Alec is always surprising people. Canadian Alec, interdimensional Alec, doesn't matter.
As to the reveal and how Brian took it? Heartbreaker is not a 'Local' issue for him, so the importance over Nikos's death just isn't there. It'd be like hearing that some guy overseas kicked it and, oh yeah, he was a murderer.
Well, that's good. Anyway...
As to how Brian is treating Alec here? Please remember that Alec is an asshole that mistreats his teammates for the shiggles. And Alec was clearly not unhappy about the news.
Brian: Uh... I'm sorry that your dad is dead?
Alec: I'm not! I'm just sorry he didn't kick it sooner.
Dragon checked in from time to time, she either wanted him to know or Andrew had somehow hidden the camera's activation signal codes somewhere she couldn't find them, but she also didn't seem to have much to say.
That's what this is for. They also used to have a way to make/order custom cards in the stores, but I haven't seen that in over 30 years since The Print Shop by Broderbund and later competitors were available to the increasingly common home computers.
Typical Brian. Even canon wise, Brain doesn't really care about anything that doesn't directly affect him or his goals. WOG even stated that the only reason Brian decided to joined the Undersiders instead of PRT was because
Him being portrayed as a decent sort is really just fanon. The only reason people like to romanticize him is due to Taylor's attraction to him and obvious bias. Their whole failed "relationship" after the S9 attack was kind of nausea inducing.
I'm not going to pretend Brian's a nice guy, but holding that against him feels kind of silly. Membership in the Wards, Protectorate , or PRT proper is self-evidently not a consistent indication of virtue. And contrary to popular belief, joining the PRT would not have solved most, if any, of the problems he resorted to crime to solve.
Indeed, some of them probably would have been made worse - the whole custody of his sister thing for example. Government agencies are very in love with the idea of making sure the mother has custody regardless of how unsuitable to taking care of a child (or even a pet rock) she is in the real world, and the ones on Earth Bet are supposedly even worse at making rational decisions.
I'm not going to pretend Brian's a nice guy, but holding that against him feels kind of silly. Membership in the Wards, Protectorate , or PRT proper is self-evidently not a consistent indication of virtue. And contrary to popular belief, joining the PRT would not have solved most, if any, of the problems he resorted to crime to solve.
And did being a criminal solve any of his problems? Sure, Aisha did eventually get away from her mother, but only after Brockton was already destroyed and she TRIGGERED. Any money he earned, any crime he committed, and "reputation" he gained did nothing to really help him towards his goals until Aisha was more or less broken and did it herself. If he had decided to join the PRT in the first place, at least Aisha would have been protected as a family member of a Ward.
I'm not saying joining the PRT is a sign of virtue, but deciding to be a criminal and worsen the already broken lives of the people of Brockton Bay just so that he's not bound to an organization and it's rules to maintain his sense of autonomy is not only selfish, but delusional. The fact that he became Coil's underling, whether he knew it or not, and lost more control of his life than if he had just been a law-abiding citizen was just karma.
I'm not going to pretend Brian's a nice guy, but holding that against him feels kind of silly. Membership in the Wards, Protectorate , or PRT proper is self-evidently not a consistent indication of virtue. And contrary to popular belief, joining the PRT would not have solved most, if any, of the problems he resorted to crime to solve.
Personally practically speaking I'd always refuse because any scenario where I would due to the nature of the power I had such as a pure healer or something like can give out Danmachi Falnas and starting position that would force it I simply would never write. That's mainly due to the fact I would never really be keen with how pr heavy they are but big problems aside I just can't abide by the horrible stuff they have as standard practice such as how that pho sundays post revealed they treat tinkers. Plus well frankly all the stuff like that, Canary and Nepea are kind of giant red flags to stay clear if you have powers.
And did being a criminal solve any of his problems? Sure, Aisha did eventually get away from her mother, but only after Brockton was already destroyed and she TRIGGERED. Any money he earned, any crime he committed, and "reputation" he gained did nothing to really help him towards his goals until Aisha was more or less broken and did it herself. If he had decided to join the PRT in the first place, at least Aisha would have been protected as a family member of a Ward.
I'm not saying joining the PRT is a sign of virtue, but deciding to be a criminal and worsen the already broken lives of the people of Brockton Bay just so that he's not bound to an organization and it's rules to maintain his sense of autonomy is not only selfish, but delusional. The fact that he became Coil's underling, whether he knew it or not, and lost more control of his life than if he had just been a law-abiding citizen was just karma.
And did being a criminal solve any of his problems? Sure, Aisha did eventually get away from her mother, but only after Brockton was already destroyed and she TRIGGERED. Any money he earned, any crime he committed, and "reputation" he gained did nothing to really help him towards his goals until Aisha was more or less broken and did it herself. If he had decided to join the PRT in the first place, at least Aisha would have been protected as a family member of a Ward.
It actually did, or was on its way to doing so. He was already laying a foundation to make a case for custody at the story's start. He had enough money to have his own place and was financially independent. He had a "job" that gave him the time and flexibility to be an effective guardian for his sister. All things that wouldn't have been possible if he followed the straight and narrow.
The fact that he, along with everyone else, had his plans derailed by an Endbringers attack is not really a mark against him. And the idea that the PRT could have protected anyone in the wake of an Endbringers attack and the chaos and violence that followed? They couldn't even protect themselves. Even when the system was "working", the PRT hardly put any effort into monitoring their Wards, much less their families; case-in-point, Sophia.
Disclaimer: Worm is owned by Wildbow, and he can keep it.
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Chapter 52: Insidious
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Not even a full day after dealing with Heartbreaker, Alec still had things to do. One of which involved figuring out how to break into the Birdcage and the best options for dealing with some of the inmates...
He'd had an idea. A simple one, really. He could have used the Iron Maiden to make everything so simple, he could have just set up a scenario that involved having Dragon drop him in. Likely as a blind spot, probably as part of the regular supply drops for the prisoners.
That plan got shot in the back of the skull, however, when Alec had read the final wishes of Richter.
Alec's goals were... grisly, yes. But that did not necessitate excessive cruelty.
Dragon deserved to be free. And Alec could not- Would not delay that for his own convenience. And, with her being a decent person? Alec didn't think that he could just outright tell her that he intended to kill the stupidest plans of Cauldron while they were growing like mold.
The man exhaled in a slow sigh as he drove through the crowded streets of Las Vegas, his attention on the roads rather than the slowly spinning compass that pointed him towards his next target.
A boy of ten years old and freshly triggered. Alec didn't remember the young boy's real name but he did remember what the kid's power did and the company he'd kept. Whether that was the situation at the moment didn't much matter, though.
"Uh..." a woman's voice groaned as Minerva stepped through the doorway that led to the back of the van. The woman was dressed in an oversized tee-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Sitting down in the passenger seat, she blearily looked through the windows in confusion. "Where are we?"
"Vegas," Alec said as they waited at a red light. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good. Good. I think I ate too much quiche..." Minerva groaned and grabbed at her belly, gripping a spare tire that only showed up if she sat down and leaned forward. "It was just sho good, though..."
"Cheese, ham, peppers..." Alec listed off. "All in a light, fluffy mix of eggs that were cooked ju~st right. Shame I'll never be able to make it again."
"What?" Minerva asked, clearly heartbroken. "What do you mean?! That was perfect!"
"The first time I successfully make something?" Alec explained as he turned right and pressed the gas. "That's when it'll be at its best. Now, maybe if I put in a lot of practice? I -might- be able to get close to making something that good a second time. Maybe."
It would have to take a lot of practice, though. Prototypist offered some incredibly significant bonuses. Bonuses he wanted to take advantage of... but he was going to need an entire damned steel mill to pull off.
"That's sad," Minerva petulantly whined as she crossed her arms and shivered. "It was so~o good! I can't- can you turn down the AC? I'm gonna start poking through my shirt here in a second."
"Why don't you try turning the AC off and tell me how it goes," Alec suggested, neglecting to mention the fact that he was actually working on leveling up Cryokinesis. And Aerokinesis, though that one only felt like a gentle breeze in its 'active but not being used' state.
With a suspicious glare, Minerva leaned forward to twist the knobs controlling the air conditioning and discovered... that they did nothing. Well, that wasn't quite true. Turning things clockwise activated the AC in the classic beast of a van, which just made her issues worse.
Minnie inhaled sharply through her nose and re-crossed her arms under her breasts.
"...So, is the AC broken or something?" she asked after almost a minute of silence.
"No, Minnie." Alec chuckled quietly as they came to another red light. In the daylight, Vegas just wasn't as impressive as all the movies made it out to be. "-I- am the AC!"
"...I don't get it," Minerva admitted. "Are you saying that, like, you're the one making it cold in here?"
"...Yes," Alec admitted with a sigh of disappointment. "Kind of figured that'd have a bigger impact."
"Yeah... Y'know, I've been wondering what your powers are for, like, a while? But it's kind of a foe-pass to just out and out ask someone." Minerva shrugged at the look Alec gave her but she wasn't apologetic in the slightest. "Legend was pretty sure you've got some kind of time-rewind-thing going on but that doesn't explain the whole house-in-a-van thing."
"I get lesser copies of powers from people that I beat," Alec explained as he took another turn. "They can build up into full copies but it takes time, effort and focus."
"And one of them makes you an amazing cook?" Minnie asked, her shoulders relaxing at his lack of hostile response.
"Sort of. Tinker I beat up could make anything and everything but only once. Version I've got improves the results of what I make but only the first time I make it."
"So, if you wanted to make power armor..." Minerva asked, fully awake now that she was dealing with something interesting.
"Then the first suit I correctly make would likely be better than anything I might make afterwards," Alec explained. "But I don't have a power the same way an actual Tinker does. I have to learn how to do everything myself, I don't have a giant mass of alien flesh turning the junk I work on into something impossibly functional. Honestly, that bullshit is closer to enchanting than it is to science."
"...So, I guess that'd make you kind of a big-deal Trump, huh?" Minerva mumbled pensively. "There's a lot of people that'd be really interested in that kind of power, you know."
"The same kinds of people that are actively ignoring the conditions of the Birdcage while still throwing more meat into it." Alec was well aware of the value his abilities could bring. And the people that would want to abuse them. "Somehow, I don't think we'd get along."
For a good while, the duo were silent as Alec continued to drive. The main strip in Vegas was a sight to behold, sure, but there was more to the city than that.
Just... not that much.
"...How did we get to Vegas, anyway?" Minerva asked. "I've never been here and I'm pretty sure we were just north of Michigan when I went to sleep last night."
"I got your power when Miss Militia decided to tailgate my van and then demand I stop," Alec explained. "I put a mark on a postcard and sent it to one of the casinos with package tracking. Scared the shit out of a few folks when I turned up inside of an office during the middle of a meeting but they weren't too upset when it turned out I wasn't here to rob 'em or do anything too stupid."
"...Huh." Minerva... could do that. The woman could give herself a nearly-free trip to Hawaii for the cost of postage. "That's a lot smarter than what the PRT wanted me to do."
"What was that?"
"They wanted me to use my Marks to track people, like, y'know, villains."
Alec was tempted to ask her how that was working out for her but, well, that was what she was doing. She just got lucky enough that he was the villain.
"I'd complain about their fixation on playing cops and robbers, but..." Alec shrugged as the compass began to turn rather quickly while they drove, indicating the fact that they were getting closer and closer to his target. "If they want to waste their resources? That's on them."
"...How would you have used me?" Minerva asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I mean, as a cape. Not... whatever dirty thoughts are running through your head."
"Secure package delivery," Alec told her without a second of thought. "For the Protectorate and PRT heads when they needed to move something between branches but didn't want to risk putting it in digital. Considering how badly compromised they are? Investing in people that can perform InfoSec would be pretty intelligent."
"...Okay," Minerva pouted. "That was, like, way too fast. No dirty thoughts about me? At all?"
"I have a girlfriend," Alec fired back.
"...Is it the naked amazon sleeping in your bed?"
"...No." Alec deeply sighed at the mention of Narwhal. The woman had gotten increasingly drunk the night before, beating him two to one in beers. And he'd learned that his debuff resistances might let him get a minor buzz going but it did not let him get drunk. "Narwhal and I spent a lot of time talking last night. I put her to bed, then I came and took a nap in my seat here."
"...Yeah," Minnie mumbled. "Not sure you'd want to try climbing that mountain."
"Mountain?" Alec asked with a laugh as he pulled over, eyeballing the figure of a child sleeping on a park bench nearby. "Compared to Kary? Narwhal's barely even a mole hill."
"Secure package delivery," Alec told her without a second of thought. "For the Protectorate and PRT heads when they needed to move something between branches but didn't want to risk putting it in digital. Considering how badly compromised they are? Investing in people that can perform InfoSec would be pretty intelligent."
And here's the trick.
That would be a great use of powers.
Oddly enough, nobody is volunteering to be the package deliverer.
And it's not just Worm with Conflict Drive, basically every fictional setting with powers spends the entire story trying to justify never being the guy delivering packages.
"I have teleporting powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have long-range artillery powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have healing powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have paperwork powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
And here's the trick.
That would be a great use of powers.
Oddly enough, nobody is volunteering to be the package deliverer.
And it's not just Worm with Conflict Drive, basically every fictional setting with powers spends the entire story trying to justify never being the guy delivering packages.
"I have teleporting powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have long-range artillery powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have healing powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
"I have paperwork powers. Obviously I should be a front-line fighter."
🎶 got a whale of a tail to tell you lads a whale of a tail or 'bout the flappin' fish, and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above well of a tail and it's all true I swear by my tattoo. There was mermaid Minnie, met her down in Madagascar. She would kiss me anytime that I would ask her. Then one day she took me and threw me out well pick me up and blow it down. She left me for a trout.🎶
