She was actually pretty proud of that one. She'd had to switch out her knees and leg muscles during the fight to use it. There was no way she could walk around with the rear facing joints it required, not without a tail. Of course, she wasn't about to admit the joint structure was based on a chicken's leg.
"Kelly," Operative Glory was still using that voice, like she was talking to someone real scary or unstable, "you said your Conditioning instructor was Bruce Richards..."
Kelly nodded and Jacob just looked confused.
"Who's your combat instructor?" she continued.
"Coach Achala. He did our basic conditioning too."
"Who's that?" Jacob asked. "I don't recognize either name, and I thought I'd been here long enough to meet, or at least hear about, most of the full time staff."
Ignoring him, Glory kept her attention on Kelly. "You're a middle of the pack student in a class where the physical and combat courses have all been taught by Overkill Richards and the Juggernaut?" she asked. Her voice had shifted to a kind of horrified awe and her face was worse than Jacob's had been.
Jacob's jaw dropped. "Holy shit." he said softly. "Okay, I take it back. I have heard of them, it's just... I kind of figured the reputations were exaggerated. But... Kelly, what's your top ranked fighter like?"
"Jenny? She's actually really nice. You'd probably like her I bet, everyone does. She's awesome."
Ignoring the byplay, Glory asked her, "Who's the Bugger in your class? It must be one of the best or-"
"The what?" Kelly responded, confused.
"Oh, um, never mind." Glory hurried on, changing the subject with extreme subtlety. "I think that explains your- your performance. Let's go over what you did before the fight broke out. If you had non-lethal options available, why did you wait so long to use them once it was obvious that Orbit was drunk and a potential danger to the civilians in the area?"
They went on like that for a while. Once she got over her initial confusion about Kelly's unconventional fighting style, she concentrated more on the decision making. Why had Kelly broken through the door instead of scouting the building first? If she was going to rush in and invite an attack, why had she stopped to speak? Why not make an attempt to get the civilians out before Orbit had attacked?
Kelly hadn't thought she was doing things wrong at the time, but that was the point. She hadn't thought. Some of her actions could've been better, but Glory seemed more concerned with making Kelly consider why she'd done what she'd done and what some of the consequences could have been. She even had Jacob explain what he would've done if Kelly had acted differently a few times.
Hector spent the whole time just quietly watching. When he finally said something, again in that same weirdly distant tone, it made Kelly wish he'd stayed quiet.
"Disruption is confirmed to be nationwide. All Citadel personnel are advised, this is now a Class One threat with the potential to escalate."
"Escalate?" Kelly asked. "You mean, they think this could be...?"
Hector nodded, his face grim. "Yeah. Worst case scenario, we're looking at an extinction level event."
* * *
Beneath the Tower
Director Shift arrived, not bothering to use the door, and took a seat. That made three of the Citadel's five directors and one Congressional Representative at the table. At their backs were a number of aids and assistants, including one Hector for each of the direct participants. He would've given just about anything not to be there.
"Gentlemen, we now have a quorum of the Citadel's leadership." said Director Shift, with just a touch of ceremony. "Does anyone have a problem with my taking the lead for the duration?" She looked around but no one said anything.
"Very well. Director Dione, what are we dealing with?"
Hector had met Alec Dione, the Director of Analysis, when Bruce had set him up with his 'internship.' Alec was an older man, sixties or seventies, with a face roughened by long exposure to the sun and wispy silver hair that he kept tied back in a short pony tail. He didn't know whether the man was a former operative or if the name was just a coincidence. Hector had, briefly, considered doing his usual research on the man. He'd decided against it when he realized that the director would almost certainly find out and might react poorly to the invasion of privacy.
"Widespread disruption of technology, especially electronic and computer based devices. At minimum, this interference is occurring in every location we have a Citadel office. It's all but certain that the same thing is happening throughout the Western States and it could be global."
"What's our response so far?" she asked.
"Gates are still up so we've been able to maintain contact. Trainee Hive," he gave a nod towards Hector, "was present at each of our major Analysis centers. He's a large scale duplicator whose multiple bodies share what amounts to a single mind. We've been using him to facilitate communications. Support provided us with a group of long range teleporters capable of carrying him to widespread locations."
"So, in short, we know how bad the problem is but we're still in contact with the bulk of our organization. Are we all agreed that this is a danger to the nation's integrity, a Class One threat?"
Everyone gave a nod of agreement, except the third director. Anthony Greer of Support. Hector hadn't met him before today but he was a short, mousy looking man in his late fifties. The Director of Support wore quiet competence like a well fitted suit.
"Melody, it's worse than that." he said. "Support uses Empowered generated electricity to keep the Hub at full capacity in a crisis, so it isn't visible here..." he took a deep breath before going on. "But there're widespread black outs. Some of that is doubtless just from the interference, but not all. We've seen a significant drop in current from the solar network."
Directors Shift and Dione were the only two in the room who didn't flinch at the implication.
The government guy was the one who actually asked the question. "Are- are you saying the solar plants are down?"
"No Mr. Randall. You can't just turn off a solar power plant. If they aren't producing current, it's because they've been manually disengaged from the network. The only reason the workers would do that..."
"Is if they were going unstable." he finished for her. "God help us."
"Trainee Hive," came Director Shift's controlled voice, "please spread the word that this is now a Class One, with the potential to escalate to an extinction level event. Additionally, we need to get our Turing types to those power plants. Instruct Support to coordinate that."
Hector went pale, all of him, but he did as he was told.
"What are we doing to find the source?" she asked.
"Analysis is currently working on the theory that this is the work of a lone, off the scale Turing type." Dione told her.
"You think this is an attack?" Mr. Randall interrupted.
"No Representative, we do not. The... nature of the messages certainly implies otherwise. Most likely, we're looking for someone who just had their Empowerment. He, or she, doesn't know what they're doing or how to control their new powers. Turing types often lose themselves in the early stages of learning what they can do. This seems to be consistent with previous incidents, just on a vastly larger scale."
"Have you been able to narrow it down?" she asked. "Do we know where this is coming from?"
"Difficult to be certain," he grimaced, "but it looks like Carson City."
Hector couldn't help stiffening at that.
"Less than a decade since the Chemo incident." Director Shift said, quietly. "Poor bastards." She gave the directors of Support and Analysis a firm look, "Fine. Who are you using to search the city?"
"Both Powers and a handful of Speed types." Director Greer answered. "We don't have a teleporter who's familiar with the area but we do have a telepath, Carol Speaker, who can transfer visual images. All we need is a rough location and someone that does know the place and we can end this."
The Hector nearest to Director Shift stepped forward.
"Ma'am. It's my home town."
Barely turning to look at him, she gave him his instructions. "Contact Carol, she should be in the Gate Room." Director Greer nodded. "Have Drew Stasis meet you there. Once she's given him enough to go on, have him look for any obvious signs of disruption. Anything that stands out to him can be examined in more detail by the teleporters and the Speed types. Accompany as many of them as you can."
Again, he did as he was told.
Less than a minute later, Drew had a dozen locations that were worth checking out.
* * *
A winged flyer set him down on the roof of a hospital. It was the only building in sight that had fully functioning lights. He split off dozens of new hims, checked floor by floor and room by room. He couldn't find any sign that the Turing type was there. He wasn't entirely sure what it would look like but this didn't seem to be it.
* * *
"What about the Gatekeeper?" Mr. Randall asked. "Wouldn't he be better suited to this?"
"No." Director Dione answered, "His... difficulties make deploying him in the current situation problematic."
The Representative didn't seem to understand so the Director of Support clarified. "He's easily the most powerful operative the Citadel has, but he's a severe agoraphobe. He never sets foot outside of a secure chamber he maintains at a private location." he shook his head. "The only way we have of even reaching him is by communicator, through a tiny gate he keeps open for that purpose. Right now, we can't even tell him we need help. Besides, he's no better suited to a search like this, even without the handicaps, than our regular teleporters."
Randall didn't seem pleased by the information but he did accept it.
* * *
A short range teleporter, a tall man with dark eyes and a serious expression, carried him across the city in a series of quick hops. They came to a shopping mall. The lights were off but every screen, television, computer and cell phone was showing the same children's program. Again, he split up to search the building and speak to people. By the time he was done, there was no sign of the unknown Turing type but he was thoroughly sick of that damned singing frog puppet.
* * *
"What- what are you going to do when you find this- this Turing type. You said this wasn't an attack, just an accident, so..." Randall's voice trailed off as he looked around the table. No one looked away from him but they didn't answer him either.
"We'll do what's needed, Mr. Randall. That's what we're for." After Director Shift spoke, the room was quiet for a time. Eventually, she beckoned her Hector to lean forward and spoke quietly in his ear.
* * *
William Power set him down for a moment and used a series of well placed blows to open a hole in the second story of a high school. He retrieved Hector and they entered together. It looked like a computer science lab, row after row of monitors. Each one held the familiar message.
A group of teenagers was gathered around a fallen girl. An older man, a teacher, spoke up when he saw them. There was fear in his voice, but there was determination too.
"She just collapsed in class. I- I tried to call nine one one, but..."
"It's her." William Power said. There was no doubt in his voice.
* * *
"We found her." She couldn't be more than two or three years younger than him, but she looked so young. "It's a girl, a high school kid." Hector announced.
"Is there any question?" asked Director Shift.
"Operative Power says no, ma'am. He says, 'Her light is the brightest I've ever seen. It's brighter than my brother's, Hagedorn's, even Everyman's.'"
She gave a small, tight nod. "Trainee Hive, carry out your orders."
He drew his pistol and, before the teacher or her classmates could react, fired a single shot.
The silence was broken by a beep from Greer's wrist. He looked down, touched his communicator, then announced, "Power levels are stabilizing. It's over."
Hector would've given just about anything not to be there.
* * *
Los Angeles County General Health Center
Dr. Gregory Haus ran the busiest ER in the county. On a busy day, they handled more than a quarter of the emergency care patients in LA. Right now, they weren't very crowded but they lacked most of their usual tools. It was worse than a busy day.
"I need more light." he told his intern, Renolds, keeping his voice as calm as he could.
She moved the flashlight a little higher, letting someone else add another beam. He moved quickly, so quickly that it would have seemed rushed to anyone that had never watched emergency surgery before. A clamp here, a cut there-
"Suction." he said.
-and the patient was done. Hopefully not done for, but that was out of his hands now. "Close up." he told Renolds. He stepped back, keeping his hands at chest level, and let her move in to take over. A nurse approached him and he questioned her as he removed his bloody gloves.
"What's next, the GSW or the bowel perforation?"
Her answer had the same hurried calm as the question. Out of everything in the hospital, a competent nurse was by far the most useful to him. "Steinman has the bowel, sir, the gunshot wound-"
He nodded, no need to make her finish. Haus knew what that look meant.
"Fine, that's the last of the Reds?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Move on to the Yellows then. I think the girl with the compound fracture in her-"
The lights came back on. The air filled with beeps and whirring as machines and computers restarted, overshadowed by the muffled cries of joy from patients and hospital staff alike.
"Never mind." he smiled. "Get her up to x-ray before surgery. Hopefully she'll be able to keep both legs, instead of just her life." She started to turn away but he stopped her. "Oh, and spread the word. We're back on standard triage protocol."
"Yes sir."
He didn't need to see her face to know she'd be smiling the whole way.
Greg took a moment to relax, just one. He'd learned a long time ago, in a situation like this, you had to take a moment now and then. It was the only way to stay useful to your patients, let alone sane. That said, when he learned whose idiocy had left his ER without backup power in the middle of a blackout...
* * *
"Renolds." He kept his voice quiet. No one who heard it would have mistaken it for calm. "What did I tell you about your damn phone? No intern of mine-"
"Sir." she cut him off. He let her go on when he saw the sick dread in her eyes. "It wasn't a blackout. Some- some kind of Empowered. It shut down the whole city, the whole country."
He held back the words he wanted to say, to scream. "Renolds, we'll discuss the phone later. For now, what's the situation in the rest of the city? What are we looking at? Is it actually over?"
She nodded. "They're saying the Citadel, William Power stopped it. But... planes crashed, people lost control of their cars on the freeway and... The solar station near Columbia..."
Half of him wanted to cower in the corner when he thought about what she was saying. He shoved that half aside. "Fine. Your phone's back on. Are the cell towers working again?"
She shook her head. "I- I pay extra for service from the Great Bell. You know, that Richards type that runs a private network?"
This time he did swear. Even as he made a note to pick up the service himself- if he couldn't get the hospital to do it- he gave her the orders she needed. "Call the local Citadel office and request Support. If they can spare any Healers, we'll need them." He grabbed a passing nurse. "Spread the word, incoming mass casualties. We're back on emergency protocol, as of now." The nurse acknowledged the order, then was on his way.
His intern still hadn't dialed. "Sir, I can't find the-" He snatched the phone out of her hands and dialed from memory. The Los Angeles Citadel Office receptionist was as competent as ever, even if this one did sound like a kid. He didn't promise Greg immediate aid but he assured him County General would be given top priority. From anyone else,
he would've taken that as a brush off, but the Citadel knew how priorities were meant to work. He gave the kid Renolds's contact info and told him to use that rather than the hospital's normal number. There was no way to know when the regular lines would be back up.
"Sir, how did you know..." she trailed off.
He managed to hold back the contemptuous snort. "Renolds, you've got the potential to be a damn fine doctor, but you need to learn. Every tool, every single thing that lets you do your job better, is valuable. Use them. Just don't let yourself be dependent on them. You need to be able to stand on your own two feet when the time comes."
She didn't reply, not at first. For a moment he was afraid he'd pushed her that little bit too far, broken something. Then he saw her shoulders pull back, her spine straighten and that look in her eye. It was the last time he'd think of her as 'just' an intern. "Yes sir, I understand."
He nodded. "For now, that phone is your job. We need to get in touch with emergency services, let them know to route as much of their patient load our way as possible. Talk to Nurse Bai, she'll tell you who to contact."
She nodded. "I'll handle it."
He didn't need to hear the reply to know that. Greg was already off to take care of his own job.
* * *
Gregory Haus was in his element, a hundred things to juggle and any one of them could mean life or death for someone. He stood at the entrance to what he thought of as 'his' ER, directing the movement of patients and staff alike. Renolds was at his side, cell phone glued to her ear.
"Any word on a Donor yet?" he asked. He gave two patients a red tag and one a green.
"Yes sir, we've got Rachel Mulligan going under now. No word from Morrisey or Peters."
Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity Page 24