Simiurg

3.1 (fixed version)

It all happened too quickly. One moment, I had been focused on dinner with Amy's family. The next, we were on our way to fight an Endbringer. New Wave had practice with this, so we got to the Protectorate base before I could even process what was happening.

I had considered this. Tu Yu and Hu Dai had promised they would fight with me against an Endbringer. They hadn't hesitated, but then neither had I when I made the decision to fight in battles where a third of the attending parahumans died on a good day.

Damn! In all that hurry, I had forgotten to call them. There were public announcements about Endbringer battles, but neither of them were likely to notice them. Tu Yu certainly prefered newspapers over television or radio. Hu Dai was likely out on patrol.

I sent a quick mental message towards Tu Yu. "An Endbringer is attacking. Please wait outside the portal to my house, I'll send Hu Dai to pick you up."

There, that should take care of that. Now I just needed to get a hold of her, and we could all meet up here. I hope the Protectorate didn't mind a lightning strike on top of their base.

Wait. Was that her? Yes, Hu Dai was standing on the other side of the room next to Miss Militia and Armsmaster. How was she here already?

"Excuse me, I need to talk to Watchwoman. I'll catch you later Amy, okay?"

I gave her a quick hug before hurrying over.

Hu Dai greeted me when she saw me. "Aedile, glad you made it." She glanced over at Miss Militia. "We ran into each other on patrol, and-"

I interrupted her. "You need to pick up Tu Yu right now. He's waiting at my house." I was wondering why she was already here, but that really didn't matter now. She rushed towards the nearest exit.

That taken care of, I turned around and headed back to New Wave.

"Aedile. Wait." Armsmaster. Of course he wouldn't leave me alone.

I glared at him. "What is it this time?"

"Do you have permission to be here? Your parents…"

To hell with you! "No. I know all about your regulations. I don't need any permission. I'm not one of your Wards!"

He seemed to stumble back a bit. "But…"

Miss Militia tapped him on the shoulder. Neither of them said anything, but after a short moment he stepped back and walked away. She looked after him for a moment before turning around to me.

"I'm sorry for this. He's just worried and not that good with people."

Way to state the obvious. "What, that I'll sue the Protectorate? There's enough precedent to ignore any liability you might incur. It's a parent's responsibility to keep their children from doing anything dangerous in their cape persona, not yours. I've read all the laws and court decisions, I know what I'm talking about."

She slowly, sadly shook her head. "I'm sure you do. But so does he, he's not worried about that. He's worried about you. Endbringer fights are really dangerous, and he knows all too well what can happen to capes, especially new ones."

"He has a very strange way of showing it then. Seriously, couldn't he just have said so?"

Her lips curved into a small smile. "You have no idea how often I've heard that. He's really not good with people. But I think he was trying to tell you that he isn't the only one to worry, others who know you will too. Your friends, your father."

I'd never told Dad. It had never even occurred to me to ask him about Endbringer fights.

"Aedile? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just...I just remembered something."

Why hadn't I asked Dad? He'd been so understanding about my situation. I loved talking to him about cape business. He even seemed okay with my combat training.

"Are you sure? You don't seem...wait, does your father know you're here?"

I just stood there, staring. Why? I had talked to Hu Dai and Tu Yu. I had even talked to Lisa, though she had declined to fight with us. She had pointed out all the dangers, and yet I still wanted to fight. But why hadn't I told Dad?

"He doesn't. Is there anything I can do to help?"

I shook my head. I couldn't ask him. If I did, he'd worry. Dad couldn't handle that, he'd said so himself. I couldn't make him worry about me like that.

What if something happened to me? But I did have to fight. Or at least help out in other ways. I couldn't stand the thought of not doing so. Even if it made Dad worry.

I was afraid. More afraid of talking to Dad than of fighting an Endbringer. But it had to be done.

I plunged myself and Dad into a daydream. The teahouse in my Sanctum, but with the familiar furniture from our living room.

"Taylor? God you look like a mess, what's wrong?"

"Dad, I…" The words got stuck in my throat. How could I tell him? He'd hurt so much.

Deep breaths. There was no point in tiptoeing around the issue. I'd hurt him either way, no matter what I told him. Even if I didn't tell him.

"I need to tell you something. Please listen, okay?" He nodded. "Dad, the Simurgh is attacking Canberra. I'm at the Protectora base, and I'm going to go and..."

He shouted at me before I could finish my sentence. "No! Absolutely not! No way you're fighting an Endbringer."

"Dad, I-"

He interrupted me right away.

"No, Taylor. Absolutely not. How could you even do this?"

Damn, his temper. This would be tough. I'd be lucky if he even listened to me now.

I took advantage of the dream world. Deafening thunder rolled across the lake, drowning out dads shouting. I made myself bigger, more imposing. He had told me that that was one of the few ways to get his attention in this state.

"Dad! Let me explain. Please."

I paused. The world returned to normal, his side of the dream was no longer crumbling into nothing. He didn't respond. I could still feel his anger, but he was giving me a chance to explain.

"Dad, I won't fight. I'll stay back, support others. Help with the evacuation, coordinate people. I won't fight. I promise.

The lake behind him was freezing into rough, ragged ice. The look in his eyes spoke of incredible anger, but at least he didn't shout his answer.

"It's still too dangerous. Taylor, there's no way I'm letting you do this. That's final."

Don't get angry. Don't lash out. He's just stubborn and concerned about you. My voice still took on a harder tone as I put all the force I could into my voice.

"Dad. I'm going either way. I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I've already made my decision."

The ice started to crack. I could see him swallowing, taking a few deep breaths. He had told me that his anger didn't do him any good against determined people. He knew he couldn't stop me that way. Was that fear I saw on his face? His voice broke as much as the ice in the dream.

"Kiddo...why didn't you ask about this earlier?"

Just hearing that question from him hurt. I didn't know, and just felt worse for it. "I don't know Dad. Honestly, I didn't keep this secret from you on purpose. I only just noticed that I hadn't told you. I'm sorry."

He sounded just as hurt as I felt. "Taylor, we should have talked about this. I...dammit kiddo, I want you to trust me."

"I know Dad. I want to trust you too."

I knew I'd feel bad about my next sentence, but said it anyway. "I know I don't have the right to ask this, but please trust me. I won't fight, I promise. And I'll have Tu Yu and Hu Dai with me, I'll be safe".

There, I just guilt-tripped my father to further my own goals. I could feel him struggle, his anger evaporating into worry before he gave in. "Okay Taylor. You...I guess you have to do this. Just stay safe, please."

Did he know what I'd done? "I will, Dad." I cut the link.

Glory Girl laughed. Panacea was aghast. "Vicky! That's not funny!"

They had noticed the scene between Armsmaster and me. Glory Girl had bet it'd be something silly, and clearly didn't seem too worried about it. I hadn't managed to tell them the truth.

"But it is, Ames. Here we are, ready to fight an Endbringer any second, and he's making a fuss about permission."

I had left out the part where I'd kept secrets from Dad. That I had told my father just five minutes ago that I was going to fight for my life today. Panacea was already upset enough. "It's still serious. I think he did it just to harass her."

Glory Girl shook her head. "He's Armsmaster. The stick up his ass is tinker-made. But even if he did it to harass her, all the more reason to take it with humor."

Her aura flared up for just a moment as she spoke. It slid off me, but I could still feel her boiling anger. I was glad she had it under control. "Victoria is right, I don't want to be angry right now. We can't afford to lose our heads or be angry at people who fight with us. But speaking of angry…"

Panacea seemed to calm down, and they both gave me curious looks.

"Uh, we kinda need someone else to test it. It's about one of my powers. I'd like to test it, and your aura would be good for that."

Glory Girls lit up with interest. "Oooh, you want a guinea pig? What's it supposed to do? No, wait. Don't tell me, it's better science that way! Wait here, I'll ask someone."

We were left behind, stunned by her enthusiasm. "Sooo, is Victoria always like that?"

Amy snickered. "Vicky really likes science. I know a lot of people don't see her that way, but she's really smart. Smarter than me at least." I gave her a look that was supposed to tell her not to put herself down like that. "Um, anyway. She wants to be more than just a hero. She can't be a lawyer or such because of her aura. And she's smart, so she wants to make a career out of that."

I had to admit that I hadn't seen her like that at all. It clashed with the image I had of her, or at least people like her. I was about to tell Panacea when she looked at me hopefully.

"Wait, do you think your power could help her with that?"

"Not really. I think one of my powers makes people more resistant to mental influence. But I can't really use it on everyone, so it wouldn't help her with that problem. But it might help today, if it really works."

"I think it works."

I almost didn't catch that she'd said anything, it was barely a whisper. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing, just...I think it works. That is, if you used it on me. Back at the hospital."

"Really? Right, I did. But how did you notice, what's the difference?"

She fidgeted. "Oh, I can't really say. I'm so used to her aura, and she was doing really well the last few weeks and I wasn't around her that much anyway and, well it's just a guess. Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

She was lying. And really uncomfortable about the topic. It wasn't because my blessing did more than I had told her, so why was she so uncomfortable? "Are you okay? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd really like to know how that power works."

Her whole body language screamed of discomfort. "Sorry, you don't have to…"

"No, I want to help you. But it's really hard, and…"

"Listen up, everyone!" Armsmaster spoke up, interrupting our conversation. His voice carried through the entire hall, calm and serious.

"We will teleport to the staging area in two minutes. You will each receive an armband device. It will provide tactical data for each of you. Wear it at all times. It is vital that this is a coordinated effort."

I was glad to hear that that was taken care of. Concordia had brainstormed how we could coordinate such a large-scale effort. On short notice, composed of individuals who had never worked together? It was a nightmare that I just understood all-too well thanks to my powers.

"You will all be asked to provide a description of your powers. Do so. Each of you will be assigned an appropriate task. Dragon will handle that job over your armbands. She will also keep all data secure. Under the Endbringer truce, we will not access that data under any other circumstance than such battles."

He scowled at the last sentence. But it was understandable. Few villains would be willing to reveal all about their capabilities to the PRT and other hero-organizations. Heck, I still wouldn't reveal the full range of my abilities despite the promise of secrecy. I just couldn't afford the risk.

"We are fighting the Simurgh. Under no circumstances are you to stay within the range of her scream for longer than ten minutes. Your armband will keep track of the limit and warn you. Use it to call for extract. Don't wait too long."

His face turned grim, and so did Miss Militia's next to him. "Stay longer, and we must assume you are under the Simurghs control. And we will take appropriate measures to neutralize any such risk."

A lot of people were stunned. Threatening to kill your own people, even if they were just temporary allies, was hard to swallow.

"We will be fighting in turns. Stay as long as you are assigned, no longer. If you cannot obey those rules, you will be part of the problem. If your powers do not allow you to fight the Simurgh directly, you will be assigned support duties. The same goes for those recovering from her scream, if they are able. Do not try to fight if you cannot, we cannot afford dead weight out there."

He really needed to work on his delivery. But he was right, and almost everyone present could see it. A lot of people were shaken up, but they still seemed resolved to do their part.

"Get ready to deploy"

I was glad I had time to brace for the teleport. Getting thrown into a dark, oppressive void and tumbling through it without any sense of time was hardly comfortable. Judging by their muttering about a new Mover and stupid powers, Panacea and Glory Girl were unused to this as well.

The structure I found myself in did not inspire confidence. A skeleton of thick, metal rods rammed into the ground in no discernible pattern. Floors and walls spread between them in an uneven manner.

"It is most inelegant, your Eminence. Clearly constructed in haste, with no eye towards higher function. But I suppose it will serve, at least it looks sturdy."

Tu Yu's mode of address got me a few strange looks from New Wave, but nobody commented.

Bands of thick metal were laid out on tables all over the room and stacked in boxes all around it. I picked one up, and it closed around my wrist immediately.

"Welcome, user. Please state your cape name for Identification." A crisp voice, clearly mechanical due to its lack of inflections.

"Aedile." At least I'd find out what records the PRT had on me, at least in regards to my powers.

"Welcome, Aedile. Unaffiliated hero. We have you on file as Thinker 6, Master 3, Breaker 4. Please provide a further description of your powers."

At least the powers I wanted to keep secret didn't matter for this fight anyway.

"I have boosted cognitive abilities. They are especially potent in matters of paperwork and organization."

It felt silly to talk about non-combat abilities while I could hear distant explosions.

"I can grant those abilities to others. The Master-rating is because a variant of that power-up makes those affected feel compelled to act according to the rules of their organization. I have a Breaker-rating because I can become intangible."

I left out my combat training with Hu Dai, or that I could teleport back to my sanctum at will. Neither would do much good in this fight.

"Acknowledged, Aedile. Please stand by."

People all around me had done the same as me, but were already hurrying to their positions. Panacea was headed downstairs, likely to a field hospital. The rest of New Wave rushed in another direction. Of course, their abilities were already known. But Hu Dai was with them, as were other capes who were clearly fighters. Maybe their abilities were just more straight-forward than mine? No, Tu Yu was also on the move. Did I just have the bad luck of landing at the end of the queue?

"Aedile? Could I talk to you for a moment?" The armband chimed again, this time with a much more modulated, less mechanical voice.

"Go ahead." Nobody else seemed to have been called directly like this.

"Thank you. I'm Dragon, I'm coordinating our efforts here. Could you answer some questions about your powers for me?"

Crap. Had she somehow noticed that I was concealing something? Did this armband have a lie detector? Calm down, it's far more likely she really just had questions.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Thank you." I could practically hear her smile. "Your power to improve other people. Do you think it would work on thinkers? We can use every edge we can get, but some Thinkers can't handle too much input at once. We can't risk screwing up our coordination."

Fortunately I had used my blessing on Lisa and could state with high confidence that it would have no such side effects. "It does work. I already tested it, no side effects. I can only use it on maybe a dozen people though, so please tell me who the best candidates are."

Of course, I had no such limitation on non-capes, but no reason to mention that now.

"Thank you. I'm compiling a list as we speak, but if you could explain in more detail what your power does, that would help."

If she was coordinating things here, she should be on top of the list. "Here, let me show you."

I had no idea where Dragon was. But as long as she was somewhere in this city, I could bless her. I focussed part of my energies on her identity, and it worked just fine. "There. The effects should last for about a day. I can do more too, it's best to show instead of tell though."

I switched to our divine language and spoke my Decree.

"I, Administrator of the Mandate, hereby decree that nothing shall impede the effort of all involved in protecting Canberra on this day."

It wouldn't affect capes. It wouldn't work on physical dangers. But just improving the communication and coordination between the soldiers and all other emergency personnel should help a lot as well.

"There, that should help some more. Sorry, that power is a bit weird Dragon. It should make things go smoother though."

Silence. She didn't answer. Was she just busy? Distracted by an emergency? But if there had been a bad interaction with my powers…

"Dragon? Are you there? Dragon!"

"Wow. Sorry Aedile. I just...I could just feel myself getting smarter. It was a bit overwhelming. We can definitely use this. Let me show you to the command center."

A deep-red circle right in the middle of the city, slowly spreading outward. Dozens of small, white dots inside it. Two of them blinked out of existence.

"Petal Empress down, C 13"

"Moonshadow Deceased, E 4".

Hundreds of tiny black dots and crosses within the red circle. Thousands more outside of it.

Viewscreens painted a clearer picture. Thousands of fleeing civilians. Hundreds enthralled by the terrible figure floating above their city. Asymmetrical white-golden wings carrying a statuesque crystalline body. The attacks of the small number of heroes swatted aside.

I stared at the Simurgh.

I stared at the figures on the map.

And it was hard not to despair, for I could see how she made them dance.3.2 - Tattletale

"Ok Tu Yu, show me that agai-"

"What do you mean 'of course it's a real mountain range'?"

"Yes Taylor, I'm fine, just-"

"No. No, that is not 'the norm'! I thought my powers were bullshi-"

"Broken. As. Fuck."

"Ooh, we can use that. Let me explain."

"For the last time Hu Dai, stop trying to give me your damn tea or I'll… No I'm not going to need it!"

"Oh thank god. Technical support. Lotus, can you-"

The last few weeks had gone in a blur, and despite my best efforts to be careful I'd suffered context point overloads four more times. On the upside, I now knew roughly eighty percent - I estimated - of what I actually needed to know to properly help my new organisation. And with them now knowing about Coil, they had a far higher chance of survival, and by extension, I had that too. And it felt nice to be trusted. They even did so enough to leave me alone in their base.

I sighed, closed the file in front of me and looked around the empty reading room that I'd turned into my haunt within the Sanctum.

"Lotus?"

"Yes Lisa?" It had taken three hours for me to get her to call me that instead of some silly title. Really, who came up with a title like "Most Discerning Companion of the Administrator"?

"Can you put this back for me please?" I nodded at the file in front of me, and it vanished in a flash of silver. Apparently the paper-spiders weren't needed everywhere.

"File retrieved to holding."

"Thank you, Lotus." I stifled a laugh. Amazingly, the existence of something which I was still absolutely convinced was an artificial intelligence - as a household overseer hadn't given me another overload, although the idea that Tu Yu was capable of creating that sort of thing was...more than a little...well. A mix of terrifying and mindblowing was the best handle I had on it.

"You are welcome. Is there anything else I might help you with?"

I made good use of every time my three new allies were absent. They'd been very much unwilling to let me experiment. With anything. It was always "Oh but it might dangerous". Why have a Thinker like me around if you weren't going to let me use my abilities to help you. Well...what was the phrase...better to beg pardon than ask permission? Yeah, that one.

"Actually...yes." I paused for a long moment, running through the list of things that I'd filed under 'ask when not busy' and felt a smile pull at my lips as I found the one nearest the top for me. "Lotus, can you tell me about the language that seems to be everywhere here? What Aedile writes her decrees in."

"Why of course Lisa. I am not capable of translating its name accurately, but as an approximation, I will call it Language of Being. The Language of Being is the manifest will of the Administrator of the Mandate, the Most Excellent Designer and Curator of Celestial Abodes, the Protector of Learning and others like them. No other language in Creation is more suited for this task, for it is capable of describing all aspects of Existence, Shape, Desire, Identity, Communication and Conflict. Only those who are enlightened are fully capable of using it. However, lesser beings can use it for simple communication and it would be fully within your capabilities to learn it."

"I thought Taylor told you to call her 'Her Eminence'." It was small talk, but it gave me time to think. Verbal sparring with an intelligence that wasn't fully sentient might not be particularly fun - or fair - but I'd take it right now.

"Although my protocol imperatives allow me to do so, Lisa, I am under no requirement to refuse the Administrator of the Mandate her full title when she is not present."

Classic.

"Was that sarcasm?" Just...a little...longer. Existence, Shape, Desire, this...wait a second.

"I am not capable of sarcasm. Do you hav-"

Conceptual language.

"Oh my god." It came out in a rush as realisation hit me. "You...you're..you're talking something like what those new age sites blab about! A language of the universe, that if you have power to put behind it -" I cut off again as new reasoning chains raced across my mind, building from the context points that I'd been collecting for the last several weeks but hadn't been able to put together until now.

Vehicle for Concordia's powerset.

"That's how Aedile and Hu-Dai and Tu Yu do the crazy stuff they do! That's the unifier!" I had to stop there, pushing back against the flood of possibility to stay focused. "I'm sorry for interrupting you Lotus." She got strangely snippy when people interrupted her. It was another reason I refused to believe she wasn't exactly non-sentient. "But I do have a question now."

"Yes, Lisa?" I gathered my breath, hoping against hope.

"Can you teach me?"

"I can acquire reference sources for your use. Actual teaching would have to be deferred to one of the Administrator of the Mandate, the Most Excellent Designer and Curator of Celestial Abodes or the Protector of Learning. Of those, I would recommend the last one, for Her domain."

Damn. I wanted to do this on my own. I mean, it wasn't that I didn't trust Taylor and her friends...but...um...ok, I didn't quite trust that they'd be ok with me learning their language. But...reference materials? Oh...oh yes. I could learn a lot from 'reference materials'.

"Could you send me some of those sources, please?"

"Of course, Lisa. Transferring records."

There was a faint hum, and a small stack of books - books, hell, these were tomes - appeared on the table in front of me. There were a few smaller ones, they looked like the ones I'd want to start with, but then the sizes went up fast. And at the bottom of the pile...I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It was thicker than any of the other books, its name was unreadable to me, and it was sealed by a silver clasp that seemed to be almost alive. I could actually feel the energy coiled around it, and I didn't need my power to work out that touching that one would probably be very unwise if I didn't know what I was doing. So I picked one of the smaller sources, one that actually had some english on its cover.

"Thank you Lotus, this will be all for now." I was already examining the strange characters on the page in front of me, seeing how they were formed, and I could feel the first twitches from my power. This was...going to be interesting.

I didn't just study though. Concordia was busy a lot of the time, but I wasn't left to my own devices for all of it. And because they'd actually listened to me about Coil, they kept up to date with monitoring his activities, which I was a key part of. We'd actually started getting some informants and basic 'agents' around the city, not that Taylor called them that. My former teammates helped as well, especially Alec. It let me keep my eyes on things without having to go out there except on rare occasion. I had gotten a new apartment right away, but I didn't trust my ability to hide from Coil. Tu Yu had noticed that I was concerned and installed a portal in it. Food was plentiful and free in the Sanctum, and it was really more comfortable than my apartment too. Sadly I couldn't take the books to study there though, Lotus wouldn't let me, but it felt nice to have it. And Taylor would often come seeking my advice on certain situations now as well, which felt good.

And yet even knowing the local threats they were facing, a week later they all vanished off to Canberra to fight the Simurgh. The Simurgh. Just go bouncing halfway across the planet by Mover and leave your fledgling organisation with just the Thinker who's incapable of doing half of the broken tricks that all the other Parahuman's involved are capable of. Great move! Alright, in fairness Taylor and Tu Yu would probably be able to do a lot to help in a Simurgh attack. But it would be background stuff...although maybe that would be to their benefit. They were still very scared of some of their powers becoming known, and staying in the background would let them keep certain parts of their powerset hidden.

That aside, it meant I had several hours - at least - to try to put together what I'd learnt so far from Lotus's reference materials. The sealed book was still very much beyond me, but I'd started to work out some of the title. It was something to do with an art or shaping, but the type of book it was remained beyond me. I was beginning to understand parts of how the language worked, but the way it functioned...Lotus hadn't been kidding about how descriptive it was.

There were words in this language for things that were entire sentences in English, or even more. The amount of information that could be transferred in just a single sentence was phenomenal, and in my last study session I was absolutely certain that I'd been just short of cracking something deeply important about the language, and how it functioned in relation to the world.

"Lotus?" I was back in my home in the Sanctum, having seen Tu Yu and Hu Dai off with my best wishes for luck. I hoped they wouldn't need it.

"Yes Lisa?"

"Can you transfer the reference texts for," I paused, took a breath, then switched languages. "The Most High and Blessed First Tongue of Creation." The sounds were just almost unlike anything I'd ever heard, yet that wasn't the interesting part. That sentence, capital letters and all, was two syllables. And that was me translating through to English, which lacked the forms for half of the things that the Language of Being - I'd taken to using the translation in my thoughts - took for granted.

The now-familiar stack of books blinked into existence on the table in front of me, and I smiled in spite of myself as I asked a well practised question. "Was that better?"

"Your inflection on the fifth Aspect was a touch off." Lotus replied, and my lips quirked again. She might not be a teacher, but I doubted that anyone in Concordia had the same depth of technical knowledge, which was what I'd needed more than anything else. It helped that languages were generally designed to be intuitive, otherwise how would people learn them.

"Thank you Lotus." I leant forward to pick up the text I was currently working with; the second one in the pile. I was most of the way through it, but the last chapters were being difficult, and technical knowledge - no matter how detailed, it seemed - wasn't sufficing. Lotus could give me pronunciation, reel off grammar conventions with a fluency I didn't think Hu Dai would be able to match, and even handle some translation. Her blind spot was context, which was what I was stuck on.

I flipped through to where I'd left off, and this time I lowered my walls all but completely. I'd been so close to a breakthrough the last time I'd been able to look at this, only Taylor's early return from a meeting had robbed me of the time I'd needed to make it. I'd...maybe been a little snappy with her about that. But now I let my perceptions expand, made sure I had them under control where they were, and then started reading, muttering the words under my breath.

"...amongst the most vital and ancient aspects of the First Tongue is its irreplaceable utility as the language for all forms of-" dammit, what did that symbol mean? Shaping? Art? No, that wasn't helping. What had I been trying to do….that's right. I'd tried direct translation - it hadn't helped. And then tried to use the Aspects of its symbols for context. And then when that had failed, I'd attempted a final council of despair and just started sounding out the word - the very fact that it had been a full word was kind of terrifying, as that meant it had to be a hugely complicated concept. But something there had caught, although I'd not been able to find it. Now though...ok. Bit by bit.

Hold up one fucking moment.

Zaub. Pronunciation similar to Zauberei. German for sorcery.

Ok...that was syllable t-

Context. Word is related to an Art.

"Oder Zauberkunst…" I whispered, looking at the Aspects clustered around each symbol of the word. "Art of sorcery?" Was that it? No...no...there was more in here. Art wasn't right before that symbol...and that had to mean Art then, in this case. What were the others then? I'd seen that one… The meaning started to take shape, like an old fashioned photo rising out of a chemical bath.

The Art of Blessed Shaping and Sorcery. It wasn't an exact translation at all, the Aspects of the word were complicated beyond belief, but in the end I could reduce the entire long sentence to the word at its end if I was searching for a meaning. Sorcery. Sorcery. And yet, I couldn't believe I was saying this, that wasn't the most incredible thing.

This 'First Language' was related to other languages in existence...but which way did those links go? I considered the question, then snapped the book shut and addressed Lotus again. Sorcery could wait.

"Lotus, please transfer transfer reference material on world languages."

"Allocating." There was a short pause. "Specify language group."

Crap, I should have considered that. I needed as broad a base as I could work with, but also ones I had some knowledge of. Except if I was right…

"Far Eastern."

"Transferring."

This time it was just sheets of paper mostly, Lotus had probably raided the sections of the Sanctum that had reports filed in those languages. Given the more prevalent Asian organisations around here...I wasn't sure wanted to try reading it, but I also knew I had to. I pulled one of the sheets towards me, and looked it over.

It was some kind of report from the ABB. I could only make out parts of it, I didn't speak the language after all - actually, I couldn't even identify what language it was. But some of the words seemed to share roots with words in 'First Tongue', and my power snapped the rest into place. It being an ABB report however, I didn't get through more than the first few paragraph before pushing it away.

There had to be some other Eastern language group stuff written by someone other than the damn AAB. But despite how...not particularly pleasant it had been, the experiment answered my -question. There'd been some chapters about this, how the 'First Tongue' was actually meant to be what the name implied, and that all languages were linked back to it somehow. I'd discounted the idea at first, it had seemed too crazy, but now…

Now it seemed like it really did have those links. Which meant I needed to find out what 'enlightened' meant. Because that word I'd deciphered was the same one on the book at the bottom of the pile. It was a tome of sorcery. Actually, if I'd read the Aspects right, it was closer to an instruction manual.

And if I could learn the language, who was to say I couldn't learn how to use it, like Concordia did.

It wasn't quite as simple as that of course. But with further context, and the revelation that the language I was learning seemed to form the root for other human languages gave a great deal of that, I was able to decipher a great deal of the final chapters in the hours that the Sanctum remained empty of all but me. Here and there I asked Lotus questions; a final few on the language's grammar, a direct translation here and there, and a handful of pronunciations. But most of the work was my own, and as I continued studying my power more and more started to almost...anticipate me. Looking at a set of symbols that I knew had to form a word, I'd find links to 'real-world' languages, and my power would bridge the context gap.

The more I learnt though, the more I started to believe that the idea of learning 'sorcery' wasn't so impossible. And as that happened, more possibility chains started to resolve in my head, focusing onto the book at the bottom of the pile.

I knew I should probably wait, but I'd always known that curiosity was one of my worst - and best - traits. Bit by bit I started to understand the lines of shifting text that covered the silver clasp, and when I finally realised I almost laughed aloud. Was that a riddle? Maybe this was what being Alice would have felt like, falling into Wonderland.

Once there was a Maiden….

….who knew nothing of the world, for she could not speak with it.

She did her best to learn, but could not know what she saw,

Wandering across the world without a path

She tried to fight, but faced only failure.

So she lost her desires and found her voice

"To know the world is to listen to it"

What was that meant to mean? It wasn't a riddle, or if it was it was one which answered itself. But then what was the solution I needed? If this text was part of the lock to clasp on the book, which it certainly seemed to be, there had to be some sort of solution.

Not a riddle. A test.

A test of what, then? And what was this 'Maiden' business - was that meant to be me? I didn't understa-

That was it!

Sorcery was… I still wasn't sure. A way to speak with the world. Knowing what to say to bring a certain answer from it. But if had to be deeper than that. The First Tongue was the vehicle, all well and good, but Lotus and the books I'd now finished had talked about something...else. Something more. And without that 'something', the world wouldn't answer. No, wait. Go back a bit again. The world would answer. You just wouldn't hear. 'She could not speak with it.' Speaking with something was far more than a matter of being able to talk to it.

Click

I started, my mind full of possibilities jolted by the sudden sound, and looked down, search for the source of the sound. Nothing around me had made it, so it had to be on the table. And my eyes widened as a I realised what had happened. One of the holds on the clasp had come free. Did that mean what I thought it did?

Understanding is the solution.

So it was sort-of a riddle then. That was also...reading my mind. What. Nope, not creepy at all. But that in itself was another proof the sort of power sorcery could give you access to. Powers that most parahumans would consider - that I'd considered - all but impossible. Except...I still didn't know the cost of that power. It could be that costly if it was used by Concordia as much as I was starting to suspect, but not knowing wore on my mind. Learning something like this without knowing the price didn't really strike me as wise...so I was really hoping that the codex in front of me would explain that. Otherwise I was probably going to have to ask, assuming that Lotus wasn't able to explain. Given the complexity of the question and concepts involved in it, I wasn't particularly hopeful as to her ability to help me there.

But if I wanted to know the answer, assuming the book had it, I needed to unlock it. And mind-reading creepiness aside, I was pretty sure of what I had to do to get it open. Each line after the second corresponded to some sort of test, something that had to be understood to release another part of the clasp. Five lessons, five understandings, I'd already found one - but what had it really been?

It took me a long time to work it out, but I got it in the end. I'd not known, still didn't know. And I understood that, even as I was working to change it. There was a word for that; humility. And acknowledging that had half opened the sealed tome. So I focused on the 'riddle' again, trying to find further context points, anything for my power to latch on to. 'Did her best to learn' no, no, I was trying to find a way to learn, as I couldn't without this book open. Box, crowbar, et. all. Fighting but facing failure...I shied away from that more than a little, the second-to-last line as well. But the third.

I knew wandering. I knew very well what it was like to not have a path. I'd only ever actually stopped when I was added to the Undersiders. Was that enough? I looked down, there was no change to the holds on the seal. Ok, no. Had to go deeper then. The idea of wandering, wandering without a path, where did that lead. Travel? Trip? Quest? No, that was the wrong direction. Why would it be a quest? No, no, not important. Going somewhere without knowing where you were going? What would you call that? From the first example, these all came down to single words. What was this on-

Journey.

Oh I loved being me sometimes.

That feeling didn't last long however, as I struggled for the hour trying to work out the other three. I could get them down to a few words in some cases - the second one was clearly related to learning, possibly being taught, but none of it prompted a single click to show that I'd made progress. Eventually, realising that I'd been possibly a little too focused, I took a break. Which then turned into a nap when the fatigue of all the mental focus I'd been doing abruptly caught up with me.

I wasn't quite sure how long I slept, only that I woke up when Lotus told me Taylor was back from Canberra. I scrambled to get everything back in order, get the books sent back, and it was only then that I found that the claps was actually open. It must have opened when I was hyper-focused, so much so that I just missed the sound. Perhaps fortunately, I didn't have time to be more than angry in passing towards myself, as I rushed to meet Taylor. From everything I'd watched, Endbringer battles were terrible experiences.

My first glance inspired some confidence, her costume was in good condition and physically she seemed fine. But then I saw her face, and that faint ghost of confidence evaporated. Her expression wasn't, quite, dead, but it was closer to it than I'd ever seen on someone. Something had happened. Something terrible. And the entrance hall probably wasn't a good place to discuss it.

"Lotus?" I asked, taking Taylor gently by the arm. "Please send us to the teahouse."

"Yes Lisa."

Taylor didn't even react to the teleportation, nor as I made sure she was sat down before setting some of her favourite tea to steep - Lotus and Hu Dai had been obsessive about us learning 'proper preparation'. I brought the two cups over, set them down, and then looked up at Taylor. Still sitting there. Like a broken statue.

"Taylor?" She blinked, looking around as if a stranger to the place, then her eyes came back into focus as she turned her gaze back to me. But she didn't speak. "Taylor, what's wrong?" I didn't want to ask that question, or this one, but I did it anyway. If she kept drifting…

"What happened?" I tried to put all of my concern into that question, in a way that wouldn't be pressuring but would hopefully get through. For a long moment she just kept staring, then her eyes seemed to clear, only to fill with tears. And through the beginning of them she painfully formed two words. I'd never heard someone sound so...broken.

"She's dead."3.3

The command center was a heap of somehow-controlled frenetic activity.

"That should reinforce your perimeter, commander."

Things were constantly changing. Reinforcements, casualties, new developments and the time-limit imposed by the Simurgh made sure no plan survived for longer than a few minutes.

"Very good. Thank you for your assistance, it should hold for now."

I knew exactly what that meant.

"But there has to be something I can do!"

Commander Harkins just looked at me with weary eyes and a sad expression. I begged, I pleaded, I threatened. Nothing to be done, they said.

Everyone within a two-mile radius of the Simurgh was not allowed to leave. Capes could go in and stay for ten minutes. But all those civilians…

The zone was full of offices. Museums, shopping centers. Several schools and a hospital.

It would have been easier if they were all like those completely taken over by the Simurgh. I could see them on the viewscreens. Raving mad, attacking everything but each other. Clearly beyond help. Best not to think about them.

The sight of a five-year old struggling against her father - knowing that she wouldn't stop until he was dead. At least the camera cut out before...

I wasn't the only one who had thrown up. The camera drones had stopped monitoring the civilians after that, but we still had to watch over the capes and keep an eye on the Simurgh. We could still catch glimpses of the turmoil, and even looking away didn't erase the memories. Only the hope that we could prevent more kept us going.

"Dragon! Please! The military isn't listening, we have to do something!"

Her voice trembled slightly as she answered. "I...Aedile, we just don't have the resources. I'm sorry, we can barely contain the Simurgh. If the perimeter breaks…"

It would only get worse, I knew. But I couldn't just watch. I tried to dive into ice-cold logic, convince myself that what we were doing was the best option.

"No. I can't accept that. I know we can't just them them out, they might just be set to run amok later. But I will help them! At least get them out of there."

"Aedile…" Dragon had been trying to convince me for a while now. I could already imagine what she was trying to say.

"Your Eminence?" Tu Yu interrupted. "It grieves me to say, but You must accept your limitations."

Him too? "No! I will figure this out, and you will help me. Right now."

He didn't even flinch as I shouted at him. "As Your Eminence wishes. I do advise otherwise, but I am at Your service."

I didn't care if he disagreed. I would do this on my own if I had to. But he did join me as I started compiling lists of all our assets. Every hero, every villain, every cape we had. Every soldier, every relief worker, even how we could utilize the civilians. Every piece of heavy machinery, every piece of construction material, how we could utilize the city and landscape.

A lot was already known, of course. Dragon had made such lists and even provided them to me without complaint. But it wasn't organized. A lot wasn't even properly sorted. Especially not for the task of rescuing people.

I could almost understand why. Shelters were no use against the Simurgh, even underground. Her scream penetrated everywhere, only limited by range. She took care to cut off escape routes with her telekinesis. By the time any resistance was organized and relief efforts were under way, all they could do was contain the chaos she wrought. Make sure her thralls were taken out, that the people she might have primed to do her bidding later were contained. And wait for the capes to drive her back, somehow, leaving behind a barely salvageable wreck.

We could do it. It wouldn't be easy, it would be risky. But we had the necessary assets, we just needed to use them the right way.

"Dragon, I have a plan." I sent it to her. Having her read it would waste precious time, but I didn't have the authority to do it without her approval.

"Aedile, this won't work. We can't coordinate this well enough. I can't spare the attention, I need to keep it on the battle. I'm sorry." At least she was a fast reader.

I had anticipated that answer. Dragon was amazing, but like all parahumans she had her limits.

"I can do it."

Her reply sounded incredulous. "You will have to coordinate dozens of individual operations. Constantly check on the flow of refugees. Make sure all the barricades are in place on time. Oversee…"

"And all before the Simurgh can act against us. I know." I took a deep breath. "I know it's risky to trust me. But I minimized the failure points. There are only two points where failure will make the situation worse. Right at the start when we move our troops, and when we open the gates. If you help me there, you can make sure I don't screw it up completely."

I didn't want someone looking over my shoulder the whole time. My experience with that was not exactly good. But I had to trust her that much, or she wouldn't trust me.

"Please, Dragon, this plan will save hundreds of people."

Reluctantly, she agreed.

"I, the Administrator of the Mandate, will hereby devote myself to enacting this plan. Now I am become the Hand of Destiny."

I was afraid. Not of failure, but of using this power. I had only used it once before, to set up Rachel's dog shelter. The memories weren't pleasant. But I had to do my duty.

The command center faded from my mind. All the chatter was filtered out, merely a distant hum. I stopped registering the screens and people as my mind began to focus. In its place; Information. Troops and vehicles, streets and positions, buildings and rubble. Assets. Resources.

Tell Tu Yu to start building the barricades in the north.

The most distant point from here, and the evacuation would go through a chokepoint. It would cost lives now, but save many more later.

I gave the order.

Tell the troops to start advancing towards the thralls.

If we held our positions, the enemy could react to us. Present them targets. Each life lost now would save at least four others later, if we pulled out in time. At least one-hundred-thirty people would die.

I gave the order.

The other orders were easier to give. Acquire raw materials and ready them for transport. Shift camera drones. Clear streets of rubble. Place demolition charges. One order followed another. Time didn't seem to pass between them. Each step flashed through my mind and I acted on it. The Plan was advancing.

Tu Yu was in position. The raw materials he needed were delayed.

Dragon was trying to address me. Not relevant. I ordered Tu Yu to gather what materials he needed locally. Infrastructure was expendable. Shift materials further east, troops can start building barriers earlier. The Plan was ahead of schedule.

Thralls started slaughtering civilians en masse. They stopped wandering aimlessly. More were pouring out from deeper within the city. Troops were expended.

Do not send assistance. Hold your troops back.

The order was given. Dragon was shouting at me again. Irritating.

"You will not withdraw control. Results would be catastrophic."

My voice was calm, reasonable. Hers was not. "Aedile, they're dying out there! We have to help them, now! You said so yourself, do something."

"Negative. Events are desirable."

"You've lost your mind. I'm stopping this right now."

"Negative. Countermand orders. New position of enemy assets is easier to control. Massed fire will reduce future troop losses. Calculated loss necessary. Delaying construction will lead to greater loss of life by prolonging battle. Administrator has data."

Administrator shoved it at her and continued with the plan. Delays had been accounted for.

Mortal resources were declining rapidly. Less than one hundred fifty more would be used until the gates were ready to be opened. Losses were within acceptable parameters.

Dragon was shouting again. It was of no consequence.

Wait. Reevaluate.

Defend body to ensure success of the Plan.

The Simurgh had diverted its forces. Attacked the control center somehow. Defenses were needed.

Assets relocated. Expendable, not needed for plan. Sufficient to repel attack. Continue the Plan.

Barricades in place. Evacuation corridor established. Quarantine zone secure.

Enemy forces contained along the perimeter. Deploy reinforcements. Start Evacuation.

It was done. The Plan was enacted. I shook my head, trying to clear my tunnel vision. I was dizzy and confused, like waking up after a rough night full of intense dreams. My senses were slowly getting clearer as the disorientation began to fade. I heard the noise of activity nearby, as well as the distant sounds of battle. I could smell the polluted air, stale and full of dust. I blinked a few times at the flickering lights. My sense of time didn't recover, but I spotted a digital clock at the other end of the room. Over three hours had passed.

Right, time to get up. My muscles weren't sore or cramped, but I still stood up slowly. And promptly stumbled into a crater right behind me as my foot slipped.

How had that happened? I asked myself as I got up, more slowly this time. Then I remembered. We had been attacked. And something must have blasted a crater right into the floor right behind me. Don't panic. Check yourself for injuries, call for help.

I did, and I was fine, apparently. Not a scratch on my body, even my costume seemed fine, if dirty.

But all the decisions I had made came back to me, overrunning any relief I felt.

"How….how many?"

I didn't speak loudly, didn't address anyone. Nobody else was here. I was looking over rubble, pools of blood and more blast marks. The room had been thoroughly demolished, and all the remaining equipment was clearly broken. Then I heard Dragon over my armband.

"Six-thousand four-hundred thirty-six people were rescued, Aedile. They're all safe, your plan worked."

I tried to feel glad. Or relieved, or proud, or anything that would push away the gnawing pit of empty horror in my stomach.

"No, I….how many died? How many people did I kill?" I knew I shouldn't focus on that. I had saved people, I had done good. But no matter how much I told myself, I couldn't believe it.

"Aedile, that's...look, you didn't kill them. The Simurgh did. Would have done so if you hadn't done anything. None of this is your fault."

"How. Many." I already knew. I remembered the numbers. I remembered them as assets I had used, as resources to be spent. It made me want to throw up. At least I could pretend that I cared, play at being human and ask what damage I had done. How many people had died because of me. Hear it from someone who didn't sacrifice human lives mindlessly like I had.

Dragon spoke softly. "I don't know. Not exactly, we don't have clear numbers yet. Less than seven-hundred, we know that for sure. But that's not your fault Aedile."

It hit me right in the gut. That number was greater than the amount of people I had known in my life. I remembered giving the orders that had ended so many lives. Too many to really comprehend on a human scale. Worse, I remembered how I'd given them. Cold, hard calculations. Like a machine. It made me sicker, but I couldn't throw up any more from my empty stomach.

No. I got up, tried to get myself under control and stop dry heaving. It felt harder than anything in my life. But I wouldn't break down, I needed to keep going. I needed to make up for this, somehow.

Two people were standing right behind me. I hadn't noticed them earlier. Had Dragon called them? She spoke again.

"Aedile, you need a break. Please, let us take you down to the infirmary. Get you some rest, maybe some food."

I didn't deserve that. Couldn't allow myself to be that weak. "No. Leave me. You have more important things to do. The battle still isn't over, I need to help."

"Then let me help you until you can. You're a mess right now, there's no shame in that. Please, you need rest."

I tried to walk away. Get back to work, make up for what I had done. I stumbled on the third step. I couldn't even walk properly. Couldn't even do any good after what I had done. I resigned. "Fine".

The infirmary was crowded. Dozens of capes, the layout of the rooms made it hard to count them. Even more soldiers and civilians. How many of them were here because of me? There weren't nearly enough doctors and nurses for all of them. I got half-carried to an empty field bed, and a nurse was right there checking me over.

"You're in shock. No injuries though, don't worry you'll be fine. Come with me, we have an area where you can rest as long as you need to. You can call if you need anything."

I followed the nurse without a thought as he was guiding me around. I tried to force myself to at least walk faster, take up less of his precious time. I ended up stumbling again, despite my lack of injuries. Pathetic. I was too busy questioning my own decisions and blaming myself to do anything right now.

I had let people die. Even when Dragon was pleading with me to do something, I hadn't done anything. Just dismissed saving them as too costly. I had been angrier at her earlier, when I had yelled at her for the same reason. Except she had been right, she couldn't have done it. I could have, and decided against it.

Could I even call myself a hero after that? What would Dad think? Tu Yu, Amy, Hu Dai, Lisa? How could anyone forgive something like this, if they knew? I couldn't even forgive myself, I knew exactly what a monster I was. I didn't deserve forgiveness.

I had known I would do this when I started. I had known that I wasn't thinking, wasn't feeling when using this power. Yet I had done so anyway, hoping that I would save people. I should have listened to Dragon, or Tu Yu. They had known better.

"Aedile?" I looked up slowly. "Aedile?" Someone at the door, too blurry to recognize. They took a step forward. "Are you there?" I blinked just as slowly. A small nod. Maybe they had some sort of use for me, if that wasn't too much to hope for.

"I'm here to help you. Can I come in?" Help me? Wasn't worth it. The person kept looking at me, waiting for a response. They seemed vaguely familiar. My vision was clearing up a bit, but I just couldn't remember who they were. Everything was foggy, trying to recognize them was hard.

"Snap out of it Taylor!"

How did she know my name? Had I forgotten someone I knew? I tried my best to focus on her. Military uniform, but not the kind in use around here, it looked older. A sash with pockets around her waist, a gun at her side. A scarf around her head, burned and scorched. But I could still recognize her. Miss Militia. Her left arm was bandaged, and she was missing a hand.

"Aren't you supposed not to do that?" I tried to sound angry and shoo her away, but it just sounded tired. "You know, pretend the PRT isn't spying on me"

"I wasn't. We...well okay. We're spying on you. I was too, but" She grabbed for her scarf and wrapped it off her head. The woman underneath was bruised and bloody. It took me a while to recognize her. The new teacher from Winslow.

I sighed. "Of course, I should have known. So why are you doing this? Trying to be friendly before you arrest me?" Part of me hoped she would, I did deserve it.

She blinked in confusion. "Arrest you? Why would we do that?"

"You don't even know what I've done? I killed people!" She recoiled as I started yelling, and her weapon projection began to flicker. "I didn't save them! I just threw their lives away. They-" my throat closed up.

The look on her face wasn't angry, or hateful. Did she pity me? "Taylor, I was there. I fought down there, in the streets" She slowly brought up her arm, wincing in pain. "I volunteered, and I don't regret it."

I still struggled for words. After an awkward pause, Miss Militia spoke again. "I wanted to thank you for your help. Simurgh fights are always hard. We lose so many people every time. Have to kill people ourselves because they can't be saved. All that, and we can barely save anyone." She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You did, Taylor. You saved people. I wanted to thank you, without your help I…"

"Why are you calling me that!" My voice was too loud after my silence and when compared to her exhausted words. I struggled to control it. "You know who I am. I get it. So why are you calling me Taylor all the time?"

Fresh sorrow showed on her face. "I'm sorry, Aedile. I shouldn't have presumed. You can call me Hannah, it's only fair after all. But I won't call you Taylor if you don't want that."

I was angry. I had been warned that anger was easier than grief, but right now I didn't care. It felt better. My control slipped, and my voice growled. "Why?"

I stared at her face. I'd look through any deception, any attempted lie. The Protectorate wouldn't play with me. Not now. For now, she still looked sorry but she would slip. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to dodge the question. I just don't know much about you as a cape. She didn't want to betray your secrets, so we never talked about that. But she told me a lot about you as a person, because you were important to her. So it was just natural for me to use your civilian name. I'm sorry, that was wrong of me. I'm exhausted, but that's no excuse, I should have known better."

She seemed to tell the truth. She really did seem exhausted, and her apologies seemed genuine. But she was still not telling the whole truth. "Who are you talking about? Who sent you?"

For the first time since she came here, I saw her facade crack. The way she began to tear up was too genuine to be fake. "Hu Dai did. She noticed who I was, back at the Dojo. We became friends, she didn't care that I was a hero and was interested in me and....don't worry, she didn't tell me any secrets. I never asked either. But...she asked me to take care of you. If...if anything happened to her today. And…"

Hu Dai? What had happened to her? Was she.. "Where is she? Is she…"

I remembered.

The organized chaos of the command center was shattered by an explosion, blasting through the wall. "Guiding Star down, M17 Victor-18. War Path deceased, M17 Victor-18. Audit Deceased, M17 Victor-18."

I sat there, facing the blast as shrapnel flew around me; unflinching. People around me died, I didn't even react. I was focussed on my data, my plan. Dragon started shouting at me. Most people were scrambling away, some trying to carry the many wounded. Guards stormed in through the door, but in the general chaos they only collided with the fleeing capes.

A storm of petals whirled through the broken wall. Automated turrets whirred to life, but there were barely any clear lines of fire. The petals resolved into a human figure, a cape in a light-red costume. The sound of automatic fire ripped through the air, but brilliant crimson force fields blocked every bullet. "Petal Empress at HQ, M17 Victor-18. Attacking the command center!"

I remembered what I had done then. I had cared enough about the disruption that I had ordered capes in for defense. A measured response, just the resources needed to stop the attack. Acceptable losses. And...that had included Hu Dai.

I had gone right back to mindlessly coordinating my plan. Petal Empress, clearly under the control of the Simurgh, had sliced apart the guards and turrets with clouds of razor-sharp petals. Some were directed at me, but hadn't even left a scratch. If Hand of Destiny didn't protect, I would have died - I didn't even bother to dodge. Most of the petals didn't find a good angle and just slid off, the few that got through simply crumpled against my skin.

When she'd noticed that her attacks were having no effect on me, she'd turned away, petals whirling towards the opening in the wall. While I had still been sitting motionless on the floor, the petals had formed into a portal. More streamed through it, reforming into people. Not capes, but armed. They began to cover the entrances while a few of them set up a large, jagged metal star that impaled itself into the floor at the middle of the room.

The first counterattack had been fended off easily. Between Petal Empress blocking most shots and slicing apart anyone who entered the room and the covering fire from the armed thralls, the guards and few capes that had assisted them had stood no chance. Grenades failed to penetrate layered force fields. The device began to glow with a sickly green energy.

Lightning struck. Ribbons clashed against petal force fields. Hu Dai was here. Her ribbons spun in a wide arc, dispersing most of the petals and cutting deep into flesh and bone. Thralls fell to the ground, but the brainwashed cape formed a thick armor of force fields around herself. Hu Dai yelled at me to get clear. I just continued to sit there, calling out orders for my plan.

With Petal Empress occupied, reinforcements were able to breach the door. They traded fire with the thralls, but better training and our greater number of capes prevailed quickly.

Hu Dai was locked fighting Petal Empress. Her ribbons couldn't penetrate the storm of petals, some were even sliced apart by it. She was forced on to the defensive, even took several wounds as she couldn't avoid all of the attacks.

Then she had paused and grasped for her hair. A flicking motion. Then a single needle flew through the air. It found a gap in the layered defenses, past thousands of individual force fields. And it pierced Petal Empress's throat. She fell to the ground several meters in front of me, blood pooling on the floor as she gasped her lasts breaths. I showed no reaction at all as a human slowly died before my eyes.

"Command Center liberated."

"We have wounded. Medic" A flurry of activity followed the end of battle.

"Does anyone know what this thing is?"

"Let me see."

"Crap! Can anyone disarm this?" Several capes and specialists rushed towards the large metal device. I only heard them, didn't even bother to turn my head.

"We're out of time." With that declaration, Hu Dai stepped forward. Ribbons spun around the device, grappled for leverage and then ripped it free. With strength that I had never seen before, she carried it into my field of view, towards the opening in the wall, at a dead run. She launched herself into the air, a jump far into the distance, then spun on her axis and let the device be carried past her by the ribbons. They snapped, and it flew at least a mile away, away from the city. Hu Dai was hurrying back towards me, but I was still lost in my plan. She was right in my field of view, I didn't even blink.

The world shattered with a hateful scream. Tentacles of radiant green flame burst forth from the device as it imploded, devastating the landscape. I watched as they wrapped around Hu Dai. I kept on coordinating my plan as she burst into flame. And I didn't falter when charred bones fell towards the ground below.

"Watchwoman deceased. L29 Romeo-523.4 - Tu Yu

Her Eminence had been willing to implement Her plan despite opposition. Even against my own advice.

It was fortunate. She needed to be driven. Few developed a drive towards greatness without opposition. Undermining my own position as Her advisor, Her voice of reason was well worth it, for now.

Enough machinations. I had a duty to perform, no sense getting distracted by long-term plans or worries about Taylor. She was strong enough to shoulder this burden. If not, both Hu Dai Liang and I would be there for Her, in our own ways.

My will commanded the world around me. Focussed energies gathered, softening the weave of reality. Words of Command and Power, describing the the need to travel, the speed of wind, the form of a cloud. The world yielded at my rightful commands, and its substance flowed into new order.

The cirrus skiff took off towards my destination as soon as I set foot on it. Its speed would get me there in less than a handful of minutes, but that was not what the plan called for. A survey of the land was needed, and could be well afforded. Other pieces needed to be moved, and despite haste would take longer.

The city below was spalling. Not yet shattered, but the layer of order imposed by civilisation was broken. Without repair, it would fall into decay and disorder. A shame, for it was much more pleasing than the city of our current residence. A great amount of greenery, curved streets instead of a simplistic pattern of straight lanes that disregarded all natural terrain. They failed to fall into any greater design, to convey any meaning when looked upon from above. A necessity, albeit displeasing.

I would have to take a closer look further north. Planning the evacuation route was quite manageable, I could already picture it. Fortifying it would not be a problem either. But doing so in the midst of a frenzied battle, even defending myself while doing so? That could most certainly be a bother, for it was well outside my domain. One I would normally not even contemplate. Against my nature though it may be, it was a worthy task, assigned to me by the Administrator of the Mandate. I'd just have to inform myself about the situation and attempt to understand.

"Majordomo, requesting clearance to enter the quarantine zone." Shortening my title was demeaning, but Her Eminence had insisted that we all use "cape names".

"Negative, Majordomo. You are not rated for combat and evacuation. Turn back and….oh, never mind. You have clearance now. Be advised, do not enter the area around Capital Hill."

Capital Hill, the heart of the city, had been ripped out. A great towering spire had pierced it, jagged spikes surrounded it. A tall, angelic figure with crystalline wings weaved through them, dodging all attacks thrown at her.

An ear-piercing noise filled the air. A beam of energy that seemed to suck in the light around it crashed down from above. Just looking at it made one's eyes sting and water. It continued to bear down on the structures below it. A giant dust cloud rose up, lit green from below. As the beam ceased and the dust settled, none of the structures were even scratched. The Simurgh had ceased evading and simply hovered above them, a single wing outstretched. As unharmed as the buildings below her.

I was certainly not going there.

Evacuating to the north would be difficult. A bridge with a mere four lanes spanned the basin that the evacuees would have to cross. It was perilously close to the battle around Capital Hill, a mere stray shot could wreak havoc. It would have been easy to question Her Eminence, insist on alternate routes or just call this entire plan insane. But I knew I could fix the bridge, widen it if needed. Her Plan accounted for all other obstacles as well.

My way here had hardly been enjoyable. Just being here had induced a pounding headache, hardly helped by the incessant sounds emitted by the device on my wrist. The constant warning to get out had made it impossible to worry much about them right now. The way people had just run everywhere, not even pausing to take in their surroundings or talk to each other had been most unpleasant. Shouting, screeching, uncontrolled sobbing and screaming had been all I heard from the city. It was fortunate I could stay above it all, the idea of having to go through those streets later made me uneasy.

I could not have imagined the panicked behavior I had observed. But at least I had gotten an overview of the situation and would do my best to solve it.

A two-lane road running from the edge of one hill towards another, a good mile outside the current quarantine zone. That's where we would build the new perimeter, and a safe zone for all the people we planned to evacuate.

"Your materials are delayed. Begin construction with local resources".

Great. Her Eminence wanted me to build a durable, defensible wall without any raw materials. I couldn't work like this!

Unfortunately, I had little choice. On another day, I would argue with Her. Work has to be done properly, with care and caution. Under normal circumstances I knew Her Eminence would listen my arguments along those lines. But right now, such concerns would matter little to Her. All that matters is that it's done. I could get the work done, and Her words carried the weight of Her Mandate. There was no choice.

I couldn't build anything here without construction materials. This wasn't a Sanctum full of untapped potential, after all. Neither could I work Ambrosia out here. It was clear what Her Eminence wanted me to do. Demolishing the buildings around me was outside my domain. But Sorcery could accomplish it.

Essence of Fire. Consuming what it could to fuel itself. Yet there were things untouched by it. My will poured in the world, ready to call forth flame. I held it back until I could assert what it should consume, leaving all else untouched.

A blinding-white flame shot from my outstretched hand onto a nearby building. It impacted the wall, spreading all over it. A single-story house with a wall of red bricks. The mortar was consumed, freeing the bricks for my needs.

That process was repeated several times. My senses told me what effort had went into each dwelling. The work to erect it, the labor to make it habitable, the care that made it a home. Destroying all that felt deeply wrong, like hurting one's own child. Yet Her Eminence needed me to do it, and so I continued. Other types of houses were demolished as well, I needed more than just bricks.

I could not hope to construct a full wall out of the resources available. Nevertheless, the foundation could be laid so that others could finish the work. I suppressed the urge to watch over every step of the process, there was no time for such vanity now.

Bricks, steel and concrete flew into the air. One by one, they fit into the mental picture I had formed of my work. Bricks arranged themselves into columns, concrete became liquid and streamed neatly into the gaps, steel bore into the ground and anchored the arrangement. The wall would have to be secured by others, but several steel beams rose over the top of the wall. They sharpened into vicious spikes, and the metal that split off shaped into long coils of razor wire.

Crude and nowhere near as sturdy as I would have liked. But it would have to do, for now. Unless the enemy hordes had heavy weapons, soldiers could hold this wall. It included parapets for them to fire down from, and was angled on both sides to prevent any climbing. Now I just had to finish several hundred feet of this, though hopefully not all on my own.

The sound of explosions made my head turn. A person falling from high up in a barely-controlled manner. I hurried to catch them, and...are those grenades? Why would someone have grenades strapped to their chest?

The person landed on the street, large fragments break off it and fly high into the air. A young man, maybe in his early twenties. If his entrance hadn't made it clear, his costume did. A light grey workmans overall had been painted with stripes of garish colors and outfitted with all manner of bandoliers, sashes and pockets. A construction hard hat fit with a partial welders mask, covering only the upper half of his face. And of course a long cape that clearly stated that he was a parahuman, for nobody else would wear something so impractical. He looked at the wall, then at me.

"Whew, looks like I'm finally in the right place. So they call you Majordomo then, right?"

Reinforcements, it was good to see that Her Eminence's plan bore fruit. Though that address sounded even worse in person. "Please, address me as Tu Yu. How would you like to be addressed, young man?"

"Tu Yu, huh? I won't even make any puns, promised. I won't give you my civilian name though, sorry. Call me Breakout."

"Very well, Breakout. We will construct a wall here, I hope you can be of assistance."

He grinned. "Can I? Did you see the place they're using to organize this whole thing? Yeah, I built that. In about ten minutes flat." It was obvious that he was proud of that.

"You built that? Well, let me tell you something. That place is crude and inelegant. It is badly designed, has no sense for proper order and barely fulfills its functions. It was clearly built by someone with education in architecture, and too little knowledge to recognize that they have no idea what they were doing." I paused and watched for his reaction. Good, just what I had hoped for. "And yet it's excellent work. You have potential, and I'll be glad to work with you." He hadn't been ashamed of his work, nor did he get angry at my criticism. A bit indignant maybe, but that was perfectly understandable.

"Wow. Arrogant old guy, huh? Well, as long as you can back that up, that's fine by me. Let me show you how I do things."

He turned towards a large building and unhooked a grenade off his bandolier. "Watch this."

The ground shook as the grenade exploded. "Tinkertech grenade. But this? That's all me."

The house was gone, shattered ruins and a hole in the ground in it's place. Broken beams, crumpled walls, fractured floors. All were suspended in mind-air, as if someone had paused the explosion. "Aaand go!"

The remains moved. Steel beams shot upwards, then impaled themselves into the ground. They broke apart, but the fragments shot out in straight lines between them. It all formed a mesh of unnaturally mangled, partially-molten metal. Then the other remains of the house slammed onto it. More of them broke, but the order behind it was clear. Every fracture was planned, every fragment flew into the right place. The result looked crude, rough and uneven, but I could tell it was solid.

Breakout grinned at me, clearly proud of his work. Uncouth as he may be, he had earned the right to be proud. "I must admit, that wasn't bad. Not bad at all. But if I may make a suggestion?" I tapped him on the shoulder, and opened his eye for inspiration. "Try that again. See how it goes this time".

He did. Another house blew up, and I could feel him tapping into my essence to enhance his work. The results were visible right away, this time everything happened at once, he no longer needed to stagger his work. It was still crude though, raw power could not replace experience, and I would not simply impart that into him. He still seemed glad about my assistance. "Cool. As you say, not bad at all?"

"Indeed, young Breakout. But I would like to teach you more, it is not always about speed."

After a while, we got our powers working in concert. He did the heavy lifting, his power made it simple for him to create buildings of impressive size. I took care of the finesse, guided him with an experienced touch.

Once building materials got delivered to the area, we were able to finish our work quickly. The result of our cooperation was certainly serviceable. His improved walls were still uneven, but now their jagged outer surface protruded vicious spikes along their entire surface. If they were blasted apart, even the rubble should still be dangerous. Even if anyone could scale the wall unharmed, they'd be held back by a steep overhang that could later be manned by soldiers. In some places, we had made it thick enough that those areas could serve as guard towers, with soldiers being able to hide inside if necessary.

However, our work was not done. "I must congratulate you Breakout. You did an excellent job, and your work will help a great many people. But now, we must reinforce a corridor for the evacuation. We will face combat, but I trust you are prepared for it."

His attitude had been cheerful so far, but no longer. "Dammit! Just because I like to break stuff everyone assumes I like to fight." He sighed. "Sorry, I volunteered to build the HQ because I don't like fighting. I'm scared of it, to be honest. This job was great too, but going in there? Damn, I know I have to do it, but I really don't want to."

"Do not worry, I will be by your side. And I think I have an idea that will spare you any fighting. Here is what I have in mind." His eyes lit up as I explained

"Watch out!" Her Eminence had ordered the perimeter forces to advance. Clearly that had created gaps, for nearly two dozen thralls had just come around the corner ahead. Several of them carried weapons, and some were clearly tinker-made technology.

"Don't worry, I have this." A missile launcher was leveled at us. I calmly walked forward and waited for them to fire. The explosion was devastating.

Most of the right arm of our crude warstrider had been blown into a thousand pieces. But Breakout had already redirected the kinetic energy and the shrapnel curved, away from any of our vital parts and directly into the vital parts of our enemies. I was glad that I had decided to only feed him rudimentary information, the carnage was dreadful.

Our powers working in concert had created a fifty-foot tall war machine. A broad, stocky amalgamation of concrete, steel, wood and tarmac. Its arms were reminiscent of construction cranes, and we had managed to create rudimentary joints.

But without our powers, it would have just been a large statue. I had taken control of it, abandoned my previous body and inhabited our construct. This could have been done with any building, but most would remain as immobile as they normally were. This one was designed with movement in mind, but even then one it would have been a sluggish process. However, Breakouts power changed that. I could easily make this statue-shaped building move, but it was his power that enabled it to move with any speed at all. To direct the significant amounts of kinetic energy created he needed to touch it, and so I had created an armored cockpit deep inside its chest. Several television sets were placed inside it, and I displayed the necessary information for him. No more than that however, which seemed to help his aversion for combat.

"We gotta repair that."

A fierce fire had eaten away most of the remaining right arm. Only strategic amputation had saved the rest of it.

"Indeed we do. I suppose the building over there will suffice."

I strained to move the warstrider, it barely registered as a building to my senses right now. Breakout being inside it helped enormously, and of course his powers helped as well. His understanding of structural strength and weaknesses was also handy.

"Smash it in the middle!" He fiddled with some controls, and I knew where to hit it. A five-foot long stump rammed into the third story of an office building. Windows shattered as the shock wave ran through it. For a moment it was still, then it's top floor crashed down. Right into the next floor and, without stopping, the one after that.

"Now!" I stepped forward, ramming it's body into the building. The collapse stopped. Kinetic energy was redirected, the falling parts hung in the air. But only for a short time before they formed into a coherent whole. Girders slammed into each other and fused, concrete formed into layers. I concentrated, imagined a well-built whole. I knew we couldn't work with enough precision, but within less than a minute we had completely rebuilt the lost arm.

"Right, let's get back to building this corridor."

So far, it had been easy. At first, Breakout and I had worked way beyond the perimeter. The fighting there had been light, soldiers had set up fences and cleared firing zones.

Then Her Eminence had ordered them to abandon their positions. They had done so, advanced bravely towards the area under the Simurgh's influence. Without reinforced positions, the soldiers had started to take casualties. Until they could go no further without being taken over by the Simurgh.

"We're being overrun, there are too many of them!"

"Lamba-Four, we need assistance now!"

"We need to fall back!"

"Negative, keep up the pressure. All units, hold position."

Thralls had amassed on this side of the basin. We couldn't afford to shell the bridge across it if we wanted to evacuate anyone.

"Tu Yu, we gotta help them. We have a big mecha, let's use it."

Suddenly, Breakout wasn't so afraid of fighting anymore. Of course, he hadn't been a coward before, just reluctant to fight.

"I am afraid we can not afford to. You see, we still have a duty to fulfill. And your power will be needed." I showed him what we had to do.

The bridge over the basin was swarming with thralls. It seemed that every thrall north of Capital Hill was heading in our direction. Soldiers had fought to hold them back for an hour now, and we had labored as fast as we could. Unfortunately, some materials were essential and delayed, but it had worked.

"Dragon, we're done. Do you have a way to secure it?"

"Movers are on standby. You are clear for launch."

"Thank you. Breakout, we need to abandon this warstrider now. It is time to finish our work."

I saw him pout. "Aww, dammit. Riding around in a mecha was so cool! Well, at least I'll finish this with a bang!" He grinned, and we shared a laugh. I carefully peeled him out of the steel cocoon inside our construct. The moment he stepped outside, I lost the ability to move it in any useful way. At least it was stable and we didn't have to worry about it toppling over.

"Okay, I'm in. Time for the countdown! Ten. Nine. Eight." He had stepped onto the results of our work. 200 feet across, three stories tall, 20 feet deep. Over nine-thousand tons of concrete and steel. A giant, curved wall, with two large gates and dozens of weapon emplacements. Dragon had programmed them for automatic defense, but to be safe we would rotate soldiers in and out every few minutes.

It all rested on a giant pile of explosives.

"Three. Two. One. Launch!"

The explosion was deafening, despite his powers. The entire structure was lifted into the air, carving a giant crater into the ground. The outer layers were shed violently as Breakout channeled kinetic energy into them, but the structure held. Another explosion rang out, the second stage. It continued its ascent, but tipped towards the south. The structure hung in the air for a moment - then it crashed down. Right at the south end of the bridge, emplacing itself deep in the ground.

"I've landed! Get me out of here." People around us cheered, someone had to shout to keep the channel clear. Now we just had to get some capes to clear the bridge and get soldiers to defend the gate - then we could open it, and provide the civilians a way out of the horror.

They came piecemeal at first, trickles growing to a steady stream as the realisation that there was a way out madness penetrated and spread across minds driven dull by the terror around them. They came covered in dust, dirt, debris and blood - much of it not their own - and with with tears streaming down their cheeks. Even I, so limited compared to her Eminence in the reading of people could sense the fragility that hung about them, like bridges whose keystones had been worn away to almost nothing.

Some stumbled as they came, supporting injured fellows or cradling corpses of friends of family, and many more clutched backpacks or cases, presumably trying to preserve some fragment of their shattered lives or homes. I could sympathise. Here further in the world around me seemed to scream, the heart of the city and authority it had carried over much more torn out and shattered. And yet even as I sympathised, I realised that those cases could make things much harder for the evacuation. Any one of them could conceal a bomb or tinkertech device that could undo all of the gains that we had won - and many had had paid for.

"Majordomo, we need a way to check those belongings as they approach the gate." Dragon spoke from my wristband. "We have systems to do that, but most are handheld, and they just won't work here." I nodded, even though I knew Dragon couldn't see me. It was too cramped around the gate itself, and a single explosion could kill hundreds. The soldiers here also wouldn't be able to focus on that, not with thralls still needing to be fought off. That the whine and chatter of the automated turrets in the blockade hadn't stopped since we landed was proof enough of that.

"You need something in the wall, particularly around the gate, to scan and then a monitoring station back outside of the danger zone so that all that the guards here need to do is respond to possible threats." I considered the idea. It was possible, but I couldn't make any of the technology required, I'd need it delivered.

"Dragon, do you have the required gear?"

"I do, but most of the Movers are...wait, one just got shifted." I smiled thinly, apparently Her Eminence had been watching. As expected. "I'll give her what you'll need. Some of this stuff is delicate though, it'll need to be protected in the wall…"

"But also able to scan the area in front of it. Understood." I could already see how I was going to have to change the structure I'd helped create to incorporate this vital addition. Doing it under fire might be a challenge, but one I was confident I could complete.

"Send me an image of the receptors please. It'll let me get started now."

"Sending." An image materialised above my wristband, and I studied it carefully. "Prism will be with you in three and a half minutes. Moving what she needs into position."

"Thank you Dragon. I'll see to this."

I reached into the fabric of the building around me, trying not to lose track of the danger around me as I did so, and began my work. It was harder this time than it had been to build the barricades further out. The effect of the Simurgh wore on me, yet the true problem was that I couldn't focus completely on the task at hand. A split focus could allow flaws to drift into the construction.

The concrete of the structure flowed forward around the parapet, extending into a slight overhang that I hoped would help conceal the scanners I would have to install. Not too far, as that would limit the lines of fire for the turrets, but enough to cast a shadow. To make aiming that much harder. Then came the recesses for the receptors themselves, and the links through the structure back to a central line that would connect to Dragon. I had left the matter of a behind-lines monitoring centre to her.

I'd almost finished when light sparked behind me, and I almost lost the final recess due to the distraction of evaluating it for a threat. It wasn't one. A portal had blossomed into being, and soldiers were rushing through with crates of gear that I hoped were what I needed. Behind them came the cape responsible for the portal, a woman in a bodysuit of prismatic colours. She wore no cape, and was very clearly unhappy with being this far forward.

"Majordomo, yes" I nodded, restraining a wince at the use improper title. "This is everything Dragon said you needed. The soldiers are here to rotate the others off, and also because there was no way I was going to be able to carry all of it."

I nodded again, much more absently this time though, all of my focus on the crates as the soldiers cracked them open and then rushed off to their posts. They were almost exactly as Dragon had shown me, and I scooped up several of them before turning to...Dragon had called her Prism.

"If you head down there, you'll be out of the line of fire to collect the other soldiers. My thanks for your work today." Her face brightened, and she opened her mouth - presumably to thank me - but I was already turning away. I didn't have much safe-time left either.

In the end the installation was the simplest part of the entire process, slotting each receptor into place and then expending a sliver of focused power to seal in and connect them to the transmitter. I couldn't do much more to hide them without hindering them, but I did my best. The thralls hadn't gotten close enough past the turrets, and as the scanners had come online the soldiers had managed to catch two bombs short of the gate. Several had died in the resultant explosions, but they had prevented the plan from being disrupted, so for that I thanked them.

And with the last scanner in place, nothing was going to get past unless the soldiers let it. And if they broke, I could fix them. They were part of the building, after all. With them securing the gate, we could start the evacuation in full.

The evacuation had worked. Her Eminence's plan had worked. There had been flaws - a squad of soldiers was not evacuated in time, and had to be shot by their comrades. The HQ had been attacked, but that attack had been fended off. I had taken control of the gates several times, but people did not believe me when I stated that I could stay there indefinitely without danger. Despite all that, the civilians were now safe. But the Simurgh was still present, still fighting off any attempt to drive her away.

"Majordomo." I sighed. I would ask Her Eminence to use my full title for a week after this, I felt too sullied by all this indecency.

"Yes, Dragon? How can I be of assistance?"