Chapter five

Piggot blinked at the report in front of her. And then looked up at Armsmaster with an expression of utmost confusion. Honestly, it reminded the younger man of a comedy video he had watched when he was younger where one of the actors had been slapped by a sea bass.

"Is this real? Are you telling me that the parahuman we've been hunting, is in fact, not our parahuman?"

Armsmaster couldn't help it, he shrugged, the motion over-exaggerated in his power armor.

"Either that, or she's a master and the snake is her projection, which she may or may not have control over. Either way will be testing it, we'l also keep her under lock and key in master stranger containment for a few days, try sedation, and a number of the different methods we have for detecting wether or not its an unconscious projection."

Piggots thumbs kneaded at her aching temples as she leaned back in her chair, its leather and gears squeaking slightly as it coped with her weight.

"And what will we do if it turns out she isn't the parahuman?"

Armsmaster spoke stoically, only the slight tightening of his lips betraying his distaste with the idea that he might've missed something so huge.

"Then we go back, go over the subject pool again, we proceed with no assumptions. Basilisk could be a projection, it could be a changer. We will reexamine everyone, teachers and students, as well as any outside factors that might have contributed."

Piggot sighed again, and reached for her intercom, she paused briefly,

"And how many troopers did we loose?"

Collin frowned further, large lines carving themselves around his mouth, like a chisel into granite.

"Two full squads, and the trooper who brought in Hebert is still… Unbalanced."

Scene Break

Taylor slowly paced the circumference of her confinement cell, after being rescued by trooper Evy, she had been brought here directly, they fed her good food though, surprising good actually, and regularly checked in on her.

Of course now, the question was, what to do, what to do…

Of course, there was always the option to bring the snake to her, but that would involve the Protectorate as a whole, and as much as she loathed to admit it, she wasn't in the position to face them quite yet, for that… She would need a team, and she knew exactly where to get them…

Scene Break

Almost a dozen floors above where Taylor lay in wait, Officer Eveline lay in a coma, Panacea was do to come in tomorrow to give a detailed diagnostic workup, but for now she would lay in her bed in the Rigs infirmary.

Or at least she would have until a bone rattling hiss sounded out, shaking the very foundations of the rig, rattling the light fixtures and the furniture.

The hiss sounded out for a long thirty seconds before cutting itself off abruptly.

There was a long moment of silence, and then Evy's eyes shot open, a bright glowing blue, she sat up, and began to change, answering the call.

Scene Break

Across the city, Aisha Laborn, in the middle of attempting to shoplift some food from her local corner store felt a spike of pain lance through her, it felt like there were burning hot knives stabbing through her, and then she screamed as her skin shifted and she was covered in fur, and like dog coming to heel, she whirled and began run, answering the call.

Scene Break

Greg Veder was staring out at the water as debated throwing himself off the pier. He honestly didn't know if he was serious or not, all that he knew was he had survived when most of the people at his school hadn't, and that the situation wouldn't have even happened, if had just had the balls to stick up for others.

Then a lance of pain shot up his spine, he opened his mouth but couldn't even scream from the sheer agony that was consuming him, he pitched forward, his seizing body barely making a splash as it hit the icy waters below.

He continued to seize as he sank, his body shifting and changing, extra limbs bursting from his back, until a mammoth shape began to slip through the waters, answering the call.

Scene Break

In Winslow, one of the still petrified students began to flake and crumble, and then shift as it formed a majestic equine, this one with eight great limbs, it stood briefly, pawing at the ground with one of its front hooves, it turned in the direction of the water, and began to run, blasting through walls and obstacles through its way, answering the call.