Support Team, page 10
part #6 of Damsel Series
Dark Edge tapped at his laptop, or whatever the flat device was called, swiping and tapping for a minute.
“We have...nothing on anyone by that name in the database. Not everyone is in here, so that isn’t too surprising, if she’s new. Is it a problem?”
There was a sharp reaction from the Fundament, at that information. Anger over it. Then as she paid close attention the man started spinning a tale in his mind about the new girl. One in which she was there to spy on them. To trap them, somehow. His mind, on a deep level, flashed onto Agent One, from the High Command, specifically, if not firmly. There were rumors that the man or woman in charge there was able to change shape, and would go after other heroes, at times.
Not, Hannah had to feel, that the man was one of those. He wasn’t even just a child abuser, or a normal man who was a bit attracted to a fourteen-year-old girl in a tight red and yellow outfit, which might be forgiven, if no action was taken on it.
No, this man was thinking of much darker things. Enslavement, and total control of the child’s mind, to his own ends. Dark ceremonies and evil beings of demonic nature. Some of those were so dark that Hannah shied away from the information, leaving fuzzy zones where she couldn’t easily see what he was thinking.
What she did get from him was what the girl, Clancy, had written down on the application. That part was, oddly, familiar to Hannah. Even if her own name hadn’t been written in. She examined the paper on the desk, through the man’s eyes, which made more sense than trying to read something on her own that way. Why that was, she didn't know.
It worked, so she went with it for the moment, then opened her eyes, and looked at Dark Edge.
“Um... I have some information there?”
The man across from her nodded, as Jacob tilted his head.
Dark Edge gave her another nod.
“What do you have?”
She spoke up then, her voice pitched to carry across the open line.
“She’s a short girl, about fourteen, with a blonde bob? When she blows, wind is generated, the harder she does it, the more firmly air comes out? She was in the first group who got powers, being selected by the alien committee. I did the work on that one myself.”
The voice from the computer suddenly seemed warmer, even if it hadn’t been angry, before.
“Oh? You’re the Damsel? I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about you, if so.”
She was about to go into how that wasn’t her secret superhero name or anything, when Jacob interjected.
“That’s right. What do you know about, um, Clancy?”
The idea that they were available to share information with other groups like that was interesting, since she’d thought that there was a bit more inter group rivalry than that. Then, June was pretty free with her database of names, really.
Scrambling, Hannah closed her eyes, which had to look strange, and hurriedly tried to contact Clancy. Her Aunt Larina, undercover there. In the room with the man speaking at the moment, she realized. Available to do very bad things to, if the girl wasn’t who she seemed.
Larina, when she connected to her mind, was focused on the idea that she might have to let the man do some fairly harsh, mainly sexual, things with her, to sell her act of the moment. She didn’t have any proof of what was going on for certain, even though the whole place was clearly sinister, once the surface was scratched, even a little bit.
~Larina? This is Hannah. What do you want me to tell Fundament?~
If the woman was freaked about someone suddenly speaking to her, it didn’t show in her thoughts. Instead, a stream of information, rather clearly organized, came at her. Most of it wasn’t in words. It was too complete, really. If she listed it all off, it would be over the top for her to know. She’d only met Clancy once, after all. For a few hours. That meant she wasn’t going to have her entire life story on tap.
Hannah picked out the bits relevant to her.
“Let me... I only met her a few times. She’s a candidate for The Trainees, our new teen outreach program here. You should get that hooked up, if her schedule there allows for it? Any other kids you have as well. We want hard workers, but they don’t have to start with powers. We can get those for them. She seemed... Nice? Not that assertive, but she meshed with the other kids well. Troubled home life, but she hasn’t let it impact her too much. Currently living with her mother, who... I think, if I recall right, that relationship is pretty strained. They don’t get along all the time. I don’t have a lot else on her, I’m afraid.” Her eyes were closed again, trying to sound relaxed and not like she was drifty or doing something weird.
The man on the phone laughed, lightly. It sounded fake, but cheery.
“That helps, actually. Thank you, Damsel. We should get together and chat, sometime?”
Hannah nodded.
“Sure? I’m busy with some aliens for the next bit and might have to go off planet to see to some things, but after that? I can call you there?” She wasn’t doing that, but making the offer would let her be in control of the situation, instead of the other way around.
“Perfect. I look forward to hearing from you!”
There was no sense of relief when the man hung up. She didn’t let go of her link to Larina, either. Not that an immortal shape shifter, with super strength and invulnerability needed her to be a look out. She was doing it anyway. Meaning that she didn’t realize that June had come back into the room. Without Molly. People were talking, but she barely understood them.
June touched her shoulder, getting her to reopen her eyes.
Hannah blinked and tried to smile.
“Molly...?” Getting her home was why she was there, after all.
June shrugged, with one shoulder. It was relaxed, but she glanced at the others there, and tilted her head ever so slightly. Sending a message. One that said, don’t talk about it.
“She opened a portal and went home. It’s a useful talent.”
She nodded, not speaking, and also not really reading Larina’s mind, having been shocked out of the needed level of focus to maintain that kind of thing.
Fighting a bit, she tried to recapture that part of the scene that was busily fading from her mind. Mainly, because it was boring. Fundament wasn’t a good guy, but the man wasn’t currently raping her aunt or anything. They’d spoken for a bit, then the man let her go, giving her free run of the headquarters there.
For his part, he was sitting in his office. Talking on the phone. That... Wasn’t important at all. Just a call about ordering food, it seemed.
Shaking her head, Hannah held her tongue.
June, however, was being updated by Dark Edge.
“We were just on with Fundament, from Unlimited? He was just checking on a new hire over there. A girl named Clancy? Damsel here had a bit of info, but it wasn’t in the database.” The man didn’t seem to think much of it. The words weren’t even dismissive, just as if a coworker had a bit of data that he hadn’t.
June went very slightly wide eyed.
“What... Did you say, Hannah?” The woman seemed to be actually worried, as if she were going to not get the idea that a person who was undercover on an operation might work better if someone didn't run around screaming about the wrong thing.
Still, there was an odd sense coming off of June, pointed toward the others there, so she didn't give anything away.
“Just the basics. That Clancy was one of the first people that the committee cleared to have a power and that she seemed nice? I don’t know much, so... I think she’s from Chicago, but I’m not really certain on that one, so I didn’t mention it. Technically she got in because one of the guys met her online and thought she was cute, so told her to apply for it.”
Dark Edge looked at her and made a slightly silly face, crossing his eyes a bit.
“That makes sense, given that’s where The Unlimited work out of. They’re high profile, but never really do much. I mean, they’re fine, in the field, but they go out on things... I don’t know, once a week or so? Even then, they mainly handle small events. Things that the police could do nearly as well.”
Interestingly, Pyric nodded at the words. Seeming, if not friendly toward the other man at least not like he was about to call him names.
“I nearly went with them at first. They do get a lot of press. I got the call to come here, so took it, but it was close. It really did come down to how much they do, though. They require a lot more public relations work than we have to do here. That’s... It’s actually kind of their strong point and out weak one. I mean, doing talks for tykes and that kind of thing? It works for them, but... Maybe it gets in the way of doing much that’s actually real?”
Hannah didn’t, of course. Honestly, it was a thing that she’d never thought of before, to be honest. She knew what it took for her to get on television, or be the focus of a podcast, but until that very moment, she’d just kind of assumed that most super teams kind of had positive coverage built in for them. They helped people, so would, in the main, be given the needed attention.
It wouldn’t work that way, of course.
Really, one of the big issues would be in the teams finding out what was going on to help with, and the press knowing what had been done. Things probably took place that could use an outfit like that helping with the situation, but most of them weren’t going to know about it happening in time to show up. The public didn’t really call The Society or even The Underdogs directly. They called the cops, who always tried to handle things on their own first, which worked most of the time, but not too well when superpowers came into play. That was before a lot of them died due to Black Soda, too. Now, at times, gangs and even lone criminals were taking the police out fairly easily.
A man in a pretty blue uniform with a light side arm and mid-range body armor tended to lose when the bank robbers had high powered battle weapons on them. Especially if the entire thing had to be handled by one or two of them, instead of the fifty to a hundred they really needed to win that kind of fight.
It was an aside, but she glanced at Pyric.
“You think that The Society should do a bit more with the public? Get some attention going in the press?” She realized that she didn't know why she was saying that, since his words didn’t mean that at all.
Still, he shrugged.
“Probably. It’s annoying, but people need to know that someone is out there, looking out for them, right now. Most of the time, they can’t even be certain that calling nine-one-one will do anything anymore, which has to be scary. Gun sales are at an all-time high, I heard.”
She could see that, even if the idea hadn’t really been front and center for her, personally. She lived in a secured building and walked around carrying, constantly. Things that didn’t help the local soccer mom who was trying to not be mugged in a parking lot at all.
She thought for a minute, then screwed her mouth up.
“Um... Talk to Tyler Yan about it? Maybe an app? Something people can download, that will let us pass information to different teams, around the country? With a filter, so that the regular things go to the police or fire department, but the odd or strange can be flagged and sent where it needs to go? That doesn’t get anyone to use it, or in the right place instantly but it could help people feel a little more secure.” She didn’t know if that was a good idea or not, and was only suggesting the basic idea, not trying to put together a new project or make a hassle.
June frowned at her.
“That’s... A thing to look into. Could I have a word with you, Hannah? In my office?”
The words sounded as if a reprimand were coming, at least to her. Still, she followed the woman, who turned the corner in the carpeted hallway, stopped and touched her arm, gently.
“Can you get us to a place we can’t be overheard?”
Hannah nodded, then recalled a nice beach that she’d gone to one time, a few years before. When they got there, it was windy, and the waves crashed, but it was also dark. They were on the sand, a row of hotels and tourist destinations behind them. There were other people by the water, but the stretch of empty area was pretty intense.
“We’re in Oregon. Is this good enough? I could get us to the Never...”
The woman lit up then.
“You can? That’s impressive. That... You’re much stronger over there. If you can go on your own...”
Hannah nodded.
“I know. Worse, I’m going to ask if I can gain the power of giving people working powers over here as well. So that I can work on the people from Ryhh? That will need to be done carefully. Their tech is integrated into them, more than we think, and it’s just similar enough to magic that they can be disrupted pretty easily, if I do it wrong. They’re still in control of who gets powers and all that. They might say no, so... You wanted to see me?”
The woman, looking all of nineteen, if that, crossed her arms, as if chilly, and looked out at the water.
“You caught that Clancy Baron is the name Larina is using?”
“I did. I checked the story she wanted me to give with her, too, in real time. I... Really need more practice. Fundament bought it. He... Is not a good man. I figured that, you know, the kids there were sex toys or something, but I don’t think so. Not for him, at least. He’s thinking of a more manipulative and dark thing. I couldn’t understand it, really. It wasn’t just using mind powers to get his car washed. He’s kind of vile. She’s fine for now. He was suspicious and even picked out that it might be Agent One in disguise. What I said scanned for him, which got him to pull back there, a bit.”
Looking at the dark water, shifting her feet, June closed her eyes.
“I know it’s silly, but I still worry for her. She’s done this kind of thing five times, over the years. Infiltrated dangerous groups, including ones with superhumans in them. She’s strong and intelligent, but she can’t beat everyone in the world, if it comes to a fight. No one can. She can’t even get a word out, if something goes wrong. The Unlimited might be a bit of a Mickey Mouse operation, but they can check for transmissions and bugs. You won’t know if she’s attacked, will you?”
That was just the truth.
“If I’m not checking? No, not really. I managed it earlier, but it doesn’t just hit me like that, I have to try. Which I can’t do all the time. Not yet.” She grinned though. “But, we know someone who can do that. A certain teen telepath...”
There was a tightening of lips.
“Alistair Marks? He’s powerful, but I don’t know if we can trust him. He was compromised once, what’s to prevent him from having that done to him again?”
It was a real question. The kid hadn’t done it because he was bad, after all. Plus, while Hannah had felt like she’d been picked on specifically, the truth was that June had her life, if not mind, messed with at the same time. Other people had seen her fighting with Hannah, for instance. That could leave a bad impression that she hadn’t even earned. Especially since Hannah had sort of won.
“His parents are being hidden, which might help. It is a risk, but it’s the same one we all have right now, in potential. I mean, what would I have done if it had been my parents being threatened like that? Or, really, what if someone had grabbed the Marks and their people and told me that they would die if I didn’t do what they wanted?” She looked at the ocean as well, seeing brief hints of white at the top of waves when they broke.
After a moment, she carried on, having given the topic a lot of thought.
“Sure, he should have used his power to get with us earlier than he did. He didn't know that might work, so out of fear, did the wrong thing. I don’t think that will happen again. We need to get everyone in with us on that, too. Maybe work out how they can pass telepathic messages to Aliza and Al, in case anything like that starts to happen again. It won’t fix everything, but we can take a big chunk of things off the table that way.”
That got a nod.
“I agree. We have to go carefully, but we still have to go. I’ll see if I can set that up. What do you have in the works, other than working on the bomb cages, with the kids? I have to admit, that’s exciting. Seeing them getting to try that kind of thing. Something real and important, not just a make work project. I should have put something like this together years ago. I didn't think of it. Which, that isn’t a good reason not to do it. We have before. You’re working on this app project?”
Hannah cleared her throat.
“I could, but no, that was just an idea, not something I’m actually planning. Really, if we want to do it, we can just pass that over to Ty and Terry and let them handle it? I’m trying to get Neary to help me with an advanced learning program. He’s agreed, so far. That will start in three days. When he’s coming, I mean. Other than that, it’s just the stuff I mentioned. It sounds like a lot, but... Really, I’m mainly pushing the poor kids because I’m bored. It isn’t a great reason.”
Her grandmother patted her on the arm and winked.
“Sure. At the same time, its helping other people, instead of being destructive... You can fly, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
The woman pointed, to the right, where out on the water, there seemed to be a bright glow taking place.
“Because I’m pretty sure that’s a tactical nuke going off, and we might need to remove people from the area. Teleportation as well?”
Hannah nodded.
“Well, fuck.”
That just got a nod, as a rather impressive boom shook the entire world.
Chapter seven
Hannah froze, which June, a superhero of great renown, didn’t bother with. She flew into action, or at least moved, which was closer than Hannah was getting. For her part, after a moment, she recalled something.
