Contractual Villainy

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Is Danny dead or just a unresponsive version of himself that threw himself so far into his work he forgot Taylor or his home exists?
 
Neolithic Interlude a
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    • Here's a brief Interlude covering the aftermath of Taylor's raid.

    Brockton Bay, Earth Bet, Jan 5, 2011.

    Lisa Wilbourn stared at the other girl who had just announced that she was robbing the store as her power whispered in her mind. Angry. Resentful of authority and distrustful. Here for food, not valuables. Plans on farming. The blonde couldn't help but blink in confusion at the last insight. Farming? In a New England winter? She quietly resolved to avoid the other cape at all costs, as she had no interest in dealing with a crazy survivalist Tinker with anger issues.

    ***
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    Director Piggot looked over her desk at the two Wards who had just returned from patrol.

    "So, you reported an encounter with a new villain at Bay Goods. An attempt was made to talk them into surrendering, but they engaged in a rant, before forcing their way past the both of you and vanished with their loot in an alleyway before either of you could catch them."

    "That's right ma'am," replied Triumph. "A Tinker by the looks of her. Drones and a full-face visor fitted with a vocal distorter and amplifier. No power armor, just a heavy studded long coat of some sort. She had no weapons that I could see beyond a large knife that she didn't go for. She expressed exasperation rather than panic when we confronted her and called us oppressive jackboots before outright laughing at the idea that the PRT could help her situation. The rant that followed indicated less a dislike of the PRT and more a general lack of belief in the ability of any authority to provide aid. After she escaped, interviewing witnesses revealed that she only took food and food adjacent items."

    Piggot turned to the Tinker of the pair. "What are your thoughts on the villain, Kid Win?"

    "Well, she's clearly new, if her gear was anything to go by. Little in the way resources too, her drones had scrap plastic casings and all had noticeable differences like she'd kit-bashed the frames from spare parts. I think her watch was also tinkertech, given that it didn't have a face and was rather large. Probably a beacon for the drones, though that's just a guess. But what really struck me was what she said. 'Funny how the people who're supposed to protect us only reach out when you have powers and' er…" He trailed off. "'Aren't taking their shit anymore', is how she put it."

    "So," the director said slowly, "we have a paranoid homeless anti-authority Tinker who is strapped for resources and feels that the only reason anyone will pay her any attention is because they want her powers. Go file your reports and head home, you've done your part."

    Watching the teens leave, Piggot picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Armsmaster, we've got a new villainous Tinker in town…"

    ***
    ​
    Brockton Bay, Earth Bet, Jan 6, 2011.

    Max Anders set down the report from one of the unpowered E88 members that had come in overnight. "A new Tinker? And both white and disinclined towards the PRT… See if you can't track her down James, we could use someone like her. Bring Rune along, someone closer to her own age should make her more amiable. Whatever you do, do not spook her. The last thing we want to do is drive her away and into Coil's arms."

    ***
    ​
    In a bunker below Brockton Bay's Financial District, a man in a skintight black bodysuit decorated with a white snake closed the video player displaying stolen security camera footage and smiled under his mask. The only question was if the new Tinker should be given to the Undersiders to make the group more useful, or if he should keep her for himself.

    ***
    ​
    Unnamed Location, Earth Tǩóymos, Jan 6, 2011.

    Contessa stepped out of Doormaker's portal behind the inquisitive creature investigating Hausōs's freshly constructed shelter and caught it in a debilitating hold. She then passed back through to Bet, where the fedora'd woman walked to an ordinary-looking house on the outskirts of Boston. Picking the lock one-handed, she pushed open the door and tossed the rat-like animal through the doorway and closed everything back up. Strolling away she spoke in a hushed voice. "Step 374 in the Path to Getting Better Coffee complete."
     
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    • Couple errors - the hat is spelled 'fedora,' and you use inconstant pronouns during the PRT report; especially when Chris/Kid Win is talking and they shift mid-sentence.
     
    Skipping Countessa would help me to not want to throw a chair that lighting hasn't struck her down is proof that the universe is a cold cruel place.

    And you're right Taylor, people suddenly want to help when you have something they want.
     
    This could be fun.

    I like the idea that Taylor's gestalt shard is a Thinker!Engineer rather than a Tinker, I feel it plays better with the idea of different specializations of the Entities better.

    Eden/Thinker having powers that create complex sociological changes and impacts feels like a more complicated and nuanced approach to collecting data. I don't know if that's what you were going for, but it was an impression I got while reading about her power and imagining the kind of knock-on effects advancements in technical fields could create.

    After all, a lot of Tinkertech has a starting point of 'Whatevers available commercially.' and if you raise that, you raise the upper limit the average Tinker would be able to accomplish. Long term planning, much more insidious than 'Rage dragon go boom!'.
     
    So the tattletale bit feels a little off, assuming Taylor might be crazy instead of that she triggered from the aforementioned near death in a blizzard with a tinker specialty that would allow her to farm in a New England winter (or just build some really good greenhouses) and deciding to avoid her at all costs feels kinda forced.


    Really enjoyed it otherwise tho.
     
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    Evilreadermaximu said:
    So the tattletale bit feels a little off, assuming Taylor might be crazy instead of that she triggered from the aforementioned near death in a blizzard with a tinker specialty that would allow her to farm in a New England winter (or just build some really good greenhouses
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    Powers in Worm don't work that way, even to the knowledge of people at the start. Sure, triggering in a blizzard would result in powers suited to survival. By making you a cold tolerant Brute or a pyrokinetic. As far as Tattletale knows based on her gear, Taylor triggered and made much of her stuff before the storm because her Shard is an analytic engine, not a post-cognitive system. Also, this is Brockton Bay, anyone trying to build a tinkertech structure is crazy because it would draw th gangs to them like flies to dog poop.
     
    Connie?
    Even if coffee beans get fermented when passing through a food tract of a mammal, it doesn't mean the coffee will be better afterwards.
    It'll still be shit coffeee...
     
    Sandy River DL said:
    Unnamed Location, Earth Tǩóymos, Jan 6, 2011.

    Contessa stepped out of Doormaker's portal behind the inquisitive creature investigating Hausōs's freshly constructed shelter and caught it in a debilitating hold. She then passed back through to Bet, where the fedora'd woman walked to an ordinary-looking house on the outskirts of Boston. Picking the lock one-handed, she pushed open the door and tossed the rat-like animal through the doorway and closed everything back up. Strolling away she spoke in a hushed voice. "Step 374 in the Path to Getting Better Coffee complete."
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    OK, um, it sounds like the rat-thing might still be alive, but even if dead, she put it where it was likely to be found eventually. I wonder what the consequences of that will be (they aren't likely to blame Taylor, as she didn't show any hint of being a biotinker, so it's probably not that). Perhaps they go down the rabbit hole of thinking that there are two new Tinkers, and one has more resources/is better at hiding? Also, we don't know if the rat-thing is male or female, and if female and alive, whether she's pregnant. I may be reading too much into this, though.

    Sandy River DL said:
    Powers in Worm don't work that way, even to the knowledge of people at the start. Sure, triggering in a blizzard would result in powers suited to survival. By making you a cold tolerant Brute or a pyrokinetic. As far as Tattletale knows based on her gear, Taylor triggered and made much of her stuff before the storm because her Shard is an analytic engine, not a post-cognitive system. Also, this is Brockton Bay, anyone trying to build a tinkertech structure is crazy because it would draw th gangs to them like flies to dog poop.
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    Sure, but even if Tt isn't going to approach her now, she's certainly going to be paying attention to her, for safety reasons (and possibly because Coil is taking an interest and orders her to). It wouldn't take too many observations for her to register that her initial impression is inconsistent with later ones.
     
    Shadowcub said:
    Skipping Countessa would help me to not want to throw a chair that lighting hasn't struck her down is proof that the universe is a cold cruel place.

    And you're right Taylor, people suddenly want to help when you have something they want.
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    You could always write Contessa out of the story if you don't want to deal with her. I made her "miss-not-appearing-in-this-fic" in Unlimited Potential by hitting her with Ambulance-chan and putting her in a coma.
     
    Guardsman_Sparky said:
    You could always write Contessa out of the story if you don't want to deal with her. I made her "miss-not-appearing-in-this-fic" in Unlimited Potential by hitting her with Ambulance-chan and putting her in a coma.
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    Here, Contessa has been demoted to delivery girl and only appeared onscreen because her Path to Getting Better Coffee is a minor plot element and bringing it up early means it doesn't just appear out of the blue in typical PtV deus ex machina fashion. That, and what she did is what prompts Taylor going troll.
     
    Sandy River DL said:
    Powers in Worm don't work that way, even to the knowledge of people at the start. Sure, triggering in a blizzard would result in powers suited to survival. By making you a cold tolerant Brute or a pyrokinetic. As far as Tattletale knows based on her gear, Taylor triggered and made much of her stuff before the storm because her Shard is an analytic engine, not a post-cognitive system. Also, this is Brockton Bay, anyone trying to build a tinkertech structure is crazy because it would draw th gangs to them like flies to dog poop.
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    fair enough although I must admit I still think "avoid at all costs" is an excessive reaction especially considering some of teammates especially Rachel.

    Course that could also be why her reaction is so vehement.

    Prince Charon said:
    Sure, but even if Tt isn't going to approach her now, she's certainly going to be paying attention to her, for safety reasons (and possibly because Coil is taking an interest and orders her to). It wouldn't take too many observations for her to register that her initial impression is inconsistent with later ones.
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    and now I really want to see Lisa figure this out and start headdesking like mad cause she could of been friends with the tinker with her own private tropical resort for weeks/months now.
     
    Evilreadermaximu said:
    fair enough although I must admit I still think "avoid at all costs" is an excessive reaction especially considering some of teammates especially Rachel.

    Course that could also be why her reaction is so vehement.


    and now I really want to see Lisa figure this out and start headdesking like mad cause she could of been friends with the tinker with her own private tropical resort for weeks/months now.
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    Lololol. It's a good image. A few weeks in and Tt just at-random pauses before barking "I could have owned Tahiti by now!?"
     
    Re: Lisa realizing Taylor has a tropical getaway, there will be many, many recruitment attempts by Coil that have the timeline dropped due to Lisa defecting. Taylor might not even know about anyone other than the E88 and PRT trying, I'm not quite sure yet.
     
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