So, you're telling me this fucknut got together all the money for the bills, probably quite easily given a Protectorate salary, but got so wrapped up in his job he forgottopaythem.
And also forgot the groceries. Leaving his child in a freezing house to starve for TWO WEEKS! Through CHRISTMAS!
Congrats, I think you made one of the worst Danny Heberts in the entire fandom. The worst family in the Protectorate on record, Vista might actually be disgusted by the fact that her parents are better.
So when does the CPS agent try to murder him with their bare hands? Before or after Taylor screams at him on camera?
I think it was just that he forgot about food, not that he didn't pay the bills. Which means he apparently hadn't been around his home long enough to notice it running out before Taylor left.
Which is pretty bad by itself. The only thing that might mitigate it is if he arranged someone else to deliver the groceries home. That he then didn't make sure actually got delivered.
Right. Low time, low money, just general despair and depression and maybe just simply not remembering, perhaps only even remembering (sometimes) to take care of himself when his own body absolutely insists, with the few family friends busy with their own lives and assuming that of course things couldn't be as bad as they are... it's a bad situation, but IIRC it seemed to me more Danny's fault only in a "he clearly really needs help" way.
Except... no. He has help. He has access to money, to a lot of people who could help more directly; he has a privileged position in the machinery of state. The Protectorate surely wants to make sure its Heroes are taken care of, that their minds can stay on-task (and their loyalty to the Protectorate strong), and if someone's triggered, well, obviously they're having some problems in their life, and could very likely use some help with them; it seems unlikely such wasn't explicitly offered. And yet, despite all of that, he just... doesn't. Maybe he got help for himself -- but once he'd gotten that, he sure didn't bother to send any Taylor's way.
Hell, I am wondering, does Taylor know he works for the PRT, or does she still believe he works for the Dockworker's Assoc? That might be a plot thread that pops up later, Taylor finding out he got a new job a while back.
I could see an insurance company disagreeing with a largely hands-off stance for a survival-oriented peaceful parahuman thief, but the reasoning is perfectly sound
Fun Fact: Insurance companies actually love hands off approaches to being robbed, because paying to replace stock is always cheaper than paying medical bills and replacing stock.
Going anywhere with a Master-class cape wasn't generally a good idea, but Legion created copies of himself from surrounding materials and she was a Blaster. So she followed. It wasn't like she knew anything about whatever losers might've cracked.
Settling into a chair, the Protectorate member then pulled off his helmet and leaned back as Emma's eyes widened. Danny Hebert ran a hand through his thinning hair, before he spoke with a sigh.
So I just had a thought. There is no way the PRT/Protectorate doesn't know that Danny has a daughter right? They had to have looked into his history and family when he went to sign up. That means at the very least his superiors in the PRT and Protectorate should know about Taylor. And unless he's a Noctis cape that means he's been sleeping on the Rig which should have drawn attention at least from someone like Miss Militia but apparently, nobody thought to ask him why he wasn't spending any time with his daughter.
Hell, I am wondering, does Taylor know he works for the PRT, or does she still believe he works for the Dockworker's Assoc? That might be a plot thread that pops up later, Taylor finding out he got a new job a while back.
Probably not, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason Danny went full on neglect on Taylor.
Armsmaster, in his infinite wisdom, regales Danny about all of the possible hazards of being a parahuman as part of the recruitment pitch and why the Protectorate is the best choice for him.
Unfortunately, it feeds into (possibly power-induced) paranoia and distrust and leads him into cutting Taylor out completely. For her safety. After all, if nobody knows he's Legion, nobody can use Taylor as a bargaining chip against him.
And QA is probably being a bit possessive, since she didn't (or couldn't) jump to Best Host Taylor. Danny is probably being influenced by QA more than the average power.
Legion's daughter going missing was a worry. The fact that it appeared voluntary was the only thing that kept it from being as bad as it could be. If a villain managed to grab her, and force coerce Legion from there? Well, they'd get the hammer dropped down on them, but it could still cause a lot of damage. Especially if it was just a lone villain, and not one of the major gangs. Some freshly triggered cape, angry at seeking something.
So Edward was doing some accounting forensics. See if he could find a pattern. Maybe Taylor Hebert grabbed her father's card, bought some supplies before she left. Maybe she was using it even now. That would make it easy to find her, if she checked into some motel. Though he doubted it would be that simple. Surely Legion would have noticed a charge like that, or his card going missing.
Several months worth of banking records. All the accounts that Daniel Hebert used. Establish a baseline, see if there were any unusual spikes. Edward might have to go back further, but it was a start. Everything seemed normal.
He made note of the different categories, the different stores that were charged to. And then he spotted it. It wasn't a sudden increase in spending, but a decrease. Legion… there was a sudden drop off, no store he could recognize as a grocery store. Something he only noticed when he plugged all the information in, to get a chart to better analyze the data.
He took a closer look at the 'miscellaneous' spending charges. None of them matched 'grocery store'. In any of the accounts. Edward ran a hand through his hair. Damn it. Either Legion left out an account, when he was asked to see if they could find his daughter that way, or he actually forgot to buy food.
How the hell does a father not notice that there's no food in their own house? He didn't think Legion had some power to just ignore needing to eat something. Didn't he report that Taylor had taken it all? Surely he would have noticed before then. Right? …right?
He made a note to pointedly ask the man if he was keeping some secret account. And pulled Legion's 'on-base' hours. How many times he used the cafeteria. That kind of thing. And it started to paint a picture. A horrifying one. Legion apparently hadn't gone home. He'd have to kick it over to someone who was working those angles of the investigation to double check, but it seemed to be the case from what Edward could access.
Checks that could be made so there wouldn't be another case of some Protectorate cape having their civilian identity being reported missing. Or their house being foreclosed on because they forgot to pay their own bills, as they were living on-base for too long. Or one case where a Protectorate cape's home was robbed, and the cape didn't even realize it until after the police reported him missing, given that the door was obviously smashed in. And boy was he embarrassed to have to clear up the confusion of being thought to have been kidnapped. Didn't even have the idea to have it cleared for going on vacation. Only thing that could have made it worse is if he had left any kind of classified material at home. Or anything that would have proven said cape had actually lived there.
Edward would be glad to have his part in investigating this mess over with. And spend time with his family. All he knew was that someone else dropped the ball. Badly. And soon enough there would at least some people being really unhappy to have missed it. Legion, most of all. Probably cause a closer look to the civilian lives of other Protectorate members too. Enough to at least make sure the warning signs are actually noticed. Before it blows up in face of the PRT.
-
"Legion, when exactly was the last time you bought groceries, specifically before your daughter went missing?"
Not sure how close to canon this would actually be, but the idea just popped into my head. An alternate possibility I was considering was having someone taking Danny home, and getting groceries for him, and incidentally figuring it out from there.
But I think this works a bit better.
The cafeteria thing was more there to have a 'wait, he's eating all his meals here?' realization. And it does make a certain amount of sense to have at least some nominal 'anti-stranger' method, where it's registered that Danny is grabbing a meal from them. Or something like that. Also helps make sure the Protectorate buys enough food for their employees and all that. Now whether it has actually stopped a stranger from infiltrating somehow? Who knows.
Edward might have a bit more information than he probably should but... eh. Might just be him being part of the team to figure it out. Or just him extrapolating from what he does have access to.
"I knew you had it in you!" Sophia called as soon as Emma walked into the Wards common room. "Only question is, is there anything left of whatever morons got at you for me to go after?"
The redhead grinned at her friend, while the other Wards eyes bounced between the two. A small smirk made its way onto Emma's face, as she knew exactly what the tame wolves were thinking. Stalker? Having a friend? As if the coddled brats understood the bond of pack.
"Sorry Soph, I'm a Blaster. Everything's… dealt with." Or would be, once the stupid favors were paid off, but she couldn't say that even if she was willing to admit to having bought her power.
Natural capes apparently normally didn't take hearing that well.
What the Hell caused Danny's Trigger though? It had to be worse than Annette's death, so possibly the neglect came beforehand?
Danny, overworked and barely cognizant, finally comes home from the Docks Christmas Eve to an empty house with no food and no Taylor and THEN Triggers. Taylor becomes a runaway/missing persons case without anyone from the PRT immediately realizing just how badly Danny dropped the ball.
I'm uncertain if i'm mixing things up here, but didn't Taylor suffer through a freezing cold (I think a blizzard) without heat? That reeks of either repairs being necessary (which Taylor might have had no way to get into contact) or the power bill didn't get paid.
A video of her introduction can be found [here], but for those of you who can't watch it right now, she's a Blaster-Shaker who produces white-gold energy projectiles around herself and generate a bright illuminating field up to a block away. Her costume is a simple blue dress overlaid with golden armor plate on the hands, feet, and torso, with a visored tiara bearing her sundisk logo.
►The European Lurker
Replied On Jan 10th 2011:
Do I have my thoughts about this new Ward? I sure do.
First of all, dress with a tiara sounds a bit Glory Girl. Granted, the armour not so much. Golden armour plate though? That's ... I suppose we should be glad she actually got armour - looking at whichever idiot designed Vista's costume here - (not really though, so the PR Team can stop looking for a Stranger having infiltrated which ever building the designer is in, I'm not in the USA anyhow) but golden armour is still a tad pretentious.
About the energy projectiles, we haven't seen them in action, so I can't say much about those. But a bright illuminating field up to a block away? That's one way to let everyone and their pet goldfish find out you are near.
Still glad there is an entire ocean in between myself and BB
►Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied On Jan 10th 2011:
I didn't know people in Europe actually knew me. Anyhow, Crystal (Laserdream) had the same thought concerning the dress and tiara combo. While you might have a point about golden armor. In her case, it's the color of her power itself, so she gets a pass.
Why are you reading about Brockton Bay anyhow?
Edit: did you just type PR Team?
►The European Lurker
Replied On Jan 10th 2011:
Schadenfreude mostly, however bad my home gets with the Three Blasphemies, and worse: Gesellschaft. I can read about Brockton Bay and know that some places have it way worse than we do. Not that Brockton Bay is worse than the CUI or what's left of Africa. But you have internet access.
I suppose I must agree about the armour colour being somewhat understandable, if you know her power uses those colours.
Edit: why yes, I did. Having PRT stand for Public Relations Team would be much more accurate
I think that polite thief may have gotten into something. Did the merchants hire blasto or something cause that orange thing she was throwing around was one heck of a trip.
It's so nice that she ignores us while taking a five finger discount. That is part of my paycheck right there. In the other hand if all she needs is to get off the street I know a great shelter.
I'm uncertain if i'm mixing things up here, but didn't Taylor suffer through a freezing cold (I think a blizzard) without heat? That reeks of either repairs being necessary (which Taylor might have had no way to get into contact) or the power bill didn't get paid.
That was the result of a bad decision on Taylor's part. Namely, abandoning the house instead of returning after finding more food.
Of course, if she hadn't Cauldron would need to pull her out of the jail cell she landed in for stabbing Danny thirty-seven times with a kitchen knife...
I think that polite thief may have gotten into something. Did the merchants higher blasto or something cause that orange thing she was throwing and was one heck of a trip.
That was the result of a bad decision on Taylor's part. Namely, abandoning the house instead of returning after finding more food.
Of course, if she hadn't Cauldron would need to pull her out of the jail cell she landed in for stabbing Danny thirty-seven times with a kitchen knife...
I'm thinking there's a good chance that QA left at least a bud with Taylor, or chucked a bud at Danny to stay with her preferred younger Host. It would mean that the anemic Eden Shard would get a nice infusion of multitasking and extra power to run more functions with, meaning Taylor's Tinker tech tree ceiling would probably be somewhat higher. And perhaps looking at blueprints from so many mental angles she might figure out new blueprints the Shard didn't have and/or decode the black-boxes much to QA's excitement at having chosen Best Host, and that means that her tech would be able to end up manufactured eventually on Earth Tǩóymos once basic facilities are up and running in probably months from now with drone networks to get materials without disturbing the environment too much.
I'll get the replies in a bit, but first I should address the confusion over how Danny's neglect went unnoticed.
Legion's been with the Protectorate since August 2010, about five months before the story starts. At first, not much changed, but being a professional hero and a de-facto workaholic is a bad combination for a father, leading to less and less 'Danny time', ultimately resulting in Taylor being home alone since the start of December. This, of course, is the point at which the food runs out and Taylor fully accepts the nemesis contract.
While Taylor's not going to learn about Danny being a cape for another few months, shit's gonna hit the fan for him a fair bit sooner. Dauntless, as a fellow dad cape, is going to be particularly unimpressed.
The thing y'all need to remember about parahumans is they're all fundamentally disturbed people. Even if Danny didn't get a power that screws with his perceptions or emotions, he still broke even worse than he did in canon. This isn't just a man with a stable job, this is a man with severe and largely untreatable mental illness.
Really it's more the PRTs fault for keeping up the masquerade that "heroes" are paragons of humanity and trying to keep trigger events and trauma secret. It's like with New Wave - 2nd gen capes triggering easier is a myth, they just neglected and abused their children into having trigger events.
Parahumans make bad parents, especially single parents.
I'll get the replies in a bit, but first I should address the confusion over how Danny's neglect went unnoticed.
Legion's been with the Protectorate since August 2010, about five months before the story starts. At first, not much changed, but being a professional hero and a de-facto workaholic is a bad combination for a father, leading to less and less 'Danny time', ultimately resulting in Taylor being home alone since the start of December. This, of course, is the point at which the food runs out and Taylor fully accepts the nemesis contract.
Eh, Danny as a plot device was pretty much written to be despised, even prior to how he 'handled' the locker or anything since Annette's death:
He fell deep enough into a self pity party that he didn't feed his 12 year old, and still didn't consider therapy or getting help/support in another form.
I'm honestly surprised I never considered that Cauldron might do something like that with their more volatile customers. It's safer to have some softer leverage on them, a way to destroy them without being directly involved, rather than always sending Contessa to just merc them if they get uppity.
I think some different drafts may have run into each other here? Emma appears to be answering a question along the lines of "Are you ready?", but that isn't what the doctor said.
Set-piece basically means she views Emily as part of the background rather than a distinct person. And speaking of developments, what do people think of what Emma's up to?
QA: [Boring, boring boring... All you do is vary size and number, never trying out anything complicated! Pull a Voltron or something! [OVERSEER BUD] has better Host...]
I'm thinking there's a good chance that QA left at least a bud with Taylor, or chucked a bud at Danny to stay with her preferred younger Host. It would mean that the anemic Eden Shard would get a nice infusion of multitasking and extra power to run more functions with, meaning Taylor's Tinker tech tree ceiling would probably be somewhat higher. And perhaps looking at blueprints from so many mental angles she might figure out new blueprints the Shard didn't have and/or decode the black-boxes much to QA's excitement at having chosen Best Host, and that means that her tech would be able to end up manufactured eventually on Earth Tǩóymos once basic facilities are up and running in probably months from now with drone networks to get materials without disturbing the environment too much.
Danny was the intended original host for QA and Taylor only got said Shard in canon because Danny never Triggered. Here, he did, much to Admin's eventual dismay. Or whatever passes for it in Shards. Taylor has a Shard that, like [FRAGILE ONE], is a conglomeration of buds, centered on one from QA.
Hell, I am wondering, does Taylor know he works for the PRT, or does she still believe he works for the Dockworker's Assoc? That might be a plot thread that pops up later, Taylor finding out he got a new job a while back.
As an additional concern, did he give her an updated emergency contact number? If she had ended up in the hospital for something, would they just end up handing her to CPS due to having no way to contact anyone?
Given the subject is Taylor I could see her being too stubborn to try calling around though.
If i was any good at writing, I would make an omake/series of snippets of Taylor and Missy being best buds at hating their parents, followed by Taylor 'kidnapping' her to her kickass clubhouse/tropical paradise.
Partly because of how useful in general a Vista would be when trying to create your own town from scratch, and partly because the tiniest ward always got the short stick.
As I am not any good at writing, I will leave the idea here for others to possibly play with.
I think that prize goes to [PROTOTYPE], given how it's been trying to kill L33t.
That being said, I'm curious how the shards pulled off "creating" Taylor's shard given that she drank a vial. Her circumstances were certainly ripe for a tinker trigger anyways, and the Tinker 3 rating that Cauldron gave her seems off. The most interesting result would be if her multi-bud hijacked the connection to the dead shard, resurrected it, and are in the process of creating a new hub/entity since it isn't tied to [WARRIOR].
