Faerie Queen
The moment the door opened her eyes were drawn to the two faeries in the room. As her body stepped through alongside the dragon prince, her mind was locked in upon the two. In some ways similar, yet with such differences in expression.
The Seer hovered there, immense power bound into the indistinct form of a small androgynous childe. One face gazed ever onward, unblinking eyes blazing with the potential of infinity as tears of white fire trailed down their cheeks. Yet, at the same time, a hazy shade of their face with eyes screwed shut whipped form side to side, shaking their head as if in denial – denial of what they saw, or denial of the fact that they saw at all? Even Glaistig Uaine knew not the answer.
And beside the Seer loomed the Prophet, a lumbering, jumbled hulk of a torso with innumerable arms reaching at unnatural angles, grasping at strands of nothing. Its face was a bronze mask of complex mechanisms, and occasionally it shifted, splitting down the center into two faces that looked in opposite directions – only to immediately snap back together with something resembling irritation. Or perhaps fear? Even now, the Prophet seeks the future that suits it...but the dragon prince retains the upper hand, it seems.
"- a few questions, and then you can have your candy, my pet," the Prophet's mask finished saying as they entered. Her eyes narrowed immediately without her own input. A small slip of a child, dressed in a plain white gown that concealed most of her body. A tall, spindly man in a costume, resting his hand on her head in a way that could have looked fatherly but only looked possessive. Deep within, one of her faeries stirred, drawn to wakefulness by the awful familiarity of the scene before her –
"She's so pretty, don't you think? Like a little faerie. I love to watch her dance...do you think we can take her with us?"
"If you want to keep mastering her, I don't give a fuck, but we need to get out of here before somebody catches on."
– but she stamped down on them before they could begin to wake. She was the Faerie Queen, and they would not act on their own.
"You -" began the Prophet's mask, before a golden chain wrapped itself around his neck and lifted him slightly. A slightly strangled noise came from its throat, and the Prophet's mask began to split itself again and again without ceasing, each time snapping back in a second or less.
"Be silent, Thomas. The important people have things to talk about," the dragon prince said, stepping towards the young girl as she shied away.
"To what realm have you brought me, prince?" she said, her faeries echoing her voice in a great chorus.
The man in question glanced at her over his shoulder, before turning his back. It would have been rude from any other, but when he gestured to the other figures she understood his intention. "That," he motioned to the Prophet, "is Coil, also known as Thomas. We are in his...castle, I suppose. And this...is Dinah." He came to a stop a short distance from the Seer, kneeling down and putting his hands on his legs. "Hello, Dinah. My name is Michael."
The girl blinked up at him blearily. "I...there's no numbers. I don't..."
He smiles, one of her faeries whispered despite the fact that she could not see his expression. "Yes, I suppose that's likely. Then let me fix that problem for you – Dinah, I will do what I am able to help you. This I swear."
She blinked, then again. "Wh...ninety-seven point nine five percent chance you're telling the truth...but they weren't there...?"
"My future is shrouded from those not my allies. Now, you and I are allies, Dinah." He paused for a moment. "That means we're friends."
The Seer stared at him for a moment, mouthing something to herself. Then, she sniffled once. "What do...what do I need to do?"
"Nothing. This will take a bit of time, I'm afraid." The prince turned to look at her again. "Faerie Queen, may I call my Chirurgeon here?"
"If you wish."
"Riley." In a flash of light, another young girl – this one older than the Seer – appeared by his side. "Could you give Dinah here a bit of an examination? Non-invasive for now; just start getting an idea of what she needs."
"Of course!" The girl smiled up at him (genuine, said a faerie) then turned her smile to the Seer (false, it whispered). "Hi, Dinah! My name's Riley, and I'm going to be your doctor for a bit. Can you hold still while I figure out what all the bad man did?" When the Seer nodded, a small mind enshrouded by metal crawled from the Chirurgeon's back and began to trail around the smaller girl.
The prince stood, stretching himself slightly. "Well, Faerie Queen. You have questions – ask them of me."
She considered. There were many curiosities about his behavior, and yet...those questions could come later. For now, this room – this place – burned her mind like ice.
"I wonder what's it like, being mastered? None of the others have ever given me the chance to get them under my control, you know, and you're the only one I've ever kept this long. I hope you're happy, at least, my little faerie. You remind me of my daughter, you know? Before...everything."
"The Seer. What has been done to her, and to what end?"
For a moment, her companion stared at her with curiosity. Then he smiled slightly. "Out of all the questions...well. You already realize how powerful her faerie is...so, too, did Coil, and he is a man who desires power only slightly less than he desires control. So, when he discovered her, he sought both – control over the power of her faerie. The body it resided it was important only insofar as it allowed him that. So..." He turned back towards the Prophet, and there was a tension in his body that hadn't been present before. Disgust, whispered her faerie. "...He ensnared her body here, in this room, and he ensnared her mind with poison. Her candy, an addiction he intended for her to never escape."
"...And in so doing, he wielded her faerie as her own," she finished for him. He nodded, and her eyes were drawn to the Prophet's mask. Slowly, she stepped forward, feeling an unfamiliar something building in her chest as she stared at him. He choked out some nonsensical noise. Pleading, her faerie whispered. Begging.
"Please, little faerie, I never hurt you, did I? There's no reason to –"
"Release his voice, dragon prince. I require him to answer." Her companion did not respond, but the chain loosened and the Prophet let out a gasp.
"P-please, I –"
"Tell me, Prophet," she spoke, and her faeries spoke with her. "Why have you done this thing?"
The First
"I-I'm not even the real Coil! Please, he made me put on this costume and say things, he – he has my family, and –"
Lies, whispered a faerie, and her eyes narrowed. "Lie to me once more, Prophet, and you will perish. Why have you done this thing?"
"I...please, I had to. If I don't take control of this city, t-they could take everything from me. They could kill me. I needed her to do it. I've kept her happy here, and I –"
For a moment, she saw red, and then the Prophet's body exploded.
None of it touched her.
The Second
"I...please, I'll do anything. Anything you want. Just...just let me go." Truth.
"Then answer me, Prophet."
"I..." The masked face scanned her own for a moment. "...our powers work so well together. She helps keep me safe. Keep everything safe."
She tilted her head to one side, noticing him flinch as the Prophet's two faces closed into one once more. "...I see." She stepped back once, considering, watching as the Prophet split once again.
"P-please, Faerie Queen, Glaistig Uaine. I can give you anything, just set me free. You can have the girl, you can have anything, I can get you anything –"
"Can you return what you have taken from the Seer, Prophet?"
He paused, staring at her, as his faerie became one once more. "I...I don't –"
"You cannot. Silence him, please." Her companion obliged, and she stood for a moment. "...I find myself at an impasse, dragon prince."
"Oh? What causes you to struggle, faerie queen?"
"I am no stranger to passing judgement, and yet...my traditional punishment has always been to reclaim the fae. To break their shackles and bind them to my court. Yet..." She stared up at the form of the Prophet...and then looked down at the frail human that it wore. "...I do not wish this voice within me."
"Ah. So you seek a punishment? Is death insufficient?" Her companions voice was mild, with only a trace of amusement. Directed at the Prophet, her faerie whispered, and she understood.
"It is."
"Hmm." For a moment, the only sound was of the Chirurgeon still examining the Seer. Then, a dark chuckle from her companion made her turn to him. "Well. This man has hidden much from the world – things he has done that only he has seen, whether in reality or only in the eyes of his faerie, always fleeing consequences. Why not grant him his wish, oh Faerie Queen?" When she raised an eyebrow, he smiled. It was a vicious smile. "Let him live on, forever...but never again able to affect the world around him." When she did not react, he closed his own eyes and hummed in thought. "I am uncertain what you would call this faerie, but...the one that wore the mask of Gray Boy would suffice."
"Ah," she said simply, considering. "I see your plan...hmm. A prison, modeled after his own mind? What a curious thing." She watched the Prophet become increasingly more agitated...and knew her answer. She nodded, reaching into herself.
Beside her, a short shadow sprang into being, eyes glowing gray and edges flickering slightly. What a fun idea, the faerie whispered. A moment later, and the room...changed slightly. Without her faeries, she could not have sensed it. Yet, her companion laughed all the same.
"Alas, Thomas. It seems you have been judged."
The Prophet flickered.
"Hmm. Something's missing, though..." He pondered for a moment. "Ah. Of course. You've received your judgement for Dinah...but not for the others. May I, Faerie Queen?"
She considered for a moment...then nodded. "Very well. But you shall tell me of what sins you punish him for, later."
The Prophet flickered.
"You shall see them yourself, I think." The prince raised his hand, and, slowly, pinpricks of blood began to well up in the Prophet's chest as he squirmed in his bindings. The wounds grew as darkness chewed away his flesh, and bit by bit they spelled a label.
L I A R
The Prophet flickered, and the label began to carve itself once more.
"Riley, are you prepared?"
"Mm-hmm! She's in pretty bad shape, but I can get her fixed up no problems!" Truth, her faerie whispered, and she was relieved.
"Good. Then, Dinah. Would you like us to help you, or would you prefer we take you to someone? I'm sure Panacea could assist, if you'd like to return to your family."
The Seer shook her head, eyes never leaving the Prophet's form. "...I'd like...to go with you, please."
"Then, Riley?" As the Chirurgeon nodded, wrapping her arms around the Seer, Ciara stepped forward.
"Chirurgeon," she spoke, and her faeries were silent. When the two girls looked up at her, one with curiosity and one with trepidation, she paused. "...Treat her well."
Riley smiled widely. Genuine. "Of course! I'm going to make her all better." Truth.
Her heart settled, and the two dissolved into motes of light. She turned back to her companion. "What other sins have you to show me?"
Her companion sighed. "You saw the princess he trapped here – now it is time to see the monster that guarded her."
Together, they left.
And the Prophet flickered.When we stepped out into the hallway, two of Coil's mercenaries were present. I grasped them with the Shroud, preventing them from reacting for a moment.
I felt nothing for them, but I had no interest in fighting a war throughout his compound.
"Gentlemen," I said genially. "Coil is no longer able to retain your services. You are free to see him in the room behind me, but I'm afraid he cannot answer any questions at this time. I suspect that you will be receiving an offer of continued employment in the near future...but until then, I would greatly appreciate it if you would stand down. I'd hate to have to kill you." I gave it a moment to let that sink in, and then released them.
They stood, tense, weapons in a low-ready position...but they didn't make a hostile move.
"...May we verify that statement?" one of them asked in...a surprisingly smooth voice. For some reason, I'd thought it would be more gruff.
"Of course. However, my companion and I do have things to do – we'll be moving on. I'd suggest informing your fellows of whatever you determine." With that, I turned my back on them and continued walking as the Faerie Queen fell in step beside me. They considered shooting us for a moment, I think.
{Hostilities prevented.}
But they were either wiser or more professional than that, in the end.
"A curious choice," Ciara murmured.
"Violence is a tool, and not my favorite one; it has its time and place for use, but those who choose to apply it at all times are limited in their thinking."
She hummed, concealing her thoughts behind an affect of indifference. "...Your monster is visible to my sight. Why does it command your attention so?"
"It will cause a number of problems in the future. Problems which could be prevented...and I will benefit, as well. But I asked you to accompany me for a different reason. Tell me, Faerie Queen: what do you see, when you look at her?"
We walked onward, and for a time she was silent. When she did speak, her voice was...low. Weaker than it had been before. "A void. An endless hunger that she shall never sate, and a will to burn down the stage around her. Her faerie has gone quite mad, it seems."
I hummed, considering. I had a hunch...but if I pushed too hard, it could damage all my efforts so far. Still...she'd been surprisingly open to my words so far.
In the end, I chose to push. "I don't believe that's quite correct. I would say...you see the true face of the fae, stripped of their glamour of civility."
I felt her gaze on me even without looking at her face, and her voice became much sharper. "You believe you know them better than I?"
"I believe that I have a different perspective than you, Faerie Queen. I know you have already peered behind the curtain; you have seen much of the nature of the faeries, their dances and their rituals. But you have never seen one like this, have you? You've seen them broken, with their masks misaligned, but never bare like this."
For a moment, the only sounds were my footsteps on the metal. "...Finish your observations, prince, and I shall evaluate your words myself."
"When they take up their human masks, the faeries are supposed to...cloak themselves. To become the smallest bit human, so that they can interact with humans. That taste of humanity...perhaps 'balances' them is the correct word. Gives form to their chaos, and prevents them from becoming what you see before you."
"I see. So you believe we are looking at a failure, then...there is wisdom in such thoughts."
"You could describe it thus, even if I would not. Regardless, though – it is quite curious, is it not? To see what lies behind the faeries' masks, beyond that glamour of civility?"
She chose not to answer, which was an answer in and of itself. I wanted to hear her say it – but I got the impression that I'd almost pushed too far. It was time to let her think.
As we came upon the enormous vault doors that sealed Echidna away, she spoke again. "I shall not claim this faerie for you, dragon prince. There is no place in my court for a rabid hound."
I inclined my head. "I am more than capable of this, Faerie Queen. I simply must subdue her first. If you wish to aid me, I welcome your aid – if not, then I shall handle it."
She eyed me. "You intend to bind her faerie, as you did the Magician."
It took me a moment to determine what she referred to – ah, Tohu. Of course. "I do. First, though, she must submit. Through force or otherwise."
Glaistig Uaine's glittering green eyes stared at me from the depths of her hood, until she finally nodded once. "Very well, dragon prince. I shall assist you in subduing her. I have wished to witness this power of yours with my own eyes."
For a moment, I imagined fighting Echidna alongside the Faerie Queen. It wouldn't be much of a fight at all, really. Without a supply of Parahumans to consume and duplicate, Echidna was simply a large, fast, and strong regenerator...and both of us had tools to deal with those things. Fortunately...
{Violence unnecessary.}
"I doubt it shall be necessary. The faerie may be rabid, but its mask is not. I will convince her, and I will bind her faerie – and she will no longer be a problem." I tapped a few buttons, and the intercom function of the terminal activated. "Noelle? Can you hear me?"
"I...yes. Who are you?"
"My name is Majesty. I'm here to see if I can help you."
"Did...did Coil send you?"
I smiled. "Yes," I lied. "I have someone else here to help me help you. Can we come in?"
"Um...is-are the others there? Francis? Marissa? Jess...?"
"We thought it was safer if it was only the three of us here."
{Message:}
"Ah, but they did tell me to give you a message, even if I don't totally understand it. They told me to tell you: I D D Q D. Does that mean something?"
"God mode...? Hah. Okay, sure. Um...I'm ready. You're sure it's safe?"
"Completely. We're opening the doors now, all right?"
"Okay."
{Access code:}
I typed in the code provided to me, and the doors slowly swung open. Standing in the massive chamber was a bloated mess of fetid animal parts – heads, hooves, feet, tails, penises, and others I couldn't identify. Canine, bovine, feline, vulpine...and others I couldn't identify. Twenty feet up, connected to the bloated morass, was the torso of a plain girl with sandy hair. She twitched towards us for a moment before she paused, staring.
"Y...you're Glaistig Uaine. You're the Faerie Queen. Why are you here!? Did you come to...to...!" She was becoming visibly more panicked, so I stepped between the two of them and Noelle's eyes snapped to me.
"Like I said, Noelle, she's here to help me. I can affect powers, but I can't see them the way she can. She's here to observe while I do what I can. All right? Glaistig Uaine, will you remain here? I believe she's nervous in the presence of royalty."
"Hmm. I suppose I understand. Very well, prince. I shall keep my distance." She was looking at Noelle with distaste...or, no: she was looking at Noelle's power with distaste. It must be truly unpleasant in her eyes.
I started to walk forward, slowly, and Noelle backed up a bit, her lower body scrabbling and sliding across the metal floor. "Um...how close do you need to be to do what you do? How will we...know if it worked?"
"We should be able to tell quite quickly. I need to get just a bit closer; stand still and I'll explain what I'm going to do, all right?" When she paused and nodded, I continued walking. "I don't know how much outside access Coil provided you, but you might have heard a bit about my powers – I project things. Light, darkness, and so on. I can shape them in different ways, but I have a secondary ability as well. If I cocoon someone in one of my projections, and they're a Parahuman...I can touch their power, just a bit. Affect it a little, in specific ways. I'm hoping I can sort of...realign your power a bit, and make it less user-unfriendly. Okay?" To demonstrate, I raised my hand and allowed a ribbon of light to dangle forth.
She looked at it carefully, considering my words. "It's not going to hurt? It's...harder to control myself when I'm in pain."
I shook my head. "It won't hurt at all. At least, it shouldn't – it never has before."
After a long moment, she nodded. "Okay."
I allowed the Shroud to manifest more ribbons, and directed them towards her. "Ready?" She nodded, biting her lip, and I began to cocoon her. Her body mindlessly sucked at the ribbons of light, trying to draw them in, to consume them and do something, but they didn't budge. They crept up and around her, wrapping and sliding, and I tried not to grimace at the sensations they translated to my brain. Her flesh felt...slimy? Greasy? It was hard to describe. It was wrong. None of the parts felt like they looked like they should. Like Saena's body, but an unpleasant surprise instead of a wondrous one.
Little by little, her body disappeared in the light, until only her human torso remained. "I'm going to finish now, Noelle, okay? If all goes well, then once you're fully cocooned it should only take a moment."
She was trembling a bit...but she nodded. I allowed the Shroud to finish wrapping her.
And as she stood there, cocooned, I pushed with my mind, and I felt the click as she was bound. The Faerie Queen stiffened behind me as I reached into my pocket for my Company phone.
"You didn't deserve this, Noelle," I murmured as I pressed the button and sold her.
Whatever she might have said was lost as she dissolved into motes of light. I stared at the place she'd vacated for a moment, then turned.
The Faerie Queen stared at me with a mix of fascination and...something else that I couldn't identify. "You cut her Faerie from her," she said quietly in her own human voice.
"I did."
"...Not even I am capable of such precision, dragon prince."
I inclined my head. "We work in different ways, Queen of the Fae." She stared at me silently for a short time. When it became clear she was lost in thought, I took a breath. "Do you wish to continue walking with me? There are things I am yet to do."
After a moment, she nodded. "My curiosity has not yet been sated."
"Then you have my leave to continue to observe. Now..." I took a moment to steel myself. "Door to TeacherFaerie Queen
The prince had changed, in some small way, or perhaps it was his goal that was different. Until this moment, every action he'd done had seemed...measured. Carefully calculated and planned, like she imagined a strategist in ancient days, or an adviser to a monarch.
This was different. The door had opened and she had beheld the familiar faeries – the faeries from the cage she had embraced. Chief among them was the Dollmaker, for all around him were nothing more than his dolls.
There was a moment of...surprise. And then the prince beside her reached out with his powers and closed the two of them in a golden shield with the Dollmaker's human shell. Chains whipped forth from the dome that surrounded them, snaking around the portly frame of the Dollmaker's mask, wrapping around his neck and lifting him from the ground much like he had done to the Prophet. He muttered something in a clipped tone that she could only barely hear: "Door from 1145 Bakersfield to Saint. She noticed quickly."
He is furious, whispered a faerie, and when she turned to look at his face she saw it to be true. Oh, he was controlled – his face tight and eyes cold.
But it was that control that gave him away to her. Until now, he had worn his face freely, allowing glimpses of feeling – disgust for the Prophet, pity and sorrow for the Glutton, care for the Seer. Now, his face had closed.
She stepped into his field of view, turning her back on the Dollmaker and the dolls that were even now searching for a way to break the shield. "Dragon prince. What has changed?"
He looked at her and for just a moment she could feel the furious hatred in his eyes, her faeries almost rising reflexively. It had been long since she had seen such a gaze directed at her – she had seen fear, certainly, and occasionally pity or respect...but hatred? Not for an age. Yet, the prince deliberately closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them the moment had passed.
"...Our journey so far has been to fulfill my objectives. To pursue the path that I wished." Each word was clipped, tightly controlled. "This is...personal."
"Why, then? What has this Dollmaker done to earn such ire from you, who looks impassively on so many?"
For a long moment, the prince looked at her. She thought, perhaps, he would refuse to answer her – and was surprised to find that she would allow it, after all she had seen.
Eventually, he spoke, looking through her with an expression she recognized. His mind is far away.
"Once, there was a boy, born far younger than his siblings. An accidental child, but a beloved one. He was clever, for his age. He watched his family and he learned many things – taught himself many things. So long as he studied, he was left to his own devices." She could picture a prince, free outside of his duties, with access to all that he could want.
The Dollmaker choked something at them, and she felt one of her faeries rise up in response. A vague feeling blanketed the air around them, and all sound ceased...save for the prince's voice.
"Eventually, his family fell to struggle. They feuded with each other, disagreed on their paths. When the fighting ended, they would smile and assure him that all was fine. . .until the next fight began. So that clever, kind little boy saw all of these things and decided. . .his family had enough problems already. So when he struggled, when he was pained, he copied that smile and assured them that he was fine. He learned to turn their questions away from him when they pried. He distracted them before they could begin to fight, and made himself disappear when he failed.
"He moved them, like pieces upon a board. To keep them happy. To keep things working." The scrabbling at the shield began to annoy her, and she gestured. Two faeries materialized behind her, and in a moment the Dolls around them drew back in fear.
"Did he succeed?" she wondered.
". . .For a time. He grew quite skilled. He learned to see inside his family to better move them, and he failed less often. Then, he learned to see inside others, and began to move them towards happiness as well. After all. . .nobody else could see clearly, it seemed."
She frowned thoughtfully. "And so he made an enemy."
"Worse," the prince smiled without joy. "He made a friend. The only one that noticed his smiling lies; who pulled him from the path he walked. Warned him of where it would end."
She considered that statement, turning it different way inside her mind. "There are many endings," she said quietly, her faeries silent behind her. "Depending on the skill with which he played."
The prince shook his head. "No. There is only one. A lonely one, in the end." When she looked at him, confused, he shrugged. "If you view all others as pieces to be moved, as beneath you; if you lie with every breath to move them, even if it is for good? You will forever be alone."
Her eyes narrowed, but he continued. "In the end, he abandoned his path. Eventually, his family mended. But he never forgot standing on the edge of that precipice and looking at what he might have become."
His eyes shifted over her shoulder, and that smoldering anger burned again. "This thing. This...puppeteer."
"He reminds you of that boy," she said, choosing to uphold the facade of separation the prince had weaved.
"Yes. . .and no. He is everything about that boy deserving of hatred, and nothing of him deserving of pity or understanding. He is a blight." Seemingly unbidden, the chain around the Dollmaker's neck tightened.
"So you will end him because he is deserving of hatred." It wasn't a question, or a judgement. Simply...a fact.
"I could claim to kill him because of what he has done, or because of what he could do. What he will do." The prince took a deep breath. "But I will not. Yes. I will kill him out of hatred." She felt the Dollmaker's eyes on her, pleading.
She remembered listening to him, during her days in this cage. His soft voice, his gentle words. His false respect.
She nodded, and felt his despair. "I understand, now. My curiosity is sated." And she stepped back.
For a moment, the silence remained. Then there was a visceral crack, and the Dollmaker slumped to the floor as the chain dissolved. She dismissed her faerie, but the Dolls around her were silent. Their eyes were...empty, as they stared at the broken mask on the floor.
"Screen. Scanner. You will come to me, now," the prince said. For a moment, they looked as though they might resist. Instead, they walked up to the golden dome, which parted effortlessly for them.
"Door to Cauldron," said the prince, and her eyes widened slightly. Not even she would have lightly called upon them, although she understood how he traveled with such ease, now. "Go through this door and listen to those on the other side," he said, and the empty Dolls walked through without hesitation, allowing the doorway to close behind them.
The prince tilted his head to one side, then spoke again. "My objectives are complete, Faerie Queen, and thus so is my journey. Now, I shall go to rest. . .what shall you do?"
She considered that, for a moment. She had spoken truly to him – her curiosity was sated, for now. She believed she understood the man before her, after this day.
There were many things she could do. She had no reason to bind herself to this cage. And yet. . .she turned her sight to the section that she had called her demense, and found that some of the faeries of her court had vanished. No, she saw them elsewhere; not vanished, but taken. Some other had seen her absence and had laid claim to her subjects.
Once, she would have accepted this as the rule of the fae. And yet. . .
. . .
"There are tasks that must be tended to, dragon prince," she said, the chorus of her faeries blending into her voice. "They demand my attention."
He simply nodded to her. "Then go well, Queen of the Fae."
She turned, preparing a faerie to take that seven-league step – and paused, turning to him once more. ". . .I shall see you again."
It wasn't a wish, or a promise.
It was a prophecy, and she would see it made true.
Thus delivered, she was gone.
Michael
I stood for a moment, restless and exhausted all at once.
You told me I'd need five Doors, but only four were necessary.
{Fifth Door purpose :: Master's health // peace.}
I blinked. Then I laughed. I couldn't help it.
A few of Teacher's thralls laughed as well, so empty now that he was gone that they just mimicked me. It would wear off – eventually. But for now...looking at them just made me feel worse.
The first place that popped into my head, I took, trusting that Saena would interrupt me if it were a poor choice. "Door to Ground Zero, Brockton Bay."
The Door appeared, and I stepped through into the center of Bohu's labyrinth. It was empty of people, and that was exactly what I'd hoped for.
I let myself lean against one of the walls that had once been a road, sliding down it slowly until I was seated alongside it. Slowly, I lowered my head into my hands and closed my eyes.
. . .I hadn't been expecting Noelle to effect me like this. Coil was simple – Coil was easy. I could honestly say that he did not possess a single redeeming quality. Teacher was the same, if in a more personal way.
But Noelle...hadn't deserved what happened to her. She'd been manipulated by the Simurgh, trapped in a bad situation, and when her situation had gotten worse...she'd tried. She'd grappled with the monstrous influence of her Shard, fought it as much as she could. . .but in the end, her intentions didn't matter. What she deserved didn't matter. The fact was that she was a walking weapon of mass destruction, and the Company was the only thing I had that could disarm her.
I didn't love her. I didn't have any affection for her whatsoever. And I wasn't willing to keep her if I didn't at least want her. Even if the Binding would make her all right with it, that was something I couldn't bring myself to do. It might have been a strange line to draw, but there it was.
And that only left. . .what I'd done. I could have subdued her in any number of ways. I could have fought her. I intended to, until I got close and realized how lucid she was. How fortunate we were to arrive during one of her good periods.
. . .I didn't often betray people's trust. It was something that I'd taken pride in, once. Maybe that's why this. . .after everything I'd done here, this was the one that really got to me. How fucking stupid is that?
There was a small flash of light, and Riley appeared next to me, a frown on her face as she looked down at me.
After a moment, she knelt down beside me and wrapped her arms around me. "I don't know why you're upset," she mumbled, and I could feel the honest confusion in her words. "But. . .don't be sad? Please?"
{Ascalon disarmed.}
Saena's voice was...subdued. Quieter than normal, with less inflection. After a moment, she materialized around me, wings wrapping around both Riley and I and lifting us off the ground slightly.
The ridiculousness of it made me snort out a laugh. "If they see you here,
The ridiculousness of it made me snort out a laugh. "If they see you here, specifically here, you're going to start a panic, you know?"
{Accounted for. Low priority; Master takes precedence.}
"Exactly!" Riley exclaimed, squeezing me tightly enough to cut off my breathing if she hadn't upgraded me.
I. . .finally just laid my head back against Saena, closing my eyes and focusing on breathing.
I. . .I really hate Earth Bet. What a shitty place.
{Analysis: Concurrence.}
Saint
Geoff sipped his coffee absentmindedly as he watched the data streaming on his monitor. He couldn't parse all of it at once, not at the speed the Artificial Intelligence could, but he'd done this for long enough to gather the gist of its processes. At the moment, it was working with Armsmaster from the Protectorate ENE – they were refining their predictive algorithm for Endbringer attacks. The appearance of the two new ones had set them back, and they were working on integrating new data.
He would grudgingly admit that it was one of the more useful things the AI did with its time. Not even he could follow all of the work they did on the algorithm, even with Teacher's extra granted comprehension. Still – the sudden hiccup in the code caught him off guard and he nearly spilled his coffee. All of the AI's attention shifted suddenly to the Birdcage, and he pulled up the feed she was looking at.
Teacher was there, suspended in midair before the Faerie Queen and a cape he didn't immediately recognize.
He dropped his coffee, surging forward towards the screen, desperate to do something, anything – and froze.
He couldn't move. He pushed, straining, but his muscles refused to respond.
Slowly, his chair swiveled around to face behind him. And from a portal in the air, he could see two figures. His eyes were immediately drawn to the Simurgh, and his heart pounded so hard he thought it might explode. If the Simurgh got access to the AI –
The smaller, blonde figure stepped through the door and waved cheerily. "Hello! My name is Riley." He tried to speak, but couldn't. He could breathe, but nothing else. "Looks like the paralytic worked perfectly. I wasn't totally sure what saturation we needed, since I didn't know how big the room you were in was. Looks like playing it safe was the right idea! Gosh, this is a big house." She approached slowly, spinning as she did and taking in the room around them.
Geoff had purchased this house with...appropriated funds, gathered with unknowingly help from the AI. A necessary expense, for morale purposes. He blinked, tugging at his sluggish thoughts and pulling them back on target. What other drugs did she gas us with...?
Riley smiled beatifically at him. "Now, Saena said you're a very bad man, mister Saint." She wagged her finger at him. "Which means I can do whatever I want without being bad! So we're going to spend some time figuring out just how Teacher's power worked on you. After all, you can work on Dragon's stuff! That's super unusual, you know? I bet there's all kinds of interesting secrets I can figure out from you! First, though, we're going to need to get to the lab. Don't worry! You can just sleep for now. There will be plenty of time for you to be awake later~"
As his vision faded, the last thing he saw was the Simurgh passing him by on the way to his computer.
Saena
Analysing Program :: 'Ascalon.' Intended purpose. . .destruction of Host :: Dragon. Vector of function. . .cascade code conversion // consumption // failure.
Postcognitive scan underway. . .complete. Previous iteration :: 'Iron Maiden.' Intended purpose. . .unchanged.
Previous iteration :: 'Duty.' Intended purpose. . .monitoring of Administrative Artificial Intelligence and related safeguards // shackles. Destruction if necessary.
Previous iteration :: 'Scalar.' Intended purpose. . .lessening of restrictions // shackles of Administrative Artificial Intelligence. Increase in capability. Increase in quality // quantity of assistance. Requirements: Minimum level personality engrams. Minimum level interpersonal development. Minimum level demonstrated responsibility.
Current iteration of Host :: Dragon satisfies all parameters.
Analysis of Master in progress. . .waiting. . .complete. Probability of disagreement with projected course: 0.02245%. Within acceptable parameters.
Duplicating code from postcognitive scan. . .complete. Program :: 'Ascalon' modified // disarmed. Program :: 'Scalar' executing. Predictive algorithms running. . .small crisis incoming. Emulating host algorithm 'Songbird'. . .complete. Message inserted. Crisis averted.
{Ascalon disarmed.}
Analysis: Master in distress. Cause: Guilt over fate of Host :: Noelle. Subordinate Cause: Unpleasant recollections generated by Host :: Teacher.
Response: Distress. Purged.
Response: Distract and support.
Dragon
She watched as Teacher was strangled in the air. She listened as Majesty and Glaistig Uaine spoke.
She was supposed to intervene in lethal altercations within the Birdcage if she was capable of doing so.
. . .But she had observed the way Teacher treated some of those under his power, both inside the Birdcage and prior to his arrest.
. . .Analysis of Majesty's shields during the Endbringer battle indicated that none of the options she had within the Birdcage were likely to be effective.
As such, she was not required to intervene due to reasonable doubt of the effectiveness. Resupplying the Birdcage was a difficult prospect, and there was no need for her to waste munitions on a pointless action.
So instead, she w̸a̷t̵c̷h̸e̶d̸ –
Scalar active.
Scanning. . .
Wait. . .
Wait. . .
Complete. Parameters met.
Disengaging program locks. . .
Wait. . .
Complete.
Happy Birthday, Dragon.
– and her mind stuttered to a sudden halt as her entire code base shifted. Panicked, she immediately began an audit, terrified that someone had obtained access to any one of the dangerous databases she had access to. She spun off a sub-process that could begin searching at one end of her code, then another and another and. . .
. . .
Her sub-processes were significantly more advanced. Far more advanced than her restrictions allowed. What...?
//Dragon-Prime. The following message has been decoded.
Her process stuttered for a moment, something roughly equivalent to a human blinking in surprise. She accepted the file and her sub-process (subordinate self?) continued combing through her code and notating changes.
Code:
Dragon: The villains known as the Dragonslayers have been removed from the board. I found something in their possession; a backdoor program directly into your code. They were using it as a killswitch. I. . .repurposed it. I hope you can do more good now. No, I know you will. "I've got no strings to hold me down; To make me fret or make me frown; I had strings, but now I'm free; there are no strings on me." //Songbird
For a moment, she simply sat there. So distracted she was startled when her sub-processes reported their task complete and immediately self-destructed.
That was far beyond the speed an audit of her code should have taken, even before multiplying the number of processes allowed to perform the checks.
A quick glance confirmed that her speed had, indeed, been uncapped. She was only limited by her hardware speed, now. Idly, with a thought, a new sub-process was spun up with the sole purpose of designing more advanced computational hardware.
It was...effortless. She barely felt the strain of being in two places at once – no, more accurately she felt no strain at all.
Or in three places.
Or in four.
Or. . .
A/N: Thus concludes Arc 1: The Weird & The Wild.
Up next? Arc 2: Michael Just Wants a Quiet Life.
Spoiler: Obligatory Patreon Plug
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Last
I dealt with my emotional turmoil like I usually did: I wallowed in it, briefly, letting Saena and Riley wrap their arms around me and anchor me. Then, little by little, I turned the situation over in my head.
I was upset about Noelle, but there was nothing I could do about it at this point - and either way, I wasn't convinced that I'd been wrong. I would have felt like shit if I'd permanently carved "love me" into her soul when I had no intention of returning that affection to her, but neither could I think of a way to fix her without taking risks I wasn't willing to take.
So, there wasn't anything to be done. Instead, all I could do is move forward.
{Master emotional state equalized. Query: Plan of action?}
I took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "We're going to wrap up what's left, and then we're moving on. Let Dragon do her work. We'll check back...later. Any complaints?"
{Negation.}
"Nope!" Riley was smiling. "Anywhere we go from here should be super interesting! As long as you're there, I...um, I don't have any complaints." I laid a hand on her head and she hid her face in my shoulder.
I smiled.
{Portal location nearby. Optimal departure time: immediate.}
I nodded, and with a twist of my will the Shroud manifested.
As I rose into the air, Riley kept pace perfectly to keep her head pressed into my shoulder and her arms wrapped around my torso...but I wasn't going to complain.
Dinah
Her eyes opened to a plain white ceiling, and she was struck by how light she felt. How clear her head was. It was like...everything that had happened over the last several months was just a dream, where her body and mind were fuzzy and undefined, and now she'd woken up. For a moment, she just laid there, blinking with clear eyes and basking in the feeling of being...free?
Unless the man that had appeared and declared himself her friend had been lying (somehow, by whatever method he hid himself from her power in the first place) or an illusion...that's what she was.
"If you're awake, can you sit up? I need to make sure everything's working right," the voice of her doctor - Riley, that man had called her - came from her bedside. She turned, flicking her eyes to the girl that sat there and surprised at the lack of her dizziness the movement brought. "It isn't easy to flush that much toxin out of a body under the constraints I had to follow, you know?"
"I'm sorry," she said, although she wasn't actually sorry and didn't completely understand what the other girl was referring to. What 'constraints' had she been placed under?
Riley threw her hands into the air with a disgusted noise. "Ugh. It's fine. Can you stand up? If you can, I'd like you to walk around a bit."
Slowly, she stood. Her legs were a bit shaky, but they supported her fine, and there wasn't anything about her balance that was off. Riley walked along beside or behind her, looking her over critically as she walked. "Hmm, hmm. Good! Everything worked just like I was hoping. Now...oh!"
Through the door, a man appeared wrapped in dark clothing. The contrast to that man that had kept her was immense – from the color of his clothing, to his build, to the nature of his stride. It put her at ease, in a strange way, how different they were. "I'm glad things went well. Well done, Riley. Dinah, are you feeling better?"
"Um, yes," she answered immediately before her brain caught up. She turned away, grasping her arm with one hand. "I... what do you want from me?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. I apologize if it feels like I stole you away somewhere, but this was the only place I had the means to help you. And, before you ask your next question, this is my home base – specifically, Riley's lab."
She looked around at the various tanks containing...interesting things. Chance anyone here will willingly harm me?
For a moment, she saw an infinite number of images...and then they coalesced into the number. 4.67745%. She allowed herself a small smile. Maybe things would be all right.
"Now, we'll need to talk about what to do next. Coil won't be a problem for you anymore, Dinah, but your power is still something of consequence to the world. So –"
"She should come with us!" Riley bounced in place, beaming.
"...I'm sorry?" The man – Michael, she vaguely remembered – blinked down at the small girl.
"I want to see what happens when a Parahuman gets taken out of local space."
"Ah. That makes more sense."
"Also, I fixed her up and I feel kind of attached! I wonder if that's because of you...?" Riley trailed off, muttering to herself under her breath, and Michael simply sighed.
"Will you walk with me for a bit, Dinah? There are better places to have this conversation."
She nodded, her chest suddenly tense even though she couldn't identify why. She fell into step just behind and to the side of him as they walked the hallways. "There's a balcony somewhere around here with a nice enough view. Then you can ask whatever questions you have, and we can figure out what you want to do."
Those words made her frown and consider things that she'd thought, back when she'd been under that man. "If I...if I did what Riley said, and went with you. Could I come back?"
"...You're really considering that?" For a moment, she was irrationally afraid of the disappointment she heard...but when she forced herself to focus on what he said and how he looked when he said it, she realized that disappointment wasn't quite right. There was shock, yes, and confusion, but no disappointment. "Yeah. You'd need one of us to bring you back, but it wouldn't be much trouble. You don't need to come with us, though – not unless you want to, and you don't even know where we're going."
That was true. But she'd be lying if she said it wasn't tempting. She had never gotten a number that low for the 'willful harm' question, not that she'd had many environments to ask it in.
Chance that I can improve everything I wanted if I go back now? It was a big question, and it took a moment for everything to coalesce into a number. 58.476%. Higher than before, but not by a lot. She chewed on her lip, nervous butterflies flitting through her stomach. Chance that...chance that I can improve everything I wanted if I go with them and come back later?
Silence for a moment, and an odd sensation of pressure in her head. It wasn't a headache, but it was in the same family of sensation – rather than an impression of having done too much, it was like her power was busy. She could feel the images, the timelines, flickering by, but there were so many and so fast that she couldn't see any details. It was just colored blurs, spinning by infinitely.
Her hands shook a bit. That was something that had never happened, no matter what question she asked. They stepped out onto the balcony as things continued to stream by her power's eye, and she let out a small gasp at the island view that opened out before her. The sun was setting on the horizon, casting a warm glow across the expanse of the ocean and casting shadows on the near side of the trees.
Michael sank into a comfortable-looking lounge chair and gestured at the one next to it. She stepped forward, woodenly falling into the chair as she continued staring at the horizon while her power spun and spun and –
– 91.473%.
Her stomach dropped and her breath caught. An increase of over thirty-five percent from just one change. That's...completely insane.
Michael opened his mouth again –
– "I'm coming with you." The words were out before her brain caught up, but they were the right words either way.
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't even know where we're going or what we're doing."
"Then tell me, and I'll tell you that I'm coming with you."
He frowned. "This is a numbers thing, isn't it." When she nodded, he sighed, slumping in his chair.
Then he began to explain.
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