The clouds of bugs that were gathering in the center of my territory were starting to cast a visible shadow on the area.

Even without letter shapes, that’s practically a humongous sky sign.

“This whole area is now under the shadow of Skitter!”

They weren’t the only bugs I controlled.  I had others on separate tasks.

Like scouting, I’m guessing?

With a number, I created barriers, heavy clouds in alleyways and across streets.  My motives here were purely selfish – I laid these barriers between the southmost end of the old Boardwalk and the Docks because I didn’t want my dad entering the area.

Nice.

My gut told me that if he got a good look at me in costume, he’d know who I was.

That could very well be the case. Especially if he also hears you speak. I think Danny is a man who’d recognize his daughter’s voice anywhere.

Besides, it didn’t factor into my plan.

Sure, tell yourself that’s why you don’t want your dad caught in the crossfire of whatever you’re doing here.

This was different.  This time, I wanted attention.  This time, the city was a breeding ground for the bugs.  Warm, moist, and filled with food.  This time, I was gathering everything I could and I was covering a lot of ground. 

Oooh.

Even if she doesn’t actually form a humongous sky sign, this ought to do almost a good a job of alerting everyone to her presence and strength.

We’d been driving for fifteen minutes around the perimeter of what I hoped would be my territory, gradually closing in towards the center.  I found the bugs closest to the edges and sent them toward the middle.  Of the ones that could fly, I had them gather overhead.  It was more bugs than I’d ever controlled at once.  My power seemed to crackle in my head as I drew in and interpreted all of the data.

Daayum, nice work.

Just, don’t overexert yourself to the point of backfire or sensory overload.

I was almost convinced I would finally see the upper limit of my power.  That I’d reach for more bugs and realize I couldn’t control any more.  It didn’t happen.

Oh wow. I guess Regent isn’t the only one who’s more powerful than we realized. Taylor does have a range restriction (possibly increasing), but seemingly no upper limit to how many bugs she can control at once – that, or a really high upper limit – so if she just gets a shitton of bugs transported into or bred within range, she might be able to control all of them.

In a way, it was good that I wasn’t engaging in conversation.  It let me focus on what I needed to – my bugs.

Either she is preparing for conflict, or she’s doing something else with the bugs. Maybe they’re her scouts to avoid conflict?

Generally speaking, there were two routes I tended to go.  The first put me in one spot, drawing my bugs from the area.  A three block radius made for a good number of bugs.

Three blocks? With the exception of those times her power was doubled for some mysterious reason, the figure we’ve heard before was two blocks. Does this mean her power has gotten stronger with practice over the last two months, or are there just smaller blocks around here?

Also I guess the other route she’s about to mention is driving around and turning that circle into a snake, thereby amassing more bugs (like she did in Agitation and Hive)?

Hm, maybe she intends to claim her territory by assembling a humongous swarm and making it into a sign in the sky, saying something like “All your base is belong to Skitter!”

Doesn’t explain the need for the supplies or soldiers, but that might be for something meant to go along with such a sign.

The second situation came about when I’d taken the time to gather a few select bugs from here or there, while covering a whole lot more area.  I’d done it before the bank robbery, to get a prime selection of bugs.  I’d also done it before we attacked the ABB the first time, with the other groups.  Never enough to draw attention.

Exactly. She even mentioned the examples I thought to add to my commentary just before moving on to this quote!

The masks also, I noted, did a good job at hiding the identities of the six men and two women.  If it weren’t for that, I’d think Coil was trying to be funny, giving the hazmat crew to the bug girl.

Heh.

Whatever image I conveyed, whether it was in the role of a leader or as a potentially dangerous villain, it had given me elbow room.  Coil’s employees had chosen to sit, cramped together, closer to the rear of the truck.  I sat atop a crate with my back to the truck’s cab, watching the road behind us.

It’s pretty clear that this whole individual base thing is functionally a promotion for each of the Undersiders. I doubt it’s random that this happened so soon after Extermination, from a metatextual perspective – after Leviathan’s attack as a climax for a supposed part 1 of the story (it’ll be easier to see if that’s an accurate description in retrospect), it makes a whole lot of sense to start shaking up the status quo a bit, by first adding Imp to the group, then revealing the true extent of Regent’s power, and now having Skitter and the rest sort of “graduate” from the Undersiders. I know they’re still a team and will be working together again, but they’re much looser-knit all of a sudden and now can start leading their own groups under the Undersider umbrella and Coil.

In other words, after the end of part 1, it’s time for part 2 of Skitter’s career.

A part of me wanted to converse with Coil’s men and get to know them.  Another part of me, a larger part, told me that I shouldn’t.  I had to convey power and confidence.

I suppose so, yeah. Though a friendly boss can be quite effective too, being respected is important either way.

I wasn’t sure I could do that while making small talk.  With much the same reasoning, I’d chosen not to help with the loading of the truck.

That’s fair. I don’t think Taylor is all that great at small talk anyway, so doing so confidently could be difficult.

The men Coil had sent me were dressed up in the same outfits worn by the cleanup crews I’d seen around the city, picking up debris, trash and dead things.

Neat. Seems like a fairly solid cover if needed.

They wore heavy plastic one-piece bodysuits, made of a material I compared to those heavy-duty industrial rubber gloves that my dad kept under the sink, each in blue and yellow.

Swedish bees!

The suits were loose-fitting, and only the upper halves of their faces were visible behind the clear plastic goggles they wore.

The goggles do nothing to dissuade me from thinking about bees.

Their mouths were hidden by the filters intended to prevent mold, dust and airborne pathogens from getting into the worker’s lungs.

Seems like a pretty decent getup for the workers.

The interior was loaded with the supply crates that I’d had Coil’s guys load into the vehicle.  Each set was strapped together and tied down to the floor and sides of the truck with belts.

Supply crates, huh? Maybe Skitter’s aiming for a more benevolent sort of control over her territory, a sort of Robin Hood deal where she steals from the good guys on behalf of the civilians who can’t compete with the villains to get supplies?

There wasn’t much room for the seven of us in the back, and we’d been forced to sit on the crates with little legroom.

Doesn’t sound particularly comfortable.

Another option is that they’re trying to lure out the Merchants by passing as a supply vehicle, but if that were the case, why would she bring actual supplies and soldiers without weapons?

I mean, maybe she’s very confident in her own abilities and doesn’t want anyone to get shot, Merchant or not, but it seems naïve not to ask for gunmen if she’s actually expecting a conflict. Naïve is not a word I’d generally use to describe Taylor.

Water sprayed in the truck’s wake as we cut a path through the flooded streets.

At a certain point, you gotta start questioning whether a car is still a car or if it’s more accurate to call it a boat.

We haven’t quite reached that point yet, fortunately. Especially fortunate since it only works with the few cars that, y’know, float.

It was a military vehicle.  I wasn’t one to know much about cars, and I knew even less about stuff like military vehicles, so I couldn’t put a name to the truck that was carting me and eight of Coil’s workers through the Docks.

Right there with ya.

It was like a sturdy pickup truck, but the rear section was wider and it was hidden beneath a green tarp that had been stretched over a framework of metal bars.

Well, at least the description sounds sort of familiar.

The tires were massive, with deep treads allowing the truck to navigate all but the most cracked sections of road where Leviathan had brought the underground pipes and drains through the surface.

Nice.

That’s better. Less windows involved.

Hi! Welcome back to the livebabble! Tonight, we’re going out with Skitter and her borrowed goons to lay claim to some territory, whatever that actually entails. Chances are we’ll also run into the Merchants by the end of the chapter, though I don’t think Skitter actually intends to.

I don’t think there is much more to say here, so without further ado, let’s dive into it!

wait, no