Gibbons Home; March 24 2008 3:15 PM
Nothing worthy of note had happened during school aside from what appeared to be the usual educational efforts. The gang members were relatively subdued after the antics the gangs had pulled. They were probably laying low and trying to stay out of trouble while tempers of the heroes and police were still flaring. There was still a bit of posturing and banter, but they avoided doing anything physical to each other.
Kotoro, on the other hand, was still being subjected to the attention of the students with ties to the Empire. He kept up his meek and timid act, but it put him in a sour mood to not be able to fight back without catastrophic results. He really needed to get a handle on suppressing his powers properly. He'd gladly show them to a proper beatdown provided they could walk away from it afterward. He didn't want to turn them into chunky salsa or cause severe internal damage, which was still a real risk at this point.
He wouldn't feel so bad if they were to die due to being total jerks to the wrong guy, or being responsible for such deaths himself. Not normally anyway. The antisocial psychopaths were practically begging for it. However, running afoul of the legal system and getting ejected from the wards would make his life significantly more annoying to manage, and they weren't really a threat. He could deal with these nuisances thinking he was a pushover until he developed enough control over his strength to fight back without exposing himself.
Perhaps something in the archives they had built from interviewing the citizens of Yardrat, and the databases they had generously offered for copying while they had been investigating spatial warp phenomena together would prove beneficial to his efforts. Despite naturally being quite physically weak on average, the inhabitants of Yardrat were extremely well adept at ki control. They used it to increase their strength and enable fantastical abilities of many varieties, but it could also be used in the opposite way, shrinking instead of growing, and using a softer touch instead of a destructive blow.
On another, related, topic, he'd overheard a conversation between Epistēmē and one of the senior Yardrat trainers about the underlying mechanics and theory behind their teleportation technique, which relied either on being intimately familiar with a particular location, or on being able to locate a target person's KI. He knew from the existence of the scout scope technology and associated scout visors being developed by the Cold Empire's R & D teams that it was possibly to build KI detectors, but it hadn't occurred to him before overhearing that conversation that people could learn to sense KI directly. That was worth learning even if it didn't assist with his other issue.
He would bring the ideas up with Epistēmē the next time they had a moment in private. He would need to make another trip to the Techne soon. He'd have to improve his stealth or move faster than others would easily detect. He'd apparently been spotted in the area by cape enthusiasts on prior visits, and he really didn't want to bring any attention to the vessel until it could be moved to a more suitable location. Epistēmē had plans to meet with the leaders of the local PRT and Protectorate later in the week to determine what his own plans would be as far as cape work and affiliation.
He heard Donald enter the house and call up to him. "Kotoro I'm going to take a trip out to the Dockworkers Union Offices in a bit. We are having an informal meeting today, and they'll be serving dinner. Several of the members will be taking their families and kids. Janet has a grant due soon so she'll be working late at the lab, but if you want to head over with me you might make some new friends".
"I will come. Have some time. Console duty at 6."
"That won't be a problem. They'll be wrapping things up officially at 5:30 and you're plenty fast enough to make it to the PRT from any location in the city in a pinch. Bring that outfit of yours in case you need to suit up, we can leave it in a bag in the car with other clothes piled in with it. We can stuff that bag in a trash bag or something to make it uninteresting to any thieves who might want to try a smash and grab on any cars. The area around the docks isn't always safe from that kind of thing."
Kotoro packed his things into a gym bag and got into Donald's car. The dockworkers offices were only a short drive away. A cloaked spy drone followed them, staying nearby and keeping overwatch.
DockWorkers Union Offices; March 24 2008 4:00 PM
Donald pulled into a parking lot next to a fairly small business office adjoining several industrial looking buildings and rows of warehouses. In the distance there was a crane that had once been used to load shipping crates onto barges and other similar vessels, which hadn't seen use in quite some time. There were a few signs placed indicating that the meeting and meal would be held in one of the warehouses.
The parking lot was still relatively empty, as they had arrived a bit on the early side. Donald had quite a few years of seniority and had participated in negotiations alongside the leadership and representatives of his union, and due to being seen as a leader among the contractors and construction workers had also taken a leadership role in the negotiations with the dockworkers in their efforts to merge.
"Hey Donny!" called a tall man from inside the warehouse. "We could use a hand. We still have several tables to set up before the catering arrives."
"Sure thing Danny!" Donald yelled back. He turned to his young charge. "Kotoro your help would be appreciated as well. Just don't show off too much."
Danny led the two of them to a second warehouse where they kept various party and office supplies. "Who's the kid?" Kotoro heard Danny ask as he and Donald carried a set of tables out toward the other warehouse. "I know you and Janet don't have kids and you'd mentioned you didn't have any nieces or nephews."
"We'd signed up for an emergency foster list for disaster relief, refugees of wars, endbringer victims, survivors of cape induced disasters and the like with a joint PRT, National Guard, and Armed Forces sponsored program several years ago. The young fellow found himself without guardians due to unfortunate circumstances and the program called us in. He's been picking up English fairly quickly, but he still has a bit of culture shock. It has only been a little while, so we haven't had a chance to get to know him very well yet, but he's been polite and very well behaved so far."
The voices of the two men faded as they got farther away, and Kotoro hefted two folded up tables, as he figured that wouldn't cause people to ask too many questions, and moved to catch up with them. The topic had changed by the time he got to the area where the tables were being set up.
"The city rejected my official request to do something about the abandoned ships in the bay. I'm beginning to lose hope that they'll ever do anything about it. I can't figure out why they're stonewalling though. It doesn't make any sense. They've cited environmental concerns, risk of drawing attention from endbringers, and a whole lot of other things, but none of the responses are reasonable in a risk vs reward analysis. Even before tinkers we had the technology to deal with sunken ships without causing environmental disasters, and WITH them it should be easy to do safely. Something else is behind this. Something they're not willing to discuss or admit, but I don't know what it is." Danny said.
"Considering how many jobs are on the line and the health of an entire industry that used to be the base of the economy in this city, I'm forced to agree. You'd think it would be a political windfall to fix the situation. Is there any competition that might be buying them off? Trucking or train shipping companies or something?" Donald asked.
"I don't think so, many of those companies used to bring freight to the docks for international shipping. We synergize and cooperate far more than we compete. The only real areas where we overlap are on short-distance deliveries, and for those their prices are so much better than ours that it wasn't really a competition in the first place. Only companies that were doing large volume or shipping things with us on the same vessels already for a stop further down the line had any reason to use the docks for short distance freight." Danny said. "The situation has forced us to become very creative with finding jobs for the guys. There are still areas where we can get shipping and loading done, but that's where the merger comes in, more efficiency for project contracts and finding workers of varying backgrounds and skills. It is better for everybody really. Even if the docks were to be cleared, it would still be worth it. We should have done this years ago."
The sounds of vehicles engines and car doors opening and closing could be heard. "That is probably Annette and Taylor with the catering." Danny said. "We should probably go help them. There will be a lot of hot food trays and several long party size sub sandwiches." Between the 5 of them the task was quickly completed. The long sandwiches were laid out next to each other on two of the tables and four tables had metal trays and blue flame burners keeping the many aluminum trays of food warm. They quickly retrieved and assembled the remaining tables and folding chairs with the assistance of several dockworkers and construction workers who had arrived early to prepare the seating arrangements.
Now that they could relax Annette took an interest in Kotoro reaching out to shake his hand. "We haven't met. I'm Annette Hebert. Danny there, is my husband, and this is our daughter Taylor". Taylor gave him a wide smile and a shy wave. She'd been talking to her father and mother at a fast pace while they were working, practically bouncing between them, but for now she remained quiet, allowing her mother to speak.
"I am Kotoro. I had no adult guardians due to an accident, so Donald and Janet were assigned to me." Kotoro said, matching up his story to Donald's version of events, which answered the question honestly while not providing many details.
He didn't have to fake sadness, even though he had resigned himself to being away from his parents for a time when he fled planet Vegeta. He was still feeling the sting of not being able to see his father. They hadn't been terribly close, due to Saiyajin social norms not including stable two parent households and a cushy family life, but his father had still kept in touch and tried to build a relationship of sorts, which had meant a lot to Kotoro, as it was far more effort than most non-royal fathers gave to show affection for their offspring. There were also currently no options for clandestine long distance communication, which would have been an option if he hadn't jumped into a different universe. He hadn't seen his mother in over a year by that point, since she had returned to her home planet to present her findings to the scientific council. He had grown accustomed to her long absence, but anticipation of prolonged lack of contact with no clear endpoint renewed the freshness of the separation.
He offered his hand for the shake she had extended, only to be surprised when she exclaimed "Oh you poor thing!" and pulled him into a hug. His eyes went wide and he blushed a bit. He could see Taylor smirking a little. Annette released Kotoro, turned to Taylor, and said. "Taylor why don't you show Kotoro around and see if you can cheer him up a bit while we wait for the rest of the guests to arrive?" He hadn't expected that. He DID feel a bit better after the hug, but it was extremely embarrassing. He felt a momentary impulse to explain that his parents weren't actually dead, at least as of the time he left, but immediately realized that he would have to tell them FAR too much classified information for that to be a good idea. If they kept pressing on the topic, he could admit some information, but he'd have to be careful what he revealed. He'd gone over some cover stories with the PRT that should work to provide seemingly meaningful answers while not divulging any secrets.
Kotoro and Taylor wandered around the warehouses while the adults prepared the tables and arranged the buffet area.
"What do you like to do for fun?" Taylor asked Kotoro.
"I enjoy exercise and train martial arts. Fight strong guys. I also like learn how machine work. Take apart thing. Build new thing." Kotoro answered.
"Oh cool what stuff have you built? Have you ever had a chance to look at tinker tech? What martial arts do you study? There are a lot of dojos and mixed martial arts places in the city, have you found one yet?" Taylor asked rapidly becoming bouncier and more excited by the minute.
"Simple shop materials and tools. No tinker tech yet, but I am interested to see if I get chance" Kotoro recited as his prepared non-answer. He couldn't exactly discuss his real projects without exposing himself. Speaking of which he should probably set up a wood and metalworking shop to use as a decoy if anybody asked questions. He'd learn something by doing such work anyway. "I do not think there is english word for style I use. Was traditional style of my people. What is dojo?"
"Dojos are like schools for martial arts. Your people? Where did you come from again?" Taylor asked?
"Father from small nomadic nation, very tribal. Warrior culture. Had mix modern technology and traditional culture. Mother from more advanced culture. She visit home for big science report 5 months before I separate from father by disaster. Was displaced to alternate earth. No way home." Kotoro replied. He had been told that admitting to being from an alternate universe was not interesting enough to make him a target, and that revealing it would be comparatively mundane and less problematic to admitting he was a powerful alien.
"Have you read or seen any information about the local capes?" Taylor asked Kotoro, looking eager to change the subject away from his past, realizing it was a painful subject.
"This idea of cape is new to me. I am adjusting. No Parahumans in my world. I find tinkers very interesting. Armsmaster is most known in city. Brutes and blasters seem cool too. Masters scary." Kotoro answered.
"Armsmaster is SO COOL" Taylor gushed. She began telling Kotoro of all sorts of escapades the tinker had gotten into in the past several months. They spent the rest of their time waiting for the meal to begin wandering around the storage warehouses while Taylor shared all of the cape lore she knew.
The meal eventually began. At this point Kotoro lost track of Taylor for a time and while he tried to hold back to not draw too much attention to himself, it was still apparent that he had a larger appetite than one would expect given his size and people did stare a bit after his 5th helping. He politely notified the hosts, and Taylor who was sitting with her parents, that he had a prior engagement that he would have to leave early to attend. He grabbed the bag from Donny's vehicle and made his way toward the downtown area.
Medhall Corporate Offices; March 24 2008 4:00 PM
Max Anders sat at his desk, placing his hands together and steepling his fingers while he read over Brad Meadow's chart. Brad's Parahuman abilities had allowed him to survive his encounter with a previously unknown Parahuman, and heal at an accelerated rate, but under Max's orders he had admitted himself for a thorough medical examination. Satisfied that everything appeared to check out medically, Max had summoned Brad to his office as he was being discharged.
Max closed the medical information system interface and switched to the series of videos and PHO comments documenting the incident, as well as notes he'd taken from the rather rushed debrief he'd taken from the rest of Brad's team when they had arrived at base, visibly shaken, dragging a barely held together pile of metal scrap with chunks of asphalt still stuck to it, explaining that Brad was still alive but in need of treatment. He needed to refresh the accounts of events he had available before talking to his right hand and getting his account of things.
This new cape was intriguing from an objective point of view. Apart from being an obvious brute, he could fly, was extremely agile, and apparently had accelerated speed and reaction time. He took quite a bit of abuse from the team while hindered by Cricket, but showed no signs of injury afterward.
An intercom started and Max's secretary spoke "Mr. Meadows has arrived". "Send him in" Max replied. A few moments later Brad opened the door and stepped through, and Max gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
"I've gone over all footage available on PHO and spoke with the others, so you don't need to go over every detail in a play by play. You can tell me anything you think the others may have missed. I'm interested in any impressions you had of the boy, and anything tactically useful".
Brad sighed "I don't like to admit it, but I gravely underestimated the little bastard. Usually don't get brutes of that caliber who don't show it in some way or gain some press coverage before we run into them."
Max rolled his eyes "yes, that much is obvious from what I saw, it isn't a good look, but if he proves to be as powerful as I think he is, I don't think it'll hurt your, or more importantly the Empire's, reputation in the long run. For now people will laugh of course, but it should pass once his abilities are understood by the public. More importantly, what do we do if we run into this kid again? We need to determine rules of engagement."
Brad sat back and folded his arms. "Well to be frank, he completely no-sold me, and I'm pretty sure that if he wanted us dead we'd never have gotten away. I've never had someone tear my changer form apart like that before. I've had chunks taken out of me here and there, but nothing like that.." Thinking through what he remembered of the interaction, he frowned.
"He looked normal at first, while we were bullshitting and posturing, but when I crashed into him and he realized he could get a bit more serious with me, it was like a mask came off. He didn't hesitate and took me apart immediately. He had confidence on a level you wouldn't expect from a new trigger. I don't think this is his first cape fight, but I've never heard of a brute quite like him. He had an accent, but I can't place it. He looked a bit asian, but it didn't sound like any accent i've heard before. I definitely don't think he's local though."
"Maybe he's from the CUI from some minority group that speaks a language we're not used to hearing in the West. They're suspected to recruit capes by force and train the ones with strong powers into special forces of a sort." Max said.
"Maybe, but they're also known for being brutal and murderous, so why am I still breathing?" said Brad. He continued "At any rate, getting into a scrap with him is a bad idea if you're working with powers that rely on cutting, pressure, or physical force unless you're top tier."
"Cricket seemed to affect him just fine, aside from it not actually damaging him. He was able to power through it eventually. Victor might be able to steal some of his training away, though he'd be at an extreme physical disadvantage regardless. I'm not sure any skills he could steal would let him avoid the beating he'd get after, and if you take too much, he might not remember how to control his strength, and all that you'd have left would be fleshy paste or a fine red mist." Brad added
"One of the powers Othala grants might work, but you're limited in how long it'd last and it might backfire. Hate to give him the idea that you're invincible only for it to run out right as he lands a blow." Max said.
"Night might be able to get him from behind, but the second he looks at her she's toast. Fog's ability might work though. Can't hit gas. Only question is whether it'd actually hurt him. Worth a shot if we end up cornered. What about Purity and her blasts?" Brad ventured.
"She is powerful enough to attempt it if we get into a fight with him again. If it turns out he's somehow resistant to her power, she might not be able to get away. From the rumors I've been hearing and reading of sightings of this new cape he's very fast, and if he flies as fast as he moves on the ground, well Kayden isn't a brute. It could go badly. Out of all of us, she probably has the best chance of doing damage to him given he took your changer form to the face and didn't flinch." Max said.
Making a gesture indicating he'd come to a decision, Max said, "We will go for a 'hands off and observe' approach for now until we can assess his abilities more accurately. If you can identify areas he frequents, try to avoid sending any Parahuman teams into those territories if you can help it. If he happens to come after you put on a show for PR's sake, posture, grandstand, and create distractions, and look for an escape route. Don't make us look weak, but I don't want you to be captured again. You've pissed off the PRT a bit too often to think they'll be lenient, and spending resources on a breakout would be dangerous and wasteful. I'll arrange for a more formal discussion of our strategy tomorrow regarding our short term operations expansion efforts, and this new cape, with the others soon, so be ready to attend. I'd like you to relay your observations to the rest of the Empire."