“This is strict recon.”

“And the people we’re doing recon on are dangerous.”

True.

“True.  But we’ll have escorts,” she led me into another room: hers.

Escorts? In the form of more Coildiers?

A quick glance around showed that a section at the back was curtained off, while the front had a desk with a computer, a bank of phones and two television screens.

Sounds like an alright place. Not as cool as the Hive, but not bad.

“Escorts?” I asked, as the door closed behind us.

“Like dates for a really fucked up prom.”  She worked her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans and dialed. She held one finger up for me, telling me to wait and be silent.

Or maybe she’s in touch with some existing Merchants, asked them to guide her and her friend into the meeting? But I guess there’s no reason to trust those to be any less dangerous than the rest of the Merchants once they’re in.

It took a moment before she spoke, “Minor?  I want you, Senegal, Jaw and Brooks in my office.  Civvies.”

Sounds like employees, yeah.

“Knowing where we’re going, I doubt the air’s that fresh.”

Heh, good point. Probably gonna be quite a bit of drug stench, and other unpleasant smells.

“It’s a saying, kiddo,” she smiled.

“I know.  I’m just a little worried about there being trouble.  I…” I lowered my voice, all too aware that Lisa’s computer guys could see me unmasked.

Oh yeah, good point. I didn’t even think of that. Better keep your exact relation to the boss on the down-low.

I didn’t want them to connect the dots.  “…just feel uncomfortable without my stuff.”

Yeah, that’s fair, whether you mean here or in the Merchant den.

I guess going without gear means we are indeed going for the “attending” route. I approve. That’s more interesting to me than spying from a distance.

A man from the crowd behind me shouted his response.  Lisa waved me behind the counter and led me through a door.

“Surprised you aren’t running this place,” I told her.

I guess either she is and part of the front it making it look like she isn’t (we know Tattle isn’t – or at least wasn’t – terribly concerned about secrecy of identity, based on Interlude 8a, so I could see her being fine with some of Coil’s employees knowing it), or she’s genuinely just working and living in a pre-established shelter, working with people who don’t know who she is. That said, Coil said she’d have pre-hired employees, didn’t he?

“Too obvious,” she answered with a smile.  She threw one arm around my shoulders.  “And this lets me be right at the center of things.  Information from the people who are out there every day, watching.”

Makes sense.

“Good setup.”

“And it gets better, because I have this.”  She opened another door.

Ooh…?

The room was small and it was hot with the running computers that were crammed into it.  Six people were seated at different points in the room, each with their own computer.  Two more computers sat unoccupied.  The walls were scattered with photos, maps, printouts and post-its.

Yeeah, there’s no way everyone who works here, in the shelter as a whole, isn’t a Coil employee.

Black tape joined these elements together in a bizarre configuration that looked like part tree and part maze.  All of our enemies were up on the wall: The Merchants, Fenrir’s Chosen, the Pure, the Protectorate, New Wave and the Wards.

I thought it was traditional to use red threads for things like this.

There were pages relating to something Lisa was calling Case 53.  Dragon was up there, as was Scion.

Ooh, Lisa knows about Case 53 now. That could have some interesting implications – if Wildbow wants Upsilon to take on a more of a direct role later in the story, this detail could be useful.

The Slaughterhouse Nine were on a bulletin board, but Hatchet Face’s picture was crossed out in red marker.

Oh. Huh. Are they down to seven now? Although it’s also possible that they’ve got new recruits bringing them back up to eight or nine.

“Impressive.”

“I’d like to think so.  With word-of-mouth and gossip from the crowd out there and the web info and the concrete data in here, I’m pretty in touch with all that crap.

No one is more in the loop.

Except it’s tiring.  I’m feeling the beginning of one of those headaches I get when I use my power too much.

Ouch.

So you and I are going out for some fresh air.”

That sounds good to me!

She was still smiling when she turned my way.  “Lost and found?  Want to check how your neighborhood’s doing?  If you’re looking for someone, you can leave a photo.  Every night, I’ll be taking digital photos and sending them to the other shelters.”

Hehe. Sure, let’s leave a photo. We’re looking for someone named Works-here-Lisa Wilbourn.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.  “I’m here because a friend invited me to a party.”

A party, you say? Why, who around here would throw a party under these conditions?

She winked, then shouted, “Dimitri!  Take over for me!”

Nice, let’s go.

So, Lisa, is this actually your base of operations? It seems you do at least stay here over nights, at least.

“Okay,” the woman answered with a note of sadness in her voice. “That’s all I wanted.”

Sounds like you want something more, though I don’t think Works-here-Lisa can give that to you. Not without help, anyway.

“Things will get better,” Lisa promised, smiling gently.

I like your optimism. 🙂

The woman smiled back in return, glancing at the open area of cots and displaced people.  With a light laugh, she said, “I suppose they have to, don’t they?”

Ehhh, I don’t wanna say we’ve hit rock bottom with no way to go but up just yet. That just sounds like an invitation for the Slaughterhouse Nine to come in and fuck things up even more. Or one of the other Endbringers, for that matter. Pretty sure they’ll show up at some points (my guess is Simurgh next, Behemoth last), though perhaps not in Brockton Bay.

“That’s the spirit.” Lisa grinned.

But yes.

The Boardwalk and surrounding area?  Green marker, ‘Skitter: Low threat, free supplies?’

Nice.

I looked and noted that Tattletale’s area was partially blocked in by black marker.  According to the map it was contested by an overlapping of Grue’s territory and the Merchants.  Red pins marked some of the areas.

Wait, Grue’s territory overlaps with Tattle’s? That seems like an odd decision.

I supposed that made sense.  If she left her own territory empty, it would be conspicuous, and it would be strange to mark it as Tattletale’s when she hadn’t done anything noteworthy to claim the space.

Ah, right. Keeps people out of the territory before she claims it.

“Where did you say your house was?” Lisa asked the older woman.

“Dewitt and Pagne.”

Do it and pain?

Lisa turned and found the area on the map.  She held the marker so it hovered over the spot.  “And they’d moved in?  You’re sure?”

“They’ve been there for four days, as far as I can tell.  I’m afraid to get too close, but there’s always people there.”

Ah, I see, she’s gathering information on recent Merchant movements. Nice.

Lisa colored in a small section of the map with yellow highlighter, extending the size of a nearby block of the Merchant’s territory.  “I know it’s small consolation, but at least now others will know to steer clear.”

Yeah, this map – besides probably being a thing she’s also doing for Coil’s benefit – is a good idea.

I headed to the front desk where a crowd of people had gathered.  The desk itself was a simple construction of unpainted, unvarnished wood.  The people were wet, dirty and didn’t look to be in the best of health.

This is really a case where the people reflect the city.

Just like how people from Las Vegas are covered in bright lights and casinos.

Lisa was at the end of the front desk furthest from the front doors, wearing the same orange vest and name tag the other staffer had been.  Her hair was in a french braid, with a few strands hanging free.

Hey! 😀

She was talking to a woman who might have been fifty or sixty.  A large black and white map of the city had been stapled to the wall behind the counter where Lisa was working.  Colored pins marked various spots on the map, and areas had been outlined and shaded in with markers and highlighters.

Hm, interesting. Used to show people where to go for other shelters, perhaps?

Words were written in the boundaries of these sections.  Many areas were marked with yellow highlighter, with the words ‘Merchant Territory: Very Dangerous!’, blue marker, with the words ‘Chosen Occupied: Avoid!’, or variations of such.

Nice. I was thinking the shaded areas could be areas difficult to traverse due to ruins and such, but this makes sense too.

“Works-here-Lisa or Staying-here-Lisa?” he asked.

Heh, neat distinction. I’m guessing our Lisa is Works-here-Lisa, but it could go either way, and I suspect Taylor might guess wrong if Lisa didn’t tell her.

“Both?” I guessed. 

Pfft.

Watch as there are two Lisas and this poor guy has to go fetch both of them, only for Taylor or our Lisa to have to dismiss the other one.

“Front desk.  If she’s not there, wait.  She’ll probably be in the back getting something for someone.”

Eh, fair enough. I suppose Works-here-Lisa does count as both, given that she stays here too.

Way things were these days, cops were letting things slide as far as concealed and openly displayed weaponry went.

As I was saying.

People needed protection, and so long as the armed didn’t break the rules about using the weapons on people who didn’t attack them first, most people wouldn’t give them much trouble.

Yeah, makes sense.

Some shelters wouldn’t let you in with a weapon, of course, but some did, and others disallowed firearms but let other weapons slide.

Seems reasonable enough, I suppose.