The Wards, at least, were in better shape.  Tired, to be sure, but they hadn’t been directly in the fray.  The patrol shifts were unending and they always had something to do.

I suppose they have the sense not to send kids against these bastards.

*glances over at the other kids they refused to help against these bastards* Ahem.

Weld, Flechette, Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win and Chariot.

Hi, Chariot, you getting situated nicely?

She deliberately avoided looking at Chariot.  The mole in their midst.  Did Coil suspect she knew about the mole he’d planted?

I don’t think he does, because I don’t think he’s Coil’s mole.

I could be wrong, though, with Chariot acting as confirmation that Skitter’s message has been received and the PRT is acting on it.

Could she afford to assume he didn’t?

Still, it would all be for nothing if she gave the game away.  Back to the matter at hand.

Yeah, let’s leave the I Know You Know for later.

She looked at each of the capes in turn.  Legend, Prism, Ursa Aurora and Cache were the outsiders, heroes on loan.

Oh hey, the three Taylor didn’t recognize.

Prism and Ursa Aurora both sound like they have light-based powers, unless Wildbow (or Ursa) looked at “aurora borealis” meaning “northern lights” and thought “aurora” was the part that meant “northern”. Which seems uncharacteristic of Wildbow and would more likely result in “Aurora Ursa”.

More likely, Ursa Aurora is capable of summoning bears made of shimmering green light. Perhaps also other beings.

Prisms have to do with light bending and colors, so it’s likely they have a power involving colors and/or multiple (seven?) different states they can put someone in with beams of light. That actually reminds me a lot of Legend. Also, if not for it having been established that Arthur is not a parahuman (”out of the loop”), I would’ve suspected Prism to be Arthur just because of how well both interpretations – light bending and colors – go with Legend’s power.

Cache sounds similar to Battery in that they save something up and then unleash it, but that can be interpreted in many ways. Their power could be anything from speed (unlikely because Battery already has a speed power that works that way) to strength to gadgets to hammerspace.

Miss Militia’s group was more worn out.  Where their costumes had been damaged, stained or torn, pieces had been replaced from the generic costumes the PRT kept in stock.

Clearly they have been doing something to deal with the situation. Probably helping victims and fighting the Nine when absolutely necessary.

The outsiders are less worn out because they can’t help as much against the active tester.

Miss Militia had doffed the jacket but left the scarf with the flag motif in place.  She wore a black tank top and camouflage pants with a number of empty holsters and sheaths for her weapons.

Look, I can’t be the only one who imagines Miss Militia looking like a sexy badass, right?

Battery was wearing a plain black costume and goggles, while Assault had replaced the top half of his costume with similar odds and ends.  Triumph still wore his helmet and shoulder pads with the roaring lion style, but his gloves had been replaced with the same utilitarian, generic ones the PRT officers wore in the field.

Oh man, Triumph, been a while since we saw him around!

Emily wasn’t so sure.  “It’s… a change.”

It does mean another opportunity for the Nine to pick up a new member and shake up their tactics, unless they take out the rest first.

“Not a good one?”

“The closing line reads, ‘Thanks for the help.’  I can’t help but read it in a sarcastic tone.”

You’re reading it right, then. Maybe that’ll tell Legend who sent this.

“The bug girl?  Skitter?”

Bingo.

Emily nodded.  “Exactly.  As good as it is to have one more member of the Nine dealt with, this shifts the balance of power towards another group of villains.  It also serves to move up our deadline.”

You mean because there’ll be fewer tester rounds now before they say they’re done?

I don’t know that that’s a bad thing for Brockton Bay specifically.

It might be a bad thing for the world because it’d increase the chance of Jack leaving the city when the tester rounds are over, assuming they keep going with the game, but for Brockton Bay in particular, them leaving would be a good thing. Not so much for the next town they go to to recruit (the game only allows them to recruit one member if they lose), though.

“What do you want to do?”

“Call a meeting.  Protectorate and Wards.”

Time to attack?

“Alright.”

■

I guess we’re skipping to the meeting.

“How so?”

“Family.  I wonder if it is harder or easier to get through the day if you have people waiting for you at the end.”

Hmm.

I suppose she did say she hadn’t wanted kids. But family goes beyond just that. Legend and Arthur could be considered a family even without Keith.

“Yes.”

Heh. Both, then?

She smiled a little at that.

They entered the lab, and Emily Piggot very carefully measured the expressions of every person in the room when they noticed Legend.  Awe, surprise, amazement.  Sometimes ambivalence.

I suppose these people don’t see him as often as some of the PRT folks closer to the action.

What could she take away from that?  If she were to promote one of them, should she promote one of the awestruck ones, or one of the taciturn?  The starry-eyed might be in the PRT for the wrong reasons, but the ones who were unfazed by the presence of one of the most notable heroes in the United States could easily be plants, hiding their emotion or simply too used to the presence of capes to care.

The former is probably safer.

“The note?”

“No traces of toxins, radiation, powders or transfers.”

Transfers? Is that a thing in real life or just their term for traces left by a power used on the paper or the writing?

“Why the priority?  We get letters from cranks every day.”

“The man who delivered the message reported a fairly convoluted series of safeguards to protect the identity of the sender.

Interesting. Did they not mention that it ultimately came from Skitter, then?

Or is this not her message? Cauldron seems more the type to get that convoluted about it, but why would they send a message to the PRT?

Apparently the man who gave him his instructions was given the note by a civilian, and ordered to find a random individual to deliver it to the PRT, all with compensation arranged.”

This does sound like Cauldron’s style. It’s just that it could very well be Cranston’s style too.

Also, which part of it do you envy, Piggy? You said earlier that you didn’t want kids, so is it about the romance instead? Or are you lying?

Legend nodded.

“He knew the price of admission,” she said.

Yeah, he did choose to do this with Legend, after all.

Legend smiled.  “You’re always straight to the point, Director.”

“But the child is good?  A boy or a girl?”

I’ve been wondering that too, but who knows. Maybe Legend and Arthur have decided to raise them without gender expectations. I’m pretty sure that’s a thing some parents choose to do, maybe especially those involved in the LGBT community.

“A boy.  Keith.”

Not a bad name.

“You’ve heard there are some third generation parahumans on record?”

Ooh, how easy is it for them to trigger? Is it the same as for second-gen, or is it even easier?

“For a while now.  We knew they were being born anyways, right?”

“We did.  But nothing’s official until it’s on record.  But the point I was getting at was that there was apparently an incident.”

…oh?

“Oh?”

That’s my line.

“In Toronto.  A five-year-old manifested powers.  A third generation parahuman.”

Oh dear. How damn powerful is that going to make them?

Also at least it’s not in Montréal. That would raise questions.