Millennium Hotel, New York City

"What did you do?" Sally whispered, getting a good look at her friend.

Her mom had started calling out the pair as they entered the restaurant but now just sat there, looking confused and a bit worried.

"Morning all," Annette looked at her daughter, who shrugged. "Let's get food before we discuss things."

Cheryl nodded worriedly, and then the four went to the buffet, grabbing plates and food. However, the amount of food piled on Taylor's plate seemed to lighten the mood.

"Leave some for us," Sally giggled.

"I'm a growing girl," Taylor objected with a grin.

"You'll be growing sideways if you eat all of that."

With full plates and drinks ordered, they began to eat. Still, the three-hundred-pound gorilla in the room would not go away. After finishing off her small pile of bacon, Taylor speared a sausage link.

"I am not sure how much you know, Mrs. Harper, what happened when Sally and I got caught up in that riptide," she said between chews.

Cheryl looked at her daughter nervously, then replied, "Both of you almost drowned. And you were both rescued by some unknown girl."

Taylor nodded. "That unknown girl was me."

Cheryl frowned. "Then why?"

"Because I asked your daughter to keep it a secret."

Sally shrugged. "Sorry, mom."

Taylor could see Mrs. Harper trying to decide what that meant. She, of course, jumped to the wrong conclusion through no fault of her own.

Leaning forward, she whispered, "I'm not a parahuman."

Cheryl looked surprised, then turned towards Annette, who nodded. "When I was in college, I was, well, let's say, a member of a club led by a parahuman. She had several others working for her. Trust me, my daughter does not act like them."

"But why do you look so different than how you looked at the start of the summer? It's not just your hair."

Taylor nodded. "When I was pulled underwater, I ended up in a world of endless oceans and given the ability to save the two of us."

"Mom," Sally said in a low voice. "Taylor turned into a submarine."

"Wait," Cheryl said in surprise, then whispered. "You're one of those shipgirls."

"Ever since then, her looks have been changing little by little. Last night, she went to see an old friend, and wanting to make sure she saw a friendly face, Taylor changed completely. Unfortunately, she can't change back.

Taylor sighed. "So that's why."

She then felt Cheryl's arms wrap around her. "Thank you for saving my daughter."

More questions would come later, but the restaurant wasn't exactly the place; however, Taylor was amused when the two older women had their heads together as the four made their way to the PRT building.

Although there were several PRT offices in the surrounding boroughs, the main office of the NYC Protectorate was right next to Battery Park overlooking the Hudson River. It was a place where both the Wards and adult Parahumans worked. It was also the central headquarters of all American teams.

Even with the PRT tours not officially starting until 10am, a line was already waiting to get in. From what Taylor understood, the tours were in groups of a dozen people who went through every hour or so. You also had to have an appointment. Thankfully, their shuttle drove right by and into the parking deck.

The entrance reminded Taylor of many military bases. Even with them sitting in an official vehicle, two armed officers stood at the front and one at the side of the van, while a fourth walked around with a scanner. The driver passed over a DragonPad, which was looked over and then returned.

A young woman dressed in a PRT uniform with a bright smile greeted the group at the front entrance.

"Welcome to NYC PRT and Protectorate's main office. My name is Melissa Caldwell. I will be your tour guide today. I hope all of you are looking forward to the PRT Experience. The first thing we will do is get you official visitor passes. These also allow you, if you visit again, to schedule a preferred time. Afterward, we will watch a short presentation on the history of the PRT and Protectorate. Then we will do something really special."

After that, they were escorted through another set of glass doors, where pictures were made, and visitor cards handed out, including limited edition lanyards.

"These are pretty nice," Sally said as she slipped it over her head.

With everyone ready, Melissa stood before the group with her trademark smile.

"Now, Miss Harper, as you hold the tickets, we have something to ask you. We currently have two more people if you're willing to join your group. Mr. Rodrigus's wife is going through orientation, so if you don't mind him and his son Carlos joining you?"

Cheryl looked around, seeing no one objecting, agreed.

"Excellent, if you will follow me."

And once again, they were moving, passing through another set of doors with a colorful banner that said 'Welcome to the PRT' experience. After being introduced to the two new members of the group, they were escorted into a room with a big screen. Taking seats, their tour guide stood in front of them again.

"Please enjoy this short film," Melissa smiled and stepped away.

Having quite a bit of first-hand experience with wartime propaganda, Taylor was impressed as the music from a well-known composer filled the room. A dry reading of history would have put most people asleep. Instead, actors played different roles, including short interviews with numerous movers and shakers of the PRT and Protectorate.

Afterward, an action pack scene with parahumans flying around, supported by PRT troopers fighting the good fight, with uplifting music in the background. Then, to the hard-working folk from the PRT behind the scenes, directors, unit commanders, and even those who pushed papers in the office. Before the credits, there was a somber memorial to those who had given their lives to make everyone safe.

Once the movie was over, everyone stretched.

"That was interesting," Taylor could hear her mum murmur behind her.

"I agree; my friends told me that the production cost quite a penny," Cheryl agreed.

Taylor forgot that Sally's mom worked in the industry, which involved costuming and computers.

A young boy, no older than ten, suddenly appeared by her side. "Hi, I'm Carlos."

"Hi, I'm Taylor. Did you like the movie?"

"Yeah, it was great," he chirped, then announced. "You're really pretty."

That caused Sally to snort and an amused chuckle from his father and her mother.

"Why thank you, good sir," Taylor replied with a smile.

"I hope everyone enjoyed the movie; many people worked hard in its production. After the tour, we will ask you to complete a survey to help us improve the experience. There will also be a monthly drawing for those who fill them out, and one lucky winner will get some signed memorabilia. Now, if you follow me, I have something very special to show you."

"My mom works for the PRT," Carlos quickly followed behind the two girls.

Sally asked, "We heard; what does she do?"

"She's in charge of PRT guys, tactical something," he looked up at his dad for confirmation.

"Special Weapons and Tactics, or the PRT equivalent," Mr. Rodrigus added.

"Yeah, she's really cool."

"Aren't I cool, Carlos?" his dad asked, sounding offended but grinning.

"You make sure people get their packages, not as cool as working with capes."

"It's just as important to make sure people get their packages. Do you work for the Post Office, Anton?" Cheryl joined the conversation.

"New York Port Authority, actually, as a Terminal Operations Supervisor," he explained. "My team makes sure ships are loaded correctly and on time."

"Which is important," Annette agreed.

"So, what do the two of you do?" Anton asked.

"I work at Brockton Bay College as an English Professor."

"I work for Frawley Entertainment as a Digital Effects Supervisor,"

"Oh, you know how they made that movie, Cheryl?" Anton asked.

"For the most part."

As the group moved through the PRT building, Cheryl spoke about the few projects she had been involved with. By then, they had taken another elevator to a separate part of the building.

"So cool," Carlos said, standing in the PRT garage, looking around at all the tactical vans and other vehicles used by the NYC PRT.

Both Sally and Taylor agreed.

Melissa pointed to one with all its doors opened. To the side of the van, laid neatly on the ground, were piles of different gear used during various missions. She didn't go into too much detail about each piece, but there was a lot more than would ever be covered on any other tour. Taylor had to admit that their tour guide was very knowledgeable.

"Hello, my name is Sargeant Kilby. I will be your instructor today," a new group member dressed in full PRT tactical gear, including a helmet with its visor up, suddenly approached.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, you have an important mission ahead. It's time to get into your gear!" Melissa clapped her hands cheerfully, leading them to another room where six identical PRT jumpsuits, helmets, gloves, and a belt sat on a table.

"Let's go, recruits, get dressed; we have a mission to perform," the Seargent bellowed. "When you're done, line up on the blue line."

Everyone cheerfully started to get dressed, slipping the oversized black jumpsuits over their clothing.

"Taylor, can you help me with this?" Sally fiddled with a zipper.

"Sure."

Annette grabbed her helmet, turned it over, and slipped it on her head. "How do I look?"

"Very professional mom," Taylor gave her a thumbs up.

"Should have worn jeans," Cheryl sighed at the thought of getting sweaty.

"They did say we should dress casually, Mom," Sally giggled.

As the Sergeant looked over the group and aided anyone who needed help, Melissa, now dressed the same, began to take pictures.

The Sergeant placed his hands on his hips and announced, "Outstanding! We don't have much time as we have a situation only you recruits can solve. And if you're lucky, we might get some unexpected help."

Seconds later, they found themselves in a PRT vehicle, a mocked-up one without wheels, looking very tinkerish. This was supposed to be a realistic simulation call of a robbery. Their tour guide slipped behind the wheel while the Seargent sat with them toward the front. Suddenly, the van jostled as it began speeding through the city streets, all simulated, which could be seen through the front windshield.

Then, from inside the van, a speaker came to life. "All units, be advised. The villainous group Paint Clowns is confirmed to be heavily armed. Repeat, heavily armed. Proceed with extreme caution."

Sgt. Kirby called out, "Copy that, Dispatch. Hear that recruits? Eyes sharp and stay focused."

"Units, the whole group is at the bank, including the Harlequin. They're now demanding a getaway vehicle, preferably a small clown car. Negotiations are ongoing on the style and make."

That caused a round of snickers and giggles from the van's occupants.

Once they reached their destination, everything stopped shaking, and the vehicle's rear opened up, revealing a city street—or, like the van, a realistic simulation of one.

Everyone quickly piled out, being told to form on the blue line once again. They were also joined by two new people, one a PRT trooper in uniform, and a second, which caused both Sally and Carlos to buzz happily, was a young woman in a mask-wearing blue and white spandex.

Melissa explained, "So, what you see here is one of the most advanced training rooms inside the PRT. Our hard-working Tinkers have created a place that allows us to simulate various locations and weather conditions, including actual or fictional villains with various powers. What we have for you today is for your recruits to stop the dastardly villainous group Paint Clowns.

Taylor looked at the street. It was a bright, sunny day with no clouds. Several cars, including a police vehicle with its blue lights on, were parked in front of a toy store of all things.

"These villains plan to rob the store of all its Monopoly money," she continued.

"Of course," Taylor's mom laughed.

Then, people began to appear in the simulation. Two large men in clown suits with red noses held colorful guns, looking a lot like blunderbusses.

"Now, recruits, you will shoot at the simulations with these rifles, which work like laser tag or paintball."

She then grabbed one of the bright orange guns off a weapons rack behind her, looked it over, flipped a switch, stepped forward, and shot down range. One of the clowns was hit and laughed gleefully as he was covered with foam. A moment later, the hologram was reset.

"Now, of course, much like paintball, they will be shooting back at you, so don't be hit," she grinned.

Carlos raised his hand. "Does it hurt?"

"An excellent question, young man," she then shot the trooper next to her.

"Must you?" With a theatrical sigh, the trooper brushed the paint off with his hand. "It doesn't hurt at all, and you can see it simply comes off."

"That's pretty cool," Sally said.

The blue and white spandex girl grinned and remarked, "I agree,"

"Oh, and let me introduce you to Trooper Daniels, who graciously allowed me to shoot him and our special guest, Slapshot. She will be joining you in the simulation and helping out if needed. Her power is telekinesis, which allows her to throw or shoot her tinker hockey pucks at great speed, covering opponents with foam. And, if you're not aware, Slapshot will also be graduating from the Wards at the end of the month and joining the Protectorate. So be sure to congratulate her."

Sargeant Kilby grabbed one of the weapons and approached the group. He looked at Mr. Rodriguez, who nodded and then addressed Carlos. "Would you like to go first, young man?"

"You bet," he shouted, pumping his fist.

"Have fun," his dad said with a laugh.

"All right," the Sergeant addressed the whole group. "Yours will only shoot light, not paintballs; however, as you have seen, the hologram will react when its hit. It has a simple trigger device; just point and shoot. Good, I see you keeping the barrel down."

"Yes, sir, my mom taught me gun safety," Carlos nodded.

"Outstanding, and son, just call me Sargent, but your mother is Captain Rodriguez? I spoke to her earlier today, and she mentioned that you two would be on the tour. If she's lucky, maybe she will join us for lunch. Now, let me hand you off to Slapshot, and we can start."

"Hi," the young boy ran up to her.

"Hey, so you ready?" she asked.

"Yep."

"If you two would step on the green line," Melissa pointed to the floor as Trooper Daniels crossed over to the other side of the room. "I will count down from three. Good luck."

As soon as the clock ran down, Carlos began shooting, although not very accurately, and for the most part, forgetting to duck or take cover. By the end of the simulation, the young boy was laughing cheerfully and looked more like a colorful piece of abstract art than a person.

"Mr. Rodriguz, would you like to go next?" the Sergeant asked.

"Sure," he stepped forward, looked over the gun handed to him, and moved over to the green line.

"Ready?" Slapshot asked who had returned.

Carlo's dad did infinitely better, remembering to take cover. He wasn't particularly accurate but had much less paint on his jumpsuit.

Sally's mom went next, and one thing was that she knew how not to be hit, ending with only a few paint spots on her outfit. However, she also managed to miss every target.

Impressed with the setup and how everything worked, she was too busy studying the room with an eye toward future work. She was amazed at how Tinkers got the holograms to use physical weapons, then realized that the paint, too, was most likely a hologram but still impressive.

Annette was next, at once bringing up her weapon at the crouch and taking cover. She did the best so far, only being lightly covered in paint and only missed the last two villains. Taylor wasn't surprised, remembering that her parents used to go to the gun range together a few times a year. And well, her mom used to run with Lustrum when she was Slapshot's age.

Sally went out in a blaze of glory, cackling like a mad woman. Much like Carlos, she ended up covered head to toe in paint. However, unlike her mother, she managed to hit all but the last villain, the Harlequin, before time ran out.

With her friend screaming for her to do her best, Taylor stepped forward to the green line at the ready. When the clock hit zero, she shot the first clown in the face before moving behind one of the cars. Then charged forward, hiding behind another parked car, catching the second villain in the chest. A moment later, moving around for another shot at a third clown as he stepped out of the Toy Store, shooting him in the right underarm as he raised his gun.

"Holy shit," Slapshot whispered.

Taylor was having a lot of fun but had to roll her eyes at the dad jokes and one-liners the villains made as they fell to the ground. Pulling down the Ward out of the line of fire, she hid behind the rear bumper as the car was suddenly pelted with paintballs.

"Get down and stay behind me."

"Right," the teenage parahuman squeaked.

The AI, or whatever had been running the simulation, appeared to be getting serious. Not that any of the runs were the same; each was different so that one couldn't memorize what the villains were doing. But for the most part, the clowns didn't take cover and just stood there pelting out one-liners as they shot.

However, the third and fourth clowns went on the offensive, trying to stage a pincer attack. Still, Taylor managed to shoot the fourth clown in the face as they tried to outflank her.

"We need to move," Taylor commanded.

The fourth clown met the same fate. The two traded shots, with her finally popping him as he moved around a car to line up a better shot.

Then, the Harlequin stepped out of the Toy store with what looked like a comical flamethrower, covering everything around him with paint, including the police car they were hiding behind. This immediately caused Taylor to redeploy, retreating behind a mailbox and sending several shots toward the villain.

Thankfully, the range of the Harlequin's paint gun was limited, and Taylor got a clear shot. They were all then entertained with a thirty-second comic scene with lots of choking, his companions calling him to stay out of the light and expiring with his tongue out.

"That was fun," Taylor exclaimed, walking over to her mother.

"Show off," Sally nudged her friend with her hip.

"Was that necessary?" Annette asked her daughter, exasperated.

"I know a couple of my friends who would love this," Taylor grinned.

"I'm sure," her mom shook her head, looking over to Cheryl, who just stood there in shock.

"Well, Miss Hebert, that was most impressive," Sargeant Kilby said as he approached.

"Thank you, Sargeant. Paint Ball is really popular at my school."

He nodded, not quite believing it, but was interrupted by Melissa, who insisted everyone line up for a group photo. Which ended up being quite colorful, with everyone covered in paint except for Taylor, who was the odd woman out.

Director Wilkins Office

"Impressive for a fifteen-year-old girl," a woman beside the director commented as they watched Taylor demolish the simulation.

"For anyone, Prism," Director Wilkins pointed out. "What do you think, Gabriela?"

Captain Rodriguez, pulled out of orientation, looked at a second monitor. "She bears a striking resemblance, sir, but still hard to tell. The new facial recognition software, I am told, is still a bit buggy. Actually, we're lucky the park service added those additional cameras after Halloween."

"Ghost hunting, apparently," Prism laughed.

"From what Chatter-fox tells me, they aren't too far off," the director sat back, thinking about the rumor of them being ship spirits.

Another parahuman wearing a glossy black bear mask commented. "Unfortunately, she's out of town."

"Is this shipgirl dangerous?" Gabriela asked, worried about her husband and son.

"No, I don't think so," Prism answered. "Besides Newfoundland's appearance at Bellevue, two new shipgirls joined the Wards in Brockton Bay during Halloween. They were very friendly and, I believe, heroically inclined. At least that's what it looks like from the news showing them involved in rescuing those ships during the last storm."

Director Wilkins nodded, looking up at the clock in the situation room. "After the groups break, they will be brought through here. Captain, why don't you join your husband for the rest of the tour then and get a better read on her."

"Yes, sir."