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Infinitesimal (CYOA V5) (Pre-Canon Divergence)

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AsuraZeron said:
Whats the danger here?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am new here.
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Well, he did die and the only reason he's still around currently is that he had a backup. Only seems prudent to create another backup as soon as he can, since he's arguably in a much more precarious position now than he was then.
 
Damian45 said:
Ahh, screaming. The worst reply possible.

I never insulted the author, you just went out of your way to interpret it that way. Honestly, I like his other works, such as his Chrono Trigger/RWBY quest.

Thing is though, none of that invalidates my concerns.

A little known fact in the fandom is how much the Simurgh is bullshitting everyone. It's not really recognized by any of the fanfics, but that Enbringer has basically been running the show ever since it was activated.

The scream? Its just window dressing, hearing it is not required for it to mind rape it's victims.

The time limit in fights against it? Doesn't matter, it doesn't need any time whatsoever to fuck with heads, thats just what it lets everyone else think. The Simurgh knows how to be subtle.

Are you immune to mind control? Ha, sorry, but that just means it can screw with your head indirectly, by manipulating everyone who isn't immune. Exhibit A, Alexandria. She learned the wrong lesson when her eye was gorged out by the Siberian.

And thats just the obvious stuff, the things that are outright stated. The Simurgh Bombs are the pawns that are visibly affected. That does not account for everyone else, aka everyone who has ever been to a Simurgh fight, and everyone who has interacted with anyone that has been to a Simurgh fight. Everyone in that category can be said to be under the influence of the Endbringer.

I'm not insulting the author by saying that by saying that not neutralizing those kids for being Simurgh Bombs is a sign of bad judgement. I'm making the factual observation that he's either massive underestimating the Simurgh (like everyone else), or mentally compromised for not recognizing the danger the Travelers represent. The Simurgh is that dangerous.
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...sooooo...basically just kill yourself, cause there's no way to beat the Ziz?

Sounds about right.

Anyway, dear author, this is a wonderful tale you are weaving. I approve of the premise, the main character, and the CYOA build.

I am myself a fan of the 'talk to your shard' perk, and after reading the Remaker interlude I can't help but find a lot of similarities between Singularity and my own CYOA Pseudo-SI character, Understudy. I very much look forward to seeing where you take this.
 
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POST 2.2
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    • Noelle​

    "So. What's next, boss?" Krouse was in a much better mood after negotiations were over, it seemed. He was still guarded – but then, he'd been that way since Madison. There was a difference, though. He was... less hostile, maybe? Like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

    "The coming days will be busy. This base must be reinforced and retrofitted with my own designs, and a workshop established. Your costumes will need to be altered in some places, given reinforcement and additional function. I will speak to each of you regarding your powers and needs, and begin the process of designing tools for you. Genesis," he turned to her, his voice becoming a bit quieter and smoother. "I will spend today designing your injection. Tomorrow, if you are prepared, we will apply it to your spine – by sunset, you should be free to walk as you wish."

    Noelle turned to her friend with a smile, watching complicated emotions play across Jess' face. Joy, disbelief, wariness, excitement... she understood. Singularity was just... like that.

    "For the rest of you, I advise you to take some time. Consider your powers; what utility are they missing that you wish they had? I cannot change yours as I did Noelle's, nor can I make promises... however, if you explain your needs to me, I will do all I can to design tools that address them."

    "Most Tinkers aren't quite that free with their gear," Luke commented. He'd been mostly quiet so far, but he kept sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking, then smiling at what he saw. He'd always been the one that helped keep them all together... these last months must have been hard for him. Shit, we have a lot of work to do, don't we?

    "I am not most Tinkers," Singularity replied in what might have been the biggest understatement she'd ever heard. "Now, unless there are further questions, I will turn my attention to redesigning the base. I expect you would enjoy some time to yourselves, in the wake of Noelle's restoration: all I ask is that you remember what I said. Spend some time considering yourselves. I can only offer you solutions if you inform me of the problems." When nobody asked anything, he nodded once.

    Then his body dissolved like water into a grey semisolid that soaked into the floor beneath them, leaving them alone.

    Mostly alone, she thought to herself. He was still around, naturally.

    "So," she started when nobody else said anything. "Is there somewhere around here we can sit and talk? I mean, I'm enjoying standing and everything, but..." There were a couple of weak chuckles, but the tension that had built up was broken.

    "Yeah, there's a room we've used for meetings a few times. Uh... follow me, I guess?" Luke shrugged and led them through a hallway to a room with expensive chairs and a table; one of the fancy ones with a display screen built into it. There had been one of those in the University library... she'd always wanted to try playing games on it. One by one, they sat down... and nobody spoke.

    She sighed, then put a smile on her face. It was... surprisingly easy to slip back into the role she'd had once, when she was leading their club. And, really, I guess this is kind of similar. Just... the stakes are higher, that's all. For us and for our opponents. "Right. So, there's a whole bunch of stuff I want to talk about, eventually. But first, I was thinking... Singularity wants us to figure out what we need him to build, right? So, gear planning. Why don't we do that as a group, like we used to?"

    "Been a while since I thought about that," Luke said, rubbing his chin. She could hear the quiet scratching of stubble – he's letting himself go.

    Marissa shifted in her chair, chewing her lip. "That sounds fun, actually. And I could definitely use your input, Noelle. I don't even know what to ask for."

    "Technically," Jess said, "he didn't ask for gear ideas. He asked for problems that need solving. That being said, I think both are good ideas. Start with problems; if we can come up with our own solutions, great. If not... well, he's supposed to be a pretty good Tinker. Maybe he can come up with something."

    Krouse hummed. "Makes sense to me. Who's starting?"

    "I'll go," Luke started. "My biggest problem is that my power goes from nothing to full blast. If I'm not up against somebody tougher than normal, there's not a lot I can do without hurting them a lot worse than I'm comfortable with."

    Marissa crossed her arms uncomfortably. "That... sounds familiar, yeah. Um, for you, that problem could maybe be solved with custom projectiles? I can think of some science fiction stuff that wouldn't be deadly even at high velocities. I mean, it's fiction, of course, but... Tinkers, right?"

    Noelle smiled as the conversation kept going. This... this feels good. I missed this. I missed them.


    When it was her turn, she headed into the room and sat down in front of the Tinker. His mask tracked her movements, but he didn't speak for a moment.

    "I... really don't know what I was supposed to brainstorm for me. We don't know what my power will turn out to be, do we?"

    "No. However, we do know who you are, and that is a start."

    She blinked.

    "Considering your nature and your skillset, your role should be quite clear." He gestured to the screen behind him, and an armor schematic flickered into being. Slim and sleek, reminding her almost of Marissa's Sundancer outfit. Completely devoid of hard lines, dark black accented by purple plates and glowing lines like circuitry. Similar to his? Huh. It was the list of features and modules that drew her eyes the most, though.

    "C3 suite?"

    "Command, Control, and Communications. The core of any and all operations, through which all knowledge passes like blood through the heart. You are not a front line combatant, Noelle. I am certain you would be up to the task if required... but you are most comfortable at the back, giving orders to your team. Your units. Am I incorrect?"

    She went through the list again, mulling over the idea. Lots of data management tools, looks like... "I mean, I've led us in tournaments before, but... this is kind of different. Besides, aren't you in charge?"

    "You are deflecting. I am the leader of the Hereafter, yes, but the Travelers look first to you, and you have the necessary skills to lead them well. My ego is not so fragile, and my trust not so shallow, that I cannot delegate. However, if you are uncomfortable, then we shall run tests. Once all your equipment has been constructed, its operation will require stress testing regardless. I believe you will find you are well suited to the role of captain, Noelle."

    She chewed her lip. I guess... it wouldn't hurt to try, right? When she nodded, he gestured again, and the armor was replaced by several different weapons.

    "Excellent. Now, these are adaptations of devices I designed for my own use; we shall determine which you are most comfortable with, and I will implement them in the design of your armor. Are you prepared?"

    This is going to take a while, isn't it?

    She couldn't help but be just a bit excited, though.


    Danny Hebert
    May 1, 2011    ​


    "In Parahuman news, a fight between the Azn Bad Boys and the Empire Eighty-Eight was broken up by the Protectorate late yesterday evening. The fight took place near Captain's Hill, and ended with Protectorate Leader Armsmaster bringing the Empire villain Alabaster into custody. Several other villains escaped, but the Protectorate had this to say..."

    As Danny raised the can to take a drink, there was a knock at the door. He frowned, muting the television, and moving to stand. Taylor should still be at the library, so... I wonder who that is? He took a moment to glance through the peephole before opening the door – just good practice, he'd found. The two young women on his doorstep didn't look familiar, but didn't look especially threatening, either. Especially with the vaguely irritated look on the redhead's face as she held a clipboard. The brunette was raising her hand to knock again when he opened the door, and she blinked at him for a second.

    "Yes? Can I help you?" The sound of his voice seemed to snap her back to reality, and she put on a polite-but-fake smile that he'd seen on many people.

    "I hope so! Um, my name is Noelle, and this is my friend Jess. We're doing... sort of a survey. We want to help improve the neighborhood, but we can't exactly do that unless we know what needs fixing. So, can you spare a few minutes to talk about what's been going on?"

    He blinked, glancing at the redhead - Jess - and watching her roll her eyes. "It won't take long," was all she said. So, he nodded.

    "I suppose so. Do... you want to come in, or is it easier to do out here?"

    "Can we come in? That would definitely be easier." He stepped aside, leading them to the kitchen where the table was. He gestured for them to sit, and the redhead did, holding her clipboard in front of her and waiting.

    Noelle, though... she held out a hand over the table, and there was an odd little sound that set him on edge. He was already taking a step back, his brain immediately thinking cape as he reflexively thought of the devices in the upstairs closet –

    "Daniel. It has been long since we last spoke."

    – and then a voice out of his memories cut through the kitchen like a knife, and he reached out to a kitchen chair to steady himself. A flickering light shone out of Noelle's palm, and a miniature version of one of the only two people that ever called him Daniel flickered into existence on top of his kitchen table.

    A hologram. On his kitchen table.

    He sat down, heavily. "That... can't be."

    "I apologize for the surprise, Daniel, but this was the only method I possessed to contact you."

    Danny licked dry lips. "Uh... yeah. The... we had to hide all the headsets. There were... some searches, for a while, and we decided not to dig them out unless we needed them again."

    "Understandable. That is exactly the sort of information I came here hoping for."

    "Information?" he repeated dumbly, his brain still stuttering at the simple fact that a mockup of Singularity was standing on his table and speaking to him like a ghost.

    "Yes. I have long been absent, and I am no longer certain of the status of the city. It is my hope that you can rectify that, Daniel – and, perhaps, point me to others that might also remain loyal."

    He didn't question whether Danny was still loyal, he noticed. A long-forgotten ember of pride burned up from his chest at that, and he found himself sitting a bit straighter, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He took a breath –

    "Before that, however, there are other things to be addressed. Daniel... where is Annette? Why are you here alone?"

    – and deflated in his seat.

    "... There was... an accident," he started.


    Taylor Hebert​

    She headed up the front steps, unlocked the door, and headed inside. Today had been productive, at least – there had been a lot of discussion on PHO about the conflict going on in the city. It had taken some effort to sort out what was useful from what was worthless – or, worse, lies – but she thought she had a better idea of what was going on. Now, all she'd need to do was wait for a good opportunity and she could make a difference.

    "I'm home," she said, not too loudly. She couldn't hear the TV, which most likely meant her dad was already asleep. Looks like he forgot to turn off the kitchen light, though. She shook her head with a sigh, heading over to turn it off.

    And stopped.

    Sitting at the table was her father, looking down at two objects that very definitely did not belong in her house: a sleek-looking visor and a rifle out of a science fiction novel. They were the two most obvious pieces of Tinkertech she'd ever seen in person.

    "...Dad?" She said, quietly, trying to ignore the roiling mess of confusion and betrayal boiling up in her stomach. If he's been a cape this whole time, then I –

    He looked up, tiredly. But there was a look on his face that wasn't usually there. "Taylor. I'm glad you're home. I..." His mouth worked soundlessly for a few seconds. "Could you come sit down? There's some things I need to talk about."

    Talk about, he said. Not talk to you about. It was a little thing, a stupid thing, but for some reason that phrasing both irritated and relieved her. Like what he had to say wasn't about her at all. When she sat down, looking pointedly at the Tinkertech on the table, he sighed.

    "When I was younger... before you were born. There was... a group in the Docks. A gang, technically. Called the Hereafter."

    "Singularity's gang," she said without thinking, and he blinked at her before smiling slightly.

    "Yeah. Singularity's gang."

    "You were in a gang," she said, irritated.

    He sighed. "It wasn't as bad as that makes it sound, Taylor."

    "You were in a gang. Is that where this stuff came from?"

    "Yes. Look. Let me explain, first, okay? Then I'll answer your questions. I promise."

    She crossed her arms and huffed, and he gave her a pained look. Eventually, though, he cleared his throat.

    "Singularity... had a different way of doing things." Where have I heard that before? "A lot of what his gang did was just... community stuff. Building things, protecting the neighborhood, helping out when someone had hard times. Because they got sick, or injured, or had something happen in their family."

    "Injured, huh," she said. "Like committing crimes injured."

    He grimaced. "Or injured at work, or by accident. Just in general. It was one of the core principles of the Hereafter; you looked out for each other, and for the city. If a problem was big enough, Singularity himself stepped in."

    At that, she raised an eyebrow, trying to imagine a villainous Tinker stepping in to help with workman's comp. She fought down the humor, trying to hold on to her irritation, and mostly succeeded.

    "Anyway. The point is... I was in a gang, technically. But if you ask someone who was around back then, being in the Hereafter was a lot different than, say, the Empire. Or the ABB. Even the Marche."

    "I'm sure they'd say the same thing, dad."

    He sighed, sinking down in his chair. "Yeah, they probably would. But if you asked people from the Union that weren't members, they'd say the same thing. But that's not the point. After... the Nine came through, Singularity wasn't around anymore. Without him, the Hereafter dissolved. But that doesn't mean that everybody forgot about it overnight."

    She narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious.

    "... things have changed. And they might be coming back. The problem is... I wasn't exactly... a nobody, Taylor. If the Hereafter starts making moves again, and there's somebody who knew who I was... they might make trouble for us. And I want you to be safe, no matter what. So..." He took a breath. "There's going to be a meeting, this weekend. Some of the old members will be meeting with the new ones. I want you to come with me. I want you to... if something happens, and you weren't safe, there are places you can go. They'll take care of you."

    I can take care of myself, she thought, feeling the bugs reorganizing into a perimeter around the house, staring out from alleyways and cracks in foundations... but she didn't say it.

    "Dad," she said instead, "were you... were you a villain?"

    He blinked... then laughed. "No! No, hah, that would be pretty funny, wouldn't it? No, Taylor. I'm no Parahuman. Just... I had more paperwork than your average guy, even back then."

    She glanced down at the gear on the table. "Then...?"

    "Singularity made them. They were... well, I wouldn't say normal equipment, exactly, but there were... a lot of us that had them, or something similar." For a moment, there was silence. Then, nervously, he spoke again. "Did you... do you want to see how they work?"

    She pursed her lips. A villain made these, she thought to herself.

    It wasn't very convincing, and she nodded once, leaning forward on the edge of her chair as he picked up the visor and started explaining.

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    • x50413 said:
    He blinked, glancing at the readhead - Jess - and watching her roll her eyes. "It won't take long," was all she said. So, he nodded.
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    redhead

    Wonder if Singularity knows about Taylor, and that's why he recruited Danny as one of his lieutenant - or some high-ranking position - in the gang he was running?
     
    Hmm. Start with the obvious. Singularity now controls the Undersiders, the Travellers, and more or less all of Coil's resources. A good start. Singularity used to run a gang based in the Docks, most likely exploiting the lack of employment in that area to become a sort of folk hero/saviour to them. There has been a conspicuous lack of mention of the Merchants, so depending on the timeline it's very possible they've been butterflied away in some capacity, or even been drawn up by the Marche. An interesting idea; a clean version of Skidmark would be fun to see.

    It's unclear how much Metaknowledge Singularity has retained. It seems likely his memory isn't perfect encyclopedic knowledge of Worm ripped straight off the Wiki and SB's many, many data threads. The fact that he claims ignorance about Annette's death is either him having hoped to butterfly away the event, or having straight up forgotten it being a thing that happened. So that's interesting. How Singularity is going to react to Taylor is the big unknown, currently. According to the Wiki, Taylor was born in 1996, which is probably before the Nine came over, so it's possible that, if Danny and Annette were key henchmen in the Hereafter, Singularity has technically met her before as a baby.

    Things are gearing up.
     
    Argidoll said:
    How Singularity is going to react to Taylor is the big unknown, currently. According to the Wiki, Taylor was born in 1996, which is probably before the Nine came over, so it's possible that, if Danny and Annette were key henchmen in the Hereafter, Singularity has technically met her before as a baby.
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    SO what I am hearing is Singularity might be Taylor's Godfather?
     
    Mizu said:
    Wonder if Singularity knows about Taylor, and that's why he recruited Danny as one of his lieutenant - or some high-ranking position - in the gang he was running?
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    So remember that the CYOA selected has WoG as a selection. Singularity basically has canon Worm permanently burned into his memory + Wildbow WoG from other sources.
    The issue is that Singularity, by existing, made the knowledge useful but no longer perfectly accurate.
     
    gale said:
    Do you really think she would betray her father? or do you think she would not get attracted like she did with the undersiders?
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    I think she would probably go in with the intention of helping 'rescue' her dad, or striking a deal to help get him off 'when' she turns the Hereafter over to the PRT.

    Naturally, those plans will crash and burn fairly quickly.
     
    Pikachu17 said:
    So... Why is Singularity a villain instead of an independant hero or even a Rogue again?
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    That depends on what context you're asking in.

    If you mean "why is he labeled a villain to the public," then the answer is as @OMGbeta said. He is violent (if in relatively predictable circumstances; don't threaten children or civilians and you're generally fine), a thief, has unlawfully claimed territory and enforced that claim, he maintains a cult of personality around himself and encourages citizens to follow his direction (i.e. undermines both the Protectorate and the government)... the list goes on.

    If you mean "why does Singularity act the way he does," that question is a bit more complex. Technically, it's been answered in story, but the person that was told the answer didn't understand what Singularity meant by it. Suffice to say he has his reasons. Aside from his occasional outbursts of emotion (Gazer and Coil, for example), almost everything he's done was calculated, premeditated, and intended to bring about his desired outcome.
     
    Well, Taylor's learning some interesting family history that's for sure. Here's hoping she doesn't decide to try and turn in her own father.

    ...

    Wait, this is Taylor. Going undercover into her father's suddenly returned villain boss gang is entirely in character. He even has some quirky minibosses to throw at her and hopefully socialize her.
     
    Tattletale is gonna shit herself when she speaks to singularity. When he tells her coils power she'll probably vomit and have the most intense panic attack ever when she realizes all those times coil wanted to harm her he really did and her power being just as pissy as her will flood her with that knowledge, might even second trigger

    Like buying pork sausage at the local butcher for years and thinking the guys creepy but harmless then findin out he murders children and sells the meat to get rid of evidence over dinner while watching the news
     
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    All singularity needs to do is ask danny about the fam and he'll find out about her trigger and if ss did it then tell her who she is and he's set, cuz he's got a code that he doesn't break and the prt are funded by the EvUl sTo0pId illuminati

    Or just mention coil worked for the prt and had a child drugged up and hidden in his base
     
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