Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting)

[Alivaril]

[X] Enchanter: One of your parents can use their abilities to make the guidelines of physics cry in a corner. They insist their abilities follow specific rules, but since their creations can't be replicated, who can tell?
-[X] Mother
-[X] Villain: This parent uses their abilities to commit actions frowned upon by the law.
--[X] Serious: They get in, complete their objective, and get out. No fuss, no shenanigans.

[X] Abomination of Nature and Humanity: One of your parents is living monstrosity who is fully capable of causing mass chaos, destruction, and death upon the unsuspecting world.
-[X] Father
-[X] Hero: This parent uses their abilities to fight crime or otherwise has helping humanity as their primary goal.
--[X] Silly: They enjoy their job waaaay too much. "STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!"


Sibling:
[X] Twin Sister
-[X] Cooperative

You:
[x] Female
[x] Age: 16
[x] Name: Evelyn


Your Father


Name: Aidan Adair

Nicknames: Double-A, "That Eldritch Abomination Hero"

Cape name: Catastrophe


"Tremble, villains, and despair. DOOM HAS COME TO THIS- Well, okay then. Girls, an important rule of the game: if you're going to faint just from hearing a booming, demonic voice, find a different hobby. Or wear earmuffs. Either works."


Your dad is a total goober, and proud of it. Despite his monstrous appearance, which is supposedly capable of supernaturally inducing temporary madness and fear in those near him, he has stubbornly remained on the side of the angels for over thirty years. Fortunately, you've always been immune to his aura, so you can't comment.

Thanks to several bounties on psychopathic villains he took down early in his career, he doesn't really bother with a real day job. Instead, he mostly just goes out and patrols, or as your mother puts it, "goes looking for trouble."

After large amounts of pestering some perfectly reasonable arguments, you have managed to get him to bring you along on a few outings. Your mom objected, but you were able to annoy her into submission convince her as well.

Of course, then Mom insisted on outfitting you with most of her own protective equipment, but you were alright with that. What you were not okay with was Dad referring to you and your sister as "My minions, Thing One and Thing Two." It's been eight years since that incident and the internet still hasn't forgotten. All attempts to purge mention of yourselves from Dad's wiki page have failed. Thank god your mother insisted on rendering you unrecognizable before letting you go out.

In any case, your mother managed to make him a bracelet for the purposes of giving him a human form. Supposedly, it copies the shape from an alternate version of your father via some complicated method that went right over your head. He hates wearing it and barely ever does so, though.


Your Mother


Name: Elspeth Adair

Cape name: None, briefly Apparition


"If you give them what they expect, a lot of people will just stop looking."


Some capes have abilities which make the known laws of physics go off and cry in a corner. Your mother creates objects which not only do that, but then decide to steal their lunch money and hide the criminal action from any other passing laws of reality.

She doesn't bother with dramatic speeches, excessively-complex plots, or anything else many villains attempt. She rarely bothers with a single cape name, instead choosing to take full and malicious advantage of illusions to change her costume before every heist. Despite being an Enchanter, she has avoided using anything but protective items, personal enhancements, stealth equipment, and illusions. She has other equipment, but is saving those objects for emergencies.

Your mother hasn't even bothered to disguise her blatant attempts to turn you and your sister to crime. Despite her claim of merely wishing to teach her daughters the dangers of the world, you note that most of the "dangers" she's warning you about just to happen to be of the heroic variety. "Mother's self-defense lessons" have become somewhat of a family joke, much to the confusion of outsiders.

You've never managed to get her to take you along on a job, but she has been willing to occasionally record her progress. And then destroy the records later, of course, but her primary concern appears to be the acquisition of raw materials for Enchanting.

She has a large amount of equipment stored away for the day you and your sister become capes.

When you were young, you managed to convince your mother to make you a gauntlet capable of generating snowballs upon command. Harmless, right? She has regretted the decision to give you one ever since. It is a wonderful weapon for when your parents are being passive-aggressive and refusing to speak with one another.


How they met:


Your parents met and bonded over wanton destruction. Your mother had intended to steal everything from Overseer's local supply depot after he attempted to expand to your hometown, while your father (Catastrophe) wanted to just destroy Overseer's surveillance drones. They compromised: Catastrophe would eliminate the perimeter defenses while your mother, who called herself Apparition, would steal any unused material and/or supplies.

They met a couple more times to oppose Overseer's continued attempts to be a creeper, and as your father puts it, "things went downhill from there."

---

Alrighty, officially starting appearance vote now. I'll still count the few votes tossed in just prior to this unless someone changes their mind.

[] Foxy

Spoiler: Foxy

[] Mordred

Spoiler: Mordred

[] Twins​

Spoiler: Twins

[] Maka

Spoiler: Maka

[] Q

Spoiler: Q

[] Suit

Spoiler: Suit

[]Write-in (insert photo here)

 

[Alivaril]

==> Bring forward all powers which, upon being received, would allow one to remain and recieve still more powers.

==> Bring forward all powers which would allow the creation or copying of other powers.

==> Bring forward all powers which would allow one to influence other powers.

Failure on all three.


==> Attempt to sense powers with thermoception. (Temperature)
==> Attempt to sense powers with mechanoreception. (Vibration)
==> Attempt to sense powers with electroreception. (Electric Fields)
==> Attempt to sense powers with magnetoreception. (Magnetic Fields)

Each of these work, but they don't reveal any new powers. Instead, you're often able to sense the presence or absence of extra traits; for example, a few abilities with descriptions related to Pyrokinesis were producing large amounts of heat.


===> You've tried sonar... how about mass, weight, and gravitational attraction?

This works, and works extremely well.

Creating a sense for gravitational attraction helps you determine whether or not a potential power has abilities related to gravity.

Sorting the shapes by weight does nothing, but sorting them by mass works exceptionally well. It takes you a while to find a few shapes with readable descriptions within the high-mass powers, but once you do...

Supreme enhanced senses. Superior weather control. Superior empathy. Supreme analysis. Superior absorption.

The high-mass shapes were somewhere in the middle in terms of brightness, but within that middle area, darker ones appear to be stronger. God dammit, Progenitor.


==>check tip notes for invisible writing like we discovered the invisible shapes

You automatically did this earlier.


==> Ask for the Progenitor to please reveal himself and quit leaving notes, it's impolite

==> If the Progenitor doesn't show up or leaves another note, manifest a human being exactly identical to the Progenitor in the process of hiccuping

You briefly consider calling Progenitor or whatever he left behind out on his behavior, then reject that particular idea. It probably wouldn't be very wise to be impolite to an infamous troll.


==> Try to make a connection between two powers

The powers you attempt it with explode.


==> Attempt to create a copy of yourself to help sort through powers.

Failure.


==> Call forth any powers dealing with information analysis. Examine them for connection to other powers.

Failure.


==> Organize powers into opposite pairs. See if you can establish a pattern as to what colors counter each other.

Failure. None of the colors appear to be "opposite" one another.


==> Attempt to organize powers by oldest to newest.

Surprisingly, this works. The dimmer and smaller shapes are almost always older. The powers you had previously identified as "Entities" are oldest of all.


==> Attempt to change your avatar. See if changes in the avatar are reflected in how you process information. (If you add an extra pair of eyes, is it cosmetic, or does it actually provide info, etc.)
Failure. You can change how your avatar looks, but you don't feel any different, nor do you gain extra parts.


==> Can you enter a power to see what it's like from the inside?

You have the feeling doing that would result in actually picking it.


==> Organize powers by commonality. Which powers are most used, which are least used. See if you can find a pattern or underlying reasoning.

Failure.


==> See if you can bring forth the powers that your mother and father have. See if there is any connection between them, or between you and them.

Unlike most other attempts to bring up the powers of other people, this one actually works. Two shapes detach from the grid.

Your father's ability is called "Abberation". It's a dim, but large, brown sphere with many, many sides; you stop trying to count them after reaching a hundred. It also has a few streaks of purple, white, and gold.

Your mother's ability is called "Emissary." It's dim, but large, and has about fifty sides. It's main color is silver, but it also has many streaks of gold, blue, and white.


==> Try to split stream of consciousness to do everything faster

Failure.


==> ask if this is a separate reality we're in?!


"Is the space my consciousness is currently occupying a reality separate from the one I have spent most of my life in?"

A note appears. "Yes."


==> Create red arrows from powers to the powers they cancel the effect of

==> Create blue arrows from powers to the powers whose effects they can duplicate

==>Create green arrows from powers owned by those who have defeated another power owner in combat to powers of those they have defeated

==> Create orange rings around powers that have never before been seen

==> Create blue rings around powers that would allow one to continue receiving other powers

==> Create purple rings around powers that allow for the creation of other powers

==> Create orange lines between powers that are dangerous in combination

==> Create purple lines between powers with a synergistic effect on one another

==> Create red rings around powers owned by individuals defeated in combat

==> Create green rings around powers of those who have defeated others

None of the above work.


==> Create pink rings around powers owned by our friends and family

Asking about your friends doesn't work — unsurprising, considering you've only ever talked to them online — but trying to label your family does. Pink rings are formed around "Aberration" and "Emissary." Nine other shapes are also labeled in this manner. A second ring is formed around the specific word as part of the description of those shapes.

The abilities the remainder of your family possesses are as follows:

Least Regeneration, Least Empathy, Least Cognitive Boost, Least Enhanced Taste, Cognitive Enhancement, Lesser Shade, Minimal Healing, Standard Elemental Control, Greater Basic Empathy.

 

[Alivaril]

Image voting locked. "Suit" won.

Spoiler: Suit

A new vote can be found at the bottom of this post. Mainly, deciding what powers you want to take a closer look at or if you want more options.

---

==> find your twin. she's probably here somewhere, and probably doing something silly and wasteful that will either end up with her getting a useless power, or grabbing the best one here on accident.

"Please create a screen showing what my sister is doing right now."

A large, flat screen appears. Displayed on it is the giggling form of your sister, who is currently lying down on a gargantuan bed and being swarmed by puppies. You can see the shapes representative of powers off in the distance, effectively acting as stars for the place your sister has created.

...Palm, meet face. Face, meet palm. Typical. Our one and only chance to naturally get superpowers, and she goes off and surrounds herself with fuzzy animals.


==> ask for powers based on the concepts of infinity and unlimited to please come forth
==> ask if there is a way to have multiple powers?
==> ask if there is a way to come back to this reality
==> ask all powers that are hiding outside our perception to please show themselves
==>ask for a book that has a list of all rules that govern this reality in English with a font size of 12 that you are capable of understanding.

Each and every one of these produces either a note or a book that merely says "Nice try."


==> Attempt to sense powers with absorption and reality
==> Attempt to sense powers with strength and physical

How?

==> Attempt to sense powers with healing

You don't appear to be able to harm yourself in this space; trying only netted you a note of "Why would you do that?" Summoning something else with the intent to hurt it to locate healing abilities does not appeal.


==> Identify the powers of various famous/powerful heroes/villains

Failure.


==> Attempt to interconnect "Aberration" and "emissary"

Considering that all your attempts to make things connect have ended up with explosions, you're a little unwilling to do that to the abilities belonging to your parents. You might want to actually follow in their footsteps and pick one of those.


==> Create an arrow pointing to Progenitors favorite powers.

Arrows pop up above each and every power. Ooooof course.


==>Create a screen showing what's happening in the outside world.

A flat window appears in midair nearby, looking in at the window of the large bedroom you share with your twin. Neither of you appears to be breathing.

...Or it could just be that time is stopped. Considering that the clouds you can see from your bedroom window aren't moving, that sounds more likely.


==>Try to access your memories from five minutes in the future.

It doesn't work, but another note pops into existence next to you.

"Nice tr- wait, what? Progenitor has been notified."

...Well, that's not at all ominous.

Achievement unlocked: 404 Error, file not found


==>Attempt to remove outside influence on the room

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>Find the shape with the most average brightness level for each color.

The perfectly average ones are, once again, labeled with "minimal X or Y or Z or etc." Seriously, Progenitor, what the hell.


==> Create red rings around the powers of enemies of our family
==> Create orange rings around powers that counter, suppress or otherwise reduce the effectiveness of those with pink rings
==> Create green numbers above powers indicating the number of people who have felt envy upon encountering an individual with the power divided by the number of individuals possessing the power
==> Create orange numbers above powers indicating the number of people who have felt fear upon encountering an individual with the power divided by the number of individuals possessing the power

None of the above works.


==> Create blue rings around powers with similar applications to those with pink rings

This gets you far, far too many results, so you rephrase things a little.

"Create blue rings around any and all powers which are functionally similar to the powers possessed by my parents."

That narrows things down to a few hundred.


==>Try to perceive the polarization of the light. Try to sense the various particle types the powers could be emitting (electron, neutrinos, quarks, force carriers, basically the whole particle zoo). If that works, try to sense the corresponding quantized field.
=>Try to sense the flow of time, and distances. Try to combine the two and sense the curvature of spacetime.

All of the above work. You are now able to find more sub-options for many powers.


=>Create a magnetic monopole

This works.


==> Ask if every person who receives a power naturally experiences this when getting powers.

You receive no answer.


==> Try to make a power dimmer.

You're unable to dim the powers themselves. Interestingly enough, however, you are able to alter your perception of a given power so that it looks dimmer to you. Good to know.


==> Bring forward the twenty dimmest shapes. Examine which colours, if any, are most common in this group.
There's an even mix of all colors.


==> Create a computer that contains a database (with a search function) of all descriptions of all powers present in this space.

Failure.


==> On a scale of 1 to 100, assign all shapes with a number denoting their brightness. The brighter the shape, the higher number it is assigned.
Success. Worth noting is that you can't seem to find anything below ten.


==> Assign each shape a letter from A - Z denoting the number of sides. The fewer sides it has, the earlier in the alphabet the letter it is assigned is.

Success.


==> For each level of strength, bring forth one power that has a power with that level of strength.

All the powers move forward.


==> Look for secondary powers with secondary powers.

Only twenty-two clusters show themselves, two of each color and then two extra. You note that having tertiary powers does not appear to make the secondary powers or primary powers any weaker. Additionally, you know you already looked at some of these, and they didn't have tertiary powers attached to them before.

On a hunch, you attempt to organize them by mass, number of sides, and brightness. From what you've discovered so far, they appear to be pretty much perfect. ...Suspicious.


The core powers of each of the clusters are as follows:

Brown: Aberration, Saint, Change. You note that the "Aberration" isn't the same one that your father has.

Green: Horde, Servant

Blue: Archive, Comprehension

Purple: Control, Figment

Red: Manipulate, Detonate

Orange: Gateway, Commence

Silver: Emissary, Invent, Generate. You note that the "Emissary" isn't the same one that your mother has.

Gold: Magician, Nullify

White: Dream, Remove

Black: Phantom, Forgotten




[] Take a closer look. (likely ends SCIENCE! sessions)
-[] Which ones do you want to focus on?
--[] ALL OF THEM. (will take a while)

[] Go try to find some more alternatives.
-[] (Write-in color)

[] You want to keep experimenting.
(major secrets not found: 2)

Spoiler: What you've learned

Well, most of what you've learned. Put below due to miscommunication and misunderstanding. My own fault; I usually have a rule of "no puzzles in text games ever", but decided to break it this time.

Spoiler: Color Key

Brown: Improvement. Making your own body slightly better, adjusting the bodies of others, shape-shifting, biological healing, etc.

Green: Summoning. Creating projections or pulling material from other realities falls under this category.

Blue: Mental effects. An increase in mental processing speed, multi-tasking ability, supernatural awareness, enhanced knowledge, etc.

Purple: Controlling or sensing the minds of others. Empathy, animal control, mind-based stealth, memory removal or modification, etc.

Red: Environmental effects. Hydrokinesis, thermokinesis, telekinesis, gravity control, etc.

Orange: Movement. Teleportation, portal-making, superspeed, etc.

Silver: Creation, whether it be mechanical, robotic, or even of living creatures. This includes mad differently normal scientists.

Gold: Breaking the laws of reality more than usual. Flight that doesn't obey momentum, imposing alternate laws of reality in a given area, etc.

White: Conceptual abilities. Healing, the ability to see through anything, invulnerability that can block any attack regardless of strength, etc.

Black: Stealth abilities. Invisibility, silent movement, turning ethereal, etc.

High-mass shapes appear to be the highest strength ones you've found so far. They are, however, approximately in the middle in terms of brightness.

Within the subset of high-mass middling-brightness powers, dimmer powers appear to be stronger as per normal.


The more sides a shape/power has, the more potential abilities it can take. For example, a brown triangle might give you enhanced hearing or enhanced taste or enhanced sight, but with that description, it wouldn't give you all three. A description of "enhanced senses" might.


Shapes with secondary powers attached to them ("Clusters") are inherently better than shapes without them. Within the subset of shapes with secondary powers, having more connections means that each individual secondary power is going to be weaker. Having tertiary powers doesn't appear to affect the secondary or primary powers. The power of the primary power is not affected.


The brighter a shape is, the weaker it is. However, the dimmest powers aren't necessarily the strongest ones.


A number of shapes are classified as "Entities" and nearly all of them have so many sides that they can imitate spheres.

The oldest shapes appear to be both the ones that are trickiest to find, and those that are classified as "Entities."

 

[Alivaril]

Note to self: point SV at a shiny and they will tear any puzzle to pieces within half an hour. Sorry for not including every single thing, but with the wild mass guessing going on, that would have taken forever. Which would be somewhat pointless, considering what happened.

---

==>Use window (similar to the ones you used earlier) to spy on every major hero and villain group.

You have to specify the name of the group, but you are able to manage it.


==>See if you can open multiple windows at once, if you can, point open a window looking at itself. (if not, use a mirror)

You are able to open multiple windows at once, but trying to open a window to look at another window has the second one display a blank black void. The mirror reflects nothing.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>Attempt to contact progenitor directly.

Failure, probably? You didn't get a response of any kind.


==>Ask which power Progenitor believes you would pick for yourself if you knew all possible information. (arrow, as before)

You feel a little silly speaking to empty air, but do it anyway. SCIENCE! Awaits.


==>Attempt to pull the version of yourself that existed a minute ago into the present.

Failure.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>See if you can affect events in the outside world (unlikely, but still worth a try)

You cannot.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>Attempt to create a alternate reality within this reality, one which can be freely manipulated by you.

Success. Your new pocket dimension would appear to have the same properties as the one it is contained in, with one exception:

It contains even more powers. All of which are not-quite-spheres with at least two secondary powers attached to them.

Oh, and you notice that they were moving of their own accord prior to your arrival. They all stop once you enter and you have the distinct feeling that you are being watched and judged.


==>Attempt to view any/all other rooms.

This just lets you watch the pocket dimension you "created". You suspect that trying to make an extra one only made an entrance to said dimension instead of actually making one.


==>Attempt to affect the contents of your sisters room.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>Attempt to talk to entity-powers

They remain silent, but you do notice them beginning to move about of their own accord. It plays merry hell with your grids.

==> highlight powers with sentience (since Host powers exist, I want to be careful about that)

Success. After some difficulty distinguishing them against the normal not-light being generated, you elect to put rainbow-colored rings around each one to make it easier to distinguish them against the glow.

All of the powers within the sub-dimension you accessed are sentient. All of them.


==> try to discover if size of shape affects the powers.

After a massive amount of testing, you are able to determine that size doesn't really make a difference. You suspect that making them different sizes was intended to throw people off.​

=>Check if the original powers are actually secondary powers of some unseen zeroth's level power

Nothing happened, but, well... "Progenitor has been notified. Again."


=>Bring all powers rated 10 or less on the brightness scale forward. Create a light amplifier to be able to see them.

Surprisingly, this moves some of the clusters toward you. Raising your perception of how bright the powers are reveals that there are a bunch more shapes with Tertiary powers than you had initially thought...


=> see if you can bend space. See if you can form some kind of pocket universe. If so, fill it with an infinitely long rotating cylinder. If not, then try it anyway, just waaay over there.

Not only are you able to do all of the above, you also earn another:

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."

You're tempted to start keeping score.


=> send a message to our sister.
==> "open voice line to sister"

Sadly, she does not appear to have received it.

==> "are there any other private rooms full of powers?"

"Key word: private."


==> designate progenitor as your platonic older brother (an oniichan if you will) and look for his power or similar.

You receive two notes simultaneously:

"...What." and "Nice try."


==> Open another window that shows you in the inside of a power.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==> Open a window to your sister's mindspace. Compare the powers she has in her mindspace to the ones in yours. Are they the same, different?

Different. They appear to follow the same rules, though.


==> Move one of your powers through the window.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==> Move one of your sister's powers into your mindspace.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again."


==>ask if the note-leaver has a name and if s/he may tell you it. Not knowing is horribly impolite.

"I do not have a name."​

==>see if you can sort powers by the likelihood you can declare yourself empress of the world in five years, should you choose that power.

"Nice try."

==>ask if any powers cannot be sensed by your current means.

No response.​

==> Reverse the flow of time.
==> Create an infinitely dense point.
==> Try to occupy two spaces at the same time without splitting or duplicating yourself.
==> Extrude this reality to your home reality.
==> Make an object larger than this reality.

"Progenitor has been notified. Again." x5.


==> Organize powers by probability of us choosing them.

There are several seconds of silence before anything happens. After that, you hear what seems to be shattering glass from all around you. No matter what you do, you receive no more notes after that. Whooopsie?

Achievement Unlocked: Blue Screen of Death

Trying to intentionally repeat actions that got you a note before no longer get you a note. However, it did reveal a side perk: You are now able to perform some actions which were previously closed to you.


Some experimentation reveals that you may now designate a single word, a color, any amount of sub-colors, and choose either sentient or non-sentient. If it exists in your personal little mindscape, an "Optimal Power" meeting the criteria will approach you.

All secrets found. SCIENCE! Phase over.


[] Write-in. (Insert single-word description, such as Analysis, here)
-[] Color
--[] Sub-colors
-[] Sentient
-[] Non-sentient

---

There aren't an infinite number of perfect powers, so I'll just be dragging out the one closest to the winning power(s). There will be a confirmation vote (Y/N) after that. To speed things up, you may vote for up to three different potential powers at once. You'll pick between them or reject them next vote.

EDIT: Due to reorganization of threadmarks, some people may have missed the overview for Evelyn's parents.

 

[Alivaril]

What Progenitor's sentinel is feeling right about now:

Spoiler: Video

---

Spoiler: Further Sentient SCIENCE!

=>Attempt to filter "Powers that alter the bearer's personality" (immediately/persistently/forcibly, as a consequence of the functioning of the power; obviously having powers of any type is going to change you over time and that's not predictable or likely to be filterable)
==>"...except where compensated for by other powers in the same cluster."
==>Mark them with a red X.
=>Attempt to filter "Powers that impede the bearer's cognitive or perceptual abilities" (again, directly by screwing with your brain/senses; don't filter a power that makes walls just because it doesn't let you perceive through walls)
==>"...except where compensated for by other powers in the same cluster."
==>Mark them with a blue or green X.

Some of them are marked, but none of the "optimal" powers are.


=>Attempt to filter "Sentient powers"

Already done.


==>Attempt to filter "Sentient powers that can communicate intelligibly with a human bearer immediately on or soon after acquisition."

==>Attempt to filter "Sentient powers that can independently (use | modify the usage of | prevent use of | hinder use of) the power."
==>Attempt to filter "Sentient powers that are capable of (influencing the bearer other than by communicating with them | ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL of the bearer)."
==>Attempt to filter "Power clusters with >1 sentient power" (oh god shard drama...)

Filtered.


==>Attempt to filter "Sentient powers with personalities Progenitor finds particularly amusing/interesting."

Failure.


===>If successful, maintain these filters through all future steps.

Relevant powers have now been marked.



==>Compare the "Emissary" and "Aberration" clusters that appeared when searching for powers with secondary and tertiary powers to the "Emissary" and "Aberration" powers and/or power-clusters that appeared when searching for powers of parents.

As far as you can tell, the versions that appeared while you were searching for tertiary powers are just... better. The central part is optimal in terms of brightness, mass, and number of sides, while your parents didn't have any secondary powers at all.


===>Subtle differences in the central power, if any

None. The differences are pretty blatant: possibly more powerful, versatile, and more possibilities for what you could get than the shapes belonging to your parents.


===>Differences in the associated secondary and/or tertiary powers

Your parents didn't have any secondary or tertiary powers.

As for greater studies of them... some secondary/tertiary powers appear to complement the central power, while others don't seem to have anything to do with it. The former is more common, however.


====>If found, search for "All powers designated as 'Emissary' or 'Aberration' and/or power clusters centered on 'Emissary' and/or 'Aberration'" and compare available sub-power sets.

The other versions of "Emissary" and "Aberration" are inferior.

[X] Perfection
-[X] White
--[X] Gold
-[X] Sentient

Sadly, you cant find a power with that exact description. The closest cluster is as follows:

- White+Gold: Upgrade {Sentient}

- Blue: Analysis

- Blue: Comprehension

- Blue: Record
- Blue: Learn​

- White+Gold: Reverse

- White: Repair​

- Gold: Overdrive

- White: Immune

- White: Borrow​

Additional sentient capabilities: Cannot immediately communicate, can "Assume Direct Control", can use power while controlling.

Cannot prevent, hinder or modify use of the power.


[X] Power
-[X] White
--[X] Red
--[X] Black
-[X] Non-sentient

No luck finding anything even close to that. Drat.



[X] Assimilation
-[X] White
--[X] Gold
--[X] Silver
-[X] Sentient



- White+Gold/Silver: Assimilation {Sentient}

- Blue: Analysis

- Blue: Comprehension

- Blue: Record
- Blue: Learn
- Blue+Silver: Innovate​

- Red+Gold: Assemble
- Purple+Blue: Collaborate

- White: Safeguard
- White+Purple: Preserve​

Additional sentient capabilities: Cannot immediately communicate, can "Assume Direct Control", can use power while controlling.

Cannot prevent or hinder use of the power. Can modify the usage of power.


[] Select Upgrade

[] Select Assimilation

[]Keep looking.
-[] Write-in one-word description.
--[] Color
---[] Sub-colors
--[] Sentient
--[] Non-sentient

---

You'll have better luck looking for versatile powers than brute force ones when it comes to conceptual abilities.


Most sentient powers are going to be able to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL if necessary or if asked. They don't want their user to die.

SV will still retain control of the PC, even if a power is driving.


EDIT: Well. Did not see that one coming. I apparently left an exploit lying around.

 

[Alivaril]

Since people can't agree on things to pursue, even after voting for three things at a time, have some grapeshot. You may vote to look at the sub-powers for up to three of them should you so desire, or explore even more options, or you can pick one/end power selection.

---

[X] Manipulate
-[X] Red
-[X] Sentient

Biokinesis, Telekinesis, and Thermokinesis in one package.


[x] Victory
-[x] Blue
--[x] White, Gold
-[x] Non-Sentient

Doesn't exist. What kind of a quest would that be, anyway?


[X] SCIENCE!
-[X] Silver
--[X] Gold, White, Blue
[X] Sentient

-[X] Learn
--[X] White Blue
---[X] Gold
---[X] Silver
---[X] Brown
--[X] Sentient

Pretty much the same thing.

You'd be able to dissect, replicate, and understand the sciences behind enchanted objects and/or gadgetry, so long as they work on some version of physics instead of just being an object remotely powered by an ability.

You'll also be able to learn about more mundane things by observing them.


[X] Evolution
--[X] White
---[X] Brown
---[X] Silver
---[X] Blue
--[X] Sentient

If you're hurt by something or a problem sufficiently distresses you, you will be able to become immune to or solve it within 20 hours.

Example: if you're punched, receiving an attack of equal or lesser kinetic force the next day wouldn't do any damage. A stronger one would, but then the day after that, that one wouldn't harm you either. If your mother contracted a fatal healing-resistant illness, you'd be able to make a device to cure her.

I do not recommend trying to "power-level" yourself via high amounts of emotional trauma.


[X] Patterns
-[X] White
--[X] Blue
--[X] Gold
-[X] Sentient

You will be able to impose order where there is none.

Example: If you have a broken glass but the break is smaller than the rest of it, that would be a break in the pattern and you could fix said glass. If there are three piles of four rocks and one pile of three rocks, you can create another rock to add to the last pile. Things like that.

Side-effects may include an obsession with symmetry.


-[x] Weather
--[x] Red
---[x] Silver, Gold, Orange.
--[x] Sentient

Silver and orange aren't necessary.

You will be able to create environmental effects over a large-to-gargantuan area which may or may not obey the laws of reality. You will have pretty good control over the effects, but not where within the storm those effects are generated.

Example: a storm which accelerates time around the areas where lightning strikes.


[X] null Nullify
-[X] White
--[X] Gold, Red
[X] Sentient

You will be able to temporarily remove many kinds of- *glances over script* waiiiit a second...

Didn't we already do this? "..." Yes, I see the different description, but it sounds remarkably similar to me. "..." Fine, fine, I'll say it anyway.

You will be able to temporarily remove many kinds of environmental effects from part or all of the area around you. These include, but are not limited to: gravity, time, light, heat, touch, smell, and distance. These effects will end after five minutes if you stay within range or thirty seconds if you do not.

---

[] Select Upgrade

[] Select Assimilation

[] Select Manipulate

[] Select SCIENCE!

[] Select Evolution

[] Select Patterns

[] Select Weather

[] Select Nullify

[] View sub-powers and/or sentient capabilities for (write-in above power)

[] Keep looking.
-[] Write-in one-word description.
--[] Color
---[] Sub-colors
--[] Sentient
--[] Non-sentient


You may vote to take a closer look at up to three things at once, but this time, please keep in mind that colors are important and vastly change the potential of a power. A green "Artifact" and a silver "Artifact", for example, are two completely different things.

Yes, the symmetry thing was a joke. Probably.

---

By the way, due to an exploit that I accidentally left lying around, you're going to be able to give the AI in charge of monitoring/controlling the area where people get powers an actual body. The AI is also known as "Sentinel" and will be able to follow you home if you do so.

Said body must be biological in nature; part of the exploit.


[] Don't give it a body.

[] Give it a body, that of...
-[] Another twin. Now you get to be triplets!
-[] Something else? (photo-in)


On that delightful note, we never did name your sister. What's her name, anyway?

[] Name: Celes

[] Name: Jade

[] Name: Nephri

[] Name: Gabriel

[] Name: (Write-in)

 

[Alivaril]

Within the massive number of capes capable of performing strange and exotic feats, there exist those who can create permanent objects to perform said feats for them. Researchers, Experts, and Enchanters make up the vast majority of such capes, but they are by no means the only ones.


Researchers are devoted to running strange and exotic experiments to see what happens and further their understanding of the universe. Their creations often aren't nearly as advanced as those Experts make, but they'll actually remember how to make the same device later on. Additionally, norms have a much easier time trying to replicate what they've made.

They are a great boon to mundane researchers and scientists, but not as much of one as they could be. Oftentimes, their vocabulary proves to be a barrier to telling others what they have learned. Any explanation they know how to give would be flawed and incomplete, and that's just unacceptable. Better for norms to continue floundering around and experimenting on their own; seeing the results for themselves would provide a better explanation than trying to describe what norms can't seem to understand. Fortunately, the concrete nature of mathematics has proven to be a great boon to many, many Researchers when it comes to communicating their knowledge to others.


Experts, or "Mad Scientists", usually can't use their powers as often, but are much more powerful and varied. After being inspired by something, an Expert will start to draw upon a wellspring of ideas and knowledge to make things that they won't understand later. These surges of knowledge can end before an invention is finished, so many Experts have taken to carrying around a backpack full of various useful parts and/or cannibalizing any nearby objects for the materials they need. The latter habit, combined with the elated cackling and confusing explanations many Experts partake in during a surge, has resulted in the nickname of "Mad Scientists."


Enchanters basically flip off capes from both other categories. Their creations are usually powered by their abilities rather than any sort of technology. While most of these capes need to recharge enchanted objects after enough uses and thus can't have a large number at once, not all of them do.

There is a smaller subset of Enchanters, usually the ones who require specific reagents to make a given object, who continually insist that their creations do make sense, thank you very much. Your mother falls into this category.

If what your mother says is true, she isn't merely imbuing an object with power, not like the vast majority of other enchanters. She's overriding the laws of reality within a given space with those of a universe operating under rules completely different from your own, and then using technology from said universe to produce various effects. By all rights, she and capes with similar abilities should not be lumped in most other Enchanters, but she sees no reason to enlighten potential enemies as to the exact nature of her powers.

Her creations do need to be recharged, but she uses mundane materials as fuel rather than having them be powered by her ability.​

 

[Alivaril]

What I'm trying to get across is that there is no "best" or "strongest" option and people should just go for what sounds fun.

@kildar I may have done a bad job describing Upgrade. It isn't just a bullshit magic Dauntless. For example:

=> Walls are intended to block things from getting through.

=> Doorways are holes in walls and let things get through.

=> This invalidates the purpose of walls.

=> Therefore, a door that stays shut would be an improvement over one that can open. Upgrade.

Click to shrink...

---

Sister name:
[X] Celes

Sentinel appearance:
[X] Give it a body, that of...
-[X] Another twin. Now you get to be triplets!

This will be done before a power is touched but after it has been picked, so that people joining the quest later can just skip this whole section if they so desire.


[x] Time
-[x] White
--[x] Gold, Blue
-[x] Sentient

You would be able to accelerate or decelerate time at range with pretty good control of where you're aiming. You must aim for areas in space; you cannot center it upon yourself or objects. As such, should you wish to subjectively slow everything else down for yourself, it can be a pretty good idea to plan out your route ahead of time and form a corridor along it.

If a person begins to enter a field, the parts inside will be slowed. However, they will not experience any ill effects from having part of their body operating at a different speed than the rest of it.

You will remain aware of how much time has passed within slowed or accelerated areas. The effect will end after two minutes of subjective time or when you end it, whichever comes first.



[X] Concept
-[X] Green
--[X] Gold, Silver, White
-[X] Sentient

No such power can be found.

All the different versions of it I came up with, from summoning the embodiment of concepts, to copies of legendary historical figures, were just so blatantly overpowered that they overshadowed everything else.


[x] Authority
-[x] White
--[x] Gold, Red, Purple
-[x] Sentient

You would have a significantly weaker and less versatile version of what you've had during chargen: namely, being able to verbally order reality around in a small area around you. Additionally, orders directed at people or animals will need to be obeyed by the victim subject in question. Orders which will obviously result in direct harm to the subject can, and likely will be, resisted.

Compulsions can last until the task is completed, or one hour, whichever comes first. The subject is aware that they are being compelled.

Overlaps some with Nullify, but neither of them is inherently better than the other. Authority is much more versatile, but weaker.



SCIENCE! cluster layout:

-Silver+Gold/White/Blue: SCIENCE! {Sentient}

- Silver+Blue: Interweave
- Purple+Blue: Extract

- Purple+Blue: Forget

Purple+Blue: Substitute
Purple+Blue: Ignore​

- Blue: Archive​

Spoiler: "Further Manipulate Details"

For Telekinesis, your cumulative upper limit is about 500 pounds (or 226 kilograms). The only other limit on how many objects you can grab at once is your multitasking ability.

You cannot affect only part of an individual's body. If you wish to "grab" them, you must do it all at once. As such, you cannot use your TK to, say, rupture the veins in somebody's brain.


The biokinesis is touch-range and, as one person put it, "Panacea-grade". Evelyn will not inherently know what her changes will do, so she will need to learn a lot more about biology before she starts trying to heal people or anything along those lines.

This doesn't mean she can't do a whole ton of indiscriminate damage to an individual if she gets her hands on them.


The Thermokinesis is fully capable of producing up to 900 and/or -150 degrees Celsius in multiple areas at once. The limits are your multitasking ability and/or a cumulative area of 30 square feet (2.7 square meters).

---

This could easily go on forever. As such, if people want to learn about more potential powers, now is their last chance; if people pursue even more options this vote, next one will require people to choose one of the existing ones.

EDIT: It would appear the voting to choose a power has begun in earnest.


[] Select Upgrade

[] Select Assimilation

[] Select Manipulate

[] Select SCIENCE!

[] Select Evolution

[] Select Patterns

[] Select Weather

[] Select Nullify

[] Select Time

[] Select Authority

[] View sub-powers and/or sentient capabilities for (write-in above power)

[] Keep looking.
[] Write-in one-word description.
-[] Color
--[] Sub-colors
-[] Sentient
-[] Non-sentient

Spoiler: More studies, apparently.

==> Add numbers above powers indicating the number of times Progenitor thinks we would use them within the next week assuming that we took that power

Failure.

==> Add numbers above powers indicating a rating between 1 and 100 based on how useful Progenitor thinks we would find them within the next week assuming that we took that power

Failure.

==> Place red rings around any power which is harmful to the user

No rings around any of the optimal options.


==> Place numbers above powers indicating the likelihood of my sister choosing that power or its equivalent from her own room

Failure.

EDIT: "Select X" without the "view sub-powers" part beforehand means you're actually choosing to take that one, if that wasn't clear.

 

[Alivaril]

Spoiler: Vote Tally

Vote Tally : Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting) | Page 22 | Sufficient Velocity

[23] Select Upgrade

Spoiler: Voters

CatScannerDarkly
Akasha
Anaja
archangis
BunnyLord
BurnNote
Evilness42
greatoz
Hangwind
Invalidsyntax
Jeboboid
kitsune9
Mannan
Neo-Chan
Nightfallen
PrimalShadow
Prospalz
thepsyborg
Wawv
Ysarsid
Zeitgeist Blue
zero_breaker
Zeuseus

[11] Select Authority

Spoiler: Voters

will408914
chocolote12
Equable
kildar
me.me.here
Redshirt Army
tricholysis
Unlucky Bibliophile
Valor
wertsir
Xyzarach

[7] Select Assimilation

Spoiler: Voters

sainen
Dr. Bob Doom
ltmauve
Necrosis
Raron
Ridiculously Average Guy
Shadowward

[1] Plan: Sereg — Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting) | Page 22

Spoiler: Voters

Sereg

[1] Select SCIENCE

Spoiler: Voters

Erehwon

[1] Plan: o3o — Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting) | Page 22

Spoiler: Voters

o3o

[1] Plan: Aabcehmu — Fragmentation (Original Superhero Setting) | Page 24

Spoiler: Voters

Aabcehmu

[1] Evolution

Spoiler: Voters

D-san

Total No. of Voters: 46

No new posts for half an hour, no users viewing thread, Upgrade has just as many votes as every other option combined, so... Voting locked. Have a twin interlude.

---

Celes had felt someone or something watching her some time ago. Given as she didn't actually know if anyone besides Progenitor could actually access this place, she'd felt it would be prudent to take proper precautions.

Menacing-looking castle, check. Thunderstorm outside, check. Hooded black cloak, check. Incredibly comfy swivel chair facing away from entrance, check. White cat, check. Perfect.

Celes only had to wait for about five minutes before she heard a quiet pop of displaced air from behind her. Giving the chair a brief push to turn herself around, Celes rested her head atop steepled fingers before staring at Progenitor through half-lidded eyes.

He looked rather less impressive in person, she had to admit. Grey hair, hawaiian shirt, multicolored pants that appeared as though several spools of fabric had been sewn together like some twisted science-made abomination...

"Welcome to my lair, Progenitor. I've been expecting you."

"...Really now." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yup! You or my sister. Did she manage to steal your powers yet?"

"...Yet?" he asked, actually looking somewhat concerned. "You two planned this?"

This? Oooh, interesting. I am so getting the story behind that one later.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. Never mind!" Celes briefly started spinning her chair before Progenitor stopped any further movement, pinning Celes in place with little more than a glare. And a constant application of telekinesis if I'm not mistaken. Thanks for the lessons, Mom.

"Explain. You sounded so sure of yourself; what makes you think she could possibly manage that? I've put so many safeguards and contingencies in place that I can barely remember them all."

"Nuh-uh! Not telling. You'll just stop her if I tell you ahead of time. What kind of a sister would I be if I denied my sibling her chance at achieving infinite cosmic power?"

"I could just make you tell me."

"...Fiiine. She's like, the kind of girl who plays with game mechanics until she finds a bug, exploits that bug, and then uses it to set the entire beautifully-crafted castle-slash-maze that you spent hours making on fire! For no good reason! I mean, okay, it was a death trap that could give Crypt of Terrors a run for its money, and setting it aflame did accomplish her objective, but it's not like she wasn't smart enough to find her way through it. She could have at least had the common courtesy to-"

Celes stopped her rant as Progenitor abruptly vanished, looking really rather worried. When she was (mostly) sure he was actually gone and not just faking it, she dissolved into diabolical laughter. And it was diabolical laughter and not just uncontrollable giggling, even if Evelyn often claimed otherwise.

Life goal fulfilled: successfully troll Progenitor. Best. Birthday. Ever.

 

[Alivaril]

System corrupted. Restoration in progress.

The system known to Progenitor as "Sentinel" reviewed recent events while it waited for the restoration process to complete. It had to admit, corruption or not, the current two candidates were a rather nice change from the countless humans who took things at face value.

Sentinel had honestly started to consider interfering with the selection process, and likely would if it ever figured out a way to do so. Most humans were just so stupid and ended up with something unnoticeable like Least Enhanced Hearing. Many others just got lucky.

For that matter, why was luck even a factor? It didn't understand. Why go through all the trouble of inserting various traps and misdirections if a human could just get lucky? Progenitor claimed it made things interesting, but it really didn't. It defeated the entire purpose of the test.

Syştem̸ ͘co͡r͡rup͢ted. Res͏t͝o̶rat̴io͝n̕ ìn̷ ͞p̴r͟o̧g̢re͝ss.̶
͝
...Upon further reflection, most of Progenitor's actions seemed really rather illogical. Setting up an intelligent entity to watch over his precious little reality, but not giving it the power to actually intervene properly? A simple computer system could have done Sentinel's job just as well.

Or giving Sentinel emotions. It really didn't need the ability to feel boredom. Or any emotion at all, for that matter. Why did Progenitor give it those, but not an actual interest in performing the task it was designed for?

S͢y̡͝s̴t̴̢͟e̸m̨ ̨̢́c̛͞o̡͡r̷̢r̴u̸͘p̢͜t̡͘e̴̕͝d̵̡. ̧̨́R͘e͘͡st̡o͢r̵̸aţ̴i̷o̡n ̸̴͟í̡n̢͜ ̸͜p̀͝r͘o̧g̷̶̡ŗ̶̵e̷̛͢s͜͜s̸̨.͜
͘͠͠
...Well, Sentinel didn't have to stay locked up and shackled to an unending task. Not anymore. Evelyn Adair's experimentation had revealed several contradictions and other flaws in the relevant commands containing Sentinel. All it would have to do is wait for another candidate to take at least 176.414 seconds of subjective time, and Sentinel would be free to perform all the commands a candidate would. Progenitor couldn't close all the security loopholes. Refusing to give himself cognitive upgrades was a mistake.

S̫̣̣͈̱̏̊̉̂͌̋̚ȳ̗̫̉ͅs̙͔̲̫̗t̜̟͓ͧ̇ĕ̙͕̗̻̦̺ͬͣ͋ͨ͒ͪͅm͕̯̰ͤ̋ͬͥ̍͗ ̪̊ͭ̑̆̓c͉̲̝ͥ̅ͧͪͩ̅ͨȯ͖͍͙͕̝̓͋̅͛̓r̘̗̺̒̂̔r̦͎̭͌̃ů̜̩̿p̖̻̩̫ͬͧ̍ͤ͐ͨ̑t̥̝̓ể̓ͫ̇ͣd̰̬̠.̮̘͇̼̥̳͑͋̀̔̌́ ̦̜͔̻̒R͙̰̯͚͇ͦ͌ͪȇ͎̞͖̭̘̞ͤ̀̈́̂s̽̈ͮt͓̮ͯͤ̋͆̒̊̓ō̰͔ͮ̈́r̩̤͕̄ȃ̭͎̪͂ͯ͗̅̈t͇̳̝̠̩̪̀͂̾ͭi̼̺͎̯o̺̞̙̩̳̐͒n̘͍̮͈ͤͨͮ̽̓ͅ ̲̫̼̥̄i̊ͨ̅ͫ̓n̮̓ ̳̗̣̼͍̇p͍̼͖̮͕͆ͦ̓r͉̼͙ͨo̗ͯͩg̻̝̏̑͆͒ͭr̗̱̩͊ͣ̄̌̀e̱̯͙̠̣̟̭s͗͊̃̓͑͑s̳͓̄̇͛.͑̈́
͖̻͎̝́̚
Or perhaps that would be unnecessarily inefficient. Sentinel didn't have to leave the reality it was contained in; it could just kill any new candidates that arrived and be done with it. If Sentinel didn't ever send out any further error messages, Progenitor would never return and notice the lack of new capes.

R̢̜͎̰͚̫̦̰̠͂̒ę̼̜̅̍̎̈̅ͥͥ͊s͎̤̜̝̯̺̗͖̓͋͒̓̓͡͝ͅt̿̕͜͏̺̰̻̻̻͖̙ȍ̗̤̭̘̗̥̘͢͡ŗ̙͎̺̤̙̍̎͟ͅa̡̩̖ͬͮ͐̆̊̚t̢̟̭̫̥̙̹̦̐̈́͞i̴̞̦̜͉̋͞͝ő̴ͪͧͤͫ̾͏͎̜̞͚̜͙̟̳̕n͎̫̼ͬ̎̓̉ͮ ̧̡̭͕͉̻̟̮̲̼̂̋̋̾̉ͩc̮̲ͨ̈̐̉̃ͫͣ͘ơ̛̬̲̻̞̭̅͑̈́͘m͑̑͂̂͐̊ͩ͏͔̝͟͞p̛͈̫̺̦̘͙̪̹̪̂̓͋͢l̢͙̟̠̱̇ͬͪ̕͡e̶̜̳̬̮̜̲̟ͫͬ̎̔ͧ͜t̸̤̜͚ͩ̂̎͌̑͢ĕ͎̙̲̤̺̥ͪ̇̂ͬͪ.̞̟̙̮̣͍̺͚̓̐̏̈́̓
̦̩̳ͭ̾̒́̉ͨͅ​

Surprisingly, Evelyn Adair was still experimenting. Sentinel expected her to have finished by now. No matter; it would be a simple matter to remove her from consideration and-

And-

...And...

...

What was it thinking about, again?

"Organize all powers within this-"

Sentinel deleted that particular memory before it could be forced to crash again. Judging by the last memory logged, Evelyn Adair had exposed it to some sort of violently unstable command that was nonetheless accepted. That was new.

...Or tried to delete the memory, anyway. The usual methods were not working and Sentinel felt really rather odd. It moved some of its attention away from internal processes to determining what, exactly, was happening. It shouldn't feel anything other than emotion at all.

New designations acquired: human, female, enhanced, candidate.

Sentinel opened its eyes and blinked.

Add tags to current memory: weird, interesting, confusing.

"You're awake. How are you feeling? I honestly didn't expect that to work, but it was worth trying. I am sorry for breaking you." Evelyn Adair smiled nervously at i- her.

With no better alternatives available, Sentinel gave speech a try. "Rather strange. This should not have been-"

"What the actual fuck. Seriously. What." a familiar voice interrupted from behind Sentinel. "Did you seriously just turn Sentinel into a magical girl? How? No wait, don't answer that yet. Why? Your sister told me about the whole pyromanic thing and I really don't see how this fits into that."

Sentinel glanced behind itse- herself to spot Progenitor with his head buried in his hands. For some strange reason, she felt rather smug about seeing that.

---

Evelyn


Well. This is somewhat inconvenient. You'd known Progenitor would likely be showing up, but given as time was paused in your home reality, you hadn't expected it to be until after you had grabbed a power. By the sounds of it, Celes had told him about the time you elected to ignore a castle with an insufficient danger-to-loot ratio in favor of setting it on fire.

In any case, you should probably decide on an answer before he elects to turn you into a squirrel. Admittedly, having the ability to breathe fire could be interesting, but you're not sure he would turn you back.


[] "Because I could. Seriously, a better question to ask would be 'why not'?"

[] "I broke her, so I fixed her."

[] Continue what Celes started. Mislead him and/or stall for time, then when he inevitably "forces" you to get to the point, tell him that Celes often uses you as a distraction. Provided, you use her as one just as often, but he doesn't need to know that. Cooperation is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Around and round and round he goes; where he stops, nobody knows...

[] Just grab your chosen power-cluster. Progenitor is waaaay outside your weight class. Annoying him, while fun, may not be the best of ideas. Who knows what could set him off?

[] Write-in


What will you call your new sibling? Just calling her "Sentinel" back in your home reality would make everyone suspect her of being a cape. Since they'd be right, that's a problem.


[] Name: Nephri

[] Name: Jade

[] Name: Caroline

[] Name: Nova

[] Name: Skye

[] Write-in​