Cauldron 1

The moment the girl left the conference room, all hell broke loose. Suggestions on the girl being under constant supervision were quickly thrown around, an idea that others were quick to argue against. The girl was simply a hot button issue, one with a problematic set of powers, and one that Rebecca found herself in the middle of.

It was not everyday that they caught a Biotinker before they could unleash whatever horrors they could possibly cook up, be it by accident or malice, and even more so one that was willing to sign up with the PRT. Still, despite her willingness to be brought to heel, many were left at unease and for good reason.

"A mere month and she already has a creature that is sapient," One of her Directors muttered darkly, "What kind of Tinker is she?"

"A problem, that's what she is!" Another piped up as a chorus of agreement rang with them. Even she had to agree.

To create a creature was one thing, but one capable of speaking on its own? The poor girl had broken rules, rules that she didn't even know about. This girl was capable of many great and terrible things and what they saw was just a glimpse of the future ahead of them.

"She does want to be a heroine," Director Wilkins reminded them as she asked, "Can we at least give her a chance?" For all the girl's misgivings, she wanted to join the Protectorate and they'd be a fool to turn her away.

"What do you think the public would say once they hear we have a Biotinker as a Heroine?" One of them asked.

"We have Masters and Biotinkers amongst the ranks of the Protectorate already," Director Wilkins waved off their concerns, "It's only a matter of optics."
"But not someone like her," The director fearfully replied, leaving the girls possible ranking unsaid. While they had such capes in their ranks, they didn't have someone on her scale. Her lone creation was enough proof of her abilities.

While the creature might have been unassuming, adorable even, many of them weren't so blind as to miss what they were capable of. Flight, Telekinesis, Telepathic speech even before their casual display of Changer-like powers to perform speech. If this Mew wanted a demonstration of his power, he definitely caught her attention.

Discussions on her capabilities would, of course, bring back fears of what she was capable of, pulling her people back to the earlier argument on what to do with her. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she let the directors get it out of their system and waited for them to cool down. As it stood, no one knew what to do with her, and as much as it pained her to admit, she wasn't quite sure herself.

It was not that she didn't know what she needed to do with the girl. She wasn't even all that hard to read. The girl wanted to be a heroine, badly. All she had to do was smoothen things out so that girl got on board and she'd have the girl's gratitude. What she wasn't sure about was if this was a good idea for the greater plan as their most important piece was still indisposed.

She glanced at the calendar on her desk to make sure that she had no unexpected visitors and at the door to make sure it was locked before she picked up her phone and texted, "How's Contessa?" She could ignore the meeting for now given how heated their discussions were getting. Right now, she needed to check on Cauldron to see if the girl was back to her usual self.

Her hope would quickly turn to frustration as Doctor Mother replied, "Still unresponsive." Of all the times that Contessa couldn't be talked to, now was the worst time. "She keeps muttering about how the path keeps shifting around the girl," the woman added, making her headache all the worse.

To think that this girl was all it takes to break the world's strongest Thinker. She was no blindspot, that was for sure, as she could easily pick the girl apart, all her insecurities about her appearance with her baggy clothes, her fear of authority given how reluctant she spoke at first, and how she worshipped heroes with the way she glanced at Armsmaster and Miss Militia.

Sighing, she instructed, "Keep monitoring her and don't forget to feed her." It was already bad enough that they couldn't break the girl out of her trance. They didn't need more problems in the form of the girl passing out again because she forgot to drink. "I swear," She muttered darkly as she turned her attention once more to the cause of all this problem.

That girl, Taylor Hebert, was a powerful one yes, but she's still a teen. What is it about her that made Contessa drop what she was doing and devoted everything she had on cracking a path involving this girl? At any other point, she would have signed the Kill Order for Contessa's sake, but her gut instincts were telling her to trust Contessa and let the girl be, at least for now.

She snorted in amusement at the thought. It'd been far too long since she had to make a call like this. It was almost refreshing having to rely on her own judgement again. Perhaps, if her call was right, that the girl was better as an ally rather than someone to be stored in the Birdcage, maybe they could just have Contessa scale back her scope and focus entirely on the greater enemy.

Turning her attention back to the meeting, she found them embroiled in a heated debate on whether or not that the girl should remain free. "The girl poses too much of a problem on her own," Director Seneca of Anchorage said, "She's already broken enough laws that we can justify her being Birdcaged."

Rebecca frowned as she kept quiet for now, feeling the room. She wasn't all too surprised that the former District Attorney would be the first to suggest such an action given his grizzly reputation for being a hard man, but his sentiment wasn't universal; some were even vocally against it

"Director Seneca, that is uncalled for!" Director Armstrong shouted, strongly objecting to the harsh call of his fellow Director, "She is just a young girl."

"And a biotinker that poses a threat to us all," Director Seneca quickly countered as he grimaced. Glancing at the man through narrowed eyes, he commented, "I'm surprised you have sympathy for her given one causing problems in your city."

His remarks would cut in deep as the man winced. It was a dirty little secret amongst them that the Biotinker currently squating in Boston had a pre-signed Kill Order just waiting for him to fuck up. It was a miracle that the man hadn't done something insane.

Still, Armstrong was not quick to back down as he even replied, "Blasto is, at worst, a nuisance. So long as you don't antagonize him, he doesn't cause problems." Despite the distaste and mutters of appeasement amongst those gathered, his words rang true. Armstrong had not only kept the powder keg that was Boston from blowing up by understanding his villains, but also kept most of them in check by the presence of the other villains.

Glaring back at the Director of Anchorage, Armstrong jabbed back, "What you're suggesting here is that we burn bridges with a promising young heroine merely because of her powers." This quickly got the wind out of the other man's sail as Seneca frowned. Not letting up, Armstrong asked, "Do you realize what message that would send to rogues like her?"

Their actions, if not handled properly, could easily backfire on them. What use was having more capes if most of them would turn villain at their perceived status as already being one by sheer circumstance outside of their control?

"And are you suggesting we make exceptions just because of her powers?" The man countered. "That girl has already made life, one capable of free will," He added, reminding them all what the girl has already done, "The next thing we know, we'll have to deal with a whole nest of them because we let their Master be!"

"We don't know that," Armstrong argued, "Yes, Mew is sapient, but that also means he is capable of rational thought. Have you not listened to what she had said?"

Grimacing, the man answered, "I do not trust her words." Letting out a heavy sigh, the elderly man muttered, "And I do not want to know what horrors that girl could bring into this world just because she stepped beyond lines that no man should even approach."

"She already admitted that she has no control over her creation," Seneca pointed out before he asked them, "What would it take to push such a creature to malice?"

"Actions such as these, Director Seneca," Armstrong quickly fired back, making the other director bristle.

No side would back down. Having had enough of this argument, Rebecca finally stepped in as she raised her hand. "Quite." Almost immediately, all of them quieted down, their attention focused on her as he looked back at them. She could see the fear in their eyes, even in the stubborn old mule that was Seneca and the idealistic man that was Armstrong.

They needed her guiding hand. "While both sides have made their point, let's not forget the facts here," She started, "She is a young traumatized teenage girl that's way over her head and she's level headed enough to know it."

So focused were they on what the girl could do that they forgot what was in front of them. She was simply a girl who was afraid. She was no more danger to anyone than any other person off the street. "She could be a danger, but so is every other cape," She quickly pointed out.

It was not their powers that defined capes, but their actions, and so far she had been exemplary aside from a few glaring flaws; Ones she could easily pushed aside as signs of her ignorance to the greater cape scene. How a person would react depends not only on themselves, but others as well.

"What she will become depends on what we decide behind these closed doors," She reminded them. As easy as it was to make decisions, they had to remember the gravity of their actions. "Are we really going to burn bridges just because of our fears?"

Hearing their silence, she sighed, "Clearly, emotions have run high." It was all too easy to let emotions dictate actions in situations such as this. Now was the time of logic and rational reasoning.

Seeing that most of them had calmed down, she said, "Now that our grievances have been aired, perhaps it's best that the Director responsible for the City which the girls live in, speak about the matter." For someone whose district was most affected, the woman had stayed quiet and deep in thought. Now that things had quieted down, she looked eager to reply as she looked. Moving aside, she allowed the woman to speak.

"Thank you Director Costa-Brown," The veteran replied. Gazing at those gathered, she started, "As a survivor of the initial days of containment for Nilbog, I know well enough the horrors Biotinkers can unleash." Grimacing, she reached for her sides unconsciously as she continued, "Not a day goes by that my body does not remind me of my failings, as well as those of predecessors."

With their attention on her, she admitted, "Yes, she can be a danger and, yes, I fear what she is capable of." Rebecca frowned, hearing the mutterings, before the woman's gaze hardened as she continued, "But that is because she is unsupervised and lacking guidance."

"She is dangerous because she is untrained," The woman asserted as she gave them questioning looks, "And are we going to turn her away when she needs us most?"

"I believe with the proper guidance, and utmost care, that she would be made a powerful asset for the Protectorate as a whole," The woman declared, challenging those gathered to refute her claim, "I will gladly take her in as one of my own and would take full responsibility if my decision proves to be ill made."

Rebecca smiled before she clapped, pleased at the woman's decision, "Well said Director." She almost felt bad that she was given the ignoble task of leading the city they had thrown to the sharks, but with a useful piece running away, terrified of a certain Tinker, perhaps a few more resources directed towards her would go a long way.

Seeing the doubts still left in their eyes, she told them, "To add to Director's Piggot's points, I believe you all are missing one crucial piece of the picture." Pausing briefly to let them gather their thoughts, she pointed out, "Her creation, no, her partner can be classified as a Minor Shaker, Mover and Thinker, and she is capable of making more of his kind, these Pokemon."

The girl, while young, was not one to lie. She had made such claims, confident that she could back it up. She could make capes, even if they were minor given her lack of resources. "Do you think we should imprison a cape capable of bolstering our numbers in her lab?" She asked.

There were some nods of agreement, but some remained stubborn. Seeing this, she offered them a bone, "With these in mind, how about we have a compromise?" With their interest piqued, she continued, "We take her in, under observation and heavy supervision."

Despite her leanings, it was foolish to let her loose. She needed a steady hand to guide her, and Rebecca was merely offering something she was already going to do so there was no harm. "If she is deemed too much of a danger, then any means shall be taken to take her down," She added.

There was a beat, before Director Seneca asked, "If the time comes, will you sign her Kill Order?"
"Consider it already done," She replied easily. A danger to all was simply not something that was worth keeping. Perhaps salvageable if she were to have them relocated but, for now, she let them have their sign.

"I have no more objections," The man replied as he leaned back. With the last bastion of resistance broken, the rest were quick to follow. There were some discussions, attempts to have her be relocated, and an offer for trade, but Piggot knew what she had.

It wouldn't take long before the papers were signed, officially having her as a member of the Ward of the PRT ENE. Smiling, Rebecca said, "It seems that we will be welcoming a new heroine into the Protectorate's ranks." Giving those that attended a quick thanks, she dismissed them soon after, "This meeting is now adjourned. You may now leave."

One by one the screens turned black until all that was left was her reflection as well as that video playing on her screen. "Just a few month's huh?" She whispered, frowning as she stared at the creature the girl had with her, "To think she could make something so interesting with nothing but a box of scraps and prayers…"

Closing the video and opening the files of the girl as well as those of the entire ENE branch, she whispered, "We're definitely going to keep an eye on this one." Brockton might have once just been a simple experiment, but it had quickly become a focal point of Cauldron's attention. Would this girl bring disaster or salvation, she didn't know. What she did know was that they were in for some interesting times.

A/N:

Interesting times indeed. With the Head Directors eyes on this city, Taylor might just have a shot to be the hero she wants because of how valuable she is. From the canon wiki, I haven't seen any hero of note that is a Biotinker. Yes, there are some, but nothing quite like Taylor. Speaking off, what rating would you give Taylor? Right now, she's showing lots of Tinker. Some might argue that she has some slight Master, but that's most because she is Mew's partner. She specifically shown that she's not in true control, the Pokemons just follow her.

With that out of the way, I'd like to thank vyor. He makes these fics readable!

Now if you want to support me or want to read some fic chapters in advance, consider dropping by either Pat reon or Ko-Fi. I couldn't have done this without the support. Links in my bio