Montage 2.8
"You what?"Cognit hissed, glancing over at Armsmaster to see if he was paying attention.
"I gave it to Dragon." I said. "It wasn't like we could have done anything with it on our own."
"Damn it Sovereign, there's nowaywe're getting ahead of the investigation now," Cognit groaned, leaning away from me.
"Don't be so melodramatic. It was information they needed and data that we couldn't use."
"Couldn't you just use your massive geek brain and-?" Cognit gestured vaguely, as though typing on a keyboard; I stared at him.
Initially, I'd wondered how someone with predictive manipulation could be so consistently offensive, but I quickly intuited the truth – Cognit just didn't care. In layman's terms, he was acomplete ass.
In the center of the room, Armsmaster cleared his throat; side conversations dwindled.
"I'll get straight to the point since we don't have much time. The drafts of troops have been in place for almost 36 hours, meaning we have twelve more to find Diviner before they have to pull out."
"They're just going toleave?" Vista said, shocked. The people around her looked similarly surprised.
"Yes." Armsmaster said bluntly. "Two days is sufficient for local villains to begin taking advantage of the PRT's absence. Once the PRT troops pull back, the commissioner will be unable to maintain the blockade without compromising the city. If we haven't found Diviner before that, it's over."
There was silence in the break room.
Dragon's face appeared on a monitor. "I may have some good news."
"Let's hear it." Armsmaster said, turning his chair.
"After Sovereign's recovery of a cell phone presumably connected to the Master, I began correlating the home, cell, and business numbers of the previous victims and discovered a link." Images appeared – pages, covered in numbers and addresses. Yellow pages. Red circles appeared, sequential dates filling in next to them.
It only took me a second to make the connection. They were different pages, but the time stamps were descending with the entries, so-
"They're going through the phone book?" Cognit asked, incredulous. "Talk about an old school method."
"Something like that, yes," Dragon said, images disappearing. "Initially, we assumed it was random, but I now believe the Master is choosing targets from a list-"
"Hold up a second," Assault interrupted, raising a hand. "If they're choosing from a phone book, how did Larry what's-his-face get hit? They don't record cell numbers, right?"
When she replied, Dragon's voice had a slight edge to it. "I believe they have been moving through a different medium. The last six victims were all school related, though from different districts; likely, they have access to a registry of some sort."
"They're in a school, or something like it." I murmured, mind racing. "Schools are all out for the summer – they would be the only ones there."
Armsmaster nodded. "We can't assume it's a school, but it's still the best lead we have. Assault, Battery, we're modifying our patrols. Miss Militia, if the graft has set and the doctor gives you the all-clear, you can join us; otherwise, man the radio. Wards, stay clear and continue suppressing local crime –is that clear?"
Cognit opened his mouth to object, but I stomped on his foot.
Hard.
He whimpered, eyes watering, and sunk lower in his seat.
"Yes sir," we chorused back with various states of enthusiasm.
Armsmaster eyed us for a moment, then snorted. "Dismissed."
The three of us stood as one and made for the door. Behind us, Armsmaster started to speak again.
"As for hero reinforcements, Director Costa-Brown will only authorize-"
The door closed, cutting him off.
"So," Cognit said, rubbing his foot gingerly. "I'm assuming you have a plan?"
I grinned. "Boy,do I."
--
We split up, as usual. Vista and Cognit went one way, while I went the other.
Despite the wave of chaos sweeping through the city, it was largely quiet. After Marquis's gang dissolved and the Teeth had been thrown out of the Bay, there was a new status quo – don't mess with the Protectorate. Most villainy was done secretively, at night and behind closed doors. The only real threat was the Empire, and even they had the sense to stay quiet when the PRT was patrolling in force.
Like now, for example.
They won't have to stay quiet for much longer, I thought grimly. If we didn't find this Master and recover Claire soon, we never would.
"Anything?" I asked, casually playing catch with a pebble.
"Nothing yet," Cognit's voice crackled from my earpiece, sounding strangely mechanical; I could barely tell that it was him.
"Militia's not going to broadcast when they do find something,"Vista said. "She knows we're listening, and MS protocol in this situation is pretty tight."
The mere thought of a phone propagating Master effect had sent the PRT into full paranoia mode. Every Hero and squaddie's earpiece had been set for full audio transcription, which meant that my teammates' voices were fully synthetic. It didn't stop ambient noise, but no Master was going to compromise the entire Protectorate ENE with a single transmitter.
The tone copying was pretty good, but there was a high pitched whine with each sentence that hurt my ears.
I made a noncommittal noise, eyeing a nearby alleyway. There was a man lurking there, peaking out from behind the wall occasionally – shabby clothes, squinty eyes, and he had one hand in his jacket pocket.
Suspicious. I caught the pebble one last time, reared back my arm, and threw it. It bounced off his forehead, making him swear and stagger backwards. He looked up, searching for his aggressor; when he found me, I drew two fingers across my throat.
Eyes bulging, the would-be mugger sprinted off into the night.
"Patience," I told Vista, picking up a new rock to play catch with. "Just gotta have patience."
--
"I got it!" Cognit's voice crackled out over the radio, making me pause mid-beating. "Two PRT squads have been dispatched to 1100 Axle Way, but their locators ping them elsewhere. Armsmaster's GPS is with them, and he brought Assault and Battery!"
"Gotta be them," I dropped the thug to the ground. He whimpered, scooting backwards, his two friends lying in an unconscious pile behind him. Robbing a convenience store while the city's like this, how shameful – and stereotypical. "Behave for the nice man. If I have to come back here, I'm going to try my hand at skipping you across the bay, okay?"
The thug nodded fearfully. I reached down, grabbed the one gun that wasn't twisted into modern art, and handed it to the shocked clerk.
"I've got an emergency. Think you can handle this till the police drop by?"
The clerk, a thirty-something man who'd been quivering like a bowl of jelly the whole time, nodded with a fierce look on his face. "I-I won't let you down sir!"
"Good. Just keep the gun on them and if you have to shoot, aim for center mass." I stepped through the broken store window and tapped the communicator button again. "I'm on my way. You two keep monitoring – this might be a feint."
"A feint?"Vista said. "You think they're testing us?"
"They can be tricky like that," I lied. "Let me check it out first."
This plan wasstupid.
--
As it turned out, the mystery location was Immaculata. I'd never actually seen it in person, though I spotted a faded brochure on Dad's desk at one point.
In the daylight, the brickwork would practically glow in the sunlight, the concrete white and pristine, the trees green and inviting. It would have looked – well, immaculate. A haven for the city's wealthy heirs. It practically rained down class from the fountain outside.
At night, the whole place creeped me out a little.
There were PRT vans parked outside. The lights were off, and the insides were empty and silent.
"It's quiet," I said aloud. "Tooquiet. Cognit, anything from the radio?"
"Negative - they're probably using short range squad communications. Should we move out? Vista and I-"
"Let me check it out a bit more – I'll tell you what I find."
Like hell I was bringing along more targets for the enemy Master.
There was a moment of worrying silence from the other end. "Right."
Alrighty then; I cracked my knuckles and stepped forward.
Time to earn my salary - and possibly lose my job.
The door was locked, but it didn't take much to shove open. The hallways were dark, but I could see light under one of the doors. With a quick burst of movement, I turned the handle and tapped it with my shoe, catapulting it forward to find –
-an empty office. One of the filing cabinets was open, papers stacked neatly on the counter next to it, and a computer was displaying an employee register.
Bingo.I unplugged it, then glanced around.Now . . . where are the Protectorate forces?
Abruptly, the lights died, plunging me into sudden darkness. I tensed, ready to defend myself, but nothing happened.
What I wouldn't give for a motion tracker.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my ears. Out of all my enhanced senses, this was the one I reached for the least. The halls and classrooms of Immaculata were quiet and still, but I could hear movement in the gym – low murmurs, and shoes squeaking on floors.
"You think he's still out there?"
Assault's voice?
"Has to be. He's never been the type to give up."
Definitely Battery speaking.
Good enough for me. I moved out and through the halls, navigating towards the sound.
It was dark without the electricity on. The only lighting came from PRT headlamps and Battery's costume, which was softly glowing.
The gym was three rooms down, and it was . . . fairly average. Basketball hoops hung from either side, with dark lines lacquered onto the floor. Retracted fold out bleachers covered one wall, with a long stage curving out from the other. Assault and Battery were sitting there, feat dangling listlessly off the side.
My fellow superheroes looked up when I entered, wariness morphing to surprise.
"Sovereign!" Battery exclaimed. "What are youdoinghere?"
"Came to help," I said. "Figured with all those empty vans outside, something was going on. Where's Armsmaster?"
"He turned his comms off," Assault said, glancing around. "We haven't heard from him; I think he's been compromised."
I raised an eyebrow. "That so? Then why aren't you out looking for him?"
The pair of them tilted their heads in eerie synchronicity. "Because it's not safe to leave."
"You're heroes," I pointed out logically. "You do unsafe things all the time."
"I-" Battery said, blinking. "Maybe you're right?"
"I guess-" Assault began, only to get cut off.
"A-a-and cut!" The man that stepped out from behind the curtain was unassuming with brown hair and fair skin. Even his costume, a clergy outfit with a domino mask, looked drab next to the rank-and-file PRT soldiers. "He ain't buying it, kids. That's alright –we're all friends here, yeah? No need for anyone to get hurt, or arrested."
It didn't feel like anything. I was expecting some sort of goofy, morphine-like cloud to descend that I'd have to shake off, or maybe a wave of emotion to crash over me.
Instead, I felt . . . nothing.
"Of course," I said, everyone present repeating the phrase.
"Like a moth to the flame." He laughed, jumping down off the stage. "Was a little bit worried there when the lights turned off. Your buddy Armsmaster, he's a clever dude – moment the intercom started blasting sound, everyone else just stopped, but not Armsmaster."
Ah; that would be how he compromised the earbuds. Even if they filtered out everything, there was still vibrations being transmitted through the skull. Enough sound would go right past them, and if he had time to prepare . . .
"Sealed helmet with its own tinkertech filters," I agreed. "Tricky to get around."
"Guess so. 'Course, all his friends came in fat, dumb and happy, trusting – what, PRT trash made by the lowest bidder? You aren't even wearing a pair."
"Fat and dumb? Sort of insulting, don't you think?"
"Don't worry about it," the villain said, waving me off. "Everyone but the new guy, you'd very much like to stand over in the corner and be silent. You're . . . Sovereign, right? A Ward?"
"Yes. I'm looking for my friend, Diviner."
"Oh, she's not here. In fact, don't worry about her for now." He eyed me. "Would you consider yourself aclosefriend?"
Not here? Damn; guess that would be too simple. I needed to talk to her alone, if only to confirm a few things before I took her back. Time to improvise.
"We're pretty close." I lied with a pang of remorse; I hadn't paid as much attention to Claire as I should have.
"Good, good, then I guess this little excursion paid off. Was worried no one would take the bait until the vans pulled up outside."
"So it was a trap after all."
He clapped sarcastically. "Only took you ten minutes to figure out. Kudos."
I stopped my eye from twitching only with maximal effort. "It occurs to me, I don't actually know your name."
"Hn. Guess you're right. I'm Deacon, andyou, my friend Sovereign, are going to be mybestest bud." Deacon draped one arm around my shoulders; to my dismay, he was wearing an unpleasant amount of aftershave. I tried to breathe lightly, then resigned myself to not breathing at all. "Once we leave, that persistent bastard's going to be waiting to ambush.Your job is to knock him out; after, I need you to help me, ah,convinceClaire of something, then you can go."
"Oh,good."
"Everyone else, stick around!" He called out. "Nothing's wrong, and you don't need to go anywhere!"
With that, he marched me out, arm still around my shoulder.
This plan was officially one of the worst I'd ever made.