Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 343- Rebecca


"Good afternoon, Minerva," I greeted Lisa and her new team in person. In a way, I almost had no choice in the matter, exactly as we'd planned it. Director Martinez, my theoretical boss, was there as well. Possibly the least clever or ambitious Director in the PRT, which was exactly what I wanted him for.


Our relationship was elegant in its complexity. He just did whatever I suggested without stopping to think about it, and then proceeded to claim credit for it later when talking to Chief Director Costa-Brown, a trait that earned him nothing but contempt from all the other regional Directors. That balance included him immediately agreeing to my suggestion that I should be the one to speak with Minerva, since she was a Thinker notorious for finding information that no one should have been able to figure out, and we didn't want to risk her lifting valuable secrets from him.


"That's High Emissary Minerva," Lisa corrected my greeting with her trademark smug grin. No ulterior motives to her action, she's just teasing me for fun.


I frowned, feigning annoyance. "My apologies, High Emissary Minerva," I affected a mockery of a snooty upper class accent. Two could play at this game. While I wasn't known for being sarcastic, at least not on the job, Lisa was infamous for provoking that side of people. No one would find my behavior unusual. The fact that she was being deliberately provocative also implied a plan on her part, and I was inclined to play along. "I shall keep that in mind."


"You are right, however, it is a wonderful afternoon," Lisa agreed happily, pretending to ignore my tease. Her happiness underlined a gratitude that I was cooperating with her plan, despite not knowing what it was yet. "I've been on Avalon so long that I was beginning to forget what what the sea air smelled like." Lisa shifted during her comment, knowingly sarcastic.


Los Angeles had a its share of coastline, but our HQ was nowhere near any of it. And while the city certainly had an aroma, one wouldn't mistake it for the ocean. She was implying that she'd like to get out of this impromptu meeting as soon as possible. Impatient to talk in private and handle the real reasons she'd come here.


Also hoping to get done early so she had an excuse to relax, trusting me to find that opportunity.


"I believed you had two major goals here?" I stated, allowing the left side of my mouth to pull up into a fraction of a smile, pointing toward Director Martinez. Instructing her to start with the one that he would find most interesting, so he would leave and we could get to the real discussion.


"Yes," she agreed, walking over to him. "Director Martinez, this is a field plan detailing the most efficient patrol routes, and some public event opportunities that could be used to improve visibility and overall presence. Don't worry, we have our own copy and plan for our own people. There are a few possible joint ventures with Pantheon's presence, if you're interested." Lisa already had to know those ideas will be rejected, the PRT and Protectorate were already wary of the amount of influence Pantheon had in their operations. As was the Secretary of Defense and, presumably, the President.


"Thank you, M- High Emissary Minerva," Martinez caught himself, and then sounded like using her title was the equivalent of swallowing snail slime. Minerva deliberately boosted her heart rate and breathing as the Director choked out the words. To me, it was the equivalent of loud laugh at the Director's expense. That would probably be caught by suitably skilled Thinkers watching this. It was meant to be. No one would find her behaving that way to be unusual in the slightest. "I promise I'll go over these suggestions at earliest possible opportunity."


"You're quite welcome," she responded. She brushed a stray hair away from her face, giving her an opportunity to wobble her hand slightly, giving me a signal that she was certain her plan would be mostly rejected, followed by dropping her arm to her side, a slight sweep of her hand in my direction. She was giving me permission to drop much of it, even knowing it was likely quite a good plan. An opportunity to distance ourselves to the many eyes that watched our interactions. "These additional folders are for the other regional Protectorate Directors, as well as one for the Governor's office."


I almost blinked in surprise at that one, and Lisa caught my reaction, as would almost every Thinker observing us right now. She was going over the PRT's head and doing it to their face. She wants to provoke a negative reaction. She knows Martinez will be obligated to inform everyone in those folders, she wants to make this more public. She's planning on something more significant in the future, and will likely need my support for it. Rejecting some of this will improve my credibility for that later goal. I watched as she moved her leg outward by two inches exactly, and a twist of her head just barely fast enough to make her hair shift. She wants me to say no to two... twenty percent of the ideas inside. A full fifth of the plan is a fraud.


"My apologies for making the conversation short, but I really must get to my main purpose here," Lisa continued. The implication that the Director wasn't important enough to spend a full minute talking to was obvious, but there were deeper implications still behind that. She clearly knew Martinez was little more than an easily manipulated puppet. "I trust the testing facility has been prepared for us?"


"Of course," Martinez agreed. "We were only instructed to anticipate four individuals, however."


"Five, actually," Lisa corrected. "Gemini is two people." She deliberately left that information off the details in order to annoy him, I realized. She knows I have contempt for him, is irritating him as a sort of gift to me. I would have smiled if we were in private, that was actually cute in a mean spirited sort of way. Instead I merely stretched my fingers out slightly, a ghost of a hint of a high five. She got the meaning immediately.


"What of the others?" Martinez asked after a moment, glancing at the other armored parahumans in the group.


"Citrine and her team are here to handle unrelated business," Lisa agreed. "Nothing too important, and won't even happen in LA proper. You needn't concern yourself."


Martinez frowned. "Are you certain you don't need assistance? I can assign a couple of my people to help."


It was a smart offer to make, not that it would do him any good. Even he understood the kind of impact Pantheon had in an area when they engaged in 'business'. It usually turned out to be good for the city, and bad for the local PRT. Even peripheral teams, such as the Ambassadors, Adepts, and Haven, could establish footholds strong enough to make the Protectorate presence seem almost redundant. In a way, they thrived on a sort of counter-cultural appeal. Join the Protectorate, go on patrols and look good for the cameras. Join Pantheon's meta-organization, and actually make a difference.


"No, that's quite alright," Lisa responded with a smile. "If anything, we're significantly over-equipped for such a small operation. I trust Citrine and her people to handle the entire situation on their own, with possible emergency assistance from Eki's organization. They'll be leaving presently."


"Yes, ma'am," the woman in the yellow armor agreed in a sharp, military manner. Even if I hadn't been briefed ahead of time, I would have recognized Accord's handiwork in her mannerisms. If Accord believed her worthy of this, then I was convinced as well. She took the order for what it was immediately, activating the flight tech in the armor and traveling southeast, toward Pantheon's base in the city. Her people followed wordlessly.


Their 'small operation' was going to hit one of the Elite's drug and weapons storehouses. The resources weren't that significant, although eliminating about a hundred million dollars worth of smuggled cocaine and designer Tinker drugs was nothing to sneeze at. The real goal was Synth, a Tinker specialized in all things chemistry. His claims to fame included Tinker quality tear gas, various explosives and incendiaries, and several strains of genetically modified bacteria that could produce drugs the way yeast produced alcohol, and some Tinker grade steroids.


"I understand," Martinez agreed unhappily. "I'll let you get to your tasks." He walked off in a hurry, obviously intent on warning the Chief Director of this unexpected move by Pantheon, whatever it might be. I accessed my suit's relay system, establishing a link through Avalon and to my custom built Costa-Brown changeling. I was more than capable of handling that conversation as well as this. Mostly.


I twitched my right shoulder when she turned toward me, a hint of a shrug that was an apology for not being able to give her my undivided attention.


She smirked, and allowed her eyes to narrow just slightly, and she gave a small shift of her hip as she walked. It bordered on the flirtatious, a claim that if she wanted my attention, she could easily get it. I let my eyes dilate, as a way to admit she was probably right. "Alright, I don't know for certain what the Chief Director told you about the current testing sequence."


"Not a significant amount," I stated. I stood a little taller, something that the usual cold readers would interpret as a defensive behavior, physical intimidation to cover for my not being informed thoroughly. Lisa would interpret it as a challenge to her claim. Her smile widened, as it often did when someone tried to threaten or intimidate her. "Simply a mention of your newly acquired Thinkers being able to make use of my power for an interaction." The statement wasn't completely untrue, although staged only for the PRT's benefit. I was also letting her know my colleagues in Cauldron already knew that we discussed this plan the other day, that I told them about it.


She recognized that implication as well. There was no point in us hiding our contact with one another from Cauldron. Contessa and Number Man could not be fooled nearly so easily. I was confident they hadn't realized the extent of my ability to communicate with Lisa. Contessa was confirmed to be blind to the Victoria/Chevalier and Labyrinth/Atropos interactions, although she was not blind to the aftermath. "And as we know, those are hard to predict until witnessed. It's better simply to test them."


No one other than Minerva would understand the weight of my words.


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A/N- This is definitely a two parter. I'm chewing over whether to continue from Rebecca PoV or switch to Lisa... either has its merits.

Also... if I ever make a romance novel, it'll feature these two characters and be known as the sexiest story where nothing actually happens.