“Yes, Charlotte?” I asked.

“Um,” she was taken back a little.

It was Charlotte after all! What a twist!

What’s up?

“There’s this place here with two families, and they’re in the middle of packing up to leave.  I thought you’d want to know, in case they were gone before we came back at noon to eat and tell you about it.”

Ahh. Yeah, that makes sense – Taylor bug-sensing a bunch of people leaving the area right after her minions stopped by might give her the wrong idea.

But then there’s another question: Are they leaving the area because of Skitter’s takeover? Or just joining the droves of people evacuating the city as a whole?

“That’s fine.  What’s the problem?”

“Rats.”

Aw, rats.

Of course.  The trash would offer a steady diet to vermin, and the flooding would deter many of their natural predators.  The rodent population had exploded, and it could easily be getting to the point where it was interfering with people’s daily lives.

It clearly is, if it’s actively driving them out of their homes.

“Their neighbors have the same problem?”

“We haven’t been able to get any of them to answer the door.”

Brockton Bay isn’t in a state that’s conducive to people trusting strangers knocking on their doors, especially ones wearing masks.

…try again in October?

Once those big issues were resolved, a lot of the smaller ones could be attended to.  Too many problems came with large numbers of people spending the majority of their time wading ankle-deep in water that was swimming with warm garbage.

Sounds about right. We’ve seen some of those already, but I’m sure Wildbow has more examples to throw at us.

Time passed quickly, what with my focusing on the costumes, Sierra and Charlotte, arranging the cleaning up of the area, using bugs to sweep for troublemakers in my vicinity and experimenting on a smaller scale with dyes and costume options.  I had a smaller collection of Darwin’s bark spiders that Coil had procured for me in a specialized terrarium to emulate the hot temperatures they were used to, but I couldn’t use them to make anything until they had given birth to at least one new generation.

Why’s that? To make sure you have reserves if they should die? Or are the specimens you have too old to properly use, or something?

When I did, though, I expected that the fabric they created would be as superior to the black widow’s work as the black widow’s silk was to conventional cloth.

Damn, that’s good fabric.

There wasn’t much room for error with the small number Coil had provided, so I was being careful with the breeding process.

I wonder how much research Taylor had to do on Darwin’s bark spider breeding and how much comes naturally to her from her power.

My cell phone rang, and I knew from the bugs I had placed on the two girls that it was Charlotte calling.  That, or someone else had coincidentally phoned me the same instant Charlotte dialed on her phone and raised it to her ear.

Oh yeah, that would be another good way of getting Taylor’s attention without bug signals. Not sure why I didn’t think of that.

When I wasn’t occupied with that, I focused on Sierra and Charlotte.  I checked their surroundings, discreetly screened nearby groups of people for weapons.  I marked each door with symbols to count the people inside, notified the girls if people were armed, and I put a circle on doors that they were to visit, an ‘x’ on doors they should skip.

An x-shaped bug swarm: The poor villain’s lamb blood.

A lot of people were ignoring the knocks.  I let them be.  After a few days, if they were still ignoring my minion’s attempts to talk to them, I’d maybe give them a bit of a nudge or leave them a message using my bugs.

They come downstairs to find ’SUP on their living room wall.

That ought to let them know you don’t just ignore the Skitter.

Apparently overwhelmed with the requests from his various rulers of the Brockton Bay territories, Coil had started delegating some of his people to act as intermediaries.

Hm, realizing you promised a bit too much, Coil? Or are you actually just busy protecting your base against future Slaughterhouse intrusions?

I got in contact with Mrs. Cranston, the intermediary he’d designated to me, and outlined what I needed.  Waste removal was a big priority, as was clearing out the storm drains so the water could drain from the flooded streets.

What, and make an area in Brockton Bay dry?

*grumbles at Interlude 11c for weakening that running joke by introducing a dry spot*

(But hey, at least Labyrinth fixed that.)

I let her know that my services were available if she wanted help identifying where the blockages were, or if the trash removal teams needed protection from interference.

The bug-o-”vision” can be really damn useful.

Charlotte now served under me out of a mixture of obligation and fear, but I wouldn’t feel secure in my reputation until I’d divorced Skitter from that image of a weaker, abused Taylor.

Fair enough, I guess.

I worked on all five costumes at the same time.  Low-level multitasking was either a minor benefit that had come with my powers or, more likely, a skill I’d developed in the half-year I’d spent micromanaging thousands or tens of thousands of bugs at the same time.

Yeah, that’s a thing we’ve been subtly seeing Taylor get better and better at. Keeping track of all the bugs within range at once, directing multiple parts of the swarms at a time, that kind of thing.

I didn’t need to expend any focus on the simple task of laying out the thread, and the only time I really had to pause to give them direction was when it came to the creative input and the more complicated tasks of deciding how everything fit together.

Insects may be decent tailors, but fashion designers they are not.

I could only make some calls on style and what would suit the respective recipients’ tastes when I’d made enough progress and seen the groundwork laid out.  Where I could, I used my bugs to model ideas and options, forming possible shapes for masks, collars and armor panels.

Hah, that’s neat.

The pair had spent some time with their families before returning to my lair.  I’d been anxious in the meantime, worrying they would have second thoughts or turn me in, wearing my costume and waiting in a nearby position in case capes converged on my lair.

I can’t blame Taylor for worrying about being double-crossed by a new recruit who wasn’t originally villainously inclined. The idea sounds… familiar.

I’d been both gratified and relieved when they’d returned.  One hurdle crossed.

Unless of course someone’s playing the long game, like Taylor was.

I don’t think either of them is, but it’s something worth considering, though Taylor has enough to worry about.

Both Sierra and Charlotte had seen me bleeding, when I’d come back from rescuing Bryce.  It sounded so minor, but I didn’t want them imagining me as hurt and mortal when they were supposed to trust me and look up to me.  What bugged me even more than that was the fact that Charlotte knew my secret identity.

Yeah, if one of them were to betray you, Charlotte would be able to do the most damage.

I was fairly certain she would keep it to herself, but she’d seen me as Taylor.  She’d seen me at what was perhaps the lowest point in my life.  From a distance, but she’d seen it.

That’s also a good point. If you really want to be someone who doesn’t show weakness, having been seen getting shoved into a locker probably isn’t ideal.

But are you sure not showing weakness is really the best way to go about this?

I missed staying at the loft, when things were easy and I was free.

RIP the Loft.

I was happy with how things were going with my new recruits, but I was realizing that living with them would mandate changes to my lifestyle.

Gotta sign a roommate contract and everything!

There were appearances to maintain, and I couldn’t be seen slacking off or being a slob.  I couldn’t sleep in or put off my shower until later in the day.

Ahh, yeah… she has nowhere to be Taylor. Even out of costume, even when she’s up in her private quarters, she has to be Skitter, for her minions.

Tying the times at the Loft to freedom makes more sense with that in mind.

I couldn’t let myself collapse in a sweaty heap after a hard morning run.  I’d woken up at six in the morning to be sure that I could run, shower, dress and look like I was on top of things by the time they were up.  After a late night, it left me feeling a little worn around the edges.  I harbored some concerns about my ability to help Dinah if this kept up.

It’s as you said to Sierra. You’re a human underneath the mask. Maybe after a while, you can let yourself begin to let that show more.

Then again, there are more recruits a-coming, and the more she gets, the less she’ll feel she can do that.

It’s the pressure of being a boss, and it’s the pressure of being a ruler. Two slightly different, but very similar things.