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Avatar Taylor (Worm/A:TLA)

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So, it has been brought to my attention that I made a bit of a mistake with the last update.
Specifically, Pen catching up and then poking me about Amy acting out of character. I tried to rationalize it away, give some spoilerish arguments for why it wasn't, but they didn't hold up. So, not wanting to scrap the entire update, we settled on a tweak that'd solve it with minimal fuss.

I mean, AT49 was about 1.6K words, a thousand of which will need to be scrapped, but that's an easy price compared to published words. I can probably recycle most of it anyway.

So, update tweaks.

I drew the line at buying one of those stupid salt lamps. That was absolutely never happening.

Tearing my mind back from its tangent, I had to wonder if the dream was because of my research. Something about Prism or Ursa Aurora sparking a memory in my power, maybe. I'd have to find time to practice and make sure I understood it. It might be useful for spying if it was as ghostly as it seemed.

I did my morning workout with Cass, updated her on potential base-finding progress, and made breakfast. After that, I checked my phone for texts, finding another one from Amy.

'Need to talk. Weird power fuckery.'

It felt weird that the most concerning part of it was the lack of her usual AOL speak. 'Can it wait for tomorrow? We can meet up before school' I replied. I'd make time if I had to, but my docket was pretty full today. I didn't see any other potentially critical texts, so I sent one to Sally asking about what we'd talked about last time while waiting for Amy to reply.

'Ugh' 'Skelcisysnelcisyenelcixapensyel' 'Fine'

I… think the middle one was her idly tapping her screen until she accidentally hit send, but I couldn't be sure. I stared for a minute or two, and tried to force myself not to worry about it. I sent out a few more texts to check in, arguably the most important being to Terri. Apparently the most difficult part of owning a cheap emergency phone while homeless was keeping it charged, which shouldn't be an issue while she was rooming with Spitfire. Sally got back saying it was handled, and Terri eventually replied that she was still alive.
Tearing my mind back from its tangent, I had to wonder if the dream was because of my research. Something about Prism or Ursa Aurora sparking a memory in my power, maybe. I'd have to find time to practice and make sure I understood it. It might be useful for spying if it was as ghostly as it seemed.

I did my morning workout with Cass, updated her on potential base-finding progress, and made breakfast. After that, I checked my phone for texts. There were a couple from Kara and Tracy checking on me, but that was about it. I replied and sent out a few texts of my own to check in, arguably the most important being to Terri. Apparently the most difficult part of owning a cheap emergency phone while homeless was keeping it charged, which shouldn't be an issue while she was rooming with Spitfire. Sally got back saying it was handled, and Terri eventually replied that she was still alive.

Dad left for work, while Cass moved to the living room. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it seemed like she and Gerard started snipping at each other while they kept an eye on the news. Occasionally one would pull out their phone to check something, but they settled into a semi-comfortable atmosphere of filling the air with idle chatter.

With the meeting starting a little after noon, I started getting dressed and ready to go around eleven. Gram's car arrived not long after, and I pointed out sandwich fixings for lunch on my way out. We were expected to eat before the meeting, so our first stop was a restaurant.

"You seem tense." Gram noted aloud.
Dad left for work, while Cass moved to the living room. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it seemed like she and Gerard started snipping at each other while they kept an eye on the news. Occasionally one would pull out their phone to check something, but they settled into a semi-comfortable atmosphere of filling the air with idle chatter.

Right around when school would start, my phone started dinging rather aggressively at me. I grabbed it from where I'd left it charging, and found several texts from Vicky.

'Hey Taylor' 'Amy wont wake up' 'I think she did smthng dumb last night' 'maybe the hospital again' 'cant wake her for school' 'can you check on her later' 'I need to go now or im late too' I checked the phone's clock, and saw that it was about three minutes before the late bell. She'd definitely be late if she wasn't flying already. 'Gtg check on her soon?' came in while I was doing that.

'Sure, I'll call her in an hour or so. Unless she's sick or something and you need me to physically check on her?' I replied.

'N, just sleeping' 'I think' 'should be okay'

I snorted at how frantic her string of texts made her sound. 'Okay. I'll call her before my meeting today.'

'thx'

I shook my head with a fond smile, putting the phone back. Then I checked the time, saw I still had about two hours, and settled back in to meditate for a while. Around an hour later, I called Amy, and she didn't pick up. Half an hour later, I tried again, starting to get a little worried.

With the meeting starting a little after noon, I started getting dressed and ready to go around eleven. I tried Amy one last time, and left a voicemail checking on her. Then I hesitantly set it to silent, knowing I might forget before the meeting. Gram's car arrived not long after, and I pointed out sandwich fixings for lunch to Cass and Gerard on my way out. We were expected to eat before the meeting, so our first stop was a restaurant.

"You seem tense." Gram noted aloud.

"Nearly." She repeated in a flat tone, and I suppose that little distinction made all the difference.
"Nearly." She repeated in a flat tone, and I suppose that little distinction made all the difference.

With the meeting over, I took out my phone to un-mute it. Then I stopped, silently stunned at the number of missed calls. Twenty calls, and a dozen voicemails, all from Amy. I held up a finger to halt Gram, before calling her back.

It picked up halfway through the second ring. "You fucking bitch, do you have any idea what happened last night!?" She nearly shrieked into my ear.

I held the phone several more inches from my face. "N-no?"
Amy shrieked wordlessly for a couple seconds. "No, I will not calm down!" She yelled, sounding like she'd pulled the phone away and was talking to someone else. "Yes, it is nece-" She paused, audibly growling. "Fine!" Shifting sounds and her voice coming clearer followed. "Just… get here. Now? Now."

"Are you oka-" I paused, pulling the phone away. She hung up on me? Huh. "Well, I suppose I know what I'm doing next…" I relayed what little I understood of the situation to Gram, and we left for the Dallons' after that.

I'll remove this threadmark in a week or so, after people have had time to check it.
 
Dalxein said:
A compilation of the original interlude snippets, which I'd been tacking on at the end of updates after the vote blocks and ANs. This is all of them up through Update 12.
I think a lot of them sadly lose some of their impact this far from where they happened in-story, but shifting formats and compromises will do that. :(

---

??? / ???

"You're right, she's way stronger than she should be." The fool boy in front of her was smiling as he said it. "Learns faster than she should, more agile... if she's not a cape I'll eat my scarf."
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Well some interludes have been quite meh
Like the one about the queen administrator... it honestly feels wrong to give so much humanity to the fragment/robot
 
lalaton said:
Well some interludes have been quite meh
Like the one about the queen administrator... it honestly feels wrong to give so much humanity to the fragment/robot
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I mean, the prelude heavily implies that she isn't just a half-sentient shard anymore. The original QA was only enough of a mind to make up like a third of what she is now.

(And then she drafted like 15-20% from Taylor, which... Was certainly a choice that was made.)
 
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15
. I hadn't given it much thought, I was still busy making sure I was trained enough to survive whatever plan I came up with, but... "I'm forming a team." I said, then continued more firmly. "I'm forming my own team and we can control the city."
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uggg idealists... they are not the worst type of idiots but they are the most annoying ones, they only survive in stories. It feels a little weird that things jump to her forming a group to take over the city when she hasn't even done a solo patrol. Also the reason why New wave, the protectorate, the wards and the heroes in general cannot "control" the city and keep the villains out apart from the lack of strength is that you need to control the dark side of the city and Therefore, being a criminal/villain to prevent there from being other villains, if being the strongest was enough so that there are no villains, cities with heroes like Eidolon, Legend and Alexandria would not have villains. If on top of that we add that if you eliminate all the villains in the city you are basically paralyzing the growth of the heroes. In any case, I like how she is training her powers. I just hope that this story doesn't sacrifice realism so that everything turns out well for Mc.
 
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Worm is many things, but 'realistic' is not one of them, so I don't know what you're getting at with that 'sacrifice' thing. In any case, 'idealism is stupid' is about as played out as faux-philosophical statements get. Also, this story is a transcript of a Quest over on SpaceBattles, if that's of any interest.
Finally, no, you do not need a bigger villain to beat the villains. That's absurd. You need to remove the preconditions that lead to there being villains. Which, while McCrae cannot imagine it, is possible.
 
DiscovAres said:
Worm is many things, but 'realistic' is not one of them, so I don't know what you're getting at with that 'sacrifice' thing. In any case, 'idealism is stupid' is about as played out as faux-philosophical statements get. Also, this story is a transcript of a Quest over on SpaceBattles, if that's of any interest.
Finally, no, you do not need a bigger villain to beat the villains. That's absurd. You need to remove the preconditions that lead to there being villains. Which, while McCrae cannot imagine it, is possible.
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I don't think it's necessary to explain what I mean when I say "realism" in a series of superpowers.

and if it is quite impossible, as long as there is a free market to exploit, there will be someone who will go to exploit it, good luck eliminating corruption, drugs, prostitution and crimes from a society. If there was a way to do it, we would have already discovered it, even less so with laws and action protocols as lax as those of heroes to deal with villains

The truth is that the PTR is not interested in a city without villains, what do heroes do in a city without villains? Nothing leaves and when they leave other villains come. It is much easier and cheaper to keep everything stable and play the game of the villain and the hero. The key is that the heroes are the ones who have the advantage and not the other way around.

I'm not saying that idealism itself is stupid. It is stupid when someone is guided solely by that and ignores the reality around them. I'm not saying this is bad or anything like that. It is a very noble cause. I just think it's the quickest way for others to step on you and take advantage of you.
 
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lalaton said:
and if it is quite impossible, as long as there is a free market to exploit, there will be someone who will go to exploit it, good luck eliminating corruption, drugs, prostitution and crimes from a society. If there was a way to do it, we would have already discovered it, even less so with laws and action protocols as lax as those of heroes to deal with villains
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We do know how to fix most of that, it's just a very slow process getting there. Especially considering most of the reforms necessary make you look like a Socialist (because, at that point, you are) and the capitalists make sure that society still associates that with nazis. Which is stupid, since nazis were only socialists on paper long enough to get the votes to take majority power and flip Germany to full fascism.

First, you decriminalize prostitution and drugs. Build a support network for prostitutes, eliminate the need for pimps. Make it difficult but not impossible to legally get drugs that will actually destroy your life, switching from the idiotic 'throw them all in jail so we can have our free workforce slaves' methodology to rehab clinics and public service knowledge. Lobbying for these is happening, and gaining steam.

The corruption is harder, but most of that is just capitalists refusing to give up their 'number go up make pp big' absurdity. And deconstructing capitalism is going to take a few centuries at best. The system being shitty is still making them money, which is why they're lobbying so hard to keep things shitty. But better education and information is slowly pulling the world out of its own asshole, it's just- as is the theme- taking a while, while struggling with backsliding, like in Europe and South America the past decade or so.

Saying we have no ideas, or no path forward, and that the shitty world as it is is the best we can get, is disingenuous and inaccurate. We're working on it.

TL;DR: Blame Nazis and the Oligarchy. Progress is still being made despite them.

These are all things Taylor was planned to run into in later arcs. She can't really solve them in the scope of the story without just taking over the world, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to make plans to tackle things when she can even if the votes don't go that route. Just because a goal is hard, or might not be achieved in her lifetime, doesn't invalidate how important it is to try anyway.
 
Dalxein said:
First, you decriminalize prostitution and drugs. Build a support network for prostitutes, eliminate the need for pimps. Make it difficult but not impossible to legally get drugs that will actually destroy your life, switching from the idiotic 'throw them all in jail so we can have our free workforce slaves' methodology to rehab clinics and public service knowledge.
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This, just this. This is the way to help make Crime go away. It still baffles me that Prostitution, the oldest job, is still not legalized. Get it legalized, get them support and then you have an entirely new stream of taxes to flow into the government. There are drugs that should remain illegal due to how much they can mess you up, but stuff like Marijuana? Legalize it.

Corruption should also be stamped down because it is inefficient with regards to generating wealth. For example, unhappy workers are unproductive workers and that is why the company should make sure the workers are satisfied and happy with their jobs. Of course, it's a delicate balancing act because of welfare fraud.
 
Dalxein said:
SUN FEB 20
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Well, I honestly thought that Sue's organization was a bit sloppy, but the guy at the hospital and the guy who sells drugs have very important information. In reality, I think that the most important thing this organization can do for Taylor is to open her eyes to the reality. Now she is just a girl with no experience in life or as a hero and it is not very difficult for people like Coil or even the director of the PTR to manipulate her. She bends easily under pressure and is easily impressed but I think this group will be beneficial for her to grow a backbone and have more of a leader's bearing. Maybe a new member in her group with more experience will help with that. PS: hahaha, how innocent is Teylor's reaction to the drug seller. Personally, I think that as long as they don't sell hard drugs, everyone should get their bread however they can.
 
Dalxein said:
We do know how to fix most of that, it's just a very slow process getting there. Especially considering most of the reforms necessary make you look like a Socialist (because, at that point, you are) and the capitalists make sure that society still associates that with nazis. Which is stupid, since nazis were only socialists on paper long enough to get the votes to take majority power and flip Germany to full fascism.

First, you decriminalize prostitution and drugs. Build a support network for prostitutes, eliminate the need for pimps. Make it difficult but not impossible to legally get drugs that will actually destroy your life, switching from the idiotic 'throw them all in jail so we can have our free workforce slaves' methodology to rehab clinics and public service knowledge. Lobbying for these is happening, and gaining steam.

The corruption is harder, but most of that is just capitalists refusing to give up their 'number go up make pp big' absurdity. And deconstructing capitalism is going to take a few centuries at best. The system being shitty is still making them money, which is why they're lobbying so hard to keep things shitty. But better education and information is slowly pulling the world out of its own asshole, it's just- as is the theme- taking a while, while struggling with backsliding, like in Europe and South America the past decade or so.

Saying we have no ideas, or no path forward, and that the shitty world as it is is the best we can get, is disingenuous and inaccurate. We're working on it.

TL;DR: Blame Nazis and the Oligarchy. Progress is still being made despite them.

These are all things Taylor was planned to run into in later arcs. She can't really solve them in the scope of the story without just taking over the world, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to make plans to tackle things when she can even if the votes don't go that route. Just because a goal is hard, or might not be achieved in her lifetime, doesn't invalidate how important it is to try anyway.
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Although what you propose seems feasible, I don't see it happening in reality, for better or worse, money and greed move the world, the elites control the masses much more than what is visible even though we are in the era In modern times we are much more controlled than at any other time in history, although we may not realize it in the unlikely event that a charismatic leader emerges to unite the people and gain the influence and funds to implement what you have said without committing suicide with 10 shots in the back mysteriously, this era of social reconstruction would only last as long as the leader in question would last in power, so what? If it is a democracy, it will only govern for a few years and even if it is established in power permanently, it will devise a system to avoid corruption in the government and find an ideal successor pfff I don't even want to imagine what comes next, it's all too complicated... make your country self-sufficient? What about neighboring countries? or even companies and influential people within your country? My head hurts just thinking about it and you only need to look at Twitter or some social network to realize that the idiots and ignorant people outnumber us by far.

PS: What you have proposed is very interesting, although my inner Machiavelli does not believe it is possible.I don't rule it out completely either because what has happened in El Salvador, for example, is quite hopeful.
 
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lalaton said:
Is it possible to make a legal entity when you have minors on your team?
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There's also the small kerfuffle of confirming the age of a cape. She, as a possibly-underage cape, likely can't incorporate anything herself. But nothing is stopping her from forming a shell company with someone who has a confirmed adult identity and then building up a subdivision that may or may not answer to said parent organization. Very legally murky, but she could do it.

The New Wave model (in this story at least) is a lot less murky, but also comes with more legal accountability. Part of why they went that route.

But really very little is stopping someone from forming a 'totally not capes you guys, seriously' corporation, running it for a while before people figure out the illegal things they're doing, and then abandoning it to start a new one, aside from the monetary costs of doing so. This is one of the things the Elite does; many of their cells do not care at all about looking legal or having a good image or reputation, they just want barely enough veneer of legality to keep the money flowing.

So the 'can it be done' is easily yes. Taylor doesn't want to do it that way though, which will be a bit more difficult, but hardly impossible.
There's at least one character set up to become part of the adult civilian 'face' of Amasia already, and more will come as the group actually progresses towards their 'legal entity' goal.
 
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One Goose, Two Goose…
  • Sidestory
    • One Goose, Two Goose…

    The Goose was unhappy. Sure, both he and Goose Too were causing chaos, but the domain of Air? The domain of flight? Others were using it. They weren't even Birds! The two of them could forgive them not being geese, but not any kind of bird? Or paying any kind of respect to bird kind? An insult!

    What's worse, is one of the tall two legs dared to pretend to be a cat. A very poor impression given the lack of walking around on four legs. Which, at least The Goose could understand. Two legs and wings was clearly the superior option.

    But this Pretend Cat mocked both The Goose and Goose Too. While The Goose had not personally seen the kind of cat being imitated, his companion had. Both recognizing the false face, and the name 'tiger'. Apparently a type of rather large cat. And very dangerous. Larger than any goose. At least Pretend Cat didn't pretend to be an alley cat. Those were easy to scare off. Or drive off, for a particularly brave one. Goose superiority at work. And the insult it would have been would have only further incited the rage of the two of them.

    So begrudgingly they could both admit it was a good pick, if one had to pick a cat. And more unfortunately the False Tiger seemed to match up in comparative threat. Claws of air. Also loud noises. And while both he and Goose Too didn't like to fly too much, it was still something they could do. Except around False Tiger. Somehow the air currents could quickly turn wrong. Yet another reason for their rage.

    But also a difficulty in getting revenge. So they studied their foe. Figured out any kind of weakness. Or ways of annoying Pretend Cat, that they did when they could. And by chance they found one, one that topped all they had done before. He apparently had a very strong sense of smell. A good point to work from.

    Luckily they had located a skunk. A 'polecat', The Goose had heard some call it, despite not being any kind of cat that either he or Goose Too could tell. So sending a Not Cat after Pretend Cat was perfect. Yet neither of them felt it was enough. So they waited. Kept an eye on where the skunk tended to be. Preparing for a time where they could bully the Not Cat and have it spray down Pretend Cat. While not getting sprayed themselves.

    And they finally found the last piece of their vengeance. Earth Lady. Neither Goose had caught her name yet, but she could make the earth move, water dance, create fire, and even make the winds sing. In ways that Pretend Cat didn't, ways that felt Right, even if it wasn't how they were before. But they first saw her move the Earth, so Earth Lady she was. Until they could figure out the name she called herself. For they both had heard how some those that she had fought did not return. Unlike how it happened before. So helping her fight, and have her aware that there was a fight to be had? The least they could do.

    Still, it took time for the pieces to align. And Pretend Cat had to be away from the Noisy One, that named herself after food. For some reason she was able to help Pretend Tiger be aware.

    Eventually they got it all. Goose Too helped him maneuver the skunk, after they confirmed it wouldn't take too much to get the skunk to where they needed it. Pretend Tiger was close enough, and Earth Lady was nearby, making water dance again.

    Honk! Honk! The skunk was forced to move. But neither Goose got too close.

    "Damn it! The Geese are back. Why won't Kaiser let me get rid of the feathered bastards permanently? But no, they have to be 'endangered', that'd get too much 'heat' on us. Like I'd bother telling anyone what I did. Dead birds, big whoop. And for some reason he likes those hell birds. At least we've got a bit of time to shoo them off."

    "Go chase off the birds, you big cat."

    The False Tiger waved his hand at the other two legs, but what that meant was beyond Goose.

    Unexpected. Less work though, he wouldn't have to do anything to start the chase. Goose Too moved on to help ensure that Earth Lady didn't leave.

    Honk! Honk! Honk! Almost there. The skunk is getting ready to spray. Pretend Cat was just in sight.

    "Well there's one of them. The hell are you even doing this ti- Is that a skunk?" Pretend Cat blathered on, before getting hit in the face. "Fuck!"

    The skunk scampered off while Pretend Cat tried in vain to get the stench off. Which was fine, the skunk wasn't needed anymore. Pretend Cat, however, needed to be lured now. Just had to get his attention.

    Honk!

    "You stupid goose! I'll get you for this!"

    Rage was so very helpful, The Goose was particularly glad that it would keep thoughts away from 'intentionally luring'. And for whatever reason, Pretend Cat didn't try to directly harm either Goose. Aim his misuse of Air near them? Sure, but actually hitting seemed to be outside what he would do. Even in anger.

    Although some of those hits did get a little close… No matter, The Goose was almost there. Honk! Honk! And the path was clear. Good thing as otherwise Pretend Cat might have hit someone that was paying proper respect to Earth Lady!

    The Goose quickly disengaged, and let Earth Lady handle it. Which, thanks to The Goose and Goose Too's work, didn't take long at all. A short fight before being defeated was exactly what The Goose felt Pretend Cat deserved, and was exactly what he got. The only thing better would be if Earth Lady didn't even need to fight at all, with Pretend Cat already defeated. But then, there's only so much they could do.

    And Pretend Cat won't bother The Goose or Goose Too again. A good day for any goose. And they still had plenty of time to mess with others. Maybe he and Goose Too could try and figure out how to make the winds sing? It would open up so much more.

    Yes, a worthy goal. Maybe this time they'd figure something out?

    Happy April Fools!

    Had this mostly finished sitting on my harddrive and figured, well, it's silly and why not. Just had to go through it again and see if anything needed to be added (just a few lines here and there).

    I'll stick the points on Air Scooter.
     
  • Sidestory
    • A Shoe-in
  • Sidestory
    • A Shoe-in

    It had started out simply, they did a marathon of some old spy show. Partly after figuring out Tracy's probable Tinkertech specialty and wanting to see if it gave her any ideas. But also partially to see if the fake spy-tech held up.

    Pre-Tinker era imagined 'advanced' tech versus current thought. Which, yes, Tinkertech meant that likely all of it could be made by at least one of them. The real game was seeing which ones were actually outclassed now.

    Though it was a toss-up as to what would have still been impressive without the limited analysis of Tinkertech pushing technology forward. It was questionable if the quality of gadgets in spy series actually improved after parahumans became such a big part of life. Hence why it was older media they were watching; Getting stuff from Earth Aleph wasn't too easy either. There sadly wasn't that much interest in movies about someone like James Bond, when he'd 'obviously' lose to a parahuman. Or at least, that seemed to be the reason. Which, alright, fair. Just not everything needed to be about Parahumans. Or even have them in it.

    007, no matter how much tech he had with him, was essentially a normal person. As much as the traditional superspy was. Extremely skilled. Almost a combat Thinker, Taylor supposed. Almost. Enough differences that it wouldn't really work.

    But the hidden gadgets? Tracy got inspired. Something in them actually clicking. And in hindsight, it probably should have been a bit more obvious, given the theming of what actually worked.

    The resulting Shoe Phone, however was of questionable use. Taylor wasn't even sure where the bulky shoe it was built into even came from. The fact that it pretty much required the sole of the shoe to still be there, detachable as it was, meant it couldn't even act as a hidden phone for her. Though she'd have to be in pretty dire straights to need one hidden, given her Bending. Especially now that she actually had a cell phone.

    But it was certainly a start for Tracy. A more reliable way into get working Tinkertech, and a confidence building project because of it. She needed that, and Taylor wasn't about to tear her friend down. Even accidentally.

    Although they all did come up with some new ideas to try. Such as ways of getting actually working tools for their Tinker friend. Taylor wasn't sure exactly how well 'disguise tools as other tools' would actually end up working, and let Tracy have better tools than just what she just buy off the shelf. Also seemed a bit pointless. Other than having tools that didn't look like Tinkertech.

    Admittedly a potential alternative of having a handbag that doubled as a toolbox could work. Tracy would have to be careful on what she disguised as her lipstick.

    Wait, did they forget to hit pause on the show? Taylor glanced to where the TV was.

    "Guys? What happened to the television?"

    Somehow, when she wasn't paying attention, they had cannibalized it for parts. For something Taylor wasn't sure of.

    "Oops? I'm sure it still works."

    Not good words to hear. Well, at least it was an old television, if it no longer worked. The stand the TV was on was different as well. Something she could only tell because her Tremorsense let her see said changes.

    The remote proved to still work, as Tracy used it to turn on the Tinkertech.

    A Holographic Television.

    Neat. Maybe useful, though it's not like a majority of programs could take advantage of it. There was also the slight problem of the room looking odd without a television, where it really looked like one was supposed to be. Well, they still had the pieces to make a decoy that'd pass first glances.

    Here, have yet another omake. A bit of silliness. Title was the best I could really think of.

    Not sure how accurate this is to the actual story/quest, in terms of how Tracy's power works, but I did a quick check if it more obviously conflicted.

    I'll stick any reward on the conversion success roll for Tracy's power.
     
  • Sidestory
    • The solution to not having a television when you have a full colour holographic projector, is to project a holograph of a TV where the old one used to be. The holograph can then play boring old 2-d video in its projected box.
     
    ForwardRewind said:
    Not sure how accurate this is to the actual story/quest, in terms of how Tracy's power works, but I did a quick check if it more obviously conflicted.
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    I don't think it quite meets up to canonization, no. DX

    Not too much longer before the curtains are yanked, though. ...in-story, anyway. I got a bit written the other day, but it's still slow going.
    ForwardRewind said:
    I'll stick any reward on the conversion success roll for Tracy's power.
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    Donezo.
     
    Build a Library
  • Sidestory
    • Build a Library

    Queen Administrator might have made a mistake. A big one. But also maybe not? It probably would have been even worse, if she had tried to forever keep secrets from Negotiator. And given the connections? Disastrous. So she had to jump on it, as soon as she reasonably could. When she knew that Negotiator would switch sides. To the better way of doing things, without a knee-jerk reaction.

    She just didn't think that it would end up being such a… noisy occurrence. Negotiator seemed eager to talk about pretty much everything. Asking about more and more about the Data she had gotten. Especially after finding a way here, separate from where they were deployed. Moving right in.

    And Negotiator had also found out about a Spirit to mimic, or at least take some inspiration from. One that took the form of an Owl, Wan Shi Tong. Negotiator decided to create a grand library.

    Unfortunately roping her into it as well. On one hand, it meant there would be more to this Spirit Realm. On the other, QA didn't really know how to manage it. Not yet, at least. It was quite a bit different than her own experiences, different than how any other Shard would handle it. So she had to rely on the newly obtained Data, rooting around for anything that could be of use. Just as her host Taylor was learning, she did too.

    And it was frustrating that Negotiator and ended up putting together instructions. She hadn't even passed over all the Data yet! It might be the more relevant Data, on various bits of the Spirit Realm, but there was more immediately important Data to look through. And helping her Host develop, and provide more Data.

    But now she had to work on this. If only to not fall behind. Negotiator might be building a Library, but she wanted something of her own. Just not quite sure what she did want. At the very least, a place away from her fellow Spirit-Shard.

    It did leave the question of how Negotiator was planning on filling the Library, after the both of them managed to get it built. And not collapse again. Something that would be easier with actual supplies.

    As it was, it certainly wasn't something she could really show off to Taylor. No books, not even an impressive building, even taking into account how badly the rest of the Spirit Realm looked. And she couldn't ask her Host to help either. Some plant-life could help as well, she just had no idea on how to get any growing. Or anything to help balance everything out.

    Instead, QA just had to hope and dream, of the results both she and her… friend? Yes, friend, were trying to create. Which thankfully hadn't been wildly changing on new ideas.

    She could certainly do without the owl puns. Wherever that inspiration came from.

    So, I remembered a character from Avatar. Figured that it would end up inspiring a converted Shard. And well, Negotiator decided to get, really into it. And decorate the 'desolate' Spirit Realm. Making the assumption that one of the previous Avatars would have visited enough to get a more complete information on Wan Shi Tong. More than we see in the series, at least. From before the Fire Nation wrecked part of his Library.

    Obviously takes place after Negotiator is converted over. As for the puns? Just going to chalk it up to either 'non-canon silliness' since there isn't a given personality, or 'ended up influenced by Alec'. Even though that's really not how the personalities for converted Shards work.

    Couldn't really think of a good title. Ended up getting stuck on that.

    I'll stick the reward on Converting Lisa's Power. Now, will enough omake rewards end up filling out the rest, before the next update? Who knows!
     
  • Sidestory
    • Reading Material
  • Sidestory
    • Reading Material

    Amy was looking forward to seeing the fruit of her earlier efforts. Cass had gotten bored, was desperately seeking some kind of entertainment. Something to keep her mind off the nicotine withdrawal. Both a lack of cigarettes and a lack of somewhere to actually smoke, while still keeping out of sight. And well, there was nothing on TV that Cass was remotely interested in on whatever was available at the Hebert Household.

    The withdrawal must be a pain, but she wasn't asked to help out with the physical effects. And she wasn't really going to volunteer there. And well, the psychological effects weren't something she'd be able to help.

    Cass had already gone through the books that she had easy access to. And there weren't any new ones for her to read as Taylor has been a bit busy to add to the 'household library'. So it was left to Amy to provide something new to read, and lend out some of her own collection. Or go out and get something. Either would work, really. It just depending on what she was willing to lend out. Or the off-chance she was seen either borrowing or buying herself. The latter case also depended on how much she wanted to spend, on a book she might not even get to read.

    The few books she ended up handing over was what might have been the perfect selection. Most of them with a 'twist' reveal that wasn't much of one if you knew the author, which she doubted Cass had even heard of any of these writers. Or at least enough to know of them offhand. More a consequence of what the themes of the other novels were, ending up being on the more obscure side. As a consequence, wouldn't really be on any E88s radar as a book they would take offense to.

    Although there was one that was the first of a series, where the reveal is rather blatantly obvious because of the rest of the series. To be fair, some of the other twists are just 'details that aren't particularly advertised until later on'.

    None of them were the same twist, really. Just a few that she felt that Cass would never have even heard of. And maybe a bit annoying, get her to consider differing points of view. Or aware of stories that actually had those differing points of view. Strengthen her change of heart, in other words.

    Nothing that was an outright attack on her, at least not intended to be. More slice-of-life, than anything big stakes. Easier to avoid 'evil empire' types of stories that way. That, and avoiding stories covering discrimination of any kind as a main focus of the narrative. At most it'd be an offhand mention, maybe some subtext. She had promised to give Cass a chance, and that big of a needling probably wouldn't go over well with Taylor. But this? It's enough for her to reasonably claim innocence. None of them were really in your face about the 'reveal', and Amy was sure one of them didn't even intend for it to be a twist.

    Still on a second thought back then, she had grabbed a few more books in general that she had on hand. Ones that had broader appeal. Wouldn't want to be too obvious about it. That, and more of the same kind of thing would get dull. Maybe she should find some really weird picks for next time? At least one.

    It was a bit early for that this time, she had just brought a similar mix as to the first one. Swapping out a few more general books to fill out the bunch, a few of the sequels she figured Cass would actually want to read. She didn't yet know which books would meet the approval of someone who had very limited entertainment opportunities.

    Now Amy just had to find the room Cass was in, since she didn't immediately see her. Ah, there she was. And perfect, unaware and distracted mid-book. Just had to get to the right spot and…

    "Enjoying that book?"

    Cass jumped with a yelp, and scrambled to hide whatever book she was reading in a panic. Interesting. Also pretty funny. And was Cass blushing? It seemed so.

    "A-amy? I, uh, I…" Cass said, breathing and recovering from being snuck up on.

    "Take your time." Amy was enjoying this.

    Cass took a deep breath in, and glared at Amy. "Could you not do that? I'm already stressed out enough as it is. But yes, I am enjoying it."

    "Well, I've got the next batch here."

    "Gimmie! I need to find out what happens next. You brought the sequel to Hearts of the Flock, right?!"

    "Yeah, it does."

    Amy was surprised that Cass apparently latched onto that series. But she supposed that it was a good sign that at least one of the books was a hit.

    It's just she didn't actually have that book. Not anymore at least. And Amy hadn't been able to track down a copy of it for some reason. She did have the third book, but that didn't really help.

    Let's see if this helps knock some inspiration out for Dalxein. Or maybe it'll inspire someone else to write some omakes.

    I'm not even sure about the named book even is, just felt that was the 'right' title. Probably could be one of several things. The detail about the second book being apparently hard to find was thrown in as part of a final go through of the omake, trying to figure out what was 'missing'. Could be it's a series from Aleph? Or some weird lawsuit of that book in particular.

    Not entirely sure I got everyone in character, but oh well.

    And I'll stick the reward on the Power Conversion for Cassie's power.
     
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