Before I start this chapter I just want to clear up some potential confusing things from the last chapter.
First of all, the random things that Danny had said to the receptionist was a reference to the "Armsmaster's Random Excuse Generator". I highly doubt that any government agency would actually use obscure code words like that for what are supposed to be discrete meetings.
Next, the floor that the meeting is on, which will be referenced later in the story as the ninth floor, is supposed to be a highly secure floor. Nobody goes in or out without proper clearance and approval. People who have a high enough clearance CAN access this floor, but only as long as there is also not anybody there who doesn't have the proper clearance. For these matters the floor is also supposed to be locked to a tight schedule during times that people who don't have proper clearance are present. This obviously didn't happen as intended. ;D
Daughter of Sunlight - 1.3
The first thing I noticed upon entering the room was the complete lack of windows. It was disconcerting at first, making the room feel more like a jail cell, rather than the office space of one of the most important PRT employees in the region.
"Sorry about that." Deputy Director Renick said as he pulled up his seat behind his large desk. "An old friend of mine dropped by unexpectedly and we were catching up on old times. I probably should have informed the front desk to not send you up until we were done."
My dad and I sat down on the pair of folding chairs that had been set up across from him. While they were nowhere near as nice as the seats had been out in the lounge, they were still much better than what I had expected.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Though I am surprised that you know Tom also." my dad replied with a small smile. "He used to hire out the dock workers quite frequently back when his company was building the local Endbringer shelters. Not the friendliest of guys, but great at what he does."
To that Renick gave a smile and a nod. "Quite. So, first of all, there are just a few pieces of information that I need to ask of you before we can get you signed up for the Wards. While I would like you to be as honest as possible with your answers, if you feel uncomfortable with answering any just let me know."
"Okay." I responded. "What do you need to know?"
"Alright, first question then. What powers do you have?" Renick asked, readying a clipboard.
"Well… So far I have two powers that I know of." I began, pausing briefly as the Deputy Director began writing. "They both seem to start as the same thing, small motes of light around my arms. From there, I can turn them into either lightning bolts or orbs that emit a healing light."
He briefly nodded as he finished writing on his clipboard. "Alright then Taylor, how long have you had your powers?"
"...Two days." I answered after a brief delay, looking down towards the floor. "I got my powers two days ago, Friday afternoon."
An odd clicking noise caught my attention. Bringing my eyes back up I noticed the look of confusion on Renick's face. His eyes had widened and the blank stare he was giving me was rather unsettling.
After a moment he seemed to compose himself before reaching down to the floor. It was then I realized that the clicking noise had been from him dropping his pen. Had my answer really been that surprising?
"I'm sorry, but did you say that you got your powers two days ago?" I nodded in response to his question. "Wow… that is really quite strange."
"How so?" Dad asked from his seat next to me.
"Are you aware of how parahumans get their powers, their trigger events?" Renick asked. We both nodded our heads in agreement. "Some parahumans don't even realize they have a power right away. Others decide to take some time to sort out what they can and cannot do, test their limits. The normal time frame for when a parahuman decides that they want to join the Wards or Protectorate is generally measured in months, not days."
Renick took a quick pause to write something down on the clipboard. "Generally the only times members of the Wards join up quickly is when they have an obvious trigger event in either public or in front of their parents, resulting in their parents trying to force them into the Wards for their own safety. Even then, they normally take at least a week or two."
That made sense to me. Parents who knew that their kid had superpowers should want them to be in the safest situation possible... Unless they were members of one of the local gangs or they were the type of parents that would use their kids for their own benefit.
"I have to ask this," the Deputy Director's voice broke me from my thoughts, "if you are being pressured into joining the Wards by your father you have the full right to say no. We are not allowed to force you to join against your will."
The small noise of indignation that I heard from next to me made me glance to where my dad was sitting. I was surprised when I saw that this single question had annoyed him as much as it appeared to have.
"Are you asking me if I'm forcing my daughter to join the Wards?" he asked, small amounts of anger slipping into his voice.
The Deputy Director shook his head quickly at this. "No, I am not. However, this has occurred before. Things got out of hand when the child decided to run away from home instead being forced to join. We try to avoid having repeats of that happening."
I reached out and set my hand on Dad's leg, giving him a reassuring look. Turning back towards Renick I gave him a small smile as I responded.
"I'm the one that asked Dad if I could join the Wards. I insisted that we try to get in as soon as we could."
This seemed to cause Renick to relax into his chair. He smiled as he made a couple more notes on his clipboard before looking back up at us.
"Very good." he said from across the table. "Now for some of the potentially uncomfortable questions. Why do you want to join the Wards?"
The question took me by surprise, though it really shouldn't have. I knew the answer to this question. I wanted revenge against the people who murdered my best friend. I wanted revenge against the so-called 'independent hero' that had watched it happen, only jumping in when it was already too late.
I also knew that giving the reason of 'revenge' as a reason to want to join team of heroes was probably not the best possible answer.
"I…" I hesitated as I tried to think of a way I could put it that wouldn't sound too bad. Or I could just say that I wasn't comfortable answering the question, but what would that make the PRT think?
It only took me a few seconds to think up an answer, but it felt like much longer to me. I took a deep breath to calm myself before speaking.
"My best friend was recently killed by the one of the gangs." I began, tears beginning to build up as I thought back to when I had just gotten the news. "I want to help stop the gangs that think they can do anything here in Brockton Bay. I want to do whatever I can to help this city become a better place."
Was my answer a tad cliche and corny? Most likely, but I hoped that it was the type of answer that would have me seen in a better light.
...And now I'm crying again. The combination of my lack of sleep and everything that had happened the past few days once again crashing around me. Why did all of this have to happen to me? Why couldn't I just turn back time and have my best friend back? What wouldn't I give to have the ability to talk to her just one more time?
I felt a pair of familiar arms pull me into a hug. As my father held me I cried into his shoulder. I didn't care that I was in a meeting with the Deputy Director of the regional PRT. I didn't care how this affected how I was seen by the PRT in the future. All I cared about was that I had lost my best friend, and that she wasn't coming back.
And so I cried.
It took about twenty minutes, and more than a couple of tissues, before I was in any state to continue with the questions. Deputy Director Renick looked rather uncomfortable with the situation, but in a city like Brockton Bay I was sure he understood what it was like to lose a friend suddenly.
"It's okay." Renick said with a reassuring smile. "Most parahumans refuse to talk about their trigger event. From what it sounds like you just told me about yours, correct?"
I nodded slightly in response, blowing my nose in another tissue as he made another note on his clipboard.
"Are you ready for one of the last questions?" I nodded again. "Okay then, could you please give me a brief demonstration of your powers?" Renick asked. "Nothing destructive though, so how about the healing light you mentioned?"
I nodded for a third time, closing my eyes as I focused. As I did so I could feel as the motes of light began forming around my arms, slowly condensing into a sphere between my hands. When the sphere was large enough I reopened my eyes before holding it out in front of me.
Upon releasing the light from my hands it floated in front of the three of us. The light it emitted looked dim compared to the lights in the ceiling, however the feeling of warmth spread from where the light shone onto me. I felt relieved as my reddened eyes and runny nose both cleared up swiftly.
Now if only it could treat the cause of my tears, instead of just curing the symptoms.
The sudden, deep breath from across the desk let me know that the Deputy Director had also felt the change caused by the light. I wonder how many small aches and pains just cleared up for him?
"Alright, I can definitely feel that." He said, glancing interestedly at the sphere. "We'll need to do some full testing on what the rest of your powers can do later, along with the limits on your healing."
With that I made the light dissipate. While Renick looked somewhat surprised by this, he was quick to regain a neutral composure.
"So, while I think I already know the answer to this question I still have to ask this." He started as he addressed both me and Dad. "Are you both completely sure on having Taylor join the Wards?"
My father glanced briefly at me, with which I responded with a small smile and a nod of my head.
"Yes, we are sure. We both believe that she should be in the Wards."
The Deputy Director smiled at our response, before opening up a drawer in his desk. The stack of papers he pulled out was rather discomforting. How many things were we going to need to sign for this?
"Don't worry, Taylor, a good chunk of this is informational pamphlets." he said as he removed some of the papers and put them into a satchel that he had hidden under his desk. I recognized it as one of the ones from the gift shop downstairs.
When he handed me the satchel I noticed that the satchel also contained a couple of t-shirts from the gift shop, enough to completely conceal the papers.
It was then that I realized that even though probably three quarters of the papers hadn't needed to be signed, the rest of the stack was still sitting in front of us. Oh boy…
"Well, it's best for us to get started quickly." Dad said from next to me, picking up . "Just make sure to read everything carefully."
I wonder if my power will heal wrist cramps…
Over the next hour or so I learned that yes, my powers can effectively heal the cramps caused by signing so many legal documents. I just hoped that it didn't become a common occurrence, especially seeing as Dad insisted on going over everything as closely as he possibly could.
'Never sign anything without reading everything' He had said, followed shortly by a story about a time when some members of the Dockworkers Union had been denied being paid due to an unnoticed clause in a contract. It sounded a little far fetched to me, but I didn't want to take any chances with a choice that could affect the rest of my life.
As the Deputy Director finished reviewing all of the papers that we had signed he placed them back in the drawer.
"Alright, looks like almost everything is in order." Renick began. "We'll make sure to give you a call in a couple of days to set up your power testing and introduce you to the rest of your team."
Renick paused briefly, quickly looking at one of the notes he had written on his clipboard.
"However, there is one minor issue. Due to how close it is to the beginning of the school year, we won't be able to transfer you into Arcadia without it being obvious to the faculty that you're the new Ward."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked. "What do you mean? I was going to be transferred to Arcadia?"
The blank stare I got from across the desk was rather unnerving, even though I was getting used to him doing it. Why was this man so easily confused?
"That's… Huh… I thought that…" Deputy Director Renick muttered from across the table. "I guess that it isn't completely common knowledge that almost all of the current members of the Wards attend Arcadia. It just surprised me that you hadn't known."
Now it was my turn to stare blankly. My father was the one who decided to break the awkward silence next.
"Why would all of the Wards go to Arcadia?" Dad asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to have them spread out throughout all of the schools in the city?"
Renick shook his head at this. "Arcadia is only a few minutes away from the PRT building, even by foot. Alongside this, the way Arcadia has their schedule set up means that a good amount of the students only have their core classes up until noon, which allows the Wards to leave earlier in the day with less suspicion."
"Additionally," Renick continued, "Immaculata, Winslow and Clarendon have all refused to allow any sort of program that would allow the Wards to be able to leave earlier in the day. Clarendon and Immaculata are also significantly farther away from the PRT building than Winslow is. Unfortunately this means that for at least the first semester, and probably your entire freshman year, you will have to attend Winslow."
"Wait a second." Dad quickly cut in, confusion on his face. "Why are you making it sound like Winslow is such a bad place for her to go to school?"
"You must have not talked to anybody who has kids in Winslow about it." Deputy Director Renick began. "Winslow has probably the lowest funding for any public school its size in the entire state. Along with that, it's also reported as being one of the most common places that the major gangs in the city like to recruit younger members from."
As my dad and I exchanged glances over this new information, one thought crossed my mind.
Well, how bad could this possibly be.
...Ah shit, I just tempted fate, didn't I?
By the time Dad and I finally made it home it was almost dark outside. We had stopped briefly to pick up some dinner from a small Chinese restaurant on our way home, which I had happily eaten. Not having breakfast and having a small lunch didn't exactly make for a pleasant day, then again neither did going to your best friend's funeral.
I shook my head as I climbed the stairs, trying to keep myself from going back into those thoughts. I really didn't feel like having another emotional breakdown yet. Making it into my room I dropped the new satchel I had been given onto my bed.
It was then I remembered that the Deputy Director had mentioned that there were some informational packets that I should read. Informational packets that I had with me that would probably make a good distraction from thinking about what had happened this morning.
Opening up the satchel I rummaged through it, taking the shirts out of it first. Most of them I realized were quite oversized, making it easier to hide the packets under. I definitely wasn't going to wear any of those out in public, though they would make for good sleep shirts.
Finally, once the bag was completely emptied, I grabbed out one of the packets at random. "Huh… 'The State of Brockton Bay'. I wonder what this one is about?" I muttered as I opened it up. Little did I know that I had just started another night where I wouldn't get much sleep.
Who knew that informational packets could be this interesting?
End chapter 1.3
Next chapter: 'The State of Brockton Bay', a who's who of the local gangs in the area.
Also known as: an info dump of who are in what gang and what there powers are. Also an excuse to give some background on a couple of OCs that may or may not actually survive very long.
