* Brian *
Aisha going off and getting herself in trouble. Practically a weekly, sometimes bi-weekly, event.
Aisha ending up in the Docks was just a little out of the usual way.
At least she hadn't been shoplifting. Or running from Empire goons. Or...
Look, he had a very troublesome sister who had a bit of Attention Deficit or something.
The lights turned out to be not cops but PRT, which gave him a fair amount of anxiety going forward. Had Aisha triggered?
(Whoosh!) "Big Bro!" (GLOMP!)
Okay, this was new. And worrisome. Aisha was NOT known for public displays of affection unless she'd done something wrong and gotten caught. Or she wanted something.
"Can you sign me up for ninja lessons?!"
Okay, something she wanted. Things made a bit more sense. "What?!"
"They're training here to unlock some 'chalk raw' thing and it lets 'em do LOTS of things!" said Aisha. "Walk across ice without slippin' and sneak and -"
Brian recognized that Aisha was going into her enthusiastic-but-barely-comprehensible babble and continued to just take in the scene.
"-and they took down Skidmark, that's him in the coccoon of ice!" Aisha had released him now, just so she could bounce up and down on her toes as she pointed at a scene that looked like the aftermath of a particularly bad winter storm.
"Aisha, five of them are sealed up," noted Brian aloud.
"This is SO cool!" said Aisha.
"Yeah, there's a lot of ice," said Brian.
"That chalk raw stuff sounds like mumbo-jumbo but Zorro over there can stick that leaf to his forehead and that old guy over there actually managed to stick to a wall and THAT guy over there is throwing ice and Zenko..."
"Are you sure they're not just parahumans?" asked Brian. "Zenko's a parahuman, and that one guy may just have ice powers."
"Well, since they ain't charging the guys money to teach this stuff," mused Aisha.
"Aisha. You should have led with that." Brian shook his head, now looking for one of those teachers. If he could dump his dear little attention-deficit sister in a class that would work off some of her energy? He doubted they were actually learning some ninja stuff, and it looked like the PRT was monitoring them so it likely wasn't some weird cult, but if it kept her from getting in trouble...
Yeah, that sounded like a plan. As long as it wasn't some scam where advanced lesson plans for a nominal fee weren't the reason for this stuff.
* Orochimaru/victor *
* Sept 18th, 2009 0100 hours *
The Master/Stranger protocols might have given him trouble, if he bothered to play by the rules.
He was Orochimaru. He only followed the rules when it suited him. He'd gotten a bit enlightened from the days of his impetuous past, but there were considerations to be made here.
So the poor sap named Wilson whom he'd drained self-control from was recovering from his lapse of communications security, while the "Johnson" who was unconscious and hidden in a warehouse while a simple Henge/Disguise jutsu gave his current body that appearance? Well, he'd keep. In the meantime he had a much better idea.
To a shinobi of his level, even using the relatively weak body of this "Victor" fellow, the underground passages and security measures here were like stealing files from a kindergarten classroom.
The snake motif that Coil used? The underground base? The feeble attempts at security? Consider him slightly flattered.
By the time this Coil fellow had gotten to his little command center and hideaway, he was momentarily distracted by a noise as he opened the door. When he closed it there was less than a second of realization that there was now someone IN his little hidey-hole.
After that startled millisecond, of course, he was wrapped in a genjutsu.
Pleased at how familiar some of this was, and at the resources available to him now, Orochimaru smiled as he prepared to strip-mine the man's mind. After all, if Mister Calvert/Coil used crude methods to the same results - it was only fair for such to be turned on him - wasn't it?
Positively karmic, one might say.
* Later, Elsewhere *
"Begin dictation.
"September 18th, 2009. It is currently 1:15am. Initial findings and report of incident 09-17-2009-20741A-Zenko-4.
"On arriving at the Docks, twelve non-parahuman members of the minor criminal group known as the Archer Street Merchants were found subdued. Five of these had injuries consistent with others subdued by Zenko, minor bruises and concussions being the primary signs of physical violence. Five additional were encased in ice to varying degrees and will require minor treatment for hypothermia. Two additional were simply subdued by superior physical strength and ziptied.
"Accompanying this group were two parahumans associated with the group, Skidmark and Mush. Mush's injuries appear to have been from attempting to use his power on a large ice sculpture of a bear, which came apart and coated him with that ice. He is currently in a cell being treated for hypothermia. Skidmark also shows significant exposure and was encased in ice from just below his nose to the soles of his feet.
"This is the initial encounter with a previously unknown parahuman who introduced himself as a student of Zenko's 'ninja training' experiment, given the tentative cape name of Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero's powerset is ice generation and being able to drain heat energy from areas through that ice. Ice produced by Sub-Zero shows anomalous reinforcement, seeming to have a hardness and rigidity that is higher than one would expect. It also appears to be a hard counter to Skidmark's kinetic manipulation power.
"Sub-Zero is further detailed in report 09-17-2009-511A-Sub-Zero, which I have just finished and sent off to appease the gods of bureaucracy.
"Strike comment regarding gods of bureaucracy, I will have to get some sleep in the very near future.
"Possible familial relationship between Sub-Zero and Zenko noted. Sub-Zero was informed of need to acquire a mask or other form of concealing his identity as apparently he was unaware of Unwritten Rules and need for secret identities. He was provided a copy of the basic packet for new capes.
"Trooper Menendez provided a gift box. I was unaware that we even HAD gift boxes for new capes. Why didn't WE get a gift box? Miss Militia also expressed surprise at the existence of little gift boxes for new parahumans, some of the contents having a PRT logo - including Armsmaster logo ziptie dispensers. Make a note for followup as to when I actually signed off on that product.
"Miss Militia brand 'Armed & Ready For The Morning' coffee was also something she had not heard of. Note that for followup as well. Miss Militia was somewhat vexed by not having had a chance to sample the product.
"Non-parahuman captures will be sent to the police at approximately 0900 hours today. Skidmark and Mush are already in containment cells as they are treated for injuries.
"According to current files, the only remaining parahumans under the Archer Bridge Merchants is their Tinker - Squealer.
"Addendum: Archer Bridge Merchants is believed now currently in the single cape grouping, along with: the Usual Suspects, Yonkers Lane Thugs, Captain's Hill Jokers, and the Brockton Bedeviltry.
"Addendum Two: Make sure that the current list of Armsmaster brand products do not include anything particularly inappropriate. We do not need another fiasco like the panties."
* Saturday, September 20 2009 *
The receptionist blinked and looked over the group. "Zenko and?"
"Sub-Zero," said the older guy in a dark blue flight suit and mask.
"Erwin Leibowitz, just an old fisherman learning a few tricks," said the old man.
"Armsmaster will be with you shortly, if you'll take seats over there," said the receptionist.
The wait was, mercifully, brief. Possibly because Zenko walked up a wall and from there to the ceiling, then just sat down as if there was an invisible chair there while she read a magazine that wasn't there.
Her? Trolling the Parahuman Response Team? Why, thought never crossed her mind.
She definitely wasn't showing off for the kids that were coming out of the gift shop.
"Ah, Miss Zenko. How's it going?"
"Oh, you're that..." Zenko let go of the ceiling and gracefully flipped to land on her feet.
"Detective Fish," supplied the old PRT man. "Good to see you're still going."
"What can I say?" said Zenko with a grin. "I like staying out of trouble."
"Oh, don't we all wish we could hear that more around here," said Detective Fish. "Changed costumes? Looks nice."
"Yes, well, had a bit of an accident with the old one," said Zenko.
"Well, if you will all follow me, the people in charge wanted to get testing done so they have the real data about this stuff before they discuss the implications and such," said Fish, indicating the elevators.
* Conference Room 'Beta' *
"So these abilities can be taught," observed Director Piggot.
"Initial data suggests that to be so, though to a lesser extent than the two primaries demonstrate," agreed Armsmaster as he looked over the in-progress data the testers were providing.
"There's a family resemblance, though the older doesn't have fox ears or a tail," noted Researcher Atkinson, bringing up a facial analysis on one of the screens. "Probably father and daughter, which makes Zenko a Second Generation Parahuman."
"The animal bits are probably part of the suspected Changer ability," offered Armsmaster.
"Stick to the subject of today's testing - which is the teaching of abilities to non-parahumans," said Director Piggot. "That's our area of concern after all."
"We have three volunteers who have passed the background checks for joining this class," said Atkinson. "Trooper Cynthia Anderson. Ted Carroll over in the motor pool. Oh, and Jerry Pidec in Research."
"Why someone in the motor pool?" asked Director Piggot.
"Apparently the strength and healing would be useful considering some of the parts needed to maintain the transports," answered Atkinson.
"Very well," said Director Piggot. "That older man. Something odd about him."
Deputy Director Renick consulted his tablet. "Erwin Leibowitz. Retired in Brockton Bay since the early 90s. Not able to get much on his background - apparently he was a commercial fisherman working for the Four Leaf fishpacking plant in Boston which has since gone bankrupt and folded. It's known that he spends most of his time fishing in his own boat, and that he's prone to telling tall tales over at a dockside bar."
"Strength and endurance and running ratings are what you might expect from someone in their 20s and some training on Mister Leibowitz. Not enough for a Brute or Mover rating, but still a lot higher than you would expect from someone his age. That lasted for three minutes thirty-seven seconds at which point his bio-energy enhancement reserves were depleted," said Armsmaster as he looked over several graphs. "If this training performs like similar non-parahuman training, the time enhanced might increase steadily with practice."
Director Piggot hmphed. "We'll see. What about the two parahumans?"
"Sub-Zero has some hydrokinesis coupled with an energy-absorbing ability," said Armsmaster. "Shaker 4 due to limited range and the apparent need for atmospheric water to draw upon. Same bio-energy manipulation as with Zenko."
"Zenko cannot do these tricks with ice?" asked Director Piggot.
"She denied it when questioned, and has not demonstrated such abilities," Armsmaster noted while bringing up the appropriate section of the report. "They're testing speed on the treadmills now while Leibowitz recovers."
Director Piggot watched for a few seconds as one of the screens was displaying live data. "I thought Zenko was only able to run at 25mph."
"Clearly she has either improved or she holds back in traversing the city," observed Armsmaster. "Sub-Zero is clearly slower at a top speed of 64mph. Zenko is much better at acceleration as well."
"Hmph. When they're done, let me know. I've got to send preliminary findings up the chain," said Director Piggot. "Renick, I'll leave you in charge of this. If they can teach even bursts of that enhancement ability, it could be invaluable for strike teams."
"Wait. Something just happened," said Armsmaster, as he leaned over one display and then began typing again. A scene from the testing room replayed.
"She changed position but we knew she was fast," commented Renick.
"Sensors also picked up several anomalous readings, trying to find a match," noted Armsmaster. "At the exact moment she moved."
"Something new?" asked Director Piggot, having stopped walking towards the door.
Researcher Atkinson hmphed as he looked over the screens. "She was in a conversation with Doctor Sterling. Let me pull it up to see if there's a clue."
Armsmaster straightened. "I have a match. Not exactly, but readings are similar to those of a Grey Boy bubble at the point of reset."
* Taylor *
"Interesting," said Doctor Sterling. "This bio-energy seems not only useful but multi-purpose, but normal instrumentation doesn't seem to indicate any such field. If it's not a problem, I would dearly like to be able to examine projections of this energy."
[Cruxpoint!]
[Further cooperation with the PRT, with the possibility of suspicions of you holding back, OR]
[Stonewall them, with the guarantee of you keeping secrets and further suspicions.]
[Do you wish to postpone the roll at this point?]
"No..." said Zenko, thinking this was a really bad time for the Dojo to send something her way but answering the Doctor.
"Excellent," said Doctor Sterling.
[Roll:6 Ninja Academy]
Zenko got a little excited and tried not to show it. There was the pause, waiting for her to defer, then it continued on with the sound of a roulette wheel being spun again. This though she wanted, as she very much wanted more training in what was basically her brand at this point.
"Something wrong?" asked Doctor Sterling.
"No, not at all." Taylor listened to the clicking noise slow and gradually come to a stop.
There was a brief flicker and Taylor moved a bit. Taylor smiled. "Nothing wrong at all."
