Orb Weaver Plague: Chapter 10A

This week has been... busy. In every sense, both personally and larger issues. But I really didn't want to miss my deadline, so here is part I of chapter 10, with the next part hopefully dropping on Saturday.

Thanks for your patience!

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Walking down to the Wards room, I tried to disguise my nerves. I couldn’t casually push my emotions into my insects. Not here. If there was any place sensors might detect that, it was here, and the instant anyone tied The Investigator and the anomalous behavior of the swarm, only an idiot would fail to draw the one conclusion I didn’t want them to.

“You may get some flack from your father, but your actions were very brave,” Miss Militia said. “Especially given…”

“Madison?” I asked. “I… do not like her.” Understatement of the century. “But if she is truly trying to make good, I should help her… Especially if she makes good elsewhere.”

I suppose I should have been a little more generous, but honestly? I didn’t have it in me. I would help her, but try and be her friend? Never. It was an odd feeling. I could absolutely feel that Madison had been poorly treated, that she didn’t deserve what happened to her right now, but equally…

She had still been part of my tormentors, and there was no power that could undo that.

Miss Militia nodded. “I understand.” She glanced at me. “What do you think the Empire will do? Director Piggot respects your analytical abilities and I expect you have some thoughts.”

“What they will do, or what they should do?”

“Both.”

“They should pull their horns in. Talk about how the men seeking to patrol the city to protect it from Madison had, unwisely and perhaps due to their nerves, over drank. Crusader was sent to bring them back in, and in the chaos, accidentally stabbed me while attempting to protect me from what he feared was a monster trying to kill me.”

“And what they will do?”

“The lower ranks might act out. Kaiser functions on reputation as much as the lowest gangbanger. He has more resources, but the longer the King is unwilling to take the field…” I opened my hand. “The more of his soldiers will flee it—or take action on their own. And because of that Kaiser will have to make a demonstration, though I expect him to try to minimize his risk.”

“Not a good thing,” Miss Militia said. “That will mean more threat to civilians.”

I frowned. “Civilians are already under threat—you know as well as I do how many parts of this city are off limits to the ‘wrong sorts’.”  I shook my head. “Lung is a power not just because of his strength, but because how many citizens—not just Asian—see him as the lesser evil compared to a city totally dominated by the Empire.”

She nodded. “I do, but the PRT is required to accept the lead of other agencies when dealing with…non Parahuman gang members.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment. The reasoning was sound in one since—the BBPD could deal with non-powered criminals just fine.

If they were willing. But Miss Militia would never breen up that open secret to me.

Well. “I’ve been told that Orb Weaver has had some success in dealing with those groups. He does not restrict his attentions to parahumans.”

“Some success—rather brutal in some cases.” She glanced at me, her brows narrowing for a moment. “Your relationship with Orb Weaver is?”

“I asked for a favor in the very beginning of my career and Orb Weaver gave me advice. Some of which I didn’t take. As you say, he can be rather brutal.”

“Well, we have him—and you—to thank for Krewe’s survival. And I can’t, whatever Image wants me to say, be overly upset that men who were about to murder a child have developed life-long phobias.” She shook her head as we came to a door and she pushed a button. “Here we are.”

I tensed. This was the Wards’ quarters. I knew who most of them were. Well, not publicly, but Kid Win, and Clockblocker were both known to me, and it wasn’t hard to note the others who they hung out with—who had rather similar builds to certain Wards.

I hadn’t been afraid of Crusader. Meeting a group of teens wasn’t any worse. Also, I knew Brian and Aisha. Right. I wasn’t nervous.

I’d keep telling myself that.