Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Hmm. Is it possible to scare/confuse the shard watching you, enough, so you don't trigger?
Is Aisha heading that way?
Is Aisha heading that way?
Goddamn Teenagers (Worm, AU/time travel)
A Reasonable, Proportionate Response
"What is this even for?" Lisa asked, blinking at the sloppily handwritten sheets of proposed question prompts.
"So," Dinah began, "Aisha, you know her she's in the thing with us, she got blamed for cheating at school, but she didn't cheat, it's totally because…"
Lisa held up a hand. "This is about the assistant vice deputy principal or whatever being shitty and punchable?"
"Yeah?"
"About Aisha's grades."
"Oh, you know about that? Great! So anyway—"
Lisa massaged her temples as the girl went on about Lisa didn't even care. Finally, Lisa interrupted. "How many questions were you going to use for this?"
The younger girl shrugged. "I don't know, they're easier if I can make them more narrow. I keep some back for me, but I do want to use some for other things, so it might take me a couple days but I figure I could do at least four or five?"
"You're a thinker rating I Win. Even if you jumped through all the hoops made of lawyers, you could easily sell these things for real money, and you want to use them to get back at some petty bureaucrat?"
"She is really annoying though, so—wait, money?" Dinah perked up. "How much money? Could I get, like, a whole hundred dollars? I could get soooo much ice cream and posters!"
Lisa boggled. "Try a hundred thousand? Maybe more, it's, you could, just, I mean, you could just pay her to leave? School pay is for beans, or, shit nuggets you getting this woman fired is like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly."
"I mean, Vista's is willing to help to?"
"That's not better, I've seen her idea of discreet."
Note: God, why are the little ones all nuts!
"So," Dinah began, "Aisha, you know her she's in the thing with us, she got blamed for cheating at school, but she didn't cheat, it's totally because…"
Lisa held up a hand. "This is about the assistant vice deputy principal or whatever being shitty and punchable?"
"Yeah?"
"About Aisha's grades."
"Oh, you know about that? Great! So anyway—"
Lisa massaged her temples as the girl went on about Lisa didn't even care. Finally, Lisa interrupted. "How many questions were you going to use for this?"
The younger girl shrugged. "I don't know, they're easier if I can make them more narrow. I keep some back for me, but I do want to use some for other things, so it might take me a couple days but I figure I could do at least four or five?"
"You're a thinker rating I Win. Even if you jumped through all the hoops made of lawyers, you could easily sell these things for real money, and you want to use them to get back at some petty bureaucrat?"
"She is really annoying though, so—wait, money?" Dinah perked up. "How much money? Could I get, like, a whole hundred dollars? I could get soooo much ice cream and posters!"
Lisa boggled. "Try a hundred thousand? Maybe more, it's, you could, just, I mean, you could just pay her to leave? School pay is for beans, or, shit nuggets you getting this woman fired is like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly."
"I mean, Vista's is willing to help to?"
"That's not better, I've seen her idea of discreet."
Note: God, why are the little ones all nuts!
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
"Yes, TP-ing her office, I can see that. But, TP-ing it, and dumping it in orbit? Might that be a little excessive?"
Guilty Pleasures
"So," Emily began. "Coil."
Dr. Weaver made a face. "Yes, so much comes back to him. He is just such a remarkably terrible piece of shit."
"I'm curious as to his threat factor," Emily replied evenly. "He's been relatively well-behaved, as villains go, yet seems to feature prominently in your operations."
The other woman waved a hand dismissively. "Believe me, no one was more surprised than I at how susceptible he proved to training." She let out a short, sharp, bitter bark of laughter. "The whole time, all he needed was a firm hand, steady guidance, and constant threat of violent retribution. In some ways he benefited from my retribution even more than Lisa, the Laborns and Alec."
Emily was not going to pass up on a chance to get some concrete answers to so the other Bay that, fortunately, would never be. "What, exactly, did he get up to in your world line?"
"What didn't he? He loomed so large in my formative years, to think, when I came back, he turned out to be such a cowardly, weasel of a man." Dr. Weaver's tone had turned contemplative. "Still a piece of shit though. Subverting him was one of the first things I did, and I was not too kind about it."
"Let's see," the other woman said, leaning back, before launching into a nightmarish tale culminating the the near destruction of the Bay, and incidentally in the death of Piggot's own counterpart. Fortunately, Dr. Weaver had brought some of that tinkertech alcohol.
"Oh, and if you believe the drunken musings of the power experts," Dr. Weaver concluded, "he may have indirectly triggered Leviathan's attack on the Bay, but that's speculative."
Helpfully, the other woman paused to gather her thoughts, giving time for Emily to do the same.
Note: Story time with Dr. Weaver!
Dr. Weaver made a face. "Yes, so much comes back to him. He is just such a remarkably terrible piece of shit."
"I'm curious as to his threat factor," Emily replied evenly. "He's been relatively well-behaved, as villains go, yet seems to feature prominently in your operations."
The other woman waved a hand dismissively. "Believe me, no one was more surprised than I at how susceptible he proved to training." She let out a short, sharp, bitter bark of laughter. "The whole time, all he needed was a firm hand, steady guidance, and constant threat of violent retribution. In some ways he benefited from my retribution even more than Lisa, the Laborns and Alec."
Emily was not going to pass up on a chance to get some concrete answers to so the other Bay that, fortunately, would never be. "What, exactly, did he get up to in your world line?"
"What didn't he? He loomed so large in my formative years, to think, when I came back, he turned out to be such a cowardly, weasel of a man." Dr. Weaver's tone had turned contemplative. "Still a piece of shit though. Subverting him was one of the first things I did, and I was not too kind about it."
"Let's see," the other woman said, leaning back, before launching into a nightmarish tale culminating the the near destruction of the Bay, and incidentally in the death of Piggot's own counterpart. Fortunately, Dr. Weaver had brought some of that tinkertech alcohol.
"Oh, and if you believe the drunken musings of the power experts," Dr. Weaver concluded, "he may have indirectly triggered Leviathan's attack on the Bay, but that's speculative."
Helpfully, the other woman paused to gather her thoughts, giving time for Emily to do the same.
Note: Story time with Dr. Weaver!
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
You're being far too restrained and careful, Taylor. Tell it to her like it really is (was), with all the gory detail!
Guilty Pleasures, Part 2
Emily considered her next words carefully. "You clearly have not shied from escalating deserving recipients for kill order consideration, yet I observe that Coil not only continues to operate, he seems to be thriving."
Dr. Weaver sighed. "That wasn't this Coil, it's not fair to blame him for my Coil's actions, no matter how satisfying it might be." She took a drink. "To his credit, this Coil has proven to be on balance a stabilizing force. Even if fucking with him is still a guilty pleasure."
"What is his deal, anyway?"
The other woman tilted her head in thought. "I suppose technically, he's currently an agent of a friendly foreign power, Valkyrie? " She shrugged. "He bought his power originally, and was involved in an asinine plan to take over the Bay. Contessa and a masked woman with dark hair," she gestured to herself, "directed him otherwise."
"How could he possibly expect to take over the bay?"
"Oh, he's Calvert."
Emily finished her drink, refilled it, and finished it again.
Dr. Weaver sighed. "That wasn't this Coil, it's not fair to blame him for my Coil's actions, no matter how satisfying it might be." She took a drink. "To his credit, this Coil has proven to be on balance a stabilizing force. Even if fucking with him is still a guilty pleasure."
"What is his deal, anyway?"
The other woman tilted her head in thought. "I suppose technically, he's currently an agent of a friendly foreign power, Valkyrie? " She shrugged. "He bought his power originally, and was involved in an asinine plan to take over the Bay. Contessa and a masked woman with dark hair," she gestured to herself, "directed him otherwise."
"How could he possibly expect to take over the bay?"
"Oh, he's Calvert."
Emily finished her drink, refilled it, and finished it again.
BethofDeath
Girls just wanna have pun
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Oh Emily... that Tinkertech booze is going to hit you like a Brute 7 Mover 5, if you keep chugging it like that.
Guilty Pleasures, Part 3
"I think," Emily said carefully, "I will need additional detail regarding the safeguards in place to prevent dear Tommy from repeating his past misdeeds.
"Oh," Dr. Weaver replied, "periodic precognitive and thinker check-ins, compromised members of his staff, and my favorite is the babysitter Valkyrie was kind enough to lend me."
"Babysitter?"
"Like many of Valkyrie's less pristine operatives—"
Emily did not like where this was going.
"—we are presuming him an alternate, but, well, it's Marquis.
Fuck me.
"Based on her observations in Baumann," continued the exasperating meddler, "Valkyrie concluded that, properly motivated and supervised, he could be a useful operative—"
Emily resolved to very closely question Dragon on the man's behavior in the Cage.
"—and my uptime interactions with him agree, man really is dedicated to his daughter, coddles her really, and so long as you can cater to his pathological need for control he can be a stabilizing force in unsettled situations."
Emily glanced at her hastily scribbled notes, frowning at the increasing sloppiness of her handwriting. She really did need to get back in practice at holding her liquor.
Morbidly fascinated, she selected the most unexpected of the points flagged. "His daughter?"
Dr. Weaver blinked. "Right, Amy Dallon."
Emily knew it wasn't right to blame the girl for the acts of her father. Still, Emily felt so much better about never letting Panacea "fix" her wounds.
Note: Alternate title - Emily's Cardiovascular Workout
"Oh," Dr. Weaver replied, "periodic precognitive and thinker check-ins, compromised members of his staff, and my favorite is the babysitter Valkyrie was kind enough to lend me."
"Babysitter?"
"Like many of Valkyrie's less pristine operatives—"
Emily did not like where this was going.
"—we are presuming him an alternate, but, well, it's Marquis.
Fuck me.
"Based on her observations in Baumann," continued the exasperating meddler, "Valkyrie concluded that, properly motivated and supervised, he could be a useful operative—"
Emily resolved to very closely question Dragon on the man's behavior in the Cage.
"—and my uptime interactions with him agree, man really is dedicated to his daughter, coddles her really, and so long as you can cater to his pathological need for control he can be a stabilizing force in unsettled situations."
Emily glanced at her hastily scribbled notes, frowning at the increasing sloppiness of her handwriting. She really did need to get back in practice at holding her liquor.
Morbidly fascinated, she selected the most unexpected of the points flagged. "His daughter?"
Dr. Weaver blinked. "Right, Amy Dallon."
Emily knew it wasn't right to blame the girl for the acts of her father. Still, Emily felt so much better about never letting Panacea "fix" her wounds.
Note: Alternate title - Emily's Cardiovascular Workout
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Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
I feel this Emily deserves a drive-by healing assault... One where she's left going, "What? What happened?". Best if Panacea has no knowledge of this happening, and has a really good alibi... And, Emily is left having to rethink her life as someone with two working kidneys, and full mobility...
It is left as an exercise to the student exactly how this might happen.
(Dr. Weaver will, of course, be blamed. Whether she's responsible or not. )
It is left as an exercise to the student exactly how this might happen.
(Dr. Weaver will, of course, be blamed. Whether she's responsible or not.
)
- Location
- Usa
nicoo
Malfunctioning neurochemistry, please be kind.
- Location
- Europe
- Pronouns
- They/She/Meow
I thought that was the point of Tinkertech booze she can actually drink without her kidneys (literally) killing her... until I read they continued on with the meeting. 😹
Agreed, and just like @Guardian Lurker this reminded me of Taylor Varga's RIMT ("We heal you enthusiastically and with a smile (full of fangs)... whether you like it or not")
On the other hand, I think it would be tricky to write such an intervention, in such a way she doesn't react extremely negatively (nor does the rest of the PRT) while keeping in character and all her problematic-but-understandable biasesy. Best I can think of is an actual medical emergency rendering her unconscious and in need of faster medical care than "mundane" medical care can provide (at least there and then)
I guess exposure to Dr. Weaver might just make it happen; say, a cardiac arrest without return of spontaneous circulation despite advanced life-support during one of their "cardiovascular workout" meetings. 😇
grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
Can't remember which OCP fixfic did it, but it's been done
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
One alternative would be Valkyrie having an over-watch on Emily, as she's on Dr. Weaver's list of 'critical staff'. I think it very likely they've got a healer on tap who can do something like stop dying by dropping someone into a regenerative coma...
nicoo
Malfunctioning neurochemistry, please be kind.
- Location
- Europe
- Pronouns
- They/She/Meow
Yeah, I seemed to recall it had been done, but couldn't recall where. It seems somewhat obvious, anyway, but I'm not sure this is necessarily a "fix it" fic... no matter how much uptime-Taylor wants to halp :3Can't remember which OCP fixfic did it, but it's been done
Sure, it doesn't have to be Amy doing the healing, but it doesn't mean Pigot would react less badly... though she might keep it to herself, if it's
grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
It was bugging me, so I walked the list.
It's Taylor Varga, chapter 40 "Doctors and Aftermath".
- Location
- Usa
TV isn't the only place where I've seen forced/convenient healing of Piggot. I'm pretty sure I've seen it in some of Ack's stories. And I'm pretty sure there are others that are escaping my recall as well. I think it's fairly common where Piggot is being portrayed as an ally.
Business Plan, Part 13
"Whatcha' doin'?" Amy twitched at the sudden interruption. After looking left, right and behind, she rolled her eyes and looked up.
Vicky waved, then began to drift down. "Whatcha' doin'?"
"Looking over the new and improved not spider spider book."
"Huh?" Vicky made grabby motions, and Amy reluctantly handed over the packet.
"It seems that someone," Amy began, "prevailed upon my would be business partner that their ideas were, to use a technical expression, batshit creepy horror movie shit."
"So why is it filled with pictures of bees?" Vicky asked, curious.
"This is 'Plan B'. Specifically, bees, and butterflies, oh and maybe hornets and wasps and yeah I don't envy whoever has to market this girl."
"You're just jealous that I'm invincible!"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Clearly you haven't gotten to the part where she discusses possible cross-breeding and hybridization strategies. One of her ranking criteria is anticipated stings per second for swarms of a standard size."
Vicky slowly handed back the packet.
Vicky waved, then began to drift down. "Whatcha' doin'?"
"Looking over the new and improved not spider spider book."
"Huh?" Vicky made grabby motions, and Amy reluctantly handed over the packet.
"It seems that someone," Amy began, "prevailed upon my would be business partner that their ideas were, to use a technical expression, batshit creepy horror movie shit."
"So why is it filled with pictures of bees?" Vicky asked, curious.
"This is 'Plan B'. Specifically, bees, and butterflies, oh and maybe hornets and wasps and yeah I don't envy whoever has to market this girl."
"You're just jealous that I'm invincible!"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Clearly you haven't gotten to the part where she discusses possible cross-breeding and hybridization strategies. One of her ranking criteria is anticipated stings per second for swarms of a standard size."
Vicky slowly handed back the packet.
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Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Personally, I admire your restraint that this isn't 'Plan Bee', and that the episode title isn't 'Bee-isness Plan'.
There're a number of cases in (canon) 'Worm' where you might think cape power design (particularly of Brutes) needed to be more thorough. Particularly with regards to 'as tough on the inside as outside' (though, Weld pulls this off), and 'invulnerability which includes full life-support/sealed-systems' which if Alexandria was using the shard The Thinker planned to use as an avatar was a... suspicious omission.
Nice to see Vicky realising that her power-set, while very nice, likely wasn't thorough enough in the face of Taylor's... (de-bugged?) power engineering approach...
EDIT:
If [Fragile One] is... enthusiastic enough about really liking Vicky then I could see Vicky finding holding her breath meant no stings got to her. But, while fixing the very immediate issue, it's hard to see what she could do except 'run away really fast' (blow the bugs off her/get out of Taylor's bug control range) if faced by 'getting swarmed' problems...
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BethofDeath
Girls just wanna have pun
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
While I see what you're saying, I don't think that 'Nemesis', while the bees-knees, has a monopoly on bee puns.
Also, classically, don't bees suicide by stinging (mammals)? Not ideal for swarms you hope to re-use. Why not use wasps? Is it something to do with wasps being generally disliked (even given how important pollinators they are), and (honey) bees generally not attacking/being regarded as 'good'?
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Sibling Science, Part 4
"Sis, what the fuck was that?" Alec asked in his best responsible voice.
"Huh," she looked at him like a stupid, confused deer. "It's just, the PRT get so upset about mastering and shit, I wanted to make sure they knew what they were asking?"
"They took off your monitor," Alec said flatly.
"They had to do maintenance?"
Oh my god how is she this dumb. "It's Big Blue I guarantee he has like, spares for his spares for his spares. That's his whole thing. If they told you to take off the record thing, it's because they didn't want a record. And if he didn't know, then Haven Man knew for sure! It's their whole thing!"
"But I don't want to get in trouble!"
God, she's doing everything but stamp her foot and pout. "That's why you got the email."
"Oh? That?" She looked at him sheepishly. "I didn't realize it was important?"
"Then why. Did. You. Ask?"
"So I didn't get it wrong?"
Alec made one of those Lisa frustrated noises. He was beginning to sympathize with her, and she must never know.
Later
Aisha opened the door, and was surprised to see Alec, looking unusually serious.
"Aisha, you gotta help me," he said. "How do--is Brian here?"
"No?"
"OK, good, I can say it straight. How the fuck do you get your himbo brother to get a hint, because now that she can't mind-whammy people my sister is like third grader level oblivious."
"Huh," she looked at him like a stupid, confused deer. "It's just, the PRT get so upset about mastering and shit, I wanted to make sure they knew what they were asking?"
"They took off your monitor," Alec said flatly.
"They had to do maintenance?"
Oh my god how is she this dumb. "It's Big Blue I guarantee he has like, spares for his spares for his spares. That's his whole thing. If they told you to take off the record thing, it's because they didn't want a record. And if he didn't know, then Haven Man knew for sure! It's their whole thing!"
"But I don't want to get in trouble!"
God, she's doing everything but stamp her foot and pout. "That's why you got the email."
"Oh? That?" She looked at him sheepishly. "I didn't realize it was important?"
"Then why. Did. You. Ask?"
"So I didn't get it wrong?"
Alec made one of those Lisa frustrated noises. He was beginning to sympathize with her, and she must never know.
Later
Aisha opened the door, and was surprised to see Alec, looking unusually serious.
"Aisha, you gotta help me," he said. "How do--is Brian here?"
"No?"
"OK, good, I can say it straight. How the fuck do you get your himbo brother to get a hint, because now that she can't mind-whammy people my sister is like third grader level oblivious."
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Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
'[b]Later[/b]'?
---
Sounds like a job for Cranial... What? You mean you don't solve all your problems by finding someone with the right set of cape powers? Weird.
(FYI, Toybox, because 'Cranial' isn't important enough to get her own entry...)
Fixed in text, thanks!
Tawsnrrtsyip
Rick's Law Enthusiast
- Location
- Terra, Sol System, Orion Arm, Milky Way
- Pronouns
- Nice/Try/FBI/Pricks
Later we get a glimpse of Alec, Lisa, and Aisha commiserating over explaining what should be obvious to stupid people. (Aisha has sparkling grape juice, it's fine)