Chapter 62: The Hero Projection
The dock rocks underneath and he looks out at the mountains lining the lake. It's almost enough to make him feel all right.
Almost.
After two months, he thought that things would have settled, that this nightmare would reverse itself and he'd have his life back. That he'd feel some peace, despite everything that happened.
But now all he can think is, maybe it will take three months.
"She's here, Travis," Grandma calls from the shore, a giant tree branch waving at Travis from above. If there has been one upside to being stuck in this lakeside DRPR safe house, it's seeing Grandma in her natural element—after all, she only ever moved to the big city for him.
He stand and turn, stepping off the dock to hover back to shore. He makes it several feet, then feels that same surge of emptiness and finds himself dropping into the water.
Part of him just wants to sink to the bottom of the lake and stay there, to forget about everything and just sleep. To wipe clean the memory of that needle-blast ripping into him, taking away everything.
But the better part of him knows, nothing lasts forever.
So he rise back to the surface, hoping it holds some brighter news.
"My, are we serving fish this season?" Jenny asks him, sitting down across the table, still dripping.
"You'd be the first to eat it up, I know that much," Travis say.
"Touché. Now, have there been any changes with your Powers? Improvements, I hope?" Jenny asks, her eyes on a holo-report she has to fill out.
"I can only access my normal Powers for a few seconds at a time, then nothing," Travis says, swearing he feels physical pain as he does.
"Well, that's way better than last month," Jenny notes. "And it confirms the research that The Unique Regulator's Power-dampening effects are only temporary. It's a promising sign that you should regain your Powers, gradually."
"Do they know how long it will take to restore my full Power?" Travis ask. "Or whether there will be any permanent damage?"
"Only time will tell, but there's no reason to think you shouldn't make a full recovery" Jenny says.
He wants to ask more, but the look on Jenny's face tells him she wishes she had more to offer him on the subject, too.
"Anyway, I'm sorry for not being able to debrief you sooner," Jenny starts, switching gears, "but we've been busy dealing with the fallout from the Finale and wrapping up the investigation."
"I'm dying to hear everything," Travis says.
"Then let's get to it," Jenny says, opening a new holo-file.
Before he gets started with Jenny, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He has been waiting all of these weeks for answers, replaying what happened in his head over and over—even in his sleep. Just when he thought he was over his nightmares, this new horror has brought them right back….
The immediate fallout after the Finale was intense—it was a national news bomb, with coverage exploding into thousands of rumors about what really happened with Gravitate, Jenny, Rexford, and The Hero Project. For days, it seemed that no one could pinpoint the truth about anything.
And although the dust has settled, opinions on what really went down are still very mixed.
As a result, the nation seems to be divided between pro and anti-Powered politics.
After what he did at the Finale (and what was done to him), he was turned into a national symbol, both by his supporters and his opposition. Some see him as an anti-government upstart, while others see him as a hero standing up to obvious corruption.
He's mostly viewed as a figure to be feared—a Powerful Unique force to be reckoned with.
To his supporters, he's a symbol for Powered rights. However, to many others, he's seen as a rebel, a dangerous political threat who isn't in control of his considerable Powers.
Despite how The Hero Project turned out, it has still transformed him into an icon. He is the representation of everything that some Americans stand for, and, for others, everything they oppose.
After Rexford blasted him with The Unique Regulator, Jenny got ahold of him and they both escaped with the help of the DRPR and Retribution. Then, after a few days of medical examination, Jenny and the DRPR placed him in this lakeside safe house until they could figure out everything that happened with The Hero Project and decide what his next move should be.
And that's where he was able to take some time to piece together the events leading up to the Finale, from what Jenny told him.
After the NewOrder was captured and processed, the DRPR got a crack at questioning Scoundel, the main person of interest in Jenny's investigation. Scoundel ended up confessing to being placed in The Hero Project as the NewOrder mole tasked with transferring messages between Rexford and Phobus, as per an agreement to coordinate their Missions for maximum media coverage.
This information was obtained only hours before The Hero Project Finale went live, so the DRPR delayed arresting Rexford to see if he might connect anyone else to this plot before the show ended.
Now having Rexford as a target, Jenny was able to return to The Hero Project compound before the Finale (but only because Travis protected Null's identity and allowed her to stay in the competition). Once back, Jenny was able to finally intercept the third Meek signal transmission—and discover it was from Rexford's H-Chip.
Crunched for time as the Finale began, Jenny reported this finding to the DRPR and they put a SWAT team in place to arrest Rexford after the ceremony ended. Of course, Jenny wanted to tell Travis all of this, but she couldn't risk it on live 3V.
Then when President Victon rolled out The Unique Regulator and turned it on Travis, Jenny made the call to take down Rexford. The DRPR SWAT team was deployed to assist and the now-infamous battle broke out between Gravitate and The American Protectors.
Jenny was then able to reveal Rexford's connection to Phobus on-air, as well as his status as a Secret Meek Apostle and his anti-Unique Pump plot timed for the presidential election. Jenny was also able to reveal her true identity as undercover DRPR agent and announce Travis cooperation with her investigation.
That is, before Rexford took the shot heard around the world.
Travis blacked out after that, but Rexford was promptly arrested in a very public fall-from-grace. Confirmation of Jenny's DRPR status on-air gave immediate legitimacy to her accusations and did major damage not only to Rexford, but also The Hero Project, The American Protectors, The Meek movement, and President Victon.
In the aftermath, Lyra Obach, Inherit, Rebellion, and President Victon distanced themselves from Rexford and dumped all of the blame on him. The Meek did have to admit that Rexford was a high-ranking member because of the proof Jenny procured about The Meek transmissions, but The Meek claimed that Rexford was acting entirely on his own to put this agenda together—those communications were private "cleansing ceremonies" that are part of secret Meek doctrine.
Despite this, the image damage done to these organizations was significant, helping to lower anti-Powered sentiment considerably. And Rexford was exposed as the true villain in The Hero Project.
Taking him down is a major victory, no matter what.
However, Jenny has hinted that there's still more to this story that they don't know. And Travis has been waiting to get the full scoop for months, which is why Jenny is here today.
Travis looks across the table at Jenny, ready to get some closure and hopefully move on.
"I've finally closed the investigation and put together this report, which I'm going to hand in directly after this meeting," Jenny says. "I thought you should know what happened before it gets even more classified, though."
Jenny slides a holo-tablet across the table and Travis stares at it, not sure if he's ready for whatever lies inside. A mix of anticipation and dread swirls through his stomach, making him feel queasy.
But he steel himself to pick up the report and open the holo-menu.
In order to make The Hero Project a massive success, Rexford needed more than just the right cast—he also needed the right Missions.
According to Scoundel's testimony, this is why Rexford made first contact with Phobus after his earliest HC strikes—to coordinate Phobus's strikes with The Hero Project's Mission schedule. Rexford and Phobus's pact did not extend beyond scheduling—they had a gentlemen's agreement that the best man would win in the ensuing fights. But they both understood that coordinating their battles would allow for maximum exposure for both organizations.
This is how Scoundel came to be on The Hero Project, in order to facilitate scheduling between the organizations. This also explains Phobus's period of dormancy for the months leading up to The Hero Project's live shows and the timing of his New York bridge and tunnel strikes.
The relationship was obviously imperfect—Scoundel's early elimination and The Hoshi Group's stolen Mission represent periods of clear disagreement between the two. But Rexford and Phobus ultimately settled on timing their final showdown before the presidential election, in order to serve as The Hero Project's Finale.
Both Phobus and Rexford respectively believed they'd defeat each other in this final showdown, though obviously only Rexford proved correct in that regard.
There is no proof to demonstrate that The Meek cabal had any knowledge of Rexford's arrangement with Phobus, but logic would suggest that they must have.
Since his arrest, Rexford has taken full credit for this conspiracy. While he has acknowledged his status as a Secret Meek Apostle, he claims that he was acting independently and without the knowledge of any superiors whatsoever.
President Victon, Lyra Obach, Rebellion, and Inherit have all publicly and privately denied having any knowledge of Rexford's actions, despite the positive outcomes for all of them.
All psychic and physical evidence searches have come up empty, but it is entirely possible The Meek prepared for such an eventuality by setting Rexford up to take the fall, severing all ties should their plot be exposed. It is also likely that Rexford would be complicit in this kind of fallout plan.
"Sweet sh*t," Travis whispers, placing the holo-tablet back on the table.
"I know," Jenny says. "It's quite something."
The first thing that pops into his head is that he was right to suspect that Rebellion had something to do with the Meek conspiracy, back when he had his last meeting with Jenny during The Hero Project.
And although there wasn't anything he could do to prove it then, that's a hunch worthy of Legend, for sure.
"Will any of this report become public knowledge?"
"The legal mess and inter-agency politics are insane on this, plus our hands are fairly tied without any physical evidence. Not to mention that there are lots of high-ranking people who want to minimize the fallout from this disaster," Jenny says with a sigh. "I'm going to make it my personal mission to make sure the truth comes out, but that day might not be coming anytime soon."
"For now, The American Protectors will stay intact under Rebellion's leadership—minus both of us, of course," Jenny says. "Unfortunately, those 'heroes' don't see that supporting Rebellion and Victon will probably lead them to their own persecution at the hands of The Meek."
"Don't see or don't care?" Travis says, thinking that Manbeast may support this cause, but he must see that President Victon and The Meek actually threaten the principles he stands for.
Him and Manbeast have always been on opposite sides—and he's sure The Hero Project will not be the last place they go head-to-head.
"Well, they'll all be at Victon's inauguration," Jenny says. "Along with Obach—have you heard the latest Meek news?"
Unfortunately, he has. While The Meek movement took a definite hit, they still remain insanely powerful—especially with President Victon in office.
And The Meek unveiled their latest move—creating a sovereign headquarters on a roving cruise ship, which will occupy international waters surrounding the US. It's their first step towards building what they call "The One True Meek Nation" and they've put out an open call for all Meek followers to come live there.
Travis couldn't imagine a much more horrifying place to be—or a more frightening political shift.
"It seems a storm is brewing," Jenny starts, "one I'm sure you'll find yourself at the eye of, Travis. You have to know that you won't be safe here forever—Victon and The Meek will come for you at some point. You're a loose end they can't afford to leave untied, as the biggest threat to their new regime."
"Oh don't worry," Travis say. "I'm counting on it."
Knowing what he knows now, there may never have been a way to prevent this all from happening—this conspiracy was in motion long before The Hero Project, with way too many powerful people involved.
All he can know is that participating in Jenny's investigation and making sure she was able to see it through to the end did the maximum amount of damage to his enemies. Not to mention that this allowed him to make the most informed decisions possible.
And at the end of it all, he put Rexford behind bars. He made it out of The Hero Project alive. He has become an icon. And he has begun to expose President Victon and The Meek for who they truly are.
No matter what else happened, or what the public does or doesn't know, him and Jenny now know the truth about them.
He thought he had some time before the Victons came for him, but obviously he was wrong—they've been plotting his downfall this entire time. President Victon and The Meek clearly won't stop until they destroy him—or he destroy them.
So in this moment, he knows with complete clarity what the rest of his career will be devoted to stopping these corrupt from stealing the nation he call home.
He's going to war.