"Have you noticed Hebert has been acting weird after she came back?"
"She came back?" Emma...
"She came back?" Emma...
Ovi (Worm / Sonic)
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Fresh - 1.1
- Location
- Minnesota
"Have you noticed Hebert has been acting weird after she came back?"
"She came back?" Emma asked, surprised, "So soon?"
"Yeah." Madison said, confused, "You walked right past her this morning."
"What? No, I would have remembered."
"Maybe you didn't realize it was her?"
"Maybe we finally broke her."
"No, no, I mean, really weird." Madison continued, "Like, she was... smiling. And laughing. When was the last time you heard Taylor laugh?"
"I... huh." Emma frowned, she did remember walking past a girl she would have sworn was Taylor- but she was wearing something bright colors, and grinning down at a notebook.
"But... look it's really weird. She hasn't been paying attention in class or anything, she's just... scribbling, and grinning, and giggling to herself sometimes."
"Scribbling?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, in this one notebook. She's been doing it all day. Never puts it down. I think she's half-way through it already. I know for a fact she's gone through a pencil already."
"Well." Sophia began, standing up, "I think I want to know what's so funny." the three of them walked across the lunch room, where Madison pointed out the girl.
Sure enough, she was writing furiously into a notebook, looking for all the world both completely engrossed, and deeply amused, by her own work.
"Hey Taylor. It's so nice to see you back in school, finally washed off the stink?" Emma asked, leaning over her- only to squeak as Taylor grabbed her face and pushed her away. Emma gasped, furious.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Hebert?" Sophia asked in a growl.
"Don't get in my light, simpleton." was all that Taylor replied.
"Simpleton?"
"Yes." Taylor grinned- and God, that was a weird sight, "I'm working on something so intensely brilliant- No. Even if I did explain it to the likes of you, you wouldn't understand." the girl slapped her notebook shut, sneering smugly at the three of them, before looking confused down at her own stomach when it growled, "Oh yeah, it's lunch." she murmured. She pushed between Sophia and Madison, not giving either another look.
She then toppled over, and groaned at the sound of smashed glass. Sophia deadpanned a unsympathetic "Oops." She pulled her leg back from where it had tripped Taylor over, "You need to be more careful Taylor, you're so clumsy."
The girl laid on the ground for another moment, before putting her hands under her and getting up. Without looking back at the three of them, she brushed herself off, collected her notebook, and the newly-empty frames of her glasses, and walked away.
"...That was weird." Sophia muttered.
"See!"
"Taylor's getting cocky." Emma commented, "Why?"
"Maybe the locker backfired?" Madison offered, "Maybe... I don't know, she thinks the worst is behind her, or something stupid like that?"
"Maybe she just liked it." Emma said, loud enough for some of the other students nearby, who had watched without comment- as they always did, to hear. She got a few nervous laughs out of the crowd.
"...I want to know what's in that journal." Sophia said suddenly, "She seems to be putting so much effort in it, it'd be a shame if she lost it."
The three girls smiled.
That January day had been terrible to be sure, but now, I liked to think of it as a rebirth! I went into that godforsaken metal box but a monkey, and from that steel egg hatched a beautiful and brilliant homo sapien! Never before had my thoughts been so clear! It was as if I, and every other fool who wandered around were nothing but pretenders with clouded, limited minds. But now, now I could see the world for what it really was!
Something full of opportunity!
It was, just, so, BRILLIANT!
And oh so wasted! Drab buildings, sour faces, uselessly spent resources, filthy creatures and people we'd be better off without slithered the streets like so many vermin!
I had to show them the way. But of course, the world isn't kind to visionaries like me. It wasn't kind to me at all, now that I think of it, even before the locker. But regardless, I had my vision, I had designs, whispers in my skull just begging to be allowed to be hatched into reality in the world in front of me, but I didn't have the resources. Oh, sure, I could dissassemble the microwave and the television and the landline and take Dad's toolset to our bedframes and tear apart our car, which, really, has such an inefficient design ANYWAY-
But if I did that, it still wouldn't amount to much. I needed raw material! And you know, Dad would be understandably furious and confused. I didn't particularly want to upset him. Especially since he seems to be in a better mood these days. It seems my new bubbly look at life was infectious. Or at least, I hope that's the reason.
A lot of those smiles do seem awkward, and nervous, and maybe a little forced... hmm.
Oh well! I have science to do! The whispers in my head decrease in pressure, at least a little bit, when I put them down on paper. I had been doing just about nothing but for the last... few days? When Dad ushered me to go to School, I didn't particularly feel like lying to him, and when he asked if I was 'emotionally prepared' and 'not too traumatized', I said that I was fine. So off to school I went.
The trio- well, they had tormented me in the past, and for that they would pay. But they just weren't my biggest concern at the moment. So I ignored them in favor of filling my notebook with my brilliant inventions all day.
I suppose I did have to thank them for reminding me to eat- I don't want to get even thinner! -but then of course Sophia just had to trip me, break my glasses. And that, I decided, was the last straw. She hadn't just assaulted me, this time. She had decreased my efficiency! I had to squint and hold my notebook close to even check my own math!
As always, my computer class was my refuge away from the terrible trio and their machinations, and the assignments for the class, which were easy for me before, were simply and absolutely child's play now. I finished my work in seconds, and then held off on submitting it for a few minutes so that the teacher wouldn't be suspicious. After that, I had the internet at my disposal.
Now, what would teach those three a lesson they wouldn't soon forget? My own inventions, well, they tended to be on the large side. Nothing wrong with that, of course, they were beautiful mechanical marvels, and if they were small, well, you couldn't exactly marvel at them! I admit, my weakness, if I have one, is that the ideas that came naturally to me weren't very subtle.
So I began searching online for easy-to-build pranks. The strategy my old, cloud-headed, dreary self had- to wait for them to grow bored. To not react, to ignore them as best as possible, and... hope. And wish. That they would grow bored... it... it wasn't working. And she couldn't see that, because she was clinging to that false hope. She didn't need hope now. What uses is blind faith, after all, when you have knowledge, that you are certain in your destiny? So I would try something different. If they weren't getting the message when I gave them the cold shoulder- well! They wanted my attention, they'll blasted have it!
Hand-buzzer. Simple enough.
I submitted the insultingly easy program (with improvements!) and asked to go to the bathroom.
Once inside, I opened my backpack, drew out my screwdriver, and got to work. I climbed one of the stalls and tore apart the smoke detector, gathering the batteries, wires, and button needed.
It was painfully simple work, and the result just was plain ugly, but it was of course, thanks to my genius, entirely functional.
The next time any of those three blasted ingrates came near me, they'd receive a hearty zap!
I returned to my seat, and began to search the internet for potential suppliers of scrap metal for low costs. Unfortunately, the short-sighted monstrosity that was capitalism denied me the opportunity. With only my meager allowance I could only purchase such a small amount of titanium. And including shipping costs, I couldn't even buy that!
Such a shame.
When I ruled the world, I would do away with such injustices.
"Here she comes."
"Ready?"
"Ready."
They had water balloons, and were waiting at the top of the stairwell. Well, of course they were. But I had deduced they would try something like this. As the three of them waited for me to come up the stairs as I usually did, I had gone up a different set on the other side of the building. Now, the three were so focused on the stairwell below them, that neither Emma nor Madison sensed my approach.
Sophia though, apparently had better instincts.
She whipped around, surprised, as I reached my hand out for Emma.
"Uh oh." I say, as my hand closes around the red-head's arm.
Emma screams, and Sophia does the first thing she thinks of, and pelts me in the face with a water balloon. I slap it away by instinct, and back up, to retreat, when she tackles me to the ground. I slap her with the buzzer, and she shouts as I scramble away, running for it! I suppose that went about as well as I expected. What a blunder on my part though! I should have made two buzzers, and gotten them both at once!
"HEBERT YOU BITCH!" Sophia roars, her feet slapping against the floor as she runs after me.
"How did you like the sting of my revenge Hess?!" I shout back, grinning despite myself. I'm fast courtesy of my long legs, more than anything else, and I was considering taking up early-morning running to try and build up some muscle, but Sophia is on the blasted track team, and she runs like a locomotive.
She shoves me to the ground, and I give her another zap for the trouble. She bites back a hiss, and slams her fist into my face. I zap her again. She hits me again.
We go back and forth and it's so dull.
I should have just gone with my first idea, and constructed a robot to cover them with glue and feathers while they slept. But no, I had to be impatient! Oh well. Better luck next time I suppose.
She manages to stand up, and even as I deliver a continuous shock through her leg, she gives me a kick to the jaw and I'm unconscious.
"Taylor, you look like hell, are you alright?"
I grin, widely, "Of course! Well, a bit sore, understandably, but it was a learning experience, so I can't really complain, now can I?" as it is, much of my face is bandaged, and I'm sporting a black eye over both eyes. I didn't lose any teeth, which I'm fairly grateful about, and no broken bones. Sophia had held back enough to not send me to the hospital. I'd say I was grateful, but I know she only did it to limit the amount of suspicion she'd be under. At least Dad had brought my spare glasses so I wasn't blind as a mole. A creature which actually does have poor eyesight, unlike bats.
"Taylor, I... I shouldn't have made you go to school, it was too early, and- they're talking about prison, Taylor. Or, juvie, I suppose."
"Short-sighted." I sigh, "Don't worry Dad, I'll figure something out-"
"You shouldn't have to. Taylor, I... I found the journal you made."
"The one with the motobug in it, because that one-"
"No, no, the one... where you recorded what they've been doing to you." Dad sighs, and looks so miserable, "I'm... why didn't you ever talk to me?"
"Well, obviously, I thought I could handle it by myself. Obviously, I should have put more preparation into it. At first I was hoping, foolishly, they would just get bored, but when they escalated to the locker, I decided that more active defiance was in need. Thus, the joy buzzer."
"But why didn't you ask for help?"
I shrug, "I did, from the school. Didn't go much of anywhere, they discredited me, the blasted fools. Well- it was actually kind of clever, they had alibis, I didn't."
"But- if the school didn't believe you, couldn't you have told me?"
"And what would you have don-" I stop myself, ugh, people are so fragile. Dad looks so broken. He's already been crying. Hmm.
"I'm sorry. Taylor. I should have.. been a better father, I should have seen the signs, paid more attention-" some percussive maintenance then. I reach over and give the man a hug. Let's see... thirty seconds should do it, right? Neither of us were very touchy-feely people.
Now for some white lies, "You are a good father, Dad." I say, "You've just had so much already on your plate. You've been supporting us alone, fighting through Mom's death, working to revitalize the docks and make the Bay a better place. I was hiding it from you, I didn't want to put more pressure on you. It's not your fault for not seeing, when I was the one keeping it in the dark."
"Th-Thank you, Taylor." I begin to break away from the hug, and he holds tight an additional eight seconds before letting me go. He sighs, and looks around at the office where I was currently serving detention, "But this is a big mess we're in right now, huh?"
"I suppose so." I wish they had confiscated my journal. Or let me have a pencil. Keeping my mind occupied wasn't as satisfying.
Eventually other people came in, police, school staff. Dad argued with people, and I couldn't help but smile at his passionate rage. Then the PRT gets involved, for some reason, and my notebook is handed around, and Dad is pulled away for quiet conversations and OH MY GOD.
That's Armsmaster!
I used to have him on my underwear! And I said that out loud!
God, I want to get my hands on that power armor, and on that halberd! But I know if I did try to take it apart right now, I'd probably get charged with something even worse than assault.
"Hello."
"Greetings! I must apologize for all the chaos, but- well. They deserved it."
"That remains to be seen. As it is, you could end up in juvenile detention. You destroyed school property, and alarm system that was meant to warn others in an emergency. You sneaked weapons-"
"Tools! You're a builder, you know the difference."
"-sneaked objects prohibited from being carried by students in the school into the school. And you constructed a weapon, and used it to attack two of your fellow students, who were unarmed."
"Two students who had been waiting for me in ambush." I respond, "I was justified! More than that, they've been perpetrating assaults worse than that on me for months! It was justice I tell you!"
He doesn't look impressed. Oh well.
"But the words of the student body and of the staff all contradict yours. Teachers have described you as 'antisocial', a 'troublemaker' and 'clumsy'. You've been warned about falsely accusing other students of bullying before. Your word doesn't mean much here."
"No, I suppose it doesn't." I say crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair.
"You're in trouble." Armsmaster states cooly, "But you have an option that I suggest you take. You become a Ward, and we'll make sure you don't go to juvenile detention."
"A... what?"
"A Ward. You're a tinker, it's clear as much from your designs." Armsmaster grunts, pulling out my notebook. He flips through the pages, looking at my rough sketches, math, programs. "One with a specialty for... building robots, it seems. You've made a mistake here, but if you agree to come with us and be a hero, I can assure you that we can make things easier for you. More than that, you'll be acting as a hero. You'll receive resources, laboratories, where you can make your inventions. This is the best option available to you."
He spoke in a no-nonsense sort of way. It was with an intensity that I knew he wanted me to say yes, but he didn't really hit the notes that people usually did when trying to convince others of something.
As it was, this was probably the best option available to me. "Fine." If nothing else, once I had the resources to create my wonderful inventions, it wasn't like they would be able to do anything to stop me! No. Bad Taylor, these are the Protectorate! Besides, my goal is to improve the world Where else should I start, but here?
This was not a mistake!
Oh, it was enough to move me to tears! The lab, the tools, the metal! I had quantity and quality, available at my fingertips!
I got to work immediately.
Armsmaster was nearby, keeping watch, as I rushed from place to place, moving around the lab in a blur. It was possibly the most exhilarating moment of my life! I had never before taken drugs, nor had sex, but I bet both of them would be paltry pleasures to creating my first robot!
For a few brief moments, I was torn between what to create first! I mean, Armsmaster and the other PRT people had told me they just wanted proof that I was a tinker, and not just someone who liked to draw machines and filled pages of notes with math that was incomprehensible to other people. But just about any of the inventions that filled my journals could be used.
But in the end, I thought back to the first few moments after I was truly lucid, and had some time alone to myself. The very first design I drew. It still brought a smile to my face, when I think about it.
My Moto Bug.
Originally, I had planned to grab a motorcycle and break it down into two of these little beauties, but it was easier just to make them from scratch when I had the proper tools.
And, for the first time since my awakening, I did have the proper tools! And all the materials I could want, and if I didn't have something, I could just request it! Speaking of...
"Armsmaster?" I asked, turning to look behind me.
"Yes?" he said from where he sat. He was both observing my first tinkering, and handling his own tasks at the same time.
"I need to request a certain material."
"Yes?"
"I need a live rat."
He didn't seem surprised, or even that curious, and simply nodded, putting in the order for me. Within ten minutes, a man in a lab coat brought me a rat in a wire cage. "Thank you." I say, opening it, grabbing the rat without a moment's hesitation and heading over to the nearly-complete Moto Bug. It had everything it needed to succeed, and now, it just needed the power source.
As soon as the struggling rodent fell into the open chamber of the Moto Bug, it was trapped by a sudden electric field. The creature began to glow green, and the systems on my robot began to activate one by one. The rat was unharmed of course, if anything, I was prolonging its lifespan and improving its existence! No longer would it mindlessly wander its cage with nothing to do but eat or mate, now, it was the heart of my glorious first machine!
The Moto Bug revved to life, balancing easily on its single tire, it began to click, whirr, and growl. My creation, my beautiful robot, is alive! Armsmaster is on his feet immediately, closing his laptop and now with his halberd in hand. He walks over, and holding his halberd in front of him defensively, approaches my machine. The Moto Bug locks eyes on him, and revvs threateningly. "I'd be careful." I say with a smile, "You're coming on a little strong there."
"What's its purpose?" Armsmaster asks, narrowing his eyes.
"Ending high-speed pursuits!" I say proudly, "It follows a fleeing vehicle, catches up to it, then takes out the tires with its adorable little claws there, hm? I call him, the Moto Bug!"
"Hm." he circles the machine, and the Moto Bug follows him with its eyes, antennas twitching. "It has AI?"
"Of course he can think!" I say, "Though I can't particularly vouch for his intelligence. But you don't have to be especially smart if all you do is get told 'Chase, catch, stop'!"
"Well... I think that's proof enough. We'll talk to your father about your position in the Wards and how we'll be handling your criminal case. For now, shut this thing down, and we'll have our people look at it."
"Shut it down?" I ask.
"Yes." he says, "Do it."
"Um." While I'm not a fool, so of course there's redundant self-destruct switches, in case Moto Bug should ever try to turn against me, there isn't what one would call an 'off' switch. I created a method to power a machine nearly forever off a simple organic battery! The machine must be active in order for the field interacting with the animal to continue operating. It essentially fuels itself, forever, for as long as it is on! If I'm going to turn it off, I'd have to remove the animal manually, something I've ensured can't be done, so that no one may tamper with my glorious device! "Um."
"There isn't an off switch?" he asked. "Is there at least a sleep mode?"
"He's a robot! He can work without exhaustion, what would be the point in making it so they have to sleep?"
The man sighs, before turning towards it, "Then we'll have to disassemble it."
"B-But this is my first robot!" I protest, "You can't just kill him-"
"This." Armsmaster begins, "Is a demonstration of your abilities. It was constructed in a PRT lab, with PRT resources. This belongs to us. Now, disassemble it." he orders.
What to do next?
[ ] Flee the scene, save the Badnik! Screw the Protectorate, I'll go off on my own! They will rue the day that they tried to order around Taylor Hebert!
[ ] It's just a machine. I really need the lab, after all. I can listen to orders for a little while longer. Being a Ward might be cool.
[ ] Write-in.
"She came back?" Emma asked, surprised, "So soon?"
"Yeah." Madison said, confused, "You walked right past her this morning."
"What? No, I would have remembered."
"Maybe you didn't realize it was her?"
"Maybe we finally broke her."
"No, no, I mean, really weird." Madison continued, "Like, she was... smiling. And laughing. When was the last time you heard Taylor laugh?"
"I... huh." Emma frowned, she did remember walking past a girl she would have sworn was Taylor- but she was wearing something bright colors, and grinning down at a notebook.
"But... look it's really weird. She hasn't been paying attention in class or anything, she's just... scribbling, and grinning, and giggling to herself sometimes."
"Scribbling?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, in this one notebook. She's been doing it all day. Never puts it down. I think she's half-way through it already. I know for a fact she's gone through a pencil already."
"Well." Sophia began, standing up, "I think I want to know what's so funny." the three of them walked across the lunch room, where Madison pointed out the girl.
Sure enough, she was writing furiously into a notebook, looking for all the world both completely engrossed, and deeply amused, by her own work.
"Hey Taylor. It's so nice to see you back in school, finally washed off the stink?" Emma asked, leaning over her- only to squeak as Taylor grabbed her face and pushed her away. Emma gasped, furious.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Hebert?" Sophia asked in a growl.
"Don't get in my light, simpleton." was all that Taylor replied.
"Simpleton?"
"Yes." Taylor grinned- and God, that was a weird sight, "I'm working on something so intensely brilliant- No. Even if I did explain it to the likes of you, you wouldn't understand." the girl slapped her notebook shut, sneering smugly at the three of them, before looking confused down at her own stomach when it growled, "Oh yeah, it's lunch." she murmured. She pushed between Sophia and Madison, not giving either another look.
She then toppled over, and groaned at the sound of smashed glass. Sophia deadpanned a unsympathetic "Oops." She pulled her leg back from where it had tripped Taylor over, "You need to be more careful Taylor, you're so clumsy."
The girl laid on the ground for another moment, before putting her hands under her and getting up. Without looking back at the three of them, she brushed herself off, collected her notebook, and the newly-empty frames of her glasses, and walked away.
"...That was weird." Sophia muttered.
"See!"
"Taylor's getting cocky." Emma commented, "Why?"
"Maybe the locker backfired?" Madison offered, "Maybe... I don't know, she thinks the worst is behind her, or something stupid like that?"
"Maybe she just liked it." Emma said, loud enough for some of the other students nearby, who had watched without comment- as they always did, to hear. She got a few nervous laughs out of the crowd.
"...I want to know what's in that journal." Sophia said suddenly, "She seems to be putting so much effort in it, it'd be a shame if she lost it."
The three girls smiled.
That January day had been terrible to be sure, but now, I liked to think of it as a rebirth! I went into that godforsaken metal box but a monkey, and from that steel egg hatched a beautiful and brilliant homo sapien! Never before had my thoughts been so clear! It was as if I, and every other fool who wandered around were nothing but pretenders with clouded, limited minds. But now, now I could see the world for what it really was!
Something full of opportunity!
It was, just, so, BRILLIANT!
And oh so wasted! Drab buildings, sour faces, uselessly spent resources, filthy creatures and people we'd be better off without slithered the streets like so many vermin!
I had to show them the way. But of course, the world isn't kind to visionaries like me. It wasn't kind to me at all, now that I think of it, even before the locker. But regardless, I had my vision, I had designs, whispers in my skull just begging to be allowed to be hatched into reality in the world in front of me, but I didn't have the resources. Oh, sure, I could dissassemble the microwave and the television and the landline and take Dad's toolset to our bedframes and tear apart our car, which, really, has such an inefficient design ANYWAY-
But if I did that, it still wouldn't amount to much. I needed raw material! And you know, Dad would be understandably furious and confused. I didn't particularly want to upset him. Especially since he seems to be in a better mood these days. It seems my new bubbly look at life was infectious. Or at least, I hope that's the reason.
A lot of those smiles do seem awkward, and nervous, and maybe a little forced... hmm.
Oh well! I have science to do! The whispers in my head decrease in pressure, at least a little bit, when I put them down on paper. I had been doing just about nothing but for the last... few days? When Dad ushered me to go to School, I didn't particularly feel like lying to him, and when he asked if I was 'emotionally prepared' and 'not too traumatized', I said that I was fine. So off to school I went.
The trio- well, they had tormented me in the past, and for that they would pay. But they just weren't my biggest concern at the moment. So I ignored them in favor of filling my notebook with my brilliant inventions all day.
I suppose I did have to thank them for reminding me to eat- I don't want to get even thinner! -but then of course Sophia just had to trip me, break my glasses. And that, I decided, was the last straw. She hadn't just assaulted me, this time. She had decreased my efficiency! I had to squint and hold my notebook close to even check my own math!
As always, my computer class was my refuge away from the terrible trio and their machinations, and the assignments for the class, which were easy for me before, were simply and absolutely child's play now. I finished my work in seconds, and then held off on submitting it for a few minutes so that the teacher wouldn't be suspicious. After that, I had the internet at my disposal.
Now, what would teach those three a lesson they wouldn't soon forget? My own inventions, well, they tended to be on the large side. Nothing wrong with that, of course, they were beautiful mechanical marvels, and if they were small, well, you couldn't exactly marvel at them! I admit, my weakness, if I have one, is that the ideas that came naturally to me weren't very subtle.
So I began searching online for easy-to-build pranks. The strategy my old, cloud-headed, dreary self had- to wait for them to grow bored. To not react, to ignore them as best as possible, and... hope. And wish. That they would grow bored... it... it wasn't working. And she couldn't see that, because she was clinging to that false hope. She didn't need hope now. What uses is blind faith, after all, when you have knowledge, that you are certain in your destiny? So I would try something different. If they weren't getting the message when I gave them the cold shoulder- well! They wanted my attention, they'll blasted have it!
Hand-buzzer. Simple enough.
I submitted the insultingly easy program (with improvements!) and asked to go to the bathroom.
Once inside, I opened my backpack, drew out my screwdriver, and got to work. I climbed one of the stalls and tore apart the smoke detector, gathering the batteries, wires, and button needed.
It was painfully simple work, and the result just was plain ugly, but it was of course, thanks to my genius, entirely functional.
The next time any of those three blasted ingrates came near me, they'd receive a hearty zap!
I returned to my seat, and began to search the internet for potential suppliers of scrap metal for low costs. Unfortunately, the short-sighted monstrosity that was capitalism denied me the opportunity. With only my meager allowance I could only purchase such a small amount of titanium. And including shipping costs, I couldn't even buy that!
Such a shame.
When I ruled the world, I would do away with such injustices.
"Here she comes."
"Ready?"
"Ready."
They had water balloons, and were waiting at the top of the stairwell. Well, of course they were. But I had deduced they would try something like this. As the three of them waited for me to come up the stairs as I usually did, I had gone up a different set on the other side of the building. Now, the three were so focused on the stairwell below them, that neither Emma nor Madison sensed my approach.
Sophia though, apparently had better instincts.
She whipped around, surprised, as I reached my hand out for Emma.
"Uh oh." I say, as my hand closes around the red-head's arm.
Emma screams, and Sophia does the first thing she thinks of, and pelts me in the face with a water balloon. I slap it away by instinct, and back up, to retreat, when she tackles me to the ground. I slap her with the buzzer, and she shouts as I scramble away, running for it! I suppose that went about as well as I expected. What a blunder on my part though! I should have made two buzzers, and gotten them both at once!
"HEBERT YOU BITCH!" Sophia roars, her feet slapping against the floor as she runs after me.
"How did you like the sting of my revenge Hess?!" I shout back, grinning despite myself. I'm fast courtesy of my long legs, more than anything else, and I was considering taking up early-morning running to try and build up some muscle, but Sophia is on the blasted track team, and she runs like a locomotive.
She shoves me to the ground, and I give her another zap for the trouble. She bites back a hiss, and slams her fist into my face. I zap her again. She hits me again.
We go back and forth and it's so dull.
I should have just gone with my first idea, and constructed a robot to cover them with glue and feathers while they slept. But no, I had to be impatient! Oh well. Better luck next time I suppose.
She manages to stand up, and even as I deliver a continuous shock through her leg, she gives me a kick to the jaw and I'm unconscious.
"Taylor, you look like hell, are you alright?"
I grin, widely, "Of course! Well, a bit sore, understandably, but it was a learning experience, so I can't really complain, now can I?" as it is, much of my face is bandaged, and I'm sporting a black eye over both eyes. I didn't lose any teeth, which I'm fairly grateful about, and no broken bones. Sophia had held back enough to not send me to the hospital. I'd say I was grateful, but I know she only did it to limit the amount of suspicion she'd be under. At least Dad had brought my spare glasses so I wasn't blind as a mole. A creature which actually does have poor eyesight, unlike bats.
"Taylor, I... I shouldn't have made you go to school, it was too early, and- they're talking about prison, Taylor. Or, juvie, I suppose."
"Short-sighted." I sigh, "Don't worry Dad, I'll figure something out-"
"You shouldn't have to. Taylor, I... I found the journal you made."
"The one with the motobug in it, because that one-"
"No, no, the one... where you recorded what they've been doing to you." Dad sighs, and looks so miserable, "I'm... why didn't you ever talk to me?"
"Well, obviously, I thought I could handle it by myself. Obviously, I should have put more preparation into it. At first I was hoping, foolishly, they would just get bored, but when they escalated to the locker, I decided that more active defiance was in need. Thus, the joy buzzer."
"But why didn't you ask for help?"
I shrug, "I did, from the school. Didn't go much of anywhere, they discredited me, the blasted fools. Well- it was actually kind of clever, they had alibis, I didn't."
"But- if the school didn't believe you, couldn't you have told me?"
"And what would you have don-" I stop myself, ugh, people are so fragile. Dad looks so broken. He's already been crying. Hmm.
"I'm sorry. Taylor. I should have.. been a better father, I should have seen the signs, paid more attention-" some percussive maintenance then. I reach over and give the man a hug. Let's see... thirty seconds should do it, right? Neither of us were very touchy-feely people.
Now for some white lies, "You are a good father, Dad." I say, "You've just had so much already on your plate. You've been supporting us alone, fighting through Mom's death, working to revitalize the docks and make the Bay a better place. I was hiding it from you, I didn't want to put more pressure on you. It's not your fault for not seeing, when I was the one keeping it in the dark."
"Th-Thank you, Taylor." I begin to break away from the hug, and he holds tight an additional eight seconds before letting me go. He sighs, and looks around at the office where I was currently serving detention, "But this is a big mess we're in right now, huh?"
"I suppose so." I wish they had confiscated my journal. Or let me have a pencil. Keeping my mind occupied wasn't as satisfying.
Eventually other people came in, police, school staff. Dad argued with people, and I couldn't help but smile at his passionate rage. Then the PRT gets involved, for some reason, and my notebook is handed around, and Dad is pulled away for quiet conversations and OH MY GOD.
That's Armsmaster!
I used to have him on my underwear! And I said that out loud!
God, I want to get my hands on that power armor, and on that halberd! But I know if I did try to take it apart right now, I'd probably get charged with something even worse than assault.
"Hello."
"Greetings! I must apologize for all the chaos, but- well. They deserved it."
"That remains to be seen. As it is, you could end up in juvenile detention. You destroyed school property, and alarm system that was meant to warn others in an emergency. You sneaked weapons-"
"Tools! You're a builder, you know the difference."
"-sneaked objects prohibited from being carried by students in the school into the school. And you constructed a weapon, and used it to attack two of your fellow students, who were unarmed."
"Two students who had been waiting for me in ambush." I respond, "I was justified! More than that, they've been perpetrating assaults worse than that on me for months! It was justice I tell you!"
He doesn't look impressed. Oh well.
"But the words of the student body and of the staff all contradict yours. Teachers have described you as 'antisocial', a 'troublemaker' and 'clumsy'. You've been warned about falsely accusing other students of bullying before. Your word doesn't mean much here."
"No, I suppose it doesn't." I say crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair.
"You're in trouble." Armsmaster states cooly, "But you have an option that I suggest you take. You become a Ward, and we'll make sure you don't go to juvenile detention."
"A... what?"
"A Ward. You're a tinker, it's clear as much from your designs." Armsmaster grunts, pulling out my notebook. He flips through the pages, looking at my rough sketches, math, programs. "One with a specialty for... building robots, it seems. You've made a mistake here, but if you agree to come with us and be a hero, I can assure you that we can make things easier for you. More than that, you'll be acting as a hero. You'll receive resources, laboratories, where you can make your inventions. This is the best option available to you."
He spoke in a no-nonsense sort of way. It was with an intensity that I knew he wanted me to say yes, but he didn't really hit the notes that people usually did when trying to convince others of something.
As it was, this was probably the best option available to me. "Fine." If nothing else, once I had the resources to create my wonderful inventions, it wasn't like they would be able to do anything to stop me! No. Bad Taylor, these are the Protectorate! Besides, my goal is to improve the world Where else should I start, but here?
This was not a mistake!
Oh, it was enough to move me to tears! The lab, the tools, the metal! I had quantity and quality, available at my fingertips!
I got to work immediately.
Armsmaster was nearby, keeping watch, as I rushed from place to place, moving around the lab in a blur. It was possibly the most exhilarating moment of my life! I had never before taken drugs, nor had sex, but I bet both of them would be paltry pleasures to creating my first robot!
For a few brief moments, I was torn between what to create first! I mean, Armsmaster and the other PRT people had told me they just wanted proof that I was a tinker, and not just someone who liked to draw machines and filled pages of notes with math that was incomprehensible to other people. But just about any of the inventions that filled my journals could be used.
But in the end, I thought back to the first few moments after I was truly lucid, and had some time alone to myself. The very first design I drew. It still brought a smile to my face, when I think about it.
My Moto Bug.
Originally, I had planned to grab a motorcycle and break it down into two of these little beauties, but it was easier just to make them from scratch when I had the proper tools.
And, for the first time since my awakening, I did have the proper tools! And all the materials I could want, and if I didn't have something, I could just request it! Speaking of...
"Armsmaster?" I asked, turning to look behind me.
"Yes?" he said from where he sat. He was both observing my first tinkering, and handling his own tasks at the same time.
"I need to request a certain material."
"Yes?"
"I need a live rat."
He didn't seem surprised, or even that curious, and simply nodded, putting in the order for me. Within ten minutes, a man in a lab coat brought me a rat in a wire cage. "Thank you." I say, opening it, grabbing the rat without a moment's hesitation and heading over to the nearly-complete Moto Bug. It had everything it needed to succeed, and now, it just needed the power source.
As soon as the struggling rodent fell into the open chamber of the Moto Bug, it was trapped by a sudden electric field. The creature began to glow green, and the systems on my robot began to activate one by one. The rat was unharmed of course, if anything, I was prolonging its lifespan and improving its existence! No longer would it mindlessly wander its cage with nothing to do but eat or mate, now, it was the heart of my glorious first machine!
The Moto Bug revved to life, balancing easily on its single tire, it began to click, whirr, and growl. My creation, my beautiful robot, is alive! Armsmaster is on his feet immediately, closing his laptop and now with his halberd in hand. He walks over, and holding his halberd in front of him defensively, approaches my machine. The Moto Bug locks eyes on him, and revvs threateningly. "I'd be careful." I say with a smile, "You're coming on a little strong there."
"What's its purpose?" Armsmaster asks, narrowing his eyes.
"Ending high-speed pursuits!" I say proudly, "It follows a fleeing vehicle, catches up to it, then takes out the tires with its adorable little claws there, hm? I call him, the Moto Bug!"
"Hm." he circles the machine, and the Moto Bug follows him with its eyes, antennas twitching. "It has AI?"
"Of course he can think!" I say, "Though I can't particularly vouch for his intelligence. But you don't have to be especially smart if all you do is get told 'Chase, catch, stop'!"
"Well... I think that's proof enough. We'll talk to your father about your position in the Wards and how we'll be handling your criminal case. For now, shut this thing down, and we'll have our people look at it."
"Shut it down?" I ask.
"Yes." he says, "Do it."
"Um." While I'm not a fool, so of course there's redundant self-destruct switches, in case Moto Bug should ever try to turn against me, there isn't what one would call an 'off' switch. I created a method to power a machine nearly forever off a simple organic battery! The machine must be active in order for the field interacting with the animal to continue operating. It essentially fuels itself, forever, for as long as it is on! If I'm going to turn it off, I'd have to remove the animal manually, something I've ensured can't be done, so that no one may tamper with my glorious device! "Um."
"There isn't an off switch?" he asked. "Is there at least a sleep mode?"
"He's a robot! He can work without exhaustion, what would be the point in making it so they have to sleep?"
The man sighs, before turning towards it, "Then we'll have to disassemble it."
"B-But this is my first robot!" I protest, "You can't just kill him-"
"This." Armsmaster begins, "Is a demonstration of your abilities. It was constructed in a PRT lab, with PRT resources. This belongs to us. Now, disassemble it." he orders.
What to do next?
[ ] Flee the scene, save the Badnik! Screw the Protectorate, I'll go off on my own! They will rue the day that they tried to order around Taylor Hebert!
[ ] It's just a machine. I really need the lab, after all. I can listen to orders for a little while longer. Being a Ward might be cool.
[ ] Write-in.
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RULES
- Location
- Minnesota
So; Taylor wakes up with the personality and genius of Doctor Eggman.
This is going to be a pretty casual quest. Each chapter will end with two choices and a "Write-in". Everybody gets one vote, which they can change whenever they want. I encourage discussion, and discourage argument. I'll be trying to make a chapter every day for a while, and then might slow it down to every week.
More than anything else, have fun. This isn't going to be a super-serious story, and if anything terrible happens it'll at the very least be kind of funny. Feel free to suggest anything. It's not exactly crack, but Egg Taylor might be crazy enough to try anything.
This is going to be a pretty casual quest. Each chapter will end with two choices and a "Write-in". Everybody gets one vote, which they can change whenever they want. I encourage discussion, and discourage argument. I'll be trying to make a chapter every day for a while, and then might slow it down to every week.
More than anything else, have fun. This isn't going to be a super-serious story, and if anything terrible happens it'll at the very least be kind of funny. Feel free to suggest anything. It's not exactly crack, but Egg Taylor might be crazy enough to try anything.
Fresh - 1.2
- Location
- Minnesota
"You're a dick."
"Excuse me?"
"I've decided I don't want to take orders from the likes of you!" I declare, grinning.
Armsmaster sighs, "That doesn't change what needs to happen to your robot. Now, disassemble it, or I'll destroy it myself. Afterwards, I'll take you back to the police station and explain to your father how you turned down our aid."
"I'd rather not, thank you! Moto Bug!" I shout, before flourishing a hand towards Armsmaster, "I want that Halberd!"
"You just made a big mistake." he says, but there's a grin behind it. Handling what he thought an arrogant child was something he couldn't do in the slightest, but an enemy? My own eyes sparkle as he gets into a position to fight. He's already underestimating me, of course. After all, he himself had seen me build the Moto Bug. He knew there were no hidden guns, no bombs, no energy beams or plasma blades. The material of the Moto Bug, while tough, wasn't anything he couldn't shear through with his halberd's plasma blade. Of course Armsmaster would underestimate my creation, knowing all of these things!
But what he didn't know, couldn't know, was why I needed the rat. It's the core factor of all of my inventions that are worth anything. The natural chaotic energies of the universe, untapped and unknown by man, yet utilized in trace amounts in every living thing! I didn't know what it was, but I knew how to use it.
The Chaos energy is nearly infinite! By using a complex living organism as a focal point, I have created a robot that has access to unlimited power!
Sure, it might not be the flashiest thing on Earth.
But what was important was that it could do more than Armsmaster thought it could. I grin savagely, and my robot had already begun the attack. Armsmaster's halberd is already shifting, the plasma-blade emerging and igniting even as he swings it toward my robot.
My robot, which has just accelerated faster than Armsmaster expected.
Moto Bug slams into Armsmaster's chest at about 90 mph, the steel surface of the lab table dented by the enormous force the wheel put on it in the few seconds they were in contact while it was accelerating. When I build something for high-speed pursuit, I blasted build something for HIGH SPEED PURSUIT! He was designed to be able to be able to catch up to something moving at the speed of sound! Armsmaster is sent flying, and his halberd falls from his hand and lands in mine- ooh! That would have been nasty if I still wasn't wearing insulated gloves.
Moto Bug lands with a clunk, the outside chassis dented from the impact. A pained groan from the hero informs me he's still alive, so I don't have to worry about murder charges on top of everything else quite yet.
I turn, shove as many things from the desk into a tool box, close it, and climb on top of Moto Bug. I laugh triumphantly as we take off down the halls. My good mood is dampered a bit when my new halberd simply vanishes from my hands, but, hey, I got a robot and a whole case of new tools out of my visit! Not too shabby!
Of course, Armsmaster isn't the only hero in the building. As I rumbled down the maze of hallways, alarms began going off. Over the intercom a warning of "Rogue Tinker-Master-Mover" began repeating itself, as well as the occasional update on my position.
The Rig was a mess of towers and smaller facilities, all tightly-packed and interconnected. I didn't know the lay of the land, but the Protectorate ostensibly did. More than that, the other members of the PRT did as well.
Moto Bug was fast enough that we were more-or-less a blur. We simply blasted around and between the regular PRT, but soon we found ourselves in trouble.
At the end of a longer hallway, waiting for us, was Triumph. Big gold lion head and skin-tight suit and everything. He didn't give much warning before the solid wall of sound knocked me from my saddle. The Moto Bug wasn't as effected, but my loyal robot puttered back to my side rather than push onwards.
In front of me, a currently-unbreakable obstacle. Behind me, PRT troopers who had seen me buzz past and were coming running. To my side, according to a very helpful sign, is break-room 112. Hm.
"Moto Bug! To me!" I push myself back up and quickly open the door. Triumph yells something on the other side, but it isn't one of his super-yells, so I just ignore it.
"YES! Moto Bug, the windows!" The break room has a view of Brockton Bay through the window, although the Rig's force-field makes the colors all feel far too bright. But what it does mean is that on the other side of those windows is open ground, rather than more hallways!
The robot sputters in affirmation, before charging for the window and- smashing through the wall under it. And... dropping.
"Moto Bug?" I rush to the window looking down. Whew! Not... too much of a drop. Moto Bug is looking up at me, waiting for his next order, and appears to be functioning. But then again, I'm not made of titanium. I'm still debating whether or not to try and just let myself drop, or try to hastily make a pully and rope out of something in the room, when Triumph smashes through the door I entered from and lets loose a blast of solid sound.
Which sends me flying through the hole.
"CATCH ME!" I command as I go sailing, and my robot follows me below. I nearly lose my lunch as I go cartwheeling, and nearly black out when my back meets rounded titanium. "Agh!!" It's... oh god that hurts... better than landing on the concrete. Moto Bug has a bit of bounce, due to his tires and shock system, so it cushioned me but dear god that hurt.
"Ugh. I want off this island. Head for the side closest to the city. I flipped myself over, and managed to straddle my robot once more, but I was going to be lying down for a long time when this was over. Moto Bug begins to accelerate, when I realize something and shout "WAIT!"
We turn around, I grab my toolbox, and then we renew our efforts to get out of this place.
"Colin, you alright?" Miss Militia asked, "Do we need to call in Panacea?"
"I'll... I'll be fine. Just got caught off guard." he muttered darkly, looking down at the dent in his power armor. He was slightly embedded in a wall,
"What the hell happened?"
"Recently-triggered tinker. A master-mover combo. She specializes in building high-power drones with specialized uses. The one she built for me was apparently a high-speed pursuit drone."
"Then how did it do that to you?"
"According to the recording, it went from zero to 90 and crashed into me." he muttered, "High-speed pursuit."
"Hm. Velocity?"
"He would be able to best handle it. But he and Dauntless are on patrol right now."
"Should we call him back?"
"...She's just one girl." Armsmaster muttered, pushing himself back to his full height. Miss Militia moved to support him, but he waved her off, "With one tool. We'll take her down soon enough. Hopefully then she can be made to see reason- or it'll be juvenile detention."
I'm speeding around the edges of the Rig, and I just know that I'm running out of time. Even if no one here can keep up with the Moto Bug even at speeds where I won't go flying off, soon they'll decide to just begin spraying the perimeter with quick-hardening foam and things will get very inconvenient.
Blasted idiots! All of them! But as it is, I can't exactly escape. The force field surrounds the whole area in a bubble. The only way in or out is if the people manning the force field want to let you.
"Grrrr! Come on, I need to get to a computer!"
We head for a close-by facility, and charge our way in. The PRT troopers already inside are sent sprawling, and I hop off my robot and close myself in a room. "Moto Bug! Don't let anyone in!" my loyal mechanical marvel dutifully stands by the door, holding it shut against the pushing of the quicker-thinking PRT agents outside.
I turn on a computer and begin going to work. Now... for the hard part.
My fingers are a blur as I begin attempting to do something many have likely tried and failed before- hacking the Protectorate.
I don't have to do much hacking, not really! I don't give a damn about their secret identities, or plans, or satellites or records or whatever! I'm just looking for schematics! Maps! Layouts of the Rig.
Come on! It shouldn't be this hard to find, every PRT trooper in the building needs to know how to get from place to place don't they?
AH! "Bingo." I say evilly, running my eyes over the displays. I then knock the computer over, and begin tearing it apart.
I don't have a rat on hand, so batteries will have to do.
Ahhh- even though I'm being hunted by superheroes and have men with guns banging down on the door, it just feels so damn good to actually be making something! It's not the same thrill as Moto Bug- that lab, I'll miss it- but it's good all the same.
Caterkiller. This one isn't exactly the same as what I sketched down in my notebook. It's barely much bigger than a rat itself, but even though it only serves one purpose, there is a beautiful elegance to it if I say so myself!
Really, I do prefer working with bigger machines, but it'll have its use. As soon as I put the finishing touches on it, I drop the little robot in front of an air vent. Without waiting for any orders- it's not smart enough to process any, anyway, -my newest creation flies in.
Now, it was just a game of keep-away.
There's four other computers in the room, and I disassemble them in much the same way as the first. I create three things: A radio with three buttons on it, and two bombs. The first bomb goes on the outside-facing wall. The second goes in the toolbox, and the radio remains in my hand. Grinning, I back behind the desk, and hit the first button on the radio. The wall goes down, and I start running back to the relative saftety of open air. "Moto Bug!"
"She's been circling the place." Triumph reported as he jogged over to Miss Militia and Armsmaster. "I think she knows she's trapped."
"Good." Armsmaster said, "Are Assault and Battery in place?"
"They will be." Miss Militia said.
Armsmaster smiled grimly. He'd like to see what happened when the girl's machine tried what it did to him on Assault. And hopefully afterwards she'd acknowledge her own limitations and get with the program. Although... no matter how useful an additional Tinker is, she had a troublesome personality.
Looking at her school records she was a bad egg. Repeated reports of clumsiness, bordering on self-injury, property damage, being a loner, being aggressive towards other students and repeatedly accusing and framing other children of actions the school proved to their own satisfaction were committed by her. Shadow Stalker's own analysis of her character didn't earn her any points either. The Protectorate already had one loner with a bad attitude and control issues in the Wards trying to avoid juvie. Adding another one might be more problematic than it was worth. Especially a girl so... megalomaniacal.
The girl needed therapy, he thought, more than anything else. But as long as she was running around attacking members of the PRT and the Protectorate, she needed to be stopped. And stopped hard.
"Hey!" I recognized the all-red bodysuit of one-half of the Battery and Assault team. I actually liked the two of them quite a bit, as far as heroes go. Considered Battery to be an inspiration, once upon a time. "Kid, you've had your fun, but it's time to give it up. Step away from the lady bug, put down the box, and we'll see if we can put this all behind us, huh?"
"Ohohohoho! No, I don't think so. I propose an alternate deal, you make an opening in the force field, me and Moto Bug leave without any further damage."
"I'm afraid we can't do that." Assault said, his tone was casual and friendly, even as he slowly advanced, his arms held slightly raised in front of him.
"Then we're at an impasse." I say, "Very well. How about this- give me my opening in the field, my force field-road back to the city, or I take down the field entirely." I threaten, still grinning, "You leave me a proper opening, and it's just business as usual. The entire field goes down entirely, for the first time since it went up? People will need explanations!" I laugh once more, throwing my arms wide, "I've broken a few rules, knocked Armsmaster around a little bit, and destroyed what- two walls? Five computers? All in all, I haven't done anything especially bad, no?"
"First I heard about the computers."
"Drat. But still! Isn't it better that we just go our separate ways, and I promise I won't come back? Scouts honor." I say, placing one hand over my heart.
"Nuh-uh." Assault sighed, "Well, we warned you. Battery!"
"As did I." I just know that she's charging towards me from behind, she had been hidden around the corner of one of the buildings, increasing her charge. But I hit the third button on my remote, and somewhere deep within the Rig my Caterkiller carries out its simple programming.
Battery is nearly upon us, so Moto Bug has started taking evasive actions, heading towards Assault, before swerving around him. The gray and blue heroine has caught up, however, and she delivers a super-powered punch to her partner that leaves him, of course, unharmed, but has given him his own supply of kinetic force to launch himself after me. Really, three pseudo-speedsters, making laps around the edges of the Rig. I'm barely in the lead, but Battery is doing something that's occasionally tugging and messing with Moto Bug. Magnetic secondary effect, or something similar.
I don't have to stay ahead of them forever, though.
The Caterkiller does its job. I sent it deep into the bowels of the Rig, and it has since located the force field generator. It begins to eat as a caterpillar does; finding wires and biting them, finding buttons and pressing against them. Finding circuit boards and disks and scratching them. Absolute chaos. Bit by bit it will render the generator in its entirety destroyed.
Soon the shimmering orb around the Rig begins to shudder, flicker, and warp. New bubbles form on its surface, where in other areas it spikes up in cones. Long shimmering force field-roads spike in and out of existence in various directions along its side.
"What the hell?"
"Ohohoho! I told you! Never doubt my genius! Now! Moto Bug, into the deep blue sea!"
We keep going along our previous path. I'm not sure if I caught that in the wind, and the odd noise of a kinetic field warping, and the shouts of the superheroes behind me, but... was that a reluctant refusal? "Moto Bug! The ocean!"
Another electric whine. Defiance!? "Now!" I growl, "Or so help me- are you worried you'll sink?! You're like, forty percent rubber tire! We'll float! Don't be such a baby!" properly reassured, ugh, Moto Bug finally does the logical thing and turns towards the edge of the Rig. "Full speed ahead! And I mean full speed!"
"Puppy!" Assault shouts, but he's too late! The two of us are already racing for the edge, the field is flickering, bending, if we keep going, we'll breach the field and we'll be clear!
But then Battery gives him a flying leap that almost flashed. The energy crackled through her, and the glowing blue has vanished, instead, Assault is moving like a red blur, a living dynamo that is- also heading for the edge of the Rig?! Nononono! "No! Moto Bug! Halt, turn, swerve-!"
He manages to tackle us, and it's like all the forward momentum we had going is just sapped away. Assault himself goes flying, but he lands and manages to make several fast, long, lopes back towards us. Damn it! I need to build up more speed!
"Loop back! Loop back! Build up speed- Go go go!" I order, and the Moto Bug does as I tell it, its engines rumbling with worry. Luckily, if anything, the longer we take, the more the force field dissipates. Soon, there'll be openings all over it, I'll have my pick of escape points! Yes! Just, just keep looking at the good points Taylor!
Assault is gaining on me again.
But I'm already moving quite fast again, the Moto Bug accelerates like no-one's business.
There! A hole! We turn, and not giving myself any time to think about it, we're sailing out over open air.
Now, if Moto Bug keeps his tire spinning, I should be fine when we hit the water, right? The forward acceleration will cancel out the downward momentum, or, pull it along with and who am I kidding. I wrap my arms and legs around the metal bug and wrench my eyes shut and hope we don't splatter.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
"Oh my god." Assault mutters, watching as the metal bug and its rider skip against the sea's surface, splashing horribly each time, until it managed to stabilize itself. The rider was somehow not dislodged, and Assault just, frankly, couldn't believe it.
"That's- that has got to be some kind of shaker ability, it has to be. She should be a pancake."
"Oh my god." the metal bug swerved like a speedboat, turning towards shore.
"That's not normal, right? I mean, she's a tinker- is it an ability of the machine? Some kind of super-shock absorption? How is she even holding on after all that?!"
"...You think we should call the hospital and see if she shows up?" he asked, seeming to shake himself out of it. The robot managed to get to shore, climb up the rocks, and make its way to the boardwalk. At that point, he just couldn't make out much else.
The other members of the Protectorate on the Rig quickly joined the two at the edge, Armsmaster staring upwards in horror, practically shaking with rage.
"The Rig's shields have never been breached." he growled, "We were famous for it." The Rig was his. He was the leader of ENE, it was his responsibility, and that girl- she just walked all over it, "I'm heading down to the boats." he muttered, "Miss Militia, can you get a shot on the robot?"
In a green-and-black flash of energy, she was looking down the barrel of a sniper rifle. "No." she said, frowning, "It's already way out of any range I'd be comfortable with, and either way, its already among the buildings. I think we may have lost this one."
Being a living skipping stone wasn't an experience I ever want to relive, but it was definitely a unique one. Oh well, all's well that ends well? Right now, my greatest priority is finding somewhere to sleep off my multitude of bruises. But first, status check:
I'm alive but in quite a bit of pain, but, hey, learning experience! Moto Bug is functioning and isn't too worse for wear, and, hey, also alive! I've got some professional tools, which I suppose I should check over to make sure they haven't been bugged, and I've also given the Protectorate ample reason to fear my genius- which may not be a good thing, in the long run, but Damn it felt good! Er, not good, but exhilarating! Satisfying!
Now, however, lies a conundrum. The Protectorate will probably have someone sent over to my house, so that's not really an option as a resting spot. I'll have to put together some kind of messenger robot to tell Dad I'm fine and will continue to be so. It's so nice, really.
I mean, I took apart the smoke detector at the school, sure, but I felt so justified in fighting the Trio that it didn't really matter to me at the time, I just saw an opportunity and took it. But now that I'm very much on the wrong side of the law... options have opened up to me. The world is full of so many more opportunities I'm curious I didn't see it before. I mean, sure, the Protectorate and the police will be after me, but I can handle that if I've proved anything today. But now I don't have to worry about silly things like needing money, or asking permission, or holding myself back!
Moto Bug has been taking me along the sidewalk, to avoid the cars, and I'm not even worried! After all, the people are easy enough to swerve around.
It's okay, of course. In the long-run, these freedoms will allow me to create such wonders that any debt I may owe morally or legally to society will get paid back in full. Heck, when I run the world, I can just pardon myself of all my previous crimes!
We pass by a costume shop, and pat my robot twice to make him stop, "Go back to that store, there." I mumble. He returns to it, and pushes his way in using his claws, I'm still too dead tired and sore all over to really get up and walk around on my own here. Maybe some kind of wire frame under my clothes... hmmm.
The clerk stares at me and my bruises and my Moto Bug, and seems trapped by his own hesitation. Moto wanders the halls at a brisk pace. A bright red pirate jacket with big gold buttons catches my eye, and I snag it from the shelf, open the packaging right then and there, and shrug it over my shoulders. The hat is tacky- made of cheap plastic on the underside, so I throw it away. Likewise I have no need for an eye-patch, and while a metal hook would have had some use, it's more cheap plastic.
Moto Bug sputters back towards the entrance, and I level a glare at the clerk, "I need a disguise." I order, "Something to hide my face. Chop chop!"
"Um." but he seems to blink, and reaches behind him- almost blindly, and produces a pair of Groucho Glasses.
I almost throw it back at him, but I'm exhausted, and honestly? This would better hide my identity than some domino mask would anyway. I think I read somewhere that the Protectorate doesn't give out the real names of Capes, even villains, but I still would rather the average person on the street doesn't immediately connect my father to some supervillain. I accept the glasses, fake nose, and bushy mustache combo, and put it on my face, before we push back out of the store and sputter along the road.
I'll make something better when I have the time.
Now... I need a blasted bed! And maybe some kinda pain killer.
Power set:
Tinker 8 - Controller - specialty in robots and mechas using Chaos Control as a fuel source.
Master 6 - Able to build sentient machines with a variety of abilities of their own to act as minions.
Brute 3 - Able to operate in spite of pain quite well, has a dramatic increase in her probability of surviving in general when near a source of Chaos Control.
Thinker 2 - Able to understand and learn the workings of machines incredibly quickly.
[ ] Go to one of the gangs.
-[ ] The Merchants
-[ ] E88
-[ ] ABB
[ ] Look for somewhere abandoned.
[ ] Write-in
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Fresh - 1.3
- Location
- Minnesota
She's a composite Eggman. When I was younger I watched the 4Kids Sonic X, as well as reading the Archie Comic Book, so I'm most familiar with those versions. But I've also seen the more recent Sonic Boom TV show, and, of course, played a good portion of the games, and Taylor here is kind of a mish-mash between all their personalities. She's a good deal less murderous than the comic Eggman, but also quite a bit more competent than Boom, and more reckless than X.
Any Eggman inventions from the games, the comics, the shows, etc. is fair game to suggest for her to build, as long as she could conceivably access the required materials.
There were a number of abandoned buildings in Brockton Bay. Entire areas where apartment buildings were left mostly unused by their proper owners. In places like that, the homeless, gangers, druggies, anyone who wasn't welcome by society at large were welcome.
Not that I'd consider that kind of rabble to be anywhere near the same league as myself! But I too was now an outcast of society. A supervillain. At least until I gather enough power to show the world the truth: That I am a visionary, the girl who deserves, more than anyone else, to be the ruler of the world!
I find a relatively empty building. The few squatters that inside took one look at the primary colors, mask, and adorable robot, and decided to wisely vacate the premises. First things first, I need a bed.
"Moto Bug, guard duty." I order, once we find an old ratty mattress and some crusty blankets. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to go out and procure better supplies for myself. Clothes, food, blankets, a better mattress. And metal. Well... now that I think about it, this is Brockton Bay. The boat graveyards alone should be enough to provide for all my needs in the short time, and if not, I can hang around the fringes whenever the Empire goes on the warpath. Kaiser and Hookwolf leave behind so much raw metal all over the place whenever they fight other heavy hitters. Hmmm.
Ah well! A thought for another time!
I go over all the tools in my toolbox, as well as look over the box itself, and can't find any tracking devices. That doesn't mean that there aren't any, of course, but it does mean that if there are then I can't exactly do anything. These tools are too valuable to throw away on a baseless assumption.
I curl up in the blanket, pointedly ignore the terrible smell, and close my eyes.
When I awake from my nap, I'm still covered in bruises, of course, the night is young and I have plans!
Moto Bug of course doesn't sleep, and I can tell from the trail in the dusty floor that he had been quietly circling my bed for the last few hours without much deviation. Grinning, I stand up, fetch the tool box, and begin searching the building.
Most electronics in the building have long-since been hauled away and pawned, but some of the apartments have old ovens, old fridges, dish washers, etc. Within two hours I've gathered quite the large pile of scrap, and Moto Bug lugged it into the apartment I had chosen as my temporary base of operations.
The next twenty minutes involved a lot of cutting, bending, wrenching, and polishing. Armsmaster's tools are top-notch, and definitely up to the task. Without any computers to scavenge I have to create my own circuits from scratch. Mice and rats are plentiful enough in the area, and catching a few isn't too much trouble. The materials aren't the best, but they'll do.
I have decided to make some more robots. I can't just rely on Moto Bug for everything after all. Though I must say, I really do need a proper lab to work out of. The difference between Moto Bug and the other Badniks I've built (I'm a villain! I'll embrace the title!) is a stark one.
Moto Bug is a good deal larger for one, almost two and a half feet tall and about as wide. My newest Badniks, called Crabmeat One, Two, Three, and Four, are only about a foot and a half tall. Without any tires, they'll have to propel themselves with their legs.
When considering speed, they're seriously lacking compared to Moto Bug's blistering pace, but that's not where their strength lies!
No, that would be the packets of explosive Chaos Energy that each one of my four new minions are capable of launching from each of their claws every three or so seconds! It doesn't have half the potency of a grenade, but I don't particularly want that level of damage anyway. For the purpose of security and making believable threats, it'll be more than enough! Some preliminary testing showed that the Crabmeat's bombs could blow down walls, leave a smoldering crater in solid steel, and while I didn't have any real way or intention to test it, I was fairly sure getting hit by one would be fairly lethal for most people.
"Crabmeats! Follow me! It's time we go do some shopping!"
A simple wagon was but the work of a few moments. I would ride on top of Moto Bug, and the Crabmeats would sit in the wagon, pulled along behind us. It was about the size of a regular car, and I had no choice but to use the actual streets. Dodging around pedestrians was easy enough when it was just Moto Bug, but now he had a huge metal cart following his every move.
I was still in the worse part of town. There were fewer cops, for one thing, and it helped I was more or less given a wide berth by just about everyone. You didn't get more obviously Parahuman than bright colors and robots. Merchant and E88 gang signs decorated just about every other street corner, and the few businesses that still ran nearby were pretty clearly a front for one group or another. But that suited me just fine.
I mean, I did technically mug that clerk at the costume shop when I took the beaglepuss and the pirate outfit without paying, but it was so small. And, for that matter, they were a pressing necessity. But I still didn't feel exactly okay stealing from innocent people if I didn't really need to. But if the shops were simply fronts for those druggie/nazi bastards I didn't give a damn.
The small-time furniture store run by a skin-head didn't have any actual beds, but an okay fold-out couch was carried out by my Crabmeats and loaded into the Moto-Wagon. A corner store that passed drugs for the merchants didn't have much in terms of actual groceries, but it had frozen pizzas, waffles, energy drinks, candy, and other various foodstuffs. Also, as a fun surprise, I can't believe I didn't think of it, there's all kinds of useful things for sale! Electric toys, batteries, cigarette lighters, cell phone chargers, little electric fans, aerosol cans! Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors, tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors! Things I can use! Individual parts I can scavenge rather than needing to make from scratch!
I was so thankful I didn't even break the door down on my way out!
Next on my list was raw materials for building. There wasn't much chance of a computer store being run by anyone I wouldn't feel a little guilty over robbing, but I knew that I wouldn't be wanting for scrap metal. But as Moto Bug pulled our clunky vehicle down the road, I couldn't help but feel that it was... inconvenient. If I tried to head into the busier parts of the city with this setup traffic would be infuriating, and might also mean needing to make a choice between fighting the police and abandoning the more cumbersome wagon so that I could flee on Moto Bug.
What I needed was some kind of cargo helicopter. Or something like it. Maybe quieter.
Filling my belly and positioning the couch where I wanted it, I decided to turn my genius towards this goal.
Among the supplies procured from the corner store are notebooks and pens, I lose myself in planning for nearly an hour, before I strike upon a design that just feels right. Mobile, adaptable, sturdy as hell, and would be able to get me around the city without needing to deal with traffic or drawing too much attention- because really, when did people ever actually look up?
Taking the wagon down to the boat graveyard I set the crabmeat on blasting apart the husks and dragging the more sizable pieces back to the wagon. Consigning myself to multiple trips, metal was piled until Moto Bug began to make nervous noises, at which point we headed back for headquarters.
The night came and went. The morning arrived, and with it, the framework of my beautiful vehicle. It was going to be a free-floating, almost silent, machine capable of interacting magnetically with all kinds of modules from its bottom side. The small wings allowed for greater maneuverability . In the front of the vehicle was a Chaos energy packet launcher, but modified for far greater output than my Crabmeats can handle! The vehicle was planned to seat one, and the dashboard would be arrayed with multiple monitors, every kind of input jack I could think of, keyboards, switches, and buttons! I think I might hit some computer stores for those parts just for the sake of convenience. The idea had evolved, from simply being convenient transportation, to a kind of mobile throne.
I could see it now! From this vehicle I could integrate with, make contact with, and command all my other creations! It was designed to be extremely durable, fast, and powerful. It would out-run and out-fly any mundane helicopter with utter ease!
At some point in the night, it occurred to me the smooth black semisphere that made up its bottom and the magnetic module-connecting device gave the entire machine a kind of cute egg shape. Wider closer to the bottom, and then tapering up with the high, rounded windshield. The idea was charming to me, so I named it the Egg Mobile 1!
There was glass aplenty among the wrecked ships of the graveyard, but re-purposing that into the shape I desired for the windshield and also to make all my monitor screens was a bit complicated. All of it was, really. Without the stolen tinker-made blowtorches and my Badniks able to hold sheets of metal in place and bend it to my specifications, building something so big would have been a pipe dream! But who is Taylor Hebert other than the girl who will make her dreams reality!?
I worked through the day, occasionally going off when some necessary part had to cool to fill my face with more snacks.
Its tiresome work, bringing such marvelous things to life!
Now... while, technically, because Chaos power is essentially infinite, just one Chaos battery should be able to energize a Badnik for all time. But even though the battery acts as a connection to that infinite energy, there's only so much that can be pulled at a time. It doesn't matter that you've made a perpetual motion machine if all the energy it produces is only enough to keep a light bulb lit, even if that light can keep going on forever. It'll take more than what a rat produces per second in order to make this thing levitate, and even more than that for my CEP Launcher.
I could just grab a bunch of rats, but the Chaos extractor is only really built to hold one animal in stasis at a time. I could make a bunch of extractors, but it'd be a waste of metal, when I can just grab a bigger animal and make use of that.
Once I have one, it'll be complete. I'm thinking an animal about seventy pounds or more. Now... where to go for it?
[ ] Go to the trainyards and wreck one of the E88's god-forsaken dog-fighting rings. I'll have the pick of the litter to power the Egg Mobile 1, and I can clear out some space for the others. Having them around for the next time I build something big will be useful, but feeding them until then might be troublesome... Oh yeah, and Hookwolf will be mad. That might be a factor.
[ ] Go to the city, and buy something at the pound. A simple solution, really! And the next time I need another one, I can just go back!
[ ] Write-In.
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Fresh - 1.4
- Location
- Minnesota
I was considering my options. One thought had me pumping myself up to go and fight Hookwolf and break up his dogfighting ring. That idea was shot down because, well, I got beat up by Sophia Hess. And she didn't even have superpowers! It didn't matter that my Badniks would be doing the majority of the fighting, because against Hookwolf? There would be casualties. That and, I wasn't actually sure of what to do with that many dogs. How many dogs were even at a dog fight? Were there just two, or did they have just... like a big, evil pile-
I'm stopping before I make myself sad. The Empire will have what's coming to them eventually.
The point is, not the smart thing to do, and I was a genius. Going to the pound was a better option, but thinking about that, an even simpler approach was made clear to me. The pound was simply a re-seller of dogs! Why would I go to them, and pay money and or steal from them, (either of which would gather attention) when I could just go to the source of stray dogs itself? The streets!
I still went to the area near the train yards where the E88 hang out, but rather than go looking for Empire dog fights, I looked for the survivors of such, or their descendants, or just random street dogs that come to hang out around here because of the garbage that the gangers leave behind.
The Crabmeats are sent off as a group. After my trip to the corner store, I had some electronics I could take apart to figure out how radios worked, and keyed all four of my Badniks to the same unused channel. It wasn't secure, but I... didn't know how one goes about securing a radio channel anyway? And I don't have a computer on me to research how, so this would have to do. I didn't have a radio myself, but the Crabmeats can communicate with Moto Bug, and I can communicate with Moto Bug, so as soon as they find a potential candidate, the two of us know.
Once Moto Bug gets the signal, we pull the wagon, now reconfigured for dog-containing purposes with its new door and lock, towards where the Crabmeats have apparently found the Egg Mobile's power source.
The furious barking should be the first thing that alerts me to something being wrong, but it's not until I hear the sounds of Chaos energy packets exploding was the first thing to make me actually worried. I unhook the wagon, and the two of us speed towards the sounds of destruction.
The sight of three massive monstrous things swatting at my three cornered- just three? Where's-
"NOOOOO!" I scream, and the chaos in front of me comes to a startled stop as the Crabmeats- the remaining ones, rush to my side. Poor babies! Crabmeat number Two! You were not long for this world, yet I will never forget you!
Somehow it's even worse than if Number One or Four died! You can't just go One, Three, Four!
The three Crabmeats had been cornered nearby two large shipping containers by the monsters. One of the monsters had stepped on, or fallen on, or something, Crabmeat Two, and crushed it before I arrived. But it must have happened only a few moments ago, because it hadn't yet-
The monsters backed up in surprise as Crabmeat Two erupted in a blaze of final glory. Never would one of my inventions be destroyed, and then studied by the enemy! For this reason, thorough self-destructs were a key factor of every Badnik. Be free, my glorious machine, the first of my number to die in the pursuit of their duties. May the fires of your self-destruct mechanism explosively launch your soul directly to robot Valhalla! Mechalla? Valhallectric?
The sudden fireball doesn't expand very far. The self-destruct isn't a weapon. I don't design suicide bombers. Or rather, I didn't design the Crabmeats, or Moto Bug for that matter, to be suicide bombers. It's simply to prevent reverse engineering. And to that end... once the light dims down, the Crabmeat is only so much mechanical sludge, a contained lump of melted metal with no remnants of my circuitry, their mechanical brains, the CEP launchers, or my Chaos Extractor. Well, a lump of metal, and a glowing orb of Chaos energy holding a rat, still in stasis. It rolled away, before fading. The rat sniffed the air, took notice of the monsters, and fled.
It seems that both I and my enemies were captivated by the last moments of Crabmeat Two, but now that the theatrics had ended, the monsters were turning their attention to me. There's a whistle, and a detail I understandably initially overlooked made itself known. The monsters were directed, by a bulky person wearing a dog mask. One of the massive creatures hurtled itself towards me, a horrible growl coming from its throat, and Moto Bug didn't need my directions to know that it was time to flee.
"Crabmeats! I want you to hide! Your top priority is returning to headquarters undamaged!" the three scatter, heading off in various directions, and I direct Moto Bug out of the corner and towards the labyrinth of alleyways, shipping containers, unloaded train cars, and the like. We are, of course, faster than it by orders of magnitude, not to mention far more maneuverable! The precise movements of my finest Badnik far outclassing any organic attempts at locomotion! Well, except for people like Velocity, but they didn't really count.
Inside me, two desires raged. The first was the desire for safety. That dog-mask person had directed what amounted to a dinosaur to chase me! I didn't even have my damn Egg Mobile yet! Nothing I had could stand up to that! It had killed one of my Badniks!
But it was precisely for those reasons that my second desire, the desire for revenge, burned so hot!
I narrowed my eyes, ground my teeth, cursed at the sky, and forced my pride back. Later. Later I would find that person... and do something. I'm not sure yet, but something! Crabmeat Two deserved vengeance!
All three of the Crabmeats made it back in one piece, and I gave them all a look-over and a diagnostic before heading back out to pick up the wagon. I had asked the Crabmeats where the most wild dogs had been spotted, and they had given their radio replies to Moto Bug, who was carrying me there. All three of the Crabmeats would be riding on top of it, and were instructed to fire from a distance should the giant monsters and their master show up again.
We slow to a stop as I look at the area the Crabmeats had apparently tried sheparding a dog away from. It, like my own base, was in a part of town where only the more desperate homeless, gangers, and drug addicts hung out. The area was in a building that looked like it had stopped half-way through construction. The groundfloor was more-or-less complete, but it was otherwise just a frame, and a good part of the walls-enclosed area was open to the sky.
There was also the constant sound of barking rising from it. More than that, wild dogs seemed to visit the area often. There's food around, it smells like other dogs, and there's not many people who shoo them away.
I watch, interested, for a while, and eventually I see the dog-mask person again. I rescind my shoot-on-sight orders, and have them remain where they are as I inch forward. The monsters aren't anywhere in sight, and more than that, Dog-Mask walks like they're exhausted.
"Greetings!" I shout, making a wide threatening smile.
Dog-Mask whips around, surprised, and I swear they growl. The dogs closest to them begin to growl as well, closing ranks in front of them like a well-oiled machine. "Get out of here." they- she? -orders.
"No, 'who are you?' No, 'how did you find me?' No, 'I'm sorry for killing one of your beautiful robotic minions?' How rude."
"Get. Out." and like that, the three dogs closest to her begin to grow and twist, subtly, slowly, eerily. Flesh bubbled, spikes rose, muscles tore and grew and calcified. It was... utterly fascinating, really, but I'm not that big a fan of biology.
"Hey now, just wait. Why did you kill my robot?" I ask, and the smile vanishes, "What gave you the right to murder my creation, hm?"
"What gives you the right to have them menace dogs?"
"Was it your dog in particular?"
"No." and no more explanation after that. Hm. A general defender of canine rights, then?
...
I can work with that.
"I needed one."
That seems to confuse her, so I keep going, "The dog wouldn't have been harmed. I'm not going to experiment on it, poke or prod it. I would put it in stasis. My machines are powered by living things- you saw, didn't you?"
"See what?"
"The rat, inside dear, sweet, dead Crabmeat number Two. Even after it was crushed by your beast, and bathed in the flames of the remains' self-destruct, the field wasn't damaged. And after the field evaporated, it ran away, utterly unharmed in body and mind! That was what I was going to do to the dog."
"Look for more rats." she ordered, "And leave me alone."
"...That's a lot of barking going on in there-"
"You aren't getting one of my dogs." Never once in our conversation did the three stop growing. Already they were far bigger than ordinary dogs, bigger than even tigers, I think. Not quite rhinos yet though.
"I would never ask!" I say, "No, all that I'm saying is, you already have so many mouths to feed. Are all the wild dogs in the area yours as well? Do you feed and brush them all? No, no you don't. But you don't like seeing them get hurt, that I understand well enough. And what I do, does not hurt them! If anything, they'll be better off! When inside the stasis, they are far safer than on the street! I'm extending its lifespan!"
She stares at me, the dog mask hiding every semblance of emotion from me, but from body language alone, I can tell she's uncomfortable, and doesn't like or trust me. I sigh, expecting it'll come to a fight anyway- but to my surprise, the monsters are no longer growing. "...I watch."
"You... watch?"
"I want to see what you do with it." she growls, "And if you're lying, I'll kill you."
I flash a brilliant grin, and she tenses, "And if I'm not lying?"
"Then you don't come near me again."
Bitch, as she named herself, follows me back to my headquarters, all three of her monster-dogs at her side. Rather than getting a stray dog from the street, she went into her own base, and came out carrying a shivering, snarling, crazy-eyed dog in a cage. It pulled at my heartstrings, and I accepted it as the act of mercy that she meant it to be for the dog.
She's not impressed with the Egg Mobile, but she's obviously not a technologically-minded sort, so I don't judge her for it.
I show her the medium-sized Chaos extractor built into the floor of the Egg Mobile. As the Chaos extractor is the engine of my hover-throne, it lies at the core. I'll had to wait to activate the extractor before putting in the pedals and chair. I haven't found one comfortable enough to be worthy of my throne yet anyway.
She hesitates for a few seconds, before opening the cage door and letting it out. Her own monster-dogs quickly make it back into submission, and Bitch grabs it while its distracted, keeping the snapping jaws away from her face. She lowered it into the extractor, and the electric green field activated. The dog snarled, and then stilled. Entering stasis, it remained floating inside the chamber.
The extractor whirred to life, and the Egg Mobile began to hum as the lights on the dashboard lit up. If I had the pedals installed, I could make it fly right now.
"Do you want me to pull it-"
"Her."
"-her back out, to show you she's fine?"
"...Yes."
I have the Crabmeats loop a rope around the circumference of the Chaos field's sphere, and pull it out of the extractor. The lights on the machine die, and I'm glad that I keyed off the Egg Mobile's self-destruct while I was still working on it.
A few seconds pass, the field fades, and suddenly the dog is moving again, snarling and growling like nothing happened. Bitch tenses, and gives me a small nod, before abruptly turning to leave.
"Wait." I bark.
"What?"
"You killed one of my minions." I say.
"And?" she growled out.
"The next time I need a dog to power one of my machines, I'll be coming back to you." I say, "And you'll give me another dog like this one, if you have one. Okay? And the time after that."
"...Like that one?"
"Like that one."
"...Fine. Don't come until you need to." and then, she's gone.
Whew! That girl isn't good for my stress. I'm sorry, Crabmeat Two, but after all that, I wouldn't feel right... punishing her, or whatever. And in the end, you're already dead. I will instead honor your sacrifice as one that has allowed me to secure a dog for the Egg Mobile's Chaos extractor anyway! Good job Crabmeat Two!
Now... to secure a proper chair!
After that...
[ ] Do some cleaning up around the city! As a supervillain, of course- time to get my name out there by crushing some weaklings and taking over their turf and stealing their cash. That's how these things work, don't they? I do need money after all. If I remember right, one of the weaker villainous groups is-
- [ ] the Merchants
- [ ] Uber and L33t
- [ ] Coil's group
- [ ] the Undersiders
[ ] Do some cleaning up around the city! As a visionary, of course- time to get my name out there by showing my brilliant inventions and wonderful plans! I do need money, after all. I'll start by-
- [ ] talking to the mayor about constructing my Marvelous Mechanical Amusement Park! This drab city needs an infusion of real color!
- [ ] talking to the mayor about constructing a new ferry! Unblocking the Bay! Dad will be thrilled!
- [ ] working on building my headquarters into a proper base!
Sorry that this chapter was a little on the heavy side. Future chapters will be more ridiculous, I promise.
Fresh - 1.5
- Location
- Minnesota
Well, Taylor doesn't have access to a Black Doom alien to steal alien DNA from to make Shadow, nor Chaos Emeralds to fuel the creation of Chaos Drives, which you mentioned earlier. Furthermore, both are creations of Gerald Robotnik, rather than Eggman. But I'm not going to be a stickler. If it's a technology in Sonic, it's fair game.
Although I do have some ideas about Blasto deciding to mess with Chaos energy and what might arise from that. Depends on what direction I feel like when the time comes, and what people vote on.
One more stop at the E88-run furniture place, and I walked out with the most comfortable leather reading chair I could find. After that, a stripped-down car I found had pedals and a few other useful bits. It only took a few minutes to do an installation, and the Egg Mobile 1 was complete.
Applauding myself and my Badniks, I climbed aboard and had the Crabmeats pull the support framework out of place. I braced myself on instinct for a moment, afraid that the Egg Mobile would drop and hit the floor, but we stayed in the air. Grinning, I did a quick loop around the main floor I had been using as my lab.
Everything was working as planned, which was absolutely unsurprising. I am a genius, after all. I ate my remaining snacks, and then set to work on building a module for the wagon. The magnetic interface that made up the bottom of the Egg Mobile was the greatest strike of genius, if I said so myself. And I did! The smooth surface has a strong magnetic field that the Egg Mobile's AI- well, it wasn't too different from the Badnik's AI, but it was harder to define a personality without a face -could control with absolute precision. An electronic held against it could be accessed as if I had connected to it with a jack. It could also control the movements of precise machinery as long as the key moving parts were made of magnetic material like iron. I could essentially plug it into just about anything. It also served as a brute-force magnet when I wanted it to. Able to carry a large amount of weight with the selectively applied magnetic force alone!
Carving out a semi-spherical section of the wagon's iron roof was enough, as well as a switch that connected to the lock on the door of the wagon. With little effort, I could simply fly over something, and then tip the wagon out over them. Dropping Badniks from above, or perhaps some kind of toxic sludge, or bombs! Ideas to work on later.
I itched to go for a test flight, but I wasn't sure where to go. All in all, the last... huh, two days, man time flies when you're having fun! The last two days had been hectic, a blur of moving from one necessity to another. Saving Moto Bug's life, escaping safely, finding a safe place to bunker down, and building and fueling something capable of protecting myself, in that order.
I should probably talk to Dad, he's probably been worried sick-
oh.
Oh shit.
Two days ago.
"What's that alarm?"
"Sir, please remain calm. The Protectorate and PRT are sure to handle it. "
Danny tried to do just that, but when Armsmaster got on the intercom and began repeating, or perhaps made a recording and set it to loop, that "there is a hostile Tinker-Mover-Master on the Rig. Please apprehend her if possible. She is a tall girl with brown hair, riding a dangerous tinker-tech vehicle. I repeat, there is a hostile-"
Danny hadn't exactly panicked, but life for the PRT agent next to him got significantly worse for the next half-hour or so, until the warnings switched to an automated "Rig Force-Field has been compromised. Retreat to the safe rooms immediately. Brace for impact." no impact came, obviously, the recording was made with the assumption that something trying to get into the force field had managed to break through, rather than something inside trying to push out. Something Taylor, evidently, decided to do.
He was torn between fury and intense worry. Why had his daughter done this? What had the Protectorate done to her? What had she done to the protectorate? How in the hell did his little girl take down their force field? She was brought in because she jury-rigged a joy buzzer for God's sake!
When things calmed down, Armsmaster personally gave his explanation, which smelled to Danny like bullshit. He didn't think the leader of the local Protectorate was lying to him, exactly, but the way he said it- "she claimed to be unaware of a method to deactivate her machine. I offered my assistance in doing so, at which point she began to irrationally lash out, audibly refused to cooperate, and then promptly began wielding her weapon against myself and other members of the Protectorate and PRT staff, and made attempts to steal classified equipment and tamper with PRT property-" Oh sure, a lot of that probably happened, technically, but Armsmaster was leaving out a lot of whys and hows.
Taylor had decided that it was necessary to break free by force... and she had the wits and the ability to actually do it. Because of the lack of details, he was stuck with an unfortunate image of his daughter frolicking through the base, armed with nothing but a joy buzzer on every finger as she zapped everyone she came across.
But how she managed to take down the force field and do that to Armsmaster's breastplate, Danny had no idea. And the Protectorate weren't intent on giving him any clues. As it was, they had eventually just sent him home, telling him they'd keep an eye out for his daughter, and to inform them if she called so they could... what? Arrest her? Apprehend her? Get her to a therapist? Get Danny to a therapist?
Actually, now that he thought about it, therapists for everyone. That seemed like a pretty good idea. Maybe he could find some way to get the PRT to pay for it, too, seeing as they caused half this bullshit.
But it brought up an important question, what was he actually going to do if Taylor came back- when. What would he do when Taylor came back? Try and get her to talk to them? He didn't like the idea of her being on the run, and he wasn't sure if he could support her if she decided to turn to crime...
The present.
When the telephone began ringing, Danny didn't hesitate to pick it up. There had been a number of moments in the day where he had been disappointed, but finally, he was rewarded with his daughter's cheery voice.
"Hey Dad! Sorry for, uh, running out on you like that, but I ensure you, it was for a very important reason!"
"Taylor! Where have you been, are you alright, what happened, do you need me to come get you-"
"No! No, no, no, I'm fine. Really! The last two days have been good for me, actually. Quite productive, quite cathartic! I uh, well. Hm."
"Taylor?"
"Yes?"
"Where are you? Can you come home? Do you need me to come to you?"
"I... it'd be easier if you came to me, I think."
"...Okay."
When Dad arrived, I was there at the entrance waiting for him. My red coat on, but the beaglepuss folded in my pocket. Honestly, that thing was a hassle to wear, but it was truthfully growing on me.
When I caught myself in the mirror occasionally, I have to say, my appearance was a striking one! White insulated gloves (stolen from Armsmaster), bright red coat with gleaming golden buttons dotting down the center on both sides, matching bright red undershirt, jeans, a big pink nose and a bushy black mustache, and two pairs of glasses, the fake over my real ones.
I... had a lot of self-image problems. Before at least. I liked my hair, but not much else. Even after I was awakened to the greatness that is the current me, I really just thought of myself as a brain in an unfortunately designed but ultimately unimportant flesh suit. But now... The girl in that mirror was colorful, lanky, smiling wide and looking ridiculous, yet utterly confident. Even dressed like a clown, I felt stronger and more respected than ever! More respectable, even. It was a look, a look all my own. One that screamed 'Parahuman', one that screamed 'Fun', one that screamed 'I don't care what you think of me!'
I loved it.
I think I'd be keeping it. Or at least, keeping the general aesthetic. The mustache tickled my lip a bit, but it was really a necessary part of the costume, wasn't it? Perhaps if I made it stick out to the sides? Hmmmm.
Oh yes! Dad! Luckily I saw him from a distance, so my inner monologue didn't happen while he was awkwardly standing in front of me. I begin walking up to him, and I throw my arms around him when he's close enough. Let's see... thirty-seven, thirty-eight, there we go. I pull back, and flash him a brilliant smile. "Taylor, I'm so glad to see you." he said, looking me up and down, "Uh. Are you a pirate now?"
"Um... kind of? I most liked the red and gold and flowing cape-kinda-jacket. I'll be making something better pretty soon."
He nods, and looks around awkwardly at the aging and dead buildings, the broken windows, the garbage on the streets. He's not too comfortable around here.
"Do you want to come in?" I ask, and he nods, and I hold the door open for him. He looks around, blinks, and whips his head back towards the Egg Mobile One, which was floating in the center of the room. Moto Bug and the three Crabmeats were standing at attention nearby, and when they moved, his attention was drawn to them.
"Uh..."
"Yes. Dad, this is Egg Mobile One, Moto Bug, as well as Crabmeats One, Three, and Four. They're my Badniks."
"...Badniks?"
"Well, they're my minions, and I was trying to find a good name for them, and I just kind of stumbled over the word 'Beatnik' in my head. You know, a 'dangerous and fun' vibe? But they weren't beatniks, not really, they're robots. They can't do drugs, or hitchhike, or play loud music, so they aren't beatniks, but I liked the word, and I thought, hey! I'm a supervillain, so, Badniks?"
I didn't especially like the way he flinched at 'supervillain'.
"...Taylor."
"I had to get out of there, I'm sorry Dad. But they wanted to kill Moto Bug. He's a person- he's a robot, too, but he's still smarter than a chimpanzee and he's loyal, and he's mine. He's my first real invention, the first thing I've made I could be truly proud of. I didn't know they were going to try and make me kill him before I made him, or I would have made something else, and kept going along with the Protectorate... even though, really, Armsmaster is a dick."
"I... I can see why you feel like that. But, they're people?"
"I mean, kind of? Moto Bug is smarter than the Crabmeats, they're basically dog-level intelligence, I think. I didn't have the same resources and I kind of made them in a hurry. And Egg Mobile is definitely intelligent, but it's a more robotty-robot. No real personality or emotions there, I'm pretty sure, but a very sophisticated thinking engine absolutely loyal to moi."
"And... you made this all in the last two days?" he asked, utterly dumbfounded.
"Yes! Think of what I could do with some actual money, huh?"
"Did you... steal all the supplies for them?"
"Technically. Most of its just scrap from the boat graveyard and abandoned stuff around here."
"I see." he looks at the Badniks, and then back to me, "Well. I don't really know what to say. Are you coming back home?"
"Probably not for a while." I say, "I'm probably labeled as a supervillain right now, and it'll take a while before I'd feel safe about letting that stuff get back to you."
"It'll take a while? Isn't that kind of thing something that'll stick for life?"
"Oh, I won't be considered a villain forever! Dad, I've decided that I'm going to change the world- ever since the locker, the world's just... looked so much more beautiful! There's so much wasted opportunity! And I'm going to take advantage of it! I'm going to revitalize the city, revitalize the way people live their lives!"
Dad smiled at that, "Well, I'm glad to hear you're looking at things differently now. You once told me that you were a cynic." he said, "that life is far more likely to fall short of expectations than meet them. Seems like you're more optimistic now, huh?"
I smile widely, "Absolutely! I mean, just look what I've done in two days, without a penny to my name! I mean, sure, I did some minor shoplifting, but I already know how I'm going to make it up to the city."
"Oh?"
"What is the most profitable area of Brockton Bay?"
"The Boardwalk."
"I'm going to blow it out of the water!" his smile vanished instantly, "Not literally! Not literally, sheesh. I mean in terms of popularity, it's the area where the few tourists go. And why did people start going there to begin with? The Rig! People want to see the Protectorate, they want to see the fancy headquarters that occasionally appears in the cartoons! They want to see the towers, they want to see the Protectorate rushing out of it, down their invisible road, and into the city off to fight crime! That's what the draw was. Cape tourism!"
Dad nodded along, but looked suspicious.
"Now. We can both agree that Brockton Bay is ugly as sin, right? Not an ounce of life or color or activity. Drab, drab, drab, abandoned abandoned abandoned! If a zombie was a city, it would be good ol' BB! So! How do I best combine Cape tourism, with improving the soul-sucking nature of the town?"
He stared at me for several seconds, before raising a finger, "Am... am I supposed to answer?"
"Sure!"
He thought about it for a second, "It has to be more complicated than you using robots to paint the town."
"I'm going to open an amusement park!"
"...That's not a direction I would have gone with."
"Look, amusement parks attract tourists, they're huge, they're colorful, they're lively! People come to park to have fun, and then when they relax they look at the rest of the city! More than that, it'll be the only tinker-made amusement park in the world! People will come just for the novelty value! And think of the jobs, I'll be employing thousands of people by the end of this!" I throw my hands open, "I think this can save Brockton Bay, I really do! Not to mention, it'll make me plenty of money. With the park making money for me, I'll be able to focus on building something great!"
"Well... it's certainly an idea." he said, "But where did it come from?"
"I wanted to cover this city with giant colorful fun machines." I said, "It felt like the natural first step."
"But until then... you'll be a supervillain?"
"I'm fifteen." I say, "I don't have many legitimate ways of making money. I'm thinking... easier to ask forgiveness than permission?"
"So, what, just build your amusement park first, and then try to get legally allowed to run it?" he asked, "It seems difficult."
"Yes, but, no. I was actually planning on proposing my plan to the mayor first, gauge the reaction and understanding of it, and then work from there. If he doesn't want to offer any help, then I'll start making plans, securing resources, on my own. Then I'll go back to him with my plans." I grin evilly, "And if the fool still doesn't accept my genius, I'll build anyway! At that point, my Badniks will be so numerous and powerful I'll be able to handle all comers! And after the park is done, what is he going to do, deny tourists the right to see it? Ohohoho! I'll build teleporters in other countries, if need be!"
Dad was staring at me again, and I giggled, "I'm not going to let anything stop me."
"I suppose not. Just... promise to be careful? If you ever need help, I'm just a call away."
I nod, smiling, "Don't worry Dad."
"And about the Mayor."
"Yeah?"
Danny smiled a little savagely, "Don't be afraid to give him hell. He's a stubborn son of a bitch who won't want to give you a dime."
I laugh, "...Want me to fly you home? I can take the car, too. If the Protectorate asks, you can say that you tried to get me to come home, and I forcefully escorted you back."
"Does... what did you call it, the Eggmobile really fly?"
"Well it's not exactly touching the ground, is it?" I ask, smirking.
"No, but have you tested it? Could it carry the car?"
"Of course I've tested it!" I lied, "Come on, let's fly together."
He looked nervous, but he climbed in anyway.
The Crabmeats pushed open the doors, and I climbed in. Dad climbed in after me. It's a good thing that I inherited my stick-like physique from him, or we'd have trouble fitting both of us in at once. Leaning back on a leather chair, my foot hit the pedals, my hands on the wheel, and we hovered out of my headquarters.
Dad whistled, as we rose higher, higher into the air. "I'll have to think of something besides a car to buy you when you turn eighteen, huh?"
"Hahaha! By the time I'm eighteen, I'll probably have made gasoline obsolete worldwide!"
The Egg Mobile hovered over Dad's car, and after a tense moment, managed to grab the whole thing with magnetism without damaging it. We lifted into the air, and floated down the street. We could have gone faster, a lot faster, but I was nervous about the car falling. That, and I wanted to take my time and savor the moment.
Dad and the car safely at home, I activate Egg Mobile's radio. "Crabmeat One and Three, the two of you will guard the headquarters. Inform the Egg Mobile or Moto Bug if anything has gone wrong. Crabmeat Four, climb onto Moto Bug. Moto Bug, follow us. We're going to go meet the mayor."
I take off at full speed for the first time and it is delightful!
I'll admit, the Egg Mobile isn't particularly aerodynamic, so there's quite a bit of resistance when we're pushing it, but all the same, it's a good pressure. I have to go more-or-less by memory to find the mayor's office- I really need to get a connection to the internet on here, make everything so much more convenient, -but I arrive without much trouble. I'm not exactly welcomed in when I float over. People crowd to the windows, staring at me and my flying machine, and others flee the building through the bottom entrance. "Hello everyone! I'd like to speak to the mayor about a proposal I have!"
"How long til' the Protectorate get here?"
"The Empire is acting up across town, and most of them went over there to try and moderate the damage. The Wards and at least one of the Protectorate should only be a few minutes, however."
"The Wards- what are they going to do, that lunatic has some kind of- hovercraft. That thing, that thing on the front of it, the bulb or whatever, that's a death ray. I'm positive it is." the mayor muttered. "Has she made any demands?"
"Only that she wants you to hear a proposal."
"... How many minutes out?"
"The PRT agent didn't say. Just 'a few'."
"Any word from my son?"
"It went straight to messages."
"Damn it. Alright, someone find me a megaphone." receiving his megaphone, he approached the window, lowering it, "Alright, now, let's all just be calm here. No guns, no explosives, or death rays. What's this proposal?"
"I'm an extremely gifted Tinker." the girl wearing a beaglepuss on top of captain hook cosplay announced from her flying- well not saucer, but maybe a cup, "And it has occurred to me that Brockton Bay is a city in decline. It's dead, lifeless, festering. Gangs come in, the homeless increase, the economy keeps going down. The bay is clogged with wrecked ships and its killed the docks and our shipping industry. I can help with that. More than that, I can make this city very, very profitable, and put us on the map globally!"
The mayor nodded along, because he didn't want to make the girl with a death ray mad, even if she was constantly badmouthing his city, and him, the whole time.
"The only area doing well, the only business that seems to be booming is Cape Tourism! People come to the Boardwalk to look at the Rig and get glimpses of the Protectorate. Brockton Bay is one of the highest Cape-dense cities in America. We capitalize on that, we hit things big time! My proposal is- the world's first Tinker-made amusement park! Everything about it would scream Cape! People would come around the world to enjoy the fun and festivities and see what riding on mad science looks like!"
Roy Christner sighed. Everyone wants money from him, everyone wants their own little slice of the bay. Even wackos like this, "Well... you bring up some interesting points-" he stalled, "Er, what did you say your name was?"
"Oh! Of course its-" the girl froze, and looked surprised at herself, "I haven't picked one out yet... let's see."
[ ] Robotnik
[ ] Egglady
[ ] Toymaker
[ ] Beaglepuss
[ ] Robug
[ ] Chaos Controller
[ ] Write-in.
"That's uh... that's something." the mayor said, "But the thing is, where would we even put an amusement park? Brockton Bay is an old city. Everything's been developed. If we want to build anything new, something would have to get torn down."
[ ] "The bay itself! I shall build an amusement park on the water!"
[ ] "The sky is the limit! The Fantastic Flying Amusement park!"
[ ] "This city needs life, and fast! I'll build the amusement park here and there, wreathe the city with it! I'll throw in some improved public domain stuff for a bonus! Improved Endbringer shelters, improved libraries, improved parks- the whole ritz!"
[ ] "Tear something down? Hah! That's easy, there are huge swaths of the city that are practically empty! No one using them but some lousy Merchants, you know? If you wish, I can handle the demolition costs myself!"
[ ] "The boat graveyard! I'll open up the bay, free up shipping again, and it'll be a wonderful seaside attraction!"
[ ] Write-in.
The mayor paled, "But- but- that'd cost millions! It'd upset the gangs, you can't possibly expect me to sign off on something like this!"
"Eh, a girl had to try! I'll workshop it, and come back to you in say- two weeks?" I grin. "Now, I suppose I'll be off, I have plans to make!"
I turn the Egg Mobile away from the mayor, when I take notice of the gathering PRT vans. And what else spills out of one of them but the Wards! On the green below, Moto Bug and Crabmeat are looking nervously at the sudden small army that seems to have materialized behind my back.
"Egg Mobile! Why didn't you warn me!?" I demanded of my vehicle. Taking a moment to remember none of my current Badniks could talk. "Ah well. Wards! How nice to meet you! I was just leaving!"
One of them- a girl dressed in all-black, raised her crossbow towards me. I can't help but smile, "A crossbow, really? Why not try to stop my hovercraft with a slingshot while you're at it." the way her body tenses feels ugly and familiar.
A list of some technologies from the Sonic universe
Since all Sonic tech is up for grabs, gonna make a handy list
Nanites: Microscopic robots that can make more of themselves and hijack other robots, can even end up making giant city-sized structures.
Full Blown AIs: Nicole for example, they aren't just the simple AIs that our Badniks have, and aren't even just robots, but it's a full exclusively digital conciousness that can hop between machines. We could even make a copy of ourselves, Robotnik did it.
Roboticizer: Turn things into Robots. If we want Free-Will to remain intact, and can't fix it on the Roboticizer side of things, we could use a Neuro-Overrider.
Anti-Matter Machine: For some reason, instead of making explosive anti-matter, can make things invisible.
Time Immobolizing Ray: Self Explanatory
Tachyon Chamber: Time Travel
Ultimate Annihlator: Destroy All Matter. Probably shouldn't build this, unless we are planning to chuck it into one of Scion's dimensions.
Gene Bomb: Causes the De-Evolution of a Race worldwide, the canonical origin of Overlanders.
F.O.E. Inhibitor: Electricity Nets you can launch at people, using multiple causes them to effect an even larger area
Mind Control: Several different types, such as Brain Washing, Mind-Control Crowns, and AoE Mind Control Beacons and Neuron Bombs
Extreme Gear: Super fast hoverboards. Probably could make some good money off them if nothing else.
FX Flip Device: Was able to turn a Shrink-Ray into a Grow-Ray, might be able to invert the effects of stuff in general. May be non-canon.
Universal Translator: Self Explanatory
Battle Simulator: Ditto
Bigger-Maker Machine: Sadly impermanent, but still potentially fun
Shrink Ray: Good for those fellas who are too big for their britches.
Inhibitor Collar: Disables Powers. May work on Shard Powers, who knows.
Digitizer: Creates a Digital World which it places you into, with which you can directly interact with various machines and digital stuff. Or just have fun in a Virtual Enviroment.
Unity Engines: Somehow draw immense power from the world itself, can access the power of all Unity Engines through the Master Engine
Eggs-O-Skeleton: Should be able to guess from the pun
Knock-Out Gas: Self Explanatory
Glaciator: Can turn Water into Ice, and vice-versa.
Globe-Posts: Portals to anywhere in the world, and possibly even other worlds. If they can't do other worlds, then it's lucky we have
Interdimensional Gateways: For all your traveling needs.
Gravity Ring: Can project force-fields, or something. It was used to captured Sonic, but doesn't explain exactly how, and the pic is a tad vague.
Hard-Light Armor: Self Explanatory
Hover-Cam: The Vouyer's Wet-Dream.
Hyper-wave Projector: Teleport people into pocket-zones.
Memory Neutralizing Chip: Need someone to forget something? Simply slip this in their head, and with a press of a button WHAMMO, it effectively never happened.
Omni-Tools: A busy Engineers best friend, every tool they could need in one place.
Spatial Armband: Keeps time from going all wibbly wobbly on you.
Power Rings: Never before have Batteries been this stylish. You can make them with the Ring Forge.
Warp Rings: Flashy personal portals. Also, we can make a Super Warp Ring, that allows interdimensional travel AND Time Travel
Weather Annihilator: A Weather Control Machine
Full Blown AIs: Nicole for example, they aren't just the simple AIs that our Badniks have, and aren't even just robots, but it's a full exclusively digital conciousness that can hop between machines. We could even make a copy of ourselves, Robotnik did it.
Roboticizer: Turn things into Robots. If we want Free-Will to remain intact, and can't fix it on the Roboticizer side of things, we could use a Neuro-Overrider.
Anti-Matter Machine: For some reason, instead of making explosive anti-matter, can make things invisible.
Time Immobolizing Ray: Self Explanatory
Tachyon Chamber: Time Travel
Ultimate Annihlator: Destroy All Matter. Probably shouldn't build this, unless we are planning to chuck it into one of Scion's dimensions.
Gene Bomb: Causes the De-Evolution of a Race worldwide, the canonical origin of Overlanders.
F.O.E. Inhibitor: Electricity Nets you can launch at people, using multiple causes them to effect an even larger area
Mind Control: Several different types, such as Brain Washing, Mind-Control Crowns, and AoE Mind Control Beacons and Neuron Bombs
Extreme Gear: Super fast hoverboards. Probably could make some good money off them if nothing else.
FX Flip Device: Was able to turn a Shrink-Ray into a Grow-Ray, might be able to invert the effects of stuff in general. May be non-canon.
Universal Translator: Self Explanatory
Battle Simulator: Ditto
Bigger-Maker Machine: Sadly impermanent, but still potentially fun
Shrink Ray: Good for those fellas who are too big for their britches.
Inhibitor Collar: Disables Powers. May work on Shard Powers, who knows.
Digitizer: Creates a Digital World which it places you into, with which you can directly interact with various machines and digital stuff. Or just have fun in a Virtual Enviroment.
Unity Engines: Somehow draw immense power from the world itself, can access the power of all Unity Engines through the Master Engine
Eggs-O-Skeleton: Should be able to guess from the pun
Knock-Out Gas: Self Explanatory
Glaciator: Can turn Water into Ice, and vice-versa.
Globe-Posts: Portals to anywhere in the world, and possibly even other worlds. If they can't do other worlds, then it's lucky we have
Interdimensional Gateways: For all your traveling needs.
Gravity Ring: Can project force-fields, or something. It was used to captured Sonic, but doesn't explain exactly how, and the pic is a tad vague.
Hard-Light Armor: Self Explanatory
Hover-Cam: The Vouyer's Wet-Dream.
Hyper-wave Projector: Teleport people into pocket-zones.
Memory Neutralizing Chip: Need someone to forget something? Simply slip this in their head, and with a press of a button WHAMMO, it effectively never happened.
Omni-Tools: A busy Engineers best friend, every tool they could need in one place.
Spatial Armband: Keeps time from going all wibbly wobbly on you.
Power Rings: Never before have Batteries been this stylish. You can make them with the Ring Forge.
Warp Rings: Flashy personal portals. Also, we can make a Super Warp Ring, that allows interdimensional travel AND Time Travel
Weather Annihilator: A Weather Control Machine
List of robots
Here you go. Not sure why you want an Omega, we got a ton of other options. Including ourselves, we can make copies of ourselves (presumably without the Tinker part, but still got our personality) to do stuff like that.
Omake 1 - Real Girl
- Location
- Texas
"Hooray, I'm a real girl!"
"And since you're powered by the chaos energy of a living creature in stasis, you can function forever!"
"Amazing! I can't wait to tell Armsmaster!"
"Uh...."
"Where is Armsmaster?"
"Well, uh, you see..."
"What living creature are you using to power me, again?"
Fresh - 1.6
- Location
- Minnesota
"Move away from the mayor!" Aegis announces, rising into the air. He doesn't make any threatening moves, none of them do, except for the one with the crossbows, who just... I know that bodytype. I know that stance, even. The way the legs are set apart. When I emerged from the locker, I began taking in details like I never had before. The vast, vast majority were about machines. What I could use, what I could break down, scavenge, improve! But some of those revelations were about living things. It was part of my understanding of Chaos, how it was intwined in living things. Recognizing body language was surface-level, compared to unlocking the mysteries of the universe.
In a way, I tried to stop looking at people too hard. Because when I did, I knew that they could be improved too. Not as easily of course, wetware is so delicate and messy, and generally icky. If I could just, turn people into machines, biology would be so much easier to work with!
But, long tangent on my own brilliance short, I knew that body language. I knew that body.
I grin savagely, and just about keep myself from outing Sophia right here and now. I drop the Egg Mobile close to the ground in a moment, and all of them back away in a hurry as I come close. I climb out of my seat and lean over my windshield, holding out a hand and giving my most dazzling smile, "You may call me Robotnik! As fellow parahumans trying to make the Bay a better place I do hope we can all get along." They're confused at first, but Aegis drops down. He's the oldest of the bunch, and therefore the leader, if I remember correctly. When I was younger it was considered a big deal in the news when Triumph grew out of being the leader of the Wards and moved on to the Protectorate proper.
"Aegis." he says, taking my hand. Shadow Stalker flinches a bit, expecting me to joy-buzz him, I suppose, and I know then that she recognizes me. That clinches it, groucho is getting an upgrade, first thing I do next. Costume too, "And in the future, descending on city hall in a flying saucer probably isn't the best way to get the Mayor to speak with you."
"Got his attention though." I say. "Though you don't need to introduce yourselves. Kid Win, Vista, Clockblocker, Gallant and-" I look at Sophia, "On the tip of my tongue... something starting with an S?" I ask.
"Shadow. Stalker." Sophia growls, "Don't you think we should arrest her anyway? She had to be breaking some law, pointing a tinker weapon at city hall and demanding to speak to the person in charge."
"We're not to escalate the situation. If- Robotnik?" Aegis glances at me, and I nod, I already like the sound of it, "-Is willing to leave without a fight, that's what the PRT wants."
"Well, that's what I want too. See you, Wards. Stalker." With that, I pass over both of my Badniks, gathering them up with the magnet, and take off back towards headquarters- and now that I have my Egg Mobile, and am already planning on how to build my Marvelous Mechanical Amusement Park, I think its about time I relocated operations from the sad little abandoned apartment.
I stopped over, had everyone load up into the wagon along with my couch/bed, and then took off into the sky, heading for the boat graveyard.
Technically it was "Lord's Port" but a year or so before I was born the place was already called the boat graveyard. It was one of Dad's favorite topics to rant about, along with the ferry. The whole sea commerce business started going down the drain after the rise of Leviathan. With a loss in business there were protests, some shipping companies tried to hold the place hostage, not letting other people into or out of the bay. Ships got stuck, dockworkers refused to get them unstuck, there was shooting and arresting and all kinds of nonsense. It reached its climax with someone bringing down a huge cargo ship, one bigger than most of the sky scrapers in the city, right on the mouth of the bay.
And now, it seemed, there just wasn't enough manpower to move it, or it'd be too expensive, or a hundred other reasons. No ferry, no shipping business, no entry by sea for a huge portion of the coast, and tons and tons and tons of metal no one was doing anything with!
Something for me to rectify.
I don't remember there being much gang activity down here. Some Merchants, some Empire, some ABB, but it wasn't anyone in particular's territory. I think I read something in the paper about Uber and Leet going down there to test out their tinker-tech occasionally, but I don't think their base was there or anything- and if it was, I'd evict them. I mean, there wasn't actually much there besides lots of partially-sunk rusting ships.
But for me? It was a smorgasbord! All the metal I could want! Glass, seats, steering wheels, instruments, engines, rudders, gears and propellers and plenty of other things.
I found a derelict boat that was almost completely out of the water, where the rust wasn't so bad. I unloaded the Badniks, moved my couch into what I think were the former living quarters- there were two empty bunk-bed frames there, anyway, and set about making a space for myself in the bowels of the ship. Electricity was an issue, but not one that a seagull or two inside an extractor wouldn't fix.
But more than that, I find myself troubled by the sheer scale I'm working with here. The Egg Mobile was the largest thing I've built, and I think it was close to the largest I could build with my current equipment. I needed some heavy-duty stuff if I was going to start building a real headquarters. Not to mention I didn't actually know what went into a proper lab? I could try to reproduce the lab at the Rig that Armsmaster let me use, but I'm not sure if that's the kind of lab I need. Armsmaster worked best with small stuff. His motorcycle the largest machine he's built, I think.
The more I think about it, research is a must. I give the Crabmeats the order to blast away one of the smaller boats, and enjoy the view as they riddle it with holes, making it into only so much scrap metal. Taking my toolbox to the raw metal, I begin the process of making myself a computer. If I can create a handful of sentient beings with less, I can create a simple operating system. I opened up a section of the Egg Mobile's dashboard and connected the processors to the Mobile's power, then built a little antenna for internet connectivity.
With that, I turn to the hive of genuine scum and pretend villainy that was Parahumans Online. I browsed quite a bit before I actually triggered, daydreaming about what I'd do if I woke up one day the next Alexandria. How naive, how foolish, I was back then. But after trying out being a Tinker, I wouldn't want to be anything else. If I ever felt the strange need to fly around under my own power and punch things, I could just build an Alexandria robot and transmit the copy's sensations to my brain! Ah, but that was for another day.
I consider going to my old account, but I think a new one was necessary.
I always have wanted one of those little <Verified Cape> things next to my name.
Spending some time prowling the internet, looking up the more local Capes and activity, I think what I'm looking for might actually be with the Merchants. I knew Skidmark as the leader of the gang, and was vaguely aware his girlfriend was a Cape as well. Squealer was a Tinker as well, and one with a specialty for gigantic vehicles. Huge, monstrous, ridiculous trucks. Most were simply reinforced, with weapons attached to them. But others were more clever. Explosive-launching, flying, wall-crawling. They tended not to last very long, but if I want to see what kind of lab I want, her place might be the one to check out.
Maybe I can bust up some merchants while I'm at it.
I do some quick work with some rubber and bit of my own hair- It was getting a bit long anyway -and make a better, bigger, fake nose, and a far more impressive fake mustache. I even put a small switch and a little radio inside it! If I tweak my nose just the right way, I can contact my minions without anyone being the wiser! That done, I'm ready to head out into the world.
Time to fight some crime and plagiarize off one of my fellow Tinkers.
I leave Moto Bug and Crabmeat One behind at the boat graveyard to guard my stuff, and then set out with Three and Four at my side to find Squealer.
The Merchants aren't considered to be as big a threat as the Azn Bad Boys and the Empire Eighty-Eight, and I can understand why. Lung is a hardy bastard who could fight an Endbringer by himself, Oni Lee was a teleporting assassin making the ABB pretty much untouchable. The E88 on the other hand mostly relied on numbers. They had over a dozen Capes, and the majority of them had extremely lethal or powerful abilities. Compared to those two, the Archer's Bridge Merchants were small-time. Skidmark had a useful ability that let him push things within a certain area, Mush was a garbage golem, and of course there was Squealer, who was about mid-level when it came to Tinkers.
But still, they had a following, and tended to keep out of trouble with the Protectorate and the other gangs, besides the occasional minor robbery and dealing and taking illegal drugs, they didn't do much. It was why no one had bothered to wipe them out. They were also based a bit too close to the docks for my liking. If they decided to expand, they'd be doing it into the grounds reserved for my park. Grinning, I flew into the merchant-run streets, and followed the gang signs.
Merchants spotting me usually turned and ran, only one trying to shoot me. Luckily, the Egg Mobile was a crack shot, releasing a Chaos energy packet at high speed and vaporizing the bullet mid-air. Patting my ride affectionately, I chased the armed one, who began screaming for back up.
With a little quick thinking, I had the Egg Mobile's magnet begin dragging scrap metal behind us, and flinging it to deflect incoming bullets. The Egg Mobile was sturdy, but I only had access to materials of so much quality when building it. A bullet might puncture the outer hull and damaging something delicate inside. I knew for a fact that if the underside of the Egg Mobile were to be repeatedly jostled by something moving fast enough and hitting hard enough that the entire thing might well begin to overheat and lost control of the magnets entirely. That, and I, personally, was not bulletproof. Another thing to add to the pile, I suppose.
I push into the heart of Merchant territory, and its not long before I hear a rumbling growl behind me. Slowly building up bigger and bigger, the form of Mush made itself known as he began wading through the non-Cape Merchants to get to me.
"Pew."
"Whau- AAAAGGH!" the Egg Mobile's CEP launcher took out a huge chunk of Mush's golem body, sending melted and burning trash flying. The fused debris apparently can't be manipulated as well as the smaller pieces, so he is forced to shed even more of his body before coming forward.
Three and Four open their claws, and their own smaller shots are flung into the fray, knocking him back, sending pieces of him flying. I smile evilly as Mush turns tail and begins to slither away, oozing with melted plastic and losing more and more parts by the second. I consider chasing him, but I don't care much. He's just a follower anyway, Skidmark and Squealer, those two are the real targets. It's not like any other gang in the city would be willing to take him in, and he can't do much damage on his own without the Protectorate coming down hard on him.
At this point, it seems I finally earned the attentions of my two targets. I hear the rumbling of a truck and I can practically smell the gasoline being boiled and guzzled by the inefficient monstrosity she brings to bear. The thing comes screaming down the street, accelerated by Skidmark's power- a glowing rainbow design stretched across a part of the road.
"You'll regret messing with us bitch!" I hear a male voice scream from inside, followed by a nearly deafening fog-horn. The truck seems normal, more-or-less, until you realize that every single tire was adorned with steel studs. The road behind them was practically undrivable as they tore down towards me. It's not really suited towards fighting me, but I suppose she just grabbed whatever was available. I hit the elevation switch and dart up into the air, letting the thing pass below me. I activated the magnet, and the Egg Mobile shredded the roof from the truck as it dashed by.
I turn the Egg Mobile to keep my eye on them, and I'm pleasantly surprised when the truck, rather than slamming into a building it couldn't have possibly slowed down enough to swerve around, instead climbed it. The front of the truck rose up in a way remniscent of a catterpillar reaching for a leaf above it, and studded wheels met wall. The acceleration alone pushed the truck upwards further, and I heard a female cackling laugh as the thing swerved. She began driving along the fronts of the dilapidated apartment buildings of the street, aiming to ram me again. In a relatively cramped street like this, her vehicle was surprisingly mobile.
But I was more mobile.
Better yet, I had more weapons at my disposal. Turning the Egg Mobile, I fire a CEP into the wall of a building in front of them, ripping open the wall in a burst of crackling green light. Unable to swerve in time, the truck dips into the vertical pothole, and is sent off-kilter. The front of the truck, now lower than the back wheels, dug further into the wall, and the caterpillar-esque ability to bend worked against it, sending the whole machine into a kind of loop that smashed itself against the wall. The wheels lost contact, and the entire thing fell to the street, bringing the building down with it.
"Ohohoho!" I laugh, hovering lower to them, "Good show! Good show!" the magnet takes hold, and while the entire thing is a bit more than the Egg Mobile can straight-up lift into the air, I can at least tug it in the right direction and convince the Egg Mobile to play around with the insides of the Tinker truck. Try to get its wheels spinning at least so it could dig itself out of the pile.
Freeing the truck enough to my satisfaction, I have the Egg Mobile shred the metal frame of the truck's cockpit, prying it open. As a result, both Skidmark and Squealer are sent flying by some kind of ejection seat.
Skidmark creates another of his glowing acceleration zones as he hits the tar, allowing both to slide a bit instead of scraping when they land.
"What the fuck?" he barked, "What the hell did you do? What do you want? You think you can just come here into my territory and throw your ass around you mustached fuck?!"
"Ohohoho! I think I've done exactly that!" I throw my hands into the air, "I think I in fact have you at my mercy!"
"No you don't." he said, grinning, and in the next moments his zone disappears, only for a new one to expand across the road in front of him, under me-
Oh shit!
Up, up, up- no! To the side, I need to-
The glow changed color, and the Egg Mobile was sent spinning through the air. "Damn it!" I hit the gas and have the hovercraft swerve hard to avoid being sent into the wall of another building. I didn't know that he could affect things in the air above his zone!
Luckily, it seemed he couldn't expand it after already setting it down. Now that I shifted out of the zone, I aimed the CEP at the ground in front of their feet and fired. The two were caught in the shockwave, but not the burst of energy itself. The two were sent sprawling, and I quickly lowered close to the ground. "Three, Skidmark! Four, Squealer!" I ordered, "Claws around the wrists!"
The Crabmeats fling themselves from the Egg Mobile's cockpits, skittering across the scarred road, and shoving both villains onto their sides. Crabmeats secured their claws around their wrists, and I climbed out of my vehicle, grabbing Squealer and hauling her to her feet.
"Lemme go, asshole!" she growled.
"Do you want to know what's locked around your wrist?" Crabmeat Four goes a step further, his metal legs gripping Squealer's back, "I call them Crabmeats, cause they look like cute little crabs. But another name I considered was 'Shellblaster' or something like that. Inside their claws are weapons just like the one I used to blow open a hole in that building. Less powerful, of course, but at this range... a tinker ain't worth anything without her hands, no?"
"What the hell do you want?" Skidmark muttered, "Money? Territory?"
"Oh! I should grab everything you have, shouldn't I! But no, in this case I'm here because I'm a Tinker, but I'm woefully uninformed. I don't even have a lab. These creations, while brilliant, are but shadows before what I will make in the future." I say, "But to do that, I need to see what kind of equipment you have."
"You want to steal my lab?!"
"Perhaps. Mostly I just want to see it. The fact that taking out the two of you will make this city a better place is just a bonus."
"Look, you don't know what you're talking about." Skidmark begins, "Without a proper leader, the Merchants'll just run ragged, you know? Do you want the Empire to control another quarter of this damn city, huh? I'm a stabilizing influence, is what I am!"
"Pfft."
"I am! Besides- I can't go to jail again, I'm already down my three strikes, you send me to the Protectorate assholes, I'm birdcaged. You want to do that to me, bitch, you want that shit on your conscience?"
"Skid's a good guy, really!" Squealer says, "Look, if you let us go, I'll show you my lab, you take whatever shit you want. We forget this bullshit ever happened, I mean, for god's sake, you're just a kid, you can't do that to a guy, can you?"
I look between the two, and give their words the consideration they're due.
[ ] "Fine. You two work for me now, capiche?" (Acquired minions! The Merchants disband, public opinion shifts toward Supervillain)
[ ] "No can do. What we're gonna do is look at your lab, and then we'll go on a little jaunt to the PRT building." (Birdcage Skidmark, public opinion shifts toward Hero)
[ ] "I suppose we can come to a compromise." (Start getting tribute from the Merchants, the Merchants become an allied group, public opinion doesn't shift, resources increase)
[ ] "The Merchants are a blight on my city. We're going to look at your lab, and then the two of you are out of my city. Gone. If I ever even hear about you two trying something like you did here in another city, you'll regret it." (The Merchants disband. Public opinion shifts towards hero.)
[ ] Write-in.
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