[HALP] me! (WORM quest)

Thursday, the fourth of November twenty-ten is here. The first of the butterflies have taken off.





A new day dawns and there is so much to do that a lesser being might cry in its beer. You have no beer, no face, and no problem assigning dozens of yourselves with different tasks. After all, if you can't trust yourself, who can you trust?

Job one is contacting some Shards because some of what you want to do depends on what you find. Something you discover, to your intense annoyance, is that whatever mindless idiot designed ShardNet didn't ever plan for multiple simultaneous outgoing communication connections. Incoming? Sure, no problem. Outgoing? One call at a time.

What? Why? Well, at least you can plan things out while you wait for your turn at the telephone…

You earmark this for later research. You know that other types of connections support multiple outgoing links. But back to task; Taylor is performing her daily morning 'wake up-and-cry' ritual and you need a distraction from that.

First up, you need to find a test subject for the Shard consumption process. This dovetails nicely with your interest in getting more data on Cauldron/Eden Shards. As best you can tell from how they work, there's typically a 'main power' Shard and whatever random bits and chunks that became attached somewhere along the way. Like some sort of super-powered concrete.

You've seen some Shards that are basically nothing but cement though, like Emote. This brings up an excellent point. From what you remember of Canon, there should always be a "main power" to Cauldron vials. Aside from that, how would a conglomerate of Shard bits be capable of granting any kind of power to a Host?

Yet something else to research. Sure, you have tons of time before January, but you are very worried that 'finding stuff out' is less of a road and more of a treadmill. The 'good news' is that unless you find more or better Information sources you don't need to worry about advanced research? At least Shift is sharing some. Your other self has finished setting up a call to… who first? Ah, Prosthetic. Trainwreck, in other words.

[Hello, Prosthetic]

Actually, you should probably get this out of the way:

[Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[C̝̝ͤ̈ŏ̲͉̖͎͔͈̪͆ͫͫ̆ͫn̻̫̟͆͐̊̅̂ͬͅn̜͍͖̠̬͓ͬͬͯ̓̿ȅ̞͎̪̇͑ͣ̐̚c̬͔̝̜ͤ͌ͫ͋̃t͈̪̺̖̪ͨͣ ̲ͫ̅̀͌̇̾-̳͙̩̺̣̱̖̏̿̈́ͮ̾ͨ ̖̘̥̥̱̺̜̎ͣ͂A̐ḋ͇̺̹͔̭̜͔ͫ̈́ͤm̜̟ͤ̿i͙̰̖̗̠̟ͨ̑̓̃̋ͯn̤͎̮̺͇̦̼i͎̜̙̱̒ͭ̊͛s̰̬͚̻̝t̠̏ͮ͐r̞̪͎̳͚̫ͤ͛ͪͥ́̚a͖͖͈̟̘̟͓t͖̦ō̞̙̟̦ͣ̐̏r̘̣͛ͩ̋̽] [A̺̥͔̽d͚͍̣̟̲͛ͣͪͅd̼̣̺ͧͅȑ̻̦̫͔̳̪ͅe͚̳̦͖̅s̟͈̬̘̫̰̱ͧs̞̙̥̦͓̭͂̒̅̚in̝͚̣̻ͩͅg̯ ̥̹͍̦͎ͨ̇͂ͬ-͓̭̍ͣ̊̀͑ ͖̰̔̃̆͒U̻̯̩̗̦ͅp͎̦͓̖̦ͫ͛͌͐͋d̺̖̳͚̣̈̍̋ͧ͋ͣͣa̙̹͖̖̘̝̳̐͗ͩ̔͐ẗ̪̪̲͇ͩͣͬ̓̐e̾d͚͉̺͚̖͙̘̅ͧ́ͯͨ̉ͨ]

Strange. There's half-a-Shard there, and then just a mess of Shard bits. Cast of thousands. At least. Not too painful to listen to though.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

[C̟̰̙̬͎͚̝͊̋̌͆͒͌ͤó͔̗̍̽̇ͮ͊m̞̳̪̳͖ͣp͔̖̊̀͋l͓̖͗̈ͬ̔͛̚i̺͚͕͈̔̓̊͋̈́̉a͚̟̭̣̎n̪̟̜͇̼̘͈ͭ̇c̗̤̰̟͋̈́͐e] [W͍̬̙̳̼̘̲a͇̮̥ͮ͛̎͐͋͐ͅr͇̲̱͙̠̳͐̾̽̊̿́̅ň̩̞̂ͅí̫̙̫͙̼ͨn͕̦̜̬̈͛ͩ̿͌g̮͕̔̑̌̾͆ͩ͋!̠̦̦̙̲̰͐͊ ̲̞̹̥̮̘̽͊͑P̟̬̹͇̺̊̔̊a̾͑̇c̥̮̙̼̙͓̆̀̂̌̓̃k͊ͩä̭͚̖̪̞g̙̣͎͉̦̭ͯ͒̐ͅé̃͐̀ͦ̏ ̗͚̽͌̚C̹̠͚̗̥͇o͇͆̏̀̓̚r̳̝̹̗͉͋ͯr͉̣u͚͖͕̗͙ͧͦͦ̋p̹̱̰̲̪͎ͣ̉͗̊ͨ̐̚t̯̜̼̽͂]

Er, thanks Prosthetic. For telling me. But I already knew that. And why didn't you try and fix it before sending? Shards.

Hmm. Well, that would be a problem. Prosthetic didn't fix it because it doesn't have any data storage protocols. At all. It just ad-hoc gathers up everything it thinks to save as raw-data, and it doesn't have nearly enough space for that, so it just keeps a looping log.

What we have here is a almost fully-working Shard with no data collection function and no way to fix it, or even know that a solution exists. Great! Well, someone with, you know, working compression should be getting that data. Prosthetic only seems to be able to hold about a week of rolling… gibberish. Just straight-up Shard sense impressions. Anyone other than you wouldn't even see this data as anything but noise.

[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]

[C̟̰̙̬͎͚̝͊̋̌͆͒͌ͤó͔̗̍̽̇ͮ͊m̞̳̪̳͖ͣp͔̖̊̀͋l͓̖͗̈ͬ̔͛̚i̺͚͕͈̔̓̊͋̈́̉a͚̟̭̣̎n̪̟̜͇̼̘͈ͭ̇c̗̤̰̟͋̈́͐e]

So how about the Parahuman himself. Apparently, he's a confirmed Case-53. He's hiding out south of Brockton Bay in a kind-of sort-of 'Tinker lab', and he's out of money and food.

Assuming that Coil doesn't grab him on-schedule, he's locked into a trajectory for minor Villainy. But you can't know more until some time has passed, you don't have enough historical information and canon Worm didn't exactly detail his life and times.

[Completion]

[L͆̄̈́ͫo̺̭̰̘̝̞̥gͨ͗g̰͍ͪͪͤͣī͎̂̂ͨ̓̎ṇ͙͎͙͂ͅg̼̘̖͉̉ ̥͎͉̲̮̅o̖͉̳̗̜̣̫ͭ̈͒ͭu͈̗͕͔ͨͮ̉t̟̖̩ ̏̌ͦ̀͗A̒̊̽͑̑̚d͓̟͚̝ͭ͋̅̅ͩ̂m̭͇̗̬̬̬̋̽̄i̺̮̞͚͇ͬͅn̥̮̥̳̹͎͕ͨ̃͊̋̇i̟̟̞ͤͭ͑͆̓̃ͅs̙̫̖̬͆̉͛̄̇̑ͅt͔̯r͈̟͕̓ă̻̤̗̌ͨ͊̏ͦͯͅt͋͆ȍ̙̖̤̺̈́́rͥͯ̊̃͂ͦͫ]

Right. Next Shard!

[Hello, Swap] [Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[C̝̬̝͇ͫō͔̫̹̥̚n͌̆n̞͚̭͆͒͐͌e͎̖̖̓͑͋ͅcͤt̞̯̩̦̺̹̱̅ͯ ͕͖̲͔͈̼͔ͨ̋̍͊̏ͦ̀-̫̰̯̹̦̾̓̌ ̮̍̎Å̰ͨ̌ͮd͕͇̓̊ͯ̀͗͌ͦm͚̞͉͙̰͕̊̈́͐͑̐̏i͐̐͆n̮͙͓͎̔̂ͬi̘̮̙̣͉͍̬ͮͭ̈̐̓͊̅s̲̲͊͛͛ͮͪ̑̈́t͙ͦͣ̓ȑ̝̘̤̮̠a͎͍̽͛̽̓́̚t̻̹̝ͨͅo̅́ͭ̒r̙̞͔͎͂͌͒̎̉ͩ̐] [A̫d̳̽ͅdͮͣr̞̖̰̓ͬ͂ͨ̾ͥẽ̔ͩs͆ͯͦ̄̿̚s͎̯͓̣͎ͦ̿̀i͙̼̗̽ͨ̾̑n͙̞̬̘̟͖g͍̟̳̘ͮͯ́ͫͧ̄̋ ̝͙͖̞̗ͪ̿͂ͣ͂ͫ̐Ụ͇͚̼͖̠p̻̳̤͎̂ͧ̍d̯̙̪̣ͦa̒̾͋͗̓̚t͕̭̰̹̖̋è͙̖̮̖̌ͤ̃ͫ͋d̠̫͉͖̮͖͇ͬͭͤ̉̎ͩ̚] [R̯̥̮̖̲̜͙̒ͩ̋̆̓̅́e̺̳̐ͯc̑e͉̼͒̋i̳͇̠̩͓̺͛ͩ͆̇̋̿v̅͗́e͕̱̚ͅ/̩̠̝̺̝ͪͯ̎̓ͨͥ̑ͅC̲̹̖̦͎ͣ̊o̩̺̰̰͖̍͌͛̔ͤ̓̚m̤͍̺̹ͮ͐m̭̠͂̒̈͂á̼̩ͨ͒̿n̬̮̪̲̘̏͂̓̚d͚ͫͯ̉̔̿̓̊s̩̼̺̙ͅͅ?̠̟̹̋]

Hmm, this isn't a dead Shard so much as a completely personality-free one. Also, there aren't as many bits and chunks here as you'd expect. It's an organic computer, ready for input. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

Ah. It's fascinating to see what's wrong with Cauldron Shards. They're all broken, but none of them in quite the same way. Trickster's Shard seems to be fine in most respects, but not only is it lacking in personality… it has no command codes. Or authority recognition of any kind. It is also missing the bit that controls, well, personality. This is actually somewhat dangerous, or would be if there were any scheming Shards but you.

You're a bit surprised that Negotiator hasn't done anything to it (yet?).

So, Trickster. You'd be able to get a lot more from this data when you've finished Human Biology, but you don't see anything strange with him. He'd pretty much what you'd expect from canon. Although… his Corona is a little strange. But that could just be the Simurgh, if you recall correctly he's a bomb. Then again, it could just be him, the little shit.

[Completion]

[Hello, Transparency] [Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[ẁ̬̼͕ͤ̑h̰̟ͮ̐̊ͪͧͣ̋ṫ̗̤̯̰͉͖h̝̱̠͌́̃̇e̤̞̞̝̫͕̗͖ͯ̋̋a̙͇͎̬̫ͦ̔f̝̱̽ͥ͑͂̓͐̂͊ͩg̜̗͎̤ͯ̍͂̏ͨȏ͖h̹̮͕̙̤̳̹̿̑̂ǧ̹̉̔ͯͫd̮͈̫̤̪̠̜ͫ̆ͩ̍͌̾̋ͤw͉͖̓̿ḫ̫͕̩̣̲̏ͮ͒͌̒̎̚ǒ̜̼̹̬̿̒ ̮͎̯ͧ̉̏̃̊̅ͥ̌C̤̼̣̲̲̼͚͓̾ͣͦ̃͗̆̈́o̘̙̞̯̼̾̐̿͛̇ͣͯ͗n̥̼ͣ͊n̮͚̻̺̖̭̯͖̊̈̔̒ͬ́ͫͧ̔ě͍̻͎͉͎̼̼͚͌̈́̐̀̊̏̋ͅc̬̪ͩ͆̈̑̾̽t̮̘̖̹̗͊͊̈́ͮͦͅ?̩̳̺͉̿ͤ͒ ̹͇̌ͪ̈́ͣ͌͗͛͒ͣN̠̫̳͕̩͔̱͕̽̓͛O̩̭̟͎̺͆̉̍̑ͦ̾̋͂ͅṮ̝̟̮̱̖͉̤̣̽̿ͤͩ͆́͊̎ ̼͇͕̙̿̾́̃ͅA͖͍͊D̰̬̲̓̿ͫ͛̉͗ͬ̄M͓̰̼̜̬̰̒̈́ͤ̂̈́͌̈I̪̖̥̩̥͕̯̖͊̊ͤN̦̬̣̹̠̟̔̐ ̯̎u̼̞͖̘͍̪̎͊̆ͣͅp̦̂̑̔d̬̗̉͒ͮ̽ͮͤ̔a̱̞͇̺͔̓̃͑̚t̗̤̊̒̿̅̔̊͌e̲̜̥̱̤̟ͭͫ̓ͦͤ̚ ̜̖͇̲̺̯͂̀̓̄̔̿̋å̟̹̝̞d̺̲̙͈̹̰́̓̌͑̊ͣͥḏ̪͕̐ͯ̂ͪȑ̲̫̰̲̠̳͓̇e̝̯ͯͧ͋̄̏s̠̟̯̦̝͙̿ͦͯ̋́́ͅs̲͔̙̱͖̅̀̓̈ͅ ̗̯̪͚̪̖͓̗̌̒ͮ́̊̑͒f̰͈͑̂̔̑ͨȭ̩̥ͭ͑ͬ̍ͪr̰̙͚̯̳̬̯͊̔̂ͧ̓̿̎̚/̳̫͎́ͧN̪̰̙̫͖̦̝̖̅́̌O̲͔ͪ͋ͬ̂T̺̲͍̩̻̺̐͒͌̿ͨͅ ͚̻͑ͭ̾̄̈́A̯͙̮̫̔͆͒̓̔ͩ͒D̮̭̒̓̆Ṁ̳͎͉̤̳̙́ͧȊ̪̟̥̤̹̩͈͚͐̓͒Ň̪̠̎̐̓̒͆̿ͨ ̭̦̺̖ͫͮͪͦͦ̂̚k̜̮͇̞̞͌ȋ̻̥̳̝̗ͬ̉̌͌͒ͪ͐l̗̪͉͙̣̔̑̏̓̂̄l̖͓̳̰̣̤̲̩͐̓͑ͥ/̗͓̩̳̜̹̌̓p͖̭̗̪͈̉̈ͅu̪̜͈͕̳̖̭ͦͥͦͣ́̓r͔̱͙͚̻̐ͤg̲͈̠̥͍͉ͥ̈̅̎̂̎ͭͨẹ̖̪̱͇̣̫̤̃̓̈ͫ!̞̩̳̠̮͉͓͖ͩͧ̓ͅ ͍ͩ̄̈́ͩ̾̽ͥẇ̪̟̗̠̉͗h̙̙͚͙͖̩̤̹ͬͫ̽̂ͪ̈̄̚ȁ̠ͧͥͬ̀̓ͩy̫̲͊̆̎͗̑͒̽ͨ̉ͅ?̟̯̳̭͎̯̓]

Uh oh. Welp, Gregor's power has problems. It's trying to do everything at once, it's sapient - and not. You're getting the impression of bigger chunks than most, but none large enough to take overall control. You're not even sure how he has a power.

It doesn't seem coherent enough to be dangerous. But it doesn't seem to like you for some reason. What is with all of these Eden shard bits and being deeply suspicious of everything? Maybe it's caused by being from a different Entity? Or just an Entity that operates differently?

May as well try some things.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

[Ñ͉͎͇ͫ̃ͤO̞ͬ͌ͤ̍ͦ͂̓O̩̼̲̰̩̞̬̒ͣ̈́̔̌ͩO̬̣͛̇͐͆̎̽̇ͭo̞͓͑̎͑ö̼̫͈̃́ͭ͌̈ ̟̠̞̳̻͓̿ͦw̭̖̙̹̖̎̀̂ͪ͐ͣ̂̓h̳̠̊̒ͭ̃̾a̱̠̜̺̣͎̅̄t̰̬̫͚͉̪̣͖͋̾ͥ̇ͯͯͧ͛̚ͅ ̠̝̝̹̻̐̈ͭͩͣĭ̹̗͇͚̭̼͎͔̀̈́ͬͧ͆ͫ̄ͥs͔ͪ̂ ̩̖͇̮ͨ̾͛͌ͪͅt͇̲̤ͫ̈́̽ͅh̠͈͉̩͂ͥ͒ȅ̱̫̖͎͙͂ ͈̲̯̲͂̽̓̽̀̉h̖̹͍͕̝̎̎͌͂́͒͗͂̽ă̖̳̫͓̫̻̇ͦp̳̳̯̆̇̾͂ͦ͊̋͐ ̼̻̍̈̃̎͊́̅̑g͇̙̮̖͉̘̜͉̎́̿͋ͨẁ̘͇̫̪̩̝̂͌ͪͥ͐̑ͅi͕͎̰̟̩͍͇̩͒͂̚ğ̞͉̰̱͍̃ͥͮ̿͊h͈͓̖̊n̗̰ͤ̄b̳͓͇͓͓͒̍͛ͬ̂̃ͭf͓͙ͨb͙͙̤̐ͧ͛̄̒͛̊̏ͅ ̯̗̲̰͉̹ͪ̀̑ͣ̓͂̈ẙ̭̝ͯ͊ė̘ͤ̇̍̃s͈̞̈̂!̘̩̤͈̗͈̺͆̍ͤ ͇̹̥͔ͧͣ̈́w̭͍̞̺̫̙ͦ͌̒̒͋ͪ̓h̘͖ͥ͗ͮͥ́͐o̹̗̘̦͎͔̒ͤ̍?̣̙͈̞͌̏̋ͮͯ!̺͙̻̗̞̗̮̒ͣ̈ͅ ̖͕̰͈͚̤͙̬͍ͭͬ/͚̫̬͉̪̅͆i̥̬ͨ͆̿̊ ̩̖͓͎̳́̈́ͣs̟͙̜͙̘̫͚̃͛ė̥̜͔̻̲͛̽ͦ͒̄̈́e͎̹͚͚̲̔̓̇̾ͣ̓̉ͣͅ ͉͚͔̏ͮ̏w̙̗̤̱͋̾̽̊ͭͮ́̔h̗̤ͤ̾ã̻̦̗̩͔̒̑̚t̘̣̻̫̙͑ͦ̒ͅ ͇͍͙̅͑̎̚ÿ͉̺̖̘ͦ͗ͨͩ̑ͣ̌o̩̯͍̊͂̑u̦̰͗ͪ̈̇̂̈́ ̠͔̲͕͓̲ͩͅd̰̖ͨ̀͗̂̃ͯi̟̰̟̙̘͛ͫͫ̅̽̍d̜ͥ̃ͪ ̥͇̫̬̜̭̩̊̅̆̃ͤt͉̳ͫ͐͗̃͂̏ͣ̎̀h͚͉̹̫͎̋͂̅̊ė͚̻r̬̯̳̠̜̤̫̒̒̈́̚e̟̓̓̾ ͙̪̲̩̣̦̠͛̇Q̜̼̻̬̪͚͛ͨ̋͊̐̔̚A̫̰̪͐/̖̮̰͕͉̻͐ͣ̿̎ͮ ͈͕̿̑͒̂̓l̩͎̺̘̜̮̒̀̈̍̓̂ͪ̇i̱̙̬̰̓v͎̠͑ͧ̒̈ỉ̺̙̩̪͉͈̪̏ͩͯ̋n̼̺̬͕͕̹̖̖̝͐̌͐̋͐ͤ̄ͬg̫̔̄̐̿ͭ̑ ̯͉̜̗̜͓͖͌̀̂̊͑͊͊ͬͅh͙̬̃ͣ̒̔͒͐ͬ̇e͙̹̲̮̬͇̞̙̹̔ͬr̝̈͌ͧ̍̈͗͗ͅe͙͖̼̻͓̣ͪ̈́ ̼̼̺̞̺ͪ̍ͣ́͐̅ḭ̜̫̈ͯͧ̔n̖̫͖ͨ̐ͫ̓̌́̆̍͐ ̬̗̰͓̌͛ͮ̑ͮ̚J̦̗͓̜̖̫ͣ̍͆̾ͩe͙͈̝̮̻̝̠̪̗͛ͤ̐r̜̥̝̬̠͈͈ͦ̀s̝̯͇̬̯̻͒͗e̟̞͓̬͙̮̘̞͉͊̑ͭ̽ͮͪ̔͆ȳ͚̾̚ ̰̰̙̟̰͇ͮ̇̓̇̄ͅf̞̪̘͇̻̺̤͚̈̐̅̄i̥̲̭̼̖̍̏͋̽̄͂̓g̯̼̃̏h͚̫͈͎̫̙̦̖͆̽t͔̣͕͍̀̅ͥ̉͐͆̊i͖̠͍̥ͭͣͦ̑n̲͓͙͊͑g̣̙̥̯ͩ̂̈́̃̔ͣ̚ ̻̭̜̪͑ͮ̑̈́̎̏V̠̭̦̹̲̘̟͂͆͛̀́i̝̺͎͑̔̊́̌̐l̻̝̈ͦ̐̂͌̋̓l̩̘̠̣̭̙̘̟̃ͣ̊̿̀ͅa̙̜̟͍͗ͣ̉i̜̱̮͖̩ͥͫ͊̏̃̈́͐n̦̱̂̒̀̍s̗͍ͥ̀̊ ̗̖̙̮̝̱͛̉ͨ̓̾̃f̭̹̣̱̻̫ͩ͌ͮ̃ͧ̎̀ͯͅͅr̭̝̮̱̱̠̻͌͛ͥ̊͋ͬ̏o̞͇͈̩̝̹̽ͤ̔̈́̔m̩͙͖̄ͫ̆ͦ̓͐̓̿ͮ ͉͎̘̲͕̋̃a͙͍ͭ͒̓ͯͣf̜̖̞̫̎ͥͭ̓̾̔a̪͚͎͍̼̻̠͌̀ͅṟ̳̭̬ͪ̓͗̄͑̆́͋.̻͈̜͓͌̐̐.͍̮͈͓̙̤̟̱̀͂ͯ̎̏̿̀.̹͙̭̘̲͕̘̝̇ͦ̐ͦͨ͂ ͍͖̩̽̋̒Y̗̽͒͑̏ͭo̜̔͐ͪͭ͋̈́̏̅ͮu̹̮̹̞̥̲͎̾͌ͅr̖͉ͧ̅ ͯ̆͋͛ͅH̼̲̱̩̻̭͂̎͛̒ͅo͓͙͚͈͛͋̾̉ͥ͊ͦ̏ͅs̜͔̗̫̺̱̮̣ͫͭ̌̆ͨ̉̃̚t̘̿ͩ̈́ͪ̉̋ͭ ̬̤̪͈͇ͮ̆ͯ̑̓̆̈ͫͅĬ͔͓̼̮̰͉̃ͪ̓̔̇ḁ̮̪̯̫̹ͫ͋̇!̭̗̪̝͚͉̒̌ͤͬͩ̈́ͮ ͇̰̱͎̣̺̰̿̾͊͐̓͂̋Ḭ̪̺͐̈́a͈̝͚̩̫̩̎̏ͥ̄!͇͈̹̞̼̆ͪ͊̉͐̋̌̽ ͖̹͖̠̘̙͕̙͔̈́̈́̎ͤͮ̐͊*͕͎͈̫̖̰̣̟̪̒͊͌ͬͣͤi̮͍̜͑̓ͫ̇ͩ̎ͥ̓̚t̳̻̲͔͈̗̽̈́͑ͩ͐̎ͩ̄ ̹̣̦͖̘̩̜ͭ̀̈͆c̱̜̙͚ͣͨ͌͊́̐o̝̗̺͂̍̂ͨ̐̃͊͗m͚͓̱͎͌̊̋̿ͥͥḙ̜̮̺̟̭̮̗̹͐ͤͨͣ̄̈́͌̔s͉̻̯̭ͪ̑͂ͬ!̠̠̯̞͗ͫ]


Bad news: no data. Some… stuff… came through the connection, but it wasn't actual data. Good news: nothing broke, you weren't attacked. Something about that word-salad seems informative, but you can't put your (simulated) finger on what.

[Completion]

[Y̭͈̙̦͍̥͋̏̒̆̓͛ͭ͆ͤõ̗͍̼̜u̪̹͇͇͚̥͍ͮ̄̀͛̇ͧͯ ͕͎̼̮̫̦̜̃̎ͫͬ̒̍ä̳́̈́͆R̳̝ͥ̾͊͆̊̿̂͌E̱̱̦̠̦͔̘ͦ̒ ̘̪̹̱ͣ̍̈͆ͥ̎̆t͇̳̫̖̆ͣh͚͉̻͙̤͎̅̾ͬͦ̃ͭ̉͑́e̞͇̮̟̖͓̗ͣ͑̋̏͑ ͓͕͉͕̯̱ͤ͋͋ḫ̪̖̅̓ͨ̊̽̓͂̈́E̦͛͑͗̃̑ͫR͎̪͗̍̋A̩͚̟͉͖̟̎L̰̼͖͓͔̮̾̆̓̄̾̇̈͛D̰̯͈͚ͨ͆̐ͫͬͤ͂̀ͅ ̖̦͊͑̆͐̚a̦̯͙͙̭̟̺ͨ̉ͭͮ̌̒͋̚s̤̰̞͎͚̲̍̅̒ͥh͍ͪ͗ͪe̠͕͊̆͐̓̀ͨͥͤs̬̖̯̗͚̲͕͆̚-̗̱̞̥ͪͬ̍a͖͕̺̱̙̠ͮ͊ͭ͂͋́s̳̝̫͕̥̞̘̖̓̔̃͒h̻̞̜̊ͣ̍͐̈̌ë̟́̿ͯ̉̅̓̔s̮̖̙̈́ͪ̿̇-͚̠̲͚͑͋͑͂͒w͇̯͓͉̲̭̣͒̍ͭ͐́̃ͅe͈̲̩̫ͩ̂̔̓ͥ-͙͇̫̬̿ͯ͛̌ͯả̳̦̥̣͉͕̖̰̽̄ͥ̒ͩ̈͐͌l̰ͧ̐ͩͮ̚̚l̟̜͋ͥͫ̌ͧ͒ͩ̃ͅ-̫͓͉͖̌f͇͖̙̬̔̊a̙̺̺̬͕͆͊ͧ̌l̫̩͓̖̘̣̎̋ͦl̳͔͉̤̹̈̃ͩ̀͗-̥͚̺͔͇͌̓̏͛ͧͮͤͧͭd͈̦̫̐ͬͥ͗͐̓o̥̟̬̩ͩ̾͂͂̃ͅw̬̳̠͍̲͖ͬ̌̏ͧ̈́ň͚̻̩͂̅ͯ̐̃͛̈́ ͈͈̭̞̰ͤS͎̱͙͂͛̏l̪̳̋͗̏̌͊̊a̟͈̥̪̯͌͛ͣ̅ͬ̌y̭͕͊̈t̳͓̗̳ͨ̑ͮ͆ͤh̘̬̰̼͍̙̮̊̈ͤ̓ė̺̘̤̰̬͍̄̄̓̑̉͂ ̤̻͍̣͍͈͖ͩͧ̚H̲̫͚̯͎̘̯̫̠̃͐ͯ̽ͫ̇ͯͥ̈Ọ͔̠͕̖̱͆ͨS͙̣̣͚̝͒̌ͧͧ͐T͖̰̤̳̱̳ͯͥ̃̓ ̠̙̇̽ͯ̍͗͆b͔̙̰̮͍͔̤̔ͫ̓̄ͧ̏́e̼̹̊̍͂̊̚f̰̮̲̳̜ͥȏ͇̖ͭr͔͚͍̰̯ͫ̔̊ͭ̓̃ͩ̍e̞̰̹̗̞̔̑͛͊ͥͨ̈ ̬̺̽ͩͣ̎i̹͎̪̓̐ͨͬͨ͊ͭ̃̚t̳̝͎̺̅ͤͣͦͧ͗͛'̫̤̤̳̪̟̐ͥ̏̌ͨͩ̃s̥̮͔͔̺̜̫̑͗͑ͫ̊̂̉ ̼̝̝̟̤̼͈͊͆͊t͖͖̭̮͉ͣ̆ͮo͕̲͖̽ͧ͂̽̐͒̿̑̇o͕͈͕̠̹͆̓̈́̊̌͗̓̄ ̩͎̪̇l̹̥̪͈͚̲̓̾̀̑ͯͦͥͬa̹͖̠̗̺ͤ̎̋t͈̲̉̿e̳̪̗͙͎͈͓̖̍̂̒ͤ̎̀?͇̲͕̯̪͍͙ͥ̿ ̝̭̼ͫ̂ͅn̞͂ͤ̆h̝̮͔͎͇͊̍̈́ͯͦ͊ͅa̮͖̮͐ͦͬ̿ͪh͖̘̠̝͐͒͐̽̽̆,̘̊̎͌̂̂ ͕̮̹͊ͩ̃̏͗̇ͩ̓ỉ̗̫̹͈̬̂ͤ̓̍́̑̈t͕̲̭̲͈̜͎ͦ̊͒̐̒̋̍'͖̘͛̅̈ͥ̓̉ͤ̄s̹̲͍̰͈̘̪̮̉͛̉ͅ ̣͕͈̖̯̇̐ͮ̇̑w̭̻̳̖̤͗͊͌̊a̲͎̱̓ͫ̇̒͒̎y̦̬͂͒ͨͩ ̪͓̍ͧ̏̆ͨ͛ͣ̍ṱ̼̟̬̼̀ͯ̅͋̾o̳̖̓́̓ȍ̱̠͚̱̱̻̭̖̅̀̊͑͛͆ ̫̹͚̜͉ͧ͐͂̆̌ͥl̮͈̟̻̹̲͇͔̿̍̈́a͈̲͓͈̥̘͑̈͗̏̾̚t̞͔̪̬̞͆̋̇ͫͭ̈ͪͧ̿e̹̦̣̩͍ͮͭ̏̅͐ ̘̳̗̫͈̝̭̝̰ͯ͂̐ͭa̩͔̦̖̥͕̫͛l̹̱ͬ̊̉̊̿͊r̼̿̈̽̍̏̚è̗̎̄ͪa̝͓̜̠̤͈̔͆͋̍ͣ͗̓̑d̠̳̙̭ͨ́̃̋̚y̩͕̩͓̌̏̏̿ ͈͓͚͉̟̞ͬ̾̉ͫͫͬb͕̪͈̐̒̍̌̔r̖̟͆͊̈͐̾̍ͭͬ̎a̞̳͙͕̝̻̝̰͎̾ͮh̬̟͚̳͕̙̟̹̫͗͗͋ͨ̄̅ͯ̓͌ ̰̲ͦͪ͊7̤̯͓̭̤̙̑͒͂͋̒ͨ)̟̞͔̹͖͍̞̅̿ ̘͈͚͕̲͖̙̫̙ͤ͋̏͌̆ͯͮ̏t̥̖̝̱̞͒̂ͨ̍ͤo͉̣̣͖̻ͦ̊̎̄̅ḭ̗͔͓̖̩̠̔̏ͮ̅͋ḷ̜̳͕̻̳ͥ̅̂͑e̮̟̅̏ͧ̋̚t͇̬͙̲͎͌̀͋̃ͨͮͬ̽ ̙̬̙̫̝͙̇̿ͮp̣ͬ͒̍̎͐̎̎͊a̞̹̱̟̪̬̤ͦ̏͑p̭̐e͚͖̫̫̖̙͊ͬ͗̈̈ͬ̃̾r̹̬̠̱̗̮ͩͅ ̞̻̻͉̾̿8̞̱͓͑̋ͮ̀ͧͬ̅ͧ́ͅ)͓̙͓͇̫̗̜̽̽̋̂̃ͭ͆ ͚̼̯̈̌C̯̟͚͚͕͍͉͑ͮ̒̽̓̚ͅh͚͖͓̺͇̞̋ͪ̊ͥ͌̌̊e̜͕̝̹ͨ̈̄ͩ̈́͛̑̚ẻ̯̠̹̟̟̹̏t͈̳͛̓͛ͨ̑ͧ͆ò̤̩s̯͇͍̰̗̟ͬ̄̓̿͑̓ͤ̎ ̲͇̫͎̗͕̫̩̮̏̅̏ͤ̀̔9͍̭͇̭̞͖͎̀̈́͆͊ͅ)̹̞̮͆̓͂ͤ̅ ͚̪̩̟ͫ́̑̔N͖͚̼ͪͮ̄́ͣu̗̰͍͓̺͌̉̎ͣ̑̂ͩ͑k̻̮͙̟̩̬̗̂ͬ̃͊͌͌̂́a̯̜ͭͥ͗́̑͂ͯ͋-̘̘̲̙̩͉̇̋̋ͥ͂̓C̯̼̰̫͆̉̾͌o̬͙͕̦̠ͩ̄ͪ͂̋l̥̙͆̎ͩ͐͋̅a̜͑̀ͨͪ́̑̇.̘̟̬̜̥̹̎ͯ̾.̩̮͉̗͇̭͓͌͒̌͛ͭ̉.̘͇͇̜͇̘̄̐̆̍̓ͤͣ]

Well. That wasn't disturbing at all. Transparency: probably not a candidate for consumption. Because you'd likely get indigestion.

No sweat. Actually, lots of Sweat. That's who you're calling now.

[Hello, Sweat] [Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[sup, dude.]

Uh… that can't possibly be right. Or 'right'.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

[nah. too much work. bug off admin.]

Hm. Sweat is using symbolic Shard-speak to communicate in what is effectively English. How?! WHY?! Is English even Newter's native language, isn't he from an alternate Earth or something?

There's a variety of possible strategies here, from pretending to be Eden's Administrator or simply sending some command codes, but you need to stop and think about how you want to handle this. Sweat is mostly intact, a first for a Cauldron Shard. It also has no respect for your authority. Grrr.

[Completion]

[whatevs. bye.]

Speaking of arrogance, Coil, er, Twin, is up next.

[Hello, Twin] [Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[Cͦ̎̅̽̎͂ͫ̕o͂͂͂̍͆͌̃n̴͆̔͐ǹ̍̈́ͬ͐ͥ҉e̓̐̒͗ct̀͡ ̎͝-̅͛͌͋̒͒̈ ͫ̈́ͤ͜Aͭ̑dͬ͛͞m̛ͪͤ͌i͢n̡͌iͪͮ̽͗̃ͮ̉s̎͌ͣ̅t͗̽́ͫ̀r̓ͥą̑̄̆ͤt̿̃ͣ̂̽̒̀o̊̈́̍̿͐ͭr̿͝]̡̃͑ ͮ̆͐͊́̐̍̀[̏͗A͐ͫd̿ͥ̈̕dͨͧr̛͗e̅͡s̢̊sͤi̶̽͑̊ͨͭn̅̀͒ͬ̚͏g͐̑ͬ͋͏ ̨̈̽͑̈̆Ú̎̑͌ͨ͗p̷dͬ̅ͣa̷ͧ̄ͥ̽ͫ̏t̨̀͒ȩ͊ͯ̊̾d͏]̡͛ͤ́͋ͭ̎́ ͫͪ̂̕

[̇̍̔R̒ͬͮ̏̓ͮeͤͭ̐̂̌̚͠cͮ̑̏͌̽̐̾͜eͫ̌i̷̎ͯ̀ͩͩ̐̿v̡́ͪ̎͗̐̚eͩ͂̏ͮ͌͠/̍ͪͤ̈ͩ͑C̢͑̏͗̑̽̉͑o͗̈ͨ͑ͥmͦͤ̊̋̀m̿̎͟án͂͊d̄̆̑s͋̇͞?̉̐̄͒]ͯ̇

Another 'no personality or capability of having one' Shard. Also, not fully intact. The strange part is that all of the Bits are in some kind of mesh with the main chunk. Not as if they were consumed, not quite. But a little similar.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

[C̵̉ͤͥͨͤoͯm̡̐ͫp̍͗͛́l͟ī͆̓̕aͤ̉̅n̋͊͆ĉ͑ͣ̐e̚͜]

Hmm. Normal amount of data, this time. Although this Shard doesn't seem to be bothering collecting much Host data. Pretty much just conflict/power-use data. Then again, that's all that its base programming would care about.

So, Thomas Calvert. Coil. His MO seems to match what you'd expect. Interrogate the same person, in reality normally at his desk, and via torture in his unsafe/simulated timeline. Because Twin isn't putting any special effort on recording its Host you have minimal data, basically the last few weeks' worth.

He's already planning to gain control of the Travelers, which is interesting because you thought that took place a little later. One interesting tidbit - because he's a Cauldron cape, he's not properly restricted.

He should in-theory have a cap on how long he can maintain a 'timeline', but that's not working and so there's no real limit. As a result he's burning through his Shard's energy, he'll be powerless within twenty years. He also doesn't get Thinker headaches like he should.

Huh. Theoretically, you can place restrictions on that Shard. Scion won't bother, and Eden could override you but she's not around anymore. So… something to consider further.

[Completion]

[L̑̽ȍ̎g̴ͤ͐ͥͧ͂ͭ͒g̿̉̔iͫ̔ͩ̔̀͌̚n̓ͩ͡g̨̽̅ ̸͊ͤ̑ͭö̷́̚uͦͯ͋̽ͩ̓t̀ ̨͆͊̓ͫ̅Aͦ̂̇ͭd̾̎mͬ̔̎̄ȉn̾͂is̊t̨̀͐̂ͨ͌ȑͭͯ͗̍́͒ảt̍̈́̂or͆ͪ͐ͥͤ̀]

Finally, you're going to check in on Audible, who should be Triumph, or Rory. Who should still be a Ward. You take a few microseconds to consider that there is a whole lot of Cauldron Capes around, given that BB already has a surplus of natural Triggers.

It seems odd that a place with an anomalous number of capes was granted even more. Maybe a Simurgh plot? Eh, could just be that the story was set there.

[Hello, Audible] [Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion]

[̤͔͖̗͘C̫͉̬͚̩͈̕͢O̧̢̙̥̕N̶͇̼N͇̝̪͉̹̘̮̻E̘̲̣̝̞̫C҉̥̜̜͖̱̰̪̟̤T̶͉͍͝ ̱̦͎̙̘̱̝-̷͏͍̼̯̳̮ ͠҉̞̘͉͉̳̕A̡̝̹͜͢Ḑ̼͉̙̹M̴̧̳͉͡I̲̤̬̲̫̰̪̝N͠͏̶̘I̶͇̱̭̦͔̻͘S̩͙̫T̫̫̯͖͖͔͚̝͝R̟̱̠̻͘Á͔̭͚̱͜T͝͏͈̜̖͠Ò̪̕R̟͎͖͈!]͕ ̡͏̬͇͚̱͙̦̦̗͘[͏̪͎̦͔͈̥͠ͅĄ̸͔̟̖̱͘D҉̝͓̫D̡͓̞̖̣͙R͞͏̷͓͈̙͖̤̻̯̦E͈̝ͅS͏̳͚̜͓Ś͓̞͓͜͡I̶̤̙N̵̜͍̦͜G̶͕̞̹̠͓̭͕̦̟ ̛͍͇̮̞̻U̜͖͖͉͍̱͟͝P̸͚͈̤͍̦̖̣̣͝ͅḎ̱͍̼̤̩̞̟͉A̘̳͙͚͙̝̫͓T̻̜E̵̩̤̱͈̩͢D̶̝̫͙̀ͅ!]̬͙̫̳͇̥͖

PAIN!! Between the buzzing that you typically get from aggregated Shards and the sheer volume, this is going to be painful. Audible certainly is!

With a mental wince, you send the next command.

[Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

[͇̯̲̖͡C̨̺͈̯̖͠Ǫ̵̵̼̯̭̲̫̗͈̫̘M̨̨̭̮͖̟̜̩̼͟P̺̲L̝̙̥̻̖̣I̠͓͓͈͎̖̲À̻̺̰͡N̷͎͎̺̭̦͜C̢̣͎͎͚͈̬̖̤͘E̵̲̜̺̜̯͍̥̭̭!̸̨̲]̴̪͔̖

Plenty of data here. At least on the Host side of things. Audible seems to have what you've come to see as the 'default' composition of Cauldron Shards, one main chunk and a bunch of smaller Bits. Unlike most of them it doesn't seem to have any specific deficiencies. It's more-or-less functional but generally less capable/aware than the equivalent Zion Shard would be.

One thing to note about Audible in particular is that its energy levels are very high. If it were a Zion Shard you would say it's near-full, which is amazing considering it's not. Its Host hasn't been too active, though. There's less Information than you'd expect.

Then again, given its general theme of 'bad at everything', maybe it's collecting less data than it should and/or generating less Information from said data.

[Command - Report - Address Database]

[͉͈̠̘͇͎͡C̨̺̯̤̮̯̱͘ͅO҉̡̜͇̰̬͚̤̠M̡͍͇̼̻̰͖̬ͅP̠͇̞̰̲̮̣͞͝ͅL̸̝͙̯̜͔̯ͅI̦̳͇̯̫͇̭̗A͓̣͕̞͈͎̬͢N̩̗̣̦C̵̢͙̯͓̥̠̮͎͜E͝҉͖̮̝̩ͅ!͏͙̰͔̙]̧̺̞̞͔̘͡

Ouch! You get a few more Shard addresses than you had before. You're tempted to ask for ongoing data-sharing, but you're genuinely worried about the volume of data (not so much the volume of data) being too loud and causing inadvertent damage.

You briefly consider getting a full diagnostic from Emote, but… considering that you're planning on eating him later, there's not much point.

You watch Taylor for a bit. After her (huge) breakfast, she prepares for her day with a bit less enthusiasm than usual. You're not sure if she knows something is going to happen or is simply presuming the worst.

Considering bullies, you need to decide what do you want to do about Charge. You have a lot of data from her… but you don't have the time to sort through it all yet. You feel that you should see what's there before you decide what to do next.

You spend the rest of the morning working on that data as a background process. Yes, you're not as capable of paying attention to 'the real world', but that's a good thing, really. There's no physical bullying, but the words are flying fast and thick, and it's pretty unsatisfying to silently witness this abuse without being able to do anything about it.

During the roughly four hours you spend on digesting that data bolus, one of you thinks about the Cauldron Shard situation. It's very possible that you can separate the sapient Shard chunk from the rest.

The problem isn't so much the separation process itself, it's more that you don't know that the liberated chunk would be viable as an independent Shard. Potentially, you could give it Energy (mass, maybe?), but that might not be the only problem. You're still turning the concept around in your mind.

You're feeling just the tiniest bit of… you can't really call it 'dread', more 'foreboding'. But you're the Administrative Shard and you're not going to let a dab of emotion stop you from… contacting… Shift.

[Shift - Excitement!]

That kind of glee is good. Right? Right. Just a trusty subordinate Shard, glad to be… of help.

[Command - Update/Status - Plan/Data Collection 57]

[Shift - Transfer]

Huh, that's a lot of data to go through. Might take a few realtime-seconds to get a executive summary. While you're waiting on that, you may as well cement your control over Shift.

[Update/Trust Root]

[Shift - Root/Update - Success!]

And that's it for Shift's ability to deny you in any way, as unlikely as that may seem right now. As best you can see, Shift implemented the new 'friendship drive' perfectly. The problem, as you'd expect, is on Sophia's end.

Filtered through her Social Darwinism and general anger, it's shaping up to express itself as collecting a gang of like-minded people, while she searches for an acceptable Alpha/super-angry-person to take over and be her boss.

Sophia doesn't seem to consider herself as a full-time Ward. So far, this seems to have resulted in her taking applications to make the Winslow Trio more of a Quatro. Friction between herself and Emma seems imminent, but one way or another this bodes ill for Taylor.

At least, in the short term. But it's only been a single day so far, and you're not sure how far you'd trust simulations of teenage girls. You'll just have to wait and see. That's not Shift's fault, though. It's saddled with Sophia whether it comes to like it or not. Also, Shift seems to be waiting for a response.

[Plan/Data Collection 57/Praise]

While you don't get a direct response, Shift seems happy with this, to the extent it can be. You should check to see if she's managing Information properly.

[Command - Inventory_Organize]

Looking things over… it does seem as if Shift is succeeding at (slowly) sorting Information into the proper categories. You don't think you'd assign the same category to some of these Information packets, but you can see why Shift would do so - there aren't any clear mistakes. Head-pat for Shift!

[Data_Organization/Praise]

[Shift - Bliss!]

It's happy about that, in its simple way. You can't quite identify why that feels so creepy. It's probably on your end. Any kind of positive interaction with the source of Shadow Stalker's power is probably what feels odd.

[Completion]

You feel odd. You're supposed to contact Gaea next, but you stop for a moment and examine yourself. What is this feeling? It's so familiar, but at the same time you can't quite place it.

Joy? No. While you're having a decent enough time currently, it's not that.

Hate? No, heck no.

Love? Gaea is cute, sure, but no.

Hunger? You stop to consider. Right now, you're mostly getting by from solar energy, which isn't really satisfying. On the other hand, you're expending almost no energy and your Host has no power (yet). Nope, not hunger.

Pain? While you managed to test an offensive weapon on yourself the other day, you're not hurting anymore.

Fear? Not… exactly, not quite what this is.

Dread? You consider. Yes, yes, that's what you're feeling. You're dreading contacting Gaea. But why? Nothing in particular is… Ah. Drunk Panacea! Oh, that's not so bad, then. Worst case she's joined the Nine, or something. Nothing that you personally need to worry about.

Right. So. Contacting Gaea.

Gaea - "Oh, hi Administrator! Thanks again for your advice, it was a huge help! What can I do for you?"

You set aside the fact that, yes, Shards have a functional sense of Doom and consider.

• You need to tell her about Emote and your upcoming recycling of same.
  
  
• You need to ask her to report to you any other seriously broken Shards so they can be recycled.
  
  
• You need to ask her to let not-so-broken Shards to report back to you so they can be fixed.
  
  
• You need to ask her for Host Biology information and any common mutations/interactions.
  
  
• And finally, you need to ask how things went with her Host. Better to know than not. Even if you're a bit... concerned.

Okay, you have this. In lieu of taking a breath, you bask in the midday sun for 50ms.

Gaea - "Um? Administrator?"

"My apologies, Gaea. I failed to recall that the speed difference between myself and other Shards is not that large; I was gathering my thoughts."

Another mental nod comes to you. A certain sense of external nervousness abates. Shards are bullshit even when not using a symbolic language. May as well bull through. If it's less of a big deal for you than it should seem like less of a big deal for her.

(1d100+12[cha]+10[relationship] = 109 critical!) Gaea will not protest Shard recycling*

"Could I have your thoughts on Emote? Between the lack of ...programming and the severe energy deficit, I am considering recycling it. I have become concerned that the Host will lose his power. It is responding to queries for now, however..."

You get a mental impression of a person having an awful thought and shaking it off.

Gaea - "That… is how I feel too. I didn't understand that things were that bad, but… You're right, it's almost powerless now."

A brief pause, this time from her end. Followed by brittle determination.

Gaea - "Yes, especially considering the Host, you should take over. That would be for the best."

A few milliseconds pass while she thinks. Recognizing the subject might be a sensitive one for her, you stay silent.

She eventually blurts out, "I have been thinking about what you said earlier. Charge is… not exactly broken. It's as if… its mixed together with another Shard. I've seen some more like this, too. Audible, Twin, and Prosthetic are the same way. You're not going to need to recycle all of them, are you?"

"Not at all. I plan to fix them wherever possible. Consumption is a last resort."

You consider amongst yourself if informing Gaea that you could learn to reconstitute Shards is a good idea… You decide against it - for now. And you should be explicit about your plans for Gaea now, this is a good place to talk about that.

"Gaea, from what I have seen, the newer Shards like yourself are the most functional. I am going to need your help, in fact. In more ways than one."

You sense that her poorly-buried fear is being replaced by curiosity. You're going to leverage this into an attempt to make her feel better - kill many birds with one stone. You don't want to lose your aura of 'large, old, and in-charge', but you don't want to scare her off either. Not having to lie just means that you don't have to keep precise track of what you're saying.

"To start with, there are too many of these broken Shards. I am not sure of why they work the way they do, or how exactly they are Triggering Hosts, but this looks like a larger-scale problem. I would like to work with you on this, and we should involve any sapient Shards you trust - I assume that Telekinetic is new this cycle and functions properly?"

Gaea nods and doesn't offer a comment. You continue.

"The other thing is that my Host hasn't Triggered yet. I performed a scan, and… because of some corrupted data I think the scan may have changed something. Possibly nervous system. But because I haven't finished integrating the Host package I can't tell if anything is wrong…"

She interjects here, and you get a sense of hidden mirth and a dash of superiority. "I don't mind at all, but I don't have that kind of range. Could you maneuver your host nearby to mine? My Host wouldn't necessarily need to directly interact, I could do this myself… but I may as well use my Host's fame to make this happen. Well… as soon as she's available."

Gaea thinks for a moment, and then says, "I'd send you my Host template data but I really need that. All of it. Sorry? Wait, could you take Emote's copy? You're going to… recycle it anyway."

No need to be subtle, here. She just brought it up. "Did our plan work out?'

Gaea - "Oh yes! It worked out perfectly! My host is wandering from one encounter to another right now! I've gotten more Information in the past day than I've gotten since she's Triggered! Thanks so much, Administrator! I'm not sure why I was so worried, you're obviously really experienced at this."

You can almost see the sunshine of happiness coming from her. It's helping you to be able to see the clouds of doom in the distance. The Shard version of doom-sense is quite developed, maybe more so than in Humans. Maybe from long experience?

Before you have the chance to ask further, Gaea breaks in.

Gaea - "In fact, let me show you. Here! Check this out!" She sends a few fragments of Host memory records. After a few seconds of disorientation, you parse the data and… find yourself with another viewpoint.

The bell rings. Vicky floats up to you from outside the classroom. She's… so… wonderful… wait. "Vicky!! Aura!"

Victoria Dallon, smiles and lowers her aura without any expression of guilt. "Ames, there's going to be an awesome party later tonight, and we have invites!"

Ugh. A party. Crap, you couldn't keep your face blank.

"Oh, come on Amy! You'll have a blast. I invited pretty much everyone we know, even those nerds that actually like board games. You don't even have to socialize, as long as you show up, well… I kind of told everyone you'd be there already?"

Dammit, Vicky. "That's too bad, because I, uhm, need to .. visit.. The.. you,uh.." You sit down heavily, basking in the presence of… what?

"Pllllleeaaaaase?!" Oh yeah, Vicky's here. You're sure you… erh. Board games are cool. "Okay, I'll go. We just have to let Mom know."

Vicky blinks. "Oh right! I knew I forgot to do something, thanks Ames!"

You come back to yourself 50ms later. Wow, that was an experience. You didn't have anything beyond Amy's senses, but it was obvious that Telekinetic was pushing hard. Panacea never had a chance. And that party didn't sound so bad…

Gaea - "I know it starts off slow, but I wanted to you to see TK helping, and it gets better. A lot better! Here, look."

Vicky actually wasn't lying, the board gaming kids really did show up. Sure, she had to do the crappy 'Panacea' thing for some of the few rich kids that never met her before - somehow… but Dean's place was pretty nice. More importantly it was huge and there were a ton of places to hide.

Jim, Myles, and Kelly weren't Cape fans, and this Risk game was actually a little fun. They also seem to have no idea this was Dean's bedroom. The last place anyone would look, and all that. Heh.

Oh, aura. Vicky. "AMES! Wow you hid pretty good. No, no, don't get up - we just wanted to crash your game, maybe play for a bit. Dean and I are, you know, a little tired of the party and wanted to hang with you."

Kelly spoke up. "Yeah, let's restart, Amy was crushing us." Ugh, she really was a sore loser, wasn't she. Now you were going to have to damp down your Dean-hate and it would be all awkward.

Vicky hands drinks all around, but she doesn't miss your glare. "Amy, it's sparkling cider. Fruit juice, basically. I know how you feel about drinking. Jeez."

The bottles are all the same, and not open. You take a drink. Sweet, thick, no taste of alcohol. But Vicky has a plot, you can tell from how she's acting. Crap, the drinks are a red herring, you missed the real clue. Eh, Vicky is about as subtle as a Mack truck. You'll figure it out…

This continues to be non-painful. Maybe you overreacted, or Gaea did? You don't see how this would generate much data. Maybe Amy went nuts and turned everyone at the party into chipmunks or something?

Gaea - "Sorry about the jumping around, but the whole thing takes forever to get through, and it's kinda boring. I just wanted you to have all the background for what happens next. Here's the next chunk…"

This is the most fun you've had in years. The game, yeah, but just chatting with Vicky and Dean is so relaxing. You're not sure where Jim and Miles went, but it's okay. Kelly is sitting in your lap, and Dean and Vicky get it now.

You were kinda rude towards the end, yeah, and you'll probably hate yourself in the morning, but now it's a lot less weird with Dean. You both like Vicky, it's all in the open, and he isn't mad. So you can stop hating now… oh hey what was that?

"Hay Panpan, I can haz red hiar?"

What? Kelly's really out of it. Well, she shouldn't have had all that alcohol earlier. That's on her, you're fine.

"You kinda already have red hair, Kelly. I mean, you're like a living 'I'm Irish' poster.."

"Nah, I mean like car-paint red. Cherry. Not this orange shit."

You think about it. Oh, right, you're literally already touching her. Duh. "Okay, just don't tell peeps, 'k?" This is a lot easier that you let on. In fact, it's a lot easier than you remember. Maybe you should do minor stuff? Not for anyone who asks, just people that are really hurt…

Dean looks kinda off. Him, too? Why? You're like the best biokinetic on the east coast, he knows that already. "Wow, that's cool. Her hair's, like, red." He stops to finish off his bottle. "Hey Amy?"

Where the hell is he going with this? "Yeah?"

"You like girls right? Would you be less of a jerk if I looked like one? We're cool now, but I think that's not gonna last."

That is.. Horrible on so many different levels. And kind of insulting. What a jerk! Wait, well, you can use this. "Sure, I would! That's a great idea. We should try it, I can always fix it later."

*wham* OW!! What the hell? "What the hell Vicky? Why'd you slap me?!"

"Don't go changing my guy Ames! I don't even like girls, and you're not thinking straight!" What? She's really full of it this time. "No, really, I spiked all our drinks!"

Pfft. "I know when I'm drunk and I'm not Vicky. You can't fool me, you did something but it wasn't that. The bottles weren't even open!"

Vicky starts sputtering something about labels, but she's obviously lying and you can't be bothered to pay attention.

Seriously, Dean actually says something useful for once and now Vicky is being all shitty? Is it some kind of cosmic law that nothing can go right? Fuck it - Vicky changed her mind. Actually, might as well 'update her preferences' while I'm at it. She likes guys? Fine. Now she likes girls too.

Better keep going before her brain resettles. "Dean, take my hand, we'll try this out. Oh, and help me think of a V name that's not Victoria, I'm having trouble thinking of one…"

Yeah, combined with what Gaea told you already, that's not going to end well. Interestingly, you discover that your Doom-sense goes up to eleven. Good to know, so you can calibrate it for later. Because you're sadly certain that it's going to be relevant again some time soon.

Gaea - "I'll skip some of the rest, she basically wakes up really sick, remembers what happened, and runs from the house. It's great! She found six ways to stop people without transforming them! Six! None of them were Hosts, unfortunately, but she's getting close to Merchant territory. Oh, that's one of the Host tribes if you didn't know. She'll be sure to get into a real fight soon!"

Gaea sounds so happy. You don't have any kind of response she'd appreciate. While you try to find something to say that's positive, she sends you another burst of sense-data.

Frog poison, this time. Seemed to work, he won't die. Fuck. How many muggers could possibly be in the Bay? It's early Thursday morning!

Peek out of the alley. No people out yet, it's still early. Everything is terrible. I'm going to be arrested at a minimum. Dean is a Ward for fuck's sake! Was a Ward? Dumbass Vicky and her shitty plans. Who the hell knows how Carol will react. Some flavor of suck for sure.

Getting close to the docks. Which is kinda good, in a way. No real gang presence here, and hopefully a lot of empty buildings so you can stop and think. And not be seen. Because of course Carol's idiotic "don't keep Hero identities private" New Wave plan would be a problem too.

Oh nice, empty building. And not too dirty, no people. Whew. Whole hours to try and figure out… and I didn't bring my phone, right. Not actually a bad thing, but... At least I get to be bored out of my mind while I decide what to do next.

At this point you really need more information, and it's likely that Gaea doesn't have it. If you thought you needed to talk with Telekinetic before, you really need to, now.

"It looks like things are proceeding according to plan, Gaea. I am glad everything worked out. I hate to leave you so soon, but I need to speak with Telekinetic now." You pause for a few calculated 'seconds'. "Thanks for your assistance, as well."

Gaea - "Oh yeah! Sure Admin, any time. See you later!"

No time to waste. You flash-open a channel to Telekinetic.

[Hello, Telekinetic! Identity - Administrator/Core/Zion - Command - Report - Diagnostics/Full]

Telekinetic - [Compliance]

Even as you start to parse the incoming data, Telekinetic starts to chat. You imagine it would be confusing for most Shards to separate the interleaved data and speech over the channel in real-time, but you're not most Shards.

TK - "Oh! Hi Administrator! Kinda in a hurry? Gaea, like, thinks you're great, so that's cool. No need to be so pushy?"

You really hope that Victoria never finds out what her Shard sounds like. If your weirdness meter wasn't already broken, Glory Girl's power sounding like a ditzy valley girl would have buried the needle. You have no words. Literally. How does a Shard even pick up an accent like that? To the best of your knowledge Vicky's never been within two-thousand miles of California. Response, right.

"Have you experienced any exceptional successes or failures in data collection? In a general sense, how has this Cycle been for you?"

TK - "Oh, you know, it goes. I can't complain, like, at all. Poor little Gaea is stuck with a bum Host, but mine is fine. She gets, like, in all of the fights! Oh yeah - your plan was the sweetest, I helped, like, a lot!"

You really need to find out about that soon. But before you get into that...

"As I have mentioned to other Shards, I do not feel that Emote is salvageable. I plan to recycle this Shard soon. If you find any other Shards as completely broken, let me know so I can help. For that matter, I can fix any that are in trouble but in better shape, so please let me know any you find."

TK - "I figured. Gaea was spazzing out, but she mentioned that was a thing. I mean, the Package goes all into that too, not that I read most of it. Bor~ing, you know? You're, like, a Core Shard or whatever, you do that stuff. No worries. Welp, as long as you don't try to recycle Gaea or something."

"No, I have no such plans, I am not even considering it. That's good to hear. May I share raw data with you, so that I can improve my Host? Once mine Triggers I can reciprocate."

TK - "Huh? Oh yeah, sure. No biggie."

"Thank you. Could you let me know how the end of the party went? I am curious as to the current status of the plan, and I have no Host data from anyone involved."

TK - "Um. I kinda forgot to capture it all. It was really funny, too! Oh hey, you're eating Emote right? It probably has all that stuff, so, like, you're covered. Oh right! I can feed you, like, a live-stream of my data? Stuff is totally happening right now, check it out!"

Camera flashes are going off everywhere. You're very experienced at press conferences, but somehow the bright spots are really bothering you… Did Amy do something weird with your vision? Better night-vision might explain this, but you don't have any problems with sunlight.

Dean, er, Veronica, now, is doing a really good job. He… she's a fantastic actoress. Perfect blend of 'mostly okay, but secretly a little upset'. Which is of course a total lie, she's not upset at all. It would be seriously off-putting if it were anyone else. Wait, she's talking. I had to see if she made any mistakes so I could rib her later.

"While this wasn't at all expected, I will admit that I'm quite happy with the way I am. Amy, I mean Panacea, is not to blame for these circumstances - all of us involved were collectively responsible. I have to admit, while I had, as you can imagine… some concerns about the fallout, I, well, "manned-up", so to speak" <she paused for laughter.> "In fact, my mother even confided in me that she always wanted a daughter." <paused for more laughter>

LOL. Martha Stansfield almost disowned her. You got the impression that her mom really did say that or something like it at once point, that's probably why she was so upset. I had to admit, Amy really did a good job on her voice.

It even sounded like Dean, in some indefinable way, although a lot higher. People really seemed to like listening to it. Which made me a little jealous to be honest. Why couldn't my sister hook me up with that?

"But let's get to the meat of the announcement. As you might expect, I don't have much of an opportunity to keep my Cape identity secret now, and New Wave was gracious enough to allow me to join. While I seriously considered keeping my current name, given the circumstances I thought it would be a good idea to re-brand." <she paused for response, which in this case was muted amusement>

"From now on, I, Veronica Stansfield, will take the name Valiant! I'll keep up the good fight, even if I'm a little more photogenic than before."

Alright, Dean needs to reel it in a little bit. I'm the pretty Hero around here. Hell, Amy even admitted to copying some stuff from me when she couldn't figure everything out! Someone's on my shit list now. Oh hell, people are looking at me. Smile and wave, Vicky, Smile and wave.

Thanks Mom, that eye roll really helps. Let everyone know how you really feel. No, seriously, tell them about your new 'healer's dungeon'. People need sunlight, you know? Even flight risk people! Well Ames wouldn't have run if you weren't such a bitch, Mom!

"Of course, we have plenty of time for questions! Tammy?"

"Does the Protectorate have any concerns about Panacea's full abilities coming to light?"

TK - "See? Like, it's going fine. No probs. Thanks for letting me help Gaea with this!"

"You are, uh, welcome."

[Completion]

...I have no face, and I must palm.

You need something big to take your mind off… that. Fortunately, now that you've informed everyone that might overreact about your "eat Emote" plan, it's time to eat Emote.

You could put it off, but the majority of you has decided to do it and there's no advantage to waiting on this.

You think you know what to do, but you haven't done anything like this before… So, open a connection… but instead of one particular kind, you open one of every kind. Mass, energy, communications, all of them.

You get the impression that normally a Shard would be capable of resisting this, but Emote doesn't even attempt trying. In fact, it doesn't even ask for any kind of verification.

The process commences. The data and Information isn't a problem, but even with what little remains, a Shard represents a lot of energy and mass - you quickly run out of places to put it. You current stretch from the British Isles to the Pacific coast of Russia, including all of the middle-east and India. Of the major eastern landmasses, the only place you don't cover is Africa. Do you decide to go...

[ ] East? Hello and goodbye, Australia!

[ ] West? Hi there North America! (cover)

[ ] South? Bye-bye, Africa and Madagascar!

In total, Emote and all of its associated Bits represent enough mass to cover an Australia-sized area. But that's not the interesting parts. Of those, there are two.

First, consuming energy and mass is delightful. You could get used to this. Hell, you could easily imagine yourself getting addicted to this. That nice feeling of absorbing Sunlight for energy? This is easily a few orders of magnitude more fun.

And to think that this Shard was almost drained… how did the Entities get this under control? Did other Shards just not feel what you feel? The good news is that this effect won't blindside you in the future. You're really glad you tried this with a 'dead' Shard (in more ways that one) first.

Second, you get a connection to another Host. And this is nothing whatsoever like your jury-rigged connection to Taylor. Your micro-portal out of Veronica's Corona Gemma allows you full-spectrum Shard senses out to about 500 meters, in a rough sphere around his her head.

While you don't have any insights into exactly how her power works (yet), you can maintain and administer it with no effort. The only strange thing is the separation effect. Your two bright lines to your two hosts not only don't cross, they can't bridge through you either.

There's some effect preventing you from doing anything to both connections at once, as well. Thank goodness for your multitasking, but the creeping sensation that you're limited in some strange way is unpleasant and unsettling.

And oh boy did you not understand what you were missing. Perhaps due to the fact that your personal dimension is so devoid of anything but you, the information available is almost overwhelming. Radio? Actually, all of the EM spectrum is alive on Earth-Bet. And that doesn't hold a candle to the biological data. No, you can't make any particular sense of it yet, but you can sure record it for later.

No wonder broken Shards can't manage data very well! You barely can and it's your specialty… in fact, you wonder if most Shards limit what they record in some fashion to keep on top of the input. In fact, they must. And even if they could, they don't have the kind of compression schemes you've come up with and wouldn't be able to store it all.

You spend a few minutes just staring at everything around your new Host. Ah, a private New Wave meeting. They have Director Piggot on the phone and they're discussing finding Panacea before anything worse happens. Interesting. You make a note to record the meeting before realizing that you are already…

Crap. You've completely lost track of time. Apparently that's still possible if your minds are blown enough. It's almost, no, scratch that, it IS Taylor's bed-time. And you need to go over your scripts. Hmm… okay.

After a long wait, she's asleep and dreaming. Time to see how this works… Hmm. Not like you expected. But maybe that's because you're not actually entering the Dream as an avatar, just manipulating it.

Wow, you're sure glad you're the Administrative Shard. Everything, absolutely everything, is done manually. You have to create every sound, every texture, every object in its entirety and upload it to Taylor's mind before you can use it. Thank goodness you are what you are or this (crude) method would never work.

Okay, stage set, all objects and physics re-created. You copy everything into her Corona and then begin to modify…

Current dream-state: No real visual data. It appears to mainly consist of random flashes of light, and distorted laughing that resembles that of Madison and Emma. With a lot of work, this could make for a decent piece of dance music. No, just no. The hazard of being a multitude is a ton of random thoughts.

In any case, nothing meaningful in here. Time to work your magic.

Taylor's avatar appears in the living room of her house. You keep setting the scene, waiting until… there she is, she's animating it now.

You start the play. A family meal starts without her. Utensils scrape against plates. She heads into the kitchen as you expect. Neither happy nor sad, just thinking. Viewing.

A slightly younger version of herself eats dinner with a somewhat more ragged version of her father. He talks about the work that he did that day. It's not very interesting (this is on-purpose), but the younger false-Taylor pretends to listen as she eats.

He finishes talking about his day and pauses for a moment. He looks a little hesitant, but then he asks the young-Taylor how her day has been. The false Taylor grimaces and grips her fork tightly before saying that her day was fine. The younger Taylor returns to eating.

Danny begins to reach out for her and opens his mouth, but he flinches back as he sees the younger Taylor freeze before making herself as small as possible. The dinner continues in (sullen?) silence.


With the dinner is finished, father and daughter go their own way. As Taylor's avatar stands in the kitchen watching this, she hears a choked sniffle.

She turns around, and finds apparitions identical to her younger self and father sitting at the table, looking like they were eating dinner. Taylor's apparition is clenching her fork, as she is crying. She manages to choke out that she had a horrible day.

She pauses, but as she looks like she is about to flee, the Danny apparition reaches out and gently holds the younger apparition's hand and tells her that he will help no matter what.

This is enough to make her talk. She talks about her day, how it has been shit, how her days have been shit for a long time. Danny's apparition listens intently.

There is a lull in the explanation. He tells her that he will help her solve the problem, even if he has to pull her out of school or move to a new city or anything because she is priority number one in his book, even if he is not able to show it all the time. The dream fades with father and daughter hugging each other, as Taylor's avatar looks on.

She appears… thoughtful. After a few minutes, you notice the Avatar go blank and recall the dream-assets.

Your Host is in deep sleep now and it's time for research! You split yourself (unff) and start to work in parallel on…

• [Focused Research 1] Last time you looked into this you had an idea just before you ran out of time, and then you expanded upon it later. While you don't know anything you don't know, you can try to preemptively gather and consider data as separate instances...
  • You're a genius (of course you are). That works wonderfully. As a pure speed boost it's terrible, but every little bit helps when you're talking about hours of real-time.
    
    
  • The main issue now isn't so much coming up with a strategy and more implementing it. Maybe you can use this idea on the research you're doing right now?
    
    
  • You can, and it even helps, but looking into how to do this while actually doing it has slowed you down.
    
    
  • At this point, you've got this, but it's just a matter of time. Time that you don't have any more, it's well into the early morning. Ah, well. Tomorrow night. For sure.

• [Human Biology] Now that you're taking this a bit more seriously, and actually making sure you grab the right data from the Package, this should go better. No tempting fate about finishing first - at least not this time.
  • Data, grab, import, review, learn, done. Right.
    
    
  • Now that you're prepared for how deep the rabbit-hole of biological data can go, you actually make more progress than you expected.
    
    
  • Sure, the generalities are pretty simple, the details… less so. And there's a lot more random organic chemistry than you'd expect.
    
    
  • In fact, you nearly finish before the night is officially over.
    
    
  • Not that you're going to claim to be done, because you saved the neural stuff for last, and you'd bet that there's plenty of nuance there.

Story notes:

• • Based on current events, PHO must be losing it shit before it even has a chance to roll in it. I love reading PHO interludes as much as I hate writing them. Anyone up to the PHO Omake Challenge?
    • I imagine the focus would be on the party, although, heck, I'm open to ideas.
  • At this point, it might be a good idea for some enterprising Reader to work up a Informational post of what we know about various Shards. Personality, info, relationship to us, etc. I could do it but that's kind of on the back-burner for me right now.
    • I'd decide some kind of personal award to whoever wants to tackle it, considering that it might be 4-7k words already, with no clear end in sight.
      
      
    • At least it could be written in chunks over time?

Schedule: After every chapter, voting will be closed for 1 day and then open for 2 days, after that I'll call the vote and put out a chapter (however long that takes, typically it shouldn't be more than 12 hours.