4-3
4-3
My internal alarm went off and my eyes popped open. I stretched my arms out and yawned as I checked for any new messages. I got in rather late at 3:30, so I doubted anything would have happened in the docks in the last few hours but I couldn't quite relax until I checked on Sierra's latest hourly updates on Panacea.
Panacea should still be sleeping, and wouldn't be up for a few more hours. She always slept in till nine before going to the hospital on Saturdays. Though thanks to my presence she wasn't working as hard as she used to. I had eight hundred and thirty-two medical appointments that morning, and it was much easier to get an appointment with me than Panacea.
As soon as she got to the hospital, Sierra would trade shifts with Rachel. Rachel was not the best person to have on watch duty, but I doubted Panacea would try anything when she was at work. There were too many eyes on her there. I had plenty of new "employees" from the ABB who could watch her, but I didn't want anyone outside of our group to know the real reason we were watching her. The last thing the city and I needed was another Nilbog scare.
I got up to take a quick shower; SCION had sent me a reminder to provide food to my latest decoy model inactive in the hidden compartment in my closet. My small spy drone came down to connect to the new hidden cameras that Hannah had put up on the outside of the house. The security on them was bit better than before, but it should only take me a few hours to figure out the code for when I snuck out again that night. Hannah was patrolling tonight so I should be able to sneak out.
I opened up Dissonant's senses in the shower and just enjoyed the sound of the water hitting my body. It was oddly comforting, like the sound of a summer rain. It had been quite a long night after reading through the proposal my legion of lawyers had made for me about the new factory I wanted to build in the docks. I could literally stop my attention from ever drifting but it was so very dry and boring to read through it all.
Sierra's personal bird Lusus was waiting outside my window after I finished getting dressed. I opened the window and held out my arm; it clambered up to me and whispered Sierra's status update on Panacea. She apparently would be a little late as she had to take her brother to school to make sure he didn't cut class again.
I released the breath I was holding at the fact that Panacea had another quiet night. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard from Aristotle that she had been exposed to the Simurgh's song, and I had been keeping a constant watch over her. I think I was the only person who knew just how dangerous Panacea could be if she went all out.
The things she could do with that power made me shudder a little. Especially if I was right and she could affect Seeds directly.
Thankfully she seemed to be coping somewhat okay from the ordeal, but what I had observed of her daily life had been troubling. The fact that she wasn't using her power creatively, her lack of a strong social network, and her isolation made we worry that she was headed right for a mental break. I was going to have to have a very awkward conversation with her.
I sent Sierra's bird back to her home, and opened up my senses. Dad was still snoring, and Hannah was still in bed next to him not asleep. I ignored them and put on my new running shoes. Running itself was still pointless for me, but I enjoyed being able to move around the docks out in the open and check on everything with my own eyes. I replaced the noise of my footsteps with the sound of the fan overhead as I snuck by the bedroom.
The last thing I needed was Hannah to see me and decide she wanted to come along. Even with the mask program keeping me from showing it, she had still picked up on the increased tension between us. I really didn't want to look at her face after she blew up my avatar's head, so I had done my best to just avoid her whenever possible, no matter what dad said. My jaw tightened just thinking about it as I ran out the door.
I still had to travel more than a few miles to the docks proper and enter the range of my central server. While the relay drones could help a little, my house was still way too far from my territory. Despite my best efforts, the relay towers simply couldn't extend the signal anymore. The only way to include my house was to build another server, but the costs were prohibitive.
Not in a monetary sense. Money was no longer an issue for me. I was worth tens of millions at this point. The organ farm was churning out dozens of new hearts, lungs, and decent amounts of bone marrow every day. The Number Man had personally taken charge of my account after the purge and my balance was still growing despite my numerous spending sprees in the docks.
The real issue with building a new server was the lack of good quality seeds. My newest generation of advanced seeds had to be crafted slowly and carefully. I couldn't just clone new ones like I did with lower quality stock. But I had a hard time building up a stockpile to use with all my new projects focused in the docks. It wasn't too big of a deal at the moment, but it would be an issue in the future.
The main annoyance was that I couldn't manage my territory all day with my home outside of the servers range. I was brainstorming with Sierra about having dad "win" a new house, but I wasn't sure how believable it would be with Hannah there. She'd be naturally suspicious and look into it considering how protective she was.
She made dad happy but she was becoming a gigantic pain in the ass. Beyond shooting my avatar, she was the reason I couldn't come clean to Dad about who I was. I knew he would support me after I showed him all the good I was doing, but I couldn't risk telling him with her there. I loved him too much to make him choose between us, as I didn't trust Hannah not to tell her superiors.
For now, my sidekicks kept watch when I was gone in shifts. Rachel and Sierra lived in the docks, and Charlotte had her own decoy model to sneak out of her home. But between managing everything, keeping an eye on everyone that needed to be kept an eye on, gathering Intel, spying on Panacea, all the bureaucratic issues with opening up new places in the docks, and the fact that I couldn't be in the docks 24/7, we were a little shorthanded.
Epoch and Phoenix would be joining in full soon though. Aristotle had let me know about Epoch's girlfriend and wanting to help her escape. The facility she was in would be problematic to break into since Dragon herself had upgraded it after Faultline had allegedly broken into it in the past. But the chance to work with more Case-53 DNA and Epoch joining made the attempt worth it, and Faultline should be able to offer us some help. I would ask her when we finally have our meeting tonight.
Phoenix I knew was going to join. We had been hanging out more and more and she promised to join after taking care of some personal issues. It would be nice to have someone else to talk to. Rachel was getting better but she was far from the best conversationalist, Sierra was basically a combination of my warden and prison guard, and Charlotte still tip-toed around me.
The SCION gave me a warning and I remembered to stop focusing on the negative. Traveling to the docks always made me a little melancholic since it was the loneliest part of my day. I had no drones to connect with, no Lusus to share senses with, and no one to have a conversation with. It reminded me of Winslow and the days before I became a Butcher, when I was alone with my thoughts.
I'd always been a bit of a loner at heart. Even when I was younger, it was hard for me to talk to people. I would just get nervous and not know what to say. With the exception of Emma, I had no real friends. I had a few acquaintances, a few people I would exchange a quick word with, but nothing that I would describe as close.
Being on my own for so long I learned to watch and observe everything if only to distract myself from being in my own head. So I became a people watcher. I loved trying to imagine what everyone's stories were. It helped passed the time and it helped make me more empathetic to others to compensate for my seed's influence.
All those bad thoughts disappeared and my hearts quickened as I saw the border of my territory just up ahead. I put on a burst of speed as the greenery became more pronounced. It had taken some doing to attach it all securely, but I had put metal fencing along the side and top of buildings to give space for my plants to grow and keep them from becoming too wild.
I could tell from here that the plant pods were moving to track the rising sun. Most of the pods were the edible green ones but I could see some of the more unusual ones starting to bloom. Already, a few early risers were using ladders to gather or stake claims to a few pods that weren't fully finished growing.
I have a smile on my face as I enter the server's range. It's hard to describe what I felt entering the docks. It's like being blind and then suddenly seeing a sunset or being deaf and suddenly hearing a symphony. Despite feeling the same thing every day, I always smile as the world opens up.
I can see and feel everything now. Through the senses of my Lusus, the cameras of my drones, and the waves of sound that careen in front of me, the docks are alive in a way I had never imagined possible before. Street food vendors filled the air with delicious aromas, the streets below whizzed by as I flew over them as birds, and I felt the warm wind in the hair of my infiltrators as the crowds moved around them.
For all intents and purposes, I am the docks.
I have a skip in my step and decided to head a bit south today towards Winslow. I barely recognize the school now. Private donations, and anonymous donors provided all kinds of funding to parents and teachers. The new academic interventions, counseling, and club programs have transformed the school into something that could be respectable. The new additions weren't finished yet, but the building looked much better than I remembered with a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
Students were lounging in groups in the shade of my plants around a new fountain. A few have their feet in the water to help cool off as the summer's heat was already bearing down on the city. There were a few more weeks before summer vacation started, and the students were already a little restless talking and laughing. There are no more gang colors, no more barely restrained tension or worry. All I see are normal looking students trudging to class, and teachers trying to get them to hurry before the bell.
I felt a small twinge of an emotion I couldn't quite identify as I spot Sophia getting off one of my buses. She has an annoyed and irritated look on her face as she runs up to the building. I struggle to not give into temptation and have a bird poop on her like I did with Hannah in the past.
My attention is thankfully diverted as Greg slowly walks with his nose in a book with the cover ripped off and his bag hanging off one shoulder. One of my drones zoomed in to get a better look at him. I'm a little amused despite myself that he is reading some type of self-help book about talking with people. He was a bit better dressed and seemed to have gone through a growth spurt compared to when I knew him. New jeans and a collared pull over shirt draped over a much more fit frame.
Greg was one of the few people who had tried to talk with me back when I was being bullied. He was annoying, but I still appreciated his attempts to try and talk with me despite the threats from Emma. I still laugh at the memory of Emma looking flustered when he laughed at her attempt to insult him.
Despite knowing I would not see them, my eyes still instinctively looked around for Emma and Madison as I passed the gate. The last I had heard; Madison was homeschooled like me now. Her parents felt the school wasn't doing enough to deal with the online bullying and threats she had started receiving after stupidly saying something inconsiderate online about the video I had made. Emma now went to the private catholic school on the Eastside. I smile remembering that she would be required to wear a uniform, and she would hate that.
I crossed two streets to avoid Crawler's winged and multi-eyed form that people were giving a wide berth. He took up most of the sidewalk, his large form seemingly bored as he turned another corner with Spotlight floating overhead. Despite what the PRT and many resident's thought, I didn't mind the new heroes' presence. They were keeping the city relatively quiet as the gangs were lying low to let the heat die down, and more tourists were showing up to see them which helped the docks economy.
There were eight new heroes patrolling the docks now. All were assigned from the STARS offensive team in response to the purge and public demand. In addition, new heavily armed and militarized police patrols snaked through the docks residents and my own condemnation. They did nothing but cause more wear and tear on my streets with their oversized vehicles just so the rest of the city could feel better.
I passed by a few tourists whistling at the singing wall and entered the new teashop run by Boli Dun's family. The line wasn't as long anymore and they made good sandwiches. I tried not to sigh when I saw that she had a stack of the Trio's latest newsletter for sale next to the muffins. Ever since I gave them an interview on my views, their readership had gone up, but I was embarrassed to be connected to the same paper that swore Bigfoot was a Case-53 who was secretly being let to run free by the Protectorate.
I ordered my usual and ate in silence while watching the news run another story about Piggot retiring. She was still being both praised and vilified in the media for triggering the Endbringer alarms in response to the Purge a month ago. Many condemned her actions as a false alarm that needlessly spread panic and fear, while others said she made the only choice she could under difficult circumstances when she thought a new S-class threat was endangering the city.
The PRT as a whole seemed to support her, and made a big show about a new alarms system for S-Class non-Endbringer threats. But their attempts to spin the story were complicated by the fact that other countries were strongly against her actions. Many in the city saw her as little more than a provocateur and condemned her actions since she had caused more damage than I had.
There were a total of twenty-five deaths caused by the panic in the city from people thinking the Simurgh had descended. Most of the deaths were car accidents involving people desperate to escape. A handful of them were heart attacks, and three were people who murdered their family members to spare them facing the Simurgh. That wasn't getting into all the damage the panic caused.
Piggot had been allowed to resign rather than face a disciplinary hearing, much to my and other's anger. I was far from innocent, but that was far too lenient considering the damage her actions had caused. She was not in the city at the moment and was in an undisclosed location after several threats, which people thought I was behind.
At the moment someone named Tagg was acting Director in the city. I knew very little about him besides the fact that he used to be in the military, and had a very raspy voice. He had overhauled and brought in some new former military equipment for the police department. He also had a big press conference condemning my actions, but I had gotten my revenge after I instigated a rather large letter and signature campaign about concerns of safety of the Wards in the city. He still had his hands full arguing with the Youth Guard. Though he surprised me by publically making the argument that they did more harm than good. Piggot would have worked more behind the scenes.
I finished my breakfast and started using my monkey models to start posting data sheets condemning the Protectorate, complete with real evidence of their many mistakes and weaknesses. Two could play the public relations game; I had already hired a private company under an assumed identity to work on my media game and had paid for several commercials against them. Despite all the PRT's efforts, they couldn't change the fact that I hadn't killed anyone and had actually made a positive tangible difference in the city.
I changed directions to follow the borders of my territory as I opened up the clinic. I had spared no expense making it; it was both a trauma center and general healthcare center run by well-paid doctors who didn't mind working for me in return for getting rid of all their debt in a year.
I also opened up my own personal clinic in the new church. I had decided to make my own religion mostly for tax reasons, to get away with keeping things secret, and write-off my help as miracles. I wasn't hiding it and everyone knew what the church really was, but the PRT wouldn't dare to break up my healing people. The line for morning "mass" was already quite long and I was glad I had increased the number of spiders inside.
I repositioned a few hidden Lusus near the border of Accord's territory in case Crawler headed that way as he sometimes tended to do. It was a bit beyond me to fully erase the smells my Lusus gave off and I didn't want to risk instigating something with Accord. I would deal with him eventually, but I was hoping to have a non-aggression pact like I had with the Undersiders so I could focus on the Teeth and the Empire.
Both of them had been relatively quiet with the eyes of the world on the city. But that didn't mean they weren't moving behind the scenes.
Kaiser had organized a large rally to take advantage of all the media attention but hadn't expected my birds to start gathering more and more birds in large numbers and observe them. They did nothing but make noise and stare while covering every surface. I made it obvious that I was memorizing every single face of anyone in the crowd and it sort of fizzled out before it started.
Rachel was practically foaming at the mouth to deal with Hookwolf for his dog fighting rings, but they had been temporarily suspended with all the new heroes in town. I had managed to appease her by dealing with a few puppy mills with her in attendance though. They had believed me when I said that what I had done to them was nothing compared to what Rachel would to them. She had felt a bit better with rescuing the dogs and I promised that I had something special planned for Hookwolf. I wanted to set an example for the rest of the Empire to see that win or lose they would never be the same after fighting me.
I slowed down a bit coming near the Undersiders territory. I had occasionally snuck a few Lusus inside but Grue somehow always knew to darken the area when I tried it and I stopped after he sold one of my intact rats to Toy Box.
They had chosen their territory to be partway between mine and the Empire's territory. They had done nothing recently, not even a single robbery. But I knew Purity had met with Grue and most likely they had a treaty of some sort with the Empire as well. I was keeping an eye out, but I wasn't too worried about them. I was confident I could deal with Grue if I got a little creative, and I did have Imp's DNA.
I decided to take a small break from running after wincing at the burn scars of a little girl at the church. Looking around I spotted the faded remains of some of the Teeth's graffiti that I had missed. I made a note to send my moths toward it, and re-positioned a few drones fly over their territory.
The Teeth were acting far different with Skidmark in control. They were still violent, but the number of attacks was way down. They were only moving to defend not expand. They were focusing on pushing the drug trade now that the ABB was no longer competing with them and I was dealing with more than few overdoses of people in my territory. Despite having reinforcements from other cities, they hadn't made a move either.
No one was sure how but the Butcher had taken St. Louis from the Elite despite sending all of the reinforcements to Brockton. Then she defended it almost single handedly from a counterattack, killing over a dozen of their top members and badly wounding several others. Aristotle had managed to find out that the Butcher had hired a half a dozen mercenaries from Africa to deal with me and was already making arrangements to bring them over.
But despite the Butcher growing stronger, I wasn't afraid. I was building up my own forces, and a new round of experiments with Case-53 DNA made me confident I could find something to give me the edge and push them out of the city.
Besides, even the most dangerous of my enemies would have to pause coming into my territory and making trouble. For better or worse, I was now known worldwide as the most infamous vigilante in the United States. I was getting so many offers for communications and treaties from groups all over the world. Vigilantes who wanted or demanded support, an English research group was working with me to replicate my cancer cure, and I was now building custom made Lusus for those that could afford my very high prices. For the most part I politely rebuffed most of them. I wasn't ready yet to move beyond the city, but the media was making Sleeping Forest out to be the head of a giant network of vigilantes all over the country. When truthfully it was made up of four people, and over a thousand of my new former ABB "employees".
Paying them a decent wage to seek training or education was going a bit slower than I would like, but I was making progress. I had started issuing my implants en masse to whomever trusted me enough to install them. It started small at first but the chance for free trade skills was too good for most to pass up. I was paying retired tradesmen very well to share their knowledge and skills, and I opened up a new technical college so more and more of them were becoming machinists, plumbers, welders, technicians, and more.
As for the docks residents, I was paying for and providing free daycare, free transportation from my new bus line, cheap or free healthcare, and even working on improving the infrastructure of the docks. As soon as I could build my factory for making MREs and alternative food sources I was confident the economy would continue to improve and wouldn't have to just rely on the booming tourism trade any longer.
I was going for a combination of turning the docks into a Zoo and Nature Park with all sorts of unusual plants and animals. Despite all the attacks on my character, most of the city had to grudgingly admit that I hadn't attacked any civilians after the truth of the Purge came out.
The mayor, or the people behind him, was still being stubborn about the factory, and I was running into roadblocks and setbacks in the form of bureaucracy. The authorities weren't stupid; they knew I was behind the factory. But they had no good reason to deny it for too long, especially when I made it known that workers could eventually buy stock in it if they worked there long enough. There were too many people who wanted the factory to come through, and the city's economy wasn't exactly at the top of its game.
I was buying up more and more property and apartment complexes while they were still cheap to improve the amenities. The homeless issue was not as big of a problem as I had worried initially, as I simply provided them with housing and paid them well enough to test my anti-addiction procedures to try to improve their mental health. Sierra had warned me about gentrification, and I was hopeful that my precautions would keep it from growing out of control besides forcing landlords to lower the rent or illegally build more housing with Toy Box's help.
Being in charge was something else that I wasn't used to but it was certainly useful to make changes. I merely had to ask for it and I got it, no questions asked. One of the former ABB was forbidden to live in the same block of his mother because of a stupid law, so I merely asked no one to report it and no one did. A popular and large retail chain was going to build in the docks and I simply sent the contractor building it a letter from a bird reading no, and it stopped. My dad greatly hated that particular company for being very anti-union and refusing to pay a decent wage. They were rather infamous for their workers requiring food stamps despite the record profits they made.
Smuggling and trafficking was almost non-existent in the docks now. I had personally visited every single docks official with instructions to report anything suspicious and I promised protection to them and their families. Several people who tried to threaten or bribe workers were dealt with very harshly and I randomly and constantly inspected everything coming in with specially bred Lusus. It wasn't perfect but a rumor of something I had done to a smuggler had gotten out and for now I was controlling what was being shipped into the city from the sea.
I became aware of Crawler catching the scent of some of my Ent workers and sent them into a run in the back alleys as Crawler changed direction. A few birds were dropping a few small living organisms to mimic smells of my Lusus to confuse and misdirect him while I moved the Ents.
Crawler in particular had proved be a giant pain at the start when he sniffed out my infiltrators. To protect my Lusus, I had to keep them out of his range and leave false trails, keeping me on my toes. My efforts to get a DNA sample from him had failed, as he literally didn't have DNA that I could copy with my current seeds, and he seemed to be immune to my scanning equipment.
But as time went on, I came to appreciate the chance to study him. His body was just too interesting and I was getting so many great ideas just watching him in action. His spit was incredibly corrosive and even made more of itself from living tissue. Just seeing it in action had given me some ideas for an anti-Brute bio weapon, and his impossible form was inspiring me to try new things in body shapes for my Lusus. I had also discovered that simply making Lusus give off awful smells was particularly effective at disrupting him since his nose was so sensitive. But I was saving my chemical smell weapons until the heroes did something stupid.
In truth, with the exception of Hannah, the heroes and the PRT didn't bother me as much anymore. I now felt connected to the world in a way I never had dreamed possible. There was the most profound sense of comfort and belonging just being in the docks, which made it easier to control my temper. Despite knowing that Overmind's seed might be influencing that feeling, I still felt at peace.
At this very moment I was preparing a new infiltrator to give a warning to the enforcers on the docks, doing another interview with one of my new employees since his case manager was busy with another client, and finishing growing a little girl's new skin at the cost of fifty bucks from her mom. I think I could do this forever.
<Taylor are you here yet?> Charlotte asked through the implant.
<I'm here already Charlotte. I hate sleeping in when there is much work to do. What do you need?>
<So, I'm talking to Slake on the water with the serpent you made that can talk. She is carrying a big package to deliver to us>
<Are you pretending to be me again?> I asked.
<No, I stopped since I can't make the same voice you usually do with her>
<Charlotte it is literally the same voice> I said a little puzzled.
<No, the atmosphere and tone is all wrong. It just doesn't sound like you>
<She's too timid> Rachel chimed in. I switched views to one of my Lusus that she was controlling and having play fetch with a few of her new dogs from the puppy mill. One in particular she was training to help her fight. <Just keep it short and be mean>
<I'm not mean. Well not to most people. What does Slake want?> I asked switching my drone's view to zoom in on the buoy where we usually meet her. She was floating on top of the water with a large waterproof package strapped to her back. She was looking at the sea serpent I had made with vocal cords to communicate with her. Charlotte had coiled it around the buoy and was staring down at her with its mouth open.
<Slake just delivered another order of stuff and messages and she wants more money>
<Tell her to fuck off> Rachel said.
<Why is she asking for more?> I said trying not to mentally sigh. Rachel's new implant was helping her to compensate and teach new social skills but it was very much a work in progress.
<She says she is risking a lot more heat delivering to you and she wants more compensation>
<How much?>
<20%>
<She has a point> Sierra said butting in. <You have been running her ragged recently and you really should find some new couriers>
<Nice of you to join us Sierra. We can write her a check but if she wants cash, you can just take it out of the package. The whole thing is in small denominations>
<The whole thing is money?> Charlotte said surprised. <Why do you need that much cash?>
<It's for Rosary of Haven. I made a promise to look in on her from time to time for her father. There will enough money for her to be comfortable and retire far earlier if she chooses to. As well as a way to contact me if she ever needs help>
<I doubt she is going to take it considering your past actions and your name> Sierra said.
<Churches are mostly talk anyway> Rachel said. <She'll take the money and give it to her church instead of other people who could use it>
<Slake said she will take the cash> Charlotte said. <By the way, I bought the clothes you asked for. They're waiting next to creepy door Lusus at the hotel. I tried to pick stereotypical skater clothing>
<Finally giving a warning to the enforcers on the pier?> Sierra asked.
<Yes. They are helping tourism but there aren't nearly as many vagrants, gang members, or homeless in the docks. Their actions are becoming a little excessive, so I want them to know I am watching and will repay any damage they do to people three times over. But it will be a warning> I said as my new infiltrators came up out of my hotel lab looking like two naked adolescents. Though they didn't have genitalia. I quickly dressed them and had them pick up the new skateboards while they marched down the docks to get accosted.
<I'm reading the messages now like you asked> Charlotte said offering me access to her eyes which I declined. <Mostly offers for custom Lusus and two messages. Another one from the Elite asking for an audience, throwing that one away, and one in French. Darcy at the clinic speaks French; I'll ask her to translate it for us and pay her for it>
<Any interesting offers?>
<The usual offers to make gross sex dolls to look like Alexandria, and Narwhal. This is new, someone wants one to look like Simurgh. Throwing those away. Let's see… a hunter wants you to make a Dire Deer to hunt? Only guidelines are it has to be a great challenge, with a big set of horns>
<That could be interesting> I said my mind imagining a few ideas. <Anything else?>
<Two more. An extinct fish for a collector, they provided a sample, and someone wants to eat a mastodon with no sample.>
<I'll make the fish and the deer, but send the other a note asking for a sample>
<Got it. Oh, before I forget, the lab in England sent us back the results of the therapy cancer therapy trial and had a few questions. They're making some progress. We—uh, also had another overdose in the church on 28th's bathroom while you were sleeping>
I sighed and cursed. <Did we give him treatment?>
<No the ambulance took him to the new hospital despite how much it will cost him. His bill won't be too bad since Panacea is not nearly as busy thanks to you, so he is going to be healed by her. The priest also thanked us for the drug we gave them as it saved his life>
<He could just let us place a spider there considering how many overdoses that stupid bathroom sees> Sierra said a little angry.
<He passed out pamphlets to the new treatment center, which he knows we have a hand in> I said a little frustrated. I didn't realize what a drug epidemic meant until I saw the entire drug related health issues of people. <But I think I am going to more openly advertise my services with flyers. Not enough people have been volunteering now that my method to help break the dependency has a much higher success rate>
<You're too scary for people to volunteer> Rachel said. <People think you'll experiment on them>
<You can't fix the drug epidemic overnight Taylor. Not without removing the reasons why people take drugs, and stopping the supply. The Teeth have been doing more business now that Lung is gone> Sierra said gently, probably reading the SCION's data. <At least we're doing some good on the homeless front. The city might have given us trouble with feeding at the homeless shelter but simply buying and providing housing is keeping them off the streets in the docks which is also helping the tourism. I was worried we'd be overrun with all the city's homeless but I'm surprised how few are showing up>
<They aren't comfortable with all the heroes and police here according to Phoenix. I'll ask her about it when I talk with her and Epoch later. She has a closer ear to stuff on the street than I do>
<Are they finally going to join?> Charlotte asked.
<I think Phoenix will for sure, but Epoch wants us to spring his girlfriend. How is your brother Sierra?>
<Still angry and frustrated but he is a little better with me than my parents. He won't go to the therapist, and I don't want to push him. The school has been cutting him some slack but he keeps skipping class. He likes my bird though, named it Freaky Beak> she said with a laugh. <His naming sense is almost as bad as yours>
<What's wrong with my naming sense?> I said as I stopped my skater infiltrators to stare at a large stuffed T-Rex passing by with Parian holding up an umbrella to block the sun. Parian and many other rogues had started operating in the docks more now that they knew I only messed with villains. It was a lot safer for them here than the rest of the city.
<Project X, Project Q, the SCION are just bad names. Pick something more interesting at least>
<I think they're okay. Keeps them simple> Charlotte said. <Hey, can I come with you to the Palanquin tonight? I've always wanted to see inside>
<I need someone to watch the docks, and Rachel is not good at directing large number of Lusus at once with her stuff focusing on her dogs. Sierra, I know you just got off a long shift, do you mind watching the docks while Charlotte and I go?>
<Sure, I don't mind. Though don't you have another meeting?>
<Yes, I'm going to finally talk to Panacea and catch Forrest while he is checking up on Transplant. Forrest is his case worker>
<I know you're freaked about her being exposed to the Simurgh but it was only for a few minutes. Do you really need to monitor her all day?> Charlotte asked cautiously.
<No, I think we can stop for now unless Rachel wants to watch her till I get there?>
Her new dog snorted for her. <I will need to have a long talk with her after our meeting with Faultline. Epoch will also be joining us. You can go back to the docks to relieve Sierra after we're done or stay a little later if Sierra doesn't mind>
<Will do> she exclaimed a little happy. <Do you think Forrest is a good candidate to join us? We could use the help>
<Oh yeah> Sierra said mentally rolling her eyes. <He's perfect. He takes part in a defunct big brother program, he is burnt out of working for the city, and he used to run a small business before it went bankrupt. He's perfect for running a factory and helping to run all the social programs in the docks>
<Is she being sarcastic?> Rachel asked.
<YES, I'm being sarcastic> Sierra said. <I know his actions meant a lot to you, but there are far better candidates, Taylor>
<What did he do?> Charlotte asked curious.
<He was there when I had my first episode with the Teeth> I said bringing up a video of the incident a little ashamed. <He stood in front of Transplant as the Lusus ripped the cage off and tried to protect him despite knowing it was useless. I want someone like that in charge of the new programs. He will answer to you Sierra, and I won't bring him in on everything. Let's try him out. If you find him useless, I will find someone else>
<Speaking of new employees. What are you going to do about the cop? He stopped by again to drop off patrol routes for the police> Charlotte said.
<I don't trust him> Rachel said.
<I don't either. None of the former ABB remembers a cop on the take> Sierra said displaying his picture. <If he isn't a trap of some kind, he has worked for Lung or the Teeth in the past. But to play devil's advocate, he could get us better info and won't charge as much as Aristotle would>
<I've been observing him the last few days, and I don't think he is being watched> I admitted. <But there might be a stranger from the STARS team here and we are just unaware of them keeping tabs on him. I will interrogate him for information and look through a few of his memories to decide what to do later> I said.
<Rachel your new dog should be ready for the surgery tomorrow. He should be fine but I want to make sure he isn't suffering from side effects from malnutrition> I asked changing the subject. I was still torn about what to do about the corrupt police officer.
<His name is Gais> Rachel declared looking down at the big husky mix.
<What is it with you and naming things after traitors?> Sierra said. <Brutus, Judas, and now Gais? How the hell do you even know that name? I thought you were just starting to read at the high school level?>
<I picked it out of a book I found. Is that a problem?> she said defensively.
<No, it's just a little weird. Taylor, I'm going to take a quick shower and a power nap. I haven't slept in a few days and I want to be one hundred percent before I go meet those blood sucking parasites you call your lawyers about another meeting with the city>
<Okay, sleep well>
==
The infiltrators finally arrived at the pier and I tried to have them skate forward but I had a difficult time keeping them balanced on the boards. After a little practice I managed to keep from falling and attempted to do a trick I had seen in a video but failed miserably. I kept practicing for five minutes before they finally took the bait.
There were two of them. Both were wearing button down shirts, and had big flashlights in pockets. One had a thick old timey mustache with shaved head, and the other looked younger with a baseball cap and expensive looking sunglasses.
Neither of them gave me a chance to explain, and instead they forcibly grabbed and squeezed the infiltrators arms hard enough that it could have caused pain in a normal human being. I put a show of trying to get away but they forced and frog marched them to the stairs and under the dock. I walked and examined a cute blouse in a garage sale while patiently for the Lusus to be isolated with them.
Once they were away from prying eyes, the infiltrators heads turned around and the faces split open to reveal oversized teeth. The men yelled panicked as their arms shot out to grab the men's mouth and keep them from screaming. They tried to yell and fight as they were forced face down into the sand. I had my Lusus put their false lips right next to their ears and started to speak through them.
"Hello my new employees. It has come to my attention that you are being a bit too forceful at your job. So consider this a friendly warning. You work for me now, and I want you keep doing your job, but let people off with warnings and no injuries. I also want you to make a note of whomever you chase off. Otherwise I will return everything you have ever done to others three fold. Now repeat what I just said." I hissed through the Lusus mouths as they lifted their faces up.
They spitted and coughed up the sand they had gotten in their mouths. The man with the sunglasses looked spooked and shaking. Bad mustache tried to get up but I twisted his arm and he cried out before speaking out in a cracked voice.
"We work for you and you want us to let people off with warnings and no injuries." The Lusus tightened the arm of the other man causing him to yell. "And to make a note of whomever we chase off," he said quickly.
"This will be your only warning," With that I had the Lusus stand back up and ordered them to go follow Parian and get an autograph.
I was just about to buy the blouse when my phone rang showing it was dad. I answered it and smiled gently. "Hey dad."
"Hey Taylor, are you done running for the day? Hannah and I thought we'd have brunch before she goes to work and we wanted you to join us."
"Sure. There's this great new place in the docks I want to try." I said as innocently as I could. "I bet Hannah would love it."
My internal alarm went off and my eyes popped open. I stretched my arms out and yawned as I checked for any new messages. I got in rather late at 3:30, so I doubted anything would have happened in the docks in the last few hours but I couldn't quite relax until I checked on Sierra's latest hourly updates on Panacea.
Panacea should still be sleeping, and wouldn't be up for a few more hours. She always slept in till nine before going to the hospital on Saturdays. Though thanks to my presence she wasn't working as hard as she used to. I had eight hundred and thirty-two medical appointments that morning, and it was much easier to get an appointment with me than Panacea.
As soon as she got to the hospital, Sierra would trade shifts with Rachel. Rachel was not the best person to have on watch duty, but I doubted Panacea would try anything when she was at work. There were too many eyes on her there. I had plenty of new "employees" from the ABB who could watch her, but I didn't want anyone outside of our group to know the real reason we were watching her. The last thing the city and I needed was another Nilbog scare.
I got up to take a quick shower; SCION had sent me a reminder to provide food to my latest decoy model inactive in the hidden compartment in my closet. My small spy drone came down to connect to the new hidden cameras that Hannah had put up on the outside of the house. The security on them was bit better than before, but it should only take me a few hours to figure out the code for when I snuck out again that night. Hannah was patrolling tonight so I should be able to sneak out.
I opened up Dissonant's senses in the shower and just enjoyed the sound of the water hitting my body. It was oddly comforting, like the sound of a summer rain. It had been quite a long night after reading through the proposal my legion of lawyers had made for me about the new factory I wanted to build in the docks. I could literally stop my attention from ever drifting but it was so very dry and boring to read through it all.
Sierra's personal bird Lusus was waiting outside my window after I finished getting dressed. I opened the window and held out my arm; it clambered up to me and whispered Sierra's status update on Panacea. She apparently would be a little late as she had to take her brother to school to make sure he didn't cut class again.
I released the breath I was holding at the fact that Panacea had another quiet night. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard from Aristotle that she had been exposed to the Simurgh's song, and I had been keeping a constant watch over her. I think I was the only person who knew just how dangerous Panacea could be if she went all out.
The things she could do with that power made me shudder a little. Especially if I was right and she could affect Seeds directly.
Thankfully she seemed to be coping somewhat okay from the ordeal, but what I had observed of her daily life had been troubling. The fact that she wasn't using her power creatively, her lack of a strong social network, and her isolation made we worry that she was headed right for a mental break. I was going to have to have a very awkward conversation with her.
I sent Sierra's bird back to her home, and opened up my senses. Dad was still snoring, and Hannah was still in bed next to him not asleep. I ignored them and put on my new running shoes. Running itself was still pointless for me, but I enjoyed being able to move around the docks out in the open and check on everything with my own eyes. I replaced the noise of my footsteps with the sound of the fan overhead as I snuck by the bedroom.
The last thing I needed was Hannah to see me and decide she wanted to come along. Even with the mask program keeping me from showing it, she had still picked up on the increased tension between us. I really didn't want to look at her face after she blew up my avatar's head, so I had done my best to just avoid her whenever possible, no matter what dad said. My jaw tightened just thinking about it as I ran out the door.
I still had to travel more than a few miles to the docks proper and enter the range of my central server. While the relay drones could help a little, my house was still way too far from my territory. Despite my best efforts, the relay towers simply couldn't extend the signal anymore. The only way to include my house was to build another server, but the costs were prohibitive.
Not in a monetary sense. Money was no longer an issue for me. I was worth tens of millions at this point. The organ farm was churning out dozens of new hearts, lungs, and decent amounts of bone marrow every day. The Number Man had personally taken charge of my account after the purge and my balance was still growing despite my numerous spending sprees in the docks.
The real issue with building a new server was the lack of good quality seeds. My newest generation of advanced seeds had to be crafted slowly and carefully. I couldn't just clone new ones like I did with lower quality stock. But I had a hard time building up a stockpile to use with all my new projects focused in the docks. It wasn't too big of a deal at the moment, but it would be an issue in the future.
The main annoyance was that I couldn't manage my territory all day with my home outside of the servers range. I was brainstorming with Sierra about having dad "win" a new house, but I wasn't sure how believable it would be with Hannah there. She'd be naturally suspicious and look into it considering how protective she was.
She made dad happy but she was becoming a gigantic pain in the ass. Beyond shooting my avatar, she was the reason I couldn't come clean to Dad about who I was. I knew he would support me after I showed him all the good I was doing, but I couldn't risk telling him with her there. I loved him too much to make him choose between us, as I didn't trust Hannah not to tell her superiors.
For now, my sidekicks kept watch when I was gone in shifts. Rachel and Sierra lived in the docks, and Charlotte had her own decoy model to sneak out of her home. But between managing everything, keeping an eye on everyone that needed to be kept an eye on, gathering Intel, spying on Panacea, all the bureaucratic issues with opening up new places in the docks, and the fact that I couldn't be in the docks 24/7, we were a little shorthanded.
Epoch and Phoenix would be joining in full soon though. Aristotle had let me know about Epoch's girlfriend and wanting to help her escape. The facility she was in would be problematic to break into since Dragon herself had upgraded it after Faultline had allegedly broken into it in the past. But the chance to work with more Case-53 DNA and Epoch joining made the attempt worth it, and Faultline should be able to offer us some help. I would ask her when we finally have our meeting tonight.
Phoenix I knew was going to join. We had been hanging out more and more and she promised to join after taking care of some personal issues. It would be nice to have someone else to talk to. Rachel was getting better but she was far from the best conversationalist, Sierra was basically a combination of my warden and prison guard, and Charlotte still tip-toed around me.
The SCION gave me a warning and I remembered to stop focusing on the negative. Traveling to the docks always made me a little melancholic since it was the loneliest part of my day. I had no drones to connect with, no Lusus to share senses with, and no one to have a conversation with. It reminded me of Winslow and the days before I became a Butcher, when I was alone with my thoughts.
I'd always been a bit of a loner at heart. Even when I was younger, it was hard for me to talk to people. I would just get nervous and not know what to say. With the exception of Emma, I had no real friends. I had a few acquaintances, a few people I would exchange a quick word with, but nothing that I would describe as close.
Being on my own for so long I learned to watch and observe everything if only to distract myself from being in my own head. So I became a people watcher. I loved trying to imagine what everyone's stories were. It helped passed the time and it helped make me more empathetic to others to compensate for my seed's influence.
All those bad thoughts disappeared and my hearts quickened as I saw the border of my territory just up ahead. I put on a burst of speed as the greenery became more pronounced. It had taken some doing to attach it all securely, but I had put metal fencing along the side and top of buildings to give space for my plants to grow and keep them from becoming too wild.
I could tell from here that the plant pods were moving to track the rising sun. Most of the pods were the edible green ones but I could see some of the more unusual ones starting to bloom. Already, a few early risers were using ladders to gather or stake claims to a few pods that weren't fully finished growing.
I have a smile on my face as I enter the server's range. It's hard to describe what I felt entering the docks. It's like being blind and then suddenly seeing a sunset or being deaf and suddenly hearing a symphony. Despite feeling the same thing every day, I always smile as the world opens up.
I can see and feel everything now. Through the senses of my Lusus, the cameras of my drones, and the waves of sound that careen in front of me, the docks are alive in a way I had never imagined possible before. Street food vendors filled the air with delicious aromas, the streets below whizzed by as I flew over them as birds, and I felt the warm wind in the hair of my infiltrators as the crowds moved around them.
For all intents and purposes, I am the docks.
I have a skip in my step and decided to head a bit south today towards Winslow. I barely recognize the school now. Private donations, and anonymous donors provided all kinds of funding to parents and teachers. The new academic interventions, counseling, and club programs have transformed the school into something that could be respectable. The new additions weren't finished yet, but the building looked much better than I remembered with a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
Students were lounging in groups in the shade of my plants around a new fountain. A few have their feet in the water to help cool off as the summer's heat was already bearing down on the city. There were a few more weeks before summer vacation started, and the students were already a little restless talking and laughing. There are no more gang colors, no more barely restrained tension or worry. All I see are normal looking students trudging to class, and teachers trying to get them to hurry before the bell.
I felt a small twinge of an emotion I couldn't quite identify as I spot Sophia getting off one of my buses. She has an annoyed and irritated look on her face as she runs up to the building. I struggle to not give into temptation and have a bird poop on her like I did with Hannah in the past.
My attention is thankfully diverted as Greg slowly walks with his nose in a book with the cover ripped off and his bag hanging off one shoulder. One of my drones zoomed in to get a better look at him. I'm a little amused despite myself that he is reading some type of self-help book about talking with people. He was a bit better dressed and seemed to have gone through a growth spurt compared to when I knew him. New jeans and a collared pull over shirt draped over a much more fit frame.
Greg was one of the few people who had tried to talk with me back when I was being bullied. He was annoying, but I still appreciated his attempts to try and talk with me despite the threats from Emma. I still laugh at the memory of Emma looking flustered when he laughed at her attempt to insult him.
Despite knowing I would not see them, my eyes still instinctively looked around for Emma and Madison as I passed the gate. The last I had heard; Madison was homeschooled like me now. Her parents felt the school wasn't doing enough to deal with the online bullying and threats she had started receiving after stupidly saying something inconsiderate online about the video I had made. Emma now went to the private catholic school on the Eastside. I smile remembering that she would be required to wear a uniform, and she would hate that.
I crossed two streets to avoid Crawler's winged and multi-eyed form that people were giving a wide berth. He took up most of the sidewalk, his large form seemingly bored as he turned another corner with Spotlight floating overhead. Despite what the PRT and many resident's thought, I didn't mind the new heroes' presence. They were keeping the city relatively quiet as the gangs were lying low to let the heat die down, and more tourists were showing up to see them which helped the docks economy.
There were eight new heroes patrolling the docks now. All were assigned from the STARS offensive team in response to the purge and public demand. In addition, new heavily armed and militarized police patrols snaked through the docks residents and my own condemnation. They did nothing but cause more wear and tear on my streets with their oversized vehicles just so the rest of the city could feel better.
I passed by a few tourists whistling at the singing wall and entered the new teashop run by Boli Dun's family. The line wasn't as long anymore and they made good sandwiches. I tried not to sigh when I saw that she had a stack of the Trio's latest newsletter for sale next to the muffins. Ever since I gave them an interview on my views, their readership had gone up, but I was embarrassed to be connected to the same paper that swore Bigfoot was a Case-53 who was secretly being let to run free by the Protectorate.
I ordered my usual and ate in silence while watching the news run another story about Piggot retiring. She was still being both praised and vilified in the media for triggering the Endbringer alarms in response to the Purge a month ago. Many condemned her actions as a false alarm that needlessly spread panic and fear, while others said she made the only choice she could under difficult circumstances when she thought a new S-class threat was endangering the city.
The PRT as a whole seemed to support her, and made a big show about a new alarms system for S-Class non-Endbringer threats. But their attempts to spin the story were complicated by the fact that other countries were strongly against her actions. Many in the city saw her as little more than a provocateur and condemned her actions since she had caused more damage than I had.
There were a total of twenty-five deaths caused by the panic in the city from people thinking the Simurgh had descended. Most of the deaths were car accidents involving people desperate to escape. A handful of them were heart attacks, and three were people who murdered their family members to spare them facing the Simurgh. That wasn't getting into all the damage the panic caused.
Piggot had been allowed to resign rather than face a disciplinary hearing, much to my and other's anger. I was far from innocent, but that was far too lenient considering the damage her actions had caused. She was not in the city at the moment and was in an undisclosed location after several threats, which people thought I was behind.
At the moment someone named Tagg was acting Director in the city. I knew very little about him besides the fact that he used to be in the military, and had a very raspy voice. He had overhauled and brought in some new former military equipment for the police department. He also had a big press conference condemning my actions, but I had gotten my revenge after I instigated a rather large letter and signature campaign about concerns of safety of the Wards in the city. He still had his hands full arguing with the Youth Guard. Though he surprised me by publically making the argument that they did more harm than good. Piggot would have worked more behind the scenes.
I finished my breakfast and started using my monkey models to start posting data sheets condemning the Protectorate, complete with real evidence of their many mistakes and weaknesses. Two could play the public relations game; I had already hired a private company under an assumed identity to work on my media game and had paid for several commercials against them. Despite all the PRT's efforts, they couldn't change the fact that I hadn't killed anyone and had actually made a positive tangible difference in the city.
I changed directions to follow the borders of my territory as I opened up the clinic. I had spared no expense making it; it was both a trauma center and general healthcare center run by well-paid doctors who didn't mind working for me in return for getting rid of all their debt in a year.
I also opened up my own personal clinic in the new church. I had decided to make my own religion mostly for tax reasons, to get away with keeping things secret, and write-off my help as miracles. I wasn't hiding it and everyone knew what the church really was, but the PRT wouldn't dare to break up my healing people. The line for morning "mass" was already quite long and I was glad I had increased the number of spiders inside.
I repositioned a few hidden Lusus near the border of Accord's territory in case Crawler headed that way as he sometimes tended to do. It was a bit beyond me to fully erase the smells my Lusus gave off and I didn't want to risk instigating something with Accord. I would deal with him eventually, but I was hoping to have a non-aggression pact like I had with the Undersiders so I could focus on the Teeth and the Empire.
Both of them had been relatively quiet with the eyes of the world on the city. But that didn't mean they weren't moving behind the scenes.
Kaiser had organized a large rally to take advantage of all the media attention but hadn't expected my birds to start gathering more and more birds in large numbers and observe them. They did nothing but make noise and stare while covering every surface. I made it obvious that I was memorizing every single face of anyone in the crowd and it sort of fizzled out before it started.
Rachel was practically foaming at the mouth to deal with Hookwolf for his dog fighting rings, but they had been temporarily suspended with all the new heroes in town. I had managed to appease her by dealing with a few puppy mills with her in attendance though. They had believed me when I said that what I had done to them was nothing compared to what Rachel would to them. She had felt a bit better with rescuing the dogs and I promised that I had something special planned for Hookwolf. I wanted to set an example for the rest of the Empire to see that win or lose they would never be the same after fighting me.
I slowed down a bit coming near the Undersiders territory. I had occasionally snuck a few Lusus inside but Grue somehow always knew to darken the area when I tried it and I stopped after he sold one of my intact rats to Toy Box.
They had chosen their territory to be partway between mine and the Empire's territory. They had done nothing recently, not even a single robbery. But I knew Purity had met with Grue and most likely they had a treaty of some sort with the Empire as well. I was keeping an eye out, but I wasn't too worried about them. I was confident I could deal with Grue if I got a little creative, and I did have Imp's DNA.
I decided to take a small break from running after wincing at the burn scars of a little girl at the church. Looking around I spotted the faded remains of some of the Teeth's graffiti that I had missed. I made a note to send my moths toward it, and re-positioned a few drones fly over their territory.
The Teeth were acting far different with Skidmark in control. They were still violent, but the number of attacks was way down. They were only moving to defend not expand. They were focusing on pushing the drug trade now that the ABB was no longer competing with them and I was dealing with more than few overdoses of people in my territory. Despite having reinforcements from other cities, they hadn't made a move either.
No one was sure how but the Butcher had taken St. Louis from the Elite despite sending all of the reinforcements to Brockton. Then she defended it almost single handedly from a counterattack, killing over a dozen of their top members and badly wounding several others. Aristotle had managed to find out that the Butcher had hired a half a dozen mercenaries from Africa to deal with me and was already making arrangements to bring them over.
But despite the Butcher growing stronger, I wasn't afraid. I was building up my own forces, and a new round of experiments with Case-53 DNA made me confident I could find something to give me the edge and push them out of the city.
Besides, even the most dangerous of my enemies would have to pause coming into my territory and making trouble. For better or worse, I was now known worldwide as the most infamous vigilante in the United States. I was getting so many offers for communications and treaties from groups all over the world. Vigilantes who wanted or demanded support, an English research group was working with me to replicate my cancer cure, and I was now building custom made Lusus for those that could afford my very high prices. For the most part I politely rebuffed most of them. I wasn't ready yet to move beyond the city, but the media was making Sleeping Forest out to be the head of a giant network of vigilantes all over the country. When truthfully it was made up of four people, and over a thousand of my new former ABB "employees".
Paying them a decent wage to seek training or education was going a bit slower than I would like, but I was making progress. I had started issuing my implants en masse to whomever trusted me enough to install them. It started small at first but the chance for free trade skills was too good for most to pass up. I was paying retired tradesmen very well to share their knowledge and skills, and I opened up a new technical college so more and more of them were becoming machinists, plumbers, welders, technicians, and more.
As for the docks residents, I was paying for and providing free daycare, free transportation from my new bus line, cheap or free healthcare, and even working on improving the infrastructure of the docks. As soon as I could build my factory for making MREs and alternative food sources I was confident the economy would continue to improve and wouldn't have to just rely on the booming tourism trade any longer.
I was going for a combination of turning the docks into a Zoo and Nature Park with all sorts of unusual plants and animals. Despite all the attacks on my character, most of the city had to grudgingly admit that I hadn't attacked any civilians after the truth of the Purge came out.
The mayor, or the people behind him, was still being stubborn about the factory, and I was running into roadblocks and setbacks in the form of bureaucracy. The authorities weren't stupid; they knew I was behind the factory. But they had no good reason to deny it for too long, especially when I made it known that workers could eventually buy stock in it if they worked there long enough. There were too many people who wanted the factory to come through, and the city's economy wasn't exactly at the top of its game.
I was buying up more and more property and apartment complexes while they were still cheap to improve the amenities. The homeless issue was not as big of a problem as I had worried initially, as I simply provided them with housing and paid them well enough to test my anti-addiction procedures to try to improve their mental health. Sierra had warned me about gentrification, and I was hopeful that my precautions would keep it from growing out of control besides forcing landlords to lower the rent or illegally build more housing with Toy Box's help.
Being in charge was something else that I wasn't used to but it was certainly useful to make changes. I merely had to ask for it and I got it, no questions asked. One of the former ABB was forbidden to live in the same block of his mother because of a stupid law, so I merely asked no one to report it and no one did. A popular and large retail chain was going to build in the docks and I simply sent the contractor building it a letter from a bird reading no, and it stopped. My dad greatly hated that particular company for being very anti-union and refusing to pay a decent wage. They were rather infamous for their workers requiring food stamps despite the record profits they made.
Smuggling and trafficking was almost non-existent in the docks now. I had personally visited every single docks official with instructions to report anything suspicious and I promised protection to them and their families. Several people who tried to threaten or bribe workers were dealt with very harshly and I randomly and constantly inspected everything coming in with specially bred Lusus. It wasn't perfect but a rumor of something I had done to a smuggler had gotten out and for now I was controlling what was being shipped into the city from the sea.
I became aware of Crawler catching the scent of some of my Ent workers and sent them into a run in the back alleys as Crawler changed direction. A few birds were dropping a few small living organisms to mimic smells of my Lusus to confuse and misdirect him while I moved the Ents.
Crawler in particular had proved be a giant pain at the start when he sniffed out my infiltrators. To protect my Lusus, I had to keep them out of his range and leave false trails, keeping me on my toes. My efforts to get a DNA sample from him had failed, as he literally didn't have DNA that I could copy with my current seeds, and he seemed to be immune to my scanning equipment.
But as time went on, I came to appreciate the chance to study him. His body was just too interesting and I was getting so many great ideas just watching him in action. His spit was incredibly corrosive and even made more of itself from living tissue. Just seeing it in action had given me some ideas for an anti-Brute bio weapon, and his impossible form was inspiring me to try new things in body shapes for my Lusus. I had also discovered that simply making Lusus give off awful smells was particularly effective at disrupting him since his nose was so sensitive. But I was saving my chemical smell weapons until the heroes did something stupid.
In truth, with the exception of Hannah, the heroes and the PRT didn't bother me as much anymore. I now felt connected to the world in a way I never had dreamed possible. There was the most profound sense of comfort and belonging just being in the docks, which made it easier to control my temper. Despite knowing that Overmind's seed might be influencing that feeling, I still felt at peace.
At this very moment I was preparing a new infiltrator to give a warning to the enforcers on the docks, doing another interview with one of my new employees since his case manager was busy with another client, and finishing growing a little girl's new skin at the cost of fifty bucks from her mom. I think I could do this forever.
<Taylor are you here yet?> Charlotte asked through the implant.
<I'm here already Charlotte. I hate sleeping in when there is much work to do. What do you need?>
<So, I'm talking to Slake on the water with the serpent you made that can talk. She is carrying a big package to deliver to us>
<Are you pretending to be me again?> I asked.
<No, I stopped since I can't make the same voice you usually do with her>
<Charlotte it is literally the same voice> I said a little puzzled.
<No, the atmosphere and tone is all wrong. It just doesn't sound like you>
<She's too timid> Rachel chimed in. I switched views to one of my Lusus that she was controlling and having play fetch with a few of her new dogs from the puppy mill. One in particular she was training to help her fight. <Just keep it short and be mean>
<I'm not mean. Well not to most people. What does Slake want?> I asked switching my drone's view to zoom in on the buoy where we usually meet her. She was floating on top of the water with a large waterproof package strapped to her back. She was looking at the sea serpent I had made with vocal cords to communicate with her. Charlotte had coiled it around the buoy and was staring down at her with its mouth open.
<Slake just delivered another order of stuff and messages and she wants more money>
<Tell her to fuck off> Rachel said.
<Why is she asking for more?> I said trying not to mentally sigh. Rachel's new implant was helping her to compensate and teach new social skills but it was very much a work in progress.
<She says she is risking a lot more heat delivering to you and she wants more compensation>
<How much?>
<20%>
<She has a point> Sierra said butting in. <You have been running her ragged recently and you really should find some new couriers>
<Nice of you to join us Sierra. We can write her a check but if she wants cash, you can just take it out of the package. The whole thing is in small denominations>
<The whole thing is money?> Charlotte said surprised. <Why do you need that much cash?>
<It's for Rosary of Haven. I made a promise to look in on her from time to time for her father. There will enough money for her to be comfortable and retire far earlier if she chooses to. As well as a way to contact me if she ever needs help>
<I doubt she is going to take it considering your past actions and your name> Sierra said.
<Churches are mostly talk anyway> Rachel said. <She'll take the money and give it to her church instead of other people who could use it>
<Slake said she will take the cash> Charlotte said. <By the way, I bought the clothes you asked for. They're waiting next to creepy door Lusus at the hotel. I tried to pick stereotypical skater clothing>
<Finally giving a warning to the enforcers on the pier?> Sierra asked.
<Yes. They are helping tourism but there aren't nearly as many vagrants, gang members, or homeless in the docks. Their actions are becoming a little excessive, so I want them to know I am watching and will repay any damage they do to people three times over. But it will be a warning> I said as my new infiltrators came up out of my hotel lab looking like two naked adolescents. Though they didn't have genitalia. I quickly dressed them and had them pick up the new skateboards while they marched down the docks to get accosted.
<I'm reading the messages now like you asked> Charlotte said offering me access to her eyes which I declined. <Mostly offers for custom Lusus and two messages. Another one from the Elite asking for an audience, throwing that one away, and one in French. Darcy at the clinic speaks French; I'll ask her to translate it for us and pay her for it>
<Any interesting offers?>
<The usual offers to make gross sex dolls to look like Alexandria, and Narwhal. This is new, someone wants one to look like Simurgh. Throwing those away. Let's see… a hunter wants you to make a Dire Deer to hunt? Only guidelines are it has to be a great challenge, with a big set of horns>
<That could be interesting> I said my mind imagining a few ideas. <Anything else?>
<Two more. An extinct fish for a collector, they provided a sample, and someone wants to eat a mastodon with no sample.>
<I'll make the fish and the deer, but send the other a note asking for a sample>
<Got it. Oh, before I forget, the lab in England sent us back the results of the therapy cancer therapy trial and had a few questions. They're making some progress. We—uh, also had another overdose in the church on 28th's bathroom while you were sleeping>
I sighed and cursed. <Did we give him treatment?>
<No the ambulance took him to the new hospital despite how much it will cost him. His bill won't be too bad since Panacea is not nearly as busy thanks to you, so he is going to be healed by her. The priest also thanked us for the drug we gave them as it saved his life>
<He could just let us place a spider there considering how many overdoses that stupid bathroom sees> Sierra said a little angry.
<He passed out pamphlets to the new treatment center, which he knows we have a hand in> I said a little frustrated. I didn't realize what a drug epidemic meant until I saw the entire drug related health issues of people. <But I think I am going to more openly advertise my services with flyers. Not enough people have been volunteering now that my method to help break the dependency has a much higher success rate>
<You're too scary for people to volunteer> Rachel said. <People think you'll experiment on them>
<You can't fix the drug epidemic overnight Taylor. Not without removing the reasons why people take drugs, and stopping the supply. The Teeth have been doing more business now that Lung is gone> Sierra said gently, probably reading the SCION's data. <At least we're doing some good on the homeless front. The city might have given us trouble with feeding at the homeless shelter but simply buying and providing housing is keeping them off the streets in the docks which is also helping the tourism. I was worried we'd be overrun with all the city's homeless but I'm surprised how few are showing up>
<They aren't comfortable with all the heroes and police here according to Phoenix. I'll ask her about it when I talk with her and Epoch later. She has a closer ear to stuff on the street than I do>
<Are they finally going to join?> Charlotte asked.
<I think Phoenix will for sure, but Epoch wants us to spring his girlfriend. How is your brother Sierra?>
<Still angry and frustrated but he is a little better with me than my parents. He won't go to the therapist, and I don't want to push him. The school has been cutting him some slack but he keeps skipping class. He likes my bird though, named it Freaky Beak> she said with a laugh. <His naming sense is almost as bad as yours>
<What's wrong with my naming sense?> I said as I stopped my skater infiltrators to stare at a large stuffed T-Rex passing by with Parian holding up an umbrella to block the sun. Parian and many other rogues had started operating in the docks more now that they knew I only messed with villains. It was a lot safer for them here than the rest of the city.
<Project X, Project Q, the SCION are just bad names. Pick something more interesting at least>
<I think they're okay. Keeps them simple> Charlotte said. <Hey, can I come with you to the Palanquin tonight? I've always wanted to see inside>
<I need someone to watch the docks, and Rachel is not good at directing large number of Lusus at once with her stuff focusing on her dogs. Sierra, I know you just got off a long shift, do you mind watching the docks while Charlotte and I go?>
<Sure, I don't mind. Though don't you have another meeting?>
<Yes, I'm going to finally talk to Panacea and catch Forrest while he is checking up on Transplant. Forrest is his case worker>
<I know you're freaked about her being exposed to the Simurgh but it was only for a few minutes. Do you really need to monitor her all day?> Charlotte asked cautiously.
<No, I think we can stop for now unless Rachel wants to watch her till I get there?>
Her new dog snorted for her. <I will need to have a long talk with her after our meeting with Faultline. Epoch will also be joining us. You can go back to the docks to relieve Sierra after we're done or stay a little later if Sierra doesn't mind>
<Will do> she exclaimed a little happy. <Do you think Forrest is a good candidate to join us? We could use the help>
<Oh yeah> Sierra said mentally rolling her eyes. <He's perfect. He takes part in a defunct big brother program, he is burnt out of working for the city, and he used to run a small business before it went bankrupt. He's perfect for running a factory and helping to run all the social programs in the docks>
<Is she being sarcastic?> Rachel asked.
<YES, I'm being sarcastic> Sierra said. <I know his actions meant a lot to you, but there are far better candidates, Taylor>
<What did he do?> Charlotte asked curious.
<He was there when I had my first episode with the Teeth> I said bringing up a video of the incident a little ashamed. <He stood in front of Transplant as the Lusus ripped the cage off and tried to protect him despite knowing it was useless. I want someone like that in charge of the new programs. He will answer to you Sierra, and I won't bring him in on everything. Let's try him out. If you find him useless, I will find someone else>
<Speaking of new employees. What are you going to do about the cop? He stopped by again to drop off patrol routes for the police> Charlotte said.
<I don't trust him> Rachel said.
<I don't either. None of the former ABB remembers a cop on the take> Sierra said displaying his picture. <If he isn't a trap of some kind, he has worked for Lung or the Teeth in the past. But to play devil's advocate, he could get us better info and won't charge as much as Aristotle would>
<I've been observing him the last few days, and I don't think he is being watched> I admitted. <But there might be a stranger from the STARS team here and we are just unaware of them keeping tabs on him. I will interrogate him for information and look through a few of his memories to decide what to do later> I said.
<Rachel your new dog should be ready for the surgery tomorrow. He should be fine but I want to make sure he isn't suffering from side effects from malnutrition> I asked changing the subject. I was still torn about what to do about the corrupt police officer.
<His name is Gais> Rachel declared looking down at the big husky mix.
<What is it with you and naming things after traitors?> Sierra said. <Brutus, Judas, and now Gais? How the hell do you even know that name? I thought you were just starting to read at the high school level?>
<I picked it out of a book I found. Is that a problem?> she said defensively.
<No, it's just a little weird. Taylor, I'm going to take a quick shower and a power nap. I haven't slept in a few days and I want to be one hundred percent before I go meet those blood sucking parasites you call your lawyers about another meeting with the city>
<Okay, sleep well>
==
The infiltrators finally arrived at the pier and I tried to have them skate forward but I had a difficult time keeping them balanced on the boards. After a little practice I managed to keep from falling and attempted to do a trick I had seen in a video but failed miserably. I kept practicing for five minutes before they finally took the bait.
There were two of them. Both were wearing button down shirts, and had big flashlights in pockets. One had a thick old timey mustache with shaved head, and the other looked younger with a baseball cap and expensive looking sunglasses.
Neither of them gave me a chance to explain, and instead they forcibly grabbed and squeezed the infiltrators arms hard enough that it could have caused pain in a normal human being. I put a show of trying to get away but they forced and frog marched them to the stairs and under the dock. I walked and examined a cute blouse in a garage sale while patiently for the Lusus to be isolated with them.
Once they were away from prying eyes, the infiltrators heads turned around and the faces split open to reveal oversized teeth. The men yelled panicked as their arms shot out to grab the men's mouth and keep them from screaming. They tried to yell and fight as they were forced face down into the sand. I had my Lusus put their false lips right next to their ears and started to speak through them.
"Hello my new employees. It has come to my attention that you are being a bit too forceful at your job. So consider this a friendly warning. You work for me now, and I want you keep doing your job, but let people off with warnings and no injuries. I also want you to make a note of whomever you chase off. Otherwise I will return everything you have ever done to others three fold. Now repeat what I just said." I hissed through the Lusus mouths as they lifted their faces up.
They spitted and coughed up the sand they had gotten in their mouths. The man with the sunglasses looked spooked and shaking. Bad mustache tried to get up but I twisted his arm and he cried out before speaking out in a cracked voice.
"We work for you and you want us to let people off with warnings and no injuries." The Lusus tightened the arm of the other man causing him to yell. "And to make a note of whomever we chase off," he said quickly.
"This will be your only warning," With that I had the Lusus stand back up and ordered them to go follow Parian and get an autograph.
I was just about to buy the blouse when my phone rang showing it was dad. I answered it and smiled gently. "Hey dad."
"Hey Taylor, are you done running for the day? Hannah and I thought we'd have brunch before she goes to work and we wanted you to join us."
"Sure. There's this great new place in the docks I want to try." I said as innocently as I could. "I bet Hannah would love it."
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