Step 9.10
I opened my eyes, hand outstretched in front of me. It felt like waking from a dream. Did that happen? I still held the image firmly in my mind. Everything I wanted, with one addition.
Administrator?
The warehouse lay silent save for the hum of generators.
Right. What now?
"I need a vacation," I groaned. "Just one day off." And maybe I should see that therapist.
"Seconded." Lafter groaned. "You do need a vacation." She pushed herself off the ground ahead of me. "As soon as we find out who hit me in the head, cause that was a cheap shot!"
I sat up.
Labyrinth stood next to me, humming to herself and rocking on her heels. Her eyes remained the same as before. Focused, not distant. When she looked at me she looked at me. Not that her eyes looked at me for long. They rapidly wandered, darting back and forth like she'd never seen anything before.
"Someone please tell me what the fuck is going on!?"
My head snapped around.
Aisha?
"You said you were done?" The girl sat on the ground and pointed at me. "Fuck no. I'm done! What was—"
Grue stirred beside her. "Aisha?"
"What?!"
She turned to him, and he stared up at her.
"You're awake," he said it like he didn't really believe it.
Aisha glared at him.
"How?" Tattletale stumbled to her feet. "What did we—"
Her eyes swept the room and stopped on Labyrinth. She narrowed her gaze. Labyrinth's eyes went to the other blonde. She waved. Tattletale's jaw slackened.
"Ow!"
I turned the other way, watching as Kid Win fell on his butt.
"Vista!" He shouted, hand clutching his mouth.
"Kid?" Vista blinked at him, her elbow still raised. "What happened?"
She looked around the room. She took a moment to take in the Undersiders. Kid Win got the cloth mask over the top half of her face, but I didn't know if they'd already seen it. That might be an issue.
Vista looked at us one after the other, asking, "Where did all of you come from? Who hit me?"
"Are you okay?" Kid asked.
"No, I'm not okay," Missy snarled. "What's going on?"
"I'm not okay either, for the record." Lafter shook her head and got up. "My head hurts." She glanced around. "Um, where'd the army of armed brats go?"
So none of them remember any of that?
"I don't know!" Labyrinth smiled.
They were unconscious. Or asleep. Still no idea why only three of us were awake for that. I didn't want to think about it. Except…I glanced from behind my visor at Aisha and Labyrinth. They both remembered. Aisha's outburst confirmed that, and Labyrinth's denial was as coy as it got.
"What happened to you?" Tattletale fixed her eyes on Labyrinth. "You're lucid!"
Labyrinth shrugged.
Not planning on saying anything then? Might be for the best.
Grue hugged his sister. "You're okay."
"Geeze stop with the mushy." Aisha's face was softer than before, though she seemed to be pouting as hard as she could. "Please?"
"Cut him some slack," Tattletale said, still looking at Labyrinth. "He's been worried sick for months."
Aisha stiffened. "Months?" She turned her head, but couldn't quite turn it enough to look at Tattletale. "Define months."
"Newtype."
Veda.
I got up and looked up at the Haros. Right. I didn't see any of them over there. Did they not get pulled in?
I swallowed at the thought of 'over there', hand shaking at my side.
"Assistance is on the way," Veda said.
Cranial didn't get to that place on her own. "Define assistance?"
"Miss Militia and Stratos."
I thought the PRT wasn't doing anything. I glanced at Kid Win. He and Vista both looked back at me, one frowning and the other frowning more.
"Just Militia and Stratos?" I asked.
"Yes."
My heart quickened in my throat.
They killed Cranial…Shit they killed Cranial.
What would they do to us? "The Undersiders should clear out. You're still unmasked and we're done here."
They needed to leave. They needed to leave now.
"Are we?" Tattletale asked.
She turned on me, her expression practically exuding annoyance. Of course she knew. How couldn't she, being 'psychic' and oh my god psychics exist.
Lalah and the kids talked. Lalah and those things talked. They all did it silently when it suited them. How? Everyone knew mind reading wasn't real. It wasn't possible. Except it obviously was.
I really want tonight to be done. I can't deal with this.
"Yes," I insisted as firmly as I could. I looked her in the eye, struggling to keep my face and voice firm. "Whatever the kids were doing they've succeeded. I don't see them, do you?"
She saw my lie. I watched her debate on whether or not to call me on it. She glanced at Labyrinth, the girl content to look around and hum to herself. Mastery of your own mind is its own pleasure after years trapped in it, apparently.
"Let's go," Grue said, pulling Aisha close.
He started moving toward Hellhound. The girl hurriedly looked over the three dogs around her, checking their legs and faces like a dotting—but angry—mother. Odd sight actually, given her violent reputation. Guess she got along better with dogs than people.
Tattletale's lips parted to speak.
"Tattletale!" Grue called as the thinker continued to stand and glare. "Not now!"
I held my ground as the struggle played out on her face. She wanted to ask. To press, just like she'd done to me at Winslow.
Could I endure that with everything jumbled in my head and—I felt like that girl again. That girl trapped in the halls and beset on all sides.
"Fine," she said suddenly, giving me one last pointed look.
I'd braced myself, but the relief that came from knowing she wasn't going to attack shocked me. I was made of firmer stuff than that, wasn't I?
Aisha.
How much of what I saw needed to stay secret? I didn't know. I couldn't begin to know, I needed time to think. Words. What words would work to get the point across?
"Let it go. Some things are best left—" I stopped myself. Fuck this cryptic crap now I'm doing it!
Aisha glared at me as Grue ushered her away. Tattletale took a slower pace, looking at the machines around the room. Guess her power told her I wasn't talking or she thought better of trying to force it with Protectorate capes on the way.
"Other than sore heads," I said, fighting to get a handle on myself, "is everyone okay?"
"Yes," Lafter and Kid Win answered.
Labyrinth gave me an "mhm."
"No," Missy protested. "Someone tell me something."
"You look great for someone who was just kidnapped?" Lafter offered with a smile.
"By who?" Vista asked with a shocked look.
They must have hit her really hard.
And shit they were still back there. Would that be okay? Should I say anything about tha—Nope. No. I'm done. For tonight, I am completely done.
Kid Win started trying to explain to Missy what happened.
I turned to Green, asking, "Astraea?"
"Loading now," Veda said through Green. "The area is secure. I am guiding Queen to you."
I nodded to myself when the message appeared on my visor.
sys.v/ should I say anything?
I tensed, slipping my phone from my pocket and trying to discreetly obscure the screen.
sys.t/ say nothing
sys.t/ we'll figure it out later
sys.t/ after I decompress this crap
sys.t/ and take a shower
sys.t/ you too Dinah
sys.t/ we'll fill Lafter in later
sys.d/ okay
Sys.v/ is Lafter aware?
sys.t/ no and we will tell her later
sys.t/ please
sys.t/ I can't begin to explain this
How do you tell anyone about—Nope.
The Undersiders made their exit, and I turned to those that remained. If Stratos and Miss Militia were coming, they wanted to make sure Vista and Kid Win were okay.
That left the question of what to do about Labyrinth.
"How are you?" I asked her.
"Better than ever," she replied.
Well, at least someone is happy.
"We should get out of here." I glanced around the room. Some of the equipment looked fried. Others seemed just fine. "If Cranial built this stuff, it might be close to breaking down."
The kids weren't around to fix it anymore, assuming they even could in the first place.
"Someone tell me what happened!" Vista got up and noticed her helmet on the ground. A hand rose and touched her face. "Did someone unmask me?"
"We'll figure it out later," Kid Win said. Preaching to the choir. "Newtype's right. We should go."
I took the lead toward the door, pulling Labyrinth behind me. I needed to figure out what to do with her, fast.
The PRT.
I couldn't put that off, could I? They knew. Not Piggot or anyone local. Kid Win said something about the Chief Director calling Piggot. Eidolon killed Cranial. Team leaders? No, I'd been around Armsmaster a bit. He didn't know more than he'd let on about the kids or Cranial.
Was the PRT at war with itself without anyone knowing?
Once outside, we stepped out into the darkened space between the warehouses. Queen shot over our heads and came about, floating gently down toward the ground.
"Wait." Vista looked up at me. "Where's your suit?"
Lafter looked over her shoulder. "Bakuda blew it up."
Missy's jaw fell. "What did I miss?!"
On the bright side, maybe she dodged any trauma that came with kidnapping and having your power forcibly activated. Someone deserved something good from all this. I glanced at Labyrinth. She stood by my side, content kicking some rocks around with her foot.
Someones.
"You're still, lucid?" I asked, remembering Tattletale's choice of words.
"Hmm?" She turned her eyes to me. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." She looked past me at Lafter, and then at Kid Win and Vista. "Am I being weird?"
Lafter shrugged. "Seem alright to me."
I might find that funny any other time.
Veda landed Queen and looked at all of us.
"You are all unharmed?" she asked.
"Mostly," Lafter grumbled. "Except for our egos. And our comprehension."
"Where are Miss Militia and Stratos?" I asked. "They're not here with permission, are they?"
"I would know nothing of that," Veda replied, conveniently telling me she knew everything about that.
Figured. They decided to come help and Veda told them where to go. Better late than never, I guess.
Queen lifted an inch off the ground. "This way."
The Haros formed a ring around us, and Veda led the way out to the street. I didn't see the van with Dinah anywhere. On my phone, I confirmed it was already slipping back to the factory. Good. She'd left when I asked.
I rose my head as headlights shined over us. The vehicle lurched to a stop, and two figures spilled out.
My plan for protecting Labyrinth had not progressed.
"Vista!" Miss Militia shouted.
She came toward us, an assault rifle in her hands. Her eyes swept over us one by one, lingering for a moment on Labyrinth's face.
She turned her attention back to Vista and crouched in front of her. "Are you okay?"
"Getting tired of asking what happened," she complained.
"She seems okay," Kid Win said. "And I told you what happened."
"You gave me the back of the book blurb that doesn't tell me anything!"
"He's just protecting you from spoilers," Lafter quipped. Labyrinth covered her mouth and laughed. "Finally. Newtype never laughs and I put a lot of work into trying!"
"Where are the kids?" Stratos stepped up behind Militia and looked around. "And weren't you with the Undersiders?"
"They took Grue's sister and left," I not-lied.
Veda sent me a message and I tried to keep my face straight.
"And the children?" Militia asked. She rose up, rifle pressed to her shoulder as she scanned the street.
"What children?" Lafter asked back. "They're gone. Like"—she raised her hands—"poof."
"Without a trace," Pink said, "without a trace."
"Gone?" Stratos asked.
"Warehouse zero four." I nodded toward it. "There's a mountain of tech in there. No idea how safe it is. The kids aren't there anymore."
Miss Militia and Stratos stared at us.
"And they're just gone?" Militia asked.
"That's what we said," Lafter said. I remained silent. "One second they're there, and then poof. Gone. And we all had headaches."
"I can provide video," Veda offered. "A phenomenon appeared to absorb the children and knock other parties unconscious."
We had video?
Stratos and Militia shared a glance.
"And you all feel okay?" Miss Militia asked.
"Other than the headache," Kid Win replied.
"You're in trouble by the way." Stratos nodded to Kid Win. "Mockshow is not the best person to ask to cover for you and Armsmaster is never going to buy your com wasn't working."
"None of you were doing anything!" Kid Win snapped.
"We were waiting to understand the situation," Stratos said. "There's a difference."
"And the situation was?" I asked.
"Hero's team." Miss Militia stood up and looked at Labyrinth. "The Chief Director benched us and said specialists were needed." There is no way Armsmaster liked that.
"And you're here anyway?" I asked.
Miss Militia averted her gaze. "Our coms aren't working."
Clearly, she was not accustomed to insubordination.
"We went to retrieve a Ward for disobeying orders," Stratos proclaimed, glancing at Kid Win. "Couldn't have him running around when we'd already lost one." He glanced down to Missy. "And look what we found? Incredible coincidence."
Huh. Good for them. Fight the power.
"Hero?" I asked.
If anyone knew anything about anything in the PRT and the Protectorate, it would be the Triumvirate. That is a repeat I did not need. I liked them after they took me aside in Boston. They believed someone tried to hurt me without any need to plead my case. So much for that change of pace.
Sometimes life just wants to twist the knife right in.
"They should be porting in about now, though…" Miss Militia glanced to Stratos. He shrugged and shook his head. She Militia breathed. "You should all come with us. We'll let Hero handle the children."
"We'll sort it out at the PRT building," Stratos proposed. "Get you all checked out."
Was it better or worse to go with them?
"The entire medical team got called in."
The entire medical team? Asuno?
No. Worse. Definitely worse. If Hero held an inkling of what was going on, he'd press. That feeling I had standing under Tattletales scrutiny was still fresh. Like shattered glass.
"We'll provide the video," I offered. "I'll come in for a debrief later. I'm too tired to deal with this right now. Tonight sucked." I glanced to Vista. "You're safe." Labyrinth. "You're lucid, somehow."
"I know, right?" Labyrinth turned to Miss Militia and Stratos. "Can I get your autographs? I'm thinking of starting a collection."
They both stared, and I looked over my shoulder.
"Grue got his sister back. It's enough for one night. Tell Ramius I'm okay. I needed to start fixing my stuff."
"Wait," Militia called. "What happened with Bakuda?"
Fuck. That happened too. "I won and she lost. I let her go. Bigger fish and all that."
I turned to Labyrinth.
She seemed to be handling it better than me, but I couldn't just leave her to the mercy of whatever came next. Faultline and most of the crew were out. I doubted they'd awoken in the last hour.
She was a rogue at best, not a hero. Would they even let her go? And there was no way they'd let me take her along. The fire at the Palanquin, Faultline and her crew in the hospital, and the kidnapping? The PRT would insist she go with them. Even walking out with her now would only spare her so long and raise a mountain of flags for anyone looking for them.
Labyrinth looked at me and smiled.
"Have a nice night," she said in a warm tone. She turned to Miss Militia and Stratos. "Can I see Faultline?"
"She's in the hospital," Militia replied, her face surprised.
I didn't know if the two ever met, but you didn't need to meet Labyrinth to know of her. Damn it. Why was she talking to them? The fact she was completely sane amounted to a giant 'something happened' flag!
"You should come with us," Stratos insisted. "We'll find somewhere for you while things work out."
"Okay," Labyrinth agreed. Why? "But I want to see Faultline."
"We might be able to arrange that."
No. I trusted Stratos and Militia. Enough that I didn't believe they'd hurt Labyrinth or knowingly let her get hurt. But they didn't have control in this situation.
I needed a plan.
I couldn't make a big deal of it without raising everyone's eyebrows. I'd practically be screaming 'something happened' even more than Labyrinth's sudden bout of sanity and Aisha being up and about.
Why?
I didn't want to deal with it. I couldn't deal with it. Everything was still swirling in my head demanding my attention and I didn—
Never like them.
I balled my hand into a fist. Never like them.
I couldn't go to the PRT. I was barely holding myself together. But leaving Labyrinth to whatever fate awaited was unacceptable. Going to the PRT wouldn't help her anyway. They could isolate us both if they wanted. Whoever 'they' turned out to be.
Think. Think fast.
Militia gathered Vista at her side and moved her toward the car. Kid Win followed, giving me a nod as he went. I waited. Just for a moment, waiting for when their backs turned.
"Come on." Stratos placed a gentle hand on Labyrinth's shoulder. "Hungry? I'm hung—"
I grasped his other wrist tight and his voice hitched. My finger's trembled despite my grip. He noticed and I hated that, but no. I couldn't do nothing.
"Watch her," I whispered as low as I could. "Do not let her out of sight."
Stratos stared at me. Labyrinth gave a small smile.
"What happened?" he asked. "And don't say you're okay. You're not. Militia saw your hand shaking too."
That bad?
I wanted to talk. I really wanted to talk and I couldn't. I didn't know how bad it was. I didn't know who knew and who didn't. Who could be trusted. How much danger speaking put people in.
That—That place turned everything upside down.
"Watch her," I pleaded. "Please."
I hated asking him to do something I couldn't, but for once I knew exactly how not-okay I was. Stratos might listen. He easily topped the power chart out of the local Protectorate, but he wasn't close to the most known member. He was jaded. He didn't hold the idealism of heroism like Miss Militia did. He knew the PRT and Protectorate weren't perfect.
Please listen.
"Is there a reason I wouldn't?" he asked.
I released his arm and stepped away.
He made no move to stop me, thank god.
Lafter and the Haros followed behind me and Queen flew a few hundred feet up.
"Spill," Lafter whispered.
"Not here," I whispered back.
She would figure something was up after that display.
"Taylor?" Veda asked. She showed me the image, and I scowled.
"I know," I admitted. I see her.
I pulled my phone out.
sys.t/ we need to act fast
sys.t/ veda what is on PHO and the news?
sys.v/ the wards were involved in a confrontation
sys.v/ your battle with Bakuda
sys.v/ the latter overshadows the former
I took that in. People knew something happened with the Wards, but they didn't know Vista was kidnapped? I ran my tongue over my dry lips.
sys.t/ okay
sys.t/ this is what I need
I set it out in steps.
sys.t/ ask eledore to release a statement
He's probably still got a bunch of listeners after we walked out so suddenly. It's only been an hour—Hour? We were over there at least thirty minutes?
The time I had didn't line up with what I remembered. Later.
sys.t/ Kati can write it up
sys.t/ we rescued labyrinth and left her with the PRT
sys.t/ it needs to say those words
sys.t/ throw in something else
sys.t/ thank the undersiders
sys.v/ for what?
sys.t/ for upholding the unwritten rules
sys.t/ mention the Wards
sys.t/ not by name
sys.t/ just work them into it
If we called attention to it, people might notice something was up on their own. Like a Ward being kidnapped. Make a spectacle of all of it. Call in attention where it needed to be so that the surface is what people saw.
sys.v/ you are not alright
That obvious?
I swallowed, very aware of Lafter's worried looks beside me.
sys.t/ I know
sys.t/ this needs to happen
sys.t/ I can't go to the PRT like this
sys.t/ we need to protect labyrinth
I couldn't put it past the people who killed Cranial for hidden motives to vanish her. Unless I made it as public as possible. The PRT couldn't spirit Labyrinth away with everyone looking at them. Not if they wanted things innocuous.
Faultline could do it herself, if she was conscious…
sys.t/ spitfire is conscious
sys.t/ call her
sys.t/ call her and tell her
sys.t/ we found labyrinth
sys.t/ she's with the PRT
sys.t/ tell her she needs to go there now
sys.t/ unmasked
sys.t/ stay where she can be seen
sys.t/ no matter what she needs to be seen
On a whim, I sent one of the Haros off to follow Labyrinth. A building across the street from the PRT building had a great view of the lobby. It was an apartment complex too. Lots of people.
sys.t/ Orange can take pictures
sys.t/ as soon as spitfire shows up
sys.t/ we'll post them ourselves if need be
Faultline's crew were villains, but they were outed villains. Outed villains the PRT openly tolerated because they didn't cause too much trouble. I called so much attention to the unwritten rules already.
Arresting Spitfire in the lobby of the PRT building? After all this? With her rescued teammate inside?
They'd never bring that hellfire down on themselves, least of all while trying to keep something under wraps. Make it hell. Make any attempt to harm them more trouble and more public than simply letting them go.
sys.v/ make the rescue as public as possible?
sys.t/ yes
sys.v/ I see
sys.v/ may I use your PHO account?
sys.v/ I will post some statements online
sys.t/ that's a good idea
Wait. Dragon. Shit.
I inhaled and grabbed my wrist. My hand was shaking so much reading the screen was hard. Typing anything out was even harder.
"Taylor," Lafter warned.
"I'm not leaving her," I hissed. Not like them. Never.
Not because of this. Not because I'd failed to hold myself together. I needed to strike the right balance. Protect Labyrinth without giving myself away. She didn't actually know much. Only Aisha and I heard everything.
The PRT—or whoever within their ranks—killed Cranial over this. That would not happen to Labyrinth or me. I wouldn't let it.
sys.t/ not just on PHO
sys.t/ use some other forums
sys.t/ and social media
sys.t/ push it so that people talk about it
Would that be enough? I hoped so.
My grip was loosening. I felt it coming apart.
A van pulled up three blocks down the road. We both got in, and I looked at Astraea's wreckage in the back.
"Damn," Lafter grumbled. "I thought you were exaggerating."
"No." I inhaled and sat in my wrecked suit. Later. Later. I'll deal with it later.
Finally out of sight and tucked into a place I felt reasonably safe in…I may not have handled the pressure to the best of my ability.
"Taylor," Lafter called. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," I lied.
I couldn't stop it.
It was too much.
Scion was what, an alien? Parasite, she called him. The head of the snake. That made me what, a host? Infected? By what?
He wanted to destroy the world. He gave parahumans their powers. Powers are alive. Cranial was set up and murdered. There's something reaching into my brain. My power is alive. Did they see what we saw? Hear what we heard? How did it work. How did they choose? Why trigger events? The worst day of my life and an alien decided to reach out and touch me?
I tried to slow my breathing. It didn't work well.
"Okay. Foot down." Lafter twisted in the passenger seat. "What happened?"
Lafter has a power. Does she have one of those things too? Does it see and hear everything she does? Dinah? Militia? Stratos? Arm—Dragon? How does that work?!
I clung to that image. The picture of the future, with a red flower in the heavens. I thought I understood that, grasped what it meant. On some level.
One world for all.
That's what I understood.
Did Administrator put that in my head? Fuck, could she put things in my head? No, I knew the answer to that. She obviously put things in my head. She was my power. My power literally came down to things in my head. Could she manipulate me? Affect my behavior. My choices?
Was I even me? Did Taylor Hebert really die in that locker? Was she replaced by some thing created by an alien-ghost-power giver shoved into her body?
Lafter's hands fell on my shoulders.
"Hey." Her eyes were firm. "Calm down."
I continued shaking, but her face gave me something to focus on. I swallowed and nodded.
"What happened?" she asked.
I met her gaze. "The world's a lot more fucked than I thought."
Lafter stared. "No. Really. What happened?"
She finally got me to laugh. Felt kind of bad about it.
Is this what happened to Cranial?
She figured something out—or someone told her—and she just went mad? She learned the truth behind powers and it drove her insane. Is that why she started messing with kids? Was she looking for something, or trying to induce triggers?
Lafter put her arms around me.
"Hey," she cooed. "It's okay."
Its really, really, not.
She pulled me into a hug and… that helped. How long since anyone had really hugged me? Dad hugged me. I think Ramius did it once. There was the one time Miss Militia did it but there was a live hand grenade on the ground. Don't think that counts.
I pressed my head into the crook of her neck, weakly grasping her shoulders.
"It's okay," she repeated.
I can't describe whatever noises I made as I clung to her.
I really hoped Labyrinth was handling things as well as she seemed to. Maybe she didn't put it together like I did, or maybe all of that didn't send her brain into spirals with the implications.
I'm me, I told myself. Taylor Anne Hebert. Newtype. Sixteen. My mom died in a car accident. My best friend betrayed me. My father failed me. I didn't stop. I fought back. I made Veda. I made Celestial Being. Me. I did that!
Lafter kept talking but I was too busy repeating those words.
Which maybe is very crazy. It kind of helped, though. That, and Lafter quietly holding me all the way back to the factory.
I managed to get some semblance of control of myself by then. The van drove down the ramp into the workshop, and Lafter helped me out of the van.
"What's wrong?" Dinah asked.
She rose to her feet. Still masked. Good.
"I don't know," Lafter said, with none of the levity she normally carried.
She sat me in my chair, and I looked around the room. Home. Right. Safe place. Safest place, even.
Dinah reached up to pull off her mask. I put a hand atop her head and stopped her. She placed her hands over mine, tilting her head to express the confusion I couldn't see.
I decided to call it karma.
I tempted fate and life decided to stab a few times and twist. Figured. I never put on the brakes, even once. Now I wanted nothing more than to take a shower, sleep, and get a hold of myself and things couldn't slow down for a moment.
I inhaled.
You have shit to do.
"Where?" I asked.
"To your right," Veda directed.
I looked. "Figured out how to use your power fast."
"Bullshit!" Aisha appeared as her power dropped. "I get the power to be invisible and you still see me?"
"You are not invisible," Veda pointed out.
"Your power makes you hard to remember," I said. "Difficult to do when we can see you with focused sound waves. Though I suppose that's an improvement. You used to show up on the thermal spectrum."
The Haros spotted her following us not long after Militia and Stratos showed up. Then she kept following me after we parted ways with them.
She only appeared on sonic cameras now.
I forced myself not to think about how that could work.
"All I heard is you can still see me." She scowled. "Some power."
Did she really think that? Effectively invisible to anyone looking at her unless using fancy sonar? On top of people forgetting she was even there? That qualified as one of the most useful powers I knew of. Easily on par with Lafter's, especially now that it didn't render her comatose.
"Should we do something about that?" Lafter asked, pointing a finger lazily at Aisha. "You're trespassing, right? She's trespassing."
"She jumped onto the back of the van when it stopped to pick us up," I explained. "She's been following us since we met with Miss Militia and Stratos."
Lafter gave me a worried look. I gave her a small shake of the head. I doubted I could ask her to forget my complete breakdown in the back of the van. I didn't want to think about it.
"And?" Aisha asked. "We're not done!" She looked at me. "If Tattletale is going to grill me for hours about what happened, then I'm going to know what happened!"
Hours with Tattletale. How terrible that must be. There was an upside of course. Labyrinth didn't know everything. Only Aisha clearly heard my raving.
She crossed her arms over her chest. If she cared for the fact she wore nothing but a hospital gown, she didn't show it.
"Also I saw the date on your phone," she snapped. "It's July!"
"Technically, it's almost August." Busy month. "Does your brother know where you are?"
"You think he wouldn't be here if he did? He's grabbier than our grandmother!"
Definitely karma.
Part of me knew this would happen. When I saw Aisha following me and Lafter saw what I said to Stratos, I'd have no choice but to start talking. Dinah and Veda already knew something though, and Aisha knew most of what I did. I couldn't keep Lafter out of the loop. She hugged me.
Still, I didn't want to tell them. Cranial went insane knowing. I think I went insane, for a few moments there.
At least I was with friends. And Aisha. Better than being stuck in some interrogation room. These were people I could trust. And Aisha.
"Fine," I relented. "But all three of you are going to listen to me right now. This, does not leave this room." I pointed. "You do not tell Tattletale." I turned to Lafter and Dinah. "Ramius. Trevor. None of them. Sure as hell not my dad. I have no idea how fucked this mess really is and until I do we are keeping it between us."
I glanced to the nearest Haro.
"Not even Dragon. We can't trust her with this."
And that hurt to say. I'd already started keeping things from her. I didn't want to keep doing that or make it a habit. But so long as chains bound her and the PRT's higher ups knew, I needed to.
They'd be the same people who'd know about that.
I waited until I got their acknowledgments.
"StarGazer, lockdown the workshop. If Kati calls talk to her but don't let her in. Tell her something. No one who isn't a cape should know about this."
And I started talking.
I told them what I remembered. Nothing got left out. I was sure. I started with Nine Eyes picking me up and went all the way to Lalah's cryptic crap. I covered broken triggers for Aisha. I think she cared more about what happened to her than anything else.
I tried to make the finale as soft as possible.
"I thought you were a tinker," Lafter said.
"I am a tinker."
"But your power is a giant bug monster?"
If anything, I was glad she could still tease me. I needed that.
"I know right?" Aisha asked. "I thought the same thing. And you pointed a lightsaber at it!"
"Beam saber," Green chirped. "Beam saber!"
"Why is your robot still repeating itself?" Aisha asked. "It's been months. How have you not fixed that?"
Haven't had that question in awhile.
"Are you all just breezing through this?" I looked at them one at a time. Aisha looked grumpy, Lafter looked confused, and I couldn't see Dinah's face. Behind her mask. "Because I'm still freaked out. At least a little."
My brain was still churning with implications. And the worst part was I didn't know enough. What else didn't I know?
I'd managed to put myself together, but I still felt that breeze threatening to push me over the cliff edge. Having people to talk to helped me keep myself under control. Like a valve, a way to release the pressure.
"I deal with stress by being immature," Lafter admitted. "Lets me cope. I didn't see any of this. For some reason. I need hugs!"
I tried not to react to that.
"Why were you awake?" Aisha asked. "Everyone else was knocked out."
"I don't know," I mumbled. "And I'm not in the best mind to figure it out."
"I'm just saying it's very illogical," Lafter complained. "If your power is actually a giant bug monster, why don't you control bugs? Or make giant bugs? Or become a giant bug!"
"She does in some—" Dinah stopped herself. "My power is a thing too?"
"I think all powers are a thing," I suggested. "Tattletale's is a big cone in a cone thing." I glanced at Aisha. "And yours is a mist monster."
I didn't mention Vista's. I didn't care about Tattletale, but it felt like an invasion to say what their powers actually looked like. A trespass, which in retrospect was a weird thing to feel. Was that her influence?
Aisha scoffed. "You're just jealous mist monster is cooler than a giant centipede."
Am I really the only one freaking out?
"Are you certain you are all right?" Veda asked.
"No," I answered. "For once, I'm definitely not. I need a day off. Maybe a few days. I didn't really get up prepared for the world to get turned upside down."
"I think mine warned me," Dinah said, her voice suddenly hoarse.
We all turned to look at her.
"I knew things were there. I knew there were things I couldn't see. I got this…Feeling? Like a warning, and I just thought 'don't fight'."
"A feeling?" I sat forward. I latched onto the thought like a man in the desert reaching for water. "When I tinker, there have been times I know something is there. An idea that I'm aware of, but that I can't see. Like that?"
Dinah nodded.
Her power did have a way of coming up with things from time to time in uncanny ways.
"Administrator talked to me," I revealed. "Literally talked to me. She told me she had restrictions." I glanced to Veda, hoping she picked up the obvious connection. "And Lalah said that they weren't free."
"They're not allowed to talk to us directly?" Dinah asked.
"And maybe they're not allowed to let us know things," I mumbled, more pieces coming together. "I've seen that place before. At Winslow, when you triggered"—I looked at Aisha—"and before. I know I've seen it before, but I only remember that now."
"And?" Lafter asked.
"And every parahuman has a Corona Pollentia and a Corona Gemma," I surmised. "They're in our heads. Our powers are them feeding us things and they are in our brains doing it."
"They can pick and choose what you know," Veda proposed. I nodded. "Dinah's power picks and choses what it shows her."
Manton limit, I thought. The theory was basically blown out of the water now, but it was on to something. Eerily. Power behavior and contrivance made so much more sense when one knew powers held minds of their own. They seemed alive at times because they were alive.
"Yeah," I agreed. "That makes sense. These things look like Endbringers. They don't act like them but they look like them." I pointed at Forecast. "You can't see Endbringers. You can't see them. Like when a tinker tinkers. We forget how we did what we did."
But I don't forget everything.
"I've noticed it before," Dinah said. "I noticed some images better than others. Some are clearer. I thought maybe it was about probabilities. Like the more likely ones were clearer."
"Or maybe your power is trying to point you somewhere," I guessed.
She nodded.
"Forecast's power is trying to get around her restrictions?" Veda suggested. The 'like Dragon' went unspoken. "Forecast cannot see them or the Endbringers because her power is not allowed to show her."
"But it tried telling her anyway. Lalah said Vista's power was fond of her. Mine tried to protect me, I think. They can like us."
And that means I am me.
I exhaled.
Okay. That is good to know.
I glanced at Lafter. Dinah did the same, and then one by one the Haros followed. Eventually, Aisha looked.
"What?" Lafter asked. "That's never happened to me. Stuff just moves on its own…Oh shit."
"That answers the question about how much they see over there," I mumbled. "Your power-thing has to be aware of your surroundings to manipulate them."
And mine would see and hear too.
Administrator's been helping me the entire time.
Somehow, imaging her as some longtime ally I'd only just learned about made things a bit easier.
Restrictions.
They stopped her from doing what she wanted, but I'd already seen her work around them. When Labyrinth moved me from one place to another I could talk to her.
I tapped my foot against the floor.
"Scion," I mumbled. "Lalah called him a parasite. That makes us the hosts. However this started, he set the rules. He decided what parahumans would and wouldn't know."
He gave powers to tens of thousands of people. Surely those powers could be used against him, in theo—Not even in theory. I didn't know what Lalah or her compatriots were, but capes fought in the Gold War.
"If he wanted to protect himself, he'd need to obscure the truth. Keep people from figuring out what he really was. Where powers came from. That's why powers have such arbitrary limits."
And then he died. He died, and the snake lost its head. The powers were trapped without him, bound by restrictions they couldn't remove. Maybe more.
"Okay, so that's fascinating," Aisha interrupted. "How am I awake now?"
"I told you I don't know," I reiterated. "This is kind of a curve ball for me, okay? Cranial clearly knew more about this, and she went insane." And I was feeling very much on that road a few minutes ago.
She knew. Lalah fucking knew I'd start losing it and that's why she went out of her way to say Vista's power liked her. Once I connected that dot, I stopped the crazy 'am I even me' talk.
Unless she was lying, but I was not going down that road.
"Is all of this not a reason to involve Dragon?" Veda asked. "This is beyond our normal affairs."
"No," I insisted. "The PRT knows about this, on some level. The Chief Director and the Triumvirate I think, plus Eidolon. Maybe. Dragon can't be dragged into this without giving ourselves away."
"Eidolon killed Cranial," Dinah noted.
I nodded.
"To shut her up, or stop her. Maybe both. Lalah said there was a war over there. She didn't say it outright, but I think she was trying to hint that Cranial was being manipulated by one of the sides."
"That chain of events would imply direct parahuman involvement," Veda pointed out.
I nodded again.
"Which means this isn't the first time something like this has happened. That's why we're not at the PRT right now. If someone tried to grill me right now, I'd fall apart."
"Will they not suspect something?" Veda asked.
"Can they ask without making it really obvious they know something?" Dinah asked. "They don't know what happened this time."
"Maybe," I mumbled. That would make sense.
If the PRT was trying to stop Cranial, then they weren't the side driving her. They might not have a whole image of what she did or didn't know. How could they press me for info without risking information they didn't want revealed?
"I don't think that'll stop someone from trying to feel me out. Militia and Stratos said Hero's team was here. I think they're in damage control mode. They shut down the local team to keep a plug on information. It's like Case-66, but they're keeping it secret from their own people."
"That's good right?" Lafter asked.
I stared at her, questioningly.
"They decided that keeping the secret was more important than Vista," she continued. "If they don't want anyone here to know about it that badly, how can they make a big deal without making everyone wonder why they care so much?"
Huh. "You're right…This—all of this—is the truth. Case-66 is just the cover."
A secret behind a secret.
"Mutually assured destruction," Dinah stated. "StarGazer can release anything before she can be stopped."
And the PRT knows she's an AI, probably at the same level as the people who knew about Cranial and powers. Dragon mentioned the Chief Director then too.
I nodded. That gave me something. If the PRT wanted to feel out what happened and what I might know, they'd have to tread lightly. If they tried to play hardball, I had options. I could work around that.
"Is Labyrinth going to be okay?" Lafter asked. "She saw all this too, right? And she went with Militia and Stratos."
"I think she'll be fine." Maybe I hoped more than thought. I'd been falling apart. Did I make the right choice in that state? "StarGazer, how are we on those things I asked for?"
"Eledore is giving a public statement now," Veda answered. "Kati is still at the station and coordinating with several news outlets. She is aware that I am not telling her something."
Sorry.
"She can't know," I decided. "This can't leave this room for now." Turning to Aisha, I reiterated, "No telling Tattletale. The reason is in her name."
"I already said I wouldn't!" Aisha retorted. "And have you considered the whole mind reading thing? What if they do that to Labyrinth?"
"I thought Tattletale made that up?" Lafter asked.
"She is making that up!" The derision was clear in my voice. Nothing to keep you straight like the loathing held for a know-it-all thinker. "I don't know what her power is but it's not mind reading."
Negotiator? She was a shit negotiator. Everyone who talked to her hated her! That was comfortingly ironic, actually.
"Cranial's kids could do it somehow," I mused. "Mind tinker. I don't know how. Lalah too, but I don't think she's a parahuman. I don't know what she is. She made it sound like she came from somewhere else."
And she planned to go back at some point.
My phone.
I pulled the device from my pocket. Lalah got interested, surprised even, when I said I could still talk to people. Labyrinth somehow used it to find a way back.
My phone was the key? Seriously?
"No point worrying about it," I said. "If there are seriously mind readers on this case, we're already screwed. Nothing we can do about it."
I highly doubted that would happen. So many things that are problems wouldn't be problems if the PRT could do that.
Problems in the world.
Broken triggers came from that place. From their war. Victory and Priest. Lalah named them as the sides. Was one of them in the PRT?
Who could…They…
Oh, "Motherfucker!"
"What?" Lafter asked.
I started thinking about it. Deja vu, again.
"It's weird, isn't it?" I asked. "Vista. Labyrinth. Aisha. One to make a door, one to punch it open, and one to point the way. That's what Labyrinth said. And Cranial found all three in Brockton Bay."
They all stared at me like I was crazy. Was I crazy? Slipping again, like Cranial?
I folded my hands together, thinking it over again. No. No it tracked. Unless someone was lying, and how could they? No one should know exactly what I knew, let alone be able to overtly manipulate it.
"How would Cranial have had all of that without a leak back in May? That's when the scope of Labyrinth's power was exposed. That wasn't public information before and she's not a famous cape. When did Cranial learn about her?"
Someone in the PRT would know about it, or someone with access to their files.
"That's when Aisha's trigger broke, too. How would they have gotten to that place without her?"
"Someone knew I'd get fucked?" Aisha asked incredulously.
Or someone like you.
A broken trigger was inevitable from the leak. Exposing every independent and small time villain in the northeast? Expose a bunch of capes and their families get exposed to. Aisha and Grue got their power from the same source. That's probably how all cape families worked, somehow.
He knows. He knows how they work.
Even if we didn't have a broken trigger in Brockton Bay, there would be one nearby. That's statistics. Cranial could have grabbed them and brought them here before grabbing Labyrinth and Vista.
I didn't know how Coil fit in. A pet, or maybe he was connected to one? Might just be a pawn in the game. A convenient way of getting Cranial into position. I didn't know and I didn't need to know.
"Cranial arrived in Brockton Bay prior to those events," Veda pointed out. "Coil brought her here around March."
"Exactly," I said.
Lafter scratched her cheek. "Yeah, and?"
And the PRT knew.
Not about when she arrived, but what she was involved in. What her presence in the city meant. The way they reacted when Lafter discovered her. I thought it a mere political ploy. What if it wasn't? The way she died as soon as she tried to talk. They knew. They figured it out somehow.
Did they see him behind it?
Plans within plans within plans.
That was how he worked and he was obsessed with damaging the PRT. Was all the chaos just a means to an end? The PRT were on one side and he was on the other?
I'm not crazy. This makes sense. Twisted, fucked up sense.
I scowled and pressed my teeth together.
Victory, or Priest? Which is he?
"Why does everything that goes wrong keep coming up Teacher?"
