Scale 5.3

Bryce Kiley

2010, December 4: Brockton Bay, NH, USA

“So… What now?” Amy asked tentatively.

“Now? Whatever you want. I think you should take some time for yourself. Digest and process, yeah? Maybe play around with mystery fruits or something to keep your power from rioting,” I said gently. “This was a lot, and just what happened so far, not what I’m going to need to do moving forward.”

“We,” she stressed. “What we’re going to do moving forward. We’re in this together, Bryce.”

I chuckled. It felt good, knowing she had my back, and this time without any secrets. “Well, if you say so. The first thing we need to do is build the soda engines for Dragon. I also need to think about how I want to reject the bounties I've received.”

“Bounties?”

“Before Damascus, both the ABB and E88 reached out to me on PHO to target the Undersiders, dead or alive. Both sides want to make an example of the group since it was Bitch raiding E88 holdings then running into ABB turf that started the most recent shootouts. E88 chased them, ABB got territorial, that sort of thing.”

“Bitch?” She scrunched her nose in thought. She didn’t have an encyclopedia of every cape in the city. “Who-Oh, is she Hellhound? Why would she do that? I thought she’s super small-time.”

“Oh, did I not tell you? Bitch is neurodivergent, and not in a typical way. She understands canine vocalizations and body language better than she understands human social cues. For example, if you smile at her, she’s more likely to think that you’re baring your teeth at her than you are making a friendly gesture. Same with eye contact. It’s not a sign of respect; it’s a sign of challenge.”

She leaned forward, popping one of my mutated fruit snacks into her mouth. She was interested despite the emotional rollercoaster that the past hour had been. “So what’s that got to do with her hitting the Empire?”

“She greatly sympathizes with dogs, even more than most people do. Hookwolf’s well-known for running dog fighting rings.”

“Huh… So Bitch hit Hookwolf and ran to ABB turf to dodge the consequences.”

“Yup.”

“And Hookwolf’s men chased her into ABB territory. Then the ABB idiots got territorial or thought it was an invasion or something?”

“Pretty much. Even if they did figure out what was happening, it’s about keeping up an image. They can’t let the Empire search their territory without responding because it’d make them look like pushovers.”

“God, fuck Hookwolf and fuck the ABB. All this posturing is all so stupid.”

“Agreed, but that’s why I have the bounties.”

“And you’re going to reject them both, right? Because you’re a hero now?”

“Correct, but I have a few ways I can go about it. The bounty messages came in from Krieg and an ABB lieutenant, probably pretty high up the totem pole.”

“How about if you lure them out on your own? Like, say you want to meet with them on neutral ground but don’t tell the other side. The Empire and ABB will think they’ve been set up, start a big fight, and then you can mop up the winner.”

I stared at her flatly. Then I threw a bacon-flavored onion at her. “Wow… Please never suggest something that idiotic again.”

“Hey, stop it! What? It’s a good plan! You could arrest so many villains like that.”

“It’s a terrible plan even if I’m willing to break my own word like that, which I’m not. My name has to mean something, Ames.”

“Fine, oh, wise one. Tell me why it’s a dumb plan,” she huffed.

“For one, I have zero confidence in being able to arrest Lung. I could probably kill him if I went lethal without letting him ramp up at all, but he’ll quickly get to a point where fighting him becomes impossible for me. And that’s not including Oni Lee or the Empire contingent, which would almost certainly include Krieg and the twins if not Kaiser himself.”

“They could fight each other. Then you’d swoop in and clean house. Vicky would probably join in if I asked her. She’s always down for beating up gangbangers.”

“True, but adding more capes doesn’t make things better. Usually the opposite actually. And, you’re forgetting that there aren’t many places in the city that can both be considered neutral ground and is abandoned enough to host a battle like that. Not to mention, I can’t guarantee containment.

“Life isn’t a movie, Ames. There isn’t always a neat solution to things. The ideal outcome would be that we take out the ABB and a major chunk of the Empire. The more likely outcome is that I ruin my good name, destroy a huge portion of the city, get a bunch of people killed, and incite a city-wide gang war that lasts the next few months.”

“Well, what if you got PRT help too?”

“Yeah, Piggot would help, totally,” I snorted. “Remember, no one believes I’m a hero yet except you and Faultline’s Crew. I don’t have the credibility with local groups to request backup like that. And Armsmaster is… not someone who’d let anyone else take point on a major operation of this caliber.”

“Faultline? The merc? She owns a club, right? How do you know her again?”

“We’re friends. She’s pretty mild as far as villains go and she knows where I stand on things.”

“Alright, fine. You know, you have an in with Dragon, right? And probably Legend too? It’s funny that you’re in better standing with them than you are with the local heroes.”

“Which is why getting the Empire and ABB to fight each other is a dumb idea,” I concluded. “I lack the manpower and legitimacy to make use of the chaos, even if I was willing to accept the destruction as collateral damage.

“It’s not dumb,” she sulked. “So what then? Are you just going to announce that you’re switching sides on PHO?”

“Well, yeah, actually.”

“That sounds… anticlimactic somehow. Like, you’re supposed to make a much bigger deal of things like this. And Armsmaster would still want to take you in.”

“Oh, definitely. But I can handle Halbeard. So long as he doesn’t escalate, I won’t either.”

“But why would you announce it over PHO?”

“Because the endbringer battle is a good reason for a man to rethink his priorities. I won’t get such a natural chance to switch sides for another three months at least.”

“Not gonna lie, Bryce, using an endbringer battle for your PR is kinda scummy,” she said. “Like, I get that it happens, but that you planning this out to make it seem more natural feels wrong somehow.”

“It is, but it works so I’m doing it anyway. Besides, this way, I can arrest the Undersiders without accepting the bounties to ‘show my sincerity’ or something.”

“And doing that would be a good thing because…”

“Oh, it won’t do anything to the Empire or ABB, but they’re not my main concern right now. In fact, I’m counting on Coil to break out the Undersiders within the week.”

“Coil? Oh, he’s that minor villain. The one with the mercs?”

“That’s him.”

“Does he even have powers?”

“Yeah, he’s a high-level thinker who claims he can split time. He can’t, but under most circumstances, it doesn’t matter,” I nodded. “I can’t remember if I told you or not, but the Undersiders are being bankrolled by him. He’s the one who’s been trying to destabilize the city.”

“Hold on, go back to the ‘splitting time’ thing.”

“He makes two simulations and chooses the best outcome but is aware of both possibilities. His power then pilots his body to enact that favorable outcome. From his perspective, he doesn’t notice himself being piloted and his simulations are really, really accurate so he may as well be splitting time.”

“Huh, that’s… a really weird power.”

“It is. Anyway, keep that to yourself, won’t you?”

“Shouldn’t the PRT know?”

“Nope. He works for the PRT in his civilian identity. The best advantage I have over him is that he doesn’t know I know.”

“And if you report it to the PRT, that advantage goes away.”

“Smart girl. Don’t tell New Wave either.”

“Yeah, mom would tell Aunt Sarah, who’d tell the PRT,” she said with a sigh. “You know, knowing things isn’t nearly as fun as I thought it’d be.”

“It’s really not,” I agreed. “It’s usually me pulling my hair out to decide which information I should act on and which I should let lie for a bit.”

“So Coil’s your main focus then?”

“Yup. He needs to go if the city is to make any sort of progress. He has a vast information network with moles in all factions that he uses to stir up conflict and spread misinformation. He's trying to weaken all sides while keeping people’s attention off him. Eventually, his goal is to take the PRT director seat from Piggot in his civilian identity while becoming the overall crime lord of the city as Coil.”

Amy scoffed at that. “That sounds like a terrible James Bond movie plot. What? Is his goal to ‘rule the light and dark’ or something?”

“Yup. I’m not even joking,” I said, laughing. Calvert’s plan really was stupid. Sure, he could simulate two timelines, but that didn’t mean the canceled timeline became reality. He still only had so many hours in the day. “It’s dumb, but he’s got enough moles everywhere that I want to act on my own until he’s off the board.”

“Fair enough. So you’re trying to get him to reveal his moles in the PRT by forcing him to free his minions? Maybe bring suspicion on his civilian identity?”

“Partially? I mean, it’d be nice if the PRT was that good at internal investigations, but they’re not. If they were, Coil wouldn’t have gotten this far in the first place. It’s not like I have a full roster of PRT staff I can watch twenty-four-seven either. But SAINT can keep an eye on Coil’s assets to see what gets moved around on the digital side. It’s more about seeing how he reacts and mapping his hidden assets.”

“Huh, this is way more work than I’d have thought.”

“It is,” I agreed, “but it’s worth it if the goal is to take Coil down quietly and without collateral damage.”

“I guess. Then what?”

“I want Coil to think that The GOAT is attacking his parahuman holdings. Once I have a map of all of his resources and connections, I’ll be able to corner him before I strike. I want Coil to think we’re in a thinker-war when in reality, he’ll already have a noose around his neck.”

She was quiet for a long minute. Then, “Bryce?”

“Yes, Amy?”

“I’m glad you’re a hero.”

That got a chuckle out of me. I didn’t see myself as particularly devious. Rather, everything I was doing was something anyone with my abilities and resources should do.

Considering I knew Coil’s civilian identity, making him think that his organization was being attacked and diverting his attention away from his civilian life would leave him critically vulnerable. Of course, the Undersiders were small potatoes. They were expendable assets Coil would drop on a dime should he see the need, but there were other ways SAINT and I could occupy his interest.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I’d yet to decide if I wanted to take Coil as Calvert, but I stood by what I told Arsalan: If you broke the rules; the rules didn’t protect you.

Operation: Nope-Rope was in motion.

X

It felt strange, using the Pledge Regalia in conjunction with Psychic. Kururu Sumeragi, the rightful Pledge Queen, was able to use the regalia’s vibration manipulation to dismantle a mecha in the time it took her to run past one. She was like one of those anime swordsmen who could cut a man down before anyone realized she’d drawn her sword at all.

Alas, though I wore her crown, I was no Pledge Queen. I’d used the Pledge Regalia to take apart some of my childhood action figures and build the frame of the soda engines, but I had nowhere near her speed or efficiency. I could tune my own Crown Chimera, but beyond that, Kururu was as far beyond me as Alexandria was beyond Glory Girl.

My workaround was to use the Pledge Regalia as a scanning software first and a discount technopathy augment second. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked well enough to ape at skills I didn’t yet possess.

A clear, bell-like note rang out from the regalia that suffused my surroundings. Vibrations probed the toaster in front of me, providing me a 3D map of its internal mechanisms. From there, I augmented the vibrations with telekinesis to speed up the dismantling process.

Amy lounged on one of the few seats I had as she watched me pick apart various appliances. SAINT was on her lap, fully engaged in a charm offensive to convince her that he was the greatest AI ever and no, how dare she even entertain the thought that he might be dangerous?

The toaster floated in the air before separating into its components. Springs and nails settled into neat piles right next to the heating coils and wires. Until finally, every last piece had been taken apart.

“Time?”

“Two minutes and thirteen seconds,” Amy drawled, looking a little bored. “You know, this isn’t as cool to watch after the fourth time.”

“I’ve improved a lot. I used to need a full ten minutes and my guitar when I started, you know. Now, I can release a single note and build off that.”

“Okay, but why are you doing this? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that you’re trying to include me in your cape stuff, but why practice taking things apart from far away? You can do just as much with a wrench and a screwdriver, right?”

“I could, and probably much faster. But, normal people can’t block sound. Hell, tinkertech doesn’t usually block sound because they still need sound to communicate. Being able to do this gives me an instant ‘I win’ button against any tinker in the city. If I can get this down to just a handful of seconds, I’ll be able to shut down a rival tinker before the fight starts.”

“Huh, that’s pretty neat actually. You’re a long way from just a few seconds though.”

“Exactly. Now let’s do a vacuum cleaner next.”

I spent most of that Saturday morning briefing Amy on my full loadout. Truthfully, Amy wasn’t nearly as interested in the technobabble as she was in “examining” the various foods I’d made. Whatever she said with her mouth, her actions spoke louder and I’d firmly implanted the idea that “biotinkering can be alright in the right circumstances.” Hopefully, she’d buy herself a potted plant or something.

We spent a good two hours talking about different flavor combinations and how to maximize the nutritional value of various superfoods while improving the taste. It wasn’t exactly interesting to me, but that was fine, anything to drag her off her high horse.

After dropping her off at the mall, I continued my work designing automail blueprints. It was one of the things we talked about. In order to fully test the automail prosthetics, I’d need a volunteer, which meant going through the hospital to look for people with missing limbs. She was, tentatively, willing to go to bat for me, but only if I installed the first few under her direction.

Afterwards, the idea was to publicize the technology. Not only did it provide an alternative to Amy’s care, which she was always happy to see, it would give Creed a much better reputation. And right now, I needed reputation more than I needed money.

X

2010, December 5: Brockton Bay, NH, USA

Most of Sunday morning was spent with my mother. I hadn’t done that in what felt like ages, what with her being a single mom and me having an entire separate identity to manage. So, I went to church and forced myself to sit through the sermon.

Mom wasn’t quite what some called a Chreaster Christian, someone who only showed up for the major holidays, but she wasn’t exactly a deacon in the making either. Even when dad was alive, my family mostly used church as a social function rather than a religious one. We found our family pediatrician and electrician from a weekly bible study. Still, the socialization was… nice… perhaps a bit whitewashed to be entirely authentic, but comforting in its normalcy.

After lunch, I promptly skipped out of the house. It had only been a day but my declaration on PHO was met with the expected skepticism. The general consensus seemed to be that words were cheap. As much as Damascus was a reason to do some soul-searching, it wasn’t like the general Brocktonite skepticism could be pierced so easily.

The PRT, via Reave, asked me to join up. I promptly told them I'd rather have tea with the Faerie Queen. It made me wonder though: Did Dragon or New York share footage of the incident with the PRT ENE?

Logic said the local director would naturally be briefed on a new threat in her area. How complete that briefing was, the number of people who had access to it, and the thoroughness with which it was internalized was all up for debate. The local PRT did not inspire confidence on that front.

Actually, there was even the possibility that Dragon did not share the full details of the incident, keeping the details close on a need-to-know basis. I supposed it depended on how sincere she and Legend thought I was about being a “hero on my own terms.”

Which was why I was out doing my very first heroic patrol. I still thought patrols were largely a waste of time; I could do much more to improve the city from within my lab. It wasn’t like my lab was entirely unproductive; I had Big Rig’s drones automated to manufacture more soda engines for the Damascus relief efforts, but if it was up to me, I would have liked to perfect my automail prosthetics blueprints before moving on to the testing phase.

And yet, my immediate goal was to arrest the Undersiders, if only because I couldn’t afford to ignore Coil for much longer. Unfortunately, they were as elusive as their “Masters of Escape'' title implied.

Seeing how I lacked a dedicated surveillance network, and SAINT was busy mapping out Coil's money laundering connections, the only way to catch them “in-uniform” was either to camp their base or predict their next target. And since I couldn’t do the latter, I had only one real option.

Their capture would be an easy way to show my sincerity as a hero. Not only would the public see me target villains, both major gangs in the city would see that I willingly gave up bounties I could have easily claimed in favor of the law.

I knew that the now defunct Redmond Welding Company warehouse was their headquarters. It narrowed my search a great deal and I would hopefully encounter them in a week or so. Ideally, I would have laid in waiting at their next target, but the only one I knew for sure they’d hit was the Ruby Dreams Casino, and that heist wasn’t for months.

It wasn't like I was doing nothing. I had a speech-to-text software I was using to jot down plans, formulas, and ideas. They'd need proper consideration later but this sufficed for a quick brainstorming session.

If there was one thing I learned, it was that heroic patrols were boring. I spent a while doing tricks on Crown Chimera, but a lad could exercise for only so long before any more became detrimental.

My acrobatics did finally draw cape attention, though from an unexpected source. When I next landed atop an abandoned rooftop, I saw a shadowy mist hover over the gap, accompanied by a broad-shouldered man in burnt-red body armor and spandex.

“Aegis, Shadow Stalker,” I acknowledged them with a nod. “Good afternoon.”

“Hey, Creed,” Aegis began with an awkward shuffle. “How's it going?”

“Sup, dork?” Shadow Stalker said.

How refreshing. If nothing else, Sophia's presence told me this meeting was most likely unplanned. Contrary to popular belief, the PRT wasn't full of idiots; there was no way in hell Sophia “Crucifixion” Hess would be their first choice to make a soft sell.

It was reassuring to know I wasn't their priority. Then I wondered what Carlos did to get saddled with his current partner. Then again, I supposed pairings had to get settled somehow and Carlos was definitely the type to take one for the team.

“Not much, I'm just getting my daily exercise in, doing a bit of scouting, you know?” I replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“What are you up to? Finding your next mark for a burglary?”

“Exactly what I said. I'll have you know, I'm on the side of the angels now.”

Aegis coughed insistently. “What Stalker is trying to say is, we'd like it if you came in. There are a lot of questions we'd like to ask you.”

“I'm sure there are. But as I told Reave, I'd rather have tea with Glastig. Or hear a private concert from Bad Canary. Or any number of things, really. Point is, me turning over a new leaf doesn't mean I want anything to do with the local Protectorate.”

“Right, fat chance,” Shadow Stalker scoffed. It was weird, seeing how her mask was of a woman's face and didn't articulate facial expressions. “You make a post on PHO and we're supposed to take your word for it?”

“I mean… yes? I am not known for lying. It's not like I have any major felonies under my belt.”

Aegis ticked off my crimes on his fingers. “Mercenary work? Grand larceny? Trafficking in regulated substances? There are a few cases that you're a person of interest in as well.”

“Oh, come on! That last one makes it sound way worse than it is,” I complained. “I sell tinkertech, not heroin!”

“Criminals don't just turn over a new leaf, dumbass. Pull the other one,” Shadow Stalker said.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “But, didn't you do that already, Ms. Vigilante?”

“Wha-How did you-”

“The GOAT knows way too much,” Aegis said, connecting the dots to draw the picture I wanted. He always was a straightforward kind of guy. Great trait to have, if somewhat predictable. “Which is another reason for you to come in for a chat. They could do a lot of good with the Protectorate.”

“The GOAT is the greatest of all time. Their wisdom stands as high as the highest peaks,” I agreed with a solemn nod.

“You can see why you and The GOAT are worrying, can't you? If you're sincere about flipping sides, joining up would go a long way to relieving our concerns.”

“And yet, The GOAT declared the PRT untrustworthy. Their advice hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”

“We just want some assurances.”

“One moment,” I paused. I placed a hand to my helmet as if I was receiving instructions. “Alright, how about this? The GOAT has agreed to offer you one piece of advice. It won't improve Halbeard's capabilities, but it will save him some time and resources.”

“We're listening…”

“Halbeard should scrap his nanothorn idea. It will not fulfill its intended purpose.”

“The what?”

“Oh, sorry, guess whoever’s on console duty with you doesn’t know either. The nanothorn project is Halbeard’s attempt to make a blade made of a nanite cloud that would theoretically break every molecular bond. Basically, it’s a blade that cuts anything. His goal is to kill an endbringer with it.”

“Holy crap, I didn’t know he had that…”

“Because he doesn’t yet. It’s probably in its alpha stages at the moment, if that. The GOAT says he should scrap the idea because it’s a waste of resources and time,” I told them honestly. I’d already informed Dragon about the endbringer cores so there wasn’t much use in holding onto this bit of knowledge anyway. “The nanothorn project cannot deal meaningful damage to an endbringer and for anything less than an endbringer, his plasma blade would work fine. Not to mention, he can’t approach Behemoth or Simurgh so even if it did work, his only valid target would have been Leviathan, and even that at an extreme risk to himself.”

“Got it,” Aegis said. Someone was probably typing furiously behind his helmet cam. “Anything else?”

“That was The GOAT’s freebie. How’s Kid Win anyway? He's figured out his specialization by now, right?”

“I-Yeah, actually. Umm, I don’t know if he wants to thank you or punch you.”

“That’s fine, so long as he’s moving forward. He’s got a lot of potential, you know. I look forward to the tinker he will become, as long as he doesn’t insist on a stupid name like ‘Win-Man’ when he graduates the Wards.”

“I’ll… I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Excellent. He and Dauntless are the two Protectorate capes The GOAT says might be stronger than me someday. Well, the ‘me’ at present anyway. I’m not the sort to rest on my laurels, you know? Ever onward! Fight on! Plus ultra!” I cheered, pumping my fist in the air.

“See? That. That sort of statement is what drives all the analysts crazy. Is there anything we could say to get you to come in? Maybe sign on as an independent hero?”

“Would that involve revealing my specialization, arsenal, organization, and its members?” I asked rhetorically. Of course it would, no political entity would ever be comfortable with an unknown organization like mine on their doorstep. From their view, The GOAT was an immensely potent thinker, and therefore someone they wanted at virtually any cost.

“It would.Trust is a two-way street, Creed.”

“Then no. The GOAT would like to tell Director Piggot to touch grass. Or, you know, let Panacea heal her so she can lose weight, regain something resembling the fitness she had as Lady, and then touch grass.”

“Did… Did you make a fat joke about our director?” That was Shadow Stalker. She sounded genuinely bewildered, like she had no idea how to deal with that coming from someone other than herself.

“Yes? No? Seriously, you don’t respect her as much as you should, Shadow. Ask her about her time as ‘Lady.’ I mean, The GOAT has zero respect for her anyway, but you’re the type of person who’d like that sort of story.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“What indeed?”

Aegis let out a deep, tired sigh, probably imagining the paperwork they’d put him through when he got back. “Can we get back on topic? Would you please sign on as an independent at least? We can provide you with resources, information, and security that tinkers don’t get.”

I laughed. “That cookie-cutter pitch doesn’t mean nearly as much to me, you know.”

“I know, but I have to try. Please come in?”

“Nah.”

“What are we standing around for then?” Shadow Stalker scoffed. “We should just take him in. He’s a criminal anyway. You don’t get to change sides just because you made a post on PHO. Piggy can say what she wants when he’s in a cell.”

I frowned in my helmet. Leave it to Sophia to start a confrontation. I could walk away. There was fuck-all they could do to keep up with my speed, not to mention my cloaking and texture suites.

And yet, I couldn’t deny that a part of me wanted to stay. Sophia Hess was arguably the most reviled character in canon. In a setting with the Slaughterhouse, that really said something. The worst part of it all was that she also genuinely believed she was in the right. She was a fascinating character, if only in an “oncoming train crash” kind of way.

Perhaps, perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to shine some light onto Sophia’s damaged mentality. I doubted the PRT would get her some mental help, but a man could hope.

No. I said I’d be honest with myself. There were reasons to show off. Just as valuable as stealth, a reputation for competence had its merits. Not to mention, the way I handled the Wards, and the extent of force I chose to use, could set the tone for my relationship with the PRT moving forward.

Yet, putting aside every other reason, I wanted to fight.

I needed no other reason than that.

Author’s Note

Bryce has decided that the time for hiding has passed. The ambiguity of a “mercenary” status isn’t as important as getting his name out there. As abrasive as Sophia is, she’s a good way to send a message to the rest of the Bay based on how he chooses to handle her.

On one level, this is a deviation from his usual attitude. On another level, it’s more of the same, sending a message in such a way that he cannot be ignored nor misinterpreted.

Animal Fact: Woodpeckers have unusually long tongues. When lying at rest, the tongues wrap around the birds’ skulls, forming a natural shock-absorbent layer. This protects their brains and necks from the jackhammer motion they make as they burrow for food and nest.

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