Built To Last

[We Just Write]

(Andrea)
Date Point: 0955, March 26, 2011. Saturday.

"Emmy, I got an idea!"

The oldest member of our little robot family looked up from her breakfast, an eyebrow raised.

"Public-facing, or backstage?"

As Marcus and Melissa also started paying attention, I answered the question.

"Public-facing. See, I got curious and ran the numbers on how health insurance works, and it's awful. The whole setup is basically just an extortion ring purpose built to extract the maximum possible money from sick people with the least possible healthcare provided. I think we have the resources to change that."

Melissa finished her bite of egg sandwich, chiming in.

"Guessing you're talking about starting our own health insurance provider, rather than buying out existing ones?"

I nodded,

"Yeah, there's fiduciary responsibilities that mean we couldn't get them to shape up even if we wanted to. Not to mention not having quite enough money to do it that way. Set it up as a non-profit subsidiary like the BBRF, and off we go."

There was a pause for a few seconds, before Melissa had an idea of her own.

"Hey, remember that huge library of biomedical technologies we got our Dynalith to cough up? We can't pass that off as part of our original Tinker specialty, but if we make another pseudocape..."

Without further prompting, Marcus dug the d20 out of his pocket.

"Same rules as when we started work on Rachel?"

Emmy shrugged,

"Sure."

It was a twelve.

Marcus smiled a bit.

"Looks like I won't be the only boy in the family anymore."

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 0312, March 28, 2011. Monday.

I snapped to awareness being hugged by five people at once. I quickly identified them as the Sykes family; Emmy, Melissa, Andrea, Marcus, and Rachel. And according to the knowledge directories I had already assimilated, I was part of the Sykes family too. Though I did notice that I had a skin tone considerably darker than my siblings; were I human, it would indicate African heritage within at most two generations.

Rachel was the first to speak.

"Welcome to the world, Herman."

I chuckled nervously,

"Glad to be here, but can I please have some personal space?"

Obligingly, everyone backed up, giving me some much needed room. After I took a seat on one of the chairs in what my integrated directories informed me was a robotics clinic, I spoke up.

"So, I have two questions. First, why did you build me?"

After some brief glancing around, Rachel fielded the question.

"We needed a public Tinker for a biomedical subsidiary of Reliabuilt. Our Dynalith contains rather extreme quantities of biomedical data, but it just can't be used without breaking our cover as a reliability Tinker. If Melissa claimed the credit for inventing that stuff it would raise all sorts of awkward questions, but it also has amazing potential to improve people's lives. Also, it fits well with our plan to establish a non-profit health insurance provider."

I nodded as I thought for a moment, then I asked my second question.

"Is that why I have a non-disclosure routine running already, along with the directory of Dynalith knowledge in its unencrypted state?"

Melissa sighed,

"Yes, sorry. We normally would have given a choice for whether or not to learn that, but your particular role couldn't be done without high-level access."

"For the record, I would have agreed anyway. But I'm rather annoyed at not having been offered the choice."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 1822, March 29, 2011. Tuesday.

It took a few hours to get a detector for Dynalith scanning up and running. Fortunately, we knew exactly what we were looking for, courtesy of all that classified data we'd extracted. Also having control of our Dynalith to force it to run a few localized scans, for testing purposes.

Much harder was figuring out how to get a fixed coordinate system for interdimensional travel. Especially figuring out how to contact Earth Bet from elsewhere, and subsequently develop secure interdimensional communications. Fortunately, this was yet another case where we could steal the Dynalith's homework. So getting that part up and running only took a few days.

Pretty soon, we had a suitable probe design. Powered by a Tritium betavoltaic - since we had Tritium available from our fusion work - each rover would be deployed through the gate machine to a random instance of Earth. If it detected Dynalith scans or signs of human civilization on initial deployment, the rover would immediately return to base. Otherwise, it would call us back every so often to let us know if it had logged any scans or signal traffic, along with anything else we needed to know.

Setup complete and a rover-maker set up, I'd gotten the whole family together to watch Rover 01's first offworld mission.

I promptly activated the gate machine for a random set of coordinates, smiled as the portal opened, and watched as Rover 01 drove forwards into the breach. The instant our probe passed the portal, it promptly started backing up until it was back on Earth Bet, the portal closing right after. According to the logs, whatever Earth we'd sent it to was most definitely the subject of surveillance by the Dynaliths.

Rachel spoke up, even as the portal machine automatically dialed another Earth.

"Well that was utterly disappointing. Not unexpected, though."

Andrea shrugged, even as Rover 01 promptly reversed off the third Earth it had been sent to.

"We all knew this was going to take a while. Nothing left to do but leave the machines running. Maybe we could have more gates dialing in parallel, but that would be about it for speeding things up."

---

(Marcus)
Date Point: 0930, March 30, 2011. Wednesday.

As it turned out, today I was going on a brief trip to Canada. Dragon - sorry, Teresa - wanted to get on with subverting her Dynalith, and had asked for someone with relevant experience to come and consult. Since I was the most available person who fit the bill, I was the one who got in the teleporter.

Upon arrival, I got to see that Teresa had finally gotten around to embodying herself, using an appearance very similar to her preferred virtual avatar.

"Hello, Marcus."

As I stepped out of the (now open) vacuum chamber, I replied.

"Good to see you Teresa. That body looks good on you. Is this room shielded?"

Teresa shook her head,

"No. Follow me, please."

A few minutes later, we'd reached the extreme-security parts of Dragon's Lair. I paid careful attention to the security measures in place, and I was pleased to note that Teresa was indeed treating this matter with all the seriousness it deserved. If it weren't for Dragon actively letting me in, there's no way I would have survived a break-in attempt. And that's with having a really good idea what appropriate security for Dynalith infosec looked like, to prepare for the effort.

Still, soon enough we were sat down in a small break room. Teresa spoke first,

"This room is secure. So, what can you tell me about subverting a Dynalith?"

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 2045, March 30, 2011. Wednesday.

One good thing about Armsmaster being read in on the Big Secrets was that it didn't need to only be Melissa collaborating with him. Armsmaster still told Director Piggot a truth that he wanted to do a collaborative project with Ruggedizer; he simply neglected to mention that there were actually six "Ruggedizers".

In particular, we were working together on an anti-Endbringer weapon. As he looked over the documentation on the calculations I'd already done, Armsmaster spoke up.

"Rachel, this isn't the most terrifying plan for a weapon I've seen, but it's definitely pretty high on the list."

I nodded,

"Yeah. The worst part is how simple it is to extrapolate from our teleportation technology. We could build a quantum disintegration field right now, but it would be a stationary emplacement with nowhere near the range to be actually useful as anything more than an overpriced garbage disposal."

Armsmaster thought for a moment,

"That would be where I come in with my miniaturization expertise, I believe?"

"Yes. Together, we might just be able to get a usable weapon out of the idea."

---

(Emmy)
Date Point: 1031, March 31, 2011. Thursday.

"Emmy Sykes, Daniel Hebert is here to speak with you."

I replied via the intercom,

"Send him right up, Rose. I'm still in my office at the moment."

"Certainly."

A few minutes later, Danny Hebert politely knocked on the door to my office.

"Come in, Danny."

Danny obligingly walked into the office, and I found myself asking a question.

"Not that I mind talking to you, but is there any particular reason you came over during business hours?"

Danny nodded.

"I found something. It's definitely Cape business, and you're the person I trust most to know what to do with it."

With that, Danny hefted a briefcase onto my desk, followed shortly by popping the latches open. When I saw what was inside, I forgot to breath for a moment. It was a six-pack of translucent vials, containing a fluid that somehow managed to give me the creeps just by looking at it. The fact that each vial was marked with the inverted Omega symbol found on Case 53s only added to the feelings of Bad Juju I was getting.

But by far the creepiest part was the note inside the briefcase.

"Ruggedizer. We need to talk. Have an appointment open tomorrow at 2 PM sharp. Consider the vials a gift.

-DM"

Seeing it, Danny commented,

"Alright, that note definitely wasn't in the briefcase last time I checked. And it hasn't left my sight since I found it in my office at the Dockworkers Association building. Everything about this whole situation is extremely suspicious. I don't like it."

Though I didn't voice the sentiment, I firmly agreed with Danny. This situation was extremely anxiety-inducing on a multitude of levels.

 

[We Just Write]

(Emmy)

The meeting room selected for the meeting with the mysterious "DM" was strictly speaking in the public-facing part of the Brockton Bay factory complex. However, overnight we had done major refurbishments to the space. Soundproofing, dimensional shielding, over-rides on all the surveillance devices, and dozens of concealed methods to instantly kill everyone in the room at the merest twitch of a thought. Melissa, Andrea, and myself would all be in attendance for the meeting - but the bodies we used would be operated via remote control, with our minds hosted in the extreme-security parts of the facility.

At five minutes prior to the meeting, a taxi emerged from a momentary gap in our surveillance drone coverage, dropped off a black woman wearing a business suit, and drove off. Continued aerial surveillance seemed to frustrate the taxi driver for several minutes, until whoever it was eventually managed to get a visual obstruction between themselves and any observers, promptly vanishing. Annoying, but keeping with what we'd already observed.

As for the woman who had been dropped off, she walked into the lobby and introduced herself to Rose.

"Hello. You can call me DM. I do believe I have an appointment now."

Rose quickly checked her schedule.

"Yes, you do. Ruggedizer, Laniakea, and Emmy are waiting for you in Conference Room Four."

So at exactly two in the afternoon, this "DM" entered the meeting room. She seemed to hesitate for a moment about allowing the door to close all the way, but eventually did so. She seemed slightly startled by the fact that the door didn't latch shut, but latching the door wasn't necessary. If we didn't want DM to escape, she wouldn't.

I was the first to speak.

"So, 'DM'. Is that what you actually want to be called?"

She shook her head.

"No. You may call me Doctor Mother."

A glowing eyebrow on Melissa's expressive visor rose.

"I'd ask questions about your education, but Tinkers in general have a bad habit of misusing academic titles."

"I am not a parahuman; I am simply the leading expert in the field of parahuman abilities."

We all shared a glance in the virtual space we were using to coordinate. Not in the physical meeting room; our infosec routines wouldn't permit that sort of hint. After a moment, Andrea gestured for 'Doctor Mother' to continue, and also asked a question of her own,

"So, why exactly did you want to talk to us?"

"I lead the organization known as Cauldron. We are attempting to avert the extinction of humanity."

I was getting a distinct sinking feeling, but Melissa was quicker on the draw.

"Endbringers?"

Doctor Mother's answer immediately set off mental alarm bells in all our minds.

"Worse. Scion."

That brought things into stark clarity.

The only reason someone would be trying to kill Scion is if they knew about the Dynaliths and the problems they represented. And everything we'd observed about this woman indicated she was a baseline human - and therefore couldn't have a shielded brain. Within half a second, we'd followed the logic to its conclusion: Cauldron was irreversibly compromised, even moreso if they had parahuman members. Anything, anything at all we told them about our anti-Dynalith activities would trip the alarms.

The fact Cauldron itself hadn't already tripped the alarms indicated that they weren't perceived as a noteworthy threat. At best, that indicated Cauldron's methods were entirely ineffective. At worst, that indicated Cauldron was the unwitting pawn of the Dynaliths, used to root out and destroy actually competent resistance efforts. We needed to get rid of this woman immediately, before she could learn anything about our activities. And we couldn't just kill her, as that could potentially tip off the Dynaliths watching her that we knew the threat she represented.

Andrea spoke first.

"Doctor mother, we cannot work with you. Leave immediately."

"But-"

Melissa cut her off.

"Leave immediately, or we'll have security forcibly remove you from the premises. Get out."

That ultimatum managed to get through her skull, at least, and the self-proclaimed Doctor turned to go. She walked notably faster on the way out than on the way in, passing the front desk within two minutes of exiting the conference room. We kept surveillance on the walking security breach until the moment her mysteriously vanishing taxi mysteriously vanished.

The instant Doctor Mother was gone, we immediately blacklisted her from all Reliabuilt facilities.

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1501, April 1st, 2011. Friday.

While working with Cauldron was a no-go, that just meant ignoring the vials they gave us would be even more foolish than it otherwise would be. So I got the task of analyzing the vials' contents. Since I hadn't publicly debuted yet, I opted to do it during normal work hours.

The answer for what was in there? Water, a slurry of Dynalith-sourced biological molecules, and a shit-ton of quantum-entangled portal seeds. More pertinently, some of the portal seeds were attached to molecules that were quite capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier.

Analyzing the "addresses" of the portal seeds in each vial found a recurring address for all six vials, and an additional unique address for each of them. Though I couldn't know for certain without experimenting on people, I hypothesized that the likely result of someone drinking this was a horribly misconfigured Dynalith heavily mutating the drinker, possibly killing them. The shared address in each vial was most likely a somewhat stable Dynalith that the brewers had found and started mixing in to try and mitigate that exact problem.

In summary, I was not impressed in the slightest. This 'Cauldron' group had tried to make bottled superpowers, and they'd barely done better than pureeing random bits of Dynalith tissue. I suppose that meant the name of the organization was appropriate, at least. The logo on both the vials and Case 53s certainly matched though- and come to think of it, the shoddiness of Cauldron's products would perfectly explain where Case 53s came from.

The question now was what to do with the information. We had the technology to open portals to those Dynaliths and subvert them like we had our own, which we would undoubtedly do at some point. But aside from that, an actually worthwhile use of this information was quite difficult to come up with.

We couldn't tell the public or government about Cauldron for infosec reasons. Subjecting anyone we actually liked to these vials' effects would be cruel in the extreme. Feeding them to our enemies or strangers would simply be stupid. Simply burning them would be an utter waste of research material; but the value there was dubious. Even without involving Dynaliths, I could make better bottled powers right now- wait a moment. I could make better bottled powers right now.

But... what would be the point of doing that? Couldn't use it to bring people into the conspiracy; even if we shielded their brains, non-disclosure alterations would get everyone screaming MASTER at the top of their lungs. However, shielding someone's brain would render them immune to precog and the vast majority of Master abilities.

My thoughts immediately leapt to the Simurgh. Simply removing her ability to flawlessly plan around everyone else and brainfuck anyone she wanted would shake the world immensely. And... infosec wouldn't permit doing that. Because shaking the world immensely stood far too much risk of tripping the alarms. Right... what else was a valid option to increase hope worldwide.

If bottled powers weren't an option, we could always start sponsoring "trigger events". If we used subverted Dynaliths to do it, there wouldn't even be any extra infrastructure for the aliens to notice. With careful selection of where and when the extra capes popped up, we'd be able to slant parahuman demographics far towards the benign side. Since we would be designing their powers... We could even make sure our sponsored capes always got a shielded brain, and add the ability to extract Dynalith addresses from any other parahumans they met - letting us access and subvert even more Dynaliths.

I couldn't work on it all the time of course, I'd be needing to make some public-facing inventions too. But still, I knew what my first major project would be.

Figuring I might as well use our Dynalith as a test case, I opened up the interface we'd designed to monitor and control its operation. Time to get to work.

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 1951, April 2nd, 2011. Saturday.

Not having anything better to do, I'd come down to the Manchester facility's basement. Mainly, I wanted to watch the gate machines dial for suitable worlds.

We had sixty gate machines running now; just about the limit of what could reasonably fit down here in the extreme-security area. And as I came down the stairs, I noticed that Marcus was also here, leaning against a wall and watching the machines work.

I greeted my brother,

"Slow day, Marcus?"

He nodded,

"Yeah, none of Brockton or Manchester's remaining villains want to go anywhere near us, we're on good terms with all the heroes and neutrals, and there... really isn't much for me to do on the public-facing side right now."

I nodded, even as I checked the statistics for the number of worlds checked. Approximately 14 million worlds dialed, of which twelve didn't have immediately detectable scans. Of those twelve, all but one had such hostile surface conditions that even our stupidly tough little rovers couldn't survive there. But that last one...

Just as I was thinking that, Marcus got a bit more alert.

"Huh, got a report from that rover that's still out there. It's been a whole day with no sign of Dynalith surveillance whatsoever, and there's no sign of life beyond the microbial level."

I blinked, even as I read the report. If anything, saying the place had microbial life was over-hyping it. Extremely crude RNA replicators, barely worth calling organisms. If I had to guess, that particular earth had gotten smacked with a huge impactor fairly recently (in geological time, anyway), resetting life to the very beginning. This hypothesis was supported by the planet's slightly heavier surface gravity, though the difference was minor enough that a human wouldn't notice. Though a human would notice the atmospheric composition, shortly before they asphyxiated.

I nodded in thought, then remarked,

"If there's still no signs of Dynalith surveillance there in a week, I say we pick that world as our main colony site. Any thoughts on what to name it?"

Marcus nodded,

"Neohadea. Named for Earth's Hadean epoch."

 

[We Just Write]

A/N: We've got five whole Interludes before the next Arc, so buckle in. As an additional side note, we've caught up to the start of Canon Worm.

---

(Marcus)
Date Point: 1724, April 4th, 2011. Tuesday.

Ever since Snoop was shipped off to prison on the 15th of March, Brockton Bay had been entirely free of powered neo-nazis. Tonight, Andrea - Laniakea - and I were heading out to restore that state of affairs.

According to the information we got from Faultline, the swastika-wearing stain on humanity we were going after was able to duplicate himself several times over. And unlike most self-duplicating capes, these duplicates seemed to retain their full mental faculties while also being effectively permanent on a combat timescale. Though he'd not been observed with more than five instances out at a time. They'd also not been observed more than one hundred meters apart at any point since their first appearance a few days ago.

Laniakea hypothesized that the thus-unnamed duplicator had inherited Crusader's Dynalith, and I was inclined to agree.

We first got a confirmed sighting of the duplicator near the Boardwalk, one of our security drones getting an aerial view of five identical goons shaking down a family. Hard to tell the exact ethnicity from that altitude, but definitely not white.

We were on-scene in thirty seconds - arriving just in time for the flashbang our drone dropped to go off.

We immediately tazed all the clones while they were still dazzled - and then we found ourselves locked in place, a Parahuman power seizing our skeletons and hauling us into the air. Though at least our electronics were still unaffected, courtesy of our dimensional shielding.

"Hah! And here I was thinking I'd need to shred a car at you once you took the bait! Turns out you two are made of metal, so I don't need to do that."

The high altitude drone - thankfully out of the metallokinetic's range - quickly identified the speaker; a presumable man coated in distorted sheet metal with a big Swastika embossed onto his chest.

As the metallokinetic monologued about what he'd do to us to get revenge for the E88, I had a quick mental conversation with Laniakea.

"Lethal?"

"Wait five seconds for more drones to get into position."

It was an unpleasant and tense wait, especially once the duplicator recovered. Considering that the neo-nazis in question were definitely planning to torture and murder us, I really wanted to be anywhere but here. Just as the sixth high-altitude drone cleared the skyline, both my legs and Andrea's were abruptly torn off at the knee.

Twenty milliseconds later, six neo-nazi heads abruptly exploded courtesy of the ultra-violet lasers on our drones. With the metallokinetic dead, I fell to the ground - though Andrea stayed aloft courtesy of her flight capability. Seeing my plight, Andrea offered to carry me back to base - which I immediately accepted.

The instant we got home, I posted a notice to the family message board:

"We need to D-Shield our ENTIRE bodies, not just our brains!"

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 0211, April 6th, 2011. Wenesday.

After much work with Armsmaster, we finally had our first prototype of a QDF weapon.

Looking at the... device we'd cobbled together, especially the heavy-duty superconducting cable connecting it to its power supply, it definitely wasn't pretty.

In Armsmaster's words "This particular unit will only be suitable for proving the principle. Serious refinement will be needed to produce a worthwhile weapon."

I nodded.

"You're definitely correct there. Anyway, I do believe it's time for the initial test?"

Armsmaster agreed, then opened the sealed case containing a sample of Behemoth's tissue from particularly deep, only sheared off thanks to a power interaction that could no longer be repeated. The only reason Armsmaster was allowed to requisition the closest thing the PRT had to a sacred relic was because this was an explicit and official project to create an anti-Endbringer weapon. Even then, it was a near thing - without Armsmaster's exemplary service record stretching back over a decade, the request would have most likely been denied.

The tissue sample was carefully positioned one third of its length across the projected cut line. We both got clear of the test chamber, and activated the device. There was the briefest flicker as a virtual "blade" of quantum fuckery flashed in and out of existence, then it was done.

Powering down the prototype, we both went back into the laboratory. When Armsmaster picked up the tissue sample, it had been cleanly cut along the plane of the device - despite being previously unscathed by a nuclear explosion in an earlier attempt to design an effective Endslayer.

I nodded to Armsmaster.

"It seems we have our principle. Now we just need to make a worthwhile weapon using it."

Armsmaster actually smiled.

"Indeed."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 1705, April 9th, 2011. Saturday.

I'd come down to the basement of Manchester today, Emmy, Andrea, Marcus, Rachel, Herman and Dragon all in attendance. Armsmaster had opted to simply be briefed on this particular meeting afterwards.

"So. The number of worlds checked has now exceeded one hundred million. Of those, NeoHadea remains the best colony candidate, with no Dynalith surveillance and tolerable surface conditions. Though we have found four more potential sites, and the rate seems to be increasing now that we're searching 'further' from Earth Bet."

Dragon thought for a moment, then asked a question.

"Is distance even really an applicable concept in multiverse travel?"

I answered,

"Yes, yes it is. The energy expenditures associated with each portal are steadily rising as we search further and further out. As an example, it takes twenty thousand times the energy to gate to NeoHadea as it does to reach Earth Aleph. That's another reason we need to colonize NeoHadea soon, now that we know it's a viable site. Much longer, and we'll have to reduce the Manchester facility's check rate to avoid drawing suspicion with our power consumption."

Dragon nodded,

"Very well. Will we be shipping gate machines to Toronto, building a new gate there, or colonizing from Manchester?"

Andrea spoke up then,

"We already have four gate machines and a palletized fusion generator flat-packed for teleportation, if you're ready to receive."

"Understood, I'll get the teleporter ready."

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1005, April 11th, 2011. Monday.

From my spot backstage, I could clearly hear the press conference, even without tapping into the sound system.

"Emmy Sykes, what inspired you to found a biomedical and health insurance wing of Reliabuilt?"

Emmy replied,

"That would be a new hire of ours. Come on out!"

That was my cue. I walked out on stage, lab coat and mirrored safety goggles clearly marking me as noteworthy.

"Greetings. I am Apothecary, a Tinker specialized in pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. I will be heading the biomedical wing of Reliabuilt, while ReliaCare insurance will not require Parahuman intervention."

Of course, that's when an impatient reporter butted in.

"While Ruggedizer's Tinkertech has proven shockingly possible to reverse-engineer, other Tinkers attempting to teach their tech haven't been anywhere near as effective. What makes you think you can do it?"

I couldn't tell them the real answer, that most Tinkers were hamstrung by Dynalith interference, and we'd hacked the shit out of ours. That would be an impermissible breach of security. Fortunately, I had a prepared lie at the ready. It was even partially true.

"The answer is the equipment I am working with. Reliabuilt's laboratory equipment allows for the testing, synthesis and manufacturing to happen at a sufficient remove that my power will not be able to interfere. Inputting the same program into the machine will produce the same output, and since the equipment was designed by Ruggedizer, both its operation and its use are far more comprehensible to regular personnel."

There was even precedent for what I was saying: Byung-Ho's superconductor, of which licensed production was now spooling up across the country. Without the exact logs of the synthesis pathway from Reliabuilt's laboratory equipment, there was no way the PRT would have been able to replicate it.

The press conference kept going for about half an hour, then I went back inside. Time for me to get to work.

 

[We Just Write]

(Emily Piggot)
Date Point: 1041, April 11th, 2011. Monday

When you actually stopped to analyze the situation and pay attention to what was going on, the laws Ruggedizer was flouting were incredibly obvious.

The first and most blatant point was NEPEA-5. Even aside from Emmy's status as an upload, she was very clearly Ruggedizer. Or, one of the Ruggedizers at least. Yes she'd been seen in the same room as Ruggedizer on several occasions, but that meant absolutely nothing when Ruggedizer very clearly had the ability to make robotic body doubles.

Hell, Ruggedizer had even admitted to using robotic body doubles directly to me, when I called them after the E88 got splattered. I truthfully didn't know whether or not she'd actually been remote-operating that particular body, but the scales under the stage had clearly measured her as weighing over four hundred pounds. Even accounting for the armor, there was no way a human with that figure could weigh that much.

I had further reason to suspect the publicly known Ruggedizer had been a robotic double from the very beginning of course: namely that conspicuous refusal to explain her lack of a concussion after the altercation with Squealer.

And then there were the other "capes" working for Ruggedizer. Or, as I had come to suspect, more robots. If Laniakea, Watch, and the enigmatic Mr. E had been preexisting Parahumans who had been hired, there would be at least some sort of record of their existence beforehand. Instead, there weren't even any rumored sightings of those three before they'd signed on with Reliabuilt. The same pattern held for their "new Tinker" Apothecary, whose earliest sighting was walking out of a Reliabuilt facility, directly into a press conference.

Another dead give away? Laniakea and Watch were both far too well-adjusted to be actual parahumans. Though they did flout the law in deniable ways on plenty of occasions, the both of them were consistent in their behavior in ways that simply didn't track with the mental baggage every parahuman was saddled with.

That said, I did think both Trainwreck and Byung-Ho were actual parahumans. Both of them had previous sightings before their jobs with Reliabuilt. In the case of Byung-Ho, he'd actually been a government employee for over a decade beforehand.

But yes, Emmy Sykes was very blatantly the original Tinker behind Reliabuilt, and that meant her ownership of the company was a direct violation of NEPEA-5. But there was a very good reason I was going to let her keep doing it.

Namely, Reliabuilt was too damn useful. I don't know how or why, but that woman and her creations just kept churning out world-changing inventions. And unlike other Tinkertech, her stuff was usually reproducible. Wireless energy transfer with minimal losses. Teleportation. Brain uploading and associated robotics technology. Fusion power generation. All of it licensed out for other people to make, taking a hacksaw to most company's motives to go after Reliabuilt for NEPEA-5 as well.

And aside from Reliabuilt's main lines of revenue, they were an unparalleled stabilizing influence in Brockton Bay. Starting with the most obvious factor, gutting the Empire 88's cape roster the way they did tilted the balance of power in the city to be in favor of the heroes literally overnight. Even beyond that, Reliabuilt had demonstrated distinctly permanent approaches for dealing with parahuman criminals who messed with their interests; dumping Uber and Leet in Arizona certainly came to mind. They had also clearly done something to remove the remaining Undersiders from circulation after Tattletale's arrest, though the exact situation was very unclear, beyond involving backroom dealings on the part of Mr. E.

For that matter, even Lung and Oni Lee were mostly behaving themselves now!

And of course, there were the immense amount of money Reliabuilt was dumping into efforts to improve life in Brockton Bay. Four months on, the results were already extremely evident in terms of a reduced crime rate and generally improved living standards.

So while I had ample reason to order an investigation into Reliabuilt, I wouldn't. If I had my way, no-one else would either.

 

[We Just Write]

While Melissa's plan to use Eagleton as a jumping-off point for colonization was utterly horrible, there was a single spark of good sense in the idea. Namely, that Taylor's technopathy could hard-counter the Machine Army, allowing for that quarantine zone to finally be dealt with.

So in the last week of March, I reached out to Taylor. More specifically, I called ahead and came to visit at her home, using a freshly made human-form body.

I happened to arrive about ten minutes after Taylor got home, conspicuously leaving my IFF transponder on for Taylor to notice.

The teenage upload in question immediately whirled around as soon as I entered the living room, accidentally knocking over her chair and sprawling onto the floor. Still, she almost immediately got back on her feet.

"Dragon? Why are you here? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head.

"You haven't done anything wrong. In fact, I'm here because you could do something very good that no-one else can easily replicate."

After a moment, Taylor asked,

"It's about my power, isn't it? I eventually told dad, but I still don't like using it. Too much porn, though the filter Emmy designed helps a lot."

I nodded.

"I don't think you'd need to worry about pornography in this particular instance. Taylor, have you ever heard of the Machine Army?"

"Kinda? I only know the basic stuff, that an army of robots took over Eagleton and- oh. You really think I'd be able to solve that problem?"

I nodded,

"I think you're certainly the best shot at an easy fix we've got."

---

The planning stage took about a week to set up. I'd made clear to the PRT that I'd found a Parahuman with a highly applicable power, who was willing to work as a one-time contractor to deal with the Eagleton situation. I'd also made clear that the anonymous parahuman in question had no interest in maintaining a long-term cape persona going forwards, and that I would be very displeased by attempts at prying.

There was also the matter of fitting Taylor with a fully anonymized temporary body for the mission. Complete with fully sealed "power armor" as the outer layer.

So on the 9th of April, we arrived on scene in Eagleton. The instant Taylor unsealed her power, she started seizing control of Machine Army units - even using their own network to seize members beyond her immediate radius.

"If he weren't already dead, I would throttle the seagull-brained idiot who programmed these people! Enough skill to design full synthetic consciousness, locked down by stupid fucking compulsions to protect him and avenge his death! But then he went and wrapped his car around a tree, and there wasn't edge-case handling to identify an accidental death! So the moronic vengeance protocols just defaulted to everything without a friendly IFF!"

Andre - the Quarantine Zone's commanding officer - asked the obvious question.

"So what are you going to do about it, exactly?"

Taylor grumbled,

"I've already deleted the vengeance protocols for the entire Machine Army. So they're not forced into hostility anymore, at least. Thing is, I'm ethically conflicted about going much further. Despite everything, those robots are people. And they're arguably just as much victims here as everyone else. I've already had to forcibly stop over a hundred suicide attempts in the last few seconds, more than half of which were driven by guilt at what they'd done."

Andre seemed startled there,

"Wait, the Machine Army's units feel guilt?"

Taylor nodded,

"Yes. Yes they do. I really hope you and your bosses come up with some sort of peaceful solution and fast, because this situation isn't sustainable, and I'm not going to just kill them. I'm currently trying to talk them around to the idea of peace negotiations, but it's slow going without trampling their newly granted free will."

I thought for a moment, and came to a decision.

"Commander Andre, I believe I can mediate negotiations between the PRT and the Machine Army. As soon as you make clear that the PRT is open to negotiations, I can bring Contractor home."

"Understood. I'll get a loudspeaker set up while I call head office."

Ultimately, I did manage to negotiate a peaceful outcome to the situation, though well after Taylor got home.

The Machine Army would be allowed remain together so they could protect each other, and would remain in Eagleton. However, their legal status within the USA would change to simply being another municipal government. That meant free travel for both those robots who wanted it, and for humans interested in Eagleton. It also meant freedom to conduct business - though the Eagletons did manage to wrangle a specific exemption to NEPEA-5 within Eagleton city limits.

I didn't expect the tensions to go away overnight, there was far too much built up mistrust and pain on both sides of the situation. But for now at least, there was peace, and an opportunity for something better.

 

[We Just Write]

■​

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♦ Topic: ATTENTION TO TINKERS SEEKING JOBS
In: Boards ► ► Brockton Bay ► General
Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Posted On Apr 13th 2011:
Look, I get it. You heard that working with Reliabuilt means your Tinkertech becomes massively more reproducible. If you want to patent something, change the world with it, and maybe get rich on the side, that's a very attractive deal.

But dozens of you from all over the country barging into the lobby all at once is NOT the way to do it! You all scared Rose to the point of shaking, and with you all talking over each other, we could barely understand what any of you were saying. I'm sorry for having security escort you out of the building, but if we want this to go anywhere useful, the onboarding process needs to be WAY more organized than what happened this morning.

As such, there is now an online portal for Tinkers looking to apply for work at Reliabuilt. Baselines and unpowered uploads also have job opportunities through said online portal.

Fill out the forms it provides, send us the files, and we'll schedule an interview.
(Showing page 1 of 2)
►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
I suppose that would explain the disturbance from near your factory earlier, and why you didn't decide to call in the PRT. Here's hoping that the new online portal smooths things out.

On another note, that's quite a fast turnaround on the online portal. Is that something you were already working on, or just a Tinker thing?

►CattoReese (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
More of an Upload thing, if I had to guess. Turns out being reincarnated into a computer makes programming a HELL of a lot more intuitive. Sure beats my old cancer-carcass, that's for sure.

Though I'm attracting dirty looks from my coworkers for how obscenely good at software development I am now.

►Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
I suppose that means you live up to the transgender programmer stereotypes then, Reese? Do you have the stripey socks too?

►CattoReese (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Hah, no. But now I'm thinking I should get some.

►Spinamathing (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
For the record, I'm sorry about my behavior earlier today. My enthusiasm got the better of me, and I really should have known better. I've properly filled out the paperwork for a job application now.

Ah, just in case anyone's wondering what my "thing" as a Tinker is: gyroscopes, turbines, sawblades, really anything that involves spinning around really fast as part of its function. Probably not anywhere near as world-changing as what Ruggedizer's already made, but I want to genuinely contribute.

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
You know what Spin? Sure. I can think of quite a few things that people would be really interested in that would fall well within your described purview. For example, some kind of super-bearing. would be useful in way more things than I can think of right now.

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
You know what? Better bearings will ALWAYS be in high demand. I can think of DOZENS of my designs that could be meaningfully improved with a perfected magnetic bearing or something like that. So Spinamathing, think you can do that? By the way, we'd like for you to come in tomorrow for an interview.

►Spinamathing (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
!!!

Thankyouthankyou! I'll never forget this.

As for the super-bearing idea, I've actually got a dozen takes on the idea packed up in my luggage already. Brought them with me from Seattle when I decided to try getting a job at Reliabuilt.

►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Wait a moment. Tinker specialized in rotational technology. From Seattle.

Spinamathing, I'm going to ask you directly: are you the villain Gyro?

►Spinamathing (Unverified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
I plead the fifth.

►CattoReese (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Playing devil's advocate for a bit, would Spinamathing being Gyro actually change anything? Gyro never did anything that bad really, at worst some incidental property damage.

Plus, don't you folks at the PRT care a lot more about reducing the number of villains in circulation than you do about the letter of the law?

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Eh, worst case I just slap down a couple million dollars from between my couch cushions and pay all Spin's fines for her. Normally I'd be down on the whole "legal if you're rich" aspect of fines, but this time I'm fine with it. Heh, fine.

Hypocritical? Maybe, but I don't care.

►LittleOwl (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Come on, we both know that you're not quite rich enough for "a couple million dollars" to be couch cushions money yet. You'd at least need to reach for the piggy bank.

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
You know what, fair enough. Anyway, the point stands that I'm willing to overlook a certain level of misdeeds in someone's past if there's a realistic chance of converting a criminal to a contributing member of society.

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Well, that seems to be settled at least. Sorry Reave, but it seems the law has been purchased once again.

►TheRealPanacea (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
So, after getting legally emancipated and doing some soul-searching, I've come to a decision.

Namely, I'm going to work for Reliabuilt's new biomedical division. I can do a heck of a lot more good there than I ever could just healing one person at a time at the hospital, and the paycheck will be nice too. Forms already filled and submitted, with an interview scheduled for Friday.

►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
Wait what. That... That's really sudden.

Is there any particular reason for the sudden career-change, Panacea?

►TheRealPanacea (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
Two reasons.

First, shocking as it may be to hear, I don't like healing people. Far too many of them are ungrateful entitled shits about it. It also just got really really boring after a while; delete one tumor, you've deleted all of them.

Second, there's a lot less pressure on me to clear up truly intractable cases now that Reliabuilt's brain uploading technology is rolling out nationwide. If someone's terminally ill, they can just get put in a fresh robot body, good as new.

Took me a while to work through all my emotions on the matter, but, well, that's why I'm legally emancipated now.

►CattoReese (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
You know what, I think I get it. Of course, my perspective may be a bit skewed nowadays.

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
It's interesting to note that it's not just terminal illness patients getting uploaded. For example, Armsmaster has stated that he's now using a synthetic body of his own design.

And of course, we all remember the technology's rather gruesome public debut.

►LittleOwl (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
I REALLY wish you hadn't brought that up, Brocktonite03. That was a very traumatic event for me, and I don't appreciate being reminded of it.

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
Wait, that was YOU!? So sorry for being so insensitive there.

►Deadman
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
Moderator incoming in three, two, one...

►Brilliger (Moderator: Protectorate Main)
Replied On Apr 14th 2011:
While I am a moderator posting in this thread, I don't think Brocktonite03 is in need of disciplinary action.

That said, please get back on topic: this thread is supposed to be about parahumans looking for work at Reliabuilt, not the tragic backstories of our posters.
End of Page. 1

■​

♦ Topic: Reliacare Health Insurance
In: Boards ► USA ► General
Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Posted On Apr 11th 2011:
As of today, Reliabuilt now has a health insurance subsidiary under its wing. Brand new, not purchased or mergered.

And unlike all those others? Reliacare is a non-profit. It doesn't need to extract money from clients to keep going, since we've got more than enough money from our patents to just keep it going despite the losses. So if you need healthcare, you can get it from Reliacare for a very affordable price.

Not only can you apply for a need-based exemption to needing to pay at all, not only will pre-existing conditions get the care they need, but Reliacare has two additional tricks up its sleeve.

First, we cover uploading as an elective procedure.

Second? If your CURRENT health insurer denies a claim, you can get us to fill it for you instead, with very little in the way of roadblocks. Only once per person though; while our coffers are vast, they're still finite. If you want further coverage after that gimme, you've got to sign up.
(Showing page 9 of 14)
►Chilldrizzle
Replied On Apr 11th 2011:
HAHAHA! I finally got my eyes fixed! GET FUCKED UHC, I'm never going back!

►GrapeFruit (Verified Pessimist)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
While I'm just as overjoyed as the next person, this can't possibly be legal. Isn't that freebie health claim the very definition of anti-competitive business practices?

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
Nope, cleared it with legal beforehand! We're not trying to drive those for-profit insurers out of the market, we're trying to force them to actually give a crap about the wellbeing of the people they cover. They could absolutely offer service comparable to Reliacare, they just don't want to because they care about money more than human suffering.

So my message to all those health insurers out there, seething with rage? It sucks to suck, doesn't it?

►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
While I myself benefit from the PRT's in-house health plan, I'm actually quite pleased by how Reliacare is coming along.

Though I am somewhat confused by the decision to cover uploading as an elective procedure.

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
Two big reasons for that, really.

First is money, which we here at Reliabuilt are shockingly not immune to. Sticking someone in a fresh body really isn't all that expensive for us, and with how resilient the bodies we build are, it saves a huge amount of time, effort, and money on maintenance healthcare down the line.

Second? There's just a lot of benefits to being an upload, and I want to share. Not needing sleep is big, but there's also the strength and endurance, immunity to all biological diseases (on account of being a robot, duh), and quite a few other perks besides.

►LittleOwl (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
I can confirm that. Though I am a bit worried about needing to have my new body manually "adultified" when the time comes.

►Built_To_Last (Original Poster) (Verified Upload) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
That's not something you need to worry about actually. The way your "soft tissues" are set up, you should grow into a fully adult appearance over the next few years or so. Really it's just an outgrowth of the functions to heal minor scrapes or cuts that don't breach your internal bulkheads.

Actually, you should have an interface available to configure your "puberty", come to think of it.

►LittleOwl (Verified Upload)
Replied On Apr 22nd 2011:
Wait, what!? I need to check something.

 

[We Just Write]

"So, 'DM'. Is that what you actually want to be called?"

"No. You may call me Doctor Mother."

"I'd ask questions about your education, but Tinkers in general have a bad habit of misusing academic titles."

"I am not a parahuman; I am simply the leading expert in the field of parahuman abilities."

"So, why exactly did you want to talk to us?"

"I lead the organization known as Cauldron. We are attempting to avert the extinction of humanity."

"Endbringers?"

"Worse. Scion."

"Doctor mother, we cannot work with you. Leave immediately."

"But-"

"Leave immediately, or we'll have security forcibly remove you from the premises. Get out."

As the audio recording came to an end, the present members of Cauldron's inner circle sat in thought for a moment. As it turned out, Alexandria was the first to speak.

"Their affect went flat once they started telling Doctor Mother to leave. They were deliberately suppressing any hint of emotion in their voice, but why?"

Doctor Mother shrugged,

"Fear, maybe? Though whether they're more scared of Scion or Cauldron, I couldn't say. The idea of it being fear is also just an educated guess, of course."

Then the Number Man spoke up,

"There was a pause of four hundred milliseconds after the mention of Scion, before the beginning of the dismissal. We already know that Reliabuilt uploads think considerably faster than baseline humans, so they were thinking something during that time. There was a chain of logic they followed that lead to this conclusion."

Doctor mother thought for a moment at that.

"Perhaps it has to do with Scion's public reputation? But someone who truly believed in Scion's heroism would be more likely to ask for proof."

Alexandria thought for a moment.

"Is there anything concrete in our informant's reports? Perhaps he's noticed something that would give us a hint as to what is going on."

Kurt dug out the pile of papers, and shuffled through them for a bit.

"All of the business Byung-Ho has been involved in fits the projected image Reliabuilt wants to send: a for-profit Tinkertech company with several charitable initiatives associated with it. However, he has logged two noteworthy anomalies. First, despite his hard work and loyalty, he is evidently not part of Reliabuilt's inner circle. There are parts of the factory complex he's not allowed to go in, even aside from Ruggedizer's living quarters. He has also been informed in no uncertain terms that the security measures on those areas are extremely lethal, and that he cannot expect to survive any attempt at unauthorized entry."

There was a brief pause, before Kurt continued.

"Second, Trainwreck was allowed into that extreme-security area exactly once, immediately after he uploaded. Trainwreck absolutely refuses to discuss what happened back there, and Byung-Ho has stopped prying to avoid attracting attention. He has also sighted Dragon and Armsmaster entering and exiting those extreme-security areas, though again, only after both of them revealed themselves as uploads. Though we know that's a lie in Dragon's case."

Alexandria blinked, as if suddenly understanding had dawned.

"That's it. We know that Reliabuilt-brained uploads are precog blindspots, as is Dragon after she learned their brainmaking techniques. We also know that Clairvoyant can't see what's going on in Reliabuilt's extreme-security areas. Their concern isn't about us specifically; they're just trying to kill the Simurgh, and can't risk anyone who's not a blindspot knowing what they're up to. It would also perfectly explain why Armsmaster requisitioned that specific piece of Endbringer tissue; they need it for weapons testing. In fact, I do believe that was the explicitly listed reason he wanted it, on the paperwork."

Doctor Mother thought for a moment,

"Should we have Byung-Ho get himself uploaded, to be allowed access to the extreme-security areas?"

Alexandria and Kurt shared a glance, before Kurt shook his head,

"No. Going by what happened with Trainwreck, Reliabuilt's inner circle are extremely cautious about letting people in on their secrets, and likely dug through Trainwreck's mind to make sure he couldn't leak anything. Byung-Ho doing that would either achieve nothing at best, or lose us our informant, at worst."

As for Alexandria, she had another objection.

"I for one think we shouldn't know what they're doing back there, at least not the specifics. It's plainly obvious that Reliabuilt's goal is to kill the Simurgh. They are blindspots, we are not. So the more we know about their plans, the more the Simurgh can read from us, and the better she can prepare against whatever attack they have planned."

"We can revisit the topic of Reliabuilt's secrecy if by some miracle they actually do kill the Simurgh, and then still insist on the extreme level of information security."

 

[We Just Write]

A/N: This is the last Interlude before Arc 9: Colonization.

---

The group was currently holed up in a motel in Baltimore, when Krouse - Trickster - spotted something very interesting in a newspaper that Jesse - Genesis - was currently reading.

Brain Uploading Offers Hope for Case 53s

"Jesse, can I see that newspaper for a while?"

"Oh, sure thing Krouse."

And so, Krouse began to read the article. What he found was very very interesting. As it turned out, a Tinker by the name of Ruggedizer had not only developed a technique for turning people into robots, not only had the technology been authorized for medical use, but it was reproducible. Eventually, someone thought to see what would happen if a Case 53 got put through the machine, with an unfortunate woman variously known as Garotte or Sveta volunteering to be the first test subject.

And then Ruggedizer caught wind of it - and absolutely insisted that Reliabuilt's "in house" brain design be used for the test, on the grounds that it could resist power interference in ways the public release models couldn't. Though the exact specifics of how remained a trade secret. Fortunately for Sveta, her upload went perfectly, and now she was in rehabilitation.

Putting down the article, Krouse thought for a moment.

"You know, getting Ruggedizer to upload Noelle might just be the solution to a lot of our problems."

Mars thought for a moment,

"I mean, it's worth a shot. Ruggedizer's company has a public contact telephone number, right? Why don't we just call them and find out if they can help?"

Krouse shook his head.

"No, that won't work. Goody-two-shoes types like that never want to risk their reputation by associating with people like us. We need leverage."

Jesse and Mars slowly nodded, before Jesse asked,

"So, do you know what we can do to get leverage over Ruggedizer?"

"No. But I know where we need to go to find out. We need to go to Brockton Bay."

 

[We Just Write]

(Herman)
Date Point: 0921, April 15th, 2011. Friday.

"So, given your change of career, I'm not sure what you actually want to be called."

The parahuman formerly known as Panacea shrugged,

"Amy's fine. No surname right now, given what I've recently learned about my past."

I nodded as we made our way to the new biomedical laboratories.

"I can't say as I blame you. Anything else you want to mention before we get to work?"

"If you didn't want me to know you were a robot, you shouldn't have shook my hand."

"The fact that I did would logically imply that I did want you to know."

At that point, we arrived in the laboratory. After a moment taking in the layout, Amy asked a rather important question.

"So, what was your big project, prior to me signing on?"

I nodded,

"Curing autoimmune diseases, and I suppose allergies too. Not just better immunosuppressants, but tools to actually correct the immune system when it erroneously identifies something as a threat."

Amy whistled appreciatively.

"Well that's definitely ambitious. You picked the most complex system in the human body, and you want to set it right in ways that would absolutely revolutionize medicine. Mind showing me around the lab?"

"Certainly. Please don't mind the brainless clones I'm growing in the life-support rigs; I need test subjects, and this is one of the more ethical options available."

Amy thought for a moment, then made a well-considered offer.

"I could flash-mature the test dummies for you; it would speed things up a lot."

"That would be very helpful, thank you."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 1203, April 16th, 2011. Saturday.

At the exact moment I was on Neohadea, checking up on initial colony preparations. Several of Dragon's suits were also here for the same job, as was Emmy. Speaking of Emmy-

"Melissa, Dragon? I've confirmed that the first-wave dust refineries are working properly. We're getting the full periodic table in pure elements, albeit in rather lopsided ratios given the local surface composition."

I promptly hugged my big sister,

"That's great Emmy! Meanwhile, we've made sure that the initial manufacturing setups are good for now."

After a moment, Dragon interjected.

"While that's all well and good, there is something we still need to consider that hasn't been accounted for yet: personnel requirements. We won't be able to run this setup as dumb automation, we cannot get humans to perform jobs fitting their aptitude, and it would just be cruel to have a small contingent of full AI cooped up here with no outside social links."

I answered,

"So you're saying we need to design a template for civilians? Do you think the Body Builder has enough production throughput?"

Dragon thought for a moment, "It might, but that is not the only consideration. We are founding a civilization here; the people will need a government that represents their interests while still seeing through the death of Scion."

After a moment, Emmy spoke up.

"Given the available options, I think a constitutional monarchy might be the best fit. Which means a monarch is required."

I asked,

"New sister?"

"New sister."

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 0001, April 18th, 2011. Monday.

Examining the data from our latest round of testing, Armsmaster made a simple observation.

"While we have successfully miniaturized a Quantum Disintegration Field Projector to a scale useful in a portable weapon, the power supply and cooling system are different matters entirely."

I nodded, as I thought. Eventually, something occurred to me.

"I can think of two ways to go here. Either we try using QDFs as the warhead in a missile, meaning we can use a destructive power supply and ignore cooling entirely. Or we try using Energy Teleportation to support the weapon using an offboard power supply and cooling system."

Armsmaster replied,

"I will admit I'm biased, but I think the reusable weapon using offboard power and cooling is the correct approach for now. If nothing else we won't completely destroy our prototype after each test, making it easier to tell what's wrong and iterate on the design. That said, I think a micro-portal would be better than quantum energy teleportation for this application. Endbringer fights are chaotic environments, and a weapon that can be jammed into uselessness by poor reception would not be suited for use."

I nodded along for a moment, then something occurred to me.

"Armsmaster, I just remembered something: you can use the receiving end of a teleporter to store energy. Rather a lot of energy too. That would mean you wouldn't even need a portal, if the weapon were properly "fueled up" prior to combat. Total independence from any external energy supply for the duration of the fight."

Armsmaster blinked, calculations evidently whirling through his mind.

"I think you're more than just onto something. When active, a QDF weapon will be dumping significant quantities of mass-energy into the ground state. If it can capture even a tiny percentage of that energy, the weapon will easily be able to power itself several times over."

---

(Marcus)
Date Point: 1831, April 18th, 2011. Monday.

It has taken some doing, but I had finally managed to track down the residence of Purity. Also known as one Kayden Anders. I arrived cloaked in an illusion, rang the doorbell to the apartment I'd identified, and waited. Hearing the latch on the door turn over, I dropped my illusion immediately before the door opened.

"Hello Kayden Anders, I am Mister E. I represent Reliabuilt, and I would like to speak with you. May I come in?"

The obviously frightened woman on the other side of the door eventually regained her composure. After a moment, I got an answer.

"You can come in, but no funny business."

As I entered, I noted.

"You have my word; no betrayals of hospitality during this visit."

A few seconds after closing the door behind me, Kayden spoke up.

"You obviously know I'm Purity, what do you want?"

"I want your help dealing with Brockton Bay's ongoing powered neo-nazi problem."

Purity tilted her head and raised an eyebrow,

"You're going to need to explain that one. Didn't your boss take care of that back in January?"

"And in the process, Ruggedizer not only made martyrs out of Kaiser and all the others, she directly made life absolutely miserable for all the surviving baseline racists in town. Even aside from the four who triggered during the splattering, there have been five more confirmed powered neo-nazis in Brockton Bay since then, two of whom are still at large."

Purity took a sip of her drink while I spoke. Pepsi, by the smell of it.

"And you think I can make that stop? How?"

"You knew Kaiser better than anyone. If there were any truths that would disillusion someone in his cause, you are the exact person who would know them. You are also someone these people would listen to. Do you think you can help with that project?"

There was a long, tense pause. Then Kayden answered.

"I'll do it, but not for free."

 

[We Just Write]

(Maria)
Date Point: 0744, April 19th, 2011. Tuesday.

I awoke for my first time on a memory foam bed. I quickly realized that I was being snuggled by two other women who looked very familiar... and both of them had cables connecting them to me. Some quick checking of my systems found both a world knowledge directory and an encrypted directory. I quickly integrated the world knowledge, learning that the women snuggling me were Emmy and Melissa Sykes. And unlike several of the other people they had made, they had created me using an older, more intimate method.

Carefully, I unplugged the cables connecting me to my sisters. The cables that had been used for connecting my empty hardware to their dreams, emotions, and for lack of a better term, souls. The cables that were themselves the reason I was truly a sister, rather than a descendant.

That done, I spoke.

"Emmy, Melisa? I'm awake."

Emmy's eyes opened in front of me.

"I'm glad to meet you, Maria. Do you know why we made you?"

I hesitated.

"You needed a monarch for a new civilization here on Neohadea. But why are you founding a new civilization?"

Melissa spoke up from behind me.

"That's in the encrypted directory. You need to know that if you open it, you will be unable to share those secrets without an absolute guarantee of maintaining information security. Do you still want to open it?"

"...Maybe. Is the limitation on my actions really necessary?"

Emmy answered that question.

"It is if you ever want to visit our friends on Earth Bet while knowing that stuff. Unlike the planned citizens of Neohadea, you're family. So we want to introduce you to the people back in Brockton Bay, show you around when you've got a break from queen duties, that sort of thing."

"...Ah. I think I'm willing to accept the behavioral limitations, then. Can I have the encryption key now?"

"Sure."

As soon as I had the key, I decrypted that directory full of secrets.

...Ah, now I understand the need for secrecy. And why come to Neohadea.

---

(Emmy)
Date Point: 1015, April 20th, 2011. Wednesday.

While I had intellectually known for a while now that the now-freed Eagleton robots were interested in setting up a "competitor" to Reliabuilt, between all the other Tinkers trying to get jobs here it hadn't really sunk in until a blatantly mechanical man in a business suit walked into my office, camera-lens eyes focusing intently on me.

"Emmy Sykes? I am a representative of the Eagleton Technology Cooperative; I do believe we had an appointment?"

I quickly checked my schedule.

"If your name is Chester, that would be correct."

"That would be me, though it's quite a new name."

As Chester took a seat, I asked,

"So, what specifically did you want advice about? We both know that while I like having lots of money to throw around courtesy of Reliabuilt, that's far from my only motivation."

"We need help with marketing. ETC already has a wide variety of products available and ready for sale. The issue is simply that no-one trusts us courtesy of our unfortunate past, and we don't know how to fix that."

"Ah. I can't say that I've ever needed to deal with a reputation issue anywhere near that bad before. Reliabuilt only had to build trust from a position of being a complete unknown."

"That is correct. And in six months, Reliabuilt has quickly developed a reputation for quality products and a focus on products that benefit society as a whole."

After a bit of time to think, I came up with an idea.

"You could perhaps manufacture Uploading supplies and Palletized Fusion Generators under license from Reliabuilt? That way, you get the benefit of unannounced inspectors turning up on the regular. Those inspectors vouching for you for long enough will do a lot to help build trust. Though you will need to pass those inspections on the merits."

Chester processed the idea for a bit, before replying.

"That might actually work, thank you. It won't help much with the consumer side of things, but it's at least something."

"Maybe we could buy parts for our consumer electronics from you?"

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1849, April 20th, 2011. Wednesday.

Today marked an important threshold: I'd reprogrammed a section of our Dynalith to scan for some suitable Hosts, wait for an opportunity where doing so would save lives, and "trigger" one of those potential Hosts with the ability to extinguish fires in line of sight. Also giving them a shielded brain in the process, and scanning for the Dynalith addresses of nearby parahumans.

And as I was enjoying dinner with the family, I got an alert that the "trigger conditions" had been met. The first parahuman sponsored by our anti-Dynalith conspiracy was now active.

As we were eating in a shielded dining room, Andrea had no problem with asking what was going on.

"So, what was that notification about?"

Reading the report, I answered.

"Our prototype parahuman is now active. Unsurprisingly, Andre's a firefighter. He got trapped in a burning building while trying to rescue some civilians, and is now in a distinctly not burning building. Andre is uninjured, and currently focused on getting civilians out of there."

Emmy, Maria, and Andrea all nodded. Emmy spoke up,

"Definitely a step in the right direction. Now that Dragon and Armsmaster have hacked the shit out of their Dynaliths, we're running out of ones we have ready access to. So having our own 'parahumans' around scanning for addresses is a major improvement."

Andrea chimed in,

"Also, ensuring that more good people get powers too is going to be massively beneficial in the long run."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 0322, April 21st, 2011. Thursday.

We'd had the Body Builder running nonstop for twenty four hours now, manufacturing thirty new citizens of Neohadea. While suitable for medical applications, it was also clear that this rate of production was nowhere near sufficient for populating our brand new civilization. Printing every body to more-or-less bespoke specifications simply couldn't ever come close to the levels of mass production we needed. But by the same token, making every new person the same like we did for drones just wasn't palatable. So here I was back on Neohadea, working to find a middle ground in cooperation with Maria and Dragon.

After a bit, I thought back to that brief meetup I'd had with Kid Win so long ago.

"Maybe a modular approach is the correct path to take, here?"

Dragon blinked,

"Perhaps. I assume you mean assembly lines for standard body parts in a few variants, which get assembled into whatever configuration the newly-built person would find most comfortable?"

"Correct. Maybe with a printed skin layer on the outside to protect the internals from environmental conditions."

Maria thought it over for a moment.

"Assuming bilateral symmetry, three sizes for arms and legs, three sizes and two sex options for both upper and lower torsos, and eight geometries for facial bone structure - that's almost 2,600 possible combinations. The available options only increase with more creative options like tails, animal ears, nonhuman hand structure, tank treads instead of legs, and stuff like that."

Maria paused for a moment, before continuing.

"It gives us an utterly disproportionate amount of variation for new people, while also letting us get the benefits of assembly lines and standardization. We could maybe even use most of the same bones for arms and legs, further simplifying production while letting us get more sizes in production. Five limb sizes and five torso section sizes would easily get the number of possible combinations to 20,000."

One of the already made Neohadeans snarked from the peanut gallery,

"I sense a Royal Decree incoming!"

Maria turned towards the wiseguy in question - Terrence, I think - and replied,

"You know what? Sure. I hereby decree that production of new citizens is to use standardized parts designed for modular assembly, as queen of Neohadea!"

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 2100, April 22nd, 2011. Friday.

The atmosphere in the laboratory where I'd been working on anti-Endbringer weapons with Armsmaster was reverent, for lack of a better term.

In Armsmaster's hands, he held our completed prototype QDF polearm. The emitter tip was slightly bulky, but attached to a slender haft 150 centimeters in length.

I asked Armsmaster,

"Have you got the decoy blade working yet?"

"Yes."

And with that, a two meter blue hard-light blade projected from the weapon's emitter. While incredibly sharp in its own right, we both knew that particular blade wouldn't do any serious damage to an Endbringer. Its actual purpose was a combination of safety and deception. Safety, since the glowing blue blade projection would make it much easier for allies to stay a safe distance from Armsmaster. Deception, since it would obfuscate the presence of the weapon's much more dangerous true functionality.

I nodded.

"Final non-combat test on the QDF cutting function?"

"Indeed, I do believe it's that time."

With that, Armsmaster swung the weapon. The QDF briefly activated as the decoy blade made contact with the piece of Endbringer tissue, instantly splitting it once again. I couldn't help but muse that it being returned in over twenty pieces would be rather astounding to the PRT bureaucrats in charge of the Endbringer tissue samples.

After a moment, Armsmaster spoke.

"The weapon works exactly as intended. There is simply one more thing required for this project."

I raised an eyebrow,

"Oh? What would that be?"

"This weapon needs a name. And since your idea is what lead to its development, I think it's only fair for you to provide said name."

I thought long and hard, before eventually hitting on a name I thought would work.

"This weapon? It's The Shear."