Orb Weaver: Interlude, The Father

Danny had been pacing at the PRT. He wanted to go find Taylor. He wanted to deliver Orb Weaver a case of murder. And then everything had gon

Danny had been pacing at the PRT. He wanted to go find Taylor. He wanted to deliver Orb Weaver a case of murder.

And then everything had gone to complete shit. He wasn’t allowed in the command center, but there was an observation room behind it, where he was allowed to observe.

“All ready officers proceed to Cherry Blossom Park to support Protectorate units.” The words were crisp. Orb Weaver had warned Tattletale, some kind of junior thinker, about an attack.

Danny knew the park. It was in ABB territory, but it was a nice park, that anyone could go to, surrounded by low income housing.

But right now, as the first PRT and Protectorate officers arrived, people started swarming out of the apartments, men and women gesturing for them to run.

Not just police, ABB…what the hell? What could—

And then the first ghostly forms started coming through the walls. Car’s screeched up and stopped, E88 gang members jumping out and throwing molotovs.

“Kaiser’s lost it,” someone muttered.

“Quiet on coms,” Director Piggot snapped. “Truce Provisions are in effect. Anyone not E88 who wants to lend a hand, let them.”

Now the video was jittering as the drone tried to get a better look and the commands and reports were coming in so fast that Danny had a hard time keeping track of them. A girl in scarlet robes, some kind of writing on them, sent paper lashes out—they went through the ghosts, but E88 soldiers were being flung back, shrouded in paper, knocked out. Moments later, Lung, already 8 feet tall, appeared, and a bellowed command in Japanese saw the smaller cape ignore the E88 gangers in favor of grabbing and pulling civilians out of the line of fire.

Wait a minute… Danny wasn’t a super cape geek, but everyone knew about Crusader and…

A lot more should be dead. He’s not going for the kill… Just to panic and injure.

Then Lung was in the fray and ghosts and soldiers alike were going flying, just as a group of huge… rhino things lunged out from another street and started attacking the ghosts, causing them to break up.

Even Danny knew Crusader’s strength. Only living matter could touch his ghosts and he guessed those… monsters, qualified.

But there were a lot of panicked civilians. And—

“Alert! We have movement from Orb Weav—holy shit.”

Danny looked away from the fight in the park, one that now saw Velocity, Dauntless and Triumph join the fray to what the officer who had just spoken was looking at.

Holy Shit. It was a shot from the Rig, showing the city…and across it, there were vast, twisting pillars rising into the sky from the ground…and when the camera did a close up, they were bugs. They were…

How the fuck many bugs is that?

“Message from Orb Weaver!” Next, that cheerful voice that had to live in your nightmares spoke.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”.

Then in a less (relatively) terrifying tone it continued. “My rage is great and my control not as firm as it once was. I would suggest those not involved in this avoid my anger…”

“What the fuck about Taylor!” Danny shouted, evidently loud enough to be heard in the command center from the reaction of some of the officers.

“Send out a Class-A Alert, the Bay and surrounding cities,” Emily snapped. “Complete lockdown.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

And still the mass of insects grew to the point where the setting sun was obscured by them, and you could hear the deep rumbling even inside the building.

“Going to internal air, CBRN precautions initiated.”

“Armsmaster’s countermeasures deployed.” Someone else said, and Danny looked back to the riot in the park. Masses of containment foam were being sprayed and… the ghosts were being stopped by it?”

But Crusader… He shook his head, remembering a common comment. Tinker Bullshit.

“Is it just me, or are they flying higher than normal?” someone asked, the cameras zooming in on the absolute rivers of bugs that were flying over the streets. There were auto wrecks down there, Danny saw. People were clearing the streets, BBPD and PRT units gesturing people into shops and homes. The EAS tone was sounding in the background, the clipped words of the PRT officer following it.

“Place towels or other materials around the frame of any doors or windows, and any ventilation systems that access the exterior of the building. Turn off any ventilation or air conditioning systems. Do not, repeat, do not attempt to attack the swarm. Do not call 911 unless you are in…”

“Ma’am, 911 report. The system is completely slammed, they’re asking for us to take over.”

“We don’t have enough operators. Inform Director Armstrong we’ll need to transfer the overflow to his department.”

“Understood.”

Other reports went out, and Danny heard some of them in passing. Strider being called for a possible emergency deployment. Other Protectorate teams being moved in. The chatter didn’t answer the one question he wanted…

Where was Taylor in this insanity?

“Holy shit!” someone shouted, and Danny looked up and got his answer. He didn’t know how, but he knew—she was in the building that was being attacked by… It was vast, a coiling serpent, rising up over a structure, rising up over the city, actual lightning playing over its form. It slammed down and the roar was audible even inside.

“LET ME IN, LET ME IN, LET ME IN…”

“Armsmaster and Miss Militia en route along with Krewe.” Someone said.

Aisha? You’re letting Aisha go out into…that?

Then it struck again, and the sides of the building flexed. Two drones went down, intakes choked, but another one showed a small car roaring away from the building. Orders were given to stop it once it was out of the danger zone.

Danny watched. He knew Taylor was in that building, because of course she’d be in the single most dangerous place in the city. Just like she’d found a Thinker hiding in plain sight, or used herself to distract Leviathan.

They were going to talk after this.

Please God, let her be alive to talk after this.

Everything else passed in a blur. Kaiser coming out, the swarm starting to break up and then…

What the fuck, Armsmaster is jumping—Then everything went silent as he saw the small, pale form in his arms.

“Mr. Hebert, we need you at the hospital. Now.”

Oh, God, No.

And then he was running.