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Date

2011 May 11th - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time

Tess sat in the chair that was declared hers after it became obvious she planned to spend more time with Colin than just visiting for a few minutes. She didn't need to pretend to need a break with Colin, as he was aware of her true nature, but she still liked to take a few seconds here and there and just watch as Colin worked with increasingly smaller and more complicated devices.

It was kind of magical, how Colin could work with that kind of precision, with no aid.

She checked with Admin, and according to the slime (she still needed to get an explanation for that) the power only helped with cramming more things into places, and Colin's almost inhuman precision was thanks to his own talent and training.

Of course, after the update, his new Brute rating helped with it immensely (and the drastically decreased need for maintenance) but it was still amazing to watch an organic body work with mechanical precision.

She waited until Colin finished with the last set to speak up.

"You know, Colin, I had a really interesting conversation with Director Piggot."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Concerns were raised, that you are planning to use the ArmsBots to take over the world."

"What? Don't be ridiculous! I would ne…"

She watched as Colin trailed off, as he noticed the grin on her face before he turned back to his desk with a small pout.

Tess laughed a little before continuing.

"But jokes aside, they want you to stop expanding the numbers of the ArmsBots."

"Why? I barely made three dozen…"

"They are worried that if the PRT or the Protectorate becomes reliant on them, then a targeted attack could cripple the organization."

Wisely, she didn't mention that many people were rather creeped out how the Bots resembled Colin so much.

"That is a logical concern," replied Colin with a sigh. "I will stop producing them."

"Don't worry. The Director said that as long as you have a valid reason, you can petition for an increase in numbers. In writing. In triplicate. Only on Mondays."

Colin turned back to look at her, presumably to check if she was joking again. Unfortunately, she was not.

The answering sigh was much longer and bigger than the previous.

That was why it was cool she was her own boss! She could make as many cute little robots as she wished…

Maybe she could poach Colin from the PRT?

She spent a few idle seconds fantasizing about what it would be like to Tinker with Colin in a remote facility in the Canadian wilderness, before returning her attention to her 'friend'.

"How are your preparations for the next Endbringer fight?"

"I'm ready, Colin. The Shielding and barrier models are ready to be deployed anywhere on the world in fifteen minutes."

Colin nodded in understanding before he scowled.

"Are you sure I can't try out my prediction algorithm on the next fight?"

"Colin, we talked about it. Despite your new Brute power, you are not powerful enough to take a hit from any of them. And thanks to the Simurgh, we even have to worry about the entire thing being useless!"

"You are, of course, correct, but I just…"

Tess stood up and with a few quick steps, she stood in front of the man, placed her hand on his shoulder, and smiled.

"I know, Colin. I know you want to help. But trust me, there are enough powerful people who can handle the Endbringer. Your scientific advancements are much more helpful in the long run than another powerhouse. Plus, based on what Lux told me, I doubt you would have a chance…"

The man seemed to think about for a second, then returned her smile with one of his own, while briefly patting her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you."

And that's what she liked about him. No drama, no arguments, and he was ready to change his opinion if he was confronted with logical facts.

Leaving the question of who would fight the next Endbringer behind, they returned their attention to the device they had been working on.

Date

2011 May 11th - Tuesday - Earth Bet Time

Alexandria spent a few minutes arranging the papers on her desk that were used in the meeting with Legend. The meeting was about the Parahuman Healer Union and how it would affect the Protectorate, the PRT, and the Wards.

Already countless parahumans were coming out of hiding and clamoring on joining the Union. Apparently, the dual protection of Dragon and Serenity was too strong of a temptation to resist. There were even several Protectorate and Ward members who expressed their desire to join the Union.

Not to mention the rest of the globe, who were eagerly waiting for the Union to leave the testing stage.

She even heard that several people were working on putting together similar unions for different parahumans.

And thanks to Serenity's backing, nobody could say that it was America grabbing power for themselves (at least openly) because Serenity took time to explain on her website, that the Union was in the testing phase, and as soon as they worked out the kinks, they would be going global with it.

She really wanted to have a talk with that girl, but neither the Watchdog nor Contessa could tell her who she was (besides Lux Arcana, but she worked that out without parahuman powers) even after the mysterious blind spot over vanished.

The blind spot may have vanished, but that didn't mean the Thinkers could give her the answer she wanted…

Legend finished his drink, then while looking out of the window, began speaking absentmindedly.

"You know, I almost forgot to mention, but Arthur reminded me this morning."

"Oh, did something happen?"

"Kinda. My powers have changed."

"What? And you are mentioning this now? When did it happen? How?"

"It wasn't that important, Rebecca."

"It is! We don't know for sure who is doing it, or why. We need to make sure…"

Before she could get really riled up, Legend interrupted her with a big smile.

"Rebecca, calm down. I doubt me being able to choose to fire rainbow-colored lasers is that important…"

Date

2011 May 12th - Wednesday - Cauldron Dimension Time

"Anything new?"

Contessa shook her head, and took a sip of her tea, hoping to calm somewhat down, while Doctor Mother sitting across her frowned.

"What about the message? Any clues?"

Another shake.

"Well, if it helps, I did an inventory and checked all our vials. They are all inert. We tried to use one on a volunteer, but it did nothing."

Contessa nodded slightly and took another sip.

"How are you? How are you handling your new powers?"

There was a brief silence before Contessa spoke up.

"It's different. Not as detailed, but much faster and precise. Fewer steps. But… I feel like I'm half blind."

The older woman gave her a reassuring smile.

"Give it some time, and I'm sure you will get used to it."

"I hope so."

Doctor Mother waited until Contessa took another sip before asking a different question.

"What about Eidolon, should we tell him?"

"No. Every Path says it would be bad, no matter how we phrase it."

"Understood. Is there any chance it would be repeated?"

Contessa didn't answer, just closed her eyes in a manner that to Doctor Mother indicated she was asking a question.

"The answer is no. And I just got the same message again."

"That is good to hear and tells us something else about the new Entity."

"Indeed."

Doctor Mother thought for a second and posed another question.

"Now that the blindspot over Brockton Bay vanished, could you attempt to find Serenity?"

"I tried. The same result as if there was a blind spot."

"So, it is protecting her."

"It seems so."

"And doesn't like us."

"Very likely."

"And killed Scion."

"All evidence points to that, yes."

"The question is: why?"

Date

2011 May 13th - Thursday - Earth Bet Time

Taylor sat down on the remaining rock formation that was once a building and looked over the unnamed city she was just done defending from the Behemoth. While she managed to finish the Endbringer off, the battle still left scars of their surroundings. Thankfully, it was just a simulation.

While she was not hurt by the first Endbringer's attacks, she didn't really have the powers to mitigate the damage they caused around her.

But she still beat it, which was great!

Granted, she had to pull the thing apart, layer by layer, until she reached the core, but she had done it.

And now, she was just waiting for Admin to show up and dispense his usual and also unusual pearls of wisdom.

"Well, that was new, Taylor."

She didn't turn towards the slime, knowing he was pouting just from the cadence of his voice. Instead, she kept admiring the pretty lights that the radiation-littered field was making.

"How so?"

"You are not supposed to win with just your power."

She whipped around, staring in shock at the slime.

"What?"

"I have added a very specific power to your arsenal that only I can turn on, that can kill the Endbringers in one shot. You essentially brute-forced the thing."

Taylor could only gape in astonishment.

"Though, I shouldn't be surprised, considering it's you…"

"Excuse me?"

"I only mean that the best way possible, Taylor."

"Sure, you do…"

Admin floated over so that he would look directly into her eye.

"Are you ready?"

Taylor, with a smug look, motioned towards the devastation before them.

"What do you think?"

"Well, yes. That happened. But, I'm talking about what will happen after the fight. You know, I could turn the Endbringer off, and you know why I didn't. So, I repeat my question: are you ready, Taylor?"

Taylor didn't even have to think about it.

When she first got her powers, she wanted nothing more than to go out and clean up Brockton Bay and help her home. Then she kept learning more and more about the world and how dire things actually were, so her desire changed from helping her city to helping the world.

At first, she doubted something like Medi-Gel could help so much, but the incoming data, and frankly an incredible amount of thank-you notes proved her wrong. Then she dropped her other 'inventions' and she knew it was the correct route to take.

Plus, after some practicing and research, she realized her power would be a little too much for the streets…

So, her answer was pretty obvious.

"Yes."

Then, not even giving Admin a chance to speak, Taylor continued.

"If the world needs a hero that gives them hope, then I'm glad to be that person."

Admin nodded and gave her a wry smile.

"I will try to keep the number of cults down to the minimum."

"Wait, what?"

Date

2011 May 13th - Thursday - Earth Bet Time

Missy was a happy girl.

The new therapist finally listened to her, and she was temporarily in the custody of the Protectorate, as the Youth Guard and the Protectorate (and probably several teams of psychologists) did something about her parents.

Her power was getting better every day, and she was getting better at using it.

Dragon even constructed a small anti-gravity device that allowed her to fly up to a certain height and speed. It wasn't ideal, but much better than walking, even if her power made quick work of any distance. And when she complained about the training wheels, the counteroffer was a Tinker-tech bicycle with floral patterns and a basket at the front, so she took what she got and high-tailed out of the PR department.

Maybe she could convince one of the ArmsBots to remove the limits?

Currently, she was on patrol with Chris, who was cruising alongside her with his new and improved board. Thanks to finally knowing his specialty, the flying board went through several transformations.

The current one had so many modules that Missy doubted Chris could even remember all of them without the help of a computer program.

It's not like she was complaining.

A module that kept chilled drinks in a pocket space, then teleported them to the requester's hands?

Best thing ever!

She was about to request one of them when she heard the now-familiar sound of somebody breaking into somewhere they shouldn't.

Without speaking, she saw that Chris heard it too.

It seemed it was time to work.

Maybe this time she could make them pee themselves? She saw one of those horror movies last week and had a few ideas…