Arsmaster escorted me out of his workshop, staring at the pewter ring I’d given him the whole time. The Wards weren’t located in the rig anymore. PHO didn’t know why that was, but the general consensus was that the reason was rooted in politics. If someone wanted to see them, they normally had to go all the way back across the force field bridge and then go to the PRT headquarters. However, Armsmaster said that they’d gathered here for training exercises.





I could feel Arsmaster glaring at the pewter-mind as we walked. Soon, he revealed an array of tools and diagnostic instruments that sprung out of his gauntlet. He poked and prodded the metal as I looked on. I wasn’t sure what I should hope for. If he found a way to unlock my metalminds so anyone could use them, then the Protectorate would want me for the Wards even more. And if they knew I could give powers to other people, they might start to suspect the existence of the third aspect of my powers. But I’d be able to give Dad a way to protect himself. He worried too much about me when I knew that the Empire had sent thugs down to the docks to rough some people up after Dad hired a few black dockworkers.





A blue fist curled around the pewter ring. Armsmaster growled. “When you make your items, do you push charges into them?”





“Uh, yeah, you could say that,” I said.





“If you held it longer, could you make it have more of an effect?”





“Sure. The only limit to how strong I could get with that is time and the size of the metal, and the metal would have to be really really small for that to matter. I can charge even a flake of metal a decent amount.”





I hadn’t even needed to give the vial of charged steel flakes to Armsmaster. I smiled as I felt the weight of my bracers. I could probably have bargained for even more metals, but the cadmium and brass metalminds were all I needed.





Armsmaster stiffened and stopped in place. I looked around, but we were in an empty stretch of hallway. Then the building shook, sending me to my knees. I groaned and pushed myself back up.





“What was that?”





“Head back to my lab. The automatic defenses will keep you safe,” he said and started moving again, completely ignoring my question.





He was walking quickly now. I broke into a jog and started panting less than a minute later. I really needed to exercise more. “If the rig is in danger, I really doubt that locking myself in a single room will help.”





His only response was to speed up even further. I grabbed one of the pewter rings I’d stuffed in my pocket. Did he really think leaving me behind was going to work? I left my steel-mind alone since I might need it depending on what was happening outside, but I had nothing stored in my pewter. I tapped brass and plucked a tiny fragment of pewter off of the ring, then swallowed it. It was unpleasant and would be poisonous for anyone one, but I bore it and waited.





A new well of power appeared. It felt different from steel, less placid, giving off a sense of constrained power. I burned it and immediately stood up straight. It was like a lightning bolt shot through me, filling me with crackling energy that made moving a process that almost didn’t even need thought. I easily kept up with Armsmaster where before I’d been struggling. Something about my posture was different, some new subconscious knowledge filling in for my inexperience. My pace was smooth and even, practiced. I couldn’t help the grin from spreading over my face. Enhanced reflexes? Yes, please.





“You’ve been conditionally cleared to participate,” Armsmaster said.





The monotone voice was fine. You don’t have to make your displeasure that clear.





“Oni Lee is in the cells at the lowest level of the building. Lung and a new Tinker are assaulting the rig. The new cape is called Bakuda. She specializes in bombs.”





“Wait, wait, hold on. Why is Oni Lee here? Shouldn’t he be in the Birdcage if you’ve captured him?”





“He should be. A transport is scheduled to arrive soon. News of his capture was suppressed in the hopes that any breakout attempt would be too late.”





I was feeling a little apprehensive by now. The thought that two capes could be a credible threat to every hero in the Bay at the same time was a scary one. Lung had done it before, but they’d given him time to ramp up first, and even then he hadn’t been facing them on their home ground.





“Shouldn’t he be going after the transport or something? This is pretty blatant.”





“He fought Leviathan. That said, there is a reason he’s acting so openly. Most of my coworkers are currently at a function over in Chicago. Dauntless and I requested to stay behind in case of an emergency, but unless we find Lung before he transforms, we won’t be able to stop him.”





“And the Wards?”





There was a period of silence. I guessed that he was using his helmet to find out for himself. I wished there was a metal I could burn that would give me internet access. Relying on someone else to drip-feed information was frustrating.





“They will also participate.”





A door slid open ahead of us. Armsmaster stepped in first, and I entered feeling like I was seeing a promotional poster for a movie. Dauntless was talking to Piggot in a low voice. Gallant had a hand on Vista’s shoulder as she looked out of a wide window. Aegis, Kid Win, and a new Ward—Browbeat, that was his name—were clustered together but broke apart when they saw us come in. Clockblocker was standing apart from the others and just gave us a single look before turning back to the view outside.





Piggot spoke. “Now that you’re all here, we can begin. Armsmaster, head out with Dauntless. He knows the plan, he’ll tell you about it on the way. Jane, you’ll be part of Aegis and Kid Win’s group. Go.”





As if to punctuate her statement, a wall of flame obscured the view outside. The force field flickered and the lights dimmed, the fire hungrily lunging forward before the shimmering dome reinstated itself.





Aegis flew over to me. He was tall, and the flight didn’t make that factor go away. “Calamity Jane? Didn’t think you’d let Assault of all people name you. Sorry to rush the introduction, but Bakuda’s trying to turn the PHQ into rubble. You and Kid Win can follow me; I had to memorize the layout of this place when I took this position.”





He darted toward a door and barreled down a hallway, Kid Win hopping on his hoverboard and hovering close behind. I just burned pewter and sprinted, then grimaced as I felt that I’d already burned through almost a quarter of it. I went through the metal incredibly quickly.





“Dauntless and Armsmaster will act as a distraction. Lung will assume they’re the real threat. Gallant, Vista, and Browbeat are going to sneak around behind him and get Clockblocker in close so he can freeze the big guy. Meanwhile, we’re going after Bakuda. All three of us can fly to some degree, so we stand the best chance of getting her out of whatever minefield she’s surrounded herself with. If you see an opportunity, snatch her and bring her back to the rig. The PRT will deal with the unpowered gang members,” Aegis said.





With that, he finished fiddled with a latch on the ceiling and popped it open, then flew out. Alarms blared but then quickly fell silent. Intentional, or had Bakuda hacked into the rig’s systems? Kid Win followed Aegis, and I flared pewter, crouched down, and rocketed out onto the roof.





“There,” Kid Win said.





I followed his gesture and just barely made out a tiny figure in a jeep. That must be Bakuda. I gave his helmet an envious look. Tinkers could fit a ridiculous amount of random useful stuff into their gear. There was always another level of bullshit tech with them.





I squinted at the scene below. Bakuda held up a long tube. A moment later, a rocket shot out and hit the force field, then stopped, unmoving. The force field glowed ominously, then all of a sudden flickered out of existence again, and the rocket fell straight down. This time, the field didn’t come back up. I wished I had tin. Most fliers had some sort of visual enhancement so they could see and react in time while flying, so Aegis could probably follow what was going on just fine, and Kid Win had his tech. I strained my ears and heard nothing, then gunshots. Two figures advanced toward the jeep, and a group of people around it fired at them.





“Alright, they’re distracted. I don’t see Lung anywhere, so the other group probably has him pinned down. Let’s go,” Kid Win said.





Aegis nodded and the two flew off. I sighed and wished I’d brought iron or just another vial of steel. The distance was just too far for me to survive the fall, even while flaring pewter. I took the vial I’d brought with me out of my coat and stared at it. Fishing out each flake and drawing the steel from it would take too much time, but burning them with speed inside probably wouldn’t work. I remembered trying to Push my steel-mind. That kind of force wouldn’t be anywhere near what I needed.





I shrugged and downed the contents of the vial. If it worked, great. If it didn’t, well, I had a good amount of speed I hadn’t used. I burned steel and felt a mountain of power. The world slowed, and slowed, and slowed until it was way beyond what I was used to. I wasn’t just fast, I was the only thing moving in a world that stood still. I dumped a massive amount of speed into my steel-mind but it just kept coming.





A word appeared in my mind, the part of my power that was pure information flaring to life and inserting something it had kept hidden so far straight into my head.





Compounding.