VT - Chapter 22 : First Candidate? Getto.... (Patreon)

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Brockton Bay 

–Ashley Brent–

She got out of the office, her shift having ended half an hour ago, but she had to slip a nap in before she could muster up the energy to walk all the way home. Today was one of the rare days when she got off work before it was dark outside, so she could afford to walk home without getting accosted by one of the other gangs of the city.

If only she lived closer to the Hospital, she would never have to worry about her safety, even if she walked around the area at midnight. The entire city’s villain scene avoided the hospital like a plague, because no one wanted to be near Panacea. The entire country, or maybe even the world, would descend upon the city to catch the person responsible for hurting the most powerful healer freely available during the Endbringer fights. She was also a minor to boot.

All in all, if someone was stupid enough to try and hurt Panacea, then they really did not deserve to continue breathing.

Now, if only she could afford to live close to the Hospital, as the property rates around the hospital had shot up the moment it was made public that Panacea would be working there regularly. Due to her irregular shifts, where she sometimes worked late at night, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes never, the city’s villains must have decided that it was just not worth the risk, and carved out a large area around the hospital where no one sent their men.

It helped that the PRT as well as New Wave prioritised this area for patrols. Sighing, she looked up at the perpetually grey and drab sky of the city before continuing walking, occasionally dodging anyone who might be walking in the same direction as her. She would have loved to just sit on the many bus stops on her path and rest for a bit, but she was on a timer. She had to be home before sundown, as that was the best way to ensure her safety in the hellhole of a city.

The sight of her only living family, her brother, fighting for his life in that hospital, flashed in her vision as she almost stumbled and fell on her face before catching herself. Even that was not without consequence, as she winced at the pain from having scratched her skin on a rough concrete wall. Looking at the slight cut, she groaned before continuing walking.

Reaching home on time was non negotiable. Everything else could happen later. She would save the bus fare like that, and also work on her currently non existent fitness. The savings from the bus fare were diminished slightly because she was going to have to use a band aid now, but atleast, she got an employee discount on some of the first aid stuff from the hospital, so there was that.

Shaking her head, she wrapped the coat around her body tighter as a gust of wind made her shiver. She could not afford a cold right now. After all, she had nothing in terms of savings right now. All of her money went to…

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, before continuing her walk back home. If only Ash’s injury had not been a brain one, the one thing that Panacea couldn't treat! If that hadn’t been the case, Ash would have been back on his feet within days, and then Mom wouldn't have left them, and they wouldn’t have lost the house and….

She paused and looked at her trembling hands as she tried to take the keys out of her coat before trying anyway, and then having to bend down to get the keys as her hands just wouldn't stop trembling.

It could be because of exhaustion, because of stress, because of trauma, or maybe even nerve damage. She didn’t even want to know.

Pushing the door open, she paused as she felt that something about her apartment was different. She couldn't see anything obviously different, but it felt odd to her. She knew that the human brain could subconsciously pick up on cues that she consciously would never know of, so she gripped the keys between her knuckles with one hand and a pepper spray with the other.

Those were the only weapons she had on her person, and by God’s grace, she hadn’t had to use either one of them for the past few months. 

Great! Now she was trembling because she was afraid. Flexing her hands, she tried to reduce the trembling. It would be humiliating to go out because she could not use the weapons she had in her hands because they trembled too much.

She kept her eyes peeled as she flicked the light switches on, turning on all the lights, and then took a few steps in her apartment. It was a modest one bedroom unit, with not many places to hide anything. So, it only took a minute or so of careful conversation for her to realise that there was no one in the apartment. 

Realising that it was probably just her exhausted brain hallucinating, she sighed and opened the fridge to get some of the leftover pizza from yesterday—

What?

She just stood there, with wide unblinking eyes as the cold air from the fridge hit her, waking her up from the daze she was in. It was a sight she had never expected to see in her lifetime, not with her career and expenses and bills and…

It was a fridge full of groceries, almost overflowing even. Some of the stuff was from brands she had stayed away from simply because of the packaging. The sight of it was enough to tell her that it was out of her budget. Then, she noticed an envelope sitting innocently on top of a carton of eggs.

She hesitantly took that out after she had touched and even opened some of the stuff, still not convinced that this was reality. A quick pinch test solved that question for her as she closed the fridge and sat down on the ratty couch with the envelope. Setting down the bottle of Orange Juice, she tore it open and saw that it was a letter.

Ms.Brent

You have our condolences for your circumstances. Unfortunately, your situation is not a rare one. There are dozens of people barely making ends meet with similar circumstances as yours in Brockton alone, and hundreds more who have given up and are on the streets. While we have immense power, we don’t have the magic wand necessary to wave all these issues away. These are systemic problems that have to be hammered on by multiple sides, not by a single organisation, such as ours.

With that being said, we have started a program to empower people we think are worthy of more power, and you are one of the selected candidates. We are looking for people who can bring their own moral judgement to the table. We don’t wish for mindless drones who will look to us for leadership. We have them already.

Empowerment in this case means you will get access to a vast array of resources we bring to bear, but primarily you will be getting a tinkertech armour that you can use by exercising your own judgement. In a place like Brockton Bay, we understandably know that you will have no dearth of targets.

As one might guess by the stocked fridge, if you choose to accept the burden of being empowered, your basic needs will all be taken care of, and a fixed cash amount will be deposited to you every month, more than enough to take care of your basic needs.

If you choose to accept, you can press the button that we have left behind on top of your fridge.

Before you press that button, however, please know that we cannot heal your brother. We will not hold that over you. Once you press that button, more information will be made available to you.

Good Luck - Grand Chariot.

Her eyes went wide as she read through the whole letter top to bottom multiple times, understandably freaked out when she saw who the sender was. Who in the world right now did not know of the Tinker Group that came out of nowhere and somehow destroyed the Slaughterhouse Nine and Heartbreaker within a week of appearing? The way they had done two things without a single casualty, and by completely disregarding the authorities and posting about it directly on PHO, had the entire hospital abuzz. 

There were even debates about that group being probably the most powerful organisation in the country, right after the PRT. 

She just remembered what people were talking about them and what she had read about them on PHO as well,  before she snapped out of it and scrambled off the couch to see the small black button on top of the fridge. It kind of looked like the fancy car keys she saw on TV, for the new luxury cars that can move on their own just by the press of a button.

Taking hold of it, she realised that it had a weight to it. Her hand hovered above the button, debating whether this was all real or if she was just dreaming this all up, still napping in the unofficial nap room of the hospital. It just seemed so out of the blue. To even imagine something like this was beyond her abilities.

The letter told her that she would get access to a Tinkertech suit, and her mind immediately went to the clips she saw of those silver suits absolutely wrecking some of the S9, and it just….confused her.

Why her? 

Sure, having that kind of suit around her would basically mean invulnerability from most of the Bay’s issues. No fear of travelling at night. No need to worry about money or food. Sure, they said that they could not heal Ash right now, but maybe in the future, they could put her into contact with someone who could?

But why did they choose her? She was not the kind who wanted to put on spandex and go out to fight crime. Neither was she a particularly violent, athletic, or combat oriented person. She actively shied away from any and all forms of violence. Ever since Ash’s accident, she abhorred violence in any form. 

She just could not see herself going out into the night and fighting crime and criminals.

But what else am I doing that could one day change my life?

She found a voice whispering into her mind, and she found herself agreeing with it. Sure, she could slog away at work, but without going back to school, she was never going to get past her current job. Sure, the pay was good, and it would only get better, but what use was all that money if Ash’s treatment always needed more and more money, with no solution in sight.

She knew that the day she was going to have to pull the plug was coming, and yet, she was struggling desperately to try and delay that day. If this could even free up some of her time so she could work on getting something else for Ash, then it was worth it, right? 

She shook her head before pressing the button in one go, closing her eyes and bracing for some kind of impact. After a minute of nothing happening, she opened one of her eyes, only to flinch as she felt her couch vibrate.

Getting off, she got the cushions off and saw that it was a fancy phone with those big flat screens that was vibrating. She looked at it for a moment before she opened it and saw that it was a message instead of a call. 

Next Chapter - PHO