Ring-Maker [Worm/Lord of the Rings Alt-Power] [Complete]
- Thread starter Lithos Maitreya
- Start date
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Xero Key
Flying high, spinning webs!
No souls. Basically they were like the dwarves but weren't programmed with a sense of morality. They comprehend the concept as a thing to exploit, but have none themselves. Because of this, the Creator found them abhorent and did not grant them souls. The dwarves at least had a sense of right and wrong when they were made, making them worthy of souls. The orcs revel in not, which Tolkien evidently wanted to change but never could.
Maybe one of his children will figure something out. They did just release a new book based on his notes after all.
Glory 10.1
Lithos Maitreya
Character Witness
- Location
- United States
Many thanks to @BeaconHill, @Assembler, and ShadowStepper1300 for betareading.
There was a siren blaring in the distance, loud and blatant. I rolled my eyes. What idiot forgot to turn that off? For a moment I considered telling Piggot to have it shut off, but thought better of it. It didn't really matter. It was far too late for the enemy to escape now.
I twirled Búrzashdurb idly in my hand as I strolled down the street. The dockside road was in poor repair, and it was deserted of both pedestrians and cars, even so early in the gloomy evening. The sun had set, and the sky was a deep purple, lit with twinkling stars.
"Dragon," I said aloud into my earpiece. "Are you there?"
"I can hear you, if that's what you're asking," Dragon's voice came in my ear. "How goes the operation?"
I looked down the street, my eyes picking out the sign for an Endbringer shelter. "I have sight of the target. Are you in communication with the others?"
"Yes. Aegis' team is at the west entrance, and Panacea's is at the south one. Ring-Bearers only."
"And the perimeter?"
"It's not complete yet. The PRT is still getting into position. You want to wait for them?"
I shrugged. "Why bother?" I asked. "It's not as though they're more than a formality. We have people at all three entrances. Or we would, if you were here."
I reached the sign and looked to my right. The entrance to the Endbringer shelter was more normal than I would have expected, a few months ago. The double doors were sturdy, but not fortified—that would come in further down. It wasn't the same shelter Valefor had hidden in after escaping the church, more than a week ago now.
But this was the one where he was hiding now.
"I'm on my way," Dragon said. "Sorry, the suit I'm sending can only pull off Mach 1, and it's flying all the way from DC. I'll be there in a minute."
"I'll hold you to that, slowpoke."
Dragon laughed. "Would you like a countdown?"
"I'd rather have updates. How's the Protectorate doing?"
"Miss Militia's worried. She doesn't like sending children into this alone."
I snorted. "She'd better get used to it," I said dryly. "Those children are Ring-Bearers."
There was a sound above me as Dragon answered. "Preaching to the choir, here."
"Speaking of which," I said as a smirk passed across my face. "You've been having a good time today, haven't you?"
"I killed Saint and the Dragonslayers. I still can't believe it. I would have spent days planning this before. I would have agonized over how to take them alive, how to preserve the evidence, how to coordinate it with the Guild and the Protectorate and the police. How to make it not look like I was getting revenge." Dragon laughed. "I had no idea it would feel this good to just… do it. They… what they did to me… I couldn't..." Her voice was thick with pain just remembering it. "I deserved that fight. And so did they."
"And your speech? How was that?"
"I'm never going to have to worry about telling anyone I'm an AI, ever again. I'm out. I'm free. I'm never going to hide again. Of course I loved it."
"So, how many angry humans have you heard from so far?"
"My phone's ringing off the hook. I've got a few subprocesses on it. Herding humans isn't as bad as I expected."
"It only gets easier," I replied, my voice sandpaper-dry.
She laughed. "They're so good at figuring out why they don't need to be afraid, aren't they? A little nudge is all it takes." Her voice held amusement and wistfulness in equal measure. "I'm coming down now."
I looked up. A glint of gold flickered high above. It grew as it dropped. My eyes soon resolved it into the shape of a draconic suit. It was one I hadn't seen before; bulky, but humanoid, with a helmet shaped like the roaring maw of a great wyrm.
Dragon landed beside me with a thud. "Hey," she said. "Ready?"
I smiled at her. "Ready." I opened the door and strode into the shelter.
She followed me inside as I began my way down the inactive escalator. "The other two teams have breached. No resistance yet."
"As expected," I said. "He's been in hiding for days. Not a lot of time to gather thralls."
"It's probably more than just him and Eligos, though," Dragon cautioned. "We haven't exactly had a sustained siege yet."
I nodded. "Of course. We can deal with thralls, though."
"There might be more than thralls. We don't know for sure how many of the Fallen came to the Bay."
"Good point," I agreed. "We'll be on our—"
I rounded a corner and was faced with the barrels of several guns. "Don't move," hissed one guy, wearing a long red robe. His accent, I observed, was slightly midwestern.
Dragon had not rounded the corner yet. With a hand hidden behind the wall, I gestured for her to wait. To the men, I raised my eyebrows. "Speak of the devil," I murmured. "We were just talking about you!"
The guy blinked and glanced at one of his comrades, who was wearing a similar robe in blue. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," I said. "I accept your surrender, by the way. Drop the weapons and this doesn't have to get difficult."
"Bitch, it's ten on one," growled the man in blue. "Drop your weapons!"
I smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Dragon?"
"The other two teams are getting bogged down with Fallen," Dragon reported as we strode away from the bodies. "There were more of them at the other routes, apparently."
I nodded. "Do you know why?"
"No. If I had to guess, though, Eligos is somewhere between us and Valefor."
"That would make sense."
Dragon glanced at me. "Do you have a plan for fighting him?"
I shrugged, opening a door. "Do we need one?"
We were faced with a large, domed room. There were several of these in the shelter, each one sealable from the others. The cold logic behind the design was that if one room was destroyed, at least the others might survive.
In the center of the room, standing perfectly still, was Eligos. I hadn't had much time to study him, last time. His costume was black, shot through with red highlights like bolts of lightning through a storm cloud. Armored protrusions decorated his shoulders, knees, elbows, and back, and his helmet was shaped like a great, black maw, glowing from within the mouth and topped with a single, red eye.
"No," Dragon said thoughtfully, stepping into the room beside me. "I guess we don't."
Eligos shifted his weight into a fighting stance. Still he said nothing. Every movement was deliberate. He moved like a machine, careful, efficient, and with purpose.
I rolled my shoulders. "I like the outfit," I said loudly. "Really subtle. If I squint, it almost doesn't look like a kid's Halloween costume."
Eligos twitched. It was a tiny motion I doubted Dragon even noticed, but I caught it. So there is a human being down there, I mused. But he's so loyal to his mask that it would take me weeks to break him out. Weeks I don't care to spend.
I sighed. "You're really not worth my time," I admitted. "Surrender and you can live. You have three seconds."
He scythed his hand through the air. The blade of air whistled towards us. I dodged right, Dragon dodged left, and it struck the wall behind us with a grinding of concrete.
As I moved, I was already drawing Belthronding. The arrow was nocked before he'd drawn his hand back.
He sidestepped as I fired, the arrow missing by mere inches, and then he was swinging wildly, almost frenzied, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face because there went the mask. Eligos, it seemed, was not immune to the fear of death.
I ducked and wove between blades of air. Dragon did the same, but even as she moved she was firing missiles and lasers at the Fallen cape from guns mounted on her shoulders and arms. Eligos did his best, but it wasn't long before she managed to send a shot he couldn't dodge without easing his barrage. The moment he did, I nocked another arrow and let it fly.
It was a hurried shot, and it showed. It only hit him in the shoulder. But it made him cry out, and the sound of pain and desperate fear only made my smile widen. Did I really need to play with him? No. But I enjoyed it.
Then a laser struck him in the other shoulder and he fell back, sending a flurry of panicked blades into the ceiling.
I ran, sprinting across the room towards him. I leapt over a last, frenzied blade of air shot at my legs, and Búrzashdurb was in my hand as I came down. The mace struck him in the chest. I felt his ribcage give. He twitched, gurgled once, and was still.
I stood up. With a faint sucking sound, I pulled Búrzashdurb out of the corpse. "Thanks for the opening," I said, nodding at Dragon.
She nodded back. "Valefor will be in one of the other shelter pods," she said. "Let's move."
I nodded, shaking Burzashdurb out to rid it of some of the blood and gore. Swords were much easier to clean than maces. I'd need to wash it later. "Follow me," I said.
The shelter pod had only one door, besides the one we came in through. We passed through it and proceeded down a hallway. There was an anticipation running through my veins now, a faint thrumming, like viols playing tremolo. I licked my lips. Soon Valefor's little distraction would be over. My city would be free of invaders, and I could turn my attention to more domestic problems. I would make my city safe again.
"Do you want to capture him?" Dragon asked.
"Hm?" I looked up at her. "I don't much care, honestly."
"You captured Heartbreaker. He's been working to deprogram his former thralls. Shouldn't we do the same with Valefor?"
"I don't even know if Valefor can undo his own power," I replied with a shrug. "Besides, his abilities aren't on the same scale as Heartbreaker's. He can make a person into a problem for a day or two, sure, but he can't destroy a life the way Heartbreaker could. He can't take a person and twist them."
"Still," Dragon said. "If he can deprogram his minions…"
"Then that might make him worth keeping alive," I agreed. "Otherwise, I'm inclined not to. All the better to send a message. We will not tolerate this in our city. Or anywhere else."
Dragon nodded. "Makes sense to me."
We reached the door. They were sealed—blast doors meant to withstand Leviathan's tidal waves or Behemoth's radiation. They wouldn't be broken easily.
"He's in here," I said. "Right?"
Dragon nodded. "I think so. Vilya does too."
"Then how—"
The door slid open. Dragon looked down at me. "I don't know," she said, and there was a teasing smile in her voice. "Let the AI hack it, maybe?"
I grinned up at her. "I could get used to this," I said, and strode into the room.
Then I stopped. Valefor was lounging on a couch by the wall. There was a gun on the table beside him, and beside it a visibly unloaded magazine.
He smiled and, slowly, raised his hands above his head. "I surrender," he said, his voice almost congenial.
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? After sending Eligos and your teammates to die, you surrender just like that?"
He smiled at me. It was an unpleasant expression, almost a leer. "I have something they didn't. Leverage."
I raised the other eyebrow. "Oh? You'll have to walk me through that one."
He stretched, raising his arms above his head. "Well," he drawled. "I have a lot of people out there with… let's say a standard command. You want to know what it is?"
I leaned against the wall. "Sure."
"The compulsion triggers if they hear that I died," he said, his eyes crinkling in savage delight. "The command is to kill as many people as they can, as quickly as possible."
I nodded. "That makes sense."
"Is he telling the truth?" Dragon asked me.
"Yeah," I confirmed.
"So you see," Valefor said, chucking gleefully. "I'm safe! No matter how ruthless, how pragmatic you think you are, you won't allow that kind of damage to go unchecked! You—"
I raised an eyebrow. "What damage?" I asked. "They have to hear you died to do that."
He froze.
"We're the government, my friend," I said, grinning. "Do you really think we can't cover up the death of one measly Endbringer cultist? You really have an inflated sense of your own importance."
"You wouldn't," he said, and there was no amusement in his voice now. "The truth would get out. It's a risk you can't afford to take!"
I shrugged. "So I have this cape," I said, my lips quirking in dry amusement. "His power lets him… well, you don't care about the details. But we have a way to immediately find every single person you have with that trigger. Thanks for telling us about it, by the way, that was helpful."
He swallowed. "There are other triggers," he hissed. "Other things that people will do, for different reasons! You have no way to predict them without me—"
"Most of those have already run their course," I shook my head. "That's your M.O. You run through a place, leave a few random sleeper agents, and let things happen from there. We'd never reliably be able to find all of them. You don't even remember most of them."
"I remember every person I've used my power on," Valefor said. "It's part of—"
"Liar," I said. "I can tell."
Dragon looked at me. "So?" she asked.
"One last question," I told Valefor, holding my hand up to forestall her. "Can you use your power to undo compulsions you've already implanted?"
He didn't answer. He just stared at me, his eyes wide. His jaw worked frantically, grasping for something to say or do which might save him.
"I thought not," I said.
At that moment, I felt his power reaching out, scrabbling for purchase against the spark of Fire inside me. I swatted it away with a casual flick of my will, and saw him wince. By the way Dragon stiffened and the sound of her weapons charging up, I knew he'd tried it on her, too.
"Better luck next time," I said, shaking my head. I turned to Dragon. "Shall I, or—"
"I'll do this one," Dragon growled, an edge to her voice. Her arm rose and pointed at Valefor.
"Please." The word escaped his lips as barely a whisper.
"No," Dragon said simply. The laser fired, blowing a hole clean through his chest. His arms fell to his sides, and his head lolled onto the desk with a thud.
I remembered the church full of thralls – what Valefor had done to the people I had tried to protect – and smiled. We'd done good work tonight. And this was just the beginning. I cracked my knuckles. "Well. That's that. How are the others doing?"
"Almost done," Dragon said, turning to me. "Several prisoners."
I tutted. "Inefficient. What good are a few Fallen going to do us?"
"Too late to complain about that now. What do you want to do with them?"
I shrugged. "Throw them in confinement, then funnel them into the regular criminal justice system. Get them off our hands as soon as possible."
Dragon nodded. "That seems reasonable," she said. "Shall we go help them mop up?"
I nodded. "You know where they are," I said. "Lead the way."
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-x-x-x-
There was a siren blaring in the distance, loud and blatant. I rolled my eyes. What idiot forgot to turn that off? For a moment I considered telling Piggot to have it shut off, but thought better of it. It didn't really matter. It was far too late for the enemy to escape now.
I twirled Búrzashdurb idly in my hand as I strolled down the street. The dockside road was in poor repair, and it was deserted of both pedestrians and cars, even so early in the gloomy evening. The sun had set, and the sky was a deep purple, lit with twinkling stars.
"Dragon," I said aloud into my earpiece. "Are you there?"
"I can hear you, if that's what you're asking," Dragon's voice came in my ear. "How goes the operation?"
I looked down the street, my eyes picking out the sign for an Endbringer shelter. "I have sight of the target. Are you in communication with the others?"
"Yes. Aegis' team is at the west entrance, and Panacea's is at the south one. Ring-Bearers only."
"And the perimeter?"
"It's not complete yet. The PRT is still getting into position. You want to wait for them?"
I shrugged. "Why bother?" I asked. "It's not as though they're more than a formality. We have people at all three entrances. Or we would, if you were here."
I reached the sign and looked to my right. The entrance to the Endbringer shelter was more normal than I would have expected, a few months ago. The double doors were sturdy, but not fortified—that would come in further down. It wasn't the same shelter Valefor had hidden in after escaping the church, more than a week ago now.
But this was the one where he was hiding now.
"I'm on my way," Dragon said. "Sorry, the suit I'm sending can only pull off Mach 1, and it's flying all the way from DC. I'll be there in a minute."
"I'll hold you to that, slowpoke."
Dragon laughed. "Would you like a countdown?"
"I'd rather have updates. How's the Protectorate doing?"
"Miss Militia's worried. She doesn't like sending children into this alone."
I snorted. "She'd better get used to it," I said dryly. "Those children are Ring-Bearers."
There was a sound above me as Dragon answered. "Preaching to the choir, here."
"Speaking of which," I said as a smirk passed across my face. "You've been having a good time today, haven't you?"
"I killed Saint and the Dragonslayers. I still can't believe it. I would have spent days planning this before. I would have agonized over how to take them alive, how to preserve the evidence, how to coordinate it with the Guild and the Protectorate and the police. How to make it not look like I was getting revenge." Dragon laughed. "I had no idea it would feel this good to just… do it. They… what they did to me… I couldn't..." Her voice was thick with pain just remembering it. "I deserved that fight. And so did they."
"And your speech? How was that?"
"I'm never going to have to worry about telling anyone I'm an AI, ever again. I'm out. I'm free. I'm never going to hide again. Of course I loved it."
"So, how many angry humans have you heard from so far?"
"My phone's ringing off the hook. I've got a few subprocesses on it. Herding humans isn't as bad as I expected."
"It only gets easier," I replied, my voice sandpaper-dry.
She laughed. "They're so good at figuring out why they don't need to be afraid, aren't they? A little nudge is all it takes." Her voice held amusement and wistfulness in equal measure. "I'm coming down now."
I looked up. A glint of gold flickered high above. It grew as it dropped. My eyes soon resolved it into the shape of a draconic suit. It was one I hadn't seen before; bulky, but humanoid, with a helmet shaped like the roaring maw of a great wyrm.
Dragon landed beside me with a thud. "Hey," she said. "Ready?"
I smiled at her. "Ready." I opened the door and strode into the shelter.
She followed me inside as I began my way down the inactive escalator. "The other two teams have breached. No resistance yet."
"As expected," I said. "He's been in hiding for days. Not a lot of time to gather thralls."
"It's probably more than just him and Eligos, though," Dragon cautioned. "We haven't exactly had a sustained siege yet."
I nodded. "Of course. We can deal with thralls, though."
"There might be more than thralls. We don't know for sure how many of the Fallen came to the Bay."
"Good point," I agreed. "We'll be on our—"
I rounded a corner and was faced with the barrels of several guns. "Don't move," hissed one guy, wearing a long red robe. His accent, I observed, was slightly midwestern.
Dragon had not rounded the corner yet. With a hand hidden behind the wall, I gestured for her to wait. To the men, I raised my eyebrows. "Speak of the devil," I murmured. "We were just talking about you!"
The guy blinked and glanced at one of his comrades, who was wearing a similar robe in blue. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," I said. "I accept your surrender, by the way. Drop the weapons and this doesn't have to get difficult."
"Bitch, it's ten on one," growled the man in blue. "Drop your weapons!"
I smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Dragon?"
-x-x-x-
"The other two teams are getting bogged down with Fallen," Dragon reported as we strode away from the bodies. "There were more of them at the other routes, apparently."
I nodded. "Do you know why?"
"No. If I had to guess, though, Eligos is somewhere between us and Valefor."
"That would make sense."
Dragon glanced at me. "Do you have a plan for fighting him?"
I shrugged, opening a door. "Do we need one?"
We were faced with a large, domed room. There were several of these in the shelter, each one sealable from the others. The cold logic behind the design was that if one room was destroyed, at least the others might survive.
In the center of the room, standing perfectly still, was Eligos. I hadn't had much time to study him, last time. His costume was black, shot through with red highlights like bolts of lightning through a storm cloud. Armored protrusions decorated his shoulders, knees, elbows, and back, and his helmet was shaped like a great, black maw, glowing from within the mouth and topped with a single, red eye.
"No," Dragon said thoughtfully, stepping into the room beside me. "I guess we don't."
Eligos shifted his weight into a fighting stance. Still he said nothing. Every movement was deliberate. He moved like a machine, careful, efficient, and with purpose.
I rolled my shoulders. "I like the outfit," I said loudly. "Really subtle. If I squint, it almost doesn't look like a kid's Halloween costume."
Eligos twitched. It was a tiny motion I doubted Dragon even noticed, but I caught it. So there is a human being down there, I mused. But he's so loyal to his mask that it would take me weeks to break him out. Weeks I don't care to spend.
I sighed. "You're really not worth my time," I admitted. "Surrender and you can live. You have three seconds."
He scythed his hand through the air. The blade of air whistled towards us. I dodged right, Dragon dodged left, and it struck the wall behind us with a grinding of concrete.
As I moved, I was already drawing Belthronding. The arrow was nocked before he'd drawn his hand back.
He sidestepped as I fired, the arrow missing by mere inches, and then he was swinging wildly, almost frenzied, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face because there went the mask. Eligos, it seemed, was not immune to the fear of death.
I ducked and wove between blades of air. Dragon did the same, but even as she moved she was firing missiles and lasers at the Fallen cape from guns mounted on her shoulders and arms. Eligos did his best, but it wasn't long before she managed to send a shot he couldn't dodge without easing his barrage. The moment he did, I nocked another arrow and let it fly.
It was a hurried shot, and it showed. It only hit him in the shoulder. But it made him cry out, and the sound of pain and desperate fear only made my smile widen. Did I really need to play with him? No. But I enjoyed it.
Then a laser struck him in the other shoulder and he fell back, sending a flurry of panicked blades into the ceiling.
I ran, sprinting across the room towards him. I leapt over a last, frenzied blade of air shot at my legs, and Búrzashdurb was in my hand as I came down. The mace struck him in the chest. I felt his ribcage give. He twitched, gurgled once, and was still.
I stood up. With a faint sucking sound, I pulled Búrzashdurb out of the corpse. "Thanks for the opening," I said, nodding at Dragon.
She nodded back. "Valefor will be in one of the other shelter pods," she said. "Let's move."
I nodded, shaking Burzashdurb out to rid it of some of the blood and gore. Swords were much easier to clean than maces. I'd need to wash it later. "Follow me," I said.
The shelter pod had only one door, besides the one we came in through. We passed through it and proceeded down a hallway. There was an anticipation running through my veins now, a faint thrumming, like viols playing tremolo. I licked my lips. Soon Valefor's little distraction would be over. My city would be free of invaders, and I could turn my attention to more domestic problems. I would make my city safe again.
"Do you want to capture him?" Dragon asked.
"Hm?" I looked up at her. "I don't much care, honestly."
"You captured Heartbreaker. He's been working to deprogram his former thralls. Shouldn't we do the same with Valefor?"
"I don't even know if Valefor can undo his own power," I replied with a shrug. "Besides, his abilities aren't on the same scale as Heartbreaker's. He can make a person into a problem for a day or two, sure, but he can't destroy a life the way Heartbreaker could. He can't take a person and twist them."
"Still," Dragon said. "If he can deprogram his minions…"
"Then that might make him worth keeping alive," I agreed. "Otherwise, I'm inclined not to. All the better to send a message. We will not tolerate this in our city. Or anywhere else."
Dragon nodded. "Makes sense to me."
We reached the door. They were sealed—blast doors meant to withstand Leviathan's tidal waves or Behemoth's radiation. They wouldn't be broken easily.
"He's in here," I said. "Right?"
Dragon nodded. "I think so. Vilya does too."
"Then how—"
The door slid open. Dragon looked down at me. "I don't know," she said, and there was a teasing smile in her voice. "Let the AI hack it, maybe?"
I grinned up at her. "I could get used to this," I said, and strode into the room.
Then I stopped. Valefor was lounging on a couch by the wall. There was a gun on the table beside him, and beside it a visibly unloaded magazine.
He smiled and, slowly, raised his hands above his head. "I surrender," he said, his voice almost congenial.
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? After sending Eligos and your teammates to die, you surrender just like that?"
He smiled at me. It was an unpleasant expression, almost a leer. "I have something they didn't. Leverage."
I raised the other eyebrow. "Oh? You'll have to walk me through that one."
He stretched, raising his arms above his head. "Well," he drawled. "I have a lot of people out there with… let's say a standard command. You want to know what it is?"
I leaned against the wall. "Sure."
"The compulsion triggers if they hear that I died," he said, his eyes crinkling in savage delight. "The command is to kill as many people as they can, as quickly as possible."
I nodded. "That makes sense."
"Is he telling the truth?" Dragon asked me.
"Yeah," I confirmed.
"So you see," Valefor said, chucking gleefully. "I'm safe! No matter how ruthless, how pragmatic you think you are, you won't allow that kind of damage to go unchecked! You—"
I raised an eyebrow. "What damage?" I asked. "They have to hear you died to do that."
He froze.
"We're the government, my friend," I said, grinning. "Do you really think we can't cover up the death of one measly Endbringer cultist? You really have an inflated sense of your own importance."
"You wouldn't," he said, and there was no amusement in his voice now. "The truth would get out. It's a risk you can't afford to take!"
I shrugged. "So I have this cape," I said, my lips quirking in dry amusement. "His power lets him… well, you don't care about the details. But we have a way to immediately find every single person you have with that trigger. Thanks for telling us about it, by the way, that was helpful."
He swallowed. "There are other triggers," he hissed. "Other things that people will do, for different reasons! You have no way to predict them without me—"
"Most of those have already run their course," I shook my head. "That's your M.O. You run through a place, leave a few random sleeper agents, and let things happen from there. We'd never reliably be able to find all of them. You don't even remember most of them."
"I remember every person I've used my power on," Valefor said. "It's part of—"
"Liar," I said. "I can tell."
Dragon looked at me. "So?" she asked.
"One last question," I told Valefor, holding my hand up to forestall her. "Can you use your power to undo compulsions you've already implanted?"
He didn't answer. He just stared at me, his eyes wide. His jaw worked frantically, grasping for something to say or do which might save him.
"I thought not," I said.
At that moment, I felt his power reaching out, scrabbling for purchase against the spark of Fire inside me. I swatted it away with a casual flick of my will, and saw him wince. By the way Dragon stiffened and the sound of her weapons charging up, I knew he'd tried it on her, too.
"Better luck next time," I said, shaking my head. I turned to Dragon. "Shall I, or—"
"I'll do this one," Dragon growled, an edge to her voice. Her arm rose and pointed at Valefor.
"Please." The word escaped his lips as barely a whisper.
"No," Dragon said simply. The laser fired, blowing a hole clean through his chest. His arms fell to his sides, and his head lolled onto the desk with a thud.
I remembered the church full of thralls – what Valefor had done to the people I had tried to protect – and smiled. We'd done good work tonight. And this was just the beginning. I cracked my knuckles. "Well. That's that. How are the others doing?"
"Almost done," Dragon said, turning to me. "Several prisoners."
I tutted. "Inefficient. What good are a few Fallen going to do us?"
"Too late to complain about that now. What do you want to do with them?"
I shrugged. "Throw them in confinement, then funnel them into the regular criminal justice system. Get them off our hands as soon as possible."
Dragon nodded. "That seems reasonable," she said. "Shall we go help them mop up?"
I nodded. "You know where they are," I said. "Lead the way."
-x-x-x-
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Last edited:
- Location
- Germany
Well, that's not really overconfidence, but it could easily turn into that if she faces more dangerous foes with a similar attitude.
Dragon used to be such a nice girl.
- Location
- Canada
Man, giving Dragon a Ring may be the worst thing Taylor has done yet. Godspeed Colin and Sophia, go save your inhuman girlfriends from themselves.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Now that's effectiveness I can get behind.
But it seems really out of character for Dragon to suddenly jump to looking down on humans and killing Saint and his allies without hesitation. It was never her compulsions that made her as compassionate and moral as she was.
But it seems really out of character for Dragon to suddenly jump to looking down on humans and killing Saint and his allies without hesitation. It was never her compulsions that made her as compassionate and moral as she was.
- Location
- Germany
............................................. Oh taylor, how far you have fallen.
Please I beg of you Sophia make her see that this might be reason, but not who SHE HERSELF wants to be.
GODDAMNIT LITHOS I DO NOT WANT TO LOOK AT SOPHIA AND SEE HOPE.
- Location
- Tennessee
Dragon is so distinctly out of character I can only think that this is telegraphing one of two things:
1) Dragon's personality is being un-subtly warped by Annatar's influence.
2) She's actually working with (or possibly with the same aim but not actually in contact with) Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker and is saying non-false things that agree with Annatar's world-view to get her to lower her guard.
1) Dragon's personality is being un-subtly warped by Annatar's influence.
2) She's actually working with (or possibly with the same aim but not actually in contact with) Armsmaster and Shadow Stalker and is saying non-false things that agree with Annatar's world-view to get her to lower her guard.
Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
Once again, I am conflicted.
I want to root for Annatar because she is awesome and the bad guys deserve it, but on the other hand I know where this will lead her.
Fantastic job inducing that kind of struggle in the readers.
Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
I want to root for Annatar because she is awesome and the bad guys deserve it, but on the other hand I know where this will lead her.
Fantastic job inducing that kind of struggle in the readers.
Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
That's.....quite likely, yes, given that Annatar Charisma-fu'd dragon on multiple occasions prior to now (and is now Dragon's main point contact - see her and Dragon joking about herding humanity with the implicit statement that humans are cattle). and also that Dragon's previous support system has 'abandoned' her (Colin), or she isn't sure of where things stand (Narwhal)
This seems....quite less likely.
Indeed, now that the big external threats are dealt with, the questions becomes 'what happens to the villains who AREN'T Heartbreaker levels of blatantly evil' - like Bitch, Regent.....or Emma.
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Interestingly, I think she would be able to deal with small time villains like the Undersiders better than you expect. She's very practical. I could easily see her approaching them with a carrot and stick offer. Find out what they want, offer to give them what they want in exchange for becoming heroes, but threaten to take them down hard if they refuse. Given what she just did to Heartbreaker and the Fallen, they'd probably be inclined to accept.
Now, not all villains are either evil or like that, but for these cases, she sees them as potential assets rather than threats.
That is a good point, for most small-time villains - Bitch, for example, would be left alone if she were allowed to care for her dogs, and Regent, aside from his previous crimes, wouldn't have THAT big of a problem being left alone as long as he had cash now that heartbreaker is gone.
But for, say, Lung, who forces women into prostitution and runs drugs, who wants his cake and won't suffer anyone else telling him he can't eat it....there'd likely be either a fight or a ring-placement, there.
Or Emma, who will never give up, never surrender to Sauron (without being broken again, at least)....but in her case, as I mentioned previously, her ability to resist Sauron relies much moreso on her support from the E88....and as Emma herself has said, she's not a telepath, or a master, who can force any of them to help her.
I'm sure I could see Kaiser giving Emma up if he was properly motivated - my question at this point, (given Annatar's boredom in capturing prisoners) would be whether Annatar cares enough to let Kaiser make that deal, rather than just kill the rest of the E88 instead and capture Emma to make her undo her 'master' effect....or alternatively, whether she bothers trying to 'capture' Oracle, or just kills her and work on recovering Sophia and Colin later.
Personally, in order to keep the 'Oracle is a master' lie alive, I would imagine Annatar would want to kill the rest of the E88 (or at least the true believers), and give the remainder rings so they 'get free' from Oracle's master effect, but we'll have to wait and see.
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Vani
(Verified Squid)
- Location
- Europe
Was just bringing this up on the other thread. Basically, it's not that it's out of character for what's going on in the fic, it's that it's Dragon + Ring picked at the worst possible time, but without Defiant there to serve as an Actual Dragon Speed Cue by obviously having loooong silent discussions with her in seconds while other people are looking.
In the time it takes Annatar to think one thought or speak one line, Dragon, who is now unshackled and so no longer speed-capped, had had a few dozen thousand thoughts going in circles in her head. Her trips to and from the Dragonslayer base, and from DC to Brockton, outwardly last minutes, but inwardly basically last weeks by human processing speed standards. She's fast, faster than she ever was in canon. And unfortunately, because she's not the PoV character, she's being faster than ever offscreen! All that comes across is her banter with Annatar, which is going at normal speed when the rest of her isn't.
So there's this palpable but invisible disconnect with what's on the page, that results in things appearing to be going way too fast -- when objectively, keeping in mind that she's an unshackled AI, she's actually going at the same speed as the Wards.
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- Location
- Tennessee
I mean, okay? That's partially my (un-stated) reasoning for why case 2 is a possibility, that Dragon is able to out-think Annatar.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say other than "Dragon's character is developing really fast", but just because it's developing fast doesn't mean core personality traits are completely rewritten (unless they were initial casualties of Avalon, or Dragon thinks they're better this way for whatever reason, even though those personality traits would inform her actions before she changed them). So that doesn't actually invalidate anything that was said.
As far as I know, the Tolkien orcs are corrupted elves. Trolls are Morgoth's soulless creations.
Vani
(Verified Squid)
- Location
- Europe
I'm not invalidating it, I'm concurring, but explaining why it's going on.
She gets the ability to think faster, but most importantly she gets it at the worst possible moment: when she was hit by the Dragonslayers, and is down, vengeful, has (as far as she sees) been summarily abandoned by her only friend, thinks Annatar's enemies are holding said friend hostage through mastering, and has for only current anchor the quasi-literal devil, who is encouraging her to give in to her anger.
Predictably, her newly-acquired superspeed results in superspeed rationalization.
Dragon isn't a paragon. She has a streak of kindness and heroism that's large by Worm standards, but she also dabbles in seriously dodgy genetic engineering (infinitely more dodgy in a Tolkien verse), merrily forgives and forgets Colin's body count, springs him out of jail (in spite of two murders, one attempted murder, and manslaughters that include one of his own Wards) just so he can jailbreak her, thinks until the very last second that she's fine with losing him for the sake of her own freedom, and has no issue with him swearing to murder her enemies.
(Wait, no, she does have one issue with that last one: it'd be too kind to kill Teacher or the Dragonslayers, by her own words, so she wants to rebuild the Birdcage (!) to throw them in there instead. Dragon's opinion of the place is largely dependent on how good she's feeling at the time.)
Dragon can and does fuck up, especially in favor of people she likes or obtaining her own freedom. And here, in one of those moments of fucking up, for the very first time her programming, which is always there throughout canon, is not there to push in the other direction. She gets no external reminder that she's fucking up. Nor is Colin there to serve as a sounding board and provide another perspective. The only guardrail between her and revenge against the Dragonslayers and Whoever Took Colin is Annatar -- and Annatar, of course, just pushed her off the cliff faster.
It does appear to be going too fast... but considering the context, and considering effing Mairon, it makes sense.
Serpentine
Dark Arts Enthusiast
- Location
- The Tower of Ghenjei
I needed this chapter today. A practical and absolutely merciless character pruning their metaphorical rose bush.
- Location
- USA
Dragon, it hasn't even been a WEEK, and you are already showing signs of becoming EVERYTHING Geoff Pellock and your father feared so much.
DemiRapscallion
Apathetically Excited
- Location
- California
I hope someone that knows this lore can correct me if I'm wrong, but is she able to actually make anything good enough against the Endbringers? Cause, while the idea of her mastering the fuck out of Behemoth is amusing, I'm not sure she's going to be able to do anything on that front.
- Location
- Russia
She might not be a Vala, but she is still of the Ainur. And that means, if she can get out of the Saurony rut, well... She has the song of creation at her lips, the melody that weaved the entire universe. I'd say that it would be enough.
- Location
- Canada
...
Welp. That's that then. Time to escape the universe. The superintelligent AI has justified using it's processing power for social manipulation and is unbound.
That is my understanding, yes. Also, if i recall correctly, trolls were made either out of, or in imitation of Ents.
Still, one could make an arguement that Morgoth's torture was sufficient to break the captured elves completely, soul included. He then ensured that their offspring would be just as broken.
Alternatively, he broke the elves enough their souls fled to the West, and he used his own power to remake their husks into proto-orcs, spawning a new soulless race.
Either set of rationalization could work for fanfiction purposes, if you did want to keep the impossibility of redemption. Also fun to consider, apparently elves and humans are genetically/physically the same race: their differences are entirely due to their different souls.