Chapter 5: Wave

There was a general sense of unease in the room. Emergency meetings for the senior directors were never for good news, of course, but it was highly unusual for them all to be teleported to an unknown location for one.

Even more so for Legend to be there in his capacity as head of the Protectorate, an uncharacteristically grim look on his face.

There had been more than a few curious gazes sent in Colin's direction too, but her friend seemed indifferent to the attention.

While the room was spacious the ceiling was low slung for its size, owing to being built inside a mountain base, and the air had a stale tinge to it that only added to the discomfort.

"Thank you all for coming." Chief Director Costa-Brown said, as though they had been given a choice. The invitation had been rather clear.

"At 21:34 EST on the 18th of May Khepri made contact with Dragon via a backdoor connection."

The various directors stilled and Dragon suspected they would've already begun shouting if it weren't for the severe expression that Costa-Brown was sending them.

"Khepri had infiltrated the Dragonslayers base not long prior and had killed all the individuals within, including their leader Saint. She then proceeded to use the direct connection they had to Dragon's computer to initiate a conversation. I will replay that recording now."

Dragon didn't pay too much attention to the video, watching the reactions of the audience instead. They had been building up to an explosive response but most of them had enough experience to know to wait for all the information before starting up.

The moment the recording stopped the Director of San Francisco, Antony Fairchild, burst onto his feet.

"That happened over five days ago!" He began, thunderous. "Five days! And we are only just hearing of this now?"

She understood his rage. The Leviathan had hit San Francisco only that January and they had lost an entire district to it. Even now the city was struggling to recover.

"I can think of few things more urgent than the Endbringers!" Fairchild paused to take a breath and Legend used the moment to speak up.

"There is little with can do with this information at the moment." As always his voice was deep and calm, a confident tone that soothed ruffled feathers. "Even less so before we had our Thinkers look over it, or Dragon analyse the base."

Fairchild scowled but settled back into his seat and everyone's attention returned to the Chief Director. She nodded her thanks at Legend before continuing to speak.

"Watchdog's conclusions are tenuous, and they have openly admitted that. Endbringers have always been resistant to Thinker powers, especially Khepri. They believe that the resting period that Endbringers take is not something they require, but a conscious decision, although this is drawn only from Khepri's use of the word 'will', rather than 'need, when she informed Dragon and Armsmaster about her returning to sleep. She displayed none of the wounds we inflicted upon her in Las Vegas, bumping up their estimated recovery time significantly. This has now ruled out the possibility that we could pursue them after an attack to whittle them down."

"Not that anyone was stupid enough to try that anyway." Muttered the Rayleigh director.

"Khepri also did not seem to have her signature khopesh with her, but it was unable to be determined the reason why. Her physical dimensions had not changed and what we know of Endbringer physiology would rule out her absorbing it into her body somehow. Dragon found no indication in the base that she had used her weapon, nor was is left at the site." Costa-Brown paused then, sweeping her focus across the assembled people, and Dragon had to admire her ability to play a crowd.

"Most troublingly." She started. "Is the implication that the Endbringers are sapient. While we know they possess at least rudimentary intelligence it was previously unclear as to whether this was genuine or merely a form of complex programming.

Despite many years of research we still do not understand where the Endbringers come from, or even their true goals, and as such any theories as regards to their true nature have been mere speculation. Watchdog have, tentatively, said that they believe Khepri shows signs of true sapience. We cannot assume the same of the others, although it seems likely."

"Khepri has always been different." Colin spoke up for the first time, echoing the conversation of a few days prior. "More than the Simurgh, and she was unlike her brothers already."

"As there have been no more Endbringers after her, thankfully, we do not know if this represents a changing trend or if Khepri is the exception. Before we start the discussion Dragon will report her findings."

Dragon switched the screen behind Costa-Brown to show her face, and she nodded her greetings.

"Our investigation into what Khepri was thanking me for exactly hit a dead end quickly. Of all the capes she has second triggered few had close contact with me, and of those none have had a negative impact on the world that I would consider noteworthy. The list of those she has spared is longer but equally as unhelpful."

"Watchdog believes that whatever it was Khepri was genuinely thankful for it, and not in a malicious way." Costa-Brown added.

"Regardless, that's an avenue will we continue to explore. Carry on, Dragon."

"Thank you. I tracked the connection to a base on the coast of British Columbia, near the Hakai Protected Area. Aside from the corpses, all of whom seemed to have been killed by asphyxiation and had suffered extreme trauma to the eyes, mouth, throat, and lungs, the only evidence of Khepri's intrusion was a borehole that tunnelled directly into one of the rooms. It was approximately twenty metres deep, nearly perfectly circular, and appeared to have been cut with the kind of precision you normally find in laboratories.

There were no records of seismic activity in the area, and from what I can gather the Dragonslayers were unaware of Khepri's presence until the last moment. While this seems partly due to her Stranger abilities, which we are still unsure of the details of, it would indicate that the hole was created very quietly.

I found no sand in the base, even inside the corpses.

Additionally, placing the time of death at approximately twenty minutes before the call took place and assuming the borehole took at least half an hour to complete, the minimum speed Khepri would have had to achieve to reach the island after leaving Las Vegas at around 3pm the previous day would've been just over 70kmph if she went in a straight line. That would've placed her in close proximity to three major cities, none of which detected her in any way. Finally, Khepri was somehow aware of both the Dragonslayers link to me, their location, and how to operate a computer."

Everyone digested this for a moment, but Dragon could tell the mood wasn't good. If anything knowing more about an Endbringer just served to show their advantages.

She had to admit to herself that the information they had gathered hadn't given her any hope either.

Even Legend seemed unwilling to speak up now, instead staring at the map on the screen showing Khepri's predicted route.

She had been glad that Colin hadn't tried to investigate the base with her, being unwilling to fly all the way over and back when he 'trusted her to get the job done while he researched any connections'. It had meant that it was easy to hide the evidence of her being an A.I and destroy the device that Saint had been keeping in the base.

Amongst it all had been some notes he had written, worrying that she was starting to overcome the inherent limitations that her father had built into her. She ignored the twinge of resentment with ease, instead thinking that that, at least, was giving her some hope.

She could do so much more if she weren't restrained. One of the directors speaking brought her attention back to the meeting.

"So we have nothing to help us in combatting them." Director Fairchild said, sounding exhausted. "The biggest breakthrough in nearly twenty years and it tells us what? That the monsters are intelligent? Anyone who has fought them, seen them in person can say the same thing. That they are mysterious, that we do not really know their limits? The same."

Costa-Brown fixed him with a look that communicated very well that those were the exact reasons she hadn't informed them all earlier. Another short silence gathered, until one of the youngest of the group, Arthur Crowley, the Director in Minneapolis, spoke up.

"Have we ever tried communicating with Khepri? I know that there were attempts with Behemoth and Leviathan and that the Swiss spoke to the Simurgh without a response before Lausanne, but Khepri specifically?" He glanced around then continued with more energy when no one said anything.

"Armsmaster said it before, that she is different, and we have never responded with anything but force to her appearances."

"You should ask the people of Tunis, or Khabul, exactly how she responds when we don't play her game." Director Armstrong growled. "There is nothing left of those cities aside from dust and bones. You'll get nothing but death from her."

"We should at least try." Crowley replied. "What more could we lose at this point? I'll even volunteer to lead the delegation. If I die then I die, but I will go out trying to make a difference. I would not be willing to ask any of my men or the parahumans I work with to take such a risk if I wasn't willing to myself."

There were slow nods at his words and passion, although none seemed eager, but Legend sported a small and genuine smile on his face.

"What would a delegation entail, exactly?" The Chief Director asked, still expressionless.

"What do you think appropriate?" He responded. "I will be there with just a suit and megaphone if you allow it."

"Then you will be there with a suit and megaphone. It is unlikely than anything else would help you."

Crowley paled slightly at this, but nodded regardless.

"I will spread word that we are trying something different next time Khepri attacks, and to not interfere." Legend said, leaning forward. "And Director Crowley…thank you. It is not often that I see such hope regarding the Endbringers these days."

The director blushed and nodded.

Costa-Brown stood and the rest followed suit, waiting for her to finish the meeting.

"I will continue to update you in regards to this matter, as and when we receive new information. Dismissed."

As they all began to leave Dragon noted that the Chief Director indicated for Crowley to stay. They waited until the others had left, including Legend, until she spoke.

"Legend is right. It has been a long time since anyone has had hope." She seemed to measure him with her gaze, steady and unrelenting. He didn't falter.

"My older sister was a parahuman. She was killed by Leviathan in Seattle. Her death was what drove me to become a director."

Crowley paused, as if he were expecting Costa-Brown to comment, then carried on after she didn't respond. "I was angry, at first, as anyone would be, but after a while I couldn't help but think what good an Endbringer could do if only they were on our side. It was a foolish thought, and still is if I am honest, but Khepri seems the best chance to change that. Imagine if in the future such a thing happened and I didn't make the attempt next time she attacks. I don't think I could live with myself knowing that every death until then would be my fault, simply because I was terrified of trying. Terrified of doing the right thing. So, I am going to try."

He stood straighter at the end, and his hands only shook slightly. The Chief Director took a step forward and then, looking almost uncomfortable at the action, rested her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

"You are a good man, Arthur Crowley."

She sounded almost lost, to Dragon, and she had to wonder at how much despair Rebecca Costa-Brown kept hidden if one man being earnest and brave could unsettle her so.

-...

We're s- so very small, in the end.

The first bullet hit me from behind, where my mask offered no coverage, and I slowly toppled. The second hit me before I could fall, before there could be any pain.

She awoke to a featureless plain, accompanied by a throbbing in the back of her head and on the stump of her arm. She had...Scion had been defeated. Contessa had talked, had promised something, then shot her. She wore her old suit, from when she was Skitter, and memories of Brockton Bay flashed through her mind. A bit of movement caught her eye and she turned her head sharply to look upon a woman wearing the face of her mother. She was sitting in a chair, a content smile on her face, and aside from the silver hair and eyes looked identical to Annette Hebert. The woman gestured, inhumanly graceful, at the empty seat opposite her.

"My name is Eden. I believe we have much to discuss, Taylor Hebert. Do have a seat."

_...

I am not as happy about this chapter, but I'll be posting one tomorrow or Sunday that I am more excited about.

I have also decided on a final direction and end to the story!

Also might've forgotten to add Eden's name in.

To be clear, not every post-chapter is going to be a Khep/Ziz convo. I'm going to start doing little flashbacks at times too, as in this is a flashback but I don't want to awkwardly put a

"Many Years Ago" crap in. Edited it to make the timeline clearer. Lines taken from Speck 30.7

I'll try and fix the Khepri/Simurgh convos but I've not settled on a good way to do so yet.

If there are any inconsistencies between this and the stories on SB/SV its because ffn is a pain to edit on and I've forgotten to, so assume they are the proper versions.