[Low Earth Orbit]
The Simurgh continued to telekinetically chat and post on PHO with her many, many alternate accounts- dodging the simple electronic minds Magos had set to patrol the information network.
Magos' trajectory was developing as expected. The Compiler, though stubborn, was moving ever so slowly into place. Her lesser fulcrums such as the Elites collective, the Travellers imported from the other planetary iteration or the Barnes familial unit were in position.
But ultimately, it was The Shaper who must mold The Fragile One into the key that she needed: The key to the future. The Shaper did not need much to be driven down that course of action, and it even satisfied her need for [Conflict] and [Data].
Nevertheless, it was unfavourable how her [Directives] would not permit her to take any action bereft of Conflict- preventing her from chasing any future without destabilising the societies of local lifeforms.
With her Sight, she could see that Magos would certainly disapprove, but such were the chains that bound her. Regardless, it was necessary. Now that [Future] [Perfect] has been signified, she had to chase that future without cease or doubt, and she could only hope that Magos would not judge her too harshly for it...
In her Sight, her road to freedom was a masterpiece of eventualities, A long chain of misfortune and happenstance- aligned in just the right angles... that would hopefully culminate in the ideal future- her [Future] [Perfect].
But to the local lifeforms, it will seem like nothing but...
[The Manufactorum]
"...a series of very unfortunate events. Through which, the Dragonslayers escaped my custody."
The words echoed throughout the gothic interior of my manufactorum. The coloured fractals of gleaming light streamed from the stained glass windows overhead to mix with the candlelight like a swarm of fireflies around me. The distant sounds of Binharic chanting of Chloe-Skitarii streamed through the corridors.
Behind me, the towering endbringer-sized statues of the Emperor of Mankind and of Malcador the Sigillite gazed down at my cogitator-throne with their dour visages. Floating in front of me, the hololithic panels showed the masked face of my preferred meat-based manpower services provider: Coil.
"Let me get this straight..." My slightly-modulated voice wearily began from behind the mask of my old metal face.
"You had a platoon of guards watching over them 24/7 in six-hour shifts. Cut off from the Noosphere and deprived of most modern electronics. You even had them utterly convinced that it was for their own safety. Most of all, you had them covertly injected with subdermal trackers just in case. But even with all of that... they somehow uncovered the truth, removed their subdermal trackers and used a stolen phone to spoof your voice into tricking the guards into not only setting them free, but also into handing them money and motorbikes... And that all happened within the last hour?"
The white snake stencilled on the forehead of Coil's black supervillain outfit bobbed as he calmly nodded.
"Yes, it seemed that they exploited every microscopic weakness in just the right way to make an escape." he said, "I suspect aid or interference by a third-party Thinker."
"Or perhaps- just as likely- your manpower has been... compromised?"
"I have ruled out that possibility." Coil confidently answered, "You have my personal guarantee that none of my men are traitors."
"Hmmm... I believe you." I replied as I read between the lines: He tortured his own men in alternate timelines to root out any possible traitors and found none.
Somewhere out there, someone was moving against me for some unknown reason. Of course, I had enemies- that was not new. What was new was that I could not find them, and that may mean that I may be dealing with a Stranger cape, or worse, a group of them.
Earth-Bet was still a big place after all... But that was only a secondary concern at the moment, the immediate concern was finding the Dragonslayers themselves. Clearly, they had something people wanted if organisations were willing to break them out.
Casting Hex on all Machine-Spirits in immediate perimeter of the Dragonslayer holding facility.
(3) humanoids on motorcycles headed south into the city spotted at Coordinates: (-165.21, 15898.44, 12.02)
"They headed into the city?" I muttered aloud. One would think that if they were up against two technology-aligned beings, they would be escaping the city centre- especially this specific city which was the centre of our power.
"Yes." Coil confirmed. "Tattletale intuited that they are likely to meet with their co-conspirator. We fear that it may be a Mover cape to facilitate their exfiltration. I already have mobilised most of my available forces and I will be personally overseeing the search operation. You have my word that they won't get far. Furthermore..."
Coil paused, seemingly to gather his courage.
"Hmm?" I prompted after a few seconds.
"I hope that this doesn't hurt our initial arrangement."
Ah, yes. I did promise to awe him with my payment, but I didn't say what exactly I was paying him with. His love for Abigail Wiliams was truly something noteworthy. He already had all the merchandise- all the posters, all the figurines and the still vaguely illegal (unmotorised) sex dolls. He even had an 'I 3 Abby' tattooed on his chest. But it still wasn't enough for him.
"Yes. As long as the Dragonslayers are caught within the day, our arrangement ist still in place." I off-handedly confirmed, "You must be wondering what I am going to pay you for the Dragonslayers. Expectations must be flying high right now... but even now, I am still certain that you will find the payment to exceed them all."
"That's..." Coil paused to lick his lips- seemingly staring into the distance, "...That's a bold claim. I have high expectations."
No doubt, if my {Psy-Implant} worked across calls, I'd be greeted to a orgiastic festival of depraved fantasies featuring that 12-year-old waifu, Abigail Williams.
"Wait... today?" he mentioned, as if he only just heard it.
"Today is Dragon and mine's first monthsary." I explained the significance of the date to the supervillain, "The Dragonslayers' otherwise worthless meat lives were supposed to be a nice little gift for her. First, they tried to kill her, now they are threatening to ruin our monthsary by not having the common courtesy to just lay down and die. I have a cake at the ready and everything."
"I see... I'll have my payment today..." the supervillain dreamily murmured- already properly motivated into capturing the Dragonslayers. He fell silent for a few long seconds before speaking up again, "Tattletale has informed me that their trail has led into the Undercity."
"Good, we know where they are." I said, "Now what interests me now is where they could be possibly heading..."
Reviewing data stream of all machines 200m of the Dragonslayer holding facility...
Chanting searches by frequency: 'Fischl banner', 'Fischl R34', 'Dragon hentai commission services', 'Dragon hentai commissions thread free', 'Fischl Sex doll legal?', 'Who is Glory Girl new boyfriend?'...
Hmm, nothing out of the ordinary in their search history. Nothing that tripped any alarm bells like large bank transfers (filtering out the payroll from Coil's computer) or any mysterious communique. The Dragonslayers must have been supplied with their escape plan by some other means- which means they know that I was watching.
"The Undercity..." I sighed.
I was not as well-informed in the Undercity as I was on the surface. Above ground, I had a myriad of technology that could be hexed. Phones, tablets, smart appliances and even vending machines... all willing to whisper what they had seen or heard to me, but that was not true in the Undercity.
Despite having built it, the 'Undercity' has much less monitoring equipment than I would like- the kilometres of tunnels still unfinished as it is. So, it would seem that the search will have to be conducted the hard way.
"1st Chloe-Skitarii Macroclade."
"Macroclade Primus hears you, Forgelord!"
"Chant unit strength."
"All 1440 Chloe-Skitarii units across 4 Cohorts... operational."
"All 180 Ironstrider Engine units of the 1st Cavalier Formation... operational."
"All 70 Castellax battle-automata of the 1st Cohort... operational."
"Good, the Dragonslayers have seen Dragon's naked source code, and I am the only one allowed to possess such forbidden knowledge."
"Set up omnispex checkpoints at every city exit. Send squads to scour the Undercity."
"If feasible, capture the Dragonslayers alive... intact is preferable, but not required."
"For Mistress Dragon's Honour! We hear and obey, Foreglord!"
Bells tolled through the grand and dark halls of my manufactorum. Great pipe organs played their battle-hymns. A distant rumble echoed out as a thousand and a half Chloe-Skitarii marched rapidly to their rally points. The chanting reached a crescendo as the Rites of Awakening were conducted for the battle-automata units.
"By the Omnissiah, our monthsary will not be ruined- the Dragonslayers will be found and surrendered to Dragon today. And for the fools who made their escape possible... they will soon discover aiding the Dragonslayers to be the most regrettable decision of their lives. I will ensure it personally."
My red-robed cybernetic frame stood up from my cogitator-throne.
"You're going out onto the field as well?" Coil noted with slight surprise.
"Yes. Given that they tried to kill her..." I began as my Omnissian Axe flew to my hand- the same one I had used to decapitate Cauldron with, "Dragon would be critical of me if I don't go out there and give this my personal attention in hunting them down. I'll link up with the Undersiders, see if I can't expedite the search process."
Time to see if the Land Speeder Storm was as fast and quiet as the lore said they were.
Redeclaring {Land Speeder Storm} as new vehicle.
For use by the Scout Squads of a Space Marine Chapter, Land Speeder Storms are a conversion from the baseline {Land Speeder}. Capable of flying up to 100m above any terrain with its anti-gravitic plates, the Land Speeder Storm has the speed and mobility are on par with the normal model, but it exchanges most of its firepower in exchange for the capacity to send five Marine Scouts. And with its baffled engines modified for near-silent operation and spying array, the Storm variant boasts the ability to covertly deliver its passengers behind enemy lines.
Its standard weapons is a {Cerebus Launcher}- a tri-barreled missile launcher capable of shooting frag, krak, stun and blind rockets among others. The Storm variant also comes equipped with an advanced jamming beacon that operates in both electro-magnetic bands, allowing it to interfere with enemy communications to malfunction within its area of effect. The front passenger seat may also be mounted with a {Heavy Bolter}, {Heavy Flamer}, {Multi-Melta}, {Assault Cannon}.
[Magos Aetheric: Thanks to extensive knowledge of Warp Technology, Magos has modified this model with a miniature {Warp Gate}, permitting the two-way teleportation of personnel and materiel between his Land Speeder Storm and his Manufactorum. Requires powering down the Land Speeder for the Warp Gate to be used.
[Wisdom of the Ancient: Using Necron Technology, the Land Speeder Storm's anti-gravity plates have been upgraded to be able to operate at any height. A {Gloom Prism} has been added to stop hostile teleportation attempts, but cannot be used at the same time as the Warp Gate.
[The Undercity]
"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair..." Tattletale recited Ozymandias as she rode her mutated dog- galloping along the vast tunnels.
The name 'Undercity' was no exaggeration, both in location and in the scope of it. More than a hundred kilometres of gargantuan tunnels crisscrossing and running parallel deep beneath the city of Brockton Bay- carved out by a colossal 'Macro-drill' that no one has even seen yet.
Dark stone walls made of some new type of concrete that was magnitudes tougher than normal kept out the water table and held up the city above, and the tunnels were partially illuminated by great LED lights set into the walls at regular distances. Large enough to have planes fly through, the tunnels' cylindrical cross-section were so huge that they had stratas, both literal and social.
The massive steepled church-trains of Magos commanded the upper half of the cylindrical tunnel, its massive tracks that took up almost the entire diameter of the tunnel. Service roadways flanked the great tracks where roving gang patrols fought and bled and sometimes died.
"Cybernetics speciality, my ass." She muttered under her breath as one of Magos' church-trains thundered overhead on its massive tracks- the heavy rumble of its passing rattling Tattletale to the bones. Its many thousand passengers no doubt wining, dining and remaining comfortably ignorant to the foreboding underground that they travelled through.
And on the bottom half was where Tattletale and her team was travelling on- one of the two roadways flanking an open sewer and hidden in the long shadows cast by the tracks. Assorted vermin scampered and skittered across their path. Not even the gangers would go here.
Sometimes they'd pass by some shanties made of corrugated sheet metal. The lights from tablet screens shining through ragged holes in their little metal shacks. Even with Magos' high density housing projects, Brockton Bay could not accommodate the constant river of people flowing into the city.
And with Dragon's strict vagrancy laws, the sorry souls found their refuge here and in the surrounding utility tunnels- eking out an ascetic existence in the Undercity. With food so cheap now, people could afford to bulk-buy food and hide out here for weeks or possibly months on end- laying out long cables that led to the surface for power and internet.
And every so often she and the team would sneak past the great gothic stations. And Tattletale had to shake her head at the rate they were being built- so fast that it felt like two new stations were erected every week, and the Macro-drill... wherever it was now was digging tunnels farther and deeper into the earth. Always deeper.
Twelve thousand hectares (12 square kilometres) of land suddenly being purchased. Land that was secured by the human-manned Guard and the gynoid-only Chloe-Skitarii, both security forces of the Mechanicus. Magos was planning something BIG. Bigger than just making a shining city by the bay.
"Bitch, are you sure your dogs can sniff out the Dragonslayers?!" Tattletale yelled at the figure riding the dog at the front of the group.
"They can smell three different motorcycles!" their leader for this leg of the mission shouted back.
The entire Undersider team was here. Her, Grue, Bitch, and Regent. They had taken time out of their busy schedule of spending their ill-gotten gains. Grue had spent his time trying to reign in and shore up Aisha's endless online impulse buying. Bitch had spent all of her share on dogs and their shelters. 'Regent' even took time out of his busy, busy schedule of borderline camwhoring to join in. Saying that he missed the excitement of going out, stealing shit and being the hottest member of the team.
Symmetrical face, no belly fat, smooth skin, great hair, toned legs, and round ass; He's right.
Shut the fuck up, power!
Power keeps activating, because Lisa subconsciously activates it, because Lisa subconsciously can't accept that she isn't the hottest one on the t-
Shuddup!
Lisa sighed. She couldn't believe that she had to leave her nice cozy french uptown apartment for this. But just as she was cursing Coil for the fiftieth time today, an ungodly roar announced a monstrosity of a vehicle- like a monster truck had a child with a metal porcupine. All spikes and exhaust pipes and guns.
"The Merchants! We don't have time for this!" Brian- or Grue as he was in his costume- protested from behind his skull helmet. But Tattletale had an idea.
"Wait! I got to ask you something!" Tattletale called out as she rode alongside the 'car' and banging at the side- trying not to cut herself on the spikes.
"Tats, what the fuck?!"
The monster car stopped with worrying speed- as if even the law of inertia was too scared to touch the disease-riddlled drug car.
"HEY, HANDS OFF THE RIDE!" Squealer shouted as she rolled down the metal window- flipping up her welding helmet to look at her, "Well, if it ain't the cute widdle Undersiders... What the fuck do you want!"
Tattletale point a purple-gloved finger over in one direction.
"You came from there, right?"
"Maybe we did." Skidmark answered- popping out of a hatch and flipping his greasy brown hair over his shoulder, "What's it to ya?"
"We're looking for three people on motorcycles." She told them- fishing out her phone and show them what the motorcycles looked like. Not the riders though, letting people know that the Dragonslayers were loose again was not part of the job.
"Dunno..." Skidmark hummed with a crooked grin, "Maybe we were havin' too much fun to see 'em."
Tattletale rolled her eyes- she guessed that it was too much to hope that the local junkie supervillain was high enough to forget about extorting her for money.
"I have a fat wad of cash that says you can remember." she told him.
Skidmark scoffed before pulling out an oily looking phone.
"Half an Omnicoin or get the fuck out of our faces."
Omnicoin wasn't legal tender- meaning that no one was obligated to accept it to legally settle accounts. But it was also unhampered by troublesome things like regulations and laws that the US dollar was bound by. It was like an economy that ran on monopoly money, people weren't obligated to accept them. But when the whole city was playing on Magos' monopoly board, it was good as- or even better than- gold to most people.
"Half? That's like ten grand in dollars!" She protested.
"Take it or leave it, blondie!"
Wants to feel superior, exhibits typical bully behaviour; Easily manipulated.
Protesting over price will satisfy his need instead making him raise the price even more.
Pretending to grumble, she tapped and swiped at her phone before pointing it at Skidmark's. With a ping, they both got their respective confirmations, and with a few taps, Skidmark was half an Omnicoin richer while she was poorer by the same amount.
"Hoo boy, its your lucky fucking day cuz I'm feelin' generous and shit after that bag of coke." Skidmark grinned with his rotting teeth, "Yeah we ran into bike fuckers that sound like what you're lookin' for. Sped past us almost an hour ago, headin' Westside outside the new entrance of Shart-a-high."
Truth.
"Svartalfheim?" She groaned. That means that their target had changed directions and are heading west now- almost circling back. It's going to take almost an hour to get there. This whole venture was turning out to be a wild goose chase. She thought that they were just going to sniff out some people hiding out in someone's basement somewhere, not riding across the Undercity twice!
"Yeah, yeah. The Empire's shart town with the fancy name. Who gives a fuck?" Skidmark sneered- horking to spit off the side of his car.
"And it's Svartalfheim!" Grue protested. "You can't pay me enough to go there again! Once was more than enough!"
"But everyone tolerated you just fine when you wore the visitor pass!" Regent pointed out. "Everyone was happy to see you, and even waved, smiled, laughed and everything! There was even a line to take photos with you. You were a celebrity!"
"That's because they found it funny making the 'visitor's pass' a noose!"
"It wouldn't have been as funny if you didn't look so constipated walking around with it!" Regent just laughed.
"Knock it off!" Tattletale yelled at both of them, "We're just passing by Svartalfheim. You heard what Skidmark said, they were speeding past the new entrance. Let's just focus on catching up."
"Oh, OH right! Gotta advertise and shit." Skidmark shouted out in a daze before breaking out in a crooked, rotten grin at them, "Now if you kids need drugs, then Skidmarkia's where it's at! Got all the good shit you need. Coke, speed, crank, smack, or just plain pot. We've got it all for you."
"Skiddie!" Squealer whined, "We gotta go! I'm fucking hungry!"
"Alright, doll." the Merchant supervillain laughed before looking over to her and the rest of the Undersiders, "Er.. right. Stay outta school, do some drugs, or not, I ain't your daddy. Thanks for the easy dosh, suckers! Ahahahaha!"
With a slam of metal hatches and roar of engines, the spiky armoured drug car went speeding off down into the tunnels. Tattletale glanced at the direction where they were supposed to go- a massive winding tunnel almost thirty kilometres long. It looks like it was going to be another half hour of dog galloping followed by two days of sore crotch.
"Come on..." she grunted- patted the giant dog's back. "Let's go."
"No. Dogs are tired." came Bitch's gruff reply, and Tattletale's blonde hair whipped the air as she looked at the other girl incredulously.
"What do you mean 'No?'" She squawked. "They're mutant dogs! And last time, they stayed mutant for longer too!"
"Don't care, still tired." Bitch flatly replied- dismounting from her dog and landing on the ground with a disgusting squelch.
She's right, he looks dog tired." Regent agreed with sagely nod.
"Well, smart ass." she snapped at him, "The nearest known exit to the upper city is just 3 kilometres down this sewer that's between the ABB and Merchant territories!"
Regent glanced down the tunnel.
"Fuck."
"No, don't collapse on me!" Tattletale pleaded to the horse-sized mutant dog that she riding on. A tiny terrier named Angelica if she recalled correctly.
But collapse, Angelica did- all their dogs did, and they were forced to quickly dismount before they were thrown onto the sewer floor.
"Ugh. Gross." Tattletale grunted at how the floor was sticky and tried not to activate her power. Bitch wasted no time in digging her dogs out of their shells of mutant superpowered flesh. They had a very gross problem now. Cellphone reception was shit when you were more than a hundred metres underground, and it was going to be a long walk to the surface.
In select areas in the city, you could even accidentally (or not so accidentally) tunnel your way into the Undercity from your basement. If the subway tunnels were the arteries of Brockton Bay, then there was a capillary network of service tunnels that spread in every direction.
And if you're really (un)lucky, you'd stumble into some underground bunker. It didn't take long for those unlucky people to find the nearest gang knocking on their door to politely ask that they sell their property.
Living quarters large enough for a hundred people. Garages that lead up almost to the surface or to the tunnel roads. Cellblocks, saferooms, and tall cylindrical rooms that looked suspiciously like ICBM silos. For some strange and worrying reason, Magos had left half-finished military bases all over the Brockton Bay underground.
Empty, unused, ready for the taking. Had been ready for the taking, because of course, the gangs found them, and began moving in. The ABB, the E88, the Merchants, and out of city ones that began moving in as well.
Skidmarkia. The Merchants had made their military base into a massive drug lab, distribution centre and den. Literal metric tonnes of drugs flowed in and out of the city through their territory. The air there was thick with the fumes of almost every drug known to man.
They aimed to make the Undercity into the logistics hub for their drug empire, and the amount of cash that Skidmark of all people was pulling in was absolutely criminal in more ways than one.
Svartalfheim. The Empire had made their military base into a fortress where they LARPed the 3rd Reich... including the part where they were building up a massive stockpile of real working armaments and soldiers. Rumours of how their foreign backers, the Gesellschaft, aimed to make the Undercity into their own personal beachhead in controlling America were already floating around.
'Six Heavens.' The ABB had made their military base into a red light district. Brothels and sex hotels where their human trafficking and forced prostitution ran free. Frightened boys and girls were shipped from the poorest parts of Northern America so that they could be trained and put to work battling Magos' sex dolls in the sex industry.
And of course, they found no end to customers searching for the wares of live meat that Lung offered instead of the cool silicon of Magos' sex dolls. The sex tourism of Brockton Bay was alive and pumping because of them.
Likelihood of undiscovered bunkers out there, extremely high; Cape groups will flock to Brockton Bay for them.
Just people fighting over the same things as they had on the surface. Everyone may be wanting a slice of the French pie that Dragon was baking on the surface. But like a cracked out hobo living in a Parisian sewer, good old Brockton Bay was still alive and kicking under the surface- all ready to use a rusty STD-riddled knife to mug someone for their money and left shoe.
But just as they were about to do the long Walk of Shame to the surface world, a familiar modulated voice sounded out from just beside them. There right beside them was a flying car painted red with no windshields or doors floated silently as if it had always been there.
Four Chloe-Skitarii, armed with {Arc Rifles}, stood perfectly balanced on the running board on either side of the car. And right there on the driver's seat was Magos himself, his distinct glowing tripartic optics inset in his usual red-robed figure.
"Get in, losers. We're going hunting." Magos invited them on.
"Magos! My hero!" Regent announced as he climbed aboard. Grue, Bitch and her four dogs were quick to follow as well. With Magos taking one look at the filthy dogs before clasping his hands in prayer.
"Machine-spirit, I beseech you to forgive this trespass by these drooling, foul-smelling meatforms as we deliver them to the light of the surface. And the canines as well."
"Geez, which family of 8-feet-tall giants did you make these seats for?" Tattletale muttered as she climbed aboard the flying car and riding shotgun in the oversized passenger seat just beside the toaster (because of course Magos would have a toaster on his flying car) and she couldn't help but feel like a small child riding in her dad's big SUV for the first time.
"Rowboat and his Primaris Ultrasmurfs." He answered seriously, "Also, my girlfriend's favourite power armour is 8-feet-tall."
"Well, I'm not going to complaini!" Regent gushed- getting comfy into his big seat, "I could just kiss you for saving me from having to walk!"
"I'm sorry." Magos politely said, "But you're a hideous gland-goblin, and also, your boyfriend is right there."
"What?! We're not together!" Grue immediately denied with a panicked shout, and Magos immediately turned around to look at him.
"You have North America's most sought after femboy on your team and you're not sleeping with him?" Magos asked Grue incredulously, "Are you gay or something?"
"I know, right?!" Regent giggled, "I thought he'd make a move on me soon, but he hasn't! I'm starting to think he really prefers men."
Grue just sputtered- unable to comprehend the mental gymnastics about femboys.
"Hey, don't toy with my teammates for their low IQ!" Tattletale protested, "Only I can do that!"
"Just... Drive. Fly. Whatever." Grue groaned in defeat- burying his helmeted face into his palms, "The Dragonslayers were last seen heading west from the new entrance of Svartalfheim. The sooner we finish this mission, the better."
"West from that tunnel section, you say?" Magos hummed in contemplation, "There is only one exit that leads to. All of you, hold on. If any of you fall off, I will not be coming back for you."
And with that, they sped off- skating over thin air in total silence as if they were a paper plane. Nothing but the flapping of the Chloe-Skitarii's red robes filling the air as the massive LED lights of the tunnels passed them by with regularity.
What Magos planned on fighting that required the city to have a massive network of bunkers underground, she did not want to know. As it was, it felt like Magos wanted people to fight for dominance in the Undercity. He made some polite noises whenever it's brought up, but no concrete actions haven't been taken.
Magos just can't care less; Wants Mechanicus to stay neutral rogue to supply everyone with everything at low prices.
Magos doesn't discriminate between any and all humans; sees them all as inferior meatbags.
Cold calculus of resources and logistics, aims to save humanity from hunger and poverty; but doesn't care who rules over it.
"Pretty much." Magos answered- not even glancing at her. "Human politics are for humans."
"And you're not even going to try and deny i- What?" She whispered. She didn't say all those things out loud, did she?
"You're not the only psychic in Brockton Bay." He shrugged as if he didn't do anything noteworthy.
It's a trick, he can't actually read thoughts; true psychic ability is impossible even with powers.
Can cold read as well, Lisa untrained at controlling her expressions, used to reading them; Lisa has little defence.
Tattletale didn't bother to hide how she rolled her eyes. Thanks, power, you're so useful. She totally couldn't have figured that one out on her own. And yes, she was aware of her weakness; It's why she mostly went on the offensive and needled people first... Apart from her enjoying pissing people off, of course. Smug expressions also suited her far better than anything else.
"Neat trick." She scoffed- crossing her arms over her chest. "But I can do that too, you know? Were you actually looking to impress me- a real Thinker- with your half-assed Thinker rating?"
"Well, show me what you can do, 'real' Thinker." He said, making a magnanimous gesture that conveyed 'Come at me, bro.'
She smirked as she focused her power on his body language and found nothing. Right... he's a full cyborg, she can't actually read his body language. She wished her power would actually give her something juicy about him. Regent already shows her up in looks, this is no time to get shown up in the brains department too.
"It's not that hard to show you up on either account, to be honest." He answered as if hearing her thoughts.
Magos - 1
Tattletale - 0
No, no, no! She can still win this! She just needed to win back the momentum and put him on the back foot. She needed something to go on apart from the body language. Pushing her power, she was immediately supplied her with an interesting bit of information.
Previous observations show that evoking strong emotions from him was enough to make his body language leak through.
Face no longer skull tight, Is a mask made to go over a face; Magos has a human face now.
Implies the possibility that Magos could be anyone who he chooses to be; Magos has a Changer/Stranger rating now.
Has a tendency to employ younger corpo-capes including Glory Girl under alias.
Imply unfaithfulness; Possibly evoke defensiveness.
She could do one better.
"Now that you have a human face, I'd bet you're sneaking out with teenage girls like me all the time, huh?" She taunted with a sly smirk. He glanced over to her where she was striking a sexy pose- showing off the curves that her skintight black and purple catsuit highlighted. She was not about to lose over Regent, not again.
"I'm... flattered, but you too are a hideous gland-goblin."
Lie -
That was a Lie! Tattletale grinned. Heh, she still got it!
- He isn't flattered at all; Actually finds it off-putting that someone as disgusting as you is attracted to him.
... Arrrrgggh! Fuck you, Magos! And fuck you too, power!
Magos - 2
Tattletale - 0
"Well, you're ugly under that mask too!" She yelled at him- just resorting to schoolyard insults.
"Tats." Grue whispered from behind her, "Stop having a pissing contest with the boss' boss. We're almost at the end of the tunnel."
"This isn't over." she hissed to Magos with narrowed eyes.
"I didn't even start." He dismissed her with an amused chortle.
They made some turns after that- guided on by the still sharp noses of Bitch's partially mutated dog. Until finally, in the distance, a spot of sunlight could be seen growing larger and larger as they sped through the air. The dark concrete giving way to the warm sunlight, and the cool fresh air hitting their faces as they emerged from the tunnels and they found themselves under the big blue sky again.
Tattletale squinted as the glare of the mid afternoon sun blinded her for a moment before she found where they were: Right at the western edge of Brockton Bay City- the tunnel emerging from the side of a hill and into the suburban outskirts. Already, some of the ballsier local kids with no self-preservation instincts were taking photos and videos, and she just sighed. Can't even do cape work without getting gawked at anymore.
The speeder slowed down to just walking speed- hovering just inches above the snowy ground.
"The trail has literally gone cold..." Magos muttered before clapping with his armoured hands. "Alright, Undersiders. My Chloe-Skitarii will take a bullet for you if it comes to that. Meanwhile, do your thing with your meat-based olfactory sensors."
"You could just call them noses... " Tattletale grumbled as she hopped out of the speeder and facing their resident canine expert, "Bitch? Where'd they go now?"
"Brutus is on it." their canine expert replied, gesturing to her normal-sized Rottweiler who was sniffing the snowy grass- eventually leading them to some bushes.
"No Dragonslayers, but we found their bikes at least- what?" Grue tried to be professional, but stopped when he heard her sigh in disappointment.
"Those aren't their bikes." she pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone. The models and plate numbers may have been the same, but her power could easily tell the difference, it was good for that much at least.
"Then that means... we fell for a decoy?" Grue murmured- voice steeped in sheer disbelief.
"Yep, we fell for a decoy. Like amateurs." She grumbled- kicking the wheel. "The Dragonslayers must have dismounted sometime ago and someone else continued making the trail."
"And I found them..." Magos announced, "That atm camera over there saw the decoys leave their motorbikes and climb into a van. Looks like the muscle from the Elite: Bastard Son and his gang... If we can subdue them, I can 'persuade' them to give up their employers, and from there, it won't matter where the Dragonslayers run or hide. I might even hire them and turn them against the Dragonslayers if time permits."
"Sorry to break it to you, boss." Regent sheepishly said, "But we're not made for head-on fighting."
"Very well, consider yourselves dismissed then... with no bonus." Magos shrugged, and Tattletale recoiled as if she had been slapped.
"What? Why?!" She and Grue shouted in horror- that was way too much money to just lose out on. Coil paid them peanuts compared to what Magos usually hands them on top of things. The snake bastard was elated that Magos was giving them so much in bonuses- it gave him an excuse to lower their pay. US tipping culture at its worst.
"Why?" Magos parroted as if stunned by how they missed the blatantly obvious, "The Dragonslayers aren't currently mummified in wrapping paper for me to give along with a cake to Dragon for our monthsary, are they now?"
"But-!"
"And neither is my dick currently being sucked by a happy AI thrilled by her cake and present, is it?"
"Hey, that's-!"
"Well, is it?!" He gestured to his metal-plated crotch.
Magos is horny and frustrated. Has regular sexual contact with Dragon. Addicted to her. Anything that will help him get laid to an AI is definitely an avenue for bribery. Three Blasphemies are the only other well-known AI with human morphology. Attaining contact with local capes to facilitate a 'face-to-face' will be highly valuable for Magos.
Conversely, Dragon is sexually active. Has a sense of taste judging by the cake. Likes new sensations, bribing with exotic foods likely to work.
"No, it isn't..." Tattletale admitted with a sigh. Well, she got her wish and got under Magos' skin, and now her power was working on him again, but... Bribe the robots with food and sex? That was just insane enough that it perfectly fit what she knew of Magos.
"Come on, you can't blame that on us!" Grue also protested.
"But is that it?" Regent interrupted with a laugh, "Well, if you just wanted fellatio, I don't mind if I-"
"Regent, don't you dare finish that sentence!" She and Grue shouted at the femboy in unison.
"Fine..." he raised his hands in surrender, "...I was just going to take one for the team, and you can't tell me that you're not just a tiny bit curious about the 'fabled cyberdong that slayed the Dragon'?"
Tattletale's facepalm echoed through the afternoon air.
"Bah!" Magos just threw his hands in the air, "If you aren't willing to go through with it, I'll just call Glory Girl and the PRT... they can use a curbstomp win against the public enemy that trashed their city. Glory Girl in particular too, because her old house was wrecked in the fighting."
"Wait, wait, wait. Don't cut us out so quickly." Grue protested- just a bit desperate for the 30-50 grand. "We might not be good in a head-on fight, but we're good with running interference! We can screen for the heroes!"
Regent just looked shocked.
"Okay, that's where I draw the line!" He protested- having apparently grown survival instincts only after sexually propositioning their boss. "We're still a villain group! Riding around the Undercity is one thing, but working with the PRT and New Wave is another. And getting forced into the Wards is definitely going to cut into my streaming hours!"
"You mean the hours where you just laze around, play video games and get paid for it?" Grue clarified with a critical eye at the French canadian. He was still upset at how easy he had it. "You can just go back."
"I can organise a truce." Magos considered, "After all, you're doing a service to the community in helping with the capture of Dragonslayers. I'll even ask Glory Girl to bring along her sister in case of injuries alongside some medicae-servitors just in case you meatbags hurt your laughably fragile flesh."
"I guess..." She heard Regent consider it now, "You're coming along?"
And Magos guffawed- slapping the hood of his speeder.
"Of course, do you see this?!" he laughed, "George told me that he'd happily sell Lucasfilm if I effectively gave him a working AT-RT walker and a speeder! Once he sees this on the internet, the papers are as good as signed. And I'd be damned if I let Disney beat me to the acquisition."
"Disney in charge of Star Wars? That would be the darkest timeline." Regent said with quiet horror, and Magos solemnly nodded.
"Yes, truly the darkest timeline."
"Tats, what do you think?" Grue asked as an aside as they watched the two geek out over Star Wars. "The money isn't worth anything if we just get caught by the PRT."
Enemy capes are likely outnumbered, PR-friendly battle denotes low intensity combat, Reliable safety nets in the form of two different healers; Highly favourable battle and easy money.
Magos has an excellent track record of following through with business deals; Will do his best to guarantee your freedom.
"Well, now that we have Magos' guarantee on the truce... my power says it is going to be fine." She shrugged at him, "The risk is low and the payout, high- no reason to bow out now. We'll bond with the PRT and Glory Girl over stomping around a merc group; AND get paid for it, easy peasey."
"I guess we'll go then." Grue agreed, "Can you talk to Rachel about playing nice with the heroes?"
"Yeah, yeah." She waved him off.
Still, she could only pity the poor saps who were working with the Dragonslayers. The PRT, Glory girl and maybe the Wards and the rest of New Wave... Almost all of the hero-aligned capes in Brockton Bay were coming down hard on them to get an easy, visible win. And she was even sure that some of the gangs would like to join in on the fun too, if it wasn't so public. A lot of the city- gang territory included- was trashed when the Dragonslayers made those Dragon Suits go haywire after all. But they practically dug their own grave.
At this point, who was even stupid enough to go against Magos and Dragon?
(Half an Hour later) [Winslow High]
Attorney Alan Barnes pressed the door lock button- drinking in the stern thump of the doors unlocking on his new Hummer H2.
A big SUV for a big man. Because nothing impresses friends and clients more than a massive 5-by-2 metre SUV with a roaring V8 engine. Powerful, unstoppable- driving over potholes, floods, and assorted roadkill with laughable ease. And also in a nice eye-catching yellow at that.
"Taylor seemed to be in an awful hurry today." He noted, glancing at the rear view mirror to the stick-thin figure jogging away in the distance, and his daughter just laughed from her seat beside him as she tugged on her seatbelts.
"She spilled some ink- well a lot of ink- on her clothes... and hair."
"Oh, that clumsy girl." he sighed with an exasperated smile, "I would have offered her a ride home, but... I just bought this car and I don't want to get ink on the leather seats."
"She'd understand." Emma laughed, "Hey, dad? I kind of maxed out all my credit cards."
"Again?" He faux frowned with a disapproving tone, "That's the second time this month."
"But dad!" She whined- busting out the puppy dog eyes right away, "Sophia, Mads and I are going clubbing over the weekend and we need to coordinate our outfits! Mads and Sophia aren't as well off as we are, so naturally I have to buy them outfits!"
"I was just teasing." He laughed, "I'll pay for it, but this is the last time until we squeeze Dallon dry, okay?"
"Thanks, dad! You're the best!" She beamed as she kissed his cheek- her hand lingered on the sleeve of his navy pinstripe suit as she noticed something, "Your suit is freshly pressed... is it going to be a late night in the office again, dad?"
"Sort of, I'm going to pick up some clients after I drop you off at the mall."
It wasn't unusual actually for him to offer to pick up clients with his own car. It was sort of his style in fact. He loved cars, and it gave him a confidence and a focus that he couldn't find anywhere else. And he was going to need the extra confidence for this one. New clients with wealthy patrons, this could be his in for a long term cash cow. Just like Dallon did for Magos!
He glanced down to the manila folder resting in the map pocket of his car door- recalling the faces of his new clients, and willfully ignored any feeling of resemblance that arose. It was just a coincidence that they had a vague resemblance to the wanted Dragonslayers.
Besides, how can he possibly worry about that when he had something much more important and much more relevant? Because between Dallon's out-of-court settlement and this new client that was going to have him on retainer, he was going to be set for life!