I could imagine all of the angriest, most fucked up corporate capes and Wards I’d run into over the course of my adolescence. The kids who’d been angry and frustrated, got powers, joined a team, and got worse, not better. I knew that they got second chances, they were coddled to, and inordinate resources were spent on them.

Seeing the natural resting bitch face, the posture, and the natural menace, I was pretty sure that Cinereal was one of the PRT’s success stories, when it came to transforming the tougher Wards into good heroes. She’d never been meant to be a leader, much less of a major city like Atlanta, but her predecessors had died, she’d taken up the position by order of succession in a crisis, and I imagined nobody had been brave enough to ask her to leave the role, after. To her credit, she’d never given them a reason.

Still, it was distracting that I felt so on guard against her. She was as bad as Ashley when Ashley was touchy, but she didn’t rant.

I’d asked Vista to come and to corroborate, and to be our liaison to the Wardens. All of the other hero team leaders were here. Brio from Foresight, Mayday from Advance Guard, and Moonsong from the Shepherds.

Smaller team leaders were present too. Houndstooth, Recycler, Danger Ranger, Withdrawal and Caryatid, Lark and Dido, Cacophobic, and Sweet Justice were gathered. Some had sat out. I was glad that Super Magic Dream Parade had.

I had Swansong and Capricorn with me. Capricorn sat while I stood, one of his hands casually resting on the laptop keyboard. We were connected to Lookout.

It took a while for everyone to get settled.

“This shouldn’t leave this room until we’re all in agreement,” I said. “I talked to the police deputy on the scene, and she thought it was sensible to be careful on this one.”

“The Navigators got hurt,” Mayday said.

I nodded.

“It was bad,” Danger Ranger said.

He was with the Wayfarers, and the Wayfarers were loosely connected to the Navigators. They’d worked together on major missions, but Ranger and his team were usually okay to play things much more ‘street level’ than gunning for America-side groups of international gangs. Nailfarer had wanted to reach out to him once things were settled. Before she’d managed to fall asleep.

“Twelve hours ago,” I explained, “the Navigators were sent a message on Parahumans Online. It was very targeted, telling them that there was a group of families that had been captured and held on a tinker vessel. They’d escaped on Gold Morning and were looking to reconnect with their families. For those of you who know the Navigators, this is like offering a million dollars to mercenaries or an international shipment of someone else’s supply to a drug lord. It’s what they’re about.”