Huh.
That's a Full Metal Alchemist-style homunculus, isn't it?
Just made in Riley's form.
Like to see a continuation for this.
The grapefruit-sized drone floats about waist-high, the top part folded open in several parts to display crystals and lenses - which are lit up, projecting Taylor's undersuit-clad upper half. She's still in full Alch-mode, not even hiding her charms anymore and her glowing 'veins' are still noticeable even though she's a semi-transparent, blue-and-white hologram.
This was a Star Wars reference, wasn't it?
Dunno how I missed it first time.
"... when I was starting out, it scrambled anything electronic pointed at me, too. Prayer's anima is different: it changes recordings and memories to make her look like something else."
That gets you to turn to the giant blue crystal woman in shock. "What?"
"After the moment has passed," she bows her head, solemnly, "all who bore witness saw the Great Maker in action."
I am increasingly convinced that PRT team leader is not the right choice for the lady who literally evokes the Great Maker in action.
Let the [inquisitor-priest]woman of faith do something about putting together a church.
Yes, she has average Charisma, but we can improve that, and her Presence is pretty good.
And she does have her anima power to fall back on.
"I think, Tatsu…" she begins, nodding slowly with a growing, relieved smile, "that your dimension is now natively essence-derived, so a spirit like Crushing Grasp would be able to recover their motes there. It's not infinite, or Autochthon wouldn't need us in the first place, but it could be a big help towards enriching some materials or places here on Earth with essence."
This will be very useful for helping Iris recharge, stacking both the Essence from Taylor and that from SoTI.
Provided the link between him and Taylor is not cut by the effect.
Now… you can barely relocate as much as you can lift. Prayer could resist getting pulled in, though Industrial Survival Frame blocked the relocation completely. The first few scientists couldn't resist, but eventually they started being able to (if only slightly, because noodle arms), and trying to relocate more than one trying to resist quickly became impossible. The Power Testing Dummy, however, was sucked up immediately, as were any empty boxes or light testing weights.
There are multi-action penalties for trying to grab more than one (resisting)person?
That's something to work on.
"Right. I also talked with him about your containment, and we both agreed that it'd be against everyone's best interests for the Youth Guard to get on his case about your extended containment after your… recovery…" she smiles, tone light, "and that you'd be happy not to press the issue if we could get a head start on your meditation at the same time that the scientists are studying your anima."
Did Taylor just blackmail the New York PRT Director?
Bureaucracy 3, everyone.
Office politics is a superpower in it's own right.
You note the wary side-eye that Dr. Rose is giving Taylor at this admission, but you are more surprised that she would willingly work with the Youth Guard like this; you and Sakura had lost count of the number of times that she'd gone on a grumbling rant about them wasting her time over the last month. Maybe she thinks that redirecting them back at the PRT will get them off her case?
Taylor has studied the Tao of Office Politics since you went away, Saki.
Her Martial Arts rating might still be 0, but her Bureaucratic Judo specialty is maxed out.
That could be an actual specialty, btw.
The good doctor realizes exactly how much pull and skill it must take to both get a conference call with the NY PRT Director at basically an hour's notice, and then get him to change his mind. And it scares him.
You've never minded them, after all, since Ms. Keyworth (your case worker) had managed to get the two of you a few weeks to settle into Philadelphia before your cape personas were publicly revealed. She'd even helped go over your patrol schedules and paths to help limit how much fighting you needed to do.
You hope she made it out of the fighting alright, and try to make a mental note to ask Taylor about her later.
Love this.
The example of a YG case worker who is intimately involved in her subject's cape lives is everything that the Youth Guard are there to accomplish.
Not everyone is the hypermature, independent Taylor, who knows what she wants and has little compunction in pushing for it.
While many have been rebuilt or replaced since then, the emphasis towards reinforcement and survivability since then has led to the New York skyline filled with sturdy towers of metal instead of glass or stone.
Noone builds mostly with metal.
Not unless the Earth Bet construction techbase is significantly different from RL.
Concrete and steel; they'd just change the designs.
And maybe incorporate forcefields of some sort; 2013 Earth Bet had defensive forcefields over New York, though we don't know when they were installed.
The glass has probably been replaced by some sort of composite, though.
You required more Clarity to accept Taylor's reasoning - that your charms needed space to reconfigure, which both she and Prayer had encountered in their own meditations - and the fact that both she and Prayer had done the same helped put away the suspicion that she is just trying to embarrass you.
Projecting, Saki?
Methinks you spend too much time with Aisha.
Ultimately, it was your memory that Sakura had won your argument and declared Taylor's base form 'not lewd' (Barbie dolls are boring, not pervy) which allowed you to step out onto the south-west corner Cape Receiving Pad and disrobe, handing over your jumpsuit to Lord Grasp...
… who promptly shredded it with a blurring of his pincers before anyone could protest, then let the remains catch a gust of wind to carry them off the roof.
"I'd set it on fire, but it doesn't deserve the honor."
:lol
That had led to some awkwardness from the scientists as they tried to set up the monitoring equipment around you, though observing them you began to suspect that their was more to their caution than that simple display of irreverence. Understandable, since even you are still wrapping your head around the notion of spirits, but you think it might be best to watch his Power Testing video after all your own testing is done.
Yeah.
Then probably get to watch video of the attack on Protectorate Island; that's probably on Youtube, or whatever the Earth Bet equivalent is.
"Before you start meditating, Tatsu, let's slowly build up your anima so that there aren't any major surprises," she begins, ignoring the suspicious look your mechanical companion is giving her drone. "Let's try to keep it gradual, so don't let the essence go wild when you pull at it - focus on your essence pool and let it trickle out without powering any charms."
I lol'd.
There are shouts of surprise and concern from the gathered scientists, though they're mostly drowned out by the thrumming hum and crackling power you're generating at the moment. Still, you're able to make out their staggering forms easily through the semi-transparent fog that you're generating, as well as Taylor, Prayer, and Lord Grasp - all three of whom don't appear to have reacted much to the display.
Instead, they're just looking up.
Normal humans freaking out, while the Alchemicals and spirit maintain silence as they stand still and look UP.
Not creepy. Nope.
Not at all.
You crane your neck to follow their gaze.
No monstrous creature or terrifying display fills the sky above you, so your initial fear is quickly replaced by momentary confusion.
A black magatama, nearly as large as a blimp, floats serenely in the sky above you.
Yeah, if the PRT was even attempting to keep Saki's return quiet, the appearance of a new totemic anima above their NY headquarters has pretty obviously blown that clear out of the water. If nothing else, the police/Protectorate switchboard is going to blow up with 911 calls, and the Protectorate/PRT will have to make some sort of preliminary statement.
After which the media frenzy starts.
"It's alright," she sighs, offering a light smile, "controlling anima was difficult for me until I had everything configured. On the bright side… you probably have the most unassuming totemic anima out of all of us - even Prayer's moon has spooked some people."
You nod, and reason that Prayer has some kind of lunar display for her anima and not that people were scared of her exposed butt.
"Right," Taylor continues, clapping her hands together, "now, supposedly your anima power is…" she pauses, smile straining a bit, "... actually helpful. Could you try… moving around a bit? Maybe throw a punch or two?"
Carefully not reacting to the way Prayer twitches at Taylor's words, you simply nod and follow her command - settling into a relaxed stance feel almost reflexive, now, and throwing a punch-
Taylor.
She's probably referring to her own anima power, but I can see where Prayer might be a little sensitive about hers after mind-whammying everyone watching TV when the Nine attacked Protectorate Island.
You stop to look at her, but you are not… jealous. She managed to avoid everything you did while wearing hundreds of pounds of crystalline armor, dodging and weaving through your strikes like they weren't even there. You may as well have been flailing through molasses for all it appeared to matter to her.
You are envious. People always get those two mixed up.
I can see the foreshadowing for magic kungfu here.
"I do not prefer to fight," you voice, looking back up at the other two Alchemicals and Lord Grasp. Not that he can understand you - in fact, Lord Grasp would likely scoff at such a notion. Instead, he still seems to be studying you and the yin symbol hanging in the sky with clear confusion.
Hmm.
I guess he's wondering why it's incomplete, since the yin-yang symbol is indigenous to Creation as well.
Has anyone even told him that Saki has a sister yet?
Heroes and PRT choppers have come and gone during the tests, usually lingering until being shooed away by Prayer informing them that you are (technically) still in Master/Stranger Protocol Confinement. Legend even passes through briefly at one point, but only to wave and smile before his blue-and-white form shoots off into the east.
Yup, the news is well and properly out.
Cue all the gawkers.
… and heartbreaking pain.
Oceans of shimmering oil littered with curdling flotsam. Thinned clouds of billowing steam pumping from pipes outnumbered by their silent brethren. Spires of crystal marred by jagged fractures.
The oily blood of a god pours from the rheumy Eye in unending tears.
The Deus Machina swivels slightly and the enormous Eye of the Primordial shifts to push through the pain and illness… to stare at you.
Poor Auto is in worse shape than when we left him.
TIME GROWS SHORT.
FINISH THE ASSEMBLY.
BEFORE ALL IS LOST.
SO ARISE, WARDEN OF REFLECTED INFINITIES.
FOR YOU ARE EXALTED.
Welp.
We need to hustle.
Your eyes snap open to cold, cloudless night sky. The sounds of life echo up from the streets below, and the lights from the City That Never Sleeps drown out the stars.
Opening your mouth, you turn your head until you find Taylor staring back at you in surprise.
"Uh oh."
So it's nightfall, and something happened in the meantime.
Okay, so we need to finish Assembly really fucking fast? Well then.
I still really really really dislike adding more kids to Assembly, so who are our adult candidates?
The thematics of Worm does center around teenage protagonists.
Even Dragon is chronologically between 6 and 10 years of age, depending on when you think Richter started operating.
