A Darker Path Pt 53 (Patreon)

Learning New Viewpoints

[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]

Sundancer

The debate was still ongoing, well after the sun had gone down. Nobody else was using the rest stop, so they were sitting around a concrete picnic table with a pressure lamp on it for light. The reason for this was twofold: one, the interior of the RV was too cramped for any kind of reasonable group discussion where everyone could see everyone else's faces; and two, the mess that had been left behind after Noelle was fixed was still airing out despite their best efforts to clean it up, and nobody wanted to be sitting in that kind of atmosphere.

The meal they were sharing had been fixed up out of their stash of canned goods, but they were more interested in deciding what they should do, going forward. Given the sudden change in circumstances, their options were suddenly a whole lot more numerous.

Luke wanted to go back to Aleph and be a superhero for cash, and Marissa agreed with going back (though she could take or leave the cash). Krouse and Noelle didn't care where they were, so long as they were together, and Jess and Cody had suggested seeing what the rebuilding of Brockton Bay actually looked like before rejecting the idea. Oliver, as usual, had no real opinion on the matter.

"I just don't like the idea of splitting up like that," Marissa said. "If we go and you get left behind, you might never get back to Aleph."

Cody frowned. "Yeah, but—"

"Car," Jess interjected, pointing at where headlights were swinging into the rest stop. "No, wait. Van."

It was a high blocky vehicle, Marissa saw, with lots of ground clearance. And then it drove past a light pole, and she saw the markings. "PRT! What's the PRT doing here?"

There was only one possible explanation. "Shit," muttered Krouse. "They're here for us, aren't they? Okay, don't start anything, but if shit goes sideways, get Jess and Noelle to the RV and we'll do a fighting retreat."

"Copy that," Cody replied tersely. "Call it when you see it."

Marissa felt another wave of the sheer weirdness that had overtaken the team in the last twenty-four hours. Krouse was actually being a good leader, and Cody wasn't taking every chance to snipe at him. But there was no time to dwell on it. She took a deep breath and flexed her hands, ready to generate a smallish sun to drive back anyone who aggressed on them.

"No flashing lights," she ventured hopefully. "Maybe they're not here to arrest us?"

Luke snorted. "Since when have we been that lucky?"

"This is Atropos' town, like the sign says." Jess apparently thought the same as Marissa did. "Do you think she'd go to all the trouble of getting Panacea out here to fix Noelle's problems, then sic the PRT on us afterward?"

There was a thoughtful silence, punctuated by the van pulling to a halt and the engine shutting down. "Maybe she doesn't know they're doing this?" suggested Krouse. "No, wait, that makes no sense at all. Not after what she's done." He took a deep breath. "No aggression, none, until we find out what they want."

The doors of the van opened, and half a dozen people got out. As they stepped into a nearby pool of light, Marissa saw that there were five adults and one kid; two of the adults were wearing PRT armour but were hanging back, and the other four were in costume. There was a man in red, a woman in black with glowing blue circuit-board lines on her costume, and a tall buff black guy in a hooded martial-arts style costume and domino mask, who was carrying a large case. The kid was wearing cute pastel camo scrubs and a downsized military helmet, and had thick bracers on her forearms.

"We come in peace," the red-costumed guy announced, holding his hands up to show they were empty. This wasn't necessarily a sign of good intent—Blaster powers were a thing—but the overall attitude of the group was not aggressive. "You nice folks would be, uh, travelling, yeah?"

Any suspicion that the PRT didn't know who they were evaporated into the chilly night air. Marissa didn't know exactly what was going on, and she suspected nobody else did either. This was not the tone that they usually got when interacting with law enforcement aware of their true nature.

"That would be us." Krouse actually managed to sound unconcerned and in charge of the situation. He stood up, but didn't move away from the table. "Can we help you?"

"Actually, it's the other way around," the woman said. "We're here to help you. Specifically, Miss Medic here got a text from Atropos, mentioning your friend here in the wheelchair. So, she's volunteered her time to come out here and do some pro bono work."

That statement had the same effect on Marissa's understanding of the situation as a large rock dropped into a small pond. As she stared, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard, Jess spoke up. "What?"

The guy in the martial arts outfit—and man, could he really rock that look—cleared his throat. "Let's start again. Hi, I'm Tenebrae, of the Brockton Bay Wards. Assault and Battery are here as Protectorate reps to make sure nobody does anything stupid. I also happen to be Miss Medic's primary caregiver, so anywhere she goes, I go. She got a text message from Atropos about your situation and asked me if she could help. Official permission was given, and here we are. Does that make more sense?"

Cody raised a hand, like he was in class. "So … you guys actually do what Atropos says?"

Assault coughed into his closed fist, making a sound not unlike 'hell yes'. Then he spoke more clearly. "Not … officially. But when she makes a suggestion, Director Piggot absolutely does not reject the idea out of hand. And when she described you as 'ex-villains', we were intrigued. The more villains who become ex-villains, the better. In my humble opinion, of course."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Marissa had to fight down a curl of her lip. If I'm not much mistaken, that man has never had a humble opinion in his life.

"So, you just came out here to help Genesis?" Luke peered at the kid calling herself Miss Medic. "What can you do, exactly? I mean, I don't want to say 'you're just a kid, but …"

Miss Medic nodded earnestly. "I am a kid, yeah. But you might be surprised." She approached Jess, with Tenebrae following close behind. "Would you like me to fix your spine?"

Jess blinked a couple of times. Marissa was fairly certain she might have been asked that specific question before, but never by a middle schooler. "And you can do it, just like that? I've been in a wheelchair since I was four." The aching hope almost hidden in her tone brought tears to Marissa's eyes.

"And wouldn't you need a whole operating theatre or something?" asked Oliver.

"And why would Atropos even tell you about us?" That was Krouse.

The girl drew herself up as tall as she was able. "Ever since I became Miss Medic, I've wanted to help people. Atropos knows this. She's nice. So, she told me because she knew I'd want to help." She looked over at Oliver and grinned, then snapped her fingers. A whole bunch of panels popped open on the bracer on that arm, and Marissa was suddenly staring at a mass of surgical tools, from syringes to scalpels to tiny rotating saws. "And I bring my tools with me, wherever I go."

"But can you do it?" pressed Jess. "Half the surgeries I had left me worse off than before. I'm sick of being cut open for no good reason."

Miss Medic snapped her fingers again, and the surgical tools vanished back inside the bracer. "Let's put it this way. If you didn't have legs, I could build you working legs in less than a day. When everything's still present, but not connected up right? Pfft. Not even a challenge."

"So, uh, where were you planning on doing the surgery?" asked Marissa. "Because I don't think the ground is a good idea, and this table would not be comfortable."

"For that," Battery said briskly, "we have a stretcher inside the van. If you're okay with this?"

Jess blinked again. "Jesus Christ," she muttered, then looked around at the rest of the Travellers. Marissa gave her an encouraging nod and smile, and she saw the others offering similar expressions of support. Finally, Jess herself nodded. "Okay, then," she said. "Let's see what you can do."

Miss Medic beamed.

<><>

Atropos

I teleported into the kitchen with the pizza in one hand and bottle of soda in the other, not wanting to startle Cherie overmuch. From the living room, I heard the dialogue on the TV.

"Grandpa? Maybe you can come over and read it again to me tomorrow."

"As you wish."

A grin spread across my face as I removed the hat and mask, then shrugged out of the long-coat and hung it up on the back of Dad's chair. Carrying the pizza and soda along with a couple of cups, I headed through into the living room. "Hey, I'm home. I see you found our DVD collection."

Sitting up on the sofa, Cherie went to hide the tissue she'd just been dabbing at her eyes with, then visibly changed her mind. "Yeah," she said, sounding a little nasal. After blowing her nose (and getting a fresh tissue), she kept talking. "That's an amazing movie. How come you never told me how good it was?"

"It's totally one of the best movies ever," I agreed, sitting at the other end of the sofa and putting the pizza box down between us. "And I think I might've mentioned it a couple of times. But there's lots of good movies out there." I opened the box. "Behold, pizza."

"Ooh, yes," she enthused, scooping up one of the still-warm slices. I did the same from my side, and the next few moments were spent enjoying three of the four main food groups when it came to being a teenager: salt, fat, and half-melted cheese (the last one being sugar, which was what the soda was for). When she finished the first slice, she picked up a second one but didn't eat it immediately. "Oh, and I laughed so hard when I recognised the dialogue you used during the sword fight. I guess Mouse Protector's a fan, too?"

I chuckled. "Seeing as she uses a sword, and considering her personality, I would've been surprised if she wasn't. So, if you liked it so much, why were you crying?"

"Because it was so beautiful." She took a bite from her second slice and waved it for emphasis while she chewed and swallowed. "Where the kid's sick, and the grandfather is there to keep him company and make him feel better. There's no hidden agenda. He's just there for his grandson. If I'd seen that before I ran away, I wouldn't have understood it. I mean, I did watch bits and pieces of TV shows and movies that I know I totally didn't understand the way I do now. Because living here, in this house, I've learned that can actually happen."

I smiled. "That's good. I'm glad. And we can absolutely watch it again, if you want. Use all the tissues you need." Just as I started on my second slice, the gravel driveway alongside the house crunched as Dad drove in.

Cherie looked down at the pizza. "Will we get in trouble for eating this on the sofa instead of at the table?"

I snorted. "Hardly. Dad and me have done this before, plenty of times. He might get upset if we eat all the meat lovers slices before he comes in, though."

"Okay, cool. I'll go let him in." Getting up from the sofa, she left her slice behind in an empty section of the box, and headed through to the kitchen. From where I was sitting, I could see her unlock the back door and open it for Dad.

"Hey, Mr Hebert," she said cheerfully. "We haven't eaten all the pizza yet, but you might have to hurry."

"Hi, Cherie." He offered me a wave as he came in through the back door. "Thank you very much." Pausing for a second, he looked closely at her. "Have you been crying? What's the matter?"

"She watched The Princess Bride while we were out," I called through from the living room. "There was a bit of emotional overload going on."

"Ah." He nodded, looking somewhat enlightened, as he took his coat off. "All is explained. So, what are we watching now? We haven't had a movie night in a while." After hanging up his coat, he headed through into the entrance hall. "I'm just going to wash my hands and face, then I'll be right with you."

"Take your time," I said with a smirk. "These meat lovers slices are looking amazingly tasty right now."

"Don't you even think about it!" he called out. By now, Cherie was back in the living room, giggling at our banter.

I grinned at her, and pitched my voice loudly enough that Dad could hear. "Mwahahaha."

"My daughter is evil!"

"Well, duh!"

<><>

Tenebrae

After her preliminary examination of Genesis, Riley had determined that she was going to need access to the woman's legs as well as her spine, so as Brian understood it, the ex-villain was currently down to her underwear. For this reason, the doors to the van were closed, and Riley was working with Battery and Sundancer as surgical assistants (more to keep the PRT and the Travellers happy than out of any real need).

The case he'd been carrying was in there too; it contained a selection of her 'instant spare parts'. This consisted of bits and pieces she'd made up ahead of time and kept in storage in case they were ever needed in the middle of surgery. However it worked, he was glad Riley was embracing the role of Miss Medic. As he stood with his back to the doors but within earshot, he could hear her voice giving instructions calmly and concisely.

"Okay, that's the main artificial neural fibre path run through there. Genesis, I'm about to connect up your left leg to the network. You should be feeling a tingle in some or all of your toes when I do … this."

"Yipe. Wow. I haven't felt my toes tingle in so long. Um … I don't think my big toe is, though."

"Ah-hah. Yes, you're right. Connecting that up … now. How's that?"

"Oh, yeah. Big toe feels like a champagne cork about to pop."

"Excellent. Now let's work on the right leg."

The leader of the Travellers, the one who'd been introduced as Trickster, approached him from where Assault was chatting to the others. "What's happening in there? How are they doing?"

Brian shrugged. "I'm not about to sneak a peek, but I understand that she just felt the toes on her left foot tingle. Apparently that's a good sign?"

"Oh, heck yeah." Trickster smiled with relief. "She hasn't felt anything below the knees for years. We've had to make sure she doesn't have any ongoing injuries from chafing and stuff. If her toes are tingling, that's really good."

"Well, since Atropos took out Bonesaw, Miss Medic has been just about the best surgeon in the world, so Genesis is in good hands." It was never a bad time to lay the groundwork for distracting people from realising the truth. "So, how long have you guys been a team?"

Trickster scratched the back of his neck. "Just before Christmas oh-nine. It was a pretty bad time. Simurgh attack. We all got powers around the same time, and we've been bouncing from pillar to post ever since."

"Damn." Brian shook his head. "You know she's dead, right? Atropos got her."

"Yeah." Trickster grinned as he nodded. "Best damn thing I've seen since forever."

"It was definitely up there," agreed Brian. He frowned, trying to recall the sequence of Endbringer attacks. "Late oh-nine, Simurgh … wait, that was Madison, wasn't it? Wisconsin. That's still a quarantine zone. Or it was until yesterday."

"So, it's really true?" Trickster seemed to be seeking validation for something. "All the Simurgh bombs are now defused?"

"Well, I don't know any personally," Brian confessed. "But that's what Atropos told the Simurgh to do, and there's been stories on the news about people breaking down and crying over suddenly being free from the voices in their heads."

"Yeah." Trickster nodded slowly. "I can understand that. I think—"

Whatever he thought was destined to never be aired, because just then Sundancer's voice echoed from inside the van. "You see that? Your foot moved! You moved your foot!"

Trickster stared at Brian, wide-eyed. "Did you hear that?"

Brian grinned and offered a high-five. "Hell yes."

Trickster returned it, then headed off to give his teammates the good news. Brian remained where he was, but the grin stayed on his face.

Moments like this were worth all the crap.

<><>

Forty-Five Minutes Later

Riley

"… and that should do it. All nerves showing connectivity, haptic feedback operating correctly." Riley paused. "If you're feeling any pain or discomfort, now's the time to tell me."

Genesis frowned thoughtfully. "No, it all feels good."

"Okay, test number two." Riley extruded a probe from her left bracer. "I'm going to count while I tap with the probe. Let me know if you hear a number but don't feel anything. One, two, three …" As she counted, she tapped her way down Genesis' left leg. On 'seventeen', she winked at Sundancer and waved the probe in midair. "Eighteen, nineteen—"

"Wait, I didn't feel anything on seventeen."

"No, that was my bad. Seventeen." She tapped the point she'd missed, then kept going. Once she was done, she started closing the incisions she'd made, sealing them with a surgical glue of her personal devising that worked better than the commercial stuff. "Now let's do the final movement test. Left foot, toes."

"Left foot, okay." Genesis wriggled the toes on that foot. They all responded.

"Right foot, toes."

"Right foot, okay." More wriggling ensued.

"Left ankle."

"Left ankle, okay."

One joint at a time, they worked their way up Genesis' legs, confirming she had active conscious control of both limbs. Finally, Riley sat back. "Alright, then. Everything seems to be in at least minimal working order. Let's get you presentable, and take this show on the road."

"Wait, you're saying I can walk?" asked Genesis. "Just like that?"

"Not … exactly." Riley cleared her throat. "Your leg muscles were just about gone, and the nerve structures with them. But I've put in artificial fibres for both, for your body to build on. I could entirely replace the absent muscles, but that would take a bit longer, and feel weird until they were properly seated."

"In addition, child labour laws prohibit Miss Medic from working past midnight in her cape identity," Battery added. "So even if you were willing to undergo the longer procedure, the legalities of the situation make it impossible. I am sorry about that, by the way."

Genesis sighed. "Okay, I guess I'm going to just have to take legs that I can definitely feel with again, and can kind of move around when I'm lying down. That's definitely a step up, pun intended. But what's it going to be like when I try to get vertical?"

"That's what we're going to find out now." Riley and Sundancer assisted Genesis in putting her clothes back on—her newfound control of her legs came in handy there—and then they opened the rear doors of the van.

"Genesis!" Trickster came over, with the woman called Noelle leaning on his arm. Ballistic, Perdition, and the guy called Oliver were close behind. "How are you? Can you walk now?"

"Did she give you robot legs?" called out Perdition. "Because that would actually be kinda cool."

"That would've taken me another three, four hours," Riley retorted. "Genesis is not walking right now. But she should be able to stand with assistance, and maybe totter a few steps. Tenebrae, Ballistic, if you big strong men could help her down, please? Do not drop her, I just finished fixing her."

Brian and the very solidly built Ballistic stepped up on either side of Genesis and assisted her down out of the van. She winced as her weight settled on her feet. "Wow, I can feel everything under my feet. How did I ever get used to doing this the first time around?"

"It is amazing what the human body can get accustomed to," Riley advised her. "Trust me on this."

"Okay, then. I'll take your word for it." Genesis, propped up by the guys, took a few tentative steps. Riley watched as her knees and ankles flexed properly, but her legs were already starting to tremble by the end of it. "Okay, I'm walking, kind of. But I'd like to sit down now."

"Good thing we didn't trash this yet." Oliver brought her wheelchair over.

Gratefully, she subsided into it. "Oh, trust me. As soon as I'm walking properly, I am torching this damn thing. But for the time being, it gets to live."

"I could launch it into the side of a mountain for you," offered Ballistic. "You know, once it's on fire."

"I might just take you up on that." Genesis turned to Riley. "So, how do I get out of this thing for good?"

"Well, I've implanted artificial nerves and muscle fibres to boost what's already there," Riley reminded her. "You need to exercise and rebuild your real muscles, and reinforce the neural pathways as much as you can. I wouldn't advise jogging, not until your balance improves, but an hour of walking every day would be a really good idea."

"An hour? Are you sure about that?" She wriggled her feet. "I couldn't take five steps."

"Totally." Riley wasn't giving an inch, Brian had to give her that. "You can spread it through the day, but the more you push yourself, the more you'll find you can do."

"I'll make sure of it," Noelle said with a grin from where she leaned against Trickster. "I'm only a bit less wobbly than she is. We can be exercise buddies."

Genesis gave her a dirty look. "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be a slave driver?"

"Because that's what I'm gonna do?" Noelle shrugged. "We've both been given the chance to turn our lives around. Let's not waste it."

"Yeah, good point." Genesis gave Riley a smile. "Thank you. I'll do my best."

Riley returned it. "No problem. Glad I could help."

Brian headed back to the PRT van with Riley and the two Protectorate heroes, and climbed on board. Once they were strapped in, Assault slapped the side of the van twice, and the engine started.

"You okay?" asked Brian as Riley took her helmet off. "You were in there for nearly an hour."

"Nah, I'm fine." She gave him a grin. "She'll be walking on her own in a week. I'd put money on it."

"Nice." Assault reached across and ruffled her hair. "I'm proud of you, kid."

"So am I," Brian said, putting an arm around her in a side-hug. "You did good tonight."

"I did, didn't I?" Riley smiled and leaned into him.

<><>

Taylor

As I headed up to bed, taking my costume elements with me, I pulled out my phone and logged onto PHO. It was time, I judged, to plant another seed.

<><>

■

PRIVATE MESSAGE

To: TheRealPanacea

From: Atropos

Subject: Hang out?

Hey hey,

I was thinking we could meet down at the Boardwalk tomorrow afternoon and we could just hang out for a bit. No shady favors, I promise.

While we're there, I'll introduce you to the Rogues' Guild. They're pretty cool.

What do you say?

Atropos

■

PRIVATE MESSAGE

To: Parian

From: Atropos

Subject: FYI

Hi,

Purely for the sake of sharing information, Panacea also likes girls and is currently single.

(Also, very snarky.)

You know, just in case you were interested.

Toodles!

Atropos

■

<><>

Parian

Sabah stared at the message that had just popped up in her PMs as she was browsing PHO before going to bed. She read it through twice, just to make sure she hadn't misunderstood it.

"Well, now," she murmured as she shut down the laptop and turned off her bedside light. "Isn't that interesting?"

Part 54