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Tree branch: check. Assorted lightweight seed-bearing fruits and nuts: check. Other seeds: check. Water bottle, for when she has to veer away from the river: check.
Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
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imeanforever
imeanforever
"Okay -"
Leaving Bakuda's employees as unknown but probably minor quantities who she can't neatly take in right away, Promise sends Bakuda to the safehouse to deactivate the trap and wait. If Promise doesn't show up in twelve hours Bakuda is to turn herself in to the PRT, but the PRT doesn't have to know that.
Promise flies back to the headquarters, puts in an appearance for Oni Lee and Lung so they won't have to tell anyone anything, and looks for someone to report to.
Leaving Bakuda's employees as unknown but probably minor quantities who she can't neatly take in right away, Promise sends Bakuda to the safehouse to deactivate the trap and wait. If Promise doesn't show up in twelve hours Bakuda is to turn herself in to the PRT, but the PRT doesn't have to know that.
Promise flies back to the headquarters, puts in an appearance for Oni Lee and Lung so they won't have to tell anyone anything, and looks for someone to report to.
wormcan
The PRT knows she succeeded by the lack of things going boom. They also know that they have no idea what happened or where.
The Director wants to rant at her in person, but has a reason not to do that. So she sends Armsmaster.
"To start with: Good job. You apprehended a dangerous criminal and saved unknown numbers of lives. That said, what were you thinking?
Being a solo hero is dangerous. Many die, and I realize that's not a threat to you, but we found out tonight that Bakuda can do worse than that. Even if she can't harm you, she could have had unexpected capes backing her up, or just handed her weapons to someone else. And keeping her, or whatever you did, no matter how airtight your orders were there better have been an impossibly good reason for that."
The Director wants to rant at her in person, but has a reason not to do that. So she sends Armsmaster.
"To start with: Good job. You apprehended a dangerous criminal and saved unknown numbers of lives. That said, what were you thinking?
Being a solo hero is dangerous. Many die, and I realize that's not a threat to you, but we found out tonight that Bakuda can do worse than that. Even if she can't harm you, she could have had unexpected capes backing her up, or just handed her weapons to someone else. And keeping her, or whatever you did, no matter how airtight your orders were there better have been an impossibly good reason for that."
imeanforever
"She did have other capes backing her up, but they were easy to distract and might have been more of a problem if someone less suited to stealth had been with me. I didn't get their names, though. Apparently she has hostages with bombs in their heads - which will not explode, but still sound unpleasant. She says she can remove them and I wanted to figure out how to best go about getting that done; maybe you have a better way to do it?"
wormcan
"Ordinary surgeons might be able to handle it. Depends on what she did. Panacea has been known to remove foreign objects, but she doesn't do brains so it would again depend. We might need Bakuda to demonstrate at least one removal, if anyone volunteers for that."
imeanforever
"If no one volunteers the point is moot anyway; I'm not going to have her attacking people to get the bombs out when they aren't going to detonate. I might be able to get them out myself, but it would be slow... Anyway, can you be more specific about what exactly you want me to do with her in the near future?"
wormcan
"Turn her over to the PRT. The Director already promised to try to get her sent to a non-Birdcage prison—a decision I disagree with, by the way, except insofar as it was necessary to secure your cooperation—and no matter how thoroughly you have her controlled she has not been arrested for public opinion purposes. If we tell people the person who attacked their city and kidnapped their families is in custody, nobody panics. If we say we don't have her but we're very sure she can't do it again, less so."
imeanforever
"The Director did promise to try; I'm not sure how likely she is to succeed. I can't even say if she seemed particularly confident, as I wasn't directly speaking to her."
wormcan
"She's likely to manage it. Prosecutors listen to PRT Directors in cape cases. Worst-case, they ask for a Birdcage sentence anyway. Then the defense asks you to testify that it's completely impossible for Bakuda to ever build a bomb again, and only the harshest judges would cage her after that. No guarantees, but the odds are very good."
imeanforever
"Well, I suppose if I want information about whether the Director keeps her word I need to test it out sooner or later."
wormcan
"That's one possible reason, yes. The sooner we can announce an arrest the better.
Keeping villains contained long-term extrajudicially, even when it's theoretically an option, isn't really something heroes do here."
Keeping villains contained long-term extrajudicially, even when it's theoretically an option, isn't really something heroes do here."
imeanforever
"I'll go get Bakuda. If you want to send someone along with me this time I don't object; stealth won't be as much of an asset."
wormcan
"Of course. Wherever she is, there may be information relating to the non-cape part of her gang. I'll call for some agents."
He silently sends a message, and two uniformed PRT operatives appear shortly. "Where to?"
He silently sends a message, and two uniformed PRT operatives appear shortly. "Where to?"
imeanforever
"I got flying directions. Can you follow me that way if I go slowly?"
imeanforever
She's visible. "Of course."
So she leads the PRT agents to the safehouse. She tells Bakuda that the Director has promised to try to get her into a non-Birdcage prison and that this is the extent to which Promise is willing to stick her neck out for crazy murderers at this time, and then tells her to go docilely with the PRT agents, since none of the three can fly and Promise can.
She returns to her gate. She wants lunch.
So she leads the PRT agents to the safehouse. She tells Bakuda that the Director has promised to try to get her into a non-Birdcage prison and that this is the extent to which Promise is willing to stick her neck out for crazy murderers at this time, and then tells her to go docilely with the PRT agents, since none of the three can fly and Promise can.
She returns to her gate. She wants lunch.
wormcan
Bakuda feels so betrayed. How could she?
The official heroes incarcerate her like they did the others, and run damage control of both the literal and public relations types that tend to follow when a villain mass-bombs a city.
The official heroes incarcerate her like they did the others, and run damage control of both the literal and public relations types that tend to follow when a villain mass-bombs a city.
imeanforever
...Promise remembers to give Bakuda her revised order set (no power use, otherwise whatever) before she goes and gets lunch.
She lunches. She makes her tree bigger bigger bigger. She talks to a neighbor fairy who wants to know who has moved in, but this is uneventful and he leaves her alone after they exchange nicknames, he tells her where the nearest library is, and they establish that he'd rather not take any candied dewdrops from a leaflet thank you.
She goes back through her gate and inquires of whoever's convenient whether they want her to direct Bakuda to remove bombs from people or if they want Promise to do that or if it's being separately handled or what.
She lunches. She makes her tree bigger bigger bigger. She talks to a neighbor fairy who wants to know who has moved in, but this is uneventful and he leaves her alone after they exchange nicknames, he tells her where the nearest library is, and they establish that he'd rather not take any candied dewdrops from a leaflet thank you.
She goes back through her gate and inquires of whoever's convenient whether they want her to direct Bakuda to remove bombs from people or if they want Promise to do that or if it's being separately handled or what.
wormcan
The bombs were apparently placed in such a way that ordinary doctors can remove them. Which makes sense in retrospect, given that surgery is outside Bakuda's specialty. The PRT thinks having Bakuda do the removal would be unnecessarily alarming, but if Promise wants to do some of them herself she's very welcome to. They can send people to make sure none of the civilians at the hospital walk in and introduce themselves.
If not, the Director and Armsmaster have a few outstanding items of business.
If not, the Director and Armsmaster have a few outstanding items of business.
imeanforever
Promise thinks the risk of somebody slipping her a name (given how often it keeps happening by accident) is a bit high, if ordinary doctors can manage it by themselves. She'd have to sit around getting to know the patients for a while to do anything that delicate, it's not like closing a recent stab wound.
And what do the Director and Armsmaster want?
And what do the Director and Armsmaster want?
wormcan
They are still after her to make gates—their best teleporter is available to get her and Vista to PRT offices, and some other hero teams have expressed interest—and Armsmaster would like to start learning sorcery.
imeanforever
Promise will make one point to point gatepair in locations of their choice in exchange for a spare flattener, and she will consider the prospect of teaching sorcery the next time she is at a fairy library, the location of which she has just recently learned.
wormcan
If it's a question of a single pair, they have to decide between increased ability to call in help from other Protectorate teams and increased international coordination for Endbringer fights. They try to talk her up to more pairs for more flatteners, and regular money.
imeanforever
"I'll take more flatteners to have spares. To a point. Five, maybe, not fifty, unless you can credibly guarantee that an unused one kept somewhere safe will still be operational if I pick it up in ten thousand years. I will take money for one gate, in case I ever want to have money, but the entire point of money is that you can get it anywhere for doing anything, and as such if I ever need to get money anywhere else for doing anything else, I will probably decide I undercharged for the gate and close that one until that problem is resolved."
wormcan
"That depends what you're doing with it. Another point of money is that there are always more things to spend it on.
We can't guarantee thousands of years, not right now. Five for now, and we'll let you know if we manage to copy another tinker's time freezing technology and add an off switch?"
We can't guarantee thousands of years, not right now. Five for now, and we'll let you know if we manage to copy another tinker's time freezing technology and add an off switch?"