A Waken 16.3
"Newtype."
Reflexively, my hand jerked. 00 responded, throwing its arm out and swinging the Drive over the right shoulder around. Grunting, I pulled back and thought really hard. I forced the suit back on course and kept it going forward.
Theo met my gaze, head cocked. "Am I interrupting?"
"Interrupting?" I asked back.
"You seem a bit distracted. I can call at a better—"
I glanced around quickly, needing a moment to remember where I was.
It would be an understatement to say I was distracted. "No, I'm sorry. Now is fine. What's up?"
Theo paused on the other side of the phone. "Um. I just explained it. Sorry. I didn—"
Great. "No. I'm sorry. I'm paying attention now. Short version?"
"I was saying that I was looking for a way to say 'we need to get rid of Harker' without sounding like my dad."
I needed to turn the name over a few times and then Ah.
The board executive Theo was using to get rid of all the other board executives. The Nazi ones anyway, which was most of them. I'd actually forgotten about that with everything else going on. Theo seemingly took it upon himself to handle the problem all by his lonesome. I'd heard little of the effort since he started.
"Is she suspicious?" I asked.
"She's known what I'm doing from the start. She just doesn't care as long as it doesn't affect her and she could benefit from it."
I understood tha—"She knows you're coming for her," I realized. I looked down at the city below. Coincidentally, I had just passed Medhall. "From the start?"
"More or less," he confirmed. "She's not stupid."
"Right. So, you've gotten all the other assholes out or under control and now she knows she's next?"
"She will by the end of the week. Right now, she still thinks I need her."
Getting ahead of the problem. Smart. "Then how do I help? I'm guessing she's got skeletons. Veda can find them."
"Certainly," Veda agreed. "I've anticipated that Ms. Harker would eventually need to be reined in."
"I need to face him myself," Theo interrupted. "Not to be rude, Miss Veda."
"Miss?" Veda asked.
"Theo—"
"I want to fix what my father broke," Theo insisted. "I can do it myself."
"But you do need something from us?" I 'pulled' at the controls, still not entirely used to Trevor's Trace system.
It was a fascinating design and after I'd seen the system in Kimaris, I found I couldn't quite get it to work for me. I wasn't entirely sure why.
"I need to find my father," Theo revealed.
My brain paused mid-air, throwing 00's feet forward and swinging the GN drives forward.
I stopped instantly.
"You want to find Kaiser?" I asked.
"…Yes."
"Theo—"
"I know, but I have to do it. I don't think… We have unfinished business."
"You can't threaten your dad, Theo!"
"I don't need to threaten him. He knows when he's beat. That's why he hasn't come back. He's laying low, waiting for a chance to reappear. Probably waiting to see what happens with Blue Cosmos and Gesellschaft."
Gesellschaft was finished, so that was easy. It wouldn't be the end of Nazis but between Schwartz Bruder—Veda—and the Internationals looking for a win, the secret society of white supremacists was taking it from all sides.
I wouldn't be shocked if the Internationals survived when the Protectorate went under. They weren't as well regarded, but they didn't have any of the baggage either.
Blue Cosmos was another matter.
"I know you know where he is, Taylor," Theo continued.
I frowned, looking down at the city. "And if I did?"
"You can come if you want. He won't hurt me, but if it makes you feel better… I just need to be there myself. Close the door behind me."
I mulled over the vagueness there.
He was right.
I knew where Kaiser was.
He'd laid low since busting Fenja and Menja out. If I'd learned anything from the Number Man, it's that every villain had money stashed away. Kaiser was no exception. He had himself a nice little hideaway to wait out the storm in.
He probably thinks he can get Medhall back through Theo.
If I were to guess, Theo's dad didn't respect him much. Admittedly, Theo turned out to be far more proactive—and effective—than I'd thought. He'd done everything so far with minimum help from me. If he wanted to keep doing that…
"If I come with you," I noted, "it might be a fight."
"But you're not going to let me go alone."
"I don't trust Kaiser."
"You shouldn't. You'll tell me where he is?"
"Give me a few days and I'll take you to him."
Conveniently, Throne Drei was designed to accommodate someone inside it. Veda and I had both considered it might be necessary to protect VIPs going forward and there was nowhere safer than inside a Gundam. Drei's main systems left it with room to spare.
"Okay," Theo agreed. "Thank you."
"I don't know what you're expecting from him, Theo." I felt obligated to say something. "I don't think he's the type to reconcile."
"He's not, but he'll have dirt on Harker and it won't be dirt she can easily hide. Once I have it, I can handle her and Medhall will be in a position to start doing real good."
I nodded and threw 00 back into flight. "Alright."
"You expect that an encounter between Theo and his father will not be pleasant?" Veda asked.
"No," I answered. "I don't think it will."
"He seems smart enough to know that."
"He is."
"Then why?"
"Because sometimes facing something unpleasant is something you have to do." And if I were to guess, Theo wanted to do it himself precisely because he wanted to know he could. "I'll be there to bail him out."
"We could arrest Kaiser," she pointed out.
"We know where he is and what he's up to. He's not a threat right now." I grit my teeth and cursed under my breath. Truthfully, only half my flight was about testing the Trace system I'd added to 00. "Blue fucking Cosmos."
"I'm not sure this exercise is providing the desired relaxation," Veda counseled.
It wasn't, but it was better than sitting in the workshop. Banging my head at 00's Trans-Am only reminded me that I couldn't stabilize it. It was the same old story. I made one breakthrough only to be stonewalled by something I thought I'd already fixed.
The Trace system should be simpler to figure out. Emphasis on should.
It really was a fascinating design.
I couldn't fully integrate it, but I could make use of it to increase reaction times. I still needed to pull at the controls to bank, but the movements were so much more fluid. Organic, like how Kimaris or Leet's suit moved. I felt the difference in the turn and as I came back around and stopped.
The system smoothed everything out and made piloting the suit way less jerky.
But why did I still need to use controls?
I'd been inside Kimaris. It had the minimum of what Trevor needed to operate the suit on the inside. Everything related to movement ran through the Trace system. Kimaris couldn't fly so there was that, but still.
"Maybe I messed up integrating the system into my costume?" I mused.
"I have triple triple checked," Veda noted. "That's triple checking three times."
I knew that. "Well something isn't right."
With a sigh, I turned 00 into another bank. I could only procrastinate for so long. Pushing the issue of things that didn't work from my mind, I focused on my more immediate problem.
"You are brooding again," Veda stated.
"Of course I am," I grumbled. "Operation British is incompetent."
We'd pieced together a lot. Between all of Veda's gathered information and Tattletale's power pulling shit from very little, we had lots of puzzle pieces. What we lacked was a picture, but Number Man filled that in well enough.
Faultline was right. Always follow the money.
Throw in Dinah answering a few questions to see if we could confirm some things and the end result wasn't that obscure. Not anymore.
Blue Cosmos prepared well. Thinkers existed and they knew it. They'd broken their operations up. Hidden them and the money they needed. Used coded words and phrases with very obscure or even contradictory meanings only their own members—and a select few at that—could understand.
I couldn't possibly track down every cell of Phantom Pain. It was impossible. The attack was going to happen.
And it would fail.
"A direct assault on every cape group in the US and Europe is asinine," I snarled. "It won't work, even if they bring a horde of guns and ammo and a few capes of their own."
And that was a whole other mystery.
We couldn't explicitly find that many capes working with Blue Cosmos. They bought some weapons from Toybox. They needed to deal with Brutes somehow. Some Thinkers were overtly assisting them. A few we'd pinned to Teacher—Arbiter—but others…
They seemed like they were true believers themselves.
I'd heard of the stereotype of the self-hating Jew and, of course, the very inaccurate version of Uncle Tom.
I'd never encountered a cape who hated capes, or was willing to help a hate group that was anti-cape. Paradoxically, despite how we got our powers, every cape I knew seemed to appreciate what they could do. Maybe we wanted our lives to be simpler at times. Perhaps we wished for something different.
We didn't hate ourselves or other people like us though.
Some of them might be under Teacher's control—the Simurgh—but a few might really be on board.
"I do not believe there is a Phantom Pain cell present in Brockton Bay," Veda assured. "It's possible we—"
"No." They broke out Ali al-Saachez. "They're buying weapons from tinkers when they think they have to. They could teleport into the city, and there might be someone somewhere with something that can mess with precognition. We have to assume we're a target and that they will attack Brockton Bay."
"I can't imagine they'd fare any better than the Protectorate and an armada of Dragon's suits."
I don't think it's about winning.
"Care to guess at the only thing more terrifying than someone willing to do anything to win, Veda?"
"I am not sure."
"Someone who knows they can't and wants to burn everything down on the way out."
They couldn't win. They couldn't. What they could do was destroy everything holding the world together. I doubt most of them would agree with that but from the outside? There was no revolution or grand master plan in Operation British. It was more like a child's temper tantrum—with guns and bullets—than a real plan.
"Why?" Veda asked.
I grit my teeth.
Not because I didn't know, but precisely because I did. "Because to some people...it's better to burn out than fade away."
Better than to suddenly not matter anymore. To die in spirit, if not in body.
Everything was changing, and some people… Capes. Endbringers. The future. We didn't always see how we could fit into what the world was becoming. When you didn't know what came next, it was easy to be afraid. When you were afraid, it was easy to look for other ways to deal with it than trying to change yourself. To blame others for what scares you.
I turned toward the factory and started descending. I thought it strange to look down at the city and know the gangs were gone. With the Adepts and the Red Hand running around, it wasn't crime free but in comparison?
This was paradise compared to what Brockton Bay used to be.
And Blue Cosmos wanted to ruin it.
They already kind of were.
The protesters were back at their street corner, and in larger numbers. I'd forgotten how much of a crowd Blue Cosmos could generate in the city. With how bad things were, it was no surprise they'd find adherents here.
I'd been naive to think simply removing the gangs would change a lifetime of bitterness.
My only solace was that the three hundred person crowd picketing my factory were being held back by police, and Tekkadan members standing casually behind them and across the street. Orga had warned me that crowds were good places to hide before attacking.
I should have taken that to heart when Dean's grandfather died.
It could happen again.
And I couldn't take solace in the counter-protesters because of that.
They surrounded my factory, in a threadbare-thin line far outnumbered by the protesters before the police line. They were from all over the city. Dockworkers. Store owners. Teenagers. Old men and women. People I knew from all over.
Mrs. Knott stood at the front of them, leaning on a cane while Orga waited beside her.
If Phantom Pain tried to attack from the crowd—Ali al-Saachez would do that—the very people trying to defend me would suffer first.
The people who all looked up as I descended and the light from 00 washed over the ground below. Across the street, Blue Cosmos started shouting and waving signs. Londo Bell looked up at me with a mix of expressions. Expressions I didn't really understand.
The ones that struck me most were the ones that looked at me and were afraid.
I saw Bridgette there, the girl from school who hated me was among them.
She chose to be there and I didn't understand why
My stomach sank into a void as 00's feet touched the ground.
Peering over some heads, I looked directly at Miss Knott. She had her back turned to me, but not out of any coldness. She was watching the opposing crowd, staring at them like she knew.
She knew what was coming.
And I didn't know what to say.
No, I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted them to leave. If Blue Cosmos came to attack me, I wouldn't put it past them to strike from the crowd of protesters. Even if we saw it coming, we'd have a hard time clearing them out. Attempting to force them to leave would get more people hurt.
My hands gripped the controls and only the Trace system kept 00 from shaking where everyone could see it.
Why didn't they understand that? They were putting themselves in danger and I wanted them gone. I wanted them far away, where they'd be safe. Where no one would get hurt!
I wanted to fucking laugh. At Winslow, I'd have given anything for one person to stand up for me. Just one person to give a shit about my life. To care about more than their own personal comfort.
I had a whole picket line standing up for me now and all I could think was that I wanted them to disappear.
Stepping back, I turned 00 around and slid down the ramp into the workshop.
The Thrones were back, with Green and Orange redoing Zwei's paint.
It had only been a few hours since we finished talking to Number Man. He was staying at the Palanquin for a few days, because we'd have more questions for him. We'd gotten most of the picture though. Now we needed to figure out what to do about it, and I kept looking for ways to distract myself, admittedly.
"You're back." Dinah rose up and approached as I maneuvered 00 into Exia's alcove.
It took a bit of effort. We really needed that expanded hangar.
Dinah was dressed in pajamas with a blanket draped over her shoulders.
I frowned. As if I didn't have enough to be frustrated at.
Putting 00 into park and opening the chest, I promptly warned her, "You're not doing all-nighters anymore, Dinah. We talked about this."
"I'm just watching Hell's Kitchen with Pink and Veda."
Hell's Kitchen?
Looking towards the TV, there was a very angry-looking man screaming in a cape's face, "Apparently being a thermokinetic never taught you to temp, you donkey!"
My brow rose.
Dinah shrugged. "I like watching the guy with the funny British accent yell at people for not knowing how to cook salmon."
"Okay…"
I turned my attention back to 00 as the light began to bleed away from the suit. The light was green again.
It was obvious something was different. Twinned, the Drives functioned differently. In tests, we'd managed to take the Twin Drive to Trans-Am, but only in one of the tests did the color turn gold. It only lasted a few seconds. Having Veda manually adjust the drives every picosecond wasn't cutting it.
There was something there and I needed to figure it out… I just couldn't do it right now.
"I was under the understanding that yelling and insulting people was considered rude."
I jerked, leaning back and peering around the recliner. Veda sat on the floor, legs folded under her with a bowl of popcorn in her lap.
"You're allowed to if you're British and clever," Dinah claimed.
Veda turned her head and looked at me. "I see."
I started staring when Dinah took my hand and pulled. "Come on. You need to debrood."
My brow went up again. "Debrood?"
"Yeah." She pulled me around to the recliner and pushed my hip. "Sometimes you need to brood over it for a bit. Normally it's not time sensitive, but suicide bombers and stuff. We've got a clock running."
"I'm not—" I stopped as Veda, Dinah, White, Green, Orange, Navy, Purple, Pink, and Yellow all turned to stare at me. I can't be that predictable. "Fine."
Dinah nodded and sat Indian style beside Veda's body. "So, spill the problem."
"Problem?" I asked.
"I figure we should cut to the chase."
"You know what the problem is," I pointed out.
Dinah reached over for some popcorn. "And I'm listening."
"You're getting annoyingly good at reverse psychology."
"Sometimes people have to talk and they need someone to listen." She tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
"You do usually resolve your brooding after conversing." Veda stared between us rather than at us. She hadn't quite gotten 'looking at people' right yet. "Perhaps it is more productive to ask why you're brooding."
Why? "You know why."
"Assume we don't," Dinah insisted.
I sighed and relaxed into the recliner. "Why aren't you brooding? Even if we hit first, Operation British is still going to happen. Teacher's going to get exactly what he wants."
"How so?" Veda asked.
I frowned. "Because he's set Blue Cosmos up to fail. They're not meant to win. They're meant to lose and drag the Protectorate down with them."
"How does that help Teacher?" Dinah further asked, despite knowing because we'd already talked about this. "He hardly needs Blue Cosmos to end the Protectorate now."
"No, but he does need a way to come back and make a splash."
I could see it already. Phantom Pain would hit the established 'heroes' of the world from all sides. The attack would ultimately get beaten back, but at cost. That it happened at all would delegitimize the Protectorate, the PRT, the Internationals. Everyone.
People wouldn't ask 'how could Blue Cosmos do this.' They'd ask how the heroes let it happen. That question only had one answer. Because they failed.
"Teacher is going to swoop in and 'save' the day. He'll reappear as Eidolon, distance himself from the Triumvirate, and set himself up as the hero the world needs. We probably can't stop that either. Number Man has tied us into a whole bunch of his Pets, but there's nothing that directly ties Teacher to David. Our only presentable evidence is conjecture."
We were going to trade one war of hearts and minds for another, and Teacher wanted a headwind for himself.
"The only possible thing we can do is hit before Teacher can swoop in and save the day. We have to hit first… But then we'll probably get accused of starting it and escalating the situation." Unless we found some way to change the rules.
"We're not heroes to be liked," Dinah proposed.
"No," I answered firmly, but I didn't want to be the enemy of everyone. "I know what we have to do." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I just wish it were different. I've known this was coming for so long, and I know we came along too late to stop it." We hadn't even been capes for a year yet.
"I can see it now," Veda revealed. "I don't think I understood before today."
The guy who blew himself up, and nearly took everyone else along with him. "That wasn't your fault," I told her. "You couldn't have known they'd go that far."
Veda paused, turning the bowl in her lap. "Perhaps I should have been more tactful?"
"You didn't do anything wrong," I assured her. "It was that nutjob's choice to blow himself up and lea—" I stopped myself before I said too much. It was one thing to realize you might have had a bit of a suicide complex. Another to admit to it. "It's not your fault. We'd have come to this crossroad regardless. And we're as ready as we'll ever be…"
"We are." Dinah reached for another piece of popcorn while the angry British man on the TV clapped sarcastically. "Doesn't make it any easier."
"No," I agreed. "It doesn't."
There was no way around it.
Once I did what I planned to do, it would be war. I could cut the head off the snake, Blue Cosmos was kinda like Scion in a way. Getting rid of Azrael wouldn't stop Phantom Pain. I could rationalize cutting the head off in any number of ways, and I thought it was the right thing to do. It was the correct choice. The rationalizations didn't feel good enough though.
When it started, it would start on my go. I'd be responsible for that and everything that followed. I'd have to live with it. I might have to live with it for a very long time.
"You've changed."
I glanced toward Dinah. "Have I?"
"Yeah." She chewed, hand already reaching for the bowl. "The old you would throw caution to the wind like she didn't care. Not that you didn't, I think."
Really? "I wasn't that oblivious."
"I'm fairly certain," Veda began, "you once told Director Piggot that a false peace was pointless. Fearing that harm will befall people saves no one when harm will befall them anyway."
I straightened up. "Did I say that?"
"I was there," Dinah confirmed.
"…No wonder some people think I'm a bitch."
"Do you now believe you were wrong?" Veda asked, tilting her head to one side.
Wrong? "I think I could have been less callous about it." I'd been so obsessed with being someone who did something… Maybe, I'd been a bit callous? "Blue Cosmos' course can't be changed."
"Nope," Dinah agreed. "There's only one way to go."
"Yeah." With a deep breath, I stood up. "There is."
And I couldn't really procrastinate in disgruntlement this time.
It was time to start setting up the board for the big play.
"I'll be right back. Veda, can you gain access to Chevalier's office and disable any surveillance?"
"I can." She stood up herself, setting the bowl aside. "May I come?"
"If you want." I didn't mind. "I'm used to you always being with me. You're just… You know." I indicated her avatar. As weird as it was to see her walking around, it didn't really change anything to me. "More with me, I guess. Is he there?"
Veda shook her head. "No. The room is empty."
I nodded. "Door—"
"Maybe we'll get accused," Dinah interrupted. "Or maybe we do what we always do and flip the table to change the rules."
She raised her hand, holding up a piece of paper.
I took it, read the note quickly, then folded the page and slipped it into my pocket. "Door please, Chevalier's office."
The portal opened and I turned into it.
The room beyond was spartan. A desk. A chair. Phones. A computer. There were a few personal items. Pictures of capes. I recognized Miss Militia and Mouse Protector in one, though they looked much younger. I assumed the other seventeen figures in the picture constituted the Inaugural Wards.
Huh.
Chevalier went from being one of the first Wards to the second official leader of the Protectorate. I hadn't thought of that before. He'd given his entire life to this office, in one way or another. He'd been a hero since he was my age.
And it was all about to end.
An entire life, circling the drain.
"The struggles to come will not be ours alone, will they?" Veda asked, looking over the pictures.
"It will never be easy for anyone," I whispered.
We waited ten minutes for the door to open. I turned, hands folded behind my back with Veda standing stiffly at my side.
Chevalier was talking to someone.
"—and from there we'll"—his voice hitched for a moment when he saw me—"see what comes of it. Tell Myrddin I can call him in a few minutes." He held his arm out passively, blocking the door. "I need a moment."
"Alright." I didn't recognize or see the source of the other voice.
The door closed, and Chevalier turned to face me. "You could be arrested for sneaking in here."
"I don't want to give any clues that'll tip Teacher off," I explained. "Sorry. I hope that wasn't a thinker outside."
"No." He reached over his shoulder and pulled his weapon from his back. He set it on a brace set into the wall, then turned to me. "And your associate?"
"I am Veda."
Chevalier took that a lot better than most. "I assume you're both here for a reason, and that I'm probably not going to like it."
I doubted it. "You asked me to trust you. Can I?"
He looked at me sternly. "I hope so."
Him and me both. I glanced at Veda from the corner of my eye and she turned her head.
With no further warning, she took the initiative and revealed, "Phantom Pain plans to launch an international terrorist attack at the end of the month. The Protectorate, PRT, and Wards are among their targets."
I looked ahead. "They call it Operation British. They seem to think they can launch a single massive offensive that will break the Protectorate and the PRT. They're also going after the Internationals, the Elite, and others. Basically any group large enough to be a team."
Chevalier's expression remained stern, but it took on a grim mood. "Do you know the exact time?"
"I'll know soon," I offered. Hardening myself, I straightened my back and said, "I'm going to attack them first. They'll likely launch their attack in retaliation."
Chevalier looked away, turning toward his desk. He remained silent, and with how quiet the room was his strained breaths filled my ear.
My mask broke. Brow scrunched up, lips turned down, eyes solemn. "I—"
"It's the right choice," he said. "Deep down, everyone knows the fight is coming. Waiting for Phantom Pain to make the first all-out attack is foolish."
"There…" I looked away. "There is time, maybe, to try and talk to Blue Cosmos."
"You don't believe that will work."
"No." But we'd have to live with that. "It might be worth trying anyway."
"But if you come forward, it risks forewarning them of your intentions."
My eyes closed. "Yes."
Chevalier inhaled sharply. "We could join your attack. Hit them as hard as we can. At least then I can have as many of our people out in the field, ready to fight, rather than waiting to be attacked."
"That's why I'm telling you."
He turned away from me, hand running over the desk. "This has been my entire life."
I glanced at the pictures behind me. "I know."
"The Protectorate isn't going to survive."
"…I know."
"We are sorry," Veda offered. "It is"—she glanced at me—"not your fault."
He nodded solemnly. "Teacher?"
"He's going to reappear as Eidolon," I insisted. "I'm sure of it. He wants the attack to happen. It's his chance to return the conquering hero."
Chevalier turned his head toward me, seething. "You want to bloody Phantom Pain's nose and steal his thunder."
I met his gaze. "Yes."
"It'll still be war. He'll still have a chance to make his entrance."
"He'll have to share."
"We can provide you with information of each cell of Phantom Pain we've managed to locate," Veda offered.
"As well as proof for which of your thinkers are Pets. We can remove them, confine them at least."
Chevalier turned.
"We might not have all of them, but if you arrest, detain, or quarantine all the ones we have located, you can blind Teacher." Tilting my head, I admitted, "I don't think Teacher is as smart as he seems. He's a blunt instrument. His advantage this entire time was inside knowledge on a massive scale"—not too different from me really—"but all he's ever used it for is making sure things don't work. He's a saboteur, not a mastermind."
Chevalier nodded. "Taking his thinkers away will restrict him."
"And give us a chance later to stop him." I thought back to the crowds, to the people who were ready to fight for better or for worse. "This is going to be a war for hearts and minds. It might end if we can convince people which side they should be on."
Chevalier bowed his head, looking again to the desk. "I think you'll find that's a much harder thing than you think."
I thought back to how divided Arcadia was becoming. How afraid my classmates were. The battle lines that some embraced, others ran from. But the fight was coming, whether people wanted it or not.
Those who do not choose, will have their choices made for them.
"We have to fight," I said, more to myself than to him. "We can't run from what's coming and we can't let Teacher succeed. He's going to burn the world down in the name of saving it… Which brings me to the next problem."
"The Simurgh," Chevalier replied without pause. "These attacks—Operation British—it's going to hit us close to her next descent. If the Protectorate collapses at the end of the month, there won't be time to organize a new response."
"And I think Teacher wants that too," I pointed out. "He wants the Protectorate to be unable to respond to it, whether you want to or not."
"The last bit of dirt on the pile," Chevalier opined. "If it becomes blood… I don't know that I can ask people to march against the Simurgh, if we'll only have half the usual force. If we can't bring enough heroes to the field, villains will stay away."
"That's the point," Veda noted. "You won't have a choice."
"I have a plan," I offered, "but I don't think it'll be popular."
"If it goes badly, I'm not sure anyone will be in a position to stop you." He raised his head. "What is it?"
"Can't say."
He turned. "Because I won't like it, or because you don't?"
Both. "Because I don't know what the Simurgh can or can't see, exactly. But I know she can't see me."
He cocked his head and then realization came over his face. "Dragon?"
I nodded.
Chevalier held up his hand, and nodded. "You don't want to risk anyone else acting in a way that might tip her off. I understand."
Veda stepped closer to me and a message flashed over my visor.
sys.v/ they are ready
"I'll approach Blue Cosmos," Chevalier decided. I stiffened. "I think I can keep your name out of it easily enough. If the Protectorate is going to fall, then its reputation hardly matters anymore."
My brow furrowed. "If you go to them, they'll interpret it as desperation."
"We are desperate… And someone should try, even if they know they'll fail."
I nodded solemnly. Maybe if Chevalier had been leading the Protectorate all along, things would be different. On some levels, I recognized that the Triumvirate didn't mean to be malicious or cruel. They were desperate to beat Scion, so they resorted to extreme measures.
They weren't villains exactly, but they weren't the heroes people needed.
Chevalier was.
"Alright," I conceded.
I started to turn and Veda stepped forward. "One more matter, please." Chevalier nodded to her and Veda asked, "What will happen to those who do not wish to fight?"
My head tilted and Chevalier's lips turned down.
"The Wards," Veda continued. "Those who are too young. Protectorate members who don't want to participate in fighting of this nature. What will happen to them?"
"I want to keep the Wards out of it," Chevalier answered. "Those I can, at least. Plenty are like you. They won't back down from a fight when it comes knocking on their door. But plenty more never signed up to fight a war."
"I cannot be certain of Brockton Bay's security," Veda offered. "We are still building ourselves there, but I do have access to Dragon's Toronto facility." She glanced at me. "I could shelter many there. It will be safe."
That's what she meant.
Dragon had built her factory over the course of years. It was a fortress, and with Veda behind it… "We can do that. We'll hide those who can't bring themselves to fight, or won't, there. They'll be safe, short term at least."
Realization came over the part of Chevalier's face that I could see. "I see your point." He nodded. "I can make arrangements. We'll keep them quiet."
"I will do everything that I can," Veda replied.
"When are you going to attack?" he inquired, looking at me.
"Two weeks," I stated. "I'm preparing a few things first." I looked at Veda with a small bit of surprise, and endearment. "Door please, Brockton Bay."
The portal opened and Chevalier cocked his head. I stepped backwards into the portal and Veda did the same. We returned to the workshop in the exact place we left. Dinah was watching the British guy shout at someone.
Part one done.
I took a deep breath and said, "Door please"—here we go—"the Birdcage."
"I do not like this idea," Veda warned.
"Neither do I."
The portal opened, but it was far too small for anyone to pass through.
"Green," I called.
"Let's go, let's go!"
He bounced over from one of the worktables and flung himself through the portal. It closed immediately after.
Crossing the workshop to my rebuilt desk, Veda flipped the monitors to display Green's feed.
They were there, waiting.
Lustrum smiled. "Hello, there." She leaned in with a small smile on her face. "At some point, Taylor, you're going to have to pay a visit yourself."
I kept my face straight, even if she couldn't see it. "Another time."
"Taylor?" Behind Lustrum, seated with her legs crossed, a blonde woman tilted her head. "Curious." She turned her attention to Lustrum. "You are personally acquainted with Newtype."
"Not really," Lustrum answered, her expression hardening.
"You are Crane the Harmonious," Veda identified, speaking through Green.
I took my seat and did my best to relax. She was strange for me. On some level, I'd always been curious but I'd heard so many different opinions about Lustrum. About her failings, her mistakes. Her quality as a person.
Some part of me wanted to believe she didn't belong where she was.
Another part knew I couldn't just release every villain I felt a personal connection to.
The blonde turned her attention back to Green. "You know of me."
"I am familiar with every prisoner in the Birdcage," Veda explained, "as I am now managing your care."
"Yes." Marquis smiled slyly. "Thank you for the blankets, and I do think the food quality has improved."
"Those changes were of Dragon's design," Veda admitted. "Not mine. Circumstances prevented her from implementing them. You should thank her."
"In memory," a burly man with huge shoulders snarked.
That would be Gavel, a vigilante who made Sophia look tame.
I glanced around the chamber as Green saw it. It was the same abandoned cell block I'd released four prisoners from before. By now, the Birdcage no doubt knew there was a way out. They could watch the news. They'd have seen the reports and quickly found four prisoners missing.
Along with Lustrum, Marquis, and Crane the Childnapper, there were four other capes present. Gavel, Galavante, Dusk, and Tallow. Veda was right. I didn't like this idea.
I didn't like any of them, but they were what I had to work with.
"Brave showing us how you come in and out," Galavante jested with a broad grin. He was an ugly man, worn and old. He was also one of the Birdcage's first prisoners. "Now that we know it's possible, we could try and find the right powers to get out ourselves."
"You may try," Veda replied.
Truthfully, I wanted them to see Doormaker's power. It might prevent them from looking around the cell blocks. There were tinkers in the Birdcage. It wasn't impossible that one might snoop and figure something out.
"Go ahead," I suggested. "See how that plays out for you." We were missing someone. "Glaistig Uaine isn't here."
"She refused to come," Lustrum explained. "Called you a 'usurper.' Not the first time either. There some story there?"
My brow rose. "Usurper?" Did she mean Drago—Wait. My eyes narrowed. "I see. Down one person who can follow basic instructions already."
Admittedly, not why I wanted her. That kind of power couldn't be ignored.
"Bold talk for such a little girl," Gavel said.
"I like to think big," I pointed out.
"She should have invited String Theory," Crane replied. "They might get along."
I doubted that. There was a reason I'd excluded her, and Lab Rat, and several others. They were fucking nuts. I didn't like those standing in the room with me, but I could comprehend them. Galavante was an enforcer turned mob boss. Gavel was a violent vigilante, but he didn't hurt the innocent. Crane and Tallow were dangerous, but I could string them along.
Their personas and histories also at least made clear that their behavior was predictable and they could think past the immediate moment in front of them.
And that's what the bottom of the barrel looks like.
"Why are you here?" Tallow asked. He was pale, with long black hair and scars running down his cheeks to his jaw. "I'm only here because I'm curious. Dragon never visited." He raised his brow at Green. "Even in effigy."
Veda frowned beside me. I wanted to join her, but it wasn't the time for emotion.
"I'm going to make you a deal," I said.
"One we can't refuse?" Galavante joked.
Lustrum looked over her shoulder. "How clever."
She was perhaps the only person here I thought I could trust. Whatever else she was, in the three times I'd talked to her she'd been…endeared to me. Maybe she just wanted to get on my good side. Maybe not. It felt like she remembered Mom as fondly as Mom remembered her.
Other than her, it was just Marquis. Monster though he may be, Marquis had a reputation and Dad's own experience backed it up. The man had limits he obeyed. Rules he followed. I had a good feeling that if I could get him to give his word, he'd follow it. If that failed, I could always dangle Amy in front of him.
Hopefully she wouldn't be too offended.
"I'll make it plain and easy to understand," I said to them. "Veda."
Behind us, Kyrios' GN Drive spun up. The light spilled through the workshop and a moment later exploded into red. The Trans-Am filled the room and I gave it a moment before speaking.
"I'm going to kill the Simurgh."
I did get a kick out of the look on Galavante and Crane's faces.
"Anyone who helps me," I continued, "might find themselves seeing the outside of the Birdcage someday."
"Some deal," Marquis mumbled, his face suddenly serious.
"It's the only deal you're getting from me."
"You don't expect just us to make a difference in that fight," Lustrum replied. "You want us to recruit."
"Like I said. Anyone who helps me might find their way out of here."
"If we behave?" Gavel asked.
I looked him in the eye and smiled. "If the Protectorate managed to catch you, I think I can recatch you for any misbehavior. Up to you if you want to give it a try."
I watched their faces.
Truthfully, I didn't know if this would work.
The Birdcage was isolated. There was no contact with the outside world. If I was right and the Simurgh couldn't see me—am I to her what David is to Dinah?—this could throw her for another loop. Even without seeing me, she still managed to strike close, so she could see something. How much?
One way or another, this was a gamble.
We can't play it safe.
Not against the Simurgh.
"Look at it this way," I suggested. "If nothing else, you might get a few hours on a beach before I put you back. You could even try to escape, not that I suggest it."
"If we fight the Simurgh," Marquis mused. "A tempting offer… Perhaps, those of us who take such a risk could earn other privileges, if not a release."
"Christmas presents?" I guessed.
"More TV channels," he proposed. "Better medical supplies." He had a good poker face, even if I knew better. "Phone services."
Lustrum had thus far made no attempt to ask anything of me, save suggesting we meet face to face. Marquis was being fairly obvious in what he wanted.
"I'm not eager to hand cult leaders and mob bosses a phone," I warned. "But maybe we can arrange some sort of benefit system."
"Monitored," Veda amended. "Strictly."
"You'd listen in on us?" Galavante asked.
"I already do," Veda pointed out.
"You can take it or leave it," I told them. "Tell anyone you want, though you can inform Lab Rat, String Theory, Ingenue, and Acid Bath, as well as anyone of similar character, that I am excluding them from this arrangement and any attempt to disrupt it will not go well." I looked their expressions over, gathering which were receptive and which weren't. "You have time to decide."
"Door please," Green chirped. "Door please!"
The portal opened on the floor and Green fell through to land in front of me.
"You should go warn Relena," Dinah suggested.
I jumped a bit, having not noticed her approach. "Relena?" I asked.
"Yeah."
Right. The piece of paper in my pocket.
I rose up from my seat. "Door please, Sanc."
Once more Veda followed me through, this time into a familiar living room.
"Hi Taylor!" Claire greeted me with a wave.
She sat beside Doormaker, surrounded by a dozen of Cranial's Children. They were watching a mean British chef smile and give out a compliment. I did not get reality TV.
"Hello Taylor," one of the children said with a small smile.
The others acknowledged me briefly. The kids weren't as creepy as before, their faces bore expressions now, their eyes alight with thought. It still felt a bit weird having all of them look at me though.
"Where's Relena?" I asked.
"Upstairs," one of the other kids said. "She's talking with Lisa."
Tattletale. Of course.
"Thank you, Claire. Doormaker."
Doormaker waved. "Let us know when you're ready to go back."
"Hi Veda!" Claire greeted as I started to move. "I love the hair!"
"Thank you," Veda replied. She looked down. "I like your boots."
"Me too!"
What a day.
Least it was almost over.
I went up the stairs, passing Sting and Stella as they sat at a small table in the hallway. The door to Relena's room was open. She sat inside, talking to Tattletale while the TV played news in a language I didn't understand.
"It's a bad idea." Tattletale shook her head. "You should stay out—" She stopped, noticing me. Her eyes narrowed and she sighed. "Yeah, you're not going."
Relena kept her eyes firmly fixed on the screen. "I'm going."
I looked at the TV, but the letters didn't make sense to me. The reporter was an older man with streaks of gray, and he spoke beside a picture of several men and women in suits. They looked like officials, maybe the government. Maybe.
I only recognized one of them.
Lord Djbril, Azrael's European counterpart.
"They are discussing a conference to be held in Paris later this month," Veda explained. "The European Union wishes to address the threat of Phantom Pain."
"Lord Djbril is proposing a swift response," Relena said in the closest to a sneer I'd ever heard from her. "And that the Union begin registering capes."
I froze. "As in forcing them to give up their names and identities?"
"Yes."
That—What? I hissed as I spoke. "That's going to set off a bloodbath. Villains won't do that. Heroes will quit and go rogue, or vigilante. That's going to do nothing but escalate."
"Don't you want to do away with the unwritten rules?" Tattletale quipped.
"I want to break them down and get something better in place," I replied. "Not blow them up overnight and to hell with the consequences!"
I stepped forward, remembering what Veda said.
Paris.
I pulled the note from my pocket and unfolded it. Beside me, Relena continued to glare at the screen while Lisa tried to convince her not to go.
"You don't even have any authority to speak," she protested. "They can—"
"Milliardo has the right as a representative," Relena interrupted. "He can cede me some of his time." She rose up. "This can't be allowed to happen. Newtype is right. This way will set off waves of violence. Phantom Pain will target the capes who expose themselves."
"Fewer will in response," Veda surmised. "I presume this measure comes with criminal liabilities?"
"They didn't say that," Tattletale answered. "But probably."
"They're going to criminalize being a cape," Relena snapped. "It's madness. It's not the way forward."
No. It wasn't. Yet, "You should see this."
I held the paper out to her. Dinah was getting good at drawing. The picture perfectly portrayed some kind of large meeting hall, with a stage and a podium at the center. Relena was on the ground, bleeding.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Forecast saw it. She's been checking on you and a few others every couple days, checking for any attacks."
Tattletale snapped the paper and scowled. "So I'm right? If Relena goes, someone will try to kill her."
"It'll be a cape," I realized. I glanced at her. "It's not Teacher. Forecast can see it coming. This is how Blue Cosmos is going to get their way. They'll have a cape kill someone who opposes the measure and make a martyr out of them. The attack probably isn't directed at you specifically."
"Then I might not be attacked?" Relena inquired. "Now that we know—"
Wait. "No." I raised my brow. "No, we want it to be you."
Tattletale and Veda both snapped their heads around to stare at me.
I kept my gaze on Relena. "I plan to attack Blue Cosmos and Phantom Pain first, but doing that means I'll be blamed for inciting the fighting."
"No," Tattletale snapped. "We can solve that without—"
"You intend to let an assassin try," Veda realized. "You will let them try, stop them, and then use the attack as just cause."
"We'll stop the assassin," I promised. "You'll have Tattletale and Cranial's kids with you. They can handle anything mundane. I'll take care of the cape. We'll prove they're connected to Phantom Pain, and that Phantom Pain is connected to Blue Cosmos…" My voice faltered, and my face sank. "And… And then we go to war."
Relena's lips parted, her face paling.
She had to know it would come to this. We'd talked about it… Except, we weren't just talking about it anymore. This wasn't some vague future event. It was immediate.
"When is this conference?" I asked.
"Two weeks," Veda answered.
Two weeks. Talk about timing. In two weeks, Relena would publicly oppose Lord Djbril, someone would try to kill her, we'd stop them, and we'd start the war.
"This is it," I admitted. I forced my mask back onto my face, focusing on what was in front of me. Relena's face hardened in response to mine. "This is how it happens. I'm going to batter Phantom Pain into oblivion, and I won't be in a position to speak to everyone anymore." I thought back to Arcadia. "Some will fear me as much as they fear Phantom Pain."
"And that's when Teacher swoops in," Tattletale grumbled. "Unless we can reap the glory."
"All I've ever been able to do is speak," Relena lamented. "And I will speak when and where I can." She looked at the screen. "This is going to be very sad."
"Yeah," I agreed. "But we can't run."
"I know. Two weeks. Two weeks, and the peace ends."
"Until we make a new one," I told her. My mind instantly went backwards. Count. Peace for all time. "We'll stop Phantom Pain, and then… One more step toward tomorrow."
Relena looked surprised that I'd used that word, but I remembered it too. How she perceived her dream, her father's dream. Tomorrow. The future.
She nodded and I only stayed a little longer.
I felt exhausted when I got back and sat down in my chair again.
"That all went well," Dinah mumbled. "Though I can't see the Birdcage so well anymore."
"If the Protectorate goes down, we might not have enough help for the plan to work," I insisted. "We can't let the Simurgh live. She'll keep interfering, and I can't help but feel like however blind to me she is, she has a way around it. Something. The longer we let her try, the higher her chances of success."
My friends and family. Phantom Pain. Blue Cosmos. Teacher. The Simurgh. Too many fucking fights to juggle at once, and the stakes were so high.
"The next attack needs to be her last," I affirmed. "She needs to die."
"I know," Dinah said. "Doesn't make it any more pleasant."
"Like a lot of things lately," I whispered. I glanced toward the ceiling. "Is that picket line still outside?"
That at least, I could do something about right now.
I'd ask them to leave. Mrs. Knott could do it, surely. I'd convince her to go. This wasn't what I wanted right now and it was one of the few things I could immediately do something about. They might not be considering how suddenly their lives could end, but I was and I wasn't going to let them throw their lives away for something as useless as a picket line.
I started to rise, ready to have one less thing to feel unpleasant about.
"I think a big part of growing up is living with things you don't like," Dinah proposed. "Children have the luxury of refusing to accept discomfort. They don't have to make any hard choices or think far ahead about consequences."
I paused. "You've been up to something."
Who the hell was Jacob? Dinah told me to trust her, but—
"You told Lafter and me once that you hated the world." Dinah reached over, taking my hand. "I want you to believe in it anyway, just for a bit. If not all of it, the people who believe in you."
I flinched and looked her in the eye. She met my gaze firmly.
Scowling, I asked, "What are you up to, Dinah?"
"Trust me," she repeated. "Veda and I can handle it."
Veda? "Wait." My heart jumped and I started to rise. "What are the two of you—"
I felt a hand softly fall on my shoulder.
"You have fought my entire life begging people to stand up and fight for themselves," Veda said suddenly. "Screaming at them, asking why they will not stand for each other."
Turning my head, I met Veda's gaze.
She looked away, peering through the ceiling in the direction of the picket line.
I swallowed.
I'd been a coward, in my own way. If I died for what I believed in, I'd never know if it failed. I'd never live with the consequences of my actions. I could run away and pretend I'd done everything I could.
It was easier dying for a 'cause' than facing what scared me the most… Fear is the enemy.
We have to change.
"Some of the world," Veda mused, "is ready to stand for you."
