The Doom that Came To Winslow: 9

Interviewing individuals targeted by a Master is a difficult situation. On the one hand, their knowledge of the Master may assist in helping other victims or capturing the Master if he or she is still alive. On the other hand, such a decision asks the victim to relive an extraordinary traumatic event in their life. For that reason, only qualified interviewers may perform such interviews…

Treating and Interviewing Master Victims.

I hadn’t seen the Wards. They were all in M/S lockdown. The entire base was, and I saw PRT troopers landing, according to Armsmaster from other jurisdictions, to go over the paperwork at the PRT, especially anything relating to the Wards.

Evidently, they’d been exposed to Julia.

I’d gone through an MRI and an interview with the “Think Tank” but now we were here for another interview. The room looked…

Okay, I felt closed in, even if it was comfortable. I kept thinking about what Julia had done. What if Dad had gone to talk to her? What if… Inside the walls, my bugs coiled and surged.

There were three people in the room with Dad and I. Two PRT interviewers and a woman who was with Youth Guard. That was surprising but she quickly explained things.

“I’m Lillian Rogers,’  she said. “Youth Guard isn’t just an advocacy agency,” she told dad. “We also serve as guardian ad litems for any members of the Wards or underage parahumans who interact with the PRT, in order to represent their interests, not those of the Protectorate, PRT, or their families, depending on the case. Please understand, Mr. Hebert, that this is no criticism of you, but legally, I am here for the sole purpose of representing your daughter’s interests and advising her. In this case, I am also responsible for terminating these procedures if in my opinion, the interview goes beyond the current Master issue, or if you, Taylor start showing signs of distress.”

I took a deep breath and nodded, drinking some tea. I’d asked for some, if they had it and it wasn’t too much trouble, and evidently…

Well, it was good tea from a store on the Boardwalk I couldn’t normally afford.

The two PRT interviewers both introduced themselves. One was a regular PRT investigator named Agent Sims, the other one was a… Parahuman analyst, Dr. Willis.

“We won’t be going over the exact things that were done to you, Taylor,” Agent Sims said. “There’s no need to repeat them—what we’re wanting to know is how this developed. A Master has a variety of ways to get under people’s skin—in this case, we want to know about Julia’s.”

“Isn’t she dead?” Dad asked.

“Yes, Mr. Hebert, but we still need to know how she interacted—it will help us deal with the other victims of the Master.”

People who laughed at me. But… I shook my head. If even Sophia Hess was a victim I couldn’t imagine how they felt.

So we started.  They didn’t want to know about the trio, which was odd. They were more interested in the people on the periphery.

“Did Principal Blackwell seem to change—any times during the week where she acted more receptive, then changed her mind?”

“Did the secretary act happy at your misfortune, or just cold to it?”

“Between Friday and Monday, did you notice any changes?”

“What about racial groups—did you see any groups, Asian and White that normally might be hostile to each other forget that when you were in the area?”

Once or twice, Ms. Rogers intervened. “We know what happened on the day of her triggering,” she said. “I think we can skip that, unless Ms. Hebert wishes to continue?”

I took a deep breath. “No.”

“Very well.”

Dr. Willis wrote longhand on a pad of paper. Agent Sims used a recorder. By the end of our interview, Dr. Willis had filled four pads with notes.

The three glanced at each other, and Dr. Willis nodded. “There is not much good news here, but we can at least say, Taylor, that your account confirms everything we’ve learned from other sources. There is no long-lasting control, nor was Julia able to implant actual orders.”

“Didn’t you know that?” Dad asked.

“We were almost certain,” Agent Sims said. “But please understand, there is no “too much” when dealing with a Master. As it is, I expect that many of the students and faculty at Winslow will be periodically examined for some time to ensure that we didn’t miss anything.”

All this and they are still worried Julia might have… what, left bombs? Wasn’t that terrifying.

“Now as for you,” Ms. Rogers said. “The first thing to understand, and we’ll be providing you with more detailed information later, is that as both a parahuman and primary victim of a Master, the PRT will pay for any psychological counseling you and your father need.”

“I’m fine,” I said. Everyone else fell silent, then Agent Sims coughed once.

“Ms. Hebert, as someone who has survived Leviathan and Nice Guy of the Slaughterhouse, I feel some ability to speak with confidence here. You aren’t. You really aren’t. What I think you are is in shock. So please, consider this. It’s not a sign of weakness.”

“I… Think we should think about it, Taylor,” Dad said. Then he got a ghost of a smile. “Besides, we’re union. What would our ancestors think if we gave up an opportunity to get some deserved benefits.”

It was a terrible joke, but I sort of laughed. Dad hadn’t told jokes for a long, long time… Maybe he wasn’t wrong. But I had another question.

“What about joining the Wards… I mean, I wanted to be a hero.” And I hated how weak I sounded.

“That comes under the category of things I would shut down at this point,” Ms. Rogers said. “For one thing, too much has hit you in the last few days. At the very least take a week or so thinking about your situation. For another thing, the ability of the local Branch to make decisions like that won’t be reinstated until this is all cleared up.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “If Sophia told… what did Madison and Emma do?”

Everyone fell silent.

“Ms. Clements is currently confined under suicide watch protocols,” Dr. Willis said. “She believes she’s a ziz-bomb, or that we think she is. I’m afraid for those most deeply under Julia’s influence, the sudden… release was traumatic.”

“And Emma?”

The silence went on. Maybe Emma didn’t care? Maybe she was not affected because this was just how she was—

“Taylor,” Dr. Willis said, after glancing at Ms. Rogers and receiving a nod. “The first thing you need to remember is that this, none of this, is your fault. In any way, shape or form. And I’m afraid the same goes for Ms. Barnes. She...” He paused. “She attempted to commit suicide, and is currently in very serious condition, though she will live. Evidence indicates that she wanted to make amends for her actions. She was also assaulted by the ABB before she met Julia, which likely made her even more vulnerable.”

Emma? Emma tried to kill herself?

Suddenly I had memories rising up. Running around the backyard, Emma with a cape, and me with that silly paper mache hat Mom had made to look like Alexandria’s helmet. Sleepovers…

And then… Gee Taylor, didn’t you ever know what a bath was? You stink like a Merchant whore—oh, was that what you were doing this week? God, I’m happy your Mom died, maybe she killed herself, I know I would…

That wasn’t Emma? Had she known? Had some part of her been trapped in her own head, aware but unable to do anything? When suddenly it stopped, what had Emma of the sleepovers and games thought about what she had become…

“Taylor?” Dad asked. “Are you?”

I hadn’t said anything. The bugs were still. It was… How… I…

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.

Then… I started to cry and couldn’t stop.