What is this? Did this perk just give Joe a basic hoe? Or is this some kind of Divinely Crafted Hoe made by Norse Dwarves?
Just a standard farmer's hoe, I expect.
(Presumably it's a riff on the fact that Norse myth is famously full of sexual imprecations between its legendary figures, to the point that the gods would call each other whores via rap battle.)
So anyone want to take a guess as to how he plans to change his power? Thanks for the chapter.
From context clues, Joe wants to make up for the fact that Uppercrust is going to have to cull a significant fraction of his manpower and cape underlings. So I'd bet 3 to 1 that he's going to give Uppercrust a major force multiplier - that is, make a focus that enhances the man's tinker power to the point he could outfit his entire cell with personal energy shields and similar equipment.
However, if I was going to fling a baseless guess into the dark, there are more ways to buff Uppercrust's crafting abilities than simply amplifying his connection to his passenger, and Joe has a
lot of resources to throw at a project like this. Considering that Uppercrust is going to be one of his greatest allies in the future, and he's already proven himself basically responsible with power in a way that Aisha wasn't earlier (and Taylor still isn't)...
Daedalus' Student, Master Craftsman, and Craftsman of the Gods all allow for the implementation of effects that "just work", a semblance of fiat evoked through divine perfection. Selecting an appropriate medium to channel the relevant concepts, make a divine tool - say, a pair of gloves designed for the hands of a creator - that divinely enhances everything created with that tool and allows its wielder to act with impossible grace.
Suddenly Uppercrust can apply a bootleg version of Built To Last to all his gear, and he works at impossible speeds. His tinkertech just doesn't break down and need maintenance over time, and it's not an effect that other tinkers can usefully reverse-engineer. Not only can he free up half of his schedule in terms of no longer needing to maintain his technology, he can even use his free time to build more tech than he could have managed otherwise.
None of that comes from his connection to his passenger, so Joe has more slack to do other things with that asset. Selecting an appropriate medium to channel the relevant concepts, he makes an Arcane Craft focus - say, a pair of protective bracers to go over a pair of gloves - that allow Uppercrust to draw out a different expression of his shard. Suddenly, instead of just building energy shields, the man can also project such shields directly, using them for top-tier defense in solo and team engagements alike.
Uppercrust deliberately overdesigns his costume to pretend that he's made powerful yet extremely bulky advancements in shielding technology. Nobody sees through the ruse because it's now taken for granted that no-one in Brockton Bay can go 2 days without redesigning their costume, and he's only the 108th tinker to make a breakthrough in their specialty by means of second-hand exposure to Apeiron's awesomeness.
(edit: insert an ace attorney Take that that actually works)(edit: insert an ace attorney Take that that actually works)
