Cloudy Skies 11.1
Saturday, June 25
Orange light shines on the rooftop of Philadelphia's Protectorate Headquarters, and you, Samantha, Vista, and Chevalier step off the fading sigil. The light is swallowed up by the deepening evening, casting the two official heroes into shadow. Still, there is just enough light from the streets nearby to make out Chevalier turning to you and giving you a nod. "I can't say ripping Coil out from within the heart of Chicago's PRT office was fun, but I am grateful you brought this to our attention."
"The first part
was fun," argues Samantha, returning Vista's goodbye hug. "It was the rest of the time we had to spend there that was not at all entertaining. I can understand a debriefing, maybe even two, but we had to do it five times!"
You nod emphatically. "I'm with Samantha one hundred percent on this. If you have to do that every time you get back from a patrol, I'm almost surprised you manage to get any actual hero work done. Cut down the bureaucracy time, and you could probably squeeze another patrol or two in."
Chevalier crosses his arms, which… Okay, that was probably a little more direct and critical than you'd normally be about the Protectorate, particularly in light of the… issue of Vista's ultimatum regarding her lack of combat time, but you just spent three hours talking about the same fight over and over again! At this point you're afraid your dreams tonight will be a nightmare featuring the Chicagoan bigwigs demanding yet another from the top recitation—
"Is that so?"
All four of you whip your heads skyward, and down from the darkness drifts a woman garbed in black. Black bodysuit, black helmet, black cape. The only spot of color is the white tower detailed on her chest.
For all that she is known for her 'classic hero' three-point landings, the sight of Alexandria touching down silently is considerably more ominous.
"Alexandria? What are you doing here?" Chevalier asks. His voice sounds wary, but the shadow of his cannonblade has not moved from its position on his back. Between that and the fact that no one in their right mind who doesn't go by the name Siberian would ever want to take her on, it isn't exactly a leap of logic to realized he is worried about why a member of the Protectorate is here to see him right after he, a Ward, and two independent heroes went gallivanting off to cause trouble in another city.
"I received word from the Chief Director's office about your recent adventure in Chicago. Nobody is happy about the situation for too many reasons to go into detail about." She turned her head and very obviously stared the leading hero of Philadelphia down. "We will have a conversation about this later, Chevalier, but not tonight. I need to speak to the true architect of this debacle."
If you are upset about how quickly Chevalier and Vista vanish off the roof, it is honestly more to do with the fact that you can't join them.
"Calamity Witch. Let's have a chat."
The flying brick of the Triumvirate steps past you to stand at the edge of the building, the streetlights reducing her to little more than a clearly pissed-off silhouette. You reluctantly walk up to join her, though you keep several feet between the two of you. Even though you elected to stand to her right in deference to her lack of a left eye, she does not look at you, and then your view is mostly blocked off by Samantha stepping up to your left and putting herself mostly between the two of you.
Silence descends upon you for nearly a minute before Alexandria sighs. "I don't think you appreciate the gravity of your actions today. At least, I hope you don't. I would much prefer that this was the result of ignorance rather than active malice."
That careless dismissal rankles and burns under your skin. "Excuse me?!
I didn't hire a known murderer and scumbag into my team.
I didn't go around bombing innocent people's homes. You had better not be blaming me for what went down today."
"It was a mistake to offer Calvert a role in our organization," she acknowledges with a slow nod, "but it is not what you did that I have an issue with. It is how you did it. You had a legitimate grievance with him, so why did you not inform the PRT and the Protectorate of the information you possessed and let the matter be handled without risking the safety of the people in Chicago? It it clear not as though you lack contacts here in Philadelphia who would listen to you, not if you can convince the local branch leader to accompany you on this revenge mission."
"I didn't actually
invite Chevalier to come along. He tagged along because he refused to let Vista come on her own." That is not to say that his friendship with Myrddin and his knowledge of how the PRT operated was unhelpful, not in the least, but that is probably not the best defense you can muster. "And contacting the PRT? Why would I? Calvert wasn't hiding what kind of a monster he was. Not to mention, I know how this would play out. I'm not a Protectorate hero, but Calvert's a company man. Just accusing him of being a villain would be ignored or used against me, and I'm sure any evidence I provided would be conveniently 'lost'. I know how this game goes; I've played it before." It was the same thing that happened every time you tried to convince the staff at Winslow to stop Emma, Sophia, and Madison. "No, I had to drag him kicking and screaming into the light where there was no way anyone could ignore what was happening."
You glare past Samantha at Alexandria, but she does not turn to look back at you. She just continues looking out at the city. Her fingers tap rhythmically on her crossed arms. "The PRT does not work as well as it should on paper," she admits, "partly because of its nature as a national organization and partly because it can't if it is to fulfill its purpose, but inefficiency does not equate to widespread corruption. Based on the information I received from the Chief Director's office, I would estimate that nearly everyone who had any knowledge of Calvert's crimes prior to his imprisonment is dead. There would be no cover up. Did you not notice how Director Carpenter reacted to the news? He and his staff would have pulled Calvert in for a thorough investigation without hesitation.
"Instead, what happened is that you deepened and widened gaps the Protectorate and the PRT have been trying to remove since the organizations' inceptions. Did you have the misfortune of meeting Director Piggot when you were still in Brockton Bay?" You shake your head. "She is not the only member in the PRT's higher echelons who is prejudiced against capes for one reason or another. A villain infiltrating the ranks of the PRT and weakening it from the inside? Independent heroes and members of the Protectorate turning against PRT agents? This only fuels their efforts to tear the Protectorate and the PRT apart from each other, and the fact that both these issues are related will be quickly glossed over."
Alexandria shakes her head. "You don't understand how much effort it has taken to integrate capes and cape law enforcement into society. That is not a criticism; it simply happened before you were born, or at most when you were only a small child. You never saw the world capes first came into. It is our goal that you and others of your generation never have to. But the peace we managed is tenuous, and even small acts done in haste or without thinking have the potential to undo so many of our successes."
Ugh. No! No more politics!
While you quietly fume at the injustice that there are so many problems that have the indecency of not being able to be blasted away, Samantha props one hand on her hip. "Wait a minute. What did you mean, the PRT can't work effectively if it's to fulfill its purpose? That's complete nonsense. The PRT's job is to capture criminals. How is inefficiency supposed to make it better?"
"Oh. I wish it were so simple." With a sigh, Alexandria finally turns to face you and your Guardian Beast. "The PRT's purpose is not so clear-cut. On a national level, it is not to capture criminals. It is to protect the United States from parahuman and parahuman-related activities. A small distinction, but an important one. You are too young to remember Gavel, I expect. He was an Australian vigilante who would track down the civilian identities of villains, expose them, and then would target them and their families, often killing everyone involved. One villain whom he targeted retaliated by bombing a shopping mall where they knew he would be. He and other capes employing similar tactics were part of the impetus that introduced the 'cape customs', the 'Unwritten Rules' we try to abide by. It prevents the kind of escalation that sees innocent people killed in the crossfire of our fights.
"The original plan was to cement these customs in place and then tighten the screws on larger villain organizations slowly and carefully enough that there were no large-scale revolts, leading eventually to a world where the vast majority of active villains would be individuals or small groups without any real support, groups whose scales were small enough that they posed minimal risk," she says in a wistful voice. "Then Behemoth entered the picture, followed soon by Leviathan and the Simurgh. Now the Protectorate had to deal with monstrosities that can't be killed and would potentially slaughter thousands of people every time they appeared. We weren't and still aren't strong enough to handle them on our own. We needed villains to join the fights, and by sheer necessity that led to rules and protocols that get the worst of the worst off the streets but leave enough villains free that they would not fear volunteering for these fights."
"And once Scion vanished…" you murmur.
She nods. "Yes, that threw another wrench into the works, though none of us ever expected a single parahuman to be the silver bullet. What we have now is a terrible and messy compromise, and yet it is the only solution we have happened upon that has the potential to
work."
"I must have missed Coil and his mercenaries volunteering at the Simurgh fight," says Samantha in a bone-dry voice.
Alexandria scoffs. "Did I say I disagreed with your motives for attacking Calvert? Or with the results? Ripping him out of the PRT was a necessity, and for doing so you have my gratitude. That does not mean that you can keep blasting every obstacle that you find in your path without forethought. You of all people need to learn to consider all the potential consequences of your actions."
"What do you mean, me of all people?" you demand with a scowl.
"We are still in the first generation of capes, but that won't always be the case. You won't have people cleaning up your mistakes for you." You take a step back at the vehemence in her words. "I'm invulnerable, not immortal. Neither is Legend, and he also has a family he will need to spend more and more time with in the future. Eidolon is already retired except for emergencies. You and the other powerful heroes in your generation need to learn responsibility, because sooner than you expect it is going to find you whether you're ready for it or not."
Fear and uncertainly clog your throat, and you struggle to swallow them down. Never, not in a million years, would you have thought you'd hear Alexandria of all people discussing her mortality. It is a sobering thought, that one day the Triumvirate would be gone, and the idea of a world without their great and terrible strength is a terrifying one.
The not-so-subtle suggestion that you are a candidate for some kind of Triumvirate 2.0 you aren't going to touch with a ten-foot pole.
"If this is your idea of a recruitment pitch, it… needs work," you finally manage to get out.
"Inspiring speeches are Legend's department, and for good reason. I prefer cold, hard facts." She lifts off the ground and floats a few feet above the rooftop. "You think being an independent cape is a hindrance to having your opinions heard? That no one would pay attention to your ideas for how to make things better? There's an easy solution to that problem."
Alexandria takes off at records speeds, her pronouncement echoing heavily in her wake.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, June 26
Walking through Dragon's Vancouver manufacturing plant, you eventually track down Tim and Dragon sitting at a table. The necklace form of Tim's Device is hooked up to the table, and screens that should be sliding over the computer screen that makes up the tabletop instead are floating above the surface where both Tinkers can easily manipulate them. "Not even a day off after going into battle?" Samantha calls out.
"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid," Dragon replies with an absentminded wave. "As the first Device we are actually programming, we want to go through it with a fine-toothed comb. It's a brand-new programming language to me, and that makes it easier for little problems to slip through the cracks."
You glance over at the large semicircle of brass or gold that is also on the table. "Is that the Device you said you'd build for Maclibuin?"
Tim glances over and pats it as though he were a proud parent. "Yes it is. I finished it only yesterday. I just wanted Dragon to check on things before we consider giving it to him."
The Adepts – what remains of them anyway – will be thrilled when he finally gets this and becomes a proper mage. Not to mention, it will finally answer the question of whether Devices truly short out a cape's powers. Thinking about Devices and capes reminds of you Cassiel, actually, and the whispered offer that had passed between you. "Hey, Tim? A question for you. Hypothetically, would it be possible to build a Unison Device kind of like the one you built for Dragon, except instead of converting an A.I. it slurped up the mind of a person telepathically?"
For all that you phrased that question as delicately and in as light a tone as possible, both of them turn to stare at you.
"It… might be possible?" is Dragon's ultimate response. "That situation doesn't sound hypothetical in the slightest, but I have a hard time thinking of a reason why you would want to turn a person – fine, an
organic person," she corrects herself with a smile in the face of Tim's disapproving stare, "into a program in a machine."
That is about the best opening you could have. Quickly you launch into a summary of your few interactions with the imprisoned little girl. When you are done, the Tinkers glance back at each other with greenish faces.
"I don't know that I'm entirely comfortable with this idea," Tim says with a shake of his head.
"I'm not either, but something about this 'Grandmama's powers sounds familiar." Conjuring a tiny screen next to her, Dragon scrolls through what must be hundreds of boxes of text before she finally stops on one in particular. "Oh. That's why they are familiar."
An image appears in midair, a candid shot from a distance featuring a large group of people dressed in a variety of costumes all in the color white, and the photo darkens except for one person in particular. "The powers Cassiel mentioned? They sound like those possessed by Balam. She's part of the Fallen, believed to be a high-ranking member or perhaps the leader of the family dedicated to worshiping the Simurgh. A powerful Stranger/Trump, from what little we know about her she can at least plant a backdoor of sorts into the minds of anyone who directly observes her with either natural or parahuman senses, and using that backdoor she can spy on her victims and what is around them at any time. Several attacks on the Fallen were planned years ago, but the information used to organize them was all derived through clairvoyance, and the Fallen were able to turn the attacks into ambushes. If Cassiel really is a second or third-generation cape with powers related to Balam's, it is no wonder she would be able to reach out to you even from a thousand miles away."
"And she wants you to turn her into a Unison Device?" asks Tim.
"She's a scared little girl who's been abused for who knows how long. This is the first hope for escape from that place that she's ever had."
"I would not want to leave any child in the clutches of the Fallen," Dragon says, "and I can't help but think about the terrifying synergy her powers could have with Balam's. Just imagine her pulling Chief Director Costa-Brown or Legend or Narwhal into their compound and Balam using her power on them to turn them into her spies. That would be a disaster. That being said, converting her still sounds… extreme."
"So what should we do instead? Could we assemble enough capes to storm the Fallen's base and save her?" That is not something you would be against necessarily, but you remember the fear on Cassiel's face when you suggested it to her.
The frown on Dragon's face at your question does not fill you with confidence. "That would be difficult at best. We don't know where the Fallen have their current base. That was the point of the previous attempts at surveillance."
"So either we open ourselves to becoming the eyes and ears of this Balam character, or we leave this girl in their hands until she breaks and becomes a powerful villain who screws us all over, or we bite the bullet and turn her into a fairy." Tim shakes his head and pulls up a selection of blueprints from Sextant's memory banks. "Guess we better get building."
"Maclibuin's Boost Device" added to Key Items.
This arc is going to be a little different. Partly it's because I couldn't come up with any good multipart subquests like I normally use for these longer arcs, but it's also to do with the fact that I really enjoyed the social activities from Arc 9. It should also provide a nice way to get back into this quest after my break.
Anyway, let's start it off by choosing three social activities to partake in this week. You can choose more than one of any type.
- Hang out with another character(s). This is by definition a non-combat activity.
- Go on patrol. You can vote for one non-Samantha character to join you if you want.
- Explore somewhere on Earth Bet.
- Explore another world, either one you have already seen or by picking one in the cluster at random.
- Train, either in the real world or in Perfect Storm's simulator.
There's a 24 HOUR moratorium both to discuss things and so everyone has a chance to see this is active again.
rofl::lol (You should consider posting your other stories here, it feels more easygoing to comment than Reviews)
