Kathy's Brockton Bay Adventures
Sun. 17. April. 2011
There comes a time when a man has to reflect.
That time more often than not comes when a mistake was made.
Sadly that is rarely pretty, it can be an ended relationship, it can be an accident that could have been avoided, it can be many things.
Never did I expect my reflection period to be while walking up and down in front of a costumed teenager in my tinker laboratory.
"You know, I think this is actually my fault," I tell her while she tried to distract herself with her mask in her hands, "I should have expected the conflict-drive to take over soon."
"Conflict-drive?" Taylor asks carefully.
"Powers want to be used, so your power will naturally nudge you to use it for problem-solving." I explain, "Only I didn't expect it to be this bad. After all, there is no way that after all the warnings, all the talks, you decided to do the exact thing that fucked you over the last time, into an even more dangerous situation, a week later!" By the end, I was shouting and had picked up speed in my up and down walking.
"I stayed safe!" Taylor countered confrontationally.
"She stayed safe!" I shout back. "Well damn, I guess all the dangers of the world suddenly no longer matter because 'She stayed safe'!"
I was breathing heavy and glaring at her with my eyes twitching in disbelief.
This was the wrong mindset to deal with this. I needed to switch it out fast.
I took two deep calming breaths and looked at her with some calm returning to me.
"Tell me, Taylor, do you think that when in a month we find your corpse at the bottom of the bay that 'she stayed safe' will help you in any way, shape, or form? Taylor, you want to be a cape? Ok. Do you want to be a Hero? Fine! Do it, you are old enough to start thinking about what you want to do with your life and it is commendable that you do."
Another deep breath.
"But for the love of whatever higher power you believe in, don't run headfirst into something like this. Bakuda you could have taken out from a distance, but what about Oni-Lee and Lung?"
"I didn't go after them."
"Taylor, they hard counter you! Lung has all his senses enhanced in his dragon form! He would have heard you, and Oni-Lee is a high-speed teleporter, he spots you and you are dead." I then raise my hand and start listing, "You have no experience, you have no tools, you have no backup. If something had happened to you, Danny and I might have never found out."
I took another deep breath and sat down on the chair next to her.
"Tell me, Taylor, what am I supposed to do now?" I lean back and cross my hands in front of me.
I wait for her response as she looks at me guiltily.
"I am waiting, Taylor."
"I don't know!" She snaps back aggressively. "Ok, I get it, I messed up, but I did capture Bakuda damn it!"
"Where is she?"
"With the PRT, I had my bugs guide Armsmaster to her unconscious body." She explains heatedly. "I did good today, damn it."
"Yes you did," She did well indeed, "You did very well, all things considered, first night out, big villain capture, and you came back in one piece." I already knew that I would one day regret my following words. "That is why I won't wake up Danny and tell him what you did."
She looked at me shocked.
"Taylor I am not disappointed because you went out to cape, that would be hypocritical of me." I explain, "I am disappointed that you didn't try to stack the deck in your favor." At her confused look, I elaborated. "Tell me, who currently has the greatest amount of information on the capes in Brockton Bay barring maybe the PRT?"
"Eh… You?"
"Correct, now tell me, when you plan something like this, why didn't you ask me for advice?"
"Because there is no way you would have let me go do something like that! Right?" Her insecurity was starting to show.
"I would have done my best to convince you to not go, but if you did decide to go I would have made sure to outfit you with the best gear I could have built and would also have put two rescue squads on standby in case something goes wrong."
"Rescue squads?"
"When a Paramedic goes to the field for the first time do you think he will just get thrown in the head first? No, he first rides along for observation, then afterward they get to help, then after at least a month of knowing how things work, and having the bare minimum of experience they get to go 'on their own' so to speak." I patiently explain. "And even then they are never alone as there are never less than two paramedics in a car. Same with Police officers usually. And you as a Hero should be any different why?"
"So what, would you assign me a babysitter?"
"Yes." She looks at me disbelievingly. "Don't worry, it wouldn't have been Lisa." Alec would have no doubt done it for some extra pay.
"No."
"No, what?"
"I won't ask for your help. I don't want it. You're complaining about me doing the exact same things you did! But okay, you have all this knowledge and you can never be wrong. I don't care. You can keep it. If I fail I'm fine with that but at least I'll do it on my own terms!"
"Taylor, are you legitimately asking me here to let you go throw yourself into hell solely for your pride? And what the hell is me never being wrong even supposed to mean?! Need I remind you that I spent 2 weeks in PRT custody because I was wrong? The difference between you and me is not right or wrong, it's that you are throwing yourself into disaster beyond your comprehension for no gain whatsoever!"
"Why would you care? You didn't want to be part of this family to begin with! Just let me do what I want to do!"
"I care because you decided to drag me right back in when I was away, and guess what, now I owe you one, and if that means preventing you from ending up on the bottom of the Bay then so be it."
"Well, let's add that to the list of things I fucked up."
I sigh heavily with my hands on my face.
"Taylor. Life isn't about how often you fuck up, because guess what, you will fuck up so many more times, so will I, so will Danny, so will Armsmaster." I try to explain to her, "It's about how often you get up after fucking up and learning from it so that the next time will be better."
Taylor glares at me and I try and fail to return it, all I can feel when I look at her is… pity.
She storms out of my lab after this and I just sit there in silence.
I took another deep breath trying to collect myself, while I did that the Element of Kindness of all levitated over to me.
"What, what to tell me how I screwed that one up?"
It didn't respond, only created a warm glow that was a little comforting.
########
The next day at school I spend the majority of my time sulking around.
Lucy noticed and asked what was wrong to which I simply responded with family matters to which she only nodded.
I tried to distract myself with tinker thoughts.
Fate.
Of all the tech-trees that could come around when I am low on materials the one that did was Fate.
I probably wasn't even completely correct as it was Type/Moon more than Fate.
Ideally, I wanted something that could end an Endbringer, something there was no shortage of in Fate.
But making anything that could pull that off before Leviathan was supposed to arrive was an entirely different story.
The tech tree came at a bad time when I needed something simpler, I would have to build several high-grade tools that would empty whatever remaining resources I had after the elements.
The magic tools I had after My Little Pony had enough overlap so that I could still make use of it but it still limited me massively.
Of course, I had the option to try and improvise something to gather materials from Fate and combine that with my drones but it would be suboptimal at best.
The one big saving grace I had was the Dead Space fabricator, with it I would be able to premake some things and then later print them out once I had the materials for it, but that still left me with the problem of what to make in the first place.
My first thought was getting Ea and training my arrogant laughter which was extremely tempting.
Magecraft by itself could be very helpful but all of the high-tier magecraft required a lot of preparations which again led to needing more resources and time, both of which I didn't have.
Especially with Taylor deciding that she wanted to start doing things, which was already very problematic on its own and I had no clue how to deal with it.
If I tell Danny then I establish myself as the authoritarian enemy. If I give in then she will develop a mindset that I am a pushover she can use. And just doing nothing leaves me stuck squarely on no side at all and also might hurt her.
What a mess…
As for Fate, I think the decision was clear, my tools from Franken Fran in combination with my advanced magic tools from My little Pony would allow me to build a magic circuits system into myself.
After that, I should be able to learn some basic magecraft, install a bounded field around the house, and then…
I would need to think about it in more detail.
And so the school hours passed with me drifting in and out of my mind.
When I got home, this time alone as Taylor was only supposed to pick me up the first week, I was still confused.
Entering my Laboratory Taylor's costume was gone but I could hear Taylor upstairs, she probably hid it somewhere so that it wasn't in my reach in case I wanted to do something.
First I needed to get a bigger picture.
Grabbing my phone I called Lisa.
"Hello, little menace!" She greets me enthusiastically.
"Hey, Lisa." I didn't have the strength to mask my tiredness.
"Wow, what got you down? Something… related to Taylor? Wait, you know Bakuda was captured but… shit, what did that girl do?"
"She was going out behind my and Danny's back, She was there and captured Bakuda somehow." I was rubbing my eyes. "I couldn't sleep because of how nervous I was about my new specialty so I caught her right as she came back still costumed up."
"Fuck. And of course, you confront her about it, triggering all her authority flags and now she is mad at you." Lisa elaborates.
"What was I supposed to do Lisa?" I ask more for advice than trying to be snarky.
"No good answers as far as I can tell. And before you ask, no I don't know what you should do now either."
I sigh tiredly as I hear her typing something in the background.
"It looks like she was seen during her debacle," Lisa informs you, "Chances are by tomorrow most capes in the bay will know about the new cape, they will most likely suspect Empire ties."
"Of course they will," I press my head against the cold metal desk, "Any way to prevent that?"
"Not without major investment, for now, she will be known as that new Empire enforcer that will send bugs to eat your dick if you cross them."
"No way that can backfire." I reply sarcastically as I start making a list of things I will need.
"I can hear that you wish to drain the last of your Coil funds," pen scratching must have given it away, "And you wish to make something to… help Taylor?"
"Yes and no, prevent her from dying would be more accurate. The main issue right now is that she is alone and there is no way I can get her to join you guys this time around."
"You do realize that she wants to be a Hero, right?" I could hear her raised eyebrow over the phone.
"She wanted the same the last time around to," I finished my list, "The main problem is that she will strike out on her own and have no one to rely on, I can't go with her and she wouldn't trust me anyway."
I then tell her the list of things I need from her.
"This… is barely within your budget, after this you are broke. Holy fuck, I didn't expect Tinkers to drain this much money."
"Anything else I should know?"
"Nothing I can think of at the moment."
"Alright, take care, and do anything that might get you in trouble."
"You mean don't do anything that you would do then?"
"Exactly." A smile a little at her quip.
I put the phone down and stare at my fabricator.
I had a few things I needed to get done, the fabricator needed some modifications, and I had magecraft to make.
########
Fri. 22. April. 2011
Taylor was less mad than I expected, she at least talked to me during dinner so that was something. Although maybe she was just pretending for Danny.
But besides that?
Absolutely nothing happened.
The whole week I went to school, came home, tinkered, and went to sleep.
It made me feel tense and made my skin crawl.
But that might just be the fact that it's exposed to air for the first time in a few weeks. I was outside of my bioprotective shell, with it towering behind me with the dimensional folding disabled.
It looked more like a horror movie monster when I wasn't wearing it with the obvious opening where my eyes and mouth should be but with nothing there and enlarged as it was…
Regardless, today was my big day, the fabricator was configured, Taylor and Danny are warned to not enter for the next few hours, and I had the emergency medicine prepared as well as PRT on speed dial.
Today I would implant a Magic-Core into myself as well as a Magic Crest of my own making. It was a special one that was designed to save every blueprint that I ever built and allow me to recall it on command in addition to its usual spell safe function.
The Core meanwhile I shaped out of the magic energy generator I still had, it was far more stable then all the blueprints my speciality gave me at the cost of being less lethal. Something about Pony magic not being made to harm people, that said it would still work perfectly as fuel for a Servant, spells, and similar.
I would first lay down on my modified workbench, then the pre-programmed set of commands would execute and with the help of the assembler would take the nervous system that was laid out before me and implant it into me.
Trusting Dead Space tech to do delicate surgical procedures. My power was telling me, yes, but my mind was bombarding me with the scene where Isaac got a nifty eye operation.
I sighed heavily, there was no way past this, I had to trust that my power at the very least wouldn't intentionally kill me as long as I offered it conflict and progress, I was enabling both in various ways.
I nearly jumped out of my skin again when Honesty pressed itself against my cheek reassuringly. Visions for an orange glowing guard dog were transmitted into my mind.
"A sweet gesture, thanks." A giggle escaped me. "Maybe the dog is an omen, I like the idea of summoning Cú Chulainn."
With that I took a deep breath, lay down on the designated spots, straps secured on me and I could feel the sting of a needle on my left arm. Soon after that, my eyes fell close and I embraced sweet darkness.
########
When I opened my eyes again I was looking at myself, myself sitting in front of me. I was sitting at a train station.
Not my Worm self, not Kathy, but my true self, looking at myself sitting at the train stop watching myself waiting.
Before I could decide what to do with my adult self he looked at me and beckoned me with his hand.
When I came close enough he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I have no idea," I responded honestly. "How are you here?" I then asked while looking around.
He simply shrugged at me. Then we both look up as we hear the announcement, the train is coming.
I see him stand up and a wave of cold overcomes me.
"Where are you going?" I ask myself.
"I really don't know." He responds as he approaches the stopping train.
I run to him and grab his hand pulling, but it's no use, he is not stopping.
"Stay!" I shout, no, I ordered him.
"Why should I?" He asks back smiling.
"Because you are me!"
"Since when have we cared about that?" His smile was even brighter. "Come now, we both know that you aren't me, but the worst part is that you aren't being yourself."
Then before I could react he was on the train and the doors closed.
"No, wait!" I grabbed the train but it was already speeding up. I lost my hold and fell to the ground.
Only that there was no ground I kept falling further and further.
Then an orange glow and a sharp sting on my stomach woke me up.
########
I was breathing heavily with tears going down my face. Only slowly I realized what happened. Looking at the element hovering above me I focused on it until my breathing stabilized.
"Thanks." It only pulsed once before floating back to its siblings.
Looking I turned my head a little so that I could see the screen off of the workbench, readings were good, and it was showing that the operation was a complete success.
Finally, I found the courage to stand up, something I very quickly regretted as everything hurt, literally every single centimeter of skin felt as if it was punctured by a needle.
Looking myself over with a pained expression I could see countless red lines go all over my skin. Magic energy lines as my body was getting used to the new type of energy flowing through it. I knew that they would disappear in a day or two unless I started stretching them but the pain was still quite intense.
Taking another deep breath I collected myself and walked over to the pre-prepared magic circle. Usually, I would never be this rash but I was pretty sure Taylor would leave again tonight. The likelihood of something happening was small, but not small enough that I could ignore it.
As such this would be three tests in one.
One, if my Magic-Core was working correctly, two, if the magic crest would record the servant summoning ritual, and three, if the summon servant ritual worked.
There was only one last thing to do before I could start.
To open one's Magic a trigger was required, something that would be indistinguishable and very hard to think about on a normal day. Rin Tosaka imagined stabbing herself in the heart, Shiro Emiya imagined the hammer of a gun firing.
For me, there was only one that stood out in my mind.
When paramedics learned how to set an IV cannula on a patient the only way to practice was on one's fellow paramedics, coming out with several punctures on one's arm was something someone one got used to surprisingly quickly, but the feeling of a needle being stung into my arm was one I was very familiar with.
And so I felt it, magic energy ignited.
It was… not cold, but cool, it had a solidity to it, it felt… as if metal was resting on my body only that it was moving and flowing, not in any direction but just trying to find spots on my skin it was comfortable with and failing to do so. Looking at my skin it shone purple.
Into the void I roar
I do not plead
I do not beg
I do not bribe
Fill the void with my flesh to shape a new world
Fill it with my blood to form rivers to feed its birth
Fill it with my screams to let the air forever sing
Let the world I create within me be the birthplace of your existence in this mortal realm!
Come forth and bring the world I birth into reality!
The words of the ritual used for a Servant Summoning didn't matter for my version as all the relevant things were already pre build into the ritual. And yet those that I used somehow felt, right, as morbid as they were symbolically they did exactly what I wanted them to form a vessel from my magical energy to allow an aspect of a servant to enter our world.
I decided to abstain from trying to figure out if the Throne of Heroes existed or if my Shard was simply playing along.
Regardless of that the summoning seems to work as the circle was glowing bright purple with my magical energy, however, it was doing nothing besides that.
Then I remembered the single component I was missing.
I took a small scalpel from my workbench and did a small cut on my finger, just enough for a single drop of blood to fall on the circle.
Instantly the magical energy violently expanded and filled the room with smoke.
Coughing I tried to make out some shape in the cloud as I felt the Red Command Seals draw themselves over my heart.
"Ma Dame," she bowed down and removed her hat from her head, while taking my hand and kissing it, "Je me nomme Chevalier Eon du lily blanc, à votre service." then she looked at me with those impossibly beautiful eyes, "You may call me Saber."
"Jackpot."
