Tcr 30)

We moved over to the cafeteria to catch an early lunch while robotic peripherals of Pal gathered up various bits of gear and treated them to color changes.

I ordered a steak and raided the salad bar. From there I got a large plate of salad, a bowl of bean soup, and two freshly baked buns with honey butter.

It was free food and a wider variety than I would ever bother to make for myself. Plus Pal would have a bag of day old bagels for sandwiches to last me the rest of the week, and a bag of two day old bread for the birds as a treat.

Pal gets me, and Scorn. Some of the bagels would have fruit in them which did not make for good sandwiches, but would still vanish from my kitchen.

When I sat down, the two teens exchanged a look, before Fable got up to hit the salad bar as well, and Shimmer gave me a serious look. “I want to talk to you, and each member of the team in private, about how each of you feels about going active outside of Concentric City.

I gave her a confused look, "I never really thought about it. Why? What's going on."

My boss twisted her lips to the side. "As long as we're here, we are under the Circle's protection, and they have an agreement to stay within the city's borders unless they get called in, or deal with something or someone who is targeting supers.”

I paused with a fork full of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, turnips, bacon bits, cheese, croutons, sunflower seeds, and French dressing halfway to my mouth, then stuffed it in while I nodded.

Shimmer began using her hands in a deliberate manner which told me she had practiced this conversation so it was best to just nod to avoid throwing her off. “We’re not part of the Circle, officially we’re a separate group. And the Circle can disavow our activities as a bunch of rambunctious kids. If we can establish a strong presence and get popular support, we can do a lot of good before our star starts to fade and the media gets people to turn on us because good guys doing good gets boring but tearing people down makes for better ratings.”

She waved a hand at me. “Then that story gets old and we can go back to work while being largely ignored. I’m sure you’ve seen it happen a million times before.”

Clasping her hands together, she held them up in front of her mouth for a moment. "All we need to do is avoid scandals so when they go after us it will get too boring to keep it going.

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Oh. I set my fork down and wiped at my lips to make sure I wasn't looking at her with an orange smear of French dressing on my lips. “So, no more horror show.”

She nodded slowly, “No, no reminding people that we’re using other people’s dead bodies, even if they are artificial ones. And we should only use bodies from real people, even bad people, in emergencies. We don’t lie if asked, we just don’t bring it up.”

I gave her a slow nod and finished my salad, and half of the soup, before a rolling service trap delivered my steak and fries, Shimmer’s breaded chicken burger, and Fable’s Salisbury steak and baked potato.

My armor was ready by the time we finished with lunch and I had to chase the two of them out and lock the door behind them to get some privacy in the third floor sub basement room where the armor had been laid out.

I needed a Brute’s strength to move around in it. A lot of the Armor was made of some super strong Genius derived metals, ceramics, and even what looked like altered cardboard. Even the gel impact layers that would take the force of a hit to keep it from sending me flying had some weight to it, as did the cooling unit that could cool the gel after it turned kinetic force into heat.

Not something that would bother a corpse I was riding, but this stuff was for me.

While a lot of stuff had been stripped from the armor or didn't function separated from the rest of the original suits, there were still some other features that had been left intact. But they at least appeared to be things that had been inspired by the Mandalorian rather than Iron Man.

So. Rocket boots. But without the main thruster from a back plate unit. A hook at the end of rappelling line. But not the motor to pull me up the line. Telescopic and infrared vision built into the visor. But the range finder and target lock weren't going to do anything without the gauntlet missiles they had been made for.

“Pal, I appreciate that the catheter is both functional and already built into the groin armor, but can we please lose it? I would rather Shimmer didn't know that having me go for several hours at a time without peeing is an option.”

A robot that looked like an oversized R2D2 rolled into the room from a side door and went to work, replacing the device with an additional layer of impact gel. “Thanks Pal.”

The drone waved at me as it headed back out and several minutes later I was fully armored, but still without my standard load out.

Pal had the foresight to place a three panel full length mirror in one corner of the room.

I checked to make sure no one had opened a door and placed myself so I could see the door to the hallway. I spent a few moments posing. And mention to myself out loud,"And checking my mobility, not just checking how badass I look."

In all actuality, I looked like everyone else who had to rely on armor. A villain of the week or the guys in armor there to support a superhero, and got their butts kicked by someone with actual Powers.

At least when my shoulder dropped in depression you couldn’t see it from outside the armor.

"Pal, could you send me… Right, you already thought of that." Some drones had begun carrying in several crates lined with foam inserts to case the armor in before loading everything up on a flat topped cart which I followed out to my truck.

I gave the cart a wave and thanked Pal again. It was the best I could do in place of a tip, although I understood the Intelligence like most advanced AI in Concentric City did receive a regular paycheck.

Manifest had told me the Palace intelligence used its pay to arrange for spiriting second gen orphans and abandoned Triggered children away from the few nations which still feared and hated Powered people.

Most had smartened up and realized their losses were our gains, but some people just never learned.