Unison 1.2
Taylor stood proudly in the darkened park, five unconscious skinheads scattered around her. She quickly removed their guns and other weapons, tossing them into a pile away from her fallen foes. She had a decision to make – did she call the cops and get these guys arrested, or did she just run for it?
She had legal justification in taking these guys down – even in her newly masked alter-ego, they had tried to shoot at her the instant they saw her. If she reported it to the police and wanted these guys to get arrested she'd have to stick around. She had no cuffs or rope or anything of that nature, and even if she could use a spell to bind them she got the feeling it wouldn't be all that practical if she weren't here (the voice chimed in to say that it wouldn't be).
"Query: My master, may we return to the issue of my designation? Statement: I am quite anxious to receive a name," the voice said, and Taylor thought for a little while. She'd probably want a name fairly soon too, if she didn't have one.
"Okay – I guess I do need to call you
something," she said, pausing for just a moment before throwing out her first idea. "How about 'Freedom'?" she asked the voice.
"Statement: I am not an armed device, to be given such a simple name, my master," the voice replied. It sound insulted.
"Ah, I'm sorry! Since Liberator was named that and all, I thought I'd keep with the theme, you know?"
"Statement: I understand, my master,"
"What about 'Lincoln'? Keeps to theme but it's a bit more dignified,"
"Statement: Accessing local telecommunications network, searching for word 'Lincoln'. My master, I am a female device!" the voice replied.
"Geist? No, that sounds to evil – what about 'Excalibur'?" asked Taylor
"Definition: A legendary sword wielded by a fair and just King. Reaction: Whilst I cannot endorse monarchy as a system of government, I appreciate the comparison. Consent: Very well, my master, adopting designation: Excalibur for this unit," Excalibur said, sounding very pleased with herself.
"Cool – wait, you said you looked up who Lincoln was, does that mean you can access the internet?" Taylor asked, excited. Finally, she would no longer be shackled to limited time on shitty computers she was used too. No, now she had an alien supercomputer/AI to surf the internet on!
"Prideful Statement: Such a limited network requires little effort to connect to and manipulate. Recommendation: An Image-Partition created via Liberator would allow my master to 'browse the internet' and maintain situational awareness at the same time. Shall I instruct you on how to open one, after opening contact with law enforcement?"
"That sounds good, Excalibur. Put me through to the nearest police station, please," Taylor asked, thinking that good manners were probably worth it with the alien AI sharing her brain. She quickly explained that she was a new cape who had been attacked by a group of armed men, had subdued them, and that if the police could come arrest her attackers that would be much appreciated. "Say, Excalibur, the armour's cool and all – but is that my only option?" Taylor asked.
"Statement: No, my master. Query: Shall I show you previous designs, so that you may have a base to offer suggestions from? Excalibur offered, and so Taylor did that whilst also browsing PHO in what her unison device called an 'image-partition' – that is, like what had happened during the fight, a splitting of her awareness supplemented by the vast computing power of her armed device. Her unison device could also support such a thing, but preferred to leave the grunt work to others.
In that partition, she floated in a sea of darkness; yet was somehow able to see fine. She controlled the browser with her hands, a holographic yet real feeling keyboard appearing when she needed it. Neither of those things were reflected in the real world – this was a VR function intended for combat training, and so her movements there weren't reflected in the real world.
As she waited for the police to arrive, Taylor began to help Excalibur design a new appearance for her Knight's Armour. Whilst she was still wearing a suit of armour of a similar design, it was now covered in black robes, though they didn't cover enough that she could wear just the robes. They were open at the top half of her chest and the front of her legs, though they descended to her ankles otherwise. Instead of a helmet, she had a hood and a metal mask of an ethereally beautiful woman's face. The mask moved as Taylor's own face did, and the eyes glowed silver. On the edges of the robes, designs reminiscent of her spell triangles were stitched in silver thread.
Excalibur finished the redesign, and with a second or so to reboot the spell Taylor was now standing in her new armour. She'd cast the spell for herself via Liberator this time, too. She was resting the armed device on her shoulder when the police arrived. The gang members were bound via simple spells, conjuring ropes of light to restrain them. It was so simple a spell, in fact, that Excalibur hadn't know it but instead had just written it right there and then.
"Umm, ma'am, are you the parahuman who called about having some men who attacked them in custody?" asked the bravest of the police officers.
"Yep, that's me. Do I need to give a statement or something?" Taylor asked, her voice changed to something much more impressive by Excalibur.
"Well, we'd like a quick one, but these men are actually wanted for questioning over a racially motivated attack committed just a few hours ago; so we'll just need some contact details and you can be on your way, uh, ma'am,"
Taylor then made her way out of the park, getting far enough away from the police and into a dark alley.
"Excalibur, I'm a fair way from home – what sort of movement options do I have?" Taylor asked.
"My master, you can fly," Excalibur said, and very quickly Taylor had a basic proficiency in a flight spell. Without being merged with Excalibur, she couldn't have begun to attempt such a thing with only Liberator.
Four jets of silver light, about the length of her arm, came to life on her back. They seemed to point somewhat in the direction of her motion as she soared into the air for the first time, although in a muted manner.
The feeling of flying for real, outside of an image partition, for the first time was like nothing Taylor had ever experienced before. It was sheer, unrestricted freedom. Nothing could quite compare to the visceral feelings she got, simply flying for the fun of it before she landed somewhere near her house.
She dismissed her armour, transformed Liberator back into her default form – a small silver sword pendant attached to a steel necklace. Then she made her way back to her house, and since her dad wasn't due home for a while, she simply walked in the front door.
It was her first mirror that proved a problem. There, she caught sight of herself – and what she saw wasn't good.
Her eyes were solid black, her hair far darker, her skin paler, and her veins black. There was no way she'd be able to hide her identity if this is what she looked like all the time.
"Excalibur, is this… I mean, is it permanent?" Taylor asked.
"Explanation: No, my master. This is simply a result of our unison state. Simply command me to end it, and I will assume a small independent form and you shall return to normal." Excalibur said.
Taylor did so, resulting in them both being very confused when nothing happened. Neither could break the unison, and her dad was going to be home soon.
What does Taylor do?
[x] You face the music – stay home.
[x] Admit the bits about aliens and magic
[x] Carefully edit around it to make it seem like you were only a parahuman
[x] Call your dad at work and explain that you're going to stay the night at a friend's – that should by you some time.
[x] Teleport back to where you found Excalibur and try to work it out together.
[x] Go patrol some more whilst Excalibur works on the problem.
What do you do in image training in the meantime? Taylor knows the basics of a nonlethal shooting spell, her knight's armour, and a flight spell.
[x] Use of her armed device in melee combat
[x] Protection spells
[x] Flight
[x] Shooting Spells