“Oh, and I don’t think I need to tell you that I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that bit of personal history to yourself,” I said, exiting the stairwell. “There’s only so much I’m up for sharing with these assholes.”
“Well now, that wasn’t nice.”
I snapped my head to the side to see Riley standing five feet away from us, a cell phone in one hand, a bag of Munchos in the other. I winced at the terrible choice of snack. I wasn’t above junk food, but I preferred more than just salt and carbs.
“Hello Ms. Takahashi, Mr. Gage.”
Well, fuck.
Apparently, thing one and two had gotten a good enough look at me near Colossus. For a second, I thought about challenging him on it. I was a decent liar, after all. But I ultimately didn’t have the patience for that type of runaround.
That and I would be able to glare at him more effectively without the stupid helmet. I reached up and removed it with a sigh. The fucker’s face remained completely calm. Not a twinge of surprise or satisfaction.
“Did you know we were coming or are you here for the Abrams?” Dawn asked, wisely sidestepping the issue.
“My always-attentive partner was kind enough to send me a text.” Riley lifted his phone. “Interrupted my lunch.”
“It’s 3:00 p.m..” I replied, voice flat.
Dawn had been tempted to head out earlier in the day but was worried about missing more classes. I didn’t see the harm in going later, so I had suggested we wait.
“Been a busy day,” Riley replied.
“Doing what? I thought you were just here to listen to us talk about Calypso.”
“Leadership was kind enough to arrange a few appointments.” He paused when his phone vibrated. “Including one that’s heading up the elevators right now. If you’d be so kind as to follow me. Y’all look awfully suspicious.”
“Of course,” Dawn said.
The two of us followed Riley down the hall to a windowed door. Wiping crumbs from his hand, Riley reached into his pocket and pulled out—of all things—a security badge, which he waved in front of a sensor next to the door handle.
“Awfully mundane for a secret organization,” I commented.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Riley said with a shrug, then added. “Admittedly, this is one of our least used headquarters.”
“Clearly.”
Once we passed the entrance, we entered a long skinny room that led to the right. It was mostly made up with a line of cubicles, only unlike a normal office, there were no computers. Curled up-wires poked out of the walls, and not a single cube had a functioning chair. Across from the cubicles was a line of darkened offices, the blinds drawn to block out the afternoon sun. The walls were white, the carpet dark brown. And the lights were those obnoxious fluorescents that Claire said could trigger her migraines.
Basically, it looked like hell.
“Right here,” Riley said as we got to the end of the office.
In front of him stood a door that opened into a conference room, only instead of the typical long, circular table and comfy office chairs, the room was dominated by a square, six-foot table and metal chairs. Both were of the folding variety.
“And I thought Calypso’s operation was rough around the edges,” I couldn’t help but murmur as we entered.
“Glad to see you’re more open to the subject this time around.” Riley reached for the seat at the end of the table.
“Wait.” Dawn raised her arm to block my path. “We didn’t just come here to talk about Calypso.”
“Oh?” Riley said, taking his seat. He immediately leaned back in a slouch, resting his left ankle on top of his right knee.
“You deal in information, right?” Dawn asked. “Well, we have some questions for you.”
“Do you now?” His lips spread into a lazy smile. Patronizing bastard.
“In exchange for information on Calypso, we want you to help us find this new Costume in Bailey City. The one they call Black and Blue.”
“What makes you think we know anything about her?” He reached into his bag of chips. “We just got here, after all.”
He raised a chip to his lips and crunched it loudly. I gritted my teeth.
“True, but you do have resources that we don’t,” Dawn said. “All we’re asking is that you share any information you discover.”
“Hmmm,” Riley said, rustling for another chip. “And why is it you’re so curious about this Black and Blue lady?”
“She’s a new Empowered figure in my city. Isn’t it important I make sure we don’t have another Calypso on our hands?”
“Are you sure it’s not because of a certain missing drone you may have mentioned during our first encounter.” He took another bite.
Dawn hesitated.
“Listen, man, you can’t just come into our city, start demanding information, and expect us not to get anything in return,” I jumped in.
“Actually, I find it’s what usually happens when dealing with, well, altruistic types.” Riley gestured at Dawn with a chip.
“Days ago, you had orders to attack me on sight. Now you’re expecting me to be altruistic?” I couldn’t believe this guy.
“We’ve received updated information from Leadership since we last spoke in regard to your…current status.”
“So, what? You expect me to be all warm and fuzzy now?”
“Listen,” Dawn said, jumping back in. “I’m confused as to why this is even a discussion. You’re here to collect information on Empowered individuals. This Black and Blue woman is Empowered. And yes, we are working on tracking a missing person. But at the end of the day, both of us want the same thing—information. Information that we’re likely to get a lot quicker if we work together.”
Riley paused as if in thought, then nodded, tossing the half-full bag of chips on the table.
“Okay then—” he began.
Only to be cut off as Jane swung open the door to the conference room. She still wore those dark glasses, a handful of file folders clutched in her hands.
Riley blinked, his calm replaced by confusion. “Ah…don’t you have an appointment?”
“We,” Jane said with a sniff. “We have an appointment. I convinced them to come back on Friday.”
“Okay. Why?”
“The dossier lists this as priority number one.” Jane gestured toward the two of us with her folders. “And the Abrams are local.”
“They might not view an hour drive as local,” Riley remarked, then let out a sigh. “Did you already send them away?”
“Well…yes.” She looked back and forth between Riley and us. “But the dossier says that this is priority—”
“Number one,” he finished, clapping his hands together. “So why don’t we get started. Do you know where the file on Black and Blue is?”
“I…” Jane paused. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything. And we’re not supposed to be sharing…The dossier…”
“Allows me a certain level of flexibility as lead agent,” Riley finished, pushing himself up to a stand. “Let me get the file.”
He headed to the exit. Jane stiffened and pulled her own files closer to her chest.
“How is your head?” Dawn asked.
The teenager stood up a little straighter, then made her way to the chair to the left of where Riley had been sitting, across the table from us.
“There are some complications,” she said stiffly. “But the doctor advised me that they will fade. I should be back to normal any day now.”
She adjusted her glasses as she spoke.
“Are you photosensitive as a result of the trauma?” Dawn asked, a question which sounded oddly medical for her until I remembered that her mother had been a doctor.
“A bit,” Jane admitted with a frown. “Computer screens are difficult, as are the lights in here. It makes it very hard to do my work.”
“I apologize.” Dawn winced. “It wasn’t my intention to cause any lasting damage.”
“Well, it’s all part of being in the field, right?”
As she spoke, I noticed that she sounded…well, almost bitter. I also couldn’t help but notice that there were three separate files in front of her. One was labeled “Calypso” but the other two…
I reached across the table and shifted the top one aside. Jane immediately let out a cry of protest and yanked them back.
“You h-haven’t been cleared to view these files,” she said.
Looks like her reaction time was fine, at least.
“Got it,” Riley said, entering the room with another file folder in his hand. He took his seat at the head of the table and slapped it down. “Jane, time to start.”
The younger Forger nodded and opened the top file and turned to me.
“Now,” she said. “Our information on this Calypso figure is very limited, beyond a basic understanding of her powers. Perhaps it would be prudent if you’d start explaining your relationship to her.”
I paused, suspecting this question had just as much to do with me than Calypso. At the same time, if I was going to tell the story about my time as Calypso’s henchman, talking about our “relationship” was going to be part of that.
So, I started by explaining what my position had been in Calypso’s organization, as well as what I knew about her powers. At this point, Jane began interrupting me, a lot.
“So, these drones—the total sense of loyalty they felt wasn’t instantaneous?”
“Not quite,” I replied. “The entire process seemed to take about a month. At that point, they were completely taken in until she let them go.”
“How often did Calypso let people go?” Riley leaned back in his chair.
“I saw it happen with four people.”
“Hmmmm. If their sense of loyalty was destroyed, how come they didn’t report her to the police, tell their friends?”
I shook my head before speaking. “It wasn’t just like having a light switch turned off. Sure, they were no longer controlled by Calypso, but they weren’t exactly happy about it.” I paused, struggling to find the words. “It was more like…”
“Grief,” Dawn finished, her lips turned down into a frown. “Like the person they cared most for in the world had died.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking back on Marty. “That covers it.”
“Hmmm,” Riley said with a nod.
“To be honest, out of the four she let go, only one was any kind of concern for exposure,” I added. “And that’s less because of loyalty and more because the bond Calypso created tended to make the drones nuts on top of that.”
“So, what did you do with that person?” Jane asked, looking up from her notes.
“Not sure. I wasn’t there, but I’m pretty sure Amity just wiped his mind.”
Riley let out a hiss as he tilted back too far, almost toppling out of his chair in the process. He leaned forward, bringing the front legs of his chair to the floor with a thud. The guy, who had been the picture of calm since we had first walked in with his damn bag of cheap-ass potato chips, stared at me with wide eyes.
“Amity?” Jane asked. “Amity Graves?”
“Amity Graves is in Bailey City?” Riley asked, his normally calm voice sharp.
“Uh…not anymore,” I said with a frown. “I tried looking for her recently.”
“How long ago?” Riley asked, leaning forward.
“How long ago did I look?”
“No.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “When did she leave Bailey City?”
“I saw her less than three weeks ago,” Dawn piped up.
“Shit,” Riley said, reaching for his phone. “Then the trail has probably gone cold. Excuse me.”
He moved to his feet, eyes glued to the screen of his phone—probably scrolling through his contacts—and began to make his way to the door.
“Jesus,” I swore. “I know she didn’t leave you under the best of terms but—”
“The problem isn’t how she left,” Jane said, scribbling furiously. “The problem is that she left at all.”
“Ah, what now?”
“You talk about this like it’s a job,” she muttered.
“Well, if it’s not a job, then what is it?”
Jane’s head jerked up, her dark glasses making it impossible to read her expression.
“Hey, we have a problem.” Riley jogged back into the room.
“Obviously,” Jane snapped.
“No,” her partner replied. “It’s from Leadership. Before I could even get a word out about Amity Graves, they told us about a far more immediate problem.”
“Immediate?”
“In forty-five minutes, Black and Blue is going to attack one of Edison Kent’s political rallies.”
“And what, did she call and give you a heads up?” I asked.
Then I froze, remembering what Dawn had told me before, that one of the “higher-ups” had the ability to see the future.
“As you said before, we have our sources,” Riley said, then scowled. “And unfortunately, this source isn’t too confident that we’ll be able to get to her before she attacks.”
“Let me get my cannon,” Jane said, launching to her feet.
“No,” Riley said, raising up an index finger and pointing it in her direction. “You’re still recovering, and besides, this is a plainclothes operation. The goal is to find and apprehend her before she causes any real damage. No cannon.”
He paused, turning to Dawn and myself.
“You spoke about pooling our resources,” he continued. “And well, as much as I hate to admit it, we could use some help right now. Apparently, our new Costume is gunning for Kent, and the last thing the Forgers need is for this city’s anti-Actual mayoral candidate to become a martyr.”
12
Team Up
Dawn
“I can’t believe this many people showed up,” Alex said.
I nodded, the sight in front of me was making speech super impossible. I hadn’t set foot near the Tong Building since the Harvest Ball, but I was pretty sure that the last time I had been here it hadn’t looked like this.
The glass-faced skyscraper reflected the afternoon sunlight. That, combined with the large lawn, made for a pretty picture, the kind you might see in ads for tourism. A piece of green nestled peacefully in the middle of Bailey City.
You couldn’t see a scrap of that green today.
The entire lawn was crawling with people, a sight that under most circumstances would make my socially awkward self run in the other direction. I tried my best to ignore that urge. News vans and cameras lined the right side of the park. It was a sight completely at odds with what local politics tended to attract. It was more like when an exciting new candidate for senator had done a rally here last year. The environment at the time had been a mixture of excitement and curiosity.
It wasn’t at all like that today.
“Why do I get the feeling that a fight’s gonna break out at any moment?” Alex murmured under his breath.
“Yeah…that’s not surprising.”
I winced as Riley’s voice buzzed through the tiny commination device in my right ear. Just like when Dana and I had used similar technology to break into Arthur Hamilton’s house (wow, there’s a sentence that does not make me look very heroic!), it was hard for me to get used to it. Every time Riley’s Southern accent cut through the earpiece, it was almost like he had suddenly appeared just to my right.
That, and the nervous energy of the crowd was probably rubbing off on me, making me jumpy.
We had entered the green area on opposite sides. Riley from the east, and Alex and I from the west. We had hoped splitting up would allow us to cover more ground, maybe even find Black and Blue before any trouble started.
We had left the mask and helmet behind, suspecting that a couple of Actuals would not be welcome here.
“The anti-Empowered movement has been building for years, all nice and quiet,” Riley continued. “Without any offic
ial Actuals to call your own, you’ve been shielded somewhat.”
“Until us.” I frowned.
“Drawback of being first, but it had to happen eventually. Just because a movement is limited to isolated pockets on the internet doesn’t mean it’s never gonna break free of that. Bringing it to the forefront like this opens things up for some kind of dialogue, at least.”
“Fuck Actuals!” Someone from the crowd cried out.
“Some kind of dialogue, you said?” Alex asked.
“I didn’t claim it to be all that productive.”
“Um…there are a lot of people here,” I said, hugging my left arm close to my chest. “Are you sure that she’s here for Kent?”
“Our contact with the higher-ups was very specific,” a new voice, Jane’s, piped up. She sounded pretty unhappy. I knew this had less to do with my question and more to do with the fact that Riley had told her to stay in the van.
That argument had also come over on the comms. The conversation was weirdly familiar. I was used to seeing it on comics and TV shows. The powerless normie would make an impassioned plea to be allowed into the field. In the context of those stories, it was always a somewhat empowering moment. Showing the value of seemingly weak characters, whose own knowledge and determination could make up for their lack of powers and shiny suits.
But in real life it had been pretty uncomfortable. It was hard not to look at Jane in her sunglasses and reflect on how fragile she was the second you knocked that cannon out of her hands. It made me worry about Riley. From my conversations with Alex, it sounded like he knew where to place his fists in a fight, but he didn’t seem to be Empowered in any way. Like Jane, he also relied on technology.
“For whatever reason, she goes straight for him,” Riley said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I felt my face twist into a frown. “But why?”
“We won’t know until we find her,” Riley replied. “Let’s spread out. You catch sight of her, let me know. Depending on her power level, the gauntlets might be able to take her out, all nice and quiet-like.”
“Fine,” Alex said quickly, before reaching up and pressing the small button on the earpiece that would turn off the comm. When he spoke next, his voice was pitched lower, but loud enough for me to hear him over the hum of the crowd. “Dawn, does this seem off to you?”
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