Taylor breathed a sigh of relief as she evaluated the current state of the ongoing plans. Victor was assisting with the setup of an Empire rally deep in downtown, crowds already gathering. Nobody said a word to him, the grim stoicism he displayed enough to deter anyone that might try.

Taylor herself was sitting down with the Dockworkers, discussing the plans for taking the docks in total, building the DWA into a self policing force with the Undersiders as muscle. She hated to pervert her father’s work, but it hadn’t been her to do it first, so the guilt was light.

That left Motoko with Amy and the problem of dealing with the bitch that was her adoptive mother. Carol Dallon was a real piece of work, treating her daughter like she was all but running to jump into the Nine’s arms. Which was more true than she realized, but she didn’t know the classified bits of the puzzle.

Watching through the Major’s eyes felt different than it had before the bank, as if she was tapping into a sense that was somehow both her own and yet also someone else’s. It was rather disconcerting, but at the same time, necessary. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if Motoko felt the same way about looking through her own eyes.

Amy was not a monster, she was just a teenage girl that wanted a family that actually loved her. Taylor could see that Vicky qualified, doting all over Amy who seemed oddly tense around her. Right, she almost forgot that Amy was attracted to her adoptive sister. Given how she acted around Vivian, it slipped her mind.

Carol Dallon however was glaring at Amy with a look that raised her hackles. Amy was part of Toybox, she was family, and this woman wanted to look at her like she was a monster waiting to happen. Lisa had been very clear when she watched the exchange, they needed to get Amy away from such an abusive environment, but in such a way that didn’t damage her relationship with Vicky.

That meant attempting to win the flying Brute over. She would leave that to Motoko and Amy for the moment, then work on getting her read in. It would be one way for her plan to leave the house to be sped up at least. Thinking about it, why hadn’t Amy suggested that in the lead up to the plan? She probably didn’t want to get her sister involved with something as morally gray as the Nine.

Then Motoko’s phone rang.

She answered it, prepared for the theatrics to come.

“Major,” Lisa’s voice said. “Sitrep.”

“Panacea is safe, the Nine retreated. They had Militia with them, she’s a Bonesaw puppet now.”

“Fuck,” Lisa said. “Hate to drop more bad news, but the Empire is holding a rally after an attack on their own people. Purity is dead, Othala’s missing and they’re out for blood.”

Motoko spat to the side. “Shit. Okay, let’s regroup at base and wait for the inevitable city wide meeting that comes from threats like this. Get Cyber to pull back, we can’t risk the Nine hitting her team.”

“On it,” Lisa said, then hung up.

“Cyber?” Carol asked. “I thought the Heberts were dead.”

Amy chuckled, though it was strained. “I managed to save Taylor, her tech saved her life. Her father wasn’t as lucky.”

“They had a body to bury,” Carol said. “I looked into it.”

Amy shrugged. “I grew a fake one for her, put it in her place.”

“Ames?”

The Biokinetic turned to her sister, an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry for not telling you, Vicky. Taylor asked me to make sure the man who ordered the hit didn’t know she was alive.”

“Who was that?” Carol demanded.

“Coil,” Motoko interjected. “He set it all up, including faking his death. His body doubles were fed to Hookwolf to keep me busy so he could drop an entire building on us. He’s still quite alive, and we know his civilian identity but aren’t ready to act on it.”

“He’s PRT,” Amy added. “Once we figured that out, we all agreed to play it safe.”

“You kept secrets and made plans with villains,” Carol said, slowly. “Give me one reason to not request you go through Master/Stranger checks.”

“Bonesaw,” Amy said.

Motoko nodded. “The Nine don’t take kindly to their toys being removed from the field. Do that and they would likely take you for spite and turn you into something akin to that monster.”

“Which is why I can’t just hide away,” Amy said. “Besides, I’m one of the few hard counters to Bonesaw out there.”

“What about Surgeon?” Vicky asked.

“Doesn’t come until the Nine are confirmed gone,” Amy said with a shake of her head. “She stays in hiding otherwise. There’s a reason we used a teleporter to visit a park across the country when we wanted a day off.”

Carol’s focus on Amy narrowed. “When was this?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“That day I said I was going to the boardwalk,” Amy said with a shrug and pulled out her Toybox transponder. “Think we’re safe to take a shortcut?”

“I don’t think they would appreciate you bringing everyone along,” Motoko said.

“Vicky, Major, can you get Carol to the PRT?” Amy asked.

“Where are you going?” Vicky asked.

Amy aimed the transponder at the wall and activated it. “Toybox. I need to check on something.”

She stepped through and it winked out, leaving the three of them alone in the kitchen. A tense silence settled over the room as the Major was left alone with the Dallon women. She chuckled nervously as both turned on her.

“She wasn’t wrong,” Motoko said. “The PRT building is the safest place to go in the event of a Nine incursion, and where any response will be coordinated.”

Reluctantly, the two nodded.

“Truce?” Vicky asked, more so looking to her mom than to the Major.

Gritting her teeth, Brandish spun around and grabbed the keys off the hook. “I’m driving. Vicky, fly escort. The Major and I need to have a talk.”

***

Amy stepped into Lisa’s control center, laughing at the display. Lisa turned, a grin on her face even as Taylor pouted. She hated dealing with all the interplay, but dammit if she wasn’t actually doing a good enough job balancing so many moving parts. Jacob and Riley were back in Toybox along with Hannah, they were safe though many of Riley’s bots would need repairs. Motoko had been careful to not hit anything important, but repairs still took time.

It was difficult to remember that she was human at times, the way she could split her mind wasn’t normal. Lisa couldn’t pull off the same trick with multiple shells no matter how hard she tried. Taylor’s power was the answer, not only did it allow her to create all the wondrous tech, it let her control a potential army of enhanced shells. Despite the estimated costs of creating such a force, the idea was more than a little enticing.

Then again, did she want to risk creating more splits within her mind?

She had to remember, she was Taylor Hebert, even if she now shared an existence with Motoko. Her family wasn’t a traditional one, not since her father was killed, but she had found one all the same. Toybox was her family, the thing that reminded her of her own humanity. She wasn’t just a ghost in the shell, she was human.

“Thinking some deep thoughts there,” Lisa said.

Taylor looked back as she considered her loadout for the next step of the plan.

So many fires in the oven, all feeling like they were a part of her.

Lisa gave her an expectant look with that cute raised eyebrow she always broke out when she knew the answer but was giving you the choice to voice whatever it was. She was grateful for that, how Lisa knew to respect boundaries, even if Taylor felt those fraying with each instance of focus she took up.

“It’s strange, tracking everything in motion, controlling multiple bodies while also browsing hundreds of tabs of information, all without even a lapse in my attention. I should feel stretched thin, yet it’s almost trivial.”

“Hey,” Lisa said, taking her hands in her own grip. “Powers are weird like that. Everyone’s is different. I’m the Sherlock that Doyle wished he could write. Amy can create life from nothing. You can live a hundred lives all at once. It’s okay to be scared, just know that you have people around you that are there if you need us.”

Taylor sighed, sitting down on a bench. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it in time, but right now, just the thought of being that comfortable with things is terrifying. Like, why even go out as the Major, with our brain in that skull? Why not just stick our brain in a secure facility somewhere and remotely pilot an army of shells?”

“Because it reminds you both that you’re still human,” Lisa said, then leaned in to feather a kiss on her forehead. “I promise you, no matter what happens, or how far you go, I’ll always be there to remind you of that truth.”

Taylor found herself smiling across all instances of her, which earned Victor a confused look from one of the twins as they waited on Kaiser to kick off the rally downtown. Taylor’s role in that fiasco was almost finished, so she schooled the man’s face. Just another twenty minutes or so and she would be done with him.

“Thanks Lise,” Taylor said, then stood.

More importantly, Vivian was indicating that she located Lung. Originally she wanted to roll up to Lung’s front door and deliver her take on the Blazing Saddles candygram after his attempt to recruit her by force. If Hero hadn’t stepped in during that attack on her holding cell, she would have likely ended up Lung’s Tinker slave.

Taylor talked her into something a bit less enthusiastic that would send a better message. Killing Lung outright wouldn’t send the right message. So, the three of them watched on the monitor as Vivian walked right into the ABB front wearing a gas mask and tactical gear loaded with her grenades as though she owned the place. Lung kept no guards, to do so would be inviting attacks on his home by opportunists.

She pulled a device from her belt and dropped it, Lung jumped from his recliner in an instant, Oni Lee teleported behind her, then away and a flash of static derailed everything. Vivian laughed, the bomb having been based off of Hatchet Face before Bonesaw took her own hatchet to him.

A power nullification grenade.

“Now that I have your attention,” she said cheerfully as Lee’s clones turned to dust. “My name is Bakuda, and I’m here to return a favor.”

Lung snarled, but understood the implications of the explosives strapped across her bandoleers.

“You are the bomb woman,” he spoke in a deep, rumbling tone.

“Indeed,” she said, giggling.

“Drama queen,” Amy quipped, but there was a fondness to the tone. “That power nullification bomb is nice, actually. Until Riley can figure out that off switch, she’s been making me a bunch and using them while we cuddle.”

Lisa made a disgustingly sweet sound at that, but Taylor was smiling fondly. It was nice to see them coming up with solutions that worked, even as a stop gap.

“How long do they last?” Lisa asked.

Amy tilted her head in thought. “That one looked like one of the older ones, so five minutes or so. The newer batch lasts ten.”

Taylor nodded, turning back to the display where Vivian was giving a dramatic speech.

“You tried to draft me into your little gang, and thanks to Hero, I managed an escape. Now, I shall return the favor and invite you to try out with my new friends. You might know them as the Slaughterhouse Nine.”

“Ah,” Lung rumbled, then sat back on his chair, his hands steepled across his lap. “What does Jacob want with the Bay?”