"I can explain everything!" I said hurriedly as I entered the briefing room. Lisa, who was sitting there, looked up from the laptop in front of her and put her elbows on a pile of documents.
"I see," she said, and a mocking smile played on her lips. "This is serious, huh? You... what?! Seriously? Hah, well yes, clearly feeling guilty, hiding your eyes from me, feeling awkward... and at the same time you're pleased with yourself. If I wasn't so sure of your innocence, Taylor, I would assume you cheated on me. But how can I assume such a thing?! And with whom?!" She blinked theatrically, feigning extreme bewilderment. "After all, you couldn't have done it with Sophia Hess, right? You just couldn't have, could you?"
"Lisa! I'm so sorry..."
"At school. In your classroom after classes. What does Number One call you? Slut? How many epithets are there for 'treacherous cheater'?"
"Lisa! It just happened!"
"Oh! I see. You were walking past Sophia Hess's desk, tripped and fell on her, so that her tongue 'accidentally' ended up inside you?" Lisa crossed her arms over her chest.
"Uh... well... you're smart. Think of something," I say, really feeling awkward. She snorts. Shakes her head and lets out a short laugh.
"Taylor, Taylor..." she says. "If anyone is far from jealousy in the usual sense of the word, it's me. If anyone, I always notice the looks you give girls on the streets. And I saw how you look at our dusky little chocolate Rodriguez. Do you think I don't understand your reflexes and desires? I know about them before you realize them. Your domination over little Sophia 'Shadow Stalker' Hess was inevitable. I could have prevented it, by the way... briefly. I just had to say that you were attracted to her and that's it - you would have been put off. For a while. She remained a significant character for you, you felt a thirst for revenge and domination, a desire to humiliate, but not to kill. And where and how to realize this? In turn, Sophia is an even more straightforward stick than you. She couldn't bear that you overcame so many steps in one jerk and became unreachable for her. The worst outcome for her would be complete and total ignoring on your part. She wanted to be better than you in at least something, to challenge you somewhere, and at the same time prove to herself that she's not afraid of you. And also - not feel like complete shit. And how to do this best? Convince herself that she had 'special' feelings for you, from which she acted, and now, when her plan finally succeeded - she can rightfully take her place next to you. Only the poor girl doesn't understand that the place is already taken."
"So you're not jealous? Thank God," I exhale. "I was so afraid. Everything happened so suddenly..."
"Me and jealousy? What nonsense. Smart people don't get jealous. Smart people lead. Do you know that Marquise de Pompadour, after she aged a bit and no longer attracted Louis XIV with her charms - helped him find and seduce young girls, bringing them to his bedroom? A similar custom exists in Japan. I'm one of those. I'm smart. Bring this Sophia to me, I'll conduct a short briefing. We'll do it together, I'll buy a dog collar and a whip. I've always dreamed of properly punishing Shadow Stalker, and here's such an opportunity." Lisa rubs her temples with a tired movement. "While you were seducing cheerleaders and smelling flowers at school - I did so much work. I never worked so hard for Grue as I do for you. He's right when he says you're a tyrant."
"Wait, Lisa." I sit down next to her and hug her. "Are you really not angry? I... don't know why I did it. Number Five said that otherwise she would definitely do something to herself..."
"And you're such a philanthropist. Girl Robin Hood, gives to everyone who's in trouble," Lisa squints.
"Uh..."
"Just don't tell me about charity, okay?" she says. "You needed it, you put a period, closed your gestalt, not just defeated your Jabberwocky, but fucked him... I mean her. Just next time it's preferable to consult with me first. You could have called..." she winks. "For such a case I would have rushed straight to your school. Eh... if only Grue knew. He has a long history of enmity with Shadow Stalker... I'll have to make him happy with the story of how you sat on her face. If I sit too... Oh! I need to make a bet with him first!" Her face lights up with a smile.
"No one will ever bet against you, Lisa," I say. "Except those who don't know you at all. Grue has known you for a long time and he's definitely not a fool. Not that much."
"Fine then," she agrees easily. "And what happened with the PRT? I sense some light guilt there... too. Did you try to seduce a PRT employee at school?"
"No. Dr. Yamada..." And I tell Lisa what and how it happened. She thinks. Strokes her chin.
"Hmm. Interesting," she says. "I generally agree with Number Five everywhere, except for the moments where he calls me a 'blonde slut.' I'm a beautiful blonde slut! And he's an old fart, tell him that. As for this Yamada... how about you do the same to her, huh? Like Sophia Hess? Bend her over and that's it? Why are you shaking your head, she's pretty, I can see it in you. You had thoughts, didn't you? Well, whatever, to hell with her, we have more important matters. You need to talk to Bakuda... just please don't get into her pants, she has issues with that. She has moral trauma from sexual violence, she might snap. So no hints, on the contrary, behave as asexually as possible. Pretend you're not going to tie her to her work table and..."
"Lisa! I wasn't going to!"
"Well... who knows. You were let out to school and already raped Shadow Stalker. And almost raped the psychologist doctor. You should be set on the Endbringers... Simurgh is quite your type, she has a nice figure..."
"Lisa! I'll stuff your mouth full of flies right now!"
"What sexual fantasies you have... flies in the mouth." Lisa covers her mouth with her hand and giggles from under her palm. "How corrupted you are, Taylor. I'll tell your father everything."
"Leave my father alone. Do you think I didn't see how you looked at him? Danny is off limits," I say. "I'll go talk to Bakuda now. How is she doing?"
"Well..." Lisa vaguely moved her hand, indicating something unclear. "So-so. At least she locked herself in her laboratory and made a bunch of her terrible bombs... but she has no thoughts of escape or rebellion or resistance to you. She won't challenge you. But I would still recommend you meet with our clowns first. And... if you're really going to beat up Hookwolf, you remember what I talked about, right?"
"Yes," I say. The jokes are over. All these obscenities and vulgarities are fun, of course, but the task before me is no joke. I need to put Kaiser and his Empire 88 in their place. Make them start taking me seriously on that side of the street. Otherwise, the guys from the double eights have already started gradually entering the former ABB territory, testing the boundaries of my tolerance. My operators (apparently calling them mercenaries is bad form. "Mamacita" told me. They're operators, that's what they're called in special forces) quickly put in place those who tried to violate the boundaries, but these were temporary measures. Sooner or later heavy artillery will come into play and I need to prevent this now. Hookwolf is the most suitable candidate for a visual lesson to the Eighty-Eights. First, he's heavy artillery, a heavy hitter of the Empire, practically invulnerable in his form of blades and hooks, chains and gears. Looking at him, you begin to understand that there was no logic or physics in parahuman abilities. Why the hell does a person suddenly turn into an enraged ball of spinning blades and hooks? Where, one asks, does his own body of flesh and blood disappear? And where does all this mass of sharp metal come from? Although... who am I to talk. In my head, besides perception from millions of insects simultaneously - there are also fourteen personalities with their own cockroaches inside.
The second reason to choose Hookwolf as a target and visual aid in free courses on the subject "Don't Think of Messing with the Administration" is the fact that the damn bastard planned to kidnap my father. He didn't succeed, but that's not his merit, it's Tattletale's merit, who in real time redirected the commands of Administration operators, preventing two attempts already. Nevertheless, as Jainists say, karma counts intention, not consequences. He intended to kidnap Danny. There are people who know about this. I need to make it clear to everyone that this is unacceptable. My tolerance level for threats to my loved ones is zero. No tolerance. And this is what the Empire must understand, what Kaiser must understand, what everyone who has ears and mind must understand.
But Lisa isn't asking me about choosing my target, she knows I won't change my mind. We talked about this. She wants to do her part, allow me not only to hurt the Empire, but also not get on the "Most Wanted" list from the PRT, and also make it work for our image. For the Administration's image. I could kill Hookwolf quietly. For example, in his sleep, poisoning him with neurotoxins or dissolving him with Bakuda's acid bombs. And then dispose of the body. But this won't teach the necessary lesson, I need to learn to work for the public, put on a show. This should calm people, because simply missing capes cause fear. And we need exactly a show. So that people form an opinion about the predictability and reliability of both me and my group. That is, everything by the book - first a warning, stated claims, negotiations, and only then - attack. And yes, for the attack I'll need a reason. Otherwise I'll remain with the reputation of a bloodthirsty monster, and the PRT will write me a one-way ticket at the first opportunity, as soon as they have a cape with a convenient counter-power at their disposal.
So this time I'll have to work by all the rules of cape battles - except I won't have to put on colorful tights. However, I'll still have to change clothes. Instead of a suit, I have a set of light "Ronin" armor with a helmet, as well as an armored mask covering the face from the Japanese company "Devtac." It looks intimidating enough and at the same time functional. In all this I'll look like such a high-tech ninja-cyborg. The suit protects shins, forearms, elbows and knees, not to mention the body. Doesn't restrict movement, and the helmet-armored mask even has two small fans and night vision goggles built in. I don't need night vision, I have night insects, I'll never be blind in the dark again. Nevertheless, since I have to put on a costume anyway, it's better for it to be something functional, not just lavender-colored gymnastics tights like Tattletale's. It didn't protect from bullets - it didn't even protect from lustful looks! I'll have to ask her to wear those tights in the bedroom sometime... what am I even thinking about!
"I'll talk to Bakuda, and we'll go to the clowns together," I say. "What do you think?"
"I think you have the wrong thoughts in your head again..." Lisa says appraisingly, looking me up and down. "God, Taylor, shame on you! You just came from school, where... Kha! Kha-kha! Ptui! Argh... where did these flies come from?! Taylor!"
"What do I have to do with it?" I shrug and make a completely innocent face. "If you open your mouth too much and too wide, it's no wonder that flies fly in there. Try spending more time with your mouth closed, they say it helps."
"Ptui..." Lisa wipes her stuck-out tongue with a handkerchief and takes out mouth freshener. "Tyrant. I should have stayed with Grue. At least he didn't feed me flies."
"Too bad. Pure protein. Full of nutrients. You can make cutlets from flies, no worse than beef and much healthier. Easily digestible, dietary product."
"So we found a product for civilian production... cutlets from flies and worms. Ptui." Lisa spits. "Although with your amorousness we might as well advertise Viagra."
"Lisa! Will you never leave me alone until old age?" I say, understanding what she's really after. With such jokes she relieves excessive tension from me and translates the whole situation into a normal plane. Yes, exactly. The situation itself is clearly not normal, I consider Lisa my girlfriend and on the same day I had... what happened. And with whom! With Sophia Hess! If someone had told me this an hour before, I would never have believed it! So I'm still shaking from what happened, and most of all there's turmoil in my soul. What are my relationships with Lisa now? Who am I to Sophia and who is she to me? How will I live further if I'm such a slut?! Number One was right, oh so right, when he picked fifty epithets for "easy girl"...
And Lisa - behaves as if nothing happened, jokes and teases me. If she had just said that everything is normal - it wouldn't have calmed me. But when she jokes about me like this - it really calms me. This is exactly what tells me that everything is fine between us. Better than any words and assurances that "everything is normal, don't worry."
"You're wrong about that," Lisa says. "Don't push her away. I don't like her at all, she's too nasty and aggressive, like a young bull. But any thing is useful in the household... hmm. I wonder, is this already a racist joke or not? In any case, you now have a rare opportunity to tame her, Number Five is right. By the way... do you know that he's not Number Five?"
"What? Then which one?"
"I don't know yet. Most likely - the Slaughterhouse Nine member Without a Number. Because the Fifth was some woman who strengthened her skin and was super-strong. So... most likely you're not the Fifteenth, but the Sixteenth. Although what does it matter to you. With your power - even if you were the Ten Thousandth. Do you know that the PRT conducted a secret analysis of your interactions with the Slaughterhouse Nine and the Thinkers from Think Tank came to the conclusion that you're the Ultimate Slaughterhouse Nine member. That is, even if you're killed now and your personality along with the others transfers to a new body - you'll remain not only yourself, but will again lead your close and friendly collective."
"What information," I say. "That's... holy shit."
"Yep," Lisa nods. "That's why the PRT decided not to quarrel with you unnecessarily... and Number Five came out of the subconscious. Establishing cooperation with the Administration, the old bastard."
"He says he loves you very much too," I tell Lisa. "And he gives advice on what exactly to do with you."
"So that's where all the perversions in your head come from," she nods. "And I was wondering."
"I should have said right away that it's all his fault," I sigh.
"Too late. Go to Bakuda, Magdalene the Libertine, and I'll work on documents some more." She reaches for me and leaves a dry kiss on my lips. "And then we'll go to those clowns Leet and Uber together. Well and... Hookwolf."
"Hookwolf," I nod. "A visual lesson from the Administration."