Perennial

Chapter 27 -- Vex

We plan my raid on the DSHA office to take place a week after my return home.

The time between my arrival and my mission is spent adjusting to Overlord life once again, going from Perennial back to Vex.

Overall, the week progresses smoothly, and before I know it, it is time for Vex to make her reappearance.

It feels almost surreal as I don Overlord gear for the first time in months. Every action - sliding my fingers through the gloves at the end of my sleeves, pulling my boots on, clipping my utility belt into place, pinning my perception filter under the collar of my hood - feels almost unnatural. Maybe I've spent too much time in DSHA.

Jason sees me off from our underground base. As I head out he tells me to be careful and reminds me that if I need help, he'll be on call for the next hour. After that, there's something else he needs to take care of.

When I ask what, he evades answering, citing "secret Overlord business" as the reason.

In light of my own mission, I decide it isn't worth the fight.

And that's how I find myself breaking into a DSHA office in the middle of the night.

Paradis' DSHA Office is located in a Provincial Administration building towards the center of the city. It's only one of many governmental offices in the building, including the DMV.

It's actually not that hard getting in. There's only basic security to worry about: alarms, cameras, stuff like that. You know, only the boring things.

The reception area itself looks ordinary enough. Nothing in here screams "evil" if you know what I'm saying. Cathy the Receptionist even has a picture of her pet poodle on her desk. (If anyone cares, according to the decorative frame, the poodle is named Lizzie.) There is also a hidden twenty-dollar bill under her keyboard.

It's past Cathy's domain that things start to get interesting.

You see, behind the desk is the hall which connects to where we theorize the paper records are. In the process of taking the first step into said hall, I nearly trip a laser grid.

Digit's blueprints didn't mention this.

At first, I get a little annoyed. (Seriously? Who installs a laser grid in an office?) But then I remember that this is the insanely paranoid DSHA. It really shouldn't be so surprising.

Regardless, I don't have any of my special laser grid disabling tools with me. They must be at home with my cat burglar kit. (Those might have been sarcastic statements, but they also might not have. Good luck trying to figure out which!)

Technically speaking, I don't need any tools to disable a laser grid network. All I need is telekinesis. (Which I have, surprise!) It's actually very simple if you know what to look for, which I do. I glance around the room for where the main electrical circuit is.

I place my gloved fingers on the wall beside me and close my eyes, breathing in and out. Slowly, I increase my awareness.

As cold from the wall seeps into my fingers, and I begin to "see" in my mind's eye the inner workings of the wall. Insulation, plastic, plywood. And... An electrical circuit. I follow it to its source. From there, it's easy to disconnect the grid from its power.

When I open my eyes, the laser grid is gone. It worked.

Grimly smiling, I stroll down the hallway to the door labeled "Filing Room". I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking for any rudimentary pressure plates and things like that during my journey there. (Hey, they did have a laser grid. Who knows what other security measures they took?)

As thing turn out, there are no pressure plates, which is a relief. (But also somewhat disappointing.)

I reach for the door handle, finding it locked. With a snort of exasperation, I close my eyes and begin to pick the lock using a similar method to how I took down the lasers. The lock comes undone in less than a minute. Maman would be so proud.

After slipping inside, I'm not exactly surprised to see rows upon rows of filing cabinets. There is a very good chance that this is what I'm looking for. Now, to find out what's inside of them.

I stroll over to the closest one and try to pull it open, only to find that it, too, has been locked. (This is getting ridiculous.) After fiddling with it telekinetically, it simply pops open.

I pick through the files. Each one has a name listed on it. Inside each file are bits and pieces of documents. Birth certificates, DNA test results, even some police incident reports relating to super-human activity in Paradis and the surrounding province.

I check the names. Baker, Barnes, Barre, Barry, Baxter... Belafonte... Burk. Surprise, surprise, I must be in the B's. (Though it is a relief that my real last name, Bouchard, doesn't appear to be here.)

I close the cabinet and go over to the other end of the room, selecting the last cabinet. After seeing it only contains X-Z, I go to the one before it and find the W's.

It isn't long before I locate "Webster, Elle".

Out of curiosity, I open the file to see what it says. I recognize most of what's in here (copies of the forged documents the Overlord and I had created when we were first setting up Elle Webster's identity) but as I keep flipping through I begin to see other things: test results, copies of notes that Dr. Science took during our sessions together, the police report on my arrest, the grades I've been getting in Icarus (mostly A's and B's).

At the very bottom of the folder, there's an official looking document, a letter, addressed to some Director of whatever directorship. It was written by Agent Philips (Mr. Suit) and is short and to the point.

It says (basically) that Elle Webster is a confirmed super-human. Very little is known of her background. It's suspected that she is a false identity.

Well, he wasn't too far off on that last account.

I take the "Webster, Elle" file and close the cabinet. Out of curiosity, I head back to the first cabinet and search for the C's.

It's in the second cabinet that I find what I'm looking for: the Colberts.

"Colbert, Archie", aka Juggernaut, aka one of the Overlords, comes up fast. My uncle is here. Across the top of his folder there's a document that says he's a confirmed super-human, as discovered shortly before his disappearance due to... "the altercation caused by Salvatore Natoli". The document then goes on to say that unfortunately, he and the other Overlords escaped custody. This information is, of course, dated eight years ago.

A pit begins to form in my stomach as I flip through the other Colberts with files listed here, Colbert, Jeremie; Colbert, Jean; Colbert, Luc; Colbert, Micah. Those are all my cousins: the twins, Digit, and Micah. All of them have letter stating that they are suspected super-humans, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

I stand still, catatonic for a long moment. What do I do? I mean, it has been eight years since they discovered Uncle Archie was Juggernaut and nothing has happened yet. And besides, Tante Virginie wasn't listed under the B's as either a "Bouchard" or a "Bouchard-Colbert" (again, a relief).

Something hard and determined begins to form in my gut. I have to get rid of all of this.

The only question is how. Do I burn them? If so, where and how? I have matches in my pockets on my belt, but there are smoke alarms and other fire prevention things in this building. Do I take them all outside? Carrying all these folders will be quite the armful. It will be harder to maintain stealth with them on my way out. Of course, on the other hand, I could try out the new toy Jason got me, those seeds I can use with my chlorokinesis. The only downside to that plan is that as winter approaches, it's getting harder and harder to find the energy to manipulate plants to my will. (Another horrible downfall to chlorokinesis. It's a seasonal power.)

Before I can make up my mind, I hear the door open, and sense two men entering the office.

I hiss under my breath.

I can hear them talking until their conversation comes to an abrupt halt when they notice that the laser grid is disarmed. The only other sign that someone has broken in is the door to the cabinet room. It's still open, and I'm standing right inside.

Okay.

Change of plan.

I'm not telepathically strong enough to turn these men away with a mind wipe (I might be able to get them to punch themselves, like, once, but that's about it), so it's time for what Jason and Digit like to call "Elaine's Default Plan".

It has three easy steps: