- Location
- England
That's not actually true. Cauldron doesn't have time to keep on top of everything. As long as Sam isn't tripping over any of Contessa's active paths it is unlikely they know the specifics of what she can do.
Might and Magic (and Mirelurks)
- Thread starter FantasticCheese
- Start date
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
perhaps.
but does Sam KNOW its not true?
- Location
- England
Samuel Brown read a lot of fanfiction, so it depends entirely on how well he remembered the original (if he even finished reading it) compared to how much fanon was stuck in his brain.
It doesn't make much difference in this case, because there was no way to STOP Piggot reporting to Costa-Brown, but it could trip Samantha up in the future. Like, if she sees some posts from a user called winged_one on PHO and freaks out.
Actually, what would be everyone's favorite bit of common fanon which could totally ruin an SI's day it if isn't true?
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Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
Love Tinker of Fictions, and it's not really a restriction to only two fictions. This way those can be explored more and most are already powerful on their own.
For the Gamer aspect, even better. Fanon Gamer based on the manhwa is bad, but a system from games like Skyrim and Fallout is great, without bullshit godhood in one year.
Armsmaster will definitely try to trick her with regular steam trapped in bottle, nonsense right, except it won't work.
Her budget won't be a problem when she can make patents or sell the designs, the problem is keeping her identity secret.
Dragon could obviously claim she's the inventor and discreetly send resources and money.
Though there is Saint...
Transmute spell is kinda disappointing, but she could make money with it. It transmutes iron ore to silver and silver to gold. Or well not even that, since PRT won't be happy about "inflating" silver/gold price, and her inventions would make much more money anyway.
I suppose she could save on the budget, by getting silver and gold for electronics.
Illusion school gives the useful Calm -> Pacify -> Harmony, good for capturing criminals in general, but also for Lung. And why not mention to Gallant to use a calming blast.
There's also Clairvoyance - basically Jack Sparrow's compass on demand.
Most useful Shouts are Ethereal, Slow time and Dragon Aspect if you wanna throw down with Kaiju. I don't think Dragonrend would be effective against non dragons, or make the Endbringers or Entities mortal, when they are mortal already, just huge and half machine.
I suppose Sam could combine Skyrim armor with Fallout, but I don't think she should, at least for herself. It's clunky, and she has her Strength stat to grind so better to just stick to Skyrim armor.
Well it has a jetpack and HUD but depens on the occasion, Worm is not Cyberpunk so she could go without tech in combat.
Still useful to make power armor for others.
Lastly, my pet peeve with "vaunted" height of 6 feet. Or 5'11, MC's brother height, just an insignificant detail from the first chapter. I don't see how is that a good basketball player height? That's literally average height in Europe and in some parts slightly below average, let alone basketball height...
Sure shorter people can play basketball, but those are rare and exceptional.
Average player height is 6'6, but here's list showing there was merely 25 players of 5'9 or below in NBA(so not many 5'11 players either):
en.wikipedia.org
For the Gamer aspect, even better. Fanon Gamer based on the manhwa is bad, but a system from games like Skyrim and Fallout is great, without bullshit godhood in one year.
Armsmaster will definitely try to trick her with regular steam trapped in bottle, nonsense right, except it won't work.
Her budget won't be a problem when she can make patents or sell the designs, the problem is keeping her identity secret.
Dragon could obviously claim she's the inventor and discreetly send resources and money.
Though there is Saint...
Transmute spell is kinda disappointing, but she could make money with it. It transmutes iron ore to silver and silver to gold. Or well not even that, since PRT won't be happy about "inflating" silver/gold price, and her inventions would make much more money anyway.
I suppose she could save on the budget, by getting silver and gold for electronics.
Illusion school gives the useful Calm -> Pacify -> Harmony, good for capturing criminals in general, but also for Lung. And why not mention to Gallant to use a calming blast.
There's also Clairvoyance - basically Jack Sparrow's compass on demand.
Most useful Shouts are Ethereal, Slow time and Dragon Aspect if you wanna throw down with Kaiju. I don't think Dragonrend would be effective against non dragons, or make the Endbringers or Entities mortal, when they are mortal already, just huge and half machine.
I suppose Sam could combine Skyrim armor with Fallout, but I don't think she should, at least for herself. It's clunky, and she has her Strength stat to grind so better to just stick to Skyrim armor.
Well it has a jetpack and HUD but depens on the occasion, Worm is not Cyberpunk so she could go without tech in combat.
Still useful to make power armor for others.
Lastly, my pet peeve with "vaunted" height of 6 feet. Or 5'11, MC's brother height, just an insignificant detail from the first chapter. I don't see how is that a good basketball player height? That's literally average height in Europe and in some parts slightly below average, let alone basketball height...
Sure shorter people can play basketball, but those are rare and exceptional.
Average player height is 6'6, but here's list showing there was merely 25 players of 5'9 or below in NBA(so not many 5'11 players either):
List of shortest players in NBA history - Wikipedia
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Chapter Nine: One of The Heroes
Chapter Nine: One of The Heroes
Wards HQ was pretty much just as I remembered it from the last time I'd visited. During that field trip, our tour group had to take the lobby stairs to the underground, domed base, but this time I got to ride the super duper special tinkertech elevator escorted by none other than Miss Militia.
I took in the hightech console setup. It hit differently when you were going to be one of the heroes, and I was overcome with a feeling of… something. Not awe. Not anxiety. Something akin to a mixture of disconnected disbelief and foreboding responsibility. I wasn't sure the English language had a name for this emotion.
More impressive than the room were the young heroes who occupied it, boys and girls of similar age to me, teens who had been fighting crime for months or years by this point. My partners who I'd be working alongside. There was that strange and nameless sensation again.
This is happening, I told myself, This is the path you chose, Sam, now put your best foot forward.
"Everyone, this is Dimension Pull," Miss Militia introduced me, "though we're still workshopping her official name. She'll be joining as the Wards ENE's newest member. I trust you'll welcome her to the team."
Gallant, knight in literal shining armor that he was, took that as his cue. He held out his hand in greeting, which I met for a handshake, "Glad to see another cape on the side of the heroes. Welcome to the team, Dimension Pull."
"I'll get out of your way, then. Do remember your meeting with PR," Miss Militia said, eyes crinkling. The heroine had mastered the art of smiling with only her eyes visible.
She exited through the elevator, and I was left alone with the rest of the Wards. They immediately started talking over each other all at once.
"Yo, nice to meet you. I'm Clockblocker. I'm curious to know more about your power. Armsy was real light on the details."
"I am so glad to have another girl on the team, you have no idea."
"Um, so you're a Tinker, too? That's cool."
"Uh-" I stammered.
"Guys, let's maybe slow it down a notch? Hi, I'm Aegis, leader of the Wards ENE. This is Clock, Vista, Gallant, Kid Win, and Shadowstalker."
"Why am I the only one who gets the shorthand name?" Clockblocker whined.
"You know why." Vista chastised him, her hands planted on her hips and a pout on her face.
It was adorable, but she could never be allowed to know I thought that.
"I know who you guys are," I said, "I mean, I grew up in Brockton, so of course I know all the hometown heroes. I'm Dimension Pull, and it's nice to meet you all. You already knew that. Um, my powers are kind of complicated to explain, but it's true that it involves a lot of tinkering.
"No worries," Gallant said, "you don't have to share everything all at once if you don't want to. There'll be plenty of time later to talk powers."
I could hear the easy-going smile through his faceplate, darn casanova. No wonder Vic- Glory Girl was dating him.
"How about a proper tour, first?" he suggested.
That was preemptively interrupted when Shadow Stalker spoke up. "Okay, go have fun wasting your time, kiddies. I'm going now." She addressed me, "You'd better not slow me down," and walked away.
Yep, that was about what I was expecting. I'd have to plot how to get the bully caught in the act because she was a serious detriment to this team and the city as a whole. Shouldn't be too hard with her impulsiveness.
"Seriously, Stalker?" Aegis muttered. "Ignore her," he said to me, "she has that attitude with everyone."
Didn't I know it.
Kid Win shifted uncomfortably while Vista glared daggers -through her visor- at Stalker's retreating back.
Clockblocker shook his head in a chastising manner, "Can't go five minutes without mouthing off to the newbie."
"We all go through tough days," Gallant splayed his hands placatingly, "guys, let's focus on giving the tour."
Not everyone needs your white knighting De- Gallant, I sincerely hoped I could convince him that Stalker had to go. He tended to see the best in people. Even when they didn't deserve it.
"She's been having a bad day for four months now." Clockblocker said under his breath. I think everyone heard anyway.
"No worries," I said, "the rest of you are cool."
"Let's get started, then," Aegis took the lead.
I learned a lot that I already knew. The hightech computer station was for console duty, where the Wards basically spent shifts acting as dispatch and the help desk for the patrols. A U-shaped cluster of couches cordoned off the communal area where we could hang out when not on duty. We had a 90 inch television with a collection of videogame consoles and a dvd player for entertainment. There was also a fridge and small kitchen, in case anyone ever felt like cooking. Mostly, it was just used for the microwave to heat up instant meals.
That was the open part of the base, and the rest was hidden down two flanking hallways on opposite ends of the dome. Girl's quarters were on the kitchen side, and boy's were on the opposite. Turns out they only installed six rooms on each side, so I wondered what would happen if the Bay ever got more Wards than they could house. Probably ship them out to a different department, if I had to guess.
No matter what, they would perpetually be half empty. Even though we were one of the most afflicted cities in the entire country, you never saw any Wards transfer into Brockton, and now I knew why, Stupid Cauldron.
"So that's about it," Aegis concluded the tour, "any questions?"
"This isn't really about the tour, but would it be too early to reveal my identity to you? I guess I don't even have a real costume yet, just this dumb mask"
"Not at all!" Gallant informed me, "We all have to sign NDAs for each other's identities anyways as part of joining the Wards, and no one here would divulge that kind of information. Trust us, we know how you feel there. But there's no rush either. It took Shadow Stalker over a month to mask off to the rest of us."
"In that case…" I peeled the disguising mask off. "Hi, I'm Sam, and it really is awesome to meet you all!"
Yeah, I may have felt just a little guilty that I knew their identities already, and this would even the playing field somewhat. There wasn't so much guilt that I would be revealing my deepest insecurities though, as that would be going a step or two too far.
Vista was the first to remove her visor. "Missy. Pleasure to have you on the team, Sam."
So adorable. No stop, bad Sam, you can't think about your teammate like a cute puppy. With that silky blond hair and soft cheeks though, she was comparable to a golden labrador.
Aegis and Gallant were next.
"Carlos, glad to have you here," he shook my hand.
"I think I know you from school. The name's Dean. You're in art club, right?"
Yeeep, these two stole all the hot guy genes. It helped that they had very well developed muscles too. Carlos was rocking shoulder length brown hair and those soulful dark eyes, while Dean had the perfect smile and blonde hair of a business mogul's scion. In other words, they would make the perfect duo of love interests for a trashy, young adult webnovel romance.
"Oh, yeah! I've seen you guys at school too. I guess it really is true that they send all the Wards to Arcadia."
"Well, not all of us. There's a certain dark, brooding edgelord who haunts Winslow."
"Clock!" Carlos chastised him, "She's not even here man."
Clockblocker took off the blank white face mask and dramatically rolled his eyes. "Like she cares. Anyways, I'm Dennis. You seem pretty cool, Sam."
He held out his hand to me. I eyed it, knowing exactly what would happen if I shook hands with the time-stopper, but I was curious to know what his power felt like. So I shook.
And everyone was suddenly sitting on the couches. Dennis and Chris -he had unmasked- were watching a timer on one of their phones. It really felt like no time at all had passed, even less than the blink of an eye. It was a little disconcerting, and it would be even weirder the more the surroundings changed in the intervening time.
"That was interesting," I said.
"You only lasted 30 seconds? That's pretty quick," Chris said as he paused the timer.
Dennis snorted, and Missy shot him a glare.
"I'm Chris by the way."
If Dennis was the definition of soulless ginger, then Chris was the quintessential quiet kid. The wavy brown hair and small frame didn't really give him so much of a nerdy look as an aura of unobtrusiveness not helped by his posture that shrunk in on itself. An introvert, then.
"Sorry about that," Carlos looked sharply at his prankster teammate, "he should know better by now than to pull this kind of stunt."
"But it's funny every time!" he protested.
"No, it's really not," Missy said, seemingly exasperated by his antics.
"I don't mind," I really didn't. "Now I know what it would feel like if we had to use it in the field."
Missy sighed, "Please don't encourage him."
Carlos clasped his hands together. "Alright, why don't we go over any questions you have for us, Sam. Powers, concerns, rules, anything really you feel you need to know, and we'll see if we can answer."
"Speaking of," Dean took the initiative, sounding serious, "has anyone told you about the unwritten rules yet?"
"Yeah, I know about them," I responded, "Don't use lethal force unless absolutely necessary, keep away from anything that would cause mental or physical anguish, and respect civilian identities."
He nodded, "That's pretty much it. It sucks, but sometimes the heroes have to ignore good leads on villains because it would trample all over that third rule. That kind of thing tends to blow back on all of us."
"Yeah…" and I know the secret identity of the majority of the villains in the city.
I knew from day one that I could never use this information against the Bay's gangs for fear of retaliation, at least not in any direct way.
"But enough of that," he powered through my awkward introspection, "what questions do you have for us?"
What could I ask that I didn't know about already? I guess, "Is PR really as bad as they make it out to be?"
"Wait, who's bad mouthing PR?" Chris looked confused.
Oh snap, that's right, it was more of an internal thing that the Wards complain about PR constantly and not something someone from the outside should really know about. "I mean, you always hear about Wards who get rebranded and all that. I figured it must be annoying to have to go through that."
"It's not all that bad. You just have to work with them to get what you want," Dean said.
"No, she's got a point," Missy said. "They don't really care what will make you effective versus what will get more goodwill and sell more toys."
Samuel's opinions and mine were in agreement that Vista was treated the most unfairly by marketing. Her potential was seriously hampered by PR's refusal to let her use any form of ranged option. Her outfit was darn cute though.
"You'll probably get a good deal. They pretty much have to let the Tinkers use what they make for themselves." There was a hint of a bitter edge to her voice.
Understandable, Missy, understandable.
"Eh, I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, but my Mom is part of marketing, and I'm honestly kind of worried that's going to make it worse for me."
"Oh my god," her eyes flared wide open, "I am so sorry. Yeah, you're absolutely screwed."
"I get to choose my name, though!" That was something, right?
Dennis' eyes boggled, "They're just letting you choose your own cape name? What kind of injustice is this? Do you know what they wanted to call me? Stopwatch! Stopwatch, I tell you! Can you believe that? I had to break out Clockblocker at the press announcement, and let me tell you, I'm glad I did. Stopwatch…"
"Well, it was part of my deal to join up."
Carlos looked mildly impressed. "Huh, good for you. They usually play hardball with names. So what are you going with? Militia said your current one is just a temp?"
"Uhhh, I don't actually have anything concrete right now. Trying to think of something that will match well with my powers, something with meaning to me but other people can still say and relate to easily, you know?" Names were hard, okay? All the good ones were taken. And how could I even encompass the vast, chaotic nature of my powers in one short name?
"Do you know what your specialization is?" Chris asked. "A lot of Tinkers loosely base their name off of that. Look at Armsmaster, or Jetstar."
"It's complicated, but why don't I just tell you about my powers?" That got everybody's rapt attention. "Alright, so I'm kind of a weird mix between a Tinker and a Trump. Basically, I unlock more tinkering options over time through practice, but I have a lot of control over what direction I want to take things in. At the same time, I also sometimes get powers that can complement the things I want to tinker up. For example, I could focus on building some kickbutt laser weapons, and pick powers that let me use laser weapons better, but it would always be at the expense of my other options, at least in the short term. It's kind of like I'm building myself up as an RPG character. I can specialize in certain areas or try to be a jack of all trades."
"Holy, that is broken," Dennis whistled.
Chris paled, "That sounds like a lot."
"Damn, that's a really versatile power," Carlos' impressed look deepened. "So, you can pretty much be any kind of hero you want then?"
"Well, there are limits on what I can make. It really is like an RPG where I get to choose from a selection of items, but I can't just create anything and everything I want.
Dennis leaned over the couch backing, "Got anything good yet? Piggy can't put the kibosh on it if you already made it."
"Piggot," Dean corrected him with a frown, "Let's not do the name calling thing, yeah?"
"Yes and no," I answered the original question, "I've only made two real things so far, and one of those was during power testing. I'm really proud of the first one though, sort of. It's complicated. Anyways, I can show you if you like?"
"Sure," Carlos agreed, "You have it on you?"
"Yep." I equipped the PipBoy from my inventory, "Tada! Wrist mounted computer with health tracking, a map, radio, and… other features."
"Is one of those features turning freaking invisible?"
Why, thank you for asking, Dennis. "Nope, that's another part of my power. I get to store my tech in my own personal pocket dimension, hence the name Dimension Pull."
"Some people really do get all the luck," Missy said, looking at me jealously. "That is pretty cool, though."
Chris was also looking at the PipBoy with naked envy, but didn't voice his thoughts.
"I, for one, am excited to have two Tinkers on the same team. You always hear about Tinkers pooling their strengths together to create something greater than they could accomplish apart," Dean smiled at me and Chris.
That was true. There were definitely things that Kid Win had going that I didn't. I wondered what would happen if I let him make modifications to something like a plasma rifle. I might be able to solve the problem of lethality by collaborating with someone whose specialization was modularity - I could have one plugin for stun, one for brute stun, and one for melting down everything in my path.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea," I beamed at Chris, "I can already tell I'm going to have some issues with energy output, and I'd love to discuss it with another Tinker."
"Wouldn't it be better to talk to Armsmaster about that? I mean, I don't really think I'm as qualified as him to help you," Chris looked down at his feet.
Don't put yourself down! You're awesome in your own way! I'd have to spend time with him to coax out his speciality in a way that felt natural rather than me somehow knowing it like I precogged the information out of thin air.
"Eh, he's always busy, right? Besides, the more perspectives, the better. I can get input from the both of you."
"And," I added, "your hoverboard is awesome."
"Thanks, I'll work with you then," he was rather quiet.
Score! Plan Tinker Tango was a go. The only thing better than a laser rifle made by a Tinker was a laser rifle made by two Tinkers.
"Sheesh. Get a room, you two," Dennis had to ruin the moment.
Missy swatted the unruly Ward upside the head, and Chris stared harder at his feet.
"Hey!" he protested the undeniably warranted abuse.
"Knock it off, man."
Yes, Carlos, put your foot down!
"Did you not just see that violent act of inter-Ward abuse? I call favoritism!" the red headed class clown faux-gasped, "Yet another example of the injustice infecting our fair organization."
I let a snort escape me, eliciting a smile from the lanky ginger.
"Seriously, Sam, I thought you were on our side. Now you're enabling him too?"
Misty sounded so serious, I couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter, "I'm sorry, you guys just have a nice vibe, ya know?"
I leaned back into the couch cushions, more relaxed than I had been going into the meetup. I had been worried at first that I wouldn't be able to fit in with the other Wards given what I knew, but it really wasn't that hard to put it all aside in the moment and just hang out like… teenagers. I got the sense that they really wanted me to feel welcomed and included, each in their own peculiar way.
"We try. It's important to give a good impression to everyone, including prospective members." Carlos shot a pointed look at the time-stopping jokester. "Got any more questions?"
I hummed in thought, "How about- you guys are the ones with the experience. Who would you say is the worst villain to fight in the Bay?"
I had my own thoughts on the matter (Cough, Coil and Bakuda, cough), but I was genuinely curious to hear their opinions, and it would make a good icebreaker for talking about hero stuff. They certainly had their opinions.
"Lung, for sure," Dennis started the tally.
"I don't know, Hookwolf is pretty bad," Missy disagreed.
"I actually agree with Lung being the worst of the two, not that we've ever gone up against him," Chris threw in his lot with Dennis.
"Honestly, Hookwolf is meaner than Lung, and he doesn't need as much time to build up to full strength. I say Hookwolf," Dean made it a tied vote.
We all looked to the only hero yet to cast their ballot and break this tie. Carlos looked back at us with a frown. "Okay, first of all, Wards aren't supposed to be getting into fights with dangerous villains. Policy is to back off and call for support when things get heated. That said, I have to give it to Oni Lee. There's something seriously wrong with the guy, and his powers are no joke. Makes my skin crawl."
Yup, I super-duper-mega-agreed. My personal ranking of terrible went as such: In first place, Bakuda - not yet present, but from what Samuel gave me, she sounded like an absolute madwoman with a bomb fetish, an awful combo. Taking home the silver medal, Coil - everything I now knew about the snake sent my stomach roiling. He was a revolting person whose power inspired existential terror. Then there was Oni Lee - Three words. Teleporting suicide bomber. Lung and Hookwolf seemed pretty interchangeable to me on the scale of evil and difficulty to take down, though not quite as bad as compared to the top three at the pinnacle of their powers. Really though, our city had a lot of truly bad villains. The best of Brockton's main gangs made the worst of some cities' villains look like tame kittens.
It was time to try for a less depressing question.
"And what about your favorite heroes?" I asked.
"Wait a minute. This isn't about rules and regulations. You're just trying to get to know us better!" Dennis pointed an accusatory finger at me.
I was swept up in another giggle fit when our adorable space warper space-warped her hand behind him and slapped him for the second time that day.
"Guilty," I said.
"Why don't you tell us who your favorite is, first?" Dean suggested. "I always think it's interesting to see which heroes people gravitate towards."
Who was my favorite hero? If I'd been asked that before I gained Samuel's unbidden knowledge, I would have said Panacea in a heartbeat, but now I wasn't quite so sure. She did wonderful things that actually helped people and improved their lives in a tangible way, but she was also clearly capable of bringing some terrible atrocities to fruition. She was broken.
This was a world that broke people. It was by design. It was the purpose of Shards after all; they broke humanity in the pursuit of the solution to their eternal problem. So all natural triggers were messed up, but were Cauldron capes any better? They were all kept on a tight leash, ultimately under Contessa's control whether they knew it or not.
So where did that leave me? I had peeked behind the curtain and saw the magician's tricks. Some of the greatest heroes had enacted the worst tragedies. However, there were still those who had stood against what they believed as wrong to the very end, even at great cost to themselves. I thought of Dragon and Weld. There were depressingly few I could name.
One person stood out to me though. He may not have been the most powerful, and he was rarely a consideration to the many people who had read of his plight, but his story resonated with me in a way that Taylor's did not.
Theo Anders. Golem. He was just a terrified kid in an inescapable situation, but when push came to shove, he did what he had to do without compromising his morals, pushing himself past his limits to show Jack he meant business. Even if he ultimately failed to stop Gold Morning, he never once wavered in the face of overwhelming odds. His was a story about self improvement and overcoming fear, something I'd need in the coming days.
"Hellooo, Earth to Sam?" Dennis waved a hand in front of my face.
"Sorry, I was thinking about it." Now, I couldn't exactly give them a hero who didn't have his powers yet. That would raise some uncomfortable questions, so I fibbed and gave them my runner up, "I have to choose Panacea. She just saves so many lives every day."
"You know she's a total grouch, right?" he said. "But I'm gonna have to go with Chubster. Hear me out, hear me out!"
As we listened to Dennis defend his choice, thoughts of Theo's fight against Jack Slash to try and save the world remained firmly planted in my mind. Overcoming fear, indeed.
tinkering."
MaimakteriAnn
(Verified Sleepy)
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Dr
So, invent dragonrend "as an anti lung measure" and have it as checkovs gun to turn zion mortal?
- Pronouns
- Zug
With both Keening and Sunder directly in Skyrim and the Heart of Lorkhan referenced heavily and kinda present if you squint, plus apparently tonal architecture Powers on the table. She could Tinker her way to godhood.Tonal Architecture. "Hey lets steal the power of a god with music." Yeah that's never gonna come up, no sir.
Chapter Ten: The Image of Heroism
Chapter Ten: The Image of Heroism
As promised, I said my goodbyes and dismissed myself a little before the clock struck two. I had a meeting with the Image department to battle through. Okay, I was being overly dramatic, but I wouldn't let them convince me to give up my naming rights! If only I could figure out a good name…
When I stepped into the PR offices, they had a whole team waiting for me. Sure enough, Mom was one of the people assigned to me. Conflict of interests, much?
I honestly wasn't sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, she would always be batting for my side, but on the other, we might be in disagreement about the goals here.
"Hello, Dimension Pull," I was greeted by a man who might have been described as the anti-Glenn Chambers.
I had never met the head of the PRT's Department of Image, but from his description alone, this man embodied everything that Glenn was not. He was wiry with a thin face that sported combed hair and zero facial hair. His fashion sense was entirely too tame, a generically gray suit paying only lip service to color with a striped black and navy tie. Where were the Hawaiian shirts? The outlandish hairstyles?
"Jessie Belgard, head of PRT ENE Image. We've got a lot we're excited to show you today."
We shook hands.
"This kind of seems like a fast turnaround. I signed the final papers less than 24 hours ago," I said.
"That's Image for you," he quipped, "We're always on top of our game."
Dang, this guy was kind of boring compared to my mental image of the head PR guy. Then again, this was essentially a marketing job, and I didn't really think of marketing as all that glamorous or exciting. People like Glenn were outliers, standouts brought on for serious cases. I guess I wasn't much of a problem child for Piggot - at least not in terms of public relations.
"We've got some costume mockups, basic for now, but that's what this meeting is all about. Fleshing out those details, painting a clearer picture," he said, leading me and the rest of his team over to one of those plastic-top foldable tables.
"You know I'm a Tinker, right? I'll probably end up making my own armor."
He waved his hand dismissively, "Of course, but until you get that set up, we need to get the ball rolling in the meantime."
"When you say armor, do you mean power armor or is it more like plate armor?" One of the girls following us asked.
She appeared to be of Indian descent, college age, and she was wearing circle rimmed glasses and carrying around a tablet.
"Both?"
She typed out some notes.
"What do you think of this one?" Jessie asked, holding up a poster board sized sketch, "Simple, but it will look good next to the others, no?"
They had definitely envisioned the Vista route when they designed this. Minimal consideration was given to external armor panels beyond the boots, gauntlets, and chest plate - it would only have covered the shoulders and center line of my chest down to my midriff. The color theme here was purple highlights on white. The emblem, if you could call it that, was a circle glowing lavender in the center of the top. I didn't hate it, nor did I really love it. Nothing about it was me - it lacked a sense of personal touch, of Skyrim flare or Fallout fashion.
The worst part was the skirt though. Don't get me wrong, I like skirts as much as the next gal. In normal daily activities. Not so much for hero-ing.
I let them down gently, "It's nice, but I'm not so sure it gels with what I can make. My tech is more of a full set of armor kind of deal."
"That kind of thing would make you a target for villains and gangsters," Mom said, "Lots of Tinkers can help in more of a support role where a costume like this would be more appropriate."
Was that her subtle way of telling me that she didn't want me fighting on the front lines? I hated to have to break it to her, but my powers tended more towards loud explosions and blasts of fire than quiet team support.
"It just isn't a good fit for me, that's all. Every Tinker is different," Take that!
"No need to worry, we've got more samples to look at," Jessie placated the both of us.
Most of the costumes he showed off were worse than the first one, at least in terms of my personal feelings. I'm sure they were well designed and market tested, something the hero fans would love, but they were all too sleek and modern, full of bright lights and colors and frills.
I was getting frustrated until Jessie picked up one that I thought looked better than the rest. It reminded me of the stealth suit from Old World Blues if it had its military-industrial complex style toned down a lot. The armor was simple chest plating and joint guards, but that was fine with me. Also, it was purple. They really wanted me to wear purple.
"This is the one," I tapped my finger on the purple combat uniform.
Mom frowned at me, her disapproval of the outfit clear, "Are you sure? I don't think this will give you that special pop to stand out from the other bulky costumes. Wouldn't something more like Vista's be better?"
First of all, Mom, I see what you're trying to do, and second of all, stop trying to give my hero costume a skirt!
I stared her down resolutely, "It's the one I like the most. If you didn't want me to pick it, then it shouldn't have been in the stack. Besides, it's gonna get covered up or replaced eventually once I start making real armor."
She only frowned harder at that.
Jessie seemed oblivious to the mother-daughter confrontation, pushing the meeting onwards, "A fine choice, I think I'm seeing the direction you want to push your image. We can work with this." He started rambling a little, "Best not to go too far with military-chic though, no, never a good idea. Unless your power is all the guns, like Miss Militia, in which case I doubt they had any other choice. But no matter, we can figure out where to go from here once we have a name picked out."
"So," he perked up, searching me intently, "how do you feel about 'Gateway'?"
"Uhh…"
"Not feeling that one? How about 'Myriad'?" He didn't wait for my response, "No, you're right, it's uninspired. Why not lump you in with every grab bag, huh? In that case, let's try out 'Attain'.
"Excuse me," I interrupted before he could make more suggestions, "I thought I was going to get to pick my name?"
"Of course you are," he said, "we're just trying to narrow down the options right now, but the final choice is ultimately up to you."
"That's not really what I meant. I wanted to come up with my own name."
"Now, now," he chided me like I was some unruly child, "Hero names are important. It sets how the public will think of you. It needs to be inspiring or catchy, ideally both. And if you regret your first name it might already be too late because that's what'll get stuck in everybody's minds. It's hard to erase first impressions after all."
That was a lot of flowery words for saying that he didn't trust me to pick my own name. I knew Piggot said she didn't dictate all the inner workings of the Image department, but I would have thought she'd have said something to these people. I wasn't going to be daunted by the dismissive attitude though. This was important to me.
"I get that. I really do. But this is a name that I'll carry around for the rest of my life. I want it to mean something to me. I've put thought into it. Just- hear it out. Please?"
Rather than dismissing me out of hand like I had expected, he grinned at me, "I like the passion. That's always a good sign. Shoot."
I was being given a chance - best not to squander it.
I had given my hero name a lot of thought over the past couple of days. At first I'd wondered if I could borrow from the worlds that my powers drew from. There were many mythical figures and legends with meaningful names, but it felt too much like walking in someone else's shadow, and as cool as Azura, Kynareth, or Meridia sounded, I wasn't so sure about taking the mantle of a deific entity. Naming myself after the protagonists of the games didn't sit right either. I was dragonborn, but I wasn't the Dragonborn. Likewise, I was a messenger of sorts, but I was not the Courier. Yet, I still wished to incorporate aspects from both worlds into my name, a tall task when Skyrim and the Mojave Wasteland felt like they had more differences than things they shared in common.
Then, I'd considered a different route. Hero names were statements, so what was my statement to the world? What kind of hero was I going to be? Well, I wanted to fix things instead of breaking them, to create instead of destroy, to stand defiant in the face of the Shards that relentlessly beat down on humanity.
At some point, I had to accept that I could not have everything I wanted in a single name. I had been stuck in a loop of empty adjectives, leaving me feeling lost - as lost as I felt thinking about the many directions I could go with my powers and lost in a hopeless position against the enemies I faced. Then it struck me. What else were my powers but a path to that slim chance of victory. I had known then that this was the name I would carry proudly.
"Call me Pathfinder."
I would navigate the maze of Fallout's mad science and Skyrim's magic to find the route to victory against Zion and the other evils of Earth Bet, to find a path to a brighter future for all of humanity. It both fit my powers in an oblique way and was a statement of intent. Most, importantly though, I would be proud to call myself that. A better name, I would be hard pressed to find.
"Interesting choice," he rubbed his bare chin, "though I'm not sure I see a connection to your powers. But it's definitely workable, and it's got positive connotations. Chelsea, is that taken?"
College glasses girl tapped on her digital pad, glancing up a moment later, "Surprisingly, no matches in the database."
"I'm sold then," he said.
Yes! I concertedly did not pump my fist in victory, but a grin did split my face like the Cheshire Cat (the goofy, pink animated version, not the eldritch horror from the CG renditions).
"I'm glad you like it," I said, side eyeing my mom for her reaction. With her face being a neutral mask, it was hard to tell, but she didn't seem overly upset by the naming decision.
"Alright," Jessie clapped his hands together like he was calling everyone to attention, "we've got a basic costume and a name. Now, let's iron out the details, shall we?"
It turned out that there was a lot more to go through than I'd thought - several hours worth of discussion, in fact. At the end of it all, we had a final version of the costume that they could push to completion within a week, when I'd be making my official debut to the team. Everyone left the meeting satisfied with the work that had gotten done.
Everyone except for Mom. The two of us were driving home in her car, sitting in uncomfortable silence. Well, I wasn't going to stand for this. Just because she hadn't gotten her every whim granted was no reason to give me the cold shoulder. She should be celebrating with me, not acting sour.
"I thought that went really well," I injected some false cheer into my words, hoping that I could flip the mood that was bringing us both down. "I'm really excited to see the finished product. My very own hero costume, can you believe it?"
I don't think I got through to her. Her words came out stilted. She sounded fragile, like a pane of glass that would shatter if a single penny was dropped on it. "That's good, sweetheart. Really. I'm happy for you."
The snappish part of me that I rarely let out wanted to say 'Well, you don't sound very happy to me', but I knew that would only antagonize her right now. Maybe all she needed was some space, but I wasn't sure what was upsetting her, and I didn't want to leave this to fester.
"Hey, what's wrong, Mom? I know I really bulled past what you were pushing for in there, but the skirt and the frills just aren't me as a hero. I don't want us to fight over something like this. Please, tell me what's going on?"
"It's just-" She took a shuddering breath, "Sam, honey, I love you so, so much, and all I want to do right now is wrap you up in a cocoon of blankets and protect you from the world. But you're right. That's not who you are. As a person… or as a hero. You don't want the frills and the easy fame. You want the armor, the stuff to protect and serve. Honestly, it terrifies me, thinking about the dangers you'll be putting yourself into." She was crying now, red eyes and tear stained cheeks glowing in the setting sun. "And oh Lord do I know it's stupid to think that you'd somehow be better off, safer in silk than in kevlar, but a part of me can't help but think it'd keep you out of the firefights," a bark of crying laughter erupted from her. "God, I'm so proud of you, Sam. Afraid for you, yes, but so damn proud of you."
Okay, that was a lot, and there must have been a ninja cutting onions in the car, because I had tears welling in the corners of my eyes.
"I promise you I'll take my safety seriously. No crazy decisions and no getting into fights with villains I can't handle. Plus," I had somewhat of a feral grin on my face, "you shouldn't underestimate how strong my armor's gonna be. It's gonna take more than some two bit power to crack this nut open."
Sniffling into her sleeve, she said. "You're more of a firebrand than I or your father thought." Another burst of laughter escaped her, "We thought you might skip over your rebellious teenage phase, but I guess life came back to bite us with a vengeance."
"I'm not that bad, am I?" I asked the question half-jokingly. There were way worse outcomes for parents of parahumans. I mean, look at poor Taylor's dad.
"Not by half. Just me hyperbolizing a little over here. It's what us mothers do best."
"I love you, Sam."
"Love you too, Mom."
I think we both felt much better after that. I doubt her worries were entirely erased after one short conversation, but I'd just have to show her I meant what I said. Through deeds and actions, I would show this city that I meant business, and I was here to stay.
- Location
- Brazil
- Pronouns
- He
You know, now thinking about armor,wonder how she will deal with the lack of magical materials.
Like yeah, she can probably get the "basics" with Fallout atomic transmutation from the sierra madre + some munchkin with the transmutation spell ( so maybe moonstone, malachite dwarf metal, mythril, adamantium might be in but stuff like ebony? Pretty sure that's lorkhan blood so either some serious magic is needed or she needs to contact the Grinning man with good ol' CHIMM)
Like yeah, she can probably get the "basics" with Fallout atomic transmutation from the sierra madre + some munchkin with the transmutation spell ( so maybe moonstone, malachite dwarf metal, mythril, adamantium might be in but stuff like ebony? Pretty sure that's lorkhan blood so either some serious magic is needed or she needs to contact the Grinning man with good ol' CHIMM)
I have ways of getting around that. For the most part, it'll be substitutions and arcane rituals to magicify them.
Thing is some of those materials are real. So they can be got hold of. Moonstone and malachite are gemstones that can't be worked like metal normally. But malachite is made from a copper carbonate hydroxide. You could get a material that's copper, diamond, and plastic from it. Moonstone is made up of aluminum and silicon.
And ebony is obsidian. That may be infused with God power.
Adamantium is strictly a Marvel thing. The name is derived from Adamantine, or Adamant. Which is the old timey word for diamond. Mythrill might just be titanium. And dwarf metal is like Celestial bronze. Lore states faked dwarf artifacts are usually made with bronze.
Remember Sam's a dragonborn. A shard of time and a demigod. Capable of using the dragon language to add notes to the melody of existence. IE she yells at reality till it does what she wants. She's also not capable of CHIMM. CHIMM is just an NPC scamming their way to becoming a PC. And thus access to mods and the command console.
Chapter Eleven: Snake in the Grass
Chapter Eleven: Snake in the Grass
It was a few days after the meeting, Thursday afternoon to be specific, and I was sitting in Kid Win's lab going through a material requisition form. I may not have had my press release yet, but sue me, I was technically an official Ward, and I wanted my tinker supplies ASAP gosh darn it. Between forcing myself to get ahead on school work and all the planning sessions with my parents, I barely had any time to even consider my powers, let alone make any tangible progress. I needed a win here.
"So, I think I can see uses for the rest of this, but what do you need a bottled cloud for?" Chris looked at me skeptically.
As Armsmaster was busy, and this could not wait, I'd decided to just bite the bullet and figure things out myself. Chris had come into the base to find me looking at the requisition form in frustration and offered to help me fill it out.
"Also, what do you mean by 'bottled cloud'? Can't you just use condensed water vapor?"
Oh Chris, you simply don't understand the intricacies of magical formulae. Then again, neither did I really. It was all conceptual mumbo-jumbo without any technical meaning or logic. In the immortal words of Todd Howard, It just works.
"Nope," I popped the p, "that won't work. It's gotta be from a real cloud formed in the atmosphere. And no fog either. That's a whole separate thing."
"No offense, but your powers are kind of weird."
Chris really seemed to come out of his shell inside the laboratory. It wasn't suave confidence, but this also wasn't the shy boy I'd met on Tuesday.
"None taken, and tell me about it. Sometimes, I feel like I live in an absurdist comedy."
"I can relate to that." His eyes went a little distant before snapping back to reality. "So," he furrowed his brow, "what exactly are you going to make with this?"
I could be coy, play it off as some super advanced tech, but I decided to just be blunt. "It's for a spell called Clairvoyance, and it's useful for locating things. It makes a literal path to find things. Pretty good first spell for me, eh?"
Yes, I was playing up my new name, but also, it seemed like it could be incredibly overpowered for a novice rank Illusion spell depending on its limitations. With an in-game description of "draws a path to the next objective", I suspected that this unassuming little spell that was practically useless to the player would become an incredibly powerful tool in my kit.
I succeeded in making the young Tinker look dumbfounded.
"Okaaay, did you really choose your name based on this one piece of tech? Also, you probably shouldn't play up the whole magic angle. Myrddin kind of cornered the whole market on that already, and half the country thinks he's a little, uh, kooky. There are so many Christian fundamentalist groups that want him removed from his leadership role, you have no idea."
"First of all, no, the name came first, and this spell is just a happy, amazing coincidence. Secondly, it's not my fault that my power looks and acts like a wizard spell straight out of Dungeons and Dragons. Buuut, I guess it's probably a good idea to pretend that everything I make is actually all high tech. Ya know, for the sake of everyone's sanity."
As fun as it would be to play the part of the archmage, people did respond poorly to that kind of presentation. When the first people that came to mind were Myrddin, the half-crazy hero, and the Adepts, a cult-like group of villains operating out of New York City, the whole idea was somewhat ruined.
My Tinker-partner was not convinced, "Sure, but you still need to justify your choices to the director and Armsmaster. Okay," He tapped his pen on the table, "how much volume of 'bottled cloud' are you talking about here? Because there might be logistical issues with removing clouds wholesale from the sky…"
"Not that much," I answered, waving my hand in a so-so gesture, "maybe a liter in atmospheric conditions? Really, this isn't too exact. I need a jar, and I need it full of cloud."
I cupped my hands to mime a jar. With cloud inside of it.
"But a cloud is just condensed water!" he was seeming a little exasperated at the weirdness of my power. I commiserate with you, Chris, I really do.
"Don't forget the ice crystals and debris particles," I said.
"But- but- what does that even do for your tech?"
"Say it with me, 'powers are weird'."
"'Powers are weird'," he echoed back, sighing deeply, "I'm just trying to understand. I, uh, I mean I was kind of, um, looking forward to working together, er, collaborating with you on a project, and I don't really get this."
He was looking determinately down at the pen in his hands. Was he being shy about his tinkertech? I knew he had a lack of confidence in that area not helped by Armsmaster's disregard for the apprentice hero.
"Don't worry, I still totally want to work with you too. I just need to get some of the weird stuff out of the way first. Pretty soon, I'm gonna want my first energy weapon, and I'd really like your input on how to make it effective but not so effective that it hurts people badly. And, I'd also like to see if there's anything I can make that you can use in your own tech. Sound good?"
"Yeah." His voice was quiet.
"Awesome! I'm looking forward to it."
I changed gears, "Back to the bottled cloud, though. What's stopping you or any other flier in the city from just opening a mason jar and passing through one of the white puffballs?"
Thanks to Chris' help, I had gotten through the arduous paperwork much more quickly than I otherwise would have, and I had a better idea of what to do for future requests. I was so going to kit out his spark pistol with Fallout tech. Maybe enchant it for him once I figured out how to ethically source souls.
…
My life really was an absurd comedy.
I ignored the dilemma of soul farming for the moment. I was laying on my stomach out in the common area of the Wards base. Besides Chris, who was in his lab, and Aegis -I reminded myself to use his hero name when he was on duty- who was manning the console, it was just me in here.
My agenda had me slated for learning console duty tomorrow after school, but for now, I had finished up all my homework for the day and was texting my friends in our group chat.
Cass: *thats so cool. whats he like in person*
I had just finished telling them about how I'd "met Kid Win during a photoshoot for my internship".
I needed to talk up my new teammate. Represent.
Me: *He was really nice to talk to. Seems intelligent and insightful. Also, his hoverboard is awesome."
It really was. I couldn't wait to have flight capability myself. Idly, I wondered if he would let me take a ride on his board.
Ymena: *Is he hot? :3*
Of course that's all she cared about.
Me: *I don't know, let me take off his power armor and see. Oh wait, why are you arresting me Mr. PRT officer?*
Ymena: *You wanna strip his armor off? Kinky*
I swear.
Me: *Har-har.*
Cass: *innnterrresting*
Ymena: *So is he hot?*
I sighed. I loved my friends, but they made me wonder sometimes.
Me: *Obviously, I don't know what he looks like, but he seems like he'd be cute in a nerdy kind of way.*
Cass: *verrry interestingggg*
Ymena: *So exactly your type then?*
Cass: *i cant help but see a pattern here. you got a thing for heros huh*
Cass: *first panacea now kid win. whos next*
I huffed.
Me: *Since when is quiet and nerdy my type? Also, I do not have a thing for heroes. I'm not looking to date any of them!*
Ymena: *Me thinks the lady doth protest too much*
Me: *How original.*
Cass: *im more of a gallant gal*
Cass: *hes got a suave sexy voice*
Ymena: *Don't think I won't remind you that I caught you reading that Grue fic. That was so damn naughty girl*
Cass: *your never gonna let me live that one down are you*
Me: *Excuse me, what? What fic?*
Ymena: *Nope. I will remind you until the day you croak*
Ymena: *Don't worry about it Sams. It's too impure for your innocent eyes*
Well, now I just wanted to know even more. There were people making smut of Grue? Seriously? His villain page had like three grainy surveillance cam photos to work with. What made him so attractive to the trash-fic community? There's only so far tall, dark, and mysterious could cut it before you needed something else for material. Sure, he was a looker under the skull decal and leathers, but they didn't know that.
*Jasmine is online*
Jasmine: *I heard there was a Grue x Reader fic? Source?*
Cass: *ye ill dm you*
Ymena: *Yall are some kinky hoes X3*
I was mildly concerned for my friends' wellbeing.
There was an hour left until I caught a ride home with Mom, and I had a conundrum. I had nothing to do. The past 72 hours had been filled to the brim, split between constant meetings with my parents or PR and desperately trying to get ahead on my homework before my debut, so this was my first true downtime. Chatting with my friends was nice to decompress, but I couldn't afford to waste my it on too many frivolous activities.
I briefly considered just training my Restoration in the base, but then an idea sparked in my head.
"Hey, Aegis," I called, "who do I talk to about training Blaster abilities?"
"You have a Blaster rating?" He looked askance at me.
I guess I forgot to tell them about that one. We'd have to have a deep dive before my first patrol.
He tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the keyboard, "There's not anywhere designed for that in the building. You'd have to ask Piggot, deputy director Renick -his office is right across from hers- or see if any of the Protectorate heroes are in right now. Sorry I can't be of more help, but I don't want to be distracted for too long."
"No, I understand. Thanks for the help!"
Now that I had special access to the tinkertech elevator, I rode it up to the director's office level. The doors parted noiselessly, and I stepped out into the hall. At the same time, the doors of the more mundane elevator opened to reveal a cluster of office workers. We shared glances and a few nods before going our separate ways.
All except for one man who called to me in greeting, "Pathfinder, is it? It's good to meet the Wards' newest hero."
He was tall, easily six and a half feet, but for all that height, he was not very heavy. From what I could see of his frame, he was nearly skeletal, and what little extra mass he had was packed into tightly corded muscle. From his brown skin, I guessed he had some measure of African ancestry, though it held somewhat of a pale pallor, like he didn't spend quite enough time in the Sun. Thin, angular features dominated his face - thin lips, thin brows, and a thin nose. Though he wasn't wearing a suit, he dressed well enough in a button up with a tie and high quality slacks. Overall, he gave off the impression of a professional or person of importance from the way he dressed to the firm confidence in his tone.
I gave back my polite response, "Thank you. It's good to meet you too, Mr.?"
"Calvert. Thomas Calvert, consultant for the PRT. If you're here to talk to the director, I was on the way to her office already."
My heart skipped a beat, and my blood ran cold. My brain went into overdrive trying to formulate a response. He could know more than he let on, or he could be splitting the timeline and questioning me as we spoke. It's possible he already captured and questioned me in one of his throwaways. If that was the case, I don't know what hope I had. I wouldn't have lasted thirty seconds under torture!
None of this was productive thinking. Agonizing over what-ifs wouldn't do me any good. The only play against Coil was to never give up any pertinent information no matter what he tried.
I played it cool, keeping my reactions close to the chest, "That's not a problem, Mr. Calvert. I can wait. Or see if the deputy director is in."
I would like to say that Calvert's gaze was creepy or searching, but that wasn't the case. He was too good at playing his role to slip up like that. No, he was entirely casual, giving away no tells of the monster that lurked beneath the facade. If I didn't know any better, I would never have suspected what this man was capable of, and that's what terrified me.
"As long as you're sure your business doesn't need to be handled immediately."
"No, it's fine. Really," I insisted.
"Alright then. I think I speak for the entire branch when I say that we look forward to working with you. Good day, Miss." He nodded politely and set off.
I repressed the urge to shiver. Even without accounting for his power, I see how the snake slithered his way into this position - he projected charisma. Any sliminess I felt was colored by my own preconceptions. That level of deception made him all the more dangerous as an adversary.
He could have asked me anything in his other timeline. Or he might be plotting to kidnap me in his evil Bond villain lair. There was simply no way for me to know.
He knocked on Piggot's door, entering a moment later and leaving me alone with my thoughts in the hallway.
My current options for taking him out were limited. Yes, I could throw suspicion directly onto his civilian persona, but without actual evidence, it was my word against his, and not only would I be revealing that I had knowledge of a parahuman's secret identity, but even if I burned said secret identity, he wouldn't even be removed as a threat. He'd just throw himself into being Coil full time, and it would be a version of Coil that bore a vendetta against me. No, if I wanted to deal with the snake, I needed to attack him indirectly through his assets, finding ways to disrupt his future plans.
Except… Could I just bring this straight to Piggot? No, no that wouldn't work with the split timelines. Even if she implemented absolute secrecy on the matter, even if he somehow didn't find out about the meeting when he had all the building's systems bugged, he'd still never put himself in a position where he could be caught in both timelines.
Gah! His power was so frustrating to plan against. Anything I did, any move I made, and he'd just drop the eventuality where I moved against him. I mean, was this even the real me right now or the simulation me? This was the real me right? It has to be the real me. Again with the existential crisis. I didn't think his power worked in a way that it actually created two entirely separate universes. That just wasn't something that even Shards could pull off, so this had to be a simulation situation, but making that assumption did not make this any easier to deal with.
Really, the best way to deal with Coil was to break his power with an anti-Thinker ability, but I didn't have anything like that yet. Barring a complete counter, the next best option would be to reduce his options, slowly cornering him until his timelines were forced close enough together that you could launch a full assault and capture him for good. The problem with that strategy was that the price of failure could be steep. One wrong move, and now not only does Coil know he's under attack, but you've given him all the information he needs to retaliate against you. If I tried to launch an operation against him and failed, he might decide that a timeline with a dead Sam should be the only timeline.
Okay, so moving against him now was a bad idea. What did I do then? One thing I knew for sure was that he absolutely could not under any circumstances be allowed to kidnap Dinah. And not just because the mental imagery of that abhorrent doctor of his keeping the girl drugged out of her mind on "candy" made me recoil with disgust - it was an advantage, a multiplier to his power that made him exponentially more difficult to deal with.
So, I'd have to set up Dinah into a position where she couldn't feasibly be taken. Not without bringing down the full might of Brockton Bay's hero population. To do that, I would need some excuse to run into her and recognize her powers. Actually, I'm not sure that I did need to do that. If I worked at it hard enough, she would find me. By nature of her powers, the more I worked to rescue her, and the better a job I did at accomplishing that goal, the more her precognition would drive her to seek me out. That was the plan - Operation High Percentage Sam.
I'd worry about Dinah questioning how I knew she was in danger at a later time. My power was versatile. Why not fake a little precognition if push comes to shove?
Of course, there was one hitch. Coil was not above kidnapping a known precog if he thought it would grant him a greater advantage than what he lost in the exchange. That was the whole reason the girl was always so reluctant to join the Wards. Even ingratiating her with the hero community might not be enough to stop his machinations.
That was why the plan had a part two - Operation Tell Tattletale. It was simple. Using all the proxies and security measures at my disposal, I would slip every nugget of information I knew about Coil to the femSherlock on steroids, and her super deduction would do the rest. Lisa was already working against her not-so-voluntary boss, slowly trying to corrupt his assets to her side, so I was confident she would put my info to good use. This would all feed back into the first part of the plan, because an informed Tattletale made for a safer Dinah in this instance.
That just left the S-class threat level elephant in the secured vault. Noelle. My knowledge of the timeline was… not exact, but I knew that the group of displaced Aleph Earthers wasn't on the villain's payroll yet. Likely, they were still in Boston. I was also pretty sure that Coil was only ever in a position to hire the Travelers because of Dinah's precogging, but I didn't want to rely on that. Who knew how my plans would disrupt his own?
I felt there was less I could do about them. I had no inroad, no openings to contact them. I could maybe head to Boston for a day, but would I be able to locate the elusive faux-villains?
Once again, I was grateful that I had a Clairvoyance spell tome in the works. If it worked as well as I hoped, I might be able to solve a large portion of my problems in one fell swoop.
Okay, but what did I do when I found them? They were less trusting than a pack of feral cats and dangerous enough to pose a lethal threat to any interlopers. Not to mention the whole Simurgh bomb thing. Oh boy, was that one a doozy.
In conclusion, I guess I'd see what Dinah had to say on the matter? She'd be able to tell me if a meeting went to the dogs or if it was likely to end in a positive outcome.
None of this was to even mention the other schemes and capes Coil had up his sleeve. Trainwreck, Chariot, Circus. Revealing the Empire's identities - those that Tattletale had already uncovered. I'd bet my bed frame there were other contingencies that I didn't even know of.
At least I felt better now that I had an actionable plan.
Step One: Learn Clairvoyance.
Step Two: Get the info to Lisa.
Step Three: Find Dinah.
Step Four: Convince Dinah/Plan with Dinah to get her to safety.
Step Five could come once I was more sure that Dinah was no longer under threat of being kidnapped.
That concluded my -I checked my phone- fifteen minutes of silent contemplation in the middle of a PRT building hallway.
Welpers, time to have that chat with Deputy Director Renick. Fortunately, nobody had crossed paths with me during the thinking session, or they might have been concerned for my wellbeing.
Searching for Renick's office, I followed Aegis' directions, and a bronze plaque made it unambiguous whose office was his.
I knocked softly on his door. "Sir, it's Pathfinder. Do you have a moment to talk?"
"Come in, come in."
I opened the door to reveal a rather mundane looking office. Papers were organized but not perfectly so, spread in a manner that hinted at a lack of time to properly even out all the stacks. A few framed pictures sat on his office shelf, one showing a younger Renick shaking hands with an importantly dressed military official, and another of him with two smiling children and a woman. His wife and kids?
"What can I help you with today, Pathfinder?"
He had a very mild mannered way of speaking, though I knew from the events of Worm that he could turn very militant in the situation called for it.
"I was wondering if there was anywhere in the building where I could safely practice with my Blaster ability. I know we have scheduled training at the Rig, but I thought it would be good to get in some extra sessions. And I wanted to be responsible about it, so- I'm asking you."
Hopefully, phrasing it as honing my skills would garner me some goodwill here.
Renick looked at me intently, seeming unsure of what to say. "Now, I want you to know that you have no obligation to put in extra work to 'catch up' to any of your peers. Being a part of the Wards is not a full time job. It is a program for allowing young parahumans to experience what the organization is like and to give them a measure of security and opportunities for future careers in the PRT if they so wish."
This was not where I thought this conversation was going to go.
"There's no need for you to feel like you have to do everything all at once, and if you need anybody to talk to about there being too much pressure, we happen to have some very good people who can work with you."
He was dead serious.
I just want to grind my Destruction, man. "Thank you, sir, but I'm doing fine. I kind of wanted to explore my powers a bit. You know, um, test out my fire somewhere that won't burn down," I said, blushing a bit at admitting that I basically just wanted to play with my fun new fire beam.
He didn't seem chagrined in the slightest, merely taking it in stride, "In that case, I can talk to Director Piggot and Armsmaster about granting you regular access to the Rig's facilities. I'm afraid we don't have the infrastructure to handle Blaster abilities in this building. I can't promise you'll get what you're hoping for, but I don't see a reason to deny your request either."
He looked at me searchingly. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss, Pathfinder?"
"No, sir. That's all I wanted to talk about. Thank you again."
"Alright," he started reorganizing some papers on his desk, "if that's all, have a good afternoon, Pathfinder."
"You too."
I left the office feeling slightly put off. I got the feeling Renick did not know how to deal with the Wards well. Or maybe, he was more concerned for me than I first thought. I didn't think I had given off any vibes of being overstressed, but he made it sound like he thought I was already going to burn myself out.
At least I had very likely secured a new avenue for skill leveling. I'd need their facilities if I didn't want to put myself at risk of getting in trouble - my backup option of training at the Boat Graveyard might be looked on poorly since I was going to be a newly minted Ward.
The meeting hadn't left any time for training today, however.
Sigh, I guess I'd go back to watching my friends pass erotic cape-fics back and forth like gum in a packed classroom.
Her luck might have just given her the best chance she'd ever get to deal with Coil and of course she doesn't realize it lol. And immediately after she makes the awful decision to get Tattletale involved. Right after she was worried about being tortured for information in another timeline she decides to give that information to the one person she knows he does that to regularly.
Roadie
A plate full of blins and a cat nearby.
Actually, I think Protectrons would awfully appealing to the PRT if they understood them well enough... and unlike a lot of Tinkers, Sam should be able to provide full blueprints. They're smart enough to do useful work but not self-determined enough to be true AIs, they're incredibly low-maintenance and durable, and all it would really take to make them PR-friendly would be giving them a shiny paint job and swapping out the deadly energy weapons for stun guns or containment foam launchers.
- Location
- Brazil
- Pronouns
- He
Sheriff Primm slim is about to bring those cowpokes to the jail cell
Counterpoint: Once Lisa knows how Coil's power works, she's more able to know how to work around it and less likely to give up information under duress.
Also, what opportunity did Sam miss to take down Coil in that short meeting? I'm actually asking genuinely because it's possible I missed something that should have been obvious to me.
Protectrons with confoam launchers is an excellent idea. Now imagine Sam with that auto-grenade launcher sending dozens of con-foam grenades down range in a minute.
Sidenote, why don't we see the Wards using containment foam as part of their standard kit??? Unless I'm forgetting some very important moments from canon, we rarely see anyone besides Dragon or PRT officers use it for capture, when you'd think that it would be the best option for the heroes to just carry around at all times. Am I missing something here?
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Roadie
A plate full of blins and a cat nearby.
There's no canonical answer to this one, because the only reason there's zero standardized gear in canon is that as a work it's trying really hard to maintain superhero aesthetics.
You can read this into the setting however you want, but the most common takes are either unintentional incompetence, or that the PRT and similar organizations are intentionally (via Cauldron interference) designed to keep both heroes and villains running in pointless circles to preserve the status quo as long as possible while they try to figure out how to deal with Scion.
Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
Screw what the Worm idiots think. She can be a magineer/technomage if she wants to, and one guy and one group does does not ruin magic.
It's not like it matters, she can call it whatever she wants, it's not like anyone understands Shards, they just pretend to.
If she wanted to she could bury any idiots arguing with her calling it magic, with her actual knowledge of the powers and their lack of any scientific basis.
She's a teen too...so the joke doesn't work. If the two teens want to, they can do whatever they want with each other.
Somehow the Palpatine has returned...
* cough *
Conveniently, in 100% of fanfics that go buddy buddy with Tattletale, she's never tortured for information, until they're ready to attack Coil.
Guess he just forgets or doesn't have the time.
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It's because of how his power works that this was the best time to get rid of him. If you are seeing Coil, then you are in the timeline he chose to keep. Although his power seems really strong on paper, in practice the timelines only exist in his own head. The worst thing you can do is be afraid of what's happening in his other timeline because ultimately they aren't real. There is only one Coil and there is only one you. His greatest strengths are time and is his anonymity. No thinker power is perfect. Not to mention Lisa, even Dinah won't ever get 100% in her predictions. Heck even Contessa has to rework her paths after triggers because her power has to account for previously unknown information. In other words, Coil's power can also be spoofed as well if he's caught by surprise or he encounters a new trigger. It's one of the reasons he wanted Dinah so badly, because her power actually messed with his a bit.
As for how she could have gotten him here? It's kind of simple really. Catch him completely by surprise. If she had told Rennick that he was a Parahuman and that she knew because a previously unknown power sensed something wrong with him, she'd have basically had him. Just triggering Master/Stranger on him would have been enough in most cases. The PRT would have to take her report seriously and would have done an MRI on him. Or just get Armsmaster to use his lie detector. In any case, whatever he's doing in his other timeline, he's already determined it's not one he will keep. If they tried to get her to reproduce the effect later, she could just claim it was thanks to her luck, which they can actually test for. Or, if you wanted, you could make enemies appear on her compass as red dots like they do in the game since that probably should be part of her power.
PRTectrons would be so incredibly funny
So... I might be wrong but I think Lisa already knows how Coil's power works. I think he told her or her power let her figure it out. iirc it's just fanon that has her going oh wow amazing that make so much sense.
Since skyrim health works like a forcefield, if she finds an ethical way to source soul gems (maybe quarts crystals excavated from battlefields?) and made rings of health, would the wearers get their own weaker force fields? The elemental resistance armor rating and weapon effectiveness enchantments seem pretty straight forward though.
Funny thing about this. Fallout has the tech for it. Its a super ugly piece of headgear that interferes with psychic powers. In fallout 1 you can use one so the master's sheer presence doesnt keep doing damage to you. Maybe it would disrupt whatever shards use for simulations and such since thats how precogs work in worm. Is all simulations. Last i knew anyways.
Chapter Twelve: Delayed Collapse
Chapter Twelve: Delayed Collapse
It was just before lunch on Friday, and an opportunity presented itself to me, one that could solve a problem that I had let sit on the backburner for a while now. From my window vantage out into the green space, I saw Amy Dallon eating alone. It was the perfect space to talk to her without being surrounded by chattering gossip-girls.
I made my way down to the cafeteria and through the lunch line at my regular pace - there was no need to rush as she wasn't going anywhere.
As I walked out to her bench, I organized my feelings. Ever since deciding that I should at least try to avert the Red Queen outcome, I'd given thought to how this meeting would go, how I should try to approach her. I was glad to have friends like Jasmine who could be critical of me because my original plan of trying to ingratiate myself to her in order to "fix" her problems was a terrible idea and only likely to end up making the situation worse. No, I didn't think I could fix her problems for her. What Amy really needed was a friend. Like, any friend outside of her sister. And I was willing to try and be that friend.
If that didn't work out? Well, if we really didn't get along, then I would drop it and focus on other areas. I had to give it a shot though. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
There was only one hiccup here - I was not very good at making new friends. Everyone from my current friend group found me first, and we just clicked from there. Now, I had to be the one to reach out.
"Mind if I sit here?" I asked the dour girl.
The look of vehemence she shot me was almost enough to make me give up right then and there.
"That's why I'm sitting out here alone. Because I wanted to be annoyed by some random busybody," she said, voice dripping acid and dark-rimmed eyes glaring daggers.
That was not a great start, but I would not be deterred so easily! I plopped down next to her, careful not to spill my food, and I began eating.
I swallowed a bite of my subpar hamburger, "I'm Sam by the way. Sophomore. I do art club. How about you?"
She ignored me, staring straight ahead and refusing to look in my direction. Another bite of her sandwich disappeared, and the question continued to go unanswered.
Okay, this was going even worse than expected. Was I that bad at this? I couldn't give up yet, so I did the only thing I could think to do - I doubled down on asking about her hobbies. That's how you make friends, right? Sharing interests and stuff?
"What are you doing this weekend? I usually hang out with my friends at the Boardwalk or the mall, but my new internship is taking up a lot of my time, so I'm not sure I'll be able to do that for a couple of weeks. Oh, Lord's Market is nice too. You ever go down there? It makes for a great low budget shopping trip, and-"
"I don't provide healing on request, to you or anyone you ask me to work on. I'm not a goddamn medicine dispenser. If you've got a problem, you can wait at the hospital like everybody else has to," Amy blurted out, speaking over me.
She was scowling intensely at me, but at least she was looking my way now.
"Not here for healing. I promise."
Her scowl didn't abate. If anything, it only deepened. "Then why the hell are you bothering me? I'm not gonna introduce you to Vicky or any of her friends, so you can just leave right now if you're seeking your ticket to popularity."
"Would you believe me if I said that I just wanted to get to know you better?" I put all of my earnesty into my words, hoping that I could break through with sheer candidness.
"No. Leave. Now."
"Well, it's true. You were eating all alone, and I thought you could use a friend."
"What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?" she raised her voice, verging on shouting.
Fine, I guess this wasn't meant to be today. Whether she was going through something at the moment or we simply weren't gelling right now, this clearly wasn't the right time. I'd leave her with an open ended invitation and see what happened.
"Okay, okay," I stood up to leave, hoisting my barely touched tray of food, "but if you ever feel like it, you can join me and my friends at our table for lunch."
I was two steps away when I heard Amy speak quietly, just loud enough for me to hear her spiteful words. "Like I'd want to hang out with any of your friends."
I stopped dead in my tracks, frowning. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it.
I did not ignore it. Rounding on her, I asked waspishly, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe I don't want to waste my time with people who think harassment is A-okay! But I'm sure your actions don't reflect on your pals, hm?"
I will admit that the next words that came out of my mouth were not the smartest I had ever said, but no one who knew me would ever say that Samantha Brown excelled at handling confrontation. I was literally shaking from the fight or flight induced adrenaline coursing through my veins. Not a second was taken to think through my actions.
"What's your problem?" I shouted at her.
Amy snarled, shunting her lunch bag aside and lifting off the bench. "What is my problem? My problem? What's your problem? I was just minding my own damn business when you decided to harrass me! You refused to leave after I made it clear I didn't want you here multiple times! But this is somehow my problem?" She was screeching at me, red in the face and tears gathering in her eyes. Her fists clenched as she breathed in deeply then exhaled slowly in a forcibly controlled manner. "Just- just go."
I left.
Still trembling like a leaf in strong winds, I marched back to the school building while working to get my breathing under control. I was a person who avoided confrontation. Rarely did I let my anger reach that high of a boiling point, and I never snapped at people like that. When she made that comment about my friends though, I just lost control. It wasn't even really so much about them as a jab at me, but I wasn't thinking clearly after the situation had already spiraled out of my control.
Working to calm myself down, I reassessed my actions. Yes, Amy's comment was unwarranted, but so was my rudeness. She told me she didn't want me there, yet I ignored her. Is it any surprise then that she got upset with me? People have bad days, and goodness knows Amy has some very bad days.
Upon reaching the hallway leading to the cafeteria, I realized I didn't have the energy to deal with anyone right now, so I sagged against the wall of lockers. My lack of hunger meant the food tray went cold and forgotten off to my side. I just sat there for a while and thought.
Looking at the situation objectively, I was not entitled to Amy's trust, friendship, or one iota of her time. There lies the problem - I had gone into this expecting a perfect outcome, and in my mind there was no possibility of outright failure. Who the heck did I think I was that I could just walk up to another cape and magically become their confidant?
Introspection was all well and dandy, but it really would have been better if I had a more well thought out approach before entering into this fiasco. I prayed that I hadn't somehow messed everything up for Amy worse than in the alternate timeline, that I wouldn't end up being another straw on the camel's back that contributed to her eventual downfall. The best outcome I could hope for is that she simply forgot about this and moved on.
There wasn't much point in continuing to try and win her over when I had the equivalence of negative relationship points with her. I guess I'd see how I could help with the whole… Leviathan and Slaughterhouse Nine stuff and whether I would make enough of a difference there to prevent Amy from going crazy.
Oh yeah, Leviathan… An endbringer was going to destroy my city… To kill my friends and my new teammates.
It hit me all at once. I didn't try to stop the tears.
This was happening now? The knowledge had been there from the start, but it hadn't felt so terrifyingly real. Endbringers were something that happened to other cities, and, yes, it was very sad, but Brockton Bay would be fine. There's nothing here worth destroying. We'll be alright. Life will go on. They were all the lies we tell ourselves. Lies, and I could claim no excuses to believe them. Nobody was safe, anywhere.
The tears fell freely into my lap. I scrunched up my knees to my face, pretending that I could hide away from the world.
How did I win against a monster like that? What hope did I have of defeating something so much more powerful than me? How could I so boldly claim to be the hero who would save the world when I couldn't even save a single girl from herself?
I must have sat there for longer than I thought, because the bell chimed its too cheerful tune, signaling the incoming flood of students. Not wanting to draw too much extra attention to myself, I rose from my curled sitting position, dumping the uneaten food into the nearest trash can and setting the tray on top.
My friends would be concerned that I hadn't shown up at all during lunch, but I didn't want to deal with that right now. I couldn't deal with anyone right now, so I trudged to the nurse's office, giving her a halfhearted excuse of an upset stomach. She must have taken pity on me after seeing my puffy eyes and the tear tracks staining my cheeks - I got a bed with minimal protest.
Attending my first shift on console duty later would be an effort, but I couldn't flake out so soon after joining the team. I'd force myself to pay attention even if I had to break down completely afterwards. For now, I just needed to recover enough energy to make it through that ordeal.