1.8
Friday. 4:12 PM
Colin pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing desperately that he had his suit with its built-in tension soothers. This entire situation had gone downhill so fast and all because of a seriously disturbed girl's inability to deal with being shown up by someone she had looked down upon.
"Has emergency services gotten everyone hurt to BB Memorial?" he asked, surveying the milling crowd of students being directed by police and other faculty. Parents were arriving to pick up their children and he saw and heard several arguing loudly with the authorities, demanding answers they couldn't provide.
"We're making one last sweep of the school for any possible hold-outs, but I believe so," Miss Militia said. "Director Piggot was not pleased that you tasked PRT resources to deal with a situation that didn't involve parahumans."
"She can address those concerns with me directly," he shrugged, loosening his tie. "Given the location, I judged containing the situation quickly and efficiently was more important than whatever her concerns are. As you know now, though, it wasn't a civilian case anyway."
"You're not talking about Shadow Stalker, are you?" Militia asked, glancing his way. "You were worried about our pyrokinetic acting out again?"
"I considered that a possibility," he admitted. "One among many. The recent influx of gang activity had me worried as well. The E88 have at least one parahuman of the appropriate age to be at Winslow, to say nothing of some of the independents who have refused Wards membership."
Miss Militia looked thoughtful. "That could have turned Winslow inside out. Our initial ratings on some of the independents… a fight breaking out could have easily leveled the school."
"Still, it could have been worse," he turned his eyes toward where the new crews were milling around outside the limits of the school property. "At least what happened with Stalker was only witnessed by a few students. If that had been widespread, this could have been much worse. The last thing we need is the news running parahuman fear pieces. They would connect the dots to Hebert's situation last month in a hurry and we'd already have Parahuman terrorizing normal people garbage littering the air."
"It would be the truth, Colin," she pointed out gently.
"Doesn't make it not garbage," he sighed and looked toward the school for a moment. "I'm sorry. This has been a stressful week. I got the monitoring systems running and this happened. I'm still no closer to deducing who the pyrokinetic is than I was when this started."
"You're still against Hebert, then?"
"I'm divided," he admitted. "I hadn't seen anything to suggest it, but I'm considering that she might have triggered. The way she dealt with Hess after provoking her, it was like she knew exactly what was going to happen, precisely the buttons to push. It appeared too… easy, I guess."
"Perhaps she took up martial arts?" Militia said. "A parahuman power doesn't have to be the first answer all the time."
"She hasn't," he said absently, starting toward the school, Miss Militia following. "I performed a search for any recent applicants into any of the schools around Brockton Bay and none of them matched her description."
"Colin," Militia said patiently. "Most schools don't record keep that way, to say nothing that it couldn't be merely training from someone she knows."
"I'm not discounting any of those possibilities," he replied. "But it seems unlikely, nonetheless. Had she recently taken up martial arts, there wouldn't have been enough time for such smooth, coordinated responses to become ingrained. This was something I would have expected from Vista with years of training."
He glanced sideways as they moved down the hall, noting her surprise. "What?"
"I wasn't aware you had such a high opinion of her skills," she observed.
"Creativity in place of outright strength is worthy of respect," he grunted. "The decision to keep her in a support role was not mine. I had no hand in some of marketing's decisions either."
"You still don't like the PR department," she almost laughed.
"For a variety of reasons," he agreed. "Not the least of which is some of the things they put my emblem on." He nodded toward the door ahead, where a pair of PRT guards stood in place. "That aside, I think we should see about piecing together how all of this happened."
"Agreed," Militia said. "Shall I take point, since you're still incognito?"
"Actually, let me take lead," he decided, wishing again that he was fully geared. His suite of lie detection systems would be very useful right now. The two PRT agents held the door open and he entered behind Miss Militia. Catherine Greene sat at one end of the conference room that was typically used for parent and teacher meetings.
"Ms. Greene," he said, settling into one of the chairs while Miss Militia took another. "Our apologies for taking so long. There were a lot of issues outside that we had to oversee."
The girl shrugged. "I've got nothing to do except go home, Which I'd like to do. This room's kind of boring."
"Well, we just have a few questions about today and then you're free to go," he told her.
"Let me guess," she said, apparently in an ill-temper. "I'm stuck here until I answer your questions, am I right? I think my dad might have some issues with unlawfully detaining a minor."
"Nothing of the sort," Miss Militia murmured. "We would just like to obtain a clearer picture of what set off today's events and as you were intimately involved, we were hoping you might be able to fill in some of the pieces for us."
The girl stared at them for a moment, then snorted. "It'll get me out of here faster than anything else, though I still don't think my dad will be thrilled about this. So, ask your questions."
"How was it that you became aware of the animosity between Ms. Hebert and Ms. Hess?" Miss Militia asked.
Catherine stared again for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, rumor was pretty strong, but after a friend and I were witness to psycho-girl trying to harass Taylor more than once, we were concerned she might try something worse…"
~~~~~~~~
Friday, 9:47 AM
The library was quiet for her free period and Catherine leaned back in her chair, the book she had been reading forgotten. The morning had been dull, though hearing about what had happened yesterday on the track during PE had her split between trying to smile and frown. She had passed Sophia in the hall earlier, who was moving about slowly with the aid of a cane and looking almost murderous as she limped about.
The rumors she had overhead in the cafeteria at breakfast suggested that her injury sidelined her for some upcoming track meet, and that she had been expected to carry Winslow through several events. It was the sort of thing that she expected would invite retaliation, as rumors ran the range from Sophia jumped out a window and broke her ankle to Taylor beating Sophia down with a hurdle from the track until it broke to pieces.
"You are worried," Minako murmured, drawing her attention.
"Well, yeah," she admitted. "If even half of what we've heard about the crap Taylor got from her is true, then I expect her to try something bad today. Retaliation for yesterday."
"Have you given thought to what we discussed yesterday? It could be useful and she might agree," Minako asked.
Catherine frowned. "I thought about that, but I'm not sure we should. That… we'd be going all in and I'm… not right now, no." Minako nodded slightly in acknowledgement and looked down at the assignments she had been working on.
"There is the alternative of employing Hess' preferred tactics against her," Minako said. "Injured as she is, we would have little difficulty."
"Punting the stupid bitch into next year would be gratifying," Catherine replied. "Just… she reminds me of someone and I can't place exactly who. Rubs me the wrong way though."
"You are opposed to that?" Minako asked.
"Yeah," she sighed. "As much as I want to pound her face in, she's got pull with someone. Track, probably. She'd just whine to them and we'd be hauled off to the office."
"What do you recommend, then?"
"Best I've got right now would be one of us sticks with Taylor as much as we can, the other keeps an eye on Hess?" Catherine mused.
"We do not share all of our classes with her," Minako pointed out. "We do not even share all of our classes with each other. Unfeasible."
"Hell if I know what to do then," Catherine said, crossing her arms. "What do you suggest?"
"What does anyone do with a complicated situation that involves one of their friends?" Minako asked. "They go to their friend and ask what they can do to help."
Catherine stared at her. "Talk to Taylor, you're saying."
"That is what I said, yes," Minako murmured. "She has proven adept in the time we have known her of dealing with her tormentor. She may be prepared already."
"The next class I share with her is before lunch, if I recall right," Catherine said. "I'll talk to her then."
~~~~~~~~
"After that, we finished our study period and I went to my next class," she finished. "Are we done here?"
"Almost," Colin murmured, looking at the rough reports they had gathered. "There was the altercation between you, your friend Ms. Yori, Ms. Hebert, and Sophia Hess that we wanted to ask about."
Catherine shrugged. "I showed up to knock that crossbow from her hand. Minako was there before I was. I just joined in the punching after that, and I can't talk about what I didn't see. Can I go now, please?"
"You'll be free to go shortly," Miss Militia said politely. "We just have to ask some of the others some questions. Please wait here, if you would." Colin stood alongside her and they started toward the door.
"Knew I should have just told you to fuck off," Catherine muttered. "What happened to 'Answer our questions and you can go?"
"We may have more questions, Ms. Greene," Colin said, his voice tight. "I assure you we'll do everything possible to have you on your way quickly."
"Whatever," she retorted, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair, the table vibrating as she kicked the underside of it.
Colin glanced sideways at his companion once they were outside of the room. "I don't know that I've ever been told so much detail about absolutely nothing before."
"She wasn't lying," Miss Militia said.
He nodded in agreement. "No, she wasn't. I hope that speaking with Ms. Yori will prove more enlightening, however."
"Have you reviewed your recordings yet?"
Colin shook his head. "I just got them deployed yesterday afternoon and haven't had the occasion to look any of the video over. I'm not sure it would give me anything useful for this entire mess, though."
"Not even another view of the events involving Ms. Hebert and Ms. Hess?" Miss Militia asked.
"I can't imagine that will provide me any information than what I saw with my own eyes." he said with a glower. "Still, I'll package the video up and send it along to be reviewed."
Minako Yori was in her chair when they entered, eyes closed, looking completely at peace. She was so still that Colin wasn't sure he was looking at a living, breathing person for a moment. Her eyes opened calmly as they took seats opposite her.
"Ms. Yori," Miss Militia began. "We were hoping you could answer a few questions for us about today."
"You wish to know about my interactions with Taylor, and with Sophia Hess," Minako said serenely.
"That is correct," Colin said firmly. "It's been observed that you were friendly with Taylor this past week, and as someone close to the situation, any insight you have would be helpful."
Minako said nothing for a moment before beginning to speak. "My intent had been to approach Taylor before the next class, however, I chose my route poorly…"
~~~~~~~~
There were two groups of students eyeing each other with open hostility obstructing the hall as she came out of the stairwell. She almost stepped back, frowning as she identified that both groups were wearing gang colors. The Empire and the ABB. All their eyes were for one another, so she stepped back, unwilling to be caught between a closed door and the Empire, who were the ones she had come out behind.
Minako kept the door open slightly so she could hear them while slipping a hand into her pocket for her cellphone. It buzzed as soon as her hand closed around it and she quietly let the door close as the groups broke out into violence.
"Catherine?"
"Are you okay?" her friend asked. "There's fights breaking out between-"
"The Empire and the ABB," she finished. "I did not gather much about what sparked this before you called, though."
"I heard someone in the hall saying that the school got a threat of some sort," was the reply. "Nothing too clear though. Maybe both gangs think the other one is moving?"
"That is possible," Minako murmured. "What purpose would such a threat serve, though?"
She tilted her head, even though such a gesture could not be seen by Catherine, considering what she had witness and what she had just been told. "We should find Taylor."
"Taylor?" Catherine repeated and then there was a sound of confirmation from the other girl. "You think this might be Hess?"
"I do not decide on anything as a certainty, but this does concern me," Minako said, moving down the stairs quickly.
"I don't know if Hess is dumb enough to do something like this," Catherine said doubtfully. "Seems like she'd be more the type to do it herself… but.. you might be right. Taylor's got social this period. Meet me there?"
"I shall," she ended the call and stepped out on the ground floor. Professor Singer's classroom was at the other end of the hall from her.
"Well, well, well," a sneering voice said. "Look what we got here. A little chink bitch, wandering away from her friends." Minako closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at the trio of skinheads before her.
"Please move aside," she asked politely. "I have no wish for trouble."
"Too bad, huh?" the apparent ringleader said. "We thought we'd send a message to your sloke friends and you just happened to be here. Works for us, right?"
She went still for an instant, then let her fingers curl and uncurl once. Just a little would be enough. They were unarmed and ignorant. "I detest that word. It is
very offensive."
"What? Sl-?" he began, cutting off in a choked sound as she attacked.
A moment later and all three were down and she stepped around them. "Thank you for moving from my path."
~~~~~~~~
"That was Kevin Gregory, Walter Edgewood and Michael Randolph, yes?" Colin asked, glancing at a report of the injured students.
Minako shook her head. "I do not know their names, but they were most unsavory."
"And you took them down alone… how?" he asked bluntly.
"My mother is familiar with the martial arts and Catherine's father insists that his daughter's friends know how to defend themselves," was her reply.
"Did they also teach you how to assault a half-crippled girl?" he asked, frustrated with the girl's composed responses to everything. Did nothing upset her?
The faintest of smiles appeared on her face. "They taught me that you had to deal quickly and decisively with people who behave as she did. A strike to the face was the least of what she deserved."
"Well, this has been most informative, Ms. Yori," Miss Militia said, giving him a disbelieving look as she rose from her seat. "We have two more interviews to conduct and you should be free to go shortly."
The girl nodded and closed her eyes, returning to her still, peaceful posture that she had when they entered the room.
"Those three boys were not small, by any stretch of imagination," Colin remarked after they had left. "Training or no, they should have been able to overpower her just by weight alone."
"If she were fast enough, perhaps not," Militia said. "She was not lying about training. She was too still when we came in. That suggests training from a very young age."
"So, again, we have truth, but there are details missing?" he grimaced. "Hopefully our next interview will be more enlightening than these two. Hess or Hebert?"
Miss Militia looked up from her PRT-issued phone at a message. "The squads would like permission to transport Ms. Hess out. The Director wants a word with her soon."
He grimaced. "I want to question her, but… best to get her moved out quickly and quietly. Let Emily have her to terrorize. It isn't as if I won't be able to properly question her after I put my beard back on."
"I'll send word," she began typing a response on the phone. "Do you want me there when you speak to Ms. Hebert, to cut in if you start to lose your temper like that again?"
"I see no reason to break our trend," he said, nodding in acknowledgement of her words. "She's still in the office, yes?"
"Blackwell was gracious enough to allow her to stay there, yes," Miss Militia said. "I do not know how you have not lost your temper with that woman."
Colin grinned mirthlessly. "She and I have butted heads more than once, to her detriment. I imagine she is busy trying to spin this and absolve herself of all culpability."
"You don't like her," Miss Militia observed.
"I don't know how she still has her job, given how inadequate she is at it. She has to have
something on someone higher up, is my theory."
"Perhaps this incident will be too much for whoever that is?" Miss Militia asked.
"One hopes," he nodded to the guards at the door they were approaching and entered. The girl sitting there looked up as they entered. She had been drawing in her omnipresent notebook, he saw, but only caught a glimpse of the picture before she closed it.
He didn't say anything as they settled in the chairs opposite the girl. The notebook she was always drawing in was something he was curious about, but she had not afforded anyone a look inside that he knew of.
"Do you draw, Ms. Hebert?" Miss Militia asked. The girl swivelled to stare at her, equal parts astonished and guarded. There was distrust there, of authority if his guess was correct. He could hardly blame her for that given what he had gleaned about her interactions with the faculty at Winslow before his arrival.
Afterwards as well, he thought ruefully. She was not disposed to trust in the teachers at all and that included him, even when he had made overtures. He considered what he knew of her as she began tucking the notebook away in her pack.
"I do," she said simply. "But I don't think you came in to ask me about art."
He nodded slightly. "Unfortunately, with what happened today, we do have some questions that we hope you can answer and make things a bit more clear for us."
"I've already gone over what happened with the police," she murmured, turning her gaze toward Colin "Why do I have to do this again with a member of the Protectorate and a teacher? Why are you even here questioning me?"
"Principal Blackwell is otherwise occupied and as someone who has interacted with the PRT and Protectorate in the past, it was decided that I was the best person to stand in these sessions as a representative for the school," Colin said smoothly.
"That still doesn't explain why I'm having to go over all of this again," Taylor pressed. "There isn't anything I can tell you that I didn't already tell the police, or that you didn't see. This is a waste of time."
"Given that Ms. Hess was revealed as a parahuman, we do have to perform our own inquiry separate from the police," Miss Militia said. "I understand your frustration, Ms. Hebert, but cooperating will have you on your way quickest."
"I don't see what her being a parahuman has to do with anything," Taylor countered. "No one but her knew that until about three hours ago. What, was she a Ward and you're just trying to cover yourselves so you don't look bad?"
"I'm not privy to what the Director might intend for Ms. Hess, however she was not a member of the Wards, no." Miss Militia said. Colin almost winced at her choice of wording as Taylor's eyes narrowed.
"Implying that she might become one, or will be offered membership," Taylor said frostily. "This fills me with all sorts of confidence in the Protectorate and the Wards program. If I ever got powers, I think I'd just say no."
Colin sighed mentally and brought his hands together. "Ms. Hebert, while I can certainly understand your animosity for Ms. Hess, given her actions toward you, I hardly think that taking your frustrations out on Miss Militia helps matters."
Taylor stared at him, distrust still clear in her gaze. He frowned slightly as he regarded her. Weren't her eyes hazel or dark brown? For a moment, they had almost seemed green. He blinked and shook his head. No, her eyes were brown. The lights in here were just terrible.
"What do you want to know?" Taylor said, slumping in her chair as if exhausted. "I'd really like to get out of here and it looks like you're not going to let me go until you have your questions answered."
"Well, if you could begin with this morning, that would be appreciated," he told her.
She gave him a disgruntled look and straightened. "Well, I came to school…"
~~~~~~~~
The bursts of noise that had plagued me throughout the day yesterday had stopped, but they had been replaced with a sound not unlike water running across rocks. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was distracting, especially when I was sitting in class and my attention drifted from Professor Singer's lecture.
He has got to work out in his spare time.
I blinked, hearing the words as clear as day, but no one around me had said anything. It wasn't my own thought, either, though it was one I had before. I glanced around the room carefully, trying to figure out what I was hearing. I settled on a girl that I thought was one of Emma's circle of flunkies. Her name was Nancy, if I was not mistaken and she was staring at Professor Singer with an expression that suggested she was not thinking about schoolwork.
This is boring. Who cares about some bunch of capes who I'll never meet?
Maybe it was focusing so much, but I could feel where this came from and I glanced at an angle toward the back of the room. A surly hispanic boy sat in the corner, his arms crossed and looking thoroughly bored.
Was I hearing people's thoughts? I looked back down to my notebook and idly made notes on the edges of the paper. How to test… I tilted my head and looked toward Professor Singer as he began talking about the formation of the Protectorate and how it affected the dynamics of parahuman/civilian interaction. The sound I could hear in the back of my mind was like water, but as I focused on it, I could tell it wasn't just one large stream. It was a lot of small ones making up a whole. If each was a person… I reached out for the one I thought was Professor Singer's. It felt different from the others around me. More developed? I could almost touch it...
"Ah!" I said, wincing as
something struck at me, producing a flash of pain as my concentration splintered into shards.
"Are you alright, Ms. Hebert?" I heard him ask, realized I had several people staring at me.
"Just a sudden headache, Professor," I gritted, wincing still from the discordant sensations I had felt in that brief instant. "May I be excused for a moment?"
He stared at me and then nodded. "Class is almost over, so go ahead. If you need to, go see the nurse."
"Thank you, sir," I murmured, gathering up my things and quickly leaving the room. There were restrooms nearby and I headed for them, bringing a hand up to massage my forehead. Hearing thoughts…. I think that was what I was doing, but what had that been? It hadn't made any sense at all in the moment I had made contact. Was Professor Singer some sort of alien? It hadn't felt like anyone else's stream had when I had been studying them.
"Aliens, right," I snorted and winced as it brought a fresh stab of pain. I must have touched something else or did something wrong. But… I could hear people's thoughts! Was there anyone who had that kind of power?
I splashed some water into my face, thinking. Mind-reading, telekinesis, foresight… and whatever I had done to those guys who had tried to mug me. I'd made them afraid of me… but I couldn't think of what that was exactly. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying to decide what to do. With just precognition, there wasn't really a lot of testing to figure out what I could do.. but with these… I had to figure out what I was capable of before I hurt someone without meaning to.
Thoughts of that were torn away as I heard a shout and then the definite sound of fist striking flesh from out in the hall. Fighting? The streams closest to me now were agitated, disturbed and roiling. I dried my hands, glancing at the faucet and imagining the handles turning. They twisted slowly, shutting off the flow of water. The headache had not entirely died out, but I felt better nonetheless, a smile creasing my face.
It dropped off as I peeked out from the bathroom, to see a pair of teachers trying to break up a fight between some members of the Empire and the ABB. The bell had sounded and there were students milling around, trying to get to their next class while occasionally gawking at the fight. I turned smoothly and slid into the flow of traffic, letting my precognition guide me in avoiding bumping into anyone.
"Mrs. Harold," I heard a student say as I passed by the teacher keeping watch so I could cut over to the cafeteria. "There's a couple of people out cold on the floor near the stairs at the end of the hall. I think there was a fight or something…"
"Show me," she said simply, following the student. I sighed and changed directions, wanting to avoid the likely bottleneck that whatever happened down there would create. A quick glance forward and I ducked through a nearby classroom, cutting through it to the hallway on the other side.
There were, however, teachers dealing with fights there as well. I stared for a moment and shook my head, starting toward the nearest stairwell so I could get to lunch. The sounds of fighting from somewhere higher up in it made me sigh. What the hell had set the gangs off? They had been tense earlier in the week, but nothing like this before…
I leaned against the wall, watching as other students entered, heard the sounds of fighting and promptly turned around the way they had come. There had to be a way out that wouldn't involve stumbling into someone else's fight.
A frown appeared as I tried another hallway and found a fight taking place there as well. There were just so many fights. Was something causing this? Everywhere I went there was one going on, like a warzone bubbling across the entire school.
Was I doing it somehow? I stopped by a water fountain, considering that. I had affected those men at the mall, but I didn't know how yet. I certainly didn't think I was projecting anyway and even if I were… why would I make everyone fight?
No, this wasn't me. There was something else. I was just missing a piece of the puzzle that would cause this all to make sense. I needed to know what that wa-.
I can't believe someone called in a threat, claiming a student had weapons in the school. This is unacceptable. When I find out… The thought drifted to me, clear as day and I swung around quickly, catching sight of Principal Blackwell turning a nearby corner. Weapons? Was that it? Someone had brought… knives? No, there were gangers with those everyday. Guns, maybe.
Calm settled over me as things started to make sense. The staff couldn't keep a lid on it and the gangs both thought the other side is making a move, probably. The spark to set off the fire. Great.
My mind churned as I ran through the chain of logic. The gangs weren't going to stop until someone won or the teachers ended it, which was pretty unlikely. Professor Singer might be able to break up a few fights, but there were too many for him to contain, just from what I had seen so far. The rest of the staff weren't anywhere near the same sort of shape as he.
Not that many of them seen to have the spine to try in the first place, I thought uncharitably as I saw one teacher actively backing away from a fight and running down the hall. They would probably call for the police, perform searches to see if there were…
I blinked as a thought dropped into my mind, then shook my head. No, even she wouldn't…
A moment later, I bit my lip as I ducked down an empty hall and used my foresight, pushing ahead to see if anything was happening near the locker I no longer used.
"Bitch," I snarled as the sequence played out in my mind; Sophia coming down the hall, looking almost frantic as she hobbled along, a dufflebag slung across her back. I saw her stop in front of my locker and reach for it before I cut the vision off, stalking away. Pissed over what happened yesterday, I guessed, and trying to get back at me?
Yesterday hadn't driven the point home that I was done being screwed with, I suppose. I didn't understand why she was doing this. Even for her, this was pretty extreme. The locker had been disgusting but I had avoided any infections or the like. This… this was… I couldn't even make sense of why she would try this.
I shook my head. Whatever. It didn't matter why. It only mattered that I stop her. I pushed off of the wall, intending to do that then stopped as a different idea occurred to me. Sophia had been trying a lot of stuff lately and it had all fallen apart or, like yesterday, self-destructed on her. If that fact hadn't sunk in for her yet, then maybe something else needed to blow up in her face.
Starting off again, I began running possibilities for how to collapse this entire mess on Sophia. I skirted around a fight that Professor Singer was breaking up, giving him a worried look as he glanced toward me, but kept moving. I didn't have time to explain this.
The hallway to my locker was virtually empty when I got there. Ahead of me, just as I had seen, Sophia was hobbling toward section where mine was, muttering to herself, but I couldn't tell what she was saying.
"You know," I called out, loud enough that she would know it was me. "This has got to be the dumbest thing you have ever done. I didn't think you could top yesterday's stupidity. Looks like I was wrong."
Sophia spun, an ugly expression on her face. I frowned slightly at how fast she moved. That was faster than I thought she was capable of. "Hebert."
"Hess," I said in the same tone of voice. "Now, what could you possibly want with my locker?"
Sophia looked around and when she confirmed that there was no one else visible, gave me what was probably her best sneer. "Your locker? You mean the locker I just found you taking weapons from to hide somewhere else?" She freed the bag from her shoulder and flung it toward me where it skidded to the floor at my feet, its contents spilling out along the way.
I didn't move or even look at it. "Really? That's your plan? Try to pin this on me when there's no one around that lend credence to your accusation? Not a great plan."
"Like the Principal will believe you over me," she retorted. "You might think you're something special now, flaunting it all over the school under everyone's noses. But I know."
I kept my face impassive. She knows? That I have powers? How? No, she might suspect but I hadn't done anything around her that would definitely say I had powers. "You know… what, exactly? I know you're upset over yesterday and I really am sorry, but that was an accident. If you had just paid attention…"
"Don't!" she snapped. "I'm not stupid. I couldn't possibly screw up like that. It was you. You did something!"
"I really don't get how you figure that, but sure, let's go with it," I said dismissively. "Do you even realize how crazy you sound right now?"
"Doesn't matter what you think I sound like," Sophia said, starting toward me. "Since it won't be my word against yours. It'll just be my word."
"How are you going to manage that?" I asked, starting forward as well. "I'd love to hear this."
"I found you trying to run off with that, we fought and you suffered an unfortunate accident," Sophia retorted, dropping down quickly and snatching up a compact crossbow from the weapons that had spilled from the bag. A crossbow that was already loaded and pointed at me. I didn't say anything, letting my power show me what to do next.
"I told you I don't lose," she snarled and pulled the trigger. I stepped to the side in that same instant and it soared past me with space to spare.
"I know this might be hard to accept," I said as frustration appeared on her face, "but you missed."
"I don't lose!" she snarled again and reached into her hoodie's pocket, fumbling for something there. Another bolt for the crossbow, I saw, as she tried to put in place. With the cane she had been given though, she was having a hard time balancing everything. I started forward, intending to stop her, then I slid to a halt, smiling faintly at what I saw behind her.
A hand came down and the crossbow was knocked away and Sophia jerked away from the person responsible, staring at Catherine and Minako, who had come up behind her.
"I don't know how you two thought to find me here, but I am glad for it," I said. surprised to find that it was true.
"We were concerned that this person might intend you ill," Minako said lightly.
"Looks like we were right, too," Catherine chimed in, glaring at Sophia. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"
"You two again," she snapped. "Why? She's a nobody and you two just drop out of nowhere to be her protectors. Did she just conjure you up out of thin air?"
"You know, that's a good theory," Catherine said. "Too bad it's wrong. Pretty sure my parents had something to do with my existence."
"I'm not entirely sure what is going on here," Professor Singer's voice intruded, drawing everyone's attention. He was standing down the hall from us, rolling the bolt that had been fired between his fingers, looking oddly pleased for some reason. "But I suspect that it's nothing good."
"They attacked me, sir," Sophia said immediately. "Hebert's got weapons and was planning to use them. I tried to stop her and they ganged up on me."
"That's an interesting story," he said quietly, walking forward. I didn't say anything, curious to see what he would do. "An almost believable one, with Ms. Hebert here surrounded by all these weapons. However… she's standing here and those two are there… and the only crossbow that I see is at your feet… You might want to try again with a better story, don't you agree, Ms. Hess?"
Her expression twisted through several emotions before she spun, still surprisingly fast for someone with a busted ankle. She was clearly angling to get away but found Catherine cutting her off.
The brunette's punch spun Sophia right into a blow from Minako, their motions so fluid that it almost looked like something they had practiced. Professor Singer hadn't reached where I was standing yet and I moved forward as Sophia reeled, catching her cane as it started to fall. I jabbed the grip toward her stomach, aiming to knock the air out of her.
It passed through with little resistance, the lines of Sophia's figure wavering and becoming indistinct. I stumbled, unprepared for the lack of resistance and she became solid again, shooting off toward an open stretch of the hall to avoid Professor Singer.
No. She was not getting away from this. I flung the cane, adding spin to it and watching it helicopter toward her as she did that shadowy thing again when the Professor tried to grab her. She came out of it a few steps later, right as the cane spun into her ankles, sending her to the floor with a sound almost identical to what I had heard yesterday on the track field.
~~~~~~~~
"After that, we were all escorted to different rooms, I guess and the police and PRT were in here asking me a bunch of questions." Taylor shrugged. "So, nothing you didn't know."
"How did you know the cane would stop her?" Colin asked, letting his pencil drift across the page he was looking at in the folder before him, his other hand holding up one page
"I hoped it would," she shrugged. "She was going to get away and that seemed the most likely way to stop her from doing so."
Miss Militia leaned forward slightly. "Ms. Hebert, after the incident last month and what happened today, there is some concern that you might have… well, developed parahuman abilities."
Taylor stared at her. "And? You did your tests and they said I wasn't. Am I supposed to have the power to make people think I'm not a parahuman? That seems kind of worthless, if so."
She slid a card across the table. "If there is anything you do want to talk about, call this number. I can understand what it's like to suddenly be different and would be happy to answer your questions."
"Are you even listening?" Taylor groaned. "I don't want or need your card. Give it to someone who actually needs help. Hess, maybe. But unless you have a parahuman whose power is to give the best therapy ever, I don't think there is much that will help her."
Colin carefully closed the folder he had in front of him. "Very well. I think that is everything we need, Ms. Hebert. If Miss Militia has no other questions, then you are free to go." Miss Militia shook her head, looking frustrated as Taylor shouldered her bag and left the room, the card abandoned on the table.
Colin sat for a moment after she had left and sighed, covering his face with a hand. "This… is a problem."
"You still think she's a parahuman?" Miss Militia asked.
"And you don't?" he replied. "She was careful to avoid saying anything that was a lie, but I do think she's one. But is she the one responsible for that display last month? I don't know. Regardless, she's been bullied and now she has power. Add to that a disillusionment with authority and becoming openly aggressive… What would you say she's ripe for?"
"Gang recruitment," Miss Militia said. "The signs do seem pretty clear toward that end. You're absolutely sure?"
"I try not to deal in absolutes if I can help it," he replied. "But this doesn't do anything but make my job harder, I'm afraid. If Ms. Hebert is a parahuman as I now believe her to be, we still have no idea exactly what she can do. We could be staring at a potential time bomb."
"Perhaps we should revisit the teacher you replaced and his situation?" Miss Militia asked. "Gladly, was it?"
"I don't think there's much to gain from him, honestly," Colin replied. "We already tried questioning him, but I'll look over the transcripts of that again. Perhaps I missed something."
"In the meantime…?" Miss Militia stood.
"Well, I'm going to continue here at Winslow for now," he said. "The Director may want me back, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something serious building here. Today only reinforced that. We have one parahuman who was here, if unstable. There could be others, possible Wards candidates aside from Taylor, if my suspicions play out."
"And Ms. Hebert?"
He took a deep breath. "As long as she denies it and we have no proof, we can't really approach her. The issue will have to bide for now, until something changes. Pressure would just reinforce the viewpoint she already has and drive her away, making the situation worse."
"What about her friends? Ms. Greene and Ms. Yori?"
"I'll keep an eye on them, though, logically, I would say no," he mused. "Ms. Yori, for example, handled herself with remarkable composure. She doesn't strike me as the type to have a trigger. Still… My instinct tells me not to rule them out. I might see if I can get Dragon to help me develop a system to compare what we know about our independents and cross that against the student body. It wouldn't be one hundred percent, but it might give me an idea of who I could be dealing with, if anyone."
Miss Militia shook her head, a half-smile crossing her features. "I think you should trust your instincts, Colin. You don't do that nearly enough."
"Perhaps," he said ruefully. "I still find myself wishing I could sedate some of these kids and find myself reaching for the means to do so, before remembering where I am. I'll consider it. At the moment, I will finish up here and then meet you at PRT HQ to speak with the Director?"
"An event I am thoroughly anticipating," Miss Militia said before resting a hand on his arm. "Take care, Colin."
Colin smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "You as well, Hannah." She left without another word and he flipped the folder he had been looking at during the talk with Taylor again. He lifted the interview form out of the way, looking at the page where he had sketched out what he could recall of the picture in her art book before she closed it.
"I wonder…" he pulled out his Protectorate phone and scrolled through images he had stored there until he found the one he was looking for. He sat the phone by the paper, eyes flickering between them. From both the phone and the page, a stylized yet abstract bird of prey looked at him, one rendered in flame, the other in ink.
He absently rubbed at where his beard once was, as he murmured into his hand. "Suspicions, indeed…"
