We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
L: Definitely interested in where this goes.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
This is the Internet, best to always be clear when you're being sarcastic.
If this was pre-Atropos, I would be questioning your sanity.
"And to ensure that people understand that you have my seal of approval."
Atropos happened.
*coughtsunderecough*
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
The truly neat thing about Bonesaw-to-Medic, is just how literally honest and caring Riley is (and, quite possibly, this is what her original/true personality would have become had Jack's power not effectively mind raped her 24/7/365). Or about how she's hellbent on fixing what she broke, when/where she can.
So, from a certain POV, she's getting the eviliest of cruel punishments - being allowed to LIVE, live long, live in peace, and tet never, ever, be able/allowed to forget what she did. On the opposing hand, she's been granted one hell of a mercy, in getting the opportunity handed to her to not just fix many mistakes, but then go on and heal potentially thousands or tens of thousands, for each person murdered while under Jack's mental influence.
So, from a certain POV, she's getting the eviliest of cruel punishments - being allowed to LIVE, live long, live in peace, and tet never, ever, be able/allowed to forget what she did. On the opposing hand, she's been granted one hell of a mercy, in getting the opportunity handed to her to not just fix many mistakes, but then go on and heal potentially thousands or tens of thousands, for each person murdered while under Jack's mental influence.
- Location
- Australia
From her point of view, she's gotten her life back, and every time she hugs someone (whether it be a member of her family/friend group or someone else) or helps someone, it's a big middle finger to Jack Slash and her previous self.
She's been given her agency back, and she's basically saying "fuck you, I can be good and I will be good" as often as she can.
It's one of the reasons she hugs Theo so much. One, he's cuddly. Two, he needs it. And three, she gets where he's been, and wants to encourage him to feel better about having resisted the pressure to be an asshole.
The reason Riley became Bonesaw, as I see it, is Jack Slash fucking with a 6 year old's mind starting right after the huge trauma of seeing her family get killed; AND because her power was also fucking with her mind to make her do things that would satisfy it's needs. Atropos is one of the only versions of Taylor I've ever seen that could deal with the second reason, as Ending would definitely have had a SERIOUS talk with her shard to change it's ways. Not many others can deal with the shard side of the problem.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
Not after, with. She broke because Jack and the other members of the Nine with him kept hurting her family as fast as she could fix them until she physically collapsed.
- Location
- Somewhere
Honestly, death was too good for Jack.
I'd say strip his powers away and put him in the Birdcage or a maximum security prison, but that might be too close to his trigger event.
So Babylon 5 actually has an episode touching on this, and its assorted consequences.
Death of Personality replaced Execution as a punishment, because it can easily be said that person doesn't exist anymore.
It can be considered more humane since it isn't ending a life, and the person so sentenced ends up with Community service instead of sitting in a cell doing nothing useful for years.
Of course, its B5, so it immediately goes into 'its not quite that simple'. But the basics are there.
Kinsfire
Verified {Redacted}
- Location
- New Jersey
And I loved how the B5 version tried to show both sides and not come down obviously on one side or the other.
It was funny, though - the end of that episode made me loathe that priest from that point on. Because that introduction was a big "Fuck You!" to Sheridan, and the look on the priest's face told you that he KNEW what he was doing. I strongly suspect that he wouldn't even consider it being something he would need to do penance for.
I understand the logic, pointing out the Sheridan that he was in the position that the previous guy had been in at one point, and driving the point home, but he took PLEASURE in the fact that he was doing that to Sheridan. It wasn't a lesson so much as a revenge.
It was funny, though - the end of that episode made me loathe that priest from that point on. Because that introduction was a big "Fuck You!" to Sheridan, and the look on the priest's face told you that he KNEW what he was doing. I strongly suspect that he wouldn't even consider it being something he would need to do penance for.
I understand the logic, pointing out the Sheridan that he was in the position that the previous guy had been in at one point, and driving the point home, but he took PLEASURE in the fact that he was doing that to Sheridan. It wasn't a lesson so much as a revenge.
Ashkari
(Verified Ink-slinger)
- Location
- United States
To be pedantic, just because:
Incorrect! She's too modest to claim credit for stopping the second potential first interdimensional war.
Because they already had a first potential one with Aleph, alongside zero actual ones
———————
(Somewhat) Less pedantically: People seem to frequently forget a lot that the public is canonically aware of Earths other than just Bet & Aleph. It might not be as widespread, but Haywire's tech is far from the only portal tech / power that Bet has seen.
For one thing, Haywire's villain gear interacted with a bunch of them. There's also the Haywire Portal the Simurgh built that dumped a shitload of monster capes into Madison from one of Cauldron's worlds. (Admittedly for the latter the details may not be known, but its likely well known she opened a portal to summon 'monsters' from some other earth)
More importantly, though, Goddess herself is from Bet. She ended up in Shin because of some big cluster trigger on White Rock, Canada where a portal ended up opening and got a ton of people sick during some smuggling operation. Someone (Cauldron I think in the end, but i might be wrong) shut the portal down with her on the other side.
Point is, White Rock is one of the major quarantine sites, due to a portal to Earth Shin.
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Yes, it is.
It's why I consider Hermione from Harry Potter a murderer. She just expected to be able to resurrect her parents after she killed them.
I still have no idea why she expected her parents to forgive her for killing them.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Well, if you're going to take the view that memories=person, then she was right; she could fully "resurrect" them. At which point, "killing" them starts to look like a much less serious offence.
In this case, anyway, Riley does actually still have her memories. She just isn't driven by them. And killing her would have been legal.
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I've seen it suggested that her parents had actually died, collateral damage in one of the Deatheaters' terror attacks (perhaps in the train crash shown in Deathly Hallows pt 1), and she just told Harry and Ron she'd wiped their memories and sent them away because she didn't want to tell them the truth.
...but this is starting to become a derail...
- Location
- Australia
Pretty sure that was from Aleph. The Travellers came from Aleph in that same portal, iirc).To be pedantic, just because:
Incorrect! She's too modest to claim credit for stopping the second potential first interdimensional war.
Because they already had a first potential one with Aleph, alongside zero actual ones
———————
(Somewhat) Less pedantically: People seem to frequently forget a lot that the public is canonically aware of Earths other than just Bet & Aleph. It might not be as widespread, but Haywire's tech is far from the only portal tech / power that Bet has seen.
For one thing, Haywire's villain gear interacted with a bunch of them. There's also the Haywire Portal the Simurgh built that dumped a shitload of monster capes into Madison from one of Cauldron's worlds. (Admittedly for the latter the details may not be known, but its likely well known she opened a portal to summon 'monsters' from some other earth)
No, it's not.
Not in the same way that Gary and Gallup and Flint were.
It's certainly not widely known.
There was an outbreak of disease in the location, caused by interaction with Shin natives, but the PRT locked that down and kept it all on the quiet.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Iirc, she openned dozens of portals. Chunks of buildings from different Earths fell through, entire buildings were translocated, and a number of Case 53s were released. A case containing 6 Cauldron Vials was lost, and then found by a gaming group that was in one of the translocated buildings.
- Location
- Australia
Where does it say she opened dozens of portals into different Earths?
As far as I understand things, it was basically Aleph and Cauldron.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I am not looking for it, so can't confirm it. Hence the "if I recall correctly".
Part Ninety-Two: Sharing Secrets
- Location
- Australia
A Darker Path
Part Ninety-Two: Sharing Secrets
[A/N 1: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
[A/N 2: There will be racist thought processes from a racist character. These are not shared by the author.]
PRT ENE Wards Base, 2:45 PM
Paladin
"Does Atropos ask for you to go do stuff with her very often?" asked Theo. To make it easier to talk to the others, he'd left the helmet off and put on a domino mask. The sofa was evidently constructed with armoured people in mind, because it only sagged a little more than normal under him. "As opposed to rescuing us when we're kidnapped, I mean."
"Not a lot," admitted Riley. "There was the Damsel of Distress thing. Brian came along on that one, and so did Panacea and Flechette. Oh, and the Travellers thing, too."
"She didn't take you along that time," Brian reminded her. "She asked you to do it because she was busy doing something else."
"But it was still something she needed me to do." Riley gave Brian a defiant look, daring him to contradict her.
"Are you worried that she's going to put Riley in danger?" Brian asked Theo. "Because as far as I'm concerned, that's not an issue. I'm just not a fan of murder being her go-to, is all."
"Oh, it's not that." Theo shook his head. "I know it sounds stupid, but her asking for just you to come along with Riley feels a little bit like I'm second best and I don't count."
"No, no, that's not it at all." Brian put his hand on Theo's armoured shoulder. "I'm Riley's official caregiver. It's literally my job to be next to her whenever she's in public as Miss Medic. When she goes out and about with Atropos and I tag along, I'm about as much use as an outboard motor on an ocean liner, but I do it anyway because it keeps the PRT happy and Atropos doesn't care either way."
Theo blinked. "Oh. I didn't think about it that way."
Riley looked up at him keenly. "Something's still bothering you, isn't it?" Getting up from the sofa, she tilted her head toward the back of the Wards area. "Come on, let's talk."
He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he stood up anyway, his armour's servos humming briefly. Obediently, he followed her down the corridor until they reached the room she was using to store and develop her medical gear. Standing in the doorway, she looked up at him contemplatively until he became uncomfortable. "What?" he asked. "Have I got something on my face?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell you just how much I admire you, and that you shouldn't beat yourself up so much." Her tone was serious, a world away from her usual chirpy, upbeat manner, which threw him off even more than it normally would have.
"… what?" He shook his head. "Seriously, what? I'm nobody to admire. I didn't earn this armour. I didn't make it. This metal's been tainted by two generations of neo-Nazis, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do enough to make up for the damage Kaiser and Allfather did to this city and its people."
She tilted her head to one side. "It's funny that you jumped straight to your powers when I talked about admiring you. A lot of people make that mistake about heroes, thinking their powers are why they should be looked up to."
"Okay, then," he said cautiously. "I clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Could you please enlighten me before I make an even bigger idiot out of myself than I already have?"
She giggled briefly. "Theo, the main reason I admire you is that you did something I never could have. Tell me, how old were you when you decided you didn't want to be a racist jerk like your father and his associates?"
"Um." The shift in topic put him off-guard again. "Seven or eight, I guess. I hadn't really understood things, but then I saw something on TV that made me realise that Max's policies made him the bad guy. When he found out I didn't want to be what he was, he pushed harder and harder, but I couldn't just pretend. It ended up being easier to not react."
"So, to sum up, you spent maybe seven years of your life with a bunch of racist creeps trying to push their ideology down your throat, and you held out all that time. Is that about right?" Her expression, as far as he could make it out, was sympathetic.
"I wouldn't say I 'held out'," he said weakly. "That makes me sound a lot tougher than I was. I just didn't … do what he wanted, I guess."
Riley took a deep breath. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you, nobody in this building except for Brian knows. Atropos, Panacea, and Aisha are also in the know. Plus, Dragon. That's it. Okay?" As if acting on an afterthought, she unstrapped her helmet and removed it.
"Okay …" he said uncertainly.
Before speaking, she glanced around to make sure there was nobody nearby. Instinctively, he formed his helmet over his head and looked around as well, activating the infrared scanning. There were no heat traces nearby at all. Sending the helmet away again, he gave her an encouraging nod.
She took another breath, then spoke so quietly that he had to lean in to hear her voice. "I wasn't born Riley Laborn. I was born Riley Davis, a blonde-haired white girl. And when I was six, I got powers. Not long after that, Jack Slash kicked my parents' front door in. The Slaughterhouse Nine tortured my family over and over until they broke me. I let my family die, and I went away with Jack Slash. It took one night."
He stared at her, puzzle pieces clicking together in his head with ever-increasing speed. If she was telling the truth, with her powerset, there was only one person she could be. "But that means … you're B—"
"I was," she hissed so sharply that he cut off what he was about to say. "I was her for six long years. I became her. Jack Slash wanted me to be his little pet killer, so that's what I was. But then Atropos came along, destroyed the Nine, and killed the monster in my head. Now I'm not her anymore. Panacea gave me a new face, Dragon gave me a new name, and Atropos gave me a new family."
"Jeeesus," he muttered, feeling light-headed. "I mean, okay, I believe you. And if Atropos says you're safe then you're safe. But why are you telling me this now? Do I even need to know it?"
"Well, everyone else in the apartment does, so now we're all on the same page." She put her hand on his arm. "But I didn't tell you because of that. I told you because I know better than anyone what you've been through. Sure, Jack Slash had unfair advantages, but he still broke me in one night. Your dad and his racist buddies didn't manage to break you in seven years. And that's why I admire you. You've got strength inside you that you don't even know about."
"I … what?" He shook his head, confused. "No, I don't. I'm not strong. Ask anyone. I'm a powder-puff. I'll fold at the first strong breeze. That's why I've got to have armour around me, so I can—"
Now she was laughing quietly, shaking her head. He stopped, confused.
"You're a lot of things, Theo Anders, but you're no powder-puff. And I'm guessing it was people like Hookwolf who said you're weak?"
"Well …" He'd been told it so many times that he'd basically internalised it as truth, and it was hard to pin down exactly who had said it. But among the blur of faces jeering at him from his sea of memory, the tattooed cape showed up with his characteristic sneer. "Um, yeah. Among others."
She smiled and rapped on his metal chest-plate with her knuckle, eliciting a tiny clong. "Take it from me, when people like that say you're 'weak', you should take it as a compliment. To them, an accusation of weakness is the ultimate insult, so they use it as one. You not wanting to be a violent person or a racist jerk is weak in their eyes, because to them you don't have the 'stomach' for it. People like that are incapable of seeing the strength it takes to keep saying no, instead of surrendering and becoming what they want you to be. I wasn't strong enough. You were."
Theo blinked, his head spinning. In just a few sentences, Riley—who had been Bonesaw, and wasn't that a kick in the teeth—had turned his entire worldview upside down and inside out. She'd been the worst of villains and now she was the best of heroes—thanks to Atropos—and she was telling him that she admired him for his fortitude.
It sure as hell hadn't felt like fortitude at the time. He hadn't felt like a hero. It had been nothing but a long dreary slog from one day to the next, never quite knowing what extra load Max was going to pile on him to make him 'come around' to the Empire way of seeing things.
The difference between that and his tenure so far in the Laborn household had been far beyond that of night and day. Between chained in the darkest of stygian pits and a glorious summer day strolling on the Boardwalk, maybe. They didn't try to force him down, they lifted him up and encouraged him to express himself. To be himself.
Kayden had tried to let him be a teenager and find his voice, but even she couldn't go too far without Max putting his foot down hard.
I wish she could meet them. Surely she'd change her mind about minorities if she knew how good they are to me.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the here and now. "Okay, wow, point taken. This is all gonna need to be unpacked once we get home, but for now I'll take your word for it and think about what you've said."
Back to her normal self, she gave him a beaming smile. "That's all I ask. You're a better person than you think, really."
Theo was still trying to think of something to say to that when he spotted Brian coming toward them. "Sorry to break up whatever this is, but it's time."
"It's all good. We were about done, anyway." Riley gave Theo a serious look. "Think about what I said. I meant it."
"Right." Theo watched as she put her helmet on and fastened the strap, then hustled away along the corridor with Brian.
Well, shit. How the hell am I supposed to handle that?
Panacea
"But Sleeper? Seriously? You saw what he did to Atropos, and neither one of us is Atropos! We shouldn't be going anywhere near him!"
Amy sighed in mild aggravation at her sister. "She wouldn't be inviting us along if it wasn't safe. Besides, every time you've found out about me going somewhere with her, you complained for days about being left out."
"I did not!"
Amy raised her eyebrows and gave Vicky a Look, copied straight off Carol at her most forceful.
"Well, okay, yeah, but only because anything could've happened to you!"
"Hah, yeah, right. Like anyone's gonna get close to me with Atropos on the lookout."
Vicky paused at that, and Amy grinned internally. She was right, and Vicky had to know she was right. In dealing with Atropos, there were three rock-solid certainties.
One: if Atropos planned on something happening, it was absolutely going to happen.
Two: if Atropos set out to End someone, they were already dead. That they were still walking around and breathing was strictly a temporary state of affairs. This was just as true for Bonesaw as it was for the Simurgh.
Three: if Atropos chose to protect someone, they were the safest person on the planet. This had been proven by Miss Medic and the other two unnamed hostages that Goddess had grabbed to keep Atropos under her thumb. Not only had Atropos Ended Goddess' powers and her reign, but she'd also brought all three hostages home, safe and sound. (It didn't hurt that she'd known it was going to happen a day before it actually did.)
On consideration, Amy added a fourth one: there were no lengths Atropos—Taylor—would not go to, in order to get things done the right way, every time. From setting up an elaborate trap to skewer Kaiser through the eye with his own stolen sword, to getting herself severely injured just so she could deliver a warning to Sleeper, she'd demonstrated that in spades, over and over again. Even down to provoking Vicky online so that she would attack Atropos on sight, thus giving Atropos a temporary hold over Amy herself, to facilitate turning Bonesaw into Miss Medic … the chain of events was inescapable.
Not that Amy resented what Taylor had done. In hindsight, her talks with the masked killer had opened up new possibilities in all directions, not even counting the fascinating adventures Atropos had taken her on. At the time she hadn't seen it that way, but since then her viewpoint had expanded somewhat.
Vicky hadn't finished, however. "So, why do you think she wants me to come along this time? There's got to be some kind of danger, or she'd probably kick me to the curb all over again."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "Do you honestly think anything out there's going to pose a danger that she can't deal with? I agree that there's probably a reason, but it's almost certainly not your ability to punch things."
"And you'd be right," Atropos commented, stepping around Vicky. Clad from head to toe in black, with just the gray vest and white shirt to break the monotony, she looked as though the previous day had never happened. "Nice to see you both. And thanks again for yesterday."
Vicky had either been waiting for something like this or she'd learned some phenomenal self-control, because she neither startled nor yelped in surprise. Though when she turned her head to look, she frowned mightily. "Okay, there's no way in hell you fixed your costume from the mess it was in when you left. We've still got pieces of it here, for crying out loud!"
"Oh, you mean my spare costume?" asked Atropos innocently. "Yeah, that one's trashed. This one here's the original." She took hold of the side of the long-coat and spread it outward. "If you look closely, you can see where the Machine Army put some laser holes through the coat while I was explaining the facts of life to them."
Peering carefully, Amy just barely made out dots of light through the black material. "Huh, holy shit, so I can."
"So why didn't you use this coat yesterday, and keep the new one?" asked Vicky. "It's totally what I would've done."
Atropos shrugged. "I like this one better."
"Exactly," Amy added. Atropos understood this sort of thing. "It's cooler this way. Like if Armsmaster left little tiny scrapes on his armour when he threw down with someone."
"But … he doesn't."
"Which is why Atropos will always be cooler than Armsmaster." Amy smirked at her sister. "As if it needed to be said."
Atropos chuckled. "As much as I value your approval, are you ready to roll?"
"Absolutely." Amy patted her jeans and tapped the toe of her sturdiest sneakers on the floor, then tugged at the jacket she was wearing. Atropos hadn't said they were going to Russia, but Amy could connect the dots as well as anyone else.
"Before we go," Vicky piped up, "if you don't need me for punching, what do you need me for?"
"Your diplomatic skills. Four seconds." Atropos snapped her fingers, and the portal appeared in the bedroom.
"What?"
"Four seconds!" Amy yelled and jumped through the portal, into what turned out to be the Director's office in the PRT building. Atropos followed close behind, then about half a second later Vicky zoomed through, feet off the ground. The portal closed soundlessly behind her.
Director Renick looked around from where he was speaking to Tenebrae and Miss Medic. "Ah, there she is now."
Five Minutes Earlier
Tenebrae
"So, what was that about with Paladin?" Brian was pretty sure they weren't being bugged in the elevator, and the PRT knew Theo's secret identity anyway, but it was a good habit to maintain.
"I'll tell you when we get home." Riley was even more close-mouthed than he was about things like that. This wasn't entirely unexpected, seeing how she'd been a cape for years longer than him.
They stepped out of the elevator and headed down the corridor toward Director Renick's office. Brian considered him to be a fair man, not as bloody-minded as Piggot, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, considering her history and the way Brockton Bay had been heading before Atropos stepped in. While Renick definitely would've been out of his depth in the pre-Atropos era, these days the city was downright peaceful. Prosperity was a new and bizarre look for Brockton Bay, but a welcome one.
He paused and knocked on the office door, then opened it when he heard the "Come in," from within. Stepping aside, he allowed Riley to enter first out of basic courtesy (he didn't think she'd follow Aisha's advice of kicking him in the shins if he didn't, but one never knew) then followed her in.
"Good afternoon, sir," he said. "How are you today?"
"Ah, Tenebrae, Miss Medic." The Director stood up and came around the desk to shake both their hands. "It's been a good day. The only surprise was when Atropos messaged me to ask if she could borrow your services. I had no reason to deny her request, and several compelling ones to do as she asked." He looked at Riley. "I understand you gave Emily an examination while you were in New York. May I ask how the prognosis for that is going?"
Riley bounced a little on her toes. "Really good. Like I told her, putting in new kidneys wouldn't be any trouble at all. Same with her calf muscles. I've got the tissues cloning right now. It should actually be ready to go by the time Shebang finishes sourcing those rare earths she wanted for her reverse-time bomb."
"Excellent, excellent." The Director went back around his desk and sat down. "And do you think the dual-bomb concept will work?"
Riley spread her hands. "Well, my power really doesn't mesh much with hers, so I can't say for sure. But the idea's sound, and she managed to nullify Clockblocker's freeze effect, so she's actually pretty good at what she does. I'd give it a really strong 'probably'."
Director Renick chuckled. "I've been working in this building for more years than I want to count, and that's the clearest explanation of a Tinker's work that I've heard yet. By this point they're starting to veer off into their own personalised jargon, and it's already well over my head and gaining altitude."
"Yeah, well," said Brian, "I never ask any Tinker questions about their stuff or their work. I do my thing and they do their thing, and never the twain shall meet."
"That's probably for the best," agreed Renick. "I—wait."
He broke off as the smoky gray portal appeared at the far side of the office. For a second or so, nothing happened, then Panacea burst through, followed by Atropos. Just a fraction before Brian's personal countdown of four seconds ended, Glory Girl zipped through, hovering in midair as the portal closed behind her.
"Ah," said the Director. "There she is now." He came around his desk again. "Good afternoon, ladies. Panacea, I know you've met Miss Medic and Tenebrae. Have you, Glory Girl?"
"Don't think so." Glory Girl stepped forward, her hand out. "Hi, I'm Panacea's punchier sister. It's good to meet my sister's other teammates, I guess."
Brian knew he should be just rolling with it, but the memory flashed across his mind of Glory Girl's face contorted with anger as she repeatedly tried to attack Atropos in the park. Atropos had had the whole situation entirely under control, he knew that, but she'd still been reckless as fuck, and she'd seriously endangered Aisha's life and well-being, just so she could play at being a hero. His jaw set as he spoke the mildest phrase that was boiling through his head right then. "We've met."
"Oh, okay." She paused, taking in his attitude and frowning. "Did I diss you at a meet and greet or something? Look, if I did that, I'm totally sorry. Things can get pretty hectic—"
"Not at a meet and greet. Westlake Park." His eyes bored into hers. "You destroyed a picnic table. Ring any bells?"
"Whoa, hey." Panacea had evidently twigged to what he was talking about. "We do not need to get into any of that. You've got a secret identity to protect."
From the way Glory Girl's face paled, she remembered all too well. "Shit. That was you?" Her gaze dropped to Riley. "And the girl—"
"Was not Miss Medic." He shook his head, then looked at Panacea. "Thanks, but I think it's safe with you two. Am I right?"
"Oh, you're absolutely right." Panacea elbowed her sister. "Go on, Vicky. Apologise to the man. He's totally earned it."
Glory Girl nodded. "Yeah, that's true, you have. And so's the other girl. I was an idiot, and I'm sorry for going off half-cocked like that. I've been really working at cleaning up my act since then." She paused, then corrected herself. "Since tall, dark and scary there wiped out the Nine. That was a wake-up call like no other, and I've been doing my best to listen to it."
"Tall, dark and scary," mused Atropos. "I kinda like that."
Riley giggled. "Nah, doesn't suit you at all."
Atropos snorted, then pointed a finger at her. "You have been spending far too much time with your cousin. Keep it up. I approve." She then turned to look at Brian. "Okay, you have your apology. Are you good now?"
Brian looked at Glory Girl for a moment longer to consider it, then held out his hand. Without any hesitation, she gave it a firm shake. He nodded. "I'm good now."
"Excellent." Atropos dusted her hands off. "So, we're going to come out in the middle of the night, in the countryside. It's going to be dark, and cold. Then we'll be doing some walking." She evidently took in Panacea's rugged clothing, and nodded approvingly. "It looks like someone thought ahead."
Panacea shrugged awkwardly, apparently not used to praise. "What can I say? Associating with you has been an exercise in expecting the unexpected. I've been trying to learn how to think on my feet."
"Excuse me, not wanting to be That Girl, but why do we need to do some walking?" asked Glory Girl. "Can't you put us right where we need to go?"
"I am." Atropos was not at all fazed by the question. "Where we need to go is a couple of minutes' walking distance from our final location. You'll see when we get there."
Panacea turned to look at her sister. "Oh, and one thing. When Atropos says 'four seconds', she doesn't mean 'this is the time to ask me what I mean'. She means 'we have four seconds to get through the portal before it shuts'."
"Yeah, yeah, I got that," Glory Girl huffed. "What happens if someone's halfway through the portal when it shuts? Do you get spat out either end?"
"I have no idea," Atropos said, in a tone that meant 'I know exactly what happens'. "Maybe you can ask one of the Blasphemies. They might have a better idea."
Brian was initially confused, then he recalled that one of them had been decapitated while in flight, at altitude. From the look on Glory Girl's face, she made the connection at the same time. "Oh."
"Yup." Atropos held up her hand. "Me first, then Panacea, Miss Medic, Tenebrae, and Glory Girl last. Got it?"
For a reply, she got a series of nods, as every eye in the room—Renick's included—was focused on her hand.
"Good. Four seconds." Then she snapped her fingers, and the portal opened before them.
Meanwhile, in New York
Scribe
Life was unfair, as far as Tammi was concerned. She should've been living large in Brockton Bay, with the Empire Eighty-Eight behind her and a life of luxury before her. But instead she'd had to run for her life, get caught when her two so-called partners ditched her and bolted (so much for Empire Eighty-Eight solidarity), and bullshit as hard as she could to not get sent back to juvey.
It didn't help that Miss Hardass Piggy refused to give her any semblance of the benefit of the doubt. The woman didn't let up for an instant, never actually treating her badly enough to call Youth Guard in on it (Kaiser had taught her all about the concept of 'useful idiots') but not slacking off on her either. It had been a lot easier under Wilkins, saying and doing the right things while the Director was around, letting the woman convince herself that Tammi was on the road to rehabilitation.
The people she was most annoyed with (apart from Piggy) were Flechette and Shebang. The bomb Tinker was still unsure of her place in the Wards, and Tammi was willing to put some work into making sure the slant-eye knew she was at the bottom of the totem pole, where she and all her kind belonged. Flechette still hadn't gotten that message, and Tammi kind of wished Cricket or someone like that was around to deliver it for her, because she knew for damn sure she'd get her lily-white ass handed to her in a sling if she tried.
With these thoughts running through her mind, Tammi brightened as she saw Shebang ahead of her, meandering along with her head down, tapping away on a tablet. Flechette might be damn near untouchable (in Tammi's mind, she'd just gotten lucky that Atropos picked her to go to Australia to gank the Simurgh) but Shebang was still fair game. Moving faster, Tammi came up behind the Tinker and shoulder-checked her hard enough to make her drop the tablet.
"Watch it, slope … oke," she jeered, finally pleased to have been able to use that particular insult as Shebang stumbled, her tablet clattering to the floor. With any luck, the useless bitch would've broken it and Piggy would make her pay for another one.
"Scribe!" She froze in mid-sneer as the shout came from behind her. "Not another move!"
Turning, she looked at Flechette as the taller girl—weren't Japs all supposed to be about five feet tall or something?—strode toward her, anger writ large on her face. "What?" she asked as innocently as she could manage. "She stepped in my way."
"I did not!" Shebang picked up the tablet from the ground, then gave Tammi a disgusted look. "You had the whole corridor to walk past me, and you ran straight into me."
"That's what I saw, too." Flechette's tone was implacable. "And I also heard what you said."
"What?" Tammi spread her hands. All I have to do is say I never said it. "I said she was being slow."
"You called her a slowpoke," Flechette countered. "Except you put just enough of a pause in there so you could call her a racist slur and pretend it never happened. Your problem is, I heard it."
"Prove it," challenged Tammi. "It's your word against mine."
"Um, plus the audio diary I was recording when you ran into me," Shebang added. "I wonder if Director Piggot will want to listen to that?"
"You know," mused Flechette. "I think she might."
"Fuck you both!" shouted Tammi. "You're setting things up to have me chucked back in juvey!" She turned and stormed off down the hallway. Maybe it was a good time to contact the local Youth Guard rep after all.
Flechette
Lily watched her go, then turned to Shebang. "You okay?" she asked. "She ran into you pretty hard just then."
"I'll be fine." Shebang gave her a smile. "I appreciate the save. Are you really going to report this to the Director?"
"I will if you want me to." Lily looked at the tablet. "Were you really recording an audio diary?"
Shebang shook her head. "No, but she was never going to call me on it." She thought for a second. "She's right, you know. I didn't actually hear what she said, and it'll be your word against hers."
Lily snorted. "My word against someone with known white supremacist leanings, you mean. But we don't have to actually go and report it if you don't want to. She'll think we are, so she's gonna jump every time anyone talks to her for the next few days."
Shebang's chuckle was remarkably evil. "She'll punish herself worse than the Director would. I like it. Let's do that." She held up her hand.
Lily gave her a high-five, then looked at the tablet. "So, what are you working on? Is it that bomb for the Gray Boy loops?"
"That's the one. Do you mind if I use you as a sounding board?"
"Feel free."
They started off down the corridor. "So, I need to integrate this process here …"
Scribe
Still fuming about the way they were totally stitching her up, Tammi dropped into her chair and hit the power button for her computer. She hadn't gotten on to it over the last few days—it wasn't like she had anyone to chat to online who wasn't part of her criminal past, and her account on PHO as Rune had been thoroughly locked—so when it finished booting up, a whole bunch of emails (mainly spam) and other alerts pinged off all at once. She considered deleting all the emails and crap, but decided to look through them just in case.
Part way through, one showed up that made her straighten in the chair. It was a PHO private message, but with a header that had to be for her.
Who the hell's pinging me?
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Viking Script
From: Like Minded
Subject: A Change of Scenery
Good afternoon,
Would you be interested in discussing the above?
I and my friends are very good at what we do, and think you would be a good match for us.
Your thoughts on the matter?
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Like Minded
From: Viking Script
Subject: Re: A Change of Scenery
I'm listening.
End of Part Ninety-Two
Part Ninety-Two: Sharing Secrets
[A/N 1: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
[A/N 2: There will be racist thought processes from a racist character. These are not shared by the author.]
PRT ENE Wards Base, 2:45 PM
Paladin
"Does Atropos ask for you to go do stuff with her very often?" asked Theo. To make it easier to talk to the others, he'd left the helmet off and put on a domino mask. The sofa was evidently constructed with armoured people in mind, because it only sagged a little more than normal under him. "As opposed to rescuing us when we're kidnapped, I mean."
"Not a lot," admitted Riley. "There was the Damsel of Distress thing. Brian came along on that one, and so did Panacea and Flechette. Oh, and the Travellers thing, too."
"She didn't take you along that time," Brian reminded her. "She asked you to do it because she was busy doing something else."
"But it was still something she needed me to do." Riley gave Brian a defiant look, daring him to contradict her.
"Are you worried that she's going to put Riley in danger?" Brian asked Theo. "Because as far as I'm concerned, that's not an issue. I'm just not a fan of murder being her go-to, is all."
"Oh, it's not that." Theo shook his head. "I know it sounds stupid, but her asking for just you to come along with Riley feels a little bit like I'm second best and I don't count."
"No, no, that's not it at all." Brian put his hand on Theo's armoured shoulder. "I'm Riley's official caregiver. It's literally my job to be next to her whenever she's in public as Miss Medic. When she goes out and about with Atropos and I tag along, I'm about as much use as an outboard motor on an ocean liner, but I do it anyway because it keeps the PRT happy and Atropos doesn't care either way."
Theo blinked. "Oh. I didn't think about it that way."
Riley looked up at him keenly. "Something's still bothering you, isn't it?" Getting up from the sofa, she tilted her head toward the back of the Wards area. "Come on, let's talk."
He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he stood up anyway, his armour's servos humming briefly. Obediently, he followed her down the corridor until they reached the room she was using to store and develop her medical gear. Standing in the doorway, she looked up at him contemplatively until he became uncomfortable. "What?" he asked. "Have I got something on my face?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell you just how much I admire you, and that you shouldn't beat yourself up so much." Her tone was serious, a world away from her usual chirpy, upbeat manner, which threw him off even more than it normally would have.
"… what?" He shook his head. "Seriously, what? I'm nobody to admire. I didn't earn this armour. I didn't make it. This metal's been tainted by two generations of neo-Nazis, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do enough to make up for the damage Kaiser and Allfather did to this city and its people."
She tilted her head to one side. "It's funny that you jumped straight to your powers when I talked about admiring you. A lot of people make that mistake about heroes, thinking their powers are why they should be looked up to."
"Okay, then," he said cautiously. "I clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Could you please enlighten me before I make an even bigger idiot out of myself than I already have?"
She giggled briefly. "Theo, the main reason I admire you is that you did something I never could have. Tell me, how old were you when you decided you didn't want to be a racist jerk like your father and his associates?"
"Um." The shift in topic put him off-guard again. "Seven or eight, I guess. I hadn't really understood things, but then I saw something on TV that made me realise that Max's policies made him the bad guy. When he found out I didn't want to be what he was, he pushed harder and harder, but I couldn't just pretend. It ended up being easier to not react."
"So, to sum up, you spent maybe seven years of your life with a bunch of racist creeps trying to push their ideology down your throat, and you held out all that time. Is that about right?" Her expression, as far as he could make it out, was sympathetic.
"I wouldn't say I 'held out'," he said weakly. "That makes me sound a lot tougher than I was. I just didn't … do what he wanted, I guess."
Riley took a deep breath. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you, nobody in this building except for Brian knows. Atropos, Panacea, and Aisha are also in the know. Plus, Dragon. That's it. Okay?" As if acting on an afterthought, she unstrapped her helmet and removed it.
"Okay …" he said uncertainly.
Before speaking, she glanced around to make sure there was nobody nearby. Instinctively, he formed his helmet over his head and looked around as well, activating the infrared scanning. There were no heat traces nearby at all. Sending the helmet away again, he gave her an encouraging nod.
She took another breath, then spoke so quietly that he had to lean in to hear her voice. "I wasn't born Riley Laborn. I was born Riley Davis, a blonde-haired white girl. And when I was six, I got powers. Not long after that, Jack Slash kicked my parents' front door in. The Slaughterhouse Nine tortured my family over and over until they broke me. I let my family die, and I went away with Jack Slash. It took one night."
He stared at her, puzzle pieces clicking together in his head with ever-increasing speed. If she was telling the truth, with her powerset, there was only one person she could be. "But that means … you're B—"
"I was," she hissed so sharply that he cut off what he was about to say. "I was her for six long years. I became her. Jack Slash wanted me to be his little pet killer, so that's what I was. But then Atropos came along, destroyed the Nine, and killed the monster in my head. Now I'm not her anymore. Panacea gave me a new face, Dragon gave me a new name, and Atropos gave me a new family."
"Jeeesus," he muttered, feeling light-headed. "I mean, okay, I believe you. And if Atropos says you're safe then you're safe. But why are you telling me this now? Do I even need to know it?"
"Well, everyone else in the apartment does, so now we're all on the same page." She put her hand on his arm. "But I didn't tell you because of that. I told you because I know better than anyone what you've been through. Sure, Jack Slash had unfair advantages, but he still broke me in one night. Your dad and his racist buddies didn't manage to break you in seven years. And that's why I admire you. You've got strength inside you that you don't even know about."
"I … what?" He shook his head, confused. "No, I don't. I'm not strong. Ask anyone. I'm a powder-puff. I'll fold at the first strong breeze. That's why I've got to have armour around me, so I can—"
Now she was laughing quietly, shaking her head. He stopped, confused.
"You're a lot of things, Theo Anders, but you're no powder-puff. And I'm guessing it was people like Hookwolf who said you're weak?"
"Well …" He'd been told it so many times that he'd basically internalised it as truth, and it was hard to pin down exactly who had said it. But among the blur of faces jeering at him from his sea of memory, the tattooed cape showed up with his characteristic sneer. "Um, yeah. Among others."
She smiled and rapped on his metal chest-plate with her knuckle, eliciting a tiny clong. "Take it from me, when people like that say you're 'weak', you should take it as a compliment. To them, an accusation of weakness is the ultimate insult, so they use it as one. You not wanting to be a violent person or a racist jerk is weak in their eyes, because to them you don't have the 'stomach' for it. People like that are incapable of seeing the strength it takes to keep saying no, instead of surrendering and becoming what they want you to be. I wasn't strong enough. You were."
Theo blinked, his head spinning. In just a few sentences, Riley—who had been Bonesaw, and wasn't that a kick in the teeth—had turned his entire worldview upside down and inside out. She'd been the worst of villains and now she was the best of heroes—thanks to Atropos—and she was telling him that she admired him for his fortitude.
It sure as hell hadn't felt like fortitude at the time. He hadn't felt like a hero. It had been nothing but a long dreary slog from one day to the next, never quite knowing what extra load Max was going to pile on him to make him 'come around' to the Empire way of seeing things.
The difference between that and his tenure so far in the Laborn household had been far beyond that of night and day. Between chained in the darkest of stygian pits and a glorious summer day strolling on the Boardwalk, maybe. They didn't try to force him down, they lifted him up and encouraged him to express himself. To be himself.
Kayden had tried to let him be a teenager and find his voice, but even she couldn't go too far without Max putting his foot down hard.
I wish she could meet them. Surely she'd change her mind about minorities if she knew how good they are to me.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the here and now. "Okay, wow, point taken. This is all gonna need to be unpacked once we get home, but for now I'll take your word for it and think about what you've said."
Back to her normal self, she gave him a beaming smile. "That's all I ask. You're a better person than you think, really."
Theo was still trying to think of something to say to that when he spotted Brian coming toward them. "Sorry to break up whatever this is, but it's time."
"It's all good. We were about done, anyway." Riley gave Theo a serious look. "Think about what I said. I meant it."
"Right." Theo watched as she put her helmet on and fastened the strap, then hustled away along the corridor with Brian.
Well, shit. How the hell am I supposed to handle that?
<><>
Panacea
"But Sleeper? Seriously? You saw what he did to Atropos, and neither one of us is Atropos! We shouldn't be going anywhere near him!"
Amy sighed in mild aggravation at her sister. "She wouldn't be inviting us along if it wasn't safe. Besides, every time you've found out about me going somewhere with her, you complained for days about being left out."
"I did not!"
Amy raised her eyebrows and gave Vicky a Look, copied straight off Carol at her most forceful.
"Well, okay, yeah, but only because anything could've happened to you!"
"Hah, yeah, right. Like anyone's gonna get close to me with Atropos on the lookout."
Vicky paused at that, and Amy grinned internally. She was right, and Vicky had to know she was right. In dealing with Atropos, there were three rock-solid certainties.
One: if Atropos planned on something happening, it was absolutely going to happen.
Two: if Atropos set out to End someone, they were already dead. That they were still walking around and breathing was strictly a temporary state of affairs. This was just as true for Bonesaw as it was for the Simurgh.
Three: if Atropos chose to protect someone, they were the safest person on the planet. This had been proven by Miss Medic and the other two unnamed hostages that Goddess had grabbed to keep Atropos under her thumb. Not only had Atropos Ended Goddess' powers and her reign, but she'd also brought all three hostages home, safe and sound. (It didn't hurt that she'd known it was going to happen a day before it actually did.)
On consideration, Amy added a fourth one: there were no lengths Atropos—Taylor—would not go to, in order to get things done the right way, every time. From setting up an elaborate trap to skewer Kaiser through the eye with his own stolen sword, to getting herself severely injured just so she could deliver a warning to Sleeper, she'd demonstrated that in spades, over and over again. Even down to provoking Vicky online so that she would attack Atropos on sight, thus giving Atropos a temporary hold over Amy herself, to facilitate turning Bonesaw into Miss Medic … the chain of events was inescapable.
Not that Amy resented what Taylor had done. In hindsight, her talks with the masked killer had opened up new possibilities in all directions, not even counting the fascinating adventures Atropos had taken her on. At the time she hadn't seen it that way, but since then her viewpoint had expanded somewhat.
Vicky hadn't finished, however. "So, why do you think she wants me to come along this time? There's got to be some kind of danger, or she'd probably kick me to the curb all over again."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "Do you honestly think anything out there's going to pose a danger that she can't deal with? I agree that there's probably a reason, but it's almost certainly not your ability to punch things."
"And you'd be right," Atropos commented, stepping around Vicky. Clad from head to toe in black, with just the gray vest and white shirt to break the monotony, she looked as though the previous day had never happened. "Nice to see you both. And thanks again for yesterday."
Vicky had either been waiting for something like this or she'd learned some phenomenal self-control, because she neither startled nor yelped in surprise. Though when she turned her head to look, she frowned mightily. "Okay, there's no way in hell you fixed your costume from the mess it was in when you left. We've still got pieces of it here, for crying out loud!"
"Oh, you mean my spare costume?" asked Atropos innocently. "Yeah, that one's trashed. This one here's the original." She took hold of the side of the long-coat and spread it outward. "If you look closely, you can see where the Machine Army put some laser holes through the coat while I was explaining the facts of life to them."
Peering carefully, Amy just barely made out dots of light through the black material. "Huh, holy shit, so I can."
"So why didn't you use this coat yesterday, and keep the new one?" asked Vicky. "It's totally what I would've done."
Atropos shrugged. "I like this one better."
"Exactly," Amy added. Atropos understood this sort of thing. "It's cooler this way. Like if Armsmaster left little tiny scrapes on his armour when he threw down with someone."
"But … he doesn't."
"Which is why Atropos will always be cooler than Armsmaster." Amy smirked at her sister. "As if it needed to be said."
Atropos chuckled. "As much as I value your approval, are you ready to roll?"
"Absolutely." Amy patted her jeans and tapped the toe of her sturdiest sneakers on the floor, then tugged at the jacket she was wearing. Atropos hadn't said they were going to Russia, but Amy could connect the dots as well as anyone else.
"Before we go," Vicky piped up, "if you don't need me for punching, what do you need me for?"
"Your diplomatic skills. Four seconds." Atropos snapped her fingers, and the portal appeared in the bedroom.
"What?"
"Four seconds!" Amy yelled and jumped through the portal, into what turned out to be the Director's office in the PRT building. Atropos followed close behind, then about half a second later Vicky zoomed through, feet off the ground. The portal closed soundlessly behind her.
Director Renick looked around from where he was speaking to Tenebrae and Miss Medic. "Ah, there she is now."
<><>
Five Minutes Earlier
Tenebrae
"So, what was that about with Paladin?" Brian was pretty sure they weren't being bugged in the elevator, and the PRT knew Theo's secret identity anyway, but it was a good habit to maintain.
"I'll tell you when we get home." Riley was even more close-mouthed than he was about things like that. This wasn't entirely unexpected, seeing how she'd been a cape for years longer than him.
They stepped out of the elevator and headed down the corridor toward Director Renick's office. Brian considered him to be a fair man, not as bloody-minded as Piggot, but that wasn't entirely unexpected, considering her history and the way Brockton Bay had been heading before Atropos stepped in. While Renick definitely would've been out of his depth in the pre-Atropos era, these days the city was downright peaceful. Prosperity was a new and bizarre look for Brockton Bay, but a welcome one.
He paused and knocked on the office door, then opened it when he heard the "Come in," from within. Stepping aside, he allowed Riley to enter first out of basic courtesy (he didn't think she'd follow Aisha's advice of kicking him in the shins if he didn't, but one never knew) then followed her in.
"Good afternoon, sir," he said. "How are you today?"
"Ah, Tenebrae, Miss Medic." The Director stood up and came around the desk to shake both their hands. "It's been a good day. The only surprise was when Atropos messaged me to ask if she could borrow your services. I had no reason to deny her request, and several compelling ones to do as she asked." He looked at Riley. "I understand you gave Emily an examination while you were in New York. May I ask how the prognosis for that is going?"
Riley bounced a little on her toes. "Really good. Like I told her, putting in new kidneys wouldn't be any trouble at all. Same with her calf muscles. I've got the tissues cloning right now. It should actually be ready to go by the time Shebang finishes sourcing those rare earths she wanted for her reverse-time bomb."
"Excellent, excellent." The Director went back around his desk and sat down. "And do you think the dual-bomb concept will work?"
Riley spread her hands. "Well, my power really doesn't mesh much with hers, so I can't say for sure. But the idea's sound, and she managed to nullify Clockblocker's freeze effect, so she's actually pretty good at what she does. I'd give it a really strong 'probably'."
Director Renick chuckled. "I've been working in this building for more years than I want to count, and that's the clearest explanation of a Tinker's work that I've heard yet. By this point they're starting to veer off into their own personalised jargon, and it's already well over my head and gaining altitude."
"Yeah, well," said Brian, "I never ask any Tinker questions about their stuff or their work. I do my thing and they do their thing, and never the twain shall meet."
"That's probably for the best," agreed Renick. "I—wait."
He broke off as the smoky gray portal appeared at the far side of the office. For a second or so, nothing happened, then Panacea burst through, followed by Atropos. Just a fraction before Brian's personal countdown of four seconds ended, Glory Girl zipped through, hovering in midair as the portal closed behind her.
"Ah," said the Director. "There she is now." He came around his desk again. "Good afternoon, ladies. Panacea, I know you've met Miss Medic and Tenebrae. Have you, Glory Girl?"
"Don't think so." Glory Girl stepped forward, her hand out. "Hi, I'm Panacea's punchier sister. It's good to meet my sister's other teammates, I guess."
Brian knew he should be just rolling with it, but the memory flashed across his mind of Glory Girl's face contorted with anger as she repeatedly tried to attack Atropos in the park. Atropos had had the whole situation entirely under control, he knew that, but she'd still been reckless as fuck, and she'd seriously endangered Aisha's life and well-being, just so she could play at being a hero. His jaw set as he spoke the mildest phrase that was boiling through his head right then. "We've met."
"Oh, okay." She paused, taking in his attitude and frowning. "Did I diss you at a meet and greet or something? Look, if I did that, I'm totally sorry. Things can get pretty hectic—"
"Not at a meet and greet. Westlake Park." His eyes bored into hers. "You destroyed a picnic table. Ring any bells?"
"Whoa, hey." Panacea had evidently twigged to what he was talking about. "We do not need to get into any of that. You've got a secret identity to protect."
From the way Glory Girl's face paled, she remembered all too well. "Shit. That was you?" Her gaze dropped to Riley. "And the girl—"
"Was not Miss Medic." He shook his head, then looked at Panacea. "Thanks, but I think it's safe with you two. Am I right?"
"Oh, you're absolutely right." Panacea elbowed her sister. "Go on, Vicky. Apologise to the man. He's totally earned it."
Glory Girl nodded. "Yeah, that's true, you have. And so's the other girl. I was an idiot, and I'm sorry for going off half-cocked like that. I've been really working at cleaning up my act since then." She paused, then corrected herself. "Since tall, dark and scary there wiped out the Nine. That was a wake-up call like no other, and I've been doing my best to listen to it."
"Tall, dark and scary," mused Atropos. "I kinda like that."
Riley giggled. "Nah, doesn't suit you at all."
Atropos snorted, then pointed a finger at her. "You have been spending far too much time with your cousin. Keep it up. I approve." She then turned to look at Brian. "Okay, you have your apology. Are you good now?"
Brian looked at Glory Girl for a moment longer to consider it, then held out his hand. Without any hesitation, she gave it a firm shake. He nodded. "I'm good now."
"Excellent." Atropos dusted her hands off. "So, we're going to come out in the middle of the night, in the countryside. It's going to be dark, and cold. Then we'll be doing some walking." She evidently took in Panacea's rugged clothing, and nodded approvingly. "It looks like someone thought ahead."
Panacea shrugged awkwardly, apparently not used to praise. "What can I say? Associating with you has been an exercise in expecting the unexpected. I've been trying to learn how to think on my feet."
"Excuse me, not wanting to be That Girl, but why do we need to do some walking?" asked Glory Girl. "Can't you put us right where we need to go?"
"I am." Atropos was not at all fazed by the question. "Where we need to go is a couple of minutes' walking distance from our final location. You'll see when we get there."
Panacea turned to look at her sister. "Oh, and one thing. When Atropos says 'four seconds', she doesn't mean 'this is the time to ask me what I mean'. She means 'we have four seconds to get through the portal before it shuts'."
"Yeah, yeah, I got that," Glory Girl huffed. "What happens if someone's halfway through the portal when it shuts? Do you get spat out either end?"
"I have no idea," Atropos said, in a tone that meant 'I know exactly what happens'. "Maybe you can ask one of the Blasphemies. They might have a better idea."
Brian was initially confused, then he recalled that one of them had been decapitated while in flight, at altitude. From the look on Glory Girl's face, she made the connection at the same time. "Oh."
"Yup." Atropos held up her hand. "Me first, then Panacea, Miss Medic, Tenebrae, and Glory Girl last. Got it?"
For a reply, she got a series of nods, as every eye in the room—Renick's included—was focused on her hand.
"Good. Four seconds." Then she snapped her fingers, and the portal opened before them.
<><>
Meanwhile, in New York
Scribe
Life was unfair, as far as Tammi was concerned. She should've been living large in Brockton Bay, with the Empire Eighty-Eight behind her and a life of luxury before her. But instead she'd had to run for her life, get caught when her two so-called partners ditched her and bolted (so much for Empire Eighty-Eight solidarity), and bullshit as hard as she could to not get sent back to juvey.
It didn't help that Miss Hardass Piggy refused to give her any semblance of the benefit of the doubt. The woman didn't let up for an instant, never actually treating her badly enough to call Youth Guard in on it (Kaiser had taught her all about the concept of 'useful idiots') but not slacking off on her either. It had been a lot easier under Wilkins, saying and doing the right things while the Director was around, letting the woman convince herself that Tammi was on the road to rehabilitation.
The people she was most annoyed with (apart from Piggy) were Flechette and Shebang. The bomb Tinker was still unsure of her place in the Wards, and Tammi was willing to put some work into making sure the slant-eye knew she was at the bottom of the totem pole, where she and all her kind belonged. Flechette still hadn't gotten that message, and Tammi kind of wished Cricket or someone like that was around to deliver it for her, because she knew for damn sure she'd get her lily-white ass handed to her in a sling if she tried.
With these thoughts running through her mind, Tammi brightened as she saw Shebang ahead of her, meandering along with her head down, tapping away on a tablet. Flechette might be damn near untouchable (in Tammi's mind, she'd just gotten lucky that Atropos picked her to go to Australia to gank the Simurgh) but Shebang was still fair game. Moving faster, Tammi came up behind the Tinker and shoulder-checked her hard enough to make her drop the tablet.
"Watch it, slope … oke," she jeered, finally pleased to have been able to use that particular insult as Shebang stumbled, her tablet clattering to the floor. With any luck, the useless bitch would've broken it and Piggy would make her pay for another one.
"Scribe!" She froze in mid-sneer as the shout came from behind her. "Not another move!"
Turning, she looked at Flechette as the taller girl—weren't Japs all supposed to be about five feet tall or something?—strode toward her, anger writ large on her face. "What?" she asked as innocently as she could manage. "She stepped in my way."
"I did not!" Shebang picked up the tablet from the ground, then gave Tammi a disgusted look. "You had the whole corridor to walk past me, and you ran straight into me."
"That's what I saw, too." Flechette's tone was implacable. "And I also heard what you said."
"What?" Tammi spread her hands. All I have to do is say I never said it. "I said she was being slow."
"You called her a slowpoke," Flechette countered. "Except you put just enough of a pause in there so you could call her a racist slur and pretend it never happened. Your problem is, I heard it."
"Prove it," challenged Tammi. "It's your word against mine."
"Um, plus the audio diary I was recording when you ran into me," Shebang added. "I wonder if Director Piggot will want to listen to that?"
"You know," mused Flechette. "I think she might."
"Fuck you both!" shouted Tammi. "You're setting things up to have me chucked back in juvey!" She turned and stormed off down the hallway. Maybe it was a good time to contact the local Youth Guard rep after all.
<><>
Flechette
Lily watched her go, then turned to Shebang. "You okay?" she asked. "She ran into you pretty hard just then."
"I'll be fine." Shebang gave her a smile. "I appreciate the save. Are you really going to report this to the Director?"
"I will if you want me to." Lily looked at the tablet. "Were you really recording an audio diary?"
Shebang shook her head. "No, but she was never going to call me on it." She thought for a second. "She's right, you know. I didn't actually hear what she said, and it'll be your word against hers."
Lily snorted. "My word against someone with known white supremacist leanings, you mean. But we don't have to actually go and report it if you don't want to. She'll think we are, so she's gonna jump every time anyone talks to her for the next few days."
Shebang's chuckle was remarkably evil. "She'll punish herself worse than the Director would. I like it. Let's do that." She held up her hand.
Lily gave her a high-five, then looked at the tablet. "So, what are you working on? Is it that bomb for the Gray Boy loops?"
"That's the one. Do you mind if I use you as a sounding board?"
"Feel free."
They started off down the corridor. "So, I need to integrate this process here …"
<><>
Scribe
Still fuming about the way they were totally stitching her up, Tammi dropped into her chair and hit the power button for her computer. She hadn't gotten on to it over the last few days—it wasn't like she had anyone to chat to online who wasn't part of her criminal past, and her account on PHO as Rune had been thoroughly locked—so when it finished booting up, a whole bunch of emails (mainly spam) and other alerts pinged off all at once. She considered deleting all the emails and crap, but decided to look through them just in case.
Part way through, one showed up that made her straighten in the chair. It was a PHO private message, but with a header that had to be for her.
Who the hell's pinging me?
<><>
■
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Viking Script
From: Like Minded
Subject: A Change of Scenery
Good afternoon,
Would you be interested in discussing the above?
I and my friends are very good at what we do, and think you would be a good match for us.
Your thoughts on the matter?
■
PRIVATE MESSAGE
To: Like Minded
From: Viking Script
Subject: Re: A Change of Scenery
I'm listening.
■
End of Part Ninety-Two
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- Location
- England
Tammi, sitting halfway up a very tall tree on the 'last chance' branch, decides to saw through it on the wrong side.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
His reaction to that bombshell will be interesting.
Well, he is taking it very well.
Well said, Riley.
If Taylor was into anime, he would have missed a perfect opportunity to say "Omae wa mou shindeiru." when she killed Lung.
What?
Heh, good pull.
So now the question is, is this an actual offer, or a trap set to see if she can change her ways.
- Location
- Tatum, Tx
"Darwin Awards, Tammi Herren here. I'd like to reserve my award, please."
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
My question is, having learned her lesson with Shadow Stalker, would not Director Piggot be keeping a closer eye on this probationary Ward?
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
of course Piggot is keeping a closer eye on her, thats half of Tammi's bitching
problem for her is that she's just stupid enough to think she's smart enough to get away with shit like this
problem for her is that she's just stupid enough to think she's smart enough to get away with shit like this
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
Dear Ms Herren
Our committee has reviewed the events surrounding your awards application.
Unfortunately, while you have not received a specific and personal Atropos Warning, we feel that your prior association with a targeted organization, in conjunction with the nature of the nominated event, is sufficiently similar that your death would still be classed as a deliberate suicide, and thus we cannot accept your application at this time.
Please feel free to contact us again if you come up with new and exciting reasons that you should be removed from the gene pool for the benefit of humanity.
Yours sincerely
John Smith
Kinsfire
Verified {Redacted}
- Location
- New Jersey
Thanks for remembering that Rune was a member of the E88. So many seem to write her as a "Please get me out of here because I don't actually hate!" person, forgetting that she was air support. TRUSTED air support. Like when they redeem Purity - "She's a pretty white girl, she CAN'T be a real racist!" Guess what? They were in it because they believed. Kayden left because she caught Max cheating, not because she was tired of the fighting. Her targets afterward were STILL racist in nature.