Author's note: This chapter has been finished for a month, but I have not had any un-interrupted time to get the formatting right.

So my car decided to 'help' me and now I'm sitting in a Mechanic's waiting room and figuring it all out on low-speed wifi and a wanna-be laptop tablet. If you're reading this within a few hours of posting (whoops, my cursor just disapperared) there may be errors.

BOLD text is happening AFTER all of the 'flashbacks' in regular text. It's probably worth reading through twice in one sitting if this chapter is confusing.

Jishin 4.2

"What the fuck is this?" Sophia asked as she angrily stormed back into the Wards' quarters on the Rig. Instead of all the Wards she had expected to be there, the common area was empty except for Dean.

"A way to take your mind off things after your speech," said Dean, "focus on something else so you're not obsessively ruminating until you drive yourself insane."

"I'd rather go to the gym and work out until I'm too tired to think about it." Sophia said while she paced back and forth.

"Can't. Vista's in there with the new guy doing anti-cape scenarios with a couple of PRT squads."

"Plus," Dean ticked off his fingers, "Clockblocker is in Leadership training, god help us, with Triumph and Aegis until our unexpected guest's ride gets here. Kid Win is in his lab tinkering up a storm. We're all banned from electronics so no Console duty, video games, or movies, and I can't call Victoria and so I've got her needy bitch-out to eventually look forward to."

"So unless you want to do homework…" Dean gestured at the chessboard.

"Nah," Sophia crossed her arms and answered grumpily, "I doubt they want my thousand word essay to just be 'Fuck You' repeated five hundred times."

"We could do checkers, if it's more your speed?"

"…and 'Fuck You' number five hundred and one." Sophia flopped down in a chair across the table from Dean and said, "Ugh… fiiiiine. Since you have it set up anyway, okay."

"Great! You can go first." Dean said, with a spin of the board to put the white pieces closest to Sophia.

Dean watched Sophia's aura, and took mental note of her roiling emotions as annoyed streaks of orange gradually blended into the simmering, dark, angry red that Sophia constantly projected, so that he could report back to Director Piggot on Shadow Stalker's state of mind after the events from this morning as ordered.

1Nf3 Sophia made a bold opening move with her Knight and Dean could see her emotional turmoil as he asked, "Sure didn't expect this after being locked down on the Rig last night…"

When the armored limousine pulled away from the dance Friday evening, the first clue of just how serious the Director was about the whole situation was when the vehicle turned not for the PRT HQ downtown, but instead drove downhill towards the Bay. There was none of the usual wait for transit to the Rig, they just drove straight on and were immediately off to their destination.

The waves of the bay reflected light from the city as they moved closer to the Protectorate fortress.

Sophia's thoughts turned to Butterfly. The mercenary she'd just set up a clandestine meet with was actually that loser Taylor Hebert. How the hell had she missed it? How had Hebert pulled the wool over her eyes? That wuss must have set her up in the hallway, goaded her until that punch right in front of two teachers… just like a Master, sneakily weaselly manipulating, never up for direct confrontation. Butterfly also claimed she had been injured by the Undersiders last night, and then today Hebert gimped around like she was hurt.

Sophia considered maybe Hebert used bugs to blackmail the track team against her? Sure, she's a track star, they need her and Hebert's jealous, there's no other reason. "Why not just swarm me?" she thought, "It's what I'd do. Coward's just not up to it, I guess."

Sophia's thoughts were interrupted as the limousine transitioned into the hangar deck of the Rig and came to a halt.

1Nf6 Dean mirrored her opening move and said, "It sucks that the first thing you were ordered to do was to go straight to Medical, but they did need to collect the evidence."

As soon as the door to the hallway opened Vista pointed to a basket next to the console which already held her own PRT issued phone and said, "Everyone drop your phones here, Director's orders." When the Wards filed past in order to enter the on-duty area of their quarters Missy singled out the teen hero known as Clockblocker and asked, "Hey Dennis? Were either of your parents previously married?"

The non-sequitur caused him to come to a halt. "No, they've only been married to each other…" he said confusedly.

"Really?" Missy said as she projected video of his ignominious encounter at the dance on the largest monitor, "Because that short girl sure beat you like a red-headed stepchild."

Dennis laughed. "Yes! Misdirection! Clever wordplay! And it was personal, you went there!"

The time-stopping teen gave the distance warping Ward a high-five as the rest of the heroic teens filed in to their quarters.

Sophia faked a stumble over the police blanket still wrapped around her as she approached and ghosted her personal phone through the back of the couch in the common area, dropped her PRT issued phone in the basket and continued on to Medical.

In the examination room the medical technicians scraped the paint and coagulated sauce off of her, which yanked some hair out by the roots in the long, boring process.

"Are we done?" Sophia asked grumpily.

"Yes, you can finally hit the showers." the on-duty doctor told her, "Don't forget to put your clothes in an evidence bag."

"Yeah, yeah..." the sullen teen muttered as she left Medical and the door closed solidly behind her.

The doctor opened the bag of scraped off paint and tomato sauce, extracted as many hairs with tweezers as she could find and placed them into a sample dish. "Take these to the lab for a full toxicity screening. Director's orders."

2c4 Sophia advanced a Pawn aggressively out into the midfield on the left and said, "I know, but Panacea was right there, and they kept me away from her while the Track Team got healed up."

Sophia dried off and dressed after her shower. Finally one damn pair of socks where the elastic hadn't gone, and they were the ones she practically never wore. Typical.

She expected to join all the other Wards in their quarters, but instead a PRT Agent lurked outside the door and said, "The Director wants you meet with you ASAP. I'm your escort." He held out his hands for the evidence bags Sophia held.

Whatever she did to Hebert she deserved for not standing up for herself. Now that the loser actually was pushing back, it just confirmed her resolve to shove the wuss back down even harder. Sophia could rely on Emma, Madison and the rest in their social orbit for support. What she really wanted was to go dish out some street level justice as a way to let off steam.

Instead she was stuck here.

During the winding walk through the corridors Sophia considered how Piggot and the PRT would go after Jesse and the rest of the Track Team with their full force. Maybe it was a good thing she hadn't irrevocably arranged a hit on that smug asshole.

Yet, anyway.

2e6 Dean gave his Knight a Pawn wingman and said, "Yes, but then we wouldn't have the physical evidence of what the Track Team did to you, while any injuries from your reactions are long gone thanks to Amy. It looks worse for them that you're still injured."

In the Immaculata parking lot, half a dozen Winslow Track Team members were crammed in the back of two police cars. They had languished there uncomfortably for what seemed like hours, their hands cuffed behind them, stuck shoulder to shoulder breathing in the same stale air.

A bulky white van pulled up nearby. People more armored than any SWAT team got out and opened double doors in the back of the van.

Jesse saw one of the cops sign something on a clipboard then walk to the squad car he was in.

"No skin off my nose if you want to take 'em," said the cop as he opened the door right next to Jesse.

A PRT Agent jerked his thumb at the van behind him and said, "You three. Get in."

Jesse asked, "Hey, why are we being handed over to the PRT? There were no capes involved. What the fuck?"

The PRT Agent held his hand out to his partner. An angular rifle with a long yellow lightning bolt on the side slapped into his open palm. A laser targeter slung underneath the ridiculously wide barrel lit up and swung to point at Jesse's crotch.

"This'll put a cape down. Now get in the fuckin' van or I'll cook your dick, motherfucker," the PRT Agent said matter-of-factly.

Jesse got in the fuckin' van.

3g3 Sophia gave her Knight a Pawn wingman like Dean had done and said, "Those assholes deserved what was coming to them."

While she followed the PRT Agent, Sophia ran a hypothetical conversation through in her mind. If she just went to Piggot and said, 'So I think Butterfly goes to Winslow.' Piggy would ask 'Why do you think that?' Then she would say 'I recognized her in the crowd.' 'How did you recognize this Mercenary Merchant scum?' her Pigginess would ask. 'She answered my texts when I tried to hire her to assassinate someone for me...'

Yeah, no.

Sophia knew she would only be free to act only so long as no one suspected she knew Butterfly's identity.

The PRT Agent knocked on the door to a conference room and was immediately replied with a stern voice that said "Enter."

Sophia opened the door to the conference room and entered. Director Piggot stood off to one side as a teleconference camera was set up in front of a monitor.

On that screen was Glenn Chambers.

3d5 Dean advanced a Pawn to challenge her control of the center of the board and noted the teal of guilt mixed with deep rose of frustration, unusual emotions coming from Sophia as she had apparently remembered something. Perhaps she had just re-lived an unpleasant memory. He said, "C'mon it's not like school can be all that bad, even if it is Winslow..."

Jesse awkwardly climbed into the PRT van and sat where another PRT Agent pointed. As his teammates clambered in to take seats beside him, he glanced out the door to see the cops usher the other three Track Team members from a squad car and remove their handcuffs.

"Hey, why are they..." Jesse began to ask before he received a punch in his solar plexus. It felt like all the air vomited out of his lungs all at once as he struggled, and failed, to draw a breath.

Jesse pitched forward involuntarily, only to have the PRT Agent who sat opposite him plant a combat boot against his chest and kick him back into his seat.

"No talking."

The doors closed and the van drove away.

Jesse had managed to resume breathing normally by the time they had arrived at the PRT HQ building downtown.

4Bg2 "Yeah," Sophia said as she moved her Bishop to support her right flank, "Winslow's not the problem. It's just that I didn't start this shit, but it all hit me just the same. It was all their fault."

Sophia considered ghosting through the floor for a moment, but instead stood her ground in front of the teleconference camera and monitor.

On that screen Glenn Chambers wrapped up another conversation on his phone, "…how'd he get the Harley up on the high dive in the first place?"

4Be7 Dean moved his own Bishop up to a more central position and said, "Y'know, it's like the therapists say, 'When you point a finger in blame, three fingers point back at you'."

"Good, good. Well, that's Seattle handled." Glenn said as he put down his phone.

Glenn said, "Come sit down Miss Hess. This little adversity breeds opportunity. With you, we have a chance to sway the court of public opinion to our side."

"What… the hell are you talking about?" Sophia asked confusedly.

"My dear, in my job it's not reality, but the perception of reality that matters." Glenn said.

Sophia said, "Listen, I've had a long night of getting crap dumped on me, just say it more plainly, Yeah?"

Glenn sighed and said, "You're going to turn our lemons into lemonade. Tomorrow morning we're going to have you give a little 'how bullying comes in many packages' anti-hazing speech."

5 O-O Sophia said, "Oh yeah? How 'bout just one finger then?" as she flipped him off. Then she Castled her king into a strong defensive position.

"Are you fucking high?!"

Director Piggot looked down her nose at the foul-mouthed Ward and said icily, "Language."

Sophia's voice rose angrily, "There's no goddamn WAY I'm going to agree to have you trot me around in front of the cameras as your little show-pony victim."

"Well, we all have our illusions, far be it from me to take away yours. But..." Glenn paused.

The screen split in two and showed some legal paperwork. Her own signature was circled in red.

Glenn turned his head slightly with a sardonic grin and said, "Your contractual obligations say differently."

5 O-O Dean also Castled, as he seemed to again mimic Sophia's chess moves. Then he said, "Oooh, touchy. Don't let Victoria see that, it might make her jealous."

Glenn straightened and said, "In recognition of the lateness of the hour, let me lay it all out for you, Miss Hess."

"Your speech tomorrow will successfully accomplish multiple goals for the PRT. Ward program outreach. A sympathetic anti-bullying campaign. But most of all it finally gives us something concrete we can use to push back against the bureaucratic overreach of the Youth Guard."

Glenn then leaned back and casually flicked his wrist with each option he mentioned, "Or, if and only if you say no, we could do down the other route. Guard duty outside a Simurgh zone. Rebranding and transfer to another city. There's that new PRT department forming in Alaska looking for new recruits. Or, given your record, there's serving out the rest of your sentence in juvenile hall."

Glenn leaned forward with his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them like a hammock, "But before you answer, let me calm your fears. The rumors that you would be sent out on the wall surrounding Ellisburg with a dinner bell around your neck are patently false."

Glenn turned his right palm and shortly after his left palm up and said, "Rock. Hard Place. Your decision, Miss Hess? I still have to read the riot act to all the Wards nationwide and the clock is ticking."

6b3 Sophia advanced a Pawn on her left and said, "I wasn't bullied or hazed or any of that. Track team dumbshits picked the wrong target is all."

Sophia zoned out during the speech broadcast to all the Wards across the country since she already viscerally understood the repercussions. They had her over a barrel, and they knew it. One of the few things that made all the associated Ward bullshit bearable was her social connections at Winslow.

It felt good to be the big fish in a small pond, even if it overflowed with pond scum.

She had been forced to agree to what they wanted and then hit the hay since it was already after midnight. Even though every other Ward on the continent were locked down as of now, she still had to go to that ankle biters meet and greet tomorrow and give whatever damn speech Glenn Chambers and his battery of PR flacks came up with while she slept.

Except this time the brats would be outnumbered by TV cameras.

Shit.

Sophia slid between the sheets and tried to catch what sleep she could.

6a5 Dean aggressively countered with a Pawn into the midfield and said, "How dare they consider you a mere mortal, to drag you down to stoop to their level, is that it?"

Jesse stepped into the cell bare footed, the blaze orange prison jumpsuit clung to his body in places where he hadn't been able to dry off from whatever that chemical wash was the PRT Agents had put him through. The towel he had been given seemed a step below regular fabric when it came to absorption, not to mention the ten seconds of constant shouts to hurry up had hardly been enough time to dry off in any case.

The door hummed closed and sealed with a series of ominous clacks.

The speaker in the high ceiling blared to life with feedback, "Attention, you are under observation for the next twelve hours as part of Master/Stranger protocols to detect any possible influence. Follow all instructions promptly and answer all questions immediately."

The speaker turned off with another high pitched electronic tone.

Jesse walked over to the thin mattress on a bench of concrete, he wouldn't even dignify it by calling it a bed, and sat down.

He thought he heard some yells, followed by some muffled thumps from the cell next to his, but after a noise like a can of whipped cream going off, the other noises stopped.

He lay down on the plastic wrapped foam rubber and closed his eyes.

Not five seconds later, the speaker in the ceiling loudly blared to life, "Stand and place your hands on the red square on the wall."

On the otherwise blank wall across from him, three illuminated shapes appeared; a blue circle, a green rectangle, and a rosy pink square.

Jesse stood up, placed his hands on the pink square and said, "Like this?"

A multi-barreled turret dropped from the ceiling and swung to point right at him.

The speaker squealed to life again, "I said the RED square!"

Jesse looked around the room and saw a small red square that glowed on the wall behind where he had sat down.

He turned around and put his hands on the red square with a sigh.

"No talking," the speaker blared.

Jesse knew he was in for a long night.

7Nc3 Sophia brought the Knight on her left flank forward and said, "Nah, the only 'stoop' they had going for them was stup-ID."

In the morning Sophia practiced the speech with Miss Militia yet again.

Apparently Glenn Chambers leveraged the Protectorate heroine's perfect memory to his advantage, and to Sophia's detriment.

She had to learn the damn speech word for fucking word, and Miss Militia would pounce on every little mistake. Like saying 'these' instead of 'those' really mattered.

And the worst part was that the Protectorate cape was constantly with her, drilling her on the speech as she got ready for the event.

All while getting dressed, brushing her hair, through the cracked-open bathroom door, even while in the elevator to the hangar. Over and over and over again. No cape and cowl to hide her usual look of disgust she had when dealing with brats, it wasn't her cap identity which had been hazed on stage last night after all.

Sophia sighed with frustration as she realized Miss Militia was going to ride with her and force her to practice all the way there as well.

7c6 Dean pushed a Pawn forward and said, "Nice turn of phrase. It wasn't in the speech, was it?"

Jesse was exhausted, and it seemed like every time he tried to sleep they would wake him up and force him to recite the alphabet backwards, or stand on one foot, or figure out a mathematic word problem, or different variations that kept him from getting any sleep in the tiny cell.

By the time they started using tongue-twisters he knew they were all just fucking with him.

He could tell by the voices there were at least three different PRT Agents taking turns at the microphone.

Maybe it was just the chance to use all the stuff they wouldn't dare if it were Hookwolf or Oni Lee or some other cape in the cell, but since it was just some high school student, they probably figured 'Why the hell not?'

It's what he would have done in their situation. Hell, he even had piled it on like that during Track Team hazing last year.

However, this was different. The turret that followed his every move had unnerved him, and more than a little.

He was so damn tired, though.

He didn't even get completely horizontal before the speaker in the ceiling squawked and yet another command to follow was yelled at him.

Jesse couldn't take it for much longer.

8d4 Sophia said as she shoved a Pawn in the middle of the board, "Nah, but that speech was a lot harder than I expected."

Sophia rode in the car with Miss Militia to the event and pondered how to spin it to her advantage. Once she was up there actually giving the speech she would be able to alter what she decided to say a little.

Make her seem like less of a victim, at least. Say what she would do to the Track Team if they ever pulled something like that again.

Yeah.

8Nbd7 Dean brought his Knight from the flank to the center and said, "How so?"

Deputy Director Rennick reviewed results from the blood testing ordered for all Wards by Director Costa-Brown. For most of the mandated screening of the Wards under their care there were no surprises, but Shadow Stalker's report raised some concerns.

Sophia's toxicity screening was still being worked on in the lab. The tests on her hair follicles would show what, if any, substances she had put into her body over the amount of time her hair had grown. Panacea could reset anything and everything except brains in a body, but she usually didn't touch cosmetic features like hair unless it was part of the injured area.

He pulled up some older reports from Shadow Stalker to look for corroborating evidence of his suspicions.

9Qc2 Sophia freed up her Queen to strike later and said, "There I was, the only Ward allowed out and about in the whole country…"

Sophia plotted how to take down Butterfly now that she knew the cape was actually Taylor Hebert. Maybe she'd just blurt it out during the speech and let the chips fall where they may.

Still, Sophia considered if that she outed Taylor's cape ID, it raised the question of how she knew. It would also raise too many questions about how Sophia used her powers against Taylor, and Juvie's jaws would open wide in anticipation. 'I figured it out when I texted the Merchant's Mercenary to assassinate the teenager who pranked me... y'know, as you do... perfectly normal, perfectly healthy.'

Yeah. That wouldn't fly.

Then Miss Militia interrupted her thoughts when she said, "Okay, take it from the top..."

Oh god. Not again.

9b6 Dean advanced a Pawn to support the side and said, "Internationally. Think about the neglected Canadian branches."

Dragon's sub-programs sifted through data in specific geographic areas this Saturday morning to flag events which may have had a trigger event behind them, with last night's nationwide Wards mandated 'social event outings' as the cause. Suspicious hospitalizations, arrest incongruities, reported absences, unusual news reports were all sieved for previously unknown capes.

It was a small part of the Endbringer prediction software she ran constantly anyway, so the forwarded information to the PRT branches used barely any of her run time.

She returned her regular project queue to begin to build replacement systems for the ones lost in her latest confrontation with Saint.

10e4 Sophia finished her Pawn wall in the center of the board and said, "Oh, cry me a river. Who gives a shit about Canada? So, there I was, the only Ward let out of lockdown and…"

When their PRT transport finally arrived Sophia finally had some time to herself.

It was the usual hurry-up-and wait, with camera crews adjusted lighting and local reporters primped for their own time on camera.

The speech? Whatever. In these chaotic surroundings there's no way Miss Militia would be able to stop her from saying jack shit.

She felt confident she could do what she wanted. Just the way it should be.

10Ba6 Dean moved his Bishop to potentially enfilade and break up Sophia's defenses and said, "…and?"

With a rush of air Strider appeared in the unused cafeteria used as a briefing room with a large group of people. From her own dealings with the PR department Sophia dimly remembered some of the lackeys who bustled out to accomplish pre-appointed tasks.

Left in the center of this expanding human wave of PR professionals stood Glenn Chambers.

11Nd2 Sophia recognized the threat and pulled her Knight back defensively and said, "…and I had less freedom than any of you suckers still under house arrest."

Glenn talked with Miss Militia briefly while one of the interchangeable interns explained the new cue cards with colored accents and inflection marks to Sophia as her makeup was done by two more PR staff.

She looked off to the side and briefly saw PR people rearranging lights and disconnecting cameras over the objections of TV crews before her head was forced back by the makeup artist.

"I said DON'T MOVE. You almost looked like a raccoon. Now stay still and let me finish."

Sophia concluded, okay maybe she COULDN'T do whatever she wanted.

11c5 Dean advanced another Pawn to oppose Sophia in the center of the board and said, "At least you're going to go to a better place."

Jesse awoke after a practically sleepless night in the Master/Stranger screening cell. They had finally backed off and let him catch a little shut-eye. They said he was just about free to go and would get lunch just before he was processed out.

A slot in the cell door opened and a tray was pushed through.

Scrambled eggs, an English Muffin and a frozen solid pat of butter was all it held.

Jesse looked to the ceiling and said, "Um, hello? Could I get a fork or a knife or something?"

The lights in the room turned red. The turret on the ceiling hosed him down with a thick, viscous, and sticky foam that hardened as it grew.

The speaker blared to life, "Subject has requested a weapon, lockdown initiated."

Jesse found himself submerged under the expanded spongy lattice, unable to move or see, but still able to breathe and barely able to hear.

That was how he heard two voices on the speaker.

"Told you it'd work. The breakfast tray works every time."

"Yeah, yeah… here's your twenty bucks. How'd you guess it was him we'd get to foam last?"

"My kid goes to the same school, told me what these Track Team numbnuts did last week. I figured their captain would be a tougher nut to crack."

Jesse simmered in frustrated rage. 'Were all PRT Agents douchebags, or just these ones?' he wondered.

12exd5 Sophia claimed first blood as she captured a Pawn of Dean's and said, "Ugh, don't remind me."

Deputy Director Rennick had started to pull it all together. The evidence was there, it just was just too subtle to notice unless looked at with the proper perspective. But what he had was just not actionable, unfortunately.

He needed more information on Sophia's behavior at her school, so he considered his options. Maybe replace a teacher with an undercover PRT Agent to watch things? No, Sophia could recognize every PRT guy on sight anyway. It would be a huge waste of resources to have one of the Protectorate capes do it, with the same recognition problems as well. Can't even pull a PRT squaddie to be a student either, they're all too old. All the Wards besides Vista were at the dance and unmasked, so not only would they be recognized, any of them would be an unprecedented transfer student from Arcadia to Winslow which would fuel the rumor mill in and of itself.

12cxd4 Dean captured one of Sophia's Pawns in return and threatened her Knight and said, "I know it didn't turn out like you planned."

Jesse found out the containment foam release agent did even worse things to his hair than the chemicals from the delousing shower last night. He was able to compare and contrast since they put him through the de-lousing chemical spray a second time before they gave back his clothes.

At least they'd given him an actual towel this time, but even with no mirrors, he was sure his head looked like he had worn a fright wig.

Printed on the door in large letters was 'No Talking To Other Detainees'.

Jesse pushed the door open once he was dressed in another orange jumpsuit and walked through to an unadorned waiting area.

Mike was already there. The boy took a step towards him and said, "Hey, man how are…"

A turret dropped from the ceiling as a voice sternly said, "No talking to the other detainees!"

Mike stepped back and said, "Okay, okay. Just don't fo…"

The turret ejected a thick stream of containment foam on Mike, which entombed the teenager in an expanding shell.

Jesse wisely stayed quiet.

13Nb5 Sophia felt annoyed with the way she was forced to move her Knight or risk its capture to a wimpy Pawn and said, "Like I planned? Hell no, nothing went the way I planned."

Sophia walked up to the podium to give the speech. Glenn raised a tiny dinner bell up by his neck and the delicate 'ding-a-ling' made her blood unexpectedly run cold.

From out of camera frame Glenn cleared his throat and stood with arms raised. An intern knelt in front and was obscured by the colored and accented cue cards. Glenn was actually going to 'conduct' her speech.

Her voice rose and fell slightly in pitch as she read the cue cards and followed Glenn's hands in her peripheral vision, "How we treat each other matters…"

13exd5 Dean captured another of Sophia's Pawns and said, "You still have your friends to support you."

Deputy Director Rennick decided that now he'd shot down all the things he couldn't do to observe Sophia at Winslow, it was time to go out on a limb and think of what he could do.

Maybe we could ship in Young Buck? He's experienced, but if a kid with a Texas twang accent showed up at the same time as a Ward from Houston transferred in for just-this-side-of punishment duty, kiss that secret identity goodbye. What about the new guy? He hasn't been through branding yet and so is unknown to the public, and more importantly he hadn't unmasked to Sophia. But his biggest drawback is that he was untested and inexperienced.

Still, a crap option to present to Director Piggot was better than no option.

14Nxd4 Sophia captured one of Dean's Pawn as she brought her Knight to the middle of the board and said, "For now, until the repercussions from that speech happen."

Jesse walked from his detainment cell with his PRT escort to an empty interrogation room, where she left him alone.

It was just like the ones he'd seen in TV shows. Nothing more than a bare dingy white room with a one-way glass window on one wall. In the middle of the room was a sturdy table bolted to the floor with a ring for handcuffs to be secured in the center. One metal chair that faced the mirrored window was also bolted to the floor. Two metal folding chairs flanked the chair bolted to the floor, and one folding metal chair occupied the other side of the table.

Small security cameras graced the corners where the walls met the ceilings. A circular hatch in the ceiling he recognized was for a containment foam turret placed directly over the lone folding chair closest to the one way glass.

He sat down in the chair bolted to the floor, and knew he could have been handcuffed to the table.

He resigned himself to wait, certain that he was about to get his 'Come to Jesus' meeting.

14Rc8 Dean repositioned his un-castled Rook and said, "I think more good than bad will come out of all this for you."

Sophia's hair follicle toxicity test finally landed with a leaden thud on Deputy Director Rennick's desk.

The file was at least twenty sheets thick. Coupled with her blood screening, he had enough evidence to warrant a PRT a squad to get dispatched to Winslow right now and see what other evidence they could dig up.

15Re1 Sophia maneuvered her own Rook to strike deep into Dean's territory and said, "Good… Bad… I'm the girl with the crossbow."

"…with understanding for each other and hope for the future." Sophia ended the speech as Glenn's hands finally came to a rest.

Glenn said, "Good enough to not need a second take, but let's look at the on-the-fly editing before we send it out and plan for the follow-ups."

A cluster of his ever-present staff and interns worked at laptops and industriously edited the raw footage as the TV station crews took a smoke break outside.

"Insert video montage number three over her left shoulder. The color scheme matches the room better."

"A relatively easy one for once," Glenn said, "Okay, let's watch it through and if we don't encounter any showstoppers we can send it out to the media."

15b5 Dean put Sophia's Pawn into double jeopardy with a Pawn of his own and said, "Oh come ON, you complained the whole time when we watched Army of Darkness."

Jesse's parents and some tiny blonde woman with short hair whose demeanor just screamed 'Social Worker' entered the interrogation room and seated themselves on opposite sides of the table.

"Mr. and Mrs. Case, Jesse, my name is Marcia Darcy and I am your PRT Arbiter," she said as she crossed her hands on top of a folder on the table in front of her, "Your son has cleared screening for Master/Stranger influence, and none has been detected."

Jesse noticed his parents visibly relax at that statement, but he waited for the other metaphorical boot to fall.

"However, this raises the question of why your son and his accomplices conceived of such a prank and implemented it against one of their own teammates last night." PRT Arbiter Darcy looked Jesse in the eyes and asked, "Can you tell me in your own words how this all happened?"

"Shouldn't we have a lawyer, or something?" Jesse asked his father.

PRT Arbiter Darcy interrupted, "No need, I already explained to your parents that if you did choose to obtain legal representation, now that no Master/Stranger influence is involved then the PRT would be forced to return this matter to the Brockton Bay Police where charges against all of you would most likely be filed."

"Such a charge on your record, even as a minor, would have quite the negative impact on any applications you have made to universities and colleges," PRT Arbiter Darcy said as she opened the folder in front of her and fanned out his college application forms on the table. Some were copies, while others he noted were the originals.

Jesse's gut clenched with fear as he realized that if he didn't play ball, they were going to destroy his future over this.

"In my own words?" Jesse confirmed.

PRT Arbiter Darcy nodded and gestured at him to continue.

"It all started on April Fool's Day, when Sophia body slammed Tommy into a wall when she chased us down after someone made those banners fall from the cafeteria ceiling." Jesse said, "The entire Track Team had to run laps for three hours in the rain because of that bitch."

"So you don't like Ms. Hess, I take it?"

"OF COURSE I don't like her! But she's a member of the Track Team and she's my responsibility as Captain." Jesse ranted, "As good as the thing with the banners was, no one on the team claimed credit for it even when I offered fifty bucks to whoever was behind it. No takers."

Jesse leaned forward and said, "Then I found out yesterday she had gone after the girl she'd punched again, so I figured Sophia needed to be taken down a peg."

PRT Arbiter Darcy scribbled down a note and asked, "She'd gone after her? What do you mean?"

"Well, it was yesterday during lunch…."

16Bb2 Sophia advanced her Bishop to a better angle on Dean's Castle and said, "It was the only way to get Kid Win and Clockblocker to shut up and stop reciting lines with the movie."

Sophia sullenly drove back to the Rig with Miss Militia and tried to figure out how to manufacture evidence against Butterfly using her powers in school, or how to lure her out so she could deliver a righteous beat down.

16Re8 Dean moved his Rook to more firmly defend the center and said, "Anyway, you've got time to wrap things up the way you want.'

The PRT unmarked white panel van arrived at Winslow High School. The driver saw the Exterminator vans outside, and observed the plastic 'airlock' tent haphazardly duct taped to the peeling paint around the entrance. A man in coveralls with rubber gloves, a gasmask, and a tank of chemicals on his back walked around the perimeter of the school and sprayed the vents in the foundation.

"Good thing we always have these," his partner said after she pulled out a pair of gasmasks intended to hand out to civilians.

With toolboxes and a clipboard with a realistic looking work order in hand they entered the school.

17Qd1 Sophia saw the threat of Dean's Rook against her own and moved her Queen back to compensate and said, "I'm finding out I can't always get what I want."

Sophia felt her guts clench in terror as she realized Hebert may already have evidence of her using her powers at school.

That camera she ghosted the film out of in the third floor restroom.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

17bxc4 "Yep. Life sucks. It's the first of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, also the first acknowledgement in a 12-step program." Dean captured yet another one of Sophia's Pawns and said, "You know, you just lost that Pawn wall, better start to pay attention."

Dennis was mildly surprised he was called to Deputy Director Rennick's office.

He figured it had to do with that leadership training he was scheduled to do before Glenn Chambers left town. Like he needed another conflict with the PR department after the many mandatory meetings he'd had regarding his cape name. But at least it broke the tedium caused from lockdown.

His knock on the Deputy Director's door was answered by a curt "Enter."

"You wanted to see me, Deputy Director?" Dennis asked.

"Yes, I just got some information that touches on something from your debriefing," Deputy Director Rennick said, "You said you met a girl that said she had problems with Sophia?"

Dennis answered, "Not just problems, she showed me a scar on her head she claimed came from a glass bottle Sophia had thrown at her after threatening to throw her out a window."

"This girl threatened Sophia?"

"No, sir… Sophia threatened her. She was the same girl Sophia punched last week, apparently."

"I see…. Thank you for coming in, you may go," said Deputy Director Rennick.

18bxc4 "So what? Pawns are the weakest and therefore the suckiest pieces." Sophia said as she re-took the space with her own Pawn, "Besides, no one in my family ever went in for all that 12 step stuff."

Sophia plotted when and how to ransack the Hebert's house. Bet the loser either hid it between her mattresses or in a shoebox on the top shelf of her closet. How imaginative.

18Qb6 Dean moved his Queen on the flank to prepare for later and said, "Oh, why is that?"

Glenn Chambers smiled slightly as he watched his assistants pack up their gear as the last of the copies of the speech were distributed to news organizations around the country.

The reception to the packaged speech had leaned their way in every media market so far. The official spin on the entire situation had worked, a job well done.

Time to log into PHO and see what the public reaction was, and steer it if necessary.

19Rb1 Sophia repositioned her Rook to prevent Dean from taking her Bishop and said, "They never took the steps seriously enough to make it to any of the reward."

Sophia planned how she would be able to push Hebert around at Winslow, wear bug repellant, carry bug spray, get Hebert to use her powers and then hold her off until the PRT arrived. Maybe she could get her hands on a containment foam grenade.

Wait. How would she get the bug spray? She'd have to requisition it. How would she explain her need? 'I got to frame Butterfly?'

Shit. Forget about the containment foam grenade.

19dxc4 Dean captured the last of Sophia's Pawn wall and said, "Couldn't keep the eyes on the prize, huh?"

Jesse waited in the lobby as his parents completed the seemingly endless paperwork which released him from PRT custody. With an evidence bag of personal belongings, he returned his wallet, loose change and keys to their respective pockets of his rumpled rented tuxedo. Finally, he pulled out his phone, turned his back on his parents and texted 'Hi Yuudai, looks like the MC PP concert is on.'

He slid his phone into his pocket and rejoined his parents.

Across town Yuudai Yagi read the text from his Captain, and texted another two Track Team members who would each text another two until everyone was on the same page.

He downed the rest of his soda and saved the bottle. He'd fill it up again later, along with thirty or so other members of the Track Team.

He hoped Sophia looked good in yellow.

20Nc6 Sophia saw a way for her Knight to kill Dean's King in two moves. She advanced her chess piece and said, "Nah, it's more like they could never see how their own actions dragged them down time and time again."

Sophia figured she would just have to cape her way to victory, draw Hebert out until she did something with her bugs, and nail her for terrorist use of powers. Corner her in private and then beat her ass down. There was no way Hebert's bugs could even touch her in her breaker state.

It wouldn't matter because the Merchant mercenary scumbag would be sent to the Birdcage by the time she was done with her.

20Rxc6 Dean captured Sophia's unsupported Knight with his Rook and said, "Can't see the forest for the trees, right?"

The PRT squad returned from Winslow, with evidence bags of the contraband they found behind Sophia's locker.

"You would not believe what a shithole that school was. I wouldn't fumigate it, I'd burn it down. The smoking ruins would be an improvement."

Deputy Director Rennick asked, "You didn't leave any traces of how you got this, did you?"

"No, once we saw something on the scan behind her locker we tore through the back of a vacant one two doors down and reached over to get it all."

"It won't get noticed?" Deputy Director Rennick asked.

"With gang graffiti on the walls, I doubt a duct-tape repair of an empty locker would even raise an eyebrow."

21Bxf6 Angry at herself over the loss of such a powerful piece, Sophia captured the Knight right in front of Dean's Castle with her Bishop and said, "More like couldn't see any other tree than the one whose bark they were smoking."

Sophia realized she would be able to get away with a lot more at school now that she was considered the poor little victim.

Go ahead and give the Wolf some Sheep's clothing and see how it turns out.

Sophia sat back and smirked in smug satisfaction as the PRT car arrived back at the Rig.

21Qxf2+ Dean made his big move, a Queen sacrifice and said, "I see. Check."

Deputy Director Rennick looked at the drug screenings, bags of evidence, stacks of patrol reports and interrogation notes from this morning on his desk.

He had her. Hook, line, and sinker.

He picked up the phone to dial Director Piggot when he was alerted that Miss Militia's car had returned.

He dialed the Console so Velocity could put him through to Miss Militia instead.

22Kxf2 Sophia said, "How the fuck did you… Mother. Fuck." She was forced to capture his Queen, but in the process it dragged her own King out of her Castle and into the dangers of the wider world.

Miss Milita tilted her head slightly as she listened to her earpiece.

Miss Militia said, "You're not done yet, Sophia. One more debriefing".

The Protectorate cape led the Ward to a conference room to wait. She then left, and the doors closed.

Two PRT guards with angular taser rifles took up position outside.

22Bc5+ Dean repositioned his Bishop to force Sophia's hand again and said, "Check."

PRT ENE Director Emily Piggot hung up on Rennick and called Glenn Chambers, "You know that Titanic PR move you just made? We've got multiple icebergs..."

23Kf3 Sophia just now realized how limited her options were and said, "Shit." as she was forced to move her King forward again.

The silence of the empty conference room echoed around her.

Sophia thought, "Just Great. Even more pointless hurry-up-and-wait."

23Rxf6+ Dean captured Sophia's Bishop with his Rook and simultaneously closed off any hope of retreat and said, "Check."

Glenn Chambers joined Deputy Director Rennick in Director Piggot's office.

Sophia Hess's Human Resources contract had joined the evidence gathered by Rennick spread out on the PRT Director's desk. On top were bagged paperweights which had recently been hidden in the wall behind the troublesome Ward's locker.

"I knew our poster child was an 'infant terrible'," Glenn emphasized the phrase with a French pronunciation, "but this is ridiculous."

Glenn Chambers buried his head in his hands.

24Kg4 Sophia hated being pushed around more than a snowplow after a Nor'easter, but moved her King to the only available space and said, "Goddamn it."

Long minutes passed as Sophia sat in the empty conference room and watched the clouds and the waters of the bay.

'Does forced boredom equal torture?' she wondered.

24Ne5+ Dean brought his Knight into the attack as well and said, "Check."

Deputy Director Rennick, PRT ENE Director Piggot, and PR Director Glenn Chambers solemnly entered the conference room.

They quietly sat.

Deputy Director Rennick placed a stack of printouts she recognized as her patrol reports on the table. They were joined by what looked like two folders from Medical, another binder of paperwork, and was topped off by a couple of small glass medication bottles and some still wrapped syringes in an evidence bag.

25Kg5 Sophia took the least poor option available to her to move her King out of Check and angrily said, "You buttfucking sonofabitch."

Sophia said, "I… uh…

25Rg6+ Dean casually tapped his Rook to the side and said, "Check. And, no, that would be Carlos, actually."

He blushed as he realized what he had just said about his teammate and added, "Allegedly."

Director Piggot placed an evidence bag which held a quarrel of crossbow bolts with bladed tips on the table.

25Kh5 Sophia finally moved her King out of check and said, "Okay, okay… Jesus. How did all that happen?"

Sophia said, "It's not what you think…"

26f6 Dean moved a Pawn to take up the slack for the Knight he saw he could use as a lure and said, "Forethought, planning, and a charming smile."

Glenn Chambers placed the tiny, silver dinner bell from earlier on the table.

27Rxe5 Sophia took the bait and captured his Knight with her Rook and said, "I think I can still get out of this, give me a minute…"

Sophia said, "I'm too valuable for you to just throw away…"

27Rxe5+ Dean captured Sophia's remaining Knight with his Rook as he boxed in her King yet again and said, "Check. Take all the time you need."

Glenn picked up the dinner bell on the table in front of him and gave it a delicate little 'ding-a-ling'.

28 Kh4 Sophia retreated her King and said, "God fucking damn it. I can move... no, maybe… no... shit."

Terror gripped her as Sophia thought to herself, "I am sooooo screwed…"

28Bc8 Dean moved his Bishop to close off one more escape route in his hunt for Sophia's King and said, "You've delayed pretty much all that you can, Sophia."

Director Emily Piggot steepled her fingers, leaned forward, and then encompassed the items on the table in front of her with a sweeping gesture.

"If we knew all of this before the speech, you would have earned a one way ticket to juvenile hall until you turned eighteen, where more charges of what we uncovered would move you to prison for years. We can only show so much favoritism for so long. However, the Wards program in its' entirety needed a win on this one. Needed it so badly PR Director Glen Chambers was forced to personally get involved for you."

"And yet… somehow, in some way you, Miss Hess, through your previous callous actions and disregard for the rules have managed to sabotage even this eleventh hour effort to save your bacon."

"There's a business analogy," Deputy Director Rennick said, "If you borrow a thousand dollars and you can't pay it back, you're in trouble. If you borrow a million dollars and can't pay it back, then you're in serious trouble. If you borrow a billion dollars and can't pay it back, then the Bank is in serious trouble."

Director Piggot continued, "It is excruciatingly obvious that you require supervision which is constantly present if the PRT as a whole is going to push past this unfortunate discovery and maintain the narrative from this mornings' PR event.."

"So, this will have to proceed through normal channels. We can only appear to grease the wheels the absolute minimum. It must look as if the court of public opinion has forced the PRT's hand in this matter."

Sophia gut turned cold with hatred. She had been outmaneuvered in this stupid game and she knocked over her own King and conceded the game in a huff.

"Therefore, Miss Hess, you are going where we can keep a much closer, and stricter, watch on you."

Sophia said, "Oh my god, that came out of nowhere."

Dean said, "Well, not if you're looking three moves ahead, but with THAT game play…."

"Asshole. Ugh... Just how could this day get any worse?" Sophia wondered.

"We'll just have to play again, that's all there is to it. You'll never join our chess team at this rate." Dean said

Director Piggot intoned, "Enjoy your last week at Winslow, Miss Hess. Monday after next you're transferred to Arcadia."

Author's Note: The chess game played came from the Chess for All Ages website here and is worth a look if you have even the tiniest interest in Chess (the game, not the Musical)

Piggot saying 'maintain the narrative' sounds so much better than 'cover it all up', don't you think?