain is being a pain in the ass for everyone around, then one or more of these heavy hitters may just come in and nuke the problematic villain out of existence, probably along with every other villain around as well. So, it is in the Villains' best interest to prevent this from happening and deal with the problem themselves.
Third, following the rules prevents conflicts from unreasonably escalating out of proportion. Live and let live, it's that kind of thing. Basically, it's all about building a reputation, an image. If a well-known Hero is in a fight with a relatively harmless Villain, then more likely than not both sides will avoid killing each other. Obviously, there are those who ignore the rules and get away with it, but it's either because they are smart about it and do it in secret, or because they are too big and bad to deal with. Most Capes don't want or can't afford to have a body count, so they avoid killing. Same goes for revealing secret identities.
Alright, there are obviously a bunch of other smaller reasons and nuances, but these are the three main ones: Endbringer Truce, Higher Powers and Anti-escalation. Questions?"
"Why didn't you tell me about the rules three days ago?" - Taylor asked as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Well, honestly, I just forgot to tell you. Sorry about that." - he replied as he scratched the back of his head, awkwardly - "Relax, everything's fine. First of all, these rules are for Capes, not for civilians, and you didn't break them anyway, only threatened to. Second, you were a civilian victim of a "Heroic" Cape abusing their status and power, which means that if Sophia's actions were to be revealed to the public then everyone will take your side no matter what, including the PRT, because not doing so will ruin their image. And finally, even if PRT learns that you are a Cape that kind of sidestepped the rules, they wouldn't be able to use it against you without revealing themselves to be hypocrites, and you could always just nuke their credibility by revealing Sophia's actions to the public."
*sigh* "Fine, I guess what's done is done. Not that it would've changed anything anyway. Please go on with the explanation."
"Okay, so, the final part is why you shouldn't blindly trust the others to follow the rules. The first thing you should know is that the only ones who actually give a shit about the rules are the weak, naive, stupid or new Capes, especially if they are alone. PRT? They will dig up your civilian identity no matter if you are a Villain, Rogue, Vigilante or an Independent Hero. They won't exactly go out of their way to do that, but if you slip up here and there, well, it's your fault they figured out your identity. For example, I have no doubt that they are keeping an eye on you just because you are a possible Trigger. The Villains? Well, it should be obvious why they don't give a shit. Villains break actually written laws as long as they can get away with it, so you can't really expect them to follow the unwritten ones. That's it for the Unwritten Rules explanation, thank you for listening.~"
The awkward silence settled between them for the third time. Odis started writing something in his notepad while Taylor was thinking about the rules. This information gave her a new perspective on Capes, but this perspective was based on the opinion of a cynical small-time Villain, and there was no doubt that he was biased.
"There," - Odis said as he put several torn out pages from his notepad in front of her - "I wrote everything down in case you forget something."
'Maybe I should ask an Independent or a Hero about the Unwritten Rules as well and see what they have to say.' - she thought to herself.
"Thanks."
"Okay, one question down. Got any more?"
"Yeah, so, you seem to know a lot of things about my life, and I... I want to know why Emma betrayed me. Do you know anything about that?"
"Oh Taylor, still clinging to the thought of getting your ex-best-friend back. You know what, or rather who it reminds me of?" - he said with what sounded like genuine sadness in his voice.
"Who?" - she asked, but the reply she got definitely wasn't something she expected.
"But I know, I know~
Life can be beautiful~"
He started singing, and his voice was actually beautiful.
"I pray, I pray~
For a better way~
If we changed back then~
We could change again~
We can be beautiful~
Just not today~
Dear diary,
Why do they hate me?~
Why don't I fight back?~
Why do I act like such a creep?~
Why she betrayed me?~
Why do they hit me?~
Why do I cry myself to sleep?~
Somebody hug me!~
Somebody fix me!~
Somebody save me!~
Send me a sign, God!~
Give me some hope here!~
Something to live for!~"
Odis looked at her like he was expecting that she will get the reference, which she didn't. Music stopped being a part of her life after her mother's death. She still had the flute, but she hasn't practised playing it for two years, not to mention that it was ruined.
"I don't get the reference." - she said, flatly.
"Oh, come on! It's from {Heathers: The Musical}, 'though I changed a few words."
"Music really isn't my thing."
"Ugh, whatever. Back to your question." - he sounded like a kid that got his sandcastle ruined by a mean adult - "During your time away at summer camp, Emma and her father were attacked by a group of ABB thugs. They gave her a choice between losing an eye, an ear or her nose. She tried to fight back but failed. Then Shadow Stalker came in and saved their asses. Emma was traumatised by the event, but sadly, her father is a retard and didn't send her to a therapist. Then Sophia Hess came into her life and "fixed" her by making her believe into that bullshit "predators and prey" ideology. Emma was a predator 'cause she fought back, and you, Taylor, were prey. Basically, Emma bullied you 'cause she is an emotionally unstable wreck and the sense of superiority is the only thing holding her together." - he explained in a bored a-matter-of-fact manner.
'So that's why...'
Finally, she had the full picture, she understood what happened to her best friend. She wouldn't be able to forget and forgive Emma, but at least she understood. This city, this fucked up mess of a city, this is what took her best friend. Yes, Sophia didn't help the situation by making Emma into a monster, but even before that, her friend was already dead, ruined by the psychological trauma from the ABB attack. Of course, there was a possibility that Odis was just bullshitting her, but the way he got the timing of Emma's change exactly right, how he knew about her going to the summer camp and about Sophia talking 'predator and prey" nonsense, she doubted that this was just a made-up story.
"So, anything else you want to know?" - he asked as he finally finished his mug of cold brew.
'I'll think about it later. And I'll have to tell dad about it as well, maybe he could talk to Mr Barnes, make him realise that his daughter needs help.'
"I want to talk about my powers."
"What about them?"
"Well, I think that our powers are kinda similar, so hoped that you could give me some pointers."
"Okay, sure. Did you already figure something out on your own?"
"Yeah, I've tried a few things. I already figured that I could use that soul energy or whatever to strengthen my body, and tonight I figured that it makes my body tougher as well. This energy also heals my wounds on its own and reduces pain."
"How did you figure out that it makes your body tougher? Nevermind, I think I already know. You tried to harm yourself, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I tried to cut a palm of my hand with a kitchen knife at night."
"Do you understand why it was a dumb idea?"
"Yes, I already figured that if it made my body way stronger than it was tougher then I could've caused some serious harm to myself without figuring anything out, and if it didn't make me any tougher in the first place then it could've turned out even worse."
"Look at that self-reflection! That's a good start.~"
"So, I can kinda wound myself by putting some effort in, but the best I could do is break through the skin, and the wound healed immediately anyway. I also figured out an echolocation-like ability that allows me to feel where other people are by sensing their souls. To do that I just release a weak wave of my energy in all directions outside my body. I don't know exactly how it works beyond that. That's all I figured out so far."
"Okay, so, how good are you at manipulating the energy? Can you, like, supercharge a part of your body with it, or does it just spread equally and stays like that?"
"I think I can move it around a bit? I don't know for sure." - she shrugged.
"It should greatly improve the performance of that body part, beyond what it can normally do when enhanced by the energy along with the rest of the body, although I doubt that it will last for long. Now, about releasing the energy outside of your body, see if you can control it after you release it, try making the wave if energy move in one direction, instead of making it spread in all directions, try releasing the wave from a single part of your body instead of you the whole body. When you can do some of that just try mixing and matching these techniques together."
"Are you sure I should be able to do this?"
"I already had some idea about what your powerset is, based on what I've seen and felt three days ago, and what you told me today just confirmed that I was correct."
Odis once again started writing something in his notepad while Taylor finished her tea. When he was done, he ripped the page out and gave it to here.
"Here," - he said - "This is a list of powers that I think you definitely should have."
{Your powers:
Brute - superstrength, high-speed regeneration, pain suppression and enhanced durability
Mover - superspeed (burst), airwalking/flying
Thinker - soul sense
Shaker - soul crush aura
Blaster - energy blasts
Striker - enhanced close combat attacks (on top of superstrength)
Master - fear aura}
"Soul crush aura? Fear aura? Energy blasts?"
"Fear and soul-crushing auras are pretty much the same technique, the only difference being how strong the souls of people around you are and how much energy are you releasing. Remember how I dropped to one knee when you suddenly summoned all that energy? That's basically what it is and how it works, only then it was caused by some of your energy leaking outside on its own, instead of being released on purpose. The energy you release puts pressure on the souls in its area of effect, possibly crushing them. The energy blasts are simple enough to explain, just concentrate your energy in a small area around a body part or just outside your body and make it move in any single direction, then release your control over it. The striker power should be pretty simple as well, concentrate some energy in a single body part, then release some or all of the energy when you're in physical contact with the enemy as you strike them. Don't know exactly how your mover powers work, but you can probably figure it out on your own."
"This is... impressive, and kind of overwhelming. Can you do all of these as well? Is that how you know I should be able to do this?
"Well, kinda. I can do some of these, it's just that my energy itself is slightly different than yours and I have way less energy to work with overall. I usually rely on my ability to manipulate souls instead."
"Can I manipulate souls?"
"I don't really know, but you probably can't, or at the very least not in the same way I can. I'm not sure. Can you feel the souls inside objects?"
"No, I can't."
"Then you probably can't manipulate souls. Considering the ridiculous amount of energy that you have I don't think you would even need to. Now let's move on to what I have absolutely no idea about, your soul itself. I have no idea what the hell happened to it, but it's very different from normal souls."
"Yeah, I've sensed plenty of other souls already and figured that it's different. I know that the energy I use comes from what you described as the superdense core, and I have no idea about what's up with the shattered shell thing around it.
"Do these shards move around on their own?"
"No, they don't. They just float in place."
"Can you move them?"
"Yes, I can, but it doesn't do anything, they just stay where I leave them."
"Do they react to the energy flowing through your body?"
"No, they just float and that's it."
"Alright, do they feel different from your soul itself?"
"They don't really feel like anything. They're just there, I know that they're there and can move them around, but that's about it."
"Did you try, I don't know, moving them out of your body?"
"No, I didn't. Should I?"
"Maybe? I have no idea."
"Something else to try out and work on, I guess. Thanks for the pointers."
"You're welcome! So, is there anything else you want to ask?"
"No, I think that this is it."
"Alright, I'll be going then." - Odis said as he stood up and put his coat on.
"Can we talk like this again?" - Taylor asked as she was getting up as well.
"Sure, just call me or send a message on PHO."
"Wait," - Taylor stopped after putting her jacket on - "is there a chance that other customers overheard what we were talking about?"
"Nah," - Odis waved his hand in a dismissive gesture - "I've put a sound muffling barrier between us and the rest of the shop, and everyone was sitting pretty far away from us, not to mention the background music. And even if they did somehow overhear anything, chances are they think we're Cape geeks or something."
Odis grabbed his paper cup and they moved towards the exit. This time Odis walked out first, then once again held the door until she passed through. They said their goodbyes and moved in opposite directions.
Taylor did not immediately go home after her talk with Odis. No, instead, she went to the public library. While the internet was not the most reliable source of information, she had to at least try to check the information she got today. While it was possible that the self-proclaimed "like, really small-time Villain" indeed just forgot to tell her about the rules, it just didn't fit Taylor's image of him. Odis seemed like he was very well informed about many different things. Yes, sometimes he behaved like a socially awkward weirdo, but he definitely wasn't a forgetful idiot.
He knew enough about PRT to predict exactly how they would react and how to force them to do what you want. When he explained the rules today, he didn't just give her a list, he explained exactly why these rules exist, how they seem to work and why they actually don't work at all. And finally, he knew exactly what happened to Emma, Sophia and herself. Someone who knew that much and was capable of using that knowledge to benefit himself couldn't be stupid, only careless.
The first thing that Taylor looked up on PHO were the Unwritten Rules. She found several discussion and speculation threads about the topic. Almost all lists of rules that she found in these threads were identical to the one she got from Odis. She also found multiple posts criticising these rules, most making the same points that Odis made.
Next thing she searched for was the information about Triggers. It was strange that she and Odis supposedly shared the same powers. After all, they weren't related like New Wave members were. It didn't take her much time or effort to find a plausible explanation. She found multiple threads and articles about Capes with similar or even exactly the same powers, and almost all of them mentioned the same term when trying to explain the strange phenomenon - Cluster Trigger. It was an official term that was openly used in multiple books and research papers about Parahumans and Powers. As far as she figured Cluster Trigger happened when several people triggered in the same place at the same time, and while it was slightly different from her own circumstances some people speculated that being near another Cape during the Trigger could cause similar or even exactly the same results.
The last thing she planned to search for today was the information about Shadow Stalker. There were only three actually useful threads about the 'heroine" and more than a dozen useless shipping threads. The first thread was dedicated to Stalker as a Ward, the second was a dead thread from her time as a Vigilante, and the last one was a bashing thread, dedicated to criticising Stalker. Unsurprisingly, the bashing thread was full of neo-Nazis. After searching through the dead thread she found out that Stalker started her career as a Vigilante shortly before Taylor herself left for the summer camp. Judging by what those who witnessed Stalker in action and got to talk to her at the time said, Taylor figured that even back then Sophia couldn't shut up about the "predators and prey" bullshit. This didn't exactly confirm Odis' story about why Emma betrayed their friendship, but it sure made it more believable. Checking the ABB thread also showed that at the time they were way more active when it came to kidnapping girls and women until Empire made a big push into their territory and killed one of the leading members of the gang.
This was all of the information that Taylor planned to check, but at the last moment before leaving she decided to search for one more thing. She typed {Heathers: The Musical} into the search engine, but all she found was an old movie, a dark comedy released in 1989. There was no musical titled Heathers. She tried typing in some of the lyrics that she could remember and, once again, found nothing on the topic. Something wasn't right here. When Odis said that he forgot to mention the rules, he had a motive to lie, a pretty obvious one. But this, he had no reason to lie here. In the end, after several more failed attempts, Taylor decided to just give up for now and mark it as another mystery in the pile. She left the library and hurried back home, just in case her father decided to leave from work early today.
Author's Note:
Ha! The longest chapter yet! I would've released it yesterday, but I lost half of the chapter due to an accident with my laptop...
