A Waken 15.2.S
Lisa couldn't help but wonder why every time some random person decided to hold up a camera in the middle of a disaster, they couldn't even bother to hold it straight.
"How," Lisa muttered.
"The exact cause of the battle is yet unknown, but speculation has quickly overtaken the internet and social media as the strange message from Dragon continues to play on a loop throughout New York City. The Mayor's office has confirmed that the message is playing on the emergency broadcast system, which Dragon does have access to."
The news replayed the video from the start.
It started after something exploded in the parking garage across the street. There were faint traces of yellow-gold light in the air, mixed in with the dust cloud. Then a flash of green and Newtype's suit blew out of the cloud. It went up, avoiding another blast.
Eidolon.
Impossible.
The second one.
They were going to need to do something about that before the names got confusing, but later. At the moment, Lisa grimaced as the camera followed Newtype then dropped and spun around.
Lisa checked the time on the wall clock.
Her heart jumped into her throat. "It hasn't even been an hour! How did she make this much of a mess of it?!"
Whoever held the camera or phone scrambled for a moment, then raised it up as Armsmaster pulled Eidolon II to the ground. He sent some kind of current through his halberd, a super taser or something, and Eidolon II went limp as a noddle. Gunshots rang out, but the cameraman decided to split rather than keep watching.
He did catch Newtype blazing down the street, firing a cannon mounted over her suit's shoulder. Dust and smoke blew through the street, and the video started playing again.
The city screens were vaguely visible. Dragon, or the person pretending to be Dragon was repeating the same broken message over and over again.
Under attack. StarGazer AI. Attacking me.
Bullshit. Lisa didn't need her power to know that would never happen. StarGazer might be loyal unto death to Newtype, but she valued Dragon. Loved her even, on whatever level a computer with a mind of its own could love.
Was that racist? Machinist? Didn't matter, no way in hell. Neither Newtype or StarGazer would attack her.
And it seemed a little elaborate and well planned for a bunch like the Slaughterhouse Nine—Shit the Slaughterhouse Nine had something over Dragon. No, not something. Newtype talked about Saint like he had access of some kind. Access to Dragon...
Dragon is an AI.
Well that made sense. At least she wasn't Skynet.
Saint possessed means of controlling Dragon.
But she could be. Shit.
So did the Nine do this, or did Saint hit the switch when he couldn't run anymore? Lisa knew he was Georgios. The guy was always ranting about the dangers of AI online. Given her own experiences with Newtype's little menaces, she could see his point but being paranoid about Dragon?
There weren't many honest heroes among the heroes, or at least not as many as anyone wanted to believe. A lot of them were just doing it for the money or to have a job. They weren't that altruistic, no more so than some everyday cop who happened to have laser eyes.
Dragon definitely qualified as an exception though.
Saint must be seriously nutters to have hit that switch and launch whatever this was. StarGazer—Veda—was an AI too. If he knew that… Shit. Use one AI to try and take out the other. That's a plan a paranoid nut-job with delusions of righteousness would come up with, especially if he could control a metaphorical nuclear missile.
Now the Nine were involved. Newtype was seriously fucke—Not just the Nine. This wasn't the Nine's style. Someone was using the Nine to—Shit fuck shit.
Lisa turned and quickly grabbed her bag. "We need to go."
Bright side of life as a villain. You're always ready to bug out.
Relena stood by her bed, watching the screen with worry. "What about that girl? Aisha?"
"She'll be the most fine of anyone. Girl can literally disappear."
Relena didn't look away from the screen. "Newtype wouldn't do that. Attack Dragon."
Girl noticed the obvious. Credit to her. "Nope, but the Protectorate is going to look and there are cameras all over this city. They'll notice us and they will have questions. I'm not getting lectured by Fortuna for letting you spend time in an interrogation room Teacher can get to you in!"
Relena didn't move and Lisa groaned.
She grabbed Relena's bag, closed it up, and threw it over her other shoulder. "Door, please!" The air shimmered and Lisa threw both bags through the octagonal portal. "Come on."
Relena lingered for a moment, gaze locked on the television screen.
Regrets that her only power is words.
Even if that weren't the case, what did she plan to do about this? She wasn't the violent type. Her way of fighting was of limited value in the heat of this kind of crisis.
The Protectorate might conclude that Newtype was innocent of any attack. The PRT would be less inclined. They were opportunists, especially now. They'd seize any chance to knock Celestial Being down.
Eventually, it would be obvious Newtype wasn't behind anything. The PRT would suffer for things then probably, but the damage would already be done. People would always wonder if Newtype really did attack Dragon with her own AI.
She'd already kept the fact she had one hidden, and that absolutely was something the bigwigs at the PRT would not tolerate being outside their control. Not while the Machine Army existe—But they tolerated Dragon existing. Surely they knew about her.
Something assured the PRT Dragon would not be a threat.
Saint's little switch? No, if the PRT knew about that they'd have prioritized taking i—
No. Not going down that road. Some things you just can't do anything about.
It was time to go. "Let's go."
Lisa stepped through the portal and returned to Sanc.
Claire stood just behind Doormaker, her hand on his shoulder while she looked to the west.
Lisa frowned. No need to use her power for that one either. Claire was upset.
She tried not to ask. "What is it?" she asked anyway.
Claire grimaced. "Forecast is in pain."
"She's used her power too much," Doormaker clarified. One hand adjusted his position in his wheelchair. The other reached up, placing his hand over Claire's. "And something is happening."
"Understatement," Lisa mumbled. "Believe me."
Claire raised her other hand and looked at her phone. "I think her phone is broken."
Lisa looked over her shoulder as Relena stepped through the portal. The shimmering field closed behind her. Good. Now, where was—
"How did things go in New York, Ms. Relena?"
"Fine, Doormaker. I like her. Taylor Hebert is… She is a kindred spirit, I think."
"As optimistic as you are?"
"A little more cynical, though not as much as Sarah."
That's not my name.
Lisa crossed the room, coming to a stop before one of the sofas by the window. She blinked, but the mask didn't move. It sat there, on the cushion. Pointed right at her.
"Where's Count?" Lisa asked.
"She went off to do one of those things she does," Claire answered in a tired voice. "I can't see her right now. Probably went somewhere with lots of tinker-tech or something."
Right.
Claire couldn't see literally everywhere. Some shaker effects and tinker-tech blocked her vision. If Count wanted to do something in secret, she'd have to go somewhere with something like that. And if she wanted to disappear…
Lisa pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the number she had.
It rang once.
"The number you have dialed is disconnected."
She was dying. Lisa knew it. Newtype knew it. Even Relena knew it, probably long before Fortuna sat her down and explained her life was on its last embers.
"Did she say when she'd be back?" Relena asked.
"No," Doormaker answered.
She cared about Relena.
Lisa grit her teeth and dropped the phone.
"Because she's not coming back," she whispered.
Count's mask stared back at her from the sofa. That's what it meant. That damn bitch. She dragged her into this twice over, and now wha—
She set about appointing her replacement.
"Fuck you," Lisa growled under her breath. Could have at least given a little warning.
This was such a cheap ploy.
Oh no, Fortuna is gone and she left her mask behind. No more 'Count.' Unless someone picks it up. So clever of her. The others would just assume she'd gone off in disguise and left her mask laying around. Only Lisa would understand the actual meaning.
So what? Pick it up because someone has to keep the hopelessly idealistic princess alive and save the world?
"I hoped to speak with her," Relena continued behind her. "I don't think—"
"What's happening?" Doormaker asked.
She started explaining, and it was a decent enough explanation.
As with many things, she didn't fully appreciate the darker side of things.
The Nine might actually be the least of Newtype's problems. The Protectorate and the PRT wouldn't sit idle. They'd act. They had to. Dragon was one of the most famous heroes in the world. Obvious recording aside, such an accusation as 'StarGazer is an AI and she's attacking me' isn't something they could overlook or treat cautiously.
That didn't even touch the tip of the power politics that might come into play. They might try to browbeat Celestial Being to score cheap PR points. It wouldn't work. The whole thing would blow back on them, especially if Newtype saved the day or somehow died.
That might be a bonus for whoever orchestrated this and that whoever was definitely Teacher. A no-lose scenario, again. Either Newtype saved Dragon and made the big heroes look bad by clearing her name, or she got ruined. Or killed. Either way, Teacher's enemies suffered. Lose-lose no matter the outcome.
Except the Nine. That's a rather elaborate set up, even for Teacher. How does anyone get the Nine to play ball?
Newtype—Londo Bell.
That's what it really was, wasn't it? Cut all the lofty stuff out and what you have is a ready-made replacement for the Protectorate, one with a more diverse and open model for heroism. Newtype knew the white hats wouldn't survive in their current organization, so she was going to give them somewhere to go.
That might work.
If she survived and came out ahead. It wasn't lose-lose. They could win.
Lisa inhaled sharply. The mask sat there, empty eyes staring back at her. Fortuna was such an unreasonable bitch. She knew 'Sarah' really wasn't the heroic type.
Lisa spun on her heel. "Is Forecast alone?"
Claire's eyes snapped around, her daze vanishing as she asked, "What?"
Doormaker raised his brow.
"Is Forecast alone?" Lisa pulled her bag off the floor and fished her current laptop out. "She either is or she isn't."
"Sarah?" Relena asked.
"Forecast," Lisa repeated.
"Sh-She's with her mom," Claire answered. "Why?"
"It's just them?"
"Them and the white Haro," Doormaker clarified.
"Good enough." Lisa sat on the floor and powered the computer up. "Door to Forecast."
The PRT would want her. Teacher would want her out of the way, if he could manage it. She wasn't safe without Newtype or StarGazer on standby to protect her. Speaking of which, what was StarGazer really doing? Her accounts were offline. There was no one trying to combat the storm already brewing across the Interne—
"Come again?" Claire asked.
Lisa narrowed her gaze. Her news feeds were going haywire. "I didn't stutter. Door to Forecast."
The other two capes in the room stared. "But Count—"
"Isn't here," Lisa stated. And she wouldn't be, though saying that now might not help. "We need Newtype. Without her, it's only a matter of time before Teacher turns his sight on us."
"Us?" Doormaker asked.
Damn the English language.
"I get it." Lisa started sorting the feeds and noticed the jumbled headlines. And Forecast's phone wasn't working? "Neither of you wants to go back to how you were before. Locked up, not even living. Tools for someone else."
Claire paled while Doormaker grimaced. Lisa didn't know the whole story, but they had been like Labyrinth. Their powers fucked them. Someone undid that somehow, and while she really wanted to know who and how, at the moment they had bigger problems. They needed to get over it.
Lisa hated her power sometimes. She used a quick jolt of it anyway, just to be sure.
"Are you really going to bank on being able to hide the rest of your lives? You could with your powers." Lisa raised her eyes from the screen and looked up at them. "If you call that living."
They wanted to act. Claire liked Forecast. She understood her, and Doormaker wanted to do more with his powers. Count kept them on a leash, hid them. They were both accustomed to only using their powers when told, and they both hated their powers so much—what having powers stole from them—they were happy only to use them at request.
Well, if Count wasn't going to be around anymore, Lisa might as well occupy their time.
"The PRT is going to go after her, to say nothing of any schemes within schemes we don't know about. Forecast isn't safe in Brockton Bay. None of them are, but Laughter and Chariot can fight back if they have to."
How much did Fortuna know about what was happening?
"It's time," Lisa insisted. "Now or never."
Claire hesitated, for a half second. She swallowed, set her eyes, and moved her thumb to Doormaker's neck.
The portal opened, shimmering in the air.
Relena stepped forward and went through the field.
Lisa focused her power.
StarGazer is under attack.
Dragon was an AI. Did someone set her on StarGazer and then try to say StarGazer started it? That seemed too simple. The internet was literally stuttering. Bits of data were going missing or arriving where they didn't belong.
Two AIs duking it out couldn't do that, could they? The internet ran through various lines and a lot of them did congregate like highways. If StarGazer and Dragon were fighting over them, it could disrupt things.
Not alone though.
Relena stepped back through the portal, and the sound of small feet followed her.
Lisa tried to waste no time. "Does Dragon—"
"No questions," Dinah Alcott begged in a weak voice.
Lisa looked over her shoulder and grimaced. The girl was a mess. She clearly wasn't sleeping well. Her hair clung to her face from all the sweat. Her clothes were drenched.
No questions. Didn't StarGazer help her with that?
"Dragon has other programs," Lisa stated. "Not AIs, but tinker-tech software. Stuff she can call upon."
Dinah looked at her weakly, like she might fall over any moment.
White leaned around from behind the diminutive girl. "Yes, yes."
Fuck, the robot was here too. The white orb was followed by a woman. The mother, probably. She glanced around, nervously pulling her daughter back and holding her close as the portal closed.
"You'll be safe here," Relena said softly. She glanced down at Dinah and frowned. "We should sit you down."
Dinah didn't move, baggy eyes fixed on Lisa.
"Try to stay conscious," Lisa advised. "I might need you to explain a few things."
"Wher—" The woman caught herself, and looked at Relena warily.
"Sanc," Claire answered. "You're in the Sanc Kingdom."
The woman blinked as the knowledge she was on the other side of the world hit her.
Not Lisa's problem.
The white robot said yes. Dragon had other problems. Safe to guess that anyone who could control her could control them too. Set them on StarGazer to attack her. That would explain why she wasn't supporting Newtype's phones or helping Forecast.
Lisa raised a thumb to her lips and bit down on her nail. Stupid habit, but when it works and all that.
This wasn't the Nine. They might have whatever Saint had, but they didn't roll this way. It didn't remotely fit. Dragon making that public accusation, and a direct attack on StarGazer? That's not the Nine's style. They'd swing wild. Maximum chaos. Maximum bloodshed.
This was Saint. This was someone using the Nine to force Saint's hand and co-opt his plan to take out those AIs he was so scared off. That was elaborate as fuck and far too elaborate for Teacher.
It was her. She'd taken notice at Hartford and she was firing her shot.
"We need Newtype," Lisa admitted.
"I don't know if my power can transport her suit," Doormaker warned. Right. Energy fields messed with his power.
"She escaped New York with Armsmaster," Lisa murmured under her breath. "If nothing else, she can move fast. We could get him free of her and get more options."
"Veda is trying to save Dragon." Dinah stepped up weakly behind Lisa. "She's going to be attacked. Suits."
Dragon's sui—Shit.
Saint could set that up.
Access to Dragon's systems
.
Lisa set the news aside and pulled up maps of the Northeast. "I'm going to guess Veda's servers are at Newtype's factory."
"Yes. I warned Orga. Chariot is there too. They won't be enough."
"Bakuda will show up to help, I'm sure."
Dinah shook her head no. That tracked. Damnit, Dragon had a lot of suits. Her nearest base was in Toronto, but she had small workshops all over. She was a prolific tinker.
Access to Protectorate systems.
The shit kept getting higher. If the internet was a mess, what did Dragon's system look like? Could whoever was controlling this thing spread disinformation? Probably best to guess yes. Fuck, Brockton Bay might get swarmed by strike teams, teams that were being sent contradictory or confusing orders.
How long would it take them to reach Brockton Bay? An hour, hour and a half? Some would arrive sooner than others.
Wait—Lisa grimaced as it dawned on her. "Veda needs more than an hour to do whatever she's doing."
"Yes," Dinah answered.
"And you can't talk to her."
"System error," the white devil chirped, "system error."
Shit, they couldn't fight off the whole Protectorate for an hour.
It would be a big damn chunk of the Protectorate too. They'd come looking for answers and they'd want to confirm them. Never mind the damage being done to the internet by whatever cyber-battle was raging. That could have some serious fallout. The PRT would want to stop it.
"Lafter's in danger," Dinah stated.
"We're all in—"
Lisa sat up straighter and she cursed Count. Damn that woman.
"Relena." Lisa looked at Dinah and covered her ears with her hands, pinkies pressed in to muffle them. The girl closed her eyes. Apparently she could lip read really well. "Define your opinion on artificial intelligence for me."
Relena tilted her head. "I've never thought about it."
"Start thinking." She pulled her hands away, and Dinah opened her eyes. "I need to talk to who you talked to."
"Orga Itsuka."
The ex-ABB guy. Right.
Dinah rattled off the number and Lisa pulled a burner from her bag. She dialed fast. While it rang, Relena encouraged Dinah and her mother to sit down.
"Who is this?" the voice on the other side of the phone asked.
"I need to talk to Laughter," Lisa demanded.
"And I want a partridge tree," the voice retorted.
Lisa cocked her eyebrow. "You mean a pear tree."
"I mean I don't care. Who are you?"
Lisa inhaled.
This was going to be a long day.
Lowering the phone, she looked to Claire. "Find Imp. She should be somewhere near New York's PRT building." Claire's eyes started searching and Lisa raised the phone. "Hi. I'm trying to save all your lives because you need help and you know it."
The man huffed. "And what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to get you exactly what you need right now."
Lisa switched to social media and logged into a VPN. From there, she started setting up dummy social media accounts.
"And what do we need?" the voice asked.
Lisa grinned, though she did feel a little bad about the idea. "A PR victory."
Because it might not stay that way with the Nine involved, but at least for the moment, this was a PR war looking to kill StarGazer and Dragon, not Newtype.
A Waken 15.2.I
A helicopter flew overhead with some news station logo plastered on the side. Must be quite the view. Rubble up and down the street. A couple wrecked cars. Work crews and guys in yellow vests were combing the destruction, pulling things aside and looking for people.
Aisha hadn't actually been that serious when she thought they'd blow something up before leaving New York.
This was ridiculous.
"Nothing, Blackie?"
"System error."
That wasn't good. Aisha didn't know what it meant, but definitely not good. Her phone wasn't working either, or the fancy see-through-walls goggles built into her mask. She liked seeing through walls.
Not that it would do her much good on the street. Veda said going into the PRT building was too risky before. Seemed downright suicidal now, especially with the literal army of capes milling about.
"I'm just going to guess you can't hack everything anymore?"
Black shifted to her other shoulder. His ears flapped as he explained. "Will leave a trace."
Okay. So they could still get about. That was something. At least they could get out of the area without some fat peeper in a security room spotting them. Though, what to do after that she was less sure of.
"The fuck is going on," Aisha grumbled.
"Lawyer," Kati said firmly.
Metal boy and Winner stood on either side of her, looking at all the other capes warily.
"And this thing about StarGazer being an AI?" the blue-haired bitch growled.
"Who is that?" Aisha asked.
"Rime," Black answered.
Aisha frowned. "I don't like her."
"Lawyer," Kati answered.
The cape behind Rime crossed his arms over his chest. "That's a lie."
Aisha sighed. "I'm gonna call her Grime. She seems kind of sleazy, right?"
"Illuminati," Black quipped.
Illuminati? Aisha fixed her gaze on the cape. "You don't say…"
There were way too many capes on this street right now. She had no idea who most of them were. Metal boy and Winner—Weld and Kid Win—she knew. Mouse Protector was over by the parking lot waving her hands in the air and shouting something about the 'pink side.' Prism was near the front doors of the building talking to a guy in a robe. The blue-haired bitch was Rime.
That's basically everyone she knew by name.
The accuser Kati glared at was a thin guy in a black and red costume with a question mark on his face. What a dumb costume; he probably didn't get out much.
"Is StarGazer an AI?" Grime asked.
"Lawyer."
"Answer yes or no please."
"Lawyer."
"We're wasting time," Winner said. "Armsmaster absolutely wouldn't hurt Dragon. Someone's setting Taylor up and he's obviously trying to protect her."
"Doesn't he hate her?" someone asked.
"That was months ago."
"We don't know what's happening," Question face replied. "We may be dealing with a Master/Stranger situation."
"That could apply to that"—Weld nodded toward the screens where Dragon's face kept repeating the same message—"as much as Armsmaster and Newtype."
"The two of you shouldn't be here," Grime snapped. "You were tol—"
"All Wards were told to report to their local team leader," Winner pointed out. Aisha leaned over, watching his finger nervously tap his armored thigh. Fuck he was frustrated. "Armsmaster isn't here and this woman has repeatedly asked for a lawyer. Questioning her further violates guidelines."
"Ward guidelines," Grime corrected. "The two of you need to report to Prism in Armsmaster's absence."
"We haven't seen her," Metal Boy replied.
Someone pointed, and Aisha was already looking at the woman about fifty feet away.
"It would be irresponsible to turn our backs on a person of interest," Winner stated.
"Lawyer," Kati repeated, yet again.
Aisha considered not calling Winner and Metal Boy by such mean names. This mess probably wasn't their fault. And they seemed to be guarding Kati from the dozen or so capes and the two dozen or so troopers surrounding her.
Pretty cool watching them take some notes from Labyrinth's constant tormenting of the overlords.
Grime, on the other hand, had it coming.
Seriously, lighten up.
"We're holding you as a material witness," aforementioned unligthener growled.
Kati looked the woman in the eye, and in a very slow voice said, "Lawyer."
"You want to say that into a camera?"
"Your plan is to put the PR lady in front of a camera?" Chris looked skeptical. "That's a good idea to you?"
"Dumb, dumb."
Grime snarled, pointing a finger at Kati's feet. "And that—"
Red simply flapped his head-flap-ear thingies. "System error, system error."
Stonewalled by the PR rep and the robot. "Ouch," Aisha mumbled. "Kind of figures our PR lady would have balls as big as Taylor's."
"Iron lady," Black agreed.
"Red knows we're here, right?"
"Totally."
Grime looked about ready to pop a gasket when the knight-looking guy walked over. He leaned in toward Grime as he approached, and Aisha quickly ran around to listen in.
"—a sent a warning before the explosion," the man said.
Grime raised her brow. "Who is Veda?"
"Not sure, but no one was hurt when the ship exploded."
Aisha glanced up at the building, namely the billowing cloud of smoke spilling out of the end she didn't see Taylor blow her way out of. Usually they blew things up on purpose, but Aisha wondered now if the universe required it of them. Maybe it could find something else to explode if they didn't do it.
Veda warned someone something was going to explode? Aisha grimaced. "Seriously, what the fuck did we miss?"
"End of times," Blackie suggested.
"It's not 2012 yet."
"Dragon's real name?" Grime asked.
Chevy Chase shook his head. "It's definitely not her real name."
"It's the least of our problems," Grime groaned. She turned her back on Kati and kept talking to the armored guy with the big sword. "The Dragon's Teeth are gone."
Sword Boy scowled. "Where?"
"I don't know. Reed saw them gathered up with Ursa and Glint. Bolt teleported them away. Communications can't reach them."
"They can't reach half the city. We have Wards spread all over the place. When?"
"Six minutes ago." Grime bowed her head and snarled. "How's Sam?"
"She'll be okay. Armsmaster didn't pull punches. Ethan's furious."
"Gonna have to file another name away, Blackie," Aisha lamented.
"Filed."
"We need to get everyone back on coms, Chev." Grime looked back at Kati—she said her favorite word again—and then she started stalking off. "This is chaos. We can't lose any Wards like this."
"I've already got Reed working with movers to gather everyone back up."
Aisha hesitated as the two of them moved off. She glanced back at Kati, who was still surrounded. No one seemed like they were about to hurt her though. Most of them looked confused. Worried. Win and Weld were on either side of her, watching.
From her new angle behind Mr. Metal Pants, she also noticed four 53s lingering in the background, watching Weld.
"I think Kati is gonna be okay," Aisha decided. "For now."
"Bodyguards," Black agreed.
"Alright." She turned, watching as Grime and Chevy Chase started toward the front of the building. "Fuck it."
Things were already fucked. What was the worst that could happen? Fucked twice? In for a penny in for a pounding.
Aisha ran from cape to cape. It occurred to her Veda wasn't responding to hack the footage of any nearby cameras, but she'd gotten in the habit of trying to obscure herself regardless. She wasn't stupid.
Without Veda, Black was probably just blacking the cameras out. From some of the stuff Aisha heard they were having all kinds of technical shit going wrong around her. Maybe she could get further in on this than Taylor and Veda thought…
"I'm going to call Brockton Bay," Chevy Chase said. "We need to figure out what's going on. Newtype is in the wind, but Hannah knows Laughter."
"She'll probably ask for a lawyer," Grime complained.
"I don't think Newtype is behind this. It doesn't fit."
"We can't be so sure. She's always been a bit volatile."
"This is out of her character, and I find it strange Dragon keeps repeating the same message." Chevy scowled. "And if Dragon is the real problem now—"
"The Dragon's Teeth."
"We're switching to private lines. Have Reed build a network. It shouldn't take him long. I don't think we can trust our official channels right now."
"Let me get a team together," Grime proposed. "If the problem is with Dragon, we need to get in contact with Narwhal."
"That sound like bullshit to you?" Aisha asked.
"Very rich scent," Black agreed.
"Yeah. Why would she need a team to talk to Narwhal? Someone's slipping a bit."
Chevy Chase gave her an odd look. She shook her head. He sighed, and as they started toward the front doors, he called for Merlin or something. The robed guy talking to Prism responded, walking over with the younger woman at his back. Grime didn't stick around though.
She looked around as if to see who was watching, and then she didn't go into the building.
"They really should leave the sneaky shit to the strangers," Aisha muttered indignantly.
Aisha followed the woman as she got the attention of some pale guy in a white and black outfit. Pretender, she called him. Huh. Not a bad name. Aisha couldn't actually come up with a better one. She also went over and talked to one of the few capes Aisha actually knew by name. Cinereal. Total badass fire cape. Aisha had a poster or something somewhere from her cape nerd phase in third grade.
Weird. "Wonder where that kind of firepower is going…"
When they circled back and entered the building, Aisha didn't hesitate.
She followed. Pretty fancy place. Way fancier than the building in Brockton Bay. The lobby had an open ceiling that went up several floors. White marble floors and columns, stainless steel railings and stairs that stuck out from the wall.
Even more capes milled about. Some watched the screens with Dragon on them and whispered. Troopers were marching in groups of ten to twenty. Some guy in a suit was waving the pencil-pushing types out of the building, telling them to head home for the day.
They seriously had no idea what was going on, did they?
It was a struggle to keep up with the three of them as they moved quickly. People seemed to move out of the way for them. They couldn't move out of the way for Aisha.
She kept stumbling around people, hurriedly moving to keep up and listen to the hushed whispering.
"Pretender, cover for us."
"I can do that, but what is going on?"
"We'll find out. I need to talk to Rory."
"Why?" Cinereal asked.
Grime shook her head. "Alex told me to go to him if anything ever happened involving Dragon."
"That's your secret? Know all of our secrets?"
"I don't know what any of you know, only who to go to if certain names or events come up."
"Do we think this is Newtype losing it?" Pretender asked. "Like Cranial?"
Alright, on a scale of one to ten, things just hit shady as fuck.
"I think Sam thought that," Grime answered. "That's why she went to confront them. She's the one who knows about Newtype. That woman outside knew something, but all she'll say is 'lawyer.'"
"This is getting convoluted," Cinereal deadpanned. "Let me go to Brockton Bay. I'll straighten out who's done what."
"No. The whole world is going to be watching this now. We need to get it right or everything we're trying to save falls apart."
They turned, and the hallway they went down was almost empty. Aisha checked over her shoulder, but no one was following them or watching her. Welp, in for a pounding in for a hangover.
She kept going. "Where are you three going…"
Grime pulled out a phone after they'd turned down the empty hallway and texted something. Aisha couldn't really get a good look without risking bumping into someone. That was maybe a bit too ballsy with Cinereal right there.
"Just cover for us, Pretender," Grime insisted. "I told Chevalier I'm going to put a team together and talk to Narwhal. I won't be missed for a bit. We might need to deal with this ourselves to keep it from exploding."
"Alright," Pretender agreed.
They stopped at a door and pushed it open. Aisha rushed to slip through before it closed. Opening a door like a ghost would give her away.
There was a fourth cape inside. He only wore a domino mask over what looked like plainclothes, and he was tapping away at his phone as Grime, Pretender, and Cinereal approached him.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Meeting room," Grime answered.
Meeting room?
Aisha reached into her pocket and quickly ran up to her. Damn woman didn't have pockets, but her gloves and boots were all fluffy.
"Then I need you to get Triumph and bring him there. Cinereal is coming along. We may gather others."
The cape nodded and pocketed his phone. He held his arm out like some dapper guy going to a fancy party. "Ladies."
Grime placed her hand over his wrist, and Cinereal put hers on his elbow.
The air seemed to rip and the man vanished, taking both women with him. Aisha yanked her hand back and shook it. Still four fingers and a thumb. Nothing missing. She didn't know if the tracker would do any good without Veda to actually track it.
The cape illuminati had a meeting room. That's a place that might be useful to know about. Actually joining in on the teleport was a step too far, but maybe they'd get lucky.
Pretender mumbled to himself and turned around. He left the room, and Aisha did a quick bit of snooping. Looked like nothing but an empty storage closet. No nefarious secrets or passageways. Lame.
"Alright Blackie, let's get—"
The air rippled again, and Aisha turned to face the shimmering shape.
She started toward the door at first. The field simply vanished and reappeared, blocking her path. Shit. Did someone find her out? There weren't any cameras in the room. Wouldn't one of the Illuminati have said or done something if they knew she was there?
Letting her overhear that stuff seemed kind of dumb.
"What do you think, Blackie?"
"I'm out."
The damn thing was blocking the door. She couldn't exactly leave with it there. Where the hell did it come fro—
Her phone rang. Not the Veda phone, but the personal one.
"Really, Brian?" Aisha pulled it up, glad her power covered sounds that came from her along with everything else. "What up?"
"Just walk through the damn portal already!"
Aisha blinked. "Tats?"
"Emergency situation. Portal. Now."
The line died, and Aisha sighed. "Everyone's the boss of me these days."
Black raised a little robotic fist. "Fight the power."
"Oh definitely. Maybe when the world isn't falling apart around us, though."
"Good call."
With a deep breath, Aisha stepped forward into the portal and on the other side found herself in a really nice living room. The hotel was nice, but this place was posh. Rich woods and fancy carpet and lots of frilly bits.
Bit cramped with Tats sitting on the floor looking at her computer and the guy in the wheelchair with the blonde holding his hand. Relena stood by a sofa, talking with an older lady as they hung over Dinah—
"Dinah?"
Aisha ran over, spotting White resting at the precog's side. She looked like a mess. Shit, did she really push herself that hard? Her mom looked better after a total bender on heroin for the weekend.
She lay on a couch with a wet cloth over her forehead and her eyes. Her breathing was shallow but steady. Aisha glanced at the woman and examined her face. She looked a bit like Dinah. Her mom?
What were they doing here with Tats?
"Where is here?" Aisha wondered aloud.
"Sanc, Sanc," White answered.
"Yes," Tats groaned. "You are in Sanc. We've been over this! I'm trying to concentrate here, people! You know, before someone dies?"
Huh. Tats did care. Go figure.
Black nodded on her shoulder. "Surprising day."
Concentrating, Aisha stepped up behind Tattletale. "Nice digs."
The blonde jumped. "Don't do that!"
"You told me to go through the portal."
"And you've been lingering around in your power for what reason?"
"Curiosity. Why are we in—"
"No questions," Dinah groaned.
"Wh—" No glasses. Why wasn't Dinah wearing her glasse—Veda, right. Shit. Aisha raised a hand apologetically. "My bad."
"Here."
Aisha turned back to Tats and stared at the phone she held out. "I already have one thanks."
"You need this one," Tattletale growled. "Doormaker, Brockton Bay"—she glanced back at her laptop—"Fifty-third and Lord. Find an alley somewhere near there. A place we can drop Imp."
Aisha raised her brow. "Say what now?"
"You need to get to Brockton Bay and record everything that happens to Lafter."
Cautiously, Aisha took the phone. "Why?"
Tats grinned widely. "Because nothing scores brownie points like the big bad government beating on the little guy."
A Waken 15.2P
Sabah lifted the strings, feeling each individual strand like a small 'tuf' on her spine.
"You know, the usual problem is that we have too many people looking for food, and not enough people to handle the ladles." Tori—the skeletally-thin woman who ran the food bank—crossed skeletally-thin arms over her chest. "I'm unaccustomed to having nothing to do."
Sabah kept her back straight and forced a smile. "Sorry."
"Don't be. First day off I've had in years."
"I don't know," Lafter uttered. "Feels like cheating."
Tori raised a hand and waved it. "No such thing in charity."
"I'm not talking about the charity."
Sabah glanced at the girl's feet, noting the three robots holding ladles over their heads while Sabah used her power to work the line.
"Sorry?" she apologized.
Lafter shrugged, raised one hand and waved it. "Don't worry about it. Sometimes I think we spoil the little monsters."
One of the robots, the pink one, dropped its ladle and flashed its eyes.
"Should I stop?" Sabah asked.
"No," Tori, Lafter, and Charlotte said at the same time.
Charlotte was holding her phone up and recording the scene, which made Sabah more than a little self-conscious.
At the same time, this was...nice? She'd done puppet shows and store openings before. It helped pay the bills, and she did like kids. At the same time, it wasn't what she wanted to be doing. She wanted to be preparing for shows and finishing her degree. Shockingly, being a cape who does fashion doesn't really bring in mountains of business in a city as poor as Brockton Bay, where most of the wealthy spend their time and money flirting with Blue Cosmos.
Helping in a food bank still wasn't what she wanted, but it felt more rewarding than the shows and openings.
She barely remembered living in Basra, but her father sometimes couldn't find enough food. Sabah would never admit it. She didn't want him to feel bad. She knew what it was like to go hungry, though.
It was a slow way to suffer.
She'd also never realized she could coordinate her power quite this finely. Making stuffed animals and dresses took finesse, yes, but this?
All along the line, her threads manipulated the utensils and stoves. She worked the stove tops. The ladles. The dishes. The whole line. She'd never manipulated so much at once before.
It was exhilarating in a way and she couldn't quite place why.
"Thanks," a man in a ragged coat grumbled as he took a tray and moved to one of the many tables set up in the parking lot outside.
The food bank looked like an old warehouse. Lots of those around the bay. The bank probably bought it cheap.
The man was quickly replaced by another, and another. It was overwhelming in a way. It was so easy to look at what Taylor did and think she'd fixed the bay. No more gangs. Oh, there were a few villains still running around. The Red Hand and the Adepts, for example. Sabah wasn't so sure about Bakuda either, or what Taylor was doing with her.
Still.
"Thank you," a woman with two children said. She wore a weak smile, and Sabah couldn't help herself. She quickly weaved a small bear with some spare thread from her bag and looked at the dark blue robot. It dropped its ladle and ran the bear to the girls with the woman.
Sabah would have made two, but she didn't have enough material.
Deep breath.
There must be a dozen kids at the shelter. Some looked homeless. A few didn't seem to have any parents or guardians.
"I didn't know the Docks were this bad," she admitted.
"Lots of it was easy to ignore with the ABB around," Tori explained. "They hid in the alleys and abandoned places. Thugs would beat them or try to rob them for the nothing they had."
It's so tempting to think the world can be fixed if you just get rid of a few bad people.
It's not.
Charlotte turned the camera toward the room, a small smile on her face. "I wasn't sure how many would show up."
Tori grunted. "And I don't have this kind of staff."
"Is this really so many people?" Sabah asked.
"Yes," Lafter answered quickly. Sabah wasn't sure she wanted to know how Lafter knew that, but she could guess.
"Can I hire you?" Tori asked.
Sabah blinked. "I—"
She didn't want to say no, but she couldn't be here twenty-four seven. Which felt so selfish, looking out at those people and seeing how little they had. What was she supposed to say?
Tori frowned and looked away. "I wasn't serious, girl. Sorry."
She didn't set out to do all of this, it just sort of happened.
When Dean Stansfield suggested she help out, it seemed like a nice way to give to the needy and see if he really was as decent as he seemed. No PR. No big events or announcements. He'd been running around Hartford, Providence, Boston, and Brockton Bay in his free time for weeks, staging one small event after another.
Building Londo Bell up by its actions, not by how much money it's willing to spend on fundraisers and stages.
She liked that. It was a lot less pompous than she'd expected someone like Dean to be just by his name and background, which maybe wasn't fair of her. It was just pleasant in a small way, seeing someone who was exactly as they described themselves to be.
Only three people in her life ever gave her that, and she'd met two of them in the past year. Now, they were working together. It was nice to work with them.
"Ever get the feeling you got the short end of the powers pool?" Victoria Dallon asked.
Sabah frowned and Lafter quirked her brow. The girl seemed in a daze at first, until she noticed their expressions. "Sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"Well," Lafter said at last, "sometimes I think it would be nice to read minds. Then I remember what boys think about all the time and I'm glad I don't."
"That's fair," Charlotte agreed.
"Hey." A big boy with big muscles leaned around the corner. "Where did you want this?"
Lafter pointed. "Over there."
The guy nodded and started navigating a large crate through the door. Sabah raised her brow, glancing between him and Lafter. The boy hauled the crate through the kitchen to the other side. The opening door gave a small peek into the room beyond, where Sabah wasn't helping distribute boxes of food and toiletries.
"Cute boyfriend," Victoria hummed appreciatively. "And cut."
Charlotte leaned around her phone. "Akihiro is dating someone?"
"News to me," Lafter replied. "I'd think the lot of them swung the other way if they didn't steal a glance here and there."
Sabah thought back, remembering, "Weren't you living in a convent?"
"I wasn't a shut-in."
Charlotte's face turned red. "Wait, who do they—"
Lafter narrowed her gaze. "They're boys, Char. They're gonna look. Especially while Taylor's basically got the estrogen brigade running around in skintights."
Her face turned redder, which was cute. "Oh no, I more meant, who looks at who?"
Sabah envied them in a way. High school hadn't been a very comfortable place for attraction when she'd been there. Amazing how fast things can change. Ever since Legend came out of the closet, Sabah saw the changes as they came.
She wondered if they might change back now, with everything happening. In more ways than one. Dark-skinned, Muslim, gay, and a cape. Hard not to wonder if God was punishing her sometimes for things she couldn't possibly control.
The world is full of trials, and most of them weren't earned.
"You're okay with that?" Tori asked.
Lafter shrugged. "They're nice guys." But not her boyfriend, apparently.
"So why is he here if he's not dating you?" Victoria asked.
"Who?" Lafter blinked. "Wait, you meant Akihiro and me?"
Victoria nodded and Sabah raised her brow again as Lafter's face looked suddenly flustered. Interesting.
"N-No that's not—" The pink robot tugged at her jeans, and Lafter quickly raised her hands. "Oh, look at that, gotta go deal with something!"
She grabbed the robot and whirled her way out of the room in a flurry, in the opposite direction of Akihiro.
Charlotte blinked. "Okay, that's new."
"She likes him," Victoria declared.
"Yup," Tori agreed.
"Who is he?" Sabah asked.
"Her bodyguard," Charlotte answered.
"Seriously?" Victoria sat up. "That's right out of a novel."
The elderly woman who'd been sitting next to the kitchen since they started chuckled. "To be young again," she mused.
Charlotte smiled. "Fond memories Mrs. Knott?"
"Oh yes. I might be a stuffy old broad now, but let me tell you when I was your age…" She shook her head and smiled. "Enjoy it. The time will fly by before you know it."
Charlotte smiled. Then she raised her chin and hummed. "Wonder if Taylor's into Mikazuki…"
Victoria quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, is that the short Asian kid who follows her to school? The one with the creepy eyes?"
"That's him. He's not that creepy once you get to know him though. I mean, not that much."
"Why do they have bodyguards?" Sabah asked.
"Because Orga insists," Charlotte answered.
Victoria sighed. "And who's Orga?"
Sabah recognized the name. He was with Taylor at that thing they did with the Business Owners Association two weeks ago. He wore a dark suit, not a designer one but it fit him pretty well. They'd been so weird around one another. Sabah wasn't sure what to make of it. She'd seen him before when Façade ambushed her.
And he had people in his employ follow her around.
"Why are you here?"
Victoria blinked and Sabah blinked back.
She hadn't intended to deflect like that. Taylor wasn't the kind of person who'd let herself get pushed around by a pushy boy. Sabah wasn't either, not anymore. Memories can be hard to shake.
"I'm—" Victoria averted her gaze. "I'm just—"
Akihiro burst through the door like a whirlwind and rushed through the kitchen.
Victoria cocked her head to the side. "Can we not talk about me and instead talk about that?"
Charlotte and Sabah both looked at her. She was leaning against the wall behind the door in a jacket and a baseball cap. Classic 'outed cape wants to avoid attention attire.' Sabah had done it herself a few times, though it didn't work so well while wearing a Hijab.
"Spill," Charlotte decided.
Victoria frowned. "No fair."
"It is kind of weird," Tori stated. "I've never seen any of yours come by here for anything."
Glancing around, Sabah thought the girl might fly off. She didn't. She looked out to the parking lot.
"I'm just curious… I've never seen heroes do this kind of thing before."
Liar.
Well, maybe not a total liar. She had been watching everything going on, but mostly she'd been watching the volunteers. Namely, the Londo Bell volunteers. They didn't wear uniforms or anything, but Vicky seemed to be able to eye them.
Sabah didn't know most of them, save Miriallia. The girl knew Charlotte and seemed to accompany her to most of the events Sabah had been to. They went to school together, so Victoria went to school with them.
Victoria wasn't watching either of them. All the people she did watch were her age, though. She looked at them like they'd killed her puppy together in some cliché satanic ritual.
"New Wave never did this kind of thing?" Charlotte asked.
The girl scoffed as her feet left the ground by an inch. "We don't do anything, except for symbolic patrols to remind people we exist and show up for fundraisers that advertise our presence. We don't do much of anything these days. Last time we tried, my aunt got shot for her trouble and Blue Cosmos blamed us."
"That's…" Charlotte's jaw dropped. "That's terrible."
And Vicky was glaring at some of the people outside. Marcus and Naomi. She looked at them when she said Blue Cosmos, and the flare of anger… Right. Blue Cosmos kids went to school too, and Victoria had been outed her entire life.
Sabah glanced outside, then at Victoria.
Victoria scoffed. "Yeah well, I'm leaving anyway."
Silence followed, though the girl didn't seem to realize what she'd said.
"You're quitting New Wave?" Charlotte asked with a stunned expression. "Like, you're quitting—but they're your—"
Was she looking at Londo Bell because she was thinking of joining Londo Bell? Sizing up the Blue Cosmos kids she knew, angry and uncertain?
That had to be hard.
Hard in a way Sabah found very familiar. Like the whole world was just out to make your life more difficult. The way she talked about her family… Well, a family that loves you is better than one that doesn't care, but that doesn't mean it makes you happy. Especially in those awkward teenage years when you're trying to figure out your life as it sets itself to begin.
Maybe Sabah should—
"Please don't say anything," Victoria pleaded. She bowed her head. "I haven't told my—"
"You haven't even told them?!" Charlotte exclaimed.
Victoria's hands shot up and she shushed the other girl. "Amy knows," she whispered. "I just—I don't know how to tell my family I'm—"
"They won't disown you, will they?" Sabah asked.
And the girl's reaction said she didn't really know. Sabah took that as 'no they wouldn't.' People didn't worry about being disowned by family. They either knew, or they disowned the family themselves.
"You should tell them," Sabah said. "Can you imagine how hard it was for me to tell my devout Muslim father I'm gay?"
"You did that?" Charlotte asked while Tori whistled.
"Maybe it won't be easy," Sabah continued, hoping to tell someone something she spent years learning. "But if they love you, they'll accept it. You're not a child anymore."
"I know that," Victoria whispered. "You don't know my mom."
Just her mother? "Maybe, but you can't live your life by other people's expectations. It's miserable."
Victoria raised her head, looking at Sabah with surprise. Sabah pressed her hands into her knees and didn't meet the gaze. The old pain was there, and the worst part about it was...there wasn't anyone to blame. She could blame her father and his expectations or Harvey and the rest of the kids at school who pressured her day and night.
It would be a lie.
"A life that isn't your own is no life at all."
Victoria started to speak, but she shut her mouth and looked away. That was okay. Maybe it wasn't fair to push her own traumas onto someone else. Sabah hoped it was helpful though, that it might spare someone even a little bit of pain.
Silence followed for a long while. Sabah focused on her power, moving the soup line along.
Maybe it wasn't fair. Everyone didn't get to choose their circumstances. Life can be a lot like being bound up in strings. Everything wants to pull you one way or another. You can't break free, not really. You can find balance, and make it your own. That's the only real control anyone can have in their lives.
"Lafter's been gone awhile." Charlotte glanced toward the door. "What do you think—"
A flash outside drew Sabah's eyes.
"The fuck is this," Tori growled. She stepped around the kitchen and out into the parking lot.
"Who are they?" Charlotte asked.
"That's Ursa Aurora," Vicky answered with a surprised look. "She's a cape from New York. I don't recognize the rest of them though."
Two other capes, one in a yellow and blue bodysuit and a third in a silver suit with a crystalline shawl. They were surrounded by a dozen men in golden armor. More capes, or mercenaries? No, the Protectorate wouldn't head out with mercenaries. Troopers? Their armor didn't look like trooper armor.
Tori stormed out toward them, but was stopped when someone cut her off.
"What is she doing?" Charlotte asked.
"I don't know." Victoria floated up and started moving, while Sabah set the utensils down.
Lafter walked past Tori, Akihirio and the robots right behind her.
