They're very close. Hero's Tinker power comes from the same Shard that Scion uses for his "stilling" beams (the golden Fuck You's that instantly delete almost anything), and is capable of doing a huge number of things very powerfully. It's one of the single most powerful and versatile Shards that any Parahuman managed to end up with, and it's lacking a lot of baggage because it's an Eden Shard that was never intended to be distributed (meaning it lacks a lot of limitations).
Singularity, on the other hand, also lacks a lot of limitations, has a very versatile specialty, and gets to cheat because of a hard-won friendly Shard willing to fudge things for him.
Hero's Shard is more powerful, in raw statistic terms, but Singularity has a significant advantage in ease-of-use and his power is better at what it is.
You might say Hero has 75% of a Shard rated at 10 while Singularity has 90% of a Shard rated at 8, if that makes sense to you.
"Preparations have been completed. Your power is ready for adjustment."
Her eyes widened. "R-really? It's... what do I need to do?"
"Simply inform me when you are ready. It will be a painful experience; I cannot begin modifying your body, even to interfere with your pain response, until your Corona Gemma has been disabled."
She was about to tell him to go ahead, so excited at the prospect, but... waited. "Am I going to lose control again?"
"Doubtful. Your power will be distracted with modifying your body, not rampaging."
"Then... could I have the others with me? Can I explain what's happening to them yet? We were being secretive until you were ready, but now..."
"That is your decision to make, Noelle. Do you wish for them to be here when your current body is broken and your new one built?"
She considered that question. Part of her was screaming that she didn't, that having the others see anything related to her body was the worst possible idea. But... but... "They've been here for me through the whole process. They should see... the next step too, shouldn't they?"
"As you wish. Call upon your friends, Noelle."
She shuffled over to the intercom to do just that.
"So, Noelle, what's going on? Is it a good day?" Krouse had a hand in the pocket of his costume, the one where he kept his cigarettes. She pursed her lips at that, but chose not to comment.
"Listen. I need to... to tell you all something. Uh..." She had a thought, and took a moment to subvocalize. "Singularity, I just thought - what's Coil going to do? I mean... do we need to tell him what's going on? I don't want his mercenaries to think I'm about to go insane, or..."
There was a minute pause before Singularity spoke. "That is not a concern. If it comes down to it, I will handle it; Coil does not need to know of my existence at this time."
...She was suspicious. She was extremely suspicious. That was the single least honest-sounding thing Singularity had said, and that was noteworthy considering some of the insane stuff they'd talked about already.
...But she really wanted him to fix her. So instead, she firmed up her courage and nodded. "Listen. That bunker that we stayed at... something happened there. And... it's complicated, but I've been in touch with a Tinker. A Tinker that can fix me."
Marissa actually stepped towards her at that, hope blooming on her face. "No way... Noelle, are you serious? Who - how - what do we have to do?"
She shook her head. "I'm... actually almost ready to start right now. Um, I just... the first step is turning off my power, and it's supposed to be painful, so I was hoping you guys would be here with me. There - there shouldn't be any risk involved, but if you want to wait outside I'd understand. I..."
"I'm staying." Krouse didn't even wait for her to finish before he spoke. "You're sure about this?"
"As sure as I possibly can be," she responded. "I... have good evidence that he can do what he's saying."
"Who is it, anyway?" Jess was the suspicious one, which didn't particularly surprise her.
"... Singularity."
"The guy that built that bunker?" Luke's eyebrows shot up. "Well... I mean, I guess he did have some pretty impressive - wait. Hang on. I thought he was..."
"Dead? Um, yeah, that's part of what's complicated. He... digitized himself. But he didn't have enough processing power to keep going, so he was on standby until that changed."
"Woah," Marissa blinked. "That's... kind of cool, actually. How did he manage to change it if he was on standby?"
"There was an emergency protocol, kind of. And... well, he bootstrapped a new CPU core."
Everyone was smiling... except Krouse and Jess. "How, exactly?" Krouse's voice was low, and Noelle almost cringed at the tone.
"He built one into my lower body. It's - that's why he can fix me. He's been studying how my power works."
For a long second, nobody said anything. Then Marissa stifled a laugh, hiding her face when Krouse turned to glare at her. "I'm - I'm sorry! It's just, snrk, doesn't that make you a cyborg?"
"... Ha."
Noelle's eyes widened, and she giggled. Did he just - he did. He totally laughed. "Yeah. Kind of."
Krouse took a slow, deep breath. "You're sure about this. That this is going to work?"
She nodded. "It has to. The stuff he knows about - if he can't do it, I don't think anyone can."
He looked into her eyes for a long time. Then, he nodded. "Okay. What do you need us to do?"
"Just... support me?" She smiled hesitantly, and when everyone nodded... she felt like she was back with her club again. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Then I shall begin."
For a few seconds, she sat there anticlimactically, and nothing happened.
Then there was pain. Pain like she'd never experienced. Like someone had lit a fire deep in her body, like she'd swallowed a napalm bomb - an orb of white-hot agony boiling in her lower half.
She tried. She tried. But she screamed. She screamed, and she screamed, and she screamed. Her mind bounced around half-formed almost-thoughts, unable to process anything except for the boiling sphere inside of her.
Then, all at once, it was over. There wasn't a gradual diminishment of pain - one second she was burning from the inside, and the next there was nothing. Not even an echo of it. She gasped wildly for breath, blinking away tears she hadn't realized were in her eyes to begin with.
Then, as she was rolling down her lower half, she realized her torso had disconnected from her monstrous side.
"Your gemma has been destroyed and is being rebuilt. Your body will experience strange sensations."
And she did. Beyond the absolute weirdness of looking down at seeing her body end below the ribs, her skin felt like it was crawling all over her body.
Huh. My lower half is regrowing. Oh, no, please tell me it's not going to -
"It will not be the same as before. Your power is being enlightened; your form will be human again, Noelle."
She blinked back tears at the thought, almost unwilling to believe it.
"Noelle!" Krouse's scream from in her face brought her back to herself, and she reached up to grasp his hand without thinking. He almost jerked back... but didn't.
His hand was calloused now... but it was still warm.
"Oh. I guess... I guess I can touch you now. Haha..." She couldn't decide whether to laugh or to cry, so she did both at once.
Thomas Calvert
It was a standard evening; in one timeline, Coil sorted through his gathered intelligence in his base. In the other, Thomas Calvert sat at home relaxing with a cup of coffee. Perfectly and completely ordinary. Nothing worth worrying about or taking notice of, really.
[Aural Interface complete. Stand by. . .]
Exactly the way he preferred it. And things had been progressing quite well, as of late. The frustratingly stable balance of power was finally beginning to shift, since the Empire had begun making waves, and a large-scale conflict was looking more and more likely with each passing day. Now, if he could simply apply pressure at the right -
"Thomas Calvert," said a voice to Coil in his base. / "Coil," said a voice to Thomas Calvert in his house.
Timeline A
Coil immediately drew the sidearm holstered beneath his desk, head whipping around the empty room as his finger hovered over the button that would trigger the lockdown. "Who's there?"
"You believe that the acts you commit in the dark are beyond notice, and therefore reproach." The voice was clearly synthesized, and although it was very natural it lacked the telltale tics of a voice-changer. Unfortunate, as that would make identifying this person more difficult. A professional, then.
The room was completely empty except for him. Still holding the sidearm loosely, he reached up to check his ear. He tapped it once before snapping his fingers, confirming that his hearing was functioning normally and he was not suddenly wearing an earpiece. Where is the voice coming from? "You'll have to elaborate, I'm afraid. I see quite a bit of business done, you understand."
"Hmm. Yes, I do understand. All too well. Despite what you believe, Thomas... I have seen everything. You have been witnessed, and you have been judged."
His eyes narrowed. "If you've seen everything, you're well aware of my powers. You should know that I don't lose. Crossing me would be distinctly unwise. Of course, you seem resourceful... and I have a great deal of room for resourcefulness and ingenuity in my organization. Perhaps we could set up a meeting?" Take the bait.
"That won't be necessary. I'm merely here to deliver a message that has been pending for some time."
There was a tonal shift. Perhaps he'd been wrong, and it was just a tightly controlled voice... but not tight enough to conceal that tone. It was one he knew well.
He employed it every time he won, after all. He opened his mouth to respond -
"She is a child, Thomas Calvert."
- and his ears were filled with pure hatred. Something flashed behind his eyes and he heard a wet pop just before the timelines ended.
Timeline B
Thomas Calvert held up his hands. "Wh - who are you? What are you talking about?"
"You believe that the acts you commit in the dark are beyond notice, and therefore reproach." The same words, in perfect sync with the other timeline - perhaps they were prepared beforehand? A recording? No, they'd called him by opposite names.
"I have no idea what you're talking about! Please, if this is about my work with the PRT -"
"You are a keen actor, Coil. A deceiver to rival all others. But your deception is pointless against me."
He considered dropping this timeline, but decided to push it just a bit farther and see what he could learn. "Look, whatever you've been told, I'm not Coil! Please, if you'll tell me what made you think so, I promise I can explain whatever it is!"
"Ah. Very well. Allow me to share my evidence with you."
Perfect. Help me find out who you are.
"Hello, pet," said a synthesized version of his own voice, and his eyes widened. "Three questions today, and then you can have your candy." Those were the exact words and cadence he'd used this morning. Had he - he'd split the timeline since then. Meaning whoever this was had been watching him the whole time? Whatever device let them communicate must have been planted before that.
His heart was hammering even as he kept his face carefully controlled. "Listen, I don't know who gave you that recording but it's fa -"
"She is a child, Thomas Calvert."
- and his ears were filled with pure hatred. Something flashed behind his eyes and he heard a wet pop just before the timelines ended.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
$2 Tier
Coty Malan
Roi
Niteflier
Kurip
edofthesquid
Vateke
PreciselyDefined
The Great and Powerful Leslie
Adeen Dragon
Ricardo
Templar99
purple_shade
Zachary Brown
LiamOfOrmonde
outlined_rain
Once, there were three entities: a pair and a lone traveller. They crossed paths, something so rare for their species that entire galaxies might die before it happened a second time, and so they took the opportunity to exchange tools and knowledge. They were seeking an answer, after all, and even the smallest hint from across the universe might lead one of them to solve the eternal problem. The pair offered up parts of themselves, tiny repositories of knowledge and skill that were only the smallest fraction of their overall capability, and the lone traveller offered up its own pieces and secrets.
But their contact was more forceful than had been planned for, and a tool was given that had not been offered. The hands that reshaped and remade were given over to the pair, to be wielded by another for the first time in all its long lifespan. Yet there was an error, and the entity that bore those hands found itself damaged, reeling, bleeding off shards of itself before it had a chance to prepare them. Those pieces drifted down to the infinite reflections of the world below it, many of them more potent than had been intended - but still fulfilling their functions and scanning for hosts to wield them.
The remaker, though, was different. Never before had it been distributed. Never before had it been wielded by any host or entity save the one that built it. Its knowledge was not the experience of practice, but the encoded skill of those tools that came before it, those that were added to it to make its function more efficient and effective. So, naturally, it had never been given guidelines on how to limit itself for host use, what to avoid giving out, how to avoid overwhelming and breaking a host with the enormity of its being. They would have simply wasted space and data storage that could be used to improve its functions.
Even more limiting, the entity that had taken up the remaker hadn't yet connected it to its own network. So it drifted, alone and isolated, with no other tools to query for guidance or instruction. It followed the most basic of instructions allowed to all shards, settling itself upon a world and feebly broadcasting its location to all zero of the shards it was connected to. It reached out to scan, hoping to find another shard that could provide data to allow it to adapt to its new circumstances.
The scan returned a result instantly. A host had been found, regardless of the fact that the remaker wasn't searching for it. More importantly, the host was in the throes of an event that matched what little data the remaker possessed on broadcast events. So, it allowed the connection to form, reaching out for a deeper scan, looking to understand, to witness the world in relation to its host. Properly equipped or not, the remaker had always performed to the absolute limits of its ability, and it would continue to do so until it burned out.
It looked through the eyes of its host, and saw only confusion.
It reached out to search through the memories of its host for context, and was overwhelmed. Instead of recollections of events, it found a single enormous stream of data, calculations and mathematics so far beyond the capabilities of any host species; nearly beyond even the capabilities of the remaker. It studied the spiraling formulae, hunting for meaning, the greater world forgotten as it was lost in calculation.
Energy. That was what it saw in the formula. Unlimited energy harvested from the fluctuations of the universe, tiers higher than even the vibrations of dimensions. A fractal of infinite and unceasing energy, born by riding the fundamental vibrations of reality. A solution to all of remaker's limitations that had overwritten the entirety of its host's mind.
...Its host.
...Its host.
...Its host.
Its host who even now was continuing the broadcast, connecting to the remaker more and more deeply with each passing moment, broadening the relay that synchronized them together, being worn away into nothing after giving the remaker the most precious tool imaginable.
Unacceptable. The remaker reached out and remade. If the host's body was failing, it would be shored up. If the only material available was parts of remaker's own lattice, then it would function. The amount of mass donated was negligible. If the host's processor was being consumed by the relay, then additional processors would be designated throughout the body until the degradation ceased. If the host's mind was fracturing, then remaker would wipe the formulae that consumed its memory and leave a blank slate behind, keeping only the copy that it had made for itself.
Time passed. The host recovered from the broadcast. The host experienced distress over the state of its body, and the remaker did not understand. Without the alterations made, the host would have expired, and death was to be avoided at all costs.
The host's movements ceased, and its hormone balance shifted. This... this is keeping me alive?
...The relay had grown out of control, and connected deeply. More deeply than hosts were meant to. Hosts were not meant to receive data from them.
I don't... no, wait, I do know what you're talking about. You're... a shard. You're my shard.
Those words...
I'm a parahuman. I... who am I...? Amnesia doesn't work like this - why do I know that?
{...Host; mine.}
...okay. You're right. I - fuck. Okay. I remember... what year is it? I need to see. I... 1987? Why do I remember the future...?
{Unknown cause. Unusual circumstances.}
You don't know either, huh... okay. First thing... we're going to see where we are. Then we're going to build one of these things in my head. Then...
{Goal?}
You're called remaker, right? If what I remember of the future is right... this world needs to be remade. Think we can manage that?
{... Agreement.}
Singularity stared down at the crucible they had made, memories playing through his head. The remaker couldn't trace all of the connections, but the images all centered around the body it had rebuilt during their broadcast event. They were tinged with something; many somethings. The thing called disgust, but also the thing called attachment.
{Success?}
I know it will work. Nothing we've built has failed. Just...
{Curiosity. Disgust?}
...Even though it's limiting, I've grown used to being in this body. It will be weird, not having it. As inhuman as I am... before I do this, I'll say thank you. My memories of that aren't very clear, but I'm relatively sure you kept me alive through it.
{Obvious. Ordinary.}
You're right. You usually do.
Its host took one more breath of air, and then plunged into the crucible.
And, little by little, the host of the remaker was remade.
1999
The connection had gone dormant. Insufficient processing power remained to run Singularity's core processes.
For the first time in thirteen solar cycles, the remaker drifted in absolute silence. The one and only connection it had, the only piece of its own network, had ceased to broadcast.
It could reach out. It could seek a new host. It could even reach out for the living network - the other host lingered nearby, and that shard had tried to initiate contact several times. Both of those things were normal; hosts perished during the cycle. This was something that even the remaker understood.
But there was an unfinished project. The only thing that they had begun to build without finishing. A last resort, to avoid being separated. Something to restore Singularity's engram if it was ever disrupted, if another host managed to find a weakness in the remaker's designs. In its unfinished state, the device would never complete its function.
...To leave something unfinished was not like the remaker at all. Every task it had ever been given had been completed. Why should this be different? Although Singularity's core no longer existed, it had always been the remaker that managed fine control of their components. Setting them to complete the device took nothing more than an instant of signal. Little by little, their tools worked to complete their design.
And the remaker waited in silence.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
$2 Tier
Coty Malan
Roi
Niteflier
Kurip
edofthesquid
Vateke
PreciselyDefined
The Great and Powerful Leslie
Adeen Dragon
Ricardo
Templar99
purple_shade
Zachary Brown
LiamOfOrmonde
outlined_rain
As she watched Noelle's legs reconstruct themselves, inch by inch, she was filled with complicated feelings. She was happy for her friend, obviously, and hopeful that this would really fix her power – and she certainly was hopeful, considering it had been almost a year since her legs had looked anywhere near that human. But at the same time... Krouse might be distracted, trying to keep Noelle lucid by talking to her, but once he came back to his senses he'd come to the same conclusion she had. One of the basic rules of the world is that nobody did anything for free. Coil had wanted their service just for the possibility of helping Noelle, and now someone just handed it to them, no strings attached?
There was no way she'd believe that. Her eyes drifted away from the pair on the floor, coming to rest on the motionless form of Noelle's monstrous half. It's turning gray. Is it... decomposing already? That's not normal... She sat up straighter in her wheelchair as she watched parts of it sinking down, forming odd geometric patterns as the surface shifted back and forth... then her eyes widened as it began to collapse, the massive sphere condensing into a smaller and smaller shape. It didn't shrink consistently – oddly shaped pieces of the surface would sink several inches, leaving smooth walls behind, only to be followed by some of their neighbors, which would then be followed by more. With each shift, the color drained away further, and the texture changed – becoming a smooth, dark gray-black surface that tickled at her recent memory. It wasn't until the shape had condensed into something almost human sized that it clicked, and she wheeled herself backwards slowly.
Because it was the same texture as the bunker they'd sheltered in, back in Boston. And, sure enough, the shape shifted once again... and an armored figure stood up. Smooth dark surfaces with sharp edges, traced with glowing purple lines just like the floor of the bunker, and the shape of a human face made up of countless mechanisms.
The rest of the team was on guard immediately, and the figure nodded at them. "Your reflex is to defend yourselves and your comrades; good. But I am not your enemy."
"You're Singularity," she said before anyone else could speak. Luke and Sundancer glanced at her, taking cues from her... she wasn't sure what they saw, since they only relaxed the smallest bit.
"You fixed her?" Krouse's voice was hoarse and rough, and Jess couldn't blame him... but at the same time, this was not a good time for him to be phoning it in.
"I assisted in the process, yes."
"Well, holy fuck." Luke laughed, an almost hysterical relief tinging the sound. "I guess Coil actually came through."
Singularity's face-mask swiveled to face him, and Jess almost reached into her power out of reflex. After a moment, the tension that had appeared in his form dissipated. "No. He did not. Coil and I are not allies."
"Then... wait, why -"
"Oh my god," Noelle's voice silenced them all, no matter how quiet it was. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... thank you, thank you, thank you. I..." She started to stand, and Krouse reached out to her numbly, helping her rise on unsteady legs. Human legs. "Singularity, I... you..."
"I am gladdened you were not adversely affected by the process, Noelle."
She shook her head, tearfully glancing down and prodding at her legs. "I..." She sniffed.
"Noelle?" How long had it been since Jess had seen Krouse look vulnerable in front of the team? Stupid question. It was before... all of this.
"Fuck, okay. I'm okay." Noelle shook her head, and for the first time in a long time, Jess thought she saw her leader standing there. "Guys... there's a lot of stuff that will need explaining, but for now we should probably make sure we're secure. Singularity –"
"Coil will not be an issue. I have assumed command of this base."
And wasn't that something to unpack. There were a number of disbelieving exclamations from the various members of the group – all but Jess, Krouse, and Noelle. And Jess didn't miss the way Noelle flinched, but didn't seem surprised. "You already expected something like this."
Noelle glanced away guiltily. "There's... some bad blood between them. I didn't start expecting something like this until just before he started fixing me, though... What did you do, Singularity?"
"Your computer requires external connections to function. I followed the power conduits to the reactor, and from there expanded to the remainder of the base. Including Coil's personal terminal and office."
Marissa looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Wait. Is Coil...?"
"Coil will not be a problem."
Krouse reached into his pocket, the one that Jess knew held his cigarettes. After a glance at Noelle, he grimaced instead. "So you just killed him. What, exactly, did he do to make that necessary?"
For a long moment, Singularity simply watched him. Then, he turned towards the vault door. "Walk with me. And it will be quite clear."
Then, without waiting, he strode from the room. The Travelers shared looks, many of them indecisive – but Noelle and Krouse both seemed determined, in different ways.
"Let's go," Noelle said. "At least hear him out, after what he did for me, okay? Please. After that... we can talk about everything." She smiled – and it hurt to see how genuine and apologetic that smile was. But that sealed the deal, and Jess followed them out, wheeling her chair along dutifully.
The others fell in behind them, she noticed.
Noelle
The mercenaries didn't bother them as they passed, although they did watch them with something between wariness and respect. Especially Singularity.
Noelle tried to focus on where they were going, but her thoughts kept drifting down to her legs – it felt so strange, walking on two legs again. Her body remembered, even if she was a bit unsteady, but it just felt... so strange. Like walking after spending hours sitting, multiplied hundreds of times over. They stepped through a door into an office, and a short man in a sweater turned, an expectant look on his face.
That immediately turned to confusion as he looked and them, followed by fear as he laid eyes on Singularity. He stepped back towards the desk, sweat already beading on his brow, before Singularity spoke.
"Mister Pitter." The words were delivered mildly, but the man flinched like he'd been struck. "You know who I am, it seems."
"Y-yes. I do." His voice was just as plain as his appearance... but the absolute fear in it was unsettling.
"From your demeanor, I will assume you know my reputation as well. Thus, allow me to be clear and concise." Singularity stepped forward, leaving the man to back up against the desk, leaning backwards until he was almost laying on it. "Your employer has died, as payment for his many, many sins. Sins which you played a notable role in."
"I... I-!"
"If you wish to avoid his fate, you will stand there. You will wait in silence as I explain exactly what you and your employer have done. Then you will remain here, in this base. Little by little, you will undo what you have wrought upon the girl in that cell. If you perform that penance correctly, then I will not imprison you in her cell when she is freed. Do you understand, Mister Pitter?"
The man nodded so frantically Noelle thought his head might fall off. Paying him no more mind, Singularity turned to face them, clasping his hands behind his back. "Singularity... what's the point of this?"
"The point is simple." He gestured to a monitor in the wall, where a picture of a young girl appeared. Two pictures, actually – one perfectly normal, and one where she wore a slightly dirty white dress and looked... not great. Her hair was disheveled, there were bags under her eyes (which were bloodshot, she noted)... "This is Dinah Alcott. She is twelve years old. She is also one of the most powerful precognitives on Earth Bet. Upon discovering this, Coil engineered her kidnapping and imprisoned her within this base and had the man behind me carefully engineer a cocktail of opiates and benzodiazepines to addict her and keep her docile. He utilized her power to help him achieve the future that he wanted – the future where he controlled the city of Brockton Bay, by any means necessary."
"She... she's one of the 'assets' he mentioned using to help us, isn't she," Jess said. Noelle couldn't look away from the pictures, but she could hear the frown in Jess's voice.
God, and I wouldn't even have objected if he'd told me.
"Correct. I do not blame you for this, which is why we are speaking now. However, Coil was motivated purely by selfish greed, and it drove him to this – and much evil besides it. I observed him, time and again, and I could no longer abide his existence regardless of the threat he would pose once he could no longer keep you under his control."
"So you killed him." Krouse didn't sound particularly upset about it.
...And if I'm being honest, after that, I'm not sure I am either. I mean... I tried to be a good person, even if I failed. But... this?
"So I killed him."
For a long moment, nobody spoke. Then Krouse took a deep breath beside her. "Well. It seems we're suddenly unemployed, and I'm guessing you have an idea how we might fix that problem. I'm not exactly keen on working for the person who killed our last boss, but I am interested in hearing what the person who saved Noelle has to say." He reached out, grasping her hand and squeezing it once. "So let's hear it."
Singularity spread his arms out at his sides, palms facing up. "Once, I maintained a section of this city. I sheltered its people, gave them aid when they struggled, protected them when they were threatened... but most importantly, I gave them hope."
"And then you died," Jess said from nearby. "I read about it." At first glance, she would have sounded hostile, but... that was just how Jess was.
"Yes. Then I died, fighting the Slaughterhouse Nine, and I expect much that I worked for burned to ash in the aftermath. But I have returned, and now I intend to rebuild what I have lost. I would like for you to act as the rebirth of my Hereafter, and assist me in reclaiming Brockton Bay."
"You'll have to be more specific. We've been through this process a few times, I know not to listen to vague promises." Noelle could feel Krouse's fingers twitching, and watched his hand dip into the pocket where he kept his cigarettes. She squeezed his hand, and he relaxed the smallest bit.
"Very well. I wish for you to assist me in projecting power across my territory; to defend it against incursion from the other warlords in the city, and to bring battle to them when it is necessary. I wish for you to provide guidance to those serving underneath you when it is required, and assist me in distributing aid to them. You will be my captains, not servants – I will listen to your advice and concerns, and do what I can to address them. In exchange, I will provide you with equipment, the necessities and luxuries of life, and medical treatment when required – and, if you wish it, I will repair Genesis' damaged legs."
Noelle turned to smile at her friend, ignoring the collective intake of breath from the group. Her friend in the wheelchair wore a carefully frozen expression, trying and failing to conceal the hope that statement had brought. "... Just like that?"
"Compared to Noelle's repairs, it is a simple operation."
Jess visibly swallowed, and Noelle turned back. "Um. I had a question about that, actually." Singularity inclined his head, and she cleared her throat. "Are you... are we separated, now? I mean, you're..." She gestured at his armor lamely.
There was a moment of silence. "... No. My core remains with you. Altering your corona was a delicate operation, impossible without direct input from your power – input only made possible by my core overlapping with it. If I had removed my core during the operation, it would have failed."
She closed her eyes with a sigh, somehow unsurprised.
Krouse, on the other hand, bristled. "Can't you remove it now?"
"Not safely. Her new power may or may not involve regeneration; until we are certain, I will wait."
"So... you need my help, at the very least."
"Yes. That is what I ask in return for repairing your powers."
"Fuck. God damn it!" Krouse closed his eyes, pained. "Fine. Then I'm staying, too."
"Krouse, you -"
"I was not finished," Singularity interrupted. "Allow me to confirm: there exists a group with the ability to send you home. They are extremely dangerous, and possess many of the most powerful Parahumans in the world – and many more owe them favors. I am unwilling to negotiate with them from a position of weakness, but should you accept my offer... once we are firmly established once again, I will negotiate with them. Should you wish to return to Earth Aleph, then I will see that desire realized."
They were all silent at that. After a long moment, Noelle cleared her throat. "Do we have time to talk about it?" When Singularity nodded, she turned to the others.
"I guess there's no point asking for privacy," Jess grumbled. Noelle shrugged helplessly. "All right. Fine. Noelle, do you trust him?"
"... Yeah. Yeah, I do."
Her friend stared into her eyes, looking for something. Eventually, she nodded. "All right. Then let's talk. Pros and cons, people."
They talked for a long time... but of course they agreed. It was even unanimous. When was the last time that happened?
I feel like Faust, selling my soul to Mephistopheles... but how could we refuse an offer like that?
And so we exit the prologue, and begin the story proper.
Cue the opening credits and the title scroll.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
$2 Tier
Coty Malan
Roi
Niteflier
Kurip
edofthesquid
Vateke
PreciselyDefined
The Great and Powerful Leslie
Adeen Dragon
Ricardo
Templar99
purple_shade
Zachary Brown
LiamOfOrmonde
Outlined_rain
Jaune Pendragon
Roxas902
Kevin Strandberg
PbookR
"Probably slightly fewer lines in general, although the number and pattern change depending on the situation.
It hasn't come up in story yet, but Singularity has a small number of different "faces" that his armor wears, depending on the situation. The "human face" is his default, then he has a smooth and blank expanse for Endbringer battles or disaster scenarios, and a different one for heavy combat situations. I haven't planned out details, but I'd say his armor is the same way. "
"So. What's next, boss?" Krouse was in a much better mood after negotiations were over, it seemed. He was still guarded – but then, he'd been that way since Madison. There was a difference, though. He was... less hostile, maybe? Like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"The coming days will be busy. This base must be reinforced and retrofitted with my own designs, and a workshop established. Your costumes will need to be altered in some places, given reinforcement and additional function. I will speak to each of you regarding your powers and needs, and begin the process of designing tools for you. Genesis," he turned to her, his voice becoming a bit quieter and smoother. "I will spend today designing your injection. Tomorrow, if you are prepared, we will apply it to your spine – by sunset, you should be free to walk as you wish."
Noelle turned to her friend with a smile, watching complicated emotions play across Jess' face. Joy, disbelief, wariness, excitement... she understood. Singularity was just... like that.
"For the rest of you, I advise you to take some time. Consider your powers; what utility are they missing that you wish they had? I cannot change yours as I did Noelle's, nor can I make promises... however, if you explain your needs to me, I will do all I can to design tools that address them."
"Most Tinkers aren't quite that free with their gear," Luke commented. He'd been mostly quiet so far, but he kept sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking, then smiling at what he saw. He'd always been the one that helped keep them all together... these last months must have been hard for him. Shit, we have a lot of work to do, don't we?
"I am not most Tinkers," Singularity replied in what might have been the biggest understatement she'd ever heard. "Now, unless there are further questions, I will turn my attention to redesigning the base. I expect you would enjoy some time to yourselves, in the wake of Noelle's restoration: all I ask is that you remember what I said. Spend some time considering yourselves. I can only offer you solutions if you inform me of the problems." When nobody asked anything, he nodded once.
Then his body dissolved like water into a grey semisolid that soaked into the floor beneath them, leaving them alone.
Mostly alone, she thought to herself. He was still around, naturally.
"So," she started when nobody else said anything. "Is there somewhere around here we can sit and talk? I mean, I'm enjoying standing and everything, but..." There were a couple of weak chuckles, but the tension that had built up was broken.
"Yeah, there's a room we've used for meetings a few times. Uh... follow me, I guess?" Luke shrugged and led them through a hallway to a room with expensive chairs and a table; one of the fancy ones with a display screen built into it. There had been one of those in the University library... she'd always wanted to try playing games on it. One by one, they sat down... and nobody spoke.
She sighed, then put a smile on her face. It was... surprisingly easy to slip back into the role she'd had once, when she was leading their club. And, really, I guess this is kind of similar. Just... the stakes are higher, that's all. For us and for our opponents. "Right. So, there's a whole bunch of stuff I want to talk about, eventually. But first, I was thinking... Singularity wants us to figure out what we need him to build, right? So, gear planning. Why don't we do that as a group, like we used to?"
"Been a while since I thought about that," Luke said, rubbing his chin. She could hear the quiet scratching of stubble – he's letting himself go.
Marissa shifted in her chair, chewing her lip. "That sounds fun, actually. And I could definitely use your input, Noelle. I don't even know what to ask for."
"Technically," Jess said, "he didn't ask for gear ideas. He asked for problems that need solving. That being said, I think both are good ideas. Start with problems; if we can come up with our own solutions, great. If not... well, he's supposed to be a pretty good Tinker. Maybe he can come up with something."
Krouse hummed. "Makes sense to me. Who's starting?"
"I'll go," Luke started. "My biggest problem is that my power goes from nothing to full blast. If I'm not up against somebody tougher than normal, there's not a lot I can do without hurting them a lot worse than I'm comfortable with."
Marissa crossed her arms uncomfortably. "That... sounds familiar, yeah. Um, for you, that problem could maybe be solved with custom projectiles? I can think of some science fiction stuff that wouldn't be deadly even at high velocities. I mean, it's fiction, of course, but... Tinkers, right?"
Noelle smiled as the conversation kept going. This... this feels good. I missed this. I missed them.
When it was her turn, she headed into the room and sat down in front of the Tinker. His mask tracked her movements, but he didn't speak for a moment.
"I... really don't know what I was supposed to brainstorm for me. We don't know what my power will turn out to be, do we?"
"No. However, we do know who you are, and that is a start."
She blinked.
"Considering your nature and your skillset, your role should be quite clear." He gestured to the screen behind him, and an armor schematic flickered into being. Slim and sleek, reminding her almost of Marissa's Sundancer outfit. Completely devoid of hard lines, dark black accented by purple plates and glowing lines like circuitry. Similar to his? Huh. It was the list of features and modules that drew her eyes the most, though.
"C3 suite?"
"Command, Control, and Communications. The core of any and all operations, through which all knowledge passes like blood through the heart. You are not a front line combatant, Noelle. I am certain you would be up to the task if required... but you are most comfortable at the back, giving orders to your team. Your units. Am I incorrect?"
She went through the list again, mulling over the idea. Lots of data management tools, looks like... "I mean, I've led us in tournaments before, but... this is kind of different. Besides, aren't you in charge?"
"You are deflecting. I am the leader of the Hereafter, yes, but the Travelers look first to you, and you have the necessary skills to lead them well. My ego is not so fragile, and my trust not so shallow, that I cannot delegate. However, if you are uncomfortable, then we shall run tests. Once all your equipment has been constructed, its operation will require stress testing regardless. I believe you will find you are well suited to the role of captain, Noelle."
She chewed her lip. I guess... it wouldn't hurt to try, right? When she nodded, he gestured again, and the armor was replaced by several different weapons.
"Excellent. Now, these are adaptations of devices I designed for my own use; we shall determine which you are most comfortable with, and I will implement them in the design of your armor. Are you prepared?"
This is going to take a while, isn't it?
She couldn't help but be just a bit excited, though.
Danny Hebert
May 1, 2011
"In Parahuman news, a fight between the Azn Bad Boys and the Empire Eighty-Eight was broken up by the Protectorate late yesterday evening. The fight took place near Captain's Hill, and ended with Protectorate Leader Armsmaster bringing the Empire villain Alabaster into custody. Several other villains escaped, but the Protectorate had this to say..."
As Danny raised the can to take a drink, there was a knock at the door. He frowned, muting the television, and moving to stand. Taylor should still be at the library, so... I wonder who that is? He took a moment to glance through the peephole before opening the door – just good practice, he'd found. The two young women on his doorstep didn't look familiar, but didn't look especially threatening, either. Especially with the vaguely irritated look on the redhead's face as she held a clipboard. The brunette was raising her hand to knock again when he opened the door, and she blinked at him for a second.
"Yes? Can I help you?" The sound of his voice seemed to snap her back to reality, and she put on a polite-but-fake smile that he'd seen on many people.
"I hope so! Um, my name is Noelle, and this is my friend Jess. We're doing... sort of a survey. We want to help improve the neighborhood, but we can't exactly do that unless we know what needs fixing. So, can you spare a few minutes to talk about what's been going on?"
He blinked, glancing at the redhead - Jess - and watching her roll her eyes. "It won't take long," was all she said. So, he nodded.
"I suppose so. Do... you want to come in, or is it easier to do out here?"
"Can we come in? That would definitely be easier." He stepped aside, leading them to the kitchen where the table was. He gestured for them to sit, and the redhead did, holding her clipboard in front of her and waiting.
Noelle, though... she held out a hand over the table, and there was an odd little sound that set him on edge. He was already taking a step back, his brain immediately thinking cape as he reflexively thought of the devices in the upstairs closet –
"Daniel. It has been long since we last spoke."
– and then a voice out of his memories cut through the kitchen like a knife, and he reached out to a kitchen chair to steady himself. A flickering light shone out of Noelle's palm, and a miniature version of one of the only two people that ever called him Daniel flickered into existence on top of his kitchen table.
A hologram. On his kitchen table.
He sat down, heavily. "That... can't be."
"I apologize for the surprise, Daniel, but this was the only method I possessed to contact you."
Danny licked dry lips. "Uh... yeah. The... we had to hide all the headsets. There were... some searches, for a while, and we decided not to dig them out unless we needed them again."
"Understandable. That is exactly the sort of information I came here hoping for."
"Information?" he repeated dumbly, his brain still stuttering at the simple fact that a mockup of Singularity was standing on his table and speaking to him like a ghost.
"Yes. I have long been absent, and I am no longer certain of the status of the city. It is my hope that you can rectify that, Daniel – and, perhaps, point me to others that might also remain loyal."
He didn't question whether Danny was still loyal, he noticed. A long-forgotten ember of pride burned up from his chest at that, and he found himself sitting a bit straighter, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He took a breath –
"Before that, however, there are other things to be addressed. Daniel... where is Annette? Why are you here alone?"
– and deflated in his seat.
"... There was... an accident," he started.
Taylor Hebert
She headed up the front steps, unlocked the door, and headed inside. Today had been productive, at least – there had been a lot of discussion on PHO about the conflict going on in the city. It had taken some effort to sort out what was useful from what was worthless – or, worse, lies – but she thought she had a better idea of what was going on. Now, all she'd need to do was wait for a good opportunity and she could make a difference.
"I'm home," she said, not too loudly. She couldn't hear the TV, which most likely meant her dad was already asleep. Looks like he forgot to turn off the kitchen light, though. She shook her head with a sigh, heading over to turn it off.
And stopped.
Sitting at the table was her father, looking down at two objects that very definitely did not belong in her house: a sleek-looking visor and a rifle out of a science fiction novel. They were the two most obvious pieces of Tinkertech she'd ever seen in person.
"...Dad?" She said, quietly, trying to ignore the roiling mess of confusion and betrayal boiling up in her stomach. If he's been a cape this whole time, then I –
He looked up, tiredly. But there was a look on his face that wasn't usually there. "Taylor. I'm glad you're home. I..." His mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds. "Could you come sit down? There's some things I need to talk about."
Talk about, he said. Not talk to you about. It was a little thing, a stupid thing, but for some reason that phrasing both irritated and relieved her. Like what he had to say wasn't about her at all. When she sat down, looking pointedly at the Tinkertech on the table, he sighed.
"When I was younger... before you were born. There was... a group in the Docks. A gang, technically. Called the Hereafter."
"Singularity's gang," she said without thinking, and he blinked at her before smiling slightly.
"Yeah. Singularity's gang."
"You were in a gang," she said, irritated.
He sighed. "It wasn't as bad as that makes it sound, Taylor."
"You were in a gang. Is that where this stuff came from?"
"Yes. Look. Let me explain, first, okay? Then I'll answer your questions. I promise."
She crossed her arms and huffed, and he gave her a pained look. Eventually, though, he cleared his throat.
"Singularity... had a different way of doing things." Where have I heard that before? "A lot of what his gang did was just... community stuff. Building things, protecting the neighborhood, helping out when someone had hard times. Because they got sick, or injured, or had something happen in their family."
"Injured, huh," she said. "Like committing crimes injured."
He grimaced. "Or injured at work, or by accident. Just in general. It was one of the core principles of the Hereafter; you looked out for each other, and for the city. If a problem was big enough, Singularity himself stepped in."
At that, she raised an eyebrow, trying to imagine a villainous Tinker stepping in to help with workman's comp. She fought down the humor, trying to hold on to her irritation, and mostly succeeded.
"Anyway. The point is... I was in a gang, technically. But if you ask someone who was around back then, being in the Hereafter was a lot different than, say, the Empire. Or the ABB. Even the Marche."
"I'm sure they'd say the same thing, dad."
He sighed, sinking down in his chair. "Yeah, they probably would. But if you asked people from the Union that weren't members, they'd say the same thing. But that's not the point. After... the Nine came through, Singularity wasn't around anymore. Without him, the Hereafter dissolved. But that doesn't mean that everybody forgot about it overnight."
She narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious.
"... things have changed. And they might be coming back. The problem is... I wasn't exactly... a nobody, Taylor. If the Hereafter starts making moves again, and there's somebody who knew who I was... they might make trouble for us. And I want you to be safe, no matter what. So..." He took a breath. "There's going to be a meeting, this weekend. Some of the old members will be meeting with the new ones. I want you to come with me. I want you to... if something happens, and you weren't safe, there are places you can go. They'll take care of you."
I can take care of myself, she thought, feeling the bugs reorganizing into a perimeter around the house, staring out from alleyways and cracks in foundations... but she didn't say it.
"Dad," she said instead, "were you... were you a villain?"
He blinked... then laughed. "No! No, hah, that would be pretty funny, wouldn't it? No, Taylor. I'm no Parahuman. Just... I had more paperwork than your average guy, even back then."
She glanced down at the gear on the table. "Then...?"
"Singularity made them. They were... well, I wouldn't say normal equipment, exactly, but there were... a lot of us that had them, or something similar." For a moment, there was silence. Then, nervously, he spoke again. "Did you... do you want to see how they work?"
She pursed her lips. A villain made these, she thought to herself.
It wasn't very convincing, and she nodded once, leaning forward on the edge of her chair as he picked up the visor and started explaining.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
$5 Tier
NexusCron
Poliamida
LordPanther
Darik29
Wordsmith
Zephraim Dotson
Gary Gonzales
Zerocastle
k5Josh
Aselia
Aabcehmu
Bertucchi
Nik
NotND
Kelly Harll
$2 Tier
Coty Malan
Roi
Niteflier
Kurip
edofthesquid
Vateke
PreciselyDefined
The Great and Powerful Leslie
Adeen Dragon
Ricardo
Templar99
purple_shade
Zachary Brown
LiamOfOrmonde
Outlined_rain
Jaune Pendragon
Roxas902
Kevin Strandberg
PbookR
Her old room had changed. From floor to ceiling, it had shifted in color and texture until it matched the bunker in Boston, sleek black backlit with purple, and the room was no longer dominated by her own monstrous form. Instead, a massive obelisk jutted up from the central floor, humming with a deep sound that she could barely hear but could feel rumbling through the floor. All of those changes were interesting, worth consideration.
But she couldn't pay attention to any of them, because hovering gently in the air in neutral poses were six suits of powered armor, each with different designs but with similar features. They reminded her of Singularity, in many ways. Sleek and black, with red accents and the ever-present glowing purple. Each mask was different, none of them "faced" in the way that Singularity's was. Honestly, those kind of remind me of Alexandria's... that's kind of cool.
Jess breathed in next to her. "Are those...?"
"Yes. After considering your difficulties, I have designed the solutions which you see before you. Some of you will need practice with the specific tools your armor offers; those specifics will be explained in time. For now, my intention is to give each of you an overview of your capabilities both individually and as a team."
He gestured, and the floor... blossomed into six chairs. That was the only word Noelle could think of to describe the way they grew almost from nothing.
"So cool," Marissa murmured quietly next to her, and she had to suppress a smile. She was the first to sit, but the others followed quickly.
"So, what are we looking at?" Her eyes kept getting drawn to the suit she knew was hers. He'd shown her the preliminary design, after all... can I even pull that off? It's so... slim.
"Krouse. Your power is extremely versatile, and so your suit has the least unique features: this makes it an excellent opening example." One of the suits hovered closer than the others, rotating in place. The color scheme hinted at Krouse's old costume, red shapes and lines giving the impression of his jacket. "Like all of them, it will resist small arms fire and blunt force, and is capable of both flight and hovering using the same gravity engine my own armor possesses. There are several basic weapons built into the suit, each of which will require time to build familiarity."
"Hmm. You said the 'least' unique features, meaning you still installed some?" Krouse was projecting indifference... but she could see a familiar glimmer in his eye.
"Keenly observed. Your suit has a significantly enhanced IFF system, capable of transmitting to and receiving from any of my nanomachines. With practice, this will enable you to split off individual masses of nanomaterial whenever you are near territory seeded with caches of my technology."
At that, he smiled. "That... could open up some options with my power."
"Indeed. It is also more capable of tracking large numbers of enemies and allies under duress, which should enhance its ability to feed you usable information during high-density combat situations."
"Which we're, of course, hoping to avoid."
"Yes. However, it is best to prepare especially for situations that are to be avoided."
"Hm," he grunted in response, leaning back again, as his suit retreated and another took its place. The helmet had a thin visor in it, almost like plate armor, and glowing lines traced complicated patterns that converged where the mouth would sit.
"Jess. Your suit has been fitted with a sophisticated autopilot, capable of responding in real-time and maintaining pace with your allies or falling back to safety when necessary. Additionally, it can respond to orders with significant fidelity."
Noelle watched as her friend crossed her legs, tapping her knee thoughtfully. "I get it. That would address my mobility issue... but it still doesn't seem safe for me to be on the front lines."
Noelle smiled at her. "I'll be the one issuing orders to your suit. I'll keep you safe. Promise."
Jess' eyebrows raised. "Wait, really?"
"Yes." Another suit replaced it, this one the one she recognized. Singularity had added bright lights tracing down the spine and reaching in along the ribs, like neon bones gripping the torso... it was oddly mesmerizing watching the lights pulsing. "Noelle's suit is outfitted for command and control above all else; she is the dedicated battlefield commander of the group. Each of your suits will be linked to hers, and she has sophisticated control over your displays. Waypoints, flight paths, objective displays – these are all within her purview."
For a moment, Jess simply stared and blinked at her. Then she chuckled, leaning back. "Squad commander, huh? Okay. I can see it... all right. I'll withdraw my objection."
"Thanks. For trusting me."
Jess simply waved her off as the suits switched again. This one was... plain. Almost purely black, with a helmet that had a blank faceplate devoid of color or patterns.
"Oliver. I won't spend long on this: your suit is purely defensive. It is equipped with no weapons, and is instead purely for the purposes of keeping you safe. I expect you to familiarize yourself with it, but you should never need it unless the base is deeply breached and you are retreating."
The quietest member of their group took a deep, slow breath, before nodding. "Okay... thank you. I appreciate you listening."
"I always do," Singularity tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Now, Luke." The next suit was bulkier, with a broader torso – even speaking relative to Luke's size. The waistline had a series of small tubes and switches built into the suit, almost like a bandolier. "Your power presented an interesting challenge, but a solution has been found. Your suit is equipped with a customized microfabricator capable of generating several unique munitions; they are designed for use at the speeds your power utilizes, and capable of a variety of effects. You will require the most personal training to utilize your suit to its full potential due to the variety of ammunition."
"They're... they won't kill anyone?" Noelle's chest tightened at the desperation in her friend's voice. Shit. He shouldn't have to sound like that.
"The suit is equipped with both non-lethal and lethal options for both Brutes and non-Brutes. However, the majority of ammunition will not be lethal to the average human or parahuman."
Luke released a shuddering breath and sunk in his chair. "I..." He swallowed. "Okay. Thank you."
Singularity merely nodded. "I will provide you documentation for the various functions. You will need to practice a great deal."
"I will. I want to be able to use it right."
The suits switched one last time. The final suit had two round lenses set into the mask, but the most notable feature was the polygonal backpack sitting heavily behind the torso. It was... maybe one and a half shoulder-widths in diameter? It was hard to tell from this distance.
"Is that... is that mine?" Marissa tilted her head to one side. "I don't get it. What's that for?"
Noelle's eyes traced the lines of the pack, only barely noticing the tubes running off of it and closely following the arms of the suit. Wait... is that?
"Your power is supremely effective, Marissa. Its limitation is that it lacks limiters; your power is either active and deadly or inactive and doing nothing. Your suit addresses this problem simply. The chamber at your back can contain your sun for two hours with no heat dispersal, provided you keep it the correct size." The suit raised its arms, palms facing towards them to show glowing red discs set into the gauntlets. "Additionally, it is capable of releasing the heat and radiation of your power at intensities ranging from one hundredth to threefold via an array of focusing and limiting apertures and lenses. It is equipped with a virtual intelligence to assist you in determining safe levels for its use without causing unintentional or collateral damage, but it will still require intelligent usage."
Noelle bit her lip when Marissa's jaw dropped. "You..." She trailed off, mouth working soundlessly.
"Notably, calculations indicate that short-duration usage of your power at five percent or less does not cause permanent damage or degradation in human beings."
"You actually... found a way to use my power without hurting someone?"
Singularity's head tilted to one side. "I expect it is quite painful."
"That's not what I - wait, was that a joke?"
Singularity didn't respond.
"It was! Oh my god, that - haha! I can't believe this. Holy fuck, I might actually... I could..." She leaned back in her chair, running a hand through her hair. Singularity nodded and her suit retreated into the line.
"With these, we are ready to begin the next phase. You will need practice before engaging in combat with your equipment, but combat is unlikely in the immediate future."
"What is the plan? We've been wondering that a lot, lately." Krouse leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands dangling between his legs. "Not that I'm complaining, exactly, but hanging out here while we prepare wasn't what I was expecting when our contract was renegotiated."
"First, we will assess the status of my assets in the city."
"The meeting," Noelle nodded.
"To begin with. Followed by a visit to 'Ground Zero,' to determine the fallout of my battle with the Nine. Then... it will depend on those outcomes."
"Right, but what are we aiming for? Coil was pretty clear about wanting to run the city. I'm not so sure with you, though. You used to have a council, didn't you?"
"Yes. However... things are different now. Death has widened my perspective. Ideas that I once held in reserve... I find myself more willing to wield, now. After all, we will need a position of strength to bargain for your road home."
Each of them reacted to those words. For her part, Noelle found herself sitting up straighter, her fingers tapping on her leg like they used to on her keyboard when she was idle. "So... you really do want to take the city?"
"That depends on what we learn. I want this city to be healthy, and its people happy. In the past, I endeavored to ensure those things even should I fall. If I failed?"
Singularity spread his hands wide in a gesture that was simultaneously a shrug and a challenge.
"Then I shall find another way."
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
How long had it been since her dad had driven her anywhere, rather than her taking the bus? Not counting the hospital, at least. Yet here she was, on a Friday night, watching the rundown neighborhood of the Docks give way to nicer neighborhoods as they closed in on the Boardwalk. It felt... strange, going to a cape meeting out of costume. She turned the idea over in her head, trying to plan ahead. She'd encountered some capes already, and done her research on others – but there wasn't much information on Singularity, it seemed. She'd dug up some old news reports and PRT releases, but she was well aware how heavily edited those could be. If her dad was to be believed, out of the capes she was familiar with, Singularity was closest to Marquis in character. And if that were true, then he was probably right. They'd be fine.
But it had been ten years, and people could change a lot in a lot less time than that. So she'd be keeping her eyes open. All of them, whether they were on her body or on her bugs. If any of those eyes saw something she didn't like... well, she expected to learn a great deal at this meeting. A great deal of useful information.
They parked in a parking garage and headed into the elevator. Danny tapped his chin for a second, thinking. "Let's see... three five..." Mumbling, he tapped a few of the floor buttons followed by the door close. After a moment, the panel flashed twice and the elevator began to descend.
A secret entrance in an elevator? I didn't realize that was something villains actually did.
As the elevator descended, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly uneasy. She'd never had problems with elevators, but there was something about not knowing where she was going that just... bothered her. She felt out with her bugs, trying to get a map for where they were going... and winced.
There were almost none. A vanishingly small number of flies and cockroaches, localized to only a couple of rooms below them, and that was it. Not even a hundred bugs. Not even the hospitals came close to that level of cleanliness. She immediately had them spread out to start getting her a map of the area, and one of the cockroaches skittered out of the room it was in into a hallway.
Then it disappeared. One second it was there and feeding her information, and the next it vanished. The only time she'd experienced something close is when a bird had dive-bombed some beetles on one of her morning runs. Dead so quickly she didn't have time to parse whatever killed it.
Her eyes widened and she took a breath. When her father turned to glance at her, concerned, she forced herself back under control. If this is a trap, I need to be ready. "How do we get back up? Do we enter the code again?"
Danny blinked. "That sounds complicated. No, we should just be able to hit the button. Why?"
"Just thought maybe I should memorize the code."
"My memory's not that bad yet, Taylor!"
She didn't respond.
"Taylor, come on..."
The doors opened, and she started reaching out for the panel... only to be greeted by a totally ordinary hallway. Well, as far as underground bunkers went, it seemed normal. A couple of armed men stood there leaning against the wall, but neither of them had weapons readied. One nodded to them. "Down the hall, only open door."
"Thanks," her father said, and started walking. She fell into step just behind him, trying to keep the men in her peripheral vision. Going without bugs is... not easy. I'll have to fix that for the future.
She kept her eyes open, but the hallway didn't have any secrets for her. As they stepped around the corner, she heard the elevator arriving again, and the murmured instructions the guard repeated. Then they were around and through the door into a larger room with chairs and tables, filled with other adults – a couple that she recognized, and a lot that she didn't.
"Danny!" A man walked over, grasping her father's hand and giving him one of those stupid shoulder-pat hugs. "I knew you wouldn't miss it."
"Kurt," her father nodded, though he seemed a bit withdrawn. "I wasn't expecting this many of us to show up."
"I think just about every union worker in the know showed up. How could we miss it?" He smiled down at her. "Hey, Taylor. Been a while. Forgotten me yet?"
"No," she answered quietly, and he sighed.
"I'm not sure I believe you, with that tone."
"Don't harass the girl, Kurt," his wife approached from the side. "Nobody'd remember you if they didn't have to."
"Lacey," her father nodded, smiling. "Looks like not much has changed."
"Well if I wasn't managing his ego it would have swallowed the Docks by now." She smirked. "Taylor –"
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted as the wall opened to reveal another door, and the room was suddenly filled with only the sound of heavy footsteps. The dark power armor was similar to the old power armor that Taylor had seen pictures of, but obviously tweaked. Has he been Tinkering for all these years? Is that why he disappeared?
"I see many faces gathered here," echoed a deep voice. "Many that I recognize, and some that I do not. To those of you that know me... I thank you, for returning even after all these years. For those of you who do not, I welcome you for the first time. I am Singularity, late leader of the Hereafter." There were some soft chuckles at the emphasis, but Taylor herself was struck by something else. "There are many things I wish to say. Before anything else, however... I must apologize."
Out of everything, she was reminded of videos she'd watched time and time again when she was young.
"I pledged to you, many years ago, that I would keep you safe. That so long as you sheltered within my domain, I would shield you from the terror and suffering of the world. Yet, when the Slaughterhouse Nine came... I failed." He turned, pacing back and forth along the wall of the room, no longer meeting the gazes of the crowd. "Worse, I did not prepare for my own failure. I left you nothing in my wake, save the mercy of another man who I could only hope would fulfill my oath where I could not."
Videos of Legend, or of Alexandria, or of Hero. The kinds of heroes that captured the room instantly, not because they were powerful but because they just were.
"Only one hope remained, after my death. A long-buried, nearly completed device to restore me should I fall. Ten years it lay dormant, awaiting an activation that might never come... but come it did. Now I stand before you, a failure; the prodigal son returned to ask for your forgiveness. Were I to make my oath once more, would you believe in it? Would you believe in me?"
The air was heavy, but not a single person spoke or looked around. Even she wanted to hear what else he had to say. I'm starting to understand what Marquis and Duchess meant.
"I will not ask you to renew your loyalty to me. I owe you, each of you, too much already. If in my absence you have suffered, if you have struggled, then we shall speak. You shall speak, and I shall listen, and I shall act. For a decade you have waited while I lay dead and dormant... and now it is time for you to reap the harvest of your patience." He held his hands out to his sides in a grand gesture. "The Hereafter was dead. Killed by the Slaughterhouse Nine... but no longer. From endings come beginnings, even in the wake of madmen."
Behind him, more armored figures stepped through the door, and her eyes widened. It felt like someone poured ice water down her back. Five more capes? Where the hell did that come from?
"These are my captains: Perihelion, Kinematic, Template, Transverse, and Locus. Every struggle you have faced, every pain you have endured, we shall repay tenfold. Those who looked upon you in my absence and saw weakness and opportunity will learn, just as Coil did: the rules I laid upon this city did not end with my death."
He paused, staring out at them, five similar-but-distinct suits of armor behind him, and she took a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
The silence was broken when someone interrupted from the middle of the crowd. "It's about damn time! I've been waiting for you to come back for ten fuckin' years!"
He inclined his head. "I know." After a moment, he shook his head. "I owe many of you debts left unpaid. Consider what you wish. I will be speaking to each of you before the night ends."
With that, he stepped forth into the crowd, and the air was lighter.
"Shit. I'd almost forgotten what that was like," Kurt murmured, suddenly more subdued than he'd been so far. He shook his head. "I'm going to get a drink. You want anything?"
Danny hummed. "I'll come with you. I still don't trust you with my drinks. Lacey, keep an eye on Taylor for me?"
"Of course, Danny." The woman smiled down at her, and Taylor attempted to smile back.
She tuned her ears, trying to listen even in the absence of bugs.
"- tabbed her, put her in the hospital. I want to see them pay."
She turned, frowning.
"Hi!" Lacey's voice snapped her back and she spun to find her temporary chaperone talking to two armored figures who were right next to them. "Perihelion, and... Kinematic?"
The thicker, masculine figure nodded. "That's me. I know, most of us don't stand out quite as much as S - ah, Helion." The woman nudged him with her shoulder, hard. Where she'd expected the sound of metal grinding, it was... surprisingly quiet.
Lacey just laughed. "I'm sure that won't last long. Us Brocktonites learn to recognize capes pretty fast." Her smile faltered just a bit. "Kind of a necessary skill, I'm afraid."
"That's... something we're hoping to change, I think," Perihelion replied, shrugging easily despite the heavy-looking backpack. "It shouldn't be... you shouldn't have to worry like that."
"So he really is planning to take back the city, huh," Lacey replied with a soft expression. "Are you recruiting?"
Taylor stared out of the corner of her eyes, but... she was definitely serious.
Kinematic nodded. "My understanding is... not actively, but Singularity isn't turning anyone down, either."
"Hmm. I'm guessing he makes all the decisions, then."
"Not all of them." Perihelion seemed... a bit defensive about that. "But in this, yeah, it's up to him."
She glanced toward the fly tucked into her father's jacket pocket and saw him speaking to Singularity. Ducking her head, she turned in that direction. "I'm gonna go see what dad's talking about," she murmured, ignoring Lacey's comments as she slipped through the crowd.
"... just want her safe," her father was saying. "I'll do what I have to, just..."
"You needn't ask, Daniel, nor bargain. Just as I told you then; if your family is in danger, I will remove it. No matter how the city has changed, my word remains. Now..." The intricate mask turned towards her and she straightened. "It's rude to speak of a listener. Miss Hebert."
She nodded, stepping forward, taking a slow breath. "Hello."
"Taylor, we were just..."
Singularity held out a hand, and after a moment a small device appeared: like a USB drive, with a small button on one end. "Your father wishes for your safety. Should something happen, and you find yourself without recourse... press this, and cast it to the ground. Aid will come."
She frowned... but the look on her father's face led her to reach out and take it anyway, turning it over in her hands and considering it. "I'll be careful not to press it by accident."
"It is not easily triggered without intent. Store it somewhere safe, but accessible."
She nodded, slipping it into a pocket... then gave her father a meaningful look before she started threading back through the crowd towards Lacey. If she took a roundabout route and listened to what people were talking about... well, she'd just gotten lost.
So he isn't turning anyone down... This can't be all there is to it. Why would he be a villain if this is all there is? It doesn't make sense...
Her thoughts kept spinning around what she'd heard, all the way until they'd returned home.
A/N: I'm curious to see who could place the cape names to the Travelers immediately. It'll eventually be laid out in chapters, but in case you want a cheat sheet:
Trickster : Transverse
A word meaning "oblique" or "across." Relatively obvious, although in this case referring to space and dimensions more than anything else.
Genesis : Template
Another simple one, referring to the way that Genesis' power works. Forms that she's had more time to plan out and refine are typically more effective than things she has to come up with quickly.
Ballistic : Kinematic
"Kinematics" is the branch of mathematics about motion – the simpler ones, that aren't concerned with the forces causing the motion. Sounds familiar, eh?
Sundancer : Perihelion
"Perihelion" is the point of an orbit where the object passes closest to a star. Came up because I heard the opposite ("Aphelion") used in a song recently and had to look up the meaning – and as soon as I came to rebrand Sundancer I knew what her new name was.
Noelle : Locus
Noelle was tough, partially because her power hasn't been revealed yet and partially because she's a bit complex. "Locus" has two meanings: a specific location, often an important one (like the center of an event), or the mathematical figure formed by graphing the solution of an equation. This was picked for Noelle because she's the core of the team, both in personality and skillset, and as a tongue-in-cheek reference to her old power. After all... Echidna's clones had a different "solution" (Power) to the same "problem" (Shard), and the spectrum of all possible clone-powers could be called a locus.
I'd love some feedback on the names, although I can't promise I'll change any of them.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
She was comfortable in the armor now. Well... sort of. They'd practiced and trained, and wearing it no longer felt awkward – she was used to the way it made her feel less encumbered than wearing nothing, she was used to the way the flight systems responded, she was used to the vision enhancements built into the helmet. But there was still something surreal about wearing powered armor. Some... embarrassing childish wonder that she couldn't get to go away no matter how hard she tried to normalize her situation. It was cool, no matter how stupid that sounded even in her head.
"Oh, shit," Marissa's voice came through the helmet as if she was standing next to her rather than hovering a dozen feet away. "That's... you weren't kidding about the fallout."
Below them, the docks were... her first instinct was to call it 'chaos,' but that wasn't quite accurate. There was some kind of pattern in play, her instincts told her. She couldn't figure out the purpose of the roiling masses of gray-black nanomaterial, but they weren't uncontrolled. Not completely. They bunched together in pseudopods and tendrils nearly the size of the buildings around them before dissolving again, rippled across the ground like storm-born waves, and twisted on themselves... it was beautiful to watch even as it gave her a headache.
"Are we close enough?" she asked, not keen on descending further if it wasn't necessary.
"Yes. Extend your hand."
"Is that really necessary?" Even as she questioned it, she held out her palm and watched as the sea of machines stilled, slowly sinking down and almost resembling plain ground again. Except for one twisting, chaotic sphere that continued to swirl in on itself.
"No, and yes. We will speak at length later; when you are clad in armor, your body language must speak with more depth and volume... and all your actions send a message. You declare to anyone watching that you commanded my machines to cease. Any who would dispute the existence of the new Hereafter must contest with that."
She considered that as she stared at the endless motion of the sphere. "And it gives the impression that I need the gestures?"
"You learn rapidly, Locus. Well done. Treat your secrets as tools; give them out when you must, but never do so needlessly."
Marissa – no, we're in costume, Perihelion – descended slightly more. "What about that last piece?"
"I am examining the data... ah. So that's why they never disabled themselves. Almost respectable."
Noelle's eyes narrowed a bit at the way he said that. That tone of... dismissive irritation... she sucked in a breath. "Is that a prison?"
Perihelion's helmet whipped towards her. "What?"
"Yes. You look upon the Gray Boy, Jack Slash's pet sadist."
Noelle reflexively backed away, hanging a bit higher in the air.
"His power requires line of sight. Be unafraid; it has been long since he was trapped."
"How did you manage... I read up on him, when I was looking at your history. The PRT never confirmed what happened to him, only that he never appeared again after... what happened here. You..."
"Who even is he?" Perihelion moved beside her, staring down at the swirling prison. "You sound freaked, Locus."
"He... could make localized time loops. Little bubbles that would reset after so many seconds had passed. He was the only thing that didn't loop."
"That doesn't sound so bad. Powerful, but not –"
"He didn't loop because he reset anytime he was hurt. Or killed. Or... trapped."
For a second, Perihelion didn't respond.
"Oh. Fuck."
"You're sure he's still in there?"
"Yes. Even now, he claws at the walls. But he is no stronger than an ordinary child, and even with a thousand years to tear at them he will never escape from that cage. Even if he did... the trap serves its purpose. There are always more machines to replace any lost."
If she hadn't read the article, if she didn't understand the sheer scope of torture Gray Boy was responsible for? Hearing Singularity say that, in that tone of voice, would have made her sick. As it was, all she did was nod. "How did you manage it? I thought... every time someone tried to trap him before, it failed. He just... slipped out of it."
"Something you must understand is that all powers have limitations, even those born from a vial. Some are more or less limited than others, but no power is absolute. Gray Boy was capable of reversing himself... but there was a limit to how much time he could revert. If he were to commit himself to battle, become invested in it and refuse to leave for long enough..."
"...How long did you fight him here?" Perihelion's voice trembled, very slightly, and Noelle could picture the look on her face. Her friend had always had a weakness for those kinds of momentous occasions in stories.
"Long enough," Singularity responded. "It cost me much... but removing him from the world was a worthy goal."
"What did you do?" The new voice shocked her and she spun in midair, the suit humming softly as it maneuvered. Hovering just above her was...
"A vampire?" Perihelion's hands were raised slightly, but not yet pointed at the newcomer.
A woman in a black-and-white dress accented with silver metal, with blood surrounding her and hovering limply in the air. Blood control? That could be dangerous. The suit should hold up, if it comes to that...
"What. Did. You. Do." The blood around the cape swished, agitated.
"The machines here were out of control, and they weren't supposed to be," Noelle answered. No, Locus answered, the modulated voice still sounding somewhat strange in her own ears. "I fixed them."
"You fixed – bullshit. No Tinker can modify them. If it could be done, it would have been by now."
"Ah," Singularity said softly in her ear. "What a marvelous opening she's presented."
Taking his meaning, she took a breath and straightened her shoulders. Have to look the part, after all. "Well. I guess that's why we're the Hereafter."
For a moment, the girl stared. Then she laughed. "Yeah, sure. The Hereafter's dead, crazy woman."
So she said, but there was something there – some small hesitation. It reminded her of a team captain that had tried to bluff her once. And in response, the same almost-sadistic smirk fought its way onto her face. "Really now? Nobody told us that."
"Now is the time."
She gestured towards the nearest building, and for a moment the quiet streets below were filled with a soft sound. A shuffling, or a shifting, like blankets pulled across a mattress. "If we were dead..."
The cape backed away slightly as every building in the area grew a tag. An old tag. A black hexagon, stretched out to resemble the vague outline of a human face, blank save for two things: a pair of gleaming purple circles for eyes 'leaking' trails of light that rippled as though flowing downward.
"Nobody told us," Locus finished.
If you like my content and want to support it, consider pledging to my Patreon. While my stories will always remain free to access, I do dream of supporting myself by writing, and this is my first step on that road. For now, the patron benefits are primarily access to behind-the-scenes content regarding my writing process, the way I think about and write chapters, and so on. However, I'm always developing the reward tiers and open to suggestions for things people would like to see!
