6.34 Rubicon
20th of May, 2011
In Dragon's experience, it isn't entirely unusual for some volunteers to arrive at an Endbringer fight by themselves; after all, it is the artificial intelligence's case more often than not. But she's also aware that she's something of an edge case in that regard, what with her mechs being simultaneously highly mobile and oftentimes too bulky to be easily teleported by the handful of parahumans able to do so across the globe.
High-level Movers mostly tend to come to the rally point by their own means. Dragon has an hypothesis that this is something of a matter of pride to them, a need not to be reliant on another Mover to do what they're already good at.
All in all, someone answering the call for battle on their own means isn't exactly out there, but she still buffers when her sensors register the rapid approach of an unidentified, human-sized craft approaching Boston above the speed of sound.
Under the torrential downpour, her current vessel whirs and hums as she angles her optics to get a bead on the newcomer as they decelerate at a good clip, their projected trajectory hinting at them making their way toward her own position atop the helipad of Boston PRT HQ.
It takes Dragon a very short moment to recognize the individual in question once she registers the yellow-scarlet exhaust trail at her back, so she redirects her attention to the multiple ongoing tasks she's currently overseeing while waiting for Nictimène to land.
And while her fellow, slightly controversial colleague doesn't properly touch down atop the PRT building herself, the second individual she apparently has been carrying along does, and it takes Dragon a moment to place her as her attention momentarily stalls on her slightly altered costume.
She eventually shakes off her interest by the time the Ward Vista fully straightens next to her hovering friend, not a drop of water touching either of them. Dragon wonders how the Tinker has managed to pull that off, and for how long exactly she had planned to give the Shaker's gear a tune-up.
"Nictimène, Vista, greetings," she redirects her main process to the two newcomers – it is only polite – before asking a slightly pointed question, "Sorry for this, but I must ask; Vista, has your PRT chapter been informed of you leaving for Boston with Nictimène?"
If the way the girl stammers while her cheeks redden is anything to go by, she apparently didn't.
"I'd recommend updating them post-haste," Dragon kindly tells her, the young heroine instantly fishing for her smartphone inside her skirt's hidden pockets, before redirecting her attention toward the owl-themed Tinker, "I wish it was under better circumstances, but it is–" interesting she wants to say, "–a pleasure to meet Brockton Bay's newest independent hero."
If someone asked her, Dragon can't help but feel a little torn about the young Tinker.
On one manipulator, the law is clear, and she should be condemned – at the very least judged – for her actions under her previously villainous identity, be they her long streak of robberies, the multiple count of assault with parahuman power, the human trials of a previously untested Tinkertech compound, and of course the people she killed.
On the other manipulator, the Panacea had already saved more lives in Brockton Bay after the incident with the Fallen that the girl could've potentially negatively impacted during the course of her previous career, and getting rid of the blight upon the United States that was the Slaughterhouse Nine – and one tough customer of a gang leader too, she supposes – had earned her some more slack.
Dragon doesn't necessarily like it; Nictimène doesn't fit in the neat little boxes she uses to quantify and aggregate human behavior as well as she'd like, and it perplexes her every time she thinks about it. Though she'd easily admit that she's potentially missing some key data regarding teenagers and preteens, seeing as the Guild's membership is exclusively composed of adults.
Nonetheless, it's not the first time in her records that a villain turns coat; although it's possibly a first for one to do so by themselves without getting caught beforehand, and so brazenly at that.
Overall, Dragon feels like she can put her feelings aside as long as the girl keeps on the straight and narrow going forward. Gifting the Panacea to the wilder world alone showed exactly how much of a positive impact Jacqueline Barnes could make, no matter how much Colin could grumble about her.
"...Likewise, Dragon," the Tinker takes a moment to formulate an answer, her tone somewhat awkward if the artificial intelligence has it right, "I mean, it's an honor to meet you, circumstances notwithstanding."
Chalking it up to said circumstances, Dragon inclines her current vessel's head in the approximation of a nod.
"The both of you arrived early," she comments instead, just in time for Vista to look up from her phone, now apparently done with frantically typing a text to her superior, "There's still sometimes before Leviathan makes landfall. I suggest for both of you to wait in the lobby in the meantime."
At her words, the two friends trade a look, the winking owl mask turns back her way first shortly after.
"Actually, we'd like to start setting up. Vista's power–" the Tinker gestures toward the Shaker, "–takes time to ramp up, but if she's allowed to extend her influence all over the coast for a while–"
"–then you think she could create a buffer for Leviathan's tsunamis well in advance before they start hitting Boston," Dragon instantly connects the dots after bringing up Vista's power analysis file in the middle of Nictimène's argument, "...I do admit that the idea makes sense in theory, but those aren't natural waves but a product of the Endbringer's hydrokinesis. There are no guarantees that it'll work."
"Well, at least it's something," Vista shoots back – a little brattily, in the artificial intelligence's opinion, "And I don't want to sit and wait while I could've done something instead."
The thirteen year old punctuates her sentence by crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her chin upward.
Dragon doesn't need more than that to know that words alone won't be swaying the girl.
"Are you sure that you can afford to waste your focus so early in the day? The battle is already going to be dangerous as is, as they all are." Still, it doesn't mean that she cannot try a little harder.
"It's just a coast and a harbor, I had it way worse when holding the panopticon for Weaver," the girl answers while shaking her head in the negative, "I can pull it off!"
"And even if it doesn't work against Leviathan's hydrokinesis, it'll buy me enough room to try something," the Tinker chimes in, coughing a little awkwardly when the head of Dragon's vessel swivels her way, "I-I mean, I can probably attempt it without Vista's help, but I'd rather play it safe by diminishing the potential collateral damage…"
Dragon stares at the Tinker as she awkwardly trails off, shuffling a little on feet which have yet to touch the ground. Even her friend is throwing her a flummoxed look at the admission!
"...I have to kick those developments up the chain. I do not have the authority to greenlight the use of an attack powerful enough to–" involuntarily, her optic twitches, "–potentially inflict city-sized collateral damage, no matter its supposed effectiveness."
"Oh, it won't be that bad!" the owl-themed cape perks up, waving a scarlet-threaded white armored hand dismissively at Dragon's well-thought wariness, "It's mostly the sonic booms that– ahem!" the girl coughs in her hand once again, "Anyway! All I ask is for you to relay my demand to the Triumvirate as soon as they show up! I'm sure Alexandria will give me the go ahead once I explain everything to her."
Dragon severely doubts that, but she has gotten surprised by humans time after time in her life, so who knows?
"I'll relay the message as soon as they are present," which is the least she can do, if only to prevent a potential tragedy in the making, "Nonetheless, you should make a detour by the lobby to get your PRT-issued armbands. While wearing those isn't mandatory to participate in the battle, I can only strongly recommend it."
The owl-themed Tinker hums at that while leaning backward with her arms crossed over her chest while her friend throws an interrogative look her way.
"Which channel do you use?" Nictimène asks after a beat, her tone no-nonsense and void of the tinge of awkwardness previously coloring it.
Dragon gets momentarily taken off guard by the question, but quickly starts mustering an answer–
#Test, test,# Nictimène's voice echoes amid the appropriate channel not even a second later, throwing her for a not-so metaphorical loop, the Tinker nodding in a self-satisfied manner, "Got it. You're patched too, Mi– Vista."
"...Were you supposed to do that?" Despite being what she is, Dragon can almost feel the exasperation leaking through the Shaker's tone as she turns a gimlet eye her friend's way.
"Eh, it was easier this way," Nictimène shrugs, and the artificial intelligence nearly sputters at that, "And it won't horribly clash with our outfits! This way, we can kick ass in style!"
Dragon mentally buffers for the second time in the conversation as the girl throws a fist in the air, the other resting against her hip, after hacking through a secure channel she designed with the Simurgh's meddling in mind in 0.47 seconds.
"Really? Style? That's your best argument for compromising PRT property on a whim?" The suddenly infinitely more sensible part of the duo drawls.
"Nobody likes a party-pooper, Vista. Don't start nagging at me like that, it's unbecoming of your newfound holiness." The Tinker jokingly answers, making her friend sputter and redden.
Far away, the distant crack of thunder rumbles as Leviathan nears, yet Dragon finds herself trying to play peacemaker between two squabbling preteens heedlessly ignoring the current downpour.
The artificial intelligence has never felt so relieved when the Triumvirate finally arrives a few minutes later.
Because she may be on the fence about a lot of things concerning Nictimène, but the one she cannot forgive is the girl's capacity to somehow manage to give her a headache!
[AN: The next chapter will work better if I release it in a solid block, so have a slightly shorter than usual one today in the meantime. :3