Ch. 23: Mobilizing

I wait expectantly on a text from Catalyst, near 7pm, laying my head on Emily's lap. I keep clicking to suggested websites, closing them, and reopening them a few minutes later.

Finally, I get the text.

Catalyst: 24,739,927.00

"Fuck yeah!"

Emily, startled, jerks her knee up directly into my skull. I play dead, tongue lolling out of my mouth, to which Emily groans. "What the hell was that about?"

"We are officially over halfway through our debt!"

"Really? It's been like... a month and a half, maybe two?"

"Yep. You'd be amazed what people will pay when you attack their pride." I bilked the three from a couple hours ago for a grand total of three and a half million. And now, they're advertising my miraculous services to others.

Emily shakes her head. "You're a very good supervillain."

"Thank you, thank you." I sit up straight, mostly to avoid accidentally catching another knee to the head if I get excited again. "You're an excellent supervillain too, by extension."

"Well, yeah. That's why I said it. Without me, you're average at being a supervillain."

I pull her head onto my own lap. "So, I was thinking about our date tomorrow."

She looks up at me, eyebrow raised, waiting for my bad idea she'll have to shoot down.

"So we kick it off with a nice walk in the park, followed by us hanging out in a bookstore where you can get something to eat, then we go to that little bistro by the bakery and even drop by to say hey to Reggie."

Emily thinks for a long moment. "Okay, but you're wearing that blue floral dress."

I lean down, touching our foreheads together. "You know I wouldn't wear anything else, my love."

It's a little overcast, but in the rare, almost sacred way. It's not gloomy, the rays of light piercing out through the thinner parts of the cottony clouds, like angels descending from heaven. One of my favorite kinds of weather.

We walk, hand in hand, through the park. It's early, and there aren't many others around. I hear my main work phone buzzing occasionally from my purse, which I check but don't reply. Nothing that can't wait a day.

I wave at someone staring at my suit, who turns away from me, continuing an animated phone call.

"Gonna use the bathroom," Emily says, quickly darting off to the restrooms near the center of the park.

I stand around out, noticing a homeless man sleeping on the nearby bench.

damaged liver, alcohol + any grass + any insect + anything blue

Oh, I can do that here! I creep over towards him, stealing a largely empty bottle of cheap vodka from him. Just enough to make this work. I pluck a blade of grass from the ground, and start hunting around for an insect. I casually dig around in the dirt near a tree, looking for a grub or ant.

"Collecting samples, alien visitor?"

I turn around, and a guy in a jogging suit smiles down at me. He has soft eyes, and a thin smile. The kind of guy who you picture having two or three daughters at home. I select a small beetle, and drop it into the bottle. "Yeah, in a sense. You wouldn't happen to have anything that would fit in this bottle that's blue, would you?" I swish around the drowning insect trying to cling to the blade of grass bobbing on the surface.

"Well, now I have to know what's going on. But don't tell me until we find the blue thing."

I laugh, and send a quick text to Emily.

Me: brb, sidequest!

We walk around, eyes peeled, until the guy leans down and picks up a blue bottle cap. "How's this?"

"Perfect." He hands it to me, and with a bit of effort, I force it through the neck of the bottle. The ingredients starts to melt, and I'm left with a yellow potion in the bottle.

He looks at it, intrigued. "So what's going on with that?"

"I have a healing power. Basically, it tells me to go on a scavenger hunt, then I have to put all the stuff together and I get a cure. Don't tell anyone."

Wait, why am I being so open with him? No, I need to be less paranoid. It's not like this guy would do anything. He's a friend.

I walk with him back to the homeless man, who's still asleep, as I gently rouse him. He groggily gets up, and I wordlessly pour the drink into his mouth. As he processes what's happening, he starts to look scared, then angry, then back to confused. "What the hell... I feel great?"

"You bet you do. I'm Vivian, nice to meet you. And this guy..."

"You can call me John."

The homeless man looks between us. "I'm Rex. Good to meet you both."

"Likewise. Well, Vivian, I've got to go. Lots to do, not a lot of time."

"For sure! I actually run a little clin..." I trail off, and study Rex closely.

insomnia dispower-

He's a cape?

"A clinic? I'd like to visit sometime."

"Yeah. Lemme go find my girlfriend, we can all go!"

"No, no, that's fine. I'll take your word for it. Besides, I'm sure Emily is busy."

"Probably." How did he know her name? Did I mention it? Probably, right?

With a wave, he leaves, whistling something to himself.

After a few minutes, its like my brain revolts against itself. Who the fuck was that? Why was I so talkative? I didn't say Emily's name even once, I'm positive. And she's been in the bathroom for twenty minutes.

I dart into the bathroom, and ask "Emily?"

There's no response. I start checking every stall, but they're all empty. My heart starts to pound. I step outside, trying to stay calm, and look for a rational explanation.

Where the homeless man was, a notebook labelled "EMILY" is in his place. I snatch it, and start flipping through it. It's all blank pages, as I flip through them one by one. A few sheets from the back, there's a small note, written in blue pen.

"Dr. Vivian Amsel,

Consider this a warning, from one surgeon to another. We've heard all about your work at Dudek Hospital, and we believe they're likely to call on you in the near future. Don't interfere, and you'll see Emily again. And don't bother going home, I changed your locks.

Yours,

Dr. John Calhoun."

I immediately run as fast as my lungs will let me to the decoy apartment, as they stretch and contract in a dry, cracking pain from lack of exercise. I scramble up the stairs once I reach it, and as expected, there's a large "FUMIGATION IN PROGRESS" sign over it. Fuck. Fuck fuck.

I need to get to my lab. He wanted to see the clinic. Maybe he doesn't know about it? That somewhat makes sense, right?

I know I can't have anyone following me. Every subway tunnel takes me back there, but how would I get into a subway with no one noticing?

God damn it. There's only one way.

My suit is in a paper bag with the label of a popular clothing store, as I speed walk out of Dudek Mall. It's enough that I could evade eyes, I'm sure. Plus, there's a subway station right next to it.

I try not to run, but I do move quickly, faking a conversation on my phone about being late to a meeting. Once in the "Employees Only" section, I rapidly put the suit back on, and start jogging back to the lab.

I was exposed for probably fifteen minutes. I'm going to be in my lab for a while, especially with how filthy subways are. If I can even get into the lab. Once I'm close, I once again take off my suit, the final stretch just being a normal, sick looking woman entering the clinic.

Strangely enough, I'm not bothered when I finally get in. No one is acting strangely. Things are going on as normal.

I see Catalyst, Medulla, and Solvent watching me without my suit, and noticeably, without Emily. They share a quick series of words, and Catalyst comes over to the lab with me.

I look into the mirror. Okay, only eight infections. Could have been worse. I strip off my dress, get back in my suit yet again, and start making the potion. It's an uphill battle, trying to stay focused. I hear Catalyst talking, and I don't respond, in a daze.

With the last potion finished, I return to the decontamination chamber, and watch as Solvent and Catalyst follow me in.

I look between them as the gases fill the tube. "Emily was taken. Rat Sink is blackmailing Vivian Amsel. I don't think they know about Beaker."

Catalyst lifts up his mask, and there's a look of absolute terror. "Rat Sink?"

"Yeah. I'm getting suited up. They'll be attacking soon. Call EViRT. And the EDA. And all the gangs. I need to go drink these." I take the bottles and my newly sanitized suit, chugging them one after the other, and checking in the mirror to make sure that was all of them.

I'm a surgeon. I work well under pressure. But this isn't pressure. This is an attack on who I am.

I don the Beaker mask.

Rather, it's an attack on who I try to be. Because right now, without Emily, I'm not tethered to the world. And I need Beaker to get that tether back.

I nod at Solvent, as Catalyst makes the calls. I enter back into my lab, and start forcing some potions through. I am burning to death, I need something that can freeze me. I am dying of ennui, I need an explosive to reawaken me.

I tuck them into their respective pockets. 40 potions in total. I pack my satchel with as many different reagents as I can reasonably fit, as I answer a call from Kingfisher.

"You okay?" he asks, no doubt only ensuring his asset isn't damaged.

"They took Emily."

"Okay. Stay put."

"No. They think Vivian Amsel is the healer. They don't know about Beaker."

"Got it. Stay safe, getting reports others were taken in the same way. We're mobilizing."

I anxiously squeeze the handle of my cane, Solvent right beside me. I'm pacing back and forth, near the four sanctioned heroes assigned to this part of the city. Barkbite, Cavalcade, and two new ones I've only met in passing. We're standing inside a normal hardware store, chosen for it's total lack of value as a target while being somewhat centrally located. We're safe here, amongst the wood and power tools.

Demerit sneers at me. He's an older, scruffy hispanic man with thick eyebrows that dwarf his eyes. He can incapacitate people with a sense of crushing guilt, apparently.

There's also Polyarmory, a woman who looks vaguely Inuit and dresses far warmer than the weather would imply she needs to, who can store any object in a small pocket dimension of hers. Typically, as the name implies, that means firearms and explosives.

Alongside them, Rogue Wave and Highway are having a tense conversation. Fritillary is off somewhere else, hopefully not north.

Kingfisher didn't deploy the alligator man, or the nausea guy. He did send a solid ten guys with guns, but hardly his best men, other than Ethan. The driver with the scar from the abandoned factory.

To add on, I have four of my mercenaries with me. J7, J8, K3, and D6. They seem excited to actually fight for once.

I have misgivings.

Barkbite surveys the team. He's semi-officially in charge, and is thinking through the situation, as Cavalcade is anxiously bouncing her leg.

He draws everyone's attention with a few claps. "Okay. Let's get it out of the way: we need your numbers. Rat Sink has god knows how many, and there's only so much of the city our guys can handle. As such, we're relying on... let's call you 'vigilantes' for the sake of my stomach. There are exactly four places of interest in this territory. First, Kudzu HQ. Second, the park. Third, the abandoned factories on the edge of the territory. Fourth, the active subways. We're doing four teams. Kudzu HQ is best defended internally, and Kingfisher is holed up in there protecting it. The park is small, but hard to keep watch over. This is team one: I'll be there, along with Cavalcade and Rogue Wave. Our powers complement each other, both being ranged, with Cavalcade covering us in short distance. Team two is the factories. Ethan, you and the rest of Kudzu have a lot of experience fighting in and around there already. Take Polyarmory. She's loaded up on ammo, so fire as you need to. For the love of god, be careful. The rounds she has stored are less than lethal, but not by much."

Ethan looks over the nine others, and then nods once at Polyarmory.

"Team three, Highway and Demerit. You're taking an off-road vehicle through the tunnels, you're by far the most mobile. Bring three mercenaries with you, too, and drop them off at key points. That leaves team four. Beaker, Solvent, the last mercenary, you're on support. We'll call you in as needed, and loan you out to neighboring groups in emergencies. There are six teams in the center of the city, four on both the east and west, and five up North. They're working alone, so no one interfere with the skinheads."

Barkbite takes a long exhale. "EViRT is focused on population centers. EDR is working on countering any that show up on short notice. This is what we have to protect the entire section of the city. Let's do it."

He whispers a few quick words to Cavalcade, before coming over to me. "Got it?"

I nod, revealing a syringe, and inject him. "Keep an eye out, Sir Barkbite, for the damsel."

He nods. "Anything I hear, you'll hear too."