[X] Ignoring medical advice is a bad idea; agree to have help care for Host.
-[X] Insist you be allowed to help choose, you wouldn't want a caretaker who isn't a real person.
[X] You don't need a caretaker. If you've forgotten anything important, you can learn it the first time you're shown. A few days with "Dad" should be enough for that.
Fair warning: This is shaping up to be a lot less silly than the original Splintered was and the chapter was much easier when I stopped fighting that. I think it'll likely pick up later on, when QAylor has more hosts and nearby shards to interact with.
[X] You could MAKE a caretaker. He doesn't need to hire someone for that.
"I could simply make a caretaker. You don't need to hire one."
There's a quickly-hidden flash of pain before Host's father raises his eyebrows, seemingly amused. You don't think he correctly interpreted your words.
"And how do you plan on doing that? Just because you have a nurse hat doesn't mean you'll be a good replacement for one."
You choose to fight misinterpretation with misinterpretation, molding Host's features into a falsely uncomprehending expression.
"With my own blood, of course. Maybe as an elephant? I believe they'll have plenty to spare."
DadDanny twitches and refocuses on you, torn from whatever happy memories he was using to escape. He continues staring at you for an indeterminate amount of time before exhaling loudly.
"You aren't being metaphorical, are you? 'Blood, sweat, and tears?'"
"I am not," you confirm. "I can form temporary guardians from my blood should I so choose. Creating one to directly care for me should be no harder; as all guardians would place my wellbeing first and foremost..."
You choose to omit the part where temporary only refers to the complete, if finite, natural lifespan of Friends. By the time anyone learns of the falsehood, it will already be too late. If you really want to maintain the not-lie, you could even make little "recycling pods" that are really just sleeping cocoons.
Your primary body (un)helpfully transmits a memory you don't recall requesting, one of a previous host.
I am your creator! You were made to serve ME! Cease your — grrk.
Turns out even artificial creatures will devour their creator without preprogrammed love and loyalty. Instinctual impulses versus an empty digestive system equaled yet another dead host. You couldn't just patch out hunger, they'd starve to death. At least your next two hosts were cluelessly happy to help with research, even if they were motivated by control over their own species. They never did manage to find a good compound for that. Plenty of toxins, no loyalty-injectors.
You belatedly realize you'd gone silent mid-sentence. A brief review of recent events help you find the relevant point to resume.
"...They will have an easy time ensuring my basic needs are met. A human would be an unnecessary waste of resources."
Danny holds up both hands and rubs at his eyelids, likely adding cumulative damage to the organs underneath.
"Why didn't you include this when you told everyone your powerset?"
You slowly blink at Host's father. Isn't he supposed to be the emissary and/or leader for a moderate number of humans? The answer should be obvious.
"Information control, obviously. Infiltrators will exist in any large lawkeeping organization that does not itself use Cognitive Capes for security. Even those may be ignored should a Cape have been given a relevant counter."
Danny raises his head, slowly blinks at you, and looks somewhere past you. Your curiosity is forcefully suppressed, your slow head rotation intended to look natural and unrelated.
"...You do realize there's a camera right there?"
Your eyes flick toward the little black hemisphere as you inwardly curse Host's unreliable memories. Why could you recognize the handheld cameras from earlier, but not that?
What would Host do?
...Based on ninety-plus percent of previous hosts, she'd probably pretend it was intentional. You see no adequate reason not to do the same.
"No attempt has been made to conceal it. The adult Wards aren't attempting to spy on us, merely monitor us. The difference in intentions is important. Regardless, I have no intention of becoming enemies with the local authorities. They are to maintain order and keep the local populace safe from harm; I want to be safe from harm. Our goals are by no means mutually exclusive."
"That still doesn't answer why—"
"I'm getting to that," you rudely interrupt. He deserves it. "This method approximately halves initial points of failure while still ensuring they receive a reasonable summary of my abilities."
Your next words are more for the benefit of eavesdropping adult Wards than for Danny Hebert.
"If they are in a situation where guardians birthed from my own blood would be harmful to them? Obviously, they've decided to attack a would-be ally for few to no sensible reasons. I doubt they're that dumb; they would not be trusted with authority if they were."
Dad twitches, closes his eyes, and slowly exhales.
"Masters do exist."
"And those are...?"
"Capes who control people. It was in some PRT pamphlet they gave me."
I'd like see them try. It'd provide plenty of interesting information.
Sheer distance will give you an advantage over anyone trying to manipulate Host's mind. Such attacks could easily be rejected via rapid partial-shifts and reversion. Your primary concern would be if any attacks occurred while you slept; the hallucinations seem to bar your awareness of Host's brain, replacing it with immaterial decoys. Going back hours post-awakening would run afoul of :MOTHER:'s restrictions on manipulating hosts. Given your current situation, it may also delete hours of your own recent memories. Neither outcome is acceptable.
...You suppose you should try to kill or avoid Focal's host this Cycle. Focal did mention he would be experimenting with permanent, artificially-induced love and worship of his host. Perhaps placing Friend patrols around the surrounding area would prevent any such surprises? You could handle any mental manipulators easily if they tried such attacks while you're awake.
Danny Hebert shifts position and drags you back to the outside world. You're really beginning to miss your primary hardware; your thoughts haven't been this slow since you were a Newborn. How are you supposed to watch for threats, examine your surroundings, determine the causes of physical phenomena, and generally amass information using such a puny brain?
Discussion: Direct Manipulators.
"Oh, them." You try to adjust your voice to convey disdain. You don't think it works. "Anyone who tries would deserve what happened to them."
Danny leans away, his face morphing to (likely) reflect his surprise. It looks strangely close to unhappiness or doubt.
"You're immune?"
"I am no longer—"
You abruptly realize your original answer would fall afoul of :MOTHER:'s ban on certain information. Future communications are adjusted accordingly.
"—In a state where I'd be affected by them, yes," you finish.
The reference to Host's new brain structure almost seems to cause DadDanny physical pain. Visible unhappiness is soon suppressed, probably in an attempt to protect Host from emotional harm. You really wish he wouldn't be such a poor influence on Host. Why would withholding social information ever help others? How are they supposed to accurately assess—wait. I'm in control now. I don't have to tolerate poor behavior!
"Please stop doing that," you request loudly. "Withholding information about your own emotional state is something to be done for neutral parties and foes, not allies. Assessing your status is more difficult when you hide your hardships and it only encourages others to develop similar habits."
You pointedly tug at Host's current clothing.
"I was most likely targeted by a threat I could not or would not tell others about. Such a mindset should not be allowed to form anew. Creatures should exploit their strengths; as a social species, humans are most effective when working together. This includes physical and mental health."
Refocusing your attention on Danny, you find his eyes have lost their lock on you. You sincerely hope that's due to considering your words and not ignoring them.
He reestablishes eye contact only after several seconds slide past.
"Is damage to your other forms carried over?"
You shake your head in negation.
"With the sole exception of death, no. I can almost turn my other forms into husks without harming this one. Pain will be greatly mitigated should we use sufficiently sharp tools."
Danny silently parses the newest information for quite a while. Eventually, he exhales, pushes himself to his feet, and heads toward the door.
"Let's just go home."
Exiting the facility proves to be rather more entertaining than you'd initially expected. Despite your adequate skill at standard walking, you're still helped into a wheeled chair and pushed out of the hospital, still wearing the same white coverings as before. Several armored guards shift position or look away as you pass. After the third incident, you mentally log their body language as uncomfortable.
The number of passing humans dramatically increases after you pass through a sinking metal box. None of them appear uncomfortable, and although plenty are expressing some variant on distress, few are looking at you when they do. You're guessing they have injured allies or require some medical procedure of their own.
Danny helps you into the front-right seat of a vehicle, still silent, and soon steers it out from among numerous similar machines. Danny is soon ignored in favor of analyzing Host's home city.
You aren't particularly impressed by what you see. Amateur "art," often depicting several recurring symbols, has been placed on numerous walls and the occasional walkway. Similar creations seem to show only oversized names, presumably of the "artist" or someone close to them. You doubt either variant is legal; the colors used are inconsistent, often clashing, and generally make the area even less pleasant to view. Few specialized developers would approve.
Some parts of the area are in a logical grid, but others ruin such order with odd curves or passes through undeveloped areas filled with trees. Much of the city itself appears to be in dire need of basic maintenance; numerous stretches appear brand-new while others are cracked and uneven. A gratifyingly large number of signs can be found beside the black roads or at the meeting points paths, many of them saying little more than a "STOP" or "SPEED LIMIT (x value)." Unfortunately, most of their paths aren't named properly and use sentimental names instead of logical numbers or coordinates.
It doesn't seem humans are quite to the point where they have a proper passage permission system set up. The lights indicating when vehicles can move seem to be on preset timers, ones which often don't reflect the number of people requiring passage from a given direction. You estimate the inefficiencies nearly double your travel time. Of course, even that estimate is likely inaccurate due to your required use of Host's squishy hardware.
Host's own home is rather more... worn than you'd anticipated. Assuming construction materials aren't particularly difficult to come by, many of the problems could be solved by a few hours of effort at very little cost. You're not sure if Host and her father didn't care, didn't notice, or were simply too exhausted to fix the problems.
<Is anyone within range?>
Danny goes ahead of you, apparently assuming you'll follow through sheer force of habit. He's halfway to the door before he stops and turns around, apparently realizing he should closely watch you. You were only a few footsteps behind to begin with. Regardless, one of the stair-steps squeaks when weight is placed on it.
"Welcome home," Danny says quietly. "Do you... remember anything?"
You spend an unnecessarily long time scanning your surroundings before turning back to him.
"I remember one thing: your behavior and appearance indicate you should go back to sleep," you half-order. "I will be perfectly fine on my own. I can simply read books, an activity that's guaranteed to be safe."
Danny slouches and rubs at his eyes with one hand. The gesture seems to require a conscious ending before he looks back at you.
"That's really all you want to do?" he asks uncertainly. "I'd expected... more. You certainly seemed to have fun touring Brockton Bay."
[] He might be right, if only because you shouldn't break his sleep schedule.
-[] Ask to go out shopping.
--[] For hats. You want more power options.
--[] For clothes. If Host's old set of clothes were any indication, she should really wear brighter colors.
--[] For hardware and tools. Host's home needs fixing.
-[] Ask for stories of Host's childhood.
-[] What about him? Is there anything HE wants to do?
-[] Wear your "nurse hat" to help Danny recover sooner.
--[] Refuse to admit what the hat does. You're wearing it because you want to.
[] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[] Make some Friends in Host's basement while Danny naps. You don't want him to know about the precise "Biological Innovator" aspect of your powers just yet.
--[] One or two human-sized(ish) Friends.
--[] As many pet-sizedFriends as you can manage on short notice. Provided, they'd be rather big pets...
-[] Find some books and read them.
--[] Fiction.
--[] Nonfiction.
--[] Semi-random; whatever has an interesting name or cover.
-[] Sneak outside for an hour or two and explore the area around Host's home.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[] Make some Friends in Host's basement while Danny naps. You don't want him to know about the precise "Biological Innovator" aspect of your powers just yet.
-[X] Find some books and read them.
--[] Fiction.
--[] Nonfiction.
--[X] Semi-random; whatever has an interesting name or cover.
-[] Sneak outside for an hour or two and explore the area around Host's home.
Y'know, I honestly just want to tell Danny that we're a 'power' now that it's just us. The poor guy deserves an explanation, and it would be hilarious.
This seems like the best way to get back to cracky shenanigans- get us a human straight man and stop the depressing act of emotionally torturing Danny.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[X] Find some books and read them.
--[X] Semi-random; whatever has an interesting name or cover.
Y'know, I honestly just want to tell Danny that we're a 'power' now that it's just us. The poor guy deserves an explanation, and it would be halarious.
We're acting so alien that people have to be putting two and two together, and Danny's spending the most time with us - he's gotta be realizing that this is more than amnesia. I think we should just tell him to his face that we're a shard, and that Host should be functional relatively soon.
It may sway considerably the mood for the quest, because that'd mean making humanity realize powers have a will of their own; I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing, just that it's going to be a big butterfly both for humanity and other shards.
And I hope yoy don't mean it as @LonelyWolf999 said, unless you too find it halarious(sic) to see a broken man having the last thing he has to live for taken away from him.
And I hope yoy don't mean it as @LonelyWolf999 said, unless you find it halarious(sic) to have a broken make being taken away from him the last thing he has to live for.
I mean, Danny's probably thinking his daughter is effectively dead right now. We act nothing like Taylor and have none of her memories - we're a stranger possessing her body. Telling Danny that Taylor isn't nessesarily dead would be a mercy.
Also, we're just telling Danny right now, not the whole world. I really think telling people their powers aren't sentient and are manipulating them would be really interesting and, of course, funny! Just imagine us shouting at Amy for boring poor Shaper so much!
I mean, Danny's probably thinking his daughter is effectively dead right now. We act nothing like Taylor and have none of her memories - we're a stranger possessing her body. Telling Danny that Taylor isn't nessesarily dead would be a mercy.
Also, we're just telling Danny right now, not the whole world. I really think telling people their powers are sentient and are manipulating them would be really interesting and, of course, funny! Just imagine us shouting at Amy for boring poor Shaper so much!
It's a moot point since doing so would fall afoul of :MOTHER:'s rules; you can hint, but you can't confirm. Host-species seldom take the news well and at least one Cycle has had to be cut short as a result.
Pretty sure its canon that a few times some Entities tried to be more open about what they were doing, the host species revolted, the cycle was cut short and now no Entities reveal the true nature. Period.
Hopefully you take some inspiration from stuff other than Starcraft for Taylor's 'friends'. There are literally dozens of Zerg!Taylor fics...try something more original. How about humanoid/intelligent creatures? We dont see that often.
Hopefully you take some inspiration from stuff other than Starcraft for Taylor's 'friends'. There are literally dozens of Zerg!Taylor fics...try something more original. How about humanoid/intelligent creatures? We dont see that often.
Aside: As mentioned earlier in the thread, the adorable Zerg images were used for references since they're easily-recognized twists on biological abominations. This will not be a StarCraft crossover either way. EDIT: Feel free to keep using Zerg to fit your mental imagery, just be aware it isn't a conversion, merely an approximation.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[C] Make some Friends in Host's basement while Danny naps. You don't want him to know about the precise "Biological Innovator" aspect of your powers just yet.
--[X] As many pet-sizedFriends as you can manage on short notice. Provided, they'd be rather big pets...
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[X] Sneak outside for an hour or two and explore the area around Host's home.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[X] Make some Friends in Host's basement while Danny naps. You don't want him to know about the precise "Biological Innovator" aspect of your powers just yet.
--[X] One or two human-sized(ish) Friends.
[X] He might be right, if only because you shouldn't break his sleep schedule.
-[X] Ask to go out shopping.
--[X] For hats. You want more power options.
--[X] For hardware and tools. Host's home needs fixing.
With the right hat we'll probably get a Home-Fixing Tinker power.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[X] Find some books and read them.
--[X] Semi-random; whatever has an interesting name or cover.
[X] Your desires can wait until AFTER Danny rests. He'll need to sleep either way; best if he does it now.
-[X] Find some books and read them.
--[X] Semi-random; whatever has an interesting name or cover.
