Reroll

I hit them too hard.  I hit them too hard.  They're not going to be reformed: The organization's going to die, at least here… and all operations are suspended by a very popular executive order.  How do I fix this?

Betty and Ed call me in the comm, and I pick up without thinking about it, “What's up?”

“‘What's up’ he says,” Betty seems so happy, “We WON! That's what's up. You did it! You killed them!”

“There ain't no way they're getting out from under that steaming pile of excrement you buried them under,” Ed adds, “How nice of a bottle of wine can we afford?”

At last check I had like five million in checking, and that number only goes up, “very, but I need to figure out how to fix this.”  How do I fix this, how do I fix this, how do I fix this….

“Fix what?” Betty laughs, “We WON!”

“Well…” Ed vacillates, “more like Kenny won. We had… at best a supporting role.”

I take a breath, “Think,” that one is more to me than them, “Why does the Inquisition exist in the first place?”

Betty laughs, “To beat down Mythics; good riddance.”

“Yes Betty, but that's a lot of resources for simple racism.  There's a reason for it.”  The stupid questions are helping me focus... does that make them smart questions?

“Outbreaks,” Ed's enthusiasm vanishes, “Goblins, trolls, zombies, ogres, skeletons… all the bad kinds.  And now nobody's hunting them.”

Betty curses, “Ugh. So we're going to have violent hordes of mooks again.”

Worse, Betty, “Not just mooks… remember that lich under the old house?”

Ed pauses, “Most myths have some really bad implications, don't they?”

“Tons,” I roll my eyes, “Many such legends seem like they were originally intended to keep kids away from things that would hurt them or others.  So nymphs lure men to the water to drown them, hungry dragons live in the woods, and man-eating trolls live under old bridges… so the women of the village can bathe in peace, kids don't get lost in the forest, and the rotten bridge doesn't break under the kids before it can be repaired… which means lots of deadly monsters.”

“And now there's nobody hunting them.” Ed's got a grip on why this is bad.

Betty considers, “How about we do it? I could use more levels….”

Ed sighs, “We can't be everywhere at once.”

“Alice can,” Betty contradicts, “or nearly enough. You have that army, Kenny….”

“Do you have any idea how much territory the US has? How many shadows I would need to cover it all?”

“You don't have to be properly everywhere…” Ed pauses, “if you operate in the open, you can be an extra resource for the police; they can do the legwork, and send your shadows in when there's something that needs to be addressed.”

“Still.  There's thousands of cities and towns….”

“About twenty thousand ‘incorporated areas’” Betty interrupts, “Came up in an economics report.”

I roll my eyes, “Right, and each one will need at least one Shadow to cover, more for the denser areas. Even with Quicken Spell, I'm still limited to one every three rounds due to shadow points.  It'll take weeks to get enough soldiers out there to cover.”

“‘Too much work to do’ is a poor excuse for not doing anything. Send down the angels you have, get started on more, prioritize the dense population centers, let Ed and I sort out the details." Betty, since when were you a ‘take charge’ kind of gal?

“Oh, and the resistance! Think you can get them to help?” Good call, Ed.

I get on the line with Lady Elaine Fairchild the first before anyone else; I open with, “Hi, Elaine, I need a giant favor….”

“Whatever you want, toots, you won.”

“The Inquisition lost; we need to move fast to win… because we need to replace them. I need a meeting with the faction leaders ASAP.  That leaves you playing taxi….”

I blink, because Elaine is standing in front of me, on the ship, with Ralph, Vlad, and Merlin… the last of whom is naked and dripping wet.

Upset, too… “Elaine, we've talked about this….”

“Yeah, nobody cares about your hundred year old junk. I can't do anything violent but I can survive anything and get anyone anywhere instantly. I can't compete in the games but if you really want to throw down I'll move the playing field to the moon, the real one; so pay attention to the nice lady that just broke your worst nightmare over her knee like the rotten  log it was, okay toots?”

“...yes ma'am.”

Elaine has the most personal power of any of them, doesn't she?  Huh. Nice to have her in my corner, “Right. As Elaine so succinctly put it, the Inquisition is broken, at least in the United States. If we don't want something just like them back, we need to do what they did, but better, and now.  So: I need all your mmembersin The US to declare to the local authorities, prove your capabilities, and volunteer to help out with out-of-control Mythics until such time as we can reach a formal agreement with the folks in charge.”

“Are you CRAZY?!” Merlin doesn't like that one bit.

Ralph takes a breath through gritted teeth, “Okay double-A. I'll make it happen.”

Vlad takes his time, “Most of my group can't go out during the day… so we're going to be our own police, hmm?”

I outnumber all three of your groups already… but we need all hands on deck for this, and you three can get a few thousand hands between you that are already mostly deployed, “Yes. Baseline humans have been doing it for themselves basically forever: The Inquisition was their answer to needing to police Mythics as well. If we don't want another Inquisition, we need to do it ourselves, and do a better job: Talk down rogue Mythics and bring them into the fold if we can.  When that's not viable, we still need to protect people: Disable them where feasible; but if they're killing or converting folks and it's not feasible to disable them… well, it's a terrible tragedy, but use lethal force.”

“You want us to….” Merlin doesn't get it.

“Death is a last resort. Talk to them first.  Restrain them if that fails. But we cannot allow the kind of situation that gave rise to the Inquisition: It's a threat to all of us, and MUST be stopped.  So yes.  I'm really hoping it doesn't come to it, but if there's a Mythic that is converting baseline humans or committing violence against them, will not be talked down, and cannot be restrained… yes. Kill them.”

“The full moon's in a week, double A,” Ralph is being very quiet.

Merlin nods slowly, “I'll make it happen.”

Vlad frowns, “I can accept the logic… we'll get night shift.”

Right, “Elaine, please take Vlad and Merlin back. I'd like a few minutes with Ralph.  I'll call when we're ready.”

Elaine is exceptionally quiet as she shuffles Merlin, Vlad, and herself out.

Once they're gone, I turn to Ralph, “I have a maybe-viable solution in the works…” the Lock of Formbinding prevents shapeshifters from taking on other forms… and will hopefully prevent the literal lunacy that afflicts most werewolves, “but getting full coverage by the full moon is… dicy,” it's a 50k item. Fifty crafters working together can make one in a day… but it'll take a LOT of crafters to get the five hundred needed just for this continent… which, admittedly, is the only one where we've kicked the Inquisition out… “So I’ll need you to handle distribution and… prioritization.”

“Such a clean, fancy word for choosing who lives and who we'll have to murder.”

I close my eyes, take a breath, then look my High Beta straight in his, “I know. This isn't great for anyone. First priority for the possible solution goes to those for whom chains and cages aren't viable for one reason or another. Anyone who can lock themselves up for the duration in an effective manner should.  I'm going to push production as hard as I can,” which means not making soldiers for a while, but it's better if those who are on the front lines are real in case I kick it, “and I can host a hundred or so here, with no baseline humans to harm.  I hate the situation.  I hate that I have to give these orders.  But I hate what I know will happen if I don't give these orders more.”

Ralph is quiet for a minute, “You're a good alpha.  I'll get it done… please hold up your end.”

“I'll do my best…” I call up Elaine, and she taxis Ralph down. "The Purple Way” can give the Greater Teleport spell a run for its money… and it's an at-will for her.

I then direct my ship to my moon base, and get to work: I have a lot of crafters to build, and not much time.  I do some math as I build: Three rounds per crafter, fourteen thousand and change rounds in a day, fifty crafter days per Lock, and I need five hundred of these things in a week… yeah, I think I can do this…