Kathy's Brockton Bay Adventures (Worm/Tinker of Fiction)
- Thread starter Hydralisk
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DeclanDSI
Touhou 「 」 Youkai of 「Akasha」
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- the Boundaries betwixt Fact and Fiction
- Pronouns
- ???
That's obviously because the government is run by lizardmen. Smh not even getting this right.
Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
No wonder I get no replies or reactions whenever I make a review coming late to the party of some longfic.
I'm the same, I see here some walls of text and if the first paragraph doesn't interest me, it's TL;DR.
I'm the same, I see here some walls of text and if the first paragraph doesn't interest me, it's TL;DR.
Crash_0537
Waifu Appreciator
Higurashi is good and dark
there is no main character(in my opinion)
just significant characters
there is no main character(in my opinion)
just significant characters
- Location
- How should I know!?
Huh.... I will tendertivly set it on my to-do list
This is Civil War all over again
Well no, its not Lizard men, its puppets of interdimensional giant worms!That's obviously because the government is run by lizardmen. Smh not even getting this right.
It's from author to author, I personaly I am happy to get replys of any kind and do my best to respond to what I can, if I can.
Sometimes I just don't have anything to respond to tho, makes me a bit sad, so I can only react.
Yeah, they are not waiting that long, they know how strong Kathy got in only a few months, and next chapter Kathy will reveal her Orokin tower to the world.
- Location
- How should I know!?
The Sentients, a race of hyper adaptive AI, failed to penetrate the shield, we are talking about things that have the tools for planetary teraforming at the minimum, and that was before the War. Alexandria could hit the shields all day every day, for the rest of her life, the tower might as well be in another universe.
Edit: Teleportation should work, but with the space warping going on on the inside even that could be tricky.
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Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
Could Eidolon pull a power out of his ass to penetrate the shield? Or maybe Lily can pierce it with hers?
Fletchette probably could but that has some serious problems in that Caludron withheld the info Kathy gave on the strength of her power being can kill endbringers lv also she's been taken to a dragon lab to do testing which complicates things with jack slash having influence over dragon now.
Eidolon also has the issue that the Echidna event took a really big toll on his power reserves possibly due to tapping ones like the power boost on Vista he doesn't normally use. It may also just be that the mass clones drained a huge amount from the Eden network as a whole since while the cloned cape's shard connects and provides the power at least a few were Eden capes like the other travellers and Echidna's shard is probably the one that has to form the bodies.
You also have to question their motivation to actually do so. Lily probably would because she is really not that great a person her pre Parian relationships all blew up because she was too controlling so she decided to let the next one (Parian) have full control. She is also highly critical we she her pov early on from her transfer to the bay and she actually keeps count of things she considers to be strikes and then writes someone off from being a candidate to date and seemingly be friends with after 3. There's also how she broke up with Parian after around 4 years together when Parian revealed the whole my power works best on human skin thing to save them.
Ironically as well given the whole March is a Lily obsessed stalking yandere you see it could be argued it applies more to Lily. March may be obsessed with Lily on the basis of knowing after they die their minds will be stored in shardspace forever and does a lot to interact with Lily like joining the various gangs and pushing them into clashes with the wards. However because of this she's also fine with waiting as she only showed up in the bay once during the timeskip and then left Lily alone until she pushed them out of the Bay on Gimel where she also let them leave to continue her plan. Lily on the other hand puts a sting enhanced bolt into Taylor's shoulder intentionally fusing the tip to her bone stating she'd need to go to a hospital to get it fixed for speaking to Parian.
It's also possible that March's yandere stuff comes from Lily since their cluster bleed is giving away the bits of themselves they don't like. We don't see much of Lily before she triggers but she seemed like a party girl before she gave that to March and got March's responsibility and it is odd how Lily goes I'm uber controlling, I don't like this about myself so I will do the opposite in my next relationship and how thoroughly it sticks until you consider the bleed.
Eidolon on the other hand has personally spoken to Kathy where she said several things that stuck with him and he is thinking about on top of seeing her actually resolve the problem. Considering his part of Cauldron and knowing about the final battle he'd probably need a power booster and to be talked into doing a kill order if that's what they choose over the birdcage. There is also the more general sympathetic tone the story has to him which makes it hard to consider him actually killing Kathy.
I really love Missy's heart to heart talk with Caster, I can't help but feel like they already found a family with Kathy.
Will be looking forward to Missy's explosive exit from the Wards.
Anyway thinking about this further, Jack's access to the Birdcage meant he could setup a Hunger Game in exchange for their freedom or join his group.
Also his knowledge about Kathy through Dragon or other sources meant he could draw her into a trap if the US government is cold enough to sacrifice Vista by dumping the poor girl in the Birdcage since she would resist their attempts so in she go, in order to draw out Kathy from her Orokin bunker and to the Birdcage.
Let's face it, the Government and the PRT would do it for the greater good and out of desperation to stop Kathy from hunker down for weeks with her tinkering and the only way to get Kathy out to threaten Missy due to her strong bonds.
Taylor and Danny is safe due to Saber and Caster's protection plus Kathy made them socially irrelevant in front of the PRT with their lack of family ties so the govt can't really use them.
Could setup Kathy and Taylor's raid on the Birdcage to rescue Missy which could clash with Saint rescuing Dragon and Teacher plus whatever villains Jack got to.
Will be looking forward to Missy's explosive exit from the Wards.
Hmm i do hope Armsmaster fail with his attempts in getting those information, don't like rewarding his ego with access to Kathy's tech.
Urgh with that much people, I can see information about Kathy being leak to international groups like the Yangban, still its a nice look at how the govt come to the wrong set of conclusion and politics.
Would be quite funny if Saint decide to rescue Dragon from Jack in order to get his Teacher out, I mean he got the front row seat to the horror show and an opportunity.
Anyway thinking about this further, Jack's access to the Birdcage meant he could setup a Hunger Game in exchange for their freedom or join his group.
Also his knowledge about Kathy through Dragon or other sources meant he could draw her into a trap if the US government is cold enough to sacrifice Vista by dumping the poor girl in the Birdcage since she would resist their attempts so in she go, in order to draw out Kathy from her Orokin bunker and to the Birdcage.
Let's face it, the Government and the PRT would do it for the greater good and out of desperation to stop Kathy from hunker down for weeks with her tinkering and the only way to get Kathy out to threaten Missy due to her strong bonds.
Taylor and Danny is safe due to Saber and Caster's protection plus Kathy made them socially irrelevant in front of the PRT with their lack of family ties so the govt can't really use them.
Could setup Kathy and Taylor's raid on the Birdcage to rescue Missy which could clash with Saint rescuing Dragon and Teacher plus whatever villains Jack got to.
a lot of logic's leap's there... To set up that vista Misery 'extravaganza'I mean to begin with if they can keep her on her tower is a win for them and with Chevallier, flechette and maybe labyrinth and Dodge? They can Likely get in (not that they can win when they do thought)
So going as far as trying to send Their ward to hell because she's friendly with Kathy when Kathy crimes are kinda sus (12y old CIVI not following the chain of command to rescue people) is daring everyone to revolt, So i am like WTF? On the whole thing
Well worm is a parody trying to be grimdark (grimderp) so i Guess It can happen if you say Ptv or ziz plot
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I'd prefer it goes the other way he goes there spying for info on her and her tech and we know they'll discuss things like what it would take for her to join the prt which is Alexandria resigning as a bare minimum it would certainly be amusing if he learns why Kathy doesn't like her such as being Costa Brown, the C53s and so on. It would also be funny if she does end up ranting on it because we know Kathy highly values honesty and truth and the complaints of say Eidolon or Alexandria about her not being able to just do whatever she wants with her power or thinks is right and having to be responsible and join the prt is in a way pretty hypocritical given Eidolon had to be talked into joining in the first place and they flout it anyway with Cauldron and Alexandria being the prt chief director.
Saint may not be able to I'm not sure how the nine got control of Dragon when they were in Boston but he has control of her. The only ways I can think of that actually being able to happen is the obey legal authority chains though I think the kill orders would invalidate that along with possibly the whole border crossing and going to the birdcage stuff and taking out Saint and taking his control box.
Jack's use of Dragon is limited though because her recent actions such as her stance on Kathy has seemed off to Armsmaster at the bare minimum. There's only so far that can go before master suspicions come into play. While Dragon does have to follow the legal authority she is still noted to protest the immoral actions when made to do them so suddenly stopping would cause suspicion course it may also be she's acting off deliberatly to try and trip suspicions since Jack Slash having control of her and getting into the birdcage is a disaster scenario. That said I do also want to point out it's unknown if there actually is a way for people to leave the birdcage given that the canon one is doormaker's power and not a system.
I mean to begin with if they can keep her on her tower is a win for them and with Chevallier, flechette and maybe labyrinth and Dodge? They can Likely get in (not that they can win when they do thought)
So going as far as trying to send Their ward to hell because she's friendly with Kathy when Kathy crimes are kinda sus (12y old CIVI not following the chain of command to rescue people) is daring everyone to revolt, So i am like WTF? On the whole thing
Well worm is a parody trying to be grimdark (grimderp) so i Guess It can happen if you say Ptv or ziz plot
Labyrinth is with Faultline who doesn't like to work in the Bay in most fics, Fletchette is off in one of Dragon's labs undergoing testing which leaves her fate up in the air since Jack Slash got some control over Dragon and Dodge is with Toybox who are not known to do that kind of thing. Keeping Kathy in her tower is also a loss cause it gives her time to build up even further and with her portals it's not like they can siege it to be sure no resources are getting in.
hmm to much Hope on that tower lol
On Labyrinth and Toybox the answer is money and because they know how much Kathy can ramp up they will try everything they can
Also if they can keep Kathy on her tower is their win (PR wise)
My guess in what Kathy would do if they ran a PR campaign against her?
She would probably pull Persona 5 and hack every media outlet in the country to tell her side of the story. After all they are trying to put her in the birdcage for saving thousands of people. Including Dozens if not Hundreds of capes.
It would be hold to her own standards of honesty and truth and even if they try to smear her name. There would still be those Dozens of capes she saved that now know the truth.
That their savior is being attacked for saving their lives.
She would probably pull Persona 5 and hack every media outlet in the country to tell her side of the story. After all they are trying to put her in the birdcage for saving thousands of people. Including Dozens if not Hundreds of capes.
It would be hold to her own standards of honesty and truth and even if they try to smear her name. There would still be those Dozens of capes she saved that now know the truth.
That their savior is being attacked for saving their lives.
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- Location
- How should I know!?
After doing some research on my next story arcs I ran into something interesting that made me change some sections in the interlude, specificaly the Cauldron thingy.
So fun fact, did you know that Legend has no damn clue about Zion? He also didn't know what Contessa's power was as well as some other key details.
Funny, isn't it? I edited the last chapter to fit that better, I might make some more edits to it or just rewrite that conversation, I will inform you guys at the begining of the next chapter if I do so.
The core of it stays the same tho.
So fun fact, did you know that Legend has no damn clue about Zion? He also didn't know what Contessa's power was as well as some other key details.
Funny, isn't it? I edited the last chapter to fit that better, I might make some more edits to it or just rewrite that conversation, I will inform you guys at the begining of the next chapter if I do so.
The core of it stays the same tho.
He didn't know about the C53 either XD
They blamed Manton and he belived them
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Chapter 46
- Location
- How should I know!?
Kathy's Brockton Bay Adventures
After my talk with Eidolon, I was back with my team, and Vista was still sleeping on Tamamo's tail.
But sadly, I needed to get out of there as they would no doubt try to arrest me as soon as they caught their bearings after the stunt I pulled.
Could they just declare me an S-Class threat? I frankly had no idea, but I would find out soon enough.
Focusing on my connection to Aria, my familiar, working on my Orokin tower, I found her finishing the shield generators.
I had her move to one of the rooms I was building and then opened a portal for all of us to step through while I made a special one that deposited Vista on a bed with Tamamo graciously accepting her fate.
I gave my cute mini Type-Mercury an affectionate hug to show her how happy I was with her work.
That being said, I was exhausted.
Looking down at my arm, the glowing marks were taunting me with my lost lifes as if telling me that I still had a long way to go.
I resisted the urge to go to my lab and dropped myself on a la-z-boy. With all that Gold trimming used in Orokin structures and how they valued looks so much, it was a miracle that thing was comfortable at all, or maybe I was just tired.
Before I closed my eyes, I sent a quick message to Armsmaster telling him that Vista was with me resting and safe, and turned off my Phone.
With that, I drifted off to sleep.
########
I didn't know how much later I woke up as I didn't even know what time it was when I fell asleep.
All I know is that I had a blanket over me, and Tamamo was drinking tea with Vista, who had her visor taken off. Should I call her Vista or Missy? I remember reading something about how she considered herself more Vista than Missy. Not like that was healthy.
Rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes, I finally managed to look at her face, which held an emotion I didn't recognize.
"Morning," I announced my awakening.
"It's seven in the evening." Vista's face fell, and she looked at me deadpan.
"Did I miss anything important?" I asked, ignoring her statement.
Missy was about to speak, but then she looked at Tamamo, who, for some reason, looked uncomfortable.
She decided to say nothing and instead took another sip from her tea.
I didn't know what to say to this display, so I just got out of my chair, got myself a cup of tea, sat down with them, and took a sip. Then I just stared straight forward.
My first instinct was to find a conversation topic, but I dropped the idea. If they wanted to talk, they would start.
'Saber?' I asked in my mind.
'Yes, Master?'
'How are things going outside of my base? I want to take a look, but I am kinda afraid of something being on fire and ruining my moment.' I was reminded of the fact I technically kidnaped Vista.
'I have informed Danny, Taylor, and Lisa that something happened and that you are safe. I decided to leave the explanation of the details to you, however.' There was some mirth in her thoughts.
'Any particular reason why you chose not to use your diplomatic skills to break it to them gently?' I thought as I projected a raised eyebrow over the link.
'Because it's better for your relationship with them if they hear it from your mouth, also you doing it will be much more entertaining!'
'Fair.' That was a valid reason. I probably would have done something similar.
A sigh escaped me as the events ran through my mind. Surprisingly I didn't seem to have any issues with me decimating an army. I attributed this to both the Class card as well as Tamamo telling me that I wasn't killing anything.
I wanted to distract myself by thinking about some project ideas that I had but couldn't focus on, so instead, I just let my mind drift.
"Kathy?" My musing was interrupted by Vista a moment later.
"Hm?" I answered her, still a bit groggy.
"Something that has been bothering me," She seemed unsure how to word her question, "I get that you are a Tinker and that you are super powerful, but how do you get your information? Do you have a massive nano-machine spy network or something?" Ah, I was wondering when she would ask a question like that.
"Technically speaking, I am a time traveler. I know stuff 'cause I know how it would have gone without me." No sense in beating around the bush.
At first, Missy didn't respond, only looking at me owlishly. Then, she opened her mouth only to close it again. Finally, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking away from me for a moment while her face circled through disbelief before finally settling on resignation and back at me.
"Just go ahead," I said with my own resignation, "I already played twenty questions with Taylor about the future, same rules tho, though if there is some topic that I am not answering, that is because I can't as said information can be considered a memetic hazard." Missy just nodded before looking at her tea as her face morphed into something akin to fear.
"Did I… did I die?" That was a fair question to ask.
"No, Vista survived for a long time," I sighed as I recalled the story, "But Missy didn't." The story of Worm and the tidbits of Ward. It was starting to get murky. I should probably start going over what I know and put it into the Vitruvian at some point,
She again was back to blinking owlishly.
"That Vista did great things. Her power was beyond what most could even dream of and respected greatly." As I spoke, I noticed the sadness in my voice, "But all that came of the cost far steeper than anyone should have ever paid." Finally, Missy's face set on one filled with determination.
"Good," I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow at that," Missy was a weak crybaby. I don't want to be like that." A snort escaped me as she said that. Such a typical thing to say for someone her age.
At that thought, I felt a wave of fatigue over me.
"I would chop off my hand if it means that you get to be Missy." I felt old just saying that I probably would have jumped at the idea of being a hero a few years ago. But life sure does change your outlook on things.
"What," She then got angry, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? What is the damn point of being Missy! Why the hell did you take me along to fight that thing in the first place then instead of just telling me to stay back?!"
"Because you asked me." And that was really all that was to it.
"What?" Again she was confused.
"Missy, if there is one thing I believe in, then we should all be free to make the choices we want to make. Don't misunderstand me. It's fucked up that you would even consider running into that fight." I sighed, "But the reality of the matter is that you are involved already. If you are made to fight for your life in battles like this, then you should have, at the very least, the choice on how to spend it." I looked her in the eyes as deeply as I could manage to get the message across, "You chose to run into that fight, and as such, I will do my damn best to make sure you will come back through the other side alive. I don't like it, but it is your choice."
"Also, you are wrong. Missy wasn't weak. After all, it was Missy that chose to fight. It was Missy who decided to stand up. It was Missy that chose to become Vista." What was with me being philosophical right now? Didn't I go through the same conversation already with Taylor?
Vista looked at me with something akin to shock. Would she get angry again? I was wondering if I was doing the right thing here. I was reminded of the damage Sophia did to Emma, thinking she was fixing her trauma and how badly it backfired.
'It's alright, Master,' Saber assured me over our link, 'You are handling this much better than you did with Taylor. And if the worst does happen, we just have to make sure to be around to catch her if she falls.'
'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Saber.' I really did need it after this mess.
Meanwhile, Caster was doing her best to stay invisible as we talked, with her expression, not something I could decipher. What was she thinking of this, I wondered.
"Did…" Another question from Vista. This one she was struggling with far more than the last one, "Did my parents ever get back together?"
That one surprised me. I thought she would have long since abandoned both of them in her mind.
"I…" I didn't know how to answer that, not for moral reasons. I simply didn't remember. "I think your mom was still alive?" I asked myself more than anything. Some vague mental images about Vista talking with her in a car flashed through my mind, "What I know about you came from third-person eyewitness accounts and a few conversations. Your parents simply never were a big topic." Her face fell, "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more."
"It's ok," No, it wasn't, not to me, at least. "I don't know why I even asked."
"There is a reason the saying' hope dies last' persisted throughout history. If it's any consolation, I know what you feel like. Accepting it will take a while, but it does get better."
########
A few hours later, we left the room, and I got the first tour of my tower with Missy. We walked out of the residential area close to the bottom sections. The garage, the old building the Undersiders were in, was fully converted and integrated, with its walls being the last thing separating the tower from the rest of the world. However, the construction was taking place underground, underwater, and in surrounding buildings making the entire thing still invisible to the naked eye.
Soon that would change as the last modifications to the shield generators, the primary energy matrix, neural sentry, my first two labs, the storage areas, and construction yards were also complete. I decided to skip the corruption tech for obvious reasons.
Once it was done, I would reveal the tower to the world. However, it would still be only half finished as the top parts were impossible to complete without sticking out. As such, over half of the rooms still needed to be built, and the top half only had the central node at the top and a few elevators to reach the roof for now.
Still, the payloads were being prepared and placed, the surrounding areas were vacant of people and as many animals as possible on Aria's assurance, and the space compactors were primed.
A lot of the area that has been built was compressed underground to the point of being uninhabitable. Turns out you could only compress or expand space so much at any given area with Orokin and To-Love-Ru Technology until exotic effects made it unlivable.
How Vista's Shard did it beyond even that was a mystery to me, as my tech assured me that doing something like connecting Europa to the American continent was far too much of a stretch.
That being said, uninhabitable didn't mean unmodifiable. Aria's drones could still access them with some special shielding and work inside them. Once I gave the go, my base would unfold out of the ocean, grow out of seemingly nowhere and show the world the glory of an Orokin tower. Afterward, it was only a question of transporting the rooms made on land into the tower proper, which would be achieved by a combination of Magecraft, portals, and good old space warping.
But that was for later. As Missy, Tamamo, and I walked to the residential area of this section, we found the Undersiders, Taylor, and Saber. They were in various states of activity.
Wordlessly I projected a simple facemask for Missy as we approached the gathering. She looked at it before wordlessly putting it on.
"So, this is not something you see every day," I commented as I stepped closer. Taylor, Alec, and Spitfire played cards while Lisa was sitting in front of two laptops with a frown, and Rachel was with Saber.
Caster visibly shuddered at the sight of the dogs and kept me between them.
"Right back to yourself," Lisa didn't look up from her laptops, "Now do all of us a favor, and without any beating around the bush or your unique sense of humor, what happened?"
I suppose I could do her a favor just this once.
"Boston's gone."
At my declaration, everyone in the room turned to me save for Saber, Caster, and Vista, of course.
"Kathy, when you say Boston is gone…" Taylor asked carefully.
"Exactly like it sounds. The whole city was replaced by dirt as if it never was built." Taylor turned pale, "Echidna, a mutated cape whose power was to create evil clones with variant cape powers. For some reason, her power went out of control, and she drowned the city before we could take care of her. They will probably announce that in the news once they figure out how they want to twist this story."
"Oh, fucking hell." Lisa was grabbing her head," What did you…" her stare got blank, "You went and…" a twitch developed in her left eye, "And you are proud of it, for some reason."
"Yeah, I have blown my identity so wide open that you might as well shine my name into the sky with a spotlight."
"Wait, what did she do? What is going on?" Taylor asked worriedly.
"She got into a fight with Alexandria," Lisa says while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"So, what? She's going to crash through our walls?" Alec asked while barely looking up from his cards. "Should I call Brian and ask if I can crash with him?"
"Not likely since I also neutralized a proto Endbringer," Saying 'killed' somehow didn't sit right with me since the Elements did it, though I did wonder what exactly they did to the out-of-control Shard.
I probably shouldn't worry about it since it's the Elements. It shouldn't be a problem for at least 1000 years!
Lisa let out a wordless scream of frustration and left the room. Hopefully, she would get some sleep. I did feel a little guilty since she probably ran her brain ragged over the last few hours.
Taylor meanwhile had her face in her hands while Spitfire just looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"I would say not to worry about it, but frankly, I have no idea if we should worry or shouldn't. For now, there are things to build, problems to solve, etcetera." I chirped, "Look out for the coming press release. There they should talk about everything. Then we can talk more once I have calmed down and properly collected my thoughts." With that, I went for the door, and Vista followed.
A short walk later, we entered Laboratory B.
This was my Bio-Lab, and I ensured it had said aesthetic. Starting left from the entrance, there was a whole wall filled with storage units that all could keep organisms from a virus up to an elephant in suspended animation.
On the next wall, multiple workbenches formed a sort of U adjacent to the wall with all kinds of tools, computers, and monitors.
Then the wall opposite the entrance had, at the moment, nothing besides some control units and a whole lot of tubes and tools sticking out, making it look rather grim like someone would stick people on that wall and operate on them while they were hanging there.
The last wall was just one giant glass panel that was only seen through from this side, with the other side being an open area that was made to look like a simple forest area with a pond, some trees, and grass.
There was also a giant Helminth on that side of the lab behind a door in its full fleshy, tentacled, and mutated glory, but I would rather Missy didn't see that one yet. As benign and helpful as that was, it would only creep her out. Funny enough, I never needed it until now because God Hand just kept fixing any damage my Warframe-armor sustained.
The room was rounded out by two fully functional operating theaters set behind some glass panels at the center. Any surgeon could use half the tools in those and find them much more precise than what regular hospitals hold. The other half was for Orokin-grade Bio-Tinkering.
While my power insisted that keeping them sterile was completely pointless since I could just make an immune-boosting cocktail, I still found myself designing it that way simply because my own medical training demanded it. I found it also looked more professional that way.
In stark contrast, this area also had next to no gold trimming or white ceramic. Instead, it was covered in a silvery metallic material, with the floor being segmented into dark gray tiles. Only in the operating theaters, I kept the floor in a bright blue since it made it feel more like a proper hospital room.
I had yet to get a real AI assistant or similar, so no voice commands. I was heartbroken that Warframe lacked something like a snarky assistant robot-like being to welcome me in my workshop. Having Alad-V talk with me while I worked sounded amazing.
Sure, it had the Sentients, but true Sentients needed much more materials and space than the basic builder version I turned Aria into. The other option was a Cephalon, but sadly I couldn't just remake Ordis, Semaris, or Suda. Instead, I would need to create an original Cephalon, which would also require a human sacrifice to turn the mind of said human into the Cephalon in question.
Regardless, it just meant I needed to do things manually for a bit longer.
"Come here, Missy," I told her as I searched through some of my drawers until I found a simple medical set used to extract blood.
"What are those for?" There was apparent worry in Missy's voice as she approached the chair I prepared next to me, eying the medical tools I was unpacking.
"Ever had a blood test?" I wanted to think that everyone had one at some point in their life, but with this world, you could never know. To my relief, she nodded, "This is exactly like that. I will take some of your blood to get an accurate reading on your body, DNA, RNA, Cell mutations outside of genetic norms, etcetera."
"Why would you need those for a Tinker Armor?" I repressed my sigh as she showed clear signs of the biotech dislike the population collectively suffers from.
"I will not make you a suit that you will grow out of within the next two years, that could be replaced by a few slabs of plastic and metal and can be worn by anyone who gets their hands on it!" I declared, "I will make you a masterpiece, keyed to your body and your body only, and with so many upgrades and enhancements, it will make Aegis look second-rate."
Vista wanted to say something else but shut her mouth again before clapping her cheeks and looking at me with something akin to determination and sitting down in front of me.
I went to work, put some rubbing alcohol on her arm, and with a quick incision, was slowly filling the plastic tube.
"I am surprised you are not using some high-tech tinker scanner where you put me on a table and have some humming lights go over me to scan me."
I snorted at the mental image.
"Watched a bit too much sci-fi?" I jokingly asked, "No, I probably could do that, but I am a trained paramedic. Something as simple as drawing some blood to get a proper sample? I want to do it the old-fashioned way, if only for nostalgia reasons." With that, I was done and put a bandaid on her arm.
I then walked over to the wall with the arms and tubes sticking out and gave a command at the terminal. As the mechanism started working, an empty human-sized tube rose from the ground and clicked into place as the arms clicked into place inside the tube, slowly filling with a red nutrient fluid.
"What is that?" Missy asked, trying to hide her nerves as she scratched one of her arms.
"Tanks made for artificial cell division and manipulation." Or Clone Vats, in other words. Bless the Grineer, they were all insane, but their tech, even stolen from the Orokin, was a marvel.
"Wait, wasn't that just technobabble for cloning?" She was more perceptive than I thought.
"Kinda? A clone, per definition, is a copy. I use your genetic blueprint as a starting point to make it easier to key it to you."
"Doesn't that mean you create something like my child?" What the, I don't even, what?
"Missy, please leave philosophical questions alone until you are old enough to touch alcohol." No way I wanted to have this type of discussion right now. She, in return, turned back to being grumpy.
"Please don't tell me you are making a clone bio monster of myself and turning it into a living suit of armor," Missy said confusingly.
"What even? Missy, I am making a suit of armor here. Also, where did you even…" It then clicked, "Did you watch freaking Evangelion?" did that freaking anime even exist with Japan gone?
Missy proceeded to avoid my eyes.
"Missy, I am making a suit of armor that is partly made of cells that replicate and heal like biological tissue, however!" She tried to interrupt, but I did not let her, "This thing will have no brain of its own. At best, it will have some nerves that serve the purpose of electrical circuits in a machine. Hell, you could argue that Armsmasters armor is more alive because of the build-in processing that is happening." I then gave her a pointed look, "Now, do you want me to make this, or is the prospect of my specialty too scary for you?"
"Sorry," she looked downcast, her face red, "Yes, please make me that armor."
"Happily!" I then rolled my eyes a little before adding under my breath, "Watch me make it pink, you brat,"
"Hey!"
"That was a joke." I showed her my tongue, and she gave me a stink eye.
I took the tube, put it next to the terminal, and watched as it drained the blood. From there, it worked its way through an array of complex mechanisms that prepared the sample, and once it was done, it would slide into the tube and start its hyper-accelerated growth.
The most complex thing about this was the manual error correction that had to be done on the DNA sample, as otherwise, minor errors could creep in. That was what ultimately made the Grineer suffer, as they simply had no one with the right amount of technological amplitude to filter out errors which ultimately led to the degradation of their cloned flesh.
I could probably always do this with my power, but I made a note to spend a night uploading the knowledge into a separate Ayatan so that I wouldn't be screwed in the worst-case scenario.
As Missy watched the terminal over my shoulder, I put in the base settings to stop the growth at the same age Missy was at and to prevent any true central nervous system from growing. Only the basic nervous systems, including the cerebellum, would grow.
Once the brainless clone is done, I would use it as a baseline to turn it into a Warframe suit for Missy. I wasn't too sure yet what I would put in since I was severely limited because of the size, but I would make due and make Missy something I would be proud of, which I swore to myself.
What was also noticeable was that it would take much more oversight than it should from what I knew about Warframe. That was probably because my Shard still made parts of it Tinkertech to prevent me from building a clone army or getting my hands on the 'clean' tech.
Thinking about it, I haven't run into the issue of maintenance since my very first two tech trees because I was cheating my way around it. Aria was maintaining the tower for me, but I would need to look into a way for Missy to maintain it herself. Maybe like a tiny bit of Helminth with all functions removed but the feeding and repairing of the Warframe?
"Soooo…" Missy asked while looking between me, the terminal, and the tube, where slowly something started growing.
"So?" I wasn't sure what exactly it was she wanted.
"Shouldn't you be, I dunno, asking what I want?" she asked with a mix of hope, confusion, and scared.
As for me, her words washed over me kinda like a wave, and I had to stop typing for a moment. Should I ask her? I mean, the obvious answer was yes, but I feel like I would know my specialty better than her, and if I were to start listing all things I could put in and around Warframes, we would be here all day.
Not to mention my head was spawning ideas of combinations from my older Tech trees, opening a whole other can of worms.
"Just to make sure, you ask that in relation to aesthetics or actual capabilities of the armor?"
"Uh, Yes?" She asked, or more like begging. I could only sigh at that while looking at the tank where a small blob of flesh started to shape, starting to stroke my chin absentmindedly.
On the one hand, there was no way her input would make it the most optimal and powerful I could make it.
On the other hand, it was her armor, so she should have some input to feel happy with it. She would already need some time to get used to it being a bio-suit.
"Ok, is there anything specific you want it to be capable of?" She was about to open her mouth, but I continued, "There are some basics in the protection that I will put in no matter
what like a defensive modding setup and protective shielding. As for the looks we will go over that once it's done and ready for a first fitting."
"Can you… mmm," She wants something but then doesn't know what she wants. What is this, customer support? "Can you give it something that can deal with metal?" I blinked.
"When you say deal with metal, you mean…?" I waited for her to elaborate.
"I… I want something that can make me crush Hookwolf." And just like that, everything made sense.
"Now that I can do." I was then reminded of something, "Do you want me to take care of your scar too?"
"What?!" She shouted and backed away from me. "How the hell do you know about that?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but then I started thinking, how the hell did I know that? Maybe from the Wiki?
"I don't remember." It was the only honest answer I could give her, which made her eyes bulge a little, "I'm serious. I don't remember why I know that." Maybe it was some fanfic that made me search for canon facts? Damn, my knowledge was starting to seriously fail me.
"How can you not remember something so personal to me?" I was shocked that this was what shocked her. But then again, wasn't that scar somewhere on her chest?
"I have never seen it if that is what you are worried about. Besides that, I really don't remember." I stared forward blankly as I tried to collect my thoughts on other stuff I knew about Vista.
I knew she was rated super high for a Shaker; she could mess with the length and size of projectiles and blades, her crush on Galant, something about being close friends with Vicky, I think in Wards she had a boyfriend?
"My time travel is very complicated. I am not even sure if it is proper time travel?" Then again, I was from 2022, and right now, it was May 2011, "No, scratch that. It's definitely time travel but with a heavy load of dimensionally distorted nonsense mixed in that I have no real way of explaining without sounding insane."
"What year are you from, anyway?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hm, well, to give you the perfectly honest answers from 2022," she slowly nodded, "But also from 2013," Since that was the end of Worm, "And kinda, maybe, from 2020?" Since that was the end of Ward, but I have not read it, only wiki dives and heard stuff from friends.
Vista, meanwhile, just looked more confused with every word.
"Look," I sigh and rub my eyes tiredly, "I honestly don't want to talk about it since it makes me ask uncomfortable questions I have been soundly ignoring for my mental well-being. However, I am from the future, I have read written accounts about you and many others, and the future can become incredibly messed up, and that is true enough for me to be comfortable with.
So as I said, I should be able to cook up something to deal with Hookwolf," basing the Warframe suit on Mag was an option, that or just using Wisp and Sol Gate, alternatively just using a lot of GUN would work, Warframe had enough things that equal the BFG from Doom, "And while I am not Panacea, freeing you of some scars is easy enough, if you want me too."
"Did my future version do that?" She asked back, to which I could only give her my best blank stare, "Ok, fine." She finally said before looking away. "Can I think about it?"
"You have until the day you get your armor." Which would be sometime next week. I still had a massive pile of Warframe projects I had to sort through, so my time was limited, not to mention I would lose the Bio-speciality soon, and there was no telling when I would get another one.
"When will that be?" Her eyes got a little wider at the given time frame.
"Sunday," I explained myself a little better at her nervous look, "I am not trying to be an ass about it. It's just that my power is moody."
"Moody?" She had a raised eyebrow.
"It's the best way to describe it without going into details they will no doubt ask you about once you get back to the PRT." I turned back to the terminal and continued typing away, making some last modifications before making the mechanism blur the tube glass and had it shift into the storage units; I didn't need Vista to see the cloned flesh growing. "Also, just to make sure, you don't need to go back yet. You can take a few days off if you want to."
"What, camp in your super secret gold-tinted base?" She asked sarcastically.
"In my defense, removing all the decorative bits from the original blueprint would have taken ages. And admittedly, I do like the aesthetic."
"The 'aesthetic' is so pompous that anyone walking in here would think you are some delusional megalomaniac that has an obsession with gold. They might even think you would color your skin gold, just to fit the aesthetic." At that, I had to burst out laughing as I remembered that some of the Orokin did precisely that.
"If you think this is bad, just wait till I unveil my tower." Aria was already impatiently running around from room to room as she wanted to see the results of her work unfold. The mental link made it feel like a kitten was running around in my head.
"I have no idea where to even begin imagining that with you being you." She said with crossed arms.
"That makes it even better to anticipate!" I put my arm around her shoulder, "What will it be, a tower made of gold? Will it contain a portal to the moon? Will it be filled with deadly parkour segments one must pass to progress? It could be all of that and more!"
"If you turn into Uber & L33t, I will hurt you."
########
A short time later, we finally called Armsmaster and decided to meet on the roof of an office building where I would be handing over Vista to him.
When I asked about the girl that was made to look like Bonesaw from the fight, I was assured that she was fine and whatever I did at the end fully restored her to her old self, save for a dead family, trauma, and apparently, she also triggered, poor girl.
It went without issue or many words, and I was back in my Lab.
As I was working on Vista's armor, many problems presented themselves for all the ideas I had, as I was hardly staying in Warframe for even half of it.
Still, I made a promise to myself, and I would keep it, so I battled my way through the problems one at a time, and before I knew it, nearly a full day had passed.
As it was closing towards night, I got a ping from my fabricators in Laboratory A.
This has been something I have been putting off for a while, but now it was time.
Kuva, the lifeblood of the Orokin. My power insisted, over my diagrams and machines, that I was totally able to synthesize it.
Of course, I didn't believe it. If it were that easy, the Orokin would have done it already.
No, this was something that I could not even begin risking using the cheap version of, so it started the painstaking process of going over every bit and piece of the Kuva Harvester I have built and making sure I understood everything in the most exact details possible so that there was no way my power snuck anything in that was actually generating some fake Kuva inside of it instead of giving me the genuine article.
Of course, I couldn't be entirely sure about that since it was information about my power from my power but judging by the amount of skin-replacing machines my head was flooded with after I was done, it was very clearly mad with me, so I chose to believe it was a success.
I had no idea why it had a problem with a Kuva harvester when freaking Fate of all things was acceptable. I didn't want to think about it right now.
It was late at night, so I was flying at a high altitude with my Grav Wings out. I should consider upgrading the To-Love-Ru tech since it was slow compared to Archwings, but I already had enough on my plate, and for now, they were working just fine, and it was not like speed was an issue for me when I really needed it.
Another ping on my sensors, and I readjusted my flight. It was a pain to do it in such an old-fashioned way. Once I had my tower, I should also have the platform to get my Railjack into space and put some satellites in place. Zion and Ziz prevent interplanetary travel. Nothing about geostationary orbit was ever mentioned. That said, I would make it a crewless flight just to be sure. If I finished the Railjack on time, I had way too much on my plate.
Still, for now, this would have to do. I was happy that there currently was an active Kuva flood somewhere on the planet.
Another ping, another flight correction, and I was getting closer.
I wondered what the PRT would pull trying to control me after Echidna. There was no way they would do nothing. Maybe try to quarantine the town? But there was no way they would try to pull something like a Kill Order. They couldn't be that stupid.
Whatever my reaction, I needed to keep my goals in mind. I couldn't do something that would cripple the PRT and Protectorate, as much as I wanted to shout into the world all the things Cauldron did, not to mention I lacked any proof to do so.
I should have some leeway because, ultimately, I saved a lot of people who might get angry if I am threatened, but not like that ever stopped any government from being stupid or outright malicious.
The pings were getting more consistent. I was getting closer.
Suddenly as I rushed over a sandy plain, the ping reversed, and it was now behind me.
I turned around and circled in until I reached the area where I saw the sensor going crazy, and I saw I was in the right place.
Nodding to myself, I put the scanner into the Gate and, in return, pulled out the Kuva Harvester.
After a few moments, I saw one of the tentacles rise and the moaning and whining of the air being sucked in as I saw red dust fly towards it.
It was creepy as hell.
I wasn't sure what to do as I watched the extractor do its work, so I let my thoughts wander.
The first issue was that I needed to find out what to do next. Now that all knowledge I have of the future was shot. I needed to start collecting my own set of information and decide what to do with that.
That said, not all of it was shot yet, and I still needed to do some things.
Freeing Dragon from Saint being one of those.
Saber told me that she was steadily making progress on the creation of the spy team she was trying to shape the Undersiders into, and I had the perfect first mission for them.
I didn't want to send them after Saint yet. That mission was a bit too risky, but at the same time, I needed to start relying on them to do things I couldn't. So I needed to form an organization that I could depend on.
As such, my thoughts of Dragon led me to an idea.
Dragon's Teeth, and the instrument behind them all, Masamune, if my memory wasn't failing me, at some point during the time skip, he was recruited in Japan from some ruined area, and that his specialty was related to mass production.
I wanted that, but it was not critical. If the Guild got him, fine. If I got him, also fine. With the team Saber was raising searching for him, we might be able to find him faster, and that mission would also serve as a good testing ground for them.
Saber also requested I rig all of them with some fitting gear, so I started planning that too. I haven't decided if I should enhance their already existing skill sets or if I should instead patch up their weaknesses.
Regardless, Saber and I agreed that I should stay clear of giving them anything new and focus on what they knew to apply. A full suite of weapons naturally would also be included.
Though it wouldn't be as good as what I am making for Vista, the only issue with that was that I was still working on some of the details, like how I was supposed to feed it magic to power some of the features I had planned.
I could just make magic capsules for her to eat like Taylor, but that just felt wrong for something like this.
My musings were interrupted by something I couldn't quite place. My body was suddenly on edge. I turned around, Reinforcement at the ready.
There! it was hard to see them at first, but I saw four things flying in the distance. Reinforcing my eyes, I spotted four people, all wearing some kind of flight suit, Tinker Tech, gravity manipulation, or maybe ion propulsion with mass effect fields. It was hard to tell those two apart.
One of them was looking at me through some visor, I couldn't see their mouths because of the face masks, but I suspected they were talking about something because the four of them started approaching me.
My harvester was on its third circle as they came close enough to be visible without Reinforcement. I was debating if I should switch into my armor, but they didn't seem hostile for now, and wrapping my armor could be seen as an act of aggression.
As they came closer and landed about ten feet away from me, I managed to discern some difference between them.
While all four wore the same flight suit, the one all the way on the left had both his legs and arms free from any cover.
The one next to him was missing the flight pack itself and only had the basic suit.
The woman in the middle had fingerless gloves.
And the last one, all the way to the right, had some form of speakers on his arms.
My first guess was the first one had some kind of brute rating, the second one could fly on his own power, the woman was some kind of striker, and the last one had something with sound.
That or they were smart about it, and most of those features were diversions. You could never know.
"Good evening." I decided to greet them cordially.
"A good evening yourself, little girl." The one I suspected was a flying mover who spoke with some Mexican accent.
How far did I fly?
"Am I still in America?" I couldn't help myself but ask.
"You are, but at the border," he responded as his friends started slowly moving away from him in what was probably an effort to surround me, "Were you attempting to cross?"
"Not really, I just didn't pay attention while I was flying," I explained, "I come from the northern part of the US close to Canada, so you can probably understand why I am a little surprised."
"You are very far from home, little girl." The woman said with what I could only assume was a trained stereotypical bad guy laugh she must have trained in front of a mirror. There was no way people actually did that naturally.
"Not that far. When you can fly distance at decent speeds, most things suddenly become much closer."
"True enough. That being said, you still have to explain what you are doing here." As if on command, another cloud of Kuva approached my harvester as the telltale whining appeared, "Or what the hell that creepy thing is."
"A Harvester."
"And what is it harvesting, the souls of the damned? Cause that is what it looks like."
"Eh, I know what you mean." Cue the fourth red Kuva thingy floating towards it.
"Now, since you are not crossing the border, we should have no problem with each other." He started, and I could barely restrain myself from rolling my eyes. "That said, you understand we just can't let you do what you want inside our territory for free, accidental as it may be."
"Insert witty remark, followed by veiled threats and warnings," I said while cracking my neck. There was something about being powerful that was incredibly dangerous. I know I wasn't this cocky before I came here. I probably would have tried to talk my way out of this instead.
"Very well, at least we speak the same language." As they all were tensing up, readying their various weapons and no doubt dangerous parahuman abilities, I could only say one thing.
Time Alter: Square Accel
The world slowed to a crawl as it was reduced to 25% of its normal speed. Of course, doing this as I did, any average person would explode from the sudden immense blood pressure, but it didn't even register for my body.
The main reason I decided to even start working this trick of Emiya Kiritsugu in my spell list was because I wanted to see if I could somehow replicate it into a bit of equipment that I could then hand out. I still needed to find a way around the lack of mana to feed it for non-mages as well as the part of standard human bodies blowing up.
Now how do I do this?
I definitely didn't want my harvester to be damaged, so quick and efficient was the name of the game.
First four portals sprang into existence. I stepped through the first one towards the one without the flight pack, which was about to fly up, grabbed him by the leg, then went through the second portal towards the guy with the Tinker-tech speakers walking around both of them with Enkidu in hand.
Through the next portal, the leader with the exposed legs had started moving as his arms and legs had some strange glow around them, and he was facing the portal.
As I approached him, to my surprise, his limbs jerked towards me, and I barely avoided his fist, leaning back. Next came his leg, and I had to jump. Then a punch, while I was mid-air, sent me back a bit.
But looking at him, he didn't follow. I was just standing there waiting for another hit, but it never came.
A reactive striker power? Maybe proximity based?
Testing my theory, I stepped closer, three meters, two meters, and at one meter, his limbs shot forward again.
Now that was an interesting power, was it always this fast, or was it just reacting to my speed?
My Eyes widened, and my hand lashed out on instinct. As it closed around something small, I heard a bang.
Opening my hand, I saw a bullet. Looking further, the striker girl had just shot at me.
Right, I should probably stop wasting time.
Three sets of chains shot out, one wrapped around the woman who just shot at me, disarming her in the process, the second around the limbs of the guy with the reactive punches suspending him mid-air, and the last set made sure to put the point the speakers of the tinker guy on the ground while also trying the flier to him.
I let time resume, and the world returned to normal.
Then it was quiet. They all seemed stunned in disbelief at what had just happened.
"Well, that was fun," I said sarcastically as, on time, the fifth little cloud flew towards the harvester, just a few more, and it should be everything I can get in the area.
"¡¿Pero qué carajo es esto?!" Striker woman had a temper it seemed.
"Anything to say for yourself?" I asked the leader who was trying to struggle against the golden chains.
"Parley?" he asked carefully.
"Watched Pirates of the Caribbean recently?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a good movie."
I nodded, criminal that he was. At least he had decent taste.
"Out of pure comedic interest, along with me needing to pass the time until my harvester is done. What would you offer me?"
"You see, as mentioned, we are part of an organization that controls the border. Therefore, any wares that go in and out of the states from Mexico need to go through us." He elaborated, "Seeing as you either are a Tinker or work for one, I am sure exchanging some contacts and a discount on some quality goods can be arranged."
"Uhu," Cause I was sure getting stuff all the way from the Mexican border up to Brockton Bay was profitable and cheap, not, "I notice you still have not yet told me who you guys represent and what exactly you transport."
"Ah, apologize. We are Los Rascabuches. As mentioned, we handle all kinds of transports between Mexico and the US."
"Be more specific with the transports. What kind of wares are we talking about here." While he said that, after a short warning, I got from my mind's eye another chain reinforced the arms of the guy with the speakers on his hands as he attempted to get out.
"Well, the usual drugs, guns, being typical." As he said that, I got another warning.
The reinforcements for them arrived, more specifically, some guy who suddenly jumped out of the ground behind me and rammed a knife into my neck.
It took a lot of willpower not to flinch, not look at him, and pretend he wasn't there as he failed to pierce my skin.
"The usual, he says. Buddy, where I come from, there is a gang called The Empire, literally freaking Nazis who get shipments from Germany. What you understand under 'The usual' and I do could be drastically different." Speaking of the empire, I probably should finally clean up the bay. I looked at the big picture a tad too long, not to mention if I could calm that area. I should have an easier time setting up something like a proper headquarters.
Also, the guy behind me tried to stab me again for the same result. I was trying hard not to start laughing as his knife bounced off me.
"That," the man was stunned at his friend's attempt failing utterly, "I understand the confusion," there was some visible panic in his voice now, "But I am sure that-"
Whatever he was about to say got interrupted by a bang, followed by sounds of pain.
I turned around to my utter shock. The guy trying to stab me was on the ground, a gun next to him, and he was on the ground clutching his leg.
I clenched my jaw. It took every ounce of my self-control to burst out laughing as I had both lips pulled into my mouth and bit down hard. Yet I failed to hold it all in as my shoulders shook.
Fucking hell, I was nearly bursting out in laughter at this poor fool who shot his leg. I am the worst.
To be fair, he shot me, and the bullet recoiled to him.
"This has to be the most Scooby Doo thing I have seen since I got my power, pfff." I couldn't help myself and weez out.
I felt so bad about just saying this.
Quickly I healed the guy with some Magecraft.
Now I was stuck on what to do with those guys, my first idea was just the next closest PRT office, but if they were a border gang, they might have bribed people in there along with some hired lawyers able to exploit legal loopholes like them being from another country.
Then, I got an idea.
"Say, have any of you ever been to New York?"
########
"And then I flew over here with them while they kept educating me on the intricacies of the Spanish language, officer." The officer in question was a PRT trooper on the roof of the PRT office building in New York, writing down my testimony.
"I see, and I don't suppose I can get you to stay here for longer?" He asked hopefully.
"No. No offense, but I have places to be and things to do." He could only nod at that.
"We will take them from you then, miss."
"You are surprisingly calm about this," I commented as I slowly lifted back in the air.
"Having tied up Villains air delivered to us, while not common, is far from the strangest thing happening around here."
"Understandable," I turned to the five tied-up villains, "You guys behave, ok?"
"¡Chupame la Verga!" That was surely just their way of wishing me a pleasant flight.
With that, my business was done, and I flew up and back toward Brockton Bay.
I could have opened a portal to Aria or my Servants, but I felt like flying a bit.
Hoping that somehow mid-flight, I would get an epiphany about how to get non-mages to use Magecraft, I slowly drifted through the clouds, my fire licking my body and keeping me warm.
Taylor still had her capsules that I could just produce manually, but that was not a solution I could use for many people. I would run into production issues needing to make more and more, followed by making them a finite resource that could run out in the middle of battle without warning.
I still need to research what mana does to someone who usually doesn't generate it like a mage!
"Excuse me?" I did not jump, for I was mid-air. I did, however, flip in surprise, which positioned me upside down.
And who was it that interrupted me? No other than Legend in the flesh!
"You are excused," I answered reflexively while repositioning myself. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I wanted to talk to you. It's vital." I could only take a deep breath, I suspected I knew what was coming, but at least I should hear the guy out.
"I'll be blunt, with the way things are evolving, there will be an active warrant out for you very soon." I tried not to roll my eyes, keyword being tried, "That is not yet unavoidable. Please, work with me here. There has to be something we can do to solve this." I laughed.
"Sure there is. First order of business, fire Rebeca Costa Brown. Let's not even pretend you don't know about that colossal fuckup." I started listening.
"I understand how that one upsets you with the type of person you are, but tell me, who do we replace her with? Who would do a better job?" That is a decent question. I had to give him that.
"Someone with a family and a good relationship with said family would be a start. That way, we have at least some guarantee that they are still human when they enter the office." I started, "Besides that, I admit I do not understand leadership chains very well. But Costa Brown has to go, I don't care about what Alexandria does as long as it's out of my way, but this nonsense show that is the PRT right now is inexcusable."
"So you don't know." His attempts to play politics and mind games were nearly cute.
"Of course, I don't. What do you expect? For me to have a comprehensive list of all and everyone who could go to every position. I am not Contessa, nor do I want to be. Part of what made her and the rest of that clusterfuck so inhuman is her power, I suspect."
"That is not the point," he tried to deflect.
"Is it?" I did not let him finish, "Because from where I am standing, you are letting a group of people whose collective thinking is closer to that of the Simurgh than anything else decide the fate of humanity solely on the premise that there might be a future that way."
He took a deep breath collecting himself. I wasn't sure what I said that stuck him enough to need to do that, and I didn't care.
"Ok, so Rebeca has to go, but that can't be the only reason, and there has to be some way we can compromise." He tried a different approach, "You have to agree that us fighting is not a good outcome."
"Agreed, but the solution to that problem is much simpler than you think."
"That being?"
"Don't attack me." his face fell, "Don't look at me like that. It's literally all you and yours have to do. Leave me be."
"You can't expect something like that. You disrupted an Endbringer fight, you risked countless lives, and you disobeyed every order given."
"Correct. You know what else I did?" I flew closer to him, "I won."
"So that is what it is. You are right because you won?" he asked in disappointment.
"No, me winning doesn't prove that I am right. It proves that Cauldron is wrong." He was visibly confused, "Me winning doesn't prove a damn thing about myself or my character. Life will one day present me my own bill, of that I have no doubt. But what it does prove is that Cauldron, in their approach, is fundamentally flawed. I didn't win because of percentages. I didn't win because I threw enough people into the meat grinder, and I didn't win by cutting open every wrist I could find just so that the blood could drown my enemies!" By now, I was angry.
"I won because I did what I considered the right thing to do because I acted to save people because any answers where I had to trade lives is unacceptable! You can call me naive, foolish, insane even. I will agree with all of them happily. But in the end, at least I can say I tried and did the best I possibly could." I finished my rant.
"And what if you fail? What will your 'trying' possibly get you then?!" He asked back, heated himself.
"So what if I fail? Are you telling me your success chances are much better than mine? Well, I got bad news for you. The difference between your method and mine is in the single-digit percentile." By now, I was right up in his face, "And even if it wasn't? I would still have done it. Because if you are gifted with powers on the scale that I have? If you don't at least try your best, what is the point of it?"
"So that's just it? Is that all you want? To do your best?" He asked with a laugh.
"Yes." I took a deep breath calming myself, "But because I do it for myself and my freedom, it is impossible to accept for those holding your leash. Because the idea that someone out there who is becoming this powerful for the sole reason of wanting to be good is utterly incomprehensible to them."
"Why can't you be that source of good with us then?" He pleaded, his eyes looking so genuine it was sickening.
"Let's pretend for a moment; I agree." I wasn't sure if I wanted him to prove me right or wrong in this argument, "I join, be that Wards, Protectorate, whatever. Put me in a nice purple dress, make me go on those weekly meet and greet shows, net in some good Villain captures, and everything is fine save for a few bumps in the road here and there."
"But then we suddenly run into a problem. It doesn't have to be anything specific for this example, but let's say I know for a fact that doing something or saying something specific will result in catastrophic events or prevent said events. Would I have the full trust of the people around me to do those things?"
"You would if you explained yourself. Something you have been avoiding a lot. To Armsmaster, your team, and probably your family too." He accused.
"Have I?" I could only laugh, "Do tell me, at what point did I do those things?"
"You could have revealed you were a time traveler in that interrogation room with Miss Militia and Armsmaster."
"And the next morning, a Door would have opened with my ass strapped to a chair in a Cauldron base with a Master forcing me to say everything I know." Or worse, I trigger Zion early.
"You speak about my friends as if they are some malevolent force of pure evil," Legend interjected, balling his fists.
"Because they are!" I shouted, "All they do they claim to do for humanity with the oh-so-noble goal of making sure that this species survives, no matter the cost." I dramatically clutched my chest," Well, guess what? Some things are not worth it!" Some flames burst from me in my anger.
He backed off, with some fear in his eyes, but said fear was utterly overshadowed by his confusion.
"How could you say that? What could they possibly have done in the future that makes you believe they are worse than extinction?"
There was so much I could say, so much I could try to break him. But what good would that do? The truth of the matter was that I had hope in Legend. That was the sole reason I was even arguing with him.
I didn't even know what kind of hope it was or what I was hoping for, just this vague expectation that something could come from this man, something I would wholeheartedly embrace.
"I like you, Legend." He was again taken aback, "I really do. I fully believe that in practically every situation you and I would happily have each other's back. But as things are now? With your 'friends' and the mountain of corpses they stand on?" Another laugh escaped me, "There are two reasons I am not tearing your group apart. The first is that, unfortunately, if I were to openly cause the disbanding of the Triumvirate and unmasking of Alexandria, the death and chaos caused by that would be immense.
The second is that a tiny part of me, this most foolish, childish part, believes that you might just be the one thing that can get them out of that self-made hell they have built themselves into."
"Look," He was rubbing his face, "I don't know what you know about Cauldron or why it was founded, but we can't be talking about the same organization here."
"Please don't ask me those sorts of questions, Legend." I pleaded, "Because, at my core, I am a weakling. I will tell you the truth even if just out of some twisted sense of self-satisfaction." Dropping all those fun facts about what his coworkers did was something I both dreaded and was looking forward to.
He looked at me with narrowed eyes, probably debating what to say.
"What do you believe Cauldron's goal is?" He finally asked.
"To create as many strong Parahumans as they can."
"To create as many Heroes as they can," Legend spoke, correcting me.
"To create as many strong Parahumans as they can, to prepare an army for the coming apocalypse once the Entity snaps and decides to end all of us." I finished my sentence undeterred, more sad than smug, "Trust me. They couldn't care less on what side of the moral spectrum those parahumans end up as long as they show promising powers." Legend looked confused at that.
"What Entity are we talking about here?"
At this, my world stopped.
What was with that question?
Legend wasn't involved in the bigger dealings of Cauldron, but there was no way he didn't know about this critical detail. He was, after all, part from the very start.
That couldn't be right. He had to be messing with me.
"Legend," I found my voice shaky, "What exactly do you believe Cauldron's mission to be?" I dreaded the answer.
"To create as many Heroes as they can. Since Parahumans they make lack the trauma of trigger events, more of them choose the heroic path." He explained, "Which is something we sorely need with threats like the Endbringers, Echidna, and Slaughterhouse 9."
He didn't know about Zion.
Legend didn't know about the freaking reason Cauldron even existed in the first place.
"And how do you think they make Parahumans?" Did he never ask how the hell the vials were made in the first place, "I mean seriously, you have to be joking here, please stop messing with me!" He looked visibly uncomfortable.
"They never told us, the reason being to prevent world governments from finding out how to abuse this power."
I was falling, I didn't know when it started, but I turned off my wings by accident and felt the wind rushing past me as I was sailing towards the ground, my eyes unfocused and my head swimming.
Some noise, and then my vision was obscured for a moment. Then I noticed I was no longer falling. Did I hit the ground?
No, I was hanging above it with some arms holding me.
Legend has caught me.
"Are you alright?" he asked with genuine concern.
"No, I am currently emotionally disturbed." Was my honest response.
"I get the feeling I am responsible for that."
"No, I can't hold you accountable for others choosing to keep you in the dark, nor for my own assumptions," Right now, there wasn't even anger in me. But the fact that Cauldon decided to keep freaking Legend in the dark hit me a bit too hard.
But I could have sworn that, at some point, he did know. Was it after Echidna that he forced them to come clean about all the dirty laundry? Not that it mattered, by that point half the world knew, it caused the mass exodus of Case 53's away from the Protectorate if remembered that at least part correctly.
It put into perspective how hard those revelations must have hit him in canon.
"So, will you explain?" He asked carefully.
"Cauldron is creating vials from the body of a lobotomized Lovecraft-style monster," I started, "Those beings called Entities visit planets with intelligent life and distribute parahuman powers for the sake of research. To them, we are lab rats. Once they decide they have gathered enough data, they collect the powers back, blow up the planet, and leave to find the next one." At that point, I really didn't care anymore, "Cauldron, through sheer luck, killed the first one. Now they are preparing for when the second one that is on this planet will snap and try to kill all of us."
When I finished, there was an extended moment of silence.
"Is that 'Entity' what is responsible for the Endbringers?" I gave him a laugh.
"Funny enough, no," I was just hit with a realization.
I could turn Legend to my side, maybe not with this single conversation, but if I just told him enough, and what is at stake? It would not be easy, but I could do it.
Should I? What a horrible mad scientist type I am to ask such a cursed question.
Legend was the shining symbol of the Protectorate, the arguably most moral member of the team, and save for him keeping Cauldron a secret. I didn't remember a single thing that he did actually wrong.
I decided against it. For now, he could do far more good where he was right now; after all, that was what the man wanted to do.
"But you do know who is responsible." It wasn't a question.
"I do, and if what I did a little while back pays off, the Endbringers have been dealt with." Would my explanation stop Eidolon's subconscious desire? I had no idea, but I was willing to risk it. Until the next Endbringer attack happens, I won't be able to tell.
By then, I needed to make sure I could kill one of those damn beasts.
"With what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A conversation."
"A conversation?"
"Yep," I popped the p in that," Also can we continue this another time? I am still contemplating life, you can let go of me, by the way."
He did, and I finally made contact with the sand below me, turned around, and started up into the night sky, unmoving.
"At least tell me something I can use regarding that Entity. You said Cauldron killed the first one. So what is the problem with killing the other?" he pleaded more than anything.
"Didn't you listen when I said 'luck'? Cause I meant it, currently no force on this earth can kill the Entity, including Cauldron." I rubbed my face tiredly, "Now, please go away."
He looked at me one last time, his expression again one I couldn't quite decipher.
Then he left, and I was alone with the sand, the sounds of water, and my thoughts.
When this conversation started, I was expecting a bout of morals, a battle of the mind against the Protectorate's most stalwart hero over what is right and just and what should be done.
Instead, I just found another puppet that doesn't even know what is happening.
"This world is so stupid."
After my talk with Eidolon, I was back with my team, and Vista was still sleeping on Tamamo's tail.
But sadly, I needed to get out of there as they would no doubt try to arrest me as soon as they caught their bearings after the stunt I pulled.
Could they just declare me an S-Class threat? I frankly had no idea, but I would find out soon enough.
Focusing on my connection to Aria, my familiar, working on my Orokin tower, I found her finishing the shield generators.
I had her move to one of the rooms I was building and then opened a portal for all of us to step through while I made a special one that deposited Vista on a bed with Tamamo graciously accepting her fate.
I gave my cute mini Type-Mercury an affectionate hug to show her how happy I was with her work.
That being said, I was exhausted.
Looking down at my arm, the glowing marks were taunting me with my lost lifes as if telling me that I still had a long way to go.
I resisted the urge to go to my lab and dropped myself on a la-z-boy. With all that Gold trimming used in Orokin structures and how they valued looks so much, it was a miracle that thing was comfortable at all, or maybe I was just tired.
Before I closed my eyes, I sent a quick message to Armsmaster telling him that Vista was with me resting and safe, and turned off my Phone.
With that, I drifted off to sleep.
########
I didn't know how much later I woke up as I didn't even know what time it was when I fell asleep.
All I know is that I had a blanket over me, and Tamamo was drinking tea with Vista, who had her visor taken off. Should I call her Vista or Missy? I remember reading something about how she considered herself more Vista than Missy. Not like that was healthy.
Rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes, I finally managed to look at her face, which held an emotion I didn't recognize.
"Morning," I announced my awakening.
"It's seven in the evening." Vista's face fell, and she looked at me deadpan.
"Did I miss anything important?" I asked, ignoring her statement.
Missy was about to speak, but then she looked at Tamamo, who, for some reason, looked uncomfortable.
She decided to say nothing and instead took another sip from her tea.
I didn't know what to say to this display, so I just got out of my chair, got myself a cup of tea, sat down with them, and took a sip. Then I just stared straight forward.
My first instinct was to find a conversation topic, but I dropped the idea. If they wanted to talk, they would start.
'Saber?' I asked in my mind.
'Yes, Master?'
'How are things going outside of my base? I want to take a look, but I am kinda afraid of something being on fire and ruining my moment.' I was reminded of the fact I technically kidnaped Vista.
'I have informed Danny, Taylor, and Lisa that something happened and that you are safe. I decided to leave the explanation of the details to you, however.' There was some mirth in her thoughts.
'Any particular reason why you chose not to use your diplomatic skills to break it to them gently?' I thought as I projected a raised eyebrow over the link.
'Because it's better for your relationship with them if they hear it from your mouth, also you doing it will be much more entertaining!'
'Fair.' That was a valid reason. I probably would have done something similar.
A sigh escaped me as the events ran through my mind. Surprisingly I didn't seem to have any issues with me decimating an army. I attributed this to both the Class card as well as Tamamo telling me that I wasn't killing anything.
I wanted to distract myself by thinking about some project ideas that I had but couldn't focus on, so instead, I just let my mind drift.
"Kathy?" My musing was interrupted by Vista a moment later.
"Hm?" I answered her, still a bit groggy.
"Something that has been bothering me," She seemed unsure how to word her question, "I get that you are a Tinker and that you are super powerful, but how do you get your information? Do you have a massive nano-machine spy network or something?" Ah, I was wondering when she would ask a question like that.
"Technically speaking, I am a time traveler. I know stuff 'cause I know how it would have gone without me." No sense in beating around the bush.
At first, Missy didn't respond, only looking at me owlishly. Then, she opened her mouth only to close it again. Finally, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking away from me for a moment while her face circled through disbelief before finally settling on resignation and back at me.
"Just go ahead," I said with my own resignation, "I already played twenty questions with Taylor about the future, same rules tho, though if there is some topic that I am not answering, that is because I can't as said information can be considered a memetic hazard." Missy just nodded before looking at her tea as her face morphed into something akin to fear.
"Did I… did I die?" That was a fair question to ask.
"No, Vista survived for a long time," I sighed as I recalled the story, "But Missy didn't." The story of Worm and the tidbits of Ward. It was starting to get murky. I should probably start going over what I know and put it into the Vitruvian at some point,
She again was back to blinking owlishly.
"That Vista did great things. Her power was beyond what most could even dream of and respected greatly." As I spoke, I noticed the sadness in my voice, "But all that came of the cost far steeper than anyone should have ever paid." Finally, Missy's face set on one filled with determination.
"Good," I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow at that," Missy was a weak crybaby. I don't want to be like that." A snort escaped me as she said that. Such a typical thing to say for someone her age.
At that thought, I felt a wave of fatigue over me.
"I would chop off my hand if it means that you get to be Missy." I felt old just saying that I probably would have jumped at the idea of being a hero a few years ago. But life sure does change your outlook on things.
"What," She then got angry, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? What is the damn point of being Missy! Why the hell did you take me along to fight that thing in the first place then instead of just telling me to stay back?!"
"Because you asked me." And that was really all that was to it.
"What?" Again she was confused.
"Missy, if there is one thing I believe in, then we should all be free to make the choices we want to make. Don't misunderstand me. It's fucked up that you would even consider running into that fight." I sighed, "But the reality of the matter is that you are involved already. If you are made to fight for your life in battles like this, then you should have, at the very least, the choice on how to spend it." I looked her in the eyes as deeply as I could manage to get the message across, "You chose to run into that fight, and as such, I will do my damn best to make sure you will come back through the other side alive. I don't like it, but it is your choice."
"Also, you are wrong. Missy wasn't weak. After all, it was Missy that chose to fight. It was Missy who decided to stand up. It was Missy that chose to become Vista." What was with me being philosophical right now? Didn't I go through the same conversation already with Taylor?
Vista looked at me with something akin to shock. Would she get angry again? I was wondering if I was doing the right thing here. I was reminded of the damage Sophia did to Emma, thinking she was fixing her trauma and how badly it backfired.
'It's alright, Master,' Saber assured me over our link, 'You are handling this much better than you did with Taylor. And if the worst does happen, we just have to make sure to be around to catch her if she falls.'
'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Saber.' I really did need it after this mess.
Meanwhile, Caster was doing her best to stay invisible as we talked, with her expression, not something I could decipher. What was she thinking of this, I wondered.
"Did…" Another question from Vista. This one she was struggling with far more than the last one, "Did my parents ever get back together?"
That one surprised me. I thought she would have long since abandoned both of them in her mind.
"I…" I didn't know how to answer that, not for moral reasons. I simply didn't remember. "I think your mom was still alive?" I asked myself more than anything. Some vague mental images about Vista talking with her in a car flashed through my mind, "What I know about you came from third-person eyewitness accounts and a few conversations. Your parents simply never were a big topic." Her face fell, "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more."
"It's ok," No, it wasn't, not to me, at least. "I don't know why I even asked."
"There is a reason the saying' hope dies last' persisted throughout history. If it's any consolation, I know what you feel like. Accepting it will take a while, but it does get better."
########
A few hours later, we left the room, and I got the first tour of my tower with Missy. We walked out of the residential area close to the bottom sections. The garage, the old building the Undersiders were in, was fully converted and integrated, with its walls being the last thing separating the tower from the rest of the world. However, the construction was taking place underground, underwater, and in surrounding buildings making the entire thing still invisible to the naked eye.
Soon that would change as the last modifications to the shield generators, the primary energy matrix, neural sentry, my first two labs, the storage areas, and construction yards were also complete. I decided to skip the corruption tech for obvious reasons.
Once it was done, I would reveal the tower to the world. However, it would still be only half finished as the top parts were impossible to complete without sticking out. As such, over half of the rooms still needed to be built, and the top half only had the central node at the top and a few elevators to reach the roof for now.
Still, the payloads were being prepared and placed, the surrounding areas were vacant of people and as many animals as possible on Aria's assurance, and the space compactors were primed.
A lot of the area that has been built was compressed underground to the point of being uninhabitable. Turns out you could only compress or expand space so much at any given area with Orokin and To-Love-Ru Technology until exotic effects made it unlivable.
How Vista's Shard did it beyond even that was a mystery to me, as my tech assured me that doing something like connecting Europa to the American continent was far too much of a stretch.
That being said, uninhabitable didn't mean unmodifiable. Aria's drones could still access them with some special shielding and work inside them. Once I gave the go, my base would unfold out of the ocean, grow out of seemingly nowhere and show the world the glory of an Orokin tower. Afterward, it was only a question of transporting the rooms made on land into the tower proper, which would be achieved by a combination of Magecraft, portals, and good old space warping.
But that was for later. As Missy, Tamamo, and I walked to the residential area of this section, we found the Undersiders, Taylor, and Saber. They were in various states of activity.
Wordlessly I projected a simple facemask for Missy as we approached the gathering. She looked at it before wordlessly putting it on.
"So, this is not something you see every day," I commented as I stepped closer. Taylor, Alec, and Spitfire played cards while Lisa was sitting in front of two laptops with a frown, and Rachel was with Saber.
Caster visibly shuddered at the sight of the dogs and kept me between them.
"Right back to yourself," Lisa didn't look up from her laptops, "Now do all of us a favor, and without any beating around the bush or your unique sense of humor, what happened?"
I suppose I could do her a favor just this once.
"Boston's gone."
At my declaration, everyone in the room turned to me save for Saber, Caster, and Vista, of course.
"Kathy, when you say Boston is gone…" Taylor asked carefully.
"Exactly like it sounds. The whole city was replaced by dirt as if it never was built." Taylor turned pale, "Echidna, a mutated cape whose power was to create evil clones with variant cape powers. For some reason, her power went out of control, and she drowned the city before we could take care of her. They will probably announce that in the news once they figure out how they want to twist this story."
"Oh, fucking hell." Lisa was grabbing her head," What did you…" her stare got blank, "You went and…" a twitch developed in her left eye, "And you are proud of it, for some reason."
"Yeah, I have blown my identity so wide open that you might as well shine my name into the sky with a spotlight."
"Wait, what did she do? What is going on?" Taylor asked worriedly.
"She got into a fight with Alexandria," Lisa says while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"So, what? She's going to crash through our walls?" Alec asked while barely looking up from his cards. "Should I call Brian and ask if I can crash with him?"
"Not likely since I also neutralized a proto Endbringer," Saying 'killed' somehow didn't sit right with me since the Elements did it, though I did wonder what exactly they did to the out-of-control Shard.
I probably shouldn't worry about it since it's the Elements. It shouldn't be a problem for at least 1000 years!
Lisa let out a wordless scream of frustration and left the room. Hopefully, she would get some sleep. I did feel a little guilty since she probably ran her brain ragged over the last few hours.
Taylor meanwhile had her face in her hands while Spitfire just looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"I would say not to worry about it, but frankly, I have no idea if we should worry or shouldn't. For now, there are things to build, problems to solve, etcetera." I chirped, "Look out for the coming press release. There they should talk about everything. Then we can talk more once I have calmed down and properly collected my thoughts." With that, I went for the door, and Vista followed.
A short walk later, we entered Laboratory B.
This was my Bio-Lab, and I ensured it had said aesthetic. Starting left from the entrance, there was a whole wall filled with storage units that all could keep organisms from a virus up to an elephant in suspended animation.
On the next wall, multiple workbenches formed a sort of U adjacent to the wall with all kinds of tools, computers, and monitors.
Then the wall opposite the entrance had, at the moment, nothing besides some control units and a whole lot of tubes and tools sticking out, making it look rather grim like someone would stick people on that wall and operate on them while they were hanging there.
The last wall was just one giant glass panel that was only seen through from this side, with the other side being an open area that was made to look like a simple forest area with a pond, some trees, and grass.
There was also a giant Helminth on that side of the lab behind a door in its full fleshy, tentacled, and mutated glory, but I would rather Missy didn't see that one yet. As benign and helpful as that was, it would only creep her out. Funny enough, I never needed it until now because God Hand just kept fixing any damage my Warframe-armor sustained.
The room was rounded out by two fully functional operating theaters set behind some glass panels at the center. Any surgeon could use half the tools in those and find them much more precise than what regular hospitals hold. The other half was for Orokin-grade Bio-Tinkering.
While my power insisted that keeping them sterile was completely pointless since I could just make an immune-boosting cocktail, I still found myself designing it that way simply because my own medical training demanded it. I found it also looked more professional that way.
In stark contrast, this area also had next to no gold trimming or white ceramic. Instead, it was covered in a silvery metallic material, with the floor being segmented into dark gray tiles. Only in the operating theaters, I kept the floor in a bright blue since it made it feel more like a proper hospital room.
I had yet to get a real AI assistant or similar, so no voice commands. I was heartbroken that Warframe lacked something like a snarky assistant robot-like being to welcome me in my workshop. Having Alad-V talk with me while I worked sounded amazing.
Sure, it had the Sentients, but true Sentients needed much more materials and space than the basic builder version I turned Aria into. The other option was a Cephalon, but sadly I couldn't just remake Ordis, Semaris, or Suda. Instead, I would need to create an original Cephalon, which would also require a human sacrifice to turn the mind of said human into the Cephalon in question.
Regardless, it just meant I needed to do things manually for a bit longer.
"Come here, Missy," I told her as I searched through some of my drawers until I found a simple medical set used to extract blood.
"What are those for?" There was apparent worry in Missy's voice as she approached the chair I prepared next to me, eying the medical tools I was unpacking.
"Ever had a blood test?" I wanted to think that everyone had one at some point in their life, but with this world, you could never know. To my relief, she nodded, "This is exactly like that. I will take some of your blood to get an accurate reading on your body, DNA, RNA, Cell mutations outside of genetic norms, etcetera."
"Why would you need those for a Tinker Armor?" I repressed my sigh as she showed clear signs of the biotech dislike the population collectively suffers from.
"I will not make you a suit that you will grow out of within the next two years, that could be replaced by a few slabs of plastic and metal and can be worn by anyone who gets their hands on it!" I declared, "I will make you a masterpiece, keyed to your body and your body only, and with so many upgrades and enhancements, it will make Aegis look second-rate."
Vista wanted to say something else but shut her mouth again before clapping her cheeks and looking at me with something akin to determination and sitting down in front of me.
I went to work, put some rubbing alcohol on her arm, and with a quick incision, was slowly filling the plastic tube.
"I am surprised you are not using some high-tech tinker scanner where you put me on a table and have some humming lights go over me to scan me."
I snorted at the mental image.
"Watched a bit too much sci-fi?" I jokingly asked, "No, I probably could do that, but I am a trained paramedic. Something as simple as drawing some blood to get a proper sample? I want to do it the old-fashioned way, if only for nostalgia reasons." With that, I was done and put a bandaid on her arm.
I then walked over to the wall with the arms and tubes sticking out and gave a command at the terminal. As the mechanism started working, an empty human-sized tube rose from the ground and clicked into place as the arms clicked into place inside the tube, slowly filling with a red nutrient fluid.
"What is that?" Missy asked, trying to hide her nerves as she scratched one of her arms.
"Tanks made for artificial cell division and manipulation." Or Clone Vats, in other words. Bless the Grineer, they were all insane, but their tech, even stolen from the Orokin, was a marvel.
"Wait, wasn't that just technobabble for cloning?" She was more perceptive than I thought.
"Kinda? A clone, per definition, is a copy. I use your genetic blueprint as a starting point to make it easier to key it to you."
"Doesn't that mean you create something like my child?" What the, I don't even, what?
"Missy, please leave philosophical questions alone until you are old enough to touch alcohol." No way I wanted to have this type of discussion right now. She, in return, turned back to being grumpy.
"Please don't tell me you are making a clone bio monster of myself and turning it into a living suit of armor," Missy said confusingly.
"What even? Missy, I am making a suit of armor here. Also, where did you even…" It then clicked, "Did you watch freaking Evangelion?" did that freaking anime even exist with Japan gone?
Missy proceeded to avoid my eyes.
"Missy, I am making a suit of armor that is partly made of cells that replicate and heal like biological tissue, however!" She tried to interrupt, but I did not let her, "This thing will have no brain of its own. At best, it will have some nerves that serve the purpose of electrical circuits in a machine. Hell, you could argue that Armsmasters armor is more alive because of the build-in processing that is happening." I then gave her a pointed look, "Now, do you want me to make this, or is the prospect of my specialty too scary for you?"
"Sorry," she looked downcast, her face red, "Yes, please make me that armor."
"Happily!" I then rolled my eyes a little before adding under my breath, "Watch me make it pink, you brat,"
"Hey!"
"That was a joke." I showed her my tongue, and she gave me a stink eye.
I took the tube, put it next to the terminal, and watched as it drained the blood. From there, it worked its way through an array of complex mechanisms that prepared the sample, and once it was done, it would slide into the tube and start its hyper-accelerated growth.
The most complex thing about this was the manual error correction that had to be done on the DNA sample, as otherwise, minor errors could creep in. That was what ultimately made the Grineer suffer, as they simply had no one with the right amount of technological amplitude to filter out errors which ultimately led to the degradation of their cloned flesh.
I could probably always do this with my power, but I made a note to spend a night uploading the knowledge into a separate Ayatan so that I wouldn't be screwed in the worst-case scenario.
As Missy watched the terminal over my shoulder, I put in the base settings to stop the growth at the same age Missy was at and to prevent any true central nervous system from growing. Only the basic nervous systems, including the cerebellum, would grow.
Once the brainless clone is done, I would use it as a baseline to turn it into a Warframe suit for Missy. I wasn't too sure yet what I would put in since I was severely limited because of the size, but I would make due and make Missy something I would be proud of, which I swore to myself.
What was also noticeable was that it would take much more oversight than it should from what I knew about Warframe. That was probably because my Shard still made parts of it Tinkertech to prevent me from building a clone army or getting my hands on the 'clean' tech.
Thinking about it, I haven't run into the issue of maintenance since my very first two tech trees because I was cheating my way around it. Aria was maintaining the tower for me, but I would need to look into a way for Missy to maintain it herself. Maybe like a tiny bit of Helminth with all functions removed but the feeding and repairing of the Warframe?
"Soooo…" Missy asked while looking between me, the terminal, and the tube, where slowly something started growing.
"So?" I wasn't sure what exactly it was she wanted.
"Shouldn't you be, I dunno, asking what I want?" she asked with a mix of hope, confusion, and scared.
As for me, her words washed over me kinda like a wave, and I had to stop typing for a moment. Should I ask her? I mean, the obvious answer was yes, but I feel like I would know my specialty better than her, and if I were to start listing all things I could put in and around Warframes, we would be here all day.
Not to mention my head was spawning ideas of combinations from my older Tech trees, opening a whole other can of worms.
"Just to make sure, you ask that in relation to aesthetics or actual capabilities of the armor?"
"Uh, Yes?" She asked, or more like begging. I could only sigh at that while looking at the tank where a small blob of flesh started to shape, starting to stroke my chin absentmindedly.
On the one hand, there was no way her input would make it the most optimal and powerful I could make it.
On the other hand, it was her armor, so she should have some input to feel happy with it. She would already need some time to get used to it being a bio-suit.
"Ok, is there anything specific you want it to be capable of?" She was about to open her mouth, but I continued, "There are some basics in the protection that I will put in no matter
what like a defensive modding setup and protective shielding. As for the looks we will go over that once it's done and ready for a first fitting."
"Can you… mmm," She wants something but then doesn't know what she wants. What is this, customer support? "Can you give it something that can deal with metal?" I blinked.
"When you say deal with metal, you mean…?" I waited for her to elaborate.
"I… I want something that can make me crush Hookwolf." And just like that, everything made sense.
"Now that I can do." I was then reminded of something, "Do you want me to take care of your scar too?"
"What?!" She shouted and backed away from me. "How the hell do you know about that?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but then I started thinking, how the hell did I know that? Maybe from the Wiki?
"I don't remember." It was the only honest answer I could give her, which made her eyes bulge a little, "I'm serious. I don't remember why I know that." Maybe it was some fanfic that made me search for canon facts? Damn, my knowledge was starting to seriously fail me.
"How can you not remember something so personal to me?" I was shocked that this was what shocked her. But then again, wasn't that scar somewhere on her chest?
"I have never seen it if that is what you are worried about. Besides that, I really don't remember." I stared forward blankly as I tried to collect my thoughts on other stuff I knew about Vista.
I knew she was rated super high for a Shaker; she could mess with the length and size of projectiles and blades, her crush on Galant, something about being close friends with Vicky, I think in Wards she had a boyfriend?
"My time travel is very complicated. I am not even sure if it is proper time travel?" Then again, I was from 2022, and right now, it was May 2011, "No, scratch that. It's definitely time travel but with a heavy load of dimensionally distorted nonsense mixed in that I have no real way of explaining without sounding insane."
"What year are you from, anyway?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hm, well, to give you the perfectly honest answers from 2022," she slowly nodded, "But also from 2013," Since that was the end of Worm, "And kinda, maybe, from 2020?" Since that was the end of Ward, but I have not read it, only wiki dives and heard stuff from friends.
Vista, meanwhile, just looked more confused with every word.
"Look," I sigh and rub my eyes tiredly, "I honestly don't want to talk about it since it makes me ask uncomfortable questions I have been soundly ignoring for my mental well-being. However, I am from the future, I have read written accounts about you and many others, and the future can become incredibly messed up, and that is true enough for me to be comfortable with.
So as I said, I should be able to cook up something to deal with Hookwolf," basing the Warframe suit on Mag was an option, that or just using Wisp and Sol Gate, alternatively just using a lot of GUN would work, Warframe had enough things that equal the BFG from Doom, "And while I am not Panacea, freeing you of some scars is easy enough, if you want me too."
"Did my future version do that?" She asked back, to which I could only give her my best blank stare, "Ok, fine." She finally said before looking away. "Can I think about it?"
"You have until the day you get your armor." Which would be sometime next week. I still had a massive pile of Warframe projects I had to sort through, so my time was limited, not to mention I would lose the Bio-speciality soon, and there was no telling when I would get another one.
"When will that be?" Her eyes got a little wider at the given time frame.
"Sunday," I explained myself a little better at her nervous look, "I am not trying to be an ass about it. It's just that my power is moody."
"Moody?" She had a raised eyebrow.
"It's the best way to describe it without going into details they will no doubt ask you about once you get back to the PRT." I turned back to the terminal and continued typing away, making some last modifications before making the mechanism blur the tube glass and had it shift into the storage units; I didn't need Vista to see the cloned flesh growing. "Also, just to make sure, you don't need to go back yet. You can take a few days off if you want to."
"What, camp in your super secret gold-tinted base?" She asked sarcastically.
"In my defense, removing all the decorative bits from the original blueprint would have taken ages. And admittedly, I do like the aesthetic."
"The 'aesthetic' is so pompous that anyone walking in here would think you are some delusional megalomaniac that has an obsession with gold. They might even think you would color your skin gold, just to fit the aesthetic." At that, I had to burst out laughing as I remembered that some of the Orokin did precisely that.
"If you think this is bad, just wait till I unveil my tower." Aria was already impatiently running around from room to room as she wanted to see the results of her work unfold. The mental link made it feel like a kitten was running around in my head.
"I have no idea where to even begin imagining that with you being you." She said with crossed arms.
"That makes it even better to anticipate!" I put my arm around her shoulder, "What will it be, a tower made of gold? Will it contain a portal to the moon? Will it be filled with deadly parkour segments one must pass to progress? It could be all of that and more!"
"If you turn into Uber & L33t, I will hurt you."
########
A short time later, we finally called Armsmaster and decided to meet on the roof of an office building where I would be handing over Vista to him.
When I asked about the girl that was made to look like Bonesaw from the fight, I was assured that she was fine and whatever I did at the end fully restored her to her old self, save for a dead family, trauma, and apparently, she also triggered, poor girl.
It went without issue or many words, and I was back in my Lab.
As I was working on Vista's armor, many problems presented themselves for all the ideas I had, as I was hardly staying in Warframe for even half of it.
Still, I made a promise to myself, and I would keep it, so I battled my way through the problems one at a time, and before I knew it, nearly a full day had passed.
As it was closing towards night, I got a ping from my fabricators in Laboratory A.
This has been something I have been putting off for a while, but now it was time.
Kuva, the lifeblood of the Orokin. My power insisted, over my diagrams and machines, that I was totally able to synthesize it.
Of course, I didn't believe it. If it were that easy, the Orokin would have done it already.
No, this was something that I could not even begin risking using the cheap version of, so it started the painstaking process of going over every bit and piece of the Kuva Harvester I have built and making sure I understood everything in the most exact details possible so that there was no way my power snuck anything in that was actually generating some fake Kuva inside of it instead of giving me the genuine article.
Of course, I couldn't be entirely sure about that since it was information about my power from my power but judging by the amount of skin-replacing machines my head was flooded with after I was done, it was very clearly mad with me, so I chose to believe it was a success.
I had no idea why it had a problem with a Kuva harvester when freaking Fate of all things was acceptable. I didn't want to think about it right now.
It was late at night, so I was flying at a high altitude with my Grav Wings out. I should consider upgrading the To-Love-Ru tech since it was slow compared to Archwings, but I already had enough on my plate, and for now, they were working just fine, and it was not like speed was an issue for me when I really needed it.
Another ping on my sensors, and I readjusted my flight. It was a pain to do it in such an old-fashioned way. Once I had my tower, I should also have the platform to get my Railjack into space and put some satellites in place. Zion and Ziz prevent interplanetary travel. Nothing about geostationary orbit was ever mentioned. That said, I would make it a crewless flight just to be sure. If I finished the Railjack on time, I had way too much on my plate.
Still, for now, this would have to do. I was happy that there currently was an active Kuva flood somewhere on the planet.
Another ping, another flight correction, and I was getting closer.
I wondered what the PRT would pull trying to control me after Echidna. There was no way they would do nothing. Maybe try to quarantine the town? But there was no way they would try to pull something like a Kill Order. They couldn't be that stupid.
Whatever my reaction, I needed to keep my goals in mind. I couldn't do something that would cripple the PRT and Protectorate, as much as I wanted to shout into the world all the things Cauldron did, not to mention I lacked any proof to do so.
I should have some leeway because, ultimately, I saved a lot of people who might get angry if I am threatened, but not like that ever stopped any government from being stupid or outright malicious.
The pings were getting more consistent. I was getting closer.
Suddenly as I rushed over a sandy plain, the ping reversed, and it was now behind me.
I turned around and circled in until I reached the area where I saw the sensor going crazy, and I saw I was in the right place.
Nodding to myself, I put the scanner into the Gate and, in return, pulled out the Kuva Harvester.
After a few moments, I saw one of the tentacles rise and the moaning and whining of the air being sucked in as I saw red dust fly towards it.
It was creepy as hell.
I wasn't sure what to do as I watched the extractor do its work, so I let my thoughts wander.
The first issue was that I needed to find out what to do next. Now that all knowledge I have of the future was shot. I needed to start collecting my own set of information and decide what to do with that.
That said, not all of it was shot yet, and I still needed to do some things.
Freeing Dragon from Saint being one of those.
Saber told me that she was steadily making progress on the creation of the spy team she was trying to shape the Undersiders into, and I had the perfect first mission for them.
I didn't want to send them after Saint yet. That mission was a bit too risky, but at the same time, I needed to start relying on them to do things I couldn't. So I needed to form an organization that I could depend on.
As such, my thoughts of Dragon led me to an idea.
Dragon's Teeth, and the instrument behind them all, Masamune, if my memory wasn't failing me, at some point during the time skip, he was recruited in Japan from some ruined area, and that his specialty was related to mass production.
I wanted that, but it was not critical. If the Guild got him, fine. If I got him, also fine. With the team Saber was raising searching for him, we might be able to find him faster, and that mission would also serve as a good testing ground for them.
Saber also requested I rig all of them with some fitting gear, so I started planning that too. I haven't decided if I should enhance their already existing skill sets or if I should instead patch up their weaknesses.
Regardless, Saber and I agreed that I should stay clear of giving them anything new and focus on what they knew to apply. A full suite of weapons naturally would also be included.
Though it wouldn't be as good as what I am making for Vista, the only issue with that was that I was still working on some of the details, like how I was supposed to feed it magic to power some of the features I had planned.
I could just make magic capsules for her to eat like Taylor, but that just felt wrong for something like this.
My musings were interrupted by something I couldn't quite place. My body was suddenly on edge. I turned around, Reinforcement at the ready.
There! it was hard to see them at first, but I saw four things flying in the distance. Reinforcing my eyes, I spotted four people, all wearing some kind of flight suit, Tinker Tech, gravity manipulation, or maybe ion propulsion with mass effect fields. It was hard to tell those two apart.
One of them was looking at me through some visor, I couldn't see their mouths because of the face masks, but I suspected they were talking about something because the four of them started approaching me.
My harvester was on its third circle as they came close enough to be visible without Reinforcement. I was debating if I should switch into my armor, but they didn't seem hostile for now, and wrapping my armor could be seen as an act of aggression.
As they came closer and landed about ten feet away from me, I managed to discern some difference between them.
While all four wore the same flight suit, the one all the way on the left had both his legs and arms free from any cover.
The one next to him was missing the flight pack itself and only had the basic suit.
The woman in the middle had fingerless gloves.
And the last one, all the way to the right, had some form of speakers on his arms.
My first guess was the first one had some kind of brute rating, the second one could fly on his own power, the woman was some kind of striker, and the last one had something with sound.
That or they were smart about it, and most of those features were diversions. You could never know.
"Good evening." I decided to greet them cordially.
"A good evening yourself, little girl." The one I suspected was a flying mover who spoke with some Mexican accent.
How far did I fly?
"Am I still in America?" I couldn't help myself but ask.
"You are, but at the border," he responded as his friends started slowly moving away from him in what was probably an effort to surround me, "Were you attempting to cross?"
"Not really, I just didn't pay attention while I was flying," I explained, "I come from the northern part of the US close to Canada, so you can probably understand why I am a little surprised."
"You are very far from home, little girl." The woman said with what I could only assume was a trained stereotypical bad guy laugh she must have trained in front of a mirror. There was no way people actually did that naturally.
"Not that far. When you can fly distance at decent speeds, most things suddenly become much closer."
"True enough. That being said, you still have to explain what you are doing here." As if on command, another cloud of Kuva approached my harvester as the telltale whining appeared, "Or what the hell that creepy thing is."
"A Harvester."
"And what is it harvesting, the souls of the damned? Cause that is what it looks like."
"Eh, I know what you mean." Cue the fourth red Kuva thingy floating towards it.
"Now, since you are not crossing the border, we should have no problem with each other." He started, and I could barely restrain myself from rolling my eyes. "That said, you understand we just can't let you do what you want inside our territory for free, accidental as it may be."
"Insert witty remark, followed by veiled threats and warnings," I said while cracking my neck. There was something about being powerful that was incredibly dangerous. I know I wasn't this cocky before I came here. I probably would have tried to talk my way out of this instead.
"Very well, at least we speak the same language." As they all were tensing up, readying their various weapons and no doubt dangerous parahuman abilities, I could only say one thing.
Time Alter: Square Accel
The world slowed to a crawl as it was reduced to 25% of its normal speed. Of course, doing this as I did, any average person would explode from the sudden immense blood pressure, but it didn't even register for my body.
The main reason I decided to even start working this trick of Emiya Kiritsugu in my spell list was because I wanted to see if I could somehow replicate it into a bit of equipment that I could then hand out. I still needed to find a way around the lack of mana to feed it for non-mages as well as the part of standard human bodies blowing up.
Now how do I do this?
I definitely didn't want my harvester to be damaged, so quick and efficient was the name of the game.
First four portals sprang into existence. I stepped through the first one towards the one without the flight pack, which was about to fly up, grabbed him by the leg, then went through the second portal towards the guy with the Tinker-tech speakers walking around both of them with Enkidu in hand.
Through the next portal, the leader with the exposed legs had started moving as his arms and legs had some strange glow around them, and he was facing the portal.
As I approached him, to my surprise, his limbs jerked towards me, and I barely avoided his fist, leaning back. Next came his leg, and I had to jump. Then a punch, while I was mid-air, sent me back a bit.
But looking at him, he didn't follow. I was just standing there waiting for another hit, but it never came.
A reactive striker power? Maybe proximity based?
Testing my theory, I stepped closer, three meters, two meters, and at one meter, his limbs shot forward again.
Now that was an interesting power, was it always this fast, or was it just reacting to my speed?
My Eyes widened, and my hand lashed out on instinct. As it closed around something small, I heard a bang.
Opening my hand, I saw a bullet. Looking further, the striker girl had just shot at me.
Right, I should probably stop wasting time.
Three sets of chains shot out, one wrapped around the woman who just shot at me, disarming her in the process, the second around the limbs of the guy with the reactive punches suspending him mid-air, and the last set made sure to put the point the speakers of the tinker guy on the ground while also trying the flier to him.
I let time resume, and the world returned to normal.
Then it was quiet. They all seemed stunned in disbelief at what had just happened.
"Well, that was fun," I said sarcastically as, on time, the fifth little cloud flew towards the harvester, just a few more, and it should be everything I can get in the area.
"¡¿Pero qué carajo es esto?!" Striker woman had a temper it seemed.
"Anything to say for yourself?" I asked the leader who was trying to struggle against the golden chains.
"Parley?" he asked carefully.
"Watched Pirates of the Caribbean recently?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a good movie."
I nodded, criminal that he was. At least he had decent taste.
"Out of pure comedic interest, along with me needing to pass the time until my harvester is done. What would you offer me?"
"You see, as mentioned, we are part of an organization that controls the border. Therefore, any wares that go in and out of the states from Mexico need to go through us." He elaborated, "Seeing as you either are a Tinker or work for one, I am sure exchanging some contacts and a discount on some quality goods can be arranged."
"Uhu," Cause I was sure getting stuff all the way from the Mexican border up to Brockton Bay was profitable and cheap, not, "I notice you still have not yet told me who you guys represent and what exactly you transport."
"Ah, apologize. We are Los Rascabuches. As mentioned, we handle all kinds of transports between Mexico and the US."
"Be more specific with the transports. What kind of wares are we talking about here." While he said that, after a short warning, I got from my mind's eye another chain reinforced the arms of the guy with the speakers on his hands as he attempted to get out.
"Well, the usual drugs, guns, being typical." As he said that, I got another warning.
The reinforcements for them arrived, more specifically, some guy who suddenly jumped out of the ground behind me and rammed a knife into my neck.
It took a lot of willpower not to flinch, not look at him, and pretend he wasn't there as he failed to pierce my skin.
"The usual, he says. Buddy, where I come from, there is a gang called The Empire, literally freaking Nazis who get shipments from Germany. What you understand under 'The usual' and I do could be drastically different." Speaking of the empire, I probably should finally clean up the bay. I looked at the big picture a tad too long, not to mention if I could calm that area. I should have an easier time setting up something like a proper headquarters.
Also, the guy behind me tried to stab me again for the same result. I was trying hard not to start laughing as his knife bounced off me.
"That," the man was stunned at his friend's attempt failing utterly, "I understand the confusion," there was some visible panic in his voice now, "But I am sure that-"
Whatever he was about to say got interrupted by a bang, followed by sounds of pain.
I turned around to my utter shock. The guy trying to stab me was on the ground, a gun next to him, and he was on the ground clutching his leg.
I clenched my jaw. It took every ounce of my self-control to burst out laughing as I had both lips pulled into my mouth and bit down hard. Yet I failed to hold it all in as my shoulders shook.
Fucking hell, I was nearly bursting out in laughter at this poor fool who shot his leg. I am the worst.
To be fair, he shot me, and the bullet recoiled to him.
"This has to be the most Scooby Doo thing I have seen since I got my power, pfff." I couldn't help myself and weez out.
I felt so bad about just saying this.
Quickly I healed the guy with some Magecraft.
Now I was stuck on what to do with those guys, my first idea was just the next closest PRT office, but if they were a border gang, they might have bribed people in there along with some hired lawyers able to exploit legal loopholes like them being from another country.
Then, I got an idea.
"Say, have any of you ever been to New York?"
########
"And then I flew over here with them while they kept educating me on the intricacies of the Spanish language, officer." The officer in question was a PRT trooper on the roof of the PRT office building in New York, writing down my testimony.
"I see, and I don't suppose I can get you to stay here for longer?" He asked hopefully.
"No. No offense, but I have places to be and things to do." He could only nod at that.
"We will take them from you then, miss."
"You are surprisingly calm about this," I commented as I slowly lifted back in the air.
"Having tied up Villains air delivered to us, while not common, is far from the strangest thing happening around here."
"Understandable," I turned to the five tied-up villains, "You guys behave, ok?"
"¡Chupame la Verga!" That was surely just their way of wishing me a pleasant flight.
With that, my business was done, and I flew up and back toward Brockton Bay.
I could have opened a portal to Aria or my Servants, but I felt like flying a bit.
Hoping that somehow mid-flight, I would get an epiphany about how to get non-mages to use Magecraft, I slowly drifted through the clouds, my fire licking my body and keeping me warm.
Taylor still had her capsules that I could just produce manually, but that was not a solution I could use for many people. I would run into production issues needing to make more and more, followed by making them a finite resource that could run out in the middle of battle without warning.
I still need to research what mana does to someone who usually doesn't generate it like a mage!
"Excuse me?" I did not jump, for I was mid-air. I did, however, flip in surprise, which positioned me upside down.
And who was it that interrupted me? No other than Legend in the flesh!
"You are excused," I answered reflexively while repositioning myself. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I wanted to talk to you. It's vital." I could only take a deep breath, I suspected I knew what was coming, but at least I should hear the guy out.
"I'll be blunt, with the way things are evolving, there will be an active warrant out for you very soon." I tried not to roll my eyes, keyword being tried, "That is not yet unavoidable. Please, work with me here. There has to be something we can do to solve this." I laughed.
"Sure there is. First order of business, fire Rebeca Costa Brown. Let's not even pretend you don't know about that colossal fuckup." I started listening.
"I understand how that one upsets you with the type of person you are, but tell me, who do we replace her with? Who would do a better job?" That is a decent question. I had to give him that.
"Someone with a family and a good relationship with said family would be a start. That way, we have at least some guarantee that they are still human when they enter the office." I started, "Besides that, I admit I do not understand leadership chains very well. But Costa Brown has to go, I don't care about what Alexandria does as long as it's out of my way, but this nonsense show that is the PRT right now is inexcusable."
"So you don't know." His attempts to play politics and mind games were nearly cute.
"Of course, I don't. What do you expect? For me to have a comprehensive list of all and everyone who could go to every position. I am not Contessa, nor do I want to be. Part of what made her and the rest of that clusterfuck so inhuman is her power, I suspect."
"That is not the point," he tried to deflect.
"Is it?" I did not let him finish, "Because from where I am standing, you are letting a group of people whose collective thinking is closer to that of the Simurgh than anything else decide the fate of humanity solely on the premise that there might be a future that way."
He took a deep breath collecting himself. I wasn't sure what I said that stuck him enough to need to do that, and I didn't care.
"Ok, so Rebeca has to go, but that can't be the only reason, and there has to be some way we can compromise." He tried a different approach, "You have to agree that us fighting is not a good outcome."
"Agreed, but the solution to that problem is much simpler than you think."
"That being?"
"Don't attack me." his face fell, "Don't look at me like that. It's literally all you and yours have to do. Leave me be."
"You can't expect something like that. You disrupted an Endbringer fight, you risked countless lives, and you disobeyed every order given."
"Correct. You know what else I did?" I flew closer to him, "I won."
"So that is what it is. You are right because you won?" he asked in disappointment.
"No, me winning doesn't prove that I am right. It proves that Cauldron is wrong." He was visibly confused, "Me winning doesn't prove a damn thing about myself or my character. Life will one day present me my own bill, of that I have no doubt. But what it does prove is that Cauldron, in their approach, is fundamentally flawed. I didn't win because of percentages. I didn't win because I threw enough people into the meat grinder, and I didn't win by cutting open every wrist I could find just so that the blood could drown my enemies!" By now, I was angry.
"I won because I did what I considered the right thing to do because I acted to save people because any answers where I had to trade lives is unacceptable! You can call me naive, foolish, insane even. I will agree with all of them happily. But in the end, at least I can say I tried and did the best I possibly could." I finished my rant.
"And what if you fail? What will your 'trying' possibly get you then?!" He asked back, heated himself.
"So what if I fail? Are you telling me your success chances are much better than mine? Well, I got bad news for you. The difference between your method and mine is in the single-digit percentile." By now, I was right up in his face, "And even if it wasn't? I would still have done it. Because if you are gifted with powers on the scale that I have? If you don't at least try your best, what is the point of it?"
"So that's just it? Is that all you want? To do your best?" He asked with a laugh.
"Yes." I took a deep breath calming myself, "But because I do it for myself and my freedom, it is impossible to accept for those holding your leash. Because the idea that someone out there who is becoming this powerful for the sole reason of wanting to be good is utterly incomprehensible to them."
"Why can't you be that source of good with us then?" He pleaded, his eyes looking so genuine it was sickening.
"Let's pretend for a moment; I agree." I wasn't sure if I wanted him to prove me right or wrong in this argument, "I join, be that Wards, Protectorate, whatever. Put me in a nice purple dress, make me go on those weekly meet and greet shows, net in some good Villain captures, and everything is fine save for a few bumps in the road here and there."
"But then we suddenly run into a problem. It doesn't have to be anything specific for this example, but let's say I know for a fact that doing something or saying something specific will result in catastrophic events or prevent said events. Would I have the full trust of the people around me to do those things?"
"You would if you explained yourself. Something you have been avoiding a lot. To Armsmaster, your team, and probably your family too." He accused.
"Have I?" I could only laugh, "Do tell me, at what point did I do those things?"
"You could have revealed you were a time traveler in that interrogation room with Miss Militia and Armsmaster."
"And the next morning, a Door would have opened with my ass strapped to a chair in a Cauldron base with a Master forcing me to say everything I know." Or worse, I trigger Zion early.
"You speak about my friends as if they are some malevolent force of pure evil," Legend interjected, balling his fists.
"Because they are!" I shouted, "All they do they claim to do for humanity with the oh-so-noble goal of making sure that this species survives, no matter the cost." I dramatically clutched my chest," Well, guess what? Some things are not worth it!" Some flames burst from me in my anger.
He backed off, with some fear in his eyes, but said fear was utterly overshadowed by his confusion.
"How could you say that? What could they possibly have done in the future that makes you believe they are worse than extinction?"
There was so much I could say, so much I could try to break him. But what good would that do? The truth of the matter was that I had hope in Legend. That was the sole reason I was even arguing with him.
I didn't even know what kind of hope it was or what I was hoping for, just this vague expectation that something could come from this man, something I would wholeheartedly embrace.
"I like you, Legend." He was again taken aback, "I really do. I fully believe that in practically every situation you and I would happily have each other's back. But as things are now? With your 'friends' and the mountain of corpses they stand on?" Another laugh escaped me, "There are two reasons I am not tearing your group apart. The first is that, unfortunately, if I were to openly cause the disbanding of the Triumvirate and unmasking of Alexandria, the death and chaos caused by that would be immense.
The second is that a tiny part of me, this most foolish, childish part, believes that you might just be the one thing that can get them out of that self-made hell they have built themselves into."
"Look," He was rubbing his face, "I don't know what you know about Cauldron or why it was founded, but we can't be talking about the same organization here."
"Please don't ask me those sorts of questions, Legend." I pleaded, "Because, at my core, I am a weakling. I will tell you the truth even if just out of some twisted sense of self-satisfaction." Dropping all those fun facts about what his coworkers did was something I both dreaded and was looking forward to.
He looked at me with narrowed eyes, probably debating what to say.
"What do you believe Cauldron's goal is?" He finally asked.
"To create as many strong Parahumans as they can."
"To create as many Heroes as they can," Legend spoke, correcting me.
"To create as many strong Parahumans as they can, to prepare an army for the coming apocalypse once the Entity snaps and decides to end all of us." I finished my sentence undeterred, more sad than smug, "Trust me. They couldn't care less on what side of the moral spectrum those parahumans end up as long as they show promising powers." Legend looked confused at that.
"What Entity are we talking about here?"
At this, my world stopped.
What was with that question?
Legend wasn't involved in the bigger dealings of Cauldron, but there was no way he didn't know about this critical detail. He was, after all, part from the very start.
That couldn't be right. He had to be messing with me.
"Legend," I found my voice shaky, "What exactly do you believe Cauldron's mission to be?" I dreaded the answer.
"To create as many Heroes as they can. Since Parahumans they make lack the trauma of trigger events, more of them choose the heroic path." He explained, "Which is something we sorely need with threats like the Endbringers, Echidna, and Slaughterhouse 9."
He didn't know about Zion.
Legend didn't know about the freaking reason Cauldron even existed in the first place.
"And how do you think they make Parahumans?" Did he never ask how the hell the vials were made in the first place, "I mean seriously, you have to be joking here, please stop messing with me!" He looked visibly uncomfortable.
"They never told us, the reason being to prevent world governments from finding out how to abuse this power."
I was falling, I didn't know when it started, but I turned off my wings by accident and felt the wind rushing past me as I was sailing towards the ground, my eyes unfocused and my head swimming.
Some noise, and then my vision was obscured for a moment. Then I noticed I was no longer falling. Did I hit the ground?
No, I was hanging above it with some arms holding me.
Legend has caught me.
"Are you alright?" he asked with genuine concern.
"No, I am currently emotionally disturbed." Was my honest response.
"I get the feeling I am responsible for that."
"No, I can't hold you accountable for others choosing to keep you in the dark, nor for my own assumptions," Right now, there wasn't even anger in me. But the fact that Cauldon decided to keep freaking Legend in the dark hit me a bit too hard.
But I could have sworn that, at some point, he did know. Was it after Echidna that he forced them to come clean about all the dirty laundry? Not that it mattered, by that point half the world knew, it caused the mass exodus of Case 53's away from the Protectorate if remembered that at least part correctly.
It put into perspective how hard those revelations must have hit him in canon.
"So, will you explain?" He asked carefully.
"Cauldron is creating vials from the body of a lobotomized Lovecraft-style monster," I started, "Those beings called Entities visit planets with intelligent life and distribute parahuman powers for the sake of research. To them, we are lab rats. Once they decide they have gathered enough data, they collect the powers back, blow up the planet, and leave to find the next one." At that point, I really didn't care anymore, "Cauldron, through sheer luck, killed the first one. Now they are preparing for when the second one that is on this planet will snap and try to kill all of us."
When I finished, there was an extended moment of silence.
"Is that 'Entity' what is responsible for the Endbringers?" I gave him a laugh.
"Funny enough, no," I was just hit with a realization.
I could turn Legend to my side, maybe not with this single conversation, but if I just told him enough, and what is at stake? It would not be easy, but I could do it.
Should I? What a horrible mad scientist type I am to ask such a cursed question.
Legend was the shining symbol of the Protectorate, the arguably most moral member of the team, and save for him keeping Cauldron a secret. I didn't remember a single thing that he did actually wrong.
I decided against it. For now, he could do far more good where he was right now; after all, that was what the man wanted to do.
"But you do know who is responsible." It wasn't a question.
"I do, and if what I did a little while back pays off, the Endbringers have been dealt with." Would my explanation stop Eidolon's subconscious desire? I had no idea, but I was willing to risk it. Until the next Endbringer attack happens, I won't be able to tell.
By then, I needed to make sure I could kill one of those damn beasts.
"With what?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A conversation."
"A conversation?"
"Yep," I popped the p in that," Also can we continue this another time? I am still contemplating life, you can let go of me, by the way."
He did, and I finally made contact with the sand below me, turned around, and started up into the night sky, unmoving.
"At least tell me something I can use regarding that Entity. You said Cauldron killed the first one. So what is the problem with killing the other?" he pleaded more than anything.
"Didn't you listen when I said 'luck'? Cause I meant it, currently no force on this earth can kill the Entity, including Cauldron." I rubbed my face tiredly, "Now, please go away."
He looked at me one last time, his expression again one I couldn't quite decipher.
Then he left, and I was alone with the sand, the sounds of water, and my thoughts.
When this conversation started, I was expecting a bout of morals, a battle of the mind against the Protectorate's most stalwart hero over what is right and just and what should be done.
Instead, I just found another puppet that doesn't even know what is happening.
"This world is so stupid."
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kathy needs a gods damed vacation at this pont.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Wow, Legend is the perfect figure-head/unwitting stodge. Have to wonder if he came like that or Contessa did some prompting etc.
I can't wait till that reaches the ears of cauldron that she knows About Zion and Eden and that she knows that they at current times can't kill It and that the reason why she is doing things as she is is because of it and she knows just how outgunned she is and the fact Legend didn't know utterly threw her for a Loop or atleast just how much he didn't know
@Hydralisk
Just to point out, Legend was willing to kill Echidna along with her victims, and Alexandria was the one against it for moral reasons (at least so she said) IIRC.
Just to point out, Legend was willing to kill Echidna along with her victims, and Alexandria was the one against it for moral reasons (at least so she said) IIRC.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
She's probably thinking more about how Caldron might be able to use Echidna as another anti-Scion asset.