Chapter 3-1

I woke up at 6:28, as usual. Frowning, I realized that with a new job and probably a new life, I'd have to break my routine at some point. Funny how that actually bothered me a little. Oh, well, better get used to it. As I finished breakfast, the one thing that I kept asking myself was: what am I supposed to do with my time? Armsmaster wanted me to report to his office at 9 o'clock, and it only took about an hour to get there.

With some time to spare, I went for another run and before realizing it, took the same route I always had. Routines were difficult to break. Probably for the best, though. With everything that was happening in my life, it was probably a good idea to keep some semblance of normalcy, if only to draw off suspicion.

Passing Winslow High, I realized that I didn't have to go there anymore. In fact, I'd probably never set foot in that building ever again. It made me smile. No more dealing with Emma&Co, no more dealing with an apathetic staff… I was still a little angry with the PRT for Sophia, but I think I can find it in my heart to forgive them eventually. Even if I couldn't, pretending was always a possibility. I had friends now, after all, and I didn't want to risk losing them by ruffling the PRT's feathers.

After going past my house to pick up some things, I headed out to the Rig. Armsmaster was already waiting for me outside his office in full gear. "8:47. You're early."

Thirteen minutes early. Not that bad, in my opinion. "I don't want to make a bad first impression by showing up late."

"Understandable. In the future, try being exactly on time. If you show up to early to, say, an arrest, you might give yourself away or get ambushed before the rest of your team is in place."

That was actually a good idea. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

Armsmaster nodded. "Judging by your elevated heartbeat and body temperature, I see you've already exercised."

Hmm. Must be the scanner he's got in his helmet. "I run every morning. About an hour, or so."

"You already have some good habits in place. I would recommend keeping it up. Physical fitness is important in this job and breaking routines too quickly is always a bad idea for someone living a double life."

Double life. That's what I was doing now, wasn't it? Two separate identities. Taylor the hero and Taylor…just Taylor. It's kind of scary when you think about it. I'm no psychologist, but I can imagine the stress that's going to cause. "How do you do it, the double life, I mean?"

Armsmaster smiled softly. "Short answer: I don't. Between running the Protectorate, guiding Wards like yourself, and maintaining my equipment, I don't have much time for a civilian identity. Probably for the best, though. Having attachments of any kind means having weaknesses that can be exploited. Of course, it takes a degree of dedication to do that and I'm the exception rather than the rule. In your case, I'd try to put a wall between your civilian and cape identities. Treat them as two separate people with different personalities and mannerisms. It'll help keep the two lives separate and will make it harder for others to guess your secret identity."

"That…sounds like a good way to go crazy, no offense."

"None taken. If you do it right, you won't have to worry about it. Everyone here has to do it, after all." The smile disappeared and Armsmaster went back to business. "I've arranged a meeting for you at ten o'clock with Glenn Chambers. He will instruct you on things like costume design, where applicable, and how to carry yourself in the field. You will listen to what he says. He's one of our best."

I blinked. "Really? You did all that for me?"

"No. We called him in yesterday to deal with Shadow Stalker's fallout, but the director and I want him to work with you as well. The last thing we need is you turning out the same way as she did."

I was a little offended at the notion that I'd turn into a psycho bully at the drop of a hat, but I couldn't really blame them for worrying. They probably thought the best of Sophia too and I'm probably powerful enough to be a real terror if I wanted to. "I understand. It's going to look real awkward if I have to be shipped to a quarantine zone too."

"Exactly. You two are both vigilantes with the ability to seriously injure or kill someone if you put your mind to it. We can't be too careful. Plus, Glenn gives good advice, even if he can be…difficult to work with at times." Funnily enough, I couldn't resent Armsmaster for being so brutally honest, even when Sophia is part of the conversation. After all the lying I had to deal with the past two years, it's nice to have an authority figure that's actually being straight with me. "He's in his office on the second floor, east side. Come in costume and be punctual, Taylor."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and while you're waiting…" Armsmaster handed me a book titled 'Protectorate Regulations and Field Manual'. "Start reading this. I won't expect you to memorize it all by heart, as it's not as good as real life experience, but it'll help a lot regardless. Chapter 7 is particularly important."

I looked at the contents page. "'Proper Conduct During Arrests'?"

"Dangerous villains have escaped justice in the past because some idiot didn't read them their rights properly. Don't let that happen to you."

"Understood, sir."

The hero nodded again before leaving, presumably off to do his own thing. Right, what now…Call armor, read book. Let's start with that.

I found a quiet spot, changed, and started reading. First thing I learned is that there are a lot of regulations. Suddenly, I understood why Dennis couldn't be bothered to learn them. It would probably be better to learn from example anyway. Aegis seemed like a stand-up guy and he was our leader for a reason. Maybe I should model myself after him? Then again, he did get beaten up all the time, so maybe he wasn't that good of a role model.

Oh, well, I'll probably think of something. Let's see what Glenn had to say first.

I arrived at his office precisely ten o'clock. Better start working on those good habits right away. A kind secretary let me in. "Taylor Hebert, I presume?" Said a poorly-dressed man with funny looking glasses. Wait, that can't be Mr. Chambers, right? "I'm Glenn. Please sit down. I'm a busy man and we've got quite a lot to do."

It was Glenn Chambers. That's…unexpected. You'd think that a PR official would at least know how to dress. That's like expecting a dentist not to have rotten teeth. Then again, his office was a mess of half-filled suitcases. Maybe he didn't have time to tidy himself up properly? Still, way to make a good first impression. Once again, I found myself thanking my lucky star that the armor came with a mask. "Of course."

"Now, I have to ask, do your powers work without that suit, at all?"

"No. I can hear a lot better than most and I'm a little stronger, but it isn't much better than what a normal human can do."

"So you really need the suit. Great." Glenn frowned. "Can you change any part of it? Like, say, ditch the helmet or the gloves?" He really didn't like my suit, did he? Well, this is going to be fun…

"I can't. Believe me, I've tried. It didn't end well."

"Fair enough. What about shifting in or out of your suit in a fight?"

"It takes about five minutes and hurts like hell. Like being flayed alive. So, no, I can't shift in the middle of a fight."

Glenn nodded. "First, watch your language. Can't have our Wards swear in public. It makes overprotective mothers throw a fit. Second, that suit of yours is…problematic."

"And how exactly is my suit problematic?" I asked, slightly annoyed. Okay, so it wasn't the most-heroic looking thing in the world, but I'd gotten used to it over the past few months. It's still…me. Or at least an important part of me.

Glenn grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in front of a mirror. "Well then, let's talk about what's wrong with that suit. You're a big girl, so I'm not going to pull my punches. For starters, it's skin-tight. You're very tall and your limbs very narrow. A skin-tight suit exaggerates that even more and makes you look spindly and… inhuman, for the lack of a better word. Worse still is the mask, or helmet, or whatever that thing covering your face is. Personally, I hate full-face masks because they make the hero a lot less approachable and yours pretty much embodies that."

"Clockblocker has a full-face mask and he's pretty approachable." I argued.

"One, his still has visible eyepieces. Two, his clownish personality compensates for it. You, on the other hand… Your mask has no human features at all: no mouth, no nose, no eyes, it even changes the general shape of your head into something that looks, well, wrong. Honestly, we need you to look more like a hero and less like a… one of my colleagues used the phrase 'space ninja murderbeast'. This, as you can imagine, is a serious problem. If this had been a normal costume, I would have told you to ditch the whole thing and start over. Unfortunately, I can't do that. We can't let you go out in the field without your armor, we can't change what the costume looks like, and trying to cover it up will just end up looking ridiculous. I'm sorry to say that you'll always end up looking like something that goes bump in the night."

I had to admit, that really hurt. Doubly so because he wasn't wrong. Everything he said, I'd said to myself at some point. Now, I had gotten used to the way my armor looked. Attached even. It was, after all, an integral part of my power and something that I probably would never be able to change. In a way, it'd become a part of who I was. Having someone who obviously knew what they were talking about rip such an important piece of your identity to shreds wasn't nice. You'd think I'd be used to it after two years of bullying, but apparently I wasn't.

When I couldn't think of anything to say, he continued: "Now, don't get me wrong. We're not going to stop you from being a hero just because yours truly can't think of a way to pretty you up. Trust me, if I can induct monsters into the Wards, I can deal with you. In fact, I could even turn your appearance into a selling point."

"Really? How would you do that?" Now I was getting skeptical. He just spent the last five minutes telling me my costume sucks and now he's saying that that's a good thing somehow? I'm sure Armsmaster hadn't been pulling my leg and that Glenn was really good at his job, but that didn't keep me from thinking about it.

"The way I see it, there're three kinds of superheroes. First, you have the inspirational ones, the ones that lead by force of personality. Legend, Miss Militia, Gallant, just to name some examples. Then you have those with the raw power to make any fight a foregone conclusion. Eidolon, Armsmaster, Aegis, that sort of thing. Finally, we have the third category: the ones with brains rather than brawn or charisma. Dragon, the PRT, Alexandria, and, hopefully, you. The silent guardians, the strategists. They're the kind of people that do their best work when people don't even realize they're doing it until they read about it in the papers. You'll make people feel safe in the dark, because they know you're watching over them."

My heart skipped a beat. Alexandria had always been my favorite superhero growing up and being in any way like her seemed like a dream come true. In fact, the part of my mind that always told me not to bother telling the teachers I've been bullied kept reminding me that it was almost too good to be true. Not that I thought he was wrong, it's just that I got the distinct impression that he was not telling me something. "That's what you wanted Shadow Stalker to be, right?"

Glenn grimaced. I never could quite get away from Sophia, could I? "You're cleverer than I thought. To answer your question, yes, Shadow Stalker was supposed to be fit into that category when she joined. It's part of a new trend that has popped up in the superhero community. A lot of people want a darker and edgier Protectorate; one more focused on getting results than just looking good."

"You'd think that catching bad guys should always be priority number one." I muttered, knowing full well that things weren't so black-and-white.

"In an ideal world, it would be. Unfortunately, this isn't an ideal world. Catching supervillains is good, but not if a city block is flattened every time a bunch of capes get into a fight. Sometimes, we have to focus on minimizing damage, even if that means letting villains go. If we don't, the public turns against us and nobody wants that. This is why people like you and Shadow Stalker are so important: you're fast, quiet, and powerful. You can sneak up to a villain and bring them in before the collateral damage gets out of control. The downside is that you're not exactly easy to market, but I've handled worse."

Honestly, I wasn't too unhappy about being difficult to 'market'. I just wanted to be a hero; I didn't need my own line of Taylor Hebert action figures. Becoming Shadow Stalker's replacement, though… Logically, it made sense. My powers turned me into a super-assassin, of sorts. Trying to market me as a knight in shining armor wouldn't really work and I didn't have the charisma to pull it off anyway. Besides, I'm not a glory hound. Being put in the spotlight just wasn't for me.

That didn't change the fact that the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth.

"So," Glenn continued "have you decided on a name yet?"

Right, a name. He wasn't here to insult my power's fashion sense, after all. "Yes, well, me and the Wards, the other Wards, were thinking 'Banshee'."

Glenn paced around the room, thinking, softly saying the name out loud as if he was trying to taste the word. I was really, really hoping that he was okay with it. It just sounded…right, to me anyway and I wasn't sure what he'd dream up as a replacement. "Banshee. Yeah, that would work." I looked up in surprise. "Fits with the overall theme of your power. It makes sense."

"Okay. Good." Huh, that was easy.

"Did you think I'd say 'no'? It's not like you named yourself 'Ghettoblaster' or something."

I snickered. "That was actually one of Clockblocker's suggestions."

"Well, good thing you picked something else, then. Just for future reference, try not to laugh too much in public, it looks and sounds really weird when you do that. Plus, it doesn't fit with the dark knight persona we're trying to cultivate here. You have to be calm, confident, perfectly in control. Don't laugh too much at funny anecdotes." Glenn said. "We're probably going to need a lot of sessions to get this right."

I nodded. Right, now I have to be an actress too while I'm in costume. In fact, I'd have to be a whole new person. A person that met his specifications.

Oh God, what did I get myself into?