5.1 Carcosa
25th of April, 2011
Despite herself and her ability to shunt her tells right into her swarm when it is convenient, Taylor can't help but fidget a little while waiting for her first ever official weekly briefing to start.
The end of the previous week had been an effect akin to a hurricane in her life. And no, she isn't saying that due to the absolutely ungodly amount of paperwork her father and her had to go through to settle her admission into the Wards. It's just, there had been so much stuff to do and learn as quickly as possible–
Clenching her fists over her knees, she takes a deep breath, before letting it out.
The Director had made it perfectly clear that she wouldn't schedule her official debut until she was absolutely certain that Taylor knew the PRT handbook front to back and went through the applicable mandatory courses. So she took it as a challenge and threw herself headfirst into studying everything asked of her while she didn't have to waste time at school.
She wasn't done yet, but the sooner she was, the sooner she could get back in the streets and be a hero, so she was very motivated.
It was admittedly more than a bit frustrating, but In- Lisa had taken the time to explain to her that crossing all the "T"s and dotting all the "I"s now made it so she wouldn't have to do so later, possibly with a much less understanding Director scowling at her because she already made a mess.
Well, technically, she did make one already back at Winslow when she… took care of the Fallen terrorists. But since everything she did had been in the defense of others, in self-defense, and under martial law's aegis, she made a legal mess. Still didn't stop the Director from politely asking her to dial her lethality a couple of notches down next time, but the utterly placid way she used to tell her that made it pretty clear that she had only been going through the motion for protocol's sake.
At least that's what Lisa told her.
Speaking of the blonde Thinker, Taylor couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that the other girl already had her GED now that her class had been rerouted to Arcadia for the foreseeable future.
Things had been… alright, this morning, mostly on account of very few of her classmates showing up. People were still leery of a potential Fallen reprisal, doubly-so after the National Guard left in the morning, and most of Winslow's students were still pretty frightful after the attack.
Taylor had been scared shitless too, but at least she had been able to do something about it, so she ended up alright-ish once the danger was gone. For everyone else who had to endure the full, undiluted, eight hours long experience? Yeah, she wasn't about to point and laugh.
Motion in the corner of her eyes makes her mentally perk up, and she observes through her bug-sense as Vista – "Call me Missy, my entire school knows anyway." – powerwalks into the room, a neutral expression carved onto her face and her back held straight.
Evidently, she isn't the only one who just saw the youngest Ward's arrival, what with the way the Director nods to herself behind her lectern before audibly clearing her throat, a quiet falling on the briefing room in an instant.
"Everyone is here, so let's begin," the severe woman says, "First thing first, we still have yet to catch the last of the Fallen hiding around the Bay, though not for a lack of trying."
Since she hadn't been paying particular attention to them, Taylor only catches maybe half of the muttered comments and grumbles from the Protectorate heroes, the adults seemingly still quite put out at having gotten blindsided like that by a bunch of Endbringer-worshiping nutjobs.
"We suspect that the villain named Magmaflow–" she explains further after pointing a remote over her back with a practiced gesture, the screen at her back now displaying a powerfully built man with a seemingly permanently affixed scowl, "–has rallied what's left of the Fallen in the city under his banner, and has been hiding somewhere since. Watchdog reports give us over seven out of ten odds that they choose to lay low rather than attempting to escape the National Guard's blockade, and considering where we all live, I'm not taking those odds."
More than a few humorless chuckles follow the proclamation, Taylor herself grimly agreeing with it.
"Make no mistake, we got them cornered," the Director tells, before adding, "But villains are like rats, and they are even more dangerous when they feel that they have nothing left to lose. I'll be seeing a few of you at the end of the briefing to establish a way of smoking them out and putting them behind bars without any new casualties."
She pauses while turning a page of the folder in front of her.
"With the departure of the National Guard, the Truce we had with the Empire 88 is now officially over. I'll be giving them a notice through the official channels at the end of the day, so until then, no provocations. The Nazis may be a mere shadow from what they used to be, but they can still do a lot of damage, so unless you catch them redhanded, do not engage them prior to midnight. Understood?"
A chorus of slightly reluctant agreement promptly follows suit, the severe woman nodding like it was expected.
"The ABB have locked themselves inside their territory. Rumors are that Lung is still busy cleaning house after an attempted coup, so we should be clear on this side for the time being, though it isn't an excuse to grow complacent while patrolling the border, is that clear?" the Director directs a gimlet eye to Assault in particular.
"Crystal, ma'am," the red-clad hero smiles her way unabashedly.
"I'll hold you to that, Assault," the Director maintains eye-contact for a beat, before letting her gaze roam the conference room once again, "You may return to the usual rules of engagement concerning the ABB. Though if they really are still busy dealing with their own problems, I doubt we'll see them causing trouble for the rest of the city so soon."
It had taken Taylor an entire discussion with Lisa to properly understand why the ABB was being a no-show for the past couple weeks, but it made plenty of sense in retrospect once you realized that most asiatic countries had a tortured history with their neighbors, which was more often than not a ready-made pretext for their criminals to start throwing hands against each other.
Lung had united them in the past once, yes, but he recently lost his second in command and a third, very dangerous cape. No wonder he was too busy to pay attention to the rest of the Bay if his territory was on the verge of implosion because Chinese ex-triad and Japanese ex-yakuza couldn't bear being in the same room with each other.
"I almost want to say that the slums are being the slums, but that would be ignoring a growing issue," the Director carries on after flipping another page from her folder, "Rumors about a new gang have started echoing all over the disfranchised of the Bay. Mostly among the drug addicts, according to recent BBPD reports. Supposedly, their main haul should be near Archer's Bridge, so keep an eye open and an ear to the ground when you patrol in the vicinity."
Taylor inwardly wonders if she's hearing about the premise of the 'Brockton Bay games' right now. It would make some twisted form of sense, considering both the ABB and the Empire currently are at their lowest, and that the criminal world abhors a vacuum.
At least according to Lisa, but she did spend an evening reading about the Boston games, and she could see where the Thinker was coming from with this.
"Our guests–" the severe woman's expression turns into a disdainful sneer for a flash, making Taylor pause, "–at the Palanquin keep being model citizens, so they are out of our jurisdiction for the time being. Like usual."
Right, Faultline's Crew. Her Thinker friend – they were friends, right? – had some choice words about the band of mercenaries and their boss in particular, but apparently they were keeping their nose clean while in the Bay, so the PRT had no choice but to let them be. Doubly-so after they somehow managed to recruit one of the most powerful Shaker in the US.
Oddly enough, both the Director and Lisa seem to be of one mind about them, which makes Taylor feel more than a bit curious.
"Last, and certainly not least, the Nightflyer/Ser Callidus case," the Director says, and Taylor finds herself subconsciously leaning forward on her seat, "Neither individuals have been seen since the Fallen attack last Monday. No words from them even. Although that is to be expected by this point considering the level of secrecy those two seem to operate under," the severe woman pauses, wetting her lips, before adding, "We have some strong suspicions that Nightflyer is schooled at Juniper Middle School–" Taylor doesn't miss how Vista's tough act fails her for a moment, "–in her civilian identity but nobody is to act on it for the time being. I don't have to remind you what the girl is capable of, and am merely giving you this intel as a preamble for the warning that is to follow. We have some just-as-strong suspicions that her patron is keeping an eye on her even in her civilian identity, otherwise his intervention just in the nick of time during the attack on Juniper and his very quick warning to us makes little sense. It is also possible that the now revealed War Platform–" a click on the remote, and a rather impressive image of a robotic dog with jetblack fur and red eyes of all things replace Magmaflow's mugshot, "–follows her around as some kind of remote-controlled backup while she's on her 'errands'. In case this wasn't clear, picking a fight with Nightflyer has a high probability of putting yourself at odds with both a combat Thinker geared up to the gills and the four-legged tinker construct that managed to kill four grown men in a matter of seconds after breaching in through a concrete wall like it wasn't even there."
The pause that follows the Director's proclamation is a rather pregnant one, making Taylor feel distinctly uncomfortable all of a sudden, and if Assault's mutered 'Jesus fucking Christ' is anything to go by, she isn't alone sharing the sentiment.
"Watchdog has confirmed that Ser Callidus isn't interested in seizing territory, although there is a high probability that he is building up for some nebulous goal, which explains the duo's still ongoing secrecy," the severe woman picks back up after letting the silence stretch out for a few seconds, "One possible theory is that he's aiming to negotiate from a position of strength further down the line, hence why he'd limit Nightflyer and himself to, dare I say, politically acceptable villainy. Assuming our theory about him being a Free Tinker with a cyclical specialization holds true, it is highly possible that the girl commits more thefts this week, since he should have hit a new cycle sometime during the last few days. Rules of engagement are as follow: if you have to fight her, keep things strictly non-lethal and do not give her any excuses to escalate; unless you catch her redhanded on a crime scene, talk first, we're still awfully in the dark regarding the duo and everything she says to you could potentially help narrow down their goals; and do not, under any circumstances, try to ferret out her civilian identity. Assuming we're right on the money about her being a Juniper student, then we at least have a rough idea of where she is during the day, which also means that she wouldn't be available to run to her patron's defense during this precise timeframe once we finally manage to find his workshop."
Taylor doesn't like it, not at all, but she could see the logic in it. The real threat was Callidus anyway, even if the extremely deadly preteen gave her the chills.
"Armsmaster and I have been exploring multiple options in regard to that particular goal, two in particular showing promise. Although the duo's capture remains a high priority, finishing to rout the Fallen takes precedence. Which means that we will focus our effort on Magmaflow's gaggle of lunatics before attempting anything else. Is that clear?" the Director rhetorically asks, prompting an affirmative chorus out of the assembled capes, "Good. Briefing's over, dismissed. Armsmaster, Insight, Vista, Arachne, stay."
It only takes a short while for the rest of the Protectorate and the Wards to vacate the premise, Taylor feeling self-conscious all the while, wondering if she messed up or something as she stands up and rigidly walks closer to the Director's lectern.
"Alright," she says as soon as the door closes behind Clockblocker, "Firstly, Vista?"
"Yes, ma'am?" the tiny blonde answers, her words a little clipped.
"I saw a very intriguing form on my desk this morning, signed by both of your parents," the Director says, eyes narrowed, "If the fancy took me to call them, would they be aware?"
"They would," the youngest heroine of the Bay answers back, not backing down from the challenge.
The Director stares back at her for a few more seconds, before grunting in what Taylor is almost certain is begrudging acceptance.
"For the record, I do not like this, but I'll put you in as available to answer mobilization for S class incidents, then," the severe woman's eyes seem to narrow down even further, "But only as long as you give me your word that it'll only be for Search and Rescue, and I do not want to see you in the same city as an Endbringer. Is that clear, young lady?"
"...Yes, ma'am," the Shaker untenses after seemingly struggling with herself about something.
"Understand this, Vista; this isn't me not trusting your ability, this is me wanting you to come back alive at the end of the day," the Director sniffs, before addressing the rest of the room, "Moving on. Arachne, Armsmaster and Insight got a potential idea about an application of your power."
"To be more specific," the Tinker interjects, his tone blunt and no-nonsense, "We would like to test if it would be possible to extend your range with Vista's help here."
Taylor says nothing for a moment, giving plenty of time for the other person concerned to intervene.
"But I'm Manton-limited?" the Shaker remarks, her puzzlement clear in her voice.
"You are, and it's possible that Arachne's insects would give you trouble in sufficient quantity," the Thinker answers, a grin firmly affixed on her face, "But insects are everywhere, and I heavily doubt a couple mosquitos, a cockroaches and a dozen ants regularly stumps you, no?"
"...I never really paid attention to that," Vista answers, her head cocked to the side, "But I suppose it'd make sense."
"It doesn't really matter anyway, since what we want to try is to see if we could use your power to extend Arachne's range to cover more ground," the older blonde answers, her grin widening.
"You want to see if I can extend my bug-sense over the entire city," it suddenly dawns on Taylor as she finishes putting two and two together.
"Right on the money," her friend winks at her, "So, what do you say girls? Do you want to see if we can go all Big Brother on the Bay and find the Fallen before the end of the afternoon?"
Taylor and Missy lock eyes through their respective masks, and no words are needed afterward.
[AN: :3
Hope you enjoy, xoxo!] it