Crystalized Munchkinry - Act VI - Chapter 73 (Patreon)

Taylor glanced at the group of teenagers who were giggling and talking, huddled into a small group not far away from them. She knew they were not talking about her, but about Amy, because just a minute ago one of them had nervously approached the dour healer for an autograph. But the terrible memories of her experiences in Winslow still made her frown.

In the end, she shook her head and returned her attention to her friends, who had invited her out for a day on the Boardwalk, celebrating the fact that their forced isolation was over.

The weather was warm-ish, there were almost no clouds, and the wind was carrying the refreshing smell of the ocean. In a word, relaxing.

Except for the people watching them, mostly Amy, but Vicky also got her share of gawkers because she refused to turn off her new tiara. People either watched them in awe, whispered as they walked by, or surrounded them, asking for autographs.

At least until Vicky turned on her aura and asked them to stop, telling the gathered throng of people that they were there to rest, not for a PR event. Which, to Taylor's surprise, worked somewhat. The locals simply nodded and continued with their day, probably understanding that riling up a parahuman wouldn't really be the best decision. The remaining people were either tourists with no survival instincts or just stupid.

And Vicky was surprisingly capable of dealing with annoying fans, so as time went by, fewer and fewer people tried to get close to them.

They were still given their drinks free of charge by a nervously smiling manager, who told them, mostly Amy, that it was a small thank-you gift for getting rid of that monster and healing so many people. Amy just gave the man a small smile, took her milkshake to the terrace of the establishment, and threw herself sulkily into a chair facing the water.

"Come on, Ames! It's not that bad," said Vicky as she and Taylor joined the younger Dallon sister. "Give it a few days, a week max, and they'll forget it."

"It has been more than a week, so I'm sure it's going to happen real soon," replied Amy sarcastically while eyeing her sister with a gimlet eye. "Plus, it's not like there is something shiny here that attracts attention…"

Taylor snorted while Vicky reached up and adjusted the tiara on her head. Amy, ignoring the indignation on her sister's face, turned to Taylor. "She even sleeps with it sometimes!"

"Hey, at least my room is not a jungle!" exclaimed Vicky in fake anger.

Taylor just laughed out loud.

It was nice to have friends again.

He watched as the man, ignoring his presence, placed the food on the table, then swiftly exited the room. He waited until the door closed behind him, then ran over to it, sneaked a look through the peephole, and, when he was satisfied that nobody was there, he dragged a few boxes filled with all sorts of heavy stuff in front of the door. Then he walked swiftly to a window and took a peek to check out the fire escape and the street.

He was satisfied that nobody seemed to be out, yet deeply afraid that his pursuers were nowhere to be seen after they had relentlessly hunted him through half the country.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he sat down listlessly and began mechanically eating the food that the controlled staff of this motel, on the outskirts of the city he found himself in, had prepared.

Instead of paying attention to what he was eating, his thoughts revolved around his mother's and probably his entire family's death at the hands of the unknown group.

It was definitely not the PRT or the Protectorate, because he knew they didn't have the guts to take them out, so his target for revenge was still unclear.

Because he was going to get revenge, the Three would be his witness, even if it was the last thing he did.

He ignored the tears emerging from his eyes and picked up the newspaper that was brought with his meal. Sadly, he had to get his news in this format, because he was certain that if he were to bring anything electronic into the room, they would find him. He even made sure to talk as little as possible in case they were listening to him, and every night he questioned the staff about what they did and who they talked to.

He just couldn't be careful enough. Even though the place seemed to be safe enough, he was already planning to leave it. Staying in one place long enough was a sure-fire way to get found and killed. Plus, staying near Legend freaked him out somewhat.

As he contemplated his plans for the future, he opened the newspaper and scanned it. All thoughts of planning flew out of his head as he beheld one of the headlines. Only the feeling of cold, hard revenge remained.

'Butcher Clashes with Blasto'

If anyone could see into the motel room, where the bedraggled Valefor, the last of the Mathers clan, sat, they would be able to see a truly demented smile spreading on his face while his eyes glimmered with malice.

"Good job with the Fallen."

Contessa nodded in thanks at Doctor Mother and sat down in front of her laptop. The Doctor frowned, then continued speaking.

"But why did you leave out Valefor? He could be dangerous if left alone."

The other woman spent a few seconds typing before answering.

"I didn't leave him alone. The hunt is still on. I'm just following the Path."

"And the Path requires the man to be left alone for now?"

"Correct."

"Good. Keep me informed."

With that, the older woman walked out of the room, leaving its other occupant alone.

Contessa didn't even glance up at the departing woman; she just kept on typing.

Dragon watched as Colin showed her the progress he had made with the robotic assistant he was building. Apparently, as soon as he got the go-ahead, he began building one while continuing the rebuilding of his arsenal. The new plans required so much less maintenance that she was sure the extra time her friend (or more) would gain with them would make sure he could keep making breakthroughs continuously.

Maybe they could finally realize their Nano-thorn project…

As she handed another tool to the man, who was almost in a Tinker fugue, she couldn't help but admire his figure. He was wearing a simple shirt-and-pants combo, and she couldn't help but notice how nicely he filled them out.

Shaking her head, she scheduled another talk session with Nora.

Though she had to smile a little when her eyes settled on his meticulous beard. The first thing he did after the forced hiatus was to create an automatic self-grooming robot-drone hybrid. The PR department insisted on the beard, but he hated spending time taking care of it.

The staff of the Rig had already nicknamed the cute little drone Bob, the barber (with Kid Win planning to give it a voice modulator), and were enthusiastically using it to take care of their own beards and hair.

Sometimes humans were weird.

Maybe she could put together a lesser AI and make it seem as if it accidentally emerged inside the drone?

"Done."

She looked over the robot, standing as tall as Colin, only fully metallic, with a simple designation and his logo on its chest, plus a few blue accents to appease the PR gods.

"Good job, Colin. Want to turn it on?"

"Yes, but first I need to run a few tests on the body and the software," replied the man as he turned towards the computer.

"Don't bother. I already did the simulations and uploaded the fixes to the robot."

It took Colin a few seconds to process that and to remember that his friend was actually an AI, despite the really convincing (and beautiful) body she was currently wearing.

"Thank you."

He then simply reached for a bracer on his right, where a small blue holographic screen immediately sprang up. He typed a few things, then turned back to the robot expectantly.

There was a moment of silence, then a small whirring sound, and finally an almost inaudible whine filled the room.

The robot jerked once, then straightened out, its eyes glowing blue.

"Robotic Assistant Number One, reporting for duty, Sir."

The robot then executed a flawless military salute while Colin watched in satisfaction and excitement.

Tess just fondly smiled as she watched Colin begin testing the VI of the robot.

Emily took a sip of her water, then returned to focusing on the report in front of her.

Serenity had released another set of inventions that could be mass-produced, as well as a translator service that, according to the excited eggheads in the PRT basement, was nothing short of revolutionary. Apparently, it was light years ahead of anything that anyone (even Tinkers) had come up with. According to the scientist she talked to, the water purifier would undoubtedly save countless lives, but the translator could be the catalyst towards improved international relations.

Though the international and local government response to this was rather funny.

Not long after the designs went online, the CUI released an official statement that thanked Serenity for her selfless actions and declared her a Hero of the People, while offering her a chance to visit their country to observe the changes her inventions created.

It was as blatant a recruitment attempt as it could be, so the US government also made a statement, and soon all the countries followed, not wanting to be left out. It was all around a media circus she was glad not to be participating in.

Instead, she had to deal with the rising anti-parahuman sentiment, though not in Brockton Bay, where their reputation had never been higher, but all around the state and the country.

People were calling for a stronger and more thorough psychological evaluation of the parahumans serving in the Protectorate, mostly based on the sensational reports and videos made by Anti-Parahuman groups that had existed since Scion appeared.

And added to that, the people were also freaking out about the giant mechanical suits that Dragon used, yelling for the government to forbid Dragon from using them because obviously, she would be using them to take over the country. Or a villain could steal them, or something along those lines.

The reason for that outcry depended on who one asked, or how deep one went down the rabbit hole…

Though, she heard rumors that Congress was working on a proposal that would, even further, curtail Dragon's operation in the United States, and would even prevent her from bringing in the mech without military or Presidential permission.

Emily was once again disgusted by their mindlessness, knowing full well how useful those things could be against any number of threats.

Another headache-inducing task she was saddled with by the Chief Director was finding out information about Serenity or Lux Arcana, if it turned out they were really not the same person.

When Emily got the call, while Costa-Brown didn't say it exactly that they needed to figure out the famous parahuman's identity, she could still read between the lines.

She almost told the Chief Director where to put it when they talked, but in the end, she knew that if she said no, the woman would find somebody else to do it. So she swallowed her anger and accepted the non-verbal order.

Though she made sure to document everything, because Emily was two hundred percent sure that once Dragon heard about it, she would go on a warpath protecting her friend. So, she simply added this one to her secret folder, which she prepared in case the Chief Director's misdeeds (because Emily expected nothing less from the woman) came to light.

For the order, she simply called in Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Dauntless, and Assault for a meeting and told them, with a meaningful look, that if they were out patrolling and met with Serenity and Lux Arcana, they were to make every effort short of fighting (because she didn't want Lux Arcana going on a rampage in her city) to convince the parahuman to come in for a meeting.

She knew very well that neither Serenity nor Lux Arcana patrolled, but it would give her enough of an excuse to keep the Chief Director at bay.

Emily was sure all of them except Armsmaster got the hidden meaning behind her instructions, but she was also sure he would turn towards Dragon for clarification.

If that would mean that Dragon would be aware of the issue? Well, that's not her problem…

Now she only had to decide what to do with Armsmaster's request for funds for a robot army.