Bab 116: 150
Amelia, Ch 145- Zach
The thing about not being able to sleep is that it results in a lot of free time. A whole fucking lot of free time. I could probably do something productive, like studying, or planning combat strategies, or learning a new language. Maybe I could become a painter or write the next great American novel. Although considering the sum total of my art skills amounted to 'stick figure pornography', and my writing skills were even worse, it was probably for the best that I didn't. Instead, I was just bored out of my mind.
I paced along the halls of the magic treehouse. Everyone who didn't live here had gone home. The rest of us that did were all asleep. Unless Emma was in the labs, which would only add another reason for me to not go down there alone. Or with anyone else, if I could help it.
I was sick of the internet, impossibly enough. New Delhi was the only thing anyone ever wanted to talk about. Even the friends I had that didn't know I was a cape were still obsessed over it. I, on the other hand, wanted to talk about anything and everything else. Being flash boiled several times a second is not something anyone wants to think about. I didn't want to think about it when it was happening, either. The whole time I tried to imagine how cool my second trigger might turn out. Maybe I'd be able to bring back people who had died a while ago, instead of just the little bit of 'memory space' I currently had.
There are weirder powers out there by far, right?
Even thinking about Emma was better. If anything, the scifi geek in me thought her new transformed states made her even more hot, and she was a 'ten' before. But, no. Taylor may have 'forgiven' her, for whatever political reason she had, but that didn't apply to me. She tormented another human being for her own sick pleasure. There weren't many things out there that I couldn't accept. Fuck, I spend more time hanging out with fucking Bonesaw than I did with my own sister, back before. And... what Emma did... there was no forgiveness.
I went down to the workout room. I had a custom set of training weights. If we were being honest, it was more like a modern version of being drawn and quartered. I gripped the vines and pulled. They pulled back, and I kept pulling. They wouldn't let go. I disintegrated, if I had to guess, it was a tendon pulling. Another go, this time with the new starting resistance being what tripped my regeneration last time.
I focused on holding my body together as long as possible under the strain, and failed after about three seconds. If this were my 'official' workout, it would be timed, but right now I just needed to take my mind off everything.
Another respawn. I gritted my teeth and grabbed the vines yet again. The strange combination of burning and numbness from my renewals was as familiar as always, and with it the memories. I probably imagined the screams I heard in that scouring light. Some trick of the air being so hot that it caught fire. I don't know. I didn't imagine the aftermath. The numbers of capes tough enough to survive the explosion, who still died. Sinking into molten tar that used to be roads. Struggling to find somewhere safe. Dying slowly of suffocation in the unbreathable smoke.
I tore my thoughts away from that line yet again.
More pleasant memories. I insisted to myself. Like Crystal agreeing to that date. That was worth a happy thought. She was a real beauty, after all. Smart, too. And smart enough to catch me in my bullshit. Bullshit I even convinced myself was real, sometimes. A man could do an awful lot worse for himself than that. Of course, I have to wait five years for it, I added unhappily. Shoulda tried for three. Eighteen and twenty two is cool, right?
I got out of my makeshift torture-workout device and wandered the halls yet again. Huh, since when did we have this tunnel? I followed it, and quickly realized this was the furthest away from the 'main building' that any of our underground rooms had gone. That I knew about, at least.
"Oh wow," I said when I saw the room. I meant it, too. The central area of the room contained a massive swimming pool. The pool itself was bottom lit by a soft blue glow, while the area around was bathed in a green light. It was warmer than most of the rest of the base, a warmth coming from the water in the center. The smell was slightly sweet, almost like honeysuckle. "The dead could get laid if they brought their date here."
"Okay, I don't even want to know where you got that analogy," a voice spoke from below the waves. I walked to the edge and looked down. No wonder I hadn't seen her. It was Amelia, in her armor. I could barely tell her apart from the floor even now that I was looking.
"Sorry," I said. "Didn't know anyone was here. I was just saying this place is gorgeous. Very romantic."
"Thanks," Amelia sighed. She sounded miserable.
"So, what's going on?" I asked. "Did I just interrupt something? Like, say, a warm up before Taylor gets here?"
"What?" She asked, sounding confused. I waited for her to get the joke. "No!"
At least she doesn't sound as miserable, I thought. Shock isn't quite laughter, but it's better than self pity.
"Okay," I agreed. Ice broke, NOW ask the heavy questions. "So what's the story?"
"Nothing," she answered. Doesn't sound like nothing to me.
"Practicing holding your breath?" I guessed. "I'm sure Taylor will appreciate it."
She started sobbing. Oh fuck, that's not suppose to happen. "No," she answered. "I doubt Taylor's ever going to 'appreciate' anything from me from now on."
"Want to come up here to talk about it?" I asked.
"No," she answered.
"Guess I'm coming down there then," I dropped into the water before she had a chance to refuse like I knew she would. I sank the thirty feet or so to the bottom and sat next to her. She looked at me.
"Wow, this pool is really deep," I told her. I doubted she could understand words, just 'blub blub' or something. Then I started to take a breath, which tripped my restoration as expected. A burning sensation radiated from my lungs and I appeared at the top of the pool, clothes dry.
What the fuck, power? You can teleport to get out of water, but you can't teleport to get away from two thousand degree infernos?
"Okay, I tried it your way. You'll have to come up here."
"Fine," she relented, standing and allowing buoyancy to take her to the top. "Taylor and I broke up." How the fuck? "Happy now?"
No, I thought. "So, you're saying she's single..." I answered.
"Zach, I swear that if you such much as finish that thought, I will find a way to make you stay dead," she growled.
There was no thought to finish. "Don't worry," I answered. "You're the one into the bony girls. Plus she seems like the type that'd be into weird date gifts like giant bug monsters and chocolate covered grasshoppers. Which, granted, would be a nice change of pace from the version she currently gives me. Is that what happened?"
"Yeah," she laughed bitterly. "You could say that."
Talk about a freakin' shot in the dark. "What happened?"
"She decided she didn't find me attractive," Amelia confessed.
"Then she is a lousy judge of female flesh," I offered the roundabout compliment.
"She probably should be, since she's straight," Amelia defended her girlfriend. "Or was straight. Apparently she decided that was a 'problem' and 'fixed' it. Fucking brain surgery. Most romantic gift in the fucking world."
I paused, trying to find a way to say 'you're a moron' to my boss, and one of the few people whose power I was honestly afraid of. I settled on one word. The only word in the world that could truly convey my reaction. "Huh."
"Such words of wisdom could only come from you," Amelia muttered.
"Doesn't your dad have depression issues?" I asked.
She hesitated. "Not comfortable discussing my family with you," she replied.
"Fair," I granted. "Well, a lot of people have that problem. Some of them take medications for it. So they can spend time with their children, or their spouse, or simply function to go to work. This doesn't sound any different than that to me. Except, y'know, cheaper, safer, and better in every possible way."
"I didn't want her to change herself for me!" Amelia shouted. "She at least should have asked me about this."
"You're not suppose to want her to change herself," I answered. "But she's going to. That's what relationships are. You changing yourself for others. Not because they want you to, but because you want to for them. Like last week when I kept Theo up late and Missy wanted to hang out in the morning. He did what she wanted, didn't even tell her he was tired. He did it because he wanted to, and that makes him a good guy. If Missy had known, she'd probably have told him to get his sleep. If he wanted to sleep and she insisted he get up, that would have made her a bitch."
"There's a big difference between that, and what Taylor did."
"Okay," I granted. "Then let's look at the other extreme. Riley. You know, your little sister. You can't tell me the gap between 'gay' and 'straight' is somehow less huge than the gap between 'Bonesaw' and 'everyone that doesn't belong in a cage or a casket'. She's working so hard to change herself, and she's doing it to make you happy. And Missy, but still mostly you. Yes, it's a good thing she is changing. The entire sane world would back me on this. But it's still her changing for you. Hell, you threatened me with death for making a bad joke, like, a minute ago. That'd be me changing for you. If, y'know, it worked."
"That's not the same thing at all!" Amelia insisted. "It's just asking people to behave differently, not actually be a different person."
"Why?" I asked. "Sex isn't this big amazing magical thing that defines who we are. Koalas have figured it out, and they're going extinct because they're literally too stupid to live. I'm straight as an arrow and I'd give that tech a spin just to see what it's like, if my power would let it work. Hell, I'm kinda curious if they can implant nonhuman memories. I'd honestly love to know what it's like to be a cat. As long as they edit out the parts where it licks its own crotch. I'm pretty sure I would be happier to never learn what cat crotch tastes like."
"Your analogies are disgusting."
"But true," I insisted. "Do you have a problem with gays?"
"No, of course not."
"Do you have a problem with Taylor?"
"No."
"You love each other, right?"
"Yes," she affirmed.
"Then I say run with it," I added. "Existential crises are for old people. What you should do is find your girlfriend, drag her to this love nest you've built here, and don't let her leave until the next Endbringer battle. But not before I set up the hidden cameras."
"God damn it, Zach."
Amelia, Ch 146- Taylor
I didn't bother going home. I wasn't in any mood to talk to my dad. I was in even less of a mood to come home to an empty house and make assumptions on where my dad was spending the night. Instead, I went to the labs. Not the secret labs, since I didn't want to interrupt Riley or Emma's work, just the normal ones. Primarily where Chariot worked, these days. His skills and abilities didn't lend themselves to the high priority task of breaking the Taboo, so he was relegated to designing improvements on our bioarmor.
"How's it going, boss?" he asked as I came down into the lab.
"Picking up habits from Rey, now?"
Chariot shrugged. "Not my fault you guys don't hang out with the nerd herd enough for us to pick up your habits. Speaking of: been talking to Kid Win, he gave me a few ideas he picked up studying Vista's power. Already upgraded Matriarch, since it's the easiest to work with. I got the specs for Azrael. By the way, Kid says thanks for his suit."
I tried to smile, a system's test might keep my mind off of Amelia. "So what's it do?"
"Short range teleporter," he answered back. He didn't notice my mood. Then again, he probably wouldn't. I was calm, or at least my body was. It had been a long time since I could truly offload into my power, force my emotions down so that I could focus on the important things. Maybe Lisa was right about the link being detrimental, I mused. I can do a lot more with my time this way.
"Very nice," I praised. It was, too.
"It's a hybrid of the shunt tech, the subspace pocket tech Kid Win uses, and some of Vista's power readings," Chariot started explaining. I knew if it kept down this road, I'd be lost in the sea of technobabble. Fortunately, Chariot was one of the few tinkers that seemed to understand that people don't want to hear that stuff. "Long story short, it teleports you up to a hundred feet. Any direction. At will. Has a charge time between teleports, however. If you need it, you can also use it to shunt between Bet and our dimension pretty cheaply."
"That... I can see how useful that would be," I agreed. I could, too. "So, what do we have to sacrifice from the armor to make it work?"
"From yours? Nothing," Chariot answered. "Your armor is about two pounds heavier, and that's the end of it. Same with the Dryad, Radiant, and Clarice. Can't put it in Singularity due to how it's designed, not that Missy needs it. Azrael and Tapestry are going to suck. I'll need Emma and Riley to help me with those."
I nodded. "Okay, work on the ones you can work on," I agreed. "I'll talk to the others. Mind if I give mine a test run?"
"Sure," he agreed. "I need some user testing of the control interface, otherwise it's in full working order. It has an anti-obstacle system in it... if you find yourself in our pocket dimension, that means it would have teleported you inside of something else in this dimension. Just move around a little and try to shunt back over after the device recharges."
"I'll be sure to relay my results," I answered as I started putting on the armor. Or letting it swallow me with its back, as the case may be. A couple minutes later, I decided he was right, this control interface needed a lot of work. It was meant to respond to the eyes looking at specific parts. Which was great, if you didn't need to look at other stuff at the same time. It took me six minute just to figure out how to get the destination locked in, and I had to do it by deliberately defocussing my eyes.
Then I was outside, well above the Yggdrasil. For a second I was falling, before the antigravity caught me. There was a bit of a moment where I almost succumbed to vertigo, but I solved that easily enough by paying more attention to the insects, and less to Taylor. The conspicuous absence of Amelia made that process both easier and more difficult. Still, it helped some. I am not alone, I thought. As long as there are people in this city, I can never be alone. Yeah, that didn't work to convince me of anything.
I bolted to the north end, almost wishing we hadn't wiped out E88. I wanted someone to punch right now. I wanted it badly. I spent four hours finding nothing. I spent my time reporting details and suggestions for interface improvements. First to Chariot, then after he decided to call it a night, his recording device. Eventually I gave up and headed home. Any other day, I would have considered four hours with no crime more serious than speeding violations, some kids smoking a few joints in the park, and a single mugging a source of pride. Today it just made me that more frustrated. I stopped the mugger with my bugs, he was too far away to get there in person in time.
Besides, there was a limit to the number of bones one could break in a purse snatcher before it was bad PR.
Sleep did not come easily that night. Dad had long ago stopped bothering to wait up for me. For that matter, he didn't even bother locking the door these days. Break-ins were practically a thing of the past. Break-ins at my home were regarded as a particularly creative form of masochism. And it had happened. One dumb kid trying to impress his friends by stealing an article of my clothes, most likely my underwear. One dumb adult looking to impress his friends by shooting me in my sleep. And two very dumb reporters, also most likely intent upon stealing my underwear.
I could use an assassination attempt right about now. I would settle for punchable reporters. Instead, I got a quiet night in a warm bed. I couldn't help but think about Amelia the whole night.
....
I didn't want to come into work the next day, I really truly didn't. I didn't want to look at Amelia. I didn't want to be reminded of what I had lost. If she didn't want to, well, be with me... that would be fine, I could live with that. But I missed her presence. Her thoughts and feelings. Having a connection with someone I could trust and knew that I could trust no matter what. And that had been taken from me. It took everything I had to remind myself that no, this was not a repeat of Emma.
Still, I showed up anyway, teleporting straight down into the labs. An act which would have set off any number of automated defenses if this armor wasn't made from Yggdrasil. Riley was here, this time.
"Oh good," she said with her usual smile. "How's the armor?"
"A little sluggish compared to usual," I informed her. "Probably needs a checkup. Either the teleporter is drawing too much power off the flight system, or that extra two pounds is really that important to the speed.
"Okay, I'll check out the specs," Riley agreed. Then she stopped smiling. "Now why is my sister sad?"
"Grown up stuff," I sighed.
"Fix it," she commanded. "Right now."
"There's nothing I can do," I replied. "This is something she has to fix for herself."
"Okay," she said, not quite sounding convinced even though I know her built in lie detection would back me up. "Lisa needs to talk to you about a couple things."
"Tell her I'm going to be busy working on the zerg instincts, today. If it's not work related, it can wait."
"It's work related," Riley answered. "Dinah says someone's going to try to assassinate Director Calvert, later. And we have our working plan on how to take down Butcher permanently."
"Really?" I smiled. The Butcher is one of the only honest threats left in New England, I knew from more than one team planning meeting. With her gone, we could afford to spend more than a day in other cities.
"Yeah, really," Riley answered. "Gotta take care of Calvert's assassins, first."
"Don't worry," I smiled. "This, I can do something about."
I made my final phone call for the night: Dinah Alcott. Every day, the same thing. Ever since learning that Scion was not only the source of our extinction event, but would exterminate life in *every* world, not merely our own, we'd been dedicating most of our resources solely to that concern. It made it more of a pain in the ass since Dinah couldn't see Scion, only his aftermath. Same with Eidolon, the Endbringers, and apparently the effects of the Taylor-Amelia bond. This limited her effectiveness. Right now, we had sort of taken a more general approach: we were recruiting and upgrading our forces into an army, cross referencing possible power interactions, and simply increasing our power and influence.
"Hello, Minerva," the young girl's voice said in an utterly businesslike tone. Used name immediately, wants to project illusion of omniscience. Considers her power far too precious for such wasteful display. Relying on other power. Not second trigger. New parahuman. Wouldn't allow herself to be seen as childish enough for such a thing, especially to another thinker. Using equipment. Tinker tech.
I smiled. She likely spent several thousand dollars on what amounted to a really fancy Caller ID. I considered teasing her for it, but opted to do the opposite. "Getting stronger with your powers, I see," I said, then I channeled my old way of thinking. "Seems like a waste of energy."
"Pots and kettles," she retorted. I smiled. She was right, emphasis on the 'was'.
"So, the usual starter questions," I said. I liked this question. It was free, because of just who it protected.
"Point zero nine there is a credible attempt on the life of a member of Pantheon or its priority allies in the next twenty four hours, fifty nine percent chance of a credible attempt on the life of a member of Pantheon or its priority allies in the next week."
"Fuck," I muttered. "Don't waste any energy on that question for a moment, okay? I'm going to think up the most optimal way of narrowing down the possibilities first."
"Understood," Dinah replied. Afraid. Knows she's a possible target of assassination. I popped up my computer and ran down the list. Right now our 'priority allies' included the Triumvirate, Dinah, Calvert, Accord, Epoch from the Adepts, Dragon, and Costa-Brown if she wasn't already covered. She was listed separately just in case someone manage to hack our theoretically unhackable systems.
I immediately ruled out the Triumvirate. The phrase 'credible' ruled out almost any attempt against them. Plus they had assured me they had a top tier precog of their own, who was just as blind to Scion and Endbringers as Dinah. I didn't ask about Eidolon and didn't mention Taylia. I trusted Cauldron only as far as 'enemy of our enemy', no further. To allow them to learn about Taylia would be a monumental disaster.
"Will there will be one attempt, or multiples?" I asked. That would be a way to narrow down the rest of the questions.
"Umm..." she hesitated. "Just one."
That was helpful. "Male or female?" was my follow up.
"Male," Dinah spoke with a brief hint of relief. She ruled herself out. We were down to a pretty narrow pool, most of whom were our own team. Zach's power ruled him out permanently. We knew because we had tested that, already. Apparently Zach's respawning didn't register as 'death' to Dinah's predictions. Whether because the Passenger didn't consider it death, or because Dinah's powers were tied to her own psychology in interpreting what the question was, and she didn't view it as 'dying', I couldn't yet know. "You have three questions left."
She's capable of doing up to nine a day without stress, up from seven at the beginning of her release from Coil's captivity. That's interesting. Did Coil overtax her power and thus weaken it, or is she just naturally stronger now? "Alright... is the victim a member of Pantheon?"
"No," she answered.
So we were down to Coil, Accord and Epoch. "Does the victim live in Brockton Bay?" I asked.
"Yes," Dinah responded.
"Alright, that narrows it down enough," I answered. It narrows it to exactly one, but Dinah doesn't need to know that. "We'll be sure to have our people ready for any would-be assassin."
"I'm billing you for the last two questions," she responded.
"Fair enough. Got one one more for you if you don't need it elsewhere," I sighed. What was twenty grand, anyway? She didn't contest the idea, so I went ahead. "What are the odds we can successfully engage and defeat the Butcher without losing any of our members using our latest battle plan?"
"Ninety six point three seven seven," she responded.
"That is enormously better than before," I blinked. "What happened?"
"I just give the numbers," she dismissed. "The rest is on you."
I smiled. "Thanks," I replied. "So... I was thinking... you know how we've got you under guard?"
"It's appreciated, yes," Dinah responded, sounding a bit suspicious. "What of it?"
"And you know how we've created that Pegasus for Aceso?"
"And more for a bunch of the rest of your team," she agreed.
"Want one of your own?" I offered. "No strings attached beyond the stuff we've already agreed to. It'll have the added benefit of a very visible deterrent to would-be attackers, in addition to your better hidden defenders."
"Ponies are stupid," Dinah dismissed. "Can you build me a Gryphon?"
....
Taylor was conspicuously absent when we had our morning strategy meeting. It was myself, Riley, Amelia, Crystal, and for the first time ever: Emma, who was looking for someone else at the meeting. Obviously, Taylor. Didn't even need my power for that. Maybe Zach, though that wouldn't be likely.
Amelia even managed to show up on time for a change. Tired, didn't sleep at all last night, upset, Taylor missing, fight between them. I didn't need my powers to tell me any of that. Taylia bond broken. Amelia broke it. Taylor did something that upset Amelia. Emma at meeting, looking for Taylor, not afraid of usual reaction. Reconciliation? I blinked. My power had been certain that couldn't happen. Taylia bond responsible. I hated Taylia, sometimes, but I needed to get back to figuring out what broke them up. I was on Emma, right now. Emma helping Taylor? Helped Taylor. Taylor used brain modification tech on herself. Made herself gay.
I almost facepalmed at the revelation. God damn it, Taylor. I knew my best friend had a fucking martyr complex, but seriously? Also: God damn it, Amelia! It took this to break the link? She couldn't have done it when they were both in what passed for a stable emotional state with them? She had to wait until Taylor was at her most emotionally vulnerable to figure out... fuck, of course. If they were both happy, then it meant their bond was a good thing. Ugh.
Emma looked more and more apprehensive as we got closer to 'start the meeting' time. Crystal, however, was the one that spoke up. "Umm, where's Taylor?"
"She must have slept in, she was out testing the new suit improvements," Riley offered, then she looked at Amelia. Is aware of Amelia's distress. Concerned. Indirectly fishing for information. Suspects Taylor is responsible. "We'd know if she was in danger."
Amelia simply looked at her arm, where the slightly lighter patch of her already pale skin denoted the lack of their empathic device. Oh fuck, she's going to cry, can't let that happen in front of Riley!
"We'll just let her sleep in, then," I said. "I'll talk to her later about the meeting. Right now: we have some good news and some great news."
Of course, the first thing I did was go over the news from Dinah. More or less on autopilot. Meanwhile I was watching Emma and Amelia. If Riley figured out exactly what happened, we'd be facing the worst sort of damage control. I'd need to distract her. I'd need to distract her, then I'd need to get Missy to distract her. Then I'd need to talk to Emma. Then I'd need to punch Emma. Then I'd need to talk to Amelia. Then I'd need a way to call Amelia a stupid twat without upsetting Riley. Ugh.
Crystal was glancing between me and Amelia, thinking at least some of the same thoughts. Good, she's my ally in this, I realized. It's really, really nice to have someone who's willing to help me, no questions asked.
"Y'know," Crystal muttered after I finished explaining the news. "This is possibly the only organization on the planet that considers an assassination attempt on one of our most helpful allies, followed by a straight up war with one of the most dangerous people on this continent, to be the 'good' and 'great' news."
"Better than not knowing about it until it's too late," I pointed out. "Either way, Calvert's been alerted and we are pretty much prepared for any possible attempt. Unless the Endbringers are coming out with a new and weirdly specific combat strategy."
"So, what's the deal with the Butcher?" Crystal asked. "We've never had better than a thirty percent chance to take her down before."
"New weapons, near as I can tell," I responded. "Our current strategy puts a lot of the fight on your shoulders. Radiant's update has all kinds of new tricks. You could probably solo the Teeth, if not for Butcher. But the tinkers can tell you more than I can."
Emma moved to speak up, but I interrupted her. "Riley, why don't you show Crystal her equipment? Especially the nonlethal weapons."
Emma looked like a puppy that had her favorite toy taken from her, and Riley kept glancing between me and Amelia, who had said nothing the whole meeting, but I remained firm on this one. Technically, due to the social dynamics here, Crystal still outranked me. Not that she ever felt the need to assert that status. Also, she was on my side here, even if she didn't know all the details, she knew I had a plan.
"C'mon, mushroom, I can't wait to see my new toys," Crystal smiled, putting her hand on Riley's shoulder.
One last quick look and she turned to follow Crystal to the labs. Thank you Crystal you are literally a life saver.
"Alright," I sighed once I was alone with the two girls who had left their footprints all over my best friend's psyche like craters on the moon. I ignored my jealousy. Knowing I never had, and likely never would have, such a deeply personal bond with any human being hurt. But, unlike before, I admitted to myself that it was there. Pretending otherwise was no longer an option for me. Fuck you, Rapture. Fuck you and every figure you've ever said a prayer to. "So, both of you idiots are to blame for this. Emma... why the living hell would you agree to do this? I mean, I get that you're quite literally suicidally stupid, but there has got to be a limit."
"What? She just wanted a minor tweak to go along with her other upgrades," Emma defended. "It's not a big deal. Would you prefer I told her to try closing her eyes and thinking about Johnny Depp, like Sophia always suggested during our slumber parties?"
Isn't telling the truth. Attempting to use off colored humor to ease tense situation. Not very good at it. Is not used to trying to comfort people. Using a method she learned from Zach. Still strongly... I cut off my feed. It was heading into territory that I had already figured out, and frankly didn't give a fuck about. I needed to worry about Taylor's self destructive behavior, not the bitch that made her that way in the first place.
"I've already figured that out," Amelia sighed. "I over reacted. "I'll be begging her forgiveness, just as soon as I see her again. We will see her again, right? She wouldn't do anything drastic?" She practically pleaded with me to confirm her hopes, and a little piece of my heart actually felt for the girl.
"Yes," I confirmed. "Taylor's not the sort that runs from her responsibilities."
Anything and everything else, yes, but not her responsibilities.
"She's back!" I exclaimed the moment Taylor's armor touched down inside the lab. I rushed off to talk to her. I needed to see her with my own eyes. To know she's okay, to remind myself of how beautiful she was. To talk to her and apologize and hold her again.
Lisa rushed after me. "No!" she insisted. "I'll talk to her first. You'll just make it worse."
Emma trailed behind us, deciding quite wisely to keep her trap shut. I still couldn't believe she let Taylor talk her into that in the first place. Fucking bitch, if she wasn't so dumb about things I'd suspect she did it on purpose just to drive a wedge into our relationship. No, this was just the same shit she always did- find the nearest person who seemed like they knew what they were doing and latching onto them for guidance.
I opened the lab passage right before we got there. Riley was poking at Taylor's discarded armor, while Taylor was halfway up the stairs. "Oh!" she exclaimed, glancing at me, before looking back toward Lisa. Ouch. "So, Riley said something about assassination attempts and a way to beat the Butcher?"
"Uh, yeah," Lisa replied. "Someone's going after Calvert. He's been informed, of course, and we have a general idea of the anti-assassin plan. We'll know more tonight, after we compare notes and discover what kind of fight we'll be up against."
"And the Butcher?" Taylor asked.
"New weapons," Lisa replied. "Zach and Crystal are the primary fighters, with their upgraded suits. The teleportation tech seems to be the tipping point. It all hinges on Zach getting into touch range. After that, we've already won. You'll be playing tactical command, of course."
"Won't Butcher sense him before he attacks?" she asked, showing the calm passionless curiosity that I'd started to forget she possessed.
"Probably doesn't trip her combat senses to be targeted for a slap by a baseline human without a harmful power," Lisa volunteered. "We never had a way to get him into touch range before, and now we do."
"Makes sense," Taylor agreed. "Is that all?"
"We should probably talk about you and Amelia breaking up," Lisa started. "Pretty important in the whole 'team dynamics' thing."
"I'm still here, aren't I?" Taylor said darkly. "My body will adjust to the new circumstances, just like it did before, and my sleep patterns will reassert themselves. Isn't stuff like that normal for a recovering addict?"
She growled the final words.
Emma looked dumbfounded, and I had to blink hard to stop from crying. Lisa, at least, kept a cool head. "Close enough," she conceded. "Surely you can see the difference between how you are now, and what you were like this time yesterday, even. Or what you were like six months ago."
"Know what, Lisa? Fuck you," Taylor barked a short laugh. "You're right, I can see the difference. I was the happiest I'd been since my mother died. I finally had some level of peace with myself. I actually believed it was possible for someone to love me. But that wasn't good enough for you, was it? You wanted me to be miserable, mopey, easily manipulated by even the faintest glimmer of pretend kindness, Taylor. Fine, you got her. Most of her, at least. We are not friends anymore, Lisa. Not now, not ever again. We are business associates, I am your boss, and you are too good at your job for me to let petty personal issues get in the way of that."
I swallowed hard, trying to control my emotions, watching the girl I loved in this kind of pain... I didn't have anything to compare it to. Not that I could say I saw her in pain. The entire time she tore Lisa down, she said it with a level of almost bored calm that I might expect of someone reading from a dictionary. She's better at controlling her feelings now than ever before, I realized. "Taylor, please, can we talk?"
She looked at me for a long moment, her face completely impassive. "Okay," she replied. "Talk."
I struggled to find the words. I had to default to emotions. "I'm sorry," I started. "I didn't mean to hurt you like this. I love you."
For a brief moment, I thought I saw an emotion on her face. "I know," she relented. "I love you too."
"I over reacted when I found out..." I sighed. "I should have at least waited, talked instead of acting on impulse."
"I should have, too," she agreed. "Sorry about that, I knew you'd want to talk me out of it. I thought, if I did it myself, then you couldn't blame yourself for it. I didn't want that. This was something I wanted for myself, I wanted to give you what you gave me. You'd just have to accept that I made my own choice because I wanted to. That's one of the things I tend to do a lot, and you shouldn't blame yourself for my actions."
I choked up. "I know," I sobbed. "I guess I was channeling a bit of you when I shut down our bond. Doing what I thought was best for the girl I love, instead of taking the time to at least discuss it with her first."
She forced a smile. "I guess," she replied. "So, do you think it was for the best?"
"What?" I asked.
"Ending the bond," she clarified. "Do you think this, now, is better than before? If you had it to do over again, would you?"
"N-no," I admitted. "I regret it."
"I don't," she stated. "The outcome, I'd change in a heartbeat. But what I did? Allowing myself the chance to love you, physically, as well as emotionally? I don't regret that for a minute, and would do it again even if this was the only possible outcome."
I smiled, and moved to hug her. She stepped back.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Don't. I know enough about your power. I don't... I can't let you touch me. I can't let you see inside me like that."
I did start crying, then. In front of Lisa and Emma, both of whom had decided to exercise discretion about their presence here. "I can restore the link," I offered. "Let you see inside me, too? Like before."
Lisa went to say something, but Taylor raised her hand up, then spoke. "Don't worry, Lisa," she said. "It's not going to happen."
"Wh-why?" I managed to gasp.
"Because I can't trust you like that again," she answered, looking away. "I did that, once. I ignored how easily you could turn it against me. How everything you were giving me, you could take away again. I believed you wouldn't. I thought that you loved me too much to do something like that. Yet here we are. I love you, that hasn't changed, but I can't trust you. I can't give you that power over me."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. I simply crumpled to my knees and wept. First Victoria, and now Taylor. The only two people in my life I could remember loving, in any sense of the word, and ultimately they both ended terrified to let me touch them. I gazed up at Taylor, begging her with my eyes. She closed her own, and turned away.
"I'm sorry, Amelia," she said, at the ground. "I can't help how I feel."
I didn't answer. I couldn't find the words for it. I was still trying to figure out if this was somehow better or worse than what happened with Victoria. I thought I'd moved beyond this. I'd hoped to fix my mistakes, not repeat them. I don't know what she thought about my silence. I no longer knew what she thought about anything.
"We've used up enough time on this," she finally spoke again. "Emma, Riley's been listening in. Not sure for how long, but please find a way to keep her from doing whatever incomprehensibly horrible things she might be planning to do to me right now. At least until Amelia's recovered enough to talk her out of it. You can do that, right?"
"Y... yeah," Emma agreed.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be working with Rey on the zerglings. Someone let Theo know that after lunch, I want to see him for training. And Lisa," Taylor added as she walked away. "Why don't you go ruin the life of someone who deserves it for a change?"
My cell rang, and I answered immediately. The ringtone I had set for Missy. Even though this was the 'work' cell, and therefor it was officially 'Lachesis' making the call. "Horus speaking," I said the moment the line connected. Zach was kind enough to pause our game.
"Umm... what's going on with Amelia?" Missy started. "Clarice called me and sounded really scared and upset and doesn't know what to do to help."
"I don't know," I answered. "I didn't know there was anything going on. I'll go calm her down and find out what happened."
"Thank you," Missy said. "You're the best."
I blushed. "No I'm not."
"Yes you are," she insisted. "In fact, Clarice has charts and graphs that prove it. I'm not even making that up. There's, like, eighty of them and they cover pretty much everything. I'm not sure whether it's creepy or adorable."
"That... that certainly sounds like something she'd do," I admitted. It really did. "Okay, I'm going to find her, now."
"Okay, good luck, and keep me updated."
"I will," I promised, then turned off the phone. Neither of us were much for long goodbyes, even under normal circumstances, and especially not over our work phones. Chances were pretty good her mom took away her private cell, for whatever reason. You'd think that maybe, just maybe, 'my daughter is an Endslayer' would be enough for them to trust her to make her own decisions.
Maybe I should do what Minerva suggested and let it slip that I am, functionally, on the low end of the billionaire scale. However, the idea of doing so just did not feel right to me. Reminded me too much of my father, plus it was pathetic and tacky and even if Missy didn't think too highly of her parents, I really didn't want her to know they were... those kinds of people.
"What's up?" Zach asked as I got off the couch.
"Just running a checkup on Riley," I answered. "Seems Missy's a bit concerned."
"You're just trying to get out of the game so you don't have to be humiliated by losing," he taunted.
"Dude," I chuckled. "I was winning."
"By what standard?"
"The game's," I retorted as I headed for the labs. The only place Riley would be if she wasn't in her room. Emma had, apparently, left for the night. Riley was just staring at a blank screen.
"Hey, mushroom," I said as I walked in. One of these days, someone would need to explain to me where she got that nickname.
Riley looked at me. "Amelia's sad and I don't know what to do," she told me. I could see she'd been crying. "Missy didn't know, either."
"Just tell me what happened," I shaped a seat out of metal to sit on. It was actually far more comfortable than it sounds, more like sitting on some kind of magic water balloon than anything. Weird ass powers.
"I was playing with my Big Sis, then Taylor came in and wanted to be alone, I could tell she wanted to do... adult... things, so of course I left," Riley started explaining. I blinked. Wasn't Taylor straight? Oh well, not my business. "And then a few minutes later Taylor ran out looking angry and upset and Amelia was crying and neither of them told me what happened..." Riley sobbed.
Fuck. I put my arm around Riley and gave her a hug. "Don't worry," I told her. "This is a perfectly normal thing. It sucks, but it's normal and it's nobody's fault."
"But... whenever my old family fought, someone died," she cried into my shoulder. "I don't want anyone to die."
I frowned. Not too different than my own supposed family, actually. "The Slaughterhouse Nine probably isn't where you should take examples from. It's just a minor argument. They'll be upset for a little while, then it'll be forgotten and they'll be back to their usual selves. All couples do it."
"Will... will you ever fight with Missy like that?" she asked, clutching me tighter.
I shrugged. "Don't know," I said. "Maybe. And when we do, it'll probably be over stupid things that seem really important at the time but really aren't."
"Like what?" she asked.
"I don't know," I answered. "I didn't have a normal home life, either. Most couples fight over things like not liking their in-laws, or spending too much time at work instead of together. My parents weren't exactly 'most couples'. They fought over things like whether or not all people with different skin colors are inferior, or just most of them." I was actually surprised by the bitterness in my voice at that. I probably shouldn't have been, but I was.
"Yeah," Riley agreed. "That really is stupid."
"Right," I confirmed, then rustled her hair. "So don't worry, I'm sure the two of them will fix things up. Just give them a few days to think things through and remind themselves that their love is what's really important."
....
I walked into our trianing room, Taylor was in her basic armor, this time. She almost never wore that outfit, anymore. "Good afternoon, ma'am," I said.
She nodded. "I was thinking nonpowered combat, this time," she said. She sounded, somehow, both tired and angry. "Just the biosuits with all the augments off, for protective purposes. No sense in getting hurt unnecessarily."
"Okay," I agreed. To be fair, nonpowered training was something most of us had gotten lazy about. The augmentative armor and all the bells and whistles inside made even normal people more powerful than most parahumans. Even better for those whose powers worked through the changelings, or who have powers that can be amplified. I, unfortunately, had neither. In the meantime, I changed the settings on the armor, turning off all the settings except the compensation tech that kept the armor's weight from slowing us down.
"Ready?" Taylor asked impatiently.
"Yes," I agreed. She rushed me, and I barely managed to deflect what would have been a really painful blow without the armor. I tried to knee her in the stomach, but she jumped and rolled. She was up on her feet before I could press the advantage. This was not her usual calm and collected combat style. She turned and came in low. Even though I was an awful lot more fit than I used to be, she was faster than me. And clearly more than a little pissed. Bad judgment was something I knew I could exploit.
I let her get her hit in, and then simply fell on top of her. We may have been the same height, but I was twice her weight with plenty to spare, even if only part of it was muscle. She couldn't lift me, and I was better trained with wrestling than she was.
"Okay," she gasped. "Point for you."
I stood, letting her get to her feet as we spaced ourselves apart. "Are you sure you should be fighting right now, ma'am?" I asked. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Tell that to Lisa, next time you see her," she scoffed.
"Is that what the fight was about?" I asked. "Something Lisa said?"
"Of course you know about that," she sighed. "Why can't people just mind their business about my life?"
I looked down. "Sorry, ma'am, I try to respect your privacy, but... well, Riley was upset and I..."
"It's fine," she interrupted. "You're not the one who caused this mess. I just need to work out my frustrations physically, and you're one of the few people I can trust to not want to turn it into a conversation about my personal business."
I shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you want," I agreed. "But your physique doesn't lend itself to the whole 'berserker' thing. You're a more tactical fighter, you're just going to hurt yourself trying what you just tried."
She sighed. "Yeah, I know," she agreed. Then she took a breath and returned to her stance. "Ready for round two?"
An hour later, we were both exhausted. Her more than I, but then she'd won most of the matches. She plopped down on the mat, breathing heavily. "I'm going to ask Calvert to pick out some of his best men and women for us to run the brain scan on."
"Why?" I asked.
"We've gotten to the point where we can use the tech to upload skills," she answered. "Thanks to Rey's college skills, I'm qualified to be a doctor. Sort of. Barely."
I blinked. That was a thought and a half. "So... you're saying..."
"Six years of stressful training, granted in two hours of sitting on a couch," she answered. "We should probably work out a sort of manditory curriculum for everyone."
"Oh, that's great," I laughed. "Wish Victor was around for this. He always bragged about all his stolen skills, as if he somehow 'deserved' them or some such bullshit. Now we have a way to do the same."
"Not really stealing, though," Taylor responded. "Just copying. Does that idea... bother you?"
"No," I replied. "I think I would like having the skills of a doctor. Maybe public speaker, if you think we can get one?"
She shrugged. "Don't see why not. Glad to see you see the value of this. I'm going to bring it up for a vote next time we have a meeting. Won't make it mandatory, of course, but at the very least we should invest some time and energy into setting everything up."
I slowly climbed to my feet, hissing at the soreness in my legs and shoulders. "I'm going to go play video games for a while. Do you feel better?"
"Yes," she agreed. "Mind and body. Thanks for not prying."
"Any time, ma'am," I agreed as I walked, if a bit slowly, toward the exit. Sometimes people need to talk. And sometimes, they need someone who doesn't need them to talk.
Calvert was an almost laughably predictable man. Every night he'd leave the office at the same time, arrive home at the same time, and go to bed at the same time. This night was no different. Sure, his route was in the safest city on the planet, so almost any standard attack would fail miserably. I wasn't using a standard attack. Instead, I pressed a button, and his vehicle vanished. They'd probably spot the spacial distortion, perhaps even track it to destination after a few days. They'd never be able to determine who was responsible.
Calvert's guards were easily dispatched, if remarkably professional. Some of the PRT's best, clearly. Just not 'best' enough to beat me. Calvert himself calmly exited the vehicle, but he didn't try to fight. "Grue, I presume?" he asked to the darkness.
"You are awfully calm for someone who's going to die soon," I threatened.
"I survived Nilbog," he responded. "It had a certain impact on how I view the world. I don't doubt you can kill me. I don't even doubt you can do worse than kill me if you wanted to. Still, I am currently very much alive, and that means there's hope I get out of this."
"Hardly," I answered. I found myself incredibly unnerved. Calvert no doubt had plenty of training to resist thinkers, and that included the various cold read skills I'd picked up, but he was almost inhumanly calm. Like he was sitting safely in his office in the PRT headquarters, without a care in the world. Curious about the events transpiring, but in no way worried. I was also certain he was telling the truth about me being able to kill him: there was no secret plan in which he expected to survive by enacting.
"Ah, but I am resourceful," he smiled. "I may not be able to defeat you, but I can likely convince you that you have more to gain from my remaining alive, than by killing me. Surely, there must be a solution to suit both of us."
"And I'm suppose to trust you enough to work for you?" I growled.
"You did before, Mister Laborn," Calvert's voice shifted a bit, and I finally recognized it.
"Fuck," I mustered a laugh. "You're Coil."
"Coil, as far as I am aware, has been eliminated by Pantheon," he answered. Interestingly, that passed my lie detection as well.
"Cut the crap," I spat out. "I was just going to ask you if you were involved in the same corruption that let Piggot murder my sister. Now I guess I have to ask a different question. Did you have another choice? Could your power have saved her? Don't bother lying, I'll know."
"I have no way of knowing," he answered. "Perhaps for the next couple years, until the apocalypse. I chose, instead, to ensure the death of Jack Slash and delay that over all other priorities."
I reached for my gun, a tinkertech weapon stolen from one of my other missions. And then Coil vanished, replaced by a number of people. Pantheon.
I bathed the area in darkness, and was surprised when some of them collapsed. Gaea, Aceso, Minerva, and Khepri simply fell like rag dolls, leaving me the handful remaining. Granted, that handful include Eki, and all three of the so-called Endslayers. I tested my powers, which I promptly lost as most of them took flight, leaving the darkness. Lachesis remained behind, kneeling and shaking the fallen form of Aceso. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but they probably had some kind of closed com system.
I stepped forward, testing her power at least, and regretting it quickly. My power copying never came with the same instinctive knowledge that the actual user had, nor the skills they had perfected. I was now within a foot of her. And with a half step, she was several feet away. I could see how she flexed her power, pushing the others further away from me.
I didn't know why they collapsed... no, now that I looked, I was figuring it out. They aren't real, I realized. I don't sense skills to draw from them through Victor's power. They must have been doubles, like those M4s that the police were using. Apparently they didn't get along with my power. Interesting. I had no desire to fight my former team, or their new allies, so I retreated.
Correction: I tried to retreat. Vista's power made that difficult, although with her power siphoned off for me to use, it was far from impossible.
Then I was slammed down by a kinetic attack. The safety glass of my goggles broke as I was driven into the ground. I looked up: Eki. How did she hit me? I bolted, and she fired again, causing me to stumble. That was still absurdly accurate. Still, I felt my body adapting. The third shot didn't even slow me down. I fired back, striking her with the teal energy ray. Her forcefield canceled it. Of course it did. She survived New Delhi, this shitty gun means nothing compared to that.
Lachesis took flight, carrying Aceso. Or the body double, at least. She left my darkness, and with it I lost my access to her power. Aceso stepped away, staying in the air thanks to her armor's flight system, and the area around me warped to the point that the ground started to splinter under the stress. I hesitated for a second. Her power doesn't work on living things, I reminded myself as I ran into the mess.
Crawler's enhancements and Victor's skills served me as well as always, as I bobbed and weaved my way through the disintegrating landscape, evading stronger bursts of energy than before.
A steel cage fell toward me, despite it having been dropped well off course. It took me a second to realize it was Vista's power at work, again. I was caught behind the metal bars. This would have ended the fight, if not for Crawler's power. A grip and a tug and I tried to lift the cage off me. Only for it to remain, like trying to move the planet itself. How?
A floor of bars formed beneath, denying me even the ability to dig out.
"It's over," Eki shouted from above.
Fuck. There's nothing for me to do, now, but try to talk my way out. I dispelled my darkness. It didn't take long for the remaining body doubles to climb to their feet. Superhuman senses was one of the things I had not yet managed to pick up, beyond an ad-hoc 'people detector' using Victor's ability to sense potential skills. I could not hear what they were saying to each other, as they approached.
"B-Grue?" Khepri asked, looking at me. "What happened to you?"
"Hey, Taylor," I said, taking off the helmet. For the most part, my facial features hadn't changed. I was aware of her former feelings for me. We hadn't parted on bad terms. Maybe I could use that to influence her? Although talking to her through this proxy made it hard to read her reactions and emotions. But, then, that was true of her even in person. Lisa was here, too, and I wasn't sure just how well her power would work on me. Too much to bother lying about the most obvious stuff. "Turns out, I have a more or less permanent version of Crawler's regeneration, now."
"I meant the part where you're assassinating PRT Directors," Taylor responded, her voice cold.
"You do know he's Coil, right?" I asked. I suppressed a desire to smile when a handful of people reacted like they clearly did not know this. In fact, of the ones who were actually here in person, none of them knew. I wasn't sure about the doll users, but I was pretty certain Lisa and Taylor had to know.
"No trying to bullshit your way out of this, Brian," Lisa chided. Of course, imply I'm lying without saying it. "Where did you pick up this kind of social manipulation, anyway? That's not really your sty-" she froze. "Oh fuck. Brian, how the fuck could you?"
"What?" Taylor asked, looking over. "What did he do?"
"Remember how we couldn't find Victor?" she answered. Taylor's doll didn't show a reaction, but did her real body? I couldn't know.
"You know, I am aware those bodies are fakes," I said. "There's absolutely no reason for you to talk to each other through them, instead of wherever you're really hiding. Except for my benefit, or the benefit of the people who put themselves in real danger here."
"There was never a real danger," Minerva responded. "We knew who you were before we showed up. We just really didn't want you getting access to Gaea's power. Or mine or Khepri's or Clarice's for that matter. But especially not Gaea."
I frowned. "Good to know. So, planning to turn me over? You know I'm birdcage bound, just one show trial that the powers that be will ensure I can't win."
"You've been using people as human batteries, Brian," Minerva answered. "I don't think there's a rule you haven't broken with that."
"Nazis don't consider me a person," I countered. "They don't get to bitch when I return the sentiment."
I was, of course, watching everyone. Clotho and Atropos glanced at one another. Those two, at least, are sympathetic enough. They were also amongst the ones that reacted hardest to learning about Calvert being Coil. "Don't pretend you haven't done a few morally questionable things of your own, getting this far. Bribery, blackmail, recruiting supervillains left and right. I'm not even going to speculate on how you're the most blatantly obvious Class S threat since Nilbog, yet are being treated like heroes by the PRT, instead of on the receiving end of a kill order. Don't say 'Endslayer', we all know that's not nearly enough."
"You're not psychic, Brian," Lisa countered. "You don't even have a legitimate thinker power. You can't know anything."
"I know Armsmaster is still alive, and I know you also know," I offered. "Why are you covering that up? Blackmail to keep the wolves away from your door, I'm sure. Probably blackmailing Calvert, too. Unless he's still your boss. Fuck, Lisa. Taylor. He could have saved Aisha, and who knows how many of the rest of our team. How could you still work for him?"
"We work for no one," Taylor hissed. I was surprised that she cracked first, honestly. "We work with a lot of people. We do it to save the fucking world."
"By being as corrupt as the people who murdered your friends?" I countered. "If you need to worry about Dinah's predictions, then fine: you deal with that cataclysm. Leave me to cleanse the fucking PRT of its corruption and see to it that the world you save is still worth living in. If it makes you feel better, I won't even try to touch Coil. Attempt failed, villain escaped."
"Not how it works," Gaea stated.
"No?" I asked. "Is this a dictatorship? Do you make the decisions for everyone? If you're so sure of yourself, put it to a vote."
"A vote to what?" A young girl's voice asked. I wasn't sure who it was of the people above. Lachesis, probably.
"To decide if I'm more valuable free, perhaps?" I suggested. "That if they take me into custody, I'll talk about whatever secrets I know. Or that my crimes aren't as bad as yours, so you have no right to drag me in to be locked away and murdered. Or that maybe, just maybe, I'm the one doing the right thing and should be allowed to continue fixing the mistakes that you're too busy to fix. Call it a trial by a jury of my peers. The only one I'm ever likely to get, because you know I won't get one in an actual court of law. You won't, either, if they ever decide you've outlived your usefulness."
The three girls in front of me were silent. Likely talking to themselves in person, instead of by proxy. I could imagine the conversation. Refusing to make this democratic basically meant telling some of their most valuable members that their opinions didn't matter. Allowing the vote... well, I wasn't sure how it'd go, but I was pretty sure at least someone would side with me. A schism that I could use.
"Okay, fine," Gaea responded. "A vote. "
"Take him in," Eki answered first. "He just threatened us and promised to continue a killing spree. The Nazis can go die in a fire, for all I care. But I am not letting any more unrepetant monsters walk away."
"That's a start," Lisa stated. "Same vote, here. We can't let you go just because you were our friend. Sorry, Brian."
Taylor looked away. "I'm abstaining from the vote. Too close to this." Of course she is, I thought. She knows the way the vote's going to go, and doesn't want to split her team's leadership by going against it.
I didn't wait to hear the rest. I knew which way Gaea would vote, and with her Aceso. Even if everyone else was in my favor, and I was only confident about two of them, that'd just force it back on Taylor. She'd choose her team's stability over me. I pressed the emergency button, and was teleported back to my base. I so didn't want to demonstrate that trick. Next time, they'd be prepared for it. And they had a lot more tinkers than I did. Including one with a transportation specialty.
I sighed. Well, fuck me, then.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone