The Original

Settling In

“So, analysts are saying that she looks like Solaris, and that her powers are consistent with Solaris, but how sure are we of her identity?”

“I don’t know, Pat. We’ve had heroines appear for decades who could just about be Solaris. Blond bombshells who turned out to only have a fraction of The Original Girl’s power. Unfortunately, she didn’t do us the favor of hitting anyone with a small ship.”

“I’m pretty sure Norwegian Cruise Line appreciates that, since they’re lagging behind their competitors in regard to mega-ships already.”

-Michael Walace and Patricia Kent, Super-Watch, Fox News.

. “I will send people down to collect the tech. Now for you… both of you…” she leaned back. “Solaris, the UN no longer uses true super assets, above a class D. I could give you the political run around, but you know why no government or collective of nations can use empowered people as weapons. It quickly turns into existential threats.”

“We are also going to be assigning Penny here as your liaison… and don’t argue Lieutenant. You know you can’t clear medical yet, as much as you try to fake it, and the Coast Guard has already warned they’re considering med-boarding you out. This buys you some healing time to try to keep your commission. Try actually not pushing your leg for a bit.”

Solaris nodded, ignoring the dark look on the younger woman’s face. “So, she is going to help me reintegrate? I appreciate that since my commission has certainly expired. I admit I am a bit out of sorts, I’m still digesting so much right now. I still can’t quite grasp how much time has passed, I don’t know if any of my homes or accounts exist anymore.”

“We contacted your accounting firm. That was the only number we had, and why your emergency contact number was accountants I am sure I don’t want to know. They are supposedly going to contact you as soon as tomorrow to discuss details. They sent a packet for you as well, including an already booked and paid for suite at One UN Millennium Hilton. At least it’s close.”

“Because my twin is about as reliable as overcooked pasta when it comes to family matters,” Solaris said, her eyes sad. If it really has been seventy years…My parents would have passed.” She swallowed. It was hard to say that and keep her composure. “Hugh probably set that up because he is impossible to get a hold of, and he wouldn’t want to be responsible for me. Need someone to infiltrate the KGB, he’s your man, need someone to remember your birthday, forget it. Which is even sadder since we have the SAME birthday.” She took a breath to resettle herself. Hugh had enjoyed being vexatious.

She turned to Penny, and gave her a friendly smile, “Well, looks like we'll be together a bit. I thank you for your time, I am sure you are in for odd questions as I settle in.”

“Oh no. I am waiting for the storm.” The young officer said with a touch of sarcasm. “You aren’t the first hero to reappear after vanishing for years.”

The deputy director nodded in agreement. “And whenever one of you comes back, shoes no one else remembers seeming to start dropping. I’m probably being superstitious but I'm still canceling some people’s leave. You check out a side arm and stay with her Lieutenant Ward. I expect you’re going to need it. “

" Ma'am, I'm not usually a liaison officer. I've not been trained as an, um."

"She's trying to tactically not say babysitter." The director said candidly. "And in this case, you're not. Your job is to keep idiots from bashing their head against her trying to make a name, not keep her from throwing her toys out of the crib. One, you couldn’t stop her if you wanted to. Secondly, you're a twenty something young woman, and tech nerd like all suit jocks. That means you can explain the things she needs to know better than any of the more well trained and "appropriate" choices would. Good lord, could you see Ken Watanabe trying to explain Wi-Fi to her? She'll think Pokémon Go means monsters are going to attack at any moment!"

"That only happened once, and it was because of The Tripper. There’s no evidence any pocket monster attacks actually occurred. God only knows what the hell he thought was going on." At the confused look on Elizabeth's face, she chuckled. “Super-villain, technically. When he gets stoned, everyone near him gets stoned, and he takes some weird shit.”

“Right. That’s certainly interesting.” The woman out of time mused. “I do understand your position, lieutenant. No one likes escort duty, and the Lord knows I’ve done enough of it myself.” She smiled in shared pain. “I promise I will not act like a sailor on leave., though if you could tell me what these Poke-man creatures are and why they aren’t a concern I would appreciate it. And of course, help me get caught up as quickly as I can. Perhaps I will need to find some back issues of the papers.”

"What papers? Did I miss something?" Penny asked, looking around for documents she hadn't noticed other than the room reservation and debit card.

"She means newspapers, Penny." The older woman said. "You know, those things millennials ignore?"

“What’s a millennial? And why do they ignore the news?”

"Millennials are people who were adolescents around the turn of the millennium." Penny said. "I'm Gen Z, actually."

"And I'm a boomer. Baby boom kid." The director explained.

“Interesting way to delineate the generations? What would I be?” the young woman in her nineties asked.

"Most commonly... You fall into the, um... greatest generation." Penny said with a blush. "To be fair, you guys kind of set the bar with the whole World War II while recovering from the Great Depression thing."

Solaris blushed. “Well, that is flattering. It’s nice to know we are appreciated”.

"History certainly does." Penny admitted as she squirmed a bit.

"Well, I'm going to send you on your way, but Penny, I'm going to send a few more detailed questionnaires over, the intake ones and the after-action sheets we give new supes. I know she’s not one, but we have none of the standard paperwork for her. Get the information from the Major here, here and send it back. I'm expecting you to be traveling with her for a while, so at least the fact you've been staying in the on-call quarters means your kits are handy.” She looked at Elizabeth “As if losing a leg, temporarily, wasn't bad enough, her apartment building was condemned due to bed bugs and wiring issues while she recovered."

"Got more than the furniture was worth in the settlement though."

“That sounds vile, don’t worry, you won’t suffer…I just hope you enjoy shopping as I’m going to need a new wardrobe for a new millennium.”

"I mean, I don't hate shopping." She shrugged.

“My dear, you have never been shopping with me.” Solaris said and Penny felt strangely intimidated.

Half an hour later they were shown into the room at the hotel. Penny was blown away. She'd heard of multi-floor hotel rooms, but this is the first time she'd seen one. Two bedrooms up a short flight of stairs, with a dining room, living room. It was basically a small house pretending to be a hotel accommodation. And all of it was nicer than anything she'd ever owned.

"Is there anything you ladies will need?" The bell hop asked, after setting their limited luggage on the dining table, not wanting to assume shared or individual bedrooms. At check in they'd been told the room was attached to a "corporate account' to cover services.

“Is there a room service menu? I think I’d prefer to settle in tonight rather than eat in the main dining room.” She looked around the room, finding it to be plush and sleek. And blessedly quiet. She was tired after everything. which she thought was ironic, she’d been asleep for decades.

"Oh, of course." The Attendant picked up the remote for the large screen opposite the couch, and turned it on, quickly turning to the room service menu. "You can see the menu and order from here. Just note if you want it asap or at a specific time." he said, offering Solaris the remote control.

“Thank you.” She let the bellhop leave, considering the remote, then the TV. Then back to the complicated object covered in buttons she held. Handing the detonator looking thing to Penny with an annoyed look. “On the bright side you get to order whatever you want to eat?”

"Yeah... my dad had that exact expression when we took a cruise as a family trip a few years ago." Penny chuckled. "I'll scroll through slowly, tell me if you see what you want. For myself, this vodka sauce pasta sounds great, maybe with a chopped salad."

The large steak, with veggies, and a bottle of red wine, and pick out a couple of appetizers. I have no idea what most of those are, no oysters though, never liked them. And get a couple of slices of cake…maybe 2 bottles of wine. What do you think?

Pennelope blinked in surprise, considering the still young, but much older woman. "I'm thinking I'm not so upset about this assignment as I maybe was a bit before." She chuckled, punching in the order. Lemongrass chicken dumplings, BBQ Chicken wings, New York strip with all the fixings. Two of both desserts, a good table wine, red, and a dessert wine, white. There we go.”

“I think this assignment may have me concerned about fitting into a mech suit!" She joked.

Solaris chuckled, "Don’t worry, busy as we are likely to be you’ll work it off. And you deserve some pampering since I’m going to probably be asking questions that would make a toddler laugh. And on that note, I am going to ask the first of many awkward questions, why was everyone holding up those odd little devices? The ones that looked like small walkie talkies? I figured they are some sort of communication device, but are they also protective in some way?"

The younger officer frowned, then pulled out her smartphone. "You mean like this?" she asked, holding it out to Solaris.

"Yes. Everyone seemed to have one and when that robot started attacking the ships many people just stood there holding them up. I was very confused that people were not evacuating or panicking.”

"It takes a lot to make New Yorkers run away from anything. They were taking pictures." She flipped it around and snapped a pic, showing Solaris her own photo, standing in front of the window. "This is a smart phone, so it does a lot of different things. Pictures, emails, text messaging, phone calls, and watching videos. Kind of does everything, really."

“My goodness! That is a powerful bit of technology," she rolled that in her head thinking how many more lives she could have saved with a phone she could carry wirelessly in the field?” She wasn't sure what email was or text messaging, but they sounded useful. " It's really beautiful that everyone can have such a powerful thing, but that doesn't explain why they were taking pictures instead of getting away?”

"I mean, I'm sure someone's done a research project on it, but honestly. It's mostly because people can be idiots at the weirdest times. However, everyone taking pictures and putting it on social media is how we found out you had appeared so fast. "

Social media? They mailed pictures to the papers that fast? How strange. I guess one thing we will want to do tomorrow is to get a phone for me as they seem to be a necessity for the new modern times. Is your phone of sufficient quality?"

"Um... I guess. It’s a couple of generations old but does alright." She used the TV again, and accessed YouTube, calling up some of the videos of the fight, hitting play. "Here’s some of the video shot. This one has. over a million views already."

The blonde hero’s eyes went wide. "Such clarity. And instantaneous?" She looked at Penny. "A million people have seen this already?" She was torn between being amazed and appalled as she looked like a mess.

"This one, yeah. There's others from different angles, and most aren't really this nice. The guy has a channel specializing in Super events, and travels around the city to catch them. Rumor has it he’s got an unlocked police scanner and might be a low level speedster."

“Other channels are debating who you might actually be and are doing really well to get it right. There’s been other potential Solaris reappearances but obviously, they weren’t you."

"I guess it would be a little odd for me to reappear out of nowhere, though your boss said that it isn't the first time it's happened.”

"No, not at all. I mean, ignoring the Speedster war, it’s happened a few times. Dimensional rifts, jaunts into micritization, random dimensional hops, all things that have happened." She shrugged. "There's a reason known heroes aren't declared deceased unless a body is found. Even ordinary citizens find it difficult to declare dead quickly, even with reasonable cause to believe, because of some of the precedents."

“Well, that means I should still have an adequate nest egg. I put my funds in the hands of good people. Well, people that were good with money in any case.”

The door rang. "Ahh, our dinner is here. Solaris stood then paused. "What is the standard tip these days? I have a feeling it's more than the dollar I used to give?"

“Let me. I’ll charge it to the room. Twenty percent is the norm though, but I personally only do that much if I’m pleased with the service. “. Penny signed for the meal, and set out the dinner at the table, a meal Penny was surprised to find on proper plates and with real silverware. Most places just used plastic and foam.

This looks lovely. Solaris poured two glasses of wine and set her cloth napkin on her lap. "Please dig in, if we need more we can always order again. I haven’t eaten for almost eight decades after all.” She selected a couple of dumplings and a pair of the wings to set on her plate. “This doesn’t look like barbecue. And what are the little puffs?” and took a delicate bite. “Other than delicious of course. She took a sip of wine savoring it for a moment. “Now since we will be together for a while, please feel free to call me Elizabeth, or Solaris, whichever you prefer.”

“And I am Penny, obviously. Dreadful doesn’t really work when I’m not in a suit.” She rolled her eyes. “So why don't we start getting you caught up, hit me with all the questions. “

"Yes, I'll be honest I don't really know where to start. Seventy years! Did anything end up being done about McCarthy?”

“He got cocky and targeted the US military and its interests in his and his allies' little purge. The pentagon didn’t like that, and they slapped him down so hard he left office and became an alcoholic. Honestly, I'm not sure that the whole thing worked out well for any of its biggest proponents in the end, but I don't know much about the broader history. Most of what I really know I remember from watching “Chaplin”, and in spite of it all he still got a lifetime achievement Oscar."

Solaris nodded, "I dislike communism as much as the next person, but I hate witch hunts more. It escapes me why humanity seems so fond of them.” She sighed" "So what is going to be the best way to get caught up on current affairs? This social media you were talking about earlier?"

"That’s a very good question, and I’m not sure there really is a good way. No one really creates content targeted to the ‘out of contact for a few decades’ crowd." She mused. "And that's ignoring the fact that some of it isn't even that useful anymore. I mean, the entire Korean and Vietnam wars are historically significant events, but not really day to day useful to you or me. The USSR doesn't exist anymore, though the Russians are periodically a pain in someone's rear. The cold war pretty much ended in the Nineties when Germany decided it was going to be one country again, wall or no wall.”

"Well, that is good, and Russia has been going through periods of being problematic since before the Tzars. though I did get along well with most of their heroes." She chose not to ask about the wall reference.

"They don't have a lot of those right now for lots of reasons, starting with Stalin and the cold war. I won't worry about the details right now. Now North Korea that's still as stupid as you likely remember, but no active conflict going on." She rolled her thoughts around.

"The director mentioned there aren't Supers in the UN anymore, for the most part. This is because some of the rules you all started playing by in World War II became more and more supported by treaty. No one above a Tier D Enhanced human can serve in a military unit. Government, corporate, and other agencies can finance and support super heroes or teams, though to operate legally as the classic idea of a hero does require registering with an appropriate government agency, ultimately UNLOC and the UCGS in the United States. That doesn't require full Identity revelation but requires registering your so called ‘heroic Persona’.”

She paused, trying to remember the major rules. “Secret ID types have a few other hoops to jump through, but nothing challenging. Their biggest issue is that the Federal Government won’t fund their teams at all. The US Coast Guard, by tradition, manages the US registration as well as helping with cape law enforcement as a support element, while Britain handed that over to MI5. Both give the information to UNLOC who are the ultimate managers of the information since heroes find themselves all over the place by really stupid coincidences."

"Now that is the truth, one minute you’re crossing the pond, the next on an island full of dinosaurs. How do you think that would affect me, as I was contracted to a joint Government project team? Are the Guardians even still a thing?"

"The Guardians are still a thing, yes. based out of Washington DC, they're the United States primary Super Team. The sort of people who deal with invading alien despots, plummeting comets, that sort of stuff. The British equivalent is the Watch, though the two groups have traditionally been good about sharing resources. Canadian heroes have been in both teams."

"As for your personal status, you’re listed as inactive. Having been gone a long time, who the hell knows what rules who might want to grandfather a rule to justify borrowing your services for a mission or two.”." She shrugged. "It's kind of up to you. Get back in the field, retire and raise those little dogs the royal family likes so much, or buy a California winery. Or go back into medicine. No one really EXPECTS anything at this point, or maybe they expect everything and are waiting to see which actually comes true."

Solaris took a bite of steak looking out the large windows over the city. "Well, there is time to figure that out, it’s not like I can do much useful until getting settled. Do you know, or can you find out what happened to my family's holdings? I assume my brother inherited the Summers title and lands? I think maybe that would be a good place to start, it's where I was born after all."

"Let me see. Where are those lands?" She used her phone and called up the information about the lands and location. "Wow, you’re from actual English nobility, that’s neat. From what I'm seeing here, it was kind of split in half. You had a southern, London area home that your brother took over when you disappeared, but the ancestral lands are held by a holding company which is noted as being part of your own estate. The London property was sold, the land there was worth too much in comparison to updating the house, I imagine. Your brother, who looks surprisingly young in this picture from the seventies, passed without issue under suspicious circumstances. Your brother was a spook and disappeared in a boating accident. about thirty years ago."

Solaris laughed,” Well, at least one of her family was still around, "Hugh will probably pop up some time in the next few weeks. My father was an Admiral, we grew up on boats so there is no way my brother died on a boat especially if the wreck was found! He just got fed up with whatever malarky he was into and decided to make a dramatic exit."

"He was apparently in parliament, and I get the impression he was talked into it by someone else." She wasn't going to argue the man turning up, it kind of sounded James Bond-ish to her. "That seat is occupied by another family now, but I'd judge you're the heir to the title and properties in total at this point. However, google earth photos suggest the property is in need of renovation."

She leaned across the table, and showed a photo of an overgrown, but not completely unmaintained property with a few derelict buildings on the edges. "Someone's keeping it up, but it’s been nearly a century without a major overhaul."

“The old girl is still there. Renovations are easy enough to do and old houses always need renovations. It's like churches always needing new roofs, I think that will be our first stop once we finish up here in New York. We can take an ocean liner to London then drive or fly north to the property. Do you have your passport?

"Yeah. Frankly it's yours we're going to have to get." She explained. "But I can look into cruise ships going to England. She was going to ask about flying, but in thinking figured her new boss just wanted to take it easy. Plus, who would fly commercial if they didn't have to? Bookings tend to be online, and we haven't even started getting you comfortable with that."

"Don't put yourself out Penny. You just need to find me a good travel agent, it's their job to deal with the minutiae of travel. How is the pasta?"

"I can do that too." she shrugged. It wasn't that much effort but whatever the boss wants.

"It's delicious. No regrets here. I..." her phone began playing a pop song. "One moment. hello?" She listened for a few minutes. "Um. Someone from Credit Suisse wants to know if tomorrow morning is a good time for their representative to come and speak to you? Apparently, it's about your accounts?"

"That would be excellent, I'll need to get that set up so I can get a new Cheque book! A woman cannot properly go shopping without that. What time is good for them? We can use the menu to order a nice morning or afternoon tea for everyone."

"Check book? Um, right. I'll let the bank guy explain that." Penny muttered. "Can you come in around eleven. I would bet this place could do a tea service, then I know you're going to want to do some shopping."

Solaris nodded, pouring a fresh glass of wine. "Sounds wonderful.”