Coil returned to the end of the complex furthest from the entrance, entered his quarters.  He paused at his computer to check his emails and the latest news feeds.  Nothing crucial.

Do you reckon Coil ever made one of his alternate reality selves take the time to reply to a blatant Nigerian Prince scam just for fun (like James Veitch likes to)?

He divided realities.  In one, he stayed at his computer.  In the other, he entered the room reserved for his pet.  “Good morning, pet.”

I have a feeling the numbers are going to be different. Exactly why, I don’t know, but I have a feeling they’re going to be higher this time.

“It’s morning?” she groaned, sitting up.  “I thought I just finished dinner.  Candy?”

“You know my morning questions.”

He already knew the numbers – he noted they had barely changed, as she rattled them off – but if he always canceled out the reality where he asked her for the chance of any danger in the morning and never asked again because it would be redundant, she would never remember.

Ah, yeah, that’s a good point.

Even a mind like hers had its limits and boundaries.

…I mean, it makes sense. Her power looks forward, not back to realities that quite possibly don’t exist anymore.

The man nodded, correctly interpreted the order as a dismissal, and hurried off.

You generally don’t want to incorrectly interpret an order as a dismissal.

That left him with the one remaining assistant following after him.  Cranston.  “Anything urgent?”

“No, sir.  The businesses you purchased are still struggling in the wake of the catastrophe, but we’ve received insurance payments-”

Oh man, the insurance companies must be having a hell of a time after the Endbringer attack.

I have no doubt that and other parahuman antics are used as excuses to run the costs of insurance policies through the roof, though. It’s probably an even more lucrative business in the Wormverse.

“Good.  We’ll discuss it later.”

“Yes, sir.”  Cranston hurried off.

Lots of hurrying off going on here. Did Coil forget to put on deodorant or something? 😛

“He’s still here, if you want to talk to him.”

“Let the boy rest.  He’ll be tired.”

Hehe.

“Yes, sir.”

“Ensure the girl has a double ration for this morning.”

“The costs-”

“Are my concern.  With her sleep disturbed, she is liable to be… cranky.

That’s certainly one way of putting it.

Let’s ensure she has little to complain about.  And Mr. Pitter?” he paused, “Speak with Duchene about the construction the second she comes in.  I want that door on the lower level reinforced.  Extend walls inward and put in a second door, if you have to.

It did seem like it might give in with a couple more attacks.

Schedule any construction for the middle of the day, so we aren’t interrupting her sleep again, but I want it done as soon as possible.”

All around a good way to handle the information from that other reality.

“-dersiders are otherwise occupied, so you’ll be supported indirectly by the Travelers.  Captain Heroux?  How fast can your squad be ready?”

“Captain Heroux” is not a name I’d trust if I were a villain.

“We’re ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

“Good,” Coil spoke.  “Be ready, I’ll have orders for you in less than an hour.”

“Sir.”

Guess they’re leaping into it pretty soon.

Coil turned, leaving the captains to their assigned tasks.  He glanced at Mr. Pitter, “The Travelers’ quarters are all set up, I trust?”

“Yes.  We just installed the heavy door in the middle of the night.  Noelle was agitated enough that we had to call in Trickster to calm her down.”

“I see.”

Yeah, he just did literally see that, but it never happened.

Her scream sounded through the intercom system, “That’s just more poking and prodding and theories!  You promised us you’d fix me!”

The first step to fixing a problem is identifying it, Noelle. He’s working on it.

Punctuating her statement, there was a bone-rattling impact against the vault door.  Almost every soldier on the lower level stood or turned to face the doorway, hands on their guns.  Dust spilled out  from the joins where the concrete walls met ceiling.

Hm. Looks like whatever this is made her strong enough to actually warrant that door.

Irritating.  Nothing more was going to come out of this conversation.   At least he knew the one thing he’d sought to find out: she was getting worse.  He used his power, obviating the reality with the raging girl in favor of the one where he was talking to his soldiers.

Well, okay then.

At least Trickster gets his beauty sleep.

Coil raised an eyebrow behind his mask, gave Mr. Pitter a glance.  The man hadn’t reacted.

“Eh, fair enough. I’m just doing my job.”

Trickster diplomatically didn’t comment on Mr. Pitter’s presence nearby.  Calmly, he spoke, “We’re working on a solution.”

“You’ve been working on that for a month now!”  She began to shout, which only added to the gravelly quality of her voice, “Fix this!  Fix me!  You did this to me, Krouse!”

What the fuck happened to her??

“Noelle,” Coil spoke, controlling his voice, “Trickster is not to blame.  At the next possible opportunity, I will be inviting an employee of mine to speak with you and the rest of the Travelers.  Her power will provide hints.  I’ve also been in contact with the head of parahuman studies at Cornell.  An expert in the field.”

Hmmm.

If Noelle is not the pseudo-shapeshifter, maybe she’s a civilian friend of Trickster’s who has a trigger event recently and gained a power that’s messing with her body and mind?

Although Trickster’s formerly nomadic nature does make it unlikely for him to have any long-time friends in Brockton Bay, unless this is where he started out.

Also, it seems like that possibility would be fairly easy to figure out.

So it absolutely sounds like Noelle’s seen better days.

“Coil wants to speak to you.”

There was a pause.  “Okay.”

Coil stepped forward so he shared the camera with Trickster.  “Noelle.  I’m sorry the construction work disturbed you.  We shouldn’t have been doing that so late in the night.”

I suppose it makes sense that that would make her “agitated”, though there’s obviously something more to it.

“You locked me in,” Noelle accused him.

“For your safety, and ours,” Coil spoke.

So she is captive, though in a different sense than Dinah.

What happened here? Did her power go haywire or something?

“You agreed to this,” Trickster told her, “We talked about it.  You asked us to do this.”

I… see.

I guess it’s more than her power. Maybe her mind is getting affected by something?

“I know.  I-  I didn’t think it would be this claustrophobic.  Or lonely.  I swear I’m getting cabin fever and it’s only been a few hours.”

Trickster opened his mouth, then closed it.  When he finally found the words to say, he spoke, “You can call me any time.”

Aw. 

I feel like we’re seeing the more caring side of Trickster. He’s kind of an abrasive jerk a lot of the time, so I like that.

“Except when you’re doing a job.”

“You can talk to Oliver, then, or Mr. Pitter.”

“Oliver’s still busy talking to you guys, and Mr. Pitter creeps me out.”

Oliver? Another member of the Travelers, I presume?

“Indulge me.  Would you like me to wait while you wash your face?  Get dressed?”

“If we’re just going to talk to her, and if you don’t have anything else for me to do, I’ll probably go straight back to bed, after.”

“As you wish.”

I mean, fair enough. Even without being called in at 5 AM, being a villain probably isn’t conducive to a normal sleep cycle.

(Unless you’re Hawkmoth from Miraculous Ladybug. He seems to have a fairly normal sleep cycle, since most of the action, which he starts, happens in the daytime. Which also makes it kind of odd that the English dub opening begins with “In the daytime, I’m Marinette” as if most of her time as Ladybug isn’t also in the daytime.)

Trickster pulled on a black bathrobe, cinched it around his waist, then stepped onto the metal walkway.

“Is there at least anything I can tell her?” Trickster asked.  “Anything encouraging?”

I don’t know, but the fact that you need to ask is not encouraging.

“Nothing definitive.  I had intended to introduce Tattletale from the Undersiders to this situation, ask her for her opinions.

Okay, that makes it certain, Noelle and Dinah are separate people. Tattle definitely knows about Dinah, and Coil is aware of that.

That is, if she doesn’t already have some idea of what’s going on.  Either way, her talents might turn up some details we have missed.”

I wonder if Coil has informed the Travelers about what Tattle’s power is.