A quarter hour passed before dad was hugged out enough to let me go. "Taylor, thank God that you're okay. I…I was so worried."
"It's okay dad, I'm fine. I feel better than ever even." That's what I said out loud, but internally, I was flooded with apprehension. It would have been outright panic if not for the feeling being contained. That still didn't make telling my dad about my plan to quit Winslow much easier. Mom had always preached about the importance of a proper education. The idea of me dropping out would be borderline sacrilege to her.
It took all the rationale I had at my disposal just to tie in the tug of war splitting my heart in two, so I stood there long enough for dad to pull me into another hug. Things were none the easier for me until I felt tears on my shoulder. He was still hurting, and I only one idea on how to help him. "Dad, I want to drop out of Winslow."
With that, everything he was doing and feeling came to a screeching halt. He leaned back from me with a look of pure confusion playing across his face. That was better than anger or disappointment at least. He hadn't said anything, so; in for a buck, in for a grand. "I heard that the school is offering a settlement. I want to include me dropping out officially."
He ran a hand through his balding hair and sighed loudly. "Taylor, is this about the locker? Do you know who did it?"
And there was the question that I didn't want to deal with. There was no way that I could tell him that my former best friend, and daughter of one of his friends, was my top suspect. I dismissed the locker comment as part of something I didn't need at the moment, then fixed the hardest stare I could on him. "Dad, I don't want to go back. Everyone is against me there, most of the teachers are against me. The game is rigged against us, so I refuse to play anymore."
I'm not sure if it was what I said or something in my eyes, but the roaring anger that I could feel building up in his tense arms abated. He was even more confused, simply unable to come to grips with what I was telling him. "Dad, we can have them let me drop out on good terms. I can take time to study on my own. I can get away from all the teenage drama, at least until I can apply for Arcadia. I'm only fifteen…I can afford to take a year off." His eyes glazed over as he tried to think about everything I said. "Dad, we can talk later, at home." Home proved to be the key word, because he stood up and made his way for the exit. "After the paperwork."
He froze mid-step and chuckled sheepishly, refusing to look back at me in his embarrassment. He made a beeline for the receptionist desk and left me with a few moments to myself. I ended up thinking about the quest I had accepted, primarily on how it was pushing me to make these decisions for fear of the consequences. I didn't get a sense of manipulation, mainly because I decided to drop out before receiving the quest. It felt more like, me. Like the part of myself that told me to do something before my more cautious side held me back. That's when it hit me. The school, the trio, the uncaring crowds; they weren't all that was holding me back. I was holding myself back by going along with it all. Society says to go through the school system to learn at a set pace that's the same as everyone else but wasn't that knowledge available at the library. Online too, once I thought about it. People skipped grades every year, and the only thing stopping me from doing so was myself. Either way, I didn't want to go back home anymore.
Fortunately, what I did want had nowhere near the potential for disappointment, so I was able to tell him only moments after we got in his truck. "Dad, can we go to the library."
There seemed to be no end to the times I'd catch him off guard. "What happened to going home?"
"Well, I realized, just because I'm dropping out, doesn't mean I should stop learning."
He frowned and looked at me with concern in his eyes. "Are you sure? You…just woke up from a coma."
I gave him the best teenage deadpan I could. "I'm fine. It's the library, not a triathlon." Next came a pleading gaze. "Please."
He looked at me with eyes even larger than usual, took the time to think about my request, then pulled me into an awkward hug. "That's my girl, but I'm sticking around to keep an eye on you. If you feel woozy, for even a second, we're going home." I nodded firmly in acceptance then sat in silence on our way to the library.
Brockton Bay Central Library was more like an art museum in design: tall ceilings, art on the walls, and aesthetically pleasing pillars. It tended to be pretty busy between the hours of 12 and 1 pm due to employees of the many nearby offices wanting a quiet place to spend their lunch hour. That's why there were only a few people with fifteen minutes till two.
The computers up on the second floor were tempting for me, but I came with a purpose. Thinking back on myself, I remembered that Biology was my weakest subject even if I didn't take the constant sabotage into account. That made the Biology/Health section my first target.
I didn't get more than two steps into the section before I was distracted. The culprits, physical fitness books. I clearly remembered the indignation I felt at being told about my lack of fitness by my own powers. Most of the books were just about healthy eating habits and losing weight, but there were a few exceptions. Unfortunately, most of them involved lifting weights or joining gyms, which I didn't want my dad spending money on.
I decided then to check out a few paperbacks too thin to have their titles be legible on the side. The first was a bright blue book of a minimalist design. The title 'Dynamic Tension' covered the top, with the author's name in the bottom left quadrant. "By: Harry Wong, huh?" I looked at the fit Chinese man on the right side, who was in some kind of martial arts pose I had no reference for.
A new Skill has been created through repeated action. Due to constant observation, the Skill Observe has been created.
"Observe?"
I was surprised when for the first time, an orange box appeared before me.
Dynamic Tension
An exercise program first popularized by Charles Atlas. Details how to attain strength without using weights.
That…it honestly sounded too good to be true. In fact, it sounded like what I was doing in the hospital before I got my vigor up to four. I took a quick look at the end of the book and found that it wasn't even 140 pages, with large text and later pages dominated by pictures. I'd have in read within an hour easily, if not half that.
I was done in ten minutes. The early chapters detailed all the important basic info, with everything else after that being pictures detailing martial arts stances. What I learned made it feel like the best spent ten minutes in my life. It only took me seconds to realize that by pitting my muscles against other muscles, my strength would never go beyond any resistance I could provide because my strength was my resistance. The idea that I couldn't obtain superhuman strength was something I refused to consider. All I needed was to learn proper breathing exercises and a martial art to practice.
I put the book back where I got it then immediately put the principals to practice by tensing my legs and arms as I rummaged through the books, looking for a book on one of the two.
You have acquired the Skill Book: Basic Martial Arts (Tai Chi). Do you want to learn this skill?
Y/N
I almost tapped yes but remembered what happened in the hospital. Destroying a handful of pamphlets that are handed out for free was one thing. Destroying a library book would be stealing at the very least. Buying from a bookstore would be different, but I had to save that for later. Cheap used instruction booklets shouldn't be too costly of an expense if I was right.
I looked over the information about Observe, which I left up so I wouldn't forget about it. I muttered the word under my breath, causing another orange box about the Tai Chi instruction book to pop up. I compared the contents with the back of the book and found the orange box to be more concise and more useful.
Once I started using Observe on the Biology books, it even told me what grade levels the book covered. I snatched up two of the tenth-grade books then looked to see if my dad was still around. That's when another big shock hit me.
LV:51 Carlos Riviera/Aegis
Redundancy Host
I was struck dumb, but not enough so to prevent me from testing out Observe on him.
Observe's level has gone up. Observe is LV: 2.
Carlos Riviera/Aegis LV: 51
Redundancy Host
HP: 3080/3080
MP: N/A
Known publicly as Aegis, Carlos is currently the oldest member of the Wards, making him their leader. He wants to be a good leader and role model but is unsure how to do so. The highly volatile new member isn't making it easy for him.
With just a look and a word, I had learned more about the Wards leader than just about everyone else. I would have normally been terrified by that, but it was reduced to being uncomfortable by the strange effect dampening my emotions. I foolishly waved away the orange box and came up against a handsome seventeen-year-old hero who had mistaken the motion as a friendly wave. I'd probably been giving him eye contact through the info box too.
To my repressed horror, he began walking right up to me. My eyes trailed his strong jaw which was a perfect match for any hero. His smile was friendly and his dense and lean muscles seemed to flex with every movement. "Hi there."
"Uh…hi." I was officially on autopilot.
"I'm surprised to see another student in the library during school hours. You're not from Arcadia, are you?"
I blushed at the correct assumption. "No…Winslow."
"Really?" he asked. "I didn't think they'd let their students out for self-study."
"I don't think they care," I said waspishly.
As awkward as that should have made things, Aegis plowed through like a champ. "So, you skipped class…to study?" I glanced up from the books I was hiding behind to see him giving off the most blatantly bemused expression I'd ever seen.
"It's not like that." I shut my lips like a vice. Why would a hero be interested in my life story?
He apparently picked up on my hesitance. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to pry. How about you join us? The more the merrier, right?"
I had no idea how to respond to that, only that I had no logical reason to refuse. With 'autopilot' still going strong, I nodded and followed his every step as my emotions fluctuated between trepidation to outright panic. I likely would have escaped if the latter lasted longer than a quarter second. At least I didn't need a reminder to keep my muscles tense on the way. (12-EXP)
Due to sustained activity, you have gain 1-END. END=6
My mood shifted instantly to happy. I had proof positive that pitting my muscles against each other could work; though it was strange that it improved slower than last time. Another strange thing was smiling at an invisible box while facing a group of your fellow teenagers.
"Hey, Carlos. Who's the space case?" The speaker was a fit looking chocolate skinned girl by the name of Kendra Sonders. I tried to be angry at her comment and her resemblance to one of my tormentors, but her bubbly tone and kitten like curiosity threw me off.
"Kendra, what did we say about using your words?"
"Not to." The two other boys chuckled, while Carlos face-palmed. I guessed that she got it wrong on purpose. (10-EXP)
Due to acute awareness, you gain 1-PER. PER=5
I glared at the pop-ups, wishing I could move them out of the way without any overt movements. They granted the wish by moving back from me until they were part of the background. They thankfully took my glaring differently. "Don't mind Kendra. She likes to joke around." I looked at the thinly built speaker and froze again.
LV: 6 Chris Matthews/Kid Win
Modular Technology Host
Yet another Ward was at the library, and I was likely the only one who knew. I glanced at the third boy and found to my relief that he was just a normal guy named Andrew Whales. He was an example of masculinity in a different vein from Carlos. If Aegis features were chiseled, Andrew's were more like a solid brick.
Heedless of my reactions, the pale skinned tinker began introducing everyone. I wondered about the levels over their heads. Andrew was actually a six while Kendra was a three. I could understand Aegis being at 51, but it was hard to figure out why the other cape there was six like Andrew. "So, what's your name?"
"It's Taylor." I had answered him without even thinking about it.
Kendra jumped to her feet and leaned up to me. "Hey Taylor. Have you thought about getting a makeover?"
"I…what?" It had been nearly two years since even the idea of getting a makeover crossed my mind.
"Seriously. You have amazing hair. You have to let me work with it." I blushed at the compliments that hit right at home. My hair, which I inherited from my mom, was the only one of my features that I was really proud of.
"Kendra," Carlos chimed in, "we're supposed to be studying."
"Speak for yourself. I want to be a stylist," she countered with a playful wave.
Carlos sighed while the other boys chuckled. "She's got you there," Chris added.
"Fine, you'll need her permission first."
And that's how I ended up studying Biology alongside two of the Wards while getting my hair worked into a loose ponytail braid. It was the safest compromise I could talk her down to. It didn't make the experience any less awkward since I couldn't decide between inwardly gushing at the rare experience of the former or being completely embarrassed from the latter. In either case, I decided to hide behind my book so they wouldn't see how I was reacting.
In minutes, we were lulled into a comfortable silenced, and I was tearing through the thick textbook. My fingers traced each line in a blink as my mind carefully recorded any unfamiliar information. Even when re-reading some paragraphs, pages simply flew by. The pages turned like there were caught by the wind before I was through whole chapters in a matter of minutes. I only stopped when I surprisingly found the index staring back at me.
I ignored the flood of pop-ups in the background, slowly closed the book, and immediately regretted it. The two Wards were openly gaping at me and judging by the lack of tugging from my hair, so was Kendra. Even the stone-faced Andrew was giving me his full attention. "Dang girl, had enough to read yet?" Before I could stop Kendra, she grabbed the book and leafed through to the end. "You just read through a 400-page textbook in thirty minutes. That's not human." She closed in on me, eyes staring into my soul. "Are you a cape?"
That sentence had me switching from terrified panic to cold calm so hard, it felt like my arteries had whiplash. "What?" Too bad calm didn't mean eloquent.
"Kendra, how many times have we told you that it is rude to accuse people of being capes." It could have been my subconscious, but I felt like Carlos let, 'especially if you're right,' go unsaid.
"Come on. How else could someone read that fast?" she retorted.
I said the first thing that came to mind. "My mom was an English professor."
"Really? That's the best you've got?" She had a raised eyebrow and a look of victory on her face.
I really had no idea what to say. I had powers for no more than a few hours, and I was already on the verge of outing myself as a parahuman. "25 thousand words per minute." We all looked at Andrew, who had his phone out. I was shocked because I hoped I wasn't reading that fast in front of my peers. "The world record for speed reading by a normal human is around 25 thousand words per minute. Your argument is invalid."
"Really, Whales. Why do you have to be so anti-cape?"
"I'm not anti-cape. I just think that we shouldn't ignore the feats of mortal men because super powers exist. If a normal guy can do that, then Taylor can read a textbook."
I've never internally thanked anyone that hard before. Outwardly, I managed to say something to remove more suspicion. "I didn't even read it all. I already knew a lot of it." A third was a lot, right? I refused to even think about all the paragraphs I re-read.
"Okay, okay…you're just a really fast reader. Speed reading is a pretty silly power anyways. I'm still excited. If we've got a new self-study-buddy, then that must mean they're going to reveal a new Ward soon."
"Wait, really?" That was news to me.
She tilted a head at me in confusion. "You didn't get the mem…"
"Kendra! She's from Winslow," Carlos snapped.
I looked between Kendra and Carlos, perplexed. I could feel that she just let slip some kind of secret, one that was exclusive to Arcadia. "Oops. Forget I said anything." It also had something to do with the Wards, two of whom were with us.
The most important bit was that she thought there was going to be a new Ward because I was a new addition. It was a poorly kept secret that the Wards attended Arcadia, yet no one had figured out who they were. "You're all decoys."
"Too late. She's figured it out," Chris chimed in. "I knew you were a smart cookie-"
"I do like cookies."
"-the moment I…" He and everyone else entered a laughing fit at Kendra's sudden quip. Chris was the first to recover. "The moment I saw you." He tried to glare at her, but there was no heat.
Carlos sighed, though it was happy rather than resigned. "Yeah. Cat's out of the bag."
"Yep. I'm fake Shadow Stalker, fake Gallant, fake Aegis, and fake Kid Win," she said gesturing to herself, Andrew, Carlos, and Chris in that order.
"That…makes a lot of sense." As did keeping the fact that I could tell who was who secret.
"So, think anyone here isn't a fake?"
I would have choked if I had been consuming anything. Like always, I recovered quickly. "Not sure, but there's no way you're Shadow Stalker: not enough angst." The extra loud snorts from Chris and Carlos all but confirmed the accusation of the dark cape's character.
"Girl please. You're just jealous of my mad acting skills. You wish you could go from the awesomeness that is Kendra Sonders to the mistress of shadows like I can."
"Okay, that's enough fun. We're supposed to be studying."
"Oh, come on Carlos. Taylor did enough studying for all of us."
He tried to retort, but Chris cut him off. "Give it up, man. It's a lost cause, and I can't even think about math right now."
"And that settles it. Let's do Cape Vs. instead. You're up first Taylor."
Caught off guard and not particularly fond of that particular game, I said the first two that came to mind. "Kid and Aegis." The two exchanged glances while I was busy hating my brain to mouth filter.
"Aegis."
"Aegis."
"Aegis/Kid Win," the pair said at the same time. After a second of looking around the table, Chris looked at me pleadingly. "Come on, Taylor. Back me up here."
I really didn't want to answer that question, especially when I could literally see that Carlos was on a much higher level. Hoping for something good to tell him, I muttered an Observe while humming thoughtfully behind my hand. The info appeared over his head, and my eyes raced over it in a second.
Chris Mathews/Kid Win LV: 6
Modular Technologies Host
HP: 366/370
MP: N/A
Known publicly as Kid Win, Chris is the sole Tinker of the Brockton Bay Wards. Despite being a natural people person on the surface, he suffers from mild depression due to his dyscalculia, ADHD, and inability to realize his Tinkering specialty.
I couldn't help but feel sad at what I read. It didn't help that he took my expression to mean that he was all alone in his vote. I didn't really know what he was capable of with his gear, but his Level was significantly lower than Aegis. Taking a moment to think about their powers put things further in Aegis's favor. Maybe if he knew his specialty…but I couldn't do anything about that. At least not without revealing who one of us was…unless.
A mostly formed idea struck me. It would keep our identities safe from the others, but would it work against the two actual capes? I had already done something strange yet within human limits. Revealing Chris's specialty in even a roundabout way could be enough to connect the dots. I also asked myself why I felt any desire to keep my secret at all. They weren't Emma. They were two guys who I was enjoying spending time with, who just happened to be Wards, and who would become better heroes with the info at my disposal. Inevitably, the loudest question in my mind won out: What would a hero do?
My mind made up, I came out of my thoughts to find them discussing what a fight between Lung and Crawler would be like. I had an easy answer for who loses: everybody.
As if keying in to how I was no longer lost in thought, all four had their attention on me. I managed to recognize that Kendra had already asked my opinion on the match-up. I swallowed the lump in my throat and focused on what I wanted to say. "I'm…I don't really like to do Capes Vs. Can we try making up our own capes instead?"
I sat there, some part of me hoping that they would shoot my request down as another part feared that they would. Kendra shrugged. "That sounds like fun. I bet you have a great idea too."
"Well, it's just something that I read recently, about something called modular technology. I thought it could be a decent Tinker specialty." It was then that I realized that I had no functional idea of what that meant. The sight of Chris chuckling was the cherry on top of my befuddlement sundae.
"Sorry Taylor, it's just that most technology could be called modular. The whole idea behind modular design is swapping out one part of a big machine to improve upon or change its function. A modular Tinker would need a way to carry around a bunch of parts, or some kind of telle…porter."
My trepidation blossomed under the realization that Chris had figured out what I was alluding towards in seconds. I should have been sweating from the scrutinizing gaze I knew I was under. It was only then that it hit me that I put my fate into the hands of someone I barely knew, and it was too late to go back.
"Earth Bet to Taylor, Earth Bet to Chris! What happened?"
What happened was that I just outed myself to another cape, and worse; I obviously knew more about that cape's powers than he did. To top it off, I was suspiciously avoiding eye contact instead of acting clueless like I planned. I forced myself to look up and see Chris blinking owlishly at me. It didn't help things feel any less awkward.
It took what felt like minutes for him to snap out of it. "Sorry guys. I was…thinking that…her idea sounds pretty cool…now that I think about it."
The two non-Wards gave out confused glances while Carlos sighed loudly. "Sorry if Chris freaked you out. He has a bad habit of getting lost in his head sometimes."
"Uh, yeah. ADHD can be a real bitch." Carlos did that shoulder punch thing boys do while Kendra teased him about swearing. After that, things finally settled down to the point where Chris was paying just a little bit more attention to me than would be considered normal. If it weren't for knowing why, I would feel like he had some kind of crush on me. That didn't stop the others from getting the idea, much to our embarrassment. Kendra was a human facsimile of the cat who caught the canary. To avoid the situation, I finally turned my attention to the pop-ups in the background.
Due to careful analysis, you gain 3-WIS. WIS=12.
You have leveled up. You are now Level 2.
Do you want to spend your Unspent Points?
Y/N
Due to diligent study, you gain 2-INT. INT=17.
Speed Reading's Level went up. Speed Reading is Level 3.
A new skill has been created through repeated action. Due to rapid reading, the skill Speed Reading has been created.
If I didn't realize that I could move them around with just a thought, I wouldn't have been able to read them without looking suspicious. Fortunately, I was able to close them with a thought too. I did so for all of them except for the level up prompt.
The sudden ringing from four different phones put an end to my thoughts and to the third turn of the game. The boys were pretty business like as they gathered up their books, but Kendra moaned in blatant disappointment. Ignoring her, Carlos gave me a smile that had my undivided attention. "Sorry, but we have to head home now. It was nice meeting you Taylor."
"Uh, thanks."
"Hey, Taylor. What's your number?" Kendra asked me with no regard for personal space.
"My…number?"
"Well duh, your cellphone number."
I knew that's what she meant, but that still left a small issue with that. "I don't have one."
"Really! How do you keep in touch with your friends.?" As innocent as her question was, it hit me like an accusation. Saying I had no friends would have been pitiful but lying about it would have been outright pathetic. I chose instead to hide behind my hair, but I forgot it was in a braid. "Taylor…be honest with me." Her tone was soft and more serious than I ever heard her. "How many friends do you have?" I didn't want to answer, so I shook my head, futilely hoping that she'd misinterpret me. "Oh, Taylor." Instead, I was pulled into a hug.
I remember my past experiences with Emma: all the sleep overs, talking about capes, the kinds of heroes we wanted to be, make-up, makeovers, her fledgling modeling career, ending in her stabbing me in the back and spitting over everything we had. A part of me feared that Kendra would do the same, but it was too quiet to drown out my defiance against Emma and her campaign against me. On the off chance she turned on me, I'd just move on.
I pulled away from her gently and wiped an unexpected tear from my right eye. A cursory glance told me that all the boys left us, though I did catch Chris slipping out of sight. Kendra seemed to be waiting for me to respond. "Can we do email?"
After her nod, we exchanged contact information, including my home phone number. She didn't ask a single question, but she managed to make me feel like she understood. She was gone before I could think to Observe her, but that wasn't a big deal.
I hadn't expected to have such an encounter, but I was glad for it. I hadn't given the Wards a thought until I met them, and if not for meeting them, I likely would have gone on thinking that they could be the same as Winslow. Clearly that wasn't the case. Of course, I had no plans to join them right away. Carlos was level 51. If that's what it took to be a cape in this city, then that's what I'm going to aim for.
***L6+44: V7; E16; D8+20; I18+200; W8-4; P13***
He had always been running in place, working hard but never getting anything done. It's what had defined Chris's career as Kid Win. He would spend hours at a time Tinkering in his lab, doing everything he could to finish a project in spite of his ADHD, only to leave dozens of high tech and oddly shaped bricks. But, like a light bulb shining light on the obvious, one girl had somehow told him the truth. Those piles of unfinished projects that he stuffed into corners weren't junk, they were modules.
If the circumstances of the reveal were anything else, he'd be racing to get back to his lab to try out the dozens of configurations he already had at his disposal. Instead, his mind was on Taylor. His first impressions of her were of a shy and awkward girl who was well outside her comfort zone. While that still held true, his last impression of her was far more important: she was a cape with a terrifying power.
Chris glanced at Carlos and found him to be going about the day as if nothing of significance happened; though he was a bit more chipper than usual. It wasn't how someone who just experienced a cape encounter out of costume would act.
That wasn't all that surprising. Thanks to Andrew, it was easy to believe that her speed reading had nothing to do with powers. He still believed that. Even choosing Kid Win and Aegis was something he dismissed as a fluke without a single thought, especially after the decoy secret came out. She would have gotten off scot-free, but she told him his specialty…something that even he didn't know.
Publicly, Brockton Bay thought his specialty was in laser guns. He thought his specialty was in laser guns. Taylor knew different, all because of her ability to see what another cape's powers were.
Capes were as a rule, cagey when it came to their civilian identities. He was sure Taylor was smart enough to know that he would get an idea of what her powers were. No matter how he tried to spin it, he was the only one who benefited. It's just the idea that a stranger risking so much to help him out was baffling, but it was the only thing that made sense.
All that ended in Chris being sandwiched between the unwritten rules of cape conduct, informing his leader, and betraying the trust of a genuinely nice girl who had done nothing wrong. It was too much to think about, so he decided to save the decision for later.
Maybe after he finishes that teleporter he'd been working on.
***ANWtP***
Now I know that I should have had Taylor question the fact that her power considers parahuman's hosts to their power, but I couldn't find somewhere to put it without damaging the chapter's flow. I'll get on it later.
These OC's were brought to you by my desire for characters who would push the story down my desired path, but Kendra was too delightful to not devise some further use for her. That's what I get for designing an anti-Sophia.