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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 10
With my legs hanging from the edge of the roof, I pulled a chocolate bar that I break in half. One half I keep, and the other I give to Taylor who receives it with greedy hands.
"So, just so we are clear," She says with her mouth full of chocolate. "I'm not going to wake up one day with an extra arm, correct?"
Why does she keep bringing that up? "No, Ladybug, you won't. I'm not doing something like that without your consent first."
"If you say so."
I can taste the doubt in her words. "Besides, it's not like I'd allow anyone but me to be the first to have extra arms."
She chuckles as she drinks from her bottle. "If you get four more you could then change your name to 'spider', a great match for my 'ladybug'. But what would you do with your shirts?"
"Oh, that's the easy part! I'm thinking about replacing my spine and adding several sockets in my back for modules that I can install. That way I can plug in the extra arms when I need them, and take them out when I don't."
There's a dripping noise and I see that Taylor is staring at me, the content of her bottle falling to the ground from her limb grip. "You know, I said it as a joke but now I'm genuinely worried about you doing this."
"Why would you be?"
"Well, most people have concerns about mutilating themselves." With the bottle now empty, she puts it back in her backpack so we can toss it once we find a trash can.
"I think we already established that I'm not 'most people'."
"True. Just be careful with it, alright?"
"Always."
Our break done, we move on.
Last week we went East from Taylor's home, so this time we go West, to Captain's Hill, and from there to the South into Downtown.
We move at a more relaxed pace, enjoying the sights and allowing ourselves to rest from time to time. I must say that there's something hypnotic about a city at night, especially if we talk about the nicer parts of it.
Gone are the homeless people and abandoned factories of the docks, having been replaced by tall office buildings and nightclubs covered in blinking lights.
For a brief moment, we see Glory Girl in our visors, the star child of New Wave flying further south. She doesn't see us and soon we lose track of her as she takes a turn behind a skyscraper.
"You know, someday you'll have to interact with other heroes." I point out.
"I know, but not now. Not with these costumes and I want to make a name for myself before that."
"You don't want them to treat you as inferior." Can't blame her after Winslow. If she's going to talk to them, she wants to do that as equals. "Well, you did beat Kid Win and Aegis."
"Don't even remind me! That's one of the reasons why I want to change my costume."
Yeah, the entire concept of the 'masquerade' is absurd. As long as you don't have a super-obvious power, you can dress up as a villain, do whatever you wish, and then change it for a hero costume.
At least it's something that we can make it work for our benefit. As long as Taylor isn't carrying the Psi Blade when she goes to meet them, they won't know it was her the one who attacked them.
"Well, it doesn't seem like you'll make a name here." There are some fights outside a couple of nightclubs, but nothing that the bouncers can't fix. "Want to keep going south?"
"No, Glory Girl went there. Let's go back to the trainyard, there we should-" And suddenly Taylor goes very still. "Someone just spilled blood."
That… is not good.
"What? Where?"
"There! A block and a half away."
I aim my visor following the line of her finger.
"Shit." What I see are three men in an alley next to an empty street. Two of them are standing, one holding a knife, and between them is the last one. He isn't moving and is losing blood fast.
We don't lose a second and teleport to a balcony above their location. For ten agonizing seconds, we do nothing but wait while the criminals empty their victim's pockets.
I know that Taylor already wants to go in but I grip her wrist, holding her back. If she unleashes her bugs now, the robbers' panic could end up causing even more harm to the victim.
They are done and are already leaving, but we're ready too. We teleport to their backs and with a swing of the blade Taylor knocks them down in a shower of sparks. From her pockets, she pulls the zip-ties out, and I go check the victim.
It's not good. Not good at all.
He's well into his fifties and too well dressed for these parts of town. His head is bleeding but that's only superficial, maybe a bruise suffered during his fall. The truly bad wound is on his thigh. Evidence of that is his quickly reddening pants and the dripping blade of the knife.
He also seems to be unconscious.
"How is he?" Taylor asks me once she's finished with the robbers, panic clear in his voice.
"Bad. He needs an ambulance." My visor helps me to locate three cell phones, two that seem to belong to the robbers and one to the victim. "I'll make the call. You take his pants off."
"What?!"
"He needs first aid, Ladybug! So take his damn pants off!" I'm angry and we have no time to waste, but thankfully she doesn't ask any more questions and moves to do as I say while I call the emergency line.
The phone rings three times and I can feel the sweat running down my back. "911, what's your emergency?"
"I have a stabbing victim in an alley between-" I use my visor to look at the nearby street sign. "Seventh and Wisconsin."
"Understood. Who am I speaking to?"
Yes, yes, I know the routine. "Independent hero Tech-Priest with independent hero Ladybug. Victim is a fifty-year old male. We incapacitated his attackers, but the victim is bleeding from his thigh."
"Very well, sir, I'll need you to-"
"I know how to perform first aid!" I look at Taylor who has just finished with the man's pants. Shit! Why didn't we bring bandages?! "Ladybug, here. You talk to the lady and give me the blade." She gives me a nervous nod.
While Taylor gives further details to the emergency personnel, I use the blade the cut open the shirt of one of the robbers. It's not the cleanest of clothes but it'll have to do.
Shit. I know the theory of how to treat deep wounds like these but this is my first time actually doing it. My hands tremble. There's so much blood and it keeps flowing out!
No, no! I can do this! I have to do this because I'm the only one here who can.
I push on, lift his leg, and tighten the piece of cloth around the wound.
The makeshift bandaging is quickly turning red too and my hands are sticky with blood, but it's done.
"Tech-Priest! They ask if he's conscious!"
I pinch underneath his armpit. He groans. "He's breathing. Reacts to pain but he isn't-" And that's when he opens his eyes.
"W-what's going on?" His voice sounds weak.
"He's conscious!"
"Did you hear that?" Taylor asks the operator. "Yes, okay."
While she keeps talking to the phone, the man's eyes switch from her to me. "Who are you?"
We must look scary with our balaclavas. Even more reasons to switch costumes soon. "Independent heroes. Try not to move, you lost a lot of blood." I take my coat out and place it over his chest. The night is cold but he needs it more than I do.
"What happened?" Ok, he sounds coherent. That's good!
"Well, we aren't sure but once you get out of the hospital the police will want an interview with you."
"Uh, yeah." His eyes flutter open and closed. Damn, I need to keep him conscious!
"Do you have family, sir?" A bit of a gamble here that I hope works.
"I have a son. He's twenty-five."
Perfect! I can use that. "Really? Does he have a girlfriend? My sister's about his age and looking for a boyfriend." Taylor goes very still with my comment.
He chuckles at that. "I'm sorry but he's taken. And my wife likes his current girlfriend for once."
"Oh, well. She'll have to keep up the search."
And that's when we hear the sound of several sirens. An ambulance parks at the entrance of the alley and in come two paramedics carrying a stretcher. Behind them come a couple of cops that replace the zip-ties of the robbers with handcuffs.
We move out of the way to give them room to work, and I pick my coat back.
"W-will he be okay?" Taylor asks one of the paramedics.
"The knife seems to have missed the main artery, but he'll need to be looked over at the hospital." And that's all they say before loading the man into the stretcher and from there into the ambulance. It speeds off and they are on their way.
The policemen do their part loading the criminals on their car, sparing only a moment to ask us some questions about what we saw and did before they, too, drive away.
They didn't even offer us to stay and speak to a PRT representative! It seemed that a simple assault and robbery isn't worth the Protectorate's attention, or there might be some jurisdictions in-fighting.
Once alone I turn to look at Taylor, who I find staring at the pool of dry blood.
"Ladybug, are you alright?"
"Yes, yes. Just… let's get out of here."
"Yeah, let's." There's a nice roof across the street, over what seems to be a restaurant that only works during the mornings. I set the beacon and in a blink, we're on top of it. "Would you want us to-" And suddenly I find myself being hugged by Taylor. "Ladybug?"
"Sorry, I just-I just need a moment."
I hear sobbing. And it doesn't just come from her. Shit, just now I realize how much I'm trembling.
Palming her back, I aim at the edge of the roof. "Let's take a seat."
She nods. We make ourselves comfortable and from my backpack, I pull out another bottle of water. Taylor accepts it and pulls her mask off. "This part is never mentioned in hero stories."
"People like stories about big heroes defeating villains in epic battles. They don't like the parts of normals being stabbed in dark alleys."
"I know it happens, but-" She takes a drink, and then uses the rest of the bottle to wash her face. "It was too intense."
"I know."
"I got nervous when we fought those gang members and the Wards last week but, shit! It wasn't like this. That man almost died!" She presses her palms against her eyes. "How did you know what to do?"
"I read several books on first aid." I also attended several training sessions but I better keep that part to myself. "But believe me, they don't prepare you for the real deal."
"You were great. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't been there." She cleans her face with the sleeve of her shirt. Then she looks at me, trying to smile. "Say, what was that about your twenty-something sister?"
I shrug. "A half-lie to make him think about his family. That usually helps when you're fighting for your life."
"Why only 'half' lie?"
That… is a good question. Did I really just say that? I guess that I've truly started seeing Taylor as family. "Well, you aren't twenty-five."
"Thank you." She hugs me again. "If we hadn't found him-"
"Don't!" I interrupt. "Don't think about the maybes. They lead you to insanity."
"Yeah, I know. And we did save his life, didn't we?"
"That we did." At least I hope so. Knife wounds are nasty, and we can't know if the man won't suffer further complications at the hospital. Better not to mention it. Or think about it.
Shit! Why didn't I build the medical gun from Starcraft? It could have fixed the guy no problem! Deus Ex has medkits but they aren't as good! They are only one-time use for starters and I don't have the resources for that!
Adam Jensen had a self-healing module powered by a bio-cell, but I can't implant that in any person that gets stabbed, it would be ridiculously expensive!
But…
Can I make it mobile?
And that's when a realization comes to me. The blueprints I have from Deus Ex are mostly static and I can't modify them in a way that changes their function. But I can mix them with the items I built with Starcraft.
Psi Blades built inside my arms like Jensen's blade! Eye implants with the properties of the Ghost Visor! And if I look at what the Mecha Zerg Drone can do… it already has subroutines for repairing itself and Zerg structures, so if I upgrade it with the Health System implant... and maybe add some of JC Denton's nanobots to the mix… I'll have a device that can interface with a human body, repair it, and then detach itself to continue working on something else.
It's brilliant! And stupidly expensive! But less expensive than what it would cost me to fully implant a person with the upgrade!
I feel someone poking at my shoulder. "Tech-Priest?"
"Sorry, what?"
"You have that look where you have an idea."
I don't know what 'that look' is, but she isn't wrong. "That's because I just did. I think I can turn the drone into a mobile medical unit, but I'll need a couple of days to build the upgrade."
"Will you need more materials?"
Normally building the nanobots would be insanely expensive, but if I piggyback their functions into the Drone's own systems it'll represent a massive cut on the final price.
"Thankfully no, just time." This technology… would be extremely useful in case of emergencies. Like an Endbringer attack. And that reminds me that I have less than two months until Leviathan's Canonical arrival. I'll have to get ready for it. "I'll need a lot of metal to turn the current drone into a factory that I can use to produce more."
"Yes, having more than one will be useful." It's so nice that Taylor sees things my way. "How much metal are we talking about here?"
Yeah, that was the difficult part. "At least three or four ship containers. Maybe with the stuff they have inside too."
"That's a lot of metal."
"Indeed." I'll also need to think about a place where to put it. It'll have to be big enough to house the installations, but far away from people so randos can't stumble on it. "But let's think more about that tomorrow. I think we both need a rest."
"Yeah." Taylor nods and puts her mask back on. "Let's go back home. I'll have time in the coming days so I'll use the mornings to search for stuff."
"Remember not to do anything stupid while I'm not around!"
"I don't think I can do anything stupid without you around to inspire me."
"Ha! But seriously, do be careful when you're alone."
"I know, I know."
She puts an arm over my shoulders and we teleport back home.
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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 11
There's electricity in the air as I walk through the halls of Clarendon High. No one's saying anything, but the faculty must be on edge.
I see it on the way the principal remains glued to the phone, talking to what must be some concerned parent, and on the way that only half of my classmates attend that day.
Missy is there, but she doesn't seem to have slept last night. The fire must have also put the Wards on high alert.
"Hi, Missy!" I greet her.
"Peter." Wow, she really doesn't seem to be in the mood for talking.
"Everything fine with you?"
"Yeah, yeah." She rubs her eyes. "I just had a busy weekend, that's all. Do try to behave today because I seriously don't have time for your bullshit."
"I'll do the best I can."
"Make sure you do."
I don't see her again for the rest of the day.
This time, when I get home, I don't even have time to say hello before Taylor is already on me, crushing me under a hug.
"Peter!"
"H-hi." I manage to say. "You seem happy."
"Look at this!" She drags me to the kitchen where there's an open newspaper waiting for me. "They wrote an article on us!"
"They did?" I ask in surprise.
It most definitely didn't make the front page, but on page 20 there's a small article about the man we saved. According to the story, he was coming late from a get-together with friends when his taxi was boarded.
He was dragged out, stabbed, and robbed, but the intervention of two independent heroes saved his life. He successfully arrived at the hospital and is on his way to make a full recovery.
I do make a small observation. "The article doesn't mention our names."
"Who cares?" Taylor says swinging her arms over her head. "We did something good. We saved a man's life."
I'd be lying if I said I don't feel all warm inside too. To save another person's life… there's no feeling that can compare to that.
"Now come to the attic, there's something else I want to show you."
Taylor's on a roll! I follow her command and when we arrive she hands me my visor.
Wow. The number of resources that the drone consumed suddenly jumped up from this morning. I can also see that the 3D map of the bay has suddenly increased in size, with several 'patches' of explored terrain all over the neighborhood. But no tunnels are connecting those sections, suggesting that Taylor physically moved the drone around.
"What happened here?"
"Well, do you remember the computer carcasses we found at the factory?" Dear Lord, she's talking at ten words a second. It seems that the article and the absence of Winslow have done wonders of her mental health. "Well, I went back and forth from there all morning! I cut them down into smaller chunks with the blade and brought them here to feed the drone!"
"Oh, that's very smart." But wait, that alone wouldn't be enough to report this growth in resources.
"Then I thought-" Oh, she's already explaining that part. "There are a lot of constructions all over the city that were left abandoned years ago! But they weren't dismantled because of something about a legal dispute over their ownership. At least that's what dad explained to me that one time I asked him."
"Taylor, breathe."
"Yes, yes, sorry. I'm excited. So, I found several. There were no copper wires or anything of what you usually search for, but I found a lot of steel beams. I did the same, cut them up, and carried them here!"
For how long was she at it? "That's great! But why did you bring the drone with you?"
"Because there was a lot more metal there than I could possibly bring, even with the teleporter. So I brought the drone with me to tag the location in your map so I could then order it to dig straight to the construction site from our basement. I did that with several other construction sites. I found four that haven't been touched in years!"
I slowly nod. "You did an incredible job."
"All in a day's work!" She proudly punches her chest. "I thought that as I'll be having some free days, I should do more to help."
She's making me blush. "Thanks. Seriously."
"Oh! I also found these!" Maybe she didn't find copper wires, but what she did find were water pipes and valves. Also a water faucet. She has an entire bathroom in here! "This looked useful so I saved the pieces before feeding them to the drone."
"Good thing you did." The faucet isn't that interesting but there's a lot I can do with the pipes. Some changes here and there and I'll have a barrel and a compressed air tank. "Remember the tranquilizer darts rifle you wanted? I can build it with this." Building the darts will be a problem, though. Maybe I can build a dispenser? Something that I can feed chemical to, and that will pop out ammunition.
"Great! Next patrol will go much better than the last one!" Her enthusiasm is worthy of admiration, it's very contagious.
We hear the main door opening and her attention shifts to her father.
"Dad! We're up here!"
"Taylor?" His voice sounds sore and tired. More than usual. "Come here for a moment, we need to talk."
We exchange glances. That doesn't sound good.
My mind races through the possibilities as we dash down the stair. Does he suspect something? Were we found out? Did the PRT contact him?
We find him seated on the sofa, his briefcase in front of him, and his head on his hands.
"Taylor, we have a problem."
"Dad? What's wrong?"
"It's about your transfer to a new school. You don't show up in the city's records."
My heart skips a beat.
"What!?"
Inside my room, I muse and grumble while I think.
A little piece of trivia I'd forgotten from canon was that one of the reasons why the PRT had trouble finding Taylor was because of the mess that were Winslow's records. She didn't even have a picture and freaking Dragon had trouble making sense of them! And if an AI couldn't handle them, what can we expect from stupid meat bags?
That isn't helped by the fact that Winslow's servers are now a melted piece of plastic because, as it turned out, the records in the city's department of education are outdated.
Who would have guessed that Brockton Bay had a half-assed educational system?
The only silver lining is that Taylor isn't the only student in a similar situation but still means that if we don't fix this, she might have to retake the 10th grade next year.
Honestly, I wouldn't care if it happened to me, but Taylor doesn't seem to share my opinion.
"I don't want to get pulled a year." The girl of the hour freaks out while walking back and forth around my room.
While she does that, I'm busy doing more useful stuff. Namely, finishing a small upgrade for my visor. For this, the Khaydarin Crystal has proven to be worth its weight in gold as it allowed me to bypass several material requirements and go straight for the programming.
With this new module, I can access the local internet.
Now, the problem here isn't just that Taylor needs to enter a new school mid-semester, but also that there's no registry of her grades.
I browse for options. "You could claim to be homeschooled and take the entrance exam for Immaculata or Arcadia."
"Don't they cost money?"
Shit, they do. And looking at the two schools' webpages… yeah, that looks like way more money than we have.
Ok, next plan.
"What if you pretend to be Jewish?"
"What?!" You don't need to yell, Taylor! Good thing that Dany left trying to look for options on his own.
"Well," I explain. "Hebert is a surname related to Jewish people. If we make them believe that you're part of a minority, that will increase your dollar-value as a student and have more schools want you." I very purposely do not mention her curly hair.
Taylor's face goes blank for a moment there. "I… I don't even know where to start with that, but what about the part where the fucking Nazis control half the city?"
"Yes, but they are on my list." A very, very long list, but which got shorter after Winslow.
"I'm not pretending to be a Jew!" She folds her arms. "That's disrespectful."
"As you wish." Two options down, not that many left. "Now, how good were your grades last year?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"If your grades were good enough a school might take you if they believe you can bring their average up. That's important for funding."
She shakes her head. "They weren't good. Ever since Winslow started my grades have been going down."
That's not an option either, then. If this was just her trying to move to a new school it would be much easier, but the fire left hundreds of students on the streets. The good schools poached the few honor students that were in Winslow, and then blocked the access to everyone else claiming space concerns.
"Ok, I do have good news. There's one school that will take you."
"What's the bad part?"
Oh, she's not going to like it. "Its name is Institute 3409, doesn't have a proper name, and from what I'm reading might be as bad as Winslow. Also, because of your lost records, they'll probably stick a 2.0 in all the classes you were supposed to have taken, and shove you into remedial classes."
"No. No, no." She presses her palms against her eyes. "I'm not going through another Winslow. I don't want to end up in remedial classes! This was a mistake."
Well, that just settles it. Our legal options are a bust but that doesn't mean we don't have many others. And that's where the module I just installed in my visor once again comes into play because that's just the first step into a more robust upgrade.
"Why did I have to listen to you? This is your fault!"
There's a thud when my visor slides out of my hands and hits the floor.
Thankfully nothing is broken, but that was just uncalled for! Because, yes, I know she's distressed! Yes, I know this is an awful situation for her! And yes, I know this is my fucking fault for not thinking ahead, but I don't need her to remind me of that fact! "I know." I tell her through clenched teeth. "And you know what? I'm proud of it and would do it again."
"Of course you would! You weren't the one screwed by any of this!"
I bit my tongue to not yell at her. "I wasn't, no." I stare right into her eyes. "But do answer me this: when was the last time you felt this happy? When was the last time you actually looked forward to a new day? When was the last time you smiled and considered that killing yourself wasn't the answer?!"
Her eyes widened in shock.
"That's why I'd do this again."
Her entire body shakes with my question, her fingers clenching as she grips her pants. She doesn't answer, and with heavy steps, she walks out of my room.
A moment later I hear her slamming her door.
With Taylor away, I release a sigh. Shit, that could have gone better. Everything could have gone so much better. I could have thought more about this, maybe save the archives in case something like this happened, or do something else to smooth things out. Have a plan to fall back into.
Part of me wants to tell Taylor how stupid she's being for worrying about school in a world that's about to end, and another part fears adding to Taylor's worries by telling her about such imminent end of the world.
Shit, I so much hate this place. Why can't things go right for once?
Well, when life gives you lemons, you break her legs and force her into compliance.
I'll make things right.
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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 12
Thursday comes and goes mostly like the day before. Some more students attend this time around but several chairs remain empty. Missy is there, looking far better than on Monday, but still clearly distracted.
When I get home I find Taylor absent. We haven't talked since our argument and I find both the Blink Band and her visor at her spot in the attic. I'm worried about her. Eventually, she returns, claiming to have been at the library, and remains distant for the rest of the day.
Shit, this is just like the first day! I don't want things to go back to how they were!
Dinner is done in the blink of an eye and she secludes herself in her room.
At least my tinkering offers a nice distraction from the drama of human interaction.
On Wednesday, Missy notices my mood. "What got you down?"
I play with my food a bit but I'm just not feeling hungry. "I got into an argument with my cousin."
She nods in sympathy. "Ah. Yeah, arguments in the family are never nice." I'm reminded that her trigger event was her parents' messy divorce. "She goes to Winslow, doesn't she?"
"Used to." I push my tray away. I'm just not feeling like eating right now. "After the fire, she has been looking for a new school, and that has all of us in a bad mood."
"Sorry to hear that." She palms my shoulder. "Hope things get better on your side. Truly."
"Yeah, I hope for the same thing."
It's on Thursday when things take a turn in Clarendon.
"Attention students," The sound system flares into life with the Principal's voice. "Classes will be suspended until further notice. Please return to your houses and wait for an official announcement on when we'll be returning to normality."
My classmates start whispering to each other, as confused as I am about what just happened. As we walk out, I see Missy leaving with her grade.
"Hey, Missy!" I call her. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." There's an edge to her tone. "They haven't told me anything."
'They' could refer to the PRT or the school faculty, I can't be sure. Whatever the case is, I make my way back home.
"Hello?" I tentatively called out. It's not a surprise when I don't get an answer, but what is a surprise, and a fairly worrying one, is that both the Blink Band and Taylor's visor are missing.
Shit!
Is she out on patrol? No, her costume is still here and I doubt she'd go out without it, no matter how frustrated she's feeling.
My visor is here, so I could use it to track her down!
That doesn't sit well with me, though.
But what if she's in danger? In her first night out she fought Lung, and the two times we went out we found troubles!
No, no, she doesn't have her costume so she shouldn't be looking out for troubles. Also, it's the middle of the morning!
Oh, please, this is Taylor! She'll jump in at the first sight of anything potentially life-threatening! And didn't the Undersiders robbed the bank in the middle of the morning too?
What should I do? What should I do?
Should I trust her not to get into trouble?
Ha! As if.
I have to get out there! I need to help her in case she's in trouble and-
And that's when I'm momentarily blinded by a sudden flash of light, and then Taylor is there standing in front of me with a backpack over her shoulders.
It takes both of us a moment to realize that the other is there.
I yell in surprise.
She yells in surprise, and then trips and falls to the ground. There's a clunking sound as several circuits boards and other electronics come rolling out of the backpack.
"Peter!" She finally manages to exclaim.
"Taylor." I reply in kind. "Hi."
"H-hi." She picks herself up from the ground, glancing with embarrassment at the circuitry scattered all over the floor. "Why are you here so early?"
This is… kind of awkward. But it's nice that we're talking again. "School's suspended until further notice. Maybe because of the fire."
"Ah." She replies in an equally awkward fashion.
"And you? What have you been up to?"
She looks uncomfortable for a second, as if not sure what to say, and finally she shows me the content of the backpack.
My eyes widened in surprise. There are a lot of electronics there.
"Where did you find this?" I pull out motherboards, the inside of a broken sound system, and more.
"Here and there." She shrugs looking away from me. "I have been picking them up from trash cans and other places. I also made a trip to the garbage dump outside the city. That's what I had been doing these last few days."
"Why?"
"Because-" She pauses, taking a moment to compose herself. "I wanted to apologize. For telling you that this was your fault."
I need a moment to process that. "It... kind of was?"
"No, it wasn't!" Her yell makes me flinch. "I was right there, I could have stopped you but I didn't."
"I forced your hand, didn't I?" I mean, I told her about the burning after I had already cut the pump in half.
"Oh, please, I'm the older one here. I should be the one thinking ahead instead of going along with whatever you came up with."
There is… a lot to unpack there. Starting with my actual age, but age alone is not a reflection of a person's maturity or experience. And I'm the first to admit that I'm far from the most mature person around. "I'm not very good at measuring the consequence of my actions."
"Oh, believe me, I noticed." She smiles. "And it's also not your fault that the city screwed me over. That's on Winslow. Again." She takes a seat, and I make myself comfortable next to her. "You were right, you know? The last time I felt as happy as I was on Monday… I honestly don't remember. I haven't felt happy for a long time, not since mom died." She sighs. "So, sorry, and thank you."
That is nice to hear if I'm being honest. "Eh, don't worry about it. I shouldn't have yelled at you either. So, friends again?"
"Definitely." She ruffles my hair. "But, hey, a question."
"Shoot."
"That thing you told me. About-" She gestures with her hand, trying to find the right words. "About me wanting to kill myself. Why did you say that?"
Because you're self-destructive and borderline suicidal, Taylor. At least that was what Tattletale said in her interlude. Or was that in one of Wilbow's posts? Is that even canon? I don't remember.
Of course I don't tell her that! It would raise far too many questions, but there is another thing I can say. One that isn't even a lie.
"I think I was projecting a bit there." I shrug. Not for the first time, I wonder if the reason I hate Taylor so much as a character is because of how much she reminds me of myself at my worst. And that's not a pretty image to see. "Some years ago I went through a bad phase. I just accused you of what I'd have done in your place."
She puts an arm over my shoulders. "Sometimes it's hard for me to grab my head around the fact that you're younger than me."
I smile but don't say anything else.
"Now," She adds. "Are you going to show me what you've been working on? Because I know you have something planned."
I jump to my feet. "Oh, absolutely! Now, let me show my Visor 2.0."
I point her at what would be best described as my workstation. My visor no longer looks like futuristic night vision goggles, and instead like the bulbose eyes of a mechanical fly. Very much like a mix of Nova's visor and Adam Jensen's shades that will go very well with Taylor's insect theme once I'm done with hers. Among many others, the most important upgrade is Jensen's Hacking Device that will allow me to access any mundane computer system.
"I was thinking that, as the City doesn't have your entry, we should break into the Department of Education and load the info ourselves."
Taylor takes a moment just staring at the new thing I created. "If the PRT already believes you to be a tinker, won't they get even more suspicious when my name magically pops up?"
That… is not something that crossed my mind. Not at all. I raise an index and… no, still nothing. "Well… any suggestions?"
"I do, actually." She presses her fingers together. "I was looking online, and instead of just adding my file to Arcadia's roster, you could add me to their enrollment test. Does that sound good to you?"
That sounds like a simple and reasonable plan. Not something I'd have thought about. "We'd still need to break into the Department of Education."
"Consider that my gift to you."
"And you'd need to take and pass the test. Unles-"
"We are not breaking into Arcadia to steal the answer!" She quickly adds before I can even formulate my idea. "This is something I want to do. Prove myself that I can be in Arcadia."
I can respect. I still find it stupid, but worthy of respect. "Fine, but I am helping you study."
"That I'd appreciate."
Well, that went better than expected.
"So," I clap. "Considering that I won't be having classes for a while either, why don't we do this tonight?"
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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 13: Armsmaster Interlude
Inside his laboratory in the Protectorate Base, Colin Wallis hummed to himself as he finished his next project: a tranquilizer serum and delivery system that would counter the regeneration of high-level brutes. That device would be the one to finally help him bring Lung down.
On the corner of the room there was the container that housed his halberd, currently going through debugging, and on the desk, stained by oil and battery acid, laid abandoned a child's drawing of a power armor. That one had been given to him by Vista, who in turn had received it from one of the children that the Wards program had identified as a potential trigger. So far that case remained inconclusive, and so Colin had promptly forgotten about it.
It wouldn't be the first time that a gifted child was confused with a parahuman one.
His computer pinged informing about the reception of a new message. He opened it and saw the image of an orange cat eating what looked to be an Italian dish. Underneath it, there was a short phrase that read:This is your daily reminder that you have to eat real food.
Colin smiled at that. Dragon always had a way to get to him.
The message did remind him about something but not just his diet. He had the data on continental tides that Dragon wanted, and maybe with another month of hard work they'd be able to successfully predict where Leviathan would attack next.
He was halfway through writing that message when his computer pinged again. This time it wasn't a message, though. It was a call, and an urgent one for the look of it.
"Armsmaster here." He answered.
"Armsmaster, this is Renick. I'm sending you pictures from the Fire and Arson Investigation team. I want your opinion on them."
The case the Deputy Director was talking about was Winslow's fire. Normal arson cases took weeks to properly investigate, but this had been a school, a public building. The case had been classified as a potential terrorist action, speeding several procedures up. And if now they were asking for his expertise…
He frowned as he opened the files.
One hour later the entire Protectorate team was assembled at the conference room, together with Deputy Director Renick, and Director Piggott through teleconference.
"What's the issue, boss?" Assault asked in his dismissive tone.
Ignoring him, Armsmaster signaled at the screen where several pictures were in display. "As you all know, Winslow High burned down on Friday. Moments ago, the case was reclassified as 'Arson with Parahuman Powers'."
The team tensed at his words. He couldn't blame them. Brockton Bay was already the center of criminal parahuman activity of North America, but at least most villains tried to stay clear of schools. Not only to not bring heat on their heads, but also because places like Winslow were prime centers of recruitment, and markets for drugs and other illegal items.
The burning of a school suggested a level of malice that his city didn't need.
Assuming that this had been an adult parahuman, of course. Something he wasn't sure about yet.
"What evidence do we have to support that it was a parahuman?" Miss Militia asked, pulling her scarf down to massage her upper lip.
Pressing several buttons on the keyboard, Armsmaster brought to the front of the screen several photos with his annotations written over them. "The backdoor was cut open by a blade-shaped object emitting extreme heat. So was the pump of the fire sprinkler system. This could have been the work of a striker, but the running theory is a tinker." The screen changed one more time, this time to show what remained of Winslow's computer lab. "The reason for this, is that multiple computer parts were found missing."
"Could it have been a recently triggered student?"
Armsmaster had spent the previous half an hour arguing with Renick's people over that, and they had failed to reach an agreement. "That's still under investigation, but my personal opinion is that it's doubtful. Not only the pump, but also the alarms and the cameras were disabled before the fire started. This suggests a level of planning and premeditation that doesn't fit with a recently triggered person." Even less so if they assumed a recently triggered high schooler.
This time it was Director Piggott's turn to take the floor. "Kid Win and Aegis fought a new parahuman during their patrol two weeks ago. Could it be related?"
Armsmaster had seen those pictures. The few ones that survived after Kid Win's equipment had malfunctioned due to the discharge of electricity. The parahuman in question was almost as tall as Aegis, suggesting a male, and had been carrying tinkertech equipment.
"Maybe. 'Sting', as was tentatively named, was equipped with an energy blade that would fit with the shape of the damage caused. Their weapon was observed only dealing nonlethal damage, but we can't discard the possibility of alternate modes, or the tinker in question having developed a new tool. For now, they are considered a potential suspect, and have to be approached as a villain."
Sting was also a big unknown for the PRT. His costume looked amateurish and hand-made, yet the acts of distracting Aegis with sand, and later by throwing a heavy object into the water, suggested he had some form of combat experience.
"How are we going to proceed with the investigation?" Once again Director Piggott was asking the important questions.
"The Brockton Bay Police Department has shared with the PRT the files they have on Winslow. Including the students' roster. Even if they aren't the prime suspects, we are working under the theory that a student was involved in the incident, and so the PRT will monitor their activities in search of abnormal behavior. Any question?"
There were none.
Armsmaster looked at Piggott, who nodded at him. "In that case, you're dismissed."
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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 13
The Brockton Bay Department of Education is not located in the Town's Hall, nor anywhere near the city's center. Instead of that, it's located in an apartment block, close to the docks, that the city's renting for that exact purpose. Located in the same block is also a dance studio, an art studio, and a local radio station.
"Is this the place? I was expecting, I don't know, something more?" Taylor is standing next to me on the roof of the neighboring block, sporting her recently retrofitted visor. I'll need several days to finish her upgrade but at least now she's starting to look like an actual ladybug.
"Looks about right to me." I reply with a shrug. The Department of Education in my previous city was just the same.
Now, how are we going to proceed with this entire mess?
I activate my visor's scanner mode and discover that the unassuming front hides a complex network of cameras and motion sensors. It very much looks like an electronic spiderweb. And these work passively, constantly sending an 'ok' signal to the outside, so I can't just destroy them as I did in Winslow.
I suspect it might be to protect the Wards' identities, at least from normals. Against a dedicated cape infiltrator, though? Not much they can do against that. And guess what Deus Ex is about, besides augmentations!
"Do your bugs feel anything?"
Taylor's still having trouble distinguishing shapes and sounds, but her sense of smell is top-notch. That was how she found the bleeding man before my visor did.
"I don't think so? My bugs are acting weird around the air ducts but I think that's bug repellant."
I nod at her words as I continue my investigations. Luckily for us, there's just one guard at the entrance, with all the alarms handled by the automatic system. That system is wired to a central server station on the ground floor, close to where the guard's stationed, which in turn is connected to an antenna on the roof sending information to an outside security agency. No component of the systems seems to be tinkertech, so it's time to see if my hacking device works as expected.
If it doesn't, well, at least we'll have the teleporter to flee from the scene.
"Let's do this." I grab Taylor's arm and we teleport to the opposite roof. The servers are surrounded by cameras, so my first target is the antenna. It works as an input and output system, so I should be able to… there! I put the outgoing signal in a fifteen second loop. It will be quickly noticed by any human on the other side, so we must move fast. We teleport into the servers' room.
"Tech-Priest, something's happening with the guard outside." Taylor shakes my shoulder. "He's coming our way." The alarm in her voice is clear despite her not raising it.
Yeah, the security agency in charge of this place must have noticed the loop, but it's done. We teleport out of the room just in time to see the man enter it through the cameras that now I control. After a quick search, he returns to his post not having found anything. And I made sure that there wouldn't be anything to find as I deleted all traces of our activities.
Okay, so far so good. I can now pick which cameras to loop and which sensors to disable, so we should be good to go and not risk raising any more alarms.
We teleport inside the Department of Education's office. It's a room barely bigger than our living room, with four computers inside, and a single window that leads to an air shaft.
"Help me turn the computers on." I tell Taylor, and slowly the room fills with the hum of cooling fans.
I crack my knuckles.
It's showtime. The security system was no match for my visor, but now it's time to see how it fares when it has to search, sort, and modify information. Hundreds of emails and documents flash over my visor as I run the hacking program. Cracking passwords is a joke, and so is tricking the computer into forgetting this unscheduled connection.
The visor has finished sorting through 75% of the archives when I receive a warning.
"Tech Priest?" Taylor asks in concern, as she too can see what I'm seeing through her enhanced-reality HUD.
"It's fine, we weren't detected." The warning isn't about us triggering an alarm but about the visor finding a heavily encrypted folder and asking me if it should try opening it. It finds three folders like that. One for Arcadia, one for Clarendon, and one for Winslow. "I think I found the Wards' folders."
"Don't touch them!" She yells.
I'm not that stupid. I mean, I guess so. "I won't, don't worry."
Despite my calming words she still eyes me warily. "Good."
I don't think I even could, honestly. My visor calculates a catastrophically low chance of opening it without being detected, so there has to be some tinker tech at play here. But now that reminds me of something. "Say, Taylor, what was the name of that Sophia girl you told me about?"
She goes very still for a moment. "Hess." She spits. "Her name's Sophia Hess."
I search for her name and… well, I was sadly expecting that. "She's going to Arcadia."
"What?! Why?!"
"According to this-" I read further into the transference trying to find what excuse they came up with, "Because of sports credits."
Taylor paces back and forth clutching the side of her head. "She was a member of Winslow's track and field team."
Yes, that probably helped, but I know that the real reason must be because she's Shadow Stalker of the Wards. "Anyone el-"
"Madison Clemens." She says before I can even finish fo
"She's going to Immaculata."
"Okay, that's good. That is good." Her breathing gets heavy. "One last name. Emma Barnes."
Let's see, I search for her name and… shit. "She's going to Arcadia too."
"Why?!" It's a good thing that we're on a second floor and no one can hear us or we'd be in deep shit right now. "She doesn't do sports, the only thing she has is her modeling career! And she doesn't have the scores to get into Arcadia! I should know, that's why she went to Winslow and why I followed her there!" She collapses on a chair like a puppet who got her strings cut.
"You went to Winslow because of her?"
"Yes." She pulls her mask up so she can breathe easier. "I could have gone to Arcadia but insisted on going to Winslow to be with her."
We didn't bring provisions with us assuming this would be a quick operation, but there's a water dispenser in the corner. I fill a disposable cup and offer it to her. "You couldn't have known any of this would happen."
"No, I guess not." She empties the cup in one gulp and gives it back to me. I'll make sure to destroy it later. "How did she get in?"
"She was recommended by the law firm Barnes and Hamlet. Her father must have used his influence to pull that one out." And money. Lots and lots of money.
"Of course he did."
"I could send you somewhere else." I offer. "Clarendon is fairly strict against students who misbehave. I should know. We could also get registered you as homeschooled, or even-"
"No." She cuts me. "They aren't ruining this one for me too. If anything, this convinces me even more to take the test! Not only I'll be there too but I'll be there on my own right, unlike them."
On one hand, she's a bloody stubborn girl. On the other, doing something out of spite is a thing I sympathize with. "Only if that's what you want. If anything, I'd like to see them trying to bully you there. If they try, they'll get stomped hard."
She laughs. "And if Arcadia fucks this one up we can just burn it too!" I can't tell if she's being serious or not. Taylor's scary when she gets angry.
"Oh, we will." I reply with a subtle smile of complicity. "Let's do this then."
Where are the correct documents now?
Found them! And it seems that because of the fire Arcadia got an unprecedented influx of new potential students, making a mess of their paperwork. Several transfer documents are incomplete, and some even contradict others about who should go where. With some luck, this means that Taylor's name will get overlooked. "It's done, Ladybug. Next Friday at nine you'll have to be at Arcadia for your entrance test."
She slowly nods. "Not much time to study but I can do this."
"With my help, of course you can!"
"What about the syllabus? I don't want the answers but I will need that."
That is very true. "Got it. I saved it to your visor."
"Perfect!" She presses the side of her visor, looking through it. "So, is that it? Do we leave now?"
We could, yes, but that honestly feels like a waste. I have access to governmental servers here so there should be something for me to do.
Idea!
"Give me a minute. I want to find out what the schools have been doing with their outdated equipment."
"Their what?"
I reply while browsing through the archives. "When a school receives new equipment, they have to do something with the old stuff. Normally the city would send them to other schools, but I want to check if I can't get that trash."
"Sounds reasonable."
Acquisition of books… no, I don't care about that. Oh, look at that, Arcadia has an infirmary and is correctly disposing of its biological wastes. Neat but I don't care about that either.
Wait, what is this?
"Tech Priest?" Taylor asks, maybe noticing how I stopped at a particular document.
"A moment. I found something weird." I'm reading about the donation of several new computers and other school supplies to Winslow. It supposedly happened a year ago, but the specifications don't match. Those most definitely weren't the computers that I dismantled. "Did you hear about this?" I send the document to Taylor.
"I didn't. Maybe it got canceled or something? It wouldn't surprise me if Blackwell kept it and sold it to someone else."
"Maybe." But there's something that rubs me the wrong way here. The donation wasn't made public, and according to this document the one behind it is... Blue Mountain, a construction company.
Wasn't Fortress Constructions just a fanon name?
I search for more info, browsing the web trying to figure out who the owner is.
I find nothing. There's no name, the webpage is barren of information, but I do find several newspaper articles more than five years old about renovations across the city.
Blue Mountain was the company responsible for building the Endbringer Shelters in Brockton Bay and several neighboring cities.
Fuck me, this is Coil's company.
"So? What did you find?"
"Something big."
What else was this group involved in? If I'm reading this manifest correctly, the donations arrived at their designated storehouse but didn't reach Winslow. No reason is given, and the company didn't reclaim them either. The boxes are still there.
At least boxes that claim to have the donations inside them.
What if Coil used them to smuggle illegal stuff? He could have brought anything in them! From drugs to weapons, to equipment for his mercenaries.
Where did the donations come from?
Boston.
Isn't that great? The same city that has Accord in it, one of Coil's allies and a powerful thinker. What a bloody happy coincidence!
I need more.
Coil not only donated materials to Winslow but also to every other school in the city. Unlike Winslow's, these ones reached their destinations after having been stored in a different warehouse. I even have a newspaper clip here about how happy Arcadia was to receive the material.
Shit, could Coil have bugged the computers? That sounds like something he'd do.
And there's even more still! The old material was scheduled to be recycled and sent toBoston, where it'd be received by struggling schools there. It was sent to the same warehouse where Winslow's donations were stored -which now I'm sure belongs to Coil- and that's where the trail ends. There are no accounts of the old material leaving for Boston, assuming that it ever did and that the snake didn't use it for something else.
I leaned back, pushing my back against the wall.
"So? What is it?" Taylor sounds concerned, and how could I blame her? I'm very concerned too.
How do I explain this to her? Much of what I found comes from my out-of-universe knowledge.
"I think I found a drug ring?" I blurt out. That sounds like a reasonable conclusion, doesn't it? One that I could have reasonably reached with the information I have here.
"What?! How?"
"Well, I have no defining proof but I have an entire supply chain here of donations not reaching their intended destinations. They just mysteriously vanish on the way."
"Could they have just lost the registries? I mean, it happened to me and… shit, they totally would care more about a desk than me, wouldn't they?"
"Don't be like that. You are at least as valuable as an A/C Unit."
"Jerk." She folds her arms but I can see her smiling underneath the mask.
"You're right, this could be just a huge coincidence." As if! Not when Coil is involved. "But just in case, I noted down the direction of the warehouse where the stuff was lost."
"Do you want us to go investigate it next?"
"No.Iwill go scout it ahead, and call you if I find anything weird. You need to start studying."
She scratches the back of her neck. "Oh, yes. I will need to start doing that, won't I?"
Our plans for the next day made, we cover our tracks and go back home.
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In Nuclear Fire by BatRou-Dawg
Misc » Book X-overs Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 606k+, Favs: 54, Follows: 65, Published: Apr 10, 2023 Updated: Apr 18, 2023
21Chapter 14
Something to consider about vigilantism is that running around the city at two in the morning isn't healthy. I could compensate for it during the weekend because, well, it was the weekend, but with school canceled my entire sleep schedule has been scrambled.
That's why it's way past ten in the morning when I enter the kitchen looking for breakfast, only to find Taylor already there surrounded by books.
"Studying for Arcadia?" I read the covers. She has history, biology, and literature in there. There's also a notepad next to her already full of scribbles. How long has she been up?
"Yeah." Her reply gets interrupted by a yawn. "I got mom's books and started noting down all the useful things."
I go to the fridge and pull out some milk. "Wasn't your mother just a literature teacher?"
Shit! We haven't talked much about her mother yet. I shouldn't know that she was a teacher.
Thankfully she notices neither my slip nor my panic. "She never tossed a single book out, and still had her university books when she-" Taylor takes a deep breath. "She died."
"Hey, we don't need to talk about it-"
"No, no. I'm fine." She stops me with a wave of her hand. "I got over it a long time ago, but then Emma happened and everything became a mess."
I remember a bit of that. Taylor's strength to get over her mother's death was one of the things that drove Emma into that insane jealousy. Plus Sophia. Plus the rape attempt by the ABB.
And let's not forget her father who insisted she was okay and didn't need therapy!
I should add him to the list.
"Tell me if you need anything." I offer, patting her shoulder.
"I'm studying history right now, and don't take this the wrong way but after what you pulled at your history class I don't think I want your help."
"Hey, not my fault that your books are nothing but propaganda."
She smiles. "Mom would have liked you."
"She sounds like an intelligent woman." I finish with my milk and wash the cup. "Well, if you don't need my help I'll be leaving for the warehouse."
"Be careful, alright?"
"Don't worry. As I told you, I'm not getting anywhere near that place. I'll just scan it from a distance and keep the teleporter ready in case I need to flee."
"Ok, but remember that it's my job as your older sister to worry."
Taylor was starting to like this.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't liking it either.
On my way to the warehouse, I look for information about it online. There are no publications, no advertisements, no nothing. Not even a contact telephone. It exists, and that's all that the internet can say about it.
The more I find -or fail to find- about this place, the more convinced I am that there's something illegal going on. That or the underdeveloped internet of Earth Bet is giving me problems. Whatever the case, soon I'll have the answer.
It takes me half an hour to reach my destination, teleporting in my way through empty buildings to ensure no one can see me.
The warehouse is surrounded by dilapidated industries, has two big gates on the front, and is wide enough to accommodate six trucks, one next to the other. Connected to the main building there's also a smaller two-stories section where the offices are located.
I see all that through the telescopic function of my visor, while I remain safely hidden inside of an apartment located more than a block away.
I activate the more powerful scanners of my visor and- sweet mother of baby Jesus, what the fuck am I looking at? The entire warehouse just lit up like a freakin Christmas tree!
Deep breaths, deep breaths. Let's try to make sense of this. What am I looking atexactly? Once again, a security system. A really… interesting one. The server room is located in a room below ground. That room is behind the water tanks, and only accessible by punching a code in a keypad. I see medical equipment, several computers, and what seems to be an armory. And weapons! Lots of weapons. And not chemical-propelled ones, those are laser rifles! I can tell by the way they flare in my visor. I want them so much! I could just teleport in and… no, I can't. The bunker is lined with sensors: motion, sound, pressure, and even heat. And the worst part is that each one is wired to a different computer through several redundancies. There's no way for me to hack into this system. If I manage to get into one computer, then the others will announce my presence. And that's assuming that I can even get inside that room!
This is definitely Coil's doing, no doubt about it. Not his main base, it's too small for that, but it must be one of his satellite ones.
And if Coil is behind this… yeah, there it is. The floor of the bunker is lined with explosives, all linked to a detonator controlled by a radio receiver. All tinkertech.
The guy did have a thing for his explosives.
Any misstep and this entire place will turn into a crater.
But enough about the bunker for now, what about the main storage area?
I count five people scattered around the premise, and I seriously doubt that the handguns that they all carry underneath their jackets are part of their 'official' uniforms.
The crates they are guarding contain… actually mundane stuff. There's food and medicine, nothing that could be considered illegal, but Coil still needs to feed and clothe his mercenaries, so this could be where he stores their supplies.
I could disable the major systems with an EMP grenade (thankfully Deus Ex also has those), but I'd still have to deal with the mercenaries. Not something I look forward to, they are built like bricks and the way they're positioned makes it impossible for Taylor to strike them all down with one swing of her blade.
This place is a freaking fortress, and we'll need to prepare accordingly if we want to crack it.
After lunch, Taylor brings her books to the attic so she can keep studying while I tinker.
"Can't we just call the PRT?" She asks, her voice accompanied by the scribbles in her notebook.
I did spend a long time thinking about it. Not about the pros and cons of calling them, but about excuses to not call them. Coil has several moles infiltrated across the PRT and we could get severely screwed if one of them finds us.
"They'll need a warrant to investigate," I explain while finishing with the compressed-air tube. "And the only evidence we have we acquired illegally through the use of tinkertech."
"Can't we just give them the information anonymously?"
"I'm not sure who those mercenaries work for, and the place has a bomb underneath it. If we don't hit hard and fast, whoever's the leader will just make it explode."
"I guess that's true." She sulks down, her attention returning to her exercise. "Hey, can you help me with this?"
Putting my work on pause, I move behind her to look at what she's doing. Oh, neat. Trigonometry.
"I give you three words for you to remember: Sor, Car, Toa."
She gives me a look as if I had suddenly started speaking in Spanish. "Excuse me?"
"Sine is Opposite divided by the Hypotenuse, the Hypotenuse represented by R. Cosine is Adjacent divided by the Hypotenuse, and Tangent is Opposite divided by Adjacent."
Her eyes look back to the paper. "Oh. Ohhh, that's useful!"
"Note it down so you remember." And with that last piece of wisdom, I return to my tinkering.
Now, if I must be honest with myself, a lot of my reasoning for not calling the PRT is motivated by no small amount of greed. The weapons that the mercenaries have are excellent, and I want to keep them. Same with any other useful stuff that I could find in the warehouse.
I am not risking us for them. Well, I am not risking Taylor, I don't care about myself nearly that much, but if things get heated I'll pull the plug before she gets hurt, and call the PRT.
Tightening some final bolts I shout: "Taylor, catch!" And toss her my most recent creation.
She receives it in open arms. "Finally! You took your sweet time with it." It's the tranquilizer rifle of Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
"Put your visor on and look at what happens."
She does. "It's like a videogame!"
Our visors now display an aiming reticle and remaining ammunition when holding a linked weapon. It's not perfect, without the arm implants the reticle lacks stability, and the system doesn't compensate for wind and distance falloff, but it's a good start.
Taylor plays a bit more with the rifle before putting it aside. "Only ten darts?"
"For now, yes. I'll upgrade my drone to be able to turn into an ammo dispenser, but ten should be enough for us."
"Will you build anything else?"
"A riot prod for me in case I need to fight, and a couple of EMP grenades to disable the explosives." Even if we don't use them tonight, grenades are always useful to carry around.
And I must say that the drone's ability to process metals has been really useful. With it, I have been able to salvage scrap that I wouldn't have been able to use on my own. I can't wait for it to reach the first construction site! That should happen tomorrow morning.
"But won't our things get frayed too?" Taylor asks with the tip of her pencil against her lips.
Nice to see that she's already thinking ahead.
"Already accounted for! I'll shield our equipment before we leave." Both Adam Jensen and DC Denton had several EMP shields, and those I'm adapting for our items. They can only take so many EMP blasts before going down but should be more than enough to resist a grenade or two.
"Well, I guess you already thought of everything."
"Of course I did!"
We'll be ready to attack Coil's base after midnight.
This is unexpected.
"Tech Priest, how many mercenaries did you see this morning?" Taylor, in her Ladybug costume, asks me as we look at the display in front of us.
"Only five. And they weren't this well-armed."
This is most definitely unexpected. The number of mercenaries has risen to twelve, and these ones aren't pretending to be warehouse workers. They are in full military gear, armed with both conventional and laser weaponry.
What happened here?
Shit! Did Coil get tipped that we were going to attack? No, that makes no sense, that's not how his power works and he shouldn't have Dinah yet!
That reminds me that I should do something about Dinah soon.
"Maybe they are waiting for a delivery of drugs?" Taylor offers.
Now that makes more sense! "Maybe. That'd explain the extra security."
"So, what do we do now?"
Whatever the real reason is, this is most definitely one of those 'pull the plug' situations. With my equipment and the element of surprise on our side, I trusted us to be able to take down the five mercenaries I saw this morning. But against these many? No. That's just too risky.
Maybe noticing my indecision, Taylor makes a suggestion of her own. "Can we track where they are going?"
I rub a finger against my chin. That's not a bad idea at all! If we follow this group they eventually should go to some other base, or maybe even to the main one if we're lucky. "If we wait for the contraband, we could see who picks it up, and follow them to their destination."
"And get the boss of this entire operation!"
Underneath my mask, I smile. "Yes. Now we just need to wait for the delivery and-" I get suddenly interrupted by Taylor gripping my shoulder. "Ladybug?"
"There's like… there's lice and... are those parasitic worms?" Her eyes dart towards the road and soon we see a pair of lights that turn into a box truck.
Under my scanner, the truck only looks like a black mass. Not even my visor can pierce the walls of the cargo area!
It must be carrying the contraband, and be shielded against tinkertech scanners.
The vehicle drives into the warehouse, the gates closing behind it. It comes to a full stop, and the mercenaries surround it to help unload the cargo.
The back doors of the truck open.
I feel a jolt of electricity traveling down my spine. My hairs stand on end, my knuckles ache, and my nails cut into the skin of my palms with how hard I clench my fists.
I can't see her next to me, but I just know that Taylor feels the same way.
Now we know what they are trafficking. It isn't drugs and it isn't weapons either.
It would be better if they were.
The inside of the cargo area is built like a prisoner's transport, divided in the middle by a barred gate. In one half there's an extra guard, and who looks to be a medic. And in the other, gagged, bound, and without enough space to move, are two children.
It's a boy and a girl who can't be older than ten, dressed as if they were going to a ballroom dance.
Coil hires desperate people who crave special 'payment' that only he can provide. That's how he keeps them loyal and under his control, terrified of ever going against him in case their secrets are ever made public.
I was right after all, this is where Coil keeps his mercenaries' supplies.
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