Worm

by John McCrae

  She looked back, and she could see her dad there, back to a divider between store displays, one toe raised, as if the scuff marks in the hard brown leather were of great interest.

  “I think,” Taylor said, very carefully, “I’m going to go.”

  “I wish I could say more, but we could talk again. You could explain, if you were up to it.”

  Taylor shook her head. “I think this is something I have to figure out myself.”

  “Go with your gut, then.”

  “But thank you. Before we talked, I wasn’t sure it was something I could figure out, and now I think it might be doable. I feel like it’s… clarified.”

  “Good.”

  “And I would like to meet and talk again. About something less heavy. Maybe about books?”

  Annette smiled. “It’s a date.”

  Taylor smiled back, then wiped at the tears again. She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her good shoulder, then made her way to her dad.

  She stopped in her tracks.

  In the crowd, a boy with dark curls, a little bit of a slouch, and a white t-shirt.

  Alec?

  ■

  Tattletale watched on her monitors as the others migrated downstairs.

  Only Imp and Rachel remained.

  “Okay, so he’s… what? This is dumb.”

  “You were supposed to be explaining,” Rachel said.

  “I was, but this is so dumb I can’t wrap my head around it.”

  “What’s dumb?” Rachel asked. “If you don’t answer, I’m feeding you to Bastard. I don’t want to do that.”

  “Aw, you care!”

  “Wouldn’t be good for him,” Rachel said.

  Imp sighed. “Teacher’s plan. It’s dumb. We’re supposed to worry about this shit?”

  “No,” Tattletale said, watching on the monitors as the others from the meeting made their way downstairs. “Teacher isn’t a threat. Or he isn’t a big one. You were talking symbols before?”

  “Symbolic shit, yeah.”

  “Consider Teacher a symbol. Things are starting into motion, the quiet is coming to an end, and he’s… if not a threat, he’s a gatekeeper to one.”

  “He’s a smug dick,” Rachel said. “You give the go-ahead, we tear him apart.”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that,” Tattletale said. “There are dynamics to pay attention to, group interactions, politics, there are unwritten rules, and the nuances of what happens if and when we’re viewed as the aggressors when we violate the truce. Not to mention the danger if we disrupt whatever he’s setting up and inadvertently set it off. Like we sort of did with Jack, though that was more exception than rule.”

  “Orrrrr you could give the go ahead, we cut past all the bullshit and we tear him apart,” Rachel said.

  Tattletale sighed.

  “Lemme hash it out for you,” Imp said. “You know how Tats said he’s like the gatekeeper? He’s like an asshole, standing in the middle of the elevator doors so they won’t shut. You can kick him in the balls, but then you’ve got to deal with his friends, you’re dealing with being the jerkass that kicked someone in the balls and you’re maybe dealing with the big bad motherfucking dude that just came up in the elevator, who wasn’t coming out because there was someone in the way. Someone you removed from the way by kicking him in the balls.”

  “Oh damn it,” Tattletale sighed.

  “Okay…” Rachel said.

  “You did not just get her metaphor,” Tattletale said. “Don’t do this to me.”

  “Can we kick him down the elevator shaft before the big guy comes up?” Rachel asked.

  “Fuck it,” Tattletale swore. “And fuck you, Aisha. Yes. Theoretically, we could put the kibosh on him before he gets far enough in his plans.”

  “Good,” Rachel said. “Then it’s settled.”

  Imp pulled off her mask, just to show Tattletale how much she was grinning.

  “Keep that up and I’m telling those Heartbroken kids you ate cupcakes while they waited downstairs,” Tattletale said.

  “No,” Imp said. “Nope. Nuh-uh. You would be signing my doom warrant.”

  “Doom warrant? Nevermind. I think we have an understanding,” Tattletale said, grinning as much as Imp had been a moment ago.

  “That’s it, then? A big bad that needs dealing with, a few little bads that need an organized clean up job, and we stay in touch,” Imp said.

  “That’s the gist of it,” Tattletale said.

  “Cool. Great.” Imp said. “Excellent.”

  Her eyes slowly traveled to the red wine-stains in the carpet.

  “Yeah,” Tattletale said. “So. Now that the others are gone and there’s no need to pretend anything, it’s your chance to say. You guys good? Copacetic? We good to go?”

  “Sure,” Rachel said. “I’m not sure I really get what all this was, but I kind of liked it. Made me feel better, where I didn’t realize like I felt bad. Less lonely, maybe.”

  “Yeah, no, I get that,” Imp said. She shrugged, putting her mask back on as Tattletale opened the door. They filed out. “Yeah. Except I guess I can say it wasn’t loneliness for me, while we’re being open and shit.”

  Tattletale nodded.

  “It was good,” Imp said. “Weird, but fitting. I’m wondering why you invited the twit, though?”

  “Which twit?”

  “Our kid Cassandra,” Imp said.

  Tattletale blinked once or twice. “Where the fuck are you getting these references from?”

  Imp only allowed herself the smallest giggle, exceedingly pleased with herself.

  “I think… it was maybe one of the big reasons I wanted to do this,” Tattletale said. “It was important that I showed her that Taylor was dead. I had to convince her.”

  “Convince her?” Imp asked.

  Tattletale nodded.

  “You’d think she’d be really good at figuring that basic shit out on her own.”

  “You’d think,” Tattletale said. “But no. We’re really good at lying to ourselves. Take it from another thinker.”

  “Fuck,” Imp said.

  “Fuck,” Tattletale agreed.

  “So,” Rachel said. “What happens?”

  “What happens is we go kick teacher in the balls and drop him down an elevator shaft,” Tattletale said. “Hopefully in a way that doesn’t leave us looking like assholes.”

  Rachel nodded, satisfied.

  “And Taylor?” Imp asked.

  “I’ll keep looking after things in that department,” Tattletale said. “If that’s cool?”

  “That’s cool,” Imp said.

  They made their way down the last two flights of stairs.

  The assembled forces of the Undersiders waited, the other guests having already departed.

  Twenty soldiers, only a small share of Tattletale’s full organization. The kids, the Heartbroken, and Aiden, all together, playing with Forrest and Charlotte standing warily by. Parian and Foil, sitting in a windowsill, with snow piling behind them, and Rachel’s escort with each member of the gang having a dog with them.

  “All good?” Tattletale asked.

  “Fuck yeah,” Imp said.

  “Mm,” Rachel offered a nonsyllabic response.

  ■

  Taylor shook her head a little. The resemblance was slight, if it was even there. Her mind was playing tricks on her.

  Her hand touched her forehead, and she felt a pair of soft spots, each barely wider across than a dime. She ran her hand over her short hair. She didn’t know how it had happened, but she could guess. Bullets to disable her, surgery to seal her power away.

  Cauldron, apparently, did have a means of locking powers away. Or maybe it was Contessa, doing the work, or perhaps she’d simply been kept alive, carted to Panacea or Bonesaw, who could fix things up.

  But dwelling on those things wasn’t healthy, and it was pointless in the end. She’d likely never get a serious answer. She only had the two dimples or holes in her skull, the
sole apparent casualty of some kind of brain surgery.

  Apparently. Such was the momentary crisis she’d experienced, seeing someone who was supposed to be dead. She had been left to wonder, for heart stopping seconds.

  “You done?” her dad asked.

  “Done,” Taylor responded. “It wasn’t her. I knew it going in, but it wasn’t her.”

  “Yeah,” he said, quieter. He put one arm around her shoulder. “You okay?”

  “That’s a hell of a question to answer,” she responded.

  “Yeah.”

  “I feel better. It was a hell of a good hug.”

  He smiled, but there was sadness in his expression, “A little bit like her then.”

  Taylor nodded.

  “Lunch?” he offered.

  “Lunch sounds good,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder as they walked. Her injury, the brief delirium that had followed her awakening, the lack of an arm and her struggles to learn to use the artificial one, it had gone a long way. He’d needed a chance to be a parent again, and she’d needed a parent.

  They were okay. They were safe. If and when a problem came up, if it somehow reached this sealed off Earth, she could stand by to let someone else handle it.

  She’d done her share.

  There were things that would be harder. Even now, she couldn’t think too hard or in certain directions, or guilt and memories of another her that she’d seen all too clearly would emerge. More recent, scarier in a way, was the lingering doubt, a belief that things couldn’t work out, ingrained in her by experience. The idea that any reality where life did work out on any level wasn’t reality at all, or that it wasn’t life.

  She spoke her thoughts aloud. “I think… there’s a lot of stuff bothering me.”

  “Only natural,” her dad said, very carefully.

  “But I’ve dealt with worse. If it comes down to it, if this is all I have to worry about, I can maybe deal. I could maybe learn to be okay.”

  “I think that’s all any of us can hope for,” her father said.

  Cast (Short & Spoiler-free)

  Note: While efforts were taken to minimize spoilers, this list best serves as a reference for readers who’ve lost track of existing/already introduced characters, those who have already appeared. Reading ahead or reading up on other characters who’ve yet to be introduced may dilute the reading experience.

  For the more in-depth Cast page (which assumes you’ve read up to the most recent chapter, see below.

  Cast

  Über - A thinker who pairs up with Leet, can master any skill as long as he concentrates. His costume varies from appearance to appearance, in keeping with the pair’s video game theme.

  Accord- A thinker of short (five foot) stature, with an ornate metal mask. Hails from Boston. Gets smarter as scenarios get more complicated. Likes order.

  Aegis - A young hero with a rust red and silver costume, with a shield emblem. Leads the Wards in his first appearance, has a biology filled with redundancies and safeguards, rendering him able to function no matter how damaged he is.

  Alabaster - A white skinned (literally) young man who restores himself to pristine condition at set intervals (every 4.3 seconds). Initially seen as a member of Empire Eighty-Eight.

  Alexandria - An internationally known cape, she flies, is durable and has super strength, as well as some mental augmentations from her powers. Member of the Triumvirate and runs the Protectorate branch in Los Angeles. Wears a black costume with a helmet and heavy cape, with long, straight black hair.

  Angelica – One of Bitch’s dogs, a terrier of indeterminate breed, was abused before Bitch acquired it, losing one ear and one eye.

  Armsmaster – Head of the Brockton Bay Protectorate branch, a tinker capable of combining, interweaving and condensing technology. Wears a midnight blue and silver costume with a visor, carries a hi-tech halberd packed with weapons and features.

  Assault - Member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, a heavy hitter capable of manipulating kinetic energy. Wears red body armor with a visor covering the top half of his face.

  Aster – A baby, daughter of Kaiser and Purity.

  Atlas - A giant beetle.

  Bakuda – ABB member, an ex-student from Cornell, she’s a tinker capable of creating explosive devices with a variety of effects. Her costume includes a gas mask with tinted lenses and a mechanical voice synthesizer.

  Ballistic – Member of the Travelers, his power lets him turn any touched, inorganic object into a projectile traveling at the speed of a rifle shot. Wears a black costume with bulky, hard-edged pads and a square mask, complete with pockets of various ammunition.

  Bambina – A young, violent cape who makes only a brief appearance, wearing a frock. Powers unstated.

  Barker – A shorter, narrow cape who converts any sound he creates into a gas, which he can in turn convert into concussive explosions, temperature, lack of temperature and so on.

  Bastard – A wolf cub in Bitch’s custody.

  Bastion – A major figure in the Protectorate, leader of the team in San Jose, capable of creating a variety of forcefields and deflector fields. Recently got in some trouble for making racist remarks that were caught on camera and posted online.

  Battery - Member of the Brockton Bay Protectorate team. Wears a skintight costume with circuit-board stylings, can charge herself up, trading each second of charge for several seconds of enhanced speed, strenght, invulnerability and electromagnetic manipulation.

  Behemoth – A forty-five foot tall horned abomination with dynakinesis.

  Bentley – An English Bulldog in Bitch’s custody.

  Bitch – An acerbic and violent villainess, member of the Undersiders. Likes dogs, and can give them the ability to grow to monstrous size, with armor plating, horns and exposed musculature.

  Biter – A tall, muscular cape with a homemade costume sporting a bear-trap jaw plate and spike-studded pads. Can distort parts of his body to increase their size.

  Blasto – Takes his name from the Latin prefix, meaning germ or seed. A Boston-based tinker who works with plants and plant-animal hybrids.

  Bonesaw – A cheerful young tinker who works with medicine, sports golden curls and an apron to hold her medical equipment. A member of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

  Brandish – Member of New Wave, mother of two. Wears a white costume with orange symbols. Can fashion weapons out of energy and transform herself into a nigh-invulnerable, sphere, but can’t move of her own volition while transformed.

  Brooks – One of Coil’s soldiers, a mercenary, has experience in hacking, communications, medicine and field medicine.

  Browbeat – A cape with biokinesis, limited to his own body. Can alter his own body, healing himself and making himself stronger simply by willing it. Also has telekinesis, but at point blank range, limited to within an inch or so of his body, effectively granting himself durability and super strength.

  Brutus – A Rottweiler in Bitch’s custody.

  Bryce Kiley – A skinny dark-haired boy, Sierra Kiley’s brother.

  Burnscar – A pyrokinetic who can teleport through flames. Favors wearing red and has cigarette burns running down her cheeks. A member of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

  Butcher XIV- The latest in a line of capes, leader of the Teeth. Since the original Butcher, shares of the powers and consciousnesses of each Butcher have been passed on to the one who kills them. Butcher XIV is a tall Asian woman who once went by Quarrel. Has the ability to guarantee her attacks to strike foes.

  Cache - A New York cape working under Legend, Cache wears a black costume, and can force objects into an extradimensional space, or remove them from one.

  Chariot – A young tinker with a specialty in mobility, movement and transportation, he joins the Brockton Bay Wards. He wears a home-made powersuit with rollerblades and a jetpack.

  Charlotte – A dark haired sixteen year old initially seen in the custody of the Merchants.

  Cherish - An amoral emotion de
tector and emotion manipulator who uses her powers to find targets for her group, the Slaughterhouse Nine. Twenty, she sports a stripe of violet in her dark hair.

  Chevalier – A major member of the Protectorate, heading the Philadelphia branch. Wears an ornate suit of knight’s armor and carries a trademark cannonblade, which is both a bastard sword and a gun. His power lets him grow and/or condense his gear, rendering it larger or more durable, while he ignores any alterations in weight or scale.

  Circus – A cat burglar, she sports an array of powers including enhanced balance and coordination, a pocket dimension she can use to deposit items and limited pyrokinesis.

  Citrine – Member of the Ambassadors, a woman who wears a yellow mask and evening gown, with a plethora of gemstones, her namesake. Powers unstated.

  Clockblocker - A member of the Brockton Bay Wards, wears a white skintight costume with body armor. Has flat, featureless pane over his face to serve as a mask and clock faces studding the armor. Can freeze something in time for an indeterminate period on touching it.

  Coil – A secretive and wealthy crime lord initially seen battling Kaiser over Downtown Brockton Bay.

  Contessa – A dark haired young woman seen wearing a black suit and sometimes a fedora, she serves as a bodyguard to Doctor Mother, though her powers remain unknown to even those who interact with her regularly.

  Crawler – Member of the Slaughterhouse Nine, Crawler is a monstrous figure who heals with incredible speed and adapts natural defenses or augmentations in response to any healing.

  Cricket – A member of Empire Eighty-Eight in her first appearance, Cricket sports a shaved head, a cage-mask over her face and twin kamas – miniature scythes. She can manipulate sounds beyond an audible range, disorienting her foes or serving her as a radar, and has enhanced reflexes.

  Crusader - One of Brockton Bay’s white supremacists, Crusader wears armor and carries a spear. He can create ghostly duplicates of himself and his possessions, which pass through inorganic objects, but not organic ones.

  Danny Hebert - The protagonist’s father, a skinny man who works as union spokesperson and HR for the local Dockworkers.

  Dauntless – A member of Brockton Bay’s Protectorate team, Dauntless can charge objects with his power, granting them permanent benefits. Accruing these benefits over time, he’s created boots that can fly, a spear that can create massive arcs of controlled electricity and a shield that generates forcefields, among other powers.