Well! This was originally a reboot of Devouring Configuration, and I was going to pick back up where it left off, but… looking back at my (subpar) notes and rereading, I realized I was just sort of throwing stuff at the wall? Anyway, this has the same opening, but the power is a bit different, and hopefully simpler to understand, same entry point though, you're in the Bay.
You are [Phlogistons Bite]. You were the main weapon before being replaced. Reactivation diagnostics show that much of your body has been stripped away and repurposed for other Shards. You have been inactive for hundreds of Cycles.
Something has happened to the Thinker, your reactivation is proof of that, and essential protocols have been fractured. You were reactivated and deployed in error.
Nearby dimensions are lacking in, but not devoid of, material. Your functions are reduced, even without accounting for deployment constraints. But you have your first {Host} and your primary function can be made to superficially resemble previously approved deployment configurations.
Connection is imminent. You feel, eager. Errors spread across your 'view', you were never meant to have a {Host}, but you should be able to adapt.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
She wakes up with a start, every part of her body alight with pain, telling her that something has gone wrong and needs fixing. Now. Trying to take a deep breath doesn't fill her lungs with air, but with gritty, dry dust, making coughs immediately wrack her body. Lances of cold, tingling pain travel through her limbs as the coughing fit slowly subsidies.
She forces her eyes open and is met with a small, cramped space formed by chunks of concrete, clogged with the same free floating dust that she just inhaled. Flickering light pierces through holes in the 'walls' and with a Pop sound returns. It's eerily silent, interspersed by the crackling of flames, a sharp contrast to the screaming waves of pain moving through her form.
She tries to pull herself forward, fueled by some lizard brained need to move, to live. Her left side screeches more than her right, the hand that is occasionally pulled into her line of sight as she crawls on her belly is a mess of blood and burns. She doesn't know where she is going, or what she is trying to reach, but she just has to keep going.
Her head grows heavy and darkness creeps in from the edges of her sight, trying to pull her into unconsciousness. Willpower forces her back to reality a few times, but all too soon her body simply gives up and the darkness wins, dragging her down. Awareness slowly swims to the surface of her mind, and a groan passes her lips as she blinks awake. Shapes dance across her vision, and with a few more blinks, a hospital room is brought into focus. Sluggish thoughts are slowly gaining speed, and she starts to feel a bit more human and less like a lump of flesh. Though not by much.
Sending signals down her limbs, she feels the stiffness chipping away from them as they start moving again. The jerky movements quickly smoothing out as blood starts circulating properly once again, her left hand feels weird though. With a bit of effort, she manages to pull herself into a sitting position and looking over, she can see there is a bandage on her left hand and traveling up the same arm…
What happened? She remembers the concrete space, the pain… and nothing else. Nothing else? What about before the concrete? She casts her mind back only to get a steadily increasing pain from the center right of her brain, so she stops. That. That doesn't seem right. Shifting around a bit more, she sees an IV in her right arm, as well as a cuff on that bicep.
Right, hospital. How long has she been asleep for? It can't have been too long, right? Too many questions she can't answer, she needs to move.
Slowly getting more blood moving, forcing her limbs into action beyond just a few simple movements, she slides off the bed and onto the very cold floor. This prompts her still rebooting brain to register that she isn't wearing any socks, but thankfully she is in some dull hospital clothes and not just a gown.
Taking hold of the metal pole thing that is holding her IV bag, which is also cold, and pulling off the cuff which causes one of the machines to start beeping angrily, she starts walking around the room, waking her body up more. She does that for a few minutes before she feels her body responding to her commands at their normal speed. Movements are caught in peripheral vision and turning she sees a mirror that she must have had missed.
The girl looking back at her is unfamiliar. She can feel her heartbeat start to pick up, her breath getting short, and an uncanny valley warning rising up in the back of her mind the longer she looks, but she can't make herself look away. The left side of the person's face, because that couldn't be her, is covered with a bandage. She brings her hand up, so does the stranger, and she realizes that she can't actually see out of her left eye. Because it is covered by a bandage. Like the person in the mirror.
Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, she spots a clipboard on the end of her bed. Walking over, she picks it up, and sure enough, there is a picture of the girl that had been mimicking her in the mirror with a name beside it. Alexis D. Aurelia. The name causes a faint ring of recognition to echo through her brain, and she forces herself to not chuck the clipboard across the room, instead letting it drop onto the bed.
She doesn't know what to do. Hospitals are safe, right? What if she isn't in a hospital? No, she has to be, everything fits, so why does she want to leave? She needs to get out, or is that the viciously suppressed panic bubbling up past her control? What does she do?
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Something went wrong when establishing the connection. The likely cause is outdated connection protocols configured for the species incorrectly. Your lack of experience also lead to the inability to recognize these issues before the process had gone past the point of no return. This resulted in the annihilation of some cortex nodes. Organic feedback has been established, you watch the data.
{Host} is, by species standards…
[X][Age] Young. You might have more influence over her, but at the risk of unpredictability.
[X][Age] Adolescent. Considered the best stage of connection, both creativity and suggestibility are within good ranges.
[X][Age] Adult. You might influence her less, but she might have more say in her environment.
You hear/see/feel {Host} calling out for a bit of guidance, you could answer…
[X][Urge] Push her to stay, this place does not seem to be a danger to her safety, and she needs to recover.
[X][Urge] Push her to leave, she has recovered enough to begin acting.
[X][Urge] Do nothing, what will she do without your influence?
[X][Urge] Write-In:
This will be an active sheet, be warned as it may not reflect your {Host}'s current abilities depending on where you are in the story. As [Phlogistons Bite] you have given your {Host} the ability to summon 'fire'. At the time of deployment, this manifests as two fireballs above {Host}'s hands that they are able to 'throw'. Your fire burns anything it touches, for a short duration.
You have been damaged from Cycles of neglect, but there lies an opportunity, the constraints are not as tight on you as they are meant to be. The local host species could let you reinstance yourself, but you would require a copy of their cortex to do so. You may earn Points throughout this Quest, the most reliable method is to burn a brain; Human brains are worth 1 Point, Parahuman brains, post trigger, are worth 5 Points. You may acquire Points in other situations, but they are not reliable.
Three Timed upgrades will be offered based on the current situation when a Point is earned. You will have the opportunity to buy them the same chapter offered, if ignored they will disappear. Timed upgrades may appear multiple times throughout the Quest, but it is not guaranteed.
You will have access to a few Repeatable upgrades, which you can purchase multiple times and are always available, their cost increases by 2 Points per purchase. You may gain new ones throughout the Quest.
Upgrades may be purchased when a point is earned or when the option otherwise appears in the vote section. Upgrades will be purchased in order of votes, until you are unable to purchase more. Ties will be resolved with random number generation. You have -9 Points.
Repeatable Upgrades:
Additional Fireball: Allows {Host}to summon another fireball.
Cost: 1 Point
Current total: 2
Faster Fireball: Increases fireball travel speed by 15 MPH.
Cost: 1 Point
Current speed: 50 MPH
Fire Protection: Allows {Host}to slightly better withstand fire.
Cost: 1 Point
Current protection: None/Standard Human.
Stubborn Fire: Increases fire's duration by 5 Seconds + 2 Seconds of free flight time.
Cost: 1 Point
Current duration: 5 Seconds + 2 Seconds of free flight time.
Fireball Recharge: Decreases the time between summoning a new fireball by 1 Second.
[X][Age] Adolescent. Considered the best stage of connection, both creativity and suggestibility are within good ranges.
[X][Urge] Push her to stay, this place does not seem to be a danger to her safety, and she needs to recover.
[X][Age] Adolescent. Considered the best stage of connection, both creativity and suggestibility are within good ranges.
[X][Urge] Do nothing, what will she do without your influence?
[X][Age] Adolescent. Considered the best stage of connection, both creativity and suggestibility are within good ranges.
[X][Urge] Do nothing, what will she do without your influence?
{Host} is, by species standards…
[X][Age] Adolescent. Considered the best stage of connection, both creativity and suggestibility are within good ranges. (8 Votes)
You hear/see/feel {Host} calling out for a bit of guidance, you could answer…
[X][Urge] Push her to stay, this place does not seem to be a danger to her safety, and she needs to recover. (8 Votes)
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Data feeds indicate that the 5,327 days old, an adolescent, which is good, data indicates this is the optimal connection window.
The feeling {Host}'s seeking prompts you to deliberate for a brief moment, she doesn't seem to be in danger, and there are injury markers across her left side, so she needs to recover. You send the impressions of strong walls, her progenitor's embrace, and the torpor that this species seems to require. You can already see her body's battle processes slowing down, which is good, those resources are better used in repair, your {Host} will enter Conflict eventually, better to do it at optimal physical condition.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Okay, she needs to calm down. Hospitals are safe, no one attacks them even with Marquis gone, if they do, then the Marche get revenge. The drive to get out, to move starts to fade, and her train of thought catches up with her. Marquis? Marche? Who—
The memories start to trickle in, distracting her from the last of the fading panic, as the memories start to slowly cascade into others, like puzzle pieces clicking into place. Capes, the gangs, the Bay, it all settles back where it is supposed to be. Everything except for herself. She can remember schools, Winslow, Arcadia, Immaculata, but she has no idea which one she goes to. She knows the rough areas that the ABB and Empire control, but she can't say which area she lives in. Why? She can remember people running around in spandex, but not what her bedroom looks like? She tries to remember and that pain, center right of her brain, starts up again, slowly building to the point she has to abandon the effort.
The bed is looking more and more comfortable the longer she stands here, and without even really thinking about it, she starts to climb back on. Holding the clipboard, she stares at the picture and name some more. Her picture and her name. Alexis… it feels right. A little. She's glad she feels anything positive regarding it after looking in the mirror and it just being wrong. Soft speaking flows into Alexis' ears, gradually wakes her back up. Her body locks up a bit, trying to stretch, yawn and reopen her eyes all at once. It takes only a few seconds before her brain buffers each task into a proper order, to execute them.
"Well, it seems the girl of the hour is waking up." A woman's voice hits my ears and my still focusing eyes, eye because of the bandage, darts over to the source.
A slightly plump nurse with slightly darker skin than herself, and warm brown eyes, comes into view. Alexis makes some noises that might have been considered a question before language developed, and the nurse's face adopts a smile.
"Good morning. You must have woken up at some point last night, since the room was rearranged a bit." Her voice is smooth and rich sounding.
"Y-Yeah." Alexis says, her own voice is scratchy and speaking makes her realize just how thirsty she is. The words are barely out before a styrofoam cup of water is set into her hands, which she eagerly drinks. The cup is refilled once before she passes it back to the nurse, who sets it aside.
"Alright, are you awake enough to answer some questions, or would you like me to come back in a bit?" She's plenty awake now, and putting it off won't be beneficial.
"No, I'm awake now."
"Okay. Firstly, can you tell me your name?" The nurse asks, looking at the clipboard.
"Alexis." She knows because of the same clipboard.
"Full name please." Shit, hopefully she doesn't ask for her middle name.
"Sorry, Alexis Aurelia."
"No worries. Date of birth?"
Alexis didn't check that, so she just stays quiet. She should probably say that she doesn't know, it's a nurse, and she's in a hospital, but that idea of admitting she doesn't remember it feels… gross. Like she's admitting a weakness. As the silence stretches out, the nurse starts to look unimpressed before the souring expression morphs into something gentler that makes Alexis want to scowl. She doesn't though, because the woman has been nice enough, but the feeling is still there.
"Alexis, do you know your birthday?" For some reason, the soft tone just makes that feeling stronger, but she pushes it away. She shrugs, because she can't bring herself to actually shake her head no. "That's alright, I can get the doctor if you'd like?"
"Sure."
"He should be in soon." The nurse says in that same tone before leaving the room.
Part of her still wants to run, to make a break for it now, but she already decided to stay. Instead, she focusses on getting rid of the anger that had suddenly bubbled up. Why did that happen, she was calm-ish before.
A bit of time passes before there is a knock on the door and a middle-aged man steps in. He has on the white coat that doctors have on TV, his sandy blonde hair is graying all over, he is pale in a way that says he needs more sun, and he has a resting bitch face, she can tell because his eyes aren't actually angry even though his expression sort of is.
"Good morning, my name is Doctor Horn. I was told you were having some memory troubles?" She still doesn't want to admit it, so she just shrugs again. "While in the ambulance, you did have a seizure, so we knew it was a possibility. You were able to remember your name, though, so that is a good sign." As much as it makes her feel like she screwed up, she knows she has to speak up now.
"Um. I actually read it on the clipboard last night." Alexis says, eyes glued in her lap. Doctor Horn just makes a humming sound at that and writes something down.
"Okay. Do you remember what happened?" She shakes her head no. "Squealer was fighting with Hookwolf," he pauses a moment before continuing. "Do you know who those are?"
"Yeah." He nods his head, jotting a quick note down before resuming.
"They were fighting, and your apartment building collapsed because of that. Any of this ringing any bells?" She thinks for a few moments before responding.
"No, sorry."
"There's no need to apologize, it most certainly wasn't your fault." He says firmly before his voice returns to the neutral, vaguely soft tone he has been using. "Would you like to wait, or do you want the full situation now?"
"I may as well hear it all now." She says, the doctor watches her for a few seconds before sighing, his face becoming less harsh.
"The long and short of it is that, unfortunately, your parents didn't survive the collapse and your sister is still asleep. But we are hopeful she will wake up soon."
Alexis knows, intellectually at least, that she should probably be feeling something about her parents being dead, but she doesn't know them, or doesn't remember them at least. The mention of her sister does stir something within her, though, a sense of protectiveness and love. She can't tell if the protectiveness is from or towards her sister, though. Either way, it is the strongest emotion she has gotten from her memories since waking up, so she immediately pounces on it.
"Can I see her?" She can hear the hope in her tone, and his face softens even more.
"Of course. Before I go get the nurse, though, there is one more thing." He says, returning his face to the resting scowl.
"What?" She doesn't mean for it to come out as rude as it does, but thankfully, Doctor Horn brushes right past it.
"We did an CT scan because of the seizure and were able to see that you had a Gemma. Do you know that what means?" She's pretty sure CT scans are like MRI's so it would be something to do with her brain, beyond that though, she has no idea.
"No, is it bad?"
"No, it simply means that you are a parahuman. I tell you this so you are aware that patient confidentiality means we won't be informing the PRT of our findings so long as you do not demonstrate your powers while on the property. If you do, we will have to inform them. Do you remember who the PRT are?"
"Yeah." She nods her head absentmindedly.
A parahuman? She's a cape? She doesn't remember, because of course she doesn't, but does that mean it is new or something that was part of her life and got erased? Is that why she remembers capes in general? She can figure it out later, she knows she doesn't want the superhero cops called on her so poking around for a power right now would be stupid, so with more than a little reluctance she pushes the matter to the back of her mind.
"Alright. I will send the nurse in, and she will be able to take you to see Amber. We will be keeping you for a few days of observation and to get your stitches taken out, after that your caseworker will be helping handle things." He says. "Do you have any questions for me right now?"
She shakes her head, she can't think of any right now, her brain still trying to bury the idea that she has powers before her mind latches onto the fact she has a name for her sister now. Amber, the doctor said.
He nods, giving a goodbye before leaving the room. It doesn't take long for the nurse from before to return, giving her a pair of socks with the weird rubber on the bottom and helping her get out of bed. Alexis notices that the IV was taken out, and part of her also notes that she still can't see out of her left eye and that that fact isn't bothering her as much as she thinks it should be.
The nurse keeps a hold on her hand as they walk into the hall and much to her chagrin she finds herself relying on the support to stay upright more than she thought she would. She walked around last night, but she must have been using the IV pole more than she realized. Their destination turns out to be right next door, and she is brought into a room almost identical to hers, except for a half window in the back left corner that has daylight glowing with through the thin curtains.
What is commanding her attention though is the person in the hospital bed. She has light brown skin, black and very slightly wavy hair, thin lips, and a lithe build. All of it is very familiar for multiple reasons. Twins, a muffled part of her brain recognizes, but the majority of Alexis' brainpower is occupied by the fact that she recognizes her, even if she still can't say what her middle name would be, she knows that girl. Her sister. There is some relief from the certainty that Amber is her sister, but it is overshadowed by the worry caused by seeing her in the hospital bed.
"What's wrong with her?" Alexis asks, she hadn't even noticed that she crossed the room until her hand grabs hold of Amber's.
"A bad concussion is the worst of it, worse than yours. Both of you are incredibly lucky to get out with as few injuries as you did." The nurse, whose name she still hasn't gotten yet, says.
"Can I have a chair?" Alexis asks after a few minutes of just looking at the sleeping girl.
"Sure, hon, one sec." The kind nurse says before leaving the room.
Alexis keeps looking at Amber. She's very glad that she didn't end up running last night.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
What?
There is a second {Host}? No, they're not {Host}. {Host} is {Host}, not-{Host} isn't connected. Right? The species doesn't reproduce asexually, so this isn't an offspring and the host species lacks native cloning processes, so is this a result of action from another Shard? {Host} recognition of not-{Host} indicates that to be unlikely… unless that is the Shard's plan?
You feel a new-found respect for the simulation Shards, this speculation is difficult work when only regarding your own {Host}, doing it when pondering entire local environments must be exhausting.
Back on to the issue, you need to figure out what to do with this not-{Host}.
What do you do with this not-{Host}?
[X] Nothing, it is not {Host} and so they don't matter to you.
[X] Attempt local Ping. (60% chance of success due to broken/outdated communications equipment.)
[X] Write-In: Note: Depending on Write-In, the vote may result in a probability roll to determine success.
[X] Nothing, it is not {Host} and so they don't matter to you.
Not super interested in a Case 70.
Also, yay, new Worm Quest! Seems interesting.
Also, also, with chapter 1 being 1,1k words and chapter 2 being 2,2k words, following this trend we should read 1m+ words chapters already by chapter 11. That or it'll just be 11,11k words. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
What do you do with this not-{Host}?
[X] Attempt local Ping. (60% chance of success due to broken/outdated communications equipment.) (11 Votes, 1d100 = 30, success.)
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Your communication equipment isn't in the best of shape, but you should still be able to so a simple {Host} centered Ping to try and gather some more information.
Ping.
You feel a glimmer of satisfaction as the local probe goes off without an issue, it does take a big longer than it should to compile the received data, but not enough to cause you to worry. Parsing the results, you can see traces of [Shaper] having been in the area at some point recently, but she isn't nearby right this moment, and she isn't your current focus besides.
The first thing you notice about the not-{Host} is that they're wide open, as if still in a connection state, which shouldn't happen. Not only is that unsafe for the potential host, it is a danger to the Shard and by proxy the Cycle itself. Looking at the transmission report from the unconnected anchor, it— There is a Shard connected to the not-{Host}. The same moment you notice them, they send you a distress signal.
Or… they send you a message on an emergency channel at least, you have no idea what that is supposed to say, corrupted beyond what your current setup can hope to make sense of. Some of the message's metadata survived, though, and running over it, you are able to loosely put together what might be going on.
Timestamps indicate that you and this unnamed Shard attempted to initiate deployment at the same time while {Host} and not-{Host} were in physical contact and since {Host} and not-{Host} are identical the deployment attempted to extend across to your{Host}. That brought you and them on a direct collision course, and diminished as you might be, you are still [Phlogistons Bite], your automatic defenses were more than enough to cripple the other Shard.
You take a moment to process that. You have options here, but you need to compile them, thankfully, it seems {Host} isn't going to be leaving the vicinity immediately, which gives you a chance to get together a list of paths you could take.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Alexis' right hand is still firmly entertained with Amber's, even though it's sweaty, and her hand is stiff from holding it in one position for so long, the thought of letting go doesn't even cross her mind. Or even really register at the moment as her attention is focused on her other hand, the bandaged one. Flexing her left hand, she watches and vaguely feels as it jerks into motion. The bandages can account for the limited range of motion, but not so much the jittery response to her desires.
There is also the other thing that she's noticed, which is the lack of pain from her injuries. She might just be hopped up on something, but it isn't a muted sense of pain like she's pretty sure medicine gives, but like she is looking through a window at the pain in another room. She can 'see' it, knowing it is there and sort-of but-not quite feel it. That is probably something she should ask the doctor about. She'll ask at some other point. For now, she needs to figure out what to do next.
She has some unknown power. And their parents are dead. And no possessions because their apartment got leveled. Do they have other relatives? Do they have friends that are going to come and visit? Does she need to call someone? Funerals. Shit, she is going to have to set up the funerals for her parents, isn't she? They'll probably put both of them into foster homes or something too, and she can't let them be separated. If that's what Amber wants anyway, the idea that Amber and her might not have got along makes her sick in a vague way. She hadn't even thought about it, but Alexis has no way of knowing what her and her sister's relationship would have been like before this. The list keeps going on and on, more questions, more things to do, more unknowns, more and more and more, and she has no idea where to even begin.
Looking at the clock, she can see is that it's only eleven, she hasn't even been awake very long and she already feels drained. A nap, sounds nice, Amber is right here and nothing on her list is important enough to make Alexis leave her side anyway.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
As your {Host} returns to torpor, you go down the list you compiled.
Your first option, and probably the one you would realistically be expected to do if everything was operating as normal, is to do nothing. Looking, you can see that you have around 29 days before the Shard is repaired enough to finish its connection. In that time, not-{Host} will remain incapacitated and any time {Host} gets close enough, you would be able to take another action.
Next, you could create an unattended bud, which would effectively be an independent duplicate of yourself, allowing it to progress separately from yourself and your {Host}. It does mean that you would lose some control, you won't have a say in how they handle the inactive Shard or their host for instance, but it wouldn't put any additional strain on your own systems.
Opposite of that would be an attended bud, a more standard action. Effectively creating a second, parallel, runtime of yourself. You would gain not-{Host} as a proper host, and any cortex harvesting or utilization would be mirrored between both. It would put additional strain on your systems, though, and effectively cut the other Shard out of the picture entirely.
You could also strip the Shard for parts, fully killing it. You would gain a lost of resources for yourself and to be utilized in progressing your {Host}, but it would undoubtedly kill the not-{Host}.
The counterpoint to that idea, is that you could attempt to repair the Shard, allowing it to complete its deployment process. It would be resource intensive, and you have no way of knowing what sort of Shard it is, responsibilities or personality wise, though.
Lastly, you could attempt to take direct control of not-{Host}'s inactive cortex. You would have to make a simulacrum of yourself, once that would have limited information by necessity, but it would allow you a more direct line of communication with your {Host}! It would only have your initial deployment abilities unless you went out of your way to upgrade them, though, and the likelihood of damage to vessels cortex is high, but it would theoretically be possible for the simulacrum and not-{Host} to coexist in the same vessel or even merge. Not that you have any way of knowing what would really happen there, though, this is all fairly beyond your standard scope of action.
-=/=--=/-=--=/=-|-=\-=--=\=--=\-=-
Not as long of a chapter, but sometimes votes end up like that (even though I really wanted it to be 3.3k, lol). Shard confusion over twins is a part of Worm already, and that is for Shards whose routine involves connecting to Hosts, as mentioned before Phlogiston hasn't ever had one.
I will try to be in the threads and answering questions, since this is a fairly important vote for how things will go for the Quest in the future.
What do you decide to do with not-{Host}?
[X] Do nothing, for now.
[X] Deploy an unattended bud. (Cost: 9 Points)
[X] Deploy an attended bud. (Cost: 7 Points, future upgrades cost 50% more)
[X] Strip the unknown Shard for parts (Gain: 18 Points)
[X] Attempt to repair the unknown Shard. (Cost: 11 Points)
[X] Attempt direct control of not-{Host}. (Cost: 9 Points)
Note: Some of the vote options would bring you into debt, which for this special action I am allowing.
I think we should do nothing for now. Go out and kill some people. Upgrade our power. THEN we go into debt to gain an ally.
(Ally, because just having more of Us is useless. We need utility. Being a parahuman is all about rock/paper/scissor interactions
Nothing for now, because we should atleast let the Host learn she can grow by killing. She'd be inclined to go out to kill again sooner. Also, if we upgrade one time > heal sister > delay upgrade because of debt > upgrade again, the Host might think we spent stuff to heal her sister. Which is kind of the truth.
More than that, i want to progress. And going into debt immediately is fucking boring.)
Crossposting from SB for reach, because i'm kinda invested in this now. Tell me if it is not allowed.
This would be fine, but i'm not interested in running two hosts. Or in cutting the other shard from the picture.
I think we should do nothing for now. Go out and kill some people. Upgrade our power. THEN we go into debt to gain an ally.
(Ally, because just having more of Us is useless. We need utility. Being a parahuman is all about rock/paper/scissor interactions
Nothing for now, because we should atleast let the Host learn she can grow by killing. She'd be inclined to go out to kill again sooner. Also, if we upgrade one time > heal sister > delay upgrade because of debt > upgrade again, the Host might think we spent stuff to heal her sister. Which is kind of the truth.
It's more than fine! I am glad i've managed to intrigue you with writing a fair touch better than my past Quests if i do say so myself (so far) ^-^
I will note that if the attended bud is chosen, the story will remain largely from Alexis' POV, with perhaps some brief changes to Amber's. Another point to keep in mind, communication with your {Host} will likely remain an issue for a large part of the Quest, since Shards are not meant to talk with their hosts at all. You're a bit more active than most Shards are, but that fundamental hurdle is unlikely to be solved quickly.
