Goddamn Teenagers (Worm, AU/time travel)

[dc2008]

"Hello?"

"Cassie, this is Dr. Weaver. Are you interested in a chance to make some money, hang out with Rachel, help with search and rescue, oh and likely get some serious emotional trauma?"

"Wow you sure know how to sell a girl…"

Shortly thereafter

"Armsmaster speaking."

"This is Dr. Weaver. I just spoke with Dragon. I have not slept since before the attack, and will shortly be escorting Ms. Lindt on S&R. Incidentally, I am not a fan of the tinkertech stimulants made available to the PRT."

There was a brief, busy sort of silence, before Armsmaster responded. "I commend you on your dedication. You may enter my lab and retrieve for your own use one of my personal emergency response kits, located in storage container C-6. You are cautioned to please observe all relevant regulations with regard to the contents."

---

Note: Jaded!Taylor does, of course, have access to ridiculous tinkertech drugs through Cauldron. However, this gives her plausible deniability and also serves as a bonding thing with Colin.

 

[dc2008]

"Took the kids home, their parents were pleased. Alec went back downstairs and Amy crashed back at her place." Glory Girl rattled off, as Brian put a blanket over Aisha's sleeping form. She'd insisted on staying up to help them tidy up, until she had sprawled out on the couch 'for just a minute' to 'rest her eyes'.

Glory Girl surveyed the now only slightly messy room. "I think this was good for Amy, playing couch potato is a good break for her after going run run run all the time at home."

Brian rubbed the back of his head. "About Alec…"

Glory Girl nodded sagely. "Let's just say I've heard that gaming smack talk before and leave it at that. Do I need to worry?"

Brian shook his head. "Nah, causing problems would be too much work."

Glory Girl, no Victoria snorted, and turned to look at Aisha. "She did good. I was worried about how to keep Amy from fretting, and it was clearly good for the kids and her as well."

"Yeah," Brian said proudly. "she did good."

"Make sure you tell her that, not just me." Victoria yawned. "And maybe tell Dr. Weaver, Aisha really looks up to her."

"Yeah." Brain looked at his sleeping sister fondly. "Dr. Weaver has been good for both of us, but especially her."

Victoria yawned again. "Ok, well I'm going to go call Dean and then crash. Don't be a stranger!"

---

Note: There need to be more Amy/Alec friendship fics. Amy could really do with more "couch potato no fucks".

 

[dc2008]

"What did you learn?"

"How the fuck are you so peppy?" Lisa grumped. "I crashed for days and I'm still exhausted. Power was fine during the attack, which I still haven't figured out."

"In order, (1) a combination of experience, and post-modern chemistry and (2) it's almost like your Power got so intrigued with what was happening that it forgot to meddle with you until festivities were over."

Lisa gave Dr. Weaver a flat stare. Power, what the fuck.
She is under the influence of powerful tinkertech stimulants.

No shit. That's not what I meant and you know it.

She believes what she is saying? She has literally decades of experience dealing with me? Lisa's headache got worse, but she nevertheless jotted down a note on her arm so the bastard couldn't make her forget.

Dr. Weaver continued, "well, we can give you a few more days to gather your thoughts. I'd linger, but after a few more check-ins and a power nap, I need to go back and help Rachel pack up."

---

Notes:

Lisa is getting increasingly bothered at how adept Dr. Weaver is with power. Part of why she's so disturbed is that she keeps getting intuitive feelings that it's all fine and she shouldn't worry, but she recognizes those thoughts as suspicious. Lisa might or might not be working on a conspiracy cork board.

Also, jaded!Taylor is very good at telling when Lisa is being rude because she is being catty with the voice in her head. As opposed to, you know, all the other times.

 

[dc2008]

Alec: Why Aisha not answer texts, I has needs!
Brian: You watched her down how many energy drinks? Of course she's still crashed out.
Alec: boring. Hey do *you* want to make 20?
Brian: …

Elsewhere

"And how did Ms. Lindt perform?"

"Actually very well," the disaster response coordinator replied. "The dogs performed comparably to tinkertech at locating survivors. Even the handler's, ah, idiosyncrasies, are more manageable than several of the tinkers we work with.

"Oh, and some of the troopers that she found buried under a command post, in particular, are interested in volunteering for training to work with her going forward.

"Excellent," said Dr. Weaver. "Moving on, I was hoping you might be able to direct me toward training materials used by your department? The more comprehensive, the better—I have a precocious thinker who thinks they know everything. Want to take them down a peg."

The coordinator grinned. "I think we can help with that."

---

Note: It's almost like a species that has evolved and then been bred for a strong sense of smell outperforms blackboxed tinkertech bullshit that runs on the tears of angels. That's a check box next to "make Rachel useful to the PRT".

 

[dc2008]

"… a few minor disruptions on the Boardwalk and in Empire territory, but elsewhere the Truce was observed scrupulously."

"We aren't that lucky." Emily replied glumly.

"Lung has always taken a dim view on Truce violations, and it looks like Coil is now doing the same."

"Someone is being too clever, and it won't end well. A problem for another day I suppose. How goes S&R?"

"Assault and Battery are staying another two days, the rest have returned. Ms. Lindt and a minder are still deployed as well."

"Hmm," Director Piggot frowned. "Well, we'll see if Dr. Weaver was right about the girl. If not, Ms. Lindt is less trouble on that farm than on the run, and it's cheaper than prison."

Elsewhere

Director Tagg leaned forward. "The most recent Endbringer attack was in many ways inconsistent with prior attacks."

"Yes. To answer the inevitable questions, efforts were made to influence behavior but we don't know if they were effective or if this was a coincidence. We don't know if this is indicative of a 'new normal'."

Tagg snorted in frustration. "Is there anything you do know?"

"We're pretty sure we've identified a sequence of events that would result in the angel being active continuously, albeit at a lower intensity."

Kamil scowled. "That's not funny."

"I assure you, no one was laughing."

---

Notes: Taylor does enjoy inflicting this idiocy on Tagg and Armstrong.

 

[dc2008]

"Armsmaster speaking."

"This is Legend."

"Sir."

"Your prediction algorithm. You mentioned resource constraints."

"Sir?"

"It is being fast-tracked. Make a list, resources, facilities, people."

"Sir, but—"

"I know, coin-flip odds. We can afford false positives if it means when an attack does occur we have even half this much advance notice, and I know you. If you didn't think it could be refined further you wouldn't still be working on it."

Elsewhere

"No, Vicky, my dear little cousin, you can't set me up on a blind date with a kid young enough to be in high school, emancipated or not, no matter how sweet and mature and responsible."

"Fine, I'll bring out the big guns! His! Take a look at this!"

"Ok, yes, he is fit, but how the hell did you even get that picture?"

Elsewhere

Amy: You around?
Alec: ??
Amy: Family being bleh
Alec: Ah. Yeah, come over, we game. Bring snacks, snack getter be all zzzzzz

Later

"Did you seriously invite me over just so you didn't have to go down and meet the pizza guy yourself?"

"I mean," Alec said with a grin, "it wasn't only for that?"

Amy snorted.

 

[dc2008]

Poke.

Lisa groaned and squirmed deeper into her blanket cocoon.

Poke.

"Don't wanna go to church," she mumbled.

A pause. A rustling. More poking, this time in a different shape.

A hand emerged, fumbled a bit, before taking the offered container.

A few moments later a furious Lisa popped up, sputtering. "What the actual fuck is this?"

"Pedia-whatever," Aisha said, unamused. "For babies and hangovers. And, apparently, you. What happened?"

Lisa took another drink and made a face. "Thinker headache."

Aisha nodded sagely. "That is acceptable. Put this in the drink." She handed Lisa a packet of powder. "Makes it taste less bad."

Lisa took it gingerly. Then did a double-take.

"Wait why are you here? How are you here?"

"You were late for exercise and didn't reply to texts so something was wrong."

Lisa groaned and looked at her phone, to find a string of text messages that escalated from annoyed, to concerned, to deliberately provocative.

Lisa sighed.

"Uh, Lisa?"

"Hmm?"

"Why is your bedroom wall covered in nonsense and string?"

"Thinker stuff, you wouldn't understand." Lisa said, weakly.

"Uh huh." Aisha sounded unconvinced. "'Cause it looks like something mom's ex Larry would have made, and he literally wandered around in a tinfoil hat."

---

Note: Incidentally, Larry in Aisha's mind was one of the less objectionable ones. Time Larry spent playing with string was time he didn't spend causing trouble, or being bored and drunk. And while him ranting at her was annoying, he at least looked at her eyes when doing it.

 

[dc2008]

Posted this in a comment on AO3, and thought others might be interested in seeing it. This was in a discussion to the chapter where it is revealed that Youth Guard, Branding, Missy, and her parents, were all in a big pissing match over safety concerns.

---

Piggot is just glad that all these lunatics are bothering each other instead of her. Her basic attitude toward Vista is frustration that Piggot needs to keep the pint-sized potential strategic asset safe from the girl's own idiocy long enough for her to mature enough to be able to use her powers effectively. And, while she sympathizes with the girl's desire for better equipment, the girl just doesn't understand her limits and gets into scraps she has no business being in. And also physically cannot carryactual useful levels of gear.

Put differently, in a city with Oni Lee and Hookwolf, it's not clear that better armor would really make Visat safer. The girl has no business being in a position where she even can get hurt even now yet she keeps. Getting. Injured. At least now the level of force required to render her mission incapable is low enough that the girl isn't too badly banged up. Give her the ability to tank small arms and she'll just find a way to get shot at by higher-lethality weapons.

I will also point out that Piggot knows what it looks likewhen a junior trooper is trying to hide an injury. Yes, it's usually due to stupid bar fights versus stupid actual fights, but the idea is the same.

Also, Max is not stupid. Well, he is, but in this matter he has his head screwed on straight—covering his ass. There is a non-zero chance that someone quietly contacted the PRT after Hookwolf ran into Vista, and offered Othala healing as well as a polite suggestion that the girl stay in her lane. It's hard to not kill Wards when they jump in front of murder blenders.

So in short, from Piggot's perspective, Missy's parents are self-centered pieces of shit, Missy is suicidally reckless with a chip on her shoulder, Youth Guard are well-meaning fools, and Branding gets kudos for somehow making this disaster adorable but loses points big for believing their own propaganda.

I will also point out that, for all Vicky gets shit on, at least in this fic when told how her power can be more dangerous than she realized, she did earnestly and in good faith make a huge effort to do better. She did it in a super-annoying way, and at high volume, but she's trying. While Missy, on learning that her power is actually more dangerous, does a lot of dangerous shit including putting a ball bearing through her own foot and setting the kitchen on fire.

 

[dc2008]

"At some point during the thing, I looked around the apartment and something clicked. I think it was thinking back to the last attack. So much had changed, for the better. I would never have imagined Aisha and I would have our own place, and be entertaining New Wave in sweats, distracting a couple of our neighbors' kids, Alec and Amy on the couch…

"We were… just people. Teens. Is this what it's supposed to be like?"

Dr. Weaver smiled enigmatically. "It's not supposed to be anything. But it's what it can be like. And after, well everything, you have the blessing and curse of never taking it for granted."

Brian laughed, weakly. "No."

"Now that you have it, you'll fight to keep it." She smiled that smile again. "And you don't have to do so alone."

Elsewhere

"This is identical, on a molecular level, to the Aleph original. It brings into question whether it can even be said that this is a copy, rather than a duplicate original."

The tattooed man stared. "You offer priceless cultural relics and in exchange you want me to… wind-down 'less reputable' business practices? What is this, if you have such power you need not negotiate."

Frankly, the body-double agreed, but he knew the role he was to play. "And yet here I am."

"And you would have us cooperate to enforce obedience by the… less organized elements."

"Indeed. It is easier, more orderly, for one seeking a more agreeable Bay to work with already-established elements such as ourselves."

"And what of the would-be emperor?"

"I am told that his organization has been deemed too disorderly to be a part of the Bay's future."

---

Note: Yes, it's jaded!Taylor making Coil do this, not Accord, but Accord found the idea aesthetically pleasing, and finds the reputational benefit sufficient to compensate for the suggestion of his involvement.

 

[dc2008]

Also, this is not honorable samurai Lung. He is a gangster. He is being offered greater respectability and legitimacy. These are often valued by gangsters. Lung is also, interestingly, far more imperial and cosmopolitan in his outlook than is Kaiser. For Lung, if you bend the knee, and are loyal, you are his, and will thus gain such protection as is enjoyed by all Lung's subjects. And, once you are inside, you fucking better play nice with all his other subjects, because they also belong to Lung, and only Lung is allowed to break Lung's stuff.

It's not nice, it's not pleasant, but it's better than the alternative. And right now, that's about all jaded!Taylor can ask for. She needs the villainous element to remain strong to keep out foreign meddlers in a more proactive manner than ENE can. And she needs cutouts (Coil) to deal with Lung because the second Lung realizes he is working with the cocaine hat lady organization, however indirectly, he will lose his shit.

As for the Empire? Even if you are willing to overlook the ideological issues, the Empire is founded on the sense of an in-group and an out-group. So dishonesty toward outsiders has little internal consequence on its leaders. While Coil and Lung and their respective organizations are such that a leader's dishonesty toward outsiders will be held against them.