The early stages of clearing the docks didn't go too well.
There was only so much Taylor could take without raising suspicion after all.
It was only when she figured out how to access her pipboys inventory properly that things started to pick up, but its capacity still left certain issues.
And then she found the supplies labeled for the hospitals radiology department.
With the supply of nuclear materials, her power put forward a schematic for a construction workbench, capable of breaking down large objects in its area and storing them in a much larger internal inventory.
By setting aside a warehouse as 'hers', she was able to clear most of the docks in a single day.
And school was set to go better as well.
After one more week of the Trio, checking her health on her pipboy at the end of each day, she had started to grow concerned about just how much 'health' she seemed to be losing, and brought up the possibility of a transfer with her dad.
The PRT arranged a transfer to Arcadia, in about a month, and her dad took her out of school until that came through, setting her catchup work when he discovered how far her grades had fallen from when she was offered a scholarship.
He had debuted as a hero by this point, going by 'Quickshot' for how his power let him instantly target what he wanted to, so this wasn't part of his contract but rather one of the bonuses offered to keep the heroes happy and loyal.
His costume was clearly based off some kind of military uniform (more specifically that of a marine, as he told her, to honour his time on the docks), with holsters for guns (tranquilisers, he assured her).
His current schedule of patrols was nothing too intensive, more getting him used to his new role and training him, which gave the two of them a chance to start reconnecting, spending more time together (and Taylor learning more about the workings of the PRT than she probably should).
And now Taylor had managed something she was really proud of.
Well, two things really.
The first was her first power armour.
Somewhat bulky, but hopefully enough to keep her safe from anything she was likely to face (although the way it wouldn't fit in her pipboys inventory was annoying, she would have to make a more lightweight copy for emergencies).
And the second was the robot she was nearly ready to activate.
It had taken a while to work out, but much of her robot schematics weren't actually Tinkertech.
In theory, just about anyone could take one of her schematics and build most of a robot, just lacking the reactor and any 'special' upgrades like the regeneration field.
She had the schematics for a device to automate much of the robot construction process, which would also make it much easier to install the reactor and any upgrades, but the scarcity of certain materials left her to choose between building her robot or the robotics workbench, so that would have to wait.
She had something more important right now anyway.
Her dad was here, and it was time for her first real test.
"If you can make these robots, do you really need to go out yourself," he was asking, and Taylor felt warm at the reminder that he cared about what happened to her, that his time at the association over the past couple of years was about making sure they had the money they needed, rather than avoiding her.
"Maybe, once I'm sure they won't go rogue," Taylor hedged. "We'll need to test each personality matrix first, in case there are unforeseen problems."
And keep an eye on them, in case they went too far in protecting her from the Trio if they ran into each other.
She had considered finishing 'Curie' at first, but decided that a robot to fight with her would be a more pressing concern for her to go out as a hero, one that could also help with salvage, with the incomplete Curie kept aside for medical emergencies.
Instead she had started a new robot, with the same basic model as the completed Curie would have, but with different specifics for the role.
The model had a circular 'head', bearing up to three eyes, with a thruster below outfitted with up to three arms.
In this case, the robot would get all eyes and arms, one arm bearing a cutting torch, a second a sawblade and the third received a scaled down 'lightning gun' for use as a taser.
The personality selected during the planning and construction process (by her dad more than her) had been that of 'butler', resulting in further jokes such as adding a bowler hat to the construction, and the name of 'Codsworth'.
And now it was time to finish the assembly, and meet her first sentient creation!
Taylor felt herself hesitating to push the reactor into place.
None of her robot designs seemed to have any kind of off-switch, so the only way to shut them down after starting them up would be to access their code directly and use the shutdown command.
Well, that or disconnect the reactor.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and glanced back at her dad.
With the reassurance of his presence she took a deep breath, and completed the circuit.
There was a hum from the robot, and she stepped back, suddenly aware of the thruster and other possible dangers.
The thruster ignited at a low burn, and Codsworth slowly lifted into the air, maneuvering to face her with all three eyes (which incidentally also brought the potential weapons into position to use against her).
"Good morning mum," it spoke in a distinctly British voice. "What are the plans for today?"
There was a pause, then her dad started laughing.
Codsworth shifted slightly to face him.
"What is so amusing, sir? I only seek to fulfill my duties in as timely a manner as possible."
Danny didn't acknowledge Codsworths words, instead speaking to Taylor. "Mum is it? I suppose that makes me a grandfather, and-"
Taylor shoved him lightly to cut him off, but whatever she might have said was cut off by Codsworth.
"It is a simple term of respect," he stated, in a slightly offended, but still polite, tone. "Now, do you have any duties for me to attend to, or shall I commence tidying up this… place."
"Right," Taylor declared, focusing properly. "We need to clear as much as we can from the nearby warehouses. There was an attack, and with work growing scarce, the dockworkers can no longer manage the area."
"Righto mum," Codsworth happily agreed.
"And then, tomorrow, it's time to be a hero…"
{}
They checked on Codsworth, making sure he was behaving properly, over the next day, and into the evening.
He was quite a bit faster than Taylor had expected, and rapidly disassembled the damaged warehouses, although she did have to instruct him not to let himself be seen.
It soon became clear that, when unable to work on the warehouses, he settled into a guard mode, protecting Taylors base.
But now it was time for the two of them to head out, so she could be a hero.
Taylor was giving Codsworth direction while she made final checks and equipped her armour, placing the pieces of armour over the frame and opening the back to step inside.
It would be much easier if she could just use her pipboy, she once again considered, but the armour was just too large for the inventory to work.
"Our goal is to go out, try to find criminals, and incapacitate them for the police. It is better if they stat alive and in relatively good health, but if it comes down to them or someone else, prioritise protecting others. Understood?"
"Like crystal. There is one thing mum, didn't you specify that I was to avoid being seen?"
Taylor paused, thinking through how to explain it.
"It is fine for you to be associated with me while I am in armour, but we would be in danger if people associated you with me out of armour, or identified who I really am. So it's fine for you to be seen with me while I'm in my armour, as long as we aren't somewhere too strongly connected with me normally, like heading to or from here."
She frowned.
"Wait, that's not quite right… Okay, unless I'm trying to hide myself, it is fine for you to be seen with me in my armour. Does that make sense?"
"If you say so mum."
Taylor sighed at the not exactly believing tone he'd taken, and lowered her helmets faceplate into position.
"Just follow my lead. I'm sure you'll pick it up."
{}
The night was kinda slow, not what Taylor had been led to believe.
By the reputation Brockton Bay had built up, she wouldn't have been surprised to end up in the middle of Lung attacking another gang.
Instead it felt as though they were the only two… people… actually active.
And then came the sound of breaking glass.
Taylor glanced at Codsworth.
"Ready?"
"Always mum."
Not for the first time Taylor considered going into Codsworths code and setting him to use the full 'madam', or even the slightly abbreviated but less embarrassing 'ma'am', rather than the diminutive.
"Then let's go."
She led the way towards the sound despite Codsworths greater speed, turning the corner to see a group of men breaking into a shop, filling bags with money and electrical goods.
Taylor felt a grin cross her face.
At last, a socially acceptable excuse for violence.
To let out all the anger that had built up over the past couple of years.
She all but leapt into them, forgoing any demands for surrender in favour of beating them down personally.
Her first blow downed one of the men, and she was already swinging at a second by the time they noticed she was there.
"Tinker," one of them called out as the second man fell, and Taylor felt a crowbar make contact with the side of her head before she could do anything more.
The impact was reduced to near nothing by her armour, barely enough for her to tell the blow had landed.
"Got you," she heard Codsworth snap, followed by the distinctive sound of his taser.
She glanced over to see the man had collapsed, making a mental note to check him for injuries, before turning her attention back to the remaining pair of criminals.
This was apparently enough for one of them to break, and run straight into a lamppost, knocking himself out.
The other, not seeming to notice his buddy remove himself from the fight, charged with a yell and a wrench.
Taylor reached up reflexively, catching the wrench in one hand.
Her grip proved stronger than his, the wrench remaining in place while his hands continued down to bounce off her faceplate.
It was apparently quite painful for him, going by the way he held his hands up in front of him.
She landed a quick jab to knock him out as a mercy.
Taylor looked around, ready for her next attacker, taking a moment to realise she'd beaten all of them.
She'd won her first Cape fight!
Well, she was the only Cape, but it still counted right?
Okay, what now?
She needed to check on the thugs, make sure they were only unconscious, then secure their loot for the shop.
She bent down, setting the wrench on the floor, and pulled off one of her gauntlets, exposing her fingers through the armours frame, to check their vitals.
According to her medical knowledge, they were all simply unconscious, letting Taylor turn her attention to the loot.
While she was physically capable of lifting that much weight, holding that many bags at the same time would be something of a problem, giving her no real solution but to replace her gauntlet and start adding the bags to her inventory, to be dropped back into the shop.
And that was when Shadow Stalker appeared.
"A new Tinker, and the first thing you decide to do is rob a store in your fancy new armour? What a joke…"
Taylor was about to speak, to explain what had happened, when Codsworth spoke over her.
"The only joke here is you, you bloody psychotic git."
Taylors head snapped round, about to demand to know what Codsworth thought he was doing, only to be spoken over again.
"You wanna go," Stalker was demanding, more aggressively than anyone Taylor had ever encountered other than Hess, acting to escalate rather than calm things down.
"Gladly," Codsworth answered, and the fight was on.
His opening move was to use his flamethrower, something Taylor had thought he was programmed not to use without her direct permission (or to protect her from the Trio if they showed up to harass her), but thankfully Stalker was able to get clear.
And then she fired a bolt straight at Codsworths reactor, only to bounce off (rather than penetrate all the way through his armour).
Her heart stopped for a moment, at the thought of the reactor being damaged and going critical.
Perhaps she needed something a little safer than a nuclear reactor in her robots.
"Wait," she called out, trying to avert possible nuclear incident, only to blink as Stalker fired at her, Codsworth interceding to block the projectile.
"Be done in a mo, mum," Codsworth reported, swivelling an eye to face her.
A comment that Shadow Stalker seemed to find amusing.
"Mum? Oh, so you're the sort of Tinker who calls their tech 'babies' then. What a bad joke…"
"That's not what he means! He's using it as the diminutive of…" Taylor stopped herself. Now wasn't the time to discuss linguistics, she needed to convince Shadow Stalker she was a hero. "Why am I explaining this? Look, I'm not a-"
Something hit her in the head, dazing her for a time.
"... robbed the store," she made out.
"I didn't-"
Codsworth interrupted her again, and Taylor gave up on convincing either of the heroes.
Wait, heroes? When did… uh… thingy show up?
Well, they were Wards so her dad should be able to clear things up.
She just needed to get back home, let him clear things up.
Well, Shadow Stalker and… Aegis, she thought he was… seemed to be distracted, so this was her chance.
The 'stop engaging and follow me' signal to Codsworth, and it was time to run.
Hopefully her next encounter with the other heroes would let her set things straight.