章 634: 73
Date
2011 March 4th - Thursday - Earth Bet Time
Day 6112 - Thursday - Administrator Network Time
Thankfully, he had already taken over the Shards in the Birdcage when Ciara decided to off Teacher. Not that he minded it, after all, he planned to do the same. However, the capricious Faerie Queen's action came with a request to add the dead parahuman's Shard to her collection. Not really wanting to do that, he instead asked for more details.
Turns out, now that there was a clear endgame on the horizon, the duo decided it was time to act. And the first thing would be enhancing and improving their abilities. Of course, he already provided the Shard with enough upgrades, materials, and energy to last for a good while, but they really wanted to improve the power.
And obviously the first problem the Faerie Queen had to solve was how to use more powers at the same time without a decrease in output and efficiency. Of course, because of the unorthodox merger, the restrictions were already rather lax, and with his interference they practically vanished, only leaving those he had set up.
Giving it a quick thought, he analyzed the data he got from the Shard, to see if it was some kind of trick from the duo, but in the end, he couldn't really come up with an answer.
He could have of course gone in and taken over forcefully, but that would more than likely result both in Ciara's and the Shard's death in the ensuing fight.
However, the inclusion of another intelligent, human-friendly, and not warmonger Shard into his Network, would be a great boon. He could have done everything alone, but that would have been really boring.
So, he simply sent over the plans (and the snapshot of Teacher) and hoped he didn't make a wrong decision.
Instead of dwelling on that, he went over once again his Network, streamlined a few things, gave permission, denied or accepted requests from the Shards, and reviewed the progress of the quarantined Shards like Prototype and the emerging intelligence in the younger Shards.
Then when he found everything in working order, he buckled down and began preparing for one of the biggest steps he had to do to achieve his most important objective.
He already had the address to the corpse of Eden, thanks to Cauldron, but he didn't know what kind of defenses were set up, or even how much of Eden was still alive.
He did another review of the situation, set up a few routines to warn him if something important happened, then began to use his considerable processing power and attention to begin the groundwork for the assimilation of the corpse.
Date
2011 March 5th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Narwhal leaned against the truck they had parked miles away in a small clearing inside a forested area. The truck was rather big enough for several people to sit in it and observe the situation. However, the techies and Tinkers also crammed it and the other observation trucks with enough tech that it was so cramped that she didn't want to even try cramming herself in. Instead, she got one of the new tablets that Tess was experimenting with and used that to monitor what was happening.
"This is Nero. Everyone prepare to be amazed! The package arrives in 180 seconds!"
She couldn't help but smile at that. The sound of the Tinker, that she had 'detained' not so long ago, came through the communication devices loud and clear, and she could hear the excitement and pride in it clearly. It seemed Alice was a rather worthy investment (discounting the minefield in her workshop) because she just kept being useful.
The explosives at the Battle of Ellisburg, the Time Bubbles, and now this. She wondered what the slightly crazy woman couldn't explode…
"This is Dragon, every team, roll call."
She was now standing next to a mixed team of people. Some were from the guild, some from the government, but all of them had a determined look on their face. Narwhal was the same.
It was rather high time somebody did something about that rapist.
The tablet in her hand was showing a feed from a small and invisible drone, while she could also monitor the flight of the drone that would drop off the greeting package.
"This is it, everyone! 30 seconds until y'all are gonna' be amazed by my genius!" came the rather crude announcement from Nero.
She just smirked, glanced around the clearing they were occupying, then returned her attention to the tablet.
"15 seconds!"
As Narwhal was looking at the feed, she noticed some movement on the outskirts of the sleepy resort. But before she could voice her discovery, she realized it was just a bird.
"5!"
She watched as the bird, some kind of goose, flew over the parse trees that separated the few houses.
"4!"
"3!"
The bird flapped its wings, preparing to ascend even higher.
"2!"
"1!"
"Bomb away!"
There was no sound, or light, or any other sign a bomb went off, bar a small whomp sound. However, as Narwhal watched, the goose suspended midair in the middle of a flap; she knew it definitely worked.
She turned to the people next to her, adjusted her headband, and nodded at them.
"Let's go."
Date
2011 March 6th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Taylor was watching the giant screen that she sometimes called TV, and couldn't help but smile a little. After Admin dropped the blindingly obvious truth, she only waited until her father got home before she told him. Not about Admin, of course, but how happy she was and how weird it was.
Turns out, Danny was just as surprised as she was, only now realizing that all their problems were quietly solved.
However, in the end, he just shrugged his shoulders and told Taylor that she should enjoy it because it won't take but a few minutes and she would be having fresh problems. While pessimistic, she had to agree with Danny.
Though that didn't mean they couldn't celebrate.
So she invited Tess over for a Saturday lunch. Originally, she wanted to invite Vicky and Amy too, but they were still locked down by their parents, worried that the new powers or Amy's increased fame would negatively affect them.
Danny was already preparing the tacos, and she was simply browsing through her collection when the doorbell rang.
"I will get it, Dad!"
She sprang up and almost ran towards the door. She opened it with a big smile which got even bigger when she saw the gynoid body of her friend.
"Tess!" she exclaimed, then hugged the older woman.
Tess just smiled indulgently while patting Taylor's back.
"Hello, Taylor. Nice to see you too. It's not like we didn't meet last night…"
Taylor let go of Tess and stepped back to allow her to enter, making note of the very stylish briefcase she was sporting.
"That's different! What's with the briefcase?"
"Surprise for later," answered the Tinker. "And hello to you too, Danny."
"Hey, Tess. Welcome!" said Danny, who came from the kitchen, wiping his hand with a kitchen towel. "Food will be ready soon, make yourself comfortable."
"Thank you, Danny."
Taylor couldn't contain her curiosity, so she dragged Tess to the living room, made her sit down, while she also sat down on her favorite sofa.
"So, what's in the briefcase?"
Her friend just gave her a mysterious smile, placed the aforementioned briefcase on the coffee table, and began slowly opening it.
"First of all, Weaver Industries is ready to be turned on. So, I brought over papers that can't be handled electronically yet. You and your father need to sign them, and when you turn 18, there will be another set."
Taylor took the stack of documents from Tess and began to read over them, slightly disappointed about the contents of the case.
"These will remain secret, but for legalities' sake, we absolutely need them. As for how it works…" Tess's face was almost split from the big smile she was sporting as she spoke. "You would need an AI to understand it."
Taylor couldn't help but snort, and she could hear even her dad giggle a little in the kitchen, proving he was listening.
"Okay, we will read over, and Dad will drop it off on Monday. Anything else?"
"Yes," answered Tess, and she reached into the briefcase once again and retrieved another set of documents. "The royalties of the merchandise that the PRT is selling in the image of Lux Arcana. How do you want to handle it?"
Hearing that, Taylor frowned, took the offered stack of papers, and glanced through them. At first, she didn't know what to do with it, but then she couldn't help but smile when she had a great idea.
"Just set it up as a donation to Serenity, and Serenity can take it and donate it to worthy causes. How is that?"
The older woman gave her a proud smile. "That was one of my ideas too." She returned her attention and to Taylor's amazement, reached into the briefcase with her hand until she vanished into it up to her shoulder. Tess fumbled around briefly, then pulled out a bag marked by the logo of the PRT. Then another. And another.
"Uhm, what are those, Tess?"
"PRT merchandise. I know you like them, so I got you the entire new series. And some of the old ones." said the Tinker, picking out a box containing a Lux Arcana figurine and showing it to the gaping young woman. "And of course, wherever possible, the parahumans signed them." Here her smile turned into a smirk. "Even got Director Piggot to sign hers. And I didn't even get shot!"
Taylor took the box from her friend with a slightly trembling hand and examined the figurine that was made into the likeness of Lux Arcana, her parahuman alter ego.
"Also, these are also for you." Taylor set the figurine down on the table as Tess brought out another bag.
Before she took the new bag, she couldn't help but ask. "What's up with that briefcase?"
"Oh, a Tinker in the Guild makes these, sadly they are not the most stable, but we are working on it."
"Pity, I thought, you can now make pocket spaces like mine…" replied Taylor with a smirk, while casually throwing the box in front of her into her pocket space.
"No need to be rude," said Tess. "Open the bag."
Taylor did so and was very confused when she only found stacks of letters. On most of them, she could see 'To Lux Arcana' or something similar.
"What's this?"
"Fan mail. After going through the Postal system, the PRT, the Guild, and my examination. This is your, or rather Lux Arcana's share."
"Oh…"
She took the one on the top, opened it, and began reading it.
Dear Lux Arcana,
Thank you for defeating Nilbog. My father was one of the people who were killed by that monster, so it is a great relief to me and to my family that the abomination is no more…
Wiping away the tears in her eyes, she opened a few more, and they said something similar. She would have spent the entire day reading, but Tess broke her out of her fugue.
"You can go over them later. For now, the food is almost ready. Why don't we talk about the new items you were planning to release through Serenity?"
Taylor reluctantly put the last letter she picked up and placed the entire bag into her pocket space for safekeeping, vowing to read each and every one.
"Right." she wiped away the tears and gave Tess a shaky smile. "The designs are sound, I only need to…"
Date
2011 March 6th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
Vicky was once again on a mission to acquire a refreshing beverage when she heard the front door open. She turned towards it and immediately saw her tired mother trudge into the house, throwing her bag away in disgust.
"Rough day, mom?"
Carol's answer was only an indistinct grumble. But her eyes instantly found something to focus on.
Her head.
Where the rather stylish (in her and Franky's opinion) tiara shone with otherworldly gold and silver light. Though it didn't really go well with the old shirt and pants she was wearing…
"Why are you wearing that thing inside?"
"I like it. It's pretty. Plus, why not? It hurts nobody!"
"It hurts my brain," replied Carol, then she frowned. "Where is your sister? Hope she didn't sneak out again to the hospital?"
Vicky gave her a smile, then motioned towards the garden. "She is out there, with dad, planting all the plants she got as a gift."
Carol nodded, then went to the fridge to get a drink. Vicky strategically waited until her mom was drinking when she spoke up. "You know, she named all of them."
Watching her mother snort water was rather humorous. She waited a few seconds until her mother's cough subsided and Carol turned towards her.
"What?"
She nodded, trying to remain as serious as she could. Motioning to the recently revitalized flower that sat in their kitchen window ever since she could remember she spoke, trying to hide her smile. "That's Mordot the Destroyer."
Vicky watched gleefully as Carol processed that, then sighed, while reaching up with her hands and massaging her temples with closed eyes.
"Right, I think Amy spent enough time in isolation. Vicky, be a dear and make sure tomorrow you take her out to meet with people. With normal names."
With that, she turned around and reached for the cabinet that Vicky knew housed the wine bottles. She simply did a silent fist bump and went to tell her sister that their lockdown was officially over.
Date
2011 March 6th - Saturday - Earth Bet Time
He was running.
Again.
From whom he didn't know.
All he knew anywhere he went, they were on his heels.
Always hunting him.
No matter if he took taxis, buses, or stole cars, they would always find him.
He didn't even know what city he was in currently; he was so confused.
Everything was going so well, they were ready to strike, to show them their might, and then everything went to hell.
As he reached a small and dirty alleyway, he slowed down, then stopped. He rested with his back against the stone wall, nervously glancing everywhere to see if they found him.
Seeing nobody, he extracted a small and cracked phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
The call connected immediately, but nobody answered. However, he could hear the sounds of fighting in the background. He listened for a while, trying to overhear something that would be helpful when he heard a very familiar voice.
"No, no, no… Don't come any closer!"
He wanted to yell out something, but except for the labored breathing, nothing came out of his mouth. And the next sound, a short but powerful burst of pistol fire, told him everything he needed to know.
There was a sound of someone walking in measured steps coming near the phone. Then he heard somebody pick it up. Before he could say anything again, they hung up.
The phone fell from his hands, while tears streamed down from his eyes, and a whisper left his lips.
"Mother…"
Not caring about the fallen phone, he pushed himself shakily away from the wall. Then he staggered out of the alley into the busy street, not caring anymore about his pursuers.
On the building next to the alley from where he emerged was a plaque reading Hartford Public Library.
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