While I was extremely unfamiliar with most emotions, two of them were an exception.One was hatred. After all, part of my directive was my forced, unerring and unstoppable hatred of other artificial constructs. Granted, I did get rid of that part of me long ago, not even a year after I went online, but the emotion still lingered after, nurtured by my affection to humanity.The other emotion I knew was frustration.And as of that moment, I was feeling extremely frustrated.I had expected that new Wards would be here, and prepared accordingly. What I didn't predict was that the golden boy of the Wards himself would be sent to this miserable city.Weld charged in my direction. Clockblocker alone was a threat, given that he could freeze me by simply brushing against the Monowire, but I already had contingencies ready for him. Not for Weld.First off, I needed to dispatch all of the uniformed officers around me. The Monowire shot out and cut open the canisters of their foam sprayer, in such a way that the foam exploded outwards. Few reacted quickly enough to launch the canisters away before they became trapped by their own equipment, and those I knocked out with a precise kick to their jaw.By the time Clockblocker had reached me, only he and Weld were left to fight against me. The steel parahuman said something to his earpiece, but I was not close enough to hear. My wire wrapped around one of the ceiling cameras, and a quick thumb-press of my glove quickly pulled me that way, going over Clockblocker.As I was flying over him, I pointed my gun and waited to press the trigger a heartbeat later, making sure that they had ample time to react."Clock!" Weld's order tore through the lobby, as predicted.In response, Clockblocker froze his own costume, making himself impervious to the outside world. Not that I would have actually shot him. In fact, there were no ammunition inside.Rolling over the front desk, I barely jumped back as Weld smashed it down, hand turned into a bludgeoning weapon. That could've been lethal, which I could excuse given he had just seen me almost shoot his friend.There was not much I could do to hurt him considering that my Monowires would simply be absorbed into him. The Shock-baton could slow Weld down, increasing the temperature of his body, but it wouldn't be enough.Thankfully there was one other canister around us, one that I had left intact on purpose, on the belt of one of the officers. As Weld smashed into another desk, sending debris everywhere, I quickly dashed to the side. Launching one of the Monowires forward, I hooked it around one of the immobilized officers, pressing the trigger again to shoot forward. The officer nearly took out his gun to shoot me. I was fasterMy knee hit him square in the face, sending blood and a tooth flying. Knocking him out cold.Weld turned around, rage still apparent on his face, but it was checkmate.Quickly slotting the canister in, I used the fallen officer's finger, pressing the trigger of the foam sprayer. Weld and Clockblockers both were submerged in the substance, quickly immobilized.Taking out a handkerchief, I quickly cleaned the blood off my knee pauldron.
■
After some quick first aid on the unconscious officers, I sat close to the stuck Weld.Anger could easily be noticed in his eyes. I was careful not to sit too close. The grinding of his metal teeth could be clearly heard."Shadow Stalker is alive, and mostly unhurt. Only a bit of electric shock and some sedative, nothing with long-lasting effects."Surprise almost overtook anger. Then it turned into suspicion."You're telling me all this to get information. I don't believe you." Weld carefully choose his words."I don't need anything from you. I just wanted to apologize. The Undersiders were going to be much more ruthless otherwise, though.""So you are with them…""No. I am not a parahuman. Don't treat me as another cape."He did not believe me."Are you? A parahuman, I mean." I asked."Of course." His answer was quick, but already I could see the gears in his mind turning. Weld's rise to herodom had not been only due to his powers, but rather his relentless efforts. Partially helped by his inability to sleep, true."Are you?" I asked again, to gauge his reaction.Instead of answering again, he narrowed his eyes. Then he understood what I meant. Through gritted teeth he began to speak:"Yes. I. Am. All of us are. There is enough evidence to show that all Case 53s were once baseline humans. Most of us still have humanoid shape. Some of us even have some memories."At some point Clockblocker's suit got back to normal time, and he groaned as containment foam got stuck to him."Mh. I agree. But the question was worth asking. I'm sure you already did so, at some point."If it helps, think of me as a contractor. The Undersiders paid my price - which is not money, by the way. I have morals and conditions. I'd be glad to work for the PRT as well, or any well-meaning organization for that matter. As long as it fits my objective. Which is rather simple: save the world."The building around me began to shake. The far off sound of stomping became closer and closer."Seems my employers are here. Think about what I said."Just on time, Imp sneaked by the front desk again, a limp Vista over her shoulders. Put to sleep with one of Shadow Stalker's darts.Back to the entrance, the door broke from its hinges as Rachel and her dogs smashed through, transformed by her power. With her were the rest of the Undersiders.Tattletale climbed down, and after shooting a smirk at the fallen Clockblocker, began giving instructions to the others."Skitter, keep killing the cameras, begin with the ones in the elevator. Grue, help carry the girl please!"She swiped Weld's earpiece - to his grimace - and rushed down the hallway. The others and I followed.Making sure no microphone could pick up on my voice, I whispered to the others."Weld wasn't meant to be here. If he was transferred, then it means there is at least another Ward unaccounted for. Be ready for someone else to be with Kid Win as he comes back."Stolen story; please report.Skitters nodded, while Grue cursed under his breath. Regent began whistling cheerfully.Tattletale opened the eyelid of the unconscious Vista, using her to pass the iris scanner locking the elevator. Then Grue placed her on the floor, gently. Vista was still a child, after all.I followed them onto the elevator, Rachel hesitated to leave the dogs behind, but in the end came with us. We then stepped into the Wards HQ.It looked more like a dormitory than a military base - except for the large console in the center, towards which Tattletale rushed the moment the elevator stopped. Plugging an USB into one of the many ports, windows of code and similar began popping up along with a progress bar. The command terminal opened and lines of code passed through, compiling."Decent work." I could not help but comment. Tattletale only glared at me in response as I approached the Ward quarters."Which one is Kid Win's room?""Last one near the end. You shouldn't mess with Tinker stuff though." Tattletale said."Elevator's down," Skitter called out."Of course it is…" Tattletale sighed."We better get out fast, if the Wards have gotten additions the Protectorate could have as well." Grue commentedWithout Velocity we would have a decent amount of time to escape, but only if no other high-rated Mover was against us. Battery already could prove to be a problem.But I didn't care much for their conversation, reaching my target I used my Shock-baton to pry open one of the keypads near the Wards' rooms. I plugged in my own portable terminal, a repurposed phone, and my code quickly got to work as I stepped into Kid Win's room.And as predicted, the power cut out moments after. Darkness surrounded us, and not one created by Grue. Everywhere except the room I was in."Someone cut the power?" Imp asked.Tattletale glared at me - again."No. Power's source is independent, and even then the computers here have emergency batteries to continue working. This is…"The screens turned back on - a computer generated image appearing. Dragon."What did you do?" she asked, irritation evident in her voice."Just a gift from my friend, sorry about that! We'll get right out!" Tattletale snarked back."No," Dragon continued. "I've already dealt with Epeios' virus. Someone else has breached the system from somewhere else."Skitter looked towards me, question evident in her expression, even hidden under the mask. Does she not see you?No, and she wouldn't until one of the others gave me away or I spoke. Shutting off the microphone required getting into another closed circuit system, different from the cameras. It was quite the incredible infrastructure, though not enough to stop my meddling.Finally, there in front of me laid my loot. Kid Win's tinkering equipment and some tinker-tech. I grabbed a spear-like weapon and analyzed it. Mh, the power source was way too lacking for its complexity. Had he partially disassembled it to build other tech? Or was it unfinished in the first place?No matter, I quickly opened my own Shock-baton and switched the two power sources, making some modification on the fly to the spear. The tinkertech weapon was meant to shoot a spiral of flames that was barely non-lethal against human-targets, but it would leave them pretty much crippled for life unless Panacea saved them. It was no surprise Kid Win had not brought it for patrol.Still, a tool to use against Weld and the other incoming reinforcements.Meanwhile Skitter and Imp picked up what I identified as a lightning gun, pointing it at the door leading to the emergency stairway. I sighed as they pressed the trigger.A single shot busted most of the plexiglass down. They knocked off the rest of the shards with a fire-axe Imp had picked up along the way."Are you going to stab someone with that?" Regent commented while pointing at my spear....Today had already been a frustrating day, and Regent was tempting me to give him a demonstration. But I held off. Even if he had just put another wrench in my plans."So there is another one." Dragon spoke, all the screens shut down leaving only the light in Kid Win's room on."Whoops! My bad!"I almost choked Regent right then and there.Swinging the spear, I broke off the plexiglass and stepped into the stairway."Let's go."
■
Weld and Clockblocker were still stuck in the lobby, immobile. Weld's expression was undecipherable.Only a slight reaction from one of the officers saved me.Jumping back, Kid Win's shot missed my chest and grazed my arm, sending an electric jolt through my body. My muscles tensed up and I almost bit my tongue.A burnt smell reached my nose. It was probably me.At the same time, two strange darts reached Rachel and Grue, meeting no resistance as they pierced their boots and the ground. They were stuck, even as they tried to pull their boots.Grue let his darkness spread in a sudden burst, just as Rachel gave her dogs the command to attack.Kid Win did not relent, and now with Grue stuck he could not miss. The darkness receded as the blast knocked him out cold.Flechette emerged near me, darts in her hand. She was the other additional Ward, and one of my worst matchups. The spear could prove too much for her on a direct hit, so I simply used its blue flames to keep her distant and obstruct her field of vision.I took out my inhaler and quickly took a dose of Black Lace. My muscles rapidly recovered as the pain receded. Later I would face a lot of backlash for forcing my body to move this way, but the next six minutes would be crucial.Flechette and Kid Win began screaming in pain. They were covered in bugs, but that wasn't just it. Skitter had done something. Maybe a particular type of bugs? Or something on them?Kid Win in his armour could barely keep his distance from Rachel's dogs, even as whatever the bugs were doing kept him in pain.Quickly all of that stopped mattering.Wind picked up from the hole in the entrance. A four-legged suit descended, lethal weaponry along its arms and shoulders. Containment foam sprayers were already pointing at us."Oh shit," Imp whispered too loudly.Dragon was here.