Cauldron Compound, Jan 3, 2011.
It took all of Emma's self-control not to bounce in her seat and glower. Taylor already had a head start, even if the loser probably needed it just to not fail utterly, and grated on her. She'd spent far too much of the funds she'd painstakingly built up with Sophia's help on this – and
still wound-up owing favors – for the power sellers to deviate from the plan without
telling her ahead of time. It didn't
matter that she was getting started earlier too,
she was supposed to get her powers
first and yet the
cow-eyed weakling had gotten hers
hours ago! Being too stupid to stay alive wasn't supposed to be rewarded, dammit!
"Mara? We're ready to administer your vial."
Emma shot the lab coat-clad woman a look. "It's about time!" the redhead all but snapped. "We're already off track, and I want to get my hero career off the ground. Preferably
before Taylor manages to get herself killed."
The doctor's lips tightened slightly, before she replied "Your nemesis has settled into her base rather nicely and is no longer at risk. Now, shall we begin?"
"I've been waiting for this for weeks, so let's get this done already."
A look of amusement flickered across the doctor's face, before she produced a long, thin, vial from one of her pockets. "Formula number seven nine four eight dash E. Photonic manipulation Blaster-Shaker of medium potency and good stability, just as agreed. Remember, though, that stable does not mean you will gain your specific desired expression and no refunds are available for unsatisfactory results."
Emma froze under the suddenly intense gaze of the dark-skinned woman. "And under no circumstances does Cauldron allow for the revelation of our involvement in your empowerment. Nor are you to attempt to ascertain whether another cape's powers came from us. Understood?"
The redhead nodded carefully, keenly aware of the sweat now beading on her hairline. "Y-yes, I understand."
***
Brilliant white-gold lights flashed as Emma pelted various targets with concussive blasts formed from the blazing aura surrounding her. It wasn't quite what she'd hoped, but it was likely
better in terms of usefulness, even if it wasn't
elegant like the one she'd dreamed of since childhood
.
"If you're done trying out your power, I can give you your nemesis' ratings."
Sighing, the teen dismissed her power's manifestation and turned to look at the doctor. "Alright, how scary is the worm going to look? Have to look my best after all."
"As effective as your power is in combat, Mara, even a low-level Tinker can work around it given time and resources," the woman huffed. "As I told you when this started, there are no lemon powers here at Cauldron, and the one you picked for Ruth is one she has proven quite suited for. Our analysis pegs her as a Resource type, with a high probability of being multi-threaded too. With this in mind, her coming in at a three rating isn't to be taken at face value, as her powerset leaves her with quite an amount of room to improve and grow.
Especially when paired with environmental analysis and intuitive skill."
Typing something into her tablet, the doctor continued, "Your power is set in stone, while you can learn to better utilize it, you are as powerful now as you will ever be. A Tinker like Ruth, though? As she builds more tools, she gains more options and capabilities. Her testing set her as a Tinker 3, with two secondary Thinker powers rated at 2 each, but she
also is a Brute 0 as she made armor. Mover
9, because she built a teleportation system. Scout drones give her a Master rating of 2, and a helmet mounted display adds another 3 for Thinker. If you expect to win this, you will need to learn as much as you can about fighting Tinkers. And not just taking lessons, but actively seek out more information on the topic. Failure to counter your nemesis' abilities
will mean this will end in an upset."
Emma rolled her eyes. Like she could ever lose to
Taylor. And with Sophia at her side? The only question was how hard to push.
***
PRTENE, Brockton Bay, Jan 4, 2011.
Emma wore the wide smirk on her face openly, not bothering to hide her pleasure as she and her father exited the Director's office. She was in the Wards now, and the first steps on her path to glory had been taken. A mere survivor no longer, now she was a predator with claws fit to carry her to the top, and everyone would see just how strong she was.
It would be a very eventful few days for her, but with Winslow closed because the school's boiler had failed, she'd have plenty of time to focus on power testing and getting proper branding for a queen-to-be. Once she had a sufficiently regal name and costume, it'd only be a matter of time before she became the media's darling Ward, especially once she could start beating down the worm. With all the stories they'd been told about the other girl's mother's time with Lustrum, there was no way Taylor wouldn't trying to emulate the Caged villain out of some stupid rose-tinted belief the lunatic was a good person.
Only way it would be better is if the other girl joined the Empire, but she was far too much of an anarchist to do that, nor was she quite
that dumb.
Caught up in her plotting, the redhead failed to notice the startled lanky hero who had been conversing with Dauntless in an intersecting hall.
***
PRTENE, Brockton Bay, Jan 5, 2011.
"No. No way in hell." Emma glared at the sketch in front of her, and then at the Branding specialist. "That is
way too impractical and it looks like it was designed for a middle schooler!"
The suit-clad man blinked. "Just think of the merch! Magical girl is quite the popular aesthetic these days, and 'Miss Sunstream' would bring in almost as much revenue as Vista!"
Rolling her eyes and glowering, the redhead snapped back "It's nothing but lace and yellow gauze! The skirt is
huge and the whole thing is just cumbersome fluff. It's a ridiculous travesty and would get in the way of my powers. Try again."
The man opened his mouth to respond, only to get cut off. "I want something regal. You can make it with visible or concealed armor, it can have a
sensible skirt, even some sex appeal if it's tastefully done. And I want a name that isn't more suited to a children's cartoon. I'm a
hero, not some…
dress-up doll you can slap the latest trends onto." She'd done some small-scale modeling work, and knew
exactly how long the 'in' thing lasted.
Shrinking back a little, the bureaucrat sighed and started digging through his small collection of folders. "If merchandizing isn't something you care about, we have a few… more aggressive… ideas. Here," he said, sliding a second sketch over to the teen. It was another dress, but slim-fitting and went down to the mid-thigh, where it transitioned into a series of reinforced strips that continued down to just below the knee. It also featured several pieces of medieval-style armor accentuating the chest, hands, and feet. The dress was marked as being blue, while the armor was to be gold. A sundisk tiara and standard visor finished off the costume, and the bottom-left corner bore the proposed name. Zenith.
Emma smiled. That? That would do quite nicely.
***
"I knew you had it in you!" Sophia called as soon as Emma walked into the Wards common room. "Only question is, is there anything left of whatever morons got at you for me to go after?"
The redhead grinned at her friend, while the other Wards eyes bounced between the two. A small smirk made its way onto Emma's face, as she knew exactly what the tame wolves were thinking. Stalker? Having a friend? As if the coddled brats understood the bond of pack.
"Sorry Soph, I'm a Blaster. Everything's…
dealt with." Or would be, once the stupid favors were paid off, but she couldn't say that even if she was
willing to admit to having bought her power.
Natural capes apparently normally didn't take hearing that well.
Oh well, it was time to start getting her tendrils into her new team. Who knew, one of the boys might even be worth her attention, once she'd brought them around. Poaching Dean from that self-righteous collateral damage barbie would certainly be amusing…
***
Much to Emma's surprise, there was a Protectorate hero waiting outside the Wards section when she exited. Leaning against the wall opposite the door was the lanky armor-plated form of Legion, who'd joined up around the same time the PRT'd press-ganged Sophia.
"Mind if we talk a moment Zenith?"
Giving the older cape a wary look, the teen replied "I'm not quite sure what business you might have with me, given that I only signed up yesterday…"
"Nothing really Wards related, just some questions about a couple of missing students from your school. We're pretty sure that at least one Trigger event was involved and we're trying to track them down before one of the gangs picks them up." Pushing off the wall, the man gestured at another doorway. "There's a conference room just over there, if you're willing to talk."
Going anywhere with a Master-class cape wasn't generally a good idea, but Legion created copies of himself from surrounding materials and she was a Blaster. So she followed. It wasn't like she knew anything about whatever losers might've cracked.
Settling into a chair, the Protectorate member then pulled off his helmet and leaned back as Emma's eyes widened.
Danny Hebert ran a hand through his thinning hair, before he spoke with a sigh. "Have you seen or heard from Taylor at all recently? She disappeared from home at the start of Christmas break and nobody's been able to find out what happened to her. We
think it was voluntary, as she seems to have taken all the food with her."
Rubbing his face, the man who had once been like a second father to her gave Emma a pleading look. "Was she at all close to an Emily Jacobs? She hadn't been talking to me much about school before she vanished and she might have run off with our other missing student if they were close."
Well, this was awkward. Her punching bag's father was in the Protectorate. He might be able to recognize the worm, and that would quite likely cause her problems. She'd need to start damage control
now.
***
PRTENE, Brockton Bay, Jan 9, 2011.
Emma leaned back in her seat, carefully suppressing a groan. She should've been preparing for her debut, not stuck waiting in a conference room with the rest of the Wards for some briefing about one of her set-piece upper classmen who'd set her parents' car on fire. Her time was important!
Finally the screen secure-linked to the Rig flashed to life, what felt like ages past the supposed start time. Armsmaster's helmeted visage gazed out over the assembled junior capes like a statue for a moment, before the man spoke. "Brockton Bay has seen two fresh Triggers emerge over the past week, one pyrogenic Blaster and one Tinker, the latter of which will be the primary focus of this meeting. The new Tinker, identified yesterday as 'Hausōs', was first encountered by Triumph and Kid Win Wednesday evening in the process of fleeing Bay Goods with an assortment of goods, predominately food."
The Protectorate Leader's face was replaced by an image of a tall figure clad in a studded coat, head covered by a helmet with a vaguely insectile-looking visor and flanked by two crude drones.
"The as-yet unnamed Hausōs, when confronted with an offer of surrender and a soft Wards pitch, proceeded to deliver a brief but heated monologue of a decidedly anti-establishment nature, and anti-PRT in particular before disappearing in a nearby alley. Now, ordinarily we would simply classify her as a villain and give a preliminary threat estimate, but she and others like her require a more delicate touch. During the confrontation, she stated herself to be homeless and her actions in all known appearances support this claim. Capes in such circumstances are difficult to handle, in part as they are near universally abuse victims or mentally ill. This presents a notable PR hurdle, as civilians tend to view law enforcement engaging such individuals as police brutality at the best of times, and enough rather public and destructive Triggers have occurred as a result of ordinary police actions that protocol dictates we handle Hausōs with kids gloves, so to speak."
Several scenes of carnage that looked like they'd been pulled out of war movies began to cycle over the screen, before Armsmaster continued.
"This is not to say you are not to confront her, but your rules of engagement are
strictly to deescalate when possible and keep your use of force equal to, or less than, her own. Talk her down if you can, but
don't push her. You do not want a Tinker to focus on weaponizing their power, especially if you're target number one, nor do we want her to start running more serious criminal operations or, worse, joining one of the gangs for protection. A criminal Tinker using their powers to survive is far easier to deal with than one who is gearing up for combat, and can be either coxed into the fold in time with offers of support, or be neutralized by covertly covering their needs and allowing them to direct all their focus onto their tinkering."
"Our other new parahuman has yet to appear as a cape, and thus we have little to talk about there beyond keeping an eye out for fires and ensuring you are properly following civilian interaction protocols. If you encounter her, she is currently listed as safe to attempt recruitment. If you have questions that you cannot find an answer to in the system, e-mail Miss Militia."
With that, the screen went blank and Emma groaned. "Kids gloves? Is he joking? This Hausōs girl's a villain, it doesn't
matter what her sob story is. We can just smack her down, bring her in and let the courts sort her out, instead of giving her time build herself into an actual threat and join one of the gangs."
From the far end of the table, Vista dropped her head into her hands. "Great," she moaned "We have our own Brandish. Perfect."
Directing a decidedly unimpressed look at her newest team mate, the thirteen year-old then added "With her current rap sheet, Hausōs would be in the Wards within a day of being arrested and your grumpy edgelord friend is bad enough for the rest of us, and
she was just a vigilante. A Tinker who'd rather be a villain living on the streets than join us? Are you a
masochist?"
Rory coughed into his hand. "Vista, please. I'll handle this," he said with a mildly exasperated tone. "You're new to this Emma, so it's understandable you might not be very familiar with how things are done, especially if you're not very into the cape scene. We greatly prefer villains like Hausōs, who only commit crimes to support themselves, to dedicated villains like Crusader or Squealer. They do far less damage and cause far fewer problems for the average person. So we treat them much the same as humor villains, giving them far more slack than they would otherwise get, allowing them to
stay that way and us to focus on the actively dangerous capes like those in the ABB and Empire. In most cases I've read about, they don't even
fight if confronted by another cape, just run. While the news and PHO make a big deal about cape fights, a substantial number would rather not risk their lives in what some have described as a live-fire game of cops and robbers. Really the biggest difference between villains like Hausōs and rouges is their personal circumstances, to the point that we actually have a special program for those looking to go legit after they've gotten their feet back under them."
The redhead stared at the Wards Leader. Was he serious? Villains
existed for heroes to topple and stomp on, but he was really saying that the small fry who only there for newcomers to cut their teeth on were supposed to be left to their rat work in the hopes that they'd stop being rats? She was beginning to wonder if she'd made the wrong choice in teams. But then, Haven didn't have any local branches and she wasn't about to abandon her future domain just for a less annoying team. Especially since Haven was far too large for her to turn to her own ends.
Maybe she could make use of her ability to task Taylor with criminal acts for their fights to get the PRT to drop the shackles?
***
"What do you
mean 'no fights can be scheduled at this time'? I paid for a nemesis and I want to make use of her!" The nerve of Cauldron, telling her how she could do this!
The doctor's sigh came over the phone with a slightly staticky edge to it. "Mara, you chose a
Tinker nemesis. And you acknowledged that said choice meant a period for your nemesis to build up. If you had wanted to begin the fights immediately, instead of after a month, you should have chosen a power that does not require a delay. If that is all, I have other business to deal with."
Emma cut the call with a huff, glaring at her phone like it was a member of the Slaughterhouse 9. Or possibly Taylor. Hopefully her post-introduction patrol was eventful, she really needed to blast something or someone.
Alright, anyone who has a PHO post idea can get that sent over by messaging me now.
)
