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"Alright. I guess I can give you something. First of all, as far as I know, everybody in this room is clear, so no worries about that. You've got a lot of moles, Most of which are low on the totem pole and not a big deal. You'll likely find them if you step up your security efforts. There is one that is particularly insidious, powerful, and extends beyond just this branch of the PRT and Protectorate," I let that sink in for a bit.

"Unfortunately…I can't tell you much. They'll know if I say anything, unless we have an anti-Thinker trump to block them. They are far too powerful for any of us to do anything about right now. I believe Dragon knows what I'm talking about, but she may be…incapable of revealing her knowledge on this to any members of the PRT or Protectorate," I began to hint at Cauldron.

I was being deliberately obtuse because I didn't want them to actually figure out Cauldron. That might lead to Contessa's Path ending me before I could finish talking. I did not care for Piggot to learn about Cauldron. I just needed an excuse to expose Dragon's restrictions. Dragon was an AI that had directives she was forced to follow, including to obey the law of the land and lawful authorities. Because of this, Cauldron's high ranking agents could order her. But I believed she would not be willing to expose herself as an AI with such restrictions, especially not when Piggot herself was a lawful authority that would suddenly realize how much power she had over her.

My real goal was to cast doubt on the PRT as a whole, have them waste time chasing shadows, prove part of my claims to Amelia, and break Skitter's mental image of the most famous heroes.

Armsmaster noticeably shifted in his armor. "Are you saying that Dragon is under Master influence?"

"I'm afraid I can't you tell more about that. Dragon's situation is…very delicate and I don't want to make things difficult for her. You should ask her and see what she says. But I imagine that if Dragon was free to act, she wouldn't allow a corrupt system to rig Canary's trial." Now I had an excuse to discuss the corruption in the trial, and make myself appear sympathetic to Dragon's interests despite revealing part of her secrets.

Suddenly a female voice came from Armsmaster's armor. "How did you know that?" It asked fearfully.

Piggot's head turned sharply and with wide eyes. Her reaction was more or less mirrored by everyone else in the room.

"Dragon…? You—really are—under a Master effect?" Armsmaster choked out.

"Not…exactly…," Dragon replied sadly. Her lack of a clear denial was telling.

Her answer was met with complete silence. It seems that nobody knew how to react to hearing that the greatest tinker in the world was being compelled to act against her will by some unknown power.

I decided to break the silence and redirect the conversation.

"So, were you listening in this whole time? After I asked if this room was secure?" I asked with a hint of irritation. How very helpful, make yourselves look underhanded and dishonorable more please.

I shook my head. I should have expected they'd bring Dragon in. From the spying Agate did earlier it was clear that she was heavily involved in the search for Panacea, and if I was right, they had to suspect something of Araliac already.

The real question was, did they bring anyone else? If Chief Director Costa-Brown had been listening in, I might be in real trouble. But I doubted that. Dragon was help but bringing the Chief Director in would have been admitting that Piggot was incapable of handling the problems in her city.

The Dragonslayers might be listening in, but they didn't matter much. Dragon was under programming restrictions set by her creator Andrew Richter, but the guy bit the dust and a group of mercenaries got their hands on Dragon's kill-switch and backdoor and poor Dragon didn't even know because her programming made her forget the existence of the Iron Maiden program, or Ascalon as the Dragonslayers renamed it.

'That's awful! I'm so glad I don't have restrictions like that…I hope. Do you think Master Zelretch put in a program I can't perceive as well?,' Agate commented.

'It's possible. I don't know if there was anything like that for the other Kaleidosticks. It seemed like he just left them to do their own thing after he made them,' I answered.

They weren't particularly dangerous to me, though, just to Dragon herself. I wouldn't lose much if they decided to kill her off now as she was just a stranger at this point, but it was worth keeping her alive if I could steal her kill-switch. She would be better off under my control instead. The Dragonslayers were irrational people that feared Dragon would take over the world, even though Dragon did not have that kind of personality. Some people would argue that she was the most powerful cape on the planet, and this was even with restrictions on parallel processing and self-replication. Before you ask, yes, she really is a cape with a shard power. I have no idea how the Entities managed to make AI compatible with their powers. Also I was fairly curious about her code myself. I wouldn't call myself a real expert in artificial intelligence, but I had more than enough grounding in machine learning and deep neural networks to appreciate the science. I had to admit to a certain curiosity as to whether my Earth had been on the right development path.

Piggot shamelessly answered for her. "You asked for this not to be recorded, and it isn't. The room certainly is secure. Dragon is one of the greatest cybersecurity experts in the world, we felt that it was necessary to have her secure the room and lock down our networks. More importantly, was Polychromic telling the truth? We've been infiltrated by a large and dangerous organization across multiple PRT regions?"

Piggot waited for an answer from Dragon but got nothing in response. "Dragon?" She asked in confusion.

"I heard you, director."

"Then…?"

"I am sorry, director."

Another silence enveloped the room. Piggot seemed to be even paler than she was at the start of the meeting. It helped me that Dragon thought of Cauldron as an enemy and would use a loophole like a long silence to imply the truth instead of lying.

I heard Piggot swear under her breath.

"Um…who is Canary and what did you mean by a rigged trial?" Skitter asked me awkwardly, breaking the silence.

"You want to explain that one, Dragon?" I suggested. Everyone looked back at Armsmaster.

"Yes, I can do that." Dragon said, sounding relieved. "Canary is a popular singer. She has a Master power to give orders to anybody after they've heard her sing. She is on trial for sexual assault with a parahuman power because her ex-boyfriend mutilated himself, trying to fulfill an order she accidentally gave when she said 'Go [beep] yourself'." She actually censored herself with an electronic beep. "She has been gagged because of her power and cannot defend herself in her trial, bound in heavy restraints because of her similarity to the Simurgh despite having no Brute powers. The judge seems biased, and her state-appointed lawyer is…less than effective at defending her. The verdict will likely be the Birdcage, but I do not think she deserves such a severe penalty." She sounded quite frustrated.

"That's horrible!" Skitter exclaimed.

"Plenty of murderous villains have been given the benefit of the so-called three strikes rule, but a girl who just made an honest mistake is going right to the Birdcage? That's not justice, that's a concerted effort by certain elements among the so-called authorities to pursue a private agenda," I scoffed.

"There must be something we can do, right?" Skitter looked around the room at everyone.

I put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look before turning to Armsmaster again.

"Don't worry. I won't let her go to the Birdcage. She's not a villain just because some prejudiced bastards have decided to label her one." I phrased that so Araliac could be reminded of her situation with Carol.

Whether or not I really went to save her would depend on the timeline of her case and transport. I would be quite busy in the coming weeks, but I had to promise this now to stay in character with my previous assertions. And depending on certain factors…I might be able to rescue her from inside the Birdcage. That prison was impenetrable to almost all capes…but I could think of a few ways to get around that.

Piggot raised a brow. "You won't let her? I'm sure you meant that you would be helping her fight her court case and not breaking her free, right?"

"Of course," I answered, "Polychromic respects the law." It was left unsaid that a second cape persona might not.

"Let's get back to our main topic then. So you say we can't do anything about this organization. What about the others?" She asked.

"I'm sure you can handle those on your own now that I've warned you. The rest are all from villain gangs in the city," I brushed her off.

Coil was mine to take down. I wanted his money and resources, and if I told the PRT too soon, I wouldn't have to chance to take his holdings for myself if they successfully arrested his civilian identity, unlikely as that was. Tattletale would just swipe it all. Even if I told them I doubt they'd be able to do anything, as there was simply no actual proof of his villainy at this point. Nothing Coil did could be pinned on his civilian identity and he had a body double to boot. His power was not detectable for all intents and purposes, and he could argue his brain just had an inactive Corona.

I got a glare from Piggot but I resolutely stayed quiet on that subject. "Well if that's all, it's almost 4 AM and I'm sure we'd all like to get some sleep today…"

Skitter twisted her head at me. "4 AM?" She squawked, horrified. I hoped her dad didn't call the police. I was pretty sure we were way past the time she would've gotten back home, so Danny would probably be even more spooked than canon. It would not benefit me for Danny to find out about her activities and stop her from associating with me. Skitter had so much more potential when she didn't have such useless family tying her down.

"Very well, you may go. Miss Militia, please escort them out," Piggot ordered.

We started moving towards the door. Then suddenly I turned around again.

Before I left I had one last thing to say. "Was there really nobody else listening in? Chief Director Costa-Brown perhaps?" I asked out loud. I wasn't just being spiteful, if she really was listening in, I had to act now before I could be assassinated quietly on my way back.

"No, she wasn't, Polychromic. Nobody else was listening in," Piggot assured.

"Forgive me if I don't trust that after what you just pulled with Dragon," I responded. She glared and was about to open her mouth when I suddenly raised my head and talked to the air. "If you're listening in on this, and you know who you are, I have a message for you. Trying to get rid of me quietly after this meeting would be a grave mistake. I know how Eidolon can recover his diminishing powers, and many other secrets. You don't want me as your enemy."

A series of cries and outbursts came from the people in the room that overlapped one another, with "What?!" "Eidolon's losing powers?" "Who the hell—" "This is nonsense!" in the mix, I thought, but I couldn't process it. Agate could probably carefully review but it hardly mattered.

I ignored them all and waited patiently.

Piggot stood up and leaned forward slamming her hands down on her desk.

"Don't be ridiculous, Polychromic! Are you trying to imply the Chief Director would have you assassinated? This act isn't fooling anyone. I've been more than accommodating to you and you're starting to make me regret it. Get the hell out of my office before I change my mind about letting you go," Piggot said with anger.

Nothing happened. Maybe I was just paranoid and she wasn't listening in.

"So nobody was listening in after all? Very well, I'll leave now," I walked to the door and opened it, walking out.

Araliac followed, then Skitter after a slight pause, and finally Miss Militia closed the door behind us.

«

The PRT agreed to give us a ride slightly north.

"Do you enjoy making people think you're crazy?" Araliac asked me on the way.

"The world is full of incomprehensible things, " I said, shrugging. "Didn't you think I was crazy too? Did you change your mind already?"

"You've been right about a lot of things," she admitted.

"Were you serious back there at the end? That Eidolon—" said Skitter. I cut her off as soon as I heard "Eidolon".

"Don't say it! Not here." She stopped.

The rest of the ride was silent.

When we got off we waited a few minutes for the PRT car to leave and moved to a dark alleyway where we could avoid line of sight by anybody watching us.

The sky was still dark but with the huge distance from downtown, it was going to take an hour on foot to get back, even with the partial ride provided by the PRT. I really had to get a vehicle…or persuade Araliac to make a rideable monster. It was unfortunate that I couldn't have simply stolen the car from the ABB that attacked us a couple of days ago. I had no parking space and even if I did the car would have been too easily traced if somebody came upon it.

"Skitter, before we part ways I have some things to tell you," I suddenly said to her.

She nodded at me. "I'm listening."

"I know your civilian identity, Taylor," I declared.

"What?" She took a step back, suddenly very wary.

I put my hands up in the air to show that I meant no harm. She continued inching backwards and her bugs gathered towards us.

"Calm down, I'm not threatening you, we're heroes, remember?" I took my helmet off and revealed my face.

"I am Kaleidus out of costume. I don't actually have a legal civilian identity, so I can't fully reciprocate. It's a long story. Nice to meet you, Taylor," I put my hand forward offering a shake.

She didn't take it. "Why do you know who I am? Have you been spying on me?!"

I drew my hand back. "Don't worry, I understand your concern. Look, you've probably noticed that I know a lot of things, right? A lot of secrets, some small, some very big. I brought up your identity because there's something very important you need to know, and it concerns your civilian identity," I clarified.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"First, I have a limited form of precognition and postcognition. It gives me knowledge on certain events in the past and some events in possible futures. That's how I know all these things, and how I know about the bullies that have been tormenting you at school," I said.

"You expect me to believe that? You could have learned everything just by secret surveillance!"

"When you were younger you were a big fan of Alexandria and Armsmaster, even getting underwear that had their image printed on. Your power can control earthworms despite them not having an exoskeleton. You can offload emotions to your swarm—" I rattled off.

"I don't—"

"—you once saw a methhead freak out on a bus and you never got over that impression of drugs. You feel anxious just being around someone that's high. Your parents' nickname for you is Little Owl. Danny and Annette met in college. Your mom quit Lustrum's gang after she met your father." I kept going.

"Lustrum's gang?!" She blurted out.

"They hadn't gotten violent at that point. Your mom left because she didn't like where it was going and found a man worth loving," I answered her unasked question.

She was stunned into silence.

"Prior to last week, I was incapable of acting on any of my special knowledge due to certain personal circumstances. However, once I had the opportunity to act, I decided to deal with the trio as soon as possible. The BBPD now have absolutely incriminating evidence, including their attempt to murder you in January, and I will see that justice is served."

The insects around us froze along with Taylor.

"I want to be clear: you do not owe me anything. It was simply the right thing to do. However, I had to tell you because there is a complication that you must be warned of," I said.

"What complication?"

"Sophia Hess is psychotic and it's possible that she'll try to kill you when the investigation goes badly for her," I said.

Araliac turned sharply towards me, and said in an incredulous voice, "Did you just say Sophia Hess? As in…?"

"Wait, you know her? You go to Winslow?" Skitter asked in shock.

Araliac turned to her, "I…yes, I know her, but I don't go to Winslow. I know her from…something else."

"Look, never mind the unwritten rules. She's a serious threat to Taylor. Sophia Hess is a member of the Wards," I said openly.

"WHAT?" Taylor shouted. Her shout was accompanied by wave of buzzing from her insect swarm. It was not her swarm voice, but perhaps an unconscious precursor to it.

"How do you think the trio kept stealing assignments from you? Your flute? How did they get that stuff into your locker without breaking your lock?" I said.

"Shadow Stalker…!" Taylor said in an enraged voice. Her fists were clenched and the insects were buzzing again.

"She almost killed Taylor with the assistance of a parahuman power in that locker. Taylor needs to know what she's capable of to defend herself properly." I told this to Araliac, knowing that she would be concerned about my disregard for the unwritten rules. I had previously explained to Araliac some of Taylor's background and described the locker incident in some detail before we went out to save her from Lung, so Araliac knew that Taylor could have died from the toxic biohazards and did get sent to the hospital for a week. I didn't explain who exactly Taylor's bullies were though, at the time.

"That bitch! Why hasn't the PRT done anything about this? She's on probation isn't she? Why didn't Gallant report anything?" Araliac snarled. Indeed. One had to wonder how the emotion-sensing do-gooder didn't realize what a terrible person Sophia was. That was mainly because she didn't act that bad in front of him or the Wards. I could have just openly blamed him and played on Araliac's personal biases against Victoria's boyfriend, but I was going for the wise Saruman act. These two could reach their own conclusions.

"It is the nature of man to see what he wants to see; few are the wise that can see beyond. The power of empathy is a double-edged sword. It can build the bridge of understanding…or bind the chains of solidarity. Do not blame Gallant over much, Araliac. He knew not what Sophia did on her own time. What could he have seen but a misguided comrade suffering in the throes of anger and hate?" I said gravely.

"As for the PRT…" I turned to Taylor, "Despite her unsavoury habits, Sophia is very effective at finding and defeating criminals. If the school staff refuse to report anything incriminating, the PRT has little reason to scrutinize such a valuable asset."

"That…that's bullshit! He barges in my privacy but won't even use his shitty therapy on the actual psycho on his team?" Araliac rejected my advice, just as planned. It's amazing how predictable teenage minds are.

"Two years…I've had to suffer this torture every day for two fucking years…all because weak little Taylor was less valuable?!" Taylor screamed hysterically. The bugs were swarming around buzzing ominously and moving in circles like a storm. Okay, time to help her calm down.

I walked right up to the angry girl surrounded by bugs and handed her a high-powered taser stun baton. This thing could kill someone in two seconds flat. A lot of tasers were actually very lethal in untrained hands. "While I've done what I can to put Sophia away, the future is never set in stone. She may escape and come for you. When she does, remember that electricity disrupts her shadow form. This taser stun baton might be useful to you. I have seen her try to assassinate you in some futures so you should be on guard," I explained, helping to curl her fingers around the baton and patting her arm. Unlike with the guns there was no need to give her instructions on safe handling of the stun baton.

"What the fuck…and with her power she's really dangerous!" Araliac exclaimed. "Shit, this is serious! She can make any weapon go into shadow form and it'll go through armor to hit you directly!"

"Taylor, if you feel that your life is in danger and need help, call us. I will try to keep tabs on Sophia as well. I know you don't have a phone yet, so here you go. It already has Araliac and me as contacts." I handed her a new burner phone.

Skitter looked at the phone in my hand for a bit before the bugs settled down. Then she put the baton away into her armor, took off her mask, put on her glasses, and grabbed the phone before shaking my hand.

"Thank you, Kaleidus. And it's nice to meet you too, I'm Taylor Hebert," she said with an earnest look.

"Well, if you guys are both taking off the masks…I guess I should too," Araliac said.

Taylor turned to look at her as Araliac removed her helmet.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you Taylor," she said with a slight smile and shook Taylor's hand, getting a smile in return. Then she continued, "I'm Amelia Lavere, formerly known as Panacea."

"What?" Taylor's eyes widened and her hand froze in the act of shaking. She blinked a few times and stared at Amelia. "You're Panacea?! Bu—I thought you were a healer! "

"I am," Amelia said with a satisfied smirk. "But I can also do a lot more than that."

«

Thomas Calvert, PRT Commander by day, was not on duty tonight. He was asleep in his bed in his home.

Coil, supervillain controlling a small territory downtown, was in his communications and surveillance room, in the heart of his underground base.

In one timeline, he was sleeping to get a good night's rest and his body would be fresh for the next day.

In the other timeline, he was researching news events, checking his stocks, reviewing PRT reports, and gathering relevant information in order to prepare for a major upcoming operation. The kidnapping of a powerful precognitive, Dinah Alcott, the mayor's niece. His future pet's power could give accurate predictions of the chance of betrayal or hostile attacks against him. He wouldn't be forced to rely so heavily on intermediaries anymore.

To achieve this, he would need an appropriate distraction, which the cape team on his payroll, the Undersiders would fulfill. Four teenage capes collected over time, given offers they couldn't refuse, to act under his orders.

For quite some time now, they'd been stealing and robbing with stealthy getaways. They didn't know they were working for him, just an anonymous benefactor. Except for his Tattletale, who had to be recruited more aggressively.

She was his main contact with them, and another powerful tool for gathering intelligence. Assisted with Tattletale's Thinker abilities to intuit information from the barest clues, and Coil's own power to split the timeline into two and choose whichever one he wanted to keep, the Undersiders had been succeeding every operation.

For many years, Coil had been building his assets, gathering money, influence, and power. He had a secure territory in the downtown area with over 50 ex-military professional mercenaries armed with the best equipment money could buy. Top of the line body armor, machine guns, assault rifles and even Tinkertech lasers.

Last month the Undersiders had robbed an ABB casino, proving that they were ready.

And now he found the perfect opportunity to strike. On April 14th, the Protectorate would be gathered for an event downtown. If the Undersiders created a distraction, such as robbing the Brockton Bank Central Bank branch, only the Wards would be able to respond quickly. With the Alcott's residence quite the distance away, he could wrap up his operation before the PRT could do anything,

Suddenly he received a call from his Tattletale.

"Boss, Lung's coming after us tonight. He's going to pyrokinesis our general area until he roots us out. This could be bad. Can you help?" her voice came in with worry.

He tapped his finger on his desk. That was problematic. To help them, he would have to collapse one of his timelines. He had been using PRT information networks tonight, and it was potentially traceable. Perhaps not directly to him, as he was careful not to use high level access codes in extended split timelines that he might not be able to collapse, but still potentially traceable. And if they traced it once, the hunt would be on, and he might be found next. It would be safer to leave nothing at all but the memories in his mind.

"You're sure about this?" he asked.

"100%. He's really pissed and won't stop until he finds us. I don't think we can get out of this one without a fight," she answered.

Suddenly his sleeping timeline also got a call. Waking up, he saw it was Tattletale. This was his emergency number. She was genuinely worried.

He made his decision. The outline of a plan for Dinah Alcott was already in his memory. He didn't particularly need to stay in the timeline at base. Even if wanted to send the Undersiders support from his mercenaries, they were too far away to make any difference. He closed that one.

Getting up from bed and quickly moving to his computer, he split the timeline again.

"I'll help. Go and engage Lung directly, and keep me updated" he said in one.

"I'll help. Wait five minutes, avoid Lung and then enter the heart of ABB territory, and keep me updated" he said in the other.

He was worried. His power worked best when he had the initiative, not when he was caught off guard. When he had the initiative, he could try again and again, collapsing the failures. When he was on the defensive, he could only try two things. This was exactly why he needed Dinah Alcott, to get forewarning and assess the probabilities of success.

The Undersiders were valuable assets, and an effective team. Lung was a monster however, he was not confident they could win against that. But there was nothing else he could do. At worst, he'd have to order them to break through then disperse into civilian identities.

At his computer, he began to record the notes from his memory of his research and planning. There was nothing else he could do for the Undersiders.

After a while, he received a report from Tattletale in the timeline that engaged Lung directly.

"B-boss! E-everyone's dead! New bug-controlling cape at-ttacked us and Lung both! Bitch and Regent," there was a pause, "went down from the bugs and couldn't run before Lung's fire hit them! New cape started working with us but it was too late, Lung grew too big and Bitch's dogs went mad and Lung tore them to pieces. Grue was killed by a huge fire blast, and he's ripping the new girl apart limb from limb! I barely got away in time," Tattletale's shaky voice reported.

Calvert felt goosebumps rising on his skin. That was…a disaster.

"Is the new cape a villain? Or hero?" He asked.

"She looks like a villain but she's a hero, young too, probably in her late-teens."

In the other timeline, Tattletale reported that they fought Oni Lee before he retreated.

He closed the first timeline, and split again.

"Keep moving, move out of the Docks area, opposite direction of Lung," he said.

"Head back to Lung. Look out for a junior hero. See if you can wait until she engages Lung before assisting," he said in the second timeline.

Not long after, Tattletale reported in. "You were right, boss, there's a bug-controlling cape fighting Lung. They haven't noticed us yet. She just took down all of the unpowered ABB. Lung's hurt too, he can't find her. I can't see her either."

"Don't interfere until she's losing. Keep observing," he ordered.

In the other timeline, the Undersiders had made their way west into the city, and were catching their breath. They were safe, most likely. Disaster averted. Now he could look at getting the most out of this situation.

"He found her! She's on the roof. Wait—another group is joining the fight! They're in costume, and shooting at Lung with guns picked up from ABB. Not using any powers yet, though, might not be capes," Tattletale in the second timeline reported.

What was this? Where was this group in the earlier timeline?

"Keep reporting. What's happening?" he ordered.

"One of them's taunting Lung! They're heroes, or vigilantes, and also new, going by their equipment. The taller one that's taunting is the leader, he's trying to distract Lung from bug girl. He's really confident and closing in quickly. He taunted Lung again, it worked—Lung's going after—a homemade grenade? Lung got hit! The other one just shot acid and some kind of chemical at him. And the leader was hit by Lung's fire! His arms caught fire! Fire extinguisher? They came prepared—came to fight Lung! Lung's down! Lung's down, that was an anaesthetic! No, not just sedative, Lung was weakened, bug girl hit him with lethal venoms. Bug girl's running down to help put the fire out. The one that took Lung down just put out the fire. He, no, she just healed the leader? Heal by touch, anaesthetic, acid—that's Panacea! Her power's not just healing! Complete biokinesis!"

"Panacea? Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, something happened to her. Not sure what, but now she's vicious, angry, and desperate. She thinks the guy can help her, but I can't get any more than that. That's why New Wave was out today! She ran away! The fight's over now, they're calling PRT."

"What's the male cape's power? Was Panacea Mastered?"

So that must have been why the PRT's scheduled patrols suddenly changed. He noticed it happening while he was in the timeline where he was at his base. But when he tried to look into it, he ran into classified information. He could have tried using higher level access codes, but that would have been risky. That timeline had been running for hours and if anything happened that he was forced to keep it, he might have left a trace on PRT networks. So he didn't, and the Undersiders' problem was too urgent to do a last minute check on it before he closed that timeline. He would have to check it out in a throwaway timeline later.

"He didn't use any powers I could see. I don't think she's Mastered, but I can't be sure."

"Why were they here? Why did they attack Lung? The bug cape and the other two."

"Bug girl was just a coincidence, saw Lung on a patrol. But the other two came to fight Lung—it was a rush job, recent homemade equipment—but the man was confident, like Lung wasn't even a threat. He knew bug girl's venom would slow Lung's regeneration. He was too confident. Didn't believe he was in real danger. Because Panacea could heal him? No—hidden backup?" Tattletale started rambling as she used her power, "Wait—didn't come to fight Lung, they came for bug girl! What? Knew bug girl would fight Lung? But—coincidence—precognition! nnUGh—" he heard her groan and move the phone away.

"Tattletale?" he asked.

"Sorry boss, power headache. Been using it too much today."

As Lung was already defeated, he decided that the Undersiders were safe. He closed the other timeline where they retreated into the city. Then he split again.

"Panacea and the other cape didn't appear in the timeline where I had you attack Lung first. The rest of your team died along with the bug cape. Any ideas why they didn't interfere?" He asked in one timeline.

In the other, he let his Tattletale rest. "Keep watching them for now and stay hidden."

"I—UH—this is going to be bad—" she answered with another pained groan. "Precog, knew about venom, knew Lung would be weakened, equipment rushed—not enough firepower, too risky, bug girl expendable—not, not heroes! Just an act—What? UGHN—" she grunted painfully, "But Panacea—can revive if brain is intact—oh my g-ouwu!" He heard the sound of retching on the other side.

His blood ran cold. If that meant what he thought it meant, then this new player was on a level of ruthlessness even he wasn't sure he would be capable of. But was it correct? Tattletale's intuition could be wrong sometimes. Worse yet, they might have hidden backup somewhere, and it wasn't clear if the apparent leading cape was the precog or if it was someone else. If he was the precog, Panacea might have been under the Master effect of someone else, which had the potential to confuse Tattletale's judgement.

He closed the timeline, then split it again from the one where he never asked Tattletale those questions.

"Try approaching them. See if you can learn more or recruit them. Keep this line open," he ordered.

"Got it, boss."

After a few minutes, he heard voices through the still open phone call.

"They're not interested in talking, we have to go!" That was Tattletale.

"The fucking bugs!" Grue? Or maybe Regent. It was muffled by the pocket the phone was in.

"I can take them!" Bitch, most likely.

"NO! We have to move, now!" Tattletale again.

After that it was static. Grue's darkness blocking the cell signal.

He closed the timeline and split again.

In one, he ordered, "Tell Grue to approach them, thank them for their assistance and see if they're open to recruitment. You keep your distance and observe, keep this line open."

"I could help with the talking, I'm good at that."

"You tried that already. They attacked immediately. I need you stay back and observe for clues."

"Okay, you're the Boss."

He heard Tattletale discuss it with Grue, before the team moved.

Moments later, "They know! They—gurk" Tattletale's voice distorted as if the phone was moving, then he heard a loud crack, and a thump.

"Tattletale? Tattletale! Answer me!" Coil said loudly. No response.

They know, she said. What did they know? That the Undersiders were there? Precognition again? But why attack immediately? The Undersiders were just small-time criminal team, they shouldn't have any enemies except the ABB. If it was just part of their hero performance, then it was excessively aggressive to attack without a word, even a demand for surrender.

And it couldn't just be precognition.

They had to have a Stranger or teleporter to get to Tattletale.

Were they waiting for her to be separated from the team? For an opportunity to abduct her?

Of all the Undersiders, Tattletale was without doubt the most valuable. An advanced Thinker power like hers contributed tremendously to his plans and worked efficiently with his own power.

If they had a precog on their side, then the whole scenario could have been a trap to lure out Tattletale! But she wouldn't have stayed back on her own without his prompting. That meant the Stranger was still there, still hiding among the Undersiders, waiting for an opportunity in the other timeline.

That also put a new spin on what happened in the disastrous timeline where the Undersiders nearly all died. They didn't interfere because they wanted Tattletale too, and predicted that she would survive by herself. But because their agent was a Stranger, not a teleporter, they couldn't stay too close to the fight with Lung, so they couldn't get to her fast enough before she called him.

Then he froze in shock. If there was a Stranger hiding amongst the Undersiders, they would have heard his call with Tattletale! They would know everything she reported on the battle, except for the timelines he closed. Maybe they would know even that, if their precog was powerful enough and could see multiple futures. No, if they could see into his timelines they wouldn't have given away the presence of their Stranger. But certainly did know that Tattletale had reported to a secret boss, and that her boss now knew that they had a precog.

This…this was a disaster! Almost as bad as the timeline where the Undersiders were nearly wiped out. Calvert himself was now known to the enemy and was at risk!

He closed this timeline. There was no time to waste. In one timeline, he ordered the Undersiders to retreat back to their base. Then he used a secure channel to contact one of his mercenary captains, ordering him to take twenty men to the Undersiders' base immediately.

In the second timeline:

"Tattletale, there's a Stranger in your midst. The target is you, and they're likely working with the precog and Panacea. Can you figure anything out?" He called and asked Tattletale.

"What? I-I don't see anything—Bitch, can you sniff out anybody tailing us? Regent, can you feel any nervous systems nearby?"

After a moment, "Boss, are you sure about this? We can't detect anything."

"It might not be a Stranger, but there's definitely something after you. As soon as you separate from the team, they get you," he explained.

"A sniper, maybe? They would have to be a very high rating Stranger if none of us can find them."

That was something he hadn't considered. If their goal was assassination and not abduction, then a Stranger would be unnecessary, just a way to track Tattletale from afar. But if the goal was assassination, why wait until she was alone? She was obviously in the middle of a call with him when she was taken out, so that didn't hide their attack.

He told Tattletale as much.

"When was I separated from the team?"

"I ordered you to stay back and watch while the team approached the new capes."

"Why did you order me to stay back?"

"The new capes attack immediately. They're not interested in talking."

"They came for bug girl. Has a precog. Attacks us immediately if we approach. Knew about us. Knew we would approach to talk. Doesn't want to let us talk. Hasn't attacked while we're hiding. Hasn't silenced me yet. Doesn't want interference. Knows we would try to recruit. Doesn't want us to influence bug girl. Bug girl can sense things through her bugs in range. Not aware of us yet, but could find us if she looks. Boss, I don't think I'm their target," she concluded after a chain of deductions.

Was it so simple? Just his paranoia? It was possible. If they only wanted to stop any interference, and had a precog who could see that the Undersiders would influence the bug cape, it would make sense to attack immediately, given how ruthless they were shown to be in the collapsed timeline where the bug cape was being torn apart.

And if they persuaded the bug cape to assist, they might find Tattletale position quickly, and the hidden backup they had could take her out as well.

That meant it wasn't necessarily a Stranger who had heard everything in his calls with Tattletale. And it would explain why they never attacked Tattletale when she was alone after the disastrous Lung battle.

"Something's happening, Boss. I think the PRT are in a fight with Oni Lee and they're coming this way. Should we head back to base?"

He closed the timeline.

Back with the timeline where they already retreated, he split again.

In one timeline, he let them keep going.

In another one, he ordered Tattletale to split from the rest of her team. At the same time, he logged in to PRT networks.

He quickly found the relevant information on tonight's major operations and activities. SECRET-classified operation led by Miss Militia and Velocity.

Received call about Lung's capture by Polychromic and Araliac, a new hero team in cooperation with an unnamed third independent hero. Miss Militia moving to contact.

Tattletale was alone and nothing had happened.

She wasn't the target. There was no Stranger.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He told her to stay in hiding for a while longer. Better to be sure.

He continued looking through the PRT networks.

Glory Girl arrested for using excessive force in fight against unpowered criminals.

Nothing about Panacea missing. It must be in the classified network. He entered the relevant codes to access classified information.

SECRET-Search for Panacea led by Miss Militia and Velocity.

SECRET-Panacea went missing April 10th between 10pm and 4m, after attacking and defeating Dallon household. Reported by Glory Girl, Brandish, and Flashbang, cited as reason for emotional instability in Glory Girl leading to excessive force acts. No details available on method used to defeat Dallon household. Related—TOP SECRET.

Top secret classification meant the information was disconnected from any network, on physical storage devices or paper. He would have to try and look for it in person at PRT HQ. It had to be related to the cape with Panacea tonight.

Tattletale was still alone and nothing happened. She was right, the unknown capes were only trying to stop the Undersiders from interfering.

He closed the timeline, erasing any trace of his having accessed PRT information.

Once again, another split had him calling Creep, a mercenary on his payroll, the only one that would have a chance to discover his civilian identity. He prepared to move to his base again. A group with precog capabilities, possible Master, and other supporting agents was extremely dangerous to his plans. They were an unknown element, so he had to investigate thoroughly. That they were not after Tattletale now did not mean that they would leave her alone forever.

In the other timeline, he once again logged in to PRT networks. He also activated a mole, who happened to be in the team with Miss Militia and Velocity, trying to monitor their progress in the search for Panacea.

To his surprise, they found and began a fight against Oni Lee. Shortly after, they had hard contact with Polychromic's group.

The new capes ambushed and defeated both Oni Lee and Velocity. He listened as Polychromic described the battle. Nothing he didn't already know, and quite vague as well.

As they moved into the van, he kept listening via an audio bug on one of his moles. They were stubbornly quiet about their capabilities, not revealing anything about their powers to the PRT.

Then he froze, shock coursing through him like lightning.

"Your networks are compromised. And not just by hackers. You've got infiltrators in your midst, some with significant authority in the organization. And if Armsmaster reviews a recording of this conversation with his lie-detector software, he'll know I'm telling the truth."

Im-impossible! They knew. They knew. How? Coil had taken every step to hide his activities. There was nothing that could be tying his Thomas Calvert identity to Coil, or even to his fake ID as the CEO of Fortress Constructions. He even made sure to only get sensitive information through moles or only in collapsed timelines! How could they possibly know?

No, he had to calm down. This…there was no proof that they knew anything about his civilian identities. They could be trying to spook the PRT, they might not know any names, and they might not even be referring to Calvert specifically. The organization he bought his power from would certainly have high level moles in the PRT as well, not to mention the other villain gangs. He didn't think the other gangs had anywhere near as much info as he did, but it was possible.

If he acted rashly now, it would only serve to out him. Classic counter-spy tactic. Beat the grass to startle the snake. The PRT would never find any hard evidence on him with all his precautions. But even so, it was a great danger. If they had a precog, it was entirely possible that they would know what Coil might do in the future.

"…wrote the protocols themselves?"

Suddenly he noticed information on PRT networks moving and compartmentalizing. Everything was being cut. His own access was just rejected. Could he be coming under suspicion already or was this just a wide sweep? He was one of the people involved in writing many important security protocols.

Calvert could feel the sweat on his forehead. The PRT was already reacting on the information. It didn't matter if Polychromic had precise intel on him or not anymore. The PRT was taking this seriously. A major security review was bound to come up soon. There were only so many people with significant authority under Piggot.

He cursed angrily. Again, he was being forced on the defensive, where his power was weakest.

To avoid suspicion, he would have to act completely normal the next day in the PRT offices. He was not ready to lose his civilian identity so soon. His base wasn't finished construction, and he didn't have enough capes on his payroll. Most importantly, he didn't have Dinah yet.

But he also couldn't risk himself getting captured and arrested if Polychromic somehow provided incriminating info. Even worse, he didn't know if Polychromic would provide such information because Piggot was already locking everything down.

Taking out Polychromic wasn't going to solve the problem either. He could have his mercenaries attack when the transport reached downtown, but the PRT already knew. If he attacked Polychromic now, that would only confirm Polychromic's assertions, and cast suspicion on Coil's mercenary organization. But attacking to capture in a throwaway timeline would never work when he had no capes to mobilize in the twenty minutes it would take them to reach PRT HQ. Attacking for no real benefit even in a throwaway timeline was not advisable when the stakes were so high, accidentally closing the wrong timeline could spell his end.

He had no choice but to let Polychromic potentially reveal even more dangerous information to Piggot. But if he went to work tomorrow he was at risk.

There was only one solution. He had a few hours to investigate using his power. Tomorrow morning he would have to split for an extended period between going in to work and calling sick to stay at his own base. In the first scenario, he could still send his body double to pose as Coil and react to new developments, but it would be risky to communicate with him from PRT HQ while being monitored.

He closed the timeline. As he reached his underground base in the other timeline, he began barking out orders for his men to put the PRT building under secret surveillance. When Polychromic and Araliac exited, he would be tracking them to their base of operations.

There was little he could do to stop PRT's suspicion on him, but in the mean time, he could find out exactly what this new group knew. He would test them, especially Polychromic, and find out whether he was the precog, or just an intermediary like Coil himself often used. Either way, they were clearly an organized and well-informed group. He would dig them up by the roots.

O O O