The rest of the legalese is perfunctory, save two items near the end: recruitment bonuses for Sakura Yakamoto and Saki Yakamoto, each totalling $2,500 - which both go into your Trust Fund, as usual. You sign and initial for the bonuses and the remaining legalese, then close the folder and pass it back to Director Piggot. As she looks up to you and takes the folder, you catch her eyes.
So they're in. Teleporters, right? Well, that'll be handy.
"Dragon had sensors tracking Weaver as she left the grounds, as the Wards have been confined to the refugee camp limits. Weaver only reported that you petitioned her to allow the Undersiders - along with New Wave member Panacea and the rogue, Parian - safe passage from the camp, and that you had returned a pistol and set of PRT restraints that you had 'found' somewhere."
A quick snort from the Director punctuating her last statement gives no doubt to her own belief about where Aisha obtained the pistol and restraints, but otherwise Director Piggot remains silent after finishing her explanation. You are uncertain as to why Piggot would conceal the fact that your report laid out the full details of the encounter in the woods - as doing otherwise would have been a flagrant violation of the PRT's trust and in defiance of the law - but you consider the move a prudent one considering Aisha's likely reaction to your apparent betrayal of her trust.
Considering how things went in canon (and in many a fanfic), I find it delightfully ironic that this version of Taylor is a big stickler for the law and loyal to the PRT (at least while under Clarity).
That said... smooth on Piggot's part. She doesn't care if Aisha dislikes her, but she knows that Taylor she'll be Taylor's teammate, and that Taylor is the main factor keeping her in the Wards in the first place, so she prioritizes making sure Aisha has no problem with Taylor.
Manipulative, but efficient.
"Uh… I guess? TT was gettin' real jittery all this mornin', sayin' that we… they… needed to get Panacea the fuck outta Dodge. Regent was bitchin' that they didn't have any reason to do jack without a paycheck, but TT and br-… Grue… said they'd figure something out once they bounced."
Reassuring, in a way - if the Undersiders were acting on a "let's keep the biokinetic from turning into a class S threat" logic rather than a "let's get the hell away from the powerful robo-cape with an excellent motivation to go Predator on our ass" logic, that improves our odds of contacting and bringing them into the fold in Philadelphia.
"Not… shady, I guess, but kinda… weird? I mean, Panacea is like, this super goody-two-shoes healer, right? She ain't got a disguise, either, so she can't jus' walk around town without a camera spotin' her. Still, when I saw TT chattin' her up she always looked… I dunno. Tired? I could see someone like her gettin' fed up with the bullshit of everyone always expectin' ya ta help out. Said her mom was losin' her shit too, so that prolly didn't help."
I wouldn't want to be Brandish right now. Her city, destroyed. Her daughter, dead. Her adopted daughter she always feared would turn villain, run away with a team of villains.
"Armsmaster, I want you drawing up paperwork for a pre-approved Kill Order on Amy Dallon should any signs of her becoming a biological terrorist arise. Miss Militia, you're to deliver the news to New Wave that Panacea fled the camp under her own power and without coercion.
Efficient, to the point, but not unfair. I like this Piggot.
"Hypothesis: only Panacea aware of power extent. Ancillary hypothesis: fear of reveal, abuse of power significant factor in mental duress."
Yay for Taylor and her leet Investigation abilities!
"Shadow Stalker's real name is Sophia Hess."
I repeat: I'm loving Piggot in this.
"There's too many questions flying around about you, Weaver. Now, I know you're not Taylor Hebert. Hell, you might not even be a real parahuman. Either way, I don't care. If the rest of the capes under my command had been anywhere near as proficient as you, we might have been able to turn things around in Brockton Bay years ago."
Well, if anything, we appear to have earned Piggot's respect.
Interesting, however, that she believes we're neither Taylor nor parahuman. Hm. Maybe she's talked it over with some PRT Thinkers, and the going theory is that we're a tinkertech android? Cauldron seemed to think we were artificial, so it's simply a question of who drew the conclusion in the first place...
You follow, noting that Aisha has just finished changing the positions of every chair in the room.
A useless gesture as the chairs are all identical, but everyone has to start somewhere.
Encouraging - she has excess energy and can't sit still, but she's trying to handle it by doing something that doesn't actually cause any trouble.
Aisha might have a decent future in the Wards.
Heh.
"O-oh, r-right. I am yes. I mean, yes, I'm unharmed. Unhurt. Right. I'm going now. Good luck against the Endbringers."
Hm. I wonder if touching Soulsteel made Weld hear the wailing of the damned?
The final vehicle, 'Boston Van 00', contains Aegis, Dinah, Triumph, Velocity, Weld.
These guys are gonna have a big challenge ahead of them, with most of Brockton's villains moving to Boston.
But if Dinah's powers function reasonably well once she's not in the same city as us... then the Boston PRT is gonna have one
hell of an advantage.
Intimacy: Aegis/Carlos (Friendship) +1 Increase! [NOW FULL INTIMACY!]
Intimacy: Director Piggot (Grudging Trust) +1 Increase! [NOW FULL INTIMACY!]
Oh sure,
now we finish forming an intimacy with them!
Fucking timing.
Wait. If we're not gonna be in the same town as Aegis... who's gonna be the leader of the Philadelphia Wards? A Philly local, I would guess, but...
