[] Bare your soul about everything, including the TSAB and their retrieval team.
-[] Mention that you've been getting help from Dragon in establishing contact with the TSAB.
-[] Magic is real and certain people have the capacity of using it.
Civil War 8.7
Duh-wut?
You blink a couple of times as you try to figure out just what in the world Alexandria is trying to imply. How would the TSAB send someone here to heal your dad? Admiral Tucson had said it took a few weeks for their team to reach where they thought you are, and you have yet to see hide or hair of them. Your dad's only been hurt for a week. Then there was the mention of making Samantha, whom she seems to think was created
for you rather than
by you, and she sounded like she was implying something about the Galeans who created Perfect Storm, and—
All in all, you're pretty sure Alexandria is working with a very incomplete picture.
Glad you figured it out before you started a massive 'Who's on First' routine with possibly interstellar consequences, you eye the door. Didn't Alexandria tell Benediction that she would only be a minute? "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a bit off the mark as to what's going on."
"Oh?" Alexandria asks in a cool voice. "Then explain it to me."
"That might take longer than you have before you need to take Benediction back."
"Give me the short version."
If that's what she wants, okay. That just leaves one problem. How in the world are you supposed to sum up everything that's happened in the last four months into a few minutes?! "Short version, right. Um, have a seat."
Alexandria quirks her lips at you, but her amused expression fades slightly when you gesture towards the chair you were sitting in and slide it to her side without laying a finger on it. Telekinesis is a new skill for you, and not one that the original Calamity Witch spent much time developing if Perfect Storm's memory is right, but it certainly has plenty of everyday utility in addition to its use in combat. Like, say, catching grenades and tossing them back at the people shooting them. Alexandria takes the offered seat, and you position your staff below you and sit down on it. Perfect Storm's own flight spell is strong enough to support your weight, plus the weight of Samantha when she hops into your lap in pet form.
"So, part one. This is kind of the core of everything. Magic is real. I know it sounds crazy—"
"Not so crazy as you might think," interrupts Alexandria. "I saw your MRI result, the dead corona pollentia and lack of gemma. You showed Legend your conversation with Epoch, and more importantly that Epoch can use a primitive Blaster ability and flight, neither of which he has shown before. Either of those on their own could potentially be explained away, but together they are enough for me to keep an open mind."
Huh. Maybe telling Perfect Storm to relay that talk to Legend wasn't such a bad idea after all. "That makes things easier. Anyway, not everyone can use magic. It's a genetic trait. Passed down from mother to child," you add, thinking back to what Perfect Storm told you when you scanned Danny and found out that he had no Linker Core. "There aren't a lot of people on Earth Bet that have it. Perfect Storm, my Intelligent Device, estimates maybe five percent.
"Other places?" You shrug. "It can be a lot higher. Nearly everybody, in fact."
"Is this supposition or confirmed fact?" Alexandria asks quietly.
Somehow, you don't think the world-famous heroine will be as easily convinced about the existence of space wizards as she was about magic. That said, if one video could help convince her of the latter… A mental command calls up the recording of your dive to the
Agharti. "Confirmed fact."
You let the video play in silence to the part where you enter the ship before continuing, "This ship belonged to an interstellar organization called the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Did you ever watch reruns of that old Star Trek show as a kid? Basically the Federation, just with all their technology based on mana instead of electricity." And no, you totally didn't research science-fiction media following the fight with your dad looking for benevolent military organizations to head off accusations of an alien dictatorship the way he implied. "The piece of tech I'm pulling out of the wall there? I thought it was their computer system, but it was actually the ship's radio. Dragon and I got it working and put together a first-contact package. Then we found out the TSAB is made up of humans, and things got a lot easier."
A raised hand cuts you off. "Point of clarification. Is this TSAB truly interstellar, or inter-
dimensional?"
"That… is a very good question. I didn't ask. What makes you think they're inter-dimensional?"
"A group of humans, not aliens, who work in the
Time-Space Administration Bureau," Alexandria asks with a raised eyebrow, as though she is trying to explain something basic to a child who should know better. "Which, considering the technology, indicates that magic makes dimensional shifts easier than would otherwise be possible. It explains one thing I had wondered about your staff, how it could combine all the functions it has into such a small object. Most of its components exist inside a pocket dimension or something similar. Since you did not find the ship's computer, I assume your information came from Perfect Storm's own memory banks?" She thinks for a moment and nods. "Their technology must be fairly intuitive. Considering the state of their ship and the location of the debris, I assume they did not give you Perfect Storm but instead that you found it in Brockton Bay and figured out how to use it on your own."
…Well, damn. You're glad you decided to tell her everything from the get-go. She would have seen right through any lies you tried to spin.
"Less
'figured it out' and more that built-in artificial intelligences make for good teachers about how to use them." You frown. "Themselves. I'm really not sure on the grammar for this situation." A cold wet nose prods your exposed navel, and you jump in surprise even as you heed Samantha's advice. Not the point. "Anyway, yeah. It taught me everything I know about magic."
"I see. Backing up a bit, you said you sent the TSAB an information packet. How did they respond?"
"We didn't get into all of that after we saw they were human. We sent them the packet, but we spent our face-to-face time on a rundown about the Endbringers. I had mentioned the Simurgh briefly when I had a short opening," you nervously explain to her stony facade, "and they were understandably concerned." Although that might have been less concern for you and more for… oh, right.
Still need to explain the recovery team. How are you going to manage that?
"What aren't you telling me?" Alexandria all but demands.
Samantha bristles at her tone, but you soothe the angry Guardian Beast with gentle petting. With all the bombshells you're dropping on her, a little rudeness is easily excused. She isn't shouting at you, which is a step up from the last time you explained all this. "I'm not sure how to explain this part well, so bear with me for a second. That ship that crashed? It was carrying a relic to their homeworld, some kind of ancient magic tech that they don't fully understand. When it crashed here, they were worried someone might turn it on accidentally and… break the planet or something, so they sent a team here to retrieve it. The admiral I talked to promised they were discreet," you add before Alexandria can think to interrupt, "and they have no interest in our world. They just want to grab their stuff and take it back home without making any waves."
"Or, to continue your Star Trek analogy," Alexandria suggests, "they have a firm stance on first contact situations and a policy similar to the Prime Directive. No interference in the development of less advanced cultures." Her expression has softened again, which you count as a win. At least you didn't poison one of the Triumvirate against the TSAB before they had a chance to talk in person. "When do you plan on contacting them again?"
It doesn't take a Thinker to figure out where this is going. "I don't have anything scheduled, but it really needs to be after this mess with MS-13 is done. You want to talk to them yourself?"
"Me, Legend, or the Chief Director. Probably Legend and the Chief Director together," she adds with a thoughtful nod. "For all my fame and power, I am still just the head of the L.A. branch. Legend and Costa-Brown lead the Protectorate and PRT. They would be the better people to initiate diplomatic relations with an alien parahuman navy." She stops and lets out a surprised huff. "And those are words I never thought I'd string together."
You bite your tongue to keep from correcting her and instead just smile in response. Mages are not parahumans!
"If you will excuse the understatement, you have given me much to think about," she says as she stands from the chair. You shift Samantha onto the staff and rise to your feet as well. "I need to return Benefaction to Haven, and then I need to have a nice long talk with Legend. This is way above my pay grade." Legend is always described as the personable member of the Triumvirate, but the smile she gives you is dazzling. "Hopefully we can stay on lighter topics the next time we talk. Have a good evening, Calamity Witch."
You wave goodbye with a stupid smile on your face. Alexandria wants to talk with you again! The last times you talked were after an awful Endbringer fight and revealing the existence of aliens, and she wants to talk a third time!
Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
«
She took that well,» Samantha remarks. «
I expected her to be more, I don't know, shocked. Worried. We just told her an alien military is sending a covert operations team to the planet, and she didn't bat an eye.»
"Not everyone is as pessimistic as Dad." You toss your hair back. "Some people still understand what it means to offer a little trust."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, May 23
You stagger out of Mr. Paulson's room along with the rest of your classmates. You thought his class was intense during normal classes? Ha! With only a couple of weeks left in the school year, all the teachers are in full-fledged finals prep mode, which explains the reams of homework you have turned in recently.
A hand grabs your elbow and pulls. Six months ago, you would either be panicking or steeling yourself for a punch. Three months ago, the code for Flare Shooter would be halfway spun in your mind. Now? You just sigh and let Kayleigh drag you around.
The two of you slog through the growing crowd of students eager to get out of school for the day and towards a nearby restroom. After the Monday you've had, if Kayleigh wants you around just so she can powder her nose you might legitimately smack her. She throws the door open with less than her usual enthusiasm and actually peeks around as though to make sure you are alone. The change in attitude is enough to make you wonder, and you give her a quick second glance to make sure you have not been kidnapped by some simple lookalike.
"Is there a problem?" you ask once she is sure of the bathroom's security.
Kayleigh shakes her head. "Not a problem. Not really. I just wanted a little privacy. We need to talk."
"I'm all ears."
"Good. Good." She clasps her hands behind her back and rocks back and forth on her feet. "It took me way too long, but I figured it out. Why you never have time to hang out with the rest of us. Why you always look so tired in the mornings. I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner, Taylor."
What is she talking about?
"But you don't have to hide it from me anymore. I know you're a cape."
Your heart stops in your chest, and then it is racing like a hummingbird's wings.
"It's so obvious looking back at it," she says, ignoring the way your face is paling. If Kayleigh figured it out, who else has? "Teenage girl, long black hair, originally from Brockton Bay, and your alter ego showed up the same week you moved in and started here." She reaches out and pats your arm comfortingly. "Anyway, I'm not bringing this up to scare you or anything, but I need to talk to you, just not Taylor-you.
"I need to talk to Circus."
+1 training point to Crescendo (1/4 Novice).
+1 Inspiration to Unison Devices (5 points).
Didn't expect that, did you? Now, how to respond…
- Tell the truth – Circus? Hell no. You are Calamity Witch.
- Tell a lie – Circus. Sure. Better that than the truth.
- Deny, deny, deny – Cape? What cape?
Take 24 hours to think this over. There might be something unexpected hidden behind a particular door… 
rofl:
