A Waken 13.5
This really wasn't the way I wanted to be the center of attention.
The machine pounded around me, which wasn't helping things. I'd been counting down the seconds, but as expected the scan went on longer than I was told. Just like last time.
I couldn't see the room outside the MRI. Enhanced MRI. I couldn't quite remember what the crazy doctor called it. Bunch of words that sounded expensive. I heard distant voices, but making them out was impossible inside the machine.
I tried calling out but no one answered.
So I waited in a damnable machine that could be half the size and achieve the same job. It's not like the PRT didn't have the tinkers to support it. This was just inefficient.
...
I've been spending too much time with Armsmaster.
When the bed beneath me started moving, I exhaled in relief.
I climbed off the slide as soon as the cold air outside touched my face.
"Do you just enjoy torturing me?"
"I'll remind you that I am a highly trained medical professional wasting away in the city that needs me the least." Dr. Asuno tapped at the keyboard in front of her. The blonde's face was scrunched up in a way, as if annoyed. At the same time she was smiling. "And your brain is still weird."
Behind her, Murrue sighed. "Unoa. Stop teasing. She's a patient, not a friend."
"Patients are just friends you're obligated to take extra special care of." She tapped the keyboard again. "And you said her mother's mother had migraines?"
Dad nodded. "Not sure how bad it was. My wife's parents have never wanted to be part of Taylor's life."
On the table next to Unoa, Green sat at a tilt.
"These are the brainwave scans?" Veda asked. "The second monitor, third window down?"
"Yup. That's the parahuman brain and all its music." Unoa waved at me. "Go get dressed. Give me a minute."
I huffed and stalked over to the small stall in the corner of the room. Discarding the medical gown, I switched into the cut down costume I wore under most of my clothes since Othala. Slacks and a blouse followed and I quickly fixed up my hair. That came pretty easily lately with how short it was. About the only plus side to having it cut.
I still missed my hair.
Joining the group by the monitors, I gave Dad a small hug. He'd been very… supportive.
Doing so also gave me a better view.
I glanced at the screens and looked them over. I didn't know how to read many of the scans, but some looked rather finely detailed, like they came out of my anatomy textbook. Muscles, veins, bones, and nerves. All arranged and detailed with a disturbing amount of resolution.
"What is it?" I asked, looking them over again.
"Rate the pain on a scale of one to ten?"
"Is this what qualifies for medicine around here?"
"One to ten, little missy."
"I don't know. Most of the time I don't even notice if I'm concentrating on something. Then there are times where it's really bad." The woman nodded. "So what does it mean?
"Nothing much," the doctor answered.
"Nothing much but...?"
"No. Really." She sat back in her chair and waved a hand in the air. "I'm not really seeing anything here. You're in good health. The only things that really concern me are your blood pressure and some of the muscle strain in your arms and legs."
"She runs a lot," Dad said.
"This is more than running," Unoa replied. She pointed to the screen. "These here and here. These are small tears in the muscle. Some of them look like they've tried to heal and then tore again. Do you never take a day off?"
"No," Dad said.
"She does not," Veda agreed.
Traitors.
Unoa sighed. "You do realize the PRT mandates that Protectorate capes only work a certain number of hours a week in the field? That's not because we're stingy. The human body can only take so much punishment. Some capes have super healing, or are impervious to injury, and we still require them to take breaks because there are psychological effects to stress."
"I take breaks."
"Like what?"
"I read?"
"After a ten hour day?"
I didn't dignify that question with a response.
The crazy doctor sighed. "My opinion? You work too hard."
"I want a second opinion."
"You don't need a second opinion because you work too hard." She started pointing. "Other than that, I don't see anything wrong with you other than your weird brain, but that could be normal. The imaging we have here is pretty thorough. The wonders of tinkertech."
The woman spun herself around in her chair, fingers steepled together.
"The only things it can't tell me are things I can't know without painful and invasive tests, with dangerous potential complications. As much as I enjoy torturing you, I'm not about to recommend any of those based on what I'm seeing."
"You think the problem is stress-related," Murrue stated.
"It probably is." Unoa stopped her spinning with the toes of one foot and pointed. "Girl, have you seen your blood pressure? Unlike some doctors, I can tell you exactly why it's so high and it's because of the insane amounts of adrenaline and other stress-related hormones in your system. It's like you spend every waking moment of every day stressed."
I frowned. Green, Dad, and Murrue all turned to look at me. I frowned more.
Damn inquisitions.
"A little bit of relaxation time a day is good, but it's no substitute for weekends. Seriously, how do you not take weekends? You're young. Being anti-work is what you're supposed to be good at!"
"But—"
"Taylor." Murrue crossed her arms over her chest. "Is the world going to end today?"
I glared at her.
"Taylor."
"Maybe."
"No then."
"You could take a day off now and then," Dad pressed.
"There is nothing today that demands your attention," Veda agreed. "What tasks must be completed, the Haros and I can handle."
There I stood, outnumbered and surrounded.
The answer didn't feel right. Maybe I could use a day off, but why would that cause my headaches? They started after Amy—the healer, not the therapist—healed me. She said I needed to eat more after that and Pink made sure I did, but what if she messed something up? Surely she could make a mistake.
Unoa said she didn't see anything wrong, though.
There had to be more to it. No, I knew there was more to it. It nagged at me. Something was wrong, or at least different. I just couldn't describe the feeling.
How can I make people understand something I can't describe?
Could stress explain thinking I saw something? I wasn't sure I wanted to mention it only to be dismissed, or worse, tested further. I hated hospitals and the PRT's little medical center might as well be one.
"I prescribe rest," the crazy doctor reiterated. "If the pain persists, then maybe there's a problem and we'll need to do those more invasive tests."
"Fine." Turns out asking for help wasn't that helpful.
Unoa started turning the machines off while we went out into the hall. A group of troopers marched by in all their gear. A few noticed me and nodded.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Last night you seemed to think I was about to do something me-ish."
"It'll be on the news soon enough," she said with a sigh. "The Nine are attacking one of Dragon's facilities. It supports the Birdcage."
I turned my head. "A breakout?"
"No one can break out of the Birdcage," Murrue said mildly. "But that doesn't mean we want the Nine messing with it doing who knows what. The public also won't necessarily believe us. We're prepping for unrest. Quite a few of Brockton Bay's old villains are there now."
I counted them off aloud. "Hookwolf. Lung. Lustrum."
"Galvanate and Marquis," Dad added. Green rolled between us and the door closed. "They were both gone a long time ago."
"And others," Murrue noted. "We think the main reason the Nine would go anywhere near the Birdcage is to cause a panic, and to escape and seem invincible."
"And you thought I'd go rushing off after them," I mumbled.
Okay, maybe my skepticism was unfair. That did sound like something I'd do.
"Are you?"
No. In a low voice I whispered, "Jack Slash isn't about to end the world."
Blue Cosmos was threatening street wars across the planet and Teacher was sowing chaos. The Endbringers were ending civilization. I still didn't know what the goals Teacher's opponent or the Cape Illuminati aspired for. Maybe they wanted to take over the world, but at the least they weren't trying to undo it. Either way, they needed to be stopped. Jack Slash would have to wait in line.
It felt weird to think of the world's most notorious madman as small, but compared to Teacher and the Endbringers? Fuck him. He was a small-minded and petty murderer. I'd happily throw a Gundam at the man and his band given the opportunity, but hunting them down would need to wait.
How fucked did the world have to be for that to make sense?
Murrue walked with us on the way out. She pitched some kind of joint Ward-Celestial Being patrols. Apparently, Tagg wanted her to ask even though she told him what my answer would be. Celestial Being got things done. We didn't patrol and hope to come across something.
With that out of the way, she asked, "Please take Unoa's advice, Taylor. I know her personality is eccentric, but she is good at what she does and while she doesn't readily show it, she does care about your well-being."
Yes. Taunting and making me uncomfortable was just how she showed her love.
Before I got an answer out, Dad laid into me. "She's not wrong. You do work a lot. Sixty or seventy hours a week."
I was reminded of something Miss Militia once told me, that being a hero was all I wanted from my life. In that respect, I didn't mind my work. I did mind being chastised for it, headaches be damned.
"There is nothing happening today that cannot wait until tomorrow," Veda repeated.
"Don't ignore this." Dad gave me a sympathetic look. "Ignoring a problem didn't work out for this family when I did it."
"If nothing else, it'll eliminate stress as a cause," Murrue offered. "One day relaxing won't kill you."
All the lecturing might.
"Taylor," Dad chided. "You and Amy"—the therapist, not the healer—"both agreed that you have a tendency to focus on things to your own detriment, remember?"
Reluctantly, "Yes."
"Well, you get that from me," he continued. "I don't need to tell you what happened when I stopped paying attention to the things that mattered and focused only on myself."
Work and bottles twenty-four seven. I remembered. Of course, I didn't have a drinking problem… And I was being a bit of a bitch.
"Fine," I grumbled. "Day off."
Dad gave me a small smile, and I felt like Murrue was doing the same just behind us.
I grimaced as we entered the lobby. It was loud and active. Crowds and tour groups were gathering. Prism led one group off in the far corner, accompanied by a young woman with a clipboard. That saved me some attention, up until someone shouted 'It's Newtype! Taylor Hebert!'
Me and my ambitious plots.
The troopers shielded me from the one or two people in the crowd who tried to approach. I did not mind. Lots of people took pictures and called out questions. I gave them a courteous look and a friendly wave.
Pushing my way outside, I stopped and glanced at the stone bench resting by the door.
Orga lifted himself to his feet. He turned his attention to Murrue for a moment. She gave him a wary gaze, but he looked away soon enough. I wasn't sure why he was following me around. That had become Mikazuki's thing, but I hadn't seen him all day. Orga was in his place when we left the house in the morning.
"Do you need a ride?" Murrue asked.
"My truck is right there," Dad said with a nod to the old beater parked across the street.
"No one messed with it," Orga said.
Dad offered a small smile. "Thanks."
"No problem. Where to next?"
I gave him a confused look. "You're really going to keep following me?"
"Mikazuki was up all night," he answered. "Can't have him running himself ragged keeping an eye on you."
That was an… odd way of putting it. You'd think the two of them were together or something. Turning to my father, I asked, "Where are you going, Dad?"
"Work."
He flashed me a knowing smile, and I glared at him.
I scowled back at him.
"That's not funny."
"It's a little funny. PRT is trying to decommission that bunker Coil was hiding out in." The one down the street? "We have to finalize our bid by Friday."
"Good luck," Murrue said.
Dad nodded and watched me for a moment.
I thought about it, and… Well, laying in an MRI machine gives you a lot of time to think.
"You already won," I muttered. "I'll rest today and see how I feel."
That made Dad and Murrue smile. That was nice. It would be worth it all the more if it actually helped with the pain. Maybe my mind was running away with worries and paranoia. I did work hard. Everyone needed a break. So I'd take a bigger one than normal.
"Do you need a ride?" Dad asked.
I checked the time. I'd already missed more than half of my school half-day. Well, school didn't exactly relax me. If anything it was another form of work.
"I'll go for a walk," I decided.
"A walk?" Murrue asked.
"Yeah. Haven't really been around much of the city since the gangs are gone. Just the area between the factory and home, and the bus line to Arcadia. Might be nice to take a walk and not a run. Don't really know what to do on a day off anyway."
Reading for the next ten hours sounded like a lot. At the very least, I could walk home.
"I'll see you at dinner then," Dad said as I started down the stairs.
"Okay."
I ignored the onlookers and walked up to the street. Orga followed beside me on one side, and Green rolled along on the other. Guess I'd have an escort. I checked my pocket anyway, just to be sure the beam saber was there.
With that, I turned north and just started walking.
I really didn't have a better idea. Lacking that, I watched the city and saw many of the things I'd already noticed. It felt more alive everywhere I looked. The old gloom was gone.
Unlike before though… I found myself uncertain.
Did that gloom ever really exist? Did the image of Brockton Bay as a darkened locker really exist? Maybe I only ever imagined it that way, because the image suited me and the place I was in when I started on my path. Strange thought. Strange to wonder if I was being arrogant again or paranoid. Needlessly worried maybe.
I almost died barely a week ago.
Someone came to my school and tried to murder me. Someone crazy and broken. I didn't know why I felt so certain of that. That Othala, for all her cries of rage and hate ultimately was just… lost. Part of me said not to care. She was a fucking Nazi, the worst kind of person. I shouldn't be sending her any pity.
Except I did pity her. I knew what it meant to feel completely, utterly, hopelessly alone.
She'd be alone for a very long time.
Putting on my empathy cap, it wasn't hard to relate that feeling to the sorrow of Mom dying. I'd never really thought about it before, but there was a connection. My feelings of isolation and helplessness went hand in hand with the pain of knowing she was never coming back. I felt so alone in that pain.
Alone because Emma couldn't relate to it. Alone because Dad wasn't there. Alone because I arrogantly thought no one could understand how it felt.
I did understand how it felt.
I didn't want to put that on anyone.
It's a weird thing to think about. I decided I was okay with dying when I started. Dying doing something looked preferable to living with nothing. It was childish. Neat how almost dying puts the entire concept a bit more into perspective.
Gave me something to think about while we walked, if nothing else.
"Are you really not going to work?" Orga asked as we reached the end of the block.
"Yeah," I said. "Day off. Doctor's order."
"I can suggest several activities occurring within the city today," Veda said from Green. "Some are certainly of interest."
"Talk like that and I'll think this was planned."
"Perhaps it was." I stopped and looked down at Green. He turned to face me and Veda said, "That was a joke."
"Very funny." Green's flaps flapped. "Very funny."
"I don't get it," Orga stated.
"There is an exhibit at the community college," Veda continued. "The History of Capes in Brockton Bay."
The History—"Is that why Kati had me write up a whole page about my experiences as a cape?"
"Yes. I suspected you were only half paying attention at the time."
"I was working on"—I stopped myself before I said too much—"you know what I was working on."
"Hence my suspicions."
My sudden stop got me a suspicious glance from Orga. Sue me. Some things I still planned to keep to myself. I wasn't even sure if 00 would work yet or not. If it did, I wanted to pack it away for a special occasion.
I hadn't been to the community college in years. Not since Mom died. Well, I walked by it once a few months ago, back when Canary gave her concert, but I didn't really linger so that didn't count in my mind.
History of Capes in Brockton Bay?
"Why not. Maybe I'll stop by Mom's old office. It's probably got a new occupant now but that's fine."
We walked down the next two blocks and then turned west.
The campus stood out in the landscape of Brockton Bay. It was spacious and open, and many of the buildings contrasted with the brick and concrete that made most of the city. I hadn't stopped to take any of that in the last time I passed it by. Now I noticed the trees had all grown and there were new rows of bushes growing along new paths between the buildings.
It was lively, despite the overcast skies. Looked like it might rain before long. The storm clouds I saw in Hartford were moving south. Bit unusual for the region, but supposedly Leviathan messed with the weather wherever he went. Screwing with Boston could screw the entire northeast.
I still knew my way around. The student union building took me across most of the campus and from inside I went up the stairs. I'd gotten looks from everyone as I went through the city and over the campus, but I'd grown accustomed to stares and ignoring them.
Whole crowds noticing me…
Well that was a bit harder to ignore.
"Everyone is looking at you," Orga stated.
"Yup."
It started with just a few. The people at the front welcoming guests to the exhibit noticed me first. Then the people who noticed them staring. And the people who noticed them. A solid wall of blank stares and surprise across a long gallery of displays.
In the moment, I decided to take amusement at the sight. Tried to remember what it was like for me whenever I saw Armsmaster or Alexandria on TV when I was young. I never really bought into cape worship, but they were still figures of awe and inspiration. How couldn't they be?
I glanced down at the table by the doors. "Do I pay for this?"
The girl behind the table shook her head no.
"Okay."
I walked past her and slowly the air of my presence wore off. People still looked at me. They snapped pictures. They followed me around. Orga surprisingly stopped the one or two who came too close. The death glare he shot them was probably unnecessary, but I didn't mind the buffer zone.
It let me look at the exhibits.
They weren't anything fancy. Printed posters and displays. Newspaper articles and headlines arranged with timelines and explanations of events. It looked nice. Credits to the history and literature students of 2012.
It started with the Protectorate, but that didn't surprise me. Armsmaster. Miss Militia. Swift. Challenger. Stratos. The city's five longest serving members were all prominently represented with their official posters and panels about their careers. Whoever organized the display set a little niche aside for Velocity, Aegis, Clockblocker, and Steward. All four Brockton Bay heroes who died fighting the Endbringers.
There were names I didn't know too. Independents like Haze and Guile whose names didn't mean anything to me.
There were villains too of course. Can't have a history of capes without villains.
I glanced over the displays dedicated to Marquis, which included sections about the Teeth and Slaughterhouse Nine. How much I needed those reminders. The Empire Eighty-Eight got surprisingly little attention, but maybe no one wanted to give Nazis much credit.
New Wave had a whole wall to themselves. Panacea took a fairly large section on her own, with dozens of testimonials lining either side of a poster of her. People thanking her for healing them or people they loved. I was surprised to see an almost equally large area dedicated to Fleur's shooting. A pair of images showed a stark before and after. Fleur being rolled into the hospital with blood covering her side and face, and then walking out with her arm in a sling.
She looked sullen in the second image, like she'd given up. It didn't quite fit with the woman I'd met.
I lingered at Lustrum's section.
Beside me, Orga looked over the display with a casual indifference. "Someone you knew?"
Lustrum was probably before his time. She existed in the city long before the ABB and… I guess I assumed he was from Japan because his name sounded Japanese. I never thought to ask.
Countries weren't really being obliterated before Kyushu though. When only Behemoth was running around, he was a crisis but not an 'Endbringer.' That moniker only came about after Leviathan and the Simurgh appeared.
Looking back to the display I admitted, "No. But I've heard about her a lot. My mom and Kati were followers when they were a little older than I am now."
"Guess she failed," he mused. "Whoever she was."
I knew of a bunch of different reasons for why she failed, but... "Yeah. She failed."
"Did she?" Veda asked. "This display is larger than several of the others present, even though I would assess Lustrum's role in the city's history to be fairly small. It would seem that there is still much interest in Lustrum, despite her imprisonment and the passing of time."
Glancing left and right, Veda was correct.
Most of the displays varied in size. The Protectorate and Wards one was fairly big, and the New Wave one as well. Compared to the other villains though, Lustrum's was easily the biggest. Odd, given how short her time in Brockton Bay was. She couldn't even be compared to a typical villain, really. She never established a criminal gang or empire in the city.
Did people at the college still admire her, then? Teachers? Students?
"Must have done something right," Orga murmured softly, "if people still remember her."
Did she?
Strange how often my own life seemed to find reflection in Lustrum's. She was one of the first capes I'd ever asked my father about. Kati related to me in the context of Lustrum. I thought of how Mom always became sad when talking about her. The hurt on her face. That wasn't that long ago, so maybe Veda was right.
Long gone, Lustrum still meant something to people.
It brought Sonic to mind. The question of how to move forward while keeping as many people as I could alive. If she was a plant or a spy, did I let her in and use her? If she wasn't, how much should I tell her? What choices were right and which were wrong?
I thought I'd answered those questions already. Anyone who joined me deserved to know what they were getting into, so maybe the real question was how big I let things become. How much should I grow my little movement? How many lives could I risk?
How many lives had I already risked...
Sigh.
Responsibility is hard.
I lingered for a moment and looked through some of the pictures in the exhibit. I was curious. Dad always talked as if Mom and Lustrum were close. I wondered if I might see her in a news article or a picture.
I did see her, just not at Lustrum's display.
The ABB didn't have much of an exhibit, even smaller than the Empire. Maybe it wasn't that people disliked Nazis so much as no one wanted to memorialize the recently arrested. Lustrum, Marquis, and others were distant enough in Brockton Bay's memory to be the past. The Empire and the ABB only ceased existing a little over a month ago. They might have already been working on all these displays when Celestial Being got rid of them.
Right next to the ABB's tiny mention was a much larger setup, centered around three of my models—O Gundam, Astraea, and Queen—fully assembled and posed. The winged sword icon of Celestial Being hung behind them upon a poster, with pictures and images on either side of Laughter, Dinah, and me.
That's where it was.
Right under a picture of me in my fully masked costume.
Mom wore a scarf and a nice formal sweater, her hair recently done up in a bun. The background was plain, a sort of bluish marbled texture. She faced the camera directly, her wide mouth in a broad smile and her eyes set forward.
I smiled, reading the small caption underneath.
Annette Hebert, formerly of the English Literature Department. Mother of Newtype, aka Taylor Hebert.
Such a simple statement under such an impersonal picture. Yet, it felt… loving. Like she mattered to people, enough that they bothered to find an old staff photo and added it to the display. Strange how the smallest things can be the most comforting. I had no idea what to do on a day off and came here simply because Veda suggested it and it was better than doing nothing.
Seeing a picture of Mom—knowing people remembered her and loved her—made it all worth it.
"Must be nice," Orga mumbled. "Being famous."
I tilted my head. He was giving me a weird look of disapproval. Wait, "I wasn't smiling about that."
He turned back to the display, namely the models arranged in front of it.
I scowled. "What is it going to take for you to stop thinking I'm moments away from stabbing you in the back?"
He grunted and did that thing where he closed one eye and looked at me with the other. "Don't know. Haven't seen it yet."
"You realize I'm a hero."
"Yeah. It's a nice title. Makes you important."
Jerk.
He looked away from me, scanning over the exhibit for a moment before setting his gaze on the models. What? He says something like that and no explanation? It's a good thing I didn't have to like someone to work with them, but really?
There went my mood. It was nice while it lasted.
I turned away, immediately spotting the exit because I'd reached the end of the exhibit.
"We die and no one cares."
I stopped. Turning to look at him, he wore an angry smile on his face, and it was an angry smile. I wasn't sure how I could tell exactly. Something in the eyes. Resentment, anger, hate… Fear.
"We're the dispossessed," he specified. "We don't matter. The only people who've ever shown interest in us are those like Lung, and those like Naze."
And he hadn't decided which of them I was? Well, that was flattering. Apparently I'm not easily distinguishable from a murderous rage dragon. Good to know.
I inhaled and looked back at the display. "You watch the news, don't you?"
"Why?"
I took it as a yes. "Do you want to know what went through my mind those years before I got my power?"
He pushed his lower lip out.
I turned toward the exit and shook my head. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. Thinking about it, why didn't anyone in Orga's group have a power? They all came from similar backgrounds to Lafter. Powers weren't a consolation prize. Suffering isn't a race to the bottom. But, thinking about it academically, why didn't any of them have one? Armsmaster said nearly a third of the population was estimated to have the ability to trigger.
What caused some people to trigger, and others not to?
"I thought I didn't matter. You're not stupid, Orga. The world is wrong. Don't pity yourself for it."
We'd garnered something of a crowd while we moved. People watched and I realized we probably spoke loud enough for some of them to overhear. Hurray for situational awareness. Good job, Taylor. Now I'd get a lecture from Kati for getting into an argument in public.
The exhibit exited out into an adjacent hallway leading to the open quad of the campus. A food court spread along the length and the air smelled of grease and cheese. Guess pizza was a very popular option. Surprise, surprise.
"Do you feel better?" Veda asked.
I took her to mean the headaches. "I guess." A dull throb very distant, noticeable but not very painful. "It's not that bad right now."
Orga came up behind me, his eyes sweeping the hallway. I noticed him linger for a moment on a tray of food in front of someone at a table. Thinking about it, I could eat myself. I hadn't taken any breakfast and it was well past lunchtime.
"Hungry?" I asked.
He flinched. "Hmm? Not rea—"
"You're a bad liar. I'll pay for it. I could eat something."
I'd been to this part of the building before. Lunch with Mom every now and then, years ago. Some of the stores seemed the same as I remembered. New signs or colors but familiar in name and menu. It was all basic stuff. Deli sandwiches, pizza, burgers, vegan and vegetarian options.
"I think there's a sandwich place down there around the corner." I nodded to the right. "If you don't want that though—"
"I'm fine," he said.
"Don't worry about it." Even when charitable, he was a jerk. "If Mikazuki didn't get any sleep last night, neither did you."
"I—"
"Bad liar."
I started walking and let him follow me. The people outside the exhibit were mostly distracted with books, food, or conversation. A few noticed me but most were otherwise busy. I think I preferred that. Less sensation of being watched and the uncertainty of how to respond.
"Should be right over—"
"Taylor?"
I stopped and turned. "Parian?"
Sabah, rather. Right. She went to school here. She sat at a table near the end of the hall in a black dress and head covering. She smiled and waved, looking a little embarrassed as people looked our way.
I said Parian.
Oops.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Her eyes shifted to Orga, then back to me.
"There was an exhibit," I said. "I wanted to see it."
I turned my eyes to her companion, the woman sitting across from her at the table.
"Oh, the History of Capes in Brockton Bay?" Sabah laughed. "We were just there. Guess I wasn't important enough to make it in."
My shoulders tensed.
"You're the doll cape, right?" Orga asked.
My hand started to move toward my pocket but I stopped myself.
"Yeah. That's me."
What is she doing here? "What are you doing here?"
Sabah and Orga both turned their attention to me.
Across from Sabah, Noelle drew in a long slurp from her drink.
My fists balled at my sides, mind racing through possibilities. Planned? If she was a thinker, she might have some way of knowing I'd be here. A precog or something along those lines. That didn't explain Parian. Coincidence? Bullshit. Nothing's that convenient.
She couldn't have known I'd be here.
She's here for Parian.
"Do you two know each other?" Sabah asked.
Noelle pulled her drink back and smiled at me knowingly. "Do we?"
You fucking bitch.
Is that why she unmasked? So that she could go around and start fucking with people and I couldn't call her out on it without breaking the rules?
Sabah glanced between us, her expression darkening. To Noelle, she said, "You told me you were new around here."
Noelle nodded. "I didn't lie. I introduced myself to Taylor the other day. I've been trying to be friendly but she's making it very difficult."
Green jumped up onto the table and turned to face Noelle. Without a moment's hesitation, she reached out and patted the top of his ball. Green rolled back at that, placing himself between the girl and Sabah. Noelle gave him a coy smile and slurped at her drink again.
"You're a groupie," Sabah sighed.
No she's not.
Noelle made an exaggerated motion, fainting back and raising a hand to her forehead. "Alas, I am discovered."
Every time she came to me before, she tried to touch me. Whatever her power was, she needed to touch people for it to work. If it was a master power…
I glanced around, noting that people were watching us. Were the other Travelers present or nearby? If I picked a fight would she take people hostage? Fuck, she might already have a hallway full of hostages.
"That's not very nice Noelle," Sabah said. "You could have just asked. It's not like I'm unused to it."
"Sorry," Noelle responded with an apologetic wave. "I just get so nervous whenever I meet someone famous!"
"You could have told the truth."
Orga. I glanced at him and yes, he was watching Noelle warily, hands at his side. If nothing else, he'd picked up on my discomfort. I didn't trust Noelle and he knew it.
So now what?
I wasn't going to leave Sabah alone with her. That was step one.
Pulling out a chair, I took a seat. I did so slowly, watching Noelle's hands and being wary of her legs or feet. Did her power work through clothing? My costume included gloves, but when she last came by the factory she offered her bare hand. Maybe her power only required skin contact on her end.
She continued slurping at her drink while I sat. Orga stepped up behind me, and I said, "Do you mind grabbing something? I want to catch up."
He waited for a moment, and replied, "Yeah."
He walked off slowly, his eyes set on Noelle.
She watched him back and waved as he continued down the hall and around the corner.
"Cute boyfriend."
I ignored the jab and asked my question again in a low voice. "Why are you here, Facade?"
Sabah flinched.
I watched her in the corner of my eye. Almost instantly, her gaze set on Noelle as a look of betrayal overtook her features. She pushed herself back from the table a few inches, hands going beneath the table. The reaction seemed genuine, but Pets went unnoticed for years. I couldn't discount that Noelle's power was subtler, or that she could use it intelligently.
"You have not answered the question," Veda said from Green.
Noelle pouted. "Breaking the unwritten rules, are we?"
"Yes," I said. "You are."
The girl gave a brief frown. "Well, I think we could quibble. I certainly never called Sabah Parian, and I never once mentioned it until you showed up."
I glanced at Parian. She nodded.
"Quibbling," I stated. "You knew who she was."
"Or maybe I didn't. It's quibbling either way."
"Then we'll quibble." Turning my attention back to Sabah, I asked, "Did she try to touch you?"
The question confused her at first. Then she looked grim and her face paled slightly. "We shook hands."
Noelle watched us both, leaning back in her chair. Despite the relaxed pose, I could see the tension hidden beneath the 'facade.' She was weighing her options.
It was a good question.
The silence drew out between the three of us, my eyes set on Noelle and Parian in the corner of my eye. Green remained between the other two capes. Parian kept looking back and forth, seemingly nervous. If it was an act, it was a very good act.
Weighing my own options, I kept my eyes on Noelle and asked, "What did she ask you about?" When I didn't get an immediate answer, I said, "Sabah."
She flinched again, and turned to me. "Ask me—She asked about my classes. Said she was new to town and didn't know anyone. I didn't think she knew who I was and I wanted to be friendly."
I turned toward her.
Those were the wrong questions.
"She didn't ask about anything else?"
"Not really. She invited me to the exhibit. We only met an hour ago."
"We did talk about current events," Noelle interjected. I turned my attention to her, to find a smile on her face and a relaxed mien to her shoulders. "Afterall, they're so fascinating."
"Current events?" I asked.
"Yes. Do we really have to make a crime of it? It's just such a great story. You coming out of the blue and cleaning up the city in record time. With no help at all." Help? I narrowed my gaze. "I just want to know how you did it."
This… Is a very different game from the one I thought she was playing.
"She asked about where all the villains went," Parian said. "I did tell her about you, but—"
My eyes widened. "Nothing you couldn't find online?"
Parian looked at me and shrugged. "Um, yeah. I just thought she was new."
"Technically I am," Noelle said.
The Stranger.
I glanced around the hall. The Stranger that just looked like some guy. The Stranger that snuck into my factory and started asking mundane and pointless questions. That couldn't be a coincidence.
It thought she was just trying to get back at me for threatening her.
She's been working a completely different angle the entire time.
"Well then."
Abruptly, and without a word Noelle's chair slid back. She rose to her feet, spun around, and started to… quietly walk away.
Or she could do that.
Sabah started to relax, watching the girl walk away.
With only a moment to decide, I quickly rose. "Stay with her," I said, pointing from Sabah to Green. "Launch Queen and Exia."
"Already done," Veda said.
I started after Noelle, walking past Orga with a quick look behind me. He frowned, a tray with two plates in hand. I mouthed a 'sorry' to him and kept going. I'd pay him back later.
I kept after Noelle.
I ran through the other Travelers in my head, which didn't help. Genesis was a shape shifting Case-53. Ballistic applied absolute velocity to projectiles that might be strong enough to penetrate a Gundam's armor. Sundancer produced a freaking sun. Then there was the Stranger. A Stranger no one noticed before… Because he looked like 'some guy' and didn't wear a costume. Why would anyone notice him, even after the fact in pictures?
Clever.
I still didn't know what Noelle did. It would be really nice to know what Noelle did.
She strutted down the hall. I kept pace behind her, watching the crowds around us carefully. She had to have some kind of backup plan. People noticed my passage. Others continued about their own business. Some snapped pictures with their phones. All fairly normal behavior. A very large amount of fairly normal behavior.
A fight here would get people hurt.
Fortunately, she seemed eager to go outside.
I kept a distance, far enough back I could react to attack but close enough she couldn't easily lose me. She went down the hall, down the stairs, and then across the lobby at the back of the building. I watched her go out the doors.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
"Veda," I whispered. "Take her."
She could quibble at the end of a beam sab—
"Wait."
I stopped when Noelle turned toward an old payphone stall and pushed coins into the machine. She raised her other hand and pointed at the sky. She waited for a moment, then kept going forward again. I glanced around. What did she just do?
"Is Parian okay?"
"Alarmed but well."
Then what did she just do?
"Send Green to that phone and hit redial," I said. She spoke briefly into the phone. Just a few words. The fuck is she doing? "Then access the building's security cameras and look it over. They must have some."
She started moving again, not even bothering to hang up.
"Orga stays with Parian." Rather than follow, I went left. "Follow her from above. Guide me."
"She is now moving west."
A bluff? If it was a bluff it was a good one. I wasn't about to risk her massacring the building just to take her right now. I could wait. She knew I could wait.
She's buying herself time.
But how much was she bluffing?
I exited the building and followed Veda's guide.
I misjudged her. I focused on Blue Cosmos and Teacher, and all the while Noelle was doing something. How many other capes in the city had she approached and touched? If her power let her maintain control over a long period, or derive some kind of knowledge… This would be so much easier if I didn't have to play guessing games with her desire to touch people being my only clue.
How could I even know that wasn't a false lead? She did call herself Facade.
I crossed the campus on a parallel line, occasionally catching sight of her as she moved. She saw me too, her head craned around and watching me during brief moments without obstructions between us.
I visibly slipped my saber out of my pocket.
Noelle kept walking, inevitably crossing a road off the campus and into the city. I did the same and she turned into the city and headed for… The PRT building? What?
"Veda. Anything around?"
"Not that I can see."
Who did she call? What are you scheming?
"I am uncertain if I am able to determine potential influence," Veda revealed. "I believe we should advise Parian to turn herself in to the PRT, but if she resists I cannot search the building and prevent her from harming anyone."
This is what happens when you get caught by surprise.
"Take Queen back to the campus and keep Exia on me." I mulled, continuing to keep my pace with Noelle. "Get in contact with Orga. Connect to his phone and talk to Parian. Explain to her and then warn Orga if it looks bad."
Is that it? If I got too close, she'd unleash Parian on the crowd back at the campus and compel me to choose between following her and dealing with a massacre?
Bad bet.
"If nothing else, try to get her out of the building and away from people." Let Noelle buy time. I could use it for my own ends and she wasn't getting away. "If she asks why, tell her we're worried Noelle set some kind of trap in the building and we want to be cautious."
"Very well. I am warning Lieutenant Ramius what is happening."
"Do it."
Noelle turned a corner, and when I came around it she was gone.
"Across the street," Veda said.
I turned my head and frowned.
She must have sprinted across. I barely noticed the back of her head as she went into an alleyway. I started across the street, weaving my way between idling cars that came to an abrupt stop as the lights changed.
Trying to give me the slip, or trying to lure me into a trap?
"What do you see?"
"I have a clear line of sight. She is continuing on toward the other side of the block."
A bluff. It had to be. She couldn't have known I'd wander onto the campus today and if she'd arranged any kind of surprise it wouldn't be in the opposite direction of the Traveler's hideaway in Captain's Hill. That made it a bad bluff.
This is my city.
Rather than approach the alley I started jogging down the street. It was easy. A few quick paces down the block, around the corner, and a quick change into a fast walk. When Noelle came back out on the street, she looked left and right. Right at me.
She looked slightly startled and began walking away from me.
"I have explained our concerns to Parian," Veda stated. "She has agreed to come with me to the PRT for screening."
"No attempt to get out of it?"
"No."
Then Noelle is really smart, too smart to give herself away, or her power wasn't the worst cas—No.
It's not that simple.
I was being paranoid. Worrying about the most obvious worst case and not other possibilities. And there were too many possibilities. She kept trying to shake my hand early on, so it had to be something based on touch. If it were something too obvious, she wouldn't have been so brazen about it. Then again, why not use it now or before?
"Take Orga with you," I said to Veda. "Go straight to the PRT and keep Green with her. Is there anything in the nearby streets?"
"Nothing unusual," Veda answered.
She couldn't really be alone, could she?
As we reached the end of the block, Noelle came to a stop near the street corner. She stepped back and into the alcove of a cafe. I stopped. She waited.
Done running then.
"Veda?"
"There is still nothing. I have positioned Exia to strike immediately."
"What about the pay phone?"
"She called another payphone, in Captain's Hill."
Warning the other Travelers. Why not go to them though?
I glanced around, watching the cars and pedestrians pass around me. We were right on Lorde street, the busiest road in Brockton Bay. Schools would have just let out. Buses would start coming by soon. Children and parents. Workers would be heading home.
She wanted to be in the open, in as public a place as possible.
Is that all?
I watched her. She watched me...
You're bluffing.
I walked forward, instructing Veda to bring Exia directly overhead. I could barely make out the suit's light in the cloud above. The overcast sky obscured it well. I asked again and Veda confirmed she saw no one around us. No Ballistic. No Sundancer. No Genesis. No Stranger.
She was alone, banking on my unwillingness to pick a fight in the middle of the city where people could get hurt.
I came up to her and stopped, keeping myself just out of arm's reach.
Noelle smiled. There was confidence in it, nervousness too. She could fight. She would fight, if I pushed her to it.
"I'm getting mixed signals, Taylor."
"Enough games. What do you want?"
She chuckled. "We are in a cliché, aren't we? I'm clearly up to something. You're clearly up to something."
Deflection. "Why are you poking around the city and asking stupid questions?"
"There's no such thing as a stupid question, and as for why I'm poking around…" She shrugged. "Only way to know what's under the black parts of the map is to poke at them."
More deflection."You broke the rules."
"I'm not allowed to make friends?" She clapped her tongue and 'tsked' me. "That's a little tyrannical. You're a hero, not the overlord of Brockton Bay."
Her gaze narrowed.
I narrowed my gaze right back.
She was smart. Making this a public spectacle gave her lots of options. Lots of potential hostages. Or maybe not. If this was all part of some big bluff, it was a very good bluff. I couldn't risk it. I wouldn't.
It's just… such a shame I'm not stupid enough to get distracted by something so petty anymore.
"You're very clever, Noelle."
"Thank you."
"But you crossed the line and now you're my problem."
"Oh. Scary."
It will be.
I turned and started walking away.
Behind me, she actually sounded bemused. "Really? That's it?"
I said nothing. My headache was back, but oh well. If she was so smart, she'd figure it out eventually. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
There's something more to her power but it's not what I thought. If she could control people with a touch, she'd have used it by now. No one is that reserved. The whole touch thing really might be a false flag. A way to give herself leverage for later.
"Parian?" I asked.
"We are on our way," Veda responded.
"Keep Queen with you. Keep Exia on Noelle. If she starts anything, slam her into the ground."
Fortunately for her, Noelle was right. I wouldn't fight her in the middle of the city, not with so many innocents and so many ways for it to go south. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't stand there forever. She wanted to buy herself time. She could have it. Time was on my side in the end. Sooner or later, she'd have to move. Put her mask on. Go to the rest of her team.
She blew through my patience in a week.
That had to be some kind of record.
