Missy sat on the couch in the living room of Clara's apartment. Next to her was Morgana, Dinah, and Brandish, the latter of whom had come immediately once Missy had explained to her what happened. There was only so much legal and Cape advice the woman could give though when it came to Tinkers so they ultimately had no choice but to call Brockton's resident expert. At that point they could only hope for the best.
The door to the guest bedroom opened and Armsmaster walked out. "Tinker fugue. I've already left her some readily available food and water on the side. Continue to replenish the supplies as needed but do not interfere with her work."
"So we're just leaving her down there?" Dinah asked. "Shouldn't we do something?"
"No," Armsmaster replied.
"Couldn't I go in there and-"
"You'd only make things worse."
Missy winced. She knew he could be blunt but he really wasn't holding back any punches.
"Interrupting a Tinker while they're working in a fugue can be disruptive and dangerous for all parties involved, especially with their first creation," the Veteran Hero continued to explain. "Until she's finished, we do not interrupt her."
"Is it safe for her though?" Brandish asked. "You would know how vulnerable a freshly Triggered Tinker is."
"I'm not quite comfortable with leaving a little girl in that room," Morgana commented as he moved around Dinah and tried to comfort her.
Armsmaster grunted. "The PRT will have a plainclothes unit ready to observe and supervise. We'll also have a perimeter and a basic security system installed. We'll know if the Gangs come for her."
"Would it help if I stuck around?" Missy asked. "For a few nights until she finishes?"
"T-then I'll stay too!" Dinah said.
"No," Armsmaster addressed Dinah. "Missy has Powers to act as a deterrent. You'll be useless at most or another target at worst. Your time is better spent doing something productive."
"Armsmaster what the fuck!? You can't just say that to Dinah!" Missy shouted at the Hero. She turned to look at Dinah who looked absolutely heartbroken for a moment before she shuddered and… sighed.
"Yea makes sense," Dinah conceded. "Can't really do anything for her."
"Dinah-"
"You're a better friend than me Missy. It's fine I'll just get you guys your schoolwork, so you don't fall behind again," Dinah replied.
"They're kids. Watch how your language," Brandish scolded the Hero.
Armsmaster grunted before turning to Clara's Aunt. "Tinkers are often force multipliers and highly vulnerable to forced recruitment. As someone Jewish and half Asian she'll likely be seen as readily recruitable to the likes of the ABB and a threat by the Empire to be killed quickly." Clara's Aunt gasped and looked at him with hear as the Hero handed her a set of pamphlets. "This is information about Parahumans and the Wards Contract. The PRT would protect her if she were to join the Wards."
Finished with his lecture, Armsmaster turned back to Carol who looked absolutely livid. "She was an adult."
"Was that necessary!?" Carol scolded him harshly before turning to Clara's Aunt. "I'll be happy of course to act as your legal representative for your talks with the PRT."
"It's the truth that everyone here needed to hear," Armsmaster replied without an ounce of shame in his voice. "Clara is vulnerable and the PRT will only devote so many resources to a freshly triggered Independent. A Ward on the other hand will get blanket protection from the Gangs along with the resources and mentors needed to allow her to build."
"You just want to use her."
"She's a Tinker. She'll be useful to the PRT."
"And to you."
"Yes." Armsmaster agreed or just straight up admitted before turning to Missy. "Having someone she knows in the Wards would help with her adjustment period, but you are more effective as an independent. Especially when we can have you guarding her long after acceptable hours for the other Wards."
"New Wave of course will be ready to provide any extra protection as needed," Carol said.
"That will be useful. Missy's dramatic arrival along with our presence is already noted by the public. The PRT will do its best to cover it up, but it won't take long before the Gangs get curious. Having a continuous presence might dissuade them but some contingencies will be necessary should that prove to fail." Armsmaster pulled out a small mechanical device with a trigger and red button on it that she handed to Clara's Aunt. "This is an emergency beacon, already keyed into the PRT, Missy's, and Brandish's phones. Push the button if anyone attempts to take her."
He turned to Missy and handed her another copy of that same device. "In that situation focus on Projections suited for protection and delay tactics in cramped quarters. You don't need to fight them, simply delay as long as possible until reinforcements arrive. Avoid lethal force but preserve your own safety as necessary."
Missy nodded as she grabbed it. "How long do you think until Clara can be moved?"
"Hard to estimate… but with the current framework and her rate of progress it should be anywhere from three to five days."
"I'll grab some clothes from home. Enough stuff to last a week."
"You don't have to stay over that long," Brandish replied. "Victoria will likely be glad to volunteer after school and there are others in New Wave who are available."
"Clara's my friend Carol. I want to be here for her and I've slept here before. It'll be fine."
"And school? Your work?"
"Dinah said she can get my schoolwork and I can take a few sick days… Clara's dad died because I let Squealer run him over." Missy couldn't hide the desperation in her voice or face. "Please let me help her now at least."
Brandish stared at Missy, the woman's eyes trying to discern something from Missy's expression before she nodded. "… You'll have to get your parent's permission,"
"I'll tell my dad."
With Clara taking up the guest bedroom Missy and Morgana had been given the bed that Ophelia, Clara's Aunt, used. Missy had argued that she used the couch as a guest but Ophelia was quite insistent that despite being a Hero and Clara's most dedicated protector, she was still a kid. That logic was also why Missy had been given a steaming cup of hot cocoa before bed.
She didn't actually mind that.
Missy took another sip of the sweet warm drink, taking care not to make a mess on her pajamas, as she sat across from Ophelia. The woman was quiet, but nice. There was a reason why she had often taken care of Clara when her father had to leave the state for work. She clearly cared for Clara and was more than willing to take her in after her brother, Clara's father, had…
"Clara doesn't blame you," Ophelia told her.
Missy paused with her drinking. She set the cup down and used a napkin to wipe the foam off her mouth. "Did she know I was there? When he…"
"She did. I was worried about you visiting her, but she told me to let you come when you wanted. We're not angry at you at all."
"And then she Triggered because I let Squealer get away after killing her dad."
"That's the PRT not you. You're independent and… young. Too young for this." Ophelia sighed, suddenly looking ten years older. "But you're the only one that can do this because of your Powers. Something Clara has now."
Missy gulped. "I'll protect her. Make sure she's okay."
"I know you'll try… but you hear things about Capes and their Powers. Clara's always been a sweet and smart girl. We didn't have to worry about her much before but that doesn't matter anymore now that she has Powers."
"Now she's got trouble coming to her," Missy admitted solemnly. "Anyone with Powers does."
They sat there in silence, long enough for Missy to finish her drink. After that Ophelia sent her to bed while she prepared to sleep on the couch.
Missy entered her bedroom for the night. Morgana, who had been sitting on the bed, stood up and jumped off the bed.
"You can go to sleep Missy. I'll keep an eye for the night," Morgana told her.
"Thanks Mona," she said before he left the room and somehow closed the bedroom door behind him.
Now that she was left alone she got on the bed and buried herself under the blankets. Missy sat there alone in the darkness with her eyes closed. The mattress was soft and the sheets fluffy, but it took a long time for her to eventually get to sleep.
"You know when I… triggered I also needed some alone time," Vicky said as she stared out the window of Dinah's apartment, keeping watch for Missy as she did the schoolwork Dinah had brought for her.
"Clara's been in that room for three days," Missy replied, having difficulty actually focusing on her classwork.
"I know. She's a Tinker so it's different for her… but she'll come to you eventually. You just gotta be there for her like Amy was for me or Minako was for you."
Missy didn't deign to give a response as she pushed her schoolwork away and gave up on trying to make any progress in that crap. She'd just try again… tomorrow. Hopefully Clara would be done by then too.
The noise in that bedroom was really starting to pick up, to the point that the neighboring apartments were calling to scream complaints. The PRT dealt with those thankfully, Missy wasn't in the mood to deal with screaming irrational civilians at the moment.
"Yeesh. Wonder what your friend's drilling," Vicky commented over the loud noises of what did sound like a power drill. Said power drill was then followed up by something that sounded like a chainsaw which was apparently being used to cut some metal.
"We shouldn't go in there," Missy replied. Even if it was okay… she would be too scared to try. Best to leave that to Armsmaster. He had actually become quite the common sight, stopping by at least once or twice a day to drop off supplies and check on Clara's progress.
"A Robotics Tinker I think," Armsmaster stated as he exited Clara's room. "The physical carapace is actually replicable by Non-Capes. It's the software she's programming that's intriguing. A new form of Tinker Coding that I can't understand."
"Is Clara okay?" Missy asked.
"Her vitals are stable and I've replenished her food and IV. Still as physically healthy as can be expected from such a long Tinker Fugue, though be prepared for her to crash from exhaustion once she does finish her project."
As much as Carol said that he was doing for his own and the PRTs interests, and there was no denying that, he was surprisingly attentive of Clara. Documenting everything, keeping track of her vitals with his technology, making sure she ate and drank, and even asking Missy how the new Tinker was doing.
"I'm quite intrigued with her work," Armsmaster admitted. "What was she like before her Trigger?"
Missy paused, taking the time to form an answer. It was the first time he actually asked something personal about Clara. Something that wasn't just her work. "She's… She was a bit weird. But she always knew how to make you feel better. Always noticed things that other people wouldn't."
"Any flaws I should be aware of?"
"She can… trick you into things. It's not anything mean or anything, usually, if she likes you. But it can be annoying."
"And does she work well with others?"
"She gets others to work well with her."
Armsmaster simply stood there like a statue, probably mulling over everything she had just told him. "Make sure to contact me as soon as she finishes."
"I know," Missy replied.
"Good. Goodbye," the man said before giving a curt nod to Bicky and leaving.
Missy let out a sigh once he was out of the apartment. He wasn't a bad person, probably, but it was a bit stressful to be around him.
"He's kind of a crappy person," Missy muttered.
"Would you believe it if I told you he's usually worse?" Vicky asked.
"Really?" Not that Missy had a hard time believing it.
"Yep. Think he's in a good mood that he's got another Tinker to recruit."
"Yea…" Missy sighed. Hadn't been hard to figure that out and she had a feeling that she wouldn't have minded, probably even encouraged it because of how vulnerable Tinkers were, if it wasn't her friend that Armsmaster was trying to recruit.
Clara wasn't supposed to be a Cape. She was supposed to be a safe space, away from all this Hero and Villain madness. Only… it was Missy who was responsible for getting her involved in this world. Responsible for exposing her friends to this and getting Clara's dad killed…
"You wanna take a walk?" Glory Girl suggested.
Missy shook her head. "I have to protect Clara."
"You've been cooped up here for so long. I can keep an eye on things while you're gone."
"No. It has to be me."
"Don't think I can handle it?" Glory Girl asked.
"I'm responsible for Clara. I'm the reason she's…"
"Mom told me," Glory Girl looked at Missy sympathetically. "It's not your fault what happened to her dad."
"But if I just-"
"You can spend all day worrying about the past or you can actually do something now. I'm going to keep annoying you about this until you leave."
"But-"
"Take a walk."
"I have to-" Missy yelped as Vicky suddenly grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt. She immediately went for her Evoker only for Vicky to firmly hold her arm in place. Unable to resist Missy was quickly tossed out the apartment door.
"Come back in half an hour and not a minute sooner!" Vicky shouted before slamming the door shut. It was then followed by the sound of a click as the door was locked. Not that would stop Missy or really any Cape in general… but Vicky's point had been made.
Missy grumbled to herself as she picked herself up and made her way out of the building. She walked on the block… and just continued circling it. She always kept herself in eyesight of the building that Clara was in.
Eventually, when she was tired of walking. Missy decided to sit down on some steps in front of the local library. She took out her Evoker and placed it on her lap, her hand always on it as she continued watching Clara's apartment from below.
This was dumb. Walking was dumb. Being outside was dumb and sunlight was overrated. She was fine being stuck in Clara's apartment as long as it kept her safe. Vicky didn't know any better; she just acted like Missy was like any other little kid, but she wasn't.
Missy was a Hero with responsibilities and like Brandish said, she just had to bury her emotions and focus on actually doing her job. And doing her job was being in that apartment right now and making sure no one-
"Oh!... um…"
Missy looked up and saw a girl at the bottom of the steps. A teen wearing large glasses with a mouth perhaps a bit too large for her face. Scrawny, especially up top, but also tall. Clearly a bit older than Missy was. "What?"
"Is the library closed?" the girl asked.
Missy turned her head back and looked at a nearby sign. "Closed for renovations."
"So not because of…" the girl gestured to Missy's everything. "Cape stuff?"
"No. Nothing to do with me."
"Okay then. I'll just…" the girl looked down at the floor and stood still for a few seconds.
"Not going away?" Missy asked.
"Don't really have anyplace else to go."
Missy sighed before looking at the girl closely. A bit skittish but she wasn't acting like one of those rabid Cape Groupies… yet. "You can sit here. Give me company… for a little."
"Oh…" the girl hesitated for a moment before walking forward. "Sure."
The girl sat down a couple of steps below Missy and they both just sat there in silence. It wasn't a very pleasant experience. Kinda awkward actually, even more awkward than it was before.
"So what's your name?" Missy eventually asked, if only just to break the ice.
"Taylor."
"Hi Taylor. I'm Missy."
"Yea I knew that," Taylor admitted. "I see you on PHO a lot."
"Cool… cool," Missy replied before glancing at the library. "What were you going to read? If, you know, library wasn't closed."
"Shakespeare," Taylor replied. "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
"Um… that's cool."
"You don't like Shakespeare?"
"I mean it's kinda wordy and weird?" Missy sighed. "School forces it on me."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?" Taylor asked. "You had to have watched a movie about it at school."
"I did… but they were dumb. All that fighting because of a dumb crush and the ending where they kill themselves. It's just dumb. Why would they do that?"
"Losing someone you love can…" The girl's eyes drifted downwards. "Really change someone."
"I guess," Missy muttered. "So you actually like Shakespeare?"
"Yea I do."
"Must do a lot of reading then."
"I do. I've read a lot because…"
"What's wrong?" Missy asked. "You seem kinda down."
"I'm fine it's nothing," Taylor replied.
"Ok then…" Missy leaned back in her seat and took her phone instead. Had it been half an hour yet? Could she go back to Clara's apartment now?
"Sooo what do you like to do apart from reading?" Missy decided to ask.
"I don't really do anything else. Just school and books," the girl replied.
"You don't have anyone to hang out with?"
The girl paused for a brief moment, a conflicted look on her face before she shook her head. "No just me. Don't really get along with anyone at school."
"Are you getting bullied?" Missy asked, mostly from personal experience.
"No not anymore," Taylor replied. So, it had been an issue in the past. "The teachers stopped that but… I don't any friends. Everyone thinks I'm a weird loner and other things …"
That was… awkward. A bit of a loner, not that Missy minded being around a person like that, but it probably wasn't polite to bring that up.
"I like to play video games," Missy suddenly spouted at, trying to get any reprieve from the awkwardness. "And hanging out with my friiee- neighbors. My neighbors are cool. And patrolling's cool I guess?"
"What's it like being a Hero?" Taylor asked.
A month ago Missy would've been happy to regale the girl with tales of virtue and excitement. Of beating up Villains, protecting Civilians, and saving lives. Of being a Hero and being proud of that. Now though…
"It's hard. Really hard. Being a Hero is hard." Missy admitted as she hugged her knees. "It's just too much sometimes. No matter how hard I train and fight it's never enough. I can't protect everyone, I can't even protect my friends. I… hurt them because I wasn't good enough."
She wasn't too sure why she was saying too much to a random civilian… but it just felt good to speak to someone who wasn't involved with all of that crap.
"What about the other Heroes?" Taylor asked.
"They… we aren't enough either," Missy replied. "Good people can keep trying their hardest to do what's good and right but things go bad anyway. I really get why some people just can't handle it anymore."
"This city really does suck, doesn't it?" Taylor asked. "It's my home but it's also hurting and killing a lot of people."
"Yea…"
"Why do you keep fighting then if it's so hopeless?"
That was an answer Carol had given her.
"Because if it's not me… then who?" Missy replied. "People with Powers should help people. If they don't, then they might as well be Villains for letting bad things happen…"
"So if I had Powers I should do something" Taylor replied. "Whatever it took to save Brockton?"
"Yep. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to do something about all this," Missy stood up. "Thanks for the talk I guess… Could I get your number?"
"Oh I uh… don't have a phone," Taylor replied bashfully.
"You don't? In Brockton Bay? You need a phone for like emergencies or something!" Missy immediately chastised the older girl.
"I know it's just that phones are kind of forbidden in my house. My dad and I don't really like them."
"Please just think about getting a phone then. Before you get hurt." Missy sighed. "Do you come here often?"
"I don't have anything else to do," Taylor admitted.
"Then I guess I'll see you later then. Try to stay safe," Missy replied as she walked away. "Oh and I hope things get better for you at school."
"I hope so too…" Taylor replied.
It was a few days later when the sounds of tools and machinery in Clara's room suddenly stopped. It was an eerie and sudden silence that portended something really good… or really bad.
Missy held her breath as she carefully approached the door and gave it a knock. "Clara? Is everything okay there?"
There was no answer. Just silence. So Missy carefully cracked the door open. Inch by inch until she finally got a full view of the room.
The robot looked done. Metallic yet somehow muscular with lots of hard edges and tough looking exterior. It was huge, towering above her and any regular adult male for that matter. Above it all, to the back of its head, was Clara.
Her hair was ragged, her hands worn and scarred, and her face had a manic expression on it. She eyed her creation desperately and almost hungrily as she continued to work on something in its… brains.
"Clara?" Missy was too afraid to step forward. Too afraid of her friend.
"Iiiit's tiiiime to wake up noooow," Clara sang in the familiar tone of hers. What was once comforting and perhaps a bit annoying back then at times, was now unnerving for Missy to hear.
"Wake up?" Missy asked.
Her answer was the robot taking a single step forward. A loud heavy step that shook the very room they stood in.
Missy gasped and scrambled back, her hand immediately gripping her Evoker tightly.
That step was followed by another before the robot turned and stared down at Clara. Missy put her Evoker to her head, ready to pull the trigger at any sign of the threat, when the robot suddenly kneeled down in front of its creator.
"Hello…. Clara." The construct's voice was stilted and deep, with the harsh edge of what you'd expect a talking automaton to sound like. It was almost creepy but to Clara it was enough to get her to smile widely.
"Hello. Do you know why you're here?" Clara asked.
The robot nodded. "Yes… I am your family…. I am Father."