CHAPTER 46: XLVI - THE PLAN

Isatou fumbled with the laptop on her podium, "Hold on a second, you all. I had a slideshow I wanted to show you all. Give me just a second."

Mina yawned aloud and lounged in her seat, barely able to keep her eyes open. Keita crossed his arms and kept his eyes focused on Isatou. Shota looked down at the book in his lap, pushing up his glasses periodically.

Alex turned around and stared daggers into Keita.

Etienne leaned in and whispered to Nairobi, "Wait, did she say Isatou Camp? Isn’t your last name Camp?"

Nairobi groaned and put her head on the desk, "Yeah, it is. Isatou is my big sister. In fact, she’s the reason I found out your secret identity and approached you way back when. She’s been pissed ever since I did that."

Etienne looked up to find Isatou glaring at Nairobi. He chuckled and whispered, "I guess she still hasn’t gotten over it."

Isatou cleared her throat and clicked a small remote toward the screen behind her, "Excuse me, where was I...ah right!" She turned toward Alex, "I know I said we’re skipping the pleasantries, but I did want to begin this meeting by asking how you’re feeling, Mechaboy."

Alex scratched at the bandages on his forehead, "I’m fine, I guess. I’m not in pain anymore if that’s what you’re asking."

Isatou clapped her hands together, "That’s great to hear! Gamers, in case you weren’t aware, while Ninjaman and Hardware here were battling a potential unranked metahuman, Mechaboy fought off 7 metahumans on his own and captured 4 of them. The information we gained from them is the reason we’re all here today."

Keita, sitting in the back of the auditorium with his feet kicked up, clapped his hands and shouted sarcastically, "That is just amazing! Let’s all give a big hand for Mechaboy!"

Mina rolled her eyes and put her chin in her hand. Shota continued reading, barely aware of the events around him.

Isatou sighed and continued, "For the most part, they were tight-lipped about any information regarding the Black Company, its operations, specific information on members, pretty much everything. But we were able to coax them into giving us the locations of four safe houses they were using across Oregon."

She moved to the side as the large screen behind her lit up with a map of Oregon.

She pointed to the top left of the state, near the ocean, "One is in Seaside,"She moved and pointed to the bottom right of the map, "Another is located in New Princeton. And the last two are located somewhere in Portland; we’re still trying to narrow down the exact location on those."

"So you want us to explore this backwater state and find these safe houses somewhere within those cities?" Keita called out rudely.

Isatou pinched her forehead, "No, Keita. I want the Paragons to do that. They are all Oregon-based heroes, so they are much more familiar with the state. You and the Gamers are here to take care of any and all requests while they’re occupied."

Mina languidly raised her hand.

Isatou pointed to her, "Yes, Mina?"

"Isn’t it a bit overkill to have all three of us here?" Mina asked lazily, "I mean, Mechaboy has been the only ranked hero in Oregon for a while right? All three of us are way stronger than him, wouldn’t just one of us be fine to take care of any requests while they investigate?"

Alex turned back and looked at her, "You’re only a few ranks higher than me Mina. You’re not ’way stronger’ than me."

Mina let out a long exasperated sigh, "Those aren’t rankings of strength, Mechaboy. They’re rankings of how effective as we are as heroes. Just because you’re close to me in rank, doesn’t mean you’re close to me in strength."

Isatou shook her head and cut in, "We’re doing it to be safe, Mina. Due to all the recent incidents and the mayor’s unfortunate passing, we need to treat all meta incidents and crimes as high-level threats. We don’t know who will be present at the scene of these crimes, and it’s of the utmost importance we mitigate any loss of life. Public opinion on heroes in Oregon is...negative to say the least."

"I suppose that makes sense," Shota muttered as he flipped a page in his book.

Keita chuckled and turned his body toward Shota, "Which part does? The part about the public not trusting the heroes here because they have child playing pretend as their ’only ranked hero?’" Keita crossed his arms and sunk back into his chair, "Please. Mina is right. We all don’t need to be here."

Nairobi’s hand shot up.

Isatou gritted her teeth, "Go ahead, Nairobi."

Nairobi hesitated for a second before asking, "Were we able to get any additional information regarding the Black Company besides those safe house locations? Anything at all?"

Isatou nodded slowly, "A little bit. We were able to confirm some suspicions we’ve had about the Black Company. The group you all have been fighting is a branch of the Black Company known as Team Wet. From what we can gather, ’wet’ is short for ’wet work’, as in assassinations. Isaac Forsynth and Ms. Friendly are in charge of the group."

Alex rubbed his forehead, "We know all of that already."

Isatou nodded her head, "That was just to catch the Gamers up. Now, for the most part throughout these interrogations, all of their responses have been pre-rehearsed and short. All of them refused to answer questions outside of a handful of topics, not even simple questions. But we were able to gather a few pieces they were hesitant to share."

Isatou slammed her hands on the podium in front of her, "First, Isaac is the son of the boss of the Black Company."

Nairobi gasped aloud. Alex and Etienne shared a concerned look.

Isatou continued, "And second, we were able to discover that the goal of these attacks is to weaken Oregon and its infrastructure and take over the state. My team is still looking into how the assassination of the mayor and deputy mayor factor into that, but we have some theories."

"Take over?" Nairobi shouted, "We need to get any ranked heroes we can out here immediately! They should be patrolling and deterring crime as much as possible, or helping us hunt the Black Company, preferably both. If Isaac is really the son of the Black Company’s leader, that basically means he has access to unlimited resources!"

Isatou looked at the ground and shook her head slowly, "If only it were that simple. In case you haven’t noticed, the INHO is a reactionary organization, not a proactive one. As soon as we obtained this information, I reached out to my higher-ups immediately, but they shot me down. They said there’s a villain group in every state trying to take over. They can’t divert their resources because of the ramblings of a few incarcerated villains."

"So when do we raid these safe houses?" Etienne blurted out.

"We’ll start two days from now, on Monday. I want to give the Gamers a bit of time to get acclimated to Oregon since they’ll be here for a while. And I know Mechaboy is a new member to your group, you all should take the time to figure out how you’ll work together. I’ll send more information about the first safe house in Seaside tomorrow."

Keita stood up, knocking his chair to the ground. Mina followed suit, albiet much slower.

"We’re professionals, Isatou. We don’t need time; we just adapt. Send all your requests to us if you want. And if you decide you want one real heroes to investigate that problem with the Black Company, then let us know," Keita stated flatly.

Mina followed behind him and yawned. Shota stood and followed shortly after, still not looking up from his book.

Etienne, Alex and Nairobi watched as the three of them filed out of the door.

Etienne turned to Nairobi, "I really don’t like that guy. How is an arrogant prick like that a top hero? I thought heroes were supposed to inspire people."

Nairobi shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, he’s a jerk, but he has the strength to back it up. They all do. If you tried to fight him outside earlier, he would’ve splattered you across the pavement. You’re strong, but you shouldn’t underestimate the top heroes. They’re a different breed."

Etienne was taken aback slightly, "Really Nairo? Kill me? Over a simple disagreement?"

Nairobi shook her head, "Fighting the kinds of enemies they fight, and being a top hero — that pressure tends to make you grumpy and cold. You have to have a few screws loose. And you can’t let anyone ever challenge your strength. Not ever."

Etienne looked at her curiously, "Are you speaking from experience, Nairo?"

Nairobi clasped her hands together and looked down at the floor. She let out a dry, humorless laugh and shook her head.

"Why do you think I’m a contract hero now?"