Built To Last

[We Just Write]

(Marcus)
Date Point: 0455, April 28th, 2011. Thursday.

Once I'd been repaired, I had immediately launched into tracking down the Travelers' hide-out. Tracking cell phones only got me so far, since the Travelers were rapidly cycling through burner phones, and evidently removing the battery when they were preparing to enter or leave their hideout. Still, that got me a general neighborhood of "somewhere downtown". From there, I had other methods available.

Courtesy of the same illusion technology that went into making me, we had highly stealthy surveillance drones available. While they were firmly in the category of deniable assets, those drones had been instrumental in several of the information coups I'd pulled off before. Even better, courtesy of Taylor's surveillance, we knew what Krouse looked like when not in costume. So it hadn't been terribly difficult to identify and begin tracking the rest of the Travelers - with the exception of the elusive Noelle.

So in just a few hours, I'd managed to identify the exact location the Travelers were operating out of. Namely, Coil's old bunker - the PRT had long-since stripped the place bare as part of their investigation of Coil's activities, but it was still a formidable underground structure.

I couldn't help but groan, even as I got up from my chair and started on my way to PRT HQ, to deliver the bad news. If the PRT had left the assorted electronics and security systems in place, it would have been trivial to just take over the base electronically, lock all the doors, and pump in sedative gasses. But with just dumb electrical lighting and basic ventilation still in place, we didn't have that easy option available.

Still, we couldn't just leave the Travelers dug in there. We had to pry them out.

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 0545, April 28th, 2011. Thursday.

No-one in the briefing room with me looked happy. Andrea was notably angry, Miss Militia was anxious, Armsmaster looked ticked off, Velocity was frowning, Assault had gone utterly stoic, Battery's eyebrow was twitching, Dauntless was facepalming, Triumph definitely seemed annoyed, and Director Piggot? Piggot was utterly furious.

As soon as Mister E ceded the floor - having shared his information about the Travelers' location, the Director was fairly quick to speak.

"Given the layout of the facility, trying to storm that bunker would quickly result in utterly horrendous casualties, given what we're up against. Fortunately, we won't have to."

"We know exactly where the bunker's air intakes are, and we've known since we used them to flush out Coil's remaining mercenaries after he was arrested. Throw some smoke grenades down there, and we can force them to leave or asphyxiate."

While Piggot's logic could have been sound in other circumstances, I could spot a flaw that prompted me to speak up.

"Director. We already know that the Travelers cannot be trusted to act reasonably. Just smoking them out is highly likely to panic them, and their powers are sufficiently destructive for that to present a massive problem. We also need to consider that at least one of the Travelers is paraplegic, and the elusive Noelle likely has some sort of mobility problem as well. That will only increase the stress they're placed under, and increase the odds of a destructive panic."

That seemed to provoke some actual thought on the Director's part.

"Very well, in that case, we can start by threatening to smoke them out using the ventilation system in order to get them to surrender, and make clear that we have all the exits covered. That should hopefully result in a reduced risk the Travelers doing something stupid."

---

(Andrea)
Date Point: 0720, April 28th, 2011. Thursday.

Ultimately, Mic Duty fell to Captain Adam Smith of the PRT. It made sense, the man was a trained hostage negotiator, and us capes were far more valuable guarding the exits. Speaking of which, it had been decided to just use a loudspeaker at the door instead of sending in something that could be mistaken for an attack drone.

So I could hear very clearly when Adam began speaking.

"Attention Travelers, this is the PRT speaking! We have all exits to the bunker surrounded, including the ventilation system! Surrender within ten minutes, or we'll smoke you out!"

What followed was Genesis' projection coming to the door, carrying a cell phone. After quickly verifying that it wasn't rigged to blow up or something, Adam wound up in a prolonged and entirely unhelpful phone call

The PRT troops were just about to chuck smoke grenades down the air intakes, when suddenly we all got a priority transmission from Dragon.

"To all members of PRT ENE, Leviathan is coming to Brockton Bay, based on tracking of its movements. Estimated time of arrival some time between 1000 and 1030 hours. Initiate preparations for anti-Endbringer operations immediately."

Miss Militia actually swore out loud. The siege of the Travelers in the bunker was quickly abandoned, much to everyone's chagrin. We were this close to rounding them all up, and then this happened. But if we wasted any time that could be used to prepare for Leviathan coming here, that could easily translate into unacceptable numbers of civilian casualties.

As I flew away towards the Rig to get more information on preparations, I heard air raid sirens begin to wail.

 

[We Just Write]

(Marcus)
Date Point: 0802, April 28th, 2011. Tuesday.

I very obviously attended the briefing for Search And Rescue personnel in the upcoming Leviathan fight; it was the task I was best suited for, after all. Also, knowing what I did of Endbringer physiology, I knew I didn't have a chance of seriously hurting Leviathan without a Shear, of which there were only two. One being used by Armsmaster, and the other by Andrea.

As I was waiting for the briefing to start, I noticed someone lurking around that I had been trying to talk to for days now. Trickster, also known as one Francis Krouse. So I took the opportunity presented, and started walking towards him.

Trickster noticed my approach of course, starting back and practically shouting,

"Endbringer truce, Endbringer truce!"

I grumbled.

"Yes, there's an Endbringer Truce in effect. That's why I'm talking to you now, since you've apparently got it into your head that I'm some sort of assassin when that's literally the opposite of my job! My job is making backroom deals with villains to get them to stop causing problems, not killing them! You and your crew have been stalking one of my employers' good friends with intent to kidnap them, and I want to know why. What do you want that's so important that you think you need to kidnap someone to get leverage?"

There was a tense silence for several moments, Krouse seeming to not believe that the question could have possibly been meant in earnest. Then one of his teammates - Sundancer - put her hand on his shoulder.

"Trickster, we'd need to tell them eventually anyway. Why not do it now?"

Eventually, Trickster sighed.

"One of our teammates, Noelle. Her power has mutated her really badly, and screwed up her mind. She's barely in control of herself now. We were hoping Ruggedizer could build a new body for her."

I blinked, everything clicking into place.

"You could have just asked, and we'd have done it for free. We've even got a public phone number for exactly this sort of request for aid!"

Sundancer whirled on Trickster, then.

"YOU SAID NOT TO CALL THAT NUMBER! What the fuck was I thinking, listening to you!? The worst that could have happened is Ruggedizer saying no, and it sounds like that wouldn't have been the case at all!"

I calmly interjected,

"Can this please wait until after Leviathan? While I understand being upset with your teammate, we have a much bigger problem coming our way."

"Fine."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 0830, April 28th, 2011. Tuesday.

Both to keep up public appearances and for strategic reasons, Herman, Emmy and myself were sitting out Leviathan by taking the teleporter to Manchester. As were most of the newly employed Reliabuilt tinkers, for that matter. However, I was still involved in the defense of Brockton Bay, via telepresence. More particularly, Dragon had delegated strategic command to me; she'd be taking her own Shear-equipped platform into battle.

"Right, I've finished updating the firmware for the armbands. From the command center here in Manchester, we'll be able to collate all the information the combatants on the ground report, and specifically task instructions and information to relevant individuals."

Dragon's reply was immediate.

"That's good. I'm fully aware that the previous setup for communications and overall command during Endbringer battles was extremely bad, though with my shackles I couldn't have really done any better. That being fixed is a major relief."

I nodded.

---

(Armsmaster)
Date Point: 1021, April 28th, 2011. Tuesday.

Leviathan was making landfall at this very moment. Rain was hammering down, the first wave was crashing against the shore, and I was on my motorcycle with Shear #1 at the ready. The instant Leviathan's location became known, I would move to intercept. I was one of three with a Shear who had interception as their role; I was covering the southern flank of Brockton Bay's coastline, while Laniakea took the north and Dragon the center.

I barely had to wait three minutes - and momentarily retreat to evade the first wave - before I heard Ruggedizer's voice over the communications channel.

"Leviathan has made landfall in Z-3. Armsmaster to intercept. Opening data stream."

Just like that, I now had continuous tracking of Leviathan's position, courtesy of the battle's drone coverage. I immediately turned south and accelerated to maximum speed. I had to move quickly; between Leviathan's sheer speed and the ongoing damage to the road network, I had a very narrow window of opportunity to make contact.

Fortunately for me, my earlier retreat actually played to my advantage, as I rode out onto the street ahead of Leviathan. All four of the monster's - entirely cosmetic - eyes locked onto my position, even as I activated the Shear's decoy hard light blade. By seeming mutual agreement, we began charging at each other, almost like an old medieval joust.

Just before contact, Leviathan whipped to the side, its tail and associated water blade crashing towards me. I simply ducked as low as I could, angling the Shear's projected blade upward, at Leviathan's center-mass. I got a notification from the Shear that QDF mode was active, even as scything water sliced away most of the armor on my left arm and shredded my motorcycle's tires.

Then I saw Leviathan's tail again, rapidly receding into the distance. Without the rest of the Endbringer. I briefly looked behind me, and got confirmation that I'd chopped Leviathan's butt off, including the Endbringer's tail. The body of Leviathan was slumped over and apparently lifeless.

...Which meant the core was in the tail!

I tried to give pursuit, but it was too late. Even with Andrea and Dragon giving chase, Leviathan's tail had reached the waterfront and escaped into the safety of the ocean before another intercept could be completed.

While cheers were already starting to go up at the shortest and least damaging Endbringer attack on record, I couldn't help but feel kind of bitter. I was so, so close to personally killing one of those monsters. And with Rachel's missile program now well underway, I couldn't help but feel I would never get another opportunity like this.

 

[We Just Write]

(Noelle)
Date Point: 0832, April 30th, 2011. Thursday.

I snapped to awareness in a hospital bed. And... I could think clearly. There were no urges to eat people, nothing of the sort. I looked down, and I had actual human legs. No horrible mass of monster mouths and fucked up... stuff. But... something was off.

That tube plugged into my arm wasn't an IV. It was a cable. Why would a cable be plugged into someone?

Before I could think myself into a panic, someone spoke.

"Noelle Meinhardt? I'm Ruggedizer, and I'd like to know how you're doing."

I blinked, turning to see a woman in lightweight armor. The upper half of her face was covered by a visor with cartoony eye graphics on it, conveying well-meaning concern.

"Mostly, I'm just confused. What happened? Where is Krouse? Why am..."

Why am I not a monster.

Ruggedizer nodded.

"Let's start with what happened. A while back, I developed the technology to transfer people's minds into newly built robotic bodies; we call that process uploading. Trickster cut a deal that got you uploaded and your mind repaired, but as a condition he had to turn himself and Ballistic in to the PRT for their crimes."

...That would explain the cable.

"So... I'm a robot now?"

"Yes, though aside from setting off metal detectors and being three times the density of a human, you can basically live a normal life. You can unplug that cable now, by the way."

That was a major improvement from what I'd previously had to deal with. As Ruggedizer suggested, I unplugged the cable from my arm, and sat up on the edge of the hospital bed. As I got into a sitting position, something occurred to me.

"Um, Ruggedizer? What happened to my old body. You know, once I was out of it."

Ruggedizer took a breath, then answered.

"Your old body went berserk immediately after the uploading machine fired. Fortunately we'd prepared for that sort of outcome, so it wasn't able to hurt anyone before it was incinerated. I'd ask if you wanted the cremains, but you'd need a box the size of a refrigerator."

...Wait a moment, why couldn't I remember any of this!? Even though I was only sometimes lucid back in my old body, I definitely had at least some idea what was going on. And I just blurted that out loud...

Ruggedizer seemed startled. But she quickly regained her composure.

"Unfortunately, your power was not the only source of damage to your mind. After uploading you, but before waking you up, we examined your mind in extreme detail, and found extensive signs of tampering. Most likely by the Simurgh. After extensive consultation with the PRT and your teammates, it was decided to err on the side of caution."

"Ruggedizer, how bad was it?"

"As of right now, approximately a fifth of your mind is bespoke code replacing sabotaged or otherwise damaged sections. At their own request, Sundancer and Genesis have been uploaded and received similar treatment. Though they were able to retain a larger portion of their original minds."

"Are Genesis and Sundancer going to jail too?"

"No. They're currently in the process of signing up with the Protectorate."

Then something utterly horrible occurred to me.

"Am I still at risk of making evil clones if I touch people?"

There was a brief pause, before Ruggedizer answered.

"We tested while you were out; you don't make clones by touching people anymore. I can definitively state that you still have a parahuman ability, but I cannot tell you any particular details of the power you have."

"I guess I'll have to go through power testing, then."

Another horrible possibility came to mind.

"Um, I'm not under arrest, am I?"

"No. Upon consultation with legal professionals, all the charges against you were thrown out on grounds of insanity. You weren't in control of yourself, and since you've been brought back to sanity, there's no reason to view you as an ongoing danger."

One last question, then.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the Reliabuilt factory complex, in Brockton Bay."

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 0710, April 30th, 2011. Thursday.

Screw 'untiring robot body', I was exhausted. But I had completed the task assigned to me.

"Melissa, I've finished reprogramming Noelle's Dynalith."

My senior nodded in contemplation.

"Thank you, Herman. I know it was a major job on very short notice, but it really needed to be done."

"Here's the report on Noelle's new power. I'm taking today off."

As it turned out, Noelle's power only slightly relied on connections to other Dynaliths. Most of it was all her, given that her Dynalith was an extremely powerful emulator for exotic phenomena. Not as efficient as a more specialized Dynalith, but able to copy nearly anything you threw at it on very short notice. And given that it was one of those Dynaliths Cauldron had utterly botched reconfiguring, it was burning through its energy reserves at an entirely unsustainable rate.

To solve the problem, I'd activated the "deploy energy collectors" subroutine of the Dynalith. I'd also turned Noelle into a Tinker, one specialized in robot duplicates replicating the abilities of extant parahumans - though notably not robots that were themselves Tinkers. That offloaded most of the more basic capabilities onto hardware distinct from the Dynalith itself - while still giving us access to the extreme potential that Dynalith had.

All those thoughts aside, I was going to bed now.

 

[We Just Write]

(Emmy)
Date Point: 1345, April 28th, 2011. Tuesday.

Unsurprisingly, the buttless carcass of Leviathan had attracted a crowd of onlookers. The PRT had set up a perimeter with admirable swiftness, so the people figuring out how to move Leviathan's remains could keep working. Then someone in Brockton Bay's municipal government had the bright idea to start charging admission, so as to keep the number of people in the vicinity to a safe level. Either that or a once-in-a-lifetime cash grab. No matter which explanation was true, it was a good idea.

I ultimately decided to join the line to take a look myself; I couldn't really put the level of catharsis into words, but I just knew I needed to see proof of an Endbringer losing in person. I got in line behind a muscular Japanese man, waited until it was time to pay for my entry, and shuffled forwards until I had a decent view. Then, the man spoke.

"I did not believe they Endbringers could lose, until today."
Voice match: Lung. 86% confidence.

I nodded.

"Truth be told, I had almost given up hope myself until now."

There was a pause, before probably-Lung spoke again.

"I once lived on Kyushu. Leviathan destroyed my home, before. And now here it lies, dead."

I blinked.

"Not quite, sadly. Leviathan's tail escaped into the ocean after Armsmaster got that hit in. Leviathan may have been defeated today, but it isn't dead."

probably-Lung turned to look at me, as if trying to figure out whether I was messing with him.

"Do you speak truthfully?"

I nodded,

"Yes. I played an indirect role in coordinating the defense. I saw the footage of Leviathan's tail slithering off like a snake."

Now my conversation partner just seemed confused.

"That is... very strange indeed. I have heard of lizards that sever their own tail as a distraction, but I never would have guessed that the rest of the Endbringer was the distraction for the tail."

"Yes, it is rather bizarre. My name is Emmy, by the way. You?"

Probably-Lung hesitated for a moment, before answering.

"I am Kenta. I am glad we met."

Then we went our separate ways.

---

(Andrea)
Date Point: 1015, April 30th, 2011. Thursday.

As usual, I donned my high-visibility vest and hard hat as I arrived at the construction site for the Brockton Bay Bridge. Leviathan's attack had understandably halted work on the project while the damage was assessed. As I walked towards the temporary office, I nodded to a few workers who were currently putting away some surveying equipment.

The door opened, and I quickly came face-to-face with a serious-looking man working at a computer.

"So, how bad was the damage to the bridge?"

Mike Smith - the chief engineer for the Brockton Bay Bridge project - opened up a data sheet as he began answering my question.

"You need to understand that we haven't finished the assessment yet; two days isn't a lot of time for this sort of work, and we're still waiting for some specialist equipment to image the insides of various structural elements. That said, initial signs are promising."

"Do tell?"

"Well for starters, the foundations of the main columns didn't budge a millimeter. That isn't hyperbole; I got it checked with some very precise equipment, and they're exactly where they're supposed to be. Haven't detected any signs of cracking, warping, erosion, corrosion, or other problems yet either. If nothing comes up, we should be able to resume construction by this time next week, but we're being cautious before giving the go ahead."

I nodded.

"Fair enough. I certainly wouldn't want the bridge to collapse due to some damage from Leviathan's attack going uncorrected. So I'm glad you're putting in your due dilligence."

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 0201, May 1st, 2011. Friday.

With QDF weaponry having made its public reveal and being proven in combat - albeit with the complication of Leviathan's tail escaping - the missile program now had the full go-ahead. Even better, the PRT (and a few other three letter agencies) had shoved a downright comical amount of funding at the anti-Endbringer weapons program between myself Ruggedizer and Armsmaster. But more money wasn't what we wanted or needed, exactly.

Instead, we'd asked for the de-assed Leviathan carcass to be shipped to the Manchester facility for use as a test target. Since it was obstructing traffic in its present location and we had proven results under our belt, the PRT was more than willing to facilitate the delivery. And quite quickly too, which is what resulted in it being delivered at what any organic - Miss Militia aside - would consider a godawful hour in the morning.

When it was time for the carcass to arrive, Melissa, Armsmaster, and myself were present. As was the utterly massive wide-load truck the PRT had got to do the hauling. As the truck started backing up, I took the opportunity for a little humor.

"Hey, Armsmaster?"

The Protectorate Tinker turned to me.

"Yes?"

"If you want to mount Leviathan's head on your wall, your last chance is coming up soon."

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't think it would fit."

Despite the lack of laughter, the faint smile betrayed Armsmaster's amusement. Melissa chimed in a moment later,

"Those amusing thoughts aside, it's time to unload Leviathan's carcass. Help me get the gantry crane lined up, will you? And then we need to properly secure the harnesses. This is several tons of eldritch horror we're talking about, it's not exactly trivial to move around."

 

[We Just Write]

(Maria)
Date Point: 1100, May 4th, 2011. Monday.

While Rachel and Armsmaster were developing the warhead for the anti-endbringer missiles on Earth Bet, it had been agreed that the actual missiles should be designed and tested on Neohadea. Bluntly, we just had far more room to experiment with them out here, where the Dynaliths weren't looking. This was especially important, given what our planned first demonstration would be.

I'd ended up delegating the matter to Tanya's engineering bureau, freeing myself up to continue with my governmental duties. But after a few days, Tanya and company had indicated that they had a prototype ready to test. So I'd made some time, and here I was.

As I expected, Tanya met me at the entrance.

"Greetings, your Highness. The missile test range is just this way."

I followed, asking,

"So, give me the overview. What can this missile do that makes it able to hit the Simurgh in orbit?"

"Well, we obviously d-shielded its insides to protect it against tampering. There's also the sensor suite we fitted it with, including several methods of locking onto the dimensional distortions Endbringers need to live; that should make it very hard to decoy. It's also fitted with a "screamer" that utterly scrambles extradimensional scans of all varieties within several kilometers while in flight - and it comes in at roughly three quarters the speed of light on terminal approach."

Before I could ask any further questions, Tanya finished her statement.

"In summary, good luck intercepting or dodging that."

As the gate to the test range opened, I asked another question.

"Three quarters light speed? How?"

"We fitted the missile with a rudimentary warp drive, based on Vista's power. We could have made it go faster, but accidentally exceeding c makes the warp bubble pop, and the missile's only got enough energy for one warp drive ignition. Also there's issues with accidentally causing nuclear reactions through atmospheric compression that we wanted to mitigate."

"Anyway: behold the Version Zero Anti-Endbringer Missile."

With that, I came into view of the test stand. Sure enough, that was a missile. But it looked rather strange; the mid-section had a toroidal bulge just in front of the mounting hardpoint, and instead of maneuvering fins, the fore and aft of the missile had a set of eight turning thrusters each.

"Tanya, Queen Maria! Glad to see both of you."

I quickly checked the files - yes, that was Arnie, one of the engineers on the AEM project.

"So, looking at the hard point design, you intend for this missile to be air launched?"

Arnie nodded,

"Given the way Endbringers attack, we determined that an air-launched missile had the most flexibility in deployment. I highly doubt Reliabuilt should retain full control over the AEM supply, but we also don't want to spread them around so much that they get used in human-on-human conflicts. An air-launched option therefore allows national militaries the ability to cover a large territory with a rather small arms stockpile."

"Good thinking, but we'll need at least a few ground-launched munitions for their initial debut. We don't want to give Ziz any warning of an armed aerospace craft coming up to meet her until we're ready to blast her out of orbit."

"We can do that easily enough."

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1230, May 5th, 2011. Tuesday.

It was lunch time, and I was in a rather bad mood. Mainly on account of bureaucracy.

"This is ridiculous; the FDA won't approve stage one clinical trials for the immunocorrectives without the PRT's say-so, and the PRT is trying to get the FDA to run a clinical trial before they'll authorize anything."

Amy nodded,

"Standard ass-covering; neither agency wants the backlash of making a bad call to land on them, so around and around it goes. With the uploading tech, it was clearly outside the FDA's wheelhouse. But here..."

"Here, they have full proof of reproducibility, all the animal testing data we could give them, it's just... argh!"

"Herman, you're going in circles. I'm sure Legal will sort it out eventually, and in the meantime we can work on something else."

I took a deep breath to calm down. Amy was right.

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 1520, May 5th, 2011. Tuesday.

It had been a long time coming, but we finally had approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to start selling Palletized Fusion Generators. They'd also approved a pilot plant in Maine, with six reactors authorized. A dedicated factory for Reliabuilt nuclear technology and infrastructure products was under construction in Worchester, Massacusetts. But until then, they were being built in Brockton Bay.

As I was waiting on the loading dock for the first shipment of generators to be picked up, Angie Rains spoke up.

"Despite everything, things hadn't quite felt real until today."

"Do tell?"

Angie shrugged,

"Until the technology leaves the laboratory, it doesn't really affect anyone's lives. Pure Tinker tech can't really change the world for the better even then. So all this? It felt kind of like- I'm not sure what it felt like before, but it didn't quite feel real."

I nodded.

"I think I understand; it was a similar story with my first patent. The Energy Teleportation one. I genuinely didn't think it would be reproduced - but when it was I could feel something. I don't really know what the words for it would be though."

"Maybe it's hope? It feels wrong to hope that things might get better, like it's been forbidden by some higher authority. But for once, things are finally starting to look up a bit."

As the first generator was loaded onto the intermodal truck that would carry it to Maine, I nodded.

"Yeah, they are. And I'm not about to just give up on making things better without a fight."

 

[We Just Write]

The Simurgh was currently idling in orbit, as much as such a being could be called idle. As part of its duties, the precognitive was picking out targets for the other Endbringers. In particular, Brockton Bay was a location of much importance, and a prime target for a strike by Leviathan. The Tinker enterprise known as Reliabuilt simply had to go, and crucial elements for the plan to reveal Cauldron were also present. There were no signs of a genuine threat to Leviathan present in the city, so the Simurgh gave the order without trepidation.

The approach to the target was uneventful; the subjects noticed Leviathan's approach unusually early, but that was deemed irrelevant. Armsmaster charging with a hard-light blade was also deemed irrelevant; such a weapon had no capability to seriously harm an Endbringer.

[DAMAGE][FEAR][ESCAPE][QUERY]

The burst of communication from Leviathan as it retreated to the safety of the ocean was a complete and utter surprise to the Simurgh. The weapon used to grievously injure Leviathan should not have been capable of doing so, and yet it had. If the weapon had been angled just a few degrees further to the left, it would have killed Leviathan.

[WEAPON][DECEPTION]

It took several seconds for the Simurgh to determine what happened - Armsmaster's weapon was in fact making use of a weaponized teleportation effect. One notably independent from dimensional phenomena, and thus unaffected by the overlays inside an Endbringer. The next task on the Simurgh's agenda was determining the origin of said weapon.

While the insides of Armsmaster's mind and equipment were inaccessible, tracing his whereabouts was simple enough.

Reliabuilt was thus immediately implicated in the creation of that incredibly dangerous weapon. Not only had Armsmaster visited Reliabuilt facilities several times in the lead-up to Leviathan's attack, but the "Shear" was first seen leaving a Reliabuilt facility.

[ORIGIN][CONTAINMENT]

The removal of Reliabuilt had thus ascended to the very top of the Simurgh's priority list, but the simple fact that its leadership and hardware were immune to the Simurgh's senses made a direct assault inadvisable. Especially not with more Shear weapons potentially in the vicinity.

The Simurgh had no obligation to attack directly. Compromising its cover as only having limited range was off-limits for now, but there were plenty of unstable hosts who might plausibly take offense to Reliabuilt on the flimsiest of justifications. There were hundreds of viable candidates, so the Simurgh could even afford to be a bit choosy in who to send.

The Simurgh began quietly adjusting target hosts, putting Reliabuilt more and more at the forefront of their thoughts - specifically in the most negative light that would escape detection by those around them. It would take at least twenty two days to set up a full-fledged assault on Reliabuilt in a way that would not implicate the Simurgh directly, so the Endbringer took the patient approach.

Sixteen days after Leviathan's attack, the Simurgh's planning was abruptly interrupted by its senses being scrambled in the vicinity of Brockton Bay. For a moment, it thought this was simple jamming - but the points of disruption were rapidly gaining altitude. Not just rapidly gaining altitude - the disruptions were vectoring directly towards the Simurgh.

The Simurgh immediately made the connection. These were guided missiles - missiles that were not only aimed directly at the Simurgh, but also presented an excessively high probability of proving lethal, and would be exceedingly difficult to intercept on account of the jamming.

Before the Simurgh could move to use satellites as impromptu missile interceptors and retaliatory projectiles, the missiles abruptly increased speed to a truly excessive degree.

The calculation was immediate. The missiles would hit in thirty milliseconds. There was no measure the Simurgh could take in that time to intercept the missiles, evade them, or otherwise ensure its own survival. All that was left was spite.

There were one hundred thirty three hosts primed to assault Reliabuilt - most of the work guiding them to that conclusion was already complete. All the Simurgh would need to do is pull the metaphorical trigger early. And staring down its death, that is exactly what the Simurgh did.