Interlude: Colin Wallis
The small ping that chimed through the lab was the only forewarning he received before he heard Dragon's voice through the speakers of his personal computer. "Colin."
"Yes?" He asked, not looking up from his work. The tiny Phillips screwdriver held firmly in his fingers. Last time he dropped it he'd had to disassemble his whole halberd just to get it out. And without the proper screwdriver to do it. Not something he was going to repeat anytime soon.
"As you know I was going over the combat data of the recent engagement with the parahumans Doppelganger and Limbo."
"Did your instruments pick up any signs of Master/Stranger influence?" He asked, adjusting the arm mounted magnifying glass that was held over his work area.
"No Stranger influence. As for Master. It is difficult to differentiate between Master influences and the Gesellschaft's indoctrination. As of now, I'm leaning towards the latter. But that's not what I'm calling about Colin. I noticed a discrepancy."
This time he picked up his head from where he was looking down wiping at the bridge of his nose once before looking at his computer screen where Dragon's avatar took up the whole mass. "Discrepancy?"
"The data recorded by you and your team during Miss Hebert's power testing. Its either wrong or something changed. Knowing you, I'm betting on the latter."
Using his wheeled chair, he crab-walked around his workbench to make it to his computer. Minimizing Dragon's image he began leafing through his files to find Taylor's Power testing data.
"What did you notice?"
"The powers she demonstrated are noticeably stronger than before."
He paused, raising an eyebrow. "Is that it? With practice and experience many parahumans ge-"
"Not like this." Just like that, she used the back door controls he offered her so long ago to bring up two distinct images. The first was of Taylor in the power testing facility. The second was cobbled together from multiple camera angles that had caught snips and flashes of her during the fight. "The flames she used during her power testing were measured at roughly thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. But look here." She slightly enlarged one of the combat images. He recognized the moment as being after the fight. One of the cleanup crews perhaps.
She paused the image, using software to highlight the remnants of a charred tree. Beside it was one of Taylor's ash idols.
"There are no flames as you can see. The tree is already burnt; Correct?"
"Yes." He said slowly.
"According to my instruments, its temperature is at twenty-two hundred degrees."
That made him raise an eyebrow. Ashes were burning hotter than the flame?
She superimposed another image, this time of Kid Win's helmet camera as Taylor dragged him to the ash idol.
Again the image was paused and this time Dragon highlighted actual fire not just ash. "Here its even more bizarre. My instruments are reading wildly fluctuating temperatures. From a thousand degrees to nearly ten thousand. All within seconds of eachother. Something that is simply not possible with any non para-human temperature control."
"She's discovering new aspects of her power." He frowned.
"Its well known that Legend believed himself to be a simple Blaster before he discovered his ability to bend the beams and change their effects."
"She needs to be tested further then." He nodded to himself. "A complete top to bottom workout."
"I don't think so." He turned his head to her image, listening. "At least not yet. This, and all other examples of her discovering new uses for her power happen in uncontrolled, combat environments. You can run your tests if you think its best-"
"But you don't think I'll get any results."
"I don't find it likely, no. The only test I do believe you should run would be a brain scan to examine the Gemma and Corona again see if they've swelled or if there's more activity. Outside of that, I don't think you'll find much. The instances we've noticed of her discovering new aspects to her power has been in response to a threat. Her power seems to be highly reactionary from what data we've gathered. The ash idols being the foremost proof of that. They only appear when she needs them to appear. She does not have a conscious control of it.
He leaned back in his chair, scratching at his beard."Then what need would she subconsciously perceive in keeping ash hot to the touch? She uses it for armor and the idols..." He leaned forward now using his own controls to cycle through the camera feeds. He found one really good angle on the helmet of a single PRT trooper that had Taylor and Kid Win just at the edge of the screen...then the trooper was tossed away by one of Skidmark's mover fields...damnit... "Did it perhaps affect the idol?"
"No idea. I'm just informing you so you know to keep your eyes open for more changes. Perhaps give her her own mounted camera on her glasses or combat gear. It'll be far more direct at least.
He nodded. He'd been meaning to make the Hebert girl a custom helmet with a plethora of instruments and utilities she could use. He gave at least one piece of custom gear to all the Wards to help them cover their bases when he thought they needed it. Sometimes it wasn't approved. Carlo's gear had been disapproved. Missy he couldn't think of anything to give her. When she joined the Wards she was just far too young for anything combat oriented to even be considered. She still was really. But some of the other gear was his or partially his. Dean's flight system for example. Dennis' armor was riddled with emergency subsystems that were ready to diagnose and grant him a quick antidote to many known knockout or paralyzing drugs and his helmet had a built in filter. It wouldn't stop an airborne toxin if he stayed there. But those few extra seconds could make all the difference. In Colin's mind the primary issue was keeping him awake. After all, if he was knocked out he couldn't freeze himself or others. It would be one of the most effective ways of neutralizing his power entirely and leaving him open to be killed. That system was his design.
He'd also made...Sophia's auto-reloading crossbow...
A frown marked his face.
...
Given that Taylor walked into battle wearing nothing but Ash he'd had to take some extra time on hers to add in all the features. He was still waiting on prescription grade shatterproof, heat and strength tested plastic lenses for the eyes...and no, they were not just goggles with a HUD as Dennis described. He'd have to give them a call tomorrow to see when his order would arrive.
It looks like he'd have to add a more high definition camera than originally anticipated.
He rolled back to his workstation. "I'll just finish this and go over the data."
He picked up his screwdriver again, swiveling the arm mounted magnifying glass into place.
"What is it you're adding this time?"
"An experimental repulsor field. If I can get it to work, the sheer weight of the target and my swing will multiply the force of the blow to over a thousand times anything a normal human, or my armored self would be capable of."
"Capable of taking down Brutes then."
"In theory. I got the idea from something Chris designed but never finished. You know how finicky his technology can be at the best of times."
...
"Colin. Did you ask him before adding this?"
...
"Colin. I suggest you go do that before continuing."
...
"He'll say yes..."
"That's not the point and you know it."
...
He set down his screwdriver, sighing.
Before he could get very far in the next step of this process however, there was a knock on his door.
He blinked. Hannah and the director had gone home for the night. And outside of them it was rare for the others to come here. "Yes?"
"Its Gallant."
Armsmaster looked at the clock on his computer screen. "Come in?"
The door hissed open, sliding to the side into the wall.
Colin looked at the young man. He was already dressed in his costume. "What's wrong? You have patrol in five minutes by my clock."
Gallant nodded. "Yes. But I've come up here to ask you something." Without waiting for a reply, the youth soldiered on. "Where exactly is Hess?"
"She's in the process of being transferred out of the bay…" He answered, looking down at his workbench for the assortment of tools laying around, ready to put them away till he could contact Chris.
"Did this sudden transfer have anything to do with Taylor?"
To anyone else, even one without emotion detection, Colin's pause would have been telling enough.
The veteran hero looked up, staring straight at the visor of Gallant's helmet. "And where exactly is this question coming from?"
Gallant glared no doubt his emotion detection was giving him more cues than Armsmaster's mostly stoic face. "Aisha's description of 'Psycho-bitch Trackstar' as one of the people that bullied Taylor in Winslow enough to trigger- made me wonder…"
Colin sighed through his nostrils. Already he could feel a headache coming on, enough to make him rub at the bridge of his nose. "The situation is dealt with now."
"Now? We saw Sophia weeks ago when we hit the Merchants! Three months after Winslow so what the hell is going on? Why was she still in the field? Why weren't any of us told about this?"
"Director Piggot determined that Sophia's skills could still be utilized to help us discover who exactly was supplying the Merchants with Dry Dust. A theory that has paid off in dividends. Now that its done she will be transferred out of the Bay within the week. She will no longer be allowed to work with us or get anywhere near Miss Hebert. Given the nature of this incident we felt it best that Miss Hebert not be informed."
Colin could probably imagine Dean's face behind the mask, a mixture of disgust and incredulity. "So...what? You guys decided to just help her avoid the consequences of her actions and cover it up on your end to avoid a lawsuit? Taylor has every right to know about-"
"It serves absolutely no one to bring this to light Mr. Stansfield. You know this."
"It serves doing what's right! If Sophia hurt Taylor badly enough to make her Trigger this isn't something you just sweep under a rug 'for everyone's sake'. That's not how this works! You've all been lying to her from day one! You! Hannah! Everyone! You've been lying to us from day one!"
"Yes and if she finds out we not only lose Miss Hess from the roster here, due to that we have no choice but to lose her, but very likely Miss Hebert as well in the fallout." Colin snapped back, leaning forward in his chair. "I'm not going to pretend that this situation isn't a mess and I'm not going to pretend that I don't recognize the horror of a Trigger event and the fact that we are essentially helping the person that caused one but from day one exposing Sophia's actions would do absolutely nothing to help. It would do nothing for the Protectorate, it would do nothing for Miss Hebert except alienate her to you who have become her friends. Instead we'd be embroiled in a legal battle and Miss Hebert's distrust of our system would very likely have sent her on the path to villainy."
"I'm sorry sir but lets cut the crap and not pretend that you had Taylor's best interest at heart here when you started this...whatever the hell it is."
Colin glared right back. "Maybe I didn't, but can you say I'm wrong?"
"What you're doing is not right; at the very least you have to tell Taylor. Its bound to come out eventually. Its actually a miracle it hasn't-"
Colin shifted in his seat. He almost wanted to stand but didn't want to give the Ward the impression that he was trying to intimidate him. At 6'2 even without his armor, he could be imposing without even trying. "The situation is sensitive Mr. Stansfield. What we do or don't do is still being discussed. We will determine how to proceed with this situation and we will determine how best to handle Miss Hebert finding out should it come to that."
"Should it come to that?! You can't just-"
"Gallant." Dragon's voice emerged from the computer speakers, her avatar once more superimposing itself onto the screen.
The teen jerked, surprised. "Dragon?"
She nodded, her tone indicating her light smile. "Yeah. Nice to see you."
He shifted in place. "You knew about this too?"
"No." Colin closed his eyes. He could almost feel her gaze burning into the back of his skull. "No I didn't. But...Gallant, Colin has a point."
"You've got to be kidding me." The teen muttered. "You're taking his side here?"
"Only in that I agree you can't just bludgeon into this situation. Look at your emotions Dean. You're angry. Very much so and you're not even the wounded party here are you?"
He shifted from foot to foot, sucking down a sharp breath to keep speaking before he hesitated.
"Can you imagine just how bad this will be for Taylor. How much worse this will be for her? Even coming from a friend with good intentions. We can't just keep her in the dar-"
"I promise Dean informing Taylor is something I want to do too. But if its going to happen it has to be done the right way or not at all. Otherwise you'll only end up hurting her more.
The young man looked like he was going to argue further then the alarm on his watch went off for his patrol.
He paused looking at the traitorous machine.
"You're on the clock…" Colin drawled, speaking before anything more could be said by either his fellow Tinker or the younger Hero. "If you'd like to keep on discussing this then you're free to come back when you're done, if you can handle five hours of sleep and school in the morning…do not overstep your bounds here Gallant."
The glare he was shooting him from behind the helmet was so heated the piece of equipment may as well not have even been there.
Armsmaster sighed as the door opened and closed again. This time he openly rubbed at his forehead that headache was coming fast. He heard a thump on the wall.
"Colin."
The disappointment he heard in the synthesized voice was biting enough...He spoke. "I'm not going to pretend this is...good Dragon. But can you believe me when I say it was for the best?"
"...I...I'll believe that you believed it was for the best...but you know if you try to ignore it this very likely will come back to bite you Colin. This...coverup is...
He took a breath, punctuating every word. "It was the best solution…"
"It was a solution Colin...don't say it was the best."
"What exactly am I supposed to do?" Colin asked, hand to his forehead as he sighed. "If we had just cut Hess and sent her to Juvie, that's one less parahuman on our side. The drugs would still be on the street, and Sophia wouldn't have gone quietly, she would gone down kicking and howling to the moon. Probably would have used that friend's father, a lawyer, to stall just to spite everyone involved against her. Taylor would have found out and very likely not joined us, or not joined nearly as smoothly as she did. We need all the help we can get."
"And playing keep away and lying to this Miss Hebert is your only option?"
"Perfect solutions don't work out for us in this business. Picture it. Taylor Hebert. With her versatility and raw power. Where do you see her independently in a year? A month? I'll tell you where I see her. Across from me on the boardwalk aligned with E88, either coerced or willingly. In an alley with a criminal she just killed as a vigilante. Or on the metal bed of a morgue room. I don't want that to happen to a cape like her. Not when she can do so much good."
"You're forcing the dots to connect the way you want them to, to justify what you've done here Colin. Don't." Dragon said it with such authority Colin was almost surprised to see the amount of emotion in the woman, who he knew to be somewhat reserved, usually.
Dragon sighed. "Yes. You're right. Taylor might have considered you an enemy. She might have been coerced or convinced into joining a villain group if she'd have stayed independent. But you and I both know that is not a certainty. That is not something that was an inevitability if you hadn't taken this course of action."
"Not a certainty but extremely likely." He protested.
"Perhaps. But what also might have happened if you'd been honest with her is that she might have chosen to be a hero with the Protectorate anyway. She might have decided to join with open honesty and a solid foundation rather than this fragile house of cards you've built up around her. How much worse do you think this is going to be when she finds out.
"She won't find-"
"Anything could tip her off Colin. An offhand comment or a slip of the tongue from anyone that knew Sophia's identity. The Wards, the PRT troopers, even Victoria Dallon knows who Shadow Stalker is. Do you think nothing will come out for years? You can't just try to ignore this Colin. You had to know from the word 'go' that this was not something you could sustain indefinitely. You lied. Fine. You wanted Sophia and her skill-set on the team for a little while longer till you could resolve this Dry Dust issue. Its now resolved. Don't keep digging the hole deeper in hopes of coming out the other side unscathed. Its time now to start digging yourself out Colin."
Colin sighed loudly in frustration looking at the woman in the screen. Dragon's soft look of admonishment was staring him dead in the face. The hero known as Armsmaster pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Fine…" He sighed. "I'll talk to the director. See when we can finally come clean. When we do I'll bring her in privately with me and Hannah and we will tell the truth and the circumstances. At least that way we can control how it comes out." He looked at her. "Satisfied?"
"It's satisfactory. Though this was, as what normal people say, pulling teeth with you." Dragon shook her head, a look of disappointment in her eyes."I'm going to go through diagnostics at the Containment Center. I'll talk to you later. Tomorrow if you're asleep. Goodnight Colin." She disconnected, Colin sighed and covered his face with his hands as he dragged them over. Looking at the screwdriver in his hands, he tossed it on the workbench. Didn't much feel like working anymore tonight and maybe some sleep could do him some good.