That Sunday evening, Taylor waited on a rooftop.

She'd sent a message the previous day to the PRT – by the simple method of dropping off a letter in an envelope – and she was interested to see if her attempt to set up an appointment was successful.

There was… always a bit of a danger with letting someone know you were going to be somewhere at a certain time, and maybe there were ways this kind of thing was meant to be done, but she didn't know them. And if this didn't work out, then at least she had her answer about the PRT one way or another.

The sound of an engine came to her ears, and she crept forwards to the edge of the roof.

Her first battle with Lung had left scars all over the area, mostly unrepaired, and a familiar motorbike drove up to the lip of the roughly Lung-shaped crater before halting.

Armsmaster got off, and Taylor shifted from her night-form to the one that could communicate. She stepped to the edge of the roof, then jumped down, and landed with feline grace.

Good, she sent. I was hoping this would work.

Armsmaster was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"It's fortunate that you wanted to speak to me," he said. "I have something to discuss as well, after we're done."

I hope it's nothing bad, Taylor replied. Anyway… I have a question for you about one of the members of the Wards program. It will involve what I suspect to be their real name.

The Tinker was silent again, and Taylor tilted her head.

Is something wrong? she asked.

"I am entering your comments into my recording," Armsmaster explained. "The system to do so is faster than repeating them myself, but it still takes a few seconds."

I see, Taylor decided.

"As for the member of the Wards program… that would only be acceptable if there was something extremely important involved," Armsmaster said. "The understanding is that cape identities are not to be impinged upon if at all possible."

I understand the concept, Taylor replied. But, well… I think I'm right about this, but if I'm wrong it won't involve any capes at all. So. If possible, I would like you to help me with a bullying problem.

Taylor waited out the pause as Armsmaster transcribed her comments.

"A bullying problem," he repeated, and it wasn't a question. "I assume this means you're accusing a Ward of bullying."

I'm accusing someone of bullying, Taylor corrected. I'm merely saying that they might turn out to be a Ward.

"Hmm," Armsmaster said, once he'd finished his transcription. "I assume that this bullying is important to you? There's a possibility that we may be able to help out even if the bully isn't a Ward."

He held up his hand. "That would, however, be contingent on the possibility of you joining the Wards. Otherwise there are jurisdictional issues."

Taylor's ears flattened. And if those jurisdictional issues get in the way, what would be the alternative?

"It depends how bad the situation is," Armsmaster began, but Taylor's eyes flashed.

I don't know what you consider to be a bad situation, she said. So let me outline it for you. Three girls at my school have been coordinating a campaign of harassment against me for one and a half years. I've had shavings in my hair, juice poured on me, a keepsake from my mother stolen and defiled, homework stolen, constant sabotage of all kinds, hate mail, and just after the winter holidays I got stuffed in a locker full of rotten sanitary products, and locked in there, which put me out of school with medical and mental problems for a month. School administration is useless, and I thought it was just because my school is a flaming trash pile, until I made a connection two days ago – after battling Lung.

Taylor's tail was lashing with agitation. She'd gone too far, she knew it, because that much information could definitely identify her, but she didn't care any more.

So, Armsmaster – tell me if you recognize any of these names. Madison Clemens. Emma Barnes. Sophia Hess. They're the ones who did all of that.

"I haven't finished yet," Armsmaster said. "But I can tell you immediately that there is something I can do about that. I have some questions, however."

Taylor waited, breathing hard as she tried to expel the nervous energy she'd brought up.

She had school tomorrow… unless she decided to just, fuck off and not do it any more… and she was going to have to get sleep after this meeting.

Getting too worked up wouldn't work out.

"Do you have any evidence that specifically identifies Sophia Hess?" Armsmaster asked, eventually. "Or either of the other two girls?"

Would it help? Taylor asked, trying not to just fall into black despair as the same question came up all over again whenever someone claimed they could help. It's all in person or anonymous. All burner phones, anonymous emails, the hate mail doesn't have anything that could identify who sent it – nobody at school is going to rat them out. It's my word against theirs.

"In that case, you will need this," Armsmaster told her, reaching into a compartment in his armour and taking out something about the size of a quarter.

Taylor blinked, looking at it, then him, then it.

...what? she asked, thrown.

Armsmaster was silent for a long moment after that, and it took about half that time for Taylor to realize he must have been catching up on his transcription.

"It's an audio transmitter," the Tinker explained. "How long do you anticipate it would take before all three of them had said something to confirm that they were bullying you?"

Not long, Taylor answered. But – I heard about this once – isn't that, inadmissible in court?

"I don't need it to be," Armsmaster replied. "All I need is a good reason why not finding a solution to this would impair your recruitment to the Wards… and, if it involves another Parahuman under my authority, all I require is that it be admissible to me."

Taylor stared at the little bug as if hypnotized.

Yeah, she said, eventually. I can deal with that.

She looked up. If this works out.

"I am quite hopeful that it will work out as well," Armsmaster told her, as Taylor picked up the transmitter with her telekinesis. "I think you would fit in very well on the ENE Wards. Much better than one of our current members."

Taylor did her best to keep her emotions under control, as she entered Winslow the next morning.

Wild hope that maybe this time it would be different clashed with a deep despair that it had never worked out that way before, and she went up to school trying to compromise by telling herself that it would be a normal day.

A normal day.

"Oh, look!" Emma said. "Tay-tay, you decided to come back to school this time!"

She smiled. "I was worried you'd got lost! Or maybe that you'd run home crying to your mother… oh, I forgot."

"How did that happen, again?" one of the other girls asked. "I didn't hear."

"Maybe she killed herself to get away from Taylor?" another girl asked, and Taylor bit down on a surge of anger.

She wasn't – she didn't have to hear this. She was choosing to hear it, yes, but – but she had a reason. A good reason.

"Leave me alone," she said, the words slipping out before she could stop them, and Emma laughed.

"Leave you alone?" she repeated. "What are you, eight? Do you think we're eight?"

Taylor went past, on the way to her locker, then Madison made a concerned noise.

A faux-concerned noise, of course.

"Watch out, Taylor," she said. "Your locker's this way! You don't want to end up going mad for a month again, do you?"

"Do you think you could at least stop?" Taylor asked.

That just got her laughter, and she opened her locker with a wince.

Every time she stared into the fucking thing, she felt like she was going to have a panic attack. But – she was stronger than that, and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

Putting most of her things in her locker, she made sure she had what she needed, then turned for her first class.

She'd barely taken two steps when Sophia's foot tripped her over. She went down with a thump, and managed to grab her glasses before someone tried to steal them or step on them.

"You should really look where you're going, Taylor," Emma said. "Or you might lose something important to you. Like your schoolwork keeps going missing. Like your mother's flute. That was very careless of you."

"Why do you keep doing this?" Taylor asked, her voice catching.

She could barely remember that there was a bug in her jacket at this point. It was just – the only thing she remembered was the promise that this might end, and that made it all harder to take.

Like seeing water in the desert, knowing it might be a mirage, but suddenly feeling thirsty all the same.

"Why?" Sophia repeated. "Why?"

She laughed. "Because an ugly, uppity twig like you needs to be broken and thrown out with the rest of the trash. Because who cares. Because nobody would ever listen to you, the crazy girl. You just fell over. That's all."

There were several more giggles, and Taylor had had enough.

She got up and turned around, walking back towards the school doors.

"Wrong way, Tay-tay!" Emma said, giggling. "You forgot your things! Oh, but you'd have to go back into your locker to get them!"

"Wow," one of the hangers-on said. "She really is just leaving."

It took all of Taylor's self-control to not break into a run, but she left the school, then sat down in the first alley she found.

"I… can't," she said. "I hope that was enough. I'm… probably not coming back to school today, not normally at least. If you…"

She shook her head, looking around. "I'll be near the school, but… in costume, and stuff."

With that, she shifted, going into her base-form, then switched to her electric-form. Bouncing from wall to wall, she got up to roof level, then switched form and settled in to wait.

Armsmaster pulled his bike to a halt, and looked at Winslow High, then checked the clock in the corner of his heads-up-display.

According to the timetable he'd checked, it should be early in the first period. Sophia Hess had an English class in her first period, which was on the first floor.

Then a purple shape dropped down from a nearby rooftop. It dropped like a stone, then a little red flicker lit up as it stopped, and Armsmaster turned to nod.

"Multitude," he said.

I'm glad to see you here, Multitude replied. Do you need me to go slowly so you can transcribe?

"Actually, I spent two hours last night reworking some of the software behind my lie detector," Armsmaster told her. "It now reads my micro-expressions to determine what communications you're sending, after filtering out anything else that I'm hearing either directly or through my radio."

I'm impressed, Multitude admitted. So… what happens now?

"Shadow Stalker has, indeed, been acting in violation of her agreement," Armsmaster informed her. "Since her agreement was to avoid juvenile detention, and she has committed multiple crimes since the agreement, I will be arresting her. I would also like to request your assistance in neutralizing her powers, since she is a flight risk and I am aware you can do that."

I actually can't neutralize all powers," Multitude corrected. But if she's a flight risk… yeah, I can stop her. Problem is, I can't communicate while I'm doing it, though I can change forms and the effect doesn't go away.

"That will be quite sufficient," Armsmaster replied. "You should change to the form that can do that. I believe I have all the information I need."

Multitude switched to her base form, paused, then back to her feline one.

Isn't this going to blow her cover? she asked.

"That is not my problem," Armsmaster replied, precisely.

"All right," Director Piggot said, around lunchtime that day. "Would you care to explain yourself, Armsmaster?"

"Yes, Director," Armsmaster said. "After contact with Multitude, I determined that the main potential impediment to her membership on the Brockton Bay Wards was Shadow Stalker, as Multitude had a negative interaction with her in their mutual civilian identities. Serious accusations were made, and I made the decision to act accordingly if Multitude's accusations could be proven."

"Proven how?" Renick asked.

"Audio recording," Armsmaster replied. "In addition to statements made by others, including Emma Barnes, Multitude asked Hess why she was doing what she was doing – from context, just after she had either fallen over or been tripped. Hess's reply was as follows."

He played the audio clip.

Piggot's lips went thin.

"I see," she said. "So that means that Hess was bullying Multitude. That doesn't explain why you arrested her in public, in the middle of a school day!"

"I felt it was the course of action most likely to lead to Multitude having a positive impression of the Protectorate ENE," Armsmaster replied. "In addition, it was my analysis that Hess's actions should have been reported to us long before they reached the point shown. Wards are meant to be positive examples, both in their cape and civilian identities, and the impression that Hess's handler had given us was that Hess's civilian conduct had been better than her conduct in her cape identity. Instead the exact opposite was true, and Hess was not merely participating in but actively acting as a ringleader in a sustained bullying campaign that had been reported to school staff – to no effect."

He paused. "And it was not the middle of the school day. It was the beginning."

"...I'm not sure you're getting the point here," Piggot grumbled. "All right, we'll put that aside for the moment, because I want to ask you about why you brought Multitude with you."

"Wasn't that obvious?" Armsmaster asked. "Her ability to prevent Hess escaping was of clear utility, and as actually took place she was able to not merely prevent Hess leaving but also knock Hess out of her Breaker state using her ribbon cat form, and then use her electrical form's power to shock Hess and prevent her from escaping."

Piggot sighed.

"Well, at least Hess using her powers has confirmed that this wasn't just a case of a Protectorate cape deciding to target a random school girl," she said. "Though – you realize that this is going to open you up to allegations of making her identity public, or leaving her no choice but to make herself public?"

Armsmaster shook his head.

"Respectfully, Director, you did say to do whatever it takes," he said.

Piggot sighed. "Well. We're going to get sued again. Though this time it'll be by a divorce lawyer, so we can probably distract him with a shiny settlement to go away and never speak of this again."

"He is in the same firm as Carol Dallon," Renick pointed out.

Piggot winced, then thought, then shook her head. "No, I don't think that's going to matter here… Dallon is many things, but she believes in public accountability and in capes doing the right thing in and out of costume. Representing Hess would be such a bad fit I can't come up with a sufficiently poor comparison."

Armsmaster nodded, in a self-satisfied sort of way. "And I am fairly sure that the trade-off in effectiveness and attitude will both be a significant improvement to the Wards."

"Assuming Multitude does join," Renick put in. "I'm not saying it's unlikely, but you seem quite confident about that."

"She asked me if I had a video recording of the moment when Hess's shadow form bounced off the wall," Armsmaster put in. "I gave it to her, of course. She seemed extremely pleased."

"I'm going to regret telling you to do whatever it takes," Piggot muttered. "Well, it's done now… since you seem to get on with her so well, see about arranging an appointment to discuss Wards status as soon as possible. And power testing, if she's willing."

"I will see what I can do," Armsmaster replied.

PRT parahuman internal threat report – not for redistribution

Multitude (formerly Sphynx)

Multitude is a newly signed up member of the Protectorate ENE, in the Wards. Her history with the ENE branch of the PRT and the Protectorate is complex (see files listed in appendix). In brief, Multitude made her debut close to midnight on April 10-11 2011 with the defeat of 22 unpowered members of the Azn Bad Boys gang, plus Lung, and was involved in addition in parahuman activities on April 14 (seeing the defeat of Rune and Stormtiger, though both escaped) and 15 (seeing the defeat of a total of 21 unpowered members of the Azn Bad Boys gang, the neutralization of a large scale temporal stop effect created by Bakuda, and the defeat either solo or with assistance of Bakuda, Oni Lee, and Lung).

On April 18, Multitude was involved in the apprehension of the Ward Shadow Stalker, who had been credibly accused of violating the Wards code of conduct along with several state and federal laws in a bullying campaign against a fellow school student. Subsequent to this event, Multitude joined the Wards on April 22, with her debut to follow as of this writing.

Multitude's primary power is a versatile Changer ability, involving a core form (designated M-Fluff) and eight options that branch off from M-Fluff. Multitude can return to her core form from any of the optional forms, each of which has a different specialization.

Appearance and form information, basic identification guide. Photos available for reference.

M-Fluff. Base form. Brown. Generic fluffy quadrupedal animal with long ears and bushy tail and ruff. Some traits of cats, dogs, rabbits and foxes noted.

M-Water. Aquatic form. Blue. General animal mix similar to M-Fluff with water adapted modifications. Finned ears and fin on top of head, finned ruff around neck, fish-tail in the manner of a mermaid in addition to normal four legs.

M-Lightning. Electrical and speed form. Yellow. Mostly vulpine form with fur in prominent spikes, including white ruff.

M-Fire. Fire form. Red and brown. Similar to M-Fluff with base fur coat red and ruff/tail colour yellow to brown.

M-Psi (formerly assumed to be only form). Mental abilities form. Purple. Mostly feline form with very fine fur, no ruff, red gemstone on forehead and bifurcated tail. Only form capable of communication through mental means.

M-Night. Dark form. Black. Some elements of fox, hare and cat. Short fur. Yellow rings on forehead, leg haunches, ears and tail that can be induced to glow in the dark or fade into blackness.

M-Leaf. Plant form. Brown and green. Mostly vulpine form, with ears and tail having the form of leaves.

M-Ice. Cold form. Light blue. Mostly vulpine form, with additional pair of 'bangs' in addition to ears.

M-Ribbon. Form specifics unknown. White and pink. Elements of cat and rabbit, with two ribbon bows each with two ribbons trailing from them.

Note: for simplicity, this basic guide to Multitude has taken the highest threat rating currently determined in each category, regardless of form. Further information on each individual form is in a specialized appendix, but it should be noted that Multitude can change forms on very short notice and so it should be assumed that to a first approximation all her ratings are available.

Mover 4 (M-Lightning, M-Psi). M-Lightning can move at very high speed, both naturally and with the use of a further speed boost ability; M-Psi's telekinetic powers are not Manton limited from influencing her body.

Shaker 7 (M-Psi, M-Night, M-Fire, M-Lightning). M-Psi has powerful telekinetic powers and is able to control large amounts of material at once, and in addition has an ability which has been used to neutralize a temporal distortion bubble. M-Night is able to prevent targets from leaving the area; the definition of the area defined by this power is unknown, but the effect lingers after Multitude switches forms. M-Fire can create large smokescreens at will and is also able to create defined areas of flame. M-Lightning can produce a burst of electricity in all directions.

Brute 3 (various). All of Multitude's forms have shown some form of enhanced damage resistance, and in addition her strength where recorded is greater than should be expected. Multitude is also able to heal by several means, depending on the form, though not all forms are capable of this, and some forms are immune to various forms of attack (e.g. M-Fire and fire, M-Lightning and electricity).

Breaker 2 (M-Water). M-Water can dissolve into a puddle of water, mix with other water, and reconstitute herself elsewhere. While in the water state she is immune to most conventional forms of harm; testing about the limits of this power has been difficult to plan.

Master 2 (M-Psi, M-Night). M-Psi's ability to communicate has been tentatively assigned a Master rating, and in addition M-Night's ability to prevent escape may be classified as Master instead.

Blaster 8 (various). Multitude has a large variety of powerful Blaster attacks, including but not limited to:

Precision attacks – these attacks can be aimed with great precision at individual or multiple targets out of line of sight and for which Multitude does not know the precise location in advance. M-Fluff, M-Lightning and M-Leaf all have this kind of ability.

Single target attacks – these attacks need to be aimed conventionally but can do large amounts of damage or produce similar effects. M-Water, M-Fire, M-Lightning, M-Psi, M-Night and M-Ribbon all have this kind of ability.

Area attacks – these attacks are less discriminate and cover a wide but directed area. M-Water, M-Psi, M-Ice and M-Ribbon have this kind of ability.

More than anything else, Multitude is defined by her very high Blaster rating, both in terms of versatility and in terms of individual power.

Striker 3 – M-Leaf and M-Ice have very short range attacks that can best be defined as Striker abilities. M-Ribbon also has a version of one of her single target blaster abilities which is delivered by contact, and caused the termination of testing due to Rig damage.

Changer 7 – Multitude's wide variety of forms are part of her versatility. While no Changer-specific power is technically granted, the sheer variety means that this rating has been given.

Trump 5 – M-Lightning, M-Fire, M-Psi and M-Night all have abilities which either negate opposing parahuman abilities or actively prevent their use.

"...well," Assault said, looking up from the document. "That explains a few things."

"Yes," Armsmaster replied. "Her ability to be selectively immune to fire probably explained some of her ability to defeat Lung, the first time. And-"

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Assault replied, with a grin. "Sure, sure, cape with loads of powers. We've all seen it! I mean, this one looks like someone tried to come up with Eidolon's pet catdogbunny, but…"

He trailed off.

"Why are you writing that down?"

"Director Piggot made a similar comment," Armsmaster explained. "It might be worth looking into."

Assault made a vague, but undefined, rude gesture. "Whatever. But what I was actually getting at was that you were so willing to just ignore the process to get her on side. That doesn't seem like you."

"The Director and I were in agreement on the value of adding Multitude to the team," Armsmaster replied. "Once she thought it over, the Director was also in agreement with me on the value of removing Shadow Stalker from the team, with dispatch."

Assault chuckled. "Yeah, that's one way to put it," he said. "She's not actually dead, though, right?"

Armsmaster just looked at him.

"Okay, that was a joke," Assault added. "You're worrying me, Armsy. She's not actually dead… right?"

"The last time I saw her, she was alive," Armsmaster stated, with a shrug. "I don't have any particular reason to think that's changed."

Assault shook his head. "I can never tell if you're being deadpan or just… you know. Armsmaster."

"Now I think about it, we haven't had a proper Changer in a while," Clockblocker mused. "Especially not on the Wards."

"Oi!" Browbeat protested. "What do you think I am, chopped liver?"

Clockblocker snorted. "With your powers… maybe?"

Browbeat made a rude gesture – something he had a lot of options in – and Clockblocker winced. "Okay, okay, I take your point," he mumbled. "Anyway, uh… right, I had a point."

"That's a first," Kid Win said.

"Wow, is it beat up on Clock day?" Clockblocker asked.

"Let me check the calendar," Gallant said. "Uh… yep! It's a day that ends in Y."

"Screw all of you guys," Clockblocker groaned. "Except you, Vista. You still like me."

"Really?" Vista asked. "I haven't checked recently, but you might still be right."

Taylor put her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Is it always like this?" she asked.

"It's way better the last few days," Gallant told her. "Seriously, take it from me. I know. The atmosphere has improved no end now that Shadow Stalker's gone."

He frowned. "Actually, uh, I just realized I should check… there's a rumour that you were involved with stopping her. Is that true?"

"Rumour my ass," Clockblocker denied. "We all know she was. You don't need to dance around the point, oh gallant and puissant knight… even if our theoretical boss isn't around."

"Yes, thank you, Clock," Gallant said, sighing. "I was trying to work up to this… which is that, odd as it might sound, thank you for getting rid of her."

"She… didn't have many friends on the team?" Taylor asked, hesitantly.

"She didn't have any friends on the team," Browbeat provided. "I think Clockblocker thought she was kind of hot-"

"Hey!"

"I couldn't possibly comment," Gallant said piously.

"-but apart from that, she just got on everyone's nerves," Browbeat finished.

"I don't know what kind of person could have her as a friend," Vista said.

"Neither do I," Taylor muttered.

After a moment, Gallant clapped his hands.

"All right, all right," he said. "Clock's technically second in command, but I doubt he's going to try and organize things while Aegis isn't here."

"No fear!" Clockblocker agreed. "I wouldn't while he was here, either."

"-so I'll do it," Gallant went on. "Let's not focus all this attention on someone who isn't even here – and who won't be back, if I don't miss my guess. Multitude, this is about making sure you at least know a bit of what to expect from all of us, before your official debut as a Ward… even if it is a shame that Aegis had to tap out at the last minute. So, do you have any questions?"

He waved a finger. "Obviously, personal questions are discouraged. Unofficially discouraged. Officially unofficially discouraged.Which means none of us should ask them and if Clockblocker asks them anyway you don't have to answer them."

"Oh, what, I'm that kind of guy now too?" Clockblocker asked.

"You called yourself Clockblocker," Vista pointed out. "If you didn't want those kinds of comments you should have called yourself Timepeace instead. As in, war and peace."

Clockblocker appeared to seriously consider it, then shook his head.

"Nope, still sticking with my current name."

"I guess… you're all friends?" Taylor asked. "Sorry, that sounded really obvious."

"Yeah, we're friends," Kid Win agreed. "It's mostly because there's a lot we can't talk about with anyone else, that we can talk about here – and, on top of that, we spend a lot of time together. It's not, you know, required or anything to be friends – but it helps."

He shrugged. "But give it a bit of time before… actually, maybe we should play some games together or something. That might help… I'm pretty sure we've got some co-op games."

"I don't play games much," Taylor admitted. "Money was kind of tight."

"That's okay," Kid Win replied. "I'll pick out one I know nobody's any good at, so we won't notice."

"Okay, am I going to have to be the one to say it?" Browbeat asked. "Is there any chance we can see your Changer form?"

"That's what I was meaning to talk about!" Clockblocker realized. "I was going to talk about how you get to not wear any bits of your costume while you're off duty, just a domino mask, because you're a proper Changer. Unlike Browbeat."

Taylor considered it, then turned into her base form.

"Oh my god," Vista said, staring. "I… uh… I don't actually know how to process this."

Taylor raised a paw.

Vista trembled slightly, then sighed.

"Okay, okay, I give up!" she said, throwing up her hands. "Multitude is clearly cute, right?"

"Yeah," Kid Win agreed.

"I'll agree to that," Gallant nodded.

"Gets my vote," Clockblocker confirmed.

"Toe beans, top marks, no notes," Browbeat volunteered.

Vista nodded in satisfaction. "Therefore," she continued, "I'm not being girly when I say – oh my god she is so cute!"

Taylor tilted her head on one side, then changed into her ribbon-form.

Vista did a double-take. "...okay, I saw that one before, but up close, it looks like you got design notes from a dress designer."

She pointed, glancing at Gallant. "That is the form that beat Lung, right?"

"Ve-on!" Taylor said, to get her attention, then nodded.

"Oh, right, sorry," Vista said, embarrassed. "I need to watch out for that – you look like a cute animal but you're still able to think and answer yes-no questions and stuff…"

"I love the fact that this is the one that beat Lung, by the way," Clockblocker said.

Taylor held up two tendrils.

"...twice?" Browbeat asked, and got a nod. "Oh, wow. You beat Lung looking like that twice."

He contemplated that.

"I'm just picturing his expression, mostly," Gallant said. "It's kind of satisfying."

That got a round of nods from everyone. Including Taylor.

AN:

All right, so now we know who regretted it.

Taylor still hasn't shared everything she's capable of, but it's not like they're going to think she hasn't given them enough powers.