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Baptism 1.7

Whatever was going on in this school, it was clear that Sophia had given me decent advice. Continuing to be alone wouldn't be wise, when everyone else had grouped up and I would become that much more attractive a target.

I could hate Sophia as much as I wanted, but that didn't mean I could be foolish enough to ignore useful information, especially when she and Emma apparently wanted me to join them and were tossing me a bone.

And that led me to an idea.

If I was planning to make Brockton Bay great again, why not start with my school?

Before, I thought nothing could be done about the situation, the school administration being wilfully ignorant and corrupt, but if the problem was related to capes…well I was a cape now too. I could change that.

So it was with that in mind that I bent over and lifted Madison's head up to face me.

She froze at my touch and stared with wide eyes.

"You said you'll do whatever I want?"

"J-just not g-going against Sophia or Emma! A-anything else!"

I let go of her head.

"Then listen carefully. First, repent and ask me to forgive your sins. Ask me to bless you with mercy. And be sincere about it."

She swallowed and nodded. "I'm sorry, please forgive my sins and bless me with mercy."

The floating ankh appeared over her. I curiously looked at her stats.

Madison Clements: [0 attack, 0 defense, 1 max health, 0 resistance, 0 speed]

Experience Level: Non-Combatant (LV0) 6/10 to Recruit (LV1)

"Good. I'll tell you what I want from you later. Before that…" I took her right hand in mine and placed it over her heart.

"You need to be stronger. So I'll make you strong, and you won't have to pretend anymore."

"Wh-what do you mean? Don't hurt me!" She squealed with a panicked look. I ignored her protest and leaned in to whisper the words of power.

"Noble faith and diamond heart, eight stairs to the sun that rises, the light beckons and you [Endure]!"

She gasped and shuddered, staring at me with shock. "Is…is this…"

"You can test how tough you are later. It's almost time for next class. Better get going, Madison." With that, I left her still there, still staring uncomprehendingly at me as I went back through the doors to the stairs.

My final class for the day was Computers, taught by Mrs. Knott. She was a tall, broad-shouldered and strong jawed woman. She looked very disconcerting with her long blonde hair and trying too-hard-to-be-girly dress and blouse, because of her masculine features. But she was an alright teacher though. She usually gave assignments for advanced students work on by themselves and focused on handling the rambunctious remainder of the class or just let everyone do their own thing.

I liked this class the most of all my classes. Not just because Mrs. Knott was a decent teacher, but also because usually nobody bothered me here. Emma, Madison, Sophia, none of them were in this class, and there weren't any of their usual clique, except a few of the hangers-on that didn't initiate anything on their own.

I was also good at it. I usually finished the work early and had time to surf the web on my own, and Mrs. Knott didn't mind.

And that was what I did today.

As discussed with dad, I was going to seriously look at the Wards as an option. So I looked up the publically available information on their official website. There wasn't any need to hide this sort of thing. Everyone was fascinated by capes, and people looked up stuff about them all the time. There were also plenty of posers that told their friends they thought they might have a power and got them all researching ways to "confirm" it. I'd seen it right in this class, when a bunch of guys were huddled over one guy's screen whispering loudly about joining the Wards or a gang, or when one guy was demonstrating his "powers" using card tricks.

Joining the Wards wasn't hard. They had a hotline you could call, or a form to leave your contact details so they could provide information to arrange an interview.

According to the website, the purpose of the Wards was to help young capes learn to use their powers safely, and get some experience to know what it's like being a hero, if they want to join the Protectorate eventually. There was power testing, physical training, lessons on capes and crime-fighting, and it could even be used as credit in schools similar to co-op programs.

They were paid a minimum wage salary plus a $50,000/year trust. Well the trust wasn't that useful to me, since I couldn't access it until I was eighteen or going to college, which meant that I couldn't use it to buy gold. It'd almost completely cover my college costs for any state school if I joined now, and I was going to college if only to honor my mom, who had been an English professor, but it wasn't going to do anything for my immediate issues.

A minimum wage salary, with part-time hours...if I saved up everything, I might be able to build one altar in a month or two. That was disappointing.

Wards also had to keep up a minimum grade in school and continue to attend during regular hours, albeit with the PRT able to call them out for work if needed. Or woken up at night. But they also had to be a full night's sleep on a regular basis.

And they weren't obligated to fight either. Combat was strictly optional, and parents should feel comfortable knowing that patrols were in safe areas of the city protected by Protectorate heroes.

My dad would like that. I didn't. The way it was described here, it didn't even sound like a serious hero group, if they weren't supposed to fight the villains.

There wasn't any information on the stuff I really wanted to know, like quitting, resources for Tinkers, equipment/costuming, and whether the PRT would buy Tinkertech or specific power services like healing.

Quitting wasn't mentioned. Tinkers got "resources and pre-approved safe materials to work with". The website said that Wards would get a costume, but didn't specify what the equipment features were. I guessed that it was expected that I'd contribute any Tinkertech and powers if I joined as part of being on their payroll.

On the Protectorate pages, I found that Tinkers got a general Tinkering budget, which was based on their power's requirements, performance, and seniority on the team. Requests could be made for getting the materials to make specific equipment on a case-by-case basis.

There was a section for rogues, which was vague and only asked rogues interested in doing business with the PRT to register for affiliation and contact their procurement department. That seemed like something I should look into. Getting paid minimum wage was not enough for me to be handing out any items to the PRT.

I wondered if I could sell my stuff to other organizations instead. Not villain groups, of course, but hospitals could use healing, and my Unit Enchantments could be useful to the military and police. More research I'd have to do.

Time passed quickly and class ended.

I used to rush straight to my locker and leave school as fast as possible to avoid the Trio. I wasn't going to do that today, but on account of Sophia's warning, I decided to avoid swaggering around like I owned the halls, which I realized I had been doing subconsciously since the first time I showed up to school with [Heroism] until lunch today.

To the untrained, it might not sound like much of a big difference, but I knew that posturing mattered a lot when projecting the image of strength or weakness.

For example, girls and guys have a very different natural style of walking. Every person's gait was unique, but it was very noticeable when a girl walks like a guy and vice versa.

I was reminded of this by Mrs. Knott, actually. One of the reasons she seemed so disconcerting to me, after seeing her walk around the class a few times, but her gait, I had realized. In contrast to her dress and blouse, she strutted about and sat without much concern for protecting her modesty. Even the beautiful and promiscuous girls would subconsciously turn their feet and knees slightly inward, lift their legs and maintain balance in a way that was marked differently from guys.

These were ingrained behaviours that were only lost when women were trained, highly athletic, or just tomboys, because they were hallmarks of femininity and something girls naturally learned as they grew up.

Because I happened to be pretty tall and also gained some muscle with [Heroism], when I started walking with a pronounced rotation of the shoulders and sweeping legs motions, then moved straight forward with purpose, the effect was pretty dramatic. Not just because it wasn't like most girls, but because that was the kind of walk that people tended to step aside for, which is probably why Sophia said I was being too obvious.

So now I kept my movements simple and avoided looking at anyone judgmentally, keeping with the flow of crowds as much as possible.

Soon I arrived at my locker, where lo and behold, Emma was waiting with a genuine smile, and Sophia was leaned back against the lockers with her arms crossed.

Madison stood beside Emma and just sort of stared at me, though I could see that she had lost her earlier timidity.

"Taylor! You finally did it. It took so long that I was beginning to worry, but I never stopped believing in you!"

I almost choked when the ankh appeared over her and recognized her as a [Friendly Unit], just like that.