Volume 4: Metaphase
Issue 6: Reporting In
Jannette Adrian Churchwell
By Nova
We sat on the curved side of a dark, sleek table shaped like a semi-circle, decorated with a few potted succulents. Everyone else had been able to change into replacement costumes, while the old ones were presumably incinerated, but I was still in the medical scrubs they had given me after decontamination. Dynacrew’s little underground HQ was small, and had an unplaceable Ikea air to it. It was still nice, though it lacked a sense of “coziness” I would have expected.
We had gotten here a few hours ago, after a long decontamination process. Fortunately, no one had any serious exposure. Reef had some regeneration that kept her healthy and the others hadn’t had enough sarin exposure to give me any trouble. I had been able to easily purge their systems and replace damaged nerves. “Is he calling or not?” Earthstrike asked. His voice was calm, but little balls of dirt orbited his hand—pulled from the potted succulents in front of us.
Renard checked the tablet in front of him. “Any second now…” he muttered.
Earthstrike made a noise, but didn’t say anything. The balls of dirt spun around his hand slightly quicker than before. For my part, I tried to keep myself as still as possible. But my leg betrayed me and bounced up and down to a silent beat. I couldn’t help it, we’d reported our discovery but hadn’t heard anything about the other groups yet. Did they find more sarin? Did they get exposed? Or were we the exception…
An electronic ringing noise sounded through the conference room. Renard, in one swift motion, tapped a button on a remote. A screen lowered from the ceiling and Ramirez and Kelly’s faces appeared on it.
A simple, split-screen, civilian grade video call wasn’t as fancy as the holograms I’d seen during my brief time with the Titans, but it was still a lot nicer than what I used—which was just a cell phone. Still, the mood in the room was a little tense. Discovering the tank of sarin put us all on edge as to what the other squads had discovered.
“Bravo Two!” Kelly said, his omnipresent smile broadening. “I would like to offer you my sincerest congratulations.”
“Congrats from me as well,” Ramirez said. His attitude had changed since last I saw him. He was no longer grumbling but instead had a sort of somber tone to him.
Well, at least someone in charge was taking this seriously.
“Not only did you successfully eliminate your target, with minimal collateral damage, but you also,” Kelly chuckled slightly, “well, you also revealed that powerchems are the least of our worries right now.”
No one else laughed. I raised an eyebrow. It was a little soon, wasn’t it?
Ramirez nodded. “Lambdas One and Two both uncovered similar tanks to what you found. Lab results confirmed they contained sarin as well.”
“Three canisters of sarin have been found?” Renard asked. The others exchanged glances; this was what we’d been dreading.
“The good Inspector didn’t say that,” Kelly said. “Lambdas One and Two uncovered a total of thirty-two tanks of sarin gas. Most of which were in Lambda Two’s target location, which we think was being used as a stockpile.”
A dead silence came over us. “T-thirty-two?” Earthstrike asked. I slumped back into my chair. One tank of sarin was bad enough…
Ramirez nodded. “Our current theory is that your target was to be a secondary stockpile, and Lambda One’s was just a… drop-off point of sorts.”
“Fortunately,” Kelly butted in, “you all were able to put a stop to that before they had filled that little gas station with even more toxic gas. We have no idea how much they’ve produced, but it’s clear that they’re planning an… attack.”
“A big one, too,” Ramirez said.
Kelly nodded. “Thirty two tanks of sarin is enough to… inundate a city block at least.” His smile faltered slightly, and he continued, “We’re still investigating, since every tank has a different amount of sarin in it… but it’s safe to say that we have narrowly averted a catastrophe worse than… well, perhaps anything since New Mexico.”
“Or…” Ramirez growled, “we’ve only slowed them down. Don’t think for a second that we’ve found all their stockpiles. Even one of these tanks could kill hundreds of people if planted in the right place.”
Kelly shrugged. “Either way, we’re keeping you all on high alert. The President wants the task force ready to go at the drop of a hat.”
“T-the President?” Earthstrike asked, a note of fear mixed with awe in his voice. But all I felt hearing this was a rising sense of dread. The last time I got involved in something the President was interested in was the New Mexico Meltdown… I really didn’t want a repeat of that.
“That’s right.” Kelly’s smile broadened. “He wanted to declare martial law in California to lock the First Way down… but I convinced him that would just push their timetable forward. We still have a chance to stop them before they do… whatever it is they’re planning.” He folded his hands in front of him. “We’ll need everyone here on their A game for when that happens.”
“What is the plan, then?” Renard asked.
“For you all, nothing,” Kelly said. “Quite literally, stop any major investigations you’re doing. Hurry up and wait.”
There was a moment of silence as we processed this. I shifted awkwardly in my seat. I could see Kelly’s logic but… with what we just heard, doing nothing felt like a waste of time and resources. “Ex-excuse me?” Cytherea asked, breaking the silence. “So you want us to sit here and do nothing for… how long?”
“We’re not asking you to do nothing,” Ramirez said. “You can still patrol and help out where you can… but don’t plan any missions, investigations… or whatever. We need you ready for action at the drop of a hat.”
“We will lose control of the city,” Renard said. “We are already stretched thin in Oakland, without us the balance of power will be lost. The Ghosts and Los Reales will be at each other’s throats… Things will get very bloody.”
“I’m aware, which is why we’ve made arrangements to bring in heroes from outside the area. Starlight has already agreed to rotate in ten heroes they keep on reserve, and the DCA is sending a hero up as a loaner from LA,” Kelly said.
“That will not be enough for the entire Bay…” Renard said.
“They are just a few, others will come.” Kelly said, his smile was wide but his voice was suddenly icy.
Renard seemed to take the hint, “Understood.”
“Great,” Kelly said.
“Anything else we should know?” Renard asked.
Kelly shrugged. “I don’t know, is there?”
It sounded more like a challenge than a genuine inquiry.
“No,” Renard said.
“Excellent. We’ll be in touch,” Kelly said. The video call ended.
Earthstrike let out a long breath as we all slumped back into our chairs. “Jesus Christ, can’t the guy just give us a ‘congrats’ without breaking our balls?” he said. The little balls of dirt he had been controlling zoomed back into their pots with dull thuds.
“Earthstrike…” Renard warned.
Earthstrike put up his hands. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking,” he said.
Renard shook his head. “Theodore Kelly merely has… high standards.”
“So does everyone in charge right now… doesn’t mean he has to be a dick about it,” Earthstrike said.
“You are distracting from the fact that we have a job to do,” Renard said.
“What job? Kelly pretty much just said we should jack off until he calls us again,” Earthstrike said.
“Is that really all you got from that?” Cytherea asked.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you guys think there’s some kind of ‘hidden mission’ in that.” Earthstrike looked to me. “Look, Stitch, you don’t think…”
“I… don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know Kelly. I don’t know what he really expects from us…” I trailed off.
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“Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ somewhere here?” Earthstrike asked.
“But… well, I don’t want to sit and do nothing…” Especially not with an impending gas attack.
“Well, I think we can all agree on that, at the very least,” Renard said, looking at Earthstrike.
“You got me there,” Earthstrike mumbled.
“Then what are we doing?” Cytherea asked.
“I would not suggest we… countermand Kelly’s orders…” Renard said.
“And just when I thought you were going to be cool,” Earthstrike said. “Honestly ‘Nard, you haven’t changed since high school.”
“Shut it,” Renard snapped. “I instead suggest that we try to figure out why the First Way was stockpiling gas near the city. Why not further north?”
We were all silent for a moment. I glanced at Renard, his gaze shifting between us—as if he were studying our reactions. Did he already have an answer, thanks to his powers? Was he just testing us, his team? Or were our thoughts just more data to feed into his simulation?
I didn’t know, but I had to admit that he raised an interesting question… One that I felt way unqualified to answer. I shifted in my seat, unsure what to say, or whether or not anything I could suggest would even make sense.
Cytherea, thankfully, was the first to break the silence. “Well… They were probably planning an attack in the city,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious man,” Earthstrike said.
“Is it?” Renard asked. “That is one possible reason… but why not store it in the city if they were planning to attack it? It would certainly make transporting it easier.”
Earthstrike groaned. “Oh my God, I’m not playing ‘devil’s advocate’ with you again, no matter how good your powers are.”
“They’re more likely to be discovered if they stockpile in the city,” Cytherea said. “A random patrol car, inspector, curious passerby… That’s an obvious reason why they wouldn’t.”
“But if they get discovered in the city… they could detonate their stockpile to maximize casualties…” Reef interjected. It took me by surprise, she had been quiet since her close call with the sarin a few hours ago.
Renard nodded. “My suspicions exactly… if the First Way’s goal is to inflict maximum damage to the city, they are behaving irrationally.”
“The First Way? Irrational? No, that’s impossible,” Earthstrike said.
“It is merely a possibility,” Renard said. “But we should consider other explanations for their behavior.”
“What if…” I squeaked, shrinking back into my seat when everyone turned to look at me. “W-what if…” I started over, “they’re doing the same thing they did with the powerchems… manufacturing them in the city, or maybe just getting the supplies in the city, and then transporting them to safe spaces in the country?”
“It is… a possibility,” Renard said. “Which suggests that their target is not within city limits then.”
“California’s a big state…” Cytherea said. “There’s a lot of big, public targets for them to hit. Yosemite, Disneyland, the Extinction Refuge, Tahoe…” She trailed off.
“So you’re saying the First Way’s looking at hitting a… what, a tourist trap?” Earthstrike said.
“I could see it,” Cytherea said.
“As could I,” Renard said. “‘Tourist traps,’ as you so eloquently put it, Earthstrike, are vulnerable in ways that general urban areas are not.”
“They pack people into them, usually with limited escape routes…” Reef nearly whispered.
Everyone exchanged concerned looks before Earthstrike said, “So, say the First Way hits… I don’t know, Disneyland. What kind of damage are we looking at?”
“With the amount of gas we have discovered so far…” Renard seemed to stare into the middle distance as he thought. Was he running a simulation right now? I knew his powers were only as accurate as he had data for, though he probably read up on sarin while we were in decontamination. “They would be able to fully saturate Disneyland… perhaps California Adventure as well… There would be sufficient gas in the air to render gas masks useless…” His gaze snapped back and looked at us. “Casualties would number anywhere between forty-to-sixty-thousand people. There would be a low likelihood of saving more than a few thousand after the initial sarin exposure.”
We were all quiet for a minute or two. Cytherea let out a long sigh. “It looks like the ‘tourist trap’ theory is looking more likely.”
“Indeed,” Renard said. “In my simulations of an attack on a dense, urban area in San Francisco or its environs, I predicted no more than twenty-thousand casualties. If the First Way is behaving rationally, it is likely that their target is outside of the Bay Area.”
“Jesus…” Earthstrike said. “But that means…”
“They are probably only storing the gas close to the city because of the ease of gathering materials to create it,” Renard said.
“Which means they have a supplier,” Cytherea said, leaning in.
“Is there anyone in the city that would… supply these psychos?” Earthstrike asked.
“We are most familiar with the villains and gangs of Oakland, such as the Ghosts and Los Reales. Stitch,” Renard looked at me, “you have more familiarity with the other villains of the Bay Area… Who do you find most likely?”
“The Wolfpack,” I said, almost without thinking. “They were the ones probably supplying the First Way with the stuff they need to make powerchems, it makes sense that they’d also be supplying… whatever you need to make sarin.”
Cytherea looked back at Renard. “That makes sense, plus they’re nomadic, they don’t have turf to risk from a First Way attack.”
“Yeah, can’t see the Ghosts or Los Reales providing the shit you need for this stuff… Not if it’d risk their turf,” Earthstrike said.
Renard nodded. “Additionally, Los Reales has been in conflict with the First Way very recently… I concur that the Wolfpack is the most likely supplier here.”
“Plus, they’re Nazi shitheads, bet they’d like seeing all those people die terribly,” Cytherea added.
“Anyone else?” Renard asked me.
“Of the other players… the Yakuza and Dragon’s Teeth are the only ones with the means but-” I said.
Earthstrike cut me off, “Hey, I’ve heard of them, haven’t they been at war since, like, before any of us were born?”
Renard nodded. “Villains took over both gangs in the 80s… and their war has waged ever since.”
“But…” I said, cutting back in, “both have way too much to lose by supporting the First Way.”
“What do you mean?” Renard asked.
“Yeah, maybe they’re looking to use the First Way as… as like a weapon against the other?” Earthstrike said.
I shook my head. “No way, not a chance in hell. Both gangs have deep roots in Chinatown and Japantown… there’s no way they’d risk those roots just to gain the upper hand. There’d be too much collateral damage.”
“Collateral damage isn’t anything new to either gang,” Cytherea said. “I mean, come on, Sukeban levels at least one building every fight she’s in.”
Cytherea was right, and I’d been to a few of them too, but still… “T-trust me,” I said. “Sukeban accepts some collateral damage but… well, she’s not a monster.”
“She’s still a villain, though, one of the worst on the West Coast,” Earthstrike said.
“So?” I said. “I mean, it’s all more complicated than that…”
“I get that it’s more complicated than cops and robbers, but I mean, come on, they’re murderers,” Earthstrike said.
“Yeah… but they’re not… psychotic,” I said.
“Oh, so they kill people and funnel drugs into neighborhoods but they’re not psychotic?” Earthstrike asked. The others were glancing between us—Reef in particular looked troubled. She bit her lip, did she want to interrupt, to say something?
I sighed. I wasn’t really making myself popular with this group, was I? But still, I wasn’t going to let the point lie. “Look, it really is more complicated than that.” I took a deep breath. “Sukeban’s not in it for the murder… She was more reckless back in the day but now… She’s really just interested in maintaining control over the Yakuza. She’ll do anything to do that, but so long as she gets to keep them afloat under her leadership she doesn’t care what they do.”
“I’m not really seeing the ‘not-psychotic’ part of her,” Earthstrike said. “She just sounds like a control-freak bitch.”
“We’ll, she’s sorta that, too,” I admitted. “But… well you guys-”
“Okay, alright,” Earthstrike said, cutting me off. “Sukeban has layers. Doesn’t make her not a bitch, but I get it, she has stuff at stake. What about the other guys? Dragon’s Teeth? Didn’t Renard just say that the Yakuza sorta recently took a bunch of turf from them?” Earthstrike asked.
I shrugged. “I never really went toe-to-toe with Dragon’s Teeth… at least not as much as I did with the Yakuza.”
“But…?” Earthstrike asked.
“I don’t know… I know the history behind Qilin. I’ve never fought him personally, but I know that he basically rebuilt Dragon’s Teeth from scratch in the 90s.”
“What, we supposed to give him a medal?” Earthstrike asked.
“N-no! I’m just saying that no one does that without being popular…” I said.
“Or feared,” Renard interjected.
“M-maybe,” I admitted. “B-but that doesn’t change the fact that I know he’s still highly regarded by baseliners and villains alike. A lot of people kind of look at him like he’s Robin Hood…”
“And you suggest that Qilin would not risk this popularity?” Renard asked.
“Yeah… I don’t know him very well, but what I do know of him tells me that he would never do something stupid like work with the First Way.”
“That does make sense… I guess,” Earthstrike admitted.
“Then it has to be the Wolfpack, right?” Cytherea asked.
“I don’t see anyone else lining up,” Earthstrike said.
I shrugged. “The only others that could maybe supply the First Way with what they need could be indie villains like Ice Age or Collegiate… but they really don’t have the means…”
“The exact means matter little, for the moment.” Renard said. “What is important is that we have identified one probable supplier… We can plan accordingly.”
“Plan… how, exactly?” Earthstrike asked.
“Kelly forbade us from investigations…” Renard started.
“But didn’t stop us from patrolling,” Cytherea finished.
“We will patrol areas known to support Wolfpack activity,” Renard said. “Bars, safehouses, even areas they’ve been known to make deals at.”
“Ugh, ‘Nard, can’t you give it a rest?” Earthstrike said. “That sounds like… just a shitton of work to do… and we just got fucking gassed man.”
Renard cocked his head slightly. “It would only take a slight alteration to our patrol routes. I have run a very thorough-”
Earthstrike cut him off. “I’m sure you have, but can we like, I don’t know, have a break first?”
“Yeah, man, come on, we deserve it!” Cytherea interjected. I had to agree, today had been a lot. A small break would be nice…
Renard sighed. “What do you have in mind?”
Earthstrike smiled. “Drinks, man, booze… a lot of it.” he said. “God knows I need it right now…” he muttered.
My heart sank as Cytherea nodded in agreement. “Yeah, let’s hit one of the clubs or something. I got a new holo from Tarantula; they promise it’ll even provide tactile simulations.”
“Oh shit, it’ll be like high school then!” Earthstrike laughed.
“Only without the comatose date,” Cytherea said.
“You up for this?” Earthstrike asked, looking at Reef.
She smiled slightly. “Y-yeah… I think I need it,” she said.
“Alright! What about you, Stitch?” Earthstrike asked.
“I know we just met and everything, but, like, after that I think we’re forged in fire or whatever!” Cytherea said.
“N-no, I’m… busy,” I lied. “Got some stuff to do at home.”
Earthstrike shrugged. “Alright, your loss. We go hard, man.” He laughed.
That’s what I was afraid of.