Goddamn Teenagers (Worm, AU/time travel)

[dc2008]

"But we didn't complain?" Nessa said. "I'm sure the others didn't complain either, you treated us really well."

Max sighed, got up, and began pacing. "It doesn't matter. If they have evidence, they can prosecute even if everyone testified that we were all fine with it."

"That's bullshit!" Jessa exclaimed. "What we do and who we do it with is our own business!"

"I know," Max said, mixing himself a drink. "The law is meant to be used on the lesser races, not people like us. That's why it's written this way, you know what those people would say on the stand. They might even suggest you were paid or forced."

"How can they do that?" Nessa asked, moving to comfort her sister.

"It's a bullshit charge," Max said, handing a drink to Jessa. "Everyone does this sort of thing," Max continued, handing Nessa her own drink. "It's a right of passage for young men of the right breeding."

---

Note: Adding a few more snippets to explain in more detail what is going on here.

 

[dc2008]

Jessa downed her drink in one go. "They do the same thing," she exclaimed in frustration. "I bet Lung is feeding them little yellow girls, and they're jealous no one of the right breeding will go with them!"

Max nodded. "Remember, it's not about this anyway." He turned to face out the window. "This is about pressuring the company. They might talk about protecting girls, but they don't care."

Nessa joined Max at the window. "Could Lung be doing this? Or even Coil."

"Coil has never shown the capability," Max replied, turning to face the girls. "As for Lung, he couldn't do it alone. He has never had contacts with the Feds…"

"Photos, even," Jessa said, shuddering. "How would he or anyone get those?"

"… he might not have," Max replied slowly. "He is with the Elite now, it's possible that he paid someone else to find them, or even fake them."

"Race traitors," Nessa spat.

"Fortunately," Max said, returning to his desk. "We have our own contacts in the Elite."

---

Note: I feel dirty even writing this. It's hard to remember at times that Nessa and Jessa were literally groomed into being the way they are.

 

[dc2008]

Note: I have rebuilt my buffer! So long as it is eight snippets or more I'll post twice per day! Enjoy!

---

The line rang twice before it was picked up. A few moments of formalities established that both Max and Victor were who they said they were.

Max quickly, and deniably, summarized his suspicions. "… from your organization."

"Hmmm," Victor replied. Max could hear the faint sound of typing in the background. "It's not impossible. I won't comment on what our Brockton office might or might not be doing, and don't read anything into that. I don't know. Intentional on my part, and theirs."

Max frowned. "Is there anything you can share? Anything you can do? We still have significant resources."

"New York Office will not undercut our office in the Bay, nor help others do so," Victor replied firmly.

"Surely we are better partners than that beast?"

"You're too hot, Max, you and the company and the community group. You've got the suits of all types sniffing around and that's before the bogeyman."

Max waited and let the silence drag on.

"… that said, a relocation package might be possible."

"Price?" Max asked, already dreading the answer. He already knew it wouldn't be something so benign as money.

"Germany," Victor replied.

Damn.

"Understood," Max said, forcing himself to maintain a level tone. "We will consider." Only as a last resort. Gesellschaft was not forgiving.

"Consider quickly. We expect your situation to deteriorate rapidly."

---

Note: Ruh-rooh

 

[dc2008]

"So what happened?" Missy asked Aisha eagerly.

"Yeah!" Dinah added. "You can't just send pics like that! Why were you both all dressed up?"

The three girls were meeting at Aisha's 'no parents' apartment for 'homework' but really for more important things.

Aisha leaned in conspiratorially. "So I told you about pressing charges to piss off Madame Judgy McBastard from school?"

The other two girls nodded. "I remembered that the trainer from the group, you remember, the old guy he let us call him Scarface? Well I remembered he said to call him if the popo gave us trouble so I did. He set up a meeting with some detective lady he knew, and agreed to take me in for the interview 'cause that way they would treat me better."

"Anyway," Aisha said, grinning widely, "he showed up in his super-fancy uniform with all the medals and stuff like in the picture, and when we got there, the guy at the front desk almost tripped on himself…"

---

Note: Near as I can tell, on Bet the PRT and not the military is the premiere "defending America" service. Coming right after an Endbringer attack…

 

[dc2008]

"Police station actually wasn't too bad," Aisha continued. "No snacks, but Detective lady was super nice to me. Not like when I talked to the police before on the Boardwalk or when a mom boyfriend got arrested."

"So it's like how the PRT is nicer when people come in with cops?" Missy asked, nodding.

"Yep! From what they said it sounded like Scarface knew her dad back in the day. She wrote down what I said all proper like. Even asked to see my thing, too, I think she liked it because she asked where I got it…"

Previously

"What did you mean?" Detective lady asked. "About notification and recording?"

"Was wearing a button. After some of the stories I heard, I record meetings with school teachers and principals and stuff. Always wear the button though, know it's important. I brought one with me, you want to see?"

At the woman's nod, Aisha dutifully retrieved a button and placed it on the table, so the text was clearly visible:

'WELL I'M RECORDING YOU TOO HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!'

---

Note: Must not laugh. Must not laugh. Must not laugh.

Button text was seen in Part 7 of this thread.

 

[dc2008]

"Can I ask about what you said at the end?" Detective Lady asked, after the recording ended.

Aisha rolled her eyes. "I was mad, and the office really did smell like, uh, semen. Know that smell way too well what with my mom's boyfriends."

The detective focused intently on her notepad.

When no further questions came, Scarface quietly said, "Tell her about the pictures."

Aisha sighed. "This isn't the first time this lady had it out for me, really singled me out. Since I moved to this school, there aren't many people there as dark as me, so one of my friends who works at the PRT hired a PI. Just to be sure, Brockton being Brockton, you never know, right? Make sure I didn't need to be worried about being in alone in a room with her for detention or whatever." Aisha shrugged. "Didn't expect him to come back with pics of her, uh, playing hide the sausage in her office during work hours."

The detective's face went blank. "Do you know who she was, um, 'playing' with?"

"Yeah, and wasn't that a surprise." Seeing the woman's reaction, Aisha added, "oh, not a student, a teacher, a married teacher. He teaches…"

---

Note: Well someone just got their cardio for the day.

Continuity note: In case this site ever gets eaten by wolves, fic is posted in full to SB, SV and AO3. Patreon (free access) gets uploads as they come out but doesn't have the full backlog.

 

[dc2008]

"So what happens next?" Missy asked, setting aside her empty energy drink.

Aisha shrugged. "Detective Lady, she gonna get the video from the school. If Mr. Handsy was caught on camera, she said it would be simple. Just in case, though, we need to ask around, quiet like. See if anyone else saw, or if he did it to anyone else."

"Got it," Dinah said seriously as Missy nodded.

"What would happen to him?" Missy asked.

Aisha made a face. "Because of his age, if it's just me he'd probably get some thing where he does classes and community service and it stays off his record." She adopted a pensive expression. "If it was just me, I might actually be OK with that." She grinned. "Fucker is already the dumbass who went and got stabbed by a girl, and if he gets busted by the fuzz the school couldn't just keep calling me a liar."

Her face fell. "If there were other girls though…. I know it's not my fault and the dude is just a shit, but the first times it happened to me I did think it was my fault and it was awful. I know better now but learning sucked and other girls shouldn't have to go through that."

Missy and Dinah didn't have anything to say to that.

"It's tough though," Aisha continued, "especially if it's he said she said, and the schools don't keep video for long because money."

---

Note: Something something systemic structural issues something something barriers to justice.

 

[dc2008]

"… pockets of material were shifted chaotically," Dragon said to the impromptu dimensional working group. "Few at ground level, so we didn't notice them initially."

"Did anything come through?" Dr. Weaver asked intently, as the carefully selected off-world observers whispered amongst themselves.

"All indications are that the transfer was unidirectional," Dragon replied, "or if a swap did occur it was either for vacuum or to a sterile Earth."

"I have some instrumentation that might help," Dodge added. Although he had joined the video link, he was using a generic avatar image, no doubt due to his age.

"That would be appreciated," Dragon replied. "Unfortunately, in investigating we found something troubling. There are indications that at least one underground facility was transferred in its entirely, and from the readings something present may have exacerbated local effects."

"Whose was it?" Director Tagg asked.

"We don't know yet," Armsmaster said. "It is under federal land, and depending on system shows as under DOE or Army. When asked, each thought the other had it. We don't know yet if this is the usual bureaucratic issues, or something more nefarious."

---

Note: Why, yes, these career civil servants do find it entirely possible that an entire underground facility got lost in the system. government bureaucracy is a hell of a thing.

 

[dc2008]

"Come on!" Alec said mischievously. "You know it would be fun!"

Amy gave him a full-power, 'what the fuck Vicky', disapproving glare.

It had no effect.

With a sigh, Amy replied slowly. "Even if 'these cool bugs Taylor told you about' can bodyjack critters, that doesn't somehow mean I can make a 'sneaky shitbug' to crawl up a Nazi's butt and puppet him."

"It would be fun! Just get a few different bugs or critters or whatever and hit them with hammers and then heal them together! Like they do for legs in Asia or whatever."

Goddamnit, Taylor. Worst of all, Amy's power really did seem vaguely interested in whatever the fuck madness this was…

"Ohhhhhhh!" Alec said with a grin. "Yeah, light up pretty nerves. You know you want to do it!"

"Even. If. I. Could. Which I can't. I'm not making a bodyjacking abomination for you to use on people."

"Of course not," Alec said earnestly. "That's why we'll use it on Nazis."

Amy nodded slowly, before catching herself.

Thankfully, the arrival of Dr. Weaver saved Amy from having to respond.

---

Note: Alec is helping!

 

[dc2008]

Buffer overfloweth, so have a bonus chapter!

Edit: Check out the first part in this thread if you need a refresh on the dead woman with crystals in her brain.

---

"… material powers are made of. Armsmaster's instruments indicate that there is still an active cross-dimensional connection, which creates the possibility of communication."

"Can't Her Excellent Majesty The Faerie Queen already talk to them?" Alec asked.

"Yes, after a fashion. More channels would make her subjects more comfortable, and also would free up more of her time for other things. Parahumans as single points of failure in critical functions is something she wants to get away from."

Tuning out the others, Amy hesitantly touched the spidery crystalline… thing. It looked much more ominous in person than when she had simply observed it via her powers.

She carefully didn't think about the fact that she could only see it because someone had sawed open the dead woman's head.

"Huh," Alec said, staring at the dead woman with unfocused eyes. "I can almost sense it." He blinked, and turned to Dr. Weaver and Amy. "I can sense some residual surviving neural something. How long did you say she has been dead?"

"That's a more complicated question than you would think," Dr. Weaver replied, "as significant time dilation was involved. We are working on reconstructing the telemetry from her device."

---

Note:
Dr. Weaver: Waste not want not.