7.3

Cutscenes - 7.3 Emily

February 9, 2011, PRT HQ - Brockton Bay, 4:13 PM

Some people thought Emily hated parahumans, this wasn't true. She simply believed that any person or thing should be handled with an amount of caution which is proportionate to the amount of danger it represents. Parahumans simply represented a much higher danger than normal people, and that was that. Those who have never experienced that danger firsthand would never understand her cautiousness.

This especially applied to other parahumans, even scientists agreed that having powers changed your worldview - which was a diplomatic way to say it fucked your head up. Which is why the majority of parahumans thought of her policies as draconic, never aware of how much can go wrong at a simple misstep. Cape casualties were not statistics to her, they were real people, with real lives and families, who fell victims to the violence either committed or backed up by capes. Said capes who mostly thought of it as a game.

Consider 16 year old Park Wu Wei, ABB recruit, who succumbed this morning to his 3rd degree burns from Lung's stray fireball in the fight two days ago. She could bet her career on whether Maker, Swarm, or even Armsmaster was aware of it, forget Lung. If this was a regular gang clash with some cops, the kid would probably at most have just a few broken bones.

And now with both Lung and Oni Lee under arrest, along with almost 30 ABB members, the Azn Bad Boys had lost the majority of their firepower. Already there were reports of E88 members invading their territories, picking fights and terrorizing citizens despite the heavier BPPD presence there. As usual, every silver lining has a cloud attached to it.

The Archer's Bridge Merchants weren't mobilized yet, but soon they'd also make a move to take over as much ABB territory as they could. This was looking like a grade A clusterfuck just waiting to happen. If she'd be able to even dampen the nigh inevitable gang war, she'd consider it an achievement.

To add insult to injury, the allegation of Thomas being Coil. There was no love lost between her and Thomas Calvert, not after what the man did back at Ellisburg, but he was a good strategist, and had Q level clearance. His sudden running off had been a cause for concern, she even had Dragon verify that he was indeed spotted going to Munich and entering a PMC office building. She already had his direct access handles revoked the day he sent that letter. Now after this bit of revelation, she would have to call for a security overhaul which promised to be a bureaucratic nightmare considering the amount of classified pies the man had his fingers in. Not to mention the silk-gloved reaming she was going to get from the Chief Director for not spotting it earlier.

In the midst of all this, there was the stack of transcripts and the reports she had in her hands, two more capes. Two more players of the collateral damage game. As if there was a lack of capes in this godforsaken city. And these two were the type who thought they could change the status quo in three quick moves, and sadly, had the power to attempt it.

People with superpowers are dangerous. Unstable people with superpowers are more dangerous. But apparently stable, competent, idealistic people with biological superpowers? That's the recipe for an S class impending disaster, the thought sent chills through her spine.

Emily masked her shudder with an exaggerated sigh as she set the papers down and looked up, her assistant had long learnt to read her moods, so the girl was quietly waiting at the desk, she gave her an 'out with it' stare.

The assistant handed her another report, "Ma'am, both Armsmaster and Miss Militia have been cleared after level-2 priority-2 M/S screening. Armsmaster has also cleared the extra medical scan, Dragon has assisted with her readings of him."

Emily nodded, "Send them in." The girl hurried off.

Emily stacked all the reports spread in front of her and set them aside neatly. Then she took a deep breath and composed herself, focusing on the ever present pain in her stomach, strange what things become a calming presence. It always pays to portray the image of being on top of things. Honestly, with all the goings on, it was the least she could do to avoid spreading the tension amongst her staff.

Armsmaster and Miss Militia arrived, "Director." "Ma'am." She gave them sharp nods and gestured at the chairs, all of them were brute-reinforced. They took the seats. She looked at Hannah.

"Miss Militia. Give me a quick summary of your overall impression of team In venatus." Of course they chose a fancy sounding latin name.

Hannah replied promptly, "Experienced, highly intelligent, strong sense of ethics, extremely dangerous but low chance of turning against us."

"What do you think of their ages?"

Hannah took a moment to think, "Their language and vocabulary is extremely matured. But something makes me think they're young adults."

"I agree." Emily nodded, the faintest touch of warmth in her voice. This is why she liked Hannah, one of the few capes whose people senses and skills hadn't been fucked over even after getting such dangerous powers. It was possibly due to her wards upbringing combined with the eidetic memory.

Emily turned to Armsmaster, the warmth gone from her voice, "Armsmaster, run me through their tentative power ratings and threat assessments with justification."

Colin's mild grimace vanished, Emily knew he hated repeating himself to give summaries after submitting reports, which did include concise summaries. This was much more up his alley, "Swarm, potential Class-A threat, Case 53. Main rating Master/Shaker 8 for control over insects over a large area.

"Subclassifications: Thinker 3 for being able to discern sounds and shapes wherever she has enough insects in her range. Stranger 3, because she doesn't need to form the body to be present somewhere. Breaker/Brute 2, because only something like a tactical nuke can destroy all insects in half a mile radius area simultaneously - though she doesn't have any physical strength to speak of. Finally, Striker 1 because her bugs have been known to carry other chemicals than venom, like paralytics and sedatives."

Armsmaster paused to let the information soak in, then spoke again, "Maker, potential Class A-threat. Dual main classifications, main power rating is Tinker 8, because he possibly can understand, reproduce and create designs for mass production of tinkertech by turning it into conventional tech. Also because he is a limited biotinker." His expression was definitely not pleasant while declaring that rating.

He continued, "Main threat rating as of now is Brute/Mover 7 because he can appear or disappear from anywhere, definitely move faster than peak-human, also can take a punch from a 16-foot transformed Lung without apparent damage and create a sword which could have easily decapitated Lung at that stage.

"Subclassifications: Striker 6 due to construct weaponry and contact-incapacitation - do note that he does not need direct skin contact, because he healed me through my gauntlets. Blaster 3 because of kinetic and electric blasts. Finally, Trump 3 because he can scan and study powers and possibly reproduce them, also because he claims to be Master/Stranger proof."

Armsmaster took a deep breath after finishing. Emily did not give any acknowledgement that she was listening throughout the explanation, because they would be wasted upon Colin. When she did speak, there was a definite edge to her voice, "Wouldn't you add a master rating to that?"

Armsmaster looked confused, "Maker? Why?" Miss militia's brow had a slight furrow too.

Emily's voice took up the consistency of ice, "Because apparently he can convince the leader of Protectorate ENE to break protocol and be a guinea pig for untested power application in a non emergency situation. That too a biotinker power."

Colin gulped, "It has been vetted by Panac-"

Emily slapped the desk before he could finish that, "I don't care!" She exploded, "I don't care if Scion writes a book about it! Unless our testing team clears it, it's untested!" Colin looked startled, the furrow in Hannah's brow had deepened.

Emily continued, "Do you realize he could have killed you on touch and vanished into thin air? Both of them can do that. He's known to be friends with Panacea, her vouching means little. They didn't even have an official psych eval report before that meeting. Do you realize what kind of a blow could that be to the Protectorate?"

Both Colin and Hannah looked uneasy, Emily didn't relent, "All a newly discovered cape needs to incapacitate a regional head of the Protectorate - is to sweet talk an independent cape to vouch for a power and then show up for registration?" Her tone softened, "Is that the kind of organization we work for?"

Colin looked subdued, "Apologies, director, I'll ensure this kind of breach doesn't happen again." Hannah's expression was neutral, eyes slightly wide, Emily hoped she understood the magnitude of threat this kind of behaviour represented.

Emily sighed, "Please do. And no, I'll not authorize Maker to scan everyone else right now. You'll undergo a full medical every week for the next four weeks, once we're sure there are no sleeper effects of Maker's healing, then I'll reconsider.

"Besides, he's already got multiple powers, no need to give him fodder to add a few more to his repertoire until we're sure of his motivations. I hope you do realize that both of them were obviously lowballing the extent of their powers. That's a given. And I did make a note of the odd response from the Think Tank. See if we can determine whether his M/S proof shielding also shields from the kind of thinkers that make up the Threat Assessment team in the Think Tank." Colin's mouth was agape, Hannah's eyebrows almost touched her hairline.

Emily refrained from rolling her eyes. This was the kind of logical inference that capes completely overlooked. They assumed powers to be infallible to begin with. She merely smirked and continued, "Regardless, we will keep him in the list for emergency healers during the four weeks." Her voice took a more calculative tone as she had a distant look in her eyes, "And with the kind of trouble that's brewing in the Bay, A lot can happen in four weeks." She noticed Miss Militia give an almost imperceptible nod.

Colin nodded, "Understood, director. Does that embargo also apply to the future tinkering sessions that Dragon and I have planned to include Maker in?"

Emily shook her head, "No, it doesn't, just make sure you don't work on any major offensive technology. And I would like to have a word with Dragon when she's free." Emily knew she could schedule a meeting just by emailing Dragon, but she also knew asking Colin to do it made it happen much faster.

"Understood." Colin sat still for a few moments, then nodded, "She's available now."

Emily gestured at the videoconferencing screen on the wall. "Put her on then." the screen turned on and Dragon's face was visible, "Hello Director, Miss Militia."

Emily didn't waste time on pleasantries, "Dragon, may I ask why the PRT is getting only 25% of the profits from the sales of this new chip instead of 50% as per contract on joint projects?"

Dragon smiled, it wasn't a very nice smile, "Because the contract is for joint projects between PRT funded Protectorate, Ward or Affiliate Tinkers, where we share half of our profits with the PRT. Maker is neither, and though the design is originally ours, he's the only one who can produce those chips, so we had to form a contract as soon as possible and I had to offer 50% profits to him. As per contract, you're getting half of our shares. And if I had not offered that contract on the spot, Maker would be free to produce and market those chips himself."

Dragon continued in a more conciliatory tone, "Though for future projects where I can take up the production too, I hope to give you better shares of profit. Even so, my projections on the profits of our continued work are estimated to boost PRT ENE's budget by at least 30% within the next quarter."

"That's good, provided Maker plays ball." There was a lot she could do with the expanded budget, maybe even bring the Bay to some semblance of order. But that was all speculation, there were more important things afoot, Emily turned to Armsmaster and Miss Militia, "I have some classified things to discuss with Dragon, you may excuse yourselves back to The Rig."

Both of them nodded and left. She turned back to the screen, "So what did you find out about Coil?"

Dragon's expression hardened, "About half an hour ago I received the detailed report from Swarm, Armsmaster and Miss Militia are copied, the PRT is not copied for obvious reasons. Compared to my independent investigation, it all matches up, Thomas Calvert is Coil. I also have been able to get six of his incarcerated mercs re-interrogated heavily, only two cracked, they're all professionals. Anyway, their testimony also matches up. He was apparently playing in much bigger leagues than we thought he was. He actually had a multi-level underground base! Swarm conjectures that he has some sort of selective precog power.

"In venatus tried to capture him but he escaped, leaving a body double at the base. I checked the location of the base given by the mercs, it was apparently registered last week, as a private property owned by a shell corp, which is cleverly linked to Invenatus Inc., Swarm and Maker's company. And a lot of illegal businesses linked to Coil have recently either turned legit or shut down. They actually have taken over his infrastructure and turned it legitimate, above board and airtight."

Emily grimaced, "So not only are those two are powerful, they also have the money and resources of a villain gang?"

Dragon shrugged, "More like ex villain gang, but yes. Coming back to Coil, Swarm has also provided the names of three PRT officers in different departments, two who have been moles for Coil and one for the E88. For now I've made sure that the report is marked classified and will not be circulated anywhere near those departments, but how do you wish to deal with these informers?"

Emily was almost grinding her teeth, right under her nose for so long. She took a few more deep breaths, "Dragon, those three, and any others you may find suspicious of being a mole or close to Calvert - I want their Random Quarterly M/S Screening to coincidentally fall tomorrow. I'll take care of the rest." Funny, this was a measure introduced by Calvert himself during one of the initial security consultations he did.

"Understood, director. If you wish I can also go through their private communications and draft questions for the interrogations."

Emily's lips twisted in an unconscious predatory smirk, "That'd be nice of you, please do so. I'll assemble a house-cleaning team."

Dragon matched the expression, "Of course director, anything else?"

Emily thought for a moment, "What do you think of the new capes' team name?"

Dragon smiled, "'In venatus'? It's a wordplay, common online translators give the translation from Latin as 'In the game' which is inaccurate, the actual translation means 'In the hunt' which is more to the tune of a vigilante team. However, Zeros Invenatus is the biological name of a species of shore flies, insects commonly found in the beaches of Brockton Bay."

"Awful lot of thought they put into it." Emily mused, then her eyes narrowed, "And Dragon, just in case we need to bring them in quietly or make them join up. What kind of leverage do we have on them? Remember this is a classified discussion, so don't mind the unwritten rules."

Dragon's expression sombered, "Director, all we have is their connection to the two civilian families associated with the Winslow incident." Emily grimaced at the mention, that was another clusterfuck, she'd been glad to transfer out that bad apple, but the internal shitstorm was bad. She'd had to reinstate regular therapy sessions for all wards and mandate heavier oversight on their handlers, not an insignificant drain on the budget.

"Ahem." Emily was roused from her thoughts, Dragon's expression was almost admonishing now, "As I was saying, they've categorically refused protection for those families, and why not? Just the presence of Swarm in the area would spot any threats from blocks away. Apart from that, we have Maker's habit of breaking legs during takedowns. We can try to make a case of excessive brutality out of that, but the doctors have noted that the breaks are actually very carefully made to cause minimal pain unless someone tries to stand up. And they heal without any problems after about three months of being in a wheelchair with leg casts. Honestly the police find them much more docile to handle. But yes, we can make a case. We can also try to raid Coil's base, I doubt we'll find anything illegal there anymore, but it's worth a try."

Emily was looking somewhat hopeful, she really didn't want those two to be without proper oversight. One was a biotinker who was already experimenting on bugs, the other was... bugs. She couldn't think of any good things about that combination. However, her train of thought was slammed down by Dragon's next statement.

"But if you try to use any leverage on them, do remember that they're aware of both Shadow Stalker's and Coil's identities. And to quote Maker, they only honour the unwritten rules," Dragon made air quotes, "'because it's polite', honestly, director, as of now, they have much more leverage on the PRT than you have on them."

Emily looked like she'd swallowed a bug, "Just keep an eye on them Dragon, they're potentially very dangerous."

"No doubt they are dange-" The conversation was interrupted by the intercom buzzing.

Emily raised a hand at the screen and thumbed the button, "Yes?"

"Director! Oni Lee has broken out!"

"How?! Sitrep!"

"No casualties. No structural damage. Corporal Valdez was on feeding duty, the ABB broke into his home, held his wife and child at gunpoint and called Valdez to undo Lee's blindfold and point him to the nearest window. The corporal surrendered the moment he was sure his family was safe. He says the escape happened about five minutes ago. The ABB left his house about a minute ago."

"Shit. Dispatch troops to secure Valdez' house, and double the guard on Lung's cell."

"Copy that. Lung is in the underground brute reinforced cell under heavy sedation, sending extra guards anyway. Anything else director?"

"No. Keep me posted." Sadly, this drill wasn't new for her, every time they managed to capture a villain, four out of five times they broke out somehow, repeated requisitions for better containment facilities has always met budget constraints and fallen flat. At least there were no casualties or damage this time.

She turned back to the screen, "Can you track him?"

Dragon's face was turned away from the screen. "Already checking the feeds." she soon turned back to the screen, "Sorry director, he peppered the surrounding area with decoys, I couldn't track him after eight teleports."

Emily sighed and massaged her temples. She'd need to go for dialysis soon, this meeting had gone long enough.

A/N: Next up, one of the Dallons, any requests?