14.5 Aftermath
The ride back had been great. Bitch had seemed almost content, and Amy and I had celebrated our success.
As we pulled in, I saw that Dad was standing in the loading dock, off to the side, still in his Xanatos costume.
Right, Dad wouldn't have taken this evening well. What with me fighting Hookwolf, and stuff.
On closer inspection, he had not taken my recent life choices well at all. He was clenching his hands, which he did when he was frustrated and angry.
Arania tried to slink off, but Dad called out to her, "Arania, Recluse, can I speak with you both for a moment?"
I just nodded, resigned to getting lectured, and got out of the vehicle. We both followed dad to my half of the guest quarters of my lair, leaving behind the mercenaries and vehicles.
He hesitated a second upon reaching the corridor with everybody's room, before telling Arania to get a chair, and that we would be meeting in Recluse's room.
I went inside, and used an arm to push some clothes under the bed, while he and Arania went to get their own chairs.
It didn't take long. When they both came back, Dad started to say something, then paused, and visibly changed tack, "I need a few minutes to calm down, and this should be done face to face. Get changed into some normal clothes, then come get me. I'll be in my room."
He left, and Amy went to change in her room, and I switched into some day clothes. Amy came back, and then I went and got Dad.
He had barely sat down before he started speaking angrily. "Do you have any idea how stupid and dangerous a number of your choices were this evening? You could have died. Taylor, what were you thinking? Why did it ever make sense to you to agree to fight an E88 cape in a duel, and without any preparation?"
He didn't continue, and I tried to avoid excuses while defending myself. "I was sure I could win. Lisa has fought Hookwolf successfully, and I built her suit. I had-"
Dad sharply cuts me off, "You had no idea who Kaiser would pick instead of Krieg, and that's assuming that he didn't just guess, possibly correctly, that you picked Krieg so that he would pick somebody else as a power play. That is why you picked Krieg, isn't it?"
Well, yes, but that wasn't something I was willing to admit. "I had already seen him before, and had scared him off. I had my tinkertech in the area, and had plans."
"You didn't scare off anybody. They came peacefully, even if it was to threaten you, and then Krieg exercised some intelligence by choosing to not pointlessly display their powers for you to analyze. That's after you tipped them off that you had a huge number of things buried all over the landscape. Could any of your units in that field have stopped Hookwolf coming at you in a charge?"
No, but that's not a good answer to that question, so I don't know what to say. "That's why I had an industrial arm this time, because it was stronger. We had a couple days to get ready. I got ready." I can't fully avoid a sulking tone into my voice at the end.
"You didn't have to fight him at all! You should have refused. Tweaking his nose was extremely foolish. That man kills people. Flat out murders them. Do you think Kaiser is capable of letting a grudge go? Do either of you think that his position as a gang leader will let him 'forgive and forget' the kind of slight that you gave him?"
That last comment is directed towards Amy, and is the first time he's directly addressed her since he sat down. I'm starting to feel guilty enough that I look away from him, and happen to follow where his head is looking. Amy is very closed off, expressionless, just staring passively at dad.
Dad is squeezing the arm of the chair so tightly I hear the wood squeak. He takes a breath with his eyes closed, and speaks again more calmly. "Taylor, and you too, Amy, worried me sick. I was honestly afraid that you both were going to get yourselves killed. If Kaiser hadn't thought that keeping a public truce that he called was more important that dealing with you right at that moment, he would have killed you. You, Amy, Rachel, Lisa, Alec, and Purity, would have been outnumbered two to one, and neither you or Amy have been in more than a handful of fights. Rachel didn't have time to grow up her dogs, the Thrawn suit isn't made for combat, and Purity was on the ground, right next to all the other capes who would've attacked her. The Merchants wouldn't have done anything but maybe laugh. Faultline's Crew might have intervened if Kaiser started killing you, but more likely they would have fled.
"There is no way that Faultline's Crew is going to ally with us. As of last night, it looks like Recluse makes stupid decisions under pressure, and worse, that Arania runs her mouth on a frankly dumb opportunity to tweak the nose of one of the most dangerous people in the city.
"That's not fair," I respond heatedly, "we needed to show that we weren't weak. Kaiser called this meeting to threaten us. To try and cow anybody he could into leaving or joining him. Refusing to show that we would fight just-"
Dad cuts me off, almost yelling, "He baited you into that fight! Did you learn anything you didn't already know? Hookwolf is already healed! Assuming you actually even hurt him, they have Othala! Kaiser's entire point was to find out what you can do! He let you go afterwards! They didn't want to break their word about keeping the peace at the meeting. They already know how to get you, and now they know more about your tinkertech to start making better guesses for how to counter it! This isn't a fucking chess game, Taylor!"
Dad shudders, and puts his face in his hands.
I don't know what to do.
I… "Dad…"
Dad's voice is cracking behind his hands, "Taylor, I can't talk to you about this now."
He puts his hands down, and his eyes are red and shiny. "Amy, you're still welcome to stay here, but despite how your parents have been misled about Recluse's age, I'm the one that's responsible for you. I won't let them take you from here, if you want to stay. However, they are your parents, and I feel obligated to inform them of some of your choices. I won't tell them you are Arania or enough to guess more about your powers, but I'm going to have to tell them something."
Dad stands up, to my surprise, then takes a step forward towards us and grabs me and Amy in one armed hugs. I don't react for a second, but then try to reciprocate. I think Amy tries to pat him on the back.
He stands back up and goes over to the door, then turns back to us. "Both of you need to get some sleep. I'm going to find Lisa. I need to talk to her about her assessments, and then about involving the Protectorate or PRT, or possibly Faultline, if we can pay Faultline enough to help out, despite what happened. Amy, please just go to bed. Check over your Arania suit if you need to, but no tinkering, just put it in stasis or something until tomorrow. Taylor, I need you wake up Paige. Brief her on what happened, and the have her call Ralph. You need sleep, so let the pair of them work. They need to get your camp ready to close down. The Empire is going to trash it within the next 24 hours, probably tomorrow morning. Kaiser won't allow what you did to stand, and will pretend to use it as an excuse, now that you've confirmed that you won't work with him. At a first guess, the easiest plan is to try to kill enough people to draw you out into a fight so that they can capture or kill you."
I can't seem to figure out how to respond to that. I can feel all of my clothes, the air, hear the ventilation. I feel… I can't let this happen.
I want to cry, but I get a grip on myself, and nod to dad.
He nods at us, and then leaves down the corridor to the rest of the base.
I sit back down.
"Taylor, I'm sorry I made things worse." Amy is very quiet.
"I don't think you did, I think dad was just scared that Kaiser might have attacked you right then. I don't think it would've changed anything else." My voice is quiet too.
I need to wake up Paige, I mean Comma. "I need to wake up Comma now. I guess you should go to bed? I'll see you in the morning."
There's a knock on the door. My voice sounds weird as I try to speak loudly enough to invite whomever it is in.
Dad's back, and he pulls me into a hug and tells me he loves me and that he just wants me to be safe. I tell him the same.
He gives Amy a hug, telling her, "You're something like family now too. I certainly felt like my heart stopped when I heard you taunting Kaiser."
He leaves again, reminding us to finish up and then get to bed.
========
I accidentally slept with my link to my matrix processor active, but nothing bad happened, thankfully.
There's some audio files that Comma left for me, and I skim over the information after shrugging on a data arm shirt so that I can walk around and get ready at the same time.
The logs show that Comma and Ralph stayed up for a couple hours. If Ralph got any sleep, it'll have been after the last data log, so sometime after 4, and it's 8 now. I don't message either of them, and leave to find either Dad or Lisa.
I could ask to attach tracking devices into people, but dad would veto that.
Speaking of, Dad's door is open. I knock, enter, and greet him. He looks exhausted, big bags under his eyes, and the little instant coffee machine is making what is likely not the first cup.
"Hey there, Taylor, are you doing ok?" His voice is unsurprisingly tired to my ears.
"Yeah, Dad, feeling angry though."
"Well, at least you're safe. I've talked things over with Lisa off and on since you went to bed. Between her, Paige, and Ralph, there's not much we can do, but we think it can be done safe enough. We're going to shut down your camp this morning. Ralph is overseeing the arrangements, which started a bit after we woke him up, but people won't actually start leaving for another hour. Everything that can be carried will be taken by hand by the people in your camp as they walk the twelve miles or so to the part of the beach that is between my camp and the Boardwalk one."
I bristle a bit, at Dad and the others deciding that for me, and Dad notices, and asks, "Would you have done anything differently?"
My retort is rather sharp, "Well, no, but it's my camp. I am responsible for it."
"You needed sleep, to be in good form, both to evacuate your equipment, and in case of any surprises. You're easily angered now, and more angry than you used to be, Little Owl. I'm not trying to take your camp from you, I'm just trying to keep the people there safe."
Dad's guilt attack works as well as he intended, making me feel foolish for complaining about him doing what I would've done anyway.
"Taylor, I want you to promise me that you're not going to leave your lair today. I want you, Amy, Lisa, and the others to stay here."
That- "No, we need to help make sure everybody makes it to Protectorate territory."
"If you, or anybody else you are associated with shows up, the Empire will certainly attack right then and there. That's what they want after all. The best chance for the people in your camp is to get out before the Empire is ready, and not give them a reason to attack preemptively. I'm betting the displacement of thousands of people on the hypothesis that the Empire is planning to trash your camp today. They'll attack as soon as they believe you are there. Your camp is the only way they know to possibly draw you out."
"I can't just stay here. I need to be there to help!"
Dad sighs at my raised voice, and leans back against his chair. "You're the target Taylor. If people aren't gone before the Empire shows up, well, do you think the Empire actually cares about them?"
"No." I grumble.
We argue more, but I don't make any headway with him. The plan is that I'll remote control my stuff in the camp if and when the E88 show up. Basically, make a pointless posturing show of it. I can't evacuate my drone units. Odds are they have watchers, and a truck transporting tinkertech is too big a target to pass up. The tunnels and pipes aren't big enough to evacuate the shells of the drones, or their internal skeletons.
I guess it's a reasonable enough test. I had already told Krieg I could control my technology remotely.
The PRT isn't going to show up, but the Protectorate will be sending Miss Militia, Triumph, and Flashbang, once the main exodus of people starts, to patrol up and down the route.
Maybe I am angrier, but this isn't fair. After Dad and I are done talking, I leave in a huff of irritation. I stop by my room to leave Amy a note that I'm in my lab, and slip it under her door. I bring a bowl of oatmeal from my cafeteria to my lab, and quietly eat while working.
A couple hours later, I sense Amy coming down the stairs. Or rather, Arania, since Amy is in costume. I'm not enough of a jerk to watch her try to struggle down the stairs to my lab while still getting used to 8 legs. An industrial arm reaches up the stairs, and plucks her up, and then pulls her down. I'm not sure if it's due to Lisa or Amy herself rubbing off on me, but Amy's yelp of surprise when the arm came into view was fairly cheering. The glare I get upon her walking over to my bench contrasts with a muttered thanks.
"So, what's the plan?"
I respond irritably, "Do nothing and let the E88 trash the camp." After sighing, I provide a useful response. "Well, the ant units are disassembling the water and shower stuff, and then will evacuate. The drone units can't be safely removed, so they might get a 'field test'." I sound whiny even to my own ears.
Amy shrugs, "Yeah, I can understand that. Kaiser is going to be gunning for you. Being outnumbered sucks. Better to be safe, and pick our fights."
Her condescending attitude to me losing my camp pisses me off. "Well, it's not like you can even walk yet, much less fight, as Arania, so it's not much of a loss for you, but I don't-"
"Fuck off, I'm not even the one telling you to pull your head out of your ass so you don't endanger the people at your former camp that you claim to be protecting."
I quietly seethe, and analyze Hookwolf's blades that I recovered, I have the occasional brusque conversations with Comma. Amy pointedly ignores me, returning to the part of my lab that she generally works in.
At ten, Ralph and I wish each other luck as he leaves with the last group. The three Protectorate capes are already patrolling part of the march of people. The last of them should get to the beach in a few hours. There's even a bunch of cars for transporting the old or injured people who were here, and then they'll start picking up the stragglers.
There's signs up around my camp, stating that it's closed, but it's not 30 minutes later that a group of people start wandering through it, poking into tents and trying to turn the water on in the showers. Everything is off of course, and my tinkertech is already being broken down and harvested within the walls and underground.
When one of them takes what I think is a crowbar to the little column in the middle of camp that has the comm system interface, I start questioning if they're just looters. The actual materials were pulled down through the center of the column after Ralph left, but of course they don't know that.
The explosion takes me completely by surprise, and I yelp aloud.
Amy is concerned, but I waved her off, telling her what happened, that nobody was hurt, and that I think some E88 goons are poking around my camp.
"And they blew up your stuff?"
"Yeah, I'm guessing it was a grenade. Maybe they think the communications column is some kind of control hub? Either way, I'm ignoring it. Dad and I argued, and now I have to let them destroy my camp, unless people are getting hurt."
"I'm sorry about the stuff that's getting destroyed."
At leasts Amy sympathizes, which is some consolation.
It not even a few minutes later that one of the guys starts setting the tents on fire. Well, not the tents, but all the stuff inside them that isn't fire resistant.
I just quietly seethe.
"Seriously, Taylor?" Amy eventually interrupts my thoughts, "Why do you even care so much. It's just stuff. The people are fine right?"
I consciously stop writhing my arms, to stop announcing my irritation to Amy, and clamp down on my feelings. "It's my camp, they have no right to do that, they're destroying stuff I helped make. Right now people are walking from where they were living, and I'm doing nothing while the E88 sends six thugs to start destroying my stuff."
"Your stuff? How long is your stuff going to take to replace anyway? I mean, if you wanted to replace the showers or whatever else you haven't withdrawn, how difficult will it be to replace?"
My retort is defiant, "Each drone unit will take a week to replace, if I rush it."
"Are these gangers likely to find your drone units? What about the rest of your stuff?"
I petulantly admit that everything else in camp is cheaply made. Replacing said stuff would take just a few hours, and that since the drone units are buried underground in sealed containers, they aren't likely to be found at all. Unless I activate them. Aside from the drones, the important radio laser and receiver aren't even in the camp, and nobody is even near the collapsed building they are hidden within.
Amy's response is predictable, "Then grow up and stop complaining. You probably have more money for tinkering than any Protectorate Tinker. My stuff would make people think of Nilbog, whereas your stuff is just plastic. You've been to that camp; what maybe half a dozen times?"
That's an unfair way of looking at it, and my response is petulant. "I've been there twice. Once before anybody knew it was a camp, to install the communications stuff and the drone units, and then with you."
Amy throws her hands up in the air, all four of them, in frustration, and starts fussing over her plants, muttering to herself about me being crazy.
A few minutes later, I start to feel guilty. She might want to leave, but feel unable to safely pass by the traps built into the entrance.
'Uh, Amy, if you want me to lift you up the stairs, just say so."
"Taylor, come over here and talk to me, and stop using your computer to generate your voice."
I was? Oh, I guess so. I start to head over to her, but realize she'd probably prefer it if I walked. I disconnect from my industrial arm, set up an alert to sound if any more people show up at my former camp or anything actually important starts to be damaged, and then disconnect from my matrix processor fully.
My lab is rather dark as I walk over to Amy, without the benefit of my sonar system, as there just aren't enough lights. I sit down at my little tea table, and Amy joins me. She can't sit properly while wearing Arania, so she sort of sits on the haunches of the suit.
"Hey Amy."
"Can I give you a check-up? I'm worried about you, and it would make me feel better." She's just quietly staring off into the gloom and shade of my lab. I need to reposition the lights I've covered up, again, or add more lights. I should add more lights, I'm getting better at diffusing the photons from my lasers.
I shrug, and then feel stupid since she's not looking at me, and lay my hand out on the table. Amy turns to me, her suit's glove sort of folds back, and then she pokes a finger to my palm.
"You've stopped exercising and you're not getting enough vitamin D, but otherwise you're ok. Thanks."
I really don't know what she was looking for, unless she thought I was going crazy.
Her voice is quiet. "I think I've actually spent proportionally more time with you where I haven't had you accidentally flash me your biology than anybody else since I got my power." She pauses, then speaks more harshly. "People really are sacks of shit, literally. Also other stuff, but it's hard to care about people when I can see inside them and have trouble telling them apart from what a crappy sausage looks like."
I guess I was overreacting. "Well, I know it's just stuff, I can-"
Amy interrupts me, though speaking mildly. "I just got worried that something might be wrong with you. I'm a horrid bitch to people, a lot, and I'm grateful for you putting up with me. I don't want you to turn into- well, not me, but messed up. You've gotten… not evil, you're a good person, but you've gotten colder, Taylor. You don't trust anybody you don't know, and you won't leave your lair, unless somebody convinces you. Except for now, when you're all gung ho to go crack some heads. Maybe you were always possessive, but that's a thing too. I know you and Lisa, and your dad are hilariously rich from taking Coil's stuff. You could throw away the cost of those lost supplies a dozen times, but it doesn't matter how many you could have, because you will fight tooth and nail to not let even a place like that get away from you."
There's a pause, and I remind myself that Amy is trying to be nice, even if overly dramatic. It's not right to let the Empire wreck things though.
Before I can try to explain that, Amy starts up again. "Lisa warned me to not try to claim your stuff. More specifically, that you would lash out if somebody tried to take safe places that you considered yours. Why is that, Taylor?"
So, Lisa has been spreading rumors about me? That's not right.
I think Amy notices something in my facial expression, because she looks concerned. "Are you angry that Lisa is your friend? She was trying to be nice and keep you happy." Concerned, but also testy.
"Fine…" I whine in irritation, "I just don't see why it's her business to talk about me to other people. I just prefer people to not change my space."
"How am I supposed to know that if you won't tell me, and you get mad when your friend tries to help other people, such as me, understand you? The only thing bigger than Lisa's nosiness may be her ego, but she's still pretty obviously your friend. We both are, and it's the only reason I haven't turned her into an anteater and she hasn't stabbed me."
That got weird. "Uh what?"
"Oh, well, anteaters have huge noses. Not as big as elephants, but I like elephants, so I wouldn't turn Lisa into something I liked. I wouldn't do it at all, of course, but it's a passing thought when she decides to pry into how I'm feeling, or what I've been talking to my family about or whatever. My power is always giving me ideas. Although, it's been easier to manage since I've been working on my Arania suit. Also, oddly enough, seeing how quickly anything I modify falls apart if I do something truly crazy is good for my patience. No point in giving somebody gills since the gills would dry out and get infected in a matter of hours outside of water, and the person would develop a salt imbalance and die if they were in the water."
"Ok then. So, uh?" I'm not actually sure where Amy is going with this.
"I guess, just stop assuming that we're jerking you around. We're your friends. If you could explain why the camp is so important, that would help too. Sure the Empire trashing it is annoying, but have they even sent any capes? If you don't show up, the Empire can't threaten you, and all it looks like to everybody else is that you and Bitch decided that not risking people's lives was better than having a brawl in the middle of your refugee camp between yourselves and how many capes the Empire sends to fight you. You look smart for now showing up."
I grudgingly admit there are still no capes at the camp. I reconnect to my systems and see what's going on. The 6 goons somehow started a fire in the shower and water facilities, and are now headed to one of the pillars that are at each corner of the camp.
As I disconnect, Amy is staring at me intently. "Did you intentionally sigh in relief as you connected to your computer?"
I catch myself making some negative noises, and quickly reconnect to my matrix processor. Regrettably, yes, I did sigh in a fashion that sounds an awful lot like relief. I did it again, just now too.
I hold my breath then disconnect and reconnect several times.
Fine, it's me making the noise. "So, I just like knowing what's going on. It's comfortable."
Amy grimaces at my response. "Yeah, and maybe that's all it is. If so, that's fine. For the moment, let's assume I'm not being paranoid. How would you know if you were getting addicted to you using your systems?"
I make several starts, but eventually stall out while trying to make a response. How would I know?
Amy gives up on me figuring out my thoughts. "Powers are great sometimes, but it seems like your favorite thing about your power is working with brains. You tell me, is it reasonable for me to be concerned that your brain interface thing might be affecting itself? A feedback loop thing, like from science fiction movies."
I get my thoughts in order, enough to respond, "Well, I don't have access to my own brain, or even corona, so I know less than you. I don't feel addicted, I just like using my tech."
Amy talks about how she has trouble identifying non-chemical addiction. Drug users, sure, she can see that in their biology. Gambling addiction, not so clear. She is in the middle of trying to describe the complexity of my brain, or well, anybody's brain, when my alarm goes off.
My data arms immediately latch onto the arms hanging onto the ceiling, and I examine my camp. The 6 goons just knocked over a pillar. No indication that they're trying to dig up the drone, and they seem to be moving on to another one.
I watch them for a few moments, and then note a big signal that appears near the edge of my camp, and another one. I let Amy know that something is up. I wish I had a way of doing video. As the two things get closer to my sensors, the resolution improves. There's 4 people, 2 normal sized ones, and 2 giant sized people. The latter 2 must be Fenja and Menja. Each of them is carrying something, like a staff maybe, and a shield.
"Fenja and Menja, and two others I'm unsure about. Wait, the shorter one looks like Cricket. The other one just went down on all fours and increased in size, so I'm betting Hookwolf."
Amy laughs a bit, to my surprise, but she waves off my curiosity. "It's just that they sent in those six guys to scout for them, didn't they? They're still scared of you."
I nod in agreement as Hookwolf charges across the field towards camp. Oh, I should let Comma know. After pinging her to get her attention, I speak aloud for Amy's benefit, using my mouth rather than generating my voice, even though that means I can't strip the anger out. "Hi Comma, bad news. Several capes are trashing my camp. I think they are Fenja, Menja, Hookwolf, and Cricket. Everything that can burn is systematically being set on fire, and what remains of my tinkertech is being exploded or smashed."
Comma's voice is at least sympathetic, and I also play it aloud. "I'm sorry to hear it. I guess that at least it's roughly what you and Thrawn predicted. The people of your camp are making good progress. I expect that the first of them going entirely on foot will get to the beach site in another two hours. The ones we're transporting by car are already there of course. One car got shot at once, but thankfully nobody was hurt."
Right, the people are what matters. "Ok, thanks for letting me know." I can't convince myself that it's the only thing that matters, but it is the most important.
Something explodes on Hookwolf. "What the hell?" I blurt out in surprise.
"What?" and "What's going on?" come from Comma and Amy respectively.
Right, nobody else has my sensors. "Hookwolf has stopped moving and has swelled up in size, he's less spiky now too."
Comma speaks before Amy, "Like he got hurt somehow and formed a shield?"
"No," I respond, "well, maybe, but he's still expanding, and it looked like something was shot at him from outside the camp. Ok, there's a truck that has driven up, and people are coming out of it. Maybe there's a Blaster cape? Comma, is Thrawn awake?"
"No, she's- I mean, he's asleep with a thinker headache. I think Xanatos is up still, I'll get in touch with him. Bitch is asleep, probably. I'll leave a quiet message, but I'd rather not wake her unless it's important. Does it really matter who's fighting the E88 as long as nobody else gets hurt?"
I refrain from responding that 'it matters because they're doing it in my camp!', since apparently I'm the only one who cares about that. Instead I try to keep Amy updated. "Hookwolf seems to be struggling. I'm guessing he isn't shielding himself, unless he's being attacked by something tiny."
I pause and allocate more computational effort to resolving details around him. "No, he'd have to be being attacked by something smaller than bugs, or something attached to him. Oh, it looks like foam is growing out of him. I bet the thing that hit him was a containment foam grenade. Or, well, a containment foam rocket?"
I get confirmation when the new group of people use a loudspeaker to announce that they're PRT agents, and that the capes are under arrest. I pass that news on to Amy, even at Fenja and Menja are charging towards the PRT agents. Cricket is looping around, passing through the large part of the camp. I briefly hear one of the giant sized capes muttering to herself as she passes close to a sensor. Oh, I bet she has a radio. As the other giant woman passes by the pillar that the goons knocked over, she picks it up and throws it at the PRT vehicle. It misses, falling short. It was pretty lightweight and didn't fly very well.
The PRT agents start shooting at them. Both Amy and I are surprised. Before we can react, the pair of them split, going to either side of the road the PRT vehicle pulled up into. One of them drops what she was carrying, I note that it rapidly shrinks, and picks up a car. Holding onto part of the undercarriage, she throws it at the PRT van. This time she doesn't miss, and it smashes the van over onto its side. The other one is… uh… smashing apart the building she's hiding behind?
Amy guesses correctly that things are getting violent. "We should help, you've got both your drone units. Send them after Cricket, or something?"
I think I could pilot one drone unit could reach Cricket, the tether on the other might be too short. I could also set one or both to autonomous, with a single command, and leave them to self-destruct afterwards.
I note an aberration on my sonar. "Hey, one of the giants might be fighting a teleporter, I thought she was knocking over a building for some reason, but there's this guy that keeps appearing briefly and then vanishing, and she just cursed him out. Or maybe it's a woman? She called the teleporter a 'bitch', but that's not really conclusive."
"Maybe it's somebody new? Anyway, is the PRT winning?"
"I can't really tell? The- I'm just going to call her Menja, doesn't seem to want to charge the PRT guys and is throwing stuff at them. The PRT are shooting back at her. Cricket is past my camp, and circling around the building. Fenja is actively collapsing the building that has the teleporter, and I think Hookwolf is slowly extracting himself from the containment foam."
"Well, even if the PRT is a bunch of sanctimonious asses, they're still loads better than being literal Nazis."
Right, when Amy puts it like that, things are pretty clear.
"Fenja just collapsed! She is still moving though. I think Fenja is shrinking? Or thrashing about? Oh, it's Shadow Stalker. Fenja just called out a warning. Shadow Stalker put a couple arrows into her knees."
Amy's response of, "Well, shit, that's awful to do to somebody. Though, they are Nazis attacking people. Still…" sums up my feelings as well.
"Hookwolf is loose. He's smaller and not growing, but beginning to pick up speed towards the others." It looks like he shed enough blades to separate himself from the containment foam. Evidence continues to accrue for my hypothesis that he stores blades inside his body that Kaiser creates for him. Him having an upper limit on storing blades makes sense, assuming that's how his power actually works. Or he could just have a Breaker state, like Lisa insists, but she's been wrong before.
Maybe he has an upper limit on the amount of metal blades that he can store?
"I think he's going maybe twenty miles an hour." I don't know if my even my drone units can go that fast. He's already most of the way to his allies.
"Wait, for the capes or the troopers?"
"Huh, what?"
"Hookwolf is going to kill the PRT troopers, stop him!"
Oh.
Hookwolf doesn't even slow down and plows into the knocked over van, almost rolling it. I activate both drone units. He's out of range, so it looks like they'll be irrecoverable. I flinch as I hear a scream that cuts off abruptly from my sensors, and I turn off the sound conversion reflexively.
Both drone units tear themselves out of the ground while I finish preparing the command. I direct them to start running towards Hookwolf even I upload it.
The command finishes identifying Hookwolf to the drones as a target for a non-lethal attack.
[M̻̱͎̼͓̲ͅẠ̖̱̰Ḭ̙͚͖̲̘̖͓M͖̺͖͖̫̟̙]
One tether snaps a moment later, followed a couple of seconds later by the other. Both tethers begin automatically retracting into the pillars. One drone is much further ahead. It dodges a thing thrown by Menja, leaping up into the air and over the thrown piece of debris. The command optimizing the attack on the target, includes compensating for delays from a changing environment. I think they're maybe as fast as Hookwolf, better acceleration anyway.
The closest one, the second prototype, leaps onto Hookwolf even as he turns and rears to face it. I get some simplistic damage readings by the remaining sonic communication channel. It stabs with its tail, bites, and rends with the claws on its hands and feet.
"The first drone unit and Hookwolf are clawing at each other. The armor on the drone is doing- It's failed. It's gone. The second is-"
"Bitch is done growing her dogs, she'll be there in a few minutes. She's bringing a pack." Comma interrupts. I had forgot she was listening.
The second drone engages Hookwolf, leaping into the top of his body, bowling him over, and dragging him to ground. It tears and bites into him with dramatically greater effectiveness, possibly the battery gel in the first one has degraded Hookwolf's blades. I actually resolve some pieces of Hookwolf getting torn off and flung through the air. "The second drone has dragged Hookwolf to the ground, and the PRT guys are pulling somebody away from them, and I think they're still shooting at Menja. I've lost track of Shadow Stalker."
"And Cricket?" asks Amy.
"She's met up with Fenja, who has shrunk down. I think they're hunkering down. The second drone has failed. Hookwolf isn't moving though." He was actively killing people himself, so I refuse to be sorry if it somehow killed him.
Comma speaks up again. "Xanatos is catching up by reviewing the audio recordings, and will be connecting shortly. He says that he trusts you to handle the situation appropriately."
Also known as, 'Here, let me give you enough rope to hang yourself, in case the chewing out from last night deserves an encore.'
Well, I've already used up my drones, so that's it really. Between cleaning up my camp, and now watching both sides split or go at it again, there's not much I can do.
Oh, I should ensure that my tech is fully destroyed. The exoskeleton armor on the drone units may have survived, despite the self destruct failsafes I included, if Hookwolf shredded it violently enough.
Amy asks me how the PRT people are doing. I pass along that I can't really tell. They don't have a vehicle and I think several of them were killed. I reactivate sound interpretation, and there's no screaming, so that's something I suppose. They're holed up nearby, and I think Shadow Stalker is with them.
Comma makes an extremely useful suggestion to have Bitch retrieve any bulk remains of my drone units and spray solvent over the whole area. I get in touch with her, and detour her to an edge of my camp to pick up several ant units that will bring the supplies to interact with my tech safely. Their internals are basically artificial muscle, a matrix processor, but mostly something like tinker battery acid. The current iteration of my energy storage gel is highly corrosive. I hope I'll be able to correct that eventually, but for now it's not very safe.
The E88 capes pass near enough to some of my sensors that I can hear Fenja complaining about Shadow Stalker trying to cripple her with crossbow bolts phased into her knees and ankles, and Fenja's plans to repay the favor.
I do learn something very useful, that Fenja had to shrink down to normal. She didn't think the partial physics nullification from her giant form would have allowed her to stop the bleeding with a chemical cauterizer. I think she means that her Breaker form reacts to chemical in an unusual fashion. It would explain why the PRT or Protectorate don't bother trying to tear gas them.
Bitch retrieves my stuff, thankfully without the PRT interfering. She's still hunkered down inside an adjacent building.
I bet the PRT will be all over this place soon looking for examples of my tinkertech.
I check with Amy and Comma, and then sadly order my units to destroy or remove all remaining samples of my tinkertech in the area. The radio laser communications gear is too large to fit through the sewers, and since that's a critical part of my abilities that still remains a secret, I sadly mark it for destruction after everything else is cleaned up.
