11 - Loose Ends
[So I was left with a session-and-a-half or so that ended up quite long. I decided it flowed better split in two - here's the first half.]
The next morning, Jon called Hei and managed to get her this time. "Hey," he said wearily, "Sorry I've been so scarce. I don't know if you've noticed, but things've been CRAZY." "I've been watching the news; believe me, I understand." "Thanks! I'm not sure I really understand it all yet myself... How about dinner, soon? Tonight, maybe?" "Love to! But how about Friday? Work has been crazy for me, too." "I'll be there! Short of full-scale extradimensional invasion, anyway." "...What odds are they giving on that these days?" "Too high if it has the potential to keep me from ya!" She laughed, and they chatted a bit more before signing off.
The Sunday papers were full of the American Eagle announcement and the Hybrid fight. To Jon's surprise both major Seattle papers treated him quite well, downplaying the loss of the man's hand and emphasizing the bomb; while the Tacoma News-Tribune all but fawned on him. The Tacoma police were vocal in their gratitude for Photon's work, both at the mayor's office and during the chase. Maybe I do need some more perspective on what happened, he thought; when you get down to it, what kind of maniac tries to blow himself up in that situation? Hybrid had already gotten away!
He stopped by his office to check up on a simulation he had running... he didn't expect to have a chance to do so later. He was heading for Gerhard's office nearby to give him some instruction on how to massage the code for further work when he heard Melissa's voice eagerly expounding something involving supers, and even Photon.
Frowning slightly, Jon listened. Something about how Photon's battles with Enigma, Technoid, and Hybrid proved something about his solar identity? He went in. "Hey Jerry, Melissa. How's it going?" Melissa started as if at a gunshot. "Oh, uh, hi, Dr. Winters. Wow, I just remembered I have to get going!" She hurried out.
Jon looked after her. "Jerry... Have I offended Melissa somehow recently? She seems really abrupt and jumpy around me lately." Gerhard laughed and waved it off, not meeting his eyes. "Nah, Doc, she's just stressed out about her classes. She about bit my head off earlier over nothing!"
"Ah. ... She sure sounded excited about supers or something." "Yeah, it's her latest pet theory; interesting, I guess, though I don't follow the news the way she does." "Oh? What kind of theory?" "She thinks supers are the modern mythology: Gods for people who think they don't have any. She was just going on about how Photon's latest fights have parallels to myths about sun deities or something."
Jon pondered that. Sounds harmless enough identity-wise, but wow, that's uncomfortable. I don't want to be a god... "Supers are gods, huh? Seems to me they're just ordinary people who have abilities beyond the norm. It's not like they're on a higher plane or anything." Gerhard shrugged. "I don't fully buy into it myself. But Melissa says that people need somebody to look up to; that they'll lift somebody up to that higher plane whether they start there or not. If it weren't for supers, she thinks we'd be idolizing movie stars or professional athletes or something."
Laughing now, Jon said, "Oh, come on! That's pretty far-fetched... I mean, sure people like that are well-known, but they're entertainers! It's not like they actually DO anything." Gerhard laughed with him. "That's exactly what I said, but she has an answer for it. According to her, it doesn't have to make any sense; it's a human need, and people will pound square pegs into the round holes if they can't find round pegs. Did you know that before supers started emerging, big sports stars were sometimes called 'heroes'?"
Jon paused, chewing on that. "Huh. Really? What sort of villains were they supposed to be fighting?" "The other team, I guess?" "Weird. Sounds like she's really put some thought into this, though." "Yeah, she has. Anyway, I've got some preliminary results on that Calabi-Yau sim..." "Oh! Right, and I wanted you to tweak this routine..." After discussing business with Jerry, Jon slipped out, chuckling a bit as he pondered Melissa's theory a bit more. Imagine a world with movie actors as serious Presidential candidates, or with comedians and football players in Congress... Wild.
Zipping in to the base, he called the mayor of Tacoma's office only to be told by a staffer that they hadn't been contacted by Hybrid and to the best of her knowledge had no major new leads.
"Well Alpha, let's try to tie up some loose ends before things get uglier than they already are. Think the Great Lakes Guardians have anyone on duty on a Sunday?" "Worth a try; we do, after all. Dialing..."
Soon an image came to life on one of the Situation Room viewscreens, and for an instant Jon thought there were technical problems - then he recognized the elongated granite-grey features of the extradimensional wizard Shatterstone. The earth mage said gravely, "Salutations." He bowed his head, the sheer mail he wore chiming slightly with his movement.
Jon nodded. "Hello, this is Photon of Shadow-Force in Seattle... I'm calling about our newest member Sirocco, who is from your area; I'm wondering if any of you could give him a reference for me?" Shatterstone paused in some consternation. "Ah, that sounds like a human cultural matter. I am ill-equipped to judge of such things; I will contact one of my teammates to respond to your request. I hope this does not give offense?" "No, of course not," Jon assured him. The being nodded solemnly. "It is good. Please grasp." The screen went blank.
Jon cocked his head at one of Alpha's cameras. "'Grasp'?" "I think he means 'hold'." "Ah." Soon the screen came back to life, revealing an Asian woman in a white-and-red costume: The team's tactical leader, Crimson Dragon. She nodded politely. "Photon, good to meet you. We've been following your work now and then... sounds like you gave Hybrid quite a fight. Our best wishes in dealing with him; he's got quite the rep around here." "Hey, thanks! If you know anything about him that could help, I'd be glad to hear it."
She shook her head. "We've never tangled with him directly, but we work with the Gatekeepers now and then, and have gotten an earful." [The Gatekeepers include a couple members from the old St. Louis Paladins, including Jack Frost.] "Anyway," she continued, "you called about Sirocco?"
Photon nodded. "He's just joined our team, and I was hoping one of you could reference him for me?" Crimson Dragon sighed. "Since you're the leader of your team, I'll share some information with you in strictest confidence." Jon blinked. "Uh, okay." "I'll have to ask you to ensure your cyberkinetic isn't listening in." Jon cocked his head. "You mean Technoid? He..." "No," Crimson Dragon informed him firmly, "there are rumors you have another cyberkinetic working with you. I don't know the truth of that and don't need to; I just need your assurance that nobody else is listening."
Jon nodded. "All right, one second." He blanked the screen and told Alpha, "You heard the lady." "Awwww, but dad!" Jon rolled his eyes. "Just don't listen, OK?" "Yeah, yeah."
Jon turned the screen back on. "Okay, we're secure." "Good." Crimson Dragon sighed. "Sirocco is a disaster just waiting to happen. He's a rash, overconfident hothead. Charm was the worst possible mentor for him; the old man got away with being flashy and careless in the field for years because of his superhuman luck, but I doubt Sirocco will. Way too many of Charm's habits rubbed off."
Jon sighed, shaking his head. "I'd pretty much already figured that out for myself." "You haven't figured out everything, though. Because this next bit has been kept under wraps." Jon gaped in dismay. "You mean there's more?" "I'm afraid so."
She paused, then said clinically, "Charm and Sirocco had a loud, vehement, and very public falling-out about a week before Charm announced his retirement to the Super community. A few days after the announcement, Sirocco was seen leaving a house we now know to be Charm's; he is believed to be the last person who saw Charm alive." Photon stared at her. "Charm is dead?!" "Yes." "...Are you telling me that Sirocco is a suspect in his death?"
Crimson Dragon held up a hand. "No. We aren't certain there was any foul play, and in any case the time of death is estimated to be eighteen hours after Sirocco was seen there. What we do know is that Charm's luck seems to have suddenly and spectacularly run out, all at once; the number of improbable events conspiring to kill him is so bizarre it would sound funny if the results weren't so disturbing. And we know that a magical amulet Charm was known to wear was not found on his person or anywhere among his effects."
"So you think that maybe the lack of the amulet reversed his luck?" "That is one hypothesis; we don't know for certain. Charm was always close-mouthed about his powers." Jon pondered this, stunned. Then he asked, "Was Charm able to fly?" "Yes, he was. Why do you ask?" "Because Sirocco can, and he admits that power isn't derived from his metagene." "...I see. He has not previously demonstrated the ability to fly, to the best of my knowledge."
Photon said grimly, "Yeah." Crimson Dragon responded quietly, "I will not offer you advice; that would be out of place under the circumstances. But I will wish you success and good fortune in dealing with these matters." "Thank you. And if there are any new developments in the Charm case, I would
greatly appreciate hearing about them." She nodded. "We will be in touch."
Jon signed off, then waved at one of Alpha's cameras... suddenly realizing something. "You read our lips, didn't you?" he accused. "...Mayyyybe." "Alpha! I gave her my word!" "Then aren't you glad you didn't break it? You both just said not to listen, after all." Jon fumed. "Very HAL 9000 of you." Alpha: "...That's not funny." [Besides the obvious, Alpha was once thoroughly hacked - before Photon's time - and turned the base against the team. The only way he could give warning was by talking in a creepy HAL voice and calling everyone 'Dave'.]
"No," Jon bit off, "it wasn't." The computer sighed over the nearest speaker. "All right, I'm sorry. I'll even restore to yesterday's memory files if you want." Jon shook his head. "No, I won't ask you to do brain surgery on yourself - especially not so soon after your big reboot. Just don't do it again?" "Yeah. I promise." "Okay then." "...What're you gonna do about Sirocco?" With a sigh, "I don't really know yet."
They were silent for a little while, then Jon asked, "Did you or Carlton Legal ever find anything out about Chris Perkins?" "Oh! I've been meaning to bring that up, but life's been so distracting." "Tell me about it. What've you got?"
"Trouble. I have found a very disturbing pattern in his previous work - the more so, given recent events." "Go on." "He had average to good grades in journalism school. A pretty ordinary freelance career out of college... but then, about five years ago, something happened."
Jon cocked his head. "What?" "I don't know. But I do know that his writing style subtly changed, all at once. Word count statistics prove it." "So? People change, Alpha. Maybe he had a traumatic event in his life or something." "Yeah, well, if so he got over it really suddenly. Because three years ago his style shifted back to match the old patterns exactly."
"...What are you telling me?" "I'm telling you that for two years, somebody else was writing under his byline. Covering for him." "And then he came back?" "Yep." "So what was he doing during those two years?" "That's just it: I haven't the foggiest idea. Everything else about him checks out, at least on paper. To be blunt, it's really weird and kind of scary."
"And now he pops up with a new, secret contract and wants to interview me." "You got it." "...Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." "Nah. This is more like
Greek tragedy." "Oh, joy! So, no interview for Mr. Perkins, then."
"I dunno about that, boss. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer', remember?" Jon thought that over. "Yeah, that and 'Better the enemy you know.' You think he's with VIPER?" "Maybe, I don't know. But I guarantee he's with
somebody." "Okay, so maybe he does get an interview, then." "Can I make a suggestion?" "Of course!" "You might want to take Demeter with you. She's one sharp cookie, I've noticed; and while I'm no judge, I gather she's rather... distracting." Jon nodded. "I might just. You're right, she's quick on the uptake."
Jon mulled it over some more. "Has he been calling back?" "Once." "Give him a few days to call back again while I figure out what times will work for Demeter. If he doesn't call, act like you're following up. Play hard to get; make him justify why I should even be willing to talk to him. Who knows, he might let something slip." "Hmmm. Unlikely, but it never hurts to try. And then I give in after getting as many concessions as possible, I assume?" "Well, naturally. A prize he had to fight for will be more highly valued, right? And its loss less easily risked." "...You
are getting devious!"
Jon smirked. "It comes with the territory..." He abruptly sighed and rested his head in his hand as he thought through the implications of that: "Yeah." Alpha asked quietly, "Any other loose ends before you head to Tacoma?"
Jon paused. "Yes. The Protectors, if you please." "Coming right up!" Soon he had Thunderwing on the line - one of the Protectors he'd only met in passing. "Oh, Photon. Good to hear from you. What do you need?" "I was hoping to get ahold of Moke and FAQ; it's not urgent, so if they're not available they can feel free to call back at their convenience." "FAQ's on personal leave at the moment." Jon asked, concerned, "Is he OK? When do you expect him back?" "Nothing serious, I gather it's some sort of family event. He'll be back in a few days." "OK, good, just leave him a message then. And Moke?" "He's off-shift but on call - I can get him on the line if you give me a few minutes?" "No rush. When's he back on?" "Tomorrow?" "That's fine, just have him call me then." "I'll do that."
Signing off, Jon said, "I'm gone. Wish me luck." "...Where'd he go?" Jon laughed and headed to Tacoma, materializing outside city hall. It didn't take long to get admitted to see the mayor. "Any new news?" "No word from Hybrid, but American Eagle did find the boots to his armor." "Really! Where was this?" "The north part of town, near Ruston. You'd have to ask her for the details." "I will! How can I contact her?" "We've set up an answering service that can connect callers to her pager. ... The service helps weed out frivolous and unsavory calls, you see."
"All right, may I have the number?" "It's publicly available. I'll have my secretary leave a message." "All right, thank you. While we're waiting, can you tell me how long Black Phantom's gear was kept in the location it was stolen from?" "About six weeks." "And you said the deputy mayor and the chief of police knew it was there." "The chief knew largely because we had to get it out of the evidence locker, but yes."
After discussing a little more logistics, Photon took his leave courteously and waited above city hall. Sure enough, American Eagle came flapping up before much longer; she seemed surprised to see him waiting there, but wheeled to join him all the same. Jon, for his part, noted that she'd added a makeshift airtight mask to her costume.
"I see you've added to the decor," he noted, and she nodded. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I've already hit #7 on the list, that's enough for me." "Ouch! Well, I've still got you beat." She sighed. "Not just 'Most Embarrassing'. 'Lamest'." Jon nodded somberly. "Well, it's not the first outing that really counts. It's the second, third, fourth, and hundredth." "Point well taken. So what brings you by?"
"I heard you found Hybrid's boots. What's the story there?" She grinned at him. "I loved my uncle, but I think he focussed too much on the sky instead of the ground. Black Phantom advised me to build up a network of contacts and I took his advice - there's a number of people who keep their eyes open for me. One of them tipped me off to the boots." "Nice! I wonder why he left them behind?" "No mystery there. They were cracked open. Looks like a fuel line broke." "That was probably me; I snuffed out his thrust and he fell." "Aha! Anyway, they were pretty messed up, I guess he thought they were beyond repair." "I'm surprised he managed to fly off at the end, then." "They must've conked out not long after that." "Drat! Wish I'd had the chance to follow him. ... We'll have to have a wrench take a look at the boots, we may learn something about his style." "I'll look into it. Like I said before, I know somebody."
"All right. Speaking of Black Phantom, any word on his gear?" "None yet." "Do you think VIPER might be behind the theft?" "Hmm, hard to say. What would they have to gain by it?" "They seem to want to win hearts and minds. Imagine a new hero out on the streets, spouting the party line... If you can imagine a libertarian Black Phantom!"
American Eagle laughed heartily at that mental image, and Photon joined her. Then he said, "Well, we'll have to keep our eyes open; we don't want his legacy to fall through the cracks... What should I call you, by the way? Six syllables is a bit of a mouthful." She laughed again. "I've been going by the initials A.E." "OK, A.E., how do you want to handle this investigation? It's your city." She admitted, "I'm still pondering that. This is my first one." Jon nodded easily. "OK. Well, I should tell you a couple things, then. First, I've got people searching construction records and so on for signs of VIPER in Seattle and Tacoma." "Oh, good! Do you have any results yet?" "Not yet, but I hope to have some by tomorrow; I'll let you know." A.E. nodded gratefully. "That'll help. And the second thing?"
"I can search the whole city for Hybrid and VIPER really fast if you wish." She blinked. "You can? What, even inside people's houses and underground and so on?" Jon shrugged. "Depends on how much of a jerk I want to be." American Eagle looked impressed. "Wow. Well, by all means, go ahead - just don't violate anyone's civil rights or anything." "Coming right up, in a minute. Got a couple more questions for you." "Shoot."
"How can we contact each other?" She gave him her pager number, and he passed on Alpha's number. That taken care of, Jon told her seriously, "In the longer run... I realize there's all sorts of reasons why you have to be your own team. But if you're open to the idea, I don't see any reason why we can't coordinate our patrols and so on." "Well, I really should stick to Tacoma... Oh, I get it. You mean making sure we don't have any duplicated effort or gaps." "Exactly. I mean, we've been covering the whole Sea-Tac area thus far, if we could work you in on the Tacoma sweeps it would make life easier for both of us." She nodded. "Agreed. I expect to take the lead in this area, though: Like you said, it's my city." "Of course! But we're always willing to help. We're in this together, after all."
A.E. smiled. "Thanks, Photon. That's good to know. Oh, and it would probably be easiest for me to patrol with someone who can fly - that's what all my tactics are designed around. So it'd have to be you or Beta. Or Sirocco, I guess." Something about the way she said it told Jon that she found Sirocco more than a little attractive, but he let it go. "Sure. And if you think it would help, you're welcome to sit in on some of our team meetings, too. As a non-voting observer, of course." "Mmm. I'll take a rain check on that. I need to establish myself as my own hero first." "However you want to do it."
"OK. How long will it take you to do the search?" "It depends on how thorough I want to be. If I go full fine-toothed-comb mode, about half an hour." [1] She shook her head in amazement. "Well, let me know what you find. Please don't engage without talking to me first." Jon grinned at her. "You worry too much." He winked out of sight.
Half an hour later, Jon caught up to her and reported, "Nothing." "Nothing at all?" "Nope. I didn't do the underground quite as thoroughly as I would like - all those conduits and pipes get confusing - but no sign of them at all." "Huh! Think they're in Seattle?" "I consider it likely, yes. Don't worry, if so we'll bring you in on the big assault. Naturally, we'll expect the same courtesy in Seattle that we extend to you in Tacoma." American Eagle smiled and held out her hand. "We understand each other very well. A pleasure working with you, Photon." "And you! For many years to come, I trust!" They shook hands firmly and parted.
Jon sighed as he headed back to Seattle. Now to deal with Sirocco... This isn't likely to be a fun conversation.
[1] A quick word on Jon's super-speed - it gave us a lot of headaches. He's got Flight 20, to represent light-speed... by analogy with Super-Speed, it made sense to me at first to give him Quickness 20 to go with it. But when I calculated that would let him Take 20 on Search checks throughout the entire Sea-Tac area as a *free action*, SP's response was along the lines of, "Not just no, but HELL NO!"
(The Phantom's massively good Mind Scan had caused him major problems with adventure design in the original campaign - believe me, Forestrike could tell you *all about* that.
After some spirited discussion, he was willing to live with Quickness 9, which lets Photon Take 20 on searching one of the two big cities in about half an hour. (Without Taking 20, it's about a minute and a half.) However, Quickness 9 at light-speed just doesn't cut it - Jon's reaction time would be so glacially slow compared to the speed of light he'd be off the planet many times over.
SP ultimately said he really only cared about Search not being too easy. As far as he was concerned, I could describe doing routine things as fast as I wanted. We also agreed that zipping through the city looking for crime is *much* faster than searching for something specific. So, basically, when it comes to anything but Searching, I just make up numbers that sound good. For Searching, we say that he has to crisscross the area a lot more times than twenty to get a grip on everything. He can't manipulate things in light-form, for one thing, and changing his senses does take effort. For that matter, it's impossible for him to *stand still* in light-form and look at an area for a while from the same vantage point.