Shades of Gray - By Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge Page 0,13
through later. Once we’re done with the transfer onto our local network, we’ll start on decryption. That’ll go a hell of a lot faster than the downloading, thanks to our built-in cooling system.” He snapped his fingers, sending a smattering of icicles arcing through the air. “Among other things, we’ll search for Moore’s files. We’ll find him, and maybe even Corp’s role in this mutation serum.”
“Good.” Jet paused, considering her words. “Things are hitting a crisis point.”
“Hitting?” Firebug laughed. “Jetster, where’ve you been?”
Jet spread her hands and looked at each of the heroes as she spoke, silently imploring them to listen. “Maybe it’s time for us to reach out to the citizens of New Chicago, work with them. Build goodwill.”
“When do you propose we do that?” Firebug asked lightly. “Before or after we chase down the thousand or so extrahumans still unaccounted for?”
“Firebug’s right,” Steele said. “We’ve got our hands full just trying to do our jobs. We don’t have the time or the resources to play Goodwill Ambassadors.”
“Maybe we should make the time.”
“Jet’s got a point,” Meteorite said. “Not that I’m into marketing, but the Squadron approval rating wasn’t even at the 50 percent mark for the last three quarters. Why do you think Everyman’s got such a huge audience?”
“Money,” said Steele.
“Or fanatical followers with good messaging.” Firebug shrugged. “Look, I’m just as happy as the next superhero to say that it’s all about the citizens, but that doesn’t mean we should go out of our way to improve our likability scores. Sponsorship’s been sewered. We don’t have Runners, or Corp backing, or any of the amenities.”
“Hey,” Meteorite said, affronted.
“Okay, or most of the amenities,” Firebug said. “Now’s not the time for us to be expanding our job scope. Let’s concentrate on going after the rabids and the bad guys.”
“Agreed,” Steele said.
“You ladies are forgetting something,” Frostbite said. “Corp-Co is responsible for everything that’s happening now. We have to go public with how they manipulated us.”
“Take ’em down.” Hornblower cracked his knuckles. “Hit ’em where it hurts: the public eye.”
Frostbite nodded. “We’re lucky that all they’re doing now is saying ‘no comment’ and dodging the media. Public favor is going to be way down. Now’s the time for us to move against them—loudly. If we do it right, we can get them delisted from the American Stock Exchange. We do it better, we can bankrupt them as well as bring them up on criminal charges. We do it perfect, and Corp-Co is a thing of the past.”
“It’ll never happen,” Firebug said. “They’re too big.”
“No one’s too big to fail. You really think the government will bail them out?”
“Corp’s got governments in their pockets,” Firebug insisted.
“You’re giving them too much credit.”
“And you’re not giving them enough.”
“What’re you afraid of?” Hornblower asked, smirking. “Maybe you liked being their lapdog, huh? Maybe you’d rather go fetch?”
Firebug stood up, snarling, “Now listen, you oversized junkfreak—”
“What’re you going to do?” Hornblower laughed. “Sic your girlfriend on me?”
“Stop it,” Jet shouted, slamming her fist on the bar counter. “This isn’t about … them.” Damn it to Darkness, she still couldn’t even say Corp without her head threatening to burst. “It’s about the people of New Chicago, and the Americas!”
“You’re all getting ahead of yourselves,” Steele said calmly. “First and foremost, we have to stop the bad guys.”
“Corp is the bad guy,” Frostbite growled. “Don’t you get that?”
“No, the hundreds of rabids out there are the bad guys!” Firebug glared at him. “I know you haven’t been heroing in a while, Frostbite, but even grounded in Ops, you should be able to remember that!”
Ice licked over the bar and cracked over the chairs as Frostbite shouted, “They sliced my brain! They raped my mind! Don’t you preach to me about remembering who the good guys are. Don’t you dare!”
“Derek,” Meteorite said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, man. Calm down.”
He shrugged out of her grasp. “I’m calm, Sheila. I’m real fucking calm.”
“Language, Derek,” Steele said.
“Fuck off, Harriet.”
And so it went: Frostbite and Hornblower insisted they concentrate their efforts on taking down Corp-Co. Steele and Firebug remained steadfast in their determination to first rein in the rabids and the other criminal elements in New Chicago and beyond. Meteorite tried to get everyone to stop shouting.
And Jet, meanwhile, sat on her barstool, one gauntleted hand pressed to her temple, willing her headache to disappear. The infighting among the six of them had to stop; otherwise, they’d be doomed to fail.