Nuclear Fire 23
UNDERSIDERS ATTACK LUNG'S HOLDINGS
The bold, green letters of the announcement flash over my visor, sending a chill down my spine.
That's the hottest new thread in the Brockton Bay's section of PHO. A thread that goes on to discuss yesterday night's events when the Undersider successfully robbed one of Lung's safehouses.
The attack is public knowledge, and that's making the dragon unfathomably angry. Adding insult to injury, that was just one of several embarrassments that he suffered yesterday.
The Undersiders didn't attack alone, with several other coordinated strikes having been launched all over ABB territory. Oni Lee was hurt during his fight against the Undersiders, and that took away Lung's sole way of projecting power. Without his teleporter, the leader of the ABB was too slow to reach the areas of conflict before the attackers were long gone.
The information on the thread also gives me an idea of why Purity got herself involved with the Merchants. It seems that she had bombarded some ABB position earlier that day, and was making her way back to wherever she lives when she stumbled upon us, deciding to help out of the goodness of her heart.
This all makes zero sense.
Checking the calendar, yesterday should have been the day that the Undersiders attacked the Ruby Casino, a week before Taylor's canonical debut, but that should have been a very low-key operation. As far as I know, no one even heard about that one in canon.
And then there's Purity's involvement. As I remember, she was getting progressively more frustrated with her lack of lasting success against the ABB. Her old contacts weren't talking to her, she couldn't find good information on the ABB, and that was one of the things that Kaiser used to bring her back into the fold. But this news here suggests that she delivered a serious hit, blowing up multiple weapon depots.
And then there are all the other attacks.
Due to Purity's involvement people are already claiming that the E88 was behind this, despite no official announcement or sighting of any other Empire member.
This is not them.
Purity shouldn't have returned to Kaiser yet, and the presence of the Undersiders suggests that Coil is involved.
I don't like this.
"Did you see the news?" Taylor asks me as I walk into the living room. Long John is on her lap, having his belly rubbed.
I nod.
"They are saying that a new gang war is about to begin."
The TV is droning about the battles in the docks, the damage, and the casualties. Also about how people should remain calm as the PRT is ramping up their patrols around the place.
That does sound like a nice distraction if you want the heroes focused there and not anywhere else in the city.
"Anything about us?" I ask her as I see that one of the images' shown is that of the Merchant Meth Lab.
"No. They claim that Purity was the one to destroy the lab."
Well, she was, and this is convenient to keep our anonymity, but I can't but feel a pang of anger at not having our participation properly credited.
"And the hospital?"
"The same."
PHO isn't talking about it either. The presence of PRT personnel was noticed, and there are photos of Armsmaster at the place, but the main theory is that someone triggered in the ICU.
At least those photos give me a reason to believe that my tech is now with Armsmaster, something that I don't mind that much. There are far worse options there.
"So, what will you build now?" With a swipe of the remote, Taylor turns the TV off.
Isn't that a good question? I spent a mostly sleepless night just thinking about what I should build.
The Cardcaptors tree is kind of weird. I have picture-perfect images in my head of the cards as I remember them: as pieces of paper with spells written on them. I know there's something there, but when I try to replicate them, my power just fizzles. If I were to compare it with something, it would be compared to trying to flex a limb that doesn't exist.
But I know it exists! I can feel it. My power doesn't, though, and it's trying to translate the problem into a language it understands. I think that the issue here is that shards don't have the concept of 'magic' or conceptual energies, and so mine settles with duplicating the effects of the show with tinkertech.
The result is something that in my mind looks like a solid-state drive with the pictures of the cards stamped on them. Once activated by the wand, they take shape in the form of hard-light constructs. In that way, something like The Fly would materialize as bright wings on the back of the user.
All in all, I'm surprised that it's so-- well, no, cheap isn't the correct word. The cards, as my power offers to build them, are absurdly complex programs shoved into a crystalline matrix next to a compact power source. The Khaydarin can fulfill both purposes once I've given it a couple of days to regrow, but in terms of time, I'll need days to properly program, compile, and debug each card.
"As I told you I want to focus on my own mobility." I don't want to depend on Taylor anymore, and if I'm right I'll be able to upgrade my drones with the cards too. "I have a module that can enhance my jumping capabilities and another that can grant me flight."
Taylor perks up at that.
"Flight? That sounds useful." Yeah, she always wanted to fly. One of her childhood dreams as I remember. One I should be able to fulfill now.
"I'll need a couple of days of set-up before building it, so in the meantime, I was thinking of visiting some pawn shops for resources." The drones have been doing a great job bringing me iron and copper, but if I want something like rare earths, silver, or gold, I need to steal or buy it.
"Oh, I was thinking of going out to buy some more stuff for Arcadia. Want to come with me?"
Well, not much I can do at home right now beyond watching my Khaydarin grow and my drones reproduce, so why not?
"Sure, let's go."
I swear that my powers are bullshit.
Oh, the part of taking concepts from fictional settings and letting me build them with modern-day technology is perfectly understandable. I'm fine with that. The issue is what it takes from those fictional universes.
Case in point: as I walk down the boardwalk with Taylor next to me, I glance at a showcase with several dresses and my power goes into overdrive.
I recognize the quality of the fiber, the types of embroidery, and even the way each color clashes with each other. I know that one was sewed with a lockstitch while that other was sewed with an overlock stitch. I have no idea what those are, I just know it.
For some reason, my power decided that Tomoyo's sewing knowledge was important, and so it was shoved into my head.
Last night I didn't mind that much as I used that knowledge to joke with Taylor, but now that I had time to think about it I have concerns for my power's thought-processes.
"A moment." I stop Taylor as we walk past a particular shop.
"What is it?"
The shop in question is named 'The Sewing Grandmas'. A name that I feel is fairly self-explanatory.
Can I make this work? It's stupid. Something to satisfy my own vain ego and little else. But we do need new uniforms, and a good base will make adding armor and other tools easier. If I make it look good, all the better.
"Let's go in here."
The one to receive us is most definitely not a grandma, and the young woman immediately zeroes into Taylor. "Hello, customer! How can I help you?"
Taylor flinches and solves the problem by dumping it on me. "Actually, he's the one who wants to buy things."
The girl eyes me as if she isn't sure if this is a joke or not.
"I demand a sewing kit and basket with tiny skulls glued to it!" I announce.
"We-- have one with Armsmaster's logo?"
That man puts his face on everything!
But yeah, what the hell? I'll take it.
To that, I add several square meters of fabrics of different colors and qualities and a portable sewing machine.
Then we move on, this time Taylor taking the lead as we head towards a bookstore. "What are you planning on doing with that?"
"Oh, you'll see." While I wait for the Khaydarin, I'll keep myself busy with other projects. I already have the image of the finished product in my mind and I think that Taylor will like it.
We buy the school supplies for Taylor and take note of some pawn shops where she buys some jewelry that I'll later melt into circuitry.
Having money is seriously useful! Yes, it's drug money but we're repurposing it for a better cause.
With our purchases for the day done, we sit at a restaurant to take a bite before returning home. The place is located on a pier overlooking the bay, and there are a couple of TVs switched to the news channel. They keep insisting that the situation in the docks is under control despite rumors of a steady escalation in gang activity.
"Are you ready for your big day?" Tomorrow Taylor starts with Arcadia, and I want to talk about something not related to the impending gang-war looming over our heads.
"I hope I am. I just don't know what to prepare for."
"Relax, you'll do fine." I want to reassure her by telling her about how we can just kill those that offend her, but I don't want to talk about child-murdering in a place where we can be so easily overheard.
"Tomorrow I'll know. One way or the other."
Our food arrives and we dig in.
This is fucking delicious! Who knew that Brockton Bay had such a robust fishing industry?
I'm halfway done with my dish when Taylor pulls from my sleeve. I look at her and find her staring at the TV.
My heart skips a beat.
On the TV there's a photo of us. Of Ladybug and Tech-Priest, taken the night that we talked with Armsmaster.
"These two underaged vigilantes are being sought for questioning." The anchorman announces. "They are considered dangerous, and have information on an ongoing investigation. If anyone sees them or has evidence on their whereabouts, contact the PRT immediately."
The other patrons start whispering amongst themselves, many of them concerned with our young age.
So, the boot finally drops with the PRT announcing our existence to the city. At least the boot wasn't as heavy as I was fearing it would be. Officially at least. Only God -and the Simurg- knows what Piggot and the rest of her people are arguing about behind closed doors.
I look down at my plater. The prospect of stuffing myself with fried fish no longer sounds as appealing as a moment ago.
"I lost my appetite."
Taylor agrees with my assessment pushing her own dish away. "Yeah, me too."
Long John's wheel creaks as he runs behind Taylor, trying to keep up with her.
We're at the factory, our base for the lack of better terms despite the fact that it's even less equipped than our home. Taylor's running circles around the main warehouse, catching up on the training that she ignored during the previous week. Meanwhile, I tinker. The pieces of a broken sewing machine lie scattered all around me next to the tools I used to open one of my larvas.
I could have done this at home, but Danny was there and with Taylor we decided to come here for privacy. Not like we have been using that privacy for much because we spent the last hour and a half in silence.
Taylor drops to the ground and starts doing push-ups.
Her endurance is worthy of admiration. I've lost count of how many laps she has run already, and every so many cycles she stops to perform other exercises.
I'm getting tired just looking at her!
Something wet caresses my fingers and I see that Long John has come to me. Taylor follows, now on a break, and I toss a bottle of water in her direction.
She catches it and takes a sip. "Thanks." Long John gets comfortable on her lap as she sits next to me. "Why don't we join the Wards?"
My tools almost fall out of my hands. I wasn't expecting that. "Do you want to join the Wards?"
"No." She states, her tone deadly serious. "I just want to know what they'd give us for joining them, and what we'd lose."
Normally when people ask 'why don't we X' they are asking for permission to do X, but Taylor's question sounds completely genuine.
"Is this about the news?"
"Yes." She tosses the now empty bottle to the side. "I keep wondering if we're doing the right thing, and would like to hear your opinion."
Sounds reasonable.
I scratch my chin trying to remember all that I know of the Wards from my previous life, adding to that the flyer that the PRT left us at home.
"Well, the Wards program would offer us support in the form of a team to cover our backs," I'd say that's the most important part. Officially the Wards never see action, but here in Brockton Bay where the forces of law are stretched thin? Enough to say that I'm absolutely sure that the BB team would utterly dominate any other Wards team in a straight battle. "We'd also receive training on how to handle different threats and a steady pay that would go to our college funds. Their PR machine would be on our side making civilians want to help us, and, as a tinker, they'd also give me resources to build my inventions." If anything, that's the benefit that tempts me the most. "And to top it all off, I think that most of them are genuinely nice people." Well, except for Sophia but that's another story.
Taylor grunts, folding her arms. "Armsmaster was a jerk."
Was he? I honestly agreed with all that he said. "I found him refreshingly direct and reasonable."
"Of course you'd believe that." She rolls her eyes. "But then why don't we join them?"
Oh, boy, is that closet full of skeletons. Most of which only a handful of humans on this Earth know about. Sadly the fact is that, even if I don't mind the individuals that much, the organization as a whole is a mess.
But that's not the only reason. I'd say it's not even my main reason.
"When I started this after getting my powers, I did it with the full intention of just doing my own thing." I still remember my first day here. Discovering I had landed in Worm of all places wasn't nice. I don't like the setting, and even less so the people that live in it. Everyone's so stupid. "I was angry with the world, with myself, and with pretty much everything." I still feel mostly the same, just a tiny bit more focused. "Joining them was never under consideration for me because all I wanted was to have all the fun I could get out of my power before my inevitable demise." What else is there to hope for in this setting?
Taylor stares at me for a moment processing what I just told her. "That's a very grim and selfish outlook in life, isn't it?"
"I am a very grim and selfish person." I shrug.
"But then why did you insist on helping the person at the hospital? That doesn't make sense with what you just told me."
I press my lips into a thin line, my attention returning to my tinkering.
More than once in the past I stopped to think about why I feel the way I do. I rarely found an answer.
Back at the hospital, there was only this raw, visceral certainty that saving the man's life was the right thing to do, and that was it. It had to be done, and so I did it.
And yet I felt nothing like that when killing Coil's goons, or when leaving those Merchants to die at the explosion of their lab.
"It does make perfect sense." A welding point here, another welding point there. Tinkering is relaxing and predictable, unlike talking to people. "I told you, didn't I? I hate this world. I hate how it is, what people do, and what they allow to happen in it." I clench my teeth and force myself to steady my hands. If I lose my cool I feel like I'll take this device and smash it against the ground to vent my anger. "It's wrong. If I start thinking about all that is wrong because of people's stupidity my stomach aches, and I can't sleep at night." The cases 53, Cauldron and their shortsightedness, the fucking Birdcage. "If I can do something about it then I don't think, I just do it because then I feel that maybe, just maybe, not everything is lost."
That maybe death is not an acceptable alternative.
"You're kind of scary," Taylor says after a moment. "And really complicated."
"Complicated? No. I'm amazingly simple." The best things in life are. I wished more people could be like that. "It's just a matter of getting to know me."
"If you say so." Long John wines as Taylor scratches his ears. "But did something change? You told me this was your mentality when you started. Isn't it anymore?"
No, it isn't. At least not entirely. "It changed after I met you."
"Me?"
"Yes. I got to talk to you, you listened to me, and were nice to me." She forgave me for stealing her things, went with me to the library, listened to my complaints, and even sat next to me while I tinkered. If one day I decide that all humans are to die, I'll make sure that she doesn't. "I consider you my friend, and so I'll do everything in my power to help and defend you." In my eyes, being a loyal friend is more valuable than being family. Family has to stick with you because of the law and social pressure, but a friend that decides to follow you out of their own free will? That's far more valuable.
"Wow." She scratches the back of her head, looking away in embarrassment. "I really don't know what to say."
"Just be happy knowing that there's someone out there that would happily kill for you." That's what friendship is about: murdering the enemies of your friends. "Because to help a friend? There's nothing I wouldn't do." No atrocity too big or sin too unthinkable. That 's my motto.
"And now you made it weird again," Taylor says with a hint of humor in her words. She doesn't fully believe me. Maybe one day I'll show her how serious I am, but I doubt she'd want to remain friends after that. That would be a real shame.
I set my device down. It's almost done, and for this question I want to be looking at her. "But what about you? Why don't you want to join them?"
Taylor's eyes drop to Long John, who's licking her fingertips. "Mom's death was— I don't think I can even describe it. The world stopped making sense and I felt so small and weak. I thought I was getting better and that was when Emma betrayed me." You can blame her father and Sophia for that. Also the ABB.
"Then Winslow happened, and during a long time dad— he was just not there." She picks the dog up and presses him against her chest. "I was so alone. I felt like a witness to my own life. Everything was so chaotic and I could do nothing more than watch as things just kept happening. And no one listened. No one helped me."
And everything came to a stop the day of the locker. "That was when you got your powers."
She nods. "I got the chance for a new beginning, of doing something no one would stop. I still remember what you told me the night we burnt Winslow. About why I didn't use my power to take revenge on the Trio. I guess I had just given up on being Taylor Hebert. I wanted to ignore Winslow. Wanted to believe that if I kept pretending it didn't exist, that would become a reality."
I put a hand on her knee. "That never works."
"Yes, I know! But I was scared. I didn't want to lose control of my powers the same way I had lost control of everything else!" She takes a deep breath. "The idea of having someone over my shoulder looking and judging everything I do terrifies me. I finally have a saying in what happens in my life, and I don't want to give that up."
I return to my tinkering. It's almost done. "Then I think that the question of if we're doing the right or the wrong thing is utterly meaningless. The only thing we want is to do whatever we want to do."
She sighs. "I guess that's it, then."
A last tightening of a bolt and-- there! My latest creation is finished. "Take a step back, Taylor."
She does as I say, and once we're a safe distance away, I trigger the device.
It explodes.
Not in fire, sparks, or any other exotic effect, but in ribbons of clothing.
Long John whines in fear, cowering against Taylor's chest. "What's that?"
"This, Taylor," I add a pause there for dramatic effect, "Is your superhero costume."
Her eyes widen as she walks to the pile of clothing. "Could you turn around for a minute?"
I obey and after a moment of waiting I'm called to witness the result of my hard work.
It begs to be repeated: I'm a freaking genius.
Her suit is a mix of reds and blacks, woven together in wavy patterns. The circles and curves of her design make her look approachable, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have edges. Her shoulders are sharp, making her back look broader, and the high neck of her shirt makes her look taller. I'm not giving her a cape, but I'm emulating the effect with a longcoat tied to her waist.
The fabric has been lined with silk harvested from Taylor's spiders for extra protection, and all the pieces have been customized to be able to adapt to mech-zerg implants.
Shit, I'm just realizing that in trying to replicate the colors of an actual Ladybug, I turned her into a freaking edgelord. Oh, well, red and black go well together. And my design is not only fashionable, but also practical, and comfortable! So, in summary: Shadow Stalker, eat your heart out.
"What do you think?" I ask her with no small amount of pride.
She runs her hands up and down her sides, taking in every detail. "It's amazing." She says that as if she doesn't fully believe her words. "Amazing enough to distract me from the fact that you somehow knew my measurements."
"I plead tinker power." The device that wove the suit is the newest strain of Mecha-Zerg: the scarab. It's an evolution of the larva, built as a sewing assistant in the vague shape of a horseshoe crab. I pick it up and hand it to Taylor. "Now, put on your visor, and then the scarab over it."
She eyes me wearily at that.
"I assure you that nothing will be implanted into your brain." Seriously, I thought we had already gone over this.
She complies, and the moment the scarab touches her visor, it fuses with it, unfolding around Taylor's head like a helmet. The similarities with a Power Ranger's helmet are very much intentional.
"Wow." The changes to the visor are largely cosmetic but will add some extra defense to her skull while keeping her identity better concealed.
"Now, do you see the new app in your visor?"
"The one that says 'morphosis'?"
"The same. Run it."
Sakura didn't have a transformation sequence. Her suits weren't magical but crafted by her friend Tomoyo, who then filmed sakura fighting evil on them. Because of this my power doesn't have a transformation mechanic to 'latch' onto, but I found a workaround: after building the scarab, the next step was installing into it the principles of Action.
Action, from the Clear Cards arc (an arc I only read the first couple chapters of), has the capacity to animate any inanimate object. I didn't need the full card for this, so I stripped it off it's more high-end powers and limited it to the small-scale animation of fibers in a localized area. That drastically lowered the price, and when paired with the processing power and battery of the visor, this all allows the scarab to interact with the clothes that a person's wearing.
The result is, well, a magical mascot mixed with a morpher. And once it starts running, the process is almost instantaneous.
Taylor's costume shifts, the fabrics waving as strips of cloth are absorbed into the scarab, replaced by different ones. Not all of it is absorbed, of course. An underlying mesh remains untouched through the process, both for the sake of Taylor's modesty and my own health. I'm not Japanese and so I don't feel the need to include a step where Taylor is nude during her transformation.
The time the Scarab takes to do its thing can be measured in heartbeats, and once it's done Taylor is left with completely different clothes. Also of my design.
"When did you do this?" She asks in amazement looking down at herself.
Gone are the ugly browns and greys of her usual wardrobe, replaced by a turquoise shirt that contrasts very nicely with her skin color. I also got rid of her usual pants and replaced them with a black skirt. The image is complete with some nice shoes and thigh-high socks.
The red and black helmet doesn't go with the rest of her clothes, but that one she'll have to remove on her own.
"I took the time to make a little extra for you," I explain. We don't have a mirror here, but I solve that issue by linking my visor to hers so she can look at the result from an outsider's perspective.
"I never had anything this nice before." She strikes a pose, checking the quality of the fabric.
"And you'll be wearing that to Arcadia tomorrow."
"I think I'd like to do that." She brings her hands up to her head. "How do I take the helmet off?"
"Go to 'Morphosis' again and pick 'Civilian Disguise'."
There's a hiss of servomotors and Taylor's helmet folds back into the scarab. But it's not done yet! Another hiss and now Taylor's holding a black and red backpack, built from the same fabric of her costume.
"You want me to bring tinkertech to school?"
It is a fair concern, but I think that the benefits outweigh the risks. "I added some useful stuff to make it hard to steal," Like a beeping alarm and a GPS, all thanks to the Visor that's now fused with the Scarab. Worst case scenario, the backpack can turn into the scarab and dig his way back home. "I'd be more comfortable knowing that you have the visor with you in case you need to contact me, and if something happens, you can quickly change into your Ladybug costume." I'm unsure if visor-to-visor communication works through Arcadia's faraday cage, but I still want to give her something to defend herself with, and bringing a pistol to school is just asking for trouble.
She purses her lips in deep thought. "I guess that's reasonable. Will you be working on your costume next?"
"Oh, absolutely."
Sadly I don't have time to finish my scarab before dinner time, and so I leave that for the following day.
Tomorrow a new week starts. One that promises to be dangerous for all the inhabitants of the Bay, but we'll be ready.
Or, at the very least, properly dressed for it.