Orb Weaver: Consequences, 3

“Very well,” I said. “But if I might… I know most of the people in this room, but Dr. Yamada, and… Glenn Chambers, might I ask what your interest is?”

“I am here to provide, within the limits of my position, advice on the possible psychological interactions between Orb Weaver and well, you.” Dr. Yamada looked at me. “But it is important to note, Ms. Hebert, that right now, we are not in a doctor-patient relationship. I will attempt to assist you if you ask, which includes informing the others at this meeting if it is best that we give you a break, but…”

“But what is said here is not confidential.” I nodded. “I understand.”

Laying that out… It might be she was attempting to gain my confidence, or… they were being upfront. Would she have said that if I hadn’t brought this up?

I tried not to frown, then nodded. Almost certainly. After all, she was in a room with me and a number of people who weren’t medical professionals or bound by those laws and customs.

“I’m head of PRT Image,” Glenn Chambers said, and I blinked at his dress. He…

Don’t be an idiot. The PRT is all about image. If he’s dressed like a fashion store exploded, it’s for a reason.

“And you are here to discuss…” I frowned, then nodded. “Handling this publicly.”

“You’re smart. Yes, You and Orb Weaver have terrorized some Nazis into surrendering, others into walking the straight and narrow and… have also stripped some to the bone and there are lots of rumors on the street about other people who walked into dark alleys and never came out.” He leaned forward. “You two are heroes, no two ways about it.” There was some surprised movement from the others in the room. “Image gets to deal with a lot of triggers, and you’d be surprised at how many of them result from a kid watching his father being beaten to death by a racist. So I don’t care about what you did, but…”

“How we did it?” I asked.

“Right. If you want, you’ll be talking to me more, but the PRT has agreed, in light of your services, to provide Image assistance even if you choose to remain independent.”

I had studied the PRT’s relationship with independents of course, and access to PRT services, if they granted them at all… was costly.

This was a major concession on their side, one they likely hoped would put me in a good mood. I wondered when the other shoe would drop.

“But…” Legend said. “First we’d like to ensure you survive to take advantage of this.” He shook his head. “No parahuman can really be said to be a minor in the way most people think of it. Between the way they gained their powers, and the utility of those powers… Before the age of parahumans, if anyone in this room suggested sending minors in, some of them as young as 12, even for something like evacuation duties, in the face of Leviathan, we’d be escorted from this building. And yet we do…”

“Because that 12-year-old has a power that can warp space and stop a tidal wave.” I nodded. “Panacea sees things even trained doctors would find hard, because there’s no substitute for her power.”

“Exactly. So we’re not here to tell you how terrible it was that you went after the Empire, Taylor, but that we want to work with you to maximize both your safety and to be blunt, help you avoid the burnout which I have personally seen with some Wards who dove too deeply, too quickly.”

“And ensure that Orb Weaver is not using me?” I asked, a little off balance. I had expected a harder sell than this.

“No.” Armsmaster shook his head. “I spoke with Orb Weaver regarding you, and he is also concerned.”

Wait. What?

“You… spoke with him?” Is someone else using Orb Weaver’s identity? That could be very bad.

“In your hospital room. You were unconscious, but I have a visual and audio recording.” I stared at the screen. Dad was clenching his fist, and then I watched the bugs, and they…

What the fuck?

****

“Maybe even having her dad ground her until she's thirty-five if that's what it takes..."

"Yyyouou woULD remmiinD HER offv Herrr lIMItsss... She WilL rankKle at ThE thougHt. ssSHe will fEEL CoNfineD. TraPPED."


"Better that she be trapped by people who care about her and want her to be better than be free and dead."

"Good... Ssshe doess hEr GreaTESst worrk WHEn traPPED."

****

….What the fuck?!

“I…” I closed my mouth. What the fuck! I didn’t even have the capacity for creative vulgarity right now.

“Taylor…” Dad said, and he looked… “Is it so hard for you to believe that people might care about you? That Orb Weaver cares?”

Oh God. Oh Shit. They were misreading my expression and tells, because I couldn’t use my bugs, and what the fuck was this, which meant that everyone here believed my freakout was over the idea that people might care for me, including “Orb Weaver” which…

Would be punching a lot of the buttons for suicidal ideation. I couldn’t research things right now, but part of running a campaign of psychological horror was reading a lot of books on psychology.

“And it also rather neatly disproves Kaiser’s claims.” Emily Piggot shrugged. “But how is it that he and several other E88 members are convinced Orb Weaver possessed you?”

“I…” Fuck Taylor, freak later, think now. “I claimed that well, I’d died in the locker, Orb Weaver possessed me, and I was here for Kaiser before…” Nobody here had been in the room, but my injuries were clear. “Slammed my face down on the table, and played dead. Fortunately, Orb Weaver, was able to pick up on my plan.”

“Jesus…” Dad muttered. “Taylor do you know what smashing your face could have done?”

“Killed me, in the worst case. But I was three feet away from a man who could kill me with a thought, I had to… distract… It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”

God dammit, I am off my game. Wondering if maybe I hadn’t so much Invented Orb Weaver as he’d always been here was doing that to me. From the way Dad was turning white, I really was not making my case.

“You were so focused on the objective, anything else was acceptable.” Armsmaster shook his head. “Just like in Galveston, the only objective was to rescue the people in the shelter, and so you chose to distract Leviathan. Had Kanshi not intervened, you would be dead.”

“Or the Thinker,” Costa-Brown said. “You left yourself open because you were focused on solving the problem, which I fear is not so much a product of your thinker power, as it is your personality.”

“I take it you are all considering ways to avoid that?” I sighed. “You’ve spoken of the Wards.”

“No.” Director Piggot shook her head. “Forcing you into the Wards would be bad for all concerned. But a closer relationship, as an affiliate… there are jobs you could do for us, while ah…”

“Resting,” Legend said. “Even a Protectorate member, outside of emergencies, would be put on reduced duties after the things you’ve experienced. Everyone takes vacations, firefighters, police… Thinkers…”

“Reduced duties?” I frowned. “What would that…”

“If you were willing,” Legend said. “We would provide you with several contact numbers for various PRT departments. We know that Kaiser’s threat to the hostages was part of what kept you from contacting us directly, rather than through Tattletale. But I think you’ll agree that it’s unlikely any criminal organization would have access to all PRT departments, to say nothing of the Chief Director and my office.”

“That would be useful, but what… reduced duties are you considering?”

“You have been very successful with your tutoring group.” Costa-Brown said. “Kid Win, Krewe, and Forecast have all benefited from your ability to focus in on how best to help them, both in mundane terms and using their powers, and as a peer… It’s easier to speak to them. I wouldn’t insult you by giving you a make-work job, but this is far from it. Helping a Ward learn more about their abilities may literally mean the difference between life and death.”

Goddammit. They were manipulating me and… The hell of it was, it worked. I did like tutoring people.

And I expect that Glenn was here for that reason. I’d been part of the apocalyptic plague of the city… but then show me as a tutor? It’d help people forget. Nobody was afraid of a teacher.

Which is fucking stupid. Between them, the faculty of Winslow, when I’d gone there, had probably done more damage than many villains. I could do better than… And I’m really thinking about this.

And it would trap me… in a way. I’d have duties, responsibilities…

Ssshe doess hEr GreaTESst worrk WHEn traPPED.

Well, whatever the fuck had been talking wasn’t wrong…

“It also gives the city some tranquility, especially if I can convince Orb Weaver to go along,” I murmured, thinking furiously. “People may cheer the death the Empire, but Orb Weaver isn’t comforting. The ABB has been reducing their activities, Coil has never been the kind of man to kill minorities, the Merchants are gone…” I shook my head. “Not just a vacation for me, but the Bay.”

“Your mother loved teaching, Taylor,” Dad said.

Low blow, Dad. Correct, but low blow.

“And given how you have fixed some of Kid Win’s issues—“ I cut Armsmaster off.

“That’s…” I shook my head. “That’s not how you talk about neurodivergent individuals, saying ‘fix’ I mean.” I was still focusing on all the bombs that had been dropped on me, or maybe I’d have been more careful in speaking. “It implies something is wrong, and when they can’t make it go away, it sets them up for failure.”

“Quite interesting, not all tutors the PRT has worked with believe that,” Armsmaster said. Suddenly, I felt the jaws of a trap slamming shut on me, as I looked around, only they were wearing the face of Kid Win as someone kept yelling at him to just “concentrate man!” Or all the Quinlins telling Aisha that someday, if she worked really hard,  she might be able to balance her welfare checks…

“A rest period?”

“For some months, then we can work things out,” Costa-Brown said. “You would of course, also be free to work as a consulting detective for the PRT or others, but we would prefer that you try to let us know if there are any other issues that might stir up Orb Weaver.”

You and me both, I thought. But was this… I had run a campaign of terror against the Empire, but could I do the same against the ABB? Against Coil?  At what point would the cure become worse than the disease? And…

I haven’t rested, not really, since I got my powers. First the merchants, preparing for the Empire, all the little things.

Were they right? Tired, sitting in the wheelchair, I thought, the others giving me time. I could have called the PRT for the Master. Maybe there was no alternative for Leviathan, but was that the real reason, or me just automatically assuming I had to do it myself…

And Sheila. I’d wanted to shatter the Empire, but it was already bleeding out… what if I had pulled back, or just decided to not play games and take them out quickly? Would she still be… Sheila?

I didn’t know. And now, with the revelation about Orb Weaver. I was going to have to do something… something I’d never dreamed of. But the books, the material I’d read, all agreed. There were some things that even professionals couldn’t address themselves, that they had to reach out to others…and the Empire was gone. I’d achieved my major goal, so…

“I accept,” I said, then paused. “But would this rest period include access to psychological counseling?”

There was a little stutter of surprise around the room.

“We were expecting to discuss that later,” Dr. Yamada said.

“After I had calmed down and was more receptive?” I asked. I shook my head. “No, you’ve made good points, and…” I sighed. “Maybe I could use a little rest.”  Well, rest regarding the Empire, but if the rest of the Wards have as many issues as the Bay does…

“Good,” Director Piggot said. “Krewe can stop bothering me with plans to fit you with a shock-collar.”

“She…” I chuckled. “She can be outspoken.”

“She cares for you,” Dad said. “If Armsmaster hadn’t overrode her, Krewe would still be camped out in front of your room.”

Well, I guess Chris and Aisha’s little trick hadn’t been discovered. I wouldn’t tell.

“Very well,” Costa-Brown said. “You can finish this on your own, but Emily, I’ll leave disbursing Ms. Hebert’s bounties to you.”

“Bounties?” I’d known that the Empire had them, but originally, I hadn’t planned to claim them, and after Sheila I hadn’t thought about it.

“After taxes, about 500,000 dollars.” Director Piggot shrugged. “We can assist you with the legalities.”

I just blinked. After all of this…

I was just going to sit here and let my brain rest. And after that?

Well, another reason to take the PRT up on their offer was that there was something very weird with my power.

Which meant I was going to have to research the hell out of it.

Call it a working vacation.

Weirdly enough, something in the back of my head almost felt… satisfied.