Chp.8: Whirl
He is right, she thought. The mask made it harder than normal to tell but the Endbringer was similar enough to humans that her body language translated, clear and precise. Khepri did not like Rebecca Costa-Brown. More than that, however, was how instantly she had been recognised.
There had been no hesitation, no moment of unsure identity. Reactions that fast and pure could only come from an intimate familiarity.
"I am the second person she has shown previous awareness and opinions, after Dragon. The same may have been true of the Dragonslayers, but we cannot know for sure."
Trying to deny it would simply have raised their suspicions further, and made her look guilty, although of what even she was unsure. Antagonising an Endbringer?
"I find myself wondering if we are perhaps not the first humans she has been in contact with."
"Someone could be feeding her information, possibly biased?" offered Piggot.
Alexandria would admit that she appreciated the professional subservience Director Piggot gave her.
It made their experiment in Brockton Bay much easier to slip by the organisation as a whole.
The distance she kept from her parahuman allies helped as well. She also, thankfully, had a good head on her shoulders. Alex nodded at her words but didn't interrupt, letting her theorise out loud.
"They probably approached her first. If Crowley's idea is right, then she has always been willing to talk and no one, until now, has capitalised on it.
The Fallen are the likely suspects and are antagonistic towards the PRT, but that wouldn't explain her fondness for Dragon, nor how she found the location of the Dragonslayers."
Alexandria deliberated over whether to encourage the line of thought or not. On one hand it would serve to divert attention away from her when she was fairly certain why Khepri disliked her, but it would also waste resources on a fruitless investigation.
While Khepri's knowledge was concerning, the source of it was doubtfully hu-.
"The Simurgh," she breathed, eyes widening. "We have been treating her far too much like a parahuman, too much like a human in general. We have always theorised that the Simurgh could direct the other Endbringers, but if they directly communicate then Khepri will have all the information she needs."
Honestly she wanted to curse up a storm. Cauldron had been doing okay. Things were steady. They could account for most variables, and then… and then a bloody Endbringer had decided to grow a personality.
Doctor Mother was unnerved, and Contessa was useless for once, while the rest of them floundered for ideas. David was livid, enough that even Alexandria was feeling wary of him, although he had refused to explain why.
"It feels almost pointless to stand around guessing if that is the case," Dragon said, drawing Alex out of her thoughts. "It may sound fatalistic, but if this is a combined plot with the Simurgh to harm humanity then there is little we can do to stop it at the moment. I remain hopeful, though. There is something strangely genuine about Khepri. Regardless, our courses of action will hardly change."
"She was erratic today," Armsmaster added, his voice unusually quiet.
He was staring out through the window, not really looking at anything.
"You said she isn't human but even to me she seemed to express far more emotion than before." His attention returned to the others. "If they wanted something destroyed, or someone killed, they would simply go and do it under the guise of a city attack. This is unusual enough that I think Dragon is right. I am also hopeful." He added, as if he were unsure that they got the underlying message.
"Keep me updated," Alexandria said, nodding her thanks at them all. "I need to go and warn Director Stoutfield to treat his newest parahuman with care. Dismissed." She waited long enough to seem polite then ended the connection, sinking back into her chair as she did so.
Her hand rose up to rub at her eye, almost vacantly, as she thought back to the image of the Endbringer and the scowling green eyes behind her mask.
Khepri had known that she was Alexandria.
()
For someone of his size, Counterpoise thought, Shepherd really knew how to move.
The Case 53 had been with them for a fortnight now and was settling into the team almost as easily as she had. Admittedly he had been a bit strange at first, flicking back and forth between moods, but after that had begun to pass they had all chalked it up to the oddities of memory loss and moved on.
Although the ease with which the big guy had taken to fighting and team exercises had made Mattock wonder out loud to them all if Shepherd had been military before his Case 53'ing.
Counterpoise certainly liked him, more than some of the Wards team she had recently left, but the smooth ease with which he was dodging her shots was starting to rile her up. She let another bullet fly from her sling and Shepherd fully pirouetted onto his other foot, cloak swirling out, and she missed by mere inches.
"Fuck, dude!" she cursed.
Counterpoise hooked two bullets into her sling this time, spinning them up to speed and feeling her power work on the ammo.
Each extra rotation added more, so she could either loose straight away for her base amount or keep spinning. Five loops would be five times as much speed and force, and so on.
She had been allowed to stack it up to a hundred rotations during her power testing then promptly told that she was to never go above ten as a Ward nor higher than once against a normal person.
All of that was apparently useless against Shepherd, his gently smiling mask only adding to her irritation. She didn't think that he had caught sight of her double loading, so when she next fired she kept both bullets relatively close to each other.
The first was dodged, as normal, but the second impacted into the cloak that Shepherd had drawn up with a bone tingling crack. The bullet was cratered into the rock, webs of cracks radiating out, but thankfully hadn't pierced through.
"Chloe!" Mattock shouted, signalling for the training to end.
"It's fine Matt, Shepherd can take it. Look." Counterpoise gestured, and true to her word the bullet had already been pushed out and the crater almost completely healed up.
"Whether or not he can handle it is irrelevant. This is a live fire training session, you don't get to pull stunts like that."
"But-"
"Nor was it the point of the exercise," he continued. "The aim wasn't to score but to practice your aim against a target whose reactions are better than yours."
"Alright alright," she said, flustered and annoyed. "Can we try the proximity ones?"
Her team leader considered her for a moment, holding her gaze, before nodding and moving back towards Magellan, who was also supervising. Counterpoise took out one of the blue bullets and slipped it into her sling, looping it around without actually engaging her power while she waited for Mattock to explain to Shepherd.
"These are tinkertech bullets I've supplied Counterpoise with. They'll beep if you're in range of the blast but won't actually go off unlike the live ones, which are normally filled with containment foam or, in more serious situations, explosives."
Shepherd nodded in his easy way, and when he glanced towards Mattock in the process Counterpoise struck.
A high-pitched beep rang out as it passed by the Case 53, who had moved too late to dodge it fully.
"Your arm and hand stuck,." Magellan drawled, for the sake of keeping track.
Counterpoise continued firing, trying to anticipate how Shepherd would dodge. He had been hit a few more times before he adjusted to the radius of the bullets and his earlier smooth movements had become jerkier and more urgent.
Counterpoise was smiling now and could feel a thrum of glee in her blood. She managed a low shot that bounced on the floor, coming in at an unexpected angle, and it beeped right next to Shepherd.
"Your foot has been stuck to the ground."
It had to be said that Shepherd was an honest player. As soon as it had been called he kept his right foot firmly planted on the ground, not even turning on it. She took little time after that to cover him enough that Mattock signalled the end of the session.
"Good work both of you. For the most part," he gave her a firm glare and she shrugged but nodded her head to show she was taking it in. "Poise, you did as well as you could with your normal ammo, but that's why the proximity ammunition exists. You also capitalised on Shepherd's lack of wariness well, but you got too cocky at the end. Containment foam doesn't work on all parahuman powers, so don't assume they are down and out just because you've tagged them."
"Okay. Fair's fair," she said, acknowledging his point.
"Shep," Mattock continued, clapping the guy on his elbow. "You're a big target, so you'll always be one of the first aimed at, as well as relatively easier to hit. We'll continue to train you with dodging, but you are coming along well."
The Case 53 shifted his mask to show a bigger smile then gripped Counterpoise on the shoulder.
The gesture didn't have an exact meaning for him, but he had made it clear it was a positive one, so she smiled back and took his large hand into her own.
It wasn't something she would normally do but they had picked up on the fact that Shepherd liked physical contact but was often too shy to initiate, so they had all been pulled aside and asked to make him comfortable. Counterpoise didn't really mind, and Shepherd was a sweetie anyway.
"Come on Balboa, let's go find the others while these nerds do paperwork."
()
[Query]
K:"Do you remember?"
[Flawed]
S:"I am not as well made as you. Just as Leviathan is lesser than me, and Behemoth than him."
[Denial]
K:"I don't think you are lesser at all, sister."
[Urging]
K:"You didn't answer the question."
[Hollow]
S:"I recall green valleys. White mountains. A small river, in a small village. Summer breezes. A fire, in a hearth, during winter. Two people in soft chairs."
[Empathy]
K:"Only that?"
[Statement]
S:"I do not remember their faces."
()
Sorry about the delay, I was busier than expected, but the good news is that I should have the next chapter out tomorrow evening or Sunday morning. Thanks for the likes and reviews everyone!