Chapter 11
- Location
- uk
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Chapter 11
For the second time in my life I wake up to the sound of beeping machines. The pain in my chest and my head makes it hard to think as I blearily look around the room. A tugging on my face makes me aware of a tube that's running in front of my nose.
A womans voice calls out, "Miss, please don't move, as you might aggravate your injuries. Panacea only had time to stabilize you before moving on to other life threatening injuries."
I let my head fall back to the pillow and groan out, "What happened?"
The woman stands up and drags a chair closer to the bed so that I can see them. Not that there's a lot to see, as her uniform covers her up to the neck, and the hat and glasses obscure everything else. "I'm PRT agent O'Donnall, and I'd like to hear your version of the story before I tell you what we can. Don't worry, you're not in trouble, this is purely so that you're not influenced by anything we might tell you."
"Can I talk to my dad first?"
O'Donnall nods, "You can, if you are willing to confirm your id." Before Taylor says anything else, she raises a hand, "You are currently in the PRT infirmary as an unidentified cape. Until you give us your name, all of our records will use a place holder. This is a courtesy that we extend to all capes unless they have a criminal record, or have breached a threshold of behavior."
I feel myself sinking back into the bed as I think about what she just said, "So what happens once I've spoken to you?"
O'Donnall nods, "As Panacea is on site, once she's healed your chest we'll take you to a side entrance of a hospital or doctor's clinic of your choice, and you can either check in for your concussion, or leave. We really would appreciate it if you could give a witness statement, as it will allow us to build our case against the bank robbers for when we catch them."
"What about the security cameras?" As I finish the sentence, I find that I'm out of breath.
O'Donnall shakes her head, "We still need your testimony, as people have a different view on a situation to the fixed positions of cameras, and so can sometimes see things that camera miss."
I nod and say, "Alright" before I haltingly retell what happened, and how I lost it when the purple villain pulled a gun.
Once I reach the end, I breathlessly add, "This is why, I don't want to be, a cape. Hah, I should have guessed, they'd have backup somewhere, just in case they missed someone. I hope I got them though."
O'Donnall nods gravely, "You did indeed. Though I'm sorry to say that the person that hit you was Glory Girl rather than one of the villains. As soon as Panacea has finished removing the spines from her sister, she'll be by to heal you. By the by, did you produce the spines?"
I shake my head, "No, they're from an animal."
O'Donnall smiles, "Thank you. Get some more rest, I'll be sitting in the corner if you need anything."
I turn my head on the pillow so that I can smile at O'Donnall. As I do, something shifts on my face, so I reach up with my free hand and feel a domino mask that's attached to a bit of elastic. Turning back to the ceiling I close my eyes for a moment.
Sometime later, I'm shaken awake by Amy. As I stare up at her freckled face it dawns on me who she is. I chuckle as I say, "I guess you're, not going on that, date then."
Amy doesn't even crack a smile as she says, "Do I have permission to heal you?"
I nod and cough, "Yes please. For what, it's worth, I'm sorry for, skewering your sister. I thought she, was backup for, the villains."
I have to say, being healed by Panacea ranks up there amongst the weirdest feelings I've ever come across. Over the next 10 minutes I can literally feel my sternum pop back into place, along with the ribs that snapped off. All without any pain what so ever.
As she turns to leave, I catch Amy's hand enough to make her pause, "Thank you for healing me, and I hope your sister's ok."
Amy smiles slightly as she softly says, "She is now. Maybe next time she'll…" She trails off and turns away before plodding out of the room.
Once we're the only people left in the room, O'Donnall says, "A PRT paramedic will be along shortly to take your observations and remove your canunla, after that you're free to go. I have some paperwork for you to take with you, as well as an informal leaflet about things you need to be aware of as part of the cape culture. The main two being, keep things non-lethal unless the other person escalates first, and don't go after civilian identities."
I sit up to look at O'Donnall, and clutch my head as everything seems to swim.
As I do, O'Donnall gently says, "Miss, you have a concussion. You need to take it easy, and move slowly. If you don't have someone at home, you should check yourself into a hospital after we've released you so that they can monitor you over night. Otherwise, make sure someone is keeping an eye on you. One of the bits of paperwork will be care instructions for you."
I slowly nod my understanding before saying, "Why don't you go after civilian identities?"
O'Donnall smiles, "There's the practical aspect of quid pro quo, namely, it allows the Wards and Protectorate to have a private life, much like under cover police are accorded the same protection to their identity. The other is that your cape identity is legally classified as an alias under US law. That means that we need a warrant to break your expectation of privacy. We tend not to do that because the sort of capes that would warrant that action also tend to be the sort of capes that will leave a trail of bodies if we publicly unmask them."
I swallow hard as I say "Hookwolf?"
O'Donnall nods, "He would be a good example."
"How about Lung?"
"We actually have his details on file somewhere. However, he is too powerful to try to arrest."
I look down at my hands and immediately regret it, "Ugh. That sucks, what about all his victims?"
O'Donnall spreads her hands in a 'what can you do' way, "Like most organized crime, even before capes came along, the problem is proving it. When witnesses disappear before we can get them into protection… Well, that's our problem, nothing for a civilian to worry about."
I shake my head in the negative, and then lean over the side of the bed as a wave of nausea comes over me. O'Donnall swiftly stands up with a cardboard bowl and holds it under my face as I dry heave.
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As O'Donnell helps me down from the back of the PRT minivan with blacked out windows I idly note that it's well after dark outside. In front of us the sign for Dr Noble's clinic is half illuminated by a blinking fluorescent tube. As I'm looking around, I make the mistake of looking directly at the tube. As I do, a lance of pain shoots through my head, and I narrow my eyes with a wince.
"Here's your backpack" I look over at O'Donnell and force a smile on my face as she says that. I'm glad that she came with me, as the other PRT personnel are wearing full face helmets that look a lot like an upside down egg from the front, with a simple strip of mirrored glass where their eyes should be.
Realizing that I'm zoning out, I reach out for the backpack with a smile, "Thanks."
O'Donnell cracks a smile as she says, "Thanks, and here's your paperwork."
Rather than reaching out again, I just use my power to grab the envelope as I'm putting the backpack on and the envelope slips into the bag before it zips up again. "Thank you for dropping me off, and I'm sorry for being an inconvenience."
O'Donnell shakes her head, "You weren't an inconvenience. We needed to send a vehicle out to replace the standby crew out that way," she waves in the general direction of the trainyard and docks proper, "so it was no trouble to bring you with us. I've also included my card in your paperwork along with my normal shift hours. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to give me a call day or night. You may need to leave a message if I'm off shift or busy, but I'm your assigned point of contact with the PRT."
I give her a wan smile, "If I do call, how will you know it's me?"
O'Donnell nods approvingly, "Your paperwork has your placeholder name at the top. It's Ice Queen by the way. Just use that."
I start to glance at my backpack, only to stop as my head swims alarmingly, "Ice Queen?"
O'Donnell nods, "You knocked out all of the electronics in a 100 yards of the bank, which matches an incident that happened a few days ago and resulted in a small glacier in the North Docks. If that wasn't you, let me know and I'll make sure you get a new placeholder."
I stare at O'Donnell with my mouth open for a moment before sheepishly saying, "Sorry, I normally have better control than that."
O'Donnell waves me off, "It was a clear case of 'Defense of others', so it's fine. Try and keep it under control, and think about joining the Wards, as they exist to help young parahumans like you control their powers. One last thing before we go, while we have kept you anonymous in our systems, you weren't in costume at the bank, so you should add the emergency number into your phone." Belatedly, she adds, "Or memorize it as the case may be. Either way, it's a free number and will bypass the emergency switchboard and send you straight to the PRT. The details are all in paperwork if you don't remember."
I nod minutely as O'Donnell gets back into the minivan and closes the door. A few seconds later I'm alone on the street, and I realize that I didn't ask for the time. With a long sigh I turn and trudge home with every footstep like an ice pick stabbing into my brain.
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As I stumble into the house Dad immediately rushes out of the lounge and fair shouts, "Taylor, are you ok?"
I wince and put my hand to my forehead at the volume, "I'm ok Dad, I have a concussion but that's it."
Dad shakes his head, "Taylor, the news said that Glory Girl caved your chest in. What happened?"
I grab my staff out of the air as it comes through from the kitchen, and use it to help stay standing. "Can we go to my camp before we talk about it. I'd like to be somewhere I can relax, if that makes any sense."
Dad nods too rapidly, "If that's what you need, we can do that. Let me grab your rucksack."
I smile wanly as my power pulls the rucksack from the kitchen door along with a dozen tins from the basement. Dad shakes his head in good humour, "Are you sure you should be using your powers right now?"
I shake my head slightly, "Not really, but it hurts less than not using them and bending down."
"Ok, how do we do this?"
"It's easier if I'm holding things when I do this, so…" I trail off as dad offers me his arm. As I look down at it I almost miss the look of concern that crosses his face when he thinks I'm not looking. Filing that away for later, I put my arm through his and allow him to take some of my weight as I start searching for a crack in the world.
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It takes me far longer than normal to find the first crack in the world. When I do it also takes me far more effort to pull him with me than I'm used to. Dad's gasp of awe, as he clicks on the flashlight from the hall, and looks around the jungle doesn't help with my concentration as I'm looking for the next crack.
In hindsight, I should have probably taken the first step as a sign to turn around, but I just want to get to my camp and relax.
Just as I'm starting to question myself I find the next crack, and I physically step forward dragging dad behind me as I pass through the crack. As I do, I land heavily on my leading foot and it feels like someone just shoved an ice pick in my brain. At the same time the canyon opens up beneath us and I can't help it as I fall headlong into it.
Desperately I try to stop our fall, but the pain in my head is making it so hard to think I can't do it before I black out.
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For the second time today I find myself waking up in an unfamiliar bed. Only this time there's no pain and no beeping. Off to one side I can hear Dad talking to a woman in a low voice.
After laying there for a few minutes listening to their faint voices and trying to hear anything else that's familiar, I open my eyes only to gasp in surprise as I see streams of light pulsing in the sky.
A moment later, both my father and the woman are standing by the bed. As I look up at the short Greek woman with curly long hair, dad bends over and pulls me up into a hug.
"You're ok, you're ok. I thought I'd lost you."
The woman smiles gently, "I did heal her, and her head wound was hardly fatal either."
Reluctantly, dad pulls away from me and looks up at the woman, "I know you did, but she was so still."
The woman reaches out and touches dad's cheek with the back of her fingers, "I too know the fear of a parent very well. But even had her body died, it would not have been the end. As she, like all who have visited the sea of magic, is more than just her body. I am just happy that I was watching for her, otherwise I might have been too late to prevent you both from falling into the sea beyond the shore. Neither of you are ready to survive that particular test."
Rather tartly, I pull myself up into a sitting position against the back of the bed and say, "I'm sorry, but who are you, and what have you done to Dad?"
The woman shakes her head, "I have done nothing to your father that would bring him under my control. He allowed me to give him my mark so that I could save your lives. As for who I am, I am Selene, goddess of the moon."
As she says her name, I can feel it resonate inside me until it lodges in my mind in a way that I know means I'll never be able to forget it.
"Wait a moment, if you're really a Greek goddess, how come you can speak English?"
Selene chuckles, "Why, because I am a goddess. The slightly longer answer is that for an immortal as skilled with magic as I, reading the mind of a mortal is a trivial thing. However, reading the mind of another immortal is a different thing entirely. Much like I can only give my mark to mortals like your father used to be. Come, we have some, Ravioli, warming over the fire, I am looking forward to finding out what it tastes like. While we are eating, we can talk about things that are, and things we can do for each other. I am hopeful that you and I can come to an agreement, but that can wait until you understand a little more about the world as it truly is."
I look over at dad, who shrugs and says, "Don't ask me, this is all new to me, and that was before I got a glowing tattoo on my forehead."
Selene shakes her head, "That is my symbol, and it is a crescent moon. It should only ever be visible if you are using a lot of magic, or I am working through you. I will say that it's a novel sensation, a man having my mark. The only other man I ever marked was Endymion, and…" As she trails off, her face takes on the same sort of expression dad used to wear just after mum died.
A moment later, Selene shakes off her mood and smiles, "I am sorry, one of the curses of being a born immortal is that we cannot forget anything. Every memory is as crisp as if we lived it but a moment ago. But come, let us eat and talk."
With nothing better to do, I get out of the bed and follow dad and Selene over to the fire.
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Wednesday 13 April Day 1
Selene is, strange, and her story stranger. I'm not sure what to think about this being magic rather than parahuman powers, but it does help to explain why they've been so hard to use. At least she hasn't started talking about spells and wands.
WTF? I thought magic was supposed to be some arcane mumbo jumbo. But no, if Selene is to be believed, magic and matter are two different states and Earth Bet is at one end of the spectrum while the Sea of Magic encompasses the other end. At least she looked as confused as I feel when I asked her about Aleph. It also means that she didn't read everything from dad's mind, as I know he knows more about the Haywire stuff than I do.
Right, I think I've got it. The dream is called that because on Earth Bet it only opens for the hour that the sun is on the exact opposite side of the planet to us, and for most of the planet, only for one hour. The arctic and antarctic probably being notable exceptions. The different 'worlds' are resonance points where stuff stabilises. Each world has a natural mix of magic and matter, and the more magic the less the laws of physics apply.
Oh come on, really? Ok, fine, I guess I did find the cracks between worlds by accident, but I was desperate. Anyway, apart from those who are highly experienced at travelling through the different worlds, the barriers between worlds basically makes them impassable for normal people. At least the Egyptians came up with a work around for the first three worlds. I guess that's the first thing dad and I are going to be doing once Selene lets us go. Which, by the way, she's not going to do until Dad can keep himself in the same world without her help.
I really need to buy myself more notebooks. On that note, we're going to get some sleep and Selene wants to speak to me privately in the morning about her offer.
