The next day, I came in for my new powers testing. Or, to be more accurate, I brought Squire Rattus in, along with a few other rats I'd been using my power on a lot. Oh, and Emma, who was supposed to get tested herself, and Ms. Liberty, who was sitting beside me in the room. Emma was in another room, so she didn't screw things up if it turned out she did have powers.

Not including Squire Rattus, I'd brought five other rats—the five that I worked with the most, and that I usually had access to at any given time. Squire Rattus was my first, obviously, and I was pretty much always working with him on something. But the other five, well, they were the ones who stuck around with me, for reasons known only to themselves. And...well...by this time, they'd gotten to be pretty darned smart.

Unfortunately smart, in one case.

And none of the six rats I'd brought included the mouse who I'd reluctantly accepted as "Mousedalf the Maroon". Or his three main "assistants", whose names I still didn't know, and very carefully hadn't asked about in the perhaps vain hope of preserving some fraying thread of sanity.

Like I said, there were six rats: Squire Rattus, in his vest, dress shirt, waistcoat, jacket, tie, fedora, and the tiny little cane he'd brought along "because it was a formal occasion"; Rashid, who was a long, almost skinny black rat that seemed to be the one who ended up working with me on my science and math homework, and was wearing a tiny white lab coat with very tiny goggles; Johann, the grizzled gray rat who'd showed up in a tiny black SS uniform, with the correct insignia, and an eyepatch over one eye (I was kind of torn as to whether he'd done this because I'd subconsciously influenced him due to my dislike of Sophia, or if he was just that racist to begin with), who I'd been studying a lot of history with; Fat Tony, whose cheap-looking shirt, tie, and jacket hid a sharp mind, a sharper fashion sense, and a very small violin case whose contents I was very carefully not enquiring about; Ada, who wore a tiny dress and who I used to help with a lot of my computer work; and Nikolai. To be honest, Nikolai worried me, mostly because I couldn't figure out how he'd gotten to be among the core six. But he was definitely among them, and every day, he was waiting, in a simple brown robe, for me to start the day.

"So!" Assault said, as he came into the room. Somehow, it seemed, I'd drawn him again. "Word has it that you've requested additional powers testing."

I nodded, and grimaced.

"There have been some...new developments," I told him.

"Oh? What kind of developments?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not really sure. But...hang on. Let's see what you think."

I put my backpack down, and carefully unzipped it, just a little, just enough to reach inside and pluck out the shape of Squire Rattus so I could set him on the table.

"Let me show you what he did a few days ago," I said, and reached out through my connection with him. Obediently, the rat held out his unoccupied paw, and a moment later, there was a rat-sized flaming sword in it. Then he did a particularly impressive flourish with it, and the blade was gone.

Assault blinked.

"Huh," he said. "That's...unusual."

"That's what I thought," I said. "Hence the additional powers testing."

Assault had a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared at the sharply dressed rat.

"And this isn't magic?" he said. "Just to make sure."

"Not that I can tell," I said. "More importantly, Ms. Liberty doesn't think it is, either."

Obediently, Assault turned to regard Ms. Liberty, who nodded gravely.

"Huh," he said, again, looking back to me. "Well, I suppose in that case we need to fire up the Powers Testing lab, and see what we can make of it. Probably with you outside the room, so we can see how much of it is the rat, and how much is you."

Then he gave me a thoughtful look.

"Just out of curiosity," he said, giving me a careful look, "just how much time do you spend in direct contact with this rat's mind?"

I blinked, and had to think about that.

"Uh," I finally said. "I dunno. A lot?"

Assault blinked, and sighed.

"Okay," he said. "Different question, and one that we really should have checked on before. When was the last time you dropped all contact with any rodent's minds?"

I had to think some more about that.

"I...I don't know," I finally admitted.

He muttered something when I said that, before giving me another, much grimmer look.

"Alright," he said. "You're right, we're going to need to do some more testing. Both the rats, and you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. The assumption, when we first tested you, was that you were like most Masters, and that you only influenced the minds of your...your rodents, in this case, for brief stretches of time. Basically, you only touched their minds when you wanted something from them. But you've had this power for...what...three months? And I while I don't know for sure, looking at this, I'd be surprised if you'd ever stopped using your power to at least touch his mind. Right?"

I thought some more about this. Honestly, I wasn't sure that I liked the answer, because I couldn't remember a time when I had voluntarily stopped touching Squire Rattus's mind.

"What...why do you suspect that?" Ms. Liberty asked—she'd come with me, because Dad couldn't take the time off of work, and Ms. Liberty apparently could arrange things so that she could show up while the trial was in abeyance-while I was trying to remember one such time. "What led you to this belief?"

Assault didn't say anything to that, but merely gestured towards Squire Rattus...who had adopted what looked very much like the rodent equivalent of the expression of somebody who's thinking hard, and not really liking what they're finding.

"Ah," she said. "Taylor's body language is being shifted over to the rats. Interesting."

I suppose "interesting" was one word for it. Now that I'd noticed it, "alarming" was probably the word I'd use, especially given the kinds of things that Johann and Nikolai got up to. If they'd gotten that from me...well, that was a remarkably ugly thought, to be honest.

Assault nodded. "I suspect that simple habit on her part means that anybody who knows Taylor well, will see her body language as being either largely similar—if a bit more subdued—or just flat-out won't notice the difference at all. And, obviously, anybody who only met her after she Triggered wouldn't have any reference point to see the difference at all. Which is likely why we missed it. But..."

He stopped, and looked to be searching for some way to say something.

"Yes?" Ms. Liberty said, after several minutes.

"There isn't a good way to say this, I'm afraid," Assault finally conceded, turning to face me directly, almost as if he was ignoring the other adult in the room. "But...the fact that your minions are displaying powers like this means that we're supposed to do another type of test. Specifically, a null test. We're supposed to test to make sure that this is your rat's power, and not an extension of your own."

"What's the catch?" I asked, a couple of minutes after Assault's explanation had finished.

He shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "But...given how closely you're connected to your rat, I'm pretty sure there will be one. I just don't know what it might be."

"Are you saying...you think this is a projection power, then?"

"No. I don't. Projection powers are usually either one at a time things, or they have constructs that are functionally identical. Plus, we tested for that earlier. So, no, I don't think that he's a power construct. However, Masters who can temporarily grant powers to anybody they're currently mastering aren't unheard of. In fact, it's probably one of the more common manifestations of Trump powers. Being able to grant those powers to non-humans is a bit different, I'll grant you, but the general concept isn't anything new. So if we're going to test to see if your rat has manifested powers in his own right, we have to remove yours from the equation."

He then pulled a chair over from the other side of the room, and sat down in front of me.

"I can promise you that both myself and Ms. Liberty will be right here," he said. "We'll even hold your hands if you want. And if anything seems to be wrong, we'll power down the nullifier immediately. But I really don't know what will happen when we do this, and that worries me. So I'm going to leave this entirely to your discretion. If you don't want to do this test, we'll skip it, and come back to it when you're in a better headspace in a couple of years. Which I suspect would be the smarter choice. But I can't make that decision without your say-so, and a damn good reason, besides, because it's part of the standard procedure. So this is up to you. Okay?"

I thought about this for a few moments.

"But I'd probably have to do this test again anyway, right?" I finally asked, and he nodded, his expression serious.

"The Protectorate is going to want to know what the limitations are on your power before they even think about seriously deploying you as an adult," he told me. "If only to avoid putting you together with other heroes whose powers might be actively dangerous for you to deploy alongside. And you'll want to know, too, I'd think. If only so that you could know any weaknesses you might have. But...I can't tell you that it will be any better to wait. I just don't know. This isn't my field, and it's not really my area of expertise."

I thought about this for a few moments more.

"Alright," I said. "Let's do it. Get it over with now, so I don't have to worry about it again."

It turned out that, when Assault said the device couldn't be deployed in the field, he meant that it couldn't be deployed in the field. It took up most of a dedicated room, he had to call in Armsmaster (who wasn't wearing his power armor, for whatever reason, just his helmet) to get the thing working, after they'd had a few quick words, and even then, it took almost half an hour to get it powered up safely. Apparently, it was designed to be easier to turn off than on, for whatever reason.

And Assault sat with me the whole time.

I just hoped that Emma wasn't getting too upset over this. She'd been waiting in another room for the better part of an hour by the time Armsmaster finally nodded over to Assault, who reached out, and picked up one of my hands. On the other side, Ms. Liberty reached over, and picked up my other hand, and I nodded to Armsmaster.

"Do it," I said.

He hesitated. Then he turned, and looked at me.

"Ms. Taylor," he began.

"Hebert," I interrupted him. "Miss Hebert. Taylor's my first name."

He nodded, simply.

"My apologies," he said. "Miss Hebert...this is standard procedure. But if working with Assault has taught me one thing, it's...probably how to deal with an incorrigible prankster. If it's taught me two things, though, the other would be that his gut is usually right. If he's having doubts about asking you to do this now, I'm inclined to listen. And he tells me that he's uncertain what the effects of this will be. So...I don't usually do this, because it's a lot less efficient, but...do you want to delay this test? It won't reflect badly upon you if you do, and if there are any issues this might raise, it would give you time to get them settled before you ran the test. Which may or may not be very important to your continued mental health and well-being."

I had to stop, and swallow at that.

"Will I have to do this later?" I asked. He hesitated, and then, slowly, he nodded.

"Then do it," I said, making sure my voice was firm. "Let's just...get it over with."

He hesitated for a moment more, and then, slowly, he nodded.

"If you could instruct your rat to manifest his energy blade," he said, nodding towards the next room, where Squire Rattus sat alone on the table in the middle of the room. I concentrated for a bit, and he did so. Armsmaster hesitated a moment more, before nodding again, and reaching out to pull the big old-fashioned brass lever over to the other side of the switch.

Immediately, I felt Squire Rattus, and all my other rats and mice, vanish. Frantically, I tried to reach out, to reconnect, to bring them to me, but they were gone, they were dead, they weren't...I couldn't find them, they weren't there, oh God, they're gone, they're gone, they're gone, I can't find them, please, God, help me, they have to be there, but I can't reach them, I can't hear them, I can't find them, they're gone, oh God, they're gone, just like before, I'm alone, I'm alone and I'm trapped, and there's nobody to help me, Oh God, please, please, please let them be okay, let them be safe, let them be alive, please, I have to find them, I have to speak to them, I have to know they're okay, God, please, please, please!

In the background, I could hear somebody screaming, the sound long and drawn out and full of pain and fear and loneliness, but that wasn't important, it didn't didn't help me find the others, it didn't matter, because all that mattered was finding them, hearing their voices again, knowing they were still there, still with me, that they still loved me and wouldn't run away or turn on me, and I couldn't find them, they were gone, they were all gone, and-

And then there was a sudden pop in the air, followed by feel of Emma's hands on mine, and then, moments later, the feelings came flooding back, and I could feel them again, and they were back, and they were safe, and everything was wonderful.

My last thought before the darkness claimed me was to thank God that they were safe again.

When I woke again, I was in a bed in what I had to assume was the infirmary, with everybody else clustered around me.

"What happened?" was my first question.

"I'm afraid you had a bad reaction to having your power canceled," Armsmaster-who was now clad in his more familiar power armor-replied. "And in response, your rat destroyed one of our testing rooms trying to get to you. I'm afraid that it would appear that your minions are very definitely not expendable. Which is likely to be something of a problem for you, as rats and mice are much less durable than human beings."

I blinked at that.

"Huh?" I finally asked.

"You went catatonic with terror when you lost contact with your minions," Assault translated. "The good news is that we now know for certain that the power belongs to your rat, because it carved its way through six inches of bullet-proof glass to get to you. Which...is actually the bad news, too, now that I think about it."

"Why is that bad news?" Emma asked. That's right, she'd appeared just before I blacked out, hadn't she?

"Because it's entirely possible that you forced the Trigger," Armsmaster said. "Especially if the story Assault told me is truly what happened. Which is something that absolutely every cape organization in the world wants to be able to do. And that means, I'm afraid, that you've just jumped up to be next to Panacea as the most-desired cape in the city. Assuming word of this test gets out, anyway. Which we really can't afford to assume that it won't, sadly."

"Oh," I said, faintly.

"I'm afraid that, Assault's best efforts aside, we don't have the time to wait for things to settle before-" Armsmaster began, before being cut off by the sound of Assault clearing his throat.

"Let's hold off on that for the moment," Assault said. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to get some idea of how bad this is going to be, before we start the full court press."

There was a pause, and then Armsmaster sighed.

"Right," he said. "She will need to come in, and soon, but you have a point. Very well. Shall we get on with the power testing, then?"

"Ah...I need to talk to Assault," I interrupted, before anybody could say anything else. "It's...pretty urgent. If you don't mind."

Armsmaster paused.

"Alone?" he asked.

"If I could," I said.

He nodded.

"Alright," he said. "Miss Barnes, if you would be so kind, I think that we'll start with you. If only because I'm not really sure what to do about the rat, and the testing team is still trying to figure out how to reconfigure their tests."

Within moments, everybody but Assault had cleared out of the room.

I looked around, carefully, before I turned to him. From somewhere, he'd produced something that looked a little like a weird tape recorder, and he placed it on the table beside the bed, before hitting a button, which caused it to begin producing a low-volume static buzz.

"White noise generator," he explained when I glanced at him. "Its not perfect, but it should scramble most conventional bugs in the room."

I nodded, slowly.

"The group that helped me with the spider-demon...you know about them?" I started to ask, and then paused. He nodded.

"Shadow Stalker reported it," he told me. "She said the Undersiders were the ones who helped you track it down and confront it. From the description, that particular variety would have been a particularly nasty one to handle for this city, since that particular variety is immune to all known pesticides. Even the Tinker-made ones. So...good job, in case nobody told you."

I blinked.

"Oh," I said. "Uh...well...they've gotten in touch with me again. Asked me to help them rob a bank."

"Did you say yes?" Assault asked, seeming somehow tense all of the sudden.

"Uh...no, I don't think so," I said, reviewing the conversation.

"Did they say what bank?"

I thought about that some more, and then shook my head.

"I don't think so," I told him. "But apparently, they were promised double their take, or twenty-five grand if they pulled it off. Whichever amount is larger."

Assault sort of reared his head back, and stared at me.

"Did they say when?" he asked, suddenly.

"Uh...Friday, I think."

"Shit," he muttered. "That makes entirely too much sense."

"Huh?" I asked. "What makes too much sense?"

"I think I know which bank," he told me, instead of answering. "And when. And if I'm right, it will be a distraction, not the main event. Which you probably already knew because of the additional money being paid to pull it off."

I nodded, slowly. I hadn't quite made the connection, but now that he pointed it out, I had been suspicious of that little detail. I just hadn't known what to make of it.

"And...?" I asked, after I'd thought for a few seconds. Assault just shrugged.

"My first instinct is to tell you to go for it," he said. "We'll arrange for things on our end to make sure that the robbery doesn't actually happen. But whatever the distraction is for, there's a fair chance that a robbery like that, with just the five of you, and you, at least, being a relative unknown, wouldn't be distracting enough. And there's only a few things in the area that would make the Protectorate respond in enough force to really hinder our ability to react to things elsewhere. Even then, standard policy is to mobilize the Wards, just in case they're needed."

"Maybe they don't know that?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"We can't afford to rely on that," he told me. "I'll double-check on this, but for now, go for it. Sign on, and get us a time and an origin point. I'll take care of the rest."

"But wouldn't that make me a villain?" I asked him. He snorted, and shook his head.

"Like I said," he told me. "I'll take care of that part. Don't worry about it. This kind of thing comes up every so often. I've already got a plan to deal with this. All I need is a time and an origin point, and the rest will be easy."

I gave him a suspicious look, but he just grinned at me.

"Trust me," he said. "You'll like it. It's perfect."