Step 9.11
"Taylor."
"Hmm?"
She fixed her gaze on me. "Are you listening?"
I looked at her, trying to remember what she'd been saying. I couldn't.
"Sorry," I offered
I turned my head, looking out the window as she drove the car toward Downtown. I hadn't driven through the city streets like a normal person in a while.
I tapped my phone against my thigh.
"It's a completely normal process," Kati said.
"I know."
Three day Master/Stranger quarantine. Calvert announced it, for Labyrinth and Vista. The PRT PR machine was in full swing, and it turns out, much stronger than anything I could pull off with just Kati. I succeeded in calling attention to events, putting eyes all over them. Little more than that.
And I hated that it might be the limit of my ability.
Dinah and I had burned all her questions yesterday trying to figure out what we could.
Labyrinth.
She'd be pressed into the Wards. Dinah felt those images to be 'clearer'. That made them favorites, if we were right about what clearer images in her power meant. It made the most sense to me too.
Faultline had zero legal custody of Elle, and as far as I knew she had no parents. The PRT might not arrest or hurt an unmasked villain while they're unmasked, but they were under no obligation to return a minor to a team that broke the law.
Besides. Piggot wouldn't let her go, especially now that she was sane. And the PRT would want to keep her close. Labyrinth was the only one they could absolutely say something happened to.
It might work out? She wouldn't be charged with any crimes given her previous mental state. She seemed to like Faultline, but I didn't see that happening regardless of what she wanted. Not even sure why I felt so torn over it. Faultline and her team were low key, but they were villains.
Still. I couldn't work up the same level of disgust I held for others when it came to them. Unlike the Undersiders, they never screwed me over. Unlike the gangs, they didn't make a habit of ruling the city with fear.
The video I handed over confirmed Aisha was awake, but the others from Winslow remained comatose. Still no idea how that worked. The PRT would probably assume her a villain and a member of the Undersiders.
"Taylor," Kati whispered, "Are you—"
"I'm just worried. It was a rough night, and I'm still dealing with the fallout."
In more ways than one.
I suppose, I should be somewhat glad. Even the PRT was struggling to manage it all. So much happened, all in the same six hours.
Vista kidnapped and the Undersiders attacked in the same night? Labyrinth rescued alongside Vista with the Undersider's help? A battle with Bakuda? Fucking Lung.
I only beat myself up about the last two. I couldn't have known how insane chasing the kids would turn out. At the time, prioritizing Vista, Labyrinth, and Aisha seemed the best choice. Why pick a fight in the middle of ABB territory that would inevitably draw Lung's attention?
I should have seen it coming.
If I'd been more in my right head, I might have.
I should have let Veda try to take Bakuda. If I did that, Lung wouldn't have been left free to act as he did.
The man hadn't held the ABB through his own might for nothing. He could be smart, when he tried. Labyrinth and Vista taken, and the Undersiders attacked out of mask? I doubt Lung cared about any of them but it gave him the nice and unwritten rules friendly excuse.
As far as most people knew, the Merchants were the ones who brought Cranial to Brockton Bay. That made them equally responsible for kidnapping an unmasked cape, a Ward, and attacking an entire team out of costume.
Trainwreck was dead before anyone knew what was happening.
Lung seized his opportunity, and I was still kicking myself for letting it happen. Despite the fact I probably couldn't have stopped it. Not without a suit of my own.
With Lung in control of Shanty Town, I'd already moved all the ex-Merchants out of the area. It was all I could do after letting him have that win. Terry's building wasn't quite up to code, but it was secure with Queen nearby and no ABB activity within a five block radius.
"It's not your fault," Kati told me. "You did what you could. Those men and their families are safer where they are than where they were."
"I got complacent. I've been complacent."
"That is not a word that describes you."
"It is. Just not in the most obvious of ways."
"Your father is worried."
"I know."
I'd never spent an entire day at home in months. But I did yesterday. I couldn't tinker. I couldn't get my head focused enough to put anything together. Which isn't to say I was unproductive, but Dad knew something was wrong.
I played it off to him like I did to Kati. I was considering what to do next, and having a hard time with it. It helped that it was completely true.
"You're up for this?" she asked.
There's no point in lingering. "Yeah."
Kati pulled up to the community center and parked. I got out first, looking up as Green, Orange, and Red flew overhead. Capes normally didn't attend these kinds of meetings, so I took it on myself to provide a little extra security.
A gust of wind threw my hair back, and I turned to Trevor.
"Am I late?" he asked with a small smile. He wore his full costume, again improved since the last time I took a good look at it.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"Oh. Fine." He hung his head slightly.
"You didn't have to. Sounded to me like the evidence was solid."
"I know." Trevor frowned. "I want to. I should have done the right thing then."
He should have.
Mike Jones, better known as 'Yan'. Shot in the leg with a .22 caliber pistol and arrested during the fighting in Shanty Town. He killed the old man at the hardware store. The old man Trevor walked away from instead of helping.
"Besides," Trevor continued. "Most of his crew is in jail so no one seems likely to bust him out or come after me. I don't imagine Lung is going to butt his nose in on something so small."
I'd keep an eye on it all the same. The murder wasn't his only crime by any margin, but it was the most significant. Assaults, battery, racketeering, prostitution. Regular scumbag.
I pocketed my phone. "Let's go."
We walked up to the community center.
The annual meeting of the Brockton Bay Business Owners Association. Part of me thought I'd have bailed on it if I knew how twisty everything would get this week, but…No.
I needed to keep going forward. The future doesn't make itself.
Technically you were only a member of the BBBOA if you paid a small fee, but with the state of the city no one really paid the fees. As a result, it was more of an informal gathering. Small businesses in the city trying to shore themselves up and get bigger businesses from outside the city to attend and invest.
Yashima.
I needed new cash flows. I'd used up the bounty money from Ali Al-Saachez. While Larry and JP were selling models faster than I could provide them, that wasn't enough.
I needed more money. The kind of money that came from a big deal to sell models nationally.
That's what I wanted from this and it's what I needed to push for. Dragon made tens of millions of dollars from her model line, and from how well Larry and JP were doing I could see myself doing the same.
A few people looked surprised as Trevor and I walked into the building.
"Go," Kati urged, her eyes turning. "I'll manage the reporters for now. It would help if we could get some quotes before you leave."
I nodded and kept going.
She broke off, walking toward a rather unimpressive assortment of men and women with notepads and press passes. They were already moving toward us, but Kati blocked them. I'd never get anything done if they hounded me.
"Hey, Newtype," Trevor asked. "Are you okay?"
"Just a sour mood," I lied.
"Astraea?"
"For once, no." I handled that loss well, in my mind. I had bigger things to worry about it. "Exia will be better, and there's Kyrios."
I was sticking to a Greek theme. A bit cliche, but at least I wasn't naming anything 'Zeus' or 'Ares'.
"So, what's up?"
We walked down the a sparsely crowded hall, following signs toward a convention room.
"I think you might have had a point about me," I mumbled.
"Point?"
Did he not remember? He accused me of setting the world on fire and hoping the ashes looked better. Something like that. Not that I liked setting things on fire, but…I was just hoping, wasn't I?
"I'm just being moody," I said. "Don't worry about. We've got a dry run on the factory to focus on."
"Oh right. I was thinking about that actually. What if we used a lower wavelength for the heating last?"
"Keep the current arrangement," I thought, trying to keep up with a conversation I wasn't entirely paying attention to. "Let's make sure it all works first before looking for improvements." I swear we've talked about this before.
"Nervous?" he asked.
Yes, but not in the way he thought.
Trevor has one too.
I'd gotten past completely freaking out over it, but it was still bizarre. Did his power like him? Was it on the side of the enemy? If so, was having him around a risk I couldn't afford?
I hated that. I hated that the most.
Knowing that there was a war over there, and that powers could chose sides, how could I know that even if the cape was with me that their power wasn't a spy?
I chose not to worry about it, because there was nothing I could do. No point worrying about things you can't do anything about.
We passed the reception area. I'd RSVP'd, but the idea of wearing a name tag in costume seemed ridiculous. Hi, I'm Newtype. Can't you tell by my name tag?
We got looks once inside the convention room. There was a buffet line with the typical stuff. Veggie platter, some cookies and cornbread, drinks and some simple sandwiches. Tables with white cloths littered the room, a few stands and booths set up along the walls.
I grabbed an event brochure and looked it over.
"Yashima, right?" Trevor asked.
"Yeah."
"I think I see them."
"Where?"
I raised my head and followed his finger.
Oh. There.
A gathering of Asians dominated one corner of the room. Old and young, singles and couples. Kati said Yashima went around trying to support the refugee communities. I spotted a young woman standing at the head of the group, talking back and forth with various people.
Mirai Yashima, the company president's grand-daughter.
"Should we go over?" Trevor asked.
"No," I said. "Let's wait. We'l—"
"Well if it isn't our favorite business associate."
"JP?" I turned as he walked in the doors behind us, Larry right behind him.
Right. Brockton Bay Business Owners. They owned a business.
"What brings you here?" JP asked with a smile. "Not looking to replace us are you?"
"You said six months," Larry noted.
"I did," I replied. "And I'm not replacing you. You're the only ones who get the kits in Brockton Bay for six months."
"She wants to try and go national," Trevor clarified.
"Oh, ambitious."
"Why are you two here?" I asked. Most of the businesses at the event were service and distribution, not retail.
"Free food," they both said, turning to the buffet line.
"At least they're honest," Trevor mumbled.
"And convenient." I followed them over to the line and got myself a cup of water. I ignored the looks and whispers pointed my way.
When JP and Larry sat down at a table, I sat with them.
"What's up?" JP asked.
"Waiting," I answered. "And people are less likely to bother me if it looks like I'm in the middle of something."
Mirai Yashima seemed absorbed in her meeting. She wore her hair long, a yellow dress enclosing her torso atop a finer white one beneath. I didn't want to interrupt and risk making a bad impression.
I'd sit with JP and Larry and wait for her to be done.
Trevor took a seat beside me and bit into a sandwich.
I scanned the room. It took me a moment to notice them through the crowd. Another little gathering in another corner of the room. All white, and mostly blond haired. Max Anders sat at the head of a bunch of pushed together tables, two slender blondes on either side of him.
They'd noticed me, the two blondes that is. I imagined they told 'Mr. Anders'.
Part of me immediately went to screw it. Just forget the unwritten rules and bring them down now. I could probably call in Queen and catch them completely by surprise. But there were more important things to do than my lingering conflict with the Empire.
I took a deep breath and looked away.
That would be a mistake. For more than one reason. Jumping the gun now because I messed up earlier wasn't a good way to go.
"So." Larry glanced between us. "Are you two dating?"
"No," I answered, while Trevor stammered.
"Told you," Larry said.
"Don't sink my ship," JP protested.
"What does us not dating have to do with a boat?" I asked.
I felt like there was a joke and no one bothered to explain it to…me…
"Um. Newtype?" Trevor leaned forward. "What's wrong."
Why is he here?
My hand tensed under the table.
Orga Itsuka sat off to the side, wearing a black suit. He leaned forward, talking to a man with long black hair. A woman stood behind him. Amida Arca is not someone you forget easily.
Turbines? If Amida Arca was here, then did that make the man with long black hair and a white suit Naze Turbine?
What are they doing.
They sat quietly, occasionally speaking to one another. Amida occasionally turned her head. Casting her eyes across the room.
Right at Mirai Yashima.
I slipped my phone out from under the table.
sys.t/ Orga Itsuka is here
sys.v/ understood
How did I miss him leaving his territory? I'd been watching it like a hawk and he still managed to slip out somehow.
"Something wrong?" Trevor asked.
"Nothing."
I forced myself to relax. Priorities Taylor. Figured I'd have that button fucking pushed twice by the same person. Hard to do though. Amida kept watching Mirai, just like me. Eventually she noticed and tapped Naze's shoulder. He turned his head when she pointed, looking right at me.
I'd found nothing particularly dirty about their business. They sheltered wharf rats and illegal immigrants, but that wasn't topping my chart of villainy. As far as I could tell they weren't smugglers, human traffickers, or racketeers.
Which made their presence with an ABB captain suspicious.
I'd encountered Orga three times now. The first and most recent were at gunpoint. Once on the first night I went out with O Gundam, and then after Bakuda decided she needed to 'try'. In those cases they'd just been regular ABB, more or less.
It was the third time that gave me pause. The time I found them—and Bakuda—getting girls who couldn't even speak English out of the city. He said he didn't want to profit from his own blood. He meant wharf rats more than anything relating to genetics.
It made for a bizarre as fuck series of experiences.
Orga noticed Naze watching me and raised his head. He tensed, eyes narrow and are they getting up?
"Um, Newtype," Trevor mused. "Do you know them?"
"No."
"Well, surprise surprise."
Larry and JP both turned, their mouths full. Naze Turbine smiled at me and pulled out a chair. The table wasn't big enough for six, but it fit five.
He sat down, Orga and Amida standing behind him.
Just one break.
"I'm sorry," I said with as much calm as I could muster. "Do I know you?"
"No," Naze replied. "But Amida told me plenty enough. I thought I'd thank you. Not many heroes would do what you did."
"What did you do?" Trevor asked.
"She let the bad guys go, so that innocent girls could be free," Amida revealed. "I doubt we'd have been so fortunate if anyone else had come crashing in."
"What are they talking about?" JP asked.
"It was a while ago," I said. "And it was the right thing to do."
"See?" Naze turned his head and looked up at Orga. "Perfectly reasonable."
Orga glared at me. I don't think he agreed. I glared back, reaching for my water.
"And quite the young beauty."
I gagged on my water.
"Is that kosher?" Larry asked.
"Not outside of fan fiction," JP answered.
Naze laughed. "A little flattery is a lovely courtesy in my experience!"
"Th—Thank you." I glanced toward Mirai. "And you're welcome. If you don't mind, I—"
"No rush," Naze said. "It seems we're both here to talk to the same lovely woman. Might as well wait together."
Oh fuck no. "I'd rather not."
"I'm not such bad company am I?" He smiled. "But perhaps I'm imposing? Apologies. I simply thought I'd come say hello and spend time in pleasant company."
I did not see the game being played.
"Do you want to sit?" JP asked, looking at Amida. "I suddenly feel like kind of a douche making you stand while I stuff myself."
"A gentlemen I see." Amida nodded her ascent and JP shuffled out of the chair for her.
"It is a sign of good character," Naze proposed.
Why did they choose now to pick up some social etiquette?
In the corner, the group of Asian owners began breaking up. Mirai was looking our way.
One break.
Could I get up and follow JP and Larry? That would mean missing out on a chance to talk to Mirai. I didn't know what game Naze was playing, though. That might be what he wanted me to do.
Fuck my suddenly very justified paranoia.
Some ploy to scare me off? Did he want to make a scene? People were looking our way but I was a cape. Two capes, including Trevor and we were both in costume. That always drew attention.
"Naze," Mirai greeted, surprising me. She pulled out Larry's vacated chair, giving Trevor and I a small nod. "Still keeping interesting company, I see. Newtype is it?"
"Y—Yes."
"My husband talks about you."
"Um, thank you?"
She smiled. "Bright says you're an inspiring pain in the ass."
Bright? Wait, "You're married to Commander Noa?"
"I keep the family name for business reasons."
Honestly, it wasn't remotely close to the dumbest thing to come my way in the past seventy-two hours.
"Pardon the language," she offered. "I'm fairly sure he means it as a compliment. Hasn't said it in a while either. I suppose maybe you're less of a pain in the ass lately."
Lately? I guess it had been a while since I'd smashed places up and set stashes to explode. As if I needed a reminder.
Mirai took her seat and nodded to Amida. They knew each other. How did they know each other?
Apparently one break is too much to ask for.
She turned to Trevor and greeted him, shaking his hand.
"Ma'am," he said.
"Sorry. I'm not sure how to address you."
"Oh, Trevor is fine. Don't really bother going by Chariot anymore."
"Trevor then." She glanced around the table, her eyes lingering on Orga for a moment. "Well. I can read a room. It seems I'm a bit more popular than I expected."
"How long can we bask in your presence?" Naze asked.
"Fifteen minutes," she answered. The group she'd been gathered with was a bit more spread out, getting food and water. "It's a very busy day."
"Well, let's not waste your time, then." Naze turned his eyes toward me. "Ladies first. I insist."
Is he trying to undermine me?
"I'm not sure if I'll be able to help," Mirai replied, turning her eyes to me. My heart jumped. "Yashima has some investments in the medical field, but we don't have much base for manufacturing that kind of equipment."
Manu— "Oh. No!" I waved my hand at her. "No, I'm not here about the Helpers."
"We're still working out the kinks on that," Trevor explained. He reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "Meant to have a test run going a while ago, but there have been complications."
"It's a work in progress," I admitted. "Actually, I was hoping to talk about this."
I pulled out my phone, went to the screen I'd arranged and handed it to Mirai. I kept one eye on Naze, waiting to see what he'd do.
Mirai took the phone and looked over it.
"I see." Her eyes widened slightly. "These sales figures are accurate?"
"You can ask JP and Larry if you want." I nodded toward where they stood in the food line, refilling their paper plates. "They sell the kits faster than I can produce them."
"Kits?" Naze asked. "Oh. Those little models? I think I heard something about those."
"What exactly are you looking for?" Mirai asked. "Investment?"
"Of sorts." I wasn't going to let Naze do whatever it was he was doing. "I want to shift production to someone with a bigger base. Someone who can distribute to more than just one store in Downtown."
"I see."
She appeared thoughtful, looking at the screen on my phone.
Keep going.
"And I want to locate the factories in Brockton Bay."
She raised her gaze. I kept an eye on Naze, but he didn't really react to my statement.
"How much tinker-tech would production involve?" Mirai asked.
"Only a little," Trevor said. "That's what I'm for, I guess? More of a stay-at-home tinker, you know?"
"That may still be challenging," she repeated. "We don't have much property in Brockton Bay, and while the state of things here is improving it would be difficult to justify a major investment like that to our stakeholders."
"I figured." My eyes shifted behind my visor, looking up at Orga. He'd stopped watching me, and instead was watching Naze and Amida. "What if I could ensure security?"
"You'd be willing to make a statement to that effect?"
"Yes."
"It might have an effect." She handed my phone back to me. "I'm not sure it's a promise you can really make though."
"I protected my factory."
"One factory," she noted. "Don't misunderstand. I see what you're trying to do. You want to restore the local economy and force the gangs out, and you're taking an active role in that rather than sitting back and hoping for the best."
She sighed.
"But I'm afraid it's not that simple. If we built factories here, we'd need to hire here. We'd need to distribute from here. That's a significant investment, with a lot of risk to gamble on one cape. No offense." I honestly didn't take any. "All those things are doable, maybe even reasonable when taken one at a time, but all at once? My family does have investors. We do answer to them."
That was not what I wanted to hear. I'd been afraid of a response like that. I didn't really have much but my word that the gangs could be dealt with.
"What if you were to have another partner?"
I stiffened, turning my gaze on Naze. He folded his hands in front of him, smiling.
"This is an interesting coincidence," he mused. "I was hoping to talk to you about some new contracts."
He held his hands up to Orga.
"This young man is looking to get into the distribution business. He's got the manpower, the property, and some cash flow. The only thing he really lacks is something to distribute. I'd hoped to make some arrangements with Yashima, but perhaps I'm talking to the wrong young lady."
His eyes turned to me. I glared at him, for all the good it did me.
"Is this another one of your charity projects, Naze?" Mirai inquired.
"Charity? Me?" He laughed. "I'm all business, Mirai. You know that."
"Of course," she said with a small smile.
What is going on?
I glanced between them. Ambush? No. Mirai didn't seem to know Orga. If I had to guess she was suspicious of him herself. Was Naze trying to scare me off?
"Turbines could set up a branch here," Naze suggested. "Build some centers and provide vehicles. Orga can get us some land and manpower, a little outside the city center where villains are less active. Newtype's models could provide the initial product."
"I suppose that would depend on them." Mirai glanced to me, and then to Orga. "Presumably, they would be the ones who needed to work together."
"I suppose it would," Naze agreed.
Orga tensed. He doesn't know what this is either?
"It would be easier to justify," she suggested. "A joint investment would distribute potential fallout, if Turbines is prepared to take that step."
Naze shrugged. "We were thinking of doing it anyway."
"Well." Mirai rose. "Perhaps we should let the young talk, instead of talking for them." She glanced at me. "There are other options of course. We make a lot of money in the toys sector."
"Models," Trevor said. I gave him a glare. "What?"
Mirai laughed. "Apologies. We tend to bundle things together. Makes the numbers easier to keep track of." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. "I am interested. It would be good business for Yashima. In other locations, there are avenues we can take."
I stumbled over myself, trying to think of something to say.
She might be suspicious of Orga, but that was different from knowing he was in the ABB. That he'd been locking up more and more territory as other captains fell from Lung's good graces. He gave up the girls, and I could respect that. But being a slightly nicer criminal is still being a criminal. Especially when he seemed so connected to Bakuda.
"Yes." Naze rose himself. "Let us let the youngsters work things out. I think I see Bianca over there. Haven't talked to her in quite some time, Amida."
"You're incorrigible," the woman said as she got up.
"You know what I say." Naze looked to Orga as he passed.
Whatever else they said I didn't hear.
I watched Orga.
One hand reached over and took Mirai's card. If nothing else, at least I got a direct number to call. Better than trying to get through their home office's public line.
Orga stared back.
It's funny. I'd encountered him three times now. It's a lot of times to cross paths with someone who didn't have powers. A lot of times to cross paths with someone who didn't seem to want to be a criminal, but was.
It probably helped that he made an impression.
Something in the eyes. The way they bored into you. As if your presence was merely something to be overcome. It unsettled me all the way back to the first time I saw them.
"Well," I mumbled. "Guess w—"
Orga pulled a chair back and sat down.
My lips parted. "You can't be serious."
"I'm always serious."
We stared at one another from opposite sides of the table, watching the clock tick. Trevor looked back and forth. He picked up on the tension. I'd bet anyone could. That was part of the problem.
We sat in silence, waiting for the clock to tick down.
Up until Trevor opened his mouth anyway.
"Do you two know each other?" he asked.
"He's in the ABB," I revealed.
He grunted. "Going to arrest me?"
"I'm thinking."
Trevor kept looking back and forth.
"Um, about what?"
"About whether or not it hurts her," Orga answered. "Same reason I'm sitting down and she isn't just walking away. Neither—"
"Neither of us want to look like we're unwilling to talk," I finished. "And that's not what I'm thinking about. I'm trying to decide if this is a trap or not."
"Don't be so paranoid," he grumbled. "I can't lay a trap for someone I'm not expecting."
Good point.
Trevor went silent, waiting.
I didn't know what to make of him.
"You realize you're sitting in public with a cape?" I asked. "A hero."
"And?"
"And people are taking pictures."
He glanced around, noticing a few people with their phones out. To my surprise, he didn't seem worried.
"You think Lung uses Google?" he asked.
"I just figured it might come up in unfortunate contexts."
He frowned at that. Guess he didn't really think that through when he sat d—
"As unfortunate as a hero sitting with an ABB captain?" he asked.
Shit. Didn't think of that.
"I'll survive." He grin. "We always have."
And there was that 'we' again.
It perplexed me, I realized. Had for a long time. He—they?—freed the girls from the brothels that fell into his control. He expanded into more legitimate spheres. Or seemed to, at least. He talked of Lung like someone he needed to navigate rather than fear.
I wasn't sure if they were 'bad' like Lung or 'bad' like Faultline.
Is that part of why I let them go?
Both might be villains, but one in only the most legal of senses. One existed on the wrong side of the law because they were trying 'to survive' rather than because they liked hurting people. I'd seen enough of capes to know none of us lived simple lives. It applied to people who weren't capes too, but Orga straddled those categories in my mind.
I couldn't tell where he was trying to go.
"In the ABB?" I asked.
"I'm sure the view is pleasant from up there." Orga closed one eye. "I suppose Lafter Frankland is lucky."
I flinched at his use of her name. She was outed, but even then people rarely used her real name. It was courtesy.
"She found someone willing to stick their neck out for her," he continued. "Give her a place of her own." He trailed off. His one open eye turned to Trevor for a moment, then back to me. "Some of us aren't so fortunate."
He closed his other eye and rose to his feet. We'd been sitting for a good ten minutes or so, most of it in silence. Long enough to go to our little camps and say we tried.
"We have nowhere else to go," he said. "So we'll make a place for ourselves wherever we can."
He turned and walked away, going back toward where he was when I first spotted him. Naze and Amida Arca were on the other side of the room, talking to an older woman with short red hair.
"That was weird," Trevor mumbled.
"It was a waste of time," I replied.
Nowhere else to go. Armstrong said something like that of Damsel of Distress. I didn't get it. It sounded like an excuse.
Well…
sys.v/ Navy is in position
sys.t/ wait for him to leave and follow
sys.t/ how is the rest going?
sys.v/ progress is steady
I'd give Orga Itsuka one thing. The view got better the higher you went.
I waited.
Mostly, in silence. Trevor did take the time to talk about a few ideas for the factory. We were finally ready to do a test run of the line. I wished I could work up the excitement to match his. I'd planned for so long. I hated losing the chance to take pride in achieving such a long sought goal.
There was just too much in my head at the moment.
The problem in front of me. I didn't have the focus for much else.
"I see," Mirai said toward the end of the event, when she sought me out.
"You know he's ABB," I pointed out.
"Hmm. That would be typical of Naze." I raised my brow at that response. "Well, it's not like it was the only option. Do you have a lawyer? Someone familiar with contracts?"
Dad, I thought. That might not be the right kind of contract experience though.
"I can get one."
"You should. Always have a lawyer for these kinds of things. Get one and call me. Business is in the details."
I took what I could get.
It's not that I didn't understand her reluctance. No, if anything I understood it completely. It was a risk to invest in a major operation in Brockton Bay, especially on the heels of Lung killing Trainwreck and taking half the city.
"That wasn't too bad," Trevor offered as we walked off.
We stopped to talk to reporters for a bit. Despite Kati asking if I'd been paying attention earlier, I'd covered all the talking points. Unfortunately, I covered them exactly as she said them.
She noticed and I didn't know what to tell her.
"Taylor?" Trevor asked. "What's up?"
"Thinking," I mumbled.
"I've seen you thinking, and brooding. And, um, frustrated. A lot of things, really. This is new. What is it?"
I sighed. "Thank you for worrying Trevor, but I'm okay. You know how I get."
"I do, and this is still different."
I opened the car door and sat down. Trevor followed, asking, "Is it something that can't be said in public?"
Yes. "No. I'm sorry, Trevor. It's just"—I went searching for literally any excuse—"girl problems."
"Oh."
He got a little flustered and stopped pestering me. Good old 'girl problems'.
Two days and I was already growing weary of not telling the people around me. The people who worried. The best I'd managed to do was deceive Dad and Ramius. The latter came easily since I only needed to keep my voice even over the phone.
Kati got into the car and looked at me. Her brow went up behind her glasses. I tried not saying anything, but that obviously wasn't working.
"I know."
"That wasn't like you," she said.
"As I've been telling Trevor. I'm sorry. I know. I'm just very preoccupied with recent events."
"And being cagey, it seems."
I fought against any physical reaction to that. Was that why Lalah was so cryptic? Because there was even more shit out there she was worried about anyone knowing? Hardly a pleasant thought.
Kati pulled out of our spot and started driving, but I suspected she mostly wanted to be away from any reporters before pressing me more. Out of everyone, she knew something was wrong. I fell back on her to handle things when I felt myself coming apart and it wasn't like me.
Could I tell her? No.
No…
I was still waiting for—
"Is that Hero?"
My head shot up. Trevor leaned in from the back seat and pointed.
Preposterous, I thought as I traced a line from his finger.
My jaw slackened.
"Yes, that is Hero." And he was sitting at a corner cafe sipping tea. Fuck. "Let me off up here."
"Taylor—"
"It's important."
If he planted himself there, he did it on purpose. The PRT needed to be felt out eventually and I couldn't hide without making myself suspicious. They probably saw me walk into the community center hours ago and figured I'd drive back to the factory afterward.
"I'll get back to the factory myself."
Kati pulled over as I requested, but she definitely didn't like it. She watched Hero suspiciously over her shoulder while I opened the door. Did she realize something?
She noticed the way I forced the PRT and Protectorate to manage things. She knows I don't trust them.
I got out and breathed in.
"Is my visor clean?"
I turned to Trevor. "What?"
"Is my visor clean? I can't tell."
"I—" I stopped myself. "Try not to drool."
"Am I?!" He ran a hand over his mouth.
I inhaled and started walking. People were talking to him, shaking his hand, getting autographs, taking photos.
It was curious.
The PRT cordoned off several blocks of Captain's Hill for 'public safety'. They'd announced outside help being brought in to manage 'dangerous tinker-tech' but they never said it was Hero. The cordon kept people far back enough you needed a UAV—or a Haro—to even know he was in the city.
And he just came out and planted himself on the corner?
With tea.
"Newtype!" He smiled and handed a notepad back to a young boy. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Yeah." I turned my chin toward his tea. "Fancy."
I considered pulling out a chair. There was no way around it. If I tried to avoid them, they'd know. If I looked too eager to feel them out, they'd know. If I said the wrong thing or gave the wrong reaction, they'd know.
"Um. Hey, Hero. I'm Trevor. Chariot. Or Trevor. I'm outed anyway you can use any name you want."
And Trevor's fanboying was a perfect distraction.
Trevor held his hand out and Hero shook it. "Chariot. Never been comfortable with out of mask names myself. Probably because I wear mine pretty much all the time."
Trevor nodded eagerly and sat down. A few people continued to press for handshakes and autographs. For once, most didn't seem to pay me much mind. I might be famous in the Bay and maybe a little in Boston, but I wasn't Hero.
The guy who put the name in the word.
Or so everyone thought.
I forced my shoulders to relax. Being tense served no purpose.
"A little mundane, isn't it?" I asked. "Sitting at a corner shop drinking tea?"
He smiled. "Too many heroes are too distant, if you ask me. We don't spend enough time with people. I'm sure you can think of a few."
"I suppose."
I searched his words for meaning. If we were going to talk, it would be veiled. That seemed to be what he was saying, actually.
"And you don't get these unexpected encounters just sitting in the office," he said. "I was hoping to check in on you." He rose from his chair. "Let's walk and talk."
I kept my face even. Was I relaxed the last time I talked to him? No, definitely not. Then again Leet had just tried to kill me.
I followed after him, my eyes watching the street ahead. Trevor kept up with us walking on his left while I positioned myself at his right. Fortunately Trevor took up enough space on Hero's other side it seemed the natural thing to do.
The crowd at the cafe looked a little disappointed. Some followed, but I guess even a veiled conversation couldn't be had at a street corner.
I kept my eyes on the street though.
What would I do if he tried to get me somewhere private?
No.
I forced the worst of my paranoia down.
It would be stupid. He just met me very publicly. This wasn't going to end with black bags or anything that cliche.
"I'm glad you're okay," he whispered. "I was worried when I heard Rebecca told Piggot to hold the local team back with everything going on."
Trying to put himself on my side.
"Why did she do that?" I infused a little anger into my voice.
"Because she likes to be in control and struggles with accepting the situations where she has little."
The Chief Director, or the PRT?
"I'm glad Militia and Stratos arrived to find things resolved and no one seriously hurt."
My foot scuffed the ground.
"You sent them?" I asked.
"Well, technically, I suggested to them they go get Kid Win. We'd already misplaced one Ward." He stopped as a group of kids approached us. He waved to them, asked how they were doing. We never stopped walking. "I just assumed they'd go off and do the right thing."
"Wait, Kid Win was kidnapped too?" Trevor asked in a low voice.
"No." I waited for a man in a nice suit to pass us. Is that why he chose to do this publicly? To set me off balance? "He joined up with me because he wanted to rescue Vista."
"They're both alright," Hero revealed. "The quarantine is just a formality." Assuring me Labyrinth would not be harmed. Of course, in the Wards they could change their minds on that whenever. "Thanks for the video, by the way. Its made for interesting viewing."
"I'm still trying to make sense of it," I half-lied.
It wasn't really a lie. I was still doing that. If Armsmaster could build a lie detector, then Hero could too.
We turned the video over to the PRT, though it didn't say much. The Haros captured the portal Labyrinth and Vista's powers created. According to time stamps, we were only Over There for a few seconds. That didn't make a lick of sense.
"You don't remember anything?" he asked.
"No, and yes."
He turned his head slightly toward me.
"Have you ever felt like there's something you know, but it's out of reach?" I practiced the line. Prepared it. Not a lie. Not the truth. Something he or whoever came along might accept. "I think I saw something. We went somewhere. I don't remember any of it. But feel like I do."
Hero nodded. We kept walking, turning the corner and continuing on around the block.
"Labyrinth and Kid Win say the same. Inter-dimensional travel, we think. I've studied Haywire's stuff extensively. The tech we found in the warehouse is similar."
I raised my brow behind my visor. That wasn't Cranial's specialization. How would she have gotten that? Help from inside the PRT?
Was I right? Was the PRT at war with itself…Was Hero on one side, and the Chief Director on the other? Which was which.
"It's why I got called in," he continued. "Armsmaster is a good tinker, but the finer mechanics of dimensions aren't really his thing. I doubt I have to tell you that we consider invasion from another dimension a very serious potential threat."
"Wait, really?" Trevor asked.
"Yeah." Hero waved to a passing car and told the boy leaning out the window he should be more careful. "Keep that to yourself, okay?" He smiled. "Our secret."
Trevor nodded. I was glad he kept his focus on Hero. It meant he wasn't watching me and Hero occasionally needed to look to his other side.
Where is this going? Not where I expected. Inter-dimensional invasion. Did they think that powers were planning to invade. That…was one possibility, I supposed.
But with Scion dead, it didn't seem to make much sense. If they wanted to invade, what we're they waiting for? If every single one of them could become an Endbringer—and I got the sense there were a lot of them—they'd win overnight.
"Not sure how Cranial managed it," Hero continued. "Not sure how those kids managed it without her. It seems a fairly innocent thing for kidnapping multiple people and starting battles in the streets."
"No sign of them?" I inquired.
"None. Honestly, it's something of the least baffling question."
"It is?"
"Yeah. What did you notice about Labyrinth? After you rescued her, I mean."
"Other than her sudden case of sanity?"
"Weird, and still not the weirdest thing."
What is this? "What is weirder than that?"
"The Winslow victims are all awake."
I stopped. Trevor too. We both stared at him. Hero kept on smiling, but he seemed a little downcast. I watched what I could of his face, trying to puzzle it out.
"You said the Undersiders left with Grue's sister? We can see her on the tape. Did she show any sign of having a power?"
I pursed my lips slightly. "Why?"
"Because none of the others do. We haven't announced anything yet." He turned his head slightly. "It's never happened before."
"They're all fine?"
"More or less," he answered. "No powers as far as we can tell. They still have some Gemmas, but they appear inactive. Dead. Part of why I'm here, honestly. I saw that you were down there and I hoped to inconspicuously meet up with you."
I stared at him.
"The PRT can't approach the Undersiders. Not officially, but"—he stopped and nodded to a passing pair of women—"we've never had a case like this before. Ramius tells me you don't get along with Tattletale but would it be possible for you to reach out to them?"
I met his visor with my own. It slowly dawned on me.
"We'd like to see what we can learn. It might be useful, in future incidents. We won't arrest them or take advantage of the situation if they cooperate, but given what we know about these incidents we're very interested in learning what we can."
He's talking about Case-66.
Did I assume wrong? Did the PRT and Protectorate not know as much as I did? A strange thought. I assumed they'd know more.
"That's, strange," I agreed.
"Even stranger, is they all say the same thing. They felt like they were in a dark place." I nodded. "And then a woman with green eyes came to them."
Lalah Sune.
"Does that sound familiar?" He turned his head toward me again, ignoring a question from Trevor.
"Green eyes?" I willed my muscles to keep my walk even and uninterrupted.
I didn't have much time before my silence became suspicious.
He got me. He led me along, got me to drop my guard, and he got me. Did he notice? Nothing I can do about it now.
"It sounds familiar." I pivoted quickly, saying, "I think—I saw someone with green eyes. A woman, with dark skin."
Hero stopped walking. We'd stopped in a small section of street in front of a loading dock. People were around, but not particularly close. Did he have people around? A team ready to grab me if I didn't say the right thing?
The Haros flew above. They watched the surrounding area and fed what they saw to a corner of my visor. I didn't see any nefarious black vans.
I hope this is the right thing.
"When Aisha Laborn triggered," I whispered. "At Winslow. I saw things. There was a woman then. I can't really see her face when I try to remember."
Hero nodded.
"I don't remember that," Trevor said.
"You'd need to be close," Hero noted. "It can happen in some triggers"—Case-66—"people see visions of the Gold War."
I didn't bother asking myself if he bought that. He either did, or he didn't.
My turn.
"Is she someone you know?" I asked. "I've looked up a lot of the capes who fought in the war. The first Eidolon. Ramrod. Red Comet." I watched his face closely when I said that name. "The rest. I didn't find a dark skinned women with green eyes among them."
Hero crossed his arms over his chest, but in a way that signaled relaxation. Some kind of signal?
"I don't know either." And like before…I believed him. Was he just that good a liar? "But I'm hoping to learn more. We'd really like if you could approach the Undersiders."
That again? "You can't do it yourselves?"
"We're the Protectorate. They won't trust us any more than they did before, especially after we ended up doing nothing about the kidnapping. You helped with the rescue. I'm hoping you might have an easier in road. To say nothing of PR jumping on my ass over the idea."
Right, heroes and villains. No mixing.
The Haros continued to fly around, and continued to see nothing. That wasn't right, but for completely different reasons than the ones I expected.
"I can try," I said. "I don't think they like me any more than I like them."
"Trying is all I can really ask. Incidents like the one at Winslow are unfortunately common. This is the first time we've ever seen victims recover. If we could figure out a way to replicate it, we'd save a lot of lives."
This isn't right.
"Keep up the good work," he urged, after a little chit chatting with Trevor about how his accelerator boots worked. "And call Ramius if you make any headway. I'll be in town for a bit longer for the cleanup."
He started down the street and waved to us. Just once, he looked over his shoulder, saying, "I trust you know what to say, and what not to say."
"Um, yeah," Trevor replied. "Totally."
This is not right at all.
I nodded to him.
He launched himself into the air, a waving ribbon of gold trailing behind him as he flew off.
"So cool." Trevor crossed his arms and took his chin between two fingers. "How can I make my boots do that. Maybe if I…"
What am I missing?
I asked myself over and over all the way back to the workshop.
Trevor and I got picked up by one of the vans and rode the rest of the way back to the factory. Trevor seemed deep in thought holding one of his legs and looking at his boots.
I was thankful for that.
It kept him distracted from my mood.
I'd been wrong. He did know something. I thought he knew exactly where the kids went and what was there. But he seemed honestly unaware of Lalah Sune. Outside of a vague description anyway. A description he knew well enough to prod me with. Despite that, he didn't seem to know how Labyrinth was suddenly sane, or Aisha awake.
I couldn't tell if he picked up on anything as we talked. Might be best to assume he knew I knew something. His final words could relate solely to Case-66 and his inter-dimensional travel cover story, but I didn't think so.
And yet the conversation still felt off.
I expected to be felt out. Someone, whoever they were, would want to try and figure out how much I knew. Hero definitely did that…But why did it seem like he was really interested in finding out what I knew?
As if curious what answers he didn't know.
I really did not need the labyrinth of questions to further complicate itself.
When we got back to the workshop, I told Trevor, "I'm going to do some work on the servers."
He simply nodded, already pulling off his boots and walking to his corner.
I closed the door to the server room behind me.
I need to move him out.
I told myself I'd keep him safe and give him a place to do things his way. With the way things were going, having him in the same space as me was going to become a liability. There was space for another workshop on the factory grounds. I'd make it bigger than his corner, so that he wouldn't think I was just kicking him out.
He won't be safe being this close.
"Seriously."
I raised my head and looked at the girl. I blinked, needing a moment to fully remember her.
"You need to fucking get over it already."
Aisha scowled at me, hands stuffed into her pockets.
That is going to take getting used to.
Aisha's 'forget me' power worked on anyone within about two blocks of her. Outside that, you could freely see and remember her. Not that surprising. Her power couldn't affect everyone, so a range limit was logical.
The weird part was that she actually was a tiny bit invisible. The mist that surrounded her looked like her brother's. I couldn't tell if that was the medium for her power or something else. Regardless, she didn't show up on thermal anymore. Not even in recordings. While she appeared in normal recordings, if you were in her two block range you'd still not see her until she left.
Her power didn't work like that before. And everyone else was awake now. I could only guess that going to that place somehow corrected her 'connection'.
"It's not that easy," I told her.
"Fuck yeah it is," she snarled. "You promised me we'd be going after that shithead who screwed me, and Brian. I don't see how we're going to do that if you're all pouty and woe-is-me."
It's not that easy.
I sat down at the small station I'd set up in Veda's server room. I'd use it to hide from Trevor for the moment. Keep him out of things.
"Did it work?" I turned on both monitors. Not as impressive as my workstation, but it would do.
"Yes." Veda pulled up our city map. "Aisha has successfully surveyed the following locations."
"I might have tied a few shoe laces while I was at it," she snickered.
Imp really is the perfect name.
"Just don't get noticed," I pleaded. "No one expecting you is the best advantage you have. Least of all, acting with me. People will assume you're with the Undersiders, unseen and unremembered. And that's after word gets out that you're awake."
"I know, I know. No one saw me"—she pulled the goggles I made for her from her pocket—"and I avoided all the cameras."
"What did we find?"
"Five gun stashes," Veda identified. "Three drug drops. Several apparent rally points. I believe we can cripple Jon Takashi's operations."
I nodded.
"That's one. Is Navy still following Orga Itsuka?"
"Yes. He will not slip my notice again."
I glanced at Imp.
She frowned. "You said we'd go after Teacher."
I understood her frustration. I also understood she was impulsive by nature. Getting her to understand that we couldn't just go around throwing Gundams at the wall and hoping we hit Teacher was difficult.
"We will," I insisted. "But before we can go after him, I need to understand the board. That's the current problem. Stumbling into things will get us killed."
"We also need a stable base of operations. That means Lung and the Empire need to be finished off."
Veda agreed. "Did the conversation with Hero seem strange to you?"
"It did. Like he wanted to see if I could tell him something."
I sat alone in the server room. Lafter was out. Dinah was at home. They handled everything better than me, but I got the sense they both wanted some time apart to work their own way through things.
That was fair.
"Trevor is correct," Veda said. "This mood is not like other's you have had."
"I know…I've never had to think that hard about it."
"About what?"
"The future," I answered. "I was naive. Beat the gangs. Fix Brockton Bay. Rinse and repeat elsewhere. Kill the Endbringers. Kill the Nine. Kill the Butcher. The Three Blasphemies. Create manufactured tinker-tech."
I inhaled. Trevor was right about me. Twice now.
"Those are goals. They're not a plan."
"They are good goals," Veda said.
"But they're not a plan."
The voices swirled in my head. People I knew. Some well, some little. I grew accustomed to the chorus the past day or so. Not sure why some of them came to my mind.
Was it Administrator? Me? Like my fear of being spied on by the powers around me, I wasn't sure it mattered. I couldn't do anything about that one way or the other. Why waste time worrying about it?
Dragon. You can change the world.
I still remembered it clearly. The image of my dream. Earth. The solar array. The colonies. Lunar cities. Administrator's brilliant red flower.
One world for everyone.
What does that even mean? How does it work? How do you reach it?
Lafter. People don't change
What kind of arrogance does it take to think you can fix a world countless men and women before me failed to save? The kind of arrogance to think no one else was trying, I supposed. Even in the depths of madness, Cranial of all people was trying to save the world.
Mrs. Knotts. We're all weak.
There was a war. A war most people didn't even know existed. A war I couldn't warn them about. People would call me insane if I tried to tell them, the ones who didn't panic.
Is trying to go it alone, with only my small number of allies, even sensible with what I now knew?
Trevor. What if I don't like any of the sides?
I didn't even have a clear idea who was fighting, or for what reasons. Thinking over my conversation with Hero, I felt increasingly sure the PRT and Protectorate didn't know as much as I'd thought. Teacher on one side. The PRT were against him, but to what end? Should I side with the latter against the former?
Bakuda. Orga. Armstrong even. We have nowhere else to go.
The world was being destroyed. Case-66. The Endbringers. Even people with powers that drove them mad. It was all connected.
It wasn't normal cape business. It wasn't guided by the unwritten rules. Norms of measured force. The holding of territory. The maintaining of reputation. None of the things that drove most villains applied. It wasn't even about naked violence.
Power? Knowledge? Control?
Leet. Doesn't really change anything, does it?
I needed to finish what I started. I needed Brockton Bay safe. Not just for the people who lived there, but for me. I'd get thrown for loops again. I knew it. I couldn't stray the course every time some convoluted twist fucked with me.
"Taylor?"
Veda. Why does it have to be you?
"Yeah?" I asked.
"You will find a way."
I smiled a little. "Normally, you're a bit more worried for me."
"I still am."
I smiled a little more. "I've been complacent."
"I would agree with Kati's opinion."
"I have been complacent. I let up. I forced the Empire underground. Got most of Lungs thugs arrested. And I let up."
"You are too hard on yourself. I do not think most capes could achieve what you have in so little time. There is no need to wallow in your missteps."
"Maybe," I mumbled.
Maybe that's why it needed to be me. Armstrong told me once that the meaning of a hero might be someone who takes responsibility for things that aren't theirs. Or maybe it just needed to be someone, and I happened to be in line.
Another voice. Ramius.
What do you want to happen, Taylor?
I did have an in on Teacher. Blue Cosmos. There was still a game being played there. I'd still forced the Empire into hiding and severely weakened Lung, second wind be damned. Coil and the Merchants were fully gone.
The most immediate problem didn't seem to be whether or not I could eliminate the gangs, so much as what would I do once I did? Removing one gang served no purpose if some other gang came in and took its place. Vultures were already looking.
I might have been willing to live with that before. Before the stakes became clear. It wasn't acceptable now. Brockton Bay needed a permanent solution. I needed a permanent solution.
I turned my eyes on the monitor, phone tapping against my thigh.
Step one.
Ironically the last chapter in the story to use the 'Step' prefix in its title. After this future main plot chapters are labeled as 'A Waken.'
