It's been two days since Dad moved us out of our house. He's had me leave my phone back at the Union building whenever we're away from it so we can't be tracked that way either. Other than the occasional homeless person that I help carry things for, things have been real boring. Right now I'm in a rundown park enjoying the scenery. Not quite a gangland hotzone, but I'm told stuff does happen here occasionally.
The timeline splits and I tense up a little bit. Can't really help but wonder what Coil's been up to during all of this. He's been splitting timelines a little more often lately. Only there's no need to wonder this time, there's some blond chick walking her way over to me in only one timeline. Son of a bitch! How did he find me? I wonder if this one is going to be violent?
"Hey there, is this seat taken?" I'm sitting in the middle of the bench. Like an asshole. I scooch to the side. She sits down.
"My name is Lisa, you're Taylor, right?" I look over to her.
"What is this?"
"An employment offer." Oh geeze. "Me and my teammates were wondering if you would like to join up with us." I give her my most unamused face.
"Go away." She moves to speak, seems to think better of it, and leaves. Well, that was easy. Then that timeline ends, another one splits off, and I see her rounding the corner again. Oh, I can just tell. It's gonna be another one of those days isn't it? I look around and go back inside in the other timeline. No sense in wasting my time telling her to fuck off a third time.
For her part she just stumbled, and is taking an earpiece out of her ear. Okay? She's going through the trouble of removing what looks like a listening device from her shirt to throw it on the ground. You know what? Let's see where she's going with this. She got rid of two more potential listening devices while I sipped on my iced tea. The last of which was her cell phone. She runs up to me after that.
"Let's team up to take Coil down."
I give her a level stare. "You have my attention." Certainly not going to promise anything. Not with that wild shift in behavior.
"So, you're not the only teenage Parahuman this prick's been harassing, assaulting, threatening, lying to, and/or spying on." Just a little bit manic, but she could just be excited. "Fucker has me working for him on an 'or else' model. I'm not really a fan." Seems legit. Fits what I know of him so far.
"You made your case for why you want me on your side. But why would I want to be on the same team with you?" She gives me a sharp smile.
"Because you would be joining a team of people with a vested interest in seeing Coil undone. Even if most of them don't know it yet. It's a diverse team of four, soon to be five, Parahumans with a varied power set. Now I'm not at liberty to talk about my teammates, but I am a mind reader with several daring escapes under my belt. And from a tactical standpoint it only gets better from there." Mind reader huh? Probably won't be joining up then. I don't want any information about my anti-matter-! I look back over to Lisa. Fuck! She's pale as a sheet, and turning to run. I lunge for her and snatch the rear of her shirt. She falls on her ass.
"Why don't you take a seat? Wouldn't want to attract a crowd now, would we?" There are some joggers out and about, but nobody is close enough to hear our conversation. I do believe we've only caught the eye of about one dude.
"I'm not a mind reader!" She whisper shouts. "I was lying because I don't want to just giving out the details of my power to some chick I just met!" I 'help' her up and sit her down on the bench right next to me.
"So why the panicked reaction then? You gotta know that doesn't help your case?"
"My super power is like Sherlock Holmes on steroids. You just thought about something you didn't want me to know, your feet straightened, you leaned forward, and you've killed before for the sake of your privacy. Fill in the blanks." Hmmm, how to address this?
The Purple Pickled Pimple Eaters from space fled the planet when they saw Earth's biggest, and smallest, mommy milkers. I look over to Lisa. No reaction. And we've already established she has a terrible poker face.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"So why did you react so d- the way you did?"
"What, when you saw me? Everything on your face screamed that you were just done with me specifically, even though this was the first time we met. Which says a lot about yours and Coil's power." I think back towards the previous timeline. If she was an actual mind-reader she would have noticed the parallel timelines going on and reacted differently than she did. She is not a mind reader. Probably doesn't even know how Coil's power works. Hell, I don't even know that, and I've been using it ever since I triggered.
"So how did you find me out?"
"Our hideout is near here. Bitch saw you when she was out walking her dogs." Going to have to look up all this cape stuff later. I can't ask my Dad anything because I'm pretty sure I led her backup straight to our current apartment. They're probably listening in as we speak. Oh well, hindsight's twenty/twenty and all that.
"What would I be expected to do as a part of your team?" She visibly relaxes at my question.
"We're the Undersiders. A hit and run team that's been knocking over as many gang storehouses as we can get away with. We also take the occasional commission job from the boss."
Mindful of anybody who could read lips or listen in I whisper in her ear. "Would this boss by any chance be Coil?" Her spine straightens up and she gets all tense in my grip. I pull her closer to make sure she doesn't make a break for it.
"You cannot just say stuff like that in public! There are eyes on us by now!"
"Hrmm, well unfortunately I just want to be left alone by all parties. What's really in it for me?" She groans in frustration and starts to whisper in my ear.
"Coil doesn't acknowledge the existence of neutrality. He's kind of a narcissist and he has no compunctions about going after your personal life. To him you are either someone he can control somehow or an enemy to be eliminated."
I turn to look her in the eyes. "What's. In. It. For. Me." Because if this fuckhead isn't going to leave me alone unless I'm working for him, I'm going to be working against him the whole time and he gets to pay a premium for the privilege.
"Ah fine, I'll try to work something out, but it'll take a while. Can you meet me back here in three days?" I nod and let her go. She immediately stumble-runs for her phone and starts dialing. I give her a predatory grin as she glaces back at me. She looks forward again and puts an extra pep in her step. Hopefully I'm not being too intimidating here. We're probably going to be working together soon, and I just want her to think twice before sharing any information about me.
A couple hours later Coil made the recruitment timeline real.
It's two days later before I'm confident enough in our privacy to broach the subject with Dad.
"You agreed to what?!"
"Only a meeting Dad! And I couldn't bring it up with you because I was certain Coil's grubby little mercenaries got their listening devices poked into the apartment we were staying in."
"Oh for fuck's- Taylor you cannot agree to this. I know what kind of asshole this guy is already. He's going to get you to do something criminal, get evidence of it, blackmail you into doing more criminal things, and repeat the cycle. It is a trap."
"And? I'm pretty sure Sophia got away with literal murder. Once Coil is taken care of I can go to the PRT and become one of their probationary members. Clean slate, rebrand, maybe even get moved out of this dumpster fire of a city." He looks hurt at my declaration. "Not like that Dad! I know how much work you've put into the city. It would kill you to give up on it. But it might kill both of us if I stay."
"...This is a very bad idea Taylor."
"I know."
"If you do this we need some sort of deniable communications. I got an old buddy who knows a thing or two. I'm going to call him up and have him teach us how to set up a dead drop."
I beam at him.
AN: Sorry for the wait guys, been working on my pony story.
