Myself, and the rest of Team Arc (Vigilant and Castle are in the Protectorate) are going to New York today to meet with the PRT's Public Relations Division. We're flying there. I really don't want to go to New York. That's where Legend works. As much as I don't want to though, I apparently have to.
Oh, and Assault and Battery are coming with us. Not entirely sure why. When we enter the building, Assault waves us together into the waiting room. "Come along minions! We must speak to you!" Battery looks at her husband "Assault, we've been over this. You don't get minions, and you don't get lackeys."
He huffs "Fine. Anywho, you're about to meet Glenn Chambers, head of PRT PR. He'll be talking to you about costume design, how to handle interviews, how to present yourself, and how to fight in the public eye."
A few of us must've looked confused since he clarifies. "It just means limiting damage, injuries, and fear. Like rubber bullets for Miss Militia." That makes sense. We did testing the other day for our power classifications.
Mine was...interesting. The PRT has classified me into 8 of the 12 categories. I do not classify as a Tinker, Blaster, Striker, or Changer. I am only barely classified as a Trump and Brute, with a 1 rating in both. I'm also a Breaker 2, Stranger and Shaker 3, Master 3+, Mover 4+, and a Thinker 8+.
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My meeting with the somewhat obese man named Glenn Chambers left me feeling unusually uncomfortable. I don't know why. The head of Protectorate Public Relations was a professional man. I won't call him nice but he wasn't mean or rude either.
We had discussed costume and how to talk to people mostly since those were the subjects that were in dire need of his attention. According to him anyways. He's going to add some impact resistance armor/padding to my costume to protect me.
I step out of the office while the rest take their turns talking to him. While I wait, Battery keeps glancing at me. Eventually, I can't help but ask "What is it?" "You look familiar..." I stare at her, trying to remember where she would have seen me.
It takes me a bit to find it, mostly with the help of my precognition. After getting away from Jack and Bonesaw in the miasma, I'd seen someone on the ground being attacked by mechanical spiders.
Not knowing who they were, I decided to help just in case. I'd used my powers to rewind the person to the roof of a building. I used the taser Vigilant gave me to zap the spiders, driving them off so I could join the stranger on the roof.
I then shunted myself there. I ultimately decided to rewind their injuries so they never happened. I nod "Oh yes, the spiders." Her eyes go wide, as do Assault's. He rushes to me, pulling me into a hug.
"You saved her. Oh god I am forever in your debt. You saved my poor, injured, defenseless, paranoid puppy." Assault is wearing the most genuine shit-eating grin I have ever seen in my entire life.
Battery practically snarls as she moves to punch him. He dodges and a friendly brawl/chase ensues. The corner of my mouth curves up slightly as I watch them interact. After meeting with each of us and giving us some time to eat, we return to Glenn's office.
There are tables with seemingly color-coded sets and labels. Castle's is dark blue and yellow-gold, Fulgur's is bright purple and grey, and Vigilant's is green and grey. We all change into our new costumes.
Mine is a mix of a dark grey, bronze, and a light grey that is almost white. On my head is a helmet with a hard plastic-like cover for my mouth and nose to filter out gases. There's vambraces and gloves and boots and kneepads.
There's also an impact absorbing hard plastic for my torso and an armor-thing for my butt. My arrow circle icon isn't present but I wouldn't expect him to have that ready just yet. Once we are all suited up in the demo costumes, Glenn spoke up.
"These are just mock-ups of the final product. Anything with a technical use isn't yet in there, but these are good facsimiles for weight and look." Castle replies "Thanks, seriously, they look good."
"Like I said, they're mock ups, you'll have the final product or something very near by the end of the week before your public swearing in." Oh yeah, I forgot that the PRT swears in new capes publicly. I think it's to make sure that everyone knows that they're heroes.
"You can thank me by being good heroes who keep your noses clean and make sure that I don't have to clean up any PR messes." So, as thanks, he wants us to behave. I can do that. He has a few variations in the pieces of my costume to make it more or less armored.
I try on a few pieces from what he has and even a few that his assistants and interns bring me as alternatives. Glenn speaks up again. "These are first drafts and we've got a few days before you need them so if you have any complaints, now's the time to voice them."
Castle answers, "Mine's a minor complaint, but could the trim instead of a glossy canary yellow be a more dull gold. Bit less reflective, bit less offensive to the eyes." "Should be an easy fix, and yeah, I was trying to see what I could get you to yield on."
Translation. He wanted to see what he could get away with before Castle retaliated. Not smart for a man with no powers and not in great physical shape. Castle nods. "If the final product is identical in shape and weight, I will be a very happy parahuman."
Glenn nods, apparently pleased with the results. "Good, any of the rest of you need any adjustments?" I look at him "I have already made most of the adjustments I want, but if I could get my icon on this thing that would be nice."
I say as I wave the weird skirt-cloth thing hanging from my belt in front of my legs. Aside from the torso and the helmet, everything else was either already part of the set, or taken from one of his alternative designs.
The torso and helmet were brought to me by some very helpful and enthusiastic interns. Glenn looks a tad surprised at just how many changes I've made. After all, no one else actively switched out or sought out other pieces for the costume like I did.
Glenn looks over the costume I've assembled and nods in approval. We all change out of our prototype costumes and back into our old costumes. The assistants take measurements while we each take turns talking to Glenn about 'marketability' and 'demographics'.
When it's my turn, he stares at a few of the files he was sent before finally speaking. "The rest of them are all marketable to kids, but your power is interesting. It's too complicated for little kids to understand, but the cape nerds will love you."
I suppose. Chronokinesis is hardly something that looks cool or is easy to explain to children. It would take a lot of research just to understand my power and it's intricacies. Do people actually have that much time on their hands? Or, is it more a matter of motivation than time?
I do not honestly know. The culture of non-parahumans in relation to parahumans has never been on my mind before.
He hums in thought "You're quiet and your power is subtle, which means that you can easily play up the mysterious hero angle. However, with your social skills, you need to not play that up too much." I have no idea what he means but, if my visions are correct, he's about to clarify.
"You need to talk just enough to sate their curiosity without giving yourself too many opportunities to mess up." I think I can do that. I nod. "My precognition should help with that. Although my voice could make it hard."
He should know what I mean. Even after having almost daily sessions with Dr. Yamada, my voice is still very apathetic, making me sound very insincere most of the time. He nods "We'll continue to work on it. For now though I ask that you do the best you can."
I stand to leave but he speaks up. "Do you mind telling me the upcoming lottery numbers?" I pause and look at him "Is that not illegal?" He chuckles "Oh, I don't play. I just like asking the precogs I meet." I suppose that would keep things interesting.
I nod "For the state of New York, the lottery numbers for tomorrow's drawing are 62, 16, 58, 40, 80, and 7. Though I only know that because they've already been drawn. They're just waiting to announce it." He nods "Thank you Aeon."
I nod and leave his office. I am so tired. These people have way too much energy. We leave the office and board the plane back to Brockton Bay. Now, we need to prepare for the swearing in ceremony thing and the party they'll hold afterwards.
We have to wait for our new costumes but yeah. In the meantime, we'll be training with our respective teams and joining them on patrols. My bunk is next to Vista's. She's 13 so she's still got a few years to go before she joins the Protectorate.
She's very nice. I think I'm getting along best with Weld and Vista so far. Vista's real name is Missy, but she says I can just call her Vista until I have my own name. I'm not overly attached to the name Rose, so I appreciate the gesture.
I've been taking test with the PRT, quantifying my reading level, reading comprehension, math, science, history, and writing skills. They're hoping to reopen schools at some point and they want to be ready to have me attend Arcadia High.
They don't know if I should attend or not. I have never had any formal education and I can't talk about family. I also tend to disassociate every so often when my visions catch my attention. Overall, I think they'll decide to have me attend 'school' with Weld at the PRT.
On top of that, the PRT can use the fact that I'm a Case 53 to attract more researchers and Case 53s to them. After all, anomalies are fascinating. In fact, my new costume won't always be covering the brand so people might be able to see it.
Weld has been very helpful in explaining things to me. He's patient and doesn't mind when I interrupt him to tell him that I just saw his explanation already so he can skip to the next part of the discussion. It lets our conversations go faster.
He also helps me practice social skills and meditation that Dr. Yamada suggests. Speaking of the doctor, I see her and the physician a few times a week so they can keep track of my progress. She is hoping to get me ready for the party-thing they'll hold after our swearing in.
Evelyn apparently let it slip just how skinny I was when I joined Team Arc. The physician practically fainted when she heard. They didn't weigh me to be sure, but Vigilant estimates I was about 70 lbs.
I'm still about 20 lbs under the normal expected weight for someone my height so I still have to make sure I remember to eat. Clockblocker/Dennis helps with that. Our powers are related so it can be fun discussing how he's used his power and the limits and extents of mine.
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