I'll be responding to comments later. I honestly forgot about commenting here and I feel like a senile old man cuz of it. But here is the new chapter.
Germination 2.4
Emily Piggot
When she had commissioned the inspection of Zero Dawn Technology, she had done it as an opening salvo in a campaign to deal with the Heberts. It wasn't meant to be much more than be a fishing expedition and begin tightening the screws on the company. Contrary to Christener wanting a quick and decisive strike, she understood that taking down the Heberts was going to be a long and drawn out affair.
What the Heberts had done was smart, if she were to grudgingly admit it, and something that the PRT would have to look into stopping for the future. They had created an overlapping set of legal protections that prevented them from just hitting the entire company, Hebert could hide behind NEPEA-5 laws as a Tinker, and she could hide under laws that protected her as a worker for the company. Considering that this had been done before their acquisition of capital, it had to be sheer coincidence, otherwise Daniel Hebert was more intelligent than Christener was giving him.
Nonetheless, there were ways to remove those legal protections. It just took time and careful preparation, much to Christener's dismay. They could not go in half-cocked or they would trigger a legal battle that could have dire implications going forward if it was ruled in a certain way.
It was certainly not what many people would expect of her. She was too well known for her preference for bluntness and not beating around the bush. However, she could be subtle when she needed to, it just wasn't something she defaulted to when she had the opportunity to do otherwise.
However, what she wasn't expecting was for Miss Militia to call her and inform her that Taylor Hebert was designing a fucking nuclear reactor. She had sat there stunned for a moment, trying to even grasp just exactly what the hell the woman was saying, before immediately sensing an opportunity.
She wasn't stupid enough to think that it was the opportunity of a lifetime to place Hebert into her grasp. What Hebert was doing was not illegal, as much as she wished in this circumstance it was. However, it provided her with an opportunity to maybe put on a bit more pressure than she had previously expected. Fear was an excellent motivator and this was a fifteen year old, after all.
So she had given Miss Militia the orders to take Hebert in for questioning. According to the woman both the father and another woman had voiced their objections, but Hebert had brushed them off. It was honestly what she expected from a teenaged know-it-all, the arrogance to believe that they had the answer to everything, and even in the face of the law that they could do no wrong.
But it was an advantage for them, and she was looking forward to personally fixing that attitude.
Capes needed oversight, it didn't matter what they specialized in or what their power was, they were a liability unless they were adequately contained and controlled. And if they stepped out of line, they could be prevented from being a problem. It was an idea that she had clinged to since Ellisburg, when her eyes had been opened to the fault of relying upon Capes.
And Hebert not only was a rogue cape and outside of her control, but a possible major scandal in the making. Even with Shadow Stalker transferred to Los Angeles, the fact of the matter remained that if it was discovered that Shadow Stalker was involved in the bullying campaign on Taylor Hebert, it would ask far too many uncomfortable questions that she didn't want asked.
She had to deal with Hebert, there was no avoiding that albatross around her neck. Even if it was possible, which it wasn't, PRT Brockton Bay could not afford the scandal, especially in a city with literal Nazis who would gleefully trumpet to the high heavens the racial implications of their failure.
But, further than even that, was what Hebert represented if she became successful. The Protectorate could ill-afford for a rogue Tinker to become successful. It was a delicate balance already trying to keep the status quo in place, between Toybox and the Elite. But Hebert, with an investment like this, presented a credible and burgeoning threat. One that had yet to be recognized by the Chief Director.
No, she was not going to put herself at the mercy of cape, nor was she going to be the Director held responsible for this failure either. The Heberts would be brought in line, they would be contained, and if Hebert could be utilized, then she would be. If not, she would be discarded at the earliest convenience after she had been wrapped in legal paper and silenced. That was all there was to it. This wasn't personal, this was just how it was.
Still, they were playing very close to the edge of illegality. From a certain point of view what she was doing was illegal. The inspection, on the surface, was legal, if rarely used. Part of the reason for that was that there never really had been a reason to use inspections. After NEPEA-5, most of the Tinkers that had been rogues had either joined the Protectorate, joined a corporation that was aligned with the Protectorate, or had gone villain. The latter for obvious reason would not be privy to an inspection, so much as a raid.
Nonetheless, there was some leeway if you decided to interpret the laws a certain way. In this case, the inspection she had tasked to Miss Militia and Triumph was more of a 'soft raid', because they were going to use the argument that Taylor Hebert was a Tinker of unknown affiliation if challenged. Even though Hebert was part of the company, there was still enough ambiguity to insinuate that she could be providing support to villains.
It was a stretch, but it was a strategy that could simply be written off as an honest mistake if the situation got legally too hot. But it was a matter that by the time that it could be legally challenged, the inspection could be done and they would have a chance at finding incriminating evidence. It was a sort of stretch, but if anything, again it went to an opening move, instead of anything decisive.
But even if they did discover evidence of wrongdoing, or even a NEPEA-5 violation, the entire scenario would have to go through the legal process, and depending on the level of the violation, it may or may not be enough to push Hebert into joining the Protectorate or face juvenile detention. If it wasn't, then at least the fines would leave Hebert vulnerable, and would also provide them an opportunity to then investigate Far Zenith. After all, if there was wrongdoing, then they must also be aware of it.
But that was for the future, right now, she had a developing situation she had to put a lid on. When she had commissioned the inspection, she had certainly not expected Child Protective Services to show up at the same time. It added further complication to an already complex situation. Just their presence alone was going to raise far too many suspicions that this was an organized hit, instead of a legally executed procedure.
While Christener had told her what he had been planning, she would have preferred a little head's up that this was going to happen today of all days. It was something she was going to have to revisit with the man going forward. Find out what else he had in the works outside of the vagaries that he had given her on what he had done.
Not to coordinate, of course, but to ensure that they were not stepping on each other's toes. The last thing either of them needed was for inquiring minds to start thinking that there was some conspiracy to target a fifteen year old. Even if that was actually the truth, it didn't need to be known by the masses.
Stopping at the door, she paused, catching herself and organizing her thoughts.
It had been some time since she had done an interrogation. It was something normally not done by a Director, who could delegate the job. Unfortunately, this was not a normal situation. Armsmaster could not be anywhere near this situation, Renick would be a disaster, and she didn't have a subordinate that she could trust to handle this effectively.
She had considered Miss Militia, but had quickly written it off. She was a good attack dog, loyal and obedient, but she could become compromised in the right circumstances. Hebert and her disability would likely trigger such a reaction. And any other Protectorate member just wouldn't fit the bill. No, it had to be her to do this, and she had to ensure that everything was worded and done right.
They could ill afford for there to be a mess up. Any evidence or admissions that they could get now would make the process easier to get a warrant for a detailed investigation into Zero Dawn and the Heberts. Without that warrant, they were dead in the water, unable to truly pry away at the veil and discover just how far Hebert's abilities and knowledge went.
Opening the door, she moved in, taking in the subject of all of this. The first thing she noticed was that the photos did not do any justice to the damage that had been done to her by the acid attack. If anything, the photos downplayed it in their failure to capture it. The second thing that she noticed was that the teenager's eyes were closed and her hands were clasped together on the table.
It was not the body language of someone that was intimidated by their circumstances to say the least.
"Beta, I'm Director Piggot," she greeted as she took a seat.
"Beta? I'm sorry, but you must be mistaking me for someone else, Director. I do not have a cape name, nor do I intend to have one," Hebert, no 'Beta' responded, opening her eyes and she had to stop herself from reacting at the glazed over sightless eyes.
"As per Protectorate protocols, Miss Hebert, all identified capes are given a temporary placeholder for the sake of legal record. In this case, since you have previously identified yourself as having powers, you were assigned a placeholder name. In this case, the name provided for you was Beta."
Silence met her statement, as Taylor He-, no, Beta, stared at her. She had to wonder just what the teenager was thinking. The teenager had likely never considered the ramifications of her actions, obviously so keen on her own wants and needs to ignore the obvious.
"Suit yourself," she finally said, offering a small shrug, "if it makes your paperwork easier, by all means, you can call me whatever you like. It still doesn't mean I'm going to don a costume and go out and trade punches with Hookwolf or Lung, I have better things to do than that. Though, I have to ask. Why Beta?"
Out of everything she had expected, it wasn't this, so she found herself blinking at the question, "Excuse me?"
"I'm serious, Director. Why Beta? I may not be the most knowledgeable about the cape world, but I read PHO from time to time, so I know that all codenames the Protectorate gives has some basis upon the cape's power. But Beta? What are you insinuating? I'm an early build or test? Or are you implying that because of my perceived disability, I should fulfill the stereotype of being meek, subservient, and fearful?"
Not once, but twice now, in less than five minutes, she found herself on the back foot. Again, Beta had not acted as she would have expected, causing her to reassess what she was dealing with. She was already treading on delicate terrain with what she was doing. By having Taylor Hebert given a cape name, it acted as a corporate brand, which negated any Miranda protections for the teenager, as corporations had limited constitutional protections in comparison to an individual.
She was expecting a teenager that was nervous, but willing to answer questions. Not whatever this was.
Beta's obviously more intelligent than the record indicates. Though whether it's thanks to her power or that she has been hiding it is up to debate She is also not cowed by authority, even if she had willingly obeyed Miss Militia's commands and willingly came in for questioning. Could it be because she's rationalized that what she is doing is on her own terms?
The question that had to be asked was what was the overall angle? Why had Beta chosen to willingly come in? She had the right to refuse coming in for questioning, but was she aware of what would happen if she did? Especially with something as large as this? Was there an actual plan in play that she, and by extension, ENE, were unaware of?
Or was she overestimating the girl?
She was faced with a choice here, regardless of her thoughts, she could follow her plan and bull through this, cutting straight to the heart and getting Beta to self-incriminate. It was high-risk, high-reward, as the nuclear reactor blueprint was not enough to establish illegality, she had double-checked before she came down here. It was perfectly legal to create a blueprint, however tainted it was since it was created by a Tinker.
No, the matter was, just exactly what Beta was capable of. There was a stark differential between a medical device that granted vision and a nuclear reactor, no matter how you parse it even if you ignore everything else that was credited to her. But further than that, just what was the aspect of her Tinker power. Every Tinker had something that could not be explained by conventional science, it was an inexorable rule of Tinkers. Yet, somehow, Beta was able to avoid this pitfall. There were now twenty-seven patents that were connected directly to Beta, or to a suspected nom de guerre that she was operating under in order to avoid too much attention. Every. Single. Patent. Was. Not. Tinkertech.
So how was she doing it? There had to be something that could be used? And the only option was to get Beta to slip, to reveal just how she was doing it.
So the choice now was to to try hard at getting her to admit, or to be subtle and get the teenager to lower her guard.
"I apologize that you feel offended by the cape name that was given to you, Miss Hebert. However, my hands are tied in regards to protocol. Unless you are willing to provide an alternative for record purposes, I have to refer to you by your cape name."
"Alloy."
"Excuse me?"
"If you want to force me to assume a cape name, then you can call me Alloy. The previous Alloy was a Tinker out of Burbank that specialized in Tinker metals. She was killed by Bastard Son in a dispute with the Elite."
"Is that your Tinker specialty? Specialized materials?"
The look of confusion that greeted her only triggered her own confusion in return. It was a logical deduction, after all, capes tended to name themselves after an aspect or theme of their power. Some happened to be more direct than others, of course, but it was treated as a general rule of thumb when dealing with capes.
The fact that Alloy seemed confused only served to unsettle her.
"No," Alloy finally replied, her posture saying a lot more than her tone, "why would you think that?"
"Because capes don't name themselves randomly, Miss Hebert. There is always a theme, and the fact that you chose the name that previously belonged to a Tinker that specialized in metals, one would assume that it is your power."
For a moment, she was met with silence, before Taylor barked out a laugh, her shoulder shaking with mirth.
"I'm sorry," she said after getting control of herself, "I didn't think you would read into it like that. No, Director, my power is not in creating specialized Tinker materials. The reason I chose Alloy is more allegorical than literal."
"Then what is it," she found herself demanding, not at all liking the irreverence she was being met with. Didn't this girl understand just what sort of trouble she was bringing upon herself? Or did she not just care?!
The smile disappeared from the teen's face, obviously no longer the way that this was going. Well, that was tough for her, she was going to get to the bottom of this before she lost the chance. All of this was reaching a head, whether she wanted to or not, and she was on a timer.
There was a slight shift to the teen's posture, and at first, she wrote it off as nerves. But that quickly changed as the girl unclasped her hands, then reclasped them in a different way. It wasn't nervousness, no, if anything, Hebert was making herself comfortable.
"Technology," she said, after letting the silence drag out just long enough to where she was ready to snap her demand out again.
At first, she wasn't able to process exactly what was just said. It was such a stupid statement that it caused all thought processes to stop, but when they restarted, all she could feel was a raw fury that was starting to roil in her.
"Do you think this is a game, Miss Hebert?"
"No," she replied as she gave a slight shake of her head, "I don't."
"That's not what it appears to me. I asked you what your power was and you give me a bullshit answer!? Do you even understand the level of trouble you are in? Tinker-derived nuclear technology is the sort of thing that puts you on a terrorist watch list, Miss Hebert, and is certainly enough for me to get a warrant issued to tear your entire company down to see what else you may be working on! The only thing that is currently holding me back from making that phone call is this conversation we are having. So, once again, I will ask, just what is your power?!
What she was saying was true, however, there were a few more steps to the process before she could execute. They could not take Hebert's word at face value for legal reasons, they needed confirmation that what she was working on was nuclear, and there was no one in Brockton Bay with the knowledge or authority to confirm these claims. Instead, photos were being sent up to the Department of Energy for an answer, which they would hopefully have in a few hours.
What she was hoping for here, because Hebert didn't seem to understand just what she had done, was that the girl would give them another reason to fast-track a different warrant, one that would have a more limited scope, but would nonetheless achieve what she was aiming for.
What she got instead was Hebert shaking her head, a small smile reappearing on her face, as if she found this a joke. But before she could say anything otherwise, Hebert spoke.
"Do you have a legal pad and paper?"
She blinked at the question, certainly not expecting a request for anything. For a moment, she considered denying it, after all, what use would a blind girl have for a pen and paper? But after second thoughts, she placed a pen down on the legal pad that had been placed on the table, and slid it across towards the teenager who picked it up and began marking on the paper.
It wasn't writing, but before she could demand exactly what the teenager was doing, Hebert began talking even as she continued to mark on the paper, a series of small letters, dashes, and circles.
"Tell me, Director, do you know how many patent applications I have currently?"
"I don't see where you are-"
"Forty-seven, Director. I'm not sure if you are aware of the ones that I've put under an alias," she continued, her attention still on the legal pad, as she ripped off the paper and placed it face down, then began to work on the next sheet, "but I would like to think you've done your homework on the applications that have my name attached to them. Of those, Director, how many of those have you identified as Tinkertech?"
None, she answered in her head, even as she tried to figure out exactly what Hebert was writing.
"I can tell you the answer to that, Director. Zero. Not a single patent that I have submitted is Tinkertech, because none of my technology ever has been. When I tell you my specialty is technology, Director, I mean my speciality technology. Full. Stop."
"My Focus," she continued, ripping off the sheet and placing it face down on top of the first, "both the prototype and the one you are currently having your techs scan with every device in your possession, is all based upon real science and theory that began being explored in the late 1960s. The core theory behind the concept of brain-computer interface is sound, but the bottleneck has always been that the science and materials were decades in advance of what was possible."
"That sounds awfully similar to Tinkertech."
The small smile that graced Hebert's lips only served to unnerve her as she finished writing whatever it was. Ripping off the last sheet of paper, she then took the other two and flipped them over, placing them side by side short ways, and then placing the third sheet likewise on its side, but in a way that it formed a loose triangle shape from the rectangles.
"Here," Hebert said, sliding the work across and allowing her to finally see what the teenager had been working on, "I'd suggest handing it over to Dragon, she'll know what to do with it."
"And what is it?"
"The chemical formula for an improved containment foam. It will set faster and grow molecularly stronger the more the target attempts to struggle."
She looked at the papers, which, sure enough, showed a chemical formula now that she could understand it. Then back to Hebert who had settled back in her chair, and if the teenager had sight, she could have sworn that she was staring at her to read her expression.
Which, right now, was both shock, but also a bit of anger. Containment foam was one of the PRT's most closely guarded secrets. While it may have been designed by Dragon, it was being produced and distributed by the PRT. It was probably one of the most important nonlethal weapons in their arsenal.
"How did you get this," she demanded, though it was more of a snap in her tone, because things were quickly spiraling out of control, and she wanted to be back in control, "this is classified information!"
"Not really," was the shrug, which only infuriated her more, "Confoam actually originates from a 1990 joint project funded by Army and Marine Corps. It was under development as a system to nonlethally detain American citizens in the event of mass civil unrest thanks to the projected growing threat of capes and villains. When the PRT was founded in '93, the project was canceled. Odds are Dragon found the project notes and continued the work, as a lot of the characteristics match with some of the research that was released in '98."
She opened her mouth, then closed it, looking at the formula before her. Was it possible that Hebert knew what she was talking about? She couldn't say that she knew the history behind containment foam, so it was possible. But that led back around to what was Hebert's speciality? Every single item that she had so far seen were in completely separate fields and lacked a theme. Not only was she dealing with visual devices, new materials, an energy source, but now she was showing a proficiency in chemicals. None of this was making sense.
"Everything I have done, has research already out there Director," Hebert's words rang in her head, as she looked up to the teenager, "a Thorium Breeder Reactor, or TBR, has been something scientists have been working on since the 50s, the first actual reactor, a molten-salt cooled reactor, became critical in Oak Ridge in 1968. Since then there have been a handful of experiments with it, but with the Tinker Craze in the 80s and 90s, a lot of the budget and research fell to the wayside as nations began looking at Tinkers as a shortcut towards increasing their energy supply. Of course, we all know how that ended."
Poorly, to say the least. When it was realized that Tinkertech was essentially blackboxed technology that needed its creators continued input, it had been too late in several cases. It was the repercussions of the Tinkertech Craze and the blowback from corporations looking to protect their interests that led to the birth of NEPEA-5.
"What you and your analysts are looking at is certainly not Tinkertech. Nothing in that design is blackboxed. All of the building materials can be produced naturally. The only thing that is different about it from the MSRE is that it's cheaper, more efficient, scalable, and can produce more energy per capita than any single reactor we currently have in operation with far less waste product. Furthermore, and this is my main selling point on the design, is that it is designed to be statistically impossible for Behemoth to meltdown. He'd have to irradiate the area almost entirely on his own."
She then settled back in her chair, smiling.
"I wonder what the DOE is thinking right now, looking over my email and your report."
A chill ran down her spine as it all suddenly clicked into place. Hebert's willingness to come in despite it being legally idiotic, her demeanor this entire time, and her breadth of knowledge of what she was producing. She knew what they would do and had planned it accordingly.
By having a public official forward this to the Department of Energy, who were legally in charge of all facets of nuclear technology and materials, she was bypassing so much legal paperwork and bureaucracy and getting it to those who would make decisions.
And if she was right, and there was no reason otherwise that she wouldn't be, then the DOE would realize exactly what they were looking at, and they would take personal interest in what Hebert was working on. Because Hebert was right, Behemoth had chilled the nuclear industry after what he had done in three different instances to nuclear reactor facilities. No one was willing to risk taking the chance of building a nuclear reactor if it could be used by Behemoth to irradiate the surrounding land. It was this, along with the loss of several oilfields over the years, that an energy crisis was looming, not yet to hit America's shores, but Europe was already starting to feel the vice.
It was the perfect type of atmosphere for Hebert to offer a solution. And if it could negate the threat that Behemoth posed to nuclear reactors…
She looked to the teenager in a new light, realizing that all of this was viciously calculated. From the moment that they had begun inspecting Zero Dawn, she had played them, placing a nuclear reactor blueprint in plain sight, knowing that they were legally bound to investigate, that they would have to share this with the Department of Energy. It was all thought out and prepared for, and they had stepped into it.
"I'm not a Tinker, Director," Hebert, no, Alloy declared, staring her down with those unseeing eyes, "I knew the moment I started producing technology that I had to get ahead of you declaring it all as Tinkertech. The only way I could do that was to ensure that you were aware of it. A calculated gamble. If it had failed, it would have taken me longer and forced me down more difficult paths, but it didn't."
The sound of a knock at the door caused the other girl to pause, before her smile widened just slightly further. It only caused the scars on her face to twist further and the smile looked more fiendish than it had any right to be.
"I'm a Thinker."
The door then flew open, and a man in a suit with a briefcase stormed in.
