Chapter Text
chapter 3 of 3 planned where I explore the concept.
* Saturday, February 22 2009 *
Humans had a need for ceremony. It ranged in observance from one thing to another and from one individual to another, but it was sufficiently documented for her social algorithms to have adapted.
Being there, in costume, observing the lighting of the candles before the pictures of the slain children - it was important to her public image and social networking opportunities.
She actually did not know any of the six slain children. She did know, or at least recognized, several of the injured.
One shuffled closer to her. "Uhm. Can I talk to you? Later. Alone."
Taylor Hebert. The bullied girl. Who had been trapped by a wall collapsing. Who had been having some sort of fit when she'd been pulled out of the rubble. She'd gotten a good look at her own metal showing through a jagged tear in her organic casing, so that was likely the subject.
Tin Soldier nodded but otherwise continued her vigil.
The human response had been as varied as could be expected. There was a small but very vocal group who blamed her for drawing the Dragonslayers to the school. There was a small but almost-as-vocal group that wanted to arm Tin Soldier with something bigger for the next time they tried to attack her.
The majority, unexpectedly, placed the sole blame for the attack on the Dragonslayers themselves.
The Principal went on for some time, then Deputy Director Renick started a much shorter and to the point speech.
There were federal funds available to repair things in the aftermath of a supervillain attack? Cameron considered that as there was some relief in various listeners, judging from micro-expressions and posture changes. More data for the algorithm.
Two of the injured were teachers and sufficient that they would be away from school for some time? Mister Gladly and a Terrance Morrison. Apparently they had head injuries and therefore any healing given them by the local healer cape Panacea would be for other things as apparently she either could not or would not do brains.
Possibly a personal code as opposed to an actual limitation of her power? If she could actually find and heal internal injuries through her power, it would be best to limit interaction with her unless it was deemed she be brought into the knowledge of her being a cyborg.
Honestly, despite the movies, Cameron had little problem with the concept of her nature being known. Mainly it was less desirable as it would make the preservation of human life more difficult if humans avoided her. Approachability was a concern.
Renick left the podium and made a little gesture, as she was in her Tin Soldier identity at present, she followed.
They were well away from the crowd when Renick began speaking softly, knowing well how sharp her hearing was. "Thief has been identified from footage."
"The vigilante known as Shadow Stalker, alias one of the three assailants," stated Tin Soldier.
"Think Tank indicates that the Dragonslayers were probably monitoring the area, when the door opened their sensors picked up the powered up tech," said Renick. "Video picked them up, enough for some analysis. They began firing because they thought they'd been detected and you were going for weapons. So far we have not been able to determine who the leak is, so we're proceeding with caution."
"Understood. We are not apprehending Stalker due to the rules of engagement referred to as 'Unwritten Rules'?"
"Yes," answered Renick, though he hesitated at several points in his answer as he apparently struggled with how to phrase things. "If we catch her in the act, that's a different story but we have to at least maintain the appearance of following the rules."
"Requesting clarification. If an individual or individuals were suspected of experiencing a 'trigger event' during this attack and was a new parahuman, informing the PRT would be against those rules?"
Renick stopped walking to give her a side-eye. "Do you have reason to believe such?"
"Three individuals suspected. Two possibles, one I am almost certain."
"I see," said Renick as he continued walking towards his car and the PRT driver waiting there. "If you're approached, contact us at that point. No offense, but you can be even worse than Armsmaster when interacting with people."
"Acknowledged. You should also be aware that my 'secret identity' is mostly non-secret at this point. I estimate at least 15% of the student body and 45% of staff are aware that 'Cameron' is 'Tin Soldier' due to my lack of a costume at time of the assault."
"You may be overestimating the numbers. Eyewitness testimonies are often incorrect and people tend to get tunnel vision in high stress situations," said Renick, his voice now indicating a certain humor. "Good luck, Soldier."
"Good night, Deputy Director," stated Cameron as the little ritual to signify temporary parting of ways was performed.
* Void Cowboy *
He'd been buried alive. In the shower room after PE.
Unlike what he'd overheard about Taylor or Madison or some of the others, he'd been in close contact with one of the dead classmates. He didn't even know the guy in question prior to that, just one of the jocks who'd towel-whip him and laugh about it. Didn't mean he wanted the guy dead though, just to leave him alone.
Staring in the dim light at where someone's head had been messily removed had been an experience.
That kind of thing. That kind of brush with death. It kind of caused one to reassess a few things in the priority department.
It had only been about an hour before Tin Soldier had found and excavated him, using whatever parahuman strength rating she had to shift concrete and rebar aside.
She'd only had a crumpled domino mask and otherwise been wearing school clothes. Ripped up school clothes. One of the rents in clothing revealing some pretty bloody injuries.
It was of only vague reassurance that hearing that the Dragonslayers were being fast-tracked towards a kill order. Because they went after a school while their target was a Ward. Yeah, that was a no-fly for a lot of villains.
That the Slaughterhouse Nine had given Saint and the Dragonslayers a "good shooting" on one of the overseas-based websites? Yeah, even out of work mercenaries were saying "no thank you" to the group. At least on the internet.
That they (the Dragonslayers) were saying that they only attacked because of "the dangerous AI killbot" that was Tin Soldier? And that they only attacked then because she was going after her weapons?
No. He had a class with Cameron in it. She'd been called to the office abruptly and then everything had gone down.
The weirdest thing though had been after he'd been patched up by the EMTs and given a "good enough" and wound care instructions. It was like he SAW things now as if things were a thousand times clearer than they had been.
It was a blessing. It was a curse. As if he had been wearing a partly-transparent blindfold or wearing glasses that were a bit out-of-date. Now he could see.
* Armsmaster *
"It is an ill wind that doesn't blow any good." That was the old quote, or at least he thought so.
The massacre at the school was surprisingly low in casualties for the amount of damage, partly because Tin Soldier attempted to lead the power armors away from the school. As a result, the parking lot and the cars parked there had been reduced to burning craters. The road directly in front of the school was likewise wrecked.
The building inspectors sent in had found asbestos and a host of other concerns that would have to be addressed. There was a lot of debate on that - mainly as to where to get the funds.
On the other hand, his mechanical pencils were now experiencing a 2000% increase in sales and he felt a tiny bit of vindication on insisting that the original run be made as durable as possible. That was currently a major selling point and the high price for a pencil that had deterred people from purchasing them was now less of a concern.
That someone had put a poster up showing the recovered bent and burnt pencil that Tin Soldier had used to blow up the wing turbine of one suit was someone's idea of marketing. The slogan underneath was incorrect though because it did NOT actually still write.
Still, that one of HIS pencils was used to take down one of Dragon's stolen suits? Was it wrong for him to feel a certain degree of satisfaction at that?
After consideration, Armsmaster sent off an e-mail requesting that a portion of the profit on sales of his mechanical pencil go to the recovery effort. Some would still go to his Tinker budget the way all sales of his merchandise did, but skimming some off the top to assist the families of those lost in the attack would not be remiss.
* Saint *
"I'm working on online damage control, but it's uphill and carrying a heavy load," protested Mags.
Dobrynja let out a humorless chuckle. "We should make official. Offer position to Shadow Stalker."
"Why?" asked Saint, turning his attention to the Russian mercenary.
"She have cause against robochick," said Dobrynja. "Made her look bad. She also already linked to us by internet and PRT, yes? Because she student, have best chance to observe and end robot at school. Shadow Stalker power let her stick arrows through metal - effective against robots."
"Right, and once the robot is terminated, we can display the remains and clear our name," said Saint as he took the idea and worked it out. "That's providing we can find her and providing she doesn't betray us."
"If we're going that route, let me know right away," said Mags. "I'm pretty sure that 'True_Predator95' is Shadow Stalker on PHO."
"Well, that would make things a bit easier," admitted Saint/Geoff.
* Monday, February 24, 2009 *
There would, eventually, be a monument. Or a placard, or something.
Principal Karen Blackwell looked at the spot where it would likely be and let the names run through her head. She wasn't good with a lot of things, and didn't really care that much about the students, but it was still something that bothered her greatly. She also knew that she'd get questioned about all of them by either the press or the School Board. Or both.
Theodore "Sparky" Powell, Deidre Alhambre, Jose Esteban Phillipe Chavez III, Nam-jun Park, Kevin Schmidt, Julie Anderson.
One was a drummer in some band, wearing headphones who apparently hadn't even registered the evacuation drill until the ceiling came down on him. Alhambre had been on the Track Team, a hurdler if she recalled correctly, who'd taken a fifty-caliber round from one of the Dragonslayer suits when she'd tried to sprint out of the yard. A nearby car had been reduced to shrapnel.
Jose she didn't know and rumor was Park had been ABB (or so it was relayed to her) but the two had been trying to herd students of all kinds away from the fight when one of the Dragonslayers blew up a section of roof over their heads and the ceiling came down on them as well. That had been weird, but one supposed that certain distinctions might be considered less important when under heavy fire from a common enemy.
Schmidt had died in the boys' locker room.
Six dead. Considering the damage it was darn near a miracle that only six were dead. Two sections of the building and the outer classrooms were intact. Gym had some minor damage but the hole could be tarped over. Cafeteria was a complete loss as a stray missile had apparently gone after a heat source in there and exploded.
Her eyes went to the small army of building inspectors, police, PRT agents (just in case there was Tinkertech ordnance still around), and other suited figures she didn't know immediately. Suits and clipboards and PPE everywhere.
"Karen Blackwell? We have some questions for you," said one of the suits coming towards her.
Yeah, she had prepared as much as a weekend allowed, but this was not going to go well at all.
* Taylor *
All she had was a scrounged-up costume from her father's place of work. A set of mechanic's overalls and similar gloves, a motorcycle helmet that was big enough for her glasses to be worn underneath, and a toolkit.
Tin Soldier was wearing her own costume, which was a LOT better and had armored inserts to boot.
"You... brought someone," noted Taylor inside her costume. "Miss Militia. Hi. Big fan. I just didn't want..."
"Considering recent events, and that the Dragonslayers are still believed in the area, we're keeping an eye on our Wards," said Miss Militia. "I'll just stand over there."
Tin Soldier regarded her as the other hero walked over to stand next to a Hazmat truck.
"Uhm. I don't want to be impolite," said Taylor, "but can I ask?"
"Ask?" asked Tin Soldier.
"You've got machines under the skin," said Taylor. "And things that are kind of machine and kind of... not?"
"I'm a cyborg, yes," said Tin Soldier. "This is all very secret though. I take it this is your power?"
"Yeah, kind of," admitted Taylor. "I can sense machines around me. The more complicated the machine the easier it is to turn it on or off. Uhm, like so. I just turned on all the... oh."
"Oh?" asked Tin Soldier.
"There's one, I think it's a power armor, just at the edge of where I can sense," said Taylor, pointing.
"How very interesting," said Tin Soldier after a moment. "Have you considered membership in the Wards? I have found my associates there quite tolerable and I believe it would benefit you personally to get away from certain individuals."
"That sounds pretty good actually," admitted Taylor.
"Have you decided on a codename?" asked Tin Soldier.
"Techno-queen," tried Taylor.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Weather predictions were for a storm front moving through today," observed Tin Soldier. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside."
* Thursday February 26 2009 *
"You have the results?" asked Director Piggot as soon as everyone was seated.
"The four parahumans currently at Winslow, not counting Tin Soldier," began Armsmaster, standing again and flicking tabs on his tablet to bring results up on the main monitor. "Techstar. Tentatively given Master-3, Thinker-3, and Tinker-3. Shaker rating of 1 with the potential to be higher as she learns how to maximize her power. Techstar's parahuman ability is technokinesis, any technology using electricity and particularly electronics - she can access and control at a distance of five hundred feet. Earlier in the week she activated everyone's cellphones in a corridor, set them to record or stream, and sent a live broadcast of her civilian identity being bullied to YouTube and Reddit. She did, however, phrase it as someone else being attacked and not herself. She was later admonished for this by Tin Soldier as potentially revealing her own secret identity."
"So, if Leonidas ever goes villain, she'd be a hard counter to his robot legions?" asked Director Piggot.
"Five hundred foot range, but yes. On the other hand, Cameron DID come to her aid when physical bullying took place twice this past week and the two are becoming friends," said Armsmaster, a slight approval apparent in his voice. "This has also increased Cameron's apparent social awareness. Techstar is on track with Wards membership, though her father is engaged in discussions with Legal about certain clauses in the contract."
"About time a parent actually read the damn thing," admitted Director Piggot. "Why a Tinker rating?"
"She gets ideas about how to make something more efficient, more user-friendly, or less likely to malfunction or jam up," explained Armsmaster. "When she's scanned a device she's controlling, she can enter something like a Tinker fugue and start sketching out ways to improve it. Her notes on several of our devices are currently being gone over by various experts as they are not black boxed in any way."
"She can make it so my printer doesn't break down every four months, that would be welcome," agreed Director Piggot. "Have Legal go over it, make sure she'd be getting a fair amount of the profits from any resulting patents. Next?"
"Think Tank already wants him, but Findpoint is a Thinker 2, Zone sub-type. His power is finding weak points, flaws, or critical areas particularly on structures. He was discovered because he was talking about two support beams at Winslow which had internal damage not showing on the outside." Armsmaster flicked his tablet as he came to the third of the 'new' parahumans discovered in the wake of the Winslow Incident.
"Ah. Her," said Assault, nodding.
"The name 'Batgirl' was rejected as there was an old comic book character with that name," said Armsmaster. "She has since gone with Hammergirl. Her power is Reinforce where an object she is in physical contact with can be imbued with energy that makes it much harder and more durable. Originally was using a baseball bat, she has since switched to a two-handed wooden mallet. Strikes with the weapon also seem to be enhanced as if the weapon's mass is higher than it should be. She can also cause an imbued object to shrink to miniature size for storage as long as it remains within reach. Limitation is that she can only imbue one object at a time."
Renick spoke next. "We will be moving Techstar to Arcadia eventually. Findpoint has some learning disabilities according to his records and private tutoring is an option we're working on. Hammergirl refuses transfer but is considering the Wards."
"Counting Shadow Stalker, that means there are currently five parahumans at Winslow with two of them transferring as soon as we can."
"Why haven't we taken her in?" asked Triumph. "We know who she is, where she is, and we've found people bleeding out due to those hunting broadheads she uses."
"Because we haven't actually caught her in the act," said Armsmaster. "Once we do, she'll be brought in and given the option of juvenile detention or joining the Wards where her abilities can be put to use."
"Her abilities may be effective against Brutes such as Hookwolf," said Director Piggot. "Honestly though - from what Tin Soldier has reported and recorded, if it was up to me she'd be caught and not given the option of Ward membership. I'm overruled on that, but if we do bring her in it's possible we can ship her off to somewhere else and she can be someone else's problem."
* Friday, February 27, 2009 *
* Winslow *
"Heard you're leaving," said Sophia. "Like a wimp. Going go be a loser with all the other weak little worms."
"Awww, poor lil' Taylor," crooned Emma. "Still crying, like when you killed your mother?"
Taylor's head snapped up and she stared at Emma for a moment.
Emma's smile cranked up and she prepared to say something else.
"Haven't you idiots done enough?" said Cameron as she moved through the circle of students that had hemmed Taylor into place. It was almost as if the crowd recognized her and didn't want to get on her bad side or something and just moved out of her way.
"Oh, is the broken little doll going to stand up for her lover?" tittered Madison. "It's not like either of you could find anyone who wasn't trash."
Sophia leaned closer to Cameron. "You aren't so tough. I could take you."
Cameron's eyes narrowed. "When and where?"
Sophia blinked. "Ah. Well."
One of the sophom*ores chimed in. "All right. Two toughest girls in Winslow duking it out?"
"Uhm," hedged Sophia.
"You can do it, Sophia," chimed in Emma. "Teach that bitch her place."
"Well," further hedged Sophia.
"After school today," volunteered Emma. "You and Taylor against me and Sophia. When we win, you'll be revealed as the gutter trash you are."
"Emma," tried Sophia, trying to get her friend's attention without looking like she was doing so.
"Where?" asked Cameron.
"Has to be someplace without a lot of people," said Emma, seeming to think about it. She snapped her fingers. "That way you two can go all out. Got it. Four thirty this afternoon at the park I first met Taylor."
"Emma?" tried Sophia.
