Overture 12.2
Amy was still asleep when Taylor made it back to the Workshop, so she left the coffee next to the hot plate, double checked the progress of her current distillations, and left for her next stop of the morning.
It occurred to her that Dinah might have school today, but their friendly neighborhood precog probably only bothered when it wouldn't get in the way of anything important. Knowing the future was handy, like that.
It was convenient that she didn't need to worry about scheduling her meetings, because Dinah knew about them long before she even decided to visit. She wasn't exactly concerned about privacy, either, given that Dinah was constantly spying on her future. Precognition was functionally the same as peri-cognition, if Dinah bothered to look one second into the future rather than days or months. It was a bit late to start worrying about autonomy or manners now.
Taylor opened a door and stepped into Dinah's bedroom.
"Good morning, Taylor," Dinah said.
She sat cross-legged on the bed today, instead of at her desk. Her expression was still unnaturally serious, but Taylor was becoming more accustomed to it.
"Morning, Dinah," Taylor replied, holding up the box in her hand. "I'd like it if you played Scrabble with me."
"Fine, but only because you become annoyingly persistent and ultimately disheartened if I say no," Dinah said dryly.
"That's the spirit," Taylor grinned at her.
She detached her stake driver and leaned it carefully by the door before unfolding the game board on the bed between them.
"Do you want to know who wins?" Dinah asked, and Taylor couldn't tell if she was joking or not.
"I'm going to win, obviously," Taylor said. "I wasn't about to bring along a game I suck at."
Dinah looked unimpressed, but Taylor thought that she might be enjoying the conversation despite herself. Just a smidge.
"I don't care what the official Scrabble Dictionary says; Za is not an actual word," Dinah said, drawing her tiles and arranging them carefully on the rack.
Taylor snorted but didn't argue.
"Cheating already?" Taylor grinned.
"If you aren't cheating, it just means you're not utilizing all the resources at your disposal," Dinah shot back.
"I meant cherry-picking the dictionary, not looking into the future."
"Sure you did."
They played in silence for a while. The game moved quickly, since Dinah was ready to play her next word as soon as Taylor finished her turn every time.
"Something my mom told me when she taught me to play," Taylor said eventually. "It's not always about earning the most possible points. Sometimes, you're better off denying your opponent opportunities to play, instead."
Dinah nodded.
"Too eager, and they'll overtake you. Too cautious, and you'll never get what you want."
Taylor played another word.
"If I flip a coin, can you tell me if it will be heads, or just that the chance is fifty-fifty?" Taylor asked.
"Probability isn't that simple," Dinah said. "Nothing is truly random. The letters currently on your rack may seem random, but everything from a slight irregularity in the machine that milled the tile to the movements you made while carrying the box here influenced which letters would fall under your fingers. The perception of stochasticity relies on a lack of information. With enough information, everything can be predicted. The accuracy depends on the amount of available information, not the nature of the act itself."
"So it's still fifty-fifty, but you might be able to tell me if it will be heads, if you have the necessary information?" Taylor summarized.
Taylor wondered if it would be better or worse to ask the question that had been on her mind since last night. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, or if it was even a question Dinah could answer.
When does Amy Dallon die?
"No," Dinah said.
Taylor stared at her for a long moment.
She wasn't sure which question that was the answer to.
"That's not a question I can answer," Dinah clarified.
"Can I ask why?" Taylor said curiously.
"Yes."
Taylor stared at her in silence for a long moment.
Dinah played another word.
"You can't give me crap preemptively for potentially playing 'Za' and then play something like 'Xi'," Taylor complained.
"'Za' is made-up slang that no one actually uses. 'Xi' is a letter of the Greek alphabet. It's completely different," Dinah replied primly.
Taylor had a sneaking suspicion that Dinah was peeking at what Taylor was playing in other futures. Or maybe her power was just good at Scrabble.
"Why can't I ask that specific question?" Taylor said.
"Because I can't see the woman in the fedora," Dinah answered.
Oh.
That was… potentially problematic.
But at least it meant that the PRT probably wasn't going to snipe Amy on their date this afternoon.
It just meant that whatever game the other precogs were playing, it included Amy's future as much as it did hers. Taylor didn't know why that surprised her.
Dinah played her last tile. Taylor didn't need to keep score to know that the precog had beaten her by a wide margin.
That wasn't the point, though.
Dinah needed someone who understood. At least a little bit. Someone to talk to so that she didn't spend all of her time staring into futures that would never happen, or listening to her music box.
Her overly serious friend leaned sideways to grab a sheet of paper off the bedside table.
Taylor raised an eyebrow and took it from her when offered.
"You bought me an ice cream truck?" Taylor asked in confusion.
"Technically, Coil bought you an ice cream truck," Dinah replied.
Taylor really, really wanted to ask why. But Dinah probably wouldn't tell her.
"No. It's more amusing this way," Dinah said.
Taylor narrowed her eyes.
"Fine. But only because I'm happy to see you have a sense of humor hidden somewhere under all that formalwear," Taylor said.
"I could say the same about you."
…
"So, I just poke this thing anywhere I want and I get a new power?" Alec asked, turning the loaded injector over in his hands.
Taylor had finally gotten around to making a quick injector for each of them. Everyone in the Hunt needed to be able to heal themselves in an emergency, even if the runes could handle basic scrapes and cuts.
"You get to experience the wonder and joy of having your mind stretched like silly putty, but yeah, pretty much," Taylor replied.
"Are you my trip-sitter, then?" Alec grinned.
Taylor wasn't familiar with the term, but she could guess from the connotations.
"No need to thank me," she said dryly.
"I know it's a bit late to ask, but… I'm not going to pick up any hitchhikers from this, right? I doubt ol' Skidmark was up on his shots," Alec held the vial up to the lantern light.
"Amy'll fix you," Taylor said. "No, the distillation process gets rid of any… pathogens. Amy isn't even sure that it's still blood at all, once I'm done with it. More like juiced up stem cell soup, or something."
"Totally chill, then," Alec said distractedly, shaking the vial and watching the ichor swirl.
"Hasn't anyone told you not to play with your food?"
"I was raised by a sleazy megalomaniac and his Mastered slaves," Alec deadpanned. "Playing with our food was highly encouraged."
Ah. Right.
"Shut up and take your drugs already," Taylor said.
"Yes, ma'am."
Alec slammed the vial into his leg.
For a long moment, he stood stock still and just stared with unseeing eyes.
"Well, that's neat," he said.
Taylor wasn't sure exactly which part he was referring to, but his pale gaze was still blank with the effects of the vial.
"I'd say it gets easier, but it actually only gets weirder the more you take," Taylor said.
It only took a few more seconds before his muscles relaxed into a more natural stillness, rather than a tense lockdown.
"You weren't kidding about the silly putty thing," Alec shook his arms out like he was trying to get rid of the pins and needles.
"I know, right? Did you hear the voices?"
Alec shrugged.
"Maybe? Something about strings. I was a bit distracted at the time," he said.
Interesting.
"What can you do, then?" Taylor asked. She always had a basic understanding of her new powers, when the weirdness finally wore off. It was convenient, if nothing else.
Alec grinned and made a 'come here' motion with one finger, and Taylor suddenly had to lock all her iron muscles in place to keep from being tugged off her feet.
"You're no fun," Alec pouted. "Fine. I can feel these… well, strings, looped around people. I could always feel everyone's nerves if I focused, but now I can grab on and pull."
So, not the fields that Skidmark could make, but the same acceleration filtered through Alec's Master power, affecting the nerves and the body rather than the surrounding world.
He was going to be an absolute menace. She would just have to keep him focused on worthy targets to make sure he didn't annoy Lisa to the point of shooting him.
Speaking of which…
"If Amy is awake when we get back, I'll see if she can give you a tune up. The vials contain some kind of medium that allows her to improve your body further, although we haven't pinned down exactly how it works yet," Taylor said.
"Can I eat tin foil?" Alec asked casually.
Taylor almost tripped over her prosthesis.
"I… what?"
"I just always thought it would be fun," Alec continued, as if that wasn't an absolutely wild thing to say. "You know, like… chewy and crunchy at the same time."
Taylor wasn't sure how she felt about being on this side of the crazy.
"I have no fucking idea," she sighed. "Amy said I could probably eat rat poison, but that was after a few upgrades."
Alec nodded seriously as they walked.
"What about light bulbs?"
Taylor decided not to validate that with a response.
…
The Boardwalk wasn't too crowded, but it was hardly a ghost town. Even though it wasn't a weekend, Amy had slept late enough that the afternoon shoppers and what few tourists still visited the Bay were out and about.
Taylor turned in her chair and glanced up at Amy as they stood just inside the door.
There were a number of doors like this dotted around the city, now. Taylor never wanted to be too far from anywhere, so one of her ongoing side projects involved slowly saturating the Bay with random doors into the Labyrinth.
That was the other reason she wanted to get their patrols up and running. A few nights of rotating routes and she would have the whole grid marked out.
For now, though, it was a fair bit faster than the bus. Or Lisa's car. Or one of Coil's vehicles.
They actually had a number of choices for transportation, now. Part of Taylor missed the days when she just ran everywhere.
Things had been more simple, back then.
Amy looked down at her with a conflicted mix of nervousness and excitement.
But not better.
Taylor wouldn't trade what she had now for the world.
"Ready?" Taylor asked with a grin.
Mild electricity bounced through her veins. The combination of thumbing her nose at the heroes and spending concentrated time with Amy in public was exciting.
"Nope," Amy said. "Let's do this."
Taylor wheeled herself over the lip and out onto the sidewalk.
Nobody noticed her or Amy appear out of the wall. People were always surprisingly unobservant.
"Coffee?" Taylor reached out and squeezed Amy's hand.
"Coffee," Amy agreed. The cold cup from this morning wasn't nearly enough to satisfy Amy's constant craving for more caffeine.
Of all the things to be addicted to, Taylor figured it was probably the healthiest available option. Not that it really made a difference for Amy.
She didn't smoke nearly as often anymore, though. That was probably a good thing?
The afternoon sunshine warmed her skin as they walked. Or rolled, in Taylor's case. Even though they weren't hiding, walking down the street with her stake driver attached would defeat the purpose of nominally playing by the rules.
No one looked too closely at the girl in the chair, anyway. Anything that was other was uncomfortable, to them.
Like her own little Stranger effect.
The cafe was cozy and crowded with students, both inside and out on the patio. Brockton Bay was a fair bit warmer than the surrounding coastline, so even in the winter there were moments of reprieve.
Their black tea selection was sadly lacking, so Taylor got a passion fruit herbal monstrosity instead.
Amy got a large black coffee.
"I mean this with all the love in my heart, but… you can't seriously like black coffee? Right?" Taylor asked as they made their way back out onto the Boardwalk.
Amy leaned against the railing.
"It's not about liking it," Amy said with a sardonic grin. "I want the bitterness. It's like red wine and steak, or whatever. Except there's no steak, only suffering."
Taylor laughed and sipped her tea.
It was pretty good, despite being heresy. And not even technically tea.
Close enough.
"I kind of… trained myself to like it? Back when I was still a fucking idiot," Amy continued after a long pause. "I didn't like it, at first, but Carol only drinks black coffee, and Vicky only likes flavored lattes and shit…"
Amy stared out over the Bay.
"It's fucking stupid, but I thought Carol would be… not impressed, but… something. I don't fucking know."
That was… really sad, actually.
"But, fuck it, now it's just how I like it," Amy shrugged. "It's mine, now. Sorry. Sometimes the tragic backstory strikes when I least expect it. Fucking Carol."
"You'd probably get a pretty cool power if I drained her blood," Taylor offered. "You said you wanted laser beams."
Now, it was Amy's turn to snort.
"No. It's tempting, for sure, and I like having the option, but… I guess it's the same reason you let that bitch live. Emma, or whatever. Carol doesn't fucking matter. That's why I never went back, on Saturday. I don't need to tell her how fucked up everything she did was, because she's never going to fucking admit it. If I send you after her, it's like… saying she's important, on some level. And she's fucking not."
Taylor reached out and laced the fingers of her free hand through Amy's, letting the silence stretch as they watched the waves roll in.
"Hey, this shit is supposed to be fun, though. No long stories. Spout some insane bullshit or something to distract me," Amy demanded suddenly.
Taylor's brain went blank, so she threw out the most random tidbit she'd noticed recently.
"Um… I'm pretty sure my dad's hooking up with the married couple he's crashing with?"
Amy snorted and choked on her coffee, so Taylor counted that as a win.
"I'm sorry… what?"
"I caught a weird vibe from them this morning and his stuff isn't in the guest bedroom anymore," Taylor said helplessly.
Amy recovered enough to laugh, and it was only a little bit manic.
"Also," Taylor continued, "I forgot to tell you that Assault got me a pirate hat. That's not related, but it's kind of fun."
"You should have worn it last night!" Amy said in between cackles.
Taylor leaned back in her chair and groaned.
"Fuck, I totally should have. What was I thinking?"
Definitely a missed opportunity.
An ice cream truck pulled up and parked about fifty yards down the boardwalk.
It only caught the corner of Taylor's eye, but she got the sudden feeling that Dinah and Lisa were fucking with her.
"Amy?"
Taylor turned back just in time to see a white and gold blur shoot across the boardwalk.
"Holy shit! What are you doing here?" Victoria pulled Amy in for a slightly involuntary hug.
Taylor couldn't help but grin at Amy's expression. She wasn't sure exactly what expression it was, but she was reasonably sure that Amy didn't know either. It was hilarious, regardless.
Victoria's Glory Girl outfit was almost blinding in the afternoon sun, tiara and all. Unfortunately, that probably meant…
Well… fuck.
Taylor hadn't actually run into any Wards aside from Sophia, but she knew enough to recognize them.
The thin guy in a white bodysuit jogging towards them had to be Clockblocker, and following him, in silver power armor…
Of course. If Victoria was here, it was probably because Dean was here too. Fantastic. Just great.
She had instructed him to act in her best interest, which definitely included not doing the whole 'yes, Hunter' thing right now, but still.
Dammit.
This was probably going to be fun.
"Vicky! What the fuck-" Amy spluttered.
She cut off as Victoria let go and suddenly seemed to realize that Taylor was also there, still holding Amy's hand.
Ah. Right. They still had a bit of unfinished business. Hopefully Victoria wasn't too-
Then Victoria punched her in the face as hard as she could.
Taylor had a tiny fraction of a second to decide whether or not to become ash and avoid the blow.
Well… I did ask for this. Literally and figuratively.
She let the punch land squarely on her steel cheekbone.
It didn't hurt nearly as badly as the punch on Saturday had, after the improvements from Lung and Oni Lee. However, in her hurry, Taylor hadn't considered the inevitable momentum.
She might be a bit heavier than the average human, but Victoria hit hard and Taylor wasn't exactly anchored to anything.
At least she had the wherewithal to let go of Amy's hand and her chair so she didn't drag either one along for the ride.
Taylor's body crashed straight through the back of her chair, cloth ripping and tortured metal screaming as she rocketed backwards across the Boardwalk. She twisted automatically to avoid an unlucky pedestrian, bounced once off the hardwood planks in a spray of flying wood chips, and smashed into the side of the ice cream truck with enough force to leave a Taylor-shaped crater right in the center of the company logo.
Somewhere, she hoped Dinah was pleased with herself.
"I changed my mind. That actually did help," Vicky said.
The crowd of gawking civilians was surprisingly quiet. For better or worse, everyone seemed to be frozen in shock. She'd expected more screaming.
"It's okay!" Taylor called as she ripped herself free of the twisted metal. "No need to panic. I deserved that. I seduced her sister. Go back to your shopping."
Even from fifty yards away, Taylor heard Amy's groan accompanied by what sounded like her palm hitting her own face.
Taylor brushed the metal and wood shavings from her sweater and hopped back in their general direction.
"Shut the fuck up, Anne," Amy snapped before turning to her sister. "Jesus… shit, Vicky. You couldn't have waited ten fucking seconds? Or aimed somewhere without people?"
At least Victoria had the decency to look a bit embarrassed.
"Fuck, um… should we check on that truck?" Vicky said nervously.
"No, no, it's fine, it's mine," Taylor pulled out the crumpled sheet of paper from Dinah's room.
Clockblocker, Gallant, Victoria, and Amy all stared at her like she was crazy.
Or, she assumed from the Wards' body language, at least.
"It's a long story," Taylor said. "Anyway, yeah, I told Vicky she could do that if it would make her feel better. Did it?"
"Uh… yeah? I guess?" Victoria said dazedly. "Maybe a bit… less so, now?"
"Better than nothing. Anyway… Hi, Wards! I'm Anne, I'm Amy's girlfriend. Nice to meet you!"
Gallant and Clockblocker looked at each other.
"Hi, Anne… I guess it's just super, crazy lucky that you… miraculously didn't get hurt, when Glory Girl… took you up on your offer?" Gallant said haltingly.
Clockblocker shrugged.
"Super cool of you to conveniently park your ice cream truck in the exact right place to catch you, too," Clockblocker followed up. "Do we get free chaco-tacos as a 'thank you' for being cool about this?"
"I hate you all so much right now," Amy muttered under her breath.
"I don't actually know if it's stocked…" Taylor said, turning back just in time to see the truck drive away despite the damage. "Oh, nevermind."
"Rats," Clockblocker said.
"Wait! What are you and… Anne… doing here?" Victoria looked back at Amy.
"You know, I can go on dates that aren't doubles with you," Amy said.
"You're… on a date," Victoria said skeptically. "Is that code for something? Did you already hide the bodies, or-"
"Why does everyone always think that?" Taylor grumbled.
Victoria and Amy both shot her a look.
"No," Amy snapped. "We're perfectly capable of going on actual dates without killing anyone, thanks. Although, it's getting more tempting by the second."
"I hate to be a buzzkill, but I think we probably have to report this?" Clockblocker said.
"Why?" Taylor said as innocently as she possibly could.
She couldn't see Clockblocker's expression, which was unfortunate. It was probably pretty funny.
"I… well… someone probably… you know what, I'm not doing this paperwork if I don't have to. Your call, future leader extraordinaire," Clockblocker turned his blank face to Gallant.
Dean looked between Vicky, Taylor, and Amy for a long moment.
"I think it's great that Victoria got a chance to see her sister," Dean said slowly. "Can't think of anything that warrants an immediate PRT response, though."
She was definitely going to hell, but having a Mastered Ward was very convenient.
Taylor honestly didn't know if Dean was acting authentically or not. She told him to forget about her identity and the Mastering, to act as he normally would if he didn't know, but she also told him to act in her best interests.
Was the unaltered Dean still in there, observing but unable to change his actions? Or had the Mastering changed the conscious personality?
She hadn't told Amy about those concerns. It was better for Amy if she didn't worry about it, if she hadn't already considered it. Not until they eventually let Dean go, at least.
That wouldn't be today, though.
"Thanks, Gallant," Victoria said with a bright smile.
Amy rolled her eyes. Apparently, no amount of Mastering could make her do more than tolerate Dean.
Taylor looked down at the ruined remains of her chair.
"We may have to head back soon anyway. Hopping everywhere isn't exactly romantic."
"Why haven't you… No, you know what, I'm not going to ask," Victoria sighed. "So, what's the deal with that whole show you put on last night, anyway?"
"Show? I was definitely fighting for my life. Miss Militia shot me in the head and everything," Taylor said.
"Don't bullshit me. You were messing around," Victoria scoffed. "That was nothing compared to the crazy crap you pulled against the Empire and the ABB."
Taylor shrugged.
"The PRT just needed a reminder to maintain their 'hands off' policy. I meant what I said. I didn't kill all the other villains because I'm some kind of saint. I needed blood for my work, and I figured it was better to take it from shitty people," she said.
"I thought you were going to try to maintain some plausible deniability," Amy leaned back against the Boardwalk railing. "Something about following the rules?"
"I think that went out the window when I got punched in the face by our favorite Alexandria package and didn't die," Taylor said dryly.
"I'm not apologizing," Vicky said.
"Right," Amy sighed. "We should probably go before someone tells the PRT that their Wards are fraternizing with the enemy."
"So, you're actually going villain, for real?" Clockblocker chimed in.
Amy looked a bit nonplussed.
"I thought that would be public knowledge by now. I left New Wave on Saturday," she looked between Gallant and Clockblocker.
"I mean, they don't tell us everything, but I doubt the PRT knows what the heck to do with you. Nobody wants to lose a healer, and public opinion is all over the place. It's not like most people spend all day on PHO," Clockblocker said. "A lot of regular Joes are just now realizing that the old gangs are gone, since the PRT finally started actually publicizing the Hunt's mischief."
Well, that was good to know. The PRT was quick to move on its propaganda plan. Taylor needed to meet with Colin again soon.
"That's… whatever. Yes, I'm 'going villain'. The PRT would probably lock me up in perpetual M/S confinement as their personal fucking healing machine if they thought they could get away with it, and somehow Brandish is still worse," Amy said. "Fuck that. Maybe, if they ask nicely, I'll come back to heal any of the heroes who would have died otherwise. I might even do some hospital rounds if I get bored. But it's on my terms, now."
"Can I… um… tell them you said that? I think that they're all freaking out about you not going to Endbringer fights anymore," Clockblocker said.
"That might stop them from going off the deep end, actually," Taylor glanced at Amy.
"Yeah, go for it," Amy said tiredly. "I didn't hate healing as much as the… obligation? I guess? There will always be more people who need it, and it was easier to just be a villain than it was to actually care. Fuck it. Tell them I'll heal when I feel like it, but I'll be there for the Endbringer fights, as long as Carol doesn't start shit."
"She won't," Victoria's voice was deadly cold. Taylor hadn't heard that kind of tone from her, even during their little spat on Saturday.
Shit. At least Vicky was on board. That was nice.
Amy shot Vicky one of her forgetting-to-frown smiles before turning back to Taylor.
"It was fun watching you get decked, but I want to go home," Amy said.
Taylor nodded and pulled out her phone.
Victoria and the Wards looked a bit confused.
Rachel answered on the first ring.
"I need a door," Taylor said.
Rachel hung up without saying anything, but she didn't need to. Actions spoke louder than words.
Taylor chuckled at the heroes' expressions and pulled Amy against her side with one arm. Feeling Amy relax at her touch was as wonderful as ever.
"You didn't think we'd go for a stroll in public if we didn't have a way out, right?" Taylor said.
"How does that even work?" Victoria asked.
"Privileged information," Taylor grinned at her. "The offer is always open, if you want to join. I'm sure Amy would love to have you and we're short on fliers. Benefits include medical, dental, lodging, a cool sword, and more cute dogs than you can possibly pet."
"I'm not… what?" Victoria spluttered.
An ethereal doorway opened in the front window of the coffee shop.
Taylor caught two specks of light streaking towards them over the buildings.
"Think it over. In the meantime, someone at New Wave apparently pays attention to PHO. You ready, Amy?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah. Vicky… it was… I don't know. You know where to find me if you need me," Amy sighed again and hugged her sister with her one free arm.
"Same. And you can be anywhere, right?" Vicky grinned crookedly.
"Exactly," Amy replied.
Lady Photon and Laserdream could really cover ground when they wanted to, but they were still a ways away.
Taylor still didn't want to hop across the Boardwalk, though.
"See you around, Glory Girl. Wards."
"Bye?" Clockblocker said helplessly.
Taylor called to her hurricane and lifted herself and Amy easily. It was much less taxing now that she had absorbed several more vials, not to mention Amy's runes.
"So dramatic," Amy grumbled.
"You're the one who made giant demon arms."
"My power has a mind of its own sometimes. It's not my fault it's also an over-dramatic bitch."
"Whatever you say. Did you have fun, even with the interruption?" Taylor asked, still hovering midair.
"It was easily one of my top two dates ever," Amy said. "It's not exactly a high standard, though. I think I like the hospital roof better."
Taylor laughed and threw them down towards the coffee shop, flying through the door despite the startled screams of the cafe patrons.
Oh. Right. No one else could see the door. they probably thought that Taylor and Amy were going to crash through the glass window.
Whoops.
Hopefully it looked badass, anyway.
…
"Did you mean what you told the Wards? About going back to heal?" Taylor asked from her workbench as she worked on ways to further refine her bloodstones.
"Maybe? I don't know," Amy shrugged. "As long as none of the heroes show up to harass me, I don't hate the idea of going back to the hospital. I used to actually like being able to help people, at some point. Before it consumed everything else."
Amy had her own project growing out of an amorphous flesh mass in front of her.
They looked a bit like skinny, pale mushrooms, budding out from the portion of the Labyrinth network. Well, except for the spindly little arms and creepy mouths.
Those teeth looked a bit too human-like.
"Hey, Amy… what'cha got there?" Taylor asked casually.
"Just… experimenting. Nerve clusters don't necessarily have to be actual brains, and I'm trying to figure out how to induce targeted autonomous adaptation. I want the heart to be able to fix itself, if I'm not here…" Amy rambled idly while she worked. "The regeneration feedback loop that you hooked up is a good start, but it can only put the system back the way it was."
"And the mouths?"
"They need to eat, obviously. They're still alive."
Taylor decided not to question it. The strange little creatures were kind of cute, anyway.
…
Taylor and Brian stood in the makeshift test chamber, down the hall from the atrium and the Tonitrus room.
"How are you feeling, after last night?" Taylor asked when the silence started to become awkward.
"Fine."
Taylor raised an eyebrow at him.
"What do you want me to say?" Brian grumbled. "I killed a man. Probably caused a lot more to burn alive. So what?"
"So, it's probably not fine," Taylor said. "After my first hunt, I had to confront the reality that I didn't feel bad for what I'd done. It's an… unnerving feeling, all on its own. But my experience is far from universal."
"Fine. I know I should feel guilty, or something, but I don't. And that's just as bad, because I know it's not supposed to work like that," Brian said.
"I'll be honest, I don't know if there's a way it's supposed to work," Taylor replied. "The world is crumbling, and parahumans throw everything into disarray. The rules, the regular laws… it all starts to fall apart when some people are just more powerful than others. Alexandria, Legend, Eidolon, Dragon… they pretend, but how does law and morality actually apply when they are only choosing to follow it out of their own consciousness?"
"So you're saying it just doesn't matter? That we should just kill who we want and then shrug and go on with our day?" Brian demanded.
"I'm saying that it's up to you. No one else can tell you what's right or wrong, or if you should care. At the end of the day, the only person you have to live with is yourself," Taylor said.
He didn't answer, just staring down at the vial in his hands.
"What's the point, then?" He said eventually. She wasn't sure if it was rhetorical or not.
She answered anyway.
"Take what you need, what feels right to you. Take the power to protect your sister. Take the means to make the world a better place. No one will do it for you, and those who're worthy of your affection do not deserve to be made into a crutch," Taylor said. "You have to stand on your own before you can support anyone else."
He still looked conflicted.
It was a bit frustrating, actually. Brian supposedly wanted to make his sister's life better, but lacked the conviction to actually do it. Some part of him never grew past the deeply rooted feeling of helplessness.
"What apologies will you whisper to your sister's headstone, if you fail? What will it matter, once it's too late?"
He could be so much more, if he freed himself from his own doubts.
"Straighten your spine, Brian Laborn," Taylor demanded, her voice echoing in the Labyrinth's halls. "A harbor isn't safe if the rocks crumble when facing a storm. The castle can't stand if the foundation is cracked. You say you want to save your sister, create a better life that no one can rip from your hands?"
He finally met her eyes, and she couldn't tell if it was anger or pain or something else churning behind them.
Good.
Better to feel anger at her than nothing.
"Then take what you want, and make no apologies," Taylor ordered.
Brian slammed the blood vial home, and Taylor smiled.
The shadows in the room around them grew deeper as Brian's power began to leak from his body in a slow cascade.
Taylor could hear the barest edge of the whispers in the dark, just out of reach as Brian's mind was expanded.
He clenched his jaw, and more smoke spilled forth. It coiled on the floor of the room, questing tendrils seeping into the Labyrinth.
Soon, only the lantern light remained in the sea of inky blackness.
"Do you see, now?" Taylor whispered. "There is more to this world than meets the eye. The tapestry is far thinner than it seems."
Brian's body frayed around the edges, becoming a part of the darkness just as it saturated him.
Taylor was reminded of what she said to Sophia, right before she killed her. It felt strangely apt, here.
"Come with me, into the dark."
Then Taylor was alone.
Except she wasn't.
The smoke coalesced at the edge of the lantern light, and she saw the great hands of living dark clenching as Brian tried to piece himself together in this non-life. Taylor understood the feeling far too well. Existing without a body was a harrowing experience.
Slowly but surely, the night retreated and Brian's human form rebuilt itself out of the Nothing.
"Welcome back," she grinned over at him.
"Fuck."
"Yeah. It's always a trip, but any powers that cause a Breaker or Changer state seem to be especially off-putting," Taylor said.
Brian took several deep breaths.
The silence stretched for a long time, alone in the lantern light.
"Any chance you changed your mind about letting Amy improve you?" Taylor asked eventually.
Brian sighed.
"Stand on my own, right?" He said. "I guess… I won't be any good to Aisha dead. And I'd hate myself if I could've done more but didn't, because I wasn't willing to get my hands dirty."
Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"Is that a yes, or a no?"
"Yes. You're right. No one owes me anything, and I can't rely on anyone else to save her. Even you, no offense," Brian said.
"None taken," Taylor replied.
They left the test chamber together, and Brian walked just a little bit taller, despite himself.
…
Her new forge was coming together nicely.
The original setup in the Workshop was fine, but it was getting a bit crowded in there. Between the new equipment that Lisa acquired for her, and Alabaster, she needed to expand.
Luckily, the Labyrinth was infinite.
The space looked like it used to be a cafeteria or something similar, but it would do fine for her purposes. It even had a similar HVAC system to her Workshop.
Taylor sat on one of the stools and considered the high-nickel iron billets Armsmaster had provided for her. They were designed to be used for modern Tinkertech, and the low carbon content combined with the extra high nickel ratio wouldn't be suitable for a sword in its current configuration.
Luckily, blood had plenty of bicarbonate ions in it, and she had as much of it as she could ever want.
Her Chikage was too bloodthirsty, and her holy blade didn't have the right disposition to channel her more violent tendencies. She needed something that provided the best of both worlds. A blade that awakened both the beast and the stars in equal measure. Her recent vials had pushed back the fog enough to provide several very enticing designs.
The blueprints called for siderite, but Taylor didn't feel like tracking down an actual meteorite. Besides, meteorites were high in cobalt and phosphorus, which made for shitty steel. Armsmaster's material was 6% nickel, a much higher ratio than standard high-nickel steels and pretty damn close to actual space rocks.
It would do the job.
Besides, using blood to directly provide the necessary carbon to turn the iron into steel would be even more effective than a blood treatment during the folding or a quench at the end. Which, of course, she was still going to do as well.
Taylor fired up the R3 Melter that Lisa had bought for her, turned on the oxygen pump, and positioned Alabaster over the smelter.
If this worked, she might actually be able to make Armsmaster his Endslayer. He had been pretty damn cooperative so far. He deserved a new toy, even if he couldn't use it without giving away their ruse.
Blood flowed from Alabaster's neck and hissed when it fell into the white-hot flames of the forge.
Taylor lowered the blocks of iron into the blaze.
The high temperatures and flux would cleanse any remaining impurities from the iron while maintaining the high nickel content. The burning blood would imbue the molten metal with carbon until it became true steel.
The whole process wouldn't take long. Not at the temperatures she was working with.
Alabaster got a bit burned in the process, but that was fine. He was immortal, he could handle it.
Taylor pulled out the drawer at the bottom of the smelter. The orange glow of the molten siderite was warm against her skin, even through the runes.
Surely, if Amy thought one sword was cool, a twin-blade would be even cooler, right?
…