A Chat with a Badger
A Chat with a Badger
"Look" You start to speak, then stop. "Wait, do you have any idea what you want your Cape name to be?"
She started a bit at that. "Um, no? I don't have one."
"Right then, I'm going to call you Laser Girl then."
She wrinkled her nose at that. "That's a stupid name."
"Yes, it is, but I need to call you something. Consider it incentive to think of something better. But we're getting off topic. We need to talk about how you got your powers."
"What? Why?" Fear and anxiety flared across her aura as you spoke.
"Look, I'm called Insight for a reason. You didn't get your powers the normal way, and I'm worried about what that could mean. Have you ever heard of Teacher?"
She hesitated for a moment, her fear fading to confusion before she answered. "He was that guy who killed the Vice-President, Right? What he's got to do with anything?"
"Because he was a Master who gave people powers, and once he did, he could control them, use them to fulfill his plans. I'm trying to make sure that someone hasn't tried to do the same to you."
"I'm- it wasn't like that! That thing was going to kill us, to kill you, and he couldn't use it. It had to be me. I saved your life. I-"
You cut her off. "I know. That's why I'm trying to help you. Who gave it to you? I've never heard of a Tinker with this sort of Tech, and I'm generally pretty knowledgeable about the Capes around here. I just want to make sure you're not being taken advantage of here. I just want to know who gave it to you."
"That would be me." You spin around at the statement, your guns coming up at the ready only to stare at an empty street.
Then you look down and see the badger. You blink as your power confirms that yes, the badger just spoke.
You stare at the badger. The badger stares back. After a long moment, you break the silence. "Ok, I'll bite. You built the armor she's wearing?"
The badger makes a movement that looks surprisingly like a shrug. "Not precisely. It's not really armor, for one, and I was more of an assistant. Professor Dalton was the real genius behind the prototype. But he was wounded when the Empire attacked, and he told me to take the prototype and run, to get it to the Resistance." Another shrug. "I didn't expect to end up here. A Knight-Captain broke down the door before I could set up the teleport completely, and I made a blind jump. The seeker droid managed to get caught up in the wake somehow. I tried to lose it with a disguise spell, but well," the badger gestured at it self, "that didn't exactly go as planned."
You raise an eyebrow at that. "So you're not really a badger. You're a human...wizard?" You speak the word, trying hard to keep most of the incredulity out of your voice. You're not entirely successful.
"What, no, I'm a dwarf. Dain Loderr, at your service. I'm not really a Wizard, either- I know a little magic, but I'm certainly no mage. Never had the capacity for it, even if I know the theory fairly well."
"Right." You speak slowly. "So you're not a mage. But I'm pretty sure Laser Girl over there isn't either. Why didn't you use...whatever it was."
The badger moved his hand in a motion that might have been scratching his head on a human before stopping at the realization that he had rather sharp claws. "Uh, right. Well, that's kind of complicated. The prototype is...particular. It's why it's still a prototype- the Professor was trying to fix the synchronization issue. We did figure out a way to detect suitable users- Taylor here-"
You cut him off sharply. "No names. Never in costume. Not when we're wearing masks."
He seemed to blanche at that- at least as much as a Badger could blanche. "Some sort of cultural thing? Right, I'll try to keep that in mind. The girl here was the only person in the city with both suitable and had non-negligible mana reserves, and even the latter was borderline."
"So you tracked her down and gave her the device."
"Well, yes. I was desperate. I was hoping I'd run into someone else able to help me, but I can't detect a single mage in this city. Warded, I guess. I swear I didn't mean any harm though. Swear it on the graves of my forefathers. I just wanted some help."
"Right. So explain the synchronization issue. What would have happened if you'd tried to use it?"
"I don't know. Probably something bad."
"Really? You don't know?"
"Look, this is top of line magitech, something absolutely revolutionary. I had mild manaburn from the disguise spell, I wasn't a suitable user, and we never did figure out what happened to Alma when she tried to synchronize with the first prototype. We lost all contact with outpost when they started the experiment, and the next thing we know we're hearing that the Empire is bombarding the base from orbit."
Taylor's "Wait, I could have exploded?" mixes with your own "Are they going to do that here?" as you both recoil in horror at Dain's statement, albeit for different reasons.
The badger- Dain, hurriedly shakes his head no. "I was almost positive nothing bad would happen to you Taylor. And no, they can't. Even if they manage to trace the port, the mana density here....it's far to low. They'd never be able to bring a spelljammer here. They might be able to send a few men, but nothing big. There's not enough mana on this side to support the gateway. It just wouldn't be able to make transit. A few people maybe, but they aren't going to be able to send an army. And even if they sent a Knight-Captain, they'd be limited- without manacapacitors, they'd have trouble casting spells once they exhausted their initial reserves."
You sighed in relief. He was telling the truth, at least as far as he could tell. No inter-dimensional invasion today.
Which still left you with the question of what to do now.
"So, what are we going to do with you?"
"Well, eventually I'll want to put together a ritual circle to teleport home, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I know the basic theories, but doing it from scratch...I have no idea how long that would take. And even if I did, I;'ll need to recover from the manaburn I got earlier. So I'll need a place to rest and heal."
Taylor leaned forward against her staff. "I could hide you in the basement, I guess. Dad never goes down there."
What do you do?
[]Exchange contact info and let Dain stay with Taylor. She offered, after all.
[]Offer to let Dain stay in your apartment. It'll require disclosing your identity, probably to both Taylor and the badger, but you'll be able to question him anytime you want.
[]Contact the PRT. Interdimensional badger-dwarfs are way above your paygrade.
[]Write-in
"Look" You start to speak, then stop. "Wait, do you have any idea what you want your Cape name to be?"
She started a bit at that. "Um, no? I don't have one."
"Right then, I'm going to call you Laser Girl then."
She wrinkled her nose at that. "That's a stupid name."
"Yes, it is, but I need to call you something. Consider it incentive to think of something better. But we're getting off topic. We need to talk about how you got your powers."
"What? Why?" Fear and anxiety flared across her aura as you spoke.
"Look, I'm called Insight for a reason. You didn't get your powers the normal way, and I'm worried about what that could mean. Have you ever heard of Teacher?"
She hesitated for a moment, her fear fading to confusion before she answered. "He was that guy who killed the Vice-President, Right? What he's got to do with anything?"
"Because he was a Master who gave people powers, and once he did, he could control them, use them to fulfill his plans. I'm trying to make sure that someone hasn't tried to do the same to you."
"I'm- it wasn't like that! That thing was going to kill us, to kill you, and he couldn't use it. It had to be me. I saved your life. I-"
You cut her off. "I know. That's why I'm trying to help you. Who gave it to you? I've never heard of a Tinker with this sort of Tech, and I'm generally pretty knowledgeable about the Capes around here. I just want to make sure you're not being taken advantage of here. I just want to know who gave it to you."
"That would be me." You spin around at the statement, your guns coming up at the ready only to stare at an empty street.
Then you look down and see the badger. You blink as your power confirms that yes, the badger just spoke.
You stare at the badger. The badger stares back. After a long moment, you break the silence. "Ok, I'll bite. You built the armor she's wearing?"
The badger makes a movement that looks surprisingly like a shrug. "Not precisely. It's not really armor, for one, and I was more of an assistant. Professor Dalton was the real genius behind the prototype. But he was wounded when the Empire attacked, and he told me to take the prototype and run, to get it to the Resistance." Another shrug. "I didn't expect to end up here. A Knight-Captain broke down the door before I could set up the teleport completely, and I made a blind jump. The seeker droid managed to get caught up in the wake somehow. I tried to lose it with a disguise spell, but well," the badger gestured at it self, "that didn't exactly go as planned."
You raise an eyebrow at that. "So you're not really a badger. You're a human...wizard?" You speak the word, trying hard to keep most of the incredulity out of your voice. You're not entirely successful.
"What, no, I'm a dwarf. Dain Loderr, at your service. I'm not really a Wizard, either- I know a little magic, but I'm certainly no mage. Never had the capacity for it, even if I know the theory fairly well."
"Right." You speak slowly. "So you're not a mage. But I'm pretty sure Laser Girl over there isn't either. Why didn't you use...whatever it was."
The badger moved his hand in a motion that might have been scratching his head on a human before stopping at the realization that he had rather sharp claws. "Uh, right. Well, that's kind of complicated. The prototype is...particular. It's why it's still a prototype- the Professor was trying to fix the synchronization issue. We did figure out a way to detect suitable users- Taylor here-"
You cut him off sharply. "No names. Never in costume. Not when we're wearing masks."
He seemed to blanche at that- at least as much as a Badger could blanche. "Some sort of cultural thing? Right, I'll try to keep that in mind. The girl here was the only person in the city with both suitable and had non-negligible mana reserves, and even the latter was borderline."
"So you tracked her down and gave her the device."
"Well, yes. I was desperate. I was hoping I'd run into someone else able to help me, but I can't detect a single mage in this city. Warded, I guess. I swear I didn't mean any harm though. Swear it on the graves of my forefathers. I just wanted some help."
"Right. So explain the synchronization issue. What would have happened if you'd tried to use it?"
"I don't know. Probably something bad."
"Really? You don't know?"
"Look, this is top of line magitech, something absolutely revolutionary. I had mild manaburn from the disguise spell, I wasn't a suitable user, and we never did figure out what happened to Alma when she tried to synchronize with the first prototype. We lost all contact with outpost when they started the experiment, and the next thing we know we're hearing that the Empire is bombarding the base from orbit."
Taylor's "Wait, I could have exploded?" mixes with your own "Are they going to do that here?" as you both recoil in horror at Dain's statement, albeit for different reasons.
The badger- Dain, hurriedly shakes his head no. "I was almost positive nothing bad would happen to you Taylor. And no, they can't. Even if they manage to trace the port, the mana density here....it's far to low. They'd never be able to bring a spelljammer here. They might be able to send a few men, but nothing big. There's not enough mana on this side to support the gateway. It just wouldn't be able to make transit. A few people maybe, but they aren't going to be able to send an army. And even if they sent a Knight-Captain, they'd be limited- without manacapacitors, they'd have trouble casting spells once they exhausted their initial reserves."
You sighed in relief. He was telling the truth, at least as far as he could tell. No inter-dimensional invasion today.
Which still left you with the question of what to do now.
"So, what are we going to do with you?"
"Well, eventually I'll want to put together a ritual circle to teleport home, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I know the basic theories, but doing it from scratch...I have no idea how long that would take. And even if I did, I;'ll need to recover from the manaburn I got earlier. So I'll need a place to rest and heal."
Taylor leaned forward against her staff. "I could hide you in the basement, I guess. Dad never goes down there."
What do you do?
[]Exchange contact info and let Dain stay with Taylor. She offered, after all.
[]Offer to let Dain stay in your apartment. It'll require disclosing your identity, probably to both Taylor and the badger, but you'll be able to question him anytime you want.
[]Contact the PRT. Interdimensional badger-dwarfs are way above your paygrade.
[]Write-in
