Chapter Twenty-Two: Brace for Impact
March 18, 2011
After talking with Glenn for another hour and a half, Armsmaster retreated to his lab for the evening. He'd had a late patrol the previous night and gotten to bed just before sunrise, so he wasn't tired yet and there was no use wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere. He picked up the latest drawings of his nanotechnology and set about building it.
Like most Tinkers, Armsmaster chafed under the paperwork requirements of the PRT which required complete drawings before the construction of a new device. But the upshot of all that pre-work was that after the tedium of the specifications was complete, his hands could build the prototypes without much input from his brain.
As was becoming usual for him, whenever his mind began to wander, he thought over his most recent interactions with Contract. Although she had been antagonistic at times, clearly frustrated and emotionally strung out, she had kept her temper for the most part and answered all their concerns honestly.
It was more maturity, or perhaps more rational capacity, than most teens possessed. She challenged convention, but with good reasoning that he'd long since ceased to expect from even most of his adult colleagues.
She'd refused to remain with her foster family, but she accurately pointed out that they were simply civilians being put in the line of fire. She certainly didn't act like a child in need of guardians or advocates. Armsmaster was considering talking to Assault and Battery about taking her in if the stress of living in the Wards' base proved to be too much for her, but for now her point had been well made.
She's also given good reasoning for skipping over Aegis and promoting Clockblocker early. He was certain that she hadn't given her truest reason, but he hadn't pressed her either. The reasons she did give were solid. She'd considered public perception, team integration, power synergy, and protection of secret identities by obscuring the Wards true ages. After hearing her justifications, Armsmaster had agreed with her recommendation whole-heartedly.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not given his recent track record, Legend had resisted both decisions ardently. Contract was showing increasingly less patience for the meddling of what she called "thinker bullshit" and refused to accept "Company says so" as a valid answer.
Most recently had been Company's suggestion to delay her TV interview. Contract had patiently, politely asked Armsmaster why he felt it would be beneficial to wait. He'd tried to use the fight as an excuse, but she'd firmly, but still politely, denied a need to delay. He'd fished for another reason, but he wasn't a good liar, and she had somehow guessed that he'd be contacted by the thinker. When he confirmed it, she insisted she had a report to finish before her appointed meeting, unless he had a good reason to suggestion otherwise.
Armsmaster had gone to Glenn, but the PR manager hadn't been any help, particularly as Armsmaster wasn't eager to tell him his true reasons.
Frequently, Armsmaster was reminded of the first interaction Contract had had with the Protectorate back in New York. She'd bowed to their stipulations purely to avoid the escalation of forcing them to force her to comply. But as it became apparent that Company couldn't directly manipulate her and the Protectorate couldn't legally enforce certain decisions, she pushed back. He made a note, again, to look over her file from the NYC Protectorate more closely.
Seeing the newscasters thank Fi in the interview had reminded him of the bounties that were placed on the Endbringers, and made him wonder what other thanks she might or might not have received, or that might be tied up in the legal process of moving between cities. But he would look into that when his hands were free, right now there was little to be done, but try to ensure he didn't miss any details from the interactions he'd witnessed earlier.
What Legend didn't seem to understand was that Contract wasn't pushing back out of spite. She always had good reasons for what she decided to do. And she was already becoming more accustomed to working within the bounds of the system. She'd apologized for not seeking prior permission about moving into the base, and she'd raised the issue of the Wards' leadership with him on Thursday afternoon, proactively alerting him of the situation before it hit a critical point.
She'd come to him directly with the secret identities mess, and had given him everything he needed to get authorization for an exemption from his superiors. She'd warned him that Taylor already knew both of her identities, and suggested that that information could be used as a bargaining chip.
She'd asked for his advice on a potential name change, and she'd showed him her new costume decisions immediately after Glenn left, obviously seeking approval and affirmation. The fact that she'd backslid during her interview was more than forgivable. He honestly believed her when she said she wasn't trying to set policy, but had simply taken advantage of an opportunity. And frankly, asking forgiveness rather than permission probably had made it easier to get Legend's approval.
Armsmaster was carefully soldering the power relay onto the control board when his computer chimed, interrupting his thoughts and making him jump. Fortunately, his reflexes pulled the soldering iron away from the motherboard, preventing a potentially messy mistake. Carefully, he set his tools aside and answered the call.
"Dragon? Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted, which was concerning in its own right. "I was working on the Endbringer program, and… well… take a look."
Dragon replaced her face with a readout of the most recent code. For his ease, she had highlighted the changes she'd made since he last saw it. As he looked it over, he felt his heart soar a little. It was brilliant. In fact, it might actually work.
"Have you run this on the sandbox?" The data pool had been his idea, the only real way to test a prediction program besides waiting for another Endbringer attack.
"Yes. The sandbox accuracy was 85%." That was more than twenty points better than their previous attempts.
"What does it say in real time?" Armsmaster asked idly, looking at the individual sandbox readouts. Based on sandbox simulations mimicking available data four to six weeks before an attack, they would get a range of five to eight cities and two or three days a piece, but it was better than nothing.
Dragon answered reluctantly. "It says the Simurgh will strike Australia within the next twenty-four hours." Armsmaster jerked, and flicked the results she was showing him to his secondary computer screen so he could go back to the code.
"That can't be right." But there were no obvious mistakes in the coding even on second glance. He looked back at the results screen. They definitely showed that the Simurgh would be attacking. "Has she moved yet?" Whenever possible, the Simurgh was kept in visual range of at least one satellite or observatory.
"No. She went out of the line of sight of the Berkley observatory an hour ago, and she's not scheduled to be visible from Japan for another four hours. So she could be maintaining position, or she could be on the move. No one can find her either way. It's only been seven weeks." She sounded as dismayed as Armsmaster felt.
"We can't afford to do nothing," he realized. It didn't make any sense for the Endbringers to have accelerated. Previously, only new Endbringers had increased the timeline and each new Endbringer had always attacked immediately.
But if it wasn't a false alarm, then ignoring this information could mean that thousands of people died needlessly. "Alert Legend and Director Costa-Brown," he decided authoritatively. "Contact every satellite and observatory and see if we can get eyes on the Simurgh. Call the weather alert services and ask them to issue a storm warning for Canberra and the surrounding areas. We don't want to create panic, but we need to get people to start evacuating if we can."
"That seems reasonable." Dragon's voice was a little more clipped than usual, which indicated that she had already started multi-tasking. "Do you know where Contract is?"
"She's living in the Wards' base now. Why?"
"Even if the Simurgh isn't headed for Brockton Bay specifically, it's not unreasonable that she might try to influence Contract indirectly. Given the fragility of her emotional state, the stress of an early Endbringer attack that she can't do anything about might prove to be more than Contract can handle."
Immediately, Armsmaster's mouth went dry. The other implication hit him immediately. "We should ground everyone from Brockton Bay. We think we know where the safe limit is for Simurgh exposure, but we can't be completely certain."
"It's useless," Dragon countered. "There's no way to keep her isolated from secondary Simurgh exposure. It's impossible."
"It's only a few capes," Armsmaster protested. "New Wave, Aegis, Intrepid-"
"-We can ground the PRT heroes, but we'd have to give good reasons to the rest or risk not being seen as impartial and upholding the truce. We can ask New Wave to desist, but it might raise uncomfortable questions and do more harm than good."
Reluctantly she added, "But you're right about the PRT capes. We should ground those that will be living and working alongside her. We can't keep her perfectly safe, but we shouldn't temp fate. I'll keep you updated on any changes."
Dragon logged off the call, and Armsmaster spent another ten minutes poking around the programming. He didn't find any errors. When he ran the simulation again, the window of probability had closed by half an hour. He swore under his breath and shifted focus.
First, he sent a memo to the ENE Protectorate to put them all on alert level three. Then he was interrupted from drafting a request to New Wave by a call from Director Piggot.
Due to the sensitivity of the subject, Armsmaster chose to visit her office in person. During the walk, he wondered briefly why she was still in the office and decided that he didn't care. If she felt she needed to work late, it could only help the efficiency of the PRT. He'd barely crossed the threshold of her office when she enacted the security protocols and barked out, "Report!"
"Have you been contacted by Director Costa-Brown?" Armsmaster asked, for once impressed with the efficiency of the chain of command.
"She said you predicted an Endbringer attack is imminent!" From Piggot's tone, Armsmaster inferred she was upset that she hadn't been informed first.
"Dragon and I have been collaborating on that effort for some time," he reminded her mildly. Watching how Contract dealt with people had driven home to him the idea that sometimes a scalpel was a better tool than a hammer. "The program suggests a strong probability that the Simurgh will target Canberra, Australia within the next twenty two and one half hours. This is the program's first prediction; however, it is remarkably accurate at using old data to blindly predict previous Endbringer attacks. We felt that the risk was too great not to raise the alarm."
"Who are we sending?"
"No one." Armsmaster read the surprise on her face. "The risk is simply too high. There are too many unknowns about the Simurgh's scream. Additionally, we don't know why or how she is attacking early. I think it's best to protect Contract from secondary exposure, at least when it comes to the people she will be working with day in and day out."
Piggot nodded as she absorbed that information, then glanced at him calculatingly. "It's a small risk."
"Even if the probability is low, the consequence is high enough that the risk is too much."
"Indeed. Please keep me updated hourly."
"If that is what you wish. I have currently raised the entire Protectorate team to an alert level three until we know more."
"I will send a memo to the on-duty PRT shifts and prepare a briefing for tomorrow morning." Piggot disengaged the security protocols, and Armsmaster took that as permission to leave.
Before he'd even crossed the threshold, he was planning the best ways to invest his time. There was very little he could do to help the direct fight against the Simurgh right now. But Contract was here in this building. Until the threat had passed, she was the only part of this situation he could affect, so she was his sole priority.
The first step was to assess how she was doing. However, there was a strong probability that she didn't know about the danger. Keeping her ignorant was likely the best way to keep her calm, at least for now. Twenty-four hours of waiting for disaster would drive anyone mad, so he'd spare her every second he could.
The question then became, how to gauge her status without alerting her to an unusual circumstance?
Out of habit, he checked the location of the Ward's phones, and found them all in the PRT building, in a conference room only a few floors down. Evidently, the send-off which Clockblocker had requested was still in full swing. Armsmaster used his helmet controls to call up the phones of Aegis and Triumph, sending them a silent message.
He instructed them to leave the room and report to him without drawing the attention of the other wards. It was possible that Gallant would read a shift in their emotions, but it was unlikely he would say anything about it.
This had the double advantage of allowing him to interview two mature heroes to gather their impression of Contract's state of mind while simultaneously removing them both from her vicinity. Contract hadn't admitted an outright dislike for either individual, but he assumed she had personal reasons for not wanting to take orders from them.
By the time they managed to leave the conference room, Armsmaster was standing outside the door, just down the hallway. They both approached him with an air of confusion, and Armsmaster decided to gather the needed intelligence before prejudicing them with the knowledge of the Simurgh's approach.
"How is the group getting along?" he rumbled, as no-nonsense as ever.
"Very well," Aegis replied professionally. "We watched a movie while we ate, and since then we've just been talking."
"How is the mood?"
"A little somber," Aegis continued, while Triumph let him talk. Despite being the mayor's son, Triumph often lacked the initiative of a good leader. "Beetle asked about trigger events, which sort of got the room down, but I don't think it will be a problem. Gallant didn't seem too uncomfortable."
Triumph nodded, but added nothing.
"And Contract?" Armsmaster pressed, turning toward Triumph specifically. He had been briefed on the full details of Contract's powers and the Behemoth situation as Contract's team leader and would understand the full weight of the question better than Aegis, who knew only whatever Triumph had decided to share with him.
"She's been fine all evening. In fact, this might be the best mood I've ever seen her in. She's relaxed, she's open and joking at times. She even semi-defended Sophia."
He stopped talking and both Wards simply waited, hoping for an explanation. Armsmaster didn't keep them in suspense. "Predictive software indicates that the Simurgh will strike Canberra, Australia within the next twenty-two hours." In fact, the relay in his helmet alerted him that the deadline had just moved up by another fifteen minutes. He sent an alert to Dragon, though she was probably watching the progression as well.
"I didn't know we had predictive software," Aegis said softly, looking stunned.
Armsmaster nodded. "It's new, but it has a high accuracy in simulations and it's simply too great of a risk."
"I'll get ready for pick up," Aegis said, but Armsmaster immediately held up a hand to stop him.
"I've made the executive decision to ground all registered Brockton Bay heroes from this fight, to protect Contract. Since you are already considering transferring out, you may respond. But if you do, you won't come back to the Brockton Bay Wards or Protectorate teams. You'll have to transfer immediately, or wait to put your cape back on until you have transferred."
Aegis looked stunned, after a moment, he nodded. "Then I'll stay here in case I'm needed." Truthfully, there was very little for him to do at a Simurgh attack. Due to his age and power-set, he usually got assigned to civilian evacuation when possible, but the forewarning should limit the need for cape-assisted evacuation.
Armsmaster glanced at Triumph, but read only acceptance in his body posture. He would follow Armsmaster's judgment.
"Very well. For now, the number one priority is ensuring that Contract remains ignorant of the Simurgh and protected from an outside threat. We don't know why the Endbringers have accelerated, but it can't be good."
"She'll find out eventually," Aegis protested.
"Yes. But what good will it do her to spend a full day with her nerves taught as a piano wire, waiting for the worst? The longer she relaxes with the other Wards, the better."
"We'll go suit up," Triumph offered, cutting off any further protest for Aegis, and Armsmaster nodded in acceptance. Then he posted himself outside the door to the Wards' room. Inside, he could hear music and it sounded like several girls were singing along with it. That boded well.
The elevator had barely appeared to take Triumph and Aegis into the Wards' base when he received a call from Director Costa-Brown. He stepped away from the door slightly, to prevent the Wards from accidentally overhearing him, and answered it.
"Armsmaster."
"I understand you have grounded Aegis and Intrepid and are requesting permission to ground New Wave as well?"
"It seems best to err on the side of caution."
"Doing so will likely inspire questions we cannot answer. And New Wave represents a great deal of fire power."
"We don't fully understand the scream or its effects."
"It's also impossible to isolate Contract from those who have been exposed to the Simurgh. Your decision to ground the Brockton Bay PRT capes is allowed, but do not contact New Wave. The increased causalities if Panacea doesn't show has to be weighed against the potential harm to Contract and the reappearance of Behemoth. Unless you can think of a good explanation for grounding New Wave and not Panacea?"
"No ma'am," Armsmaster admitted grudgingly.
"Keep myself and Dragon informed if Contract seems to undergo a dramatic shift in her state of mind. Otherwise, I don't want to hear from you until after this is all over."
"Yes ma'am."
Rebecca hung up the line and Armsmaster used the controls in his helmet to run the computer simulation again, remotely. The deadline had advanced by ten minutes, in addition to the five minutes that had elapsed since he had lasted checked it. He did a quick calculation, assuming exponential progression in the movement of the deadline. Assuming a constant rate of growth, the Simurgh would strike within the next two hours. He re-ran the projection using a linear regression and predicted they had, at most, 9 hours.
"Colin," Dragon broke into his thoughts without bothering to wait for him to answer her call. "A college observatory in Hawaii just spotted the Simurgh. She's definitely drifting closer to Australia. We've issued a formal Endbringer alert. How is Contract?"
"She doesn't know yet. Triumph and Aegis were with her until a few moments ago, and both reported that she is doing excellent."
"Don't be complacent. Fi can turn on a dime, though usually it's from depressed to alright, not the other way around." Dragon hung up without saying goodbye, but Armsmaster didn't mind. She had more important things to worry about at the moment then civil niceties.
He debated going into the room, but Contract had proven to be very sharp. If the Protectorate team leader came looking for her at one in the morning, she would know there was something wrong.
His helmet chimed with a message from Miss Militia. She was at the Protectorate base and suited up, ready for anything he needed. He chose to call her rather than reply by message.
"Yes?" she answered, ready for business.
"I need you to take care of the leadership of the Protectorate until this is over."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I'm going to remain by Contract and make sure to handle this side of things. If anything happens in Brockton Bay or anywhere else that requires our response, I need to know that you'll have it handled."
"Of course."
"You should also know that the projected attack time keeps moving." He paused, ran the simulation again, and breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw that they'd gained five minutes, rather than losing more time. "Currently, we've got about a day, but don't be surprised to see it move up drastically, maybe within a few hours."
"Alright. You'll keep me posted?"
"Either I will or Dragon will. Right now we don't know what the changes in the deadline mean, but Dragon just called to tell me that we have visual confirmation: Simurgh is definitely on the move."
"Let me know if you need anything."
"I will." Even as he spoke, he could hear a second song from behind the door.
For nearly twenty minutes, Armsmaster stood guard outside the door. He used a remote link to his lab computer to continuously minor the prediction program. It seemed that the shifting deadline was due to the fact that the prediction was extremely sensitive to crime reports, and the end of shift was approaching in Canberra. Police men were filling out paperwork, and as that data became available to Dragon's systems, it affected the model. He attempted to compensate, but when he ran his changes in the sandbox data it gained precision at the cost of accuracy, which wouldn't help.
Eventually, the range seemed to stabilize between five and eight am in local, Brockton Bay time. Dragon had updated the warnings, and reports of the early evacuation efforts were positive. The Australian government had issued the mandatory call for evacuation only minutes before, but social media was flooded with the prediction and the local news stations had picked it up, so people were starting to get out.
Armsmaster didn't expect to hear from Dragon again until the danger had passed, so he was surprised when she again patched her call into his helmet.
"Colin, how is Fi doing?" Dragon asked without preamble.
Armsmaster answered immediately, wondering what had happened to alarm his friend. "No change, as far as I'm aware. She still doesn't know."
Dragon hesitated, then explained the reason for her call. "I've been contacted by a friend of hers who thinks Fi might be able to stop the Simurgh. He said the fact that they deviated from the schedule could be enough to let her smite another one."
Armsmaster's first thought was that the timing was very suspicious. "How do you know he's a friend?"
Dragon sighed. "To be honest, I can't be certain. But I have had interactions with him before. He's been leaving her coded messages on PHO and he helped her with the programming for the Sophia recordings. She speaks of him very fondly, although I haven't told her that I've had interactions with him."
He made a mental note to discuss intelligence sharing with Dragon later, but tried not to let his frustration cloud his view.
"It could be a trap," Armsmaster stated the obvious as he thought through the given facts. Sometimes, it was helpful to say the obvious out loud in order to better organize his thoughts.
"Isn't it worth at least asking her? If the schedule is an opportunity, we should take it." It sounded too good to be true, considering this unknown person was enticing them toward the risk of unbalancing Contract.
"But if he isn't being straight with you, we'll have stressed her out with the news of an attack she can't effect."
"I understand why you want to keep her ignorant as long as possible, but she'll find out eventually. This is just a little sooner, that's all," Dragon said gently. "Is it worth missing this opportunity? You need to inform her about the situation, at least."
Armsmaster grunted, in acknowledgement. It was true that he was planning to tell Contract himself rather than let her discover it on her own, as she would eventually. He had just hoped to hold off a little longer. Regardless, there was no harm in exploring this new avenue of information. "Let me talk to him." He queued up his lie-detection software. It wasn't perfect yet, but it was better than nothing.
"Armsmaster?" a male voice asked a few moments later. It sounded at least his own age or older, but it was hard to tell from just a voice.
"Dragon says you want to talk to Contract. Convince me."