I landed on the rooftop of the PRT HQ building downtown. Taylor retained the distinguished honor of riding shotgun on my shoulders, Carol behind her, and then Danny around my waist. Danny was wobbly when I helped him down. I was afraid he was going to puke on me at one point. Thankfully, he did not.

  Carol straightened herself and her messenger bag out. She turned to me. “I’ve flown somewhat often, and I have to say, I’m a bit surprised. That was not as bad as I expected. I think the fact that you hold onto us helped quite a bit.”

  Taylor dismounted last, her own backpack packed full of documents, her costume, and a few other odds and ends that might become useful during the meeting. We headed downstairs to meet Director Piggot and Legend, taking the cargo elevator once again. My badge allowed us entry, although there was a pair of officers in gear waiting for us inside.

  Taylor looked nervous. Carol whispered something to her, and she straightened up a little. I selected a floor with one tentacle, and we rode a few floors down and stepped out. Director Piggot was waiting for us. She seemed like her usual self, a wall of steel with no give. Despite that, I could see the same exhaustion we all felt reflected in her in subtle ways. She frowned slightly when she saw Carol.

  “Mrs. Dallon. To what do we owe the honor tonight?” Piggot asked curtly.

  Carol was all easy smile and confidence. In her zone, like a shark in a field of chum. “Hello, Director! It’s nice to see you. I’m here representing a client.”

  I saw the frown deepen just a touch.

  “Apex, these are the guests you brought along to speak with me, also?” She asked me next, gesturing at Taylor and Danny.

  I dipped my head to her. “Correct, Director. They have important things to discuss as well.”

  “Very well. Follow me, please.” She led the four of us down the hall and through a large set of keycard-locked double doors. We walked into a mid-sized and largely empty conference room. Legend was there already with a laptop, rapidly typing. Piggot took a seat next to him, where her own laptop sat open and waiting. The four of us took a seat across the table from them. Myself on the left, then Taylor, Carol, and Danny on the far right. Danny poured himself and Carol drinks from some insulated pitchers on the table.

  “Hello, Legend, Director Piggot,” I said, starting us off. “Thank you for meeting with us so late. I know this has been a never-ending day for all of us.”

  Legend chuckled. Dark circles around his eyes showed around his domino mask.

  “Let’s start with the good news and an introduction.”

  I draped the end of my tail over Danny’s shoulder, and he startled a bit.

  “This is Danny Hebert. I’ve been working with him all day. He’s organizing the Dockworkers’ Union and getting people coordinated, organized, and moving towards our goal of getting the docks operational. Danny is a member of the DWU’s management team. Danny, could you remind me of which position?”

  He cleared his throat. “Hello. I’m the Hiring Manager for the DWU. We’ve had a strong response from our people, and they’re reaching out to others with experience in the shipping and logistics industry here in the Bay. Starting first thing tomorrow, we’re hitting the dockyards to begin repairs and clearing the area. There’s significant damage to the buildings and some types of equipment out there, but we’re feeling confident about our ability to get things operational to start offloading by the end of the week. We can’t make promises for deadlines until we conduct a more thorough investigation in the morning, but we should have a good idea by noon.”

  Piggot was typing rapidly on her laptop and nodding along.

  “This is very good news. What have you found out so far?”

  Danny gave them a quick rundown on how things looked from what they were able to gather this afternoon and early evening. He was right. There were challenges, and they needed to confirm some things, but the actual docks themselves weren’t in terrible shape. They were built to get pounded by the sea for decades, and while they weren’t rated for multiple tsunamis, much of the bigger equipment was pretty standardized worldwide for disaster events of a similar nature. Big challenges right now were the channel, as well as finding, relocating, repairing, and fueling industrial equipment to move the cargo around on land.

  Carol spoke up as Danny finished. “New Wave is also going to be assisting with the docks project directly. Apex got us involved, and we’re all in. We’re splitting up our work between clearing the channel and assisting the DWU with their other equipment issues.”

  Legend looked over at me, then at Carol, smiling broadly. “This is… a very unexpected surprise. I’m happy to hear about it, though!”

  I dipped my head and kept it short. “Doing what I can, where I can.”

  Danny took a sip of water. “We… have two concerns we’d like to raise. We being the union.”

  “Go ahead,” Director Piggot said.

  “First is going to be the security and safety of the dockworkers and the docks themselves. We’ve discussed some ideas, but our biggest safety concern is villains or gangs raiding the docks when we get the supplies offloaded. Before we can start distribution.”

  Piggot and Legend shared a look. The Director spoke up. “Yes, we are expecting there to be criminal elements trying to profit off the supplies. We are going to be allocating resources in the form of police and PRT officers to those locations, and we discussed making sure we have hero presence in the area, if not on-site directly to act as deterrents.”

  “Good, that will help quite a bit. We have been discussing using some of the wreckage and shipping containers we can get our hands on to erect some walls and make barriers with only a few entrances, so it’s a bit more secure and not as exposed.”

  “An excellent idea. Good quick fix to help keep the material safe until we can get a more secure solution set up,” Legend said.

  “And the other concern of the union members?” Piggot asked, continuing to type rapidly.

  “Employment and compensation,” Danny replied. “I realize that funding may not be the most immediate concern, but we’re talking about a lot of work. Hard work. We’re happy to pitch in and support the city, but volunteer work isn’t going to be able to fund repairs to people’s homes, or in the case of people who lost them entirely, buying a new place to live.”

  Piggot stopped typing and looked up at Danny. “I am happy to report that an emergency session of Congress was called today, and funding was approved for the disaster relief effort. In light of the severity of the damage and the hard-fought victory, the Federal Government is being quite generous with the relief funds. Voting against Endbringer attack relief is pretty much political suicide for elected officials, but they could have been much tighter with the purse strings. I doubt that any employment contract you bring us would present challenges in that regard.”

  She tapped on her laptop for a moment, then looked back up. “Within reason, of course, Mr. Hebert. This isn’t going to be a carte blanche check written to the union. But, if we’re talking about salaries within line of what the DWU typically pays, plus additional compensation for overtime and hard conditions, I’m sure we can come to a swift agreement.”

  She glanced over at me next. “Apex mentioned earlier that there might be more people available for work than there is a direct need to work the docks to offload one or two ships at a time. Is this accurate?”

  Danny glanced over at me, then looked back at Director Piggot. “Yes, I think that’s fair to say.”

  Piggot hit a key on her laptop, and a printer whirred to life, spitting out twenty or so pages rapidly. She stood up, collected them, clipped them with a paperclip, then walked around and handed them to Danny.

  She spoke as she walked around the table back to her seat. “These are a list of skillsets we have the biggest need for. Anyone with applicable job experience is going to get a job, and people more well-versed in the trades will be further compensated for teaching and managing others who are less skilled, or who need to be trained on the job. Basically, we need every plumber, construction worker, lineman, electrician, pipe-fitter, welder, and mechanic we can get our hands on. We also desperately need equipment operators. We have a number of initiatives we’re already laying plans for at the moment, but sanitation and restoring sewage services are top priorities. Otherwise, we’re going to have rampant cholera.”

  Danny scanned the list, pulled a pen out of his pocket, and wrote down some notes. “I know for a fact we have a lot of what you’re looking for. Either current members of the union or former members. I can get you a few hundred bodies in these roles, easily. Some of this will be harder than others. Pipe workers and welders are industries that have sort of collapsed here; many of them left for greener pastures elsewhere in the country.”

  Piggot spread her hands. “Whatever you can find us, we can use. And to be clear, I’m only acting as a representative here, not personally making the decisions or signing checks.”

  Danny nodded his head quickly. “I don’t know how much Apex shared, but… these are people who were struggling before this. And who lived in the parts of town hardest hit by the waves. Every person we can put to work from the north side is going to be doing double duty. Helping bail these people out financially, and giving them financial stability to stick around and see things through.”

  He made eye contact with both Legend and Piggot, his jaw flexing, shoulders squared. He was an entirely different man from the awkward guy he was at home. “This is saving people’s lives and putting much-needed money into the hands of people who need it desperately. This… sort of thing would go a long way to addressing many of the issues people have, ones that they don’t express out loud.”

  Taylor leaned over and mouthed something to Danny, who blinked rapidly. He turned back to the two sitting on the other side of the table. “We’ll have to check it for damages, but right now, getting the ferry running again should also be a priority. With roads damaged and public transport down, we could be getting people from the northside to the southside to work, and vice versa.”

  Piggot tapped rapidly on her laptop. “That’s a very good point. Transporting people to and from work sites, plus moving equipment and freight across the Bay, would be priceless right now. See to it on your end, and I’ll do so on mine as well.”

  Danny scribbled some notes down at breakneck speed. “That wraps up everything on my side. I’ll work on getting headcounts for these various things and try and get some contracts brought over. Oh, one other thing, I just thought about.”

  “Yes?” Piggot asked.

  “I can probably get you many more people willing to work if we could get a voucher program implemented, or just distribute supplies ourselves directly at the docks. I know some people are sort of distrustful of the government regarding settling up on work or keeping promises. If I could tell the men and women that regardless of whether they got paid or not, they’d still be taking home meals for themselves and their families every day, that would clinch the deal for many people.”

  Piggot looked over at Legend, who answered. “I think that’s a very reasonable consideration, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t make something up to that extent. Work four or five full days a week, get a week’s food for themselves and any dependents. Directly distributed, no need to wait in food lines at the shelters or where we’ll be setting up places to hand things out.”

  Legend tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “Yes, I see exactly what you’re saying. You’ll get way more people who would be willing to step up and work just to be able to get a reliable source for basic needs without having to spend their time in lines to get those things.” He looked over at Piggot.

  She nodded in agreement and added to her notes.

  “What’s next?” Legend asked.

  I spoke up. “We have a serious matter to bring to your attention. I realize the timing of this is extremely poor, but this wasn’t planned or orchestrated. You’ll see the dates and notary marks on the paperwork.” My tail thumped on the floor on the other side of the room. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just get right to it. I’m bringing you an opportunity to get ahead of a real ugly mess. Not quite as bad as the other ugly mess from earlier today, but it’s up there.”

  Piggot’s eyes narrowed. “What other mess might you be referring to?”

  “The matter with Armsmaster violating the truce, resulting in the deaths of several people.”

  Legend sighed loudly. “Great. So someone talked.”

  I shook my head. “No. They haven’t. This isn’t public knowledge or being spread around on back channels; it was brought to me directly because it was vitally important that I know about it as part of other discussions taking place. And I’ll tell you who provided the information when we get to it.”

  Piggot looked a bit pissed, but I figured she was going to be any way we approached this. “Okay. So what’s this other mess, then?”

  “Sophia Hess.” Director Piggot stared blankly at the wall opposite where she was seated. Legend looked over at her, but didn’t say anything. I sort of doubted he was up on the details. “Shadow Stalker,” I said to him for clarity. He was on the same page now.

  Piggot took a deep breath. “What is it this time?”

  “She’s been stalking, abusing, and has repeatedly assaulted someone at her school. In gross violation of her parole agreement. The abuse and attacks have been so severe that she hospitalized and nearly killed someone. And had successfully kept it under wraps until last week.”

  I looked between Legend and Piggot. “I know how critically short-handed you are right now. And the prospects of losing yet another person aren’t helping. But I can tell you based on what I know about her in my time with her on the team, and this new information? She’s a time bomb that’s going to blow up. She’s going to wind up murdering someone, or worse.”

  Director Piggot leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I’m going to hope you have proof and documentation of this and aren’t just bringing rumor and speculation to us?”

  Carol pulled out a folder an inch thick and slapped it onto the table. Then a second one, nearly as large.

  Piggot eyed the two folders. “What are those?” She asked in a too-casual voice.

  Carol smiled cordially and tapped the bigger of the two. “This is over a hundred pages of documentation of more than six months of abuse. And it’s not comprehensive. Let’s call this the highlights reel.” She tapped the other folder. “This is the lawsuit my client is bringing against Ms. Hess, as well as several other members of a small clique she operates with, along with a lawyer who has been working with them to put legal pressure on their victims to silence them. Who, I might add, is going to be facing the loss of his license.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Legend whispered “Jesus Christ” under his breath. I doubted anyone else in the room heard it.

  Piggot turned her head to stare at me. “You’re suing her?” I shook my head.

  “No, Director, there are no games at play here. As I said, I’m bringing this to you as a favor, so you can handle this proactively,” I told her simply, directly, and to the point.

  “So you want something else, then, in exchange for bringing this to us?” Her voice the same cool tone. Business mode.

  I thought about what Faultline told me earlier. That’s what this was. Business.

  “Correct. We’ll get to that next, but I have good news that I think you will be happy to hear. Extremely good news, I might add.”

  “We could use all the good news we can get right now,” Legend said amicably.

  “I have someone to replace Shadow Stalker. Someone far better at the job, someone who will be a major force multiplier to the Wards, and they only have one condition, which is that very favor we’re discussing.”

  Director Piggot sat up straighter. I had her undivided attention. Legend also leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on the table.

  “We’re looking at several people, are you sure it’s not someone that we’re already in the process of tapping?” Piggot asked.

  I chuckled. “I’m fairly certain that you approached them and they gave you a resounding no.”

  “Who?” Legend asked.

  I wished I had a face so, so hard right now. I’d be all smiles.

  “Skitter,” I told them.

  Piggot sighed. “The answer we got was a hard no. She said something along the lines of wanting to go to the birdcage rather than join the Wards.”

  Taylor spoke up. “I said that because Shadow Stalker is on the team.”

  Director Piggot’s head snapped over to Taylor.

  Legend just went: “Huh.”

  “What is this? Is this a joke? Do I need to call security?” Piggot’s voice was irritated, and her eyes were boring holes into Taylor.

  “No, of course not. As I told you, Skitter wishes to join the Wards.”

  “So I don’t live here, pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is going on at the moment?” Legend asked.

  “I will give you the very short, and very ugly story about this, and we’ll all be on the same page,” I offered.

  He nodded.

  “This is Taylor Hebert. She’s Danny’s daughter. Like it or not, she has been wrapped up in drama with this PRT branch from the very start, going back all the way to January.”

  “She first appeared in April,” Piggot said.

  “Correct,” I said before continuing. “You see, the reason why Taylor has powers in the first place? It’s because of Sophia Hess. Sophia assaulted her in school, locked her into a confined space full of biohazard materials, and left her there. Taylor was hospitalized, and triggered because of that attack. Taylor didn’t use her powers publicly at all until early April, and was the continued victim of a focused, targeted bullying campaign by a group of girls in her class the entire time.”

  Piggot was squinting, but remaining quiet.

  “Director Piggot, can I ask you something?”

  “I can’t tell you I’ll be able to answer, but you can ask,” she said.

  “Did Armsmaster tell you he was contacted by Taylor and led her on to becoming an undercover member of the Undersiders, from the very first day that Taylor came out into public spaces with her powers?”

  Piggot tapped rapidly on her laptop, eyes scanning through pages and pages of documents. After several minutes, she said, “I see no record of this in our database.”

  I nodded. “Understandable. Part of what Taylor was trying to do was locate the source of income and jobs for the Undersiders.”

  Piggot reached under the table and pressed a button. The locks on the doors clacked shut, and a quiet hum filled the room, barely audible.

  Taylor looked over at me, dread etched on her face. I gave her a thumbs-up. “The Director sealed and put the room into isolation mode. No transmissions from here, and nobody can listen in.” Taylor nodded slowly, but the concern was still etched into her face.

  “Please continue,” Piggot said and gestured at me.

  “Taylor found out who their boss was. The person who hired them to do literally all their jobs and attacks on the PRT, the reason why those attacks were being done. And she also found out that there’s a number of moles in the PRT who are relaying information out of the local offices to criminal elements. She asked Armsmaster not to put information into the computer systems so her cover wasn’t blown, but if he was following protocol–and I’m honestly not sure he was–he should have hard copies of these records.”

  Taylor spoke next: “I got in touch with Armsmaster twice more, face-to-face, to give him information and progress on what I was doing. Right before the bank attack, and then during the attack on the fundraiser.”

  Piggot blinked, and Legend looked over to her. They shared a look. Piggot turned back to Taylor. “What you’re telling me is that you told Armsmaster those things were going to happen in advance, then did them?”

  Taylor held up one index finger. “For the bank attack, yes. I told him we were going to be hitting a major target, but not where, because of the issue with the mole. Or moles.”

  Piggot drummed her fingertips on top of the table. “I see.” She turned to me. “Why are you saying that you think Armsmaster wasn’t following protocol?”

  I took a breath, let it out slowly. “There’s no nice way of putting this. He’s been acting erratically, and I think he has been having a mental breakdown, or something. And talking to Taylor reveals this dates back months. He seems to have been flying apart at the seams, worse and worse, up until the events of this morning. The source of the information about what he did at the hospital, of course, is Taylor herself.”

  Piggot started taking notes again. “Explain what you mean.”

  I looked over at her, and she gestured back at me. I nodded to her.

  “He’s been lying about a lot of things. Taking credit for other people’s work. For example, he didn’t defeat Lung. Taylor did. And she handed Lung to him directly so he could pad his resume with the arrest.”

  Legend frowned. “You defeated Lung? How?” He looked over at Piggot. “Didn’t Miss Militia say this morning that she’s a Master 5 who controls insects?”

  Piggot looked quite thoughtful at the moment and nodded slowly. “No, I think I am starting to understand what Apex is saying here. Armsmaster brought in Lung, but Lung had been incapacitated with poisons and venoms that did quite a lot of systemic damage to him.”

  Taylor raised her hand. Piggot gestured to her to speak. “I carry EPI-Pens in my kit. I could have given him antidotes to the toxins, but the only reason I hit him as hard as I did, was because he was regenerating constantly. So I had to use way more than what I would ever use on anyone else. When Armsmaster captured him, he did something that caused his regeneration to stop. That’s why he was so seriously wounded. And he blew up on me over it, said he was losing his status because of it.”

  “I want to just make sure I’m understanding this correctly. You defeated Lung in a battle using bugs?” Legend asked slowly.

  I waited to see if Taylor was going to respond. She didn't. “Legend, if I can brag about her for a moment. She is unbelievably good. She’s been the backbone of the Undersiders and the sole reason they went from low-end property crimes to robbing banks and attacking full hero squads. She’s beaten Lung twice in single combat. The last time she beat him, I was present to witness it, and she beat him, fully transformed into a two-story-tall dragon shooting flames and covered in metal armor. By herself.”

  Legend leaned back in his chair and threw his hands up in the air. “Sure, I’ll bite. How?”

  Taylor held her chest and coughed. “I covered a caterpillar in extremely powerful hallucinogens and sedatives, grabbed it with a cockroach, and dosed him with it directly by sticking the caterpillar in his eye via the cockroach.”

  It was Legend’s turn to stare blankly. “Yeah. I guess that would do it.”

  “She does stuff like this off the top of her head. She beat Bakuda, too. Oni Lee multiple times. You have no idea how talented she is.”

  Piggot cleared her throat and gave me a disapproving look. Ever the stickler. “Yes, well, I can tell you we have certainly noted her effectiveness.”

  I shook my head. “If you have her rated as a Master five, you don’t know a fraction of the stuff she pulls off. She should be rated much higher than she is.”

  “Master five isn’t what I’d consider a low rating, by any means,” Legend said.

  I countered with: “Would you take a bet on a Master five who controls bugs beating a fully powered-up Lung, Oni Lee, and Bakuda in fights?”

  Legend wet his lips before responding. “That is certainly a point I will concede. Maybe you’re right.”

  I went back to the original subject. “The point is, Sophia Hess is the reason she triggered. It’s documented by both her and the school she attends, which agreed to keep quiet about it under legal pressure from a third party, the father of another of the girls who was bullying Taylor. Taylor worked undercover for months, risking her life many times under this supposed assignment, which she was working on with Armsmaster. I’m doubtful he was documenting things and was likely just going to take credit, and then arrest her and toss her in a cell afterwards for more things he could sign his name to. Now that Armsmaster is facing the music and the person who has traumatized her is in a similar situation, she wants to join the Wards. Immediately, if possible.”

  “Excuse us a moment, please,” Legend asked, and he and Piggot stepped into the corner to speak to one another in hushed tones. The low-level hum in the room seemed to eat up or muddle what they were saying, even within the room. They came back and sat down after a couple of minutes.

  “Let me see if I understand this correctly,” Piggot said. “You wish to join the Wards on a parole agreement, and your conditions for joining are that Shadow Stalker is expunged and sent to juvenile corrections?”

  “If I may,” Carol spoke up. “I am representing Taylor and her father in her lawsuits against the people we’ve mentioned during these talks. I’d like to clear a couple of things up. Taylor isn’t asking to join under a parole agreement. Any and all charges against her should be dropped and expunged completely. Totally blank slate. It’s a complete win-win scenario for both parties.”

  Piggot looked over at Carol. “If you’re her attorney, then you should know the severity and number of crimes she’s committed in the past two months.”

  “Oh, yes, I do,” Carol said cheerfully. “And I’m telling you right now, it’s entirely to your benefit to do as I’m suggesting. Because if even half the mess that she’s been involved in comes to light in court proceedings? You’re going to have your hands tied about the ways in which you’re forced to deal with all the other people who have been involved in it. And let’s not make any mistakes here. The leader of the Protectorate ENE was personally involved and complicit in those acts by leading Taylor into believing that she would do what she did and be allowed to join after the fact.”

  Piggot twitched her nose and tapped her fingers on the tabletop. “She’d probably need rebranding. Consults with marketing.”

  Taylor, in the most dry sarcasm I think I’d heard from her yet, said: “You’ve got a teenage psychopath running around rooftops in what looks like bondage gear, wearing a cape and shooting people with lethal arrows. I think someone wearing dark colors and using bugs isn’t that big of a deal in comparison.”

  “What do you mean she’s been shooting people with lethal ammunition? She only uses tranquilizer rounds in her bows.” Piggot’s tone was incredulous, like she hadn’t heard Taylor correctly.

  Taylor’s voice was heated. “Yeah. That’s what she tells you. Have you ever actually seen what she does out there? Do you have cameras on her? Because members of the Undersiders have had to have surgery to pull out razorhead arrows from their bodies and have the scars to prove it. That girl is unhinged, and the parole you’ve given her has only made her smarter about how she carries out the disgusting things she does. She enjoys seriously hurting people.”

  “Think of the positives, Director. You don’t rebrand her. She starts busting people left and right. This becomes a success and redemption story. All that business with Armsmaster and Taylor gets shoved in some dark hole, never to be seen again,” Carol said.

  “And what about the lawsuits?” Piggot asked Carol.

  “Oh, those aren’t going anywhere. Those are civil matters and don’t involve Skitter or Shadow Stalker at all, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Legend looked over at Piggot. They did the non-verbal consult thing again. Piggot turned back to Taylor. “Okay.”

  Taylor looked around. “Wait… that’s it?” She asked the room.

  “Did you expect fireworks and a parade?” Director Piggot asked dryly.

  “N-no ma’am,” Taylor replied quickly.

  Piggot smiled at that response. “Manners, Ms. Hebert, will get you everywhere. Do you have copies of your ID?” She asked Taylor and Danny both. They fished them out and handed them over. Piggot scanned them into the copy machine and handed them back. She fished a cable out from under the table and plugged it into her laptop, and typed some things up.

  “We’ll have the documentation ready shortly. Ms. Dallon, I need full copies of those documents for my own records. What else do we have to discuss?” Piggot looked between the four of us.

  “Me,” I said simply.

  Legend made eye contact and nodded. “Yes, about that. Are you okay discussing this with them here?”

  “I am,” I told him. “Carol has agreed to help me out with any contractual details.”

  He perked up a little, smiling. “So you’re going to do it?”

  I bobbed my head to him. “Yes. We’ll need to discuss those concerns I brought up, but I think we’ve already covered some of them in the talks we just had. The willingness to cut Sophia loose and help Taylor speaks volumes towards addressing some of the concerns I have.”

  “Certainly, we can do that. What did you want to talk about first?”

  I think I need to get a feel for where we are right now before playing my hand early.

  “If you would humor me, what did you have in mind with me joining? You seemed pretty insistent about it earlier today, so I figured you had something on your mind and it wasn’t just something casually said in passing.”

  His brows raised, just a little, over his mask.

  “Are you being a bit presumptuous, Ms. Rivera?” Piggot asked while tapping away rapidly.

  I shrugged my shoulders slowly. “I don’t know, am I? I don’t imagine it’s too often that the leader of the entire Protectorate is personally coming to people to recruit them.”

  Legend smiled, but unlike when the Director smiled, I didn’t get the vibe that he was a shark displaying his teeth. Maybe he was just really good at hiding it. I wasn’t going to bet the farm on it.

  “You are very observant. One of many desirable traits we see in you. Let’s get right to it, then?” He asked, and I nodded in agreement.

  “I talked to Miss Milita about the concerns you raised with her in the past, when she discussed things with you in your home. I think in light of the events of this morning, we don’t have to worry about image, right?”

  “I would agree with that. People saying ‘you look like a horrible monster’ to me get to eat crow when I tell them I’m a horrible monster that eats other, bigger horrible monsters.”

  Legend chuckled.

  “Next up would be the corruption issue, yes?”

  Again, I agreed.

  “We know about it. We know about the moles internally here in Brockton Bay and elsewhere. In many cases, we are letting the fish line spool out to reel in the big fish. There’s some collateral damage in doing so. Records leaking, people finding out things they shouldn’t know. We’re painfully aware of this. We have been discussing stricter classification and record-keeping systems to try and stem some of that damage while we continue to find and root out foreign assets planted in our ranks. Part of it is unavoidable when you’re talking about large organizations. Every ship has leaks, and the bigger the boat, the more places for holes.”

  “What about Watchdog? I thought anti-corruption was their entire thing? Don’t they also handle internal affairs as well? Are they overworked, understaffed, or do they themselves have issues that need to be addressed?”

  Piggot cleared her throat. “We can’t discuss that with your current status and the members of this room being present. What I can tell you is that this is not the first time this has been discussed recently.”

  I nodded slowly.

  “Okay, so those are the two big things. Anything else you want to bring up before we move on?”

  “No, I think we are good to proceed,” I told him.

  Carol and Taylor leaned in and exchanged a few words. Carol and Taylor each rummaged through their bags to produce documents and pair them together.

  “Well, about your membership. I’ve discussed with Alexandria and Eidolon. I realize that the two of you haven’t met, but he was observing some of the events today while trying to mitigate the damage of the tidal waves hitting the bay. I think the three of us are in agreement that we’d like to have you, and we’d like to put you into a central role locally. Give you some room to breathe and grow, train under some more experienced members, and see how you do.”

  Director Piggot spoke up. “In the interests of transparency, I objected to the idea, but Chief Director Brown thinks that you should be given the chance to make mistakes.” She took a breath and sighed loudly. “I’m not sure that anything you do could be much worse than what we’re dealing with right now, in all honesty. This is a real mess, and I’d be worried about my career if not for what you all were able to accomplish this morning. So let’s say that I’m willing to be a bit more flexible than I normally would.”

  Faultline was right. I don’t know if she’s just got uncanny intuition, or if she’s plugged in that deeply behind the scenes.

  Legend continued: “We’re impressed right now with everything you've done as of our parting this morning, and bringing these things up to us and taking initiative on them–it’s giving me a good feeling.” He gestured at Taylor, Carol, and Danny in turn. “You’ve organized a skilled labor force to begin relief and reconstruction in the first 24 hours. You’ve brought a looming PR disaster to us before it could come up, and you’ve been partnering with third-party hero teams to further work on recovery efforts.”

  “Your aptitudes were noticed before we parted ways,” Director Piggot said, still working away on her computer as she talked. “Aegis wanted you to take over leadership of the Wards. I blocked it at the time. In hindsight, that was a mistake.”

  “Respectfully, Director,” I said. She looked up over her screen at me. “I don’t think you were wrong in your assessment. It hurt to read, but it wasn’t personal. You gave a straight assessment, no filters. Noting the good and the bad.” She frowned a little. I went on. “I wasn’t using my power. The Protectorate and the Wards exist for Parahumans who wish to use their power to effect change. Not ones who are scared of handling the truth of things.”

  I cracked my mouth and let my tongue slither out. The end still had teeth-lined jaws and numerous insectile mandibles. I continued to use my throat to speak, as I had been doing all day. “You wake up one day and you see this in the mirror? And that’s all you see? It gives you nightmares, Director. Me the most out of anyone.”

  I pulled my tongue back into my mouth and clicked my jaw shut. Speaking again with my mouth sealed, and head immobile. “I couldn’t see then. I can see now. In fact, I see everything now.” I tapped my claws on several eyes.

  Piggot didn’t bat an eyelash while I was making my point. I respected the hell out of her for that. “Being let go made me stronger. Literally and figuratively. I’m leaner, meaner, and far more capable now than I ever would have been if I hadn’t fallen and struggled.”

  She leaned back in her chair and regarded me. And I felt like she was truly regarding me in ways she hadn’t before. Clinical, analytical, yes, but that was just… her. I couldn’t fault her for that any more than I could myself for being how I was. She was silent for several long moments.

  “You impressed me from the start, Ms. Rivera, but you were never able to truly overcome your hangups with your power, and they limited you. Seeing you now, like this, I have to say it’s remarkable how much you’ve developed as a person.”

  Shit. I’d be blushing right now.

  “Thank you,” I told her. I knew she didn’t give compliments lightly. She only nodded and resumed typing.

  “How would you say your relationship is with Director Piggot, and your ability to work together?” Legend asked me.

  “Well, I don’t want to be rude with her in the room with us, but I’d say that I always felt like I had a solid working relationship with her during my time in the Wards. We got along, worked together without issues. In the time I’ve been away, I’ve gotten to know a few more people, and I’ve taken much more of a liking to the style she has.”

  “What style would that be?” She asked without looking up.

  “You’re efficient. You don’t like playing interpersonal games. People think it’s rude, but it’s about being aware of time. You don’t want to waste your time, but there’s a sort of mutual respect present, because you’re also saving other people’s time too, even if they don’t recognize it.”

  She tapped a fingernail on the tabletop. “Interesting way of putting it, but I wouldn’t disagree.”

  Legend nodded along. “So as I was saying, a central role.”

  “You want me to take point,” I said. Simple. Direct.

  He smiled and nodded. “There’s going to be some caveats, but yes, that’s basically the gist of things. We weren’t that much older than you when we founded the Protectorate.”

  “And the team is going to be okay with that?”

  Director Piggot cut in. “ The team is three people, Apex.”

  I cleared my throat. “What– can I ask what happened?”

  I didn’t want to make assumptions.

  “Armsmaster is on indefinite leave while we deliberate what to do. Velocity died to Leviathan this morning. Triumph passed away this afternoon due to complications with what we thought was a minor wound. Dauntless is being reassigned. That leaves Assault, Battery, and Miss Militia.”

  I lowered my head some. “I see. I’m sorry to hear that Triumph passed away. Is… Dauntless leaving because of what’s happened?”

  She shook her head. “No. He had a transfer approved weeks ago and had been sticking around to deal with ongoing issues. With all of this done, I think now’s the time to send him on his way. Things aren’t going to improve tomorrow or next week, so he’ll be moving out now. As good of a time as any.”

  “What about the other three, then?”

  “Miss Militia is acting leader. She’s going to be personally training you every minute you two can spare. You will be taking the title and leading the team. I am strongly suggesting you follow her advice closely and pay attention. Battery doesn’t want the job. Assault isn’t suitable for the role. Normally, we’d be looking around to transfer someone in, but given the current situation, we’re going to be giving you a shot.”

  She stopped typing and looked up at me, her face serious. “Don’t mistake things. You’re being given an opportunity here, but if you make a mess of things, you’re going to be expected to act as an adult, address it, and fix it where possible. If you fail repeatedly or do something entirely out of line, you will lose the position. You will be afforded some leeway as you’re new, but if there’s one thing that’s become apparent, it’s that some things have been a bit too lax around here.”

  I raised my head, facing Legend. “I’ll do everything I can to make the best of things. If you’re serious about this, I’m all in.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ll get your paperwork sorted, and you and Brandish can go over it. If all you do is continue doing what you have been doing? You’ll be in pretty good shape. You’re going to have to work closely with the Wards, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for you. You’re going to need them more than ever. They’re basically the bulk of the heroes here in the city currently.”

  I looked straight at him, not that he’d be able to tell. “With Skitter on the team? I don’t think we’re going to have problems.”

  Taylor dropped her head so her hair covered her face.

  “You’re going to have Weld, too. That’s who we want you to meet with next. He landed just before you arrived. He hasn’t even had a chance to meet the team yet. You might introduce him or talk to him a little first. He’s taking control of the Wards.”

  The printer started up and started running off contract pages by the dozens. Director Piggot gestured at Carol, and Carol brought over the documents for her.

  “So all we have left is a whole bunch of signatures and initials. I hope you are prepared to run some pens dry,” Legend said with a laugh.

  “Legend, I’m curious about something,” I asked him.

  “Hm? Sure, shoot!”

  “Do you happen to know if Weld likes roller coasters?” I asked him deadpan.

  Danny groaned.

  “Hmm. He has accessibility needs. I don’t think he’s ever been on one before,” Legend said after thinking for a moment.

  “Oh, goodie. I’ll be sure to introduce him, then,” I said.

  Piggot and Legend exchanged another look, and Legend shrugged.

  I could see that Taylor's lips were turned up in a grin under her hair.