Current Energy: 7
Current Training: Boundary Manipulation (5/10)
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
PRT Headquarters, Brockton Bay
The room goes from being fairly bland to be full of blaring alarms in the space of a single second. Huge metal shutters slam into place blocking the doors, and the lights change from their normal white hue to a distressing red that you find highly distracting. Armsmaster ignores most of this, instead choosing to slap a series of commands out on his wrist while half sprinting across the room to stand nearest to Miss Militia.
Your Master is fairly unimpressed by the entire thing, in addition to looking drained and tired in a way that is highly uncommon for her, but doesn't otherwise seem particularly bothered by the other Hero's sudden charge.
Miss Militia reacts in a way you find much more appropriate. That being, stepping back and lifting her two empty hands into the air to grasp at an object that isn't there, and attempting to point said non-existent object at Armsmaster. You suspect this is more of a reflex than any actual hostility towards the man. You can't imagine being suddenly (kind of) alive again is particularly easy to orient around.
"Nexus. I need to ask you to step away from her temporarily." Armsmaster says firmly, even as Miss Militia seems to note the lack of anything in her hands and begins to panic, hyperventilating audibly as her hands fall loosely at her sides.
"Where exactly?" Your Master says in annoyance, gesturing to the fully sealed room, although she does comply and take a few steps away from the newly resurrected cape.
"Master/Stranger Protocol. No one can leave this room until I am finished my examination. Please stand over there." He says with much more force than you think is strictly necessary, pointing to the far side of the workshop.
'You know, I used to really like him?' Taylor complains to you in exasperation.
'For reasons I have never been able to understand. And that's with three separate perspectives to work off of.' You grouse as you drift after your Master, who rolls her eyes at Armsmaster but complies with his request, the tension in her shoulders obvious.
'Relax dear. It isn't as though you did anything wrong. A perfect ritual.' You comfort her. Truthfully, while there were many political ramifications to this event, you doubted much of what resulted would put the PRT at odds with your Master. That wouldn't just be stupid - it would be suicidal. You could see it happening if your Master was at all the type of person to include unpleasant surprises in her gifts, or was more malicious in general, but since she is neither of those things, there really isn't anything obvious for the PRT to complain about.
'Really?' Your Master asks hopefully.
'No. You used entirely too much power. But that is a function of your power, not a matter of skill. We'll work on it.' You promise, then the both of you turn back to watch the goings-on in the center of the room.
"Co- Armsmaster? Where am I?" Miss Militia finally speaks, looking about frantically as though lost. Armsmaster's head jerks slightly at the nearly mistaken form of address then pauses to consider for a second before answering.
"This is Armsmaster of the Protectorate ENE on sight with the first example of Nexus proposed Ressurection power. Please state your name for the record." Armsmaster says instead of immediately answering her.
"Hannah Washington. I- I died?" The woman responds somewhere between incredulous and hysterical. "Is that why my powers-" She continues shakily but is spoken over by Armsmaster who has been grimacing since she opened her mouth. You imagine that would be because the woman just gave her actual name while your Master is in the room, foolish as that concern might be in the face of everything else.
"Subject appears to be shaken and confused. Hannah, can you remember anything?" Armsmaster says in a clinical tone before shifting to something you might almost describe as warm and comforting if it was watered down and used very sparingly at least.
"We were on the Rig, preparing Lung and Oni Lee for transport. There was a light and - is anyone else?" She begins, cutting off to ask quickly, concern edging out distress on her face for a moment.
"...Miss Militia and Dauntless were caught in the blast from Purity. None of the prisoners survived." Armsmaster answer neutrally. Miss Militia takes a deep breath and frowns, clenching her fists to either side of her, one-hand opening and closing expectantly as though attempting to fiddle with an object that wasn't there.
"...I assume I'm under suspicion of not being myself. I submit myself to M/S Containment." She says with as much conviction as a woman who is obviously having a panic attack could possibly have mustered.
"Um." Your Master speaks up as the two Hero's talk. The both of them turn to stare at her as though only just remembering she exists, and she continues.
"You're still really naked you know." Your Master points out, lifting a hand to point at the woman with some embarrassment. You'd snort but you feel like your Master would reprimand you. The two Protectorate members turn back to each other, with Hannah belated looking down at herself in a nonplussed fashion as though only mildly bothered by the situation. Armsmaster doesn't even bother to acknowledge the point.
"Everything that has happened in this room is sealed and off the record. All recording equipment except for my helmet has been scrubbed of the last four hours of footage, and the Director has ordered that none of this be placed in a report." Then he pauses.
"For what it's worth - I'm glad you're back." He says when he is done rattling that off. Miss Militia relaxes imperceptibly at the acknowledgement of her personhood. Which you think is silly. Personhood is overrated. You should know, you aren't generally afforded any.
"So... my powers are gone." Miss Militia says flatly, staring into space inside the tiny cell she has been interred in.
The last three hours have been enlightening if nothing else. The PRT apparently has a fairly stringent process for determining whether or not someone has been suborned or replaced without their knowledge. A process that has been made drastically harder by the Director's insistence that no one knew the woman was even in the building until she had finished her screening - which could take days. You and your Master had only even been allowed to meet and speak with her because her new state of being was so different from her old one that not explaining any of it to her would be cruel. Piggot had been very clear on what 'M/S Containment Protocol' had to say about letting a potential Master anywhere near a potential victim. Namely, don't.
You don't know who Rebecca Costa-Brown is exactly, but since she was the only person besides Piggot and Armsmaster who was fully informed on the apparent success of the ritual, you assume you have her to thank for the teeth grinding cooperation Piggot seems to offering you, much to the woman's chagrin.
Honestly, you even sort of like Piggot, in a 'mess with her for fun' kind of way. It wasn't hard. You could spend effectively all your time doing nothing but helping her, and a few choice words each time would have her fully convinced you were effectively the devil himself. As far as entertainment goes, it was somewhat lacking, but it was something.
"Probably. Emmy?" Taylor asks you, obviously slightly out of her depth here. In general, she should have a rough understanding of how Shikigami function. You did teach her after all. The problem becomes, neither of you has any idea how an ex parahuman will interact with the process.
"Your current body is effectively a bundle of spiritual power that has been told to pretend it is biological in nature. The only thing holding it all together is your soul which, while I'm sure might sound alarming to you is true for pretty much all humans in a general sense. Still, my Master did expend a significant effort on you, so you should have some ability to show for it." You muse aloud, consciously censoring a lot of your Emulations usual opinions on Shikigami.
Yukari Yakumo was, to be blunt, not a nice person. Shikigami - no matter how smart or useful they were - were 'stuff' to her. She could be fond of that stuff, and even value it above other people in many cases, but to her, stuff was still stuff. And so from your current point of view, Miss Militia was effectively your Master's stuff now. Even if she would never act upon it. It made caring about her simultaneously easy and hard. On the one hand, your Master's things were important to your Master and therefore, to you. On the other, there was a reason no one had ever designed a toaster that complained when you used it.
"I'm not any stronger or faster than before. They checked. As far as anyone can tell I'm just a human." Miss Militia muses tiredly, still not actually turning towards you or your Master. Over the course of the last few hours she has gone from being extremely high strung to remarkably relaxed in a very short period of time. Melancholy, but relaxed. If you had to hazard a guess, it would be that following procedure and just doing whatever she is currently told to do is somehow a relief to the woman. You couldn't even begin to understand why without forcing her to explain, which you obviously can't do at this juncture.
"Hardly. Have you actually tried to do anything with all that power churning around inside of you?" You say in exasperation. Your Master shoots you a warning look, reminding you to be nicer to the other woman.
"I've been trying to use my power since I - since I got back. Nothing is happening." Miss Militia partially growls at you, turning to glare at you through the reinforced steel bars of her cell and then sighing as she resettles herself on the small cot she is sitting on.
"Have you tried, I dunno, something besides what your old power did?" Your Master offers politely. Taylor is a sweet girl, but the overly attentive and worried way she is seeing to Miss Militia annoys you slightly, if only because you consider it largely a waste of time. She has already accomplished everything she set out to do, so sticking around to cheer the woman up and try to explain things to her seemed pointless. You had already scored all the political brownie points you were going to get out of this event anyway.
Frowning, you consciously tone back that line of thinking, once again reminding yourself that your Master genuinely seemed to like Miss Militia, even if your current Emulation is having a hard time caring. It might be different if there was an actual problem to be solved but well, there wasn't.
"I've known how to use my powers since the day I got them. I think most Parahumans do. I... don't have that now." Miss Militia explains.
"That would be because you are no longer a Parahuman. You are a Shikigami." You say, masking your annoyance.
"You don't feel anything at all? Like, a tug on your soul or anything?" Your Master asks curiously, this being the first time she's gotten to interact with another person who's powers aren't Parahuman in nature to compare notes with.
"My... soul. So you're like Myrrdin then. Nexus, I understand that your powers and their apparent themeing might lead you to believe that your using soul magic to do things but-" Miss Militia sighs then begins chastising your Master. You resist the urge to snort. Your Master's Soul Powers and her Magic are entirely separate things after all.
"Humour me. Close your eyes, let your thoughts drift, and sort of let your mind grab hold of the first feeling that pops up." Taylor says, tapping her foot in thought.
"Why-" Miss Militia tries to protest but your Master cuts her off.
"Just try it." She says exasperatedly. Miss Militia eyes the pair of you for a few seconds, then acquiesces, closing her eyes. At first, nothing happens. Then a hazy green figure steps out of nothing next to her, it's gaze blank and unthinking. It is dressed in what appear to be army fatigues and is carrying a rifle in both hands that is pointing at the ground by its feet.
"I don't actually see the point of this." Miss Militia complains, as more figures step into place around the room, each one noticeably different from the last while sharing only the common army theme among them. Each man has a unique facial structure, and they coordinate with each other so as to form a loose perimeter around Miss Militia.
"That would be because your eyes are still closed." You say dryly, to which the woman in the cell responds by opening her eyes and freezing. A half dozen men, loaded with weapons and equipment are now standing about the room, perfectly still and unbreathing, there heads swivelling slightly as they keep watch around themselves.
Miss Militia doesn't speak at first, slowly rising to her feet and stepping towards one of them, who salutes her but otherwise remains still as she inspects his face.
"I know him. He was on the Rig with us when..." She mutters under her breath.
"I wonder how many troopers have lost their lives in this city." You muse pointedly. Miss Militia snaps her head around to stare accusingly at you as you speak, and all six men raise their weapons to point them at you.
Along with the dozen that appear in the hallway to either side of you. And several that appear in the catwalk above you.
"I'm guessing a few." Your Master states carefully, eyeing your surroundings as Miss Militia gets a hold of herself and all of the ghostly soldiers vanish.
"Well. The name is much more appropriate now don't you think?" You say pleasantly.
Of course, this is exactly when a number of alarms begin to go off, and several still living PRT troopers flood the area.
'That was the right thing to do right?' Your Master asks you as you begin to return to the Heap after several more hours of questions that were ultimately ended when Piggot's immediate superior had phoned to give her a very politely worded 'let it go'.
You honestly don't even think the woman has anything against Taylor specifically. She is just unhealthily paranoid of Capes. A paranoia that seems to scale to the perceived magnitude of that Capes power - which actually explains quite a bit about her apparent fondness for Miss Militia, who, prior to this, wouldn't have all that much more powerful than any normal person with a gun.
'From what perspective? I'm sure you're friends will be happy. The city has one of it's Hero's back. You are morally satisfied with yourself.' You reply with a shrug, lazily drifting next to your Master who is attempting to use nothing but Onmyodo to fly back to the base.
It's slow going at best.
'I don't know anymore. They wouldn't let me see the Wards while I was there, and I'm pretty sure Piggot would hate me if I killed all three Endbringers and had their heads hung in her office. I guess I feel like they should be celebrating more? Instead, it kind of feels like I did a bad thing.' Your Master says slowly, explaining her thoughts on the matter, likely while dissecting them herself.
'Give it a few days dear. They'll either get over it or they won't. They can't just keep her hidden in their basement forever.' You say soothingly.
'Hmm. I probably shouldn't do that too often anyway. Bringing people back I mean. I'm still kind of drained from it.' She responds while shakily trying to smooth out her ponderous flight.
'Look at it this way. Once you bring back Dauntless, you've won. Everyone you actually know that was hurt by the Empire will be back and the Empire will be gone.' You congratulate.
'...Emmy?' Taylor says suddenly, apparently having just thought of something.
'Hmm?' You respond.
'Did we ever turn in those guys you trapped in your Gaps?' She asks you in a tone that says she knows you didn't but kind of doesn't want to actually hear the answer.
'Why yes, Taylor I do think they would serve as an excellent workforce to clean your house up. What a wonderful idea.' You say in lieu of answering.
'...Emmy.' Taylor says flatly.
Damn. You were really hoping she would forget about that. Now she'll probably make you waste energy letting the idiots out of whatever eternity they've found themselves in.
Oh well. Easy come, easy go you guess.