“The hell are you doing?” a voice demanded loudly, making Whatchamacalit drop her tools with a clatter. She whirled and found a short, black man staring at her, brows knit.

  “Uhhh, upgrading your TV?” Whatcha said hesitantly. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Making a hell of a mess, looks like,” the man said dryly. “Fix it.”

  “I’m almost done,” she promised. “Just got to align the photon projectors and we’ll be set.”

  “Christ alive,” he groaned, walking away. “Be quick would you?”

  Whatchamacalit didn’t say anything, just continued working as quick as she could. Probably wasn’t the best idea to piss off her new hosts, especially seeing what Amaranth could do to people she didn’t like. Oh well, once she was done this upgrade would probably endear them to her. After all, who wouldn’t want an upgraded TV?

  The black man had returned with a plate of toast and sat in the armchair Whatcha had been occupying all night. She installed the last piece she needed, then closed the case of the TV back up. A quick run of grounding wire outside and bam! New-old TV for watching. She plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote, then pressed the button.

  It worked perfectly. In front of the old screen, a hologram twice its size appeared. Whatcha frowned and fiddled with the settings, adjusting the colour quickly before settling back with a nod. She glanced over at the black man and smiled.

  “Perfect, right?” she asked. “Had to use one of my comm-blocks, but it worked like a charm. Lucky you had this old tube laying around, there’s a lot of room back there to play around with. Decided on a sixty inch diagonal since it’s the most that you can comfortably view from the setup you have here. If you want it bigger though we just have to change up the seats and—”

  “Chill,” the man said, holding up a hand. Whatcha snapped her mouth shut, better to listen to her hosts after all. “Too early for all this shit. It’s fine, pass the remote would you?”

  “Sure.” She tossed it over and offered a smile. “So what’s your name? Amaranth isn’t one for introductions, but you probably know that already.”

  “Yeah, I do,” he sighed. “Name’s Papa. This place is mine. Amaranth pays rent, but that’s it, she’s not in charge here.”

  “Alright,” she agreed easily. She leaned over and stuck out her hand. “Whatchamacalit, but you can call me Ruby if you wanna. I’m a Tinker, probably the best in the city. If you need something made to do something, find someone with powers like what you want and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Hmm, so you’re some kinda copycat?” Papa asked.

  “I’ve been called worse,” Ruby said with a chuckle. “I can do other stuff though, as you can see.”

  “And the kid sleeping in Zeke’s room?”

  “Rachel, my niece,” she explained. “Werwolf decided they wanted some insurance, but Amaranth’s a decent person. Uh, I can pay for her stuff. May not have been paid for a few months but I’ve got some savings.” He shook his head.

  “Nah,” Papa sighed. “Never been one to make kids pay. You going to be helping Amaranth’s gang?”

  “Ah so they are a gang,” she said, scratching her chin. The footage playing on TV probably should have tipped her off; most heroes didn’t go around burning down police stations. “Well if she asks, I guess I owe it to her for saving Rachel. Until she does, I could use the break.”

  “Morning,” a sleepy groan sounded from behind them. Turning around, Ruby saw Amaranth rubbing her eyes. A long scar reached down from her jaw and disappeared into the collar of her shirt. She was unmasked...and a little bit of a dog-faced girl. “Huh, TV looks different.”

  “I upgraded it,” Ruby explained. “Used one of my comm-blocks to make it a little better. Whatcha think?”

  “It’s very...functional.” She didn’t sound awake enough to appreciate the pun. Too bad. “You okay?”

  “Fine,” she replied with a shrug. “A little sore from the beating you gave me. Don’t worry I’m not angry, I did shoot first after all.”

  “Well...as long as you know,” Amaranth said dryly. “Gonna get coffee. Want any?”

  “Please,” Papa said with a nod.

  “Is she always this prickly?” Ruby asked quietly as the girl headed into the kitchen, getting a low chuckle.

  “She hasn’t had it easy,” Papa said. “But yeah, this is normal for her. Don’t let it get to you too bad.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Seems like a hell of a cape,” she continued. “Invincible right? I’ve never seen her take a hit anyway, not one that kept her down. Oh, I wish I had a chance to grab some of my equipment, I’d love to give her a brain scan. I’m sure it would be fascinating, as long as she was okay with it of course. And you, this is your house; I don’t want to do any medical procedures you’re not comfortable with.” She snickered at the stricken look on Papa’s face.

  “You’re...quite something,” he said after a moment. “Got a hell of a mouth.”

  “Thanks, I get it from my mom.” Oh Kelly, hopefully the asylum was treating her well. Probably not, on balance. “Anyway, if you’ve got a garage, I can work out of there. If not, well, just give me a little elbow room and I’ll handle everything else.”

  “What sort of work, exactly?”

  “Oh, this and that.” She waved her hand flippantly. “Amaranth will probably want me building devices for her team. Just some teleportation triagonals, maybe she’ll want one or two of the more exotic types. I’ll have to ask her of course, but it all depends on whether I can work here.” And whether or not Amaranth could get materials.

  “Exotic types?” Amaranth asked as she wandered back into the room. “What exactly do you mean?” She handed a mug to Papa then sat next to Ruby.

  “Well I have one for healing minor injuries, one for some temporary invulnerability, super-strength, all kinds.” She shrugged. “If you let me scan your brain, I could probably develop a new one for—”

  “Let’s put a pin in that,” Amaranth said sharply. “But...those other ones sound useful. What do you need?”

  “I’ll write you a list,” Ruby said, grinning. “And...how about payment?”

  “Per device basis,” she said flatly. “A thousand each, take it or leave it.” Ruby blinked.

  “Deal.” It was more than she’d ever made off her tech before. “As long as you give me the stuff, I’ll make whatever you need.”

  “Write me that list,” Amaranth said, pulling out her phone. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Frankly, Ruby couldn’t wait to see what she could do.

  “So this thing...makes you invincible?” Nadir held a device up to the light, turning it over.

  “It puts you into a Breaker state and sort of shifts your body to another dimension for thirteen seconds,” Ruby explained. When Nadir gave her a blank look she sighed. “Yes, basically. Nothing from this dimension can affect you for that time. But if another cape can reach into that dimension…” She shrugged. It would be ugly, that was for sure.

  “Still pretty handy,” Nadir said with a nod, setting the prism down on the table. “And we get to use them?”

  “One use per device, except the triagonals if you use them for short-range only.” That was something she needed to work on really. More range, more flexibility, more value.

  “It’s going to stop me worrying about you so much,” Amaranth said, smiling. “I can’t always be your bulletproof vest.” They shared a chuckle as Nadir batted Amaranth’s shoulder.

  “Remember the materials though,” Ruby said. “These aren’t exactly cheap to make.”

  “Oh don’t worry about that,” Amaranth said, waving away her concern. “I have a supplier for everything you asked for. No problems there.” Ruby arched her brow. How did a kid have access to— “Don’t ask, because I won’t tell.”

  “Oh, you’re gay?” Ruby nodded as Amaranth’s face went beet red. “Yeah that checks out. Are you two a thing then?”

  “No!” they both exclaimed, sharing a look.

  “Oh.”

  “She’s my boss,” Nadir said quickly. “And she’s way too young. Like...no offense Lia but, yeah.”

  “None taken,” Amaranth said, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “God, Whatchamacalit, you really know the exact wrong thing to say.”

  “One of my many talents,” she said flippantly. “But you are gay right?”

  “Yes, and that’s the last I’d better hear of it.”

  “Lips are sealed.” Ruby mimed zipping her lips shut. She was happy enough to be proven right. “So you’re gonna use these things to kill Nazis huh?”

  “That a problem?” Amaranth asked, raising a brow.

  “Not if you pay me,” she said with a shrug. “You sort of killed the one who was vaguely friendly with me, so it’s not like things could get worse.”

  “I’m not apologizing for that,” she replied.

  “I don’t expect you to.” Humility from a parahuman? Perish the idea. “Anyway, won’t be a problem. They kidnapped me and threatened my niece. Not exactly primed to have warm feelings for them.”

  “Great.” Amaranth smacked her thighs and smiled widely. “Thanks. It’s going to be a lot easier to wipe out the Nazis if we can beat them on every level.”

  “That’s the plan then? Annihilation?”

  “Or expulsion,” Nadir interjected. “They aren’t welcome here though.”

  “Again, problem?” Amaranth asked.

  “I...look, I get you’re pissed, rightly so.” Ruby took a deep breath. “But they are people.”

  Maybe so,” she admitted. “But they’ve given up any rights they’ve tried taking from other people. One way or another, this city is going to be Nazi free. They can leave, or we’ll dump them on the outskirts in a ditch.” Jesus, she was cold for such a little kid. Amaranth sighed. “Yes, yes, I’m an attack dog, I’m a monster. Just say it, I’ve seen that look from everyone.”

  “You’re a kid in way over your head,” Ruby sighed. “But I told you already, I’m in. Once this is all over though, how about you give me a hand setting up an...alternative business. Nothing more illegal than what you’re already doing of course, but dangerous enough I could use some muscle.”

  “What sort of business?” she asked, cocking her head.

  “Well, you know that parahumans are just a little too influential in this city, don’t you?” Amaranth nodded slowly. “I’m aiming to change that. It’s why I want to make as many different kinds of devices as I can. Level the playing field between regular folks and freaks like us. As you can imagine, there are a lot of people who would hate for that to happen, hence the need for a little protection.”

  “It sounds...interesting,” Amaranth said, scratching the scar on her neck. Apparently she’d given it to herself. Brutal. “You really think that’s possible?”

  “Oh it’s more than possible.” Ruby smiled, all teeth. “It’s inevitable, as long as I’m around. So long as I can scan more capes, I can make more powers. More powers, more devices, more people who can take capes on their own terms; all while I make a tidy profit, and you by extension.”

  “Money’s whatever,” she said with a shrug. “I guess you need it to buy supplies though.”

  “You’re an interesting kid Amaranth,” Ruby said, leaning back in her seat, Papa’s armchair. “I think we’re gonna do great things together.”

  Great things indeed.