Fate/In Glory Of (Worm)

[Jefardi]

[X] Patrol [QA is giving this a vote, +1]


There was a pull in Taylor compelled her to not be idle at a computer or merely going out to the forest for more power testing.

A drive that eked out just enough through her indecision to push her to do something, anything with her power.

Which was why she found herself, on a Thursday evening, standing at a bus stop. She was going to try patrolling. Kind of. Well, really, she was just going to book it if she ran into trouble after giving her projection instructions. Or maybe stay along and observe from a distance if it was safe enough…

...knowing her luck, she'd walk into Lung trying to kill an orphanage.

But, well, she could always wait to see if she could come up with a better plan. The problem is that she had hit a dead end on that front. She didn't know what else she could do to remotely control her power.

That was perhaps the truest reason she had chosen today to do this; she could either keep sitting around, waiting for possible better that might come or she could do something. Now.

She itched to act.

Once she had set the course, all that was left was choosing where to start…

[] North (Docks, Trainyard & Boat Graveyard)
[] Northwest (Trainyard & Docks South)
[] West (Docks South)
[] Center (Downtown & Boardwalk)
[] Southwest (Commercial District & Downtown South)
[] South (Downtown South)
[] Southeast (Downtown Coast)

---

Author's Note: This literally won by one vote, due to QA.

Hehehehehehe.

 

[Jefardi]

Heads up, we have North winning by one vote, and Northwest, Center and West at a three way tie for second place. Given second place is one vote away from first place, I am going to close votes in ten hours.

 

[Jefardi]

Spoiler

Three way tie between Northwest, West and Northwest

Rolling d6…

1

1 NW
2 N
3 NW
4 W
5 W
6 N

[X] Northwest (Trainyard & Docks South)


The Trainyard sounded as good as a place as any in Taylor's mind.

She had heard that the Merchants hang out around it, at least that was the hearsay in Winslow. The actual veracity of that information was… up in the air.

For now.

It was with that in mind that she began to wander. Wander with a specific purpose, slowly meandering outwards in a spiral, hoodie up, trying to stay as innocuous as possible.

Spoiler

Rolling d100...

The problem was, Taylor had never been to the Trainyard before. She was sure at some point she must have driven by it, and definitely could pick it out on a map. But without a point of reference she was rather… lost.

Spoiler

Result 88

1-30 ???
31-49 ???
50-61 ???
62-80 ???
81-92 Lost (reroll)
93-100 ???

Rolling d100...

In fact, she had gotten so lost that she wasn't even sure she could find her way back to the bus station she had originally arrived in.

Spoiler

Result 88

AGAIN, bloody hell KindredVoid. Just going to keep rolling the nazi number, ain'tca ya?

1-30 ???
31-49 ???
50-61 ???
62-80 ???
81-92 Lost (reroll)
93-100 ???

Rolling d100...

It had already gotten dark out – not that it meant much in early February – but Taylor was getting concerned about getting home, or at least to a bus station before they stopped running at night. She didn't want to get stranded out in a sketchy part of town. Even having a power didn't fully make her comfortable with that idea. Or really that comfortable with the idea, at all. Truthfully, Taylor didn't exactly feel invincible. She felt like she had a protector that would probably protect her pretty well.

She sighed.

This whole thing was turning into a wash.

I need to find out where I am.

Eyeing the nearest corner store, she pushed the door open.

"It is a simple transaction. You give us money and in return we protect you from the shiro and their goons Miss Yakimata." A short woman, dressed in a matted black full bodysuit stood in front of the counter, a harness full of exotic looking implement;, knives, a sheathed sword, what looked like grenades, and a length of metallic cord with a metal spike on one end and a ball on the other.

"Bu- ma'am. We are far from the borders with the Empire. The protection money is-" The woman behind the counter, taller than the cape, stopped as Taylor entered.

The cape turned, and Taylor could see herself in the reflection of the black visor that covered fabric gap where the woman's eyes would be. "Are you lost, child?" The second in command of the Asian Bad Boyz queried, her voice neutral as one of her hands rested on the hilt of a sheathed sword.

[] Answer honestly – very lost
- [] Prepare for combat afterwards
[] Back away slowly – prepare for combat
- [] Don't prepare for combat, leave – this is a perfectly legal business venture and you want to go to bed. Not scared at all of the obvious parahuman in stabbing range. No siree!

---

Author's Note: Right, there are four options here, each with very different outcomes. Taylor won't start combat except to defend herself until she is far away.

Good luck.

 

[Jefardi]

[X] Answer Honestly - very lost
- [X] Prepare for combat afterwards

"I…"

Taylor took a step back, fingers wrapping around the door handle.

Just out of the corner of her metaphorical eye, she could see the giant. He stared with hate at the costumed woman, standing before Taylor. If he had been solid, she would have been completely hidden.

How does one even respond to a cape? The people who make physics and the modern understanding of reality to be nothing but play-dough in the hands of an excitable toddler?

"Yes."

Apparently, truthfully.

"I was looking for directions to the bus stop?"

This was not how Taylor was expecting her first meeting with a costumed villain would go.

"I see." A pause as she smoothly shifted her weight with a cat like grace, "Come, child. I will escort you to the nearest bus stop. These streets are dangerous for one so young, especially as the sky darkens." Kage strode forwards, walking past Taylor even as she tensed without missing a stride, hand still resting upon the hilt of her blade. "We will continue this discussion once I return, Miss Yatimata." The words were soft, barely above a whisper, yet Miss Yatimata stiffened all the same as if they had been yelled.

The woman behind the counter let out a sigh of relief as Kage left the store. "Better go, girl." She warned Taylor.

Taylor looked back at Miss Yatimata before looking at the waiting cape through the open door.

What was she going to do, say no? Who knows what the ABB cape would do to her if the woman was angered. At the very least if she had to summon her giant, doing it outside wouldn't wreck Miss Yatimata's store.

It was with that, that she left the store.

The cape was waiting outside, her dark clothing making her nearly melt into the dimming twilight.

Without a further word the ABB cape started walking,

She did not make a sound.

It took a few minutes to realize it- it wasn't something someone normally tried to keep track of. But…

There was no jingle or twang of metal moving against metal even though she could clearly see it. Nor rasp of footwear on the concrete. She would bet that even the cape's breathing was silent, if Taylor was a betting girl.

None of this did anything to reassure Taylor that this wasn't some kind of trap. Maybe she was being led to a bunch of ABB gangers for some kind of initiation rite? Or maybe to one of the other capes- one was a well known serial killer and the other was capable of fending off whole hero teams by himself. Kage, herself, already had a confirmed body count in the double digits!

Numbly, Taylor's mind couldn't help but go further down the rabbit hole. Of what the ABB did women, girls, really.

There was no way this wasn't a trap that she had walked into.

The moment she found a way to make a break away from the cape, she would summon her giant and…

...was that the bus stop?

...that was the bus stop.

Huh.

"The bus will likely arrive soon." Kage turned back once she made it to the bus stop, facing Taylor. She raised her hand, opening a fist to reveal a five dollar coin before tossing said coin to her. "This should get you outside of our territory. Do be careful. ABB often targets girls like yourself." Taylor stared at her in askance and muted suspicion as the woman continued, "your choice of clothing is good to keep a man's eyes off you. But your hair is far too feminine, consider hiding it in a braid or bun when you wear the hood. Understood?"

Taylor dumbly nodded as the armed woman started to walk back the way she came.

What in the actual hell?

Taylor kept staring at her as she slowly got lost in the decaying urban sprawl.

The whole encounter raised more questions for Taylor than she ever thought she would have had about the second in command of the Asian Bad Boyz, but that was Brockton Bay for you; if it wasn't being depressing it was doing something contradictory. Usually both.

Still, that was a villain walking away from her. A mass murderer. Who helped run a gang of slavers. And had walked a lost girl to the bus station and gave her a bus fare.

Yet, this was the whole point of the day's excursion.

---

What directives/orders/commands does Taylor give her power? She doesn't know how many commands it can store in a buffer or how complex they can be and will err on the simpler side.

[] Suggestions?

---

Author's note: IMPORTANT!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!! For this next sequence, what is going to happen, is I will open up suggestions for 24 hours or so for what commands Taylor tells the giant. After that time is up, I'll create a voting threadmark for the options that got suggested! THAT is what will be the actual vote! If the suggestions are grossly out of character, I WILL ignore them.

 

[Jefardi]

Scheduled vote count started by Jefardi on Apr 27, 2023 at 10:49 PM, finished with 23 posts and 10 votes.

• ---

  6 people have voted

  [x] Answer honestly – very lost
  - [x] Prepare for combat afterwards

  • KreenWarrior
  • UR-025
  • Energy
  • irnzenmonk
  • giodan
  • Jefardi

  1 people have voted

  [x] Answer honestly – very lost
  - [x] Ask for directions

  • Panory

  1 people have voted

  [X] Do not kill

  • Herofox

  1 people have voted

  [X] Observe Kage and intervene if she gets violent with Miss Yatimata

  • Deadweight Hero

  1 people have voted

  [X] Observe Kage and intervene if she gets violent with Miss Yatimata
  - [X] Minimize destruction of public property and don't kill anyone.
  - [X] If intervening, capture Kage and the ABB gangmembers with her.
  -[X] Prioritize protecting Miss Yatimata

  • Zedman7054

 

[Jefardi]

Top 2-4 options that don't contradict, highest votes mean most priority:

[] Avoid collateral damage if possible.
[] Return to me when Kage leaves the store.
[] Manifest and protect store clerk if violence.
[] Don't destroy and cars, buildings, or the roads please
[] Prioritize protecting Miss Yatimata
[] Do not kill
[] Attack Kage before she gets to the store
[] Attack Kage at the store
[] Attack Kage after she leaves the store
[] Capture Kage
[] Kill Kage
[] Stalk Kage
[] Hurt Kage
[] Give Kage to the police/authorities

Doing this so write-in votes across Sufficient Velocity and Space Battles are both presented. I am not doing this write-in thing again. It's been a bit of a mess.

 

[Jefardi]

Right.

Normally I wouldn't be doing this.

I'm realizing in hindsight that what I meant when I gave the vote options in 02.14.02 were rather unclear;

[] Answer honestly

Meant that Taylor was going to respond to Kage.

[] Answer honestly
- [] Prepare for combat afterwards

Respond to Kage and after extracting herself from the situation, sic the giant on Kage.

[] Back away slowly – prepare for combat

GTFO and send in giant immediately.

[] Back away slowly – prepare for combat
- [] Don't prepare for combat, leave

GTFO and go home, leaving whatever was going on up to RNG.

I... kind of assumed it was implicit that in all of these situations, Taylor would use her power immediately if it came down to it, defensively. Which is why I'm realizing that the Answer Honestly & Prepare for combat afterwards probably came off as more of a defensive option than an offensive one which it was meant to be.

The thing is, Answer honestly chapter has been posted. That can't be walked back. But the prepare for combat afterwards section has not. I was also trying to get multiple write-ins from both SB and SV in a collected format to post them as multiple options concurrently on both sites. This has just been a complete mess and I'll be trying something different in the future when it comes to combat.

So.

I'm going to offer a revote on whether or not to send the giant after Kage now.

There are consequences for each options. Choose wisely.

---

[] Send the giant.
[] Go home.

 

[Jefardi]

8 to do violence and 6 to go home. Violence wins.

Scheduled vote count started by Jefardi on Apr 30, 2023 at 12:42 AM, finished with 13 posts and 5 votes.

• ---

  3 people have voted

  [X] Send the giant.

  • Zedman7054
  • KreenWarrior
  • UR-025

  1 people have voted

  [x] Attack Kage before she gets to the store

  • Deadweight Hero

  1 people have voted

  [X] Go home.

  • Lurking_Badger

 

[Jefardi]

[X] Send the Giant


Something pierced through the red haze.

Commands that the girl gave.

"Capture Kage."

It didn't know what a 'Kage' was, but the girl had gone on to describe the assassin that had been nearby only a few moments ago. There was a follow up to that, something about a 'police station' and a 'PRT'. Both were names it didn't know.

"Don't kill."

Arguably harder, but the shadow would try.

"Protect bystanders."

The shadow didn't know how to protect. Only to eliminate threats. Same difference?

"Don't destroy any cars, buildings, or public property."

It understood what buildings were and public property, such as the hermes or the temples, although it had yet to see any in the steel city. It also didn't know what a car was.

The final command was simple. If the device that the girl had attached to its waist made a sound, it should return to her.

Simple enough.

The remnant of a greater whole appeared a few arm spans from the woman after receiving its orders.

As if she could sense his presence, she turned, drawing her sword with nary a rasp of steel on leather as she did so.

"...You are in the territory of the ABB. Identify yourself." She ordered, tone stern as she pointed her curved blade at him.

"░░░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓███████████████▓▓▒░!"

Debris on the ground flew past the assassin, overfilled trash bags and boxes split in the air as they were picked up.

The shadow moved.

The ground gave way underfoot, crackling with a single step before shattering under the next, as it was now within arms reach.

A hand the size of the assassin's torso reached out.

By the barest of margins, the assassin bent backwards and disappeared.

It stared at the spot it had been at before it was forced to give up as it couldn't find where it's target had gone and it disappeared in a cascading of light motes.

Like a leaf on the wind, the assassin reappeared just as the giant went to turn back towards the girl.

It wouldn't make the same mistake again.

The hundred yards separating them was covered in fractions of a second, a hand clamping around her.

She would not be escaping.

The girl had ordered it so.

A soft gasp escaped the figure, one of their arms not caught by the giant's hand grabbed the blade at her hips and drew it across the giant's forearm in a clear attempt to slice herself free.

An instinct to release her was smothered for it would go against what the girl said.

With a wet thud, the shadow's hand hit the ground, ichor and sinew cut cleanly enough that it showed the strike's superhuman nature shining through.

The assassin had disappeared before the hand had even hit the ground.

Red-blue life force flowed out, covering the detached hand as it slowly dissipated.

It could not kill.

That order grated, yet it obeyed even as the sanguine haze thickene-

The device on its waist crackled.

It glanced down at it before looking around for the assassin.

Happenstance would not save the assassin again.

Within a span of a few blinks, there was no evidence it had ever been there besides the damaged road.

---

Taylor was not having a good time.

She had very, VERY nearly lost her nerve. A single act of kindness affected her more than she really wanted to admit.

She had also set off her power on Kage and then promptly realized it would look incredibly suspicious if she stuck around the area. People had fled when they saw the cape walking her to the bus stop, so there wasn't a great deal of an advantage in trying to hide in a crowd.

Then a few minutes ago, she had felt… something.

It wasn't pain.

Very specifically it wasn't pain.

Rather, it was a feeling like a fifth limb was tired. She knew with a hundred percent certainty that it wasn't the time on how long her power could be used running out… it was something else.

Naturally, she had signaled for the giant to return to her, which it had. Now all that was left was the long ride home.

She made an unhappy noise as she shifted in her bus seat, looking out the window.

There was a soft thud in the isle, and in the dim reflection of the window Kage stood there, her sword drawn.

An ice-pick of fear slid into her heart as cold metal tapped against her cheek.

"Child." Kage simply spoke, placing the blunt side of her blade's tip against Taylor's chin, slowly making her look towards the ABB's second in command.

Yet, even as her body went to stiff with fear, another emotion bubbled forth.

Rage. Wroth. Fury.

She could feel them. Barely.

The giant was looming behind Kage, sword in hand.

Violence condensed into a physical form ready.

Awaiting permission.

[] Yes
[] No

---

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Here's a chapter.

 

[Jefardi]

24 hours until I close the vote.

Please vote!