Current Energy: 18
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Abandoned Trainyard, Brockton Bay
It takes roughly five minutes for the Protectorate to arrive, and you are - for once - introduced to a Hero that isn't Armsmaster.
Miss Militia, as your Master explains to you in one rushed explosion of word vomit, is one of the 'classic' Protectorate members alongside Armsmaster. She's the All-American Hero, who's very mask itself is an American flag. She's also, apparently, one of the most soft-spoken Hero's Taylor knows, though, having met Armsmaster you aren't sure if that's just her publicity team speaking or not.
"Nexus." The heroine greets your Master with a professional nod as she pulls up at the periphery of your group on what looks like a very modern take on a motorcycle from World War 2. Then she turns to Trainwreck - but not without making sure you and your Master are still in her field of view.
"I'm not sure we've met. Are you with the... Oathbound?" Miss Militia asks him probingly with a gesture towards you Master.
Trainwreck - apparently incapable of reverence of any kind - turns to your Master who nods at him nervously.
"Guess so. Trainwreck." He says crudely, making no attempt to hide the fact that he is now ogling th Hero. Possibly being accustomed to the behaviour, she ignores it.
"I see. I'm glad. We need more Heroes. Are either of you injured?" She says, ignoring you, a move that Taylor frowns at but you are ambivalent about.
"No. Emmy?" Taylor says pointedly, turning to you.
"I'm good. These guys are fine too." You say, gesturing at Skidmark and... the other guy who's name you never got.
"Wasn't a fight anyway." Trainwreck concurs, causing the heroine to turn her gaze on your Master.
"I'm fine. We sort of ambushed them." Taylor admits timidly.
"You walked right up and called them crackheads." Trainwreck points out.
"He thought I was a prostitute! You thought I was- I mean, ah. We'll d-debrief later." Taylor begins to spit at Trainwreck before recalling who else was present and returning to bashful timidness.
"Acknowledged. Did you use your healing power on them?" She asks your Master with a degree of curiosity that edges just a bit into forceful.
"I don't have a healing power." Taylor says, nonplussed.
"Ah. Your projection then." She tries again.
"Nah. They aren't hurt anyway." You say with a shrug - not that Miss Militia is looking at you to see it.
"Good. Healing without consent is technically assault with a parahuman power." She explains before reaching into a pouch at her side and throwing two egg-shaped objects at the downed capes. On impact, they immediately expand into a dense mass of yellow foam that quickly grows to cover their whole bodies.
"Will you be staying to await the transport so you can give your statement at the headquarters or would you like to tell me so you can leave?" Miss Militia asks politely.
"We-" Your Master starts but is caught off by Trainwreck.
"Hey. Being kind of a bitch there." He says, point past her towards you. Your Master experiences a brief blip of satisfaction at the statement of the crass man before being entirely replaced with intense embarassment.
"You may not be fully aware of Nexus' powers, but her Projection presents as extremely lifelike. It's the policy of the PRT that treating a projection as a sapient being can have dangerous consequences in the field." She explains sanguinely.
"Huh. Hey, Panda Guy. You sapient?" He asks you belligerently.
"I don't know how to answer that." You say truthfully. In a technical sense, yes, you are sapient. In an even more technical sense, you are a hunk of meat glued together by exotic energy that is being tricked into thinking it's a person by an installation of alien crystal from another dimension.
So basically, it's complicated.
"Okay, quick test. Her ass, it ain't bad right?" He asks, and your Master's previous sense of embarrassment immediately pivots into a sort of all consuming rage and shame that causes motes of blue power to fleck off of her as she begins to malevolently stare at the man.
You look at Trainwreck, following his point finger to Miss Militia, then look to Taylor, then back to Miss Militia.
"I cannot answer that question." You say pleadingly, taking a step away from the dead man.
"Self Preservation. Nice. Seems sapient to me." He says with a shrug. Taylor and Miss Militia are looking at him as though amazed he actually managed to make a point out of such misogyny, although Miss Militia is doing a much better job of masking what she is thinking or feeling.
And that is how your dubious association with the crass cape known as Trainwreck began.
Needless to say, your Taylor opts to give Miss Militia a quick explanation of what happened so you can flee the scene.
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Abandoned Trainyard, Brockton Bay
"So... this is my house..." Taylor says hesitantly, gesturing at the squat two-floor home and turning to Trainwreck expectantly.
"Suburbs huh? Yeah, you look it." He mutters, before eyeballing the door and walking over to the garage with a shrug when it becomes he won't fit through it.
"So... what are you doing?" Taylor asks with some trepidation in her voice.
"Crashin'. I'm fucking tired." He says, tapping the garage door in expectation.
"I... see... just one second I guess," Taylor answers before inhaling slowly and closing her eyes in concentration. After a moment, she opens them, along with the front door of the house, and marches inside.
"Daaad!" She calls into the house with the kind of sickly sweet voice most teenage girls use when they want to convince their parents to buy them a car. Taylor's token effort in that arena doesn't seem like she's had much practice in it though, coming across more panicked than weedling.
"Hey kiddo. How'd things go?" Danny asks as he tramps down the stairs and into the main hallway of the home.
"Great! I recruited someone!" She says happily. Danny raises an eyebrow in question, clearly wanting more details.
"We found the guy out at the Trainyard. He- uh. He doesn't really have anywhere else to stay so I was thinking...?" She trails off hopefully.
"You brought home a homeless Cape." Danny says with an inscrutable expression slowly making its way onto his face.
"...It was a signing bonus?" Taylor tries weakly.
"You know you can't just couch everything with business speak and assume I'll find it cute enough to let it slide right?" Danny asks rhetorically.
Taylor looks like she might be about to answer when Trainwreck's voice rings out throughout the home.
"Hey, it's kinda looking like rain out here. This bitch rusts like a motherfucker so if you could open this thing up?" He yells caustically.
"...I have concerns." Daniel says flatly, causing Taylor to flinch and slink away to open the Garage for her erstwhile teammate. Daniel doesn't bother, instead, crossing to where the house phone is kept.
"Much better. Bit cramped. Can I use any of this crap?" You can hear Trainwreck's voice ask Taylor.
"N-Probably not? It's my Dad's." She answers, which is followed by the sound of something large and heavy being dragged across a concrete floor.
"Hello, Raymond?" Danny's voice rings out, drawing your attention back to the older man who's complexion is quickly reddening despite his calm tone of voice.
"Hey, it's me, Danny. Do you still have that broken down body shop your brother defaulted on?" He says, sounding for all the world like a man pushing a massive stone up a hill.
"Why did you move the whole thing!?" Taylor yelps.
"Cus it was in the way? Look, if someone has to come in here while I'm asleep they'd have to walk right over me." The other Cape answers.
"Yeah, I was thinking about buying it. Cash upfront." He answers.
"But Dad likes it there," Taylor complains.
"As soon as possible," Danny says with a strained expression. "Please." He adds near desperately.