Chapter 7
The PRT's cafeteria looked entirely too much like the one at Winslow, with neat rows of tables that could sit a dozen people each. The place was crawling with PRT agents and heroes, mostly from out of town, domino masks replacing helmets and more concealing masks to allow everyone to eat a well-deserved meal while transportation was being arranged.
I hesitated, hands clenched tight on the plastic of my tray. There were no free tables, only a handful of free places here and there, with no choice but to sit in close proximity with others.
Just like at school.
Where to sit?
I doubted I would be welcomed by a bunch of PRT agents, and the out of town heroes seemed to all know each other, given the animated conversations. I didn't want to be singled out and have to explain my entire backstory to a bunch of strangers.
Miss Militia was sitting with Chevalier and a mix of heroes from both teams, but her table was full.
Clockblocker, Kid Win and Vista were sitting in the middle of the room, with what looked like a mixed group of Wards from different cities. Their table still had two open seats.
I hesitated.
I didn't want to impose, and wanted even less the humiliation of being told to sit elsewhere, or worse, of them getting up and leaving as soon as I sat down.
People glanced at me curiously. I must have been standing there for too long, a few steps removed from the canteen where I'd grabbed a sandwich, an apple and a bottle of water.
The girl sitting next to the open seats waved at me, and it took me a moment to recognize her as the crossbow wielding Ward whose attacks had been amongst the few to truly injure the Endbringer. Flechette, Shadow Stalker had called her.
Because of course, she hung out with Shadow Stalker. Were they friends? They seemed friendly enough, even though "friendly" wouldn't be in my top one hundred words to describe Sophia.
Someone bumped my shoulder in passing, forcing me to take a few steps forward, and I stared as a pair of PRT agents passed me. Had they done it on purpose?
Flechette was still waving, trying to get my attention. A few of her fellow Wards turned around to look at me, including the trio of local Wards. Vista then leaned towards Flechette to mutter a few words. About me? To stop her from waving me over?
Every instinct demanded that I flee from this place and these people, and I caved when Flechette slowly lowered her hand.
I ran out, zigzagging between the people coming and going, and rushed for the elevator with my tray of food.
I relaxed a fraction once the doors closed, and the smooth ride took me down to the corridor leading to the Wards HQ. I presented my card to the appropriate sensor, and when the door opened after a delay, I went straight to the bathroom and locked myself in the last stall.
Lunch on the toilet. How nostalgic.
It occurred to me afterward that I could have gone to my alcove, but the bathroom somehow felt safer, and the locked door allowed me to relax a fraction.
I unwrapped my sandwich and ate in silence. Old reflexes flared up and between each bite, I found myself listening attentively for signs of an incoming person, without finding any. Through my bugs, I could tell that the three Wards were still in the cafeteria two floors up. I was alone, for better and for worse.
I hurried to finish my lunch, to avoid being caught in the humiliating position I'd grown used to over months at school, then I washed my hands and exited the bathroom.
Right outside was a small kitchen with a fridge, a coffeemaker, a kettle, a microwave and a sink. Empty trays like the one I was holding were piled next to the sink. I added it to the pile, then threw my apple core and the plastic the sandwich had been wrapped in in the garbage, keeping only the half finished bottle of water.
Out of curiosity, I opened the cabinets above the countertop with the small appliances and found a collection of snacks, teas and coffees. The fridge was full of sports drinks, and the attached freezer held a cake, loopy green letters on top spelling out "Happy Birthday Vista!"
As I felt the bugs I had planted on the Wards move to the elevator, I closed the freezer and walked to my alcove to avoid being caught snooping.
I made it just in time, sitting down at the desk as the alarm rang. I grabbed the pile of folders and opened one at random, pretending to be engrossed in reading while the three other Wards made their way to their own alcoves.
There was a knock on the wall outside my nook. I recognized the bugs I had planted on Clockblocker, and went to open the door.
"Hey."
"Hey."
Silence stretched long enough for me to wonder if he expected me to say anything else, but I was interrupted before I could come up with something coherent enough to follow through.
"Don't get me wrong," he said, "I'm really looking forward to all those times where I won't have to fight you in the future, but don't expect us to become buddies anytime soon. Having you here isn't easy. And it can't be easy for you either, with everything that happened, but… We've lost people. Friends, teammates, colleagues. People we cared about. People we loved. It's hard for everyone right now, but especially for Vista. So, if you want to start on the right foot, maybe give her some space and stay out of her way for a while, until the dust settles."
"I will," I answered. "Thanks," I added as an afterthought.
I wanted to say something else, to apologize for what I did at the bank, but the right words escaped me.
"Miss Militia wants us in the lobby in fifteen minutes. She said to find you a temporary costume from what we have laying around in the armory. I'll show you."
He turned around and led me down the corridor, turning on the other side of the meeting room, past a small gym.
The armory, it turned out, held a collection of basic bodysuits in a variety of colors and sizes. I reached for a black one, but Clockblocker stopped me.
"I would strongly suggest not going for the biblical plague look. It's just a temporary costume until the head of Image sees you to make you a new one, but trust me, you don't want them to feel like they need to overcompensate."
"Shame you don't have any bright pink suits laying around. I could call myself Princess Butterfly and save them the trouble."
He snorted.
"Don't let them hear you. They wouldn't know sarcasm if it hit them in the face, and will pounce on that idea like a pack of hyenas. Though I'm pretty sure Princess Butterfly is a character on Love Bug.
I was vaguely familiar with the show about cartoon bugs finding the magic of friendship or whatever. Alec occasionally watched it, and I'd browsed its wiki months ago when looking for a heroic sounding bug name that wasn't already taken. That damned show hogged so many good insect-related names, it was ridiculous.
I settled on a forest green bodysuit, with a pair of black combat boots, a belt with a multitude of small pouches, black gloves and a black domino mask.
"We're not expecting any fights," added Clockblocker after seeing me look at the pieces of body armor next to the bodysuits. "We'll just be doing search and rescue."
In my experience, even when not looking for a fight, fights had a way of looking for you, but I didn't say anything. I wished I could wear my old costume beneath the new one, but it had been taken along with my weapons when I signed up.
I gathered the pieces of my temporary costume and went to the bathroom to change.
The door opened just as I was about to open it, revealing Vista. She looked like she'd been crying. I took a step back, and she passed me without a word.
Once I was done changing, I looked at myself in the mirror. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't very me. Then again, neither was being in the Wards, so maybe it was fitting.
I went to my alcove to drop my clothes and grab my earpiece and phone, then joined Kid Win and Clockblocker at the console. Vista arrived soon after, and we departed as a group. Silence accompanied us all the way to the lobby, where Miss Militia was waiting with a pair of PRT agents.
They escorted us to a van in the parking lot, where I sat next to Miss Militia and across from the three junior heroes.
"Have you thought about your new name?" Asked Miss Militia as the van started.
"I haven't found one I like."
"That's okay. We'll use Skitter for now."
I nodded.
"Once we get there," Miss Militia continued, "we'll split to play up your forces. Clockblocker and Vista, with Battery and Assault, helping to consolidate structures and move rubble to give access to the rescue workers. Kid Win, with me, patrolling the area to make sure no one disturbs the search. Skitter, I understand that your range is quite large?"
"It comes and goes. Right now, it's about three or four city blocks in every direction."
"And you get feedback from every insect in that range?"
I nodded.
"Then, presumably, you can help locate people. You'll be paired up with Triumph, to assist the rescue workers until the canine units arrive later on. The priority is to find survivors, but bodies also need to be cleared."
I nodded, though I failed to see how Triumph could help with the task. I supposed he drew the short stick when it came to deciding who would play the babysitter. Perks of being the newest one on the rooster.
The van slowly made its way through the city, taking detours to avoid flooded streets. The other Wards remained silent, and I couldn't help but think that my presence killed any small talk they might otherwise have shared.
When we finally arrived, I immediately recognized my surroundings. I'd been there, just a few hours ago. The shelter beneath the library. The one Leviathan had breeched.
The van parked next to an ambulance, and as I climbed out, I saw a woman whose legs had been crushed, screaming as paramedics loaded her in the vehicle.
At least she was alive.
Those less lucky laid in body bags on a patch of street ahead of where we had parked.
Some of the Protectorate heroes were already there. Assault, Battery and Triumph were working in concert to move the larger pieces of rubble out of the way, while firemen and other first responders helped with the smaller pieces and with moving bodies.
I closed my eyes, focusing on my power and taking in the bugs feedback. A portion of the usual urban bugs had been taken by the flood, but enough remained to give me a mental map of my surroundings.
Flies had been quick to find flesh to feast upon, and other bugs converged to them to do some recon. In the flooded areas where flies couldn't help me locate bodies, I took control of various tiny underwater organisms I lacked names for to explore the water.
"Hey, newbie," Assault yelled at me, "quit daydreaming and give us a hand!"
I opened my eyes, and motioned for him to turn around. Behind him, swarms of bugs formed arrows in the air and on debris to indicate the people I'd found so far.
"The larger ones are where there are living people," I told him.
"Neat!" He gave me a thumbs up, and Vista and Clockblocker joined the heroes to clear access to a cluster of three survivors.
Over the afternoon, I mentally scoured every inch of the destroyed shelter, neighboring buildings, and water for bodies and survivors. Once I couldn't find anyone else, they marked down the places where my swarms indicated people, and I was sent to another search and rescue site with Triumph while the others worked to clear access to the people I'd found.
He was an intimidating guy, even more so with the white of his costume stained with red and dirt, and his face was unreadable as he guided me to his motorcycle, parked beside the van. He handed me a helmet, and I climbed on behind him, awkwardly holding him around the waist as he started the bike.
I couldn't help but remember covering him with bugs at the fundraiser, before Brutus charged him. I had to assume he was remembering the same thing. Was he the type to hold grudges?
At the other site, where buildings had been destroyed during the fight, the bodies were mostly capes, and the vast majority of the survivors had been evacuated already. I set to work, exploring the rubble and water with my bugs and putting up arrows whenever I found someone. Eventually, the other Wards and Protectorate heroes joined us to assist the rescue workers.
When we left the site at sundown, every body had been cleared.
"Good work," said Triumph before we went our separate ways, him on his bike and me in the van with the other Wards. "And it's good that you decided to join us. You did the right thing, even if you were off to a bad start."
"Thanks."
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind at the last second.
I climbed in the van, so exhausted I had trouble walking. The events of the day, coupled with yesterday's sleepless night and copious amounts of stress from various sources, left me on the verge of falling asleep in the van during the drive back to base. I wasn't the only one. Vista nodded off, head on Clockblocker's shoulder, and Kid Win startled awake more than once when we caught a bump.
The only one breaking the silence was Miss Militia, quietly talking to her earpiece and asking for updates on various situations as we made our way back to the PRT HQ.
"Skitter, come with me," she said as we arrived, dashing my hopes of going directly to bed.
I followed her to the elevator, then to the now familiar meeting room on the third floor. Legend and Armsmaster were engaged in an intense discussion that didn't stop when we opened the door, both talking at the same time.
"…with a pet Endbringer of all things, I think we would have noticed!" Armsmaster stated in a clipped tone, a hair short of yelling.
"…not accusing you of negligence, but this is quite alarming," said Legend at the same time. "Ah, Skitter. Hopefully you can enlighten us. Here, take a seat."
I sat down between Miss Militia and Déjà Vu, across from Armsmaster and Revoke.
"Enlighten you on what?" I asked Legend.
"We consulted several Thinkers about organizing a raid on Coil's base, and they unanimously gave a no-go."
"What? Why?"
"We're not quite sure. As far as we can tell, attacking Coil's base now would result in catastrophic events, only a few steps removed from an Endbringer attack."
His words lingered in the air as their weight crushed me. An Endbringer attack? Memories of the day unfolded in my mind's eye. The dead. The destruction. The desperation. The thought of more twisted something ugly in my stomach.
"Do you know anything about what may be causing these warnings?" He asked.
I shook my head, dumbfounded.
"When Endbringers attack, they sometimes have a target. Ways to cause further chaos and destruction down the line. It seems that Leviathan, until Scion drove him off, was moving toward Coil's base. We think that the source of these warnings may have been his target. Our current theory is that it has to do with the Travelers, because of incidents they were involved with in Boston and New York before coming here."
I thought back to what Sundancer had said being on her team was like. Intense. Violent. Lonely. Was there something bigger at play?
"All I know is that they take jobs like they're trying to fill a bottomless pit with money, and that Coil was helping them by providing a temporary fix to two problems with a possible permanent solution to one of them, but I don't know any details."
Legend frowned.
"I hope you understand that we cannot in good conscience launch this assault, even if it means allowing Coil to keep his captive."
He raised his hands to stop me before I could protest.
"For now. We need to understand what is going on before doing anything."
"He'll have time to move Dinah if we don't act now," I protested. "I could send my bugs, try to find what is going on."
"I ran that simulation already," chirped Déjà Vu. "His base is airtight and flooded with some kind of bug killer, and things go sideways as soon as anyone notices unusual insect activity around the entrance."
"You can see that, but not what is causing the warnings?"
"I only see the future from my own point of view, and I see every possibility at once. When there's too many divergences, it's like looking at transparent images stacked on top of each other until I can't distinguish anything. Gives me a headache. Whatever is going on, it can go any number of ways, enough to keep me from seeing it."
I nodded, feeling hollow.
"So Coil gets to keep Dinah."
"For now," repeated Legend. "But we'll do everything we can to figure out what is going on, and we're placing his base under surveillance."
What kind of ace did Coil have up his sleeve? Was it like Armsmaster had said, a pet Endbringer? How?
The meeting ended, capes shuffling out discussing patrols and whatnots while I tried to wrap my head around what just happened.
Had I made a mistake trusting the heroes?
My feet carried me to the elevator while my head was deep in thoughts. What could I do? How could I save Dinah without triggering another catastrophe? I couldn't find any answer. I understood Legend's caution, having witnessed firsthand what kind of destruction an Endbringer could wreak, but it didn't make it any less frustrating. It made me feel like I had joined the Wards for nothing. On the other hand, I couldn't quit without becoming an easy target for Coil, and from what Déjà Vu had said, my bugs would be useless if I tried anything on my own.
Kid Win was on console duty when I arrived in the Wards HQ, and I made a beeline for the gym on the other side of the meeting room.
My exhaustion had given way to a surge in adrenaline, and I needed to evacuate it if I had any hope of actually sleeping.
I couldn't go outside to run — I didn't trust myself to come back — so I ran on a threadmill instead.