Wave (A Wormverse Story)

by Rhyzler

Seven years after being destroyed by Leviathan, the city of Sydney, Australia stands once again. With the new construction comes a new generation of villainy, however. Parthian joins the burgeoning cape scene as its newest Tinker... But with some volatile secrets of her own, joining the heroes isn't on the cards - leaving her to forge her own path between heroism and villainy.

4. Splash 1-3

Splash 1.3

Saturday, 1:04am, April 23rd, 2005

Did I regret the choices I'd made up to this point in the evening? No. Would I have made them again if I'd known this would be the result? Maybe not. Were Sentinel's probes fast? Yes. Very fast.

Aboard the Lightreach, I angled forward and down into a steep descent from the rooftop. I sucked in a breath as my stomach lifted inside me - and then dropped back into place with an equally sharp turn to level the board back out, speeding along just above the tops of the street lamps. I booked it south as quickly as I could manage, deeper into the CDB.

A crackle came over the police dispatch radio.

"All units in the Darling Harbour area, be advised. AAHQ reports an explosive projectile was detonated beneath its airspace. ShotSpotter pins the projectile from the Darling Harbour area. Three Sentinel probes currently deploying to survey the area and potentially pursue. Parahuman involvement possible but not confirmed - Deva and APRA on standby to deploy in the event of confirmation."

Hey, that's not… That's not fair!

I keyed into the frequency in a fit of irritation, opening my mouth to respond to the dispatcher and give them some obviously lacking context, and immediately froze. Slowly, I let go of the key, leaving my 'broadcast' as just a pair of radio clicks, hopefully lost in the signal.

I was self-aware enough to know my ego and big mouth had gotten me into this situation, and continuing to lean on them was unlikely to get me out of it by this point. I still felt riled up, though. Olympus One started it by trying to steal my drone! And then they wanted to get uppity, when all I did was protect my property - material and intellectual - from an illegal seizure? The audacity!

I knelt a little further down, fully embracing the speedboarder stance as my cape kicked up behind me, tugging at the fixing points atop my shoulders while I poured on as much speed as I thought I could safely manage. It had only taken me a few minutes to get into the CBD, but anything beyond 100km/h was likely to be a high speed ticket to an early grave as I started dipping and weaving between buildings - especially while flying this low down, in the hopes of staying out of sight of the probes.

Partly due the nature of my upbringing, and partly just because of my own interests being elsewhere, I'd never been much of a cape groupie growing up. Even though Sentinel had made a huge impression in the media when he first appeared, just a few months after Leviathan hit, I'd never given him much thought. I started looking into him more once I'd become a tinker myself, though - because of course I wanted to know just how good the greatest tinker since Hero was. Now that I was currently fleeing from his tinkertech, I found myself rather pissed at just how powerful and versatile it was.

Last I'd checked on PHO, Sentinel's highest known top speed on record was somewhere around Mach 4, so it was safe to assume his bigger probes could match that - considering he almost always travelled with a pair of them. There was no chance I could simply outrun them, but I did have a few advantages; manoeuvrability, and size.

As best I could tell, Sentinel's suit and probes flew using some kind of electric rocket engine. Very good for high top speeds and acceleration - but not as well suited to weaving through tall buildings at speed, lest the force of the thrusters blow out all the windows along their flight path and rain glass down onto the streets below. The probes didn't know my exact location just yet, and they hopefully wouldn't be able to get close enough to do anything - as long as I played to my advantage.

I heard the muted roar of the probe's thrusters as they reached the harbour not even 30 seconds after I'd cleared the area, and I suddenly found myself regretting that I'd lost the Peregrine. Without it, I couldn't safely multitask tracking the probes and navigating through the city. I also couldn't plot an escape route, unless I wanted to risk getting higher to see over the buildings and at the same time potentially reveal myself to the probes.

Crap, crap, crap!

I veered sharply around one building and dove to avoid a suspended footbridge linking it to the building across the street. I raced along at street level, quickly pulling back up as a bus came into view. The driver admonished me by laying on the horn, even as I cleared it with more than enough room to spare.

Rude!

I heard a whooshing sound overhead, glanced up to see one of the probes flying past me over the buildings a few blocks down. I returned my attention forwards again and-

Shit!

My stomach turned over as I dropped my weight backwards, steering the Lightreach vertical and shooting upwards, narrowly avoiding flying straight into a block of offices. I tucked my legs into my chest and quickly pulled the board into a backflip before I gained too much height, shooting back towards the ground before pulling out of the dive and curving to the left, to carry on down a different street.

"This is Unit 12," a voice began on the police radio. "Possible suspect just spotted heading northeast on Mary Ann towards Paddy's Markets. Costumed individual appeared to be riding a hoverboard."

Oh come on! Who? I didn't even see any cop cars.

An acknowledgement from the dispatcher came across the channel, but nothing to confirm if the probes were onto me now or if APRA and Deva were going to get involved. I zig-zagged between a few smaller buildings and tucked into a barrel roll to circle around a section of monorail track, before diving back once more down towards the street. I heard another whoosh - this time passing somewhere behind me - but I wasn't going to risk another glance, not after how well the last one went.

I breathed a small sigh of relief as the sound grew fainter, and then choked on it moments later as the rumble of the thrusters picked up again, growing gradually louder as it approached from behind. I banked left at the next opportunity, shifting myself to near horizontal and tilting my head backwards to steal a glance without having to take my eyes off my current course for more than a split second.

I did not like what I saw in that split second.

A few hundred feet above me, clear of all but the tallest buildings, one of the probes was now hot on my tail, moving as the crow flies in order to keep up with my erratic movements.

Damn you Sentinel.

I decelerated rapidly and executed an Immelmann turn - pulling up into another backflip and then rolling myself over at the apex of the loop - quickly reversing my course at the cost of some speed and a queasy feeling in my stomach as I levelled out. The manoeuvre was effective - if only temporarily. Another risky glance backwards showed the probe slowing down as quickly as possible and pulled sharply upwards to execute a Herbst manoeuvre - flipping over on its end and then rolling over once it had killed enough speed before rocketing back towards me. What little ground I managed to gain was lost in under 20 seconds as the probe closed the gap once more.

I heard more thrusters overhead and another steep, banking turn let me catch a glimpse of the other two probes closing in on my position and moving to create a triangular formation. They maintained a wide berth from each other as they flew over the buildings.

Hemming me in so I can't escape with my current tactics.

A smart move. While I could outmanoeuvre the probes all night long, this formation would make it almost impossible for me to actually escape them. Almost.

Played out the advantage of manoeuvrability... Time to lean on size, then.

I continued my wild flight pattern, dipping, diving, bobbing, weaving, and dodging between the many skyscrapers of Sydney's CBD until I found what I was looking for - the monorail track I'd flown past earlier.

Back when old Sydney still stood, the monorail had been just a tourist attraction. It still was, but advancements in maglev technology by Cardon Enterprises - extrapolated from tinkertech - had opened up the possibility for use as a genuinely feasible form of public transport. With the underground train networks of the old city centre flooded and damaged beyond repair, the reconstruction efforts presented the perfect opportunity to implement a brand new monorail network to connect the new CBD.

And now it was going to help me escape Sentinel's probes - or at least, I hoped so.

I banked upwards and began following the rail as it weaved through the city. The clearly marked path would be easy for the probes to follow me along, but it allowed me to safely pick up some extra speed I was going to need for my plan to work. I kept my foot on the metaphorical gas as I chased the track through the city, winding around buildings - and occasionally shooting through them, where the odd station had been built into one of the existing structures rather than as a standalone fixture.

One building, two, three, then four. I needed the probes to think I was just following the track at this point… That I'd given up on my erratic flightpath and was dumb enough to try to just outrun them by following the track. Five, six, seven, eight…

When I counted the ninth building, I kicked the Lightreach upwards and slammed on the brakes immediately as I entered. I grunted as my knee buckled and slammed into the board, swallowing the pain as I finished my abrupt stop and quickly moved to position myself over the station platform.

Safe from a fall any bigger than a half a metre, I then rapidly set about powering down all of my tech except for the bare necessities required to see through my helmet and keep the Lightreach flying. I heard the whoosh of the third probe from the rear of the formation rush past outside and instinctively held my breath. It wouldn't take them more than a few seconds to notice I hadn't exited the station and double back to try and find me.

With all my extra computing power and flight assistants shut down, I was struck with the realisation of just how much I relied on my tech; I knew what the almost fly-by-wire protocols did for me, I wrote them myself, but the extent to which they made my job easier was now starkly apparent. My legs began to wobble as the Lightreach freely shifted about under my weight, completely unstabilised and unassisted by computers.

I've never ridden a skateboard or snowboard before. Why is it so damn wobbly?

I swallowed the thought and grit my teeth as I worked to balance out the board. Dangerous as this idea was, I'd be damned if I was going to let myself get caught now. I spun around and slowly began to move back out of the station the same way I came in.

Hugging the wall, I edged my way back out of the building, looking down as I hovered out into the open. I expected the Lightreach to begin to lower itself, and the utter lack of any such movement gave me a shock not unlike when you go to take another step down a stairwell but you're already at the bottom step. Of course the Lightreach wouldn't be following terrain height - there were no sensors running to even keep track of what was beneath me. I kicked myself mentally as I scrambled to figure out how to angle down for the safest possible descent.

I heard the roar of the probes approaching again and slid backwards, flattening myself against the exterior wall of the building. I hit much harder than intended. My helmet and board smacked against the concrete, and I cursed silently, thankful my helmet kept me from anything more than a dull throb in the back of my head. I held my breath as two of the probes shot past overhead, no doubt checking to see if I was doubling back along the monorail track. Either by virtue of my tech being minimised, my position against the building or perhaps just sheer luck, neither of the machines seemed to spot me.

Glancing about, I spotted a fire escape on a building across the street and slowly hovered my way over to it, barely controlling the wobbling in my legs from constant overcorrections, clearing the area just in time as the third probe arrived. I clutched at the metal railings of the fire escape and quickly pulled myself onto the stairs, dismounting from the Lightreach and holding it close as I made myself as small as possible on the fixture.

Breathing heavily, I watched as the third probe rounded the corner into view, now moving slow enough that it could safely descend to the height of the monorail track. I watched with bated breath as the large, ovalescent machine stared into the station tunnel with eyes I couldn't see, no doubt scanning across a dozen different spectrums of light and sound to try and detect my presence.

The probe itself wasn't particularly imposing in its design, but knowing that it was nigh indestructible, packing some degree of ungodly firepower and currently hunting me like the Terminator gave it a deeply intimidating quality. I slowly began inching my way down the fire escape on foot as I heard the thrusters of one of the other probes approaching. It soared past overhead, tracking back along the monorail line in the direction I'd been going originally and then the probe stalking the station entrance boosted back up beyond the skyline. I expected it to fly off but instead, it remained hovering over the building, presumably keeping watch in case I was hiding somewhere inside, waiting to escape.

I descended a few flights of stairs and then carefully climbed back onto the Lightreach, setting off in what I hoped was a westerly direction. For my own safety and because I assumed the probes would be watching for anything travelling fast, I kept my speed down as I flew from fire escape to fire escape, climbing up and hunkering down each time I heard the sound of one of the probes approaching.

After 10 minutes of sneaking about with no probes coming close in the last three, I decided to power my computers and other tech back on. A feeling of comfort washed over me as I felt the Lightreach become a little more rigid beneath my feet and my GPS reconnected and informed me that I had in fact been moving in the right direction.

Pushing away from the latest fire escape, I pulled up just a little and began to pour on the speed again, flying out over the harbour towards the ANZAC Bridge. I put myself on course back to my car and dropped low over the water as I inevitably ran out of skyscrapers to hide behind with the CBD behind me. Slowly, I let myself relax as a strange sense of giddiness began to bubble inside me. I'd broken free of the probe's triangulation and was now heading back towards my car. I'd escaped.

First the hack battle, now the chase.

Holy crap… I outsmarted Sentinel twice in one night.

Almost.

The alert pinged on my HUD only moments before I heard that painfully familiar roar steadily growing louder behind me. One of the probes had found me again now that I was exposed - or it had never actually lost me - adjusted course, and was rapidly closing on me again.

"Oh come ON!" I shouted.

I pulled upwards, flooring it as hard as I could manage while keeping my balance, accelerating rapidly towards 200km/h. But the probes were still closing in. My HUD issued another alert.

1000 feet and closing…

500 feet and closing…

250 feet and closing…

And then the probe suddenly broke off its pursuit.

…

…

WHAT?!

I dropped my speed back down and watched as the probe along with the other two still in the city just… Returned towards Atlas HQ.

The police dispatch radio came through my ear again.

"All units, be advised. Pursuit of the suspect has ceased and the search order from AAHQ has been rescinded. Continue with normal operations."

They just let me go..?

I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that... Glad, perhaps, that I was out free? Annoyed, that they didn't catch me while they had the chance? Slighted, that they didn't think I was worth capturing?

A wave of exhaustion washed over me but I couldn't bring myself to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Just because I wasn't being actively pursued anymore and the broadcast said the search order had been rescinded, didn't mean they weren't still following covertly or tracing some sort of signal or energy frequency my tech was emitting. Rather than just boost it back down to my car, I adjusted my course and took an obnoxiously long, winding path back towards where I'd parked.

I touched down about a block from where I'd taken off originally, and shut off all my tech - save for the functions required to keep the anti-gravity generators running on the Lightreach, as it was much too heavy for me to carry unassisted. I slipped through a series of alleys to return to my car and took one last quick look around before hurriedly shucking my gear, pulling my helmet off last and setting it down with the rest before covering it. The pile was a little bit smaller for the lack of the faithful Peregrine, sacrificed for the sake of the shots I now had stored on my helmet.

Deciding that, on the off chance I was still being followed somehow, I went straight home to my apartment rather than my workshop. The last thing I wanted was to get Sam involved, but my apartment was much more replaceable than my workshop. About 30 minutes later, I was stepping out of the lift in my apartment building - costume stuffed in a duffel bag - and itching to get to my laptop so I could pull the photos from my helmet and post them to PHO. Perhaps not the most sensible idea, but the Peregrine had died for those photos, and I refused to let its death be in vain. A little bit of cops and robbers wasn't going to deter me.

I slipped back into my apartment, sneaking my way through so as not to wake my roommate Sam. I set my duffle down in my room, grabbed my helmet, and plugged it into my computer; a chuckle came out unbidden as I pictured a dastardly Parthian twirling an imaginary moustache as she slapped the 'Post' button. In the few minutes it took to offload the pics, I logged into PHO on my 'Verified Cape' account - a perhaps vain but prudent decision I'd chosen to make in advance of my debut - and navigated through to the Sydney board.

I typed up a somewhat cheeky title while waiting for the pictures to upload. With the post almost ready to go, bathed in the light of the laptop screen with my helmet staring at me with its almost accusatory expression, I pondered for a moment… And then I stood up.

This calls for wine, I think.

I slipped back out to the kitchen to pour myself a glass, then promptly returned to the sight of the mouse still hovering over the 'Post' button and the image upload now complete as I took my seat. I crossed my legs up on the side of the desk, leaning all the way back in my chair with the glass in hand, took a sip, and clicked the button.

[Your message has been posted!]

I sat there and watched it for a few minutes, excitement slowly fading as I sipped away further. Of course nothing was going to happen right away. It was well into the early AM by that point. Nobody was awake.

Ehhh... Well…

I started clicking around other boards, looking at other random postings, cape sightings, Atlas Alliance news, scrolling aimlessly and not really paying too much attention while I finished my glass. The biggest thread of the day was about the fight between the villainous Medi-Evils and their heroic rivals, Excalibur & Gloryhammer, and the debate seemed to be pretty mixed. Some people said that capes who were supposedly as powerful as Excalibur and Gloryhammer shouldn't be letting joke kid villains get away, while others were justifying it as something akin to street theatre with how camp the two pairs tended to play things when they clashed.

Others still took offence at that, considering that real lives were actually in danger when Steam Punk took hostages with his automatons. They argued that if the Protectorate was going to keep insisting on forcing their capes into Australia as part of the resource and training exchange program, they should at least take their jobs more seriously.

Well that's a flawed argument. Excalibur and Gloryhammer are Aussie nationals, not Americans.

I couldn't imagine things would be much different if they were part of the Atlas Alliance instead, but I had to admit it set a bad precedent for the Protectorate when their experimental Oceania division was supposed to be showing Australia and New Zealand how government hero-ing should be done.

After Leviathan, it was painfully clear that Australia needed a more organised system for heroes to work under. Sentinel and Cardon Enterprises mostly solved that issue when they went to the government with the Atlas Alliance proposal, a few months after the attack - but it hadn't fixed everything. Australia now had organised, government- sponsored heroes, but still lacked its own equivalent of the PRT - and the Alliance was only successful in cities where independent hero teams already existed or where they were specifically created for the Alliance, like in Sydney.

As part of the reconstruction efforts, the US had commenced a resource and training exchange program to help the government found the Australian Parahuman Response Agency, or, APRA. Our own PRT. Unfortunately - in some people's opinions - it also came with the stipulation that the Protectorate would form an Oceanic division as an alternative to the Atlas Alliance. The proposal was popular initially, but public opinion quickly soured when it became clear the team was more of a political and PR stunt than a genuine effort to actually expand the Protectorate into Australia and New Zealand.

The division operated out of a base in Canberra, but with only five capes on a team that was supposed to cover a region as big as the entire United States, public interest and government funding quickly turned back to the Atlas Alliance.

I doom-scrolled for a little longer and then let the tiredness start to overtake me. Dragging myself back upright, I set the glass down on the table and wrapped my helmet back up before returning it to the duffel bag. Changing out of my clothes, I slipped under the sheets and didn't bother with an alarm. I'd wake up when I woke up, and then I'd be fresh to get back out there, rebuild my Peregrine, and... see what came.

Saturday, 8:02am, April 23rd, 2005

I was woken the next morning by the sound of knocking at my door and a faint buttery smell wafting into my bedroom. I jerked upright, turning around in my sheets before dragging myself into a sitting position and addressing the closed door to my room.

"Hey?"

"Hey!" Sam called to me from the other side of the door. "I'm making pancakes for breakfast. Want any?"

"Yes. Please! Thank you," I called back, disjointed while I started getting my thoughts in order, shaking loose the fragments of dreams and inspirations already fading away, like they always did. I looked over to my laptop - screen now dark - before rising up out of bed and going to pull on a robe.

"Ooooorder up!" I heard him call back, followed by footsteps as Sam moved back into the kitchen, the sound of sizzling picking up again.

I wandered out of my room and into the bathroom first, looking at my dishevelled appearance. I pulled my hair out of its ponytail and combed it through a little before putting it back up again, wiped off some of the slightly smudged make-up, forgoing a full shower and clean-up for after food time. My stomach demanded attention first.

Still a little tired-eyed, I cinched the robe around myself, wandered out to the living area barefoot, and joined Sam in the kitchen, opening the fridge looking for breakfast juice.

Sam was more than a full head taller than me with short, dirty-blonde hair and what I considered a handsome face - not that his admittedly good looks had been the only factor in my choosing him as a roommate. He was dressed in long, flannel pyjama pants and a loose fitting t-shirt that depicted the hero Deva in an angelic pose; the words 'Guardian Angel' were written in a fancy scrawling font beneath the image. She was the third most popular hero in the Alliance's Sydney team after Sentinel and Maverick, owing largely to the fact that she chose not to wear a mask but still somehow managed to retain a secret identity. As a result, she'd developed something of a cult following on PHO; the 'Deva Hunters', as they called themselves, a group dedicated to working out Deva's real identity, despite having found no success in almost five years.

"Morning sleepyhead," Sam addressed me with a mildly teasing tone. "I noticed you didn't eat the spagbowl. How late did you get back last night?"

It struck me at that moment just how odd it was, for me, to be so casually dressed and familiar around someone who wasn't family or an employee. I looked away from him for a moment while I considered. It felt nice to be… Unguarded. I looked back up at him with a smile, tinged with guilt at his line of questioning.

"I was gonna have some... I was looking forward to it. I just forgot. It was... pretty late," I answered sheepishly.

"That's fine. Orange juice is in the door."

I gave him another guilty smile and poured myself a glass of juice, replacing the carton in the fridge before taking my cup down to the dining table. I took a seat facing the TV to see if there was any big morning news while I waited for pancakes.

I flipped on the TV and surfed to ABC News, which was currently in the middle of their eight o'clock news broadcast. Lots of talk, but no new information about the 'Sydney Club Killer', as they'd now been dubbed - and only a small mention of reports regarding an explosion occurring around the Atlas HQ last night, and a possible chase through the CBD involving three Sentinel probes and an unknown individual. No statements had been made yet by officials in the Alliance, APRA or Sydney police.

I wasn't sure if I should be offended or proud of that. Either my actions last were apparently not newsworthy or I'd embarrassed the Alliance enough they wanted to keep things quiet. I still didn't understand why the probes had stopped the chase right before they caught me though. What was the deal there?

Sam distracted me from my thoughts as he came over to the dining table and set down a big stack of pancakes in the middle, along with a variety of toppings and a plate and cutlery for me.

"Anything big happening?" He asked, gesturing to the TV.

"Mmmmm..." I responded vacantly, eyeing the pancakes. "Oh, umm… A bit of stuff about the serial killer. Still not saying anything about what their power is, or why they're targeting nightclub bar staff and customers. I'd be worried if I had time to go to a nightclub."

I raised my utensils and started the grave work of disassembling the fluffy foodstuff for sustenance.

"Hah, yeah. That's pretty scary though. The idea of a cape serial killer sends shivers down my spine."

The last thing Australia needs is its own Slaughterhouse Nine.

I responded mid pancake, raising a hand up to the corner of my mouth quickly as a consequence of messy eating.

"I mean... Any serial killer, right? Cape or no cape... Strange the authorities can't or won't say what their power might be."

"Maybe they've got some sort of power that makes them good at sneaking around or something?" Sam theorised as he scooped a pancake onto his plate and began slathering it with blueberries and maple syrup.

"Nobody's that good at sneaking. And if they were that good, it'd be obvious that was their power... right?" I asked as I set my knife and fork down for a moment to take a sip of orange juice.

"I guess? Who knows, powers are fucking weird..." Sam shoved a big forkful of pancake into his mouth.

I let out a bit of a chuckle, knowing all too well how true that was.

"If you got a power, what do you think it'd be?" I asked idly as I grabbed another pancake off the stack.

"Mm-mm." Sam mumbled as he finished his mouthful. "I don't want powers. Far too much trouble for me. If I had to get a power and I could choose? I'd want something to help me with my art. Like super steady hands, or some sort of vision power that lets me see the world differently so I could do some crazy psychedelic stuff."

I nodded along amenably.

"You?" He prompted.

"With my luck, probably some messed up power that makes it impossible for the cops to find out that I've been killing nightclub goers," I responded wryly. Sam choked a bit on his current mouthful and gave me an odd look.

"Well that's dark..." he muttered.

"I'm kidding, obviously," I backpedalled, holding my hands up sheepishly. "Could you imagine me manhandling anyone? I couldn't fight my way out of a wet paper bag."

Smooth, Lise. Joke about being a serial killer with your roommate. Real smooth…

"I dunno about that. You work out, don't you?"

"A little. Are you calling me a serial killer~?" I jabbed my fork in his general direction and squinted ominously, the expression somewhat ruined by the muscles tugging upward the edges of my mouth.

"It would explain why you're always out so late, but no. I don't think you're a serial killer 'Lise," Sam snorted with a shake of his head.

And, successfully escaped from the hole I dug myself into. Yay!

I let out another little chuckle and stabbed the last slice of pancake menacingly.

"I'd want to fly," I spoke up in a softer voice, after a few moments.

"Yeah. Flying would be great…"

It is, Sam. If only you knew.

"Any plans for today?" He continued

"I mean, work?" I said. "Like any other day of the week."

"Seriously? It's a Saturday. Don't you have anything else to do? Are you being forced to work against your will?" He leaned in close and spoke in a mock whisper. "Blink twice if you're being blackmailed!"

"Oh! Oh, umm. Saturday. I guess... I've got some time, yeah," I wondered.

Am I just now realising I've had no life outside of tinkering?

"No, no plans, then," I followed up with a sheepish grin.

"Well I'm heading into the city to do some landscape work with a few people. You're welcome to join if you want?" Sam offered.

"Landscape work?" I asked curiously.

"Painting landscapes. We're gonna pick a good spot in the city and then paint the skylines."

"Oh! Oh. I'm no good with a brush or anything. I'd just be dead weight, haha..."

"Could just be a fun outing? Up to you of course." Sam finished his plate and started clearing away the mess.

I needed to get back to my lab to work on replacing the Peregrine, as well as upgrading my security - since apparently Atlas has someone who can just crack into my secure network through a port that shouldn't be crackable. But doing something other than tinkering for a change did sound kind of nice. Maybe hanging out with Sam's friends would give me a chance to take my mind off Elly for a little while.

"Umm.. when are you going?" I asked

"Ten-ish?" Sam replied, looking down at his watch. "So in about an hour and a half."

I fought the indecision for another few moments and then nodded.

"I'm in. That's enough time to check in on something I need to and… Well… Clean up," I decided.

"Cool," He acknowledged with a soft smile before moving over to start washing up the dishes.

I finished my cup and stood up, taking my plate over to the bench to stand next to him, waiting, thoughts elsewhere. Sam took the plate and cup from my hands and gave them a rinse before loading them into the dishwasher. Broken from my short, temporary reverie, I gave him a quick little "thanks" and retreated to make my way back to my room.

I sat down at my desk, nudging my laptop to wake it up and reaching for the refresh key to see what's been made of my PHO posting.

⬥ Topic: Look What I Found!

In: Boards ► Places ► Australia ► Sydney

Parthian (Verified Cape) (Original Poster) (Temp Banned)

Posted on April 23rd, 2005:

[Removed]

(User was banned for this post.) (This thread has been locked.)

(Showing Page 1 of 1)

► Veggiemighty

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

Holy wow! New cape alert and pics of what they're building under the AAHQ? Amazing!

► Big_Ernesto

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

super interesting. some sort of campus-ish building or maybe museum? pics are super good quality from angle and lighting it looks like these were taken at night while flying over the harbour. must have some crazy camera tech. $1000 says theyre a tinker of some kind.

► ACoolUsername

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

GUYS! WHAT IF ITS A CAPE SCHOOL?! IS AUSTRALIA FINALLY GONNA LEGALISE CAPE MINORS? IS THE AA CREATING ITS OWN WARD TEAM?!

► Aussiex3 (Moderator) (Sydney '98 Survivor)

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

Please refrain from posting classified information on these boards. This is your first and final warning. Anyone found to be reposting the content from this post will also receive a ban.

► Superfly

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

What kinda cape name is Parthian? First thing that comes up on Google is some ancient Middle Eastern Empire. Hope they're not a terrorist.

► Moxter (AA Enthusiast) (Deva Hunter)

Replied on April 22rd, 2005:

Wow. Very cool & super racist over generalisation you've made there, asshole.

► Superfly

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

There were reports of an explosion beneath the AAHQ last night and then a chase through the CBD with THREE Sentinel probes. With where these pics were taken, what are the odds they also caused the explosion. Just calling it like I see it.

► Almighty_Uncle (AA Enthusiast)

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

Don't agree with the racism but it'd be a pretty big coincidence if it wasn't the same person. Obviously they are trying to make a spectacle for their first appearance by doing this. Fingers crossed they are not a full blown villain and just an overzealous rogue

► Sleepyhead

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

Fuck! The post has been removed. Did I wake up too late? Dammit!

► Ace_Appreciator (AA Enthusiast)

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

Noooooooo! I missed it too! Let me see you cowards!

► Aussiex3 (Moderator) (Sydney '98 Survivor)

Replied on April 23rd, 2005:

[This thread has now been locked.]

Well, that had about the effect I was hoping for.

Overtaken by the most infectious grin reaching from ear to ear, I checked my account to see how long they'd temporarily banned me - seven days - then flicked over to check the other boards to see if there were any Parthian speculation threads yet. Pulling up the board for all known capes in Sydney, I found Parthian marked with an asterisk, listed under the 'Rogues/Vigilantes' column alongside the likes of Beacon, Gusto, Hoodlum and King Hit. Clicking through to my board revealed it to currently be locked.

⬥ Topic: Parthian

In: Boards ► Capes ► Australia ► Sydney ► Rogues/Vigilantes ► Parthian

Aussiex3 (Moderator) (Original Poster) (Sydney '98 Survivor)

Posted on April 23rd, 2005:

[This board is locked.]

While an account by the name of Parthian exists as a verified cape and a post was made by them late last night, this board will remain locked until confirmed sightings of this cape occur.

"What a killjoy!" I muttered. I sent off a short message to Aussiex3's message box, requesting an appeal of the ban, including a quick apology and a promise not to post rule-breaking content again. Maybe they'd let it slide the first time and ease up on the ban early, it couldn't hurt.

I pushed myself upright and was reaching out to close my laptop when a notification pinged to inform me I'd received a private message. I sat back down and pulled it up to read.

⬥ Private message from ManInTheCan:

ManInTheCan: Sorry about the drone

Hmm..?

---

AN: A few days late on this one, apologies for the delay. I had a busy week and struggled with finding a way to end the chase sequence that hit the key points I wanted it to without handing Parthian the idiot ball. I'm satisfied with what I got in the end so I hope it was worth the extra wait!

Next chapter will be a bit of slice of life stuff, worldbuilding and plenty of dialogue. It's time to get to know 'Lise a little better out of her costume before things pick up towards the end of this arc.

Thanks again to my wonderful co-writer Casey and if you'd be interested in betaing this fic, please DM me at Rhyzler#9795 on Discord. Fingers crossed the next chapter is out on time!