Welcome to the Family (Sidekick Quest)

[x] Call Augur

"This is who I am," you tell Dissent, "and I don't need your approval."

Dissent shakes her head. "No," she says. "Just theirs. You're a coward."

"A coward?" You take a step towards her but she matches you, until the two of your are practically nose to nose. You open your mouth to argue back, but no words come. You find yourself at a complete and utter loss.

Nobody has ever called you a coward before. You've been an active crime-fighter since you were twelve years old, a profession that sees you venturing out nightly to trade blows with armed gang members and adult meta-humans. You throw yourself off buildings so often that it's practically become routine. In the last hour alone you've driven a motorcycle through four live intersections at eighty miles an hour. Three different therapists have accused you of being suicidal, after you finally convinced them that you weren't completely oblivious to the danger you face every day.

At any moment, you could be gunned down while enjoying a party with friends.

That was how they got your mother.

You can't speak. You have nothing to say. And so Dissent steps up into the silence. There is no smile on her face now, no shine in her eyes. She stares directly into your goggles and you know – with a certainty that chills you – that she sees straight through the callsign.

"You're a coward," she says again, her voice no more than a whisper, "so scared of taking responsibility that you'll let anyone else make your choices for you."

You step away and press a finger to your ear, pinging Augur. She's with you immediately. "Cardinal. Is everything alright?"

"I…have Dissent. We're fine here." Dissent turns away, to look out over the city. It would be easy for her to jump on the line, but she doesn't. "How's the rest of the Family looking?"

"Peaks and valleys, like in all things," Augur says. "It's quiet now, but that never lasts. Why did you call? Not just to check in."

Another glance at Dissent. Why are you doing that? What are you looking for? "Dissent has a lead on the KMA." It only takes a moment for you to catch Augur up to speed – it takes significantly longer for her to respond. You stand still, rigid, trying to give away nothing in your body language.

"I don't like it," Augur says finally. "I'm seeing a lot of ways this could go wrong."

"I thought that was the business we're in." Dissent turns, mouths something at you – something dangerously close to "I told you so" – and you wave her away.

"The only business I'm in is keeping you alive," Augur says. "The KMA is big leagues, Cardinal. This isn't Tommy Two-Fist, or the Jackass. They're the KGB with nicer suits."

"Which is exactly why we need to do this," you say. "If it's too dangerous for us alone, then get Blackbird out here to run point." Dissent's eyes widen and she takes a step closer, shouting something at you in utter silence. You stiff arm her, which gives you space but really seems to piss her off.

Augur sighs, "Blackbird still isn't back in New York." The "and I won't tell you where he is" is only implied, but you can practically feel the guilt worming its way into Augur's system. You have never once seen the woman on the other end of the commlink, but she has been a constant presence in your life for as long as you can remember, and you know her. "I...suppose...that this is too good an opportunity to pass up. I'll give you the green light."

You can't help but pump your fist. "She said yes?" Dissent mouths. You spread your arms in a
"what can I say"-esque motion, and she actually does an excited little hop.

"But this is serious, do you understand?" Augur asks, oblivious to your shared celebration. "You keep me informed, you take this slow, and you get out at the first sign of trouble."

"Third sign is the best I can do," you say, unable to keep the grin out of your voice.

"Cardinal." There it is. Flat and sharp as a sword, driven right through you. Your best efforts in the precinct were no more than a paltry imitation of the real thing. "You take this seriously or I swear to Christ, I will lock you both in the aerie for a month."

"Right. Of course. You can count on me." You cut the connection and look back to Dissent. She's still smiling, but without the call between you, the tension rears its head again.

You wish...you wish having permission didn't make you feel so good. You wish Augur had killed the op, so that you could defy her and run it anyway. A completely ridiculous thing to wish for, but you can't stop the thought from popping into your brain. It's frustrating to wonder if you'd even have the guts to disobey Augur, had she not given the green light. It's far more frustrating to not know the answer.

There is no banter on the bike ride to Hell's Kitchen. Dissent sits well back on the seat, busying herself with keeping her balance as you throw the motorcycle into more and more reckless turns. Light and steel and concrete all coalesce into a single, continuous line – but you find no relief in it. Your mind refuses to quiet, to submit to instinct.

You take the last few blocks by grappling gun, to better hide your approach from any KMA agents that might be watching for you. Dissent guides you with with curt monosyllables, but you catch her watching you pensively when she thinks your attention is elsewhere. You struggle not to do the same. Dissent's swinging is clumsy, unpracticed, but she keeps herself in the sky.

She points out the bar where the meeting is to take place. "Only in New York City could a rooftop bar be a dive," you mutter, identifying the best spot from which to provide overwatch. The carved image of a woman's torso, done in the grandiose art deco style that saturates your city, sticks out from the side of a nearby skyscraper. It will provide cover from prying eyes, and a vantage point with which to survey the battlefield.

It is also a blindingly obvious choice for a masked vigilante. "The KMA and the Family have been tangling since tangling was a thing," you tell Dissent as the two of you touch down on the roof of a building on the opposite side of a bar. "They know how we operate, so we can't always go with the best choice. I'll be…" you pull the blueprints up on your HUD and take a moment to scan them, "61st​ floor, third window from the right. The office space is listed as for sale, so you won't have to worry about being interrupted. "If you need anything-"

"You'll be on commlink the whole time," Dissent says. She strips her coat off and turns it inside out, revealing it to be reversible, then starts unstrapping the plated body armor that covers her upper half. She's about to take it off when she arches an eyebrow at you. "Hopin' for a show?"

"What? I-no, you just-" You turn away rather than continue to embarrass yourself stammering.

Dissent only laughs. "Relax," she says, the armor hitting the ground with a heavy thud. "I'm decent." You give her a half a minute or so, just in case, before turning back.

She's removed her mask and piercings, and wrapped herself in her reversed coat – and as you watch she redoes her hair, winding it around her fingers into complicated knots that cleverly disguise its length. It's somewhat remarkable to see the transformation, completed by removing the colored contacts she wears when out in costume. If it weren't for the cuts and scrapes across her face, even you might struggle to recognize her. "Well," she says, glancing over at you, "this is where I get off."

It strikes you all of the sudden just how precarious this whole plan is. "This is the play?" You ask. "You're going to walk in there with no mask, no armor, no weapons, and sit down for a chat with the fucking KMA?"

Dissent shrugs a shoulder. "No plan survives contact with the enemy. With luck, I'll have a nice conversation, maybe a drink, an' be on my way in twenty minutes. It goes to hell...well, on me to survive. Ain't got much use for plans beyon' that."

"I'm seeing a lot of ways this could go wrong," you say, flinching as you as you hear Augur's words come out of your mouth.

"Ain't that what overwatch is for?" Dissent asks. "Besides. A mask is just cloth and armor only slows me down." She smiles at you then, but it's different from before. Almost hesitant. "An' I got a weapon on me."

You look her up and down. "You got a knife in the coat? Brass knuckles?" A terrible thought strikes you. "Don't tell me you've got a gun. Seriously, don't."

"No need." Dissent spreads her arms and strikes a pose. "You're lookin' at the weapon."

–

{} Wyatt is now Insecure
{} Wyatt now has influence over Charlotte

Roll +Superior (2d6+2) to assess the situation. On a 10+, vote for two of the questions below to be answered. On a 7-9, vote for one. Take +1 while acting on the answers?

[] What here can I use to _____________?
[] What here is the biggest threat?
[] What here is in the greatest danger?
[] Who here is the most vulnerable to me?
[] How could we best end this quickly?

I will answer these questions truthfully as Wyatt sees them. There's no complaining if you ask a question with an obvious answer and then get said obvious answer.