VT - Chapter 56 : Cauldron PANIK! (Patreon)

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Cauldron Compound

–Doctor Mother–

A door opened up, revealing the last member to attend the meeting that had been called for all the members of Cauldron, something that has become incredibly common, all because of the existence of a group that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere.

Grand Chariot.

“We need to discuss the impact of Grand Chariot.” Kurt began, his eyes bloodshot, as the man had been hard at work for the past few weeks trying to make sure that Grand Chariot’s sudden appearance did not wreck the carefully crafted global economic and social scenarios crafted to ensure that the world remained in the optimal state to create more and more capes, without outright devolving into anarchy.

Anarchy was the worst possible thing if they wanted to raise a cape army. Anarchy might bring about tragedies that would undoubtedly create capes, but the creation of those capes would be useless in a fight that required cooperation. They needed more capes, but not unrestrained, chaotic capes. Kurt was the one who was balancing everything on a razor’s edge to make sure they had the most number of capes that were atleast somewhat stable when the final battle arrived.

Unfortunately, the past few weeks had been taxing, to say the least, according to the reports Kurt had been able to send out in between his work. There has been a resurgence of hope and morale has improved in some parts of the world, reducing the possibility of capes coming out of that area, and there has been a sharp decrease in morale and a massive increase in crime and riots in some parts of the world. Overall, the situation had become far more volatile than it was just a scant few months ago, and apparently, yesterday was the last straw that broke Camel’s back, resulting in Kurt calling for an emergency meeting.

Rebecca had done the same, and so had she. So, here they were. All the members called in for a meeting, called in by three people, to discuss the many impacts of the actions of a single entity.

“What happened?” Keith asked, the one who was not privy to the multiple reports that Kurt generated on a weekly basis, as they had information that he might not like, or understand and accept as being necessary for humanity’s continued existence.

“Grand Chariot happened. Their mere existence has created multiple crises in the banking sector in North America, and the economies on the other end of the world. I can not overstate this enough. I cannot handle the tide of issues that are popping up one after the other after their appearance. I don’t think we have an option. We have to enlist his help after all.”

“His help? Whose?” Keith asked.

“Accord.” Kurt spoke up, “If I am to continue doing what I do now, I need his help. I can only hold off the tide for maybe a month before it all comes crashing down.”

She spoke up here, hijacking the conversation before Keith began asking questions that he would not like the answers to. Already, she could tell that Keith was beginning to doubt everything. That behaviour began after Grand Chariot killed Slaughter House Nine and delivered the corpse of William Manton to Rebecca’s office with a note. A note that Keith never saw.

“I approve. Contessa will begin scouting the situation to check the optimal recruitment path. You will have your Thinker backup soon enough.”

“Thank you.” The sheer relief and exhaustion in Kurt’s voice were palpable.

“Next on the agenda, we have Rebecca,” She announced, as Rebecca spoke up.

“We need something to counter their growing influence. The way they were able to outmanoeuvre Leviathan has been stuck in everyone’s minds. We still don’t know what they want to accomplish, how they are doing it, and who the people behind it are.”

“Yes,” She interjected here, “It is quite alarming that a group managed to get past us and create such a force behind them.”

“Does Contessa know what they are using? Is it a Master or a Tinker? Are they confined to Earth or are they based on Multiple Earths, as we theorised before?” Rebecca asked the many questions that were burning in everyone’s minds. Questions that she would love the answers to. Unfortunately…

“The members of the group are blindposts to Path to Victory. I can path around their creations, their agents, and even foresee what is about to happen to any one of their equipment, provided it has been revealed to the world. But I can’t find anything about their bases, their storage locations, their home base, or anything concerning their membership.” Contessa rattled off in a blank tone, her form a bit hunched over, as she had been hard at work, doing everything possible to delay the eventual global crash alongside Kurt.

It was only due to Kurt and Contessa that the world had a somewhat functioning global economy that still stood the test of regular Endbringer attacks on key cities and population centres.

She took over from there, “It has become clear that we can no longer rely on our strongest weapon to deal with them. We need to do things the old school way. I am sure you have their agents under tight surveillance. We need something to make sure that we can track them down. Unless we can find their base, and the people building everything, we won't be able to get to the technology that is capable of subverting Contessa. Everything else is negotiable, but we need to ensure that the technology or power or cape that is hampering Contessa is removed from existence. We can’t move ahead without that.”

“Wait! Wait! Why do we have to deal with them as an enemy?!” Keith interjected here, “Can’t we just talk to them and ask that they not proliferate whatever technology they are using? I am sure if we brought them in the fold, they would help. I am sure that no matter who they are, they wouldn't want to die, right?”

She sighed internally. Keith and his naive approach to everything. It was why they had collectively decided to keep him out of many important matters. That too was unraveling by the second, and they were probably only a single message away from Grand Chariot, for Legend to step away from Cauldron and even potentially create a public issue, further accelerating the public’s growing distrust of the PRT.

“We can’t trust an entirely unknown entity,” Rebecca coldly retorted. “They have rebuffed any attempt by the PRT, the Federal or the State governments to open a communication line. I don’t think they can be reasoned with, especially while they hold all the cards.”

“Yes,” David spoke up, “I think they are far too powerful and secure in their power to listen to us, not when they hold all the cards. I think we need something to bring them to the table. We need to do something before they decide that we are no longer worth talking to, and take matters into their own hands.”

“How can you say that?!” Keith anxiously spoke up, “They have been nothing but helpful to people since they appeared. Taking out S-class threats, removing gangs from Brockton Bay, and even repelling Leviathan without a single casualty.”

“Yes, we need to talk more about that.” She decided to move on from David’s words and focus on the more palatable topics. “We need to know what and how Grand Chariot managed to build something capable of stopping an Endbringer cold in the tracks. And if it can be replicated or not.” 

Kurt swiped his hands on the table, bringing to life multiple holograms showing everything they had on the Helicarrier that Grand Chariot had originally deployed to Brockton Bay just for crowd control, or maybe that’s what they wanted the whole world to think.

Contessa was reasonably sure that her actions of goading War Machine into killing Coil and setting off the bomb that was leaking the E88’s identities were her own and not being manipulated by someone, but it was hard not to think of the possibility that they might just have played into Grand Chariot’s hands when they did that.

As that just gave Grand Chariot an excuse to deploy one of their giant creations and stay the hands of every party involved with the city because Grand Chariot had some modicum of reason to have a weapon of war parked above a populated city. What if their end goal was Leviathan and the death of Coil, and the E88 was just the excuse they used to make sure all the pieces were in place before the Endbringer hit?

What if they could predict not just an Endbringer attack, but also Contessa? What if they had something that could overcome obvious blind spots? The thought alone was nightmare inducing.

Shaking her head, she watched Keith speak, “Once again, I think we should open a dialogue with them. They have their agents permanently stationed in Brockton Bay. I think we should begin from there. They must have a way to communicate with their bosses.”

David spoke up, and her brows furrowed as she watched him speak with far more vitriol than usual. “And what do you want us to do then? Beg and grovel before them so they can sell that tech to us? You think they wouldn’t have proliferated that tech before today if they wanted to make it public?”

It made sense, in hindsight. David’s continued loss of powers, and the way he had to just stand there and watch as someone else stole the show and repelled an Endbringer, in a manner that had never happened before, must have irritated him. He had long since been diagnosed with a self esteem issue, but Contessa had stayed her hand when she wanted him to get some self.

It was better this way, Contessa had told her.

She glanced at the hunched form of Contessa before sighing internally. That statement and decision were made when Grand Chariot was not yet a known entity. Maybe they had to revisit that particular topic? David, after Contessa, was their strongest cape, and with trust in the PRT already on the decline, they could not afford to have David succumb to his mental issues.

So many things they had to revisit and make a decision on, without the best weapon on hand, simply because of the existence of Grand Chariot. They had managed to make Contessa unreliable, something she never thought possible.

They really had become the biggest headache for Cauldorn, surpassing everything else barring Scion/Zion himself.

“What? Are you even listening to yourself? What is the problem in simply asking? Are we now too proud to just talk to someone? What if they accept our proposal?What if they do sell that to us? What is money in front of being able to save entire cities and then focus on the main problem at hand? Don’t you want to worry more about Scion rather than the headaches that are regular Endbringer battles?!” Keith shouted, slamming his hands on the table.

David stood up,  “I am not going to go begging for help from people who clearly care only for their own bottom line. If you can’t see that, then you might as well be blind. Door to Houston!”

David left using a Door, plunging the meeting room into an oppressive silence, as she looked at the exhausted state of their premier Thinkers, with even Rebecca staying silent, and tried to comprehend the magnitude of the shit they were in.