Ghost of a Chance (Worm X Ghost in the Shell)

[Seclorum]

---
Ghost of a Chance
---
Worm X Ghost in the Shell
---
:Index:

Introduction (Arc 1):
Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8
Interlude Armsmaster

Ghost (Arc 2):
Part 1 , Part 2 ,

Omakes:
Private Sector , Thank you Admiral Akbar (Pt1) ,
Thank you Admiral Akbar (Pt2) , Corporate Investments , You dun goofed ,​

 

[Seclorum]

*Warning*
Some content may be disturbing to some readers, Gore and Body Modification.

---
Ghost of a Chance
GiTs!Taylor
Part 1
---​

My hands cramped up again and I put the soldering iron down.

I grabbed a stress ball and started squeezing it and working my wrists around while I cracked my neck.

Ever since that bitch did this to me… I had been broken.

A "Flight" down the stairs could be relatively painless if you took it the right way.

I had not.

Both arms shattered, legs battered and bruised, and a cracked patella.

It still kept me up at night, the memory. the shocking feeling that shot up my arms when my wrists internally detached and severed the nerves.

Even to this day, I still wasn't recovered. My pinky and ring fingers on both hands refused to heal properly, the nerve was not quite attached right.

Panacea had a six month waiting list to even get a shot at seeing her. And even then, I was still mostly healed. Doctors just kept saying I needed more physical therapy. So why would she even give me the time of day, when there were a hundred thousand cancer patients who needed her more than I did?

But that's where all this came in.

Taylor, fix thyself.

I had scrounged for parts to build something amazing. A new body. A way out.

It was crude, and would barely be able to move and walk but it was the best I had available.

I just hoped it all worked.

I'd had to steal from a medical supply store to get the IV and solution to use with it.

But I was almost ready. Just a few more points to solder, and I could leave this broken husk, and emerge a beautiful butterfly!

The iron was warm in my hands as I hunched over the system. With a few moments work I completed the transfer mechanism.

I got up and stretched my back from all the kinks that developed from hunching over, for the last time.

Crossing the basement I mounted the steps slowly and at the top I made sure the bolt was secure to keep the room locked until I opened it.

As I descended back down I gazed at all my work and smiled.

It was covered by an old stained sheet for the most part, I tore that away and flung it into a wall so I could gaze at my creation.

With a soft caress on her cheek I sat down on the crates behind her. It was uncomfortable as all hell, but for what was about to happen. It was alright.

I fixed the IV into my arm and started the slow drip. It didn't have to be perfect, it just had to work until I woke up.

With a sigh I leaned back and fixed my head into the frame that immobilized my head from shifting at all. It was important that my head not move during the procedure.

I reached up and flicked open the read cover on the switch that would change me.

"Here goes."

I flicked the switch.

I felt a cool sensation come in through my IV and up into my arm.

I was sleep...sleepy…

I wasn't awake for this part, for obvious reasons.

After the machine had knocked me out, scalpels on crude arms came out and cut down to my skull. Then came the bone saw and drills.

They made short work of opening my skull, as well they should. I had programmed them myself.

Then they carefully lifted the top of my skull completely off, it was careful because I wanted to save as much as possible to speed healing.

Once the top of my skull was securely put away, a specialized flat arm came down and slid down the small gap between my brain and skull and it slipped deep deep down towards my neck, before a small set of scissors neatly and precisely snipped my spinal cord just below the brain stem.

It was pulled out and reinserted a couple more times to sever nerves around the periphery of the brain, the eyes most importantly.

Once everything was snipped my brain was gently lifted up and placed into a hardened case.

Severed nerves were connected to internal leads from the case, specialized electrodes were guided into every part of my brain making my brain more of a pincushion.

Then the case was sealed closed.

The case was lifted up and set into my new body, connections mating perfectly to link my brain to the body.

The arms closed up my new body's metallic skull plate and set the artificial hair in place.

With a his, a prepared solution was introduced into my cyber brain, that neutralized the sedative.

I came awake very quickly.

My new arms rose and fingers flexed with small servos whining.

A smile came to my face.

"TAYLOR! OPEN THE DOOR HONEY!"

Dad was pounding on the basement door.

'Too damn early!' I thought as I sat up and looked behind me.

My old body was still technically alive, but I had to stabilize it and install the support systems it would need to survive.

"Not now Dad! I'm busy!"

He bashed against the door, "OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!"

"NOT NOW DAD!"

I got up and rushed over to my old body and started working on placing the implants in the cavity. left by my brain.

I had to scoop out my old eyes and some more spinal cord to make the necessary implants fit.

Just my luck that someone would really hit the door and break it open while I had those eyes in my hands.

A short, kid, in armor with pistols in his hands and a fancy visor covering the top of his face was standing there, with dad right behind him.

I looked up at them, "It's not what you think."

 

[Seclorum]

*Warning*
Some content may be disturbing for reader, Gore and Body modification.

---
Ghost of a Chance
GiTs!Taylor
Part 2
---​

Things proceeded about as well as to be expected.

"HANDS UP!" The kid with the fancy pistols aimed them at me, while dad rushed forward and punched me in the face.

Predictably, my head was made from sterner stuff than his hand. He howled in pain while I fell backwards. My balance still a bit off so soon after integration.

My arms windmilled and the eyes went flying as I crashed into my old body and flipped up and over it to land in a heap.

"Don't move!" The kid had rushed over to stand on the other side of my old body and he kept both pistols aimed at me, while he kept glancing over at my old body.

"Look, I need to stabilize it before it dies. If you don't let me do that you really will cost me the ability to have my body anymore."

I was looking him dead in the eyes, I knew he kept my gaze because his mouth was twitching and his pistols were wavering.

"What do you need to do?" He asked.

"Install the implants to allow the body to stay alive for one, keep the heart pumping and lungs breathing. Then affix the interface modules that would allow me to put my brain back."

"Your… brain?" He seemed to go a bit green around the gills.

"Yes. my brain."

He pointed one of the pistols at my old body, "What happened to her's?"

I sighed, "I am her. Now either let me up or shoot me."

I could see the hesitation in his face, in his arms.

Dad was sobbing on the floor, cradling his broken hand.

"Shut up dad. I've got work to do." I got up.

The kid stiffened then backed off to watch me work.

I had even less time to get things in place and going.

I worked quickly and affixed the proper neural links and kick started my old heart.

Kid was watching me like a hawk when I pulled out the saw and started cutting down the skull.

"What are you doing?"

"Making space and reinforcing the cavity. Bone is too weak to properly support the Cyberbrain properly, so I'm going to fake most of the appearance of bone for the skull and rely on a reinforced shell to go around the cyberbrain module."

I had hoped to salvage my old eyes, but the bugs got to them first.

Ew. I wasn't going to touch them now.

So I started installing cybernetic sockets to let me take my new eyes and transfer them over. I didn't have the resources to make more new eyes just yet.

"Is she stable?"

I wiped my brow, more from habit than need and nodded, "Yeah. It's going to be fine for a few hours at least. Till I've gotta eat something."

Dad by this point had sat up and while still crying his eyes were wide open and staring at me, "Why? Why Taylor?"

I fixed him with a glare, "Why not dad? My body was a broken husk. It hurt just to go to the fucking bathroom! I can make it better! I have made it better!" I jumped into the air and then did a little dance.

Then just to prove my point further, I picked up a brick from back when they had gotten the fireplace remodeled, and exerted a little pressure.

The brick exploded into powder in my hand.

Dad's eyes were wide and the Kid's mouth was wide open.

We all looked up when we heard the heavy sounds of boots stomping upstairs.

It was quite a surprise when a blue stick with some kind of camera was stuck out into the doorway leading into the kitche.

"Kid Win, is everything alright?" A male voice came from upstairs.

The Kid sighed, "YES! It's," He looked at Dad, my old body, then me, "It's ok. If more than a bit disturbing."

"I'm coming down."

One of if not the most recognizable local hero came stomping down our basement stairs.

Armsmaster.

I could tell when he saw my old body, skull still open, because he nearly fell down the stairs.

"What is going on?"

I beat Kid to the punch, "These two," I pointed at dad and the Kid, "Interrupted a very sensitive and time critical operation!"

He seemed to regard me for a few moments, "And you are a friend of the deceased?"

"No you idiot! I am her! She is me! I just made a new body to use while I fixed my old one!"

"I see." He turned to look at dad and his rapidly color changing hand, "And what's wrong with him?"

"He jumped to conclusions." I said.

Dad barked out a laugh, "Can you blame me? I think it's broken."

I nodded, "It probably is. I heard a crack when he punched my head."

Armsmaster kneeled down next to dad and started to apply a splint, "You should probably go to a hospital sir. Get it checked out."

"What about Taylor?"

"I'll be fine dad. I've got two wonder heroes here to protect me this time."

---

Interrogation was boring as hell.

Oh they didn't call it that, they kept referring to it as an interview, but I had plenty of experience being interrogated.

Luckily, most of the people got unnerved and one even puked her guts out when I described what I had done.

I unnerved a few more when I took my left hand completely off and using manipulators built into my fingertips on my right hand, started tweaking in the stump of my left arm.

Finally, Kid Win and Armsmaster came back in and they had a surprising face with them.

Panacea.

Her eyes were downcast but still, she was here.

"Huh, build a new body and transplant your brain into it and suddenly you can jump to the head of the line for your services."

"I'm sorry." She said in a hushed tone.

"I'm not. I'm going to be better than you could ever have made me."

She shook her head, "It's not that. I… I couldn't save it."

This got my attention, and I fitted my hand back into place with a snap.

"What do you mean?"

"Your body died Taylor." Armsmaster blurted out.

My tone was frosty, "What?"

Kid took my hands in his, "Something must have gone wrong but your body stopped doing something properly and by the time we got her," He motioned to Panacea, "there it was too late. Too much damage too quickly."

"You idiots! This is exactly why I didn't want to come here! I could have fixed it!"

I stood up and started pacing.

Armsmaster spoke with authority, "Taylor. Please sit down."

I turned a baleful gaze on him, "Why? So you can kill me for real this time?"

They all flinched at my words.

I needed to get out. The walls felt like they were crushing me.

Armsmaster seemed to react the quickest, like he was expecting it. But he was still far too slow.

I flashed to the door and my body launched through the air, broke the hinges clean off.

My feet pounded on the cheap linoleum floor.

I angled my body nearly parallel to the floor before launching into a spinning jump to the end of the hallway.

I saw the end of a grappling claw skitter across the floor where my feet had just been before my leap.

I turned and saw a window opposite the elevators and with a little run up I leapt through the tempered glass.

Tiny shards flew around me as I sailed through the air towards a nearby building.

It was at moments like these that I appreciated the gymnastic package I had compiled for my movement algorithm.

I twisted and brought my feet forward and neatly punched through the glass of the office building, about four stories lower than where I had been in the PRT building.

AN: Due to feedback I edited the last sentence out with Taylor Taunting. It was an idea that didn't quite pan out imho.

 

[Seclorum]

---
Ghost of a Chance
GiTs!Taylor
Part 3
---​

It was around this time, I had to seriously reevaluate what the fuck I was going to do now.

My body, my old body, was dead.

If they kept it cold I still might be able to salvage it, but it would require a heck of a lot more modification and upgrades to fix than I could reasonably expect to make.

But I stopped and asked myself, 'Why bother?'

This new body was infinitely better!

Faster, stronger, tougher.

Why deal with that old and broken meat I used to call a body?

People were giving me looks as I walked down the street. I looked at my arms and winced, the seams were plainly visible. I hadn't had time or resources to create a more realistic skin substitute.

Sighing, I resolved to ignore the looks. They didn't matter anyway.

Screw them! They didn't know what I had been through!

But in trying to ignore the looks and whispering, it brought me back to the question.

'What the heck am I going to do now?'

I didn't feel like going home, yet there really wasn't much I could do without tools or money anyway.

Money?

I stopped and skipped backwards until I came to be in front of an ATM.

I hummed as I inspected the machine until I found an exposed USB port on the back.

With barely a thought I grabbed a cable that extended from a hidden reel in my neck and plugged it in.

The software was, to put it mildly, a joke.

I tricked the system into dispensing a pair of twenty dollar bills, then wiped the past five minutes from the video recording.

Pocketing the cash I skipped along the road.

There was some kind of club ahead, I could see the line going down the block.

I got an idea.

And if there is one thing I learned from mom, a Hebert with an Idea is a sight to behold.

The bouncer took a good look, up and down, the letch. But he nodded and let me straight in, much to the groans of the other patrons who had been waiting.

I smirked, knowing exactly what tricked him into letting me in. They were spectacular after all.

The beat pulsed all around me as I entered.

The house lights were off but there were enough colors flashing from the stage and dance floor that everything was illuminated anyway.

I brushed past a scowling blonde who left in a hurry while I stepped down towards the bar.

I had never ordered anything before and the barkeeper seemed to scowl and look suspicious but he nodded and dispensed a Coke when I asked.

I just turned to watch the people dance and sip my coke.

The beat and everyone dancing made me want to join in, but I didn't trust my movement algorithm without some kind of patch for dancing. I hadn't even considered it when I first put everything together.

Someone slid up next to me and said, "Hey there beautiful."

I turned my head to look at him.

My first thought was, 'Dear god this guy is Orange!'

But it was deeper than that. He wasn't just Orange. He had small scales over his face, chest, and arms.

His whole face was a bit elongated outwards and he had a tail, swinging behind him.

He was more than a bit disconcerting.

He flashed me a brilliant smile, "Hows about you and me go upstairs and we get to know each other better?" His eyebrows, what little there was to suggest them, twitched upwards.

"Excuse me? What?"

He reached out and poked my arm, at the seam, "We got something in common, and I'd like to talk. Got some friends who might like to meet you too."

'Did he just invite me to what I think he did?'

"Eww! Creep!" I threw the remains of my coke in his face.

A giant of a man in a large overcoat and hood waddled up, "Excuse me. I'm sorry for my friend if he offended you."

'Wow this guy is monotone.'

I looked the big guy up and down. There wasn't an inch of skin exposed.

'Man, why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah, I didn't have the time.'

I frowned at the reminder of just why I was here instead of working.

The big man motioned to the bartender, "Please get the lady anything she wants, on the house."

"Right Gregor. Old newt struck out again?"

"Hey! I resemble that remark!" The Orange guy groused.

The bartender laughed, "I think the young lady is underage too. Don't want to get in trouble buddy."

Mr. Orange looked me up and down and whistled, "Damn girl. How old are you?"

"I was Sixteen. But it's been a long day. I feel almost like new again." I flashed them a grin.

They had no idea how true that was.

The big man, Gregor, turned to me, "Excuse me Miss. But based on your appearance," He pointed to the seams on my arms, "There are some things we would like to ask you."

'God damn, are there giant glowing neon signs to these things?'

"Ask away." I countered.

He looked around and then said, "Perhaps somewhere a bit more private?"

I looked at the bartender, "Do you trust this guy?"

"Who Gregor? Guy's harmless. Big old teddy bear."

I turned back to Gregor and nodded, "Sure. Lead away."

Mr. Orange groaned, "Man. I get shot down by a teenager and the Snail picks her right up like that!" He snapped his fingers.

 

[Puppetmaster24]

So happy this is a thread.

 

[JamesB]

I was hoping to eventually see a Ghost in the Shell cross. It seems Taylor is channeling Major Kusanagi.

Effectively, Taylor appears to have a version of Bonesaw's and Mannequin's powers, with building artificial bodies. Each body can have different ratings. At least, her current one would get a Brute and Mover rating. From them being able to be swapped out there would also be a Stranger rating.

 

[Interregnum]

This story is being rushed. Taylor going ahead with a dangerous surgery because she developed some variant of biotinker power I can see. I can imagine a chain of events that leads Kid Win and Armsmaster to break down the door, and obviously Taylor is feeling resentful about people only care after she 'acts out.'

The problem is that Taylor decides to cut and run before we understand what is happening. Why did Danny call the police? How did the PRT get involved and why were the only two people that might understand Taylor's tinkering sent out as opposed to a full PRT squad with Protectorate backup? Did the PRT know Taylor was a tinker beforehand?

Then Taylor has her freak out and hits the streets... why? Taylor has enough composure to settle down while her skull is sawed open but now she gets claustrophobic? In canon tight spaces made Taylor's powers stronger, not cause her to lose her nerve, and the locker did not happen here so why is this even a problem?

Robbing the ATM is entirely contrived. Canon Taylor would find that kind of wanton crime morally abhorrent, especially at this point in the timeline. The club comes way out of left field as well. Taylor has had zero social interaction since middle school. Emma and Sophia have seen to it that she has no friends and no chance of social development. Maybe Taylor is particularly genre savvy, but the clubbing scene should be entirely foreign to her. Here she strolls into the club like a badass, calmly slaps down some guy who was coming on to her, and meets up with known villains without breaking composure.


The story just moves too fast and Taylor behaves inconsistently.

 

[Seclorum]

Why did Danny call the police?

Click to shrink...

He didn't. The police, Armsy and Kid Win came calling because of her thefts. Master Thief she is not.

How did the PRT get involved and why were the only two people that might understand Taylor's tinkering sent out as opposed to a full PRT squad with Protectorate backup?

Click to shrink...

They were sent out precisely because they suspected she was a Tinker. Given the nature of the things she stole, she was either a serious drug addict, a moron, or she was going to use them somehow.

Did the PRT know Taylor was a tinker beforehand?

Click to shrink...

They suspected it. She passed over the easier to move higher priced goods and searched for very specific things. Classic Tinker hallmarks.

Then Taylor has her freak out and hits the streets... why?

Click to shrink...

Effectively she was just told her life, the life she expected to lead once she could fix things, is over. That the imbeciles who had control over her, had once again fucked her over.

Taylor has enough composure to settle down while her skull is sawed open but now she gets claustrophobic?

Click to shrink...

She Psyched herself up to that point. And to prevent confrontation with that crucial moment, she had sedatives so she didn't have to be awake during it. "It's just like going to sleep in one place, and waking in another."

Combine that with her Tinker power pushing her to use it... Magnify that little push over months of pain, anguish, and sleeplessness.

In canon tight spaces made Taylor's powers stronger, not cause her to lose her nerve, and the locker did not happen here so why is this even a problem?

Click to shrink...

It's not claustrophobia. It's an intense emotional reaction to the situation that was presented to her. You ever get so worked up you just cant stand still? You ever gotten to that point, and been in the same room with people who you dont like at all? Especially when your there nominally against your will?

Robbing the ATM is entirely contrived. Canon Taylor would find that kind of wanton crime morally abhorrent, especially at this point in the timeline. The club comes way out of left field as well. Taylor has had zero social interaction since middle school.

Click to shrink...

Yes, it was a bit contrived, i'll admit that.

But it's there to show how she is changing. To put it in her own words, "...I feel almost like new again."

She's riding an emotional high from everything. She's not in constant pain. She can move more freely and easily than ever. Beyond some physical oddities she's beautiful. She harps on the crude nature of her new body but it really is a piece of work. She's being too harsh a critic of herself.

So since she doesn't want to talk to the authorities right now, and she is in the area, she hits on going and doing something "Old Taylor" would never have done, Go out and mingle with people.

and meets up with known villains without breaking composure.

Click to shrink...

She doesn't know who they are.

 

[Dromeosaur]

The story just moves too fast and Taylor behaves inconsistently.

Click to shrink...

It is still a great story. Please, continue.

 

[Seclorum]

The story just moves too fast and Taylor behaves inconsistently.

Click to shrink...

Valid. I had an idea and decided to dedicate at least 3 snips too it, and skipping over much of the trigger event period and subsequent follow up seem like a better idea than padding a story out with the same shit people have read a hundred times over.

In addition, I tried to get into action early to engage reader interest. But then towards Snip 3 I kind of realized things were going really fast myself.

 

[TrueNeutral]

Since in this story Taylor apparently got thrown down the stairs, are the trio still out there? Taylor specifically mentions "that bitch", so I'm guessing only one of them was directly involved. It was a physical attack, so probably Sophia? Did the police investigate? Did anything get back to the PRT? Did the school do anything at all? Probably not...

Effectively, Taylor appears to have a version of Bonesaw's and Mannequin's powers, with building artificial bodies.

Click to shrink...

I was just wondering, "If/when this story hits an S9 arc, would Taylor be Mannequin's pick or Bonesaw's?"

 

[Seclorum]

I was just wondering, "If/when this story hits an S9 arc, would Taylor be Mannequin's pick or Bonesaw's?"

Click to shrink...

Why not both?

 

[Dopplerdee]

Taylor behaves inconsistently.

Click to shrink...

it could be because of the pain drugs/pain when she had a human body and the lack of hormones when she whent robot her brain chem is never quite stable throughout this.

 

[Dromeosaur]

Valid. I had an idea and decided to dedicate at least 3 snips too it, and skipping over much of the trigger event period and subsequent follow up seem like a better idea than padding a story out with the same shit people have read a hundred times over.

In addition, I tried to get into action early to engage reader interest. But then towards Snip 3 I kind of realized things were going really fast myself.

Click to shrink...

It is actually good. Please, this is the only living Ghost fic I know of, and your writing is good. So, I don't think you should rewrite. Rate of events can be managed in further updates.
Though, I do find it unlikely that Taylor would stop in Palankin and not in any other bar. On the other hand, things coincide in RL much more than that. Stealing money is also easy to explain - Taylor have already stolen before.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

The big problem that I have is the PRT/P's unrealistic stupidity, but that was kind of required to send the plot in Faultline's direction so whatever.

 

[HuntingTime]

You are worried about the stupidity of Kid Win, Armsmaster and maybe Pancea in dealing with a fresh young new bio-robotic tinker. That might have worked if they realized said tinker is already pisssed off at them at the least. Piggot with Brandish and Coil probably would have done better

 

[argent]

Valid. I had an idea and decided to dedicate at least 3 snips too it, and skipping over much of the trigger event period and subsequent follow up seem like a better idea than padding a story out with the same shit people have read a hundred times over.

In addition, I tried to get into action early to engage reader interest. But then towards Snip 3 I kind of realized things were going really fast myself.

Click to shrink...

This is great. I have read too many stories that start with trigger scenes then do five more chapters of power testing. Showing what her power is and what her trigger was in small comments and maybe a flash back is a much better way to do it.

I know that you started this as just snips but it is moving fast. One way to flesh it out would be to maybe show a PRT or Armsmaster interlude about the hunt for the new tinker and some of the fallout of Taylor's body dying.

 

[Dromeosaur]

The big problem that I have is the PRT/P's unrealistic stupidity, but that was kind of required to send the plot in Faultline's direction so whatever.

Click to shrink...

Sometimes I rage about unrealistic stupidity. Then I remember that it is Mr. Broke The Endbringer Truce For Glory and Ms. Refused To Get Healed Because Bigot (or something similar). I also remember Wards not having heavy sealed exosuits - which is beyond stupid and approaching too stupid to live, and if you say anything about tinkers or PR I reserve the right to rant about Harry Potter level stupidity needed not to create working mass - produced exosuites if you have thinker or tinker or any powers, because, you know, we can do it now - but very, very expensively.

And I wonder why PR manager even design costumes. It is like having an artist design a main battle tank. It is not Glen's job to design suites, it is his job to give a pair of accessories, a bit of painting and sell action figures. If he need to sacrifice protection or firepower for image, then he should be fired because he is bad at his job. I get why villians are treated with kid gloves - but I cannot get why protectorate is so bad at it's job.

Anyways, you think people in Protectorate are stupid? Do you even know how hard some people try to prove that human stupidity is the biggest obsevable part of the Universe? Just look at some laws that people try to pass, look at some politicians - sometimes I wonder if it is stupidity or treason. I am not even speaking about people who deny evolution( as we observe it right now, it is like denying the existence of DNA. You can just, you know, watch and see it) or are sure that the Earth is flat. Every stupid action in fanfiction is perfectly justifiable with RL examples.

Edit: Contessa needes literally several minutes of work to solve all remaining challenges in creating exosuits - except, perhaps, power. Now, why they are currently quite espensive?
1) Power source. Possible solutions: tinker, Contessa, somebody who can create radioactive metals for nuclear batteries, tinker fuel, Number man, any thinker with enchanced mind having a look at the project, Eidolon, a tinker - inspired project, a Think tank and Tinker tank working on the problem.
2) Good engine. Contessa, tinker materials, exotic thinkers, exotic materials, matter replication power - somewhat like Kaiser - tinker - inspired materials, Blasto making self - reproducing organisms for this purpose, something like that.
3) Armor - see above. With carbon nanotubes and currently experimental designs it can easily stop common bullets.
4) Electronics - all the good things from an aircraft. Or, you know, high - end smartphone. Tinker programs are just as replicapable as usuall ones, but even better, and they can easily do it as a part of large task.
5) Recon. Small drones for recon.
6) Weapons. No need for something fancy, some riot gear, a gun with trancs and bullets. If people would scream child soldiers, say two things: patrols are voluntary, and would you prefer your kids to stop crimes without proper offence and defence? Even in safe sities any intervention in crimes is still dangerous. Brainless people will still complain, but they are brainless. Also Contessa.

Using the suit as a baseline, any Protectorate tinker can easily create some special equipment for his teammates, so protectorate becomes several times more dangerous. In order to preserve balance of power Cauldron would have to enchance villians, so it would be interesting.

 

[Seclorum]

---
Ghost of a Chance
GiTs!Taylor
Part 4
---​

Gregor lead me to a set of stairs and we ascended to the rooms above the club.

It was surprising how much the floor cut down on the thumping music up here.

Mr. Orange trailed along behind us and he saw my gaze on the floor, "Sound dampening materials. Cost an arm and a leg but we couldn't live without them."

I stared at him, "Why are you following us?"

He cocked his head and crossed his arms, "I live here." He crossed the lounge space and flopped onto a couch opposite a big screen TV then started flipping channels.

"Newt! You better not have brought another one of your conquests up here!" An older womans voice yelled out from down a hallway.

He raised his head and shouted down at her, "I didn't, mom. But Gregor did!"

A pair of doors opened, one on either side of the lounge space.

From the direction of the older womans voice, came a young looking woman with stern features and long black hair. She had a moist rag in her hands that she was using to methodically scrub them.

From the opposite direction came a younger girl with curly brown hair.

Both of them started looking me up and down with subtle glares.

"Gregor. Who's this?"

Gregor stepped in front of me and put his hands up in a placating gesture, "It's not what you think. I merely wanted to talk to her more privately."

The younger girl came up behind me and started circling and inspecting me, she poked at the seams on my arms, "Hey. This is interesting."

Mr. Orange, Newt, raised his hand and said, "The weird seams, yeah I know."

I was really starting to feel self conscious about them and I crossed my arms in front of me to protect them, "What's so special about it to you people?"

The older woman gently pushed Gregor out of the way and motioned to me to show her my arms.

Gregor started to take off his coat, hat, and thick scarf.

Newt sat up and just looked at me.

I extended my right arm and the woman took it and turned it this way and that before running a finger along the seams.

The younger girl put her hands on her hips, "Do you know where you come from? Any memory loss at all?"

I cocked my head to the side, "Yes and no."

The woman held my hand between hers, "Explain."

"Yes I know where I come from. I was born here. Not this club but this city. And no I don't have any memory loss."

By this point Gregor had exposed his skin to the world.

A striking translucent blue. With some hard growths here and there.

I couldn't help but stare.

Newt was odd enough, but at least he seemed to be more, human.

"I know what I look like must be strange and frightening."

"Well, yes it is. But. You seem like a nice guy."

He smiled at me before sitting down in a chair nearby.

The woman let go of my hand and Sighed, "You have powers."

"Yes? I mean I made this all myself." I waved up and down my body to illustrate my point.

The girl returned to her room, "I'll let you guys give her the talk."

"Sit down please. There are some things we should probably tell you about."

She turned and pulled up a pair of cheap chairs and spun one around for me.

We sat and she began, "There are a few things to know about being a parahuman. Like the unwritten rules."

"Unwritten rules?"

Newt chimed in, "Basically don't nark on civilian identities of others. Don't go after families of others."

"Why?"

It honestly puzzled me why you wouldn't go after say a villain's identity and family.

The woman sighed, "It keeps the threat of it happening to you down. It preserves the fragile peace between the factions. And because if you don't, everybody will come down on you as a united force. It's happened a few times now so everyone tries real hard to prevent it happening again."

"O...kay. That makes a twisted sort of sense."

"Also," She cleared her throat, "You said you built… stuff right?"

I nodded.

"Well that's a whole nother target on your back. That makes you a Tinker, and Tinkers are some of the most dangerous Parahumans you will ever encounter. Because they can change what they can do. They get better over time, more equipment, better refinements. It also makes you a hot commodity for recruitment."

"What?"

"Plenty of gangs actively look for Tinkers to recruit. Because of that force multiplication effect. Because normal people can use your tech in most cases. Only you can really build it, but if you make a fancy gun that shoots lets say, spiders, at people. And it's simple enough to use by just pressing a trigger? The normal people can use it. So you could arm a whole bunch of people with spider guns and that can give them a huge advantage when fighting others."

"Oh," I looked down for a moment, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because we are all Parahumans up here. And well, we thought you were like them." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Newt and Gregor.

Newt jumped to his feet, "Newter at your service." He bowed theatrically.

"Newter? That's uhhh, that's different."

"Friends and Family call me Newt. Cause near as we can figure I'm part newt now." He turned and flopped back onto the couch.

Gregor was next and he also bowed as he introduced himself, "My name is Gregor. Gregor the Snail."

I smiled at him, "Nice to meet you."

The woman smiled at me and held a hand on her chest, "My name is Faultline. And everyone up here is part of my crew. Even Spitfire, who is not exactly the most social of people."

"I heard that!" She shouted through her door.

They all looked at me expectantly.

'What should I call myself?'

It took me a while to wrestle my various thoughts on the subject.

'I was something ugly and broken, but I've transformed myself into this… new form. I can't go back. I'm forever altered by this. Like a stain. A blot of color on my soul, on the wings of this new butterfly I have made. Light, light filtering through those wings with a new color… color… oh what was that word…'

"Chroma." I blurted out suddenly.

They all seemed to accept that with nods, "Nice to meet you Chroma."

Newt sat up, "So Chroma, you got any bits left unchanged?"

I thought about it, "Not really. I mean I've still got my brain but I can't exactly put it back now. Stupid Armsmaster."

"Armsmaster. What did that old rustbucket do this time?" The woman seemed intrigued.

"Well I had just finished transfering my brain to my new cyberbrain case and integrated into this body…"

Newt broke in, "Woah woah woah, you cut out your own brain? Wow!"

"It wasn't that hard. But as I was saying, I had just finished the first stage when before I could fully stabilize my old body to survive without my brain, Kid Win and my dad broke down the door and well let's just say it didn't go so well. I evidently didn't take enough time to properly do the job since Kid was freaked out a bit, dad was panicking, and then when Armsmaster came down he pretty much rushed me off to be interviewed over at the PRT building. They came in not to long ago and told me my old body was dead."

"Shit." Newt sat back hard at that.

"Yeah. That's putting it mildly."

 

[Seclorum]

This is great. I have read too many stories that start with trigger scenes then do five more chapters of power testing. Showing what her power is and what her trigger was in small comments and maybe a flash back is a much better way to do it.

Click to shrink...

Same.

I've made an effort for a while now to try and never ever do a traditional locker scene again. Nor have a classic power testing scene.

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

An intro snip that gets Armsy and KW there would be good. Like maybe a briefing where they say why they suspect Taylor of being a tinker. Would flesh it out some.

Also a snip with Armsy and maybe Panpan or rando oc throw away prt doc going over possible problems like lack of true brain chem in her new body. Would slow things down and flesh them out a bit.

Expand the you killed me (or legally agg assualt or something) and have Armsy try to give the recruitment pitch, that forces the confrontation explosion that gets Taylor to dipset. Like 'why would I join up with a glorified gang? Youve browbeat and threatened me and assaulted me and now are trying to recruit me? Piss off I'm out' 'you can't leave' 'fuck you I "can't"'

Maybe skip the ATM and instead have Newter on a smoke break when Taylor walks by? With Gregor or Spitfire (she would be a member of the crew around now yeah?) Hanging out with him, and with sharp eyes.

Hmmm. Would really only require a snip break change point and then addition of that extra stuff and a fairly major rehaul of the third snip while keeping it the same in large strokes.

Those would be my suggestions.

 

[BirdLawyer]

Honestly I wouldn't change much. This is a very strong start, maybe she rushed away from the PRT a bit fast but it was pretty understandable in story. I'm eagerly awaiting more.

 

[Seclorum]

Honestly I wouldn't change much. This is a very strong start, maybe she rushed away from the PRT a bit fast but it was pretty understandable in story. I'm eagerly awaiting more.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I'm definitely thinking the first interlude would go back and show the authorities coming on to her and their perspectives on just what's going on and what really happened between Taylor going into interrogation and them deciding to tell her.

 

[Yog]

Well, this is certainly interesting. I'd like to note that it should absolutely be within PRT's capabilities (hell, Armsmaster's capabilities in his spare evening) to grow Taylor a spare clone body. They don't need to do any weird things with it, like make it sentient, and rapidly growing a blank body shouldn't be that hard. I wonder how Taylor would look at that. I am also wondering on what, if Anything Danny is going to do. Like, I don't know, sue them? They at the very least mishandled his daughter's remains.

Some more thoughts:
1) Manton Limit. Taylor isn't protected by it. Which is going to bite her. A lot.
2) Certainly an interesting start, though I have to wonder what, if anything, Taylor is planning to do now. Upgrade her body, I guess.
3) What PRT is going to be doing is a big question. I mean, they could go after Taylor for destruction of property, I think, but that would be really low handed.
4) Working with Faultline could certainly be interesting, though I'm not sure Taylor would join fully.

 

[Seclorum]

I'd like to note that it should absolutely be within PRT's capabilities (hell, Armsmaster's capabilities in his spare evening) to grow Taylor a spare clone body.

Click to shrink...

Yep. It basically doesn't need a brain, it would be better off without one. Taylor can come in, install what she needs to interface with it, and bing bang boom.

1) Manton Limit. Taylor isn't protected by it. Which is going to bite her. A lot.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. That would screw with her in a lot of ways over time.

2) Certainly an interesting start, though I have to wonder what, if anything, Taylor is planning to do now. Upgrade her body, I guess.

Click to shrink...

That's a good question, and something she's asking herself.

3) What PRT is going to be doing is a big question. I mean, they could go after Taylor for destruction of property, I think, but that would be really low handed.

Click to shrink...

Well certainly they have the thefts she committed to resolve still. And now there is also the issue of her destruction of property yes. Although those are relatively minor complaints.

4) Working with Faultline could certainly be interesting, though I'm not sure Taylor would join fully.

Click to shrink...

It's an idea I have considered, but she doesn't really fit the profile Faultline is looking for. She's a nice enough girl, but they wouldn't really go out of their way to recruit her, even if she is a Tinker. Too much baggage, too much of a chance of things going catastrophically bad with their reputations.

Faultline likely doesn't want to recruit her with the amount of ill will that would generate with the other gangs. Especially the more powerful Empire.