And they still hadn't found the girl responsible, one Emma Barnes, who had managed to force Sophia Hess into doing various actions. Armsmaster had a feeling the father was protecting his daughter, but so far the phone and computer taps hadn't revealed anything.
Getting up from his chair Armsmaster walked towards another bank of screens as robotic arms worked on another item he had recovered from the battle site apart from copious amounts of blood. Stopping in front of the machine, Armsmaster looked down at the ruined, muscular arm being steadily de-constructed by the arms.
On another part of the machine, more arms were busy dissecting the second most important piece of evidence as a twitching, freakish insect was being divided into its core components.
Armsmaster regarded the insect with more interest with the arm. So far the mutations in the arm could be catalogued when he had the time, but the insect was rapidly starting to enter a state of decomposition. Still, he had enough to be able to cross-reference information from databases world-wide and discover that the insect was not natural.
Combined with the other liquids found...
Armsmaster didn't finish the thought; the spectre of Nilbog still hung heavily over the United States, another creature like him arising would be a disaster.
But if he was able to capture and possibly recruited this mutated victim of a clearly deranged Tinker, then Armsmaster would almost certainly be hailed as a hero.
If he could only identify the victim, he could find his Tinker.
A beep caught his attention and he turned to another screen.
Partial genetic match found: 2 Results
"Good." Armsmaster stepped forwards and with a flick of his fingers on the touch-screen brought up the reports.
Partial Match 1: Annette Rose Hebert.
Partial Match 2: Daniel James Hebert.
Armsmaster frowned. Annette Hebert was a university professor with tenure at the Jonathon McKillop University and was a fairly public figure. Daniel Hebert was listed as killed when the Empire 88 attempted to wrest control of the Docks from the ABB, resulting in the entire area being wiped off the face of the earth.
There was a daughter listed, Taylor Hebert, but her genetic profile provided from local genetic records didn't match completely to the partial reconstructions. In fact, there was only a thirty-seven percent match for the daughter.
As Armsmaster cleaned up the data, he nodded as he read the information on the screen. At a nearly fifty-three percent match compared to his wife's forty-two and the daughter's thirty-seven, Daniel Hebert was the likely victim.
It was also due to another interesting fact according to the police reports from the Empire 88 attack.
The body of Daniel Hebert had never been found after he was allegedly killed during the attack.
If the body had somehow gotten into the Underground, and the Tinker was hiding out there like much of the homeless and vagrant population did, then it could be possible that he had been mutated to serve as some kind of slave.
The female features could be explained by the mutative effects of the mysterious chemical, as well as possibly memory damage causing him to think he was his wife or daughter.
Turning away from the machinery and screens Armsmaster began planning his investigation.
He'd have to interview the family, and from there begin searching for any sign of Hebert in the Underground.
He'd have to keep an eye on the wife and daughter as well, but Armsmaster was confident in his hunch pointing him in the right direction.
With any luck, he could discover how the Ida Conglomerate was involved in all this as well and kill two birds with one stone.
And as far as Armsmaster was concerned, this was a more productive and efficient use of his time than being around to watch another convoy get unloaded.
* * *
Chapter 4: Cherish's Evening
If there was one thing that Cherie Vasil enjoyed as a Ward? It would have to be the opportunities to get paid very fat stacks of cash and take even more as war spoils. Even after getting her powers, Cherie had never been able to really enjoy the lifestyle she wanted without getting Protectorate or one of the hundreds of independent teams down on her head.
She shuddered, remembering how she got roped into the Wards in the first place. Stupid Champions, how was she supposed to know that she was scamming an undercover operation while she was passing through Chicago? Honestly, it's not like she wanted to get involved in super-heroics!
But the pay swayed her, just as she swayed her hips just right to get the attention of that attractive supervisor in Finance. He'd probably want to dump a load down her mouth again, but she'd get another couple of thousand dollars slapped onto her paycheck. And money ain't funny, as the old saying went.
"Cherish." She paused and turned to see Armsmaster approaching her. Wonderful. She hated being around Armsmaster, the man's emotional output was about as stimulating as a vibrator with low batteries, but he had his uses and when he usually wanted her for something...well, Cherish always managed to find a way to profit from the situation.
Money, sex or 'confiscated' drugs, it was all good. Cherie made a point to check up on the search for her brother. Honestly, even if she hadn't joined up with the Protectorate after Chicago, it was just taking way too long to find Jean-Paul as it was now. Maybe she should see about hiring someone to find him?
Meh, knowing Jean-Paul he'll eventually end up in Brockton Bay. The city wasn't Cape Central for nothing; just about every independent, rogue, villain and hero showed up in this place not just from places across the United States but also from overseas thanks to the Altered District. Cherish had tasted the emotions of capes from as far afield as Afghanistan.
Then she'd gone and tasted a lot more afterwards. Amazing what a few drinks and some judicious applications of lust could do to loosen people up.
Oh well, back to work.
Cherish pasted a plastic smile on her face to disguise her distaste for the man, "What do you need Armsie?" She kept the smiled up as Armsmaster twitched minutely but her senses told her she had hit her mark as usual.
"Cherish, I need you to conduct a sweep of the Underground for any unusual emotional signatures. I have an important case and I require some leads narrowed down."
'You also need to keep fucking Dragon, let her turn you back into a human so I can have some fun with you.'
Cherish nodded, "Sure, why the fuck not? Not like I had a date with some hot boys and a night of steamy, wild, unprotected sex planned. Sure, I can spend all night scanning a giant underground city built to replace a sewer system because the Mayor is a fucking idiot and so is the state governor."
Armsmaster harrumphed and Cherish sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going." She turned away at the same time Armsmaster did, her pretty face twisted in an ugly grimace that caused people to shy away from her as well as the emotion she was radiating.
Great, her whole night spoiled because Mr. Roboto wants her to do a sweep of the Underground. And she can't just do a half-assed peek into the Underground and then fake a report. Oh no, she had to do a full, in-depth sweep because he really would be going down there to check things out.
Honestly, at least the other Capes here figured out that Cherish was just there to make sure everyone was stable or give them a little kick in the field. Hell, the PRT guys knew she was there to make them feel better. Both mentally and physically.
As she headed down the halls of the combined PRT/Protectorate building, fortress more like it, Cherish decided to check in on her favourite Ward. Dipping through the scanners with a lavicious wink at the guard on duty, Cherie hummed a small tune to herself as she quickly picked up her favourite taste of despair, self-loathing and raw animal hatred.
She stopped in front of the clear door, "Hello Sophia."
Sophia Hess, formerly Shadow Stalker, glared sullenly from her bed, "Oh, it's you. I thought I smelled the scent of skank."
'Ooooh, she's finally getting feisty! I suppose that's progress and progress should be rewarded~'
Cherish pouted as she tapped the keypad and opened the door, radiating calm and subtle amounts of lust and attraction, "Aw, you're trash-talking. That's so cute! In fact, I think that's actual progress for you! Much better than being either a growling mess or a sobbing mess." She plopped herself down on the bed next to Sophia, strengthening the emotions Sophia should be feeling.
Sophia didn't push her away, and she wasn't fighting. Hmm, that was good. Cherish leaned in, letting Sophia get a good view of her modest cleavage as she continued talking, "So, if I'm a skank, what does that make you? I mean, just a few days ago you couldn't go an hour without begging for that bitch you used you up and tossed you away like a used condom."
Sophia remained silent, glancing away at the reminder of how she used to be, and the cause of all that. Cherish softened her expression, "Hey now, she's gone and she can't get at you any more."
Sophia choked out a laugh, "Easy for you to say. Emma...Emma is wrong in so many ways. I don't know what happened...it still feels like a bad dream. Just...waking up and finding out that some bitch has turned you into one simply so she could feed her own delusions about being strong. And that girl...Taylor..."
"Yes, well, after speaking with her mother it was decided that it would be in the best interests of both you and Taylor Hebert that you never have any contact." Cherish explained, "Particularly as her new girlfriend was present and made it clear that she was willing to use her Cape powers to get the point across."
Sophia chuckled bitterly, "Makes sense." She leaned against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks, "This is fucked up. I can't even go back to school, can't go home. Not after all I've done...how I've treated people."
Cherish carefully modified the emotions to bring Sophia back to calm before she went off on another crying jag and became too far gone to affect without really cutting into her psyche.
And she promised Mouse Protector that she would be a 'good' girl. So she settled for a hug, inserting enough attraction and happiness that the empath felt was safe so that Sophia calmed down before saying, "Well, I can't stay long. Duty calls and all that stuff. I want you to cooperate with Doctor Melnik as well, I can't keep doing this unless it's an official session."
Sophia nodded, but before Cherish could leave the room the dark-skinned girl dove forward into a fierce kiss. Cherish blinked, before shrugging and slipping her tongue into Sophia's mouth so she could properly enjoy the kiss.
'Tch, technique is a little sloppy. Probably only got practice on Emma Barnes before. Oh well, that just means I get to have some fun with her.'
After a few more seconds, she sighed and broke the kiss, "Later. I have Console duty tonight, so perhaps I can pay you a visit when I'm off-shift."
As Sophia nodded, Cherie walked out of the cell and locked it again, before walking out of the holding cell area and towards the elevators that would take her up to the actual Protectorate floors of headquarters. Tapping her Ident-Code into the keypad and entering, Cherie was about to press the floor button for the Wards quarters when a voice shouted, "Hold the doors please!"
Cherie placed a hand in front of the door sensors to let a heavily pregnant woman enter the elevator, where she leaned against the glass wall looking out at the mismatched expanse of new, high-tech construction and the older parts of Brockton Bay.
Cherish didn't mind the view as she glanced at the woman before pressing the floor button, "You should really stop running while pregnant, Mouse Protector." She did enjoy the warm, rich emotions flowing off the woman as Mouse Protector smiled.
"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I have to act as though I'm made of glass. I'm perfectly fine and safe; this isn't my first pregnancy you know."
"No, it's your seventh." Cherie glanced at the woman, "Honestly, you don't have to take after your namesake in that respect." She smiled as Mouse Protector laughed while the elevator rose, before Cherie sighed, "Armsmaster has another asinine assignment for me. He wants me to sweep the Underground for unusual emotional traces. What the fuck does he think he's going to find down there?"
"A mad Tinker." Mouse Protector replied, her cheerful expression gone, "There was a briefing about it. Apparently, some powerful Tinker with some kind of chemical focus transformed someone into a nine-foot-tall mutant monster and sent it to disrupt a territory grab by the ABB and Empire on the edge of Full Moon territory."
"So it wasn't one of Luna's menagerie or her pet triplets?" Cherish asked as she looked out the elevator, watching aircraft taking off from corporate towers, "Wonderful. So why does Armsmaster think they'll be in the Underground."
Mouse Protector snorted, "That's the beauty of it. You're going to love this; Armsmaster thinks that the monster? The nine-foot-tall mutant that has a set of tits that make mine look cute and small?" She bounced her own K-cups in emphasis and Cherish giggled at the reminder of Mouse Protector publicly keeping the after-effect of facing against the Blaster known as Mister Big.
Mouse Protector leaned forward, "Armsie thinks it's a mutated guy."
Cherish considered that for a moment, before she shuddered, "Urgh. I didn't need that mental image." She glanced back out at the city, "So that's why he wants me to sweep the Underground?"
Mouse Protector nodded, "You'll probably satisfy him if you sweep around the Altered District and near the Ida District."
Cherish nodded, "I think I'll do just that." The elevator pinged, opening to reveal the Wards quarters and Cherish turned to Mouse Protector, "Oh yeah, you know why I keep feeling resentment from Miss Militia?"
Mouse Protector flinched, "Ah...yeah. Turns out she really, really doesn't like having a former arms-dealer in the Protectorate. Who knew?"
"Really?" Cherish raised an eyebrow, "Winter is a former arms-dealer and mercenary. Miss Militia probably killed her way out through an army of those kinds of people before coming to the States. In any case, I'm hoping she'll get over it soon. It's distracting, especially as Winter is New York's problem, not Brockton Bay's."
Mouse Protector nodded, "I'll have a talk with her. In the meantime, try not to work too hard with Armsie's dumb request."
Cherish snorted as she started walking off without another word as the elevator doors closed and Cherish sighed, "Might as well get to work..." She blinked before glancing at another room, "But not before I check in on someone."
