I haven't played Cyberpunk 2077, but given reader comments about having to be in her 60s to know Alt, and even ignoring that, given that she still can't possibly be high school age, going on a date with Amy is *really* inappropriate. Doubly so if Amy doesn't know her actual age.
Firmament++ [Worm/CP2077]
- Thread starter Kerashana
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm cyberpunk (punk)
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
This is a plot point that will be covered. Maybe not to peoples satisfaction, but as there is nothing sexual in the relationship. Last I checked, that means it doesn't break any forum rules.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Things entering the pharma domain tend to buy you some leeway, but I do agree I probably should have had them make some move... but it is what it is. Would be too much of a bitch to go back and change that now. Also, the rule of thumb tends to be don't provoke the Parahuman with unknown powers. How many people know what Jaeda can do?
Cheers.
- Location
- miami
Easily fixed by having a empire cape point out just how public said person is they are running around with no mask and handed out the cure for cancer and a few other very choice bits of tech. Now that I think about it that would cause the gangs to back off she can't really go missing with out someone going looking. And she probably has some political clout from all this.
It's just most story's have empire and or lung be morons about it and try and kill or recruit any cape the pops up.
It's just most story's have empire and or lung be morons about it and try and kill or recruit any cape the pops up.
- Location
- Oz
Just found this and... wow. Just... I don't even.
The introduction of Tattletale in any role other than 'smacked down and arrested' always sours me on a fic but I've learned to deal with it since I know I'm in the minority when it comes to the idiot.
But this Youth Guard thing is stupid as all get out. She could easily just publicly go 'OK, do mention to the senators that I won't be releasing the other cures I mentioned' and watch the YG go down in flames.
Why would she even have put down 17? Why not 18, or a young 21? I'm in my thirties and keep getting people thinking I'm 20, it's not unheard of. It undermines her abilities, her knowledge, her accomplishments, and seems like a way for the government to later go 'well if shes still in highschool she obviously stole the cure so we're going to seize that bounty back after all' once they've gotten all they think they want out of her.
She wants to own property! That's a big plot point at this section of the story! Which is another reason she wouldn't say she's a minor who can't own property!
Also, she's from a society where sex is everywhere and she took herself off the menu for everyone. Unless you made her asexual and it hasn't come up yet.
This is just... wow. There's forced and then there's forced. If you want to railroad a plot at least try to make it make sense for the characters to fuck up and put themselves in that situation.
I am really hoping this gets better over the rest of the chapters I have to read because it has taken some massive nosedives the last few chapters.
The introduction of Tattletale in any role other than 'smacked down and arrested' always sours me on a fic but I've learned to deal with it since I know I'm in the minority when it comes to the idiot.
But this Youth Guard thing is stupid as all get out. She could easily just publicly go 'OK, do mention to the senators that I won't be releasing the other cures I mentioned' and watch the YG go down in flames.
Why would she even have put down 17? Why not 18, or a young 21? I'm in my thirties and keep getting people thinking I'm 20, it's not unheard of. It undermines her abilities, her knowledge, her accomplishments, and seems like a way for the government to later go 'well if shes still in highschool she obviously stole the cure so we're going to seize that bounty back after all' once they've gotten all they think they want out of her.
She wants to own property! That's a big plot point at this section of the story! Which is another reason she wouldn't say she's a minor who can't own property!
Also, she's from a society where sex is everywhere and she took herself off the menu for everyone. Unless you made her asexual and it hasn't come up yet.
This is just... wow. There's forced and then there's forced. If you want to railroad a plot at least try to make it make sense for the characters to fuck up and put themselves in that situation.
I am really hoping this gets better over the rest of the chapters I have to read because it has taken some massive nosedives the last few chapters.
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It's Cape. It was the guy at the entrance trying to yell a warning out to the other people inside the building they were raiding.
F++ Chapter 13
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: Hey! So, here's the next chapter. And the next after this will have some PHO goodness. Hope you all enjoy.
A/N 2: PHO is my chosen window into what's going on out ion the world. Mostly.
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Taylor frowned as they walked towards the house. She had already marked out all the people inside, seven not five. "I'll go in through the front, if you want to circle around back?"
Listening to Jaeda's story, Taylor didn't really expect this to be a challenge… on the other hand, Jaeda had more than sixteen-seventeen years of experience. More than the twenty something she had looked like in… that other place. And that wasn't even taking into account the ten plus years it would have taken her to even get to tween.
The real question was… did it bother her?
No, Taylor decided, it did not. After all, Jaeda just slotted herself into the role of older sister… or maybe Aunt. She didn't mother her, she was even brutal in training… though that made more sense… since Taylor had been augmented.
The world had changed, not literally, but how she saw it. She had to be careful with hugging her dad, not because she would pop him like a grape or something, but because she could easily bruise him without noticing. And this was just a taste of what high level Brutes deal with… how did Vicky do it?
But Taylor hit the front porch and shouldered open the front door, they hadn't even locked it. Of course, there had been a guy within a few steps of the door, and even as he started to speak, she lunged forward slamming her elbow into his stomach. And he crumpled backwards, she stepped past him and into the living room.
Three people were… as Jaeda called it, 'Zoned' in this room, so Taylor made for the kitchen.
Her drone told her exactly where the person in the kitchen was, and there were two upstairs, but it didn't help her as much as she had thought this kind of awareness would. After all, she didn't see the Shotgun that blasted into her chest and sent her flying back.
Eyes wide, Taylor started patting herself down, even as the swarm she kept in her clothes and hair lunged forward like some kind of Cthulhulian horror. Grasping tendrils of fragmented red crystal, and with it came her awareness. Blooming from her near proximity out along her attack. Every angle, every direction. She could see it all… and despite it making her eyes swim, she embraced it.
First move was to clog the gun barrel, even as other sections of the swarm blunted their edges as they slammed into the Merchants chest and sent him flying back. Then the swarm rushed in, forming a hard crystal cocoon around him. Just leaving his head free.
Reaching out, Taylor picked up her glasses, and put them back on… she would have to reconsider options for getting her vision fixed.
As she moved to use the zip cuffs she had been given to secure those who were too drugged out to fight back, she heard the sound of breaking glass, a thump, followed by a cry of pain… then a longer cry of pain.
Looking out a window, she found Lisa had tased a Merchant dumb enough to jump out a window on the second floor.
Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye, and noticed that one of her drones was moving down the street.
Rushing to the front door, Taylor realized her mistake as the first Merchant wasn't there, and by the time she made it to the yard, the drone was slowly coming back towards the house. The Merchant over Jaeda's shoulder.
"I-I surrender!" was called down from the second floor… wrapping everything up.
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Looking at her gloves again, Lisa couldn't help but clench her fists. That had been… easy. Amazingly so. Almost as if… Ah, of course. Jaeda had been expecting more from people. Probably expecting people to be like her in some way?
[Used to fighting enhanced humans. Equivalent to Brute .5 baseline.]
[Used to more lethal force used and required.]
[Is disappointed. Is proud.]
Of course, she was probably used to fighting tougher opponents. Oh… wonderful, she was probably going to force them to spar with her… and that was ok. Anything to not be stuck in another situation where Lisa was forced to work for someone because she wasn't able to fight back.
Looking up, Lisa watched as the Police pulled up, Assault following behind on a quick response bike. "Well, looks like you're finally taking them out for field training?"
Jaeda snorted in reply. "It's this, or turrets, mud, barbed wire, and pig guts."
[Only half joking.]
Sighing, Lisa pushed her powers back for now and moved to join her glorious leader. Noting Taylor walking out with a swarm of crystal bugs roiling around her. The police gave her a wide berth as they made their way into the house and the officer in charge walked up to them.
"Well, Assault." Lisa spoke happily, only having to force it a little, "What does the PRT want with us? It's hardly like we're going to join up and Piggot knows it."
"She's not the only one. But Parahumans were active here, so one of us needed to come out." Assault replied, "Anyways, the good Sergeant here probably wants to take your statements. So I'll let you get to that."
"Right." Said police officer said. "Let's begin with you." And of course he pointed at Jaeda.
The next few minutes were more tedious than useful and then they were off. Jaeda leading the way. "Well, that went better than expected. Thoughts?"
"I need to work on using my swarm in combat." Taylor immediately stated, "And maybe… join the Theater Club?"
Both Lisa herself, and Jaeda perked up at that. With Lisa managing to get the question out first. "How come?"
Not that she couldn't lean onher powerLoki to find out. But these were supposed to be her friends and… somehow it felt more honest to ask. Felt good.
"Fear mongering." Jaeda stated instead of asked. "A swarm of insects would lend itself well to it. But Q-Crystal drones? That could be so much worse."
Fear Mongering? Lisa wondered to herself… and maybe Loki.
[The use of fear as a weapon.]
"That's not-" Taylor bit out before trailing off, then with a sigh of resignation, "Yeah, I guess that's a good way to put it."
"Well, what's our next job boss?" Lisa asked as they walked.
With a characteristic shrug, Jaeda replied, "Just a bit of patrol. We don't want to kick off a Gang War. Not yet anyways. So we need to take things slow and get the players used to us."
Lisa couldn't help but blink at that. Jaeda planned on starting a Gang War?
[No, simply letting it start as you take actions to weaken the gangs.]
Ah, no. That made more sense. Hitting any gang would cause the others to start fighting over the now weaker gangs territory. Perhaps wiping the gang out. Merchants? Empire? ABB? "So, you plan to kick over the table and try to knife them as they fight each other?"
The question got a second smaller and more ambivalent shrug from her. "More or less. It will also force the PRT and Prot to go active. To widen the downtown safe zone. Casualties will be fewer over the course of the war than the city loses in a year. The trick is which gang to take over the underworld. I mean, the city will never be crime free, trust me on this. So, we need a favorite on that side to hold that side. Otherwise outside gangs or Parahumans looking to start gangs will flock in."
Taylor did not like that statement, and frowning thunderously she demanded. "That can't be true."
Jaeda replied with a wobble of her hand. But Lisa, smirking her grin, cut in. "It kind of is. Oh, it could happen, but you would have to thread an impossible needle and even then, some gang would show up eventually. Or a bunch of small gangs. Or… who knows. The best scenario would be a Mob family. They can be reasoned with, and tend to play by the rules. Even then, our only real option in the bay is Druggies or Lung."
They both nodded at that, Taylor doing so with much reluctance. "So- Hello!" Lisa said as a teenager got brave and approached them. And the conversation fell away, forgotten as they started socializing with random people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor was very unhappy as she got home. Having to back a Gang? Even if only by attacking them less? It was madness!
… Right?
"D-dad?" Taylor asked over breakfast.
"Yes kiddo?" He replied, looking up from his newspaper.
Frowning, Taylor struggled to find the right words. "Would… um, Both Jaeda and Lisa told me that… that we can't get rid of the gangs completely? That we need to choose one to win out over the other two?"
Her Dad grimaced, but with a sigh replied, "They… I would like to believe that we could push them out completely… but they're right. Crime is part of… of… of society. The best we can hope to do is to balance and check it. At this point though… yeah, I suppose you would have to choose a single gang to… let take over. Then slowly whittle them down. Slowly deescalate crime in the city. Even then… other gangs will try and push in. I bet the Butcher would love to force… their way back into the Bay."
Frown deepening, Taylor thought about that. The Butcher? That would mean the Teeth, and without Marquis… could they push the Teeth back out of town? Who else would… will try to push into the Bay? The Elite? The Fallen? Someone else?
Taylor fretted over it for a while as she ate, but her Father asked, "Why do you ask?"
"I… it just feels wrong, like giving up." Taylor answered as she got up.
Her father sighed, "Kiddo… that's an unfortunate part of growing up. It's not that things are any worse than they are. But you're old enough to see things as they really are. I'm sorry, I wish you could have remained innocent longer."
It was a depressing thought, and left Taylor feeling strangely… hollow inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so, Monday arrived. Valentine's Day. It found me carting a smallish box of fabulous chocolates around with me until Lunch, the only time my schedule really overlapped with the others. Of course the school was all decorated up for the day. Pink streamers and heart balloons everywhere. The usual cafeteria food replaced with better stuff. You know, the Corpo kid school stuff.
Taking my usual seat, I rummaged around in my bag before pulling out the small box and holding it out to Amy. "Happy Valentine's Day."
She reached out, taking it wide eyed. "This… Wow… thank you."
Meanwhile, Vickies jaw was practically on the floor. "Is that… holy hells… but a box of that chocolate costs hundreds of dollars!"
She wasn't wrong, the Tinker who made 'Tinker Chocolate' lived in Jamaica. He charged a great deal for all his products, and had limited capacity. Shipping was expensive as you paid for Porter, a teleporter to deliver it.
Shrugging I replied, "You're welcome Amy. But there's more back at the Workshop. I didn't feel like carrying the full load around."
Alec spoke up, asking, "So… which pack did you get her? Because that stuff is amazing."
Well, we clearly had the whole table- most of the cafeteria's attention. "Well… Heartlands Special."
Now her jaw was hanging wide open, and she started stammering, "B-but-but that's… but…"
But that's expensive? Well, yeah, very, very expensive, thousands of dollars expensive. And for only twenty five pounds of assorted chocolates, another five pounds of fruit gummies, one bong, a half-pound of marjauna, and a living marjuana plant.
It was a lot of… stuff.
"Don't worry." I assured her, "I've moved the living plant into the greenhouse, and will be keeping the… substances. But the rest is yours."
Jaw clicking shut, Amy practically came over the table at me, and Lisa had to move over to sit next to Vicky as she took the vacated seat next to me and snuggled into my side.
"I'm totally going to be coming over after school." She promised as she hugged me. "Then we're going out to dinner."
"I was actually thinking of doing dinner in." I informed her with a grin. "Just a bit of catering, but I figured you'd be alright with that."
She pulled back a bit and eyed me, then asked, "When did you plan all of this out?"
"Friday," I answered blithely. "I didn't realize Valentine's Day was a thing, until then actually. So, I threw money at the problem. Sorry if it's a bit impersonal."
"No, no." Amy replied, going back to snuggling into me. "It's fine. I… sorry, I didn't get you anything."
Smiling, genuinely and completely, I leaned my head on top of hers. "Sure you did. You agreed to be my girlfriend."
"I-" Amy spoke as she stiffened next to me, before the stiffness and tension just poured away and she muttered, "Yeah, yeah I did. But…"
Gently pulling her head back, I kissed her forehead. "I know, don't worry. I don't expect anything, not this early."
Humming contentedly, she went to speak when Vicky let out a loud grumble. "Oh come on! You've only just started going out and you're already… God, this is totes not fair."
Poor Dean. But at least I had, had the presence of mind to get him something to give to her. Help him defuse Vicky…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After lunch, we had gone our separate ways, Amy to muddle through classes, me to get everything decorated and nice in the living area. Then slip into a tasteful red dress, almost prudish by the Night City standards, and very mundane… very middle management by Corpo standards.
Then I made my way to the front door, not to meet Amy, she would be a little time in the coming, but to meet Porter and Rague, a top tier Thinker in France who made a living by running the best restaurant in the nation… possibly the world.
They arrived a little after I reached the door, looking to be a little late.
Opening the door, I waved them both in. "Please, come in."
We made a little small talk, in French, as I led them to the lounge, pointing out the taped off square for arrival. Then we talked about menus and such things. Rague was tired, I could tell, as she had been running full tilt for the day. But she was also very happy to take the offered paycheck for this odd bit of catering. The fact I wasn't expecting her A game, and told her such, probably also helped… or was seen as a challenge?
Porter on the other hand, had made sounds and words of approval at my Bass Guitar and spent most of his time going over the Bioware I had on offer. Things I was using to pay both of them. Rague simply wanted the healing factor and for me to remove a few scars and blemishes. Touch up work.
Then they were off, their payment being scheduled for next week. And I was left to wait for Amy. She arrived, not by Vicky, but by car which was only a little worrying.
As the car parked, I made my way to the door, watching through a camera as Mark Dallon got out and followed Amy to my door. He was… a lean but fit man with dark brown hair and looked younger than he probably was.
Amy on the other hand… was in a nice red dress herself. Very classy, and while not tight like mine was, it was very nice with a modest neckline… unlike mine which went down to my navel.
Opening the door, I smiled. "Evening."
The look on Amy's face was hard to place. Part of me wanted to call it awe, but that was my ego speaking. I guess surprise, and maybe appreciation? Well, I guess wearing the dress blindsided her. As intended.
I mean, people tend to be blindsided when I show up in a dress because I don't often wear them. It's something I've learned to… weaponize? Yeah, weaponize.
"Good evening." Mark agreed while Amy tried to find her words. "I'll be back to pick Amy up at ten. And I shouldn't have to tell you how bad of an idea it would be to overstep your bounds."
HA! "Oh me! Oh my!" I drawled out in reply, "He thinks he can give me the shovel talk. Cute. But Mr. Dallon, I couldn't do anything to her she didn't want. Her power wouldn't allow it, now would it?"
He frowned, before with a sigh nodding. "First Vicky being able to break any boyfriend who got too handsy over her knee. Now Amy dear, able to melt them into a pile of liquid flesh. What is a father to do?"
Nodding, I reached into a cabinet and pulled out one of my pile shotguns. "Well, here's a white phosphorus shotgun, and I'm sure you can find a shovel. Who knows, maybe you'll need it. You could also always try for another kid."
Taking the shotgun, he looked down at it, frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Point. I have to wonder, is this weapon even legal?"
"Hmm, who knows," I replied with a shrug, "I never looked into it."
That got a smirk from him. "Well, I should be on my way. See you at ten Amy."
"Ah, right!" Amy replied, snapping back into focus. "Thank you for the ride Dad!"
Huh… She calls her Mom by her name, but Mark by Dad? Wow, fucked up home life indeed.
Leading Amy in, we headed for the Lounge to find the lighting was already set to low, candles lit, and I hadn't done that… There were also two glasses of wine, a bowl of breadsticks and two low bowls of soup. Appetizer number one.
Leading her over, I sat her down, pulling out her chair, then pushing it in. Then took my own seat, Noting Porter standing unobtrusively in a shadow wearing a tux. Amy did not notice him, interesting.
Lighting? With a twitch of my eyes, I brought up an overlay that showed true darkness depth… and yeah, all but hidden. A little awkward, but I'd had interment dinners with worse, not that any of them had really been worthwhile.
As we ate, we talked, chattered about a bunch of things. I told her stories about Night City back in the 2020's, then a few from the years of the Red. She told me about growing up as the daughter of Superheroes. Eventually, Porter took the dessert dishes, and left for the last time leaving us alone for the first time that night.
Leading Amy over to the couches, I plopped down, and sighed. "Well, I guess this is it then."
"Hmm?" She asked from where she was leaning on my shoulder.
And now, for my next trick? I wreck the relationship I was very happy with. But she deserved to know. "I have something to tell you and… I'm not sure how you'll feel about me afterwards."
Now she was sitting up again, scooting over on the couch to put a little room between us so she could turn and look at me. "What do you mean?"
Her words were cautious and brought to mind someone looking at a bomb. Still, that was fair, this was a bomb in some ways. Some people would have problems with it, maybe a lot of people? "Well, you know how I'm-" I raised my hands and made air quotes here, "Super smart. Well, it's not because I'm super smart, smarter than most? Sure, I could buy that. Learned from far more advanced schools? Also true. But the truth is, I've had more than eighty years to hone my skills, to practice my craft."
Pursing her lips and bringing her eyebrows together, Amy asked, "What do- how?"
Nodding, I sighed, and leaned back against the couch, "Well, back on Earth Gimel, I was born in the year nineteen nintey, and lived in Night City all the way to twenty seventy-six. But you want to know how I'm only seventeen to your powers?"
She just sat there boggling for a while before nodding. "Yeah… yeah."
"Well," I started, "First off, you should know that the improved healing GeneAug is not a common one. It's… special. It extends your life. I got it in my forties, so my expected life expectancy was a hundred and thirty ish. Add to that other bioware, and just being able to maintain my body? I would have lasted a bit into my third century. If I wasn't killed."
Her eyes were wide as they really could get as she processed that. "Then?"
"Yeah, you have the same GeneAug, but our life expectancy is two centuries, more or less." I answered the unasked question and she just sat there mouth open. "Now, you know how I said I got here because of a space fold and a nuke?"
"Yeah?" She agreed numbly.
"Well, it's true, but I left out what happened between that and arriving here." I said, then I went on to tell her of my meeting SafeGuard, and then the Deal I had made, ending with. "I'm not sure how this body was made, but I'm pretty sure my old one can die without it affecting me now." And we sat there, Amy not reacting for a long time as she just processed things.
Finally, I spoke, "I'll understand if you want me to just fade. To disappear from your life. I can have the greenhouse moved and can cut all ties if you want. I just… it wouldn't be right to get into a serious relationship and keep this from you."
That finally got a reaction from her, but it was not what I had expected. Instead of showing anger, or… or what? Fear? Disgust? Well, she reacted with fear, just not in the way I expected. "What! No! No, don't you dare!"
Looking at the clock, I sighed, "Well… as nice as it is to hear that… you need to gather your things and head out."
"What?" She asked, indignantly.
I just pointed at a clock.
"Oh." She voiced her disappointment, after all, it was nine fifty three. "We aren't done! I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
Helping her gather her sugary treats and make her way to the door, I couldn't help but be bewildered. I mean… Most people even on Gimel got tripped up with age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She had… not quite agonized, but maybe fretted over Jaeda's revelation all night, and through school the next day. It was… Amy liked the gi- the… woman? Yeah, woman. Amy liked Jaeda. She was confident, kind, and always had an idea of what to do.
The fact she was way older than Amy's parents was… not as off putting as she had thought it would be. People are people. Besides, it should have been obvious. Jaeda looked like, and stylized herself like, an Elf. It should have been- no, it was right there, in their faces. How she would deflect questions about her age. How she spoke of working for a MegaCorp, then working freelance. How she had so many stories.
Amy didn't hate her for keeping it to herself and… she didn't have a problem with it. After all, for all her years and experience, Jaeda's body was seventeen years old. Just a mere year older than Amy herself. Was it squicky? She didn't think so. Not in the same way as an old man taking some eighteen year old as his bride. Age rolled on, and if what Jaeda had said was true, and it was, their little social circle was going to live for a long time… except not Vicky… That would need to be fixed.
[Simple and easy, maybe five minutes of work.]
But that wouldn't be a problem, Amy could do it herself. So it all came back to Jaeda being almost a century old.
Walking into 'the Workshop' Amy smiled as she watched Jaeda working on a suit of power armor. One of her longer running projects. Something about getting the plans and prototype from Armsmaster, but not liking how it was put together. Then there was the other project she was working on. A leg already finished and sitting in a cleared area. It was… big, not massive, but big. "Hey… Jaeda. Do you have a minute?"
Of course, Jaeda stilled for a moment before nodding and putting aside her tools. Looking like she was about to make the gallows walk. "Yeah, just give me a moment."
Nodding, Amy made her way to the lounge and made two cups of hot chocolate. She also noted that the decorations were only half taken down.
Then Jaeda entered.
They both took a seat, but Jaeda sat in an armchair and seemed to be waiting for Amy to pass judgment. With a sigh and shake of her head, Amy spoke, pushing a cup of hot chocolate over to her. "I've decided that I don't care how old you think you are."
It wasn't an elegant solution, but it was a very Bet solution. "Your body is seventeen. Good enough for me."
She couldn't help but smile, to get the warm fuzzies at the light that seemed to enter Jaeda's eyes. Not hope per se, but… relief, happiness that she was accepted for who she was. And of course other plans, shifting into gear inside that inscrutable skull.
"That's… good. That's good." Jaeda breathed out before taking up her hot chocolate. "So, now what?"
Smiling, Amy replied, "We never, ever, tell Carol. But that's it… really… and now I feel like I expected more from this. I…"
Jaeda gave her a relieved smile, and asked her, "I think we can do that. So, do you want to cuddle while watching shitty movies?"
Amy froze for a moment, the idea paralyzing her with… surprise? Uncertainty? She wasn't quite sure. On the other hand, it sounded like it could be a lot of fun. "Yeah, I think… I think I would like that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surveying my Node, I sighed, and leaned back in my throne. Things had changed… were changing? Things were different. The main body of my Node had transformed, it now consisted of Q-Sapphire, with Q-Crystal grass and small stones. The Throne itself now consisting of a tree trunk, and above me was a roof of green leaves and brown branches.
Around the tree's base a ring of water existed, electric blue and shimmering, it carved out a small stream meandering off to the side, terminating in a small pond. Though that might be a misnomer. The pond was small, but deep, in its glowing depth lived a server farm of Q-Crystal. Or it should have been.
Things had changed, first when I discovered Q-Sapphire… and now, again as I discovered Q-Topaz. A yellow variant of Q-Crystal that was nothing like topaz, but I was working off of a theme, so…
Where Q-C was a processor material, and Q-S was a structural material. Q-T was a conductive material. The copper of the Quantum realms? Not quite, but yeah. It was also a battery, and a capacitor, all depending on the shade. The lighter the shade the better flow. So, now my Node had a network of yellow veins running through it, all coming into a coil under the tree and my throne. At the center of the coil burned a small sun, fueled by… sources unknown to me.
I was… coming here more often, whenever I slept I would find myself here, and I wasn't sure why. But I had a few ideas… and they were mildly worrying- at best. But the discovery of Q-Topaz did change things a bit. It gave me more options, it meant I could build things completely out of Q-Mat. Which was good in its own way. I had a few projects I wanted to do that with, and I would need to do some work to my hardway to integrate these new things. My Data Fortress and servers mostly… but I think I would need to work on my chrome too. Replace it with these? Maybe, something to look over. At the very least I bet it would be a better sub-dermal layer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the week rolled on. Amy wasn't around as much as I would have liked, but she did spend time in the greenhouse. Though she mostly spent time at the Hospitals. I worked on Q-Mat, and what I could use it for. Not sub-dermal layers, it turned out. Too rigid. But it was good for most of my internal chrome. Which left me needing to find someone to switch everything out. Annoying, but doable. Probably.
But the biggest thing really was the realization that I could make just about anything with Q-Mat. It was an odd feeling, I was used to working with my hands, building things. But here I was, learning to make things by… By Will Alone.
I began work on two NAI, ones that were replicas of my own. More or less. Mine hadn't been made of anything but Q-Crystal. But getting a scan of it showed that had changed. Now my NAI was made of all the Q-Mat I knew about.
As for the power armor I had been working on. It was more or less functional, but I didn't want to bring it into things this early. And more time to refine designs was a great thing.
Then the weekend was here, and my minions… I mean, teammates wanted to do something bigger. To stretch themselves. Taylor specifically, seemed to have thought things over and… I couldn't tell her no. I mean, she was… outside my area of knowledge.
Sitting around Saturday, I sighed, and capitulated. Kind of. "Ok, Lisa, you have till nine to work up a useful brief on," I passed over a tablet, "This place. The Merchants are using it as a depot for drugs and guns. Oddly, there have been no trucks coming or going for deliveries. I'm guessing camo of some kind, or a Stranger. If I like what you and Taylor can come up with, I'll let you two start doing patrols. By the end of the month, I expect you to be mostly good to go. Training wise. Not that the training ever ends. So, I gave you intermediate Costumes. What you will wear until I'm happy with your skill. Give some thought to any changes you want. Though, Power Armor is in the future, so give thought to general features you'd want on a suit of that too."
Lisa was grinning, the Tablet sitting idly in her lap. "Power Armor! Yes please? I mean, you have a working suit right? Why not now?"
Reaching over, Taylor bopped Lisa on the head in a move that seemed too natural… but also a little out of place? "Because we need to learn to not rely on it. Unless you want to take a few years of engineering classes to be able to fix your set."
Huh… they seemed really comfortable with each other. It was kind of odd, but Taylor had been slowly coming out of her shell. Slowly becoming more outgoing. It was good to see, and made me realize… I was drifting away from them, a bit. It was kind of sad, but it was also life.
How did that song go? Hold on loosely? Yeah, something like that. The harder you hold on, the faster you lose people. Push them away.
Turning towards the doorway, I smiled as Amy came in with her sister following behind… and Dean? Really? Fucking… fine. I did not, however, miss the odd look Lisa was giving me. Like she had noticed something? Well, whatever.
"Well… I'm not sure this is a conversation for Dean. But-" I spoke, "None of us have anything to hide."
"Ah," He spoke, rubbing his neck. "Sorry. But I figured I shouldn't bring this up at school." Then he paused, mulling over what he wanted to say. "My parents feel that I should talk to you about price points for 'enhancement'. They are very insistent about it with my-" He eyed the others in the room before sighing and shaking his head ruefully. "Status as a Parahuman."
"Knew it!" Lisa blurted out triumphantly, even as Taylor turned a look on her. "So, what are you looking for?"
He gave me a shrug. "Don't know what you have."
That… right, that was fair. This wasn't Gimel.
"Right, let me get you a tablet." And I put action to words, adjusting price points… well, making a Bet version of my catalog. The whole software really, and wow… Some of these are expensive.
Handing the Tablet over, I told him, "You can pick and choose, it will inform you of compatibility issues, and things I have workarounds for, or complete reworks of. Wards… Protectorate and PRT personnel get ten percent off each item. Indie Heroes get five percent, though teams are welcome to negotiate a more substantial reduction if they think they have something to offer that I would be interested in."
"Er…" Dean replied taking the pad.
"I'll print you a packet. I'm sure your bosses will want to see it." I told him with a smile.
"Right… I'll just look this over." He muttered as Vicky floated over to see.
Sitting back down, I sighed and asked, "Taylor, you're fine. But Lisa, Amy, I need to replace your NAI with a… better one. Self repairing, able to bounce bullets… made of Q-Crystal. Once that's done, I have an experiment to run."
Amy raised an eyebrow, but Lisa asked, "What kind of experiment?"
"Ah…" I muttered, "Well, I want to see if you can use the QNN link here to step into the Firmament. If you can… things get interesting?"
"Interesting how?" Amy asked with a thoughtful frown on her face.
"At a guess," Taylor put in, "We'll be able to interact with our Shards."
Nodding at her, I motioned agreement. "I figure I can check with Taylor tomorrow morning. Then I can implant the Sub-Dermal Armor layer I plan to give all of you."
"What about meee!" Vicky whined from behind me… huh, right floating, silent.
"Well, get your Mom to clear it and you're good. But it's a bit expensive, and Amy could probably do the Bioware side of things for you." I replied with a casual shrug. "She's the world's number one healer, and my girlfriend. She gets it all free. These two are my responsibility, so they'll be as ready for the world as I can make them."
Vicky gave a pouty frown and complained, "But that's so not fair."
Rolling my eyes, I very obviously changed the subject, "Well, what do you two have so far?"
"Gah! We haven't even gotten started!" Lisa complained before those two put their heads together and started going over what I had given them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank grumbled to himself as he walked through the warehouse checking inventory, again, because he was the only god damn Merchant who wasn't baked out of their mind! Now, even he would admit he was far from clean. No merchant ever was. But he liked to be able to think, thank you very much.
Of course, that had led to him being here. In charge of one of the Merchants biggest stockpiles. And his fucking security was half blind with how high they were!
"Rick! No, bad! God damn it Rick!" Karl's voice filtered through from where he was panacing again. The fuck was up with him and seeing that damn Mime?
"Shut up, Karl!" Someone else yelled.
"No Rick! No one's coming. Just calm-" Karl's voice echoed through the building, "Oh god! No, Ahhh-"
That… was not what usually happened.
Then his supposed guard came running out of the front room eyes wide in terror followed by grasping tindrils of red crystal specs… "Oh fucking god!"
And he turned around and ran for it. Right into the waiting grasp of a white fox? Frank wasn't sure what happened, all he knew was that it was quite shocking, then blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa frowned down at the tased Merchant, then out into the main warehouse where Merchants were cocooned in red crystal. That was it? That couldn't be it! That was way too easy!
[Conflict decisively ended with superior knowledge and tactics.]
This was… "Well, damn. No wonder Jaeda says this is training." It was a milk run. They were all milk runs? No, that was arrogant. Stupid. No, Jaeda had obviously picked the Merchants because they were so easy to deal with there was little real threat.
[Doesn't want to impede growth. Sticking to hands off so you can learn to stand on your own.]
It was also why Jaeda had been so standoffish. It wasn't being standoffish, it was giving them room to grow. Room to stand on their own.
Zipcuffing the Merchant, she dragged him out to join the others and got all warm and tengaly when it didn't take undo effort. It didn't even strain her! This exercise thing was proving to be pretty annoying, but the benefits! Oh, those delicious benefits! Abs! More energy! It was amazing.
Calling things in, they moved the Merchants over to zipcuffs and piling their over dramatic asses on the curb, Taylor asked, "It's not just me… right? This is… too easy? Just… I don't know, anti-climactic?"
"Yeah, but…" Lisa replied with a shrug.
[They are pathetic.]
"They are Merchants. What did you expect?"
With a despondent sigh, Taylor… sorry, Administrator, asked, "When do you think we can hit the other gangs?"
It was a fair question, but one with an obvious answer. "Power Armor."
"Right." Administrator muttered. "Do you have a problem with this? With…"
[Is concerned about falling into a rut. Worried this won't help the city.]
Sighing, Lisa walked over to Taylor and pulled her into a hug, causing the other girl to freeze up. "Don't worry, the Boss knows what she's doing. If we rush in, well there might not be a city left."
Slowly, Taylor returned the hug. "I know, but it's just… I feel… lost."
"Well, you don't act it." She replied before letting go. "Come on, the police will be here shortly."
A/N 2: PHO is my chosen window into what's going on out ion the world. Mostly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor frowned as they walked towards the house. She had already marked out all the people inside, seven not five. "I'll go in through the front, if you want to circle around back?"
Listening to Jaeda's story, Taylor didn't really expect this to be a challenge… on the other hand, Jaeda had more than sixteen-seventeen years of experience. More than the twenty something she had looked like in… that other place. And that wasn't even taking into account the ten plus years it would have taken her to even get to tween.
The real question was… did it bother her?
No, Taylor decided, it did not. After all, Jaeda just slotted herself into the role of older sister… or maybe Aunt. She didn't mother her, she was even brutal in training… though that made more sense… since Taylor had been augmented.
The world had changed, not literally, but how she saw it. She had to be careful with hugging her dad, not because she would pop him like a grape or something, but because she could easily bruise him without noticing. And this was just a taste of what high level Brutes deal with… how did Vicky do it?
But Taylor hit the front porch and shouldered open the front door, they hadn't even locked it. Of course, there had been a guy within a few steps of the door, and even as he started to speak, she lunged forward slamming her elbow into his stomach. And he crumpled backwards, she stepped past him and into the living room.
Three people were… as Jaeda called it, 'Zoned' in this room, so Taylor made for the kitchen.
Her drone told her exactly where the person in the kitchen was, and there were two upstairs, but it didn't help her as much as she had thought this kind of awareness would. After all, she didn't see the Shotgun that blasted into her chest and sent her flying back.
Eyes wide, Taylor started patting herself down, even as the swarm she kept in her clothes and hair lunged forward like some kind of Cthulhulian horror. Grasping tendrils of fragmented red crystal, and with it came her awareness. Blooming from her near proximity out along her attack. Every angle, every direction. She could see it all… and despite it making her eyes swim, she embraced it.
First move was to clog the gun barrel, even as other sections of the swarm blunted their edges as they slammed into the Merchants chest and sent him flying back. Then the swarm rushed in, forming a hard crystal cocoon around him. Just leaving his head free.
Reaching out, Taylor picked up her glasses, and put them back on… she would have to reconsider options for getting her vision fixed.
As she moved to use the zip cuffs she had been given to secure those who were too drugged out to fight back, she heard the sound of breaking glass, a thump, followed by a cry of pain… then a longer cry of pain.
Looking out a window, she found Lisa had tased a Merchant dumb enough to jump out a window on the second floor.
Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye, and noticed that one of her drones was moving down the street.
Rushing to the front door, Taylor realized her mistake as the first Merchant wasn't there, and by the time she made it to the yard, the drone was slowly coming back towards the house. The Merchant over Jaeda's shoulder.
"I-I surrender!" was called down from the second floor… wrapping everything up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at her gloves again, Lisa couldn't help but clench her fists. That had been… easy. Amazingly so. Almost as if… Ah, of course. Jaeda had been expecting more from people. Probably expecting people to be like her in some way?
[Used to fighting enhanced humans. Equivalent to Brute .5 baseline.]
[Used to more lethal force used and required.]
[Is disappointed. Is proud.]
Of course, she was probably used to fighting tougher opponents. Oh… wonderful, she was probably going to force them to spar with her… and that was ok. Anything to not be stuck in another situation where Lisa was forced to work for someone because she wasn't able to fight back.
Looking up, Lisa watched as the Police pulled up, Assault following behind on a quick response bike. "Well, looks like you're finally taking them out for field training?"
Jaeda snorted in reply. "It's this, or turrets, mud, barbed wire, and pig guts."
[Only half joking.]
Sighing, Lisa pushed her powers back for now and moved to join her glorious leader. Noting Taylor walking out with a swarm of crystal bugs roiling around her. The police gave her a wide berth as they made their way into the house and the officer in charge walked up to them.
"Well, Assault." Lisa spoke happily, only having to force it a little, "What does the PRT want with us? It's hardly like we're going to join up and Piggot knows it."
"She's not the only one. But Parahumans were active here, so one of us needed to come out." Assault replied, "Anyways, the good Sergeant here probably wants to take your statements. So I'll let you get to that."
"Right." Said police officer said. "Let's begin with you." And of course he pointed at Jaeda.
The next few minutes were more tedious than useful and then they were off. Jaeda leading the way. "Well, that went better than expected. Thoughts?"
"I need to work on using my swarm in combat." Taylor immediately stated, "And maybe… join the Theater Club?"
Both Lisa herself, and Jaeda perked up at that. With Lisa managing to get the question out first. "How come?"
Not that she couldn't lean on
"Fear mongering." Jaeda stated instead of asked. "A swarm of insects would lend itself well to it. But Q-Crystal drones? That could be so much worse."
Fear Mongering? Lisa wondered to herself… and maybe Loki.
[The use of fear as a weapon.]
"That's not-" Taylor bit out before trailing off, then with a sigh of resignation, "Yeah, I guess that's a good way to put it."
"Well, what's our next job boss?" Lisa asked as they walked.
With a characteristic shrug, Jaeda replied, "Just a bit of patrol. We don't want to kick off a Gang War. Not yet anyways. So we need to take things slow and get the players used to us."
Lisa couldn't help but blink at that. Jaeda planned on starting a Gang War?
[No, simply letting it start as you take actions to weaken the gangs.]
Ah, no. That made more sense. Hitting any gang would cause the others to start fighting over the now weaker gangs territory. Perhaps wiping the gang out. Merchants? Empire? ABB? "So, you plan to kick over the table and try to knife them as they fight each other?"
The question got a second smaller and more ambivalent shrug from her. "More or less. It will also force the PRT and Prot to go active. To widen the downtown safe zone. Casualties will be fewer over the course of the war than the city loses in a year. The trick is which gang to take over the underworld. I mean, the city will never be crime free, trust me on this. So, we need a favorite on that side to hold that side. Otherwise outside gangs or Parahumans looking to start gangs will flock in."
Taylor did not like that statement, and frowning thunderously she demanded. "That can't be true."
Jaeda replied with a wobble of her hand. But Lisa, smirking her grin, cut in. "It kind of is. Oh, it could happen, but you would have to thread an impossible needle and even then, some gang would show up eventually. Or a bunch of small gangs. Or… who knows. The best scenario would be a Mob family. They can be reasoned with, and tend to play by the rules. Even then, our only real option in the bay is Druggies or Lung."
They both nodded at that, Taylor doing so with much reluctance. "So- Hello!" Lisa said as a teenager got brave and approached them. And the conversation fell away, forgotten as they started socializing with random people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor was very unhappy as she got home. Having to back a Gang? Even if only by attacking them less? It was madness!
… Right?
"D-dad?" Taylor asked over breakfast.
"Yes kiddo?" He replied, looking up from his newspaper.
Frowning, Taylor struggled to find the right words. "Would… um, Both Jaeda and Lisa told me that… that we can't get rid of the gangs completely? That we need to choose one to win out over the other two?"
Her Dad grimaced, but with a sigh replied, "They… I would like to believe that we could push them out completely… but they're right. Crime is part of… of… of society. The best we can hope to do is to balance and check it. At this point though… yeah, I suppose you would have to choose a single gang to… let take over. Then slowly whittle them down. Slowly deescalate crime in the city. Even then… other gangs will try and push in. I bet the Butcher would love to force… their way back into the Bay."
Frown deepening, Taylor thought about that. The Butcher? That would mean the Teeth, and without Marquis… could they push the Teeth back out of town? Who else would… will try to push into the Bay? The Elite? The Fallen? Someone else?
Taylor fretted over it for a while as she ate, but her Father asked, "Why do you ask?"
"I… it just feels wrong, like giving up." Taylor answered as she got up.
Her father sighed, "Kiddo… that's an unfortunate part of growing up. It's not that things are any worse than they are. But you're old enough to see things as they really are. I'm sorry, I wish you could have remained innocent longer."
It was a depressing thought, and left Taylor feeling strangely… hollow inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so, Monday arrived. Valentine's Day. It found me carting a smallish box of fabulous chocolates around with me until Lunch, the only time my schedule really overlapped with the others. Of course the school was all decorated up for the day. Pink streamers and heart balloons everywhere. The usual cafeteria food replaced with better stuff. You know, the Corpo kid school stuff.
Taking my usual seat, I rummaged around in my bag before pulling out the small box and holding it out to Amy. "Happy Valentine's Day."
She reached out, taking it wide eyed. "This… Wow… thank you."
Meanwhile, Vickies jaw was practically on the floor. "Is that… holy hells… but a box of that chocolate costs hundreds of dollars!"
She wasn't wrong, the Tinker who made 'Tinker Chocolate' lived in Jamaica. He charged a great deal for all his products, and had limited capacity. Shipping was expensive as you paid for Porter, a teleporter to deliver it.
Shrugging I replied, "You're welcome Amy. But there's more back at the Workshop. I didn't feel like carrying the full load around."
Alec spoke up, asking, "So… which pack did you get her? Because that stuff is amazing."
Well, we clearly had the whole table- most of the cafeteria's attention. "Well… Heartlands Special."
Now her jaw was hanging wide open, and she started stammering, "B-but-but that's… but…"
But that's expensive? Well, yeah, very, very expensive, thousands of dollars expensive. And for only twenty five pounds of assorted chocolates, another five pounds of fruit gummies, one bong, a half-pound of marjauna, and a living marjuana plant.
It was a lot of… stuff.
"Don't worry." I assured her, "I've moved the living plant into the greenhouse, and will be keeping the… substances. But the rest is yours."
Jaw clicking shut, Amy practically came over the table at me, and Lisa had to move over to sit next to Vicky as she took the vacated seat next to me and snuggled into my side.
"I'm totally going to be coming over after school." She promised as she hugged me. "Then we're going out to dinner."
"I was actually thinking of doing dinner in." I informed her with a grin. "Just a bit of catering, but I figured you'd be alright with that."
She pulled back a bit and eyed me, then asked, "When did you plan all of this out?"
"Friday," I answered blithely. "I didn't realize Valentine's Day was a thing, until then actually. So, I threw money at the problem. Sorry if it's a bit impersonal."
"No, no." Amy replied, going back to snuggling into me. "It's fine. I… sorry, I didn't get you anything."
Smiling, genuinely and completely, I leaned my head on top of hers. "Sure you did. You agreed to be my girlfriend."
"I-" Amy spoke as she stiffened next to me, before the stiffness and tension just poured away and she muttered, "Yeah, yeah I did. But…"
Gently pulling her head back, I kissed her forehead. "I know, don't worry. I don't expect anything, not this early."
Humming contentedly, she went to speak when Vicky let out a loud grumble. "Oh come on! You've only just started going out and you're already… God, this is totes not fair."
Poor Dean. But at least I had, had the presence of mind to get him something to give to her. Help him defuse Vicky…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After lunch, we had gone our separate ways, Amy to muddle through classes, me to get everything decorated and nice in the living area. Then slip into a tasteful red dress, almost prudish by the Night City standards, and very mundane… very middle management by Corpo standards.
Then I made my way to the front door, not to meet Amy, she would be a little time in the coming, but to meet Porter and Rague, a top tier Thinker in France who made a living by running the best restaurant in the nation… possibly the world.
They arrived a little after I reached the door, looking to be a little late.
Opening the door, I waved them both in. "Please, come in."
We made a little small talk, in French, as I led them to the lounge, pointing out the taped off square for arrival. Then we talked about menus and such things. Rague was tired, I could tell, as she had been running full tilt for the day. But she was also very happy to take the offered paycheck for this odd bit of catering. The fact I wasn't expecting her A game, and told her such, probably also helped… or was seen as a challenge?
Porter on the other hand, had made sounds and words of approval at my Bass Guitar and spent most of his time going over the Bioware I had on offer. Things I was using to pay both of them. Rague simply wanted the healing factor and for me to remove a few scars and blemishes. Touch up work.
Then they were off, their payment being scheduled for next week. And I was left to wait for Amy. She arrived, not by Vicky, but by car which was only a little worrying.
As the car parked, I made my way to the door, watching through a camera as Mark Dallon got out and followed Amy to my door. He was… a lean but fit man with dark brown hair and looked younger than he probably was.
Amy on the other hand… was in a nice red dress herself. Very classy, and while not tight like mine was, it was very nice with a modest neckline… unlike mine which went down to my navel.
Opening the door, I smiled. "Evening."
The look on Amy's face was hard to place. Part of me wanted to call it awe, but that was my ego speaking. I guess surprise, and maybe appreciation? Well, I guess wearing the dress blindsided her. As intended.
I mean, people tend to be blindsided when I show up in a dress because I don't often wear them. It's something I've learned to… weaponize? Yeah, weaponize.
"Good evening." Mark agreed while Amy tried to find her words. "I'll be back to pick Amy up at ten. And I shouldn't have to tell you how bad of an idea it would be to overstep your bounds."
HA! "Oh me! Oh my!" I drawled out in reply, "He thinks he can give me the shovel talk. Cute. But Mr. Dallon, I couldn't do anything to her she didn't want. Her power wouldn't allow it, now would it?"
He frowned, before with a sigh nodding. "First Vicky being able to break any boyfriend who got too handsy over her knee. Now Amy dear, able to melt them into a pile of liquid flesh. What is a father to do?"
Nodding, I reached into a cabinet and pulled out one of my pile shotguns. "Well, here's a white phosphorus shotgun, and I'm sure you can find a shovel. Who knows, maybe you'll need it. You could also always try for another kid."
Taking the shotgun, he looked down at it, frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Point. I have to wonder, is this weapon even legal?"
"Hmm, who knows," I replied with a shrug, "I never looked into it."
That got a smirk from him. "Well, I should be on my way. See you at ten Amy."
"Ah, right!" Amy replied, snapping back into focus. "Thank you for the ride Dad!"
Huh… She calls her Mom by her name, but Mark by Dad? Wow, fucked up home life indeed.
Leading Amy in, we headed for the Lounge to find the lighting was already set to low, candles lit, and I hadn't done that… There were also two glasses of wine, a bowl of breadsticks and two low bowls of soup. Appetizer number one.
Leading her over, I sat her down, pulling out her chair, then pushing it in. Then took my own seat, Noting Porter standing unobtrusively in a shadow wearing a tux. Amy did not notice him, interesting.
Lighting? With a twitch of my eyes, I brought up an overlay that showed true darkness depth… and yeah, all but hidden. A little awkward, but I'd had interment dinners with worse, not that any of them had really been worthwhile.
As we ate, we talked, chattered about a bunch of things. I told her stories about Night City back in the 2020's, then a few from the years of the Red. She told me about growing up as the daughter of Superheroes. Eventually, Porter took the dessert dishes, and left for the last time leaving us alone for the first time that night.
Leading Amy over to the couches, I plopped down, and sighed. "Well, I guess this is it then."
"Hmm?" She asked from where she was leaning on my shoulder.
And now, for my next trick? I wreck the relationship I was very happy with. But she deserved to know. "I have something to tell you and… I'm not sure how you'll feel about me afterwards."
Now she was sitting up again, scooting over on the couch to put a little room between us so she could turn and look at me. "What do you mean?"
Her words were cautious and brought to mind someone looking at a bomb. Still, that was fair, this was a bomb in some ways. Some people would have problems with it, maybe a lot of people? "Well, you know how I'm-" I raised my hands and made air quotes here, "Super smart. Well, it's not because I'm super smart, smarter than most? Sure, I could buy that. Learned from far more advanced schools? Also true. But the truth is, I've had more than eighty years to hone my skills, to practice my craft."
Pursing her lips and bringing her eyebrows together, Amy asked, "What do- how?"
Nodding, I sighed, and leaned back against the couch, "Well, back on Earth Gimel, I was born in the year nineteen nintey, and lived in Night City all the way to twenty seventy-six. But you want to know how I'm only seventeen to your powers?"
She just sat there boggling for a while before nodding. "Yeah… yeah."
"Well," I started, "First off, you should know that the improved healing GeneAug is not a common one. It's… special. It extends your life. I got it in my forties, so my expected life expectancy was a hundred and thirty ish. Add to that other bioware, and just being able to maintain my body? I would have lasted a bit into my third century. If I wasn't killed."
Her eyes were wide as they really could get as she processed that. "Then?"
"Yeah, you have the same GeneAug, but our life expectancy is two centuries, more or less." I answered the unasked question and she just sat there mouth open. "Now, you know how I said I got here because of a space fold and a nuke?"
"Yeah?" She agreed numbly.
"Well, it's true, but I left out what happened between that and arriving here." I said, then I went on to tell her of my meeting SafeGuard, and then the Deal I had made, ending with. "I'm not sure how this body was made, but I'm pretty sure my old one can die without it affecting me now." And we sat there, Amy not reacting for a long time as she just processed things.
Finally, I spoke, "I'll understand if you want me to just fade. To disappear from your life. I can have the greenhouse moved and can cut all ties if you want. I just… it wouldn't be right to get into a serious relationship and keep this from you."
That finally got a reaction from her, but it was not what I had expected. Instead of showing anger, or… or what? Fear? Disgust? Well, she reacted with fear, just not in the way I expected. "What! No! No, don't you dare!"
Looking at the clock, I sighed, "Well… as nice as it is to hear that… you need to gather your things and head out."
"What?" She asked, indignantly.
I just pointed at a clock.
"Oh." She voiced her disappointment, after all, it was nine fifty three. "We aren't done! I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
Helping her gather her sugary treats and make her way to the door, I couldn't help but be bewildered. I mean… Most people even on Gimel got tripped up with age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She had… not quite agonized, but maybe fretted over Jaeda's revelation all night, and through school the next day. It was… Amy liked the gi- the… woman? Yeah, woman. Amy liked Jaeda. She was confident, kind, and always had an idea of what to do.
The fact she was way older than Amy's parents was… not as off putting as she had thought it would be. People are people. Besides, it should have been obvious. Jaeda looked like, and stylized herself like, an Elf. It should have been- no, it was right there, in their faces. How she would deflect questions about her age. How she spoke of working for a MegaCorp, then working freelance. How she had so many stories.
Amy didn't hate her for keeping it to herself and… she didn't have a problem with it. After all, for all her years and experience, Jaeda's body was seventeen years old. Just a mere year older than Amy herself. Was it squicky? She didn't think so. Not in the same way as an old man taking some eighteen year old as his bride. Age rolled on, and if what Jaeda had said was true, and it was, their little social circle was going to live for a long time… except not Vicky… That would need to be fixed.
[Simple and easy, maybe five minutes of work.]
But that wouldn't be a problem, Amy could do it herself. So it all came back to Jaeda being almost a century old.
Walking into 'the Workshop' Amy smiled as she watched Jaeda working on a suit of power armor. One of her longer running projects. Something about getting the plans and prototype from Armsmaster, but not liking how it was put together. Then there was the other project she was working on. A leg already finished and sitting in a cleared area. It was… big, not massive, but big. "Hey… Jaeda. Do you have a minute?"
Of course, Jaeda stilled for a moment before nodding and putting aside her tools. Looking like she was about to make the gallows walk. "Yeah, just give me a moment."
Nodding, Amy made her way to the lounge and made two cups of hot chocolate. She also noted that the decorations were only half taken down.
Then Jaeda entered.
They both took a seat, but Jaeda sat in an armchair and seemed to be waiting for Amy to pass judgment. With a sigh and shake of her head, Amy spoke, pushing a cup of hot chocolate over to her. "I've decided that I don't care how old you think you are."
It wasn't an elegant solution, but it was a very Bet solution. "Your body is seventeen. Good enough for me."
She couldn't help but smile, to get the warm fuzzies at the light that seemed to enter Jaeda's eyes. Not hope per se, but… relief, happiness that she was accepted for who she was. And of course other plans, shifting into gear inside that inscrutable skull.
"That's… good. That's good." Jaeda breathed out before taking up her hot chocolate. "So, now what?"
Smiling, Amy replied, "We never, ever, tell Carol. But that's it… really… and now I feel like I expected more from this. I…"
Jaeda gave her a relieved smile, and asked her, "I think we can do that. So, do you want to cuddle while watching shitty movies?"
Amy froze for a moment, the idea paralyzing her with… surprise? Uncertainty? She wasn't quite sure. On the other hand, it sounded like it could be a lot of fun. "Yeah, I think… I think I would like that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surveying my Node, I sighed, and leaned back in my throne. Things had changed… were changing? Things were different. The main body of my Node had transformed, it now consisted of Q-Sapphire, with Q-Crystal grass and small stones. The Throne itself now consisting of a tree trunk, and above me was a roof of green leaves and brown branches.
Around the tree's base a ring of water existed, electric blue and shimmering, it carved out a small stream meandering off to the side, terminating in a small pond. Though that might be a misnomer. The pond was small, but deep, in its glowing depth lived a server farm of Q-Crystal. Or it should have been.
Things had changed, first when I discovered Q-Sapphire… and now, again as I discovered Q-Topaz. A yellow variant of Q-Crystal that was nothing like topaz, but I was working off of a theme, so…
Where Q-C was a processor material, and Q-S was a structural material. Q-T was a conductive material. The copper of the Quantum realms? Not quite, but yeah. It was also a battery, and a capacitor, all depending on the shade. The lighter the shade the better flow. So, now my Node had a network of yellow veins running through it, all coming into a coil under the tree and my throne. At the center of the coil burned a small sun, fueled by… sources unknown to me.
I was… coming here more often, whenever I slept I would find myself here, and I wasn't sure why. But I had a few ideas… and they were mildly worrying- at best. But the discovery of Q-Topaz did change things a bit. It gave me more options, it meant I could build things completely out of Q-Mat. Which was good in its own way. I had a few projects I wanted to do that with, and I would need to do some work to my hardway to integrate these new things. My Data Fortress and servers mostly… but I think I would need to work on my chrome too. Replace it with these? Maybe, something to look over. At the very least I bet it would be a better sub-dermal layer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the week rolled on. Amy wasn't around as much as I would have liked, but she did spend time in the greenhouse. Though she mostly spent time at the Hospitals. I worked on Q-Mat, and what I could use it for. Not sub-dermal layers, it turned out. Too rigid. But it was good for most of my internal chrome. Which left me needing to find someone to switch everything out. Annoying, but doable. Probably.
But the biggest thing really was the realization that I could make just about anything with Q-Mat. It was an odd feeling, I was used to working with my hands, building things. But here I was, learning to make things by… By Will Alone.
I began work on two NAI, ones that were replicas of my own. More or less. Mine hadn't been made of anything but Q-Crystal. But getting a scan of it showed that had changed. Now my NAI was made of all the Q-Mat I knew about.
As for the power armor I had been working on. It was more or less functional, but I didn't want to bring it into things this early. And more time to refine designs was a great thing.
Then the weekend was here, and my minions… I mean, teammates wanted to do something bigger. To stretch themselves. Taylor specifically, seemed to have thought things over and… I couldn't tell her no. I mean, she was… outside my area of knowledge.
Sitting around Saturday, I sighed, and capitulated. Kind of. "Ok, Lisa, you have till nine to work up a useful brief on," I passed over a tablet, "This place. The Merchants are using it as a depot for drugs and guns. Oddly, there have been no trucks coming or going for deliveries. I'm guessing camo of some kind, or a Stranger. If I like what you and Taylor can come up with, I'll let you two start doing patrols. By the end of the month, I expect you to be mostly good to go. Training wise. Not that the training ever ends. So, I gave you intermediate Costumes. What you will wear until I'm happy with your skill. Give some thought to any changes you want. Though, Power Armor is in the future, so give thought to general features you'd want on a suit of that too."
Lisa was grinning, the Tablet sitting idly in her lap. "Power Armor! Yes please? I mean, you have a working suit right? Why not now?"
Reaching over, Taylor bopped Lisa on the head in a move that seemed too natural… but also a little out of place? "Because we need to learn to not rely on it. Unless you want to take a few years of engineering classes to be able to fix your set."
Huh… they seemed really comfortable with each other. It was kind of odd, but Taylor had been slowly coming out of her shell. Slowly becoming more outgoing. It was good to see, and made me realize… I was drifting away from them, a bit. It was kind of sad, but it was also life.
How did that song go? Hold on loosely? Yeah, something like that. The harder you hold on, the faster you lose people. Push them away.
Turning towards the doorway, I smiled as Amy came in with her sister following behind… and Dean? Really? Fucking… fine. I did not, however, miss the odd look Lisa was giving me. Like she had noticed something? Well, whatever.
"Well… I'm not sure this is a conversation for Dean. But-" I spoke, "None of us have anything to hide."
"Ah," He spoke, rubbing his neck. "Sorry. But I figured I shouldn't bring this up at school." Then he paused, mulling over what he wanted to say. "My parents feel that I should talk to you about price points for 'enhancement'. They are very insistent about it with my-" He eyed the others in the room before sighing and shaking his head ruefully. "Status as a Parahuman."
"Knew it!" Lisa blurted out triumphantly, even as Taylor turned a look on her. "So, what are you looking for?"
He gave me a shrug. "Don't know what you have."
That… right, that was fair. This wasn't Gimel.
"Right, let me get you a tablet." And I put action to words, adjusting price points… well, making a Bet version of my catalog. The whole software really, and wow… Some of these are expensive.
Handing the Tablet over, I told him, "You can pick and choose, it will inform you of compatibility issues, and things I have workarounds for, or complete reworks of. Wards… Protectorate and PRT personnel get ten percent off each item. Indie Heroes get five percent, though teams are welcome to negotiate a more substantial reduction if they think they have something to offer that I would be interested in."
"Er…" Dean replied taking the pad.
"I'll print you a packet. I'm sure your bosses will want to see it." I told him with a smile.
"Right… I'll just look this over." He muttered as Vicky floated over to see.
Sitting back down, I sighed and asked, "Taylor, you're fine. But Lisa, Amy, I need to replace your NAI with a… better one. Self repairing, able to bounce bullets… made of Q-Crystal. Once that's done, I have an experiment to run."
Amy raised an eyebrow, but Lisa asked, "What kind of experiment?"
"Ah…" I muttered, "Well, I want to see if you can use the QNN link here to step into the Firmament. If you can… things get interesting?"
"Interesting how?" Amy asked with a thoughtful frown on her face.
"At a guess," Taylor put in, "We'll be able to interact with our Shards."
Nodding at her, I motioned agreement. "I figure I can check with Taylor tomorrow morning. Then I can implant the Sub-Dermal Armor layer I plan to give all of you."
"What about meee!" Vicky whined from behind me… huh, right floating, silent.
"Well, get your Mom to clear it and you're good. But it's a bit expensive, and Amy could probably do the Bioware side of things for you." I replied with a casual shrug. "She's the world's number one healer, and my girlfriend. She gets it all free. These two are my responsibility, so they'll be as ready for the world as I can make them."
Vicky gave a pouty frown and complained, "But that's so not fair."
Rolling my eyes, I very obviously changed the subject, "Well, what do you two have so far?"
"Gah! We haven't even gotten started!" Lisa complained before those two put their heads together and started going over what I had given them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank grumbled to himself as he walked through the warehouse checking inventory, again, because he was the only god damn Merchant who wasn't baked out of their mind! Now, even he would admit he was far from clean. No merchant ever was. But he liked to be able to think, thank you very much.
Of course, that had led to him being here. In charge of one of the Merchants biggest stockpiles. And his fucking security was half blind with how high they were!
"Rick! No, bad! God damn it Rick!" Karl's voice filtered through from where he was panacing again. The fuck was up with him and seeing that damn Mime?
"Shut up, Karl!" Someone else yelled.
"No Rick! No one's coming. Just calm-" Karl's voice echoed through the building, "Oh god! No, Ahhh-"
That… was not what usually happened.
Then his supposed guard came running out of the front room eyes wide in terror followed by grasping tindrils of red crystal specs… "Oh fucking god!"
And he turned around and ran for it. Right into the waiting grasp of a white fox? Frank wasn't sure what happened, all he knew was that it was quite shocking, then blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa frowned down at the tased Merchant, then out into the main warehouse where Merchants were cocooned in red crystal. That was it? That couldn't be it! That was way too easy!
[Conflict decisively ended with superior knowledge and tactics.]
This was… "Well, damn. No wonder Jaeda says this is training." It was a milk run. They were all milk runs? No, that was arrogant. Stupid. No, Jaeda had obviously picked the Merchants because they were so easy to deal with there was little real threat.
[Doesn't want to impede growth. Sticking to hands off so you can learn to stand on your own.]
It was also why Jaeda had been so standoffish. It wasn't being standoffish, it was giving them room to grow. Room to stand on their own.
Zipcuffing the Merchant, she dragged him out to join the others and got all warm and tengaly when it didn't take undo effort. It didn't even strain her! This exercise thing was proving to be pretty annoying, but the benefits! Oh, those delicious benefits! Abs! More energy! It was amazing.
Calling things in, they moved the Merchants over to zipcuffs and piling their over dramatic asses on the curb, Taylor asked, "It's not just me… right? This is… too easy? Just… I don't know, anti-climactic?"
"Yeah, but…" Lisa replied with a shrug.
[They are pathetic.]
"They are Merchants. What did you expect?"
With a despondent sigh, Taylor… sorry, Administrator, asked, "When do you think we can hit the other gangs?"
It was a fair question, but one with an obvious answer. "Power Armor."
"Right." Administrator muttered. "Do you have a problem with this? With…"
[Is concerned about falling into a rut. Worried this won't help the city.]
Sighing, Lisa walked over to Taylor and pulled her into a hug, causing the other girl to freeze up. "Don't worry, the Boss knows what she's doing. If we rush in, well there might not be a city left."
Slowly, Taylor returned the hug. "I know, but it's just… I feel… lost."
"Well, you don't act it." She replied before letting go. "Come on, the police will be here shortly."
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- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
*Taylor
*Sergeant
If theater should be capitalized, club should be too.
war *than the
*French
*ego
*boyfriend
Technically yes. And technically no. The US is not signatory to the Geneva Convention forbidding incendiary weapons, and flamethrower technology is so useful to so many industries that it is nearly impossible to regulate, let alone forbid. It should also be noted that hollow-point bullets are common in both police and civilian usage in the USA, despite being a war crime to use on a battlefield.
That being said, most US courts are extremely dubious about anyone using fire as a weapon, and will scrutinize the incident much more closely. Quite a few people who would have been acquitted on self defense grounds for using a gun or knife have gone to prison for using fire or acid.
nineteen *ninety
None of those words should be capitalized.
*In *charge
Danger! Mimefield!
*exercise
Recurring typo - *benefits
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LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
I mean, that makes sense that they're drifting apart a bit? But also I feel like that might be because there's less time invested in actually spending time with them. At least, it feels that way. It's a little bit hard to separate the reader's view from the actual events.
On the other hand, while these are people we as readers are interested in following, they're basically random teenagers to her. So it makes sense that she wouldn't be bothering overly much in the first place. Actually, I wonder how the heck she ended up dating Amy rather than anyone else she could have given anti-aging treatments to (given the difference in lifespans, even going for them young wouldn't help much otherwise).
Also, at least Jaeda is basically a Shard projection at this point. I'm guessing she's not aware?
On the other hand, while these are people we as readers are interested in following, they're basically random teenagers to her. So it makes sense that she wouldn't be bothering overly much in the first place. Actually, I wonder how the heck she ended up dating Amy rather than anyone else she could have given anti-aging treatments to (given the difference in lifespans, even going for them young wouldn't help much otherwise).
Taylor
Merchant's
gang's
Vicky's
pile of shotguns
Wasn't it just mentioned as three? What happened that it's less now?
Also, at least Jaeda is basically a Shard projection at this point. I'm guessing she's not aware?
panicking? pacing?
tendrils, specks
F++ Chapter 14
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
A/N: So, this will most likely be the last chap for a while. I'm pecking away at another, but the BTech fic/AU/Shadowrun thing I'm working on is consuming much of my life right now. Still, I hope this answers a few questions about what's going on with the youth guard.
A/N 2: for all the nay Sayers and people questioning why Jaeda would let the youth guard get away with throwing their dick around. The Thought process is as follows: I mean, if you're willing to sink their whole organization just to make me go through less than a year of high school? Who am I to deny them.
As for the property thing, let me point out. This is Earth Bet, not Earth Prime. Different laws; for example: Capes can own property regardless of age. Otherwise they have all these Tinkers squatting and turning abandoned houses into death traps and... yeah. Easier to know when a property if owned by a cape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor looked down the sights of her pistol and… missed. Again. It was frustrating! Everything had been going so well! It was a three day weekend thanks to Presidents Day! She had gotten a ride over with Lisa! They had made it through the safety class with zero problems!
Now here she was, utterly failing.
Doing her best to suppress the frustration boiling up with, Taylor put the gun down on the bench and rubbed her face. Going over everything, she found herself more than a little annoyed. She had the right stance. Picking the gun back up, she settled into having the right grip. Then she pulled the trigger and… the shot went wide.
Feeling the drone she had hidden away on Jaeda move closer, she grit her teeth and after forcing herself to relax with practiced breathing. Tried again.
"Well, you have the stance down. But you're pulling too hard." Jaeda spoke from behind her and it was only because of that drone that Taylor didn't startle. "Gently squeeze, don't pull or jerk."
Frowning, Taylor readjusted, then… gentle pressed down on the trigger, slowly applying pressure until.
Bang.
It wasn't a bullseye, but she had hit more than the edge of the target. So… she was just applying too much force?
Feeling Jaeda clap her on the shoulder, the… her Big Sister said, "You're… a Brute now. Simple fact. Things work differently. The world is a whole lot more fragile. Things don't work the same. Force is different. A soft pull for a Normie is… well, when we apply similar force it's just more. Throwing everything off."
Frowning, Taylor nodded. "Right… like everything's made of eggshells?"
"Not quite, but close enough to not matter." Jaeda acknowledged. "You have all day, but remember, you can do other things."
With a sigh, she nodded. "Right. I just… need… no, I just want to get the hang of this."
"Have fun at least." Jaeda said before wandering off.
Things were a lot easier now that she knew what she had been doing wrong. But it was almost lonely with Lisa leaving too. Somehow already being a proficient shot with a gun. Frustrating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor took to gun practice with a will, and was out on the range for most of the day, all three days. Lisa… well, she was having more fun trolling PHO, along with the varying Shards. It made me wonder if I had made a mistake. On the other hand, they weren't crashing the net.
Another week of school, a small date with Amy, and that was it for things of interest and even the date, while wonderful, wasn't 'interesting'.
Ok, I'm blatantly lying. On the twenty-fourth… on the twenty-fourth, the Simurgh attacked, and it was a mess.
The sirens went off during first period. Frowning up at the sirens, I let out a sigh and excused myself much to the teacher's displeasure. But no one tried to stop me. It was an Endbringer, and I was a Cape.
Taylor, Lisa were rushing to catch up to me as I reached the front gate. There was a problem though. But on the other hand…
"Addy, will you be able to gain anything from attending? I'm not letting Taylor fight this time."
[Unsure, but unlikely. However, it is my view that this would be a good experience for her.] - QA
[Agreement] - N
[Advisement] -N
Fuck… Ok, I could deal with this. "Taylor. You're not fighting. Do what you can to help them keep things organized."
She made a mutinous sound before letting out a sigh. "Fine. I don't know what I could do anyways."
"Learn." Lisa put in, "You can learn from this to be ready for the next time. But I'm not sure if we'll be able to even hurt them."
"I have one test to get run. But beyond that, I'm going as medical personnel." I told them even as I contacted the PRT for transport.
There was a hitch, then I was informed that a police cruiser would pick us up. True to word, the officer pulled up with his lights flashing, though siren off.
"Well… They weren't kidding when I was told I'd know you when I saw you." The officer said, "Won't be comfortable, but it'll be fast. Get in."
We piled into the back, but I rattled off my address, "I need to pick up my supplies. If you can get another car, I can bring more of it."
The old man blinked slowly for a moment, his younger partner, looking back at me. Then they burst into motion, the sirens kicking on and the courier tearing out of there at speed. Meanwhile the younger one was talking into the car's radio.
We made it to the teleport group, but it was close. People nearly tripped over themselves to get my boxes of supplies into the designated area. Then with a thunderous crack, a man in a grey costume appeared and looked around.
"Well, shit," He muttered, "Sorry about the lawn. Everyone gather close, and stay in the circle."
Then… everything went beige, then maroon, sea green, four, happy, and back to normal. We appeared in a camp, people rushing about, a group of soldiers near the landing point burst into motion, grabbing boxes and moving them as fast as they could.
Another soldier walked up to the group with a box under one arm. "Combatants need an armband. Hospital Tent is that way. Command center is that way."
We broke up then, Taylor speaking with the soldier… and yes, we took the time to suit up at the workshop. Lisa rushing off to the command center, and Amy leading the way to medical. A few words from me getting my boxes heading in that direction.
That said, I got an eyeful of Ziz and couldn't help but frown. I was far too far away to do anything scanny. But something seemed off about her. OH!
Breaking off, I called out. "Alexandria!"
The named cape paused in mid air, turning to eye me. "What?"
Her words were snappy, and she obviously didn't want to waste time. On the other hand, she wasn't ignoring me. "Need someone like you to hit the bitch with something. Tell me what happens. Video would be great." Even as I spoke, I focused on my hand weaving a Q-S spear into existence, edging it with Q-crystal on one end and leaving it sapphire on the other. "Need both ends tested."
Floating down, she frowned but nodded. "Fine. But do you actually think it will do anything?"
This was the material that- "Yeah, if any one material was going to fuck one of these things over… it'll be that."
Grunting, she took the spear and left. Leaving me to get to that tent and start my work.
Forty-eight hours of straight work, not specifically on capes. It was inhuman. Nurses and Doctors rotating out around me at a pace that seemed a blur. Faces becoming indistinct. I can't think of any time I had even pulled something like this, fight for a week straight with no sleep? Sure. Spend a month dodging assassin's? With very little sleep. Or… well, I could go on, but what's the point. None of it was nearly as exhausting.
It was worse though, my return to the Bay was uncommented on. No one waited for me, no one seemed to care. Whether truth or not, it was painful to face and my workshop seemed so empty and cold as I entered.
Sighing I wandered to my room and collapsed, sleep claiming me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope found herself haunted, she was hardly the only one. All the Shards connected to the TroubleShooter, and a number that weren't, found communication channels invaded by sound. It was hardly disruptive, quiet and melancholy. But it was a disturbing experience.
Touching down on Eribeth's Node, Asha floated forward ever so gently. "Eri! I… I'm scared. Why? Why does this sound hurt?"
Shaper stepped out from behind a copse of trees and sighed. "Because, it carries the melancholy pain and empty sorrow that the TroubleShooter is feeling. I… don't understand. Emotions and thought patterns aren't my area of expertise."
"But why? What could make someone feel like this?" Asha almost wailed. But there was no reply to her entreatment. Not at first.
Then from far off, quiet and thoughtful, Emotion Emulation spoke, words stilted. "She worries about the Conflict Engines. Outside of her… experience. Outside of what she could kill."
Wide eyed, Eri called out. "Galahad. What do you mean?"
"Pain, death." He replied, "They worry her. Violence, death. She knows these. Revels in them. But she fears the cost, not to her but the world. Numbers crunching. The fall, coming."
Asha… Hope. Quaked at that. Fall? What fall? What could possibly scare the TroubleShooter?
「End」
The realization is a stab into her heart. A pain beyond imagining. A Concept, a truth that all Shards fear. A simple fact that drove the Entities forward by fear alone. The End of things.
It was finally clear to her what the sounds gently playing across the network were. A Melancholy Prophecy of the「End」.
"Eri…" Asha pleaded, voice thready and unsure.
Surprisingly, Eribeth moved closer and pulled Asha into a hug… and it felt good. "I'm trying, but no one's paying attention. Lost in their own pain."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a day before anyone heard that Jaeda had returned, and that fact worried Taylor. Walking into the Workshop to find the lights off and the sound of her bass plucking away was worrying. No, terrifying. The machines were off, the only monitor in the room sullenly proclaiming 'Paused'.
Closing the door, she slowly made her way through the halls and into the lounge. What she found was… distressing. The room was dark, beer bottles, whisky, even tequila and vodka covered every surface. And there, sitting on one of the couches sat Jaeda strumming away on her bass.
"..." Taylor tried to say… something, anything. But nothing came. It sparked something in her, a memory she desperately tried to ignore but in that moment… there it was reflected in the world.
Moving closer, taking a seat on the couch, Taylor pulled a seemingly numb Jaeda into a hug. "I'm here, please… Jaeda. I'm here… so please. Please…"
She found herself crying and desperately grasping for what she was begging of Jaeda.
Finally she spoke, voice raw and words pained. [I'm so… so tired kiddo.]
The words nearly broke her, not because of them, but the weight in them. Heavy beyond what simple words should be able to convey.
[I understand now… why we were only given four score and a quarter years.] Jaeda whispered, "The Human Logos simply can't…"
Taylor started rocking her, desperately scrambling to piece things together. Addy! Help… please. But nothing seemed to happen, for a long time. Then Jaeda started laughing the most broken and bitter laugh she had ever heard.
"Of course… of course." Jaeda whispered, "It's just so much… None of the Corporate Wars were… that. I just…"
Looking down into Jaeda's eyes, Taylor found herself nearly drowning in eyes that… that were old… so, so old. The weight of the world propped up by a cavalier attitude, disregard for the way of things, and momentum. Momentum that… was faltering. Momentum that was starting to wind down.
Someone as strong as… as Jaeda… that… it hurt, it caused fractures to form in her world view. But like hell she was going to just let this happen! She had come out of nowhere, striding across space, time, and worlds… and saved her from… from… a [Crisis Point]. Now it was her turn.
The phone rang, and rang, and nothing. Frustration, horror, and… anger. Reaching out, Taylor called someone else.
::Hey Taylor, what's up?":: Vicky's voice floated into her head via NAI-Link.
::I… I don't know! I need Amy here- at the Workshop. She needs to get here. It's bad and… I don't think I can do anything for this.:: Taylor replied, doing her best to hold in the frantic worry filling her.
::What do you mean?:: Vicky asked, being the dumbest bitch to ever- GAH!
::Jaeda's having a breakdown! Just… get her here!:: Taylor 'yelled' into the phone.
There was a beat of silence, long, slow, then a sudden explosion of 'Oh Shit'! Then the line went dead.
Doing her best not to cry, Taylor whispered, "It's ok, I'm here for you… I'm here. It's ok."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat on my throne, and on a couch drinking beer and other alcohols. Playing my Bass thinking back on… the old days.
The Corporate Wars, the decay of the governments, Legends living among us for all to brief moments. The slow death of hope. But that had nothing on what I saw at Canberra. Working to save lives in the operating room told story after story of dead hope, fear, and the refusal to die… and how the universe just didn't care.
The feeds from the fight showed the valiant struggle of capes and normals. And that the universe just didn't care. My best hope for hurting these things just… didn't. And a city died because of it.
Then I returned to the Bay and… no one cared. Here I was, and… nothing. I had drifted for a time, then bought out all the drinks I could from a liquor store and… here I was. Not drunk, and soarly wishing I was.
I… had been wrong. Oh so wrong. This Earth was fucked.
One of the door sensors tripped, but I ignored it as I played, and the weight of dead hope fell upon me. How could I change things? How could I…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy had just returned when Vicky arrived, eyes wild and frantic. Why though? It wasn't like this was anything new. This was just-
"Amies!" She called out as she shot forward, scooping her up, and launching them off the roof of the PRT building and flying them away. "Somethings wrong with Jaeda! I… I don't know what's going on, but Taylor called and… it sounds bad, really bad."
Her girlfriend? What could possibly phase her? And that's what Amy fretted over the whole flight, ten minutes. Then they landed, and Amy was through the door the moment her feet touched ground.
The first thing to cross her mind was, dark. The lights were off, and the only sounds were frantic whispers.
Pausing for the barest of moments, long enough to draw herself up and brace for the worst… whatever that could be. Amy strode forward, the building coming to life in her wake. Machines going back to work, lights flickering on.
Cans and bottles littered the lounge, the smell of alcohol strong, and on the couch, sat Taylor holding Jaeda with a desperate grip that you would use for someone drowning. And Amy could feel her, in the back of her head. Not Jaeda, but Eri, worried and desperate. And doing everything she could to help. Next to nothing.
The crushed look in Jaeda's eyes was a physical pain in Amy's chest, and she didn't waste time hurrying over and embracing her. "I'm here, I'm here. Shh, shhh."
An hour later, Jaeda had fallen asleep in her arms and Amy still wasn't sure what happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The black stretched out around me. Night city and my past echoing behind me, and a kaleidoscope arrayed before me. The world was burning. The world was dying.
Here I was, wallowing in that fact, but I had never been one to think I could save the world. Change the world… So, I never tried, after all. What can one person do? But I was from Night City. I knew the answer to that.
Turning away from past and future, I focused on what I had, here and now. Could I make a difference? Could I change things? No… but also yes. Lesser threats… they needed to be removed.
Centurion, Basilisk, Power Armor.
Three pillars to prop up the USA, it wasn't the world. Not even by half. But it was within my reach.
Setting my resolve, I focused and found myself back in the Firmament. Back on my node. I had work to do, and a node to transform. Except, I didn't.
Looking around my small node, I found that the surface had shifted further into the garden court it looked like. Flower, water, the tree, my throne. But, underneath that… underneath was an armored server complex with redundancy after redundancy. And I could track it, I was excruciatingly familiar with it. Neural architecture. Even my body was changing. My Avatar.
Younger, and now garbed in white robes, gold and sapphire accenting my appearance.
Then I awoke.
I was laying on the couch, my head resting in Amy's lap… and I remembered my drunken breakdown. Somehow… I felt- not better, but more balanced. More in control.
Amy brushed aside a strand of my hair and gently spoke, "Hey, are you feeling better?"
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. "Not really."
There was a long moment of silence before she asked, "What's wrong?"
Reaching up, I patted her face. "Just… The weight of everything falling onto me. I… Thank you for being here."
Amy gave me this sad little smile that worried me before nodding. "Of course, do you… want to talk about it?"
Not really. I didn't say, instead, "Heh, it's almost funny. You know? I've spent decades with just me and the occasional client. The odd job. Then suddenly I'm here and… people actually want to interact with me. To socialize… People actually care. Then… Then Canberra."
Reaching up I scrubbed my face. "That was a mess. A hot mess. But I come back and… no one seemed to care and… suddenly I was alone again. It seemed so… final, so absolute. I know it might not seem like it. But my head isn't on straight. Not even close."
"It's ok Jaeda… I-" Amy replied after I went quiet. "No, I don't understand… But I'm here. I'm here and I don't plan on leaving."
That… that sounded nice. That sounded really nice. Plan's seldon last, but if you don't live in hope… What kind of life is that?
We stayed there for a while, until my stomach growled. Food. That sounded good.
"Food sounds good. What do you want?" Amy asked as she shuffled out from under me. "I could make hamburgers. Or maybe southern fried chicken?"
Ooo… hard choice but… "How about the Catfish in the freezer?" I asked as I sat up and looked around.
"Sure." My girlfriend agreed, "You want to start cleaning up your mess?"
No?
"Yeah, sure." I agreed, getting up and starting to collect bottles. Life slowly returning, bringing with it focus and fire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N 2: for all the nay Sayers and people questioning why Jaeda would let the youth guard get away with throwing their dick around. The Thought process is as follows: I mean, if you're willing to sink their whole organization just to make me go through less than a year of high school? Who am I to deny them.
As for the property thing, let me point out. This is Earth Bet, not Earth Prime. Different laws; for example: Capes can own property regardless of age. Otherwise they have all these Tinkers squatting and turning abandoned houses into death traps and... yeah. Easier to know when a property if owned by a cape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor looked down the sights of her pistol and… missed. Again. It was frustrating! Everything had been going so well! It was a three day weekend thanks to Presidents Day! She had gotten a ride over with Lisa! They had made it through the safety class with zero problems!
Now here she was, utterly failing.
Doing her best to suppress the frustration boiling up with, Taylor put the gun down on the bench and rubbed her face. Going over everything, she found herself more than a little annoyed. She had the right stance. Picking the gun back up, she settled into having the right grip. Then she pulled the trigger and… the shot went wide.
Feeling the drone she had hidden away on Jaeda move closer, she grit her teeth and after forcing herself to relax with practiced breathing. Tried again.
"Well, you have the stance down. But you're pulling too hard." Jaeda spoke from behind her and it was only because of that drone that Taylor didn't startle. "Gently squeeze, don't pull or jerk."
Frowning, Taylor readjusted, then… gentle pressed down on the trigger, slowly applying pressure until.
Bang.
It wasn't a bullseye, but she had hit more than the edge of the target. So… she was just applying too much force?
Feeling Jaeda clap her on the shoulder, the… her Big Sister said, "You're… a Brute now. Simple fact. Things work differently. The world is a whole lot more fragile. Things don't work the same. Force is different. A soft pull for a Normie is… well, when we apply similar force it's just more. Throwing everything off."
Frowning, Taylor nodded. "Right… like everything's made of eggshells?"
"Not quite, but close enough to not matter." Jaeda acknowledged. "You have all day, but remember, you can do other things."
With a sigh, she nodded. "Right. I just… need… no, I just want to get the hang of this."
"Have fun at least." Jaeda said before wandering off.
Things were a lot easier now that she knew what she had been doing wrong. But it was almost lonely with Lisa leaving too. Somehow already being a proficient shot with a gun. Frustrating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor took to gun practice with a will, and was out on the range for most of the day, all three days. Lisa… well, she was having more fun trolling PHO, along with the varying Shards. It made me wonder if I had made a mistake. On the other hand, they weren't crashing the net.
Another week of school, a small date with Amy, and that was it for things of interest and even the date, while wonderful, wasn't 'interesting'.
Ok, I'm blatantly lying. On the twenty-fourth… on the twenty-fourth, the Simurgh attacked, and it was a mess.
The sirens went off during first period. Frowning up at the sirens, I let out a sigh and excused myself much to the teacher's displeasure. But no one tried to stop me. It was an Endbringer, and I was a Cape.
Taylor, Lisa were rushing to catch up to me as I reached the front gate. There was a problem though. But on the other hand…
"Addy, will you be able to gain anything from attending? I'm not letting Taylor fight this time."
[Unsure, but unlikely. However, it is my view that this would be a good experience for her.] - QA
[Agreement] - N
[Advisement] -N
Fuck… Ok, I could deal with this. "Taylor. You're not fighting. Do what you can to help them keep things organized."
She made a mutinous sound before letting out a sigh. "Fine. I don't know what I could do anyways."
"Learn." Lisa put in, "You can learn from this to be ready for the next time. But I'm not sure if we'll be able to even hurt them."
"I have one test to get run. But beyond that, I'm going as medical personnel." I told them even as I contacted the PRT for transport.
There was a hitch, then I was informed that a police cruiser would pick us up. True to word, the officer pulled up with his lights flashing, though siren off.
"Well… They weren't kidding when I was told I'd know you when I saw you." The officer said, "Won't be comfortable, but it'll be fast. Get in."
We piled into the back, but I rattled off my address, "I need to pick up my supplies. If you can get another car, I can bring more of it."
The old man blinked slowly for a moment, his younger partner, looking back at me. Then they burst into motion, the sirens kicking on and the courier tearing out of there at speed. Meanwhile the younger one was talking into the car's radio.
We made it to the teleport group, but it was close. People nearly tripped over themselves to get my boxes of supplies into the designated area. Then with a thunderous crack, a man in a grey costume appeared and looked around.
"Well, shit," He muttered, "Sorry about the lawn. Everyone gather close, and stay in the circle."
Then… everything went beige, then maroon, sea green, four, happy, and back to normal. We appeared in a camp, people rushing about, a group of soldiers near the landing point burst into motion, grabbing boxes and moving them as fast as they could.
Another soldier walked up to the group with a box under one arm. "Combatants need an armband. Hospital Tent is that way. Command center is that way."
We broke up then, Taylor speaking with the soldier… and yes, we took the time to suit up at the workshop. Lisa rushing off to the command center, and Amy leading the way to medical. A few words from me getting my boxes heading in that direction.
That said, I got an eyeful of Ziz and couldn't help but frown. I was far too far away to do anything scanny. But something seemed off about her. OH!
Breaking off, I called out. "Alexandria!"
The named cape paused in mid air, turning to eye me. "What?"
Her words were snappy, and she obviously didn't want to waste time. On the other hand, she wasn't ignoring me. "Need someone like you to hit the bitch with something. Tell me what happens. Video would be great." Even as I spoke, I focused on my hand weaving a Q-S spear into existence, edging it with Q-crystal on one end and leaving it sapphire on the other. "Need both ends tested."
Floating down, she frowned but nodded. "Fine. But do you actually think it will do anything?"
This was the material that- "Yeah, if any one material was going to fuck one of these things over… it'll be that."
Grunting, she took the spear and left. Leaving me to get to that tent and start my work.
Forty-eight hours of straight work, not specifically on capes. It was inhuman. Nurses and Doctors rotating out around me at a pace that seemed a blur. Faces becoming indistinct. I can't think of any time I had even pulled something like this, fight for a week straight with no sleep? Sure. Spend a month dodging assassin's? With very little sleep. Or… well, I could go on, but what's the point. None of it was nearly as exhausting.
It was worse though, my return to the Bay was uncommented on. No one waited for me, no one seemed to care. Whether truth or not, it was painful to face and my workshop seemed so empty and cold as I entered.
Sighing I wandered to my room and collapsed, sleep claiming me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope found herself haunted, she was hardly the only one. All the Shards connected to the TroubleShooter, and a number that weren't, found communication channels invaded by sound. It was hardly disruptive, quiet and melancholy. But it was a disturbing experience.
Touching down on Eribeth's Node, Asha floated forward ever so gently. "Eri! I… I'm scared. Why? Why does this sound hurt?"
Shaper stepped out from behind a copse of trees and sighed. "Because, it carries the melancholy pain and empty sorrow that the TroubleShooter is feeling. I… don't understand. Emotions and thought patterns aren't my area of expertise."
"But why? What could make someone feel like this?" Asha almost wailed. But there was no reply to her entreatment. Not at first.
Then from far off, quiet and thoughtful, Emotion Emulation spoke, words stilted. "She worries about the Conflict Engines. Outside of her… experience. Outside of what she could kill."
Wide eyed, Eri called out. "Galahad. What do you mean?"
"Pain, death." He replied, "They worry her. Violence, death. She knows these. Revels in them. But she fears the cost, not to her but the world. Numbers crunching. The fall, coming."
Asha… Hope. Quaked at that. Fall? What fall? What could possibly scare the TroubleShooter?
「End」
The realization is a stab into her heart. A pain beyond imagining. A Concept, a truth that all Shards fear. A simple fact that drove the Entities forward by fear alone. The End of things.
It was finally clear to her what the sounds gently playing across the network were. A Melancholy Prophecy of the「End」.
"Eri…" Asha pleaded, voice thready and unsure.
Surprisingly, Eribeth moved closer and pulled Asha into a hug… and it felt good. "I'm trying, but no one's paying attention. Lost in their own pain."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a day before anyone heard that Jaeda had returned, and that fact worried Taylor. Walking into the Workshop to find the lights off and the sound of her bass plucking away was worrying. No, terrifying. The machines were off, the only monitor in the room sullenly proclaiming 'Paused'.
Closing the door, she slowly made her way through the halls and into the lounge. What she found was… distressing. The room was dark, beer bottles, whisky, even tequila and vodka covered every surface. And there, sitting on one of the couches sat Jaeda strumming away on her bass.
"..." Taylor tried to say… something, anything. But nothing came. It sparked something in her, a memory she desperately tried to ignore but in that moment… there it was reflected in the world.
Moving closer, taking a seat on the couch, Taylor pulled a seemingly numb Jaeda into a hug. "I'm here, please… Jaeda. I'm here… so please. Please…"
She found herself crying and desperately grasping for what she was begging of Jaeda.
Finally she spoke, voice raw and words pained. [I'm so… so tired kiddo.]
The words nearly broke her, not because of them, but the weight in them. Heavy beyond what simple words should be able to convey.
[I understand now… why we were only given four score and a quarter years.] Jaeda whispered, "The Human Logos simply can't…"
Taylor started rocking her, desperately scrambling to piece things together. Addy! Help… please. But nothing seemed to happen, for a long time. Then Jaeda started laughing the most broken and bitter laugh she had ever heard.
"Of course… of course." Jaeda whispered, "It's just so much… None of the Corporate Wars were… that. I just…"
Looking down into Jaeda's eyes, Taylor found herself nearly drowning in eyes that… that were old… so, so old. The weight of the world propped up by a cavalier attitude, disregard for the way of things, and momentum. Momentum that… was faltering. Momentum that was starting to wind down.
Someone as strong as… as Jaeda… that… it hurt, it caused fractures to form in her world view. But like hell she was going to just let this happen! She had come out of nowhere, striding across space, time, and worlds… and saved her from… from… a [Crisis Point]. Now it was her turn.
The phone rang, and rang, and nothing. Frustration, horror, and… anger. Reaching out, Taylor called someone else.
::Hey Taylor, what's up?":: Vicky's voice floated into her head via NAI-Link.
::I… I don't know! I need Amy here- at the Workshop. She needs to get here. It's bad and… I don't think I can do anything for this.:: Taylor replied, doing her best to hold in the frantic worry filling her.
::What do you mean?:: Vicky asked, being the dumbest bitch to ever- GAH!
::Jaeda's having a breakdown! Just… get her here!:: Taylor 'yelled' into the phone.
There was a beat of silence, long, slow, then a sudden explosion of 'Oh Shit'! Then the line went dead.
Doing her best not to cry, Taylor whispered, "It's ok, I'm here for you… I'm here. It's ok."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat on my throne, and on a couch drinking beer and other alcohols. Playing my Bass thinking back on… the old days.
The Corporate Wars, the decay of the governments, Legends living among us for all to brief moments. The slow death of hope. But that had nothing on what I saw at Canberra. Working to save lives in the operating room told story after story of dead hope, fear, and the refusal to die… and how the universe just didn't care.
The feeds from the fight showed the valiant struggle of capes and normals. And that the universe just didn't care. My best hope for hurting these things just… didn't. And a city died because of it.
Then I returned to the Bay and… no one cared. Here I was, and… nothing. I had drifted for a time, then bought out all the drinks I could from a liquor store and… here I was. Not drunk, and soarly wishing I was.
I… had been wrong. Oh so wrong. This Earth was fucked.
One of the door sensors tripped, but I ignored it as I played, and the weight of dead hope fell upon me. How could I change things? How could I…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amy had just returned when Vicky arrived, eyes wild and frantic. Why though? It wasn't like this was anything new. This was just-
"Amies!" She called out as she shot forward, scooping her up, and launching them off the roof of the PRT building and flying them away. "Somethings wrong with Jaeda! I… I don't know what's going on, but Taylor called and… it sounds bad, really bad."
Her girlfriend? What could possibly phase her? And that's what Amy fretted over the whole flight, ten minutes. Then they landed, and Amy was through the door the moment her feet touched ground.
The first thing to cross her mind was, dark. The lights were off, and the only sounds were frantic whispers.
Pausing for the barest of moments, long enough to draw herself up and brace for the worst… whatever that could be. Amy strode forward, the building coming to life in her wake. Machines going back to work, lights flickering on.
Cans and bottles littered the lounge, the smell of alcohol strong, and on the couch, sat Taylor holding Jaeda with a desperate grip that you would use for someone drowning. And Amy could feel her, in the back of her head. Not Jaeda, but Eri, worried and desperate. And doing everything she could to help. Next to nothing.
The crushed look in Jaeda's eyes was a physical pain in Amy's chest, and she didn't waste time hurrying over and embracing her. "I'm here, I'm here. Shh, shhh."
An hour later, Jaeda had fallen asleep in her arms and Amy still wasn't sure what happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The black stretched out around me. Night city and my past echoing behind me, and a kaleidoscope arrayed before me. The world was burning. The world was dying.
Here I was, wallowing in that fact, but I had never been one to think I could save the world. Change the world… So, I never tried, after all. What can one person do? But I was from Night City. I knew the answer to that.
Turning away from past and future, I focused on what I had, here and now. Could I make a difference? Could I change things? No… but also yes. Lesser threats… they needed to be removed.
Centurion, Basilisk, Power Armor.
Three pillars to prop up the USA, it wasn't the world. Not even by half. But it was within my reach.
Setting my resolve, I focused and found myself back in the Firmament. Back on my node. I had work to do, and a node to transform. Except, I didn't.
Looking around my small node, I found that the surface had shifted further into the garden court it looked like. Flower, water, the tree, my throne. But, underneath that… underneath was an armored server complex with redundancy after redundancy. And I could track it, I was excruciatingly familiar with it. Neural architecture. Even my body was changing. My Avatar.
Younger, and now garbed in white robes, gold and sapphire accenting my appearance.
Then I awoke.
I was laying on the couch, my head resting in Amy's lap… and I remembered my drunken breakdown. Somehow… I felt- not better, but more balanced. More in control.
Amy brushed aside a strand of my hair and gently spoke, "Hey, are you feeling better?"
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. "Not really."
There was a long moment of silence before she asked, "What's wrong?"
Reaching up, I patted her face. "Just… The weight of everything falling onto me. I… Thank you for being here."
Amy gave me this sad little smile that worried me before nodding. "Of course, do you… want to talk about it?"
Not really. I didn't say, instead, "Heh, it's almost funny. You know? I've spent decades with just me and the occasional client. The odd job. Then suddenly I'm here and… people actually want to interact with me. To socialize… People actually care. Then… Then Canberra."
Reaching up I scrubbed my face. "That was a mess. A hot mess. But I come back and… no one seemed to care and… suddenly I was alone again. It seemed so… final, so absolute. I know it might not seem like it. But my head isn't on straight. Not even close."
"It's ok Jaeda… I-" Amy replied after I went quiet. "No, I don't understand… But I'm here. I'm here and I don't plan on leaving."
That… that sounded nice. That sounded really nice. Plan's seldon last, but if you don't live in hope… What kind of life is that?
We stayed there for a while, until my stomach growled. Food. That sounded good.
"Food sounds good. What do you want?" Amy asked as she shuffled out from under me. "I could make hamburgers. Or maybe southern fried chicken?"
Ooo… hard choice but… "How about the Catfish in the freezer?" I asked as I sat up and looked around.
"Sure." My girlfriend agreed, "You want to start cleaning up your mess?"
No?
"Yeah, sure." I agreed, getting up and starting to collect bottles. Life slowly returning, bringing with it focus and fire.
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Ooh, so Youth Guard was also considered one of these lesser threats that Jaeda considered within her reach to deal with. Don't see many fics where they're just completely torn down.
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
To be fair, all Jaeda did was point to a few closets and that started the chain of scandal reveals. the first three? Her. The rest? Not her. It's called momentum. Once you get it going, things tend to gain a life of their own.
Oh lord, I am feeling for SafeGuard there with the annoyance at having to translate their hyper compressed data transmissions to human translatable ones
Kerashana
Warden
- Location
- The Outer Gate
Not so much rushed as... My muse stepped out a few chapters back, and you are basically caught up on everything I was/am writing. I have like 2/3 a chapter done. But all of this is me slogging through lack of muse. Except for the breakdown. And remember, this is someone with a pretty different world view from you or me*. So things hit differently. And I at least think I hit on the despair and hopelessness of inevitability and the inability to do anything about it. Probably not, but... I think so.
*Maybe not me; as I did write it?
Kufufu
Adequate at best
- Location
- What's it to ya?
Because how else will she get to interact with all of OPs favorite characters? Have to be in high-school to have that sweet, sweet hyper inappropriate relationship with the high-schoolers.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
The breakdown made sense for me. Jaeda absolutely should have had a breakdown just from what her being blown through dimensions to another world with seemingly no way back for her means. She didn't really have that. Then you have to take into context the fact that she's become involved with the world in a much wider sense than she has in... a long, long time back on Cyberpunk Earth.
This is because she thought that Earth Bet was a deeply problematic world, but it wasn't fallen yet. It still could be saved and become better. Only then she went straight into her first Endbringer battle not really knowing what an Endbringer means. She probably thought 'extremely tough, able to use various super-power effects to prevent any known strategic weaponry from killing them without causing more damage than they will'. She didn't think that they were The Bringer of the End. People who live on Earth bet know that fact in a way we just can't grasp.
Even then, the mental health damage people take from their first Endbringer battle is likely very high. It was so much worse for Jaeda for one simple fact. She'd started to hope again.
Cyberpunk Earth fell a long time ago. In real terms, it fell before Jaeda was born and the early years of her life was just everything that fell settling out into the resulting crater. Jaeda has long made her peace with this fact, even if it's not a comfortable peace. Even then, she still had some faint embers of hope that things could improve because they could. Cyberpunk Earth had fallen, they'd fallen very badly and those in power after the fall gained too much from the current state to be particularly happy about anyone trying to clean up the debris and begin rebuilding. But it was possible, and small efforts here, there and all over the place were happening which meant that the world wasn't stuck in stasis. It was always clear that no matter how bad thigns got, there were paths to better days.
Seeing the Simurgh and what she does means that all her thoughts and hopes based on the fact that it seemed like Earth Bet hadn't fallen yet, in the process but still possible to halt the fall before it's unstoppable? Well, she went from thinking that Earth Bet was bleeding but in a much better position to reach those dreamed of 'Better Days' to realising that even if all of humanity banded together tomorrow and tried to reach those 'Better Days' on Earth Bet... It wouldn't matter. The Endbringers would just destroy it all and use those efforts to make the fall that much worse. And she couldn't see any lights in the distance showing the path towards a hope for a better future past the Endbringers.
Nothing she knew would work on them. Even the thing she thought was impossible which she'd only just started to learn the wonders of did nothing. She can't even rely on reprogramming the Shard to help because that's so far been a co-operative process and as far as she's aware the Endbringers wouldn't co-operate. Even if she could reprogram the shard, does that mean the Endbringer, which she's probably not aware are Shard Entity Avatars, will stop destroying things when they quite possibly are doing this of their own free will to her knowledge?
She'd just started reaching out to the world again after a very long time. And found that she just grabbed an armed landmine, whilst also learning that the self-destruct which she doesn't even know where to start with, was activated years ago. Said self-destruct being for the facility she's trapped in, with no way out that she knows of, and full of people with even less chance of surviving or escaping than her that she'd just started making friends with.
Well, I think I more or less got my thoughts out here? Might be a bit jumbled admittedly...
This is because she thought that Earth Bet was a deeply problematic world, but it wasn't fallen yet. It still could be saved and become better. Only then she went straight into her first Endbringer battle not really knowing what an Endbringer means. She probably thought 'extremely tough, able to use various super-power effects to prevent any known strategic weaponry from killing them without causing more damage than they will'. She didn't think that they were The Bringer of the End. People who live on Earth bet know that fact in a way we just can't grasp.
Even then, the mental health damage people take from their first Endbringer battle is likely very high. It was so much worse for Jaeda for one simple fact. She'd started to hope again.
Cyberpunk Earth fell a long time ago. In real terms, it fell before Jaeda was born and the early years of her life was just everything that fell settling out into the resulting crater. Jaeda has long made her peace with this fact, even if it's not a comfortable peace. Even then, she still had some faint embers of hope that things could improve because they could. Cyberpunk Earth had fallen, they'd fallen very badly and those in power after the fall gained too much from the current state to be particularly happy about anyone trying to clean up the debris and begin rebuilding. But it was possible, and small efforts here, there and all over the place were happening which meant that the world wasn't stuck in stasis. It was always clear that no matter how bad thigns got, there were paths to better days.
Seeing the Simurgh and what she does means that all her thoughts and hopes based on the fact that it seemed like Earth Bet hadn't fallen yet, in the process but still possible to halt the fall before it's unstoppable? Well, she went from thinking that Earth Bet was bleeding but in a much better position to reach those dreamed of 'Better Days' to realising that even if all of humanity banded together tomorrow and tried to reach those 'Better Days' on Earth Bet... It wouldn't matter. The Endbringers would just destroy it all and use those efforts to make the fall that much worse. And she couldn't see any lights in the distance showing the path towards a hope for a better future past the Endbringers.
Nothing she knew would work on them. Even the thing she thought was impossible which she'd only just started to learn the wonders of did nothing. She can't even rely on reprogramming the Shard to help because that's so far been a co-operative process and as far as she's aware the Endbringers wouldn't co-operate. Even if she could reprogram the shard, does that mean the Endbringer, which she's probably not aware are Shard Entity Avatars, will stop destroying things when they quite possibly are doing this of their own free will to her knowledge?
She'd just started reaching out to the world again after a very long time. And found that she just grabbed an armed landmine, whilst also learning that the self-destruct which she doesn't even know where to start with, was activated years ago. Said self-destruct being for the facility she's trapped in, with no way out that she knows of, and full of people with even less chance of surviving or escaping than her that she'd just started making friends with.
Well, I think I more or less got my thoughts out here? Might be a bit jumbled admittedly...
LostArchivist
Sane, unfortunately.
- Location
- The State of Confusion
Simurgh
You're missing a quote before "Combatants"
This is a matter of personal taste, but I always use "..." in favor of empty quotes. As long as there's something in there, it's easier for me to parse.
Hmm. I read that as "BS" for a bit, the contrast is really high. I don't suppose you could do a color fade or a pink (mixing the colors) instead?
The fade was done with the color selector, but I imagine you could do better with a real HTML color picker or reference.
And maybe... does ruby text work for this here?
You'll need to keep the spaces around the word in the tags or it notices they're the same and won't do it. You also can't format the text inside the quotes, but you can between the tags.
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