95.6 Interlude Rey
Interlude Rey
Rey blinked blearily in the early morning light. At least in what portion of it could leak through the cracked and dirty windows of the abandoned warehouse they had set as their base of operations. In Boston, finding a large unused property would have been a major undertaking requiring shell companies and civic bribes. It seemed Brockton Bay had a surplus of sites like this, even before the disruptions of the past week. Honestly, it was no wonder that things had gotten as bad as they did. The city was practically built to cater to supervillains.
Which fortunately meant catering to a sloppy expedition from Lost Garden chasing after a target that was laughably beyond their reach. The usual mission for Lost Garden was sending out capes to clear resistance for Barrow as he moved his shaker effect. It wasn't exactly precise work, and the mess the team tended to cause generally worked in their favor.
Barrow was probably hoping for the same situation here. Send in a mass of his followers, let them run rampant in ABB territory, damaging business, injuring gang members, and maybe even taking out some capes. The plan was never to secure victory or to take over their territory, just leave the gang vulnerable to its rivals and make it clear there were consequences to striking at Lost Garden.
It wasn't a terrible plan. When he'd been holding territory in Boston it certainly would have stressed him to the limit, with Accord or the Chain Man being more than happy to take advantage of any weakness. But as had become clearly evident, Brockton Bay wasn't Boston.
Honestly, even that plan probably would have gone poorly against the ABB. The kind of chaos they normally relied on to cripple a gang's response would have been nothing but fodder for a teleporter who could duplicate tinker tech bombs, or an army of unpowered members armed with similar weapons, and that wasn't even taking into account the effect March could have had on the situation. Also, the idea of wearing down your opponent was somewhat counterproductive when their leader scales with the challenge he was facing and the time he spent in the field. Rather than overwhelming the ABB, they probably would have just set off another major offensive.
If there had been a few more days between the attack on Barrow and the Ungodly Hour they would have been caught in the thick of it, and been just as helpless as anyone else in the city. Instead, they found the aftermath and were forced to do their best to manufacture even a symbolic victory while hiding themselves in one of the many convenient abandoned warehouses that covered the city.
It was a lucky find and, of course, they had the added benefit of the blackout field. That wonderful arrangement of particles that was crippling to everyone else, but merely inconvenient to his own work. An inconvenience that was growing less significant by the day. Honestly, he was probably going to miss the security the particles provided once he was finally able to leave the city. He had already come up with work arounds for most of his lab systems, with the rest well on the way.
The collection of grown and otherwise constructed equipment that surrounded him was comforting. For the first time since he'd needed to retreat from Boston, he felt like he had a proper workshop. Prior to the attack Barrow had been excessively restrictive with him. He understood why. It was obvious that Blasto wasn't actually joining Lost Garden, as if that were even a possibility. Every arrangement between them was approached like a hard bartered transaction. It was a blessing, really. Having less ability to set up meant there was less to lose when Uber and Leet had attacked.
As far as he knew, that was the last time anyone had seen the two villains. It was possible they had fallen back to the city and were holding up with the remains of the ABB, helping to shield them from detection, but they didn't know. It would be hard to justify this crusade if the duo suddenly made an appearance on the other side of the country.
Honestly, Blasto wished something like that would happen. It was doubtful they could accomplish anything before the Celestial Forge got the jump on them, but at least it would be a reason to leave the city. And they really needed to get out of this city.
Brockton Bay was a fascinating place. The things that could be learned from the aftermath of the Ungodly Hour were like nothing he had ever considered before. Just being here, working with force grown or improvised equipment, was somehow driving him to levels of focus and efficiency he would have been hard pressed to achieve even at the peak of his time in Boston. His mind practically overflowed with new ideas and potential projects aching to be put into practice.
But he knew, his only hope of capitalizing on any of that was to make it out of the city in one piece. If possible, he'd like to get the Lost Garden kids out along with him. They might be some of the most frustrating idiots he had ever worked with, but there was a familiar element to that particular brand of idiocy. The stupidity and negligence of youth from that very special band where your impression of your own capabilities vastly outpaced your ability to actually handle what life was going to throw at you. It was a balance most people never fully came to appreciate. Not unless they ended up ushering in some major and profound failure that haunted them for years as a constant reminder of the folly of their younger years.
He put down his tools and took a breath. That wasn't what he wanted for these kids. They were stupid and annoying, but so was everyone at that age. They didn't deserve to be paying for the mistakes of their youth for the rest of their life. Rey knew what that was like, and if he could shelter them from that fate, he'd do so happily. The worst they should experience is looking back and realizing how close they came to disaster.
Looking over at the tank containing the decaying remnants of his fungal armor drove home how close they had already come to getting in over their heads. The flash grown suit of mushroom protein had been more of proof of concept than a prototype, but he'd needed something to make an impression when meeting with Skidmark. The time and place of the meeting had been arranged specifically to put Rey at a disadvantage, leveraging short notice and an unfavorable environment.
One on one sounded reasonable, but the kinds of creatures he deployed took time to prepare for anything complex. The rooftop location also limited what he could bring while tilting the balance in favor of the shaker who could layer fields that would send people flying to the street below.
Skidmark wasn't an idiot, no matter how he presented himself. Fortunately, Rey wasn't inclined to underestimate him. He had played the same role against Accord and the other powers of Boston, so he recognized the tactics when he saw them, as well as the more general gang practices that were being put in place.
As expected, the 'free' partying was actually anything but. The more cognizant members of the gang had been keeping track of everything. Every drink, every hit, every indulgence that was accepted. Not for everyone, but likely marks were tracked, particularly if they became regular fixtures at the events. Really, it wasn't surprising. Anyone who assumed that a gang, no matter how disheveled, would be careless with their accounting had a very skewed view of the criminal world.
It was a wonderful arrangement that allowed a bill to be presented at an opportune time and leveraged against whatever they wanted. Cash if the target could get it, favors if they couldn't. A few jobs of trying to pay off their debt only to rack up more at the celebrations held afterwards would see people so far in the hole that they'd be effectively press ganged without any real effort on Skidmark's part.
It was just the kind of thing to leverage against a group of young, naïve, and overconfident capes. Even if they couldn't force recruitment, just pressing them for a 'favor' before they left the city would be enough for the Merchants to get their hooks in.
Rey wasn't going to let that happen. Working like never before he had spun concepts beyond anything he'd dreamed of into protein structures and managed to craft it into a semi-stable mycelium array. The suit had fallen apart barely five minutes after the meeting, but it had done its job, as had the residual components he had been able to apply to the guard funguses.
While he wasn't even entertaining hope of moderating the Lost Garden kids' behavior, he had at least headed off any looming disasters. Once Skidmark realized that his usual act wasn't landing with Rey he'd actually been open to hash out a deal. The man was a born opportunist and was more than happy to take a lower offer rather than risk open hostilities. Rey didn't explicitly call him out for attempted entrapment, but they both knew what had been going on. He made it clear how badly things would go if Skidmark continued to push that strategy.
The thing about roping people in through those kinds of debts was that it assumed they were operating from a position of weakness. Sadly true for most of the people who had flocked to the Merchants, but even for some of the more resistant individuals the weight of numbers and capes that the Merchants could mobilize would wear down that resistance. Skidmark had numbers, but he couldn't touch Lost Garden in terms of quantity of capes. Few groups could, though the question of quality was more nebulous. Regardless, meeting the man head-on disabused him of any notions that Lost Garden was a soft target.
The fact that Blasto was wearing the equivalent of a suit of fungal power armor while flanked by prototype attack beasts definitely helped with that impression, and in setting terms going forward.
The matter of Scrub and Ivy had been something neither of them had been too keen to get involved in. Despite some impressively colorful innuendo from Skidmark, he seemed inclined to let things play out, providing they happened in his territory. Rey could understand the man being defensive of his top blaster, particularly considering the boy's recent recruitment. Personally, Rey wasn't exactly keen to have someone like that working under Barrow, though Skidmark was hardly a step up.
Regardless, both of them seemed to be willing to take the stance that trying to mess with things one way or another would be more likely to blow up in their faces, potentially literally given the powers involved. Unless things degraded somehow, it was better to let the relationship run its course. With any luck, indifference would be the best tactic for bringing things to a non-volatile end.
As for the rest of Lost Garden, there were no more individual accounts being held with the Merchants. It should have been obvious from the start, but you also shouldn't have had members of one gang freely indulging in offerings of another without expecting consequences. They'd hashed out a rough truce, secondary to the agreement at the summit. A central account was being held for all of Lost Garden with Blasto being the one to settle it.
Normally that would have only encouraged the members of the team to indulge even more, but Rey, with Lauren's help, had explained the situation to Barrow Rose, specifically how this was coming out of the mission expenses, meaning it would need to be justified to Barrow. That was probably the only thing that would actually get through to the team, or at least the members who were busy currying favor with the man. Rey could trust that they would at least moderate things during the rest of their time in the city, however long that was.
It also helped that he wasn't actually paying cash. Oh, Barrow was still being charged, but it turned out that the scale of the Merchant events had resulted in some supply chain issues. Issues that Blasto was uniquely equipped to address with a few duffle bags of harvests from some of his better strains. Skidmark got paid in weed and Barrow got the bill. Well, Barrow got a notice that funding had been allocated. The fact that Blasto was the one taking the cash payment didn't really factor in.
It was another thing that made him nostalgic for Boston. He had made more money from selling grass than the rest of his jobs put together. Most of his work had been to secure the territory for his distribution or acquire resources that either couldn't be bought openly or were needed on a short time table.
That had always been the dream. A stable income source with minimal upkeep, leaving him free to work in his lab, pushing the limits of his knowledge. The kind of thing he always dreamed of as a kid. In that kind of environment, dreams were a big deal. Of course, any hope of a career in medical research was long dead, but he had been able to grasp shadows of that dream in Boston, with Blastgerm.
It never lasted. There was always something. The stress of managing a parahuman team hadn't been conducive to a research mentality, but even after things were pared down to just him, something always drove him out of the lab. Some crucial material that sat just beyond the budget of his income, or wasn't commercially available for any price. A clash on his borders with one of the other gangs. Getting drawn into a petty feud that ended up spiraling out of control and nearly swallowing his life. Always drawing him away from being able to achieve anything truly important.
Looking around, maybe that was the wrong approach. It felt like he had achieved more in a handful of days while managing worse situations than he did from months of uninterrupted time in his Boston lab. It brought back shadows of Apeiron's theories on power dynamics. Passengers and the influence they held.
Power tinker. Wasn't that the holy grail? And apparently the man had it as a core specialization, not something he needed to approach from oblique angles to try to extract what nuggets of insight might be obtained. In all his work on the subject he had never really entertained Passenger Theory, but the casual confidence of Apeiron's statements were hard to dismiss.
If it was true, then what did it mean? That is, what did it mean beyond his own research. Research that he had been incredibly proud of, but apparently wasn't even scratching the surface compared to what was possible from a specialist in the field.
Did it mean his 'passenger' was happier with the current situation than it had been with a fully stocked state of the art laboratory? The idea that for years he had been working alongside some capricious creature with its own whims and objectives was a harrowing one. How many events through his career had been influenced by that intelligence? How far back did its influence extend? Was his trigger a specific choice by his passenger, or were they brought together by some other factor and forced to work as well as they could?
It was the kind of thinking that could drive you mad, or at the very least drive you towards erratic actions for the sake of placating a creature you couldn't detect or understand. Was he supposed to give up his life of research for one of conflict and confrontation, all to please some mysterious being? More than that, if he could in fact get better results from that kind of life, would he choose it? Give up standardized procedures, careful testing, and rigor for improvised and desperate constructions thrown together at the last minute that somehow pushed the boundaries of all of his other work?
He didn't know. The clear path he had laid out for himself was becoming muddled. It had been simple. Close out the situation in Brockton Bay, finish Barrow's treatment, find a new place to set up, somewhere quiet and stable where he could get back to work, maybe even with Lauren back in his life, and live off stable income sources and the payout from Barrow.
Until that ran out, or he hit another wall that needed more than he had available. Something that would drive him back into the field, just like it always did. The possibility that there was a passenger leading him along, someone or something with control over the flow of his power, cast new light on all those times his peaceful life had been upset. Even without Accord or the Chain Gang or challenges to his territory, there was always something that needed his attention.
That something hadn't been happening in Brockton Bay. Work had been easier, despite the less refined conditions. There was so much to explore, so much to do. A constant flood of ideas and potential that he never wanted to give up. He couldn't stay in this mess, but he didn't want that inspiration to dry up. To find that what had seemed like a golden egg was actually a hollow shell.
That was probably why he was up so early. He had never been a morning person, though not to the level of the Lost Garden kids. He was comfortable with a late morning, but not the kind of person who woke up at the crack of two thirty in the afternoon. But now there was just so much to do. The second and then third iterations of his fungal protein restructuring system. Organic collection and interactions with the blackout particles. Expansion of his progressively less improvised lab to account for more and more living and hybridized technology, all unaffected by the aforementioned blackout particles. Expanded production to head off the Merchants invoices while also keeping the team sated but sober enough to be useful in a fight.
And of course, their actual mission. Finding and striking at either Uber and Leet or the ABB. It was almost funny, he was doing the best work of his career, but the one thing he needed was consistently eluding him. There were no leads at all. If there were, someone else would have beaten them to it. Hell, Apeiron would have beaten them too it. They were down to desperate measures. His message to Apeiron's site and, in a truly desperate act, Lauren contracting three licensed private investigators to look into the matter.
Really, it was Barrow's money they were spending, so he didn't really care about the expense. He didn't imagine that civilian investigations would turn up anything that had evaded the world's best thinkers and the combined efforts of local law enforcement, but at least it gave them something to report to the increasingly frustrated man.
That was another route they could take. Sandbag long enough for Barrow to pull the plug in frustration. He would certainly have padded out his fees enough to set up comfortably in a new life, but that meant more time trying to manage Lost Garden. And that was assuming that Barrow would actually accept defeat and pack up rather than trying to take command of the situation and ordering Lost Garden to do something dangerous and stupid.
Well, stupider.
He shook his head, once again grateful for Lauren's presence. He would have been happy to see her again regardless, but her connection with Lost Garden was probably the only reason things hadn't completely fallen apart so far. There were some of the kids who treated her as an outsider, but even then, she was still less of an outsider than he was and there was no denying she knew how the group's dynamic functioned. He felt bad about leaving the hands-on management to her, but he suspected the level of removal from him did a world of good when it came to selling a course of action to the wider group.
He smiled as he looked towards the door to the main section of the warehouse. Lauren had been spending nights in the common area set up for the rest of the group. He understood the reasoning, though he had held out hope that they'd be able to somehow pick up where they left off. Which they sort of had, but this was a mission, not a vacation for the two of them. Maybe that could come later.
He did find it a little uncomfortable how readily the rest of the group accepted the fact that Lauren was sleeping with the person in charge. That seemed to suggest a familiarity with that dynamic that he didn't want to think about. And he very much did not enjoy the association it implied between him and Barrow's respective positions.
He let out a breath. Just one more discomfort, and one he could bear for the remainder of this job. Afterwards he could figure out how to extricate himself from Lost Garden with the minimum amount of lingering effects on his image, finish working things out with Lauren, find a nice quiet place to set up, maybe somewhere in the Southwest, and even deal with the possible implications of actually having a passenger.
He picked up his mask from the workbench. His rebuilt mask. The fungal construct had been a fixture in one form or another from his early days, ranging from a simple sheet of fungus to conceal his identity to more advanced models able to launch spores and even to mimic his facial movements.
Though that feature had mostly been included for the sake of needling Accord and his pretentious clockwork mask. Actually, a lot of his projects had been devoted to that end on some level. How much of his career had been dedicated to being a petty nuisance for an uptight thinker? Probably too much.
He lifted the new model of mask to his face. This one superficially resembled his earlier designs, but incorporated the full breadth of the principles he'd been working on for the last three days. Protein strands precisely aligned, locked for stability and function but still able to operate as distinct fibers. A secondary layer of functionality allowing hybrid systems and reconfiguration on a level he'd never dreamed of before.
With a simple trigger the mask shifted. The material near his face remained pliable, letting him speak and breathe without any impediment, but the rest of the structure locked into a tightly branched emulation of high-density polymers. A fungal construct offering better protection than professional motorcycle helmets and even some grades of body armor.
The surface layer maintained its organic appearance with the mossy patterns that made up the face now extending over the rest of his head. What seemed to be collections of greenish white fibers could be reconfigured on the fly to a dozen different forms and functions. Barbs, detection systems, projectiles, improved spore launchers, advanced filtration systems, and even a certain amount of adaptability to damage types.
All from a first offering. Something he had never dreamed of before, based on principles that would have seemed preposterous before he saw them in person, and that should have taken weeks of testing and experimentation, not days.
Things were different here. It was exciting, but it also scared him. He didn't know how much was Apeiron, either the man's direct influence or the principles that could be gleaned from his work. He'd like to imagine he always had this capacity, but he had been active too long to delude himself. Months of careful work might produce more useful data, but it seemed true innovation required more than that.
He took a breath of filtered air, feeling out the fit and function of the mask. It might be a marvel of biological innovation, but it was evidently still very much a prototype effort. Control of living creatures was always a significantly greater challenge than what could be accomplished with a digital interface. The mask was even more primitive, relying on specific triggers to cycle through functions and limited responsiveness to other commands.
It was something that he'd need to address, particularly if he was going to expand this into a full suit of armor. His last offering had been barely controllable, though thankfully Skidmark took any accidental deployment of the suit's emulated blades as an intimidation tactic, rather than Blasto wrestling with the equivalent of an overly sensitive bathroom mat capable of turning into a mass of barbed wire at the slightest provocation.
He turned back to his work desk, reaching for his drafting pad and notebook. He was about to remove the mask when he heard a slight crackling sound from behind him.
He spun around to face the rear of his laboratory. A glowing line about three feet long had appeared in the center of the floor. His hand snapped up to the pressure points in his mask that controlled the weapon systems. He held his position as the line of light extended upwards, creating a glowing rectangle in the middle of his lab. Through the slowly expanding aperture in space could be seen the washed-out image of an immaculately carved oak door.
There was a flickering aspect to the door's appearance, like he was looking at something that was underwater. There also seemed to be a deliberate slowness to the appearance of the portal, with the crackling opening rising at a ponderous pace. Like it was giving him time to react. Like it wasn't trying to surprise him.
Any doubt to what was happening was dispelled when the top half of the door was revealed. There, embossed into the lacquered wood, was the twisted galaxy symbol that Apeiron had claimed as his own.
Understandably, not the thing that first jumped to mind when you thought of him. No, that was the Enigmatic Artificer. Still, it had been his choice of icon on PHO and had been included on various items the man had carried. And now it was here, on a glowing door that had suddenly opened inside his workshop.
And then there was a knock. Three distinct thuds emanating from the door. Rey stared at it blankly. It was so mundane that it almost dragged him away from the spectacle of the situation. Apeiron had presumably manifested a portal INSIDE his workshop, a level of intrusion and threat that he couldn't even put into words, and then he, or someone associated with him, knocked politely and waited for a response.
The fingers posed near his mask's pressure points began to ache from how tightly he was holding them. Cautiously, he began to lower them when another revelation hit him. He was in costume. Well, he was in his lab coat and mask which had unfortunately functioned as his costume more often than not. Apeiron might have just randomly decided to make an entrance, but he didn't imagine a detail like that had been left to chance. Not from someone with his abilities.
Apeiron had waited until he was masked before he made his entrance. Approaching Rey in his workshop was incredibly presumptuous, but he had waited until he could be approached as a cape, not in his civilian identity. When they could at least maintain the presumption that his identity was secure.
The timing indicated that Apeiron had observed him prior to his arrival, but with Survey's evident sensor abilities he wouldn't be surprised if the man knew the face of everyone at the summit. But Apeiron respected the Unwritten Rules. Maybe not as much as his own contracts, but he respected them, and that meant a lot.
Rey had been an active cape for long enough to understand how flexible those rules were. Both heroes and villains would flout them whenever they could be reasonably sure of getting away with their breach. There was no public enforcement of the Unwritten Rules beyond the escalation that breaches of them would bring, but if the only ones who could escalate were neutralized by a breach of the rules they would be disregarded in a heartbeat.
Of course, that was when the rules didn't have someone like Apeiron standing behind them. Someone with both a personal conviction for order and the power to absolutely ruin anyone who stepped across that line. It was definitely a different situation with that kind of threat hanging over everyone's head. Not enough to encourage carelessness with your own identity, but it was a threat that also brought a measure of security. After all, who wanted to be the person who called Apeiron down on them?
Particularly with this little display. Rey was now doubly sure the deployment of the portal had been for his benefit. Assuming Apeiron knew everyone's identity and could gain instant access to them no matter where they hid, it made the dynamic abundantly clear.
This had been the last thing Rey had expected. Sure, he had sent the message, but he honestly didn't expect anything to come of it. At the most he expected some meeting to be arranged. Of course, he didn't have a working phone this far into the blackout field. And he wouldn't trust Lost Garden with handling that kind of message. And what was the exact phrasing he had used in his message? "Appreciate the chance to meet with you at any time you find convenient."
Fuck. Well, it wasn't like he hadn't asked for this. A second set of knocks shook him out of his contemplation. He was meeting with Apeiron. This was happening, and it was happening now. It wasn't like he could ask the man to come back later.
Well, not much later. He could probably buy enough time to get on slightly better footing.
"Just a minute!" He called, hoping that Apeiron could hear through the portal. And then he realized what it would mean if Apeiron could hear through his portals and felt a great deal more worried. He did his best to bury those concerns in the small mountains of other concerns that were included the reveal of portal technology as he hurried to the door to the main portion of the warehouse.
What members of Lost Garden that hadn't wandered off were completely dead to the world following their actions of the previous night. It seemed whatever rotation Rose had put in place didn't include early mornings. Something of a significant oversight, but at the moment it worked in his favor.
The supplies and accommodations they'd brought had actually been set up and even slightly supplemented with his own work. Curtains and screens provided some privacy while people slept on cots, sleeping bags, or piles of moss of his own design. He found Lauren on one of those piles towards the girls' side of the Warehouse. Thankfully she was already half awake.
"Rey?" She asked, blinking rapidly. His mask would have conveyed the worried expression he knew had been on his face since the most powerful tinker in the world had decided to accept his admittedly poorly worded invitation.
"I need you to get in costume and meet me in the lab as soon as you can. It's urgent." He whispered. "Don't let anyone else in, and keep this quiet." He added.
She looked up at him and nodded. "Right." She said, carefully climbing up. "Anything else?"
"Mask on." He said. She gave him a worried look, but nodded and hurried towards her folded green costume.
He moved as quickly and quietly as he could as he rushed back to the lab. Thankfully the door was still there. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and was briefly paralyzed.
He had thought the door was immaculate before, but that was only from casual observation while obscured by distance, the effect of the portal, and the lenses of his mask. Up close, it was beyond a work of art. The symbol wasn't the simple collection of spiraling shapes that could be found in the man's PHO icon, but an incredibly complex arrangement of tiny engravings and filigree that blended into each other creating a textured effect that almost made it seem like the galaxy was spinning through space.
Cautiously he reached forward, his hand extending through the surface of the portal. There was no sensation to the transition, just a dulling of the colors visible on his hand as he gripped the sculpted doorknob, forged from a metal he didn't recognize.
He shook himself. Yes, it was incredible, but he had a job to do. He wasn't some anal-retentive thinker who would get lost in the beauty of perfect symmetry or throw fits because of clashing historical styles in a new construction. Despite feeling like he was deliberately ignoring a great work of art, he turned the handle and pulled the door open.
He was greeted by Apeiron and Survey, appearing largely as they did at the summit. Apeiron, with that burning red lock of hair that suggested so much. But that could wait. Well, not really. It couldn't wait because that implied he would get another chance. It was more that it was something he needed to deliberately step back from, despite the burning curiosity in his heart.
"Apeiron, Survey." He said, stepping back. "Thank you for accepting my invitation. Please, come in."
It was ridiculous, but if this was how the man wanted to play things, by God would he play along. Considering the many, many worse ways that something like this could play out he was happy to accept any pretext Apeiron put forward.
"Thank you." He said, stepping through the door. Crossing the surface of the portal, the muted colors of their costumes flared to full vibrance. And that lock was definitely glowing. Rey had to make a concerted effort not to stare at it. Or stare at Survey. Or at any of the equipment they were wearing. Actually, maybe he should just avoid eye contact altogether.
"I apologize for the early hour, and the unconventional means of arrival." The Enigmatic Artificer said. "I have a busy day and wasn't sure I'd be able to fit you in later. Additionally, I thought calling at your main entrance might cause unnecessary disruption."
Blasto imagined the scene if the Lost Garden kids had been the first to encounter Apeiron and Survey. Especially Survey.
"That was probably for the best." Blasto said, dismissing one of the most fundamental breaches that a tinker could endure. Not that it mattered against someone like Apeiron. And on the subject of breaches, his conviction regarding setting up in the Blackout Zone suddenly seemed a lot more questionable. "Um, on the subject of our location…"
"You are operating from within agreed neutral territory." Survey stated directly. The dire accusation managed to sound musical in her voice. "While it could be stated that this action stands against the spirit of the summit, providing you abstain from any conflicts with local organizations and present no claim on the territory, I do not see any need to raise issue with your location." She looked around, specifically at the expansive network of plants and other growths that he had been adding for the past three days. "Assuming this is intended to be a temporary base of operations."
"Absolutely." He said quickly. "I know what this looks like, but I can be out of here within a day once we wrap things up."
Apeiron smiled and Blasto felt himself relax by a notable fraction. "Which brings us to the topic of your message."
"Right." He said. He glanced at the portal, with the immaculate wooden door extending from it while it stood open. The space beyond the door was a darkened void. Rey didn't know if that was an aspect of the portal technology, or some way of obscuring Apeiron's workshop. Either way, it wasn't something he had time for now.
He shut the door, then turned just in time to see Lauren slip through the entrance to his lab, and then freeze at the site of Apeiron and Survey.
He quickly cleared his throat. "May I introduce my associate, Poison Apple?" He said, gesturing towards the frozen woman. That seemed to startle her from her shock and she awkwardly shuffled forward, cautiously eyeing the entire scene from beneath her hood.
"It's nice to meet you. Again." She quickly added, shifting her gaze between the two capes and the slightly glowing rectangular portal in the middle of his lab. The door that had appeared out of nowhere all so Apeiron could play at the idea of courtesy. Which was technically better than him just teleporting directly in, even if it was more of a challenge to wrap his mind around.
"It's nice to be able to meet you properly this time." Apeiron said, shaking Lauren's hand. Blasto did his best to suppress his reaction at the way she flushed at Apeiron's attention. The fact that her reaction to Survey was even more pronounced made that a significant challenge.
"Your current moniker has not been publicly established, but is thematically consistent with your earlier choices. I hope that this name serves you better than your previous ones." Survey stated bluntly while elegantly shaking Lauren's hand. Apple looked like she was trying to figure out if she had been complimented or insulted before apparently deciding to just move on.
"Thanks." She said politely before releasing Survey's hand and shaking…
The noise Lauren made wasn't exactly dignified. Rey wasn't much better, but at least with the mask it would probably be muffled enough to pass as a cough, something he mimed to cover his shock at the appearance of the third figure who was energetically shaking Lauren's hand.
"Hi! It's nice to meet you again!" The red-haired girl said while grinning widely at Lauren. Her domino mask did virtually nothing to conceal her identity, but it was clear that wasn't a priority for the girl. For obvious reasons. Blasto had managed to keep himself from staring at Apeiron and Survey, but for this he didn't even make the attempt. Not in the face of what was before him.
"What…" Lauren stuttered when she recovered enough for speech. She quickly looked to Apeiron and Survey, but the two capes just shared a smile. "Um, sorry." She said, doing her best to collect herself while her hand continued to be shaken by the girl. "Who are…" She trailed off, looking to Rey for help. Something he was happy to give.
"Proto Aima." He said, hoping he managed to keep any hint of reverence out of his voice. Lauren's eyes widened as her head whipped back to the glowing red clad girl, then jumped over to his workbench and back to him with a genuine look of concern.
"That's right!" She said, "I'm better, so I can meet and talk to people now."
"That's nice…" Lauren stammered. This was a hell of a lot to drop on her within five minutes of waking up, but Rey was grateful to at least not have to face it alone.
Proto Aima suddenly released Lauren's hand and darted towards him with clearly inhuman speed and grace. "Hi!" She said in the same energetic tone. "You're Blasto, right?"
"Yes, I am." He said, looking down at the girl and simply marveling at the sight before him. "It's nice to meet you, Proto Aima." The girl shook his hand as well.
Completely solid fingers. No hint of the fibrous emulation that was only evident from observing the boundary between the girl's hair and skin on her head. Energy patterns displayed through pulses in the glow from hair and clothing suggested they existed as part of the same continuous organism, despite not being physically attached. Potentially a dispersed existence of colony lifeform, at least able to function in cohesion across limited levels of displacement from the central form. The potential applications…
"I like your mask." She said, looking up at him. It was enough to jar him out of his fascination.
"Oh, thank you." He said. Then added. "It's new."
She nodded, then tilted her head. "It's based on me, isn't it?" She asked. "From what you saw back at Somer's Rock."
Blasto froze. His eyes darted to Lauren and he could see the expression of panic begin to form on her face.
"No, it's fine." Proto Aima said quickly. Rey gave her a shocked look, then turned to Apeiron but saw nothing but amusement.
"You're not upset that I…" That he what? He didn't scan her or take samples. Those were the points he'd held to when justifying the project, but honestly, he'd been so excited about the potential of the work that he hadn't given much thought to the implications, or to how it could come across to anyone else.
"That I studied you like that?" He eventually finished.
"No." She said cheerfully. "It's alright. And we did it to you as well, so we're even, right?"
Blasto blinked. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked.
"That is my fault." Apeiron said with his usual smoothness. "Following your message Survey investigated your circumstances. We were lucky enough to observe the work on your protein branching algorithm. I have to say, it was quite the inventive work around."
The praise was mild at best, but Rey knew what that meant. The solution he'd finally found to the problem he'd been hammering away at since Sunday night. Without a material with the unique properties of Proto Aima's body at best he would be able to slowly shift protein masses into crude and simple shapes. Useful in its own right, as shown in his meeting with Skidmark, but without being able to form complex arrangements with a reasonably high degree of precision, any higher-level applications would be a lost cause.
The answer had been management of proteins through progressive branching and recombination. The work required the most advanced biochemistry he'd ever attempted and a level of mathematical control theory that he had never attempted before, but the result spoke for itself. Despite comparatively crude components, his mask was capable of more than any of his previous creations, even as a proof of concept.
"And that was useful for you?" He asked Apeiron somewhat skeptically. "When you could do…" He looked back at Proto Aima, once more at a loss for words.
"Well, it wasn't necessary, but it made some aspects of the procedure easier." He explained.
"Plus, it makes it easier to do stuff like this!" Proto Aima whipped a hand up into the air. Everything from her wrist up exploded into a mass of red fibers, then reformed into a colossal assembly.
The best point of comparison he could make was one of Chevalier's cannon blades, except those were massive undertakings even for him, while Proto Aima seemed to wield the device she had formed as easily as a butterfly knife, despite it being several times larger than she was. It was clearly a weapon, some terrifying combination of railgun, chainsaw, and mining equipment, all cast in the same glowing red and deep black as the girl's clothing.
Rey didn't know what that weapon did and wasn't keen on finding out under any circumstances. Fortunately, after showing it off to Apeiron she collapsed it back into fibers and formed her human hand once again. Watching it for a second time he could see shadows of the principle he had developed, if they were refined to an insane degree and applied on a scale he could barely comprehend.
"So fast." He muttered, comparing the lightning like rearrangement of red fibers to his gradual reformatting of proteins in their suspension medium.
"Sorry." The girl said. "I tried to slow it down enough for you to see how it works, but it's not easy."
"Slow…" Rey shut his mouth. He was well aware of the phrase that got circled around. Chasing Apeiron. If you tried to benchmark yourself against that particular tinker you were going to end up going insane. His work shared a principle with one of Apeiron's God-level projects. He could be happy leaving things at that.
"Thank you for showing me." He said as politely as he could. His mind was bubbling with a thousand questions for her and Apeiron. And Survey, and any other member of the Celestial Forge he could get to listen to him, but that wasn't why they were here. Yes, he might never get another chance to ask, but if he wasted Apeiron's time he would definitely never get another chance to ask.
Well, maybe one question. As a follow up, to be polite. "Was that pattern built in during your… Procedure?"
"No, I made that up." She turned back to Apeiron. "I made it up myself, with principles from the Schemas and augmented with some emulated fold carbon."
"I saw. It was very impressive." He replied. The girl beamed at him, causing Rey to ponder on the nature of their relationship. Something that stood for all members of his team, if he was being honest.
"Wait, you designed that… thing, by yourself?" Lauren asked.
"Yep. Just now." She said, "It's easy to make simple stuff like that."
Simple. Rey took another breath. Chasing Apeiron. He kept that in mind. Sure, the best he could manage was small mechanical components and potential electrical systems if he could figure out that structural conductance problem. But he specifically wasn't a hyperactive neural network of shockingly advanced fibrous material that didn't seem to follow most laws of physics.
"I'm glad my work was able to help." He said diplomatically. Who knows, without it maybe Proto Aima would only have been shockingly impossible rather than completely beyond reason.
"It did. And I hope you don't mind me borrowing the principle." Apeiron said.
"As long as you don't mind the work I've done based on my observations of your teammate." It seemed like they were comparing vastly disparate levels of work. At the same time, effective forgiveness for what he had learned and everything he had pieced together just from this meeting so far was beyond value, even if to Apeiron it barely seemed to be worthy of his attention.
"That's more of a concern for Proto Aima than for me." He said. "And it doesn't seem like she has a problem with it."
"Right. Thank you." He said, turning to the girl.
"You're welcome." She replied. "It will be interesting to see what else you come up with based on me!"
It was telling that she wasn't even entertaining the idea that he'd stop work on this project. Which he wouldn't. In the face of a protest from Apeiron he would abandon his current work, no question, but what he'd learned was too significant to keep out of his other projects, even if he wanted to.
"Yes." He said. "I'll make sure to tell you if I come up with anything else."
"That's alright." Proto Aima said, looking to the side. "I'll know."
She didn't elaborate on what that meant. She very specifically didn't elaborate. Apeiron was very clearly aware of how ominous her statement was and made no attempt to elaborate. He shared a quick glance with Lauren to make sure she had picked up on it. Her expression told him she had. Honestly, it was about as subtle as a brick when it came to reinforcing the power dynamic between their groups.
And just like with his tinker work, it was best to not dwell on it. Not when they had an actual agenda to get through.
"Once again, thank you for coming." Blasto said. He glanced around the workshop. "I'm sorry, we aren't really set up to receive guests. I didn't expect a response so soon."
"That's no problem. I am somewhat imposing on you here." Said the man who was definitely imposing on more levels than Rey could count.
Lauren cleared her throat. "Can I offer you anything?" She asked, falling back onto hosting courtesies that Rey had largely neglected through his adult life. "Tea or coffee?"
There was a certain level of hope in her voice when she suggested coffee and Rey found himself longing for caffeine as well. Judging by how hard the introductions had hit him, he was going to need every edge he could to get through the rest of this meeting.
"Coffee would be great." Apeiron said, and he saw Lauren's face flush again.
"Just a moment." She said, hurrying over to the edge of one of the work tables. He hoped that Apeiron didn't have any issues with moss filters or metabolic heating, but it wasn't like a coffee machine would work in here.
Though all the equipment carried by Apeiron and Survey was clearly fully functional. Not really surprising. He did seem somewhat interested in the process of workarounds that Blasto had put in place.
"That field is quite impressive." He said as casually as he could. "I've been able to work around a lot of the effects, but still, I've never seen anything like it."
"It's something I hear a lot." He said, looking towards the bush-like structure growing in the corner of his lab. The one specifically interacting with and absorbing the particles. "The particles are fairly basic in their operation, but I understand they've created quite a stir."
"Yes, I suppose they have." Rey said evenly. From what he understood, half the focus was on the unbridled potential of the particles and half was a desperate attempt to come up with some countermeasure in case Apeiron decided to drop them over a major city. Or an entire country, given the scale the man worked at.
The first half of those efforts seemed to be going much better than the second half.
The topic also gave Rey a segue into the real purpose of the meeting. He swallowed as he prepared himself as well as he could.
"The impact they've had on the city is considerable." He said. "Particularly with their location."
"In that it's mostly the ABB's former territory?" Apeiron asked. "I understand that must make your mission considerably more difficult."
Rey smiled weakly, allowing the expression to be mimicked by his mask. "Revenge is a lot easier when you have someone to take revenge on." He said. "And we seem to be the only ones in the city who haven't gotten their shot at the ABB."
"Yes, the raids after the Ungodly Hour." Apeiron said. "Not the reason I released that information, but it seems to have had a positive impact on the balance of power."
"Everyone else who wanted revenge got revenge, at least to a degree." Rey said. "Look, I don't think this is likely, or even reasonable, but I need to at least say I asked."
"For Barrow?" Apeiron asked as Survey and Proto Aima watched. No, Proto Aima was now with Lauren, helping her make coffee. And she was back. And then gone again. He took his mind off that display and focused on Apeiron.
"The man is unreasonable to a fault." Rey explained. "His power has insulated him from the rest of the world for over a decade. It changes the way he regards things outside himself."
"I understand." Apeiron said with more gravity than Rey expected. "What's your request?" It sounded like he expected what Rey was going to say.
"In the event that you find Bakuda or Uber and Leet would you involve Lost Garden in your attack? Or even allow them the first move?" Rey didn't hide his thoughts on the matter. Comparing the most casual demonstrations from the Celestial Forge to the effective power rabble of Lost Garden felt insulting.
Apeiron took a breath before responding. "Uber and Leet made trades with the Toybox before returning to the city. I believe they are concealing themselves within one of Dodge's pocket dimensions, or some adaptation of the principle facilitated by Leet or Bakuda's technology."
Blasto bit back a curse. He knew enough about the Toybox to understand what an impossible prospect that presented. Without the exact location of the rift, it was effectively impossible to access, or even detect. No wonder Apeiron hadn't rooted them out yet. He didn't know how the man planned to find them, but asking him to hand over the prize after that much effort was nothing short of insulting.
"Sorry. Had to ask." Rey said somewhat sheepishly. Apeiron gave a slight nod in response.
Thankfully, they were saved from any further awkwardness by Lauran and Proto Aima arriving with a fresh pot of coffee and a set of mismatched cups. That added a new level of awkwardness to the situation, but one that was at least more manageable as the members of the most elegant cape team on the planet were served middling coffee in a collection of novelty mugs, mostly based on variations of 420 imagery.
Apeiron at least seemed to be amused by the display. Survey sipped her coffee like she was shooting a commercial, while Proto Aima downed the entire scalding cup in one gulp before Lauren could offer her cream or sugar. For his own part Blasto savored the taste and the awakening of parts of his brain he probably could have used at the start of this conversation. For Lauren it was like the water of life and he promised himself that if he ever had to wake her up early again, it would be with fresh coffee.
For a brief moment the boundless tension seemed to melt away in the near ritual consumption of coffee shared with guests. He almost entertained the possibility of things somehow working out. And then he saw Apeiron's face.
It was the expression that everyone had learned to fear. Nobody knew exactly what it meant, but Rey had seen it himself, multiple times at the summit, and usually to devastating effect. Strategy trance, power switching, battle meditation, whatever you wanted to call it, it was happening here and now.
And Apeiron wasn't the only one reacting to it. Both Proto Aima and Survey quickly looked up to check on the tinker.
"I know." He said. Looking between them.
"I'll go." Proto Aima said quickly. And then she was gone. Just vanished with no hint of an effect.
"You go with her." He said to Survey. She gave him a concerned look. "I'll be there as soon as I'm done here. I know you can look after things until I get there."
The two of them seemed to have a silent exchange for a few seconds, possibly a literal one given the reports of Apeiron's communications technology.
"Very well." Survey said. "I will see that things are put in order." She turned back to Rey and Lauren. "Thank you for your hospitality, but a situation has developed that I must attend to."
"Of course. Thank you." Rey said even as the stunning woman hurried towards the glowing portal and quickly left through the door. He watched as the portal winked out, leaving them very much alone with Apeiron.
"Um, this situation?" He asked. "It's something that Proto Aima can't handle on her own?"
Apeiron gave him a weak smile. "Different kind of situation. Not anything that needs a violent response, just something I need to deal with. But it can wait until we're done here."
"Sorry for keeping you." Lauren offered.
He waved a hand at them. "They'll be fine until I get there." Somehow it didn't sound like he was talking about Survey and Proto Aima. "Now, to get to the point. I'm guessing we both want Lost Garden out of the city?"
Rey let out a breath, but nodded. "Something like this should have been a four-man job." Or roughly what he had brought with him to the summit. "But Barrow wanted to make a statement."
"After what happened I can understand where he's coming from. Still…" Apeiron turned to the door to the main warehouse, with its piles of unstable capes not even representing the full breadth of their forces.
"We both fought in the Boston games." Rey explained. "We've seen how bad power struggles can get in a city. This is worse, and Lost Garden isn't helping things."
"Something is going to happen." Lauren said morosely. "We've been able to stay on top of things so far. Curb risky behaviors, keep some level of order, even hash out an understanding with the Merchants, but it only takes one incident to set things off."
Rey nodded. There were countless ways that things could get out of control. One of the members running afoul of another gang or the Protectorate, then dragging their friends in until you had an out-of-control power mess and then…
Well, then Apeiron would probably step in. But the questions of how far he'd have to go, how much damage would happen in the meantime, and how severe his reaction would be were all unknown. Somehow, the members of Lost Garden were the only ones in the city not walking on eggshells at the thought of the Celestial Forge's response. Too sheltered to take things seriously and too bold for their own good.
"Honestly, if it were up to me, I would have packed up after the summit." Blasto admitted. "But that's not an order I can give. Not without Barrow trying to take remote command of the situation." His tone left no doubt as to how bad that would be.
"You sound like you're not enjoying your position of authority." Apeiron said with slight humor. Rey let out a dry laugh despite himself.
"Let's just say there might be some karma coming my way for past behavior." He admitted. "Command isn't for me. Even in Boston, didn't really have a team. My plants were enough."
"Yes…" Apeiron said, looking around his lab with a new expression on his face. He seemed to be taking in Blasto's work with fresh eyes. "Must be different with the creatures you create."
Rey had seen people who were squeamish about wet tinkering, or held some kind of moral stance against his creations. That wasn't what seemed to be happening here. Instead, Apeiron seemed almost reflective.
"They work for me." He said. "There's a lot more to it than just drones, a lot of research, planning, and testing, but people focus on any creature that makes the news. That's become what I'm known for."
Not the cloning, or the biomedical advances, or the expanded understanding and blending of biological systems. He was the plant monster guy. Honestly, as much as it grated, it was useful to be underestimated. Particularly when it came to dealing with people like Accord.
"I'm guessing most people don't understand the complexities." Apeiron said. He inclined his head to where Blasto's latest simian homunculus was recovering in a tank. "Probably see them as animals, not engineered creatures with purpose-built systems and precise control metrics."
"No." He admitted. "It's easier for the public to treat them all the same." He had gone through a dozen variations in body structure, neural development, and behavior imprinting, but to the PRT it was just different classifications of plant monster, usually by size or inbuilt weapons.
"You have experience with this kind of technology?" He asked. "I mean, beyond Proto Aima…" He trailed off.
He wasn't exactly sure what had been done to Proto Aima, beyond a massive increase in complexity and the integration of new principles into her body, but he couldn't tell if Apeiron had been working directly or at cross purposes from his usual approach, or even if he was the one who handled the procedure. Asking for clarification on any of that seemed overly intrusive, despite how open the girl had been.
"Enough experience to understand the implications of that kind of specialization." He said. "And where it comes from."
Rey paused. Trigger theory. The other half of Apeiron's revolutionary insight into powers. People had tried to track certain power expressions to certain triggers, but there was never enough consistency to make any definitive case. Unless you were Apeiron and could just dismiss the outliers and pick through any attempt to obfuscate the origin of your abilities.
Looking at the man, Rey didn't doubt for a moment that he knew exactly where a power like his 'came from'. He felt profoundly exposed, even more so than when he learned how easily the man could monitor his workshop. He watched for any reaction, any judgment or follow up, but it didn't come. Maybe there was a look of understanding, or maybe Rey just imagined it.
"So, you have a problem. We have a problem. We both want Lost Garden out of the city as soon as possible." Apeiron said, returning to the central topic.
"We do." Rey agreed. "Providing we can find something that will appease Barrow. Bakuda or Uber and Leet are his pipe dreams, but we can probably sell anything connected to the ABB. The problem is they're all dead or in captivity." Rey explained. Even with how petty Barrow was, he doubted the man would be satisfied with them routing out some former career gang members from the hostages and roughing them up."
Apeiron turned to them, the metal of his visor flashing in the light of the workshop. "That is something I may be able to help with."
"How?" Rey asked. "I mean, we'd appreciate any help, but there aren't exactly any convenient targets."
"Not convenient targets, but it would be incorrect to say that ALL the members of the ABB are in captivity." He explained.
"I know some of them slipped the PRT, hiding in the blackout zone…" Rey began.
"Not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the members who never got bombs in their necks." He explained.
"What, the capes?" Lauren asked. "Or what, some of the regular members avoided Bakuda's insanity?"
"They did if they were high enough in the organization." Apeiron reached into his jacket and removed three files, each seemingly far too large for the pocket they were removed from. He handed them to Blasto. Cracking open the first one, he found a dossier of a stern looking Asian man in an expensive suit.
"A meeting of the highest ranks of the ABB was held last Monday. Key members in business interests held by the gang." A small smile appeared on Apeiron's face. "Unfortunately, someone happened to raid the building it was being held in. In addition to uncovering most of the gang's assets, their highest officers were taken into custody during the aftermath."
"Shit." Rey muttered. "No wonder Lung was gunning for you so badly."
To his surprise the man shifted in an awkward but still somehow graceful manner. "No, that was something else." Rey gave him a confused look. "I just learned about it recently, but there was a more… specific reason for some of Lung's more extreme decisions in directing the ABB against me."
Rey nodded slowly, but didn't ask about it further. He hoped it didn't have anything to do with the rumors about a desperate hospital visit the night Lung was first captured and… parts, rotting off.
"This is good information, but I don't see how it helps us." Rey said.
"It helps because, while many of the executives had prior convictions, active warrants, or investigations targeting them, two ran relatively disconnected enterprises. Both of them have made bail and engaged some rather aggressive legal resources to obstruct or dismiss as much evidence as possible." He explained. "Combined with both a prosecutor and judge who should have recused themselves based on prior connections and business interests; they're headed for an insultingly pandering plea deal."
Rey nodded, putting the pieces together. "And the third folder?" He asked. It opened to reveal a picture of a blond man in a pinstripe suit, with details of contracts, investment funds, and company ownership.
"Money manager." Apeiron explained. "Implicated in what was revealed on Thursday night, but working to get the same deal as the others." He gestured to the folders. "You want to hit the ABB. There are the last three members who are walking free. In all likelihood, with the state of the city and the police service, they'll be able to slip through the cracks before anyone can take a serious look at their cases and realize what happened. In which case, three people who facilitated countless instances of the worst crimes imaginable will walk free."
Rey nodded again, then turned to Lauren. "You know the old man better than me. Will he go for something like this?"
She bit her lip. "Maybe. I mean, if we can dress it up enough. That's the point, right?" She asked. "Bring attention to this, complicate the case and it'll be harder to sweep under the rug?"
Apeiron nodded. "There are actions I could take, but I tend to provoke more dramatic reactions than cases such as this might warrant." He explained in a blatant understatement of his situation.
"It could work, though he won't like that they're soft targets." She paused, looking up at Apeiron. "What?"
"They aren't that soft." He said. "They paid their two hundred-thousand-dollar bail in cash. A tremendous amount of money has been thrown around here, including in private security. The ABB isn't exactly popular with the other gangs. I don't have a full breakdown of their staff, but some of the firms they've contracted employ capes."
He gestured and Rey flicked through the documents to copies of the contracts in question. He recognized two of the logos from his time in Boston. They definitely didn't work cheap, but even their unpowered teams weren't pushovers.
"These are people who pay their taxes, who donate to campaigns, who get photographed at society events next to the Stansfields or Anders. They won't be easy to approach and they won't be easy to target." He lowered his head. "Which is why we need to talk about how far this is going."
Rey stiffened. "We know the unwritten rules. No killing."
"No maiming." Lauren added. "No matter how hard the slog is. We can probably sell Barrow on assault and property damage." She looked over the documents again. "Particularly for people like this."
Apeiron nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. But to be clear, this is as far as I go."
"Sorry?" Lauren asked.
"You reached out in good will for the sake of the city and the people you were responsible for. I respect that, so this is a compromise, but it's not a back and forth. I'm not bartering with Barrow or trying to win his approval. I want his capes out of my city." Apeiron lowered his voice and Rey felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Lost Garden has caused immeasurable amounts of damage every time they launch a mission, to say nothing of the losses to Barrow himself. They have actively harmed the cause they claim to support through the burden of their association with it, and they have believed themselves to be untouchable for too long. Barrow should have learned the error of that kind of thinking, but stubbornness is understandable, if not excusable. This is a peace offering, but if Barrow is unsatisfied and thinks he can turn my city into a playground for his antics I'm not going to be pruning the garden, I'll be going after it. Root and stem." Rey could feel the weight of the man's gaze even through his visor. "Do you understand me?"
"Yes." He said sharply. "I'll make sure Barrow knows how serious this is." And if he decided he wanted to play games with the strongest cape on the planet while believing himself safe in his magical woodland he could find someone else to grow his fucking spine back.
"Excellent." A weight seemed to suddenly vanish from the room. "I'm sorry to end on such a serious note, but I didn't want to leave the wrong impression of the situation."
"Don't worry. You didn't." Rey assured him. Lauren still hadn't spoken since Apeiron's declaration and he couldn't bring himself to fault her for that.
"In that case, I should be going. Thank you for the coffee." He said, setting down his cup.
"Our pleasure. And thank you for this." It wasn't an easy prospect, particularly with potential cape mercenaries involved, but at least they had a way out of the damn city that didn't involve waiting around for a stroke of luck.
Or maybe that was what had just happened.
"You're welcome. Feel free to contact me if anything else comes up." He said before taking a few strides towards the… storage closet. Then he removed a key from a pocket, unlocked the door, and opened it to someplace that was definitely not his storage closet. He turned, gave a slight wave, and stepped through, closing the door behind him.
Slowly, Blasto crept towards the closet door. It wasn't locked and opened to the expected shelves of beakers and lab equipment.
"Shit." He said.
"Yeah." Lauren said, shaking her head. "He's showing off."
He turned back to her. "You make that sound like it's a good thing."
"It kind of is?" She said, "It means he likes showing what he can do. Likes the reactions he gets. Cares enough about the people who give them that he makes an effort to put on a display."
He smiled. "So, we aren't nobodies. We're the audience."
Lauren nodded. "Which is better than being the ants under foot."
Rey let out a sigh. "I think you might be overthinking things."
"I'm guessing that's not uncommon when Apeiron's involved." She looked towards the closet door. "So, you going to be comfortable going unmasked in here, or keeping anything in that closet from now on?"
He let out a short laugh. "Not for a while." He looked over at her, then to where the mystery door had suddenly appeared. "Hard to believe that just happened."
"At least we've got these." She held up the files. "And a plan of attack."
"Right. So, where do we start?" Rey asked.
"Well, first we figure out how to pitch it to the old man. Then we hold off telling him until we get a decent strategy in place, because I doubt anyone from the team will be able to keep this quiet for more than a day or two." She explained.
Rey had to smile. "I don't know. If all of the targets get spooked and run off to another city we could chase them and get everyone out of Brockton Bay in one swoop."
"Or they might bunker down." She said, Rey nodded in acknowledgement. "But at least we know where to start."
"Right." He said, taking another look at the closet door. "What do you think that thing Apeiron needed to deal with was?"
"With him, it could be anything." Lauren replied. "I just hope he can handle it."
"Going by precedent, I'm guessing he probably can." Rey said with a smile.
Jumpchain abilities this chapter:
This Is How I Want It (Kerbal Space Program) 400:
Your capability of mentally designing items is vastly boosted. It's almost as if you have a mental idea space in the fashion of a construction bay with a lists of parts you have on hand that gives you an idea of what you can build at that moment... actually, that's pretty much what you have. As a bonus, you can mix and match parts in a manner roughly akin to legos, and giving you an idea of what would work and what wouldn't (and how much resources it would take to build). Mind, this doesn't mean that your mental creation will perform successfully, but it will function. As a final bonus, you can mentally hand-off the resultant creation to your Kerbals to build, and they'll do so without a mistake or screwup - meaning any snafu that results will be on your own head.
This Is, Actually, Rocket Science (Kerbal Space Program) Free:
You gain an instinctive grasp and understanding of Delta V and orbital mechanics.
Speak English, Dammit! (Kerbal Space Program) Free:
You gain perfect understanding of Kerbals and the way they speak in thier burbling, whack-ass mix of swedish meatball chef... something. Conversely, you can pick this to have them all speak english.
Some Old Friends (Kerbal Space Program) Free:
Hey, what are you - wait a minute! How did you four get in here!? Oh, well. Looks like you're going to get some help in this jump, whether you want to, or no - Bill, Bob, Jebediah, and Valentina are all up and raring to go. As a bonus, all four come with the 'I Am A Pilot, Actually' perk for free. I Am A Pilot, Actually - All the engineering and mathematics in the world doesn't mean much if you can't actually fly the damn things. You're far from being supernatural in skill, but you're not a weekend warrior, either - you effectively have the piloting skill of Neil Armstrong when it comes to piloting rockets, spaceships, and aeroplanes
Espirit de Kerbal (Kerbal Space Program) Free:
While you're going to have no end of volunteers of Kerbals to go into space (seriously, where the hell are they all coming from?), it's understandable that you're going to want a special group of Kerbals to count on in a pinch - an elite force you can trust to get the job done. Twenty Kerbals have stepped up to the plate to fill that role. This group of Kerbals doesn't seem to let mishaps keep them down; while crashes, explosions, and other shenanigans will, uh, result in Critical Kerbal Existence Failure, they'll pop back up in a week or so, right as rain and raring to go for another try. All 20 of these Kerbals will automatically gain whatever perk you purchase in this jump from the Pilot, Engineer, and Scientist perk tree - Drop-In, however, doesn't count for this. Kerbals regard such things as 'sleep', 'water', 'food', and 'oxygen' as quaint, outdated suggestions.
Aerospace Engineering Makes Things Go Fast - You have an intuitive grasp on the mechanics of wind-flow, material sciences, atmospheric drag, tensile strengths, rocketry, so on and so forth, and how it applies to the art of designing vehicles that traverse the sky and space.
They're Like Legos, Right? - There's robust engineering, and then there's modularity. Pick one. Except for you - you seem to have the gift of designing methods that allow for seamless mixing and matching of modular technology that lack none of the parts incompatibility and fragility you'd except from such a design paradigm. While this seems focused on Kerbin technology in specific, a little work should have you applying such a paradigm to all sorts of technologies...
This Is How I Want It - Your capability of mentally designing items is vastly boosted. It's almost as if you have a mental idea space in the fashion of a construction bay with a lists of parts you have on hand that gives you an idea of what you can build at that moment... actually, that's pretty much what you have. As a bonus, you can mix and match parts in a manner roughly akin to legos, and giving you an idea of what would work and what wouldn't(and how much resources it would take to build). Mind, this doesn't mean that your mental creation will perform successfully, but it will function. As a final bonus, you can mentally hand-off the resultant creation to your Kerbals to build, and they'll do so without a mistake or screwup - meaning any snafu that results will be on your own head.
Emblems (Kerbal Space Program) Free:
You'll not only find your creations and rocketships neatly emblazoned with a flag/symbol of your choice, but you'll also be able to fashion cloth emblems for Kerbals(and companions) to utilize to represent various mission types. However, you'll only be able to gift the patches so made to those whom directly participated in the mission itself. While they offer no bonuses, they do make a nice keepsake and reminder of the glories you and your Kerbals(and companions) achieved - wether it's landing on the Mun or going to the stars.