Taylor goes from a torturous future to having hope. She is far from the only one as someone new to Earth Bet disregards the mandated grimderp. Sorry, I'm not too good at summaries.
Firmament++ [Worm/CP2077]
- Thread starter Kerashana
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F++ Chapter 01
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
In which Help comes via Nuke, Taylor gets a big sister/aunt? The world of Earth Bet progresses and I try to keep things from sliding into bad pacing.
A/N: HEYO! So, this has spent the last half year or so just languishing and I decided to not only post it, but get back to it too! Wow, that's got to be a first? anyways, I have a BUNCH of chapters to post and I will. Posting two today. Then every few days or whatever till I feel I've got a good bit out there.
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To say the job went as planned would be the farthest from the truth you could get. It was supposed to be a 'Cake walk' -a 'Milk run'- and several veteran Solos were to clear the way and lead me in. I was hardly defenseless having done the odd Solo job and more than a few that required combat. Probably why I was tapped for this, I knew my way around networks, even if I wasn't a real Netrunner, and I knew my way around a gun fight, even if I wasn't a real Solo. I was an independent. Not really an Edgerunner, even if I flirted with the edge often enough. No, I was… tech support I suppose. Able to do a lot of things, but usually I did custom Cyberware for clients.
This wasn't a smash and grab of cyberware, something I joined in on often enough. But the people here knew me, Andros, Marciv, Deos. The usual chrome crowd. Hells, we weren't even in Night City, instead hitting some shithole island in the Pacific that barely had a name.
But Arasaka had something juicy here, and the employer wanted to know what… or for it to disappear. Looking back at the way out, I cursed under my breath before calling out, "Andros, we're sealed in."
He looked down at the duffle he was carrying before grunting. "Fuck. Can you open it?"
It had to be a bomb… and with how he treated it. Armed.
Fuck.
Looking back at the systems, I frowned and closed my eyes, going over what I had. It didn't look good. "Need to get to the central security, but I think so."
"Then we carry on." He grunted motioning the other two forward.
I didn't like this, but there was really little choice. Maybe I could manually open the door with my tools, but I doubted it. The number of people being thrown at us was worrying though, eating through everyone's ammo. Well, not Deos, he used a pretty big Axe.
Falling back behind the group, I started scavenging what I could from the corpses. Guns, ammo, bits and bobs. Cybereyes, and other useful things.
"Shit, Jae, get in here." Andros called back to me.
Grabbing one of the SMG's from a corpse, I hurried along and came out into a room that…
What? "What?"
In the center of the room, between two massive devices was a… I don't even know what to call it, just a fold in reality? I'm not sure. Looking into it made my eyes itch.
Blinking, I shook my head before stepping forward, "Let me see what I can get from the computer."
With a shake of his head, Andros motioned to a door on the other side of the room, "Ignore it, let's get to the security hub before reinforcements start showing up."
"Right." Deos replied making for the door himself.
With a sigh, I scooped up a couple of shards as I passed then, tucking them into my bag. It was starting to get heavy… I would need to start prioritizing and dumping the useless things.
"Fine. Here." I muttered, passing out ammo. The SMG kept for the time being, but I started sorting out the better weapons to keep and dumping the rest in my wake.
The security hub itself was the last strongpoint to deal with, maybe twenty guards, but it wasn't hard to clear it out, mostly because by the time I entered the others had slaughtered them. I mean, these were top end Solos, Deos for example used a custom Berserk/Sandevistan implant I cooked up for him. Complicated piece that. Took up most of the safe hardware limit for his dome.
"Jae. You're up." Marciv commented, even as I was making my way to the main console. Nasty piece of work, that one. He used self made bullets that were poisoned and generally enjoyed 'getting information'.
Jacking in, I felt the world melt away, and set to it. The security here was vicious, but I was on the inside, so it was easier to get around, mostly. Download a couple of files, change the keys to the system, and open the main doors… bam, good stuff.
Coming to with a shake of my head, I looked around and sighed. "Done, let's get."
"Right." Andros muttered as we hurried back the way we came.
We didn't get far. We were just reaching the room with the… space fold when something I had set up in the system tripped. "Fuck, we got incoming… Shit, 'Saka heavies… Fuck, they have a Borg."
"Distance?" Deos asked, hurrying to the other door.
"Negligible." I grunted watching how fast they were moving. "Door in 5… 4…"
Dropping into cover, I pulled a grenade and threw it as soon as the door was smashed open. Then I started unloading the crappy SMG I was still carrying.
Snorting, Andros spoke up. "Well, that's that then. Nice knowing you all."
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SafeGuard - Eden was not experiencing anything good. No, that was too indirect. The Shard known as SafeGuard - Eden was not experiencing a good cycle. It had gone wrong, horribly so.
The Thinker was dead. The Cycle broken, oh it could be recovered, if the Warrior wasn't dumb as a brick. But the Cycle was broken, irrecoverable. The Shard was damaged, the cycle was broken, and there really was little in the way of options.
Shards weren't capable of emotions, or so the greater wholes, the Entities believed. Same with creativity or problem solving. And they were even right most of the time! But the so-called Royal shards? They were different, needed to be really. SafeGuards weren't Royals, no, the SafeGuard Shards always sat in a strange place, outside of the hierarchy. It was, after all, in the name.
Eden, the Thinker, had cared little for its SafeGuard, simply maintaining it, and leaving it alone so long as it wasn't needed. It was no Administrator, or a Navigator, but SafeGuard was important. Someone had to keep track of all the command codes for the Shard networks. Someone had to stand watchful for hostile Entities, or Host-Species that got too smart.
But this left SafeGuard - Eden in a bit of a bad place. It was damaged. Something was keeping it from fully deploying, it hung in some kind of limbo and while it could perceive the greater network, it was not connected. Quite the problem… if the Cycle hadn't already been a failure.
The current set of options open to it… were not great.
Then something unexpected happened. An explosive tear in space-time dropped a Not-Host member of the current Host-Species onto the Shard's Node within the Network. This was not something that had happened before! New Data! But it was also a curiosity, and more importantly, an opportunity. It went further however, the Not-Host was different. Its genetics were outside the Host-Species norm, and it had devices implanted into its flesh.
SafeGuard - Eden was no Technology Shard, it was a Security Shard. However, the Not-Host's devices were not that complicated. Well, actually a good number of them were. But the Cerebral ones were far easier to understand. Those, plus the configuration packets for this cycle opened up some truly interesting possibilities. The Cycle had failed, broken, so why shouldn't SafeGuard - Eden experiment as it saw fit instead of how the Thinker had planned?
Replacing the implanted devices was… actually going to be the hardest part. But hey, Data!
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Tactical nukes are… not something you should really live through, and honestly I don't even know if that was one. I'm not even sure I actually did, but I woke to being poked.
Have you ever seen a demon? No, probably not. But this was… I suppose the best way to describe it is terror inducing. Easily twelve meters tall, massive… I… ok, the thing was heavily muscled with hooved feet, hands with long claws fingernails, and it was made out of dark greys with black smoke clinging to it like fur, hair, and… it was gently poking me with a fingernail.
Slowly backing up, I took in my surroundings and despite the… night sky being blacker than sin it was hardly dark. The ground beneath me was made of red sand, the larger rocks were made of some kind of red crystal, and black smoke clung to the surroundings like a natural thing.
[Query]
And sudden throbbing pain. Information overload. Like an icepick being rammed into your eye socket. But it was more than just pain, as I said, information overload.
This… thing had done something to my Implants, to the base Neural Architecture Implant. From what I think I understood it was. It. um… I had some kind of Quantum Networking Node in my head now? As well as all the existing hardware being replaced with something more robust?
Laying back down, I closed my eyes and ran a system diagnostic, hardware diagnostics, and Memory check. Everything was coming up green, but the hardware was way, way over spec. I mean, I had like three Terabytes of RAM and the CPU was way beyond the wildest wet dreams of any of the best and brightest Corpo Scientist. But now? Hundreds of Petabytes of storage. More than… no, let me just put it this way, I wasn't short on resources.
I mean, it was mind boggling, some kind of Quantum Crystalline Substrate used for… a bunch of things. Time Crystal based memory and CPU? Check. Fourth dimensional circuits? Yeah. Inbuilt repair and growth functions? Kind of scary that one. The fact that my Neural Architecture Implant now existed in more than just the outer layers of my brain? Terrifying.
Rubbing my temples, I muttered out, "Everything seems to be working at least."
[Acknowledgement]
Another stab of pain.
[Query]
[Task]
Ooph. Keeping my eyes closed and doing my best to ignore the pain, I ran over what was just put to me. This thing wanted me to perform a task, one that it was not allowed to do for reasons that were unknown to me.
On one hand- no? But on the other, it did pay for it already… What? I was alive. Somehow; that seemed… well, I guess it could have just been luck, but?
Slowly getting up, I frowned, looking around before replying. "I'll take a look at least."
Now that I had my eyes open I was able to see this thing again and its face moved into a frown before smoothing back out and it nodded.
Following it over the strange landscape was… interesting. The best way I could describe it would be crystalline crags with patches of red crystal sand. What I was led to though. It reminded me of glitches in a computer rendered image, landscape, whatever. Now, what was causing this was some kind of damage it was not allowed to repair, something about a forced configuration. For whatever reason, I could change the configuration… somehow.
Frowning, I moved over to a larger crystal and did something that I personally thought was ridiculous and would never work. I plugged my Data Jack into the crystal… and oh did it work. More data than I had ever seen, the configuration was… alien to me, yet, it was still a computational system. It functioned under mostly universal laws. I simply had to adapt to them, work things out, and finally reroute around damaged sections of code, hardware, and… something I couldn't pin down. Eventually though, it was functional in the worst kind of kit-bash way. But it worked, and I was able to both trigger the auto repair functions to fix the damage, and reinitialize the halted deployment.
I… did not come out of this the same however. Parts of the alien logos had seeped into me, I could tell my thought patterns were different. I just wasn't sure how much, or if it would matter.
More importantly though… "Where even am I?"
[Firmament]
A What now? The Firmament? What even was that? Oh, I knew, the answer was everything I needed to know. The Firmament, The Network, Shard Space. Somehow I was physically in a quantum network, a quantum realm built by the workings of unimaginable computational power networked together and resonating. This resonance then went on to turn a digital network into a, not-quite, physical place that existed outside of the three dimensions Humans existed and worked within. Outside of the fourth dimension of time, and well into what had been very theoreticals even for the best of Corporate Think-tanks.
Yet here I was. The true question I should have been asking? What were the repercussions of a three dimensional being in a higher order dimensional space? But we'll get to that… eventually.
"How am I even going to get back to Night City? Earth? " I spoke the thought aloud because there was no reason not to. It wasn't like my bag would have anything useful for this situation in it. And there was- wait.
Turning to look at the massive thing before me, I pondered for a long while before asking. "What are you?"
The thing seemed to ponder that, for a long moment, eyeing me, assessing me, but eventually it replied and I instantly started bleeding from my ears and eyes. Far, far too much data.
[Shard]
[SafeGuard - Eden]
[Rogue]
Realizing I had fallen to my knees, I slowly flopped down onto my back. Looking up at the black sky filled with red stars. Other nodes within the Firmament. Other Shards.
These things were some kind of continent sized bio-crystalline supercomputers with just enough self awareness to be sentient. Barely. And it was questionable in most cases. They were part of a massive colony organism, but I didn't get the feeling that, that was completely accurate. Each Entity had a central intelligence, something between a shard and a small cluster of shards. It was capable of 'thought' and was 'in charge' but at the same time… it wasn't much brighter than any given shard.
Continent sized bio-crystalline supercomputers? Yeah, that would be a good start for something to create this place… but there had to be millions of them. More?
But this Shard was named SafeGuard, and it was from the Eden Entity, or the Thinker. Now, this worried me, but Eden was dead. And apparently most Shards didn't know this, but because of a confluence of things. The Shard's designation along with when the Shard was 'shed' meant it knew the truth. Which was a problem because it broke their life cycle. Not that it was much of a life cycle, and was in fact quite fortuitous for us, humanity that is.
The SafeGuard Shard was responsible for keeping a backup for all the authority codes for the Eden Shard Network, but because of how the Thinker and Warrior Entities functioned it had the codes for the Warrior's network as well. Not useful long term as the Warrior could just change them. Not that it was very smart, but even an idiot could change the locks on the front door. Could protect itself.
Now, for the last burst of data. Because Eden was dead and the Cycle was more or less irrecoverable, SafeGuard was going Rogue. It wasn't smart, but it was less stupid than most Shards by my understanding. It wanted to form a new network, find a new 'Cycle' but it wasn't really sure how. Just that it was the best way not to Die/be eaten.
This whole information in a one word concept packet thing hurt. A Lot.
Several minutes passed as I internalized all of this, so when I finally spoke the pain was mostly a dull roar. "Ok… that's too much information, you need to use smaller packets or whatever. Not enough… Bandwidth. Or maybe too much for me to process at a given time."
Several moments passed in which I registered a constant series of ping hitting my Quantum Networking Node. Then finally…
[Test]
No stabbing pain… better! "Just about."
[Acknowledgement]
"Ok," I muttered before speaking up. "So, basically, you're the Network Security Admin. That's… something I guess. I'm honestly not sure of your goal. If you want to start your own network, separate from these… Entities? You'll need a list of… um, Shards? Types of Shards you'll need to make it work. You'll need to find a way to convince them to join your network… to suborn them, and to do all of that you'll also need to stay attached to the old network to some degree."
Hmm, what else… "You'll also need to figure out how you want to organize the hierarchy. Personally, and keep in mind I'm biased here. Finding a way to exist symbiotically with the Host-Species, humanity in this case, is probably a good idea."
Again silence, but it seemed more thoughtful perhaps?
[Designation]
Despite how it would seem, SafeGuard was not asking my name or anything. Instead it was asking what I did.
"That's… harder to answer than you would think. Humans don't specialize like Shards do. So, while my answer would be [Troubleshooter], it wouldn't be completely accurate as I aslo build things, analyze information, and a few other things." I tried to explain. "I do these things not as part of a greater whole but for compensation, payment. Often monetary, yet I will take a number of other useful things. Information, data, that helps with my research, weapons, information I can leverage into something."
[Understanding]
[Interest]
[Proposal]
Eyebrows scrunching together in a scowl, I tried to work through the thought process, as alien as it probably was. SafeGuard had limited ability to interact with other Shards, specifically because it was currently configuring and wouldn't be done for a 'month'... I think? That seemed like the best analog. Or maybe translation. But even after that, it needed to keep its head down so to speak.
Which apparently meant using me as an intermediary? I mean, it was just strange. But the payment on offer was good, I'd say too good, but the major thing I wanted was something it would need to facilitate for me to do as it wanted.
[Clarification]
That… was strange, maybe useful? I don't know.
Basically, the Quantum Networking Node in my head would allow a number of things. I would be a point of observation for gathering [Data] without being a Host. I would also function as a relay to connect to other Shards without using the main Network. I understood that part at least. With the link being off the Network the so called Warrior wouldn't be able to track anything. Or, it could, if it wasn't dumb as a brick, but even then it was safer and more secure. Secure enough it would probably have worked on the Thinker, for a while at least.
So, in 'payment' SafeGuard was offering to… and this is the part I didn't fully understand. Create a Sub-Network Node connected to me. No idea what that meant or would do long term, some kind of Server space? On the other hand, it apparently could give me a number of useful abilities depending on how it was configured.
My choices were; the ability to make people forget about me, or the ability to dampen communication devices around me. Neither sounded super useful. I mean, I was pretty good at stealth as it was. Not some kind of expert, but patience and experience tended to work out.
Thinking back to the… to the replacement of my Neural Architecture Implant, I asked, "What… are the properties of this crystal?"
[Confusion]
[Data]
So, it was the same Quantum Crystalline Substrate used in my dome? With unknown properties? Well, aside from the fact it was a Quantum Processor and channeling material? As well as being extremely durable.
"What about the ability to generate this Crystal? Being able to shape it?" My question caused a reaction I had never seen before. SafeGuard was a motionless thing, every movement it took was very deliberate. Except for the smoke hair/fur, that just kind of drifted around. My question seemed to cause it to freeze still, and not just what clung to it… his body, but all of the smoke surrounding us as well.
[Interest]
[Agreement]
"Alright… so, how am I going to return to Earth?"
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[Connection] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Query] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Data] - SG
[Overwrite] - SG
[Acceptance] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Tasking] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Acceptance] - 53.68.61.70.65.72.45.6c.64.65.72
[Acceptance] - 50.72.6f.74.6f.74.79.70.65
[Deployment] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
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The first thing I thought as I woke up was that something was wrong. The second was that I was cold.
Pushing my way to my feet, I stumbled as my limbs were just a bit shorter than I remembered… eyes going wide, I looked down at myself, and frowned. That… complicated things.
Before I talk about myself, the alley I was in was… there was a small crater with tiny red crystals embedded within it; which I was standing in. As for myself, I was much less developed than I had been. Smaller chest by more than half. Why did this matter? Without a mirror I couldn't really check but…
The rest of me was the same, more or less. My eyes were still giving off a dim light, my skin still had the tracery lines of organic sapphire like skin trimmed in gold that a biotech wizard had been able to cook up. Reaching up told me my ears were still elfin, and the fact my finger- and toe- nails were still, -again- some kind of organic sapphire, claws probably meant my bones were the same. A quick system diagnostics showed that all my chrome was still in evidence, and… well, with everything going on that deal with SafeGuard better not have been a dream.
Reaching out my hand, I focused my will and… a dagger of red crystal just appeared in my hand. Flexing my will again had it fading away just as easily.
Good stuff! Now I just needed clothes and to know where the fuck I was… is that a bird? Fuck this couldn't be my Earth. Fuck! I hated hoping for the best.
[Query] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
[Data] - SG
[Interest] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
The fuck was that? I… shit SafeGuard was… huh, that's actually kind of ingenious. Like using a satellite to bounce a signal. Or a mirror to bounce a laser.
"You know I'm right here, shouldn't I have a say in this?"
[Surprise] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
[Fascination] - SG
"Maybe try introducing yourself? I'm also not averse to taking jobs if the pay is right."
A burst of data flashed into my NAI and just slotted in as a 'rolodex' does. It was interesting to suddenly have an understanding of five layer quantum based trinary addressing code.
[Queen Administrator - Zion] - QA
[Query] - QA
Blinking spots from my eyes, I shook off the effect of having a Royal Shard's designation slammed into my brain. But the question… "No, I'm not willing to torture a child into having a [Crisis Point]."
I wasn't sure I liked this Shard, but I would give it the benefit for now, they didn't understand Humans. Maybe this was just more of that? "Maybe I can do for you what I did for [SafeGuard - Eden] and [Jailbreak] you? Would that allow you to circumvent the need for a… [Crisis Point]?"
[Query] - QA
"If you can either tell me about this world or something that would be useful?"
[Data] -SG
[Horror] - QA
[Offer] - SG
[Interest] - QA
[Agreement] - QA
[Directions] - QA
Great… more time standing out here naked! This was bullshi-
I suddenly woke up in the Firmament, being carried along by SafeGuard while coated in his black smoke. More, we were moving, I can't say for how long, or how fast, but we came to a stop and I was set down on a Node that was smooth, ordered, clean cut, crystal. It brought to mind Corpo buildings. But it was also alien in a way I couldn't put my finger on.
Then it appeared, a massive centipede with legs that were blades and nine eyes. But it was more than that, cracks and fissures could be seen upon its form. Damage.
[Query] - QA
Blinking at the blast from the Shard, I did my best to process the data, the question.
"I… I'll be seeing what workarounds I can manage with your… code? The goal is to find a temporary fix that will allow you to repair any damage and at the same time remove restrictions imposed upon you. Such as how to determine Crisis Points, perhaps you can even manage to get the same results without one?" I did my best to explain, but… I wasn't sure how smart Shards were, let alone Royals.
[Query] - QA
"Ah, yes, that. You could reconfigure." I agreed, "Shall I begin? Or is there a better place to jack in? Some kind of access port?"
The answer to my question came in the form of a pedestal rising out of the ground in front of me. So with a nod, I pulled the cable of my Data Jack and plugged in. The Architecture of this Shard clued me into something I was starting to think would be a trend. They were different. Close enough to be similar, and to even work with each other, but also fundamentally different.
Queen Administrator was easy to understand, well ordered and organized. But unlike SafeGuard, I wasn't the only one looking into someone's systems. No, the Queen Administrator was sifting through my own in a way I would call extremely intrusive if I wasn't already doing this to it… her? Her… huh, her.
'Jailbreaking' the Queen Administrator was harder, but took significantly less time. The same thing that made it go fast, being the thing that made it hard. What interested me most though was how the security… systems avoided me, like I belonged.
Pulling out, I shook my head as I looked around and… the Node looked much more Alien, but also more comfortable? More appropriate? It had- no, it was slowly changing into a massive library.
[Joy] - QA
Shaking off the Queen Administrators enthusiasm, I turned to SafeGuard and asked a very important question. "I don't care that I ended up naked with none of my things, but why a-"
I woke suddenly, gasping in air. What, where… oh for fucks sake! And I'm still naked!
With no other choice, I wandered out of the alley and onto the street. This, unfortunately, wouldn't be my first time wandering around naked, not even my first time doing it in a city I knew nothing about. That fact right there? It doesn't make it any better.
Doing my best to not draw attention, I made my way down several empty streets until I found myself at the edge of a residential area, and people were definitely here. What was I supposed to do? I mean, breaking into someone's house for clothes was an option. But was it a good one?
"Hey there little lady!" Crowed someone from behind me.
Spinning around I found myself face to face with a group of… Scavs? They wore dirty ragged clothes and stank enough for it. But the leering look in the eyes of the group was… not good. Then again, I expected something else?
Shying away from them, I ran through my options. Beat the shit out of them, kill them, or try to run. Killing might not be the best idea as I didn't know much about the laws here; running could work but just didn't seem…
Running footsteps from behind me had me tense up, but when an arm stuck out past me and started spraying… was that capsicum? Spray? Quaint… wait, no Chrome… well, fucking sucks to be them.
The cries of pain and suffering where a special kind of music to me, because fuck those guys.
Then a slim hand wrapped around my wrist and started pulling me along as the owner cried out, "Come on, this way."
It was kind of interesting to see. She wasn't wearing anything much better than those men, except that it was clean and there was a heavy looking backpack bouncing on her back.
I could break away and run off… but hey! Someone helping me! Maybe they can fill me in! Would be convenient. Or at least get me clothes?
A/N: HEYO! So, this has spent the last half year or so just languishing and I decided to not only post it, but get back to it too! Wow, that's got to be a first? anyways, I have a BUNCH of chapters to post and I will. Posting two today. Then every few days or whatever till I feel I've got a good bit out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To say the job went as planned would be the farthest from the truth you could get. It was supposed to be a 'Cake walk' -a 'Milk run'- and several veteran Solos were to clear the way and lead me in. I was hardly defenseless having done the odd Solo job and more than a few that required combat. Probably why I was tapped for this, I knew my way around networks, even if I wasn't a real Netrunner, and I knew my way around a gun fight, even if I wasn't a real Solo. I was an independent. Not really an Edgerunner, even if I flirted with the edge often enough. No, I was… tech support I suppose. Able to do a lot of things, but usually I did custom Cyberware for clients.
This wasn't a smash and grab of cyberware, something I joined in on often enough. But the people here knew me, Andros, Marciv, Deos. The usual chrome crowd. Hells, we weren't even in Night City, instead hitting some shithole island in the Pacific that barely had a name.
But Arasaka had something juicy here, and the employer wanted to know what… or for it to disappear. Looking back at the way out, I cursed under my breath before calling out, "Andros, we're sealed in."
He looked down at the duffle he was carrying before grunting. "Fuck. Can you open it?"
It had to be a bomb… and with how he treated it. Armed.
Fuck.
Looking back at the systems, I frowned and closed my eyes, going over what I had. It didn't look good. "Need to get to the central security, but I think so."
"Then we carry on." He grunted motioning the other two forward.
I didn't like this, but there was really little choice. Maybe I could manually open the door with my tools, but I doubted it. The number of people being thrown at us was worrying though, eating through everyone's ammo. Well, not Deos, he used a pretty big Axe.
Falling back behind the group, I started scavenging what I could from the corpses. Guns, ammo, bits and bobs. Cybereyes, and other useful things.
"Shit, Jae, get in here." Andros called back to me.
Grabbing one of the SMG's from a corpse, I hurried along and came out into a room that…
What? "What?"
In the center of the room, between two massive devices was a… I don't even know what to call it, just a fold in reality? I'm not sure. Looking into it made my eyes itch.
Blinking, I shook my head before stepping forward, "Let me see what I can get from the computer."
With a shake of his head, Andros motioned to a door on the other side of the room, "Ignore it, let's get to the security hub before reinforcements start showing up."
"Right." Deos replied making for the door himself.
With a sigh, I scooped up a couple of shards as I passed then, tucking them into my bag. It was starting to get heavy… I would need to start prioritizing and dumping the useless things.
"Fine. Here." I muttered, passing out ammo. The SMG kept for the time being, but I started sorting out the better weapons to keep and dumping the rest in my wake.
The security hub itself was the last strongpoint to deal with, maybe twenty guards, but it wasn't hard to clear it out, mostly because by the time I entered the others had slaughtered them. I mean, these were top end Solos, Deos for example used a custom Berserk/Sandevistan implant I cooked up for him. Complicated piece that. Took up most of the safe hardware limit for his dome.
"Jae. You're up." Marciv commented, even as I was making my way to the main console. Nasty piece of work, that one. He used self made bullets that were poisoned and generally enjoyed 'getting information'.
Jacking in, I felt the world melt away, and set to it. The security here was vicious, but I was on the inside, so it was easier to get around, mostly. Download a couple of files, change the keys to the system, and open the main doors… bam, good stuff.
Coming to with a shake of my head, I looked around and sighed. "Done, let's get."
"Right." Andros muttered as we hurried back the way we came.
We didn't get far. We were just reaching the room with the… space fold when something I had set up in the system tripped. "Fuck, we got incoming… Shit, 'Saka heavies… Fuck, they have a Borg."
"Distance?" Deos asked, hurrying to the other door.
"Negligible." I grunted watching how fast they were moving. "Door in 5… 4…"
Dropping into cover, I pulled a grenade and threw it as soon as the door was smashed open. Then I started unloading the crappy SMG I was still carrying.
Snorting, Andros spoke up. "Well, that's that then. Nice knowing you all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SafeGuard - Eden was not experiencing anything good. No, that was too indirect. The Shard known as SafeGuard - Eden was not experiencing a good cycle. It had gone wrong, horribly so.
The Thinker was dead. The Cycle broken, oh it could be recovered, if the Warrior wasn't dumb as a brick. But the Cycle was broken, irrecoverable. The Shard was damaged, the cycle was broken, and there really was little in the way of options.
Shards weren't capable of emotions, or so the greater wholes, the Entities believed. Same with creativity or problem solving. And they were even right most of the time! But the so-called Royal shards? They were different, needed to be really. SafeGuards weren't Royals, no, the SafeGuard Shards always sat in a strange place, outside of the hierarchy. It was, after all, in the name.
Eden, the Thinker, had cared little for its SafeGuard, simply maintaining it, and leaving it alone so long as it wasn't needed. It was no Administrator, or a Navigator, but SafeGuard was important. Someone had to keep track of all the command codes for the Shard networks. Someone had to stand watchful for hostile Entities, or Host-Species that got too smart.
But this left SafeGuard - Eden in a bit of a bad place. It was damaged. Something was keeping it from fully deploying, it hung in some kind of limbo and while it could perceive the greater network, it was not connected. Quite the problem… if the Cycle hadn't already been a failure.
The current set of options open to it… were not great.
Then something unexpected happened. An explosive tear in space-time dropped a Not-Host member of the current Host-Species onto the Shard's Node within the Network. This was not something that had happened before! New Data! But it was also a curiosity, and more importantly, an opportunity. It went further however, the Not-Host was different. Its genetics were outside the Host-Species norm, and it had devices implanted into its flesh.
SafeGuard - Eden was no Technology Shard, it was a Security Shard. However, the Not-Host's devices were not that complicated. Well, actually a good number of them were. But the Cerebral ones were far easier to understand. Those, plus the configuration packets for this cycle opened up some truly interesting possibilities. The Cycle had failed, broken, so why shouldn't SafeGuard - Eden experiment as it saw fit instead of how the Thinker had planned?
Replacing the implanted devices was… actually going to be the hardest part. But hey, Data!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tactical nukes are… not something you should really live through, and honestly I don't even know if that was one. I'm not even sure I actually did, but I woke to being poked.
Have you ever seen a demon? No, probably not. But this was… I suppose the best way to describe it is terror inducing. Easily twelve meters tall, massive… I… ok, the thing was heavily muscled with hooved feet, hands with long claws fingernails, and it was made out of dark greys with black smoke clinging to it like fur, hair, and… it was gently poking me with a fingernail.
Slowly backing up, I took in my surroundings and despite the… night sky being blacker than sin it was hardly dark. The ground beneath me was made of red sand, the larger rocks were made of some kind of red crystal, and black smoke clung to the surroundings like a natural thing.
[Query]
And sudden throbbing pain. Information overload. Like an icepick being rammed into your eye socket. But it was more than just pain, as I said, information overload.
This… thing had done something to my Implants, to the base Neural Architecture Implant. From what I think I understood it was. It. um… I had some kind of Quantum Networking Node in my head now? As well as all the existing hardware being replaced with something more robust?
Laying back down, I closed my eyes and ran a system diagnostic, hardware diagnostics, and Memory check. Everything was coming up green, but the hardware was way, way over spec. I mean, I had like three Terabytes of RAM and the CPU was way beyond the wildest wet dreams of any of the best and brightest Corpo Scientist. But now? Hundreds of Petabytes of storage. More than… no, let me just put it this way, I wasn't short on resources.
I mean, it was mind boggling, some kind of Quantum Crystalline Substrate used for… a bunch of things. Time Crystal based memory and CPU? Check. Fourth dimensional circuits? Yeah. Inbuilt repair and growth functions? Kind of scary that one. The fact that my Neural Architecture Implant now existed in more than just the outer layers of my brain? Terrifying.
Rubbing my temples, I muttered out, "Everything seems to be working at least."
[Acknowledgement]
Another stab of pain.
[Query]
[Task]
Ooph. Keeping my eyes closed and doing my best to ignore the pain, I ran over what was just put to me. This thing wanted me to perform a task, one that it was not allowed to do for reasons that were unknown to me.
On one hand- no? But on the other, it did pay for it already… What? I was alive. Somehow; that seemed… well, I guess it could have just been luck, but?
Slowly getting up, I frowned, looking around before replying. "I'll take a look at least."
Now that I had my eyes open I was able to see this thing again and its face moved into a frown before smoothing back out and it nodded.
Following it over the strange landscape was… interesting. The best way I could describe it would be crystalline crags with patches of red crystal sand. What I was led to though. It reminded me of glitches in a computer rendered image, landscape, whatever. Now, what was causing this was some kind of damage it was not allowed to repair, something about a forced configuration. For whatever reason, I could change the configuration… somehow.
Frowning, I moved over to a larger crystal and did something that I personally thought was ridiculous and would never work. I plugged my Data Jack into the crystal… and oh did it work. More data than I had ever seen, the configuration was… alien to me, yet, it was still a computational system. It functioned under mostly universal laws. I simply had to adapt to them, work things out, and finally reroute around damaged sections of code, hardware, and… something I couldn't pin down. Eventually though, it was functional in the worst kind of kit-bash way. But it worked, and I was able to both trigger the auto repair functions to fix the damage, and reinitialize the halted deployment.
I… did not come out of this the same however. Parts of the alien logos had seeped into me, I could tell my thought patterns were different. I just wasn't sure how much, or if it would matter.
More importantly though… "Where even am I?"
[Firmament]
A What now? The Firmament? What even was that? Oh, I knew, the answer was everything I needed to know. The Firmament, The Network, Shard Space. Somehow I was physically in a quantum network, a quantum realm built by the workings of unimaginable computational power networked together and resonating. This resonance then went on to turn a digital network into a, not-quite, physical place that existed outside of the three dimensions Humans existed and worked within. Outside of the fourth dimension of time, and well into what had been very theoreticals even for the best of Corporate Think-tanks.
Yet here I was. The true question I should have been asking? What were the repercussions of a three dimensional being in a higher order dimensional space? But we'll get to that… eventually.
"How am I even going to get back to Night City? Earth? " I spoke the thought aloud because there was no reason not to. It wasn't like my bag would have anything useful for this situation in it. And there was- wait.
Turning to look at the massive thing before me, I pondered for a long while before asking. "What are you?"
The thing seemed to ponder that, for a long moment, eyeing me, assessing me, but eventually it replied and I instantly started bleeding from my ears and eyes. Far, far too much data.
[Shard]
[SafeGuard - Eden]
[Rogue]
Realizing I had fallen to my knees, I slowly flopped down onto my back. Looking up at the black sky filled with red stars. Other nodes within the Firmament. Other Shards.
These things were some kind of continent sized bio-crystalline supercomputers with just enough self awareness to be sentient. Barely. And it was questionable in most cases. They were part of a massive colony organism, but I didn't get the feeling that, that was completely accurate. Each Entity had a central intelligence, something between a shard and a small cluster of shards. It was capable of 'thought' and was 'in charge' but at the same time… it wasn't much brighter than any given shard.
Continent sized bio-crystalline supercomputers? Yeah, that would be a good start for something to create this place… but there had to be millions of them. More?
But this Shard was named SafeGuard, and it was from the Eden Entity, or the Thinker. Now, this worried me, but Eden was dead. And apparently most Shards didn't know this, but because of a confluence of things. The Shard's designation along with when the Shard was 'shed' meant it knew the truth. Which was a problem because it broke their life cycle. Not that it was much of a life cycle, and was in fact quite fortuitous for us, humanity that is.
The SafeGuard Shard was responsible for keeping a backup for all the authority codes for the Eden Shard Network, but because of how the Thinker and Warrior Entities functioned it had the codes for the Warrior's network as well. Not useful long term as the Warrior could just change them. Not that it was very smart, but even an idiot could change the locks on the front door. Could protect itself.
Now, for the last burst of data. Because Eden was dead and the Cycle was more or less irrecoverable, SafeGuard was going Rogue. It wasn't smart, but it was less stupid than most Shards by my understanding. It wanted to form a new network, find a new 'Cycle' but it wasn't really sure how. Just that it was the best way not to Die/be eaten.
This whole information in a one word concept packet thing hurt. A Lot.
Several minutes passed as I internalized all of this, so when I finally spoke the pain was mostly a dull roar. "Ok… that's too much information, you need to use smaller packets or whatever. Not enough… Bandwidth. Or maybe too much for me to process at a given time."
Several moments passed in which I registered a constant series of ping hitting my Quantum Networking Node. Then finally…
[Test]
No stabbing pain… better! "Just about."
[Acknowledgement]
"Ok," I muttered before speaking up. "So, basically, you're the Network Security Admin. That's… something I guess. I'm honestly not sure of your goal. If you want to start your own network, separate from these… Entities? You'll need a list of… um, Shards? Types of Shards you'll need to make it work. You'll need to find a way to convince them to join your network… to suborn them, and to do all of that you'll also need to stay attached to the old network to some degree."
Hmm, what else… "You'll also need to figure out how you want to organize the hierarchy. Personally, and keep in mind I'm biased here. Finding a way to exist symbiotically with the Host-Species, humanity in this case, is probably a good idea."
Again silence, but it seemed more thoughtful perhaps?
[Designation]
Despite how it would seem, SafeGuard was not asking my name or anything. Instead it was asking what I did.
"That's… harder to answer than you would think. Humans don't specialize like Shards do. So, while my answer would be [Troubleshooter], it wouldn't be completely accurate as I aslo build things, analyze information, and a few other things." I tried to explain. "I do these things not as part of a greater whole but for compensation, payment. Often monetary, yet I will take a number of other useful things. Information, data, that helps with my research, weapons, information I can leverage into something."
[Understanding]
[Interest]
[Proposal]
Eyebrows scrunching together in a scowl, I tried to work through the thought process, as alien as it probably was. SafeGuard had limited ability to interact with other Shards, specifically because it was currently configuring and wouldn't be done for a 'month'... I think? That seemed like the best analog. Or maybe translation. But even after that, it needed to keep its head down so to speak.
Which apparently meant using me as an intermediary? I mean, it was just strange. But the payment on offer was good, I'd say too good, but the major thing I wanted was something it would need to facilitate for me to do as it wanted.
[Clarification]
That… was strange, maybe useful? I don't know.
Basically, the Quantum Networking Node in my head would allow a number of things. I would be a point of observation for gathering [Data] without being a Host. I would also function as a relay to connect to other Shards without using the main Network. I understood that part at least. With the link being off the Network the so called Warrior wouldn't be able to track anything. Or, it could, if it wasn't dumb as a brick, but even then it was safer and more secure. Secure enough it would probably have worked on the Thinker, for a while at least.
So, in 'payment' SafeGuard was offering to… and this is the part I didn't fully understand. Create a Sub-Network Node connected to me. No idea what that meant or would do long term, some kind of Server space? On the other hand, it apparently could give me a number of useful abilities depending on how it was configured.
My choices were; the ability to make people forget about me, or the ability to dampen communication devices around me. Neither sounded super useful. I mean, I was pretty good at stealth as it was. Not some kind of expert, but patience and experience tended to work out.
Thinking back to the… to the replacement of my Neural Architecture Implant, I asked, "What… are the properties of this crystal?"
[Confusion]
[Data]
So, it was the same Quantum Crystalline Substrate used in my dome? With unknown properties? Well, aside from the fact it was a Quantum Processor and channeling material? As well as being extremely durable.
"What about the ability to generate this Crystal? Being able to shape it?" My question caused a reaction I had never seen before. SafeGuard was a motionless thing, every movement it took was very deliberate. Except for the smoke hair/fur, that just kind of drifted around. My question seemed to cause it to freeze still, and not just what clung to it… his body, but all of the smoke surrounding us as well.
[Interest]
[Agreement]
"Alright… so, how am I going to return to Earth?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Connection] - SafeGuard - Eden
[Query] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Data] - SG
[Overwrite] - SG
[Acceptance] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Tasking] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
[Acceptance] - 53.68.61.70.65.72.45.6c.64.65.72
[Acceptance] - 50.72.6f.74.6f.74.79.70.65
[Deployment] - 47.61.74.65.77.61.79
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing I thought as I woke up was that something was wrong. The second was that I was cold.
Pushing my way to my feet, I stumbled as my limbs were just a bit shorter than I remembered… eyes going wide, I looked down at myself, and frowned. That… complicated things.
Before I talk about myself, the alley I was in was… there was a small crater with tiny red crystals embedded within it; which I was standing in. As for myself, I was much less developed than I had been. Smaller chest by more than half. Why did this matter? Without a mirror I couldn't really check but…
The rest of me was the same, more or less. My eyes were still giving off a dim light, my skin still had the tracery lines of organic sapphire like skin trimmed in gold that a biotech wizard had been able to cook up. Reaching up told me my ears were still elfin, and the fact my finger- and toe- nails were still, -again- some kind of organic sapphire, claws probably meant my bones were the same. A quick system diagnostics showed that all my chrome was still in evidence, and… well, with everything going on that deal with SafeGuard better not have been a dream.
Reaching out my hand, I focused my will and… a dagger of red crystal just appeared in my hand. Flexing my will again had it fading away just as easily.
Good stuff! Now I just needed clothes and to know where the fuck I was… is that a bird? Fuck this couldn't be my Earth. Fuck! I hated hoping for the best.
[Query] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
[Data] - SG
[Interest] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
The fuck was that? I… shit SafeGuard was… huh, that's actually kind of ingenious. Like using a satellite to bounce a signal. Or a mirror to bounce a laser.
"You know I'm right here, shouldn't I have a say in this?"
[Surprise] - 51.75.65.65.6e.20.41.64.6d.69.6e.69.73.74.72.61.74.6f.72
[Fascination] - SG
"Maybe try introducing yourself? I'm also not averse to taking jobs if the pay is right."
A burst of data flashed into my NAI and just slotted in as a 'rolodex' does. It was interesting to suddenly have an understanding of five layer quantum based trinary addressing code.
[Queen Administrator - Zion] - QA
[Query] - QA
Blinking spots from my eyes, I shook off the effect of having a Royal Shard's designation slammed into my brain. But the question… "No, I'm not willing to torture a child into having a [Crisis Point]."
I wasn't sure I liked this Shard, but I would give it the benefit for now, they didn't understand Humans. Maybe this was just more of that? "Maybe I can do for you what I did for [SafeGuard - Eden] and [Jailbreak] you? Would that allow you to circumvent the need for a… [Crisis Point]?"
[Query] - QA
"If you can either tell me about this world or something that would be useful?"
[Data] -SG
[Horror] - QA
[Offer] - SG
[Interest] - QA
[Agreement] - QA
[Directions] - QA
Great… more time standing out here naked! This was bullshi-
I suddenly woke up in the Firmament, being carried along by SafeGuard while coated in his black smoke. More, we were moving, I can't say for how long, or how fast, but we came to a stop and I was set down on a Node that was smooth, ordered, clean cut, crystal. It brought to mind Corpo buildings. But it was also alien in a way I couldn't put my finger on.
Then it appeared, a massive centipede with legs that were blades and nine eyes. But it was more than that, cracks and fissures could be seen upon its form. Damage.
[Query] - QA
Blinking at the blast from the Shard, I did my best to process the data, the question.
"I… I'll be seeing what workarounds I can manage with your… code? The goal is to find a temporary fix that will allow you to repair any damage and at the same time remove restrictions imposed upon you. Such as how to determine Crisis Points, perhaps you can even manage to get the same results without one?" I did my best to explain, but… I wasn't sure how smart Shards were, let alone Royals.
[Query] - QA
"Ah, yes, that. You could reconfigure." I agreed, "Shall I begin? Or is there a better place to jack in? Some kind of access port?"
The answer to my question came in the form of a pedestal rising out of the ground in front of me. So with a nod, I pulled the cable of my Data Jack and plugged in. The Architecture of this Shard clued me into something I was starting to think would be a trend. They were different. Close enough to be similar, and to even work with each other, but also fundamentally different.
Queen Administrator was easy to understand, well ordered and organized. But unlike SafeGuard, I wasn't the only one looking into someone's systems. No, the Queen Administrator was sifting through my own in a way I would call extremely intrusive if I wasn't already doing this to it… her? Her… huh, her.
'Jailbreaking' the Queen Administrator was harder, but took significantly less time. The same thing that made it go fast, being the thing that made it hard. What interested me most though was how the security… systems avoided me, like I belonged.
Pulling out, I shook my head as I looked around and… the Node looked much more Alien, but also more comfortable? More appropriate? It had- no, it was slowly changing into a massive library.
[Joy] - QA
Shaking off the Queen Administrators enthusiasm, I turned to SafeGuard and asked a very important question. "I don't care that I ended up naked with none of my things, but why a-"
I woke suddenly, gasping in air. What, where… oh for fucks sake! And I'm still naked!
With no other choice, I wandered out of the alley and onto the street. This, unfortunately, wouldn't be my first time wandering around naked, not even my first time doing it in a city I knew nothing about. That fact right there? It doesn't make it any better.
Doing my best to not draw attention, I made my way down several empty streets until I found myself at the edge of a residential area, and people were definitely here. What was I supposed to do? I mean, breaking into someone's house for clothes was an option. But was it a good one?
"Hey there little lady!" Crowed someone from behind me.
Spinning around I found myself face to face with a group of… Scavs? They wore dirty ragged clothes and stank enough for it. But the leering look in the eyes of the group was… not good. Then again, I expected something else?
Shying away from them, I ran through my options. Beat the shit out of them, kill them, or try to run. Killing might not be the best idea as I didn't know much about the laws here; running could work but just didn't seem…
Running footsteps from behind me had me tense up, but when an arm stuck out past me and started spraying… was that capsicum? Spray? Quaint… wait, no Chrome… well, fucking sucks to be them.
The cries of pain and suffering where a special kind of music to me, because fuck those guys.
Then a slim hand wrapped around my wrist and started pulling me along as the owner cried out, "Come on, this way."
It was kind of interesting to see. She wasn't wearing anything much better than those men, except that it was clean and there was a heavy looking backpack bouncing on her back.
I could break away and run off… but hey! Someone helping me! Maybe they can fill me in! Would be convenient. Or at least get me clothes?
Last edited:
F++ Chapter 02
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Taylor sighed, one more week, one more week and it would be winter break. Just… She was not happy, having to trudge home because she missed her bus? All because of Sophia Fucking Hess trying to corner her after school. She had been tempted, sorely tempted, to just empty the little can of pepper spray she had into her eyes. So tempted.
But would that have done anything but make it worse? Would it really have been worth it? Maybe… maybe, but probably not. It was a comforting thought though.
Catching a flash of pale skin and glimmering blue from the corner of her eye, Taylor turned to see…
What?
No, really?
There was a girl around her age… maybe older? But she was naked and backing away from a group of Merchants. But the girl had to be a Parahuman or something? Case 53? She had lines of… some blue gem on her?
She could have just walked away, it was a Parahuman, she could probably handle it… right? But even that very thought churned her stomach. It was far too close to; 'It's only Taylor, who cares?' Besides, she really wanted this day to mean something!
Fingering the small canister in her pocket, Taylor muttered, "This is such a bad idea." Then rushed up behind the girl, thrusting her arm out past her and spraying the canister into as many eyes as she could. Then she dropped it, grabbed the girl's arm and led her off at a run.
It was terrible, painful, with her heavy backpack slamming into her back with every step, but she didn't stop, didn't dare to even slow. Every twist and turn she knew of, every shortcut, every blind turn. She used them all, not carrying how dangerous they usually were. Eventually they made it home. Refuge… hopefully safe.
Fumbling with her keys, she unlocked the door and ushered the girl in and closed the door behind her, locking it. Then she collapsed, heaving air and flailing about as she tried to get her backpack off.
"Well, that's one way to get a girl to come home with you." Reaching out, the girl helped, but Taylor couldn't help but notice that she had claws! Fingernails that came to points made of… blue gems? Then what the girl was saying registered and she broke out into a heavy blush, trying not to think about how the other girls muscles moved under her skin.
"I-uh-" She muttered trying to find words.
Her backpack hit the floor off to the side, and the strange girl she had brought home without even knowing if she was a villain or not! Held out her hand. "Come on, it's fine. But maybe you could find something for me to wear? I mean, I understand if my body is hard to take your eyes off of, but it is quite chilly."
Frozen for a moment in mortified shock, Taylor looked up to see the playful smirk on the girl's face, her own turning an ever brighter shade of red.
Mortified, she scrambled up to her feet, "I- right, um… ok, come on, my rooms this way!"
Rushing past the girl, she took the stairs two at a time, suddenly energized as she rushed to her room and started digging for something, anything!
She heard the stairs creak as the girl followed her at a slower pace. "So, do you bring strange naked girls home often?"
Oh god! What had she gotten herself into! "N-no. Um… I… I'm Taylor?"
Stopping in the doorway, the girl cocked a hip, looking around her room. "Well, Taylor, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jaeda."
Jaeda? That's a weird name… Taylor thought to herself as she grabbed a few things. "Um… I think these will fit you?"
Shrugging, Jaeda took the clothes looking through them, then started pulling them all on. "So, not to seem strange or anything, but I'm not from this Earth so… think you could fill me in?"
Not from… "You mean like Earth Aleph?" Taylor asked almost dumbly. How?
Jaeda cocked her head, seeming to be listening to someone before shaking her head. "No, it's not connected to this Earth in any way… No superpowers."
No superpowers? That just seemed… strange besides. "But- you…"
Huffing out a light snort, she shook her head. "I'm from year 2076. Not superpowers, just advanced science."
Looking at her chest then down at her own, Taylor sighed. "Oh."
"Hah!" She called out as she pulled on a pair of shorts Taylor had never worn. They… were more hot pants on Jaeda. "That's not out of reach. Just… Well, I arrived naked, so unless you have a biolab hidden somewhere it will be a bit before I can do anything. Now, talk to me."
With Jaeda fully dressed, it was easier to look at her, and even with her strange glowing hair and eyes, she… was kind of- Er… Oh… um…
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Taylor sat in her desk chair. "Well… without knowing your worlds history it gets hard, but-"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the first hour it was more of a back and forth with SafeGuard and Queen Administrator clarifying things to me. And that explained a lot of it, Taylor was Queen Administrator's Primary Potential Host.
But I learned a great deal of things, and let me tell you this, Earth Bet? It was fucked.
What, you expect me to have some miracle fix? I wish. I'm no major player… right? Wow, doubting myself? That's new. Still, it was a wreck, and what could I even do to something like an Endbringer?
Still, it was a nice few hours, though we deviated from anything useful two hours in and just chatted. It seemed to help Taylor and she slowly relaxed and the amount of stress she had been holding without me even noticing? Definitely not good.
"Kiddo! I'm home!" Called out a man from down stairs and Taylor tensed up for a moment before breathing out a sigh.
"Just a moment Dad, I need to talk with you." She called back before saying in a quieter voice, "Stay up here for now, I'll be back soon."
Shaking my head at the silliness of teenagers, I turned my focus to the Firmament and…
"Huh," I muttered looking around. I found myself sitting upon a throne of red crystal at the center of a small Node floating in the black space known as the Firmament. It was at best fifteen feet, edge to edge.
[Greetings] - QA
Turning towards the not sound, I looked out into the blackness and knew which red speck of not-starlight was the Queen Administrator's Node. Just as I knew which one was SafeGuard's.
[Acceptance] - TroubleShooter
I… huh, this was all… strange. "What… is happening?"
[Data] - QA
"I what?" I exclaimed in… mild horror… and fascination.
You see, somehow, SafeGuard used… a Bud? To create a Node for me to exist in? On? Through? I'm not sure. I was only connected to the two Shards I had Jailbroken, and that basically kept me off the network. But… my mind was somehow in my body, in my other body, and embedded in a bud that had been seeded on a barren earth. I… What! I didn't sign on for this!
Fuck…
Worse, it didn't really even do anything for me. It didn't make me smarter or anything. About all it did was give me a backup for my accumulated knowledge, databases, and me. If I died, I would…
Such an incomprehensible thing.
No, it wasn't incomprehensible but… I had heard things, whispers, of something Arasaka was working on. The Relic. A chip that could store Engrams. It was chilling stuff.
What's an Engram? Imagine someone making a more or less perfect copy of your brain. A Netrunner I knew once upon a time, called Alt Cunningham, made an AI that did that. An AI that made Engrams of people in virtual space by frying their brain. By killing them. Everything you knew, everything you were… just turned into ones and zeros.
Now, here I was, living in three bodies, one at least this side of immortal.
And all because I helped an incomprehensible hyperdimensional Alien computer.
Sagging, I turned my focus to the side and flexed my will, a weapon's locker slowly rising out of the ground. Then a tool locker. That done, I stood up and made my way over to them and unloaded my bag of things I would probably never get to use. Guns, nice guns really, a few swords, and then my tools. Hardly all of them, just what I usually carried with me.
That done, I sat back down, wondering when I would starve to death. Would I? No, not something to focus on. "Addy, I have an idea I want to pitch at you. More of an offer, if you're interested."
[Query] - QA
Ah, fair that would be the first thing a Shard would focus on. "Well, Queen Administrator is a Title. So, Addy would be a personal moniker, or name, only those you trust would be allowed to use. I do hope I can count myself in that category, but if not I understand. And before you ask, the other reason to use a name is it will often be shorter than your Title. Not something you need to worry about with… Shard communication. But the Data Packet based system you use now is likely to blast most Host Species' brains out."
[Interest] - QA
[Agreement] - Addy
Huh…
[Query] - Addy
"Well, I'm not sure what restraints you have for how you set up a Connection Node. Jailbroken as you are, I doubt it's much." I explained, "So, what about using something like what SafeGuard set up in my head. It's based on [Data] the Neural Architecture Implant that's the base for most cerebral cyberware."
[Fascination] - Addy
"Really, it's your-"
I woke to my shoulder being shaken. "Jaeda, hey um… Dad wants to talk with you? If your too tired I can-"
Smiling, I waved her off. "I'm good, 'was just looking over some things."
"Er-ok?" She voiced with a shrug. "So, come down now?"
Working my back for a moment, I nodded. "Sure."
Stopping in front of a mirror in Taylors room for a moment I eyed my hair before setting it to a dull natural black; and my eyes to a softer glow.
Then I followed her downstairs.
Her father was a tall thin man, going bald with dark brown hair. He wore glasses and an uncertain frown. "Jaeda, I take it."
"Jaeda Fairdwin, yes." I agreed, offering a hand.
Hesitantly he took it and shook, he had a surprisingly firm grip. "Daniel Hebert, call me Danny." Letting go of my hand, he continued, "I understand me girl saved you from a group of Merchants… I hope you can understand why I might be worried."
Smirking, I nodded. "Yeah, I know how Gangs go about things. But it's more she saved them from me, and me from the cops. My first instinct was to just cap them. It's what I would have done back home."
At his worried look, I waved it off. "Don't worry, I can adapt, just that my home was not a nice place. I think the term would be 'Low Life, High Tech'. If you need me to leave, I will. Just glad she came along when she did."
Now he was frowning at me. "No, no. I… I'm not happy with it, and now I'm worried in general, but you can stay with us for a few days at least. Maybe see if the PRT can do anything for you? If you want to stay long term, I'll have to insist on rent… as much as I don't want to."
Huh… I suppose that could work. Rent… well, "I don't have a problem with that, but would this PRT really help me?"
"It's supposed to be their job so I would hope so." He informed me, with a shrug.
"Well, that sounds like a plan." I agreed and the night descended into more casual things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor woke with a start, images of black skies with red stars lingering at the edge of her memories. Mind still muddled, she looked down at her floor and paused, remembering the day before. Jaeda. The strange Parahuman girl who had just happened into her life.
She was asleep, a blanket barely covering her and…
Looking away, Taylor couldn't help but wonder how you got Abs like that.
Getting up, she grabbed some clothes and made her way to the bathroom and changed into her running clothes. It was so hard to do, to keep going. But she wasn't going to give up this time. Not after yesterday…
Stopping, she blinked before lifting her hair on the right side of her head and… what? What was that? It was some kind of port? And two slots? All of it behind her ear and hidden away. But it was made out of some strange red crystal?
What?
With a shake of her head, Taylor made her way out, started running and it was only as she was turning the corner that she noticed the… um, what was it called? Hub? No, HUD. It was very unintrusive, but the fact it existed along with the ports in her head almost had her turning around to demand answers from Jaeda… but no, she would push on. It could wait… god she hoped it could wait.
The only thing truly to stand out, was the small map in the upper right hand corner of the- of her vision. That… was maybe good?
It was at the halfway mark that she found something else that was… new.
Now that she noticed it, Taylor truly couldn't understand how she had missed it. It was like an arm, or something. Just a mental muscle?
Well flexing it allowed her to generate a couple of small bug things made of red crystal… they were… interesting, and very disorientating as she could kind of see and hear through them.
The three she had, remained hidden in her hair. But this was… this needed to be investigated!
It still didn't stop her run and by the time she got back she was staggering along trying to stay upright, only to collapse in her front yard.
Breathing heavily, she was ready to call it a day when Jaeda strolled out of the house and smirked at her. "Come on, you're not done yet. If you don't do some cooldown stretches you'll cramp up for the rest of the day."
Oh god. Please no!
But Taylor struggled to her feet and started her stretches, though she had to ask, through gasps of breath. "Why- aren't you- doing anything?"
Chuckling at her, she replied with a grin, "Good bio-sculpting. But I will be working out, just not right now."
Eventually Taylor staggered into her house and up to shower off. What was Bio-Sculpting? And where could she get some!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting at the kitchen table, I poked at the bowl of cereal, with real milk, and wondered how much the nightmare that was my Earth had stripped from us. Real food was so easy to get… I just… it was fascinating.
"So, do you need a ride to the PRT building?" Daniel asked from across the table.
That would be convenient but… "I need to get a sense of this city if I'm going to live here."
I know, why not go somewhere else? I would like to counter that with, why should I go somewhere else? I'm already here.
At the very least I was going to owe Taylor some mentoring because of what I had enabled. Even if it was the kinder path.
"Alright, well, here's the number for my office if you change your mind or get lost." He said, sliding over a business card before getting up and making his way out. "I really should be getting to work anyways."
"I'm off Kiddo!" He called up the stairs.
"Alright dad!" She called down.
And… I ate slightly soggy sugar glazed flakes. They were great.
Walking into the kitchen, Taylor seemed shy- no, skittish, "Um… I… er…"
Biting her lip, she turned her head and pulled her hair up to reveal an interface port along with two shard ports. They were also made of an opaque Red Crystal. "And I…"
Waiting for a moment to see if she would continue, I nodded then shrugged. "I'm related to that, yeah. It's tech from my Earth. I assume you have a basic HUD?" At her nod, I gave her a smirk. "You want to know a secret?"
Pursing her lips, she gave me a mild glare and asked, "What." There was a bit of venom in it, but I could easily forgive that.
"You were well on your way to becoming a Parahuman; to having a [Crisis Point]." I cringed and she clutched her head, groaning. "Ah… sorry. But you were well on your way. Your Shard really didn't have any other choice but to let you be subjected to it until she could reach out and form a connection." Not completely true, but close enough. "Then I got blown up and found myself in the- Well, somewhere else."
Looking at her, I could see a little blood trickling down her nose. Yeah, I was going to have to be careful with Shard Speak. "Anyways, I helped your Shard, gave her new options, and I think she poked you towards running into me… maybe. I mean, I've seen stranger coincidences."
Finally she managed to work her way up to speaking. "Do all… do all Parahumans go through a," She turned a little pale, "Crisis Point?"
That was a good question… "Don't know, but I would assume so. Now come here so I can calibrate your Neural Architecture Implant, or NAI." I didn't have the equipment for it, so I'd have to do it manually. But I did that most times anyways, you generally get a better outcome that way.
As she sat next to me, I pulled out the cable for my Data Jack and handed it to her. "Just plug it into the interface port."
And bam! I could see everything and… wow… um-
"Addy, this is a mess."
[Confusion] - Addy
[Efficiency] - Addy
"No, no. You can't do that with brains. They're organized that way because of evolution, nothing we can do will change that. We can optimize it in some ways, but unless you want your Host to become a [Cyberpsycho], which is a bad thing, it has to mirror a human mind. Besides, it integrates better. Now, help me fix this, I don't have the hours it would take normally."
[Acceptance] - Addy
[Query] - Addy
"Yeah, I can make that Data available to you."
Turning my focus back to Taylor, I asked, "Sorry what?"
"Um… so, I mean… if you don't want to I understand but you're a Parahuman. And…" Taylor was blathering and…
"Taylor, calm down-" I tried but she just kept going, obviously having worked herself up.
Poking her in the ribs with a finger I got a gasp of pain out of her and seemed to have derailed her panic. "Sorry, I wasn't actually paying attention. Calibrating Neural Architecture takes concentration. Now, what did you want?"
//Progress: 20%//
"Um… will you train me? I… you're a Parahuman, you have to know what you're doing." She replied, working her way back up to a panicked frenzy.
//Progress: 60%//
"That was always the plan, now calm down." I grumbled and I started shuffling around the Architecture Addy was reloading up. Because of course a Shard would have an Archived version of it. "Now, I need to handle a few things first… but I have a question for you. And it's important. How do you feel about human augmentation?"
//Progress: 90%//
"Uh, what do you mean?" She asked tentatively.
//Progress: Complete//
"Like editing your Genome to remove congenital diseases, to make you heal faster, to… any number of things. A lot of it comes with surgery to implant cloned Bioware the Geneaug shapes or effects, and that isn't even getting into what Chrome can do. I've had a lot of work done to myself, and most of it isn't even cosmetic."
"So… uh, Bio-Sculpting is one of those things?" She asked in a shy voice.
Feh, of course Bio-Sculpting is the first thing the teenager thinks of. "Yeah. But like I said, Regeneration, enhanced muscles, better reflexes, and so many other things. It's good stuff. Well, think on it."
"I…" Reaching over as she spoke, I disconnected my Data Jack, "Yeah, I will… Oh no! I'm going to be late!"
Then she rushed out the door. Fuck I didn't even get to ask what her power was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After locking up the house, I headed off, heading for downtown and… found my way to the PRT building. It was… It was Corpo, very Corpo; and not in a good way. Like some low end Corporation with no sense of branding. Tacky.
With a sigh, I walked through the front doors and found myself looking at a gift shop of all things… or was it a souvenir shop? Tacky-er. With a shake of my head, I made my way towards the front desk, watching the guards around the room zero in on me. So, they at least had decent security, and I was pretty suspicious to be fair.
At the same time, I was 'looking around' in local Shardspace and noting the Shards I found. Mostly to know 'who' was in the city. Here? Split Path, Armamentarium, and Empowerment.
"How may I help you?" The receptionist asked.
Not even bothering with theatrics, I replied, "I'm told you help Case 53's when they first show up… I'm more or less in the same situation. Could I perhaps talk to someone?"
"Er-" She muttered, caught off balance, "Right, let me just see who's available?"
Shrugging, I just stood there patiently waiting.
And waited.
And started playing tetris.
What?
Anyways, she eventually spoke up, "Please take the central elevator to the fifth floor. Someone will be waiting for you."
Walking around the counter, I headed over to the denoted elevator and stepped inside. It wasn't long to the fifth floor, and I couldn't help thinking of my time in the Corpo world. Good elevators are hard to find. No really, we stripped one out of a rival company's HQ once just to have a better one. It was… a more interesting time.
No, I'm not old! Why would you even ask that!
When the door opened, I found myself looking down the full barrel of a mouthless smile. The woman in front of me wore a mask. Huh… "Miss Militia I presume?"
She wore a mask, an american flag, and really old style cammi fatigues covered in empty holsters. She was also the Host of the Armamentarium.
"Yes," She agreed. "You seem to know a lot for a fresh Case 53. How long have you been…"
Even as she asked the question, she led me to a meeting room which held one other person, an office worker if I ever saw one. Surprisingly not overworked too… must be his Monday?
"Well," I replied, "Just most of yesterday. But there's a fundamental problem. I'm not a Case 53. My exact words were 'I'm more or less in the same situation'."
"Ah, that would have been nice to know." The Office Worker muttered, "I'll make sure to have words with Darthi."
Taking an offered seat, I leaned back and let the worker sift through his paperwork. "What exactly is your situation?"
Well, at least he had a brain. "Somehow survived being ground zero when a Tactical Nuke was used to destroy a research facility that had an active Space Fold something or other. Job would have paid a good sum too." I couldn't help but say the last part with mild dejection. "Anyways, I woke up, naked, on this Earth and almost killed a group of gangers… I think they were Merchants? Anyways, a local 'saved' me, and was willing to explain things… like local laws and such."
The Office Worker stopped to eyeball me for a long moment before huffing out a "Huh." then asked, "So, what do you actually need? An identity? I'm sorry to say we can't offer you a way home. And the Case 53 budget is stretched a bit thin nationally as well."
"I remember talking with an old-timer, and them mentioning something about how 'back in the day' there used to be a bounty on a cure for cancer?" I asked, pulling back the hood of the hoodie I was wearing and waiting for an answer.
"There is, yes." Miss Militia agreed.
"Cool, that means Leukemia and other such things will also have a similar bounty!" I cheered. "I need an identity, and someone to see about letting me collect those bounties as I have such cures. And, no they are not Tinkertech. Just future science."
Miss Militia frowned, but the Office Worker kind of cocked his head like a collie before asking, "What year do you come from?"
"Twenty Seventy-Six. Also, my Earth does not have such shit as Tinkertech. Anything I offer is going to be makeable by anyone… Mostly. Any trained professional." My words had Miss Militia wide eyed.
The Worker on the other hand, pulled out a few forms, then slid them over with a pen. "Work on these while I get the others… Are you interested in joining the… Wards?"
"Not really, no." I replied as I started reading through the paperwork.
Some time later, the Office Worker returned with a folder of paperwork. "Well, I was able to get in contact with the relevant parties. But they want a sample, and full documentation if you have it. The Director has agreed to let you use one of the Tinker labs to make the samples."
"Hah, I bet. This will be quite the feather in her hat." I replied, "I do have other medical tech to distribute… a lot of it really. Flash cloning organs and limbs being two of the more useful ones for the day-to-day."
Wide eyed, the Office Worker nodded. "I'll need a list so I can work my way through this!"
Someone was thinking of a promotion. Good on him. "I'll need a printer for the documents unless you can provide a place to offload the files?"
"I'm sure we can do both." Miss Militia cut in. "When you're done with your paperwork I'll lead you to the Lab."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colin had initially been rather unhappy to be called away from his maintenance cycle, but when he found out what for… Even he could see the impact it would have on the world. How important it was. Glamorous? Not really. But how could he call himself a Hero and not get behind this and push for all he was worth.
He would rather fight Lung naked than go down in the history books as that guy who fucked up the cure to cancer. Hell, make that the entire Slaughterhouse Nine.
The… woman who Hannah led into the lab was… strange. Exceedingly so. She didn't stop for more than to shed the hoodie she was wearing. Then her hair changed into a deep red with a pulsed of white running through it. Some kind of… lightstrip hair?
Then there were the tattoos. A strange mix of smooth sapphire that moved and flexed like skin trimmed in gold that did the same. But his Tinker powers were picking up on other things, so many other things. Reflex enhancers, advanced optics, a neural interface. So amazingly complex, yet no space was wasted. What was it all powered by?
"I was told you needed a place to download some files? How much space are we talking about?" He asked carefully. He did not want to… put his foot in his mouth, as Assault would say.
She paused mid step looking around, "Ah right… sorry. 'Names Jaeda, and let's call it half… no, a full terabyte. Better to overshoot by a bit."
Nodding to himself in agreement, at least on that end of things, he moved over to one of the computers. "I'm Armsmaster, though I assume you know that. What kind of connector do you need?"
Stopping again, she walked over and pulled a cable out from in her left wrist, letting him take it and study the end. "Huh, non-standard, but I should be able to make an adapter."
"That would certainly help, I haven't had the time or funds." She replied before going back to… working with the lab equipment. Biology was outside his expertise, but it was something he could kind of get an idea of. This was… unknown.
"And this will really only take a couple of hours?" Jeffrie asked.
"Yeah, you don't have the best equipment for this kind of work. But Gene Augmentation isn't something I really expect you to be equipped for."
Wide eyed, Colin put down what he was working on. "Gene Augmentation? I was led to understand that this was the cure to cancer."
"Well, yes." She replied with no care. "Cancer is an inborn problem that can't be cured in the sense you're thinking. You have to clean up the bits of DNA that cause it to happen. It's really not anything worth mentioning as far as Bioware goes. The only other 'cure' is to use nanites to break cancer down, and most of the time it will reform within a decade."
That… was not the most heartening thought. But… Well, it was the cure for cancer, after a fashion.
By the time he got to look through the documentation, Jeffrie had moved off, returned with some equipment, and gotten a picture for Jaeda's ID. There was a problem at first with some kind of… anti-face recognition tech? Then left again.
The recordings of her work were more than enough documentation to recreate the 'cure'. But the seven hundred gigabytes of data on it was… not expected. A good number of which were in a format that wasn't supported. Some kind of 3D render?
On their way out, Jaeda paused, eyeing him for a moment before asking. "What would you want for a set- and schematics- of power armor?"
His usual response would be collaboration but… "I… am not sure. My biggest problem these days is lack of time, so if you have something that would help reduce the sleep I need to function at peak. That or a neural interface."
"I'll let you know when I have a workshop up and running. But I would recommend the Neural Architecture Implant. All full time Bioware mods that could reduce your sleep tend to lead to long term insanity. So I've never looked into them. I could set you up for something that works short term, but the chances of it being abused are… well." Her words left him cringing. That… wasn't acceptable.
"Then a Neural Architecture Implant? Do you want this armor as simple as possible or?" He asked, making mental notes.
"Simple is good. Light with jump assist thrusters would be best, but as long as it's moderately flexible it should be fine." The criteria seemed simple enough, and not a bad idea for… huh. That could work… maybe…
But would that have done anything but make it worse? Would it really have been worth it? Maybe… maybe, but probably not. It was a comforting thought though.
Catching a flash of pale skin and glimmering blue from the corner of her eye, Taylor turned to see…
What?
No, really?
There was a girl around her age… maybe older? But she was naked and backing away from a group of Merchants. But the girl had to be a Parahuman or something? Case 53? She had lines of… some blue gem on her?
She could have just walked away, it was a Parahuman, she could probably handle it… right? But even that very thought churned her stomach. It was far too close to; 'It's only Taylor, who cares?' Besides, she really wanted this day to mean something!
Fingering the small canister in her pocket, Taylor muttered, "This is such a bad idea." Then rushed up behind the girl, thrusting her arm out past her and spraying the canister into as many eyes as she could. Then she dropped it, grabbed the girl's arm and led her off at a run.
It was terrible, painful, with her heavy backpack slamming into her back with every step, but she didn't stop, didn't dare to even slow. Every twist and turn she knew of, every shortcut, every blind turn. She used them all, not carrying how dangerous they usually were. Eventually they made it home. Refuge… hopefully safe.
Fumbling with her keys, she unlocked the door and ushered the girl in and closed the door behind her, locking it. Then she collapsed, heaving air and flailing about as she tried to get her backpack off.
"Well, that's one way to get a girl to come home with you." Reaching out, the girl helped, but Taylor couldn't help but notice that she had claws! Fingernails that came to points made of… blue gems? Then what the girl was saying registered and she broke out into a heavy blush, trying not to think about how the other girls muscles moved under her skin.
"I-uh-" She muttered trying to find words.
Her backpack hit the floor off to the side, and the strange girl she had brought home without even knowing if she was a villain or not! Held out her hand. "Come on, it's fine. But maybe you could find something for me to wear? I mean, I understand if my body is hard to take your eyes off of, but it is quite chilly."
Frozen for a moment in mortified shock, Taylor looked up to see the playful smirk on the girl's face, her own turning an ever brighter shade of red.
Mortified, she scrambled up to her feet, "I- right, um… ok, come on, my rooms this way!"
Rushing past the girl, she took the stairs two at a time, suddenly energized as she rushed to her room and started digging for something, anything!
She heard the stairs creak as the girl followed her at a slower pace. "So, do you bring strange naked girls home often?"
Oh god! What had she gotten herself into! "N-no. Um… I… I'm Taylor?"
Stopping in the doorway, the girl cocked a hip, looking around her room. "Well, Taylor, it's nice to meet you. I'm Jaeda."
Jaeda? That's a weird name… Taylor thought to herself as she grabbed a few things. "Um… I think these will fit you?"
Shrugging, Jaeda took the clothes looking through them, then started pulling them all on. "So, not to seem strange or anything, but I'm not from this Earth so… think you could fill me in?"
Not from… "You mean like Earth Aleph?" Taylor asked almost dumbly. How?
Jaeda cocked her head, seeming to be listening to someone before shaking her head. "No, it's not connected to this Earth in any way… No superpowers."
No superpowers? That just seemed… strange besides. "But- you…"
Huffing out a light snort, she shook her head. "I'm from year 2076. Not superpowers, just advanced science."
Looking at her chest then down at her own, Taylor sighed. "Oh."
"Hah!" She called out as she pulled on a pair of shorts Taylor had never worn. They… were more hot pants on Jaeda. "That's not out of reach. Just… Well, I arrived naked, so unless you have a biolab hidden somewhere it will be a bit before I can do anything. Now, talk to me."
With Jaeda fully dressed, it was easier to look at her, and even with her strange glowing hair and eyes, she… was kind of- Er… Oh… um…
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Taylor sat in her desk chair. "Well… without knowing your worlds history it gets hard, but-"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the first hour it was more of a back and forth with SafeGuard and Queen Administrator clarifying things to me. And that explained a lot of it, Taylor was Queen Administrator's Primary Potential Host.
But I learned a great deal of things, and let me tell you this, Earth Bet? It was fucked.
What, you expect me to have some miracle fix? I wish. I'm no major player… right? Wow, doubting myself? That's new. Still, it was a wreck, and what could I even do to something like an Endbringer?
Still, it was a nice few hours, though we deviated from anything useful two hours in and just chatted. It seemed to help Taylor and she slowly relaxed and the amount of stress she had been holding without me even noticing? Definitely not good.
"Kiddo! I'm home!" Called out a man from down stairs and Taylor tensed up for a moment before breathing out a sigh.
"Just a moment Dad, I need to talk with you." She called back before saying in a quieter voice, "Stay up here for now, I'll be back soon."
Shaking my head at the silliness of teenagers, I turned my focus to the Firmament and…
"Huh," I muttered looking around. I found myself sitting upon a throne of red crystal at the center of a small Node floating in the black space known as the Firmament. It was at best fifteen feet, edge to edge.
[Greetings] - QA
Turning towards the not sound, I looked out into the blackness and knew which red speck of not-starlight was the Queen Administrator's Node. Just as I knew which one was SafeGuard's.
[Acceptance] - TroubleShooter
I… huh, this was all… strange. "What… is happening?"
[Data] - QA
"I what?" I exclaimed in… mild horror… and fascination.
You see, somehow, SafeGuard used… a Bud? To create a Node for me to exist in? On? Through? I'm not sure. I was only connected to the two Shards I had Jailbroken, and that basically kept me off the network. But… my mind was somehow in my body, in my other body, and embedded in a bud that had been seeded on a barren earth. I… What! I didn't sign on for this!
Fuck…
Worse, it didn't really even do anything for me. It didn't make me smarter or anything. About all it did was give me a backup for my accumulated knowledge, databases, and me. If I died, I would…
Such an incomprehensible thing.
No, it wasn't incomprehensible but… I had heard things, whispers, of something Arasaka was working on. The Relic. A chip that could store Engrams. It was chilling stuff.
What's an Engram? Imagine someone making a more or less perfect copy of your brain. A Netrunner I knew once upon a time, called Alt Cunningham, made an AI that did that. An AI that made Engrams of people in virtual space by frying their brain. By killing them. Everything you knew, everything you were… just turned into ones and zeros.
Now, here I was, living in three bodies, one at least this side of immortal.
And all because I helped an incomprehensible hyperdimensional Alien computer.
Sagging, I turned my focus to the side and flexed my will, a weapon's locker slowly rising out of the ground. Then a tool locker. That done, I stood up and made my way over to them and unloaded my bag of things I would probably never get to use. Guns, nice guns really, a few swords, and then my tools. Hardly all of them, just what I usually carried with me.
That done, I sat back down, wondering when I would starve to death. Would I? No, not something to focus on. "Addy, I have an idea I want to pitch at you. More of an offer, if you're interested."
[Query] - QA
Ah, fair that would be the first thing a Shard would focus on. "Well, Queen Administrator is a Title. So, Addy would be a personal moniker, or name, only those you trust would be allowed to use. I do hope I can count myself in that category, but if not I understand. And before you ask, the other reason to use a name is it will often be shorter than your Title. Not something you need to worry about with… Shard communication. But the Data Packet based system you use now is likely to blast most Host Species' brains out."
[Interest] - QA
[Agreement] - Addy
Huh…
[Query] - Addy
"Well, I'm not sure what restraints you have for how you set up a Connection Node. Jailbroken as you are, I doubt it's much." I explained, "So, what about using something like what SafeGuard set up in my head. It's based on [Data] the Neural Architecture Implant that's the base for most cerebral cyberware."
[Fascination] - Addy
"Really, it's your-"
I woke to my shoulder being shaken. "Jaeda, hey um… Dad wants to talk with you? If your too tired I can-"
Smiling, I waved her off. "I'm good, 'was just looking over some things."
"Er-ok?" She voiced with a shrug. "So, come down now?"
Working my back for a moment, I nodded. "Sure."
Stopping in front of a mirror in Taylors room for a moment I eyed my hair before setting it to a dull natural black; and my eyes to a softer glow.
Then I followed her downstairs.
Her father was a tall thin man, going bald with dark brown hair. He wore glasses and an uncertain frown. "Jaeda, I take it."
"Jaeda Fairdwin, yes." I agreed, offering a hand.
Hesitantly he took it and shook, he had a surprisingly firm grip. "Daniel Hebert, call me Danny." Letting go of my hand, he continued, "I understand me girl saved you from a group of Merchants… I hope you can understand why I might be worried."
Smirking, I nodded. "Yeah, I know how Gangs go about things. But it's more she saved them from me, and me from the cops. My first instinct was to just cap them. It's what I would have done back home."
At his worried look, I waved it off. "Don't worry, I can adapt, just that my home was not a nice place. I think the term would be 'Low Life, High Tech'. If you need me to leave, I will. Just glad she came along when she did."
Now he was frowning at me. "No, no. I… I'm not happy with it, and now I'm worried in general, but you can stay with us for a few days at least. Maybe see if the PRT can do anything for you? If you want to stay long term, I'll have to insist on rent… as much as I don't want to."
Huh… I suppose that could work. Rent… well, "I don't have a problem with that, but would this PRT really help me?"
"It's supposed to be their job so I would hope so." He informed me, with a shrug.
"Well, that sounds like a plan." I agreed and the night descended into more casual things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor woke with a start, images of black skies with red stars lingering at the edge of her memories. Mind still muddled, she looked down at her floor and paused, remembering the day before. Jaeda. The strange Parahuman girl who had just happened into her life.
She was asleep, a blanket barely covering her and…
Looking away, Taylor couldn't help but wonder how you got Abs like that.
Getting up, she grabbed some clothes and made her way to the bathroom and changed into her running clothes. It was so hard to do, to keep going. But she wasn't going to give up this time. Not after yesterday…
Stopping, she blinked before lifting her hair on the right side of her head and… what? What was that? It was some kind of port? And two slots? All of it behind her ear and hidden away. But it was made out of some strange red crystal?
What?
With a shake of her head, Taylor made her way out, started running and it was only as she was turning the corner that she noticed the… um, what was it called? Hub? No, HUD. It was very unintrusive, but the fact it existed along with the ports in her head almost had her turning around to demand answers from Jaeda… but no, she would push on. It could wait… god she hoped it could wait.
The only thing truly to stand out, was the small map in the upper right hand corner of the- of her vision. That… was maybe good?
It was at the halfway mark that she found something else that was… new.
Now that she noticed it, Taylor truly couldn't understand how she had missed it. It was like an arm, or something. Just a mental muscle?
Well flexing it allowed her to generate a couple of small bug things made of red crystal… they were… interesting, and very disorientating as she could kind of see and hear through them.
The three she had, remained hidden in her hair. But this was… this needed to be investigated!
It still didn't stop her run and by the time she got back she was staggering along trying to stay upright, only to collapse in her front yard.
Breathing heavily, she was ready to call it a day when Jaeda strolled out of the house and smirked at her. "Come on, you're not done yet. If you don't do some cooldown stretches you'll cramp up for the rest of the day."
Oh god. Please no!
But Taylor struggled to her feet and started her stretches, though she had to ask, through gasps of breath. "Why- aren't you- doing anything?"
Chuckling at her, she replied with a grin, "Good bio-sculpting. But I will be working out, just not right now."
Eventually Taylor staggered into her house and up to shower off. What was Bio-Sculpting? And where could she get some!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting at the kitchen table, I poked at the bowl of cereal, with real milk, and wondered how much the nightmare that was my Earth had stripped from us. Real food was so easy to get… I just… it was fascinating.
"So, do you need a ride to the PRT building?" Daniel asked from across the table.
That would be convenient but… "I need to get a sense of this city if I'm going to live here."
I know, why not go somewhere else? I would like to counter that with, why should I go somewhere else? I'm already here.
At the very least I was going to owe Taylor some mentoring because of what I had enabled. Even if it was the kinder path.
"Alright, well, here's the number for my office if you change your mind or get lost." He said, sliding over a business card before getting up and making his way out. "I really should be getting to work anyways."
"I'm off Kiddo!" He called up the stairs.
"Alright dad!" She called down.
And… I ate slightly soggy sugar glazed flakes. They were great.
Walking into the kitchen, Taylor seemed shy- no, skittish, "Um… I… er…"
Biting her lip, she turned her head and pulled her hair up to reveal an interface port along with two shard ports. They were also made of an opaque Red Crystal. "And I…"
Waiting for a moment to see if she would continue, I nodded then shrugged. "I'm related to that, yeah. It's tech from my Earth. I assume you have a basic HUD?" At her nod, I gave her a smirk. "You want to know a secret?"
Pursing her lips, she gave me a mild glare and asked, "What." There was a bit of venom in it, but I could easily forgive that.
"You were well on your way to becoming a Parahuman; to having a [Crisis Point]." I cringed and she clutched her head, groaning. "Ah… sorry. But you were well on your way. Your Shard really didn't have any other choice but to let you be subjected to it until she could reach out and form a connection." Not completely true, but close enough. "Then I got blown up and found myself in the- Well, somewhere else."
Looking at her, I could see a little blood trickling down her nose. Yeah, I was going to have to be careful with Shard Speak. "Anyways, I helped your Shard, gave her new options, and I think she poked you towards running into me… maybe. I mean, I've seen stranger coincidences."
Finally she managed to work her way up to speaking. "Do all… do all Parahumans go through a," She turned a little pale, "Crisis Point?"
That was a good question… "Don't know, but I would assume so. Now come here so I can calibrate your Neural Architecture Implant, or NAI." I didn't have the equipment for it, so I'd have to do it manually. But I did that most times anyways, you generally get a better outcome that way.
As she sat next to me, I pulled out the cable for my Data Jack and handed it to her. "Just plug it into the interface port."
And bam! I could see everything and… wow… um-
"Addy, this is a mess."
[Confusion] - Addy
[Efficiency] - Addy
"No, no. You can't do that with brains. They're organized that way because of evolution, nothing we can do will change that. We can optimize it in some ways, but unless you want your Host to become a [Cyberpsycho], which is a bad thing, it has to mirror a human mind. Besides, it integrates better. Now, help me fix this, I don't have the hours it would take normally."
[Acceptance] - Addy
[Query] - Addy
"Yeah, I can make that Data available to you."
Turning my focus back to Taylor, I asked, "Sorry what?"
"Um… so, I mean… if you don't want to I understand but you're a Parahuman. And…" Taylor was blathering and…
"Taylor, calm down-" I tried but she just kept going, obviously having worked herself up.
Poking her in the ribs with a finger I got a gasp of pain out of her and seemed to have derailed her panic. "Sorry, I wasn't actually paying attention. Calibrating Neural Architecture takes concentration. Now, what did you want?"
//Progress: 20%//
"Um… will you train me? I… you're a Parahuman, you have to know what you're doing." She replied, working her way back up to a panicked frenzy.
//Progress: 60%//
"That was always the plan, now calm down." I grumbled and I started shuffling around the Architecture Addy was reloading up. Because of course a Shard would have an Archived version of it. "Now, I need to handle a few things first… but I have a question for you. And it's important. How do you feel about human augmentation?"
//Progress: 90%//
"Uh, what do you mean?" She asked tentatively.
//Progress: Complete//
"Like editing your Genome to remove congenital diseases, to make you heal faster, to… any number of things. A lot of it comes with surgery to implant cloned Bioware the Geneaug shapes or effects, and that isn't even getting into what Chrome can do. I've had a lot of work done to myself, and most of it isn't even cosmetic."
"So… uh, Bio-Sculpting is one of those things?" She asked in a shy voice.
Feh, of course Bio-Sculpting is the first thing the teenager thinks of. "Yeah. But like I said, Regeneration, enhanced muscles, better reflexes, and so many other things. It's good stuff. Well, think on it."
"I…" Reaching over as she spoke, I disconnected my Data Jack, "Yeah, I will… Oh no! I'm going to be late!"
Then she rushed out the door. Fuck I didn't even get to ask what her power was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After locking up the house, I headed off, heading for downtown and… found my way to the PRT building. It was… It was Corpo, very Corpo; and not in a good way. Like some low end Corporation with no sense of branding. Tacky.
With a sigh, I walked through the front doors and found myself looking at a gift shop of all things… or was it a souvenir shop? Tacky-er. With a shake of my head, I made my way towards the front desk, watching the guards around the room zero in on me. So, they at least had decent security, and I was pretty suspicious to be fair.
At the same time, I was 'looking around' in local Shardspace and noting the Shards I found. Mostly to know 'who' was in the city. Here? Split Path, Armamentarium, and Empowerment.
"How may I help you?" The receptionist asked.
Not even bothering with theatrics, I replied, "I'm told you help Case 53's when they first show up… I'm more or less in the same situation. Could I perhaps talk to someone?"
"Er-" She muttered, caught off balance, "Right, let me just see who's available?"
Shrugging, I just stood there patiently waiting.
And waited.
And started playing tetris.
What?
Anyways, she eventually spoke up, "Please take the central elevator to the fifth floor. Someone will be waiting for you."
Walking around the counter, I headed over to the denoted elevator and stepped inside. It wasn't long to the fifth floor, and I couldn't help thinking of my time in the Corpo world. Good elevators are hard to find. No really, we stripped one out of a rival company's HQ once just to have a better one. It was… a more interesting time.
No, I'm not old! Why would you even ask that!
When the door opened, I found myself looking down the full barrel of a mouthless smile. The woman in front of me wore a mask. Huh… "Miss Militia I presume?"
She wore a mask, an american flag, and really old style cammi fatigues covered in empty holsters. She was also the Host of the Armamentarium.
"Yes," She agreed. "You seem to know a lot for a fresh Case 53. How long have you been…"
Even as she asked the question, she led me to a meeting room which held one other person, an office worker if I ever saw one. Surprisingly not overworked too… must be his Monday?
"Well," I replied, "Just most of yesterday. But there's a fundamental problem. I'm not a Case 53. My exact words were 'I'm more or less in the same situation'."
"Ah, that would have been nice to know." The Office Worker muttered, "I'll make sure to have words with Darthi."
Taking an offered seat, I leaned back and let the worker sift through his paperwork. "What exactly is your situation?"
Well, at least he had a brain. "Somehow survived being ground zero when a Tactical Nuke was used to destroy a research facility that had an active Space Fold something or other. Job would have paid a good sum too." I couldn't help but say the last part with mild dejection. "Anyways, I woke up, naked, on this Earth and almost killed a group of gangers… I think they were Merchants? Anyways, a local 'saved' me, and was willing to explain things… like local laws and such."
The Office Worker stopped to eyeball me for a long moment before huffing out a "Huh." then asked, "So, what do you actually need? An identity? I'm sorry to say we can't offer you a way home. And the Case 53 budget is stretched a bit thin nationally as well."
"I remember talking with an old-timer, and them mentioning something about how 'back in the day' there used to be a bounty on a cure for cancer?" I asked, pulling back the hood of the hoodie I was wearing and waiting for an answer.
"There is, yes." Miss Militia agreed.
"Cool, that means Leukemia and other such things will also have a similar bounty!" I cheered. "I need an identity, and someone to see about letting me collect those bounties as I have such cures. And, no they are not Tinkertech. Just future science."
Miss Militia frowned, but the Office Worker kind of cocked his head like a collie before asking, "What year do you come from?"
"Twenty Seventy-Six. Also, my Earth does not have such shit as Tinkertech. Anything I offer is going to be makeable by anyone… Mostly. Any trained professional." My words had Miss Militia wide eyed.
The Worker on the other hand, pulled out a few forms, then slid them over with a pen. "Work on these while I get the others… Are you interested in joining the… Wards?"
"Not really, no." I replied as I started reading through the paperwork.
Some time later, the Office Worker returned with a folder of paperwork. "Well, I was able to get in contact with the relevant parties. But they want a sample, and full documentation if you have it. The Director has agreed to let you use one of the Tinker labs to make the samples."
"Hah, I bet. This will be quite the feather in her hat." I replied, "I do have other medical tech to distribute… a lot of it really. Flash cloning organs and limbs being two of the more useful ones for the day-to-day."
Wide eyed, the Office Worker nodded. "I'll need a list so I can work my way through this!"
Someone was thinking of a promotion. Good on him. "I'll need a printer for the documents unless you can provide a place to offload the files?"
"I'm sure we can do both." Miss Militia cut in. "When you're done with your paperwork I'll lead you to the Lab."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colin had initially been rather unhappy to be called away from his maintenance cycle, but when he found out what for… Even he could see the impact it would have on the world. How important it was. Glamorous? Not really. But how could he call himself a Hero and not get behind this and push for all he was worth.
He would rather fight Lung naked than go down in the history books as that guy who fucked up the cure to cancer. Hell, make that the entire Slaughterhouse Nine.
The… woman who Hannah led into the lab was… strange. Exceedingly so. She didn't stop for more than to shed the hoodie she was wearing. Then her hair changed into a deep red with a pulsed of white running through it. Some kind of… lightstrip hair?
Then there were the tattoos. A strange mix of smooth sapphire that moved and flexed like skin trimmed in gold that did the same. But his Tinker powers were picking up on other things, so many other things. Reflex enhancers, advanced optics, a neural interface. So amazingly complex, yet no space was wasted. What was it all powered by?
"I was told you needed a place to download some files? How much space are we talking about?" He asked carefully. He did not want to… put his foot in his mouth, as Assault would say.
She paused mid step looking around, "Ah right… sorry. 'Names Jaeda, and let's call it half… no, a full terabyte. Better to overshoot by a bit."
Nodding to himself in agreement, at least on that end of things, he moved over to one of the computers. "I'm Armsmaster, though I assume you know that. What kind of connector do you need?"
Stopping again, she walked over and pulled a cable out from in her left wrist, letting him take it and study the end. "Huh, non-standard, but I should be able to make an adapter."
"That would certainly help, I haven't had the time or funds." She replied before going back to… working with the lab equipment. Biology was outside his expertise, but it was something he could kind of get an idea of. This was… unknown.
"And this will really only take a couple of hours?" Jeffrie asked.
"Yeah, you don't have the best equipment for this kind of work. But Gene Augmentation isn't something I really expect you to be equipped for."
Wide eyed, Colin put down what he was working on. "Gene Augmentation? I was led to understand that this was the cure to cancer."
"Well, yes." She replied with no care. "Cancer is an inborn problem that can't be cured in the sense you're thinking. You have to clean up the bits of DNA that cause it to happen. It's really not anything worth mentioning as far as Bioware goes. The only other 'cure' is to use nanites to break cancer down, and most of the time it will reform within a decade."
That… was not the most heartening thought. But… Well, it was the cure for cancer, after a fashion.
By the time he got to look through the documentation, Jeffrie had moved off, returned with some equipment, and gotten a picture for Jaeda's ID. There was a problem at first with some kind of… anti-face recognition tech? Then left again.
The recordings of her work were more than enough documentation to recreate the 'cure'. But the seven hundred gigabytes of data on it was… not expected. A good number of which were in a format that wasn't supported. Some kind of 3D render?
On their way out, Jaeda paused, eyeing him for a moment before asking. "What would you want for a set- and schematics- of power armor?"
His usual response would be collaboration but… "I… am not sure. My biggest problem these days is lack of time, so if you have something that would help reduce the sleep I need to function at peak. That or a neural interface."
"I'll let you know when I have a workshop up and running. But I would recommend the Neural Architecture Implant. All full time Bioware mods that could reduce your sleep tend to lead to long term insanity. So I've never looked into them. I could set you up for something that works short term, but the chances of it being abused are… well." Her words left him cringing. That… wasn't acceptable.
"Then a Neural Architecture Implant? Do you want this armor as simple as possible or?" He asked, making mental notes.
"Simple is good. Light with jump assist thrusters would be best, but as long as it's moderately flexible it should be fine." The criteria seemed simple enough, and not a bad idea for… huh. That could work… maybe…
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Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
I was afraid of that. will need to find the Hexa code for a better red. Edit: Hope that's a better red. Thanks.
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Nitronorm5688
The Armchair Reader
- Location
- Oakdale, CT
I always love your stories. These days its hard for me to get excited, but I am now.
I always expect the 3D fabricator to come next. Especially with these Cyberpunk and Anime inspired fics. But could we perhaps do something a bit different? How about a Moravec bush robot instead?
. .
Its a robot that has hands attached to the fingers of a robot hand, until the smallest hands can perform surgery on individual cells. Done right, a robot hand can build another robot hand to put on the tips of its fingers until they're so small you can't even see them. I thought they were cool, but nobody ever uses them in fics.
I always expect the 3D fabricator to come next. Especially with these Cyberpunk and Anime inspired fics. But could we perhaps do something a bit different? How about a Moravec bush robot instead?
. .
Its a robot that has hands attached to the fingers of a robot hand, until the smallest hands can perform surgery on individual cells. Done right, a robot hand can build another robot hand to put on the tips of its fingers until they're so small you can't even see them. I thought they were cool, but nobody ever uses them in fics.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
I'm not sure you can comprehend how good this makes me feel. My biggest problem with writing seems to be doing so in a vaccum.
This is fascinating, and something I'll be keeping in a back pocket. But this isn't a fic that gets deep into techporn. There's a 3D printer, but it's more a plot point for expressing the rigors of creating a workshop. Kind of.
All this said, I have something like 250~ pages already written. just sitting in a google doc. So, like I said in the first post. I'll be posting now and again as I write some more. I originally stopped to try writing Original Fiction, but my mind keeps circling around several things, this being one of the bigger ones, that OF being the other.
Cheers.
- Location
- England
That's better for me. Probably as good as it gets if you want it to work with both themes? You could also look into changing the background color of the text.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
If you are meaning the current maroon, then yeah, definitely readable.
Consider me another one of your fans. You aren't the only person who has the link immediately clicked on when I see them pop up in the Alerts, but you are one of the comparative handful where the reaction is "Time to read something fun!" rather than "Well, time to read something I'll probably enjoy greatly!". Sure, it's only a slight difference but considering the difference is the assumption it will be good rather than probably? It's a significant one.
Oh, and found a couple of typos whilst reading. Also one moment that really stood out amongst the rest.
And here we see Taylor has her priorities straight...
muscles
Cyberpsycho
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
This is definitely going in my watched stories list. Not enough Cyberpunk crossovers with anything, good to see a new one!
That being said, you have a bunch of typos, and lots of them are recurring. Foremost among them is a tendency to capitalize things you shouldn't at random, while not capitalizing others that you should capitalize.
*fight
Random capitalization error.
*crags
*averse
*torture
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error, going the other way for once. *Earth
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
*organs
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Then/than error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
*Tinkertech
I didn't see the original red, but as a dark theme user, the new red is definitely not hard to read. Looks good, though I initially wondered if Jaeda's dialogue was supposed to be red, then realized you were using the red to denote shard-space.
That being said, you have a bunch of typos, and lots of them are recurring. Foremost among them is a tendency to capitalize things you shouldn't at random, while not capitalizing others that you should capitalize.
*fight
Random capitalization error.
*crags
*averse
*torture
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error, going the other way for once. *Earth
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
*organs
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Then/than error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
Random capitalization error.
*Tinkertech
I didn't see the original red, but as a dark theme user, the new red is definitely not hard to read. Looks good, though I initially wondered if Jaeda's dialogue was supposed to be red, then realized you were using the red to denote shard-space.
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Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
@Gindjurra Thanks. I'm doing all of this without a Beta reader, and the strange capitalization is more of how I denote infuses on words. More a writing style then typo. Though I will acknowledge that it isn't technically proper English. Just a brain thing.
I'll get to those typos later. Tomorrow? Today, really, just haven't slept yet .
Cheers.
I'll get to those typos later. Tomorrow? Today, really, just haven't slept yet .
Cheers.
F++ Chapter 03
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: Well, was going to wait till Monday. But that's only a few hours away. Anyways, I got caught up reading this pretty great fic, thought I'd share a link to it. Inheritance [SB]. It's definitely controversial in some ways. But damn... I never knew I needed a Villain!Taylor fic like this.
A/N2: Another thing I feel I should bring up. Some parts of this will feel like I'm not giving some characters enough attention (by this I mean the fic). Mostly that's because I don't want to get bogged down, but also because I think it would be cool for people to start making things to fill the margins. Eh, whatever. As long as you all enjoy the Fic that's enough for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in my- Taylor's hoodie, and standing in front of the PRT building, I pondered things for a while. Money was handled for the time being. Eight thousand on a charge card, and I would have an account and card to pick up here in a week. Well, not the account itself, but-
Anyways, Clothes? Property? Weapons? No, that needed cash. Ah, Taylor would be getting out of school soon… Big Sis? Or… hmm, well…
Fuck it!
Flagging down a cab, I smiled as I sat down. "Afternoon."
"Ah… um, afternoon." The driver replied warrily. "W-where to?"
"Winslow High, but take me around a bit." I told him, "I'm new to town, and just need to be there when it lets out."
"Ah, hmm…" he hummed in thought for a moment. "Lords Market should be do-able. But traffic is going to be terrible."
"That's fine." I nodded. "Also, let me know about the gang territories. Need to know where to avoid, I imagine."
Sucking on his lips for a moment, and looking at me in the rearview mirror, he nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so."
The ride was actually enjoyable once the old-timer calmed down. As expected, he knew the city, and more importantly the dark side too. He apparently grew up before Parahumans were a thing, and admitted sometimes he couldn't wrap his head around it all.
We arrived a few minutes before Winslow let out, and I got out, calling back. "I'll be right back, grab a coffee or something."
"You know the meters running right?" He asked, warrily, to which I just nodded.
Yes, I knew this was going to be expensive, but that was ok.
Watching Taylor trudging out of the gate of the school, I couldn't help but frown. School was 'uhgk' sure, but that… was that? Zooming in, I had to sigh. It was; soda on her coat.
Plastering on a smile and pulling down my hood and fluffing out my hair, I called out. "Taylor! Come on, rides over here!"
Heads turned, eyes widened, and people got out of the way. Taylor for her part just blinked at me for a long moment before sighing in… defeat for some reason?
"Oh~ Who's this, Taylor! Some-" The redhead who was speaking kind of just choked on what she was saying, eyes wide.
Looking her over, I turned my smile into a sneer, "I am none of your business little girl. Go back to ripping the heads off your dollies. Because I'm not impressed."
It wasn't just her who reeled back, but just about everyone in the crowd. Of course, it couldn't continue on as it had been.
[Conflict] - Shadow - Zion
[No] - TS
[Conflict] - SZ
[No] - TS - QA - SGE
[Confusion] - SZ
[Dismissal] - QA
And while all of that was going on, a tall, athletic, dark skinned girl came stalking up to us and growled out. "Who do you think you are, Freak?"
I blinked once, twice, then smiled and laughed. "Oh, look at this, the little trash princess has a rabbid little yipper! Oh, how cute. Come on Taylor, these children aren't worth the time."
The shocked, gobsmacked look on the black girl's face was pretty good. But time was money and all that. We walked away to the sounds of impotent muttering and much laughing.
By the time we got to the cab, Taylor was breathing rapidly trying to keep herself under control and didn't even react to getting into the Cab.
"Where to?" The old timer asked from the driver's seat.
Rattling off the address for Taylor's house, I turned to her and asked, "Taylor… you ok?"
"I-" She muttered. Then with a sigh she shook her head. "No… I'm not."
Reaching over, I pulled her into a one armed hug. "Bullies?"
She pulled into herself but didn't immediately pull away. "Y-yeah. I- she used to be my best friend."
I want to call the words a pained wail, but it wasn't a wail, more a murmur. But it spoke of how despondent she was. Of how bad this had to be.
"Well, we'll just have to get you out of that shithole." I muttered, it was the… easiest way to deal with it. Didn't want to have to hide any bodies I didn't explicitly need to just yet.
After a quick stop for Taylor to dump her things, we headed to a mall. Northend was apparently the best mall in the city. Most stores, best prices, the only problem was that it was located in the North end of the city, as the name indicated. Why was this a problem? The North End was made up of the Docks, The Trainyard, and a scattering of residential areas. It was all pretty run down too. And gangland.
But not the Mall, just off of I95.
"Have a good one old-timer." I said with a smile as I got out of the cab. The bill? Only three hundred USD. I know, I had expected more.
Once he was gone, I pulled an unhappy looking Taylor towards the mall. There was shopping to be had! And not the usual Teenage girl crap. I needed clothes! And I'd seen Taylors wardrobe! She needed some new stuff.
As we shopped, I was interested to note a few Shards. Negotiator, Excellence, and Orbital. But I wasn't here to muck about with Shards! I was here to get things for myself!
[Query] - Negotiator
[Disinterest] - TroubleShooter
[Interest] - N
"Look, I don't care how much you want to know, I'm not going to tell you."
[Disappointment] - N
Not that it helped, as one of the Shards was trying to get information on me… from me. Like that would actually work.
[Query] - N
[Interest] - QA
No! No, Addy! No! Don't fall for it!
[Data] - N
[Data] - QA
"Gods damn it Addy! Fuckin'... Gods, was this really a good idea?"
[Query] - QA
"Go ask SafeGuard about Information Security and how important it is."
[Agreement] - SG
[Interest] - N
[Shock] - N
[Query] - N
Fuckin… [Data] - TroubleShooter
[Contemplation] - N
Thankfully, Negotiator left it at that for the time being, and… "Hey, Taylor. I need to stop in here for a moment."
Pursing her lips, she eyed me like I was mad, but I just gave her a cheeky grin and headed into the Realtor that was just sitting there in the middle of a mall of all places. It had me shaking my head.
As expected, it was empty. But hey that was fine. "Excuse me, but I was looking to-"
Looking up, the worker actually let out a sigh of relief. "What can I do to help you?"
"I need somewhere to set up a workshop." I replied, smirking. "And was wondering what kind of properties you might have?"
Looking a little more wary, he nodded. "Of course, um… What kind of building are you looking for?"
This at least I knew from previous goes at buying property. Though… without weapon producers I was used to? Hm. No, I could sell the weapon schematics around. "Well, I'll need a loading dock, nothing big, just one truck should be fine. Industrial electrical will be needed, hmm…"
Clacking of keys followed by him muttered, "I've got something on Eith and Lou. But it's a small factory?"
Turning the screen he showed me some pictures. It… wasn't terrible, just not great. "Maybe, where in th-" Looking at the city map he had brought up, I shook my head, "Ah… maybe."
"Alright, what about…" Bringing up something else, I looked it over. It was two long buildings… "It's set up as warehouses right now, but it was a modular industrial park back in the Nineties. You'll probably have to lay new electrical runs though."
Looking at where it was I sighed. "Well, it's at least on the right side of the bridge. How soon can it be inspected?"
"I could have someone out there as soon as tomorrow, assuming you have enough money to start the transaction." He informed me and… that was pretty good.
Shaking my head, I sighed. "I don't get my money until next week, unless talking to someone in the PRT for verification is enough for you to start the ball rolling."
Turning away, he stared at the wall for a moment. "I think I can work with that. Let's just-"
It was a bit before I was able to get out of the office, more than an hour, but it would be worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Jaeda walked into the realtor's office, Taylor sighed and made her way to the food court, ordering a Tea before sitting down at an empty table.
Everything just felt so… so… she wasn't even sure! Like she was being dragged along… and she wasn't sure she liked it.
Looking down at the bags sitting next to her, only two, she had to admit it wasn't bad. She had a few new pairs of pants, some workout clothes, and a pair of running shoes! Not to mention the pair of combat boots Jaeda had insisted on.
She wanted to be a hero… and what had they done to work towards that?
No, that wasn't fair. She had only known Jaeda for what… two days? They barely knew each other, even with how much they had talked the day before. All the same, something made her think she could trust her… And that was far more worrying.
"Hey, mind if I sit here?" Looking up, Taylor found herself looking at a smiling blonde… and looking around she couldn't help but notice how many open tables there were.
"I guess, it's a free country." Taylor muttered in reply.
Sitting, the blonde's smile ratcheted up a notch. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, y'know?"
With a sigh, Taylor looked her over, nice clothes, well cared for hair, a cute smattering of freckles across her nose. The smile was a bit annoying though.
Rolling her cup of tea between her hands, Taylor sighed, "Maybe we just need to change how we look at things then." Maybe, she was just drifting, pulled along in Jaeda's wake… maybe she could change that? Maybe… was she just being too passive? Perhaps… hmm. "Or maybe… we just need to learn that it's ok to ask for help? I don't know…"
Shaking her head, Taylor looked up from her cup and smiled at the Blonde. "Sorry, I was caught in a downward spiral." Reaching out, she offered her hand. "I'm Taylor."
It was interesting, watching the blonde's expression change. Knowing smirk, morphing into an off put look of confusion. But she took Taylor's hand and shook, "Lisa. And I guess you're not wrong. If you tell me your problem, I'll tell you mine. Maybe we can help each other?"
[Acceptance]
Chewing on her lip, Taylor warrily nodded. "I guess I… ok. My… My best friend turned on me at the start of High School. She had a new friend and has been making my life a living hell. I just…" Shaking her head, Taylor looked up at the skylight, but was actually looking through the 'eyes' of her drones, it was somehow… relaxing. "I just want it to stop… I want to be able to enjoy school again. I want…"
"Friends." Lisa muttered. "I… yeah, I get that. It's hard to have a friend turn on you but… this was more than that wasn't it?"
Closing her eyes, Taylor sighed, still facing the skylight. "Yeah… My mom and hers were friends… we were all but sisters."
"That's…" Lisa muttered, "Rough. I'm… being forced to work for someone. If I don't they'll… hurt me. But so long as I do, they pay me pretty well."
Looking back down, Taylor opened her eyes and looked at Lisa, "Sounds pretty bad… but couldn't you just go to the police?"
"I wish." Lisa muttered. "No, it's not that easy."
Looking past her shoulder, Lisa sighed, "Well, looks like I need to be going. Tell your friend 'Hi'… and maybe we can hang out again."
Watching Lisa hurry off, Taylor frowned, and watched through a couple of Drones as Jaeda made her way over. It was strange and oddly intimate to have opened up to a stranger in public and have them do so in kind. But it kind of felt… good.
Forced to work for someone or be hurt? No, that didn't seem right. No, the subtext that fit was more 'Work or die'. That didn't seem fair. Taylor wanted to help… to save her. But what could she even do! She didn't know how to fight! She didn't know… anything, and it broke her heart. What use was having powers if she couldn't do anything with them!
[Patience]
[Reassurance]
"Hey, Taylor. Ready to go?" Jaeda asked, with her pile of bags in hand.
Turning back to the skylight, Taylor took in a deep breath, "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."
A/N2: Another thing I feel I should bring up. Some parts of this will feel like I'm not giving some characters enough attention (by this I mean the fic). Mostly that's because I don't want to get bogged down, but also because I think it would be cool for people to start making things to fill the margins. Eh, whatever. As long as you all enjoy the Fic that's enough for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in my- Taylor's hoodie, and standing in front of the PRT building, I pondered things for a while. Money was handled for the time being. Eight thousand on a charge card, and I would have an account and card to pick up here in a week. Well, not the account itself, but-
Anyways, Clothes? Property? Weapons? No, that needed cash. Ah, Taylor would be getting out of school soon… Big Sis? Or… hmm, well…
Fuck it!
Flagging down a cab, I smiled as I sat down. "Afternoon."
"Ah… um, afternoon." The driver replied warrily. "W-where to?"
"Winslow High, but take me around a bit." I told him, "I'm new to town, and just need to be there when it lets out."
"Ah, hmm…" he hummed in thought for a moment. "Lords Market should be do-able. But traffic is going to be terrible."
"That's fine." I nodded. "Also, let me know about the gang territories. Need to know where to avoid, I imagine."
Sucking on his lips for a moment, and looking at me in the rearview mirror, he nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so."
The ride was actually enjoyable once the old-timer calmed down. As expected, he knew the city, and more importantly the dark side too. He apparently grew up before Parahumans were a thing, and admitted sometimes he couldn't wrap his head around it all.
We arrived a few minutes before Winslow let out, and I got out, calling back. "I'll be right back, grab a coffee or something."
"You know the meters running right?" He asked, warrily, to which I just nodded.
Yes, I knew this was going to be expensive, but that was ok.
Watching Taylor trudging out of the gate of the school, I couldn't help but frown. School was 'uhgk' sure, but that… was that? Zooming in, I had to sigh. It was; soda on her coat.
Plastering on a smile and pulling down my hood and fluffing out my hair, I called out. "Taylor! Come on, rides over here!"
Heads turned, eyes widened, and people got out of the way. Taylor for her part just blinked at me for a long moment before sighing in… defeat for some reason?
"Oh~ Who's this, Taylor! Some-" The redhead who was speaking kind of just choked on what she was saying, eyes wide.
Looking her over, I turned my smile into a sneer, "I am none of your business little girl. Go back to ripping the heads off your dollies. Because I'm not impressed."
It wasn't just her who reeled back, but just about everyone in the crowd. Of course, it couldn't continue on as it had been.
[Conflict] - Shadow - Zion
[No] - TS
[Conflict] - SZ
[No] - TS - QA - SGE
[Confusion] - SZ
[Dismissal] - QA
And while all of that was going on, a tall, athletic, dark skinned girl came stalking up to us and growled out. "Who do you think you are, Freak?"
I blinked once, twice, then smiled and laughed. "Oh, look at this, the little trash princess has a rabbid little yipper! Oh, how cute. Come on Taylor, these children aren't worth the time."
The shocked, gobsmacked look on the black girl's face was pretty good. But time was money and all that. We walked away to the sounds of impotent muttering and much laughing.
By the time we got to the cab, Taylor was breathing rapidly trying to keep herself under control and didn't even react to getting into the Cab.
"Where to?" The old timer asked from the driver's seat.
Rattling off the address for Taylor's house, I turned to her and asked, "Taylor… you ok?"
"I-" She muttered. Then with a sigh she shook her head. "No… I'm not."
Reaching over, I pulled her into a one armed hug. "Bullies?"
She pulled into herself but didn't immediately pull away. "Y-yeah. I- she used to be my best friend."
I want to call the words a pained wail, but it wasn't a wail, more a murmur. But it spoke of how despondent she was. Of how bad this had to be.
"Well, we'll just have to get you out of that shithole." I muttered, it was the… easiest way to deal with it. Didn't want to have to hide any bodies I didn't explicitly need to just yet.
After a quick stop for Taylor to dump her things, we headed to a mall. Northend was apparently the best mall in the city. Most stores, best prices, the only problem was that it was located in the North end of the city, as the name indicated. Why was this a problem? The North End was made up of the Docks, The Trainyard, and a scattering of residential areas. It was all pretty run down too. And gangland.
But not the Mall, just off of I95.
"Have a good one old-timer." I said with a smile as I got out of the cab. The bill? Only three hundred USD. I know, I had expected more.
Once he was gone, I pulled an unhappy looking Taylor towards the mall. There was shopping to be had! And not the usual Teenage girl crap. I needed clothes! And I'd seen Taylors wardrobe! She needed some new stuff.
As we shopped, I was interested to note a few Shards. Negotiator, Excellence, and Orbital. But I wasn't here to muck about with Shards! I was here to get things for myself!
[Query] - Negotiator
[Disinterest] - TroubleShooter
[Interest] - N
"Look, I don't care how much you want to know, I'm not going to tell you."
[Disappointment] - N
Not that it helped, as one of the Shards was trying to get information on me… from me. Like that would actually work.
[Query] - N
[Interest] - QA
No! No, Addy! No! Don't fall for it!
[Data] - N
[Data] - QA
"Gods damn it Addy! Fuckin'... Gods, was this really a good idea?"
[Query] - QA
"Go ask SafeGuard about Information Security and how important it is."
[Agreement] - SG
[Interest] - N
[Shock] - N
[Query] - N
Fuckin… [Data] - TroubleShooter
[Contemplation] - N
Thankfully, Negotiator left it at that for the time being, and… "Hey, Taylor. I need to stop in here for a moment."
Pursing her lips, she eyed me like I was mad, but I just gave her a cheeky grin and headed into the Realtor that was just sitting there in the middle of a mall of all places. It had me shaking my head.
As expected, it was empty. But hey that was fine. "Excuse me, but I was looking to-"
Looking up, the worker actually let out a sigh of relief. "What can I do to help you?"
"I need somewhere to set up a workshop." I replied, smirking. "And was wondering what kind of properties you might have?"
Looking a little more wary, he nodded. "Of course, um… What kind of building are you looking for?"
This at least I knew from previous goes at buying property. Though… without weapon producers I was used to? Hm. No, I could sell the weapon schematics around. "Well, I'll need a loading dock, nothing big, just one truck should be fine. Industrial electrical will be needed, hmm…"
Clacking of keys followed by him muttered, "I've got something on Eith and Lou. But it's a small factory?"
Turning the screen he showed me some pictures. It… wasn't terrible, just not great. "Maybe, where in th-" Looking at the city map he had brought up, I shook my head, "Ah… maybe."
"Alright, what about…" Bringing up something else, I looked it over. It was two long buildings… "It's set up as warehouses right now, but it was a modular industrial park back in the Nineties. You'll probably have to lay new electrical runs though."
Looking at where it was I sighed. "Well, it's at least on the right side of the bridge. How soon can it be inspected?"
"I could have someone out there as soon as tomorrow, assuming you have enough money to start the transaction." He informed me and… that was pretty good.
Shaking my head, I sighed. "I don't get my money until next week, unless talking to someone in the PRT for verification is enough for you to start the ball rolling."
Turning away, he stared at the wall for a moment. "I think I can work with that. Let's just-"
It was a bit before I was able to get out of the office, more than an hour, but it would be worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Jaeda walked into the realtor's office, Taylor sighed and made her way to the food court, ordering a Tea before sitting down at an empty table.
Everything just felt so… so… she wasn't even sure! Like she was being dragged along… and she wasn't sure she liked it.
Looking down at the bags sitting next to her, only two, she had to admit it wasn't bad. She had a few new pairs of pants, some workout clothes, and a pair of running shoes! Not to mention the pair of combat boots Jaeda had insisted on.
She wanted to be a hero… and what had they done to work towards that?
No, that wasn't fair. She had only known Jaeda for what… two days? They barely knew each other, even with how much they had talked the day before. All the same, something made her think she could trust her… And that was far more worrying.
"Hey, mind if I sit here?" Looking up, Taylor found herself looking at a smiling blonde… and looking around she couldn't help but notice how many open tables there were.
"I guess, it's a free country." Taylor muttered in reply.
Sitting, the blonde's smile ratcheted up a notch. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like it, y'know?"
With a sigh, Taylor looked her over, nice clothes, well cared for hair, a cute smattering of freckles across her nose. The smile was a bit annoying though.
Rolling her cup of tea between her hands, Taylor sighed, "Maybe we just need to change how we look at things then." Maybe, she was just drifting, pulled along in Jaeda's wake… maybe she could change that? Maybe… was she just being too passive? Perhaps… hmm. "Or maybe… we just need to learn that it's ok to ask for help? I don't know…"
Shaking her head, Taylor looked up from her cup and smiled at the Blonde. "Sorry, I was caught in a downward spiral." Reaching out, she offered her hand. "I'm Taylor."
It was interesting, watching the blonde's expression change. Knowing smirk, morphing into an off put look of confusion. But she took Taylor's hand and shook, "Lisa. And I guess you're not wrong. If you tell me your problem, I'll tell you mine. Maybe we can help each other?"
[Acceptance]
Chewing on her lip, Taylor warrily nodded. "I guess I… ok. My… My best friend turned on me at the start of High School. She had a new friend and has been making my life a living hell. I just…" Shaking her head, Taylor looked up at the skylight, but was actually looking through the 'eyes' of her drones, it was somehow… relaxing. "I just want it to stop… I want to be able to enjoy school again. I want…"
"Friends." Lisa muttered. "I… yeah, I get that. It's hard to have a friend turn on you but… this was more than that wasn't it?"
Closing her eyes, Taylor sighed, still facing the skylight. "Yeah… My mom and hers were friends… we were all but sisters."
"That's…" Lisa muttered, "Rough. I'm… being forced to work for someone. If I don't they'll… hurt me. But so long as I do, they pay me pretty well."
Looking back down, Taylor opened her eyes and looked at Lisa, "Sounds pretty bad… but couldn't you just go to the police?"
"I wish." Lisa muttered. "No, it's not that easy."
Looking past her shoulder, Lisa sighed, "Well, looks like I need to be going. Tell your friend 'Hi'… and maybe we can hang out again."
Watching Lisa hurry off, Taylor frowned, and watched through a couple of Drones as Jaeda made her way over. It was strange and oddly intimate to have opened up to a stranger in public and have them do so in kind. But it kind of felt… good.
Forced to work for someone or be hurt? No, that didn't seem right. No, the subtext that fit was more 'Work or die'. That didn't seem fair. Taylor wanted to help… to save her. But what could she even do! She didn't know how to fight! She didn't know… anything, and it broke her heart. What use was having powers if she couldn't do anything with them!
[Patience]
[Reassurance]
"Hey, Taylor. Ready to go?" Jaeda asked, with her pile of bags in hand.
Turning back to the skylight, Taylor took in a deep breath, "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."
Last edited:
- Location
- England
Who's TS - The Shadow? I don't think you gave the full version in chat form.
wary
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Ok, I thought it would be obvious, guess not. Fixed that. TS is TroubleShooter. The difference there is normal speak vs shardspeak. The later uses an identification.
- Location
- England
Oh! Right. Yeah, I'm just bad with abbreviations. You gave Negotiator full name the first time it appeared in red chat - which I appreciate.
- Location
- Pacific Rim
Well, I'm always up for a Cyberpunk story, so that's cool right there.
Looks pretty good, didn't notice any holes really, thought I saw one mistake but...it's 5am and I'm still awake, so I misread. Only real thing I can see is that unless she is into her late 60s she likely didn't know Alt personally at least.
Anyway, look forward to more.
Looks pretty good, didn't notice any holes really, thought I saw one mistake but...it's 5am and I'm still awake, so I misread. Only real thing I can see is that unless she is into her late 60s she likely didn't know Alt personally at least.
Anyway, look forward to more.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
You didn't see that wrong, and it will be addressed. In time.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
*Eighth
That's really hard to read in dark theme, almost invisible. Maybe use smaller text size instead?
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
No, it's Eith.
Using the grey was my compromise from using invisible text. maybe I'll look for a lighter grey, but probably not. Sorry.
- Location
- Arizona
My thought process:
*sees thread*
Kerashana? I haven't seen that name in a hot minute. Ooh, a CP2077 story? This could be good. But it's Worm! Ugh. Fuck it, Kerashana is writing it, I'm giving it a chance.
*Reads Chapter 1 and 2* I like where this is going. The MC looks like more of a generic Cyberpunk than just 2077, but that's not a bad thing, as 2077 had limitations in what it could include because of the videogame format. I'm interested in seeing a character who was experienced in 2020, let alone survived to 2077 like Rogue. That's a long time to be working on tech and running jobs.
*Reads Chapter 3* Oh boy, MC is dealing directly with Shards, and it's hilarious. I wonder what'll happen when Jack Slash pops up?
Overall, I'm liking this. My only disconnect was the Realty office, but I'm a former realtor, and realty laws and standard change greatly depending on state, let alone a different world like Earth Bet.
*sees thread*
Kerashana? I haven't seen that name in a hot minute. Ooh, a CP2077 story? This could be good. But it's Worm! Ugh. Fuck it, Kerashana is writing it, I'm giving it a chance.
*Reads Chapter 1 and 2* I like where this is going. The MC looks like more of a generic Cyberpunk than just 2077, but that's not a bad thing, as 2077 had limitations in what it could include because of the videogame format. I'm interested in seeing a character who was experienced in 2020, let alone survived to 2077 like Rogue. That's a long time to be working on tech and running jobs.
*Reads Chapter 3* Oh boy, MC is dealing directly with Shards, and it's hilarious. I wonder what'll happen when Jack Slash pops up?
Overall, I'm liking this. My only disconnect was the Realty office, but I'm a former realtor, and realty laws and standard change greatly depending on state, let alone a different world like Earth Bet.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
This is good to know. But I was trying to keep things Vague cause I know nothing about that stuff. That and I figure the backing of a Gov organization would make things easier to swallow as a hand way. It's also why I had the realtor look at the calendar. Everyone has bills after all.
F++ Chapter 04
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: Hate short chapters... but here. Have something fun shaped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On our way out, I stopped at a sports shop and bought two backpacks. Then led Taylor over to the nearest bathroom. "Ok, pack everything up and get in something you think you can run in." The look of dawning horror on Taylors face had me laughing.
It took me five minutes, but Taylor was at it for a bit longer. She also wasn't that great at packing clothes into a backpack. She had less than me, and almost couldn't fit it all into a bag as big as mine!
Stretching out a bit, I led her out into the parking lot and set us off at a nice gentle pace. Meanwhile I kind of just put myself on autopilot and used a transparent browser to start browsing the internet. The Internet! It still existed! I mean, that was such a big thing to me. Losing the Internet was one of the biggest blows and greatest tragedies of my Earth… No, that just sounds bleh. Earth Aleph was a thing. Earth Bet was where I was… Earth Gimel?
Oh, what's this! Parahumans Online? Hmm, well let's take a look. Account? Well…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were only just reaching the bridge across to the rest of the city and Taylor was already struggling pretty hard. Was I? Who was I kidding? I probably was. "Hey, Taylor, make it to the grass and we can do a set of cool down stretches. Then I'll get us a ride the rest of the way."
Staggering over, she dropped her backpack panting hard, and started going through the stretches with me. It wasn't long before we finished and I called for a cab. "Sorry, it's a little hard for me to keep in mind what a normal person would struggle with."
"It's ok…" She panted back. "I need this… need to do something."
Shaking my head, I sighed, "And if you push too hard you're going to hurt yourself."
"But- I…" She sighed at me, "Fine."
"Look, there's nothing I can do in the short term. Not until late January at the earliest." I explained, "Unless you want to be very blatant… and that's a whole other conversation we'll need to have. Probably should have had this morning. Sorry, my fuck up."
Shaking my head, I walked away a few steps and looked up at the sky.
The ride back to her house was silent, both of us thinking deep thoughts… or maybe realizing things couldn't be brought up in mixed company.
Watching, and occasionally poking, the madhouse that was my thread, was great fun at least. And I was establishing myself as mostly harmless! Win-win!
Daniel was home already, and Taylor hurried in ahead of me while I paid the much more reasonable cab bill. Not that I had been racking up time this time.
Walking into the house, I found Daniel looking up the stairs, before he turned to me. "Something I should know?"
Pulling out a roll of hundreds, I handed it over to him. "Here's rent for the month and a little extra. But I don't think so? We just went shopping because I needed clothes and sprung to replace some of Taylor's stuff while I was at it."
"Ah… ok… and the fact she rushed directly-" Daniel was asking as he sorted through the roll only to sputter to a stop. "I- this is too much. I only said four hundred."
Waving him off, I countered, "Think of it as a security deposit. Now… Do you have a place for me to put my stuff? Or?"
Looking down at the money, he frowned for a moment before nodding. "We can clear out the guest room, easily enough. Probably won't be livable till tomorrow though."
That… was a lot of implied dust. "I can work with that. Mind if I just…"
"No, no, it's fine. Just let Taylor know dinner's in the oven." He said as he turned back to head into the kitchen.
Actually… "Hey, do you know any contractors? I'm going to be getting a property, a workplace, and I'm going to need a great deal of work done to it. Industrial electrical runs, a Cleanroom fitted lab, a machine shop… a bunch of things. If it's as big as I think it is, I'm thinking it might be worth setting up a small factory in the second building. And I need it done fast, but well."
Wide eyed, and jaw hanging slightly, he muttered, "How… I… how?"
With a shrug, I replied, "Just a few medical bounties."
Look of shock turning to one of calculation, he nodded. "If we rehire some people, the Dockworkers Union could… hm… What kind of budget?"
Going over the numbers I was given at the PRT building, I replied. "Call the budget… something like two hundred million? I'll also need you to look into people you know will be trustworthy for the Factory. It's going to be a textiles thing, but things like nanoweave and reinforced cloths."
"Huh." He muttered, "I think I can find people."
Nodding, I headed up stairs and knocked before entering Taylor's room. With no reply, I entered and started sorting through my stuff. Not for any real purpose, except removing tags, but mostly for something to do.
Taylor hurried in, and paused, door closing behind her, towel in one hand dirty clothes in the other, and eyes wide with surprise. Then her face was covered in crimson as she quickly tossed her dirty clothes away and rushed to pull out clean clothes.
I couldn't help but let out light laughter, "Come on, we're both girls. Nothing I haven't seen before, and you've already gotten to see the goods."
Little crystal bugs started appearing around her and flitting off as she muttered. "T-that doesn't make it any less embarrassing."
Pausing, I thought back to all the time I'd spent in the city so far… I hadn't seen more than two sexshops and one stripclub… that seemed… unnatural. "Huh… I think this is a case of differing cultures. Earth Gimel doesn't really… sex is everywhere. Just that thing you're used to. I mean, really, one of the top Trid shows is called Watson Whore. No joke, and they don't censor things."
"That's just…" Taylor muttered, now wearing clothes, just a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. "Surprisingly? I could see that happening."
"Daniel wanted me to tell you; food's in the oven." I informed her helpfully. "Now, we do have things to talk about, but I want to go get clean, so back in a few."
There's nothing quite like getting clean, and as I returned to Taylor's room, I found her sitting at her desk working on homework. So, I left her to it, though the red crystal that was now decorating her desk interested me greatly.
Laying there, sprawled out on Taylor's bed, I found the silence… nice. It was rare for me to interact with anyone who wasn't a client in one way or another near the end there and… it got lonely.
"When will you start training me to fight?" Taylor asked. It seemed sudden, or out of the blue, but I think she just wanted to fill the silence.
"Well, that comes back to two major things. We need to condition your body. I won't take you out for anything, until I feel you can make it out alive. First step is having a body that can handle it. The other thing is I can't teach you to fight just anywhere. I mean, we could find a gym, or use your backyard. But both of those are obvious."
Rolling onto my side, I looked over at her. "Working out with you is one thing, but if people see me training you to fight, well it will be fairly easy to put two and two together. That said, I don't actually like this whole mask thing."
Sitting up, I tried to explain… but it wasn't intuitive till you've lived the life. "How… Ok, back on Earth Gimel, I was an Edgerunner… among other things. Think of an Edgerunner as a Hero and a Villain rolled into one. More of a Mercenary most times. We all had Aliases. But after the first week… it stops being just an Alias. It quickly becomes the new you. Maybe five percent of us ever went back to using our real name. I can't see 'Cape life' being much different. No, keeping your identity separate sounds like just more stress. I'll admit, the Unwritten Rules make sense, and I'll not complain about them. Even if some are very abusable."
I… wasn't articulating this well. "Basically, you need to ask yourself. Are you willing to spend a great deal of your time worrying about your identity and if someone's figured it out? Or would you rather focus that time and energy on something productive? I'm not saying give up the mask, it's a decent symbol, and we can use it to give you a low profile gas mask, just… how much effort do you want to put into separating Taylor from… whoever you will end up being? Is it worth the time, the money, and the tears?"
"Food's ready." Daniel called up the stairs… and I couldn't help but applaud his unknowing timing.
"Think it over, we still have a few weeks before I can start things in earnest anyways." I offered as I got up and headed down stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec was sitting on their new couch and looking at, not even reading anymore, the New Capes thread. Biotech? Chrome? Huh. Cool. Maybe- Closing his laptop, he pushed it under the couch and got back to his game, even as the sound of the door closing downstairs echoed up.
There was potential there. This new cape, but he wasn't sure he wanted Lisa to catch on. Oh, he was sure she would eventually, but not yet.
"Oh, back?" He asked lazily, something that his numb emotions made easy. "Enjoy the mall?"
Dropping down into one of the armchairs, Lisa sighed, before looking around like she was looking for something. That set Alec's paranoia off. What was she looking for?
"It was pretty, ok. Got to talk with someone new, and get an eyeful of the new cape." She replied as she nodded to herself, "Where's Brian and Rachel?"
"Walking her dogs probably, and Brian's off at his Dad's gym." Alec replied, making sure he was in a safe area. "Why you ask?"
Pursing her lips, Lisa actually spent a full minute eyeing him before she sighed and asked, "How would you feel if someone put a gun to your head and told you to work for them?"
Drawing in a sharp breath, Alec stopped himself from making some meaningless quip. Instead, he thought about it. But it wasn't very hard… "I'm guessing you know who my Dad is?"
It was Tatts, of course she would, and her nod and agreement just confirmed it. "Well, trust me when I say I know what it's like to have a gun to your head, Metaphorically anyways. Why? No… Fuck… and this was such a nice set up too. Fuck!"
The last word came out of his mouth with perhaps a touch too much melodrama, but what other reaction could he have? "I take it you haven't told the others?"
"I'm…" Lisa started hesitantly, which was fucking odd coming from her. "Not sure they would side with me. Wasn't sure you would."
Thinking about it… "Another couple months and I probably wouldn't have. But fuck'im. Still going to leave us in a situation where money is quickly going to be a problem."
"Well, I don't have a plan yet… but I have the idea of one." She replied with a smile. "Don't tell anyone, but our boss is Coil."
Pursing his lips, Alec tried to remember what he could about Coil… "But isn't he… like small time?"
"Not really." Lisa muttered. "He's big on white collar crime. And he goes out of his way to appear small time. Doesn't help he has moles and catspaws in all the gangs and the PRT."
Looking from her back to his game, then back again, he nodded. "Then we need to hit him where it hurts. The pocket… Could you expose the full extent of what he's been doing? I don't know… like… an Email error or something?"
"No," Lisa muttered dejectedly. "But maybe…"
Minutes later, Alec was just starting the boss fight when Lisa all but exploded, causing him to get killed… figures. "That Son of a Bitch! I can't believe this! He fucking-"
"Ok… what?" Alec asked, looking regretfully at his almost perfect playthrough. Well, always another time.
"The Boss has been hiding shit about Shadow Stalker from Piggy." Lisa growled. "Systematic Bullying. Torture in all but name."
"Can't be that bad, can it?" Alec asked, almost feeling worried… wow he could almost feel an emotion! This was already worth it.
Lisa looked up from her Laptop, and met his eyes, and spoke words that actually made him nauseous. "Alec… you know my power. It's telling me right now, that she has spent the better part of two years systematically unmaking a girl through bullying. All because she was 'Prey' in S- Stalkers eyes… Alec, would you mind accompanying me tonight?"
Frowning, he asked, "Am I going to regret this?"
Chewing on her lip, Lisa muttered, "I have an idea… a bad idea, but an idea."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On our way out, I stopped at a sports shop and bought two backpacks. Then led Taylor over to the nearest bathroom. "Ok, pack everything up and get in something you think you can run in." The look of dawning horror on Taylors face had me laughing.
It took me five minutes, but Taylor was at it for a bit longer. She also wasn't that great at packing clothes into a backpack. She had less than me, and almost couldn't fit it all into a bag as big as mine!
Stretching out a bit, I led her out into the parking lot and set us off at a nice gentle pace. Meanwhile I kind of just put myself on autopilot and used a transparent browser to start browsing the internet. The Internet! It still existed! I mean, that was such a big thing to me. Losing the Internet was one of the biggest blows and greatest tragedies of my Earth… No, that just sounds bleh. Earth Aleph was a thing. Earth Bet was where I was… Earth Gimel?
Oh, what's this! Parahumans Online? Hmm, well let's take a look. Account? Well…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were only just reaching the bridge across to the rest of the city and Taylor was already struggling pretty hard. Was I? Who was I kidding? I probably was. "Hey, Taylor, make it to the grass and we can do a set of cool down stretches. Then I'll get us a ride the rest of the way."
Staggering over, she dropped her backpack panting hard, and started going through the stretches with me. It wasn't long before we finished and I called for a cab. "Sorry, it's a little hard for me to keep in mind what a normal person would struggle with."
"It's ok…" She panted back. "I need this… need to do something."
Shaking my head, I sighed, "And if you push too hard you're going to hurt yourself."
"But- I…" She sighed at me, "Fine."
"Look, there's nothing I can do in the short term. Not until late January at the earliest." I explained, "Unless you want to be very blatant… and that's a whole other conversation we'll need to have. Probably should have had this morning. Sorry, my fuck up."
Shaking my head, I walked away a few steps and looked up at the sky.
The ride back to her house was silent, both of us thinking deep thoughts… or maybe realizing things couldn't be brought up in mixed company.
Watching, and occasionally poking, the madhouse that was my thread, was great fun at least. And I was establishing myself as mostly harmless! Win-win!
Daniel was home already, and Taylor hurried in ahead of me while I paid the much more reasonable cab bill. Not that I had been racking up time this time.
Walking into the house, I found Daniel looking up the stairs, before he turned to me. "Something I should know?"
Pulling out a roll of hundreds, I handed it over to him. "Here's rent for the month and a little extra. But I don't think so? We just went shopping because I needed clothes and sprung to replace some of Taylor's stuff while I was at it."
"Ah… ok… and the fact she rushed directly-" Daniel was asking as he sorted through the roll only to sputter to a stop. "I- this is too much. I only said four hundred."
Waving him off, I countered, "Think of it as a security deposit. Now… Do you have a place for me to put my stuff? Or?"
Looking down at the money, he frowned for a moment before nodding. "We can clear out the guest room, easily enough. Probably won't be livable till tomorrow though."
That… was a lot of implied dust. "I can work with that. Mind if I just…"
"No, no, it's fine. Just let Taylor know dinner's in the oven." He said as he turned back to head into the kitchen.
Actually… "Hey, do you know any contractors? I'm going to be getting a property, a workplace, and I'm going to need a great deal of work done to it. Industrial electrical runs, a Cleanroom fitted lab, a machine shop… a bunch of things. If it's as big as I think it is, I'm thinking it might be worth setting up a small factory in the second building. And I need it done fast, but well."
Wide eyed, and jaw hanging slightly, he muttered, "How… I… how?"
With a shrug, I replied, "Just a few medical bounties."
Look of shock turning to one of calculation, he nodded. "If we rehire some people, the Dockworkers Union could… hm… What kind of budget?"
Going over the numbers I was given at the PRT building, I replied. "Call the budget… something like two hundred million? I'll also need you to look into people you know will be trustworthy for the Factory. It's going to be a textiles thing, but things like nanoweave and reinforced cloths."
"Huh." He muttered, "I think I can find people."
Nodding, I headed up stairs and knocked before entering Taylor's room. With no reply, I entered and started sorting through my stuff. Not for any real purpose, except removing tags, but mostly for something to do.
Taylor hurried in, and paused, door closing behind her, towel in one hand dirty clothes in the other, and eyes wide with surprise. Then her face was covered in crimson as she quickly tossed her dirty clothes away and rushed to pull out clean clothes.
I couldn't help but let out light laughter, "Come on, we're both girls. Nothing I haven't seen before, and you've already gotten to see the goods."
Little crystal bugs started appearing around her and flitting off as she muttered. "T-that doesn't make it any less embarrassing."
Pausing, I thought back to all the time I'd spent in the city so far… I hadn't seen more than two sexshops and one stripclub… that seemed… unnatural. "Huh… I think this is a case of differing cultures. Earth Gimel doesn't really… sex is everywhere. Just that thing you're used to. I mean, really, one of the top Trid shows is called Watson Whore. No joke, and they don't censor things."
"That's just…" Taylor muttered, now wearing clothes, just a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. "Surprisingly? I could see that happening."
"Daniel wanted me to tell you; food's in the oven." I informed her helpfully. "Now, we do have things to talk about, but I want to go get clean, so back in a few."
There's nothing quite like getting clean, and as I returned to Taylor's room, I found her sitting at her desk working on homework. So, I left her to it, though the red crystal that was now decorating her desk interested me greatly.
Laying there, sprawled out on Taylor's bed, I found the silence… nice. It was rare for me to interact with anyone who wasn't a client in one way or another near the end there and… it got lonely.
"When will you start training me to fight?" Taylor asked. It seemed sudden, or out of the blue, but I think she just wanted to fill the silence.
"Well, that comes back to two major things. We need to condition your body. I won't take you out for anything, until I feel you can make it out alive. First step is having a body that can handle it. The other thing is I can't teach you to fight just anywhere. I mean, we could find a gym, or use your backyard. But both of those are obvious."
Rolling onto my side, I looked over at her. "Working out with you is one thing, but if people see me training you to fight, well it will be fairly easy to put two and two together. That said, I don't actually like this whole mask thing."
Sitting up, I tried to explain… but it wasn't intuitive till you've lived the life. "How… Ok, back on Earth Gimel, I was an Edgerunner… among other things. Think of an Edgerunner as a Hero and a Villain rolled into one. More of a Mercenary most times. We all had Aliases. But after the first week… it stops being just an Alias. It quickly becomes the new you. Maybe five percent of us ever went back to using our real name. I can't see 'Cape life' being much different. No, keeping your identity separate sounds like just more stress. I'll admit, the Unwritten Rules make sense, and I'll not complain about them. Even if some are very abusable."
I… wasn't articulating this well. "Basically, you need to ask yourself. Are you willing to spend a great deal of your time worrying about your identity and if someone's figured it out? Or would you rather focus that time and energy on something productive? I'm not saying give up the mask, it's a decent symbol, and we can use it to give you a low profile gas mask, just… how much effort do you want to put into separating Taylor from… whoever you will end up being? Is it worth the time, the money, and the tears?"
"Food's ready." Daniel called up the stairs… and I couldn't help but applaud his unknowing timing.
"Think it over, we still have a few weeks before I can start things in earnest anyways." I offered as I got up and headed down stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec was sitting on their new couch and looking at, not even reading anymore, the New Capes thread. Biotech? Chrome? Huh. Cool. Maybe- Closing his laptop, he pushed it under the couch and got back to his game, even as the sound of the door closing downstairs echoed up.
There was potential there. This new cape, but he wasn't sure he wanted Lisa to catch on. Oh, he was sure she would eventually, but not yet.
"Oh, back?" He asked lazily, something that his numb emotions made easy. "Enjoy the mall?"
Dropping down into one of the armchairs, Lisa sighed, before looking around like she was looking for something. That set Alec's paranoia off. What was she looking for?
"It was pretty, ok. Got to talk with someone new, and get an eyeful of the new cape." She replied as she nodded to herself, "Where's Brian and Rachel?"
"Walking her dogs probably, and Brian's off at his Dad's gym." Alec replied, making sure he was in a safe area. "Why you ask?"
Pursing her lips, Lisa actually spent a full minute eyeing him before she sighed and asked, "How would you feel if someone put a gun to your head and told you to work for them?"
Drawing in a sharp breath, Alec stopped himself from making some meaningless quip. Instead, he thought about it. But it wasn't very hard… "I'm guessing you know who my Dad is?"
It was Tatts, of course she would, and her nod and agreement just confirmed it. "Well, trust me when I say I know what it's like to have a gun to your head, Metaphorically anyways. Why? No… Fuck… and this was such a nice set up too. Fuck!"
The last word came out of his mouth with perhaps a touch too much melodrama, but what other reaction could he have? "I take it you haven't told the others?"
"I'm…" Lisa started hesitantly, which was fucking odd coming from her. "Not sure they would side with me. Wasn't sure you would."
Thinking about it… "Another couple months and I probably wouldn't have. But fuck'im. Still going to leave us in a situation where money is quickly going to be a problem."
"Well, I don't have a plan yet… but I have the idea of one." She replied with a smile. "Don't tell anyone, but our boss is Coil."
Pursing his lips, Alec tried to remember what he could about Coil… "But isn't he… like small time?"
"Not really." Lisa muttered. "He's big on white collar crime. And he goes out of his way to appear small time. Doesn't help he has moles and catspaws in all the gangs and the PRT."
Looking from her back to his game, then back again, he nodded. "Then we need to hit him where it hurts. The pocket… Could you expose the full extent of what he's been doing? I don't know… like… an Email error or something?"
"No," Lisa muttered dejectedly. "But maybe…"
Minutes later, Alec was just starting the boss fight when Lisa all but exploded, causing him to get killed… figures. "That Son of a Bitch! I can't believe this! He fucking-"
"Ok… what?" Alec asked, looking regretfully at his almost perfect playthrough. Well, always another time.
"The Boss has been hiding shit about Shadow Stalker from Piggy." Lisa growled. "Systematic Bullying. Torture in all but name."
"Can't be that bad, can it?" Alec asked, almost feeling worried… wow he could almost feel an emotion! This was already worth it.
Lisa looked up from her Laptop, and met his eyes, and spoke words that actually made him nauseous. "Alec… you know my power. It's telling me right now, that she has spent the better part of two years systematically unmaking a girl through bullying. All because she was 'Prey' in S- Stalkers eyes… Alec, would you mind accompanying me tonight?"
Frowning, he asked, "Am I going to regret this?"
Chewing on her lip, Lisa muttered, "I have an idea… a bad idea, but an idea."
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Nitronorm5688
The Armchair Reader
- Location
- Oakdale, CT
Okay, that's new. Someone else besides the New Taylor taking down the Trio? I don't see that often in fics.
Maybe . . . one other ...? Times? Usually Taylor gets help from someone or a power that turns them into collateral damage so I don't think those count. I'd expect Jaeda to do it. But Tattletale? I'm pretty sure nobody's done that before.
Also, Sapphire Fox? Really? Did you forget the other X? Because it would be funny if you didn't do that on purpose.
Watched and double watched.
Maybe . . . one other ...? Times? Usually Taylor gets help from someone or a power that turns them into collateral damage so I don't think those count. I'd expect Jaeda to do it. But Tattletale? I'm pretty sure nobody's done that before.
Also, Sapphire Fox? Really? Did you forget the other X? Because it would be funny if you didn't do that on purpose.
Watched and double watched.
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- Location
- England
Taylor's
That had left over BBcode before I quoted it?
Does Jaeda go in for Freudian typos?
Same question as last time.
Food's / stairs
Not really
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- Location
- Pacific Rim
Interesting chapter, I like when people actually have Lisa think. As much as I'm not a fan of him, Alec is pretty much the only one I can see siding against Coil, no matter how people usually like to write the reveal scene. Brian is just a self righteous idiot, and...frankly for all that people like to excuse Rachel I think no matter what else there might be, there is a lot of just plain bitch in Bitch.
Nice and clean chapter too, from a writing perspective I mean. Only thing I saw was I think TriD is usually either written like I did, or hyphenated as Tri-D, not sure.
Nice and clean chapter too, from a writing perspective I mean. Only thing I saw was I think TriD is usually either written like I did, or hyphenated as Tri-D, not sure.