Taylor had expected disappointment. She had not expected Armsmaster to spend nearly ten full seconds staring at her in complete silence after she admitted she had lost count of how many times Lung and Oni Lee had killed her.
The conference room felt strangely small.
Across the table, Miss Militia had gone very still. Director Piggot's expression had somehow managed to become even more severe, which Taylor would not have believed possible if she were not witnessing it herself. And even her dad looked caught between anger and horror.
Jessica Yamada, meanwhile, was not physically present, which Taylor considered one of the few bright spots of the meeting right up until Piggot informed her that Jessica had already agreed to come in that afternoon.
"Absolutely not," Taylor said immediately.
"You have not even heard the rest of the sentence yet," Miss Militia replied.
"I don't need to,” Taylor retorted, slumping back in her chair.
Beside her, her dad looked entirely too pleased with that answer.
"It's not necessary,” she added with a sigh.
"You have repeatedly experienced violent deaths."
Taylor opened her mouth to argue, caught sight of Piggot's expression, and thought better of it. There were battles worth fighting. Convincing a room full of adults that repeated violent deaths were not psychologically damaging was probably not one of them.
The room remained quiet for a few moments.
Eventually Armsmaster crossed his arms and leaned forward. "You were unable to obtain any useful intelligence?"
Taylor shook her head.
"Lung is still hiding out in ABB territory, but I couldn't figure out where he plans to move next, what resources he has left, or what he wants to do with them." She grimaced. "Most of my time was spent getting stabbed."
Miss Militia pinched the bridge of her nose.
Taylor had not meant it dramatically. She genuinely did not know anymore. After a certain point, individual deaths started blurring together.
Armsmaster was the first to recover. "You believe Oni Lee is the primary obstacle."
"Definitely." The answer came immediately. "If he wasn't there, I could get information from Lung."
Or kill him.
Taylor wisely kept that part to herself, but she was beginning to suspect everyone knew exactly what she intended. Piggot’s lips pressed into a line, Armsmaster looked away, and Miss Militia suddenly became very interested in a document sitting on the table.
It was honestly impressive how everyone managed to avoid acknowledging the obvious at the same time. They didn't even seem eager to stop her.
Taylor shifted in her seat, continuing. "I just need a way past Oni Lee."
"You say that as though it were a minor complication," her dad said.
"It kind of is."
Miss Militia closed her eyes briefly, Piggot looked unimpressed, and her dad looked like he was reconsidering every decision that had led to this conversation.
Taylor was honestly getting tired of their receptions, but she resisted the urge to point out that none of them was the one dying and glanced toward Armsmaster.
"If I can deal with him, Lung becomes manageable."
That earned her another long silence. A very specific kind of silence.
A few months ago she had been worrying about Sophia, Emma, missed assignments, and whether she could make it through a school day without something being dumped on her. Now the PRT was discussing ways to help her get past a teleporting murderer so she could deal with Lung.
Armsmaster finally broke the silence. "Oni Lee's power has limitations."
Taylor straightened slightly. That was the first useful thing anyone had said all morning.
"He cannot teleport infinitely," Armsmaster continued. "Nor can he observe every location simultaneously. There are exploitable weaknesses."
"Such as?"
Armsmaster exchanged a brief glance with Miss Militia. "We'll need time."
Taylor sighed.
Of course they needed time. Everybody always needed time. Committees needed time. Investigations needed time. Plans needed time.
At least this was the first useful answer she had received since Lung had decided to introduce her to the exciting experience of being set on fire, so she supposed she couldn't complain too much.
Across the table, Piggot closed a folder.
"We'll review available intelligence and develop options."
Translation: the adults were going to lock themselves in a room and argue for several hours.
Taylor knew how organizations worked.
"Until then," Piggot continued, "you are not to enter ABB territory."
Taylor nodded immediately, and the entire room stared at her.
"What?"
"You agreed far too quickly," Miss Militia said.
Taylor nodded at that. "That's fair."
Her dad remained quiet after that, which honestly worried Taylor more than if he had started arguing again. She was sure there would be words exchanged at home.
Still, the meeting continued, drifting into discussions about patrol routes, surveillance, and resources, but she found herself paying less attention than she probably should have. Occasionally somebody asked her a question and she answered it, but her attention kept circling back to the same thing.
Oni Lee had limits. Armsmaster had sounded certain about that. So for the first time since she'd started throwing herself at the problem, it felt like there might actually be a way forward.