[X] Female-aspect
[X] (The) Queen Administrator
[X] This Is All Way Too Premature!
[X] View Host: 100 Research. The capability to access a Host's senses before they Trigger. (You already have a basic ability that requires no research after the person Triggers. This is needed before a Trigger occurs / in order to view hosts beyond the first.)
[X] Female-aspect
[X] (The) Queen Administrator
[X] This Is All Way Too Premature!
[X] View Host: 100 Research. The capability to access a Host's senses before they Trigger. (You already have a basic ability that requires no research after the person Triggers. This is needed before a Trigger occurs / in order to view hosts beyond the first.)
I was thinking something more subtle actually, basically I'm looking at a tinker power based on bugs and bug products, sort of an expansion on Taylor's spidersilk gear, not a true bio-tinker, but stuff like being able to have termites build buildings. On the thinker end I'm liking the idea of PoV type things, but with a power logger that let's taylor know about the powers in her radius.
Can we reserve space? Make a connection space in her head, but not put data into it until we can grab broadcast?
Yes, you can! Although you typically wouldn't need to because you have only one Host at this time and there shouldn't be any other Shard connections going on (I'm glaring at you, Master of Ceremonies). Or are you talking about creating a power to use for a later Trigger? That's kind of assumed, but you can explicitly do that too.
Additional Detail: Assuming that the research for View Host wins, you will be creating a (0-slot) placeholder Corona Gemma for that ability to function.
Hmmmm also how do we do conditional power access? Like Taylor's fluctuating range in canon, or maybe installing a khepri button that can only be used under certain conditions.
Hmmmm also how do we do conditional power access? Like Taylor's fluctuating range in canon, or maybe installing a khepri button that can only be used under certain conditions.
It's really as simple as setting condition checks - you're the Administration Shard and you're in charge of that.
The only caveat is that unless your Host has spare space in the Corona Gemma they won't be able to activate the power.
EDIT: There is possible Research that can be done to alter the Coronas on your own. That said, this process isn't completely safe even after the research is complete. The Human interface was set to 6 slots maximum for a reason... And keep in mind that Khepri in canon was far outside anything that's normally possible, and that Taylor literally lost her mind in the process.
Your host would have multi-tasking. There isn't a way to double up on that, since it's not an actual power in the traditional sense and more access to your own multi-tasking ability.
In the case of some kind of failure you might accidentally merge with your Host trying that. Probably not though.
Ok so the bug-tinker option just got a lot scarier.
Ok so assuming Taylor's canon power takes 2 slots that leaves 4.
A standard power takes 2, an interesting feature or trick takes 1.
A really nasty power might take 3.
So My suggestion is to let Taylor trigger normally, but then add some extra tricks.
Suggestions - Cost Estimates
Bug Tinker - 2 slots
PoV Aura with power logger - 2 slots
Reserve Room for Broadcast Shenanigans, the non-blade projecting aspects of Jack's powers - 1 or 2 slots
Trump Trick, copies power of last parahuman to die inside radius, taylor can choose to keep an old power over a new one, but once a power is discarded you can't get it back, if allowed more than one slot for powers may be available - 2 slots
Any Buds would, by default, have their own personality generated pseudo-randomly from yours. Depending on research completed, you could optionally generate a personality based on your Host's.
That said, at your option you could simply subordinate and control them yourself (you have unlimited multitasking!). Note that you would automatically have the control keys and connection addresses for any (Bud) Shards you create.
The same is true for Shard consumption, any Shard you absorb would become part of you by-default, but could be furnished with a subordinate intelligence.
EDIT: If you conspired to seed copies of Taylor's mind to future Parahumans via Budding, well, it's probably not a good idea but I'd find it hilarious.
[X] Gender-neutral
[X] (The) Administrator
[X] This Is All Way Too Premature!
[X] View Host: 100 Research. The capability to access a Host's senses before they Trigger. (You already have a basic ability that requires no research after the person Triggers. This is needed before a Trigger occurs / in order to view hosts beyond the first.)
Wait, we're allowed to kill Scion, right?
Couldn't we talk to him? Try and convince him that pranking is the way to go?
(Sorry. I just finished reading THE TECHNO QUEEN. Unless there's more than what's in Page III. I'll just stop talking about it. So! Where's Flechette?)
Um. Well, you're definitely allowed to try and kill [Zion]. Your ability to do so at this time is, uh, in question.
Consuming [Broadcast] is one diplomatic option, yes.
Another might be to consume what's left of [Eden]. Of course by that point you could also be rather undiplomatic if desired. It's not like [Zion] would object...
Hmmm. Eat Eden, kill Scion, become god? At least we aren't planning anything small...
[X] Female-aspect
[X] (The) Queen Administrator
[X] This Is All Way Too Premature!
[X] View Host: 100 Research. The capability to access a Host's senses before they Trigger. (You already have a basic ability that requires no research after the person Triggers. This is needed before a Trigger occurs / in order to view hosts beyond the first.)
Given the many, many hints being dropped that we might need to explain ourselves, I strongly recommend that we outwardly stick to relatively "normal" shard behaviour for at least the start, until we get the lay of the land and see what Shard politics looks like.
I'm definitely against pushing the limits and giving Taylor a 5-6 slot power right from the start, since that's gonna require us to do a lot of explaining to any observant Zion shards.
There's potentially an argument for giving Taylor powers similar to her canon ones, too, to try to keep things as close to canon as possible at the start and exploit canon knowledge. We should be able to fit the canon (double trigger) package into a single trigger, so we'd have the option to double trigger and give her something new if it became necessary.
Q: Create a power now, or wait? A: [X] This Is All Way Too Premature!
Q: Research something? A: [X] View Host
Q: Do we need a name? A: [X] (The) Administrator
Q: Do we have a gender? A: [X] Gender-neutral
Note: If a popular plan doesn't conflict with the winning plan, I will attempt to combine the non-conflicting options. Since this is the case, voting-by-plan isn't (yet) necessary. Your ideas count, even if it doesn't win overall!
If something forces a switch to voting-by-plan (only) in the future I will give advance warning.
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.
Day 1: (1d100+18 = 20) 20
Day 2: (1d100+18 = 62) 82
Day 3: (1d100+18 = 99) 181 Success! (excess points lost)
After one day of figuring out how to research and two days of hard work you succeed in creating the skill View Host! (Character sheet updated)
You were wrong about how all of this worked, it wasn't anything as simple as a change in perspective on your side. The pre-Trigger Host connection is severely limited in a number of ways - you're pretty sure that viewing the Host's environment directly isn't normally possible.
That said, with a tiny increase in bandwidth on the Host side and a lot of very complicated compression algorithms, you have access to senses that aren't your own. Strangely, getting non-sensory information is a lot easier, and you suspect that you've been able to communicate with your Host this entire time - although you wouldn't have been able to hear any responses.
You Focus on your Host.
The very first thing you notice is that human vision is so limited. You've really gotten used to having 360-degree peripheral vision over the past few days. You're sure that as time goes on you'll start to find the missing ultraviolet and infrared colors strange as well…
Vision: Slim hands worrying a transparent bag of candy corn and crushing select pieces inside of it. Your Host is sitting on a small unmade bed.
Hearing: Harsh, tight breathing. Some kind of vibration coming from far away. A distant fan?
Smell: Unwashed clothes and a slight sweet scent from the bag. The room is also slightly musty.
Taste: Salt. Blood? Blood and a certain…
Touch: Teeth grinding, that's what that taste was about. Nothing that feels like dental damage, but not a good feeling either. The force used on crushing the candy also feels excessive.
Your perspective shifts slightly as you get further into the connection. After a bit of not-vertigo things become… clearer.
In the privacy of my room, it's safe to cry. Crying isn't bad, not really. It helps sometimes. The problem is that it shouldn't be necessary! What is wrong with me? Why does Ems.. Emma.. affect me so much? It's just words. Dumb words at that. She's terrible at this. Which makes my anger extra useless and stupid. I'm the worst.
Sophia hits and scratches, but that's not so bad, really. Just another year and a half and this will all be over. Just a bad memory. It's probably that it's a holiday. Those times are the worst.
I want to go out, but I'm too old. I should just ignore it and go anyways. Candy will just make me fatter. Ugh. But with the mood I'm in... It's not like there's a party to go to, anyways.
The slightly-warped locker door shuts. A slim, cute girl comes up to me. Blonde, cruel eyes although as usual there's something wrong with them. Madison. "Taylor, you're invited to our party! You should come! You can dress up as a piñata again even though it's not anyone's birthday. We don't mind."
A tall, weedy-looking brunette leans in. Julia. Her chewing gum smacks noisily. "Oh Maddie, don't you know she doesn't know what that is? Seriously, she's not invited, stop bothering with her."
Madison blinks and fakes a sad look. "Aww, she should be able to. It's not like she has any friends, so we have to be generous."
Emma's voice calls out from farther away, "Maddy, that's not a bad idea. But that restaurant only has so many places set and we don't have room for any more. Sorry Tay, maybe next year."
I wait for some kind of distraction from Sophia, but nothing comes. In fact, she doesn't seem to be around. Useless, I can't even count on her to bully me reliably.
Why can I keep my face blank so easily here but not at school? They're never going to get bored at this rate, I need to stop reacting! I need to just be part of the background, dull and uninteresting. Like… furniture. Oh. My desk. Right.
Tossing the candy bag to the floor, I go to sit at my desk. I can't believe I almost forgot to update my journal. Writing things down helps, somehow. Just putting words to paper makes things seem less important, less real, in some way.
In an unusual slip-up, I start talking out loud. Well, it won't hurt tonight, Dad's at work in case someone tries to destroy something at the docks. Which someone probably will.
I smooth the new journal page. "Friday, October twenty-ninth twenty-ten. Sixteen emails, twelve explicit. Three false invitations to Halloween parties…"
"Fuck, this pen is out of ink."
Taylor has no power yet - your Shard detection range via her human senses is a measly 30 meters at this time. Getting a proper address is possible but not guaranteed and may take multiple tries. Shards within un-Triggered Hosts cannot be detected, even if your knowledge of the setting indicates that they must exist.
Taylor now has a tiny (0-slot) Corona Gemma. This isn't likely to be noticed by any kind of medical scan, although Panacea may have questions if she ever heals Taylor.
Given her current state of distress, Taylor could Trigger with only a little push. This wouldn't count as a normal Trigger, though, and there would be some side-effects. Pros: Much more stable Host. Cons: Much weaker than normal power effect, unpredictably derails canon knowledge of future events.
Note: Subtle encouragement to Trigger is a normal Shard activity (they want to collect data, after all) and this won't increase Aberration.
[ ] Multi-Host Connection 1: 100 Master Information, 100 Research. The capability (NOT the permission!) to connect to two hosts at once. This isn't a powers-effect, simply for the purpose of communication. The second Host would need to Trigger on their own (and more research would be needed) before a power could be assigned.
[ ] Assume Direct Control 1: 200 Master Information, 100 Research. The capability (NOT the permission!) to Master a Host. This isn't a powers-effect, simply the ability to control a Host's body without any permissions from them. This ability does not erase the person's mind, if control is somehow broken they may be upset. Using this massively increases Aberrance score.Note: In theory this ability could be used with the Host's permission, although the communication involved in arranging that would also increase Aberrance.
[X] View Host: Achieved! The capability to access a Host's senses before they Trigger. (You already have a basic ability that requires no research after the person Triggers. This is needed before a Trigger occurs / in order to view hosts beyond the first.)
[ ] The Dream Master: 50 Thinker Information, 200 Research. The capability to interact with the sleeping state of connected Hosts. A indirect form of communication that causes less Aberrance.
[ ] Faster Research 1: 50 Thinker Information, 300 Research. The capability to Research two things at once before incurring a penalty. Moar Economy!
[ ] Overload I: 150 Thinker Information, 250 Research. The capability to offensively transfer energy to another Shard. You're not Sting, but you're not completely helpless. This version of the ability can't kill another Shard, but they will need time to cool off before they can resume operation. Effect is similar to sedatives in Humans. Some Shards may attempt to block the initial connection to defend themselves, but that is unlikely to work. Will have reduced effect on energy-manipulation Shards, though.
[ ] DDoS I: 150 Trump Information, 250 Research. The capability to offensively open multiple communication connections with another Shard. You can MAKE them listen to you. This version of the ability can't kill another Shard, but they will need time to themselves to reorganize before they can resume operation. Effect is similar to sedatives in Humans. Some Shards may attempt to ignore the additional traffic to try and defend themselves. This defense will almost never work, although Thinker-based Shards will be harder to affect.
[ ] Communicate with Taylor. Note: This is hugely aberrant and there are now non-direct communication methods available to research. That said, it's also a giant advantage too.
-- [ ] With what voice?
Voice option examples: Normal Male, Normal Female, Robotic, Chorus (what kind?), famous celebrities or actors.
Remember that Taylor may not be familiar with voices made famous after the mid-80's because of the dimensional fragmentation.
Keep in mind that you can imitate any kind of accent perfectly (Russian, German, Aussie, UK, Scottish, etc) - including 'fake' versions.
-- [ ] How do you introduce yourself?
-- [ ] Do you talk about powers?
-- [ ] Do you reveal setting 'secrets'? Warning: Precogs. (QM will not reveal the exact mechanics of this danger)
[ ] Induce a Trigger - this will result in a much weaker power than expected… but your Host would be almost entirely sane. Specifically, Taylor would be more capable of trusting others (not universally beneficial).
-- [ ] What power precisely?
-- [ ] More than one power? Warning: Aberrant behavior.
[ ] Timeskip forwards… to when?
-- [ ] Perform any Research rolls during the skipped time? (reduced rate: one roll per week skipped)
[ ] Write In. You're the Administrator Shard! You have a much better idea of what to do next than the QM does.
EDIT: Why, SV? Why must you mutilate Gdocs formatting so terribly?! It took almost as long to format this post as it did to write it!!
[X] Faster Research 1: 50 Thinker Information, 300 Research. The capability to Research two things at once before incurring a penalty. Moar Economy!
I don't think we should move the plot forward until we've researched some more options. Maybe approach Taylor in a dream about what she wants and then reveal it wasn't a dream after she triggers.
Thinking ahead, we could pretend to be the method by witch a thinker power delivers information. Or we could go full-on "You're the chosen one Taylor. Time to save the world!"
You can't, at the moment. Until Taylor Triggers you cannot collect Information from her.
You can still get Information from other Parahuman Power use that you can observe (does not need to be from your host, but every bit helps). Combat accrues information much faster than non-combat.
Your current observation radius using the cobbled-together connection to Taylor is 30 meters as described.
Note: Don't forget that there is nothing preventing you from researching two things at once for half-rolls. On average this is only slightly worse over time than researching a single thing. After that the penalty quickly scales up though.
Okay, so we probably shouldn't talk to Taylor directly until she triggers or is in a life-threatening situation.
If we do talk to Taylor, we have to be very careful about revealing too much least we draw the attention of precogs or strong inference Thinkers like Lisa. We can probably tell her that we're hiding certain things to protect her from those threats, though.
[X] Faster Research 1: 50 Thinker Information, 300 Research. The capability to Research two things at once before incurring a penalty. Moar Economy!
Seems like a straightforward choice for the time being.
Thinking ahead, we could pretend to be the method by witch a thinker power drivers information. Or we could go full-on "You're the chosen one Taylor. Time to save the world!"
"