Step 4.6

"The area is clear," Veda declared. "Lieutenant Ramius is on her way."

I nodded, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

Guess winter finally ended. Even in a shirt and pants I felt pretty comfortable. Cool, but not cold. Seemed like just a week back temperatures hung in the low fifties, only to jump up twenty degrees in a matter of days. Brockton Bay usually got long winters. Something about the sea I guess, but this one lasted longer than most.

The trees lining the edges of the graveyard were starting to burst back into life. The grass looked green in the spots where light shined on it.

Kind of creepy standing among the tombstones at nine at night. Unfortunately, I found myself with remarkably few places for this sort of meeting. On such short notice, an abandoned warehouse in the Docks might work, but that felt so empty. Random. Not the kind of environment where I felt secure to talk…talk about this.

Creepy or not, this place felt more comforting somehow.

No one visited a graveyard at eight at night. The open space gave excellent lines of sight for my surroundings. The Haros hovered above, and the van carrying O Gundam sat just a short sprint behind me in the parking lot.

I felt better with it there.

I felt better with her here.

Turning my head to the tomb stone, I couldn't place the last time I'd actually been to mom's grave. Not the funeral. I'd been back since then, but how long? I meant to visit her so many weeks ago.

"Hi, mom."

The words just came out.

It's not like she'd ever reply. I turned away, which felt like a betrayal. Not so comforting anymore.

Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

"Are you alright?" Veda asked.

"No. Doesn't really matter though, does it?"

"It is the right thing to do," she offered.

"Doesn't make me like it any more."

The more I thought, the more convinced I became.

By coincidence, irony, or the Taylor Hebert brand of suffering, I got the luxury of knowing all the pieces to the puzzle. A Ward who enjoyed violence. A helpless unpopular girl with a poor daddy and no mommy. Secret identities abused to protect the guilty.

I felt it in my chest, like a mocking voice.

This choice, the scheme, all began with me.

With what Sophia Hess did to me.

How fucked up is that?

Now, someone would lose and someone would win.

And how I hated the choice that left me.

A villain whose only goal seemed to be sowing chaos, and the people whose ineptitude, or indifference, enabled my own torture.

No changing it now.

My phone rang.

I hit ignore.

Dad tried to call me a few times. No doubt he'd either gotten into my room, or deduced its emptiness. I didn't want to talk to him now. He'd yell. Ask questions I didn't know how to answer.

Just, not right now.

"She is here," Veda announced.

Pink's cameras picked up Ramius' car first. Same one I saw at Winslow. Her personal vehicle I think, not a PRT car. No sign of an entourage or shadow behind her.

Good.

I reached into my pocket, hand wrapping around the beam saber inside. I didn't intend to use it any more than O Gundam tonight, but it helped stop my hand from shaking.

Of course, my foot started tapping the ground, so fat lot of good that did.

I waited. My eyes kept checking the camera feeds. What if they set a trap? What if someone noticed me walking into the Graveyard? My lines of escape remained clear. Not too late to just leave.

Let the PRT reap what they sowed…

She parked, and quietly walked past my van without a glance.

Looking up I said, "Green, go say hi."

Green did as I asked, lowering from the sky overhead to greet Ramius and bring her to me.

"I am here," Veda said.

"I know," I whispered.

In an odd way, I both wanted Veda present and wished she wasn't. I'd talk about things tonight. My worst moments. The life of a sad little girl. Maybe a bit egotistical, but I didn't want Veda to see me as that person even if she already knew the story.

Ramius stepped into view.

The twisting in my stomach grew worse. Not too late to just leave. Run away. Make up some excuse. A random emergency that immediately needed my—

"Newtype?"

Too late.

I turned to Ramius as she approached, my voice hitching and stopping any response.

The woman gave me a concerned look in turn, saying, "It must be that bad then. Calling me out to nowhere this late. What is it?"

"I—" My voice hitched. Again.

I didn't practice. How do I say this? Do I just come right out and say it? Beat around the bush and ease into it? What if she did the same thing everyone did and refused to believe me?

"What is it?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

"I—I'm sorry. Calling you out here this late."

"I don't mind." she smiled. "I've been meaning to contact you but it's been a busy few days. I haven't really managed to figure out how to broach the subject."

Shit.

She thought I wanted to talk about something else. The PRT's public message? I did lean pretty hard on how much I didn't like what I expected to happen.

And I—Fuck. I didn't need more reasons to let the PRT fall on its own sword of lies at the moment.

I looked away, my eyes sliding over mom's tombstone for a moment. I stared at the name. The dates.

I missed her so much.

"Have you ever read the Letter from Birmingham Jail?" I asked.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Ramius quoted. "I've read them. Though, I don't think you called me out her at night to reminisce over a late Civil Rights icon."

"There's a different part of it that's stuck with me," I said. "The White Moderate. People who know something is wrong, but do nothing to change it."

Ramius seemed more confused than before, but she went along with it.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing? That kind of thing?"

I tensed. "Good people don't do nothing." No. They don't.

Parian never hurt me. Trevor. Aisha. None of them ever hurt me. They didn't hurt anyone else either, barring Trevor's flimsy idea of what constituted legal entry.

They didn't deserve having their lives upended, their families thrown to the wolves. Teacher didn't deserve to win whatever game he was playing.

And I'm not that spiteful you blonde bitch.

"Teacher is going to have a lawsuit filed," I said immediately. "He'll probably leak the details when he does it."

Ramius' demeanor changed. "A lawsuit?"

"It'll accuse Shadow Stalker of brutally bullying her peers, with tacit support from the school administration and the PRT. One student was hospitalized for toxic shock a few months ago. Stalker shoved her into a locker after filling it with used tampons and pads."

Silence followed, sans crickets. I waited, watching the woman to see how she'd respond. Her face maintained a neutral, but inviting expression. Something played out in her eyes. Some debate inside her.

She noticed me staring, and raised one hand.

"That's not what I expected," she said. "Sorry. That took me by surprise." She glanced back the way she came, saying, "Maybe we should sit down. There's a bench back that way."

I swallowed. No turning back now. "Alright."

I followed her, the Haros reorienting as I moved to cover everything.

"I suppose a graveyard is convenient for clandestine meetings," Ramius mumbled. "Feels a bit like a spy movie."

"It was short notice."

"There's no one around?"

"Not at this time of night. The keeper lives on the other side of the grounds."

"You're sure?"

"The Haros are watching everything with a three hundred yard radius. We're alone."

I expected a few different reactions might come, but not silence. And asking about the graveyard? Confirming I was alone with no one to help me? So many times I'd been betrayed. Thrown to the wolves. I wanted Ramius to be different, felt she might be. But experience doesn't let you forget so easily.

I gripped my saber tighter.

The benches lined a row of trees at the top of a hill. Actually kind of scenic during the day.

We sat, and I braced myself.

As much as I felt the fear, I felt…not relief. Pending relief?

Odd sensation.

Why fear people knowing something you tell them? Once I told the PRT how I knew what I knew, they'd know who was under my mask. Lots of bad stuff could happen, but in a way that seemed less heavy than continuing the secret.

Just throw away the burden and live with whatever came next. Scary, sure, but lighter.

And why not? They'd figure it out anyway soon enough. Hell, someone at Blue Cosmos probably already knew thinking about it. They had enough information as well to maybe figure it out. Fine.

I just needed everyone else to not know.

The PRT might be able to help me keep it from going any farther. I'd never join the Wards, but maybe my good will amounted to some worth. They wanted my power. I wanted a modicum of safety. Quid pro quo, right?

"I'm sorry," Ramius said. "I was expecting something else, and I'm at a bit of a loss for how to go forward with this."

"You don't believe me," I stated.

"No. Actually, I'm concerned. We've been operating on the assumption that Teacher plans to leak how the gang war started. Undermine our professionalism. Weaken our ability to recruit and work with independents all at once."

"I thought of that. It's not a bad plan, but it's not the most damaging one."

Ramius nodded. Odd. She didn't disbelieve me? No one ever believed me? Did she already know about Stalker? How long? Since we met?

"You're not curious how I know?" I asked.

"No. I'm not." Ramius turned to me. "Take off the mask, Taylor."

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Of course, she knew. The PRT figured all those other capes out. How hard could it be to figure me?

Dragon was right.

Nothing stays secret forever.

I raised my hands and pulled my mask off. The air felt a little colder on my face for it. Green flew down from above. After landing he rolled from his cradle and popped his flaps.

I rested my mask in his hands, letting the little guy carry the weight for a while.

I didn't look at Ramius.

And there's that sense of relief. It's done. The mask is off. Maybe they already knew anyway, but I'd deal with that. I could deal with that.

"How do you know there's a lawsuit?" she asked.

"One of my teachers joined Blue Cosmos," I answered. "Because of me. She tried to help, and Blackwell threatened to fire her if she didn't stop. She told them about it. I think that's how it started."

"Your teacher told Blue Cosmos and a pet in Blue Cosmos set this plan into motion?"

"It makes sense. Why start with something that could backfire so easily, if you don't have some way to push all attention and blame at your target?"

Yes. It had to start with me, with Sophia.

Weird thing is, I didn't even factor her into my torment the same way as Emma. Sophia treated me cruelly, but it never seemed very personal with her. She did it because Emma did it. I think she felt no real investment one way or the other.

"It's what makes the most sense," I determined. "There's a pet in Blue Cosmos somewhere. They started all of this. Maybe it's like a trigger or something. Normal people lying in wait until something sets off what Teacher wants."

"And your teacher, she told you about this? Have lawyers approached you?"

I shook my head. "Mrs. Knott didn't tell me. Not about the suit, anyway. I'm not sure how much she knows about it. I found out"—crap that is illegal, isn't it?—"I freaked out. I hacked their servers to see what they knew. I keep hacking them. Keeping tabs on what's going on."

"I see."

And the PRT could arrest me for it. For a lot of things actually. They knew who I was. If they wanted my power, all they needed to do was strong arm Dad into signing me up.

"I—"

"I'm sorry," Ramius said quickly. "I know this is hard."

I exhaled. "How long?"

"Just a few days. Lots of free time with the building on lock down. Some spent it looking to see how much Amanda got into. Some records concerning events at Winslow turned up and were handed over to me."

I raised my brow. "And what? Calvert is claiming he never—"

I stopped myself.

Ramius stared at me, the question obvious.

"I hacked the school computers," I admitted. "Found some emails." I hung my head. "I wanted to know how much the school knew."

Ramius sighed. "Calvert says he didn't think it was as serious as it was. Blamed Stalker's handler and the principal for misleading them about the details."

I scoffed. I'd seen the emails. Vague they might be, but did the guy even look into it? Seemed like a thing that should get looked into to me.

"I don't believe it either," she offered. "At the very least, more consideration should have gone into it. At least a token effort to investigate the accusations. Even that would have turned up the problem. Instead, it seems no one wanted to look."

I kept my head down, hair falling over my face like a curtain. The pebbles on the ground sure are neat, you know?

And wet.

Fuck. Am I crying? I blinked, trying to will the tears back. Why was I fucking crying already?

I gasped, "Why?"

I think Ramius thought I was asking a different question.

"Because we need heroes," she said. "The Protectorate is outnumbered. The Wards are pressed, even though they were never meant to be in real danger. It gets harder every year to keep things from exploding. They wanted a success story. Turn the local vigilante into a real hero instead of a borderline criminal herself. Proof that the Wards work. Proof that people can be redeemed. Lots of reasons really…but its all crap."

I raised my head slightly.

"Truthfully, I think they wanted to reap the benefits of her arrest record. She brings in more than some of the Protectorate members. It makes the local PRT and hero teams look good. It helps with appropriations, with PR."

She inhaled deeply, and said, "The truth is, no one wanted it to be the lie they knew it was."

I kept trying to fight back the tears. Get myself under control. I hadn't cried in how long? After the fires, sure, but that wasn't about this. Was it? No. No I was done crying over what happened to me so why am I fucking crying?!

"Your self-control astounds me," Ramius said.

What? "Yeah," I replied with a hidden grin. "Model of decorum."

If I picked a word to describe myself, self-control wouldn't be it. Even after getting my paranoia on a decent handle I still freaked out frequently, and Tattletale sure worked me over verbally. Sure as hell, not right now, while I sat on a bench heaving as tears fell from my face.

"I think most people in your situation, knowing what you know, wouldn't try to be heroes." I choked on my own breath. "I think they'd be villains."

My head snapped up, and I found the woman looking at me with something I could only call compassion. "You still want to be a hero, even after all of this."

Mom wouldn't accept anything less. "I can't do nothing."

I turned away. She'd already seen the tears, so whatever. I wiped them away with my sleeves, fighting to calm down.

Took a few minutes.

Ramius sat quietly. She didn't say anything. Not until I sat straight with puffy red eyes and asked, "What happens now?"

I watched her from the corner of my eye, my experience telling me there would be another shoe waiting to screw me over. Just a question of when and where.

"Now?" Ramius' face got serious, her eyes set forward. "You're certain about this? You really think Teacher is going to use a lawsuit to embarrass the PRT?"

I nodded. Back to work. Work is good.

"It's the most damaging thing he can do now," I said. "Piggot set the stage for him. He just has to blow it up in her face."

"Why warn me? Knowing what I know now, that you've tried to work with the PRT at all is unbelievable. It's moments like this I question if I should quit."

"Why don't you?" I asked.

"Would it make anything any better?"

No. I supposed it wouldn't. "I'm protecting me. No offense, but everyone who let Sophia do what she did can go straight to hell. But if the details gets out, it'll be obvious. They'll all know who Newtype is. I don't care so much about me, but my dad…he already lost mom."

"That's fair."

"Do I have to talk to the Director?"

"I'll deal with it. She'll want confirmation, but it's easy enough to ask Stansfield what's going on locally in Blue Cosmos."

"Stansfield?" I knew the name. "Isn't he the chapter head or something?"

"He's also a moderate," Ramius said. "Sam is already helping, keeping some of his members from protesting the take down of the Phantom Pain forum. If we ask him, and say that we think there's a Teacher plot in the local branch, he'll investigate on his own. He's not a stupid man and he won't be happy if it's true."

"If you say so," I said.

"How long have you known about this?"

"Months."

"And no lawyers have contacted you?"

I shook my head.

"That's strange. If the suit were just about the facts of the case, then it would have been filed long ago. You'd at least have been approached. Stansfield is a lawyer himself. He'll know that. It's enough to entice his curiosity."

A Lawyer? "What if he's the pet?"

Ramius scowled. "It'll make things more complicated. I'd like to think they won't be, for once."

Her and me both.

Knowing my luck, it wouldn't be that simple. There were always complication—

"It's not just about me," I said. "Charlotte Berman. I stopped going to school for a while. The trio turned to tormenting her. She's gotten it nearly as bad as me."

"Trio?"

"It's not just Sophia. Half the girls in my grade are involved. But it's mostly Emma Barnes and Madison Clements. Plus Sophia and you have a trio."

Ramius nodded. "I've seen their names, and Charlotte's. I'm aware."

"So, what do we do?"

I felt like I was betraying myself again. Charlotte wasn't a cape. She didn't need to protect an identity. Didn't she deserve justice too? Even if she didn't come to defend me, she didn't deserve to be set upon herself. Good people don't do nothing, but doing nothing didn't automatically make some bad. Just naive.

"We'll probably let the lawsuit move forward," Ramius said after a moment.

"What?! How is that—"

"Calm down."

I stopped myself, glancing down to see I'd risen to my feet.

Ramius looked up at me from the bench, saying, "You don't honestly think the PRT can just stop a lawsuit against the PRT from happening, do you?"

"N—No."

"We can't. Never mind that we shouldn't. What we let Shadow Stalker do to you and Charlotte? It's not why this organization exists. People should know about it, and the PRT should be forced to admit it, or it'll happen again."

I blinked. "What?"

Ramius looked me in the eye. "Don't worry about that. It's the PRT's problem. The PRT will deal with it. You have to make a choice about what's more important to you, Taylor. Justice for what was done to you, or protecting yourself now that your priorities are different."

Pick? "I alread—"

"But that doesn't mean it's one or the other."

At that point, she lost me.

"Sit," she said. I sat. "What do you want to happen, Taylor?"

"I…I want to keep what I have.".

I blinked. Not more tears damn it.

"They killed me. Taylor Hebert, the girl I was. She's dead, and she's never coming back. They did that to me." I bit back a snarl, saying, "And they should pay for it."

It felt overly dramatic, but it's how I felt. They might as well have murdered me. The girl who woke up in the hospital with powers? She was never going to be who she was ever again, and not just because she got powers.

My mom raised that girl and they killed her.

"I don't want to lose what I have now," I reiterated. "But…they can't keep getting away with it."

"Alright," Ramius said. "Then this is what we're going to do."

Ramius talked slow and even, but not in a chastising way.

"Piggot will make an announcement. There's no way to stop the damage now, but it can be preempted. Take the wind out of the sails. She'll say we've found evidence of a Ward misbehaving in her private life. Shadow Stalker won't be mentioned by name, but people will notice when she stops patrolling."

It dawned on me then. Ramius was walking a tight rope. Two tight ropes. Forcing the PRT to face what they'd done and make amends, and keeping the PRT afloat before it sank.

"Blue Cosmos will file the suit. If it's part of Teacher's plan, his pets will move the moment the PRT tries to get control of the headlines. Undermine the message. Imply we've known longer than we have."

Ramius looked at me.

"They'll come to you or your father. The Bermans too. When they do, don't act like you know anything. Pretend it's all new to you. The lawsuit, Blue Cosmos' ideology, everything. Act like the person they want to put on the stand."

Like a bullied girl? Well, I'd done it before. That kind of seemed to defeat my goals though. I didn't want the suit to happen.

"But I—"

"Go along with it," Ramius insisted. "Then, after everything is filed, but before proceedings start, the PRT will give you an offer. A generous offer. One that will be exceedingly so, because Newtype and Taylor Hebert are friends and the PRT wants Newtype to be their friend, understand?"

I nodded, but honestly I was still parsing that.

"Take it. The settlement will include an NDA forbidding you, and your lawyers, from publicly discussing the details of the suit."

"I…" Oh. "Is that legal?"

"I'm not a lawyer. So, let's assume yes and make sure no one finds out we talked about this."

Okay "Then, why are you—"

"Because it's the right thing to do. It keeps you safe and ensures that something will be done about what happened."

Is it? Does it?

She basically told me to play nice with Blue Cosmos, get them to be my lawyers, and then take a deal prearranged between me and the PRT. A deal that put a sock in their mouths before saying anything.

It would save my identity, so long as the lawyers actually kept quiet, but I don't think they'd be happy. They probably wanted publicity around the case.

"What if Blue Cosmos talks anyway?"

"They won't," Ramius said. "We'll tidy your case up and put it away while the story remains vague and unclear. Before any names make it far into the process or out into the news. Ward. Bullying. Victims. That'll be it."

"But Blue Cosmos will know enough to know I'm Newtype."

"And unmasking their own client would be disastrous, and not just because the client turned out to be a cape."

Oh. Right. Except, "Then why approach me at all? They could just go to Charlotte."

"Zealously defending your client is just lawyer speak for tearing the other side apart piece by piece. Charlotte on her own will never make it through a trial process. They need both of you to corroborate one another's stories or the case might never make it to trial."

She shook her head like that upset her.

"However, this does mean that if the Bermans want to go to trial rather than accept their own exceedingly generous settlement, you'll be taking that choice away from them. It's all or nothing, Taylor. Either the case goes all the way to the end or stops right as it begins."

"I don't…"

What would Charlotte want? I didn't know exactly. I did know no one one gave me the right to take that choice from her. I'd already nearly done that once. I didn't want to do it again.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"It's not set in stone," Ramius suggested. "It's what I think I can make happen. Maybe the best way to get the things you want."

Did Charlotte just want her life back? Did she want them punished? If I told her I'd get us both some justice, and protect my identity, would she go along with it? I might be able to convince my father, but Charlotte had her own parents.

I need to talk to Charlotte.

"Okay."

"There is something else," Ramius said. "Shadow Stalker will be punished, but she'll probably still be a Ward when all is said and done."

My hands tensed. "Why?"

"Same reason as before. The world needs heroes."

"She's not a hero," I hissed.

"No, but she has a power, and as long as she's not running a gang or committing crimes, she's useful." Ramius closed her eyes, and leaned her head back for a moment. "My suspicion is that she'll be transferred. Probably to a quarantine zone. Madison most likely."

"That's not—"

"It's not fair. For what it's worth, that's what the PRT does with anyone who is more trouble than they're worth. She'll be shuffled off to a dark corner, disappear from the press, and be strictly monitored until she turns eighteen. After that, I'm not sure what'll happen."

Ramius thought for a moment.

"She'll probably be forced into the Protectorate, but as a punishment. There's enough on her to charge her as an adult for several crimes, and force her to stay in that dark corner for the rest of her cape career. She'll be a hero, but only insofar as it's the label that'll be stuck on her file."

That's not right.

"I'm sorry. "What happens to her ultimately is far outside of my control. I can only ensure something is done."

I breathed through my teeth. First tears, and now my heart wanted to burst through my chest.

"What about Emma, or Madison? The school?" Is anyone going to get fucking punished for what they did?

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Ramius said. "I've already gotten gears moving."

"You?" I pulled the transfer letter from my pocket. I held it out, asking, "This was you?"

"I made the School Board aware of a disciplinary problem," she said. "Don't worry. The PRT and the education system have a lot of history. Only the Superintendent knows the details, and we trust him with the identities of the Wards too. He's sorry by the way. He promised to keep a very close eye on Winslow going forward, and Arcadia's two new students."

"I'm taking the GED," I said weakly. "Don't need school anymore."

"Not the education I suppose, but school is more than just education."

I glanced down at Green. At some point he'd let my mask sit on his head like a hat.

"Have you been talking behind my back?"

"No," Veda replied.

Ramius leaned forward and looked at the robot.

"Has, she been listening the whole time?"

"I am always listening," Veda answered.

And that doesn't sound machine overlord at all.

"Not to pry"—Ramius' eyes drifted to me—"but is StarGazer in the same situation as you? Or any other situation someone should do something about but didn't?"

"No," Veda said. "I am well. There is no need for concern, but thank you."

"Alright," Ramius accepted. "I won't ask further." She turned back to me. "Are you alright to go home?"

I would be. "I just need a moment."

Not sure how I felt about this. I felt too much in a way, but it all mixed together into a blob of not feeling anything? I think there might be a little happiness in there, but I squashed it.

Burned too many times.

I'd wait until everything actually worked out before feeling happy. Maybe hopeful is okay though.

I still needed to deal with Dad somehow. Charlotte and I needed to discuss things. Ramius needed to come through.

But yeah. Hopeful is okay.

"Do you want a ride?" Ramius asked.

"No. I'll make my own way."

I rose to my feet. Green moved forward and held my mask up, but I waved him off. Easier to just walk home in plain clothes now. Green could stash my mask in the van before getting back in his cradle and flying away.

"It's alright to wait a bit if you want."

"No. I'm okay."

I looked at her, about as mute on her as everything else.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

Her responding smile didn't look happy.

"Don't," she said. "It never should have happened in the first place. It certainly shouldn't have gone as far as it did. No one deserves to be thanked." She rose from the bench. "We have one job that really matters, and we failed."

I…I nodded, and turned to leave. I needed to go home. Deal with dad. Deal with the rest.

After some sleep. Yeah. Sleep sounded good.

Ramius got up and followed me to the parking lot. I let her get in her own car and drive off, waving goodbye as she did. Once she pulled away, and the Haros tracked her driving off I walked to the Van.

"Taylor," Veda said.

"Yeah?"

"Put on your mask."

"What?"

Green held it toward me. I put it on quickly, watching as a feed appeared on the visor. Navy zoomed in, highlighting two faces and showing them to me.

I breathed in and out.

"Figures," I grumbled. "This shit always turns up when I don't want to deal with it."

I recognized the short one and the tall one too.

The same two who led those kids who blew me up with a grenade. They stood on either side of a large truck. The tall one talked on a phone. The short one had a gun in one hand, and kept scanning the street.

Part of me wanted to just say fuck it, tonight was too much. Except, Captain's Hill wasn't ABB territory. Not even close. The Empire ran what crime happened here. So what were some ABB bangers doing out here? With a truck?

"Veda. Are there any shipments tonight that you know about?"

"Negative."

Might just be a blind spot. The ABB operated in cells. Each group maintained their own operations, and didn't necessarily talk to any of the others. There might be a few things going on I didn't know about.

"Do you know what these guys do normally?"

"The Maruda branch operates five brothels and two gambling parlors south of the Rail Yard at the edge of ABB territory, and several depots storing drugs and weapons."

"West side or east side?"

The Rail Yard ran from one end of the city to the other. Brockton Bay needed it back when the port worked twenty-four seven. The whole area might as well be a hat for the Docks.

The city map came up on my visor, and Veda highlighted a section on the other side of the Docks from Captain's Hill.

I turned my head in their direction.

"Then what are they doing all the way out here?"