Accelerando – 2.1
March 2nd, 2011
Everything was changing so quickly. The last two months had been a comfortable routine, but it couldn't have lasted. At times it felt more like I was just hiding from the world, serving out some kind of self-imposed exile. I had graduated from the introductory self defense class I was taking and had moved up to a more advanced class. According to my instructors, I was a natural. With my new slightly enhanced dexterity and sense of balance, the classes had been easy for me.
Things between Dad and I had been awkward since our fight the previous weekend. I couldn't find it in me to stay mad at him for too long, especially since I could admit to myself that I had acted pretty stupidly. Still, the uneasiness between the two of us was stifling. We were barely speaking to each other besides the perfunctory daily greetings and goodbyes. It felt like… right after mom died… when Dad had shut down and could barely drag himself out of bed on the bad days. To make matters worse, I had barely seen him at all the last few days, as he was busy finalizing the details of the settlement with the school.
It had taken every ounce of restraint in me not to sneak out again last Sunday night after my little shopping spree. I didn't think I'd be able to get any sleep that night, but I was so emotionally exhausted that I actually fell asleep quickly and slept through the entire night.
I tried to put those unpleasant thoughts away as I got ready for my big day. Dad knew I was meeting with Calle today and that I was going to the PRT for power testing, and was a bit upset that he couldn't come with me without blowing my secret identity. Having Calle there with me would be a big support though, and I was excited to meet Panacea.
Despite how eager I was at unlocking new powers, it took me forever to make a decision on the one I got from saving Aisha from the Merchants. There were some master/stranger powers that seemed like they would be useful, such as one that would cause my victim to regard me as a friend and unable to attack me, or another one that would cause those who heard my voice to obey my suggestions as long as it wasn't something crazy. I was too scared to choose one of them though. Part of me didn't like the idea of having that kind of control over another sentient being, and a more pragmatic part was worried about compared to Canary.
Canary, real name Paige Mcabee, was a rogue who could control people who heard her sing, and she was fast on her way to becoming a famous singer before getting arrested last year. Apparently she had used her power to force her ex-boyfriend to mutilate himself. Everything I had read or seen about her case so far had painted her as a heartless monster, but Insight was convinced it was all some sort of big PRT conspiracy to punish an independent cape who wouldn't sign up with the Protectorate. It was a bit far-fetched, even for Insight. She had also tried to convince me that Dragon wasn't a real person, but a team of Tinkers pooling their resources and talent together for greater fame, so I was taking her conspiracy theories with a grain of salt. Maybe I should ask Calle about it later.
I eventually settled on a thinker power, one that would let me read the surface thoughts of people around me. I didn't think it was actual mind reading; maybe it was just a form of super cold reading, letting me make deductions based on facial expressions or body languages. I had tested it out a few times on strangers I passed while jogging, but that hadn't yielded anything interesting. I didn't want to use it on Dad either; it felt like an uncomfortable invasion of privacy… or maybe I was just scared to find out what he was really thinking these days. I had a bad feeling that one day I'd really regret choosing this power. Regardless of what the power actually did, I was definitely not sharing it with the rest of the world. I was already trying to avoid comparisons with Canary. Being compared to the Simurgh would be infinitely worse.
I was wearing my more "business formal" clothes again with a domino mask, except instead of having to find somewhere to change once I left my house, I could simply turn invisible and sneak out now. How often I wished I could be invisible when I was still at Winslow and spent every day trying to dodge my bullies. It was… liberating, to be able walk down the street or through a crowd without drawing any attention. I was constantly worried about getting hit by cars though. And joggers.
Calle was waiting at the lobby of his firm by the time I got there, where he was casually chatting with the receptionist. "Ah, Miss Nightingale," he greeted me. "Just the lady I was waiting for."
I smiled easily at him and greeted him. Calle had a way of making people feel at ease. It was easy to see why he was so successful at what he did.
Calle led me towards a meeting room before stopping to say, "I have a surprise for you inside."
Uh oh, I didn't like the sound of that. When it came to being Taylor Hebert, surprises were rarely a good thing. I pulled on my new thinker power to see what Calle was thinking. Happy to see me. Thinks he'll enjoy working with me. Considers me to be a good kid; smart too. Awww, that made me feel warm inside. Knowing that he genuinely liked me and wasn't just pretending because I was a client made me appreciate him even more. He's glad that I'm not one of those dumb capes whose first instinct is to sneak out in the middle of the night to pick a fight with a gang member. Oops. Well, he never needs to find out about that. We stopped outside the meeting room as Calle gestured for me to head inside. I hesitated.
"Go on then," he prodded. "It's nothing bad, I promise."
I could always fire him later if he was lying to me. I headed inside where I found a woman waiting for us. She had a distinctive painted doll mask, curly blonde hair, and was wearing an intricate baby blue Victorian style gown. I recognized her as Parian, one of the independent rogues in Brockton Bay. Based on what Insight had told me, she was a fledgling fashion designer who made high end custom clothing for the wealthy, and could also be seen around town doing publicity gigs with her giant, animated stuffed creatures. She was a few inches shorter than me, and altogether she was absolutely adorable.
She greeted me with a wave as I entered the room and introduced herself. "Hey there, I'm Parian." Parian, eager to make a connection with the new healer in town. Positive impression of me based on what Calle has told her. Thinks I'm pretty, and especially likes my hair.
Wh-what? Parian thinks I'm pretty? I blushed as I shut off the power quickly. Did this thing actually work, or was it just making stuff up? I tried to put it aside as I introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Nightingale. Pleasure to meet you." It actually was a little creepy to talk to someone behind a full face mask, since I couldn't see her eyes or facial expressions. Maybe that's why all the local heroes didn't wear them. I smiled and tried my best to hide my discomfort.
"Me too." She said. "Calle's told me a bit about you. I'm happy to be here for this."
I took a quick look around the room. There was a privacy screen in one of the corners, and there was a spread of coffee, juices, fruits, pastries, and sandwiches spread out on the table in the center of the room. It seemed entirely excessive for three people, but I guess that's one of the perks of the corporate lifestyle. There was also a medium sized box on the table.
Calle entered behind me. "Ah, I wanted the two of you to meet. Parian is also a client of mine, and I think you can guess why she's here today."
I had talked with Calle a bit before about what I was looking for in a costume. I mostly just made it clear that I didn't want anything unpractical; nothing that showed a lot of skin or cleavage, no high heels, etc. "Sure, it's about my costume right? We hadn't settled on anything last time we spoke about."
Parian chuckled a bit at that. "Well actually, I already made a prototype for you to try."
Well that was a bit of a surprise. I was suddenly very nervous at what these two were going to make me wear.
"Don't worry!" Calle assured me. "It's very tasteful and elegant."
"How were you even able to make something in my size?" I asked.
"Ah, well, there are security scanners in the lobby." Calle said sheepishly. "We don't really advertise it, but we take security pretty seriously here, especially since so many of our clients are parahumans."
Parian gestured towards the package on the table. "I made a prototype of what I think would be a very appropriate costume for you. This version is just made of regular fabrics, but the final version will be made of much more protective materials, including black widow spider silk for the undersuit part!"
"Black widow silk? How do you get that?" The thought of someone harvesting silk from a factory filled with millions of black widow spiders was disturbing. The thought that said factory might be in Brockton Bay was downright terrifying.
Parian laughed softly. "Well I certainly don't harvest it myself. I buy it from a source. It's very expensive, but sooo worth it for the undersuit. It's extremely tough, and more comfortable than any cloth you're ever worn before."
I didn't really like the idea that Calle and Parian had already conspired to make me something, but I was grateful that I'd have something more than just a simple domino mask to wear to my PRT meeting. I grabbed the package and headed towards the privacy screen.
"Nightingale," Parian called out to me as I walked behind the screen. "You can probably notice that there's some foam padding inserted into various parts of the costume. Those are placeholders to represent where the armored inserts will go in the final version."
"OK, thanks!" I responded. It was good to know that I could expect at least some level of protection beyond just spider silk. Not that I doubted her claims on how tough spider silk was, but I'd definitely be more comfortable knowing that I'd have more than a few thin layers of fabric to protect me.
I opened the package and started taking out the different components. There was a lot of… white. I guess that made sense, if I was going to be a healer and volunteering in hospitals. There was a white spandex bodysuit meant to be worn under the other pieces. It covered my body from the neck down to my feet, so I didn't need to worry about showing any skin. Next was a white one piece dress that was meant to be worn over the bodysuit. It looked a bit like a cross between Glory Girl and Panacea's costume. There was a hood that would hide my head and my distinctive hair, like Panacea's costume, but the rest of the dress was reminiscent of Glory Girl's outfit. There was a round, red emblem on the left side of the chest area, which depicted the silhouette of a small bird in flight. A small, red, half-cape attached to the left shoulder of the dress via a magnetic clasp and hung straight down the back of the dress. I changed into the outfit and starting feeling around the dress for the foam padding that would represent where the armored inserts would be. The chest and upper back areas had the armored padding hidden within, which would cover my vital organs but wouldn't limit my range of motion or flexibility. The long sleeves of the dress hid built-in elbow guards and armored padding on the forearms. The skirt stopped a bit above my knees, and there were armored inserts hidden in the pleats of the skirt as well. Finally, there was a pair of leather boots, dark blue gloves, a small utility belt, and a white domino mask to complete the outfit.
I finished putting everything on, and turned towards the floor standing mirror conveniently located behind the privacy screen. Calle really did think of everything. He was definitely worth every penny I was… well not paying yet, but I assume I'll be paying him a lot eventually.
The costume was amazing. Even if it was just a rough draft, the quality of the craftsmanship was way better than any of the clothes I owned. I looked unrecognizable. I adjusted my posture a little to make sure I wasn't slouching as I examined myself in the mirror. The figure reflected back at me was undoubtedly heroic and noble. It was a far cry from my ratty hoodie with its knife holes. Even with the padding, it didn't look bulky at all. If anything, it just made me look slightly less skinny, which was an improvement. Hmm, I wonder how much protection such thin armored inserts could actually provide.
"Come on out already so we can seeee!" I heard Parian call out.
Parian literally squee'd as I stepped out from behind the privacy screen. "You look amazing!" She gushed as she circled around me. For some reason she reminded me of a feline stalking its prey. "This is by far my favorite part of the job, seeing my creations come to life like this."
I blushed hard at her compliment, and suddenly wished I had a full face mask to hide how red my face was getting. Calle had insisted that my eyes and mouth be partly visible while I was healing, so I didn't creep out any patients. "Th-thanks." I uttered softly. "Your work is amazing." I was never one of those girly girls who were really into clothes and fashion, but this outfit really was incredible. I was almost too scared to ask how much the final version was going to cost me.
A small fabric tape measurer shot up on its own and started circling around me. I stood still and tried very hard not to fidget as Parian started measuring various parts of the costume on me. "Fits pretty well," she said after a few minutes. "I think I'll tighten up the waist a little on the final version just a little bit."
Parian hung around and we chatted for a little bit afterwards and we exchanged numbers. She invited me to come visit her workshop sometime, which I promised to do. The final version of the suit was going to be dreadfully expensive and she was just waiting on a deposit before she got started, though apparently she was going give me a small discount.
"One more thing," Calle said, as he picked up another box that was sitting on one of the shares. "A mutual friend of ours also wanted to give you a present."
I opened the box. Inside was a carrying case containing a small lute, a little bit less than two feet long. The main body was oval shaped and was constructed out of a beautiful sand colored wood. It was a thing of beauty, and it definitely couldn't have been cheap. I picked it up gingerly and strummed one of the strings. The lute practically hummed with power. Somehow I knew I could use it to channel my abilities. There was a small note in the package, which I pulled out next.
Hey sexy, go knock 'em dead today (◕‿◕♥)
xoxo wuv 'I'
PS u still owe me pics
Despite the immaturity of the note, I felt myself tearing up at the gift. I hadn't received a gift from anybody except Dad since I started high school, and I found myself surprisingly moved that Insight had gotten this for me. The lute was… perfect. I didn't know how to play it of course, but I resolved to learn as soon as possible.
Soon after, Calle was driving us to the PRT headquarters for my power testing meeting with Panacea. Since the PRT were expecting us, we were given directions to enter through the private employee garage entrance, letting us bypass the crowds of people loitering around the lobby.
I had only been to the PRT headquarters once before, on a school fieldtrip back when I was in the 6th grade. I remember thinking it felt more like a tourist attraction than a proper police station. The PRT headquarters was a large steel and glass building in the downtown area. The main Protectorate Headquarters was a large floating rig out in the bay that was a popular photography target for denizens on the boardwalk. The Wards however, were housed in the PRT headquarter downtown, which was much closer to Arcadia High School, where most of the Wards were rumored to attend. Tours of the Wards training facility and recreation areas were available. A large gift shop in the lobby was constantly buzzing with visitors, where I bought an Armsmaster action figure last time I was here. There was even a small museum on the history of the PRT on the second floor directly above the lobby.
When Calle pulled into a parking spot inside the private garage, I could see that Panacea was already there, and waiting at the entrance into the building along with her sister, Glory Girl. They were both in costume. Were they waiting for us?
Glory Girl looked every inch like a proper heroine. She was tall, even taller than me by an inch or two, with beautiful shimmering, straight blonde hair. Her outfit was a white one-piece dress with gold accents and a gold belt around her waist. She didn't wear anything to cover her face, though she did have a gold tiara on top of her head. Her white boots even had small heels on them! How could she fight in those?
Her sister Panacea on the other hand looked liked she was hiding as much of herself as possible. Her costume was a long white robe that completely hid her body and covered her head. She was shorter than me by a few inches, and she had curly light brown hair and freckles adorning her face. I sat there for a second in the car, just staring at the two of them.
"Go on," Calle said. "Go make some friends. I'll join you in a minute."
I stared at him incredulously. One does not simply walk up to two famous heroes and befriend them!
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, go network and make some professional connections."
That seemed easier to swallow, but it was still nerve-wracking. I got out of the car and headed towards the two heroes. Glory Girl noticed me as I approached and waved. You can do this Taylor! Before I realized I was doing, I was already calling up my new thinker power to scan their thoughts. I felt a stab of guilt at using it on two heroes, but it was overwhelmed by the terror of a social interaction.
Glory Girl. Happy to see a new independent girl hero around her own age. Loves my costume. Notices the similarities to her own. Approves. Wants to befriend me. What, really? Glory Girl wants to be my friend? That seemed unbelievable. I turned my attention to Panacea. Panacea… pities me? Thinks I don't know what I'm getting myself into. Hates her power. Hates her life. Hates everything. Hates/loves her mom. Loves Glory Girl. Really loves Glory Girl. REALLY LO- I cut my power off. What the hell was that? Was my power screwing with me? There's no way that THAT was Panacea.
Before I could give it any more thought, I was already in front of them.
"Hiii!" Glory Girl greeted me exuberantly. She was apparently just as peppy in real life as she was on TV. "You must be Nightingale. I looove your outfit!"
"Thanks! It's nice to meet you Glory Girl." I responded, trying my hardest not to be awkward.
Glory Girl slung a shoulder around Panacea, who squeaked as she was suddenly yanked forward. "This is my sister Amy!"
"Panacea while I'm in costume," she muttered half-heartedly. I got the feeling that she wasn't nearly as energetic as Glory Girl.
"Nice to meet you, Panacea. Thank you for being here for this."
She smiled weakly at me and nodded. Now that I could see her more up close, I noticed that she had dark bags under eyes, and she looked far more weary and tired than any sixteen year old girl had a right to be. She was after all just in Australia the previous week for the Simurgh attack. Being one of the New Wave kids had always seemed so glamorous when I read about them online, but I guess the responsibility of being Panacea must be crushing. Glory Girl at least didn't look like she had it nearly as bad.
"You can go back to school Glory Girl." Panacea said, turning to look at her sister. "I'll be fine here by myself."
"Nah, I'm totally ditching this afternoon. I think this qualifies as hero work!" Glory Girl said brightly. Were they really that lax about truancy at Arcadia? "So, Nightingale, you're a healer? Can you do anything else?"
I paused for a second. I didn't want all of my abilities to be public knowledge, but I didn't want to hide too much of myself either. At one point I had harbored a fantasy about developing a second cape persona, one that was darker and edgier that I would use to fight crime with. Since coming clean to Dad about the rest of my abilities though, there didn't seem to be too much of a point anymore. "Yeah," I eventually responded. "I'm kind of a grab bag cape. I have a few other minor powers, like invisibility, and I can put people to sleep."
"Ooh, that seems convenient." Glory Girl said. "Can you fly?"
"Umm, not yet." Unfortunately. It was definitely number one on my wish list.
"What do you mean not yet?"
"Ah, I'm still acquiring new powers over time." I admitted.
"Like Myrddin!" Glory Girl gasped. "Are you a wizard too? No wait, you'd be a witch."
"What? No!" I denied. I sent her a halfhearted glare. "I'm a trump. Like Eidolon."
Glory Girl just shrugged. "Hey, Myrddin's badass. There's nothing wrong with being a witch. Besides, I've always liked the hammier capes. Mouse Protector was my favorite hero when I was little."
What? Alexandria is way better than Mouse Protector. Everyone knows that.
"Ames here had a huuuge crush on Hero though!" Glory Girl exclaimed.
Panacea squeaked indignantly at that. "No I didn't! I just liked all the different toys and gadgets he could make!"
"Ah, Alexandria was always my favorite." I chimed in.
Glory Girl grinned at me. "I really mean what I said earlier, that costume is really becoming on you. Then again, if I was on y-"
"VICKY!" Panacea hissed at Glory Girl. She turned to me and squeaked out, "Sorry! She went on patrol with Gallant and Clockblocker earlier this week, and… picked up some bad habits."
Huh? Glory Girl had a huge smile on her face. I felt like I was missing something. It bugged me a little to be out of the loop. Better to nod and go along with it. Luckily I was saved when Calle finally made his way over to join us. "This is Mr. Calle. He's my, well, he's my token adult."
Calle smiled easily at that introduction. "Hello! Quinn Calle, professional adult, at your service."
Panacea and Glory Girl both chuckled at that. Glory Girl eyed him for a few seconds, before saying, "Hey! I know who you are. Mom complains about you all the time."
Calle chuckled. "I don't see what she has to complain about," he said. "All I've done was offered to double her salary and make her a named partner at my firm."
Glory Girl gasped dramatically. "Double you say? You must be quite the scoundrel for her to turn that down."
"Please," Calle said. "You should see the company that she keeps. Why, just look at all the property damage that the eldest daughter of hers causes!"
Glory Girl pouted adorably and muttered something about it not being her fault. It didn't come across as very convincing.
"Well then," Calle continued. "Should we head inside?"
I nodded. I was definitely ready for this.
* * *
Spoiler: Taylor's Current Abilities
Spoiler: AN670ShadowghostApr 1, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Accelerando - 2.2View contentShadowghostApr 9, 2016#282Accelerando – 2.2
March 2nd, 2011
I went inside the PRT building with my plucky band of adventurers… and by that I meant my lawyer, Glory Girl, and Panacea. We were greeted by a female PRT officer dressed in a simple pantsuit instead of the PRT body armor I was used to seeing on TV, and someone who I assumed was either a scientist or doctor based on his white lab coat.
"Hello, you must be Nightingale." The PRT officer greeted me. "I'm Karen Jones, and we'll be joined with Dr. Feldman here today. He'll be cataloging your power testing results."
The doctor smiled at me. "We're very excited to have you here with us today. We've managed to round up a fair number of volunteers both from within the PRT and from the local hospitals for you to test your powers on. They've all signed extensive waivers already, so don't worry about anything besides healing today. Panacea here has graciously volunteered to use her power to monitor the patients while you heal."
"And I'm told later on we can expect Miss Militia to swing by to have a chat with you!" Karen chimed in.
I perked up at that. Miss Militia was one of the original Wards, and one of the longest serving members of the Protectorate. She was a personal hero of mine, and I was definitely excited to meet her.
We followed the PRT employees through a series of corridors. Unlike the bright and airy lobby which received tourists, the architecture we were passing through were strictly utilitarian. Fluorescent lights lit up the windowless hallways we passed through, and painted lines of different colors provided a roadmap for people to follow. We were following the lines directing us towards the medical wing of the building.
We eventually made our way to the medical wing and stopped right outside the first patient room. Dr. Feldman tapped away at his tablet for a few seconds before turning to address me.
"Let's see, first up we have a Mr. Bryan O'Connor, who was diagnosed six months ago with acute myelogenous leukemia. This will be a good first test." Dr. Feldman said. "Parahuman healers are rare, and healers that can cure cancer are even rarer. Most parahuman healing powers works by increasing the rate of cellular regeneration. In cancer patients, this can often increase the spread of cancer."
I nodded, and our group entered the room. A middle-aged man with thinning red hair was lying down on the hospital bed. His face was a little gaunt, but he didn't look too unhealthy. A teenage boy, maybe a few years older than me, with the same red hair as the man and freckles was sitting by his side.
"Dennis?" Glory Girl asked, with a surprised look on her face.
"Hey Vicky, Amy." The teenage boy responded with a small smile.
Amy greeted Dennis with a small nod, but her eyes were downcast.
There was an awkward silence before Glory Girl cleared her throat. "Dennis goes to school with us at Arcadia." She explained.
He flashed me a wider smile. "Thanks for being here for this, Nightingale. We really appreciate this."
After exchanging greetings with Dennis and his dad, I stepped forward with Panacea to heal him. Panacea went to the opposite side of the hospital bed and gently touched his wrist. There was an incredible pit of nervousness in my stomach. I knew based on what my power told me that it should heal most diseases, but I would be devastated if this somehow didn't work.
I reached for my power and touched Mr. O'Connor gently on his other wrist with my gloved hand. My abilities in general seemed a bit stronger when I was channeling them through my voice, so I took a breath and hummed out, "spirits of renewal, restore this ailing body." Power poured out of me as a warm white light engulfed him.
"Wh-what was that?" Glory Girl asked. "You ARE a witch!"
I glared at her. "My power just works slightly better when I'm channeling it through my voice. I'm NOT a witch."
"Ahem, the cancerous cells are being directly converted into healthy cells." Panacea chimed in as the lightshow started to fade. "Congratulations Mr. O'Connor, you are cancer free."
I breathed out a sigh of relief. I did it! I had just saved a life, the first of hopefully many to come. Dennis let out a laugh as he hugged his dad.
"Wonderful!" Dr. Feldman exclaimed. "Of course, we'll do a full workup for Mr. O'Connor, and we still need to watch out for relapse, but this is wonderful news."
"Thank you so much, Nightingale," Mr. O'Connor said to me. "I can't tell you how much this means to me."
Glory Girl exchanged a few quiet words that I couldn't really hear with Dennis while Panacea stepped outside the room first. I wonder what that was all about? It was general knowledge that Panacea didn't take requests except from the PRT. I couldn't even imagine how many people she'd have to turn down for healing otherwise. Considering she didn't have a separate civilian identity, it must be a terrible strain on her social relationships. I felt silly for thinking that her life as a famous healer must have been all sunshine and rainbows.
I stepped outside to join Panacea and soon we were on our way to the next patient room.
"Our next patient is a Ms. Judy Wallace, who has just started manifesting symptoms of Huntington's disease." Dr. Feldman said. "It's really quite horrible. It's a genetic disease causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain over time, and there's no cure for it."
Panacea looked absolutely miserable as we headed into the room. It was common knowledge that she couldn't heal brains, so was she feeling guilty? That's rather silly. It's not her fault that her power doesn't work on brains, and she saves so many other lives.
The patient was young for someone with a fatal brain condition. She couldn't have been more than thirty something years old, and she looked healthy enough. I stepped forward with Panacea and pulled on my healing powers again.
"Um, I think it's working." Panacea said. "It looks like its attacking the mutation in the Huntington gene directly and converting it to its unmated state. I'm not seeing any changes to the brain structure, so it'll require further monitoring."
"Wh-what? I altered her DNA?" That seemed like a big deal.
"Fascinating!" Dr. Feldman exclaimed. "It appears then that your power treats genetic disorders with gene therapy instead of addressing the symptoms. I'd definitely like to study this further."
Neither Panacea nor Dr. Feldman seemed concerned at all. I wished I had spent more time studying up on traditional medicine when I was in the library instead of goofing off on PHO. My healing powers seemed to work by just "pointing and shooting," so I didn't think I needed to bother learning actual biology. That seems pretty foolish now.
Panacea didn't seem particularly happy or unhappy that I could heal brains. I guess it was kind of cool that I could do something she couldn't, but I didn't want her to resent me. I was tempted to use my thought detection power again just to see what she was thinking, but I needed to save my energy for healing.
This process repeated a couple of times until I was too exhausted to continue. A PRT agent with a broken leg and a few cracked ribs was easily healed. Next was a patient suffering from paraplegia, which I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could cure. I also tested my healing power on patients suffering from bipolar disorder and Alzheimer's disease, but it was too soon to tell if it worked. They wanted me to try re-growing an amputee's lost arm, and I made it very clear that I couldn't do that yet. They still made me try though, which just left me and the patient I tried with very disappointed. I was hopeful that eventually I would unlock a more powerful healing ability that would let me regrow limbs. Luckily Panacea was there to grow that patient's arm back, which was incredibly gross to watch happen. The poor patient also looked emaciated by the time she was done. I healed until I needed to take a break to rest my powers, which we used to test my Healing Song on a roomful of PRT agents and employees suffering from various minor injuries and maladies. I wasn't sure how effective it was, but Dr Feldman assured me he'd let me know the results of the full workups they would go through afterwards.
Eventually we stopped outside the final patient room for the day.
"Ah, before you leave, there's one more thing we want you to try." Dr. Feldman said, with a somewhat sheepish look. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what was coming next. "As you know, a lot of conventional medical practice was turned upside down with the advent of parahuman healing. Many of the things parahumans like you can heal were long thought to be impossible."
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
"In the next room, we have Mrs. Joan Bradshaw and her husband, Terrence Bradshaw. Mrs. Bradshaw was in a serious automotive accident three years ago where she suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her brain dead. Before parahuman healing was possible, most jurisdictions recognized brain death as legal death, and we would not try to prolong life artificially through ventilators and other machines. When parahuman healers started showing up, more and more people have elected to keep their loved ones in this condition alive in private care facilities in hope that a parahuman healer will one day be able to revive them."
"You want me to try to heal her? I… I definitely don't think that's something my power can fix." I said. There's no way that this was going to end well.
"We all know this is a long shot. Don't worry, we made it abundantly clear to Mr. Bradshaw that he shouldn't get his hopes up. We just want you to try." Dr. Feldman replied.
I felt Calle's hand on my shoulder as he squeezed it reassuringly.
"Hey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, but we're with you if you're willing to try." He said gently.
I sighed and nodded. There was no good reason not to try.
We entered the room. The patient… Joan... laid on the table with a ventilator tube down her throat and numerous other wires and monitoring machines attached to her. Without all the medical equipment attached to her, she'd look like any other healthy woman just sleeping. Her husband, Terrence, stood up from beside her as soon as we entered the room. His face was haggard, and there were deep pockets beneath his eyes, which were full of hope as they bored into me. He walked towards us as we entered the room.
"Thank you for being here." He said quietly.
"I… I don't want yo-" I started to say.
"I know… please, I've heard it all already. I just want you to try." The air of desperation surrounding Terrence was heartbreaking. Three years of holding on to the hope that his wife wasn't gone, that the body he stood vigil over wasn't an empty vessel.
I stepped forward with Panacea towards his wife. She looked peaceful as she lay there unmoving. The muffled whir of the ventilator was the only sound in the room. I reached out and touched her hand gently, and willed my power to flow into her. A warm bright light engulfed her briefly before quickly fading away. Panacea looked up towards me and simply shook her head.
I sighed and turned to look at Terrence. His eyes brimmed with tears as his face fell.
"I-I'm sorry." I choked out, right before I rushed out of the room. It was all getting too much for me.
I felt something glomp onto me from behind as I stepped out, which turned out to be Glory Girl.
"Hey, you were awesome today." She said with a gentle smile. "Don't get too down over that last one, OK? You can't save everybody."
"I know, it's just…" I sighed. "Thanks."
The rest of our party trickled out of the room.
"Sorry to have to put you through that," Dr. Feldman said. "But it's something we needed to know. Your healing ability is one of the most versatile ones we've seen. We still don't have all our test results back, but I don't see any problem with clearing you to start working with the local hospitals."
Karen smiled at me. "You really did do great today. I think Miss Militia should be here by now, if you want to start heading back towards the entrance."
I smiled at that. I was looking forward to meeting Miss Militia, even if she was only here to try to get me to join the Wards. Calle had told me it was standard operating procedure for a member of the Protectorate to make the Wards pitch, and that task usually fell to Miss Militia since she was so well-liked by the public.
We started walking back towards the garage, and entered a meeting room near where we came in from. A rather large man wearing a gleaming silver and red costume was there to greet us.
"Assault? What are you doing here?" Karen asked, with a look of trepidation on her face.
"I'm here to greet the newbie of course!" Assault exclaimed with a wide smile.
Huh? Why wasn't Miss Militia here to talk to me? I wasn't so tactless as to voice that thought, but fortunately Karen did it for me.
"I was told Miss Militia was supposed to be here for this." She said.
"Ehhh, couldn't get away from the office. Apparently Armsmaster just dumped a mountain of paperwork on her from that Merchant bust last night."
"What about Battery? Velocity?" Karen pressed on.
"What about them? I'm here!" Assault simply said with a bright smile on his face. He looked at me expectantly.
"Hey… c'mon kids, I'm cool too, right?" Assault asked with a childish pout that looked out of place on his large frame.
Oops, I must have been frowning at him. "Um, of course… it's nice to meet you, Assault." I don't think anyone was particularly convinced by that, as I heard a few snorts from the peanut gallery.
Assault stared at me for a second before yelling out, "Oh, you have GOT to join the Wards! The boys would love to have you on the team."
Karen groaned loudly as she face-palmed. Was Assault being serious? This was his pitch? I could see why Miss Militia usually did this kind of stuff. Did I want to join the Wards? I did think about it a bit, and had talked with Dad and Calle a fair amount on the topic.
Calle was definitely not a fan of how the PRT runs the Wards program, and a fair amount of it had probably rubbed off on me. The amount of money you actually take home as a Ward was well below minimum wage if you didn't include the college trust fund. Even including the annual trust fund of $50,000, your earnings as a Ward was still lower than your average police officer. Parahumans legally working as bodyguards or security officers were easily paid two to five times that amount. Not that I thought making money was what being a Ward was about; obviously being a hero and inspiring others is a worthy cause. But when you became a Ward, the PRT owned you. You become a cog in a relentless bureaucratic machine that at times seemed like it was more concerned with PR than fighting crime. I've seen the local Wards doing silly talk show segments on TV or at publicity appearances around town more often than I've seen news stories of them actually fighting crime. I wasn't sure I was comfortable with giving up my freedom to join the Wards. The PRT could choose your costume for you, limit how you use your powers, and profit off your image and likeness with merchandising sales. Under some circumstances, they could even relocate you to a different city. It seemed exploitative, and I didn't think I needed the benefits that being a Ward would provide. I was already on my way to Arcadia, and my power was useful enough that I could just pay Calle to handle any issues I could think of.
After a few seconds, I quietly responded, "Umm… no thank you."
Assault merely shrugged. "Ehh, I tried."
That was it? I didn't want to join the Wards, but I was still disappointed that he didn't try a bit harder. What about all the vaunted benefits of being a Ward? The danger independent heroes faced? The publicity and merchandising opportunities?
He chuckled a bit. "Look, I figured if you were willing to join the Wards, you wouldn't have brought your lawyer along. You should still swing by sometime and meet them sometime though. They're good kids. They're not here right now, because, well you know, school. Say, why aren't you kids in school?"
"It's a holiday today!" Glory Girl piped up.
"Umm, what she said." I added in agreement. He snorted and shook his head, while mumbling something about kids these days.
"Ahem, well I'm sure the offer to join the Wards will remain open if you change your mind." Karen said. "In the meantime, we were told you were willing to work with us as a PRT affiliate?"
I nodded. That simply meant I was willing to be on call to heal PRT and Protectorate members if they get injured while serving in the line of duty. Considering all the good they did for the city, it was the least I could do.
"Great. I'm pleased to offer a PRT-issued smart phone then. Please read the manual for setup instructions. Your phone comes equipped with an emergency beacon functionality, as well as one gigabyte per month of free high speed mobile internet. It also has tinkertech built in to let you connect to our network through Faraday cages and conventional cell phone jammers." She said, while handing me a small box. "Here's my card also. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need any assistance I can provide."
"Ooh, Amy has one of those. I totally use it to text while I'm at Arcadia. Super useful." Glory Girl chimed in, causing Panacea to groan.
"Yes, I suppose you could use it to bypass the cell phone jammers at Arcadia, but I hope you choose to use it more responsibly, Nightingale." Karen said to me. "If there's nothing else, it has been a pleasure to meet you."
I shook her hand and said goodbye to her before she left the room.
"Well now that we're done with work for the day, are you free for a bit? We should totally hang out, get to know each other a little!" Glory Girl said cheerfully.
"Umm, well I came here with Mr. Calle…" I looked at him questioningly.
"I certainly don't mind if you take her. Just make sure you feed her and that she's back home before 10 PM." Calle said.
Glory Girl giggled as I rolled my eyes. "I'll try my best Mr. Calle, but she seems like a troublemaker." She said, while winking at me.
Did I want to hang out with her? It wouldn't hurt to make some friends I guess. So far the only people I considered to be friends were Insight and Calle, and I pay them to talk to me. I smiled at Glory Girl and accepted her invitation.