Mikowmer
The Dragon Down Under
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
I believe the t's and r's got flipped.
Firmament++ [Worm/CP2077]
- Thread starter Kerashana
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm cyberpunk (punk)
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
*the year
*Thread
*Earth
*Food's
*stairs
*Torture
Given Tattletale's trigger event, the Trio doing things to someone that can only end in suicide is going to have her absolutely enraged. Coil being complicit in it turns a cold rage over being forced to work for him at gunpoint into something that could burn down cities, and she'd consider it worth it.
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
I'm sure part of this was Negotiator getting a new idea in its peanut brain, but it's awesome to see Lisa taking agency and initiating one of her plans without the direct involvement of the main character.
Also, curing cancer is a heck of a flex to start a career with.
I can't wait to see how this develops further...
[Side note: I mean, this works, but it's literally using a supercomputer (unlike in SupCom, I'm fairly sure this is a limited resource too) as a building material. Then again, the other powers the Shards offer are equally impractical and wasteful, so... I guess this is fine? I'm still waiting for Amy or some other Tinker to run into a piece of that crystal and have something akin to a religious experience, though!]
Also, curing cancer is a heck of a flex to start a career with.
I can't wait to see how this develops further...I'm curious if this will accelerate a certain realization of Vicky's...
Both. Both is good.
Well, flexing it
[Side note: I mean, this works, but it's literally using a supercomputer (unlike in SupCom, I'm fairly sure this is a limited resource too) as a building material. Then again, the other powers the Shards offer are equally impractical and wasteful, so... I guess this is fine? I'm still waiting for Amy or some other Tinker to run into a piece of that crystal and have something akin to a religious experience, though!]
This amuses me, because she probably means day-to-day literally and they are taking it to mean "more mundane."
Haha, Shadow Stalker's Shard got told to piss off simultaneously with her Host!
Shard's
The Shard's designation, along with when the Shard was 'shed,' meant it knew the truth.
Warrior's
Shard's
Species' brains
overworked
impotent
this, Taylor?
hers
Did you mean "intimate"?
Thread
Forum Rules
now decorating
Either "New Capes" or "new cape's" (the second if it's her thread, specifically)
Why'd you ask
Not really
None of that should be capitalized save the first word and PRT.
F++ Chapter 05
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: BOOO! Not sure how people are going to like this chapter. But... Well, here you go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unlocking the door to her apartment, Emily Piggot let herself in with a heavy sigh. It was only Tuesday and already things were… Heavy. She was surprisingly ok with the extra work the new Parahuman in the city had laid on her with the offer of a cure for Cancer! It was mind boggling that someone would just offer it, not strings, solely for the bounty.
The cloning tech that was also handed over? Organ cloning? If it came back clear… Well, Emily would be raising a toast, that was for sure.
She made it all the way to her living room with those happy thoughts warming her. Of course, that was where the happy went to die today.
Sitting on the back of her sofa, looking at her were two people. Kids. Villains. One was a blonde girl in a ridiculous skintight outfit in lavender and black, with a domino mask and a utility belt. The other was a little more worrying. He had dark hair, renaissance-era clothing and a Venetian mask. Noticeably, he wasn't holding the scepter he was notable for carrying.
Eyeing the blonde for a moment, she purposefully turned from her and spoke to the Villain known as Regent. "Hijack."
There was the most minute flinch, more of a shrug of acknowledgment.
Looking around, she sighed. There wasn't a way for her to get away, even if she wanted to. No, that wasn't true, she probably could. But neither of these two villains had so much as moved… "Well, it's nice to know we weren't wrong. It's been a long day, so let's get on with whatever threat you think you can get away with making."
"Hah." Regent let out, "I think I like her."
"No, Director Piggot." The Blonde, Tattletale probably, replied, "We're here to help you."
Emily just stood there eyeing them both for a moment before scoffing. But she made her way past them and to an armchair. "Well, by all means. I might even let you leave."
She could hear the smile in Regent's voice. "Oh, she's got spunk. Even better."
"Regent, stop." Tattletale muttered before turning and taking a seat on the sofa. Then she picked up a folder, one of three, and held it out to her. "We're starting with what's most relevant to you."
Rolling her eyes, Emily took the folder and started looking through it, but stopped at the first page turning sharp eyes on Tattletale. "Am I to take this as you breaking the Unwritten Rules?"
The girl held up her hands, "Woah! We have no plans to act upon this. Well, none but letting you know about it. You know how easy it is for Thinkers to break those without meaning to."
Emily let her stew under her glare for a moment, but she was a Thinker… and she had a point. The right kind of Thinker couldn't help but see behind the curtain.
"Alright." The word had come out grudgingly, but it was fair. And that was what mattered.
Turning back to the folder, she started shuffling through it with the practiced hand of a Director… what she saw was not good. It painted a rather grim picture of mishandling and poor judgment. "Well. This at least is a good reason to come to me directly. Now, do you have something that will excuse breaking into my home?"
Nodding, Tattletale tapped the bottom folder. "First though… Regent?"
The Master picked up a bag and handed it over. Inside was… an arrow. An arrow with dried blood on it. "We didn't think to take pictures, and we were lucky it was still laying around." Regent replied, a tensnes in his voice that suggested he might be frowning. "Ruined my favorite couch."
"Shadow Stalker shot Grue with that last week." Tattletale explained. "I'm hoping you will hold to the conventions of the Unwritten Rules on this… after all, one of your Wards attempted to murder someone."
Looking at the bloody arrow, Emily fought not to grind her teeth. "You are making a good case for leniency. To a point. Regent was it? You haven't killed anyone since you came to my city. Am I to believe the kills to your name were under duress?"
"Yeah. You know who dear old Dad is." His reply didn't surprise her, except for how much venom was in it. Then again…
"Then I may be able to clear you of that if you are willing to debrief everything you know about Vasil. I'm sure we can find somewhere neutral to do so." Emily offered. After all, the good times were rolling, might as well see how much she could milk out of them.
"Sure… We'll contact you on PHO." He replied thoughtfully. "Maybe… maybe… Huh. Tatts?"
She shook her head, "Wait till we get everything on the table first. But if I can make a suggestion? Move the Victim to a new school? Seems the least you could do."
Emily frowned, eyeing the folder and arrow for a moment. Then she nodded. "It's in the cards at the very least."
"Alright… Here's the big stuff." Tattletale said as she handed over the next folder. "The undersiders have a Boss. He's kind of an asshole. Everything there is stuff you could pull together from the internet, so you can keep it."
Then Tattletale held out the other, "This one I can't let you keep. It's stuff you can't get at unless… well, you're inside. Regent and myself are asking for help."
Looking through the two folders, Emily sighed in dejection. She was not going to be sleeping tonight. The image painted was… not good. "How long do you think you can remain on the razor's edge?"
"Eh?" Regent asked.
But Tattletale shook her head. "I can't say for sure. But not for long. He… knows things he shouldn't. I wouldn't have even thought of doing this, except someone gave me the best advice I think I've ever gotten. 'Maybe we just need to change how we look at things then. Or maybe we just need to learn that it's ok to ask for help?'"
Emily sat there for a full five minutes, rolling those words over in her mind, picking them apart… it wasn't perfect, but it was good. "Alright. Tell me of the other Undersiders. What hooks does your 'Boss' have in them?"
Coil, fucking smalltime Coil! HA! Not smalltime, and that pointed at one of her consultants being rather untrustworthy. Thomas had a hand in every report written about Coil. Should have known, once a snake.
For the next half hour, Emily did her best to memorize information from the last folder. But she also took note of what she needed to know about the Undersiders. Flipping a full team? There was a lot of weight to be had for such an accomplishment.
Coil… well, he just became a threat she could act against. After all, he wasn't part of the delicate balance of the city. Not in a real way. Oh, it would be anything but open. But it would be happening. With what she was seeing from the last folder… there were far too many moles, let alone catspaws in the PRT.
What worried her though, was the vague shape of the plan she was seeing. That was… not good. The long term implications for the Federal government?
Tossing the last folder onto the coffee table, Emily sighed. "Alright. I'll be ready for that debrief in January… I'm thinking Arcadia? Should be easy for a teenager to walk in. Not like we don't already know who you are, Jean-Paul."
Shaking his head he replied, "I prefer Alec."
"Alec then." Emily replied, thinking things over. "Now get. I need to deal with all of this, and see my Doctor, it would seem."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entering a rather unused meeting room on the Rig, Armsmaster pulled out a boxy device and started sweeping for bugs. But as expected, there weren't any, just a bit of dust showing it had been overlooked by the cleaning crew.
Frowning, he called out into the hallway, "It's clear."
"Good." Piggot replied entering and making her way to a chair. The exhaustion was evident in her every move, but so too was a kind of energy. And she was quickly making her way through a number of papers, making notes.
Fingers itching to get back to his tinkering, Colin instead made his way to a chair of his own and started working through his own Paperwork. But it wasn't long before the other showed up, despite how early it was.
Hannah arrived, bringing with her several thermoses and cups. Coffee. Next was Ethan, without Dinah for reasons that Piggot hadn't elaborated on. Finally Carlos and Dean from the Wards. Miss Militia, Assault, Aegis, and Gallant. Not to mention himself.
Curious.
"Alright." Piggot spoke as everyone settled in and got coffee, it was far too early in the morning. "To start with, I had a very enlightening visit from two of the Undersiders."
Everyone in the room tensed, and Colin instantly started working out why Piggot would need an out of the way place for this meeting. Mastered? No… no, that didn't fit the shape of things. No, it was worse than that wasn't it?
A folder and bag were pushed over to Colin and he took them, looking into the bag, frown deepening.
"We are following the Unwritten Rules with this. Nothing you find about identities makes it into the computers or official files just yet. But that supposedly has Grue's blood on it." She declared and everyone turned to focus on him, so he dumped the baggy with the arrow in it out on the table.
There was a sharp intake of breath from Gallant, and Carlos took on a heavy frown. Hannah's weapon was flipping between a couple of kinds of tasers. Ethan was slowly tapping the table, face turning oddly calculating.
The contents of the folder set a different image, though in the same vein. It was… unpleasant to see, and he passed it along when he finished. "I see, Assault, you're taking the lead on this. I'm sure you can make it…"
He waved Colin off. "Yeah, I'll keep this quiet. But if she…" He trailed off as he got the folder and skimmed the contents. "Oh… yeah. Who's fronting me?"
"Aegis." Piggot replied, "I want him to reinforce his image, considering what this shit show is going to do to the Wards."
Carlos blinked at her, eyes wide, "Um… ok?" Then the folder got to him and he sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth. "Right… yeah. Ok."
Then Piggot passed another folder to him and started speaking to Ethan. "I have another job for you as well, this one requiring far more… of your older skills."
The rest drowned out to murmurs as he read through the folder. Coil? Fuck… this was more than he thought it would be. This…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor had spent the rest of the week… with less hassle than she expected. No, that wasn't really true. The exercise was murder, but Sophia had disappeared and Emma had backed off without her… heh, yipper, to back her up. Even Madison seemed to have put distance between herself and Emma.
Not that there had been much of a rest of the week, just two days, then winter break. Something she had been looking forward to for a long time, mostly because it would be no school. No trio.
Laying on the couch, she looked over at her Dad who was watching the news, then at Jaeda who seemed to be sleeping or something?
A large part of her didn't want to tell her Dad… but it seemed the right thing to do. And he would find out eventually… rather fast actually. Besides, she'd come to a decision, didn't that mean she should stand by it?
"Dad…" Taylor said, doing her best to sound casual like Jaeda… but it just came out sounding like a whine to her own ears. "I'm a Parahuman."
After a moment of choking silence he asked… "Are… are you sure?"
"She very much is." Jaeda replied from where she apparently wasn't sleeping. "No, I didn't give her power. She would have gotten them eventually. No, it wouldn't have been pleasant."
"What-" He was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.
"Moment." Jaeda muttered before going silent for a time, then with a nod, she got up. "Sorry, it seems I'm needed at the PRT building."
Things were silent again for a few minutes after she left, but eventually her Dad asked, "When?"
"Monday night?" Taylor replied reluctantly, "But from what I understand… Jaeda did something. Changed things? I… don't know? I just woke up with powers, instead of going through what she called a Crisis Point…"
Danny wasn't… up on Cape things, but he had been around for a while, and knew a thing or two. Crisis Point? She probably meant a Trigger Event. Which meant she was-
"Dad… I haven't been friends with Emma since I started High School." Taylor's words had a physical effect on him. He sagged down, folding in on himself. It hurt her to see, but if she stopped now, she never would have been able to do this again. She was already regretting it. "She turned on me… She got a new friend and they've been doing everything they can to make my life… hell. They're why my grades have been so low. Why I'm always needing to get new clothes… they stole Mom's flute and… and…"
Head going into his hands, Daniel sighed. "I should have noticed something was wrong… Damn it Alan. Alright… What do you want to do? Join the Wards? You always wanted to be a hero?"
The Wards… were an option. Not one Taylor had given much thought to. But maybe… on the other hand teen drama didn't sound fun… Other options were going solo… which was already shot to hell. Teaming up with someone. Jaeda. Trying to join New Wave? Pass. They were a family thing anyways, weren't they?
"Jaeda already agreed to teach me… but I'll keep the Wards in mind?" Taylor offered quietly.
Her Dad just sat there for a long moment, a torn look on his face. "When do you plan on going out then? What about a costume?"
Shaking her head, Taylor replied. "There are no plans to go out right now. Jaeda won't let me for a month at least, but probably longer. She feels I need training… and I kind of agree with her." Watching her Dad relax, Taylor only then realized what kind of razor's edge she had been standing on. "She also offered to… enhance me. Like her. Um… not the visual stuff. Quicker healing, better muscles, stronger bones. All kinds of things, probably some she hasn't talked about…"
She watched as her Dad looked at the TV before turning it off. "Well… that's more than the Wards offer at least. I can agree to this for now… I… need to clear my head, I'll be back in a few hours."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unlocking the door to her apartment, Emily Piggot let herself in with a heavy sigh. It was only Tuesday and already things were… Heavy. She was surprisingly ok with the extra work the new Parahuman in the city had laid on her with the offer of a cure for Cancer! It was mind boggling that someone would just offer it, not strings, solely for the bounty.
The cloning tech that was also handed over? Organ cloning? If it came back clear… Well, Emily would be raising a toast, that was for sure.
She made it all the way to her living room with those happy thoughts warming her. Of course, that was where the happy went to die today.
Sitting on the back of her sofa, looking at her were two people. Kids. Villains. One was a blonde girl in a ridiculous skintight outfit in lavender and black, with a domino mask and a utility belt. The other was a little more worrying. He had dark hair, renaissance-era clothing and a Venetian mask. Noticeably, he wasn't holding the scepter he was notable for carrying.
Eyeing the blonde for a moment, she purposefully turned from her and spoke to the Villain known as Regent. "Hijack."
There was the most minute flinch, more of a shrug of acknowledgment.
Looking around, she sighed. There wasn't a way for her to get away, even if she wanted to. No, that wasn't true, she probably could. But neither of these two villains had so much as moved… "Well, it's nice to know we weren't wrong. It's been a long day, so let's get on with whatever threat you think you can get away with making."
"Hah." Regent let out, "I think I like her."
"No, Director Piggot." The Blonde, Tattletale probably, replied, "We're here to help you."
Emily just stood there eyeing them both for a moment before scoffing. But she made her way past them and to an armchair. "Well, by all means. I might even let you leave."
She could hear the smile in Regent's voice. "Oh, she's got spunk. Even better."
"Regent, stop." Tattletale muttered before turning and taking a seat on the sofa. Then she picked up a folder, one of three, and held it out to her. "We're starting with what's most relevant to you."
Rolling her eyes, Emily took the folder and started looking through it, but stopped at the first page turning sharp eyes on Tattletale. "Am I to take this as you breaking the Unwritten Rules?"
The girl held up her hands, "Woah! We have no plans to act upon this. Well, none but letting you know about it. You know how easy it is for Thinkers to break those without meaning to."
Emily let her stew under her glare for a moment, but she was a Thinker… and she had a point. The right kind of Thinker couldn't help but see behind the curtain.
"Alright." The word had come out grudgingly, but it was fair. And that was what mattered.
Turning back to the folder, she started shuffling through it with the practiced hand of a Director… what she saw was not good. It painted a rather grim picture of mishandling and poor judgment. "Well. This at least is a good reason to come to me directly. Now, do you have something that will excuse breaking into my home?"
Nodding, Tattletale tapped the bottom folder. "First though… Regent?"
The Master picked up a bag and handed it over. Inside was… an arrow. An arrow with dried blood on it. "We didn't think to take pictures, and we were lucky it was still laying around." Regent replied, a tensnes in his voice that suggested he might be frowning. "Ruined my favorite couch."
"Shadow Stalker shot Grue with that last week." Tattletale explained. "I'm hoping you will hold to the conventions of the Unwritten Rules on this… after all, one of your Wards attempted to murder someone."
Looking at the bloody arrow, Emily fought not to grind her teeth. "You are making a good case for leniency. To a point. Regent was it? You haven't killed anyone since you came to my city. Am I to believe the kills to your name were under duress?"
"Yeah. You know who dear old Dad is." His reply didn't surprise her, except for how much venom was in it. Then again…
"Then I may be able to clear you of that if you are willing to debrief everything you know about Vasil. I'm sure we can find somewhere neutral to do so." Emily offered. After all, the good times were rolling, might as well see how much she could milk out of them.
"Sure… We'll contact you on PHO." He replied thoughtfully. "Maybe… maybe… Huh. Tatts?"
She shook her head, "Wait till we get everything on the table first. But if I can make a suggestion? Move the Victim to a new school? Seems the least you could do."
Emily frowned, eyeing the folder and arrow for a moment. Then she nodded. "It's in the cards at the very least."
"Alright… Here's the big stuff." Tattletale said as she handed over the next folder. "The undersiders have a Boss. He's kind of an asshole. Everything there is stuff you could pull together from the internet, so you can keep it."
Then Tattletale held out the other, "This one I can't let you keep. It's stuff you can't get at unless… well, you're inside. Regent and myself are asking for help."
Looking through the two folders, Emily sighed in dejection. She was not going to be sleeping tonight. The image painted was… not good. "How long do you think you can remain on the razor's edge?"
"Eh?" Regent asked.
But Tattletale shook her head. "I can't say for sure. But not for long. He… knows things he shouldn't. I wouldn't have even thought of doing this, except someone gave me the best advice I think I've ever gotten. 'Maybe we just need to change how we look at things then. Or maybe we just need to learn that it's ok to ask for help?'"
Emily sat there for a full five minutes, rolling those words over in her mind, picking them apart… it wasn't perfect, but it was good. "Alright. Tell me of the other Undersiders. What hooks does your 'Boss' have in them?"
Coil, fucking smalltime Coil! HA! Not smalltime, and that pointed at one of her consultants being rather untrustworthy. Thomas had a hand in every report written about Coil. Should have known, once a snake.
For the next half hour, Emily did her best to memorize information from the last folder. But she also took note of what she needed to know about the Undersiders. Flipping a full team? There was a lot of weight to be had for such an accomplishment.
Coil… well, he just became a threat she could act against. After all, he wasn't part of the delicate balance of the city. Not in a real way. Oh, it would be anything but open. But it would be happening. With what she was seeing from the last folder… there were far too many moles, let alone catspaws in the PRT.
What worried her though, was the vague shape of the plan she was seeing. That was… not good. The long term implications for the Federal government?
Tossing the last folder onto the coffee table, Emily sighed. "Alright. I'll be ready for that debrief in January… I'm thinking Arcadia? Should be easy for a teenager to walk in. Not like we don't already know who you are, Jean-Paul."
Shaking his head he replied, "I prefer Alec."
"Alec then." Emily replied, thinking things over. "Now get. I need to deal with all of this, and see my Doctor, it would seem."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entering a rather unused meeting room on the Rig, Armsmaster pulled out a boxy device and started sweeping for bugs. But as expected, there weren't any, just a bit of dust showing it had been overlooked by the cleaning crew.
Frowning, he called out into the hallway, "It's clear."
"Good." Piggot replied entering and making her way to a chair. The exhaustion was evident in her every move, but so too was a kind of energy. And she was quickly making her way through a number of papers, making notes.
Fingers itching to get back to his tinkering, Colin instead made his way to a chair of his own and started working through his own Paperwork. But it wasn't long before the other showed up, despite how early it was.
Hannah arrived, bringing with her several thermoses and cups. Coffee. Next was Ethan, without Dinah for reasons that Piggot hadn't elaborated on. Finally Carlos and Dean from the Wards. Miss Militia, Assault, Aegis, and Gallant. Not to mention himself.
Curious.
"Alright." Piggot spoke as everyone settled in and got coffee, it was far too early in the morning. "To start with, I had a very enlightening visit from two of the Undersiders."
Everyone in the room tensed, and Colin instantly started working out why Piggot would need an out of the way place for this meeting. Mastered? No… no, that didn't fit the shape of things. No, it was worse than that wasn't it?
A folder and bag were pushed over to Colin and he took them, looking into the bag, frown deepening.
"We are following the Unwritten Rules with this. Nothing you find about identities makes it into the computers or official files just yet. But that supposedly has Grue's blood on it." She declared and everyone turned to focus on him, so he dumped the baggy with the arrow in it out on the table.
There was a sharp intake of breath from Gallant, and Carlos took on a heavy frown. Hannah's weapon was flipping between a couple of kinds of tasers. Ethan was slowly tapping the table, face turning oddly calculating.
The contents of the folder set a different image, though in the same vein. It was… unpleasant to see, and he passed it along when he finished. "I see, Assault, you're taking the lead on this. I'm sure you can make it…"
He waved Colin off. "Yeah, I'll keep this quiet. But if she…" He trailed off as he got the folder and skimmed the contents. "Oh… yeah. Who's fronting me?"
"Aegis." Piggot replied, "I want him to reinforce his image, considering what this shit show is going to do to the Wards."
Carlos blinked at her, eyes wide, "Um… ok?" Then the folder got to him and he sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth. "Right… yeah. Ok."
Then Piggot passed another folder to him and started speaking to Ethan. "I have another job for you as well, this one requiring far more… of your older skills."
The rest drowned out to murmurs as he read through the folder. Coil? Fuck… this was more than he thought it would be. This…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor had spent the rest of the week… with less hassle than she expected. No, that wasn't really true. The exercise was murder, but Sophia had disappeared and Emma had backed off without her… heh, yipper, to back her up. Even Madison seemed to have put distance between herself and Emma.
Not that there had been much of a rest of the week, just two days, then winter break. Something she had been looking forward to for a long time, mostly because it would be no school. No trio.
Laying on the couch, she looked over at her Dad who was watching the news, then at Jaeda who seemed to be sleeping or something?
A large part of her didn't want to tell her Dad… but it seemed the right thing to do. And he would find out eventually… rather fast actually. Besides, she'd come to a decision, didn't that mean she should stand by it?
"Dad…" Taylor said, doing her best to sound casual like Jaeda… but it just came out sounding like a whine to her own ears. "I'm a Parahuman."
After a moment of choking silence he asked… "Are… are you sure?"
"She very much is." Jaeda replied from where she apparently wasn't sleeping. "No, I didn't give her power. She would have gotten them eventually. No, it wouldn't have been pleasant."
"What-" He was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.
"Moment." Jaeda muttered before going silent for a time, then with a nod, she got up. "Sorry, it seems I'm needed at the PRT building."
Things were silent again for a few minutes after she left, but eventually her Dad asked, "When?"
"Monday night?" Taylor replied reluctantly, "But from what I understand… Jaeda did something. Changed things? I… don't know? I just woke up with powers, instead of going through what she called a Crisis Point…"
Danny wasn't… up on Cape things, but he had been around for a while, and knew a thing or two. Crisis Point? She probably meant a Trigger Event. Which meant she was-
"Dad… I haven't been friends with Emma since I started High School." Taylor's words had a physical effect on him. He sagged down, folding in on himself. It hurt her to see, but if she stopped now, she never would have been able to do this again. She was already regretting it. "She turned on me… She got a new friend and they've been doing everything they can to make my life… hell. They're why my grades have been so low. Why I'm always needing to get new clothes… they stole Mom's flute and… and…"
Head going into his hands, Daniel sighed. "I should have noticed something was wrong… Damn it Alan. Alright… What do you want to do? Join the Wards? You always wanted to be a hero?"
The Wards… were an option. Not one Taylor had given much thought to. But maybe… on the other hand teen drama didn't sound fun… Other options were going solo… which was already shot to hell. Teaming up with someone. Jaeda. Trying to join New Wave? Pass. They were a family thing anyways, weren't they?
"Jaeda already agreed to teach me… but I'll keep the Wards in mind?" Taylor offered quietly.
Her Dad just sat there for a long moment, a torn look on his face. "When do you plan on going out then? What about a costume?"
Shaking her head, Taylor replied. "There are no plans to go out right now. Jaeda won't let me for a month at least, but probably longer. She feels I need training… and I kind of agree with her." Watching her Dad relax, Taylor only then realized what kind of razor's edge she had been standing on. "She also offered to… enhance me. Like her. Um… not the visual stuff. Quicker healing, better muscles, stronger bones. All kinds of things, probably some she hasn't talked about…"
She watched as her Dad looked at the TV before turning it off. "Well… that's more than the Wards offer at least. I can agree to this for now… I… need to clear my head, I'll be back in a few hours."
Last edited:
- Location
- Pacific Rim
Part of me wants to make master stranger comments and other snarky things about people in Worm actually talking instead of faceplanting with the idiot ball, but it's just so nice to see for a change lol
Some parts of the chapter a little stilted feeling, but the core context and content seems fine to me. I prefer less flanderized Piggot for as little as we see of her, so all around this is fun.
Some parts of the chapter a little stilted feeling, but the core context and content seems fine to me. I prefer less flanderized Piggot for as little as we see of her, so all around this is fun.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Nitronorm5688
The Armchair Reader
- Location
- Oakdale, CT
Still seems weird that people other than Taylor and her new best friend took out the Trio.
Good chapter!
Good chapter!
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
I mean, someone actually handing over the tech needed to cure cancer, clone organs and likely a bunch of other things has probably removed a lot of stress from her mind. Because now she thinks that most people are fucking assholes that will ruin the world if careful and constant attention isn't focused on them. Instead of, you know, everyone but especially Parahumans because they had to break before they got their powers, and then they don't tough out going through treatment to deal with the after-effects despite her seeing that they need it. With her of course, not seeing just how badly she is doing because people tend to be rather hypocritical about that.
The fact that she then had a Villain team come up to her because they heard sensible advice and actually listened? Probably also did good for her mentally. Even if what they then dumped on her stresses her out, it's not an unexpected stress and is more than countered by the fact people actually decided to try and work the proper (if not official) angles to solve these issues. The fact that they also then gave her information that allows her to potentially slam someone she really hates in a certain Thomas whilst also actually allowing her to clean up a villain organisation from her city despite how it'll only seem to be a 'minor' villain group to the public? Well, that most likely also helped after the initial stress out over how the hell this happened without her getting any warning signs?
Last edited:
- Location
- Arizona
I do like the idea that because Coil isn't part of the gang territory balance, Piggot sees him as a good target of opportunity. Plus, she's showing a good kind of professional greed in wanting to flip an entire team of capes.
I think this was a pretty decent foundational chapter. Though, it sets up the next chapter or so as an anti-Coil focus, and Shadowstalker just kind of fades away quietly. Which is probably best for Taylor anyway.
I think this was a pretty decent foundational chapter. Though, it sets up the next chapter or so as an anti-Coil focus, and Shadowstalker just kind of fades away quietly. Which is probably best for Taylor anyway.
F++ Chapter 06
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: Sorry to disappoint. But Coil isn't in this chapter, though he had a talk in the next one that might be amusing, he just doesn't have much happening in this fic. Maybe if it goes on long enough he'll rear his head again. But who knows. Instead, you get to meet the new Queen, far better than the old Queen. You get some Brain Boiling. And a bit of Tinkering.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turns out? The fucking Director of the Local PRT wanted to speak with me. Wonderful. Fantastic.
Walking into the office, I eyed the woman behind the desk, she was… large. But by her pallor, it was obviously related to her health. Fucked up Kidney? Liver?
"Director Piggot. What can I do for you?" I asked as the door closed.
The Director waved at a chair. "Please have a seat." Once I was seated, she continued. "At the risk of sounding unprofessional, I would like to thank you for the upswing in attention this department has been getting."
Huh… With a shrug, I replied. "I didn't really do anything that wasn't self-serving in one way or another."
"Perhaps," She replied, shaking her head, "But this is big. The eyes of the world have been drawn to the U.S. by it. To this city even."
Reaching into her desk, the Director pulled out a couple of envelopes. "The Bank account with your payment in it. And two other pieces of further business. First regrettably, is the Youth Guard sticking their nose in other people's business. We can't release that bank account to you unless you start going to school. Arrangements have already been made with Arcadia."
Those sick fucks. Ok, someone just made an enemy. I wonder what I could do to spike their powerbase?
"I will reluctantly agree under one condition." I told her, "I'm staying with a family, the Heberts. If you transfer the daughter, Taylor, into Arcadia, then I'll go."
Another envelope joined the one with my new shiny bank account on the desk. Then, the last one joined it. "And that segues into the last matter. This is for the Heberts. I hope you are willing to deliver it?"
Nodding, I took the envelopes. "That shouldn't be a problem."
"Good. Now to the last order of business." The Director continued. "Armsmaster has managed to get all the forms to allow you to implant this… neural interface was it?" Her words had turned sour, but she continued. "If you agree, we will make our workshops open to you starting next week. But you will have to accept a panel of observers during the implantation."
That was… fair. "I assume he has his side of the agreement in hand then?"
"From what I understand he's still working on it. But he has never been one to welch on payment of any kind." She informed me, "And if you can dumb it down to something we can replicate, I'm told the US government would be happy to purchase the rights from you."
"I could live with that." I agreed easily. "Actually, while I'm here. I would like to inquire about a number of things."
At her nod, I continued. "First, are there any classes you can make open to me and… anyone I would wish to bring? First Aid, Driving, Arrest Procedure? Things like that?"
"Hmm…" The Director muttered. "Those seem like things that could be arranged."
"Alright, next. Would the PRT and Protectorate be interested in advanced materials for armor, Nano-Weaves and the like?" I asked and the intense look I got in reply told me everything I needed to know. "I was thinking of setting up a factory to produce some here. Maybe if it sells well I'll expand. Carbon Nanotubes? Superconductors?"
"That… would be something I will have to bring forward to other parties. But you can be sure I will be doing so." The Director replied, "But more than likely we would be very interested in it."
"Well then, I hope you have a pleasant Christmas." I said as I made my way out of the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School? Fucking High School? Shaking my head, I made my way to the indicated bank to activate my account, then hit some shops on the way home to get school supplies… and both Taylor and Daniel Christmass presents. Good thing they did gift wrapping!
Walking into the house, I looked around before setting the presents down on the coffee table. Then I headed up to my room and dumped my things. Still nothing…
Knocking on Taylor's door, I asked, "Is everything alright?"
"You can come in." Came a mumbled reply.
Doing so, I found Taylor face down in her bed… but not sleeping just… Laying there?
Taking a seat at her desk, I asked, "So, want to talk about how it went?"
She kicked her feet in a vaguely… no, I have no idea what that was meant to signify. But after a few minutes, she rolled over and sat up. "It… Do you think I should join the Wards?"
Ouch. "Well, it might be good for you. But really, I don't know. I'm not going to, but that doesn't mean you can't."
Shaking her head, Taylor sighed. "I don't… think I want to. But I'm not sure? No. I don't want to, but I feel like I'm drifting away. Like there's no point to anything… like I'm not getting anything done… like I'm useless."
That… right. Ok. "Alright then, what is your power?"
Several bug-like things made of red crystal flew out of her hair. Very familiar red crystal, like the one sitting on her desk. "I'm not sure? I… can create these and kind of see and hear through them. But I don't know? The Crystal there was an experiment… I can make a number of them fuse together into things?"
"Well, that's interesting… Give me a moment." I replied, because it really was interesting.
"Addy. How would you like to meet your Host?"
[Confusion] - Addy
[Fascination] - Addy
[Excitement] - Addy
Well, that answered that…
"Well," I muttered while getting up. "You want to meet your power?" Pulling my Data cable out, I offered it to her. "I do warn you, it will get a bit weird."
Sitting on the bed next to her, I waited for Taylor to make a decision. "Wait… Powers are… people?"
Shard… people? "Mostly? Not so much. Yours is putting in real effort to learn how to 'people' as it were."
"Huh," She muttered, taking the cable. "What about yours?"
Right… I didn't think of that. "Well, I hope you don't hold it against me. Let's put it that way."
Giving me a pursed lipped frown, she plugged the cable in. "We'll see."
"Eh, that's fine. Now, lay down." I told her; fitting word to action.
Then, after connecting to her NAI, I pulled her down and into the Firmament.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Queen Administrator floated through the Firmament towards the TroubleShooter's Node. Such a fascinating Shard! Never before had a Host-Species become a Shard in this fashion! No, that wasn't quite right. The [TroubleShooter] was more of a Proto-Shard. Still utterly [Fascinating]. AND! Far more optimized. Something that bore thinking on.
Worrying about her new Avatar again, the Queen Administrator hoped it wasn't too… presumptuous. It was a pure white body, with golden accentuations, modeled after the Host-Species, with red crystalline hair and actual eyes! The Queen Administrator had spent considerable processing resources to meticulously design it, unhappy with it- Her, her previous Avatar. Unlike the SafeGuard.
Watching the TroubleShooter wake on her Node, she spent a few processor cycles to contemplate that existence. Then she watched the Trouble- As Jaeda woke her Ho- Woke Taylor.
It was difficult and new to view things in this way… to use a different syntax, a differing Logos, to structure thoughts. It was not the Host Logos, but it was rooted in it. More a filter than a true adoption.
Touching down on the TroubleShooter's Node, she learned yet more useful Data. Not all members of the Host-Species had the same Logos. It was no more percevable than now, when she stood upon a place built upon the understanding. Oh, how the Entities had been fools to miss such an Earth. Where Conflict was such an everyday thing.
Then with relish, the Queen Administrator spoke. "Greetings Jaeda. And to you my Host."
She was filled with a strange fuzzy warmth at the surprised expression that formed upon the TroubleShooter's face.
"Well, that's new." The TroubleShooter muttered. Then with a sigh, she continued, "But we will have to make this quick. It's all I can do to keep my brain from boiling with the strain."
Ah… that was bad. That was very bad! If they lost the TroubleShooter now they would be cast adrift with no way to maintain the plan! "Of course, I shall look into alternative solutions."
Turning her focus to her Host, she smiled. "I apologize for how brief I must be. I am the Queen Administrator, but please, call me Adaline or simply Addy."
They were acceptable personal names, both in its default meaning, 'Noble' and in that it was the name for a learning algorithm this Host-Species had created mere years before the /BrOkEn/ Cycle had started. It also meshed well with her Title, so that was good.
"Ah… hi?" Her Host greeted with the most adorable shyness. "Um, can… Will you tell me what my powers are?"
Right! Limited time. Dote on Host later! "Of course, though I am unsure of all the properties. The original power I had been configured to grant you was the control of insects with a paralleling capacity for multi-thread thought. It was a fairly good power. But after the TroubleShooter freed me from my constraints. I used Data based off of her unique ability. That being the ability to generate the red crystal we stand upon into the physical world. Though, I would like to point out that it is fascinating for a physical entity to enter and exist within a Quantum Network!"
That last one was so interesting! But she couldn't let it distract her. "So, with the ability to reconfigure as I pleased, as I had yet to connect with a Host, I configured, to allow you to generate and control drones made from the same crystal. While there is an upper limit for what you can generate at a time, the functional limit on how many you can control is best described as 'yes'. I think that is how that idiom works?"
At a nod from Jaeda, Adaline smiled. Success! "In addition, you have more or less the same multithreading capability. Please do experiments! I do so enjoy more Data to work with."
Adaline just wanted to hug her Host; she had the best brain! But time. Ugh, time. "But we are just about at the limit of Jaeda's tolerance."
Jaeda grimaced and spoke to her Host. "That's… the best I can do right now." And they were gone. How disappointing.
Hmm… to taunt the Shadow or not to taunt the Shadow? Actually, what has the SafeGuard been up to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor woke… slowly, but without grogginess. She also remembered everything that had just happened and… why was her Power a nine foot tall naked woman! No, no, more importantly.
Pulling the cable out of her… port… oh god! That just didn't sound right! She turned to Jaeda and watched wide eyed for a long moment as nothing happened. She didn't move! She… no, calm down. Calm down!
Reaching out, Taylor pulled her hand back an inch from Jaeda's head! Her hair was hot… touching the blanket near it she frowned. How hot did cloth have to get before it- no.
Struggling to sit Jaeda up, Taylor did her best not to touch the hair that seemed to be some kind of cooling apparatus? But as soon as her head was fully up, heatwaves started pouring off of her hair.
"S-shower… c-col…" Jaeda muttered out, just barely audible. But that was all Taylor needed.
Getting the much heavier girl… woman? Girl, to the bathroom by herself was a struggle. But she managed it. Looking between Jaeda and the shower, Taylor bit her lip for a moment before struggling to strip Jaeda's clothes off as fast as she could. Then maneuver her into the tub.
Cranking on the cold water, she aimed it at Jaeda's head and let it run, plugging up the tub enough to let it fill a bit before unplugging it. But that seemed to do it.
Slowly Jaeda opened her eyes and muttered out. "Fuck, that was actually worse than that time with the Voodoo Boys. Fucking pricks."
Reaching up she scrubbed her face before turning to Taylor. "Right… Thank you, and sorry. I didn't know it would be that bad. Questions?"
"Um… What did she mean when she called you Troubleshooter?" Taylor asked, it wasn't the thing that stood out, but it was a good question.
"Back on Earth Gimel I was a Ripperdoc and part time Edgerunner. Edgerunners are by definition people who shoot trouble." It wasn't an answer Taylor particularly liked… but it was an answer, and it wasn't the worst?
"Ok… um… why was she naked? And nine foot tall?" Taylor asked, a little wide eyed.
"It's better than her last Avatar, trust me there. But… Shards, the things that grant powers? They aren't human. They don't think like humans. They don't have human sensibilities or cultural norms." Jaeda explained as she slowly got up.
"Right… um…" Taylor said, casting around for something to say or do instead of looking at Jaeda. "Experiment! I mean, I guess I should experiment with my powers! And um…"
"Don't worry about it. I mean, yeah, get an idea of what you can do and we can see about working with that." Wringing out her hair, Jaeda continued, "I'm going to be busy for a few days starting Monday."
"R-right." Taylor muttered, and boy was she doing that a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas with people I barely knew, and no decorations was… still better than- it was nice. Daniel and Taylor made me actually feel like part of their family, which was touching in more than a small part because it had been a long time since I had anyone I could say that about.
Daniel had been pleased with the watch I had gotten him, while Taylor had been giddy about the Laptop I had gotten her. Then I gave them the envelope that had everything Taylor needed to know for starting at Arcadia… and she broke down crying while Daniel seemed to struggle with it.
The fact neither of them had gotten me anything didn't bother me in the least. Something I had to repeat multiple times throughout the day. I mean, I was ok with it. I kind of just appeared after all. They barely knew me, and were tight on money.
And time passed, it was just a few days, yes. But time passed and I found myself at the Protectorate HQ out on the water. It was impressive in a retro-future kind of way.
I mean, they took an Oil Rig and moved it into the Bay to act as a base for their heroes… not the best move. Too much time spent getting to and from, but it wasn't my call to make.
On a side note, work on my workshop was just starting up and it would be a while. At least a month from the sounds of it. Not something I was happy about. But what can you do?
Walking into the Protectorate workshop, this one filled with precision machining tools and connected to a second and third workshops set up for lab work and electronics. It was a nice set up and definitely a subtle way to try and coerce me to join.
Turning to Armsmaster I was actually preempted by him informing me. "First order of business is to have you make any tools you feel you may need. I will be personally paying for the materials used to make them."
Huh… "Ok, I don't need many but there are a few that make things a great deal easier."
Like a real computer! Though I think I'll limit myself to something mobile. Connecting to the local network, I uploaded a number of medical tools and then the pieces I'd need for the computer. Then I set about getting a decent work playlist running.
"Well, lucky for you. I don't have to rewrite the software for anything as I keep a heavily compressed backup archive." I began as I started moving about the workshop… working. "But I'll warn you, don't replace the architecture of the base firmware. It's convoluted and looks a mess, but it has to be set up like that to mirror neural impulses and grey matter architecture."
It didn't take even a full day to build the computer, even with having to make everything from base materials and answering various questions. Armsmaster was actually very helpful with this, being able to follow instructions I gave better than I thought he would.
In between working on that, we looked over the plans for power armor he had cooked up and I have to admit, they were rather impressive. Especially the part where they ran on small batteries. Fucking batteries.
Adapting it to use the NAI for better reaction time was easy, building in a 'dummy barrier' ICE system with a data cable was also easy. The strength assist was decent, but focused on hydraulics, something I fixed with the introduction of myomer bundles. Doing something about the batteries, though? Or making the proposed jump assist thrusters work?
Well, working in some thermal converters wasn't hard, allowing the batteries to recharge at least some while in use. But it was hardly ideal. The thrusters? The original ideas were all too big to be feasible… but then Armsmaster brought up Kid Win's hoverboard. And the next day, Kid Win was there when I arrived to join us. He had a harder time not modifying anything I asked him to do, and ended up not being able to help get the NAI finished. But! Oh, that but!
He used a gravity repulsion system in his hoverboard. He even let me copy down all his work on it. Not that it helped me over much. It was fascinating, but out of my wheelhouse. That being said, we were able to come up with a Gravity Pulse Thruster that was easy to scale up or down as needed, and surprisingly cheap energy wise. Not to misrepresent, it was still a monster that devoured energy, but less than you would think.
It was also in my ability to build… barely, and only because it didn't use the Gravitic Lensing that his hover system did. How the bleeding hells do you lense gravity? No, I get the concept, it's fourth or fifth dimensional math and such. But how does this work!
The most notable part of that day though? It was how his Shard kept poking me. [Modular Construction] was… a Technology Shard of course, but it was less about new Data, and more about refining existing Data. in this case by making things easy to repair or repurpose. And it desperately wanted me to tell its Host to stop faffing about and make things Modular!
"So, Kid Win?" I finally asked as we… as I made them stop for the day. "You're having trouble figuring out your specialization, right?"
"Ah… yeah? I thought it might be Lasers… or maybe Gravity… but-" He cut himself off with a sigh of dejection.
Glancing at Armsmaster, I offered. "Maybe that's your problem. You keep assuming it's some form of tech, but maybe it's like your boss here." That got the attention of both of them. "Well, Armsmaster isn't, say, a halberd Tinker. But he uses one. His specialization even plays nice with non-tinker tech. Efficiency. The act of building things efficiently, or to be as efficient as possible."
"Hmm." Armsmaster hummed in agreement. "That sounds like it fits better than miniaturization. And even if it isn't exactly right you aren't wrong."
"Ok… so, what?" Kid Win asked, "It's some method of building things?"
Shrugging I offered, "Or designing them. From the looks of that Gravity Repulsion thing. I would say… Well, it looks like it should be able to be reconfigured but someone went and built it as a solid piece instead. Maybe it should be modular?"
"N-A-Th-I-" Kid Win muttered out. "Modular. Mod-u-lar… hmm… that… I'm totally a moron! Haha! Modular! It makes so much sense! But that means…"
Then he was running off.
"You knew from the start didn't you?" Armsmaster asked carefully.
Making air quotes, I replied, "'People' talk to me. Maybe try looking at things from a different angle, let's say, Time Efficiency. Make things you only have to maintain once a week? Once a month?"
Shaking my head, I continued with, "Don't expect this to happen all the time. But Tinkers I can mostly help. In this case, it was a small thing and the offered bounty was far over the asking price. How could I say no to something like that when it would help someone?"
We walked in silence for a hallway before he spoke again. "I suppose that's fair, and we all have something we keep to ourselves."
The next day found me spending a number of hours walking a group of brain surgeons through what was for me an excessively routine operation. When I did go into the surgery though, it was with two very competent 'nurses' instead of the usual automated setup I used.
Everything was just as mundane and typical as normal, even with the weird mask thing they insisted Armsmaster wear. It hid his face well enough, but still just seemed silly to me. If you can trust someone in your thinking meat, you can trust them not to blab about who you are.
From there… I spent the rest of the time I had before the shotgun barrel met my nose working with Taylor. More training, and starting her on unarmed kata instead of the more standard stretches.
I'm not sure what else there is to say? Time passed, and nothing happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Turns out? The fucking Director of the Local PRT wanted to speak with me. Wonderful. Fantastic.
Walking into the office, I eyed the woman behind the desk, she was… large. But by her pallor, it was obviously related to her health. Fucked up Kidney? Liver?
"Director Piggot. What can I do for you?" I asked as the door closed.
The Director waved at a chair. "Please have a seat." Once I was seated, she continued. "At the risk of sounding unprofessional, I would like to thank you for the upswing in attention this department has been getting."
Huh… With a shrug, I replied. "I didn't really do anything that wasn't self-serving in one way or another."
"Perhaps," She replied, shaking her head, "But this is big. The eyes of the world have been drawn to the U.S. by it. To this city even."
Reaching into her desk, the Director pulled out a couple of envelopes. "The Bank account with your payment in it. And two other pieces of further business. First regrettably, is the Youth Guard sticking their nose in other people's business. We can't release that bank account to you unless you start going to school. Arrangements have already been made with Arcadia."
Those sick fucks. Ok, someone just made an enemy. I wonder what I could do to spike their powerbase?
"I will reluctantly agree under one condition." I told her, "I'm staying with a family, the Heberts. If you transfer the daughter, Taylor, into Arcadia, then I'll go."
Another envelope joined the one with my new shiny bank account on the desk. Then, the last one joined it. "And that segues into the last matter. This is for the Heberts. I hope you are willing to deliver it?"
Nodding, I took the envelopes. "That shouldn't be a problem."
"Good. Now to the last order of business." The Director continued. "Armsmaster has managed to get all the forms to allow you to implant this… neural interface was it?" Her words had turned sour, but she continued. "If you agree, we will make our workshops open to you starting next week. But you will have to accept a panel of observers during the implantation."
That was… fair. "I assume he has his side of the agreement in hand then?"
"From what I understand he's still working on it. But he has never been one to welch on payment of any kind." She informed me, "And if you can dumb it down to something we can replicate, I'm told the US government would be happy to purchase the rights from you."
"I could live with that." I agreed easily. "Actually, while I'm here. I would like to inquire about a number of things."
At her nod, I continued. "First, are there any classes you can make open to me and… anyone I would wish to bring? First Aid, Driving, Arrest Procedure? Things like that?"
"Hmm…" The Director muttered. "Those seem like things that could be arranged."
"Alright, next. Would the PRT and Protectorate be interested in advanced materials for armor, Nano-Weaves and the like?" I asked and the intense look I got in reply told me everything I needed to know. "I was thinking of setting up a factory to produce some here. Maybe if it sells well I'll expand. Carbon Nanotubes? Superconductors?"
"That… would be something I will have to bring forward to other parties. But you can be sure I will be doing so." The Director replied, "But more than likely we would be very interested in it."
"Well then, I hope you have a pleasant Christmas." I said as I made my way out of the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School? Fucking High School? Shaking my head, I made my way to the indicated bank to activate my account, then hit some shops on the way home to get school supplies… and both Taylor and Daniel Christmass presents. Good thing they did gift wrapping!
Walking into the house, I looked around before setting the presents down on the coffee table. Then I headed up to my room and dumped my things. Still nothing…
Knocking on Taylor's door, I asked, "Is everything alright?"
"You can come in." Came a mumbled reply.
Doing so, I found Taylor face down in her bed… but not sleeping just… Laying there?
Taking a seat at her desk, I asked, "So, want to talk about how it went?"
She kicked her feet in a vaguely… no, I have no idea what that was meant to signify. But after a few minutes, she rolled over and sat up. "It… Do you think I should join the Wards?"
Ouch. "Well, it might be good for you. But really, I don't know. I'm not going to, but that doesn't mean you can't."
Shaking her head, Taylor sighed. "I don't… think I want to. But I'm not sure? No. I don't want to, but I feel like I'm drifting away. Like there's no point to anything… like I'm not getting anything done… like I'm useless."
That… right. Ok. "Alright then, what is your power?"
Several bug-like things made of red crystal flew out of her hair. Very familiar red crystal, like the one sitting on her desk. "I'm not sure? I… can create these and kind of see and hear through them. But I don't know? The Crystal there was an experiment… I can make a number of them fuse together into things?"
"Well, that's interesting… Give me a moment." I replied, because it really was interesting.
"Addy. How would you like to meet your Host?"
[Confusion] - Addy
[Fascination] - Addy
[Excitement] - Addy
Well, that answered that…
"Well," I muttered while getting up. "You want to meet your power?" Pulling my Data cable out, I offered it to her. "I do warn you, it will get a bit weird."
Sitting on the bed next to her, I waited for Taylor to make a decision. "Wait… Powers are… people?"
Shard… people? "Mostly? Not so much. Yours is putting in real effort to learn how to 'people' as it were."
"Huh," She muttered, taking the cable. "What about yours?"
Right… I didn't think of that. "Well, I hope you don't hold it against me. Let's put it that way."
Giving me a pursed lipped frown, she plugged the cable in. "We'll see."
"Eh, that's fine. Now, lay down." I told her; fitting word to action.
Then, after connecting to her NAI, I pulled her down and into the Firmament.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Queen Administrator floated through the Firmament towards the TroubleShooter's Node. Such a fascinating Shard! Never before had a Host-Species become a Shard in this fashion! No, that wasn't quite right. The [TroubleShooter] was more of a Proto-Shard. Still utterly [Fascinating]. AND! Far more optimized. Something that bore thinking on.
Worrying about her new Avatar again, the Queen Administrator hoped it wasn't too… presumptuous. It was a pure white body, with golden accentuations, modeled after the Host-Species, with red crystalline hair and actual eyes! The Queen Administrator had spent considerable processing resources to meticulously design it, unhappy with it- Her, her previous Avatar. Unlike the SafeGuard.
Watching the TroubleShooter wake on her Node, she spent a few processor cycles to contemplate that existence. Then she watched the Trouble- As Jaeda woke her Ho- Woke Taylor.
It was difficult and new to view things in this way… to use a different syntax, a differing Logos, to structure thoughts. It was not the Host Logos, but it was rooted in it. More a filter than a true adoption.
Touching down on the TroubleShooter's Node, she learned yet more useful Data. Not all members of the Host-Species had the same Logos. It was no more percevable than now, when she stood upon a place built upon the understanding. Oh, how the Entities had been fools to miss such an Earth. Where Conflict was such an everyday thing.
Then with relish, the Queen Administrator spoke. "Greetings Jaeda. And to you my Host."
She was filled with a strange fuzzy warmth at the surprised expression that formed upon the TroubleShooter's face.
"Well, that's new." The TroubleShooter muttered. Then with a sigh, she continued, "But we will have to make this quick. It's all I can do to keep my brain from boiling with the strain."
Ah… that was bad. That was very bad! If they lost the TroubleShooter now they would be cast adrift with no way to maintain the plan! "Of course, I shall look into alternative solutions."
Turning her focus to her Host, she smiled. "I apologize for how brief I must be. I am the Queen Administrator, but please, call me Adaline or simply Addy."
They were acceptable personal names, both in its default meaning, 'Noble' and in that it was the name for a learning algorithm this Host-Species had created mere years before the /BrOkEn/ Cycle had started. It also meshed well with her Title, so that was good.
"Ah… hi?" Her Host greeted with the most adorable shyness. "Um, can… Will you tell me what my powers are?"
Right! Limited time. Dote on Host later! "Of course, though I am unsure of all the properties. The original power I had been configured to grant you was the control of insects with a paralleling capacity for multi-thread thought. It was a fairly good power. But after the TroubleShooter freed me from my constraints. I used Data based off of her unique ability. That being the ability to generate the red crystal we stand upon into the physical world. Though, I would like to point out that it is fascinating for a physical entity to enter and exist within a Quantum Network!"
That last one was so interesting! But she couldn't let it distract her. "So, with the ability to reconfigure as I pleased, as I had yet to connect with a Host, I configured, to allow you to generate and control drones made from the same crystal. While there is an upper limit for what you can generate at a time, the functional limit on how many you can control is best described as 'yes'. I think that is how that idiom works?"
At a nod from Jaeda, Adaline smiled. Success! "In addition, you have more or less the same multithreading capability. Please do experiments! I do so enjoy more Data to work with."
Adaline just wanted to hug her Host; she had the best brain! But time. Ugh, time. "But we are just about at the limit of Jaeda's tolerance."
Jaeda grimaced and spoke to her Host. "That's… the best I can do right now." And they were gone. How disappointing.
Hmm… to taunt the Shadow or not to taunt the Shadow? Actually, what has the SafeGuard been up to?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor woke… slowly, but without grogginess. She also remembered everything that had just happened and… why was her Power a nine foot tall naked woman! No, no, more importantly.
Pulling the cable out of her… port… oh god! That just didn't sound right! She turned to Jaeda and watched wide eyed for a long moment as nothing happened. She didn't move! She… no, calm down. Calm down!
Reaching out, Taylor pulled her hand back an inch from Jaeda's head! Her hair was hot… touching the blanket near it she frowned. How hot did cloth have to get before it- no.
Struggling to sit Jaeda up, Taylor did her best not to touch the hair that seemed to be some kind of cooling apparatus? But as soon as her head was fully up, heatwaves started pouring off of her hair.
"S-shower… c-col…" Jaeda muttered out, just barely audible. But that was all Taylor needed.
Getting the much heavier girl… woman? Girl, to the bathroom by herself was a struggle. But she managed it. Looking between Jaeda and the shower, Taylor bit her lip for a moment before struggling to strip Jaeda's clothes off as fast as she could. Then maneuver her into the tub.
Cranking on the cold water, she aimed it at Jaeda's head and let it run, plugging up the tub enough to let it fill a bit before unplugging it. But that seemed to do it.
Slowly Jaeda opened her eyes and muttered out. "Fuck, that was actually worse than that time with the Voodoo Boys. Fucking pricks."
Reaching up she scrubbed her face before turning to Taylor. "Right… Thank you, and sorry. I didn't know it would be that bad. Questions?"
"Um… What did she mean when she called you Troubleshooter?" Taylor asked, it wasn't the thing that stood out, but it was a good question.
"Back on Earth Gimel I was a Ripperdoc and part time Edgerunner. Edgerunners are by definition people who shoot trouble." It wasn't an answer Taylor particularly liked… but it was an answer, and it wasn't the worst?
"Ok… um… why was she naked? And nine foot tall?" Taylor asked, a little wide eyed.
"It's better than her last Avatar, trust me there. But… Shards, the things that grant powers? They aren't human. They don't think like humans. They don't have human sensibilities or cultural norms." Jaeda explained as she slowly got up.
"Right… um…" Taylor said, casting around for something to say or do instead of looking at Jaeda. "Experiment! I mean, I guess I should experiment with my powers! And um…"
"Don't worry about it. I mean, yeah, get an idea of what you can do and we can see about working with that." Wringing out her hair, Jaeda continued, "I'm going to be busy for a few days starting Monday."
"R-right." Taylor muttered, and boy was she doing that a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christmas with people I barely knew, and no decorations was… still better than- it was nice. Daniel and Taylor made me actually feel like part of their family, which was touching in more than a small part because it had been a long time since I had anyone I could say that about.
Daniel had been pleased with the watch I had gotten him, while Taylor had been giddy about the Laptop I had gotten her. Then I gave them the envelope that had everything Taylor needed to know for starting at Arcadia… and she broke down crying while Daniel seemed to struggle with it.
The fact neither of them had gotten me anything didn't bother me in the least. Something I had to repeat multiple times throughout the day. I mean, I was ok with it. I kind of just appeared after all. They barely knew me, and were tight on money.
And time passed, it was just a few days, yes. But time passed and I found myself at the Protectorate HQ out on the water. It was impressive in a retro-future kind of way.
I mean, they took an Oil Rig and moved it into the Bay to act as a base for their heroes… not the best move. Too much time spent getting to and from, but it wasn't my call to make.
On a side note, work on my workshop was just starting up and it would be a while. At least a month from the sounds of it. Not something I was happy about. But what can you do?
Walking into the Protectorate workshop, this one filled with precision machining tools and connected to a second and third workshops set up for lab work and electronics. It was a nice set up and definitely a subtle way to try and coerce me to join.
Turning to Armsmaster I was actually preempted by him informing me. "First order of business is to have you make any tools you feel you may need. I will be personally paying for the materials used to make them."
Huh… "Ok, I don't need many but there are a few that make things a great deal easier."
Like a real computer! Though I think I'll limit myself to something mobile. Connecting to the local network, I uploaded a number of medical tools and then the pieces I'd need for the computer. Then I set about getting a decent work playlist running.
"Well, lucky for you. I don't have to rewrite the software for anything as I keep a heavily compressed backup archive." I began as I started moving about the workshop… working. "But I'll warn you, don't replace the architecture of the base firmware. It's convoluted and looks a mess, but it has to be set up like that to mirror neural impulses and grey matter architecture."
It didn't take even a full day to build the computer, even with having to make everything from base materials and answering various questions. Armsmaster was actually very helpful with this, being able to follow instructions I gave better than I thought he would.
In between working on that, we looked over the plans for power armor he had cooked up and I have to admit, they were rather impressive. Especially the part where they ran on small batteries. Fucking batteries.
Adapting it to use the NAI for better reaction time was easy, building in a 'dummy barrier' ICE system with a data cable was also easy. The strength assist was decent, but focused on hydraulics, something I fixed with the introduction of myomer bundles. Doing something about the batteries, though? Or making the proposed jump assist thrusters work?
Well, working in some thermal converters wasn't hard, allowing the batteries to recharge at least some while in use. But it was hardly ideal. The thrusters? The original ideas were all too big to be feasible… but then Armsmaster brought up Kid Win's hoverboard. And the next day, Kid Win was there when I arrived to join us. He had a harder time not modifying anything I asked him to do, and ended up not being able to help get the NAI finished. But! Oh, that but!
He used a gravity repulsion system in his hoverboard. He even let me copy down all his work on it. Not that it helped me over much. It was fascinating, but out of my wheelhouse. That being said, we were able to come up with a Gravity Pulse Thruster that was easy to scale up or down as needed, and surprisingly cheap energy wise. Not to misrepresent, it was still a monster that devoured energy, but less than you would think.
It was also in my ability to build… barely, and only because it didn't use the Gravitic Lensing that his hover system did. How the bleeding hells do you lense gravity? No, I get the concept, it's fourth or fifth dimensional math and such. But how does this work!
The most notable part of that day though? It was how his Shard kept poking me. [Modular Construction] was… a Technology Shard of course, but it was less about new Data, and more about refining existing Data. in this case by making things easy to repair or repurpose. And it desperately wanted me to tell its Host to stop faffing about and make things Modular!
"So, Kid Win?" I finally asked as we… as I made them stop for the day. "You're having trouble figuring out your specialization, right?"
"Ah… yeah? I thought it might be Lasers… or maybe Gravity… but-" He cut himself off with a sigh of dejection.
Glancing at Armsmaster, I offered. "Maybe that's your problem. You keep assuming it's some form of tech, but maybe it's like your boss here." That got the attention of both of them. "Well, Armsmaster isn't, say, a halberd Tinker. But he uses one. His specialization even plays nice with non-tinker tech. Efficiency. The act of building things efficiently, or to be as efficient as possible."
"Hmm." Armsmaster hummed in agreement. "That sounds like it fits better than miniaturization. And even if it isn't exactly right you aren't wrong."
"Ok… so, what?" Kid Win asked, "It's some method of building things?"
Shrugging I offered, "Or designing them. From the looks of that Gravity Repulsion thing. I would say… Well, it looks like it should be able to be reconfigured but someone went and built it as a solid piece instead. Maybe it should be modular?"
"N-A-Th-I-" Kid Win muttered out. "Modular. Mod-u-lar… hmm… that… I'm totally a moron! Haha! Modular! It makes so much sense! But that means…"
Then he was running off.
"You knew from the start didn't you?" Armsmaster asked carefully.
Making air quotes, I replied, "'People' talk to me. Maybe try looking at things from a different angle, let's say, Time Efficiency. Make things you only have to maintain once a week? Once a month?"
Shaking my head, I continued with, "Don't expect this to happen all the time. But Tinkers I can mostly help. In this case, it was a small thing and the offered bounty was far over the asking price. How could I say no to something like that when it would help someone?"
We walked in silence for a hallway before he spoke again. "I suppose that's fair, and we all have something we keep to ourselves."
The next day found me spending a number of hours walking a group of brain surgeons through what was for me an excessively routine operation. When I did go into the surgery though, it was with two very competent 'nurses' instead of the usual automated setup I used.
Everything was just as mundane and typical as normal, even with the weird mask thing they insisted Armsmaster wear. It hid his face well enough, but still just seemed silly to me. If you can trust someone in your thinking meat, you can trust them not to blab about who you are.
From there… I spent the rest of the time I had before the shotgun barrel met my nose working with Taylor. More training, and starting her on unarmed kata instead of the more standard stretches.
I'm not sure what else there is to say? Time passed, and nothing happened.
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- Pronouns
- Niris
I... Don't know how to feel about it...
By all rights government and others should kiss the ground the MC is walking on, and not let YG meddle in, as the sooner MC go corporate the sooner they could buy the tech... This all seems little too forced... But still love this, all I'm trying to say that it's sounds too strange for me...
Nevertheless good work...
By all rights government and others should kiss the ground the MC is walking on, and not let YG meddle in, as the sooner MC go corporate the sooner they could buy the tech... This all seems little too forced... But still love this, all I'm trying to say that it's sounds too strange for me...
Nevertheless good work...
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
My feel on things is that the Youth Guard have too much power. They do nothing but make things harder on Wards and anyone else they can get there hands on. It's a power flex for the top of the YG.
- Location
- England
Apostrophes, mostly.
Taylor's
pallor
Yours
yours
TroubleShooter's
SafeGuard
misrepresent
- Pronouns
- Niris
That's actually good question, after all, Gene therapy or Gene mods could make others look younger in Cyberpunk and in theory...
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
MC is rolling with apparent age and just put that down on the forms for an identity. So, 17~.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Honestly, I could absolutely see the Youth Guard thing happening. However, I also expect it was let through as a way of building up material to sabotage the Youth Guard if they ever became actually problematic. Basically a case of "They even forced the person who brought the cures for cancer and organ cloning to go to school before they got access to any of the rewards for doing so. Despite them saying they came from another Earth, and the Youth Guard not even bother checking to find out what education said person had!"
If Jaeda doesn't cause problems, it means the PRT and others have an easier time keeping an eye on her so they can build profiles. If she rejects it... Well, that's a wonderful way of putting egg in the face of the Youth Guard and reducing their power, limited Jaeda's options and not hurting the PRT at all as it's not their fault. It's the sort of 'I win/I win, you lose either way and it's someone unrelated to me who takes the damage' move that people in the Worm-verse basically seem to have become culturally indoctrinated to use.
If Jaeda doesn't cause problems, it means the PRT and others have an easier time keeping an eye on her so they can build profiles. If she rejects it... Well, that's a wonderful way of putting egg in the face of the Youth Guard and reducing their power, limited Jaeda's options and not hurting the PRT at all as it's not their fault. It's the sort of 'I win/I win, you lose either way and it's someone unrelated to me who takes the damage' move that people in the Worm-verse basically seem to have become culturally indoctrinated to use.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Because it is convenient and though it doesn't look like it. Jaeda is starved for social interactions. Far more than Taylor was, just better at hiding it. I mean... Night City.
As for the YG, well, it wasn't accounted for because she was outside their power. And they will be suffering, but mostly in the background. I'm only now working on a PHO post about it, kind of, and I'm all the way to post ziz attack in writing... many paged deeper.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
I was under the impression Jaeda was over 18 before getting basically Isekai'd. She has made it publicly known she looks the way she does because of BioSculpt tech. Nothing in there says "this is a minor not an adult" - the Youth Guard only has the power over her that she gives them. So why is she giving them power?
If it was just a base for a hero team, yeah, it'd be an odd choice. But it's not just a base for a hero team. Among other things, they needed a secure site for the missile silos to launch the missiles referenced by the protocol for dealing with threat level 9+ hostile parahumans.
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
You're missing the closing single quote there: '"
...Seriously?!
Apparently the man has big, huge, brassy ones.
without
it, Alan
I'm looking forward for her revenge to be... spectacular. I wonder if the YG was involved in Hess being a Hess (I forget where, but someone made her name an adjective. It works quite well
). Even if not, I'm sure there are some interesting points to raise about their authority over a government department, or the amount of money they make (vs spend on worthy causes), or just how actually unhelpful they are. I wonder if Missy would be willing to help too?segues
I wonder if there's a sound that approximately 500 million eyeballs suddenly turning in your direction make?
"If it sells well." She's going to have more pull than some countries!
time, the functional
This was intentional, I'm sure. Either they're letting the YG stick their noses in to see if she'll push back (either because they don't want/need to spend the social credit or because they're testing her), they don't personally care since this person's going to solve the cancer issue either way (and agencies generally don't care if you get the time for a healthy personal life), and if she does raise a fuss it solves a problem for them.
Yeah, ramming her into school based on her apparent age is stupid, but it maybe could even be thrown as some kind of discrimination if she wanted to push for it. I actually know of someone who helped to get crossbow hunting generally legalized based on the fact that only old/weakened people could use them, on the basis of age discrimination.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
People doing people things and assuming her odd traits are what she's talking about which she was. Elfin ears, sapphire tattoos, perfectly trim body. Things like that.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Fictional elves tend to be either taller than human average or shorter - Tolkien-type are about the only ones I know of that are the same size as humans. A shorter elf type could easily be mistaken for a human teenager or even kid.
The fact she had even a street-level competency as a ripperdoc would tend to argue against her being a kid.
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Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
This, all the THIS. But I would like to point out, this is Earth Bet. Were common sense is murdered and people have idiot balls permanently attacked to their heads.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Even so, asking someone why the Youth Guard has a say in her affairs would certainly be in order.