Sarah winced as another timestamp unlocked.
The 'context' memories were… Odd.
Probably expected, really. It was a collection of snapshots, hundreds of thousands of years in strange patterns, showing the 'Time Loop Hive Mind' logs.
It was not so much encrypted so neither Adam nor Sarah could read it… It just looked like garbage until specific time stamps caught up.
Because WITHOUT those key bits of info, the order was beyond confusing.
The log itself was this massive, and that was AFTER parsing out almost all data involved. This was like a summary of cliff notes of overviews of briefings, or less… And even then it was a massive mountain of data.
Thankfully, she could absorb these things in the background, if very slowly. Because trying to speed up the absorption process was annoying, and frustrating, a bit painful, and monotonous.
It was, however, interesting stuff.
Basically, this entire block of data felt like a 'What if?' novel or thought experiment. As if an army of Sarah's got to critique each runthrough the next Sarah made (Which they did and were doing), and it was actually a bit entertaining to experience.
As long as you didn't try to speed up the absorption process or skip steps or force understanding.
THEN it gave headaches and confusion and… Sigh.
Sarah relaxed her most recent attempt and let the data run in the background. This segment of the 'context' was from who knows how long ago, and mostly revolved around her past self abandoning all of the surface world and exploring the oceans for the entire time loop.
Summary so far? No sexy mermaids, and there was apparently a
Deep Sea Research Center that she missed a couple of GF's at… Though her past selves didn't seem to care much.
After all, Shiva herself could learn all those abilities and tricks herself, if they could convince her to stop nude sun-tanning on beaches long enough.
No, her past hive mind had mostly been annoyed at her missing out on all the cuddles and stuff by going full exploration mode. Which was fair.
Her focus slipped a bit when the next cycle involved her… Starting a circus? Huh. Who knew clowns could be sexy? Para-magic really enhanced the show experience though, even if her circus was more focused on feats of daring and doo rather than a gathering of oddities.
Although… A good chunk of their 'performances' were really just complicated stripping routines… Mmm. Did this even COUNT as a circus!? Maybe an adult oriented one? Oh my.
No, focus! "Hey Adam?"
He was also busy detaching them from the last Jump. Rebuilding so much of her Warehouse while trying to keep stuff stable had made this a complicated process, apparently. <<Hmm?>>
She mentally pushed all the memories and context into the background 'unpacking' process. "Did you get a context file too?"
He hummed. <<No, and I would punch myself if I tried. You may not know this, but I am a sort of… Recursive person. On a conceptual level.>>
Adam pulled up data. <<My original self sent out a Shard of myself as himself as myself to do Adventuring without leaving our precious people behind, undefended. And I make more of me as I travel, all sending Data and reports back up the chain. But as for us? Well, who else can also make more of us as we make me and us and we and… Uh. Yeah. One moment.>>
Something shifted somewhere. <<Maybe an example will clear stuff up.>>
A chart of a man with a sexy rock showed up. <<This is me, or a version of me from my Shard which is me, and the Realm restricted dimensional Plane that fell in love with us. As was his nature, part of his growth process involved becoming recursive…>>
The man seemed to unfold… And within the familiar stranger, was another self, whom held himself, hiding another copy, and so on and so on.
Adam grinned at her confusion. <<While Space, and apparently Time if I am understanding this correctly, are innate to you and your abilities… Recursion tends to be mine.>>
And the images vanished. <<And we HATE to mess with it. Our selves don't mind sharing data, or watching each other, or when necessary C̦͙͓̯̙͚ͅo͎͔̼͇̲̜͇̞ͅn͙̺̥̩̱̭s̻̳̜̺̮ͅu͍̰̼m͍̳͔̯͔͓i̠̲̹̩̠̦͉n̝̤̱͉g̮̝͎̝ moronic attackers…>>
He sent a shrug. <<But the Adventure is the point of it all. Sending us the answers from later on in life has no attraction to us at all. Even if there was a simple context file that would explain everything to me, I'd probably delete it. And we all know it.>>
That seemed VERY irresponsible… But also very like her Benefactor. She did feel a bit confused though. "How are we being recursive now? I mean, I'm leaving a bunch of myself everywhere, but you aren't, right?"
Adam snorted. <<I am a fragment sending out fragments on an Adventure… And now I am helping a young lady who is a fragment leaving behind fragments while on an Adventure. Trust me, recursion is everywhere when you start to get used to it.>>
He blinked. <<That said, sometimes odd bits sneak up on me. I'm still not sure why elephants and peanuts kept cropping up everywhere… Maybe peanuts are just a Divine food?>>
Uh, what? No, let it go.
Sarah glanced at the closing viewing windows of the Jump she just visited… And looked forward with a grin. "So, new Jump Documents! What are we working with?"
Adam grinned. <<Let's do this in reverse alphabetical order, shall we?>>
She paused at his completely unsuspicious decision. "Is this someplace you hate and want me to ignore, or someplace you love and want to show how awful the other choices are?"
His grin was a bit frayed. <<More like it seems to be a bit too convenient. Not as bad as the Final Fantasy 8 Jump, really, since that one was basically MADE by you being dumped into the place, but uh…>>
Adam grimaced. <<The Drawback for that Jump is super easy to handle and gives max points, and there are several attractive people there who may have different personalities than mentioned in the source material. Plus, you are so powerful now that not much can tempt you in the other options to pick otherwise.>>
Sarah blinked. "So… It seems too good to be true?"
He hummed. <<Maybe. The other two options ARE a bit generic, and my detected 'background memories' of the places would be pretty much useless… At least the third option has SOMETHING usable about the people you could bump into.>>
Her boss sighed. <<But in the end, who knows? It isn't nearly as bad as this LAST Jump's 'Why not be all powerful?' background choice option, I'll say that much.>>
Oh yeah, speaking of which… "Can I get rid of the wings now? They were fun and all, but got in the way a lot and felt odd moving through stuff."
A menu in her personal interface popped up. <<Have at it.>>
Sweet! "Thanks, just give me a minute."
Hmm, modify her skeletal armor to use S̱̞̼͔͚͓̹p͚̘̪ͅa̬͕c̫͙̜͚̲͓͖e͇͚̮͔͓̗ bones? Sweet!
Added a bit of esoteric protection to her defenses, nice.
Hair, silver. Eyes, silver, maybe a bit less glowy… Keep the tattoos, lower THEIR light level by a ton… Much better!
Hmm. "This way, when I use True Magic or the super powerful abilities I have, my Armor will automatically equip itself unless I mentally repress the option… That should work."
One less thing to do in an emergency, since anytime Sarah needed raw power to do something she should REALLY have some defenses online. Plus, if she was using the big stuff? Subtly was already off the table.
Cool beans! "Can I modify my bone skull helmet to have more a crown like circle of sharp horns? That would… Oh, those do look nice!"
A bit childish, but come on! Flaming silver hair wrapped in a bone crown!? So cool!
Probably only for special occasions though. "Right, give me my options!"
Information cropped up. <<Let's start with
Star Wars: Podracer.>>
Sarah blinked as the page opened up. "Huh, I haven't seen those movies in a long time."
The few long distant Jumps that had modern films had been a bit busy with her being chased down and hunted and crippled and stuff. But she remembered… A muppet and a swamp? Some random drunk people arguing about Jedi children and 'wincest'?
Not a lot really.
There was good side magic, bad side magic, and two groups on either side that hate each other. Each side wants to kill off the other, and everyone else is just sort of in the background to those two groups getting all whiny and pissy and stuff.
Layered on top like frosting was some space battles, spy stuff, some romance… Maybe? She remembered something about sand? Whatever. Oh, and glowing swords of special effects that could cut through everything and made awesome noises.
...The magic didn't really come up much, did it? Like, basic telekinesis and prophecy stuff mostly. In fact, she sort of remembered an argument that the point of the magic in the first place was to ensure that everyone was agile and able to see the future so that they wouldn't accidentally cut their own heads off with their light blades.
Wow, her memories were bad. "Do we have copies of the Star Wars films?"
Adam hummed. <<Not really, and the Rapture Jump had issues when everyone in the film industry ran away to the ocean. We'd probably have to hit up a more modern Jump on a Earth with little to no sci fi or magic or whatever. Most places that have secret worlds and stuff seem to lack the creativity needed for a thriving media industry.>>
Meh, a goal for the future then. "Any of our next Jumps have that option?"
She felt him glance somewhere. <<Maybe? The one full of superpowers, no. Too many villains apparently had video and film related abilities, so the whole industry stagnated… And THIS Star Wars reality is so focused on racing that anything unrelated is probably deleted as 'unimportant'.>>
She blinked. "And the third option? The one you say is 'too good' to be true?"
Adam sighed. <<It's set in 2016, so all the books and movies up to 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' are possible. Most of the animated and computer generated stuff too.>>
Uh? "Which one was that?" Hadn't there been like three films? Or was it four?
He hummed. <<The most famous films are like number 4, 5, and 6 of the original series, then 1, 2, and 3 came out, and games, and animated stuff, and some cool things about the clone wars, tons of books… Eventually they put out 7, 8, and 9. And a few extra. I think 2016 MIGHT be just before the 'Rogue One' movie was released? Which was between 3 and 4? If you are there for 10 years, then you will have time to get it all if no one fills the world with fear serum or poison or something.>>
Damn. "So if I go to the third option, we can steal tons of media and stuff at the same time?"
A shrug. <<Maybe. They may be different from versions released in other Jumps or realities, with more or fewer works released, so on and so forth. My personal info on the release dates came from a Worm Realm reality layer that didn't have super powers, so uh… Who knows.>>
No idea what THAT was all about, but whatever. "Alright then, um… Should I even bother to check these other two options then? Because that media might make it safer for me to do future Jumps."
He sighed, the Warehouse shaking slightly. <<I'd feel better if you at least glance at them. Also, since these are VERY stable Jumps, we might be able to modify items for purchase or alter the options a little bit… I want to test that too.>>
Meh, she had time to work with. Why not make Adam happy? "Sure, let me read this first one over then. What do I have to work with?"
Adam popped open a window. <<An easy +600cp in exchange for being in debt, having a bunch of people trying to kill you, and 'deadly' obstacles in your races.>> He snorted. <<If you took a lot of hits directly to your body in one spot, MAYBE it could bypass your 'HP' and scratch your shirt.>>
Yeah, the use of True Magic to conceptually enhance her body through Shiva's Junctioning was a bit nuts. "Right, so +600cp to work with, let's take a look!"
Background? Bunch of racing junk and 'Tinker', which was the closest thing to scientist on here. Fair enough. Now for Perks!
{
Nothing But The Race: Free Trial Version 0cp, -600cp} [This Perk ensures that the numerous and often dangerous events of the original 'plot' of Star Wars simply... don't happen while you're here. Effectively, the entire setting remains in a kind of stasis, indefinitely maintaining the status quo as it was when you arrived. This Perk can be enabled/disabled. Some of the Jumper's actions will cause this Perk to be disabled automatically.]
Sure, why not. She didn't REMEMBER the plot, though the details in the document were a bit concerning… Something about the Clone Wars, an Empire emerging from a former Republic, and a Rebellion against all that being raised up…
But avoiding all that? Sounds good!
With how little she remembered of the place, she'd probably mess things up BAD if she tried to 'help', especially considering some of the spy vs. spy stuff she half thought was going on in the background.
The ability to change the rewards for races… Was that everywhere? For all competitions? No idea. Being able to survive all crashes? Did that include the aftermath, like smashing into lava? Not that it mattered much, Sarah was pretty damned durable by now.
In fact, let's just find other free stuff on this thing.
{
Open Minded: -100cp, Tinkers 0cp} [You are exceptionally talented at recognizing and overcoming ingrained habits, both on a personal level and for larger environments like the Podracing circuit. After all, if it's crazy but it works it can't be that crazy, can it?]
{
Contract: 0cp} [To give you a chance to get going and race, you've got a small but sufficiently wealthy sponsor to handle all these various details (Fees, contracts, etc) for you. However, they do expect you to regularly race the various races and make a return on their investment, so don't treat this as a free handout! You can choose to go solo later on if you prefer. In any future Jumps, you'll find similar opportunities to get you started in a starter's job… Though they'll often involve at least some sort of competitive aspects, if not racing outright.]
Oh, now it moves on to her vehicle directly… Most of these needed 'Truguts' as currency, not Choice Points? Huh. Strange. Still, free stuff!
{
Pod Size: 0cp} [Large pods tend to have more raw engine power and are more resilient, but are also trickier to get through narrow sections and suffer in terms of acceleration and braking. Small pods are likewise weaker and more fragile, but can change speed faster and are more nimble since they don't need to move so much bulk around. You can decide which overall design philosophy governs your pod, though further upgrades will be needed to really make it stand out from among your competitors.]
{
Safety Systems: 0cp} [Almost every Pod comes equipped with a number of safety measures. From the standard 'roll cage' cockpit designs to inertial dampeners, seatbelts to armored windows... your Pod receives enough of such modifications to ensure that a crash won't immediately claim your life - at least in most cases.]
{
The Bargain Bin: 0cp} [You get the basic components you need, those being: a Plug 2 Thrust Coil, a Dual 20 PCX Fuel Injector, standard-issue Control Linkage and Mark II Air Brakes, an R-20 Repulsor suite, a simple Radiator to keep your engines from overheating too quickly, and a Single Power Cell to handle your Pod's power needs. There's a certain charm to winning with a Pod like this, given that it's where just about everyone started at some point, but unless you start adding some better components you're unlikely to win anywhere outside the Amateur Podracing Circuit - and that's if you're really lucky.]
Sarah blinked at the terms. Uh. Some study apparently required. Sheesh. What the heck was a 'Control Linkage'? Meh, moving on.
Everything else in this section needs Truguts. Again, what WERE Truguts!?
She moved back through the document. Did she miss it somewhere?
Some confused looking around later, she stumbled on an Item one could buy that finally made some horrific sense.
{
Truguts: -50cp x?} [Gain an additional +300 Truguts. Everyone knows that the only cash accepted around these parts are Truguts. This Huttese money is the main form of currency on planets like Tatooine, and you can use it in the next section of the Jump to buy upgrades to your Pod. Any unspent Truguts you have left after completing your Pod design are turned into a monthly income, so if you have 1000 Truguts left unspent, you'll receive 1000 Truguts per month from this point forward. You'll receive an equivalent cash flow in any future settings you might find yourself in.]
Sarah blinked. "Hey Adam?"
He was working on something that was blinking with smoke coming out of the walls. <<Hmm?>>
She pointed. "Is this Jump Document forcing me to spend my points on in game currency? Like one of those free to pay apps?"
He sighed. <<Yep. Also, just so you know, the last bit of that purchase? The 'Equivalent cash flow in future settings' bit? Won't work. Not sure how it is EVER supposed to work… What is the equivalent value of 38 Truguts worth of impossibly advance near-magic technobabble when converted into donuts or ham sandwiches?>>
Sarah shrugged. "No idea." She glared at it. "Can't I just get one and duplicate it?"
Adam nodded. <<Counterfeiting is practically a tradition to the Hutts, but you can't spend future money on the purchases now. Even if you duplicated it from the first purchase, it really isn't a solid object or whatever… It is more a Trugut concept? Or something? I don't like it a lot, but basically it is a conversion procedure for Choice Points, so whatever.>>
Sheesh. "So if my purchases don't add up to a multiple of -300 Truguts, I just lose em? Wasted Choice Points?"
He sighed. <<Yep.>>
Well, fuck that. "Right uh… I'll just show up and scan everyone's ride and make better products on my own." Would be pretty trivial really.
So that saved a lot of annoying math. No buying Truguts for THIS girl, thank YOU very much!
Adam grumbled. <<Some of those items won't have Warehouse fiat if you try and buy them later, but they aren't impossible to understand or anything… So yeah, easy to [[Scan]] and replace if something is lost or broken.>>
Still, this was a new thing. "How come part of the purchase is marked as impossible?"
A sigh filled the area. <<No idea. I'm still looking into it, but several features would SAY they work if you bought them, but my improved sensors and security units mark them as lies. Not sure if that is normal or not, deliberate traps or just issues caused by your Kidnapper, but at least we know before you waste Choice Points on the stupid things now.>>
Well, if all that was off the table… Then the most interesting thing on here were the Droid options. There were quite a few!
{
Pit Droids: Two for -50cp, Double Amount per -50cp x?} [The first purchase gets you two Pit Droids, sufficient to keep your Pod going so long as you don't take too much damage during your races. Each repeat purchase will double the total number of droids you receive. Greater than four droids is more than Pods require, but can maintain and repair other equipment. Maintenance and repair time increases with complexity, energy levels involved, or conceptual value. Damaged Droids are replaced after a week.]
{
Enhance Droids, Star Wars Tech: -50cp} [All your pit droids are immediately capable of repairing any other Star Wars technology you might possess, from Lightsabers to Super Star Destroyers and beyond.]
{
Enhance Droids, Advanced Tech: -100cp} [All your pit droids have sufficient analytical power to repair not only Star Wars designs, but also any other (purely technological) devices, including those that are noticeably more advanced than any found in Star Wars. New technologies to repair may require significantly more time initially without providing necessary designs or repair procedures due to a possibly lengthy 'learning process'.]
{
Enhance Droids, Mystical Tech: -100cp} [All your pit droids have a certain affinity for the supernatural, allowing them to repair non-technological items such as magical swords, ritual circles, psionically charged gemstones and other such 'exotic' fare. New targets to repair may require significantly more time initially without providing necessary designs or repair procedures due to a possibly lengthy 'learning process'.]
{
Enhance Droids, Required Materials: -100cp} [You can eliminate the need for materials for any Pit Droid repair jobs, ensuring that you can rely on your droids without having to ensure a steady supply of (possibly hard-to-acquire) components. These materials are only used for the pit droids' repair tasks, and are otherwise impossible to 're-purpose' for other things.]
{
Enhance Droids, Lost Data: -100cp} [All your pit droids are upgraded with advanced context emulation software, designed to allow for restoration of missing information alongside a physical object. Items such as burned books, mystically cleansed slips, or overloaded data slates can now be restored with their original contents intact, even if they were recovered years or even centuries following their destruction.]
It was clear that Star Wars was a Droid heavy Jump from how many options there were here, it was fascinating! Oh, there were other options on the list, like mysteriously surviving her own actions when creating stuff or becoming a savant… But she had mental issues as it was, adding a super advanced but focused mindset on top seemed risky.
How many could she get? 'Research' would handle a lot of this mess really, but combining 'Required Materials' with 'Lost Data' should allow her to recover stuff from really messed up places in the future, even if logic says the data was BEYOND recovery years ago… Even if it needed components that were long since lost or extinct to fix the issues!
Right, so uh… With +600cp she would use get {Enhance Droids, Lost Data: -100cp}, {Enhance Droids, Required Materials: -100cp}, {Enhance Droids, Mystical Tech: -100cp}, and {Enhance Droids, Advanced Tech: -100cp}.
That would leave +200cp to snag {Pit Droids: Two for -50cp, Double Amount per -50cp x?} and finish with 16 Droids to play with! Assuming she bought nothing else.
Best check with Adam though. "What about this setup?" She sent him the data.
Adam blinked. <<Well, minions are always helpful. But they'd never be able to grow beyond dumb machines unless you allocate mental space to them like with Shiva.>>
She blinked. "I wouldn't WANT to make something forced to do dull repetitive maintenance work for all time to be too intelligent. The whole point of a crew like this would be to give them the boring stuff that has to be done, like testing loads of similar setups to verify data. Or making sure my guns are cleaned and oiled and stuff. If they were actually able to be alive, I'd feel guilty as hell about that."
He sent a mental shrug. <<Yeah, something odd about the Star Wars Jumps in my opinion, that doesn't come up often. You have people talking to robots, the robots showing feelings, having opinions, even being tortured occasionally… But literally NO sympathy or empathy for them. Just… strange.>>
Adam began pulling up old memories. <<I think there was a Droid working with Darth Vader who kept
taking its previous owner's organic blood for some reason? Maybe to access the Force? There were a lot of wars over the years with Droids I think. And some
other issues. Maybe that's why.>>
That was… a bit horrific. "If I get a bunch of robots, will they try to steal my blood?"
Adam blinked. <<Probably not? Almost certainly not.>>
So, fuck the Droid plan. Moving on! "Give me the next Jump Document."
He hummed, sent over data, and went back to fiddling with something.
Right,
Sky High. What we got here?
Suggested drawbacks were… Were… What the hell!? "Adam."
He innocently whistled. Pretty impressive for a crystal skull with no lips.
Sarah wasn't having it though. "I'm not going to be a tiny mutant fighting baby who goes around sucking up to everyone."
His disappointment was a bit much. <<Aw come on, it would be hilarious! I've been working on a theme song! And you would be a female version of
Boss Baby basically, that would be neat, right?>>
She blinked. "The female what now?"
Information came up. What even WAS this!? "How did someone make a whole movie about babies secretly being business people?"
Adam grinned! <<Not just a movie, but a whole series PLUS a sequel! There are classics out there that don't get it this good! Just… Maybe be a super-baby? Please?>>
Goofball. "No, sorry Adam. I can take the other drawbacks and {Archenemy: +300cp} to make up the +600cp instead, right?"
He sighed. <<Yeah, you can.>>
Sure, the idea was a bit funny… For an hour or so. For a whole freaking decade? No. No thank you. Anyway!
Everything about Sidekicks was a no here. Even in the old stories, GOOD sidekicks were basically flavor text for their best bud. At worst, they were a hook used to yank the hero around. Since Sarah couldn't do the whole Companion thing, the appeal of being a Sidekick was very low.
Several of the options mutated reality, which was a no. Or altered her mind, which, again, was a no. Forcing students to behave via mental manipulation or raw personality? Tempting, but no.
Oh, what's this?
{
The Greatest Family in the World: -400cp} [Any powers you possess that are based on genetics are guaranteed to be passed on to your children, as are the ones your partner possesses. This also applies to clones and the like, not just children conceived traditionally.]
Uh, HELL no.
She could use her genetic modification knowledge and 'Research' to empower anyone she wanted at any time, but dumping all her biology craziness into ALL clones!? Into any future kids!? No. Nope!
She mentally double checked her settings… Still currently infertile. Good.
Sarah was NOT going to risk having ANY kids until she had long talks with her partners AND ensured they would be healthy and happy until old enough to pick their abilities and learn how to use them properly and safely!
No super babies accidentally killing themselves or their friends/family/siblings on HER watch! Sheesh.
She felt sorry for the poor idiot who bought that Perk without thinking it through. A good chunk of infancy was wiggling around uncontrollably, they did NOT need super strength at that age.
As for Powers… Maybe Shapeshifting? It had its own tree of options.
{
Shapeshifting: -50cp} [You can turn into a single animal or object, no larger than a beach ball. You retain your human intellect and instincts as whatever you transform into. Examples include a puddle, a guinea pig, or the aforementioned beach ball.]
{
Enhanced Shapeshifting 1, Scale: -150cp} [Your Shapeshifting can choose to mimic other people. This will turn you into a perfect copy of them, minus their powers but including their voice and clothes.]
{
Enhanced Shapeshifting 2, Scope: -150cp} [Your Shapeshifting can transform into any non-supernatural animal OR object, so long as it's no bigger than an African elephant.]
{
Enhanced Shapeshifting 3, Variety: -200cp} [Your Shapeshifting can include any animal or object, if it is non mystical or electronic… Or produce organic variants of impossible targets without exotic abilities. Instincts and minimum background information, such as mannerisms and languages required for mimicking a target, are inherently understood with little effort. With a lot of time and practice, it's possible to create hybrid forms or increase your size limit slightly.]
Each tier of enhancement turned this worthless ability into something more adaptable, more useful. And sure, spending -550cp on this was a bit of a big cost… But VERY useful, especially considering her background in chemistry, biology, and cloning.
Interesting, sure. Not needed though, disguises and stealth were more a 'fun' thing than a needed skill for her. Almost easier to make a clone from local creatures and use the Rick and Morty Jump's Phoenix Protocols to swap Sarah inside it, granting her a disguise impossible to detect or discover.
Meh, still neat. Plus she could waste the last +50cp on anything.
Huh. "Hey Adam, it says that I can spend an additional +100cp on the Powers section only?"
He sighed. <<Don't touch it, let me look into that first. Honestly, that sounds VERY wrong. Either the prices are a lie on that section and the Document just wasn't updated, or something is incorrect elsewhere.>>
Well, she would pick up a {Costume: -50cp} if nothing else spoke to her. And being a Hero was a bit tempting, because one option gave you infinite free sandwiches… But uh. Her stuff was already basically infinite, and her new food probably tasted WAY better than generic sandwiches too... So, whatever.
As for the ability to turn into elements… Why bother? She could just fuse with S̜͍̟̟͙͈͈͙̮̪͉͍̗̥̙̞̞͘͢͞p͇̪͍̩̹̮̪̳̙̞̙̰̩̟̹̕͟ą̸̧̡̛͙̘̻̗c̵̡̨̛͖̹͎͔͙͉͟ͅe҉̸̧́͏̘̞̤͓̹̖ or something if that sounded like a good idea.
Anyway, onto the winner…
If for no other reason so that Sarah could scan some modern stores for lots of good media, seasonings, and gadgets.
Assuming the place had gadgets? It probably does. "So what we got next?"
Adam sighed. <<
Batman: Arkham Asylum. Covers a short period of time where the Joker, a local clown themed villain, manages to gain control and influence over an entire prison of violent, potentially insane people.>>
He poked something. <<Oh, and since I assumed you were going to pick this one, I managed to A͎͓͍̬̠̠͚̬l̟͓̯͕͎͍ͅt͍̳͎͎͈e̼r̲̥̗ this
Jump Document slightly.>>
Adam watched her review the options. <<I think this is supposedly for a variant Jump that includes Arkham Asylum as a choice, but it… Sort of works? You can pick Drawbacks from either document, I'll let you know if it works, and you can buy from either document. Hopefully.>>
Sarah blinked at the options. "Well… Let's just see what options we have then!"
He coughed. <<Before you get too into either one of the documents, please note this particular drawback. It is one of the reasons why I thought you would pick this option.>>
Oh? Let's see then!
{
Tick-Tock Croc: +600cp} [...Whoops, you seem to be trapped in one of the more dilapidated sections of the Asylum. What's worse is that this section appears to be the one that Killer Croc is housed in. Y'know, Killer Croc, the man who Batman, who is unafraid to tangle with the likes of Bane and Solomon Grundy, decides the better course of action is to run away from? Suffice to say that you should probably find a way out as soon as possible.]
She paused… And read it again. Slowly. "Wait, I'm not going to be trapped down there?"
Adam shrugged. <<Nope. Nor required to keep him safe, or capture him, or even bother to let him know you showed up in the first place. Still can't uncap the limit at +600cp for Drawbacks this Jump, not safely anyway, but like I said: Two Jump Documents to pick from!>>
Well… Neat! "So I basically got free points. Alright, I can work with that."
Reading the options… Well, it was clear that the original Document was FAR more limited. Way fewer options, and all of them were a bit sad. Great Drawback options though, so uh… That was something?
{Crocodilian: -600cp} sounded pretty neat, making her get more powerful over time (But also bigger and green scales, she could probably alter that), however… Adam's notes pointed out that it did NOT work retroactively.
Which… Might actually be good? Otherwise, with how odd the last Jump had been, she might suddenly become a green moon or something.
A quick look through the
new document made her pause. "Holy crap."
Adam focused. <<Hmm?>>
She pointed. "{Jumper Knight: -500cp, Mercenary -250cp} is nuts! And what is this whole 'Capstone' thing written here?"
He pulled up the data. <<Hmm... Oh, it's related to this option higher on the list.>>
{
I AM JUMPER!: -500cp} [You are Justice! You are Vengeance! YOU ARE JUMPER! Your willpower is now massively boosted enabling you to fight through anything from an overdose of fear toxin to a crazy clown trying to take over your body. When it comes to fighting for what you believe in, nothing can stop you. This perk is a Capstone Booster.]
Adam showed more information. <<Basically, pay -500cp for this and it enhances the super expensive options later down the list much further. And as for {Jumper Knight: -500cp, Mercenary -250cp}, that one is throwing up errors.>>
She read the data as he gave her more. <<Basically, Shiva would get the second body, she would ALSO have to take +600cp in Drawbacks on TOP of yours, and if you 'die' I wouldn't be able to just send in a new Avatar like I can right now. You'd be stuck in the Warehouse.>>
Wait, what? "You mean I already HAVE an extra life!?"
Her friend and overskull fucking ROLLED HIS EYES! Jerk! <<You are the Warehouse. Any Avatars, including your Sarah or Shiva clones… You all run from here until we leave the Jump. As far as I can tell, a lot of the 'Failure' features of the system in here is just to allow Benefactors like me to have the option to easily give up, wipe our client from the system, and try again with a new personality from scratch.>>
A harsh cold filled her core as she… Just considered that.
Adam huffed. <<Obviously I'm not going to let shitty code like that run in OUR place. Now it properly checks for mental issues and local problems to keep you safe and prevent damage from transferring over to a new body and automatically gives you a fresh Avatar to work with.>>
He looked directly at her, seriously. <<Don't die though, it hurts. Trust me.>>
Holy crap.
Sarah gulped as she stared at the Document, unreading. Had… Had her Kidnapper ever done that to her?
...Probably not, no. That asshole would have bragged about it, like every other horrible thing it had done.
Still, holy shit. "So uh… Skip that one. And obviously, with +600cp as my limit, can't get any other Capstone Booster options either."
Right, focus on the now and the here. "Maybe I should just ignore Perks for now? Let's see what Powers we can work with."
Fiat based accuracy? Meh. Instantly becoming a master assassin? Overkill. Oh, Shiva's name is here! Probably talking about the deity and not the ice hotty, but still! Neat!
Becoming a cyborg, a dead zombie, or living clay? Neat, but no.
Then… She saw it.
{
Nature Always Wins: -600cp} [Like Pamela Isley you have become one with nature itself. You have a powerful connection to plant life allowing you to sense and control it as if it was an extension of your being. From the tiniest weed to the tallest oak, you command nature to obey you and follow your will. You are also immune to poisons and toxins, both natural and manmade. In addition to this you have the ability to secrete pheromones to subconsciously control others. Stay away from fire and weed killers though.]
Holy crap! "Does this mean I can just WISH for a garden to grow? Or use my biological manipulation abilities directly on a cellular level!?"
Forget cloning tubes, she'd be able to get a fungus or something to scan a person, craft medical products using random weeds, or more! And if she got scans from living plant creatures, like the monsters in Final Fantasy Jumps or some of the more confusing creatures in Bioshock!?
She blinked. "Hey Adam, who's Pamela Isley?"
Adam sighed and sent her a
picture.
Sarah stared. Hard. "Oh… Oh my."
Her friend chuckled. <<She might also look like this when you get there. Goes by the name 'Poison Ivy.' {
Poison_Ivy.data}>>
Gulp. "She's a local there?"
He nodded.
Welp! "What a lovely coincidence! Maybe we can hang out."
Adam hummed. <<I believe a version of
her got into a
romantic relationship with a female Jester before, so you might have a chance.>>
Score!
The skull gave a wry grin. <<Did I mention that Ivy's girlfriend and Jester whom I mentioned, formerly known as
Dr. Harleen Quinzel and eventually going by
Harley Quinn, was fairly open to odd behaviour and unusual relationships? {
The_Good_Doctor.data} {
The_Bad_Humor.data}>>
Sarah wasn't drooling, right? "And sold!"
Adam blinked. <<Wait, you haven't even read the rest of…>>
Nope! "I said sold!"
He sighed. <<We don't even know if this is the variant of Jump where the two are in a relationship. Not only is it a bit off because of where in existence we found it, but I just whapped that whole Jump with my test modifications!>>
Sarah hesitated. "But… Both girls are actually in this Jump, right?"
His slump answered her pretty well! "Then, like I said! Sold! To the pouting skeleton buddy who is totally going to help me not look stupid in front of the sexy crazy people! Right?"
Adam sighed. <<Fine. Just… Don't get your hopes up.>>
Well, duh. "Those who never try, never win. Plus, I'm going to meet her as a powerful attractive woman who has similar powers as her, that gives me a chance right?"
He just sighed again.
Meh, even if it didn't work out or she turned out to be incompatible, it was worth a shot!
Oh, and being able to manipulate large sections of known lifeforms by thought, that was neat too.
Now let's do this!
Adam sighed. <<Oh well, if anything goes too wrong we can probably handle it. Let me know if reality cracks or something though.>>
Wait. "What?"
He shrugged. <<Like I said: This is a test with me warping a standard Jumpchain Document and related reality module. It should be fine, but uh… Just keep your eyes open? Yell if you see cracks or the V̷̶̀͝o͡͞i̵̡d͢? Also, let me know if you see any cute girls in bat costumes or Catwoman or something.>>
Don't distract me with hotness! "What was that about holes in reality!?"
Adam just sent another image. <<{
Catwoman.data}>>
Was this Jump just FULL of sexyness!? "Yeah, yeah, reality might break down and stuff. Let's go say hi!"
