“So it’s that simple?” asked Anne, as we ate dinner.

“Looks like it. They’ve already opened a bank account in the name of Belessar, put in a request for a pager, and created a bunch of other legal documents.”

Anne nodded. “They’re good. McCarthy represents Viking - I’ve seen him on TV.”

“He also suggested I set up an official e-mail and webpage for Belessar. Something that people can contact me on.”

“That’s sensible. Once I go public, do you think I should use him too?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, I learnt something interesting at school today. In Mr. Fickle’s class.”

“Really? What was that?”

“Well, Karen Coulter asked Mr. Fickle how a single ultra could do what the whole Tanisport P.D. couldn’t.”

“And?”

“Mr. Fickle told us that there’s a huge difference in power between even the weakest ultra and the strongest normal human being. The Tanisport P.D. was outgunned by the Grunters in power armor, and the Grunters with their power armor were outgunned by you.”

I cocked my head. “Is that so? I didn’t exactly feel that way.”

“Mr. Fickle explained that most normal citizens aren’t expected to be able to fight an ultra without special weapons and tactics, or ultras of their own. That’s why dealing with ultras is a Federal matter.”

“Ultras fight normal criminals all the time.”

“That was what Toby asked Mr. Fickle, too. Mr. Fickle gave him a straight look in the eye and said ‘no they don’t.’ He then explained that most of the cases where ultras actually catch criminals are either random bad luck for the criminal or staged for publicity.”

“Staged?”

“Yeah - police departments often have ultras take part in taking down dealers with heavy weapons. That way the ultras get free publicity.”

“Okay… but the random bad luck cases?”

“Well, sometimes an ultra happens across a crime in progress. Mr. Fickle said that in such cases the criminals basically just drop their guns and run.”

“That seems cowardly.”

“That’s what Toby said.” Anne grinned. “Me, I just thought about what I could do if my nanobots could carry effective weapons.”

“I’m still not giving you antimatter.”

“Oh come on! Just a little bit?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun.”

The next morning, Anne and I were going through news feeds on our tablets when I spotted something that caught my attention. Thousands of Ventress Hack victims still unidentified, warn experts Three years since one of the largest-ever server breaches in U.S. history, cybersecurity experts warn that many victims remain unidentified. The cyberattack by the Ventress Group, a supremacist cabal of supervillain hackers, is reported to have wiped out all digital records of three million Americans. The Ventress Group’s 2076 manifesto called for ‘the purging of the burdens on American society’, declaring that those below a certain IQ level should be 'forcibly sterilized' and restricted from social contact. Dismissed initially as yet another fringe element, the Group's wide-ranging hack of multiple U.S. government servers caught authorities by surprise. The deletion of millions of personal and social security records of citizens caused havoc with banking, financial services, and endless headaches for social security, DMV and education services personnel. The task force set up to recreate the digital records of those Americans who were affected by the attack claims to have achieved over 99% completion, with 'only a few dozen cases coming forward every year' at this stage. However, Dr. Joseph Black, prominent educator and former task force member, warns that this seeming success may be illusory. "The Ventress Group targeted many people who suffer from mental, learning or emotional disabilities," says Dr. Black, "including children and teenagers. It is very rare for juveniles to require - or use - their government issued IDs, or refer to their social security records. As a result, many may not even be aware that their data has been purged." The current head of the task force, Dr. Elise Grossman, offers a different perspective. "We are encouraging parents across the country to verify the accuracy of their children's social security records, as well as enabling social workers to inform us of missing cases or suspected victims," she stated. "Social workers employed by Federal agencies have raised more than three thousand requests for expedited ID creation in the last year alone. Ninety per cent of these were for children with observable learning difficulties. We remain committed to ensuring the restoration of digital records for every American citizen, especially our children." I read the article out to Anne. "Stuff like this happens?" "Oh yeah. It's why that lady - Miss Taft - could ask for your ID to be created. She probably figured you were one of the hack victims." "I thought that was for people with learning difficulties." "Well, you were acting like an idiot." "That was deliberate." "Sure it was. Incidentally, shouldn't you check on your pager?" A quick e-mail to McCarthy and Butterfield confirmed that yes, my pager had been delivered, my new bank account was set up, and the Stratospheric Guard had been informed of my willingness to volunteer for defending against the aliens.

Now all that I needed to do was wait for the next attack.

In the meantime, I focused on two projects:

One, preparing myself. More armor, more serums, and maybe some experiments with Energy Systems.

Two, finding the rest of the Grunters.

There were still six suits out there. Plus anything Grumman might have in reserve.

Plus Gravitic.

I needed to find out where they were. Which meant I needed information.

And there was only one source I could really trust.

Well - technically eighty-seven sources.