The Downsides of Good Help
Taylor looked at Tagg and Armstrong. "We've covered off the agenda, gentlemen, was there anything else you want to cover before we break?"
Kamil leaned forward, "We want in."
"I'm sorry?"
"Whatever group you are working with to address the 'existential' threats."
Taylor sighed. "Rebecca will be insufferable about this. Honestly, the truth is far less satisfying than whatever you have imagined. There are various conspiracies across the worlds that try to help, but even the best are horribly under-equipped and under-manned. It's less a secret coalition saving the worlds and more a bunch of terrified children throwing things at the wall in the hope something sticks.
"It of course does not help that efforts to build a better organization inevitably draw unwanted attention from Endbringers or other more subtle threats. More of the same sort of thing that made Jack Slash particularly effective against parahumans. After all, it's not an accident that parahuman analysts so stubbornly failed to realize that powers might passively leak data or provide heightened vulnerability to certain threats.
Taylor paused a moment, before continuing "To be fair to Rebecca and the others, my perspective is colored by the mass casualties in my world line. I suppose the fact that any of us survived is a testament to their efforts, but it's hard to feel that way when after-the-fact we learned so much that could have gone so far to achieve a better outcome. Rebecca is still upset about it all, it was quite a blow for her to realize how badly both her organization and the PRT had been hampered by compounding subtle misunderstandings and blind spots.
"We'll have to schedule a separate session to give you a proper in-brief."
Note: You will note that Rebecca is not in these meetings. That is not an accident. Just be glad that both Taylor and Rebecca are Mature and Professional and would never let petty grudges interfere with important work nope nope nope.
Kamil leaned forward, "We want in."
"I'm sorry?"
"Whatever group you are working with to address the 'existential' threats."
Taylor sighed. "Rebecca will be insufferable about this. Honestly, the truth is far less satisfying than whatever you have imagined. There are various conspiracies across the worlds that try to help, but even the best are horribly under-equipped and under-manned. It's less a secret coalition saving the worlds and more a bunch of terrified children throwing things at the wall in the hope something sticks.
"It of course does not help that efforts to build a better organization inevitably draw unwanted attention from Endbringers or other more subtle threats. More of the same sort of thing that made Jack Slash particularly effective against parahumans. After all, it's not an accident that parahuman analysts so stubbornly failed to realize that powers might passively leak data or provide heightened vulnerability to certain threats.
Taylor paused a moment, before continuing "To be fair to Rebecca and the others, my perspective is colored by the mass casualties in my world line. I suppose the fact that any of us survived is a testament to their efforts, but it's hard to feel that way when after-the-fact we learned so much that could have gone so far to achieve a better outcome. Rebecca is still upset about it all, it was quite a blow for her to realize how badly both her organization and the PRT had been hampered by compounding subtle misunderstandings and blind spots.
"We'll have to schedule a separate session to give you a proper in-brief."
Note: You will note that Rebecca is not in these meetings. That is not an accident. Just be glad that both Taylor and Rebecca are Mature and Professional and would never let petty grudges interfere with important work nope nope nope.
