~Days before Taylor’s abduction~

  “Are we sure that was a wise course of action?”

  The groans from multiple throats sounded out as the same question was asked once more.

  “For the last time, Keith, it was the only course of action!”

  This rebuttal, which was also given multiple times, came from Rebecca, who was also known as the hero Alexandria.

  “I get that, I do. But I can’t help but feel that this is such a roundabout way of getting in contact with, in your words, ‘the Endbringer killer’. Why can’t we just reach out to him?”

  “Because,” this time, it was Contessa who answered him, “there is no scenario in which contacting him as representatives of Cauldron doesn’t lead to our complete destruction. Even if you approach him in your capacity as a hero, he would still blast you in the face before you could even speak.”

  This time, Keith was struck dumb. So was everyone else, for that matter.

  Even before the truth about the group’s activities was revealed to him several days prior, Keith had only ever known the woman to be self-possessed. Contessa simply did not speak in such a free manner. To anyone.

  Out of all of them, it was David who recovered the fastest, choosing to consider the event as unimportant.

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  “I still don’t understand how you’re so sure of that,” he griped, maintaining the bad mood he’d been in since learning about this new parahuman. He really didn’t like the implication that he was no longer the strongest cape in the world. “I thought you couldn’t path him? Who’s to say I would lose if we fought?”

  “I may not be able to path him or you,” Contessa replied without missing a beat, “but I can path everyone else in this room. We don’t survive a clash with Seraph and Cauldron, in its entirety, ceases to exist.”

  “Then how would helping Coil capture the girl he cares about lead to a different result? Wouldn’t he just come after us then?”

  “It will give him pause and make him hesitate long enough to establish a dialogue.”

  “There!” Keith cut in, actually pointing a finger at Contessa. “That’s what’s tripping me up. Why are we stepping in now? Why not just let him do his thing? If you’re right, he’s bound to encounter the Enbringers sooner or later. There’s no need for us to even interfere.”

  “If we didn’t take this chance, we would lose all opportunities to have some control over the situation,” Doctor Mother answered. “After dealing with Coil, all paths to establishing any kind of working relationship with Seraph will close.”

  “Just to confirm,” Rebecca spoke up, “the test run is over, right? There’s no point in continuing it with the anomaly in play?”

  “That’s correct,” The Number Man confirmed. “All predictive models fail to provide likely scenarios with any degree of acceptable precision. Seraph simply introduces too much chaos for reliable calculations.”

  “And once Coil is gone, how do we reach out to the wonder boy?” David asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “The girl,” Contessa said. “She’s the key. If we control her, we control him.”

  “You mean the same girl who was abducted with our help?”

  “I mean the girl who will become more powerful as a result of this kidnapping. The least damaging scenario in which she can gain said power boost.”

  “Right, that’s enough,” Rebecca interrupted. “Are you sure she would be amenable to working with us down the road?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’ve made sure that she knows how to reach out?”

  “I’ve already included that in the message.”

  “Good. That’s all I needed to know.”

  Not long after that, the meeting was adjourned. However, as she sat back down in her office and reassumed the guise of PRT Chief Director, Rebecca couldn’t shake her doubts.

  This was a desperate gamble on their part.

  One that could lead to severe consequences if it backfired.