How to Beat Fried Worms
Disclaimer: Worm is owned by Wildbow, and he can keep it.
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Chapter 10: Tick Tock
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Alec... did not make it to the bus tour. The last slot started at 14:00 and would have ended at 19:30. He'd checked in to the motel at a bit after 13:00. Just getting from the motel to the office that the pamphlet outlined took the better part of an hour.
The man huffed quietly, his hands in his jacket pocket. His left hand rubbed the receipt he'd purchased for tomorrow's earliest tour but that still left him with nothing scheduled for today.
His right hand rubbed over his multi-tool as another charge sank into it.
It was easy for him to forget about needing to do that. Especially if he was busy with literally anything else.
Unfortunately, the PokeMon franchise on Earth Bet died with the sinking of Kyushu and, likely due to Behemoth, the PokeMon center had never been built in New York. Most of the other landmarks were gone and the few that remained were...
Well, Lady Liberty didn't shine over New York. Not anymore. The Trade Towers had toppled, their remains were still fenced off. Central Park was a memorial to those lost back in the Behemoth attack of '94...
Alec had read about some of those. The others were included as part of the drop-in experience.
The Gamer looked across the ocean east of New York, to the ruined remains where people had just... given up.
New York, the Big Apple... wasn't so big anymore. The world was shrinking, a little bit every three months as the Endbringers attacked. And what was left was rotting as mentally unstable people with superpowers were squabbling over the remains, often destroying anything they couldn't have. People that were actively discouraged from doing anything constructive with their powers with the threat of fines and imprisonment by the NEPEA-5 laws.
Laws he couldn't even fully argue against, given the fact that objects that were repaired or created by Parahumans had a tendency of breaking down in strange and unpredictable ways.
Alec closed his eyes and leaned forward on a rail next to the road, overlooking the troubled waters.
Earth Bet was a petri dish. An experiment in seeing how fast the world would burn down if literally everything that could go wrong, did.
He could sink to that level. Cast off the calm and quiet, methodical approach he was attempting.
Even now, he was getting a trickle of experience and cash from time to time as his plexiglass rat traps, spread around different parts of Brockton Bay, captured vermin. He'd baited them with poisoned food and the rats, last he'd checked, were eating each other and dying from the poison that initially killed the first detainees. It was disgusting and messy but it was improving his trapping skill, which made the traps he'd already placed more effective, which drew in more vermin which was increasing his trapping skill.
...He wasn't looking forward to seeing how full those would be by the time he got back.
He could sink to the level of the local Parahumans. Shuck off his morality and pick a convenient target to hunt down to harvest their powers. He needed health regeneration and hunting down Aegis, a teenager in the Wards of Brockton Bay, would have likely offered something to that effect without being unduly difficult. He needed defensive options and, so far as he knew, nobody in New Wave was immune to a little mix of Bleach and Ammonia.
And then what?
Alec... didn't want to rack up enough enemies that he'd run the risk of being swarmed at any given moment. He certainly didn't want to work up a reputation like Silar from Heroes, a sociopath with a hunger for powers.
Well, in this world they'd probably refer to Glaistig Uaine. Still, regardless of the passing accuracy, it was unflattering and troublesome in the extreme.
He wanted to make things better. He always wanted to try and make things better. Killing Nazis and rage dragons and other, worse things would contribute to that...
But it wouldn't balance the scales. There was too much downward momentum to just 'stop' it. It'd be worse than making a play at being Sisyphus with his boulder.
Alec's depressing ruminations were interrupted by the shuffling of his menu as people with powers entered and exited his range-
Metallokinesis 1/20: Control metals within your line of sight. Fine control is based on Dexterity while overall speed is based on Agility. Type and amount increases with level (Level 1: Iron, 1 Kg) Cost: 5 SP per Second
Phantom Force (Upgrade): Add special functionality to Phantom Force; When Phantoms overlay self, improve all attributes by 10% times the number of overlaying Phantoms
ACCESS DENIED 1/20: ACCESS DENIED
Pattern of Perfection 1/20: Become aware of better methods of arranging components to improve machine functionality.
Blaster Master 1/20: Fire special lasers and arc them around objects to ensure they can hit their targets! Higher levels allow for greater laser effects! (Level 1: Kinetic) Cost: 5 SP
Pierce 1/20: Imbue a weapon with the ability to cleave through defenses! Negate 5% of defense per level. Increase inflicted damage by 5% per level. Duration: 30 Seconds per level. Cost: 10 SP
-Alec knew exactly which one he wanted. Reaching out, he selected
ACCESS DENIED and breathed a sigh of relief as the power settled into him.
It wasn't perfect; it'd take a while to get there. But at least it was a tool in his own toolbox, now.
Feeling better about things, Alec slipped his phone out of his pocket and awkwardly sent a text using the number pad.
Upsilon: I owe you a drink. Let me know if you're free to meet up.
...
2601: Meet me in Dave's Pub in Harlem after 8.
Alec slipped his phone back into his pocket. He didn't know how, not yet, but so long as he kept making progress? He'd get things figured out.
He just had to take it one day at a time.
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Worm Version 0.1.0: Character Sheet
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| Stats | Details |
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Level: 6
HP: 28/100
SP: 400
-STR: 1/20
-VIT: 1/20
-DEX: 1/20
-AGI: 1/20
-INT: 4/20
-WIL: 4/20 |
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Empowered Investor 6/20: You can invest your energy into an object, repairing it by 6%, empowering it by 6% of its original value and investing 6 points into it. Once that investment value reaches 600, the empowered object will develop a special trait. Another trait will be revealed at 1000 investment, then they will be improved or added to for every 1000 points after that. Cost: 100 SP
Gift 1/20: You may gift a copy of your own ability, equal to half that ability's level, to a target (Limit: 1 ability, level 1 for 1 minute) Cost: 10 SP
Phantom Force 4/20: Create a ghostly duplicate of yourself to perform additional actions! (Limit: 1 duplicate. At level 10, creates two duplicates, with an additional duplicate per five levels afterwards. Duration: 1 Minute per Level) Cost: 25 SP
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ERROR! Previous skill levels not allocated!
Axe 1/20
Hand to Hand 1/20
Short Blade 1/20
Long Blade 1/20
Pistols 7/20
Rifles 7/20
Cleaning 5/20
Repairs 3/20
Cooking 3/20
First Aid 1/20
Sneaking 2/20
Running 1/20
Driving 5/20
Mechanics 1/20
Metalwork 2/20
Carpentry 2/20
Trapping 7/20
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On the Shoulders of Giants 1/20: Slowly gain experience in skills and abilities when in the presence of people with higher scores than your own!
ACCESS DENIED 1/20: ACCESS DENIED
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Poisoner 1: Poisons you inflict cause an additional 10% damage per tick
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Weapons
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9mm Pistol (+95)
9mm Carbine (+95)
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Equipment
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Multitool (Pliers, knife, screwdriver, can opener, scissors) (+190)
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Miscellaneous
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1990 Chevrolet Step Van (Perfect) (+314)
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