Piggot Residence – Brockton Bay
Setting aside her bran muffin, Emily took a sip of orange juice before thumbing through her overnight work emails. Apparently, the so-called shipgirls had a busy weekend, not just in Boston. She had been following a report of the submarine girl assisting or coming to the assistance of one of Brockton Bay's vigilantes. Miss Militia, who managed to speak to the young woman, explained that the shipgirl was passing through the area and assisted Shadow Stalker in stopping an assault. Surprisingly, no one was hurt, as reports have said the teenage Parahuman was prone to escalating violence. However, she had not crossed a line where they would step in.
Archerfish must have had quite the impact on Shadow Stalker because the teenager's mother sent an email last night explaining that she wanted to set up a meeting so her daughter could join the Wards. Emily couldn't say she trusted Parahumans, but at least one of her officers didn't have to tell a parent that their child was in lockup or, worse, dead.
The second cell phone ringing on the charger across the room interrupted her musings. Considering the time, she felt a bit apprehensive when she stood up and looked down at the caller.
"Good morning, Cal; I'm surprised you're calling me on my personal cell."
"Yeah, not a lot of good about it. Unfortunately, Emily, right now, it's the most secure way of speaking to you," Cal Armstrong, Director of the PRT Boston, replied wearily.
"Does this have anything to do with the shipgirls who visited Boston over the weekend?" Emily frowned.
"Indirectly, perhaps. Considering your history with the man, I am sure you know that Thomas Calvert is being assigned to your city."
"Start of next month," Emily sighed. "So, what did he do now?"
"Funny that you mention it. Late Sunday afternoon, he was airlifted to the Coast Guard Boston hyperbaric recompression chamber. Luckily for him, the medical personnel who responded happened to recognize the symptoms of the bends."
"The bends? So, he was out scuba diving?"
"No, he was working in his office, which, according to the doctors, also appears he might have been drowning."
"In his office?"
"In his office. Oh, Calvert was also soaking wet. And, according to the operators in the fishbowl and the agents sitting in the ready room, he had been alone at the time," the Boston PRT director couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're having way too much fun explaining this. So, why are you calling me on my personal cell, and have you spoken to one of the shipgirls?" Emily grumbled.
"Yes, yes, I was coming to that," Cal now sounded a lot more serious. "No, I haven't spoken to any member of the Fleet, although I did send a request through the Coast Guard. However, I am calling you on your cell because one of our agents entered Calvert's office looking for clues, and what was discovered on his laptop was concerning. Information on the shipgirls, most of it from sources he shouldn't have access to. Restricted and highly classified information on the Boston PRT, and, well, wasn't he in charge of your office's network upgrade at the start of the summer?"
"Shit," Emily cursed, now understanding why she was speaking on her cell.
"I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. We just figured out a lot of this a few hours ago and didn't want to tip anyone off if they were actively monitoring us. Still, I'll tell you several people here are in for a rude awakening in a few hours."
Emily frowned. "I know of at least one consultant working in our data center who was part of Calvert's team. But there might be more, I'm thinking."
"Most likely," Cal replied in agreement. "Last week, considering what happened in the New York PRT, I spoke to Audry about setting up a team to check everyone working for me. Of course, Calvert was in my office as part of that discussion. Instead, I plan on calling Henry this morning to see if I can borrow his newest Ward."
Emily frowned. "Chatter Fox, right? Oh, I see she's a Thinker."
"Right, not sure if you're aware that he had her unofficially lead the investigation that led to those two agents being arrested for working for the Russian Mob. And although he hadn't said anything to me, she was most likely behind the subsequent resignations."
Emily cursed silently. She didn't want to depend on a Parahuman, but it sounded like a good idea in theory. "What did Costa-Brown say about this, assuming you talked to her already?"
"She was the first person I woke up this morning," Cal chuckled. "Surprisingly little other than to cross our 'T's and dot our 'I's. Although she seemed pretty spooked that Calvert almost drowned inside his office."
"No kidding," Emily shivered.
"Well, I'll talk to you later. I need to call Henry, but I'll keep you informed. Check your schedule. I think the three of us need to meet in person soon."
Rebecca Costa-Brown – Washington, DC
Alexandria's hands shook as she placed her cell phone down before leaning back in her kitchen chair. Obviously, something had gone horribly wrong since the start of the summer. All sorts of issues that were supposed to be handled were now coming to light, including specific things Cauldron had set up with the Youth Guard and domestic and international activities. And now, the President and Congress were on the warpath, with her position as head of the PRT in jeopardy.
In addition, Friday night, the FBI and the PRT Knoxville were nice enough to inform her about a group they were actively hunting. The Slaughterhouse Nine might be impressive, but most of their numbers weren't immune to a Hellfire strike shot from a drone miles away.
And now, with Calvert sticking his nose into something he had no business doing, the Parahuman feudal experiment obviously failed before it started.
Seriously, how does one almost drown in their own office?
With one last shudder, she called out, "Door me."
Eidolon – Cauldron compound
"The bends, what the fuck?" He looked around the room in shock.
"Hic sunt dracones,"Contessa said smugly, sipping a cup of tea.
To no one's surprise, the fedora-wearing Parahuman was now speaking Latin. Everyone in the room agreed that the woman had been acting odd lately, even outright refusing to Path certain things.
"What?"
Legend looked at David and sighed, "Here be dragons."
Max Anders – Medhall Office, Brockton Bay
At the top of the building, looking out his office window, Kaiser watched as the newly raised Saint Margaret began her last journey to a resting place far to the south in Rhode Island Sound. With that ship and many others removed Brockton Bay was soon to be part of the New England maritime community again.
That had brought some unexpected problems. A large number of members were now more interested in working than attending rallies. Men who had been unemployed for years were now hesitant to jeopardize their jobs. Although currently separated from his wife, Max understood being a family man himself, but it was incredibly frustrating.
"James, do you know the two shipgirls escorting the Saint Margaret?"
James Fletcher, also known as Krieg, grabbed a pair of binoculars from a table and looked.
"Both are from the ones seen in Boston, although I don't see the older girl. From their appearance at the diner, the one with the blue hoodie is based on a Coast Guard ship; the other may be some sort of Navy destroyer or escort."
"I'm surprised we're not talking about what happened to the Slaughterhouse Nine," Richard Benson, also known as Alabaster, called out from the other side of the room while looking up at a large monitor listing the members who were now dead.
"What's to talk about?" Hookwolf scoffed as he took a seat around a large table. "Good riddance."
The serial killer gang had met their end early in the morning when a fuel-air bomb was detonated above their RV as they slept in an isolated campsite in Tennessee. The government had been tracking their movement, and when the group stopped in a small valley, the thermobaric weapon was deployed with great success.
Then, lots of napalm afterward.
Ignoring the explosive element of the first bomb, the superheated fuel would be sure to take care of any surprises Bonesaw left behind. The only member who had survived the conflagration appeared to be Crawler, traveling west.
Alabaster shrugged. "Just surprised. I mean, someone should have done this years ago."
Finding his spot at the table, Kaiser said, "I agree. So, Brad, I hear that the woman working with you at the dog shelter was picked up last night. Is she going to be a problem?"
Hookwolf shook his head. "No, our legal guy already spoke to her at the police station; she's keeping quiet."
"Excellent; make sure any of her issues are taken care of. Also, any word on who might have stolen all of those dogs? Although frankly, my concern is the safe; how did they walk away with that without anyone seeing?"
Brad shook his head, frustrated. "No fuckin' clue. How did thirty-some-odd dogs disappear? Eight of them were from that guy from Virginia, and there's no way they would have followed anyone but one of the trainers."
"What about what was in the safe?" Krieg asked.
"Nah, Eric made sure to keep track of everything using an alias," Hookwolf explained. "But the thirty grand inside isn't something to ignore either. I'd blame Lung if he hadn't become such a pussy lately."
Things had changed since the start of the summer with the ABB, some sort of religious thing. And now, the whole north side of town was in the middle of being renovated. Even stranger, with the unexpected rise of tourism, which was also helping E88's side of town, violence was being actively discouraged.
Still didn't stop Oni Lee from dropping a grenade on your lap if you were looking for a fight.
Perhaps one reason was that the DEA had been cracking down on illegal drug shipments passing through the I-95 interstate, as anything being moved by water had become incredibly risky. Thankfully, for the E88's finances, this hadn't been a terrible setback so far.
"What about that girl? What's her name, Hellhound, who had been sniffing around our territory?" Kaiser asked.
Hookwolf shrugged. "Dropped off the face of the earth. She looked like crap the last time we ran into her. Probably died in some gutter."
"Alright, continue to look at who might be involved. Hold off for now before starting again. Now, let's talk about what you've been doing, Richard."
Alabaster nodded. "With the recent police raids apparently over, we moved through Washington and down to 19th Avenue over the weekend. Most of Skidmark's pushers had already fled the area, and the few prostitutes we ran across were told they were now working for Karl. Unfortunately, not a lot of business in that part of town, but we made sure that they understand who's now in charge."
"Good work."
"What about Mush?" Hookwolf asked.
"Rumor has it he left the city, but not sure I believe that." Krieg looked thoughtful. "Something is going on below the rail yard near the southern part of the bay. Still too far to deal with it right now, but we're going to push that way eventually."
"Let me know if you guys need any help," Hookwolf grinned.
Kaiser turned to the group. "Alright, keep me informed about what's going on. I am going to be in meetings all week. Apparently, the governor and the IRS are sending auditors down here in a few days. Some sort of regional financial health check or something."
"Sounds incredibly annoying," Hookwolf laughed.
Kaiser nodded, feeling a lot less amused.
Sophia Hess - Protectorate ENE Headquarters, RIG
Shadow Stalker tried not to fidget as she and Miss Militia took an elevator to where the Wards were stationed. She really didn't know what to think. Part of her yelled that she was better than the stupid Wards, a predator, but a calmer voice knew she almost did something she would regret.
Lately, she had become increasingly angry; part of it was because she was lonely, not that she would admit that. Emma, the girl she rescued, had been sent somewhere to get help. Admittedly, Sophia knew the girl had problems. Turning on her best friend, whom she had known since kindergarten, was pretty mental. But talking to someone with the same outlook on life had been pretty nice for a while.
However, that frustration pushed her to buy a high-end crossbow. It was really nice and really expensive, but after unexpectedly hitting a Merchant's cache full of drugs and money one night, she could afford it. The drugs she flushed down the toilet, but the money she kept. For weeks, she had been teaching herself how to shoot and, surprisingly, was able to shift the bolt so it would appear inside her prey with obvious results.
She could remember pointing at the guy's back while the scum ripped off some woman's blouse, but a hand suddenly appeared, gently pushing the crossbow down. The tall girl gave her a soft smile and disappeared over the side of the building. In moments, three of the attackers were on the ground; two of them Sophia hadn't even noticed.
Everything afterward was like a dream: helping to tie the three up, calling the police, speaking to Miss Militia, and then finding an out-of-the-way park bench to share a bowl of ice cream that the shipgirl had brought out from somewhere. Why she suddenly found herself telling all her fears to the shipgirl, Sophia still didn't know. And when the sun came up, she didn't refuse the escort home or ask for the crossbow that Archerfish had confiscated back.
"So, the light and buzzer will go off to tell you to put on your mask," Miss Militia explained, pulling Sophia out of her memories.
"Ready?"
"Not really."
As she was wearing a PRT uniform, Miss Militia or Hannah smiled, leading the two of them down the hall and through the doorway,"With Armsmaster busy, this leaves me to introduce you to our new Ward, Shadow Stalker."
She pulled away her mask and said, "Hi, I'm Sophia."
The youngest of the group, wearing a green and blue dress, cheerfully jumped forward, also removing her mask: "Hi, I'm Vista, but you can call me Missy."
The oldest of the group, a pretty buff guy wearing a costume with a golden lion motif, took off his mask with a smile. "Right, I'm Triumph or Rory; I lead this band of misfits."
"Hey, I resemble that remark," the one Sophia knew as Clockblocker laughed and reached out his hand, only to be stopped by Vista when she slapped him on the back of his head.
"What was that for, you violent woman?"
"If you freeze her, I'll hurt you. This place is already a sausage fest. You don't need to scare her away."
"Fine," rubbing the back of his head, he explained, "I'm Dennis, and the one next to me is Aegis or Carlos."
"I can introduce myself, you know. Nice to meet you, Sophia."
With introductions done, Hannah explained, "Your mom has to sign some paperwork and go through a short orientation, so I ordered some pizza while you wait."
"Ahh sounds good," Sophia looked over at the group where Vista or Missy gave her a thumbs up.
"I'll come back in an hour."
As soon as Miss Militia vanished, Missy bounced over to her. "Grab a few slices of pizza, and I'll show you your room."
"Hey," Dennis complained.
"Girl talk, boys not allowed. You'll have plenty of time to speak with her," Missy escorted Sophia down the hall, much to everyone's amusement.
Taking a bite of her own slice of pizza, Missy motioned to the walls. "It's pretty nice, in a dorm room sort of way. Put up posters or whatever. Rory will show you where you can store valuables if necessary."
Sophia nodded, "Thanks."
"So, I heard from Spinner that you ran into Archerfish the other day," Missy said, taking a seat in front of a desk.
"Who's Spinner?" Sophia asked with a frown, sitting on the bed.
"One of the shipgirls that's part of the Fleet, you probably saw her eating at that diner in Boston, wears the shark hoodie. Anyway, Archerfish just wanted to make sure you're doing OK."
"Yeah, better than the other day. How do you know them? I mean, how did this Spinner talk to you?"
"Oh, she has my cell number," Missy said, standing up and sitting beside her on the bed. "Please keep this a secret, but I had a fight with my parents and went out alone late at night. Pretty stupid, I know. Anyway, I can't tell you what they were doing, but it was like some sort of military operation right out of one of those war movies my dad likes."
"Sounds pretty cool."
Missy grinned. "It was, even got to help. Spinner gave me her number after, and then I went back home."
Sophia nodded, looking up at the ceiling. "Archerfish also stopped me from doing something incredibly stupid."
"Well, at least we have something in common," the youngest Ward snorted. "Come on, let's go before Dennis starts whining."
Reaching for the door, Vista turned back. "Hey, there's a new member of their Fleet called Eagle, and I've been trying to figure out a way for us to meet. Want to join us?"
Sophia smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."