22.1

Worm, Chapter 22.1 Summary:

Skitter kneels, hands behind her head, as PRT officers shout contradictory orders. They’re hesitant to approach, likely due to rumors of Armsmaster’s fate at the fundraiser. Miss Militia intervenes, and Clockblocker cautiously approaches. Skitter admits her surrender is a trick, but not in the way he thinks. After a brief exchange, Clockblocker freezes her in time and applies heavy restraints. She’s led past a crowd of heroes and PRT officers, including Director Tagg, who gives her a hard stare.

The restraints are heavy, designed for powerful capes. Skitter wonders if it’s a deliberate act of spite. They don’t read her rights, and she chooses to appear confident rather than ignorant. Tagg and the capes head to the stairwell, while the PRT takes defensive positions, packing more lethal weapons than Skitter remembers.

She’s taken to an E-type containment cell, designed to neutralize powers with electric charges and containment foam. Triumph explains the cell’s features, emphasizing its inescapable nature. Skitter assures them she has no intention of escaping, but Clockblocker remains suspicious. Left alone with a PRT officer, she’s subjected to a strip search, a tactic likely meant to make her feel vulnerable. She complies, trying to remain calm.

Meanwhile, Tagg gathers key personnel, including capes and PRT members, to discuss Skitter’s surrender. Miss Militia believes Skitter is planning something, while Mrs. Yamada, a psychologist, suggests that actual surrender isn’t impossible. Assault speculates that Skitter might be trying to bring down the PRT from within, using a jury trial to expose dirty secrets. However, Dovetail points out that Cauldron’s cleanup crew is effectively silencing any leaks.

The discussion shifts to Skitter’s motives, with Miss Militia suggesting Skitter might be trying to oust Tagg. Back in the cell, the strip search concludes, and Skitter is given prison clothes. In the conference room, Tagg reveals his plan to let Skitter “stew” in her cell, hoping to break her composure. He also wants to control the media narrative, emphasizing the threat posed by Accord and Hellhound.

The Alcott family, including Dinah, arrives. Tagg questions Dinah, suggesting she might have helped Skitter. Dinah denies it, saying she’s working for “everyone” and that Skitter’s surrender makes the “end of the world a little less bad.” Tagg, frustrated, threatens Dinah, who responds by revealing a high probability of his painful death. Miss Militia intervenes, noticing that the bugs outside are reacting to the tension in the room. Skitter realizes she’s given herself away, revealing her ability to hear through her bugs.

Tagg orders Kid Win to expedite the bug defense system. Time passes, and Kid Win activates drones that kill bugs within the PRT headquarters. Tagg and Miss Militia head to Skitter’s cell. Miss Militia mentions Flechette’s defection, and Skitter admits she left the door open for it to happen, calling it “symbolic.”

Skitter is taken to an interrogation room. She reveals that the Undersiders will attack at 8:30 PM, sunset. She explains that she gave Tattletale instructions to hold them back until then, allowing them to get angry and target the PRT. She emphasizes that the Undersiders are far more unreasonable without her to control them. Skitter clarifies that this isn’t about needing her to keep them in line, but a time limit. She warns that if the PRT stands between her and her friends, or if they hurt her, the Undersiders will go “thermonuclear.”

Skitter presents Tagg with a choice: send her to the Birdcage and face the consequences, or hear her demands. She promises that if he meets her conditions, she’ll cooperate fully, giving the PRT a much-needed victory. She warns that her demands call for big changes, but the alternative is an all-out war.