Worm, a fantastic web serial, is owned by Wildbow. This quest will spoil a great deal - if not...
Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 15: Occluded Orb Obsessively Observes Obscene Operations
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Gromweld
Learning By Mistake
Worm, a fantastic web serial, is owned by Wildbow. This quest will spoil a great deal - if not all - of the story, so if you haven't finished it already... go read it now! (Unless you don't care about spoilers, that is.)
Exalted, a delightful RPG system, is owned by White Wolf and CCP Games. Support the game by picking up a few PDFs on Drive-Thru RPG, would ya?
Credit to Sojiko for the Conquest Quest character sheet format.
Credit to PseudoSim for help formatting this Index.
Exalted, a delightful RPG system, is owned by White Wolf and CCP Games. Support the game by picking up a few PDFs on Drive-Thru RPG, would ya?
ALCHEMICAL SOLUTIONS
[Worm/Exalted]
[Worm/Exalted]
- STORY INDEX
- RELATED LINKS
- OMAKE
- QUEST-RELATED ART
- CHARACTER SHEET: ENDURING ORDER ADMINISTRATOR
- CHARACTER SHEET: FIRST PRAYER OF PERFECTION
- CHARACTER SHEET: IRIS OF INNOVATION
- QUEST EXPERIENCE LOGS
- QUEST MECHANICS
- NEW CHARMS & ARTIFACTS
- TAYLOR'S FIRST ARMOR
-
Similar to this armor, but more 'regal' and with longer silken-armor skirt. Sadly, no cape.
FIRST ARMOR STAT SHEET:
Armor vs Normal Attacks: 10 (+1 w/ AMU)
Armor vs Energy Attacks: 17 (+1 w/ AMU, +5 w/ HES)
Mobility: -1
Strength Min: 1
Battery: 150 Hours (Recharge/Repair 25 hours takes one FULL hour of Technomorphic Integration Engine)
Other Bonuses: Flight (AGM), +2 Dodge DV (AES), +2 to rolls for interfacing with technology (DCS), +2 Awareness (TPMG), Perfect lie detection against visibly-human targets (TPMG), +2 dice to attacks and defenses in one-on-one combat against opponents without exotic powers (TPMG)
Advanced Materials Upgrade v11.13a
Through use of Tinker-designed materials, layers of advanced polymers and fibers are applied on top of the existing armor to enhance Armor by +2 . Electromagnetic seals to reinforce the armor's joints can be activated upon command (reflexive, enable/disable once per tick) at the cost of one hour of battery life per minute, but yield another +1 to Armor while enabled.
Anti-Gravity Manipulators v2.03c
Two modes, reflexively toggled: Tactical Flight (15yards/second normal, 25yards/tick dash), Transit Flight (30yards/tick normal [60mph], 40yards/tick dash [80mph]). Transit Flight requires a Dex+Athletics roll for quick changes in direction. Every hour (round up) spent flying in Tactical Flight counts as two hours for purposes of Recharge/Repair time, where Transit Flight counts as three hours.
Assisted Evasion System v1.22a
Various tiny antigravity modules dot the armour. When enabled (reflexive, enable/disable once per tick), the system reads the bodily movements of the wearer and exaggerates them by briefly firing the appropriate antigravity modules. This results in a 'jinking' movement that increases Dodge DV by +2, but drains an hour of battery power per minute active.
Distributed Computer System v5.54d
A suite of signal monitoring and transmission systems spread out across the entire suit collect and process data to feed into the suit's distributed operating system. Through this system, the wearer is able to detect and interface with all forms of broadcast communications, as well interface with physical ports through use of extending plugs, granting the user +2 on rolls involving wireless communications and computer systems. Nearby suits equipped with both Distributed Computer System and Tactical Prediction Model Generator may coordinate against a single target to gain attack and defense bonuses as if the combat was still one-on-one.
Hazardous Environment System v6.44h
A series of insulating materials, reflective surfaces, and coolant systems designed to protect the wearer against exposure to environmental hazards. The suit gains +7 Armor against all energy-based damage, such as extreme heat, cold, electricity, and radiation. Additionally, the suit can reflexively vent its coolant to give an additional +5 armor against a single energy-based damage roll; this also hits everyone within 5 yards of the wearer with boiling hot coolant (2L) and reduces the armor bonus to +4 until the coolant systems are repaired.
Tactical Prediction Model Generator v.08b
+2 Awareness, +3 successes for detecting lie attempts (against visibly-human targets), +2 dice to all attacks and defenses in one-on-one combat against opponents without exotic powers.
- LOCATIONS
-
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Relevant Philadelphia Information:
- Civilian Population: 900,000
- Parahuman Population (Officially): 10 Protectorate, 5 Wards, 91 Supervillains, 65 Unaffiliated Heroes, 9 Rogues
- Parahuman Population (Effective): 10 Protectorate, 5 Wards, 102 Supervillains, 67 Unaffiliated Heroes, 9 Rogues
- PRT Offices: PRT Headquarters/Downtown, PRT North, PRT Northeast, Protectorate Island
- Philadelphia's PRT usually counts Camden's non-PRT parahuman population in its numbers, as it does most of the work there. Cherry Hill and the other Camden County cities pitch in when available (which isn't often).
CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
Relevant Camden Information:
- Civilian Population: 52,000
- PRT Offices: Camden PRT Headquarters
- Parahuman Population (Officially): 3 Protectorate, 0 Wards, 11 Supervillains, 2 Unaffiliated Heroes, 0 Rogues
- Many of Philadelphia's Gangs claim territory in Camden, but the parahumans don't live there.
- Somehow worse than Brockton Bay: over 40% of the population is under the poverty line, gangs rule the streets, and the most of the city is condemned.
Credit to Sojiko for the Conquest Quest character sheet format.
Credit to PseudoSim for help formatting this Index.
Last edited:
Gromweld
Learning By Mistake
Chapter 7.3
Growing Pains:[X] I Can't Believe It's Not Marrow: Encourage First Prayer of Perfection to rebrand, but publicly acknowledge her conversion in order to maintain ties to her old reputation. (Stunt can help choose a new cape name!)
- [x] Stunt: You have changed. Glenn looks frazzled at you and Marrow through the teleconference display, And you wish to have this seen as growth, being the same person, but becoming more. You and Marrow nod in sync, her diamond skin shimmering in the light, Prayer and Perfection are taken, but this fits person and power both. Vajra. The diamond thunderbolt.
Reap the Whirlwind:
[X] Wardrobe Malfunction: Mess with their clothing in ways both subtle and ruinous.
- [x] Stunt: They like your clothing malfunctions? Give them a taste of their medicine! Have several of your bugs tweak the clothing just enough so that moving at anything faster than a fast walk can cause some very noticeable tears. Better yet, do it on the day of Bladedancers training! Sit back and enjoy the show.
[X] Mystery Meat: Cook up a heaping helping of delicious meatloaf! Secret ingredient: bugs!
- [x] Stunt: Enticing plates of honey glazed, spiced ants lie unattended in the common room lounge, alongside skewer-grilled beetles and fried coins of mysterious meat. The door slams open as the half-dead Wards barge in, exhausted and starving from training, wafting irresistible scents over the group, "God, Bladedancer was murder today. That smells delicious. Weaver's a lifesaver...what the fuck." "That is delicious."
Free Actions:
[X] Free Action: First Prayer of Perfection needs our help during this time of adjustment! Set out to create a small guide to better help her with the transition to her new form based on your experiences. Include: How has your Shard been affected?, Meditation and Mental Growth, Possible ways your body has been changed, and How to be close to the Maker.
XP Expenditures:
[X] Taylor - 2 XP - Craft (Replication ●○○)
[X] Taylor - 2 XP - Lore (Autochthonia ●○○)
[X] Taylor - 2 XP - Investigation (Online Research ●●○)
***
You're slightly surprised by the PRT VTOL transport jet dedicated to transporting you and Chevalier back to Philadelphia. While they're usually reserved for emergencies, you suspect that getting you back to Protectorate Island for testing was considered enough of a priority to warrant the fuel costs.
It's just as well. You've never been one for road trips.
While the flight will take just over half an hour, Chevalier remains focused on his laptop to the exclusion of everything else as he sorts through paperwork - yet another reminder of the burden of Protectorate leadership that always found its way out of your reach. But… would you have been gifted with this second life if you had been similarly consumed by the duties occupying Chevalier's free time? Enduring Order Administrator mentioned that she had considered Robert as her second option - after Dragon, of course - but upon considering his workload and responsibilities determined that there was a low chance that he would be able to pull himself away from his current role in time. That Dragon turned Adminstrator down for the same reasons may have been why she didn't even bother to ask him, afterwards.
While you consider Robert a good man and an upstanding hero, you're uncertain if he would have passed the leadership role to you should he have taken Administrator's offer… or if he would have bowed to the political pressures and passed the position on to Erasmus. As much as you dislike paperwork, such feelings would have been secondary to ensuring that deviant never has a true position of leadership.
You never saw the scene before it was 'cleaned up', but you have no trouble believing the rumors of what Erasmus did to to those girls - that they were villains didn't matter. Thinking back on it, perhaps you should have been more concerned that the matter dropped entirely when Loom stood up for him.
"Is something wrong?"
Chevalier's echoing voice is just loud enough to be heard over the whine of the jet's engines, and you look up from your absent-minded examination of the seat harness' texture. You blink in response to his helmeted gaze, the colors of the laptop's screen playing off his silver-and-gold armor.
"You looked like you'd smelled something rotten…" he trails off, tiling his head to the left slightly as he considers your changes. "Is it the gas fumes? I guess you're still getting used to smelling at all, huh?"
Moving a hand to your face, your mind blanks again at the realization that you now have to worry about your emotions revealing themselves prominently through it. That your features betrayed your thoughts so easily is surprising; is your body merely remembering how you used to act when you were young? Or are these instinctive reflexes that have merely been suppressed by all your years without a face?
You try to settle back into a 'neutral' expression, but make a mental note to pick up a hand mirror at the next opportunity.
"Memories, not odors," you finally muse, looking up to meet his gaze as you return to the subject at-hand. "Though the tang of gasoline is… heady."
Chevalier murmurs a concerned tone. "Memories? The ones you recovered?"
"Erasmus."
Chevalier is silent for a moment before he nods, then sighs heavily.
"He's in California overseeing a deal between a local villain team and the Protectorate right now, brokering a deal to get them to switch sides. He should be back on Wednesday, as long as everything goes well. Is there going… oh, right, your new… you."
Blinking, your hand falls away from your face as you realize what conclusion Chevalier has reached. You feel your vision grow darker as your face tightens, though you struggle to reign in the scowl.
"It is his control I doubt, not my own."
The armored Philadelphia leader startles slightly at your words, quickly holding his hands up defensively.
"No, that's not what I-" he begins, before pausing as the full understanding of your statement hits him. Sighing again as his helmet shakes back and forth, Chevalier leans back in the harness of his drop-down seat. "-right, of course. I'll make sure he doesn't get any ideas."
The notion almost makes you laugh, but you limit yourself to a tight smile. "Elective surgery?"
Chevalier makes a bewildered noise before, again, understanding catches up with him - a warm, surprised chuckle following in its wake.
"Bladedancer's suggested that as a way to fix him, but I'm pretty sure the PRT frowns on those kinds of corrective measures. I'll figure something out."
***
Though this is not the first time you have arrived back in Philadelphia by PRT aircraft, it is the first time you have done so under guard. Under scrutiny.
Laser, railgun, and containment foam, bristle atop Protectorate Island's three major stocky buildings, with a number of them tracking your walk down the tarmac and into temporary holding. You have seen what happens when more deadly turrets are employed against attackers, and your steps are quicker for the memories.
The five-man PRT squad that received you and Chevalier from the transport breaks off as you enter the building, returning to their guard detail. In their place, four familiar masks await within the sterilized containment room: Bladedancer, Lockstep, Assault, and Battery.
Though the welcoming forces are in full battle regalia - especially Bladedancer - the smiles greeting you show more relief at your return than wariness. Assault, as you have come to expect, is grinning a bit more heartily than the others as he nudges Lockstep with an elbow.
"They weren't kidding when they-ow!" but the joke is cut off by Battery, who turns a menacing smile upon her husband as she stomps on his foot. Lockstep continues to bob his masked head to some unknown beat, oblivious to the byplay around him as usual, though he uncrosses his right arm and gives you a lazy wave.
From the way Bladedancer's skirt of razors and knives shines in the pale halogen light, she must have finally heeded your advice to polish them. She always complained it was a waste of time, so you wonder what changed her mind; there weren't any public relation events planned for the past week, from what you recall.
"No more armor, Marmar?" she grins, showing off her canines. "You sure you're going to be able to keep up now?"
You resist replying immediately, instead focusing on controlling your facial muscles and body language to avoid betraying your own eagerness. You have come to believe that the perceived impassivity of your previous form was your major appeal to her, as she clearly enjoyed the attempts to provoke a reaction from you.
Answering Bladedancer's question with a tight nod, you turn your head to the right to urge Chevalier to get down to business. The armored Striker takes your cue and clears his throat to get the attention of the assembled heroes.
"As you've been briefed, this-" he gestures with a hand to you, "really is Marrow. The PRT is still figuring out how to spin this, so wait until we hear from them before talking to the public about it. I think I can handle things from here, though, so-"
The sound of the heavy hydraulics and magnetic clamps echos through the containment room, interrupting Chevalier's speech and signaling that the prerequisite scans have completed. As the heavy interior door slides up, a small squad of PRT officers are revealed to be waiting inside. At their head is Director Uriel, his disinterested facade hiding any other emotions he may be feeling.
Your assembled group turns to face the PRT forces arrayed behind them, Lockstep and Assault taking two more steps back to provide the Philadelphia director a clear line of sight to you and Chevalier. Uriel takes a moment to lazily give you a once-over before sighing to himself.
"You're already giving Loom and Trace headaches. You need to do whatever Weaver does to…" he trails off, before waving a hand in your general direction, "... fix that."
You have long become inured to Director Uriel's brand of blunt, faux-apathy, so you know better than to react immediately to his words. Instead, you have learned to focus more on the why behind his words.
From the discussions that preceded the arrivals from Brockton Bay, you learned that Director Uriel was in discussion with Alexandria to relocate Weaver to Los Angeles if she was unable to control her precog disruptions. Does this mean that he has already begun discussions with other teams to relocate you should you pose a similar problem?
You need a bit more time to parse his statement, so you give him a quick nod of tacit understanding in the meantime. Uriel raises an eyebrow slightly in response - perhaps he was testing to see if you were actually you? - before turning his gaze to Chevalier.
"I have a Directors meeting to get to. Make sure the testing reports are on my desk before I go home."
Only because you are standing next to him do you hear a light sigh escape Chevalier's helmet before he nods curtly.
"Of course. Anything else, sir?"
Director Uriel straightens up from his usual slouch, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath as he stretches languidly. As he lets out the breath, his lidded gaze fastens back onto you - drilling into your own eyes for a moment before he breaks the stare and scratches his cheek absently.
"Don't disappoint, Marrow."
Before you can respond, he is already walking away.
You manage to reign in your smile. He's always had a hard time with showing he cares.
***
Despite being excused by Chevalier, the other four heroes tag along to observe the results of your tests. Though the passageways and shape of the building has changed since you first arrived in Philadelphia, your ultimate destination is passingly familiar enough to trigger a memory: this is the same testing chamber you used when you were first inducted into the Protectorate. No one else mentions this or gives any indication that they are aware of this fact, but it is too much of a coincidence to ignore. Another matter to bring to Weaver's attention, perhaps.
Once you are guided inside the meeting-hall-sized laboratory, filled with many more high-tech and streamlined gadgets than when you last went through these tests, you are greeted by two overly-zealous scientists that immediately begin hooking you up to all kinds of monitoring straps and patches.
Their enthusiasm is stalled somewhat when it's discovered that the devices on your skin aren't capable of registering your artificial composition, but they perk after some whispered musing and guide you to some form of large scanning device. After a few minutes of lying on your back as large spinning disks rotate around you, the two scientists are pleasantly bewildered by the imagery of your insides the machine has provided.
They try to get you to explain the morass of gears, wires, rods, pistons, and other machinery that fill your body, but you defer them to Weaver for any knowledge of your construction.
Despite your reservations, you allow them to draw a small sample of 'blood' from your arm (which yields a luminescent, silver liquid) and take small shavings from your hair and skin. Their attempts to take a small sample from your finger and toenails fails, your metallic-white nails proving more durable than their shaving device.
After a few more tests of your basic five senses (all excellent, nothing above human norms, though the taste tests were a bit startling), lung capacity (you no longer need to breathe), flexibility (superhuman, as you can bend in many ways that the normal human skeleton simply does not allow), you finally move on to the tests designed to push parahumans to their limits.
The raw strength tests - based around a series of massive pistons designed to scale to impossible levels of force - places you well above your previous un-augmented strength, but well below the force your powers could exert in short bursts: roughly one thousand pounds of sustained force, though you manage a few spikes of nearly seventeen-hundred pounds when you focus your will to the task. Well above human limits, but not too far… though the sparks in the back of your mind hint that you possess abilities far beyond these limits. Trying to focus on them, however, only causes them to fade away.
You mention these feelings to the scientists, as well as your concerns that the hidden powers at your disposal may skew the tests dramatically, which leaves them slightly puzzled. After a quick check with Chevalier, however, they reason that it will still be best to push on with the full battery of tests - it will provide a new benchmark for whatever improvements or changes your 'additional powers' may provide.
The tests of your endurance prove inconclusive when you show no sign of discomfort after an hour on the inclined treadmill while carrying nearly a thousand pounds. You voice your suspicions that there is a limit to your endurance… though everyone is in agreement that there are more important things to do than to wait for that limit to appear. The scientists mention that they would appreciate any data you can gather on that on your own, though they clearly understand that such data will likely only be found on the battlefield.
Testing your reflexes, however, proves to have remained the same since your first examination: dodging progressively-quicker projectiles, and then dodging multiple projectiles. What has changed, however, are precautions now taken to avoid seriously harming the examinee; gone are the machine guns firing rubber bullets, replaced with awkward-looking tinkertech devices that look like some form of monstrous tennis ball-launcher that fire black marbles that ping harmlessly on your skin when they make contact (despite audibly breaking the sound barrier during the later stages of the test).
The rubber bullets didn't bother your armored form back then, and now your reflexes are clearly superhuman - you can't quite dodge all the projectiles when the test moves to multiple sources, but you imagine that Kali is observing your progress through the mirrored glass with a smile.
You don't voice the thought, but in the back of your mind you wonder if you would have an easier time identifying and activating your other powers if they had kept the machine guns and rubber bullets; these tests have been - to varying degrees - strenuous, but your instincts suspect that your powers are meant for when you are truly threatened.
You blink away the sensation of a black marble striking your right eye, and table the thought until you can speak with Administrator.
***
The highlight of the test, of course, is when you get to demonstrate the two powers of which you are aware: Industrial Survival Frame and Plasma Thruster Assembly.
The sensation of a wind tunnel isn't really the same as the brisk air of the lower atmosphere, but it is still a rush all the same. Gust will likely be overjoyed to have another flyer on the team, and now you can properly take him up on his skydiving lessons. Not that you wouldn't have survived the fall in your prison of bone, but now you will be able to feel the air against your skin.
While you had been expecting the scientists to have been shocked by the radiant corona that burst to life once you began utilizing the electric energies coursing through your body, their only surprise was that it didn't match Weaver's in coloration or iconography. You feel a bit of disappointment at that, but at least you are not causing the machines to fail and any observers to flee in terror - your own display appears to be free of any such side-effects.
Despite having a full write-up on Weaver's own application of the power, the scientists are still baffled by the idea of your Industrial Survival Frame working off of intent. Moreover, they are unnerved by the implication that this your power can read minds; somehow, the power is capable of determining what the examiner is intending, no matter what they state verbally.
"I do not wish to harm you."
Fwoosh. Nothing.
"I do not wish to harm you."
Fwosh. A light burn.
"I am attempting to harm you."
Fwoosh. A light burn.
"I am attempting to harm you."
Fwoosh. Nothing.
After the scientists have concluded that your power works identically to Weaver's the final test - after a prompt from Chevalier - is whether you can mimic some of her other powers from memory.
Standing in a clear space in the testing chamber, you close your eyes and mentally probe the sparks of power that lurk in the depths of your conscious mind.
You raise your hands, twitching them slighting in a manner that reminds you of how Administrator's hands unfurl into the tools she uses for tinkering. After several seconds of trying, none of the sparks light up in your mind. Nothing.
Rubbing your hands along your arms, you consider the way Administrator's skin shimmers like a heat wave before she disappears from sight. Nothing.
Opening your eyes, you stride towards the nearest loose object: one of the small marbles from the reflex test that somehow ricocheted all the way over to this side of the room. Bending down to examine it, you close your eyes and imagine the strange, small doorways and compartments that open up on Administrator's skin when she absorbs something into her private dimension. Nothing.
Picking up the small marble, you stand up and turn it over in your hand. You peer down into its glossy surface, focusing your will into the strange electric sensations running through your body, hoping to direct the energy into your eyes. After more than a minute of squinting, scowling, staring, and gazing deeply into the marble, you have yet to feel anything light up in the back of your mind. Nothing.
Closing your eyes and rolling the ball over in your fingers idly, enjoying the sensation for its own merits, you think back on the way Administrator spoke of her ability to branch her mind into six unique trains of thought. In a flash that causes the marble to fall out of your hand, the humming electricity in your veins surges into action, pushing into your mind with the force of a whirlwind…
Opening your eyes, you catch the marble as it falls, without even realizing that you were attempting to grab for it in the first place.
The radiant corona that burst forth during your testing of your Plasma Thruster Assembly springs to life once again, though not to the degree that it did when you pushed your flight capabilities to their limit - a blessing, as you'd rather not hear another round of complaints about your corona raining bits of liquid crystal all over the room.
Turning your mind back to the power you just activated - Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade, you believe Administrator named it - you blink and scowl in thought as you try to… think in multiples.
From how you've heard it described, you most certainly would have noticed suddenly gaining five more trains of thought. Hmm…
Wait. When did you start juggling the marble?
Eying your hand suspiciously, you voice your thoughts aloud, explaining your previous tests and the failures.
"Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade. Application… different."
Dr. Blokov, the mousy, blonde scientist, perks up from behind her clipboard at your statement, squeaking slightly in excitement.
"Weaver's Thinker power? Your movements have gained the same mechanical fluidity… oh!" she pauses, beginning to look a bit disappointed after making the mental connection. "Do you not feel the mind-alteration effect?"
You turn your head slightly match her inquisitive gaze, idly noting afterwards that the movement was far more swift and efficient than you had intended. Before you can respond, however, a blur in your peripheral vision causes your left arm to snap out and grab the offending... marble?
"Aye, that's a wee bit better than before, eh?"
Dr. McKinley's usual manic grin lends levity to his tone as he hobbles out from behind you, his prosthetic left leg clunking heavily on the ceramic tile floor. "Not that ya wouldn't 'ta dodged it before, mind, but ya weren't as good as catchin' the wee buggers when they were blindsidin' ya. Might be'n that the power makes ya more dexterous, then?"
The two scientists babble with each other for a few moments about possible tests to run to examine these new parameters, allowing you to back away stealthily and move towards the pile of spare marbles still littering the floor on the other side of the room. As you bend down to pick them up, you idly begin adding them to your juggling as you do so.
By the time you run out of marbles on the floor, you are merely picking them up off the ground with your toes as you walk around, then kicking them up and bouncing them off your head, shoulders, elbows, and knees in addition to the dozens of tiny spheres you are keeping aloft with your hands.
The clearing of Dr. McKinley's throat causes you to spin around swiftly to face him - an act that doesn't deter your juggling in the slightest.
"Ahh…" he begins warily, "that'll be a boost to tha reflexes alright."
Dr. Blokov nods eagerly, her wide eyes mesmerized by the blur of your fingers as they work. After a few more moments of staring, however, she shakes her head as if to clear her mind and gets back to writing on her clipboard.
"Thank you, Marrow, that should do for now. We're going to tentatively mark that as a boost to reflexes, but we're going to hold off from asking you to try gifting that to other people until you have a chance to speak with Weaver about the ins-and-outs of your powers. Weaver also possesses a Thinker 'danger sense' reflex power, her Master power for controlling arthropods and invertebrates, and a Stranger disguise power. Have you tried them yet?"
Turning back from the two PRT scientists, you swiftly gather up the marbles in your hands in a matter of seconds, then gently place them on the floor in an orderly pyramid - a task made slightly more difficult by the smoothness of the marbles' surface, but not overly so.
Standing up again, you stride the few steps necessary to place yourself back in the center of the room and deactivate Incomparable Efficiency Upgrade. With no more charms active, you once again close your eyes and open your mind to the untested powers lurking in the periphery of your consciousness.
Thinking of the 'danger sense' as Dr. Blokov called it, you feel one of the sparks flare to life - but you hold onto it, instead of letting it activate freely. Instead, you try to analyze it, attempting to understand its activation mechanisms... but focusing on it so intently drives it out of your grasp.
Administrator made her attempts at introspection appear so easy. Perhaps there is something to her method that you are not taking into account? Yet another matter to discuss with her.
You fail to stifle a sigh, then explain your marginal success to your observers. The Drs. Blokov and McKinley talk amongst themselves about your finding, leaving you to turn your mind inward again.
From Administrator's own description, her disguise power does not function when she is visibly radiating her 'anima' display. Since your own display is still at least a few minutes from dissipating - going off of your own experience, at least - you instead consider the power that defines her.
She believes it is the remnant of her parahuman ability, somehow changed - how so, she does not know - by Autochthon himself when she was rescued from her own prison.
Autochthon did not give you Administrator's signature power.
You know this because you can feel your old power lurking in the back of your mind, a forgotten itch that springs to the forefront of your mind the moment think of it again. Where the other sparks are dazzling fish that blend into the sea around them, your power of bone and sorrow stirs ceaselessly like a shark in blood-soaked waters.
Administrator explained that she can turn off her power through force of will, and that you too may be able to do the same after your conversion.
Even still, you are afraid.
Afraid of forgetting the feeling of warmth on your skin. Afraid of never again knowing the smell of open air. Afraid of never getting the chance to truly smile again.
Afraid of being locked away again, the prison so much worse for the knowing of what freedom was like.
But you had faith in Enduring Order Administrator before, and you have faith in Autochthon now.
You grab hold of the remnant of your old power, and for a moment you gasp at the feeling of raw satisfaction that courses through you at the act.
And then the world is tearing, blinding, and blue.
***
Taylor - Intimacy: Geode/Kinzey (Bemusement) +1 Scene [2/4]
Taylor - Intimacy: Xylophone/Penny (Wariness) +1 Scene [2/4]
Marrow - Athletics +1 Training Interval [1/6]
Marrow - Dodge +1 Training Interval [1/6]
Marrow - Occult +1 Training Interval [2/6]
Marrow - Presence +1 Training Interval [2/6]
Taylor - Craft +1 Training Interval [6/6]
Taylor - Craft (Replication ●○○) GAINED!
Taylor - Investigation (Specialty: Online Research ●●○) GAINED!
Taylor - Larceny +1 Training Interval [4/6]
Taylor - Larceny (Pranks ●○○) NOW AVAILABLE
Taylor - Lore (Autochthonia ●○○) GAINED!
Taylor - Socialize +1 Training Interval [2/6]
Aaaaaaand we're back for NaNoWriMo! Daily updates, hurrah!
Since we still have a number of Votes still pending with Taylor, this vote will be a bit more open-ended as we follow Marrow for a bit more. Don't worry - tomorrow's Interlude should help us see some of the fruits of our labors.
I Need A Member From The Audience:
Choose one character to make an appearance in the next update. Any canonical Worm character is fair game, as is any character mentioned in the Quest thus far. HOW they appear is up to me, and depending on the character chosen may not be immediately apparent. Votes should be formatted like such:
[X] CHARACTERNAME
Example:
[X] Eden
XP Expenditures should now be formatted as such:
[X] NAME - ? XP - Item ●●●○○
[X] NAME - ? XP - Item (Specialization ●●○)
Spending more XP than a character has in their own bank will automatically draw from the Assembly bank, and Named XP must be spent before Assembly XP can be used.
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XkaliburRage
Perpetual Procrastinator
Yesssss.... Finally my thirst is quenched!
Gromweld
Learning By Mistake
Clarification: by 'Appearance' I don't mean that they will be the POV for the update or interlude. I just mean they'll show up in some way in 7.4.
Still slogging through the last thread to catch up on all the omake and art. There's at least 20+ XP not counted thus far, so it's safe to assume there's going to be at least 30XP in the Assembly bank when I'm done. Serves me right for leaving you guys to your own devices for so long...
Still slogging through the last thread to catch up on all the omake and art. There's at least 20+ XP not counted thus far, so it's safe to assume there's going to be at least 30XP in the Assembly bank when I'm done. Serves me right for leaving you guys to your own devices for so long...
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lostapenny
losing sleep to gain lost time.
[X] Epoch
or
[X] canary
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
or
[X] canary
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
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- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Contessa
I like Cauldron
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
I like Cauldron
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Vista
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
[x] Myrrdin
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
I want to assess if we can give our resident Wizard some real magical powers.
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
I want to assess if we can give our resident Wizard some real magical powers.
[X] Vista's new legal guardian
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
[X] Vista's new legal guardian
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Master Chef) ●●○○○
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○
[X] Taylor - 2 XP - Medicine (Diagnostics ●○○)
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Master Chef) ●●○○○
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○
[X] Taylor - 2 XP - Medicine (Diagnostics ●○○)
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[X] Vista's new legal guardian
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Presence (Swarms ●●●)
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Craft (Swarms ●●○)
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Investigation (Swarms ●●●)
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Bureaucracy (Materiel Invoices ●○○)
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○
[X] Taylor - 4XP - Craft ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Presence (Swarms ●●●)
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Craft (Swarms ●●○)
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Investigation (Swarms ●●●)
[X] Taylor - 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●●
[X] Taylor - 2XP - Bureaucracy (Materiel Invoices ●○○)
[X] Taylor - 6 XP - Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○
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