Both girls nodded their heads.

“If you don’t have any questions-”

“I do,” Charlotte piped up.  “Do you have a mask I could wear?”

I understand this desire. She doesn’t want her name sullied, or to be arrested in her home for working for Skitter.

On Skitter’s side of things, that does kind of run counter to the idea of wanting people to see her subordinates in a positive light, unless she can find a particularly non-threatening mask.

(Using live bugs for a mask does not fulfill that.)

I frowned.  “I was hoping you guys would put a more human, less sinister face on things.”

“I don’t want to run into someone I know and have to explain.  Not that I think anyone I know lives around here, but-”

Yeah, it’s a very reasonable desire.

“Okay, no, I wouldn’t expect you guys to go unmasked when I won’t.  That wouldn’t be fair.  Give me a few seconds,” I told them.  I headed upstairs to my office.

So, whatcha got?

Probably nothing like the one Taylor herself wears, since those take a while to make.

Over the past few days, I’d received deliveries of the more specific and obscure items I had requested from Coil.  Among them were cases of more exotic bugs, a sturdy work table I kept upstairs in my room and five mannequins with custom measurements.

…or, she might actually have some of those lying around after all, because she’s been working on costumes for the other Undersiders! Nice!

Coil’s people had taken the time with Brian, Lisa, Alec and Aisha to get comprehensive measurements and hand casts.  Bitch had refused.

Ah, yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. I was going to mention that but forgot. Much like I forgot about Aisha. As one does.

But yeah, even if Rachel wasn’t currently considering leaving the Undersiders behind – which she might not have been when this happened – she’d refuse. Not much for costumes, that one.

This had led in turn to the creation of the mannequins, which had been shipped to me and set up on the pedestals beneath the shuttered window.

I’m sure a certain biosphere tinker would approve.

One mannequin for each of my teammates and one for me.

I guess you do need one for when you want to make changes to your own costume.

There was also a little folder of notes from each of the others on what they wanted, including some photos, clippings and print-outs for reference.  Grue had included pictures of the little statuette he had bought at the Market, which he wanted me to copy for his new mask.

Ooh, nice!

I’m sure there’ll be a lot of neat fanart of these new outfits. 🙂

I wonder, will they be colored? I hope Tattletale keeps her lavender.

I hoped to have a costume for each of us in short order.

That’s going to be very nice and useful.

I didn’t like Coil, pretty much despised his methods, but I did agree with his sensibilities on some things, like personnel and making sure people wanted to work for you.

Yeah, though in Coil’s case it seems to be in a more manipulative sense.

But yes, this is important. It’s why Hookwolf might become a bad recruitment to the Slaughterhouse Nine, it’s why Burnscar already is a bad recruitment, and it’s why Shatterbird should probably just stop recruiting people in general.

It wasn’t like I couldn’t afford it.  I had yet to spend the earnings from any of my earlier villainous stints, since Coil was providing everything major I needed.

Oh yeah, and because you previously felt it wasn’t your money to spend, intending to turn it in alongside the Undersiders.

“There’s another reason I’m putting you guys out there.  Two people aren’t going to be enough for what I’m planning long-term.

Recruitment!

“Have you heard the good buzz about our Lady and Savior Skitter?”

I want you two to trust your guts on this, but you’re also going to be keeping an eye out for possible recruits.”

So do they just report about the recruits to Taylor afterwards, or do they try to actually recruit on the spot?

The former seems more like Taylor’s style.

“You’re hiring others?” Charlotte asked.

Does that surprise you?

Or maybe you’ve got someone in mind?

I nodded.  “I’m looking for people who are young, reasonably fit, and able to follow orders.  With you two out there, I’m hoping others see a pair of girls who are secure, happy and healthy in my employ.  You recruit someone I decide is worth keeping?  I’ll reward you.  But this isn’t a competition, got it?”

Sounds good to me!

“That’s the general plan.  We’ll work out other tasks and maybe other signals later, in case you need my attention but not for an emergency, or if you want to cancel a request for help, whatever.  That leaves payment.”

Those do sound worthwhile. Maybe separate cubes for different messages? Though something reusable might be nice to have for the less emergent situations.

“I was wondering about that,” Charlotte said.  “But didn’t know how to ask.”

Well, guess you were lucky Taylor already had it on her to-do.

“We’ll try for six to eight hours a day, five days a week, but consider it flexible.  Not to spook you or anything, but I’ll know if you’re slacking.

Of course she will.

I’m thinking two hundred and fifty dollars a day, and obviously it’s under the table, so you’re not getting taxed on it.”

Sounds like a pretty good salary! Of course, it comes with risk because of the whole “people may violently disapprove of your employer” thing, but still.

“That’s a little more generous than I was expecting,” Sierra said.

That’s pretty much how it went for Taylor too.

“What exactly are we doing?”

“For now, just door to door.  I’m going to mark the places you should visit, where there are families or groups of people.

Ahh, giving out the supplies you promised? Seems reasonable to expect problems then. Not everyone is going to be on board with the Bug Queen’s reign, and then there’s those who would try to grab more supplies than they’re supposed to get.

I need the info I can’t get with my bugs.  Who are the people in my territory?  What do they need: Maybe medical care, clothes, more food, maybe someone’s giving them trouble?  You find out, take notes, then pass that information to me.”

Oh, okay. Not quite there yet – just recon for now. The first issue I mentioned still holds true, though.

“That’s it?”

“For now.  I’m going to ask you guys to travel as a pair, obviously.  You’ll be safer and there’s a better chance you’ll be able to signal me with the necklace if something goes wrong.  Not that you should need the cube, but I prefer having some redundancy.”

Makes sense. One of them could be incapacitated before she gets a chance to crush the cube, in which case it’s the other one’s turn.

The pair nodded.  Sierra bent over to pull on the rain boots I’d provided her.  Charlotte was already wearing hers.

Taylor gave them the booties.

There were nods from both of them.

“I can’t protect you from a bullet or a knife wound, but I can screen the people in your vicinity, feeling them out to see if they have weapons on them and give you a heads up so you don’t get in that situation to begin with.  If there’s potential trouble like that, I’ll warn you by drawing this symbol with my bugs…”

Seems like a very useful trick, this. Will you be making one for Sierra too?

I drew three lines that crossed in the center, using the flies and beetles that were working on a cube for Sierra.

Something like this, perhaps: x

“Okay,” Charlotte said.  Sierra nodded.

I got the bugs working on the second cube again.  “I’ll use numbers to inform you on the number of people nearby.  You’ll want to approach a situation differently if there’s twenty people than if there’s five.

Makes sense.

So does she only intend to do this if the box is squashed, or are these symbols just going to constantly be around Charlotte and Sierra?

Maybe have one of you hang back and be in a position to crush the cube, or just keeping your distance.  Or just avoid the situation.  Trust your gut, use your best judgement.”

Yeah, sounds good to me.

Also, yep, seems this is a constant thing.

Are they preparing for specific trouble here? Is Taylor thinking about the Slaughterhouse’s presence in Brockton Bay, or just wanting to protect and feelsafify her subordinates in general?

(Feelsafify is a word now, because I said so.)

“A necklace?”  Sierra asked.  She put her plate down in the sink and ran water over it.

“Or bracelet, or a key chain.  So long as you have this, I’ll know where you are, because I can keep an eye out for the fly in a box.

Ohhh!

That makes sense!

The real purpose of this, though, is when there’s an emergency.  You can crush the box and the bug inside, and the moment that happens, I”ll use my power to protect you.  It won’t be instantaneous, but you’ll have a swarm descending on whoever is giving you trouble in anywhere from fifteen seconds to a minute.

Provided she’s within range, of course. But yeah, that’s a good idea.

If it works out, I can make something a little more stylish for the future.”

When you get better at origami? 😛

Or maybe getting Coil’s help to make them out of a different material?

Also, one potential problem: Don’t flies need nourishment like most other creatures? What if the fly dies of starvation or, more likely, dehydration?

I suppose Taylor would detect the cause of death, but it’d still mean she’d need to put a new fly in there.

“Right.”

“But as far as bugs are concerned, at least, I figure anything goes.”

“It’s still creepy.”

Maybe anything goes as far as how you treat the bugs, but that doesn’t cover how you treat people using those bugs, right, Taylor? Like putting them in extremely uncomfortable places for no reason, Taylor? Like perhaps under the eyelids, Taylor?

Seriously, though, she convinced herself that was what she had to do to further her information-gathering mission, and sure, incapacitating Clockblocker was important to that. But there was no real reason to stick the bugs in the most uncomfortable places Taylor could find.

“Give it time.  You’ll get used to it.”  I picked up the tightly folded piece of paper that was the end result of my little experiment.

After so many Interludes, it’s an odd feeling to be back to first-person narration.

Also, “experiment” seems to suggest this isn’t just a hobby activity. I guess that was too much to hope for.

I pushed at two corners of the tight paper square, and it settled into a cube about three-quarters of an inch on each side, with holes on two opposing faces.

Huh. Some sort of decoration to be put on a string?

I directed a housefly into one hole and settled it inside, then fed a braided length of twine through the holes.  I handed the result to Charlotte and ordered the bugs to start making another.

Nice.

“What way?”

I had to stop to compose my thoughts.  I glanced at Charlotte, and Sierra, who was standing by the fridge, silently eating her breakfast.  “I don’t believe in shouldn’t, like there’s some universal rules about the way things should be, the way people should act.”

Oh! She’s extending this beyond just how the bugs should act – she’s going much deeper into the chaotic mindset than ever before. She’s denying the existence of natural law, the idea that there’s something beyond human social structures and ideas that dictates how things should be.

And honestly, I’m inclined to agree. There are ways the world naturally is as a result of how it has developed (and I mean all the way since the Big Bang), but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something that says it should be that way.

One thing I’m interested to see is what sort of influence this development of Taylor’s worldview has on her view of social law. Does the idea that there’s no shouldn’t extend to society and the rules humans set for themselves and each other?

Whatever the case, we’ve come a long way from Arc 1 Taylor’s attitude of “heroes are always good and villains are always bad and doing illegal things”.

I looked up from the laptop I was using to view a webpage on origami.

Oh, nice! Using the bugs for more artistic purposes. I like it!

So what got Taylor into this? Is she doing it to pass time and as an outlet for creativity? That would be a healthy change of pace for Taylor.

Alternatively, it might just be a way to train her fine control over the bugs.

“Is it?  I’m pretty used to them, so I don’t give it a lot of thought.”

“They’re so organized and human.  Bugs shouldn’t act that way.”

They’re basically a swarm of tiny bodies with a human brain when she’s controlling them, so it’s no wonder they act human.

I do like that it’s not the bugs themselves that creep Charlotte out, but the way they act nothing like bugs. They fall into the uncanny valley, bug edition, where they look completely normal for bugs, but feel sort of wrong.

“I don’t really believe in thinking that way anymore,” I said, absently.

I guess that’s fair.