What: A Worm CYOA story with some serious modifications to make telling a slightly-more serious...
And Silence [Worm CYOA]
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Index
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
What: A Worm CYOA story with some serious modifications to make telling a slightly-more serious story viable. Such as loosing certain critical pieces of information, limiting the powers, and so forth.
Hi, WormFanfic Mods. A Cyaed is Me.
Spoilers for Transistor.
Revenance - Sunset
Ideogeny - Midnight
Interstice - Sunrise
Thesis - Light
Eschaton - Rage, rage, against the dying of the night.
Denoument - In Silence
Hi, WormFanfic Mods. A Cyaed is Me.
Spoilers for Transistor.
Revenance - Sunset
Arc One: Through a Window
Consonance: 0.7 - 0.8 - 0.9 -
Arc Two: Through a DoorIdeogeny - Midnight
Interstice - Sunrise
Thesis - Light
Eschaton - Rage, rage, against the dying of the night.
Denoument - In Silence
The number on contents marks the chapter at which the information became clear. Reading a number from a chapter you haven't read will spoil things. To prevent spoiling which chapters are important, I will not be marking spoilers by severity. Assume that every box contains potentially extreme spoilers.
wip
Perk - Invictus
The ability to stand untouched by any degree of psychological trauma. Not a power, but a weaponised mental abnormality.
The ability to stand untouched by any degree of psychological trauma. Not a power, but a weaponised mental abnormality.
Power - The Transistor (Incomplete)
Ability to create-manifest-realise the object-weapon-entity known as the Transistor. As is, not enough power was used to create ancillary Processes necessary for the full scope of its power. Neither a pure interpretation or an pure emulation of the device as shown in-game.
Power - "My Limits are SCP-055. Wait, what?"
Ability to interdict-misdirect-destroy information-interest in the true domain of Power Manipulation. Fairly weak, can even be broken by a fairly determined normal with a few days on their hands.
Origin - Self-Insert (Modified)
Incarnation into the Worm Multiverse as a nonentity; a being not predicted nor constrained by causality until the moment of one's arrival. Modification unknown.
Root Access - Power Manipulation (Modified)
Access the Akashic Archives and skim the meaning of fury from weakness' dross. Grants domination of all abilities in the Worm Multiverse. The conceptually perfect Trump power. Modification unknown.
Collected Information on Modifications - Summary of Info in 0.1 to 0.3
Known Details of Modification to Power Manipulation
Known
----Endfall's remaining mind has been amalgated to the portion of PM concerned with creating powers. Not pleasant. Ef didn't experience this in 0.1 on creating the Transistor. Why?
Reasonable Speculation
----Taylor cannot shape powers by her own agency, probably because see above.
----Potential is no longer a linear 5 uses/day, and instead functions as a continuum or there are only 2 uses/day. True nature as yet unclear.
----It may be the case that unused charges are lost. This is very unclear.
Know Details of Modifications to Self-insert
Known
----Endfall cannot remember its identity.
----Endfall is a power instead of a person.
----Endfall cannot remember Taylor Hebert's role.
------Consequence: Endfall cannot remember how Zion was destroyed. Khepri played far too large a part.
Ability to create-manifest-realise the object-weapon-entity known as the Transistor. As is, not enough power was used to create ancillary Processes necessary for the full scope of its power. Neither a pure interpretation or an pure emulation of the device as shown in-game.
Power - "My Limits are SCP-055. Wait, what?"
Ability to interdict-misdirect-destroy information-interest in the true domain of Power Manipulation. Fairly weak, can even be broken by a fairly determined normal with a few days on their hands.
Origin - Self-Insert (Modified)
Incarnation into the Worm Multiverse as a nonentity; a being not predicted nor constrained by causality until the moment of one's arrival. Modification unknown.
Root Access - Power Manipulation (Modified)
Access the Akashic Archives and skim the meaning of fury from weakness' dross. Grants domination of all abilities in the Worm Multiverse. The conceptually perfect Trump power. Modification unknown.
Collected Information on Modifications - Summary of Info in 0.1 to 0.3
Known Details of Modification to Power Manipulation
Known
----Endfall's remaining mind has been amalgated to the portion of PM concerned with creating powers. Not pleasant. Ef didn't experience this in 0.1 on creating the Transistor. Why?
Reasonable Speculation
----Taylor cannot shape powers by her own agency, probably because see above.
----Potential is no longer a linear 5 uses/day, and instead functions as a continuum or there are only 2 uses/day. True nature as yet unclear.
----It may be the case that unused charges are lost. This is very unclear.
Know Details of Modifications to Self-insert
Known
----Endfall cannot remember its identity.
----Endfall is a power instead of a person.
----Endfall cannot remember Taylor Hebert's role.
------Consequence: Endfall cannot remember how Zion was destroyed. Khepri played far too large a part.
Power - Kadaath
Ability to enter-create-actualise-be a physical-metaphorical-real-irreal location-time-place that is, in brief, a world that is inherently unstable, absolutely ephemeral, and where the merest whim of any mind is responded to as if that mind had all the omnipotence of a god.
Ability to impose above on other minds in addition to oneself, if their bodies are in a line of sight/contact, and asleep. Centrality-existence-world lies with/is the user, not the target, but the target can wake up independently.
Minds are immune to direct attack by other minds - one person cannot unmake another, here-there.
Power - "Through a Window, Through a Door, You Can See F̰̼ͦ͛̀ͧ̏̅ͮ͟͡o̥̫̳̬͍̣̩͓͈ͣ͗̒r̸̡͓̹̞̲͖̹̆̅ͅe͈̣̗͓̲͎̯͗̈̃̿ͯ̇ͥ̽̔̕͡ͅv̫͕̭̣̳̖̓ͥ͝͝ͅe̶̡̪ͯͥ͌ͤ͒ͥ̆͌r̬̀͟"
Ability to build devices of or relating to dimensional portals and ???? leading to the ????????? where ??????.
Ability to ?????? and ????? the fundamental " " which is ???? as if the natural narrow intelligences of ????? had ???? there to begin with. This in effect grants the user a zero surface intellect.
Ability to enter-create-actualise-be a physical-metaphorical-real-irreal location-time-place that is, in brief, a world that is inherently unstable, absolutely ephemeral, and where the merest whim of any mind is responded to as if that mind had all the omnipotence of a god.
Ability to impose above on other minds in addition to oneself, if their bodies are in a line of sight/contact, and asleep. Centrality-existence-world lies with/is the user, not the target, but the target can wake up independently.
Minds are immune to direct attack by other minds - one person cannot unmake another, here-there.
Power - "Through a Window, Through a Door, You Can See F̰̼ͦ͛̀ͧ̏̅ͮ͟͡o̥̫̳̬͍̣̩͓͈ͣ͗̒r̸̡͓̹̞̲͖̹̆̅ͅe͈̣̗͓̲͎̯͗̈̃̿ͯ̇ͥ̽̔̕͡ͅv̫͕̭̣̳̖̓ͥ͝͝ͅe̶̡̪ͯͥ͌ͤ͒ͥ̆͌r̬̀͟"
Ability to build devices of or relating to dimensional portals and ???? leading to the ????????? where ??????.
Ability to ?????? and ????? the fundamental " " which is ???? as if the natural narrow intelligences of ????? had ???? there to begin with. This in effect grants the user a zero surface intellect.
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0.1 to 0.4
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
0.1 Inception - The Murder of an Idea
And I was. I was - who was I? There was nothing there. Nothing, nothing, nothing - hah. Heh. Oh man, finally! No more past. Wait, I hated my past? And where am I? And - dear god what the fuck is that smell?
I could see. It was distant, somehow. Dissociated. Something that I could see, but not with my own eyes.
"Hey," I said. The view jumped. The owner could hear me.
"What's going on-" I began. Then -
"Hello?" A bare whisper. Parched. A little too desperate. Female. If I had eyes, I would've blinked. As it was.... Nothing. But I knew. I knew what I was. I knew what I could do. And my god, didn't this setup just scream Transistor? I was only missing my corpse.
Reaching into the core of my (her?) power, I shaped a fragment into an expression of intent. After a moment, the most dangerous weapon in a world turned out of the air, the blue-green crystalline glass bleeding into existence, and reality.
"Hi," I said. "Let's get you out of here, alright? Grab the handle." I couldn't see anything from the Transistor itself - I had stipulated that I wasn't really inside of it. Fuck being stolen. But from her eyes, I saw a hand reach out, smeared with blood. It clasped the hilt, and I made use of a power available to the blade only once.
There was a searing transition. A sense of hanging over the spine of the world, in blue and yellow light. Nodes, places where people and data flowed glittered like gems, roiling in a chaotic sea of value. I extended myself to search through that ocean for a frozen instant. At last, I found an acceptable place - a gym, family oriented, closed for the night. Rental clothes and a shower - whatever had smelled terrible was close enough that I guessed that she had been in contact with it.
Somehow, I had known that she wasn't physically injured at all.
We arrived in the women's locker room, and I got a first person view of... whoever she was throwing up. Somehow, not feeling the relevant physical sensation made it worse.
After about thirty seconds of silence, I ventured, "You alright?"
She shook her head wordlessly.
"Don't blame you. But hey, look where we are." It provoked a listless sort of reaction as she looked around.
"I don't -" She began, and cut off. Her voice was weathered. "Where...?"
"Gym closed for the night. Showers. Rental clothes. Don't know your name, so I couldn't exactly take you home." I paused a beat. "Sorry."
That provoked a huff of something that sounded like amusement. "It's fine. Thanks for... helping."
"I could hardly leave anyone there like that. Listen - we need to talk about some things, but whatever happened to you... Take as long as you need."
She didn't reply to that, but she did walk away from the sword, which I guess she thought was me.
Uh.
When she was done I turned my attention back to her. Fortunately, I was either attracted to men, or had lost my sexuality along with my memories, so fucking yay for that. Now one of my alternates could turn this into a fanfic that wouldn't nosedive into awkwardness in the first thousand words. DO IT, YOU ASSHOLE. (A/N: 'k.)
And did I say fanfic? Sure did~! One of the properties of the Transistor was that it happened to control everything in Cloudbank. It was hooked into everything. I knew that my version didn't have the ability to shape reality - at least, not in that form, not with just the scrap of potential I had used - but the connections were there.
The Protectorate.
Parahumans.
Scion.
I was in Worm. One small problem with that: whatever had led me to be here had erased certain details from my mind, as, for example, how Scion was defeated, and who the protagonist was. I could remember that he or she controlled bugs, and lived in a costal city.
Everything else about them was gone. On the upside, I did seem to be in Brockton Bay, which was a pretty fucking interesting subset of the setting, if one that wildbow had focused on a bit to hard for a story that was nominally set on the entire eastern US. On the downside, the saviour of the world probably didn't live here. Of course, my mere presence had already set off enough butterflies to unwrite the certainty of their victory from the book of the future, so... now it was my responsibility. Fucking wewy.
Oh, and my memories indicated that at least two more entities were going to arrive at some point after Scion was killed, even though I knew that hadn't happened in canon.
So there was that.
Having subliminally coursed over this information, I looked at the Transistor out of my host's eyes, and said, "So, feeling a bit better?" The blade sort of barely shimmered when I spoke. Not as clear as in the game. Huh.
She nodded, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, "Look, thanks for rescuing me, but... who are you?"
Suspicious, no? I decided for honesty.
"Unfortunately, I don't know. My memories of who I am are... basically not there. I remember things from my life, but nothing about my identity. Pretty sure I was human. But now? Well. Don't know how things ended up like this, but I'm pretty sure that I've become your power. Which is to say that you're a parahuman." I paused for a moment, then said, "Congratulations?"
It fell flat, of course. "Never heard of someone's power talking to them."
"There was a time when nobody heard of powers." I would've shrugged if I had a body. "They're real. So, am I."
That seemed to settle her concerns, if only for the moment. Wordlessly, she came closer, tenatively reached out, and put her hand around my - I mean the Transistor's - hilt. I could feel it. It was the only thing I could feel. At the same moment that her hand made contact, she gasped.
"This..." her eyes darted back and forth, but I couldn't see what she was looking at.
The game. Something to do with the game. Those little tooltips?
"I think... that you're seeing the information and analytic demography of the world around you," I said, "Probably. It looks different on the inside."
"It's -"
"The very least of your power." I cut her off. A closed gym is not the place to have a heart-to-heart. "Look, now's not a good time to be walking home with me. People will mistake me for a tinkerfab weapon, and, well. You don't want that kind of attention. Not yet. Maybe not ever. So I need you to try something out."
"What?"
"You should be able to control the Transistor at range. Like psychokinesis, except you can make it fly, and pull yourself to it. You should be able to... Well, not fly, exactly, but chain throwing the sword with your mind and puling yourself to it. It'll keep us off the streets."
There was a long silence. Finally, she said, "That's insane."
I do not fear death. She was probably right.
"...you could try levitating it several thousand feet up? Dunno if it will work, but -"
It turned out that it did. I still don't know what the Transistor was letting her see, but whatever it was, it had stayed with her - and probably would so long as she controlled it. It seemed to let her move with confidence through some really bad parts of town. I waited until we were in a residential area before talking again.
"So -" I began, and her visual field jumped a bit. Ah, she started. "Sorry," I said, "Forgot to mention you hear me from your head, if the Transistor's out of range."
"It's fine," She murmured. "I'll get used to it."
And that worried me. Girl has a trigger event and was bouncing back this hard? Was I fucking with her psychology like other shards did? Was it just shock?
Not enough information. I filed the thought away.
"- anyway," I began again. "We never properly introduced ourselves. Hi, I'm..." I searched for a name that seemed to fit myself, and - to my surprise, there was one. Just one. A penname, but for what, I didn't know. Probably fanfiction if the direction of my earlier thoughts were to be trusted. "Endfall! Endfall. It's Endfall. I know it's not a normal name, but it's the only one I remember that might've been mine."
A pause. Then, "I'm Taylor. Taylor Hebert."
Someone who had not even been in the story. 'k.
"Nice to meet you, Taylor."
We walked down the street in what one of us might've seen as a companionable sort of silence.
I just wished I could feel the night air.
And I was. I was - who was I? There was nothing there. Nothing, nothing, nothing - hah. Heh. Oh man, finally! No more past. Wait, I hated my past? And where am I? And - dear god what the fuck is that smell?
I could see. It was distant, somehow. Dissociated. Something that I could see, but not with my own eyes.
"Hey," I said. The view jumped. The owner could hear me.
"What's going on-" I began. Then -
"Hello?" A bare whisper. Parched. A little too desperate. Female. If I had eyes, I would've blinked. As it was.... Nothing. But I knew. I knew what I was. I knew what I could do. And my god, didn't this setup just scream Transistor? I was only missing my corpse.
Reaching into the core of my (her?) power, I shaped a fragment into an expression of intent. After a moment, the most dangerous weapon in a world turned out of the air, the blue-green crystalline glass bleeding into existence, and reality.
"Hi," I said. "Let's get you out of here, alright? Grab the handle." I couldn't see anything from the Transistor itself - I had stipulated that I wasn't really inside of it. Fuck being stolen. But from her eyes, I saw a hand reach out, smeared with blood. It clasped the hilt, and I made use of a power available to the blade only once.
There was a searing transition. A sense of hanging over the spine of the world, in blue and yellow light. Nodes, places where people and data flowed glittered like gems, roiling in a chaotic sea of value. I extended myself to search through that ocean for a frozen instant. At last, I found an acceptable place - a gym, family oriented, closed for the night. Rental clothes and a shower - whatever had smelled terrible was close enough that I guessed that she had been in contact with it.
Somehow, I had known that she wasn't physically injured at all.
We arrived in the women's locker room, and I got a first person view of... whoever she was throwing up. Somehow, not feeling the relevant physical sensation made it worse.
After about thirty seconds of silence, I ventured, "You alright?"
She shook her head wordlessly.
"Don't blame you. But hey, look where we are." It provoked a listless sort of reaction as she looked around.
"I don't -" She began, and cut off. Her voice was weathered. "Where...?"
"Gym closed for the night. Showers. Rental clothes. Don't know your name, so I couldn't exactly take you home." I paused a beat. "Sorry."
That provoked a huff of something that sounded like amusement. "It's fine. Thanks for... helping."
"I could hardly leave anyone there like that. Listen - we need to talk about some things, but whatever happened to you... Take as long as you need."
She didn't reply to that, but she did walk away from the sword, which I guess she thought was me.
Uh.
When she was done I turned my attention back to her. Fortunately, I was either attracted to men, or had lost my sexuality along with my memories, so fucking yay for that. Now one of my alternates could turn this into a fanfic that wouldn't nosedive into awkwardness in the first thousand words. DO IT, YOU ASSHOLE. (A/N: 'k.)
And did I say fanfic? Sure did~! One of the properties of the Transistor was that it happened to control everything in Cloudbank. It was hooked into everything. I knew that my version didn't have the ability to shape reality - at least, not in that form, not with just the scrap of potential I had used - but the connections were there.
The Protectorate.
Parahumans.
Scion.
I was in Worm. One small problem with that: whatever had led me to be here had erased certain details from my mind, as, for example, how Scion was defeated, and who the protagonist was. I could remember that he or she controlled bugs, and lived in a costal city.
Everything else about them was gone. On the upside, I did seem to be in Brockton Bay, which was a pretty fucking interesting subset of the setting, if one that wildbow had focused on a bit to hard for a story that was nominally set on the entire eastern US. On the downside, the saviour of the world probably didn't live here. Of course, my mere presence had already set off enough butterflies to unwrite the certainty of their victory from the book of the future, so... now it was my responsibility. Fucking wewy.
Oh, and my memories indicated that at least two more entities were going to arrive at some point after Scion was killed, even though I knew that hadn't happened in canon.
So there was that.
Having subliminally coursed over this information, I looked at the Transistor out of my host's eyes, and said, "So, feeling a bit better?" The blade sort of barely shimmered when I spoke. Not as clear as in the game. Huh.
She nodded, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, "Look, thanks for rescuing me, but... who are you?"
Suspicious, no? I decided for honesty.
"Unfortunately, I don't know. My memories of who I am are... basically not there. I remember things from my life, but nothing about my identity. Pretty sure I was human. But now? Well. Don't know how things ended up like this, but I'm pretty sure that I've become your power. Which is to say that you're a parahuman." I paused for a moment, then said, "Congratulations?"
It fell flat, of course. "Never heard of someone's power talking to them."
"There was a time when nobody heard of powers." I would've shrugged if I had a body. "They're real. So, am I."
That seemed to settle her concerns, if only for the moment. Wordlessly, she came closer, tenatively reached out, and put her hand around my - I mean the Transistor's - hilt. I could feel it. It was the only thing I could feel. At the same moment that her hand made contact, she gasped.
"This..." her eyes darted back and forth, but I couldn't see what she was looking at.
The game. Something to do with the game. Those little tooltips?
"I think... that you're seeing the information and analytic demography of the world around you," I said, "Probably. It looks different on the inside."
"It's -"
"The very least of your power." I cut her off. A closed gym is not the place to have a heart-to-heart. "Look, now's not a good time to be walking home with me. People will mistake me for a tinkerfab weapon, and, well. You don't want that kind of attention. Not yet. Maybe not ever. So I need you to try something out."
"What?"
"You should be able to control the Transistor at range. Like psychokinesis, except you can make it fly, and pull yourself to it. You should be able to... Well, not fly, exactly, but chain throwing the sword with your mind and puling yourself to it. It'll keep us off the streets."
There was a long silence. Finally, she said, "That's insane."
I do not fear death. She was probably right.
"...you could try levitating it several thousand feet up? Dunno if it will work, but -"
It turned out that it did. I still don't know what the Transistor was letting her see, but whatever it was, it had stayed with her - and probably would so long as she controlled it. It seemed to let her move with confidence through some really bad parts of town. I waited until we were in a residential area before talking again.
"So -" I began, and her visual field jumped a bit. Ah, she started. "Sorry," I said, "Forgot to mention you hear me from your head, if the Transistor's out of range."
"It's fine," She murmured. "I'll get used to it."
And that worried me. Girl has a trigger event and was bouncing back this hard? Was I fucking with her psychology like other shards did? Was it just shock?
Not enough information. I filed the thought away.
"- anyway," I began again. "We never properly introduced ourselves. Hi, I'm..." I searched for a name that seemed to fit myself, and - to my surprise, there was one. Just one. A penname, but for what, I didn't know. Probably fanfiction if the direction of my earlier thoughts were to be trusted. "Endfall! Endfall. It's Endfall. I know it's not a normal name, but it's the only one I remember that might've been mine."
A pause. Then, "I'm Taylor. Taylor Hebert."
Someone who had not even been in the story. 'k.
"Nice to meet you, Taylor."
We walked down the street in what one of us might've seen as a companionable sort of silence.
I just wished I could feel the night air.
Last edited:
02
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
0.2 - Taylor
My fingers brushed against the handle of the blade, and the world changed. It was like the addition of a sense I had never known I was lacking - information seeped into the substance of the world, and simply put? I knew things.
"This is..." I said, mostly to give myself time to process the incredible amount of knowledge that everything now contained.
There was a beat. Then, the voice from the sword said, "You're seeing the information and analytic demography of the world around you. Probably. It looks different from the inside."
"It's -" I began, and then got cut off.
"The very least of your power." The was an undercurrent of tension in the voice. "Look. Now's not a good time for you to be seen walking home with me. People will mistake me for a tinkerfab weapon, and, well. You don't want that kind of attention. Not yet. Maybe not ever. So I need you to try something out."
I didn't really see things the same way. Still - I had no costume. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit paranoid tonight. "What?" I asked.
"You should be able to control the Transistor at range. Kind of of like psychokinesis, but you can pull yourself to it as much as you can pull it to you. You should be able to... Well, not fly, exactly, but chain throwing the sword with you mind and pulling yourself to it."
What.
Blithely, the voice continued, "It'll keep us off the streets."
There was really only one response to that: "That's insane."
Momentarily, I felt a frisson of... something. From the blade. Then, the voice in the... Transistor, I guess, offered another idea - one I could at least work with. "...you could try levitating it several thousand feet up? Dunno if it'll work, but it's worth a shot."
"That works," I said, turning my attention to the sword. I expected figuring out how to actually use the telepathy would be difficult, but the moment I thought about it, the blade became weightless in my hand. Experimentally, I pulled it up a bit and let go, and the sword drifted towards the ceiling, spinning freely. Thinking that it should stop didn't make it pause. Intending to stop it, same type of intent that made my arms move, did. The thing was responsive - more than my own body. It was weird.
A thought occurred. "Hey. You said you wanted to keep out of sight? What about the cameras in here?"
A pause. Then, "Dealt with. We're hooked into Brockton Bay. I can't exactly build anything, but if its digital..." The voice trailed off, and I got the implication, even if I didn't get the bit about building things.
What could a sword build?
We walked out of the gym, into the night, and I sent the transistor on an upwards course. There seemed to be no limit to the range of my control.
Good. I thought. It was better this way. I couldn't exactly hide the clothes I had trashed, but at least now I wouldn't have to deal with anything else due to tonight. There were no cameras in the halls at school. I could have been anywhere. It was like the locker - I thought the idea with cool, almost clinical detachment - had never happened.
And came to a mental halt, even as I continued walking. What the hell?
Why wasn't I.... Why didn't I care? I thought about the time I had spent inside the locker. Thinking about it didn't hurt. It just made me a bit angry. Maybe a shade of disgust.
It should have bothered me, and it didn't, and I was both glad for that, and disturbed by it.
A tinkertech sword had appeared at of nowhere and rescued me from something that had been at once horrible, and was now nearly meaningless. I couldn't even think seriously about it as the hell it had been. I should have been damaged over it. The voice behind the Transistor - she claimed to be my power, but what if I were being used? Mastered? There were capes out there subtle enough it do it.
The idea was unsettling. At the same time, it made imperfect sense. Why, out of everyone alive, would a tinker capable of building mind control tech target me?
I was nobody.
The thought hurt for just a moment, then the hurt faded into a tiny echo of itself - and that time, I was in a state to notice it.
No. That was not normal. Something had changed in my mind, and one way or another, the only thing that made sense was that my power was responsible - if it was even mine.
I said nothing. The one good thing about the preternatural clarity I now had was that it kept me from acting before I was ready. I could turn this against her, if I had to.
Then, she interrupted my train of thought. "So!" Her voice was no longer coming from the blade. It was inside my head.
"Oh, uh, Sorry about that," she said. She could see me. "I forgot to mention that you hear me from your head, if the Transistor's out of range. Can't really turn it off..."
That was. Shit. Point in favor of being Mastered. Damn it, why does this stuff happen to me?
"It's fine," I forced my voice to be clam, and murmured the sentence, not keen on anyone else hearing. "I'll get used to it." If I don't have to destroy you.
There was a pause before the voice abruptly said, "Anyway -" Not even an acknowledgement? "We never properly introduced ourselves. Hi, I'm..." The voice trailed off and then remained silent for nearly twenty seconds, before abruptly returning - "Endfall! Endfall. Yes, Endfall. I know it's not exactly a normal name -" Sounds like a cape name. Another point towards Mastery. "- but it's the only one I remember."
Expectant silence.
After a moment, I gave in. After all - if she had targeted me, it wasn't like she didn't already know. "I'm Taylor. Taylor Hebert."
"Nice to meet you, Taylor," Endfall said.
Yeah, I thought, For who?
Choices Discovered: 1
Perk - Invictus
My fingers brushed against the handle of the blade, and the world changed. It was like the addition of a sense I had never known I was lacking - information seeped into the substance of the world, and simply put? I knew things.
"This is..." I said, mostly to give myself time to process the incredible amount of knowledge that everything now contained.
There was a beat. Then, the voice from the sword said, "You're seeing the information and analytic demography of the world around you. Probably. It looks different from the inside."
"It's -" I began, and then got cut off.
"The very least of your power." The was an undercurrent of tension in the voice. "Look. Now's not a good time for you to be seen walking home with me. People will mistake me for a tinkerfab weapon, and, well. You don't want that kind of attention. Not yet. Maybe not ever. So I need you to try something out."
I didn't really see things the same way. Still - I had no costume. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit paranoid tonight. "What?" I asked.
"You should be able to control the Transistor at range. Kind of of like psychokinesis, but you can pull yourself to it as much as you can pull it to you. You should be able to... Well, not fly, exactly, but chain throwing the sword with you mind and pulling yourself to it."
What.
Blithely, the voice continued, "It'll keep us off the streets."
There was really only one response to that: "That's insane."
Momentarily, I felt a frisson of... something. From the blade. Then, the voice in the... Transistor, I guess, offered another idea - one I could at least work with. "...you could try levitating it several thousand feet up? Dunno if it'll work, but it's worth a shot."
"That works," I said, turning my attention to the sword. I expected figuring out how to actually use the telepathy would be difficult, but the moment I thought about it, the blade became weightless in my hand. Experimentally, I pulled it up a bit and let go, and the sword drifted towards the ceiling, spinning freely. Thinking that it should stop didn't make it pause. Intending to stop it, same type of intent that made my arms move, did. The thing was responsive - more than my own body. It was weird.
A thought occurred. "Hey. You said you wanted to keep out of sight? What about the cameras in here?"
A pause. Then, "Dealt with. We're hooked into Brockton Bay. I can't exactly build anything, but if its digital..." The voice trailed off, and I got the implication, even if I didn't get the bit about building things.
What could a sword build?
We walked out of the gym, into the night, and I sent the transistor on an upwards course. There seemed to be no limit to the range of my control.
Good. I thought. It was better this way. I couldn't exactly hide the clothes I had trashed, but at least now I wouldn't have to deal with anything else due to tonight. There were no cameras in the halls at school. I could have been anywhere. It was like the locker - I thought the idea with cool, almost clinical detachment - had never happened.
And came to a mental halt, even as I continued walking. What the hell?
Why wasn't I.... Why didn't I care? I thought about the time I had spent inside the locker. Thinking about it didn't hurt. It just made me a bit angry. Maybe a shade of disgust.
It should have bothered me, and it didn't, and I was both glad for that, and disturbed by it.
A tinkertech sword had appeared at of nowhere and rescued me from something that had been at once horrible, and was now nearly meaningless. I couldn't even think seriously about it as the hell it had been. I should have been damaged over it. The voice behind the Transistor - she claimed to be my power, but what if I were being used? Mastered? There were capes out there subtle enough it do it.
The idea was unsettling. At the same time, it made imperfect sense. Why, out of everyone alive, would a tinker capable of building mind control tech target me?
I was nobody.
The thought hurt for just a moment, then the hurt faded into a tiny echo of itself - and that time, I was in a state to notice it.
No. That was not normal. Something had changed in my mind, and one way or another, the only thing that made sense was that my power was responsible - if it was even mine.
I said nothing. The one good thing about the preternatural clarity I now had was that it kept me from acting before I was ready. I could turn this against her, if I had to.
Then, she interrupted my train of thought. "So!" Her voice was no longer coming from the blade. It was inside my head.
"Oh, uh, Sorry about that," she said. She could see me. "I forgot to mention that you hear me from your head, if the Transistor's out of range. Can't really turn it off..."
That was. Shit. Point in favor of being Mastered. Damn it, why does this stuff happen to me?
"It's fine," I forced my voice to be clam, and murmured the sentence, not keen on anyone else hearing. "I'll get used to it." If I don't have to destroy you.
There was a pause before the voice abruptly said, "Anyway -" Not even an acknowledgement? "We never properly introduced ourselves. Hi, I'm..." The voice trailed off and then remained silent for nearly twenty seconds, before abruptly returning - "Endfall! Endfall. Yes, Endfall. I know it's not exactly a normal name -" Sounds like a cape name. Another point towards Mastery. "- but it's the only one I remember."
Expectant silence.
After a moment, I gave in. After all - if she had targeted me, it wasn't like she didn't already know. "I'm Taylor. Taylor Hebert."
"Nice to meet you, Taylor," Endfall said.
Yeah, I thought, For who?
Choices Discovered: 1
Perk - Invictus
Last edited:
03
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
0.3 - Endfall
Eventually, our long walk came to an end, and Taylor stood on the corner of a street. It wasn't the best neighbourhood, but it was also far from the worst I had seen as we had crossed the Bay. She had traversed the city like someone who knew it intimately might have, if such a person had existed. But something like that was impossible - oh, a normal person might know one or a few areas as well as she had, but not all of them. Not like that. It really was fascinating, seeing what the Transistor could do outside of the limitations and abstractions of a game.
But that wasn't the reason I had created it. No, as fascinating as its Thinker set was, there was really only one reason I had chosen it over all other means of teleportation. (A/N: Stop trying to appear smart you gobshite. You chose it for the lulz.)
My reasons weren't important right now, though. That we had stopped, was - mainly given that I had no idea why. I could see out of her eyes, taste the air, and hear the environment around us, but I had absolutely no insight into one Taylor Hebert's thoughts, and I was a foreigner in her world.
"So..." I began. "If this were a different universe, I'd be a man having a one sided conversation about the death of a world with his lover whilst trapped behind the chains of a not- sword, but that's not happening here, and I don't know where I am or what's going on. Penny for your thoughts?"
in one breath! Not having lungs: best. thing. ever. Breathing was only slightly better.
Taylor's reply was about what I expected, incredulous and slightly annoyed. To wit: "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what's going on." I said, pausing slightly before continuing. "I'd like to. Maybe I can help." you help me help us all, some part of my subconscious singsonged.
Taylor sighed. In a quieter voice, she asked, "See that house?"
She pointed, and the motion was a bit exaggerated - because she thought I was seeing from the sword? Still, I got it.
"Yeah."
"It's mine. Lights are on, so Dad's still awake. Probably because of me. Because of what happened to me."
"Ah." And what, the man would ask, was his daughter doing home so late, in clothes that weren't even hers?
There was still a bit of... something... left that I could create a power with. Maybe, I began to think - and then a process distinctly inhuman and both me/not-me snapped into contemplation on an almost subliminal level of my mind. Almost subliminal. Not quite. I could still see it and what it considered; and if I had had a mouth I would've screamed; if I had had a body, I would have died. As it was, I was stricken with a sort of paralysis until it had finished by shoving a knife made of unparsable abstractions into my forebrain.
There are some things humans are incapable of understanding. I had just gotten a mindfull of one of them. Almost as an afterthought, the shoggoth living in the back of my brain provided a schema that translated its idea into parsable concepts. I understood. It was a power.
Without mentioning the agony, I moved on. "I could create a Stranger effect that would prevent anyone who knew about you from thinking about what happened to you today. It would... deal with the situation."
Also, it would end any ongoing investigations, which would be good vis what I was.
Taylor let out a little hiss, then "...no. No. Thanks, but just.... No."
If I had eyes, I would have blinked. Why not? It was a stable solution, unlike typical lies. And the vehemence behind the refusal... But, well, whatever. If she thought that dealing with this situation normally was better, that was her prerogative. She wouldn't be able to hide her powers forever, and she understood the situation better than I did, anyway.
"All right." I acquiesced. "So, should you break the news, or should I?"
Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're a talking sword."
Which was a valid point, if inaccurate.
"Actually, no. I'm your power. Which we need to talk about incidentally - not me, the power. It's kinda high class."
"You mean like Armsmaster?" No, I mean like Zion.
"I mean like the Triumvirate." To the nth power.
Taylor
I mean like the triumvirate.
The words echoed in my head long after they had been lost on the air.
Like the Triumvirate.
It could have been a lie. Maybe. But something like that was so absurd that it being the truth almost made more sense. It was also easy to test, and whatever else was true, I didn't think the voice behind the sword was an idiot. (A/N: I'm glad.)
She was probably telling the truth.
But how? I had a sword I could control and what was probably one of the strangest Thinker powers I had never heard of, but that? On the level of the Triumvirate? It just didn't make sense. Unless...
Unless seeing the city and controlling the sword wasn't my power at all.
"Endfall," I said, my mouth suddenly dry, "What is my power?"
In a bland tone, she replied: "Power creation, emulation, manipulation, removal... Control." Each verb was listed off with a clinical sort of disinterest. "Supremacy. Domination. Trump Rating of mu."
Endfall
Taylor latched on to the last bit, which was not entirely unplanned. "Mu?"
A little bit of fanon I cooked up, I didn't say. No matter how accurate, it wouldn't help the situation.
"Imagine a Thinker power that grants the ability to win in any situation." Contessa. "That wouldn't be Thinker ten. That wouldn't be Thinker twelve. That wouldn't be Thinker any-finite-number, because it breaks every other Thinker power in existence. It has conceptual superiority. So too, your power - which reminds me. You still have a bit of today's potential left. I don't know what happens if we don't use it, but it might just vanish. Mind if I shove it into the Transistor?"
But there was no response. Instead, Taylor sat down rather carefully. She was breathing too fast.
'Reveal to someone that they stand at the level of the gods, and they find it disconcerting. Who knew?' Some part of me commented, with not a little bit of contempt for the methods I had chosen.
...I had been an idiot. Brockton Bay was not a nice place. At all. And it was embedded in a universe darker still. This kind of power? Without limits?
Everyone in the world would be gunning for her, and by extension, me, if this got out. Cauldron most of all. What would we look like, if not another entity?
If we were going to optimise the world for our survival...
"Better idea. I use the last bit of tonight's potential on a Stranger power that prevents anyone from realizing the scope of what you can do. We can make it stronger in time."
Her reply was immediate. "Do it. Do it now."
My action was the same.
Eventually, our long walk came to an end, and Taylor stood on the corner of a street. It wasn't the best neighbourhood, but it was also far from the worst I had seen as we had crossed the Bay. She had traversed the city like someone who knew it intimately might have, if such a person had existed. But something like that was impossible - oh, a normal person might know one or a few areas as well as she had, but not all of them. Not like that. It really was fascinating, seeing what the Transistor could do outside of the limitations and abstractions of a game.
But that wasn't the reason I had created it. No, as fascinating as its Thinker set was, there was really only one reason I had chosen it over all other means of teleportation. (A/N: Stop trying to appear smart you gobshite. You chose it for the lulz.)
My reasons weren't important right now, though. That we had stopped, was - mainly given that I had no idea why. I could see out of her eyes, taste the air, and hear the environment around us, but I had absolutely no insight into one Taylor Hebert's thoughts, and I was a foreigner in her world.
"So..." I began. "If this were a different universe, I'd be a man having a one sided conversation about the death of a world with his lover whilst trapped behind the chains of a not- sword, but that's not happening here, and I don't know where I am or what's going on. Penny for your thoughts?"
in one breath! Not having lungs: best. thing. ever. Breathing was only slightly better.
Taylor's reply was about what I expected, incredulous and slightly annoyed. To wit: "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know what's going on." I said, pausing slightly before continuing. "I'd like to. Maybe I can help." you help me help us all, some part of my subconscious singsonged.
Taylor sighed. In a quieter voice, she asked, "See that house?"
She pointed, and the motion was a bit exaggerated - because she thought I was seeing from the sword? Still, I got it.
"Yeah."
"It's mine. Lights are on, so Dad's still awake. Probably because of me. Because of what happened to me."
"Ah." And what, the man would ask, was his daughter doing home so late, in clothes that weren't even hers?
There was still a bit of... something... left that I could create a power with. Maybe, I began to think - and then a process distinctly inhuman and both me/not-me snapped into contemplation on an almost subliminal level of my mind. Almost subliminal. Not quite. I could still see it and what it considered; and if I had had a mouth I would've screamed; if I had had a body, I would have died. As it was, I was stricken with a sort of paralysis until it had finished by shoving a knife made of unparsable abstractions into my forebrain.
There are some things humans are incapable of understanding. I had just gotten a mindfull of one of them. Almost as an afterthought, the shoggoth living in the back of my brain provided a schema that translated its idea into parsable concepts. I understood. It was a power.
Without mentioning the agony, I moved on. "I could create a Stranger effect that would prevent anyone who knew about you from thinking about what happened to you today. It would... deal with the situation."
Also, it would end any ongoing investigations, which would be good vis what I was.
Taylor let out a little hiss, then "...no. No. Thanks, but just.... No."
If I had eyes, I would have blinked. Why not? It was a stable solution, unlike typical lies. And the vehemence behind the refusal... But, well, whatever. If she thought that dealing with this situation normally was better, that was her prerogative. She wouldn't be able to hide her powers forever, and she understood the situation better than I did, anyway.
"All right." I acquiesced. "So, should you break the news, or should I?"
Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're a talking sword."
Which was a valid point, if inaccurate.
"Actually, no. I'm your power. Which we need to talk about incidentally - not me, the power. It's kinda high class."
"You mean like Armsmaster?" No, I mean like Zion.
"I mean like the Triumvirate." To the nth power.
Taylor
I mean like the triumvirate.
The words echoed in my head long after they had been lost on the air.
Like the Triumvirate.
It could have been a lie. Maybe. But something like that was so absurd that it being the truth almost made more sense. It was also easy to test, and whatever else was true, I didn't think the voice behind the sword was an idiot. (A/N: I'm glad.)
She was probably telling the truth.
But how? I had a sword I could control and what was probably one of the strangest Thinker powers I had never heard of, but that? On the level of the Triumvirate? It just didn't make sense. Unless...
Unless seeing the city and controlling the sword wasn't my power at all.
"Endfall," I said, my mouth suddenly dry, "What is my power?"
In a bland tone, she replied: "Power creation, emulation, manipulation, removal... Control." Each verb was listed off with a clinical sort of disinterest. "Supremacy. Domination. Trump Rating of mu."
Endfall
Taylor latched on to the last bit, which was not entirely unplanned. "Mu?"
A little bit of fanon I cooked up, I didn't say. No matter how accurate, it wouldn't help the situation.
"Imagine a Thinker power that grants the ability to win in any situation." Contessa. "That wouldn't be Thinker ten. That wouldn't be Thinker twelve. That wouldn't be Thinker any-finite-number, because it breaks every other Thinker power in existence. It has conceptual superiority. So too, your power - which reminds me. You still have a bit of today's potential left. I don't know what happens if we don't use it, but it might just vanish. Mind if I shove it into the Transistor?"
But there was no response. Instead, Taylor sat down rather carefully. She was breathing too fast.
'Reveal to someone that they stand at the level of the gods, and they find it disconcerting. Who knew?' Some part of me commented, with not a little bit of contempt for the methods I had chosen.
...I had been an idiot. Brockton Bay was not a nice place. At all. And it was embedded in a universe darker still. This kind of power? Without limits?
Everyone in the world would be gunning for her, and by extension, me, if this got out. Cauldron most of all. What would we look like, if not another entity?
If we were going to optimise the world for our survival...
"Better idea. I use the last bit of tonight's potential on a Stranger power that prevents anyone from realizing the scope of what you can do. We can make it stronger in time."
Her reply was immediate. "Do it. Do it now."
My action was the same.
Powers Currently Owned
The Transistor (Incomplete)
Ability to create-manifest-realise the object-weapon-entity known as the Transistor. As is, not enough power was used to creat ancillary Processes necessary for the full scope of its power. Neither a pure interpretation or an pure emulation of the device as shown in-game.
"My Limits are SCP-50. Wait, what?"
Ability to interdect-misdirect-destroy information-interest in the true domain of Power Manipulation. Fairly weak, can even be broken by a fairly determined normal.
Also, from 0.1
Choices Discovered
Origin - Self-Insert (Modified)
Power - Power Manipulation (Modified)
Details known on Modifications
The Transistor (Incomplete)
Ability to create-manifest-realise the object-weapon-entity known as the Transistor. As is, not enough power was used to creat ancillary Processes necessary for the full scope of its power. Neither a pure interpretation or an pure emulation of the device as shown in-game.
"My Limits are SCP-50. Wait, what?"
Ability to interdect-misdirect-destroy information-interest in the true domain of Power Manipulation. Fairly weak, can even be broken by a fairly determined normal.
Also, from 0.1
Choices Discovered
Origin - Self-Insert (Modified)
Power - Power Manipulation (Modified)
Details known on Modifications
-Known Details of Modification to Power Manipulation
---Known
----Endfall's remaining mind has been amalgated to the portion of PM concerned with creating powers. Not pleasant. Ef didn't experience this in 0.1 on creating the Transistor. Why?
---Reasonable Speculation
----Taylor cannot shape powers by her own agency, probably because see above.
----Potential is no longer a linear 5 uses/day, and instead functions as a continuum or there are only 2 uses/day. True nature as yet unclear.
----It may be the case that unused charges are lost. This is very unclear.
Know Details of Modifications to Self-insert
---Known
----Endfall cannot remember its identity.
----Endfall is a power instead of a person.
----Endfall cannot remember Taylor Hebert's role.
------Consequence: Endfall cannot remember how Zion was destroyed. Khepri played far too large a part.
Other Data
It is possible that The Cycle Begins Anew was purchased. It is possible that this was done more than once.
Please note that all information in this section is not privileged WoG-level info. This is a summary of information available in the narrative.
---Known
----Endfall's remaining mind has been amalgated to the portion of PM concerned with creating powers. Not pleasant. Ef didn't experience this in 0.1 on creating the Transistor. Why?
---Reasonable Speculation
----Taylor cannot shape powers by her own agency, probably because see above.
----Potential is no longer a linear 5 uses/day, and instead functions as a continuum or there are only 2 uses/day. True nature as yet unclear.
----It may be the case that unused charges are lost. This is very unclear.
Know Details of Modifications to Self-insert
---Known
----Endfall cannot remember its identity.
----Endfall is a power instead of a person.
----Endfall cannot remember Taylor Hebert's role.
------Consequence: Endfall cannot remember how Zion was destroyed. Khepri played far too large a part.
Other Data
It is possible that The Cycle Begins Anew was purchased. It is possible that this was done more than once.
Please note that all information in this section is not privileged WoG-level info. This is a summary of information available in the narrative.
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0.4 (added so there's a forward button)
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
0.4 - Taylor
Once is coincidence, twice is circumstance, three times is a pattern. About thirty seconds into the beginning of a panic attack, my emotions levelled out. Again. And I knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that something was tampering with my mind.
At the same time, Endfall started to talk.
"...Better idea. I use the last bit of tonight's potential on a Stranger power that prevents anyone from realizing the scope of what you can do. We can make it stronger in time."
Agreeing didn't even require thought. Trust or no, something like that was too dangerous to leave to any kind of chance.
"Do it. Do it now."
There was a - a - sort of nondescript sensation. Like recognition.
"Done," Endfall said a moment later. "Not perfect, but done. Probably won't hold out against Stranger protocols, but if you don't show off..."
"...then nobody will figure it out."
"Yeah," her voice was a bit subdued. "Look, sorry for just dropping that on you. It wasn't - I wasn't thinking about how someone else would take that."
"Someone else?" I said, "How you you take it?"
There was a silence after that. Finally -
"I don't feel anything," Endfall replied, "I don't remember who I am. Gods and fire - " ...was that invective? " - I don't even know what I am. Not really. Endfall. Writer. That's all. How am I even supposed to figure out how to react, when that's all I know about myself? But the worst thing is that it doesn't even bother me, winding up as a disembodied voice in a stranger's head. Why? Damn it, neither of us is reacting appropriately, but I should be catatonic right now. I don't even have a body! I can't feel anything. And instead, I start the night with a joke, and -" She cut off abruptly, then sighed. "You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. Fuck it all. This is now. But -" her voice cut off, and there was a momentary silence.
Then, she continued, "Have you been feeling the mental distortion, too?"
What should I say? That I was also having my emotions shut down? That I had no idea what she was talking about? The basic problem is that I didn't know who she was, or if what she was saying was true. It was looking more likely, but... I couldn't do it. I couldn't make myself take a leap of faith. It was all too convenient - if I had gotten a sentient power, that might've been one thing, but I had gotten a sword. The only people with physical powers were tinkers - and I knew I wasn't.
After all, I had absolutely no idea how the Transistor worked. (A/N: Given that it comes from a foreign universe, colour me entirely unsurprised.)
"No," I said.
"Well." Endfall said. "Then I guess all I have to say in that regard is that your psychological resilience is goddamn amazing. I was worried that I was messing with your head. Powers usually do that, to some extent."
Wait, "What?"
Blithely, which I was beginning to learn was her default method of saying earth-shattering things, she continued, "Yeah. Alteration of human psychological norms, prioritisation of conflict as the default baseline state that the mind seeks for psychological equanimity. Other things depending on the power... hmm. Local, local, - aha! Shadow Stalker."
The Ward? But what - Endfall barreled on.
"She can't see the world outside of the pattern of predator and prey. More generally, Tinkers find the act of building things... eh. I don't want to say like a narcotic, but definitely more addictive than, say, tobacco. The basic purpose is to create a union capable of functioning at the highest possible level, although there are cases where things go badly. Leet, maybe."
This was too much. About ten seconds later, it wasn't, emotionally, but the implications...
"Anything else I should know?"
"No. Not now." The answer was immediate. "There are other things, but they can wait until I can create a power that will allow me to show them visually. Some things... It'll be better if you can see them. Trust me."
Not even a bit, I thought. But if I was being manipulated, that was something I couldn't afford to say.
I sighed, then got up. There was no point in putting it off any longer. It was time to face Dad. Feeling trepidation that was apparently too subtle for the thing killing my emotions to notice, I began walking towards my house.
This wasn't going to be good.
I had to knock on the door. My key had been left behind, either at the gym, or in the locker.
It wasn't even a moment later when the door opened, and Dad stared out at me. Realisation, then relief flickered over his face, then finally, he said, "Taylor? Where -" He took a second look at me, taking in the clothes I was wearing. "What happened?" The first time he had spoken, there had been worry mixed with relief in his voice. Now, something more serious. Tense. Restrained agitation.
I took a breath.
"I think -" I began, then stopped involuntarily. Could I really do this? I hadn't said anything for months, and I had had reasons for holding my silence. Not great ones, maybe, but, well. I didn't want dad doing something he would regret. That was still true. But at the same time, If I said nothing, if I did nothing, I didn't think I would be able to endure another day. Maybe before I had gotten powers. But now? With my emotions as screwed up as they were?
I wanted... I wanted them to face punishment. I didn't want to lose control of myself, but if tonight had shown me anything, it was that I couldn't trust them to not go too far, and with my powers, I wasn't sure if I could trust myself to not do anything. If my anger was constrained, maybe - but it certainly didn't feel constrained.
It wasn't a question. The answer was yes. Not because I could do it. Because I had to.
"Dad," I said. "There's something I have to tell you."
I moved forward, and shut the door behind me.
And then I did the most difficult thing that I had ever done in my life, and told him the truth.
All of it.
Nothing was left out.
Once is coincidence, twice is circumstance, three times is a pattern. About thirty seconds into the beginning of a panic attack, my emotions levelled out. Again. And I knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that something was tampering with my mind.
At the same time, Endfall started to talk.
"...Better idea. I use the last bit of tonight's potential on a Stranger power that prevents anyone from realizing the scope of what you can do. We can make it stronger in time."
Agreeing didn't even require thought. Trust or no, something like that was too dangerous to leave to any kind of chance.
"Do it. Do it now."
There was a - a - sort of nondescript sensation. Like recognition.
"Done," Endfall said a moment later. "Not perfect, but done. Probably won't hold out against Stranger protocols, but if you don't show off..."
"...then nobody will figure it out."
"Yeah," her voice was a bit subdued. "Look, sorry for just dropping that on you. It wasn't - I wasn't thinking about how someone else would take that."
"Someone else?" I said, "How you you take it?"
There was a silence after that. Finally -
"I don't feel anything," Endfall replied, "I don't remember who I am. Gods and fire - " ...was that invective? " - I don't even know what I am. Not really. Endfall. Writer. That's all. How am I even supposed to figure out how to react, when that's all I know about myself? But the worst thing is that it doesn't even bother me, winding up as a disembodied voice in a stranger's head. Why? Damn it, neither of us is reacting appropriately, but I should be catatonic right now. I don't even have a body! I can't feel anything. And instead, I start the night with a joke, and -" She cut off abruptly, then sighed. "You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it. Fuck it all. This is now. But -" her voice cut off, and there was a momentary silence.
Then, she continued, "Have you been feeling the mental distortion, too?"
What should I say? That I was also having my emotions shut down? That I had no idea what she was talking about? The basic problem is that I didn't know who she was, or if what she was saying was true. It was looking more likely, but... I couldn't do it. I couldn't make myself take a leap of faith. It was all too convenient - if I had gotten a sentient power, that might've been one thing, but I had gotten a sword. The only people with physical powers were tinkers - and I knew I wasn't.
After all, I had absolutely no idea how the Transistor worked. (A/N: Given that it comes from a foreign universe, colour me entirely unsurprised.)
"No," I said.
"Well." Endfall said. "Then I guess all I have to say in that regard is that your psychological resilience is goddamn amazing. I was worried that I was messing with your head. Powers usually do that, to some extent."
Wait, "What?"
Blithely, which I was beginning to learn was her default method of saying earth-shattering things, she continued, "Yeah. Alteration of human psychological norms, prioritisation of conflict as the default baseline state that the mind seeks for psychological equanimity. Other things depending on the power... hmm. Local, local, - aha! Shadow Stalker."
The Ward? But what - Endfall barreled on.
"She can't see the world outside of the pattern of predator and prey. More generally, Tinkers find the act of building things... eh. I don't want to say like a narcotic, but definitely more addictive than, say, tobacco. The basic purpose is to create a union capable of functioning at the highest possible level, although there are cases where things go badly. Leet, maybe."
This was too much. About ten seconds later, it wasn't, emotionally, but the implications...
"Anything else I should know?"
"No. Not now." The answer was immediate. "There are other things, but they can wait until I can create a power that will allow me to show them visually. Some things... It'll be better if you can see them. Trust me."
Not even a bit, I thought. But if I was being manipulated, that was something I couldn't afford to say.
I sighed, then got up. There was no point in putting it off any longer. It was time to face Dad. Feeling trepidation that was apparently too subtle for the thing killing my emotions to notice, I began walking towards my house.
This wasn't going to be good.
I had to knock on the door. My key had been left behind, either at the gym, or in the locker.
It wasn't even a moment later when the door opened, and Dad stared out at me. Realisation, then relief flickered over his face, then finally, he said, "Taylor? Where -" He took a second look at me, taking in the clothes I was wearing. "What happened?" The first time he had spoken, there had been worry mixed with relief in his voice. Now, something more serious. Tense. Restrained agitation.
I took a breath.
"I think -" I began, then stopped involuntarily. Could I really do this? I hadn't said anything for months, and I had had reasons for holding my silence. Not great ones, maybe, but, well. I didn't want dad doing something he would regret. That was still true. But at the same time, If I said nothing, if I did nothing, I didn't think I would be able to endure another day. Maybe before I had gotten powers. But now? With my emotions as screwed up as they were?
I wanted... I wanted them to face punishment. I didn't want to lose control of myself, but if tonight had shown me anything, it was that I couldn't trust them to not go too far, and with my powers, I wasn't sure if I could trust myself to not do anything. If my anger was constrained, maybe - but it certainly didn't feel constrained.
It wasn't a question. The answer was yes. Not because I could do it. Because I had to.
"Dad," I said. "There's something I have to tell you."
I moved forward, and shut the door behind me.
And then I did the most difficult thing that I had ever done in my life, and told him the truth.
All of it.
Nothing was left out.
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Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Sort of. I wasn't aware of the other versions of the worm CYOA when I set my constraints, I just converged on deleting a lot of relevant information as a way to prevent my SI from following obvious (boring) patterns.
Now that you mention it about the similarities with I, Panacea, you're right. It wasn't something I set out to do. It's just what happens when some bad choices and a (very) blatant Invictus collide with someone who's spent a long time being repeatedly and systematically betrayed. Things should diverge in a bit.
I don't really have any pertinent comments at this point beyond saying that this is very well written. Based on "The Game of Kings" alone I trust you to handle power creep in a reasonable manner, and the plot is moving along in a relatively good direction thus far. I really enjoy how well you've been switching perspectives between yourself and Taylor.
Just a figure of speech, or will we be seeing any Fate-style conceptual shenanigans in this work?
Just a figure of speech, or will we be seeing any Fate-style conceptual shenanigans in this work?
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I think I'll go with full invisitext. It's the only invisitext I plan on using - this constitutes a promise from me to all readers - so people who don't like them can just ignore em. Ultimately, though, they're there for a reason, which will (in the end, I hope, if I pull it off) become clear.
Thank you!
As regards conceptual superiority, at that moment it was just a figure of speech, and an artefact of the way I think. But, of course, Ef might end up making something Nasuverse derivative in the future assuming its a better solution to a present problem than other options.
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Endfall is much more blatant than other 'shards', so I'm not entirely sure if its comparison with it and other shards is correct at all.
I didn't really understood Endfall's amnesia until somewhere in chapter 3, and cemented after the author's notes. At first I thought that Endfall was just a 'normal' human SI implanted into Taylor, with just selective memories of Worm taken out, but now apparently it's a whole lot more insidious, where it doesn't even know its name except vaguely.
All in all, it's still quite interesting, the grammar and spelling mistakes aren't too glaring, characters aren't out of character. So watched.
I didn't really understood Endfall's amnesia until somewhere in chapter 3, and cemented after the author's notes. At first I thought that Endfall was just a 'normal' human SI implanted into Taylor, with just selective memories of Worm taken out, but now apparently it's a whole lot more insidious, where it doesn't even know its name except vaguely.
All in all, it's still quite interesting, the grammar and spelling mistakes aren't too glaring, characters aren't out of character. So watched.
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
If you've not played it yet, I really do recommend it. Superb everything, really.
Yes, yes, and maybe.
Oh it isn't. It's totally wrong, because Ef is not a shard, and neither is Taylor's - because it is, ultimately, Taylor's - Power. One of the few things I didn't mess around with was the fact that CYOA powers are shardless. The thing messing with both of their heads is a CYOA perk called Invictus.
But yes, you're right to be suspcious of things. Glad you've liked it so far.
Now this is a very interesting premise, especially since I think you're the first person to do Cycle Begins Anew... and maybe even multiple times at that. This looks like it's going to be a fun ride, and I'm mighty curious just where all the rest of those points went (if they were used at all).
- Location
- Madison, WI
I'm very happy to see this in this own thread. I'm hoping it means you got more than the base idea plotted down?
It just occurred to me, but this fic is reminding more of a crossover than a SI, especially with Endball and Taylor's "I don't know you" interaction, it carries that feeling of hesitant that I recall seeing in crossovers of different universe, and while us readers knows both parties are "good guys" and should get along, the character interactions happens otherwise because perfect strangers shouldn't just "get along".
Previously I had wondered if Taylor was the one who picked through the CYOA, but now I'm wondering if it's Endfall picking the Rebirth + Being Taylor is Suffering option, except your author notes said it's a modified SI. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how much canon knowledge Endfall retains, given that he/she/it lost all information pertaining to Taylor Hebert specifically.
It just occurred to me, but this fic is reminding more of a crossover than a SI, especially with Endball and Taylor's "I don't know you" interaction, it carries that feeling of hesitant that I recall seeing in crossovers of different universe, and while us readers knows both parties are "good guys" and should get along, the character interactions happens otherwise because perfect strangers shouldn't just "get along".
Previously I had wondered if Taylor was the one who picked through the CYOA, but now I'm wondering if it's Endfall picking the Rebirth + Being Taylor is Suffering option, except your author notes said it's a modified SI. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see how much canon knowledge Endfall retains, given that he/she/it lost all information pertaining to Taylor Hebert specifically.
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
@Larekko12
That might be the case, but if it were, Ef should be able to feel what s/he's using. So either something even more serious is wrong, preventing Ef from feeling charges, or there are only two, or something happened to make the way PM works more like a continuous quantitiy.
@Yanslana
So-so. I know how the story ends, in exact detail, now, and I have the immediate future handled. Still plotting a trajectory through the decision tree that leads to my desired outcome while still hitting certain milestones, though. Creating the thread was more of a final commitment to finishing the story inside the next five years. I don't do deadfic, but there are some stories were my only goal for completion is "before I die". This is no longer one of them.
Is Ef a "good guy"?
That might be the case, but if it were, Ef should be able to feel what s/he's using. So either something even more serious is wrong, preventing Ef from feeling charges, or there are only two, or something happened to make the way PM works more like a continuous quantitiy.
@Yanslana
So-so. I know how the story ends, in exact detail, now, and I have the immediate future handled. Still plotting a trajectory through the decision tree that leads to my desired outcome while still hitting certain milestones, though. Creating the thread was more of a final commitment to finishing the story inside the next five years. I don't do deadfic, but there are some stories were my only goal for completion is "before I die". This is no longer one of them.
Is Ef a "good guy"?
- Location
- Southport
Well personally I would think that Endfall is going to end up being shaped by both invictus and Taylor, because ultimately we haven't yet seen what remains of the original personality.
But otherwise this looks very interesting and will be definitely watched.
- Location
- ROB's House
WATCHED! Wondering how the hell this Earth will survive multiple entities within a year or two as Endfall seems nerfed to hell
Endfall
A zero on the singularity.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
- Pronouns
- She/They
@Sour Knight
All of it remains actually. I deleted my identity for this story, not my personality. The latter is the patterns of your thought. The former is why those patterns exist.
But yeah, your supposition is good, because I'd have to be a rock to operate with those two factors in the long run and not be changed by them.
It is a mystery~ Ia! Ia! \_(-o-)_/ Cthulhu Ftaghn
All of it remains actually. I deleted my identity for this story, not my personality. The latter is the patterns of your thought. The former is why those patterns exist.
But yeah, your supposition is good, because I'd have to be a rock to operate with those two factors in the long run and not be changed by them.
It is a mystery~ Ia! Ia! \_(-
- Location
- On an Isle in the Sea of Memes
Watched.
Even though I haven't finished playing through Transistor (got sidetracked by D3 about two months ago), I can still hear the voice of the narrator and I sort of hear it in your dialogue (Except Endfall's voice is a her to Taylor. Huh). I also like the angle of mistrust that's building up here, even though it can't really last in the long run.
Even though I haven't finished playing through Transistor (got sidetracked by D3 about two months ago), I can still hear the voice of the narrator and I sort of hear it in your dialogue (Except Endfall's voice is a her to Taylor. Huh). I also like the angle of mistrust that's building up here, even though it can't really last in the long run.
NorthSouthGorem
To Walk Down Every Path
- Location
- Maplewood, NJ
So, can Endfall recreate the Functions from Transistor? Or rather, will the powers you make be named similarly to the Functions?