Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie)

For those that know XC2 you may notice that I changed a few things concerning the lore of the Blades. It's mainly to fit better with gameplay mechanics because they're a little contradictory.
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Sunday, 04/10/2011 (Afternoon)

"Yoh! Boss! Nice to meet you!" Cressidus' boisterous greeting broke my musing.

"Hello, Cressidus. And welcome to the team."

Cressidus looked around, seemingly admiring the scenery. Waved in the direction of Princess before addressing me.

"So, training time?"

I was caught off guard by that remark.

"You don't have questions? Nothing?"

He shrugged, an impressive thing considering his build and size. "You're the Driver, I follow. No need for more."

That was refreshingly easy. So I agreed with training. Even with Perfect Teamwork, familiarizing ourselves with what we could do together wasn't a bad idea. Princess happily volunteered to be our training dummy.

As it turned out, what we could do was a lot. By himself, Cressidus could use his Rockrending Gauntlet to do some serious damage even before using any special technique. Weapons that he could summon and dismiss at will.

He possessed four special techniques that necessitate variable levels of charging time, with a variety of effects, including in-combat healing. He could do some limited earth manipulation. Surprisingly he was a skilled botanist. And he could speak the language of a species called Nopon. The utility was limited on Earth but if I learned the basics of it, it may be a solid way to communicate in public and keep what we said confidential.

But that was only by himself, the optimal way to use a Blade was to cooperate with a Driver, me. The way to do that was for Cressidus to give me his gauntlet, thankfully they changed size so I could wield them. Afterward, he would remain behind me, linked with a rope of ether, that would boost my performance by a fair margin. And it would allow me to use "Arts", weapon techniques with special effects. Interestingly while Cressidus is boosting me our foe wouldn't be able to attack him, focussing on me instead, it was a combination of intangibility and "ignore-me" field.

This way of fighting was interesting and powerful, with no other boost or benefit besides those constantly active, we could reach a pseudo-stalemate with Princess. As long as she didn't use her breath weapons. She couldn't touch me often and when she managed it I could heal the damage right away. For my part, I couldn't deal much damage, not for long, but I could push her back or keep her away with no real trouble.

And damn fighting a twenty meters long nine-head hydra with only two people was a heady feeling.

When we took a break from training, I described my current situation to Cressidus. How I was a hero, insisting on the secret identity aspect, and how the city and the world were riddled with bad guys. He was really eager to go punch bad guys in the face. While his enthusiasm was appreciated, I asked him to moderate it somewhat.

I also got to know him. As I suspect, my Blade was boisterous and enthusiastic. And a training maniac if there was ever one. He loved eating, particularly meat, and I promised to cook for him as soon as possible.

The last thing we experimented with was on a way to "store" him. Blades could enter a sort of resting state, during which they entered the body of their Driver as some sort of spirit. In that state, they're mostly sleeping, unaware of their surroundings, and unable to communicate. In practice, a Driver could have up to three Blades with an active link at the same time, one awake and two resting. This allows them to switch between them in the middle of combat; giving them much greater versatility.

In my case, with only one Blade, it was most useful to keep Cressidus around in cramped quarters or when nothing interesting was happening.

All in all, I was really happy with Cressidus. It was a boost to my combat power in a different way than most others. Useful from street level up to Endbringers, eventually. This makes Weapon summoning a little redundant but it allows me to focus more on small utility weapons.

With all those tests concluded it was time to eat. And after lunch, I had something to do, something important.

If Colin wants to make me his successor, fine, but in that case, he needs to know the truth about the Menagerie. And while I was at it I'll also talk to him about Grant Summoning. By now I was strong enough that even the PRT couldn't force me to comply if I didn't want to and I had enough partners that I could spare some for other people.

That's how half an hour later I found myself in front of the door of his main lab on the Rig. After knocking, I received an invitation to enter and I did so promptly. Inside I saw that Colin was working on a new blade for his halberd. Eva's Progressive Knife really inspired him, it seems, I could recognize part of the design.

I wait patiently for him to reach a good stopping point. It took a few minutes that I used to look around. I noted in a corner Rex's scales that I gave him, with a circular piece cut in the middle, he must have been experimenting. Finally, he put his tools away and turned expectantly toward me.

"I'm sorry to bother you but do you have some time to talk?"

He nodded silently.

"It's a delicate subject, I'm not…"

Armsmaster's dry tone interrupts me. "No, no, don't say anything, let me guess. You just randomly gained another game-changing partner or power and you need my help to know how to best use it." The look he gave was hard to read but exasperated was probably a good descriptor.

I paused and licked my suddenly dry lips. "Well, no but there's some of that too. Sorry?"

He sighed and gestured for me to sit down.

Gingerly I sat in front of him after grabbing a chair in the corner.

"So no, well not just about a power. Not yet. I want to talk about something else first. You're probably going to think that I'm crazy or delusional. I have no way to definitively prove my claims. The only things I ask is that you listen until the end without asking questions and that you keep an open mind."

My seriousness caught him off guard and he nodded in understanding. "Very well I trust you, I'll play along and listen attentively."

"Thank you."

I took a deep breath and started my story. I begin by recounting the night I gained access to the Celestial Menagerie, the night that changed my life. I describe in detail everything I could remember about my first encounter with Administrator Z. I insisted on the fact that I didn't fit any of the normal criteria for a trigger event.

As I talked I observed Colin's reactions, clearly he was skeptical, but I could see some doubts began to worm their way into his eyes.

Then I talked about the early days of my power, my first experimentation, and my first few powers. How at the beginning I only had very little information about my partners and powers. Only when I gained Veterinary and later Trainer, that I gained access to all relevant information toward my partners. And how I gained some peripheral informations concerning their original dimension.

He nodded and I continued.

Next, I spoke of the two incidents that transformed Shadow and Rex. I gave as much detail as I could about the computer-like voice that I heard. Why the Menagerie deems those operations to be necessary, escaped me but I didn't dwell on that point. There was so much that I didn't understand anyway.

I was gratified to see a concerned look from Colin when I mentioned the loss of Deathbringer. Yes, Harvest ended up being vastly more useful but the perspective of possibly losing such key partners as Olky, Aylamon, Rex, or Eva was unsettling.

I ended my story with my second, and presumably last, encounter with Administrator Z. When I mentioned Mundane Equalizing, Colin looked ready to interrupt me but refrained at the last moment.

With a tired sigh, I slumped down on my chair.

"So yes, I'm not a parahuman. Not in the same way as you are anyway. I am a Keeper of the Celestial Menagerie." I didn't mention Solar, now was not the time to confuse the issue.

Colin latch on to a point of my statement. "They are others?"

I shrugged in response. "Presumably. In other dimensions."

The tinker got up and began passing, walking the whole length of his lab repeatedly. He appears to be deep in thought and I didn't interrupt his reflection. After a minute or two, he stopped in front of me and spoke up.

"You're telling me that you are an… external hard drive for this interdimensional life preservation society? And that your powers are just a side effect of that main function?!"

"Basically."

He resumed his pacing but started ranting this time. "Do you even know what that implies?! The existence of the souls! The possible meddling of entities beyond comprehension in our lives! Just the energy necessary to create a fully functional biological entity from scratch, I can't even fathom it! Then again it neatly explains your peculiarity, why you broke so many rules concerning parahumans." He snapped his fingers. "And that's why your partners' technology is easily understood. It's not tinkertech at all."

When he managed to calm down he sat down heavily on his chair and gave a penetrating look.

"Why tell me?" A pause. "Why does it matter? What does it change?"

Before answering I asked a question of my own. "You believe me?"

He licked his lips before replying slowly. "I believe that you believe it. While you can't prove it. I can't disprove it either. And it would explain a number of things. Still, my question stands. Why now?"

I paused to gather my arguments. "For one thing, and it's selfish of me, I want to share that burden with someone. And I trust you."

Collin appeared touched by my admission but didn't comment.

"The second reason is also selfish. There's the fact that I stand out as a parahuman, there's no way around it. People will start to wonder, some already do, I'm sure. Having someone in my corner, someone able to vouch for me would be great."

He nodded in understanding.

"And lastly." I hesitated for an instant but it was too late to back out now so I pushed on. "Lastly, I must admit that I haven't been entirely honest in my daily reports. I have a few partners and powers that I omitted. Not many but I felt it might be prudent to keep them in reserve. They could have some major long-term consequences, a little like Miss J but much much stronger."

Seeing Colin smiling at that declaration caught me by surprise. "The possibility that you would hide some power from us was discussed early on among the higher-ups. It was decided that we would trust you unless you clearly displayed some worrying tendencies. The simple fact that you accept filing a daily report did a lot to assuage our fears. Hiding a few things, for good reasons? That's acceptable."

Hn, didn't expect that. But it made sense in insight. When I got there I was an unknown that claimed to randomly gain more power as time passed. Some caution was warranted.

"And that's the other reason you came today? You want to talk to me about one of those powers. A significant one?"

"Yes, and one that I think can't be explained as just a really good Trump power."

After taking a deep breath and checking the time on a monitor he motioned for me to continue. "Very well, go on."

"This power is called Grant Summoning. With it, I can permanently give one of my partners to someone else. By that, I mean the ability to summon it once per day with the same rules as mine."

Colin was openly gaping at that.

I continued before he could gather himself, I wasn't finished. "In addition to the partner, I can also give them a copy of one of my, minor, powers. This work only once per person and it lasts until the person dies, at which point the partner returns to me."

It took a bit for my tinker mentor to digest that second shock in as many minutes. When he spoke up next, it was with awe in his voice.

"You can manufacture Parahuman? Is that what you're saying?"

I winced before formulating a response. "Not really manufacture. I do have a limited amount of partners and I want to keep the majority of them anyway. But I would be willing to part with a handful of them to either create enhanced humans or give them to parahumans with synergetic power."

"It worked on parahuman too?!"

That caught me off guard. "Well of course. My power does not make any distinctions. I could even give it to an animal or a plant in theory. It wouldn't be very useful but it's possible."

Colin took a little more time to calm down. I got up and walked toward his tinker tech coffee machine. After I managed to puzzle out how it works, I prepared two cups. Once it was done, I gave him one and began sipping mine. It was a little strong for my taste but not too bad.

After taking a gulp of his own he motioned with his head for me to continue.

"The important thing is hiding that capability as much as possible. Even with my current strength, I would be hunted down by everyone if it was publicly known. I already have a few ideas on that front. For example, if I end up giving a partner to someone here in the bay, we could just pretend that it's still mine. After all, I'm regularly sending one on patrol with the others. That should be easy enough."

"Yes, that could work."

"Going further afield is trickier. Some of my partners could pass for Case 53, so long as we don't make it obvious that someone is summoning it. I think that Kane would be perfect for that. I would give him a loyal agent, probably with the Improved Distance power, they would just need to follow along on patrol. His supposed power would be resuscitating 24 hours after death."

"Clever, but that would only work once."

I nodded, that was indeed a problem. "I just got this yesterday." I summoned an illusion of my new Ivy Whip. "It's a sort of living grappling hook. I would also give the recipient a copy of my Speed Boost power. That could make someone into a minor Mover. It's sufficiently different from summoning a living creature to work."

He frowned in thought. "For plausible deniability yes it would work but that's a very weak power."

"It's not the best but in the right environment, it could prove useful. Another idea would be to give away a very minor animal, like my Bunny, and have the secondary power be the main focus. I'm sure that a lot of Thinkers or Tinkers would appreciate having Mental Partition even with just additional Mind to work with. In the same vein, the 10% boost from Strength of Many could be enough for some Striker or Brute."

We continued discussing the subject for nearly an hour. Colin seems to appreciate the focus on concrete options instead of dwelling on the implications of my first revelation.

I insisted on one thing, however. I want the freedom to refuse a candidate and the right to test their character beforehand. No matter the scenario used I want my former partners to be cared for, not just treated as tools.

He said that he would make discreet inquiries to see how we could go about it. I thanked him profusely and left him to his tinkering.

Just as I exited Armamster's lab I stumbled. Out of nowhere, the world opened to me. The web of connections that linked my partners and myself together solidified. Before that, I could tell their positions relative to mine to the millimeters. Before that, I could drain the life of magic out of them if I need it or give them my own. Before that, I could guess their intention at a glance. Now I could still do all that, but also so much more. I could communicate with them, and not just with words but also with feelings and concepts. My brain was now housing, in addition to my Minds, a hub that connected me mentally to all my partners. And not only it worked both ways, but it also worked between each other too.

At this point calling us a hive mind would barely be an exaggeration. There were still limits, though I suspect that at some point the Menagerie may remove those too. I couldn't see through their eyes, or hear through their ears. If they couldn't talk, they couldn't respond to my query in words.

This was a game-changer in a way that was different from my other powers. It wasn't just the ability to increase their speed or double their size. It was a perfectly secure and discreet means of communication.

Previously if someone managed to prevent me from speaking or found a way to deafen my partners I wouldn't have been able to give them orders anymore. Perfect Teamwork alleviates that problem to a degree but only for those that were close enough to see me. Now nothing could prevent us from communicating anymore.

Already multiple exchanges were taking place between my partners. Clank was asking Olky for advice on how to decorate his current project. Merle on patrol with Dauntless was giving a running commentary to Scalpa.

The feelings that my partners hold for me, their loyalty and their love, felt like a warm blanket all around me. Princess, in the Orb, felt a loyalty so profound that she would gladly die for me. Spy on my wrist was constantly monitoring communication to alert me at the slightest sign of something amiss. Miss J, still in the middle of her lessons, constantly emits deep contentment just because I provide her with the ability to exercise her passion.

It was humbling and, as cheesy as it was, I swore to myself that I would prove worthy of their trust.

Wordcount: 3090
Excess words: 298
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Wow, that was heavy but satisfying at the same time.

Activity vote:

[] I promised Vista to go on patrol with her and Aylamon
[] I want to talk with Assault and Battery about converted Villains
[] My partners need some serious training, let's make a day of it.
[] I need to train myself more. I'm sure that there's some power combo that I haven't explored yet.
[] I'm being asked to certify my healing partners and powers at the hospital
[] I have an appointment with Doctor Yamada.
[] I want to spend time with my colleague, maybe dinner, testing my cooking.
[] I've been summoned to Director's Piggot office.
[] Clank wants to talk about something.
[] Sergent Blair contact me to organize another training exercise with the Wards
[] I should check on that animal shelter that accepted the dogs from the dog fighting rings.
[] Now that Elytra is a Ward it's time to seriously test her power with my partners.
[] On patrol I need to keep an eye for a new vigilante that has been running around.
[] The Mayor is organizing a gala to celebrate the end of the Empire. I've been ordered to go.
[] The PR department organized a visit to an orphanage for me.
[] Compendium is supposed to visit a school and talk to the children
[] I've been summoned by the Youth Guards. I wonder what they want.

For the roll, 610 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Monday at 3 PM GMT