A Waken 10.4

I jotted down my response and pushed the paper back.

Chris took it, read it, responded, and pushed it back.

I don't really mind. You helped me make it work so w/e. Do some good with it.

I found the situation fairly amusing. Last time Taylor Hebert attended school no one wanted to pass notes to her. To be fair, she didn't have anyone she wanted to pass notes with. Taylor Hebert was a good student. She didn't pass notes.

I don't mind paying you. Do Wards have something for that?

I pushed the note.

Professor Katagiri's class, unfortunately, couldn't hold my attention. I found it surreal. He stood there trying to have an honest, earnest discussion. He engaged in a fair forum with young parahumans about the nature of their powers, the consequences for society, and how they should view themselves and their roles as heroes.

I liked him. I liked the way he taught. Forgot how much I loved learning before his class. And I felt guilty that so much of his class was so very wrong.

Powers were living things, somehow. They had their own interests and feelings. If Administrator was anything to go by they had their own dreams. Plus, the lot of them could hear and see everything we said on some level.

Did they find the entire discussion amusing?

While Chris wrote his response, my eyes shifted to the right. No Missy. Dinah said not to worry. She was okay. I believed her but…Well, taking responsibility can be a bitch.

Chris slid his response over.

They do, but don't. I still haven't had a chance to use it myself. Tell me what problems you run into. That's fair.

"Are you passing notes?"

I flinched, looking up. With Missy gone someone else took her seat.

Elle sat with her hands in front of her in a way that was disconcertingly proper. Straight backed. Legs together. She wore nice jeans, a blouse, and a tie. She wore her hair long and straight, ties clipped back with simple black hair clips.

She looked like someone going to their first job interview.

"Um"—I glanced at Professor Katagiri—"Yes? Sorry?"

"Can I watch?"

She beamed, like seeing Chris and I pass notes was something amazing.

"Um, sure?"

She raised her hands and gave a small clap.

Chris insisted he'd accept any data or design improvements I made as payment. I accepted that. My money was tight for the moment anyway. I could always pay him back better later.

What do you want it for anyway?

I thought for a moment. And then I wrote my answer.

Robot army.

He laughed when he read it.

I didn't blame him. It was an absurd idea. I couldn't think of any tinker in the world with a robot army. Dragon came closest and she had more of a bottomless armory than an army.

But something like Kid Win's reactor design fit my needs. Solar furnaces took too long to build for expendable drones. Not that I wanted to lose Tierens as fast as I eventually built them, but I needed foot soldiers.

Another piece of paper slipped in front of me and I glanced at Labyrinth. She smiled, and I unfolded it.

Plans for world domination.

She drew a picture of the earth. Then a plus sign. A picture of herself. Another plus sign. Some kind of fish. An equal sign. And finally a picture of herself on the earth with little musical notes coming from her mouth.

What do you need the fish for?

I'll need some bass.

I stared. Labyrinth laughed behind the hand covering her smile.

I stared for a moment, wondering if Labyrinth blamed me a bit for her situation. I did kind of leave her to the PRT. But she offered to go with them.

I put my pencil to the paper.

Did you see Faultline?

She was asleep.

She smiled still, but it seemed a slightly sadder smile.

Well, give the good guys their due. They let Elle see the woman who actually took care of her. That surprised me a bit. I'd have thought they'd be nervous about putting a newly lucid Shaker 12 anywhere near her super villain kidnapper slash caretaker. Then again, I guess Faultline was still out at the time and not in a condition to be run off with.

Emily was there though.

Spitfire, I thought. At least she got to talk to one of them.

I hesitated, and after a moment wrote again.

Do you want me to tell her something?

I could do that without raising any suspicion. I hoped. Newtype did have some reputation within the PRT as a bleeding heart, right? I never once went after Faultline either. Bigger fish to fry.

If nothing else, Aisha could carry a message.

Labyrinth didn't respond. I assumed she preferred not to think about it. The class proceeded to a discussion about the impossibility of certain blaster powers. Legend's ability to bend lasers. Purity's power having straight kinetic force. Rime's spontaneous generation of freezing temperatures. Mechanically it's actually pretty insane in terms of physics.

Of course, I knew the answers. In theory.

Legend's power probably bent space to function. The light given off by Purity's power was probably just a visual effect. She didn't generate light with kinetic force, she generated kinetic force that set off light. Rime probably shunted energy into another space to produce subzero temperatures.

Frankly, powers are a lot less mysterious when you realize inter-dimensional bullshit is involved. It completely explained Stratos' power even. He wasn't a destroyer of matter. He literally moved matter somewhere else. He was a teleporter. The pops of air probably came from air pressure differentials.

Turns out discovery kills the magic. Literally. Myrddin didn't cast spells, he opened and closed pocket dimensions! Which in a way is complete and utter bullshit.

How did they do it?

I didn't know enough about them.

"Sorry to teach and run but I have an appointment!" Professor Katagiri was quick to pack up. "I'll see you all on Friday. We'll try something different. Let's all pick one cape whose power we want to talk about. Mechanics. Physics. Social implications. We'll make it free form!"

"We've got a hand to hand session ourselves." Weld nodded to me and waved a hand to Lafter. "Lily?"

"I'll go get everything set up." She leaned forward, glaring past Chris, Elle, and me. "No animating the punching machine!"

"One time!" Olive complained. "One time that happened?"

"Did the punching machine take revenge for years of physical abuse?" Lafter asked.

"No," Olive grumbled.

"Mostly we got a lecture about not destroying tax payer property." Chris pointed at Green. "Are you going to make bigger ones?"

I glanced at Green.

"Huge."

Chris shook his head with a smile.

"Thank you." I turned to Elle. She folded her hands behind her back, saying, "But it's okay. I've already told them what I want them to know."

Wait for me.

I nodded, and she went after Olive asking if she could only animate things with parts. I did not want to know what that meant. Shaker 12. Didn't put much thought into the absolutely monstrous implications inherent to a completely sane and cognizant Shaker 12.

Shit, could she take over the world?

Lafter picked Green up and carried him out the door. Murrue was there, with paperwork. Looking grim.

"Here," she offered. "This is the full list of details the PRT has released about Shadow Stalker and Sophia Hess."

I nodded and took the file. My fingers closed over the USB held beneath.

"I'll go through it and compare. Blue Cosmos sent us their final version of the case as they want to present it. I'll see if there's anything that hints they know more than they should."

Aside from the things I already knew they knew that they shouldn't. Blue Cosmos definitely knew too much. It was a good excuse for Murrue to hand me some files in the hall and for me to walk out with them.

"The PRT still thinks the suit is the two in the one-two punch?" I asked.

"Yes," Murrue answered. "Piggot and Calvert both seem unconvinced by anything I've said."

I nodded. That's what I expected.

"They might be right. This whole story is already paranoid. For there to be yet another plan within the plan is…"

"Incredibly absurd?" Lafter asked.

But it feels so absurd already, why not go further?

"I'll look through it and get back to you."

Murrue nodded and escorted us from the building.

As soon as we got into the van, I popped the file open.

"Hold these for me."

I pushed the top papers over to Green. He took them. I started looking over what I really wanted.

The PRT didn't track normals much, it seemed. They knew Orga's name. They knew he was a captain in the ABB. They didn't seem to know much else. The PRT rated him as a low threat solely because he didn't have a power. The file didn't even have a picture.

They didn't have much on the rest of the boys. Nothing about their immigration status, names, or threat. Murrue told me the PRT didn't bother much with non-parahumans but it seemed a bit absurd to me. Just because Armsmaster or Miss Militia could stroll leisurely through their ranks didn't mean they couldn't cause harm.

Well, it suited me.

The PRT would notice eventually if things went forward. I'd bet that any PR attack against me or Celestial Being would target it. I took that as a good thing. I knew where the blow would fall and Kati explained that could be a boon when it came to PR.

"Anything?" Lafter asked.

"Nothing to worry about," I thought, closing the file. "On that anyway." I held up the USB. "This is different." Something stank in Denmark. "We caught Coil too easily."

Lafter tensed in the shoulder. "How so?"

"He avoids detection and capture for years only to be undone by my good fortune and some bad circumstances? He still managed to delete a lot of his files. His escape hatch took him across the street."

I scowled and shook my head.

"It was too easy." And I missed it. "There's a bigger game here. Coil fits into it. So does the lawsuit. I need to get a glimpse at what Teacher is doing if we're ever going to hit back."

The USB contained everything the PRT gathered on Coil. His power testing, his identity, and what intelligence they gathered.

Murrue would probably go to prison if anyone found out she gave it to me.

"How is Aisha doing?" I asked.

"Things are proceeding apace," Veda answered.

I nodded and turned to Lafter. I hoped she didn't get worked up about Coil. Capturing him meant something to her, more than it meant to me.

"I'll go in alone. Well, with Green and therefore Veda. But the deal is that It'll just be me and Orga inside."

"Typical shady meeting deal," Lafter said, "I watch TV."

I frowned. "It's not that shady…Is it?"

Lafter shrugged.

"You're making deals with gang members and villains. It's a little shady. I don't mean it in a bad way. I'm the last person to be unsympathetic to why those guys are where they are."

"And Bakuda?"

"She's fucking crazy."

I could not argue against that.

"I'm just saying they could totally blast us with a Bakuda bomb if they wanted."

The thought had occurred to me, though Dinah saw nothing like that happening. Still, best not to assume something can't happen. Dinah did like to reiterate that she only sees possibilities, and I knew she only got glimpses.

I didn't want to meet anywhere near Bakuda's workshop for the time being. I doubted they'd come to the factory. I wasn't sure I wanted to invite them.

We arrived at the same time. Lafter and I in my van, and them in some beat up old Honda.

I glanced at the run down front of the old Ferry station. Dad talked about the place a lot, but honestly I'd only been there once or twice. He wanted to get it up and running again. Jobs for some, and a means to reach jobs for others.

I might start working on it myself eventually.

A ferry connecting the north and south of the city via the bay came with lots of benefits. Preventing the movement of criminals played a big part in opposition to restarting it. That would be a dying complaint soon. I hoped.

Orange and Purple flew above. Haros watched the building before I told Orga the location. No one came or went within a block of the building.

Despite that, I still felt uneasy.

The Honda remained still, engine idling. We did the same. I saw three figures in the vehicle, watching us like we watched them. We watched each other through windshields. And watched.

sys.t/ anything?

sys.v/ I believe the area is clear

And I still felt my paranoia biting at the back of my neck.

Trust is like standing on one side of a cliff. A cliff with nothing but a nondescript plank connecting you to the other side of the canyon. A canyon shrouded in fucking mist. There's no way to know how sturdy the bridge is till you try, and the mist is a lot thicker when the people on the other side once shot bullets your way. And blew you up with a grenade.

Even the PRT never did that to me.

Bakuda nominally agreed to cooperate with my plan. That met Orga's main precondition for working with me. Despite that, or maybe because of it even, I knew we both wondered the same thing. Them and us.

What if we get stabbed in the back?

Well, only one way to know.

I stepped out first. Lafter followed, and down the street the Honda's doors opened.

Orga Itsuka stepped out. Behind him, the big guy from last night stepped out, and then the tall one with the ear piercing.

Akihiro and Shino, if I remembered right.

We all started moving toward the Ferry station together. Save Shino. Shino stayed by the car with the engine running. That was fair. Veda was still operating the van after all and I couldn't begrudge someone else their paranoia.

Lafter gave a playful wave with one hand, the other hidden by her body at her side. She held the saber close to her hip.

Green rolled ahead and up to the ferry station doors. He pushed them open on his own and went inside. As our two groups drew closer.

"No one around?" Orga asked.

"No." He assumes the Haros are watching. "It's just us."

Funny how being cautious can look like taking advantage in tense enough circumstances.

"Didn't bring the short kid?" I asked.

"Mika never lets me do anything dangerous without him. Lung is arrogant, not dumb. With Mika relaxing, he won't think anythings up."

Is that an assurance? I took it as one. He was telling me he trusted me enough not to completely screw him over. Which made everything else just precaution? That, or he wanted to lure me into a false sense of security because he knew that I knew and on and on it goes.

It's easy to make an agreement.

It's harder to make that agreement happen. Making agreements happen required long boring talks. Hashing out terms. Making ground. Establishing boundaries.

Maybe people fought so much because diplomacy sucked.

"Lafter."

She stopped just inside the doorway.

"Akihiro."

The big guy stopped.

Behind Orga and I, Lafter glanced up at him, and he looked down at her.

"You're very muscley." She kept her saber hidden from his view. "How many push-ups do you do?"

Orga and I continued down the hallway into the old terminal. The whole place looked abandoned, but not that run down. Some linoleum peeled in a few places, and some obvious mold and water damage marked the ceiling and walls. On the whole though the building seemed fairly sturdy for how long it had gone unused. I'd seen worse.

Green pushed the fold out chairs the Haros stashed in the building together, with a third for himself.

I sat down.

Orga sat down.

We stared.

"We are here," Veda said from Green.

Orga looked down. Hopefully he didn't take her presence as a trick. Personally I appreciated Veda breaking the social awkwardness.

"So we are," I agreed.

"So we are," he repeated.

"How is Lung?" I inquired, taking the offered opening.

Orga waited for a moment before saying, "He's Lung."

Very descriptive. "What's he planning now that the ABB is effectively dead?"

"He wants to hit your factory again. With Bakuda."

I tried not to scowl. That was more or less what I expected. Lung didn't have options anymore. He either dealt with me, or he'd be unable to do anything. Any attempt to rebuild the ABB I could knock down. Going after me alone wasn't viable. I wouldn't kill him, and he couldn't kill me. We canceled one another out.

Still, Lung coming after me again could hurt people. The city still hadn't fixed the hole I made. The other directions he could come from took him past the apartment building where my ex-Merchants lived or a residential area.

"And Bakuda?" I asked.

If she went with him, and tried, they might be able to do some real damage. Hurt a lot of people.

Orga crossed his arms over his chest. Defensive?

"She told him she needed a few days to get ready."

"Has she said anything?"

"She said you talked. I took it to mean there is something in the works."

"Something, yes." I should have asked Murrue for Bakuda's file too. The woman confused me. "I'm going to make sure Lung loses. Bakuda is going to take the credit and the territory."

Orga tilted his head slightly. "You're going to leave a villain free?"

"No. The moment she crosses the line, she goes down like the rest."

He closed one eye. He did that a lot. "And us? We're not exactly clean."

"I've looked through the PRT's files on you," I offered. "You're not really on their radar. Once Lung is out and you break from Bakuda you're no longer in the PRT or Protectorate's jurisdiction. The BBPD probably has even less on you."

I paused for a moment, then asked, "Yan. That was you, wasn't it?"

"If it was?"

Yan got caught because someone shot him in the leg. A twenty-two caliber pistol. Not an uncommon bullet far as I knew, but it did make me wonder. Most of the guns I saw the ABB using were nine millimeters or forty-fives. The only twenty-two I'd encountered was held by Mikazuki.

"Why? I doubt you did it for justice."

"I wanted his territory, and I wanted him specifically out of the way. He didn't like us. He needed to go."

"And you didn't kill him?"

"Start killing your associates and your other associates start wondering if they're next. There are rules on the other side of the law. If you want to survive, anyway."

But he didn't kill him. He shot the man in the leg and left him to be arrested. I could get the logic behind that move. Surely the rest of the ABB saw it as suspicious, but if Yan was alive and saying nothing then why push the matter? It made sense.

And yet, I felt assured by that.

"I think we can make terms with the BBPD. I'd be more concerned with ICE."

Orga nodded. If the city improved, once inconsequential issues became more glaring.

"Naze can help. It's not hard to incorporate a company in another country, and buy land here. Given the state of the city we can file for worker visas. That'll cover everyone old enough to work."

"It can't be that simple."

"Naze will make it work."

"What about the rest of the ABB? Part of my plan was to give people jobs. A reason not to just join the next criminal to come waltzing in. Is there anyone not in your cell you can trust?"

"A few. "Honestly, those I knew well are already in cells. We'll see."

I nodded. "Anything I should know about? Drugs? Bodies?"

"We don't make bodies. Bodies draw attention. Attention is bad. And the hardest drug we've ever used is a cigarette or a beer."

"Good."

"You'll agree to Naze's plan, then? Distribution for your toy—"

"Model."

"Line," he continued, "and our own lives?"

"And your security business."

"It's not a permanent thing."

"Make it permanent."

One eye closed, and he asked, "You want us to keep running rackets?"

"It's not a racket," I noted. "I've checked. You're offering honest-to-goodness security. Alarms, assistance if there's a problem, fancy signs that are good enough to scare off the easily dissuaded. I don't mind that, Orga. It's helpful."

I relaxed a little in my seat, feeling much more at ease with this than other topics.

"Lots of people in the Docks don't trust the police. They have criminal records or family with criminal records. They won't trust me either. I've gotten a few hundred people arrested the past few months. People with families."

I pointed at Orga.

"You can talk in ways I can't. You can protect them in situations where they won't trust me or the police. We can work together on that. This city needs to change and we can start it here in the Docks."

He nodded, and his face silently said 'go on'.

"I want to form a business association," I continued. "One specifically for the Docks. Celestial Being will join."

"But if it's just you, then it's just you. If we join too, it'll make all the people we're providing security services for feel at ease."

I nodded.

"I'm from the Docks," I explained. "I was born here. I grew up here. I know the Dockworkers will join this. With all three together—you, the union, and me—we can rebuild the economy and people won't be pushed into crime to survive."

"There will still be crime," he noted.

"Not like it was," I replied. "Something needs to change. It can't go on like it is. The city needs to be rebuilt. To be rebuilt it needs a degree of safety."

There would be time to explain things later. I needed to explain them. The more people who knew what I knew, the better our odds. But I needed to take that carefully. Teacher needed to be stopped. I still didn't have any clue about the other one, Victory or Priest. The powers needed to have their problems resolved so they stopped spilling over into our world too.

All things to work toward. Reasons to continue my plans. Build something bigger than myself.

"What do you plan to do about Lung?" Orga asked. "In specific."

I paused, the thoughts nagging again. What if Lung simply wanted to know my plan? Or Bakuda. Or Orga himself.

"Where does Bakuda test her bombs?" I asked. "Trainyard?"

"More or less."

"That's good. Lung won't think anything of her saying she wants to show him something new."

"You'll ambush him?"

"We'll get him isolated. I don't want the city burning down before we can rebuild it. You can have your guys clear an area, right? Remove any people or squatters? Maybe stash a few supplies?"

Orga frowned. I presumed he didn't like my evasiveness.

"We can."

"Start today. That would keep the area clear. Then all you have to do is sit back and stay uninvolved. Bakuda and I will take care of Lung on our end."

"How?"

I measured how much to say. Too little and they'd think I wanted to betray them. Too much and I'd worry about them betraying me.

"I'm going to drug him," I said.

"A drug?"

"Yes. We'll let the fight carry on, it'll be useful afterward when Bakuda gets credit for beating the man who fought Leviathan one-on-one. But the truth is the fight will be over before it starts."

Orga watched me, and then nodded. "How much does Bakuda need to know?"

"Only that she should show up ready to fight Lung. She can make it flashy if she wants. Just remind her to be careful where she's aiming. I don't want—"

I stopped myself, rethinking over the conversation.

"You're worried about her." He scoffed, but said nothing. I pressed. "What is the story here?"

Bakuda didn't seem to give a damn about herself when we talked the day before. She immediately started trying to secure them some kind of position. She must have seen that the two of us could probably beat him in a straight fight.

"We relate," Orga admitted. "She's like us. A piece of debris left behind while the world went on."

"She threatened to blow up her school."

"And I know enough to know lots of capes do stupid shit right after they trigger."

"That's a bit more stupid than normal." I paused. "And you're not worried I'm going to stab you in the back. You're worried I'm going to stab her."

He said nothing, but I was right.

I inhaled. Their lot confused me. Bakuda cared more about them, and now Orga seemed to care more about her. Maybe not 'more'. More might not be the right word, but there's something there.

"We'll cut the crap then," he declared. "We don't have powers. You could remove us whenever it suits you. Fine. That's the way the world is between capes and the rest of us."

"But Bakuda is a cape, and a dangerous one," I said aloud. "I can't control her."

"No. You can't."

He worried I was more ruthless in my pragmatism. Despite everything I said, he thought it was pomp. Something to ease him.

People aren't pieces on a board.

They have lives and goals and dreams. I didn't know what Bakuda's were. Probably something to put some time into. I couldn't simply reduce her to a tool to be used and discarded, no matter what happened or who she was. I refused to do to anyone what was done to me.

But the city needed change, and I needed help to make it happen.

"I don't know what you're expecting from me." I knew all too well how hard it was to trust. It's not like I didn't understand. "I'm not the PRT or the Protectorate. I am under no legal obligation to do anything about Bakuda. I can leave her be if I want."

"You're a hero," Orga pointed out. "You're just going to leave her be?"

"What happens after Lung?"

"Same as always. Someone else tries to set up."

"Bakuda helps prevent that. I need someone out there to 'claim' the Docks and keep the turf."

"They'll still come."

"They will. And I plan for all of us to beat them back."

He raised his brow.

"Your security business. My Haros. StarGazer's intelligence gathering. That's the first line of defense. No villain will be able to so much as look at the Docks without us catching wind of it."

The way I figured, a lot of problems could be solved by letting Aisha prank people. The mere presence of a security company with active investigators and tech would scare many away.

"And then we'll deal with them," I continued. "Maybe they can be scared off. Maybe I can crush them with a quick attack. Maybe Bakuda can threaten some violence. We'll be wise to approaching each situation by its merits. All of us will need to work together."

Orga watched me, clearly thinking. I let him, and checked the area on my visor. Still nothing. Shino leaned against the Honda outside. Akihiro and Lafter stood by the doorway just inside waiting.

"You'll use us then," he said, "until we burn."

My heart jumped.

There's that 'we' again. The PRT wouldn't go after them. If anything, they'd go after me with them as the excuse. Did he even think about that, or did everything amount to a question of when and how I'd betray him? Of how I intended to use him.

If he expected me to betray him eventually, then wouldn't he plan to bet—

No.

"This is why I hate the world," I mumbled under my breath.

"What?".

I rose from my seat. He did the same, his hands tense at his side.

Because the world forces people to constantly look out for themselves.

I didn't have time for a game of who-plans-to-betray-who.

"This is either going to work or it's not. We work together, to help everyone, or we stop wasting our time."

He kept watching.

"I will not ignore people getting hurt," I said, "and I have no right to pardon Bakuda or anyone else for the things they've done. Fair?"

Silence.

I would not budge. Not on that. I wouldn't fight the PRT or Protectorate over Bakuda. She hurt people. Her bombs killed people. Excuses aside, it was done. I couldn't change it. Eventually, she'd have to answer for the things she did. I wouldn't stand in the way, even if I found a use for her.

"Fair," he said.

I looked him in the eye.

He said he didn't want to work for me. I could respect that, and use it. Someone like him probably grew tired of being under the thumb of others years ago. Lafter avoided the traffickers, but she knew plenty about them. The way they lied about people having jobs where the ships were going. Really it was just press ganging into whatever whoever bought them needed.

I'd be reluctant about someone with big plans and how I could help them. Should have thought of that sooner. Gathering allies had been so easy before. I got lucky with Lafter, Murrue, Trevor, and Kati. In one way or another, we could understand each other and work together despite our differences.

"What do you want from all of this?" I asked. "What's your plan?"

"I never want to say the words 'I have nowhere else to go' ever again," he answered. "I want a place to belong. One of my own making and my own choosing. One for all of us."

All of us. "Fair."

Orga grunted. "You think it'll work? A shell game where you run villains against other villains?"

"It'll work. If all of us work together. It won't stop everything. There are assholes out there. The most dangerous ones are too stupid, too smart, or too insane for this scheme to work on them."

"But if we keep the rest away," Orga mumbled, "we buy time."

We. "Time enough that maybe Bakuda can dig herself a better hole. One with more light at the end of it, but she's going to have to earn it. It's how the world as it is now works."

He closed both his eyes. I waited again. I watched his face. He had to understand that. He wasn't stupid. It's not like I planned to leave Bakuda out to dry, but I wouldn't fight the Protectorate for her. If she got caught, she got caught.

"How long do you need for your plan?" he asked. Then he clarified, "For Lung."

Back to Lung again.

Maybe that's where we needed to talk. Trust did take time. Time to stop looking for knives. Time for the city to stand again and for everyone involved to decide they liked the new normal. Time to become invested.

"Make it two days," I suggested. "Get me the location, clear it out. I'll have Forecast run questions on it so there's a better idea how the fight goes down."

"Alright," he agreed.

After more silence I rose from my seat.

"We'll just have to work the rest out as we get to it."

When Lafter and I returned to the factory, I sat down and propped my feet up.

"I hate diplomacy," I grumbled. "I've barely done it, and I hate it."

"Look on the bright side." Lafter grinned. "You're doing pretty well, aren't you?"

Was I? "I don't know how much of what I say he believes."

She looked surprised. "He's going along isn't he?"

If only everyone was as earnest and easily convinced as Lafter.

"He sees this as his best chance to get out from under Lung," I explained. "I'm sure of that. I don't know if he sees it as the way to reach his own goals."

"Well, it's a good thing you like work?"

I gave her a blank stare.

"You do," she said.

I mean…Yes? Though, "Beam cannons are more agreeable."

I pulled Murrue's USB from my pocket. I first plugged it into an isolated device only my quantum relays could communicate with. I didn't want Murrue to get in trouble in case the PRT embedded anything into their files. Dragon mentioned designing something like that to prevent future leaks.

Murrue was allowed to check out files, and to anyone looking they hopefully thought she was pursuing a hunch rather than leaking information. I'd return the USB via Aisha to Murrue's home.

I'm really starting to like having a stranger around.

She's really useful.

While Veda copied files I checked on the Gungnirs.

I ended up rebuilding both weapons top to bottom. They looked a lot less rough as a result. Long launch tubes with specially designed GN condensers on the back and stabilizers on the front. No more broken collar bones—Huh, I never apologized to Lily for that. The stabilizers popped out, flipping forward near the front of the tube. They'd slam back when firing and absorb most of the recoil.

After checking the weapons, I looked at the stakes. I put three together. A meter long each, about the width of my wrist. One was solid E-Carbon. It should work a lot better than my previous munitions alongside the cleaned up launchers. The other two stakes carried hollow tips. They'd pierce a target, crush themselves, and spread whatever I loaded them with all over the target.

For example, a pint or two of Newter's blood.

"Where is Aisha?"

"Right here."

She sat down on the work bench and lifted up a bag.

"And let's never do this again," she complained. "Seriously, it was gross."

"Like a faucet!" Black chirped.

"It's just blood," I pointed out. "You have plenty of it."

"Yeah, inside me. That's where it's supposed to be. Inside!"

I took the bag and opened it. Inside was a container. Hard case with metal braces on the corners. Inside, foam filler protected two large vials. A pint each.

More than enough to put down an angry rage dragon.

Hopefully it would be easier to juggle everything with Lung gone. That would leave only the Empire. And then I started dealing with the real assholes, not just the selfish pricks.

Thinking of the Empire.

"Aisha."

"What?"

"Ever been to Boston?"

"No. Why?"

I closed the container and handed it off to Orange.

"Aisha, I need you to play messenger one more time."