Praetoria nods, and Rory can see tears of anger and fear in her eyes. As she walks, she reaches out and takes his hand. ”I’m losing everyone. One by one.”
The family doctor meets you as you head into the reinforced patient room. He looks grim.
The young-looking matriarch of the Taylor family looks asleep, though wires of all sorts are stuck to her head and causing a variety of readouts on nearby diagnostic equipment.
"It appears to have been a stroke. Physically, her body is still that of a twenty-something. Mentally, however, her mind is every bit of a nonagenarian. Sadly, her healing ability does not confer eternal youth."
As Kayla flies off, Psyche leaves a tendril in her mind, along with the brief sensation of a quick, tight embrace. "Here if you need anything."
"Can Gothic geolocate? Could they be coordinates?"
"As you know, my only role with that organization is aspirational, but I think it is more appropriate to focus on the tremendous fundraising and good works that the Church has accomplished instead of cherry picking the tweets of a few misguided, anonymous souls.
"My work battling Shard and his fanatics should make my opinion of the Chosen quite clear."
Shane looks up from his game, while Uncle Augustus puts a hand on Kayla's shoulder.
Dr. Montgomery shakes his head sadly. "Her power doesn't work on her brain. We've tried a number of treatments ever since her dementia set in, but her body fights them off. In this case, her body is keeping her mind old."
"So is she dying?" Shane asks.
"No," the doctor says. "With a feeding tube, she can live almost indefinitely. But without her mind, I don't know if that's what the family would wish for her."
She then turns to Augustus, ”What now, Gus? Are...do you have to make the decision alone? Or do we need to call anyone?”
"I don't know. I doubt it, but Gothic's never been one to overshare," Whippoorwill says as she walks around to try to look over Apotheosis's shoulder to see what code he punched in.
"Nothing here. It was out of Gothic's field of vision, and whatever it is, it looks like it's just a sequence to open the cage."
She turns around and starts studying the walls and equipment in the vision. "No, our best bet would be to look for clues for the location within the lab itself."
Foray turns to face Ballista. "Or, we ask the member of the Chosen who has ostensibly turned over a new leaf."
Hoshiko steps back from Foray's glare and looks away.
"Well? Do you recognize this place? What do you know?"
Uncle Augustus shakes his head. "I... I can't make that call right now. We have time. I hope your parents do return. Then we, as a family, can come to a decision.
"And there's a couple others I need to call first."
Eventually, once assurances are given that their privacy will be respected, as well as fliers and explanations of the hospitals unique policies for their extraordinary clientele and their visitors privacy and security, Judge agrees Kayla can relax and lower the Regalia . She ends up falling asleep on his shoulder in the waiting room for a little while as they waited for further updates from either the doctors or other family members to arrive.
"Scorch, does Frostbite's relationship with Praetoria make it difficult to follow her orders?" "Some experts have suggested that team bylaws against fraternization would make for a safer Halcyon, Do you disagree with this policy because of Frostbite and Praetoria, or are you carrying a torch, Scorch?" "After your battle with The Crab you left after saying, 'Get out of my head.' Can you comment on any friction between you and Psyche?" "Is Psyche being truthful when she claims not to use her powers on the team?"
"What, um, No. It's easy, she's the leader. She's nice enough." Scorch says, as she's assailed by reporters. "Fraternization. Huh? No that's stupid. You can't stop people getting together if they want. Carrying a torch? Huh.,, um.. no., ur,.. not rea,.. Psyche? No. She's great. I mean sometimes she,... Umm. No. She doesn't use her powers on us." Scorch seems to be shrinking back away from the incessant questions and she gratefully looks up as Imagerie stops the questions and ushers them into the HQ.
"Shard shared a little about the grand scheme with her, but Hoshiko doesn't know all that much about the details," Shin interjects, stepping between his grand daughter and Foray. "That man is Apotheosis. The plan appears to be trying to give him the power to remake the entire world into one great utopia. For the Chosen, the Mongrels - I think he promised all of those teams whatever they want in this new world. Which is why they're working together on all of this. Dr. Dread I don't think she knew about."
He turns to Hoshiko. "Any detail you can think of that will help? Was Trapdoor the only way to reach this place, or maybe there's another physical entrance? Shard mentioned?"
Rory walks hand in hand with Kayla, trying to offer silent comfort because words seemed to be failing him at the moment, at last they reach the end of the concourse Rory looks at the press still lingering around the walkway like sharks in chummed water, and shakes his head. "I don't know how I can help but I will do whatever I can to help you, even if it is just to sit in silence and hold each other." Rory lifts her hand up and kisses the back of it. "Fly safe, and watch out for other airborne objects, however, if my sis is to be believed whatever you collide with will lose." Rory releases her hand and watches her disappear into the distance then slowly walks back to the briefing room.
"I think we should use Shard's knowledge."
"No offense to Ballista, but it's not as though she's the only avenue we have, and Shard's far more likely to have the answers we need."
She turned her focus to Imagerie, "I can just skim during questioning to make sure he's being truthful, but I can get a lot more if I go deeper."
Mattie looks doubtfully at Shin. "She may not know details." she says to the others, "but she must know something." she turns to Ballista. "What did Shard tell you and the others about Apotheosis and his plan? What made you agree to work with the Mongrels and attack the research facilities? You may not know the whole plan, but you must know what the aim was. Or do you just do whatever Shard tells you to?"
Kayla giggles a bit at Rory’s comment. She starts to walk away, but pauses. She then turns around and walks back to Rory, the pair still out of sight from the reporter crowd, and pulls him to her by the front of his shirt, kissing him passionately for several seconds before turning away again and walking outside and flying off to the hospital.
"Mattie!" Shin snaps at Scorch. "Apologize. She's here voluntarily. You can ask her questions, politely and with the respect that she deserves for making the extremely difficult decision to be here and cooperating. If you can't do that, then we're done."
Horizon looks at the rest of the Alliance and the Sentinels. "That goes for everyone. I will not tolerate a single snipe, insinuation, or anything else that has no purpose but to make her feel bad like you're lording over her. So measure your words, because you should feel shame for treating someone who is trying her best to be a good person like a criminal! As far as I'm concerned, the blackboard's wiped for her. Treat her exactly as you've all welcomed me into your fold, even though you all know what I might become. Because we're heroes, and we have to be better than that."
His flare up of righteous anger that has been welling up since Isaiah nearly pushed her back into the dark settles, as he turns to Hoshiko and smiles. "We can leave now if you want. But anything you think might help them locate Gothic might be a good idea."
Whippoorwill glares at Horizon. Her already tall figure is framed by her impressive wings, making her seem even larger. "You will stand down! You do not get to give orders here, and she is not free to go until we say so. We have a protocol for when someone wants to switch sides, and we will follow it."
Ballista puts a hand on Shin's shoulder and pushes him aside. "Let me handle this, Ojiisan." Then she gives Scorch a defiant look and folds her arms, standing directly in front of her. "I used to do everything he said. And yeah, Shard told me some of the plan. We were going to finally change things, he said."
She looks around. "I know this place. This is the lab we set up for Chiros after we busted him and the rest of the Mongrels out. It's in an old middle school building in Springdale."
Whippoorwill and Foray exchange a surprised look then turn to Ballista with half-believing expressions. "You mean the suburb?" Foray asks.
She nods. "Yeah, about twenty miles outside Halcyon. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Whippoorwill blinks a few times. "'Cause usually it's way harder to find out your secret lairs." Her deadpan attempt at humor over, she spins to face the oversized robotic alien. "Ordnance, speed configuration. 'Maj, Foray, get on board. Cap'll join us on the way."
The illusion of the middle-school science lab fades. Ordnance smoothly reconfigures himself into a sleek-looking jet and the Alliance members start boarding.
Whippoorwill turns, suddenly remembering you. "Ah, good job. We've got this. Stay and watch the HQ, please?" She touches a comm device in her ear as she boards Ordnance. "Rendezvous? You'll never believe this..."
As the Ordnance jet blasts off, Yeoman clomps up to you all. "Refreshment?"
Mattie's expression hardens at Shin's words. "Polite?" she says, "The respect she deserves? You've shown you're on the right side Shin. You've done a lot of good. You,.. you stopped me from hurting Rory and I can't, I won't forget that. But Ballista is a criminal. I'll be more than happy to accept that she's changed once she's shown that she has." Her voice raises in volume, letting her anger through. But The 'Chosen' have hurt a lot of people. A LOT of people in their misguided quest! She's hurt a lot of people. You can't just forget that and pretend it never happened. You can't just forget that she thinks she's better than the the people she calls 'mundanes'. You can't forget that just because she's your granddaughter! That doesn't make it OK! That doesn't bring people back to life! What are you going to tell her victims? What are you going to tell the children who don't have parents any more because of what she's done? You don't just get to walk away from that! You have to earn forgiveness, and a part of that is being sorry, really sorry for what you've done."
"Shin, knock it off! Yes Mattie got a bit snotty at the end there, but there's a mile of difference between what you could one day do, and what Ballista has actually done of her own free will. Just because someone's related to you doesn't mean everyone else has to pretend she's not a villain!
If you really want her to go straight, it's reasonable to ask her to make amends."
Rory finally makes it back, "So... What did I miss?
Okay, Shin, let's back the heck up. Holly says. You don't have power here, Like Whippoorwill said. Furthermore, don't talk to me like that. Don't talk to any of us like that!
And as for the slate being wiped clean... My god, i don't even have words for how monumentally stupid that is! She's shown that she's willing to use monstrous methods. It doesn't matter what her end was, how just it was or wasn't. If you can do the things she's done... I don't think she'll ever be able to make up for it. She, and you, shouldn't be upset when we don't trust her! Holly says. light spirals around her as she shouts.
Chill out and sit down and stop acting like you're the leader!
Ballista steps back, hugging her shoulders as the exchanges get more heated. Though, when Yeoman comes within range she grabs a water off his tray.
"It's all right, really. I know I'm not going to be trusted at first. Unless you're really all that stupid," she says trying to help.
Kayla’s voice comes through the communicator to the whole team. ”Okay, a couple of things. One, you have GOT to get used to these communicators Horizon. Yours is active. Two, you are not the end all be all of authority, none of us are! So you can stop the Dusk impersonation. Now, if you guys don’t mind, I’m going to go check on my Grammie, because I may not get to for much longer. Is that acceptable to everyone?” her voice is starting to crack with emotional stutters by the time she finishes her short rant.
Augustus walks in and gives her a gentle mental nudge, to which she looks to him and asks ”Can...can you hear what she is thinking? Can she hear me?”
Shin takes Scorch's berating quietly, absorbing what she's said. He takes the time after Whippoorwill's reaming of him and Hoshiko volunteering the location of the lab to think over everyone's words. When the Alliance finally leaves, he's the first to speak up to Yeoman.
"Yeoman, can you please tell us all about the first crime that Shin Akebono, codename Dusk, committed as the police report details it?"
The ancient robot whirs as it considers the request. "I am aware it occurred on August 9th, 1964. As Dusk had been a member in absentium from the Alliance at that point, the head of the Alliance at the time, Elsewhere, requested jurisdiction over the crime. The details...are not particularly meant for the ears of children," Yeoman says.
"I'd like to know. I'd like them all to know," Shin says quietly.
"...In total, five chapters of the Knights of America, four chapters of the Purity Council, and two chapters of the Brotherhood of Liberty were attacked during that night. First officers on the scene responded to emergency calls from witnesses hearing screams from the chapter buildings. The scene as they found it in that first building found seventeen men, later identified as members of the Knights of America, all in critical conditions. Emergency medical teams were requested to assist, though none of the men in question were in any condition to identify their attackers."
"What condition were they in?" He asked hoarsely.
Yeoman paused, before continuing. "The victims had been exposed to massive amounts of ionizing radiation, controlled and localized to avoid their vital organs but effectively burning nearly 90% of their flesh with third degree burns. Victims were blinded and their eardrums burst, and all had to be sedated to prevent them from struggling and screaming as they were rushed to the hospitals. Similar scenes were found in the other chapters. The total victim count at the end stood at one hundred and eighty three."
"No one was actually killed though?" Horizon asked, disguising his horror.
"Correct. All the victims were alive, but incapacitated to the point where many considered if euthanasia was an acceptable treatment option. The last victim of this incident, Grand Knight Steven Smalls died March 24th, 1971, from complications arising from infection. While Shin Akebono was the primary suspect in this case, he was not seen in Halcyon City until February 13th, 1969, where he started the Dusk Guard. It is assumed that he had fled the country shortly after the crime spree known by police as the Whiteout." Yeoman whirs again. "...Would you perhaps like a refreshment now?"
"Thank you. Some green tea would be nice," Shin says as he looks at the rest of the team. "If Hoshiko has done anything worse than that, then maybe you're right to not want to try to give her the benefit of the doubt. She's here, because I will never stop believing that people can change for the better. I think that it's important to try and convince everyone like Hoshiko that it's better to work for good than for misguided reasons. Stop hating her for her past. Try to help her make a brighter future."
He turns to Holly. "To be frank, I don't want to be the leader. Because that's a step closer to being Dusk. And I want to stay as far away from that as I possibly can." He looks at his communicator. "That's why I've been pushing Prae and Frostbite to try and step up."
Augustus smiles sympathetically, though the skin around his eyes is tight. "She'll always be able to hear you."
He puts a hand on her shoulder. "Your aunts won't be here until the morning. Why don't you get some rest. She'll be here when you get back."
Isaiah looked back and forth between the arguing sides, and rolled his eyes.
"Can we have the angry arguments at a time when there aren't pressing, world-scale threats on the loose? If that experiment of Apotheosis' goes south, do you really want this to be the last thing you did? How about we talk plans instead? I for one think that the apparent location of this lab is a bit too convenient. If we're dealing with an actual mastermind here, that's probably either a decoy, or if it is the real thing its a massive trap. And an assault on this HQ while the defenders are out would be fitting the observed pattern, so how about we talk defense plans and alternative methods of locating Apotheosis? In fact, if he's really clever, he may not have even told Shard the actual location. I certainly wouldn't trust Shard with something that important."
Meanwhile, Inqiury came to the conclusion that it didn't really need the Alliance's permission to do a scan. Launching into the air, it began to do a targeted sensor sweep across Halcyon City and its surroundings, potent sensor equipment straining to detect even the smallest signs of reality alterations. Barring the Null-Space Compressors used in its own construction, of course, and keeping track of where Ordnance likely carried some of the same.
Kayla nods to her Uncle’s suggestion, and steps out to see what Shane was doing. She could have guessed, still playing a game on his damned phone. She rolls her eyes and floats away, forming the Regalia as she does.
She reaches the rooftop entrance and flies off to Praetor Tower. Wow...it’s already getting dark...I didn’t realize so much time had gone by in there...
Kayla landed at Praetor Tower and went inside through the aerial entrance. She rode the elevator down to their private living quarters and made her way inside. The place felt so empty right now, despite the sound of the hustle and bustle far below. She paused a moment at the door to the dining room, thinking back to the last conversation she had with Eternia, before heading on to her room. She quickly changed into something fitting for not just physical combat, but something she could use to try and blend in as best she could if need be. She ultimately settled on some black leggings and a black tank top. She tucked a ball cap into the side of her leggings waist band in case she wanted to try and obscure her blonde hair or face at some point. She made her way over to a mirror and gave herself a once over as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. The last thing she does is takes the communicator out of her ear. She looks at it for a moment, then sets it on her nightstand beside a music box her dad had gotten her. She didn’t want any chance of distractions.
I'm coming Mom. I'm coming Dad.
She then let the Regalia form over top of her outfit and made her way back to the roof and into the sky. She flew up above the city lights until she was certain nobody could still be tracking her with a high power camera lens or anything, and then changed directions and headed off to where her parents were last seen. She had overheard her father saying something about Bayside, so that was where Praetoria was headed...
Holly spits back All you're proving is that Dusk is an even more misguided, even more monstrous person what are you tring to- Holly starts, before Isaiah speaks. she she stays quiet, cooling off for a moment before saying You're right, Isaiah. What should we do. If it is a trap, backing them up might just get us caufght too. we could stay here, and see if they pull a repeat stunt.. or... Yeoman, is Shard sedated, or otherwise fully neutralized? have you double checked? Holly says.
Psyche, please ask Isaiah if he could make some kind of sedatie in Inquiry.
Shin looks incredibly frustrated as Isaiah dismisses the intelligence that Hoshiko had just given on a place she said she's been, and Holly failed to understand his point. "The Mongrels just assaulted this place and failed. That was their distraction to get us off guard. It's a common enough tactic to divide our attention. You're also failing to see that Apotheosis might be the power, but he's not the mastermind," Shin said, holding up his communicator to let Prae in on the conversation.
"It seems more likely that Dr. Dread is the woman pulling the strings here. Prae probably knows more about that line, but I remember a Dr. Dread from my time." Now that he thought about it, it seemed clear that a Dr. Dread had been the villain involved in the fight that had led to him getting his powers in the first place. Strange that the mantle had been passed down the generations.
"Hoshiko, you said that Shard gave you part of the plan. What was going to happen after you got Psyche or Gothic? Were you guys planning on taking another run on the tech you didn't get from yesterday's raid?" He asks.
Kylie, how in the world is Hoshiko going to want to make amends when everyone else besides me treats her like a prisoner to be interrogated? She's not going to want to help anyone if they keep whispering threats, or saying she's Shard's willing lackey. They don't understand, they just see her as a bad guy and want to put her in a like the rest of us!
Mattie goes pale as Dusk's crime is described by the computer and her anger fades as she listens in horror. There's a difference Shin, " she says, placing her hand on his shoulder. You didn't do that. Dusk did that. You can change, make the choice not to do it. You're not Dusk. He's what you could become, but you can still make a choice not to become him. Not to do,.. that."
Isaiah flies high up into the air and begins his scan. He quickly realizes that it will be much more difficult a task. This is Halcyon City; disruptions in reality are surprisingly commonplace. He detects eighty-seven magical anomalies including two active conflicts between magic users, and six extradimensional hotspots. Thirteen of the anomalies appear to be of specific religious origin, and nine are fae.
After filtering out those, Inquiry scans what he believes to be Ordnance heading out to a patch of warped reality roughly twenty miles northeast of the Halcyon City limits.
Inside Alliance HQ, Yeoman answers Holly with his tinny, polite voice. "Ma'am, Shard is detained in CLASSIFIED. He will be inaccessible until a ranking Alliance member authorizes access. Refreshment?"
Ballista shakes her head. "I think Chiros was going to make due with what we got. And Psyche was the big prize. Gothic was the consolation. They'll probably need to find another pure telekinetic, since Gothic isn't. Psyche was the first choice because she's both."
A bolt of anger crackles across Psyche's mind, but she keeps most of it out of her reply, "Shin. This is not the same, I promise. I'll make sure you get the chance to visit her. I'll give telepathic testimony if you want. But you can't fix her by pretending Shard and Dusk didn't damage her."
More broadly she muses, "Well, if you're trying to build a Psyche, you'd start with Gothic and add a..." Yeoman, are Ciandra's whereabouts currently known? "[/i]
Do you know what I've always hated? That we're so sure that the best way to treat criminals is to put them outside of the rest of the world. We never think that maybe it's more important to get them to become a part of it. If Hoshiko has any hope of becoming more than a villain, then she has to be surrounded by heroes who will welcome her and treat her equally. I know she's damaged. I damaged her. Shard damaged her. But you can't fix damage by ignoring that she's still a person with feelings, either. So do me a favor. Apologize to her. Verbally. Show her you're willing to bury the hatchet, even if the rest of the team won't do it.
He looks at Scorch a bit sadly. "Here's the thing, Mattie. I could imagine myself doing something exactly like that. The impulse to simply remove bad men from the equation is always going to be there. But if I'm going to be a better person, I have to see that everyone else is willing to try to be their better selves also. I don't know the details of Hoshiko's crimes, but you seem to know. After hearing what I might do, does it matter? She's here and she's helping us. So please, give her a chance. Get to know who she is, not Ballista. Like you've gotten to know me, and not Dusk. I believe you have it in you to not let your prejudice rule you. You're a good person, so be an example for Hoshiko to follow."
He lets out a breath, looking tired even though he probably exerted himself the least among the team today. He takes his tea from Yeoman and sips it slowly. He brings out his comm, keying into the channel to talk to Whippoorwill. "I wanted to apologize. I don't know your protocols. But I don't want to see family locked up either. I hope that you get there in time to rescue Gothic. But listen, Psyche was their prime target because they need telepathy and telekinesis. Psyche thinks they'll go after someone named Ciandra next."
He pauses, looking at the rest of the team. "...So does anyone else think that we should go find Ciandra and bring her in?"
Kylie, Isaiah is right. This feels like a trojan horse attack. like the season 3 finale. How the hell is it that WE beat Shard!. hes escaped capture for almost a decade. Unless he wanted to be caught. and we were so ready to beleive it, so ready to be better than him.
she leans lose to Isaiah, pushing him slightly to get him away from Shin Do you have anything like a sedative, something I or Gallow could use against Shard, if I'm right, and he isn't as retrained as we hope he is
"Shin... We won't keep her out of the world. We just have to be cautious. But, you're right. Making her feel isolated won't help."
She turned to Ballista, to Hoshiko, "I'm sorry how we've handled this. If nothing else, leaving you in doubt as to what would be done with you was unkind. We will be following the Alliance's protocols, both for our safety, and to give you the best chance of breaking free from destructive patterns. Please make the most of this chance; I hope you see how hard Shin is fighting to give it to you.
"We all hope you're able to live up to what he sees in you."
That's as far as I can go, Shin. Please, take it.
**
"Holly. Shard wasn't playing rope-a-dope. If you keep him from using his powers he's just a man. Even if this is some scheme, which I doubt, there's nothing to stop us from beating him again."
Imagerie sends you an image of a stern looking headmaster. ::No. No, no, no. You cross this line once, then it becomes easier to do it the next time. And the next. And before you know it, you're ripping into minds and brutally invading their thoughts heedless of the damage you're causing whenever it's convenient::
Her lecture is cut off when Ballista gives the location of the lab and the Alliance heads off on their mission.
Horizon's message is almost cut off by Whippoorwill. "Little busy now, Shin, can this wait--" until he mentions Ciandra. "NO!! No, under no circumstances are you to-- You'd better be listening here, kid! Ciandra once threw a battleship at Captain Stalwart, so do you have any idea of the power she has?? No, absolutely not. Damn, we're inbound. We'll discuss this later. Whippoorwill out."
Yeoman manages to somehow look timid when asked about Ciandra. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but Ciandra's current whereabouts are CLASSIFIED."
Mattie turns from Shin, shaking her head. "I'm willing to give her a chance." she says, "but that doesn't mean pretending that she's never done any of the things she's done, hasn't hurt any of the people she's hurt. She can make amends, she can help, but she can't, we can't, forget the things she's done. That's not how forgiveness works. There's a difference between forgiving what someone's done and forgetting it. Of course she gets a chance to prove that she's changed. Everyone deserves that. But she does have to prove it, I hope she does Shin. I really do, but a part of that is remembering, remembering and admitting all the bad things she's done and trying to make up for them."
Thank You, Shin thinks to Psyche in a measure of relief, affection and pride for her.
Listening to Mattie, he looks sad but simply nods his head. "She can prove it. But she needs help. All our help. I'm not asking you to forget. Just don't rub it in her face, okay?"
After the conversation with Whippoorwill on the comms, he's thoughtful. "Ciandra might be insanely powerful, but even I don't think that it would be impossible for them to nab her like they did to Gothic. Worse, she might be willing to work with them freely," he says, pacing the room.
"Yeoman, are there any genetic samples from Ciandra in storage here or anywhere else in the city? They might go after an easier target instead of her directly. If not, then...then I think maybe we should at least find and attempt to protect her. We have a chance now to get ahead of their plans. I don't think we can wait," he says, looking at the team. "What does everyone else think? Psyche? Gallowglass?"
"Even if we don't do anything more than put her on her guard, that could be useful enough."
And we might have options for information past Yeoman.
Sending her mind questing along the tendril she'd left in Praetoria's mind, Psyche called out gently, "Kayla? Can you talk?"
As Psyche strengthens the connection between her and Kayla, she overheard some things Kayla is mulling over:
...crushing on a teammate...but to be honest...I feel like I’m crushing on a few...but is that normal? It must be, right? After being in home-school prison for four years. I don’t really think I’m stringing him along, because I DO like him. Ugh! Why is this so confusing! And why is all this happening now, all at once? It’s insane!
Then, the telepathic equivalent of a gasp comes through and you hear back ::Kylie? Oh my god did you just...did you just hear that?::
"I'mdon't think pursuing Ciandra is the best idea. If she's in cahoots, then they've already got what then need. If not, then they probably struck at her around the same time as Gothic. And, as mentioned, she's extremely dangerous. Let's not go out of our way to get ourselves squashed right now, alright?"
Isaiah was thoughtful for a moment.
"Hmmm... Yeoman, can you bring up feeds into Shard and Vespid's cells? If anyone tries to bust them out, we want to know about it. Also, this place... it was a ship once, wasn't it? How many of its systems still work?"
Inquiry continued scanning, searching for signs of a reality warping device powerful enough to do what Apotheosis planned. What could have such power, to rewrite reality on a planetary scale? A derelict Realm Engine from the First Federation? No, those wouldn't have the necessary area of effect. Newer Iron Federation models would be prevented from doing so due to hardwired safeties... and besides, they kept track of where they lost such devices. Could it be?... No, he would have noticed an Apocalypse Core. Hard to miss a device with the size and mass of a large moon. It doubted even one of these often-mighty supers would really have enough brute range and power to affect such a wide-scale change. Hmm, he needed several additional ingredients. Genetic ones. Perhaps some form of biotech? An artificially enhanced super, spliced with the necessary additional powers needed to truly wield such a mighty effect? That could be... very dangerous. Experimental biotech was often very unstable, especially when dealing with such power. Still, better add unusually strong life auras to his search.
"...Some of it. Sorry. I wanted to check in and see how you're doing, but I didn't mean to listen in... You know I wouldn't ever tell people what I overhear, from you or from anyone, right?"
::It’s...it’s okay I guess...but maybe...maybe we should talk when I get back? I dunno. Thanks for checking on me. I wanted to try and see if I could find clues about my parents, since it would seem no one else is::
::But...it seems either I’m not a good clue finder, or too much time has passed to spot anything connected to them.::
Oh. Talk.
"I'm sorry you're doing that alone. I promise, once everything stops exploding, we'll see if Isaiah can whip something up to track them, or see what we can pull out of Infini-Corp.
"But since things are exploding... Do you know if there are any files back at the Tower on where we might find Ciandra? Hopefully Isaiah can find their lair, but if not, she could be next on Apotheosis's shopping list."
::I...I dunno. They only let me into their “super” facilities during training under their supervision. Otherwise I didn’t have security clearance. Said it was for my safety.::
"Well... You're Praetoria now. That's going to have to change. But I don't want to push too far for a maybe."
"Well, I should check back in with the Team. I'll keep you posted on what we decide to do. And..." Make sure you're not conflating a moment of physical attraction or aesthetic appreciation with the emotional engagement of a crush? "...I hope we see you soon."
::Okay...I’ll see you guys back at base here soon. Gonna walk a bit and clear my head...::
A couple minutes later, your connection to Praetoria is abruptly lost.
"Yeoman's not going to give us any information that's going to potentially cause us to get in trouble, I think. We don't get access to the big stuff because we're just 'kids'," Shin points out, looking at Rory and Scorch. " But you guys have had access to Silver Shield's stuff. Maybe you know where we can start a search? If you think that we should try and get ahead of their plans. The rest of the Alliance and the Heralds are all task focused on chasing them and rescuing Gothic. Are we really just going to sit on our hands and hope for the best?"
He looks at Hoshiko. "Hoshiko, do you know where Ciandra is, or was last seen? I'm sure the Chosen have tried to recruit her before, right?"