Four hours since the ambush. Four hours since Source escaped. Yet Ullr still found his nerves strained. His heart pounding wildly in his chest. The tension of the night leaving it racing in overdrive.
Ullr watched his team being torn apart tonight. The same thing as when Blue Feather fell. They culled the weak from the team leaving only the strong behind. He’d thought Source proved himself as someone to dispose of after he failed the test. The last few hours showed him that he was wrong.
Once Source escaped, what was left of the team searched through the City. Lifting every rock and looking in every crevice to find the man. Despite their best efforts, they weren’t able to locate him. That left only one answer, he’d gone to ground. There was a safe house out there somewhere, providing him safe harbor. A place to hunker down and plot his next move.
Continuing on with his train of thought left only one appropriate response from the team. Ullr had never enjoyed being on the defensive. Waiting for your opponent to strike was inviting trouble. Asking them to find your weakness and exploit it. The team wouldn’t do that. They’d strike before Source planned his next move.
Ullr called the remnants of his team in, ending the hunt for now and bringing them back to the base. While he waited, he went over the problems they face in today’s search. The most obvious being coordination. The team would need new radios after today. Source could listen in on all of their conversations if they didn’t. He didn’t even have to hack into anything, all he had to do was turn the thing on.
There were only two bright spots from today. The first, Source was wounded. Without immediate medical attention he’d be a goner. No sooner had Ullr realized they would not find the kid than he sent out an alert to all medical providers. Instructing them to call The Hunt if they saw anything out of the ordinary. If the team was lucky Source would fall into the trap within a few days.
The other bright spot was his team’s response to their radios being infiltrated. Ullr himself never brought up the subject. For the team already knew there was a security breach when the chase began. Yet they’d been professionals and kept the airwaves clean. Only saying the simplest of things and trying to keep it all in code. Referring to places they’d been before Source joined the team was the easiest way to do that. It was a great strategy, yet Source had still gained some advantage from it, using the hidden clues to escape their search.
Ullr was left a little confused and annoyed by that. Had Source done so much digging into the team that a clue like ‘I’m where we meet for lunch before the postseason baseball game’ could be unraveled? Or was it all being processed by the computer in his workshop, the results being spit back to him? Ullr couldn’t know for sure, but he knew what it called for, all of Source’s machines would have to go.
The team arrived one by one. Each wearing their emotions on their sleeves. The first to appear was Skip. He ended up being the easiest to deal with as all he’d done was walk into the kitchen and make coffee. Refusing to look at the rest of the team as they made their way in.
H-Bar was next, and he proceeded to collapse into a kitchen chair the moment he arrived. Eyes staring at the table in front of him. He’d spoken little since the fight, only saying that they needed to continue the search. The man liked Source, but when it came down to it, protecting his niece was more important than a friend. So he’d made the right decision as Ullr knew he would.
When Gladius arrived, she was a different beast altogether. She’d walked over to the couch and decided to do a little redecorating. Her sword and shield combining to tear it to shreds in a couple of attacks. Sending fabric and stuffing all over the room. She was working on the second couch as Ullr watched. No thought of stopping her spreading to his mind.
A slice of Gladius’s sword sent the armrest of her next victim flying across the room. Then she connected with her shield and sent stuffing oozing out of the couch like freshly squeezed toothpaste. Ullr decided it was best to let her get this out of her system before he brought up what they’d do next.
Seeing his teammates, Ullr analyzed what he was feeling. It seemed he was teetering somewhere between the group's emotions. Source had so much potential. It was such a waste when he failed the test. The team should have reacted right after that, sending him to another team, but they’d been complacent. Instead they’d kept him around for a little longer. Test him again when he was a little more jaded with the Hero lifestyle. They’d thought it’d be easy to bring him over on a second try. The idea of a permanent techie on the team clouding their judgment. This was their reward for that lapse.
Flicking a piece of foam concrete off his shoulder, Ullr walked over to the kitchen table. The stuff still coated his suit. Whatever Source’s cement foam was made of, it was a pain to peel off. Hopefully Source didn’t have a stockpile of the foam grenades, just waiting to be used. That was one annoyance he’d be happy to avoid.
Walking past H-Bar, Ullr patted him on the shoulder. The other Hero didn’t even react to the contact. It was never good to let a teammate get lost in the world of what ifs. He needed to bring them back, get them focused on what was at hand, and point them towards the dangers to come.
Ullr took a deep breath. This conversation would decide the future of his team. He knew what direction he’d push things. The question was how his teammates would respond. If all things went well, they’d have a plan for dealing with Source in the next few minutes. If not, he let that thought go. That wasn’t an option. In his most confident voice Ullr addressed everyone in the room.
“Team meeting, now.”
His voice did its job as everyone looked over. H-Bar with a shell shocked look, eyes finding it difficult to focus. While Gladius and Skip looked up with anger burning in their eyes. Gladius’ carrying a bonfire behind hers, clear for all to see. While Skip’s was a cold anger, something being held down while it waited for release.
“I’d say let’s have the meeting here, but the room’s currently being remodeled,” Ullr said as he waved to the work Gladius just finished. Her sword, still half raised, had a bit of foam decorating its tip.
The team turned to look at what was left of the couches. Moments passed with none of them making a move. As Ullr started to fear he’d approached this wrong, H-Bar barked a laugh.
“Come on Gladius those were my favorites,” H-Bar said.
Gladius’s focus shifted to H-Bar. She looked him over for a moment before shrugging and pulling the foam off her sword.
“Like Ullr said, this was just a little remodeling.”
Ullr let out a sigh. He wasn’t one to joke, so doing it now at such a critical juncture was a risk. One he was glad paid off. Trying to take advantage of the momentum, Ullr continued.
“Let’s head to the conference room and get started.”
Turning on his heels, Ullr headed for the conference room, not giving them a chance to disagree. After a few steps he heard the rest of the team moving to follow him. Ullr almost let his shoulders sag when that important hurdle was crossed, but stopped himself. He had to portray the fearless leader and his body language was an important part of that.
They filed into the room and plopped into their seats. Ullr’s at the head of the table where he belonged. Looking around the room, something felt off, the balance was out of whack. Then it hit him, there was an extra chair at the table, one sitting conspicuously empty next to Skip.
That presented an issue. One the team was bound to notice and cause a distraction during the meeting. Ullr closed his eyes at yet another problem today. Wait, there was an opportunity here Ullr realized. His eyes opened slowly at the new idea.
Without warning, Ullr stood up. Pushing his chair in before moving to Source’s vacant one. With no ceremony he grabbed the chair with one hand and lifted it up like it was a stuffed animal. As the rest of the team watched, he marched to the door and threw the chair into the hallway. With the sound of splintering wood mere feet away, Ullr shut the door as if nothing had happened and returned to his seat. Casually sitting down and folding his hands in front of himself.
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“Today was a setback. No other way to look at it,” Ullr said.
The other members of the team glanced at each other. Subtly coming to some group consensus.
“A setback? Source could tell the entire world our secret. That’s a little more than a setback,” H-Bar said. Ullr’s antics with the chair rousing H-Bar from his stupor just like Ullr hoped they would.
“What do the rest of you think?” Ullr asked. Trying to get everyone invested at the start of the conversation.
“I agree with H-Bar, we’re in a rough spot right now,” Gladius said. Pointing at the Hero next to her with her thumb.
“That’s all you can say? That this was a setback. Like we’ll be fine tomorrow or something? We have a Hero out there with evidence against us,” Skip said. He slammed a hand down on the table and stood up as he spoke. “That’s not a setback. It’s a disaster!”
That was the fire Ullr had seen just below the surface, now roaring for its release. They’d have to harness and use it in the coming days.
“He only has evidence against you.” Gladius said.
“If I go down, you’re coming with me,” Skip shot back.
Ok, maybe a little more restraint was needed. At least until he could direct the energy in the correct direction.
“Calm down, both of you,” Ullr demanded. His tone barring any complaints. Before continuing in a calmer voice. “He has weak evidence at best.”
“Weak or not, it’s still something against us and we can’t stop him from going public if we don’t know where he is. What options do we have?” H-Bar muttered. Already collapsing back into his own thoughts.
Ullr took a moment before he spoke. Scanning the faces around him. Building suspense for what he had to say. When trying to win a debate it was as much about what you said as how you said it. Letting the team wait for his next words showed he was in charge of the situation.
“Source told me an interesting tidbit about his camera once. It seems the suit’s internal video memory only records the most recent mission. When he gets back to the workshop, every night, he dumps the recordings to the computer and the suit’s memory is flushed. It was a security measure to make sure no one could hack his old recordings,” Ullr said.
He got the reaction he wanted from H-Bar and Gladius. The first sitting up in his chair. Slouched shoulders gone as a hint of hope twinkled in his eyes. The second broke into a large smile, one with more teeth than normal. She looked like a hunter ready to exploit a weakness in its prey.
“First good news of the day,” Gladius said, rubbing her hands together.
H-Bar’s eyes started to fade again. The hope that was just kindled already leaking away.
“That changes nothing, he can download it remotely then send it out,” H-Bar said.
“The system’s offline,” Gladius replied.
“And how would you know that?” Skip asked, jumping back into the conversation.
“She’s right. His workshop is offline to protect what he’s working on. Anything he found is stuck here and can only be accessed in the workshop,” Ullr said.
“So we have to find the files and delete them?” H-Bar asked.
“Yes, but that might be hard. Any of you think you can break into his computer?” Ullr asked. “Because I know I can’t.”
The team looked at each other. None of them could break into Source’s computer, they had no doubt of that. They’d all claim to be stronger than the apprentice, but no one would claim to be smarter than him.
“We can get someone to help us with it,” H-Bar said.
“Oh and who would you trust uncovering our secret? I don’t know anyone who can break into a techies’ computer and be trusted with what they find,” Ullr said.
“Fair point,” H-Bar muttered as he scratched the back of his head. His eyes darted to the ceiling as he tried to think of another answer.
“So what do we do?” Gladius asked.
“Something you’ll enjoy. Break everything in the workshop and his bedroom. Anything that could be a data storage system,” Ullr said.
“Well you’re right on that front,” Gladius said as she smiled. Her hand falling down to the sword at her side, running along the pommel like it was a crown jewel.
“What about hidden backups outside the base?” Skip asked.
With most people that’d be a concern they’d have to worry about. With Source it barely registered as a possibility.
“Source played everything by the book. He would’ve done the same here. Any backup will be a physical copy on site,” Ullr assured the team. The rules from the Department of Controlled Powers or DCP for short were crystal clear. Hero teams were not allowed to have their data stored off site.
“With how often he harped on people to follow the rules he wouldn’t ignore the ones that applied to him,” Gladius agreed.
“Keeping the evidence hidden is one problem, but what about the public. He’ll still go to them,” H-Bar said, moving the conversation along to the other thing Ullr wanted to talk about.
“Once his words are out there it’ll make everything much harder for us,” Gladius said. She’d also moved on to this new problem.
“We talk to them first,” Ullr said with a shrug.
It was a simple and easy solution. One that’d become common in the age of technology.
Ullr continued, “Public perception isn’t about who’s right or wrong. It’s about who gets their message out first and loudest.”
It’s why ‘fake news’ was such a common occurrence these days. To sell papers, news organizations jumped on any story without looking at its authenticity. Often publishing obvious lies because they fit the narrative the company was trying to sell. Only backtracking later if there was a big enough public backlash.
“Put him on the back foot, make him play defense. If he accuses us of anything later, it looks like a desperate attack from him,” Gladius said. Her predatory smile back in full force.
“More than that. We hit him where it hurts the most,” Ullr said.
“Where’s that?” H-Bar asked.
“His identity.”
Ullr watched his teammates as the statement sunk in. This would be a huge revelation. One that would reverberate the world over. In the Hero business nothing was held closer than your identity. There hadn’t been an unmasked Hero in decades. By putting Source’s face out into the public they were breaking every taboo. How the world and other Heroes reacted to it would be decided in the days to come.
But Ullr already had a plan for dealing with the public. The team could play this off as a heavy decision made for the greater good. He knew how to manipulate public opinion and this line of reasoning would resonate with them. There would be some who were against it, there always were. Abandoning Source’s rights would be their rallying call, but they would be the minority. Ullr could already see the public eating up the story.
The real issue would be with the other Hero teams. They’d be suspicious of any team who had lost two members as traitors. The Hunt would have to tread carefully around them in the coming months.
The stunned silence in the room continued as the team looked at each other. Understanding what Ullr was planning to do. What he’d have all of them do, dawned in their eyes. This wasn’t just an attack on Source, but his entire family. Uncovering his identity was a big step and required some thought. So Ullr let the team do just that, allowing them to work through the implications of this action. It was Skip who broke the silence.
“This is perfect. Drown him in his own righteousness.”
“Perfect would’ve been him joining us so we could skip all of this,” H-Bar barked. Fist slamming into the table to accentuate the point.
Skip didn’t even blink at the noise as he continued, “If he’d never come here we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”
“What’s done is done. Nothing we can do to change the past,” Ullr said.
“But you idiots brought Source here. This is all your fault!” Skip shouted.
“No, you don’t get to say that. You screwed up with your jumps, leaving clues for him to track. Everything after that is your doing. Remember that and don’t blame everyone else for your mistakes!” Ullr said. Letting the team see some of his true feelings.
“Oh really?” Skip asked as he marched around the table.
“Yes,” was all Ullr said as he matched the other man and stood. Moving forward to stand chest to chest with Skip, daring the other man to continue.
The two Heroes locked eyes, neither wanting to look away first. The very air around them seemed to crackle with the tension as the seconds wore on. Ullr was a head taller and this close every inch mattered as Skip had to crane his neck to look into Ullr’s eyes. Finally it was Skip who turned away, his posture softening as he stood down. He was strong, but knew his place on the team.
“Now let’s clean up this mess. You three go to the lab, then Source’s room and make sure to destroy any backup storage devices. I’ll work on what we tell the press,” Ullr said. Dismissing the team as he walked out of the conference room.
Once out of sight he allowed himself a moment to relax. His back slouching a little as the stress drained from his body. That’d gone much better than he thought it would. With something this big there were too many ways for things to go wrong. Having the team on board helped to limit the chances of a mistake.
After the quick breather Ullr straightened his shoulders and marched forward again, there was so much to do. Working out the final details for a news conference came first. He’d have to play this perfectly, or everything could spiral out of control.