14

Chapter Fourteen—New Beginnings

AN: Okay, this chapter got away from me a bit, coming out quite a bit longer than I had originally intended. But I did promise a number of you that I would get Taylor into a fight with an Endbringer by next chapter. So I kept writing until I got there, nearly 9k words later.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Quinn finished writing up his legal brief for the Ransack case and moved on to his next case. Picking up the file folder from his in box, he opened it up.

Taylor Hebert. Quinn briefly felt a flare of... something as he carefully examined the file, familiarizing himself with the changes that had been made by his legal team. He noted the new, different name of the CEO with pleasure. At least they hadn't gone with the young woman's first choice of a CEO, a man who didn't really exist.

Reading the attached brief, he nodded along with the clear and concise reasoning of the person who wrote it. Quinn was finding Tattletale as much of a pleasure to work with as he was finding Taylor Hebert difficult. Her conclusions all appeared accurate and his firm could definitely pull off the tax incentives that she asked about.

Quinn noted that they had also chosen a name for the company that again was something he could work with. The firm's specialist would file the papers for incorporation on Monday with the state. Quinn smiled at the thought of finally accessing the power of attorney Miss Hebert had given him. It would also be a relief to have Conrad Markham, the firm's Realtor, purchase the buildings and land she wanted.

Of course, the thought of his primary's stubborn refusal to relocate her company to a city that would better serve its needs, drew a frown, which Quinn considered completely justified. He hadn't been able to explain that particular foible to his team except to say that was what the client wanted. Quinn and his team would do as Miss Hebert asked, as per Rule One.

Staring at a proposal for expansion, Quinn carefully pressed a button on his intercom. "Ms Carey, please get Conrad on the line for me."

"Yes, Mr Calle."

Only moments passed before his phone rang. "Quinn Calle."

"Quinn, it's Conrad. You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, I'm currently working on the Hebert case and wanted to let you know you'll be able to move by tomorrow afternoon on that piece of real estate she wanted."

"No problem. I'll set up a meeting with the owner's Realtor."

"I also had a question regarding the price."

"Quinn, don't worry. I'm confident that we can leverage the entire fourteen hundred acres that she wanted for less than the thirty million asking price. Despite the size of the parcel, most of it consists of old warehouses, abandoned factories, and defunct office space. We'll argue that since almost everything needs to be demolished, it adds no real value to the land. Instead, it's actually lowers the value of the property. Our initial offer will be for fifteen thousand an acre and we'll negotiate from there. In the end, we'll get it for a steal."

"Excellent. Thank you, Conrad."

"My pleasure, Quinn."

Well, that was certainly edifying. With that much development going on, Taylor Hebert would certainly need some guidance. Quinn made a quick note for Terence Reynolds, the firm's specialist in business development, to contact Miss Hebert. There might be both tax incentives and expansion incentives available to a new company taking over so much land for redevelopment.

Reading the new company's prospectus, it appeared as if the only part of the property that his client was likely to keep was the office building with the attached factory that she was currently leasing. Quinn made another note to apply for a government tax credit here as well. His firm should be able to save their client's company several million dollars over the next five years from that alone.

It took another two hours for Quinn to finish his work for his newest client. He placed the file into his out box with all the notations and changes to be made. His assistant would contact each of the firm's specialists to take care of the items needed. Quinn made careful notations of his billable hours with great satisfaction. Excellent.

Quinn almost reached for the next file in his in box, then hesitated. Instead, he sat at his desk, chin resting on his thumbs, his fingers steepled together in front of his face. He felt oddly restless. Quinn traced his perturbation back to one Taylor Hebert.

His meeting with her the day before had been an exercise in Rules One through Four. But despite everything, she had gotten to him. Her ridiculous vision for the future. Of course, Quinn didn't believe her, didn't buy into it. No one could accomplish what she said she intended to. Clients not only lied, but sometimes were delusional. Call it a corollary to Rule Three.

It was just that at times, she had been so open and passionate, while displaying an intelligence and technological savvy that was almost frightening. Other times when she'd spoke, Quinn hadn't felt like he was listening to a teenager, rather, instead, that the person before him was a great deal older and more jaded. That they knew every thought that went through his mind despite his own talent for prevarication. It had been.. disturbing.

On the other hand, her offer toward Quinn late in the meeting had been utterly fascinating. He could see a lesser man being swept up in her enthusiasm, buoyed by her dreams, but not him. Never him. Still, he would follow her career with a great deal of interest.

Because no matter what, it was clear that Taylor Hebert was likely the most frustrating and fascinating person that Quinn Calle had ever met.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Taylor spoke, "JARVIS, how are you feeling?"

His voice sounded smooth through the new speakers that were part of his updated system. "Miss, I am fully functional. I am also extremely pleased with quality of my new hardware. I feel smarter already."

"You are smarter. Or at least faster."

"Would you like me to begin my search for the AI I previously encountered now that my systems are up and running?"

Taylor considered. "Not yet. Let me get your other servers shipped and on line before you go out again."

"Miss, I can assure you that I can handle myself with this 'Dragon.' You need not fear for my safety."

"JARVIS, I'm not worried. However, I'm also not convinced that Dragon is either an AI or a threat. When I do ask you to go out again, I don't want you to be confrontational. This isn't a pissing contest, so no cyber or DOS attacks. Instead, see if you can't make your approach peacefully."

"Of course, Miss. I'll approach waving a white flag." JARVIS' tone was beyond dry as he spoke. "Is there anything else for now?"

Taylor considered, then nodded. "Let's start with the production line that we're setting up next week..."

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Danny stood in his office of Dockworkers Union. He met the eyes of his boss and friend, Pete Carruthers. "I'm sorry, Pete, but I'm going to have to tender my resignation. I've been offered a new position that I can't say no to. Jerry can take over my job with minimal training. He already knows the basics."

"No! I... Are you sure, Danny? You've done so much for the Union. I don't know how we're going to get by without you." Pete's shoulders drooped as he spoke, as if his own burden had suddenly become heavier.

Danny gave him an encouraging smile. "You'll get by just fine. I'm sure of that."

Danny was surprised when Pete grabbed his shoulder, getting his attention. "You don't understand, Danny. It's not just about the job. Yeah, Jerry can do the nuts and bolts of your job. But you do more than just work here. You give people hope. When things are toughest, you somehow figure out a way through it. Hell, Danny, I always thought you'd take over my job one day as head of the Union."

Danny hesitated, aware that Taylor didn't want him saying too much about what was going to happen until there was a more definitive plan in place. But he did want to give Pete a heads up. Something to tide him and his people over so that no one else would be tempted into making an accommodation with one of the local gangs to make ends meet.

"Pete, you don't need to worry about things. The company I'm going to be working for is going to be making a lot of changes around here. Hiring a lot of people. There will work for the Union. A lot of work."

Pete's worried expression cleared, and a hopeful look replaced it. "Danny, what do you know? What's the name of this company? How soon is this going to happen? How many jobs are there going to be?"

Danny held up his hands to stem the flood of questions. "Whoah, there, Pete. I can't tell you any more than I already have. But I want you to trust me."

"I do trust you, Danny. I'll try to be patient. But please keep me in the loop."

"I will." Danny hesitated, then continued, "Pete, I don't think you are going to have to wait for long. There are going to be great things going on. Great things."

There was a bit more back and forth between them before Pete finally left. Then Danny spent another few hours working with Jerry. Afterward, with a promise to be available every morning to answer questions, he made his way to the site of his new job.

There, it was an anthill of activity. Several trucks were lined up outside the office building of HTech, a constant stream of men going in and out. Everything from office furniture and coffee machines to automated lathes and laser welders were being unloaded and brought inside. Danny felt his astonishment grow at the sheer number and variety of items. Absently, he noted the temporary banner that announced the name of their company until more permanent signage could be put in place.

Making his way inside, Danny was almost immediately buttonholed by an enthusiastic, if slightly harried Trish, who begged him to show a trio of stone-faced moving men with overloaded furniture dollys where to unload them. Apparently, they were destined for the CEO's office. His office.

Danny waved for the men to follow him. His calm demeanor and age seemed to reassure them that he at least knew what he was doing. It was a quick trip upstairs and to the office suite that had been assigned to him. Brand new gold lettering on the door read 'Daniel Hebert' and 'Chief Executive Officer'.

Danny helped the men get everything unloaded and unpacked, his simple competence making him 'just one of the guys'. Once they were done, the boss of the small crew said, "Thanks, bud. I think that little girl was having a hard time figuring things out. You going to be working here, too, huh? It looks like it's going to be a nice place. Your top dog is getting set up with some swank stuff."

Danny was amused. Still, he had to agree with the man's pithy observation. All of the office furniture was ridiculously fancy. Not to mention large. His desk alone was a slab of polished oak eight feet wide by four feet deep.

"Yes, I am. Danny Hebert." Danny held out his hand.

The stocky, broad shouldered man shook it vigorously. "Burt Thornton. What are you going to be doing for these guys?"

Danny scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Actually, Burt, I'm the guy whose office this is. I'm the new CEO of HTech Enterprises." He gestured towards the gold writing on the door.

Burt looked pole-axed. "Well... damn. Err... don't tell my boss I cussed in front of a customer. He doesn't like that."

Danny waved him off. "It'll be our secret."

Burt's walky talky went off. After a quick conversation which left him frowning, he turned back to Danny. "Mr Hebert-"

Danny held up a hand. "Danny, please."

"Sure thing, Danny. You think you could direct us where to unload the rest of that truck? It would be a big help."

"No problem, Burt. It'd be my pleasure."

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Taylor was practically vibrating with excitement. Her lab was slowly coming together as a swarm of electricians and equipment specialists worked on unpacking and connecting all of the myriad pieces of equipment she had ordered.

Despite the clear map she'd posted showing the location for each piece of equipment, Taylor had already had to intervene three times to prevent someone from setting up something in the wrong place. She'd gotten more than a few odd looks because of her age, but it was hard to argue with someone when they knew more about the equipment you were setting up than you did, as Taylor had already demonstrated several times.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Taylor turned towards the voice. One of the electricians was standing there, a concerned look on his face. She glanced at the name tag on his coveralls. "Yes... Dennis, what can I do for you?"

"I can't get the power to turn on so these guys can start testing the equipment. Do you even have this facility connected to the grid? I mean, I see the lights, but..."

Taylor gave him a smile of reassurance. "In a way. Give me a second, and I'll power up the connections. Is there anyone not finished? I don't want to fry any of your guys."

Dennis gestured towards the remainder of the laboratory where computerized manufacturing equipment took up over half of the enormous room. "Everyone's done, even those guys back there. Now we just need to test it all."

Taylor walked over to a wall panel that was almost hidden from view. Opening it, she pressed each of the buttons there, allowing power to flow through all of the wiring in the lab. She'd been careful to isolate all of her lab circuits from the remainder of the building's wiring as they were going to be powered by an arc reactor. It was an excellent way to avoid power surges and current fluctuations that could cause havoc in delicate equipment.

Once Taylor flicked the switch, power began to flow. She walked the room, looking for problems. Almost immediately, she found one.

"Hey! Is that welder supposed to be doing that?" Taylor's question sparked a flurry of quick adjustments to the miswired automated MIG welder.

There were a couple more minor items, including an air blower installed upside down, but they were quickly fixed. Taylor sighed, half in relief, half in exhaustion. It had been a long day. Still, if everything kept going at this rate, she would be able to start working here by tomorrow morning.

Then Taylor remembered that tomorrow was the delivery date for an even bigger shipment of equipment to set up their main manufacturing facility. It was likely that would keep her busy for the next couple of days and away from her lab. That was really too bad as she'd had another idea for shortening the manufacturing process for the new drones. She... Taylor's thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice.

"I need someone to sign for this. Hey, kid! One of your parents work here?"

Taylor turned towards the owner of that disrespectful voice. Trish might wonder why she didn't want to be the CEO of HTech at fifteen, but the reason was standing right there. Taylor kept her face impassive as she held up her security identification complete with her picture on it for the man to see. "I work here, actually. What can I do for you?"

The man, who was dressed in the uniform of a well-known local courier service, frowned at her. He closely examined her security ID, the shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. You look like you should still be in school. Anyway, I need someone to sign for this package."

Taylor felt her heart beat faster. She knew what was in the package the man was holding. Enough palladium and other precious metals to build a hundred arc reactors, the first of many such shipments.

While the plan was to mine the Ship Graveyard at the north end of Brockton Bay for most of the metal needs for her fledgling company, there were certain materials and metals which it could not supply. Those Taylor had to buy separately. Of which a boxful had just arrived.

Taylor signed the man's manifest with a flourish, then took the small, heavy package he handed her. Clutching it to her almost nonexistent chest, she couldn't help the genuine smile that crossed her face. In her hands was the future and she couldn't wait to get started building it.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

"Taylor, I need to talk to you."

Taylor made a final change to the holographic design for new security drone that was going out to JARVIS for preliminary manufacturing and testing, then turned towards the speaker. "What's up, Trish?"

"I... what the hell is that?" Trish asked, gesturing towards the large hologram that slowly rotated in front of Taylor.

"It's the new interactive Holographic Display that I built to help expedite my designs." Taylor felt a certain amount of price at having gotten so much accomplished. This was just one of the things she's managed to get up and running.

Trish continued to look around, her eyes moving from one thing to another. "It certainly looks like you've been keeping busy the last couple of weeks since we initially got our first delivery. Are those..."

Taylor followed Trish's gesture to the table upon which sat one of the most important things she'd accomplished. "Yes, they're arc reactors. Forty-eight of them to be exact. JARVIS is making another dozen a day between other things."

Trish looked wistful. "Sounds like he's been a huge help."

"He has. He took over the automated manufacturing facilities with no problem. I mean, it's what I designed him for, but he's done better than I ever imagined. Even Tony's memories don't show him to be this good."

"Why thank you, Miss Hebert. It's always nice to be appreciated."

A faint amusement in her voice, Taylor responded, "You're welcome, JARVIS." She turned most of her attention back on Trish, who she now realized looked like hell.

Decisively, Taylor said, "Look, you clearly didn't come down here to talk to me about this. What's going on?"

"I can't keep going on like this."

Taylor almost made a quip, but stopped herself as she considered just how upset her friend appeared. Instead, she merely asked, "What's wrong?"

"Taylor, I know that the three of us agreed that Danny and I would take care of the hiring back when we made Danny CEO, but it's getting to be a huge issue."

Puzzled, Taylor asked, "I thought that Quinn put you onto that headhunting company after it took so long for the two of you to hire those first twenty people?"

Trish nodded. "He did. It has helped. I mean... Danny's completely freed up, except for the occasional interview with senior personnel. I'm only doing secondary interviews myself as well. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"I haven't had any time to track down whoever it was that tried to kidnap me. I need that time. I need to find him. I can't..." Trish's voice trailed off, as if she'd forgotten what she was going to say.

Taylor stared at the exhausted girl who had become so important to her in such a short time. "What are you doing to look for him?"

"Right now? Nothing. I haven't had a chance to read any of the compilations that JARVIS has been doing for me in over a week. When I did read the one, I had nothing left in the tank to make sense of it. I thought my head was going to explode trying."

Taylor immediately asked, "I thought it wasn't taking much for you to do those checks of the new hires? That they weren't causing you to overextend your ability?"

There was no trace of her trademark grin as Trish stared at Taylor. "They weren't. Aren't. Mostly. It's just, there's so many of them lately. I don't know if you've realized it, but we have over two hundred employees as of right now, with double that projected within another month."

They did? Taylor stared into the distance as she tried to figure out what that many people were doing. Then she thought of the Accounting Department that had been set up to track expenditures and keep them aware of cash flow. Of Human Resources, who kept them abreast of hiring needs and made sure they were following all the requisite laws, both state and federal. Of Marketing, which was getting ready to start selling her new ultra efficient Operating System for home computers while also finishing up a study as to what product to develop next. Of Design, which was currently doing a redesign of the exterior of her security drone to make it appear more 'friendly' and less 'dangerous.' Of Manufacturing, which was still setting up the equipment to build their drone line as well as a variety of other products.

Each of the departments employed people. People who had passed both their hiring service's interviews and Trish's. Trish, who also had to make a dozen major decisions a day as well as ten times as many minor ones, while also staying abreast of what everyone was doing. It was also her job to keep Danny apprised of the same.

As a matter of fact, Taylor had recently met Trish's new assistant, whose name was... Jennie. Yeah, that was it. Jennie Marahon. Really pretty girl with the bluest eyes and the cutest as-

Thankfully, Taylor was pulled out of her thoughts by Trish's half amused, half exasperated snort. "So you can see the problem, I hope?"

Taylor nodded. "I do. Do this: delegate where you can. Hire another assistant if you need to. Put off things if necessary. Regardless, give yourself at least two hours per day to do what you need to do."

Trish's expression of relief was nice, but Taylor more to tell her. "Plus, we need to get JARVIS on this as well."

"He's been helping me-"

"No, he's been putting together little snapshots for you to peruse and make sense of. JARVIS."

"Yes, Miss?"

"I need you to begin a priority search. Access file Enemy Two Twenty-one. I want at least twenty-five percent of your on-peak cycles spent finding this guy. During off-peak hours, increase that to fifty percent. Crunch every number for us so that Trish doesn't have to exert herself. I want a list of half a dozen guys who he could be on my desk by the end of the week."

"Yes, Miss. I'll see to it immediately."

Trish shook her head. "I'm an idiot."

"No, you're not. You're just used to depending on yourself a little too much. It might be because of your power."

"Maybe. But I can tell you right now that JARVIS will find those six possibles by the day after tomorrow. I can almost see the path..." Trish stopped talking to rub her fingers across her aching head.

"How many tablets do you have left?"

Trish stilled. "Ahh... fifteen."

"That's what I thought. I'll have another batch ready by the end of the day. JARVIS can make them. Back off a bit. You shouldn't be taking more than two a day, not the four to six you're obviously taking. I bet you're waiting to take them right before bed sometimes so that you don't lose to much work time to sleep. Am I right?"

"Yeah. It's just this entire start up. It's been a lot of pressure."

"I know. I feel it, too. It's just-"

"It's just that you're really enjoy doing this. Aren't you? I mean, I can see how alive all of this makes you." Trish's eyes were knowing as they met Taylor's, who couldn't deny the truth.

Instead, she shrugged. "What can I say? It's like I was born for this. There's this entire world of things to be made. I already have a hundred designs on the books. Once we get the electric smelters finished, we're going to start reclaiming the metals from the Ship Graveyard. That will give us the raw materials at a greatly discounted rate to start building drones in a big way. When you add that to the new intellectual properties we're going to be selling, it's going to give us a huge leg up for expansion."

Taylor could feel another world opening up as she spoke. "I can see it all. Every step of the way. Even with the interruptions that are sure to come, we're going to succeed. That actually scares me more than anything has yet."

Trish finished for her. "Because every single person who had the ability to change the world this dramatically has met a terrible end. Whether leader, Thinker, or Tinker, they've been killed or had something even worse happen to them."

Taylor nodded. "I keep asking myself what's keeping the Simurgh from targeting me? Ever since JARVIS delivered that new analysis of its likely abilities last week, I keep having nightmares about it."

"The precognition? I could see having nightmares about that."

"There have been forty-three people in the last fifteen years who have died before their time. Who would have made a huge difference on the world stage. All eliminated by different Endbringers, but all had that one thing in common. Since the Simurgh seems to be the Thinker among the group and it's likely they communicate somehow based upon JARVIS' extrapolations, we can surmise that there will be an attempt to eliminate me."

"Plus the Simurgh is due soon. Likely near the end of February at the latest."

Taylor sighed. "Exactly. The thing is, I can't get a suit of armor ready any earlier than a late March. Not a quality suit. Not unless I skimp on many of the systems and use a steel alloy for the exterior surfaces and interior supports."

Trish stared at her. "You're thinking about doing exactly that, aren't you?"

Taylor saw a burning camp with civilians- children running around like living torches because she'd... Tony had waited too long to build the perfect suit. For just a moment, Tony's memories threatened to drown her, but she managed to shrug them aside. It was slowly becoming easier. She wasn't sure if that was because she was holding onto herself better or had already surrendered too much already to know the difference. It didn't really matter in the end. She was the person she wanted to be.

She answered the only way she could to the question posed. "Yes, I am. With enough of each type of drone for back up, I think I can make a difference. Maybe even keep it to a draw until the other heavies or Scion drive her off."

"What if the Simurgh doesn't attack here? What if she attacks somewhere else?"

Taylor's silence seemed to be enough of an answer for Trish who cursed loudly. "Goddamn it to hell, Taylor! You can't save the world if you're dead!"

Taylor bit off the first thing that sprang to mind which was that she remembered dying and it hadn't taken. Back off, Tony, she whispered, but only in her own mind. Gathering her resolve, she spoke quietly, but passionately, "I won't let people die even if it means I'm safe. Not if there's even one thing I can do to save one person."

"You, yourself, said that the Simurgh is the worst kind of foe for you to attack in this way. That her telekinetic abilities make her almost impossible to hem in. Add in her precognition... She'll be difficult, at best, for your drones to deal with."

"All true, and yet..."

"You try anyway, won't you?"

Taylor opened her mouth to defend herself, then shut it again. What was the point when Trish was right? She would be taking part in the next Endbringer fight, likely against the Simurgh.

Trish swore again, "Fuck!" Then she walked over to the water dispenser, grabbed a cup, downed it along with two little white pills.

Taylor watched her, wide-eyed. Were those... Of course, they were. QT tablets. Trish walked back over and deliberately took a seat on the divan that Taylor, herself, occasionally napped on when working late. From her prone position, she said, "I just want you to know I'm not making a statement here. What I'm doing is getting myself into peak condition. If you're going off to fight an Endbringer in less than a month, then you need the best chance possible. As soon as I wake up, we're sitting down with Danny and we're going to figure out exactly what you need to build the best suit of armor possible. Even if we have to leverage the value of the company itself to finance it earlier than planned. I'm not going to let you..."

Trish finally trailed off as sleep overcame her. Taylor spoke aloud, "JARVIS, prepare another batch of QT tablets, two hundred and forty this time. I also want you to monitor Trish every time she takes a tablet and extrapolate her physical condition."

JARVIS' voice was concerned as he answered, "Do you wish me to maintain possession of the tablets to prevent Miss Rogers from attaining them without your awareness?"

"No. Trish is a big girl. We need to let her do what she needs to do. But as her friends, we maintain the right to stick our noses in if we think she's overdoing it. Kind of like you do with me."

"Miss, I do not 'stick' my nose in. I do not even have a nose. I merely express my concern when the decisions you make are detrimental to your well being." He sounded vaguely offended at Taylor's accusation. Then he got in his zinger, "Such as the location you've chosen, creating such a strategic target with your company."

Taylor shrugged, putting off that discussion for the future. "Tahmayto, tahmahto. Besides, I have an ulterior motive in putting a bullseye on my back. All right. Now open up Project Iron Man Mark I. I want to revisit the idea of eliminating the foam and any of the other nonlethal munition load outs. Instead, we're aiming for this suit to be stripped to the very essentials. Flight. Armor. Forcefields. And..."

JARVIS' cultured voice prompted her, "And what, Miss?"

Taylor smiled without humor, a sense of winter permeating her being. Her voice reflected that coldness as she spoke, "And with the most dangerous and lethal mix of weapons we can possibly design and produce in the time we have left."

JARVIS' voice was utterly devoid of its usual warmth as he agreed, "Of course, Miss. After all, the Endbringers are a threat to be eliminated."

Taylor wondered if she should be worried that her voice was just as devoid of emotion as her AI's as she agreed. "Yes they are. And we're going to be ones to do it."

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Danny stared at the synopsis in front of him. He'd been reading the same few lines of text over and over for the last half hour, most of his attention somewhere else. That somewhere else had been on his daughter, Taylor.

Once again, Taylor was threatening to destroy his sanity while completely disrupting his peace of mind. Two weeks ago, she had told him that there was a strong chance that Brockton Bay was going to be visited by an Endbringer soon, likely the Simurgh.

With a grim look in her eyes, Taylor had given him the file that JARVIS had put together on the threat that the Endbringers represented. By the time Danny had finished reading it, it had been all he could do not to wrap Taylor up in a big ball of cotton and steal her away to some illusion of safety.

Because that was all it would be, an illusion. JARVIS' report had shown exactly what happened to people like Taylor. How they had been targeted, over and over again before they had the chance to actually make a difference. How some had met fates even worse than death. How else would you describe a man like Alan Gramme? He'd been a Tinker who'd specialized in biomes, terraforming and ecosystems, who'd taken on a project to build self sustaining biospheres on the moon.

Alan Gramme, who had given the human race so much hope for the future, was now a serial killer, a monster who went by the name of Mannequin. He was a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine, for God's sake!

So many others had met equally cruel fates, of which death would have been the blessing. Taylor was right in the middle of that nightmare.

Danny wanted to scream his lungs out at the injustice of it all. He finally had his daughter back. Their relationship was stronger than it had ever been. Now he was in great danger of losing her again.

He'd accepted in his head, if not in his heart, that someday Taylor was going to head out in a suit of armor that allowed her begin to put her stamp upon the world. But he hadn't realized just how quickly that time was approaching. Or how dangerous it would be when it finally arrived.

Even worse, Trish had told him that Taylor was planning to help even if the threat wasn't to Brockton Bay. His daughter hadn't even tried to deny it, merely saying that this was why she'd been given these abilities. To make a difference and save lives. Danny couldn't gainsay her, although he'd tried. Oh, how he'd tried. But in the end, he'd failed to sway her resolve, or to reduce her determination in the slightest. So, if he couldn't stop her, Danny needed to make sure Taylor was as safe as she could be. Which meant getting her armor up and running with every safeguard possible.

They were racing against a ticking clock with no idea what the real dead line was. Still, progress was being made, part of which was the report in front of him. Grimly, Danny forced himself to actually read it.

Its essence was simple. The first part of the report laid out their progress on the drone front. Four different drones were about to start being built by HTech in its new manufacturing facilities. The first one was the most basic. It was the drone being marketed as a deterrent to theft and vandalism, to be sold to both companies and police forces as a force multiplier in confrontations with criminals while reducing their liability towards human injuries, both that of their own personnel and of any criminal elements.

The drone in question was a simple meter and a half diameter sphere, lightly armored, with an appearance that almost resembled a smiling face. Using 'simple' antigravity technology, it was armed with only nonlethal weaponry, including long range wireless tasers, which used ionizing lasers to create pathways to targets as much as a hundred yards away, as well as the ubiquitous containment foam pioneered by the PRT. It had been a simple matter for the company's attorneys to arrange for them to become licensed to use the material in their products, and they just had to pay the PRT fees for its usage.

"You're going to drive yourself crazy reading that."

Danny looked up at Trish, who'd apparently come into his office while he was immersed in his reading. "I know, I just can't help it."

"Where are you at?"

"The orders for the new security drone."

"Those thousand orders, once we fill them, are going to really help pay back all of that money that Quinn got for us from those financial interests."

"Maybe. Until the next time Taylor needs to build a set of armor. How can it cost this much?" Danny gestured towards the bottom line of the report where the final price tag of the armor was listed. The amount shown was thirty-six million dollars.

"Danny, it wouldn't have been so expensive if we hadn't been rushing so much. Speed ups costs tremendously."

"I know it does. Plus, those first two alloys Taylor tried didn't work. They..."

Taylor had told him that her armor would be made from Adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Within it, she would be safe. And with the additional funding they'd leveraged from Quinn, there were plenty of money to create the complicated equipment required so she wouldn't have to head out in a suit made only of steel. Except, as it turned out, Taylor couldn't make Adamantium.

They'd discovered that one of the resins simply wasn't available on this world. And while Taylor knew its chemical composition, it had never been successfully synthesized before. It would take months, possibly even years, of experimentation to be able to make it.

Which left her resorting to a different material, something called Secondary Adamantium. It could be damaged by sufficient force, unlike True Adamantium, but it was still stronger than any material on Earth Bet. Danny still remembered Taylor joking that if her armor was damaged, it was likely she was already dead from the concussive force. He hadn't thought it was funny then and time hadn't made the gallows humor any more amusing. His thoughts were interrupted by Trish.

"Look, Danny, Taylor's going to be safe. I know you've seen the stats on the other new drones."

"Which ones? The new security drones for HTech?" Danny knew that those drones were identical in appearance to the drones they were selling. HTech's drones, however, were being kept purely as security to watch over the grounds of the company's various facilities. Instead of the high capacity, rechargeable batteries the other drones used, HTech's drones were powered by individual arc reactors.

What appeared like overkill, was actually necessary, as in addition to the nonlethal wireless tasers, these drones also sported something called repulsor cannons, which could apparently even disable Parahuman foes, some at least. As an added defensive measure, they were able to maintain multiple strong forcefields in three dimensions enabling them to trap trespassers. There was another difference that involved a nonlethal measure called Richards' Adhering Super Paste or RASP for short. The adhesive was based upon an invention by a villain in Tony Stark's world named the Trapster. Apparently a friend of Tony's named Reed made some variations to the formula, making it even more difficult to get loose from, although it wouldn't stop someone like Alexandria or an Endbringer.

Taylor, on the other hand, had added an aerogel component to the paste that made the chemical swell like mad (almost twice the expansion of containment foam) while giving it a similar 'breathability' factor. There was no counteragent known for RASP, but it would breakdown approximately two hours after it was used, leaving not even a residue behind. Time consuming, but effective.

"No, the new drones Taylor designed to help her actually fight."

Danny massaged his temples, feeling a painful headache coming on. "I haven't gotten that far. What about them."

"They'll be helpful for her in dealing with any Class S threat. I mean it, they are really good. One's a forcefield drone, that can project a forcefield a hundred and fifty feet across in a variety of shapes. It's so strong that it takes two arc reactors to power it. It can even hold itself in place using something called pressor beam technology."

"I actually understood that, Trish, but I don't see how this thing can help."

"Taylor believes that enough of these drones, acting in unison, can contain even an Endbringer. Sure, they're strong, but they are governed by the laws of physics. They simply won't be able to move past the forcefield if it's strong enough. If it's well anchored enough. Plus..."

Danny could tell Trish was hesitating to finish her analysis. He prompted, "Plus what?"

"The forcefield itself if is a weapon. Turned on its axis, perpendicular to the threat, makes it an immensely deadly cutting weapon that an approaching foe might slice itself to pieces upon. Taylor hasn't been able to field test it so as to be certain it could affect Endbringers, but it looks promising."

"Seriously? That sounds dangerous. I thought forcefields didn't have edges like that."

"Maybe Parahuman emitted ones don't. But Taylor's do. Although, the edges can be made to be relatively safe, using something called Bertil Edging. They'll still be dangerous to something moving fast enough, but if you use that, they won't cut someone in half."

While one side of Danny's personality was appalled at the idea of someone being killed by such a vicious weapon employed by his daughter, another part just wanted her to be safe, no matter the consequences. However, he was going to revisit the forcefield system when this threat was over.

Trish was still trying to set his mind at ease and started describing the other drone. Danny listened as she talked about how the other drone was a simple armored weapon's platform that fired an extremely powerful particle beam cannon, capable of delivering immense amounts of energy to it target. It was protected by a small, spherical, purely defensive forcefield. The particle beam would be absolutely lethal to many Parahuman threats, while at the same time immensely accurate as JARVIS would be directing them in real time to provide Taylor with covering fire. They were effective within twelve hundred yards before atmospheric diffraction began to significantly degrade the beam.

"...can even blast through more than a foot of-"

Danny interrupted Trish's monologue, "Trish, while that's very reassuring, there just one problem."

Trish's voice lowered almost to a whisper. "I know. Today's the twelfth. We could get hit by an Endbringer any time now. The first drones..."

Danny finished for her, "Won't be ready for at least seven days. Even then, we won't be able to produce more than ten each of the forcefield and weapon drones by the end of the month. The main assembly lines simply aren't ready. I don't think twenty drones are going to stop an Endbringer, are they?"

"No. They won't. Conservatively, it would take between fifty and a hundred of each type. Maybe even more."

So that left only his daughter, Taylor, whose progress in making her armor was detailed in the next report. Staring at the words on the paper in front of him, Danny couldn't help but despair.

"Taylor's heading out in steel armor because she won't make that other Adamantium! Because it's taking too long to synthesize! She's-"

"Danny, it's not just steel. It's an alloy of titanium, steel, and tungsten. The stuff has a higher tensile strength than pretty much anything else on Earth Bet, so it's not as if she won't be protected."

Danny sighed heavily. "Trish, can you honestly tell me that an Endbringer can't tear through the armor of the suit she's built as easily as you could do to paper?"

At the other's silence, he continued, "Taylor's risking her life before she's ready and I want to forbid her so badly from doing so."

"Taylor knows what she's doing. She does have those forcefields, after all."

Danny paged over to the part of the report that Trish was referencing and quickly scanned over it. According to the report, Taylor's armor contained forcefields that were similar to those used by the drones, if a bit more sophisticated. Her forcefields were designed to protect the armor from physical contact, and so covered all three dimensions, about six inches from the surface of the armor. Here, Taylor had gone for redundancy upon redundancy, having six different forcefield emitters, each ready to kick on as soon as the previous one failed. There was also a limited ability to project forcefields, but only in relatively close proximity to her armor, perhaps a hundred feet.

There was a note to one side that indicated in the future her armor would be able to maintain layered forcefields, making them even more difficult to defeat. Danny didn't give a damn about some nebulous future armor. For now, the redundant forcefields would have to be enough. Suppressing a sigh, he looked up.

"It doesn't seem like enough. Okay, I can see how these forcefields might be able to keep Taylor safe. But none of this has been field-tested against an actual Endbringer. None of us know if they'll hold under actual battle conditions."

Trish met his gaze, her own surprisingly confident. "I know I can't read Taylor like I can everything else, but she does know what she's doing. I am sure of that. If she didn't think she could make a difference, she wouldn't be going."

Danny gestured wildly. "How much of a difference can she really make? I mean, sure, she has protection, but can she really hurt an Endbringer?"

"Look at the list of weapons she has, Danny. Then ask me again."

The weapons that the suit would sport were simple, but powerful. Danny scanned the list, which hadn't changed significantly since Taylor had first written them down. The biggest difference was the absence of most of the non-lethal weapons she'd originally planned to use, tasers and RASP included. Since this armor was intended to fight and survive an Endbringer, Taylor had taken off anything she believed to be completely ineffective against one. It also had the added benefit of keeping the cost and complexity to a minimum.

Instead, there were the armor's staples, repulsor cannons, one in each hand. Additionally, there was large, multi-functional cannon in the center of the armor's breastplate, something called a unibeam. It could fire a multitude of different forms of energy, ranging from lasers to EMP's. Built into the top of each of the armor's forearms were very high energy particle cannons, similar to those used by the drones, but far more powerful as each was fed by trio of arc reactors. There was also some note which Danny didn't quite understand regarding how she was using a form of energy capacitance to increase her weapons' energy levels by several factors.

Trish's voice interrupted Danny's consideration, as if she had grown too impatient to wait. "Those particle cannons should be able to breach the Simurgh's skin, maybe even tearing completely through. She is the weakest of the Endbringers physically, after all. It's just her precognition makes her such a difficult target."

"So how is Taylor going to score hits when the Simurgh can see them coming?"

"JARVIS is going to be present for the fight in real time instead of monitoring it from halfway around the world with the subsequent lag involved. Taylor says lag is the real enemy here. If he's there, he can hit the Simurgh with almost lightspeed weapons, not giving her time to react." Trish's eyes blazed with belief in what she was saying.

Danny considered Trish's words, as he sat there almost brooding. He felt old just trying to take in what his daughter was trying to accomplish. What she had already accomplished. The armor was basically done. She was field testing it tomorrow morning. Maybe if he continued to talk to Trish, they could come up with a way to get more drones ready before Taylor faced an Endbringer. Maybe.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

The alarm going off woke Taylor up. She hastily glanced at the clock next to her. It read 9:42 PM. She must have fallen to asleep while working, an increasingly familiar situation. That was when she registered just what alarm had awoken her.

It was the one tuned to the Protectorate's Endbringer channel. It was designed to rally those who chose to do battle with an Endbringer not in their own city. Taylor hurriedly connected to the channel to find out which Endbringer and where.

The attack was on Canberra, Australia. The Endbringer involved was the Simurgh. So be it.

Taylor suppressed her sense of relief as she yelled, "JARVIS! Get ready to suit up!"

Her AI's calm voice immediately replied, "Ready when you are, Miss."

Taylor quickly undressed and moved to the location that would allow JARVIS to armor her. A blizzard of devices rose around her as she stepped into the large boots that were the foundation of this particular armor. Then devices fastened around her hips and waist. Taylor held out her arms and they were quickly surrounded by another maelstrom of metal. Screws torqued down with immense force as piece after piece covered her. Until Taylor Hebert was gone, and all that stood where she'd been was an immense armored figure, clad in black and silver.

A quick thought and the skylight at the top of her lab opened. Taylor rose on pillars of force from her boots and hands. Then she was through the opening and leaving, followed by eight flattened spheroids of metal and one metallic cube.

Eight was all of the drones she'd managed to build. There were four more nearly finished in her lab's automated manufacturing facility, but they'd do her no good incomplete. No, Taylor would have to make do with what she'd managed to complete. Tonight was do or die.

"Miss, we are being tracked by several weapons systems originating in the building ahead of us."

Taylor had already spotted their threat indicators on her HUD. "Relax, JARVIS. That's just the Protectorate's automated defenses. So long as we land in the designated spot, they won't attack." Plus, even if they did, Taylor wasn't particularly worried about them damaging her armor through its forcefields. Not that they were going to, she thought, noting the small group already gathering in front of the building.

Taylor landed rather more heavily than she'd intended in front of the Protectorate HQ. Her drones bobbing above her head, she winced at the sound of concrete shattering even as her inertial compensator kept her from feeling the impact.

Superimposed upon her HUD were the names of each of the people present. Even without that reminder, Taylor recognized several of the local Protectorate members, including Armsmaster in his familiar dark blue and silver armor and Miss Militia dressed in her modified military uniform. Others were less familiar and the HUD definitely helped to at least initially identify them. The figure labeled as Panacea wore enveloping white robes, and was someone Taylor wouldn't have recognized on sight. However, she did know Panacea was a member of New Wave and the world's preeminent healer.

The other Protectorate members present and identified on Taylor's HUD were Assault, Battery, Velocity, and Dauntless. Taylor also noted the presence of two more female members of New Wave, Brandish and Lady Photon. She did a quick scan to identify any devices they carried as well as to get a sense of the abilities they brought to the table, making a mental note to do a follow up with JARVIS when time allowed.

Everyone had looked at Taylor when she touched down in front of them and a couple had taken a step back at the loud crack of her landing. Taylor had barely settled into place when Armsmaster was in front of her, barking out, "Who are you? Where are you from? What is your specialty?"

Taylor's voice was that of a flat, synthesized male as she responded, "Iron Man. Out west. Tinker." She saw him take that in and waited for a response.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

Colin stood, waiting to see if anyone else would show, although he rather doubted it. The Simurgh was more of a specialist fight than most Endbringers, and if you didn't have flight, or another Mover ability, coupled with some form of energy projection, there was little point in trying to help. Of course, Alexandria was an obvious exception to the energy projection rule. Unfortunately, many of the members of his team who were coming along, such as Velocity, Assault, and Battery, would only be useful in helping to move civilians away from the fight. Miss Militia, at least, was effective from a great distance with her different weapons. Dauntless might even be of help, he thought, suppressing any emotional connotations associated with the cape who might soon surpass him.

Colin, himself, would be staying here to help keep an eye on his city as he would be of minimal help in this kind of battle. He would be joined here by Triumph and the Wards. In some ways, he wished he could keep other members of his team from going although he didn't really fear a breach of the truce by any of his city's villains. He wasn't even sure why he felt this way.

Colin frowned at the possibility it was pettiness on his part that was the driving force for his reluctance to send them. Finally, he put the entire idea firmly from his mind to concentrate on what was happening around him.

He noted the presence of members of New Wave for the record. Truthfully, Colin was happier to see Brandish and Lady Photon as they could at least affect the Simurgh. He wished that more of their children had decided to come along, but then again, he could understand not wanting to take a chance with their safety as any mistake would result in their deaths. Even staying too long in the Endbringer's presence had cost them too many good capes.

Likely New Wave's leaders had decided they couldn't make enough of a difference to risk their lives while still so long. At least Panacea was coming, but as a noncombatant, she would stay at the back where she was best suited and only work on healing the wounded.

Colin was just about to make the call for a teleporter to come get his city's contribution when he saw someone he didn't recognize drop out of the sky to land with the resounding crack of shattering concrete. Irritated at the destruction of Protectorate property, he was stepping forward even as the sheer presence of the other figure registered.

The new addition wore a six and a half foot tall suit of menacing black armor with silver accents and glowing red eyes. Despite having a not dissimilar color scheme to his own armor, its appearance was completely different. For one thing, the other's armor was a sealed system giving no clues to its pilot's identity. For another, it was obviously loaded with several different types of energy weapons based what appeared to be projectors on its hands, forearms, and chest. The armor even looked virtually impregnable. Colin took another look, seeing deeper into the armor's systems and was appalled.

Everywhere he analyzed there was the possibility of miniaturization. But to his surprise, Colin couldn't plan the miniaturization in his head, as much of its base technology was different from anything he'd ever encountered before. From what he could understand, nothing appeared to be crudely built in the least. Instead, Colin saw unknown circuits and power leads, immensely robust, some of whose function mystified him. That set clearly led to weapons, but why were they so potent?

Then he took a quick reading with his staff, and the power generation revealed brought both understanding and additional alarm. Some power plant within the figure's armor was generating at least thirty gigawatts, far beyond any powered armor he'd ever encountered before. Just trying to get a more exact reading nearly damaged his staff's sensor suite. Almost absently, he noted a future way to decrease its sensitivity by several different degrees of magnitude upon demand.

Still, the fact that he needed to design such a system further fed Colin's unease. It was just one of the reasons he snapped out his questions. He wasn't particularly pleased by the answers provided by the figure's clearly synthesized voice. It didn't help that the flat synthesized voice only added to the menace projected by this... Iron Man.

Colin was not aware of any Tinkers with that designation. A quick glance at Miss Militia indicated that she was just as mystified as he was. Trying to reign in his emotions, he asked, "What are your armor's capabilities?"

Colin was aware that he was skirting dangerously close to the edge of invading another cape's privacy, but felt like he needed to at least have some understanding of what the other was capable of as the head of the Brockton Bay Protectorate. Still, he was relieved when the figure actually answered. "Powered flight. Forcefield projection. Particle cannons. Repulsors. A few other odds and ends." The armored figure gestured vaguely towards the drones floating above it.

Unfortunately, once the other responded, Colin found his relief to be short-lived. Particle cannons? With that power output? And just what the Hell were repulsors? Plus, he wanted to know exactly what those drones were. Then he became aware that the other hadn't finished speaking. "Oh, and this."

With that last, the figure stepped up to a large metal box floating behind him. Opening a small door in one side of it, he pulled out a metal armband and tossed it to Colin, who caught it reflexively. "Psionic inhibitor. Should be effective in preventing the Simurgh's scream from affecting you, although I haven't been able to test it outside of the lab."

From next to him, Colin heard Assault speak, "Seriously? Because that would be one hell of a tactical advantage if we don't have to worry about that scream."

Colin quickly took charge. "Assault, we have no evidence the device even works. It has not been tested or cleared by the PRT."

If Iron Man was offended by his words, it wasn't evidenced by his body language. He merely said, "If anyone wants one, come see me. I have enough to equip eighty capes."

Colin stood there, growing angry, as everyone there took advantage of the offered devices. He took a dubious look at the device in his hands, but could not discern its function, merely that it was wonderfully miniaturized and efficient, its size and elegance a much less brute force concept than its inventor's armor. He made a note to contact Dragon asap in order to have her analyze the item's purpose. Only then would he consider trying it out.

Deciding that they were as ready as they were going to get, Colin made a quick call. It took only a moment before he received an answer: pick up in four minutes. While he was waiting, he listened to the conversations around him.

"-want you to take any chances, puppy. Rescue only, got it?"

"Me take chances? Why you male, chauvinist pig, I'm not the one who-"

"-don't know if I can damage it. I mean, I have my Arclance, but still I'm just not sure."

"You have more of a chance than I do, despite my gu-"

"-taking care of the wounded, but please, Carol, don't take any chances!"

"Panacea, stick to code names while we're out in costume. I know I've sa-"

Then he zeroed in one conversation.

"-only the three of you are here out of all the members in your group. I was curious why."

"Brandish and I agreed that the others were too vulnerable against the Simurgh. Her telekinesis is extremely powerful. While we think we can handle it..."

"You don't know if the others could. If they could be kept safe, through some means, there would be a lot less to worry about."

"Maybe. But as things stand, unless Brockton Bay is getting hit, our kids are not getting involved in an Endbringer fight."

"I completely understand."

Colin stood still, even as he considered the possibilities. Now he wished he'd heard the entire conversation. And recorded it for later playback and analysis. Because unless he was extremely mistaken, he believed he'd just heard the tentative beginnings of a recruitment attempt. The only question was just who was recruiting whom?

Then Dart was in front of them, and frantically gesturing for everyone to gather close. Colin watched through narrowed eyes as Iron Man with his impossible armor and those drones clustered closely with the others. Then they were gone, next stop Canberra, Australia.

~~~Memories of Iron~~~

AN: Next chapter, all hell breaks loose.