Since I gained my powers, I've always been in multitasking mode. However, there's still a big difference between feeling and seeing everything around me through my Swarm, thousands of insects, and having hundreds of clone bodies at my disposal. To start with, insects can't talk - their functionality is limited. From the moment hundreds of pyrotechnic charges throughout the city fired, shooting off container lids and hundreds of me-Taylors with modified bodies, with dragonfly wings behind their backs, accelerated metabolism, enhanced regeneration, reaction speed and strengthened muscles broke free - I feel somewhat different.
Dozens of events are happening simultaneously... and while with insects I could simply observe or attack, now I had to conduct several conversations at once, settle matters, calm people, plan, negotiate, joke, threaten, have casual conversations... all at the same time!
I seemed to dissolve into my ability... controlling everything and everyone, now I was Me-Legion, everywhere and anywhere...
Interlude Me-Taylor 134
I sit on the edge of the roof, dangling my legs. Next to me, right there on the edge, sits Jane "Mamasita" Rodriguez, freelance shooter and combat girl. The first and only woman who ever completed the full NAVY SEAL training program, becoming one of the famous "sea lions." She looks down and thoughtfully sips soda from a can. Jane doesn't drink alcohol. Doesn't smoke and exercises. Despite being just a human without abilities, she could make most capes run errands for beer any day of the week. Especially if given a chance to prepare. I turn my head toward her.
"Sorry about her," I say. "She... can be a bit irritating."
"A bit?" Jane smirks. "I'm a big girl, I've seen things... but I've never seen such a bitch before. How do you stand her?"
"Uh... well, I don't know myself," I admit. "You know, she's certainly spiteful, but she has a good heart. Probably."
"Does she even have one?" Jane squints. "And why are you apologizing for her, Taylor? Let her call herself."
She can't. She passed out after this crisis with Jack. Got too overstrained. There was a condition that he couldn't be killed by a cape's willful decision. Only a person without abilities could. And without coordinating their actions with capes.
"So that's why I was thrown out in the cold, and like that too. Well... I suspected something like that," Jane nods. "Got it. Miss Schemer decided to kill Jack by playing on my hot temper and quick thinking. I understood that it was really a veiled order, though I didn't understand why... well... I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy telling you all to go to hell."
"Sorry again," I say. "We used you. Thank you so much. By the way, since you're the direct executor of Jack Slash's elimination, you're entitled to quite a large monetary reward."
"Cool," Jane shrugs. "If the government suddenly decides to actually fulfill its promises instead of stiffing everyone with some complicated wording. If I were still part of the Administration, that would be different."
"About that. How do you feel about heading a special Administration unit? Stop being an operative? As it turns out, I need my own Think Tank consisting entirely of people without abilities. Capes are artificially limited by their abilities, we're like the Bene Gesserit sisters - there's a place inside our heads we can't look into. We're like that frog in a well - we see nothing but a piece of sky. All these abilities - you have to pay for them," I say. "So how about it? I'm offering you a job, Jane."
"I don't know," she says, setting the can on the parapet and stretching sweetly. "Now I'm a free bird, and if they pay me the reward for Jack's head, I'll be rich too. Rich enough not to work for the rest of my life. Honestly, I was thinking of flying somewhere with warm white sand, green palm trees, cocktails in coconut halves, you know, with straws and little umbrellas... muscular guys in just swim trunks..."
"I understand," I tilt my head. "I understand perfectly. Sometimes I want to drop everything myself. But I can't. I'm a little envious."
"There's one more thing, Taylor," she turns to me, tucking her leg under herself. "If I agree to this job right now, you'll become my Boss again, right?"
"Well... yes."
"Give me some time. I don't want to immediately start calling you 'Boss.' Let's just be Jane and just Taylor for a while, okay?" She smiles, tilting her head to the side.
"Of course," I nod. "As you say."
"Good. I think I'll go rest a bit... with a deep sense of satisfaction from the work done," she says, jumping off the parapet. "I'll rent a hotel room and sleep for two days straight. Want to come with me?"
"What?"
"Well... since we're just Jay and just Taylor. I would never suggest such a thing to my Boss... we have a couple of days before I become head of your analytical department. So?" She extends her hand to me and I - without hesitation - place my hand in her palm.
"Lead the way," I simply say.
Interlude Me-Taylor 35
Touching the roughened skin with warts and protruding hair, skin moist with pus, ichor and blood - I use organic gel and heal the cuts, remove all these spawn of dark genius, restore organs and finally - send an impulse, reviving the body lying before me.
She shudders and opens her eyes. Sees me and shrinks in horror. I touch her again, calming her. I'm not Knight-Gallant, Dean Stansfield, I can't broadcast emotions, and the brain is too complex a thing to interfere with just like that, without permission... but I can remove hormones from her blood, make the primordial, chthonic horror go away, leaving only... dislike? If you understand with your head that you should be afraid, but actually aren't afraid - that's how she'll feel now. And... for now, that's all I can do for her.
"Taylor?! Don't touch me!!!" she screams and I pull away. She sits up in the bathtub, covering herself with her hands and curling into a ball. I fixed all those horrible things and now she's quite an attractive girl, but her body doesn't evoke any emotions in me. Probably because at one time it evoked too many emotions. Probably I loved her. No, what's the point. I loved her. Even before I realized I liked girls... we were just friends, but she was just friends. And I always loved her. That's why her betrayal hit me so hard. That's why I withdrew into myself.
"Emma Barnes," I say, standing and offering her a towel. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"You... you killed me!" she whispers, trying not to meet my eyes. "You... killed me and Madison. You... I..."
"Killed," I nod. I can't tell her it was Fifth. It was my body that rushed from the spot and easily, playfully - left behind only stumps. A swing of Muramasa's sword, half blood, half metal, this blade cuts even steel, what are girlish bones and flesh to it...
"Both you and Madison." Seeing that she's not going to take the towel from my hand, I place it nearby, on the table next to the bathtub. I move aside, to where Madison Clements' remains float in a bathtub with organic gel, held together by paper clips and plastic zip ties. Damn Fifth, was it really necessary to chop them into pieces like that? Could have just pierced the heart and that's it... would have been less work.
I sit next to the bathtub and place my hand on Madison's naked flesh. I perform the same procedure as with Emma before. Panacea's abilities are really cheaty. No, I'm not complaining... otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get out of the situation with Jack without losses. I dig into myself and admit that I would have slept quite peacefully even if Emma and Madison had remained dead. I have no pity inside. They didn't deserve death, and especially didn't deserve torture from Amputation - killing for school "pranks" is too much. But I wouldn't have grieved their deaths either. However, it's one thing to shrug your shoulders when you can't do anything about it, and quite another when you can but won't. So Emma Barnes and Madison Clements will live. Possibly tormented by nightmares for the rest of their lives, but I can't help them with that... and if anything bothers me currently, it's that in Madison's head I discover Corona Gemma and Pollentia. She's a parahuman. Hmm... how interesting. It turns out she triggered that time, but Fifth killed her before she realized it. Or she had one of those stupid and useless abilities.
"So that's how we looked..." a quiet voice sounds behind me. I turn my head slightly. Behind me stands Emma Barnes, wrapped in a towel, and in her hand are large surgical scissors, you know, the kind you can kill with if you strike from top to bottom. She grips them in her hand, nervously licking her lips.
"If you're planning to hit me with that thing, then wait. I'm currently fusing Madison's bones. It's quite troublesome work," I say. "Don't want to do the same thing several times."
"I hate you so much, Taylor..." Emma says. Her quiet voice fills the room, and I smirk. Well... at least she's come to her senses enough to pick up scissors. That's good already. Having gone through what she went through... I wouldn't have been surprised if she had just huddled in a corner and stuck her head between her knees, refusing any interaction with the world. But no, she got up and even picked up a weapon. Well... apparently Sophia Hess was able to teach her something after all.
"Yes, yes, yes, Emma. I love you too," I respond. "Calm down. It's all behind us now. I'll raise Madison now and you two can live your worthless empty and pathetic lives to the very end."
"You... were always too good!" she shouts, swinging. "You! Always! Always! Always! Stood in my way! Looked down on me! And now... you're the Administrator, don't think I don't know! Sophia came back all mangled, you beat her up! You're just like her, just like me! And... you still look down on me... and I just wanted to awaken in you - this! Sophia said you're a predator, that you have this inside you... and here you are Administrator, but you don't even look at me! Do you despise me? Want to spit?! Do you think you're above me?!"
"What nonsense..." I don't get to finish. She swings and sticks the surgical scissors into my neck from behind. Immediately releases them and recoils, falls to the floor and looks at me with an expression of genuine horror on her face.
"There we go," I sigh, release Madison's body and stand, turning to Emma. She pushes herself away with her legs, trying to crawl away from me, the towel on her coming undone...
"You know, Emma, I'm not as smart as Tattletale," I say, crouching down so my eyes are level with hers. "But even I understand what you're trying to do. You're not stupid. Attacking me... if you really wanted to kill me, you would have continued striking, not like this - hit once and fell. And also - don't you understand that you can't kill me like this? So what are you trying to achieve, Emma Barnes? Are you seriously planning to end your life like this? Why?"
"..." she remains silent, looking away.
"Did Amputation damage you so badly? Are you afraid she'll come back? Don't worry, she's already dead, like the entire Slaughterhouse," I lie to her face. "Are you so afraid to live after all this? Yes, life is pain, but if you want to end your existence so badly - please do it yourself, don't drag me into it."
"...it would be fair..." she says quietly. "I don't want to live anyway. And this way... at least it would be easier for you."
"What terrible cockroaches live in your head, Emma. Perhaps even more than mine," I shake my head. "There are suicidal tendencies and self-sacrifice and masochism with sadism. I should introduce you to Lisa, she'd be delighted. Alright... you failed to provoke me. If you keep getting in my way, I'll knock you out. By the way, your father and mother are fine. Surprisingly. Usually Jack doesn't leave family alive... but in your case, he probably left them for later..."
Emma shudders, perfectly understanding what "left for later" means in the Slaughterhouse's execution.
"You... killed them?" she asks. "For sure?"
"Absolutely sure. None of them will ever harm people again," I answer completely sincerely.
"Thank you for saving me, Taylor," she says quietly. "Thank you for returning my body. Thank you for killing them all. I probably don't deserve this. But please, bring Madison back to me."
"Which is what I was going to do before you stuck this thing in me." I pull the surgical scissors from my neck and weigh them in my hand. "Sit in the corner and don't get in the way. When I'm done, we'll talk."
Interlude Me-Taylor 277
I descend onto the lawn in front of the white house, which looks remarkably decent despite all the troubles and catastrophes that have befallen our city. I fold my dragonfly wings, tucking them behind my back. I knock on the door and without waiting for an answer, go inside.
"Uh... Miss Hebert?" A tall girl with regular features and a mop of golden hair rises from the couch to meet me. Her exact copy turns toward me, standing at the table, frozen holding a teapot.
Next to her, at the table, placing a cup under the teapot, sits a negative girl. She smiles at me.
"Fenya, Menya... oh, I mean Jessica and Ness," I correct myself, since they're not wearing masks, they're civilians now.
"What people..." Fifth begins, but I silently grab his hand and drag him toward the exit.
"What's happening here?" Fenya's eyes widen. Menya crosses her arms.
"Trust me, it's better this way," I say, dragging Fifth behind me. "You shouldn't stay near... her. Especially talk."
"Really, Taylor, why are you making me out to be some kind of monster..." the negative girl smiles. "We were just chatting."
"That's how it all starts. The biggest mistake Jack made was starting to talk to you. You can't just talk to you. Damn monster. Leave the twins alone!"
"Miss Hebert! Nothing like that happened here, we were just talking with Alex. Is she your acquaintance?" Menya asks. "Please don't hurt her! She's already been through so much!"
"You even played on pity, you bastard, huh?" I tell Fifth. He shrugs.
"Miss Hebert. Administrator." Fenya stands and takes two steps, blocking my exit. "Please stop. Alex is our friend. Even though we barely know her, she's our friend and we won't let her be hurt!"
"What?"
"Yes," Menya echoes her. "We're grateful for everything you've done for us, but... doesn't Alex deserve to be free? And it's our right to choose who to be friends with. I understand that Alex is your property, but she's alive! And intelligent! Please, Miss Hebert!"
"Tsk. So I'm already too late, huh? Fifth!"
"Hey, we just talked... the girls are adults and have the right to decide for themselves..."
"Shut up. We'll talk at home," I squeeze his hand tighter. "Jessica, Ness, I... will take Alex for some time. Have a chat."
"But..."
"Goodbye. Give my regards to your uncle."
Interlude Me-Taylor 16
"Everything's under control. I'll return to New York as soon as I deal with this crisis," I say, looking at the monitor. On the other side of the monitor are images of all the PRT branch directors across the country.
"Are you sure?" frowns one of the directors, I think his name is Tagg, he's extremely serious and very tense. "The Administrator has effectively seized power in Brockton Bay. This is unacceptable. And we can still handle her, just send Eidolon to the city."
"Alexandria made contact but didn't say anything concrete. Said she was busy and disconnected," I say. "She really is busy. Dealing with the aftermath of the Slaughterhouse Nine attack and so on. However, I believe we can and should negotiate with the Administration. I have a personal meeting scheduled with the Administrator. Together with Director Piggot and Armsmaster, I hope to reach an acceptable compromise... ultimately turning everything so that the PRT comes out ahead."
"But..."
"The meeting is about to start. I'll contact you after." The screen goes dark. I lean back in my chair. For some time, the PRT and Protectorate will leave me alone. I've bought some time. Right now several me-Taylors are already preparing everything to bring Amputation out of stasisand prepare a room for negotiations. Once I revive Big A, I will present her to the city and the world. Meanwhile... I can keep distracting them. I can't deceive everyone for long... but at least this will buy me a little extra time.
I glance into the mirror. Staring back at me is Alexandria, Big A, and in civilian clothes—Rebecca Costa-Brown.