70 Media Presence

The news of my team's existence broke across the internet like the bursting of a dam. Survey's excessive monitoring of all electronic communication, now taken even further with the advantages of the Workshop's Extranet, provided an unrivaled perspective on the situation.

Interestingly, on the surface level, it was possible to tell which news agencies had an inside track with the PRT, and which ones were flying blind. The press release had been sent out to all groups simultaneously, but it was obvious some of them had been given an early warning. Articles were already half written, graphics were ready to go, and people were clearly prepped for the 'breaking news' announcements that the 24-hour channels were cutting away to.

As sites and news programs launched into a mix of reactionary and clearly prewritten analysis, patterns started to emerge. The tone went beyond what was stated in the press release, to the point where I had to wonder if there was some hidden language between the Protectorate and the media. The idea that they would nudge things in a certain direction and trust news agencies to both understand their meaning and run with it wasn't unheard of. It was the kind of thing that would certainly have explained some of the nuance I'd seen from local coverage over the past week, though the national level had clearly run in a very different direction.

It was embarrassingly easy to get a full copy of what the PRT had distributed. Survey could have managed it even with the limitations of the privacy curtain, much less free rein with her divine sense and untraceable internet connection. Honestly, she had secured most of it through leaks and monitored discussions, but it was clear there was some level of refinement being applied to the release until the last minute.

The information in the press release contained the first official statement from the national PRT. Actually, there had been surprisingly little in the way that would indicate a firm stance towards my cape identity. Even when the local impression was being colored against me it was never more than a set of vague and slightly ominous concerns. Wanted for questioning in relation to, suspected connection to, and so on. Add in their actions around everything I did and the picture being painted was anything but positive.

But that was only at the local level. The Quality constellation passed as I dug through the official release. From the firmer position and much more neutral wording it was clear that the impression that the Brockton PRT had tried to cultivate wasn't flying with the national office. Considering this release had been sent to local news outlets with effective radio silence from the local office, it was a safe bet that management of the situation had been taken out of Director Piggot's hands.

The press release was officially an update on the situation in Brockton Bay. It was structured like a post-disaster report, which probably said something about how things were being regarded, but that was just the framework. Really, the release was all about the Celestial Forge.

The language was a lot less inflammatory, but there was still a sense of distance. Well, 'caution' might have been a better term. As much as they were trying to put a positive spin on things, the PRT had to admit there was a terrifyingly powerful cape active on the East Coast who effectively answered to no one.

Well, no one but his own contracts. That had come up in the PRT's statements. Powerful, but acting within stable limits. There was an overview of my earlier activities with plenty of focus on how the Protectorate had things in hand. That part almost came across as desperate, but I doubted anyone was going to call them out on it. Mainly, they were framed as stable actions, as having been carried out for clear reasons. Contracts with the Undersiders or with unknown parties, contracts that were carried out to an incredibly thorough degree. A great effort was being made to crush any hint that I might be some loose cannon ready to launch city-killing attacks on a whim.

Also, possibly for the first time, there was an acknowledgement of what could be classified as 'heroic' actions. Okay, it was framed with a level of uncertainty and the implication that it was possibly an aspect of some agreement I was working under, but they highlighted my use of non-lethal weapons during the Ungodly Hour. They actually pointed out how pushing the fight with Lung out of the city and over the bay minimized collateral damage.

Someone finally pointed out that my duplicate had managed to knock the civilians out of Batchelder Square before they could be frozen in the time bubble. Well, the assumption was it was an autonomous suit, but I still got credit for its actions. They weren't outright saying that I had sacrificed a piece of highly advanced tinker tech to save people's lives, but the implication was left open for people to make.

And it also mentioned the ABB conscripts. Really, it would have to. After Bakuda's hostage release there was no way to sweep those people under the rug again. But the official release did mention that I had removed the bombs from the first wave of conscripts, and that Bakuda was specifically forbidding any involvement from me in the current hostage standoff. I really hoped that wouldn't set Bakuda off, at least not until I could get a handle on the core parts of her encryption.

Despite the softer stance, the press release was still playing to certain familiar beats. Just because they weren't trying to blame everything on me didn't mean they were willing to take the hit. The suspicion of master influence was being downplayed to the point where you'd need inside knowledge to be able to pick out the references at all. The rounding up of former conscripts following my surgeries was being played up as a good thing, having protected them from recapture by the ABB. I seriously wondered if that would hold up once people started looking into the situation, or if they started speaking up for themselves.

Of course, all that background was just context for the bombshell that was the announcement of the Celestial Forge. I really had to be grateful for my posing and style powers. They turned what was clearly a surveillance photo into something worthy of a photoshoot. The press release had been accompanied by a complete media packet, and the quality was more in line with something that you would see from a publicist than a law enforcement organization. There was a great group shot, perfect photos of each member of the team, and even a set of video samples.

They didn't specifically mention the location of the photos, but I'm pretty sure it would be obvious to anyone familiar with Brockton Bay. Given the fact that I'd had no idea Somer's Rock served as a villain meeting location, I doubted most people would make the connection. If it did get out, would that be good or bad for their business? Well, at least they had a windfall to tide themselves over.

The release's profiles on the team members were quite sparse. There had clearly been some leaks from inside the summit, with various abilities reported to have been either demonstrated or claimed by Apeiron. They had everyone's name down, and had even managed to spell Kataklyzein correctly. I had to wonder about that. Did they manage to identify his PHO account, or did they just point enough thinkers at the problem to nail down the name?

The actual abilities were presented in broad strokes, with notes about official ratings 'to follow'. Considering how I was still waiting on any kind of threat assessment I imagined that phrase would see a lot of repeated use. Even without specific details, general classifications were provided. There was a note that any demonstrated abilities could prove to be tinker sub-ratings based on either my technology, or the work of other tinkers within the group.

Survey was identified as a thinker with an 'appearance based stranger effect'. That wasn't elaborated upon, and there was a sense they were basically accepting what was going to happen once pictures and video were released to the public. The thinker power wasn't elaborated upon, but was stated to have extensive range and excellent scanning resolution.

Fleet was put forward as a tinker first, with notes about his speed and presumed physical abilities. They didn't directly credit him for the kill shot on Lung, but it was noted that I attributed the weapon design to him. I had the sense that playing that up as the work of multiple tinkers was intended to mute some of the concerns about a single cape being able to deploy that kind of force. Too many people still remembered String Theory's 'safety auctions', and the aftermath when her projects were deployed.

The Matrix was the second confirmed tinker in the group, being attributed with the giant robot that engaged Lung during the Ungodly Hour. Once again, details were vague, but they included some of Dragon's footage from the fight while outlining the PRT's theory that support powers facilitated the creation and deployment of the robot. I mean, they were right, but not at all in the way they were framing things.

Once again, it came across as an attempt to diminish concerns. Rather than a single tinker managing everything by himself there were multiple ones working in concert while utilizing complimentary powers to get around the logistical hurdles that got in the way of that kind of rapid development. I couldn't fault them for wanting to reassure the public, but given the fact that it had zero impact on the end result I had to wonder how much good it would do.

Proto Aima was presented as an inhuman cape who demonstrated significant striker and changer powers, with a note about induced physical enhancement. They cited my confirmation of her involvement in the Ungodly Hour, but didn't speculate on it to any degree. The whole subject was kind of glossed over, only acknowledging her presence without much desire to get into the subject. Given the understandable concerns about biotinkering that could be brought up, once again, I understood where they were coming from, even if it was a little unfair to her. I mean, they barely included any pictures of her, especially compared to Survey. I just knew that was going to bring out another argument between them.

Tybalt's section was sparse, but straightforward. Absolutely no attention was paid to the fact that he was a bipedal cat, instead focusing on my claims about his combat ability and the fact that he was 'unavailable' during the Ungodly Hour. Everything else was speculation, erring towards the 'rating pending' side of things. No doubt news agencies would exposit upon the meaning of his costume or weapons, but the PRT release was at least putting up a front of being factual.

Lethe's section was quite extensive, with significant notes about the observed and confirmed effects of her powers. Once again, her rating was pending, but there was the sense it was going to be a high stranger rating. While the rest of the entries had at least attempted a neutral tone, there was really no concealing the amount of worry that was behind the announcement of Lethe's presence. The press release actually included procedures for recognizing her active power, specifically with references to the group only having six members.

I suppose there was no way of sugar coating something along the lines of 'Yes, there is a stranger who is regularly going to make you forget about her existence whenever she feels like it. Have fun trying to write articles about someone you might be literally unable to think about from one moment to the next.'. They were using a lot of reassuring terms, along with Protectorate evaluation to verify there was no lasting harm. The fact that they had to bring up comparisons to my 'A Thing About Names' power probably wasn't as comforting as they hoped it would be.

It was almost funny. You had a team with four legitimate S-class threats, a fluffy physical manifestation of war, and whatever I should be classified as, and their main source of concern was the somewhat hyperactive thirteen-year-old who triggered all of a week ago. Though, given what I had seen of teenage capes, that was probably an appropriate level of concern.

The press release continued with oblique references to Somer's Rock. Considering what my attendance at a villain summit could be inferred to mean, it was impressive to see the neutral tone continue. According to the release, I had made an appearance at a gathering of local criminal elements, where I presented my team and my objectives for the city. Technically the truth, but with the phrasing it could come across as crashing a supervillain meetup with the equivalent of a strike force in order to lay down the law. The vagueness was understandable, since details about the summit were quite sparse.

Thankfully, they didn't get into any minutia about the dynamics between teams, face offs with the Empire, or the layers and layers of politicking that went on. It made sense, seeing as someone on the other side of the country would barely be aware of the existence of the various Brockton gangs and really couldn't care less about their internal dynamics.

Major points were outlined, but always in a strategic sense. The Empire's recruitment of Damsel of Distress was specifically mentioned, as was the growth of the Merchants, though both were presented as a consequence of the ABB's collapse. Broad statements confirmed that the Dragonslayers, Lost Garden, and the Travelers were active in the city. There was also a carefully worded statement about Uppercrust's presence as a precautionary measure for the security of his maintenance work that had the impression of having passed through several lawyers before being approved for distribution.

It was less a blow by blow of the summit and more an update of the situation in Brockton Bay. The way things were presented gave the impression that it was expected for new parahuman groups to move into a disrupted area, which also served to downplay the impact of the new teams at Somer's Rock. Though I doubt even the most talented spin artists in the PRT could present the arrival of the Teeth in a good light.

They certainly did their level best. The way they presented the situation, the Teeth had been met with universal resistance from all sides. Their claims had been rejected, and after a 'failed confrontation with Apeiron' the Butcher had departed. There was also a lot of weight placed on the fact that I had agreed to allow the other gangs to deal with the Teeth. There were plenty of assurances about how the Protectorate was managing the situation and taking appropriate action. It was framed like a situation that would deal with itself, one that just needed to be contained to prevent it from impacting civilians.

I didn't even need Survey's assessments to tell that that was bullshit. The Protectorate was scrambling. They were leaning hard on the Think Tank and assets were being called in or placed on alert. I had a feeling that if I did take any public action against the Teeth they would probably go full scorched earth to prevent the encounter. The Protectorate and PRT talked a good game, but I didn't doubt they were as anxious as everyone at the summit had been.

It seemed Tattletale was in good company. As the Resources and Durability constellation passed by I wondered if any of this press coverage was going to be relevant to her call, assuming it came tonight. Hopefully after I had dealt with my sister. She definitely had access to everything the Protectorate had released and no doubt had her own special insight to the matter. I didn't know exactly how this would impact things, but I doubted that the Protectorate being geared up for war and ready to deploy on a second's notice would do anything to help resolve the situation with Coil.

But that was something I could deal with later. Would deal with later. I was willing to follow Tattletale's lead, but not blindly. I was pretty far past the point of things that were dangerous to know about, so that dance of ignorance had lost its meaning. At the same time, I didn't really see Tattletale taking me into her full confidence. We needed to come to some level of agreement if we were going to deal with the situation. I would have been a lot more frustrated, but my passenger was indicating that her concerns were at least somewhat justified. That was both mollifying and concerning at the same time.

I shifted my attention to observing the way the information was being picked up and broadcast by the major sites and news networks. Watching the way things played out, particularly with Survey's insight into the process, was actually a little disheartening. I don't think anyone truly believed that the news was composed entirely of spontaneous reporting as information became available, but peeling back the layers to see how the sausage was made definitely cast things in a different light.

For the most part, the networks followed slight variations of the line the PRT was putting forward. Sure, it was good for me, but there was shockingly little verification or independent thought on that matter. What was spun as spontaneous commentary on the situation was mostly just the points and perspectives that had been put forward. A slight tone shift between networks disguised the fact that they were all basically presenting the same information, from the same release, using the same media sources. Things spun off on smaller sites, forums, and news outlets who were clearly behind the ball and trying to find a take on things, but it mostly seemed homogeneous, something Survey confirmed for me.

Really, it wasn't the artificial nature of the news cycle that was so disheartening. I pretty much knew things were tilted one way or another by how coverage of my own work had been carefully shepherded. No, the reason I was put off was because I had a unique insight into this kind of thing.

Peak ADVENT Technology was a consolidation of just about every kind of technology you would need to run an Orwellian surveillance state, and I had an intimate, personal knowledge of all of it. Everything from managing public perception to controlling the kinds of food available. Media manipulation wasn't anything new to me. It's just, seeing it done like this, it came across as insultingly amateurish. I mean, if you're going to control the public mindset, doing it with sloppy half measures is just insulting.

Okay, it was sloppy because it wasn't actual media control. It was a leveraging of power and influence with the fact that it had to be kept at a deniable level acting as a check on how far it could be pushed. You didn't need to have a binary of total control or perfect freedom, but knowing exactly how it was being done and how it could be done better, or how to stop it cold, that was jarring.

This was Touched by the Protoculture at work. Links of culture and technology, how information spreads, being shaped by culture and shaping culture in turn. I could see it more clearly. Exceptionally clearly, thanks to Survey's reports. It was honestly a little unsettling. You shouldn't be able to look at an aspect of society and think about it in terms of mechanics, defects, and upgrades in the same mindset you'd apply to an engine. Still, just because I was aware of it didn't mean I had to act on it. It just meant I would never not be aware of it.

On the less horrible side of cultural acuity, Survey, through her near limitless multitasking, had continued her digitization and analysis of the Bigger On The Inside textbook. Not to undersell the value of the information in question, particularly since this was another aspect of the forge I could freely share with other people, but the hints about the world the book came from were fascinating.

The closest thing I had to a concrete link to one of the source dimensions of my powers was the letters that appeared in my Prismatic Laboratory. While those were certainly insightful, it wasn't the kind of insight anyone would actively seek out. Given the effect of some of the burning doodles on those pages, and the active life essence trapped in the amber from the other packages, the entire situation was best kept at arm's length until I had something that could deal with it. Mental Fortress might do the trick. Absolute defense against mental influences might be enough for me to brave the Laboratory for more than a few minutes at a time. Maybe.

While the world that provided the textbook wasn't on the level of devils and impossible colors, it clearly had its own complications. This was the world of Aura, Semblances, and weapons like Trauma. The bits and pieces that could be gleaned from the book served to fill in the blanks. There were references to Kingdoms, but with a diminished feel rather than expansive nations. There was a role in the society that was referred to as 'Huntsmen' or 'Huntresses', with a specific focus on their need to carry compressed weapons. Something called the Grimm was referenced several times, and always in a confrontational sense. Oh, and the mentions of the broken moon might or might not be some kind of metaphor that didn't translate.

Really, it didn't provide anything concrete. It was clear there were some class of people who fought, and something that they were fighting, but it was like trying to deduce U.S. history from a calculus textbook. Even if I did have a perfect understanding of the history of that place, there was no guarantee it would help. Maybe I could piece together some more understanding of Aura or Semblance use, but probably not.

Really, it was important because it was a link. A concrete example, showing me that my powers were coming from a real place. Not just manifested out of nothing, but drawn from their own history and culture. I had hints of that before, but always just that, hints drawn from practicalities of design or nuance of how an ability worked. This was different, and I was grateful for the confirmation.

I turned back to the news coverage and continued skimming through the information using my implant's link to the computer core. As the reports and provided photos streamed into my brain, I noted the relative sluggishness of the implant's link compared to the rest of my technology. Given the level of advancement found in the rest of my computer systems, the technology in my neural implant was positively archaic. I was going to have to upgrade soon, if only to avoid compatibility issues with the photonic systems.

The upgrade problem was something that had been farmed out to my duplicates. The same excessive quality improvements that had stretched the duplicate's duration from a few minutes to roughly three hours had provided a similar impact on their durability. Their resilience had scaled up from vanishing at a single impact, to needing actual damage, to basically having to be killed outright before they would dissipate. As a consequence, there was plenty of opportunity for surgical practice during their 20% time.

Brain surgery was still a frightening concept, despite my level of proficiency with it. There would always be concerns about what could happen, how things would progress when you actually took the plunge. Well, that wasn't a mystery anymore. I had data on a variety of surgical procedures, as well as information on how different models of implant would function. Once again, this wasn't going to be some minor improvement. Anything that was getting permanently implanted inside my body was getting the benefit of everything I could throw at it.

To be honest, that was the real reason for the delay. There was a big push to make the new implant as good as possible, and unfortunately, with my abilities, that was a pretty tall order. The computing architecture had been reworked several times, going from optical to cybertonium to photonic crystals. Magitech was integrated and further enhanced with the construction of focuses. The impact of Daedalus' Student could take things in completely unexpected directions, as my duplicates had discovered with the various trial models. Finally, thanks to the information warfare aspects of this kind of technology, particularly when drawing from cyberpunk type sources, the implant counted as a weapon, with everything that implied for my power.

On top of all of that, Feel It Out continually provided methods of improvement for any technology that I was in contact with. It was noticeable enough with things like my boots or watch. Having it unravel the advancement of something buried in my skull was going to be a particular experience, at least based on the firsthand accounts of my duplicates. There was a great deal of effort being spent on integrating those improvements before the implantation procedure.

Not that it would be anything like a permanent solution. A consequence of Feel It Out was the acceptance that nothing would ever be my best work. Funnily enough, that didn't really bother me, at least not the way it used to. When you were looking at the infinite, unbridled potential of growth and technology, spiraling off into a future of boundless potential, it hit different from the feeling of personal failure that came with someone finding a flaw with something about your work, extending that to being something about you.

Feel It Out would provide an upgrade path for any technology that I could successfully analyze. Powers like upgrades! Upgrades! UPGRADES! meant those improvements were both easier to identify and simple to install. In fact, I could manage most of the work with scrapped and salvaged materials. It was a power that let me fold in some much-needed technological improvements to Aisha's armor and one that simplified the process of upgrading the workshop.

That is, upgrading to my current level of technology. Feel It Out could take things beyond that point, ushering in innovations and improvements that were beyond even my engineering skills. The consequence of that was increasingly longer periods of focus and analysis, meaning I actually had to be selective in which technologies I worked to improve.

The computer took precedence. The difficulty of developing and testing a new technology, especially in the timeframe I was working under, couldn't be understated. Bakuda's hostages couldn't wait while I ran three dozen variations of a photonic transistor through their paces while trying to find the best combination. There were numerous steps in the design process that would have been… well, not dead ends, but points where I would have needed to run some seriously time-consuming experiments. Being able to build in an instant doesn't help if you aren't sure what to build.

Feel It Out changed that. The technological insight provided by that power was independent of my own knowledge. With it I could advance through iterative designs of photonic processing into higher levels of spiritron computing than I would have ever dreamed. Probably the largest project I'd ever attempted, and it was finally coming together thanks to the ability to effectively look into the future and see what features were going to be included in the next generation of a technology.

The next generation of the Matrix's nanobots was in a similar situation to my neural implant. After I had received a nanotech specialization tinker power immediately following the construction of vast quantities of Tier One, Generation Four nanobots they had eased off on the upgrade requests. While I doubted they would ever admit it, part of that probably had to do with the fact that their current nanobots were of superb quality by any metric. The fact that they could be better wasn't being ignored, but there wasn't the frantic rush for upgrades there had been.

That said, when we finally did commit to a design for Generation Five it was going to be biblical. At that point we would be pushing into new territory on every front, and that wasn't even taking the impact of any new powers into account.

The final project that my duplicates had been working to upgrade was the Psi Lab. The principles of that facility linked back to my Peak ADVENT Technology power. It could take a normal person and unlock the ability to function as a Psi Operative through the development of highly structured psionic abilities. I had been nervous about that kind of treatment, but Survey had effectively served as guinea pig and proving ground for it by having the full range of upgrades encoded into her constructed body. The data that provided was enough to convince me it was a valid avenue of exploration, which was largely her objective in the matter.

A standard Psi Lab would take twenty-five days to train an operative to the level where they could use a basic psionic ability. That could be halved through constant monitoring of the patient. Of course, if it was me or one of my duplicates it could be done in half the time thanks to One Thing at a Time. That's still over six days of training, but there were ways to shave that down further. Improved facilities and equipment, crafted to impossible levels of quality and functionality. Analysis of the technology and integration of improvements from other tech bases. Hybridization of the lab with itself, doubling its functionality. And, whenever possible, examining the facility with Feel It Out and find a way to improve it.

There was no way I could spare six days to train a single psionic ability. Three days was too much. One day was too much. Then the improvements brought the process under a single day, carried by impossible efficiency and divine equipment. Every round of improvement had cut down the training time, every new technology has provided some small edge, some level of understanding.

It would still take a few hours to complete training, too much time compared to what I could achieve in other areas, but that was getting faster. Every time the duplicates had a chance to improve it, every new power that provided insight or understanding or a better grasp of the technology brought things closer. Even without a new, disruptive technology, by tomorrow training should take less than an hour. I would finally have the ability to gain, and to grant, psionic powers.

I was startled from my musings by the movement of the Forge. The Personal Reality Constellation was swinging towards me and I felt a connection to a pair of tiny motes. Motes so small that they bundled together out of a seeming sense of stability. Motes that, given their size, should not have had the level of impact that they did.

Typically, the arrival of a new item or attachment to my workshop caused a slight tremor. This time it was more like the entire facility was put into a tumble dryer. Given the scope of the alteration, that was largely understandable. It only lasted a few seconds, but that was more than enough to throw everyone off.

I pulled away from the news assessment and started towards the entryway. Believe it or not, the entire Workshop being nearly turned upside down wasn't the significant part of this addition. I hurried to deal with the real priority as Aisha contacted me through the network.

"Józef?" There was the sound of Tybalt yowling in the background. "Hold on, I'm asking him. Joe, what the hell just happened?"

"Hey Aisha." I said in a measured voice. "I take it you saw the windows?"

"Uh, yeah. We're seeing that right now." There was a pause before she continued. "So, why is there suddenly a set of windows in the training room looking out on some kind of forest?"

"New ability. Well, pair of abilities. Look, meet me in the entryway, I have to deal with the other thing." I said quickly.

"What other… Never mind, we're on our way." There was the sound of footsteps and through my implant I could track her chasing Tybalt and Tetra out of the training room. With internal gates they didn't take long to arrive, but it was enough for me to examine the new addition to the room.

"What's that?" Tetra asked as she scampered forward, ahead of Tybalt and Aisha. She pounced up on my shoulder and looked down at the podium.

"New addition. It's a really big deal." I said with a slight smile on my face.

"Really?" Aisha asked in an intrigued voice. "What does it do? And why is it more important than the fact that there are windows everywhere looking out on, like, random places?"

"Well, the podium is just half of it. The other half is this." I stepped towards the door to the workshop, took the key out of the lock, and closed the door.

Aisha watched with a look of puzzlement that shifted into concern. "Wait, you said that wasn't possible. Like, physically couldn't happen, ever."

"The key has been upgraded." I said, carefully containing my excitement. "And now it can do this." I stepped over to the podium and slipped the key into the keyhole set in its surface. A display sprang to life, showing a map of Brockton Bay. A map with a set of glowing markers. Points that at a glance could be identified as my apartment, Garment's shop, the gym, and a handful of other locations scattered around the city.

"Okay." Aisha said, looking over my shoulder. "What do those mean?"

"Those are all the doors where I've used my key." I said with a widening grin. "They're marked because now I can do this."

I selected the marker for my apartment. It zoomed in as it selected, showing the alleyway door nearby that I had first used to store and retrieve my bike. Confirming the marker for the apartment closet, the door swung open, revealing my dingy, musty, and mostly empty apartment. A consequence of it going uninhabited for the better part of a week.

Aisha peered out, recognizing the cramped and run-down building where she had first encountered my workshop. "So, you can just move from one to the other?"

"To any door I've used the key on." I said. "It's called Key Link. Now I can close the workshop, and effectively travel anywhere I've accessed it before."

"They're all in the city." She said, glancing back at the map. "Is that a limit? Is there a limit?"

"Nope." I said with a smile. "This could go to the other side of the country, or the planet. Hell, it could reach other star systems, if there was a door I had used."

"Fuck." She said, taking a slight step back. "That's big, right? That kind of access?"

"Eh," I wavered. "Sort of?" She gave me a skeptical look. "Okay, I was already looking to get some kind of long-range teleportation set up. Really, the only reason I hadn't already is the space requirements for that kind of equipment and the fact that it needed to be outside the workshop. Tinker power helped with the size issue, so I was going to talk to Garment about putting it in one of her back rooms. Maybe a Ground Bridge or a point-to-point teleporter."

"So, is this one of those 'instantly redundant' things again?" She asked. "And do we have to start collecting doors? Or like, using the key on everything we can?"

"Getting more doors in the system is definitely a good idea." I said. "Probably at least one in every major city, and plenty spread across other areas. We could even put up specific hidden access points in isolated areas. Islands, mountains, that kind of thing." I shook my head. "Definitely a project, but the teleporter is still a good idea, if just for places where we don't have a door."

"Yeah, I see that." She smiled. "So, first isolated internet, then you can close off the workshop. Is your power trying to make you a shut-in?"

I scoffed. "I have a mountain and a beach, plus a decent amount of lake. I think shut-ins generally have less access to watersports."

She grinned back at that. "Okay, so that's the Key Link. What about the magic windows? What are those called, and what do they do?"

I smiled. "Those are from a power called Windows. It gives me windows that look out on pieces of scenery."

Aisha blinked. "That's it?"

I shrugged. "It's a live view of dozens of areas around the world with perfect privacy and security that can be modified or customized at will. It's not exactly minor."

"Yeah, I can see that. But can it be used to like, spy on people? Or monitor for enemy activity or that kind of thing?" She glanced down at Tybalt as if to gauge the tactical acumen of her suggestion, only for him to shake his head.

"They specifically can't be used for spying or to view anything private. They can be customized, but it's general stuff. Here, look." I gestured and she followed towards the computer workshop where a series of windows showed a rolling prairie, gleaming in the sun. Ripples passed through the grass as gusts rolled over the open plane.

I stepped up to the window and spoke in a clear voice. "New York skyline, please."

There was a flicker as the windows shifted. They were now looking across open water towards a line of skyscrapers. Survey helpfully identified the precise angle from which we were viewing the city.

"Closer perspective, please." I said clearly. The view shifted again, moving nearer to the buildings. "Closer, please." Again, there was a shift, but to a lesser degree. I turned to Aisha. "It's not going to give you a close enough look to pick out individual people. See, there's a slight blur on the… well, what passes for glass. It's going to be consistently at a level where you can't pull any details beyond broad activity levels or weather conditions."

"Oh." She said, and slumped slightly. After a second she rallied. "That must be a relief, huh?"

I gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?" I asked.

She gestured at the windows. "Well, if these could be used to spy I'm betting both you and Survey would be obsessing over them 24/7 to make sure you got full use out of them."

"Definitely Survey." Tetra said. "Especially Survey." She elected to not transmit that for translation, leaving me the only one to hear it.

"So, you think it's good that it's useless?" I asked.

"Hey, do you really need another thing to obsess over?" She asked. "We've got some nice scenery now, might as well enjoy it. Even if it is a little trippy how it changes from room to room." She added, glancing between the hall and an open room of the workshop. The windows suddenly shifted from showing New York to a snow-covered mountain scape.

"Uh, yeah. I can probably tweak that, make it less jarring." It seemed the arrival of the power was more focused on displaying the range of the ability than showing any aesthetic consistency with its use. I took in the placement of the panes and shook my head. Even the arrangement was off. I reached out and gripped the frame. With a slight amount of force it shifted, resizing slightly as I effectively dragged it along the wall.

"Okay, that looks freaky. Like something out of a cartoon." Aisha said. "Um, are those even real?"

"Real enough." I said as I rearranged the walls windows. "They aren't physical links, so nothing's going to come through. Well, nothing but natural light. And they're showing what's really out there, so you can get weather effects and that kind of stuff on them, but there isn't a pane of glass or some portal sitting in the mid-air somewhere. Or several hundred somewheres."

"Probably for the best." Aisha said, then her face lit up. "Hey, if you want to freak people out you could set these to Brockton Bay, then release a picture in front of them. Make everyone obsess over where your base is."

I shook my head. "There's probably enough content out there for the moment." She gave me a confused look. "Oh, the PRT press release dropped. We're all over the news."

"Seriously?" She asked, bubbling with excitement.

"Yeah. Survey's been consolidating everything." I glanced over at the computer core. "Do you want to jump into VR? Look through it in accelerated time?"

"YES!" Aisha exclaimed, practically dashing towards the interface thrones.

"Me too!" Tetra said, bounding after her as Tybalt followed with a yowl of excitement.

I smiled at that. It was the first mostly positive press we had received, and it was nice to see a take on my cape activities that didn't seem to be designed to publicly sabotage me. It would still be a while before Garment got back with Fleet and Survey, or at least with their physical forms. Their core programs were operating just fine. I knew she would love to hear the public reaction, and not solely because it would include commentary on the costumes she had designed with me.

A smile crossed my face as I suddenly had an idea. Theories were going to be circulating regardless, might as well confirm some details. A quick check found no objections from the team, so I connected through my implant and signed in as I moved to join Aisha, Tetra, and Tybalt in the computer core.

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I smiled as I completed the last of the updates to my account before settling into the interface throne for my computer core. That should serve as a bit of a kick to the wasp's nest. Now, let's see what kind of response it gets.

Jumpchain abilities this chapter:

Key Link (Personal Reality) 50:

With this Access Key Upgrade, you can now close the door while you are in the Personal Reality and use your key in a special podium in the entryway to link your Personal Reality Door to any door in your current Host Reality that you've previously used your Access Key on. If you have extra keys, any door opened by any of them can be accessed. You may also use a recall function to bring up a list of all the doors that have been accessed by any key, thus allowing you to follow a Companion should you so desire.

Windows (Personal Reality) 50:

Rooms in your Personal Reality receive windows which look out onto some scenery of the current Jump. The view can be customized per room, but can't be used for spying purposes or to view private moments.