Enlightenment 6.1
A sudden upbeat electronic tune interrupted what had previously been a wonderful day's sleep.
Taylor blinked blearily and pulled herself upright in her nest atop one of her lab tables. She really needed to steal a mattress at some point.
The lab was dim without the candles lit. She didn't want to accidentally set fire to her Hospital while she slept. She honestly didn't know what would happen if the Labyrinth caught fire, or if that was even possible.
The only light came from the candles beside her ritual altar. They hadn't gone out or burned any lower since she had unsealed the Labyrinth. Her brain twitched when she tried to think about it too hard.
The music continued.
Oh, right. Phone.
Taylor checked the time before answering. Just after 5:00 in the evening. Perfect.
Her father was calling her.
Something inside her tensed strangely. He had never actually called her before, because they had never both had phones. Not since her mother was alive.
It had also been a long time since her last visit to Kurt and Lacey's. She had been a bit busy with the prosthesis and killing Nazis. Public restrooms allowed for the most basic of cleanliness requirements, but she was still in desperate need of a real shower.
Especially before she went to see Amy.
Taylor smiled at that before answering the phone.
"Hey, Dad," she said, getting up and starting her evening routine. There were new bodies to be processed, after all.
"Good morning, Taylor," she could hear the grin in his voice. That was nice. "I was getting a bit worried, after our conversation on Saturday and everything. No sign of anything suspicious on my end, though. How's it going over there?"
Taylor sat down in one of the many wheelchairs she had scavenged from the Hospital. Turns out, they were also endless, now. Go figure. She could probably go into business, if they weren't all rusted and rickety.
"Nothing too crazy. Coil got one of his proxy capes to try to recruit me, but it was a pretty soft sell, all things considered. I'm sure he has other plans going behind the scenes. I'll do another check for surveillance when I come over in a bit. Oh! And Hookwolf ate my foot!" Taylor rambled while she worked, checking the draining process with one hand.
There was a brief moment of silence followed by a heavy sigh.
"Sorry, kiddo, but you'll have to run that one by me again," Danny said.
"So, I told you about my Kirkhammer and my plan to go fight the Empire with Bitch, right?" Taylor asked, mostly rhetorically.
"Still not crazy about that name. Feels… disrespectful," he mumbled.
"She chose it, and she owns it, so…" Taylor shrugged. "Anyway, Hookwolf was there and we got into a little bit of a death-match and I accidentally shoved my foot into his shoulder and he blended it into soup."
"...can your Tinkering fix that?" Her father asked after another awkward amount of silence.
"Yep!" Taylor said, wheeling herself to the other side of the lab. "I made a pretty badass prosthesis, in my opinion. And Hookwolf's opinion, apparently, but I don't think his opinion counts for much, what with the Nazi-ism."
"You ran into Hookwolf again?"
"He wasn't very happy that Bitch attacked his dog fighting ring, so he tried to attack her dog shelter in retaliation, along with Purity, Stormtiger, and Rune. Unfortunately, he got away before I could finish the job. I killed the rest, though," Taylor said.
"You killed… three more Empire capes?" Her father's voice sounded tired.
"Mmmmhmmmm," Taylor hummed in affirmative, measuring the amount of blood collected from each. "And Cricket, on Saturday."
She barely had the necessary six pints from Purity, but her body had been a bit worse for wear from the fall. And the lack of a head. Two quicksilver bullets at the same time really made a mess of things. It didn't help that she had been flying horizontally, so the bullets had traveled into her chest cavity. Nasty stuff.
"I know I sound like a broken record, but just… be careful, Taylor," he said.
"I'm always careful. The epitome of caution and restraint," Taylor said seriously.
He laughed at that. At least he wasn't spiraling, again.
"You blew up our house with a microwave," he chuckled.
"I stand by that decision. It was the most careful thing to do, to cover up the evidence of all the murder. Also, I seem to remember it being a joint effort. We blew up our house, comrade," Taylor laughed with him.
It was good that he wasn't running away. She just had to remember to talk to him more often.
"Speaking of which," Taylor continued, "I figured out how to secure my workshop, but the defenses are a bit… hazardous, to humans. I have a… procedure… I need you to undergo so that you can come here in case of an emergency."
"For the record, I don't like it when you call people 'humans' as if you aren't one. Like, I know, I know, but still. It's the idea," Danny said. She could feel him shaking his head. "But… yeah, I guess. What's this procedure? You aren't going to cut out my spleen or something, right?"
"No, nothing like that," Taylor said. Better to rip the band-aid off in one go. "I need you to drink some special juice out of a special cup. Also, it's blood. Not like, a lot of blood, though. Comparatively. And I have to process it so that it's incoagulable, so you can't get diseases or anything from it. It even tastes pretty good."
The silence lasted a lot longer this time.
"Are you okay, Taylor?"
Taylor laughed.
"Yeah, actually. I know it sounds awful, but… my Workshop is safe. I took down two of the most powerful capes in the city at the same time. I'm feeling… pretty great, right now, actually."
"And the blood drinking?"
"An unfortunate necessity," Taylor said, even though she didn't really mind the fell rituals. It was kind of cool, in an edgy sort of way. Especially because they actually worked. "My powers may not be palatable, but they are potent."
"I just… this sounds like quite a step up from basic blood Tinkering, is all," her father said.
"This was always the path laid for me. I need to understand my powers, and uncover what lies beyond the fog. You don't have to drink it, if you don't want to. It just means you'll never be able to enter my Workshop without my help," Taylor said in a more serious tone.
Another pause. She let him think. It was understandable, since he wasn't nearly as desensitized to her power's proclivities.
"I… yeah, I guess. But I want to formally submit my suggestion that there must be some way to accomplish the same things without cannibalism," Danny said.
There… might have been. Maybe. Probably not. But she wasn't going to let a bit of squeamishness handicap her.
"Alright, I'll bring you back here at some point. I think I'll have to lead you through the Labyrinth to the altar the first time, and then once you drink you'll be able to find your way on your own," Taylor began the process of distilling and concentrating her customized blood vials. She didn't have the equipment to do all three at once, so she started with Stormtiger and Rune. She had a vague feeling that Purity should be last, for some reason.
"You know all of that sounds like fantasy nonsense to me, right? The Labyrinth? Did you build a maze around your lab?" Her father asked, still vaguely incredulous.
"Even better. I built an infinite maze, with no center. If you wandered in here without me, you'd be lost until you starved or I found you. It's awesome."
"That sounds… you know what, I'm not going to question it. Sure, Little Owl. Have at it," he chuckled.
"Thanks, Dad. I'll be over in a bit, I just have to finish up a couple things before I come shower and whatnot," Taylor smiled again. Had he always been this cool, and she just never noticed?
They said goodbye and hung up. Taylor gave her workshop one last once-over before packing up to leave.
Purity's blood was bottled and stored for future projects. Rune and Stormtiger's blood was currently being processed, and she should have enough left over for the other rituals. The bodies were still hanging, but they could wait a bit longer before she harvested everything else.
She would need to make more weapons soon, too. Her Kirkhammer and sword were versatile, but there were more designs that begged to be built.
But first, she had to clean up and go see Amy. She had cigarettes to deliver, after all.
She would travel as Hunter, though. The incident on the Boardwalk had taught her how important it was to have her gear nearby. If Lisa hadn't been there with her car, she would have been stuck hopping all the way back, or taking the bus like a normal person.
Taylor locked the stake driver into place, grabbed her sword and pistol just in case, and threw on her coat, scarf and hat. She also put a folding wheelchair, a change of clothes, and the box of cigarettes into a duffle bag.
Ready to face the fresh evening, Taylor strolled through the endless corridors of her hospital with an air of contentment.
As soon as she stepped outside, though, she realized that something was wrong.
The feeling of being watched was back.
She scanned the surrounding buildings over the roofs of the abandoned cars on her lawn.
There.
They were being sneaky, but she could see a camouflaged surveillance team easily three hundred yards away, stationed on the top floor of an old apartment building.
Someone had found her. That was quicker than she expected. All that remained to be seen was who.
She put down the bag and leapt onto the roof of one of the decaying cars. If they wanted to hit her with a sniper round, they would have already tried before she saw them.
Taylor drew her sword and pistol anyway, though. No need to let them think she was harmless.
A flash of red caught her eye and she turned, pistol raised.
"Wait! Don't shoot, I come in peace!" The crimson clad hero landed on the cracked road in front of her with practiced ease.
Assault.
So it was the PRT, then. Irritating. She almost would have preferred it to be Coil. That would be less complicated.
Taylor lowered the gun. If the Protectorate wanted to play nice even after all the murder, she wasn't going to force their hand. Amy would be sad if she started hunting heroes.
"What do you want?" Taylor asked. She allowed just the smallest amount of the beast into her words. Just enough to make the air tremble at her presence.
"Just here to talk, now that we know how to reach you. You're a hard person to find," Assault said. He had one hand behind his back, though, which was suspicious.
Taylor gave him the same answer she gave Lisa.
"I don't like very many people."
"Want to know a secret? I don't, really, either," he grinned at her. "But, since I'm bulletproof, I'm here to wine and dine you into heroism. I even brought you a present!"
She tensed as he revealed…
Is that a pirate hat?
It was, in fact, a pirate hat.
Taylor wasn't used to being the one nonplussed by chaotic events. She wasn't sure if she liked it on this side of the table.
She stared at him for a long moment.
"Because of the leg," Taylor said dryly.
"Because of the leg," Assault nodded solemnly.
Okay. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible, after all. Did all the heroes actually have a sense of humor? Sophia obviously hadn't.
"Assault, you officially have my attention. Congratulations. What can I do for you?" Taylor said.
"Well, Carpenter-"
"Hunter."
"Hmmm?" He cut off at her interruption.
"My name is Hunter," she said.
"Oh, of course. I guess I should've asked. I think that one might be taken…" he scratched his chin.
"I don't care."
"Right. Of course you don't. Anyway, Hunter, it's lovely to make your acquaintance. I'll get right to the meat and potatoes here: have you ever considered giving up the life of murder and mayhem to become an underpaid government stooge instead?"
That was… not what she had been expecting. Was this a recruitment pitch? If so, it was a bad one.
"Benefits include medical (not that you need it), dental, vision, costumes designed by people who failed out of business school and went into marketing instead, and, most excitingly of all, paperwork," Assault continued.
Taylor just blinked at him under her hat.
That was apparently all the encouragement he needed to carry on monologuing. She thought only villains did that. Also, this was the strangest monologue ever.
"Now, I'm sure you're thinking, 'Assault, that sounds terrible. Why would I, the badass Nazi hunter, sell out for the hollow shell of a bureaucratic nightmare like that?"
That was actually fairly accurate.
"And the answer is… I don't know, honestly. I was hoping you'd have some suggestions for that one, because I got thrown in the deep end here and they didn't give me time to finish my PowerPoint presentation. Why do you think you should renounce your villainous ways and defect to the side of glorious heroism?" Assault asked earnestly.
Taylor stared at him for a while longer, but apparently this question wasn't rhetorical.
What the fuck is this conversation? Is this how the PRT always operates?
Maybe she was dreaming.
"I would assume… to not have heroes trying to arrest me for all the murder?" Taylor said helplessly.
"Oh, yeah, I guess that's a pretty good one," Assault nodded seriously. "Kind of hard to have a life when you're constantly forced to stay one step ahead of all the pesky murder allegations. What else?"
Why was she even still talking to this idiot? Although… he might not actually be an idiot. He had already made more progress in getting under her armor than she expected him to. What the hell?
"I guess, um, a true civilian identity?" Taylor said. "That isn't at risk of being discovered by said heroes?"
"For sure. Much easier to go about your daily business with a government sponsored fake ID. Is it even a fake ID at that point? A real fake ID," he said.
Taylor narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're fucking with me, aren't you?"
"Just a smidge," he shrugged. "But, for real, life is just more straightforward on the heroic side. No living in abandoned hospitals, building your own prosthetics and swords out of scrap metal. You can have, like, heat, and working plumbing. And, again, it seems obvious, but it can't be understated, the whole 'not going to prison for murder' thing."
Taylor decided to humor him.
"Do I need to stop killing people, then, if I sign up?"
"I don't know," Assault shrugged again. "Probably, but maybe not. There are people out there who need killing, after all. But, I don't choose the assignments. I'm just the bulletproof messenger. I'd still prefer it if you didn't shoot me, though."
Taylor found herself smiling, despite the situation.
"I genuinely appreciate the offer, Assault, but I'm going to have to politely decline. I have things to do, and being chained to the hollow shell of a bureaucratic machine sounds like far too much of a hassle."
He nodded as if he expected that. He probably did, given how terrible his pitch had been. She wondered if this whole charade was just designed to put her at ease.
"Any chance you'd be willing to fill in some of the gaps for me? It might make the big wigs less likely to throw the book at you, now that you've officially turned us down," he said.
Yup, there it is. Reconnaissance disguised as recruitment. Clever.
Assault was more intelligent than he acted. She would have to be careful around him.
That being said, he still seemed almost painfully authentic. He would probably happily admit to using self-deprecating humor in order to put her at ease so that she would be more willing to answer his questions. And, ironically, knowing that he was doing it didn't make it any less effective.
Sneaky little shit.
"You can ask. I can't promise to answer," Taylor said.
"Why'd you take the bodies?" Assault asked candidly.
Drat. They saw that? Well… the basic nature of her tinkering wouldn't remain a secret for long. She didn't have to tell them about the power-stealing. Give them a nugget of truth, to hide the secrets underneath.
"Tinkering. I'm a blood Tinker," she said.
"Ah. That's… metal. And also scary as hell," Assault said. "Um… on a related note, have you ever made, are currently making, or are planning to make, any type of bioweapon that could feasibly end all life on Earth?"
Taylor chuckled a bit despite herself. She wasn't. Amy might, if she got her to loosen up a bit.
"No, don't worry. I can make blood concoctions that heal, sedate, stimulate, and a variety of other effects. I can use blood to enhance my weapons. I'm not brewing up plagues," Taylor said.
"That's vaguely reassuring. But… you said your concoctions can heal?" Assault asked.
The heroes might be even more reluctant to actually come after her if they knew she could potentially help with healing in the future. It was worth a shot, anyway.
"Yes. I am a bit more sturdy than the average human, but I'm not bulletproof. These are the reason I'm still walking around," Taylor pulled out a blood vial. Amy hadn't technically cleared it for human consumption, but… what the hell. She had already given one to Rachel. And Brutus. And her Mastered mercenaries. "Catch."
Assault caught the vial dexterously and held it up to inspect it.
"This is going to sound like a stupid question, but… do you drink it?" He asked.
"No, you inject it. It's blood," Taylor said.
"Right… is it… safe?"
Taylor shrugged.
"Your Tinkers will have to determine that. I've been using it for weeks and haven't noticed any significant side effects, but that may be a product of my power," Taylor said. She was reasonably sure that the mental changes were the result of her parahuman blood vials, not the standard ones.
"Gotcha. Well, thanks, I suppose. I haven't gotten a jar of blood as a gift since my wedding, and I'm reasonably sure that was meant to be a threat. The in-law's aren't exactly fans," he said.
Taylor smiled again.
"I don't often get pirate hats, either,"
They stared at each other for a moment. This conversation was so bizarre that Taylor had no idea what to say next.
"You sure you don't want to join the Wards?" Assault asked with a crooked grin. "I hear they have excellent parties on the weekends."
Taylor shook her head.
"I'm sure, thanks. My kind of party is better, anyway, and I don't think the Wards would like it."
"Because of all the murder," Assault said, entirely serious.
"Yeah."
The moon rose higher. It was almost full, now.
"What about the Undersiders?" Assault asked. "They usually stick to basic robberies, not… well, your kind of parties."
Taylor shrugged again.
"Bitch told me about the dog fighting ring, so I went and cleaned it up. Then the Empire went after her, so I killed them."
"Ah. And who is… Bitch?" Assault looked genuinely confused.
"Monster dogs?"
"Oh, Hellhound."
"Wait, you didn't like the name 'Bitch', so you picked… a different curse word?" Taylor said incredulously.
A slightly less problematic one, but still… what the hell.
"I didn't. You remember what I said about marketing people who failed out of business school?" Assault said with mild exasperation.
"Ah. Right."
"So… you aren't working with them? Or you are?"
"No. But I like… Hellhound… so if anyone comes after her, I'll probably stop you. I'll try to avoid killing any heroes, if that helps you sleep at night," Taylor said.
"Why bother? I mean, I know why, but I kinda want to hear it from you. Call it an old man's proclivities," Assault grinned.
"I may be a monster, but that doesn't mean I can't limit myself to hunting those who are even worse," Taylor said. "If I kill fifty monsters, the total number of beasts stalking the night goes down by forty-nine."
"That's… not the worst justification for mass murder I've ever heard."
They stared at each other for a bit longer.
"You're going to follow me if I leave, aren't you?" Taylor sighed.
"Yeah. I may not be too keen on the whole arresting you thing right now, but I am technically a hero," Assault said casually. "I can't let you just wander off to kill whatever monster you stumble across tonight."
"I suppose."
Taylor decided to take a risk and holstered her weapons before jumping down to land in front of him.
"I will take the hat, though," she grinned behind her scarf. Amy would get a kick out of it. The thought of her expression when Taylor told her that Assault had given it to her was fantastic.
Assault smiled back at her. That was nice. And he didn't try to kill or capture her, even though she was close enough that he might have managed it.
Assault handed her the hat.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill any of my friends," he said softly.
Taylor nodded.
"I won't kill them, but I'll die before I let them take me alive," she said seriously.
"I'll keep that in mind," he replied.
The night was quiet, between them.
"Don't enter the Hospital, for your own safety." Taylor said slowly. "If you or any of the heroes get lost, I'll try to come find you before it's too late, but I can't make any guarantees."
"Not exactly filling me with confidence there, Hunter. Oh, by the way, what happened to your foot?" Assault asked. "Armsy thought you might have cut it off yourself just so you could attach the cool pogo stick."
How dare he. It wasn't a pogo stick. That would be stupid. It was a stake driver.
Taylor resisted the urge to shoot him. He said he was bulletproof, so it probably wouldn't kill him. Surely the rest of the heroes would forgive her, right? They actually had to interact with him on a daily basis. If he was like this all the time, they probably wished they could shoot him, too.
…
In the PRT forward observation outpost, Battery sneezed.
…
Taylor decided not to shoot him. She had done a good job keeping things level so far. No need to throw that away.
"Ha. No. Hookwolf ate it," she said instead.
"Ohhh. Gotcha. Neat," Assault replied casually.
Finally, a reasonable reaction to that revelation. Sometimes, limbs get eaten by Nazi werewolves. It could happen to anyone.
"Yeah."
Taylor didn't know how to end this ridiculous conversation.
"I'm gonna go back inside now. Nazi corpses to Tinker with, you know… just a normal Tuesday night…" Taylor said awkwardly.
Assault nodded.
"We're probably going to try to catch you, next time we see you. And we'll probably keep a watch on your Hospital. It'd be pretty cool of you to not hurt or kill our surveillance teams," Assault said. "I don't know them personally, but I'm reasonably sure they aren't monsters."
That was fair.
"I'll just have to find a way to sneak past, then," Taylor grinned at him.
"I'm sure you will," he smiled back.
Taylor didn't know what else to say, so she took her pirate hat and walked back into the Hospital. She picked up the discarded duffle bag and glanced back over her shoulder at the entrance. Assault waved.
She waved back.
What a strange man.
Taylor was happy that he hadn't forced her to kill him. She might have actually felt bad.
Chewing her lip thoughtfully, Taylor headed back through the endless hallways.
She had some phone calls to make. And plans to postpone. Hopefully Amy would forgive her for the lack of cigarettes and company, given the circumstances.
…
Amy hopped out of Victoria's arms with practiced ease as they landed in the hospital parking lot.
Her hospital. Not Taylor's. For obvious reasons.
"So, are you going to see Anne tonight?" Vicky raised an eyebrow.
"Probably," Amy shrugged. No need to get Victoria too curious. "Her schedule can be kind of all over the place."
Amy was looking forward to seeing her, though.
Victoria was about to reply when Amy's phone rang.
It was Taylor. Why was Taylor calling her again?
Hopefully it wasn't another rampage. That would be a lot for one day.
Although, that would still be better than Taylor getting lost or whatever she was worried about before. Hopefully nothing was wrong. Amy had told Taylor to call if she needed emergency healing…
"Ooh, is that her?" Victoria asked, looking down at the phone screen.
Amy was extremely relieved that she had saved Taylor's number under 'Anne', just in case. Her paranoia actually paid off, for once.
"Shut up," Amy said before answering the call. "Hey, Anne."
Hopefully Taylor would get the hint that she was with Vicky.
"Hey, Amy. Just wanted to give you a heads up that I won't be able to make it over there tonight. I… ran into someone outside my house. Everything is okay, for the most part, just… inconvenient timing," Taylor sighed.
Amy glared at Vicky as her sister tried to get close enough to hear Taylor's side of the conversation, turning to walk away across the parking lot just in case.
"Who? Are you alright?" Amy asked, even though Taylor just said it was okay.
Why am I like this?
She knew why.
"Are you free to talk?" Taylor asked. She must have picked up on the subtext. Well done, Taylor.
Vicky was now staring expectantly at her from the other side of the parking lot, but at least she wasn't trying to listen in anymore.
"Yeah, you're good. Who found you?" Amy asked.
"The PRT."
Oh no.
No no no no…
She didn't want this weird thing of theirs to end. If the PRT found out, everything would come crashing down and the world would be gray again.
"They can't get into my Workshop, and I don't think they're dumb enough to wander into the Hospital, but they're watching the building. I doubt I'll be able to leave without being followed. I can move pretty quickly, but not fast enough to outrun Velocity or Assault," Taylor continued.
That… wasn't as bad as Amy was expecting.
"Wait, they didn't try to capture you?" She asked.
"No, weirdly enough. Assault stopped by to chat. It was bizarre. He tried to convince me to join the Wards because they have fun parties on the weekends?" Taylor said helplessly.
Yeah, that sounded like him.
"Well… that's… wait, you didn't agree, right?"
Amy couldn't decide if that would be a good thing or not.
Taylor laughed.
"No, don't worry, I politely turned him down. We both know that my work is not exactly suited for heroics, and I can't let my research get bogged down in bureaucracy. Also, PR would hate me," Taylor said. Amy could hear her grin through the phone.
"What are you planning, then?" Amy asked, trying to quash the disappointment of not seeing her now that the initial panic had dissipated.
"I need to find another way to navigate the Labyrinth and exit my Hospital without being seen," Taylor said. "I have a couple ideas, and I'll keep you posted, but I don't know if they'll work exactly as I'm hoping. I do have a few more powers to absorb, so I'll see if that offers any new insights."
"Okay. But those won't be ready tonight?" Amy asked. She tried not to sound too dejected. It was pathetic, honestly. How had she become so dependent on these little interruptions to her daily drudgery?
"I've got the blood condensing now, so… maybe?" Taylor said. "How late are you healing tonight?"
"I technically leave at 9:00, but it's usually closer to 10:00."
"I might be able to do 10:00. I'll let you know," Taylor hummed thoughtfully.
"Okay," Amy said.
"See you later then, hopefully," Taylor said.
"Sounds good. Bye," Amy replied.
The line went dead and Amy stared at the phone for a long moment.
The PRT found the Hospital, but Taylor said it was okay. Taylor would figure something out.
It would be okay.
It had to be.
…