Chojomeka
Behold! QUEEN MONKE!
You really really shouldn't trust this at all, I mean no good deed......
No good deed... (Worm AU)
- Thread starter LD1449
- Start date
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah, I wonder what happens when the illusion is that your being strangled. Since it seems to be affecting subconcious responses, does your throat seize up? She could at the very least illusion you into thinking you're bound, and I'm not sure there's any real way to break that as described. If it became physically impossible sure, but your body would stop struggling and just keep tensing as you "strained" against it, so you might not be able to break out.
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
If someone grabbed their arms and pried them in X direction, the illusion would have to dissolve the binds/have them break. But under their own power, no, unless some outside force affects them the illusion will effectively hold them still.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hmm... Armsy's countermeasure is going to be setting up his suit to flex his limbs occasionally to check things. If the suit can push your hand through that wall gently, the illusion breaks, and so on?
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
For physical movements, yeah that would be one potential countermeasure. But given that that Taylor can fool all five senses this is just ONE avenue of attack that she has available to him. She could have him walk into open traffic, or swerve his bike into a brick wall, or have him walk himself into an industrial crushing machine.
Not that she would ever do that to Armsy. But it is possible if Armsy ever gets himself caught on the wrong end of her illusion/list of people to take out.
Khepri14
Thus kindly I scatter...
- Location
- Following the wind
Chojomeka
Behold! QUEEN MONKE!
There's no need to be a...grammar nazi about it.It's Sharingan.
RexHeller
Title Incoming. Please Hold.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
Why the pause? It's not exactly a pun.There's no need to be a...grammar nazi about it.
Khepri14
Thus kindly I scatter...
- Location
- Following the wind
Grammar Nazi=E88. I think.
- Pronouns
- she/her
So Vista is, once again, Best Ward. I hope she gets her imaginary room full of puppies and kittens and unicorns.
The other Wards will see them as slavering hellbeasts, of course. Got to keep up her image.
The other Wards will see them as slavering hellbeasts, of course. Got to keep up her image.
B_mod
Nrvscrwthishisnameis
- Location
- That one made up country from South Park
So... What would happen if Taylor where to create an illusion of, let's say... Exoskeleton? Make it appear on someone. And then make said exoskeleton to move independently, forcing the victim to move as Taylor wants.
Bodyjacking, anyone?
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LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Wouldn't work very well. At best the movements would be jerky and awkward it'd be too complex for her shard to pull off. It would have to tense the limbs to account for the amount of force the person is applying in their minds and make their limbs move outside of their volition. Too much control/fine muscle dominance. And that's if the guy decides to remain upright. All they'd have to do to get out of that exo-skeleton would be pulling a Miss Militia. Go completely slack. Or, more likely than that, they'd just trip with the messed up leg and feet movements.
Taylor's shard is powerful, but it does have its own 'function' Body domination shards have theirs
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B_mod
Nrvscrwthishisnameis
- Location
- That one made up country from South Park
Okay, another question. Can Taylor see what illusion she shows someone? Like, that Cricket she forced MM to see. This illusion contained some details that where pulled out of victim's mind. If she could see that illusion herself...
Little bit of practice and creativity and she would be able to pull images directly out of someon's mind! Of course it would be very limited and luck based, but if she teams up with some kind of thinker...
Little bit of practice and creativity and she would be able to pull images directly out of someon's mind! Of course it would be very limited and luck based, but if she teams up with some kind of thinker...
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
Broad scopes only, unless she focuses to try and get some of the fine details.
It's like...staring at a a TV screen. Unless she really gets in there and focuses/expands it she can see the image on the screen, but not the individual pixels. Cricket, is a small collection of pixels on that screen of sensory input.
B_mod
Nrvscrwthishisnameis
- Location
- That one made up country from South Park
So... No to using someone else as a spycam by creating perfectly synchronised with reality illusion?..
Next one, pain. She managed to turn off illusory pain, but can she turn off real pain? This wouldn't heal wounds, sure, but as a last resort, making someone to fight and think at their fullest... Or hiding injuries of an enemy so they would run aroud as if nothing wrong with them, hurting themselfs even more in process... Or die of bloodloss, unaware of wound...
Or turning off thinker headaches. They didn't realy hurt anyone for real so...
Taylor & Tattletale, as deadly as ever.
Can Taylor affect her own perception?
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
She kinda can do that, but ONLY if she has enough knowledge of her own about the place/things she's seeing. Say she needs to infiltrate the PRT base. She gets some poor agent under her illusion, and he goes wandering around the base. She'd be able to know there are 10 people in X room, 3 security cameras over there, three agents at the front desk ect ect. She couldn't however say, which of those ten agents is who/which unless she gets some identifying markers that she's seen before (voice, someone calling them by rank or name ect.) Nor would she be able to know what make/model of security camera it is, nor would she be able to say that one of those 3 agents is Velocity, keeping the two regular guards company (again, unless she gets some other identification/distinction.)
Again broad scopes. No details.
Again broad scopes. No details.
She can confuse all the senses, So yes. She could. That's why Colin commented that "Thank god she AT LEAST needs to establish eye contact for this" The pain interference alone can be both a great boon and highly dangerous. Pain is unpleasant but it is the most effective way your body has to tell you something is very very wrong.
Yes she could. Keep in mind though, those Thinker headaches are there for a reason, to prevent the host from killing himself or herself by overtaxing the limited human brain-power. She can make that go completely pain free, but eventually, something's gotta give and it'll most likely be the Tinker in question. It's very likely she could end up killing the thinker in that way.
Taylor's power is very much suited to subtle, assassination. She can be a football field away and make the person drop dead by pure 'accident'
"He just fell down the stairs"
"He just walked into open traffic"
"He didn't hear the fire alarm"
"He walked infront of the oncoming train."
"His friend just shot him with the hunting rifle out in the woods."
A thousand ways to die in this world.
Taylor's power is very much suited to subtle, assassination. She can be a football field away and make the person drop dead by pure 'accident'
"He just fell down the stairs"
"He just walked into open traffic"
"He didn't hear the fire alarm"
"He walked infront of the oncoming train."
"His friend just shot him with the hunting rifle out in the woods."
A thousand ways to die in this world.
By proxy only.
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JefLebowski
[Not Copaceptic]
- Location
- R'lyeh's Partner City
If she can override pain, that means that the quick and dirzy 'hurt yourself' Naruto method of escaping Genjutsu won't work. Ouch.
Also she can selectively Imp as a more subtle trick.
Also she can selectively Imp as a more subtle trick.
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
It can work if Taylor doesn't see the source of the pain incoming.
For example, if someone were to suddenly get shot and Taylor had no clue where the bullet was coming from or that it was even gonna hit then yeah, that pain would probably be enough to snap the person right out of the illusion, or if they put something to shock themselves somehow without Taylor knowing/before the fight then, again, yeah.
If it's intense enough and sudden enough that she can't account for it, the illusion breaks. It has its limits, as seen by the fact that Armsmaster catching Militia was unaccounted for in the illusion.
@LD1449, are you willing to expand a bit on the enhanced learning (which we witnessed in the latest chapter).
Since the power is based on sharingan (before the power creep), I assume from that (and from her watching the fight) that "copying" martial arts will work. But what about other skills. Also curious why she has not revealed this aspect of her powers to anyone in PRT? Why not? I don't see why she would have a reason to feel any great distrust of PRT in this fic, and by telling about the learning ability, she could potentially gain access to actual teachers that she could copy freely and with focus. Or atleast be allowed to observe people who are training/sparring.
Heck, I could see PRT jumping at the chance actually. The better equipped she is to defend herself via "mundane" means, the less likely she is to start using her master powers. Putting her through physical training is also something that could distract her from all the horrible stuff thats happened to her, and physical exercise apparently helps deal with depression and such.
And ofcourse, this would all make Taylor view PRT in even better light.
Does this only apply to physical combat, or are there other skills she could learn this way. Painting? Playing the piano? Driving a car/motorcycle? Shooting a gun/sharpshooting with great precision? Sports and other athletics.
Also are there any purely mental skills that are learnable this way?
Another good illusion might be to go for minimal approach. For example, lets say Taylor learns self-defense/combat via copying/training and also trains to get more physical endurance. Then lets say she ends up in a fight against someone. A subtle illusion would be all thats needed to make her opponent miss and give her a chance to win. Heck, most people would be unlikely to realise that it was anything but Taylors skill that led to victory.
Think Pyrrha from RWBY and her subtle use of magnetism to slightly shift enemy weapons to give openings.
I wonder how much detail Taylors shard can invent/fill in. @LD1449, if the wards were watching a good movie on tv, could Taylor create an illusion and make it look like they are watching the movie in the best IMAX theater.
Could she go even further and make it seem like the movie was happening in reality in perfect 3D, and the wards were "ghosts" observing events from within.
Since the power is based on sharingan (before the power creep), I assume from that (and from her watching the fight) that "copying" martial arts will work. But what about other skills. Also curious why she has not revealed this aspect of her powers to anyone in PRT? Why not? I don't see why she would have a reason to feel any great distrust of PRT in this fic, and by telling about the learning ability, she could potentially gain access to actual teachers that she could copy freely and with focus. Or atleast be allowed to observe people who are training/sparring.
Heck, I could see PRT jumping at the chance actually. The better equipped she is to defend herself via "mundane" means, the less likely she is to start using her master powers. Putting her through physical training is also something that could distract her from all the horrible stuff thats happened to her, and physical exercise apparently helps deal with depression and such.
And ofcourse, this would all make Taylor view PRT in even better light.
Does this only apply to physical combat, or are there other skills she could learn this way. Painting? Playing the piano? Driving a car/motorcycle? Shooting a gun/sharpshooting with great precision? Sports and other athletics.
Also are there any purely mental skills that are learnable this way?
Another good illusion might be to go for minimal approach. For example, lets say Taylor learns self-defense/combat via copying/training and also trains to get more physical endurance. Then lets say she ends up in a fight against someone. A subtle illusion would be all thats needed to make her opponent miss and give her a chance to win. Heck, most people would be unlikely to realise that it was anything but Taylors skill that led to victory.
Think Pyrrha from RWBY and her subtle use of magnetism to slightly shift enemy weapons to give openings.
I wonder how much detail Taylors shard can invent/fill in. @LD1449, if the wards were watching a good movie on tv, could Taylor create an illusion and make it look like they are watching the movie in the best IMAX theater.
Could she go even further and make it seem like the movie was happening in reality in perfect 3D, and the wards were "ghosts" observing events from within.
I assume she could also make any food taste like it was ambrosia. Theres several potential utility or just plain comfort applications to her power. What about non-standard senses though?
Out of curiosity, willing to tell which of the ones below would work? (from Wikipedia)
"Balance, equilibrioception, or vestibular sense is the sense that allows an organism to sense body movement, direction, and acceleration, and to attain and maintain postural equilibrium and balance."
Could she mess with this? Sufficiently messing with this could presumably be used to disable someone so completely they can't even stand, while also doing no harm.
"Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold) by the skin and internal skin passages, or, rather, the heat flux (the rate of heat flow) in these areas."
In a hot day when air conditioning is broken, can she make you feel pleasantly cool.
"Proprioception, the kinesthetic sense, provides the parietal cortex of the brain with information on the movement and relative positions of the parts of the body."
Messing with this is likely to be really disabling. Can Taylor mess with this?
Pain was already mentioned
"An internal sense also known as interoception[14] is "any sense that is normally stimulated from within the body"
- Hunger
Combine with taste manipulation and Taylor could make a fortune helping people lose weight.
- Pulmonary stretch receptors are found in the lungs and control the respiratory rate.
Make people hyperventilate.
- Peripheral chemoreceptors in the brain monitor the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the brain to give a feeling of suffocation if carbon dioxide levels get too high.
Make people feel like they are suffocating.
- The chemoreceptor trigger zone is an area of the medulla in the brain that receives inputs from blood-borne drugs or hormones, and communicates with the vomiting center.
Together with balance and some others I won't bother listing, make people vomit uncontrollably.
- Chemoreceptors in the circulatory system also measure salt levels and prompt thirst if they get too high;
Make people thirsty.
- Chronoception refers to how the passage of time is perceived and experienced. Although the sense of time is not associated with a specific sensory system, the work of psychologists and neuroscientists indicates that human brains do have a system governing the perception of time,[17][18]
I think it was already mentioned that Taylor could mess with time in a more direct way (make it seem time is passing slower in illusion than reality), but can she also disrupts peoples ability to even tell how long something takes. Whether in reality or in time-distorted illusion.
Out of curiosity, willing to tell which of the ones below would work? (from Wikipedia)
"Balance, equilibrioception, or vestibular sense is the sense that allows an organism to sense body movement, direction, and acceleration, and to attain and maintain postural equilibrium and balance."
Could she mess with this? Sufficiently messing with this could presumably be used to disable someone so completely they can't even stand, while also doing no harm.
"Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold) by the skin and internal skin passages, or, rather, the heat flux (the rate of heat flow) in these areas."
In a hot day when air conditioning is broken, can she make you feel pleasantly cool.
"Proprioception, the kinesthetic sense, provides the parietal cortex of the brain with information on the movement and relative positions of the parts of the body."
Messing with this is likely to be really disabling. Can Taylor mess with this?
Pain was already mentioned
"An internal sense also known as interoception[14] is "any sense that is normally stimulated from within the body"
- Hunger
Combine with taste manipulation and Taylor could make a fortune helping people lose weight
.- Pulmonary stretch receptors are found in the lungs and control the respiratory rate.
Make people hyperventilate.
- Peripheral chemoreceptors in the brain monitor the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the brain to give a feeling of suffocation if carbon dioxide levels get too high.
Make people feel like they are suffocating.
- The chemoreceptor trigger zone is an area of the medulla in the brain that receives inputs from blood-borne drugs or hormones, and communicates with the vomiting center.
Together with balance and some others I won't bother listing, make people vomit uncontrollably.
- Chemoreceptors in the circulatory system also measure salt levels and prompt thirst if they get too high;
Make people thirsty.
- Chronoception refers to how the passage of time is perceived and experienced. Although the sense of time is not associated with a specific sensory system, the work of psychologists and neuroscientists indicates that human brains do have a system governing the perception of time,[17][18]
I think it was already mentioned that Taylor could mess with time in a more direct way (make it seem time is passing slower in illusion than reality), but can she also disrupts peoples ability to even tell how long something takes. Whether in reality or in time-distorted illusion.
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
What opportunity, before this one has she ever had to observe people fight with her eyes? Or fight herself to see the effect in action?
Yes to the first and probably yes to the second though that will take practice.
"Balance, equilibrioception, or vestibular sense is the sense that allows an organism to sense body movement, direction, and acceleration, and to attain and maintain postural equilibrium and balance."
Could she mess with this? Sufficiently messing with this could presumably be used to disable someone so completely they can't even stand, while also doing no harm.
"Thermoception is the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold) by the skin and internal skin passages, or, rather, the heat flux (the rate of heat flow) in these areas."
In a hot day when air conditioning is broken, can she make you feel pleasantly cool.
"Proprioception, the kinesthetic sense, provides the parietal cortex of the brain with information on the movement and relative positions of the parts of the body."
Messing with this is likely to be really disabling. Can Taylor mess with this?
Pain was already mentioned
"An internal sense also known as interoception[14] is "any sense that is normally stimulated from within the body"
- Hunger
Combine with taste manipulation and Taylor could make a fortune helping people lose weight
- Pulmonary stretch receptors are found in the lungs and control the respiratory rate.
Make people hyperventilate.
- Peripheral chemoreceptors in the brain monitor the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the brain to give a feeling of suffocation if carbon dioxide levels get too high.
Make people feel like they are suffocating.
- The chemoreceptor trigger zone is an area of the medulla in the brain that receives inputs from blood-borne drugs or hormones, and communicates with the vomiting center.
Together with balance and some others I won't bother listing, make people vomit uncontrollably.
- Chemoreceptors in the circulatory system also measure salt levels and prompt thirst if they get too high;
Make people thirsty.
- Chronoception refers to how the passage of time is perceived and experienced. Although the sense of time is not associated with a specific sensory system, the work of psychologists and neuroscientists indicates that human brains do have a system governing the perception of time,[17][18]
I think it was already mentioned that Taylor could mess with time in a more direct way (make it seem time is passing slower in illusion than reality), but can she also disrupts peoples ability to even tell how long something takes. Whether in reality or in time-distorted illusion.
Big spoilers ahead to answer these, don't click the button unless you're really ok with Spoilers
1) Only by proxy, making them trip in the illusion or such. She'd never be able to outright manipulate it because it's far too ingrained into the human mind/subconscious functions.
2) Yes. She could do this in the sense that she can numb the skin's nerves to the heat or the cold and then make you *think* it's cold or hot. She cannot however, force your body to respond to the stimuli (No sweat or hypothermia) Because you'll be shivering but your subconscious brain that recognizes these symptoms and releases hormones is like "Dude, you're fine. Quit bitching"
3) Probably not, no. Far too ingrained into human subconscious to be really malleable.
4) Yes, she can numb the hunger pains and change the taste of food.
5) No. She can't screw with someone's lungs. What she CAN do is give them the sense of drowning. But again, the body, when faced with drowning WILL try to suck down air no matter what (it's why drowning victims are found with water in their lungs) so they WILL be able to breathe, but they will be stuck constantly feeling the pain of suffocation. She can keep them that way til she decides to stop, they wander out of her range or they just completely pass out or drop dead from a heart attack from the constant adrenaline.
6) No she can't make people vomit uncontrollably or make them thirsty. She does not have full biological control.
2) Yes. She could do this in the sense that she can numb the skin's nerves to the heat or the cold and then make you *think* it's cold or hot. She cannot however, force your body to respond to the stimuli (No sweat or hypothermia) Because you'll be shivering but your subconscious brain that recognizes these symptoms and releases hormones is like "Dude, you're fine. Quit bitching"
3) Probably not, no. Far too ingrained into human subconscious to be really malleable.
4) Yes, she can numb the hunger pains and change the taste of food.
5) No. She can't screw with someone's lungs. What she CAN do is give them the sense of drowning. But again, the body, when faced with drowning WILL try to suck down air no matter what (it's why drowning victims are found with water in their lungs) so they WILL be able to breathe, but they will be stuck constantly feeling the pain of suffocation. She can keep them that way til she decides to stop, they wander out of her range or they just completely pass out or drop dead from a heart attack from the constant adrenaline.
6) No she can't make people vomit uncontrollably or make them thirsty. She does not have full biological control.
This one is out of the Spoiler tag because I find it is important to point out the WHY even if it delves into some minor spoilers.
Yes. She can do this. And the *reason* she can do this is pure necessity.
Taylor's QnA shard here processes unquantifiable levels of sensory information not just of one victim, but for ALL victims she might have active in her range right then and there. Taylor herself has to process the cliff notes and she has to process them Unbelievably FAST.
Say Armsmaster sees Velocity out of the corner of his eye, but Taylor needs him to think it's X other person.
That means, between the sight of velocity, to theregistering of the immage on the eye, to transferring it to the brain to the brain recognizing the information and activating memory and so on and so forth, all happens in a fraction, of a fraction of a fraction of a second.
Taylor has to be FASTER than that, in order to trick the mind into seeing X other person before Armsmaster can even glimpse a hint of Velocity's costume.
By that very requirement her QnA shard has control over the perception of time over Taylor and others, slowing down/speeding up their reflexes to such a colossal degree that the illusion seems completely seamless, both to Taylor and to the victim.
As such, if she wants to make a second feel like a window of eternity, she can do that to the victim.
NemiTheNen
Perpetual Phone Poster
Actually it's pretty easy to mess with that sense. There's the thing with making it feel like your nose is much longer, and stuff.
Also, Tinker headaches aren't to keep Thinkers from injuring themselves, they are artificial limitations. Otherwise Contessa would have Thinker pains.
Ahh, so she did not realise she had that ability until now? Then it makes sense.
Though now that she does realise it, I wonder if she is going to tell people about it and ask to observe PRT spars/training?
Also occurs to me that a non-master use of her new eyes would likely make Taylor a bit happier would it not?
2.1
LD1449
To the last; Kill them all
- Location
- The other side of the labyrinth.
2.1
Ultimately, they, along with the thoughts that insistently ran through the back of my mind every day, were right.
I couldn't stay locked up in this room forever.
Life moved on. Eventually I'd just have to learn to move on with it.
I'd done it before… learned to deal with the sucker punches life decided to throw me.
I'd just have to learn to do it again.
The 'Proof of concept' test that Armsmaster and Militia had run a little over a week or two ago had given the Protectorate a good use for my powers, and they'd asked me to run another simulation with Assault and Battery. In that one, I'd set them up to fight Fenja, Menja and Kaiser.
And because of Assault, we'd discovered another aspect of my power.
It could adapt.
Or at least I could.
His kinetic manipulation obviously couldn't activate with illusions, there was no real kinetic force being applied. But when Battery had hit him once or twice, I could see the streams of data, see the abnormal influences on his mind, neural pathways that weren't there on normal people.
So… I reached out and took hold of them after a while.
Thereafter, even though he didn't actually get hit, I could trick his mind into believing that his power was at full charge and being used.
The illusion was complete.
By the time they were done, they were both tired and I… let them get the good, solid blow they'd needed to get to Kaiser and finish the exercise, making Fenja's spear land just a foot or so off its mark to stop them and allowing Assault to easily pivot around it to deliver a solid, kinetically enhanced elbow to the side of Kaiser's head.
I almost wanted to make the Nazi's neck snap, just for petty satisfaction if nothing else… but refrained.
Heroes shouldn't do that either.
Armsmaster came to get them. When they left, Assault smiled, Battery placed a hand on my shoulder, complementing me on the authenticity of Menja and Fenja's fighting style.
Then I made my way back to my room.
Or tried to. It's not exactly easy navigating through this place with a blindfold, even a Tinker made one.
I'd ended up asking for directions, and a guard had led me back.
It was some time later that I realized… I didn't want to be in this room.
The four bare walls were still as bare as the day I arrived. The television, computer and desk didn't feel any more mine than they had on the first day. The books I'd received were all marked with stickers from the on-base library…
I… wanted to have a conversation.
I wanted to go out and see people that weren't talking to me because it was part of a job.
…
I was a guest here.
A tolerated and… possibly valued one.
But still a guest.
This place… wasn't my home…
And I did want to go home.
Painful as that might be.
I worried, gnawed on my lip and kept the thoughts going in my head for two or three days.
Finally… I mustered up what little courage I have and I called Kurt and Lacey.
Lacey came to pick me up the very next day.
There were some papers I had to sign, and a phone I had to carry, and the PRT agent that instructed me also instructed Lacey, giving her a phone number to dial with an extension in case of any emergency… and we were let out.
Just like that.
We were barely even at the gate, or what I assumed was a gate, when Lacey grabbed my hand.
"How've you've been doing sweetheart?"
Her tone was gentle… her voice soft. I tried not to read pity there. Only empathy.
"I've been…" I trailed off, hesitating. I wasn't ok. Some days it felt as if I wouldn't be ok ever again.
"-managing," I finally answered, finding it to be the most appropriate word.
"You sure you wanna do this?" She asked as the blurry, static-like mass that was the chain-link fence finally opened up completely, allowing us out. "We can-"
"It's my home," I said, interrupting her, appalled at my own rudeness but needing to stop her before she talked me out of it. "I need to go."
She nodded.
And that was the end of it.
We drove in silence.
The situation felt tense to me. I wanted to set her at ease but had no idea how to do it. What to say.
Finally, I stumbled on a possible subject.
"How's Kurt?"
I saw her nerves fire in a pattern… and realized I'd seen it before, something similar.
With perfect clarity I remembered the Wards. How they'd tensed, bracing themselves…
She was tense…
"Oh he's ok." She answered with false cheer. "He's working right now but he'll come by later. Tonight."
I didn't answer… not for a while, wondering why she would be tense or nervous at my question…
I wasn't an interrogator… but maybe I could find out.
"So…" I began, wincing. Smooth Taylor
"How're things at work?"
"Boss is a pain as usual," she answered. "Pay sucks. But it's a living."
I saw her tension begin to ebb away.
"And how are things at the docks?"
Again… I saw her tense. Now worse than before.
"They're… fine," she slowly said after taking a moment to think about. "A bit less busy than usual. And Kurt's trying to umm…"
"To fill in for Dad," I provided, finishing for her.
She nodded. "Yeah."
I frowned.
Something was wrong here…
(X)(X)(X)
When we finally made it home…
I was surprised.
"Taylor… can you… is everything ok?" Lacey asked, behind me.
I still had my blindfold on. She must have thought I was completely blind.
"There's a mound here." I said, staring at the black lump of a shape at the two front lawns of my house, the only part that was free was the concrete sidewalk that split the two right down the middle.
"They're… flowers honey."
I jerked… startled.
"Flowers?"
"They brought them here," Lacey answered gently. "The other dock hands, families and well-wishers." She trailed off, and I could feel her eyes on the back of my head. "You can… take off the blind-fold to look. I'll stay behind you."
I did so.
It was… big… two or three dozen bouquets easy. Everything from red roses to white dandelions. White and red residue of melted candle wax showed where people had lit up their candles before leaving. The flowers were half dead now, the edges blackening with the exposure to the elements.
Prominently, in the center mass of the mound of flowers on the right was a picture of us. All of us. Me, Dad, and Mom. I was still a baby, Mom was holding me and I could see Dad just behind her, arms around her shoulders and his head just besides her own.
He was smiling.
It had been a while since I'd seen him smile.
I didn't feel the sting of tears until I felt them trailing down my cheek.
I sniffed, wiping at my eyes and putting the blindfold back on with all haste.
"Taylor-" Lacey called.
"I'm fine," I said… insisted.
I had to be. I had to stop.
No more crying. I'd cried enough…
I took a deep, steadying breath, wiping at my face one more time to leave no evidence of tears.
I made my way around the mound of flowers towards the front porch.
The squeaky first step was still there… still squeaky.
When I finally opened the door the smell of musty, stale air hit me like a brick and despite myself, I had to take off the blindfold again in order to see it. Not just its shape but its color… texture. See myself back here.
"Taylor?"
I heard the waver in Lacey's voice. "It's ok," I commented. "I… won't hurt you… I just need to see it."
She took a breath… or I did. I'm not sure. Maybe we both did. Then I heard her footsteps and a second later I was looking at her face for the first time since I'd gotten my powers.
The datastream was there, malleable, and I shunted it off to the side, ignoring it as Lacey reached forward and hugged me.
I hugged her back, for the first time since the funeral.
We stood in the front door of my house. Hugging each other for what must have been a minute but felt all too short regardless.
When I finally pulled away, I looked around the house, a film of dust coated nearly everything.
"I need to clean," I finally said, already making a mental checklist as to what I'll need.
"Taylor… sweetheart- I… I'm not sure if you can stay here… without… anyone. But if you can I don't think it'll be healthy for you to live here."
I understood what she was saying… I did. A part of me even agreed with her, a part of me wanted to leave this place and never come back, this place where the memories of Mom still caught me off guard every now and again. Where the reminders of the things I'd done with Emma when we were still friends lurked, literally around every corner.
Just how many ghosts would Dad leave in this place for me?
But…
"It's my home." I forced the sob back down when it threatened to escape.
Her hand was on my shoulder.
"I understand. Even so… you don't have to decide now. Lets pick up some of your things and you can sleep on it for a while."
I nodded, and finally entered what was… what should be my home.
(X)(X)(X)
When Kurt's truck finally pulled up, the sun was just beginning to set at four o'clock.
He brought pizza.
"Hello," he called, stepping into the door, he tensed for a moment when he saw my eyes, but then instantly relaxed, the smile on his face seemed genuine.
I could see the datastream of sensations he was feeling, and as I was about to shunt it off to the side… I stopped.
My concern spiked.
Kurt was in pain…
He stepped inside the house, his left hand holding the pizza pie with the soda bottles in a bag hanging off of his left forearm, his right hand was in his pocket.
The man smiled stepping inside, placing the pizza on the kitchen table we'd at least dusted when we sat down earlier, a pile of my things including some old pictures and clothes were in one seat, neatly arranged. Lacey and I sat in another.
"Hi, honey."
She smiled, and once more, through the glow and illumination of her nervous system, I noticed her right fist was tight under the table as she half stood, half leaned forward to offer Kurt a kiss and take the pizza and the bottles from him.
I brought Lacey's datastream forward, focussing on both his and hers, looking to find out what was wrong…
"Sorry I'm late, traffic was a little crazy going through Madison Drive."
"Just traffic?" Lacey asked and I could see her nervousness… "Nothing at work?"
Kurt shook his head. "Just a bit of traffic, and the pizza of course."
She nodded… and her relief was almost palpable to me.
Something at work… something about the docks.
"Hey Taylor," Kurt said, leaning forward and offering a kiss to my cheek, I kissed him back, feeling the scruff of his beard against my cheek. "How've you been?"
"I'm ok," I answered, ready to ask my own questions when he continued, unwittingly interrupting me.
"The PRT… How've they been treating you?" He asked, his tone full of concern. "Any problems?"
Almost mockingly I could see his datastream telling me in what equated to big, bold letters that Kurt was in pain.
Ribs… Something was wrong with his ribs…
I wanted to dull the pain. Make it easier for him. But that would give away that I knew about it in the first place. Something they were both trying to hide.
"Not really," I answer him, my questions are on the tip of my tongue when I decide to elaborate a bit more, maybe put him at ease. "I have a lawyer, a case worker, I've met with the director and Armsmaster a few times. Met the Wards too."
"So you're going to join the Wards?" Lacey asked, opening up the box of pizza. Pepperoni. It smelled really good actually.
I shook my head. "No. At least- not now. Maybe some other time."
"What is it that you can do?" Kurt asked.
I paused, working out in my own head how to phrase it.
"I can make people see things with eye contact." I decided to say, omitting almost everything else about my power there were more important things to discuss. "So how about you Kurt?" I quickly ask before they can get a word in edgewise "Anything happening down by the docks since… you know, dad?"
He tensed ever so slightly. "Nah. Everything's been quiet-" He smiled. "Nothing's really changed."
He was lying…
I nodded, taking up a slice and smiling back as best I could. "That's good."
We each ate a slice, a light conversation sparking up as Kurt joined us. Kurt and Lacey were the primary participants with me occasionally chiming in.
We were halfway through the pie and the soda when I spoke.
"Can I stay with you guys tonight?" I ask. "Just for tonight?" I insist. "I don't really feel like going back to the PRT base."
Their answer is instant, and free of any hesitation.
I appreciate that.
"Of course sweetheart."
"You know our door's always open."
I appreciate it so much, I don't release their streams of Data.
I read them.
All through the night, for as long as it takes.
Then, when they think they're alone; think that I'm asleep- I find my answer…
(X)(X)(X)
My thanks go out to @Axel Fones, @nitewind and @DarkMagyk for their assistance as Betas
Now, again, not promising anything, since this is all still forming up in my head and I haven't decided what would work "best" but out of curiosity, similar to the last arc, there are 2 interludes for this arc. Both of which can occur 'next' so to speak.
The choice is between Madison and Sophia, or of course, keep going with Taylor and just see what she discovers is happening at the docks.
Like I said, haven't figured it fully out in my own head, so this is just for curiosity more than anything else.
Ultimately, they, along with the thoughts that insistently ran through the back of my mind every day, were right.
I couldn't stay locked up in this room forever.
Life moved on. Eventually I'd just have to learn to move on with it.
I'd done it before… learned to deal with the sucker punches life decided to throw me.
I'd just have to learn to do it again.
The 'Proof of concept' test that Armsmaster and Militia had run a little over a week or two ago had given the Protectorate a good use for my powers, and they'd asked me to run another simulation with Assault and Battery. In that one, I'd set them up to fight Fenja, Menja and Kaiser.
And because of Assault, we'd discovered another aspect of my power.
It could adapt.
Or at least I could.
His kinetic manipulation obviously couldn't activate with illusions, there was no real kinetic force being applied. But when Battery had hit him once or twice, I could see the streams of data, see the abnormal influences on his mind, neural pathways that weren't there on normal people.
So… I reached out and took hold of them after a while.
Thereafter, even though he didn't actually get hit, I could trick his mind into believing that his power was at full charge and being used.
The illusion was complete.
By the time they were done, they were both tired and I… let them get the good, solid blow they'd needed to get to Kaiser and finish the exercise, making Fenja's spear land just a foot or so off its mark to stop them and allowing Assault to easily pivot around it to deliver a solid, kinetically enhanced elbow to the side of Kaiser's head.
I almost wanted to make the Nazi's neck snap, just for petty satisfaction if nothing else… but refrained.
Heroes shouldn't do that either.
Armsmaster came to get them. When they left, Assault smiled, Battery placed a hand on my shoulder, complementing me on the authenticity of Menja and Fenja's fighting style.
Then I made my way back to my room.
Or tried to. It's not exactly easy navigating through this place with a blindfold, even a Tinker made one.
I'd ended up asking for directions, and a guard had led me back.
It was some time later that I realized… I didn't want to be in this room.
The four bare walls were still as bare as the day I arrived. The television, computer and desk didn't feel any more mine than they had on the first day. The books I'd received were all marked with stickers from the on-base library…
I… wanted to have a conversation.
I wanted to go out and see people that weren't talking to me because it was part of a job.
…
I was a guest here.
A tolerated and… possibly valued one.
But still a guest.
This place… wasn't my home…
And I did want to go home.
Painful as that might be.
I worried, gnawed on my lip and kept the thoughts going in my head for two or three days.
Finally… I mustered up what little courage I have and I called Kurt and Lacey.
Lacey came to pick me up the very next day.
There were some papers I had to sign, and a phone I had to carry, and the PRT agent that instructed me also instructed Lacey, giving her a phone number to dial with an extension in case of any emergency… and we were let out.
Just like that.
We were barely even at the gate, or what I assumed was a gate, when Lacey grabbed my hand.
"How've you've been doing sweetheart?"
Her tone was gentle… her voice soft. I tried not to read pity there. Only empathy.
"I've been…" I trailed off, hesitating. I wasn't ok. Some days it felt as if I wouldn't be ok ever again.
"-managing," I finally answered, finding it to be the most appropriate word.
"You sure you wanna do this?" She asked as the blurry, static-like mass that was the chain-link fence finally opened up completely, allowing us out. "We can-"
"It's my home," I said, interrupting her, appalled at my own rudeness but needing to stop her before she talked me out of it. "I need to go."
She nodded.
And that was the end of it.
We drove in silence.
The situation felt tense to me. I wanted to set her at ease but had no idea how to do it. What to say.
Finally, I stumbled on a possible subject.
"How's Kurt?"
I saw her nerves fire in a pattern… and realized I'd seen it before, something similar.
With perfect clarity I remembered the Wards. How they'd tensed, bracing themselves…
She was tense…
"Oh he's ok." She answered with false cheer. "He's working right now but he'll come by later. Tonight."
I didn't answer… not for a while, wondering why she would be tense or nervous at my question…
I wasn't an interrogator… but maybe I could find out.
"So…" I began, wincing. Smooth Taylor
"How're things at work?"
"Boss is a pain as usual," she answered. "Pay sucks. But it's a living."
I saw her tension begin to ebb away.
"And how are things at the docks?"
Again… I saw her tense. Now worse than before.
"They're… fine," she slowly said after taking a moment to think about. "A bit less busy than usual. And Kurt's trying to umm…"
"To fill in for Dad," I provided, finishing for her.
She nodded. "Yeah."
I frowned.
Something was wrong here…
(X)(X)(X)
When we finally made it home…
I was surprised.
"Taylor… can you… is everything ok?" Lacey asked, behind me.
I still had my blindfold on. She must have thought I was completely blind.
"There's a mound here." I said, staring at the black lump of a shape at the two front lawns of my house, the only part that was free was the concrete sidewalk that split the two right down the middle.
"They're… flowers honey."
I jerked… startled.
"Flowers?"
"They brought them here," Lacey answered gently. "The other dock hands, families and well-wishers." She trailed off, and I could feel her eyes on the back of my head. "You can… take off the blind-fold to look. I'll stay behind you."
I did so.
It was… big… two or three dozen bouquets easy. Everything from red roses to white dandelions. White and red residue of melted candle wax showed where people had lit up their candles before leaving. The flowers were half dead now, the edges blackening with the exposure to the elements.
Prominently, in the center mass of the mound of flowers on the right was a picture of us. All of us. Me, Dad, and Mom. I was still a baby, Mom was holding me and I could see Dad just behind her, arms around her shoulders and his head just besides her own.
He was smiling.
It had been a while since I'd seen him smile.
I didn't feel the sting of tears until I felt them trailing down my cheek.
I sniffed, wiping at my eyes and putting the blindfold back on with all haste.
"Taylor-" Lacey called.
"I'm fine," I said… insisted.
I had to be. I had to stop.
No more crying. I'd cried enough…
I took a deep, steadying breath, wiping at my face one more time to leave no evidence of tears.
I made my way around the mound of flowers towards the front porch.
The squeaky first step was still there… still squeaky.
When I finally opened the door the smell of musty, stale air hit me like a brick and despite myself, I had to take off the blindfold again in order to see it. Not just its shape but its color… texture. See myself back here.
"Taylor?"
I heard the waver in Lacey's voice. "It's ok," I commented. "I… won't hurt you… I just need to see it."
She took a breath… or I did. I'm not sure. Maybe we both did. Then I heard her footsteps and a second later I was looking at her face for the first time since I'd gotten my powers.
The datastream was there, malleable, and I shunted it off to the side, ignoring it as Lacey reached forward and hugged me.
I hugged her back, for the first time since the funeral.
We stood in the front door of my house. Hugging each other for what must have been a minute but felt all too short regardless.
When I finally pulled away, I looked around the house, a film of dust coated nearly everything.
"I need to clean," I finally said, already making a mental checklist as to what I'll need.
"Taylor… sweetheart- I… I'm not sure if you can stay here… without… anyone. But if you can I don't think it'll be healthy for you to live here."
I understood what she was saying… I did. A part of me even agreed with her, a part of me wanted to leave this place and never come back, this place where the memories of Mom still caught me off guard every now and again. Where the reminders of the things I'd done with Emma when we were still friends lurked, literally around every corner.
Just how many ghosts would Dad leave in this place for me?
But…
"It's my home." I forced the sob back down when it threatened to escape.
Her hand was on my shoulder.
"I understand. Even so… you don't have to decide now. Lets pick up some of your things and you can sleep on it for a while."
I nodded, and finally entered what was… what should be my home.
(X)(X)(X)
When Kurt's truck finally pulled up, the sun was just beginning to set at four o'clock.
He brought pizza.
"Hello," he called, stepping into the door, he tensed for a moment when he saw my eyes, but then instantly relaxed, the smile on his face seemed genuine.
I could see the datastream of sensations he was feeling, and as I was about to shunt it off to the side… I stopped.
My concern spiked.
Kurt was in pain…
He stepped inside the house, his left hand holding the pizza pie with the soda bottles in a bag hanging off of his left forearm, his right hand was in his pocket.
The man smiled stepping inside, placing the pizza on the kitchen table we'd at least dusted when we sat down earlier, a pile of my things including some old pictures and clothes were in one seat, neatly arranged. Lacey and I sat in another.
"Hi, honey."
She smiled, and once more, through the glow and illumination of her nervous system, I noticed her right fist was tight under the table as she half stood, half leaned forward to offer Kurt a kiss and take the pizza and the bottles from him.
I brought Lacey's datastream forward, focussing on both his and hers, looking to find out what was wrong…
"Sorry I'm late, traffic was a little crazy going through Madison Drive."
"Just traffic?" Lacey asked and I could see her nervousness… "Nothing at work?"
Kurt shook his head. "Just a bit of traffic, and the pizza of course."
She nodded… and her relief was almost palpable to me.
Something at work… something about the docks.
"Hey Taylor," Kurt said, leaning forward and offering a kiss to my cheek, I kissed him back, feeling the scruff of his beard against my cheek. "How've you been?"
"I'm ok," I answered, ready to ask my own questions when he continued, unwittingly interrupting me.
"The PRT… How've they been treating you?" He asked, his tone full of concern. "Any problems?"
Almost mockingly I could see his datastream telling me in what equated to big, bold letters that Kurt was in pain.
Ribs… Something was wrong with his ribs…
I wanted to dull the pain. Make it easier for him. But that would give away that I knew about it in the first place. Something they were both trying to hide.
"Not really," I answer him, my questions are on the tip of my tongue when I decide to elaborate a bit more, maybe put him at ease. "I have a lawyer, a case worker, I've met with the director and Armsmaster a few times. Met the Wards too."
"So you're going to join the Wards?" Lacey asked, opening up the box of pizza. Pepperoni. It smelled really good actually.
I shook my head. "No. At least- not now. Maybe some other time."
"What is it that you can do?" Kurt asked.
I paused, working out in my own head how to phrase it.
"I can make people see things with eye contact." I decided to say, omitting almost everything else about my power there were more important things to discuss. "So how about you Kurt?" I quickly ask before they can get a word in edgewise "Anything happening down by the docks since… you know, dad?"
He tensed ever so slightly. "Nah. Everything's been quiet-" He smiled. "Nothing's really changed."
He was lying…
I nodded, taking up a slice and smiling back as best I could. "That's good."
We each ate a slice, a light conversation sparking up as Kurt joined us. Kurt and Lacey were the primary participants with me occasionally chiming in.
We were halfway through the pie and the soda when I spoke.
"Can I stay with you guys tonight?" I ask. "Just for tonight?" I insist. "I don't really feel like going back to the PRT base."
Their answer is instant, and free of any hesitation.
I appreciate that.
"Of course sweetheart."
"You know our door's always open."
I appreciate it so much, I don't release their streams of Data.
I read them.
All through the night, for as long as it takes.
Then, when they think they're alone; think that I'm asleep- I find my answer…
(X)(X)(X)
My thanks go out to @Axel Fones, @nitewind and @DarkMagyk for their assistance as Betas
Now, again, not promising anything, since this is all still forming up in my head and I haven't decided what would work "best" but out of curiosity, similar to the last arc, there are 2 interludes for this arc. Both of which can occur 'next' so to speak.
The choice is between Madison and Sophia, or of course, keep going with Taylor and just see what she discovers is happening at the docks.
Like I said, haven't figured it fully out in my own head, so this is just for curiosity more than anything else.