Omake: Cat's Out of the Bag
Kamil Armstrong adjusted himself in his seat as he looked out to the multiple projectors in front of him. In each one was a fellow PRT director and Protectorate leader each with a severe expression on their faces, at least those with their faces unobstructed, and at the head of this meeting was Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown her self with Legend standing to her right.
"Now that all of us are here let us begin." Costa-Brown started, "Piggot since it is your department that caused this mess why don't you begin."
At the sound of being called out Armstrong watched as Piggot grit her teeth before replying.
"At approximately 1500 East Central Time on February 30th we were alerted to a massive security leak. There was a release multiple classified documents to local news agencies and on multiple websites. Unfortunately, by the time we became aware of the breach it was too late to prevent the information from being exposed." Piggot said struggling to keep her voice at an even level.
"And what exactly was in this leak?" Costa-Brown asked.
Piggot took a breath as Armsmaster visibly stiffened beside her, "It contained the identities of two of our local Wards, Shadow Stalker and Ampere, as well as information on an ongoing investigation regarding them."
"I trust that everyone here knows what that investigation was about." The Chief Director asked rhetorically to the grumbling of the other directors, "Right so it is now public knowledge that two Wards attempted to kill a classmate and the PRT covered it up."
This admission made the already tense atmosphere in the meeting even more potent, enough so that Kamil genuinely believed in that moment he would find it hard to move if he tried to stand up.
Before anyone could say anything Costa-Brown let out a deep breath and continued, "Has the leak been tracked down at the very least?"
This time it was Armsmaster who responded in his usual mechanical fashion, though to those who knew him it would be pointed out their was an unusual tenseness to his speech.
"We have it was one Luis Sanchez a mid-level clerk in the PRT. Currently it is unknown whether he did it due to a connection with one of the gangs, but due to his Puerto Rican heritage we can rule out both the Empire and ABB respectively. However, that still leaves Coil as a possible backer behind this action, and questioning is still ongoing as of this meeting."
"Good keep on it and inform us of any developments going forward." Rebecca replied.
"There is another option," Kamil was surprised to hear himself talk even as words came out of his mouth, "And that is this leak did it for purely moral reasons upon finding out the ENE department covered up an attempted murder of an innocent girl."
Kamil could almost hear the servos in Armsmaster's armor whine through the projector screen as the man visibly grit his teeth.
"Yes that is possible." He admitted, "The man does have a daughter around the same age as the victim who also attends the same school as Shadow Stalker and Ampere. It is entirely likely that he objected to the disciplinary actions taken by the the department in regards to the incident."
"You mean the fact that those two brats are still going to the same school." One of the other directors spoke up causing the others to add in their own comments on the issue.
"Yes."
"Regardless the information is out there now and the PRT has been getting calls on both local and national level asking us what we are going to do about it." The Chief Director spoke up interrupting the bickering.
At this point Piggot decided to take over from Armsmaster while shooting a glare at the other director, "We have taken Ampere and Shadow Stalker's families into protective custody following the leak, and not a moment too soon as Shadow Stalker's apartment complex was burned down by what we believe is Empire agitators attempting to incite a riot. Thankfully there were no casualties beyond smoke inhalation, but that was just the start."
"The one black Ward on the team gets caught attempting murder and the PRT covers it up the local neo-nazis must be having a field day over there." The Miami director said.
"They are." Piggot revealed, "Already I have had to pull troops and reroute patrols to Empire territory to avoid full blown race riots, and Kaiser has been holding rallies about the topic since the release."
This caused Armstrong to visibly grimace in his seat, and be privately thankful that Accord was proactive in nipping any similar gangs in the bud whenever they attempted to expand into Boston.
"And what of the two Wards who caused this mess what are you intending to do with them." The New Orleans director asked.
"Currently both Shadow Stalker and Ampere are confined to base and are on a complete media lockdown to keep them from causing anymore issues. We were awaiting further orders before committing to anything else with them." Piggot admitted.
A complete non-answer from Piggot Kamil thought in the same breed as the ones he had gotten used to hearing from her whenever he asked about the status of the investigation.
"Fine, but I expect a report about why something wasn't done sooner about them later." Costa-Brown ordered, "But as for their victim what is her status Armstrong she is a Ward in your department."
All eyes turned towards Kamil as he cleared his throat, "The Ward Phase, permanent name pending, is currently on base and I have Gauss and Weld keeping an eye on her in shifts so she doesn't do anything, but there is a noted agitation to her due to this mess and she has refused to give her opinion on the matter. Though if there is any silver lining to this it is that her identity wasn't also released in the leak, but it remains at risk."
"The last thing we need is that brat blabbering to a reporter." Piggot muttered.
This caused Kamil to growl, "May I remind you Emily that we are in this mess because you couldn't control your own damn Wards when they thought it would be fun to torture a classmate for months! One of whom was on probation for murder already!"
"Don't act high and might with me Kamil!." Emily spat out, "If you had simply laid down the law with that brat who couldn't handle a little schoolyard hazing and harsh words it wouldn't have become a major issue. And don't pretend that I am blind to that girl's activities in Boston I am not a fool."
"Hazing! That was an attempted murder worthy of any Teeth initiation if it was up to me you would-."
"ENOUGH!" Chief Director Costa-Brown shouted, "You two are acting like children and your bickering won't solve this problem. Now will you two act like adult or will I have to remove you both from the conversation."
Kamil took a deep breath to steady himself, "The issue still remains that Phase's identity is at risk if someone connects her to Shadow Stalker and Ampere's victim if they haven't already and remained quiet about it. We are already in hot water for covering up the crime we do not need for them to also find out we took custody of her and transferred her before any form of investigation could take place. The only reason she hasn't left already in my opinion is that she believes she will benefit more from letting the tension build more, and intends to use her statement as a guillotine over our heads to get what she wants."
"Agreed." Rebecca said, "Now if no one else has anything to add I will call this meeting adjourned we will contact ENE with a press statement and an official sentencing for both Shadow Stalker and Ampere soon."
With that the other projectors shut off and with one final glare from Piggot Armstrong was alone in his office.
"What a fucking nightmare." Kamil said to himself.
***
Rebecca leaned back in her seat as she flicked the recorder off as she looked towards Legend and Glenn Chambers each situated at either side of her.
"So what are our optics on this Glenn?" She asked the head of the national PR department.
"Not good, it was already an open secret that the Protectorate and Wards rebranded former villains but most people were willing to look the other way provided their crimes were minor and they stayed on the straight and narrow. This whole crisis puts the whole probationary program at risk because if one can do it."
"They all can." Rebecca finished for him.
"Exactly, and that doesn't even touch the fact that their victim suffered a trigger event because of them. If that got out then it would kill our relationship with independents the majority of which already have issues with the PRT."
"And we need those independents to pick up the slack that Protectorate teams simply can't on their own either due to powers or bearacracy." Legend added.
"So my suggestion provided it gets cleared with legal is to make this seem as much as an issue with local corruption rather than a national issue. Piggot will have to be removed of course either have her willingly step down or be forced to both have their benefits, and luckily the Youth Guard investigation Phase kicked up gives us plenty to work with in addition to the cover-up. Also Shadow Stalker and Ampere both need to go with her preferrably to different prisons since they can't be trusted together, and make it public when we do it we can't afford to waste time on this."
"No chance to station them at a containment zone they are just kids after all?" Legend asked.
"Not possible with this. If it had been anywhere but a school then maybe we could have swung assigning them containment zone duties but attacking someone in a school even if it was without powers isn't something the public will accept and if that girl had died we would be talking about a Birdcage sentence and not juvie three strikes be damned."
"He is right we can't afford to go soft on them because they are Wards the public when the public is already accusing capes as having a two tiered justice system." Rebecca confirmed.
"But that still leaves the question of what to do about Phase?" Legend asked.
"The best option would be to work out a settlement with her and tie it to an NDA." Glenn suggested, "Do we know what we want so we have something to tell the lawyers."
"Based on all reports about her the only thing she wants is out of the Wards the sooner the better." Legend said.
"Makes sense considering what happened." Glenn said, "And are you sure we can't just let her go then. Give her a cash settlement and send her on her way."
"Her powers are both rare and valuable, already other notable departments such as Vegas, Los Angeles, and D.C. have requested her be transferred, so ideally we should convince her to remain with the program." Costa-Brown explained.
"If it helps I can swing by Boston to talk to her convince her that she gets more by staying with the program then by leaving it." Legend offered.
"Yes do that, and I will go to Brockton to deal with Piggot's mess." The Chief Director answered, "And Glenn make sure that press release is ready by tomorrow and send it to me I need something to say when I arrive in Brockton."
"Done." The PR manager replied.
"Now we all have our jobs lets get to them and hopefully we will have this dealt with shortly without further incidents." Rebecca said as the other two nodded.
***
"Gauss what is it? Phase? What do you mean she is missing?!"
A.N: I decided to write something since classes start for me again in a day or so and I came back to this with a what if it all got exposed. Anyways let me know what you all think.
@FirstSelector
