[] Social with the Triumvirate and tell them more about the TSAB and the Enforcers you met. Scan them if they agree. Do not mention Cassiel/Ziz.
Cloudy Skies 11.10
Friday, July 8
You – probably unnecessarily – straighten your hat again. "You sure you don't want me to call you during this meeting?"
"The main thing on my plate to present to the Protectorate is the Dragon Teeth armor, and I need to finalize these designs and send them to my assembly line before I make any announcements," Dragon says, her eyes not leaving the screens and schematics in front of her. "I should have it ready by next week, so I will speak to them at that time. I also have to hammer out the final details for the ship to haul up the Simurgh's body from the ocean. Then there are all the other things that habitually come up over the course of my day. You can handle talking to three capes by yourself."
This isn't just three capes, though. When Legend left you a message very politely and not at all demanding that you set up a meeting, the wording he had used had been specific. Not him. Not him and his second-in-command. This meeting was with the
Triumvirate proper. The fact that the address given to her was the Houston Protectorate base, Eidolon's turf before his partial retirement, removed any and all ambiguity that might have existed.
Seeing as how Dragon is clearly not going to be helpful, you pull up a clock screen and grimace. You don't have time to track down anyone else who might possibly be useful as backup in case you screw this up. "Ready, Sam?"
"Ready? I've
been ready." The raccoon-woman walks up and gives your shoulder a light squeeze. "You've talked to both Legend and Alexandria before without any trouble. This is the same thing."
You wish she was wrong, but something warns you that it isn't. Those conversations were with the capes separately, but this is with the Triumvirate as a whole. No matter what you do, you cannot help but imagine them sitting as a tribunal over your future, even if you are not a cape under their authority.
It is a nudge you get from Samantha this time, and you sigh before giving Perfect Storm the go-ahead. A few seconds later find you floating over the glass and steel dome of the local Protectorate base. A cape in overly tight spandex flies up to meet you, and after a moment you recognize the ball of obscene musculature as Strapping Lad, a cape you first met when you helped recapture the escaping inhabitants of your hometown. You can't help but remember that the two of you had not seen eye to eye on your conversion of Purity to hero-dom.
"Welcome to— You."
He remembers you, too. Fantastic. "Calamity Witch here for a meeting with Eidolon," you tell him with a tip of your hat. If you don't have anything nice to say, best to be polite and worry about the important parts of this meeting.
Strapping Lad is no happier about having to lead you into the base than you are at having him as your guide, but he wipes off the scowl that appeared when he recognized you and motions for you to follow him inside. Through the twists and turns of the base you go, until finally you stop in front of a wooden door with a brass plaque that reads simply 'Briefing Room'. He knocks twice before opening the door. "She's here," is all he says.
"Thank you, Strapping Lad," answers a familiar voice. "Please send her in."
You and Samantha step inside to find all three living founders of the Protectorate sitting together and waiting for you. Legend sits on the far side of a long table, with Alexandria at his left hand and Eidolon at his right. The leader of the national Protectorate gives you a warm smile, and you nod back before pulling out the chair directly across from him. Samantha, rather than taking a seat, positions herself behind and just to the right of your chair.
«
You can sit down, you know.»
«
This is your show, Taylor. I'm here as your protection detail, not a full partner.» She sends you the telepathic equivalent of a smile. «
Now that you're playing with the big kids, you need to be ready to stand on your own two feet and defend your position. I'll always be here for you, but I'm not taking charge of everything. That's what it means to be a Guardian Beast.»
"Welcome to Houston," Legend says, oblivious to your silent conversation. "I'm glad you could make the time to meet with us. We have a number of things we would like to speak to you about."
You nod again. "Not a problem. I needed to talk to you about a few things, myself, so the timing was actually very convenient."
"Oh?" prompts Alexandria. "Are we to assume, then, that this is something besides the surprise result of your and Dragon's experiment? She already informed us that she is confident you managed to eliminate the Simurgh."
Eidolon's face is hidden behind the green light and shadows of his hood, but his soft scoff gives you a good idea of what his expression would be if you could see it. "
I'm not confident in that. Not until someone can produce a body, and maybe not even then. This is the Simurgh we're talking about."
You aren't sure what to say to that, especially in light of what Cassiel said about the true strategy behind her attacks and the new form she has, so for the moment you decide it is best to ignore his pessimism. "I had a meeting with the Enforcers—" You stop mid-sentence and turn back to Alexandria. "I know I talked to you about the TSAB, but did you…?"
"Fill us in regarding the interdimensional navy you have been in touch with?" cut in Legend in a droll voice. "She did."
Your smile is sheepish. "Okay. Just making sure. Anyway, I met with the team they sent on Sunday, and I wanted to extend an offer they made."
Because that sounds a whole lot better than the truth, which is that the Enforcers would prefer to help out with the Endbringers on the sly and you're telling the Triumvirate about it despite their wishes. The cat is already out of the bag about the TSAB, so you might as well make sure everything
else goes off without at hitch.
"You said they were after an artifact they lost on our planet," Alexandria says. "Does that tie in to this offer of theirs?"
"No, thankfully. The artifact in question is no longer an issue, and everyone is confident that it won't cause any more problems." You are confident about that, anyway, and the Enforcers are confident enough that they aren't trying to separate you from Perfect Storm. "Do you remember how I said that Dragon and I sent them information about the Endbringers? After going through that and gathering more information here on Earth, they want to help. Disasters that threaten to wipe out humanity are the kinds of threats they consider to be within their jurisdiction. They plan to be at the next Endbringer fight and masquerade themselves as Tinkers so no one panics at their sudden arrival."
Throughout your speech, Alexandria's expression has become increasingly flat, and now she no longer appears to be looking at you if the blank stare is any indication. Her focus is instead on something else. You aren't sure why your news is met by distraction rather than jubilation, but something seems to be bothering her.
"And what have they said they plan to do if they can kill the Endbringers?" asks Eidolon. "Do they intend to civilize the poor barbarians, or are they going to be more subtle about their invasion than that?"
Great. He's just like your dad was, immediately assuming that the TSAB is an invading empire intent on enslaving all life they run across. "From everything they've said and done, they plan to go back home. Not that it's a surprise. We don't have anything they want in the first place, and they have their own rules they need to follow."
"I'm sure they told you that themselves, too." Legend puts his hand on Eidolon's elbow only to have it shrugged off. "You have no idea what they actually want or plan, and you're assuming they've actually told you the entire truth. This is an issue that should have been dealt with by people who know what they are doing, not children playing at being adults."
You bristle at both his condescending tone as well as his implication. You've done a hell of a lot better than most people would have if they had this dropped in their lap. More, why would he out of everyone you have dealt with be the one person to guess your actual age—
Fucking Chevalier. You told him last week that you were sixteen, when you went on patrol with him. You did it to bolster your argument that age was no predictor of talent, and while you did not tell him specifically to keep in confidence, that was the obvious implication. The fact that Eidolon knows means he did
not keep his mouth shut and instead had to have put that fact in some organization-wide database!
«
Calm down,» Samantha orders. «
These are not the people to mouth off to in anger. You need to keep a cool head right now.»
Cool head. Right. That doesn't mean you have to let Eidolon get the last word, though, as petty as it may be. You take a deep breath and let it out. "If you are going to judge me, do me the basic courtesy of judging me on my achievements and my ability, not your assumptions and baseless cynicism."
"I think this is something we will all have to consider the implications of," Legend says, though his eyes are focused on Eidolon. Only once the most famous Trump ever huffs and leans back in his chair does he turn back to you. "I would like to speak with these Enforcers myself at some point so I can verify their peaceful intentions, but that will likely have to wait. Unless you can ask them to come meet us here and now?"
You shake your head. Considering they did not want you telling the Triumvirate this much, asking them to hash everything out now is not going to happen.
"Then this is something we will have to table for the moment. Our other order of business, Calamity Witch, is a pair of conversations I had last week. One was with Standstill and her new 'Guardian Beast', Cat Sith."
"I wondered when she was going to go through with that," you say. You are somewhat surprised it took this long for her to create a Guardian Beast.
"The other person I met was the villain Maclibuin, though I did not recognize him as such because Maclibuin, to the best of my knowledge at the time, did not possess any kind of healing powers, and this individual went into a children's hospital to start healing the patients there. From what I was told, not to mention your reaction just now,
you are the one who gave them these powers."
You nod.
Legend spreads his hands helplessly. "I will be blunt, as I would like an answer and honestly do not have the patience to wade through any misunderstandings. Why did you teach a villainous gang how to use magic?"
…The Triumvirate has already accepted the existence of magic? You know you told Alexandria about it, but the fact that all three of them have come to terms with it is better than you could have possibly expected. It greatly simplifies matters. Now you just have to deal with the accusation that you were helping villains get a leg up in the world.
"I didn't teach a
gang," you stress. "I was leery of teaching the Adepts as a whole anything, but after I found out that only four of them had the ability to use magic at all and the group broke apart, I wasn't as concerned that they would use what I taught them for ill. Maclibuin and Standstill were both heroes before they joined the Adepts, and Epoch is more concerned about learning and teaching magic than actually using it for anything. They seemed quite safe to teach."
"There were other options you could have considered," he says. "If you wanted to teach magic to someone, why didn't you approach any
current heroes first?"
"That… becomes a little complicated. You see," you quickly add, "there are only a few capes who have magic. It's only present in five percent of the population, parahuman or not. Then there is the issue that using a Device like I do and having parahuman powers are mutually exclusive. Maclibuin proved this when I gave him one. Any parahuman who accepts a Device immediately and permanently loses their other powers." This catches the three heroes off-guard. "Now, a Device isn't necessary to use magic, but it is much more efficient than spellcasting without one, plus a Device comes with its own benefits, like a built-in defensive forcefield and telepathy for communication with other Devices. But for anyone who has built their identity on their powers…"
"That would make things more difficult," Legend agrees after a brief pause. He is lost in thought for a moment or two before he looks up at you again. "That said, would it be possible to look for magical ability not in the Protectorate but within the PRT?"
"It would definitely be possible, but I would need to scan everyone in the building individually, and that would take far too much time. I would need a way to screen them quickly before it became feasible—"
«
Mistress. Telepathy all but inaudible without Linker Core. High-volume signal could potentially reach prospective mages in large number so long as they are located in single location.»
"—which I might be able to do, though we would need to sort through the details," you continue after Perfect Storm's interruption. "I suppose even if everyone with a Linker Core created themselves a Guardian Beast, it would still increase the number of capes at your disposal, wouldn't it?"
"Indeed it would. I would need to clear it with the Chief Director and the head of whichever branch we choose as the pilot site, but it's a tempting proposition," he says. "Teaching them how to create Guardian Beasts may not be the best plan, though. I am having enough issues with forcing Cat Sith into the chain of command that the idea of making even more of her leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
He is having problems with just one Guardian Beast? How? Samantha was no trouble at all even immediately after you created her. "What kind of problems are you talking about?"
"Mostly the fact she doesn't understand the concept of taking orders instead of doing whatever she wants, although I have found that she will listen to Standstill more often than not, so that is working a little better. The other issue is that her disregard for even the most basic methods we use to protect our secret identities. She refused to stay at base while Standstill was on a routine patrol the one time I tried to give them latitude, and in that same vein she has rebuffed any attempts to create a division in public to protect Standstill's civilian identity from being tied to her. The first time I tried to separate them, her response was quite… crude, and her attitude has only become worse since then."
"Ah, now I understand," Samantha says, the first words she has spoken aloud since getting here. "You made probably the biggest mistake you possibly could have made with them."
Legend looks up at her. "What mistake did I make?"
"Well, you made two mistakes, actually, one of which was the direct result of the other. The larger mistake, if I had to take a guess, was that you saw Cat Sith and treated her like you would treat a Case 53, didn't you?" He nods. "There you go."
"Explain," orders Alexandria.
"I was invited to speak with some Case 53s several months ago when a group of them came through Philadelphia. That is how I know this was your issue. Case 53s look unusual, some would even say monstrous, but mentally they are just as human as you and Calamity. They want to be treated like normal humans, and they
think like humans.
"Cat Sith and I? We aren't Case 53s. We were never human in the first place. We are Guardian Beasts, animals uplifted through ritual to serve and support our mages. Unlike you humans, at the end of the day there is only one thing that matters to me: Calamity's safety and happiness. Nothing – not my own safety, nor the interests or concerns of anyone else – is more important than that.
"As a corollary to that, we
need to be assured of our mages' safety. You just said you tried to separate Cat Sith and Standstill. She will never accept that, regardless of the reasons you provide. She is young, only in the first few weeks of her new life. It is no surprise that she responded poorly. Instead of being upset, what you should do is thank your lucky stars that all she did in response was apparently curse you out. It could have been much worse."
Legend visibly mulls that over. "Satisfy my curiosity, if you would. If you were in Cat Sith's shoes and I ordered you to stay away from Calamity Witch, what would your response have been?"
"I would have killed you where you stood."
Her answer, delivered without a hint of hesitation, catches him even more by surprise than her explanation did.
In an attempt to distract everyone from the threat on Legend's life, you quickly offer, "If you would like, Legend, I can show you what scanning for a Linker Core looks like right now."
"You can?" he replies, though you notice his eyes flicking back to Samantha a couple of times.
"Absolutely. I can scan all three of you right now. The odds aren't great, you understand, but any one of you might have the capacity for magic."
"I have to say that I am a little curious now," Legend says, no doubt seeing your distraction for what it is. Also of note, his attention is strangely enough focused more on Eidolon than you. He stands and walks to the end of the table. "What do I have to do?"
You move to meet him and hold up your staff. "Just stand right there. You're going to see some beams of light while I'm doing this. That's totally normal." Said lines of blue light shine from the head of your staff and sweep over him a few times, and you watch the screen that appears once the scan is complete. After several seconds, you look away from the results and shake your head. "Sorry."
"It is what it is. You said five percent chance, right? I can't hold you responsible for a bad roll of the dice. Eidolon, you want to try your luck?"
The lone retired member of the Triumvirate stands so you can scan him. Again you have bad news to break, but Eidolon is not nearly so sanguine. "Of course not," he practically spits, and then he storms out the door.
…Well then. You turn to the last person left, but Alexandria is already out of her seat and walking in the opposite direction with her cape billowing out behind her. "I have no interest in the answer to that question."
The door all but slams shut.
"O…kay? What was that all about?" you wonder out loud.
Legend shakes his head, clearly just as confused as you are. "I have no idea."
I wonder why Lexi was so opposed to being scanned. And the end of the week already? Oy vey.
If you look at THE RULES, you'll see that I've put out a trial setup for how multiple allied mages can work. Normally you'd vote on it along with Taylor's stuff, but Lacey will have her own interlude next chapter (you'll thank me later), and that is when you will pick her activity for next week. For now, just focus on Taylor.
- Hang out with another character(s). This is by definition a non-combat activity. Things to DO while hanging out would be greatly appreciated.
- Go with Dragon to haul up the Simurgh's body. You can invite another character or two to come with you if so desired.
- 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.
- Write-in (subject to my approval)
Yes, the yellow vote returns! If you've forgotten, yellow means it is a one-time offer. Don't take it now, you won't get another chance. As ever, take 24 HOURS to talk things over and pick your three activities.
Live Long And Prosper. 
Silently watches
