The fact that Taylor didn’t seem nearly as affected by the miasma as “Brian” and “Lisa”.

“Lisa” being as adamant about swearing as a certain other blonde.

All the fucking signs!

The miasma’s effects had almost made me lose track of her.  She was fighting, grappling with mechanical spiders.

Ah, I see Bonesaw’s put her minions to work.

It’s looking like Taylor is right.

She went from fighting like an ordinary individual to moving at high speeds and throwing crushing punches, then back again.

Battery?

I couldn’t think of how to help her, and she was obviously unable to help me.

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn’t rate her all that highly against the Nine, even if it’s just these two, but she’s got a chance.

Cherish had been engaging in double-speak, saying one thing to us, while addressing the two people with me the entire time.  She’d told them about where she was being held captive, and she’d offered the most valuable information she had to avoid getting tortured to death after they’d freed her.

And Jack is totally the kind of guy who’d learn Latin for the hell of it.

But what does Jack want to do with that information? Leave the city? He ought to be thrilled at the chance of having such an impact.

From the way she’d talked about the message being received, one of the people with me had to be Jack.

Yeah, I don’t think Siberian’s in any state to be playing this game right now.

If only I could have blamed the miasma for my idiocy.  Everything clicked into place.

I kept my voice level, “I don’t think you’ll get much goodwill if we don’t understand what the fuck you’re talking about.

Fair point!

Coil?  We’re moving out now.”

“Report back when you’ve found the healer,” Coil told me.

Good luck.

I hung up before Cherish could speak, then I glanced at the others.  “Let’s go?  Arcadia high?”

They nodded.

So, Taylor didn’t elaborate on what “clicked into place”. Did she figure out what Cherish had said, saving that translation for the end of the chapter?

My heart pounded with such force that my vision wavered.  I turned to head toward Arcadia high, joined by the two members of the Nine.  Stay calm, don’t let on that you know.

Ah, fuck.

…

Fuck, she might actually be right. Damn it! No wonder they were so eager to kill earlier, if that’s true!

Wait. But Lisa, if that is indeed her name, definitely knew things Bonesaw and Jack shouldn’t, even with Cherish’s help. Then again, she didn’t help out with the disgusting toe code.

And Cherish mentioned Brian and Lisa being there, and while she absolutely enjoys making things difficult, I don’t believe her when she claims to be a paragon of loyalty now… but then again, maybe she said that specifically to fool Jack and Bonesaw?

I’m gonna have to reread this entire chapter before I move on to the next one, aren’t I.

Another issue: Where’s Siberian? Do they want Panacea in order to heal him up?

And then there’s the girl/woman who’s been following them. Lisa? Except she’d need to get a gas mask somehow, and the effortless escape from the bonds doesn’t match her either.

So many questions. Well played, Wildbow, whether these are Jack and Bonesaw or not.

Fuck, I just remembered “Lisa” suggesting that “Brian” could use his power to do it, which I questioned for a moment before reasoning that he could steal Taylor’s power. But if he’s actually Jack, his power would be perfect for what he’d be trying to do – ranged murder. He might even get away with it by virtue of Taylor not remembering Brian’s actual power.

Was this even the ending line of the chapter?

If I could direct the woman to us…

No. No it wasn’t.

And yeah, if you’re right which is very much unclear right now, you’re probably better off letting the woman catch up.

Unless she’s Siberian, but that’d just raise even more questions.

“I’m not versed in Latin,”  Coil spoke, sounding annoyed.

“For shame, Coil, for shame,” Cherish said.  Her voice was too cheerful. “You can’t sell the cultured supervillain image without the ability to make quips in an ancient language.

Pfft.

I had the benefit of my power, languages are easier to learn when you can get a sense of what the other person’s feeling.”

Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense, assuming you’re not trying it on a language teacher spouting pre-written lines. I can’t imagine this works nearly as well on someone who doesn’t mean what they’re saying.

“That was something about Jack?”  I asked,  “Repeat that in English?”

Yeah, no, she’s dead set on being difficult.

“Doesn’t matter anymore,” she replied.  “The message was delivered.  I’ll leave you to think about it.”

Doesn’t matter anymore? Do you mean that literally? Well, shit. Bye, Jack.

I assume the others went / are going with him. In which case Brockton Bay may finally be rid of the Nine.

Well, unless you count Cherish, Shatterbird and/or their lingering miasma.

“You’re stalling?”  Coil asked.  “I don’t see the point.”

“Just trying to see if I can provoke a reaction from you.  There’s only so many times I can read the labels of the shipping containers before I lose my mind.  Have to amuse myself somehow.”

That ought to be enough for Lisa to figure out where Cherish is, in case tracking her down in person should actually turn out to be a necessity.

“What will it take for you to tell us where Panacea is?”  Coil asked.

“Oh, I’m feeling generous, and I want to see what happens.  I’ll tell you that as a freebie.  They’re at Arcadia.  Somewhere in the top floor.”

They’re – Amy and Victoria? Let’s hope they haven’t clashed.

A freebie.  Something was going on, and I wasn’t aware what.

Yeah, if she’s giving a freebie, there’s something else she has up her sleeve that won’t be free. She’s already implied as much, too.

I had to piece it together, but I had so little information.

I suspect it may have something to do with the person following them, somehow. We may have to let her catch up in order to find out.

Wildbow is clearly keeping her identity from us until a reveal. Back during the Scene, that made total sense. The audience, while most likely meant to be on Taylor’s side like I was, needed to feel the same sort of uncertainty about who this woman is as the characters did. That mattered much more than who it actually was. But now, she’s been pretty clearly established as “important somehow”. The question is just how she’s important, and that ought to become clearer when we find out who she is.

“And maybe I could offer you something, in exchange for some goodwill.  Maybe you’ll even want to let me go free, no obligations.”

That’s gonna take a hell of a playing card. What’cha got?

The feeling of dread that had been following me wasn’t getting worse as the woman approached.  It was staying steady, like someone had a gun pointed at me, and they’d had it aimed my way for some time now.

Oddly enough, I’ve been more and more getting the feeling that the woman isn’t actually a threat, though this particular paragraph doesn’t help reinforce that.

“I’m listening,” Coil said, “But if this is frivolous or another waste of our time-”

“Nah.  Critically important.  I’ll trust that you’ll take it for what it’s worth and repay me in kind.”

So spit it out already.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s simple.  Going by what I’ve been able to observe around the city, there seems to be a major concern.  Si Jack effugit civitatem, mundus terminabitur.”

Fucking Latin? She’s not gonna make this easy for them, huh.

Fortunately, though,I’m able to tell what it says without looking up any translations: “If Jack leaves the city, the world will end.” So the other information she has for them is that he’s doing so?

I’m still not sure averting this is still on the table (in-universe – out of universe I’m pretty sure it never really was), but it’s worth a shot.

“She is.”

“I’m here,” I confirmed.

“And Tattletale and Grue, of course.”  She chuckled.  “How amusing.  Seems like I’m in high demand.”

Why, yes, your services are needed.

Now, the troubling thing is that high demand and low supply means high costs.

“They’re looking for Panacea,” Coil said.  “Identifying her for us would be one way to achieve revenge on the Slaughterhouse Nine for turning on you.”

“Revenge?  Not my interest in the slightest.  I’ve learned my lesson and I’ve become the poster child for team loyalty.”

Pffft.

Coil paused, then said, “I’m prepared to offer you some enticements.  I imagine your current quarters can’t be too comfortable.”

She’s in the Trainyard, right? So yeah, sounds about right.

“Don’t suppose these enticements will be hand delivered?”

Hah. Nice try.

“They will be provided by remote control, as your food has been.”

“Some headphones and music would be nice,” she said.  “The sound of the waves banging on the hull is driving me crazy.”

Oh man, that’s relatable as fuck. Music is a necessity.

“Such could be arranged.”

“Nah, I’m totally fucking with you.  Music, as if.”

You should totally throw that in, though, if your other enticements aren’t meant to lead to your escape.

There were too many things that seemed off.  Cherish’s tone among them.  I glanced around.  The woman was still following us, throwing herself after decoys, verifying they were false, then retracing her steps.

Cherish’s tone seems normal to me. Maybe it’s just the paranoia and lack of familiarity making it seem off.

She was slowly closing in.  I positioned Atlas so he would be ready to distract her if it came down to it.

Good call. Hell, you might even find out if she can fly, that way.

“I know.”

The woman was still approaching.  Tattletale and Grue weren’t talking.

Whoever this woman is, she seems calmly determined to do something with the Undersiders. Possibly talk, but who knows. She didn’t pipe up while bugtied.

Something was wrong.

It is kinda strange that Lisa and Brian are so silent now. Especially Lisa. This call seems like the sort of situation that’d get her blabbing.

“What if we kept you on the line?”  I suggested.

“That will suffice.”

Fair.

There was a pause, then the sound of background noise.  A ring sounded, different from the one before.  It was interrupted as Cherish picked up.

Howdy! Do you have any idea who anyone is?

“I have never been so sorry to miss out,” Cherish said.  She sounded a bit hoarse.

Heh. On what exactly, the agnosia or watching people with agnosia tear the town and each other asunder?

“We’re requesting your help,” Coil spoke.

“Oh, you need my help in more ways than you’re aware of.  Not that I’m going to provide it.  Skitter’s on the line, I believe?”

Are you suggesting you could fix this with your power?

Or that there’s another threat brewing?

“Except that with the agnosia, we can’t remember where she is and go meet her.”

“Meeting Cherish would be a grave error,” Coil spoke.

Very much so, yes.

“Just put us in contact with her, then?”

“Tattletale informed me of your code.  You remember how it’s put together?”

The one that’s like “frog A”, “leaf C”?

“Yeah.  My memory’s fine, it’s just my ability to identify people and remember stuff about them that’s fucked up.”

Tattletale glared at me.  Right.  She didn’t like swearing.

Which is still interesting, seeing as she doesn’t make a fuss about it when unaffected by the miasma.

Did she not like swearing before becoming a villain, but stop bothering people about it because of something about one of her teammates that she can’t remember now?

“Then, using a name we’re both familiar with, D-gangrene.”

*looks up gangrene*

*immediately regrets decision*

Why the fuck is that your go-to for this?? What color does that even mean – it causes skin coloration to change to red or black, but the image has a lot of green too…

(Also, I’m assuming D is for Dinah.)

“I can’t remember names.  I don’t think I can use the code.”

“Troubling.  You must understand my predicament.  For all I know, you’re a third party using Skitter’s voice to make the request.

Right, that’d be an issue.

With shapeshifters, empaths and other methods of coercion, I have to be very careful about the dissemination of information.”

Yeah, that’s fair.

Maybe you can ask Taylor about her important deal? She ought to remember making one, even if she can’t remember whom it was with and whom it was about.

“Skitter,” Coil answered the phone.  “I’ve been made aware that Bonesaw has deployed the ace she had up her sleeve.”

“Bonesaw is one of the Nine?”

“Yeah.  Agnostia… Agnosia-inducing mist.  Permanent, according to Tattletale.”

It makes you agnosic, not agnostic. Big difference.

“I see.”  I could hear the sounds of typing on a keyboard.  “Agnosia… Panacea can’t reverse the effects?”

I like that we’re getting essentially confirmation for my other thought that I failed to mention: That Coil might have to look it up.

“She’s not here.  We’re trying to find her.”

“And you need Cherish for that, I suppose.”

Looks like Coil is on point today with understanding the plan.

I was grateful that he was supplying the names, because it meant I didn’t have to bog down the conversation by remembering or asking.  Grue, Tattletale and I had brought them up recently enough that it wasn’t a huge leap to remember their names.

Coil, helpful as ever.

The woman who I’d tied up with the spider silk was walking towards us.

Alright, now this is what Lisa was supposed to pay attention to.

It kinda seems like the miasma has caused her to trust too much in her power. “My power says so, so she’s definitely a member of the Nine! Oh yes, I’ll certainly know if she follows us. I know everything!”

Her progress was hampered by the decoys.  I kept my mouth shut.  It wasn’t an imminent problem, and I was more interested in gauging just how far gone Tattletale’s power was.

Does she do anything to the decoys?

Also, another possibility that’s been nagging at the back of my mind is that this is Cherish, but that doesn’t make much sense. Cherish would use her power to change Brian and Lisa’s minds away from killing her, and she’s not the type to effortlessly break out of the spider string.

…incidentally, I’m not sure whether or not the woman being Cherish would count towards her being one of the Nine like Lisa’s power said. I haven’t really been considering her and Shatterbird members of the Nine since not too long after it was made clear the Nine wouldn’t take them back (as long as Regent lives, anyway).