The survivalist stuff does interest me. Although it's sounding a lot more "starting Minecraft" than the "starting Factorio" all the drones imply. Complete with the dirt hut. Does she even have a change of clothes?!
Well, I
did call them
scanner drones when they introduced, not
construction drones. And Taylor does, in fact, have a change of clothes.
Winter clothes that'd been used as a second layer while she was on the streets.
There's a bit of a weird schizo-tech divide going on. She's got drones with some variant of a ground-penetrating sensor, but she's figuring out if she can even create electricity and has basically no supplies. Oh, and she has transporters that let her access another entire Earth, which is why she needs supplies. Did she screw up her initial planning or something? Why can't Cauldron help her initially, at least more than they have? I feel like they'd have no real reason to honor the contract as long as Emma doesn't find out, especially since whatever remaining human instincts the members of Cauldron have seem to have been aimed at Taylor otherwise...
Less schizo-tech and more resource limitations. As noted in the opening chapter, Cauldron's power testing had supplied her with enough of the materials she needed to build a handful of really advanced devices like her drones and recall anchor system, but what was left afterwards wasn't suitable for more than basic tools with the workshop available.
As for why Cauldron isn't helping her more, it's because they're already doing quite a bit
. They aren't giving Taylor a free ride, but advice and paying her for building them a back-up for Doormaker go a long ways. Additionally, letting her build herself up, based on the profile they have of her, would help her feel accomplished. DM's manipulating her, and she's noticed.
Must... not... drool... over... tech... tree...
This raises further questions over why she has so little help. We're talking Hero-tier here. Sneaking more supplies in or flat calling off the contract seems like a potential possibility to me.
Also, she doesn't know this, but she's making them a viable alternative to Doormaker and potentially all the Movers they need for Endbringer battles. Depending on whether her stuff still needs maintenance, one would think they'd be really grateful... and that's even if it is subject to normal tinkertech issues.
Taylor barely knows anything about her tech tree it seems, nobody else would have the least clue unless PtV is feeling particularly helpful.
As Aineko surmised, Cauldron doesn't
know about that stuff. And Taylor's not exactly keen on changing that. I'm not sure how well it's come across, but she doesn't trust them not to just snatch her and make her their pet tinker like the E88 would. So she's perfectly fine with trading what they already know about for more resources.
This seems perhaps too aware of Taylor at the moment. She's weirdly well adjusted and I'm not sure how she'd know this much about not only Ward PR, but how their ROEs are structured. Is this something Cauldron let her look up (maybe they are helping) or did she somehow know this?
It's a mixture of her knowing Emma, her own cape research (she canonically was a bit of a cape geek), and information gleaned from Cauldron.
Do they have dragons?
Can they be tamed?
Forget bees, this could be awesome!
As jaded as Taylor is, she wants to get away from Bet and a fresh start, not become Warlord of the Bay through the power of rampaging megafauna.
I think the oddest part for me though is that this isn't entirely accurate? Like, for today and maybe for a week or so she's stuck with what she made with Cauldron assets, but a key part of this premise is that she isn't actually starting from scratch on a new Earth, and will be and has to make regular trips back to Bet.
Which she's been stated to be planning? Her starting tools are a limiting factor she's well aware of and she explicitly stated that she needs to hit a hardware store to get power generation going so she can start on more advanced stuff. Much of what's going on right now is about securing her foothold and ensuring she can forage to supplement her stolen supplies until she has a stable food supply locally.
Y'know, a Nemesis Taylor that has to go hero where Sophia feeds info to a Villain Emma is something I haven't seen before.
And with the exception of Taylor going hero, it could very well happen in this fic. Well, the refugees she'll be getting would consider a hero, but she's too pissed off at Bet's authorities to be a
cape hero.
I'm just waiting until there's a food surplus and we get a villainous pop-up soup kitchen that they'll try to shut down.
The rant (and the soup) will be delicious.
It's certainly something I'll consider! And it
would be a good way for her to recruit once the ides of May comes around...
