"Well, there're abandoned warehouses all over the city." I mused as I gently hugged my Embryo back. It was weird touching someone again after all this time. The last person, Dad aside, that I had hugged had been Emma.
"Would the 'villains' that inhabit this land not be watching them?" Iustitia asked, her blindfolded face turning up to 'look' at me.
"I don't think so." I shook my head as I released her and sat down on my bed. "If we went to the Boat Graveyard, then probably? I hear that the Merchants got a new member recently called Whirlygig that was press-ganged when she was caught there. If we stay out of gang territory and keep to the abandoned warehouses in the Dockworker's Association area, we should be OK."
While the Dockworkers were a very much reduced force in The Bay than they had been before the advent of Leviathan, there was still over three-hundred members in the Association. This was not an insignificant number, able to rival the numbers of even the E88's unpowered members. While the Empire was definitely a gang, and a racist bunch of pricks to boot, the potential for getting a lot of their members' asses kicked in the process stopped them, and most of the other gangs, from moving in to forcibly conscript them.
As such, they were content to lure men away from the Association with money, leaving the Dockworkers Association to collapse in on itself from lack of work. An unspoken no-gang zone was around the offices and warehouses that the Dockworkers owned and operated out of, which was why I was reasonably sure that I would be safe practicing there. Dad had assured Mom and me in the past that it was definitely safe for him to go to the warehouses for work.
"Mmm. Then we shall inspect them on the morrow, Mistress." Iustitia nodded. Then her face became more serious. "We must also discuss those…unjust thugs who made you Trigger, Mistress. Something must be done about them, not to mention your situation at that institution which laughably calls itself a place of education."
I froze up at the reminder.
"I am the embodiment of your Justice, Mistress." The little girl who was born from me whispered softly. "I cannot allow those who have so gravely violated the law to prosper. Not only for your sake, but for the sake of others they might inflict the same torment upon. Don't you feel the same, Mistress?"
In truth, I did. I knew Sophia Hess' type. Once she was convinced that she had stamped down on me hard enough to drive her message home, she'd move on to find a new prey. Someone who hadn't yet given up. Someone who would entertain her, convince her that her stupid outlook of Predators and Prey was correct. I had suffered under that for over a year. I did not want to undergo it any long, but at the same time, I didn't want anyone else to suffer at Sophia's hands either.
"Sophia, Emma and Madison only have power over me in highschool." I said evenly to Iustitia. "Once we're out, Sophia won't have good job prospects, Emma's modelling career won't last long and Madison is too academically average to be anything more than that outside of school. I am smart and will be able to hold a good job, unlike them. The best revenge is living well."
"It is not of mere revenge or retribution I speak of, Mistress." My Embryo approached me and cupped my cheek, brushing away a tear I had been unaware of shedding. "It is of Justice that I speak. It is Justice for you that I seek and it is Justice that I embody. Will you allow these people to flout the law and act in such an unjust manner? My existence proves that no, you will not. All you need do is to realise that yourself."
…it hurt.
It hurt.
Forcing myself to just endure, day after day…it hurt, dammit! Why me? What the hell had I ever done to Sophia to earn this kind of suffering?! Why did she turn Emma against me? Why did Emma let herself get turned against me?!
Iustitia was right, I realised as tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't let the Bitch Trio get away with what they had done to me. I couldn't allow them to flaunt justice as they had. I wanted justice, and by god I would get it!
'Have no fear, my Mistress.' Iustitia's voice whispered into my mind as she hugged me again. 'I, your loyal Embryo, shall stand by your side and help you enact Justice against those who have made you suffer.'
Same Time
Motel Room, Brockton Bay
In the dark room, the figure of a man sat on the bed, looking at the framed photograph clutched in his hands.
"Don't worry…they'll pay…" he whispered softly. "They'll ALL pay…"
Getting up, he moved over to his suitcase and replaced the frame in a padded envelope before placing it in the case. Closing it, flipping it over and opening the secret compartment within, he pulled out a costume…one that sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow.
"It's time to pay the Piper, Brockton Bay!"
The Next Day
Abandoned Warehouse, Docks Area, Brockton Bay
Swish!
"Ninety-seven!"
Swish!
"Ninety-eight!"
Swish!
"Ninety-nine!"
Swish!
"One-hundred!"
I sagged down panting after that last swing. Iustitia had been counting out the swings for me so I didn't have to waste oxygen doing it myself. Swinging a sword, even one the length of a ten-year-old child, with one hand might not look difficult, but it took a surprisingly amount of effort to both control and maintain the swing without throwing myself off balance.
Then there was the fact that it was still a roughly twenty pound mass of metal that I was swinging back and forth for over an hour. My muscles were currently screaming at me in protest!
On the bright side, I got two extra points of Strength and Endurance each from my efforts.
Iustitia changed into her Maiden form and smiled at me. "Congratulations Mistress. You've levelled up and gotten access to the Job Dendrogram."
"The what now?" I panted weakly. Damn it, I was out of shape. Looks like I needed to add exercise to the to-do list on my "Becoming a Hero" planner.
"To put it in gaming terms, it's a Job Tree." My partner/power/living-help-screen explained. "You unlock jobs based on your actions, your equipment and the weapons you use. Furthermore, the Jobs are divided into Low-Rank Jobs, Mid-Rank Jobs, and Superior Jobs. Anyone can acquire Low-Rank Jobs, and you can have up to six of those equipped, with each having a maximum level capacity of Level Fifty. Mid-Rank Jobs are harder, as they require you to perform certain actions, have certain jobs already equipped and at a certain level and/or to have defeated certain enemies. You can have up to three of those equipped at once, and they have better benefits than Low-Rank Jobs. Superior Jobs are insanely difficult to acquire, but have almost Legendary-level stat bonuses and skills. Superior Jobs are so powerful that you can only have two equipped at any one time."
"Whoa…" I said, somewhat recovered from my exertions. "So, how many jobs can I take now?"
"Only the one, as you only levelled up once." Iustitia answered. "But the next time you level up, you can choose another job, so you can level up more frequently, although I'd advise reaching level twenty in a job before trying to acquire a second one."
"He who tries to be strong everywhere is strong nowhere." I quoted. Mom had always loved philosophy and kept several copies of various translations from the various greats, including Seneca the Younger. I'd ended up browsing through them a lot after she died, hoping to feel a bit closer to her memory, and I ended up enjoying them.
They were interesting, shut up.
"Exactly, Mistress." Iustitia agreed. "Now, choose your Job."
Smiling, I reached inside my hoodie and pulled out a flip-mirror I'd found in a second-hand shop. It had been donated because it had a scratch across the cover, which I thought was just a plain waste. It was still perfectly good for its intended purpose. People could be so wasteful at times…
Flipping it open, I ran a finger down it and waited as my status screen appeared. Following Iustitia's instructions, I tapped the 'Job' name and a new set of words appeared.