CHAPTER 3
Over the half hour drive, Cait learned that she and Pete shared an almost identical taste in music when the SUV started playing a song from one of Cait's favorite, obscure if you weren't into the genre, metal bands. She checked to make sure the car hadn't somehow connected to her phone, then caught Pete looking embarrassed and sheepishly going to turn it off. Grabbing his hand, she launched into the chorus and soon enough the two were singing along at the top of their lungs as they rolled down I-235. Over time though, the adrenaline of the crash and the buzz from prior to that wore off, and reality started to set in for Cait.
This wasn't supposed to happen. Being a chick with a dick isn't exactly a superpower, but the doctors thought I must've taken a dose of Bullshit in-utero. Gave me next to no chance of being altered further. Shit, the minority must have had it right. Guess it affected mom or dad, hell, maybe even just a single sperm or egg, could even just be intersex, weird that everyone just blames Bullshit for everything these days.
She snuck a peek into the backseat, where BREAST MAN had almost literally melted into the leather, his central mass spread out and tentacles splayed.
He's probably having this all set in too. I could've gotten it a hell of a lot worse. Invulnerability? I shouldn't be recognizable as human after being hit by that truck, much less completely unscathed. I wonder how far that goes.
Cait was shaken out of her thoughts by the car turning off of the interstate. Pete turned down the music, and went into tour guide mode.
"Alright folks, we're coming up on Blank Park. You can see the stem of the Tortoiseshell from pretty much anywhere in the metro, but personally I think it's most stunning here at the base." He said, enthusiasm entirely genuine as he looked out the windshield at the pillar of radiant light that shot upward about a mile to the east. It was a constant of the Des Moines skyline, golden rainbow-tinted power coursing upwards before it fanned out into the facets of the Tortoiseshell far above. "We really lucked out when Shelly was Altered back when Blank Park was still a zoo, and at such a young age too." Pete continued. "Keeps the worst of the world out of the city, and fingers crossed, will continue to do so for over a century given the lifespan of tortoises."
He glanced to the side at Cait, a little blush in his cheeks, clearly wondering if he was rambling. But honestly, a little history dump from someone who found it interesting has always been relaxing to Cait, even if it was well tread ground. So, she just smiled back and nodded, giving the go ahead to continue.
"Most people don't realize this, given that it's a slow process, but it actually grows year by year with Shelly herself! She's already bigger than her species is supposed to get, so the city should be able to keep expanding! Most of the major population centers post-Waves are essentially predicted either on one extremely important Altered, or an exceedingly complex combination of resident Altered abilities. Even out of those that make things work with a single Altered, I think we've got the only one that is willing and able to do it for no more than the cost of an absolute fuck ton of lettuce." Pete grinned at Cait as he finished, and they both looked out at the growing pillar of light as they neared its base. Cait had spent plenty of nights, like most DSM residents had, enjoying a pleasant summer's eve on the patio with a drink in her hand, losing herself in the communal bonfire of the Tortoiseshell.
Pete pulled the SUV up to the gatehouse of the AEGIS installation, the one break in the clearly geomanced stone wall surrounding the complex. Another Guardian came out to meet the vehicle, dressed in a duster and domino mask. The man seemed to constantly be shedding a fine layer of sand and grit, like a comic strip character that was supposed to be dirty. Pete rolled down the window and the man waved as he recognized him.
"Eyebite! Heard you're bringing in some new blood. With the wave tonight I was wondering if we'd see any, but two at the same time and close enough that one hit the other with a truck? I gotta say, that sounds like Bullshit." The man grinned at his chance to use the familiar joke, the capital B in Bullshit all but visible in his tone. Pete grinned back, and shrugged in response.
"Always does, Dustdevil. They got you alone out here even during a wave?" Pete craned his neck as if trying to look around the man into the tinted windows of the guard house.
"Nah," Dustdevil responded, waving behind him. "But you know protocol, someone's always gotta stay behind in the guard shack. Wave to Sonder!"
"Ah, the new girl huh? Good luck, she's… cranky." Pete started to pull ahead as the gate opened and Dustdevil waved him through, chuckling.
"Hey man, remember, even if she can't hear you, she can feel you."
As they pulled past the wall, Cait actually took in a reactionary gasp at the beauty of the AEGIS complex. Whatever Geomancer was responsible for building the place had clearly been a big fan of the Roman Empire, or at least how it had always been portrayed in movies. Bright white stone pillars dominated the architecture, with plenty of domes and gold gilding on basically everything that someone with questionable taste might think needed accentuating.
Alongside those though, Cait noticed a great many more varied architectural styles, and some buildings she thought she'd seen on coffee table book covers. As a whole, it gave the impression that someone had flipped through one of those selfsame books and pulled the buildings into reality to plop them in the AEGIS compound. A central courtyard of green grass housed a number of larger than life statues of three of the more famous Guardians to call Blank Park home, all standing on the back of a huge stone tortoise, its head raised high and sculpted into a wise smile.
"Whatever happened to the Iowa Cub?" Cait asked Pete, nodding towards the roaring man-bear in the center of the statue formation. Pete's face took on a melancholy air.
"Same thing that happens to, well, some of us." He said with a tight smile. "He got old. Looking like he did you couldn't tell, but he was altered in his fifties, and that was twenty five years ago, just after the Tortoiseshell went up. Not a lot of Guardians that haven't completely detached themselves from the ravages of time can keep doing the work for twenty years, and less that can do it in their seventies, but good ol' I-Cub kept trying."
Pete's smile disappeared and his look went dark.
"Unfortunately, you just can't afford to lose a step in this game." He finished, and Cait didn't feel it appropriate to pry further. In any case, it seemed they had arrived. Pete pulled the SUV up to the Pantheon-like central building, which notably had the stem of the Tortoiseshell shooting out of its domed roof.
"Oh my god, will we get to meet Shelly?" Cait asked excitedly, as she got out of the car and BREAST MAN flowed out behind her. Pete gave her a flat look.
"Yeah, we let every new Altered walk up to the being that allows our city to exist and pat her right on her wrinkly little head."
"Okay, ass, just asking. God forbid a girl get excited about a turtle."
"Tortoise." Pete countered, and led them into the building.
Cait took a little psychic damage from the cultural whiplash once they stepped inside. Apparently the mystery geomancer responsible for the exterior had lost interest once interior design was involved, because the small atrium that greeted them would have been more at home in the lobby of a Fortune 500 company than a Roman forum. There was plenty of glass and brushed aluminum, with the most uncomfortable chairs that had been available.
In the center, in front of a wall emblazoned with a huge AEGIS logo, sat a large receptionist's desk, complete with receptionist. Unlike most of the others Cait had seen in the complex so far, the receptionist was neither in costume nor visibly altered in any way. Honestly, she looked like an exceedingly normal, if pretty, young woman working a boring desk job. Crisp white shirt, black vest, very professional high ponytail, bored expression, pretty much the uniform for receptionists the world over.
It occurred to Cait that was probably exactly what she was. There were only around 50 guardians in the Des Moines area Cait knew of, and they wouldn't even account for the number of vehicles Cait had seen outside. They certainly wouldn't be riding a reception desk.
The receptionist finally noticed them come in, and her eyes went wide for a second as she fumbled something, probably her phone, in her hands and sat up straight. She revealed an utterly dazzling smile that tempted Cait to upgrade her previous assessment of the young woman as just 'pretty'. Hell, while her eyes took on a hint of panic when she noticed BREAST MAN slopping along next to Cait and Pete, her smile never wavered and she schooled the shock of emotion so quick Cait wasn't even certain it had happened.
"Eyebite! Welcome back." She said in a perfect customer service tone. She gestured to her right, where a door led behind the AEGIS wall. "Director Swan is expecting you, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Fein in her office."
The group stopped up short at her words, and looked down at BREAST MAN, or apparently, Mr. Fein, who gave a pleased gurgle and a thumbs up.
I feel like kind of an asshole for not trying to figure out his actual name, Cait thought, wincing as she locked eyes with Pete.
"Gosh, I feel like a fool for not even trying to figure out your identity Mr. Fein. I apologize, a situation like yours and Cait's has never come up before and it totally threw me for a loop.
Please don't let it color your perception of the organization." Pete said, eyes downcast. Mr. Fein made a cooing sort of gurgle, which wasn't reassuring, although it was clearly meant to be. He raised a tentacle to pat the young Guardian on the shoulder. Cait smiled and gave Mr. Fein a thumbs up.
This guy is alright. If I was in his… hat? Instead of mine I am 100% certain I wouldn't be taking it with as much grace.
Absolution achieved, Cait and Mr. Fein followed Pete through the door into another much larger atrium, this one dominated by an enormous glass column in the center, projecting from the floor to the domed ceiling. Inside the column was an idyllic grassy space, spattered with wild flowers, and currently occupied by the biggest damn tortoise Cait had ever seen. It was at least 5 feet tall and the same wide, but while its size was impressive, more so was the fact that it was glowing with the same coruscating light that shot up from its back through the hole in the Pantheon's domed ceiling.
"Shelly!" Cait exclaimed, pointing, and even Mr. Fein let out an excited wet gurgle at the local legend. She looked just like her statue outside, all peaceful, timeless wisdom in her soft smile, but the statuary couldn't capture the beauty of her power as it poured out of her, sharing the protection of her shell with the entire city.
"Gawk and walk folks," Pete ordered as he led them around the column to the back of the atrium, where a large set of ornate double doors stood. There were other exits, and Cait could see that the surrounding building contained all kinds of administrative offices, but it looked like they were heading straight for the boss. "I actually don't even know Keeper gets in there to feed and clean her area. When the existence of your city is predicated on one animal, the upper brass gets real touchy about security. Don't let the glass fool you, that Plazload round you took to the face earlier wouldn't even leave a scratch."
Pete's face screwed up for a second, "I guess that might not sound that impressive to you, since you took it to the back of the throat, but if that had happened to me my head and upper torso would have just been so much red mist."
As they walked around the atrium, Cait noticed curious faces peering out of windows or off balconies above. Most folks just looked like regular office workers, the only thing setting them apart being that they didn't panic at the sight of Mr. Fein. It felt much more like general curiosity at a new hire than it did adoration of a potential hero or terror at an invading tentacle beast. Cait found that comforting, actually. This might be the most significant day of her life, but for AEGIS, it was Thursday, and they had things under control.
Another source of comfort, not for herself but for Mr. Fein by proxy, was that although the vast majority of workers appeared to be baseline humans, they were peppered with oddities. Small things, like a dog tail on one man, all the way up to what appeared to just be a vaguely human shaped mass of bubbles wearing a suit. Regardless of appearance, everyone was just going about the business of keeping a worldwide para-military superhero organization running.
"Alright folks!" Pete said, stopping outside of the ornate double doors at the back of the atrium. "This is your stop. Director Swan likes to make introductions in private, but since you two came in as a pair, I think she'll make an exception. I've gotta get back to dispatch, there'd be something I should be doing even if there wasn't a wave tonight and that isn't the case. Cait, Mr. Fein, it has been an odd kind of pleasure to meet the both of you. Best of luck, and I hope to see you around the compound."
Cait and Mr. Fein exchanged their own goodbyes with their guide, who hustled off through a side door and out of sight. Cait looked at her betentacled friend next to and blew out a heavy breath.
"You ready buddy?"
Mr. Fein rocked one tentacle back and forth, but with another formed a ball to knock on the door.