Chương 87: 6.08 How many Samanthas does it take to change a lightbulb?

2104: 02: 23: 22: 23: 02 It took a little over a week before we managed to contact the New Seattle Sentinels for a meetup. As per tradition, the chosen location was a rooftop, this time in Aberdeen. The rooftop was an odd one. Fully furnished and decorated, with flowerbeds in rectangular pots and chairs surrounding circular tables, small separated lawns with a stone pathway running through; a rooftop garden, in other words.

It was sort of a public space, which I thought unusual for a masked meetup, but more importantly: did rooftop gardens count as trespassing? I wasn't sure. Maybe if you could get up here without gaining access through the main building – which itself was the heart of multiple conjoined apartment complexes – but since Amber and I simply went up the traditional masked way, I didn't know if that was possible. Ah well, whatever.

By the time Amber and I arrived the other party was already seated, sipping away at something with a cooler right beside them. Strangely, I could see the steam coming from Rhennish's mug, without a thermos in sight. Mantellan's power, I guessed. Rhennish, now officially the leader of the Sentinels, greeted us.

"Crowsong, Jester; good to see you again." He smiled, his diving mask lifting with the motion.

"Especially you, Crowsong; we feared you were gone! Never thought it'd be a ruse. Very clever." His praise seemed genuine. Perhaps with his experience he really did understand. The same couldn't be said about March. She chortled mirthlessly, crossed her arms and glared at us from the other side of the table. We had of course informed her Amber was still alive, but by necessity that only happened after the news had already broken and spread here, there and everywhere.

Our explanation and apologies fell on deaf ears and after a couple of tries apologizing on my own, March blocked me. Trying through Rhennish resulted him apologizing and telling me she didn't want to talk.

"Now now, March," Rhennish gently chided his junior, a hand moving to her shoulder.

"We've been over this. Let's give them-" March jerked away and jumped out of her seat.

"They lied to me," March said, not quite yelling but angry all the same. The exclamation made me grimace underneath my mask.

"I have every right to be angry." Amber stepped up to the plate.

"We're sorry, March. We didn't intend to hurt you, but we didn't have a choice." Something about the choice of words got March's hackles raised.

"Nth-Sight set me up to die. Not going along with it and limiting contact with others wouldn't have just put me in danger, but everyone we knew – in and out of mask." Clearly Amber was opting for an approach of sincere logic, yet I doubted that would help. I'd already tried that through text, after all. Proving me right, March pointed between Amber and I with a shaking finger, practically vibrating with anger.

"They- she- I comforted her! When- when I thought her mentor died, I felt-!" she cut herself off. I stepped up slowly, gesturing apologetically.

"I'm sorry," I said, as she was clearly talking about me now.

"We- I wanted to tell you, I promise. But-""I- I thought y-you were suffering! Like I was!" she cut in, voice hoarse.

"That- that you were going through the same thing as me, and- and that it was my turn to-" she cut off with a painful-sounding crack. She was referring to Jagar Natha; another pang of guilt shot through me.

"Did you think it- it was funny," she asked bitterly, "t-to not tell me and let me comfort you? To let me think she was dead?" Rhennish opened his mouth and started to rise out of his seat, but Mantellan placed a hand on the man's shoulder, shaking his head at his fellow Sentinel. Rhennish sat down again.

"Of course I didn't," I said softly, walking forward a bit. It was clear that this was something much more personal, it sounding like I'd touched on painful memories.

"I never intended to hurt you."

"I-I thought you were my friend," she said quietly.

"We still could be," I said sincerely, standing all but a step away from her now. I reached out slowly – for what exactly, I didn't know – but she took a step back, turning to face away from me. Luckily, I had a brilliant idea.

"I'm serious. Here, look." Without hesitation, I reached up and pulled off my smiling mask.

"Samantha Pearsson. Nice to meet you." March turned to look at me, wide-eyed and no-doubt open-mouthed as well behind the coverage of her face-obscuring Venetian mask. Behind me, Crowsong cussed me out underneath her breath. Off to the side, Rhennish lowered his head, groaning as he cradled it. Mantellan did his best to suppress his laughter, no doubt thinking something like 'ah, youth' or whatever it was old people did. March sputtered for a second before yelling, "Put your mask back on, you idiot!" at me.

"Are you insane?! Why would you even think to do that?!" Flustered, I hurriedly did as asked. This wasn't going the way I'd expected.

"I- I was just trying to show you my sincerity."

"By ripping off-?!" Then, all of a sudden, all the energy drained out of her, letting out a familiar-sounding, "Jesus Christ…" She stepped away and to the side, collapsing on the chair next to Rhennish. Mantellan was laughing openly now.

"The youth-" I knew it, "-are really something nowadays, aren't they?" I felt hands grab my shoulders from behind, Amber frog marching me to one of the two open seats opposite the Sentinels.

"It's not a 'youth' thing," Amber growled. She pushed me into one of the seats.

"It's a Jester thing." She sat herself down in the other.

"I don't see the problem," I said.

"Of course you don't," Amber said, no doubt rolling her eyes behind her crow face.

"That's part of the issue." I sniffed.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it when… well, that other time. Nor did they." Referring to Millie of course, when Amber practically did the same thing I'd done here. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Yeah, well, you two are quite special in that regard." What was that supposed to mean?

"And you know very well there were other reasons for that then… whatever it is you were thinking here." That was true enough. Still, "I trust March – trust all three of them. Why shouldn't I want to show them my face?" Again, Mantellan laughed while Rhennish continued cradling and shaking his head in disbelief, though I could see a hint of a smile there as well. March still looked like she was coming to from nearly fainting. Still, no matter what they said or did, I had accomplished my goal.

I had no doubt March accepted my sincerity – or otherwise now thought me too stupid to be trying to deceive her. Either way, it was my win. Amber wasn't nearly as satisfied though.

"It's not just about trust, Jester," she stressed.

"It's about time, about creating bonds and maintaining relationships. About setting boundaries. Did you stop to think that maybe they weren't ready to know your identity." That… well, she had a point. But, "We fought a life-or-death battle together. I would think that earns enough trust." Mantellan's mirth disappeared at the mention of Jagar Natha and Elegast's fates. As did Rhennish's, who now raised his head to give the conversation his full attention.

March, however, looked up at the star-dotted sky for some reason.

"So you would show your face to every hero you fought against Soliloquy with?" Amber asked. I mulled it over for a second, then grimaced before reluctantly admitting, "Not really…" For some reason, it felt different. Maybe it was the size of the party, the magnitude of the event, or simply the fact that I felt no personal connection to them; I didn't know. It was just different, somehow. Amber continued.

"See? Have you thought that maybe the Sentinels feel the same way about you as you feel about that?" she said.

"And that by revealing yourself, you also put pressure on them to do the same?" I opened my mouth to retort, but found no good argument.

"You're right," I said, then to the Sentinels, "I'm sorry." Mantellan relaxed and waved it off casually, taking a sip from his still-warm tea. Rhennish sighed and said, "It's fine. It's your right to tell who you want to tell. It was just… surprising, that's all." But March shook her head.

"No, I think you're right," she said.

"I- I should've trusted you. And I do trust you." And then she too reached up and pulled off her mask. Dark-skinned, hazel-eyed and with incredibly short hair, what I was surprised most about was that she looked older than I expected, maybe as much as seventeen. I'd thought her to be younger.

"Naomi. Naomi Kellison." This time it was the older Sentinels' turn to look flabbergasted, and Amber's turn to sigh and bemoan the youth.

"March-" Rhennish began, but was cut off.

"No," she said to him, then turned to me again.

"I trust her, and that's final. Besides, we're friends, right?" A wide smile, yet with a lingering vulnerability hidden within her eyes. I quickly nodded, then turned to my mentor.

"Sorry Crowsong, I've got a new best maskie now." Amber groaned in agony while March relaxed, smiling as she put her mask back on. The other Sentinels were past caring now it seemed, accepting the situation at face value.

"Now that that's over with," Amber said.

"Let's get to the reason why we're here in the first place, shall we?" We all agreed, all straightening their backs like we were at a business meeting or something. Amber continued, addressing primarily Rhennish.

"As was said in the message, we're here with a… proposal, I guess it's best to call it. To begin with, we hope to set up a framework to better coordinate with each other. Share information, at least, and if that goes well perhaps even cooperate with one another more broadly if the situation calls for it." To our surprise, it was Mantellan that spoke.

"Cooperation, is it?" We'd expected Rhennish to speak since he was their leader as far as we were aware.

"Now don't take this the wrong way, but I remember Jagar Natha telling me you refused a similar offer back when Blackhawk passed away. Are you saying you changed your mind?" She and I exchanged a quick look.

"Yes," Amber said.

"Truly?" Mantellan questioned, sounding skeptical rather than surprised – though I wasn't sure. The supernatural darkness of his cowl obscured his facial expressions.

"Why? Because from what I saw you two are doing well for yourselves. Breaking up masked fights between Motorgang and Magistry, capturing henchies, patrolling your neighborhoods, and capturing and providing law enforcement intelligence on Motorgang's operation – friends of ours in the financial crimes arm of Charm's DLE were very happy with that one especially. You two seem to be doing well enough on your own." Amber said nothing for a moment; that had been her argument during our conversation. Then, "I agree.

But just because we're doing well doesn't mean we can't do better. I have some contacts left over from Blackhawk's time – rogues, traders, brokers and the like – but not all, and Nth-Sight was Jester and my only source of intelligence beyond the publicly-accessible ones. Blackhawk never shared his others." A hint of irritation snuck in at the mention of her mentor.

"As for our own efforts: we're proficient enough at investigation, following leads, and infiltrating gang hideouts, but…"

"It takes a lot of time, and you two aren't exactly detectives," Mantellan concluded for her. Amber nodded. I couldn't tell whether that pricked her pride or not. Mantellan leaned back in his chair, saying nothing as his hand disappeared in the darkness to rub his chin. He looked off to his left, to Rhennish, who stared back. After a second, Rhennish nodded and the pair both turned to us.

I couldn't guess what had passed between them, but seeing March stiffen and lean forward excitedly, I guessed it was something special.

"In truth," Rhennish began, "we had our own reasons for accepting – and would've done earlier if it weren't for March's issues." March huffed through her nose, not caring for the reprimand.

"You see," Mantellan took over, "back in the day, in New Seattle and after Charm was founded, the Sentinels were a much larger entity. The Treaty had just been signed and the masquerade was still busy expanding as an institution. The Unified State was still unsure of its… place in society, let's say, ever since the fall of Malcator, and still hadn't had a clear policy on how to deal with superpowers.

The Guardians didn't officially become part of the state apparatus until 2068 – a decade after the Treaty was signed – and it wasn't until the West Coast Wardens was founded in 2071 that Charm had its very own 'real' hero team.

"So back then the Sentinels were the largest kid on the block. We were there from the beginning, and the only real team of masked heroes for a while. We had deep ties to the neighborhood watches all across Charm, to law enforcement and journalists, and even to many influencers back in the day.

Even well into the eighties, after the Guardians started to finally make headway in cracking down on non-governmental hero groups, the Sentinels were still the heroic team in Charm – despite the fact we weren't legally considered heroes anymore.

"Even when the police, firefighters and other rescue workers were forced by law to cut ties with us; even when most neighborhood watches and informal militias got reorganized for fear of henchism and villainization; and even when vigilantism itself grew more and more difficult; we remained strong." Beyond the obvious reminiscence, there had come an increasingly bittersweet tone to his voice.

Although exact information on Mantellan's early days were scarce – as all history did the closer you got to the Dark Age – he'd been active since at least the early seventies. Depending on how old he was, he might've even been active all the way back to New Seattle, in the 2040s or 2050s.

"That's… interesting," Amber said, clearly uninterested in the history lesson.

"But what has that to do with us?" A bit too blunt maybe, but a good point.

"Back in the day, we had a giant network of people supporting the Sentinels," Rhennish said, summarizing.

"We still have a remnant of that, one inherited over the generations. But as for the New Seattle Sentinels itself; our numbers have shrunk considerably since our heyday, much like the number of vigilantes did in general. It's not truly a problem on its own – the heroes have things well in hand for the most part, and Charm has been a stable place for near a decade. But with recent events… we feel the need to make some changes." I looked at them confused, but Amber was much quicker on the uptake.

"You want us to join?" she asked, sounding skeptical. My head snapped to Amber-"Yes." -then back to Rhennish. This wasn't what I'd been expecting when I asked Amber to set up a meeting. Rhennish continued.

"We feel-" he indicated Mantellan with a nod, "-that the number of Sentinels has reached a critical low. Mantellan is here only temporarily, and beyond our lovely junior March here-" who groaned at the mention, "-we have no one to carry our name onward."

"Which would be a shame," Mantellan added.

"Already vigilantism is a dying breed, and with it the type of heroism we – including you two – embody."

"Which is?" Amber questioned.

"Professional. Independent. Local," Mantellan replied.

"The kind of heroism that goes beyond the self-aggrandizement, violent desires and asocial behavior of the worst kind of vigilantes, yet that also don't want their strings pulled by the Unified State." Part of me wanted to accept immediately. This could be the path to everything I'd dreamed of being, to everything I'd been made for. A team – an organization if I had my wish – full of superheroes without bearing the full scrutiny of a controlling, and thus inspecting, government.

Combining it with the fact that I would be at the foundation of this proposed renewal and there was a real possibility I could end up leading it – barring the fact I might not last long enough to see it happen, of course. Yet simultaneously, a part of me hesitated. Even beyond the fact Amber and I would need to discuss it before agreeing, my mind lingered on one single word: local. A local team would never reach the heights and scale necessary to attempt to create a villain-free world. Still, facts could change.

And even if they didn't, it would be time well-spent regardless.

"And adding two extra juniors is your best solution?" Amber asked, still thinking it over herself. Rhennish shook his head.

"If we had our wish, other vigilantes and, if possible, some of the solo heroes would join us – be it merely as part of an expanded network or fully as new Sentinels. Currently though, besides yourselves we have one, maybe two others we believe would join us. If you stick around, our appointment with one is later tonight. No pressure, of course." Amber and I looked at each other. She tilted her head slightly, near-imperceptibly, and I gave an equally slight nod.

Not an agreement to join the Sentinels – that would require more than a simple bit of silent communication – but an agreement to stay and watch the other recruitment pitch. Amber turned back to Rhennish.

"Alright. It would be useful at least to hear more arguments." Whether for or against, she didn't say. Rhennish nodded too, smiling. He gestured to the cooler next to him under the table.

"Good. Then in the meantime: want something to eat while we wait? A drink?" Amber nodded and unscrewed the lower half of her crow's beak. March likewise had a similarly latch to pull off the bottom half of her mask. I, lacking similar mechanics, pulled off my mask entirely before putting it to the side. Who was stupid for unmasking now?