Interlude 3

Emily looked closer at Calvert's files. As a PRT Consultant, he didn't exactly have a strict schedule, the time he spent at the PRT HQ being only nebulously outlined in his contract. However, Emily decided to call a review on him, to determine if there was perhaps an excuse for a pay cut.

She threw his folder onto the pile of other files, belonging to people she wouldn't mind donating to Armsmaster's tinkering.

These last few days she had been desperately trying to balance their budget. Slashing Kid Win's own Tinker budget and waiving off her paid vacations and sick days just wouldn't be enough. Apparently, Emily couldn't arrange her own pay cut without calling a review on her head. Before or after that. Unless she wanted to compromise their operations in other areas, Emily had to get creative.

Those kids had better been worth it.

As she continued working through the pile of employees' files, the door to her office opened with a squeak. Armsmaster's little temper tantrum damaged it after all. Maybe she could fine him for that.

"Director, the lab had prepared a preliminary report on Argent's and Armiger's powers," Miss Militia entered her office, the files she was delivering from Protectorate HQ under her arm.

Internally, Emily snorted. Oh, she had fully intended to uphold her deal with Armsmaster, but she couldn't be faulted if Chambers saw the opportunity to soften the man's image by playing up familial connections.

Usually, PRT didn't advertise relations between their members in order to not compromise their civilian identities. This time however, the Department of Image decided to do that in case the mall massacre ended up connected to her new Wards. To address all related concerns in advance and make sure that any resulting rumors of instability and danger would be countered by the image of a strong family unit upholding the law together.

Or perhaps to signal that the kids were watched 24/7 by a father strong enough to take his murderous brats to the task.

Personally, Emily thought that Glenn was sick and tired of fighting the rumors of Assault's and Battery's incestual relationship. Though perhaps she was projecting. Evidently, familial relations tended to be noticed by the public and turned to worse. They didn't need that with this pair of underage siblings.

In any case, Chambers had also seen an opportunity to show Armsmaster in a new light, where his assholish persona – no matter how much the man tried to pretend to be affable to the public, it always leaked though, and doubly so for Glenn's trained eyes – would now be presented as more of a "stern father". Or something to that effect. Emily didn't believe for a second that it would work, but she also knew Armsmaster would hate it.

So she approved it.

Miss Militia dropped the folder on her desk. Emily opened it.

Shirou Danvers: Brute 5, Shaker 2, Thinker 6, Tinker* 4+ (Striker)

Tanya Danvers: Brute 6, Shaker/Stranger 1, Thinker 5, Striker 7, Mover 7, Blaster 8.

…Well then.

"Walk me through the report. Start with the boy. What's with the asterisk to his Tinker rating?"

"We are not sure how properly classify his power. On the surface, it's a Shaker power that allows him to create items. By his own admission, it works best with bladed object, but he isn't exactly limited by them. However, his creations also have exotic effects one would typically expect from tinker-tech. The falchions he used at the mall have magnetic effect, while explicitly not being composed of magnets. At his sister's prodding he also demonstrated several swords with elemental effects, and a sword that causes full body paralysis with a condition that it has to pin your shadow in order to do so."

"I see the logic. And he can't be considered a Trump because he doesn't change his own power, he just creates exotic weapons."

"Precisely. There's also the fact while he doesn't have supply chain, depriving him of his weapons would still effectively disarm him."

"Only he can instantly make more, doesn't he?"

"Yes, but he can't do so indefinitely. It's better we return to that later, after his sister's evaluation."

Emily raised an eyebrow, but allowed it. "Very well, continue with other classifications."

Miss Militia nodded, "His Brute power doesn't increase his durability much, but it is comprehensive. Full body enhancement of durability, strength, speed and reflexes. It even spills over into his Thinker rating due to enhanced senses. He can also apply strengthening effect externally by 'reinforcing', as he puts it, objects with a touch. Both his creations and not, though the effect is still temporary."

"So, the compounding effects resulted in Brute 5 rating. Simple enough. Continue."

"Shaker classification is due to his forcefield. It is very durable, but not mobile and also very taxing on him. Again, better we return to that later."

Emily nodded.

"Finally, there is the boy's Thinker rating. Skill-wise, they boy is an exceptional combatant. He can expertly wield any kind of weapon. A full range of melee weapons he created, firearms we gave him, hand-to-hand – he showed expertise in all of them. He isn't limited to just knowing how to use his tools; he also understands the flow of combat from a tactical standpoint, and to a remarkable degree."

"His sister also showed combat skills, so why does his rating exceed hers?"

"There is an additional component to his power. Aside from improved senses from his 'reinforcement', Shirou also has some variation of psychometry – he is able to read a broad range of information from objects. With a touch, he instantly knows composition, structure, makeup, and, in case of bladed objects, history. With blades there is also no touch requirements, a glance is enough. He can also use this to recreate objects, hence the ultimate decision to give him Tinker rating."

Emily paused for a moment.

"Since you were already there, did you take the chance to explore the power interactions between him and you?"

"Yes. I gave him my knife, but he was neither able to recreate it nor read it. In his words, what I gave him wasn't a knife, just something mimicking the form of a knife. He even correctly deduced that my bullets vanish when I swap weapons. Dr Millers had an idea to call in Shawn to see if Shirou would be able to use his power to replicate Arclance. When he arrived, Shirou was able to recreate the basic spear form of Arclance, from before it was changed into its current state. Shirou was also able to replicate the knife Arclance was apparently initially made from. He also said he was able to read the knife's history but refused to elaborate, citing that it was too personal," the cape winced slightly and Emily could guess what Armiger meant by that.

She had read Dauntless' file after all, and her clearance afforded her some known details of his trigger event. PRT didn't go out of its way to interrogate their parahumans about such things for obvious reasons, but it did quietly collect data to keep the management informed about hot buttons. A necessary precaution.

"Shawn confirmed it and it looked to me that he had complicated feelings when Shirou told him to keep the knife," Miss Militia added, her face showing its own mix of complicated emotions. "We are yet to conduct any tests with tinker-tech, but altogether, it added to his Thinker rating and contributed to the decision of attributing him Tinker classification."

In conclusion, the boy was very dangerous. Combat expertise combined with an in-built arsenal and superhuman body capabilities. The only thing limiting him was his age, but with parahumans, that often only added to their danger level. Due to poor decision making and unpredictability, if nothing else.

Emily would have to consider this more thoroughly at a later time.

"Let's move on to the girl."

"Regarding Tanya's Brute rating, her body enhancement effect is considerably weaker in terms of strength and speed increase, though still allowing her to contend with a PRT trooper in those attributes. Reflex enhancement is roughly on the same level as her brother's. Her durability, however, is much higher due to the ability to create a forcefield bubble around herself, which she can further reinforce, though not the entire surface at the same time. Although Tanya herself noted that it would be more accurate to describe it as more of a creating additional, much sturdier surface overlapping with the bubble. Which she can also manifest independently of the forcefield bubble."

"Not unlike her brother then," Emily noted.

At least she wouldn't be the same PR nightmare waiting to happen as Aegis. Forcefields were much more presentable than the ability to lose half a torso and keep going.

"Indeed," Miss Militia nodded. "Her Shaker rating is assigned due to the ability to create optical illusions. She is also able to disrupt radio communications and video feeds. It's still debated whether this should count as Shaker or Stranger ability, so for now it's noted down as both."

Emily wondered if it should be rated higher. Illusions are one thing, but the danger of communications disruption couldn't be underestimated. The PRT troopers relied on coordinated response tactics, and those heavily depended on radio.

"Tanya's Thinker power gives her a substantial combat ability, but seemingly with less breadth and depth than her brother's. Mainly marksmanship and CQC. Additionally, it appears she has a keen understanding of strategy and tactics. It's difficult to properly evaluate to what degree exactly, but substantially more than a child her age should possess. Her mental faculties seem to be enhanced overall, ranging from deep understanding of topics unrelated to combat to the capability of performing complicated mathematical calculations on the fly. She is also able to manifest what appears to be a holographic interface which acts like an advanced detection and tracking system. It is highly precise and provided readings including coordinates, altitude and target positioning. Although Tanya made note that she herself doesn't need the interface to read that data. Rather it serves the function of sharing data with others."

The last part was tentatively useful, but overall, Argent and her brother were effectively trained combatants already. Good, it would cut down on the training time necessary before they can become real assets.

"I see. That leaves us with the last three ratings. What warrants two sevens and one eight?"

"She can fly at supersonic speeds with a high degree of maneuverability up to and including the lower atmosphere. We weren't able to confirm it yet but, provisionally, she had been assigned a seven in Mover rating."

Yes, they definitely didn't have facilities to conduct such tests within the lab. Frankly, while impressive, the ability to break the sound barrier wasn't very useful within city limits, outside of emergency situations where the resulting collateral was deemed acceptable.

"Striker 7 mainly comes from her energy blade. It cuts cleanly through steel plates, with minimal effort. We will have to order stronger materials for further testing, but according to Dr Millers, the cut is extremely fine, the edge close to monomolecular sharpness. There were some uncertainties about specifics, but for now Striker 7 seems appropriate. Tanya also showed limited ability to mend wounds but nowhere near Panacea. The utility comes mainly from the ability to rapidly patch up combat damage, rather than fully address severe injuries."

Curious. Even among the full laundry list of powers that had been listed in the report, that one was an outlier. Not even because of vanishing rarity of healing powers, but because of a sheer disconnect between healing and everything else. Her brother's powers included. Unless, he also had a healing ability he chose not to disclose.

It was useful of course. Emily was mainly interested in its field utility but a few stunts at the hospital would be good for PR. New Wave gather a lot of goodwill leveraging Panacea's power and now her department could get in on that. It would also lessen their reliance on the independent team. The look on Brandish's face alone would be worth it. Even if Emily would have to play Argent up a bit.

"Finally, Blaster 8 rating comes from Tanya's ability to fire laser beams and utilize rapid-fire explosive artillery and napalm bombardment."

"Excuse me?" Emily asked in disbelief. Artillery and napalm?

"In Dr Miller's words, her Blaster ability, combined with her Mover rating and high precision allowed by her Thinker power, makes her positively compare to a highly advanced fighter jet. Only more maneuverable and less constricted in terms of payload," Miss Militia replied with a stiff face.

Comparable to Legend then. Perhaps she should call Glenn, read the report to him, and ask if they should perhaps call the girl Armament instead.

"What is her lowest ceiling regarding this rating?"

"Fairly low. This smoothly brings us to her limitations."

That was exactly what Emily wanted to hear. Limitations of a nine years old with the power to level her city.

"She can only bring the full brunt of her Blaster rating if she is in possession of a firearm. The way it works, she uses her power on each individual bullet to essentially turn them into missiles. Without firearms, while she can still generate the same effect, she would have to do so in her immediate vicinity. While she can survive her own blasts using the forcefields, it is still dangerous to her, since she is no way immune to her power. Laser beams, however, don't require firearms, though Tanya still loses much on intensity and firing rate."

Emily leaned back on her chair. She could live with that. All she had to do was to ensure the brat doesn't get her hands on any firearms. Wards weren't supposed to have those anyway, but Emily would have to issue strict orders that Argent wasn't supposed to even touch them.

"There is another, much more severe power limitation," Miss Militia continued.

Good. "Tell me."

"Her Brute, Blaster, Mover, Striker and Shaker ratings are effectively nonexistent without the use of hardware capable of performing numerical calculations, leaving Tanya only with enhanced reflexes aspect of her power and partial Thinker rating. Specifically, her Combat Thinker rating and increased mental faculties remain."

"What kind of hardware are we talking about?" Emily was very interested to hear the answer to that.

"During the initial incident at the mall, she was only in possession of a cheap pocket calculator. According to the arrest report, that calculator they confiscated upon their arrival to the PRT holding cells, was partially melted. According to Tanya herself, the usage of her powers requires copious amounts of calculations pertaining physical forces. For example, with her flight, she has to account for velocity, acceleration, momentum, inertia as well as relevant vectors just to safely lift herself off the ground. Active flight requires even more, and the numbers are constantly changing."

"And her Thinker power doesn't allow her to perform those?" she asked with skepticism.

"Her abilities in that regard don't appear to be superhuman. Absolutely exceptional for a child, potentially among the best of Earth Bet's mathematicians, at least regarding the speed of mental calculations. But not superhuman. The requirements listed are simply too much for a human brain, and while her power helps her it is nowhere near the necessary processing power. Confusingly so, even."

Indeed. Why did her power make her good at math when she needed to be a computer? It was like if Battery's power only made her slightly tougher when she needed to be invulnerable to use her power at all. Or if Gallant's power just made him a sensitive person without ability to actually see emotions.

But it wasn't the first time parahumans failed to make sense.

"So, take away her calculator and she is just a child?" Emily asked to just to be sure.

"A child with a veteran soldier skillset and enhanced reflexes, but yes, her threat profile drops significantly. However, it is more than that. Even with a calculator, her power causes it catastrophic damage through excessive heating. The lab is still studying the exact nature of the damage, but we went though more than twenty of them to assess her Mover rating alone. Tanya explicitly requested a supply of calculators or tinker-tech support to facilitate participation in the Wards program."

Emily would grant her the former, though her supply will be carefully regulated. The latter was out of the question, at least for now. Not only because of the budget constraints, but also because Argent's limitations were her leash. A parahuman child with her abilities must be controlled carefully and explicitly. And thank God this one could be controlled.

She will have to review this report thoroughly.

"What about Gallant's report?" Emily asked. Another issue with those two.

"They are still adjusting," Miss Militia hesitated, "But Dean didn't see anything unusual."

"So the cluster theory is still inconclusive?"

"We just don't know at this point," she shrugged helplessly, "Their powers are too varied and numerous for them to be typical parahumans and show a lot of similarities in expressions and classifications both. I haven't mentioned it yet, but Shirou also has a limitation on his power. When we were testing his Shaker rating, at some point he refused to continue, citing that his power puts a strain on the body. The boy was cagey in general, but at his sister's prodding he revealed that overuse of his powers would cause internal burns."

Emily could see the similarities. If Argent's power burned calculators, Armiger's burned his body. Usually, you saw this kind of punishing limitations in Thinkers with their migraines, that could escalate to outright strokes. The other types of parahumans too could suffer damage to their body, but it was typically due to specific applications of their power, and not a hard cap on their ability to perform. If Emily understood the issue correctly, that is.

"Furthermore, we observed a curious power interaction between the too. It turns out, Shirou's swords resist the cutting power of Tanya's energy blade."

So another point towards them being in a cluster.

"There is a possibility that Shirou didn't show everything he could do. Tanya convinced him to cooperate with us, but the point remains that she had to do that in the first place. He could still be hiding the full breadth of his abilities."

Concerning, but Emily was used to dealing with troublesome subordinates. The boy's father included. Even if he was as powerful as his sister, his limitations were perhaps even more severe. You couldn't heal internal burns as easily as you could swap calculators.

"If they are a cluster, in should be at least five members large, but so far there are no reports of similar capes from New York."

"It is too soon to say one way or another. So far, I'm inclined to believe them a cluster, with all the problems that could potentially bring. The bloodbath they caused at the mall is a potent indicator of mental instability."

"They protected each other and potentially saved the New York Wards," Miss Militia argued, somewhat heatedly.

"Doesn't change the fact that they protected each other by dismembering the Teeth. Perhaps Spree's clones don't count, but normal children their age don't readily decapitate and bisect."

"That could easily be the result of Thinker powers influencing their behavior during combat! There is no reason to believe them unstable in peaceful environment!" Miss Militia argued heatedly.

"Doesn't change much, does it? Their job is to fight," Emily raised a brow at a worked-up cape, making her flinch.

"In any case, we will have to monitor the New York scene. Their other cluster member could have simply died to Teeth, but it's better be on top of that," Emily concluded.

"There is also one last thing," Miss Militia said, somewhat absentmindedly, "Dr Millers proposed a theory, that we could perhaps be looking at a two-member cluster. Depending on how you look at it, second-generation parahumans sometimes have more than one power, inherited from their parents or otherwise. There has never been a precedent, but everything could be explained by two second generation parahumans with predisposition towards certain powers being combined in one cluster. Usually, simultaneous triggers between siblings result in Case 72, but in this…"

Emily interrupted her, "If that's confirmed, you can tell Millers he can file for a Case Number and congratulate Armsmaster on scoring with a cape."

Emily had her doubts but she also didn't care either way.

"Shouldn't Colin have been here for this?" the cape asked, concernedly.

"You are welcome to ask him yourself," she ended the conversation.

She still had work to do on their budget.

A/N

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