I mean it would be far more likely that some higher up finds a loophole that makes Phase a full Ward, overriding Armstrong and Gauss saying that's a bad idea, long before she becomes one willingly.
Still a body double would be tricky especially if Taylor isn't willing, and taking steps to obscure the truth does add more points of failure.
and to enjoy the fact that the lie pill up on the prt make it impossible for them to send her in the field as anything but poor thinker support, unless they make a show of catching and hiring ghost, then paying two ward salary for a single parahuman worth .
Or they use her for covert ops, her power is frankly wasted as a visible caped hero acting on the defensive and under restricting Rules of Engagement when her own Stranger/Thinker abilities are a hard counter against most Thinkers and Masters acting from the shadows.
I mean I'm pretty sure the PRT/Protectorate run their own strike teams for similar threats so they would still want her for that, and you know organizational greed not wanting to trade a useful asset even if they will be better off somewhere else. Plus they can't really use her for those kinds of actions until she turns 18 so the best they can use her for is a public PR hero which most Wards supposedly are. But still Taylor would be useful handling police raids with her phasing and Thinker ability allowing her to know where the criminals are, how many, and get in without them noticing by avoiding visible entrances. It isn't a wonder why Weld mentioned she would be a big help against some of the threats moving to Boston if that is what they will be up against.
She could also go with a left field option...the burn it all to the ground publicly.
Still Taylor isn't gonna be inclined to listen to the PRT's suggestion on what she should do, and probably isn't keen on joining a group that is simply a spin off of them in all but name. She is far more likely to remain an independent or partner with Lisa than she is to join an organization that gives the PRT even the slightest amount of control over her.
One thing to remember is that this Lisa can't use her powers to tailor her presentation to give Taylor the best possible impression and we don't know how mean Lisa is or isn't, while she could be a white glove villain if she is too ruthless or Taylor sees her as a bully in the same vein as Emma.
Well Lisa does have one clear cut advantage in swaying Taylor in that she is in no way connected to the PRT/Wards so that is a huge plus in Taylor's books. Also is Lisa even a villain in this AU from what we have seen and heard so far she seems more like an information broker type Rogue. Maybe a slightly villainous leaning one if she is open to trading info with villains as well as the heroes for a price but not necessarily a full on villain like other groups in Boston.
I mean Taylor let Lisa go off on Amy in the bank in canon, but I will admit that was different circumstances (she was trying the whole infiltration plan and had to put up with Emma and Sophia for an extra 3 months). Still Lisa going off on the Wards program and Protectorate in general probably won't get that much of a reaction out of Taylor since she probably already believes all that stuff. Plus Lisa is smart, even if she likes running her mouth, and while she can't read Taylor she wont immediately start with baseless insults and instead will say things Taylor would likely agree with based on her mental models of her. However I will admit that if Lisa starts insulting Lily or Valve, two Wards Taylor is somewhat okay with, then I can imagine her putting her foot in her mouth.
The arguement of Piggot needing all the boots on the ground she can get, which is probably her justification for not punishing Emma or Sophia, also falls apart when said soldiers become the reason why she can't get more cape reinforcement. Sure her plan would have certainly worked if Taylor hadn't made a fuss about it, even her dad was willing to not make a big deal about it, but they also gave her no reason not to make a fuss about it with her noncommittal we'll look into it answer. Already her choice to not punish Emma and Sophia has benched the entire team and that is just the start because I doubt any Ward will want to transfer to Brockton if word of what those two did gets out.
Based on the latest interlude I feel like the Ward most likely to snap first is Vista, especially if Emma's plan ends up going sideways.
Have to wonder what Armstrong's end game was there, did he think that some Watchdog report on Phase's powers would be accepted as a substitute for power testing by the Youth Guard?
Probably after getting informed by the Thinker in the Wards that Taylor negated his particular power Armstrong decided to contact the Think Tank in order to get a read on Taylor to evaluate if she was an immediate flight risk (still a very real probability), a potential threat to the Wards program, and maybe to see if one of the Thinkers could prepare a potential plan to get her into power testing on her own free will. A comparatively low risk plan that depended on the fact that is comparatively rare that a parahuman can deflect or negate different powers operating on different mechanics and that would have also satisfied some of his curiosity, at least before they all discovered that Taylor is a high level Stranger that no-sells all targeted thinker abilities, dramatically raising her threat level and recruitment priority, making the rest of the Think Tank nervous and curious and finally making Taylor paranoia even more justified as she felt every mental probe.
That's gonna be one nasty kick to the nads to Armstrong and the PRT if/when that little fact gets revealed.
I think he mostly wanted information, ideally something he could use to persuade Taylor into power testing. After all, he probably doesn't trust anything coming out of Piggot's office, Danny is useless (as usual), and Phase isn't talking to him. He's probably also just running a check that if she runs away, (given her attitude, the possibility has to be considered) could they find her quickly with Thinker support? The fact they can't track Phase if she pulls a runner is something he can use to defend against pressure from above, because he can raise the spectre of her disappearing, the Youth Guard raise holy hell that they lost a Ward in their custody, and no amount of Thinker resources can help.
Given how (un)helpful the PRT has been regarding her abusive home life in canon, that statement is true in any story where Vista's home life resembles canon...
Pretty sure he's operating on "maybe the horse will learn to sing" type of plan. i.e he knows nothing he can do will work so he's playing for time, as long as things don't get any worse there's a chance someone will come up with a solution...writing that out made me realize that's the PRT policy in general as well, not just about the Wards.
Yeah well unlike the horse and other situations Armstrong is expect to deliver something to the higher ups now that he has got them interested in Phase. If he had sat back and didn't call Watchdog in then he could have simply left Phase in peace until she decides to join up or age out. Now he is on a timer and has to actually show that he his making attempts to get Phase to wave the flag and join up, attempts that he knows will only make Phase more of a flight risk.
That was true regardless, but requesting feedback/support from another department is a good way of delaying needing to do something, especially if you're actually supposed to take their recommendations seriously in general.
No, he couldn't. We don't know what timeline he was working on but sooner or later he'd have gotten some beurocrat talking to him about his department not being in compliance with regulation XYZ since PHase still hasn't met any of the expected milestones for a Ward and he has a week to submit all the paperwork showing she's progressing or else... (never mind how little any of that makes sense even without Taylor's specific issues involved). Now whatever that timeline is, it starts from when he receives the watchdog report and recommendations, not from when phase first became his responsibility, effectively resetting the clock.
or a hand ?
I'd think that's likely given he would need to file reports so he'd either be reborting to them about Taylor, or hiding the information about her.
Another reason I doubt they do that, although the bigger issue is that I doubt they have the resources to do routine scans for all the Wards in the nation
I mean it says he was the one to call them in the first interlude:
It doesn't mention that Armstrong was following any specific regualtion or rule when he called Watchdog on Taylor just that he was checking after getting a report back from his Wards. As a result of that the other directors read the report and started breathing down his neck in order to get him to produce results.
I mean yeah they don't respect their own rules considering that two Wards attempting manslaughter wasn't a bigger issue.
So how long until he or the other Wards get the bright idea to start mentioning villainous activity within earshot of Taylor as a means of controling her actions, and if the other Wards just so happen to be in the same area around that time all the better right. Or are they more likely to leave those locations alone until Taylor actually joins the Wards so they can give the new member a popularity boost once she joins. Either way I do full expect the other Wards to start interfering with Taylor's new hobby with or without orders from their higher ups. Maybe as a means of trying to get her to socialize in a more comfortable environment since the Wards base clearly isn't that for he, or as a means to catch her in the act and slap a probationary contract on her.
The console is fanon, and bad fanon at that.
I mean patrol schedules are probably determined during team meetings that probably happy in a meeting room and not in the common area to avoid anyone learning about their non-PR routes and ambushing them. So Taylor is unlikely to know the other Wards' exact routes unless they happen to tell her or invite her to those meetings, but considering how many things are blocked behind power testing it is unlikely she is allowed to sit in on those meetings.
I mean it was mentioned that their was a console in the Wards room in this fic.
So Wards maning the console is canon for this fic and it is reasonable to assume that console training is standard for Wards. Though I do have to question why the console is out in the open during tours where anyone can look at it and report on the info on it.
That was why I was asking about her knowledge of their patrol routes and schedules. While some deviation may be permitted, the Wards aren't going to be able to engineer an intercept if she is able to stay far enough away.
I would bet that tour groups aren't allowed very far into the Wards common room, and the Console is very deliberately placed to face away from the area tour groups are allowed.