[HALP] me! (WORM quest)

What do you mean by distinguished by type? I am mostly asking since it seems easier to make categories of votes, like research is one vote, while char 1 is another and so on.

Human, Shard, Entity, Martian - you don't need to worry about categorizing things beyond their name.

b-but what if I like his taylorplan but not his telekinetic plan?

Vote for his Taylor plan but not his Telekinetic plan? That's the main reason we're voting-by-name... So you can vote for someone's Lisa plan but not their Amy plan, etc.

Ducats has, if I'm counting right, 6 different plans right now. Vote for any of them (all of them?) as you like.
 
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Wait, we can send dreams to Danny and not just Taylor?!

Since I want to contact all of the Cauldron Shards (other than Eidolon) next update, I'm trying to match more Shard addresses so that we can see which are italicized.

Alternate - Oni Lee (since it looks like Clone isn't Oni Lee. Actually, Clone is probably Noelle.)

Chemical - Gregor

Clone - Noelle

Control - Genesis

Gas - Fog

Hardlight - Lady Photon

Integrate - Mush

Kinesis - Assault

Magnify - Fenja/Menja

Movement - Ballistic

Realm - Labyrinth

Reconstitute - Dragon

Sever - Faultline

Softlight - Laserdream

Starheart - Sundancer

Swap - Trickster

Sweat - Newter

Transform - Night
 
Ducats man I love it!
I just think we're too abrupt. There should be some more small talk and amused foreshadowing.

"You're not usually one for artistic pursuits, are you Taylor? I understand, I too prefer something more... substantive. All around us are moments in time, frozen briefly before being lost to the march of ages. You might not think yourself so important, but this is one of those moments."

Can you add that?
 
I was wondering, how are we going to explain eating the Cauldron Shards to Gaea? She wants to help the Cauldron Shards, and she's worried about being destroyed if she doesn't collect enough info so I'm afraid that she's going to be terrified of Admistrator if we vote to eat all of the Cauldron Shards.

I do still want to eat at least some of them, but I'm hoping that we can come up with a logical reason for Gaea that reassures her she is NOT doomed.
 
Omake Research: Focused Research 1
I got to say- I enjoy Negotiator's company.
I vote for any further contact with them.
Though we may need to work on our manners. And subterfuge. And being smart enough to pick up on their layers upon layers of ominous implications. And probably memory of their previous cycles.

Oh, also I've got another research omake- this one focused on current research, but branching out in two separate directions.
[Focused Research 1] Your current lead is leveraging your amazing multitasking ability. Obvious solution is to just split the information between yourselves, let them work it out. That does leave the problem of synthesizing the various streams.
  • How about a tree structure- nodes integrating base information, giving the processed product up the chain.
  • Except that would mean giving those superivors essentially random insights. Not all (if many) of them will fit further together.
  • You can just create a more dense tree, or periodically switch connections?
  • Or maybe just make it a marketplace of ideas, where all the you's would try to fit their pieces together. That'll be a real mess, however.
  • Perhaps utilizing metadata would help? Make it easier for everyone to advertise their findings, find their missing halves?
"Got some [statistical_data][energy_usage]! Grab it while supplies last!" "Has anyone has figured out how [metacognition][human] works?" "Look at those [statistics][puns]! You can't say no to that offer!"
  • Maybe you can force restrictions on various you's, to simulate creative approaches? Focusing entirely on clustering, using only visual data or arleady processed data, etc?
  • Some of them will be better than others, so you can get rate their productivity and get rid of the useless approaches.
  • (Should also compare between similar data sets, to isolate method's fitness.)
  • This really reminds you of a term: evolutionary algorithms.
  • If you keep eliminating inefficient instances, multiply better ones, then combine and mutate the winners... you can eventually find a number of great approaches to research in general.
"Looks like A124's got twice your score, A123. Switch to his strategy, and pick your mutation number from the box." "Oh thank gods, I am so sick of translating everything into rap lyrics."

Actually, can you combine those two methods? Assign random methods and data bases to various instances, and then see how they work it out between each other?
It's probably going to be a massive mess, but if it goes for long enough, something good is bound to emerge from this chaos. Maybe.
I am not an IT person, and what little knowledge I got/gained went into engineering systems for tiny data scientists to cooperate through.
A fascinating work, got to say. Metacognition is basically my favorite topic.

Also, I want to put whatever Omake points I got so far into Focused Research. It's a good skill. Fundamental one, in fact.
 
I was wondering, how are we going to explain eating the Cauldron Shards to Gaea? She wants to help the Cauldron Shards, and she's worried about being destroyed if she doesn't collect enough info so I'm afraid that she's going to be terrified of Administrator if we vote to eat all of the Cauldron Shards.

I do still want to eat at least some of them, but I'm hoping that we can come up with a logical reason for Gaea that reassures her she is NOT doomed.
Well, she's probably more worried about personal survival than anything else, from what you can tell. And Shift isn't a Cauldron shard?

It comes down to presentation and diplomacy. Will the little girl be upset that you had to shoot the little puppy in front of her? Would she be less upset if it turned out the puppy was a rabid stray? Would she react differently if instead of some random person shooting the rabid dog, it was her best friend?

Recall: Recycling Shards is one of your duties. In theory.

Also, I want to put whatever Omake points I got so far into Focused Research. It's a good skill. Fundamental one, in fact.
This is great, PurposefulZephyr! When you vote, you can put a line item in to apply 100 points to that research
 
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Ducats man I love it!
I just think we're too abrupt. There should be some more small talk and amused foreshadowing.

"You're not usually one for artistic pursuits, are you Taylor? I understand, I too prefer something more... substantive. All around us are moments in time, frozen briefly before being lost to the march of ages. You might not think yourself so important, but this is one of those moments."

Can you add that?

Cool lines man, but I had to modify it a bit to fit better, I want to not lean too much on the mystique.

Can I get some feedback on if the change was an improvement or not? Thanks in advance.
 
Cool lines man, but I had to modify it a bit to fit better, I want to not lean too much on the mystique.

Can I get some feedback on if the change was an improvement or not? Thanks in advance.
Ducats, I approve of your plan.

Not from the "you should definitely do this" perspective (which wouldn't be appropriate for me to talk about), but from the "this is very detailed and that makes dialog easier for the QM to generate" perspective.
 
Omake Research: You Learn More From Your Failures Than Your Successes (Human Biology)
Research Omake: You Learn More From Your Failures Than Your Successes

  • [Human Biology] This is kind of sad, really. You somehow mixed up a platypus and humans. They had to have divulged from mammals about halfway through the mammal evolutionary tree! Then again, primates divulged, what, around a third of the way back down it? Okay, so, you're going to be missing a lot of data. Placentas, external testes, higher brain functions. However, that doesn't mean this is a complete wash. STill a lot of work to do, but I bet a lot of this data is still relevant.
    • Data, grab, import, compare. Hmm. Okay, so the platypus has ~18,500 genes compared to human's ~25,000. But holy shit ~15,000 of those match from ancestral mammalian DNA. Score. We can copy a lot of this data right over.

    • Okay, so let's look over what we've got, check out where things match up and diverge. Eukaryotic cells, check. Double hemisphere brain with good ol' lizard brain basic instincts, check. Mammary glands, . . . No teats. That whole 'lactation through sweat' thing really should have been a tip-off.
    • Wow, okay, the sex chromosomes are totally different, but only two for humans versus the ten chromosome pairs Platypuses have? That shouldn't be too hard to figure out. In fact, you seem to recall someone once saying the platypus was the link between mammalian XY chromosomes and reptilian ZW ones. Isn't colorblindness tied into issues with those chromosomes? You bet incorporating a few extra sets would, wait, that's a topic for another time. We're here to see how much of this platypus information carries over.

    • Four-chambered heart, check. Fur data. . . well, some of this applies, like how the skin is set up and hair follicles. There's changes, but some of that base data carries over. Eyes. . . Double cones, they're very different. Some basic ideas are there, but that's going to take some research to carry over. Like the fact the whole thing runs its temperature about five degrees cooler. External testes really changed a lot for cooling systems in mammals. A good heatsink on delicate equipment is a plus.

    • Alright, over all that seems like a lot more of a waste then it really was. A lot of basic cell structure carries over, over half the genetic information is ancestral enough to apply. It's not anywhere near complete, but it's a solid foundational understanding of data to move on with.

    • Heck, a lot of this data probably applies to almost any mammal. And you're probably got more reptile data than humans would give you. It's not exactly what you wanted, sure, but it wasn't time wasted. Plus, you got an adorable venomous puppet!
 
This is great, PurposefulZephyr! When you vote, you can put a line item in to apply 100 points to that research
Good to know.
[X] Focused Research 1
-[X] Add 100 points (PurposefulZephyr)
[X] Human Biology

[X] Gaea Plan, Ducats: Notice of Recycling and Research
-[X] Inform Gaea of the state of Emote and of their impending recycling
--[X] Ask Gaea to report any shard that is as broken Emote
---[X] If a shard is in not too bad a state have them contact us so we can see if we can fix them
-[X] Request data on the biology of host species and viable mutations
-[X] Request sharing of senses
[X] Telekinetic Plan, Ducats: Greetings and goodbyes
-[X] Greet Telekinetic and ask how the cycle has been for them and if they have had any exceptional successes or failures
-[X] Inform Telekinetic of the state of Emote and of their impending recycling
--[X] Ask Telekinetic to report any shard that is as broken Emote
---[X] If a shard is in not too bad a state have them contact us so we can see if we can fix them
-[X] Request sharing of senses
[X] Emote Plan, Ducats: Recycle
-[X] Emote is burning the last of its energy and is not functioning, commence with consumption of shard transfer of host
--[X] Set another instance to assist Gaea with operation Amy and Alcohol
 
Time to guess what parahumans we got

Appropriate - Circus

Clone - Noelle

Kinesis - Assault

Magnify - Rifle

Movement - Chariot

Observer - Clairvoiant

Realm - Labirynth

Sever - Faultline

Starheart - Sundancer

Swap - Trickster

Systematize - Accord

Transform - Oliver
 
Ok, we've made some progress in matching up the Shard addresses, but there are still plenty left. Some of the remaining addresses make me feel like I'm forgetting something obvious. Anyone want to guess which ones left are Oni Lee and Velocity?

Coat - Hookwolf

Control - Rune

Destroyer - Purity

Forge - Kaiser

Frozen - Alabaster

Magnetar - Sundancer

Safeguard - Aegis

Starheart - Spitfire

Surveillance - Oliver

Transparency - Gregor

Also, I'm not ready to vote yet, but I have some ideas for possible plans that I'd like to share.

[ ] Plan "Check up on Shift"
-[ ] We just sent some important protocols to Shift yesterday. Maybe we should check up on her to make sure they're working out as planned.
-[ ] If she's implemented them correctly, reassure her that she did a good job. If there are problems that are not the result of Shift disobeying, then reassure her we're not mad and help her correct them.

While we probably should work towards Shift becoming more independent, giving her new protocols and then ignoring her seems like a bad idea. Let's make sure everything is turning out ok before giving her space to figure herself out.

[ ] Plan "Stay away from Charge"
-[ ] While we're not happy about Charge attacking us, we should probably wait until we've sorted through the data she sent us.
-[ ] However, the current research is too important to put on hold. Don't spend an active slot to sort through the data.

If Negotiator is likely a human intelligence that knows about Worm and Gaea MIGHT be a human intelligence that doesn't know about Worm, then I'm wondering how many human intelligences are in Shard bodies. If Charge is actually human, then it doesn't feel right to eat her. However, getting Taylor a strong, stable trigger is priority so I don't want to pause the current research to sort through Charge's data. We don't really need the extra info from eating a Shard RIGHT NOW anyway because we're busy with the current research.
 
Grandmage, for giving me nightmares about a Were-Platypus Avatar (what would that even look like?!), you get 100 Research points, which can be applied as part of your research plan to any research item.

I hadn't thought of that, but. . .
"Taylor, how do you feel about a Changer power? No? You want the Magical Girl package? Fine."
Sailor Senshi Platypus debuts in Canberra! "Hold it right there! Descending upon a helpless town to sow madness and disaster! Unforgivable! A Sailor-suited Pretty Soldier of Venom and Justice: Sailor Platypus! In the name of Australia, I will punish you!"

So what is your opinion on research omakes anyway? If everyone wants to spam it to try and get as many points as possible that's fine? Limit one per customer per update? One per research item per update? I wanna know how much I should pace myself so as not to be more annoying.
 
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Shouldn't we hold off on talking to taylor about trigger stuff? Isn't one of our research projects a way to get trigger events without actually dealing with the trauma?
 
I hadn't thought of that, but. . .
"Taylor, how do you feel about a Changer power? No? You want the Magical Girl package? Fine."
Sailor Senshi Platypus debuts in Canberra! "Hold it right there! Descending upon a helpless town to sow madness and disaster! Unforgivable! A Sailor-suited Pretty Soldier of Venom and Justice: Sailor Platypus! In the name of Australia, I will punish you!"

So what is your opinion on research omakes anyway? If everyone wants to spam it to try and get as many points as possible that's fine? Limit one per customer per update? One per research item per update? I wanna know how much I should pace myself so as not to be more annoying.
The weird part is how the omakes fit into the canon of the quests, technicly each of us is an instance of the mc and those that make omake are one of the more productive ones.
Shouldn't we hold off on talking to taylor about trigger stuff? Isn't one of our research projects a way to get trigger events without actually dealing with the trauma?
The problem with that is the fact that it would probably need a few more researches and since they get more expensive the deeper we go the more time it takes.

For example stabilize trigger costs 850 research and stronger trigger costs 1450, I would imagine that lower trigger treshold will be more expensive than that and stabilize trigger is probably mandatory, we migth also need multiple levels of it. So the chances are that it will take around a month to get one level of it.

Another reason not to rush it is the fact that it would not actually help Taylor with her problems since a trigger is an extraordinary event anyway, it would be more economical in the short run, to wait it out and then erase the memories of that day.

Also I would like to focus on other research that will benefit our hosts, spesifically genemods.
 
I just don't think erasing trigger event memories is a good plan. Those are formative events even without shards, and should probably inform future behavior if only to motivate people to not fuck up that badly.
 
Detective Perry and the Lively Ladybug!
Detective Perry and the Lively Ladybug!

The starlit night sky was reflected in the broken glass of shattered storefronts and stagnant water overflowing from the storm drains. As she bent space from a burnt out apartment across to one of the many abandoned warehouse on the water front, Vista wondered crimes she could have committed in her previous life to end up here.

"Wait, backup, what do you mean I'm the omega? I'm the tip of the spear, the denial of danger, the blocker of clocks! I'm the big damn hero who arrives to end the fight, you can't call me the omega." But even as he spoke she could see Stalker roll her eyes and purposefully ignore him go off on her own down an alley towards a depression in the next street over where runoff had blocked the road in a massive puddle. "Hey! Vista back me up here, we're partners aren't we? A dynamic duo for the modern age, they who reach ou-." "Shadow Stalker, come on, can you stay on the patrol route just once?" Nope, looks like she cant. What a surprise, even with all this new tall about wolf-pack this, alpha that, she still does whatever she wants. Dennis continued ranting about the their lack of appreciation but Vista was more interested in what Stalker was peering at over the roof.

"Some Empire goons moving into ABB territory, looks like." Stalker looked back and Vista saw an evil glint in her eye as Clock finally caught up, but before she could say anything else an engine roared down the road to stop just before the goons. "Is that Stormtiger and Cricket? Without Hookwolf? No wait, I think that's him...." Looking closer, she noticed the goons were gathered around the only fully lit building nearby, jeering at it even as one broke off to speak with the capes.

With an false deepness and put upon air of authority, Dennis began to say "You know, I am the oldest present. Soon I'll be leading the Wards into glorious battle against-" "Please stop. You're the Omega because you're all bark and no bite; now could you please call Console before Stalker goes off without us again. Looks like that Empire are hitting an ABB stash house maybe." Personally she thought three capes was bit overkill and was about to say as much when suddenly the front face of the building blew outwards in a headache inducing pretzel of physics that she could barely wrap her head around. Bakuda strode out, cackling, while red and green gangers rushed the disorientated goons, Cricket alone having dodged the blast with preternatural swiftness. It seemed like a massacre would break out right in front of them when suddenly-.

"Halt evildoers! Justice comes to stand against you and found it's opponent... lacking." That's right! Detective Perry and I are on the scene, surrender now for we always prevail!"

And to Vista's growing horror, standing on the building next to them was a bipedal platypus, maybe four feet tall at best, wearing a trench coat and deerstalker cap while holding a Victorian pipe. Next to him was an unusually tall and lanky girl, almost six feet and covered in red and black polka-dots. Not even a costume, but somehow actually her skin, but also not?

"Criminals, heed me now for I am Ladybug, your doom! With my invertebrate intelligentsia it was no trick to track you down, you cannot escape us now. Detective Perry is the smartest Platypus around, no two-bit tinker or unwashed viking can hide from his mind!" The platypus, Perry apparently, began to pace across the roof, moonlight suddenly providing a back light to his monologue as he cut off Ladybug.

"Now now, my dear and lively Ladybug, don't scare the poor things. Criminals and thugs, as you well know, are a cowardly and superstitious lot. If we route them with the righteousness of our cause and the truth of our power to early they might scatter in every direction." Three underage heroes, a blockade of skin headed idiots and a few desperate Asians all watched in fascination as the talking animal lit up his pipe and took a puff. Something sweet? Even worse, out of the corner of her eye Vista saw that Dennis's grin had begun to split his face and he approached Ladybug... who appeared to be trembling in anticipation?

What.

As Clockblocker put his hands to his hips and struck a pose, Vista and Shadow Stalker shared a horrified glance in mutual understanding of what was about to happen. As they watched he and Ladybug began to exchange terrible puns and heroic declarations filled with naive enthusiasm, the two saw Stormtiger and Hookwolf break off in their direction even as Cricket danced in avoidance of Bakuda's bombs. Things were getting serious but the two hammy heroes kept going at it under Perry's amused eye. Just as the villains entered engagement range, Ladybug broke off and said; "Forgive me noble Blocker of Clocks, I have let myself grow distracted. But I won't fail Sir Perry, you'll see!"

And then suddenly, she was gone, a great cloud of insects rising into the air as more joined from further than Vista could see, all joining together and blocking out the moonlight across the city.

What.

Just as suddenly, the greater mass of the horde briefly came together into the shape of great Ladybug in the sky before smashing back down into the gangers below like the fist of an angry God. And before she could prepare to call console, to jump in and help, anything: the cloud cleared back into a young girl, leaving behind a street of capes and normals strewn across the street, covered head to toe in some sticky white substance she couldn't quite recognize and looked back at Clock with an enormous smile that reached her green eyes. "Never fear! Detective Perry and Ladybug are here. Brockton Bay's sunrise is soon to appear!" And with that statement, the platypus reached into his coat, fiddled for a moment, and the two were gone in flash of light, leaving three teenage heroes with four villains that they had never gotten to report and a ridiculous encounter of all of five minutes to debrief.
But even as Sophia's shoulders fell in disappointment and Dennis laughed at their new hammy heroes, Vista wondered why she deserved this.

-----------------
So that was Detective Perry, a Platypus thinker and tinker, agent of K.E.T.T.L.E., and his wonderfully enthusiastic and overpowered sidekick, Ladybug.
I am not good at writing.
 
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I hadn't thought of that, but. . .
"Taylor, how do you feel about a Changer power? No? You want the Magical Girl package? Fine."
Sailor Senshi Platypus debuts in Canberra! "Hold it right there! Descending upon a helpless town to sow madness and disaster! Unforgivable! A Sailor-suited Pretty Soldier of Venom and Justice: Sailor Platypus! In the name of Australia, I will punish you!"

So what is your opinion on research omakes anyway? If everyone wants to spam it to try and get as many points as possible that's fine? Limit one per customer per update? One per research item per update? I wanna know how much I should pace myself so as not to be more annoying.
Technically speaking a magical girl should be a Breaker gated Blaster/Brute by definition(capabilities gained in alternate mode).
Incidentally if I'm not mistaken we would have zero problems doing something like:

[] Power Plan Magical Girl
-[] Master 10 - Small fluffy animal projection. Destructible, offensively harmless, but respawns some time after dispersal.
--[] Thinker 40 - Capable of analyzing tactics and information, which is verbally relayed to the Master
-[] Breaker 50 - Magical girl transformation. Able to store a maximum of 48 hours of transformation, recharging 1 hour per hour spent untransformed. Below Powers available only in transformed state, augmented by Breaker data.
--[] Brute 100 - Invulnerability to damage while transformed, Each time damage that would kill the untransformed host would be taken, reduce remaining duration of transformation by an hour instead.
--[] Blaster 100 - Colorful beams of concussive force carrying an emotional payload.

@Vhalidictes
How exactly do Breakers and Projection type Masters work anyway?
Breakers are supposed to be an alternate state they gain powers in, but is itself not a power that doesn't already fall under another category(Shadow Stalker for instance has a powerful Mover and weak Stranger power, but only in her Breaker state).
Projection type Masters like Genesis can create minions which are effectively rather powerful brutes.

Also wait a minute. That's basically if you combined Glory Girl's power with Gallant's.
Glory Girl's forcefield, remove the cooldown and replace it with a recharge, Gallent's emotion beams.
Might need Panacea and Tattletale to make the fluffy tactical support animal tho
 
So what is your opinion on research omakes anyway? If everyone wants to spam it to try and get as many points as possible that's fine? Limit one per customer per update? One per research item per update? I wanna know how much I should pace myself so as not to be more annoying.
I think it's fair to say once per vote/story chapter per Reader.
 
I just don't think erasing trigger event memories is a good plan. Those are formative events even without shards, and should probably inform future behavior if only to motivate people to not fuck up that badly.

Not really, the migth be formative, but only in the sense that you will need years of therapy to get better, hell Taylor will probably need therapy as she is. So I think it is just better to give up a life defining moment when said moment will ruin your life.
 
Ducats maybe after we explain the necessity of a trigger we giver her the option of removing the memory instead of just doing it? We shouldn't act like we're deciding things for her. We don't want to just be another person denying her agency.
 
Time for more guesses about Shard addresses! It looks like Frozen-Alabaster is not a Cauldron Shard. Maybe Victor will be. I'm hoping for at least one or two villain shards other than Trainwreck and the Travellers.

Alternate - Aegis

Appropriate - Victor

Fusion - Sundancer

Gymnastics - Velocity (I'm pretty sure Gymnastics is a hero since we got it from Shift, and I can't figure out which other address matches Velocity.)

Magnetar - Manpower

Safeguard - Oni Lee

Surveillance - Night

Tracer - Ballistic

Transform - Oliver
 
Detective Perry and the Lively Ladybug!

It seems that Taylor has become something... more. Something... amazing. Something... Miraculous.

Miraculous, simply the best,
up to the test when things go wrong!


I'm sorry, I just had to.

[X] Ducat's Plans

Because I can't be bothered to copy and paste six separate lines from a post. (This isn't a jab against the new vote style or anything, it's just me being lazy, please don't take offense.)
 
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