Amelia, Ch 347- Rebecca
A Gaea/Khepri power interaction that resembled Lisa and myself, only significantly more potent and personality altering? That explained so much, like why Contessa's paths rarely stayed true longer than two weeks these days. We had been under the assumption that every new dimensional gateway translated to an alteration of her plans, due to the significant changes a colony world made for the inhabitants of a given nation, and the ripple effect they had on the world's political and economic landscape. In addition to new Endbringer attacks on a near monthly basis and the chaos born of that.
It had made handing over Ascalon harder to justify.
It also made our backup plans to assassinate Avalon's leadership, should that ever be needed, much less reliable. And knowing what I now knew, we needed that option all the more desperately.
I glanced back over at Lisa as she observed Gemini. We'd stressed her powers in this conversation, and she needed to keep what was left of it to continue the testing and the many other tasks that she handled for her team.
I didn't know how to comfort her, anyway. She'd accidentally confirmed that her secondary postcognitive power did not consider clones to be the original person, and the sense of loss that came with that knowledge. If it weren't for the threat that was Scion, there was every possibility she'd have left Pantheon by now.
I briefly considered offering her a place with Cauldron. It would give us more time together, her power made for an excellent balance for Contessa's, and maybe she'd even be happier with us. But I didn't want to cheapen our relationship by using it for something like that. And she already knew I was not happy with Cauldron.
When did everything become so complicated?
As I didn't have answers, I watched her and considered options. Part of my training did include psych profiling, even grief counseling, if for entirely selfish reasons. There was nothing more I could do than simply offer my support and understanding. It would have to be enough.
I shifted, moving a little closer to her, turning slightly to face her a little more. It was the most I could offer right now. Meanwhile, through my armor I started the conversation with Director Martinez that I had begged off on the premise that I was busy, and his unwillingness to claim it was an emergency.
The fact of the matter was, Pantheon making a move in a given region that involved calling in outside help like this was absolutely an emergency situation. The organization as a whole was powerful enough to constitute a Class S threat even without invoking the Endslayers or the Empresses. A priority only slightly lower than that of the Yangban, and in fact somewhat above that of the Elite or Gesellschaft.
Through my changeling, I activated the communications. "Good afternoon, Director Martinez," I spoke with a practiced, pleasantly neutral tone. I had accustomed myself to the idea that the changeling better able to fake emotion than I was.
"Chief Director Costa-Brown," he acknowledged. "I've recieved information that Pantheon is engaged in a specific mission in the LA region."
"Interesting," I replied. "I do believe you were scheduled to host a relatively short notice power interaction test involving Alexandria and one of their recruits."
"Correct," he agreed. "As per protocol, they're being carefully monitored and we're collecting all possible details of the powers. However, Pantheon appears to have a number of ulterior motives. Of less immediate concern, Minerva delivered a number of plans she claims will help rebuild the area from the damage caused by Leviathan. And she brought several parahumans belonging to the criminal organization known as the Ambassadors to carry out a separate task. Attempts to learn her plan have thus far failed. And I could not assign Alexandria to follow them, as she is needed for the power testing."
"Which Minerva no doubt planned," I confirmed. I had to admit his suspicion was merited on its face value. Alexandria was the only Protectorate hero in LA with access to a shunt drive, which meant they could easily evade any other pursuers. "As she planned your paranoia."
"Ma'am?" Martinez asked, sounding confused and surprised. I died a little inside. I didn't hire him for his intelligence. Indeed, quite the opposite. But there were limits to how dumb a single person should be, and he exceeded them.
"If she actually wanted to keep their mission a secret, she wouldn't have let you know there was a secret mission in the first place," I spelled the obvious out to him. "Whether they're carrying out an operation or not remains to be seen. I wouldn't put it past Minerva to pretend they had a mission even if they didn't, simply to keep us on our toes." I paused for a half second, then had to try not to laugh. "Or, if they do have another goal, for it to be carried out in secret while you worry about the openly stated ulterior motives."
No wonder Lisa messes with people so much, I thought as I watched Martinez pale slightly, trying to decide the right thing to say next. There are no words for how fun this is.
Next to me, Lisa faked a sneeze. "Sorry, someone must be talking about me."
"Or all that environmentally controlled Avalon air has made you soft," I suggested. Maybe a little familiar, but not everything we did in public needed to be pure business. More importantly, I was surprised at how clearly she read me considering I wasn't deliberately conveying anything to her.
Martinez had started speaking while I was talking to Lisa. "That is certainly a possibility," he agreed, not admitting he never would have thought of it on his own. "I still must report any information regarding Pantheon directly to you." His body language told me the story of how relieved he was that he didn't invoke the emergency protocols and pull me away from my supposed work. Once again, he felt rewarded for his caution, and would continue his usual trend of behavior. Sometime soon I might need to fabricate a scenario where Alexandria pushes for aggressive action and the Chief Director praises him for his quick thinking.
And as I manipulate this man, so too does my Agent manipulate me, I thought, glancing again at Lisa. Agents influence their hosts in a number of ways, rewarding them for actions that suit their nebulous and barely defined goals. Pantheon's theory of it being a sort of breeding mechanism, not unlike a mating dance or use of insects for pollination, was better than anything Cauldron had pieced together as a motive. My own Agent found whatever Lisa and I were doing to be highly desirable. Maybe even for the obvious reasons.
"Of course," I agreed with Martinez, barely giving him more than a tenth of my overall mental attention. "How Minerva behaves toward the various Directors is always important to document for future Thinker study." Analysis that won't work because of our regular use of our interaction, same reason that Gaea and Khepri were functionally immune to our Thinkers, even Contessa. "Our immediate assumption has to be that this is part of a larger game on her part. Remain observant, but don't change your routine until given a reason to do so."
"Yes ma'am, I understand," he agreed. It didn't take the changeling's boosted senses to tell me he was lying, if perhaps only to himself. "We should also coordinate a conference of local Directors and the Governor to review the recovery plans. As well as assigning some of our Thinkers to review the information. There may be a clue to her behavior therein." He was referring, at least in part, to the amount of profit they made in owning much of Brockton Bay before its annihilation. Pantheon did have a habit of benefiting greatly from their good deeds, one way or another. Martinez clearly wanted to find a way to strike back at Pantheon in whatever small way he could.
"Make the arrangements," I instructed him. "And keep me appraised of any unusual activity in Pantheon's LA chapter."
"Yes, ma'am," he agreed, turning off his phone.
Lisa knew things would go this way, or something similar to. She planned it exactly right. Martinez was now suspicious, he'd contact others and tell them to be suspicious, whether consciously or not, which would draw more attention to this recovery plan than it otherwise deserved. In addition to downplaying the significance of their mission against the Elite, it would draw attention to Alexandria's advice and the parts where it actually hurt Pantheon's supposed goals of gaining more power in the region.
I regarded the clever, difficult girl standing silently next to me. If my Agent wants me to be closer to Lisa, which it clearly does, should I trust any of my feelings toward her at all? It was not a comforting question to ask.
I prided myself on my analytical thinking, even before I got my powers. It was hard to really tell where a parahuman ended, and their Agent began, but I could at least try to answer one question. What would I think about someone like Lisa, who I wasn't able to communicate with in such a unique fashion?
I could certainly see myself respecting her intelligence, and her loyalty to those few she was willing to consider a friend. And especially her ability to cut through the lies which others built up. Respect wasn't quite the answer to my question, however.
To Rebecca, to who I was before my powers, she would have been a welcomed breath of fresh air. So much better than doctors who lied to my face as they poisoned my body, and family that forced a teenage girl to be an adult so that they didn't have to. I would have loved to have a friend like her. A shoulder to cry on. Maybe an older sister to turn to for help and honest answers that no one else would give.
To Alexandria, she was a clever and talented ally fighting stoically to find a solution to a threat so daunting that any sane human being would simply give up and accept death was an inevitability. We, better than almost any others, comprehended just how impossible it was to fight something like Scion, yet here we were trying anyway. That meant a great deal to me on a number of levels.
That only left one persona. Chief Director Costa-Brown. I had to admit my civilian self was boring in her single mindedness. As much as not needing sleep and having approximately twenty seven times the mental processing speed of a normal person afforded me an amazing ability to juggle my multiple lives, it also meant I set myself up to need to use that ability constantly. Costa-Brown existed only for her job. She didn't have many friends, merely work acquaintances and political alliances. I couldn't see her, a woman in her forties, being friends with a teenage pain in the ass like Lisa.
I did understand that Lisa had her faults... brash and argumentative, confrontational and frustrating, manipulative and emotional. No, I couldn't imagine Costa-Brown would be friends with her. However... if things had been different, if circumstances hadn't made it impossible for me to even try... I would have been very proud, to have a someone like her as a daughter.
I allowed myself a smile at my personal affirmation that, whatever our Agents may be trying, our friendship was genuine, not a matter of alien manipulation.
And then the alarms sounded. What? Now?! The automated data alert started coming into my costume, sent automatically from Dragon's instruments to our equipment. I read all of it as it came up on my HMD. Power surge, unknown source, high powered dimensional distortion. The map placed it not far outside of Los Angeles. The epicenter had the equivalent of a 7.8 on the Richter scale, though it was clearly impact damage, not a faultline shift. Flagged as clear Class A, likely Class S. Guild alerted, Pantheon alerted.
"It's not an Endbringer," Lisa stated.
================
A/N- Aww. And DRAMA!!!
