Amelia, Ch 361- Lisa
"We'll keep the Iron Maiden program secure in our own secret location," Taylor insisted. "It's not that I don't trust you, but..."
Dragon deflated a little. Upset, disappointed. Legitimate emotion, reacting to the biological structures in her construct body. Has gone out of her way to make the body as human as possible. Wants to make herself more human. Huh, the fuck? My power wasn't equipped to speculate on the psychology of a computer program, no matter how humanlike her mind was. "But you don't trust me."
Defiant put his hand on her shoulder. "It's me they don't trust. You can't even know what the device looks like or where it is. I, on the other hand, have admitted to a motive powerful enough that they expect I might betray them." No one bothered to correct his statement, the man may have been an idiot when it came to human behavior, but he wasn't stupid and he was good at compartmentalizing his emotions.
Dragon looked over at Defiant, a brief expression of gratitude. It was mostly lost on the man, who was busy being angry at Taylor and Amelia. They had the tools to free his love and in his eyes she deserved it. Increased dissatisfaction with situation, likely to say something in a moment of anger. Unlikely to cause long term problem.
I cleared my throat, interrupting him before he had a chance to speak. "Well, this is embarrasing. I was hoping to just run off into the sunset tonight and avoid the uncomfortable parts. But if Dragon's not going to be able to take my spot right away... I might have to cancel my dinner date."
I spared a glance at Rebecca that was unsubtle enough that the others would catch it. I wondered how many of them would guess that it was a ruse to hide other ruses. I doubted anyone except the pair of us knew exactly how deep the rabbit hole went. Shift of her thumb, approval at my heading off Defiant's reaction, slight narrowing of eyes to say she was less happy about implying the two of us had a date.
Amelia glared at me, and I watched Taylia diffuse the anger as she spoke. "You planned this from the beginning, putting us on the spot like this. You want Dragon's limits undone so much that you're forcing it on us."
I smiled broadly, at least they got that far. "Pretty much. Endbringer in a matter of a week or less. Political friction with the PRT. New recruits, new criminal conscripts, pissed off the Elite, Lily's pending trip to Japan, Vicky's upcoming contract negotiations, probably a press release explaining what happened in LA, though I didn't plan that one. Tick tock." If I'm going to have the rep for being a manipulative bitch, I may as well have some fun with it.
"I have some minor projects I can change," Dragon offered. "I can't justify reducing my monitoring of the Birdcage or the Class S threats, but my industrialization of Avalon can be handled by employees, instead of my direct attention. I can slow development of our education system as well. Put more of the economic projects under Accord and your new Thinkers. They're more than adequate, and that should free up enough of my attention." Displaying the full extent of her value, how important she is. Smart.
Taylor sighed. Annoyed at being pushed into the position, not upset. Glad for excuse to do the moral thing, despite it not being the smart thing. "Fine, you've both made your points. Emma, you're the only one we have that can do this, so it's your show. Put your Tinkers on projects that don't require oversight, or give them to the other teams. Your priority is now Dragon's code. With an emphasis on finding ways to improve her ability to multitask for now. We'll discuss other options when we have time to make sure we know what we're doing first." Both angry and relieved, Amelia's glad as well. Negative emotions blending out and being negated.
I picked up the box containing Iron Maiden, several stacks of papers and various disks and external hard drives and a laptop, and offered them to Emma. "According to Cauldron's people, that's everything Saint ever knew about Dragon. He's not even a Tinker, so you shouldn't have any problems doing better." Emma didn't need the added motivation I just gave her, but it didn't hurt.
Defiant shifted and turned toward Rebecca. "What happened to Saint? And are you completely certain that's everything?"
Alexandria kept her face stern. "Cauldron has three of the top five most powerful Thinkers on record." Is not including herself or me. Well, that's a little disappointing. Is including their precog. There was a minor hesitation in her claim. Unsure about top five status of other Thinkers. She gave me a gesture with a twist of her foot. Unsure about one of the other Thinkers. Still, two and a maybe was insanely fucking impressive. "They're convinced you have everything, and I believe them completely. I won't tell you what has been done with Saint, except to promise that he is no longer a concern for you or Dragon."
I wasn't sure what she'd done with Saint, either. It was too vague a concept for my power to give me information. If I wanted to know, I'd have to ask.
Hecate took the box from my hands and stepped back, then looked toward Rebecca. "You mean a copy of everything. I don't know how much of this is the original, but you've no doubt got your own copy of all of it." Then she looked back over to me. "Something that Minerva probably figured out three seconds after hearing this thing existed and just kept her mouth shut on."
I smiled and shrugged. Good, she's alert to the possibility that I won't necessarily be working in their best interests in the future. That's something they need to be aware of. "Resigning, remember? I did my part and found my replacement, who will probably better at the job than I ever was. But it's up to you to figure out the rest. I'm not here to hold your hands any longer." You need to know this, Taylor. "So if that's everything, I'd like to go pack up my bags. Hey, Rebecca, I know it's short notice but do you think you can give me a lift?"
Behind my usual smile was a number of other meanings. I honestly needed to get out of there soon, before lost my composure. Goodbyes were never my strong point in the first place, and there was so much more going on here. There was still a chance that all of this could just go away if I turned back now, but I couldn't allow myself to do that. I needed to move on. There was so much more for me to accomplish than simply being Pantheon's events manager. I have to go, and I have to do it before Taylor finds a way to change my mind.
Alexandria looked over at Gaea and Khepri. "I don't see why not. Unless there are objections?" Businesslike, wants to speed the process, isn't communicating so she can focus her attention on the goal.
"Just a moment." Taylor stepped toward me, and I braced myself as she pulled me into a hug. Our armors were flimsy compared to most, designed for scanning tech and movement, not combat situations. As such, I felt her strength as she squeezed me. Artificially grown musculature, perfected human physical ability. Constructed recently, unnaturally created life form. I accepted the information, in a perverse way I welcomed it. It made saying goodbye easier when I could remind myself that the real goodbye happened months ago.
Taylor's next words were barely a whisper, so low that even this close I didn't hear them. I felt them through her my power interpreting her body's movement against mine. "I know what you're doing. I even think I know part of the why. I want you to know two things. First, if you ever fuck with my friends, my family, or my team like this again, Riley's birthday gift will be you and a promise that no one will ever find out."
I nodded, enough that she knew I understood. There was no fire in the threat, but I knew it still carried weight. She wouldn't choose me over them.
She squeezed harder, enough that it bordered on painful. "And second, you're still my best friend, my sister. I love you, I'm going to miss you, and please take care of yourself."
"You know it," I gasped out. She released me and I stepped back. There was a light tremor as the roof of our privacy screen opened, revealing the boring splash of colors of Avalon's sunset. "Don't worry, we'll see each other around. Unless the Endmakers get bored."
As I activated my antigravity and took flight, I noted that Emma had already started talking to Defiant about the Iron Maiden. Goodbye. I turned and started traveling Eastward, toward our- their- capital on the other side of the continent. Rebecca caught up moments later. She was significantly faster than anything we could achieve with our armor systems. She took position to my left. Placing me on right hand side, indication of my importance to her. Asserting some control by implying she's the central figure, but also indicating that I am her highest priority.
We flew in silence for a while, she didn't attempt to communicate with further me any further. Unlike Taylia, our bond didn't need to be with us constantly. She was giving me my privacy while I let myself cry. That was something I couldn't do in front of Taylor. She wasn't like Rebecca, waiting patiently for me. This is the right decision. I looked over at her and smiled, I'm ready now.
Rebecca smiled back. "Doormaker, Avalon capital."
The panel formed in front of us, replacing part of our view of Avalon's darkening skies for for the moderate glow of the underground pool that Amelia had created, a replacement for the one lost with Brockton Bay. I glanced over at Alexandria in surprise.
She tilted her head. Amused that she still can surprise me. An offer for me to turn back, to warn Taylor that their anti-Doormaker security was meaningless. She won't stop me. I hesitated, waiting and watching as she communicated her plan. We'd shunt immediately after passing through, using Alexandria's superhuman timing to move us to the empty ruins of Brockton Bay before Taylor realized just where where this doorway led. Let them think Doormaker took us to Bet.
She waited, watching, letting me know that the choice was mine and she'd support me either way. But I'd already made my decision, it was no longer my job to protect them. I reached out and took Rebecca's hand, then we moved through the gateway.
==============
A/N- I anticipate this chapter will provoke strong reactions.
Also, did anyone ever REALLY believe that Lisa's motives were that simple?
