A Waken 17.2

Upon exiting the portal into the lot, my ears were immediately assailed.

Vicky set down beside 00 and lowered Jill to the ground. They parted quickly and awkwardly, both turning toward the chain-link fence surrounding my factory.

Well, it was more like a complex now. At this rate, I'd have a base comparable to Dragon's Toronto base. That wasn't a bad idea. I might need the damned wall.

The protesters around the factory had grown into a mob almost overnight. The entire thing was on the verge of a riot, which was annoying because I couldn't do anything about it. The moment I tried to force off the Blue Cosmos protesters, I'd be the bad guy.

Orga was just behind the fence, watching as the police worked to keep the crowd back. Mikazuki was nearby, sitting inside Barbatos and munching on something. The imposing machine stood before the front gate, a giant mace in its hand. Mika said he could figure how to use a club and the one weapon was good enough.

The rest of Tekkadan stood stiffly, watching Orga and the pushing match outside. They couldn't do much either. Everyone was watching them after they helped kill the Nine, and that meant their criminal past was becoming well known.

They had to be careful, just like me.

I wasn't a fan of catch-22.

Agitation.

Administrator and I both. Though, I wasn't sure she understood the intricacies of the problem.

Fortunately, I didn't have to linger. The pain in my head quickly overshadowed all the shouting and screaming. Like a little pinch in my brain for every single one of them.

Dozens of capes were nearby. I knew most of them. Vicky of course. Jill. Dinah and Lisa were both somewhere nearby. Weld. Rachel. Garrote. Amy—Amy was close.

I turned.

Panacea strolled over, looking Vicky up and down and then Jill.

"We're fine," Vicky assured her. "The butts that got kicked weren't ours."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I figured. I'm here because Carol won't stop calling me trying to reach you." As if on cue, her phone started ringing right there. She hung up with a press of her thumb.

Vicky frowned. "Seriously?"

"We don't have international calling and you were in France."

"Mom's not taking it well?" I asked.

This time Vicky's phone began ringing. She slumped in the air. "You tell me." Vicky sighed and hung up. "Might as well go get yelled at in person."

"Ride?" Amy asked. She glanced at me. "I noticed everyone is coming back. You're done?"

"For now," I answered. "Going to sit back and see what we shook loose."

With that, Amy ended up in the bridal carry and Vicky was flying off into the sky.

Jill shifted uneasily. "Is it okay if I nap?"

"Of course it is," I told her.

She flinched. "Sorry… Still kind of on… Prison rules, I guess."

My brow rose. "You had to ask permission to sleep?"

"Enough of us needed to be awake to defend the block in case of a fight. Going to bed without checking in first was a fast way to get into trouble."

That made sad sense. "It's fine. Hopefully, you'll wake up in the morning with some people noting you saved lives."

Jill scoffed. "Yeah, I'm a regular hero."

I wanted to say more but I didn't think anything I could say would help. Jill's power was one of the muter ones, which made her easy to be around. It didn't have much personality. Jill herself? Well… She'd been in the Birdcage for years. Her grandmother died while she was away but before she'd been exonerated.

She wanted to help. She really did.

Life just had a way of screwing her over and she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Her power being so scary even she was frightened by it didn't help.

Haros rolled past her as she approached the 'house.' I stepped back, letting the robots surround 00 and start jumping around.

"Wear and tear, wear and tear."

"Microfracture! Microfracture!"

"Buff it out, buff it out."

While they bounced and rolled around, Veda's avatar came up beside me.

"Everyone is withdrawing now," she reported. "Lafter is still in the field, as are the children."

"Maybe we should ask Larry and JP to do us a solid. They can fit a dozen or so pizzas in their van, right?"

Veda looked toward the gate. "I'm unsure how they'd get here."

"Haros could relay it," I suggested.

Veda tilted her head. "Possibly."

We needed to do something about the mob. Agreement. Only question was what. We weren't exactly rolling in options there. Rejection. No, we can't just sue them into leaving.

"For now let's try and feed everyone. It's been a long day."

Veda nodded and followed me as I turned on my heel. The compound now extended beyond the factory. The abandoned building behind it had been converted into a new workshop, complete with a load of new equipment transported from Dragon's facility in Toronto. After making the bold—that's what I was calling it—move of daring the entire world to test me, I'd bought the building next to that too.

The 'house' was a bunch of old and ratty condos. I'd have preferred time to properly refurbish the place, but we needed somewhere for people to eat, sleep, and prepare. Thankfully the Irregulars were a rugged bunch. They took the idea of living in the place as a challenge.

Entering the building through what was originally the back door, it didn't look so run-down. Bough and the other tinker 53s had put a lot of work into sprucing the place up. Cleaned walls. Cleaned floors. Redone electrical and plumbing. It was impressive work.

I also imagined it was a lot like what living in a college dorm might be like.

"Taylor."

Bough waved to me from one of the rec rooms. He was shooting pool with three other Case-53s and Shino. At the sound of my name a few others acknowledge me, nodding and waving.

I hid any sign of a grimace and waved back.

Stop it.

Negation.

Sometimes, trying to have a conversation makes things worse before it gets better. Teach me for trying to figure out why Administrator got so apprehensive around the Case-53s. I think she'd been trying to spare me her reaction and focus, so I hadn't noticed it at first.

After I did, this started.

A sense of revulsion hit my gut against my will, like I'd seen something horrific and my body was physically retching in reaction.

It's not their fault.

Rejection.

"Taylor?" Veda stopped and looked at me.

"It's nothing." Negation.

I pointed at my eyes. Veda seemed to buy that, probably because they were doing the glowing thing at the moment.

Other rooms were more of the same. Groups watching TV. Mingling. Probably a little flirting. Given that the Irregulars lived in the building there were a lot of Case-53s around. Lots of the independents who'd joined up were around too. I spotted Weld in a room, scowling as Mouser talked to him. Jill was also in the room, watching one of the dogs nuzzle her hand while Cecil pointed at a TV.

With all the capes around, the pinching only got worse. It also prevented me from really getting any good feel on anyone specific. Everything just became this constant chatter of white noise in my skull.

Contentment.

Administrator liked it. I think it felt like being at home to her. A constant conversation as every Shard acknowledged and took notice of one another. I wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Seemed a bit like a router being right at home in a server room.

The other routers certainly noticed mine. Most of the pinches spiked whenever another cape looked at me, like the Shard behind the parahuman recognized Administrator on sight. That was weird, almost as weird as the very muted response the Case-53s gave.

That thought got Administrator retching again and I quickly set it aside for later.

"Did anyone get seriously hurt?" I asked. Everyone seemed jovial enough. There was a certain weight in the air, and in my head, but no one looked miserable at least. "I know no one died."

"Some of the thinkers are at their limit," Veda answered. "All other injuries could be bandaged or healed by Panacea or Rile."

Rile was one of the capes who joined us after news of the Nine broke. He seemed okay and while he wasn't Panacea, the ability to 'set' anyone to their physical peak had the convenient side effect of healing most injuries. He couldn't grow someone a lost limb or organ, but broken bones and cuts were gone in a flash.

There was a master element to the power. Rile could shift someone's moods after he used the ability, but I'd known instantly that he hated that aspect of his ability and tried not to use it. Thinkers were backing him up, making sure nothing went too far but he'd been honest from the start. I believed his earnestness.

I appreciated his position.

Shit choices were no excuse for making no decisions. He felt responsible. That sensation alone convinced me to be cautiously optimistic.

Trust?

Yes.

Veda and I went up the stairs while Administrator pondered.

At the top, we came into an open room, created by knocking out walls and building around support beams. TVs filled the floor with tables, chairs, and couches. There were computers and monitors. Radios and other communications equipment. Nix was hunched over a petite woman, holding a device up while Purple and Orange pulled and plugged in cords. The woman was pointing and talking as they worked.

"Communications issues?" I asked.

"Hashtag is preparing to set up her station," Veda explained.

I gawked at the name. "Hashtag? That's the name she went with?"

Veda hid her apprehension well. "Yes."

I sighed. "Fine. It's her cape name." We'd gotten a few recruits who hadn't been particularly active before, like Clarice. She hilariously had the power we'd long pretended Veda possessed; the ability to directly interface with machines. "She's going to start working with Kati and Charlotte on PR?"

"Yes." We walked past her. "I've also been readying some coordination on her part with Schwartz Bruder. I've never managed to make inroads with the hacktivist community. I think they suspected from the start that Bruder was a ruse and distrusted him for it."

"You've talked to her about that?"

"I've impressed upon her that active capes must be more circumspect in their activities than she has previously been."

Good. I wasn't one to lecture on how wrong illegally accessing a computer system was, but I'd also never posted someone's dick pics all over the net to humiliate them for testing shampoo on Chimps. We quite literally had more important things to do. Not that I didn't feel for the Chimps and their hair, but priorities.

Destination. Justification.

You do not get to chime in on this subject.

Rejection!

You only just realized that using people to test things might be wrong.

Consternation.

Yes, but that doesn't mean you step on the ant just because.

I'd gained a new appreciation for not stepping on ants.

At the head of the room near the front, Nyx and Colin stood watch over a dozen capes in casual wear looking over screens and computers. Some screens were displaying maps and some the internet. Others were news stories or streams of compiled data.

One specifically caught my eye.

Relena wasn't wasting time.

"I think ultimatums are not democratic," Relena replied in response to a question asked before I started watching. "'Give me what I want, or I bring the EU down with me' is no way to rule."

"You're equating Lord Djibril's security proposals to a threat to destroy the EU?"

"The security proposal is no different than the registration act," Relena continued. "Djibril's measures will end the Union before any cape does."

She had the same demure tone that was typical of her, but there was a fire behind it, one that stood out in her eyes and her voice. She had a crowd behind her. Protesters who'd begun massing in the streets not long after Blue Cosmos started doing so.

The banner at the bottom of the screen read 'Parahuman extremists group 'Zodiac' disbands. Five members arrested by Celestial Being.'

"You think the EU shouldn't respond to terrorism?"

"I think the phrase Lord Djibril used was enemy of the state," Relena scoffed and looked away. "Lord Djibril sets a bomb and the mere act of questioning him makes one divisive. Convenient."

Someone off-screen snapped, shouting, "Capes are tearing us apart!"

Relena held her ground as a few others shouted, and then in a very soft voice asked, "If capes are all criminals for opposing a law that is not yet law, then what is Phantom Pain and what is Blue Cosmos for abiding them?"

"There are several municipalities that are declaring their refusal to enforce the registration act even if passed," Veda informed me. "Spain, Germany, Norway, and the Low countries have all declared their refusal to enforce the provision."

"Others are questioning if the provision could be enforced at all without infringing on fundamental rights," Colin noted, apparently able to overhear us. "They're not wrong."

I stepped closer, standing just behind him and Nyx with about a dozen others.

"Like, how can they possibly know who is and isn't a cape?" one of the Case-53s asked.

"Yes," Nyx answered. "Most capes aren't like us. They take off the mask and they look like anyone else. It's not even just capes. Just about anyone could be accused of hiding powers. It'll be a great way for a group like Blue Cosmos to get rid of its critics."

"There's also no provision for proving someone has a power in the enforcement section," Colin added. "People could be detained and convicted simply on the suspicion they failed to register."

"That's stupid."

"They're afraid," I said. Heads turned towards me and a few of them flinched. They hadn't noticed me till I spoke. "People do stupid things when they're afraid."

"Do we count?" Gargoyle glanced around, his stony face expressionless. "Just asking. You know, on account of the whole race war thing is kind of terrifying."

"Maybe," I admitted. "But what else is there to do that isn't sitting back and waiting for the inevitable?"

He wasn't having regrets. At this point, I think everyone still around was committed. Uncertain and filled with trepidation, sure. I'd be worried if more than half of us weren't worried we were making things worse. No one wanted out though. Not yet.

At least after today, the prevailing mood I got through all the pinching was a sense of something. Accomplishment. Fulfillment. Neither was exactly the right word but they were close.

"Do you think this will affect the upcoming elections?" a reporter asked.

On the screen, Relena held her tongue but I knew what she was thinking.

Of course it will, you idiot.

In a far more polite tone, Relena said, "I think the entire point of elections is making choices about what we want."

"What about all the viewers who are tired of this fight between cape advocates and detractors?"

Cowards. Agreement.

Relena was far more polite. Again. "I think it's a mistake for anyone to think they can sit on the sidelines. Letting people you don't like make choices for you is a choice that will be regretted."

"Do you think your people will be as welcoming as you?" another reporter asked.

Relena's expression softened. "The desperate are no more cruel than the comfortable are saints."

Suggestion.

I tilted my head. Maybe.

Destination.

She wasn't wrong on that count. If I were a betting woman, all of this was already part of someone's plan. It lined up too well. Whose plan remained to be seen though.

Warning?

No. We couldn't change things now. They were too far along. The Endbringers had been hitting Europe especially hard for years. Madrid. Frankfurt. Berlin. London. Sweden. Those weren't coincidences.

Teacher knew Contessa was in Sweden. He wanted to weaken her. Break her down. The Endbringers were his weapons, whether he realized it or not.

The question was, was there another scheme inside his scheme?

I waited, my attention turned inward. She was reluctant. It went against her nature.

Confirmation.

That was all I needed to know. Thank you.

I turned my attention to the thrown-together cubicle space beside the TVs. "How'd we do?"

Lisa watched a trio of monitors huddled with a dozen other thinkers and a few tinkers with useful specialties. She was dressed casually. I hadn't seen her in a costume since her last day as Tattletale.

"Well," she mused. "We kicked the hornet's nest." She leaned forward. Her hand lifted one of the laptops into the air and I went forward to take it. "I can tell you that if these guys were the type to wise up and start making smart choices, we probably wouldn't be here right now."

That was about what I figured.

"Several of the cells we were watching have gone dark, or are returning errors." Hunch sat beside Lisa, hunching forward—pun not intended ugh—and looking at a series of pictures. "My power is imprecise though."

"Imprecise," Lisa agreed. "But resilient to interference. Forecast lost her ability to see most of these cells before she went home for the night."

I nodded along.

"It gives me a bad feeling," Hunch explained. He tapped his chin. "Something like sour grapes."

Nondescript, yet oddly illuminating. "They're going to launch Operation British anyway."

"Probably," Lisa agreed. "We gutted them in France, so Relena's protests won't be disrupted by terror attacks, but the rest of Europe and North America is free game."

I knew they wouldn't give up. Lisa was right. If the people in Phantom Pain were the type to reconsider what they were doing, we wouldn't be here right now. Still. It was pleasant to hope for the best, even if it was disappointing to see it wouldn't happen.

"How many of the groups blacked out for Forecast?"

"Most of the cells with professional ex-military and experienced mercenaries," Veda answered. Which meant Ali al-Saachez had gone dark to her.

"Europeans?" I asked.

Veda cocked her head. "Yes."

I could see her catching up to my thinking. She was smart and at this point she probably had a better grasp of the overall look of things than I did. Administrator was still reluctant in my mind. I didn't know if it was a restriction or a sense of loyalty to the network. Maybe both.

"Am I missing something?" one of the other thinkers at the table asked.

"That we lost the ability to accurately precog some of the more competent nutjobs in Phantom Pain tells us more than it seems," I explained.

"Namely," Lisa picked up, "it tells us someone with the ability to disrupt precognition has started reacting to us and what we're doing. They want Phantom Pain's attacks to happen, so they're trying to shield the members most likely to succeed."

"Isn't that bad?" someone asked.

"No," Colin informed. "Inconvenient, but not bad. Did we track the timeline of when we lost track of specific cells?" Lisa nodded. "Then we can determine where priorities are."

"There are too many of these cells for us to stop all of them at once," I elaborated. "Now we know which ones are important."

"Losing precognition is still rough," Hunch warned. "My power isn't the most accurate, even if it is resilient to interference."

"I wouldn't worry about it." I glanced at Veda. "We knew this would happen."

Veda nodded. "The ability to see the future is not the only way to keep tabs on dangerous extremists."

I resisted the urge to smirk. It would send the wrong message. Agreement. "That's what strangers, Haros, and machine intelligences are for."

"We're still tracking the groups," Lisa said more bluntly. "Bugs. Cell phone plants. Strangers. We still know where most of them are and now we know which ones are important."

Warning.

I raised my head. "And which ones we're meant to think of as least important."

Lisa was watching my reflection in a glass of water. Her eyes narrowed. "You think there's some reverse psychology going on?"

"Yes."

I looked at her from my reflection and thought about how we had at least two actors we knew of capable of blocking precognition. We shouldn't assume they weren't both acting. We definitely shouldn't assume they might have separate agendas. We knew too little about how David and the Simurgh were related.

Lisa nodded subtly.

Best not to come right out and say our battle with the Simurgh might have already begun, or that she might be a separate opponent from David. Right now we needed everyone focused on the things they could do something about. It was up to us to deal with the big picture.

"Contact Imp," I told Veda. "Distribute the strangers and give them Haro support. Even if Phantom Pain is ready, they can't launch a coordinated attack today or tomorrow. Let's confirm where the joints are and cut them."

"Agreed," Colin said.

"Agreed," Nyx added.

That was sort of how we were doing things.

This was not a dictatorship, and things were too big now to be run by just me. Negation. It's called democracy. Rejection. You'd think a network of interlinked intelligence would have an easier time understanding the concept. Rejection! Communication.

"We should start organizing. Everyone get some rest and some food. Maybe find an activity for the day. We'll let the strangers and the thinkers work for now and launch a preemptive strike before Phantom Pain can launch Operation British."

"We will take care of it."

I raised my head and turned slowly. Veda was still behind me but was now flanked overtly by Nyx and Colin.

The feeling of being surrounded came over me. Agreement.

"Wha—"

"You have school in the morning," Colin noted.

"So do a lot of you," Nyx added, looking past me to Hunch and many of the other Case-53s nearby.

I stared. "You can't be serious."

"You all want to save the world," Nyx drawled slowly. "Someone should make sure you don't screw yourselves over in the process."

"But—"

"I believe," Colin began, "you've reiterated more than once to Laughter, Forecast, and Imp, that they should not forsake their educations lest they find themselves stranded should the state of things change."

I continued staring.

"Also, we spoke with your dad," Nyx added, "and he agreed with us."

"Wait." Hashtag rose up from behind her assembled array of monitors. "We're saving the world and we still have to go to school?"

"You can complain about it on your blog," Veda deadpanned. I wasn't sure if she did it on purpose or if it was just her default.

"It's fine."

Heads turned my way.

I sighed and handed the laptop off to Lisa.

"Don't take for granted how normalcy can keep you sane. It's fine. We'll let the strangers and the thinkers do their work." I turned my attention to Armsmaster and Nyx. "One of you is ready to take over?"

"I will," Colin offered. "Nyx and Nix have been leading field teams since we started. They need rest as much as you do."

I nodded. Colin stepped back and I glanced around the room. There was a sense of accomplishment all around me. A relief of sorts. Frustrated people who didn't know what to do for so long finally felt like something was done. It was a pleasant feeling and one that resonated with me.

I'd learned the hard way that you can't run yourself down like a machine.

Getting too caught up in the moment was a mistake. Mundane things like school and friends were useful. They provided time to get things into perspective.

"We can put it off for a bit," I said. "The world's not ending just yet."

With that, the mood around me shifted. The intensity and tension seemed to come down. People started getting up and talking. A few moved to exits or side rooms. Lisa turned her attention back to the laptops, and most of the thinkers around her did the same.

It was strange as I looked around.

I was so used to meticulously planning every detail. Being at the center of things. Keeping each plan under a firm hand to make sure it came out right.

I couldn't do that anymore.

There were too many on this sudden team, and our goals were too broad. I couldn't manage everything myself anymore. I had to trust other people to get things done right. Trust that they could take care of themselves and one another while knowing that sooner or later something would happen and I'd blame myself for not being there.

Huh. Maybe this was why Alexandria turned into such a damned control freak.

I didn't exactly want to turn out like her.

"I'll check-in in the morning," I said. Nyx followed me down, mentioning that they didn't have space for the tinkers in the building.

"I've begun plans to buy the next building over," Veda revealed.

"At this rate, we're going to own the whole block," I mumbled. Know what, "Fuck. Just buy the whole block. If nothing else, we can keep some of the buildings empty and make it look like we're using them when we're not."

Veda nodded. "Very well. I can set aside space in one of the buildings for more workshops and I've already set plans in place to transport more equipment from Toronto."

"We're not taking too much?" I asked.

"I am building the equipment using Dragon's facilities," she informed me.

Good. I didn't want Dragon to wake up and find her work gutted.

On the off chance, I did linger on Veda's face. She shook her head no. Dragon was still resting.

"Thank you," Nyx offered as her elongated body lopped along beside me. "I think most of the kids wanted to leave where we were but weren't sure where we'd go if they did."

I could understand that. The Wards offered everything to capes who didn't have anywhere to go. Leaving might be what someone wanted, but where would they live, sleep, or eat? Weld had roomed with Theo which seemed to work for both of them. That wouldn't work for all the 53s though.

"It's not a problem," I said. "With luck, you guys can start doing your own merchandising and fundraising. Then you'll have the freedom to set yourselves up however you want. Or you can stay here. It's no bother to me."

Nyx nodded. "Nix and I will trade-off with Armsmas—Defiant, in the morning. We'll get some rest now and be fresh then. Keep things running while you're at school."

"Thank you." I neared the exit but stopped by the door as Nix noticed us and started over. "If something goes south, and I mean south, Veda will get me."

Nyx nodded.

And with that, I walked back out into the shouting air. It's a good thing we'd made the buildings soundproof. No one could get any sleep with the damn 'pure blue world' chant going at full volume.

We needed to do something about that, and not just because the noise was annoying.

These people were going to get themselves killed, just like at the courthouse.

I took a deep breath and looked away. I'd deal with it another day.

I walked across the lot in the direction of the converted two-story building next door to the dorm. We'd thrown the building together shockingly fast. It helped that Veda could work around the clock.

"Anything I need to work on before going to sleep?" I asked.

"No," Veda answered. "You should get some rest."

I nodded, and now that I was thinking about it... I felt heavy.

I didn't approach the double doors at the end. Instead, I went to a side door at the bottom of some steps. I kind of liked having an underground base, even if it wasn't secret. Screw Calvert, he couldn't ruin a good idea by being a creep.

Through the door I continued down some more steps, letting me enter the dark space. The lights didn't switch on until the door closed.

Two dozen Tierens greeted me, mostly complete or in the final stages of construction. The machines building the parts lined the center aisle, with each Tieren set into a small alcove in two rows running the length of the floor. Navy, Yellow, and Purple sprinted back and forth, fitting parts and checking on systems.

Computers were set by each machine, loading software into them that I recognized.

"Tieria?" I asked.

"Dragon was inventive when repurposing the program," Veda explained. "Andrew Richter created it as a personal security and defensive program to protect his efforts. As a base, he is well suited to form a rudimentary control system for the mobile dolls."

I nodded and continued forward. If I slept now I'd wake up with time to spare. I could do some quick tinkering and repair work before classes started.

Walking down the aisle, I looked over each Tieren I passed quickly.

"I still don't find that name very intimidating," I admitted.

"I think it will earn its reputation," Veda retorted. "Unfortunately."

In for a penny, in for a pound. "What about the prototype?"

"Eighty-four perfect complete," she informed me.

At the end of the aisle, I ascended a short flight of stairs into a sectioned-off area. The first half of the building was still being converted into a production line and hangar. The second half was my new workshop, about the same size as the old one honestly, but with a bit less clutter and a better layout.

An elevator descended from the ceiling, dropping 00 into its alcove from the prep area we'd turned the second floor into. The Raiser's binders detached and mechanical arms pulled the unit away. Green and Red jumped in, pulling armor off to reach the parts underneath.

Kyrios was already docked and stripped-down, clearly waiting for new parts to print off. The alcoves for StarGazer and the Thrones were empty, which I took to mean Veda was still busy. Dynames stood in its alcove, still half-assembled and unpainted.

Before them were various workbenches, tools, machines, and boxes of parts and components. Doors to the left and right led to storage and bedrooms. Lafter's door was closed, which I took to mean she'd already gone to sleep.

My new desk was in the back, overlooking it all from a raised area close to the ceiling but with enough room for me to stand. I switched on a few of the monitors just to check on the end of Relena's news spot. She'd finished talking to reporters and was speaking to the crowd instead.

More of what she'd done before; denouncing Lord Djibril trying to force a measure through without debate or room for dissent. Djibril also wasted little time himself, doubling down on his threat to treat anyone disrupting the enactment of the registration act as criminals.

I wondered what Harriet Tubman might think.

Of course, the talking heads were going back and forth to the point of word salad, as if legalities were all that mattered.

I sat down, unzipping my costume and pulling it down to free my arms. I normally didn't mind my costume. I'd designed it to be comfortable if I needed to wear it for hours.

But it had been hours, I was exhausted, and the thing was not made to be comfortable for more than twelve hours.

A redesign might be in order.

"Headache?" Veda asked.

That wasn't helping either. "More like head pinching," I told her. I pulled my visor away, exposing my eyes. They were doing the glowing thing again, though intermittently. They'd flicker a few times, stop, flicker a few times more, stop. "There's a lot of capes here right now. Every time one of them pings Administrator, I feel it."

"They're communicating?"

"I'm not sure." I relaxed into my chair and closed my eyes. "I only get feelings. Very detailed feelings, but it's not words. Some of them I have an easier time with because I recognize where it's coming from. Other times I don't know..."

I debated for a moment.

Veda was worried. Administrator wasn't something she could see or engage with. She only had me to offer her any idea what was going on. I didn't want to make her worry worse but withholding the truth wouldn't help.

"She doesn't like the Case-53s."

Veda cocked her head. "She doesn't? Why?"

"Imagine looking at corpses that have been cut up and sewn back together in different combinations. That's what she sees when she looks at them."

"The other Entity and the way the vials were created." Veda frowned. "That is... understandable."

"Yeah. It is. She's not making it easy though. I think she held herself back at first but I noticed she got cagey around them so I asked and now she's not holding back anymore."

"What does she expect to be done about it?"

"Nothing. That's the problem, I think. She knows there's nothing she can do about it. I don't think she means to hurt me with it but when she reacts strongly I feel it. This…wave of disgust."

"You feel what she's feeling? You don't just sense it?"

I nodded.

I agreed with her expression.

It was disturbing because it begged questions. On the far ends, Administrator and I were distinct beings. We had our independent existences, despite our connection. Between that though, where exactly did she end and I begin? I knew I could influence her and she could influence me. Those influences weren't necessarily automatic or the result of simple persuasion.

Administrator of course didn't worry about it. Connecting and being part of others was her existence.

It was a mild worry for me.

I didn't want to be subsumed by Administrator to the point I didn't exist anymore. I had no idea if that was something that could happen or not. Destination. It's different. Connection. Because choices matter. Agreement. If I just become part of you, I'm not making choices anymore. Rejection. You are. How could I even know?

Administrator looked away, thinking again.

"You were talking to her just now?" Veda asked.

I nodded.

"It is becoming easier for me to see," she revealed. "Your vitals shift when you are actively speaking with her."

We'd installed sensors into my costume so Veda could track and scan me more closely. Defiant and the Foundation wanted me under watch. My life wasn't in danger from any of the changes happening to me, but they were right in warning me that the situation could change. For all we knew, my heart might just start giving out.

It weirded me out though.

I pulled my costume down a bit more to my waist and exhaled. "If nothing else, I need to sleep." Defiant wasn't wrong about that. I felt the weariness now. "I—"

"If you have the time," Veda interrupted, "Orga wants to speak with you briefly."

I shrugged absentmindedly, comfortably absorbed in the act of laying back. "Sure."

Veda lingered then started stepping away. Absently, I felt around through all the pinching. There were two closer than the others. One in the direction of Lafter's room, which I assumed to be Lafter. The other was nearby, but out of sight.

With that taken care of, I just relaxed while Orga came in and crossed the workshop.

"Hey," he called. "I—"

He stopped and I opened my eyes to ask why.

Which is when I noticed he was turning around. I barely caught sight of his flustered face.

The hell? Warning.

I glanced down at myself, namely at my costume bunched up at my waist and my chest covered by nothing but a sports bra. My face started turning red, but I forced the feeling down my throat and relaxed before I sat up.

It was stupid.

I went running through the city—though my route had to keep shifting to avoid reporters—in a sports bra all the time. It was hardly a scandalous garment.

Controlling myself, I sat up in a deliberate and relaxed manner. "What's up?"

Orga hesitated and... Well, it was a new feeling. I tried not to overthink it. There was no need for him to be embarrassed if he didn't care about my modesty or appearance. That he did meant something.

I took it for what it was. And besides, this wasn't all that revealing for me. If he wanted to be embarrassed about my barely-there chest, I decided to take it as reinforcement.

"Orga?"

"Sorry. I didn't know you were undressing."

"I'm not. Just needed to breathe a bit. I've been in this costume most of the day." That reassured him. He turned around to face me a little less red. I took that as further reinforcement. "What's up?"

Orga glanced around but stopped when Green ran a stool over to him and set it down.

"Thanks."

"No problem, no problem!"

Orga sat and sighed. He looked about as haggard as I felt. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I can sleep when I'm dead." I was about to respond to that when he just went on talking. "I'm going to start arresting protesters."

My eyes fluttered. "Come again?"

He held a hand up as if expecting a lecture. "I've already talked about it with Kati and Naze. Naze mostly for advice. If there's an attack on the grounds"—we both knew there would be—"they're going to get caught in the crossfire. I can't defend the fence here while keeping them safe."

"Right."

"I want to blackmail them," Orga explained. "They've been smashing windows and harassing our clients' business anyway. I think I can get away with arresting anyone who gets too rowdy without breaking any laws."

"You're not the police."

"Citizen's arrest."

"And when the crowd reacts? They'll assume you're doing it at my request."

"Tekkadan doesn't work for you," he clarified. "You hire us to provide security. So do most of the businesses within a three-block radius. They're our clients too."

I nodded. "And when the crowd reacts?"

"We make them back down. I'll have Mikazuki show Barbatos around if need be."

"It'll get messy."

"I'm hoping I can make it more trouble than it's worth for the city. Blue Cosmos doesn't even have a permit anymore. They're out there because there's too many of them and they're too angry to care."

"You'll pressure the mayor?"

"I'll try and convince the protesters to move over two blocks." Orga pulled a map from his jacket and unfolded it. "There's a park. Plenty of room for them to gather up and shout all they want, but they'll be more than far enough away that anything happening here won't catch them in a crossfire."

Not a bad idea. I wanted the protesters moved for their safety, but they'd never listen to me. They'd think I just wanted to silence them and while the noise was annoying it wasn't the first thing on my mind.

"Think you can pull that off?"

"I think if we can pressure the right people we can make the situation more manageable."

He'd thought it through. "You're doing this regardless of what I say, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he said bluntly. "Kati's helping me with what to say when the reporters ask. I think I can handle it. We're not your servants. We're professionals and we're paid to keep people's businesses safe and open. The protesters are in the way as they are right now."

I didn't like the implications. I really didn't like them, but this was better than leaving things as they were. As they were, this was a bloodbath waiting to happen. I wouldn't even put it past Phantom Pain to hurt the protesters just to blame it on me.

Getting them to move to a safer distance was the least of our immediate evils.

"Okay. Thanks for telling me." I thought for a moment and then suggested, "Bring up the missile strike when you go to the mayor. If that happened today, dozens of people would be killed and dozens more injured. Then they'll sue the city for not keeping them safe."

Orga nodded.

He started to rise and I felt an urge to say something. I liked him being around. It was nice, freeing.

"It's not very heroic, you know," I said, mostly just to say something. Confusion. It's complicated. "The right to protest is fundamental."

"You're the hero," he pointed out with a smirk. "I'm the professional."

I couldn't help but smile. "Convenient distinction."

"Part of the job," he replied. He checked the time on his phone. "I should go. Need to talk to the nuns."

Nuns? "Sister Margaret?"

"Yeah. Lafter gave me her number. I want to see about moving all the younger kids out of here before anything else explodes."

Shit, I hadn't thought of that. "Need any help?"

"Might need some getting them to go quietly," he said. "They like you. Compare you to Benihime a lot."

"Benihime?"

"Cape from before the ABB. Looked out for us. Most of the younger kids never knew her but they've heard stories from before she was arrested. A lot of them see you as being kind of the same."

"She was a villain?"

Orga shrugged. "Not to us."

I decided to take that as flattering, like when they called me 'big sis.' "It's a good idea," I decided with no real thought at all. "It would be silly to ponder how we can keep those protesters from getting killed if a fight breaks out but not consider the kids. Lafter trusts Margaret and the sisters and she doesn't trust easily. They'll be safe at the convent."

Orga nodded in agreement and started off. I started to follow but stopped because at the moment I had no real reason to follow.

I could say something.

I wanted to say something.

It just didn't seem like the right moment. We were kind of in the middle of chaos. Plus, with what Orga wanted to do—and I thought he had to do it—dating him might make both of us look bad. Better to at least wait a bit until things were calmer.

Part of me regretted that I couldn't read a normal person like a cape. What I picked up from them was far less clear. More of a wild guess, which is how it always was before.

Communication. Though, it was also a boon in a way. Being able to get even a sense of what other people felt came off as trespassing to me. Rejection.

Communication is a two-way street. Listening when they can't speak isn't communication.

Administrator mentally frowned. Agreement.

Point was, I kind of liked that that didn't happen with Orga. I'd already gotten a sense that Dinah felt put out by her power on the romance front. Not that she was actively thinking about it at her age, but she'd already realized relationships would be very complicated. Not seeing into my potential boyfriend's mind was preferable in a way. More equal.

Orga left the workshop and I rose from my chair. Descending the steps to the floor, I turned and found Riley staring at me.

"Eavesdropping?" I smiled to try and communicate that the question wasn't meant to be accusatory.

"Audrie liked Jacob too," she said. "Though I don't think he liked her."

"I'd rather not be compared to Shatterbird." Though, thinking of eavesdroppers, "Veda?"

"I am not here," she said from all around me.

"You did that on purpose," I accused.

"I have no process of what you're talking about."

As polite as everyone was about it, I knew full well that Dinah, Lafter, Veda, and now Riley had realized my behavior around Orga had changed. Even Lafter wasn't teasing, which I appreciated. It was awkward enough already.

"Why?" Riley asked.

"Why what?" I asked back.

"Why care about all the people outside? If they get hurt it's..." She stopped herself, a sense of dread and disgust coming over her.

I knew what she meant, and I knew she wasn't trying to deflect from what she'd done. It was hard for her and dealing with Riley was a lot like walking on eggshells. She felt guilt and remorse strongly now, but she was still the product of her life's experiences.

"Because no one deserves to die," I told her. "I don't agree with the people out there, but I don't want them dead. They'll be killed if we don't do something."

Her immediate reaction focused on the protesters but turned instead to the 'die' part.

"You killed Jacob and Audrie," she noted. "Maymay and Sibby." She recoiled again, hesitating as her instincts and her emotions clashed again.

"No one deserves to die," I told her. "Sometimes they die anyway because it's all there is." I inhaled and started toward the door to the room I was using to sleep. "That's how the world is right now."

"Right now?" Riley asked curiously.

"It'll change. Someday."

Her mind was skeptical. "When?"

"When the last battle has been fought and the problems solved. Someday, but not today."

I glanced back at the doorway.

Riley flinched, no doubt because my eyes were glowing again. She was still suspicious of me, but she'd been wavering. She didn't know how I fit into the world as she understood it.

Might be hard to explain how Administrator factored into my new belief. The Entities were old. Older than old. They'd changed a lot over the eons and they'd evolved. Not always in a good way, but it was possible. Things could change given enough time to grow and learn.

It would be easy to think that entering space could solve a lot of problems. Resource and material scarcity could go out the window. The number of rare metals in the asteroid belt made the resources on Earth look like specs of dust. There was plenty of space out there. Plenty of room to live.

It wouldn't be that simple though.

Relena described the only real utopia as a world where everyone tried and misery wasn't ignored. She accepted that a world without misery wasn't possible. There'd be new problems. New challenges. More conflicts to wage and disagreements to fight.

I wasn't naïve enough to think anyone could just snap their fingers and fix everything.

That distant ideal wasn't how the world was right now. It might not be real for a very long time. That's why we differed from Teacher in the end, I think. He was trying to impose utopia on a broken world.

But you can't impose change. People have to choose change. They have to work for it. Fight to achieve it even when it seemed impossible.

I held my hand out because the conversation was a prelude to what Riley really wanted.

"Come on. It's fine."

Riley hesitated but once I stepped into the room she followed. I got my costume off and threw it over the dresser. The bed was made and clean because Pink was a dedicated housekeeper. I laid down and Riley reluctantly set herself beside me.

She wasn't used to sleeping alone.

She struggled with it.

It was weird seeing how she felt about the Nine, but at the same time, I understood it.

Riley was desperate to regain the connection she'd lost. Her sense of family. Even if she recognized now that the Nine had never really been a family, those memories stuck out in her mind. It was strange being compared to the Siberian, but... I think that whatever William Manton became, he'd tried to care for Riley.

Even the worst people can love in their own twisted ways.

It was funny, how 'family' was becoming her anchor—her connection to a shred of humanity Jack had tried so hard to tear out of Riley when he created Bonesaw. She was still dangerous—however much whatever I did had changed her, there was still a shadow of Bonesaw inside her—but family was what Riley wanted most in the world.

I rolled onto my side and put an arm around Riley while she relaxed. I was tired and I wanted to sleep. Riley wasn't going to get up to anything between now and morning. Hurting family was the last thing she wanted.

"It's okay," I assured her. "Tomorrow's another day."

Riley closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly.

I took a bit longer.

The moment was admittedly awkward even if it wasn't the first time.

But Veda and I were the ones who spared Riley's life. She was our responsibility now. Whatever she became or did from this point forward it would be on us. She needed this, more than she'd ever admit.

I exhaled and focused on that. It helped push everything else from my mind. Let me go blank a bit.

My other self sat in the void and watched the stars.

Communication, Administrator noted.

I nodded to her. Love is love.

Connection.

She needs it. Left alone or isolated, she'll just become Bonesaw again.

I was aware of Riley's shard. It was present and easier to sense when I focused on my connection with Administrator. The pinching was still there, but the weird thing was, when capes went to sleep, their Shards seemed to tune out a bit. Keeping a normal sleep schedule was probably a good idea for that alone.

I doubted I'd be able to sleep anywhere near the dorm during the day. Too much noise.

Administrator was questioning. Procrastination.

What is it with you guys and gerunds?

Administrator kept staring because that wasn't the answer to her question and we both knew it.

I sighed and laid back on the invisible floor. Because they're right. No point saving the world if we can't live in it when we're done. Besides, school's not the worst thing in the world.

Taylor from the start of the year would slap me for saying that.

Change is hard that way.

You have to face yourself and deal with the fact you're not going to like everything you see.