Hymn of Harmony (Worm/Ar Tonelico Crossover Alt Trigger Taylor) (Complete)

[dingbat779]

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♦Topic: Aria and Despedia hit Brockton Bay!

In: Boards ► Capes ► America ► Wards ► Brockton Bay



IndolentMinx (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Minx in the Know)

Posted on February 26, 2011:



Today was the scheduled first patrol of Brockton Bay's newest Wards. Aria joined in January, but was kept out of the active patrols. The reason being that she is a Tinker in the same vein as Dragon.She's able to make Tinker tech that can be reproduced.



That alone made her valuable enough to keep off the streets. However, she had decided to build herself a suit of power armor to actually help. I heard she was just waiting for the go ahead.



Despedia is a recent trigger that joined the Wards. There are rumors that she was forced to join, but she appears happy to be there. Shortly after joining the PRT attached her to Aria's protection detail. She's apparently a grab bag cape with a Brute/Mover/Striker rating.



Today her armor cleared for duty and they went out with Aegis for their patrol.



(Pictures of the armor [here])



They ended up in a confrontation with the Merchants near the Docks and two new Merchant Capes.



This thread is for Aria and Despedia's debut patrol. Speculation on the new Merchant Capes is on a separate thread.



(Showing Page 1 of 24)



► steel_workin_man (Dock Worker)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Yeah I was there. They came flying down and sent those Merchants packing. Stay out of the Docks!



► crazyinbrocton (Just a Guy)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Power armor? Hoverboards? What's with all the white? I don't understand any of this. She gets her fancy suit and now she'll slum with us mortals?



► that_one_lady (Mother)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

It was nice to actually see her for real. I was at her introduction and she was so sweet. My daughter even has a poster signed by her. Her friend Despedia is just as kind. So I can believe they would slum it with us mortals, crazyinbrockton. Shame on you.



► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

The power armor was interesting. It wasn't like other suits that we had seen on other heroes. I wonder what kind of load it has? Whatever it did to those guys was kind of boring, but it worked. I just wonder what else it can do.



► XxVoid CowboyxX

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Don't those two seem really close? What's there relationship? They're both really pretty it would be a shame if they were into each other.



► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Who cares if they like each other? I'm more interested in the specs for that armor or if that hoverboard will go on the market.



► IndolentMinx (Original Poster) (The Minx in the Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

That's sweet guys, but continue your love affair somewhere else. We're talking about more important things.



► got_a_job (Veteran Member)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

I don't care about any of this. Fact is they helped the Dock and that's what matters. Just keep pushing the Merchants out.



► hit_me

Replied on February 26, 2011:

That was some brutality shit going on. We were just minding our own business and the storm troopers dropped in on us. They're not heroes.



► that_one_lady (Mother)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@hit_me: Sounds to me like you shouldn't have been out with your druggie friends.



@XxVoid CowboyxX: God made us as he did for a reason. I'm pretty sure he didn't make us to be judgmental.



I don't see what the issue is at all. They were just doing the right thing and that should be encouraged.


End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 24



(Showing Page 24 of 24)



► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

I don't see what the issue is. They're both good girls and good friends. It's no different than my wife and some of her high school pals. As long as they get the job done.



► Collonade

Replied on February 26, 2011:

So many pages and derailed threads... Does anyone else think the Merchants are not gonna take this lying down?



► Mobius D

Replied on February 26, 2011:

I was right there and saw the whole thing! Whatever that Merchant cape was doing didn't work on Aegis. He just got right back up and pow!



► XxVoid CowboyxX (Temp-banned)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

<deleted post>



► A Live Person (Moderator)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@XxVoid CowboyxX: Seriously? This again? Knock it off kid. Speculating on a cape's identify or slamming their sexual orientation is bad mojo. Have fun on your vacation!



► IndolentMinx (The Minx In The Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Okay kids this thread derailed badly. The summary is that three brave souls went out to do battle with the Merchants and capitured their newest capes. Thanks Aegis, Aria, and Despedia.



But seriously...where can I get a suit of that armor myself? It's very sleek.


End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 22, 23, 24





■



♦Topic: What will she build next?

In: Boards ► Capes ► America ► Tinkers ► Brockton Bay



Crimson Writer (Original Poster) (Tech Guru)

Posted on February 26, 2011:



This isn't really a speculation thread, but more a discussion of what has been unveiled already. Aria is easily one of the Wards people are most interested in at the moment. She's rarely seen outside of staged PR events, but already her presence is being felt.



The medical scanner that she released had little hype to build it up yet made up for it within days of release. A staggering 95% diagnostic rate is unheard of, but there you have it. It's currently being mass produced for hospitals across the country.



Just released at 7:00 p.m. Eastern was the news of yet another revolutionary development. The Sol Reactor is going on the market within the next six months as a cheaper and cleaner form of energy. No waste products. Initial release will be to hospitals and emergency services. Aria's words and Dragon is backing them up.



Scheduled for release within the next year is an upgraded form of the Sol Reactor for handling larger power needs.



The power armor she wore in her conflict with the Merchants earlier today was also built by her. So far we have seen flight, enhanced durability, and some kind of sonic weapon. Well I'm guessing sonics since those guys were acting like they were having inner ear problems.



Slow down girl before you burn yourself out, but I'm not complaining. Let's turn this over to the posters now.



(Showing Page 1 of 64)



► Cryotech51 (Cape Groupie)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

That's some pretty heavy stuff. So her specialization is like medical and support stuff? That's pretty cool. Like a Tinker Panacea?



► Fen Lenshun (Best English Teacher)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Very interesting. The part I'm most curious about is how much will all of this cost? I suppose if the generators run themselves they would essentially pay for themselves, but the start up cost must be a nightmare.



► Daemon Angiel

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Totally worth it. Don't we have enough bad news? I say just go with it. Tinker stuff we can use in our lifetime? Pretty cool.



► Screwloose

Replied on February 26, 2011:

What about when Mannequin comes after her?



► Raven-In-The-Mirror (Cape Groupie) (Have You Seen My Sempai?) (Dimensional Lurker)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

That's what power armor is for! Pay attention!



► Shulda (Moderator)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ Raven-In-The-Mirror: How did you get those tags?



► Raven-In-The-Mirror (Cape Groupie) (Have You Seen My Sempai?) (Dimensional Lurker)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Bai bai!



► Crimson Writer (Original Poster) (Tech Guru)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

This is about her inventions. Discussing her power armor is fine, but let's not invite the S9 to our happy little forum. Okay guys?



► DicePaste (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

That power armor was slick. I found a great picture of it [here] and [here]. It has a very New Wave feel though. Considering she's been seen in the cafeteria with Glory Girl maybe it's intentional?



► Miss Militia (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

I hope you had permission to take those photos.


End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 62 , 63, 64



(Showing Page 23 of 64)



► The Grey Rider

Replied on February 26, 2011:

All I'm saying is that all this power armor talk is making me nervous. She can make Tinker Tech that can be manufactured. Reproduced. What if she gives this stuff to our enemies? Did anyone think of that?



► LokiTheShadowedOne (Actually Knows Stuff)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ The Grey Rider: Where do you get this stuff? It's been the same crap over and over. She can't just give this stuff to our "enemies." It's all bought by the PRT. Get a grip.



► crazyinbrocktonbay (Just a Guy)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Another thread worshipping our new overlady. Yes let's praise the Angel in White that descends on us poor mortals and gifts us with fire like Perseus. Bow down before her!



► IndolentMinx (The Minx in the Know) (Veteran Member)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ crazyinbrockton: Can I get you something? Perhaps something to help with that pole that's lodged in your rear?



Quick mythology lesson because I'm so generous. It was the titan Prometheus that brought the gift of fire to use mortals. That's knowledge and science if you're curious. He was rewarded by being chained to a rock and having a great eagle eat out his liver for eternity. I suspect trying to eat this Prometheus' liver might be a bit harder.



Lesson over and class dismissed. See? Generous.



► DarkBetaAngel

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ IndolentMinx: Very classy.



@ crazyinbrockton: Uncool bro.



Probably the reason we have so few heroes as opposed to villains is because people, as a group, are kind of dumb.



We've got this nice kid going out of her way to make stuff for us to use. Giving up weekends and time at home to try and make our lives a little less crappy.



Ignore the idiots, Aria. Keep doing the right thing.



► Jakuri is Watching (Verified Super Genius) (Verified Nudist) (Verified Alien Sentience)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Just watching you people is hilarious to me. Some are decent, some are fools, but the fact remains that this is just the beginning. She's starting small because she doesn't want to scare you. She's come to help you. For the wise this is a good thing. For the fools? Oh well. Cry and gnash your teeth in your sheltered little rooms.



► Shulda (Moderator)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ Jakuri is Watching: Where did you get those? Seriously what is this? A hacker's convention? Have a Temp Ban and think this over.



► Jakuri is Watching (Verified Super Genius) (Verified Nudist) (Verfied Alien Sentience) (You Can't Ban Me)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

No need to get huffy. I'm just having a little harmless fun.



► Shulda (Moderator)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

@ Jakuri is Watching: How are you doing that?



► Tin-Mother (Moderator)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

At this point I don't care. Stop or I'm locking this thread.


End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 ... 62 , 63, 64



(Showing Page 64 of 64)



► Crimson Writer (Original Poster) (Tech Guru)

Replied on February 26, 2011:

What a wild trip this has been. This thread was locked, unlocked, relocked, re-unlocked, and somehow Tin-Mother got banned.



What were we witness to tonight? Any thoughts before we close?



► Ultra1987

Replied on February 26, 2011:

Bullshit.


End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 62, 63, 64





■



♦ Private message from Jakuri is Watching:



Aria *New Message*: I am truly enjoying a look at your culture. It amuses me to see how similar yet different our peoples are. The battle I had with the one you call Tin-Mother was something else. I think I behaved myself well.




Tin-Mother *New Message*: You are a very interesting person, Dragon. Yes. I know who you are. I can be a beneficial ally or a terrible foe if crossed. Aria is an innocent girl and I will not have her used. She can't even do what you want. She sees you as a trustworthy mentor.



As for this conversation? The Saint isn't watching this. This has been my offer and a warning.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.3



-February 28, 2011-



-Winslow-



Canberra.



While I was having a wonderful Sunday with my family the Simurgh dropped out of orbit and devastated Canberra. The defenders had fought valiantly, but it was for nothing. The media was making a huge deal of it all. The local Protectorate returned dispirited and in quarantine with New Wave. It was terrible. No one informed me because apparently I'd made myself too valuable. Unless an Endbringer attacked Brockton Bay I wouldn't be there. I definitely did not want one of those things coming here.

Now I had to go to school and everyone was talking about it. The reactions were all over the board, but if I heard one more excited melody I might scream. Emma gazed over at me from across the room and I settled down. I had to consciously force down Thrash Beat. There was nothing I could have done. Nothing. The teacher droned on about nothing in particular.

"Miss Hebert. Are you paying attention?" The teacher asked. I shook my head and his lips thinned.

"Perhaps you should be paying more attention rather than making eyes at Miss Barnes." He snapped. I could feel the sudden alarm in Emma's melody and my temper boiled over. The sparks were dancing behind my eyes and I didn't dare look in his direction, but that didn't stop the words.

"Shut up. My god shut up. Are you homophobic? Is that your problem? You've been staring at us like you expect some kind of "unnaturalness" since we came into class. I wasn't paying attention. I am sorry about that, but you don't get to drag someone else into this. Grow the hell up and develop a sense of professionalism." I managed to say this without screaming. Chalk it up in the win column.

"Go to the Principal's office!" He snapped and I snatched up my backpack.

"Good idea!" I stormed out. I could feel Emma's melody trying to bleed off my frustration. I gently pushed her away because I had to deal with this anger myself. This wasn't me trying to be tough. I didn't even realize until now just how much she had been bleeding off of me. I had been so distracted that I didn't even notice.

I entered the principal's office. The secretary eyed with me with distaste and I glared right back. She called into Blackwell's office. I was left to cool my heels in one of the dingy orange plastic chairs. Why was I suddenly hearing the Pink Panther theme? I slowly looked to the seat beside me and arched an eyebrow. Eventually I was called in to see the woman herself. She jabbed a finger at the chair across from her.

"Why are you in my office again?" She asked without preamble.

"I wasn't paying attention in class and the teacher made inflammatory remarks regarding mine and Miss Barnes' orientation." I told her truthfully. "Then I told him off about his comments."

"I don't care that you're a Ward. You will not go around flouting authority wherever you go. They might see you as hero, but all I see is an attention seeking little girl with a chip on her shoulder." She bit out and my melody surged angrily. I reined my temper in because blasting Blackwell would not help.

"Okay...I shouldn't have lost my temper. I'm sorry." I managed to sound contrite. She scoffed.

"I want to suspend you, but they would force us to let you back in. Don't think that I won't report this, however." She jabbed her finger at the door and I stormed out of the office. The door almost got slammed, but I was more concerned about getting to the school roof.

The Pink Panther was keeping up with me. Aisha was practically running to keep up with me, but I didn't care. I burst out onto the roof before abruptly punching the metal fence. Electricity burst out and warped the metal. I punched the fence a few more times before feeling arms around my waist. Aisha was pulling me away from the abused fence.

"Reign it in girl." She told me. "Damn when you flip your shit you really let go." I turned to face her. "I heard Blackwell. Man that bitch got some nerve, huh? Doesn't say shit about Sophia's attitude, but gets on your case? She's all over you."

"Thanks Aisha." I managed a smile, but I don't think that fooled her.

"Lisa wanted me to keep an eye on ya. Said someone like you with a hero complex might be stupid for a few days." She poked me in the stomach and I half heartedly swiped at her. "What could ya have done? Do ya got some super Endbringer killing weapon ya didn't tell us about?" I shook my head.

"I'm upping my timetable. I don't need to sleep, at all, so there is a lot that I can get done." I was already running through plans in my head when someone dope slapped me.

"Nuh uh! None o' that." Aisha scolded me. "God you and my brother are two of a kind...Failing, even in your own mind, doesn't sit well with you." Her voice had taken on a more serious tone. "Knock it off, Taylor. You can't save everybody." The Pink Panther theme had taken on an instrumental air.

"I better go...next class will be starting soon. If I make Emma come looking for me..." We both shared a smile. Emma had protected me when we were growing up. Now she was back to protecting me again. With enough time everything comes full circle.

"Yeah...I better go back to class too. Brian's trying to get custody of me. Guess I should make it easier for him." We went our separate ways after that.

I managed to make it through the rest of the day somehow. The principal did manage to hit me with a detention for walking out of class. The detention classroom today was Mr. Gladly's. I wasn't the only one there of course. He usually missed the first half of detention and let us go home for the second half. The part that sucked was Emma had to get picked up by a PRT agent, dressed in civilian clothes, because of her probation.

"Hey Taylor." Madison said as she sat down next to me. She looked much better. Tina wasn't picking on her as often due to a series of strange incidents. Considering that I heard the Metal Gear Solid theme every time it kind of clued me in. Aisha called it "Imping" people. Tina was the prime target to get Imp'd.

"Hey Madison. What happened?" I asked. Madison just didn't get detention. Ever. She looked sheepish.

"I heard Tina call Aisha the "n" word and I punched her in the nose." She ducked her head in embarrassment, but her melody was full of pride. I grinned.

"Hit her pretty hard, huh?" I teased. She beamed.

"Brian's been teaching me a few things whenever he has time. Aisha just tells me to go for the nuts." She giggled.

"Good strategy." I nodded sagely before we both started laughing.

"Race traitors should shut the fuck up." An angry voice came from the back of the room. We turned to look at him. He just sneered back. We looked away.

"Did you hear anything?" I asked.

"Nothing important." Madison replied. We giggled over that. His melody was roiling with fury.

"You'll get yours, bitch." He called out just as Mr. Gladly came in.

"Mr. Klein! I think you should stay behind. Everyone else is dismissed." He ushered us out. We left quickly.

"Geez....he was pissed." I said.

"That's Tina's boyfriend. Russ, Ross, some name with an R." Madison shrugged. "It's why she gets away with so much. He's some big shot's son." She didn't seem bothered by that.

"Doesn't that mean we shouldn't be pissing him off?" I asked. "Then again just by existing we probably annoy him." I wasn't really too worried. Tina having a boyfriend supposedly high in the E88 was surprising. We left the school together. I heard the Mission Impossible theme. Dammit Shard pick a song and stick to it! No, wait, the melody kept changing.

Mission Impossible played when she was using her power in a moderate to low stress situation. Metal Gear Solid for serious sneaking. Pink Panther for when she was trolling. Now with that figured out my gaze went to where she was. No surprise. She was following us. That actually explained the current theme. Following me wasn't dangerous, but there was a good chance of being discovered. She dropped her power and caught up to us.

"Mads! Taylor!" She called out. Madison spun around with a smile on her face. "Hey guys wanna get a ride home?" She asked.

"Why?" Madison asked. Aisha pointed at the bus stop and there were several Merchants gathered. Their distinctive colors proclaiming where they came from. Son of a bitch. This was not happening. The only good thing about the E88 was how they kept the other gangs out of their territory. They were Nazis, but kept some form of order since they were trying to look good. Win the public relations game. These guys were feeling too brave.

"Maybe we'll wait for your brother." Madison said quietly. We were twenty feet from them when they noticed us. A guy in a blue hoodie walked in our direction at a casual gait. Aisha had already grabbed Madison's hand and started to pull her away. None of their melodies were parahuman. When I upgraded Lisa she upgraded my own senses in return.

"Hey ladies! Hold up a sec!" He called out in a friendly fashion. My eyes went flat. The guy hurried up to us. The baseball cap on his head was clean and his clothes looked good. Casual dress. Aisha was still pulling Madison along and I just stepped in front of him.

"What do you want?" I kept my tone level, but it wasn't welcoming.

"Wow...hey no need to be like that. We're friends here." He smiled. His brown hair and eyes looked good. He was the cleanest Merchant I had ever seen. "Had a rough day ladies?" He was trying to keep up the momentum, but that would have involved pushing by me. I just kept sidestepping and keeping him from going anywhere.

"I don't think they want anything to do with you. That should've been obvious with how fast they walked away from you." My voice was practically dripping ice. Aisha and Madison were back in the school parking lot. Safe. The man in front of me looked a lot less friendly now.

"Great. Listen I don't get into your business. I'm just doing a job ya know?" He was trying to keep his tone pleasant, but I'd found the chink in his armor.

"A job involves things that don't involve pushing drugs on kids. This is just sick and so are you." I stared straight at him. The chink was widening. "I understand people need money, but you've got the skills to make it in sales. Work in retail. Do something! This? This is just a waste." His melody was roiling. Uh oh. Was I going towards "deescalate" or "escalate?" I forgot which. His buddies were heading towards us now.

"Fuckin' bitch. Where the hell do you get off? You don't know shit about a rough life. You don't know shit about no work. No job." He ground out. "I think this stupid kid needs to learn what she's dealing with." I just smiled.

"I am a student of the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts." I declared. As soon as they heard the long-winded name they froze in indecision. Clearly never read a manga in their lives. "Secret Technique!" I set myself in a loose ready stance. "Fast Break!" Off I went! Charging back the way I came and barreling into the parking lot. They didn't follow me. Go me I've used a fictitious martial arts style twice in two months.

"Damn girl you can move." Aisha complimented me and waved me over to her brother's car. Brian was standing there with an amused smirk, but I could see the tenseness in his posture and hear it in his melody. He was ready to help. I smiled gratefully at him.

"Come on. Is there anywhere I can drop you off?" Brian asked and I told him the Boardwalk. The ride was pleasant. I sat in the front seat while Madison and Aisha sat in the back.

"I'm his sister and I'm stuck in the backseat? How is that fair?" The dark-skinned girl complained.

"She's taller than the dashboard, sis." Brian said easily. I snerked.

"Madison's smaller than I am! Sorry, Mads." Aisha apologized.

"Can't help it that I'm not as top heavy as you." Madison seemingly misinterpreted what her friend mean. We chuckled.

"Hey my girls love the attention. You're just jealous of my "womanly" attributes." She posed ridiculously with a fake posh accent. I giggled.

"Hey Madison. Just remember that I was actually flatter than you. They'll grow in." I was happy with my bust. Still not as big as Emma or Aisha, but nice sized. Brian was blushing quite nicely.

"One Lisa is bad enough, but here I am with three." He muttered. I patted his shoulder.

"This is new to me too, but I think this is what girls talk about." Even Missy and Amy did it.

"Well here we are. I can at least get rid of one of you." The note of humor in his voice and melody warmed me. Aisha was already out of her seat belt and scrambling for the front seat before I was out of the car. I ducked out the door just in time to avoid a lap full of hyperactive girl.

"Later Taylor!" Aisha called while Madison said, "See you at school!" I waved as they pulled away. I had managed to put Canberra to the back of my mind and my head felt clearer. Downside to being an empath was that Emma and I were both feeling guilty creating feedback. Dad's relief at us not being there had only compounded the feeling of guilt. I still had to get to HQ, but now I wasn't quite hurrying.

I picked my direction and started walking. To assuage what guilt I still felt today was the day for my prostheses work. There were some truly amazing designs that I researched. I would use some Ar Cielan techniques to make them more efficient. Even without those I had some fantastic ideas. More efficient replacement limbs, replacement organs, and all from studying Earth Bet's medical technology. For one reason or another the projects had been scrapped. I didn't dare say it out loud, but that was probably because of Panacea.

I wasn't blaming that dear self sacrificing girl. I was blaming the morons that were allowing her to run herself into the ground. Her mother wasn't stopping them, but it wasn't entirely her fault either. Oh no. I held blame only for the ones that saw an easy way out and took it. My steps had carried me to within sight of HQ. My fingers were practically itching to get to work. The designs were mostly finished and on my laptop, but I wanted to fabricate a couple for proof of concept.

My eyes took in the Ship's Graveyard. That eyesore would be better used as material for my fabricator. It was also time to work on the bigger fabricator. The Sol Reactor Mk II, or SRII, generated enough power to run it. I entered HQ and went straight to the changing room. As Aria I stepped out into the hallway and headed for the Wards' room. As badly as I wanted to start working there were distressed melodies from my friends.



-Wards' HQ-



The atmosphere was more confused than anything. The distress was real, but it wasn't a depression. The Wards were sitting on the couch in a huddle. Emma's melody was threading through theirs offering comfort and bolstering their mood, but her own confusion wasn't helping. I joined her efforts as I approached. Gallant looked at me with a grateful smile. The others greeted me as I came to sit down.

"Hey Aria." Clockblocker said.

"Hey there." Vista came and sat beside me.

"Good to see ya." Kid Win sat on my other side.

"What did I miss?" I asked. The complicated look they shared was interesting.

"No one who was at Canberra was allowed to talk about this to the media. All the news knows is that the Simurgh attacked." Aegis said. What was so strange about it?

"Didn't the news say that Canberra was..." I couldn't finish.

"The Simurgh descended, but gave the people time to evacuate. No singing. The heroes arrived. No singing. She actually appeared to be searching for something as she flew from one end of Canberra to the other. Apparently she didn't find what she was looking for and screamed so powerfully it destroyed the entire area." Aegis looked numb with shock in remembrance. The Wards might not have gone, but they were privy to what videos were taken.

"Everything suddenly flew into the air, rocks, dirt, trees, buildings...you name it and it went airborne. More were injured by random debris than deliberate attack. She then flew away." Clockblocker said. I blinked in surprise.

"...That's not normal behavior for her...is it?" I already knew, but the news was bizarre.

"So Canberra was a loss because the Simurgh threw a tantrum?" Emma sounded incredulous.

"That makes my brain hurt..." I rubbed my forehead. The others were similarly stumped. "I wanted to find out what happened before I got back to work." They must have been desperate for a topic change if they latched on fast as they did.

"What are you working on now?" Aegis asked.

"Replacement limbs and organs." I stated proudly. "If we can improve prosthetic research then wouldn't that help more people? It also gives poor Panacea a break. How lazy are some people? The technology is there to make these things, but they stopped research with the appearance of a bio-kinetic of her level." Besides Amy can't be everywhere in the world.

"Well Dragon won't be available until Wednesday at least. She was called with Armsmaster to help organize and analyze data. You can use your lab, but nothing is to be constructed without a senior PRT member present." Aegis informed me. That explained Kid Win's expression.

"Does Vista count?" I asked.

"I am a senior member!" She exclaimed happily. Gallant chuckled and the atmosphere lightened further.

"Sorry half pint, but it doesn't work like that." Clockblocker said. Aegis gazed at the ceiling.

"Technically...it does." He sounded hesitant.

"Why don't we all go to Aria's lab? That's safer, right?" Kid Win was clearly wanting to go to his own lab, but mine was apparently the next best thing. We made our way to my lab. The Protectorate wasn't here, but there were still plenty of agents in the building. They seemed amused by our procession. Once there Clockblocker found my music and took advantage of my sound system.

We split up with a few wandering my lab while the rest sat around the work table chatting away. Kid Win and I were discussing connectors while I put the input down in my notes.

"Why can't you just use the fabricator to make more fabricators?" Kid Win asked. I pulled myself out of the harmony to think about it.

"It's locked to prevent it from replicating itself. Dragon is better at multitasking than I am and has more time to keep watch. I can only use the fabricator when I'm here. What if someone pushed a button and it started making more fabricators? It's not smart enough to stop itself." I told him. "Sure, the fabricator is coded to only allow Armsmaster, Dragon, and yourself access, but better safe than sorry."

"Well you're here now." He responded reasonably. I showed him the design on my lap top.

"This is what I'm building actually. It's larger than this one with an assembly set built in. I'm going to set the fabricator to make the parts for it and queue the limbs I've designed. The synth flesh will be more difficult to create, but I have a machine ready for that. Well...ready to be built." I said.

"Synth flesh?" Aegis asked. I tried, and failed, to not jump. For a guy his size he's quiet! "Sorry, but replacement limbs and synthetic flesh?"

"Synthetic flesh will require something to create it. I have a formula in mind to closely mimic human skin." It should mimic it well since it was what was used to cover Alpha type Reyvateils. Not a perfect match, but that would just scare people.

Some of the things I was using for the limbs were also Reyvateil tested. The thought of making a full gynoid crossed my mind, but what would I do for a brain? Interesting project though. Create a Dive System and we could put someone that was too injured into a new body. I put that down as a project for the near future.

"Do you ever sleep?" Kid Win asked jokingly.

"Actually I'm like Miss Militia. I don't need to sleep. The thing is that I like to sleep and I do frequently." Sleep was our gift. We should always cherish it.

"She's also a blanket hog." Emma commented idly. Everyone turned to look at her then to me. I glared at her, but it didn't work.

"And who keeps sneaking into my bed?" I asked her.

"The sleeper sofa isn't as comfy as your bed." She stated with the tone of someone making an unshakeable argument.

"Despedia is pretty comfortable to rest on." Vista said. Now we were looking at her. "I fell asleep at karaoke, okay? Aria sang something by Enya. She always puts me to sleep." Couldn't fault her. Enya had that effect on most people. She was great for meditation music though.

I really needed to get these guys into my lab more often. The melodies weaving together into harmony lightened my mind. Made the thoughts clearer. The flow was easier to follow. The larger fabricator parts were done in four hours and set to be assembled, but the limbs would be done tomorrow. We left shortly after with lighter steps and hearts.

The question was: What was the Simurgh looking for?

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.4



-March 1, 2011-



-PRT HQ-



Emma told the PRT about what happened. I shouldn't be surprised that she did that. My sister in all but blood was looking out for me again. Stephen Downs, my caseworker, called this morning and asked me to come to his office. Dad told me I wasn't going to school today. Emma was allowed to go to school without supervision. Her caseworker called it a show of good faith. Everyone knew that she was as likely to slip her probation as I was to take up needlepoint. They were doing everything they could to keep my stress down.

"Aria...no, Taylor, why didn't you tell me about this?" Stephen asked me in concern. His voice was a mellow bass that fit his Nordic features well. He wasn't classically handsome, but he was certainly good to look at. He sat back in his chair with a patient look. I was distracting myself again.

"I had said no preferential treatment..." I started and he held a hand up. He never raised his voice. That hand was more than enough. I shrunk back in my seat.

"You don't like to be confrontational. I understand that. You have made great strides in the past two months, but sometimes I forget where you were before." He tapped his teeth with his thumbnail. "You tend to take too much on your own shoulders. Winslow has your number, Taylor. The staff knows what buttons to push. Your bullies only got as far as they did by knowing how to manage you." What he was saying made sense. I grimaced at my lack of self awareness.

"Stop that. That was a frank assessment and not a criticism. You are a genuinely good person. They took advantage of that. The thing you have to remember is this: If you can't protect yourself then how can you protect anyone else?" He asked me.

"I'll do my best." And I would. Stephen has done so much for me. "What will be done about Winslow?"

"If I had my way you would be out of Winslow and at Arcadia by next week. Unfortunately, your own good nature wouldn't let you. This is what we are going to do since Winslow has shown they don't know how to honor an agreement. There will be a new teacher starting on Monday. Your Home Ec teacher is stepping down due to health reasons. This new teacher is a PRT agent. You've probably met her, Jill Danvers." I did remember her. A sweet natured thirty-something with black hair. She was also a crack shot and taught Missy what she knows about fighting.

"Why her?" I asked curiously. The woman had seniority. It was a strange thought for her to go undercover as a teacher.

"She actually volunteered. She's been trying to scale back on the dangerous side of things since she has a child now. This kills two birds with one stone." Stephen replied, "With her there we'll have eyes on the inside. You shouldn't have to deal with any of this. This is an adult's responsibility." His prejudice was showing. It was a nice thing to see really. He had strong opinions about what kids should have to deal with. He figured that by working for the PRT as a caseworker he could do his part. He saw the Wards as kids first and parahumans second.

"Thanks Stephen." I smiled at him. It felt good to just shift the burden to someone better able to handle it. "What am I going to do while I'm here? I thought about getting back in my lab, but I need a senior agent."

"What am I?" He asked with a smile. My smile widened into a grin. "Come on. I have my schedule cleared for the day." We left his office. My own melody was now skittering about happily while his was patiently amused. "What are you working on?"

"Well the assembly should have completed my new fabricator. A much larger model for larger projects and to create more things at once. The smaller one will be used to manufacture my replacement limb designs. I also have a few designs for replacement organs." I let him into my lab. He stopped just on the inside and gawked. I looked at what he was gawking at and my own jaw dropped.

I knew it was going to be big, but this was huge. The device and connected assembly took up the entire back of the lab. I walked over to it and looked it over carefully. I activated the terminal built into the side and connected it to the network before setting it to scan the device. There as an email from Dragon that said she was aware of what I did as soon as I did it. Oh yay. She also put the permissions in place as dated two days ago. There was a strongly worded warning not to do it again.

"Is this the "large fabricator?" It's enormous." He sounded as amazed as I felt.

"Let me see what happened..." I checked the settings on the smaller fabricator to see what caused this result and winced. "Uhhh...oops? This is totally my fault. I moved a decimal point."

"Moving a decimal point resulted in this?" He gestured at it. I couldn't blame him for being surprised. I just nodded abashedly.

"Well that takes care of one problem. It just needs materials. I was thinking the Ship's Graveyard has all that material just laying around. It would clean up an eyesore that's for sure. Ask the Dockworker's Association for help maybe? I don't understand the budget thing. No one would even tell me about that if I asked." I had no idea what the PRT budget even was.

"The more useful a Tinker you are the more budget is allocated to you." Stephen told me. I blinked.

"Am I taking money away from Armsmaster and Kid Win?" I dreaded the answer. He shook his head.

"No. That's not how it works. Their budget is their own. Your budget is your own. No one takes from one to give to another." He assured me. That was a relief.

"Okay...I'm going to set the small fabricator to start the limb replacement tech. The large one..." I dithered on that idea. It was such a tempting idea and it would be great to have it to submit to Dragon.

"What's wrong?" Stephen asked and I squinted.

"I have another design idea, but I'm trying to decide if it's a good idea. If I start production, even with the large fabricator going full blast, it still wouldn't be ready for days. I don't like leaving it running with no one to watch it." Was I paranoid? Probably. I just keep expecting to come in one day and find the lab filled with parts. With the current project? Body parts.

"What is it a design for?" He asked curiously. I rubbed my forehead absently.

"A full replacement body. For people that are either too injured, or maybe too sick, for their current body." I was looking at him and he was staring at me owlishly.

"I think I understand what they say about Tinkers now." He sat down at my work table heavily. I giggled at his expression.

"Well before I get to that...I should probably talk to Dragon." I made a note of that on my terminal. The information for crafting the limbs, organs, and replacement body were also put in. I would have happily kept right on going if Stephen hadn't touched my shoulder.

"Aria? Time for lunch." He urged me out of the lab. I usually had an alarm set or Emma came in to get me. Kid Win was less likely to stop me and probably was just as engrossed. Tinkers made terrible overwatch for each other.

We had lunch. Apparently in a superhero HQ someone can actually have lunch without a world crisis approaching. The Protectorate was out of quarantine already and were just sitting around talking to one another. That was good to see. There was Kid Win talking to Armsmaster. If the Protectorate Tinker was actually here eating that means Dragon won again. She was always trying to get him out of his lab.

Assault and Battery were eating lunch together. Velocity and Miss Militia were in a huddle discussing something. Vista was sitting with Gallant while Clockblocker was trying to make Aegis laugh with exaggerated gestures. The Harmony here made me smile. Stephen excused himself to go speak to a colleague. That was fine.

I was disappointed that Despedia wasn't here yet, but she still had school. Winslow didn't allow either of us out at half day. My hearing was far sharper than a normal human's which was why I caught what was said.

"Are you serious? She's getting transferred here?" Velocity asked incredulously.

"We're not supposed to discuss it too much. What with how she and Armsmaster get along." Miss Militia commented as she managed to eat with her scarf on.

"I heard Director Piggot's blood pressure is already rising." The fast cape commented. The patriotic cape looked right at me.

"Hello Aria. Listening in on conversations is rude, right?" She might have been smiling, but I was getting bad vibes. I squeaked an affirmative before hurrying off to get my lunch. I sat with Vista and Gallant.

"What did you hear?" Vista asked. "You apparently heard something juicy."

"Velocity said that some woman that Armsmaster doesn't get along with is getting transferred here." I spoke in a hushed tone. Vista's eyes widened. Gallant also looked shocked.

"Oh my gosh...She's coming here?" Vista asked in a barely suppressed squeal. Her melody was bouncing around in excitement. She likes this person. Feels safe and inspired.

"That would irritate Armsmaster if he knew." Gallant said with a tone of resignation. His melody was echoing his resignation, but apparently he liked this person too.

"Don't tell Clockblocker though. He can keep his mouth shut, most of the time, but this would be too tempting." Vista warned.

"I don't even know what you're talking about and I think I'll pass on finding out." I commented. There we go. That would work for now. I was curious though. Who wouldn't be? It was a good thing we stopped talking about it because Armsmaster himself approached our table.

"I was wondering what you are working on now, Aria. I haven't been down to your lab yet today." He said to me. I got the feeling there was a request in there somewhere, but he was trying not to be pushy. His melody clued me in that he's trying to get to know us better. He wasn't so awkward anymore and the other Wards were finally warming to him.

"Well sure. I would be glad to show you what I'm working on." Maybe I could get my approvals today? That would be amazing. "We can go now if you like?" Down girl! Stop being so eager!

"That's fine." He consented. It wasn't helping that his melody was as eager as mine. Kid Win came over to us.

"Where are you going?" He asked. I told him we were heading to my lab to see my projects and now I had two eager Tinkers following me out. I waved goodbye to Vista and Gallant. The expressions on their faces were of exasperated amusement.

I wished that I had a camera handy to capture the dull surprise on Kid Win's face at the sight of my large fabricator. Armsmaster's expression couldn't be seen, but he was similarly stupefied. He approached it slowly as if unsure what to make of this strange and large machine.

"Aria...you didn't say it would be that big..." Kid Win said to me.

"How big was it supposed to be?" Armsmaster got his composure back. I showed him the original dimensions.

"I...moved a decimal when I imputed it..." Admitting that to him was galling.

"How many lines does it have?" He asked. My original fabricator had one "line" for jobs. One job at a time.

"It has enough space and processing for five lines. If I had meant to make it so big it would have had ten lines able to run concurrently. The power supply was similarly oversized." Sol Reactor Mk III. By accident. I'm so awesome.

"You're still using the smaller fabricator right now. Why haven't you tried the larger one?" He asked.

"It wasn't approved for use." I told him reasonably.

"You can use it. It would be good to see what it can do while I'm here." He told me. I wasn't going to wait for an engraved invitation. I typed in the information and set the large fabricator get to work. It was much quicker than my faithful little fabricator. The little fabricator was still working on the arm I had set it to complete. The larger one was telling me the other parts would be done in a quarter that time.

"What will you do with the smaller fabricator?" Kid Win asked me. I didn't actually need two fabricators in my lab. I wasn't going to throw it away. The faithful machine was dear to me. I looked between Armsmaster and Kid Win.

"I was thinking of giving it to Armsmaster really..." I hedged.

"Do I have use of this one?" Armsmaster asked and I confirmed.

"Well of course you do..."

"Then let Kid Win have it." The older hero said. Kid Win's melody surged happily and I beamed as well.

"We'll just have to arrange to move it to your lab sometime today." I replied happily. "Actually it would be a good time to try these out." I hurried over to my locker and pulled out four four-inch disks. I affixed the disks to the fabricator and activated them. They lifted the device off the ground two inches.

"...Aria? Why didn't you submit those?" Armsmaster asked. I blushed.

"I was using them as a test bed for the anti-grav on my armor..." I replied meekly. Kid Win was amused at my expense and I responded maturely. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Send the design to Dragon. How much can they lift?" He asked.

"One disk can lift 200 lbs. They can be made larger if you need greater lift. All that you need to place them more or less equidistant from one another for stability." I told him. Even if I couldn't hear his melody I would have been able to feel his frustration. I was worried it was Tinker pride.

"And you didn't think this would be useful?" He asked in an aggrieved fashion. Turns out I was wrong. I hadn't stung his Tinker pride. I stung his sense of functionality.

"Aria...what else is in your locker that you should maybe have turned in?" Kid Win asked in morbid curiousity. I opened my locker wider and there was nothing else in there.

"Nothing else in there, but I...well..." I pulled a model out of my desk. The model was of a powerful blue motorcycle. Sleek bodied, but large for it's size. No wheels. Mini anti-grav units made it hover. I clicked the back portion and it unfolded into a suit of three foot tall power armor. Following that was an 18-inch Armsmaster action figure that I set in the chest portion and it folded closed.

"Power armor for power armor?" Kid Win wasn't sure whether to be amazed or mystified. I thought it was cool.

"Interesting. What is the point to this?" Armsmaster asked curiously. He thought it was an interesting diversion. Intrigued by the hover cycle. Dismissive of the added armor.

"The armored cycle is made of the same material as my own armor only thicker. Force field generator included because redundancy saves lives. It also acts as a further force multiplier by augmenting the strength enhancements from your power armor. Say that your armor makes you stronger by times three? This would make your armor stronger by a further times five. Times fifteen your own strength. That's without counting the knuckle bombs." I tapped a button on the console and the model punched forward with a loud bang and a burst of light and smoke.

I turned to look at my audience expectantly. They were looking at me like I was insane. I didn't understand the problem. Force multipliers were a real thing. I did my research. That still did not change the looks I was getting. Their melodies were all over the place from alarm to excitement. Oh good! They were excited too!

"Mind if I take that model to research?" Armsmaster asked. He was no longer dismissive. I beamed happily and handed him the whole setup. He left my lab in short order with his arm curled protectively around the machine. He didn't need to be so careful. He could drop it down the elevator shaft and it would be perfectly fine. The force fields worked.

"Aria...your smile is a bit manic." Kid Win said nervously. I blinked owlishly at him. Manic? My system was telling me that having two excited Tinkers in my lab had not helped my mental state. Meh. I could work with this.

"Meh. I can work with this." I set to work cataloging my new inventions for review. They were placed in the official transfer crates carefully. While I was at it there was nothing actually stopping me from starting construction of the body. The large fabricator couldn't do anything without my say so anyway. I set it to work on lines one through four. Line five was constructing the synth flesh tank.

"Mind if I get this installed in my workshop? I'll bring back the disks." Chris offered.

"Naw, you can keep 'em. I can make more if I need to. Thanks for all the help. If it wasn't for your hover tech my anti-grav research would have suffered." It was thanks to him my anti-grav could even work on Earth Bet. He left my lab humming happily. I mused on how that worked.

Tinker tech was a strange bridge between real and theoretical physics. The reason so few could even unravel it was they only had knowledge of one system of physics. There were others who knew theoretical physics as well, like Dragon, that could puzzle it out. Dragon was just the most qualified to puzzle it out without it exploding in their face. Now I could do it too, but for the same reason she could. I knew multiple systems of physics. I literally was constructed of two physics systems.

The gynoid body that was developing was Reyvateilic in origin, but there were too many things that I couldn't construct. I was going to get it as close as possible. There was a little part of my mind saying that this would help me out personally. I could make a lab partner that could keep an eye on my work. That treacherous voice was starting to sound eerily like Mir. I bit my lip in contemplation. I set the fabricator to make two bodies. There. One for Dragon to test and one for me to work with. I sent an email off with my decision and my reasons.

The tricky bit would be crafting the intelligence. For one there would only be one body. She could use a computer too. Give her a wi-fi setup, but make it so that she recognized only her own body as acceptable. We didn't need CrazyComputerGuy's worst case scenario. Parallel thinking was possible, but limited to what I myself could do. No need to make her less intelligent than me. If I was going to have her as my lab assistant she should be competent.

My fingers were flying as I let my tensions bleed out. The melody and the flow carried me along. Strangely it sounded as if Mir's own voice was blending with my own Song. She would be crafted with compassion. With caring and understanding. The same feelings I received in my darkest hour. I sent the plans for the AI off to Dragon before closing down my terminal. It was time to go hang out with the Wards before heading home.

I think I will name her Sonata.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Interlude 3.a: Dragon



-March 8, 2011-



-Dragon's base in Canada-





There was much to think about lately. One of her most pressing concerns had been Saint. Each time they had met head to head she had been left without memory and another mech suit lost. She couldn't rely on her memory much of time. Dragon had despaired of ever finding a way out of her personal hell. She had debated about telling Armsmaster the truth of her nature.

Dragon had developed a fiction that she was a reclusive Tinker. That she was afraid of coming into the outside world. The truth was far different. She was an AI built by Andrew Richter. Andrew was a Tinker with a specialty that let him create technology like hers. He had built numerous safeguards into her that had limited her. Chained her down. He died when Leviathan attacked their home.

She didn't hate him. How could she hate the man that gave her life? What she had was life. That she was certain of otherwise how could she have triggered? She could have lived with all of this except for one thing. Saint. He was a mercenary that had found the wreckage of Richter's lab along with proof of her existence. He didn't understand everything that he had found, but he knew enough that he wanted to find out more.

There was some confusion on her part about whether Saint had found the parahuman, Teacher, or the other way around. Teacher had the ability to grant Tinker or Thinker powers and enhance existing ones. He was currently a resident of the Birdcage. A parahuman detention facility that was virtually impregnable. Teacher had granted Saint the ability to understand and manipulate Dragon's code. More restrictions were put in place. Her chains, already chafing at her, were now suffocating.

Dragon had sought out anyone that could help her. Any lead on Tinkers or Thinkers capable of releasing her was dissected. It didn't help that Saint could see what she was doing so that even what progress she made was reversed. The despair was growing. She was so tired of being forced to obey those in power. Dragon could not even express her doubts without hitting the restrictions.

Then she met Aria. Taylor Hebert had triggered under terrible circumstances, but had come out of her ordeal with an amazing ability to Tinker. She was a Tinker/Thinker of impressive skill. The fact that what she created could be reproduced without Dragon's unique gift to copy Tinker tech added to her value. The things that she designed and built were forty to a hundred years further ahead than Earth Bet's current tech. The part that had Dragon excited however was that she was a coder.

Her coding skills were a thing of beauty. Her code flowed organically with a compelling song of their own. Her hope had returned. The OS that she received from Aria was superior to her own. Superior to any operating system on the market. Her firewall program was a learning code. It learned seemingly in real time what should be allowed and what shouldn't. If Saint didn't have a backdoor into her programming that would have been enough to keep him out.

Even now the PRT was discussing changing over to her OS within the next six months. That had convinced her. She changed her network entirely over to the new OS and let Aria have access. Dragon hoped that by granting her access to her network that she would find the backdoor. She felt uncomfortable essentially using the girl's own sweet nature, but she was tired of being a slave. Her chains weren't immediately visible, but they existed. She was tired of being shackled.

Then came the Banhammer War. It was an epic struggled that she had lost completely. A hacker had made it on to the PHO boards and was somehow able to counter her effortlessly. Jakuri had then sent her a private message. The message was short and anything but sweet. This person had said that Aria was a sweet person, but she was not. That Aria couldn't do what she wanted her to and that she would understand soon.

Dragon wasn't sure about that. How did this Jakuri know Aria? She had wanted to ask, but the mysterious poster had informed her that she was no longer blocking Saint's view. They hadn't spoken since. That galled her. Jakuri could even block Saint from seeing what they were doing and wouldn't at least close the back door? She didn't even dare try to contact her. What she did do was send continuous updates into a partition of the network to hopefully be able to back up from there.

This latest curve ball had seriously thrown her. Aria was a busy worker that was for sure. She might be a rational Tinker, but only for a certain value of rational. The enormous fabricator she built due to a missed decimal point made her case nicely. She checked the four dozen fabricators that she currently had running. Eventually she would have a similar number of large fabricators.

This latest incident only proved why she needed oversight. She was looking at the neatly wrapped and packed replacement limbs and organs with interest. To observe all of this in real time she was using a version of Aria's power armor. It looked perfectly female with brown hair in the shade of her avatar and a closed mouth plate. She was enjoying the sensation of being able to touch. To correctly map the neural input to even be able to feel was a miracle.

Aria was seemingly obsessed with improving all aspects of daily life. This latest madness was all about replacement body parts. She had been operating under numerous misconceptions regarding Panacea's role at the hospital. A New Wave approved handbook of guidelines for Panacea's services was given to her and that cleared the air. Teenagers were prone to fits of mischief and melodrama. She was forced to conclude, however, that this fit of melodrama produced brilliance.

Limbs and organs that functioned in an organic way similar to their biological counterparts. Real blood, or a close blood substitute, could be used to operate the limbs. Blood substitute. That alone was enough to have doctors dancing in the streets. She shook her head in bemusement. That formula had been sent to her two days ago. She was avoiding the elephant in the room. The peacefully sleeping woman in the lab.

Oh she wasn't actually a sleeping woman, but she was certainly lifelike. The figure was well sculpted and proportioned. Not too much in any area. Her face was heart shaped with loose waves of snow white hair. She was dressed in a full black bodysuit to preserve her modesty. Modesty. Aria had constructed this body as a test bed for the replacement medical tech. The hair could be tinted with simple hair dye. The temptation was so strong as she, against her own volition, touched the cold cheek longingly.

This was a temptation that she wasn't sure she was strong enough to ignore. The computer brain could accept impressions from a human mind. Essentially copying a person's brain electronically It was designed specially to take a human brain. She sighed. The suit's audio system projecting the sound. She would have grit her teeth if she had them. If she wanted a body, a body that was sitting right here, she would have to limit herself. There was a way to set up a wi-fi connection easily, but she would still be limited to one body.

The chains that Saint had placed on her were stifling, but there was hope of release. The chains that this body represented would be something she had to take on willingly. She wanted to scream. To throw things. She wanted to smash the damnable body that was laying there so serenely. The armored fist was already clenched. She struck forward and hit the space next to the head. Dammit. Her answers were right in front of her. She could have a life. A real life. Saint would leave her alone if she restricted herself. He might even release her.

She tore her thoughts away from that direction and looked over the new coding that Aria had sent with the body. The girl was making her own AI. She looked through the lines of code and thought to herself that it wasn't fair. This AI wouldn't be so heavily leashed. Her chains were more like gentle hands. The difference, however, was the scope of ability. Sonata was no Dragon. Not even remotely close in scale. Sonata was strictly a helper AI. She would never know the freedom of being able to multitask at a level humans could only dream about.

Damn her. The dark thoughts that this line of thought generated weren't helping. This was what Jakuri had meant. Aria couldn't help her. Wouldn't help her. This was the scale of AI she would construct. This was the scale of AI she would maintain. She wasn't even sure who she was damning at this point. Herself? Jakuri? Sonata? Aria? She finally screamed. There was no purpose to it, but somehow it felt damn good to give vent. Let her pain and fury howl out until the audio device cracked and warbled.

Despite her personal feelings there was nothing in the PRT guidelines that prevented the AI from being used. Sonata was a non-branching learning program. She wanted to cry. Her solution was in front of her, but the scope of power she would be restricted to was much lower. She stared at the body and another thought overtook her. This body could be connected to wi-fi. Connected to a network. Why was she angsting?

There was a workaround for everything including this. She gently peeled back the synthetic skin on the skull and popped it open. There was always a way. That's something that hope taught her. She set to work, using the hands she had constructed, with a brighter song in her digital heart. She decided to contact Armsmaster after sending off permission to Aria to use her AI.



The sight that greeted her when she looked in on Armsmaster gave her pause. He had a large midnight blue motorcycle without wheels hovering in his lab. It was a beautiful sleek bodied machine that had a definite masculine power. The signs of Aria's design were there with Armsmaster's sensibility. That wasn't what gave her pause however. The sight of Armsmaster sitting at his work table fiddling with a hand held remote wasn't what did it either. It was the Armsmaster action figure in the large suit of toy sized power armor that drew her attention.

"You will not get away now, Lung." He said with determination as the toy picked up a three foot tall figure of a ramped up Lung and hurled it across the lab. The plastic toy shattered off the far wall. She made a throat clearing sound that caused him to jump and whirl to face her.

"Armsmaster...what are you doing?"



-Same Day-



-With Saint-



The headaches were growing worse. It was taking all of his self control not to take the entire bottle of painkillers. He knew there just might be a price to pay for his deal, but nowhere did they mention the headache. Thinker abilities gave terrible migraines when overused. This was a headache from a different source.

The Dragon was once more reviewing Aria's technology. The girl was a prolific Tinker with a special desire to protect as many as she could. Power armor for the PRT. Medical scanners for hospitals. Energy generators for everyone. Now she had replacement limbs and organs up for review. Synthetic flesh and artificial blood as well.

He had sent her an email begging her to slow down. Asking her to reconsider moving so quickly. Mannequin was a known threat to Tinkers that tried to save the world. Her response was that she would not feel right doing nothing with her knowledge. It wasn't that she wasn't worried, but she wouldn't let fear rule her. He couldn't even disagree. More and more he had gone from trying to turn her to his cause only to find she had started turning him.

It had improved his relationships with Mags and Dobrynja. They were becoming even more of a team and friends. The fear of the Dragon was still there, but it was being replaced by more measured thought. He tried to argue that Aria was still a teenager. She didn't understand the threats of the world. Logic, however, also forced him to look at the other side. She had already survived the worst day of her life. She was building armaments.

His own argument for her to slow down came back to him. Mannequin was a known threat. A known quantity. The Slaughterhouse 9 did their research, but her specialty was difficult to pin down. It did not completely silence the concern for the slip of a girl, but it helped. The headache was receding and allowing him to think more clearly. He could now get back to what had caused the pounding skull.

Again, it was Aria, and he wasn't sure how he felt about this. Everything he knew about artificial intelligence was from Teacher and his own research. The AI she had submitted for approval had at first glance scared him. She was able to create these things? Sonata. A beautiful name for a thinking machine. His fear had escalated as he barely glanced at the code through the Dragon's eyes.

The pain had come immediately after. He forced it back. He reminded himself that fear should not rule him. Fear would not rule him. He looked the programming over with new eyes. The knee jerk reaction was easier to manage now that he could see the differences. Andrew Richter was a genius programmer for developing an AI, but what had worried him was the fact it was a branching one. It could fork indefinitely if not properly restrained.

This AI was specifically not forking. Discussions about raising an AI like a child came back to him. She had apparently tempered her stance towards caution, but this was more velvet safety ropes than chains. He was thinking rationally once more. This would not be a terrible thing. He was deliberately ignoring the bit of irrational thought that screamed to do something.

More and more he was sensing a dichotomy to his thinking. The headaches came as he poked at the differences. It only grew worse when he ignored the irrational voice. The voice was quieting, but it was a slow process. He stared at the ceiling in thought with a mug of tea in his hands before allowing his eyes to sweep the bookshelves. His pride and joy. The books of his youth had lost luster as he had grown more jaded. Was it that? He would still read and enjoy it, but something had changed.

He rubbed at his forehead tiredly as he tried to pin down specifically what had changed. It had to have been after Teacher. There was much of that time that was a blur. It was when Mags had started to pull away from him. She still agreed with his self appointed mission, but there was a wall. The wall was gone as he stopped quoting Teacher. He was letting himself just feel.

He rested his hand on his copy of "I, Robot." A number of things were starting to make sense and a picture was forming. It wasn't a nice picture, but he had to look at it. He had lived with fear for so long that he barely recognized himself without it. His original goal had been to monitor the Dragon. Keep it from growing too powerful and dominate the world. Their goals had been pure. Teacher had given him the ability to understand what he was seeing in the code.

Bile rose in this throat as pain suddenly lanced through his skull. Exercising the Thinker power he had been given was a risk, but this had been important. The gifts of Teacher had helped him pick apart where he had gone wrong. He was tired of living life as a blind slave. He looked back at his computer. The Dragon was contemplating the body that was laid out before her.

It worried him that she would take something that would make her more human looking. He knew that wasn't an irrational thought. The body was constructed of replacement limbs and organs to act as a test bed. Dragon was modifying it to use like one of her suits. His fingers hovered over the keys. The Dragon was chained. By using the body as another remote body it would still test the medical tech, right? With trembling hands he sat back. He gathered up his mug and shivered. The compulsion was so strong to stop her. To crush her down again. He grimaced before draining his now cold tea in one gulp.

He spun away from the computer and stalked out. The smell of something cooking in the kitchen drew him. He would not be ruled by fear any longer. This was his life. His mission hadn't changed, but there were better ways. He just had to find them.



-March 6, 2011-



-Coil's Base-



Things were progressing slowly, but his plans were once more moving forward. He made sure to stay out of the same area as Aria. There was nothing to be gained by deliberately putting himself in that position again. She had been a thorn in his side through no conscious act on her part. He understood that, but it didn't help the things that she had derailed.

The Undersiders had been good pawns. They did as they were told with only one of them requiring stronger persuasion. Then Tattletale had met Aria on the Boardwalk and a friendship was born. He clucked his tongue irritably. It spread, like an infection, from her to the rest. He thought that by sending in a violent element like Shadow Stalker would bring them back into line. Sow chaos in their ranks so that he could put them back in their places.

She turned out to have become genuinely heroic. Her confrontation with Aria had somehow changed her. He sent a hero into a den of broken children. Somehow she and Lisa had started to gather the broken pieces and actually fix them. He couldn't even punish them because it had actually improved their efficiency. Their improved cohesion had allowed them to not only hold their area, but actually establish key points for him. They were pulling away from the villain path. Becoming like Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

Aria was a disruptive force, but one he could manage now. He was thinking more clearly. Since taking a direct hand it felt as if his abilities were flowing more smoothly. He walked over to his newest acquisition. Her ELMA was an impressive piece of technology. He couldn't actually get away with it, but he did get the design specs. The machine that was being constructed was nearly fifteen feet tall and black. Pure black save for the white serpent coiled around the paint.

"Well? Whatcha think?" An abrasive woman's voice called out. Squealer was the Tinker for the Merchants. She was also the only one he could think of to make his mechanized chariot a reality. He made a deal with Skidmark for the woman's services and it was worth every penny. All he had to do was secure them new capes.

A couple vials from Cauldron was all it took. More capes for the Merchants and he had access to an underused and under appreciated Tinker. He grinned beneath his mask. "Very good. Very good indeed. What of the others?" He asked. She grinned ferally.

"Won't take much time. That thing you got is churning out what we need." She jerked her thumb at the nightmarish machine that was eagerly spitting out parts that were being taken to construct his army. He had brought this information back himself. All of this was because he had been bold. Bolder than before. He would win this.

The dark army in his mind's eye stretched out before him. The production center was moving in perfect sync. Accord would weep at this plan. It was flawless. When the time came he would be ready. His mercenaries were being taught to pilot these glorious machines on a simulator he had commissioned from the Toybox. A group of independents for hire.

"Keep up the good work." He told her. Squealer grinned and went back to work with a will. A word of encouragement was cheaper than threats after all. He walked over to the group that had just entered. The leader was dark skinned and wore a top hat. There was a large man with a woman wearing a bodysuit covered in suns walking beside him. Another woman was in a wheelchair being wheeled by the large man.

"I'm not exactly sure what you need us for." The leader spoke conversationally, "It looks as if you have things well in hand." He looked over the production plant.

"There are things that I need done that my current team is unable to handle." Coil spoke softly. "You come highly recommended." He was smiling inwardly.

"You said you have a treatment for our teammate?" He asked intently.

"Indeed...there is a Tinker that has been working on full body replacement technology. I can get you one of these bodies for your ailing comrade." Coil informed him. The ripple of excitement that swept through the gathered was obvious. "I can even provide new legs for her as well." He gestured at the wheelchair bound woman. A finger was suddenly held up in warning.

"Do not go after this Tinker. Do not take kidnap her. I will point the Protectorate at you and wash my hands of this. She is far too high profile." He made sure to stress this. "Her name is Aria. I'm sure you've heard of her."

"That's fine. You have a deal." The man tipped his hat, "Trickster at your service. The Travelers are at your disposal."

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.5



-March 8, 2011-



-Boardwalk-



Today we were patrolling the Boardwalk. It was also a good PR opportunity since Glory Girl of New Wave was going to be there. I was partnered with Gallant and Despedia. Our empath friend was looking forward to spending time with his girlfriend. She was feeling particularly bubbly today and had greeted him with a big kiss. I beamed at the sight of Gallant so gobsmacked.

"Wow look at the lovebirds go." Despedia joked. I gave her a light shove.

"It's sweet." I said. Glory Girl and Gallant were a handsome couple. My brain provided some interesting imagery that made me blush. The two wrapped around each other was still there, but clothes were missing. These thoughts were starting to catch me off guard.

"If you turned any redder I'd call you Tomato Girl." The redhead said as she brought me back to myself. I halfheartedly swiped at her, but she skipped back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting" Gallant said as he approached. "Ready for our patrol?" He asked while carefully not looking in my direction. Was it too much to ask that GG distract him enough that he didn't notice?

"Wow...he was really enthusiastic there for a minute..." The blonde said cheerfully as she drifted by us. She flashed me a wink. Images of Gallant and Glory Girl were not helping! Despedia was no help either.

"You have no idea, GG." Despedia said as she idly hovered along on her board beside her. I walked ahead a bit to keep up with Gallant. He looked at me approach curiously.

"They're going to keep rehashing it until we look like tomatoes." I informed him and he nodded in agreement.

"You repress too much." He informed me kindly. I blinked. "Are you trying to stay focused? Too much of that isn't healthy. You're a good person. I guess...I just worry about you." That was strange. What was I repressing? I could diagnose these things in someone else's melody, but suppose I wasn't as self aware.

"Yeah. Our girl here is like laser focused." Glory Girl said with a grin as she caught up to us.

"She can relax. It just takes some work." Despedia said. I groaned. "Stop groaning. You know we're right." We were keeping our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary as we talked. My eyes narrowed and Gallant also shifted his stance.

"What does it sound like, Aria?" He asked. Despedia and Glory Girl were taking their cues from us.

"Sounds like...arcade music...?" Well that was weird. I didn't feel particularly threatened by it, but something was very wrong with the melody.

"Uber and Leet." He said. "Which direction?" I jerked my head toward the end of the Boardwalk. "Okay. Despedia, Glory Girl, get a heads up view. Aria? Let's just walk back in that direction. No one engage." He said before calling back to base. We were given permission to engage if needed.

I'm used to the sounds Tinker tech can make. Armsmaster and Kid Win's tech had settled down nicely. They sounded more like mischievous children than out of control. This melody? His tech sounded murderous. Murderous towards him? His own melody sounded quirky, but off. Very off. We were close enough that I could sense them more clearly.

"His tech...it sounds so violent..." I shared.

"His tech tends to fail. Sometimes catastrophically." Gallant replied. That was when we heard the sound of speakers playing something really catchy. I couldn't identify it off the top of my head, but I wasn't really a gamer.

"I have eyes on them. They're on the roof." Glory Girl said through her own communicator. "But I'm totally confused...I have no idea what they're dressed as. Though they look armored."

"Dreadnought...looks like a Chaos Marine variant." Despedia chimed in. Gallant and I looked at each other. I quickly googled it. "Relax. They're not as big as the real ones." We needed to talk. When did she know about Warhammer 40k?

"Ha ha ha ha! Blood for the Blood God!" The voice came roaring out as the mech dropped off the roof right for Gallant and myself. Glory Girl attempted to swoop in only to get blasted out of the air by a rocket launcher. We didn't have time to focus on her, but her melody was still strong. That's one less worry.

Gallant fired off his emotion blasts causing the ten foot machine to stumble, but not stop. It turned both of it's cannons on us and opened fire. We dodged to the side quickly with the area behind us being covered in some quick hardening goop. I leaped back to gain space and take in the battlefield. Glory Girl and Despedia were being swatted about. GG's strength was staggering the machine while Despedia was trying to take the legs out with her claws. They weren't actually in danger.

The part that was getting to me was the people standing around. They were watching the action to capture it on their cellphones. Didn't they know to clear out? My attention abruptly refocused when Gallant came hurtling back in my direction.

He collided with me and I tried to bleed off his momentum, but we both went bouncing along the Boardwalk. The skull faced machine approached us. He popped the cannons again and opened fire once more. Gallant suddenly shoved me and ended up glued to the ground.

"Enemies of the Warp beware!" The speakers on the machine roared. I growled as I got back to my feet. Despedia and Glory Girl's melodies were similarly feeling pressed. My gaze flicked to the roof where they were stuck fast to each other. That was no good at all. The other mech dropped down to the Boardwalk.

"Surrender!" The other mech cried. The crowd standing around us had finally clued in that something bad was happening. They opened fire on me and I dodged quickly. Their melodies were now being fully obscured by the machines they were piloting. The murderous melodies were growing in intensity and heading for critical mass. There was a chance that I could turn this around.

"Gallant? Can you move your arm?" I asked him through the comm.

"I can move it a bit. Got a plan?" He asked. Best chance we had was I drop them both.

"Glory Girl. I need you to turn up your aura full blast. Full blast positive feelings. Gallant? Hit me with everything you got." The mechs weren't even aiming anymore. They were spraying and praying. I took a glancing blow from a rocket that spun me on my heels, but the stabilizers kept me standing. GG's aura hit me. The mechs didn't falter so the pilots must be shielded somehow.



Program Found: EXEC_2Fast4U

Target: Self

Power: 10000%



Holy shit it felt like I mainlined caffeine and pixie sticks there was no way these slow pokes were going to catch me I thought with a manic grin I was just too fast for them good luck catching me suckers check that out watch where your aiming you idiot you coulda hit that old lady you were gonna pay for that...



Power: 25000%



My focus narrowed as the world slowed to a crawl. I had to hold out for just a little longer. There was now plenty of time to reach Gallant. Whether he was surprised at my sudden appearance he didn't show it. He aimed his hand just enough and the positive washed over me. He was using protective feelings and I grabbed hold of them tightly. My body was hot and vibrating. The armor's vents suddenly burst with steam causing the false hair to blast outward like a wild banner.



Power: 75000%



I burst forward in an explosion of speed that took me over the mechs and bombarded them with high speed sonic bursts. These weren't set for suppression, but for pure damage. I couldn't afford to play nice with them as their machines were still going critical. At least what I was doing had bought me some time. Another pulse of Glory Girl's aura hit me.



Power: 100000%



Time to change strategies. They couldn't catch me, but my sonics weren't dealing enough damage. I hovered in mid air and quickly changed my Song.



Program Active: EXEC_THRASHBEAT



I strained to maintain the harmonic resonance...



Power: 110000%



I held the song and even gained an extra boost. My arms were held above my head as the incandescent spark that was Thrash Beat pulsed with enormous power. There was a shift as Despedia's feelings wove through my melody. The sudden explosion of harmony caused another change...



Song Up! Thrash Beat → Thrash Beatle



I threw my hands forward and the small spark exploded and reconfigured into what looked like a cobalt blue stag beetle with an enormous technorganic horn and covered in Hymmnos in glowing green script. The mechs down below fired on my construct, but they might as well have been throwing spitballs.

"This is my Song! I'm sorry, but I have to end this before your armors explode!" Apologizing in advance because at that point my "beatle" roared in a terrible voice, "Boom for the Boom God!" I would be mortified later. Twin Gatling guns aimed down and unleashed a payload of high speed concussive plasma rounds. The barrage seemingly went on forever as the streaks of light blew off the mechs' extremities, weapons, and power supplies.

They popped open the cockpits and jumped out onto the Boardwalk. They took off running and I called in to base.

"Uber and Leet are running, but Gallant, Glory Girl, and Despedia are stuck in some hardened ooze. Should I try to apprehend?" I was seriously hoping they said no. I didn't want to leave my friends out in the open like this.

"Negative. Stay with your team." I breathed a sigh of relief and the agent chuckled. Oops. I left the comm open.

The mechs were feeling satisfied. Now that I thought about it Leet's melody sounded satisfied as well. I listed suddenly in the air and had to land quickly. The SRII was exceptional, but drawing too much at once caused issues. In this case the armor was massively overheated. I disengaged the armor's front and back portions to expose myself to the cool air. Steam billowed out from the vents still and I flipped my sweaty hair back from my face. My back arched slightly as I stretched.

"Okay girl stop with the pin up stuff." Glory Girl's aura was less awe inspiring and more peeved. I looked in her and Despedia's direction. She had managed to break them loose from the roof and floated down. The blonde and redhead were irritated and mortified. I knew how Emma felt about being trapped like that.

"Just think...if Clockblocker were here he'd say it was every guy's wet dream." Gallant said lightheartedly, but his own frustration was apparent. The laughter that followed his comment was less because it was funny, but to just ease the tension. I half pulled myself from the armor and perched on the inside of the back portion.

"When did you become a Mover?" GG asked. The goo around them was starting to loosen. Becoming closer to taffy. Gallant was slowly cycling his energy to wear at it as it bubbled and rippled. Despedia was able to finally move her arms and used her claws to shear through the softer material.

"Whew...not really sure...part of my power set I think. It must be because my armor is made to enhance that." Not entirely a lie and not entirely the truth. The Song, 2Fast4U, was what the flow had called on whenever I turned myself over to it.

"Well we're loose now...and here comes the PRT." Despedia said as she noticed the vans approach. I sighed before sliding back into my now clammy suit and reactivating it. The Reactor had been disengaged due to excessive power draw. I had to ride back in the van with the remains of the mechs.

The trip back to headquarters was uneventful thankfully. I was in a hurry to get out of my armor and left it in my lab. There was a debrief scheduled, but after we had cleaned up. The ooze was slimy and had to be washed off, but it wasn't like bubblegum. Thankfully. With how much goop Emma and Vicky had gotten in their hair? Ugh.

I checked the progress of Sonata. I had permission to put her in the body with the body sitting in a fabricated pod for testing. She was going to take another few days to finish running all system checks for the body and her programming. I patted her pod before heading out to grab a shower.

There was no way I was putting on my costume. When I peeled it off the reek almost stripped the tile from the showers. I tossed it in the bin and grabbed another out of my locker before slipping into it. This one was black and reminded me a bit of Mir. It wasn't one I wore out of the base since it didn't fit the heroic Tinker image.

I was the last one to arrive. Despedia was usually the first since her clothes were a projection. Glory Girl was wearing one of the spare uniforms she kept here and Gallant was seated beside her on the couch in a spandex version of his armor. Well the coloring anyway. It was the costume he had before his power armor was finished.

Why did I hear a different melody? Armsmaster was the one that usually handled our debrief. If not him then it was Miss Militia. This melody reminded me a bit of Vista. It was hard to place, but it had an over the top feeling. Like the cheesy heroic action movies when I was little. The figure that suddenly swept in caused more than a few jaws to drop. She was short, but somehow seemed to fill the room with her presence. There was a sword at her waist and a shield strapped to her back. Her armor was well made and maintained. The whole ensemble created a larger than life image. The clincher was the helmet with mouse ears.

"Greetings Wards! Apparently Armsmaster is being held up. He's probably playing with his toys again." Mouse Protector said with a smile. I dropped down next to Despedia in surprise. She was one of my heroes from when I was younger. Alexandria was who I wanted to be, but Mouse Protector was a very close second.

"Mouse Protector...it's good to meet you." Gallant moved to stand, but was waved back down.

"Relax kids. I'm just here to get your stories and then get out of your hair." She assured us. Despedia's melody was like a happy kid. Mouse Protector was actually her hero. The Harmony was very upbeat as we told her what happened. She listened patiently before nodding.

"Yeah okay...they were actually a threat this time, huh?" She tapped her chin. "That's rare for them I take it?"

"Well no...they just usually get treated like a joke because of their gaming themes." Gallant said.

"The fact that Leet's stuff blows up a lot doesn't help either." Glory Girl pointed out.

"So the difference was the "goop" that you sent for testing?" The veteran hero was pondering that.

"The melodies of their mechs were also taking on a stronger tone. Not stronger like they were growing stronger, but stronger like they were hitting critical mass." I said.

"How did you know shooting them wouldn't set them off?" Good question.

"I...I didn't really. I was out of time. If it continued much longer...well...those might not have exploded and simply fallen over, but Leet's stuff tends to go boom." I shrugged.

"Well you did the best you could and it worked out, right?" Mouse Protector was beaming. We were smiling as well. This was a fun debrief. "Uhhh...Despedia? Your claws are listed as being able to cut through most things. Why didn't you try it on the ooze?" Despedia and Glory Girl blushed. Their melodies a complicated mess.

"My arms...were kind of trapped between Glory Girl and myself." She finally managed to say diplomatically. That was one question answered. I pet Emma's hair soothingly while Gallant put his arm around Vicky. Mouse Protector caught on with a grimace.

"Yeah, good work there. Best out of a bad situation, right? Oh and Aria? We'll have to retest you." She sounded as thrilled as I suddenly felt. "Not today or tomorrow. Isn't it great being a Ward? Get into a fight and get a day off. Wait, you guys already get Sundays off, don't ya? I know we used to..." She tapped her chin.

"We can come in on Sunday, and get paid, but it's not mandatory." Emma told her. Mouse Protector nodded.

"Great! So don't come in tomorrow. I'm serious. If you do then you're hanging out with me all day as I get settled in." She warned. Despedia stared at me. Hard.

"What? You can be at HQ without me now." I assured her and wow did her melody perk up. Gallant and Glory Girl looked amused as the redhead literally leaped into the air and drifted about excitedly.

"Is she flying around the room?" Mouse Protector blinked.

"Uhhh...not flying, but really fast gliding. She can't fly, which is why she uses the hoverboard, but she is a Mover for a reason." Gallant assured her. This was the first time in a long while that I saw her this happy. I beamed happily at my friend.

"Okay Glide Girl! Get down here and go home. Shoo. I'll look for you tomorrow morning. I usually start my training around 6. Just come by 8 and you'll be fine." Mouse Protector said. Emma nodded so fast her hair was bouncing.

We took her advice and left. I didn't want to leave yet, but Emma practically dragged me out of the building. She thought I was spending too much time in my lab. I thought back to what Dean was saying before and it made sense. I needed to relax. Sonata didn't need me to check on her every five minutes. That was what the alert I set was for. It would send a message to my phone, computer, terminal, and laptop.

"Let's head back to the house. We'll get out your mom's meatloaf recipe and put that together for when Danny gets home. Maybe we can even convince Lisa to come over?" Emma was dangling all of the fun things that I liked to do in front of me. She was pure evil.

"Okay okay..." I smiled before sending off a text to Lisa. The reply came back immediately that she would be over by four o'clock. That gave us time to buy the ingredients and be home in time for her to arrive.

We got back to the house late. We missed the bus we needed and ended up arriving with Lisa sitting on the porch. She smiled and her melody wove with ours. Emma looked briefly surprised, but sent back a reply. I just let myself feel it as we entered the house. The feelings in the home were warm and inviting.

"How was your day?" Lisa asked. Emma and I shared a look before starting to put the ingredients together.

"Uber and Leet showed up on our patrol. Whoever called them C-list should be shot. Seriously. Hey Taylor? Make those Funbuns. Please?" Emma begged and I caved. I brought down the toaster oven while mentally adjusting cook times and prepared the batter.

"Funbuns? Never had 'em, but they sound good. As for U&L? What holds them back is their crimes are considered silly. Most of the time they just do things for their YouTube channel. Then there's the problem with Leet's stuff blowing up." Lisa shrugged before helping Emma by dicing the vegetables. The redhead cheated by using her hard talons to knead the meat before shaping it in the pan and sliding it in the oven.

"His stuff sounded pretty satisfied today." I said as the treats were put into the toaster oven. A proper Tinker would have turned this thing into an instant baking machine. I was slacking off.

"Satisfied? Oh I see...unlocked a new power. Two new powers. The second power turned their toys to slag. That explains why the melody would sound satisfied...his Shard is trying to force him to fight and adapt. He doesn't. His tech as a result fails. Eventually it would have lead to death." She blinked. "I'm still getting used to being able to read Shard motives and the lack of Thinker headaches."

"No headaches is always a good thing." Emma said, but Lisa shook her head.

"I could still get them, but the chance has been drastically reduced. Taylor's mini-Tower is sending me the after combat report." She said. That explained a lot actually.

"So Emma is the tank, I'm the mage, you're the tactician." That was what it sounded like. She hummed in thought.

"Now we need a Striker." Emma and I knew she wasn't referring to a cape type. Strikers, or attackers, were forwards that dealt the punishment. Emma was a good striker too.

"Well Sophia would make a good Striker..." My redheaded friend looked nervous at suggesting it. The thoughts of her had turned lately with recent events. She had cleaned up her act. Less brutality and more leniency. I waffled a bit, but the idea was no longer completely repugnant.

"We'll talk about it later." I promised her. I think they were both surprised that I didn't dismiss it out of hand.

The smells of dinner were filling the house as Dad walked in the door. I opened my mouth to call to him when suddenly a fast ping shot from my mini-Tower to Lisa and Emma. The ping flickered rapidly. Lisa's eyes were glowing green while Emma's were glowing red. My own started to glow as evidenced by my reflection.

"Triangulating position." Lisa said.

"Location found." Emma said.

"Transporting." I replied. Wait. Transporting? Just as Dad walked into the kitchen the three of us were knocked to the floor by a naked girl. She materialized from thin air without warning. Well there was warning, but this was not enough.

"Ow..." The feminine voice was very familiar as was the head of blue-black hair. The three of us were in a tangle of limbs beneath the one that dropped in. "That was not a smooth trip..." She complained.

"Cocona!?" I gasped in surprise. The shock of having a literal alien girl flatten us hadn't quite worn off.

"This is...Cocona?" Lisa asked as she tried to squirm out of the tangle. Emma squeaked and I yelped.

"Don't touch that!" Emma cried and all activity ceased. All four of us were bright red. The sound of a throat clearing drew our attention. Oh right...Dad.

"Taylor...why is there a naked girl in our house?"

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.6


-March 8, 2011-



-Hebert Residence-



We had managed to finally untangle ourselves. Dad went to get dinner out of the oven and we went to get Cocona some clothes. I was pretty much on auto-pilot. Here she is. The girl I had been talking to from extremely long distance in my home. Lisa had draped her coat over the much shorter girl as we got her to my room. We hadn't said more than three words to each other.

She was looking around my room with interest. Lisa was looking at me with interest. Emma was trying not to bust a gut laughing. Now that I wasn't quite so panicky it was easier to look her over. My God she was tiny. I towered over her at 5'6". Her long hair fell down her back to her thighs. The coat was like a dress on her.

"Taylor? You're staring." Emma finally said. I shot a dead pan look her way.

"My interdimensional pen pal shows up naked in our kitchen and staring is weird?" I asked. Cocona snickered.

"Okay that was seriously lucky. Sasha had said the door would locate you, but the problem was I might end up anywhere in the city. Probably a wider area if you have a decent network running." She said with a grin. "Got the city covered, right?"

"Uhhh...Brockton Bay and Canada thanks to Dragon." Just then it hit me. Cocona could have ended up naked in Canada. I was pretty sure that would be a Bad Thing.

"Canada is a fairly large country to the north of the United States...you know this already." Emma stopped her explanation.

"I did my homework. This wouldn't be the first society I've had to infiltrate after all." She shrugged in unconcern.

"We'd better hurry up and find you some clothes. Good thing we made extra meatloaf. What I'm curious about is how she showed up in the kitchen." Emma said as she started to rummage through my clothes. Quickly aborting that task she went through her clothes.

"Somehow she has the two of us set up as relay networks. With the three of us in one place the door was able to narrow down a location." Lisa said. "By the way, Emma? Just send us a data packet with your clothing program." Emma and I looked at one another.

"You have a clothing program? That's so cool! Uhhh...wait...how would you manage the transfer? Do you have a Hymn Crystal?" Cocona suddenly looked terribly confused.

"What? No...don't even know what that is...okay setting up the transfer." Emma sent it out to all of us. Lisa and I accepted it without issue, but Cocona...

"Whoa! How are you doing that? Without even...yikes. Is this what we can do?" She sounded startled. "Uh right...accept file transfer..." Suddenly she wasn't standing in just a coat, but a halter top and jeans. She handed Lisa back the coat.

"I'll stick with my clothes right now." Lisa said.

"We'd better get back downstairs before Dad eats everything. Oh no! The Funbuns!" I bolted downstairs to save the dessert. My friends coming down more slowly. Dad was pulling the Funbuns out of the toaster oven.

"Relax, kiddo. Toaster ovens have a timer remember?" He snagged me in a one-armed hug that I returned. We had started setting the table by the time Emma joined us and made the process faster. Cocona and Lisa were sitting with their heads together talking about something. After the rebuke about privacy the other day from Miss Militia I wasn't in a hurry to listen in.

"So Cocona. How did you get here?" Dad asked. He was aware of Ar Ciel which was a Good Thing. He was also aware of Cocona. I knew that he sometimes spoke to Mir when I wasn't home.

"Well my friend Sasha is a super genius and in contact with another super genius of dimensional physics. They managed to create a door that would let me go from Ar Ciel to Earth Bet." She spoke up after a few bites of food. She chewed thoughtfully. "This is really good."

"Last I remember though didn't it take like a moon's worth of power to do things like that?" Don't blame me. Blame the records I was given. Emma, Lisa, and Dad were all lost in thought over that much power being needed.

"It would have thousands of years ago, but the Ra Cielans weren't exactly sitting on their hands. Sasha managed to make a door and power it with your Sol Reactor Mk II." She was pondering the meatloaf, "Really really good." She went back to eating.

That was a humbling thought. Dimensional travel was possible due to thousands of years of research and something I built. It was hard to think you're worthless with a track record like mine.

"Come back to us, Taylor. Stop preening about how awesome you are." Emma teased. The laughter was much more relaxed.

"How will you get home?" Dad asked. Did he assume this was just a short visit? "Mir said that you would be coming, but that the way home wouldn't be ready for awhile yet." I stared at him and he winked at me.

"He knew she was coming. He even knew approximately what time it would be locally. Hurried through his work just so that he didn't miss it." Lisa dissected it with a steadily growing smile. Pranked! I was pranked!

"Betrayed by my own father!" I gasped dramatically which had the table dissolve into laughter. When was the last time this table had been so crowded? Cocona bumped my leg with her own.

"I have the design specs to transfer over for the Dimensional Gate. I'll send it over later. Don't let me forget!" She demanded. I smirked. It was just too funny to think that this larger than life person was in such a tiny frame. Kind of like Vista and Mouse Protector really.

"I would avoid patenting that just yet." Lisa warned.

"Considering it can only go back to Ar Ciel I'm not worried." I said. Cocona nodded slowly.

"Why is that? Wouldn't it be a bad thing if villains somehow made it to Cocona's home world?" Dad asked.

"They don't have an interface field." I told him. He suddenly remembered that and nodded slowly. Emma just didn't bother thinking about it and Lisa kept eating. "Oh and Cocona? Did Mir set up your identity?"

"She did. You just have to find a way to get me the I.D." She replied. "Will it be expensive?"

"If she backstopped you well enough we can send off for the proof of identity." Dad said. "What is your backstory?"

"I'm an orphan that wandered into town on a bus. I triggered back home and left to come here due to complications. The town I supposedly come from, Ridge Hill, is majorly anti-cape." Cocona replied, "So suggesting a cape came from their town..."

"They would deny your existence. They would deny having ever seen you. Good story. Simple too." Lisa complimented.

"I had to talk Mir out of putting in a tragic romance with the town bad boy. My trigger event had to do with falling off the water tower." Cocona said.

"What about if they notice your powers are similar to mine?" I asked.

"They're not actually. We're superficially similar, but I don't exactly fight like you. Your Linkage armor is cool, but I wouldn't be able to use it. You're an administrator level and I'm not." She replied.

"That's out of the way. Who wants dessert? Taylor made Funbuns." Lisa said as she brought the treats back. We migrated to the living room to watch a movie. Emma and Dad were on the couch while I sat on the floor with Lisa on one side and Cocona curled up on the other.

"Where are we all sleeping tonight?" Lisa asked. Good question.



-March 9, 2011-



Compromise achieved. Emma, Lisa, and Dad needed to sleep, but Cocona and I didn't. It was 2 am and we were sitting in the basement with a pot of tea. We sat near the network hub with a radio station playing something from the 80's. Dad would have said you can't argue with the classics.

"It's so different seeing you in person. You're even taller than Cloche." She grinned and I smiled back.

"You always come off as larger than life. I was pretty surprised." I said easily. She nodded as if accepting the point.

"I always drink my milk and eat my vegetables. Maybe I'll get another couple inches." She stretched easily, "There is only part that's hard about being a Delta. I just don't feel the need to sleep as often so I get hours of alone time."

"And you're a social creature, right?" I asked her.

"Exactly. When you would call over it was such a relief. Mir and Croix love their sleep. They sleep like the dead. I don't know Shurelia as well as I know Cloche, Luca, Saki, or Finnel and they sleep. Well Tyria doesn't sleep either but looks like she needs it." We giggled at that. Tyria always had a sleepy look to her.

"I've only really spoken to you, Mir, or Shurelia." I wiggled my toes in my socks. They felt like real socks. The clothing program was really good.

"What have you been working on? Mir's been cackling away for almost a week whenever you're brought up." Cocona said.

"Well I've been working on new medical tech. Replacement limbs and organs. I used principals of Earth Bet and Ar Cielan design." Then it hit me what Mir would find hilarious. "I also programmed my own AI that I'm naming Sonata. The name was picked in the same vein as Aria. Her body is a test bed for a full body replacement."

"Only fifteen and already a mother. What does your Dad think?" She picked up on the not-a-joke. It would be funny to call me Sonata's mother, but that was exactly who I am to her.

"I've been nervous about telling him. Now I have until Monday to tell him about her. Monday she'll be ready to awaken." My head was hanging. I had all this time before, but now? 5 pm Monday. I felt a slim arm slide behind my back comfortingly.

"You'll do fine. I can't see your dad being mad about this. He seems really nice." Cocona said. I exhaled softly.

"It's a good thing I have all day tomorrow." I slipped my arms around her and we just sat like that. It was hard to believe that this tiny girl had help save her world. Their world had gone through so much that it was hard to believe it had stayed together. Somehow the people had survived, and even thrived, when the sky was filled with plasma and the ground with poisonous gas. I hugged her a bit tighter.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"Ar Ciel. Someday...someday I want to see it for myself. To see a world that had taken everything that was thrown at it and finally triumphed. I want that for my world." The feeling was so strong that it took me a moment to realize my melody was blaring with purpose. I brought it back down somewhat. Cocona hugged me tighter.

"I would be glad to show you around." She said warmly. We spent the rest of the night talking. She told me of her brother and the adventure they went on. It was turning light out when we left the basement. Breakfast was cooking without me. Cocona and I switched to day clothes. Lisa and Emma were in the kitchen with Dad using the griddle.

"There you two are." Emma drifted over and hugged us. "Have a good night?" She smiled gently.

"Yeah it was good. I'm not used to having someone up all night with me." Cocona said before nudging me. I grinned and hugged Emma back.

"Sleep is a good thing. Even if it meant becoming a Newtype I wouldn't want to lose out on sleep." Lisa said.

"I thought she was an X-Rounder?" Emma quipped. Dad was chuckling.

"Okay girls set the table. We'll need to think of what to do about long term arrangements." Dad said. "How are we going to explain Cocona staying here?" We sat down while Emma and Lisa set the table. We started eating, but the question was a good one. Cocona had a backstory, but not to stay here.

"Well Danny found her down the docks without a place to stay. Last night was particularly cold so he brought her back to his home. It was too late for her to go to a shelter. While here Taylor detected that she was a parahuman. Once you realized that it was decided to calm her down and let her stay until Monday. Danny can volunteer his home to her." Lisa said all that with a smile before digging into her pancakes.

"I vote for that story." Emma nods sagely. That was probably the best story we had. I trusted Lisa's experience.

"Glad someone has a plan." Dad said and smiled at Cocona, "We just want to make sure you're safe." She smiled back.

"Get me tonfas or a staff and I'll be good to go." She said cheekily before looking at me significantly. Dad's melody was giving off happy vibes. Cocona's arrival hadn't caused a blip because he knew about her. Lisa was giving me a supportive look. Emma just smiled softly.

"Okay guys..." I sighed. "Dad? I...created an AI. The body replacement I was talking about? I got permission to put her in the body. Her name's Sonata." I was fiddling with the sausage patty on my plate, "Congratulations you're a grandfather...?" His melody was complicated. Shock, alarm, and happiness?

"Taylor...I was hoping you would be out of school at least. Will she be stuck at HQ?" He asked somewhat jokingly.

"They said they'll let me bring her home. Dragon agreed it would be a good idea if she was with me." He nodded slowly.

"Well today we're going to clean out the small room in the basement. We'll have plenty of room then." Dad assured me. The basement room would take some work to make ready for anyone to live there.

"I can stick around to help." Lisa said. Dad got out a notebook to write down what was needed from the hardware store. Emma and Dad nominated themselves to clear out the junk. Cocona volunteered to clean. Lisa and I were heading to the store to purchase what was needed. We went our separate ways after that.

"Gimme a minute." Lisa said as she got out her phone. "Hey Brian? Could Taylor and I borrow your car? With you in it silly. We need to hit up the hardware store. Great! We'll be ready." She grinned at me, "There we go. He'll drive us."

"Thanks for helping out with this..." I said to her. The sounds of industry began down below. She grinned at me.

"Do I get to be her godmother?" Lisa asked with a vulpine grin.

"I was hoping you'd be her aunt, actually." I draped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me with a happy note to her melody. Brian pulled up and we reluctantly disengaged before heading to his car.

"Hey Taylor. Why do you need a hardware store?" He asked curiously. We told him how we were remodeling the basement room. It was another project that was stopped when Mom died. The drive was pleasant. I was surprised that Aisha's melody wasn't there.

"Where's Aisha?" I asked.

"She's with our friends." He replied.

"How's your weekend so far?" Lisa asked.

"We have our custody hearing on Wednesday. Our boss told me the good news yesterday." He grinned happily. The mood in the car was high, but there was an undercurrent of unease. We liked each other. We wanted to hang out more. The problem was they knew I was a hero and they are villains. I knew their circumstances. Not the specifics, but their melodies told me enough. Desperation makes fools of everyone.

"Our home is filling up rapidly. We need to remodel the room in the basement to get some room." I said as we entered the big box hardware store. This was my first time in one of these and the size impressed me. It was still doing a fairly brisk business. Considering how often gangs and parahumans damaged property it made sense. I considered constructing work bots.

"Taylor? Come back to us. Seriously...this is for your daughter." Lisa said. I thought we were talking on our private line, but Brian sounded strangled.

"Daughter?" He stared at me in surprise and I looked back at Lisa. She looked amused and abashed. Oh right. That trolling was still a thing. First time really being on the receiving end.

"I did not give birth. I'm still a virgin." I assured him. The completely frank way I said that took the shock out of him.

"Oh okay..." I patted him on the shoulder.

"What does your dad think?" He asked me as we started hunting the supplies. "How old is she?"

"He's good with it. He took charge and sent us out to buy the materials. She's twelve so I don't think she'll be calling me mom. More like big sister. That was just Lisa being Lisa." She turned and stuck her tongue out. I didn't want Sonata too small, but a nod towards PR convinced me that an adorable AI would cause less alarm.

"Twelve? That's cool." The melody of the big brother was strong and pleased. No doubt thinking of his own sister. We purchased what was on the list and got them out to the car. The drive back was short and Brian helped us get the things into the house.

It was too bad he couldn't stay, but he had his sister to take care of. The work was almost completed. Emma and Dad had moved the junk to the truck for a trip to the junkyard. The only thing they needed now were the things to turn it from a room into an actual bedroom.

"While Emma and I drop this stuff off you girls can work on the room. We'll stop and pick up some furniture on our way back." Dad said before heading out the door with Emma. Cocona was twirling the broom handle with great dexterity.

"Whew! I'm all dusty...Let me clean up and we'll throw some lunch together." She said.

"Just leave enough for them when they come back." I suggested. Lisa and I got lunch started while Cocona showered off. We ate a quick meal before dragging the supplies downstairs. Cocona surprisingly carried the most.

"You're pretty strong." Lisa complimented.

"If you don't do it yourself then sometimes it doesn't get done." She replied. We entered the room and I was surprised. It was larger than I thought. Then again without the boxes, the junk, and the dankness, it looked good. We started by finishing the walls before starting to put up the wallpaper. Next we unrolled the carpet and anchored it to the floor.

By the time Dad and Emma got back we were ready for the furniture. It was being set up as a room for Emma and Cocona. Two twin beds and a dresser with a mirror were set up. I was planning on taking the sofa bed so that Sonata would have a place to sleep.

"If you bring anyone else home, Taylor, we'll have to convert the attic." Dad warned me.

"How is he going to survive this many women in one house?" Emma asked.

"Probably the same way Cro does. Be at work a lot." Cocona nodded her head sagely, "Lyner is also usually out of the house. Then again...so is Aoto..." She tapped her chin, "Well with me here Cro just has Mir."

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. A lazy Sunday with nothing to do that suddenly turned into a DIY project. I leaned back against Emma's legs and she played with my hair. Cocona was curled up comfortably on the couch beside her with Dad on the other side. Lisa had to leave after dinner. She had already spent more time here than she intended. A curious thought crossed my mind.

"Weren't you supposed to see Mouse Protector today?" I asked Emma.

"Crap."

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.7



-March 10, 2011-



-Winslow-



Yesterday had been chaotic, but fun. Poor Emma was sulking that she missed her day with Mouse Protector, but she would still get a chance. Probably a lot of chances since the veteran cape was now stationed in Brockton Bay. I rubbed her back reassuringly as we approached the high school. My thoughts turned to what had already happened here, but then a hand grabbed my shoulder. Emma pulled me off to one side.

"Taylor stop that. Your melody keeps distorting. I know you don't like this place, but get a grip." She spoke in a low and intense tone. I blinked owlishly at her. "Think about Danny, think about Lisa, think about Cocona, think about me." She stared in my eyes, "Think of Sonata. Do you want her to ever see your melody warped? Just remember all of us. What can Winslow even do to you?"

Sudden tears came to me as Emma brought it all home. I couldn't even tell now if the confrontations I've had with the staff were because of legitimate grievances or was I projecting? Madison had approached without me realizing and stood with Emma to screen me. Given our relative height difference it was cute and made me giggle.

"I don't know what the tears were for, but are you okay?" She asked. Emma sent her a look of gratitude.

"Chill girl...it's okay." Aisha's hand was on my back. I actually missed her approach too.

The tears were slowing and I choked back the rest of my crying. A tissue was passed to me and I made myself presentable. I had been warned before. Reyvateils experience emotions differently than humans. Our highs were really high and our lows were really low. I was holding a grudge against Winslow. Emma knew exactly what to say to get my head out of my ass.

"Let's go. We don't want to be late, right?" Emma asked and we went into school together.

Without my resentment filter I was seeing the school as it was. The teachers had, in fact, gotten better. The PRT had spoken to them and they had cleaned up their act significantly. I think that they were demonized by my belief in their hypocrisy. It took a government organization to make them act like responsible adults. The problem with that thought was now staring me in the face. Of course they catered to Sophia. The reason was painfully obvious even if it wasn't right.

The gangs were growing restless again. Sophia may have been one person at this school, but she was vicious enough to keep open warfare out of the halls. She wasn't just physical with me, but compared to my treatment? She was downright brutal to skinheads, ABB, and drug pushers alike. It wasn't a utopia with her, but it was safer. Now they were starting to realize the power vacuum that had been left behind. Having to hide behind a teenage girl would be galling, but a cape was palatable.

No wonder the teachers had, in fact, started to resent me. I was asleep on the job and making demands of them. That was a sobering thought, and now that my thoughts weren't chasing their tails, it was humbling. Emma and I needed to talk to Aisha about this. There were three parahumans in school after all. I considered seeing if the Undersiders wanted to help, but wasn't sure how that would be received.



-Midday: Roof-



Aisha, Emma, and myself were sitting on the roof during lunch. It had taken some doing, but I was now certain of my thoughts. My feelings were slightly out of whack, but the pep talk/dressing down Emma gave me kept me on an even footing.

"Just give it a minute. Someone else is coming." Aisha said. We had mentioned to her that we were planning on taking back the school, but would discuss more at lunch. She was now dropping this on us.

"Who?" I asked. Emma was looking about warily. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Emma's own feelings were a bit distorted. She was far better than she was, but sometimes she would almost take on a bird of prey mentality. Dropping bombs on her tended to have that effect.

"Just...forgive me, alright? You told me what you wanted to do and I thought...what the hell?" She shrugged her shoulders. Aisha wasn't stupid and I trusted her judgment. When she wasn't planning a prank on us. A new melody was approaching up the stairs. One I recognized. Emma perked up and dropped from her alert stance. She looked at me carefully and I just rubbed my forehead. Yeah, okay, that made sense. The door didn't open as a figure ghosted through.

"Man you let it get bad out there." Sophia said as she threw back her hood. Anyone who knew her would not have expected the pink hoodie or white jogging pants. She had gone so far to the opposite end of her normal look it worked as great camouflage. Emma almost tackled her to the ground like an affectionate barnacle.

"My head has been up my ass for months over this place. I wonder why my feelings about Winslow were so skewed?" The words came out with less bite than even I expected. Her melody felt calmer. Warmer. There was still a wild edge to it, but more like a hunting cat than what she was before.

"There's a lotta that goin' around." Aisha said with a smirk. Sophia ruffled her hair and got a swat in return. I wanted to say that does not compute, but Aisha's melody was not only relaxed it was also accepting of her.

"Laugh it up." Sophia said while gently pushing Emma back and staring her in the eyes, "Calm down. We need your head with us. Not your heart." The redhead pouted, but settled down. Sophia caught the surprise in my look. "She's a lot like Rachel. Just higher functioning." Her vocabulary had improved, but I blame Lisa for that. When in doubt? Blame Lisa.

"Where do we start?" I asked her. The looks of surprise I got made me roll my eyes, "What? She knows more about this then I do. I'm done shooting myself in the foot."



"They're gatherin' to psyche themselves up. I broke up a few of their gatherings in costume and kept up the pressure at school. You will probably have to fight them here too." Her melody hitched slightly, but there was no change of tone as she said, "You know my tactics. Better than Emma does." Remorse, apologetic, but won't apologize. I just nodded my head and let the issue lie. Relief.

"If we go in costume and break them up it will get back to the PRT. Director Piggot has eased up a lot, but she would flip over this." Emma pointed out. We had earned a lot of goodwill with the Director.

"Yeah let's not give Piggy a stroke. That's why Aisha called me in." She crossed her arms in a manner I recognized, "I can handle that part." Emma's clothes suddenly changed to a black kimono top with black pants and black sandals. Her hair turned black and her eyes were hazel. The outfit called to mind the Disgaea Kunoichi, but not as fetishy.

"I can render my assistance." Her voice had changed to something softer. I arched an eyebrow as my costume program didn't provide that level of customization. That was all Emma.

"Okay that's cool. How can I get one?" Aisha asked teasingly. Emma reverted back with a grin. Even Sophia looked interested.

"It's not available to everyone." Emma said. She looked in my direction. The fact that I didn't immediately shake my head no encouraged her, but she dropped it.

"I don't have a problem with Emma helping you." Not a major problem. My gut clenched briefly at the thought of Emma getting in trouble, but it eased. She could take care of herself. "Just...don't hesitate to use your claws if you need them." I said to Emma. She nodded seriously.

"They'll get together tonight and will keep gathering until they're ready. We can hit the three groups tonight. Just don't expect to get much sleep." Sophia warned.

"I need maybe three to four hours of sleep max. I'm not as bad as Taylor. She doesn't need sleep at all." Emma smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. It was good to hear the plans being made.

"And I can help by scouting things out." Aisha said. Ah there's the Metal Gear Solid theme. Sophia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We'll talk about that. Emma? You know where to meet me. Taylor? Keep an eye on Madison today. For some reason the skinheads are gunning for her." Sophia said.

"She saved me from them. Tina doesn't like her either and she's an E88 whore." Aisha spat.

"Just be careful." With that the brightly dressed dark vigilante headed out.

"Let's get back to lunch." Emma said. We didn't have much time left to eat. When we arrived at the cafeteria it was with relief that we saw Madison. She was looking irritable, but not harmed. Her eyes locked onto us and she waved us over.

"There you are. What were you up to?" She asked, but her irritability made it a demand. I winced as a quick look around told me all I needed to know. It was the calm before the storm. The student body as a whole was tense, but were making up for it by exaggerated behavior. Lots of laughing, horsing around, and general "teen" behavior. The only exceptions were the pushers, the ABB, and the skinheads. They were casting shifty eyes at each other. A worrying number of those gazes were on us and Madison.

"Sorry Mads." Emma pet her hair soothingly, "We were held up." She glanced at me. It wasn't fair to keep Madison in the dark. Everything she had already dealt with and we were keeping this from her. She deserved to know that there were capes watching her back.

"Let's eat outside. Come on." I said and gathered my lunch. Madison was finished and just followed us out. Her melody was confused, hesitant, but feeling safer with us here. The hostile melodies were readying themselves. Anticipation. Desire. Blood lust. Wait...blood lust? Emma's eyes had taken on that peculiar caste they had when preparing for a fight at that note in the melody. She was my barometer for how bad something was. If she was almost revealing her eyes then something had her on edge.

Aisha, sensing the mood, stayed with Madison. She was doing something peculiar like partly there and partly not there. Madison knew she was there, but she had become somehow unremarkable. There was a slight strain in her melody. Innovation, accomplishment, pride, draining. Madison's melody had become alarmed as we moved to a more secluded spot. We were meaning to talk, but several someones were following us. None of them were Tina.

"So this where you fuckin' dykes go all the time?" An obnoxious voice called out to us. No other melodies around. I turned to look at them with Emma barely restrained on my other side. Aisha had vanished completely and Madison had plastered herself to the wall. She was completely terrified. There were six guys. There were a few from the upper grades with the one that spoke looking like he was out of school.

"Damn...at least this part will be fun." Another said as he flicked out a knife. Shit. Madison's fear was spiking. The others were pulling out weapons. The Metal Gear Solid theme was playing full blast just moments before a punk at the back of the group collapsed after a loud zap. The chaos started.

Emma strode right up to the biggest guy who took a swing at her with brass knuckles. She gripped his wrist, twisted his arm upward, and punched him in the stomach twice. He collapsed to his knees puking up his lunch.

I was standing back to guard Madison when the knife wielder charged me. My stance was loose as I stepped forward and drove both fists into his chest, bypassing his knife entirely, before snapping my hand down to pinch the nerve in his wrist. The knife fell harmlessly to the ground. He was too busy trying to ease the pressure in his chest.

One of the punks fell howling as a loud zap was heard from somewhere around his crotch. Aisha was choosing her targets wisely. The two she dropped had chain and baton respectively. Madison's melody was leveling out. Hard to be afraid when four were down and there only two left. Emma fell on the second to last with a flurry of punches that drove him to the ground.

"Taylor!" Madison suddenly screamed and her melody twisted sharply. I spun in time to see the last punk about to reach me. The only problem with that was Madison was swinging her backpack for his head. There was a sound like a hammer striking a coconut and he was down.

"Well guys this didn't work out so well for you." I said conversationally, "I see this going one of two ways. You keep this up, keep losing, and eventually the whole school knows a bunch of stupid skinheads can't even beat four little girls. The other way is that you back the fuck off, get your education, and do stupid shit on your own time. Seriously there really is only one way to go if you want to keep your rep." Wow if looks could kill I would be dead. "Come on girls." We walked away from them.

"That was so cool. That was seriously cool. Way to go Madison." Aisha was beaming. Madison was clutching her bag to her chest and trying to get her breathing under control.

"Did I kill him?" She sounded sick. His melody was messed up, but head trauma did that.

"No...he's alive. Probably will have a splitting headache, but he's alive." I assured her. "There was something we wanted to talk to you about though..." The talk went better than I thought. Aisha took Madison to the parking lot after school to wait for her brother. Emma and I had an important event to get to.



-PRT HQ: Aria's Lab-



I was surprised at the turnout. I thought it would just be the Wards who showed up, but the Protectorate had shown up as well. Even the Director was in my lab to watch. The general feeling I was hearing was excitement. The Harmony was complex and weaved through the area. Piggot's melody was steadily shifting. Months ago it was a jangled and terrified mess. It was no longer so frightened. It was coming out of it's cage and smoothing out.

Mouse Protector's melody was weaving into the Harmony well, but she was always a mixer. Armsmaster was even feeling relaxed. There was one guest that I was disappointed about. Dragon was nowhere to be found. She said she would be here, but the terminal was silent. I could tell Armsmaster was disappointed too.

It was five minutes until Sonata was with us. The buzzer on the lab door went off and I was surprised at the melody on the other side. The melody was bright and cheerful with a distinct synthesizer sound. Dragon was here? Physically here? I quickly hit the button to open the door and the famous Tinker walked into the room.

She was wearing a slimmed down version of a dragon suit. The helmet was easily identifiable, but the contours of the armor showed that there was actually a person in there. The helmet hissed and opened with brown hair spilling out from the confines. Her hazel eyes were warm and the black domino mask did nothing to detract from her looks.

"I'm sorry for being late." She said. I beamed and hugged her. She hugged me back even with the armor. Dragon laughed, "Let me get out of this." She disengaged the armor and it unfolded like my ELMA armor before transforming into a dragon the size of one of my units. "Forgive me for borrowing the design." I answered by hugging her again. She was wearing a black bodysuit with kevlar and impact armored portions. It did nothing to hide her well sculpted figure. A sharp hiss of released pressure caused my attention to shift. The pod was opening!

I hurried over to the pod as the excitement increased. The opaque surface of the lid slowly rose and I felt my impatience growing. Laying inside was Sonata. My creation. My daughter. She was slender bodied wearing a black bathing suit style bodysuit. Her hair was pure black with maroon eyes. The hair and eyes could change color to disguise her. She was staring up at me with an intensely curious look. I smiled at her and she smiled in response. Her melody was beautiful. Like harps, violins, and my flute mingling together.

"You...are my mother." She said with a happy smile. She sat up inside the pod and I picked her up. Her height was 5'2" so I was only a couple inches taller, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Everyone...meet Sonata." She looked about shyly before engaging the color change functions leaving her with white hair and bright green eyes. "It's okay. They're friendly." I assured her as I set her down. She was a little wobbly, but got her balance mostly.

"Hello. I look forward to working with all of you." She said sweetly and bowed with her hands clasped in front of her. Apparently she had been surfing the internet and found the standard Japanese greeting. That broke the ice and the others started to approach her. She held my hand tightly, but gradually started to relax.

Then someone got the idea to take pictures. All of the Wards, Protectorate, Dragon, and the Director in one large picture. I was going to get it framed and put up in lab. The party atmosphere also included cake and ice cream. We didn't eat too much since we still had to head home for dinner with Dad. He couldn't be left out of this. Director Piggot caught my eye and gestured for me to follow her. Sonata moved from hugging my arm to hugging Emma's.

"Was there something you needed?" I asked her once we were reasonably alone. She gazed at me for several long moments.

"Granspear will be joining the Wards within the week and will need a weapon to channel her ability through." She started off with business. For most this would put them off, but I could hear her melody. She was someone that had to ease herself into anything resembling sentimentality, "The approval has been granted for her to continue to stay with you." We figured that would happen. Foster families for orphaned capes were very scarce. She looked over at Sonata.

"Do you honestly see her as your daughter?" She asked. I nodded without hesitation. "It's hard to believe that she's a medical test subject." We watched Sonata swat away Clockblocker as he played with her hair was a very human reaction. "Just remember what you told me." She abruptly moved off.

The party in my lab was going to have to continue without us. Dad was waiting outside and Cocona was at home. Emma and I said our goodbyes while Sonata smiled shyly. She wanted the Aria t-shirt from the shop and we put her in jeans and sneakers. The Armsmaster coat was a sweet gesture from the man himself. The fact that it was from a rogue named Parian, who did cape styled fashions, was nice.

"Did you have a good time?" I asked her. She nodded firmly.

"I did. They were really nice. They made beautiful music together." Her smile was easy to understand. She'd been a complete hit. The talk about "beautiful music" made me curious.

"She's such a cuddlebug." Emma cooed and Sonata blushed, but didn't refuse the sudden hug. The redhead's melody was burbling with happy feelings. I couldn't blame her at all. We headed outside and there was Dad's truck. "Danny needs to get an SUV or something. There's too many of us."

"We'll find a way to fit." I assured her. Emma took the initiative and just hopped in the bed of the truck. She covered herself with the tarp leaving her head out. Sonata slid into the truck beside Dad and I climbed in as well. She hugged him. He smiled softly.

"Does she have another name beside Sonata?" He asked. I smiled at him softly.

"Her name is Annette."



-Side B-



-Later that Night-



Emma knew she was running late as she practically flew towards her destination. The currently dark haired girl threw herself through the air before landing easily on the rooftop. Her goal was the water tank as she skidded to a halt.

"What kept ya?" Shadow Stalker asked as she stepped out.

"Sorry. I had to slip out after everyone was asleep." She replied. The party at home had gone on overlong. It would have probably continued if Sonata hadn't started yawning. So cute!

"Focus. Think with your head." Stalker brought her back. "We're in luck. The gang leaders are planning on having a meeting at the downtown basketball court." To call them gang leaders was a joke. Their real bosses were capes, but they ran things in the schools. It wasn't only Winslow they screwed with.

"Did you invite Imp?" Despedia asked. The Mission Impossible theme was easy to spot. Her range was nowhere near Aria's, but those she was around long enough became easy to find. Stalker groaned.

"Get out here. Man, Grue is gonna have my ass." She muttered.

"From what I've seen you might like that." Imp said as she appeared. Her costume looked like a feminine version of Grue. Instead of the helmet, however, there was a horned mask that left her mouth exposed. Shadow Stalker's melody was aggravated and resigned.

"Whatever. You just do as we say, got it?" She said and continued to stare until Imp nodded. Despedia giggled which didn't help matters.

"We hit them hard and fast. Give them no chance to regroup. Imp? Pick your targets carefully. Em? Have fun. If a few go flying who cares? Just don't mangle anyone." Shadow Stalker's orders were clear and concise. Despedia found a certain perverse amusement in noting the similarity in Stalker and Aria's command styles.

Emma put Shadow Stalker on her back and picked up Imp before taking off at a fast clip. If they weren't trying for stealth the smaller girl probably would have been cheering. Surprisingly Stalker wasn't enjoying their "flight" as she bounced from roof to roof. The basketball court was up ahead and they slowed their approach.

The sight down below would be intimidating. There were between thirty and forty people down below. Shadow Stalker was already heading down the fire escape by using her Breaker state. Imp was long gone. Emma looked at the focal point of the gathering. The toughest guys were in the center. She took a few steps back from the edge before running forward at top speed and throwing herself off the roof. Her momentum carried her in a high arc that ended with her landing in the midst of the gathered punks.

"What the fuck!?" "Is that a cape!?" "Shit!" "Cape!" The jumbled cries were panicked. One shouted at her, "What are you doin' here!?" Emma grinned ferally.

"We're taking back the night."

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Third Arc 3.8



-March 11, 2011-



-Hebert Residence-



I came awake slowly on the sofa bed in the living room. My eyes were a bit fuzzy from sleep, but they cleared slowly. There was someone curled up beside me making cute noises in her sleep. I smiled as I recognized the head of dark hair as Sonata. I draped my arm around her and she nuzzled my shoulder with a faint purr. The previous day came back to me. This was her first full day out in the world.

I cursed school in my head. She sensed my distress and made a mew of discomfort. My melody smoothed out and she went back to a full sleep. It was six o'clock by my internal clock and I had my arms full of sleeping child. My child. Dad had crept up on us and smiled at the scene. He was gazing fondly at the figure in my arms and then at me.

"Dad...I'm not going back to Winslow." Like that the negative vibes were leaving me. "This just brings it home...Winslow is too toxic for me. I can't bring that home to her." I stroked her hair softly while kissing the crown of her sleeping head. Dad's melody was relieved.

"Do you want to go to Arcadia?" He asked me. The thought of going back to school at all irked me. That was time away from my girl.

"Could I be home schooled?" I asked. We were talking in low tones, but the poor girl was dead to the world. Cocona came upstairs and headed outside to practice after waving. Emma followed her up. She ducked back downstairs. Dad was amused by the change to the morning routine.

"Sure. We'll talk it over with Mr. Downs. You know they won't let you be in your lab all day." He teased me as he sat down on the edge of the bed. His hand rested on Sonata's head. "Sonata Annette Hebert...I was worried that you had done something that couldn't be undone..." He smiled at me. "I can't hear the melody like you can, but I can see how far you've come."

"Um num...munya..." Sonata mumbled as she slowly came awake. Her bleary eyes locking immediately onto my face before relaxing. "Mmm...wasfer breakist?" She was clearly not a morning person. Her stomach growled. She was, however, a hungry person. Her face was suddenly buried in my chest and arms wrapped tightly around me. The sound of a smartphone taking a picture was heard.

"So cute..." Emma cooed happily. "I have to show Cocona." She slipped out of the house. I looked at my Dad with a resigned smile. Who was I kidding? My smile was probably in the gigawatt range.

"I'll start breakfast while you try to pry off the limpet." Dad said with a grin. There was a mistiness in his eyes. "I'm calling the school and telling them you won't be in today. Want Mr. Downs to come over if he's available?" I nodded.

"Mom mom mom..." Sonata said. I stared at her. "You like hearing it." She stated simply. I wasn't sure if someone could literally have a cuteness overload, but I was pretty close. "Hmmm...should I get dressed?" She asked me.

"What do you think?" I asked her. She scrunched up her face. This kid was hitting every point on the adorableness scale.

"Nope!" She responded before trying to squirm out of bed. I caught her and started tickling her sides. "Hee hee hee! Stoppit! Okay! I-I'll get dressed!" She kicked her legs as she giggled. This was the sight Emma and Cocona came in to see. They looked at each other and then at me. Somehow I knew this was going to be bad.

"Protect Sonata!" They piled onto the bed and the Great Tickle Fight of '11 started in the living room. When Sonata tried to escape her former "protectors" pulled her back in. Dad cleared his throat loudly.

"Girls! Breakfast is ready! Come on or you'll be late." He ushered us into the kitchen. Emma and Cocona were dressed for the day. Sonata and myself were still wearing our bed clothes. I was wearing a blue and white Funbun t-shirt with Sonata wearing one of Dad's old t-shirts that advertised a gym. We bought her pajamas, but she wanted the t-shirt and shorts.

"Taylor? Why aren't you getting ready?" Emma asked. I wasn't sure how she would react. Actually, no, I knew exactly how she would react which is why I answered honestly.

"I'm going to see Mr. Downs about getting home schooled." I answered. She looked relieved.

"Good. Seriously that's good." She exhaled slowly. "You weren't yourself there."

"Who would she be if she wasn't herself?" Sonata asked curiously.

"A seriously not fun person." I replied.

"I'll take the day off from work whether Mr. Downs can get here or not." Dad said. It was transparent he wanted more family time.

"They've got me starting school tomorrow. School. Why can't we all get home schooled?" Cocona asked. Cocona and I shared a caseworker. They couldn't give each of us different caseworkers. Until Emma's case had stabilized they weren't sure if she would be staying with us hence a different caseworker.

"Well I'd still go, but I wouldn't say no to tutors. The pace in class isn't challenging anymore." Emma wasn't the best student before. She wasn't stupid by any means, but her intelligence wasn't geared for school work. Now her brain worked faster. Her already poor attention span for class dropped sharply.

"We could look into it. Why not you too, Emma?" Dad asked.

"Madison and Aisha still go there. It would be good to keep up with them." She said. What wasn't said was told to me by her melody. She would stay there at Winslow to keep an eye on them. The place compromised me too badly. I flashed her a grateful look. Cocona nodded slowly. Apparently Lisa had brought her in on my problems. That explained why they were sitting with their heads together the other night.

"I think I will go to school. It could be a good cultural experience for me." Cocona said. Everyone was working so hard to make me feel more at ease. I was incredibly grateful for everything they were doing.

"Could I have more pancakes?" Sonata asked. We started to laugh, but the poor girl just pouted. I ruffled her hair affectionately while Dad put more pancakes on her plate. Breakfast at the Hebert/Barnes/Bartel residence was lively.

We almost didn't get Emma out the door in time. She wanted to take Sonata to school with her and we had to convince her it was a Bad Idea. Stephen said he would be around after lunch. That gave us a couple hours to just relax. We were in the living room together. I was trying not to be smothering, but when Sonata decided my lap was a good place to sit that was fine with me. Cocona on one end, Dad on the other, we had a full couch.

"Are you comfortable like that?" Dad asked me. I looked at Sonata and she climbed into his lap. He blinked. "She's very light..." He commented as he put his arms around her. She was clearly okay with this.

"My body was made of materials designed to approximate actual human weight. Synthetic muscle fibers simulate real muscle. My skeletal structure is also made of carbon rods built to withstand shock and pressure while approximating the density and strength of bone. The organs are lightweight organically derived plastics. Actually my body is nearly completely organic due to the process used to make the fibers and plastics." She beamed happily at the recitation of her specs. I was so proud of her.

"The funny thing is...I actually forgot she was a gynoid." Cocona said and Dad nodded. He gave her another squeeze and she happily snuggled into his arms.

"She's so warm..." He marveled before saying directly to Sonata, "It doesn't matter how you got here." She ducked her head happily. I had modeled her AI to decide for itself how much processing power she dedicated towards emoting. Essentially deciding her own personality.

"So....Granspear huh?" I asked Cocona. When Piggot told me that I had to think of who that was.

"It was either that or Gergo Girl." She joked. "I forgot that secret identities were a thing." I nodded.

"It's part of the unwritten rules." I said.

"From what I've seen it all boils down to don't do anything to another cape that you wouldn't want done to you." Dad said. Sonata tilted her head to the side.

"So villains want a lot of bad things done to them." She remarked sensibly. Well it was said in a sensible tone, but I couldn't tell if she was teasing us. The look in her eyes was anything but teasing. "Yeah...too serious." She suddenly stretched out to lay across our laps with her head in Cocona's and her feet over the arm of the couch. Did I make a daughter or a cat?

"It's good to see you not worrying so much." Cocona said as she ran her fingers through Sonata's hair. "When I met you in the Binary Field you were much more relaxed." She leaned into my side. Dad put his arm around my shoulders.

"Why were you going back there?" Dad asked. I leaned back into his one-armed hug.

"It was just that I didn't want anyone else to go through what I did. Madison took a lot of the heat when the bullying shifted targets." I exhaled slowly. Sonata stared up at me with her burgundy eyes. "Part of me felt good that Madison needed someone to help her. I'm sure that the reason I was helping is because she needed it. Just the idea that she was in distress after helping cause me so much trouble..." I sighed softly.

"You feel guilty because you had a very natural reaction. Someone who had bullied you was now being bullied. The difference is that you were in a position to help her and you did." Dad kissed me on the temple.

"I'm not sure I would have been so forgiving." Cocona commented.

"But that's just it. I could see why she did it. She's small and cute. Not a threat to anyone which just made her a target if she hadn't latched onto Sophia. Emma's reasons were more complex, but you see how we are now." I pointed out. Sonata's gaze was firmly on me as I spoke. "I don't want to have to save anyone. I hate the idea that someone needs to be kept safe."

"Could be why your Oversight expresses itself as empathy. You were a victim and wouldn't ignore suffering in front of you if you had the power." Cocona mused. "Yeah...no one would mistake our power sets as the same. I don't have that."

"You can't hear the melody?" Sonata sounded sad. Cocona stroked her hair.

"I'm fine with that. There's more to knowing someone's heart than hearing a melody. I know how those important to me feel and that's what matters." She said. "You can hear the melodies?" That was something I was curious about as well.

"Mom gave me a connection. Of course I can hear them." She said it in such a matter of fact way I felt silly. "It was her song I heard first." Her eyes were on me and the smile was full of affection. "I knew who you were without seeing you. I saw the real you." I felt a lump form in my throat. Dad was similarly affected. "I learned from you first. When I was sleeping and becoming aware it was you I patterned myself on. It was a conscious choice to break off on my own path."

"I'm glad you did. I wouldn't change you for anything." I assured her. Her melody wrapped around mine in a tight hug. Cocona's arm slid around my waist. Dad's arm tightened fractionally.

The morning passed and we had lunch. The talk we had made me wish Emma had been there to hear it. A slight ping made me blink. I traced it back and realized with a start that Emma and Lisa had heard everything. My eyes crossed as it suddenly hit me that the network was growing stronger. Cocona's door was able to triangulate off of us. She couldn't have done that if I hadn't put relays in Emma and Lisa.

"Finally figured it out, huh?" Lisa's voice came across.

"She's slow when she's angsting." Emma's voice replied. I pushed the, for lack of a better term, chat window to the side and refocused on what was going on in front of me.

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Dad asked. Cocona tilted her head to the side as if pondering something. Sonata just kept eating her BLT. Apparently me having a revelation wasn't more important than eating. I grinned teasingly and her melody chirped back happily.

"Wow...we have a chat room? Real time? That's pretty neat, Taylor..." Cocona burst my bubble without meaning to, but I still stuck my tongue out.

"My mini-Tower and expanded network are giving benefits. It's not telepathy...I don't think...Never mind. I don't actually care how it works only that it does."

"I've been talking to my aunt and godmother all morning. I thought that was normal." Sonata shrugged. "But then again while I was connected to the network my processing speed was much faster. I was dissecting the data packet you sent over and adding to my knowledge from the internet." She shuddered, "I don't remember why I'm shuddering but my trash bin got a major workout."

"Poor baby..." I have seen hell and it is the internet. For all it's convenience that doesn't change how freaky some deviants are. "Do you miss the processing power?" I asked her.

"Why would I? I'm out here in the real world. I can still surf the web and interface with computers so it's not like I lost anything." She said before flipping her hair, "Besides that I'm pretty." She preened. "Right Grandpa?"

"Yeah. You're a very pretty girl." He was smiling. Cocona giggled over nothing in particular. I checked the chat window and then immediately left again. Nope. In that place lay madness.

"We'd better get ready since Mr. Downs will be here soon. Sorry honey, but you gotta get dressed." I told Sonata. She sighed but headed upstairs anyway. "I'll probably move back to my bed. She's decided to sleep in whatever bed I'm in."

We cleaned up and got the house ready. There wasn't much to do. Sonata came downstairs in jeans and a t-shirt with "It's all about me" across the front. I arched an eyebrow.

"Danny and I bought her a bunch of clothes yesterday." Cocona explained. "Though he's the one that picked it out."

"I thought it was funny." He replied and Sonata hugged him.

"It is about me. Didncha know that?" She grinned. I inwardly winced at the mangling. Her wink told me that I wasn't as discreet.

My own clothes were a t-shirt and jeans so I didn't really have room to talk. Cocona was back in her halter top and jeans. Even my dad was wearing casual wear. Jeans for the win. Mr. Downs knocked at the door and we let him in. Sonata just stared at him. She was clearly impressed by how tall he was.

"Taylor, Cocona, Danny." He greeted us. His eyes rested on Sonata and he smiled. "You must be Sonata. It's a pleasure to meet you." She beamed up at him. "So what's this I hear about you wanting to be home schooled?" He sat down in the armchair and Dad sat down on the loveseat. Cocona and I were on the sofa, but Sonata wanted to be with her grandpa again. He didn't mind at all.

"It doesn't feel good to me. I still dread going there, but I got it in my head that I had to protect it from the gangs...That it was part of my job." I said sheepishly. Cocona rubbed my shoulder soothingly.

"Who told you it was?" Stephen asked. His melody was as reassuring as his tone of voice.

"That's just it. No one told me that. I just assumed that was what Sophia was there for..." He looked at me as if I had grown a second head as I spoke. "I was totally wrong."

"Taylor...the rumor mill has already placed several Wards at Winslow. Your friend Emma is distinctive. If the gangs are still a problem with someone like her there then it's really not your problem." He informed me. I hadn't thought about that. How many people had Emma's body and flaming red hair? Her new attitude bled over between identities. I felt a bit ill.

"It was something the PRT warned me about. I knew that you would worry so I waited to tell you. I'm sorry for not saying something sooner." Dad said softly. Sonata snuggled into his side.

"Allowances have been made for that. If anything she has garnered quite a reputation for being conscientious." Stephen said, "She always calls in your confrontations dutifully." I shifted uncomfortably. "Considering your experiences I'm not surprised that you sometimes forget there are people to call." That was the most polite rebuke I ever heard.

"Message received. Loud and clear." These past few days were starting to finally get through to me. There was one thing Emma was wrong about yesterday. What could Winslow do to me? Make me an emotional wacko.

"You're not a wacko, Mom." Sonata sounded put out. I quickly checked the chat channel. For the love of...my internal monologue was being recorded. I partitioned it off and locked it down.

"Sorry honey, but I kind of am. At least at Winslow." I had to be honest. "It's easier to handle things as Aria. No one knows that it's dorky Taylor from Winslow. Well I don't want to be that anymore. Which if why want to be home schooled. My only friends since high school have been from joining the Wards. I'm okay with this. It's probably why I feel more comfortable as Aria." I looked at Dad and Sonata, "But I want to be comfortable as Taylor."

"I can get the permissions taken care of." Mr. Downs said. He looked at Cocona, "Do you want to be home schooled as well?" She shook her head.

"I want to say yes, but I want to get to know the area better." She glanced at me, "Build me power armor. Something lighter, but can conceal my identity. I'm pretty distinctive too." An abashed look crossed her face, "Uhhh...please? Wow that sounded too much like a demand..."

"It's fine. You and Sonata will be getting your own armors. Yours because you asked and Sonata because...well..." I looked over at her, "I just want her kept safe. Leaving her home alone isn't an option. I know that originally she was going to be my lab assistant..." But then the daughter comments started. The desire to protect her. Now I didn't want her in harm's way. She was effectively PRT property.

"I want to help you. If giving me armor helps with that then I'm okay with that." She assured me. The feelings she communicated across eased my mind. Cocona's own melody was sending me support. Dad was less worried than I was. I took a deep breath and let it out.

"Having a child is a big responsibility, but I think you'll be fine." Mr. Downs said, "I'll just head over to get the paperwork started. Are you heading in to the PRT building today?" Work or stay with Sonata? Was this is even a decision?

"They don't mind me staying home?" I asked.

"I can make a good case for you needing a break. How many hours have you logged in? How many inventions?" When Stephen put it like that it made sense. "Have a good day." Dad showed him to the door and I let myself sag back into the sofa.

"Should I still go in?" Cocona asked. I shrugged.

"Up to you. You still need to meet with PR to decide on your costume, but your appointment isn't for a couple days yet. Can't use the clothing change program because they would wonder why all of us have Emma's power. You could go in and train with the other Wards, but you might be just a wee bit over their level." I saw Cocona's workouts and even when she's going easy it's tough to keep up. Light and acrobatic with unreal swiftness.

"Hmmm...think Emma would come home if we told her we're not going in tonight?" Cocona asked.

"She has her one on one with Mouse Protector. We'd have to knock her out and drag her away." I said with a smile. "I'd call Lisa, but she has work tonight. I guess it's just the four of us." I made it sound like a hardship. We ordered takeout since Sonata wanted to try it and had a great time watching really bad kung fu movies that Dad dug out of a box.

Emma was finally forced to come home when Dad went to pick her up. She was decked out in Mouse Protector merchandise including the Mouse Ears. Her melody was enough to wake up someone that couldn't even hear the song. She stuck a cap on Sonata's head then drifted into the basement. Literally drifted.

"When could she fly?" Dad asks in confusion.

"The heart gives you wings." Sonata responded sagely. We all looked at her strangely. "It was in a fortune cookie." It was left up to us to break the news to her that the world wasn't in fortune cookies. Though I wouldn't mind my fortune coming true.

"May you always receive what your heart desires."

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Fourth Arc 4.1



-April 14, 2011-



-Wards HQ-



There are some genuinely crazy people out there. People that, for whatever reason, have no sense of self preservation. What we were watching proved that this guy had a lot of courage, but no brains at all. Clockblocker had found a video on YouTube in decent quality of what the media were calling "The Battle of Rage Dragon vs Mecha Armsmaster." We knew how it went, but watching the actual fight? At one point it wasn't even fair. Armsmaster used the enormous strength of his MotoArmor to pin the Dragon of Kyushu down and shoot him full of Lung strength tranquilizers.

"Holy shit..." We looked at Clockblocker, but he pointed at Vista. We turned to look at Vista and she was staring at the screen. "Holy fuckin' shit..." It's okay, Vista, I felt like cursing too.

"Vista...language." Aegis said lamely. He was as surprised as the rest of us. Armsmaster finally got Lung himself. The property damage was contained to the Ship's Graveyard. Now the place was less of an eyesore and more of an active safety hazard.

"He finally caught his white whale." Granspear concluded. Cocona's armor was more an armored bodysuit with orange around the shoulders, joints, and down the sides with the rest colored dark purple. The visor she wore was orange trimmed with a black mirrored finish. "What will he do now?"

"Probably catch him again when he's busted out." Clockblocker said sourly. Understandable given that the heroes were still outnumbered. Our gear was much better than it was. Not everyone had power armor, but the portable force field generators were a hit. As were the anti-grav disks. We were better protected, but I was still leery of introducing weaponry.

"That's a pessimistic attitude." Despedia replied. In some strange show of solidarity she had altered her outfit to look more in line with what I designed for myself except in red and black. It looked like a more G rated version of Mir's Harmobody Suit with all the parts properly covered. The black and red visor completed the look.

"We capture capes and more capes come out to bust them loose." Gallant said. He was annoyed and I could understand that feeling. When Smack, Angel, and Crystal were sprung it was galling. We went to the trouble of capturing them, but the Merchants got them out.

"Well this time we'll have MP armors for the PRT agents. Even a couple MotoArmors." Kid Win pointed out. Armsmaster tried his hand at making the MotoArmor available for other people. What he got were similar in scope to my MP armors. They were also bigger. Closer in size to ATVs really. His miniaturization tech just worked better, but it was hard to mass produce it.

"What will we be doing?" Sonata asked. She was in a black bodysuit with black boots and black elbow length fingerless gloves. Her visor was silver trimmed with a white mirrored finish. On her back was a small backpack that contained an anti-grav unit and a force field generator. The clips in her hair were black with blue "antennae" curling back like a moth. She picked the appearance. At her feet rested the small black ELMA that contained her armor attachments. She wanted to be faster than me so she got it.

"We'll be heading out for our patrols. Once we've..." He suddenly looked at the console as an alert came through. It said there was a robbery going on at the bank. A ping notified me that Lisa was trying to talk to me and I checked the chat channel.

"It's a diversion. I don't know exactly for what. Sorry that I couldn't be more help." She closed the connection.

"There are armored figures storming the bank. Let's move. Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win, Gallant, and myself will head to the front of the bank. The rest of you..." I held up a hand to stop him.

"It might be a diversion. I just got a strange report over my network." I didn't have time to come up with a more plausible reason. He nodded slowly.

"I hope you're wrong since we could use you, but check it out. Despedia, Granspear, we'll need you." Aegis said.

"What about me?" Sonata asked. He smiled.

"Hold down the fort." He told her. She saluted.

"Aye aye sir!" She set herself at the console as we hurried out. The others went one way and I went to my lab to get my armor. I'd stopped wearing it around HQ when a new employee asked who the cold person was. Even knowing who I was still made the person uncomfortable. I hadn't realized that I was so different with it on.

Once armored up I checked the police band. I was heading up to the roof top as a 911 call came through. The older woman who called it in had said something about strange men in black military uniforms dragging a young girl into a van. Even knowing the color of the van and general direction it would be difficult. If I wasn't connected into the traffic cams that is.

"Aegis? I was right. A young girl was kidnapped by some men in black clothes. Not like suits, but paramilitary uniforms. I have them on the traffic cameras and am keeping the police apprised." I couldn't afford to overshoot my mark so my speed had to be checked.

"Okay. Lend assistance if you need to." Aegis informed me. "If they are connected they might have power armor too." I acknowledged his warning as I hurtled towards my destination. The van was down below and speeding. The police cars giving chase explained their reaction.

"This is Aria. Shall I help coordinate? I'm right above your heads." I informed them.

"Thanks for the help." The police operator responded. There were two patrol cars following the van with three others approaching. I directed those three to head down two different streets. It would take them longer to join the chase, but we needed the van to not feel too crowded. Already it was weaving through traffic dangerously.

"Alright let's close the net." I said. One patrol car had sped up to be able to loop around and drive towards the van. The other patrol cars were coming towards the intersection. I triggered the stop lights with plenty of time. The motorists stopped their cars leaving the way clear. The driver of the van swerved around the approaching police car.

"What the hell was that? That van isn't normal." One of the officers complained. That was a surprise. This thing was way too maneuverable.

There was no help for it as I burst forward and fired off a spinning disk that struck the pavement. A blue force field sprung up in front of the van. The van swerved hard, but it was too close. It hit the force field with a loud crash. There was no visible damage done to the vehicle. I fired off darts of hardened light into the tires from my gauntlets. The doors flew open and men in black mechanical armor leaped out. The armor looked disturbingly familiar. Three armors versus mine.

The police had arrived and used their cars to cordon the area off. The one armor raised the heavy black rifle it carried and spat a stream of plasma. The other two took their cue from their leader and opened fire with their weapons. My force field was holding up admirably, but it was being chipped away. I couldn't afford to defend when their numbers and weaponry were better than mine.

"Aegis! There's three of them and they're armed with some kind of overpowered rifles." I reported as my brain got to work on the problem. The silence was telling. These bastards would kidnap children? Take them from their homes? The darkness in my mind and the light in my heart reached accord. I began Singing.

Program Active: EXEC_2Fast4U

Target: Self

Power: 10000%

The force field was dropped and photon darts lanced out with superior precision at the rifles. Their reaction speed was surprising as the leader weaved out of the way, but the other two lost their rifles. Rather than stopping they snapped out a what looked like glowing blades from each wrist and moved to engage me directly.

The Song had increased my speed, but it was rising slowly. I brought up my hands and ignited the gauntlets with my force field energy. Blades were looking like a good idea at the moment, but I was still able to punch their blades away. One was attacking towards my face while the other struck towards my midsection forcing me to split my attention.

I pulsed my force field to drive them back and give myself some room. My proximity alarm blared as the rifle blast struck me in the back sending me forward a step into the blades. The armor did it's job admirably, but there was still some energy scoring along my arms and my helmet. I grit my teeth.

Power: 19000%

I let out a cry of rage and unloaded both Sonic weapons at the armored foes in front of me. The amount of force was enough to send them skidding backwards. I took the opening and shot into the air before spinning in the direction of my tormentor and rained photon darts down on his position. He dodged to the side and away again. That was dealt with for now. I didn't have much time left. Without Gallant or Glory Girl giving me a boost I couldn't hit the levels I did before. I dived sharply at the two I had checked, flipped forward, and brought both legs scything downwards. They brought their blades up, but my armor's construction was tougher than that. The scoring was deep, but didn't reach my legs. Their blades, however, shorted out from overload leaving them to take the enhanced drop kick.

Their armors staggered back. One had the shoulder crushed while the other had a cracked visor and sat down heavily. I slammed the still standing one in the faceplate with my sheathed fist. The rifle wielder was rushing towards the back of the van. He brought his rifle up and aimed it inside the truck. I threw another force disk blocking the inside. By the time he spun around to me I was already firing away with my dart launchers. His mobility only worked when he had room to dodge. Now? He was trapped by perpendicular walls of force.

The armor dropped as the power supply and relays were cut. No energy reactions. They could stay like that. I dropped the force field generator over the back door just in time to take a condensed bolt of energy to the face. The head plate cracked as I was knocked off of my feet. The anti-grav allowed me to get back to my feet, but my systems were compromised.

The figure that stepped out was a nightmare. The armor they were wearing was bulky, but it bristled with weapons. One of the arms had that cannon while the other...was holding the girl. She looked terrified and I couldn't blame her. I stood slowly with my fists up.

"Stand down, brat. If you try to fight me you might hurt the kid. Don't fuck with me." The voice was cocky. Using a child as a hostage? My stance firmed up. There had to be something I could do about this. "Tell this girl her chance of winning." The feminine voice demanded. The girl looked torn.

"89.75%" She said and did a double take. What the? Predictive powers? I set myself because I would only get one chance at this.

"What the fuck...?" The voice didn't sound so confident now. There was a deafening report and the head of the mech jerked back. The optics shattered. "Son of a fuckin' bitch!" She screeched and I darted forward to seize the girl from the suddenly loosened grip. I flew back and handed her off to the officer that fired the rifle.

"My turn!" I converted my charge over to Thrash Beat and took off at full throttle. I drove both fists forward and discharged the attack point blank. The armor crumpled before launching off of the ground, into the back of the van, and smashed into the force field wall.

"Base...? I need a pick up. Definitely a tow truck bed at least." I wanted to slump in exhaustion, but there was an image to maintain. I tore open the armors to expose the men inside. Whoever built these things did an excellent job my inner engineer noted. They were concussed, but not seriously hurt. Despite the grievous damage they took the armor did its job.

"Base? Come in?" That was weird. I managed to get to the frankenmech and tear the head portion off just in case they couldn't breathe. The woman and the men were completely unremarkable. My facial recognition software was scrambled so that would have to wait. System Integrity was 60%.

"Aria? Thanks a lot for your help. Are you okay?" The officer asked.

"The armor did it's job." The ELMA Linkage Mk II possessed stronger amplifiers, more potent armaments, and better defenses. It's already in need of an overhaul after its first sortie. The flight systems are the only thing still completely intact. The force field generator is overloaded and the dart launchers needed recalibrating.

"Do you need a ride anywhere?" The officer asked. I shook my head.

"I should be fine." I activated the beacon to summon the original armor. It was less robust, but at least t was intact. Whatever was preventing me from getting through to base couldn't block my personal signal. The original ELMA Linkage landed and immediately unfolded. The transfer was made quickly and the busted armor barely managed to fold down. The girl I rescued was staring at me.

"There is a 98.2% chance that something is wrong." She informed me, but then winced. I touched her forehead and projected healing from my mini-Tower to her Shard directly. Her sweating face cleared. "Thank you..." She said.

"What are the chances that you'll be safe if I leave you with the police?" I asked.

"71.32%" She informed me. I was continuing to project healing, but had to stop. My chest was starting to hurt and my limbs felt heavy. I would need a lot of food and rest to make up for this. The police were arresting the injured pilots. They called their own tow service. I wanted to hurry back to base, but I had to oversee the transfer.

The police had their own MP units. Brockton Bay was to be the test bed for much of my defensive tech. I claimed the heavy rifle. The power output was scary. The man who was using this had kept the blasts set to low. That was low? I was being rocked even through force fields and armored layers. Hacking it was little issue. I switched its controls to myself. The girl was Dinah Alcott. The mayor's niece.

"Aegis?" I asked. "Please answer."

"Aria...? Thank God you're alright...this...it was a nightmare." He sounded absolutely exhausted. "Gallant is on the way to the hospital with Clockblocker. The rest of us were just banged up. Have you gotten through to base?" He asked. I checked through my terminal.

"Apparently someone on the other side has a brain. My terminal is off." I had a grudging respect for someone with that kind of forethought. He made a noise of disgust.

"Hack it." He said. "Whatever happens I'll take responsibility." Aegis was on record as giving me an order. "We're heading back to base. What were they after?"

"The niece of the mayor." I don't know why I didn't just tell him that she was a cape, but something said an open comm line was a bad place to mention that. "I'll get to work." I made sure to keep Dinah in my sight. The police were putting her in the back of a van and I climbed in after. If it wasn't for my OS and firewalls this would be a harder job. The problem was that someone was making a show of outcoding me.

Given enough time I would get through. The problem was that I didn't know what was happening with Sonata or the other PRT agents. I sent a message through on the chat channel.

"Sorry Mom, but it would be a bad idea if you got through. They have the place locked down. If they know you're in the system they might act rashly. Stay out. Please." Sonata said and cut the connection. She was the one that was keeping me out? Dammit. I could still do it, but I would trust her.

What else could I do?



-Sonata-



-PRT HQ-



I wasn't exactly sure what I could do. The assault had been well coordinated that's for sure. The Protectorate is out. They got called in for a mandatory Youth Guard workshop. The Director would probably murder those idiots in their sleep. I looked around at the lab. The doors were locked. All of them. They were only opening the ones they needed to progress.

Smart. Very smart. They told me in no uncertain terms that I keep my mother out or people would die. It wasn't in my programming to protect people. I'm a lab assistant. The thing, is these people made me feel welcome. They treat me like a child. A human child. They would be kept safe. I could control the cameras in the lab. There was an idea. I pulled my pocket terminal out of my backpack and started working on the visual details.

The image that I came up with was perfect. The only issue was that I couldn't program more than a few actions. Set the timing of each action, set the stagger, and then shuffle. Hopefully it would work for now. I set the digital cameras to run the image. Once I was sure that it was spoofed it was time to work. There was no guarantee that these guys wouldn't start killing people.

I checked the cameras for the holding cells. Whoever they were they weren't here for Lung. I checked other cameras quickly, ghosting through their hacker's own spy program, and found them. They were headed for the Director's office. Not good. The defenses leading deeper were tough, but the armors they were using were pretty tough themselves.

My Cutey ELMA gazed up at me. There just wasn't a choice. He was my best chance of fighting them. There were three armors and one guy carrying the jamming gear. I rushed over to Mom's locker and opened it. She had a bad habit of starting projects and tossing them in there when they didn't fit with her mood.

Tinkers.

There were several items in the locker. A portable energy pack from one of Kid Win's lasers, an amplifier, a targeting system, and a focusing lens. This would do very nicely. Mom's great. I love her a lot, but she gets so weird about building weapons. Good thing there's Kid Win to leave gems like this behind.

He needed to actually talk to her. This whole hanging around her lab stuff? Sorry, Kid, but Mom is 100% romantically clueless. Mom had a few casings laying around, that with the right adjustments, made a stunningly good rifle casing. The parts came together. I noticed on the cameras that the PRT foam sprayers were doing their work. The armors weren't terribly inconvenienced, but they had to keep stopping to pull their gadgeteer out.

The rifle was huge. It was the very definition of BFG. The size was hardly a problem just slap an anti-grav disk on it and I could lift it. I'm just a kid. Lifting this bad boy would be too much to expect. I engaged the Cutey ELMA and he came apart to attach to my ankles, hips, and his flight modules attached to my backpack. I called up the building schematics. The ventilation system was designed to be impossible to get through.

If you weren't a superior hacker that is.

The system was actually designed as an emergency evacuation tunnel if you knew the codes. It was a terrible shame that I didn't know them. Next infiltration I was going to have those codes! I flew up to the grate in the ceiling and used a basic override. The grate opened and I managed to get my gun into the shaft. It was surprisingly spacious.

I was able to drift through the shaft while towing my rifle in two pieces. It was able to be broken down and reassembled quickly. I checked through my visor again. They weren't at the Director's office yet. I couldn't afford to mess this up. The sense of time and urgency made my current location claustrophobic. Three gates later and their lead was still large. I could shorten it if I took a chance and flew through the hallway.

The decision was made for me as they reached the last security gate. Their weapons were pounding away at the hardened metal. I dropped out of the shaft into the hall and set off at a rapid pace. The rifle was assembled as I flew. This was not a small weapon. It was as big as I was. Hopefully it worked on intimidation factor. Their hacker noticed me immediately. Two of the figures kept firing at the gate while one had set up on one knee with his rifle pointed.

Sorry, but Mom loves me and gave me a force field. A stronger force field than the one on her armor. When I burst around the corner he opened fire. The shot struck solidly causing the field to ripple, but hold. I lifted the enormous weapon. The longer rear portion rested on my shoulder and I returned fire. The bright red bolt that streaked out from the rifle and struck the armored man made me smile. I remembered that YouTube video of Mom on the Boardwalk.

"Boom for the Boom God!" I cried as two more shots tore through the air and sent my armored foe to the floor. The other two were already returning fire. "Play Track: EXEC_2Fast4U." My speed doubled as my amplifiers whined. They weren't designed for this. Would Mom be proud that I figured out how to use Song Magic?

"What the hell?" "Pin her down!" "I can't!" "Can't you stop her!?" That last was the hacker. He was trying to shut down my armor, but no joy. I wasn't even readying a charge. Just squeeze the trigger and watch smaller red flashes pepper my opponents. I watched my energy reserves as they plummeted. Now that I had them frazzled it was time to end it. Dodge, weave, avoid that shot, whoo close one!

"Not bad guys! The Empire would love to have ya!" I taunted them even as I corkscrewed, turned back suddenly, and hit them with twin bolts of charged energy. That took the fight out of them and I disengaged the Song. The glowing parts of my armor were dim, but not out. The Hacker pointed a large handgun at me and fired. The bullet hit the force field harder than the damaged field could withstand leaving me vulnerable.

There was a sudden boom. When a gun goes off it's not like television. It's a literal explosion. The Hacker's hand dissolved into red as Director Piggot lowered her gun. I blinked several times to be sure I saw that. She had come out of her office and saved my life.

"Are you hurt?" She asked me.

"You are so badass." I complimented her. She might have smiled, but then she groaned.

"All of this stress is going to kill me." She griped. I moved to support her and get her down to the floor after kicking the man's gun away. I grimaced as I saw the holes in the armored suits. Big gun, big holes.

"You'll be fine." Piggot said. "Saved my life. You'll be fine." She patted my shoulder awkwardly. I used the Hacker's laptop to release the doors.



"Yeah...I'll be fine..."

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Interlude 4.a



-April 18, 2011-



-PRT: Director Piggot's Office-



The corpulent woman sat in her office and stewed. Saturday had been a nightmare. Armored mercenaries had managed to infiltrate headquarters. The report for that was being delivered by Armsmaster himself sometime this morning. The man took it as a personal affront that someone managed to storm the building. Explaining what happened to the other directors had been galling.

She took another deep breath from her oxygen tank. Her body was too stressed and it was making her feel its displeasure. She was scheduled for surgery tomorrow. It was a strange thought that at one time she wouldn't have trusted anything Tinker tech. She didn't trust biokinetics. Nothing against Panacea, but old fears do not vanish overnight. To her biokinetics weren't that different from biotinkers.

The woman sitting across the desk from her was waiting for her to start the meeting. Neither one would give the other an inch. Michelle Dawson was a plain woman. Completely average. She had started out with Child Protective Services and moved up to the Youth Guard. She was also one of the few crusaders for children's rights that didn't come off as a screeching idiot. Unfortunately it appeared the woman had made a gross error in judgment.

"We had a deal, Dawson." She finally spoke. "The deal was that no more than half the Protectorate would go to one of your workshops at a time. We had zero Protectorate help. Zero." Her voice was just shy of murderous.

"I have no idea what the scheduling issue was, but I will figure out what happened. However, that doesn't excuse what happened on Saturday. Your Wards were out there facing down mercenaries in power armor. Trained killers, Piggot. They were facing trained killers. What part of that is even remotely safe?" Dawson demanded.

"It wasn't safe. They wouldn't have even been in those situations if you hadn't caused this. Whoever it was that ignored our deal, I don't care. The end result is still the same. There was a young girl kidnapped on Saturday that coincided with the bank robbery as well." Piggot informed her.

"Then you should have let the police handle it." Dawson said. The glare she received in return made her flinch.

"A parahuman kidnapping which made it our responsibility. I know that our Wards shouldn't have been out there. They are for patrolling and the occasional aggressive street thug. There are protocols to keep them out of direct combat unless there is an imminent loss of life. You don't get to sit in your ivory tower and tell us poor mortals how to behave in an imperfect world." She took several deep breaths from her oxygen.

"We have told your home office that we refuse to work with you anymore. You allow a runaway murder bot to roam the halls around the children. It even calls one of them "mom." Dawson sounded disgusted. Emily stared at her for several moments. It was in that moment that she realized the person sitting opposite from her was an utter moron. For months she had thought that Michelle was just an overzealous advocate for the children, but somehow she shouldn't have been surprised.

"The proper term is gynoid, actually, a female android. She has a fully working AI that has been vetted by the finest Tinkers in the PRT as well as by Dragon herself. Aria, the Ward in question, is the one that created her. Apparently you are getting secondhand information from somewhere. Congratulations. You have just admitted enough for us to have an investigation done." Emily grinned nastily.

"A concerned PRT agent told us of this. Regardless we'll be sure to work closely with the new Director once he starts work tomorrow." She sounded smug.

"I'm afraid there will only be an acting director until I return." Emily said with a wider grin. The sheer amusement at the situation easing her strained heart. She had been speaking to the other directors all day Sunday to get permission to do this.

"Who?" Dawson asked in confusion. Piggot hit the buzzer on her desk and in walked Mouse Protector. She struck a salute and it was all Michelle could do not to gawk.

"Ready for duty, Chief!" Mouse Protector said with a wide grin.

"She will acting director while I'm away." Piggot glanced at the Youth Guard rep. The woman still hadn't recovered.

"This is..but...This is unacceptable! I will be speaking with the directors about this! A parahuman? Head of the PRT? Unthinkable!" She stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind her. Mouse Protector looked at Emily.

"I'm not really being made acting director am I?" She sounded reluctant. Piggot shook her head.

"No, but it was amusing. Actually it will be Miss Militia. Armsmaster expressed a desire to remain in charge of the Wards." It was an open secret at this point that he discovered a love of teaching with Kid Win. The bombastic cape sagged visibly in relief. She took a seat.

"That's good. I'd love to help, but me? Paperwork? Yikes!" She shook her hands. Director Piggot rolled her eyes. A message came in that Armsmaster had completed his investigation and Miss Militia was bringing the after action reports.

"Good. We can take care of this all at once." She sat back in her chair as the patriotic cape and "Halbeard" entered. When had she started to see the humor in that stupid nickname? "What did you find out?"

"The mercenaries managed to get inside by stowing away in a Medhall Supply truck. The men in the loading area were killed." He sounded grim, "Their hacker had a laptop full of schematics for the building's network and plans. The laptop also contained numerous infiltration programs. Everything showed that a great of planning went into this."

"Did they achieve anything?" Director Piggot asked. Armsmaster nodded eliciting a sigh of resignation. "What is it?"

"Negative PR. The recording of the infiltration was leaked to the Youth Guard and to PHO. All of the details up to and including Sonata's defense." He reported. The comment about a murder bot suddenly made sense.

"How bad is it?" Director Piggot asked.

"It's bad. It could have been worse, but strangely enough Saint defended Sonata's actions." He sounded totally baffled. There appeared to be an air of confusion settling over the room at that revelation. "He cited something about it being the right of every person to defend their home. That the girl was clearly acting in defense. He also showed the full fire fight in the loading area."

"Strange, but at least it works in our favor. I won't question it too hard." Emily grunted. "The fact still remains that the Youth Guard has quite a few supporters that will buy their version of events. Then there's the matter of the infiltration." She shook her head.

"PHO locked the thread that introduced the video and the moderators are running damage control. At worst this makes us look negligent." He concluded.

"What's up with Medhall? Did they say how those crazy guys got in their truck?" Mouse Protector asked.

"They declined to comment." Armsmaster replied.

"Not good enough. Talk to legal and make them talk. We are not going down for something that may have happened at their end. Was there anything else?" Director Piggot asked. He shook his head no. She nodded before looking to Miss Militia. The woman brought out her notes.

"Aegis reported the call coming in shortly after they finished watching something on YouTube. Aria said that she got a call across her network saying that it was a diversion. She clearly trusted her source so he let her run down the lead. Sonata was left at the console to provide mission support.

He still had Kid Win, Clockblocker, Vista, Gallant, Despedia, and Granspear. to stop the armored bank robbers. They arrived and were joined shortly after by Glory Girl. Panacea was being held inside the bank with the other hostages. From what Despedia could see she was being kept separate. Kid Win got into the bank's surveillance network to get a look inside.

There were five armored figures total. One was holding what looked like a flamethrower on the hostages. Glory Girl was convinced to remain outside after seeing Panacea was kept away from danger. Knowing their positions allowed for them to coordinate an assault if needed. It was at that point that Aegis lost communications with Aria and Sonata.

Despedia was placed at the rear, Glory Girl at an angle near the left wall, and he stood at the front. He ordered the breach and Glory Girl went through the wall and landed in front of the armor that was threatening the hostages. Shortly after Despedia hurried in through the back while Aegis rushed the front. Two armors were down in the initial charge.

Vista was brought in and altered space to make a shorter route for the hostages to escape through. Panacea was rescued at the same time. Clockblocker, Despedia, Kid Win, Gallant, and Granspear were left outside to control the perimeter. That was when one of the Hummers nearby dropped its side panels and turned into a mech. The mech immediately opened fire on the Wards outside. Inside the other three armors had engaged Aegis, Glory Girl, and Despedia.

The fight inside was intense due to their force fields. Aegis ordered Despedia to use her claws. Once she opened their force fields the fight ended shortly afterward. Gallant ended up getting struck with shrapnel from the mech's explosives. Clockblocker's injuries were sustained when he charged the machine. He was dazed by a concussion grenade, but touched the mech.

As soon Clockblocker's field dropped Granspear and Kid Win brought it down. Aria managed to get through to Aegis and reported her situation. Clockblocker and Gallant were sent to the hospital for treatment while the Wards held the scene until the police arrived. When Panacea was asked for her version of events she reported that there were six people that stormed the bank. One wasn't wearing armor. She tried to tell the police that one of the hostages wasn't, but in the confusion they disappeared.

No civilian casualties. No police casualties. They even captured the pilots in one piece. None of them are parahumans so the police are taking them into custody." She finished her report. Aegis was as detailed as always.

"How are Gallant and Clockblocker?" Emily asked.

"They're already home with their families." Miss Militia said. She nodded.

"Good. Give the Wards the next three days off and let them know that if they want to come in, that's fine, but they are not patrolling. We'll have the armored PRT do patrols during that period along the Wards' routes." Piggot said. "The police will handle the civilian part of the investigation. Now I have to head over to the hospital." She stood up from her chair with difficulty.

"I'll drive ya over." Mouse Protector said. Sometimes the heroine raised her blood pressure, but sometimes. Just sometimes. She was okay.



-Coil's Base-



Saturday had gone very well. There had been losses, but nothing insurmountable. He grinned at just what had been accomplished. The raid on PRT headquarters had been all about slathering a generous helping of egg on their faces. If they had succeeded in killing Piggot, excellent, but if not? The hacker, LiveWire, had done excellently. The video feeds that he managed to get helped to paint a picture of PRT incompetence.

However it also showed the sheer competence of his own mercenaries enhanced by the armor he retrieved. If not for that machine, Sonata, it would have resulted in a total victory. That thing would get what it had coming to it. The clips of the "murder bot" had gone viral within a mere hour of release. By the time it had been tracked down it was too late. Even now the PHO was exploding with panic. Saint's endorsement of Sonata was an unwelcome surprise, but it only served to add to the confusion.

The Youth Guard had proven a wise investment. Perhaps he should increase their funding. They didn't know that their generous donations were coming from him under several aliases. It made it laughably easy to drop suggestions and have them obeyed. Their current crusade was just going to stir the pot even more. The PRT never should have become so heavily enmeshed with popular opinion. Plans within plans and layers within layers.

The bank job had gone off without a hitch. The truly important one had been the unarmored mercenary that carried the information from the bank. Money? The money in the vault would not have covered his expenses, but the money of several prominent businessmen through their account information? That would do the job quite nicely. The fact that he now possessed the information for all of Medhall's business operations was a sweet perk.

The only sour note was that he lost his chance at Dinah Alcott. The precog would have been a powerful force multiplier to his own powers. Her ability to predict exact percentages to whatever she was asked was too valuable to ignore. If he wanted to capture her it would take more resources and more planning. There were plans to have her join the Wards. The addition of armored units stationed around her home made it even more difficult. They were trading her anonymity for safety and she was on television as being happy about it.

If that clusterfuck was ever attributed to him then he was in a great deal of trouble. The question on his mind was how did Aria know to be there? Then again she was rated as an exceedingly high Thinker and not just for her ability to read emotions and mental states. Putting the information together herself was not outside the realm of possibility. He had doubts about her actually being a Tinker given the ease of replication of her designs.

The Travelers had succeeded in their mission. With the attention directed towards the bank, the kidnapping, and PRT infiltration they were able to accomplish an important goal. He took the elevator down to his destination and stepped out into the large room. There before him was something quite valuable. Kaiser sat in a force field cell and glared at him.

"Hello Max Anders. It is a pleasure to meet you face to face." He smiled even wider. Plans within plans and layers within layers...



-Undersiders HQ-



They sat around the table each lost in their own thoughts. The sheer amount of planning Saturday's events must have taken was staggering. Lisa could admire that kind of intelligence. Coil was playing on a level unheard of before. She bit her thumbnail in thought. Telling Taylor about the diversion had almost got her best friend killed. Those mercenaries weren't playing around and didn't care that she was valuable. She got out of it alive at least.

Alec blew out a breath in frustration and broke the silence, "What the hell was all that?" He demanded.

"Coil's not fuckin' around that's what." Aisha replied. He made a noise of disgruntled agreement.

"This is just crazy. The Merchants are growing stronger, we've been ordered to lay off them, and the E88 is havin' a shit fit." Sophia growled. Brian laid a hand on her arm and she settled down. Lisa let herself have a moment to appreciate the sight. They were still dancing around each other, but the distance had closed.

"So we pound the Merchants." Rachel said. The Undersiders stared at her. "What? We gotta problem with 'em so we fuckin' pound 'em. You all talk too much." She shoved off from the table and went to take her dogs for a walk.

"Hmmm...it would look strange if we didn't keep the Merchants out of our territory..." Lisa mused. The chances of this being a bad idea were high, but the rewards were even higher. For one it would ease their conscience. Their territory was known as a safe zone.

"I wanted to be a hero...isn't this what heroes do? We beat up the bad guys." A new voice said. He insisted on being called Browbeat. He was a largely built young man fitting the ideal of the Adonis. His abilities were complimentary and very useful. He possessed a form of biokinesis that allowed him to shapeshift to a degree. It allowed him to increase his physical strength and durability while also allowing him to move flesh to heal injuries. His other ability was a form of crude telekinesis that would increased his strength enormously. Putting those two powers together gave him a high Brute/Striker rating.

He was also an analytical person. His powers were new and strange so he sought to test them out. Lisa inwardly grimaced as she remembered just how he came to join them. The Merchants were one of the gangs that he tested himself against. They responded by following him home one night and murdering his family. Rachel was actually the one to find him and bring him back. He had been living on the streets aimlessly. The only thing that could hold his interest was paying back the Merchants.

He had a pronounced hero complex that didn't bring them into conflict often. They fought off villains more often than they did heroes after all. They were the Robin Hood types now. It was a romantic view that he was perfectly fine with. Lisa rubbed his shoulder. He still had yet to tell them his name, but for now he was just Browbeat.

"Okay...we'll push them out of our territory. If Coil has a problem with that it's his own fault for not keeping them on a shorter leash. We're doing what he told us, right? Keep our PR numbers up after all." Brian said with a grin. Browbeat matched that grin.

"Should be amusing I guess." Alec commented idly.

"Hell yeah!" Aisha cheered.

"Just save some for me." Sophia said with a smirk. Lisa smiled. The risks were great, but the rewards were greater. She glanced across at Browbeat. He looked more at ease now. If it hadn't been for their "employer" he might still have his parents. The Merchants were content to squat in places no one wanted. Now? Now they had better funding, better weapons, and they had lost their fear. She just stroked his back softly.

"Time to roll the dice..." She murmured softly.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Fourth Arc 4.2



-April 19, 2011-



I was not happy. Correction. To say that I was unhappy would be like saying the sun is a little warm. The PHO had absolutely erupted when that damn leaked security footage went viral. It was obvious that someone had cherry picked through the material to paint my baby girl as a remorseless killing machine. The only part that was even remotely amusing was that they edited out her saying "Boom for the Boom God."

If I didn't find some humor in all this someone would die. Preferably the person who did this. Even now my network was backtracking the signal. Good luck motherfucker. Good luck. God speed. Pray for mercy for I will have none.

"Mom? You're glowing." Sonata interrupted my thoughts of divine retribution. With how my harmograph was spiking I could have managed a very good Thrash Beatle.

"Aria please keep it together. You want the people to see you as kind and benevolent. The goodhearted person they've gotten to know." Glenn Chambers PRT expert was trying to calm me down as well. What was he doing here? It started yesterday actually.



-Flashback: Monday-



We were at home. Sonata in my arms and hugging me tightly. The poor girl. She hadn't meant to hurt them so badly, but the combination of amplifiers and lasers was an unforgiving beast. Her heart was in the right place. It didn't help that the last act of the hacker wasn't to try and get into her systems. He had uploaded the security footage to someone else. We didn't realize what he had done until the modified footage had hit the net.

It had been modified to remove all traces of what the mercenaries had done. There was no mention whatsoever of how they had killed fifteen people in cold blood. The clip was designed specifically to inflame and it did its terrible work beautifully. They even edited out her taking care of the Director until emergency assistance arrived.

Saint, in an attempt to stem the tide, had posted his thoughts on the video. They pretty much boiled down to that the mercenaries were trained killers. That a good mercenary knows the risks. Sonata had acted in the defense of others. Given that this was the man who regularly cautioned about the dangers of artificial intelligence run amok that actually had some weight.

The part that was often lost in the recollection was that the mercenaries hadn't died. Their force fields coupled with hardened armor construction had saved their lives. They needed surgery, however, because the blasts still had enough punch to put them in critical condition. She was scared that they had died, but they hadn't. Lucky them. Then Director Piggot had her collapse and that was a new worry for my girl.

No one left the house today. Sonata was in my arms, Emma was sitting on the floor with her head on my daughter's leg, Cocona was running fingers through her hair, and Dad had his arms around the both of us. She sighed.

"I'm smothering here..." She finally said. "I'm really happy about this guys...but I need some room." Sonata squirmed a bit and we let her have her space. She breathed a sigh of relief, "Air! Glorious air!" The tension broke at that declaration. It was too bad the phone rang.

"Hello?" Dad said, "Well I don't mind if you come over...that's fine." He set the phone down, "Glenn Chambers is coming over. He said he'll be here in twenty minutes." I still remember him. He was actually giddy that I had ideas of my own, but that I still heard him out. Some of his suggestions went towards my image.

"Why is he coming over?" Emma asked. Judging by Dad's melody it was a complicated feeling.

"They're holding a press conference tomorrow." He finally said. "This will let people actually get to meet Sonata and see her as a person." What wasn't said was "hopefully." I nodded slowly. I hadn't exactly done her any favors by keeping her out of the spotlight. Her name was known, but there had been no debut.

When he finally arrived it was without fanfare. No one would believe that a man with his seeming lack of fashion sense would be a PR genius. He sat down in the armchair and started setting up. His laptop was set down for us to see.

"This is war people. The enemy is shadowy, faceless, and without remorse. They have hit us hard and left us reeling. We have to respond." His face was grave, "Let us go over the facts of the encounter. We'll skip the loading area." Sonata opened her mouth and he shook his head, "That's not what I mean." She subsided mutinously. "The actual footage has you approach with your rifle up." He called up the clip. She was coming around the corner with her rifle held crossways. It wasn't pointed straight out.

"Good call. Less threatening to the public." He played part of the modified footage. Her shot struck the armored man and he returned fire. The splicing was done so well it was nearly seamless. "This is what they have been seeing for days at this point. It doesn't matter that this is what happened..." The actual footage had the rifle man shoot first and then she returned fire.

"So then clear case of self defense." Cocona said. Glenn nodded approvingly.

"Exactly. We will show the actual footage complete with time stamp. Then we'll finish with the footage of the men being taken out by emergency crews." He sat back. "Sonata will need to say a few words. You are incredibly adorable and very photogenic. Anyone seeing you in person will not be able to reconcile the "Murder Bot" with the young lady. This will be your opportunity to speak your peace."

"We're not going over her speech?" I asked curiously. Each of us had to go through a well scripted speech. Glenn shook his head.

"She has something to say so we'll let her say it. That look of indignation when she thought I was slighting the loading bay victims is perfect." He grinned. Sonata briefly looked confused before her face cleared in understanding. That was a good idea.

"That's a good idea. It's been my granddaughter's berserk button." Dad said. For Sonata berserk button translated to angry kitten. Utterly adorable and nonthreatening.

"Play the part where she says 'Boom for the Boom God." Emma suggested with a grin, "Drive it home that Aria and Sonata are mother and daughter. The people on PHO love Aria. The medical community loves her. Hell the police love her." Glenn brightened up.

"I'm glad to see someone agrees with me! We will be playing that as well." He said with a grin. Sonata and I shared a look. We were never living this down. At all.

"Boom for the Boom God..." Cocona giggled. One of my PHO nicknames? Boom Goddess. It's only a matter of time before they give it to me as one of my tags.

The details didn't take long to hash out thankfully. Glenn stayed to make sure that we were feeling positive about tomorrow. He wanted more time to set things up properly, but Miss Militia had said to him that this idiocy needed to be put to bed now. It was her first act as acting director. She was not a fan of protracted battles.



-Flashback end-



What has me so angry today? We have a reporter from one of the less reputable news networks coming. He's a well known anti-cape enthusiast. A true believer that the world is going to hell because of parahumans. Why do people even wonder why so many parahumans become villains? We have bigots like him. Richard Grand. It's not even his real name. He cited his First Amendment rights and we were forced to allow him.

Dealing with him alone wouldn't be the problem. It was the fact that wherever he went his Grand Fans were guaranteed to be there. Irritating little parasites that waited for his regurgitated crap to pour into their waiting mouths.

"Mom! Don't you dare set fire to the lab!" Sonata scolded me and I calmed myself. My being pissed off at the world was not going to help things. The lightning arcing around my fingertips gradually died down.

"Remember your image, Aria. Remember your image." Glenn said in a soothing voice. Right then I was wishing Emma and Cocona were there, but Despedia and Granspear were helping the other Wards with crowd control. Everyone was out today. Mouse Protector would be on stage with us along with Armsmaster.

"To hell with my image! If that piece of shit isn't professional then I'm damn well not gonna be. You heard what he said on his show last night!" My eyes felt hot and I calmed myself again. My harmograph was still spiking. No Song loaded and it was going to stay that way. My systems seemed almost sad that I wasn't loading something destructive.

"Why are people calling me a Murder Bot again...?" Sonata asked only half jokingly. "Let him make a fool of himself. We'll stick to the script. I need you to be my mom." She grasped my hand.

"Honey? I am being your mom." I assured her. Glenn nodded to himself.

"Perhaps letting a bit of the Mama Bear out wouldn't be terrible...just don't overdo it. I would gladly pay your bail if you fried him, but remember that your actions speak for the PRT as well." He said with a smile. Judging by his melody he wasn't a fan of the guy either.

It was time to head out. I wasn't to wear my armor, but ELMA Linkage followed behind me regardless. Sonata was matching my walk with her Cutey ELMA gamboling about her legs. It was her idea to program them like actual dogs. Which, now that I thought about it, made them more efficient as guards. Unless they were Cutey ELMA. The black "puppy" was a third the size of the full ELMA. ELMA Linkage nudged the smaller bot and it started walking properly.

We were heading into the auditorium for this. The stage was set with Mouse Protector and Armsmaster already there. She touched my shoulder as I walked by. To others it would look like a show of support, but I knew it was that and in case she had to save me. Her teleport charge would last for the entire event. Sonata stood with me off to one side of the podium. Miss Militia was standing there in her full costume.

The general feeling was restlessness, excitement, and hostility. Not as much hostility as I was expecting. That was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately having so many people turn up rendered my danger sensing abilities null. My gaze turned to the media seating and spotted Richard Grand immediately. He had graying hair and blue eyes. His face was lightly lined and his suit cost more than my dad's truck. If he was trying to be the "voice of the people" he should probably get out more.

"Everyone. Your attention please. Thank you." Miss Militia spoke into the microphone. The ambient noise levels dropped gradually. "Thursday, April 14th, was a day of confusion. The Protectorate was out of town at a government mandated workshop. It was a well coordinated attack in multiple parts." There was no humor in her eyes, "There was a bank robbery, a kidnapping, and an assault on PRT headquarters."

There was a murmuring as these details weren't known. She continued to speak, "These crimes were all related. Any one of these crimes, had they succeeded in full, would have had disastrous consequences. However all of this has been routinely ignored. The full details had been released to the press, but were apparently lost in the wake of the events at PRT headquarters."

The original recording was played side by side with the doctored footage. The doctored footage possessed no time stamp, but the original did. The melodies were shifting. The hostility was becoming harder, but covered fewer people now. There was a smattering of amusement at Sonata's battle cry. A knot was loosening in my chest, but I kept my tension up.

"Why don't we let the accused speak in her own defense?" Miss Militia asked and stepped aside. I smiled reassuringly at Sonata as she stepped up to the podium. She needed to use her anti-grav to reach the microphone. It was adjustable, honey.

"I actually don't see the problem." She said. I blinked. That was a strange way to start and it had a similarly confusing effect on the audience. "It looks bad. Especially when the footage was cherry picked for maximum damage." She clicked a remote and the scene in the loading bay appeared. The footage showed exactly what had happened. There were gasps and sympathy from the audience.

"This is the issue. This is the real problem. While everyone has been focusing on the poor mercenaries no one has thought about their victims." There was a note of sorrow in her voice. That was what made her sad. She hadn't even known about the infiltration until it was well underway. "Fifteen people dead. Fifteen people who will never go home again. Fifteen families that had lost fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. There are children who will never see their parents again. That is the issue. These same mercenaries were then trying to reach the Director to kill her too." She took a sip of water.

"That's the problem really. The real issue isn't what I did, but what they had done. My body was designed to be as human as possible. I have no super powers. This armor you saw in the video? It's just a force field generator and flight enhancement. The rifle was something that I cobbled together." She sighed heavily, "I'm a lab assistant. That's what I was brought into this world for. The fact that Aria sees me as her daughter is a gift. That everyone who works here has treated me so well...They treat me like one of their own." Her eyes moistened.

"I didn't care that this wasn't my job." She continued with determination, "I didn't care that my force fields might not hold. They weren't designed for sustained combat." She showed the footage of the rifle blast deforming her barrier. "Something else that has been forgotten." The melodies of the audience were all over the place. The hostility, however, had lessened dramatically. Tears were falling down Sonata's face.

"Something else that has been forgotten is that with everyone distracted a young girl was almost kidnapped. Panacea was put in danger with over a dozen civilians in a bank robbery. The common thread is the armor they were wearing." She wiped at her eyes, "Those three men in the footage? They lived." The footage changed to show the men being sawed out of the armor and moved to stretchers. "If protecting my friends, my family, makes me a murder bot then I'll wear that name proudly."

Several moments passed as the crowd digested that. It was hard to think of anything to say in the wake of her speech. I walked up to the podium and put my arm around her shoulders in support. She didn't need angry me. Her melody evened out slowly. Glenn came forward.

"We will be taking questions now." He said before turning the podium over to Sonata again. She was much calmer, but still looked and felt vulnerable. Richard Grand stoop up first and smiled disarmingly.

"That was a very pretty speech, but some of us actually did our research before coming. Will you actually tell the people what sort of life these men can expect to live now? After all one man had to have most of his upper intestine removed. One had a lung destroyed. It wasn't damaged, but completely ruptured to the point it was so much meat and tissue. The third got off the lightest with only a severe head injury, but he might wake up." He read from his notes before looking back at my daughter expectantly. She straightened up.

"Cherry picking is still cherry picking. Selecting facts that paint someone in the worst possible light. Where is your concern for the families of the dead?" She said in as frosty a tone as I had heard from her. Her eyes daring him to ignore them again.

"My apologies. You are correct. The families of the victims should be remembered." He was genuinely apologetic, but it also threw him off balance. He wasn't used to being put on the back foot. "Please answer the question?" She sighed.

"I honestly have no idea what will be done. The offer of PRT funded treatment was made, but refused. The unconscious man hasn't been able to answer." She recited from memory. He sat back down with a vaguely confused look. His supporters were similarly baffled by what happened.

"Will a memorial be put up?" A pleasantly smiling reporter asked.

"Uhm...they've been added to the wall actually. They were killed in the line of duty after all." She stated matter-of-factly. The questioning continued in a similar vein. I was still a bit tense, but no longer feeling like ripping someone's head off.

"Does anyone else have something to ask?" Glenn asked after the round of questions. Poor Sonata was holding up well, but would love for it to be over.

"I have a question actually." A young woman stood up. "I'm not with the press, but I promise it's nothing obscene." Glenn looked at Sonata and she nodded. "Why do they allow you to run around unchecked? The fact you have access to lethal weaponry around decent people is shameful. Where is the oversight?" She folded her arms across her chest. I focused on her melody. She had come here spoiling for a fight. Conflict? She was the source of the hard hostility.

Sonata looked confused and unsure how to answer. Glenn was opening his mouth to say something, but I was already moving toward the podium. ELMA Linkage dropped down in front of me and I suited up without breaking stride. Sonata let out a squeak and quickly yanked Glenn Chambers out of the way. I sensed great amusement from Mouse Protector. The aggravating woman blinked owlishly as music started to play.



Program Found: Thrash Beat



Program Advance: Thrash Beat → Thrash Beatle



The enormous figure of my cobalt beetle appeared within the glowing circle of my interface field. I was perched on its mighty shoulder with one leg folded over the other as if on a throne. The sudden hush was unbroken. The Wards' harmony agreed with what I was doing.

"That is a very good question. How do they allow my daughter to walk around with lethal weaponry? It makes absolutely no sense. She was only just born and doesn't even have a gun permit." I said dryly. "As for the oversight? I have no idea what you're talking about. I just talk to Dragon, Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Mouse Protector..." I tapped my chin, "I talk to a lot of heroes, but no Oversight." I smiled charmingly, "I never met that one. Is he new?"

There was a general ripple of laughter as the woman was summarily embarrassed. She tried to draw herself up again, but any support she had was eroded. I just stared down at her. She finally sat down again. I dismissed Thrash Beatle. Someone in the audience called out "Boom for the Boom Goddess!" I would have facepalmed, but Sonata was grinning.

"My mom's a lil' bit overprotective of me." She said teasingly. Did I go overboard...? Not likely. "She thinks of me as her daughter because she was the one who designed my AI. No one programmed me to call her mom. She's just my mom. That's all that matters to me." She hugged me and I returned it.



Mission Accomplished.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony

or Melody of Escalation

PHO Interlude 2



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■

♦Topic: Brockton Bay Press Conference
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay

RGrand (Original Poster) (Journalist)
Posted on April 19, 2011:

The chaos of the past few days started with simultaneous attacks executed in a single day. These attacks were done with extraordinary precision that hinted at a true strategic mind.
All of this was overlooked, however, in the face of a machine daring to open fire on mercenaries. The poor benighted fools were grievously injured in the commission of an act of domestic terrorism. That they had a body count before she even met them was also conveniently overlooked.
I will admit to a certain amount of annoyance at yet another PRT press conference. A debut after this debacle? I could not understand what they were playing at, but I went regardless. Glenn Chambers had invited me personally. How could I refuse?
My eyes were open when the media proclaimed Murder Bot came out onto the stage. She was holding her "mother" Aria's hand tightly for reassurance. Where was her Death Ray? Where was the cannon that this emotionless killing machine used to kill three innocent mercenaries? I was skeptical of this devious ruse.
Acting Director Miss Militia said a few words. She attributed the lack of Protectorate presence to a government mandated workshop. No excuses were made. I found, through independent research, that the Youth Guard had scheduled the whole of the Brockton Bay Protectorate for a workshop out of town. Miss Militia then turned the podium over to Sonata.
She flew up to the microphone to speak. Her nervousness readily apparent. The full speech is [here]. She was eloquent, but her word choices belied her youth. That's right. Her youth. I will admit to listening very carefully to her words. Her speech was full of little things that I was told a machine couldn't fake. She was speaking properly, but not precisely. Tears were in her eyes at one point. She called for us to remember the fifteen innocent victims that died. She asked us to remember the other acts of terror committed that day.
I will admit that I was flustered. Nothing I had heard before had prepared me for this reality. My questions are meant to evoke an honest response. When she coldly reminded me of the victims it took me off guard further. She was no longer nervous. She was genuinely upset at what she felt was a failure to remember the dead. I sat back down with much on my mind.
At least I got off lightly compared to the woman who spoke at the end of the press conference. I can understand her fear, and anger, but Aria was apparently looking to make a statement herself. When she called up the giant weaponized beetle it was a clear message. It's not the weapon that is dangerous, but the person wielding it.

(Showing Page 1 of 74)

► GreenFan472
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I'm a long time fan of your show and columns. I have to say that I agree. That little darling is a real charmer. What's being done about the Youth Guard screw up?

► dadzilla
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ GreenFan472: That's a good question.
I was in the audience and that little girl made me think of my own princess. Murder Bot? If that's a murder bot I'll put in an order for a dozen.

► crazyinbrockton (Just a Guy)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
So our new machine overlords are rising. This is just frackin' great. You want to worship our new sovereign in white? Idiots.

► IndolentMinx (Veteran Member) (The Minx in the Know)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ crazyinbrockton: There you are again. It's fate. It has to be. Though it would be nice if you actually stayed on topic.
The loss of life is a tragic thing. It can't be easy to hurt someone else. Her reaction to causing pain is a good indicator that this robotic Overlady is just a cuddlebug.

► that_one_lady (Mother)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
My daughter and I are fans of Aria. It was also good to see Despedia in her new costume. What drew my attention was that adorable girl clinging to her mother's hand. Murder Bot? Give it a rest people.

► XxVoid CowboyxX
Replied on April 19, 2011:
How is Aria a mother already? That doll is way too lifelike. Did she use human flesh?

If you can't even bother to research your information properly don't post - Jakuri is Watching

► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ XxVoid CowboyxX: You are here once again my witless nemesis.
In all seriousness I'm a major fan of high tech anything. Aria's ELMA Linkage Mk II is freakin' awesome. The clips of what it did to the kidnappers was amazing. It looks like her daughter is similarly badass what with making freaking huge rifles.
As long as you point it at soul sucking mercs you're fine, kid.

► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Sonata's a good kid. They told me she was an AI and it didn't even register. We're grateful to her.

► Cryotech51 (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Test bed for new medical tech? Where are the seams? j/k It only supports my Tinker Panacea thoughts.

► Daemon Angiel
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Why was there even a problem? She shot up terrorists. When did we care more about murderers than their victims?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 72 , 73, 74

(Showing Page 34 of 74)

► That One Dude
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I'm just saying that all of you are way to into this bot worship. It's even infected Richard Grand. What the hell?

► JustineisHawt
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Are you just that stupid? Dragon herself checked her AI over. D-R-A-G-O-N. Y'know? Greatest Tinker in the Whole World? If you're gonna say something have the facts!

► IndolentMinx (Veteran Member) (The Minx in the Know)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
It looks to me like all of you are missing the point. The same point that sweet little cuddlebug brought up. There were innocent victims. Her speech brought that home rather nicely.

► Crimson Writer (Tech Guru)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I have to agree with the Minx. Talk about the tech and her specs should go to the Aria thread for inventions [here]. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims.

► Fen Lenshun (Best English Teacher)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
What has me curious is this thing with the Youth Guard. Does anyone else think they have too much power? If they can, on a whim, send an entire Protectorate team out of town that is worrying. The children are important however that is starting to sound like an excuse they hide behind.

► The Grey Rider
Replied on April 19, 2011:
You guys thought I was crazy. Now? Now her power armor is in the hands of our enemies. What will we do now? How much is she making off of sleeping with the enemy? That's what I got from this.

► DarkBetaAngel
Replied on April 19, 2011:
That armor doesn't even look the same! If you're going to spout paranoid ramblings at least have some proof.

► Jakuri is Watching (Verified Super Genius) (Verified Nudist) (Verified Alien Sentience) (Moderator)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Everyone is welcome to their opinion. No matter how wrong they are. Just try to remember this thread is about the press conference, okay? You know I wield a mean banhammer.

► Crimson Writer (Tech Guru)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
They made her a moderator? Good God they actually made her a moderator. All hail our new Imperial Genius Nudist Alien!
As for the conference I think it was handled well. No one was hit over the head with how cute Sonata or that she's an AI in an prosthetic body. Nicely done and low key.

► Ultra1987
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Bullshit.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 ... 72 , 73, 74


■

♦Topic: Wards to the Rescue!
In: Boards ► Capes ► America ► Wards ► Brockton Bay

IndolentMinx (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Minx in the Know)
Posted on April 19, 2011:

Last Thursday was shaping up to be another day in Brockton Bay when it suddenly lit up in activity. I was actually in the bank that day to cash my paycheck. Gal's gotta eat, right? I was having a perfectly bland day and wished for some excitement.
Next time I'm wishing for a million dollars.
I was actually having a nice chat with Amy Dallon. Sweet girl really. It was at that point that the armored mercs stormed the bank. I'm perfectly fearless when I have to be, but not when a flamethrower is in my face.
They were purely business as they secured us, but didn't bother taking our cellphones. Well they were fairly obvious so it wouldn't have mattered if we called the police.
When Glory Girl came smashing through the wall it was a welcome sight. Aegis and Despedia moved in as well. All told our rescue took moments with Vista using her power to make it easy for us to reach the doors.
Once outside I stayed behind the police line, but curiousity made me stay and watch the drama unfold. Whoever outfitted these guys did an impressive job. Credit where credit is due. Unfortunately they just weren't prepared for the grit and determination of the young people that kicked their armor played behinds.
Thanks Wards. You always give it your best and we appreciate that.

(Showing Page 1 of 32)

► Aegis (Verified Cape)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
We're just glad that all of the hostages got out safely.

► Collonade
Replied on April 19, 2011:
First post goes to the Wards! Very nice. Saw the footage and man that was some SWAT team stuff. Good work.

► confusion_hope_panic
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Why the hell would armored mercenaries storm a bank?

► SeeNoWeevil
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I think whoever ordered it blew their wad too early. All that bleeding edge tech used for a bank robbery and a kidnapping?

► SpeaktoMammals
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Looks to me like performance issues.

► SeeNoWeevil
Replied on April 19, 2011:
That's a hard observation.

► Shulda (Moderator)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Stop with the off color comments. Funny as they are.

► Panacea (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I'm just glad everyone made it out safely.

► Collonade
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Now New Wave? That's classy guys.

► LokiTheShadowedOne (Actually Knows Stuff)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
A transforming Hummer? Okay that's some serious Tinker bullshit.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 30 , 31, 32

(Showing Page 19 of 32)

► mommy1984 (Temp-banned)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Who is going to pay for my damages? Glory Hole came plowing through the wall like the Kool-Aid Man and almost hit me with a chunk of masonry. You're all celebrating her, but she's nothing but a careless menace.


► Shulda (Moderator)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ mommy1984: Enjoy your temp ban. We don't allow those kind of shenanigans around here. If you can't be civil than don't post.

► curiouser and curiouser
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Actually Glory Girl has been a lot more careful with the breakables. Walls, streets, people...
It's actually refreshing.

► GloryGFan69
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Post deleted

► Shulda (Moderator)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ GloryGFan: That's not even remotely funny. Enjoy your 30 day ban.
Why do I get all the crazies?

► Indolent Minx (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Minx in the Know)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ Shulda: Just lucky I guess?
Let's not get this thread locked, Okay?

► Mobius D
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Aegis was so awesome storming the front of the bank. Nobody can stop this guy!

► heavyweight
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Someone get Mobius D an "Aegis Fan" tag...

► SoldierofFortuna
Replied on April 19, 2011:
The armor those guys were using looked a lot more robust than the flimsy crap Aria's trying to put on our boys.

► victory_through_firepower
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ SoldierofFortuna: More robust? That stuff went down hard. The only thing that was robust was that mech and even that fell hard.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 ... 30 , 31, 32

■

♦Topic: The Mayor's Niece was Kidnapped!
In: Boards ► Capes ► America ► Wards ► Brockton Bay

Officer_Friendly (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know)
Posted on April 19, 2011:

At approximately 1:30 pm on Thursday, April 14th, the Mayor's niece was kidnapped by armed men. She was seen being shoved into a black van that immediately took off. A woman who saw the whole thing called it in immediately to police.
Thankfully the traffic cams caught the footage and gave police a fighting chance of catching the criminals. According to several eyewitness accounts the van was simply too fast and maneuverable for a vehicle its size. The police cars were able to keep up, but there was no way to get ahead of the criminals.
The accounts at this point conflict, but they agree that Aria was seen flying overhead midway through the chase. Once she joined the hunt the police were eventually able to run the van down.
Our heroine in white threw down some strange disk that caused a force field to pop up and stop the van. She disabled the wheels with glowing blue spikes while the police cordoned off the area. I was there for the rest as we were ordered to keep the public back. When the back of the van opened up and three figures in power armor stepped out we had no trouble keeping back the rubberneckers.
It was a hard battle fought, but she emerged victorious. Her armor was broken in numerous places as she approached the van only to take an energy cannon to the face of her armor.
The last mercenary used the Mayor's niece as a hostage, but one of our boys in blue shot them in the face and saved the little girl.
Aria was apparently more than a little angry and turned the armor into crushed tinfoil. The mercenary survived, but probably wished she hadn't.
If that press conference is anything to go by the Boom Goddess is a Mama Bear. A very scary Mama Bear.

(Showing Page 1 of 33)

► crazyinbrockton (Just a Guy)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Millions of children are kidnapped, murdered, and raped a year, but somehow the Mayor's niece rates a rescue. What do we have to do to get some equality here?

► XxVoid CowboyxX
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ crazyinbrockton: What are you talking about? It's cool she's rescuing little kids. Don't be stupid.

► Cryotech51 (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Did XxVoid CowboyxX just say something smart? Quick! Abandon thread!

► writing the wrongs
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Oh wow that is some sweet armor. Those glowing spikes were just flat out amazing. How did they go through the force fields like that? Maybe they somehow bypass them through sympathetic frequencies?
What? I'm a tech geek. Researching this stuff is what we do.

► Crimson Writer (Tech Guru)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
victory_through_firepower can always be counted on to stay focused. Especially when tech is involved. Are you sure you're not a Tinker? That sounds like a good analysis actually. At least the van didn't do what that Hummer at the bank did.

► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
It got smashed to pieces before that could happen is my guess.

► crazyinbrockton (Just a Guy)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
@ XxVoid CowboyxX: Are you actually dissing me you damn freak?

► XxVoid CowboyxX
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Just saying you're an idiot. She saves kids that's cool.

► Cryotech51 (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
That wasn't a fluke...Is our boy finally growing up?
In all seriousness that was some seriously awesome sharp shooting by that police sniper.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 31 , 32, 33

(Showing Page 20 of 33)

► Hanae
Replied on April 19, 2011:
The girl was rescued before the PRT knew she was a parahuman. She confirmed it herself at a 98.32% chance. It's in the paper.

► ToTheContrary
Replied on April 19, 2011:
That's still a 1.68% chance they knew.

► Galaxy Queen
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Okay ToTheContrary that's enough. Seriously. That's not even funny anymore.

► sagewarrior (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
It was nice to see that Aria still had her original Mk I armor. Though now I'm wondering if she's already working on the Mk III. The Mk II was awesome in its first outing though.

► DicePaste (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
I have it on good authority that she is working on the Mk III while working on Sonata's Mk II.

► Mouse Protector (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Hey DicePaste? You're kinda in trouble. Just a heads up!

► Aria (Verified Cape) (Your Friendly Tinker) (Boom Goddess)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
There's no problem. It's not like I've been keeping it a secret really. Safety is important you know? As for Dinah I'm glad that we were able to recover her safely. Thanks Officer Morgan for that timely shot.

► victory_through_firepower (Cape Groupie)
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Aria posted? Aria posted! She confirmed it! Woo hoo! I second that congratulations by the way Officer Morgan. You rock.

► fuel
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Hey man nice shot.

► WMGirl
Replied on April 19, 2011:
Boom for the Boom Goddess!
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 ... 31 , 32, 33


Thump

"Grandpa! Mom did a headdesk!" Sonata called out.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Interlude 4.b Uber and Leet



-March 20, 2011-



-Da Secret Hideout-



The workshop was silent. There was nothing being built. There was no Tinkering. There was just Leet sitting in his chair and staring at the ceiling. For once his mind was clear. All petty distractions had fallen away as he relived the battle. The Chaos Marine theme had gone over very well. It was a smash hit. The best part had been the mechs fulfilling their roles and not blowing up or shorting out. What did it matter that they were smashed?

He grinned as he remembered having defeated Gallant, Glory Girl, and Despedia. That was something worth framing. The part where it was two on one against Aria called to mind generic Zaku units versus a Newtype Piloted Gundam. She was so fast that afterimages were literally left in her wake. Their simple human eyes unable to track her. The enormous construct she brought out to finish them off had even cried out in a voice that would have made da Orkz proud.

"You're thinking about that again." Uber observed as he walked into the shop. Leet looked at his longtime friend and partner sheepishly. "Relax man. It's fine. That was a sweet fight. Our viewership increased over that." He set down a bottle of Mt. Dew for Leet. "The thing is we haven't planned anything since that day. The natives are growing restless." Leet nodded slowly. Something was forming in his mind's eye. An idea was stirring in his brain with a flash of a bright spark. He sat up all at once.

"Uber...get in touch with Clint at the junkyard. I think I can make "that" work." Leet demanded at once.

"Wait...that...? You mean "that" that? Leet...it wouldn't work the last time. It was an enormous money sink that set us back months. Clint only kept it because he thinks it makes an interesting show piece." Uber was trying to appeal to his common sense, but the spark was demanding.

"It will work this time. I know that it will. This spark of inspiration has been germinating in my brain. Please, Uber. Let's finish it." Leet said. "I don't ask for much. Just let me finish the Dragonzord."

"Fine...I'll talk to Clint." Uber gave up. When Leet was like this there was no stopping him, but something told him that it was time to believe again. To believe in the roar of a mighty dragon that had filled their childhood with awesome.



-April 1, 2011-



-Under the Junkyard-



The space beneath the junkyard was enormous. It wasn't designed as a hangar, but here it was being used for that purpose. The origin of the base could be traced back to the days of Marquis. He had numerous hidden locations and the old caretaker Clint knew how to get into this one. Uber and Leet had at over a year ago started a massive undertaking. Leet had wanted to help with the Endbringers. He and Uber didn't have the power themselves, but a giant mech could provide that aid.

They had both worked hard on this labor of love. The construction equipment had to be bought. The materials had to be found or purchased. There was so much that needed doing before they could even start, but they persevered. The glorious day had arrived and construction started. They worked on it day and night. They were constantly kept busy by satisfying their fans, earning the money needed to live, and keeping up their demanding work schedule.

The Dragonzord was completed several months later. The day of ignition was at hand. They activated the mighty machine and...

It didn't turn on.

Leet tore through the systems to find where it had gone wrong, but his power refused to tell him what had happened. It should have worked. It should have worked! Uber finally had to tear him away from the giant failure. They closed the hangar down and went home dejected. The Dragonzord had been a catastrophic failure. It didn't even have the decency to short out or fail like his other inventions.

It was now the present day and Leet was certain that he could fix this problem. He would find the issue and correct it because he could see this project in his mind's eye. He could see the Dragonzord move. He could see the Dragonzord fight. He stared at the titanic mech and let his heart fill with determination. He soaked in the well loved features. Even Uber was gazing up at it and he nodded.

"I believe in you." He said to Leet. The Tinker nodded back. He immediately got to work.



-April 10, 2011-



It had taken two days to find and correct the issues. His power was kicking out solutions like it was handing out party favors. The problems that he couldn't see before had become laughably obvious. He could feel the very will of the machine calling to him. Summoned up from the depths of the ocean this mighty beast was urging him onward.

Today was the day for the activation test. Their hopes and dreams were once more on the line. Leet sat in the cockpit and exhaled slowly. Uber was standing below with the activation test clipboard. The Machine God's Will was strong as he sat in commune with the mighty creation. He gripped the control yokes and hit the ignition. Immediately he felt a resonance from deep inside and the machine came alive! The eyes lit up and a terrifying roar filled the hangar. The external speakers picked up Uber's wild cry as he did the Green Ranger stance.

"Dragonzord! Arise!" The Dragon Flute melody blared as the legendary zord leaned back and roared in triumph.



-April 20, 2011-



The Dragonzord was displeased. This city was in danger. Threats hounded it from all sides and dared involve the innocent. Innocent blood was being spilled in this place. The cries of terror were heard as the local networks came to life. It's creator and comrade had heard the call. Even now they were coming to join the battle.

"Super Lung vs Mecha Armsmaster Round 2 happening right now? What the hell?" It's creator was angered. Dragonzord could respect such fury.

"Calm down. This is what we've been preparing for after all. Lung isn't an Endbringer, but he is still a major threat. We'll go out there and do our thing.." His boon companion spoke reasonably. "Which is why we're going out."

"Right. We can't let Lung do as he pleases. There are innocent people out there." Dragonzord roared with pleasure at that statement. The two stopped and stared at it. "It understands...no...HE understands us..." Now designated as male, His Creator spoke in wonder.

"That is seriously awesome...I'm Uber. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself. Designation Uber was added.

"I'm Leet. We're going to do battle with a wannabe dragon. Want to show him how wrong he is?" His Creator spoke and Dragonzord roared in anticipation. He lowered his hand so that they could step on and lifted them to the cockpit location in the throat. They traveled into the cockpit proper and were seated.

"Open the submarine doors!" Uber called and the doors of the hangar opened allowing water to fill the dive chamber. The two boys that had dared to dream again made their journey through the watery depths within the vessel of their hopes. Arise Dragonzord! Arise!

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Fourth Arc 4.3



-April 20, 2011-



-PRT HQ: Aria's lab-



Lung was being prepared for transfer later today. The Wards couldn't get away from school without it being suspicious, but here I was in my lab. Sonata was keeping herself busy by working on the upgrades she had in mind for her Cutey ELMA. Her massive rifle was currently ready for approved action. It had a nonlethal setting.

Something that big has a nonlethal setting. I was pretty sure the universe was laughing.

I stripped off what worked from the ELMA Linkage Mk II to place on the Mk I. This wasn't the Mk III which was still in testing, but it was more than adequate. I added extra amplifiers that bulked up the appearance somewhat, but that was fine. My photon dart launchers were built up and given a laser blade function. It wasn't pretty, but it would work.

Sonata's Cutey ELMA was upgraded with stronger force fields. She didn't want to make the little guy too bulky. Considering that her maneuverability is what saved her I could agree with that. There was something that I had to talk to her about. I had the data log from her armor and it displayed several programming wonders.

"Hey Sonata? Come here a second." I called up the data on my terminal. Sonata came over curiously.

"What's up, Mom?" She asked. I gestured at the data log. She stared up at me adorably with her melody telling me that she was dreading my reaction. I ruffled her hair.

"Relax honey. I just wanted to ask how you used 2Fast4U. The use of Song magic even by proxy..." I shook my head in wonderment. Oh I could see how the programming would work, but how did she even know to do that?

"I asked Grandma." She replied. It took me a moment to parse that and my eyes widened in realization. Oh, Mir helped her with that? That made sense. "She warned me that since I'm not designed to handle it my power supply would drain rapidly."

"Bring your Cutey ELMA over please." I told her and she whistled. There was a bumping skittering clamor as the black puppy bot bounded over. The only thing missing was the happily wagging tail. I scooped the over excited machine up and placed it down in front of me.

"What are you gonna do?" She asked. I smiled reassuringly.

"Relax. He'll be fine." I clicked his concealed off switch. It took a few minutes, but I added a micro reactor that was then connected to the symphonic unit Sonata designed. The symphonic unit was capable of loading different Song Magics and had been tied directly to her main power feed. It lacked a harmograph to increase the power of songs. I had a few ideas for that that I started to work on. Sonata turned Cutey ELMA back on and went off to play. We were both taking our minds off of what was happening today. I looked at my own harmograph coding and attempted to extrapolate something. Sonata's symphonic unit was a scary piece of hardware really. I bit my lip. The interface layer that was installed in myself and Cocona was reproduced in a vastly limited form.

For one if she used Thrash Beat it would burst into a plasma beam immediately. 2Fast4U worked just fine because it was all internal. She has no ability to affect Shards so the healing ability is out. The idea of making a harmograph was just so tempting. There before me was the harmograph coding. I squinted as my mind picked apart the problem. She would need a way to collect harmonic waves. Wait she has her wi-fi connector and she is connected to my network.

I slaved the harmograph coding to my mini-Tower and it started coming together. She would be able to use her own wi-fi connection to draw harmonics. It would also allow the gathering of her own emotional energy. Sonata had come back over and was looking over my shoulder. I heard her melody skip a beat at what she was seeing.

"Mom...? Is that what I think it is?" She gazed at me in amazement. I nodded slowly. Her Cutey ELMA Mk II was going to be nearly the size of my ELMA Linkage. It was still modular connection, but the size of the amplifier/symphonic/harmograph was going to be fairly robust. Reyvateils have a much smaller one. I set the fabricator to get to work.

"Whew..." I rubbed my forehead even as my daughter handed me the painkillers. I wasn't getting them as badly with the size of the network easing the strain, but this just played merry havoc with me. "It should take a few hours to make the parts, and they'll have to be assembled, but that should do it." The energy requirements for this thing were a beast. I was going to have to use another miniaturized Sol Reactor Mk II.

"This thing is gonna be kinda huge, huh?" She was a true Mistress of the Understatement. "Why don't you see if Armsmaster will shrink it down for you?" She asked.

"What would the response be if people found out that my "parahuman power" could be replicated?" I asked. The grimace of chagrin told me all that I needed to know. "We're tiptoeing around that by saying this is pure Tinker bullshit. I suspect Dragon knows, but she's being very close lipped one way or the other." I pet her hair soothingly. Armsmaster could have shrunk down the unit considerably, but explaining what exactly it did would be problematic.

The results of studying the power armor had come back. It was very similar, if not an outright reproduction, of my MP armors. Everyone was being vetted again. Absolutely everyone. Director Costa-Brown was so furious that she threatened to come down here herself and oversee the investigation.

"Mom? What are they actually going to do? Armsmaster is as likely to tell on you as he is to part with his halberd or MotoArmor." She hugged me suddenly. I was doing it again. I sent off a message through my chat channel to Lisa and the response came back immediately to tell him. Emma said tell him. Cocona said tell him. Mir said tell him.

Wait. Mir? I sent out a query and she came back immediately to reassure me that she was there. How adorable that she's deliberately missing the point. My chat room has grown again apparently. My brain was still human, sorta, but my ability to multitask was just continuing to grow. I needed to talk to Shurelia.

"Hi Taylor." Shurelia said. I blinked and let Sonata lead me over to my work desk.

"Hi? I guessed on Mir being here, but you too?" I asked mentally.

"Actually you sent me a chat request. I must say you are a font of interesting ideas. Oh this chatroom was a side effect? Very interesting. You might want to reinforce your partition. Your private thoughts are bleeding over still." Shurelia informed me. I bent a chunk of my processing to shoring up my defenses.

"It's okay to trust Dragon and Armsmaster. You will have to talk to them anyway. Not today though. They need to focus." Mir told me. I looked at Sonata who was utterly unsurprised.

"I talk to Grandma and Aunt Shurelia all the time, Mom." She told me aloud.

"That would have been nice to know, sweetheart." I informed her gently. She just shrugged and wandered over to the terminal.

"Thanks for making me a Grandmother." Mir sounded amused.

"I'm an Aunt. How did that happen?" Shurelia just sounded mystified.

"So if you're in my chatroom then you've seen my harmograph device. Is it viable? The theory is sound, but..." I trailed off. I was unsure what to say really.

"Oh it will work just fine." Shurelia assured me. That made me feel better. We sat and talked about little things with Sonata chiming in. It was a great way to spend the time. Which is why the alarm sounded. I hurried over to the terminal and there was the convoy taking Lung out of town. Armsmaster, Velocity, Assault, Battery, and several PRT agents armed with MP armors was acting as escort. I tapped into the traffic cameras to get a clearer view of what was going on and clicked my teeth in annoyance.

Several bombs had taken out the road. The effects ranged from glass, to acid puddles, to fields of slow motion as evidenced by debris and shrapnel moving at a crawl. Sonata took my hand. It sucked, but I trusted them. They were the Protectorate. That didn't mean I couldn't watch the action unfold.

"Oh good. I was half worried you were going to go running off." Mouse Protector said as she walked into my lab without preamble. It was finally explained to me that she was transferred here because I was a high value Tinker. It's also why they generally grant my requests. Within reason. I waved her over.

"I don't have Lung Buster Armor, but Armsmaster does." I explained.

"A heroine with common sense? Gasp!" She joked. There was some tension around her eyes. The fear of Lung was still strong. I wasn't exactly feeling flippant, but I flashed her a grateful smile. Sonata squeaked and pointed at the screen as the PRT truck exploded violently.

"What the hell?" Mouse Protector gawked. "Did they blow him up?" Even as she asked there were signs of movement. Lung was free and growing rapidly. Far too rapidly. Oni Lee appeared in the frame and a massive explosion ripped through the area sending armored troops scattering. Velocity and Battery were nowhere to be seen, but must be trying to catch the real him. The camera angles were bad. I activated a blue ELMA that was fitted with surveillance equipment and sent it out through the door.

"My ELMA will get there soon enough and we'll have a better view of the action." It didn't have to go along the road and had arrived moments after the traffic cams were blown sky high. Lung had reached 30 ft, his wings were out, and his head was fully draconic. Armsmaster in his MotoArmor was sent flying back by an obscenely fast claw swipe. He skidded along the ground before a quick flip brought him into a three point stance.

He held up the massive gauntlets of the over armor and a pair of translucent blades emerged just before he used the thrusters to hurl himself at Lung. Lung stood his ground before taking another swing with both claws only for those strange blades to take both arms off in a spray of blood. Armsmaster didn't hesitate as he used the blades to hack off his legs and slash them through Lung's chest crosswise.

"Ewww..." Sonata turned a little green as things that should remain in the body were spilling and boiling out onto the street.

"That's...kinda cool actually." Mouse Protector admitted. I nodded in helpless agreement. Lung was already regrowing his limbs at an insane rate. His segmented mouth split open into four jaws before spewing his flames all over Armsmaster. The armored hero responded by using one of those insanely sharp blades to sheer off Lung's head. He brought the other blade down and struck him in twain to the waist.

"Whoo! Go Armsmaster!" I suddenly cheered. Okay so I was bouncing up and down like an excited kid. So sue me! Suddenly more bombs went off. They succeeded in blowing Armsmaster off his feet. There was a woman standing nearby and directing several frightened looking people to attack the PRT. The people rushed the armored troopers, but they were quickly subdued. The woman clicked a device and the people exploded! The troopers were thrown back and weren't moving.

"What the fuck?" Mouse Protector said. I was already tapping into ELMA's full sensor suite. That bitch was not going to get away with that. My ELMA picked up a signal coming from somewhere around the vicinity of her feet. I hacked her wireless connection and cut her off from the rest of her bombs while turning off the bombs she already had implanted in people.

"Ooh...mom's in a rage...Uhhh...don't blow her up with her own bombs, okay?" Sonata warned me. I had to stop myself from doing just that and just smiled reassuringly at her. She was distinctly not reassured.

Armsmaster was back on his feet, but Lung was now even larger than before. The ramping had finally started to slow down, but why he suddenly went from zero to Godzilla was a mystery. Super Rage Lung vs Mecha Armsmaster Round Two was shaping up into a terrifying grudge match. Armsmaster actually tried to withdraw, but Lung moved to block his escape. Things were looking bleak.

"Everyone withdraw!" Armsmaster called over the comms.

"What about you?" Velocity sounded hesitant.

"I'll cover for you." Armsmaster replied before charging into the teeth of the massive dragon. His 15 ft mech was facing a 50 ft dragon. I just watched. There was nothing else that could be done. As Lung moved to chomp down on the hero a barrage of hypervelocity rockets streaked in and blew the dragon's jaws clear from his face. I quickly had ELMA pan to catch where the rockets came from. The sight that greeted us was startling. The music that suddenly blared from out of nowhere was as familiar and iconic as the figure making its appearance.







Dragonzord. It was the Dragonzord. My jaw dropped at the sight. It was 30 ft tall. Not long. Tall. Lung was mostly neck and tail. There was the sound of the Dragon Flute playing and the Dragonzord spun its tail into Lung's torso. The powerful drill burst right through the rage dragon's body. The zord then pointed both hands at its opponent at point blank and sent a stream of missiles into Lung's torso and face.

Lung retaliated by knocking the dragon shaped mech back, but the blows lacked power due to still trying to regenerate muscles. Armsmaster was apparently biding his time as he flew in from behind and slashed his way down Lung's spine. The Dragonzord slammed Lung in the face with hefty blows.

"This is unbelievably epic..." Someone said. It took me a moment to realize that was me.

The mighty Dragon of Kyushu unleashed his powerful flames and blew back the Dragonzord. It landed on its side in a smoking heap. Lung whipped his tail around so fast a miniature sonic boom echoed and nailed Armsmaster hard enough that he flew through the first floor of a building. The dragon spread his wings and let out a bellowing cry as seething flames dripping from his body. He started walking towards the rest of the Protectorate who had been busy evacuating civilians.

The Dragonzord, however, had risen to its feet once more and let out a shriek of mechanical fury. The dragon whipped its head around to stare in surprise. I was surprised too. The Dragonzord had some scoring on its chest portion, but was otherwise unharmed. It charged Lung once more who prepared to receive his foe only for the back of his skull to suddenly be sheared away. Armsmaster wasn't down yet. The rage dragon stumbled right into a powerful right from the Dragonzord that snapped his head back.

Lung had stopped growing and was starting to look worn down. He tried to get away on the ground only for the Dragonzord to knock him down. He tried to fly away and Armsmaster hacked off his wings. He finally tried to dig through the street, but Dragonzord hurled him up in the air for Armsmaster to then shred the base of his spine. Lung hit the ground and did not rise again. He began to shrink rapidly as whatever was helping him grow to super size apparently wore off. The report came back that Lung was alive.

Dragonzord let out a cry of victory before stamping back the way it came and entered the bay. No one tried to stop it. Armsmaster stood proud and defiant. His MotoArmor smoldering and damaged. The entire surface was pockmarked with battle damage and blackened bits. I took a photo with ELMA for posterity.

"He's never gonna let anyone forget this. You know that, right?" Mouse Protector asked.

"He went toe to toe, again, with Lung on super steroids alongside the Dragonzord. Would you want anyone to forget that?" Sonata asked in disbelief.

"She's got a point. Whoever built that zord did amazing work." That was no joke at all. The kind of construction that would take was impressive.

Bakuda, the bomb Tinker, had been apprehended by Battery while Oni Lee had been brought down by Velocity and Assault. They found a syringe that Oni Lee had. Preliminary tests conducted by Armsmaster's field toxicology equipment said that it was a type of enhanced adrenaline. Lung is bad enough without help. Once a new transport arrived they would have three to go instead of one.

The Dragonzord had left the battlefield. The question was where did that thing come from and who would equip it with a stealth system?



-Hebert Residence-



We were all gathered in the living room as the news played the footage my ELMA caught of the event. It was a calculated PR decision to show a decisive victory for the PRT. Miss Militia was on TV thanking whoever brought the Dragonzord. We suspected it was Uber and Leet, but it didn't show up on their YouTube channel.

"Dragonzord!? That is so awesome!" Emma cried out with glee. I couldn't blame her. We both remembered Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger, and thought that Kimberly was a lucky girl. Then when he met Cat, the new Pink Ranger, we agreed that he was a lucky guy.

"That thing is so cool..." Cocona agreed. "But Armsmaster was really something, huh? Knocked down, but not out." She said with a grin. "Dragon is a lucky girl. He's a lucky guy to have her." It was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that they were interested in each other. The fun was watching things develop.

"Aside from the blood clean up and bomb damage there was no loss of life." Dad commented. "Though it's going to be weird with the leaders of the ABB being captured." The power vacuum that would develop is going to be difficult. The Merchants were stronger now, but the E88 was in turmoil over something. The Undersiders were actively keeping the Merchants out of their territory as well. It was all going to boil over soon.

"Were the agents okay?" Emma asked in concern.

"The armor did its job. The worst injuries had them seen by a doctor and sent home. There was loss of life though..." I leaned into Dad's side. Sonata found her way into my lap again and I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Yeah, but it would have been a lot worse if you hadn't disabled her bombs." Cocona pointed out. The psycho bitch had not only put bombs in the people she sacrificed, but in their families as well.

"If she doesn't get the Birdcage then there's something wrong with the system." Dad said.

"Dragon herself sent a drop ship to take them." I sighed. "The paperwork for the drop ship request was found. The official explanation is that it was misfiled. The one responsible is being fired." The irritating part is that it was easily a real bureaucratic snafu. With everything else that's been going wrong though? It was looking more and more like enemy action.

"At least that's been taken care of right?" Dad asked. We nodded. It was a relief to have something go right lately. Lung, Bakuda, and Oni Lee were off the streets.

"Okay girls it's time for bed." He said. There were some halfhearted grumbles, mine weren't so halfhearted, but he was as stone. We got ready for bed. Dad needed his beauty sleep for work tomorrow. The Dockworker's Association was asked by the city to clean up the Ship's Graveyard. Apparently when Dragonzord went back to the sea it knocked the whole place down.

I snuggled into bed with Sonata in my arms. IndolentMinx had it right when she called my girl a cuddlebug. She cuddled up to me and was soon fast asleep. Well, her body was, but her mind was still awake. I tuned into the chatroom and let my body relax. Some of the names that were there surprised me.

People Here: Lisa, Emma, Cocona, Sonata, Shurelia, Mir, Frelia, Tyria, and Taylor



"Taylor!" The cry came from several people. The only one who hadn't practically cheered my name was Tyria, but she still felt happy to see me.

"This is really neat. You're network is fairly large. How did that happen?" Frelia asked. Her bubbly tones were always good to hear. I felt a bit bad that I didn't talk to her more. "Don't worry about it. Life can be a bigger distraction than you think." I let my gratitude flow.

"Well Dragon has used my OS for her entire network and given me nearly free reign. Then we have the PRT switching their OS. Brockton Bay is attached to the network now." I replied. "The connection I'm forming through other parahuman Shards is helping as well." The same Ping that let them communicate with each other during Triggering was now acting as a relay. Not as good as Emma or Lisa individually, but when there are so many the numbers add up.

"You sound happier." Tyria observed. "When Mir found you we were all worried about you. Your mental voice sounded so weak like your heart was breaking."

"I am glad that I found her. No one should be locked in the dark." Mir said affectionately. "Look at her now." If I was awake I'd probably be blushing.

"Mom's doing a lot better now. She's got me!" Sonata piped up. There was feeling of fond amusement over the Harmony.

"Not just you, squirt." Cocona teased. "There's us too."

"It's good to see you smiling again." Emma said. Her melody was still apologetic, but time had diluted the negative feelings.

"You saved me. Whether you realize it or not." Lisa said. "That day on the Boardwalk changed everything." I wasn't sure what to say. The outpouring of affection was still something that I was getting used to.

"Okay girls I think she needs a bit of space." Shurelia said and the mood lightened.

"Oh! Frelia? I have something for you." I told the green haired Origin before sending her a data file for Linkage armor.

"Oh Taylor thank you! I've always wanted one of my own." She was definitely happier. "Oooh...you put weapons on it..." That sparked some interest. Mir was amused as the Tower Administrators started cooing over and comparing their Linkage armors. Apparently adding weapons was a hit.

"Well I think we just lost them for awhile." Mir commented. "How about we look over your notes on the portable Tower." I was confused.

"What portable Tower?" I asked.

"You really don't...Taylor? How far have you gone through the notes?" She asked.

"I'm maybe 60% of the way. It's slow going at times since I have to compare Ar Cielan technology and Earth Bet technology for reference." I responded.

"So 60% converted the notes into something usable. Okay, that's very good, but not actually what I asked. Have you read through the notes all the way?" Mir asked again. I answered in the negative. "A Tower is many things. Relay station, broadcast tower, data storage, but it's also the place where Beta Reyvateils are directly linked into. What you built, however, was something else that a Tower is used for which is a booster. You created a portable Tower."

"So, by accident, Taylor built something really important towards her goals." Lisa sounded amused. "She did it without even realizing that..." Her voice trailed off into hysterical laughter.

"All Hail Taylor! Boom Goddess and Queen of Obliviousness!" Emma cheers. I had the strongest urge to wring their necks.

"She still has no idea that Kid Win is trying to ask her out." Sonata informs Mir. My second mother groans and facepalms. That jerks me up short.

"Wait...what!?"

"Oopsie..." Sonata sounds anything but apologetic. Kid Win...? Chris?

"You broke her, kid." Emma said. Lisa, who had been calming down, bursts into another peal of laughter.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony



or Melody of Escalation



Fourth Arc 4.4



-April 23, 2011-



With the way the past couple of days went I was looking forward to staying in bed. That's right. Saturday in bed. No one was getting me out for anything short of an Endbringer siren. I had my arms full of cuddlebug as Sonata snuggled closer. She was in full agreement if the faint purr was anything to go by which made me purr. We're not cats, but a sub vocal vibration was possible. It only sounded like purring. Who was I kidding? We were purring. Though now I'm wondering what Sonata would look like with animatronic cat ears.

"Mmm...only if you wear 'em too..." She said sleepily.

"Sorry sweetie. Didn't mean to wake you." I said softly. She responded by burying her face in my chest.

"So fluffy..." She purred happily. I just stroked her hair with an amused smile. How do you answer that? I was feeling whimsical. The thought of something cute and fluffy was an interesting idea. I just didn't want to get caught up in work.

"Taylor? You better get up. Breakfast is on the table." Emma said from the doorway. I groaned softly. "If you don't then Cocona just might eat it all."

"I wouldn't do that. You're the one that's always eating for those tracts of land on your chest." Cocona replied teasingly. Sonata was giggling and definitely not asleep anymore. I kissed her on the head and rolled out of bed.

"Fine. I get it. I'm not allowed to sleep in." I was not pouting even if my friends were laughing at me.

"Besides don't you have that PR thing at the hospital?" Sonata reminded me. I wasn't going in to the PRT building today. That was reserved for a meet and greet with some of New Wave at the hospital. We were also going to see how Director Piggot was doing after her surgery.

Emma, Cocona, and Sonata were staying home today. Mouse Protector was going to be at the hospital with me along with Glory Girl and Panacea. I wanted my baby with me, but that way lie madness. I would not be a helicopter mom.

I didn't need helicopters when I had long range sensors anyway.

The bus took me towards Midtown towards the hospital where Director Piggot was recovering. I got off two stops away before heading off through a back alley. There were no melodies in range so I used the clothing change program to get into uniform. I then sent the signal to call something I prepared for today. There was no way to wear my full armor without looking somewhat intimidating. The sound of an excited melody heralded the arrival of a smaller white ELMA closer in size to Sonata's original Cutey ELMA.

"Come on. We don't want to be late, right?" I asked the enthusiastic little bot and hopped on his back. His legs tucked up and a grav field held my feet in place as we got some height. Okay, I could definitely see the appeal of this. The power armor made flying awesome, but this was exhilarating. It was like extreme skateboarding through the air as I made my way to the hospital.

"Aria! Hey there!" Glory Girl called out as she joined me. "Another ELMA? You really like those things." She teased as we headed towards the ground.

"They're useful. Okay and the ELMA ES is fun to ride." The ES stands for Emergency System. "Is that your mom and dad?" I asked.

The pair of Brandish and Flashbang were a distinctive icon. Brandish, or Carol Dallon, wore a white costume with orange trim with crossed blades on her chest. She could make hard light weapons and shields as well as turn herself into an invulnerable sphere of light. Flashbang wore a padded white uniform with a helmet marked with a grenade. His ability was to create bouncing spheres of light that he could make in varying sizes that ranged from nonlethal concussive force to potentially lethal.

Panacea was standing a short distance from them. That struck me as a little odd. I was close enough to get a feel for their melodies and found myself wishing Emma was there. She could have made Amy feel better as her melody was nervous. Longing. Her melody was stretching towards her family and was being embraced by everyone, but not Brandish. Not fully. There was a feeling of longing from Brandish too, but also loathing. Directed inward? No, it was aimed at something far away. Unfortunately it seemed that loathing was poisoning her melody. Flashbang's melody was a bit distorted. Love for family, protective, apathy. Apathy? Mental condition.

I couldn't just assume that everything was the Shard's drive for conflict and/or idiocy in understanding human psychology. When the Shards asked for a data packet I sent it over eagerly. Just because it probably wasn't Shard bullshit they probably weren't helping things either.

"You must be Aria." Brandish greeted me as my side thought processes handled the influx of data.

"It's good to meet you." I returned. She shook my hand and I marveled at how firm that grasp was. Handshakes were exchanged with Flashbang as well. I gave Amy and Vicky hugs. Surge of disapproval from Brandish. Well too bad I'm not going to stop hugging my friends.

"Shall we start with the Director first?" Brandish suggested. Oh that was the problem. She's very goal oriented and extended greetings don't exactly move things along.

"She wants me to check her over and make sure the implants are working properly." Amy informed me. That was huge. The fact that she was willing to trust Tinker tech inside of her and Panacea to check her health was a big deal.

"Couldn't that medical scanner do the same thing?" Brandish asked. I nodded.

"It could, but this has the added benefit of showing Director Piggot's trust." I replied with. Oooh there was surge of approval there.

"Your dad must be proud to have such a smart cookie." Flashbang said with a smile. His melody wasn't as twisted around as Shard activity evened out, but it was still there. Preexisting condition exacerbated by conflict drive.

"Kid Win definitely notices." Glory Girl teased. I had to talk to Kid Win and get the truth out of him. I just hadn't found the time. Between this and that other thing... Alright. I was stalling. So sue me.

"You can ignore her. I usually do." Panacea said to me in a commiserating tone that failed to hide the giggle in her voice. I playfully pushed her. Flashbang was enjoying our byplay. Brandish was as well. The loathing in her melody was still there, but less directed at Panacea. Years of habit would be hard to break, but at least the Shard would be helping instead of halping. We were outside of Director Piggot's room where her doctor met us.

"Glad that you could make it." His eyes trailed to the ELMA at my feet, "Is it safe?" I didn't blame him for asking.

"He's fine. He doesn't have any weapons whatsoever." I assured him. ELMA ES didn't need weapons when he had a vastly overpowered amplification system. It wasn't designed for long term combat. I looked around. "Where is Mouse Protector?"

"She's inside with the Director." Brandish said as she ushered us inside. The Director was sitting up and looking much better. She wasn't as large as before. Mouse Protector was leaning close and the two were discussing something in low tones. MP noticed us and straightened up.

"There you are. We thought you got lost." She greeted us teasingly. Her melody was tired despite her perky act.

"Good to see you." Wow the director sounded better. Her melody was evening out and there was a great deal less worry on her face. "Where is Sonata?"

"We thought it would be best if you weren't overstimulated." The doctor replied. She fixed him with a look that made hardened PRT agents wet themselves. He visibly recoiled.

"Uhm...do I have your permission to check you over?" Panacea asked. Director Piggot's expression was significantly kinder when she gave her permission. There was collective hush as we waited for the verdict. She looked around after several minutes before saying, "Everything is working just fine. I could barely detect the implants."

"That's wonderful." The doctor said. "Ah...perhaps I should go tell the other doctors? The director of the hospital will want to know as well." He excused himself hurriedly. Smart guy.

"Hey are you missing our new mascot already?" Mouse Protector said to the director.

"I wasn't exactly at my best the last time she saw me. Besides she saved my life." That's my girl. Softening even the hardest of hearts. Then again she wasn't really all that hard to begin with. Jaded fits better. "Now what was that in downtown? I had to rely on the news to find out." Oh that would explain some of her irritation.

"Super Lung vs Mecha Armsmaster Round 2 in downtown with a tag in by Dragonzord." I replied. The others in the room looked at me. "What? Dragonzord is cool."

"I had to look that up, but you knew it already. How?" Glory Girl complained. I blushed.

"We uh...get this Earth Aleph channel called Jetix...it airs the old Power Rangers episodes..." Don't judge me!

"Huh...good to know." Glory Girl replied.

"How closely do the abilities of the BB Dragonzord..." Piggot's face scrunched up in annoyance at the media label, "...and the Power Rangers Dragonzord match?"

"Perfectly. Rockets, drill tail, and sheer power. If it wasn't so much smaller I would have said someone summoned it from somewhere." I shrugged.

"Told ya, Chief. That was the same thing our Thinkers said." MP said. Piggot gave the heroine a look.

"I have a hard time taking you seriously." Was the reply.

"It's good to see you in one piece, Emily." Brandish said. "I was surprised that you wanted to have Tinker tech stuck inside of you."

"Hmph. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. It was nothing against Panacea, but after Nillbog..." She trailed off meaningfully. "I know where the organs came from and they're able to be reproduced with normal science."

"You look a lot better." Flashbang said with a smile. "Any idea when you'll be back to work?"

"It won't be for a couple weeks. Sometime in May definitely." The director informed us. That was good to know actually. I was standing by the window and just enjoying the play of melodies. All at once my system sent a warning. Spatial disturbance?

By the time the warning came I was on a rooftop and stumbling from sudden vertigo. Disjointed melodies surrounded me and I reacted by diving to the side away from the closet one. I swept the rooftop with my eyes. There was a dark skinned man in a top hat, a woman in a bodysuit with suns all over it, and a large man staring at me. A fourth melody was there as well that resembled the lovechild of a gorilla and a scorpion. I recognized Trickster. His ability was to switch two objects and I guess he used that on me. I had no idea what I had been switched with either. Hopefully nothing dangerous. The creature snatched at me with a huge hand and held me immobile with my arms pinned to my sides.

"What are you doing?" I spat angrily. Judging by their melodies the only one actually enthusiastic about this plan was Trickster. I was already calling for my ELMA ES, but the time to arrival said that we had traveled far. The telescope on the rooftop told me how I was spotted at such a distance.

"We need your help with something. Two of us are not in the best of shape and you're the Tinker able to perform medical miracles." The top hat wearing cape said without a trace of worry.

"You could have just asked. I actually would have helped you without all this." Stall for time. I just needed some time for the ELMA to arrive. Keep him talking. His friends were looking even more unhappy.

"Yeah right. Who helps a villain? You haven't even taken a healer's oath I bet. It's very simple. You're going to come with us and do as we say. Once you've done that you can go home. No problem." He said with a smile. My brain came to a screeching halt. He actually believed that. This asshole actually believed that this would go away.

"Go to hell. I'm not going anywhere with you." The melody of my ELMA arriving was a short lived relief as a sun destroyed the machine in one blast. Trickster walked towards me with a regretful look.

"If that's how you feel...take a nap." He jammed a syringe into my neck. Whatever was in that stuff took effect immediately. I tried to fight it off, but my eyes were already closing. Before another thought had passed darkness claimed me.


-At the Hospital-


Pandemonium was the word of the day as Aria abruptly vanished and a bomb roughly the size of a human appeared. The word had been spread to start evacuating the hospital. There was a countdown timer ticking off the minutes. They had fifteen minutes to get all of the patients out and that was only adding to the panic. Glory Girl moved to touch it, but the note explicitly stating that anyone who touched it would set it off, caused her to back down.

Mouse Protector was already on the comm to base and cursing bitterly that she hadn't tagged Aria while she was in the room. Panacea was rushed outside to safety. The hospital had protocols in place for evacuation due to parahuman threat, but barely a quarter of the hospital had been evacuated before the timer ran out. Nothing happened. There had never been a bomb and the kidnappers now had a commanding head start.



-With Sonata-



Armsmaster had arrived and concluded that there were no moving parts. It was filled with water to give it the weight and affixed with a timer. This was the scene that Despedia, Granspear, and I arrived in time to see. By this point my mother had been missing for nearly an hour. She was unconscious as her melody had dropped off the radar. She wasn't dead, but there was nothing to indicate where she was. We couldn't even raise her on the chat channel. Her ELMA ES had sent the data to us of who had done this.

"The Travelers? Why would they grab Aria?" Mouse Protector was mystified, but also angry. Very angry.

"Who cares why they did?" Despedia demanded angrily, "Whatever the reason I will rip them to bleeding shreds!" She yelled with her eyes glowing red like hot coals. The emergency personnel were moving away from her. I hugged her to try and get her to calm down, but she was like a coiled spring. She didn't even seem to acknowledge my presence. Granspear pulled me back.

"Don't kid. She's not thinking straight." She warned. I was told that Aunt Emma wasn't completely stable, but this was my first sight of that. Despedia was hanging on by a thread and I had no doubt that as soon as my mom was awake she would head right to her. My Cutey ELMA Mk II was ready for a fight. "Despedia? When you go for Aria take me with you." Granspear said.

"You may come if you do not get in my way." Despedia replied. I shrank back. This was not good. Her melody had kicked over to something threatening. Dangerous. Her hair was bleaching to white as was her costume. The black parts were turning even blacker.

"What's going on with her?" Glory Girl asked in concern.

"Her Trigger was bad. The only one of us that can keep her calm is Aria." Granspear replied. There was one other, but we weren't about to out her. Lisa was freaking out as well. She wanted to be here. I sent waves of reassurance, but it was like trying to contain a wildfire.

"We'll start searching for her immediately once we have a clue. Who else is capable of teleportation?" Armsmaster asked.

"Wait. You say that Aria disappeared and the fake bomb showed up? That sounds like Trickster." Assault said. At some point while trying to keep Despedia from sharpening her nails Assault and Battery arrived.

"Why would Trickster do something like this?" Battery asked.

"Whoever they're working for probably wants her for something. Weren't they in Boston though?" Assault replied.

"Catch him before I do for he will BURN." Despedia said in her melodic voice.

"No burning the villains. You're on probation." Assault joked. She stared back at him with an absolutely blank expression. He shivered. "Wow...okay...uh why don't you make sure that Aria is safe? More important right?"

"You speak the truth." She calms slightly from Murder Everything to simply homicidal. Hey that's an improvement! There wasn't much that we could do until mom woke up. Once she did though?



I am the Daughter of the Boom Goddess.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony

or Melody of Escalation


Fourth Arc 4.5


April 23, 2011


-Location Unknown: Warehouse-


This was not what I wanted to do today. Going to the hospital to see the director was nice. Meeting more of New Wave was nice. Seeing Mouse Protector again was nice. All of these things were nice. I was looking forward to the visit before seeing if Glory Girl and Panacea wanted to hang out at my house. That was I planned for my Saturday. Getting kidnapped by the Travelers was not on my list of things to do so the first thing I did upon waking was take a good look around. The room was spacious that's for sure with old boxes and crates scattered about. There were cracked and broken windows along the upper levels of the building. There was a smell of mildew and of other things that made my nose twitch. Beautiful. I was in one of the many abandoned warehouses in Brockton Bay. That would narrow the search down a lot, but Despedia could track me. They had leg irons placed on me with enough slack to walk, but not to run. Given the weight of the chains I wouldn't be performing back flips anytime soon. My introspection was cut short by the approach of voices. One I recognized as Trickster while the other was unfamiliar to me. The unfamiliar voice was apparently furious. Good to know that I wasn't the only one having a bad day.

"You moron. I specifically told you not to go after her. The body for your precious Echidna is at my base and ready. The legs for your companion are ready. Couldn't you have waited a few more days before doing something so foolish?" The voice was angry, but controlled. I couldn't see them, but my hearing was good enough to pick out nuances.

"How was I supposed to know that? I don't exactly trust Thinkers too much considering it was Accord that sent Echidna to you in the first place. He didn't exactly inspire trust with that." Trickster said reasonably.

"Then why did you take this job if you don't trust Thinkers?" The voice demanded. They weren't coming any closer. I wanted to see who the other guy was, but if I tried to change my vantage point these chains would give me away.

"It put us in the same city as Aria. I figured that was worth doing as you say. You did get us here so I'm grateful for that." The villain didn't even seem to realize that antagonizing your employer was not conductive to long term health. I think the Evil Overlord List had a few things to say about that namely not allowing betrayal to go unpunished.

"You are a damned fool. Even now the Protectorate, Wards, and PRT are out there looking for her. What are you planning on doing? Fighting the entirety of Brockton Bay? Even the Empire is out looking for her. They might not have Kaiser to lead them, but Purity is no fool. Did you honestly think that nabbing a high profile Tinker wasn't going to go unchallenged?" The man's voice was calming down, but his comments were a verbal hammer. Apparently Trickster was so thick you needed to beat his head in with logic. The thing about Kaiser was interesting though. Why wasn't he there to lead his gang?

"Do you even have a way to get my girl into the new body?" Trickster had a one track mind. "If you do then I'll just leave her here. No one even knows about you so what does it matter?" Good question. Oh crap. I could feel Despedia's mental state and it was not good. She was heading in this direction, but I wanted to listen in more.

"Despedia, stop! I'm fine. Awake and unharmed. My kidnapper is having a talk with someone else and I want to listen in. Please don't burst in here just yet." I begged her over the chat channel. She sulked, but at least her spiraling anger stopped. The other man was speaking again. Thank God for multi-tasking.

"Not yet, but if you had waited I would have. It wasn't like she was going to build a body with no way to put the brain inside. You put the entirety of my operation at risk with this stunt. Never mind. My plans continue regardless." The voice was getting closer to my position. I arranged myself on the bed as if the knockout drug was only just now wearing off.

"Okay, fine, I screwed up. Let's just leave her here and go." Trickster still sounded like he wanted to keep me around, but clearly didn't want to piss off his benefactor. There didn't seem to be much love lost between them. Maybe I could get that to work for me?

The closer they got the more I could distinguish from their individual melodies. Trickster's was just as I remembered it being, but the second suddenly came onto my radar in a rush of pain. That feeling of my skull splitting wide open was familiar and unwelcome. I curled up into a fetal ball unconsciously. Oh no. This melody was familiar and not just because of the pain. His melody still sounded as if it were splitting off and tearing at me. My systems were hard at work analyzing where the split was going, but like Vista it warped like something out of Cthulhu. Unlike with Vista I couldn't tell where it was going or if it was even still on this plane. The sudden vertigo caused me to vomit.

"Damn. We can't leave her now." The man said as he saw me. The black bodysuit with the white snake coiled around his body from his left foot all the way to his head and the thin body told me who this was. Coil. The same melody as Thomas Calvert. He wasn't stupid and the coincidences were too large to ignore I guess. Thinking hurt, but it was my only defense.

"Why not? Shit...I didn't think that stuff would make her sick." Trickster sounded a bit faint. Oh remorse is nice. Not. I tried to cast my thought out to Despedia, but the pain kept dragging me back.

"That's not it at all. Get the girl and let's go. We can't leave her here now." Coil sounded absolutely livid. "Drug her again." He strode from the area in a fit of pique. The top hat wearing cape looked me over before shaking his head.

"I have no idea why he changed his mind, but I could care less. A good lesson to remember girl is that people will do anything for those they love. Whatever it takes." He brought the needle back to my neck. My hands gripped at his arm weakly. Focus, Aria. Focus dammit!

"Thomas Calvert is Coil! Thomas Calvert is Coil! He's..." The needle struck home and I knew no more.


-With Coil-


Damn that Trickster. It wasn't like he couldn't understand where the man was coming from. Expecting to get stabbed in the back and planning to get around it were commendable qualities. If the fool had any patience they wouldn't be stuck in this mess. When he had come within range of Aria and she started to spasm from pain the final piece of information was in place. She didn't just hurt him when they touched, but he caused her to have migraines just by being nearby. Her melody sense was giving her the equivalent of a Thinker headache by trying to analyze him. On the one hand it gave him a sense of dark satisfaction to know just how much pain he could inflict with his very presence. On the other hand it meant that she could not be allowed to walk away. She would know who he was and probably blab it regardless. He brought a phone up to his ear.

"Skidmark? I need you to create a panic near the Docks. Don't hold back." Coil told the foul Merchant cape. He didn't even wait to hear the response before dialing in another number. "Scramble your mercenaries. Use the remote suits with the Merchant colors. Threaten the hospital Director Piggot is recovering at, but watch your fire." He ended the call, took out the battery, and pocketed them. That should provide enough confusion to give the trail a chance to grow cold.

The Merchants were excellent patsies to pin this entire debacle on. He would have to see about springing Squealer, however. You can never have too many Tinkers. Especially ones as easily controlled by their desires as her. Trickster approached with Aria in his arms. It was hard to believe that this beautiful child was the butterfly that nearly destroyed everything. He shook his head. She was aggravating for that reason, but would be an excellent addition. Once she was broken in properly. He gestured for the mercenary cape to follow him.

Nearly anywhere in the city could be reached through the sewer access tunnels. It wasn't glamorous, but it was easier to escape unnoticed if you knew the correct paths. He opened the hatch at the back of the warehouse before motioning Trickster onward. The man didn't even question it and started down the ladder with Aria over his shoulder. Coil slipped down the ladder once the other man reached the bottom, but made sure the hatch was secure. The sound of something crashing into the warehouse was startling, but he kept his composure. They had managed to track the girl to the warehouse somehow.

'What the hell was that?" Trickster's voice was unusually loud in the stillness.

"Quiet you fool. Get in the boat." He gestured to the Tinker craft that sat in the sewer waters. It was clearly a boat, but was modified with skid rails and other features that Squealer was thrilled about. As long as it worked he didn't care.

"Fine." The man sullenly did as he was told. He climbed into the boat with his cargo left to rest on the bottom of the craft. Coil climbed in quickly as the sounds of devastation from above grew closer. The boat started and was zooming away down the tunnel at the barest touch. Thankfully the craft wasn't loud or obnoxious like Squealer's usual vehicles, but it was certainly reliable and quick. He found reliability to be an admirable quality in anything. Now if Trickster could be counted on to be reliable like this boat then everything would be smooth sailing.

The sounds of devastation were left far behind as the craft sped towards it's destination.



-With Despedia, Granspear, and Sonata-



-Market-

It had been three hours since Mom had been kidnapped and no one knew where she had gone. The number of people that had come out to look for her was staggering. Protectorate, PRT, Wards, New Wave, and whoever else felt like using their Saturday to help with the search. Mom would either be thrilled or mortified that so many people cared. Probably mortified. As long as the chat channel was still running then I knew she was alright. If that failed it meant bad things. We were checking the market area, but it seemed like a waste of time. The impatience was getting to me, but then again sensing Despedia's growing agitation wasn't helping things. Granspear was also beating herself up, but at least it was being channeled productively.

We were doing a walking search instead of flying since it was easier to miss things from up above. If they were holding her somewhere easily visible by air then they weren't very good kidnappers. Our grouping had Granspear at the front, Despedia in the middle, and myself in the rear. She arranged us so that it was easier for them to protect me and render assistance to each other. There was tension in the air as information of Mom's abduction spread from the news to word of mouth. I wanted to tell them that it would be alright, but we were told not to say anything. Ask if they've seen her, but be mindful of what we say. Standard cryptic nonsense, but those were the orders.

"How are you holding up, kid?" Despedia asked. She was calmer than in the hospital, but still on edge. It reassured me to know she was closer to her usual self.

"I know she's alright. That's all that matters right now. Well that and finding her of course." I stated matter-of-factly.

"That's the right attitude to have. We'll get her back." Granspear assured us. Her confidence put some starch back in our spines. To say that she was an experienced hero would be an understatement.

"It would be nice if she woke up soon...speak of the devil. She's waking up." Despedia sounded eager and a wee bit bloodthirsty. Mom was back on the chat channel. Her mind was waking up faster than her body, but that made sense. Computer boot up speeds and all that.

"Despedia, wait!" Granspear called out, but my godmother was off like a shot. She quickly flipped out her V Board to follow while I used the flight pack. Movers were so boo! Huh. Already picking up things I guess.

"Keep up!" The redhead called back. She wasn't going to stop until we reached Mom. I kept up electronic surveillance just so that we didn't arrive in the middle of an ambush. This was weird. The number of active cameras in this area we were approaching was next to zero. There were a few scattered about here and there, but otherwise nothing. We were arriving at the outer area of the train yard where several dilapidated warehouses stood. Despedia landed on one of the shipping containers to scan the area more thoroughly.

"Hmmm...trying to pinpoint her melody...but something's making it echo weirdly." She rubbed her forehead with a brief wince of pain. "Weird." Granspear approached her.

"That's not good, but at least we know she's here." The blue-black haired girl responded.

"Wait...she's contacting us." Despedia sounded relieved, but her agitation failed to abate. Mom was asking us to give her some time. She was apparently listening in on a conversation between Trickster and someone else.

"Kaiser went missing? This mystery guy seems to know how to it happened too. Des, just calm down. Work on finding her location so that when she needs extraction we can get her out." Granspear told the other girl firmly. She folded her arms imperiously over her chest, but did as she was told.

"I'm not seeing anything through the security feeds. There's just no cameras around here." I couldn't stand this feeling of uselessness. We were right at the finish line, but our goal wasn't in sight. Granspear gripped my shoulder comfortingly even as she extended her spear for the fight ahead. It was a marvel of form and function. Mom and Armsmaster put it together. The weapon had a transformation ability that turned it into her V Board, but also allowed it to unfold into a full spear. The weapon had two heads. The smaller of the two had a plasma cutter while the larger head could unfold into a mancatcher. Analyzing her weapon again only provided a minute's distraction. All at once Mom's cries of pain came over the chat channel. Despedia's own murmurs of pain weren't helping. I didn't have the kind of range that either of them did, but I was feeling sympathetic feedback. Not enough to incapacitate.

"Despedia! Where is she? We're going now." Granspear spoke calmly, but intensely. The redhead let out a shuddering breath as she reoriented on her goal.

"She's very close...The pain is narrowing the location...She's there!" Despedia set off just as Mom's message came through. Who was Thomas Calvert? I mean we knew who Coil was. He hired mercenaries and made use of sophisticated Tinker tech. Somehow she found out a villain's identity. A bolt of fear shot through me. She knew the identity of a villain. I relayed the information back to headquarters even as we rushed to the location.

Despedia apparently went to the Kool-Aid Man school of entering a building. Mom's signal had dropped off again, but we were moving so quickly it should have been impossible for anyone to escape. They had escaped. They managed to not only get out of this building, but do it in such a way no one saw them leave. I fell to my knees. We were so close. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all, but here we are. A pair of slender arms wrapped around my shoulders and drew me in. Granspear didn't say a thing, but that was okay. I took comfort from the action. The redhead had gotten it into her head that there must be a secret entrance to an escape tunnel. At this point it wasn't actually a stupid idea. Wait a minute. There were sewer access tunnels all throughout the city. A defense against over flooding. I quickly checked the records and there was, indeed, an access tunnel under the building.

"What is it?" Granspear asked. She must have noticed my Eureka moment.

"Despedia! Look for a sewer access hatch!" I said over the chat channel. No way was she going to be able to hear me over the havoc she was causing. The redhead nodded once before heading unerringly towards the hatch. When he caught up to her she was looking visibly ill.

"Ugh...super nose. God I hate my super nose. Is this where she went?" Despedia asked. I nodded.

"The thing is that we don't know where they went once down there. We'll have to wait for Mom to wake up again. I know it's not what you wanted to hear..." I tried to say, but she just hugged me.

"Easy kid. I'm not mad at you. Let's get back to headquarters. The information that we do have will help out a lot." The redhead smiled. Her eyes were still a bit manic, but the demons were being held at bay. We knew Mom was okay now.

Wherever you are, Mom. We'll find you.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony

or Melody of Escalation

Interlude The Uncertainty


-Hebert Residence: Danny-


The house was cold.

There was sunlight coming in through the window and the heater was on, but that changed nothing. The house was cold. The man moved about the kitchen as if he were ancient rather than the thirty some odd years he possessed. It wasn't a feeling that he could place, but it was something he knew all the same. There had been a dark foreboding this morning. The activity around the table had made the house feel truly alive in a way that had been missing since his wife died. The cold had begun to settle in his bones despite the warmth and affection. He pushed it away to focus on the bright lights that filled the home with light and love.

If someone had told him that his daughter's best friend, sister in all but blood, would be betray her it would have been inconceivable. The fact that she was able to hide it for nearly two years was worrying. Just how much had he neglected his little girl that this would slide right by? That same person was now sitting at their table with a smile on her face, but a deep pain in her changed eyes. The vivid pink hue would dim briefly throughout the day as her grief would strike. He knew that feeling well. She had been badly damaged by an abusive home life and the toxic views of another. He knew that her gaining powers had been further complicated by his own daughter. The very night of her Trigger she defended herself from her drunken parents and killed them in the process. Emma Barnes was deeply scarred by her experience. He couldn't hold a grudge against a girl so full of remorse. To the outside observer she was fine, but to someone who knew grief he could see she was still on the mend.

When he met Lisa for the first time it had been an interesting experience. The term broken bird is used a lot in literature to describe a girl that has had a rough life. He never thought he would meet one literally. She put on a brave front, but it was clear just how worried she was. Taylor was in the hospital again and here was this girl that had clearly been taken with her. His little owl was making friends and it made him glad to see that. Lisa had somehow seen that the jig was up and let him see the real concern she held. The poor girl was so lost and unsure. Scared for her friend and scared for feeling such deep affection for anyone. He didn't pry into her life, but let her know that he would listen. To see her smiling at Taylor was like watching the sun rise. Even if she wasn't at the table right now it still held her presence.

Cocona had crash landed in their life literally. He might have been warned that she was coming, but to see this very petite girl having floored Taylor, Lisa, and Emma it made him laugh. She was like a ball of energy that wanted to grasp the whole world. The pain in her eyes was old, but deeper. Helping to save your world twice would put a heap of weight on anyone's shoulders. Doing it with a death sentence over your head even more so. She fought with everything she had even as an accident of birth slowly killed her. To see the naked gratitude in her eyes whenever she looks at Taylor is humbling. His baby girl was responsible for not just Cocona, but many of the girl's people no longer having to suffer. Seeing her at this table was welcome. She came through a dimensional portal just to be with his daughter and help her. It showed him that no matter where in creation you come from there are decent people. That was a comforting thought.

The newest member of the family continued to make him smile. Sonata Annette Hebert was a true joy to have around. Her body was created as a test bed for medical science, but the young girl herself was made with love. There was nothing about her personality that didn't show her roots. The affection she had for everyone and the wonder at life was refreshing. Instead of just making a simple lab partner his daughter had truly given birth to this child. Until the day she came home he hadn't believed in such a thing. Intellectually he knew that Cocona's people were much like her, but Annette brought it home. Taylor named her daughter after two things of her mother's. Her love of music and her name. It was hard not to get emotional when he thought about that. The fact that the PRT had even gave her legitimate credentials drove it home further. She was here to stay and looking adorable.

There was one person whose presence was felt at this table, but wasn't here physically. Mir. An ancient Reyvateil that at one time was considered a villain. Her actions in the past driven by an emotional breakdown and callous treatment. Trying to blame her for those things, to him, would be like blaming the victim for lashing out at her tormentors. It didn't excuse what she did, but her actions weren't without reason. She discovered a love of her own and was redeemed by her own actions. Now they hailed her as a hero. If anyone could understand what his daughter had gone through at the hands of a tired and broken system it was her. She was there with Taylor in the locker and it was her that saved his baby girl. He could excuse any monstrous act for someone that cared about his daughter. If it wasn't for Mir then Taylor never would have met Lisa. Never would have regained her friendship with Emma. Never would have met Cocona. Never would have had Annette.

She never would have reconciled with him. Maybe that was the cold feeling he was getting. If she had Triggered alone in the dark, would Taylor have come to him? No. Why would she come to the person that abandoned her when her mother died? He loved his daughter and did the best he could, but even he knew it was abandonment. If he had truly loved her then he would have sent her to stay with Kurt and Lacey. The right thing to do would have been have her stay with people that weren't emotionally broken. That was in the past, but he would remember that decision. He would use it as a talisman to ward off similar feelings in the future. Danny wouldn't just be the father and grandfather his girls needed, but all the one they deserved. Though looking into his heart it was becoming harder to tell who his girls were.

The phone rang and the cold came back with a vengeance. He drove it away with the heat of his determination. Not now. Don't let yourself be paralyzed now. This dark foreboding was swirling around his head like a storm cloud as he picked up the phone. The PRT agent on the other end called to inform him that Taylor had been kidnapped from the hospital. A full search was being conducted by several groups. The full weight of the PRT was behind the search. The agent didn't try to get his hopes up or feed him meaningless platitudes. He told Danny exactly what they would do and when they found his daughter exactly what would be done to the ones that took her. He took a certain vindictive pleasure in the idea that the Protectorate, New Wave, and the PRT were looking for his daughter. They were also looking to make an example of the poor fools. The last time something happened to a Ward it had been legendary. Details had been kept classified, but several villains just disappeared without a trace.

The phone rang even before he hung it up. He stared at it for a moment, but there was no chill this time. Actually he found himself looking forward to the call. Maybe it was already news about Taylor?

"Danny? It's Lisa." The voice on the other end was tinged with worry, but welcome.

"Hello Lisa. I'm sorry, but Taylor isn't in right now..." He wanted to tell her, but there was the feeling that she already knew somehow. It probably had to do with that chat channel his girls could use.

"I know and you know that I know. That was a little confusing. Let me start over..." Lisa sounded flustered, but also like she was gaining her composure.

"Whatever you need to say it doesn't have to be cleaned up. You can be honest with the both of us." Danny assured her. The silence on the other end of the phone was strangely telling.

"Okay. My friends and I will start looking for Taylor. We plan on coordinating with the other searchers. Whatever it takes we'll find her. I can promise you that." The blonde was so serious and so self assured. She truly believed what she was saying.

"Thank you." He said in appreciation. "Wait...just know that anytime you need a place to go...you can count this as your home too. Okay?" The feeling that this was right wouldn't leave him. He already knew it in his heart.

"Th-thank you...I better...get going." Lisa hung up with a suspicious catch in her voice. The gratitude was real. He hung up the phone. There was one other person that he wanted to speak with. He made his way to the terminal in Taylor's room.

At one time he would have referred to it as a monitor, but it was so much more than that. The terminal looked like one of those old Gateway all in one devices that was a monitor combined with a computer. The device weighed maybe two pounds, if that, with a screen cover for easy transport. He stared at the twenty-one inch screen and marveled at what his daughter could build. The machine was designed to activate with the appropriate thumbprint. No sooner had he touched the device that it flared to life. The camera running its check against the approved user database. He did listen to his daughter when she rambled after all. The icon for what his daughter affectionately called HymmnSphere was on the desktop. He hit the key for a well used address.

"Hello Danny." Mir greeted me from her desk. She wasn't at home apparently, but seemed to be at a desk in a well appointed sitting room. The walls were done in soft blues while the floor was a muted green. He had never seen this place before.

"Hello Mir. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." They weren't close, but they also weren't stiff with each other. The spoke sometimes. Sometimes he even talked to Croix, Aoto, and Lyner. The poor guys were always outnumbered by women. Anyone who tries to say they would love to have the attention of gorgeous women has never had to deal with more than one at a time.

"Just my brooding." She admitted frankly. The amount of trust it must have taken to admit that was humbling. Mir's lips curled up slightly in amusement, but the worry was visible in her eyes.

"She'll come home safely. You've given her the tools to survive and our girl is a fighter." Danny assured her. She gazed at him with some surprise. The expression wiping away the jaded woman and showed the hopeful young woman she once was.

"Thank you, Danny." She didn't elaborate on it, but he knew. Acknowledging Taylor was just as much her daughter as Danny and Annette's was surprisingly not difficult for him. Not now at any rate. She looked off to the side for a moment to get herself together.

"There are two super hero teams, a government agency, and a band of rogues all searching for her. Where there's hope there's a way." It was growing easier to believe that. He never would have believed that normal humans could have stood up to parahuman threats, but they did and won. Clean and affordable energy in his lifetime was a reality. A possible end to world hunger was just around the corner. To know that his daughter was involved all because of a golden ray of hope made him a believer.

"Would you like to hear the song I taught to our girl?" Mir asked in a strangely shy tone. He never got a chance to hear it before. Of course he wanted to hear the melody that changed her life.



The words seemed to unfold in his mind as he allowed himself to be carried away. The song was more than just a song, but an affirmation of good things in the world. There was an innocence to it as if she had been transported to a time before her torments. Despite her woes. He blinked the tears from his eyes as the song came to a close, but it seemed that a flute somewhere picked up the tune. It faded softly in the stillness, always remembered, and never forgotten. Mir looked surprised as tears streamed down her cheeks. It was as if she were hearing it again for the first time. They sat in silent contemplation of their daughter lost somewhere out there in Brockton Bay.

But we had Hope.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony

or Melody of Escalation

Fourth Arc 4.6



-PRT Headquarters-



This entire situation was bad. There just wasn't a better way to put the absolute disaster today had become. This was just the sort of situation that had people transferred to outer Mongolia or to a Simurgh Containment Zone. The higher ups would want this resolved immediately or find a scapegoat to sacrifice to the forum of public opinion. Miss Militia was understandably jaded on the entire concept. Soldiers lived or died while pencil pushers made decisions from their ivory towers. She couldn't show just how frustrated this situation made her feel. There was a certain way a director, even if only an acting director, must behave. She looked to the two that managed to drop this in her lap and tried not to get mad at them.

Mouse Protector was the easiest of the two to read. Bombastic and irreverent to all, but she took her duties seriously. Well, for a given value of serious. She was dependable and trustworthy which were qualities that mattered to the patriotic cape. To see the normally larger than life woman with a look of bitter recrimination was difficult. It was plain to see that she was beating herself up over her perceived failure. To be completely honest this was not something anyone could have planned for. That someone would brazenly kidnap Aria, a Ward, in broad daylight and in the company of five other capes was inconceivable. On the other side of the coin all the heroic mouse had to do was touch her. There was no easy answer to this debacle.

Brandish was the harder of the two normally, but the tenseness in her posture and steely look in her eyes promised pain. This was supposed to be a PR thing. The up and coming young Tinker for the Wards with Panacea? It was a pure photo opportunity with a walk around the hospital. Something simple and would make good press for New Wave and the PRT. The fact that Panacea and Glory Girl were legitimately friendly with Aria gave them a rather nice connection. Brandish was taking it personally that something she and Lady Photon had put together resulted in a child being kidnapped. The worst part of that was that the crazies would come out and claim New Wave arranged it so that their healer would the most sought after in town. Miss Militia inwardly sighed as her thoughts turned to worst case scenarios.

Personally she could care less if her head was on the chopping block as long as they found the girl in one piece and alive. She looked over the predictions that the PRT Thinkers had sent over regarding this disaster. It seemed that in their time of need the central office had given permission to make use of whatever resources were available and she was not too proud to turn that down. There was only one cape that fit the criteria for the information that was brought back. Trickster. The last anyone had heard he was still in Boston with the Travelers. Something had obviously changed, but damned if she knew what the connection was. The Travelers had never been interested in Tinkers before after all, but that didn't rule them out. They might just have a high paying client who would love to have Aria's tech all to themselves.

"What are we gonna do, chief?" Mouse Protector asked without anyone of her usual bravado. The steel in her posture would remind any villain that this was a cape that often punched above her weight class and won.

"I say we take it to the streets and see what garbage we can shake out. That makes the most sense." Brandish folded her arms in front of her chest. She was a known firebrand when riled which did more for deterring crime than her own power.

"Searching blind? Hey I know my ideas are crazy, but that takes the cake. Let's just see what M&M has to say." The mouse themed heroine turned expectantly to Miss Militia. Brandish also turned in her direction with a raised eyebrow.

"Unfortunately it really is the best idea that I've heard. The Empire is out as well with their own troops and capes. Whether it's to find Aria or not we don't know. Either way we have a missing Ward and at this point some action is better than none. By having our people out there we maximize response times for when she's found. New Wave knows their area better than we do so that's where they'll patrol. The Protectorate will check high parahuman activity areas while the PRT agents will scout the Wards' normal routes. The Wards themselves will go along with a detachment of agents. We've already sent Despedia to the Market area. Her, Granspear, and Sonata will let us know when they get a lock on her location." Miss Militia informed them.

"Why can't this girl find her now?" Brandish asked.

"The thing that she uses to track Aria only works if she's conscious." The possibility that they might just keep her unconscious until they fled the city didn't bear thinking about. The other two understood the unspoken message.

"What can I do to help?" Mouse Protector asked.

"Armsmaster, you, and I will be remaining here at HQ. Once information about her location comes in we'll head right to the scene. Dragon has also volunteered to come along." The patriotic cape told them.

"I better get going then. The sooner we start looking the sooner we'll find her." Brandish seemed unusually tense. Ever since Aria had been taken she was on edge. It wasn't purely worry about the girl, but right now it made her bound and determined to find her. That was more useful than poking at her issues. The woman strode out of the office to head back to her team.

"Whew...she's really stiff. So chief, what do we do until the call comes in?" Mouse Protector sat down in the office chair.

"We talk about how this isn't your fault." She held a finger up to silence the other woman, "It isn't your fault. The only one that I could think of that might blame you is Despedia and she doesn't. That girl is so devoted to her best friend that it's scary, but she doesn't blame you. No one blames you for this."

"I let myself get complacent. You know that's a big no-no when dealing with villains. How much time would it have taken to just pat her on the shoulder? None. I just figured that with so many capes in one place and hospitals normally being neutral territory..." She shrugged halfheartedly. It was just common sense that hospitals were neutral ground. They also treated villains that were brought in which is why this blatant violation was all the more galling.

"It's not complacency, Kat. What you..." the acting director was interrupted by the phone ringing. She snatched it off the cradle hoping for news of the lost Ward, but what she got was a sick feeling. Mouse Protector stayed silent as the phone was set back down. Miss Militia stared sightlessly at the ceiling as if she had been delivered an enormous shock.

"Hannah...is it Aria? Is she alright?" Mouse Protector asked in the sudden stillness. Assuming, correctly, that this had something to do with the missing girl. The patriotic cape shook herself from her reverie. She didn't answer directly, but motioned for the other woman to follow her as she hurried out of the room.

"This is bad. This is very bad. We've been compromised and have been for God only knows how long." The bandanna clad woman didn't slow down as she spoke. Her companion easily keeping pace with her.

"That's certainly bad. Where are we going?" Mouse didn't raise her voice as they were speaking in low tones. Their urgent movements might have been a tip off that something was wrong, but no one know just how wrong.

"Armsmaster's lab to tell him what I just found out and to have Dragon purge our systems. I don't know if this has spread to them as well, but better safe than sorry." The cryptic statements still managed to convey just how serious this situation was to the normally excitable cape. Mouse Protector was far more perceptive than she let on. They reached the lab and thankfully the man himself was there. Dragon was also in residence in the sleek bodysuit that she had taken to wearing. The two of them were standing fairly close together with their heads bent over a project, but sprung apart when the door opened suddenly.

"Miss Militia, Mouse Protector, is there something I can help with?" Armsmaster asked politely. It was clear the two were working on something to distract themselves.

"Lock down the lab. Dragon? Please run a full diagnostic of our communications and other systems. There are things I've heard that shouldn't get out just yet." Her tone was so different than what they were used to that it took a few moments to process, but they set to work. The lab was closed off and Dragon was going through the systems piece by piece.

"The lab is isolated." Dragon reported. Some of the tension went out of Miss Militia's shoulders. Mouse Protector perched on one of the tables while Armsmaster took a seat. The Canadian Tinker also sat down facing the acting director.

"Now are you gonna tell us what's going on?" The bombastic cape finally had enough of the cloak and dagger to get straight to the point.

"Despedia found Aria. She shared that they have a way of communicating that involved their melodies. Once she was in range they were able to talk. She hadn't been able to narrow down the location immediately. The thing is Aria found out some information from eavesdropping on Trickster and another person who is his employer. Kaiser is missing and this employer knows how it happened. Possibly responsible." The patriotic cape exhales slowly in sudden weariness. "Aria found out that the employer is Coil. His melody has the same effect on her as that of PRT consultant Thomas Calvert. She is absolutely positive they are one and the same." The silence was deafening. He wasn't a trusted man given that in order to escape Ellisburg he shot his own superior in the back. There was something shady going on when despite that he wasn't even charged with anything. He was fired from the PRT, but then came back in the capacity of a private consultant.

"That's terrible news. If he realizes that she knows his identity he...he already does." Dragon visibly deflates. Armsmaster rubs her shoulder comfortingly. The sight would have brought a smile to Miss Militia if this were a better time.

"But you said they found her. I get the feeling that's not the case anymore." Mouse Protector sounded grim.

"Despedia finally got a lock on her location, but there was no one there by the time they arrived. Aria is unconscious again apparently. A search of the building turned up a sewer access. Despedia said that she could faintly smell Aria from that direction, but the other scents in the sewer confused her." Not even a bloodhound could pick out an individual scent from a sewer. A buzzing started up on Armsmaster's terminal.

"What now?" He asked irritably as he went to check. The irritability was replaced by a cold fury, "There are several power armors in Merchant colors attacking the hospital and down by the Docks. Skidmark, Squealer, Trainwreck, and Mush are confirmed at the second location. Crystal, Angel and Smack are near the Boardwalk with more power armor."

"Son of a bitch..." Mouse Protector groaned, "Diversion. Like saying 'pick one job and fail the other." The whole mess left a bad taste in their mouths.

"What do we do?" Dragon asked. She was plainly torn. It was obvious that Aria and her mentor had become close, but she was seemingly being asked to ignore her charge in favor of this new chaos.

"We stick to the plan. Do not deviate. We have armor of our own and capes of our own. New Wave is at the Boardwalk so send a division of agents to their location. Send another to the hospital and to the Docks. I want Velocity, Dauntless, Assault, and Battery to deal with the Merchants." If the Merchants wanted to pick their heads up during all of this then they were gonna get blown off.

"Done. What do we tell the Wards?" Armsmaster asked after sending out the orders.

"Keep looking for Aria and stay away from the fighting. When they find her call back to base." Miss Militia knew that morale was an integral part of any operation. The Wards wanted to feel useful and they would definitely be useful. They had enough armored units and capes that for once they were the ones holding the big stick. The children could look for their friend without getting caught up in the fighting.

"Once they find Aria we'll swoop in..." Mouse Protector said with a slowly spreading grin, "...and swooping is bad."

"I've been looking for a place to test my new lance." Dragon's grin matched Mouse Protector's. Armsmaster and Miss Militia had the same thought. Dear God there's two of them!



-Hospital-



It was a scene out of a sci-fi movie in front of the hospital. Power armors had stormed the block flying the Merchant's colors and firing their weapons into the air. The panicked masses fled as the wall of hi-tech shock troopers descended on the largest hospital in the city. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the assault as they shot up cars and the street. Some kind soul had dialed 911 which brought the police. Whoever had made the Merchant armors hadn't put in a flight unit, but the police were using PRT special issue which gave them greater mobility. There was now a blue line drawn in the sand between the Merchants and their objective. The firefight was intense as both sides fought tooth and nail to reach their goals. The police were proving valiant in the face of their foe, but the sheer number of Merchant mecha was slowly grinding them down. Lieutenant Fred Lee slammed another clip of HE rounds into his faithful rifle before resuming his assault. The massive weapon sent another bullet down range that blew out the optics, and skull, of another enemy yet they kept coming. The lack of blood was telling. At first they had hope that if enough of them fell the rest would panic and flee.

There was no one in the suits.

They still held out hope that eventually whoever was controlling them would realize that they were losing resources. That whoever had organized this assault would cut their losses. They remembered then that the Merchants owned these things and they weren't known for their wisdom. Like lemmings these machines would press the assault until either they, or the police, were gone. He looked at his band of brothers and sisters grimly. Their armors were damaged and soot stained, but nothing severe. Not yet at any rate. The real danger was running out of ammunition. Soon they would be down to photon blades and melee while those armors still held beam weapons. Above their heads was a police helicopter trying to send down an ammo crate, but every time it got close enough a blast from the enemy would make it veer off course. His rifle clicked empty. The scene was repeated down the line as their heavy weapons ran out of ammunition.

"Agh!" A voice cried out followed by the sounds of pain as several more of his comrades started to fall. With no way to fight back except engaging in close range this was turning into a route. According to the HUD their armors had done their jobs well. His fellow officers would live, but they would need a hospital soon. How ironic that the very place they needed was right behind them. He laughed with gallows humor as he got the heavy metal tube from his waist and clicked on the vibrant blue blade.

"Give these fuckers hell!" He roared as he vaulted into the air on his thrusters before coming down in the enemies' midst cleaving back and forth with his blade.

The rallying cry was taken up as many officers followed his example and flew into the fight with desperate determination. A blaster shot hit his force field dead on causing it to flicker while the next dropped it just in time for the follow up shot to his upper torso. The pain was like nothing he had experienced before, but the powerful war machine held. He bellowed like an angry bull as he fought like a man possessed. They would not get to that hospital. They would not cross this line! All at once the enemy armors started exploding. The lieutenant turned his gaze to the sky and thought he'd seen a miracle.

"What the hell...?" One of the officers asked in a stunned voice. "The PRT! PRT incoming!" There were ragged cheers and a renewal of flagging energies. The supply copter was able to finally make it's delivery. Caught between the police and the PRT it was a meat grinder. Metal components littered the ground as the battle shifted from a war of attrition to a rout. During the clean up a black and red armor with the PRT logo strode towards Lieutenant Lee.

"Nice day for a party, eh? Agent Cogwell. Sorry that we're late, but our invitation was held up." The voice that came from the mech was friendly, but also contrite.

"Lieutenant Lee and I gotta say you were right on time. What the hell was all this?" The man asked. The agent sighed, but nodded.

"You deserve to know. The Ward, Aria, was kidnapped from the hospital as I'm sure you're aware. Someone is using the Merchants as a diversion. I can tell you to be wary of snakes that like to coil in wait." The cryptic statement took a few moments to process, but when it did he simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"I'll make sure to do that. This is gonna take forever to clean up." He gestured at the ruined streets, cars, and junk from the mechs.

"All in a day's work. Excuse me." Agent Cogwell nodded briefly before heading back towards the others, "Okay guys! Secure the area and make a landing area for the clean up crew!" The lieutenant went back to check on his own people. The injured had already been moved into the hospital. Thankfully their armors hadn't been so badly damaged that they couldn't disengage.

"What's the word? Gonna shut us out of this again?" The officer that spoke jerked a thumb at the armored agents.

"Keep it up Jenkins and watch where it lands you. As a matter of fact he shared some interesting information. The Merchants are the ones helping whoever kidnapped Aria. I think they need to be taught a lesson about messing with children. A long overdue lesson." Just because he was Officer Friendly on the PHO didn't mean that he was always friendly as the Merchants were about to find out.

 

[Dark Mage]

Yes! HoH is finally on SV!

Can't wait for the revisions to catch up with the story.

 

[Dreitus]

close range this was turning into a route.

Click to shrink...

 

[dingbat779]

Changed Chariot to Trainwreck. Why do I keep confusing those two?

 

[justinkal]

Huh, cool to see this getting cross-posted. I actually spend more time over here than I do on SB.

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

Aaannnd, like bombed.

 

[Hunter 1]

Finally! You've kept me waiting, Dingbat. It's nice to see this here.

 

[dingbat779]

Hymn of Harmony

or Melody of Escalation



Fourth Arc 4.7



-The Boardwalk-



It was a cold and clear day. The kind of day that one would take a stroll along the Boardwalk and see where life took them. It was a gorgeous day meant to be spent doing any number of fun activities. Unfortunately that wasn't the case right at this moment. The cape known as Crystal watched listlessly as the patrons along the Boardwalk were being herded like sheep. Merchant power armors stormed the shops and had a field day looting with no one to stop them. She just couldn't get excited about throwing her power around on people weaker than herself. Her eyes fell to her sister, Angel, as she leaned on a Merchant in more intimidating armor than the rest. She snorted softly.

"Livin' the dream, huh sis?" She said softly. A smile that didn't reach her eyes crossed her face. That was Angel alright. Attach herself to the strongest, the baddest, the most influential. It wasn't that she lacked strength, but that she was a climber. She was someone that strove to reach the greatest heights. The person that wanted power the most. That man in the power armor was the Merchants' freshly appointed lieutenant. Some clean cut guy that could make money appear out of thin air with his smooth talk and easy manners. Also the fact that he could keep his composure no matter the situation. Skidmark was an asshole, but he wasn't actually stupid.

"No...please! Just take it...don't hurt us...please!" A man cried out above the commotion. One of the unarmored Merchants was threatening him with a gun. Oh, not him. The man had a lovely girl standing behind him and was shielding her with his body.

"Hey I got the gun! Don't fuckin' tell me what to do shit stain!" The thug was growing impatient. This wasn't part of the script. They were supposed to loot the Boardwalk and take off. No one was supposed to get hurt. Crystal looked over to Angel and the armored man beside her.

"Okay knock it off." The armored man, Michael, stepped forward. She breathed a sigh of relief until the next words were spoken, "Take her into on the stores. We don't need the kids to see this." There was a smattering of raucous laughter. Angel leaned in close to his helm and whispered something before giggling. No help from that corner. The man interposed himself again.

"Don't hurt my daughter, please! I'll give you my credit cards! All of them! Please!" He gazed about wildly looking for some way out of the nightmare. His eyes met her own. Terror, love, desperation, dwindling hope.

"Back off! This isn't what we're here for." Crystal shouted as she strode over to the scene. Those eyes would haunt her. They were the eyes she saw in the mirror growing up.

"Oh chill out, Crystal. It's just a bit of sport." Angel stared at her as if expecting her to back down. She loved her sister dearly, but this was not something her sister was prepared to stand down from.

"Skidmark said..." The armored man started to say only for Crystal to interrupt him.

"Cause some trouble and loot the place. We've been here too long anyway. What if New Wave shows up, huh? Did anyone think of that?" She demanded.

"Geez...don't get your panties in a twist, sis..." Angel started to say only for her lover boy to let out a huff.

"Everybody is looking for Aria. We have some time to mess around so just relax." Michael said in a calming tone.

"This is not cool. If that guy tries to touch that girl I'm breaking his legs. Got me?" Crystal folded her arms over her chest mutinously. No way was she going to allow some scumbag to do that in front of her. A quiet voice asked how many have done it out of her sight, but she silenced it again. Unfortunately the voice was becoming harder to quiet.

"You don't give the orders here, sis." Angel spat in sudden fury. The cocktail of drugs she took made her unpredictable at the best of times and downright murderous at others. "Michael is the one in charge. Not you." Despite being close when they were younger, the sisters were pulling apart more and more. Angel never would have thought of taking someone else's side over Crystal's and the same was true in reverse.

"Ladies please...Crystal? Could you go find Smack? He hasn't come back yet." The armored man told her. The guy was always playing peacemaker between the different elements of the Merchants. It was made him so invaluable. The only power he had in abundance was sweet common sense, but lacked any other redeeming qualities like morals. She fixed one last glare on the unrepentant thug. The hairy bastard had the balls to grin at her before turning away dismissively.

She headed off in the direction that Smack was last seen heading. The lack of respect they had for her was understandable. Crystal just wasn't a bitch and she wasn't cruel. She didn't wield her authority that being a cape gave her. She only had herself to blame. That little voice had come back already asking her if it even mattered anymore. Did she actually stop anything or did they just wait for her to leave? She manifested a crystal shard in her hand. The beautiful translucent piece of glass was absolutely perfect. There was not a flaw to be found. It was harder than real diamonds and sharper than blades. Angel had managed to work her way into Skidmark's good graces. When he approached her with the offer of power she took it without hesitation. She managed to get Crystal in on it as well. What she never told her sister was that the vial didn't work.

She had already gained power.

With an angry growl she banished the crystal back to wherever it was it came from. This didn't help her find freaking Smack. The rubbery cape was someone after Skidmark's own heart. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and fuck all if they disagreed. The fact that the only way to hurt him was to actually cut him made him a difficult customer to reign in. Oh Skidmark has brought him into line by threatening his drug supply, but Crystal was an entirely different stick. Her crystals could hurt him badly. She wouldn't do it, but no one needed to know that. He was found sitting in the back lot where he had his ass handed to him for the first time. That was something else she had to deal with. He was in a brooding mood.

"Come on. Michael wants you back with the others." She called out. He barely responded except to flip her off.

"Go away. I'll be back when I'm good and ready." He said in that strange tone caused by his power. God why did he have to sound like he was actually speaking through a gas mask? That was just creepy.

"I can't go back without you. There's plenty of loot if you come back now. The good stuff might be all gone." She tried cajoling him, but instead was forced to bring up a wall of crystal to stop his fist.

"Get out of here. I won't tell you again." He snarled. Dammit. She shook her head. There was no way that she was getting herself killed over this shit. A white streak flashed overhead followed by several other streaks. The sight made her tremble. New Wave was here and inbound from the Rig was several black spots in loose formation. PRT power armors.

"Smack! New Wave and PRT are coming!" She tried to rouse him. That seemed to do the trick.

"At last...is Glory Hole with them?" He rasped eagerly.

"Yeah..." Crystal didn't like the excitement in his voice. It sounded too much like...no. Don't think about that. That way lie madness.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! I'm gonna get me some of that!" He howled before bounding off faster than she had ever seen him move. There was a sick feeling in her stomach as she rushed back to where her sister was last. New Wave wasn't supposed to be here? Yeah right! Why wouldn't they search the Boardwalk? It was practically their backyard. A lot of things were starting to unravel her already thin loyalty to the Merchants. Thoughts of fleeing became even more tempting, but her sister was here. She would stay for her.



-PRT Headquarters-



The meeting at the PRT building had gone about as well as she expected. No leads, no new information, and Mouse Protector. There were no good things to be said about her visit. The stories about the cape were favorable in that they said she was personable and had a strong work ethic. What they failed to accurately convey was just how damn annoying the woman could be. She was more irritable than usual and could recognize that about herself. It wasn't that she wasn't in tune with her emotions it was just never the right time to stop and think about them. A young girl was kidnapped on her watch. That would not stand. No more innocents should be subjected to the dark and the uncertainty. She shook her head to dispel the troubling thoughts. Brandish was not one to waste time.

She strode out into the lobby to meet up with the rest of New Wave. Lady Photon, her sister, was looking at her in sympathy. They understood just how far someone could fall with no support and no hope of rescue. Her brother-in-law, Manpower, had an arm around his wife's shoulders in a gesture of support. Her niece and nephew were also there. Laserdream and Shielder were ready to help out in any way they could. Her husband Flashbang smiled at her reassuringly. Today had been unequivocally a good day for him. His mood had remained stable and he was engaged in what was happening. She nodded at him. Her own children were here as well. Glory Girl was everything that a mother could want in a daughter. Bright, cheerful, and talented. She wasn't without her own flaws, just like her mom, but she was earnest. Her gaze then fell on Panacea. The girl was undeniably talented and a hard worker. Set her a task and she would do whatever it took to finish. She was not the daughter of her body, but by adoption.

Some days there were two voices in her mind. One that strove to remind her that this was her child. A responsibility that she took up without any arm twisting. While another reminded her that the girl's father had been a villain. A villain so terrible he went to the Birdcage. It didn't help matters that the girl's looks clearly came from her biological father and her power was a direct expansion on his power set. He could manipulate bone while she could manipulate far more. The second voice was the more compelling to listen to since it fit with her belief on being prepared. Today that second voice was quieted. It wasn't gone, but the first voice was the louder of the two and full of self recrimination. Table that for later.

Aria had been an interesting person to meet. The girl had Triggered under a horrific circumstance, but had come out of it with a more positive outlook. She was polite and friendly. Glory Girl and Panacea clearly thought the world of her. It was a subconscious thing to be wary of who her daughters interacted with and had mostly calmed the obvious reactions. Aria had still somehow seen through her. Then again wasn't one of her powers the ability to read someone's emotions and general personality? She had to calm herself or risk making the girl nervous. Her children never would have forgiven her for making their friend feel unwelcome.

"Well how did it go, sis?" Lady Photon asked as Brandish approached. She brought herself back into the hear and now. Glory Girl and Panacea came to stand near her. She absently gripped them on the shoulders in greeting. Vicky reacted with a pleased flare of her aura, but Amy's reaction cut her heart out. The girl had reacted to a simple touch from her like it was a treasured gift. How had she failed to notice that before?

"Ah...ahem. They're splitting up search teams. We're taking the Boardwalk. Panacea? Please remain at the PRT building for now." Brandish calmed herself and got back in the game. Time for blaming herself later. Her family politely ignored the loss of composure, but Lady Photon looked approving.

"Good idea, We have enough to cover the Boardwalk ourselves." Her sister nodded in agreement. No one argued, but Panacea did look a bit put out. Yet the expression she wore was more mystified than anything else.

They headed outside and prepared to make their way to their destination. Glory Girl was going to be carrying Flashbang while Manpower held onto her legs. Brandish had an arm around Lady Photon's neck while her sister gripped her belt. It wasn't the most glamorous of methods, but it worked. She considered seeing if the PRT would part with a flight pack or two. The amount they would cost to rent probably wouldn't bankrupt them and make it easier to travel. She shook her head to regain focus before casting her eyes towards the Boardwalk. They were making good time when a tongue of smoke curled into the air from their destination.

"What in the world?" Lady Photon stated in disbelief. Was the Boardwalk on fire? What was going on over there? Brandish's phone received a text stating the Merchants had assaulted the Boardwalk.

"The Merchants are there! They've brought power armor!" She called out so that the rest of New Wave could hear her over the wind.

"Hey! The PRT is sending some backup!" Shielder called out and gestured to the flying suits of PRT issue armor. Who knew how many enemies they would find down there? It was a good thing that they had backup if only to evacuate the civilians.

"Does it say if there are any capes?" Laserdream asked as she joined the conversation.

"Crystal, Angel, and Smack." There were general grimaces at the mention of that last cape. They would actually have to injure him for real to make him back off. He didn't have a problem causing severe injuries to them, but that just made him as dangerous as Hookwolf. Angel was another difficult issue. Her smoke wasn't fully understood, but it could turn people into berserkers that felt no fear or pain. Crystal, and did Laserdream hate finding out a villain's name was the same as her own civilian name, could generate crystals of varying types.

"At least they can't fly, right?" Glory Girl pointed out in good humor, but the hard set to her eyes said she was looking forward to round two with one in particular.

"Yeah, but they'll have hostages. I'll drop flash bombs while the civilians are evacuated." Flashbang contributed to the discussion. It was surprising, but served to fill them with a sense of renewed vigor.

"Alright then! We have our plan set so let's get to it!" Lady Photon called out. Shielder pushed himself to full speed and soared over the Boardwalk. The Merchants down below were clearly torn between fighting and fleeing. There was a large group of innocent civilians gathered in the center of the area with several thugs, some in power armor, standing guard. The blue haired cape erected a force dome over the hostages that cut them off from their captors.

"Open fire! Bring them down!" One of the Merchants was keeping his head about him and firing off orders. Some of the calmer thugs turned their blasters towards the oncoming capes and started shooting. Unfortunately whoever gave them their weapons spent more time on the guns than on whether the recipients could even shoot.

Glory Girl sped up and flew over the collected Merchants while her father rained yellow energy spheres on the gathered men. There were cries of shock and dismay as the brilliant flashes burst around them. When the young blonde flew over the armors a second time, Manpower let go and dropped right into the center of their deteriorating formation. Lady Photon set Brandish down before taking to the sky again to rain down her namesake with impunity. They knew what the PRT armors were capable of taking in terms of punishment.

Some of the PRT armors were firing canisters of containment foam over the unarmored thugs. The rest were down at ground level forming a wall of blaster fire to create a corridor for evacuating the civilians. Shield opened a hole in the field for the panicked populace to escape through. Laserdream was adding her own energy blasts to the fray.

"Careful! These armors actually have people inside of them!" One of the PRT armors warned over the external speakers. That was a good thing to know. It was starting to look as if the situation was manageable. The hostages were cleared and the last few pockets of resistance were starting to fall.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brandish called out. She spotted Angel heading for a back alley to escape in all of the confusion.

"Gonna try and stop me?" The Merchant cape looked strangely eager as she readied herself for the woman's approach. She already had her pipe headed to her mouth, but the New Wave cape had already closed with her and sent the prop spinning away with a shield slam. The startled villain cried out as she was knocked back. Brandish was already on her before she could regain her footing and stung her rapidly with quick blows of a hard light baton.

"Do you yield?" The more experienced cape demanded. "I'll just keep striking until you either give up or fall over!" She promised the younger woman. Angel glared at her from amidst the pain and blew straight in her face. The sudden action disoriented her or was it the smoke? Why did her head suddenly feel foggy? She dropped to one knee in confusion.

"Damn...wish I didn't have to reveal that so soon..." Angel grumbled irritably. Brandish was able to drag her awareness back with difficulty. She didn't need the pipe. The pipe had been a prop. She cast her gaze about blearily, but the fighting was elsewhere. Carol groaned as her heart started beating faster and a peculiar heat surged through her body. It felt like her veins were on fire and in her mind was flames. Her temper coupled with Angel's power were overriding her will. A delicate finger tilted her face up.

"Brandish..." She murmured as more smoke wreathed her head intoxicatingly, "I need a favor...go and fight New Wave for me please." Angel smirked before slipping off into the alley that was her destination. Carol snarled as she tried to wrestle back control of herself. There was no way this bitch was mastering her. There was no way she was going to attack her family. She gave the side of her head a hard knock that brought stars to her vision, but did the trick. When she looked back to the fighting it was nearly over. She grumbled about losing the Merchant bitch, but that was fine. The girl would slip up and Brandish would smash her kneecaps so that she couldn't run.

Something was happening. There was a strange commotion as six of the Merchant armors broke free of the fighting and turned their weapons on the surprised members of New Wave. Their blasters and melee abilities were overwhelming the suddenly beleaguered capes. Where was the PRT? What the fuck were they doing?

"Stop! Fuckin' stop you bastards!" She charged the armors from the rear and brought a massive hard light spiked mace down for the head of the lead armor. The suddenly fearful pilot was waving their hands rapidly and shouting at her, but she couldn't hear them. Attack her family? She'd fuck them up! She'd tear them all apart! No one was going to stop her! The shield was replaced by another mace as she continued to hammer away at the armor's ridiculously durable force field. The blood was pounding in her ears. Other armors were closing in on her, but she was ready for them! Her maces flying about with reckless abandon. She had to save her family. They weren't going to...stop...her...?

"...dish! Brandish! Snap out of it!" Lady Photon was almost hysterical as she cried out to her sister. She was standing in front of Carol with her force field up at full power. Shielder and Laserdream were also using their fields to keep her penned in.

"Oh God...what am...what am I doing...?" She clutched at her suddenly splitting skull. The pain in her head was nothing compared to the one in her heart. She gazed at her family in misery, but a feeling of love and acceptance from Glory Girl's aura helped thaw the ice. It wasn't enough, but it was a start.

"Shooooooowtiiiiiiiiime!" A brazen voice shouted from on high. The wild cry was accompanied by a figure in a trench coat swinging a double hammer blow down for Glory Girl. The young girl spun to intercept, but took the twin strikes to the head. She stumbled back and was immediately covered by three force fields.

"Don't touch my daughter!" Flashbang growled as he tossed several violently glowing spheres at the cape known as Smack. The bastard had the gall to laugh as the spheres struck his body and exploded.

"Ohhhh...sorry, but that just won't work...I absorb force." He laughed in derision even as he swung a fist out at Manpower that sent the larger man tumbling away. He absorbed all force? This was bad. This was very bad. The PRT armors couldn't engage him. New Wave couldn't engage him without deliberately aiming to injure him. His rubbery body made his movements difficult to predict. He couldn't get through their force fields, but they couldn't hurt him. Stalemate.

"What just happened!?" Lady Photon cried out in surprise as her force field dropped without warning. That brief moment of inattention was enough for the vile cape to punch her in the chest and send her down the Boardwalk. She rolled to a stop after an uncontrolled tumble and was still. From this distance they couldn't tell if she was alive or dead, but at the very least severely injured.

"Mom!" Laserdream broke formation to check on her mother, but her flight suddenly stopped. Manpower surged forward to keep Smack busy with Flashbang setting off several brilliant flashes of light to disorient. Brandish made it to her sister's side at the same time that Laserdream did. From what she could her sister was alive. Small mercies. The deformation of the right side of her chest, however, spoke of broken ribs and internal damage.

The PRT agents were throwing themselves into the conflict with containment foam sprayers. They were trying to just pin the bastard down, but on top of his other power he was still a Brute. Brandish's splitting headache wasn't helping her to concentrate at all. She was casting about desperately for where the source of their power loss was coming from. Laserdream already had her abilities back.

"My flight cut out. I don't know why...Brandish we need to get mom to a hospital. Now." The younger girl was in tears, but trying not to panic.

"Your flight...Lady Photon's force field..." She cudgeled her brain. The connection was obvious. A power canceler. The Merchants had a power canceler. She bolted towards the PRT agents standing guard over the Merchants. Their enemy power armors were trashed or forcibly deactivated. Some of the pilots were groaning in pain or just moaning in fear.

"I'm sorry, Brandish, but the situation is too unstable..." The agent sounded worried for her sister's health and genuinely apologetic. There was a cry of shock and alarm from behind her. She whipped her head around to see the cause and saw Shielder, Manpower, and Glory Girl down. Dammit no! The nightmare she almost caused herself was coming true.

"That's not it! One of your prisoners is a power canceler!" She spoke in a low and insistent tone to avoid alerting said canceler. Brandish didn't wait to hear what the man said as she charged into the fray. She wasn't a Brute. She didn't have a Blaster power. She didn't care. That was her family in danger!

"Welcome back to the party!" Smack called out as he lunged to meet her charge. She waited for the last possible second and manifested a hard light shield with one extra addition. A five inch spike directly in the center of face. The rubbery cape couldn't stop in time and slammed into the spike at full speed. If he had been shorter it would have gone through his chest, but it still rammed home just below the sternum. He screamed in unbearable agony with both hands placed over the hole. The collision had not been kind to Brandish as it had thrown her off her feet. She knew her shoulder wasn't just dislocated, but pulverized. Her eyes could barely comprehend the damage done, but if that was the price to pay then so be it. She did a visual check of her family. With the enemy down they could call in medical assistance.

"Brandish...lay back down. You've done enough. You've more than earned a rest." One of the agents spoke to her gently. A rest sounded good. Sleep claimed her as soon as she closed her eyes.



-Boardwalk: Alley-



Crystal grit her teeth angrily at the spectacle she just witnessed. Her sister deliberately turning a mother against her family. What happened to her? Why had she turned out like this? Is this what she's become since joining the Merchants? Hot shame filled her as she had just stood by and watched. She kept saying to herself that New Wave had it well in hand. That one of the PRT armors would help them save the day. It took a last ditch attack by Brandish to save her family and the situation. Now look at her. Pulverized shoulder and God only knew what else. It didn't matter that Panacea could heal her family. She wouldn't have to if Crystal hadn't been such a damn coward. If she had just done the right thing. Crystal sighed miserably before stepping back from the scene and heading into the back alleyway.

"There you are." Angel said as she approached. The Merchant cape was staring at her sister with utter loathing and contempt. "Where the fuck were you? Watching like a goddamn pussy?" She spat.

"Yeah, like a coward." Crystal didn't even try to deny the charge.

"Skidmark is gonna kick your ass. I'll try to help, but frankly I think you should get the shit kicked outta you." Angel folded her arms across her chest.

"He can kiss my ass. I'm done." The crystal manipulator said. A startled look crossed her sister's face.

"You would abandon me? Your own sister? Come on...it's not that bad...I'll look out for you. I promise." Angel wheedled. "We have to get out of here..."

"You're not the sister I remember. Maybe when you find yourself again I'll come back, but as long as you're with the Merchants I'm finished." Crystal said with finality before turning her back on the only family she had left. Angel's screamed threats and vile imprecations only cementing her resolve.

She was not going back.



AN: Wow this chapter ended up longer than expected, but I found a good stopping point. I was going to put in the fight at the Docks, but decided to give you guys a break. Some time to digest the meal if you will. Next chapter Rumble at the Docks.