{Name for a young swan.}

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

I had a feeling Heather didn't use the computer lab for much, she made it as far as the door before she started complaining- bouncing on her feet and fidgeting- she was easily distracted.

We had the room to ourselves, which was a relief. I half expected to see the crazy guy from before- and just thinking like that sounded… hypocritical. But I was glad all the same. I waved to the nurse on duty at the corner desk. The room was staffed now, I immediately felt better seeing actual staff on duty.

I sat at one of the stations and logged in, and a prompt asked me if I wanted to customize my account. I decided to leave that off for now.

I checked for my classes first, all my files had transferred. I didn't have any current assignments; I'd finished them all last night.

"Do you guys have classes too?"

"I do," Nick mumbled, Heather blew her hair out of her face with a sour glower.

"Doctor Morgan keeps trying to get me to do some," she groused.

"It's free, you should try and get a degree or something."

But Heather just groaned.

I opened the browser, opened my e-mail and then…

Mom. Emma. I took a deep breath, I had an hour and a half to do this.

To: JoinedinDeluge , LovelyGinger

From: GestatingTeneral

Subject: Mom and Emma

I swallowed and wiped my hands on my pants, they were sweating. Why was I so nervous all of a sudden?

'Dear Mom and Emma

Alchemilla is not what I expected.'

That was a little strange to say. I don't know what I had expected, but now that I'd had a chance to meet some of the other patients, I knew that it hadn't been anything close. This was not it. I thought about it a moment, then kept typing. It was true anyway.

'I'm out of observation, which means they don't think I'm dangerous anymore, I think.'

I deleted that part immediately, all parahumans were dangerous, right? And there was Doctor Yamada's veiled warning, and Summer Holiday's… I was out, but it was still dangerous. And they didn't need to know about any of that.

'The staff has been very kind and supportive, and I've made some friends'

'There are a lot of parahumans here, I never imagined there would be so many. I even got to meet a hero today. She was a Protectorate hero posted at Alchemilla, and not one of the patients. That's right, there are actual heroes here to keep us all safe.'

I couldn't name Summer Holiday. There were rules to email correspondence. The names and cape identities of all the patients were automatically censored, and Dragon had an AI dedicated to inspecting outgoing email.

'Doctor Selmy wants me to try really working on myself, wanted me to make myself a project I'm invested in. Getting out, getting better. Doctor Yamada wants me to keep making friends.'

I didn't think the doctors' names would be an issue… I'd only been told about parahuman etiquette. Hmm.

I got up and walked to the nurse desk at the back of the room to ask. On my way back I paused, there was a flurry of movement in the booths, a brief scuffle. Sure enough, Heather and Nick were back at their stations, and my email was still open. But the screensaver had not kicked in.

I waffled uncertainly for a moment. I really didn't appreciate them looking over my shoulder, even if I wasn't there at the time. And- and I didn't want to have a confrontation right now.

But… but Doctor Selmy wanted me to be brave. And I'd promised Emma I wouldn't let everyone walk all over me. And… if I just let this happen it'd happen again, right?

I sighed. And turned, opening my mouth, but Heather and Nick were already looking at me, and Heather covered her face in her hands.

"Not a word." Heather lowered her hands and glared at Nick.

Nick was unimpressed and unphased, which kind of surprised me, "I told you she'd know."

"Argh!" Heather threw her hands in the air.

"Now apologize." Nick prompted. And I had to blink because, wow, that was a change. Where was this coming from?

"Um," I said, "Why were you reading my letter?" I wished my voice was stronger.

Heather just shrugged one shoulder, and looked churlish. Nick was the one to say something, "Please don't hold it against her."

"Oh shut up, Nick," Heather said. "I don't need someone saying sorry for me."

She wasn't sorry, but…

I flexed my power.

She was bored, her medication interacted uncomfortably with her power. Her power's mentality? She was profoundly bored, a little scared I'd hold a grudge, and lonely.

Lonely? I blinked, and tamped down on my power again. Heather stared back.

"Who's Emma?" She asked. It sounded a little like a demand.

I bit my lip, "Um. My best friend." I couldn't figure out what to do with my hands, clasping and unclasping them, rubbing my arms, I fidgeted, "We've known each other since… well, I guess since I can remember." I smiled weakly. Emma was always in my corner; she was there right now.

"No dad?" Heather asked.

I frowned, "No, he… he died almost two years ago."

Heather nodded, looking down at her feet. I glanced at Nick, he was looking away, studying the carpet, and I realized something. "Do you guys have family, uh, outside?

Heather stared back at me, then just stood up and walked out.

Nick met my eyes and breathed a quick apology before he followed her, leaving me alone in the library.

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

I finished my letter, making a point of telling them how much I was looking forward to them visiting, and sent it. Then I just… I sat staring at the screen, thinking about that. Heather, I guessed she didn't have any family. Or they weren't keeping in touch with her. Mimi didn't have anyone either, I think.

Sveta didn't have any family.

I was starting to detect a pattern, and… I felt grateful for Mom and Emma. But also sad. I had someone outside, waiting for me and rooting for me.

Who did Heather have? Or Nick, or Mimi, or Sveta?

I shook myself, and glanced at the clock. I still had about a half hour left on my session, and I was going to use it. I opened Parahumans Online, it was a little strange, looking at it now that I was a parahuman. I could look at this and ask where I fit in. That was… weird.

There was a featured article on the Triumvirate on the front page- I smiled and checked out the latest. It featured Alexandria, unfolded to her full glory like some kind of exotic tropical flower, or maybe a sea anemone. Eidolon floated alongside her, multicolored aura glowing brightly, and above them, serene, floated Hero. His tech arrayed in a halo orbiting his head. The symbolism was a little heavy handed, but I couldn't argue with the impact.

Alexandria and Eidolon and Hero. The big three. They had been four once- Legend among them, before his death.

Alexandria, nearly indestructible, with her shifting body capable of taking so many shapes. Eidolon, powers were malleable in his hands, taking any shape in himself and others.

And Hero, Hero was one of the very first heroes, that was the only way he got away with such an iconic name like that. Maybe the first Tinker. He was the greatest Tinker in the world, certainly the strongest in the USA. The strongest in North America with the possible exception of Dragon, the strongest cape in Canada.

The article was primarily about ongoing fighting to contain Eagleton Tennessee. Noting patterns of the Machine Army continuing to skirmish along the perimeter of the town, and there was talk of increasing the Protectorate garrison. Calls for a sterilizing action by Hero was quieting, the official word being that the threat was being downgraded to A-class. So long as they were contained. Detractors of the policy speculated that it was actually because the PRT wanted a 'harvestable' source of tinkertech.

I scrolled back to the big banner spread at the top of the page.

When I was younger, I'd dreamed of becoming a cape like Alexandria- strong and beautiful and respected, I'd protect the innocent and uphold justice. Emma'd never been into superheroes the same way, but always laughed and went along with it, the two of us playing at grand heroics, with sheets tied over our shoulders, jumping from the top of her bunkbed, pretending to fly. And since coming to Alchemilla, I'd learned that Sveta looked up to her too- their powers were similar.

For Sveta, Alexandria represented a ray of hope, that she'd be able to gain control of her powers one day.

I impulsively clicked the regional news stub, looking up Brockton. The gangs had been quiet when I left, but it looked like there had been some sort of upheaval in the past month. I kept reading.

E88 was basically as it had been, with Allfather, Kaiser, and Iron Rain's helmets dominating the organization tab, and representing neo-Nazi's everywhere. ABB still had Lung, and Butcher hadn't reincarnated yet. But when I looked up the Marche things got interesting. Marquis, never defeated in battle with any of the gangs or the Protectorate, had acquired two more henchmen- Grue and Browbeat. Both of them were big, solidly-built guys; next to them, the Marquis looked deceptively nonthreatening, considering he was arguably the most dangerous parahuman in Brockton Bay. No names yet, though.

More interesting was the description of the fights Marquis had won so recently. Apparently, a new gang had established itself, calling themselves the Fae, and allied with the Marche. It was led by a woman who called herself Ingénue- a onetime independent hero notable for driving three heroes insane. They had gone to the Birdcage before anyone caught on, and she had gone on the run. I guess this was her surfacing.

There was a lot of speculation on her bio that went nowhere, lots of back and forth. Master awareness had skyrocketed following the Simurgh's emergence, and Ingenue had been exposed just eight months later, at it's height. But solid facts, particularly following her going to ground, were surprisingly short in supply. One blurry photograph was posted, showing her alongside what looked like a young woman or girl with light brown or blond hair. It wasn't clear if this was another parahuman or not, but Ingénue had always gone after men…

My gut twisted, I had powers, but instead of stopping villains, instead of fighting crime, I was here. Doing nothing. I shook myself- I was getting distracted, and I was on a time limit.

"Okay, okay…" Read now, speculate later. First on my list was Lizard Prince. I typed his name into the search bar.

He was a villain, as I'd been told, originally based out of Virginia; his rap sheet included a history of breaking and entering, and assault. Violent crimes. Four altercations with the Protectorate and Wards.

He was a grab-bag cape with minor shape-shifter powers, the ability to stretch and contort his limbs. He could also stick to and walk up walls, possessed a minor power to project a sticky substance that entrapped opponents, and a danger sense. His name, however, came from his ability to regenerate by 'shedding his skin'.

Because of this ability, he could sustain injuries that would be permanent for another cape, could break bones and sacrifice limbs and regrow them rapidly, like a lizard sacrificing its tail. Hence the name.

Of course, seeing it in action…

I swallowed back nausea after opening the attached video. "Oh god," I gasped. I was really glad that I didn't have that power, that was disgusting. I'd go through so many clothes…

As Summer Holiday had said, he'd been slated for the Birdcage. His arrest had followed a complicated incident that outed a Ward. He'd pled insanity, now he was here in Alchemilla.

I looked up the others in his gang. The ones he had named. What had he called them? Inkling, Frog, Prowler, Quilt, Marionette.

I scrolled through some mugshots. Inkling, the girl with tentacles for hair, had been involved in some violent crime. But there was some confusion in the specifics. Two altercations with gangs in New York and Maine, public enough that she had almost been branded a solo vigilante.

It helped that she had a versatile power, one of those odd powers that didn't really fall into a category of itself. She could project a corrosive substance onto surfaces, which then functioned as a rapid means of transit for her- like super speed, or maybe teleporting.

I was a little envious. All I had was straight-up Thinker powers. That denoted powers that granted additional senses or information, and was usually hard to use directly in stopping crime. She had a power that gave her a lot of options, she could do so much, all I had was… was, this sense of things I didn't want to know.

Don't think about that. Negative spiral. What about the rest?

Frog had been picked up somewhere in Maine as well… Prowler had some kind of mental impairment that left him unable to understand spoken language… Quilt had been involved in human trafficking, and not voluntarily… Marionette didn't have an article at all.

Except for Lizard Prince, the only thing they had in common was they were all monster capes, capes without identities or memories before their powers. It was a phenomenon I had read about, one with a lot of theories attached but no concrete conclusion.

It struck me as a little odd, when I thought about it. Lizard Prince hadn't been known to work with anyone else prior to his capture, but I wondered. It seemed a little out of character for him to suddenly develop a charismatic streak… what had changed that? I had no idea where Marionette fit into that either. Why no article?

I shook my head and stared at the search bar for a moment, the next name was obvious. Her power, it turned out, was close to what I had perceived. And about as different from Lizard Prince as powers got.

Summer Holiday was a longtime member of the Protectorate, though never one with a spotlight on her. She'd lost her leg fighting in the First Emergence.

I paused, how old did that make her? She didn't look much older than her late twenties- no, no, questions later.

She used the prosthesis instead of getting it healed on basis of personal preference. There wasn't much more on her, which was strange, since she had the bearing and looks for front page PR. And her powers only played to that… And they were like fireworks, incredible fireworks. She could charge up balls and beams of energy and kinetic force and release them, tailoring the effect as she desired. It was like looking at the grand finale of a Fourth of July display in a major city. And there were videos. A lot of videos. Apparently she did displays on occasion.

There was some speculation that she had a broader power, that it lay more along the lines of general energy manipulation- she was on record for producing fire, or ice as part of their effects, or even more exotic applications.

But I was running out of time, I'd look at them later. I drummed my fingers on the desk; next, next was Mimi.

Burnscar brought up a stub article, she had been involved in a fire at a high school. There wasn't much else. I guessed she'd been caught in the aftermath of her trigger, never made the transition to hero or villain. That made sense.

What was the name of Mimi's friend? Labyrinth? I entered that, and came up with a deceased heroine from California, and a Tinker in Europe that specialized in camouflage, a male Tinker. Neither of those, so maybe she'd never debuted?

My session was over, though. I logged off and stood up. What to do now? It was still a while until Lunch, I didn't have anything else scheduled until the afternoon. I could- Heather. I'd find Heather and see if I could smooth over whatever I had said.

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

The exercise room had half a dozen patients working on the machines or jogging on the treadmill. A couple faces I even recognized from my group yesterday. Heather was not among them.

I frowned, and pushed on the connection, the familiarity, looking for a direction.

It was inexact- a wave of a hand and a general sense of 'that way' like a compass needle wandering in and arc. I followed it through the machines to the gymnasium, where I found her tossing a basketball into the hoop.

My throat tightened up a bit. I wasn't good at this. I hardly knew Heather. Hardly knew anyone here.

But I could do this. I could. Doctor Yamada was here, and Doctor Selmy. And Mom, Mom had always told me, when I was at my most withdrawn, that I could melt anyone's heart if I tried. I thought about Emma, how she'd approach this. But I was never good at that- going up to people all smiles, always knowing what to say. Emma was as at ease in social settings as I was awkward.

I couldn't do that. But I could try.

"Um. Can I play?"

Heather missed and the ball bounced off the rim, back towards me. I could see the direction, the path it would follow, in my mind's eye. The angle was illuminated- like the security cams. I stepped forward and caught it, right after it rebounded. It was so… simple. I hardly had to think about it.

"Yeah, sure."

I looked up, Heather was standing with hands on hips, expectant. She… Well, she didn't look upset.

Deep breaths, I can do this. I hesitated and then kicked off my slippers, and peeled off my socks.

"Did you play a lot before…. This?" I asked.

"Yeah." Heather said.

I tossed the ball back to her, and she turned, shooting it into the hoop. She caught it on the way down and glanced at me. "Two-zero, are you just going to give them to me?"

I blinked, and took a step forward. Heather started dribbling, took the ball out to the middle of the court and I took a defensive position in front of the basket. Heather danced back and forth a little, got fancy with the dribbling, crossing back and forth in between her legs. Back and forth, despite her bare feet.

She suddenly darted forward, juked to the right and went left, then shot for the basket. My feeble attempt to block her went wide and I might as well as been standing still for all the good it did.

"Come on!" Heather snapped, catching the ball and dribbling back to mid court.

The next time she moved forward I darted in, aiming a slap to knock the ball away. Heather spun away, lined up another shot and made it too.

I was already breathing hard. I'd had exercise periods while in quarantine, under the vigilant eye of orderlies each day. But there was a difference between a hundred lunges and crunches in the recreation yard, and maybe some pushups when I was feeling especially restless late at night. Anything to keep moving.

It was another to get my heartrate up in honest. It didn't take long before I was panting, and my hair was slicked to my forehead.

Heather kept going for baskets, and I kept trying to keep up with her, until my sides were stitching and I felt like I was about to explode. It was a little strange, it felt good. Really good. My power sketched her actions in the air as we played. By her fifth basket, I could tell when she was bluffing, when she was feinting, and when she was going for a shot- even if I couldn't stop her.

I think I was putting up a better showing too, by the end, Heather had a faint sheen of sweat and was breathing a little harder. Which I might have been more proud of if I wasn't dying on my feet at the time.

"Okay," She said, after I think her fifteenth basket. Or maybe it was more. I kind of lost count at some point.

"Stop, you're gonna kill yourself. Or have a stroke, or something."

I walked to the benches set against the gymnasium walls on legs like wet noodles and collapsed into one. Heather followed, and sat beside me, but she waited until I was finished catching my breath before she started talking.

"I wanted to be in the NBA, you know?" she said. "I was captain of the Northwood West Tigers, best team in Virginia. I had scholarships and everything."

She scuffed her feet on the gymnasium floor. "Turns out I got something called, 'osteogenesis imperfecta'." She pronounced it carefully, like she'd tried before and not gotten it right. A lot.

She leaned her arms on her knees, and there was a pause, "That, uh, means I have really soft bones."

I blinked at her, "Is that when you got powers?"

"A couple weeks later." She said, pulling on leg up to her chest, we were quiet for a few minutes. "Kinda funny… my power compensates for it, some, but…" She shook her head. "What are you doing over here, anyway? You aren't a sports type. You're a bookworm type."

"I… I wanted to say sorry, if I said anything-"

"Shit, did you do all that just to say sorry?" Heather laughed. I laughed a little too, and felt a knot loosen in my chest.

"What were you looking up anyway?" she asked.

"A bunch of the other patients." I said, "I… uh, I'm kind of a cape geek."

"Really?" Heather perked up, "You look me up?"

"Sorry, I ran out of time." I frowned, "Actually, I have a couple questions, do you know anything about Lizard Prince?"

Heather leaned back, "LP? He talks shit with the headshrinkers a lot, likes to pick fights. Don't really talk with him or his crew. Some of the shit he pulls is fun though." She grinned.

I bit my lip.

"What about…" I reached a bit, it felt like prying. "Labyrinth?"

Heather screwed her face up in a sour grimace, "Labyrinth? She's this, uh, like she's autistic? She doesn't really control her powers. Some kind of really strong effect over an area, turns places into wonderlands. It's happened a couple times. There's a procedure for it." That was worrying. Alchemilla had proven to not be anything like what I'd expected, it was more dangerous and more eerie. "The doctors were talking about it a couple weeks ago." She shrugged.

"Mimi said she was her best friend." I said slowly.

Heather shrugged, "I've never seen her, but I don't hang out with Burnscar, every time she burns someone she has to get moved, so she kind of moves a lot..."

I looked down at my toes, "Nowhere to put down roots, not even here." I muttered.

Heather shook her head, "I dunno." She held out her hand, "Come on, let's go get cleaned up."

I took her hand, "We're 'cool' right?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we're cool."

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

I didn't meet Labyrinth until the next week.