Nothing happens the rest of the night, and my official report is that there was nothing to report. I sleep in late the next morning - which is expected, considering our schedule - but after I finish breakfast and give Marcy her morning dose of Vitamin Tammy I've got something important to do.
It's time to check in with the folks!
With the help of a few modifications I got from Jef I've been able to modify my official Liberty Stars earpiece so that it can connect with the moonbase. If anyone searches my stuff it won't look out of place, and like with the teleport beacons, it's been set to only activate its extra functions if it's in contact with my skin. So, after Marcy heads out to train and I have the apartment to myself I sit down on my bed and slip it on.
"Busy Bee to Hive, Busy Bee to Hive, the Wasp has landed. I repeat, the Wasp has landed."
Jef's response is immediate. "You've been watching far too many Earth movies, Tamara. You can forget about using codes, if anyone knew enough to tap into this form of communications then we'd already be under attack."
"Ah, but it's more fun that way! Besides, I'm in a good mood this morning."
"And I can just imagine why. Speaking of, I'll be transferring you over to Kalissa now."
"No, wait - " But I can already hear the line go on hold. I mean, I did want to talk to Mom, sure, assuming she was even still hanging around. I guess I'm just more comfortable with the old AI for whatever reason. I barely have time to sigh though before the line picks back up.
"Tamara! You've been busy indeed, haven't you?"
"Hey, Mom, yeah, last night I - " I pause and frown as some of the background noise registers to me. "Are you banging one of the test subjects right now?"
"Oh, just one of my old favorites. You remember Punky, that skater we took from - well, no, I suppose that was before your time. Say hello to Tammy, Punky!"
There's a slight shift in the audio and then a stranger's voice comes on. "Breed me fuck me breed me fuck me breed me fuck me - "
Kalissa switches back over. "Charming, isn't she?"
"Mom!" I try but I can't keep the irritation out of my voice. This is so frustrating!
"Oh, what's wrong, dear?"
"You know this is an audio-only line! If you're going to be banging a human while we talk, I at least want to watch!"
"Maybe when you have your own place, dear, we can upgrade your equipment a little. But enough about that! We got your delivery last night! Such a strong one, too!"
That has me a little relieved, at least. Part of me was worried that maybe I did things wrong and accidentally disintegrated Redfang or something. "Yeah! I assume Jef has a copy of the superhuman database? Not exactly Lady Darknight, but she was still pretty fun. Did everything, uh...transfer over alright?"
"More than alright!" I can hear the smile in her voice, and not just the one caused by the skater girl. "A dozen eggs! All safe and healthy. I'm so proud of you! Even I usually don't unleash that many. Seems like your new incubator can handle it, though!"
"Ahh, that's good, I...kind of lost track a little to be honest. Jef's done an analysis and all of that?"
"Mrm-hrm. As you know, the first batch is the slowest, it takes some time for their bodies to adapt. Jef estimates that this set will be done in, oh, three months or so? I'm sure we'll have a more accurate estimate down the line."
"And...we'll be letting them hatch?"
There's not an immediate response, just a grunt and a squeal, and I'm pretty sure Mom's busy unloading a clutch of her own. It's pretty unlikely we'll be using those, the initial breeding program is way past using any of her direct offspring, but I can't blame her for having a bit of fun. Eventually she comes back on.
"Ahhh...where were we? Oh yes, hatching. Mostly no, not yet. It will take some time to expand this base to support all of your eventual children, so they'll be going into storage. But perhaps...two of them for testing? We do need to see how superhuman-Darkhive hybrids turn out after all, although we can't devote all our resources to this one pairing. I trust there will be more to come, after all? Oh, the father is a superhuman, yes?"
"Impact, yeah, got his sample a few hours after I got here." I can't help the prideful smile on my face as I say that. Or is it a smile that comes from remembering how good he tasted?
"Good! You know, Jef and I were debating whether or not you'd have an incubator for us within your first day. I thought you'd show caution, but Jef worried you might be more...impulsive."
"Hey, I had a lot of setting up to do! And it's not like I'm going to do something stupid like Embrace the first girl I see, you know?" Given how much effort I put into not Embracing Marcy, I think I'm justified in feeling insulted that Jef would have so little faith in me! That calculator is such a cynic.
"Ah, you're doing so well! But tell me, anything lined up on your next incubator, dear?"
"Moooom, I just got the last one, let me recover a bit." As I flop onto my bed, a thought occurs to me. "Are you even staying around that long anyways? It's already been over a week."
"Oh, I can certainly justify staying around a bit longer now that things are kicking off! At the least I want to see how this canine mutate of yours handles the start of things, and perhaps a few more. And even after I do have to go, I expect I'll be able to visit more often now. But I'd say you still have me around for at least another week or two! Don't hesitate to call if you need some help!"
While I'm not really that worried about anything, it is good to know. If Jef can't fix a problem by teleporting me out or hacking something there's not much he can do. "Thanks, mom. I think that's about all I have to report, so uh...talk to you soon?"
"I'll be looking forward to it! Until next time, dear!"
Just as I'm finishing dinner and planning to start heading out for my next evening patrol, Marcy and I both get alerts on our tablets. She looks down at it with a confused expression.
"High level threat detected, solo patrols discouraged? Well, I was finding people to partner with anyways, but I suppose that might mess with your schedule a bit, Tammy."
I look down at my own, and notice something more. "Hey look, we've been given recommended partners? Suppose that makes things easier. It's even got a conference room set aside for us to meet up in - you wanna go?"
She nods with a smile before taking one last bite. "Let's go!"
When we arrive there's three people waiting for us, two guys and a girl, and the girl immediately stands out the most. Not only does she have green hair but she's got actual insect wings coming off of her shoulders! Also something of a thick booty going on, but I mostly notice the wings. Glancing over to the guys, I see that one's a white dude wearing a mostly blue costume, while the other's a black guy wearing a silver costume that's so shiny I have to be careful where I look if I don't want to get blinded by the glare. He seems to be the oldest one in the room, and as Marcy and I step inside he takes charge of running things.
"If it isn't our latest newbies! Marcy we know, but you've been running solo, right? Super Stinger, was it? Let me handle introductions then. Super Stinger, this is Dragonfly and Cold Call, while I'm the Silver Sensation. Or, if you rather - Jessie, Fred, and I'm Ken."
Fred gives me a wide grin. "I'd definitely recognize that tail anywhere, I've seen you around. Glad to see you don't mind working together sometimes."
Jessie nods along. "Heh, look at me and you - if we combined my wings and your tail, we'd have a full insect thing going on."
I have to agree. "Yeah! We should have kids and see how they turn out!"
There's a round of laughter, and after a beat I join in to try and make it look like I was joking. "Ahahaha...ah, but uh. Anyways, do you know anything about this high level threat they mentioned?"
Ken quickly turns serious. "Yes, actually. Baitmaster's been spotted working in Poseidon City again."
Marcy and I share a look, and although neither of us have heard of the villain we both have an obvious question. Marcy puts voice to it. "...Baitmaster? That's...an actual villain name?"
Fred scoffs. "If you can catch the guy, feel free to ask him about it. More likely though things would end up the other way..."
"Baitmaster is one of the leading superhuman traffickers on the east coast." Ken shakes his head sadly. "I'd show you a picture, but we don't have one. He has some sort of gravity powers, but at some point he picked up an outfit with shadow enhancements that keep him concealed. While he'll go after anyone, he's notorious for managing to catch heroes. We lose a couple of newbies to him every few years."
"So yeah, newbies should definitely not go out alone for a while." As Jessie says that I give her a look, and I'm pretty sure she's only in her early twenties herself. Although I suppose even a couple of years in this business means a lot.
"Seems fair enough. So you want to team up? What can you guys do? I'm basically an agile melee type, and I'm pretty good at ambushes, I think."
Jessie goes first. "I can fly, as you might've guessed. I can also shoot acid energy from my hands at a pretty quick clip."
I tilt my head. "Acid...energy?"
She shrugs. "It comes out of nowhere and fades away after like ten seconds. I can fire a bolt from each hand multiple times a second though, so if I keep applying it I can eat through most things."
Fred snorts. "Still leaves villains needing a healer pretty bad if she hits the wrong spots though. Anyways, I'm something of a sonic-cryo hybrid. I can generate soundwave blasts that freeze things. It doesn't do much damage but can slow things down pretty good."
There's a tapping sound as Ken knocks on his chest plate. "And I can store light in my armor and release it in various ways. Lasers, distractions, that sort of thing."
"We keep telling him to change his name to Disco but he never does." As Jessie laughs Ken shakes his head.
"I'm only a couple of years older than you, and I don't even like disco. Anyhow, all that said, I don't think patrolling in one big group is the ideal move."
I raise an eyebrow. "No?"
He points at me and Jessie. "I've heard of how fast you can move, and Jessie here flies, so the rest of us would be holding you back if we moved together. I propose that you two work as our scouting party, while Marcy, Fred and I will work a more traditional patrol route. You find anything strange, you call us in."
Marcy speaks up in agreement. "And if you need healing I'll be there to help you out!"
I can't find anything to disagree with there, and I don't mind the idea of working with Dragonfly a little bit more. "Sounds like a plan! Should be a fun night!"