11

Amelia, Ch 11

Our debut as Pantheon was both impressive, and anticlimactic. We hadn't lied when I said most of our work would be in "cleanup"... it was just a matter of how we were doing it. And on the scale.

I had called ahead to the hospitals and shelters. Explained to them what we were going to do. They were understandably resistant to the idea. Most people were quite aware of Skitter's reputation- which was not all that pretty.

I, as Amy, had sworn to them that the parahuman in question was a hero named Khepri, part of a new independent group called Pantheon. And she had official Protectorate documentation saying as much. Really, that was all it took. They were pretty damn desperate. Taylor's changeling (and official recognition paperwork) had gone to every hospital, shelter and camp in the city. At first alone- and then with Triumph, who had opted to follow her on his patrol.

According to her, he did a remarkable job of pretending he had no idea who she was. When Assault showed up later, it was rather the opposite. Turns out, he was a villain of some repute, before changing sides for... whatever reason. Something of a surprise to me. I had to wonder if Battery knew. I suppose she had to, given that her boyfriend was willing to just blurt that information out to some girl half his age and all.

We held back. We held back a lot. Taylor- the actual Taylor- was in what she had called 'her territory' near the docks. She and Lisa had not left Coil's employ when they joined. Even though the Undersiders were no longer a team. Grue had left... hadn't even bothered to explain to his team that he was leaving. Let alone where. It wasn't my place. I was going to make damn certain such a thing as the PRT murdering people who were trying to help could never happen again. But I wasn't part of his team or his family.

Taylor had told me a bit about their relationship... her attraction to him. His lack of interest in her. One more thing we have in common, I suppose. She also said that there was no way in hell he'd be joining Pantheon. Not while Bonesaw was with us. I didn't know a lot about second Triggers, but I was given to understand they were even worse than the first time.

That is what Bonesaw had done to him.

And here she was. Currently taking a shower in my bathroom. "Bug hug! I, J, K, L!"

Correction: she was singing children's cartoon songs while showering in my bathroom.

Well, Skitter's bathroom, technically. She'd bought one of the houses near what was coming to be known as 'Crater Lake'. I tried to talk her out of it. Insisted that, honestly, I could live just about anywhere. Hell, I could find a place somewhere in the sewer or subway systems and be quite content. Frankly, thanks to my Yggdrasil's work... Brockton Bay's sewers were cleaner than the average kitchen. You could eat off the ground in them.

More than that. You could eat the ground itself in them.

But the girl had insisted. So I became the resident of a small duplex. Half a duplex, at least. The bottom of the building was, basically, unlivable. My power had cleaned things up, reinforced the whole layout, but that was about it.

Would have been more suspicious if I hadn't been doing the same thing to multiple dozens of buildings the last few days. Most of the Yggdrasil's mass was being used to produce lumber and firewood. It wasn't quality wood- that would be impossible without wasting the iron supplies that I needed for more important projects- but it was at least as good as pine, and people seemed to be able to make do with it.

I had suited up and went into our 'basement'. We had agreed that, in the case of me using my puppets, I would hide in the sewer system. I got too distracted by the system and was more or less a sitting duck. Having Riley to guard me didn't fill me with much confidence. Granted, there was approximately a metric ton worth of insects nearby that could come to my rescue, but Taylor's abilities did have their limits. Blind spots. Mannequin had proven that.

Besides, she couldn't communicate through her bugs, except to write. And couldn't hear at all. And she was busy.

The three of us who could be seen without resulting in an immediate kill order were all hard at work. Taylor was playing nice with the heroes. Currently on patrol with Weld, the metallic boy I'd seen before. There'd probably be at least one of the Protectorate heroes with them. Tattletale was feeling out the Travelers. She wasn't quite sure all the details about their 'hidden member', Noelle- who may be some kind of Case 53. But Coil had something else they wanted. She was trying to see if they'd be willing to save her, even with the off chance that they'd never get the other thing.

And here I am, visiting the Palanquin, at nine in the evening. Having a hero walk in the front door probably wouldn't do our reputation, or Faultline's for that matter, any good. So I was in civilian guise. Well... except that I looked about six years older, had purple hair, and had spent half an hour online, perfecting the look of someone with natural beauty, who then spent a lot of effort building on what nature granted. Judging by the looks I was getting from the people in the line, I was very successful.

Minerva picked the outfit. Told me I didn't want to know when I asked the price. It would make me scared to hurt the thing. I was beginning to see why so many people were so willing to be villains. They threw around money like it grew on my trees. Then again, I probably could make trees that did that.

No one was suspicious when the bouncer let me skip the lines and walk right in. And, channeling Victoria's attitude of entitlement, I walked in without so much as glancing at the people who weren't considered attractive enough to get such preferential treatment.

It helped that I was piloting a fake. They couldn't see how much this was the last place I wanted to be.

I turned left and went for the back rooms as quickly as possible. I didn't like this kind of place at any point in my life, and now it was a living reminder of Victoria's attitude toward the party lifestyle. More than that... with all the nightmarish things going on in this city, I wanted to scream at them all for being here instead of doing something, anything, to make things better.

I knew it was irrational. After what I've done, I reminded myself, I have no right to judge them. I swallowed my anger, and dialed back the emotional feedback interface on the system. One of Bonesaw's improvements- now the fully equipped changelings could mimic any range of emotion, regardless of what the pilot was feeling.

I was met by a woman who was a few years older than myself. Black, wavy hair. I idly wondered if that was natural. "You would be Gaea?" she asked.

"A representative," I replied. It was the pseudo-truth that we had decided upon when using avatars that didn't look like ourselves. "Pantheon's quite busy, for a number of reasons, but I'm authorized to make almost any deal."

"Tattletale told us you had information we would be interested in," she replied. The way she said 'Tattletale' indicated that she wasn't a fan. "As well as the possibility of aiding our friends with their disabilities."

"Hopefully she didn't make any promises about the help. Gaea's dealt with Case 53s before, and they have a habit of, functionally, regenerating back into their nonhuman state."

She frowned. We were providing all the bad news upfront as a sort of psychological tactic. Minerva's plan, of course. "The fact of the matter is that while they turned in Bonesaw's body, they kept her notes and research materials. She has a drug that can temporarily suppress powers. It can last weeks, or with the antidote they can recover in minutes."

"So... your theory is that a Case 53 won't revert if their powers are disabled? And you'll be charging how much for these drugs?" Faultline's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," I answered. "Pantheon doesn't believe in profiting from the misfortunes of others."

"I've heard that line before, you'll forgive me for being skeptical," she replied.

"Would you believe we don't need it? That we have a number of ways to acquire functionally limitless wealth? And that's not including a full half of the bounty placed on the Slaughterhouse Nine."

"So, the rumors are true? You guys got Jack, Bonesaw, and Siberian?" She kept a measured tone, but the emotion reader built into the changeling indicated she was nervous.

"Technically, Siberian was killed by the Undersiders, which I believe are now defunct. The member credited for the kill is now a part of Pantheon," I answered. "Gaea got the other two."

For a certain value of 'got', I thought to myself.

There was a pause for a moment before I continued. "In fact, that brings us to the other subject," I continued, pulling a folder out of the expensive handbag that matched my dress. "This is yours, no obligations. It's new information we've acquired about Cauldron."

She snatched the folder from my hand and pulled it open. In it were a couple dozen photos of Manton. And a bunch of handwritten notes we'd photocopied. Including the upside down 'omega' tattooed on his hand.

"Who is this?" She asked insistently. My changeling kindly informed me of the combination of anticipation and suspicion her body language expressed. I was glad it did, I wouldn't have noticed.

"Doctor Manton. The very same that named the Manton Effect," I answered. "But, far more importantly. The man who made and controlled the Siberian, and we believe he was working for Cauldron as a researcher."

"That... is pretty serious... and you're just giving us this information?"

"We have a vested interest in learning more about Cauldron. You are investigating them. We want to hire you to do a job you're already doing, essentially. We can provide certain resources. Healing. Even some tinker equipment and physical enhancements. All you have to do is report to us whatever details you've learned in your investigations. Our thinkers will of course give you anything they can pull from that data."

"I'll have to discuss this with the client that hired us in the first place," she replied. My display kindly informed me that this was, at most, a half truth. Not unlike the dozens I have already told during this conversation.

"Of course," I answered. "Please don't forget to mention our desires to aid the Case 53s, if they're interested."

"I promise you, they'll hear about it," she answered. Another half truth, they probably already knew.

"And... if you would please turn off any recording devices you might have... I have another piece of information that we don't want to leave this room. A warning."

She hesitated a second, then nodded. "Okay. What is it?"

I made my avatar lean in close. "The papers you have list several individuals with serious political and military power that are probably involved with Cauldron. This is a conspiracy that goes all the way up to the top. More frightening is the one detail we didn't put on paper. Legend recognized the body. The symbol. At least one member of the Triumvirate knows exactly what Cauldron is. And is actively aiding them."

"Well... fuck..."