Ch. 16: EDR

I continue to wait patiently inside my clinic. EDR is fast, but they have to pick up Kinsey. Even with the detour, it only takes them ten minutes before the navy blue and cyan uniforms start pouring in through my door. Two of the armored men stand in front of Kinsey and another man who I can't figure out, with two more EDR officers in back. The officers each have a gun, if you can call it that. About the size of an assault rifle, made entirely of shiny titanium and aluminum. It fires bolts from a revolving chamber that are as thick as a toothpick, but at least a foot long. They're made of a unique metal that's able to punch through pretty much anything, even the solid titanium that fires them. As a cherry on top, there's also supposedly an assault rifle squeezed into the housing somewhere, though to me it looks like a rectangle that's maybe an inch long stuck under the end of the barrel like a flashlight.

It's a little funny how much kit they brought, considering even a single handgun would be enough to take me down.

I make a note of Kinsey's eyes lingering on the "Do Some Harm" sign.

"Good morrow!" I say, extending my arms up while leaving my cane on the ground in front of me. "How may the Apothecary assist you?"

One of the officers taps something on his helmet. "D1, voice filter. Set recording to highest quality."

Well, that's not good.

The man next to Kinsey is in his mid-forties, stern, bald, and with what must be a permanent frown. He's wearing the same navy and cyan as the officers, except in a military-like dress uniform. "Beaker," he says. The tone in his voice is a little unnerving, like he's standing at the gallows. "I'm your singular way to survive whatever the hell you did. I give the order, you die. I die, you die. You get the picture. Now, tell me what happened."

"As you wish, good sir, though might I ask of you your name?"

"You will die." There's a beautiful succinctness to the answer, answering a question I was asking in my mind already. Namely, how patient they are willing to be.

"Yes, of course. As you say. I was asked to treat overflow patients, and did as requested. No more, no less. I should inform you, for my own safety, that there are several dozen potentially dangerous concoctions within my coat. If you wish me to remove them, I will."

"Don't bother, you won't have time to pull them. Kinsey, tell me what Beaker isn't," the unnamed man says.

"This asshole says that twenty-four of the twenty-five patients were able to walk out on their own power. You saw the photos of the aftermath." Kinsey says, eyes full of hate. I admire it, honestly, to see how much he's going through the 'right' way to protect people from capes.

The unnamed man nods. "Let's see the exception, the twenty-fifth. Jay something. Beaker, if you'd lead the way."

"I shall, direct me as you will."

The armed officers walk behind me as I slowly approach the closed door. "This shall open automatically upon my approach." Keep it cool. Don't panic. It's the only way you've made it this far. I step forward, the door opening before me, just as planned. Solvent is on her phone as I walk into the room. She looks up at me, and seeing my raised hands, Solvent reaches for her hip. Why didn't she see it? Have they been intercepting the translation to her visor?

I quickly sign out an "EDR."

I hear something click behind me. Did I move too much? A cold sweat starts running down my sides, pooling uncomfortably near my waist until it drips down into my left suit leg.

At once, two EDR officers burst into the room, weapons glowing. They're immediately pointed at Solvent, who instinctively jolts up.

"Deaf, she's deaf, if you are scrambling-"

"Stop," the unnamed man cuts me off, as the soldiers both immediately back down. He ignores Solvent, and turns to the bed next. "You must be Jay. I'm Ed R."

Jay nervously looks at the guns in the room. "Did... am I... what?"

"Hell's sake. Officers, wait in the lobby. They're conscious, and after the picture I saw, that's enough proof. You mind telling me what your empowerment is, for the file, Jay? Healing, regeneration?" The armed officers all leave for the lobby, which I'm grateful for.

"I don't have one. Beaker asked the same thing."

"Uh-huh. Seems a bit far fetched. Beaker, care to elaborate?"

Damn it. Playing ball with EDR means Kingfisher listening in. Worst of all, I'm a bad liar.

"My own empowerment behaved unusually today, in a manner not before experienced. Upon completing the procedure, my patient awoke with a dispower involving limited function of several bodily systems."

"And you know that how, exactly?"

"Dispowers are revealed to me along with a temporary cure."

"Okay, prove it. What's mine?"

"A moment."

I watch him, nervously waiting for the information.

emphysema,

Skip, can address that later.

diminished arm strength dispower,

"Your arms are afflicted with musculature weakness. As an aside, would you want your emphysema cured, assuming I survive this encounter?"

"Yeah, actually. So Jay's dispower is an extension of your own. This kind of thing happens occasionally, a very strong power used on someone without a power can give them a permanent dispower without any of the upsides. In this case, a pretty good tradeoff for Jay."

Ed turns his attention to Kinsey, next. "Speaking of, does Jay look dead to you?"

"I... I don't understand. That's not possible."

"False reports are punishable by up to ten years in prison. We're not investigators, Kinsey, we're the thing that comes after."

"Look, I've dealt with healers before. I used to have one on my staff, and she never did anything like this, even with an absurdly negative dispower. If this moron was telling the truth, I'd hire them myself in an instant!"

I can't help myself. The moment is too perfect, too sweet. I slowly click off my mask, watching Kinsey's face drop as I fade the darkened visor below.

"Hey, Director. Long time no see. Heard you're hiring." I toss my mask in my hand a few times, almost dropping it once.

Kinsey's eyes dart between the very unamused Ed and myself. "...fuck me. Amsel. This is where you've gone to? I was right to fire you. This is insane. What the hell happened to you? You were a doctor, for god's sake, now you're... I don't even know what the hell!"

As if I'm any different. "Still a doctor."

"You're deranged. Dressing up in a crazy costume, a bizarre persona, working with and for criminals... Ed, you have to arrest her!"

Ed is even less amused now. "I'm not going to do that. There's nothing EDR-level illegal happening here, just cape bullshit. Cape bullshit that saved a lot of lives, admittedly, but still cape bullshit. Amsel, Beaker, whatever. If you weren't lying about the emphysema, I'll call this a wash."

"Of course, one moment..."

emphysema, latex balloon + Ed R blood + any fruit + ice

"Please don't shoot me, but the cure does require a small amount of your blood."

I fully brace to get shot. Instead, he looks almost bored with the answer. "Sure. In the meantime, I'll let you decide what to do with the guy who nearly got you killed today."

Kinsey's eyes widen, terrified, silently pleading with mine.

I put on my mask with a click, as my costume once again turns black and smoky. Kinsey is about to shit himself. Obviously, this is a test of some kind, but that doesn't mean I can't spook him a little.

"Tis of no consequence, provided his tongue remain affixed regarding my alter ego." I tip my hat to Kinsey. God, I hope Emily had a camera pointed at him.

"Fine. He blabs, let us know. Capitalizing on an EDR call is grounds for a life sentence." Ed leans in next to Kinsey. "And I'll know. I know more than you'd think."

Ed pulls back again, but stands next to me next. "I'm talking to the one who's been listening through Beaker's ear, now. You've just gotten on my shit list."