The helmet always feels heavier during photo ops.

  Not physically heavier since I made it lighter, Still can’t get around how Neosteel worked even if I tried to use it in my equipment, Even Armsmaster having trouble dealing with that, but I did get touse some strips to lighten and reinforce the load.

  No, I’m talking about a different kind of weight. The suit weighs what it weighed last time I checked, somewhere around eighty-three pounds fully loaded, seventy-nine if I strip the secondary emitters. I checked this morning. Twice. Did I? Twice I think yeah.

  No that’s not it. I have anxiety. It’s not the suit at all…

  It’s all the other things I have to deal with.

  But when the cameras come out, it feels like I’m carrying something else on top of it. Expectation maybe? Branding perhaps? The idea of Kid Win is me instead of just… me.Boring old Christ. Gotta represent yeah? What would the Hero say? atleast…I thought so too. I always thought I was unique or special.

  “Chin up a little more kid, ok now. Hold still…greatjob winkid.”

  I correct her automatically. “Kid Win,” I say, because that’s what she means. That’s who she thought maybe? How do you even get my name wrong? It’s just two words strung together. No …gotta humble myself. Don’t mind that.

  Confident but approachable.

  I try to quantify that.

  Confident equals squared shoulders while walking,staying stable while walking, gotta project that confidence, helmet tilted slightly downward for presence, not too shy and not too menacing either, I wanna be approachable and… Approachable equals relaxed elbows, non-threatening hand positioning, open posture…? Ugh, this is getting too complicated.I run the numbers in my head and then realize I’m literally running numbers and that’s not helping because confidence isn’t quantifiable with numbers..no.

  Right. Stop counting angles.

  The orphanage behind us is bright blue, paint dried yesterday. Personally? I think it’s too bright, but I guess that’s the purpose isn’t it? An orphanage shouldn’t be a place for the downers, the colors are supposed to make it more…cheerful I think. My brain keeps trying to measure the spacing of the windows and analyze everything. They look evenly distributed but I can’t be sure without stepping it out. I almost do. I almost started counting paces.

  Don’t count.

  Anxiety is just …a thing.

  Just don’t count!

  I focus on the kids instead, easier said then done when a small little girl grabs my sleeve, and for a second my brain stalls because I wasn’t expecting contact. I don’t love unexpected contact even if it’s just the sleeves from the fabric of my tight spandex suit under all that armor.

  “Is that a real laser?”

  I feel something loosen in my chest feeling a little reprieve. This part I can do right? Just dealing with a little girl.

  “It’s modular, got me combining some of the stuff I used for a hair dryer than I thought that the power capacity cou-,” I start automatically, and I can hear myself going too technical, too fast, words stacking on top of each other like misaligned parts. I can almost see the PR handler stiffen behind the camera.

  I stop.

  “Uhh, I mean…It’s a real laser gun sure.,” I say instead. “I shouldn’t have show off a real gun to a little gurl huh?.”

  Her eyes light up like I just handed her a universe, Little girls like guns yeah? And my gun is kinda cool yeah? Its colorful atleast. “I like the colors, its bright!” she said.

  Couldn’t decide if I want it to be the same as the color of my armor or go wild with it, decided to stick with yellow and red, Now that I think about it, the thing kinda look like a fast food chain restaurant color scheme, or a typical diner from the 60s with yellow red and a rocket theme to it. Hair dryer kinda looks like a rocket..sorta? Well, at least the colors made a little girl happy.

  I built the current emitter array three weeks ago after scrapping the last one for inefficiency. It’s cleaner. More stable. The math works even when my head doesn’t. The colors just came in stock from whatever salvage I’ve gotten that day.

  I wish people worked like that.

  To my left, Aegis is perfect. Of course he is. He’s crouching, laughing easily, letting a kid tap his armor like it’s no big deal. He doesn’t have to think about where to put his hands or how wide to stand. He just exists correctly. That’s why he leads the Wards I guess.

  Gallant’s over near the donors, posture polished, voice smooth. He radiates reassurance like it’s an aura. Knowing who he really is underneath, its easy to tell that he was born to do it. Triumph had the same confidence and smile too, those two seem to exude confidence wherever they go. And then there’s Cockblocker.

  Clockblocker was laughing around with a gaggle of kids eating a burger as he sits around the floor surrounded by them playing with chicken nuggies…Dennis is in his element.

  I radiate… oscillating competence.

  The PR handler waves us closer together. “Big smiles!”

  I try.

  Smiling in the helmet is pointless, but I do it anyway. It feels wrong, like I’m performing an equation I don’t understand in front of a crowd.I know why we’re here. Optics. Community engagement. Public trust metrics trending upward after recent instability. The Wards need to look like hope.

  I want to be hope.

  I just don’t know how to do that without schematics.

  A boy asks if I can fly.

  “I can glide,” I say carefully. “Short bursts.”

  He looks impressed anyway.

  The truth is, I like building things more than I like being seen. In the workshop, everything is variables and prototypes and second chances. If something doesn’t work, I take it apart and try again. No one’s staring while I do it. No one’s measuring my posture or confidence, as if the machines I built will ever judge me, maybe they could if they knew I dind’t know what my speciality is.

  Sometimes I wonder if they recruited me because of what I could build or because a teenage tinker in bright armor photographs well for the crowd? I used to think being a Tinker was all the rage due to how few we are, then someone like Armmaster humbled me, then someone like Dreamhack came and trash that thought into the gutter, and his many crews who were all Tinkers as well, seems like Tinkers aren’t that special at all compared to the rest of the archetype.

  That thought sticks longer than it should and I knew I shouldn’t feel bad about it but I can’t help but feel inferior and useless when compared to the likes of Hero, Dreamhack, even Armsmaster and Dragon. Where does a tinker like me fit in this? What’s so great about modular tech if it can’t even do one thing well?

  A kid hugs my leg suddenly, small arms wrapping around cold metal. My brain short-circuits for half a second. I don’t know the protocol for that. There’s probably a guideline somewhere.

  But the kid doesn’t care about that He just squeezes tightly even if my legs were covered in metal plates.Maybe this is part of it. Not the banner. Not the cameras. Just… standing here so they see someone trying? But is there’s all to this?

  “Okay, everyone!” the photographer calls. “On three!”

  I stand a little straighter for the picture because I want to get it right. I really dont want to do this again if I messed up somewhere. Better do it once perfectly than do it again and again.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Flash.

  So much for a photoshoot. I wonder if that photo is gonna end up on the paper or the news. Will the radio talk about this? I doubt it will be aired.

  I just think about the kids first, if they remember today, I hope they remember the laser.And not the awkward kid inside the armor

  It’s finally time for a break.

  Not for the public, obviously. For us. Taking photo’s posing and playing with the kids, is exhausting even if it’s only been an hour. Is it weird that I think I prefer fighting the Empire or chasing a thief down than doing this?

  Well, I had my break behind the orphanage, near the delivery entrance where the paint’s already scuffed from repainting and the grass hasn’t grown properly yet. The PR team calls it a “reset window.” for this break.

  I call it oxygen.

  Also, I’m hungry.

  I’m sitting on an overturned crate with my helmet off, running a diagnostic on my left gauntlet even though it doesn’t need one. My hands just need something to do. If they’re not holding tools, they start fidgeting. If they start fidgeting, my brain starts spiraling.

  The rest of the wards started coming in the back, Huh..I was here first aren’t I?

  Aegis is leaning against the wall like he didn’t want to take the seat, there’s limited seats for all of us, being the gracious leader he is, perhaps he’s letting everyone have first pick of the chair.. Gallant’s sitting across from me, helmet off too, looking unfairly composed for someone who just spent forty-five minutes radiating wholesome hero energy.

  I watch them for a second. Then I blurt, “Do you think Legend ever had to do this stuff?”

  Gallant tilts his head slightly. “Photo ops?”

  “Yeah, the whole works like Ribbon cuttings, maybe even Orphanages like what we do. Smiling on command when the camera says..Pose!”

  Aegis snorts lightly. “Of course he did. He’s Legend. Probably had to do it more than us since he’s the Leader of New York.”

  I pick at a seam in my glove. “I mean when he was younger. Like… early career. Before he was Legend.”

  Gallant studies me in that way he does like he’s listening to the question under the question. It’s subtle, but I notice something else as well, not sure what’s he’s picking up but whatever. I was just making small talk.

  “I’m sure he did,” Gallant says. “The Triumvirate didn’t just appear fully mythologized. They built that image from somewhere,”

  That made me thought about Hero.

  I don’t say it out loud immediately but ,I wondered before he died, did he did any sort of photo op or PR related stuff when he was still alive? There’s so little information we know about him, kinda like the internet just forgot or something, just sparse details here and there.

  Hero was different. He was the Tinker. Inventor. Builder, whatever you wanna call him, he was the first. I’ve read every archived interview I could find. Watched grainy old footage of him explaining tech to reporters with that patient half-smile. He made it look effortless too from those few media I could scrounge up,

  A brilliant man with a brilliant mind, and kind at the same time. But that is all the media I could find, curated stuff from the PRT or public domain videos. Like prototype equipment on showcase. It makes you wonder why the PRT stopped featuring Tinker equipment for demonstration these days.

  “I read that Hero used to personally demonstrate prototypes at public events,” I say, staring at my gauntlet. “Like, he’d bring early versions of his systems and explain them to civilians. Not anymore though, after he died, no other TInker ever did what he did”

  Aegis shrugs. “Sounds about right. Due to the nature of Tinkertech, I can see why the PRT wants to keep it a secret. Unlike Hero, he was strong, almost untouchable. Even so, you know what happened.”

  “I…don’t know what to feel about that,” I mutter.

  Gallant smiles faintly. “You think it was a good idea to stop featuring TInker gear in the public?”

  I hesitate, was it? I haven’t gotten the slightest clue. Armmasters and Dreamhack didn’t go advertising their tech either, but then Dreamhack kinda did too, in a roundabout way, creating company to make ordinary items for sale or for a very affordable price while he kept most of the Tinkertech a secret. Like…using Neosteel for appliances. Pretty sure that materials was created from TInkertech, but he also reverse engineered Neosteel to be used for ordinary use as well. That’s what got Dragon and Armsmaster in a tizzy.

  Back to Hero.

  My brain wants to say yes. Because in the footage, Hero looks calm. Centered. Not like he’s calculating the exit routes or counting ceiling tiles or trying to remember if he already used that analogy in a previous interview. His demo’s seems real.

  But the footage could be edited too.

  “I don’t know,” I admit. “I just… I try to model after him. With the tech focus. And Legend, too. The public-facing part. He’s good at that. He’s..” I search for the word. “...kinda clean.”

  Aegis laughs. “Clean?”

  “Professional okay? I don’t know the word for it.,” I correct quickly. “Cohesive brand presentation with a clear messaging. No awkward pauses during PR events, always smiling always confident. That sort of thing.”

  No stammering like a certain someone getting flustered too easily. Gallant leans forward slightly. “Chris. Legend has an entire PR department refining his messaging. You’ve got Denise with a clipboard.” pointing towards our PR marketing agent totally in her element although a little overworked by the way she rush left and right even during our break. I glance toward the building where Denise is currently arguing about banner placement and saw her sweating in this humid hot weather this afternoon

  “…That’s a fair point. Denise needs a raise..”

  “But,” Gallant continues, “he also believes what he says. That’s the part you can’t fake.”

  I think about that for a moment, When Legend talks about hope, it doesn’t sound like a script. It sounds like a promise he’s already decided to keep. When I talk about tech, it’s real. I mean it. I just don’t always translate it well to PR talk.

  “Do you ever feel like you’re… playing yourself?” I ask.

  Aegis frowns slightly. “What does that mean?”

  “Like there’s you, and then there’s the version of you that’s on camera. And you’re trying to keep them aligned but they drift. I mean…I just don’t want to be… the budget version of who I want to be…” I admit quietly. “Of Hero. Or Legend.”

  “So,” he says casually, “what’s your professional opinion on Dreamhack?”

  I almost trip.

  “My what?”

  “Dreamhack,” he repeats, like we’re discussing the weather. “ Gave you that bot, Merchant wipeout. Built himself a fortress-city in, what, four weeks?You ever got that thing to work for you? Haven’t seen it being deployed when we go on patrol.”

  My brain immediately lights up in twelve different directions, mostly due to my inability to modulate the SCV to do what I want it to do, instead it became a sort of franken machine at base with no funding to reach where i aim it to be, a multi purpose support bot that could support me, during patrol but thats… a bust.

  I’ve seen satellite images from the PRT even from PHO, those guys are everywhere, repairing everything, the docks seems to be filled to thebrim with those SCVs going around fixing roads and broken lamp post but their reach is limited.. Some videos caught them at night, Grainy drone footage. Blurry civilian uploads before the PRT locked most of it down of those bots even plating potatoes and all sorts of potted plants all over Brocton Bay.

  Those angular structures that don’t match standard fabrication methods. Modular plating that looks pre-fitted instead of welded. Turret emplacements with rotation speeds that shouldn’t be mechanically feasible without serious power draw, and somehow it’s fitted with a general A.I too but I couldn’t make it work…they seem to run on a different computer language than we’re used to. Dreamhack has his owns language build upon an unknown OS.

  And the power draw readings we intercepted? Insane.I realize I haven’t answered. It’s definitely lithium Ion, but I never thought lithium Ion batteries could even have that sort of capacity.

  Clockblocker grins at me through his visor. “You’re doing the thing where you go silent and start building it in your head.” giving me a weird look like he got me pegged down to a T.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “I am …yeah okay..” guilty as charged.

  “Thinking about something ridiculous? Don’t be. That man is not natural...”

  I adjust my helmet slightly, even though it doesn’t need adjusting.

  “It’s… I mean, it’s been four weeks since he gave me that mech and I still couldn’t crack it, not due to lack of trying, PRT not funneling any funding is one thing and…,” I say finally. “From a deployment standpoint, I just couldn’t seem to make my vision come true with all the limitations I have.”

  “That is the least emotional reaction i expected coming from you, I thought you were pretty stoked when you first got that thing from him, I still remembered that Armsmaster was seething with envy, Where is that guy?.”

  I ignore him and keep walking as I thought about what he said, was I comparing myself to Dreamhack or J? The guy who made a whole city and build a fortress in a week. That guy?Either he had templates ready or he’s operating on a level of cognitive throughput that makes my head hurt..The fugue state itself would be maddening, I don't see how he was able to build all that with his own hands initially.

  “I mean,” Clockblocker continues, “guy rolls into town, wipes out the Merchants,which, okay, public approval boost there then builds a sci-fi town at the Archers Bridge and the graveyard and starts giving the homeless a place to live, a place to eat, and jobs for all of them.. That’s either a villain origin story or extremely aggressive urban renewal,”

  Urban renewal with a Mech and gatling guns.

  Tinkers don’t usually get that kind of thematic cohesion without heavy specialization. Mine’s modular systems integration and adaptive platforms. Armsmaster's miniaturization and efficiency. Hero’s was scalable energy systems and advanced fabrication.

  Dreamhack’s is what? factory making? Specialization in building factories? Mass production? Like he downloaded an entire tech tree and have the factory grow endlessly, an everlasting endfield.

  And that…that makes my stomach twist.

  “It’s too fast,” I say quietly.

  Clockblocker doesn’t joke this time. “Too fast how? What are we talking about again?”

  “Even with a strong specialty, infrastructure takes time. Testing. Iteration. Failure cycles. He’s not showing failure cycles.” I flex my gauntlet absently. “Either he’s hiding them, or he doesn’t have them.”

  “Isn’t that what Tinkers do? They scale exponentially?”

  “I..guess so.” I didn’t want to admit it but maybe I feel a little inferior about what I do, I had already gained by powers a year ago, slumming out parts from dumpsters and second hand electronic stores till the PRT recruited me. I had a year and a half to get the ball rolling and someone like Dreamhack just suddenly did all of this, out of nowhere. There wasn’t a peek or any info I can find on the net, either they were scrubbed or they guys like him already had backing like what the PRT suspected.

  A tinker who builds a city in a month. Who wipes out a gang the PRT’s struggled with for years. Who names his tech like it’s pulled from a space opera and then actually makes it work.

  Doesn’t matter though,

  Aegis’s comm crackles first. Then mine. Then everyone’s.The tone isn’t patrol-standard. It’s a priority One Coms signal coming from the console. Aegis’s posture shifts instantly. “Understood. Wards mobilizing.”

  Denise freezes mid-sentence with a city councilman. “What’s happening?”

  “Briefing recall,” Gallant says smoothly, already stepping back. “Apologies.”

  The shift from staged smiles to operational readiness happens in under ten seconds. Helmets on. Visors down.I feel the transition like a gear catching a hitch like clockwork.

  On the ride back, no one jokes.

  Something serious happened elsewhere we aren’t aware of.

  …………………….

  The briefing room at headquarters smells like burnt coffee and recycled air. Director Piggot is already there when we file in, arms crossed and her eyes were livid with anger,, expression carved from granite, somewhere..someone fucked up or something terrible happened. Everyone was here except..Armsmaster. Even Miss Militia was awfully quiet among the other two veterans, Assault and Battery. Velocity and Triumph just took a seat with a sullen face.

  That’s never a good sign, The main screen flickers to life.

  Finally Pigot came in with her signature grumpy face, extra grumpy today, the other members of the PRT seems to be doing damage control, Mr Calvert and Mr Renick isn’t here, until the footage came up.

  Ground footage, not ours. Not PRT. Civilian drone, probably confiscated an hour ago.

  Empire Eighty-Eight banners. Makeshift stage. Floodlights.

  Then

  Chaos.

  Angular armored figures dropping in from above. Blue-white engine flares. Precision strikes. Turrets deploying in synchronized arcs. A bearded man wearing some sort of advance engineering gear with turrets surrounding him, a woman with heavy armor holding up a giant hammer? Picture of an aerial armored suit launching grenades with zero chill against ..is that Krieg? It was a full scale battlefield with various Capes we’ve never seen before.

  I lean forward before I realize I’m doing it. Then one picture, just a dude wearing a lazy tracksuit and hoodie with that signature scifi helmet, No need to tell who that is and who these people are,

  There’s even a Ninja and an Archer. The Archer didn’t even bother covering his face so we got a good look at him. Seems middle age, but the white hair seems like a fashion statement more than how old he looks, with that body? You really can’t tell.

  Dreamhack’s people.

  The screen zooms. E88 members scrambling. Capes engaging.

  Then I see it.

  Cages.

  Initiation victims, non white folks ready to get sacrificed for the bloodletting of new members of the Empire, barbaric and cruel, I knew they were doing it, but this was the first time someone caught wind of their operation, and it’s not the PRT.

  The footage catches a figure in distinct silhouette that’s Sophia Hess or Shadow Stalker just wearing a bandana over her face, not exactly flattering but she’s guarding Dreamhack..or atleast it seems like Dreamhack, civilian photos aren’t that great to see.

  close enough.

  “They struck an Empire recruitment rally approximately forty minutes ago,” Piggot says, voice flat and controlled. “Location: abandoned shanty town currently under control of the PRT.”

  Another clip rolls. And new Cape assets enter from the opposite vector.an armored woman taking to the skies, aerial signature is unmistakable. With a …militarized sci fi ninja cutting a green arc cuts through smoke engaging with Alabaster, A sniper round disables a floodlight from impossible range.

  Two independent paramilitary groups hitting the same target like clockwork.

  “They encountered initiation victims on-site,” Piggot continues. “Extraction occurred during engagement. Empire casualties were significantly low. Civilian casualties are very minimal.”

  Minimal? All that chaos and not even casualties?

  My brain latches onto that word. Calculates probabilities automatically. Multi-vector assault, unknown tech base, urban environment? Minimal is statistically improbable.

  “Dreamhack forces withdrew in organized formation,” Piggot says. “Unknown cape units disengaged shortly after.”

  The screen freezes on an image of the trainyard skyline in the background. New construction visible even from that distance.

  Piggot turns to us.

  “We are convening to reassess Dreamhack’s threat rating.”

  The word threat hangs in the air.

  One month.

  “One month,” Piggot echoes my thought aloud. “Fortified perimeter. Anti-vehicle emplacements. Independent power grid. Manufacturing capacity that pales in comparison to Dragon and then this happens!” she slams a file so thick it almost seem like the desk creaked a little. Armmaster then came in a little late and saw what happened and shrug.

  He just took his seat as Piggot stared at him, Armsies taking the brunt of her ire in this meeting.

  Piggot’s gaze sweeps the room. “Preliminary classification: high-tier Tinker. Strategic infrastructure capability. Rapid deployment specialization. Possible external supply chain. I'm tempted to put him among the nines and ten at this rate if it weren’t for certain issues…”

  Power classifications. Incident reports, seen one and you seen it all, Red arrows on satellite maps. Numbers I try not to over-focus on because if I start converting them into percentages and projections, I miss the human part. There were pictures of operatives on the world wide map? What sort of meeting is this?

  But this one? This one sticks.

  Director Piggot doesn’t dismiss us after the Dreamhack assessment. Instead, she switches the display.

  New header.

  PROVISIONAL THREAT ANALYSIS

  The room shifts. Aegis straightens slightly. Gallant folds his hands on the table. Clockblocker actually stops fidgeting and pays attention properly.

  I lean forward before I realize I’m doing it myself too.

  Piggot’s voice is measured but still retain that signature grumpy tone, or just tired. I bet it’s both.“We will now address the second variable operating within Brockton Bay. Codename: Unknown. Origin: multinational. Structure: paramilitary. Command hierarchy: centralized under individual known as Jason Lin.”

  Who the heck is Jason Lin?

  A grainy still image appears.

  An woman on a rooftop, someone who worked out by the look of those abs, grainy footage is hard to see but someone gotten this recording off from the dollar store nearby. Hood up. Long rifle braced against a ledge.

  ANA AMARI

  Piggot taps the screen.

  “Country of origin: Egypt. Former military. Confirmed sniper. Combat medic. Documented experience in international black-ops theaters prior to public cape activity.”

  The image shifts—thermal overlay, ballistic trajectory lines drawn in red.

  “Primary weapon: long-range precision rifle. Capable of both lethal and non-lethal munitions. Observed rounds include tranquilizer darts with rapid-onset incapacitation, and biochemical enhancers that temporarily augment allies’ physical capabilities. Records claims to be the best sniper on earth, under many titles, Amun Ra, Eye of Horus, Bastet, and many more. This is military redacted files we’ve gotten after various help from watchdogs and foreign government intervention.”

  Military cape from Egypt? What’s a woman like that doing all the way out here? Piggot rubbed her head in agony and continued “Don’t be fool by her looks, the Dossier said she has a kid, she’s over 60 years old.”

  Battery seethed and actually said “No way…Her? A sixty?! “ This time it was Assault that elbowed her instead, usually it’s the other way round.

  Enhancers.Biochemical delivery via projectile microfluidic stabilization? On-impact dispersal? Or needle-based injection? Who the hell…how the hell did these sort of people came to bumfuck of nowhere like Brockton Bay?

  Piggot continues.

  “She demonstrates extreme accuracy beyond baseline human capability. Engagement records indicate successful shots through obstructed sightlines, dynamic targets, and low-visibility conditions. Watch dogs and Tinkers can’t make any sense of that as of this evening as we speak,””

  A clip plays.

  Empire capes moving between buildings and a lone dart hits Othala at long range. She drops in seconds while Victor swoop in and pick her up and dash.

  Piggot pauses the footage.

  “Estimated effective range exceeds conventional sniper platforms. No observed reliance on tinker-grade hardware beyond her rifle. Conclusion: either exceptional training supplemented by minor parahuman enhancement, or full parahuman precision classification. Cape powers probability of enhancing sniping activity or she is a Tinker capable of enhancing weapon capabilities, is what watchdogs say but…”

  I swallow and Pigot gave a long hard stare at her “I’ve seen snipers like that back in the old war, some Veterans even at base human level can really have the mind and fortitude to be better than capes…It makes me wonder if this is really a cape we’re talking about or just your Government Issue specialist from the Egyptian Goverment…”

  Exceptional training that surpass Cape potential. Is that even possible? Can the average human even outscale a cape? There’s something unsettling about that phrase.

  Just… skill.

  Piggot zooms in on a freeze-frame of Ana repositioning.

  “Behavioral profile: disciplined. Target discrimination consistent. No confirmed civilian casualties attributed to her fire.”

  That part makes something unclench in my chest.

  “She prioritizes force multiplication and surgical neutralization,” Piggot says. “Not spectacle.”

  The room is quiet except for the faint hum of the projector.I try to imagine that level of control.

  One shot.

  Piggot switches slides.

  “Threat rating,” Piggot says, “is elevated due to range dominance.That footage we have gotten is roughly one or two kilometers away from the scene, she’s shooting it at an incredible range away from the site, Any engagement with the assets must assume Ana is present unless confirmed otherwise.”

  Clockblocker mutters softly, “So basically don’t stand near windows.”

  No one laughs, Piggot’s gaze sweeps the room as she wasn’t laughing either, Clockblocker smile turned into a tiny line after that as Piggot didn’t even deign to give him the time to retort that, she continues on-

  “Countermeasures require multi-angle movement, visual disruption, and anti-projectile defenses. Traditional cape rush tactics will fail. This is a war veteran you’re messing with. Regular tactics won’t work.”

  My brain wants to solve her.

  Not defeat.

  Understand.

  Military? How the hell do I even beat a military veteran? I’m just a kid who tinkers and make laser guns. A sniper like that changes engagement math entirely. You don’t fight the visible threat. You fight the one who decides when the fight starts.

  Piggott dims the image slightly.

  “Amari’s history indicates a pattern of strategic withdrawal when objectives are met. She does not overextend. She does not pursue beyond mission parameters according to past records…We have gotten these information with great length while Dreamhacks’ adjutant is away, leaving a relatively lapse in their organization..so this information doesn’t leave this room. I don’t need to remind you the severity of this issue as we are engaging with state and military information from another country and with a Cape that governs them now.”

  I realize my fingers have been tapping a steady rhythm against the table,counting without meaning to. I stop. This feels a little above our paygrade, even Gallant was fidgeting around, Vista was the only who’s keeping calm, Everyone else was visibly panicking even Assault. And I never saw that man who keeps making such serious jokes in his life became a total mute here, what’s going on here?

  Piggot folds her hands behind her back.

  “In summary: Ana Amari is not a frontline brawler. She is a force of architecture. Remove her, and Her Overwatch loses precision. Ignore her, and you lose the battlefield before you know you’re in one. Limit her high ground and her effectiveness goes down significantly.”

  “Next: Genji Shimada.”

  The slide shifts.

  The room seems to dim a little more, though that might just be me leaning closer.A new image fills the screen green highlights against steel and shadow. A lean, armored figure mid-leap, blade drawn, body angled in a way that looks more like Ninja than your average cape.

  So..he’s just a really heavily augmented cybernetically enhance ninja? Or is that just really good aesthetically sci fi armor? It’s hard to tell with tinkertech these days. The man is rather plain look on for a handsome japanese man, although I’m quite skeptical as to why he dye his hair green.

  GENJI SHIMADA

  Piggot doesn’t waste time to explain, looking at the screen, The Icon of his face seems to came from Japan, there’s another Icon next to him as well, so there’s two guys from Japan. huh..Neat.

  “Country of origin: Japan. Former organized crime affiliate, Shimada clan. Presumed deceased following internal conflict. Re-emerged years later as a cybernetically reconstructed combatant affiliated with Dreamhack. Yakuza affiliated with his Brother Hanzo Shimada who is also the current leader of the Shimada clan that’s making inroads carving up a pie within ABB territory in a three way split between the Flame King and Lungs very own ABB. somehow the conflict is maintained within non cape issue…but there’s more towards the Shimada before Kyushu and Leviathan happened..”

  The image zooms, armor plating integrated seamlessly along limbs, visible mechanical articulation at joints, spinal reinforcement array along the back. The man is cybernetically enhanced, That’s not a suit at all isn’t it? It’s grafted towards his body, to his skin. Why would someone do that?

  That structural integration doesn’t even collapse, someone over at Dreamhack is very good at biomechanical engineering and knows medical quite well, wait, didn’t they have someone like that as well? That Angel girl he recruited a few weeks back during the Merchant bus rampage. Could it came from her?

  “Extent of biological enhancement is unknown,” Piggot continues. “Best estimates suggest majority cybernetic mods under the body.”

  My brain lights up again. Neural interface stability. Signal latency compensation. Power routing. Thermal management in compact chassis oh no..my powers is on the fritz again, but I have so many ideas!

  I force myself to listen instead of design instead of submitting myself to a self imposed fugue, Its hard, but I forced the impulse down. Seems like Armsmaster had the same Idea too and he forced it down as well,

  We both look at each other to an understanding. It’s hard to be a Tinker, Pigot didn’t care and kept her threat assessment review despite our issues.

  “Primary weapons: high-carbon katana of unknown composition and shuriken with exceptional penetration capacity. Demonstrated ability to deflect ballistic fire at close range. Used to work in Counter Intelligence work with the JLA and the Japanese Government. Highly effective operative.”

  The footage plays.

  Genji moving through Empire ranks like a glitch in reality. Bullets bending away in impossible arcs. Blade flashing once,twice,three times. The man is a swordsman in an age of guns, super power and lazers, he made that look so easy taking down Alabaster.

  I remember the reports.Alabaster’s reset loop disrupted through timing.Precision exploitation of power mechanics.Piggot freezes the frame mid-motion.

  “Shimada exhibits extreme mobility. Wall traversal. Enhanced agility beyond standard parahuman baselines. Likely combination of cybernetic augmentation and parahuman capability.”

  Likely.

  Pigot doesn’t believe that this one is a cape either.

  “We have no confirmation whether his abilities are solely technological, solely parahuman, or hybridized. Either a self tinker or something that enhances his ability and baseline human level. Or simply someone who trigger as a cape with technological hybridization optimization, The think tank and Watchdogs are debating if its all three too. That is the conclusion for now.”

  Hybridized.

  That’s the part that makes my pulse tick faster. Because if he’s both,If he’s a parahuman integrated into machine architecture at that level? If it aint just enhancement? Can I even tinker a person like that? No no! that’s..Im not a biotinker…never will be. No, dude…Christ, that’s messed up. Wait, does it mean he’s a biotinker?

  That redesign on his gauntlet is kinda cool, mechanize fingers to increase wrist and motion reaction time? Would something like that be modular and-S-stop!

  I tried to stop my powers from spazzing out but it’s getting harder to do.

  Piggot continues.

  “Engagement pattern indicates surgical targeting of high-threat individuals. Minimal collateral damage. High lethality within five-meter radius.”

  Video from afar shows from a civilian balcony that recorded the fight with Alabaster within the shanty house shows a raw footage of how fast he moves, five meters blink slashes, darting around keeping track of his sword range, exactly five meters around him.

  “Psychological profile suggests disciplined restraint,” Piggot says. “Unlike traditional vigilantes, he does not pursue extraneous violence. Actions appear mission-locked.”

  Piggot zooms in on the sword.

  “Energy projection observed during specific engagements. Codename ‘Dragonblade’ per intercepted audio. Manifestation appears partially parahuman in nature.”

  The footage flickers. Green energy spirals along the blade. The air itself seems to tear around and Alabaster eventually go down. What kind of carbon sword does that?

  Piggot turns slightly toward us.

  “In close-quarters combat, Shimada is classified as an S-tier threat. Engagement requires area denial, wide-range suppression, and predictive tracking. One-on-one confrontation strongly discouraged.”

  Clockblocker mutters, “Noted. Avoid sword ninjas.”

  No one contradicts him and no one dares to joke around too,I stare at the still image of Genji standing in smoke, blade lowered. The man looks like an absolute unit, Not even the full team of the wards could take someone that can move that fast and slice all of us in mere seconds. It’s no wonder Alabaster don’t stand a chance, he even beaten an immortal nazi zombie. That’s messed up.

  There’s something unsettling about how calm he looks. I think about my own gauntlets. The hours I spend shaving microseconds off response delay. The frustration when servo feedback jitters under stress load, then I look at what he do, the servos on his arm,

  He moves like there’s no delay at all.Like thought and action are the same thing. Piggot folds her hands behind her back again.

  “Shimada represents the most dangerous type of close-combat combatant: disciplined, experienced, technologically enhanced, and ideologically stable. Covert military background and the syndicate and underground streets smarts to navigate any cape ecology they can throw at him. ”

  Piggot clicks to the next slide but pauses.

  “Understand this,” she says, voice firmer. “These people on the slides are not a random coalition. Their members are individually high-grade assets. Combined, they represent coordinated force projection beyond what Brockton Bay is accustomed to.”

  Coordinated force projection.

  “Next: Codename Pharah. Real name Fareeha Amari, daughter of Ana Amari. Chief Security of Helix Security International, and is a a dual citizenship with Canada, operated at Gribaltar and runs operational techwork until Gribaltar was wiped off the map during Behemoth's march towards London twenty years ago- ”

  This is gonna take some time isn’t it? Shouldn’t have eating something at the photo shoot.

  **********************

  A/N

  Honestly, I wanted to write more about Monica and move on with the show but ya know what? This is fine…there will be a part 2 tomorrow, im too tired to continue more, and by the look of the amount of character i have to cover its gonna drag on a little so….yeah, part 2 tomorrow. Kidwin is underutilize, Do I wanna write about Kidwin in the future? probably not. I thought I did, but maybe not now.