Those old, just-for-laughs CYOA builds really have a way to come bite back you in the ass. They didn't even match the setting! (I wanted to do something different and avoid the usual "immune to Precog" nonsense.)
A Light into the Future (SI)
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A Cold Start 1.1
- Location
- PA
A Cold Start 1.1
What had happened to a nice, peaceful and restful night's sleep? Sleep was how the brain rested and processed a day's information, chucking out the junk together with all sorts of waste chemicals and keeping what was important. Therefore, it was crucial that a person receive a full night's rest, whatever that meant for them. Some people only needed four hours, some needed ten, but need it they did.
It was a pity, then, that both reality and one's own brain were ever so eager to put a wrench in those works. Not that it made waking up any easier, all too often a struggle short of a bucket of water or more commonly tumbling out.
Then there was getting slam dunked into a ratty old couch.
"Fuck," The poor bastard groaned, committing the mistake of opening her mouth and catching a lungful of mildewy dust. Suffice to say, there wasn't much talking after that.
Then she managed to wedge her eyes open from the coughing fit and got treated to a stage pass into what was only barely not a crackhouse. Which wasn't exactly giving her endearing thoughts as she sat up and noticed that, yes, she was a she now.
And wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts.
Even with the worrying implications aside, it was also cold enough for her whole body to tremble.
"Shit…Did someone forget to pay the heating bill?" Her teeth chattered faintly. The second question that came to mind was "Why am I a woman?"
That was apparently the wrong thing to ask, as data hit her brain with all the bedside manner of a speeding brick.
"Uh oh… I didn't exactly spend enough in the Items section…" The newly christened Nia winced.
She had a habit of making Jumpchain character sheets at the drop of a hat, this time on a plotbunny for Megaman ZX. Instead of taking a canon character's place or fiddling with the custom Biometal Editor, she instead just grabbed Model X wholesale. A Biometal was based on the "robotic DNA" of a heroic Reploid. The term robotic DNA didn't make sense to her either, but it was cool and that's what Capcom was going for. They were given the term 'Model' and the first initial of the Reploid they represented. X in this case stood for Mega Man X. Dr. Light's final and greatest creation. He wasn't technically speaking a Reploid. Reploids were based on his hyper-advanced schematics.
There were some thematic differences between Model X and Model χ. X-Kai, or just χ, was built by Dr. Wiley using the old schematics of Mega Man. Sometime in the future Serges of the X-Hunters, a villainous rogue Reploid from MMX2, would find the discarded plans and finish them. χ was given a single directive: Kill X. Nia felt sorry for the guy since he quite literally broke down because his entire motivation was so one note. He was still a whackjob, but a tragic one.
Whatever the reason, she was dropped into Worm with the wrong character sheet and no chance to change anything. Otherwise, she might have grabbed Energy Chips, a form of ZX currency, which probably would've been converted to plain cash here. Maybe at least a motorcycle for transportation?
At least she was dressed now, Signature Outfit making itself known with a shimmer of light. Model χ was based on a character from Megaman X Dive. A prototype of Mega Man X that was more than just a recolor. The clothes Nia gained looked like a long-sleeved black jacket with yellow patches on the elbows and shoulders. Yellow trimmed her cuffs and the base of the jacket. Beneath that was a comfortable gray t-shirt with a six-pointed gold star made of elongated diamonds radiating from the center. Her pants were ruggedly made and colored yellow, purple and black. Last, but certainly not least, were the black ankle boots with yellow over the toes. At her feet was her old backpack with the rest of her purchases. The Biometal hung from a pouch on her belt.
"Better make sure the Biometal even works before trying to rely on it," Nia muttered as she held the Biometal aloft. Model χ fit perfectly in her hand, a six-headed angular 'head', mocking up a helmet black and yellow helmet over a silver face.
She called out the activation phrase "Rock On!" and she was in business. Her clothes burst off of her body in motes of light to be instantly replaced by a gray bodysuit. Nia twirled in midair as a nonexistent breeze blew her hair around. Black and gold light gathered over her torso before forming into a cropped jacket that only aped at cloth, done up in black and gold..
Wove through the air without her input, black and gold light solidifying over her forearms as hefty gauntlets, orange gems studded on the wrists. Dark gray light swirled around her waist and thighs before hardening into a segmented belt and form-fitting thigh guards. Greaves matching her gloves manifested not a moment later, flowing into rugged boots with gold soles.
Finally the twinning lights curled around her head, congealing into a solid black helm ringed with gold, an amethyst embedded on the forehead. Her hair ran black as though ink had been poured over her scalp, eyes flickering to startling red between blinks. Nia couldn't help a less-than-wholesome grin as the power settled over her with the end of the transformation, arm transforming into a cannon at nothing but a thought. It was a struggle to keep from firing, the strength thrumming right under her skin all but begging her to.
"No consciousness inside? What a gyp!" Nia groused… then paled when she remembered exactly who would've been whispering in her ear. However, sometimes even a sociopathic ally was better than no ally at all.
For all she was alone, she felt ready to take on the world. To show Brockton Bay and Earth Bet just what a Mega Man could do! After all, wasn't she a Chosen One? It didn't matter if this was Earth Bet or the Earth of Megaman ZX.
And that was the end of the transformation because those weren't her thoughts.
There were no dramatics, just a flare of light leaving a suddenly ordinary human swaying on shaky legs. Crashing from that high felt like her insides had been scooped out, the cold biting all that more viciously and her body barely able to hold its weight. It wasn't a physical withdrawal, just her mind trying and failing to cope. The only saving grace was that the transformation was still easy to disengage once she made the decision.
"Right, let's come back to that…" She panted shakily. The Biometal might not have a spirit but it didn't lack the ambition. Now, how about she sent that bundle of mindfuck to the magical land of 'later' and distracted herself with something?
Nia's eyes promptly caught on the wallet left on the couch. Not a moment later, she was rifling through it. According to her cards, she was seventeen and a student at Winslow, joy of joys. A peek through a grimy window told her it was deep in winter and she'd bet anything it was January.
That led her into properly taking in the state of 'her' apartment. Because she was starting to get the sneaking suspicion she was technically squatting.
"Nothing in the fridge…Empty shelves…What the absolute fuck?" She stared at her kitchen in dismay.
How was she supposed to deal with this? She barely had three hundred bucks to her name! She wasn't even eighteen yet! Nia dazedly wandered around the apartment in disbelief. Her old apartment was furnished better than this! Laying on the coffee table was a collection of letters.
Then, of course, because the universe had decided to listen to her pleas for no more mindfuck… memories crashed into her brain. Because fuck her in particular. The only silver lining was that she wasn't knocked for a loop this time.
"The building manager knows I'm here, he's just not a douchebag…" Nia muttered as she parsed through the data. The owner didn't even care and left everything to the manager, Mr. Chen.
Nia had a habit of making lists of the pros and cons in her life. It didn't always make her feel better, but it took the edge off. Enough so that she could think of a better plan than 'scream, then scream louder'.
Among the many pros was that she had powers and the Perks from her character sheet. Most of which were even useful for making money right away. The cons were that she was in Brockton Bay in January of 2011. She didn't have much besides the money in her pocket and metaknowledge, which would only take her so far. The worst part was that she didn't have any protections against Thinkers. Not postcogs, not precogs, not clairvoyants, not analysts. Nothing.
Another positive was that her smartphone still worked. The GPS happily told her everything she needed to know, which left her white as a bedsheet for the second time in maybe twenty minutes. How close to the Docks was this place? Nia could look out the window and see old warehouses. An orphaned white girl this close to ABB territory? Who did she piss off in her last life? Model χ might see use sooner than she thought.
What did her memories say about the neighborhood? Decent enough place in that everyone minded their own business. Poking your nose in someone else's affairs could see it chopped off. No one even gave her a second glance as she walked out of the building and then the block. Everyone was just too busy to pay attention to some nameless girl even if she was a snazzy dresser.
The two main shopping centers mentioned in all Worm stories were Lord's Market and the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk was where people with money went to shop. Nia was looking for a discount store so she was bound for the flea market writ large. They carried just about everything a higher-end store did just cheaper, mostly overstocks or discontinued products. In her past life, she could make a penny stretch until it squealed. This was no different. Hell, the prices were better here than in 2024. She bought some fresh meat but mostly stuck to canned goods and nonperishables. Beans, rice and pasta. Everything went into the ratty bag she'd brought along.
"That should tide me over for now. Ugh, I've got school tomorrow…" Nia realized with a grimace.
The apartment wasn't even that bad all things considered. It was a one-bedroom affair with a decent bathroom. The living area was about average with a small kitchen. About the only thing that needed addressing were the ancient appliances. That was something for future Nia to fret about. For now, they worked and that's all that mattered. Her furniture was all stuff scavenged off of the sidewalk. It was a miracle she didn't have thousands of bedbugs infesting her place.
As she put the groceries away her mind churned over the problem. Tomorrow was a pivotal moment in time. That was the day Taylor Hebert, one of the most comically overbullied girls in recent fiction, would get shoved into a locker full of rancid feminine hygiene products. If she allowed it to happen fate would still need the occasional nudge to make sure the timeline stayed on track. A yawning pit opened in her stomach and bile tickled her throat at the thought.
"No, there has to be a better way. There has to be," She muttered feverishly.
Sacrificing even one person on the altar of the greater good was anathema to her. She wasn't a cold machine of pure logic. Was saving her the best course of action in the long run? Maybe, maybe not, but she just couldn't allow her to suffer. The unsettled feeling receded. Nia took in a cleansing breath before letting it out. Now that her moral dilemma was out of the way it was time to think about how to make some money. The day's shopping trip used over a hundred dollars of her meager funds.
The Biometal was practically burning a hole in her belt. With the power of Model χ she could make a name for herself. She could be a courier with her high mobility options. Maybe she could be a hero? Independent heroes did get to keep some of the money. The thought of joining the Wards passed by without seriously taking hold. The PRT was more full of holes than a sieve. That was when she had a fantastic idea. Why not be an Independent Hero and a courier? That seemed like a sound plan.
Too bad she didn't have a five year old to run her idea past.
AN: Here we are! Another Worm fic? This one is strictly a personal project of mine. I missed writing in this setting and the fic with Nihilo rekindled the old spark. Speaking of Nihilo. He is once again proofreading and editing my shit. Enjoy!
N: I've dialed back the edits a bit here. Mostly extensive rewrites on things that are at 'okay but not great'.
Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.
Thanks to my Patrons:
Fans
moon.fellow7
mckin102
Intellectuals
the.sleeperdragon
sawpett06
Special Friends
titanicwargod
What had happened to a nice, peaceful and restful night's sleep? Sleep was how the brain rested and processed a day's information, chucking out the junk together with all sorts of waste chemicals and keeping what was important. Therefore, it was crucial that a person receive a full night's rest, whatever that meant for them. Some people only needed four hours, some needed ten, but need it they did.
It was a pity, then, that both reality and one's own brain were ever so eager to put a wrench in those works. Not that it made waking up any easier, all too often a struggle short of a bucket of water or more commonly tumbling out.
Then there was getting slam dunked into a ratty old couch.
"Fuck," The poor bastard groaned, committing the mistake of opening her mouth and catching a lungful of mildewy dust. Suffice to say, there wasn't much talking after that.
Then she managed to wedge her eyes open from the coughing fit and got treated to a stage pass into what was only barely not a crackhouse. Which wasn't exactly giving her endearing thoughts as she sat up and noticed that, yes, she was a she now.
And wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts.
Even with the worrying implications aside, it was also cold enough for her whole body to tremble.
"Shit…Did someone forget to pay the heating bill?" Her teeth chattered faintly. The second question that came to mind was "Why am I a woman?"
That was apparently the wrong thing to ask, as data hit her brain with all the bedside manner of a speeding brick.
Name: Nia Drakona
CP: 1000
Origins: Chosen One (200 CP)
Perks:
Passing Through! [100CP]
A deliveryman needs to know how to get through areas fast. So does a bounty hunter, and maybe even an amnesiac Reploid who just got pulled out of a tank needs it too. You have a good amount of competency both in driving vehicles and moving through difficult terrain, jumping impressive heights and knowing how to maneuver even in extreme conditions.
Defend Your Delivery [400CP]
It can be dangerous to travel, and it's all too easy to find yourself having to defend yourself with something that you aren't trained in. You don't need to worry about that though, as you very quickly adapt to new weapons, powers and even entirely new bodies, skipping past beginner levels of competency with weapons after mere minutes of use. This skip is even faster when done under pressure, like if you're being attacked.
Survivor [100/0 CP]
It is a given that you have survived something awful before finding your biometal. Be it a maverick attack, being left for dead by your squad, or being an orphan in a wartorn country, but you have made it through. And you could do it again. You have improved willpower and capacity to withstand hardship, and this boost is improved even further if these hardships are undertaken to accomplish a goal you believe is for the betterment of all.
The Next Step in Evolution [200/100 CP]
Chosen Ones are extraordinary people. Deemed worthy by Biometals- and perhaps by some other ones- some believe they may even be the next evolutionary step for both Reploids and Humans. Whether or not this is true, you are quite the exceptional example of either of them- Being better all around than the average person, and especially good at something in specific. You also seem to give off this air of importance to others, as if they could feel the destiny that's been laid out for you.
Items:
Buster Pistol [Free All]:
A dinky little pea-shooter. Or is it a lemon shooter? This weapon fires energy rounds, has unlimited ammunition, and can shoot in three-round bursts. While nothing special, it's a serviceable side-arm, easy to carry, and receptive to improvements.
Signature Outfit [100/0 CP]:
Stylish! Color coordinated! Probably themed after your Mega-Man form! This outfit is resistant to wear and tear, and you'll get additional ones if you gain new forms themed after those too.
Biometal [Free and Mandatory Chosen One]:
Formed from the remnants of legendary Reploids, the Biometals are sentient artifacts protected by a genetic lock and several other safety mechanisms that can fuse with their matched partners to cover them as living armor, empowering them greatly. You are biomatched to one of these powerful artifacts, and get to design it to your specifications- though you may also opt to replace one of the canon Chosen Ones and take theirs, including replacing the protagonists of either game. (Model χ - A recolor of Model X)
CP: 1000
Origins: Chosen One (200 CP)
Perks:
Passing Through! [100CP]
A deliveryman needs to know how to get through areas fast. So does a bounty hunter, and maybe even an amnesiac Reploid who just got pulled out of a tank needs it too. You have a good amount of competency both in driving vehicles and moving through difficult terrain, jumping impressive heights and knowing how to maneuver even in extreme conditions.
Defend Your Delivery [400CP]
It can be dangerous to travel, and it's all too easy to find yourself having to defend yourself with something that you aren't trained in. You don't need to worry about that though, as you very quickly adapt to new weapons, powers and even entirely new bodies, skipping past beginner levels of competency with weapons after mere minutes of use. This skip is even faster when done under pressure, like if you're being attacked.
Survivor [100/0 CP]
It is a given that you have survived something awful before finding your biometal. Be it a maverick attack, being left for dead by your squad, or being an orphan in a wartorn country, but you have made it through. And you could do it again. You have improved willpower and capacity to withstand hardship, and this boost is improved even further if these hardships are undertaken to accomplish a goal you believe is for the betterment of all.
The Next Step in Evolution [200/100 CP]
Chosen Ones are extraordinary people. Deemed worthy by Biometals- and perhaps by some other ones- some believe they may even be the next evolutionary step for both Reploids and Humans. Whether or not this is true, you are quite the exceptional example of either of them- Being better all around than the average person, and especially good at something in specific. You also seem to give off this air of importance to others, as if they could feel the destiny that's been laid out for you.
Items:
Buster Pistol [Free All]:
A dinky little pea-shooter. Or is it a lemon shooter? This weapon fires energy rounds, has unlimited ammunition, and can shoot in three-round bursts. While nothing special, it's a serviceable side-arm, easy to carry, and receptive to improvements.
Signature Outfit [100/0 CP]:
Stylish! Color coordinated! Probably themed after your Mega-Man form! This outfit is resistant to wear and tear, and you'll get additional ones if you gain new forms themed after those too.
Biometal [Free and Mandatory Chosen One]:
Formed from the remnants of legendary Reploids, the Biometals are sentient artifacts protected by a genetic lock and several other safety mechanisms that can fuse with their matched partners to cover them as living armor, empowering them greatly. You are biomatched to one of these powerful artifacts, and get to design it to your specifications- though you may also opt to replace one of the canon Chosen Ones and take theirs, including replacing the protagonists of either game. (Model χ - A recolor of Model X)
"Uh oh… I didn't exactly spend enough in the Items section…" The newly christened Nia winced.
She had a habit of making Jumpchain character sheets at the drop of a hat, this time on a plotbunny for Megaman ZX. Instead of taking a canon character's place or fiddling with the custom Biometal Editor, she instead just grabbed Model X wholesale. A Biometal was based on the "robotic DNA" of a heroic Reploid. The term robotic DNA didn't make sense to her either, but it was cool and that's what Capcom was going for. They were given the term 'Model' and the first initial of the Reploid they represented. X in this case stood for Mega Man X. Dr. Light's final and greatest creation. He wasn't technically speaking a Reploid. Reploids were based on his hyper-advanced schematics.
There were some thematic differences between Model X and Model χ. X-Kai, or just χ, was built by Dr. Wiley using the old schematics of Mega Man. Sometime in the future Serges of the X-Hunters, a villainous rogue Reploid from MMX2, would find the discarded plans and finish them. χ was given a single directive: Kill X. Nia felt sorry for the guy since he quite literally broke down because his entire motivation was so one note. He was still a whackjob, but a tragic one.
Whatever the reason, she was dropped into Worm with the wrong character sheet and no chance to change anything. Otherwise, she might have grabbed Energy Chips, a form of ZX currency, which probably would've been converted to plain cash here. Maybe at least a motorcycle for transportation?
At least she was dressed now, Signature Outfit making itself known with a shimmer of light. Model χ was based on a character from Megaman X Dive. A prototype of Mega Man X that was more than just a recolor. The clothes Nia gained looked like a long-sleeved black jacket with yellow patches on the elbows and shoulders. Yellow trimmed her cuffs and the base of the jacket. Beneath that was a comfortable gray t-shirt with a six-pointed gold star made of elongated diamonds radiating from the center. Her pants were ruggedly made and colored yellow, purple and black. Last, but certainly not least, were the black ankle boots with yellow over the toes. At her feet was her old backpack with the rest of her purchases. The Biometal hung from a pouch on her belt.
"Better make sure the Biometal even works before trying to rely on it," Nia muttered as she held the Biometal aloft. Model χ fit perfectly in her hand, a six-headed angular 'head', mocking up a helmet black and yellow helmet over a silver face.
She called out the activation phrase "Rock On!" and she was in business. Her clothes burst off of her body in motes of light to be instantly replaced by a gray bodysuit. Nia twirled in midair as a nonexistent breeze blew her hair around. Black and gold light gathered over her torso before forming into a cropped jacket that only aped at cloth, done up in black and gold..
Wove through the air without her input, black and gold light solidifying over her forearms as hefty gauntlets, orange gems studded on the wrists. Dark gray light swirled around her waist and thighs before hardening into a segmented belt and form-fitting thigh guards. Greaves matching her gloves manifested not a moment later, flowing into rugged boots with gold soles.
Finally the twinning lights curled around her head, congealing into a solid black helm ringed with gold, an amethyst embedded on the forehead. Her hair ran black as though ink had been poured over her scalp, eyes flickering to startling red between blinks. Nia couldn't help a less-than-wholesome grin as the power settled over her with the end of the transformation, arm transforming into a cannon at nothing but a thought. It was a struggle to keep from firing, the strength thrumming right under her skin all but begging her to.
"No consciousness inside? What a gyp!" Nia groused… then paled when she remembered exactly who would've been whispering in her ear. However, sometimes even a sociopathic ally was better than no ally at all.
For all she was alone, she felt ready to take on the world. To show Brockton Bay and Earth Bet just what a Mega Man could do! After all, wasn't she a Chosen One? It didn't matter if this was Earth Bet or the Earth of Megaman ZX.
And that was the end of the transformation because those weren't her thoughts.
There were no dramatics, just a flare of light leaving a suddenly ordinary human swaying on shaky legs. Crashing from that high felt like her insides had been scooped out, the cold biting all that more viciously and her body barely able to hold its weight. It wasn't a physical withdrawal, just her mind trying and failing to cope. The only saving grace was that the transformation was still easy to disengage once she made the decision.
"Right, let's come back to that…" She panted shakily. The Biometal might not have a spirit but it didn't lack the ambition. Now, how about she sent that bundle of mindfuck to the magical land of 'later' and distracted herself with something?
Nia's eyes promptly caught on the wallet left on the couch. Not a moment later, she was rifling through it. According to her cards, she was seventeen and a student at Winslow, joy of joys. A peek through a grimy window told her it was deep in winter and she'd bet anything it was January.
That led her into properly taking in the state of 'her' apartment. Because she was starting to get the sneaking suspicion she was technically squatting.
"Nothing in the fridge…Empty shelves…What the absolute fuck?" She stared at her kitchen in dismay.
How was she supposed to deal with this? She barely had three hundred bucks to her name! She wasn't even eighteen yet! Nia dazedly wandered around the apartment in disbelief. Her old apartment was furnished better than this! Laying on the coffee table was a collection of letters.
Then, of course, because the universe had decided to listen to her pleas for no more mindfuck… memories crashed into her brain. Because fuck her in particular. The only silver lining was that she wasn't knocked for a loop this time.
"The building manager knows I'm here, he's just not a douchebag…" Nia muttered as she parsed through the data. The owner didn't even care and left everything to the manager, Mr. Chen.
Nia had a habit of making lists of the pros and cons in her life. It didn't always make her feel better, but it took the edge off. Enough so that she could think of a better plan than 'scream, then scream louder'.
Among the many pros was that she had powers and the Perks from her character sheet. Most of which were even useful for making money right away. The cons were that she was in Brockton Bay in January of 2011. She didn't have much besides the money in her pocket and metaknowledge, which would only take her so far. The worst part was that she didn't have any protections against Thinkers. Not postcogs, not precogs, not clairvoyants, not analysts. Nothing.
Another positive was that her smartphone still worked. The GPS happily told her everything she needed to know, which left her white as a bedsheet for the second time in maybe twenty minutes. How close to the Docks was this place? Nia could look out the window and see old warehouses. An orphaned white girl this close to ABB territory? Who did she piss off in her last life? Model χ might see use sooner than she thought.
What did her memories say about the neighborhood? Decent enough place in that everyone minded their own business. Poking your nose in someone else's affairs could see it chopped off. No one even gave her a second glance as she walked out of the building and then the block. Everyone was just too busy to pay attention to some nameless girl even if she was a snazzy dresser.
The two main shopping centers mentioned in all Worm stories were Lord's Market and the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk was where people with money went to shop. Nia was looking for a discount store so she was bound for the flea market writ large. They carried just about everything a higher-end store did just cheaper, mostly overstocks or discontinued products. In her past life, she could make a penny stretch until it squealed. This was no different. Hell, the prices were better here than in 2024. She bought some fresh meat but mostly stuck to canned goods and nonperishables. Beans, rice and pasta. Everything went into the ratty bag she'd brought along.
"That should tide me over for now. Ugh, I've got school tomorrow…" Nia realized with a grimace.
The apartment wasn't even that bad all things considered. It was a one-bedroom affair with a decent bathroom. The living area was about average with a small kitchen. About the only thing that needed addressing were the ancient appliances. That was something for future Nia to fret about. For now, they worked and that's all that mattered. Her furniture was all stuff scavenged off of the sidewalk. It was a miracle she didn't have thousands of bedbugs infesting her place.
As she put the groceries away her mind churned over the problem. Tomorrow was a pivotal moment in time. That was the day Taylor Hebert, one of the most comically overbullied girls in recent fiction, would get shoved into a locker full of rancid feminine hygiene products. If she allowed it to happen fate would still need the occasional nudge to make sure the timeline stayed on track. A yawning pit opened in her stomach and bile tickled her throat at the thought.
"No, there has to be a better way. There has to be," She muttered feverishly.
Sacrificing even one person on the altar of the greater good was anathema to her. She wasn't a cold machine of pure logic. Was saving her the best course of action in the long run? Maybe, maybe not, but she just couldn't allow her to suffer. The unsettled feeling receded. Nia took in a cleansing breath before letting it out. Now that her moral dilemma was out of the way it was time to think about how to make some money. The day's shopping trip used over a hundred dollars of her meager funds.
The Biometal was practically burning a hole in her belt. With the power of Model χ she could make a name for herself. She could be a courier with her high mobility options. Maybe she could be a hero? Independent heroes did get to keep some of the money. The thought of joining the Wards passed by without seriously taking hold. The PRT was more full of holes than a sieve. That was when she had a fantastic idea. Why not be an Independent Hero and a courier? That seemed like a sound plan.
Too bad she didn't have a five year old to run her idea past.
AN: Here we are! Another Worm fic? This one is strictly a personal project of mine. I missed writing in this setting and the fic with Nihilo rekindled the old spark. Speaking of Nihilo. He is once again proofreading and editing my shit. Enjoy!
N: I've dialed back the edits a bit here. Mostly extensive rewrites on things that are at 'okay but not great'.
Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.
Thanks to my Patrons:
Fans
moon.fellow7
mckin102
Intellectuals
the.sleeperdragon
sawpett06
Special Friends
titanicwargod
Last edited:
- Location
- PA
Sorry folks but I jumped the gun. My editor wasn't finished yet. I'll edit the chapter to include any changes.
- Location
- PA
And fixed! Thanks Nihilo
Seems fun, I can't wait to see how her plan falls apart in the face of Brockton Bay being Brockton Bay.
A Cold Start 1.2
New
- Location
- PA
A Cold Start 1.2
The best part of waking up was a bracing cold shower.
It would've been even better if it had been voluntary.
The water heater just suddenly gave up while she was cleaning her back. Nia let out a screech that put dog whistles to shame, nearly slipping and cracking her skull. At least it had sure woken her up, given she had spent most of the night trying to make the couch smell of anything but mildew and misery. Not like she had an actual bed. Or anywhere else to sleep but the floor.
"Not like I have the money to do anything about it…" Nia grumbled around her toothbrush, giving the stink eye to her haircut. It wasn't awful but perhaps it hadn't been a great idea to just DIY it when she found a bunch of split ends. A trip to the barber to even it out was in order.
She had other things to worry about than grooming, anxiety swirling up her stomach like a cocktail shaker. Today had the potential to get her on people's radars. Sophia and Emma had a lot of power at Winslow, a completely outsized amount because Wildbow didn't understand how the law works.
Sophia Hess a.k.a. Shadow Stalker was a former vigilante with a hardline stance on crime and a habit of brutalizing criminals who cut a deal to avoid Juvie after crucifying a dude. Her caseworker must be sleeping on the job, or just not care, because Miss Hess was a bully even in civilian life. Winslow High protected her because she was a track star and brought in extra money from the Wards. A junior division of the Parahuman Response Team's governmentally sponsored superheroes, the Protectorate.
Emma Barnes was a junior model and the former best friend of Taylor. Nowadays she was Taylor's chief psychological torture technician, unscrupulous enough to use anything and everything the girl she grew up alongside told her in confidence. Nia could cut her some slack for the horrific shit she experienced over a year ago, coming within a hair's breadth of being raped and disfigured by a few Azn Bad Boys gangers. The choice of turning on her friend had ultimately been hers, trauma only excused so much.
Madison Clements was just kind of there. Nia knew of her, and some of the contributions she made to Taylor's suffering, but she just wasn't relevant. She was tiny, cute, and used that to get away with petty stuff. Today's torturefest would be that one step too far, the point of no return.
Now if the law was working as it should a full investigation would be done. Witnesses would be questioned. Then when Sophia's name came up someone would contact the PRT. From there an in-house investigation would be performed and the angry little ball of hate would be sent to Juvie at a minimum. Emma Barnes and Madison Clements would be charged as co-conspirators. Taylor and her father, Daniel Hebert, would have a sizable reward from the resulting lawsuit or at least a generous settlement.
"But in Wildbow's world, all the authorities are corrupt, self-serving assholes even when it doesn't make a lick of sense. No, especially when it doesn't make sense," Nia spat out her toothpaste and spite into the sink.
Nia sighed through her nose. If she went into this thinking it was impossible then it would be. She spent some time box breathing, like her friend Nihilo mentioned that one time, to calm herself. This wasn't an impossible task. Fight smarter, not harder. Sun Tsu certainly applied. If you knew the enemy and knew yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. She had to use her metaknowledge to its fullest extent.
The first thing she had to do was get to Winslow before school opened, which was why her alarm had been set a whole two hours earlier than any sane teen's. She needed to get there and set up with her smartphone. Nia planned on recording the events leading up to the locker before jumping in to stop it. They would have the Devil's own time to make it go away and she wasn't about to pull her punches. Besides it would also be a good test for one of her Perks: [Passing Through!].
Brockton Bay was still dark this early in the morning, only bums, homeless people and a special breed of fitness nut out and about. Nia paid none of them any mind, running along the fastest path to Winslow High. That being a straight line by writ of parkour, because streets were for people with time. What would've been half an hour of walking turned into maybe ten minutes of jumping and tumbling. The Perk's wording didn't do it justice, especially when propped up by [The Next Step in Evolution] leaving her at peak fitness for her height and weight.
She didn't even stop at Winslow's gate, not when she could just barely make out Taylor's personal torture team malingering around the doorway proper. Thankfully, her parkour skills were pretty much a formality when it came to slipping into the school. A high jump off a convenient bench had her past the fence, then all it took was climbing through a window with a broken latch. The only challenge had been remaining unnoticed by various flavors of junior ganger.
"Mission accomplished," Nia whispered, humming Final Fantasy's victory fanfare under her breath purely because she could. Despite that, the door didn't instantly open and give away the game. That alone made her worry. She could feel Murphy breathing down her neck. The plan was simple and straightforward enough, but if something went wrong? No time to do anything about it.
Even without her metaknowledge of the floor and number of the locker, she would've found it by smell alone. That was with only a few gaps through the metal for the tribute to Nurgle to leak out into the air and floor, Nia wasn't at all looking forward to it opening. Still, she soldiered on, taping her smartphone to the ceiling, it took some finagling but a broken security camera gave her the perfect setup.
…Wait. Why was she even trying to catch the Bitches Three in the act? She just needed to get the janitor here and sort this out, simply because that'd keep an innocent girl from going into toxic shock and needing years of therapy. Not that she didn't already.
Trying to find a janitor in a school building shouldn't be difficult. Alas, Winslow wasn't anywhere near so kind, so after about ten minutes Nia gave up and just started trying to get a teacher to follow her. Except she was known around school as the orphaned, notoriously poor, girl on the fringe of society. Teachers just blew her off because she didn't have proof. Saying that something smelled like rotten tampons wasn't enough.
"Please! I'm not joking! This is serious!" Nia pleaded with Mr. Gladly. The guy was a former jock who had never outgrown his need for highschool popularity. The sort of teacher who cared more about making friends with the students than actually getting anything done.
"Are you saying the smell is coming from Miss Hebert's locker? I'll have someone look into it," He said earnestly and walked away. Nia was almost convinced, except she didn't trust the set of his eyes when he'd said that.
"Look into it? When?" Nia pressed, some of her frustration leaking into her voice as she trailed after him. She winced even before Mr Gladly turned around, knowing she'd fucked up. No teacher enjoyed snarky and emotional teenagers pestering them.
"Whenever I can. If you have time to run around before class, you have time to check your homework or something," He retorted with a scoff, leaving the conversation dead and buried.
Nia checked her watch as more students started to fill the halls before booking it back to Taylor's locker. This whole sidequest was worse than useless, it took her away from the locker for too long! By the time she arrived, it was almost too late. There was a ring of students around the open locker already, a skinny girl with long dark hair and glasses in the center, doubled over as her breakfast took its leave.
Beside her was a black girl with an athletic build, eyes alight with malicious glee. Sophia. Nia shoved through the crowd with desperate strength and burst out in the center, making to grab Taylor's arm only for a violent shoulder check to knock the wind from her sails.
"What the fuck ya doin', huh? Stay the fuck back!" Sophia barked, delivering an elbow to Nia's chest that sent the smaller girl to the ground, vision darkening around the edges.
This wasn't exactly how Nia wanted this to go down, but it would do. If Sophia was busy beating her up, she wasn't shoving Taylor in the locker. A foolproof plan, her rattled and oxygen starved brain assured.
Then Emma shoved the girl who had once been her sister in all but blood into the locker with both hands. Nia could hear the bang as the brunette's head struck the back of the locker just before the door slammed shut.
"Stay in the trash where you belong, you worm!" Emma called out tauntingly.
As for Sophia? She was none too happy about someone daring to help Taylor. The blows kept on raining down on Nia's prone figure, carefully aimed to cause maximum pain but minimal bruising. Even now she was acting as though it was possible to explain this away, to tuck everything under the proverbial rug. The worst part was? Hess was right. No one gave a shit what happened here.
Taylor's frightened screams were just barely heard over the blood pounding in her ears, building in pitch until they were a drill through her eardrums. Red swallowed her sight, bathing everything in bloody light. Drowning out the pain.
Replacing it with a very different burn.
Sophia, like most bullies, was far from prepared for a victim putting up a real fight. Nia's rising skull sunk into her solar plexus hard enough to make spittle fly out of the Ward's mouth. That was all she needed, a bony hand gripping the track star's face and the other her waist, keeping the momentum as she tackled the little monster to the ground.
She did not let go, fingers digging into the skin around her eyes and cheeks. Nia was straddling the bully now, lifting her head only to crash it into the tiles.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
"Pleasepleaseplease!" The desperate whimpering coming from the locker was the only thing that gave her pause, made her realize Hess had been knocked out cold already. Distantly, Nia registered someone hammering at her back. A sharp elbow to their gut handily solved that.
"Get a fuckin' teacher! For the love of GOD get a fuckin' teacher NOW!" Nia snarled harshly, trying and failing to reign herself back in with box breathing as she rose. Slowly, the red tinting her sight faded away… and with it her strength, her legs giving out and leaving her kneeling next to her handiwork.
Almost an hour later and there was still a lot to go over. One of the teachers called 911 to take Taylor to the hospital. She spent less than ten minutes in the Biohazard Locker, but the paramedics still had to sedate her. Even just getting in the ambulance was triggering a flashback.
Sophia had no such problems, by dint of the Sandman not having bothered opening the sack to send her to lalaland. A cracked skull would do that to you, although it had probably saved her from any permanent damage by handling the swelling. Maybe. Nia wasn't a neurologist.
Emma was telling anyone who would listen that she was innocent, her friends were innocent, and anyone who said otherwise was lying. Trying to barricade her ginger tush, pretty much.
Nia simply pointed the nice detective who came for her statement towards her phone. Which left her sitting in the Principal's office with an officer guarding the door and the aforementioned detective looking like he needed ten cups of coffee and a pound of pre-workout.
"Let me get this straight…You arrived at school at around 7:00 am. While walking around you smelled something off from one of the lockers. Instead of immediately telling a teacher you set up your camera to record. Why?" Detective Jameson asked, sounding perfectly neutral. He was a nondescript man with faint stubble and a trench coat, almost like he had stepped out of a television serial. He even had the iconic mini-notebook.
"Because I know how the administration likes to ignore what's going on. The locker belongs to a frequent target of bullying, Taylor Hebert. It doesn't matter what anyone says, nothing gets done. I just thought maybe I could catch the morons returning to the scene of the crime," Nia said, perhaps more defensively than she should. Her head was pounding, but she would be damned if this didn't get addressed now.
"So how do you know this girl by name?" The detective asked, his only reaction to her comments being a faint frown and some scribbling.
"I don't know her personally. It was seriously messed up stuff. Always harassing her and stuff. Then it started to get worse. More violent. The past month and a half they stopped. That should've been a good sign, but…I'm used to things getting worse around here. Not better," She explained with a wince. There was some bruising but it was all under her clothes. Something internal might be bruised too. Hell, Nia should be getting checked out at the hospital herself, but she had to do this. She had to get this out in the open.
"So you saw this and decided to just hang up your camera to catch them?" He sounded incredulous. It was a bizarre claim and he was right to be suspicious. "Why did it have to be you?" Another good question given what he knew of the facts.
She wasn't in any state to play speed chess. Hell, Nia wasn't even up to a game of checkers right now. The detective was asking all the right questions to poke holes in her story. He had the proof on her phone. If it was her, she would be wondering if maybe Nia knew about it and got cold feet. Time to roll the dice and lay her cards on the table.
Nia was pretty sure she mixed that up somehow, but she was lightheaded enough she had to ration her brainpower.
"It shouldn't have been me. God above it shouldn't have been up to me. I couldn't find the janitor. The teachers weren't listening to me. Hell, Mr. Gladly told me that if I've got time to make up stories I should just do my homework. No one took me seriously. I went back to try and warn Taylor, but I was too late. There were so many people just standing around… they were the ones doing nothing, Detective Jameson. They watched it all go down. You've got the evidence… now you do something," She shook her head tiredly before resting her chin on folded arms, the twinges of pain in her torso weren't enough to keep Nia from taking this small rest. She grappled for her focus as a man does with a bar of soap in the prison shower, with about the same results.
Detective Jameson finally seemed to notice this. His lips thinned with displeasure as he turned towards the officer. "What the Hell? Didn't the EMTs check this girl out?"
"Uh, no sir…She didn't look hurt…" The bewildered officer said, shifting uncomfortably.
"Great," The detective muttered disgustedly, turning back to Nia, "Hey kid. You still with us?"
"Yeah," She all but grunted. The happy juice was going away and the twinges brought friends.
"Why didn't you tell the paramedics you were hurting?" He asked.
"Had to get the story out… couldn't let them sweep this under the rug again…" Here came the sleepy sleepy. The sleepy sleepy always came after the adrenaline and joy juice totally crapped out.
"Damn thick-headed… c'mon," Detective Jameson grunted irritably, walking her right out of the office. Principal Blackwell told her she was suspended, but the detective growled right over her. She fled back to the office with her tail between her legs. The gruff guy, despite his displeasure, took his time so that Nia could keep up. She wanted to ask him why he was doing this. This went against much of what she knew of Worm. The words just wouldn't come.
"You've done enough. Time to let the adults handle things," he said. For a moment she thought he tipped his hat at her, but he wasn't wearing one.
Maybe this world wasn't as broken as she thought.
AN: I can't make this too easy. There has to be some conflict, right? I also wanted to avoid Wildbow's 'worldbuilding' where authorities are concerned. He doesn't seem to understand how the law works. Yes, it can be corrupt and self-serving. The problem I have is that every authority figure is corrupt, incompetent, and out for themselves in his universe. No exception. So excuse me why I celebrate what made the web serial interesting and toss out the dross.
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- Location
- Victoria, BC
I think doing away with some of Wildbow's more misanthropic elements is a good idea. He wanted a story where all authority figures were either corrupt or ineffective. That certainly fit his intended tone but... it can be draining to read. It seems like you have a clear view of what you want from this story. That's a good omen.
A Cold Start 1.3
New
- Location
- PA
A Cold Start 1.3
The most unbelievable part of all this was that the police didn't try to hold her. Self-defense should've only gone so far. Did having evidence of Sophia, Emma, and Madison's crime actually help? She knew that law regarding self-defense also covered when someone was acting in the defense of another, except a sane and rational justice system flew in the face of what she knew about Wildbow.
"Take these if the pain is too much," The hospital pharmacist said as he handed Nia a bottle of Tylenol-3. It was only a couple of pills.
"Yeah, I'll do that," Nia promised. How does one explain that because of a Perk, and her own native pain tolerance, a couple of cracked ribs weren't too bad? She would take them for the pain, but only if it was really bad.
"Kids today thinkin' they're immortal," The older guy shook his head. "Well get goin'. Next!" He called out.
Nia chuckled without humor, pushing away the dark feelings that dredged up with the ease of long practice. The hospital checked her out and found, surprise surprise, cracked ribs. Sophia must've really lost her temper if she got sloppy like that. The X-rays were tagged and bagged for the police as part of the investigation. Of course, now she had to make her way home somehow. Her phone was in evidence and she wasn't too familiar with the bus schedule on this side of town.
"Hey, kid!" A voice called out, its owner leaning against a familiar car right outside the hospital, rubbing his neck absently. Detective Jameson had arrived on the scene… which, understandably, sent her anxiety into the stratosphere.
"Detective Jameson?" Nia didn't mean to sound so confused or weak, but the tremor in her voice was a treacherous bastard.
"Yeah, listen, I had the guys copy the video. Here's your phone," He said, pulling out the item in question from that fancy coat of his.
"Already? I thought it would take longer if I got it back at all," Nia remarked, not feeling any less confused for all her anxiety eased down a little.
"The higher-ups want this case cleared fast so I made use of that," Jameson replied with a shrug, although the way he was looking around and fidgeting said he was embarrassed about something.
"Tell it to me straight. How does it look?" She tried to say jokingly, although her preemptive grimace rather shot that in the foot. As soon as he said the guys upstairs wanted this done fast? The fix was in.
"Well between your video and a witness who came forward… it's looking pretty good," The detective said without a single trace of sugar-coating. He was serious.
Nia's jaw dropped. "A witness…besides me?"
"Try not to let it get around, okay? Hey, here's my number. Somebody might be around to collect another statement. Don't argue, don't agree to anything, but be cooperative. If they do try to push, just record them. Call me right after. Got it?" Detective Jameson looked her square in the eyes.
Nia was already nodding before she realized what was happening. "You got it, Detective."
"C'mon, let me give you a ride home," He offered, patting his car on the side.
There wasn't much talking once they were both in, mostly on account of Nia being lost in her head. She had to stop thinking about Wildbow. This was a living, breathing world. He wasn't some all-knowing god but a guy who had a cool idea. If she didn't get that through her skull then stuff like a genuinely nice and helpful detective would keep blindsiding her!
Only the car's engine stopping pulled her out of her thoughts. They were already here, parked in front of her building. The look on Detective Jameson's face said it all. This was anything but a good neighborhood, so it wasn't surprising when he double checked to make sure she had his number. Or his reluctance driving away.
Nia let out a weary sigh and winced as something twinged. Climbing the stairs to her apartment was going to be so much fun.
"Okay. Being a Chosen One is really kinda busted," Nia noted as she walked through the door.
She was at the human peak in physical ability. That didn't make the pain magically not matter, but it meant she could handle it better… that still didn't mean she wanted to climb three full flights of stairs with cracked ribs every day. Point in case, she had to pop her meds the moment she closed the door behind her.
That left her to sprawl on the couch and ponder. [The Next Step in Evolution] promised that she would not only be an exceptional human specimen but also amazing in one specific thing. The Perk wasn't fully set just yet, leaving her to decide right now what specialization she should take.
"What would help me the most…? Duh. Technology! I have the Buster Pistol that might need repairs. Specializing in tech could also help me figure out if my phone's been sabotaged…" Nia eyed her phone suspiciously, "Tech Specialization it is!" She decided without another thought.
Which she regretted immediately.
Whoever was in charge of her bloody Isekai needed a kick in the balls. Nia's eyesight checked out of the building as pressure surged in her skull, visions like a fever dream bombarding her mind. Schematics flashed through her brain as she witnessed the birth of robotics at the hands of Thomas Light and Albert Wiley. The miracles they accomplished as the two greatest minds of their generation, forever carving their names in history as the fathers of innovation. Dr. Light might have had more acclaim for building robots to aid humanity, but Dr. Wiley pioneered combat droids. She could see it all so clearly.
If that was all Nia would have been blessed indeed despite the literally blinding skull pain.
The problem was that the knowledge would not stop. A hundred years after Dr. Light's death was when his last creation, Mega Man X, was unsealed. He was discovered by an archaeologist named Dr. Cain who, with X's aid, went on to create Reploids. Droids based on what they understood of X's programming. She also had the knowledge of how Dr. Wiley created Zero. his greatest creation and the one destined to destroy all Light built. Ironically enough, Zero got brain damage shortly after waking up and decided to be part of the solution.
She witnessed everything, every idea, every blueprint, every accident.
It did not stop.
Nia was at the Mega Man Zero years and rapidly approaching ZX. The advances in robotics were still significant but not as earth-shattering as before… right up until certified super-genius Ciel created the first Biometal. The things that went into that feat alone tied Nia's brain into knots, cluster migraines blooming and slithering through her skull.
She drowned in the data before it abruptly stopped in much the way a falling body stops as it meets the ground.
Nia awakened to an aching skull and an artful spread of dried vomit on her face, couch and floor. Yay. More cleaning to do while her scrambled brain tried and failed to sort itself out. Should… shouldn't there have been safeguards in place? These were supposed to be Jumpchain Perks. They shouldn't hurt her unless she took a Drawback for that.
…This wasn't a Jumpchain so did that mean nothing was Fiat Backed? Was she giving herself like microstrokes or something equally horrible? If only her head would stop pounding for long enough to string two thoughts together.
…Wait.
"Is that my fuckin' door?" Nia groaned.
The less said about how she fumbled and tumbled out of the dirty couch and into some semblance of presentable, the better. Man, oh man, but her cracked ribs resented her for passing out while sitting up. Just… one foot in front of the other. All she had to do was reach the door and the pounding would stop. One foot in front of the other. Someone was calling her name. It sounded familiar but she was having trouble placing the voice. One foot in front of the other…
Nia bonked into the door.
"Groovy," She muttered, flailing like a beached fish at the door until she managed to get it open.
Leaving her face to face with Detective Jameson. Because of course it would be the one person she couldn't just tell to fuck off.
"Why are you here?" Nia demanded, only to wince the moment the words registered. That was way too blunt.
"I tried calling you over an hour ago, apparently so did the school. Even sent someone over to talk to you, but they said you weren't answering. I came as fast as I could." He said before stopping to look at her. Now he was the one wincing, "...Good thing I did, too. Damn, but you look rough, kid. Did they at least check your head at the hospital? Is it a concussion?"
A self-inflicted concussion, but Nia couldn't exactly tell him that.
"Not a concussion. Just overextended myself and well… the Tylenol-3's made me feel really good and I fell asleep sitting up…" Nia grimaced as her ribs bitched some more about that. It took her a moment to realize the Detective was getting a long look inside the apartment. She closed the door a little to break line of sight, but it was a token effort at best.
"Okay. I'll let you get back to sleep," He said, eyes entirely too sharp.
With that and a 'request' she call him if something came up, he finally left. Nia was pretty sure she'd be getting a panic attack by now if she didn't feel like death warmed over. Trying to figure out why he kept checking on her could wait until later. Much later.
Then she checked her phone and her heart just about jumped out of her mouth. She had been out cold for a whole fucking day. Only box breathing and being hungry enough she was woozy kept her from losing it.
Thankfully, she actually had some food in the fridge, so she managed to not faint from not having eaten in twenty-four hours and vomiting everything before that. Which meant she could make some actual food without being a fire hazard.
"Fuck me sideways. Okay, I slept a whole day after getting my brain nuked. I shouldn't have felt pain from something a Perk gave me. Ergo I must assume that nothing is fiat-backed since this isn't a Jumpchain. Adding to the problem is that I'm gonna need to keep my stuff maintained. On the plus side, I know machines and robotics through the 26th century. The negative side is that, while I can use much of it, I don't have the money. We're right back to where we started from…" Nia grumbled as she kicked around her Broke Ass Stir Fry. Which was just regular stir fry but with dollar store ingredients.
At least she had a better goal than just survival. Do the whole parahuman courier thing to earn money to gain resources, which could be finessed into more money and more resources. That and keeping herself visible and helpful would give her enough good publicity, which would snowball in its own way.
And she was already off to a great start in being helpful, just ask Taylor. Shoved into the locker because Nia tried to be clever. According to Wildbow, it was the Simurgh, smartest of the Endbringers, who manipulated events to create Khepri.
There could hardly be a Khepri if Taylor didn't trigger. With the Simurgh's bullshit precognitive powers, it would know what Nia was doing and arrange things accordingly. But that didn't absolve Nia of responsibility. She had decided, of her own free will, to enact the plan. The Winged One didn't hold a gun to her head, or use her Song to arrange things.
So she had to make amends.
But the world didn't move in lockstep with her, so there was nothing to do for now but scarf up her food and test the Biometal some more.
"Might as well see what would happen if I Megamerge while injured…" Nia was justifiably hesitant to do so without a doctor on hand, but she didn't exactly know anyone who she could trust to keep their mouth shut.
She set up her camera to capture how long the transformation took… after going with a fine toothed comb to remove any spyware on it. Good news was that there was none from when it had cooled its heels at the precinct, bad news was that the amount of shovelware stealing her data was ridiculous. At least that was all sorted out now.
Which meant she couldn't stall any longer.
She set up her camera to capture how long the transformation took. Of course, this was after making sure no one left any viruses, bugs, or the like on her phone. While she couldn't use her full tech knowledge yet, this much was trivial. Nia brought out the Biometal hesitantly. Either the transformation would fix her injuries, exacerbate them, or simply hold them in abeyance. Ciel never got around to testing that.
"Here goes…" Nia clutched the Biometal tight and yelled 'Rock On!' in her mind. It didn't work. The only silver lining was that saying it under her breath did, so stealth wasn't dead in a ditch.
Just like that, her injuries didn't hurt in the slightest anymore, although she was pretty sure they were still there. Less welcome was how her thoughts immediately turned to the one who had given her them. She should've finished Sophia o–
"Fuck! Okay…Hyper aggression? No, this isn't really aggression. More like I believe she deserves to hurt for crossing me…that no one should cross me. I am beyond their comprehension…! Wait. Simple megalomania? That's boring! Where's the pizazz? The uniqueness? A standard God Complex is simply too… simple!" Nia flailed her arms before crossing them in a fit of pique.
Of all the mental disorders to get this wasn't the worst, it was only tapping into the darkness she normally suppressed. Hopefully she could turn this understanding into control.
Then someone knocked on the door and she just about blasted a hole through it with her arm cannon.
Suffice to say, she dropped the transformation immediately.
All of the suppressed pain came roaring back, black encroaching on the edges of her vision as she nearly collapsed to the floor. Nia only remained on her feet by writ of stubbornness and spite, grimacing the whole way to the door. Whoever it was better have a damn good reason for this! The frustrated girl yanked open the door only to pause in bafflement.
Who the hell was this overweight ginger?
"What," Nia didn't make it a question so much as a demand. The only ginger that might have a beef with her was Alan Barnes, but there was no way a lawyer would be so stupid as to show up at a witness' apartment…
"Alan Barnes. Emma Barnes' father. I want you to call off whatever vendetta you have. The evidence is clearly on our side in this. Excessive force at a minimum. I could sue you for intentionally inflicting disfiguring injuries on a minor," Alan kept his tone level but it was clear he was livid, red mottling his cheeks.
Nia dearly wanted to repeat her question, because what.
Silently, woodenly, she pulled out her phone while keeping eye contact. A click and the guy's picture was taken. Then she dialed the good Detective's personal number. Mr. Barnes may've slapped the phone out of her hand if he wasn't busy being caught completely flatfooted at her reaction.
"Hey, Detective Jameson? You wanted me to call if anything happened? Yeah, I've got Emma's daddy at my door trying to threaten me with a lawsuit. I took a picture of the idiot standing here," Nia deadpanned.
"There is no way…" Alan started to say, but she wasn't finished. She turned the phone towards him to show that it was on speaker.
"Tell him to leave right now. If he's lucky he can make it home before I get there to question him," Jameson all but spat, rustling cloth and jingling keys heard clearly through the phone. The less said about the smile on Nia's face, the better.
Alan fled as if the hounds of Hell were nipping at his heels. For a hefty guy, he sure could move. She waited until he turned the corner before saying into the phone, "Are you actually coming here?"
"Yeah, just let me get my car keys," He replied.
"Those weren't your keys?" She asked.
"I like to check on the dogs at the kennel. See you in fifteen." He said before hanging up.
Detective Jameson, or Dan when he was off the clock, showed up nearly twenty minutes later. He brought with him some boxes of food that he claimed were cluttering up his pantry. Nia politely ignored the register tape at the bottom of one.
They just… hung out. Ate the food, had the photo passed over with a promise to nail Alan's ass to the wall, chatted. Then Dan took his leave an hour later, but not before a whole lot of asking after her health and some toothless grumbling about teens that piped down when Nia opened the fridge to show that yes. She had actually bought groceries worth a damn.
If he was trying to make himself look like a good guy? It was working.
"My advice? Don't go back to school for a few days," He said at the door.
"I thought I was already suspended," Nia remarked incredulously.
"You are. Don't go back to school," Dan reiterated.
Something else was going on here and she didn't like the implications. Did someone think she Triggered too? What was going on here? She could try to investigate it herself but used her one-time Expertise coupon on science and wasn't getting a spydrone anytime soon. All the same to her, she had other things to do now. It was time to test her powers under live conditions…
…when her ribs weren't so tender.
Author's Note: I'm moving to a new format for uploads. Updates will be done twice a week on Monday and Friday after this. For my Patrons you can read two whole chapters in advance of Shards of Reality and eventually A Light into the Future.
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Nihilo
Authorial parasite
- Location
- Catalonia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The story seems fine though the no precog immunity kinda feels like she's getting set up to fail at anything she cares about till she breaks. With the janitor thought being a bit abrupt making it feel like Ziz literally went "I need you to not stop this so go on a goose chase just long enough so that your interference means nothing in the grand scheme of things" and making it feel like that's going to become a recurring theme for anything important she does. Like trying to stop Taylor's fight with Lung thus stoping her from joining the Undersiders but the MC either gets held up by completely different/random cape/gang fights so she doesn't get there in time or it just ends up being a completely different cape but the results are the same.
It's a good story so far it's just giving me that feeling that the title is more about the MC's optimism/hope about the future or a dark joke about how there'll always be a chance for things to get better in the future but the present will never see or experience it. Though this might just be my pessimism and bias talking so I'll continue reading to see where it goes.
It's a good story so far it's just giving me that feeling that the title is more about the MC's optimism/hope about the future or a dark joke about how there'll always be a chance for things to get better in the future but the present will never see or experience it. Though this might just be my pessimism and bias talking so I'll continue reading to see where it goes.
- Location
- Australia
Most Precog powers are statistical, so she'll be fine.
Problem is they're hooked up to a wider net that does include true precog/timetravel (Following WOG) at the cost of extreme expense... Which Contessa uses like Candy because Wildbow is inconsistent at how much energy it uses.
On one hand, I doubt Simurgh is monitoring the entire precog net, but I imagine she watches Contessa so the instant any of Contessa's plans changed to account for the 'new trigger', Simurgh probably notices.
Important Announcement
New
- Location
- PA
It looks like I'm being evicted from my apartment effective Dec 2. I just didn't have enough money to make it. I just don't know what to do. For now I'll try to continue writing and praying for kindness. That and trying to find a place to move to. Which is difficult since my only income is Patreon.
A Cold Start 1.4
New
- Location
- PA
A Cold Start 1.4
Day four of her time on Earth Bet started with a wonderful discovery: She healed fast. Her ribs were tender when she woke up, but not actually in pain anymore. The bruises were starting to clear up, for all the yellow splotches looked awful. Of course, there was the issue of explaining her miraculous recovery. The doctor would know how badly she was hurt. So would Detective Jameson. For anyone else, she could downplay just how bad it was, but they would know.
"Wait… was I already showing signs of fast healing?" Nia wondered. She never had cracked ribs before so she didn't exactly have any prior experience to call onto. A quick search of the internet showed that it should take six weeks or more to recover. During that time she shouldn't even be able to walk upright, if at all.
…
Everyone at the hospital, plus the detective, definitely knew something was up. At least there was doctor-patient confidentiality. Not so much between a person of interest and an investigator.
…What a nice day outside! It'd be great to go for a wal– ah, right, she was a schoolgirl. Truancy officers. They wouldn't care that she was suspended. Looked like she would be sitting her ass on the couch, letting her torso keep limping along to recovery, and browsing on her phone.
If she was going to throw her hat in the ring, she'd like to know who might give her an elbow drop from the top rope. Luckily she had her handy dandy smartphone!
Brockton Bay was a melting pot of all races, creeds, and religions. It had big-city aspirations with a small city's population. This made it less a melting pot and more of a powder keg, even before you accounted for it being the highest cape per capita in the East Coast. Or how it was a rotting carcass now thanks to the protest at Lord's Port creating the Boat Graveyard and thoroughly killing nearly all maritime commerce.
Nobody wanted to throw good money after bad. Much less when that bad involved inexhaustible legions of Brutes, Shakers, Blasters and Movers from the endless violence and death the city was drowning in.
There were three main gangs, four if one counted the PRT, operating in the city. The largest and most influential was the Empire 88, modern day Nazis with a cape roster outnumbering the Brockton Bay Protectorate. Outgunning them too, given just how dangerous their heavy hitters were. One of them, Purity, was a Mover/Blaster with energy blasts that could mow down buildings. She was trying to go it alone as an independent hero now, but Nia counted her anyway. Mostly because the leader of the gang, Kaiser, was her ex-husband and had enough leverage to blackmail her back into the fold.
Then there were their attack dogs. Hookwolf, Stormtiger and Cricket. Experienced pit fighters who all had a penchant for turning people into pulled pork, if in very different ways. Hookwolf in particular had a rap-sheet a mile long and had escaped Birdcage transport multiple times.
"Yeah…The roster is the same. That's not encouraging," Nia grunted. At least Night and Fog were listed as being in Boston, small mercies. Fog could take the form of hazardous gas clouds and his wife, Night, could transform into an unstoppable killing machine when out of line of sight. Frightening synergy.
The Azn Bad Boyz, or ABB, didn't need much introduction. At this point, there were just two Capes: Oni Lee and Lung (or Lóng, if you were willing to give him any respect). Oni Lee was a weird teleporter-duplicator. Whenever he teleported, an ash clone was left behind with a copy of his gear… which he leveraged by carrying a whole bandolier of grenades. Lung was the leader with the ability to turn into a huge pyrokinetic, regenerating dragon over the course of a battle. Which had let him bully Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Mongolian and more into playing nice together instead of following millennia of blood feuds.
Soon Lung would go and recruit a recently triggered woman who called herself Bakuda, a bomb Tinker who debuted by threatening to turn her university into a parking lot with the press of a button for cheating her out of her grades. She would, if things went as canon, go on to strap down men and women into an operating table to put bombs in their skulls to ensure compliance and run a campaign of terror across Brockton Bay. Everything from transmuting a whole building and everyone in it to glass to locking victims into time loop bubbles was at her fingertips and she wasn't shy about putting it to use.
Finally, there were the Merchants. Skidmark, Mush, and Squealer were the more well-known of their gang. Mush could use trash to create a suit of weird garbage power armor. Skidmark used his power to make lines of force that could rapidly accelerate or decelerate whatever hit them. He could layer the effects too. Squealer was a Tinker with a penchant for making really ugly, but brutally effective, armored vehicles. Just because they were drug addicts and a joke to other capes didn't mean they weren't dangerous.
Faultline's Crew was a group of mercenaries who didn't always work in Brockton Bay. Since they would only fight for pay, Nia didn't include them in her assessment. The Undersiders weren't a gang by modern standards and mostly stole from other villains. That would change later, but Nia was getting ahead of herself.
"Focus, dammit…" Nia groaned and popped a painkiller to ease the ache in her sides.
Uber and Leet were a gamer duo whose crimes involved acting out videogames in real life for YouTube content. Uber could master any skill until he picked a different one. Why he didn't just pick multitasking and try to break his power boggled the mind. She was not making the suggestion. Nia used to have a fanon belief that Uber and Leet were just fun loving guys. Then she actually read the source material and not just fanfiction. They were malicious assholes. Leet's power, despite what fanon thought, wasn't trying to kill him. He didn't have a Tinker specialization so his power had a unique drawback instead. Anything he tried to duplicate had an increasing chance of failure. This included specific parts and not just completed works.
"Was that it or is that my interpretation? I can't remember. Skip it until it becomes relevant," she waved it off.
The PRT was a heroes for hire business that supposedly regulated parahumans. They seemed more concerned with maintaining the status quo, selling merchandise, and making things harder for unaffiliated Capes. Now Nia knew just why that was, especially in Brockton Bay, and that was because of a group called Cauldron. This is where her metaknowledge of the setting came in handy. Cauldron was conducting this weird social experiment called parahuman feudalism. It wasn't illogical, but Cauldron was artificially creating the circumstances. There was nothing natural or organic about it. They were the ones manipulating everything behind the scenes to kill off the first parahuman, Scion. In reality, Scion was Zion, an entity from beyond the stars, who was a very real threat to every parallel Earth in the cluster.
"Skip it until it becomes relevant…" Nia rolled her eyes. There was a reason she didn't take Tylenol-3s or other painkillers stronger than a basic Tylenol. She had a decent pain threshold and almost no tolerance for painkillers. That meant she always got the full effect of strong drugs. This was messing with her head badly.
Nia put her phone on the charger, made some lunch, and crashed out on the couch. That was enough internet for today.
"How am I gonna deal with Coil?" Nia wondered.
She always had trouble sleeping. The usual cause was when important issues suddenly grabbed her skull and screamed for attention. This wasn't something she could put off until later. Coil was a boogeyman this early in the timeline. A villain with the ability to simulate two timelines and keep trying until his scheme worked. Didn't they only happen when he was sleeping or something? Anyway, it made him difficult to deal with. Unless he could be forced to check in both timelines simultaneously. She didn't have anything that could lock him down yet. The beginnings of a plan nibbled at her brain as she passed out on the couch.
Someone was rap rap rapping on her chamber door.
The phone said she was asleep for less than thirty minutes. Who dared disturb the salty one's slumber? Nia dragged her weary body to the door and opened it with a perfunctory, "What?"
Standing on the other side was a woman in a blazer, blouse, skirt and low-heeled black shoes. She reeked of government. Nia instantly hated her and attempted to shut the door, but the woman stuck her foot out.
"Nia Drakona? My name is Amelia Grange. I'm Sophia Hess' caseworker. Just answer my questions and I'll leave you alone," she said quickly.
"Your foot is in my door. Move it," Nia said flatly.
"If you don't talk to me then I'll talk to the owner. I wonder how he would feel about having someone squatting in one of his apartments?" Miss Grange threatened.
"Fuck this shit…" Nia dialed Detective Jameson and left it on speakerphone.
"Jameson," the tired voice of the detective came out of the phone. Miss Grange looked confused.
"Detective Jameson? This is Nia. I have some woman in a government suit here threatening me with eviction. She says she's Hess' caseworker. I have you on speakerphone," Nia said.
"Miss Grange? I told you to leave this to the police. Now get out of there! I'm calling your superior. And if anything happens to that girl's housing I'll run you in for interfering in an investigation and intimidating a witness!" he barked.
"Thank you, Detective Jameson," Nia said politely before hanging up.
"I have a right to question you," the woman insisted.
"Goodbye, Miss Grange," Nia snarked before shutting the door hard. Too bad the brazen woman got her foot out of the way in time.
When no one pounded on the door again, Nia let herself relax. Despite how it appeared the woman rattled her. She was always afraid of losing her housing in her old life. That same fear carried over to here where she had even less legal right to be in this apartment. Was it too unrealistic to expect that people wouldn't pressure her? This was almost cartoonish levels of pressure! Wasn't it? Nia checked the peephole and bit back a curse. Miss Grange was still at the door talking to someone on her phone. It didn't take long to find out who she called. Mr. Chen arrived. The smarmy bitch looked so smug as the building manager knocked. Grange stepped to the side just out of sight. Nia opened the door again after a round of box breathing.
"Mr. Chen? What's up?" Nia asked.
"Mr. Edwards found out that you're staying here. He asked if you've paid any rent. I'm sorry, but I had to tell him the truth," Mr. Chen said miserably. He was an Asian man with a New England accent. The third generation in Brockton Bay.
"How did he take it?" Nia sighed. Here it comes.
"He's giving you until April to pay the back rent from September until now," Mr. Chen replied. A sudden intake of air gave away the nasty woman's position. She must've been surprised to hear that. Nia was surprised too.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen. I'll get right on that," Nia promised. That was at least three months. She could handle that. The rent for the apartment was four hundred dollars a month. Not a small sum, but nowhere near impossible. With her talents it was doable.
"I hope you feel better soon," he lightly cuffed her good shoulder before walking away. Nia quickly shut the door again before that idiot got any ideas.
She also reported it to Detective Jameson. This just wasn't Miss Amelia Grange's day.
"What the absolute fuck is going on here?" Nia was wide awake now. So much was happening and it wasn't adding up. She needed to take a step back and think.
This wasn't how things worked in Worm. Problems came up, the people in power ignored it, shit boiled over and the victim gets blamed. Lather, rinse, repeat. Hell, this was borderline outlandish for where she came from! She beat a girl's head into the linoleum. That would usually warrant some investigation. Issues were being dealt with as soon as they developed. Hence why she felt suspicious. Detective Jameson was most definitely a part of that, but there was only so much he could do. Whose radar was she on now? It can't be the PRT, or else Miss Grange wouldn't have been here. Then again, it might be some sort of bluff. Maybe it's Coil? Could be Cauldron for all she knew! How did Contessa's power even work anyhow? She might meet the criteria for something. That's it! It's a Ziz plot!
"Gotta stop now or I'm gonna have a whole wall of crazy by dinnertime…" She dragged a hand down her face in frustration.
She had to assume they had her under surveillance. Who "they" were was currently unknown. It was best to take no chances. That meant trying to visit Taylor was out. What that also meant is she couldn't go out to find work in her hero identity. That's when Nia smacked herself in the face again.
"I'm overthinking things. First thing I need to do is get myself certified as a cape. Then figure out how to market my services…" Nia paused. The expected mindfuck didn't happen. She did get a brain jolt but it was from information she already had. Amusingly, [Defend Your Delivery] also gave her the information for starting up a business.
Researching parahuman business law was a pain in the ass. She didn't want to surf the web more today, but it needed to be done. Survival trumped little things like being tired or frustrated. Just because she knew how to start a business, didn't mean she understood the intricacies of Earth Beth's backward system. That was until she got to the NEPEA-5 and realized it probably wasn't so backward. She went into this with a fanon grasp of how it worked, but her moral indignation was misplaced. What it actually seemed to say was that parahumans could not, through direct or indirect action, take over a specific market. It was a parahuman antitrust law. Nia stared at the ceiling for several long minutes contemplating that. She could be a parahuman courier as long as she didn't freeze out the competition.
Mind. Blown.
"Of course if a Parahuman has an ability that lets them predict the stock market it would need regulation. It's not fair to the Cape, but it's even less fair to the people who aren't so blessed…" She was forced to stare at her own prejudice with a clear head for once. Nia was just so used to shitting on Wildbow's crazy and nonsensical world building. This was throwing her expectations through the ringer.
Did Wildbow's shitty worldbuilding actually make sense?
"Pffft…Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. Just because it's laid out all nice and neat here doesn't mean it's the same in execution," she scolded herself.
All the information she needed was on the PRT website. In order to get a work permit she had to go to the PRT for testing. Okay, that was less of a drawback than it seemed. Nia wanted them to see her as a well-meaning parahuman. Not quite an independent hero, but not quite a full rogue either. She wanted to get on their good side for the inevitable cape fight. Being on good terms with them could make such an incident work more in her favor. Now, how to get rid of this bump on her ass named Grange? That was when she had a positively diabolical idea. It took her a moment to realize the deranged cackling she heard was her own. With this she could accomplish two goals at once!
Now all she had to do was make it to the PRT building.
The rooftops wouldn't be as surveilled as the downstairs. Miss Grange couldn't possibly be doing this officially, so there was only so much she could do. If she requisitioned a surveillance team, there would be a paper trail and lots of pointed questions. Nia transformed in the stairwell connected to the roof. The lack of cameras worked in her favor. She remembered when Mr. Chen complained about hoodlums breaking them. From there it was a hop, skip, and a jump across the city to the PRT building. Not the Rig. She didn't have the capacity to get across open water.
Running across the city skyline was such a joy. Any dark thoughts took a back seat to the wonders of the wind on her face and the thrill of performing daring flips through the air. Thankfully there was a form of onboard assistance or she might've face planted from several stories up. She felt impossibly light, as if gravity held little sway over her. Each leap carried her for what felt like dozens of feet. Her stomach did little flips as she acrobatically twisted in midair and successfully landed. Just for fun she performed a shoulder roll across an AC Unit before kicking off, triggered the microjet, and flew to the next rooftop. A cry of elation tore from her lips as she couldn't contain herself.
This is what it meant to be a Mega Man! This feeling of joy and freedom! If she had any reason to feel superior, it was because of this. When she ran out of roof, Nia executed a rolling side flip off of the ledge and landed on the street below. A brief pulse of her boot mounted dash jets slowed her fall. No cracked pavement, no busted knees, just a smooth transition and once more she was running. Through streets and alleys, she ran, drawing ever closer to her destination. The PRT building looked like any other modern government building. It was a block building sitting on the other end of a plaza with a decorative fountain. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. It was such a letdown that she promised herself even more time to free-run later. Nia, or Kai as she decided to call herself, crossed the plaza towards the door.
Getting stopped by a PRT trooper guarding the door made perfect sense.
"Please state your name and business," the lead guy asked politely.
"Kai. I would like to apply for a Parahuman business license. There is also something I need to discuss, please," Nia said politely.
"Right this way," he said.
The perils of being some random person off the street. Just because she was clearly a cape didn't mean any of the big names came to talk with her. Nope, they plopped her down in an office with a member of the ENE PRT's legal department. How utterly prosaic. There wasn't even some faceless mook holding a containment foam sprayer. Fanfiction lied to her. The legal guy looked like some generic wage slave. He probably was.
"Here is the paperwork. We will need a few things from you before this can be processed…" He started to say as if by rote. Like there were fees and paperwork to sign. Before he could start on a spiel about joining the Protectorate, she held up a hand.
"Yeah, before we talk about all that. I have a serious problem. My Trigger was induced by a crazy girl who goes to my school. I got suspended, but as far as I know nothing happened to her. Admittedly, my trigger event was kind of violent so… Here. It's just easier if I show you," Nia said while fishing out her phone.
"I'm sorry but this is…" He stopped as the video played. His eyes widened ever-so-slightly with fear. Yeah, a guy in the legal department would know how bad this was. That was when Nia showed him a picture of the esteemed Miss Grange. Widened eyes upgraded to sweating like a whore in church.
"Now I know this is highly irregular, outing myself like this, but that's my classmate screaming in terror. She's locked inside of a biohazard locker because of that bitch on the floor and the redheaded tart that shoved her in. I tried to help and nearly had my rib cage caved in. My powers saved my life, but all my classmate got is a fear of the dark and small spaces," Nia hissed venomously.
"I understand," he whispered. He looked so diminished that a lot of her ire cooled. The man shook his head. "What happened to you and your friend is terrible. It's beyond terrible. Let me talk to my boss and see if there is anything we can do to help," he said quietly.
"Thank you, Mr… Reddy," Nia read his name off the plaque.
His boss came down to speak with her personally. The older gentleman looked genuinely contrite about what happened. Nia had to remind herself to stay firm. Don't be unreasonable, but don't back down either. Mr. Christian processed her request without the usual fee and fast-tracked it.
"This woman will not trouble you again. We always work closely with the police in such heinous circumstances. You were right to bring this to us. Our job is to aid new parahumans, after all," he held out a hand. Nia shook his hand, but he didn't let go immediately. "I am not stupid, and you are quite bright to bring this to us, is one of your powers Thinker-based?"
Nia smiled wryly, "No, just good old-fashioned common sense. Sophia gets involved in a brawl at school, I knock her out, and suddenly I get a suit knocking at my door. The stuff she got away with for over a year and a half told me the fix was in. I just didn't know what kind of clout she had."
"Is it possible to come to a settlement? Perhaps come back when you have a lawyer and we can arrange a deal," he said. No, that was a bad idea. Right now she had them on the back foot. If she left that would give them time to come up with a response.
"Grange called the owner of my building and told him I was squatting. Now I have less than two months to come up with back rent from September onward. All I want is enough money to cover that and some real furnishings for my apartment. I'm sleeping on a moldy sofa," she was not too proud to admit when something was wrong. Especially when there was a way to fix the problem.
She had a check made out to her civilian identity in hand within the hour. It's just like her mother used to say. Don't let up, but don't push so hard they resent you. Nia even offered to do deliveries for them at a discount from now on. Thanks to this, she not only screwed Sophia and lost a crazy bitch her job, but also gained her first contract. Today was a win-win-win all around!
Author's Note: I'm moving to a new format for uploads. Updates will be done once a week on Monday after this. For my Patrons you can read two whole chapters in advance of Shards of Reality and eventually A Light into the Future. Don't forget to vote on the Monthly Poll! This will continue until I'm in a more stable place economically and in housing. Thank you for all of your support during this troubled time.
Patreon Note: A shoutout to my friends over on Patreon. The Patreon page is now updated to be even friendlier and clearer than before. Please think about helping me as I've still got lots of bills to pay, a cat to take care of, and not enough money for it all.
An extra special thanks to @Nihilo and @Boozeshlager for editing my trash into something readable.
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Apple has a 30% upcharge that doesn't go to me. Read the full story here.