“Do you understand why we have gone to this trouble for your sake, Weld?  Why we are testing your ability as a team leader in a crisis such as this?”

I guess so that he’ll be ready when he graduates to the Protectorate?

“You’re grooming me,” he replied.

“Yes, but do you understand what we’re grooming you for?” she pressed.

He knew, but he assumed she would prefer to explain.  Besides, how she explained would inform him a great deal about his new boss’s personality.  “Not really.”

I mean, fair.

I’m thinking they might be trying to prepare him for not only being a Protectorate member, but potentially a Protectorate team leader.

“You likely know Director Armstrong in Boston, how he tends to prioritize research and understanding parahumans.  I concern myself with more concrete affairs.  Public relations, parahumans as a part of America.”

Ah, yes, if I recall correctly, Piggot’s first appearance was characterized by her concerns over how the incident at the bank would look for the Wards.

In a more serious situation, such as when he was out on patrol, he could force parts of himself to melt and drop off, leaving a piece of himself behind, but it made him distinctly uncomfortable – pain wasn’t the right word – until he replaced the tissue he’d lost.

Yeah, that sounds quite… icky to experience.

More often, he preferred to just tear the offending piece of metal from whatever surface it rested on, whether it was a segment of chain link fence or a hubcap.  Whenever he did it, he’d have to spend as much as an hour dissolving the metal and absorbing it into his body.  Either way, they were only emergency measures.

Sounds annoying to deal with.

Which wasn’t to say he was weak.  Being made of materials and alloys as strong or stronger than steel from head to toe made him practically untouchable in a fight.  In addition, his biology fell into some optimal middle ground between organic and inorganic.  For those whose powers affected only living things, he counted as inorganic.  The opposite was also true.

Huh! That makes him immune to a lot of powers that could otherwise be used directly on his body. Most, in fact.

Although now we’re back to organic versus inorganic and the Manton effect being an objective thing, as opposed to my standing theory of the Manton effect being a subjective block based on what the wielder perceives as alive (the theory introduced in Interlude 5). In fact this sounds like pretty solid evidence against the latter interpretation. Hrm.

…I wonder if this also applies to Hookwolf.

“I appreciate the thought,” he told her.  His physiology had the unfortunate drawback that he couldn’t help but attach to and absorb metal he touched.  While it had been crippling when he’d first been found, dumped in a junkyard, he had learned ways around it.

…I was going to talk about the idea of Weld accidentally setting back some construction work by weeks or months by leaning on a metal framing, but then a much more important thing showed up here.

“found, dumped in a junkyard”? Have Upsilon been at it again?

He could rearrange the metals that formed his body, separate them into their composite elements, and he extended this particular trick to push all the impurities in the metals out to his ‘skin’.

So I guess if he really wanted to, he could have a silver tongue.

The impurities, unlike the metal that composed the rest of him, didn’t bond, giving him the ability to handle things with his hands and teeth if he needed to.

That’s nice.

It didn’t always work – at least once a week there was one embarrassing moments where he bonded with someone’s wedding ring during a handshake or bumped into a shelf display – but it helped.  Clothes helped as well.

How do you even break that to someone? “Hi, nice to meet you, and I think I just absorbed your wedding ring, sorry about that.”

“Good to hear that.  All that said, I have asked your teachers to make special arrangements, reducing expectations toward your homework, provided you are not struggling in any subjects.  The Wards program will also provide tutors should you need them.”

Sounds good.

“Okay, cool.”

“You’ll have time to get into the swing of things without worrying about school, as the high schools are all currently shut down for repairs and to allow time for thorough investigation of the premises.  When the schools are open, we’ll have you take three courses and attend first year classes on parahumans at the University, if that suits you?”

It’s clear they’ve got this all planned out.

“Perfect.”

“You’ll be living in a private room in the Wards headquarters, and you’ll have a monthly allowance of four hundred dollars in addition to the money put into your trust account by the program.

Not bad!

We expect you’ll spend this allowance on necessities, such as food and clothing.  You do still eat, yes?”

“Yes,” he answered her, bending the truth.  While he did eat, it was a negligible amount.  

I can’t help but think of the Iron Giant, which naturally makes me imagine Weld eating scrap metal.

As he saw it, there was no real harm done if he pocketed some of that extra money and said he spent it on food.  Given that his tongue was made of an alloy and the pleasures of food were a shadow of what they should be, it was only fair that he enjoy himself in some other way.

Yeah, that’s fair.

Man, imagine if Wildbow had decided to make Weld a skilled liar. He could’ve said his tongue was made of silver.

He knew that some staff back in Boston had caught on, but they hadn’t said anything.  Director Piggot here gave him the vibe that maybe she wouldn’t be so cool with it.  He’d be more careful until he knew for sure.

Yeeah, Piggot doesn’t stand for unregulatory bullshit.

“Your quarters have been checked and double checked, so there is no exposed metal, no screws, nails, frames or pegs.”

It really does sound like his power involves absorbing metal on touch.

“Okay.  I’ll have this memorized by the end of the week.”

“I expect you will.  That brings us to more mundane matters.  You’ll be enrolled full-time at Arcadia High School.  It’s close to the Wards headquarters, and your teachers have been informed about your special nature.

Alright, looks like the map I was given not having the school was based on speculation by Ridprime due to the path Leviathan took on the map.

I’m afraid there’s no easy answers as far as your appearance and how the rest of the student body will react to you.”

Yeeah, metal skin isn’t exactly conducive to a secret identity.

Weld looked down at his hands.  His body, from skin to hair to bone, was all metal and alloys of varying types.  “I’ve dealt with it before, I’ll manage.”

“We can’t enroll you in the co-op program, as your absence would be noted, and would draw attention to others who are using the co-op program to mask their attendance in the Wards.

Unfortunate. 

It won’t be easy, attending high school full-time, keeping up with your coursework and leading the team in your off hours.”

Yeah, this sounds like a lot of work.

“It’s fine.  I don’t have to sleep much, anyways, so it’s good to keep busy.”

…fair enough.

…I’ve been using the phrase “I suppose” a lot over the last few posts, haven’t I.

“Their leader has made overtures to us, offering cooperation in helping us regain control of the city.  We have refused her for the time being.  If she approaches you, you are in no way, shape or form permitted to agree to any deals.”

Hm, interesting. I suppose Purity does just want a good, intact place for Aster to grow up.

“Noted.  Let’s see…  Coil, powers unknown.

Shame, honestly. I would’ve liked to see how they’d classify what he does.

The Travelers have high ratings on their powers, but their crimes are low end, pretty much.  There’s the Undersiders… three Master classifications in one team.”

Huh. I suppose Regent and Bitch fall under Master too.

It’s interesting that the PRT doesn’t seem to be aware of Taylor leaving the Undersiders yet. I mean, sure, they haven’t seen much of the Undersiders since the attack, unless there’s been another time skip, but they at least have reason to suspect that might be the case, even if they can’t necessarily share that reason with Weld.

“So a big priority will be safeguarding incoming supplies from relief efforts, protecting key areas of the city so it can recuperate from the disaster.”

“Yes, for the time being.”

Makes sense.

“Let’s see, the next group is… Fenrir’s Chosen?”

Okay, this one I don’t remember hearing about before. Are they new?

Fenrir is a name heavily tied to the apocalypse (specifically the Norse apocalypse, Ragnarok), and that’s exactly what the Endbringer attack was for the city. An apocalypse.

“One of two major offshoots of the Aryan villain group, Empire Eighty-Eight, which fell apart after the death of their leader, Kaiser.  

Oh, it’s one of the E44s… did Hookwolf nab control over that and change his name, or was there another wolf villain around?

Fenrir’s Chosen are led by Hookwolf.  Violent, utterly merciless, and reveling in the current chaos.”

Ah, well, half right. Didn’t change his name.

But yeah, a wolf taking charge after an apocalypse? The Norse allusion makes loads of sense.