First Impact 2.x
Thursday, February 24
Those who were not part of the Protectorate would probably expect the Brockton Bay team's monthly debriefing to be an organized and staid affair. Patrol schedules projected onto multiple computer screens, contingency plans for the independents discussed and updated, Assault trying his best to behave himself for fear of Director Piggot's displeasure, everyone sitting stiffly upright while still in uniform.
Well, that last one was half right, Hannah supposed as she looked at the rest of her team, but they were still in their costumes only because they were waiting until they were done before they changed into their streets clothes and went home.
This was much later than normal for their debriefs. Normally they turned it into a working dinner, with some sort of takeout and a six-pack to split up amongst those who weren't on duty that night, but thanks to Skidmark and Mush lashing out late that afternoon after losing yet another drug depot to the Privateers, they had been forced to push it back until the wee hours of the morning. It made them all thankful for the late-night pizzeria sitting only a few blocks from the shoreline and Robin's superspeed.
"Hey, Hannah," Ethan called, his left arm around Stephanie's shoulders and his right hand occupied with his beer, "you still haven't mentioned anything about your new project."
"My new project?"
"Yeah, your independent hero friend. The Witch or something."
"You have been kinda tight-lipped about her," Benny agreed. He and Rory were the only ones not drinking, the latter because he was only eighteen and Dauntless because he was on call for any parahuman disasters occurring that night. "Who is she?"
Setting her slice of pepperoni pizza on her plate, she wiped the grease off her hands and started typing on the digital keyboard integrated into the table of their meeting room. Kid Win had emailed the video from his helmet to her, and she had downloaded the files… there. A few more clicks brought the wall-mounted monitor to life, and she loaded the first several clips onto the screen. "Calamity Witch. Blaster 6 to 7, Mover 5, Shaker 3. Possible Brute, at least from Robin's meeting with her"—Velocity nodded—"with rating estimated to be between 1 and 3. Part of the independent hero group named the Brockton Bay Privateers, though from what she's told me and our interactions with the group, it sounds more like it's a loose affiliation than actual membership."
"The Privateers is the group of enhanced normals that's had Piggot so riled up, right?" Stephanie asked.
"That's right. I'd estimate Calamity Witch's age to be in the seventeen to twenty range. Word choice indicates an educated household." And that was as far as she was going to go into personal information that could be used to find out her civilian identity. "Her specific powers, as you can see from the footage Chris recorded when she joined him and Missy on patrol, include fireballs that pursue specific targets, flight, and a forcefield of some kind. When Robin talked to her, she was bruised after defeating Squealer, and the remains of high-caliber cannons were found not far away, hence the potential Brute classification."
Ethan chuckled. "She's like the lovechild of Lady Photon and Legend."
Hannah smiled at that. It was not the strangest thing she had heard about Calamity's identity; in the email, Chris had told her that Dennis had suggested Calamity was another Pelham, one who had been hidden away from the world because she wasn't blonde. The similarity to the Pelhams' powers was striking, particularly to Laserdream's, and combined with her age, it had been very tempting to look into Crystal Pelham's friends to find which, if any, of them had long, dark hair.
Nudging her husband with a pointy elbow, Stephanie asked, "She's supposedly part of the Privateers, but she's working alone? Why?"
"We really don't know why. She was the one who took care of all the registration paperwork, but besides Squealer, Rune, and the drug dealers she called in on Monday, she really has not gotten into many fights. At least, not that we know of," she corrected. She hoped Calamity had not been causing trouble that they didn't know about. When a vigilante started keeping her fights quiet, that was usually a sign that she was going overboard. "It might be that she has been waiting to back her team up and they haven't needed any help, or she might have occupied herself with something else. A lot of her time might also be taken up caring for her partner."
The pictures and video clips on the screen vanished, and she put up the footage of the younger heroine's well-dressed accomplice. "This is Samantha, no cape name. She complements Calamity Witch beautifully power-wise. Mover 9, Brute 7, Changer 3, Stranger 1, with an unknown Striker rating. Teleportation, high-speed flight, and enhanced strength and durability. Kid Win suggested that she has some additional ability based on the glowing around her hands, but the effect was not apparent at the time, and she refused to disclose it when she and Calamity Witch came in to register. She has two alternate forms: the first is a garden-variety raccoon, and the other is a larger, bear-sized raccoon.
"With her taking melee combat and Calamity Witch staying at range, they would be a nightmare to fight for just about any lone cape. Throw in their mobility, and I'm glad they're on our side."
"She's a Case 53," Colin guessed, looking at the tail on display in the video.
Hannah frowned. "I don't know. She said she wasn't; the physical changes are relatively minor, she claims to have memories of her life before becoming a cape, and she didn't notice the hints I dropped about the tattoo. She did admit that those memories are fragmented, though. If I didn't know better, I would say that she is a step between normal capes and Case 53s."
"You're talking about the extreme necessity theory of Case 53s." The team as a whole turned to stare at Rory, who looked slightly embarrassed at having the room's entire attention on him. "There's a theory that the powers we get are based on what we need at the time of our triggers. If that's the case, then some experts think that Case 53s had triggers so traumatic that their physical alterations are the result of their bodies being optimized for their powers. It would mean that the memory loss would be them suppressing the memories of their trigger events and going too far."
"You think she had a worse then normal trigger event, but not bad enough to block out everything?" asked Benny.
"Increased strength would let her fight off someone attacking her," Colin thought out loud. "Teleportation and flight; both let her escape, particularly if she were being held captive somewhere. The raccoon form would let her hide from anyone chasing her."
An awkward silence descended on the room, everyone thinking about the horrible scenario Colin had suggested despite their better judgement. Robin was the one who spoke first and changed the subject. "So that's, what, three capes the Privateers have?"
"Three? Who's the third one?"
"Captain, the Privateer's leader," Hannah said in response to Ethan's question. "All we know about him is what Calamity Witch put on his form and a few things we've gleaned from the Privateers themselves. He's a Trump, exact rating unknown but currently listed as a 4, who can give the members of his team a Thinker power that apparently improves their ability to work as a unit. Some of the Privateers mentioned that he knows what they're doing while they are under his power, so he is also listed as a Thinker 2 with a provisional classification as a Master. That isn't part of his official file, though." She took a swig of her own beer. "I felt, and Piggot agreed, that drawing connections between an ally to Teacher would only hurt our working relationship if it ever got out."
"It would be nice if we could meet with him in person—" An uncharacteristically happy tune came from Colin's pocket, and he pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. "Dragon, can I— What? Repeat that— Dragon! Slow down and say that again. It sounded like you said—"
The rest of his conversation was cut off by the wail of the Endbringer sirens.
Temporal Sludge learned.
