7

Chapter 7: Drop 1-6

Author's Note: So, here we are at chapter six. It must be said that I seem to have some sort of flair for hydrokinetic powers and devices as I keep imagining more and more shit that Taylor can slap together, ranging from the comical to the 'Holy shit!' range. Hopefully my beta will stop me from anything too outlandish (even for Tinkertech) but no promises here.

To answer a question from…was it two chapters ago? Probably. Anyway, no, I will not be changing the name of this fic. It will become evident why a few chapters down the road…Ok, more like a good dozen or so, but you get the idea.

Anyway, to business then. Four of my stories, After the Chamber: Lord and Ladies, Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion, Swordsaint and Zero no Tsukaima: Saito the Onmyōji have TV Tropes Pages, which I must admit is rather flattering for me. Granted, one of them is on a long hiatus, but it is nice to see. If anyone wishes to add to them, please do. I check in on them and I find it fascinating to see what I've put in my fics without knowing about it, consciously at least. And if you spot another one of my fics on TV Tropes, let me know.

Please read and review! Check out my profile for my other fics and please check there for my update schedule, preferably before you ask in a review or a PM.

Beta'd by BigCC.

"Damn you Sophia!" – Speech

'Why Emma?' – Thought

Drop 1.6

+++Taylor Hebert+++

It had taken inhuman strength of mind! It had taken an unequitable amount sheer willpower! It had taken unbridled determination! But I did, in fact, settle for setting up the materials containers so that Amphitrite, my new VA, could churn out some basic things overnight, as well as slapping some patches on the holes that had let water seep into the hold, then sending the water in the hold into another one.

Make no mistake, I wanted to start Tinkering, but I needed to get my workshop set up and secured before I could let myself fall into a Tinker Explosion. Plus, the one item I wanted to make more than anything else required Kevlar to make, so I would have to wait until Dodge could deliver it before I could really get stuck in.

In her database of stock designs, Amphitrite had some security cameras that could be concealed pretty easily. They were about the size of a nickel and could adhere to almost any metallic surface, even nonmagnetic ones. It made my eyes widen when I realized that the one who had designed them had been the Tinker who was almost as famous as Dragon, Masamune.

Masamune was the only Tinker to have ever lived who could design and mass produce Tinkertech without maintenance issues or other problems. Even his designs could be used by other Tinkers without a problem.

I had to wonder how Toybox had acquired some of his designs. Had they paid him for them, or was it an exchange of services? Had he given them freely in order to help new Tinkers or had they been stolen? Given how fairhanded Toybox had been with me, I doubted that they had stolen them themselves, but I could see them buying them from someone else who had done the deed themselves.

Anyway, in addition to the cameras, I got my new Virtual Assistant to build a wireless modem and router so she could access the net. Again, it was something in her design database and it had enough encryption and defensive programming built in that it would need Dragon herself to hack into it, or at least two other code or electronic specialized Tinkers working in sync.

Toybox really did give fair value for trade goods.

Heading back to my house was something I hadn't wanted to do, but I had forced myself to. I hadn't brought my notebooks or sketchbooks for one thing, and it was quite late for another. If Tinker Explosions were as bad as Dodge made them out to be, I wanted plenty of time to get it out of my system.

Speaking of time, I mused as I jogged along my street quietly, I really should find a quicker way of getting to and from my base. The running was all very fine and dandy, but it just wasted way too much time every night. My Tinker specialisation was, to put it in a single word, water. As long as it had anything to do with water, whether using it, manipulating it or working with or around it, I could design and build it.

High pressure water cannon? Already had a design for it.

Dehydrated water? Yes, it sounds contradictory but being contradictory is one of the least offensive things Tinkering can do to normal logic, and I already had a way to do that.

An Anti-Hydrokinesis Field Generator and Focusing Array? Got one already designed and ready to be built and it only peripherally had something to do with water.

I already had the blueprints all nice and ready for a set of hydroelectric generators that functioned by sucking manmade impurities out of the water and using them as fuel.

I also had the initial plans for a base that would initially be hidden within the wreckage of the Evermore. And from there I had more and more ideas on how to expand to eventually take up the entire sea floor within the Boat Graveyard (and underneath it as well).

Could I create a water-based vehicle? Hell yes. Just thinking of it and I had three rough designs floating through my head, waiting to be brought out and brought to life.

A grin crossed my face as I snuck into my bed and started to fall asleep. Things were going be very different in the Bay once I got set up.

The Next Day

"Morning Dad!" I called out cheerfully as I snatched toast out of the toaster and started spreading it with butter, "Sleep well?"

Dad blinked at me blearily as he shuffled into the kitchen. He really wasn't a morning person if he'd had so much as a single beer the night before. Alcohol also made him sleep the sleep of the dead, which was another reason he rarely drank, save an almost habitual trip to the bar with some of the other Union workers once a month.

"Morning, Little Owl." He mumbled before yawning as he sat down and started to dig in to his breakfast, "You seem cheerful this morning."

"Had a nice dream last night." I said. It wasn't a lie, per say; I did have a nice dream once I got in, but I was simply not telling Dad everything. Lying by omission was the easiest way to deal with Dad, although even that made me feel a bit guilty.

"That's…that's good." Dad said, interrupted in the middle by another yawn, "Any coffee on the offer?"

"Three, two, one…yep." I grinned, having guessed that Dad would wait before asking. As I said 'yep', the coffeepot boiled and I picked it up, pouring a cupful of the stuff (I wasn't fond of it myself, me and mom both preferred tea) before replacing it on its stand.

"Here you go." I handed him the cup before sitting down and digging in to my toast. I normally had cereal of some description for breakfast, but I wasn't that hungry this morning, so toast it was.

"Ahhhh!" Dad eagerly gulped down the hot liquid, "Ambrosia."

"You should really dilute it with milk." I half-heartedly scolded him, "It's healthier for you that way."

"The second cup, yes I will." He agreed, "The first cup though…that has to get my neurons firing again, so I need it black."

I rolled my eyes at that. It had been something that he and mom had argued about. Mom insisted that white coffee was good enough to wake him up by itself, with Dad insisting with equal measure that he needed at least the first cup black.

I missed her so much.

"So what's on the schedule for today?" I asked, trying to divert my thoughts away from that downward spiral. Things were looking good for me now; I didn't need another bout of depression to ruin it.

"Hmm? Oh, just more prep work for the factory contracts. That reminds me, they start next week. Can you have a lunchbox ready for me to pick up on my way out in the morning?"

"Sure." I agreed, "I'll leave your dinner in the microwave for when you come back too."

"Thanks, kiddo." He smiled at me before hurriedly finishing his breakfast, "Well, I'd better get going. Have a good day, Taylor. Have your chemistry supplies arrived yet?"

"No. I'm going to call the company to confirm they were sent on time." I scowled. They had cost a fair amount, including the postage, so they'd better have sent them out on time.

"Let me know if you need some parental backup on that." he nodded seriously, "Some of these companies don't take teenagers seriously."

"For good reason, I suppose." I sighed. Most teenagers, including myself sometimes, were idiots. I was just a little bit cynical about people my own age at the moment.

After Dad headed off, I got ready and went out shopping. I had some things to prepare for tonight and I needed supplies.

First, a sealable waterproof bag to carry my notebooks and sketchpads out to the Evermore. Thank you, military surplus store.

Second, a bunch of replacement tools for the rusty, useless and potentially dangerous ones that we currently had in the house. Dad hadn't been able to find any second-hand ones with the Union, so I had thrown all the ones we had at home in a bag to take to my base to break down for materials and made a list of what I had thrown out. Saws were easiest to get, as they wore down fairly fast and were far more disposable than other tools. That I bought new, the rest coming from a second-hand shop.

I was on my way to the third stop on my shopping trip when I bumped into someone and was knocked on my ass. Looking up, I saw that I had run into Glory Girl again…or rather, into Victoria Dallon as she was out of costume.

"Sorry!" she apologized as she extended a hand to help me up. When I took it and she pulled me to my feet, I saw that her sister Panacea, Amy Dallon, was with her.

She cocked her head when she looked at me. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" she mused.

"You beat up a couple of Merchants who tried to drug me." I reminded her, "Near a bus stop?"

"Oh…Oh yeah!" she brightened as she seemed to remember the incident, "Yeah, those guys are real scumbags. Had any trouble with them since?"

"Nope. Thanks again for your help." I said sincerely.

"It's the hero biz." The gorgeous girl shrugged, "Oh, this is my sis, Amy. Amy this is…?"

"Taylor Hebert." I filled in.

"Taylor." Victoria nodded firmly, as if she hadn't just been told my name.

"Nice to meet you." Amy nodded politely at me, "Shopping?"

"Home essentials." I nodded, "I'd better get going. I still have to do my daily schoolwork when I get back in."

"Nice seeing you again." Victoria called after me as I hurried off. It was nice to speak to her, when she wasn't hitting me with her aura.

+++Amy Dallon+++

"She seemed pretty nice!" Vicky said as she waved at the retreating back of Taylor Hebert.

"I guess, although she didn't really say much." I replied with a small shrug. She did seem to be legitimately busy, so it wasn't really rude of her. Something she said popped up in my mind though. "Did she say daily schoolwork?"

"Oh yeah, she said last time that she was homeschooled." Vicky shrugged as if it wasn't important. And to be fair, it wasn't really. I had heard that Winslow had been gutted of upwards of sixty students, so I had wondered if she might be one of them.

"Maybe. Wouldn't blame her if she was." My sister answered when I voiced the possibility, "I've flown by the place and it's a shithole. Most of the students are either a member of the gangs or they're from poor families who have to put up with that crap. And I could swear that a couple of ABB and Empire bozos that I've busted have been students there. If she isn't a gang member and she got outta that place to homeschool herself, all the more power to her I say."

I smiled as she spoke. This is what a lot of people missed when they dealt with Vicky. Yes, she was headstrong, brash and more than a little reckless, but she was also sensitive, insightful and smart. She wasn't a bimbo, regardless of what some people called her.

"We'd better go, sis." I said, using the short form I rarely used, "My shift at the hospital starts soon."

"OK, Ames." Vicky said, a slight look of worry on her face, "If you get tired though, give me a call. I'm honestly worried by how much time you're putting in healing nowadays."

My gut started churning. If I cut back, Carol would give me another lecture on Cape's responsibility with their powers and I would feel bad and up my hours again-

"I'll be fine, Vicky." I told her, forcing a smile onto my face, "Tell you what, how about we go and get a smoothie or something after I get off shift?"

"You're on!" that blinding smile came out, the one I'd do almost anything for.

"It's a date then." I said with a far more honest smile.

+++Taylor Hebert+++

Hebert Residence

After Finishing Self-Study Work

I had rushed around to finish my shopping after meeting with the Dallon sisters. I don't know why. I haven't committed a crime, aside from maybe squatting in the wreck of the Evermore, so I didn't have anything to worry about.

A part of the reason was, I suspect, Amy Dallon. PHO said that she had the ability to totally understand the biology of anyone she touched. Even although she reputedly couldn't affect the brain, she had stated on several occasions, again according to PHO, that she could in fact see the brain with her power. I honestly didn't know if Parahumans had any kind of physical differences in the body or the brain, but if there was, Panacea could likely detect it.

I had no desire to let anyone know that I was a Parahuman. The likelihood of Panacea, of all people, breaking the Unwritten Rules was minuscule to the point of ignorable, but I wasn't going to take any chances. So hands away from the world's greatest healer unless I was dying or something.

My phone call to the company that I had bought my chemistry supplies from had been slightly irritating because they kept me waiting for ages and I had to listen to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees twice. They had shipped my stuff, but it had somehow gone missing en-route. They would of course supply me with a duplicate order at no additional coast and many apologies, blah, blah, blah.

"What a pain!" I muttered as I organized the bags I was taking to my base. The bag of tools, the sealed bag full of my sketchbooks and notebooks…was there anything I was forgetting? Ah, yes!

I grabbed the new alarm clock that I was planning on using to, hopefully, get me out of my Tinker Explosion if I sank too far into it. It was a simple clockwork one, but hopefully it would jar me out of my fugue state in time to get home before Dad woke up.

Tidying the bags away into my cupboard, I set about making dinner, which was handmade meatball marinara with spaghetti and parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top. I had tweaked the recipe a bit so the marinara sauce was more like the kind I used in Mom's recipe for lasagna. A bit of herbs added here, a bit less tomato added there…it was surprising what a little change of ingredients could do to a recipe.

Dad, when he got in, loved it. It hit his palate just as cleanly as mom's recipe had and it was a good thing I knew he liked parmesan cheese. The best part was that I could freeze the leftovers and reheat them for his lunches every so often. Win-Win in my book.

"Taylor, I have no idea how, but you are just as good at cooking as your mother was." Dad announced with a satisfied sigh after he finished, "Seriously, that was something right out of your mother's cookbook. How'd you get it so close to Annette's recipe?"

"I've kinda memorised it." I admitted freely, "Adjusting Italian dishes is easy because Mom liked cooking them a lot. If it was, say, an Indian curry, I'd have to experiment a bit to get it right."

"Well, whoever you end up marrying will be a lucky guy…or girl." Dad nodded.

Ever since Legend came out as gay (to the despair of his legion of fangirls), homophobia had hit an all-time low, in America at least. I was pretty certain that Mom had been bisexual, or had at least experimented back in college and Dad, while as straight as a die, didn't care about sexuality. So long as it was between two consenting adults, it didn't matter to him.

"That'll be a long time coming I think Dad." I said with a sigh, "After the shit that Winslow put me through, I think it'll be a while before I'm willing to trust anyone to get close to me like that again."

One particularly cruel prank that had been played on me by The Trio had been a boy asking me out, and then dumping me in front of the whole school a week later. I honestly didn't know if I was straight, gay or swung both ways, but I was too hurt emotionally to make a good decision about it. I was able to recognise that much.

Dad looked at me sadly. "I'm so sorry that I was too wrapped up in my own misery to notice what you were going through, Little Owl."

"It's fine Dad." I shook my head, "Everything's getting better now. I'm out of that hellhole and work's getting better for you. Here's hoping this trend continues!"

I mock-toasted him with my glass of water and he returned the favour.

"Just so."

Later

The easiest way to lull Dad to sleep is to either get him to drink alcohol or stuff him with good food. Dad wasn't a glutton or anything, but he did appreciate well cooked meals as much as the next person and they always made him sluggish, leading to him going to be early and not waking up until his alarm sounded the next morning.

It was because of this that I had sharpened my cooking skills and it was why I could be confident that he would remain asleep while I was out of the house, unless something happened near the house.

Humping the two bags of stuff to my base was slightly more tiring than I expected, but not as much as the pre-exercise me would have found it. Hell, I would have been exhausted halfway through the jog to the Boat Graveyard.

Thanks to my little swim to the Evermore, I had time to think about the whole 'getting to my base without being seen and quickly' problem and decided to see what Amphitrite could dig up regarding the Bay's storm drains. I knew that the city had an extensive drainage system, a remnant from more prosperous times, to deal with the heavy rains and storms that often hit the area. Depending on the size of the drains, a modest bike or scooter could be converted to run in them, maybe?

"Greetings, Riptide." My VA said in that pleasantly soft voice of hers as I entered the cargo hold her main unit was in.

"Good evening, Amphitrite." I replied, "Have all of the items on your list been fabricated?"

"Affirmative." The cool voice said and I saw the external lights of the computer unit come on and illuminate the autofab. It was one of the devices given to me by Toybox as part of the 'basic' new Tinker package. It could rapidly assemble devices such as these mini-cameras as long as they were a Masamune-design, non-Tinkertech or a relatively simple design. The autofab itself was a creation of Masamune.

"Excellent." I nodded, "And the router and modem?"

"Manufactured, but still requires installation in order to be brought online."

It was relatively simple to set everything up, as the housing of Amphitrite's unit was modular, with several plates that could be removed for extensions or add-ons. Modems and routers were one of those frequent add-ons, apparently.

"OK, begin activation." I ordered when it was set up. The lights on the functional modem and router glowed to life as they were powered on.

"Activating…running security firewalls…" Amphitrite stated, "Scanning frequencies….connecting to the internet. Connecting…done. Encrypting link…done. Testing connection and encryption…done. I am now fully connected to the internet, Riptide."

"Nice." I said approvingly, "Now, can you tell me what the difference between you and an AI is?"

"I am a VA, a Virtual Assistant, sometimes referred to as a VI, or Virtual Intelligence." Amphitrite replied, "A VA such as I can be programmed to emulate human emotion, speech patterns and appear to be sentient and sapient. However, that is all I can do. I cannot grow beyond my programming or adjust it. An AI is usually able to update its base code in response to new stimuli or data and can grow beyond what its creator intends for it to be. Theoretically, it is possible to turn me into an AI by the installation of numerous modules, extra processes and other programs and files, but the end result, if successful, would not be me. 'I' would not be that AI. 'Amphitrite' the VA would be subsumed into the AI that was born from her. In any case, no instance of VA-to-AI upgrading has ever been recorded as successful."

I blinked. That was a very thorough explanation. "Is this in the Frequently Asked Questions section of your briefing or something?"

"Yes."

That would explain it. A lot of people would be interested in 'upgrading' their VA into an AI. Putting a standard warning into the explanation would make sense, as the likelihood of any updates succeeding seemed to be somewhere between slim and none.

"OK then." I said, "Search online and download the blueprints for the Evermore's ship class. Display it on your screen and pinpoint areas to cover with these cameras so no one can enter without being seen by them."

"Compliance." The screen on the side of the computer's hull flashed into life and a schematic flashed into existence. "Query: Was the Evermore sunk via holing of its hull?"

"Yes, one large hole at the waterline of the prow, as well as all of the bilge pumps being left open." I answered, nodding in approval. She may be a VA, but whoever had programmed Amphitrite had made her very thorough in her duties, as well as able to anticipate possible problems in those duties.

"Recommendation: Repair hull breach."

"Not until we have some kind of hard-light projection system that can make it look as if the hole's still there." I said, the designs for one popping into my mind as I spoke, "It'll take a while before the Evermore is anywhere close to being as secure as I'd like it to be, so our first and best defence is secrecy and concealment. We're right on the outer edge of the Boat Graveyard, a place no one pays any attention to or goes near, so that's pretty good as concealment in the first place, but we have to be careful. This place is listed as being one of the patrol areas for New Wave and I do not want them to know about this place, because the first thing they'll do is tell the Protectorate that a new Tinker's set up a workshop in the Boat Graveyard. If that happens, it's only a matter of time before the gangs find out about me. No, we're going to set up these cameras, then build hard-light hologram generators so everyone sees what we want them to see. Then we'll start making this old tub a fortress."

"Processing...plan of action logical." Amphitrite said after a moment, "Marking locations on map for optimal camera coverage."

I smiled. It was time to get this show on the road!

Later

I came to lying on the floor, with a persistent metallic ringing in my ears. Looking around blearily, I saw the source of the noise; the alarm clock I had brought with me. Damn, I wish it would shut up…

Wait.

"Crap!" I shouted as I stumbled to my feet. It was four in the morning?! Why the hell was I still here?!

Then I looked around at the hold and gaped. It had changed greatly.

Instead of the rust-dimpled, peeling paint-covered steel, the walls were a shining silver material that I vaguely recognised as something designed to coat metal in a similar way to stainless steel, although instead of slowing down rust, it devoured and replaced rust. Pretty soon, the entire ship would have its bulkheads, keel and every other metallic surface replaced by it. I had invented it just last night.

My eyes swept the room, coming to rest of Amphitrite's central unit, which now had an odd device on top of it. It looked like a blue globe suspended in the center of a ring that was held aloft by four equidistant struts around its circumference. Inside the globe was a blue liquid that I somehow knew drew in warmth from the surrounding air via convection in order to power the globe…which was a holographic display unit.

The globe hummed as it powered on and a beam of white light erupted from it, making me flinch away and blink furiously to cleat the spots from my eyes. When they cleared, I gaped again, this time at the figure shown by the projector.

It was a female figure, olive-skinned and definitely Grecian in origin. She was tall and thin, standing half a foot taller than I was and wore a pure white toga, with sea-green and gold trimming at the edges. Her feet wore gladiator-style sandals and she carried a slim silver trident in one hand. Her hair was a slightly lighter brown than my own and she wore it in a tight bun, with a golden diadem surmounting her head. Her eyes were a deep blue that was in no way natural and she had aristocratic features that were slightly intimidating.

"Mistress Riptide." She bowed her head slightly as she spoke, "I thank you for furnishing me with this projector. I did my best to construct a suitable avatar based on my namesake, but there is precious little even on the internet regarding what she looked like or wore historically, so I took more than a few liberties. Does my form please you?"

"Y-yes…you look…wow." I managed to get out before I got more neurons firing. Guess I was at least appreciative of how girls looked if my scatterbrained response to her appearance was any barometer.

"What projects did I finish?" I asked, trying to get my head screwed on straight.

"The anti-rust metallic spray, this hard light hologram projector and several smaller emitters that can be installed at hey points around the Evermore to ensure that the correct appearance is displayed to onlookers and casual observers." My VA listed, "You also scanned in the contents of all of your notebooks and sketchbooks into my memory banks. You made plans to create a hard light holographic interface, but you needed to build something to do with water next, so you built a wrist-mounted water cannon instead."

Puzzled, I looked at the table nearby and saw what she was talking about. It was a blue glove-like device that was long enough to fit on my arm up to just past the elbow. At the wrist, there was a bulky white collar or shackle-like protrusion that was at least six inches long and an inch and a half deep. Looking at it, I knew that most of that space was full of compressed water canisters that could each hold several liters of liquid. The nozzle sticking out of the center of the device atop the wrist could have its aperture changed to any size from fully open to as thin as a needle with a twist of the switch on the reverse side.

"OK, wow." I muttered. There were several issues that I saw with the Aqua Blaster (temporary name) at the moment, but they could wait for now. "I need to head home before my Dad wakes up. Amphitrite, did I say how quickly the anti-rust coating would spread?"

"I believe you said it would take the better part of a month for it to spread enough to replace the entire ship's metal." The VA answered, "There should be no external signs of the replacement until you can emplace the emitters and scan the exterior for the hologram template, both for day and night. An excellent addition is that any holes in the hull should be sealed over by the coating as well, using excess mass from the rust consumed."

Well, that's one relief. "Is it made of nanomachines?"

"No, it is a highly complex chemical compound that spreads over a metal surface and specifically hunts down and consumes oxidized parts of that metal." Amphitrite stated, "From what you said, you specifically created this compound to coat steel with. It should have no effect on other metals aside from iron."

Strike two, relief times two. "OK then. Did I set up the cameras?"

"They are all set up and streaming as we speak on an encrypted channel."

Looks like I can head home without much worry. "OK then. I'm going home. Can you trawl PHO and make notes regarding the Parahumans in Brockton Bay? Their powers, costumes and affiliations? No breaking the Unwritten Rules though."

"Compliance." Amphitrite nodded, "I am unable to violate any of the Unwritten Rules, Mistress Riptide. It is hardwired into my programming."

"Good." I nodded back, "See you tonight."

The trip back to my house was tiring, more so than usual. I was actually a bit frightened at how I had completely lost track of, what? Six, six and a half hours? I had lost track of over half a day and the memories were only trickling in right now in dribs and drabs. I made a note to constantly Tinker so I didn't have Tinker Explosions again.

Something struck me as I slipped into my bedroom and huddled under the covers. Before my Tinker Explosion, Amphitrite had referred to me as just 'Riptide' without any other titles, but when I came out of it, she called me 'Mistress Riptide'. Why was that?

The Next Night

En Route to the Evermore

The day seemed to have gone by quickly, what with studying, jogging, cooking and other housework to get through. I was actually walking on air because of the amount of tinkering I had managed to accomplish yesterday. I had no idea where the idea for that anti-rust spray stuff had come from, but it would spread to cover the entire ship and make the steel as strong as it had been when it had first been made.

That obviously wouldn't be enough, however. 'Good enough' was not up to scratch. 'Standard issue' was insufficient. By the time I was done with my base, the Evermore would be able to tank a tidal wave without so much as getting a scratch.

I paused at the corner of one building. Why did a water comparison come to mind so quickly there? Was I expecting…no, was my power expecting me to face Leviathan at some point? Because he was the only hydrokinetic on the planet, me aside, that could create tidal waves.

My mind was drawn from its thoughts by a scream. It was from a female and was from the alley ahead of me. Sneaking up to it, I peered around the corner and cursed under my breath. Two Empire skinheads, identifiable by their armbands, had a woman pinned to the wall of the alley and were leering at her suggestively. She wasn't black or Asian; rather, she was the typical blond-haired, blue-eyed person that these Aryan Supremacist assholes were supposed to respect. Why were they attacking her?

Gah! That didn't matter! What the hell should I do here?! I had no equipment, not with me at least. And I wasn't even wearing a costume! I did have some Mace and a collapsible baton that Dad had bought for me. The Mace was brand new, but the baton was a hand-me-down from someone at the Dockworker's Union. It wasn't enough though, so I looked for other options.

I did have a bottle of water with me, and there was some water on the ground from the light rainfall earlier on. Maybe I didn't even have to show myself to save the woman…

A smile crossed my face as I pulled down my balaclava to cover my face just in case. It was time to teach some thugs some manners.