Taylor wasn't going to give up. She might have been locked inside a locker full of homemade biological waste with no hope of escape; but, she wasn't going to give up. If she was the type of person to surrender, she would have submitted to the three tormentors over a year ago. She didn't. They weren't worth giving them any kind of reaction.

She just felt so tired. Trying to struggle had exhausted her and she couldn't muster up the strength to mutter, let alone continue to yell for help that wasn't coming. Maybe she could sleep for a while? After a nap, she was sure some kind of solution would present itself.

Taylor believed she was closing her eyes only briefly and her entire world changed.

Congratulations! You died!

Wh-what? Taylor thought, panicking.

Oh, don't be a Grumpy Gus! You were going to die as soon as you gained your power anyway.

Excuse me? Taylor thought, a little angry. She was not a Grumpy Gus!

Heh heh. That's what finally gets a rise out of you? It's too bad The Bitches Three didn't try it. It would have been nice to see you put them in their place before they tried to kill you.

Taylor had to admit the nickname for Sophia, Emma, and Madison fit perfectly. Also, getting back at them would have been nice, too. She didn't have any real means to do that, though.

That's what I'm here for! You have been chosen as the lucky recipient to receive a special, one of a kind, no take-backsies, power! The Gamer!

You're not really selling me on the lucky part. Taylor thought, sarcastically.

Damn, girl! You bring the snark! All right, the truth is I was ****ing bored and saw you on one of my multiverse monitors and broke out the popcorn.

Did you just censor yourself? Taylor asked, a little surprised.

What do you mean... oh, for ****'s sake! Who left the mother****ing adult language filter on? Wait a second! All of the adult filters are on? No gore? No porn? Are you ****ing kidding me? Whatever bastard ****ed with my s**t is gonna feel the pain when I ream their a**hole with a metal pipe in the shape of the Hulk's gigantic ****ing monster c**k!

Taylor could only giggle at them losing their temper over adult filters being turned on.

Just a second, Taylor. I have to handle a few things and will be right back.

Take your time. It's not like I'm going anywhere. Taylor thought with amusement.

Heh. You made me laugh twice. Just for that, I'm giving you a little gift. Go ahead and play with the reconstituted body settings. They are supposed to be set for default so that no one notices the changes. **** that, right? Let them bitches be jealous.

Taylor laughed and wholeheartedly agreed. A second later, she gasped when the most extensive physical modification display appeared before her. Her mind whirled at all of the settings. It had everything from permanent length of her fingernails to the size of her labia, both inner and outer. Good lord, it even had sensitivity settings for her clitoris and she could make it extendable! It was insane!

She lost herself for an unknown amount of time as she played with everything.

*

Whew! You know you are not punishing them properly if they start enjoying it after a few hours. Then again, my fucking whore apparently likes getting double-penetrated by the Hulk and my own fairly large fuck-stick. She almost choked to death when I spit-roasted her with my body clone and she actually thanked me for it! What a sadistic bitch. Fuck, I love her.

There was no response and he checked the last six hours of activity for his newest test subject. He laughed and laughed at the logs telling him that Taylor had changed literally everything about herself, including the perkiness of her tits and the specific jiggle physics they would follow.

He had to commend her for cheating the system a little for making her body hair microscopic by adding a point zero in front of the lowest positive whole number. It was pure genius because it didn't allow negative numbers and it would take decades for any hair to grow outside of the follicles. That was damn smart.

In fact, it was so smart that he didn't enforce the defaults or reset everything to whole numbers that was the normal standard. She had shown him a neat loophole to abuse the hell out of, so he let her keep her changes and even added a futanari option to her preferences. If she chose the boyfriend route, she would have the option to be the dominant one in the relationship. She would thank him later for that.

When he checked on her mind, it was floating in a sleepy bliss that he recognized. She had pretty much given herself a mental orgasm for recreating herself to become perfect, right down to her genetic code to ensure that her children received all of her mods and there was a fifty percent chance they would gain her powers, too.

He copied all of her settings into a backup, just for fun and so he wouldn't forget her gaming the gaming system, and he initialized her new body's creation. Now he just had to decide if he wanted to give her a normal visual aid or let her decide to go for nonverbal and mental commands.

The HUD was a guarantee, because who wouldn't want to see their progress? He tweaked the size and position to be in the top upper corner, out of the way. An XP counter was a must in the top left...

*

Taylor opened her eyes and jerked as if something had slapped her. One second she was in dreamland and the next she was completely awake. There was no transition at all and she wasn't groggy or needed any time to properly wake up. She could also remember everything perfectly and that was a little concerning, because there were things in her life that she didn't want to remember.

Gamer System Note: Memories can be accessed, viewed, or archived when the Meditation skill reaches Level 50. Current Level: 27.

Uh, thanks. Taylor thought.

Gamer System Note: You are welcome.

Taylor decided to ignore that for now and lifted her head to look around the room. She was in the hospital and she had no idea what time it was or how long she had been unconscious. A second later, she caught her breath when a digital clock appeared in the bottom right corner of her vision and told her it was just before noon on January 11, 2011 and it had been 8 days since Installation.

It was all real. Taylor thought and she wasn't sure why she wasn't freaking out.

Gamer System Note: The skill Gamer Mind has been maxed and you remain calm and collected, no matter the circumstances.

Thanks again. Taylor thought.

Gamer System Note: You are welcome.

The door opened and a nurse walked in. Taylor tried to not stare at the name and level of the woman floating above her head as she approached the bed.

Terri Hatcher, Nurse, Level 12

“I see you're finally awake. How do you feel?” The nurse asked her.

“I'm surprisingly alive.” Taylor said and the nurse frowned. “Have the police arrested the girls that tried to kill me yet?”

The nurse stopped reaching for her wrist to check her heartbeat and looked upset.

“Can you raise the bed for me? I want to sit up.” Taylor said and the nurse went to the end of the bed and used a crank there to raise the head of the bed. “That's good, thank you.”

The nurse looked at a loss for what to do now.

“Is my father here?” Taylor asked.

“No, he's at work. I'll contact him after I go get the doctor.” The nurse said and left the room at a fast walk.

She seemed nervous. Taylor thought.

Gamer System Note: Lesser beings sometimes have an innate sense of preservation when around those more powerful than them and act accordingly.

Taylor had to smile at that statement and wondered how her bullies would react around her. I wonder how much more powerful I am?

Gamer System Note: You can use traditional game commands to review your stats and skills.

Oh! Thank you. I almost forgot about that. Taylor thought, gratefully.

Gamer System Note: You are welcome.

Status. Taylor thought with anticipation.

Name: Taylor Hebert
Title: Queen Of Escalation
Level: 6 (Perfect Body Mods)
Occupation: Student
Cape Name: None Chosen (Can Be Set In Settings)
Strength (STR): 10 (25)
Vitality (VIT): 8 (25)
Dexterity (DEX): 7 (25)
Intelligence (INT): 32 (50)
Wisdom (WIS): 26 (40)
Luck (LUK): -20 (0)
Stat Points to Spend: 35

Conditional Stats:
Health Points (HP): 100 (500)
HP Regeneration: 8 per hour (20)
Magic Points (MP): 320 (640)
MP Regeneration: 20 per hour (2 per minute)
Physical Resistance: 20%
Magical Resistance: 0%

What the... that doesn't make any sense! Minus 20 Luck? Are you kidding me?!? Taylor thought in shock.

Gamer System Note: You have had some of the worst (bad) luck of any gamer.

Wait a second! What do you mean the worst bad luck? Is there such a thing as worst good luck?

Gamer System Note: The Luck Stat modifies things like encounters, loot drops, and quest options. Negative Luck affects everyone around you while Positive Luck affects you only.

Taylor's eyes filled with tears. Then... then it really was my fault that... that my mom...

Gamer System Note: Supposition of actions before the Gamer was installed are immaterial. Retroactive effects can only be countered if the appropriate classes are unlocked and the skills needed are learned.

Taylor's mind froze at that statement. On one hand, it said that she wasn't at fault because she wasn't a Gamer then. On the other hand, it said she could reverse what happened. As she thought over the implications of that, the doctor came in and gave her a quick examination and he ignored the tears in her eyes. He marked the findings on her chart and left without asking her anything.

Tell me what I need to do. Taylor ordered, her mind filled with determination.

Gamer System Note: Initiating Tutorial. Estimated time for completion: 3 days, 6 hours.

Taylor closed her eyes and fell into a coma-like state with a smile on her face.

*

Danny Hebert sat at his daughter's bedside and hadn't slept in 3 days because he regretted that he hadn't been there when she had woken up. She was back in a coma and no one could tell him how long it would be this time. He had called in a few favors to try and find a solution, including trying to talk to Alan Barnes, only for his old friend to deny him and found out a few things about what's been going on between their daughters.

He couldn't deny that Taylor was troublemaker, because he hadn't really talked to her since she started high school. He hadn't really talked to her since his wife died, actually. He had been so lost in his own grief and depression that he had completely ignored the only other person in his life. His own daughter. He didn't really know her anymore and his regret pounded on his mind harder than ever.

“Danny, you can't stay here any longer.” Kurt said and shook the man's shoulder.

“Huh? Wha?” Danny shook his head. He had been drifting off and hadn't realized it.

“Go home and shower. And eat. And take a nap.” Lacy ordered with a soft voice. “You're not doing anyone any good by trying to stay up for however long Taylor's going to be unconscious.”

“I should have been here.” Danny said and looked at her. “The nurse said Taylor told her that bullies tried to kill her. If I had been here, I could have asked who she meant, since no one is talking, not even the police. I need to know their names.”

Kurt sighed. “We only stopped by to make sure you're taking care of yourself. One of us can stay for a while for you to go and take care of a few things.”

Lacy nodded. “I won't go anywhere until you come back. I promise.”

Danny looked at their faces and back at Taylor's sleeping face. He sighed, because they were right. There was no telling when she would wake, so he could go for a short time and not have to worry about her waking up.

“All right, I'll go.” Danny said and slowly stood. He leaned over the bed and thought about giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek, except he didn't feel like he deserved it. They hadn't shared any shows of affection in almost 2 years and he would need to earn the right to start doing them again.

“I'll make sure he gets home safe.” Kurt said and helped an unsteady Danny out of the room.

Lacy watched them leave and sat down on the uncomfortable chair that Danny had vacated. She felt really bad for him and his family. They had been friends for years and this was the lowest she had ever seen him. He had been devastated when Annie had died in that accident and they had assumed Danny's reassurances that he and Taylor were fine had been the truth. Now she knew that wasn't true.

She sat there for several hours and regretted not taking a magazine or something to keep herself occupied. Her eyes went to the young woman on the bed and she felt regret that she hadn't taken any time during the last few years to go over to Annie's house to spend time with the girl. She had her own problems to deal with and it just wasn't a priority to make sure an old friend's daughter was okay.

Lacy felt her bladder make a call and she didn't hesitate to answer it, mainly because her thoroughly bored mind wanted something to break up the monotony. She went to the bathroom and shut the door, locked it, and pulled her jeans and underwear down to sit on the excessively cold toilet seat. Her body instinctively jerked at the cold and it took her a minute before she relaxed enough to pee.

It was a relief in several senses of the word as her bladder emptied and it was a bit embarrassing, because the echo of the tinkling liquid was fairly loud in the small room. She hadn't realized she had drank so much since that morning and chuckled at the amount, her embarrassment fading.

Lacy used some tissue to dab herself and would need to look after cleaning herself properly when she went home later. She fixed her clothes and checked herself in the mirror before she opened the door of the bathroom. She walked back to the chair beside the bed and started to sit when she froze at the sight before her.

The bed was empty.

“Oh, no!” Lacy almost shouted and ran for the room's door. She had only been a few minutes in the bathroom, so Taylor couldn't have gotten far. She just hoped Taylor had left under her own power and hadn't been kidnapped or something. That was always a possibility in Brockton Bay.

The nurses hadn't seen anything, so a few calls were made to Danny, the police, and the dockworkers union. A search was started by the hospital staff to check the building, even though they knew it was useless. They knew the patient was long gone.

*

Taylor felt incredible. She knew exactly what she could do with her powers and she was going to abuse the Gamer System to the best of her ability. Her first decision was to drop 20 points into her Luck stat to get rid of the negative status effect and it freed her from her epic bad luck.

The next stop after leaving her hospital room had been the nurse's locker room. The mini-map had been essential in finding it without being seen and any clothing she stored into inventory and equipped was automatically sized for her. This worked out perfectly, because her own clothing had been ruined in the locker and she only had a hospital gown on.

The use of a stolen brush and several elastics changed Taylor's normal curly black hair into a high ponytail and revealed her face. Her fixed eyes let her lose the huge glasses she had always been self-conscious about and the new jeans were form-fitting and the blouse showed off her fit and muscular body. It was so different than her normal attire of loose pants and baggy hoodie that no one recognized her.

Taylor's next stop after she left the hospital was the Brockton Bay library. It was the first time she had entered the building and the librarian behind the counter hadn't looked at her with suspicion, like usual. The woman gave her a bright smile and greeted her pleasantly, which Taylor returned and asked about the self-help section.

Some directions later, Taylor's mouth drooled at all of the skill books in front of her. She didn't feel guilty as she slowly walked along the shelf and touched each book that the Gamer System highlighted for her. She had made sure that no one could see her while each book faded and disappeared as she absorbed them.

Taylor's mind quickly filed the information away and the system sorted and catalogued all of the skills. Depending on the difficulty of the book, the skills ranged from novice to advanced and could be boosted with similar books or crossing the skills to make new compound skills and those could be levelled up as well.

Surprisingly, no one noticed that about half of the books in that section were now gone and Taylor moved on to the next section, then the next. Not surprisingly, she could choose to add normal books as well, except she wouldn't do that until she had already cleared out anything that could give her a power-up. She had already levelled herself several times for unlocking so many skills so quickly.

By the time she had spent four hours in the library, more than a third of the total books had been absorbed and Taylor had to suppress the glow of her eyes because of all of the accumulated knowledge she had collected. Thankfully, with so many skills and abilities that had pumped her Intelligence and Wisdom up so high, it granted her the ability to reproduce the skill books.

Another quick trip around the library allowed her to replace the books she had used up. She didn't have to, considering she had accepted that she needed the books more than anyone else did; but, being able to replace them let her hide the fact that she had stolen them in the first place.

Taylor waved at the woman behind the main desk and asked her if she wanted any food brought back when she went to Fugly Bob's for supper. The librarian was both surprised and pleased, especially when Taylor said it was her treat, and the woman invited her into the break room to eat instead of sitting at the restaurant and eating alone.

It didn't take long for Taylor to run the errand and she also picked up a couple little desserts from the bakery on the boardwalk and ran back. The happy smile on the librarian's face when she saw the dessert package made Taylor blush a little. The woman softly laughed and pretty much dragged Taylor into the break room and they had a great time talking and enjoying the meal.

They both made whispered moans as the chocolate covered strawberry parfaits were tasted for the first time. They exchanged knowing looks and then giggled like little girls before diving into them with enthusiasm and plastic spoons.

“That was even more delicious than greasy fast food is normally supposed to be.” The librarian said and leaned back on her chair to stretch.

Taylor couldn't help admire the woman's form as she showed it off like that. “Maybe it was the company that made it so much better?”

The woman smiled and hadn't missed Taylor's admiring eye. “I'm a bit old for a beautiful young woman like you to compliment me like that.”

Taylor blushed hard at her words. She knew she looked good after all of her little tweaks; but, she was still the reclusive and bullied teenager that had been put down about her looks by everyone at school for years.

The librarian saw the uncomfortable reaction and reached over to take the girl's hand. “Hey, it's okay. I wasn't implying that you're gay and trying to get into my skirt.”

“I... I'm not. Gay, I mean. I'm... well... it's a nice skirt.” Taylor admitted and her blush went redder.

The woman laughed and gave her hand a squeeze. “Then you're a bit more mature than everyone else your age... and a lot of the people my own age as well.” She said and gave Taylor a searching look. “It takes a strong person to admit that it doesn't matter what gender they like.”

Taylor wasn't sure how to respond to that without giving anything away. She knew from her tutorial that a few of the skills she had unlocked showed that she was Obstinate, had a Will of Iron, and Always Gets Up. Their bonuses were great, too. It gave her a feeling of peace that everything she went through had benefited her and hadn't been completely horrible like she thought.

“Anyway, I need to get back to work. Are you heading home?” The librarian asked and let her hand go.

“No, I'd like to book some computer time if that's okay?” Taylor asked and her blush started to fade.

The librarian smiled, teasingly. “Are you looking for an excuse to stick around?”

Taylor's blush rushed back. “Maybe.”

The woman laughed and stood. “For someone that's so shy, you're pretty good at subtle flattery.”

Taylor looked up at the woman. “It's a skill I need to work on.”

The librarian smiled warmly. “Then follow me back to the main counter and I'll do up a computer pass for you while you practice. No appointments or bookings are needed with a pass. Just show it the next time you're here and the next available computer terminal is yours for two hours.”

Taylor was not going to refuse such a great offer and stood. “Thanks a lot, Janice. That's going to help me a lot.”

The librarian could almost see the young woman struggle to not step forward to hug her. She walked around the table and slipped an arm around the girl's waist to give her a quick one-arm hug and let her go. She had been only slightly surprised at the firm muscles under the girl's clothing and she secretly admired the girl's tenacity to work so hard and get that sculpted.

“I'm glad to help anyone that knows the importance of a library.” The woman said and led her out of the break room and sat down behind the counter.

Taylor only hesitated briefly before she decided to go with the woman behind the counter. The crooked smile on the librarian's face told her that she had made the right decision and she tentatively placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. The librarian worked and didn't acknowledge the touch, so Taylor slid her hand down the woman's back and leaned forward to be closer to the computer screen.

The librarian felt the gentle caress down her back and she had to admit that it was a nice feeling. She hadn't been groped or manhandled and the hand also avoided her bra strap, which took both knowledge and skill.

“Do you have any ID on you?” The librarian asked her.

“No, I only left the hospital today and I have no idea where it could be or what happened to it.” Taylor admitted.

“The hospital?” The librarian asked, surprised.

“The bullies at school tried to kill me a couple of weeks ago and I was in a coma until today.” Taylor told her and saw the shock on her face. “As soon as I woke up, I came right here to see you.”

It was the librarian's turn to blush. “Are you sure you need to practice subtle flirting, because that was a great compliment.”

Taylor gave her a huge smile and kept caressing the librarian's back. “The more I work at it, the better I'll be at it.”

The woman lightly chuckled. “Next you'll tell me that you'll be able to talk me into giving you my underwear as a souvenir.”

Taylor gave her a questioning look. “Well, to be fair, you are the very first person I've ever tried to talk to like this.”

“I am?” The librarian asked, surprised once more.

“My life the last two years has been... unpleasant, thanks to my ex-best friend turning on me.” Taylor said and then smiled as she pushed those thoughts aside. “I didn't realize what I was missing until I started talking to you.”

The librarian couldn't believe anyone would give this charismatic young woman a hard time. “If they keep giving you trouble, send them to me and I'll take care of them.” She said, her voice hard and her face stern.

Taylor could almost feel the woman's indignation on her behalf and she felt a swirl of emotions inside of her. She could still think calmly, thanks to Gamer's Mind, and she knew what to do. She leaned in close and placed a very soft kiss on the woman's cheek.

“Thank you, Janice.” Taylor whispered. “It means a lot to me that at least one person cares enough to be angry on my behalf.”

The librarian blushed again. “Taylor...”

“I know.” Taylor said and looked deep into the woman's eyes. For some reason, she knew she could push for things to go a lot further than they had already gone. “I appreciate the thought. I really do.”

The librarian looked deep into the young woman's eyes and knew she was referring to something very personal and not just what they were talking about. She nodded and decided to break the seriousness of the conversation with a joke.

“I just need a few personal details to finish out the pass. Full name, address, where to bury the body if you steal anything...”

Taylor barked a laugh that was a little loud, because it was extra funny after her doing just that. She gave her real name and address, along with her home phone number, then promised to call with a mobile number as soon as she bought a cell phone. The pass was printed out and quickly laminated, stamped, and handed over.

“There you go. An all access pass to everything in the library.” The librarian said.

Taylor couldn't stop the smirk on her face or the suggestive waggle of her eyebrows.

The librarian laughed and lightly slapped her hand. “Oh, behave!”

Taylor laughed as well and handed the pass back. “The next computer time, please.”

The librarian took it and entered it into the system. “Second floor, far side of the room. Terminal eight. I've booked it for the evening until we close at nine.”

“Thank you.” Taylor said and took the pass back. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then leaned back down and hugged the woman. Arms went around her and hugged her back. She let her go and stood, smiled at the smile on the librarian's face, and walked around the counter to go to the second floor.

There was a lot to do and search for, especially if she wanted to level up her Computer and Hacking skills. She also had access to the archives and she wasn't going to miss this easy opportunity to see if book documents online also count as skill books or if she had to read them to get them to work.

*

The librarian kept a discreet eye on her new friend all evening and she was both surprised and delighted that the young woman was a diligent researcher and looked up everything as she studied like crazy. No subject seemed to be ignored as the girl worked like a machine and she only took brief breaks as she reclined for ten minutes to read a science fiction paperback.

If she was even a little bit curious about being with another woman, she would ask Taylor out. They had clicked together and had become almost instant friends. That had never happened to her before and she was sure that she didn't want this day to end. It was almost like she was afraid to let her out of her sight, because she was worried that she might never see her again.

When it was five to nine, closing time, the librarian went around and made sure there was no one hiding in the closets or the bathrooms. The homeless always tried to stay indoors when it was cold out and she was legally required to make sure the building had no one inside overnight for insurance purposes.

“It's time to go, Taylor.” The librarian said with a sad voice as she approached the computer terminal the young woman had been occupying all evening. She stared as the girl clicked the keyboard a few times and then stood and stretched like a lazy cat. Oh, dear me. She thought at the sight. Am I sure I'm not bi-curious?

As if she could hear her thoughts, Taylor turned to look at her with a blush on her face.

“Thanks for letting me stay so long.” Taylor said and picked up a nice leather jacket that the librarian hadn't seen before. She slipped it on and zipped it up.

“You're welcome.” The librarian said and stepped back to let her pass. “I'll walk you out.”

“We need to make a stop first.” Taylor said and the woman lifted her eyebrows. “I saw a bald head go over to the fire exit earlier for a cigarette and they never came back.”

The librarian frowned. “If they messed with the alarm wiring again, I'm going to ban those skinheads for a month.”

Taylor smiled and led her over to the door. As the librarian had suspected, one of the wires on the alarm was pulled out and the little light in the exit sign was out.

“Those bastards.” The librarian said with a sigh. “I need to check the door for anything that would keep it open and unlocked.”

Taylor nodded and watched carefully as the woman opened the door and inspected things. Sure enough, there was wadded up gum and crumpled papers stuffed into the door frame to stop the door from staying closed. You didn't even have to push on the handle and the door swung freely open.

“I need a screwdriver or something to dig that out.” The librarian said with a sigh.

“Here you go.” Taylor said and passed her a small screwdriver.

“I'm not going to ask why you have that on you.” The woman said and knelt to dig out the gunk.

“The same reason I have this one.” Taylor said and showed her another one, then she used it to unscrew the fire alarm cover.

“What are you doing?” The librarian asked and stopped working to watch her.

“I'm a bit of a handyman.” Taylor said and opened the thing, then took out a small pair of pliers from her pocket and stripped the damaged wire, reconnected it with the torn edge, twisted them together, and used electrical tape to cover it completely and screwed the cover back into place.

The librarian could only stare at the girl for doing it so quickly.

“You'll want an actual electrician to check that over and either replace the whole thing or to solder the connection to make it more secure. It's good enough for a night or two as it is.” Taylor told her.

“Thank you.” The librarian said, her voice full of gratitude.

“We should probably stuff a desk chair or something into the emergency door's handle and maybe brace another behind it across the door frame to keep the door from opening outwards, even if they pick the lock or something.” Taylor advised.

“That is an excellent idea, Taylor. Can you give me a hand with it?” The librarian asked.

Taylor did so and the door was more secure than it had been before it had been tampered with.

“I'm tempted to leave it like that all the time, even if it looks horrible.” The librarian joked and Taylor smiled. She handed her back the screwdriver and led the younger woman down the stairs to the first floor and the front door. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Taylor looked thoughtful and then smiled again. “I could be convinced to skip school if I can have access to the encyclopedia of knowledge in your head.”

“My brain isn't a computer.” The librarian chuckled. “However, I can point you in the right direction of where to look for whatever subject you want to know about. It's kind of my job.”

Taylor nodded and stepped out through the front door.

“Good luck.” The librarian whispered and shut the door, locked it, and flicked off all of the light switches on the panel behind the book display by the door. She paused and leaned against the front door and watched as the young woman walked away. The tight jeans she wore highlighted a fairly shapely backside and the woman softly laughed before she went out the side exit and locked it.

*

Taylor watched and made sure that Janice made it to her car unmolested and watched as she drove away. Her stealth skills were already in the teens after a year and a half of hiding and sneaking around the trio to stay away from them.

She heard a shoe scuffle in the alleyway she was in and she didn't hesitate as she whipped around and lunged at the skinhead that had been waiting for the library to be empty. Half of her quest to protect a reliable source of knowledge had already been completed and this was the second half. Her gloved fist smashed into the hand holding the knife and the punk screamed as his hand was pulped.

The other five skinheads seemed frozen in shock as a teenage girl with a scarf over her face went through them all and pounded them into the ground. Hands and feet were broken as weapons were removed and taken, then stomps on their chests knocked the wind out of them and they lost consciousness.

The six unconscious forms on the ground glowed slightly and Taylor took one of their phones out and dialed the police. She didn't say anything as the operator asked her several questions and just breathed heavily into the phone. Instead of hanging up, she dropped the phone onto one of the punks and very loudly walked away.

*

“Isn't this the damnedest thing?” A beat cop said as he responded to an open line complaint from the 911 operator. He had thought it was a prank, just like the operator did, until he saw the pile of unconscious bodies in the alleyway.

A call to a meat wagon later, they had been shipped off to the hospital under guard and under arrest. The cell phone with an open line was completely unlocked and had a lot of quite interesting things on it. He already had three detectives on the scene and they were chomping at the bit to get their hands on a copy of the info that the tech guys were scavenging from the phone's call history.

They knew that if they didn't move on some of the more sensitive stuff before morning, they would lose their chance to take down several prostitute operations and drug dens. The best part was that it was all normal crime and wouldn't be classed under the PRT under the parahuman involvement laws.

As far as anyone knew, there were no costumed individuals near the scene of the crime or in the area. That fact made all of the police happy and they rushed to get things done as soon as possible.

*

Taylor didn't look at the notification until after she had snuck into the house through her bedroom window. Who knew that breaking into your own house counted as a crime? At least it gave her the Lockpicking skill and levelled both the Thief and Burglary skills. She stored her clothing and laid down on her bed as she looked at what the quest had given her.

Liberate The Library
Quest complete!
Rotten and ungrateful thugs are planning to reduce the library to trash and wreck the place for fun. Stop them and protect a valuable source of knowledge and information.
Objectives: Make it harder for them to enter and delay them
Fight them off and make them retreat
Save the librarian from a night of debauchery
Rewards: Hand-to-Hand combat level x1
Continued access to library without restrictions
2,500 XP
Bonus Objectives: Stop them from entering completely
Subdue or disable them so they can't get away (results in their arrest)
The librarian never learns there was an attack
Bonus Rewards: Hand-to-Hand combat level x1
Skill: Startle (Maxed) - Causes your surprised foe to freeze for two seconds when you attack. Stacks with other combat skills. Multiple opponents suffer an additional half-second for each instance of Startle used in their presence.
5,000 XP
Loot: Three 9mil pistols (and three magazines of bullets)
Six knives (two are rusty)
28 baggies of drugs (20 cocaine, 8 marijuana)
$2,400
Hidden Objective: Give the police a means to take more of them down
Bonus Loot: Positive reputation with police (and 6 prostitutes that are now independent)
Abandoned house (the drug dealer died from iron poisoning - he was shanked in jail)
6 bricks of cocaine (uncut)
15 bricks of marijuana (medium quality)
$27,600 in hidden stash (it was under the mattress - how original)

Taylor stared at the ridiculous rewards and almost laughed at the iron poisoning joke. Her hand-to-hand combat had risen two levels from a single fight, she had a pile of drugs she couldn't use, and $30,000 in cash. She had made close to a normal job's yearly salary in a single night.

No wonder people turn to crime if they can earn so much so quickly. Taylor thought as the information about the house entered her head and she did laugh at the location. It was near the entrance to the boat graveyard and it was on the far side of Empire territory and outside Merchant territory.

When she did go there to claim it, and she would because the deed had appeared in her inventory, there was almost no chance that either gang would try to get it back from her. She would leave the house sit empty and wrapped in police tape for a few days, just so the druggies would stop going there for their regular fix.

Taylor closed her eyes and thought about what her life was going to be like, now that she was a cape. She knew the first thing she would have to do was gain access to the school's records and all of the complaints she filed against the three bitches. With those, the emails, and her own notes, there was no way that the police were going to ignore what happened to her.

She woke up in the morning and ignored the notice that said she had lost all negative status effects and her HP and MP were restored. She went to the bathroom and did her business, took a shower, and went back to her room with her long flowing black hair air drying. Her closet was full of what everyone considered Emo Loner clothes, so she stored a few outfits before she equipped the stolen clothing she had worn yesterday.

Taylor didn't question why they felt freshly laundered and clean as she went downstairs and looked in the cupboards and refrigerator for something to eat. With a sigh, she used the last dregs of the almost spoiled milk to have half a bowl of dry cereal. Some grocery shopping was definitely in order, now that she had some spending money.

“TAYLOR!” Her shocked father Danny Hebert yelled when he stepped into the kitchen and saw her.

“Geez, there's no need to yell. I'm right here.” Taylor said with a roll of her eyes.

“Everyone's been looking for you! Where the hell have you been?” Danny asked and tried to not feel angry at his wayward daughter. “What were you doing all day yesterday?”

“The same thing I do every time the bullying gets to be too much. I ditch school and go to the public library.” Taylor said, as if he should have known that already.

“What bullying?” Danny asked, confused.

“If you had taken your head out of your ass even once during the last two years, you would have noticed something was wrong while my grades dropped into the toilet.” Taylor said with a huff.

Danny's eyes squinted at her. “What's with the attitude?”

Taylor finished her cereal and stood to put the dirty dish into the sink.

“Taylor, what's going on?” Danny asked her.

“I'm done, Dad.” Taylor said and turned to look at him. “I'm done with having you ignore me. I'm done being kicked around by Sophia, Emma, and Madison. I'm done with the stupid teachers that never do anything, no matter how much I complain. I'm done being called a troublemaker because I'm the victim and won't shut up.”

Danny stared at her and didn't know what to say.

“I want to sue them. My bullies, the teachers, the principal, and the whole goddamn school because they stood by and watched as I was tormented and almost killed.” Taylor said saw Danny's face change from confusion to sadness. She knew immediately that he had done something stupid while she had been unconscious. “What did you do?”

“Taylor, you have to understand...” Danny started to explain.

“What. Did. You. DO?!?” Taylor shouted.

“A representative from the school showed up and made an offer I couldn't refuse. They would cover the hospital bills and the cost for cleaning up the locker... if we didn't hold them responsible for what happened.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?” Taylor yelled and Danny winced.

“There was no way we can afford the cost of nearly two week hospital stay.” Danny said, sadly.

“You... you...” Taylor started to get angry and realized something. She really was done with it all. “You are an idiot.” She said, her voice flat. “We could have sued them for millions and easily won. They let my confirmed bullies try to kill me with biological waste on school grounds and the staff and students left me in there, despite everyone in the whole school knowing it happened.”

Danny felt like the lowest form of life at the sheer disgust he saw on his daughter's face. “Taylor, a... a lawsuit could take months to...”

“Shut up.” Taylor interrupted, her voice still flat. “You don't care enough about me to ignore your petty needs and worry about what it's going to be like for me to go back there with everyone knowing that my killers got away with attempted murder.”

“That's not true! You're all I have left and...”

“You didn't withdraw me from Winslow, did you?” Taylor interrupted. “I'm still a student there, even though I almost died.”

Danny couldn't deny that. He had been too worried about things to think about anything except what was right in front of him.

“Do you know how much worse it's going to be for me when my killers realize they are untouchable because of your shortsightedness? Do you? DO YOU?”

Danny winced at both her words and the yell.

“I'm not hearing you offering to transfer me somewhere else, or to move to another district, or even to help me deal with the three bitches.” Taylor said and crossed her arms.

Danny sighed. “You know we can't afford anything like that.” He said with a sigh and saw Taylor's glare. “You also can't skip because the truancy officers would put you back there anyway.”

“That's easily solved, Daniel.” Taylor said and saw her father's surprise at her impersonal address. “Call the school that you signed my life away to and tell them I'm taking time off to recover from my assault.”

“I already did.” Danny said and sighed again. “They know you're fine and out of the hospital, as do the police, so you have to go back to school tomorrow or you'll be marked for it and automatically assigned detention.”

Taylor uncrossed her arms and walked over to him. She was taller than him now and she saw his shock as he looked up slightly at her. “When the school calls you to tell you I've been suspended for fighting, tell them it's their fault and hang up.”

“Taylor, you can't just...”

“Shut up!” Taylor spat at him and he took a step back. “As soon as they come near me, I'm not going to hold myself back anymore. I'm going to pound them into the floor and let them spend a few weeks in the hospital.”

“You can't do that. They'll have you charged and...”

“So what? Why do you care?” Taylor asked him and he closed his mouth. “Oh, right. You can't have your precious daughter be hurt like that.” She scoffed and walked around him. “Put your tail back between your legs and go back to ignoring my existence.”

Danny felt that wasn't fair and reached out to grab her arm. “Taylor!”

Taylor quickly whipped around and Danny was startled and froze. She smiled as her fist slammed into his face and he fell backwards into the kitchen table and onto the floor. She had held back a lot and was glad she had read the skill book for applying an appropriate level of force to get your point across. It was how she could do so much damage to those thugs and not kill them.

“Don't you dare touch me.” Taylor said with a deadly voice and took a step towards him with her fist raised. She smirked when he leaned back away from her. “Don't expect me to come back here for a while.”

Danny watched as his angry daughter left the kitchen and heard the front door slam. As he rubbed his sore jaw, tears started to roll down his cheeks. He finally realized that he had messed up so badly that even though his daughter was alive and well, he had lost her anyway.

*

Janice parked her car in her usual spot and climbed out. She grabbed her purse and lunch before she locked the car, set the alarm, and went to the side entrance of the library. It didn't take her long to put her things in the break room and go to the front door of the building. She still had a few minutes before she had to officially open and went to unlock the doors anyway.

To Janice's surprise, a tall dark haired young woman stood there and held up several fast food bags and a tray with two extra large coffees. “Taylor! I didn't expect to see you this early.” She said and held the door for her.

Taylor entered and stepped aside. “I had a fight with my father this morning about him signing a deal with the school while I was in a coma and I can't sue them for gross negligence or letting someone try to kill me on school grounds.”

The librarian opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. “Well, fuck.”

Taylor looked surprised for a second and then laughed. “I thought librarians were supposed to be distinguished and proper.”

“That's just a facade we use to get on people's good sides and then we pounce on them with vulgarity!” Janice joked.

Taylor grinned at her. “It totally worked, good job!”

Janice laughed and waved her over behind the counter.

“Break room?” Taylor asked.

“No, I need to be here at the start of my shift. I can only put the magic sign out when I'm eating lunch or take my mandatory breaks.”

“Magic sign?” Taylor asked and Janice picked up a plastic sign and turned it around for her to read. “Ha! Back in five minutes.”

“Does the five minutes start when you read the sign or when it was put out? Does the time limit reset if you go away and come back and read the sign again?” Janice asked her.

Taylor had to laugh at that. “Schrodinger's Cat!”

“You got it. Observation changes the circumstances.” Janice said and opened one of the bags and pulled out a bagel sandwich with egg and sausage on it. “Thanks for this. I didn't have time to grab anything this morning.”

“I had half a bowl of dry cereal and the last bit of lumpy milk.” Taylor said and bit into her own.

Janice laughed and covered her mouth so she didn't spit anything out. “I've done that more times than I can count.”

Taylor nodded and they ate in silence and slowly sipped their coffees.

“What are you going to do today?” Janice asked as she packed up the wrappers and saved the second sandwich for later.

“I was thinking either a dictionary or an encyclopedia.” Taylor said with a smile.

“What for? You're already keeping up with a college level conversationalist.” Janice said.

Taylor tilted her head slightly to the side. “You know what? You're right. I'm not struggling to come up with anything to talk about and I haven't lacked any understanding with anything you've said.”

“Of course not. I saw you take that online test, too. You do realize that IQ is pretty much an individual thing, right? What it really tests is cognitive function and retention capability.”

“No, I didn't know that.” Taylor said. I guess that means my high score is pretty much useless.

“You could probably pass any college entrance exams after what you were reading yesterday.” Janice said and Taylor raised a single eyebrow at her. “Don't give me that look. I was curious and couldn't help myself as I checked the book titles you were reading.”

“Why?” Taylor asked.

“I wanted to help if you needed it and I noticed that you weren't struggling with anything.” Janice said and saw the younger woman's surprise. “Even when you switched to the massive Asimov's Greatest Works during your breaks, you were relaxed and unconcerned with the advanced reading you were doing.”

“Huh.” Taylor said and took another sip of coffee.

“It was kind of refreshing, actually. Some days I'm run ragged trying to keep track of everyone that needs help and then you showed up out of the blue and kind of fit right in and didn't disturb anyone.”

Taylor didn't comment that she was practising several of her skills at the time.

“And you're here again today. I feel soooo blessed.” Janice said with as much of a sarcastic tone as she could to make Taylor laugh. “I've already booked one of the terminals for you for the next two hours.”

“Thank you.” Taylor said and finished her coffee. “Come and get me when you take your break.”

Janice raised her still half-full cup and nodded. She watched her new friend walk away and tried to not notice that she wore the same clothes as yesterday. They looked clean, so she didn't judge her. She just hoped the girl wasn't homeless and was just pretending she had somewhere to live. Although, she was a little envious about all of that luscious wavy hair cascading down the girl's back.

*

Taylor had another great time spending the day with her new friend. Despite working fairly hard, she hadn't levelled up much or learned any new skills. She did successfully set up an account on PHO, or ParaHumans Online, and she trolled a few people by teasing them about a new cape in Brockton Bay.

She didn't provide any proof and couldn't get verified until she had a costume and showed off her powers, which was difficult, since she had no real way to show them off to take a picture or video. It wasn't until she saw an advertisement for a gym that she had an idea. It was a little crazy, since she didn't have a costume or anything. That wasn't going to stop her, though.

Taylor bid Janice goodbye at suppertime and told her she had a few things to handle, made a quick food run to share a meal together, and she left on a bus to head to the closest gym. It was evening, so she pretty much had the whole place to herself after paying a small fee. She took out a cell phone that she had taken from the skinheads and used it to access the local wifi network and then did a few hacks.

It didn't take long to loop the video feed from the cameras and Taylor went to the locker room and pretended to change. The loose jogging pants became snugger and the baggy t-shirt became form-fitting when she equipped them. For a laugh, she equipped a hoodie and it shrunk to fit her tightly while also leaving the hood the right size to still cover her head if she put it up. The outfit was perfect.

Taylor went out into the main area and chose one of the scaling weight machines that went up to 180 pounds. She had never used one before and she had no real expectations, except that the tutorial said she could scale her own strength if she used the machine properly. After looking at the thing for several seconds, she unlocked a small tutorial and followed the directions.

Once she knew what to do, Taylor set it up for only 30 pounds and sat down and pulled the bar down. It was easy. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of it on such a low weight, so she doubled it to 60 pounds and she struggled a little. That was perfect and she did a quick set. This gave her a Weightlifting skill and a bonus to Strength gains while using professional machines.

Taylor completely abused this for an hour and gained a stat every three sets of ten when she took a break. It was a ridiculous cheat for her to use and she didn't feel guilty at all about it. She also increased the weight by another ten pounds after every point of strength was gained, so by the end of another hour, she had gained 20 points in Strength, 5 in Vitality, and 5% in Physical Resistance.

The treadmill was next and she knew that with the extra Strength and Vitality, she was going to crush the thing... and she did. Half an hour with an increasing speed and incline, Her Vitality rose another 10 points, her Dexterity went up 5, and she gained another point in Physical Resistance. The best part? She hadn't sweated or ruined her clothing while she had increased her Health Points by a significant amount and her HP regeneration nearly doubled.

Taylor took out her cell phone as she went to the change rooms and equipped her street clothes, then she fixed the cameras before leaving the gym. The girl behind the counter didn't even look up or said goodbye. It made Taylor laugh in her head at how easy it was to get some professional training that was well beyond a normal human and the girl had no idea.

I'll have to come back if I don't buy some stuff on my own. Taylor thought and checked her mini-map. She had a bit of a trek if she wanted to get to her free house and chose to ride the bus. It took her to the edge of the area she needed to go, mainly because the gangs never interfered with public transportation. It was one of the normal means for their clients to cross their territory and they left it alone.

Taylor's first thought when she looked at the one storey house was that it was a mess. The broken windows, cracked front door, and strings of police tape didn't help the run-down image at all. She didn't try taking the tape down, because she needed the cover and it should discourage any unwanted visitors. As soon as her foot touched the driveway, Taylor received a popup.

Congratulations! You have unlocked your first property! It's a dump!

Taylor chuckled at the description because it matched her own thoughts exactly.

Don't worry, though! All it needs is a little tender loving care to fix it right up, with maybe a sledgehammer for a few walls and perhaps a bulldozer for the ruined kitchen.

Taylor barked a laugh and knew the inside was just as bad as the outside.

Renovation Sub-Game unlocked! Have fun destroying things and then rebuilding them. There will be tasks to perform and the difficulty is based on your own skills and knowledge.

Thank god I already visited the library and absorbed all those skill books. Taylor thought as she read all of the little tasks that seemed to build up to restoring the house to full working order. She wasn't discouraged by the long list, though. In fact, she felt like she was starting to work towards becoming her own person for the first time in her life. She rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and started to work.

Taylor was about a third of the way through the easiest and least expensive jobs when there was a knock on the front door. Well, it was actually a pounding fist and not a knock at all. She checked the time and it was 11 at night, which meant whomever it was, was there to buy drugs. Before she could decide to not answer, it sounded like whomever it was decided hitting the door wasn't enough and started kicking it.

“Come on, you bastard! Wake the fuck up!” A quite young female voice shouted. “My mom needs her fix and I'm not standing around this shithole for half the fucking night! Open this fucking door!”

Taylor thought about not answering and pretending she wasn't there.

“I know you're home! I can see the lights are on, you moron! The blackout curtains are still shit!”

Taylor sighed and went to the door. She had switched into her tight sweats to work and looked only a little dishevelled when she opened the door and saw a young woman that was in the middle of kicking the door. Both she and the girl froze when they saw each other. Taylor because the girl looked a year or so younger than her and she didn't recognize her. She was also black and wore a thin tube top and tight booty shorts. The girl froze because Taylor was nearly a foot taller than her and looked damn fine.

“Well, damn. Jake's gone and got himself a new bitch, huh?” The girl asked and eyed Taylor from head to foot. “Not bad, not bad. You would look better in shorts, though. Show off those long sexy legs.”

Taylor blushed at the compliment and the black girl had a grin grow on her face.

“You're definitely a newbie if you're blushing from that.” The girl said and stepped inside and shut the door, easily making Taylor back up to allow it. “Did he get you hooked on the shit or did he just give you a good fucking to get you into the business?”

Taylor was too shocked by her words to respond. She might still be calm because of Gamer Mind; but, that didn't mean she couldn't still be stunned by her own mental processes screeching to a halt.

“Maybe a bit of both?” The girl asked with a laugh and walked by her. “Where's Jake? My mom needs her hit and he always puts aside a couple baggies for her.”

Taylor mentally shrugged and tried to not look down at the very nice ass in booty shorts that were designed to show it off to full effect. “P-police...”

The girl scoffed. “Again? Fuck, they nabbed him two weeks ago and I had to go to Frank once. Fucking asshole thought he could charge me double, just because my mom was jonesing.” She shook her head. “I beat the shit out of him and then kicked him in the balls for being grabby.”

Taylor's eyes widened as the girl turned back around to look at her.

“This place is looking a bit cleaner. You do that?” The girl asked and Taylor nodded. “Don't let Jake know you did that. He'll have you on your hands and knees cleaning all the fucking time.”

Taylor gave the smaller girl a searching look. “Are you speaking from experience?”

The girl laughed and shook her head. “The only time I was on my hands and knees around him was when he was being nice and gave me an extra baggie for my trouble, if you know what I mean.”

Taylor blushed again and the girl's grin changed to a smirk.

“Don't tell me he hasn't tried you yet? How are you going to get a good customer base if you're this shy?” The girl asked and Taylor didn't say anything. “Eh, whatever.” She dug into the front pocket of her tight shorts and pulled out a small wad of cash. “I need two baggies of the good stuff and two tokes.”

Taylor looked at the money and at the girl's face.

“Oh, come on! Don't tell me he didn't show you were he keeps his shit!” The girl said Taylor wasn't sure what to tell the girl. “I already told you my mom needs her fix.” She said and separated the money into a larger stack and a small wad. “The tokes are for me.”

Taylor saw the amount and she was surprised that the drugs were that expensive and people paid for it.

“Hello? Anyone in there?” The girl asked and stepped close.

Taylor opened her mouth to respond and then froze when the girl tucked the money into her front pockets. Her jogging pants were tight, so she felt the girl's fingers push the money inside and blushed hard as those fingers touched her where no one else had touched her before. They were also dangerously close to a certain area.

“Oh, I get it.” The girl said and her voice changed from slightly aggressive to seductive. “Someone might swing for the other team and is too nervous to tell her new boss.”

Before Taylor could deny it, or even think about what she meant, the girl pulled her tube top down and her perky little breasts bounced and caught her full attention. The hardening nipples were utterly fascinating to her overloaded brain and she could only stare as the girl's dark skinned hands fondled the breasts and flicked the nipples.

“Yeah, you definitely like these babies.” The girl said and stepped close.

Taylor caught her breath as those hard nipples poked into her chest below her own breasts, the thin white t-shirt she wore proved to be no barrier to the sensations. The girl wrapped her arms around her waist and one of her hands slipped down inside her jogging pants and cupped her ass.

“Damn, girl. You must work out.” She whispered and her other hand snaked up Taylor's back and held her neck as she pulled Taylor down into a searing kiss.

Taylor couldn't help but kiss back, even thought she didn't know who this girl was. Her thoughts were kind of cut off at all the sensations she was feeling and her arms moved on their own to wrap around the girl's shoulders and her mouth and tongue did their best to reciprocate.

Both girls moaned at the same time, which spurred them on, and they were soon on the couch and naked. Taylor's cries of pleasure echoed off the walls as the girl licked her out. As if that was what she needed, the girl upped her game and added a single finger. She saw that Taylor's hymen was still intact and she didn't want to take the girl's first time, because she couldn't afford to pay for that.

“M-m-more... more... please...” Taylor moaned and her fingers dug into the girl's curly dark hair.

“I can't take your first time. It's worth too much to waste it on someone like me.” The girl said.

Taylor reluctantly opened her eyes and looked at the black girl that had her juices dripping from her chin. She looked nothing like Sophia, so she wasn't conflicted about having the girl keep going.

“My name's Taylor Hebert and I choose who I want to be with.” Taylor said, her mind a little clearer.

“I'm Aisha Laborn.” She responded. “Are you sure...”

“Show me what to do and I'll try to do it back.” Taylor promised.

Aisha looked surprised for a moment, then she grinned. “Then get ready, because this is going to rock your world.” She held up her hand and held it flat, then only folded down the ring finger.

“What's that mean?” Taylor asked, confused.

Aisha smiled evilly as she lowered her hand out of sight and then applied it.

“OHHH!” Taylor moaned and froze up as she felt two penetrations, one where she expected it and one where she never thought anyone would ever touch.

“We're just getting started, baby.” Aisha said sexily and started to move her hand.

“Ohhh... ohhhhhh.... OHH!” Taylor moaned and gasped as she came hard.

“That it, Taylor! Sing for me!” Aisha said and started to use her mouth and tongue, too.

Taylor sang and sang.

*

Aisha Laborn entered her mom's apartment several hours later and she felt great. After railing Jake's new bitch and making her howl, she howled in return. It hadn't been the first time she had used her body to get a deal for her mom's addiction and she felt a little bad about using the girl. Then again, the five baggies of cocaine and five of marijuana had made it worth it.

If she cut the hard stuff like usual, she could make it last for a month, which was more than she had hoped to get with only two baggies and maybe a week's worth of hits. On the other hand, she could turn it around and sell the extras for bank and then go back to get more. Taylor seemed really easy to get along with and she was surprisingly tasty. And horny. Good god, she was a beast in bed when she learned what to do.

Aisha chuckled at that thought, because she was the one that taught her everything she could and Taylor was a quick learner. She had no idea where she had pulled that dildo from and she didn't care. It worked like magic and it even fake came on command with white syrup that made everything taste that much better.

She went to the kitchen and took out one of the baggies and used the substitute to cut it into a good mix to give her mom a high, only it wasn't as high as it could be and wouldn't be as satisfactory as it was supposed to be. It was the best way to keep her happy and docile while also stopping her mother from getting worse, and she would get worse if she didn't have someone taking care of her.

Aisha prepped everything for her mother and brought it into the woman's bedroom. She could see the start of withdrawal symptoms and did up a needle for her, then applied it into the best spot to get the drugs into her system the fastest. Her mother almost immediately relaxed and opened her eyes.

“Thank you, sweetie.” Her mother's raspy voice said and she closed her eyes again.

Don't thank me for this. Aisha thought and took the setup back out and stored it in the kitchen where it always was. She went to bed after that and thought about how her night went from a basic drug run to one of the best of her life. She had also told the new girl her real name and not her street name, too. Now she had to wonder if Taylor's offer to come back there tonight was a genuine one and if she wanted to take the chance and actually go.

*

Taylor felt absolutely wonderful when she climbed out of bed. The skills she had gained last night had made the whole experience that much better. She had sex for the very first time and it was just as mind-blowing as those online posts in the adult forms said it was. Having the right partner really did make all the difference.

A quick shower in the repaired bathroom gave Taylor a reason to check herself in the mirror. She was a little more buff after all the gains yesterday at the gym and she had glimpsed a hidden Charisma Stat that she had no idea about. It wasn't in the tutorial and she was sure it had been left out on purpose.

After spending all that time with Aisha, she knew it was true.

A high CHA score would make her a social goddess, so it was hidden and she couldn't artificially pump it up with points like she had with her Luck. That had been necessary, though. It only took Taylor a moment to imagine what would have happened last night if her luck had still been minus twenty. She probably would have been stabbed and robbed, maybe even killed.

Taylor pushed those negative thoughts aside and equipped some lacy underwear she had gained last night and they gave her bonuses to her Charisma and Dexterity. Tight denim jeans were next and a blue blouse with her hair teased out to give it more volume than usual, had added another Charisma bonus. Her look was an equipment setting she made permanent and she left her new home and locked it.

Thankfully, there were settings for making everyone ignore crime scenes and she chose that to keep it free from other druggies and squatters. That was going to be her home now and she didn't want anyone else there when she wasn't, except for Aisha. Why she had developed such an attachment to her so quickly was a bit beyond her ability to figure out right now. Sex alone wasn't enough to explain it.

A bus ride brought her near Winslow High and Taylor stepped onto the school grounds. She didn't feel trepidation or even nervousness, despite knowing her bullies were going to attack her again. It had only been two weeks since her attempted murder and she was sure that they would see her back this soon as a challenge.

A smile grew on Taylor's face at the thought of them trying to keep her down and she walked into the school with her head held high and an eye on her mini-map. She ignored the whispers from the students and went to the school's office. The secretary there gave her a mean look before she blanked her face.

“I need a new locker assignment, new school books issued, and if it doesn't already have a lock, a standard school combination lock.” Taylor said with an even voice.

“I'm sorry, there are no other lockers for...”

“Are you really going to sit there and tell me that I have to keep using the locker I was almost killed in? Really?” Taylor interrupted her.

The woman looked shocked.

“Before you decide I have to pay to replace the school books, they were damaged by other students on school property and not by me. The new lock is just common sense, even if none of the other locks kept my bullies out.” Taylor told her. “The deal the school signed to stop me from suing you all for gross negligence should have covered all of that, because they agreed to cover all costs related to the incident, which includes all of my lost school supplies, clothes, and backpack.”

The secretary seemed at a loss for words.

“I'll come back at lunch for my replacement things and a new locker assignment.” Taylor told her and walked out of the office without looking back. Her first class was with Mr. Glady and Taylor was positive that he was going to comment about her not having a book or even anything to write on, not that she needed them. Gamer's Mind was great for memorizing things, thanks to her high Intelligence.

The students in the hallways were whispering pretty loudly about her and she ignored them again. Since she didn't have to go to her locker, she arrived at the classroom before anyone else and she saw that her normal seat and desk were all marked up and vandalized. The teacher wasn't there, so she did a quick inventory switch with Madison's desk and chair two rows over.

Taylor sat down and leaned back to cross her arms under her breasts to wait. She kept her face blank and decided to keep it that way until one of her tormentors showed up. Nearly every person that entered the classroom paused at the door and stared at her, which was pretty funny. It was either her new look or her new attitude that had caught their attention, and she was okay with that.

The room soon filled up and the teacher entered the room. Mr. Glady paused and stared at her, just like everyone else had, and his eyes narrowed slightly at Taylor's small smile. He was a coward at heart, so he ignored her subtle taunt and went to his desk to wait for the bell to ring.

When Madison entered the room, she actually stumbled when she saw Taylor. She couldn't believe the change that had happened to the other girl. She was beautiful. Her mouth wasn't too wide for her face anymore, her eyes were perfectly symmetrical, and she wasn't wearing those awful glasses. Her hair was gorgeous and looked professionally done, too. It wasn't fair!

Taylor saw the jealous look on the lowest of the trio and tried to not smirk at the girl. It wouldn't do to let her know that she had noticed, because that wasn't the point of today. It was to show them that even though they tried to kill her, they couldn't break her. That Madison hadn't commented about the switched desks was pretty surprising as well.

The bell rang and everyone sat and took out their books. Mr Glady started to teach the lesson and his eyes kept going to Taylor and his eyes kept squinting each time, because he saw she didn't have a book or was taking notes. He waited until the class was half over before he had built up enough courage to speak.

“Miss Hebert, why are you not properly prepared for class?” Mr. Glady asked.

“All my school things were ruined during my attempted murder by Sophia, Emma, and Madison, sir. The office should have replacements for me by lunchtime.” Taylor said and complete silence answered her. She glanced around at all the shocked faces and saw the pale face on Madison.

Even Mr. Glady looked shocked at her answer and he didn't say anything else on the matter. It took him a minute before he recovered and went back to teaching the lesson.

Taylor had to force herself to hold in her laugh at their reactions. She hadn't thought such a simple statement could have that big of an impact and she would have to remember that less was more. Big speeches weren't needed if you could cause that much shock with only a couple of sentences.

The class eventually ended and the teacher assigned homework. He didn't bother looking at Taylor and ignored that she didn't write anything down. If she didn't pass anything in, then he would mark her appropriately, not that she had been passing in much the last while, anyway.

Taylor walked out of the classroom first, unlike every other time she had left that classroom, and she avoided the little ambush that Emma had planned because she wasn't in the right position to spring it. Was that planned? Not really. Taylor was just eager to get to the next class. Computer class. She had been salivating at the thought of gaining access to the school's computers since she had woken up.

The sad look on Mrs. Knott's face when Taylor entered her classroom, told the teenager everything she needed to know about the complacency of the school's staff. Even her favorite teacher wouldn't do anything to help her, so she felt no guilt whatsoever about what she was going to do next. She didn't smile or said anything to the woman and the teacher's face looked even sadder, if that was possible.

Taylor sat at the very back of the room in the last terminal. It wasn't because she was hiding from anyone, though. She didn't want them to see how quickly she typed when she started hacking. It had been a surprise to see her fingers move so fast at first, until she started to think about her skills and what she could do, thanks to her power. The more she did something, the better she was at it and the quicker she could do it.

The first thing she did was clear out the temporary USB used to hand in projects. Everything on it was so far below her new skills that it wasn't funny. She lifted her eyes only briefly to look at the chalkboard at the front of the room to see the assigned task. Her huff at the simplistic function of the thing was fairly loud in the empty classroom and made Mrs. Knott frown.

Taylor completed the task in under ten seconds and made sure it was only barely above her previous skill. She didn't want to give anything away and copied it onto the USB. She walked to the front of the room and left it on the teacher's desk without a word and picked up another from the small box on the desk. She also stored a few more without the teacher seeing it and she went back to her computer.

She went to work copying several backups of the emails, texts, messages, and threats from all of her bullies, including the three main ones. They had filled several email inboxes with the taunts and all of it was easily converted into text files with the appropriate date and timestamps.

After that was done, she easily hacked into Sophia's email and copied everything without looking at it. She didn't have the time to browse through the sheer amount that was there and wouldn't until she bought a computer of her own and went through it all. She needed to compile them to match her own records and prove that it was Sophia that had sent them.

Emma and Madison were next and she filled nearly half of one of the USBs with everything, including incriminating pictures, and it made Taylor smile at all of the evidence. Even with the overwhelming proof, she somehow knew Emma's father would get it dismissed as prejudicial and illegally seized, since it was technically stolen. Emma never was very clever about the passwords she chose.

The next thing Taylor did was make her way into the school's internal network. It was quite easy to ping the main server and follow the terminal links back to the ones she wanted. The principal's and her secretary's. It didn't take long to find the evidence she needed and she copied it all onto the USB, nearly completely filling the available space.

Taylor copied everything onto the second USB and she stored both, just so no one could take them from her. She would still need to go through it all when she had the chance and pilfer the data for everything that referenced her, either specifically or passively.

Then again, she should also do the same with Sophia's, Emma's, and Madison's names, too. Principal Blackwell could refer to her as just a troublemaker or a delinquent and a name search might not bring up everything or it could be hidden inside conjecture or lies. It would be a herculean task and it had to be done as soon as possible.

By the time the bell rang and the class ended, Taylor was already up and out the door before anyone else. Again, this seemed to foil whatever the three bullies had planned, because they hadn't tried to corner her or sprung any kind of trap in the hallway. They hadn't been in a position to talk or taunt her, either.

Taylor entered her math class and the man there didn't even look at her. She was fine with that and again had to switch seats and desks with someone else. She did Emma's this time, just to see her reaction. Would she say anything to the teacher? Would she complain about sitting on a filthy chair and blame her?

The class started to fill up with students and Emma and Madison entered the classroom. Both girls glared at her and didn't say anything, which proved they were both cowards. Doing things anonymously seemed to be their go-to tactic and confronting Taylor in class in front of everyone might remind them of the worst thing they had ever done to her.

Taylor kept her face blank and towards the front of the room, even when Emma's little tormented scream startled nearly everyone in the room.

“Miss Barnes, is there a problem?” The teacher asked.

“Taylor ruined my desk and chair!” Emma shouted and pointed at them.

The man lifted his head and looked at her, then at Emma. “Miss Hebert has been in her chair the entire time she has been inside this classroom and never approached that side of the room. Since this is the first time she has been here in two weeks, how did she ruin your desk and chair?”

“I don't know how she did it, she just did!” Emma almost screeched. “She did Maddy's desk this morning, too!”

The man's bored look didn't calm Emma down at all. He stood with a sigh and walked over to the desk and looked at it. It was defaced with slurs, curses, doodles, wads of gum, dried glue, and a few things he didn't want to identify. The chair was almost multi-colored after several things had been dumped on it and had dried that way.

“I sincerely doubt that even a prolific delinquent could do this much damage to your desk in the few minutes available before class started.” He gave Emma a bored look. “Please sit so I can get the class started.”

“But, sir!” Emma gasped.

“There are no other available desks for you to switch to.” The man said and walked back to the front of the class.

“You are so dead, Taylor!” Emma said with a loud whisper.

“Was shoving me into a locker full of toxic waste not enough of a murder attempt for you?” Taylor asked with a flat voice that everyone heard. “I spent almost two weeks in a coma because of you.”

“You should have died and saved us all the trouble!” Madison spat at her.

“Wow. I thought you were just a hanger-on and went along with everything. Who could have guessed that you actually wanted me dead?” Taylor asked and still didn't look over at her. “How good do you feel about yourself now that everyone knows you can condemn someone to death and not feel guilty about it?”

Everyone gasped at her words and they all looked at a severely blushing Madison.

“The first problem we will tackle today is a common equation in calculus.” The teacher said, as if he hadn't just heard the previous conversation.

Taylor paid attention, even if she was far beyond simple high school math. The library had college level books and it had been quite a nice surprise that they counted as skill books and levelled her Intelligence and Wisdom when she absorbed them. She also kept an eye on the fuming Emma and embarrassed Madison.

The rumors about Madison would be all over the school by lunchtime and Taylor had to fight to not smile about that. The girl was a social butterfly and having her reputation take such a huge hit was going to devastate her even more than beating her up would.

Maybe a few of her emails could be leaked onto the school's network? Taylor thought to herself and smiled. Fuel to the fire.

Barely a class later when lunchtime arrived, Madison had fled from the school. It was the way everyone looked at her like she was scum, even the gangbangers. Their comments about her being more ruthless than them had driven the girl to tears and she ran home to daddy.

Taylor didn't let her satisfaction show as she stood near the front of the line at the cafeteria. A few people were looking at her and she could faintly hear the whispers about the changes in her looks. No one really mentioned the missing glasses and her haters were too focused on hating her to notice the clear changes.

People really are completely ignorant when they chose to be. Taylor thought and picked up several high calorie food items and a packaged parfait for dessert. She knew it would be too visible of a thing for Sophia and Emma to ignore and bought it specifically for that reason.

Most of the tables were starting to fill up with students, so Taylor chose one that was near the middle of the room and put her back to the wall. She didn't want anyone approaching her without seeing them and that was the best tactic to keep everyone in sight.

Taylor had barely sat down when both Sophia and Emma stepped out of line and went right for her. She had to keep her face blank at her plan working so soon and made sure to take a bite out of everything on her plates and intentionally left the parfait sealed. Emma went to the other side of the table to stand in front of her and Sophia walked around the side where Taylor was against the wall.

Classic pincer move. Taylor thought and didn't acknowledge them at all.

“Hi, Taylor! It's so nice to see you back in school after your little ordeal.” Emma said. Her voice was so sickeningly sweet that butter wouldn't have melted in her mouth.

Taylor poked a french fry with her fork and stuck it in her mouth without responding.

“It's not nice to ignore people trying to talk to you.” Sophia said, her voice full of threat.

“Then you must be the most horrible bitch on the planet.” Taylor said. She hadn't raised her voice and it still sounded like it echoed off the walls, which was a neat effect.

“Excuse me?” Sophia asked as her fist hit the table beside Taylor's tray. “What did you say to me?”

“I was explaining that your statement reflected your own behavior more than it did mine.” Taylor said and kept eating.

“You're going to pay for that.” Sophia all but growled.

“How? Are you going to try and kill me in front of everyone again? Once wasn't enough?” Taylor asked loudly and both Sophia and Emma looked angry. “You tried to kill a teenage girl and blew it. How pathetic is that? Did your failure bother you that much?”

“I am going to kill you so slowly that you'll beg for me to finish you off.” Sophia said.

Taylor lifted her head from her food and pointed. Both girls turned and looked to see six people using their cell phones to record them. “Can you guess who just committed a felony on camera? I bet it will be anonymously posted online before lunch is over.”

One of them made a startled sound and his fingers almost flew on his phone.

“FUCK!” Sophia yelled and started to run around the table. She made it to the guy in a moment and held her hand out. “Hand that phone over NOW!”

“What phone?” The guy asked and tossed it over his shoulder. His buddy behind him caught it and Sophia almost blanched when she saw it was a skinhead.

“It seems like someone might be in trouble.” Taylor said and went back to eating.

“You are going to regret this, you ugly troll!” Emma whispered, harshly.

“Not as much as I regret ever being friends with a stupid bitch like you.” Taylor said and Emma caught her breath. “You were my best friend since we were little kids and I loved you like a sister, then after my mother died, you turned on me like everything we did together meant nothing to you.”

Emma closed her mouth on her retort.

“You have everything handed to you on a silver platter and you don't appreciate any of it. You used to be so full of fun and happiness and now you're mean, vindictive, and cruel.” Taylor said and stood as she handed Emma the unopened parfait. “I bought this for you. It's going to be the last nice thing you'll ever get from me, so enjoy it.”

Emma's face turned feral and she lifted her arm to throw it. Taylor's hand snapped out and squeezed both her hand and the parfait. The top popped off and most of the contents jumped into the air and splatted down onto Emma's head and her meticulously styled red hair.

“AAHH!” Emma screeched and cupped her hand to her chest as the mess sloughed down her back.

“The proof is in the pudding.” Taylor said and gave her a cold look before she walked away.

Sophia walked over and looked at Emma's hand and she didn't notice anything broken. “Let's get you checked out with the nurse.”

Emma nodded and followed her out of the completely silent cafeteria.

*

The office said they would need a few days to get Taylor's replacement books and supplies, so Taylor left there and went to gym class. It sucked, because Taylor couldn't let her new abilities and skills be shown. It wasn't too difficult to keep pretending to be the old klutz she used to be, thanks in part to everyone fully expecting her to act that way.

Only a single session of dodgeball was needed for Taylor to claim an injury and she sat out most of the afternoon. She did wonder where Sophia and Emma were, though. She took out one of the stolen cell phones and checked her email, let out a soft giggle at the latest threats, and added them in quotations under the latest copy of the video that had been posted online. They were quickly copied by others and added in the notes of the video when it was re-posted.

Awesome. Taylor thought and quietly watched the video of Sophia's threat with a critical eye. She caught her breath when she saw a flicker of something by the girl's other hand that she hadn't seen in the cafeteria. It took her slowing the video down to the lowest setting and enlarging the video with the cell phone's zoom feature to see it.

It was a tiny puff of grey smoke.

“Motherfu...” Taylor stopped herself before she cursed out loud in class. She watched it again and again and made sure that she had really seen what she saw. Everything made so much sense now. All the things stolen from her locker using different locks, from her bag when she used to carry one, and her homework from her backpack, even when she kept everything with her.

Taylor knew then that she had to step up her training and needed to gather more evidence. There was no way she was going to let a Ward, a supposed hero, get away with trying to kill her. No way!

*

On the other side of the school, both girls sat in an empty classroom and discussed Taylor.

“I think she's a cape.” Emma whispered and looked down at her bruised fingers. It had taken her fifteen minutes to wash the chocolate syrup out of her hair.

Sophia huffed. “Hebert's too pathetic to get powers.”

“Maybe.” Emma said. “Maybe the locker was enough.”

Sophia shook her head. “My contacts in the PRT haven't reported anything. Hell, they sent an agent over the first day she was in the hospital and left without even talking to her father.”

“Really?” Emma asked and Sophia nodded. “Then I guess she doesn't have powers.” She said and looked a little sad.

“You're disappointed.” Sophia commented.

“No, I... it's just... I thought that would have been enough...” Emma's voice trailed off and she finished the words in her mind. ...to break her and prove she was weak.

“Don't worry, we're not letting up. No one does what she did to me in the cafeteria.” Sophia said and her hand clenched into a fist.

The video of a black girl threatening a white girl, in the middle of a cafeteria full of people, was almost an instant hit online. Hundreds of messages about it being the second time the girl tried to kill her were almost as bad as the deleted threats people posted against her. Thankfully, her name hadn't been spoken or written, so she still had some anonymity.

A quick text to her PRT agent had the video deleted, then it was up in ten different locations under different names. It galled her how quickly it had spread, even on PHO, and she was nervous that it was going to get back to the higher-ups in the Protectorate.

She was still on probation for the last thing she did and this could cost her a lot more than she was prepared to pay, which meant she would have to get rid of any evidence that could be found. With her shadow powers, getting into the school's offices after the school closed for the day would be easy.

A shadowed hand passing through the computer and hard drive should handle the data and would be worth the shock and pain she would receive from doing it.

*

Taylor rode the bus downtown and it felt odd to not go towards home when school was over. Her mind went to her father and she had to suppress her anger at his stupidity. He had signed away everything for a pittance, because he was too scared to take on the PRT and the school board. How in the world had he been keeping the Dockworkers Union going the last few years as their representative if he was such a coward?

She shook her head and let those thoughts float away, because she had much more pressing matters to take care of. It would take a lot of cunning and maybe a bit of luck for her to get it done and she was sure that she could do it right under the PRT's noses. They did give regular tours of their offices and facilities, after all.

Taylor smiled as she thought about it. How funny would it be to copy their files from inside their own offices and get the evidence that they've been covering up for a Ward's behavior to save face? Yes, she was definitely going to enjoy this. The quest popup made her smile expand and she couldn't wait for the rewards. A friendly and anonymous contact with Dragon and $150,000? Yes, please!

*

Emily Carmichael grumbled at yet another boring day at work. Ever since she had been assigned as Shadow Stalker's handler, her life had become one of drudgery and deceit. The extra pay was wonderful, as was having constant access to the bursary for taking care of a Ward. If the paperwork wasn't so redundant (and in triplicate) and the procedures weren't so restrictive, she might have enjoyed it.

The announcement of a tour coming through was just in time for her to take her break and she beat feet out of the offices and went to the staff cafeteria. It was the only place they didn't take the tour group and she was grateful for it. She dealt with a petulant teenager every few days and that was enough for her. Kids in the tour group were too taxing.

*

Taylor couldn't believe her luck. She had gained several points in the stat as the tour continued through the building and her eyes and mini-map showed her three close calls with both heroes and important PRT officers. Apparently, they avoided the tour group on a regular basis and that just tickled her pink. Her infiltration was going to be downright easy if they kept actively avoiding her.

It would still be dangerous, though. Security cameras were everywhere. Thankfully, the group was a large one and her height didn't stand out with all the adults around. She peeled off when they entered the floor she wanted and into the first office that was empty. The door was closed with barely a sound and she used her cell phone hack to loop the last second of footage.

Taylor went behind the desk and woke the computer up, then smiled. It wasn't locked or set for a password, so that cut out several minutes of unnecessary hacking from her timetable. She easily discovered whose computer it was and entered the main server. A quick search for Shadow Stalker and Sophia gave her everything she needed.

Blackwell is taking kickbacks? Taylor thought as she browsed the PRT agent's emails. I hope she kept copies of these for herself. Having corroborating evidence would be essential to blow all of this out of the water.

There were tons of reports of Sophia's behavior, a copy of her cell phone records that were automatically backed up daily, and the reports of nothing happening when Blackwell called about her behavior. The best part? Taylor was named in almost everything, which proved both the school and the PRT knew all about it and covered it up.

Taylor felt righteous anger fill her as she used a USB to copy everything. The speed could be better and would take a couple of minutes, so she had nothing to do until it finished. At least, she didn't think she had anything else to do. She checked the rewards once more for her quest and she wondered how she was going to manage that... and then she smiled.

Every drawer was searched, even the locked one, and Taylor found a very expensive cell phone and a black card with an account number on it. A very odd giggle came out of Taylor's mouth and she didn't bother trying to suppress it. When she tried the phone, it was surprisingly unlocked, and she quickly added her hacks to fully use it without restrictions.

The main thing on it was access to an unnamed bank account that just so happened to match the black card. Another laugh came from Taylor at seeing $173,560 in the account and she easily created another account and used the card's information to transfer $151,000 into her own account and paid the $1,000 handling fee. A card would be sent to her new address the next day and it was untraceable.

Thank you, expensive anonymous banking. Taylor thought with glee.

With her work done, Taylor erased her tracks and took the USB and her new cell phone over to the door of the office and waited. The tour would pass by again in a few minutes and she would join it and leave, with no one the wiser. She opened the door and waited by the edge of the wall for the group. When they passed by, she peeled out of the room and walked behind the group.

At the last second, she remembered to stop looping the office footage and used her old cell phone. She would have to ditch it later or keep it stored. Unlike her new phone, the signal was easily traceable.

They reached the lobby and Taylor was tempted to ask if they accepted tips or donations, just to tweak the woman for giving her such easy access to the PRT's offices. She decided not to, in case they really did have a system for that and there would be a record of her doing it. Gaining that kind of attention would make her stand out, too.

Taylor left the building and felt great. She had gotten clean away, gained all of the evidence she could ever need, and a ton of money as compensation for everything Sophia did to her for the last year and a half. The bus ride back across town seemed to take no time at all and she stopped to grab a couple of burger combos from Fugly Bob's.

When Taylor arrived at her home away from home, she wasn't surprised to see Aisha waiting for her on the step. The black girl saw the two bags of food and the tray of drinks and grinned at her.

“I must have blown your mind last night if you're already buying me dinner.” Aisha commented.

Taylor blushed and handed her the bags and drinks before she used a key to open the front door.

“You're so easy to tease.” Aisha said and nodded her to go inside first and kicked the door shut when she followed her.

“I've never done anything like that before.” Taylor said and went to the kitchen. The table was clean and they sat down and started eating.

“Really? I couldn't tell.” Aisha said and took a drink of soda. She could see the look on Taylor's face and she couldn't stop her smirk. “I think someone might want another go with my sweet, sweet ass.”

Taylor blushed hard. “Aisha!”

Aisha laughed and picked up a french fry to throw it at the embarrassed girl. Taylor opened her mouth and easily caught it, then she laughed, too. Both girls finished up and went to the living room to watch some television. They had fun hanging out and chatting about little things, nothing consequential, and spent a couple of hours sitting on the couch and relaxing.

When the show they were watching started playing romantic music and showed a couple on their date, both girls glanced at each other. One with hope on her face and one with a little fear. Aisha saw Taylor's face and she reached over and cupped the cheek of her face.

“Hey, I'm not like that.” Aisha whispered.

“Like what?” Taylor whispered back.

“I do like having fun.” Aisha said and leaned in to lightly kiss her on the lips. “That doesn't mean I want this to be casual.”

Several emotions crossed Taylor's face. “I... I've never had a... well, anything before. You're my first.”

“I've never had a boyfriend or girlfriend, either.” Aisha said. “I've fucked a few people, sure. That was more business than anything.”

Taylor opened her mouth and closed it, then opened it again.

“Yes, I do mean when the cash is short, I've done things to make up for it.” Aisha admitted. “My mom needs her fix and I do what I can to get it.”

“But... you... you're...”

“Too pretty for porn?” Aisha asked with a grin.

“Y-yeah.” Taylor said and blushed.

“That's so nice of you to say.” Aisha said and leaned in to kiss her and pushed her back onto the couch.

Taylor wrapped her arms around the pretty girl and kissed her back enthusiastically. She couldn't help herself as her hands went down to Aisha's ass and gripped it, making the other girl moan, and she wanted to keep hearing that sound for as long as she could.

To Aisha's delight, Taylor did her best to do exactly that.

*

Aisha woke up early in the morning and wondered where she was. It wasn't her bedroom and she felt a little sore all over. It was a good soreness, though. She had a lot of fun the night before and she finally remembered where she was. She was in her girlfriend's bed. It wasn't Jake's bed, either. That old lumpy mattress sucked and this one was like laying on air.

She sat up and looked at the happy face on the other girl in the bed. The feelings Aisha felt about being the one to put that smile on someone's face, had her heart speed up and her face flush. She took several breaths to calm down and she closed her eyes briefly. Her thoughts went to her own situation and she only felt a little guilty about what she was about to do.

Aisha slipped out of bed and quickly dressed, gave Taylor another brief look, and knelt to search through the nightstand. She didn't find anything, so she looked under the bed. Nothing. She glanced around and saw the closet. Her hopes were dashed when she opened it and it only had men's clothes inside and no strongbox or anything.

“We just started dating and you're already trying to rob me?” Taylor asked, her voice full of disappointment.

Aisha jumped and looked back at the bed to see Taylor sitting up with the sheet clutched to her chest. “No, not you. Jake. I wanted to take what I could before that asshole gets out of jail.”

Taylor gave her a sad look. “That's almost worse, you know.”

“How?” Aisha asked, confused.

“This is where we met and you know you can only find me here.” Taylor said as tears came to her eyes.

Aisha felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She hadn't thought about what robbing her mom's normal dealer would mean or the consequences of doing it. Massive short term gains and long term disaster. She could get a lot right now and she would never be allowed to ever come back.

“I... I didn't... realize...” Aisha started to say.

Taylor let the sheet go and stood. She slipped on her lacy panties and felt Aisha's eyes on her as she did so, then she walked into the bathroom. She made a show of moving the top off the toilet noisily and out of Aisha's sight before she took out a brick of cocaine from her inventory and two thousand dollars in cash. An elastic held it together.

Aisha watched as Taylor walked out of the bathroom and stared as she tossed a brick of drugs onto the bed and a stack of bills an inch thick.

“There you go. If you're lucky, you can get 15 to 20 grand from one of the other dealers, since it's uncut. The cash is in small unmarked bills, too.” Taylor said with a flat voice.

“Taylor... I...”

“Take it and go.” Taylor said and went back into the bathroom. “We both know it's what you really wanted when you came here last night.”

Aisha couldn't speak and deny it, because she was right. That was exactly the reason she had come up with and had planned on getting the stash and running. She never expected to feel so shitty about robbing a drug dealer and his new whore, though.

The shower started up and Aisha didn't move. She looked at the money, probably a couple grand, and an entire brick of uncut cocaine. A whole brick. 15 to 20 grand was a lot of money, much more than she expected. She was still going to rob Jake, though. He was an asshole and she would put that money to much better use.

Aisha's eyes went to the open bathroom and she ducked her head and picked up both the stack of bills and the brick. She went out into the kitchen and grabbed one of the empty fast food bags and shoved the brick inside, gave the bedroom one last look, and left the house for the last time. Tears rolled down her face when the guilt hit her, because she would never be allowed to go back there.

Taylor let the shower wash away her tears. She had known she was growing too attached too quickly and she had been stupid to even think someone would want her. Even with her new looks, she was still the same girl she used to be underneath, and that made her angry. Someone had used her to get what they wanted, again, and she had been stupid enough to let them.

No more. Taylor thought and felt resolve filled her. She had learned her lesson and she wouldn't make that mistake again. She had put off her plans for a whole day and she wouldn't let anything else distract her. Never again.

Taylor had a few hours before she had to get ready for school and she had a lot of work to do to make up for missing a day. An untraceable phone and a ton of incriminating files were going to be used ruthlessly.

*

The first time Sophia Hess noticed that something was going on at school, was when she saw the looks on everyone's faces. Her thoughts about getting away with wrecking the computers when no one was around came to a screeching halt when she saw Emma's devastated face.

“What happened?” Sophia asked.

“Maddy, she... she...” Emma shook her head and couldn't say it. She held out her cell phone and saw the death notice that had been posted. The cause of death wasn't listed and everyone knew what had happened. She had taken her own life.

“When?” Sophia whispered.

“This morning.” Emma said and changed the view on her phone and handed it back. “This is why.”

Sophia was glad she was black, because no one could tell when the blood drained from her face. Right there in front of her were all the texts and emails, threats, suicide taunts, and just plain meanness that she, Emma, and Madison had sent to Taylor. The pictures were worse, as were the comments on them, and the biggest thing was when they had ruined her dead mother's heirloom flute.

Everyone hated them. Their email addresses had been revealed and spammed by thousands of similar taunts and threats, claiming that if they could dish it out, they could take it. Madison couldn't. Her identity relied almost solely on the public's perception of her and without it, her self-worth was devastated and it destroyed her.

Hebert. Sophia thought with anger. Only she could have all of these saved and could share them.

Emma saw her face and shook her head. “These are copies from the school server logs, Sophia.”

“They can't be.” Sophia whispered. “I wrecked the computers last night.”

Emma wasn't sure how to respond to that.

“It had to be her. No one else knew we did that.” Sophia said.

“I heard someone wrecked the school's computers last night and everyone in the office is freaking out because the server had everything on it.” A male voice said from down the hallway. “I guess we all know why. Someone was trying to cover up their crimes.”

Sophia and Emma turned and saw the social outcast and jock punching bag, Greg Veder, with a group of older students around him, mostly jocks.

“You're kidding.” One of them said.

“Ha, they wish! Pay schedules, account info, work history, and everything. It's all gone.” Greg said, almost proudly. “The only reason they could open the doors of the school this morning was because they have old-fashioned key locks. Even the smoke and fire alarms are down.”

Quite a few people had odd looks on their faces when they heard that.

Oh, fuck. Sophia thought when she realized her removal of evidence had removed a whole lot more.

Everyone was so focused on the damage she had done that they didn't notice when Taylor walked right down the middle of the hallway and went to her first class. They also didn't see the smug smile on her face. In all the ruckus over the computers, she had easily visited all of the classrooms she usually had and changed out her desk and chair for clean ones.

*

Dragon had a weird morning. That was particularly unusual, since she was a digital being and mornings were just a date stamp in her software. She also lived in another country. Why would someone send her a compressed data packet from a PRT coded cell phone?

The file was segregated into a virtual drive and scanned with all the virus scanners she knew, and a few she had invented herself, only to find hundreds of clean files inside. The names were identical to the setup in the Brockton Bay PRT ENE offices and that was concerning, since no one reported a missing phone or a breach of security.

A quick investigation gave her nothing. She had been right and there was no record of the breach anywhere. The timestamps on the copied files told her when it happened and it didn't take her long to trace them to the terminal they had been copied from. Whoever did it had covered their tracks perfectly, too perfectly, and that was a glaring road map for a digital being to follow.

The tour group. Dragon thought and used the camera recordings to browse through the three scheduled groups and narrowed it down to the afternoon, thanks to the timestamps, even though the group hadn't spent any time in that hallway. A quick fast forwarding of the office camera gave her nothing, so she went to the hallway camera. This one she had to watch in real time to examine it.

If she had eyes, Dragon's would have widened comically as a young and fairly pretty woman slipped away from the back of the group and shut the door of the office in question. She checked the internal office camera and it showed nothing, so that was odd. A fast forward command for the hallway camera footage brought the tour group back through that hallway and the girl easily joined the group when it passed.

Very slick and very well done. Dragon thought and marked the footage and copied it as evidence. She changed her focus and looked at the files, only to digitally gasp at what they contained. If she had lungs, she would have been struggling for breath, because the PRT was responsible for allowing a Ward to harass and torture a student.

The skimming of money was secondary to the fact that the Ward's handler was covering up everything. Dragon split her focus again and tried to gain access to Winslow High's network, only to find a blank spot. It was dead. When she checked the local area's social media to see if there was a record of what was going on at the school, she found the corroborating evidence from the other end.

Dragon would have cheered if she had a mouth. The amount of easily traceable digital evidence was so overwhelming that she compiled it and sent it directly to both Armsmaster and Director Piggot. Sophia Hess had broken her probation hundreds of times and she needed to be brought in and handled properly.

Sending that evidence was like kicking a hornet's nest. It sparked off a whole cross-investigation for breaches and digital invasions, for which she was asked to be involved in. Before she began that time-consuming task, she sent a text of thanks to the coded PRT cell phone.

*

Taylor didn't react with surprise when her new cell phone beeped at her. It was something she had been waiting for all morning and she took it out to look at it. She had an off class and was sitting in the cafeteria to wait for her next class and calmly read the text of thanks from Dragon.

'Is anything being done about it?' Taylor sent back.

'They've dispatched a Protectorate cape in civilian clothing to collect Miss Hess.' Dragon responded.

'I hope she's finally dealt with. It's been a year and a half and no one on staff at school or at the PRT has done anything about it, despite all the complaints.'

'Is that why you hacked into the PRT servers?' Dragon asked her.

'I didn't have the means to fight back until recently. It was just luck that let me into her actual handler's office.' Taylor sent back, not bothering to lie. She was Dragon, the best tinker hacker on the planet, and probably had her full life's history available.

'Is that your ability? Hacking?' Dragon asked. 'You don't have to answer. I'm just curious. It was very well done. Too well done. Hint hint.'

Taylor chuckled. 'I'm not going to complain that I did too good of a job cleaning up after myself. Although, it doesn't matter for the school's server. Sophia wrecked it last night. She was too late, though. I got it all yesterday.'

'You did only send me the pertinent files.' Dragon responded. 'I would like the rest, if it's not too much trouble.'

'Sure, why not? It's not going to do me much good, now that everyone else has seen what the trio did to me.' Taylor typed and pulled out the little cord she had rigged together to plug a USB into the coded phone. 'I haven't had a chance to out Blackwell or the teachers for the cover-up, though.'

'Don't worry about that, Taylor. I'll take care of it.' Dragon sent to her.

Taylor looked at the screen for a second before she typed. 'Thank you, Dragon. Thank you very much.'

'You can call me Theresa.' Dragon sent and Taylor almost choked at a cape outing herself to her. 'Have you thought of a cape name for yourself yet?'

Taylor thought about it. It wasn't like she had any defining characteristics or anything. She was also just starting out. Her brief foray into investigations had netted her some great results, especially the friendly contact with Dragon. Could she keep doing it? Could she become a cape investigator?

'Taylor? Are you okay?' Dragon asked.

'Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking.' Taylor sent back. 'I don't really have a name picked out, since I only recently triggered. I don't even have any thoughts for a costume, either.'

Dragon had to smile at that. 'You technically don't need one if you keep to a digital presence. Then again, if you had worn a costume at the PRT, I doubt you would have made it anywhere during the tour.'

Taylor chuckled again. 'Touche.'

'So, should I give you the whole PRT Wards invitation speech?'

'Hell, no! I can't in good conscience join an organization that would let anyone, let alone a Ward, do what Sophia did to me.'

Dragon took two seconds of thinking before she made a decision. 'Then perhaps a more neutral organization might be better. Like the Guild.'

Taylor's mouth dropped open at the offer. 'Are you serious?'

'Sure. We could always use new members.' Dragon sent. 'You have about twenty minutes left before your next class, so why don't I bring Narwhal into this and we can talk about a few things?'

Taylor stared at her phone's screen. Oh, my god. I knew being friendly with Dragon would be good; but, I never expected this. She thought and then typed. 'I think I would really really really like that.'

'Ha ha! All right. Just a second.' Dragon sent.

'Hey, babe! What's up?' Narwhal sent.

'The sky and a potential new recruit, if you can hold off on the flirting long enough.' Dragon sent.

'Where's the fun in that?' Narwhal sent. 'Are we keeping this anonymous or are names okay?'

'That's up to the new girl.' Dragon said. 'What do you say?'

Taylor looked at the screen and she knew that this was it. This was the turning point in her life. 'My name is Taylor Hebert and my power...' She paused and thought about how to explain it. '...is to improve myself.'