It took Coil three hours to explain everything he knew. Uninterrupted.
It took another hour for them to take stock of all of Coil's metaphorical pies.
Part of her was annoyed at how she tried so hard to start making money and getting people into the PRT, only for Coil to come in with immeasurably more effective means and connections. He was a PRT consultant for god's sake.
And as for his resources...
Gas stations, businesses, front businesses, real estate, hedge fund and relief funds, stocks in Fortress, Blackrock, the owner of a mercenary contract company, multiple operations for arms dealing across the entire world barring some of the more stable regions of Europe, and a dozen other huge companies and conglomerates.
His assets were on the upper end of seven hundred million. His bank accounts had a combined one hundred and six million dollars in them, with an average of twelve million more being added per year.
Coil was just shy of a billionaire, something his power no doubt helped him achieve. Any problems she could ever possibly, feasibly have to do with budget or resources vanished instantly. She could make anything she wanted now.
Yet, as much as she wanted to go to the most expensive restaurant the Bay had and just splurge a nice meal for her and Lisa while whooping incessantly, she couldn't. She had to stop, and think. Specifically, she had to plan.
Two things bothered her the most, of what Coil told them.
The organization that shall not be named, because according to him, they were literally fucking omniscient and even speaking their name gave them the knowledge that you'd said it, and was apparently some shadowy group of immense power that gave him and many others their powers in fucking vials. She only let him speak because she didn't buy the omniscience bullshit, especially with how her power seemed to fuck with Thinkers and adjascent powers. But the existence of these people presented another opportunity.
A power for herself. Despite the summon core that replaced her heart, she technically didn't have a power.
She could get one, if she could somehow contact them without making them an enemy.
According to Coil, every moment he explained things about the organization was another moment where a portal could open and kill them all, so she'd been very, very careful with her Legend choice until he was done.
Vial capes. It was something that was oddly infuriating to even think about, even to her and especially to Lisa.
And then, the second problem. Noelle Meinhardt, and the hidden camera they'd seen her through.
She could probably fix her, given a few months of growth for her soul to be able to take the load of what she would have to do and who she'd have to do it with. It would be massively inconvenient and she'd be banking on her soul growing enough to not have her collapse with her brain bleeding out of her ears once she was done, but it could happen.
But there was also a way to make use of her in a way that, while immoral, would make Brockton Bay seem…
Too small for her boots.
The world and possibilities were expanding right before her very eyes like an endless vista, and she had to think about how to grasp every last one of those possibilities.
Two more hours passed as Lisa took stock of every contact, contract, ongoing operation, and helped Coil compile his new data to figure out who every Empire cape was. And despite their seeming distaste for each other, she and Coil worked incredibly well together. Lisa had him split timelines, and call timeline A the one where she did X, while timeline B, she did Y.
Hacking into Medhall became trivially easy with the combination of their powers.
They did however have a couple misfires with Coil's powers that painted a unique problem.
Coil's timelines refused to work if she was involved, and they did not find out the easy way.
She had merely thought of making an offhand comment to see how they were doing on their Medhall hacking operation. Then Coil had suddenly gasped like he'd just been stabbed, and immediately launched himself up from his chair and began stumbling around, staring in shock at things that weren't there and mumbling to himself like a madman, spinning and gaping at nothing.
It took Lisa giving her a wide eyed stare and making several panicked 'cut' motion for her to realise she was the problem, and she resolved to say nothing and do nothing, looking away.
That was when according to Coil, things went back to normal like someone flipping a switch, and after a few moments of breathing harshly, began to describe some very… discomforting imagery.
According to him, the world in both timelines broke and began to flash and spin around him in a kaleidoscopic mess of different landscapes, medieval and fantastical environments.
Lisa spent about five minutes trying to figure out how exactly Coil's power worked and why it got so messed up when Taylor was involved, or at least a working theory on why, which was interesting trivia even to himself, and after that, she went back to planning and not even thinking about getting involved in whatever he and Lisa were doing.
It also meant that Coil would solidly be in Lisa's hands, and Taylor would have to know in exhaustive detail everything he did and planned on doing lest she break his timelines by interacting with them or something he was doing in his timelines. Or 'simulations' as Lisa theorized. But that was a fine exchange for his power, even if it made it impossible to use for truly big operations.
Soon after, a confused janitor cleaned up the room, brought them a new suit for Coil and a couple chairs, and left while Coil cleaned himself up and redressed in the corner.
So, she sat in the opposite corner, and stared at the wall with empty eyes, thinking.
Another hour passed before Lisa cheered, and printed out a list she gave her. A very detailed list.
The first name alone made her inhale and breathe out a sigh of incredulousness.
Kaiser was the CEO of Medhall, apparently.
Another multimillionaire at the very least, and one whose home address she could literally see on the paper in her hand.
The details made her head spin with more opportunities, more possibilities.
The Empire was hers.
Lung and the Merchants were left.
Coil's dossier on Brockton Bay's capes was also stacked to the fucking brim.
He hadn't unmasked everyone, but it was close enough and those who he hadn't unmasked, he still had a ton of information on.
For example, he knew Faultline's civilian identity. The woman apparently had parents somewhere in Cincinnati too.
Invasion of privacy or not, she knew entirely too much about entirely too many people now.
And strings just kept moving.
After she read the entire file on the Empire capes, she tossed the paper into the trashcan in the corner, and got up to stretch.
"Give me some pen and paper." She said, and Coil moved to do it for Lisa, opening a drawer and quickly presenting them to her. She nodded at him, dragged the chair off the corner and next to Lisa's much more luxurious one, and began to write.
It was a shopping list, actually.
Lisa paused while reading something, and turned to her. "Hey, T? I want to try to befriend Panacea."
She stopped writing, and turned to her with a blank stare.
"In the bank, I saw some flashes of something being real weird with the Dallons. I didn't get much honestly, but something was off. I also kinda saved Amy from getting kidnapped, so she might be… positively inclined towards me. After reading Coil's file, I've been able to connect some things. For example, she sure as hell doesn't know who her real father is, and I do. I think it's doable. I don't think she'd be willing to join us by any measure, the girl fucking hates villains, and if she doesn't, she'll twist herself into a pretzel to hate them. But I do think that I could provide her with some answers, and some insights. Maybe even a couple offers. At least maybe enough to warrant a favour in case we need it, or enough for her to cooperate with us in case something real fucked up happens." Lisa said, leaning back in her chair and looking at her with an oddly uncertain look.
"Also, you might want to start wearing sunglasses, there's something fucked up with your eyes and I feel like im burning my retinas out, but mentally." Lisa added with a shrug.
She rolled said eyes.
"I'm going to look like a fucking jackass wearing sunglasses in a dimly lit underground lair, so no. Might have to do that with the Wards... About Amy, sure, feel free to try. Sounds like a great idea, and way out of my league. I can read people well, but not you well. Also feel free to announce yourself as the new boss around here and save us both the logistic headache of running everything through Coil, I'll stick to the edges for now. Also, route a million into my NM account."
"En e- oh, Number Man. Okay. Show me the card real quick." Lisa nodded, and sighed, pushing herself up along the chair by the arms.
She dug it out, and thirty seconds later, eight hundred thousand dollars were in the account.
Enough for a lot of things. More than she could come up with.
She turned back to the paper and kept writing, before pausing.
She was pretty sure half the tools in her head were vastly inferior to modern ones, and much more frustrating to use.
Dad's mechanic friend was expecting her tomorrow to teach her the modern stuff, what they were called and how they were used. And unlike Tinkers, she actually had to know that shit because she couldn't just flick her finger at a battery and power it out of nowhere with pure bullshit.
She crumpled the list before switching Runes and tossing it into the bin, deciding to make it tomorrow.
Now, to deal with the Travellers.
"Make a guard bring you some firepower and strap up. Also consider some torso padding. I don't want to see you with a busted rib again if I can help it. I'll change your appearance only a bit so Panacea won't think you're lying, but I'll do it when we're home. Speaking of which, wanna stay with me or get an apartment? I'm giving you five percent of Coil's yearly cash inflow as payment. Is that good?"
Lisa leaned back, staring at her wide eyed.
"Okay, but like, one at a time please?" Lisa scrunched her nose cutely in an expression of annoyance, and Taylor exhaled in amusement, smiling faintly. "Like, I got the ribs part, sure, which is sweet by the way,-" Lisa said and lightly kicked her knee, "- but I'm kinda woozy. Repeat."
She did.
Lisa frowned.
"I mean five percent is kinda stingy- wait, no, that's like…. Uh, six hundred grand a year." Lisa's eyes went glassy for a moment before incredulity made her slump. "Holy shit that's a lot of money. I mean, I'm handling more, but it's different when it's my money you know, jesus. Fuck yes that's fine. I can retire in luxury after five years and… do… I don't know, I'll figure it out. Eat steaks covered in golden tinfoil or something." Lisa snorted, leaning back with a dreamy grin. Then it fell. "Ah, but this dastardly villain has me in her clutches… However could I escape the bonds of sisterhood…" Lisa faux-mumbled, appearing greatly puzzled as she adopted a thinker's pose.
She smiled and shook her head in exasperation.
At least Lisa was in a better mood.
"Jokes aside, I'm not going anywhere." Lisa declared, breaking the pose to swing slightly from side to side on the chair. "I'm still going to hog your bed and you can cry about it. In fact, when you do ditch your dad after the Wards, wanna bunk together? It's… nice, you know? Warm bed, warm breakfast, company. I'd go for a penthouse myself, but I just… don't like being alone." Lisa said, then tried for a nonchalant shrug which failed massively, her nervousness fully apparent.
"Sure. It's quite nice. You're doing the laundry though. And be aware I swing every way so don't be too handsy at night or it will get awkward." She said, and leaned back, staring at the drab gray ceiling and trying to figure out how the fuck she was going to handle the Travellers.
Lisa blinked at her, then grimaced. "Oof, yeah that's… ew. I mean, not you ew, just, you know. I'll try not to make shit weird. Or you could be the big spoon and just keep me in place by force, I know I roll around in my sleep. You're taller too, it works out." Lisa said distractedly, staring at something on the screen.
She hummed.
"True," she hummed back, then steepled her hands on top of her head with a sigh. "Fuck, I'm procrastinating. Okay. Lisa. The Travellers. I have a plan. It's immoral, borderline monstrous, and If anyone finds out I'll likely have the entire roster of US capes sent here to annihilate me."
Lisa stilled, closed her eyes slowly.
"The mood whiplash you give me when I hang out with you is going to give me an aneurysm one day. And the fact you said all that with complete seriousness makes me want to go hide in a hole." Lisa sighed, then gestured in a 'go on' fashion.
"Okay. So, remember how Noelle's power works? Grabs people, clones them and clones their power to some extent in weird ways. What are the downsides to this?"
Lisa frowned at her like it was obvious.
"They're evil, hate everything the original likes and loves, and come out deformed as hell in some manner or another?"
She nodded, leaning further back in her chair to stare at the ceiling, then side-eyeing Lisa.
"Okay. What are the downsides to those clones that I cannot fix?" She asked, and Lisa blinked at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, two, before her eyes widened in realization, her jaw slacking to gape at her, genuine, bewildered awe in her eyes mixing with fear.
"You- you want to keep her around as a cape printer?" Lisa asked, tone somewhere between disgusted, awed, and fearful.
She nodded firmly.
"Lisa, let me… try to lay this out for you. My Mastering is rather unique. First, it's very divorced from the brain itself. I change something more immaterial, imagine it like a soul, or rather, a mind. A representation of a consciousness. I change that representation and the brain changes to match it. The thing is that I can freeze emotions."
She lifted herself up a little, and jerked the chair to the side so she would be facing Lisa.
"Noelle has been changing due to her power. Her mind is being changed by the tumorous growths. Whether she's becoming an Endbringer, I cannot say, but the point is that I can Master her just to freeze her emotions in place, maybe even tweak them to something fairly placid, calm and happy, and that problem is solved. Then, I can make a large time bubble to keep her suspended in place. I have a power that is… absurdly costly, but can allow me to turn back time for someone." She half-lied, not quite yet willing to admit to how much power she technically could wield given some time.
Admitting to the distant possibility of time travel would likely make Lisa freak out more than this explanation.
"However, the longer the time I need to reverse, the more it's going to cost, the more likely I fail, et cetera. So if I freeze her emotions, then make a machine to put her in a time bubble to freeze her body's time in place, and unfreeze her whenever I want her to make me some new capes, before freezing her again, eventually, when my goals are completed, I'll be able to unfreeze her for one last time, and reverse time for her body, all the way back to before she drank that C- that vial, and remove the emotional block before sending her to somewhere safe with her Traveller friends and her boyfriend. No power, no mental fuckery, and we… we get an army." She whispered heatedly, and Lisa's jaw worked up and down, a glazed look in her eyes.
"For her, it might just be a couple weeks of flashing in and out, before she's fixed. Then, I think I could actually send her back home. So, yes. I'm planning to keep her somewhere a little more secure than this place, and have her make me an army of parahuman clones, Mastered to be obedient but content, numerous enough to where nothing in the world could threaten me and mine. Enough to cleanse Earth Bet of every Jack Slash and Ash Beast and Endbringer."
Lisa just blinked at her, wide eyed, not quite seeing her, processing.
"Lisa, Coil did not just hand us resources and connections. He handed us the Bay. Fuck, if I do this right, I could probably rule the entire American continent. Which I won't, because there's no way I'll be able to do all this flawlessly without making everything tumble down like a house of cards, but the Bay? We won already. We have a girl that can create capes. And we have me, who can fix any deformities and power-induced mind-fuckery with my own powers. As long as we can buy time and keep it all secret, we're unstoppable."
Lisa took a deep, shuddering breath, then raised a hand in a 'stop' motion, leaning back in her office chair and closing her eyes, a hand over her eyes and the other softly tracing the armrest.
A minute passed.
Taylor shifted.
Three, four.
She stared at Lisa, getting a little concerned, worried of rejection.
It took fifteen minutes before Lisa heaved an explosive, sigh, and raised her hand to blink at her.
"You really did mean that you're willing to do everything, huh?" Lisa murmured, then licked her lips. "Look, T, I'm… I'm not going to act like I'm a saint, or a good person. I mean…" Lisa jerked her head at Coil, who was still acting like a statue in his new visitor's chair, pretending to hear nothing and react to nothing.
Ah, referencing the beating incident.
"And while this sounds about as horrific as anything I've heard, I mean… as long as the clones are treated right, and like actual individuals, I… can't say I'm opposed." Lisa grumbled as if the words hurt to say. "It's insane, but you're fucking… you. So, I feel like that's par for the course. I'm just worried that if this gets out, we'll face exactly what you said. The world will crash down on us and I'm going to die before I even hit twenty." Lisa breathed out, stress lining her face as she slumped in the chair sideways.
"First of all, you can call me Sam in front of people who can't know my name. Like Coil. I can handle three names. As for you dying… the chance of that is not zero, but honestly, that's cape life, and I think you know full well how I feel about letting my uh, 'little sister' die. Even if Legend vaporises me, I'm going to put down enough contingencies to drown the Protectorate in to make sure the people who matter to me get out unscathed. You included. One of the security measures I'm taking is just me taking the… kid gloves off, I suppose. I'm Mastering everyone involved in our more secretive operations. Every mercenary, Traveller, cape. Anyone who knows about Noelle, about anything that would instantly get us all a Kill Order and a bounty with at least nine zeroes in it attached. I'm not happy about it, but with what we just gained… the stakes just went through the clouds."
Lisa took another deep breath, massaging her temples. "Fuck."
"Are you still with me?" She asked plainly, calmly, trying to hide the plea in her voice.
"Yeah I'm fucking with you, I'm in too deep to back out. And honestly, a mixture of morbid curiosity and a feeling like I'm watching literal biblical tier history happen is going to keep me glued to your side like a fucking leech. I can't goddamn resist. Fuck me… So… yes. Just don't give the clones fucking… numbers as names or something, please." Lisa grumbled, and before she could even nod, Lisa straightened and glared at her in determination, jaw set.
"No actually, you know what? I'm not just 'with you', I'm going to dig my comfy little grave even deeper. You want me to start calling the Travellers in here? Your power works on one-by-one basis, right?"
She stared at Lisa for a moment in sheer surprise, then bowed her head and chuckled.
"Dig as deep as you want, If you die I'll still drag you right out and resurrect you. Yeah, one by one."
Lisa smiled, one even more exhausted than before, and dragged her chair closer to the desk, quickly tapping away at the computer.
"I'm bringing Trickster first."
She nodded.
"... Hey Lisa?"
"Hm?"
"You're not going to die. Ever. I'll make you immortal if I have to."
Lisa snorted.
"Yeah, then we can watch the sun go supernova in a couple trillion years and drift in the void of space."
"Sounds like a plan." She mildly agreed, as if agreeing to a shopping trip.
"Trickster's on his way. Show time, T. Or, Sam. That's going to take a bit to get used to. Alright, make sure to give me a good view. I wanna see if my power will let me see what you're doing to him."
She nodded, and got up, swapping to Evelynn.
Notes:
*cackles maniacally like a demented hyena until i die from asphyxiation*