Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

Emigration 4.2
[ ] Philadelphia


Emigration 4.2

Friday, March 11

"A little more to the left."

Your dad and Samantha slide the couch to the side with a grunt. Maybe it's a little lazy of you to supervise while they do the hard work, but for all the power your magic gives you, enhanced strength wasn't part of the package. And to be fair, they're moving the heavy stuff while you bring everything else into your new apartment.

When your family, along with about half the Privateers, moved to Philadelphia, you honestly hoped that you'd be able to buy a little house like the one you grew up in. It would also make life easier for your dad as he would have more space where he could let go with his powers without the risk of enhancing random neighbors. Unfortunately for those neighbors, all of you eventually decided to settle in a nicer area of the city with what was considered one of the city's better public school districts – that was something your dad refused to budge on – and houses here were not cheap. Nor were apartments, really, but with an apartment, there was no need to go to the bank and try to justify how an officially out-of-work union man should qualify for a home loan of $150,000 or more. Then there were the issues of not being able to guarantee just how much money he would be able to pull in from month to month and the issues with trying to essentially launder money through a job he didn't have and….

Anyway, there were more than a few logistical difficulties cropping up.

At least the Privateers would be busy. Philadelphia was simultaneously in a better and worse position gang-wise than Brockton Bay. On the one hand, Brockton Bay only had three gangs of note, but discounting the Merchants, they were too large, too entrenched, and too powerful to be toppled easily. When one had more capes than the Protectorate and another had a cape who could and had fought back an Endbringer one-on-one, taking them down required planning, persistence, and lots and lots of practice. Philadelphia, on the other hand, had over a dozen stable gangs and more that popped up and vanished a little later, but most of them possessed no capes. Generally it was the established gangs who did, and when one of the smaller gangs grabbed a parahuman of their own, it didn't take long before that cape either died or showed up working for one of the more established groups.

That briefing Perfect Storm had given the Privateers as a group had been both comforting and worrying. Comforting because it meant that the worst they would likely run into, especially when they were still getting the lay of the land, was regular thugs with maybe one cape. Worrying because it meant that dealing with the older, stronger gangs was going to be a long-term problem just like the Empire and the ABB would have been.

But that was a worry for a different day. You don't want to think about blasting away gang members right now. Nor about starting a new school on Monday. Nor do you want to consider the email you received a couple of days ago at the address you set up after becoming an official hero, but that one probably does need a response fairly soon.

"I think that's the last of it," you tell your dad. "I'm off to fly for a while. Need me to do anything before I leave?"

He shakes his head and flops onto the couch. "No. I'm just gonna sit here until I get some energy back. Be back for dinner."

You nod. Considering that the daylight is already fading, it gives you maybe an hour before he wants you back. Plenty of time to think. Before you can ask Samantha if she wants to stay here or come along, she shrinks into her pet form and hops into your dad's lap. He absentmindedly starts petting her. «Call me if you need anything. I think I might just rest for a little while, too.»

That answers that question. Very glad that the apartment you're renting is on the top floor, something you insisted on for this very reason, you transform and slip out your bedroom window. Your dark Barrier Jacket lets you blend in with the building twilight, and you fly high enough that no one on the ground has any hopes of spotting you. A few minutes drift by in silence before you sigh. "Next week's gonna suck."

«Why does Mistress not continue her education as currently?»

"Because Dad wants me to hang out with kids my own age," you tell the Device. "He said he'd consider homeschooling again if things started going bad, but only if the school's like Winslow and doesn't fix things. And," you add in a mutter, "that's if anyone even starts anything in the first place. Emma, Sophia, and Madison targeted me because Emma went nuts and I just endured it no matter what they did to me, so they never had any reason to back off. If someone tries to bully me because I'm the new girl or something, I won't make that mistake again." You shrug. "Not to mention, they won't have any secrets or anything to use against me. No one knows me here. Worst that happens is everyone ignores me, which might be the best thing, too."

«Mistress is distressed, but foresees no difficulties?»

"Just because I'm not going to be bullied doesn't mean I want to put up with all the normal high school crap." Perfect Storm is silent about that, and you sigh again. "But that's a minor problem, all things considered. Read me the email again."

«Calamity Witch,

«I was reviewing what footage we have of the Simurgh fight, and I could not help but notice something interesting in the process. I apologize if you feel that I crossed a line, but despite what you said in your affiliation registration, it is obvious that your staff is Tinkertech. Please do not be concerned that this will negatively influence your current relationship with the PRT; you are not the first independent hero who has wanted to keep her cards close to the vest, as it were, and you will not be the last.

«The reason I have contacted you is personal rather than strictly professional. It should come as no surprise that I like to speak to any new Tinkers on the scene, and the fact that according to eyewitness accounts your device still functioned when the Simurgh's machine destroyed all the rest of our tech? What you built is truly something remarkable. If you ever want to talk shop, feel free to get in touch with me.

«Hope to talk to you soon,
Dragon
»

Silence fills the air for a moment. "This is a polite way of saying she's going to bug me until I call her about how 'I' built you, isn't it?"

«A strong possibility, Mistress.»

"Great. Maybe if I were an engineer or a programmer or something, I could pull it off, but I'm just a high schooler. There's no way she wouldn't see right through me. Unless you can teach me enough about magic technology that I could fool the best Tinker in the world?" you ask hopefully.

Perfect Storm buzzes quietly. «I do not know the details of my own construction.»

"I was afraid you were going to say that. I wonder what else has gone wrong in the world today?"

«All local PRT branches received a bulletin,» your Device says in a cheerful voice. «Members of migratory criminal group the Fallen were seen in Maryland. Agents supervising the construction of the wall surrounding Brockton Bay are aware.»

"Of course. Endbringer cultists. That's what life was missing."

«Expectations are the PRT can defend against the Fallen. Eligos was the only identified mage.» That really didn't help. After a slight pause, Perfect Storm asked, «Can a request be submitted?»

"A request?" You flip around so you're right-side-up and look at the gleaming red jewel. "Sure. What do you want?"

«Sufficient data concerning recent atmospheric phenomena was collected to create simulation of dimensional craft's reentry and destruction. Media included reports of 'green comets', high potential for being debris. Request that Mistress assist in locating pieces.»

That was not at all what you were expecting to hear, and you aren't entirely sure how to answer. "Not that I'm saying no, but what are you looking for? That was a couple of months ago. Even if we did find them, they've either been picked clean by anyone nearby or they're in the middle of the ocean and the water's ruined everything."

The faint warble Perfect Storm let out was pitiful. «Computer core may be intact. Cargo manifests, communication logs, personnel listings.» It hesitates for a moment, something it has done on only rare occasions. It takes a lot to rattle your Device, but apparently this qualifies. «Recovery of corrupted memory sectors has slowed. Origin, engineer, initial designation still unknown. Full recovery likely impossible. Craft may contain desired data.»

You pull the staff closer and hug it as best you can. With how knowledgable Perfect Storm is about magic, it's easy to forget that it had what was essentially computer amnesia when you first found it. If it really is the only thing that survived reentry, it might never know who it is or where it comes from. You're pretty sure your Device knows that, but it does no one any good to bring it up.

"We'll see."


+2 training to Solar Wrath (2/6 Novice).

Let's wheel out this arc's quests. Pick two to start next week.

  • Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.
  • A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.
  • Snark Hunt – According to the PRT bulletin, the Fallen are headed up to Brockton Bay, possibly to interfere with the building of the wall. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.
  • Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.
  • Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.
  • Know Thyself – Spend a free period training in the simulator. May be chosen twice. Write-in for which spell to practice.
Remember, 24 hours until the vote actually opens. Think and talk amongst yourselves until then.
 
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Philadelphia, on the other hand, had over a dozen stable gangs and more that popped up and vanished a little later, but most of them possessed no capes. Generally it was the established gangs who did, and when one of the smaller gangs grabbed a parahuman of their own, it didn't take long before that cape either died or showed up working for one of the more established groups.
Keep this in mind people.
"Calamity Witch,

"I was reviewing what footage we have of the Simurgh fight, and I could not help but notice something interesting in the process. I apologize if you feel that I crossed a line, but despite what you said in your affiliation registration, it is obvious that your staff is Tinkertech. Please do not be concerned that this will negatively influence your current relationship with the PRT; you are not the first independent hero who has wanted to keep her cards close to the vest, as it were, and you will not be the last.

"The reason I have contacted you is personal rather than strictly professional. It should come as no surprise that I like to speak to any new Tinkers on the scene, and the fact that according to eyewitness accounts your device still functioned when the Simurgh's machine destroyed all the rest of our tech? What you built is truly something remarkable. If you ever want to talk shop, feel free to get in touch with me.

"Hope to talk to you soon,
Dragon"
An appeal from Alexandria through Dragon as a 'neutral' third party? Interesting.
"All local PRT branches received a bulletin," your Device says in a cheerful voice. "Members of migratory criminal group the Fallen were seen in Maryland. Agents supervising the construction of the wall surrounding Brockton Bay are aware."
Whelp.
After a slight pause, Perfect Storm asked, "Can a request be submitted?"

"A request?" You flip around so you're right-side-up and look at the gleaming red jewel. "Sure. What do you want?"

"Sufficient data concerning recent atmospheric phenomena was collected to create simulation of dimensional craft's reentry and destruction. Media included reports of 'green comets', high potential for being debris. Request that Mistress assist in locating pieces."
Was wondering when this'd come back up.
"Not that I'm saying no, but what are you looking for? That was a couple of months ago. Even if we did find them, they've either been picked clean by anyone nearby or they're in the middle of the ocean and the water's ruined everything."

The faint warble Perfect Storm let out was pitiful. "Computer core may be intact. Cargo manifests, communication logs, personnel listings." It hesitates for a moment, something it has done on only rare occasions. It takes a lot to rattle your Device, but apparently this qualifies. "Recovery of corrupted memory sectors has slowed. Origin, engineer, initial designation still unknown. Full recovery likely impossible. Craft may contain desired data."
Yeah, I feel we should help out PS.
  • Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.
  • A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.
These two go together pretty good.
We get more stuff to help PS, and PS works with Dragon better.
  • Snark Hunt – According to the PRT bulletin, the Fallen are headed up to Brockton Bay, possibly to interfere with the building of the wall. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.
... nah, I don't see this getting us access to the Bay, so no Purity, so I'm thinking nah.
  • Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.
Ya'll wanted to hug Missy, this is it.
 
Picking up the pieces
Hanging out

Let's get some logistics work done, see what we can recover from the crash.

Also, I think Taylor needs a new bestie really badly. I nominate Vista/Missy for the position!
 
I'm thinking we should help Perfect Storm, and hug Missy. Perhaps we can send an email to Dragon saying that we're a bit busy settling in this first week in Philly? We'll get back to her next week. Dragon's nice, and as long as we don't just blow her off, an email saying we can talk next week shouldn't take much time.
 
Maybe it's a little lazy of you to supervise while they do the hard work, but for all the power your magic gives you, enhanced strength wasn't part of the package.
Good News Everyone Taylor, there's a spell for that.

Worrying because it meant that dealing with the older, stronger gangs was going to be a long-term problem just like the Empire and the ABB would have been.
The more things change the more they stay the same, right? Well, take the upsides where they can be found.

"The reason I have contacted you is personal rather than strictly professional. It should come as no surprise that I like to speak to any new Tinkers on the scene, and the fact that according to eyewitness accounts your device still functioned when the Simurgh's machine destroyed all the rest of our tech? What you built is truly something remarkable. If you ever want to talk shop, feel free to get in touch with me.
Hm, possible side quest. Might be worth investigating further at some point.

You pull the staff closer and hug it as best you can. With how knowledgable Perfect Storm is about magic, it's easy to forget that it had essentially computer amnesia when you first found it. If it really is the only thing that survived reentry, it might never know who it is or where it comes from. You're pretty sure your Device knows that, but it does no one any good to bring it up.
I'm inclined to look into this in the near future. It obviously means a lot to Perfect Storm.

  • Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.
  • A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.
  • Snark Hunt – According to the PRT bulletin, the Fallen are headed up to Brockton Bay, possibly to interfere with the building of the wall. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.
  • Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.
  • Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.
  • Know Thyself – Spend a free period training in the simulator. May be chosen twice. Write-in for which spell to practice.

Hm, a lot of good choices here. I think Picking Up The Pieces is worth persuing. Danny might have a few objections to us gallivanting about though. Helping Out TheLittle Guy gives us an opportunity to establish ourselves, but we could be stepping into something we're not prepared for; more intel would be wise.

Hanging Out is open to multiple options, including Missy if voters want. Training's always good too.
 
Ignore dragon. Until we finish the pieces quest there is no way we can fool her into believe we made Perfect Storm.

And she is bugged by Saint, also whenever someone in charge of the PRT orders her something she must do it.

Telling her anything will come back to bite us in the ass...
 
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So, Akasha just brought up a good point in the SB thread.

Please, for the love of all things holy, don't vote for Dragon. At least, not yet. We're not a Tinker and we don't know anything about Perfect Storm's inner workings, so the only thing we can do is give it up for Dragon to thoroughly examine, which is a very bad idea. Not only will everything get to Saint and anyone he sells the info to, but we will also be completely powerless until we recover it. That, and any authority figure that asks Dragon about it will get all of it.

With the Simurgh actively keeping an eye on us, do you really want to give up the only thing keeping us safe for an unknown amount of time? Especially since every person that knows about how Perfect Storm works is one more person the Simurgh can get the info from.

IC it makes sense since Taylor wouldn't want to waste Dragon's time with her lack of knowledge on her own tech, so it might be a good idea to make our main priority Picking up the Pieces, while we use our secondary choice to focus on getting to know the local Capes in Philly and just...hanging out with people.


Of course, we need to keep our focus on completing them instead of jumping to others like we've been doing, but I think that everyone knows that by now.

And Know Thyself is basically something we can do with omakers if SW accepts them.
 
I'm thinking we should help Perfect Storm, and hug Missy. Perhaps we can send an email to Dragon saying that we're a bit busy settling in this first week in Philly? We'll get back to her next week. Dragon's nice, and as long as we don't just blow her off, an email saying we can talk next week shouldn't take much time.
This is my vote, at the moment. IC, we can talk to Dragon once we actually have a clue what we're talking about. OOC...

Please, for the love of all things holy, don't vote for Dragon. At least, not yet. We're not a Tinker and we don't know anything about Perfect Storm's inner workings, so the only thing we can do is give it up for Dragon to thoroughly examine, which is a very bad idea. Not only will everything get to Saint and anyone he sells the info to, but we will also be completely powerless until we recover it. That, and any authority figure that asks Dragon about it will get all of it.

With the Simurgh actively keeping an eye on us, do you really want to give up the only thing keeping us safe for an unknown amount of time? Especially since every person that knows about how Perfect Storm works is one more person the Simurgh can get the info from.

As I was so painfully reminded, as awesome as Dragon is, chatting with her right now is probably a horrible idea.

Sadly. ;~;
 
Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.

Besides the warm fuzzies of helping Perfect Storm, there are all sorts of interesting things this could turn up. It's probably the strongest contender of the lot.

A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.

As has already been said, this is not a good idea at this point. Possibly, after we do Picking up the Pieces, but I'm not sure I'd bet on it. We should make the effort to deflect Dragon politely, though.

Snark Hunt – According to the PRT bulletin, the Fallen are headed up to Brockton Bay, possibly to interfere with the building of the wall. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.

On the one hand, this isn't something we need to get involved in, and it's not likely to get us much beyond a thumbs up from the PRT. On the other hand, aerial bombardment of (mostly) hapless Endbringer cultists. It comes down to how much of a threat we think Eligos is to us, I think.

Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.

We should spend a week or two in town and get a better idea of the lay of the land before doing this, I think.

Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.

Vista needs hugs. We could probably do with them too.

Know Thyself – Spend a free period training in the simulator. May be chosen twice. Write-in for which spell to practice.

I can't see any pressing need for this at the moment. Although I must admit I can't see how else we're going to train Solar Wrath.
 
SW has also said that we... aren't really taking this to Nanoha levels because we don't train IC. That Taylor leans so heavily on PS because we never took a training option I mean. Something to chew on at least.
 
Crosspost from SB:
I think I'll go for Pieces and Training regardless of the omakes.
Why? Pieces should be selfexplanatory at this point and Training?
I don't like the Dragon option very much thanks to security concerns and partly aversion to possibly showing our ignorance.
I don't feel a desire to mix it up with the Fallen, although if they do manage to access some of the information from this(our immunity, and work against the Simurgh's telepathy) they might make themselves a problem.
I might go for the Little Guy to get used to small time conflict here.
Hanging out sounds ok, but might just be the late hour, but I'm kinda drawing a blank on who and where. Maybe Sam or Dad? I know people will likely want Vista but I can't really think of a way we'd get to hang out with her just like that.
Training would bring us closer to mastering SW and regarless of any omakes bringing us to adept level, the ability to use it simultaneously with other spells(Like Ring Bind and Recursion Field if we get them or possibly Temporal Sludge to make aiming easier) is something we should want anyway.
 
Either way, whatever we do we should at least have the courtesy to reply to Dragon's email. Straight up ignoring her is rude as hell, and since this is the only choice that for sure involves interaction with a singular named character, we shouldn't completely ignore it.
 
Regarding the "pure mana damage" thing, how do these spells destroy walls and buildings if they don't actually do any physical damage? Not arguing with you, but I just don't see how those two qualities could both be in play when they seem mutually exclusive.

My best guess would be something like an IF function. Like, when hitting walls and stuff the spell functions as normal, but you can slap an IF obstacle impacted is human = deal pure Mana damage sort of thing in the spell's coding, so when it hits a designated sort of target it does something different.

That aside, I'm definitely on board with helping out PS and giving Dragon the runaround until we have the data. Bless her ferrous socks she tries, but as mentioned we cannot really give her anything right now. Because fuck saint.
 
•Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.

Also you must sing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song. It will make you more powerful as you go west in Philadelphia.
 
Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.

Very tempting to go find the pieces, especially if we don't want others to yoink it.

A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.

We want to do this, but not immediately. I suggest doing it after we reclaim enough memory cores to make plausible bullshit up.

Snark Hunt – According to the PRT bulletin, the Fallen are headed up to Brockton Bay, possibly to interfere with the building of the wall. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.

Well, heroic work. Ones we can blast.
Good for PR?

Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.

Establishes our local credentials a bit, maybe write in heroing ride along with Vista?

Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.

???

Know Thyself – Spend a free period training in the simulator. May be chosen twice. Write-in for which spell to practice.

Get swole like Nanoha.

Currently thinking we do the salvage and then go out to show the flag a bit. We can meet Dragon once we have SOMETHING to tell.
 
Vote 4.2

Let's start the voting, shall we?


[ ] Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.
[ ] A Dragon's Hoard – Dragon wants to talk to you about Perfect Storm. Dragon. The only problem is that she wants to talk to you as one Tinker to another, and you aren't a Tinker. This conversation might require a little bit of intense planning and preparation.
[ ] Snark Hunt – According to the bulletin you received, the Fallen are causing trouble where the wall around Brockton Bay is being built. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.
[ ] Helping Out the Little Guy – Look for trouble in your new home and stop it. You can write in for someone to come along with you.
[ ] Hanging Out – This is a bit of an experiment. Pick someone to spend time with outside of combat. Write in the who, what, and where.
[ ] Know Thyself – Spend a free period training in the simulator. May be chosen twice. Write-in for which spell to practice.
 
[x] Picking up the Pieces – Perfect Storm is tracking down the pieces of the alien spaceship that was carrying it before it crashed onto Earth Bet. It understandably wants to know what it is and where it comes from. Follow the directions to locate something useful, maybe even the ship's computer.
[x] Snark Hunt – According to the bulletin you received, the Fallen are causing trouble where the wall around Brockton Bay is being built. They… probably aren't going to be too much trouble for the PRT agents to hold off, but lend a hand to drive off the Endbringer-worshippers.
 
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