The phone in Chen’s house began to ring. Gigi jumped, startled, having lost herself so deeply in the work she and her new contact had been doing that she had all but forgotten the outside world.

Chen made no move toward the handset but just stared at it.

“Something’s up?” Gigi asked - well, not asked really, but prompted. She’d found, before the whole thing with General Walters, that a lot of information slipped out if someone acted sympathetic and gave the gentlest of prods.

“Yes… no.” Chen made a disgusted sound. “Let’s go with yes. I’m not willing to trust phones right now.”

“No?”

“My assistant is under some kind of control. The command vector’s a phone. So I have to ask myself if that’s also the way control was established. And so…” She took a deep breath. “Until I find who did that and deal with them, I’m using the phone as little as I can.”

Gigi nodded. “There’s too many controllers here,” she said. “Or just a tiny number who’ve all got a bunch of control vectors, but that’s not really how that works.”

“Well, you might be surprised,” Chen mused quietly. “We had a problem a while back, before I took this job, and the culprit needed lots of people. They used their first round of control to swipe other devices so they could build up a force.”

“I never heard about this.”

Chen gave a short laugh. “Yeah, you wouldn’t have. Supers almost never stay up to date on what’s happening to the alphabet soup.” She looked away from the phone for the first time since it had started to ring. “You missed an entire shadow war.”

Gigi shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

“Whatever.” Chen shrugged. “Like I say, supers don’t tend to know what’s going on for the CIA or C.A.L.I.B.R.E. or anyone else in intelligence.”

“Well, I can’t argue that. Especially since we didn’t notice this one. But it’s something my boss wants to know more about. Hence doing Colby a favour.”

After a moment, Chen nodded. “Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be coming for you on this.”

“We both got caught up in shadow wars,” Gigi said. “Assuming I can use that term for Walters trying to build up a coup. But we’re both past them now, and I think it’s worth us remembering that.” She smiled gently. “You can survive these things and come out the other end of evil mind control.”

“I guess so. But I’m still not answering that phone.”

Gigi hesitated but shrugged in the end. “Can’t say I blame you.”

*

The woman-unit known only as 0003 replaced the handset in its cradle and looked up to 0010. “No answer,” she reported, unnecessarily; she hadn’t spoken to deliver her message.

“Sergeant-at-Arms Chen is worried.” 0010 translated. 0003 nodded. The woman-unit considered. “Problematic,” was her eventual pronouncement. “How do we give her the information we want?”

“She identified that her aide was a unit,” 0003 pondered aloud. “She will be suspicious of any information she is given from outside.”

“Unless it’s given by someone so obviously suspect that she knows it isn’t a covert trick.”

0003 took some time to consider this. Her ‘employer’ used a control process that did not technically hinder the intelligence of his staff, but did result in slower thought processes during times of high stress.

The slowdown in her thoughts was the only sign 0003 was stressed. Like all of her employer’s staff, she maintained a professional smile at all times, even when asleep. The conditioning she (endured) enjoyed made sure of it.

“That might work,” she said. “We would have to select a unit whose identity can be blown.”

Now it was 0010’s turn to spend a little while cogitating on the problem while her mind waited for thoughts to complete. “I do not believe that they would detain 0046 before her flight back to Ottawa,” she said. “Diplomatic immunity would make this complex.”

“That might affect her duties in the House of Commons,” 0003 noted.

“You assume the Senate would reach out to the Canadian Parliament and alert them?”

0003 noted the surprise in 0010’s word choice and recalculated. “The relationship between this administration and theirs is friendly. That’s the reason this gambit was begun in the first place.”

“Yes. But alerting them would require the Senate to admit it had allowed 0046 to be compromised, and likely to confess its security processes are inadequate.”

This was more than enough of an explanation. 0003 nodded. “Proceed, then.”

*

Penny had not stopped working the phones, but at a certain point she had given up on the task of finding out who’d broken into her home all the same.

Instead she’d moved on to her owner’s wishes, those being uppermost in her mind whenever something else didn’t force them out. Having crunched the numbers on his top priority, she had come to the conclusion that she could use a truly unique strategy, and she had decided to try.

She had already been successful, she thought, with a few of the people she’d talked to. Now she took a deep breath and punched in a number to the burner phone she’d been supplied, doing so from memory.

*

Sometimes, in times of crisis, one had to make sacrifices, and Evelyn Raines understood that.

Just at that moment, for example, her Master’s first conquest had provided her with an additional assistant, but as it was to investigate an abduction, she actually found herself with no assistant to hand during the busy working day. Evelyn was perfectly happy to make this sacrifice, or so she told herself; under the influence of her conditioning it was surprisingly easy not to feel the irritation that showed whenever the topic came up while she spoke to anyone.

When her phone rang with a number she didn’t recognise, Evelyn heaved a deep sigh for anyone at Ebenezers who might have reason to be watching her; a sigh she didn’t feel at all. She lifted the phone to her ear as she answered the call.

“Evelyn Raines.”

“Evelyn? Oh, thank God.” The connection was bad and the panic in the voice had wrung so much of how she usually sounded out of it, but Evelyn recognised her in a heartbeat anyway, sitting bolt upright. Anyone who might be watching her would certainly pay attention to that, but Evelyn was too focused on the surprise to consider that.

“Penny?”

“Yes, it’s me. Listen, I can’t talk long. They’re very concerned about call tracing.”

“Who are they?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you. Evelyn, I’ve been kidnapped. I’m being held against my will.”

“Penny, I have people looking into-“

“Evelyn, please listen. Please.” There was so much tautness to her voice that in other circumstances, Evelyn would have thought her friend was trying some trick or other. One of the reasons Penny had been as successful as she had was that she wasn’t the best liar, which made it possible to do deals with her honestly.

Worried for her kidnapped friend, she fell silent and listened.

“Listen. I’ve been told I will be freed soon. If - if - certain people reverse their opposition to the Federal Transit bill.”

Evelyn’s husband was firmly against the bill. And he’d become so thanks to lobbying carried out by Penny; of course, by this point it was likely that he was still against it in no small part because he’d come under fire for his opinion, and that always made him dig his feet in. “Including my husband.”

“Yes. Evelyn - I know it’s asking a lot, but-“

“Penny,” Evelyn said urgently, “you have my word I’ll do everything I can.”

“Thank you, Evelyn. Thank you so much.” There was a very minor pause. “I have to go. I have other calls to make. Don’t ring back.” And then the call was over, leaving Evelyn wondering how she was going to make this work - and how she’d ensure the Bill was sabotaged once Penny was free.

*

They had been inside talking, both of them felt, for too long; they had gone over all the facts several times, discussed them, suggested different ways these facts could fit together. They had theories - not necessarily great theories, but a start.

They were restless now, and so they made it out into the streets of DC, walking together. The bright red catsuit caught a lot of attention, but Gigi walked as if there were no eyes on her whatever and somehow that meant that the people watching her didn’t watch for long.

Chen quickly became fascinated by this phenomenon, wondering how the other woman did it.

“I assume you can’t have much hard information on any of these people,” Gigi said. “Geographically, I mean. Because-“

“Because otherwise they’d have been raided already?”

“I mean, unless you think they’re too powerful for your teams to stop,” Gigi said. “In which case I do know a superteam with some experience in the field.”

“If my team doesn’t do it,” Chen returned, almost making a joke of it, “I don’t know it’s been done properly.”

Gigi smiled. “Yeah. I can see that. But sometimes you have to trust.”

“Excuse me.” Another woman was standing directly in front of them. Chen had been so focused on people’s reactions to Gigi she hadn’t seen the approach.

Under the circumstances, this wasn’t a positive sign; Chen was now operating on the assumption that pretty much anyone who wanted to interact with them was doing so under the orders of one mind controller or another. Whoever this was, though, probably wasn’t a skilled combatant; they didn’t carry themselves like one, their body, even disguised mostly by pantsuit, wasn’t lean and muscular but had the softness of long accustomed desk work.

This didn’t rule out her being able to fight, but alongside a costumed adventurer noted for a mastery of martial arts, with her own reputation from her time in C.A.L.I.B.R.E., Chen wasn’t too worried.

A gadget of some kind would be a bigger problem. She was scanning the woman’s clothing, looking for any bulges or oddly-hanging fabric which might indicate a concealed item, when Gigi said “Can we help you?”

“I have been directed to help you,” the woman said. Chen’s attention sharpened; it wasn’t a monotone or a drone or any of the common speech patterns, but word choice like that was something long experience had taught her wasn’t used by anyone who had free will.

“By who?”

“By my owner.”

“And who’s your owner when he’s at home?”

“I cannot speak his name aloud,” she answered, and Gigi shot Chen a look. Both of them believed it.

“Okay,” Chen decided to ask a question of her own. “Why’s your owner want to help us?”

“You and he share an enemy,” she said. “He believes you two to be much better able to solve this issue.”

“Meaning he wants us to get an obstacle out of his way.”

The woman smiled, which surprised Chen. A lot of the mind control she’d seen involved a lot less emotion - or, she supposed, a lot less ability to simulate emotion. “Correct. But I think you also have a problem with this obstacle, Sergeant-at-Arms Chen?”

Chen sighed. There were two ways this could go; it could be a trap but if it wasn’t, this was an opportunity for legitimate information. She couldn’t pass it up.

"Let’s hear it, anyway,” she said, and the other woman nodded.

“Very good. The new arrival has tried to influence multiple groups. We know they’ve been active with the Federal Trade Commission and the Court of Military appeals as well as trying to infiltrate Congress.

“The affected women have been cross-referenced by my owner’s units.” She was reciting this, probably having been instructed what to say word for word. “We know the location they all repeatedly visit. We believe this information would be useful to you, Sergeant-at-Arms Chen.”

She folded her arms. She was being played - obviously she was being played - but this was a lead she couldn’t in good conscience pass up. “Go on.”

*

“Mm-hmm,” Sammi King mumbled, her fingers flying on her keyboard making a record of everything Gigi was telling her. “Got it. So you and she are on your way there now?”

“Right.”

“You got your alarm buzzer?”

“Of course.”

“How long before you should have checked in?”

“I’ll at least open the channel inside one hour, unless I can’t.”

“Understood. One hour from now, if that hasn’t happened, I’ll have Jazz check out your location.”

“Appreciate that, Sammi. How are things at base?”

The superspeedster laughed. “Well, the good news is that we wrapped up the Hypercortex case.”

“No way! He’s caught?”

“Samba punched him out cold when we ran him down.”

She could hear Gigi cluck her tongue. “Man, I wish I’d been in on that one.”

“We all kind of expected it’d take longer to find him. He decided he was going to strike again before anyone figured out how he was getting in and out. Problem was, Samba already had.”

Gigi laughed. “I really wish I’d seen it, is all. First time we’ve fought him since we learned what it is to obey.”

“Yeah…” Sammi had a lot of thoughts on how the life of a heroine changed when she was also a brainwashed slave, but now wasn’t the time, and with something of an effort she refrained from laying them out. “Well, I kinda hate to say it but odds are good you’ll get another chance.”

“Well, that’s true. So has our subMistress picked up another case yet?”

Sammi giggled. “No, she’s busy doing ‘performance reviews’.”

“Which means?”

“One by one she’s testing all the triggers that work for her.” She smiled, remembering her own encounter. “Giving her a spiked libido was cruel, I think, but the good kind of cruel.”

“See, now I am jealous.”

“Don’t be - I’m jealous of you. By the time you get back she’s going to have perfected her review process.”

That provoked a laugh from Gigi. “Alright. I’ve got to go now, Chen’s wrapping up her call. I’ll check in in an hour.”

“Understood. Love you, babe.”

“Love you too.”

*

Probably the building had been, at some time, a factory, Chen thought. If not then it had been a warehouse. Either way, it was some way back from the street, the gates appeared to be heavily chained, and there were multiple signs up suggesting it was a prime DC real estate opportunity for an enthusiastic renovator.

On the other hand, she could see in one upper floor window that a lightbulb was on, which meant the electricity was connected, which wasn’t so common for long-term derelict buildings.

When they tested the gates, it turned out that the chains weren’t nearly the obstacle they were at a glance; they opened at a touch, the chains moving with them, having been artistically arranged to give the impression of a sealed-off area.

“You leave a warning for your team?” Gigi asked her, and Chen nodded.

“Yeah. I’ve been controlled before, and honestly, as embarrassing as it is to have to be rescued? The alternative is so much worse.”

I don’t know, Gigi thought, being enslaved has its benefits. But she had the training and experience - and the incentive - to keep that thought out of her face. “Right.”

“Looked like someone was home,” Chen told her. “But it might be a lot more. Especially if this guy’s the sort of asshole who stores his conquests in little pods until he needs them.” She saw a strange expression cross the other woman’s face. “Sorry,” she said. “I forgot that was you.”

“Right. Walters had a whole storage system worked out.” The woman in red swallowed visibly. “You’re right though. These guys might too. And if they do, we need to know about it. There is a plus side, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Pod storage isn’t exactly something where you can activate them quickly. I’d rather he have fifty he can’t get free in time then ten who’re just standing around sucking his cock.”

“Well, there’s an image.” Chen grimaced. “Either way, time is vital. Let’s take a tour of the facility and get through to that room with the light ASAP.”

“I’ll follow your lead.” The woman in red’s eyes seemed to shine at the prospect.

They moved up to the large double doors at the front of the building, but skipped it when they saw the alarm system wired in; a few windows down on the front was a single door that wasn’t alarmed and which turned out to open without needing to finesse the lock.

“Either this is a trap,” Gigi said, “or this guy relies entirely on camouflage for his effects.”

“You’re thinking this is the Ghost.”

“I’m thinking this is the Ghost. It fits what we know of him, right?”

Which was to say, showy, but focused on illusion and distraction. “Right.” Chen had to agree, but hadn’t run the analysis herself when Gigi stepped up.

She realised she’d missed this. In C.A.L.I.B.R.E., there’d been plenty of people she could treat as equals, and it didn’t always feel like she had that now.

Not because she outranked her colleagues but simply because they didn’t really have the same background, weren’t as confident in the field if something metahuman reared its head, and above all because they looked at any case they worked and assumed it would be the most reasonable, obvious solution - while in C.A.L.I.B.R.E., Chen had learned that if it was obvious, you were missing layers underneath.

"What if it’s both?” she asked cautiously. “Camouflage, but a trap to go with it? Like the building’s a card trick.”

Gigi’s eyes widened slightly and she nodded. Taking that for tacit approval of her approach, Chen stepped to the side of the door before opening it.

Both of them heard the sound of something whizzing through the air, very small and very fast. Looking at each other, they took a moment before peering in through the door.

Whatever it had been, they couldn’t see what had launched it; from everything she knew of this guy (in Chen’s jaded experience, it was always a guy who pulled something this over-elaborate) it would be something that fired one shot just so it could be more easily hidden away.

The so-called Capitol Ghost - they hadn’t been able to decide where the name came from, although Gigi was sure he’d lifted it from the Opera Ghost in the musical (Chen was sure that was just too absurd to be right) - was, so far as Chen could see, basically a stage magician writ large. She was absolutely certain that if he were allowed to control when they confronted him, he’d be wearing a top hat.

She stepped into the hallway, moving fast, never coming fully to rest. At any moment, if she sensed something incoming, she could be out of its path with a single vigorous motion, just seconds later.

She was aware of Gigi following her, but the other woman stayed a pace or two behind. They weren’t going to collide with one another in a pinch; weren’t going to block each other’s strikes if there was a fight. Chen felt comfortable now around this other woman who also carried herself like a fighter.

The bulk of the building turned out to be one giant room, which was almost empty except for a camera set against one wall and a giant piece of machinery suspended from a large hinge mounted on the ceiling.

“That’s got to be a custom job,” Gigi said, staring up at it. “Nobody’s going to build something like that and just hope a mad scientist or someone comes up with some weird tech specs they need to fill out.”

Chen nodded. “I’ll be getting some of my people to trace the order,” she said. “Even if the Ghost paid for their silence, someone who worked on this will want to talk.”

Gigi chuckled. “OK, so it turns out there are advantages to working with law enforcement.”

Chen gave her an annoyed look rather than ask the obvious question. She was pretty sure she knew the answers better than Gigi, and she didn’t like that fact. “Let’s keep going.”

For an answer, the redhead slipped forward, overtaking Chen before they reached the only door leading further inwards. Chen wondered why, but was too busy following to dive into it. Might just be impatient, she told herself.

Their path took them up a staircase (and the fourth stair turned out to be a weighted trigger, dropping the next several stairs out for a few moments, but both Gigi and Chen were fast enough to brace themselves against the walls), around a corner and along a corridor (and there were hidden tripwires, with Gigi and then Chen flipping forward to briefly walk on their hands to avoid them), and through a set of double doors (one handle to which was rigged like a taser, but Chen saw the wire connecting to it just in time).

Eventually they were approaching the door with the light on. Looking at each other for a moment, they collected their wits, took a deep breath, and approached.

Just before they reached the door it flew open. A zaftig blonde emerged, moving at speed, her legs clad in shimmering sheer tights and white high heels, her torso and her crotch augmented by a sequinned bustier.

The bustier was obviously stiff and rigid, the high heels were heels. The speed, grace, and hitting power of the blonde made no sense given what she was wearing, but Chen had dealt with supers enough to know that it didn’t matter whether something was possible, it mattered whether it was happening and needed dealing with.

The blonde exchanged a series of kicks and punches with the two investigators, standing her ground and using the doorway to limit the counter-attacks her opponents could use, until maybe thirty seconds had passed. Then, after dropping back a step, she cannoned past them both and took off running.

“I’ll get her,” Gigi said, already turning and chasing. Chen was moving into the office, on the same reflex and the same set of assumptions; someone standing their ground then abandoning it like that usually meant a delaying action.

The window of the room was open now, as it hadn’t been when they saw the building from the outside; there had been no way to climb down, but whoever had been in the room was gone.

On the other hand, they’d left their filing cabinet behind.