The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

The following afternoon, Sienna entered the "Dark Cup." For some reason, the place felt completely different.

Not long ago, when she first wore the mask, this small café was one of the first places she visited.

In her memory, the place was gloomy and terrifying, full of suspicious people, and the shop assistants were unfriendly; a dangerous atmosphere permeated the air.

At that moment, she walked into the coffee shop and looked around, only to find that it was just an ordinary, even somewhat fashionable, coffee shop.

Behind the glass counter were some pastries, and a barista was making drinks with a noisy machine. A waitress was attending to three occupied tables nearby.

The people here are not suspicious; they are just ordinary, boring people. Two of them are looking at laptops, surrounded by piles of textbooks, with steaming coffee in front of them.

The last couple were talking to each other, occasionally giggling at their cups.

It's a very friendly place, but she was too nervous last time to appreciate it.

This time, Sienna was much calmer. She came to see Hendershaw again, but without informing him beforehand.

Moreover, she brought enough people to cause quite a stir.

She decided not to think about it too much. Her primary way of dealing with anxiety lately was to surround herself with a group of superhumans who could raze a building to the ground.

And these people just happen to be her sisters, which doesn't seem to matter.

Sienna did not linger at the door.

On one hand, she didn't want to give people time to react to her and her sisters' arrival; on the other hand, she worried that if she stayed in the café too long, her sisters would start clamoring for cake, croissants, or... maybe coffee? She didn't want to see what her sisters looked like after drinking coffee; the occasional sugar rush was already unbearable enough.

She started to walk towards the back, but the barista waved her away. "Is there anything I can help you with?" the barista asked.

“I’m going downstairs,” Sienna said. “I have something to take care of.”

“Oh,” the barista said, “Okay, go ahead.”

Sienna was relieved that she wasn't questioned further, so she quickly slipped away and headed towards the small closet-like room at the back of the cafe, then gestured for her sisters to go down first.

They filed down the stairs in a small group, chatting as they went. Their current topic was whether dolls or toy cars were more valuable.

Sienna was having a hard time keeping up with their conversation, especially Trinity, who was still going on and on about the merits of a doll she had picked up from the trash can.

Once downstairs, they dispersed in the dimly lit basement.

The bar at the back was unattended, and the place was almost empty except for one man sitting at a table piled with documents and papers, staring at his laptop screen.

“Boss,” Handshaw said. He had a smile on his face, but Sienna could tell at a glance that it was a complete fake.

"I'm so glad you came uninvited on a weekday, and with so many familiar little faces. You didn't bring that new member I heard about? Oh dear, what a disappointment."

“Hi, Handshaw,” Sienna said. She walked across the room, but hesitated at the end.

Now that she was there, she was less certain about herself and the purpose of her trip.

But after a moment, she gritted her teeth and continued. Although she didn't go so fast that one wouldn't notice a long and awkward pause, she didn't hesitate for too long either.

I have something for you.

"Oh?" he asked, his attention slightly sharper. "I hope it's not a stab in the back?"

Sienna shook her head, not quite understanding what he meant. "It's intelligence," she said, taking out the USB drive that Jessbel had given her.

This is a thumb-sized USB flash drive she bought at the college store, with the logo of a local electronics store printed on the side.

He took the USB drive and weighed the little device in his hand. "What kind of intelligence is this?"

"It's about 'Rattlesnake.' I think it's his complete file."

Handshaw raised an eyebrow above his glasses. "Hmm, this is interesting. Sit down for a bit. Would you like some water? And please, don't let your... sisters wander around here. I paid a lot of money for the right to hang out here, and I don't want them to mess it up."

Sienna nodded. She understood, and turned to her sisters, gesturing for them to go to a booth nearby.

Athena, however, walked gracefully over and sat down next to Sienna. Her eyes were fixed on Handshaw, unmoving and unblinking.

The intelligence broker's smile twisted slightly, but he said nothing. "Alright, wait a minute. I won't just plug any unknown device into my work computer; I need to take some precautions first."

“That makes perfect sense,” Sienna said.

She watched him pick up a small box with several USB ports, plug it into his laptop, and then operate the machine for a while, the screen light flickering on his glasses.

Finally, he plugged the USB drive she gave him into one of the ports and tapped twice on the touchpad.

“Hmm,” he said, “these do look like official reports.”

"Have you seen some before?" Sienna asked.

“I’ve seen them occasionally. They’re usually outdated reports that slowly circulate online. I think a few of them were deliberately leaked. But this one looks much newer. Where did you get it?”

“I don’t think I should have said it,” she said.

Handshaw considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "You're right. Just possessing this document is a federal felony. Copying it from the Human Resources Department (HRF) and walking around with it? That's enough to send someone to their doom."

Sienna's heart sank. "Do you want this information?" she asked.

Handshaw thought for a moment about how to answer, then nodded. "I want it. Of course, now that I have it. You don't think I'm just going to look at it and not copy it, do you? No, don't worry."

"I won't be stingy. This information is very valuable, and it would be unfair not to reward you. But... I feel things aren't that simple, are they?"

Sienna nodded repeatedly. "Yes. 'Rattle Drum' is a problem. I have to deal with him, but I don't have enough information from this report to really help. It's more than I knew before, but, uh."

“The information is dry,” Handshaw said. “Raw information gives you a general idea of ​​the target, but it’s not enough to actually use it. Unfortunately, it’s more than I know about Rattlesnake myself. I could probably add a date or two to this list, a few more photos, but that’s about it. I can’t access our villainous friend’s diary anyway.”

“I know,” Sienna said, “but I hope you can spread this information. If it gets out, it might make his life difficult.”

“Hmm, quite clever. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do intelligence warfare, so this gives you the upper hand.” Handshaw straightened up a bit from his languid posture.

“Okay. I can do that for you. Since I don’t think just paying you might be of much help, I can help you spread this information. Hey, I can even sell it to everyone at a super low discount.”

He clasped his hands together and squinted. "If you give me a disposable email address, I'll send you all the information as soon as I have any new news about him."

“I don’t think that’s enough,” Sienna said.

“Sometimes I know where he’s going to make a move before the HR department even receives a report.”

"How did you do that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Dispatchers earn very little and are easily bribed."

“I’ll give you a… uh, texting number,” Sienna said. She glanced at Athena, who nodded slightly. Sienna wasn’t even sure if Athena had blinked.

“Okay,” he said, “I can pay you if you want. But I don’t have a lot of cash on me.”

“Well… not now, thank you,” Sienna said.

Handshaw nodded, then glanced at the exit. "That's all?"

“I think so,” Sienna said. She realized she might have overprepared, but that was to be expected. “Well, alright, girls, let’s go. Handshaw… Goodbye?”

“Goodbye,” he said casually.

Sienna walked towards the door to check the latest mission notification she had just received and completed.

[Action Rewards!]

[For betraying the trust of a friendly hero, you have gained: +1 Skill Point!]

She realized that this matter would weigh heavily on her mind for a long time to come.