Motoko looked across the table to the two remaining, aware that Dauntless still stood behind her, nevermind Lung and New Wave. She was essentially alone now, but she wasn’t too concerned. Motoko knew Lisa would give Taylor an earful over Vex’s wandering hands, she could only hope Taylor would still be sharing her senses for that no doubt hilarious round of teasing.

First, however, she needed to plant one last set of seeds before the finale of this farce was allowed to play out.

“Ironic how a bunch of kids just shit all over the Truce, huh,” Motoko said idly. “It’s almost as if the local Protectorate are incompetent idiots.”

“Your contributions were unhelpful,” Armsmaster said.

Motoko waved her hand. “That’s fair, but you really can’t blame me. This is one of the most blatantly corrupt cities that I’ve been in.”

Lung chuckled. “To be fair, the heroes are rather pathetic. They can’t even drive me back without half of them needing a healer.”

“Why haven’t you already retreated with the rest of the villains?” Brandish demanded.

“Carol, please stop,” Lady Photon urged. “We don’t need to make this situation any more volatile than it already is.”

“Too late for that,” Brandish grumbled. “Amy’s gone villain, she’s mastered my daughter, and nobody is willing to do anything to help us.”

“Amy hadn’t mastered anyone,” Motoko said sharply. “She has however developed a food crop that can grow in the desert. Based on cactus and actually tastes pretty good.”

“She WHAT?” Brandish almost screamed.

“Not to mention her work to isolate diseases and create cures,” Motoko continued undaunted. “I hear she created a virus that will bolster most immune systems to the point of being almost perfect. She won’t release it however, as it will kill about half a percent of people infected. She doesn’t want that loss of life on her conscience even though it would save billions in the long term.”

Which was why Riley was going to release the virus in a few months and just apologize to Amy after. A bit of a dick move, but even Legend signed off on it. Leviathan killed more at Kyushu and Newfoundland than the virus would in the short term.

“By that logic, she could also kill everyone!” Brandish seethed. “She needs to be stopped before she goes too far!”

“That’s enough, Carol,” Lady Photon said sternly. “If this is how you’ve reacted to Amy trying to do good with her powers, it’s no wonder she’s siding with the people that are letting her do good with them. Frankly, I’m disgusted with your attitude right now and we will be talking about this when we get home.”

“Says the woman that forced me to take her,” Brandish muttered.

Lady Photon’s expression turned thunderous and Motoko was then treated to the sight of Lady Photon dragging Brandish out of the building even as she tried to resist. It certainly didn’t hurt that Lady Photon could fly and leverage that movement against the much more muscular woman. Only once they were gone did Motoko return her side arm to its shoulder holster.

Amy would need to be shown the footage, Vicky too for that matter. It was sad, seeing how broken her home truly was. Motoko wanted to give the grumpy healer a hug, but she would leave that task to Vivian for the time being. She still had her part to play after all and couldn’t afford to mess it up.

“I must say, today has been the most entertaining day I’ve had in years,” Lung said with a rumbling sound that could almost be called a purr. “Please tell me meetings like this can become more frequent, you can’t pay for such entertainment.”

“Certainly makes me rethink how bad my family actually is,” Shadow Stalker muttered.

“New Wave does put most soap operas to shame,” Dauntless begrudgingly agreed.

Motoko couldn’t disagree, but she still had an objective to obtain. One of which she needed Lung to leave before completing, and they were almost out of time. She looked from the corner of her eye, Lung not missing the passing glance.

“I imagine the Nine won’t wait for this meeting to finish,” Motoko mused. “Especially for those that hold territory.”

“A not so subtle way to tell me to leave,” Lung said, glaring at her. “It makes me wish to stay all the more. Especially since the little shadow isn’t being asked to leave.”

“Actually, I was looking for an excuse to duck,” Shadow Stalker said, shrugging. Sophia phased through the chair, turning solid again now back on her feet. It was showing off in a way to a group of people that wouldn’t be impressed by her power. Motoko thought it was cute of her and wished she could express that sentiment. “Not like the Nine actually gave me tasks to do, given I’ve already passed them, apparently. Fuck, I need a nap. See you back at base, Major.”

“Stay safe,” Motoko said.

Sophia flipped her off, before ghosting through the door. It was scripted, but it still stung.

“Another one down,” Lung said, sipping at his whiskey. “Who’s next?”

Motoko sighed. “She can be such a headache. Seriously, she should have been shipped across the country and placed under the command of someone that would actually work to help her, not let her keep doing her own shit unsupervised.”

“You could tell us the tasks the Nine gave you,” Director Calvert said to Lung, ignoring Motoko’s comment. “You are the only one to not volunteer that information at this point.”

“My task was simple, yet also impossible,” he said with a graveled voice. “To not fight when challenged.”

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Motoko blinked, despite knowing the conditions, she was surprised by how he chose to phrase them. All they had asked was for him to not interfere, yet it could easily be interpreted as such if one were to be a bit creative with wording.

“They told you not to help in any capacity?” Dauntless asked.

“Something like that,” Lung said. “Very well, it is clear you wish for my departure. I suppose I should buy that La-Z-Boy recliner I’ve had my eye on and take a deserved nap like the dragon they assume me to be.”

“Useless,” Armsmaster seethed. “Why is everyone in this damned city so useless?”

“Probably because you keep benching the useful ones,” Dauntless said offhandedly. “Or running them off in the cases of Challenger and Assault.”

“Your comments aren’t appreciated,” Director Calvert said.

“I beg to differ,” Lung said, chuckling. “Major, there is a place for you should you ever wish to join.”

“No thanks, I like my current arrangement,” she answered with a wink. “Appreciate the offer though!”

“I’m sure you do,” the false dragon said before taking his leave.

The seconds ticked by as silence overtook the run-down bar, only the occasional sound of clinking glass from the back to break up the moment. Motoko sat alone as the sole remaining villain in a room with two Protectorate members and one PRT Director.

Motoko was a bit nervous about that, her brain which she shared with Taylor sitting inside the shell that was currently seated at the main table. Dauntless was the sole person not at the table while Armsmaster sat almost directly across from her. Director Calvert was eyeing her with suspicion, no doubt trying something in his risky timeline to gather more information on what she knew about his identity as well as information on Dragon.

What little she had uncovered on that front wasn’t enough. It was clear that Dragon was an AI, one facing heavy shackles and a likely kill switch. Taylor had seen Terminator, and from shared memories, knew what could happen if an AI ran rampant without regard for human life. Her interaction with Dragon never gave that impression.

“Is Dragon listening in?” she finally asked. “If so, I’d like for her to be included in the conversation proper.”

“I don’t see why that is important,” Armsmaster said.

Motoko turned her harshest glare upon the man. “The imprisoned deserve a voice, no matter how you personally see them. Will you grant her a voice, or will I have to find a way to give her one?”

“The Nine told you what she is,” Armsmaster said, and it wasn’t a question.

“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Not that it was news, Cyber told me she suspected after their last conversation.”

“I thought you and she had disagreements,” the Director said. “Something about murder being bad.”

“She forgave me once I filled her in on Rune,” Motoko said casually. “She doesn’t like the killing, but hey, it’s never worth crying over spilled Nazis.”

“You’ve used the same tools to kill Nazis as the Nine, that does make your loyalties against them suspect.”

Motoko laughed. “Just because Bakuda sold a truckload of her ordinance to Toybox before the Nine grabbed her doesn’t make me a member. Nobody complained about the bullet I put through Heartbreaker after all.”

“That’s impossible,” Armsmaster said. “Heartbreaker was placed into the time loop approximately three minutes before Krieg was reportedly shot.”

“Further proof you know who the Nazis are, but let them persist,” Motoko said. “Meanwhile Cyber couldn’t get a moment’s rest while a flashing target lit up her back. Fucking hypocrites one and all.”

“Says the woman targeting people in their civilian identities,” the Director said.

“Goddess, this argument is going in circles,” Motoko muttered. “Good job evading the matter of Dragon by the way. Holy shit you’re all useless. No, scratch that, you’re worse than useless. You’re complicit.”

“I would watch your tone, Motoko,” the Director said. “We still have levers we can apply.”

Motoko snorted. “So do I. Did you know that before Miss Militia slipped into a coma, she woke up for a moment? You know what she said?”

“Enlighten us,” Director Calvert asked.

Motoko smirked, pulling her phone out and hit play on a recording that she had Hannah make. “Why, Colin? Why did you shoot me?”

“What.” Dauntless said, his voice completely flat.

“Why should we believe something a villain is providing?” Director Calvert asked, his fingers steepled atop the table.

“Do what you think you can,” she said as she pulled a small notebook from her inner pocket and handed it to Dauntless. “I was going to give this to Assault, but that ship sailed.”

“What is it?” Dauntless asked as he opened it.

“All the information Cyber found on Coil,” the Major said, walking towards the door even as she discreetly drew her Toybox transponder. Motoko keyed into Lisa’s eyes, taking in the sight of her workspace and the countdown on her HUD reaching zero as the wall flickered. “Since we don’t seem to get the luxury of secret identities, why should he?”

“Isn’t that right, Coil?”

Thomas Calvert spun just as the gun fired. He paused, looking down at the wound in his chest, then back up to the grinning blonde across from him. Lisa was dressed in a sharp business suit, perfectly fitted to her shell’s frame and wearing a fedora. Jacob insisted it would be funnier that way, not that he would elaborate. He had even insisted Lung couldn’t be present for it.

Three more shots followed in quick succession, sending Calvert stumbling back onto the table, tipping it over in the process. Armsmaster sprang into motion, halberd coming free as a glowing length of plasma ignited along the blade. Lisa stepped back easily through the portal, which closed before Armsmaster could catch her. In the chaos, Motoko exited Somer’s Rock and quickly ducked into an alley where she opened a portal back to Toybox.

She arrived in time to watch Taylor pull her girlfriend into a tight embrace as she sobbed, the gun falling to the floor as she did. “It’s okay Lise, it’s finally done.”

Lisa only sobbed harder as it sunk in. Coil had forced her into his service at gunpoint, threatened to turn her into an on tap Thinker drugged out of her mind if she didn’t play along. She was all but enslaved while working for him, her freedom an illusion and he attempted to discard her the moment she didn’t play ball.

Lisa ended him in a few short seconds on both sides of the coin.

Motoko knew Taylor wouldn’t be leaving Lisa’s side tonight, her girlfriend would need the support. Motoko would take up the slack for her, so she could give Lisa the full attention she deserved. Motoko sighed, because once the matters with the Undersiders were settled, the next phase of the plan could begin.

Taylor held Lisa tight, guiding her to the couch that she used for the occasional nap, laying her girlfriend’s head across her lap as she stroked her hair. Motoko took the opportunity to excuse herself from the room and started making her way to their joint lab. They could push the meeting off until tomorrow, and if needed, Motoko could step in for her.

Coil was off the board, which meant his power wouldn’t give the major players the out they needed to escape from tight situations. Melissa had called dibs on Kaiser and the twins, but Hookwolf would be Motoko’s to deal with. That just left Taylor with the problem of Armsmaster and his pet Dragon.

Regardless of how daunting that was, she looked forward to tackling each new puzzle as it came. The sun was setting on the opening act, and what a show it had been. A song came to mind and Motoko began to hum along to Another One Bites the Dust.