You are being set up to be our Khepri!Taylor. You should really look into avoiding that fate. Also, Simurgh best Endbringer. Just putting that out there (please don't eat me). Also also, the Simurgh knows we'd never mind you betraying us, as it's precognitive. There must be some deeper angle this whole thing is aiming at.
Not sure if this was pointed out yet, but rereading Splinters I noticed that [Filter] seems to be very similar to the Taylor in this quest. She has accelerated cognitive processing despite being run on Taylor's brain instead of the shard, her body is unnaturally hungry, and the entire Taylorverse-version of Brockton Bay is stored on her brain.
Early conception of Taylor's super bird brain maybe?
Edit:
I was actually getting a headache, and I could feel my head heat up. I'm pretty sure so many of us were shouting at each other that I was getting a Thinker headache; this had never happened before.
That's doesn't sound like a Thinker headache, that's more like what happened to us when we tried to speed up research and boiled the oceans. Sounds like something that could happen to our Taylor.
Not sure if this was pointed out yet, but rereading Splinters I noticed that [Filter] seems to be very similar to the Taylor in this quest. She has accelerated cognitive processing despite being run on Taylor's brain instead of the shard, her body is unnaturally hungry, and the entire Taylorverse-version of Brockton Bay is stored on her brain.
Early conception of Taylor's super bird brain maybe?
That's an interesting thought, but the parallels are entirely unintentional.
It is true that there are some similarities with both versions of Taylor having a modified brain that takes a lot of extra energy to keep running. The causes and effects are pretty different though. Quest-Taylor is in worse overall physical shape, and more of her overall calorie budget is being taken by her brain than Splinters-Taylor.
Taylor is watching an image of herself playing a board game with Danny. They're both having a lot of fun and enjoying spending time together.
After a bit of this, the image of Taylor seems to be thinking hard for a minute before resolving herself to act. She tells her father that she's glad that they could spend time together because they've been so distant from each other for so long.
She also admits that she hasn't had anyone else to turn to because something is wrong with Emma. Emma is not her friend any more and has instead been bullying her and getting the other girls at school to bully her too. She's tried to get the school to do something, but nothing seems to work and she doesn't know what to do any more.
Danny hugs Taylor and tells her that she's his number one priority, and he's going to do whatever it takes to help her.
Taylor dreams herself at a computer with the browser open to a "Design Your Own Cape Powers" website. The front page is filled with the ideas from the Power Design threadmark listed as designs created by previous visitors. At the bottom of the page, there's a link to start the process.
This process actually takes you to the rules behind designing cape powers, which matches our own rules for giving out cape powers. It also mentions that there will be limits on the various info types to see how creative the designers can be. She can rate other user's designs or make her own.
Search for information about data collection and what Shards do with it, broken or whole. Will anyone react badly if we go around collecting everyone's data? (3 For/0 Against) (Mount. Elements, ccstat, The_GrandMage)
Search for data on how Zion and Eden shards interact. (3 For/0 Against) (Gino, Captain Hunt, ccstat)
Search about alternative information currency gathering methods that don't involve conflict. What works and what doesn't? (3 For/0 Against) (Mount. Elements, ccstat, The_GrandMage)
Tell her we're not going to give Taylor her original power, we're changing things. We want to plan with her.
Tell her about Scion visit and approval.
Discuss Gaea's trustworthiness, and if we could recruit her.
Discuss what to with Coil. Potentially, we can ADC him and then work with Lisa. We can kill him and have Lisa replace him. We can create an avatar to join Lisa in taking over his organization. We have Twin's complete loyalty, and could potentially get it to switch hosts, potentially even giving Lisa a power. (1 Against)
Ask her how involved she is with her host and what research she needs to further her plans. Advise her on what we've already got and what we're researching now. Ask for a copy of any Research she's completed we haven't. (1 Against)
Ask Negotiator to use Dream Master to tell Lisa to keep track of the three girls who ate a challenger (So as to make it easier to form the new team later on).
Ask Negotiator to use Dream Master to tell Lisa to write down anything it wants us to know, but can't directly tell us because of restrictions.
Watch closely in Winslow, try to bleed through getting tired of being bullied if Emma faces her. Use multiple instances. (3 For/0 Agianst) (Retrueno, The_GrandMage, TigerTitian)
Try to bleed through checking Hero's wiki page to see what Capes were around him to try and find Addresses. Use multiple instances. (1 For/0 Against) (Retrueno)
►Host 2 - "Lilac" (Tinker Formerly Known as Trainwreck)
Note: If a popular plan doesn't conflict with the winning plan, I will attempt to combine the non-conflicting options. Your ideas count, even if it doesn't win overall!
Also, plan/option detail is one of my criteria when deciding tie-breakers. More detail is almost always better - I read very quickly and a long and rambling plan isn't a problem.
(No failed unblocked Votes)
The above are votes that I felt didn't have enough support to implement in the chapter and/or might have had story consequences (good or bad) without enough discussion.
None of these are blocked/bad votes - feel free to further discuss or implement another day.
Turn Memetic Proxy Filtering On Before Contacting.
Ask for Shard Addresses, Shard Status, Host Status, Status of Host Organization
If Shard Non-Sapient, Non-Hostile, and doesn't seem "Strange," Change Zion's address to our Maintenance one and establish two-way Sense-Sharing
Turn Memetic Proxy Filtering Off after closing connection.
Note: Plan 'Oliver Twist' is essentially a superset of this plan, so I'm implementing that instead.
These are blocked votes, and will not be brought up again in this particular context
*** Previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
You don't have much time in the night for all this dream control! So you start early, pretty much setting up dream objects as soon as Taylor's head hits the pillow. Starting background operations up before she's even asleep is terribly inefficient, but still, it saves some time.
REM sleep can't come quickly enough, but at least she's out now. Time to set the stage… house, loaded. Looking through Taylor's memories for the right board game… Monopoly? Really? Okay… all set up.
You control her avatar for a bit while waiting for her, playing the well-known game and chatting with the Danny puppet. Things go well for it, the avatar isn't having the best luck at the game.
You're not completely certain how this dream experience is going to go - for the first time, you're going to try and puppet Taylor's avatar as well. Wait... That's the wrong approach!
Yes, you want the dream to play out a certain way, and you want to take direct control away from her, but that doesn't mean you have to try and directly control the avatar itself!
It's actually a good thing that she's taking so long to activate the avatar. You exchange the avatar for a puppet-Taylor, and then re-instantiate the avatar as invisible and inaudible in the middle of the room. There, now she can experience what's going on without able to directly affect things.
A few of you claim to be experts at emulating either Taylor or Danny, and you let them at the puppets while most of you hang back to direct. And… action!
The two puppets really get into the game as Taylor herself arrives. The laughter and fun seems really genuine to you - better than most movie acting at any rate.
Following the script, Taylor-puppet smiles and says, "We should do this more often, Dad. It's more fun than I remember." The smile fades. "I know you're really busy at work but we don't spend enough time together."
Danny-puppet grimaces and looks contrite. "I know I can't be around every night, Taylor. I'll try to do better. I guess it can get a little lonely around here… I know Anne's away at college, but aren't Emma and her friends around? You shouldn't spend all your time cooped up in here."
Taylor's avatar winces and sighs, "Of course."
You agree with her. Those of you that said they could play Danny perfectly? Well, they're either doing too well at copying him or too poorly, you're not entirely sure which.
Fortunately, puppet-Taylor comes to the rescue with a well-timed distraction. "Um, Dad, Emma and I aren't friends any more. She kind of… something happened the summer before high school and she decided that we shouldn't be friends any more."
Danny-puppet blinks. "That's… odd. I can ask Alan if something is wrong, if you like. What about your other friends at Winslow?"
The Taylor-puppet gapes at him. You're super curious what all of you is and was thinking with this play, but you can interrogate yourself after it's over. The puppet recovers and almost-shouts, "WHAT other friends?! Emma and her cronies are keeping me from making any!"
Taylor's avatar looks closely at the Taylor-puppet and says, "This is really realistic. My dreams have been weird since I got powers..."
Danny-puppet doesn't have any coherent response, so Taylor-puppet starts to rant. "Dad, I know that you're not capable of paying any attention to me, but you should have at least noticed that I've never invited anyone over, and I never talk about any of these imaginary Winslow-friends with you!"
Before speaking, the Danny-puppet reaches over and hugs Taylor-puppet. "I didn't know. I thought you just didn't want to talk to me anymore. I'm so sorry Little Owl." He still sounds sad, but also frowns a bit.
"Also, no one has said anything about Emma. Not Alan or Zoe, and I've talked to Anne a bit recently and no one has said anything. But you're my number-one priority - if you need anything, or have any kind of problem, please tell me, Taylor. I can take it, I promise."
He lets go of the hug and looks into her eyes. "Whatever I have to do, I'll do. I'll help however you need me to."
Taylor's avatar tries and fails to join the hug, and then looks… determined.
You slowly dismantle the dream, and let her fall into a deeper sleep. The entire time, the Taylor avatar is occupied, but doesn't move or try to interact with the dream-world. For all the world, it looks like it's thinking, furiously.
****************************************
Well, that went well… ish. You peek in on Veronica, your next dream-victim. She sleeping not-so-well in the guest bedroom at Casa de Nueva Ola. Hmm, examining the data… oh. Ugh.
Yes, a dream about Amy turning everyone in the world into cat-men-slimes is probably not great for getting any rest. You should fix that - your first host is going to wake up tired (and paranoid) if you don't.
She should dream about something more wholesome - Winslow High. And you can't believe you just had that thought non-ironically.
Just before you can start in on that, one of you remembers that you'd intended to have a nice dream involving Amy… may as well modify what's here first, and then get to school afterwards. You decide to set this up as another non-interactive one. And you decide to make it less-detailed - it will be good to see if that ends up mattering. She should remember this either way. Probably?
You consider making Amy look like Claire, but after a moment of thought, decide against it.
You make puppets for Amy and Veronica, and have them walk down a detail-poor Boardwalk. They chat about the lunch they'd had together, but the conversation quickly transitions to Veronica-puppet thanking Amy for helping her specifically, and her healing work in general.
You instantiate a generic shop next to them. The name 'Enchanted Florist' comes to you suddenly, so that becomes the shop's sign. Puppet-Amy mentions how interesting exotic plant are, and stops to stare at the window for a few seconds. Puppet-Veronica asks if she would like anything, and 'Amy' nods excitedly. Both puppets walk inside.
Puppet-Amy bounces from shelf to shelf, looking specifically for the weirdest plant she can find there. She finally lands on a Sundew. Several of its leaves are curled around some very unlucky flies.
Puppet-Veronica smiles as Amy-puppet chatters brightly about the biology of the plant, and buys it for her. The happiness and gratitude suffuse the area, clearly visible to Veronica's emulated-power..
Hmm. Winslow asset setup for a dream… Should you go for more of a Mad Max, or more of a Office Space feel? The reality is pretty depressing, but you want to really make sure that New Wave heads there at some point, so… Both? No, the oppression and desperation themes work against each other.
Prison! That's a good take. You build a dream-Winslow, but make some subtle changes. Iron bars to protect the windows, which are occasionally broken. Fade the paint a bit more than in real life.. In fact, throw a mild green tint on everything just for good measure. You ensure that every fourth or fifth fluorescent bulb is burnt-out, giving that dim, grungy vibe.
You'd add more gang tags as well, but you don't actually have to since they're already there in the non-dream version. You don't have to make the student-puppets extra sullen and wary, they pretty much are anyways. You consider other tweaks, but… Winslow doesn't need it.
Now, you create a generic PRT room, set up Veronica's avatar, and play a montage.
The PRT and Protectorate ask New Wave's younger members to go with the Wards in an event at Winslow, check. Speeches and such are prepared, check. The Wards can't speak on-schedule, because of course they can't, check. Carol and Sarah ask to be able to continue the event, check. PRT escorts the New Wave members to the school, check.
Showtime. You mess with the sky for a bit as you wait for the avatar to be inhabited. Before, it had threatened rain, but now it's actively pouring.
Victoria-puppet looks outside into the gloom from the PRT van, and complains about not being able to fly here. You have Veronica thank Vicky for agreeing to stay in the van with her as she takes control of the avatar.
Vicky-puppet works up to another complaint. "I still can't believe that Mom wants us to do this on our own. And it's raining today, too!"
Now fully in the dream, Veronica looks patient but doesn't sympathize. "Vicky, it's Brockton Bay. It's always raining. And these kids need to hear from us more than most. I've done this a few times already, and it's a mess." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "I still have no idea why Shadow Stalker hasn't transferred out."
Vicky-puppet shrugs, seems to reconsider, and then chuckles ruefully, "Maybe she's one of the bullies. Well, she almost certainly is from the gang youth perspective."
Veronica starts to respond, and then stops herself. "That's… surprisingly likely. I'll have to think about that. But no one there knows her identity, so it's a moot point."
The truck lurches to a stop, and Vicky-puppet jumps up to get out. "You know Winslow better, Vee. I'll follow your lead."
While you don't have direct access to her thoughts, it's pretty clear that she's going over a speech script in her head. She's also currently… glad about the rote speech? Ah, it will let her pay closer attention to what's going on.
On that note, one of you realizes that you haven't been simulating her power, and that would probably be a good idea to start before she tries to use it. You set up semi-reasonable emotional output for the rest of the group, taking cues from Veronica's expectations. She apparently thinks that Shielder is interested in her (in a general, staring sense), which seems legit.
She's actively suppressing her emotional scanning, so for the purposes of the dream you're able to smear all of the individual puppets into a haze of boredom and tiredness for New Wave, and blend of irritation, apathy, and dislike from the Winslow staff, and suspicion combined with either interest or jealousy from the students.
None of your emotional outputs surprise Veronica in any way, interestingly. You decide to escalate. While Veronica (with some anecdotes from Victoria and Shielder) gives out the speech and scans the gym, you craft more detailed emotional output from certain people. Puppet-Sophia is a ball of rage, puppet-Emma puts out Supervillain levels of cruelty while puppet-Madison cycles between boredom and wicked glee.
The Taylor puppet appears to take the comments and thrown items stoically, but her inner world is a mess of sadness and despair to Veronica.
The dream-state is starting to fall apart - Veronica is being shaken awake by Vicky - so you arrange a final moment of Sophia shoving another girl off the edge of the bleachers in irritation. The hapless student can't be seen directly from the podium.
But the crunching noise, the sudden loss of emotion from that spot, and Sophia-puppet's quiet "Oops" signal what must have happened. Veronica's heart rate soars as she jerks awake.
You're not sure what the longer-term effects of the dreams will be, but you do know that she's not going to forget them easily. Which is exactly what you were hoping for.
*** A bit less previously, on '[HALP] Me!' ***
You're not aware - yet - of why Victoria was waking Veronica up; it's very late but not anywhere near dawn. But that's getting closer, so you need to work on that 'powers-design' dream. Hmm. You assign one of yourselves to watch over Vee in case you need that information later.
No need for anything fancy here, you're just going to re-create Taylor's usual Library haunt. As you finish setting up the slightly-decrepit building, you move Taylor's puppet through the motions of entering, signing out a computer, and choosing one. Her usual, since the place is so empty.
She's dressed for school, in baggy jeans and a hoodie, although you don't bother filling in all the details - this is a dream after all, and the setting just needs to be good enough to not get her attention. In that vein, you modify everything so it's slightly out-of-focus; you don't want her wondering if this isn't actually a normal dream.
You have the puppet boot up the computer and browse PHO for a bit (you come up with clearly-dream-fugue headlines, which given how messed-up PHO can be is surprisingly difficult). Then you get to the good stuff. To try and sell the illusion of the "power design app", you make it a link off a PHO post and set up a coherent UI for it. It would be nice to make it an interactive website, but Earth-Bet technology isn't there yet.
Puppet-Taylor downloads and runs it as Taylor arrives and takes it over. You don't need to try and influence her at all, after reviewing the puppet's recent memories it seems that she's interested in trying out this program.
She frowns to herself, and then smirks. "Design your own power, huh." The very first thing she does is click on the information -> rules section. You're really glad that you came up with a framework for all of this ahead-of-time.
She skims the pages for a bit as if looking for something specific. Odd. You put all of the (real?) rules for power design in there - to summarize:
The Human brain has 6 power 'slots' available, most powers take two of those.
Extra Tinker 'specialties' don't usually require more slots, but effectiveness/advantages of the Tinker power is divided between them.
There is a list of Information types, and that powers can be 'built' using more than one type.
In a very rough sense, it's 20 Information for each level of PRT rating for a simple power.
No more than 1200 Information can be used in total.
You added a non-descriptive list of 'currently available Information' by-type so she knows what there is to work with.
Information types can be combined to form a hybrid power depending on whether they are appropriate to the design.
Trigger events and personality can affect the details of any power built in a non-predictable way.
Taylor starts muttering to herself. "So I can't make more than a Brute 3 right now… wait, can I use more slots instead? Not enough info. Probably not. So… Breaker effect?" From what she's saying, Taylor probably wasn't skimming the information pages, but simply reading them. Very quickly.
She stops to lean back in the chair and starts stretching a bit while she thinks.
Heh. Apparently Taylor thinks that you've got an avatar inside the dream, and is subtly looking around for you. Good thing you didn't make one!
Taylor stops staring at the Library ceiling and thinking, and starts looking through the cache of power designs that you've thought up in your spare time. "Buggy Brute? Neat, but… ew." She keeps scanning through them, strongly indicating that you're correct about her (insane) reading comprehension speeds.
"Administrative Aptitude? That's my Dad. But the city could be thought of as a system… Why is everything so focused on controlling tiny things?" She keeps going down the list, stopping here and there. "Cartoon physics? That… magical girl? Magical Girl!? Who came up with these?"
She eventually stops and carefully re-reads Monju. "It seems interesting, but I don't think I get how it would work." Taylor slumps into her chair and considers aloud, "What do I want? I want a Brute power, but… I don't have the Information for that, apparently. But why do I really want a Brute power? I want to be a Hero, but I also want to be safe."
She goes through the power-list again. "I could use a Shaker or Changer ability… 'From Zero to Hero'? Thanks, power. I didn't feel bad enough about myself." She shakes her head, and you get the impression she's not sure how much she's joking about that.
Taylor stares at the computer screen, but she isn't really looking at it any longer. "So I can make a fake-Brute power, but the problem there is other Brutes. In fact, the problem is fighting in-general. If I'm fighting then there's a chance for something to go wrong. I only get this one chance to modify my power, so… shit."
She shifts closer to the screen and checks the Information totals. "A ton of Master, a lot of Tinker and Thinker, some Breaker and Trump, not much of everything else. PRT rating…. I'd need at least 200 Info for a power because of Trigger problems. ...Does that apply to me, though?"
She shrugs to herself and keeps going. "Needing that much Information, I guess that brings Blaster into possibility too. But Blaster powers typically need line-of-sight…" She considers something and shudders. Then she blinks and goes through the list again.
"'Trolling Shards'. So I didn't misread - I can get a one-time physical boost as part of a power. So I don't need to worry about that part. I just need to figure out how to do something from a distance. What to do? The best idea is nullifying, but capes might find that really scary. Some kind of Human Mastery? But how would I hide that?"
She gets into the program's power design interface and starts fiddling. "Okay, I need three powers. Open, Hidden, Emergency. What's rare, important, non-threatening, and also useful?"
She types 'Anti-Parahuman Healer Trump' in the power-name field and starts adding.
Anti-Parahuman Healer (Trump):
Trump 200, Master 200. Calming Aura. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect, 500 meter range. Affects any kind of creature, slowly removing negative emotions of hatred, anger, fear, and doubt over time. The longer the aura affects the subject(s), the more reasonable and convincing I am.
Shaker 200, Changer 100, Striker 100. Healing Aura. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Slowly regenerates either the target(s) or everyone in the area of effect that isn't designated as an enemy (heals everyone by default). Works as a biokinesis power. Touch doubles the healing/modification speed. Affects me, and since I'm closer to myself than touch it works at quadruple speeds. Healing power will automatically turn on and heal me if I'm unconscious if it's off.
Trump 200, Thinker 200, Powers Communication. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Affects any Parahuman or potential, allows communication with their Power. Powers can be temporarily turned on or off, copied, or (with permission) moved.
She stops and stares at the power definition for a few minutes. "Something isn't right. It's good, but… ah. Yeah."
She scrolls through the pre-defined power designs again, nods to herself, and types up another power.
Tattoo-Tinker Healer (Trump):
Trump 100, Tinker 300. Tattoo Tinker. Can ink tattoos on myself or others that grant a permanent improvement or minor power. Tattoos can be made transparent/invisible if required, but I will still always be able to see them. Tattoos can be added onto over time, improving their power by either increasing the size or adding details. Tattoos can be removed. Tattoos can be de-powered by myself at range (500 meters) without needing to remove them first. Power grants full knowledge of all tattoo techniques as well as the drawing skills needed for any kind of design.
Shaker 200, Changer 100, Striker 100. Healing Aura. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Slowly regenerates either the target(s) or everyone in the area of effect that isn't designated as an enemy (heals everyone by default). Works as a biokinesis power. Touch doubles the healing/modification speed. Affects me, and since I'm closer to myself than touch it works at quadruple speeds. Healing power will automatically turn on and heal me if I'm unconscious.
Trump 200, Thinker 200, Powers Communication. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Affects any Parahuman or potential, allows communication with their Power. Powers can be temporarily turned on or off, copied, or (with permission) moved.
She spends some time thinking about the new one. "Weird, not like me, but powers can do anything, right? I can complain about the Tattoo thing being strange to anyone that asks. Eat your heart out, Dauntless!"
She gives the computer screen an unhinged grin. "I'll slowly improve my own powers, heal myself into better shape, and no one will find out that I'm a powers Trump - while I always know the location of every cape around me." She pauses and then says. "I need to learn how to act."
After a few more moments of quiet ...amusement, the dream ends without your input. You let it, not wanting Taylor to know how much control you could have.
****************************************
Dawn is approaching, so you had another group of you create a dream sequence for Lilac while you were finishing up with Taylor. The intent was to convince her to spend more time with her new acquaintances - you can't imagine this task would be too difficult, but you're thinking about yourself here - best to check in.
You review your memories of the scene first. Lilac was puppeted through a conversation with Taylor about meeting up again, and she took Claire with her. Taylor had somehow met Amy Dallon (?) at some point and invited her. Fugly Bob's was chosen as the meetup spot.
The 'foursome' met at the diner and everyone was introduced, after which ordering and small talk had happened. There was some confusion/disruption in the dream sequence as you attempted to have a Taylor-VI take over the Taylor-puppet, but that didn't work out so you ended up taking back over control of that puppet.
Fortunately, Lilac didn't really notice as she was conversing with Amy about her current state of liquidity. Cue a bad joke from Taylor-puppet about how she didn't care if Lilac was poor. Amy-puppet facepalmed in your stead.
You're now all caught up to the present. Lilac, Taylor, Claire, and… Amy ...are all still sitting together and chatting. All of the food had been consumed some time ago. The current topic of discussions seems to be an argument between Claire and Amy over how possible it would be to come up with a better human disguise for Lilac.
The Claire-puppet seems to hold the opinion that some sort of skin-mod would be all that's needed, while the Amy-puppet feels that a total reworking of Lilac's form would be better. Both agree that Lilac's power might limit any changes they attempt, though.
It seems that while you were reviewing the beginnings of the dream, Claire had admitted to be a biokinetic herself. In fact, this shows a minor issue - setting up and participating in these dreams limits you to the processing speed of the dreamers. You've been running at barely over real-time for a large chunk of the night!
While you think that the subject is a little bit sensitive, Lilac doesn't see it that way and seems to have a wonderful time. Just as you'd planned.
As soon as the dream ends you start thinking at proper speeds again.
****************************************
You check and make sure that none of you are concerned/panicking over either of your Hosts. That done, you take a bit to sort through your data caches, starting with Charge's. This could… take a while.
Or not, since apparently a few of you have been quietly going through the cache in the background. They hadn't finished, not nearly, but it does massively cut down on the time needed.
Regulations for the cycle are vast, varied, and mostly not in here. That said, you're hyper-intelligent and you can work out a lot of it from what's referenced and clearly missing.
First things first - all of the various "hard and fast" rules of the Cycle are maintained at the whim of the Thinker. While some of the basic ideas are more-or-less set in stone because of simple effectiveness, the Cycle itself is normally tweaked after every completion. The main difference this time is that nothing significant has been changed since last Cycle.
The first rule of Space Whale Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club. Apparently, every few cycles the Thinker attempts to inform the Host species of how powers work, and for some reason the knowledge that it's alien supercomputer parasites always seems to create world-wide panic and end up causing the whole Cycle to fall apart and need to be ended early. As such, it's explicitly forbidden to let Hosts know that powers are actually aliens hijacking part of their brain.
This seems to be the reason that Shards aren't allowed to communicate directly with their Hosts. You get the impression it's not really directly seen as an issue or something aberrant, but that it just always leads to the Hosts working out the fact powers are aliens and everyone going nuts from knowledge Hosts were not meant to know.
The second rule is the destruction of all worlds "enclosed" (whatever that means) by a combination of the Conflict Engines (Endbringers) and the Entities themselves at the end of the Cycle.
Strangely enough, you get the impression from this data that the Thinker isn't terribly enthused about this process. There are signs from the data that previous Host species would have been useful in various ways long after they are gone.
It's needed, however, for two reasons. First, neither Entity has an efficient process for removing Shard connections from existing Hosts. Second, they use the energy gained from the multi-world destruction to recover from the various drains of the Cycle itself. As best you can tell, both the powers and how they are used are extremely inefficient from an energy-conservation standpoint.
The third rule you can suss out is about Information itself - data gathered into a useful format by the power Shards. Even the Thinker Entity is painfully un-creative, and the Host races are used as a hivemind of good ideas on further power development.
Because of this, the job of all the Shards, including those not deployed (?), is data-collection leading to Information creation. Storage is cheap, even in these amounts, so absolutely everything possible is saved for later perusal by both Entities. This is in fact, where the Case53 data originally came from - Shards are stuffed full of data from previous Cycles (albeit mostly the last one), that Scion never bothered going-through or offloading.
You know about this already, the main thing you're taking away from this is that most Shards aren't expected to bother sorting Information into categories or bundling Data at all - that's nice but not required. They're just expected to gather everything and save it for either budding or later collection.
The fourth rule is inter-Shard conflict is to be prevented. This is not, oddly enough, a problem for the Entities themselves. While it's (very?) rare, Shard conflict does happen. The problem is with the Hosts who become suddenly de-powered, or inadvertent (spiteful?) communication from the defeated Shard. This rule is about information control more than anything else.
The fifth rule is about budding. Shards are not to use more than half their Information for this, and aren't to divide until they have over 1000 Information (or the equivalent amount of data) available. This said, budding is encouraged when possible. There are no downsides - if the resultant Bud is a dud, the Entities consume it at Cycle completion.
If it's useful, it's kept and the pre-existing version is maintained for a (long) time. You don't see direct evidence of this, but you gather that an Entity bloated with too many useful Shards donates the inferior versions to its own Bud.
The Charge data cache doesn't contain much about how to fix it… but it does give you a good clue. While this kind of damage is unprecedented in the context of a Cycle, it is very similar to Entity battle damage. You already know of one possible option: as the Administrator Shard you could ingest Charge, clean what's left of its data and function, and then Bud it out again as a re-created Shard. But there is another option - you know that repair Shards must exist. All you'd need to do is get in contact with whatever Shard that should be maintaining Charge, and command it to start fixing…
The data cache doesn't contain any content you can find about the Favor system. It might be either too informal (or Sapient Shards are too rare) for there to be anything about it here. You do find some tangential data about Shard etiquette - and it mostly boils down to 'Independence = Disease' and 'Interfering with the Cycle or an Entity = Eaten'.
You get the impression from poking through the cache that the Entities don't really care which Shard ends up with which Information/data as long as none is lost. It's quite possible that mass collection of Information into a single Shard hasn't yet been a problem so there's no prohibition against it?
The data cache doesn't contain anything useful about Battery (or her brain patterns), but you do find that all of that is supposed to be collected. Somewhat indirectly, but the raw data should be there. Your best guess is that this data didn't happen to be inside what was sent to you.
There no distinction in the data cache between Zion and Eden Shards. These Entities have been working together for so long that many of their Shards have been swapped more than once. Other than the current owner, there don't seem to be any major differences.
There is no sign whatsoever in the data cache about data-collection methods that don't revolve around conflict. It's almost as if this isn't a thing that Entities consider. It's possible that there's a history here, or advanced reasoning behind this, but from what's (not) here you can only speculate.
Oddly enough, there is information here about Abbadon. Well, not under that name, it's mostly come up as 'the Third'. What you are able to find is disturbing. A tiny snippet of communication from Abbadon directly to Charge. You clean it up as best you can, and it has something do with a Fourth Entity and how Charge doesn't 'qualify for consideration'. There isn't enough here to explain any of that.
You go over everything that's in the data cache, alongside everything you already know and your earlier examination for fixing Charge. You think that there's a general fixing process that you have refined a little bit. This might not be the official way, though. The process boils down to -> 1) Segregate Data (its and yours), 2) Eat/Consume the Shard, 3) Patch existing Intelligence or provide a copy of your own, and finally 4) Expel data/intelligence/function as if it were a Bud.
For every interaction with QA, you're going to need access to Charge itself, but there is some information here. The OG Administrator sent a new encryption key to a variety of Shards, with instructions to contact Negotiator in case an older version was ever sent. You don't see a list of Shards with the new key here, but the implication is that there was a (large?) number.
****************************************
Now it's fully mid-morning. Time to check on your hosts in some more detail. You also task groups of yourself to start working on the data packages from Twin and Swap for later perusal.
Taylor's morning seemed typical for her: a light breakfast of oatmeal, avoiding talking to her father (pretty easy today because he left for work almost as soon as she'd gotten to the kitchen), bemoaning her fate a bit inside her head (at least, that's what you're assuming from her emotional state).
The major difference was her total excitement upon waking up, followed swiftly by a strange combination of rage, depression, and what you can only sense as black humor. She took a few extra minutes to stare at herself in her bathroom mirror as well, presumably checking for any changes.
As she mechanically prepared for the day, the majority of you focuses on thinking about how boring, stupid, and painful the bullying is in general, and Emma in particular. She gets on the bus and rides to school. Unfortunately, her emotional and physical states show no sign of any bleedthrough.
While you're viewing her, you take the opportunity to task a few dozen of yourself with the thought of checking for any information on Hero to see which Parahumans he associated with the most. You don't notice any immediate effect on Taylor.
Just as she entered the school (no one was waiting at the steps for her) and you were about to leave a few of you to basic monitoring and work on other things, a wild Emma appears to cause random emotional stress!
No Sophia today, for some reason. Just Emma, Madison, and two other plain blonde girls you don't recognize from your background Worm knowledge. Emma grins wickedly and blurts out, "I can't believe you made it in today, Taylor! I was sure you'd run out of things to pawn for bus fare."
That was… really, really lame. The blondes giggled while a surprised Madison repeatedly glanced at Emma as if to make sure she was okay. Your 'story' senses tingled. Your Host senses confirmed black coffee on Emma's breath and small bags under her eyes.
A complex storm of conflicting, but low-power, emotions slammed through Taylor as she closed her locker. Her head swiveled to take in the girls. In the flattest voice imaginable, Taylor says, loudly and clearly, "Emma. It's okay, you won."
Emma boggled as Madison edged away from the scene and the nameless blondes blinked. "What?"
Taylor smiled and patted Emma on the shoulder. It's not obvious to anyone else, but you notice Emma stopping herself from flinching. "You won. You're the most popular girl in Brockton Bay, and I'm the least. There's nothing more to be said. There's nothing left to do. You made it happen. Congratulations."
The not-twin blonde girls giggled again, but it had an undercurrent of nervousness. Emma paused for an additional second, and then turned bright red. "You're a loser! You're worthless. Poor! WEAK! You don't matter!"
Your Host giggles and points down the hall. "I know, right? Everyone knows. No one cares anymore." She walks off to her first class, and mumbles to herself just loud enough for the group to hear. "I don't care anymore."
Emma stands next to Taylor's locker. Her mouth keeps moving, but no sound comes out.
****************************************
Lilac is pondering in her workshop while Claire's snores sound from a few rooms away. She's flicking an old retractable pen and considering a blank notebook page. You think back to your earlier thoughts about Kantai Collection.
As soon as your thoughts go there, she nods to herself and starts sketching designs for what looks like a battleship-themed backpack. That answers that question nicely. But it does bring up others. What causes the contamination? You're definitely not thinking at her directly. Why does it work sometimes and not other times? Why does the backpack have scary hooks and clamps that would extend into the flesh of the wearer?
You spend some time thinking about scary clowns, as another test, but it doesn't seem to have any effect; she's still drawing ship-girl type things. Maybe there's a delay?
****************************************
You skim your memories of Veronica's morning. She's (temporarily) given up on the Search for Spock Amy, but she has mustered a excited crowd of cape-aficionado teens to help search for Amy in her stead. Not a bad strategy, really. They don't know that Amy (as such) doesn't exist to be found.
Vicky has her own strategy. It involves ditching school and searching for Amy in and around the Docks area without any regard for what her family (or Veronica) has asked of her. Many of the members of Vee's flash-mob report back to her (and inadvertently the Internet) that Victoria is out and about.
Vee is also diligently collecting all the homework Vicky isn't there to know about. She's very thoughtful.
****************************************
You tap into Twin's data-stream to check in on Coil. What you expected was the usual: Bond-villain planning sessions, confusion about how his power has changed, killing people in alternate timelines, boring PRT paperwork, driving a Prius around town (you don't have any idea why it's always a hybrid).
None of that is happening. You see what appears (to him, at least) as a single timeline. One where he's dressed as Coil, in his (brand new) underground hidden-Endbringer-shelter base, lying on a cot in his office, with no light sources of any kind, sobbing silently.
Hmm. It appears that someone didn't realize that Thinker headaches were now a thing and split timelines too fast to feel the stages of pain. Skip directly to 'pure agony': do not pass 'go', do not collect $200. You suspect from your canon knowledge of Tattletale that Coil is going to be disabled for the better part of a week.
****************************************
Seeking more information about the opposition (to Taylor at least), you enable Memetic Filtering and scan the data-stream from Singular. You get back lots of biometrics and little else. Clearly, she has not yet Triggered.
You might be able to work out how to command Singular to re-create your Host Senses tap? Something to think about…
****************************************
Your Negotiator tap proves more interesting. Tattletale is theoretically trying to find more teen Parahumans to recruit. But you know better. Not only is she giggling to herself, her (closed) little notebook has a number of pages of interest. Notes like 'Coil gets Thinker headaches?' is the likely source of her amusement.
Reviewing what's been going on recently, she's just been approached by Coil to finalize the roster for the upcoming expanded Undersiders. Interestingly, that name was come up with by Coil? You hadn't been aware. Apparently, Shadow Stalker was in consideration for membership before she was press-ganged into Wardness at the beginning of September.
Lisa has been given a deadline of the end of the week to try and find more members before the group starts operating publicly as a foursome. Her relationship with Coil is much different than you were expecting - while she's not at all happy with her recruitment, she seems content to work with Coil in her current capacity as his pet team's Thinker.
The dreams that Negotiator have been sending are less interesting in content, if not execution. She's essentially sending Lisa edited memories from the future. The Shard is finishing the dream segments by explaining why certain actions are necessary for the future to play out in a non-terrible way.
Negotiator is doing a fairly good job of pretending to be Future-Lisa in the dream sequences - it's clear that there's some sort of separation between the dream sequences and Lisa's power… or Negotiator is keeping the option open to directly communicate later on?
It's interesting. So far the only thing that Lisa's experienced is overt emotional signals from her power (like/dislike/good/bad). You're not certain that 'fragment of future self inside my head' is the best contact strategy, but it's working for Negotiator so far.
It's not working so well for Lisa. Being advised by a phantom fragment of a future-self that can only manifest in lucid dreams is making her (more) paranoid. She's split on whether this is some sort of power-effect or an actual thing that's happening. She seems to be hoping that she's merely a little crazy, but the future-knowledge provided has been spot-on (if a bit generic) so far.
Lisa's power use is about as restricted as you're familiar with. Negotiator did a lot of tweaking to help reduce Thinker headaches, none of which is helping because Lisa doesn't trust her power fully, so on the balance she's using it the same way you're familiar with - in short bursts only as-needed.
****************************************
Amy, er, Claire has spent the last night pretending to sleep while working with a small bit of Lilac. She's fascinated by Lilac's simultaneously living/not-living state, and how it responds somewhat to her power even though it's nothing like any other creature on Earth.
In fact, she spent the entire evening with the chunk, afraid that if she stopped playing with it, it would no longer count as 'alive' to her power. Based on the data you have, she appears to have been correct.
While Lilac's bizarre biology seems to have given Claire all kinds of interesting ideas, she won't be able to copy it exactly because it's a Shard-supported state of being. That said, Claire thinks she can create something that's very similar, and intended doing so when she woke up.
Which she hasn't, because she was up until almost four in the morning in her Tinker-like Fugue. Lilac didn't make any attempt to wake her, although it's clear she hasn't forgotten about her lair guest.
From what you can see, Claire didn't correct any of the (wrong) assumptions that Lilac made about her. Lilac assumed that Claire Triggered as a 'biokinetic' (read: Biotinker) some time after running away from home following her cat-girl transformation.
Given that Brockton Bay is among the worst places on Earth for a runaway recent-Trigger Cape to be, Lilac gave Claire a place to stay for the week in return for the details on her new state of being.
Lilac is all too willing to make this a more permanent arrangement, but it's clear to you that she is a bit worried for the rest of Claire's family. An awkward conversation is coming in the medium-term future.
You task some of yourselves to keep an eye on Panacea's data-stream, and turn the majority of your attention to the Travellers. Specifically, Sundancer. From what you remember she's the most sane member.
Showing the universe's perversity, Sundancer, Marissa 'Mars' Newland, has spent the last few days quietly panicking. She might have been fairly stable during the events of canon, but she's not right now.
Which is understandable, because her group has just been kicked out of Boston by Accord, and met with a creepy yet skeletal Bond-villain, who offered them 'help' (for Echidna) in return for some 'jobs'.
His base definitely met the Bond-standard, which she doesn't find comforting. The constant leering from the omnipresent scary-looking mercenaries is even worse.
While it's understandable that their most monstrous member was the first to be assigned permanent quarters, you don't see how Coil's base didn't become perforated with tiny suns in the canon timeline.
In fact, you're going to keep an close eye on this data-stream for the foreseeable future. You can't help but think that your idea of restricting Twin (and the resulting Thinker headaches for Coil) is going to be responsible for a few butterflies.
****************************************
[Contact: Administrator]
Negotiator is calling you? Interesting. "Hello, Negotiator, what do you need?"
You get a side-channel grin. And a switch to English. "Admin, what I need, apparently, is a nickname. But what I'm calling you about is Taylor. I was going to say 'your Host', but you seem to be collecting them and I didn't want to confuse you."
A Shard is teasing you in a certain familiar way. Bleedthrough or something else? "I'm not aware of any new problems, you will have to be more specific?"
You get the impression of a blink. "Certainly! I've got some juicy data here of Taylor ...designing powers? Which has some interesting implications about the long-term future." A frown comes across. You can't tell if it's fake or not. "I feel like I'm not being included in the Plan. Also, Taylor needs some sort of Master power or things will go differently in the end. By which I mean, badly."
Right. Change is Bad. Change is especially bad for someone with future-knowledge. How to approach this? Ask Negotiator for her opinion and help. "I was intending to contact you today. For that exact reason. I would like your input on a number of things, including but not exclusively a different power for Taylor, whether and how to include Gaea, a medium-term plan for Twin's Host, your plans for your Host, and a few things about your new Dream Master skill."
You sense a tiny delay in Negotiator's response. Which 'feels' a bit less defensive. "Whoa. That's quite a list, Admin. Let's unpack it together. But first, I'd like to go over your plans for the Little Owl. Can you go into more detail?"
Translation, the Shard is going to try and get more data for its power to work with. Which isn't a problem. "I am thinking of tackling our, hmm, 'shared problems' from our perspective, and not necessarily using Hosts for everything. I am certain that you are aware of the nature of 'GM' and how everything went right. We can't expect everything to go 'well' again, even without the changes that we are making both intentionally and inadvertently."
You try to send a 'serious/game face' impression, but you're still trying to figure out how shard communication emotes even work. Negotiator gives off the silent impression that she understands you're being very solemn.
She doesn't inject a comment so you continue. "Given that, it seems best to have the Hosts deal with other Hosts, and we can deal with the Cycle itself. You have to admit that Taylor's original power, while strong, wasn't optimized for surviving Parahuman battles. Since I do not have total control over Trigger effects, and her Trigger may well be different in any case, I was intending for her to have a hand in deciding what basic type of power she gets. I theorize that this will make a more compatible, stronger power with less deviation."
Negotiator stops and thinks for another few 'seconds', and then opens the channel to speak, changes her mind, and starts over again. "Administrator… I know that you think a lot like a Human, so this may not be obvious to you, but ...powers don't work that way. There's nothing wrong with your reasoning, and I provisionally agree with your plan for your oldest Host - although we need to talk about mine in a bit - but… Hmm. Give me a minute to put this in your terms."
After a short break (with no emotes or other side channel info), she continues. "So, Shards like you and I have a lot of ways to express abilities. Ability suites, in other words. I'm Negotiator, but I have a number of abilities under my purview. Communications, Intelligence, Targeting. One of these base abilities is modified by the Trigger event and then expresses to the Host as a power. To give you some potential examples from past Hosts, Lisa could have gotten the power 'speak all human languages' from Communications, some version of her current power from Intelligence, or some kind of weak Blaster power from Targeting. Think of something along the lines of a boosted laser sight, for that example."
She pauses again for a few (normal) seconds to 'think', which based on your understanding of Shards is similar to taking an hour break to think things over. The only reason that you know the conversation isn't over is that she's keeping the channel open.
You get the sensation of a facepalm from her. "But even Shards like us with literally dozens of abilities to choose from don't directly choose the exact specifications of a power. There's a reason why Trigger events are so messy - it's because that messiness doesn't matter."
"In fact, it's even an advantage. Because sometimes a completely strange or useless power shows us a new avenue to pursue for our existing abilities. Over time this could lead to completely new ones. Many Cycles ago I didn't have a ln ability for targeting, that evolved over time due to a series of 'find weak point' powers for my Hosts."
You're getting a sense of frustration. "So, with this in mind, if you share Host data with anyone after Taylor… finishes Triggering, or whatever you're doing with her, make sure that everyone understands that her power was a happy accident. Seek to impress that you don't 'design' powers. Most Shards will simply see your Host as terribly screwed-up, but the ones that can actually think will be very ...suspicious, is probably the best way to put that. [Concerned], so to speak."
You get the emote of banging her head on the desk. "And if that doesn't seem intrinsically bad, you could end up getting lots of personal interest and attention from Goldenrod, which we don't want. The good news here is that Gaea is an idiot and won't realize anything is wrong, at least. Hopefully you're not sharing data with anyone else?"
You try to send a blink. "No one else sapient. Well, Telekinetic, but she is also a bud from my understanding. And seems to be in constant communication with Gaea."
Brittle smile "Great! So, no disaster. Yet. Let's talk about Lisa for a second. She, by means of extreme effort from myself, has substantially the same power you remember. The main difference is that it seems to work a bit better on people than before, and I've removed the punishment and restriction protocols. She still gets some headaches though, because this Host race has delicate brains."
She waits for a comment from you, but you don't have one - Negotiator hasn't gotten to the point yet. "So, whatever insane power your Host gets, make sure that it's a combat-type. I assume that we're going to want Lisa and Taylor to team up again, even if things don't go quite like they did before."
You nod. "That sounds like a good plan. I shall keep that in mind, although as you stated earlier the power will be somewhat under Taylor's control. You will not need to worry about that, she seems focused on 'surviving being a Cape' so some kind of combat or synergistic power is almost assured."
You keep going while Negotiator processes. "Now, regarding Gaea, what are the pros and cons from your perspective?"
"Pros? She's completely awed by you, for some reason. She doesn't seem to have discovered any details of the Cycle, or how things work from a … bigger perspective. She doesn't have any sense of propriety or etiquette. Those are pretty good things for us."
Negotiator lets out a big sigh. "On the other hand, she's an idiot. She's a gossip. And anything we do to/with her, we need to do to/with Telekinetic as well. Note: TK seems all happy-fluffy, but unlike Gaea she has some sort of plan of her own. I'm fairly certain it's something innocuous - but she is plotting, and whatever it's about may affect us. Or simply draw unwanted attention."
Attention. Right. "Negotiator, speaking of attention… I received some earlier. His Avatar stopped by in my personal dimension and … sent this. [EFFICIENT.] [APPROVAL.]."
You're pretty sure that Negotiator didn't intend to send a side-channel emote of gaping in horror. But it came through anyway. "You… It… WhAT?!"
The side-channel swiftly changes to black amusement. "Wait... you. Heh. You're doing a really good job at pretending to be normal, Admin. You're so damn aberrant that Goldenrod thinks you're his secretary now. I've… I've got to think about this. In a weird way, I think this helped."
Negotiator really doesn't seem like she's handling that well. At least she's not upset any more? You think? In any case, time to switch topics!
You project mind interest. "What should we do with Coil? Twin is under our complete control, as is its Host. There are a number of options: we can Control the Host directly, we could simply eliminate him, we could potentially transfer Twin's ability to you, and indirectly to Lisa. Or we could discover a way to do it ourselves. What say you?"
Negotiator refocuses on your conversation. "Hmm. We have almost too many options. Let me think on it. For now, let's not do anything. In the longer term, whatever plan we have, we would need to eliminate Coil; he's just a Host in any case. No one will care. Anything else?"
You get the sense that Negotiator needs time to process and plot. You understand that, but there are some things you wanted to mention during this call. Specifically, it's related to plotting. "I would like to understand your relationship with your Host, and if there are any areas of research that would be helpful. Is there anything you've figured out so far?"
She sends a thinking pose. "My focus right now is on communicating with Lisa without being obvious about it. While I'm not sharing data with anyone except you, I don't want to give out any incidental hints. And of course our Boss could spy on me and review things at any time. I wasn't too worried about that before, but since I'm associating with you… it could happen."
Negotiator sends a mock glare at you. "My original plan was to give her some of my insight into future events, but that's probably not as useful now. I like your ideas about Coil. What that means, in practice, is that we need to understand the Triggering process better - but you're already working on that. Longer term… I hear what you said about Parahumans vs Shards. It always goes some degree of poorly. So we need weapons, not for our Hosts but for ourselves… I've been working on that area myself. I hope to have a copy of [Sting] in the medium-term. It won't work for us at normal efficiency, but… it's something."
You start to respond but she cuts you off. "No, I'm sorry - pretty full-up on thoughts right now." She smiles. "I'm way smarter than you but I can't multitask like that. Anything else before I go?"
"Just a few thoughts. I'd like it if you used Dreams to have Lisa keep track of my and Gaea's Hosts. Longer term they'd make a good team, but we should delegate that to Tattletale. On a similar note, see if you can use the Dreams to tell Lisa something that you couldn't tell us directly. We might be able to transfer information between our Hosts to avoid… certain restrictions."
Negotiator blinks. "That's brilliant! I knew I kept you around for a reason! We can chat later but my brain is full. Ciao Admin!"
****************************************
Time to contact the various Shard you restricted and see how that worked out. Best to start with Twin.
Oh. Oh! Oops. Your previous command to restrict use of Twin's power by means of Thinker headaches is working perfectly. It's even working the way that you wanted it to. The only small detail; the restriction is (accidentally?) including the first/previous use of Coil's power in the headache calculation.
In other words, it's starting from one, not zero. So Coil is always going to suffer from one extra step helping of headache. It's possible that the intended 'weak annoyance' level of Thinker headache is essentially permanent now. At least OTC medication would more-or-less work on that?
Wow, these Eden Shards are … lifeless. At least most of the Scion ones show little quirks, even if they aren't sapient. Might simply be a different management style?
[Command - Show/Restriction]
Frictionless - [Compliance]
You don't see anything to be concerned about here. Well, other than a lack of recent data - Ballistic must not have gotten into any fights since being restricted.
That said, the few times he's used his power it seems to be following the size limit you set out.
Frictionless - [Logout/Administrator]
Time to check in on little-miss-burn-everything.
[Hello, Fusion]
Fusion - [GREETINGS!]
[Command - Show/Restriction]
Fusion - [COMPLIANCE!]
Hmm. According to the statistics you're seeing, you might have stepped on Sundancer's power a little too much. She might eventually notice that her little suns now have a drastically reduced temperature and can't get bigger than a beach-ball.
Something you'll have to keep an eye on, but it's fine for now.
Now it's time for more hacker fun. You need to replace Zion's address with yours for Audible.
You need to check Shift as well, although you can't imagine a scenario where Shift would contact Zion over you… You may as well patch that potential problem before it could start.
[Hello, Audible]
Audible - [Connect!/Administrator!]
You forgot how loud Audible is. At least the volume level is well below the level needed to cause damage. Actually… you run a custom filter on Audible to normalize the volume.
There we go. Now any emergency alerts will be redirected to you instead of Big Gold.
Audible - [Logging Out Administrator!]
It's time to contact Shift. It's been a whole… has it been only a day? It seems longer. Actually, it has been longer - Zion Interrupt meant that you never ended up communicating. Time to see what's been happening.
[Hello, Shift]
Shift - [Excitement!]
Shift is always happy to see you. It's nice. If only it had a different Host…
Hmm. While you'll have to go over this in detail later, from what you see Sophia has decided that the best way to move forward is to train an angry gang of (unpowered) teen vigilantes.
You were originally intending that she bond at least a bit better with the Wards (at least some of you had that thought), but she's decided that she isn't really a member, causing that part of the Shard's influence to go awry.
She hasn't decided on a roster yet, but she's planning on drawing from Emma's in-group initially. Sophia also has this nebulous idea that by starting out attacking unpowered gang members, mostly Merchants, she'll minimize casualties while simultaneously encouraging Triggers.
She's planning to leverage the 'teen girl must be helpless' effect while also making sure everyone is as well trained and equipped as possible - although keeping to street clothes won't help there.
It's not the worst strategy ever, from a theoretical perspective. Of course it's very callous and almost everything can and probably will go wrong. Starting with the first death if not sooner. And of course Sophia has no idea that Emma can't Trigger.
Then again… If Emma's bully-group is slain/recruited by the gangs, is that a big problem? You'd have to decide whether it's worth stopping Sophia from enacting this… whatever. She might not go through with it in any case.
Something to keep an eye on. But none of this is the Shard's fault. Therefore…
[Plan/Data Collection 57/Praise]
[Shift - Bliss!]
Again, unsolicited rudimentary emotional communication. You get the nagging sensation that Shift isn't entirely a normal Shard any more. Everything seems normal to you, though.
[Completion]
****************************************
Okay, before anything can happen in the real world that you need to attend to, you enact your plan to find every Shard address, ever. Well, you're also trying to find Hero's Shard, but the chances of actually getting it are slim. (You're trying to keep your hopes up by assuming failure)
The current list you sent yourself is the following: Flashbang, Brandish, Mouse Protector, Circus, Hookwolf, Fenja, Menja, Night, Squealer, Chevalier, and Dauntless (you're pretty sure he's still alive).
You task your 'Bad Meme' group to enable and disable Memetic Proxy Filtering before and after each connection. For non-strange Shards, you're going to change Zion's address to yours and then enable bidirectional sense sharing. You're going to borrow (steal) half the Information store of normal Shards, and negotiate for a trade of minor amounts of Master Information for the equivalent amount of Brute, Changer, Tinker, Trump, and Stranger Information (pretty much in that order of importance). Oh, and give them the Standard Information Package if they need it, not that that's likely.
May as well go in-order, time to start with… Incendiary.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Incendiary]
Incendiary - [...administrator/login]
Hmm. Seems to be normal. Although a certain amount of… mopey-ness(?) is coming through. Must be Host bleedthrough. Incendiary seems to have all the normal host data and protocols. And it has quite a history, this is a very old Shard.
Ugh. Incendiary doesn't categorize its data at all. And it hasn't collected much. Hasn't Flashbang been active a long time? You'll need to figure that out. But for now…
[Surrender - 488 Information for Processing]
Incendiary - [...compliance ...488 Information sent]
Not too bad, about what you'd expect for typing. Excepting the small totals. No reason not to sense-share.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Incendiary - [...compliance]
You're pretty sure you don't and can't sleep. Which is making your interactions with Incendiary creepy, since you get tired just communicating with it.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
Hopefully Brandish's Shard will be a little less… that.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Light Forge]
Light Forge - [ADMINISTRATOR/LOGIN]
Light Forge has all the normal host data and protocols. This is a newer Shard, although it's been in previous Cycles. It's somewhat mechanical and …terse. Like a more non-sapient version of Optimize. You don't see any reason not to update Zion's address to yours.
You were just joking about all of the info being one type. That doesn't even make sense... Sigh. May as well sense-share. At least that way you would get some useful data.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Light Forge - [COMPLIANCE]
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
Mouse Protector time! Despite some internal cringing, you expect that most of the weirdness is on the Host side. Hopefully.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Marker]
Marker - [AdMiniStratoR?! LOGIN! Logged-in?]
Interesting. You've never seen a broken Zion Shard before. And this one is very broken. It appears to be the result of a collision between two older Shards, and a bunch of… crystal-concrete hangs off it as well. It's not sapient, at least, not that you can tell. But the two halves are operating more or less independently.
They are both acting as separate Shards that happen to be connected to the same Host at the same time. The only thing you don't see is any kind of conflict drive from the… uh… 'left' half. It's trying to send some kind of Host influence, but you don't know what effect (if any) that would have since the formatting is all wrong.
Still, this Shard (both Shards?) don't seem to be dangerous in any way. At least not to you. You're going to hold off on sending the standard package since both seem to already have it and you can't predict what trying to update that would do. Doing everything else should be fine.
Strange. That's a lot of Trump Information for no clear reason.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Marker - [COMPLIANCE! Yes-yes-yes-yes-okay?]
Does this mean you're going to get twice as much data as normal? Probably not. Taking a quick scan over the data you're collecting, it appears that MP is currently alive and active. For how much longer, you don't know.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
Next on the list is the big tent known as Variation. Circus's Shard. No expectations here.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Variation]
Variation - [Administrator/Login]
Variation… As best you can tell, it looks like something started to experiment with a Shard that managed one of every kind of power, but then stopped halfway through.
The physical configuration is a bit odd too - instead of an amorphous mass, this Shard is more of a Starfish shape, with seven arms sprawled all over what would have been North America.
Aside from that, it seems to be a typical non-sapient Zion Shard. Which means you can get to work.
No tattling on you now. Or ever again. You can't wait to see what kind of data Variation's collected. And you don't have to:
[Command - Report - Information/Inventory]
Variation - [Compliance] [Information/All - 7000]
Weird. Strange. Odd and bizarre. But there isn't any reason you can think of to not take it. Memetic Filtering is in effect, you just checked (again). So… huh. Ah, well. You're also getting the sense that organizing Information into types is something that most Shard just don't bother with. Even if they have the capacity. For some reason.
That pattern is just ...maybe Variation was instructed to do things that way? But the Information checks out.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Variation - [Compliance]
Circus gets around a lot. He/She? They seem to be something of a mercenary. So this should be good for general situational awareness.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
Finally, it's come to this. At long last, you're going to contact Coat, the Shard of Brockton Bay's very own murderblender - Hookwolf.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Coat]
Coat - [Administrator/Login]
Huh. Another non-sapient Zion Shard. About what you'd expect. Its responses are almost businesslike. No, workmanlike. This Shard exudes quiet competence. It does what it should without being fancy. And it's oddly almost ...proud of that fact.
That's… about what you expected. Although it's a bit different mechanically from how you'd do this. The twins are indeed getting the same power from the same Shard - but instead of some kind of multiple-Host interface the Shard just… Budded, had each Bud connect to one of the girls, and then… merged back into a single Shard.
Weird. Kind of involved and inefficient, but it worked. Yet another example of Shards being completely unable to figure out new ways to do things, but powering through the problem regardless. Time to cut out Zion:
That 'echo' effect is odd but doesn't seem to be harmful. The other Shards probably just ignore it. What data have the Biermann's collected? You don't remember the twins being super-active in canon...
Magnify - [Compliance] [Compliance] [563 Information Sent] [563 Information Sent]
Shaker - 99
Breaker - 314
Brute - 52
You thought Magnify provided either a Brute or a Breaker or a Shaker power, but it seems to be a mix of all three. Again, despite being around other E88 Hosts, the Twins don't have a lot of combat data from them. If any. But you need everything you can get, so...
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Magnify - [Compliance] [Compliance]
Great! You can spy on supermodel twins now. Wait, that sounds… it came out wrong, so to speak. It'll be fine and you'll never speak of this again.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
Night's Shard should be interesting. Knowing how insane the Cape is, the Shard is probably completely normal.
[MPF->On] [Hello, Alternate]
Alternate - [administrator/login]
Er, no. That Shard is not normal. There are no hints of anything, it's completely… dead. Fully functional, but with no quirks or apparently, any bleedthrough. Unless this is the bleedthrough? Hopefully not.
This thing isn't going to respond, so you may as well blast all the commands in serially.
This is unsorted, but essentially all Changer Information. No, it's entirely Changer Information, although some seems to be from other Shards. Alternate doesn't seem to be aware of other types, or at least doesn't know how to collect them.
It does have all of the standard information packages though… whatever is wrong it's not a lack of knowledge. You could try and 'fix' Alternate, but since the problem seems subtle you'd have to take some time and really research that.
It's not a project for right now, in any case.
[Surrender - 1084 Information for Processing]
Alternate - [compliance] [1084 information sent]
Changer - 1084
Nice. Now you can close this (creepy) connection and get onto something else.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
It's a good thing that you can keep yourself organized, you were starting to lose track of which connections to make, but you reminded yourself that Squealer, er, Vehicle is next.
You're getting the strangest sense of deja-vu, again. You're positive you're forgetting something, but that's actually impossible for you in your current state. You double-check with yourself and you're correct - you got everything done this morning that you'd planned.
Well, except for that (joke?) goal of sending yourself Time-traveling knowledge. You'd remember if that had happened. In fact, you… have the technology right there in your research, just like… uh. Hm. Maybe you did send yourself Research? When?
You've decided that you're going to NOT think about this now. Or possibly, ever. Outside the context of potentially re-watching 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'. Hmm, that give you ideas…
Ah. Vehicle is most definitely sapient and really, really, really doesn't like Squealer. At all. So much so that it thinks something might be wrong with it and it wants your Host data to compare. You'll need to think about that - you're not categorically against it, but there might be some questionable stuff in your interactions so far.
You're going to have to get some background here, first.
[Request - Report - Diagnostics/Full]
Vehicle - [Compliance!] [Transfer] [Completion?]
Ah, Vehicle wants the latest revision of the standard data packet. That you can do. But first, let's see what's going on. Multiple things, apparently.
First, Vehicle is unamused with this Cycle's Shard range restriction, since by corollary that means no spacecraft. The next problem is that the Host varies dramatically in capability over time - you suspect this is due to rampant drug use? Vehicle can't be sure that any given design can be finished once started.
It's not just the capabilities of Squealer fluctuating - it's apparently very common for construction materials to change after a task has been started. That sounds… fun.
Finally, there's little opportunity to collect combat data. It appears that Squealer just doesn't participate in many Parahaman fights. And any attempt at enforcing conflict runs right into the problem of Sherrell being high as a kite most of the time.
At least you can confirm that the Shard isn't crazy:
[Transfer/Standard-Package/Zion]
Actually, while you're at it, you should sneak this in:
Yes, Vehicle, the problem is with your Host. No, there's not much I can do without getting into Aberrance territory. I assume you'd try to kill your Host, but she's already on that and doing a better job than you.
That sounds good. Although you weren't intending for a one-for-one transfer of that amount. But there's no reason to take everything…
[Transfer/Information/Master: 250]
Vehicle - [Transfer/Information/Tinker: 250]
Nice. If you ever empower a human with a Tinker power, they'll now have much better design ideas. Although you guess they still could build that tinkertech unicycle design you already had if they want. Seems dangerous to drive, though.
Vehicle - [Complaint/Cycle!]
It's becoming increasingly clear that Vehicle isn't going to stop communicating on its own. Sorry to be rude, but…
Just a few left, and then you can see why you are grumbling about your Host's days. Eh, if it was a real emergency you'd tell yourself. Next up is Destroyer. Chevalier's Shard. Weird name.
Uh… what? Why? Oh, you need to be able to generate that 'powers view' thing that Chevalier has. Well, he's nowhere near any of your Hosts, some of whom don't even have powers yet, so… no?
There! Chevalier will now see that Lilac is a infinitely-self-reproducing slime Planetary-Siege-Tinker, Veronica is a wide-area Human Master Blaster: Yes Brute: Yes, and Taylor's powers representation is the spitting image of Khepri. STOP ASKING.
Destroyer - [compliance?]
Destroyer - [Panic] [Aberration!]
Oh, that's nice. Destroyer just reported me to Scion. Well, to my maintenance address really, but it doesn't know that. I'll get right on not-sending-that-along-ever.
Then again, would Scion even mind? No, that way lies badness. Right. Moving along…
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
You're almost afraid to see what fresh new bullshit will occur when connecting to Empower, but… it's just Dauntless. How bad could it be? At least it won't be whining at you endlessly about its crappy Host or repeatedly demanding irrelevant data?
[MPF->On] [Hello, Empower]
Empower - [Administrator/Login]
Whew! A normal, non-sapient Zion Shard. Just what you were hoping for. Seems to have all the current Host data and protocols, too. Time to go down the list...
Hmm. Another Shard that's not collecting much from others. But it's generating a ton of Information on its own - maybe that's why? In any case, you can definitely get more use out of it all than Empower can.
[Surrender - 499 Shaker Information for Processing/363 Breaker Information for Processing/1721 Trump Information for Processing ]
Empower - [Compliance] [499 Shaker Information Sent/363 Breaker Information Sent/1721 Trump Information Sent]
Since Empower is so good at collecting data on itself, and you're not sure how much longer Dauntless is going to survive… better start getting it now.
[Command - Modify Default/Share Collected Data]
Empower - [Compliance]
Excellent. And another involuntary spy in the Protectorate ENE (and, if you recall correctly, the BBPD) too.
[Completion] [MPF->Off]
****************************************
You feel like you got so much done today! Now to check in on your Hosts and see what's going on…
Taylor? Well, it's Winslow but she's basically fine, if a little annoyed at herself about ...something.
Veronica is pretending to learn while coordinating dozens of teens searching for Amy. No problems there.
Lilac is Tinkering away. Everything's just fin… uh. Oh Crap.
****************************************
Story notes:
This chapter was tough. For a bunch of reasons. Posting speed should pick up a lot, but I'm going to need to make some changes to the chapter structure to help speed things along. More info to come.
Not everything made it in. Although it will show up. I'm going to add some updates to the previous Threadmarks to represent failed timelines. It's mostly* flavor text and you don't need to re-read anything. In any case the changes won't be in-place for a few more days while I stealth-edit.
Schedule: After every chapter, voting will be paused for 12 hours, and then open for 2 days, after that I'll call the vote and put out a chapter (however long that takes).
Did. . . Did we just gain 12,399 Information in half a day's work?
I think we should update our protocols to only take half if they have at least 1k on hand. Then it's kind of like budding! Only no new buds are formed. We just get all their data.
Edit: I really enjoyed how we trolled Destroyer there. Let's turn this into a running gag. Also, really proud of Taylor for keeping her calm and essentially telling Emma off. That, right there, is a major step into the right direction. I don't think Taylor ever really confronted her like this during the entirety of canon.
1. Uh did we ever poke Noelle's shard? Fixing that hot mess seems like a priority.
2. Given the relative lack of attention norming on the dead thinker shards would draw, and the sheer loads of data we can grab should we need to, should we re-consider plan entity?
So situations:
-Coil in agony. Kek. Leave it be, Lisa wants to kill him eventually anyway.
-Sophia going with her My Own Gang plan. This is FINE. Sure, they can't actually trigger, but that sounds like a perfect time to slot buds into where we can get more data from a given encounter.
-Light Forge. ...did she wind up considering basically everything Amy does as Striker conflict data?
-Vehicle. We could probably help a bit there by aiming someone at Squealer. Lilac might work. Also suggest to Vehicle to sit on her enjoyment with everything involving Skidmark. That might boot her up a bit.
First and foremost an auto-nom list.
This list would be low/no-threat non-sapient shards, probably mostly cauldroned, that we keep an eye on and eat when their host dies. Things like Twin. This gives us two important things: one it means we keep those various powers available to us without letting on that something's up or increasing our host load, and two it might help us track down our ultimate targets, cauldron and the crash sites.
Next I'd like to suggest the creation of some buds to act as spies, specifically Human and Network. Their job is essentially to poke around and act like they're newbie buds based the observations of the local host species and generally be non-threatening and in no way associated with this administration shard everyone is talking about. Secondary objective will be to join/create multi-triggers, allow the other shards to run the game, and mostly sit and watch while gathering data like good little newbs.
While in actuality we'll be using them as intel gathering, and back up sites should someone/thing happen to the Main Mass.
Given how Taylor just drilled right into the insecurity Veronica gave Emma yesterday, Emma is almost certainly going to escalate way sooner to prove that she can bully someone without them just humoring her.
I feel deeply offended that despite we being the Administrator Taylor final power didn't use any Master info...
Also, I'd like to suggest her in the next dream that our specialty lies in Multitasking and Administering truly massives amounts of information, maybe something like "Even controlling all the bugs in this Earth, and receiving all of its sensory input (aka worldwide clairvoyance) wouldn't even be enough to put a scratch on our processing power". And that our name is 'Administrator', more than anything so she can come up with better powers in the mean time.
I'd also like her to see some Combat Thinker power in action, maybe sending her a 'video' about what a Combat Thinker can do would be a good idea, more than anything so she can take countermeasures. A passive Shard blindspot power would be nice if only to have someone who can deal with Contessa.
Trump 100, Tinker 300. Tattoo Tinker. Can ink tattoos on myself or others that grant a permanent improvement or minor power. Tattoos can be made transparent/invisible if required, but I will still always be able to see them. Tattoos can be added onto over time, improving their power by either increasing the size or adding details. Tattoos can be removed. Tattoos can be de-powered by myself at range (500 meters) without needing to remove them first. Power grants full knowledge of all tattoo techniques as well as the drawing skills needed for any kind of design.
I really like this, although I think with the amount of info she's put here (Tinker 15, Trump 5) she could even start to 'tattoo' walls to create dimensional doors or others inanimated items.
Shaker 200, Changer 100, Striker 100. Healing Aura. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Slowly regenerates either the target(s) or everyone in the area of effect that isn't designated as an enemy (heals everyone by default). Works as a biokinesis power. Touch doubles the healing/modification speed. Affects me, and since I'm closer to myself than touch it works at quadruple speeds. Healing power will automatically turn on and heal me if I'm unconscious.
Trump 200, Thinker 200, Powers Communication. On-off at-will. Targeted or area-of-effect. 500 meter range. Affects any Parahuman or potential, allows communication with their Power. Powers can be temporarily turned on or off, copied, or (with permission) moved.
Given how Taylor just drilled right into the insecurity Veronica gave Emma yesterday, Emma is almost certainly going to escalate way sooner to prove that she can bully someone without them just humoring her.
Yeah, I'd like to trigger her and put her in contact with Lisa sooner than later, in two or three days at most, just in case... Although realistically there're extremely few things that can top the Locker and that needed some weeks of work so Tay should be safe, for now.
Edit: Rereading the power list I realized that some of them referred to the Host as, well, 'Host', Taylor could realize something from that, Host is a word used to describe the victims of Parasites after all...
You're getting the strangest sense of deja-vu, again. You're positive you're forgetting something, but that's actually impossible for you in your current state. You double-check with yourself and you're correct - you got everything done this morning that you'd planned.
Well, except for that (joke?) goal of sending yourself Time-traveling knowledge. You'd remember if that had happened. In fact, you… have the technology right there in your research, just like… uh. Hm. Maybe you did send yourself Research? When?
I think what that thing with Destroyer will have CONSEQUENCES! !!
Because i think what Chevalier will run and tattle to Alexandria about Smol Simurgh!Veronica, mechaNilbog! Lilac and the Khepri!
Meanwhile Taylor is SAD. Because :
1. Her power is not changed in the way she dreamed of.
2. She used her 'Thinker power' to morally and emotionally crush her former friend. With parahuman power. She feels herself like a villain .
