Shining Example (WORM ORIGIN QUEST)

[IKnowNothing]

And for my next trick......

I'll be pretty busy for the rest of today, but I wanted to submit a potential power for the MC's daughter that felt so appropriate for me. Its still pretty bare-bones, but I'll be happy if it provides even the tiniest bit of inspiration!

Name: ??? (my personal choice would be Alexa given the strength of our MC's whipping. If anyone comes up with a better name, it'll be Rebecca's choice after a stern lecture on naming sense).

Cape name: Hespera (greek for 'Light of the Evening'). Hespera is often labelled as the oldest daughter of Atlas, a title that has sometimes been attributed to Calypso as well. It fits the 'Greek Legend' theme of Atlas and Alexandria too!

Shard ID: [Rayshifter] (IMO, an Eden-influenced Abbaddon shard)

Power: Hespera's power is one of the greatest ever seen, and as such contains several subcomponents.

1. Hespera has a form of pericognition, making her passively aware of the existence of everything within range of her senses in an almost radius of detection

2. Hespera may focus in on an object within her radius to instantaneously view its 'timeline' (i.e. she gets data on every possible state of its existence through its history and into its future). The longer she focuses on an object (or the more information she has on it beforehand) the easier it is to view its 'timeline' in more detail. If she knows enough about its workings, she can even construct 'alternate timelines' for less likely futures of the object.

(mechanically, users can select an object and you present one or two 'likely' timelines for it. A write-in timeline could be accepted, but the more unlikely it is the more time it takes to construct, with the 'base timeline' viewed instantaneously)

(For extra fun, I'd eliminate the manton limit and have Hespera able to view the timeline of a person, granting her a form of thinker power by reconstructing their past and predicting their most probable actions in the future. note that she can only focus on one 'object' at a time and only gains context after a period of observation. That is to say, a glance may tell her that someone will have a broken wrist in a day, but she'll need to actually focus to understand that he will be punching a gang member during an attempted mugging).

3. Once viewed, Hespera may displace the object along the viewed timeline in either direction, though large temporal jumps may require a moment to gather energy. This is in my opinion the flashiest bit of her power, since she can revert nearly any danger into a harmless state. Fire? collapses into fuel and oxygen. A bullet? bursts into a puff of iron-rich soil. Ice? turns to water or steam. Better yet, she could jump them into the future (e.g. 'cooking off' a grenade about to be thrown at her, emptying the magazine of a gun about to be fired). With enough focus, she can find a timeline with effect more advantageous to her (rather than cooking off, she finds a timeline where the grenade is a dud and the gun jams). It is generally faster to displace an object backwards than forwards as looking into the future takes a bit more focus.

Once again, I'd get rid of the Manton limit to unleash the TRUE CHEESE of this power, which makes her both a devastating offensive juggernaut and an insanely effective healer, rewinding the body to before an injury occurred (though limited by her ability to 'grasp' the idea of a whole body part) and only being able to heal one injury at a time (that is to say, the only person she knows well enough to 'reset' to a perfect state consistently is herself. While the potential for Resurrection is there, I'd have the shard recognise 'sapient life' as a particular state, so using her power on a dead body will produce the timeline of a dead body, up to just after the moment of death. Perhaps if 'jailbroken' this could be attempted? On the flipside, I doubt anyone will miss the offensive applications of being able to age someone to death with a look. With this said, she is not unbeatable- she must focus on one object at a time, and may not always make the optimal choices for timeline displacements.

Click to shrink...

Ok, so I completely missed this. I didn't expect anything like it but cool!

Hmm, it brings to mind a lot of ideas but if you want to keep adding don't let me stop you.

Thanks for your work!

 

[Jarrik32]

Behold a grim dark omake for a grim dark age written in a grim dark room. In a grim dark village.

'Life isn't fair' it's one of the most commonly used cop outs in the world, when you can't explain why something horrible has happened just say those magic words. That fact that saying them inevitably just makes it feels worse doesn't help either; but hey misery isn't something you half ass. As the wise frog once said "Do or do not". Anyway enough angst for now. Okay I lied, here's the soap opera that passes for my back story.

My name is Danah Everett; my parents were Alex Everett and Rebecca Costa-Brown or if have no idea who they are well you might have known them by their other names. Atlas and Alexandria. Yes really. Or if you still don't know what that means then a) pull your head out the ground and b) try it this way. One was the most powerful shaker in Parahuman history and the other is a brute so fast and resilient that she can use her own body as a WMD. Turns out if your throw 70 odd kilos of mass at something at several times the speed of sound you get one hell of a bang.

Now for the background material. All the way back in in primeval era known to scholars as 1987; my parents lived mostly happy lives. Then they got sick; the fatal kind of sick and met each other at the hospital while they waited for the inevitable. Only it never came, they triggered with what I am reliably informed are "Bullshit tier powers" and in doing so their bodies were healed granting them a new lease on life. This is the bit where the story reaches public knowledge. They form a team with several other oddly powerful people from completely different parts of the country somehow finding each other despite never using their powers publicly. Odd right; it's almost as if someone set it all up.

Then came London where they saved us all. Then they did again. And again. And again. And somewhere in the middle of all this they made me; something I will be eternally grateful for. For a time all was well. they saved the world, they came home to me and then they left to save the world again. Then the inevitable happened. They finally found a foe that even they couldn't beat.

Mirror master; the lord of infinite realities as one particularly hysterical newspaper called. He caught Alex in a dimensional trap and that's where's he's been stuck ever since. Sure MM could have let him out; too bad Jack cut his head off before he could be 'persuaded' too. After that things went bad; mom. No... Rebecca. As much as Rebecca used to love me it was always dad that pulled her back from the edge, dad who pushed her to keep pretending that she wasn't a super-powered robot. To feel not just think. With him gone she slowly slipped away little by little. There was always another crisis; always another idiot politician encouraging the worst parts of humanity; always another villain taking a crack at being a warlord. Logic stated that every second spent on a nine year old was time that could be spent on keeping humanity going. So less and less time was.

Ironically it was David of all people who stepped up to raise me. Frickin' Eidolon a man who needed thinker powers to survive talking to his 'friends'. Don't get me wrong I loved him to bits but dear god he had issues. Issues that he hid from through liberal use of powers. Then he died too. For him it was Siberian; turns out all the powers in the universe aren't helpful in tight quarters with the textbook definition of unstoppable force. One second everything is fine the next Hero is on the floor having parted from company with his left arm and most of his face and Eidolon has an invulnerable fist through his sternum. Blaster; shaker and brute. All the powers in the world yet in the end he just didn't have the right ones when he really needed them.

After that everyone just stopped pretending to follow Dads plan for saving humanity. Every member of the Founders were irreplaceable; natural triggers simply didn't form powers of sufficient magnitude without screwing up the host to the point that death was a mercy. While artificial triggers were only (somewhat) safe at a low intensity something powerful enough was near guaranteed to kill the host and even if they did the side effects could be just as bad as natural triggers. Mantons daughter certainly wasn't batshit before the resident mad scientist fed her a vial turning her into Siberian.

Incidentally this is the bit where I triggered and by triggered I mean I used my connection to Doormaker to sneak into Cauldrons base and stole several vials from the high risk storage unit. Or if I'm being honest with myself; Doctor mother let me in. Either I died and a awkward loose end she couldn't directly target was finally tied off or I triggered with something useful. Still jokes on the old bat considering that path to victory no longer works on me.

Anyway back to the plan. Dad's plan had failed as far as they were concerned. Stabilising the world simply resulted in the overseer shards turning up the heat with an endless array of poor sods triggering in the worst possible place with the worst possible power. As more and more people triggered the semi-sane cauldron capes had their influence gradually watered down leaving the crazies in charge and the icing on top was that taking the soft touch got the only two capes capable of challenging Scion killed. Heads rolled. Mine included.

After that I just left. I left a note saying where I was going and why I was leaving because I'm not a complete ass. No one followed.

After that I wandered; every so often I found someone my power insisted was 'worthy' and I gave them a choice. Stop being amazing and become legendary or take the smart option and go on with their lives. Senua; Doom; Lightspeed all of them became S-class capes. Hero, Villain or something in between; my power couldn't tell me how they'd use their power but it did guarantee something amazing. Nine capes who changed the world all because they took a chance on a crazy woman with a crazier story and a bag of vials.

Now we get to the really important bit. As I assure you I don't just hand over my life story to just anyone...

Do you want to be cape number 10?

Fin.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Behold a grim dark omake for a grim dark age written in a grim dark room. In a grim dark village.

'Life isn't fair' it's one of the most commonly used cop outs in the world, when you can't explain why something horrible has happened just say those magic words. That fact that saying them inevitably just makes it feels worse doesn't help either; but hey misery isn't something you half ass. As the wise frog once said "Do or do not". Anyway enough angst for now. Okay I lied, here's the soap opera that passes for my back story.

My name is Danah Everett; my parents were Alex Everett and Rebecca Costa-Brown or if have no idea who they are well you might have known them by their other names. Atlas and Alexandria. Yes really. Or if you still don't know what that means then a) pull your head out the ground and b) try it this way. One was the most powerful shaker in Parahuman history and the other is a brute so fast and resilient that she can use her own body as a WMD. Turns out if your throw 70 odd kilos of mass at something at several times the speed of sound you get one hell of a bang.

Now for the background material. All the way back in in primeval era known to scholars as 1987; my parents lived mostly happy lives. Then they got sick; the fatal kind of sick and met each other at the hospital while they waited for the inevitable. Only it never came, they triggered with what I am reliably informed are "Bullshit tier powers" and in doing so their bodies were healed granting them a new lease on life. This is the bit where the story reaches public knowledge. They form a team with several other oddly powerful people from completely different parts of the country somehow finding each other despite never using their powers publicly. Odd right; it's almost as if someone set it all up.

Then came London where they saved us all. Then they did again. And again. And again. And somewhere in the middle of all this they made me; something I will be eternally grateful for. For a time all was well. they saved the world, they came home to me and then they left to save the world again. Then the inevitable happened. They finally found a foe that even they couldn't beat.

Mirror master; the lord of infinite realities as one particularly hysterical newspaper called. He caught Alex in a dimensional trap and that's where's he's been stuck ever since. Sure MM could have let him out; too bad Jack cut his head off before he could be 'persuaded' too. After that things went bad; mom. No... Rebecca. As much as Rebecca used to love me it was always dad that pulled her back from the edge, dad who pushed her to keep pretending that she wasn't a super-powered robot. To feel not just think. With him gone she slowly slipped away little by little. There was always another crisis; always another idiot politician encouraging the worst parts of humanity; always another villain taking a crack at being a warlord. Logic stated that every second spent on a nine year old was time that could be spent on keeping humanity going. So less and less time was.

Ironically it was David of all people who stepped up to raise me. Frickin' Eidolon a man who needed thinker powers to survive talking to his 'friends'. Don't get me wrong I loved him to bits but dear god he had issues. Issues that he hid from through liberal use of powers. Then he died too. For him it was Siberian; turns out all the powers in the universe aren't helpful in tight quarters with the textbook definition of unstoppable force. One second everything is fine the next Hero is on the floor having parted from company with his left arm and most of his face and Eidolon has an invulnerable fist through his sternum. Blaster; shaker and brute. All the powers in the world yet in the end he just didn't have the right ones when he really needed them.

After that everyone just stopped pretending to follow Dads plan for saving humanity. Every member of the Founders were irreplaceable; natural triggers simply didn't form powers of sufficient magnitude without screwing up the host to the point that death was a mercy. While artificial triggers were only (somewhat) safe at a low intensity something powerful enough was near guaranteed to kill the host and even if they did the side effects could be just as bad as natural triggers. Mantons daughter certainly wasn't batshit before the resident mad scientist fed her a vial turning her into Siberian.

Incidentally this is the bit where I triggered and by triggered I mean I used my connection to Doormaker to sneak into Cauldrons base and stole several vials from the high risk storage unit. Or if I'm being honest with myself; Doctor mother let me in. Either I died and a awkward loose end she couldn't directly target was finally tied off or I triggered with something useful. Still jokes on the old bat considering that path to victory no longer works on me.

Anyway back to the plan. Dad's plan had failed as far as they were concerned. Stabilising the world simply resulted in the overseer shards turning up the heat with an endless array of poor sods triggering in the worst possible place with the worst possible power. As more and more people triggered the semi-sane cauldron capes had their influence gradually watered down leaving the crazies in charge and the icing on top was that taking the soft touch got the only two capes capable of challenging Scion killed. Heads rolled. Mine included.

After that I just left. I left a note saying where I was going and why I was leaving because I'm not a complete ass. No one followed.

After that I wandered; every so often I found someone my power insisted was 'worthy' and I gave them a choice. Stop being amazing and become legendary or take the smart option and go on with their lives. Senua; Doom; Lightspeed all of them became S-class capes. Hero, Villain or something in between; my power couldn't tell me how they'd use their power but it did guarantee something amazing. Nine capes who changed the world all because they took a chance on a crazy woman with a crazier story and a bag of vials.

Now we get to the really important bit. As I assure you I don't just hand over my life story to just anyone...

Do you want to be cape number 10?

Fin.

Click to shrink...

Well, can't say that I expected this. That being said:



It gives me a lot of ideas.

Ugh, you guys are making this stop choice really hard you know that?

 

[Jarrik32]

Well, can't say that I expected this. That being said:



It gives me a lot of ideas.

Ugh, you guys are making this stop choice really hard you know that?

Click to shrink...

We are fun like that. Seriously though this quest was always for fun, if it stops being something you enjoy then all it gets you is stress and that's not worth it.

On another note I'm glad you enjoyed my omake.

 

[IKnowNothing]

We are fun like that. Seriously though this quest was always for fun, if it stops being something you enjoy then all it gets you is stress and that's not worth it.

On another note I'm glad you enjoyed my omake.

Click to shrink...

I enjoy any and all omakes. If my work inspires you guys to take the time out of your day and write something, I'd love to see anything that you guys can bring.

 

[FluffyCloudSheep]

Are you open to fanart bribes?

 

[IKnowNothing]

Are you open to fanart bribes?

Click to shrink...

Partially. I don't want to seem like I'm holding this quest hostage.

That being said.... PM me what you have in mind.

 

[FluffyCloudSheep]

Bit late but here's the fanart bribe as promised.

Eidolon and Atlas walk into a bar.

 

[Dark as Silver]

Eidolon and Atlas walk into a bar.

Click to shrink...

Allfather leaves through a wall.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Bit late but here's the fanart bribe as promised.

Eidolon and Atlas walk into a bar.

Click to shrink...

It was worth the wait. Thank you so much, brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Allfather leaves through a wall.

Click to shrink...

...

pfft god damn it sliver. This made me laugh more than I feel like it should've.

 

[Dark as Silver]

...

pfft god damn it sliver. This made me laugh more than I feel like it should've.

Click to shrink...

I mean that's a good summation of my contribution to this thread.

 

[Supermushu]

IT BEGINS (produced in collaboration with @IKnowNothing)

Firefly

Prologue: Radiant 0.x


Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Whitecollar

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to

• AND Threads that have new replies

• OR private message conversations with new replies

• Thread OP is displayed.

• Ten posts per page

• Last ten messages in private message history.

• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.


■


♦ Topic: The Sky is falling!

In: Boards ► Cape News ► Sentinels ► Atlas

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted On Jul 14th 1987:

It seems that it falls to me to once again be the bearer of bad news.


As you may have heard, yesterday the battle against the villain Mirror Master was recently concluded, with his capture by the Sentinels after their showdown over Brockton Bay. While the damage is still being surveyed, my sources have confirmed one casualty among the Sentinel capes; Atlas.


In order to buy time for Hero to analyse and devise countermeasures for the villains portal technology, Atlas and Alexandria directly engaged Mirror Master and his horde of summoned abominations, as shown in this video here, where Atlas was caught in the backlash of the portal's destruction after failing to get clear in time. As of today, his location is still unknown.


While the protectorate has yet to release a formal statement on yesterdays events, I would like to pre-empt them by expressing my deepest sympathies for all of the involved parties.


Atlas was an inspiration to us all.



(Showing page 1 of 13)



►BadSamurai (Verified Bad Boy) (Bushido Enthusiast)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Shit dude.... your telling me hes really gone?


►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

While his exact status has not been determined, I suspect that Mirror Master's portals worked by opening 'rifts' into a series of of parallel worlds- you can catch glimpses of them in the video- and given his proximity during their unstable collapse, he was either sucked into one of them or torn apart. I'd love to believe that he'll be fine, but I just can't see it happening.


►Atlas Shrugged

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

WOW. LOOK AT THIS GUY.


Not even a day, and he's writing off motherf****ing ATLAS. Come on! We all know that he'll show up at the next major crisis, even if he needs to tear spacetime a new one like some sort of interdimensional Kool-Aid man. The guy's faced Endbringers on even ground, and you think that a portal will stop him? Give me a break


►Doc Brown-ish (SCIENCE!) (Wannabe Tinker)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Yeah, I gotta agree with @ Atlas Shrugged here. Atlas is WAY too badass to die like that. Besides, they caught Mirror Master, right? Five Bucks says that Hero reverse engineers some kinda gizmo to beam him back within a week. They probably delayed the announcement so that they can have the full team together for the victory party


►Under_The _Radar

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

All Im gonna say is... if Atlas is really gone... God help that Mirror guy when Alexandira gets her hands on him


►Chilldrizzle (Verified Grammar..... Guy)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Firstly @Under_The _Radar, It's Alexandria not Alexandira


Secondly... he makes a good point. There is no way that the Sentinels won't call in every favour they have if there is even a one percent chance that he's not dead. Given how much Atlas and Alexandria have done for the PRT and Protectorate both... how much do you think they will invest into retrieving him?


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Look guys, @ Bagrat has the right of it. Even if he survived the explosion bits of him are probably scattered across a million different places (or times... or worlds...) The point is that it would take way more effort to find him than the PRT could spare, and the guy himself wouldn't appreciate a massive manhunt when that same effort could be used to save lives.


IMHO, the best way to honour the guy is to give up on wild theories and focus on helping people NOW. And if he does return? I'll be the first to throw a wild party in celebration.


►Alexandria (Member of the Founding Five) (Iron Hard Abs) (Cape Wife)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:


I am posting on this forum to announce that tomorrow's press conference has been cancelled in order to more fully concentrate on outstanding Issues.


Hero has confirmed that the self-styled 'Mirror Master' was using inter-dimensional portals to summon his creatures, and work has begun on reverse-engineering what samples of technology remain. Thinker review of the battle has confirmed that Atlas was able to shield himself before the detonation, with a significant probability of survival despite his dimensional displacement. Should anyone possess any information that they think would aid in his retrieval, I urge you to submit it using the contact details provided here


Eidolon will be assuming command of the Sentinels in the abscence of Atlas.


I thank you for your support in this trying time.


►Hero (Member of the Founding Five) (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) (Moderator)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:


As a follow-up to the above post, I would like to ask that everyone be patient- what has happened is a tragedy of the highest order and it will take some time to fully recover. While I cannot provide an exact date, there WILL be a press conference forthcoming that will provide details on the Protectorate (and PRT) response to recent events. I would also ask that you hold your questions and comments until then so as not to add to anyone's distress. Until next time!



►ArchmageEin

Replied On Jul 14th 2018:

Alexandria is here!


*Reads post*


Aaaand she sounds like a robot parodying 'emotionless robot' stereotypes. Perhaps a therapist is in order? Yamada or Everett seem like the best choices in this case.


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Her husband could have DIED; don't you understand that?



End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12, 13




(Showing page 11 of 13)



►Deadman

Replied On Jul 19th 1987:

@ Erinyes Really? THATS what you're taking away from my post? *Sighs* All right, I'll try again.


Its not that I hate Eidolon, but I think that he's a poor fit for a leadership position. He's powerful (It's easier to list what he CAN'T do) but he always struck me as kinda.... remote. You know what I mean? He expects everyone to perform at the same level he does without thinking about just how much effort is required to keep up with his hax, then gets pissy when they don't. And for those of you that cry out: 'But he has great teamwork with the Founders!', it strikes me that he only does that because they were able to *somehow* earn a measure of his respect (and have powers nearly as hax as his own). I doubt that he'll have a high opinion of anyone in the team other than MAYBE Narwhal, so its a waste of time trying to get them to work together.


Chevalier is a muuuuch better pick IMO, 'cause he actually cares (and, you know, was trained 1 on 1 by Atlas). The team needs a LEADER, not another Nuke.


►Warrior's Creed (TACTICAL GENIUS)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

I must state my Agreement with Deadman- placing Eidolon as head of the Sentinels is a massive waste of resources. Quite apart from all of the points above, his mere presence renders their contributions redundant, since there is nothing they can do he can't do at least as well.


Personally, if the PRT was so afraid of an upsurge in Villain activity, I would deploy Eidolon on his own, perhaps teamed with a thinker like Silver Crusader as a spotter to maximise his combat ability, to strike at any major spike in enemy action, whilst splitting the remainder of the sentinels into squads and distributing them across the country to shore up the protectorate prescence in potential flashpoint areas, to delay villains and minimise damage until Eidolon arrives. And finally, I'd order all PRT and Protectorate resources to be a bit more ruthless in their handling of superpowered criminals- that is to say, they should take a leaf out of Atlas' book and give any target one chance to surrender, after which all bets are off. If there is one things villains love to exploit, it is the semblance of weakness.


►Dawgsmiles (Veteran Member)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

I... have no words. Like, It seems like a decent plan at first, but DAMN that's cold. You'd break up the Sentinels immediately after their leader vanished, Birdcage people left and right (Don't think I can't read between the lines), and effectively send Eidolon on a Government-sponsored Murder Spree. Are you really that thick or do you just not care about the consequences of what you are proposing? Leaving aside the morality, that kind of action would provoke all out war, and it'd only be a matter of time before Symphony 2.0 would show up out of spite. Worse, Eidolon can only be in one place at a time, and without Atlas his potential for collateral damage is worryingly high. All you'd end up doing is forcing a mass slaughter of the very people you ostensibly want to save. What the fuck man?


►Chevalier (Verified Sentinel) (True Knight Aspirant)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

As interesting as the last few pages of discussion have been, I would like to remind this thread that an official announcement has yet to be made on the subject of our vacant leadership position. Rest assured that any such choice will be made only after a thorough discussion of its merits and drawbacks.


End of Page. 1 ... 9, 10, 11, 12, 13



(Showing page 13 of 13)




►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

So, I heard recently that Hero made some kind of breakthrough on MM's tech, and that Alexandria was given permission by the Chief Director to mount a rescue mission. It's all rumour right now, but given my previous (and regretted) pessimism I thought I'd deliver some good news for a change


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

It seems I was mistaken. I will never be happier about such an event in my life


►Feychick

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

ATLAS IS COMING BACK BABY! FUCK YEAH!


►Chilldrizzle (Verified Grammar..... Guy)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

Hold your horses, it's only a rumour..... albiet a very welcome one. With that said, I too hope for a successful recovery of Atlas


►BadSamurai (Verified Bad Boy) (Bushido Enthusiast)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

Too tru Bro... but for now, all we can do is w8.



End of Page. 1 ... 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

 

[Dark as Silver]

IT BEGINS (produced in collaboration with @IKnowNothing)

Firefly

Prologue: Radiant 0.x


Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, Whitecollar

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to

• AND Threads that have new replies

• OR private message conversations with new replies

• Thread OP is displayed.

• Ten posts per page

• Last ten messages in private message history.

• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.


■


♦ Topic: The Sky is falling!

In: Boards ► Cape News ► Sentinels ► Atlas

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted On Jul 14th 1987:

It seems that it falls to me to once again be the bearer of bad news.


As you may have heard, yesterday the battle against the villain Mirror Master was recently concluded, with his capture by the Sentinels after their showdown over Brockton Bay. While the damage is still being surveyed, my sources have confirmed one casualty among the Sentinel capes; Atlas.


In order to buy time for Hero to analyse and devise countermeasures for the villains portal technology, Atlas and Alexandria directly engaged Mirror Master and his horde of summoned abominations, as shown in this video here, where Atlas was caught in the backlash of the portal's destruction after failing to get clear in time. As of today, his location is still unknown.


While the protectorate has yet to release a formal statement on yesterdays events, I would like to pre-empt them by expressing my deepest sympathies for all of the involved parties.


Atlas was an inspiration to us all.



(Showing page 1 of 13)



►BadSamurai (Verified Bad Boy) (Bushido Enthusiast)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Shit dude.... your telling me hes really gone?


►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

While his exact status has not been determined, I suspect that Mirror Master's portals worked by opening 'rifts' into a series of of parallel worlds- you can catch glimpses of them in the video- and given his proximity during their unstable collapse, he was either sucked into one of them or torn apart. I'd love to believe that he'll be fine, but I just can't see it happening.


►Atlas Shrugged

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

WOW. LOOK AT THIS GUY.


Not even a day, and he's writing off motherf****ing ATLAS. Come on! We all know that he'll show up at the next major crisis, even if he needs to tear spacetime a new one like some sort of interdimensional Kool-Aid man. The guy's faced Endbringers on even ground, and you think that a portal will stop him? Give me a break


►Doc Brown-ish (SCIENCE!) (Wannabe Tinker)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Yeah, I gotta agree with @ Atlas Shrugged here. Atlas is WAY too badass to die like that. Besides, they caught Mirror Master, right? Five Bucks says that Hero reverse engineers some kinda gizmo to beam him back within a week. They probably delayed the announcement so that they can have the full team together for the victory party


►Under_The _Radar

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

All Im gonna say is... if Atlas is really gone... God help that Mirror guy when Alexandira gets her hands on him


►Chilldrizzle (Verified Grammar..... Guy)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Firstly @Under_The _Radar, It's Alexandria not Alexandira


Secondly... he makes a good point. There is no way that the Sentinels won't call in every favour they have if there is even a one percent chance that he's not dead. Given how much Atlas and Alexandria have done for the PRT and Protectorate both... how much do you think they will invest into retrieving him?


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Look guys, @ Bagrat has the right of it. Even if he survived the explosion bits of him are probably scattered across a million different places (or times... or worlds...) The point is that it would take way more effort to find him than the PRT could spare, and the guy himself wouldn't appreciate a massive manhunt when that same effort could be used to save lives.


IMHO, the best way to honour the guy is to give up on wild theories and focus on helping people NOW. And if he does return? I'll be the first to throw a wild party in celebration.


►Alexandria (Member of the Founding Five) (Iron Hard Abs) (Cape Wife)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:


I am posting on this forum to announce that tomorrow's press conference has been cancelled in order to more fully concentrate on outstanding Issues.


Hero has confirmed that the self-styled 'Mirror Master' was using inter-dimensional portals to summon his creatures, and work has begun on reverse-engineering what samples of technology remain. Thinker review of the battle has confirmed that Atlas was able to shield himself before the detonation, with a significant probability of survival despite his dimensional displacement. Should anyone possess any information that they think would aid in his retrieval, I urge you to submit it using the contact details provided here


Eidolon will be assuming command of the Sentinels in the abscence of Atlas.


I thank you for your support in this trying time.


►Hero (Member of the Founding Five) (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) (Moderator)

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:


As a follow-up to the above post, I would like to ask that everyone be patient- what has happened is a tragedy of the highest order and it will take some time to fully recover. While I cannot provide an exact date, there WILL be a press conference forthcoming that will provide details on the Protectorate (and PRT) response to recent events. I would also ask that you hold your questions and comments until then so as not to add to anyone's distress. Until next time!



►ArchmageEin

Replied On Jul 14th 2018:

Alexandria is here!


*Reads post*


Aaaand she sounds like a robot parodying 'emotionless robot' stereotypes. Perhaps a therapist is in order? Yamada or Everett seem like the best choices in this case.


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 14th 1987:

Her husband could have DIED; don't you understand that?



End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12, 13




(Showing page 11 of 13)



►Deadman

Replied On Jul 19th 1987:

@ Erinyes Really? THATS what you're taking away from my post? *Sighs* All right, I'll try again.


Its not that I hate Eidolon, but I think that he's a poor fit for a leadership position. He's powerful (It's easier to list what he CAN'T do) but he always struck me as kinda.... remote. You know what I mean? He expects everyone to perform at the same level he does without thinking about just how much effort is required to keep up with his hax, then gets pissy when they don't. And for those of you that cry out: 'But he has great teamwork with the Founders!', it strikes me that he only does that because they were able to *somehow* earn a measure of his respect (and have powers nearly as hax as his own). I doubt that he'll have a high opinion of anyone in the team other than MAYBE Narwhal, so its a waste of time trying to get them to work together.


Chevalier is a muuuuch better pick IMO, 'cause he actually cares (and, you know, was trained 1 on 1 by Atlas). The team needs a LEADER, not another Nuke.


►Warrior's Creed (TACTICAL GENIUS)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

I must state my Agreement with Deadman- placing Eidolon as head of the Sentinels is a massive waste of resources. Quite apart from all of the points above, his mere presence renders their contributions redundant, since there is nothing they can do he can't do at least as well.


Personally, if the PRT was so afraid of an upsurge in Villain activity, I would deploy Eidolon on his own, perhaps teamed with a thinker like Silver Crusader as a spotter to maximise his combat ability, to strike at any major spike in enemy action, whilst splitting the remainder of the sentinels into squads and distributing them across the country to shore up the protectorate prescence in potential flashpoint areas, to delay villains and minimise damage until Eidolon arrives. And finally, I'd order all PRT and Protectorate resources to be a bit more ruthless in their handling of superpowered criminals- that is to say, they should take a leaf out of Atlas' book and give any target one chance to surrender, after which all bets are off. If there is one things villains love to exploit, it is the semblance of weakness.


►Dawgsmiles (Veteran Member)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

I... have no words. Like, It seems like a decent plan at first, but DAMN that's cold. You'd break up the Sentinels immediately after their leader vanished, Birdcage people left and right (Don't think I can't read between the lines), and effectively send Eidolon on a Government-sponsored Murder Spree. Are you really that thick or do you just not care about the consequences of what you are proposing? Leaving aside the morality, that kind of action would provoke all out war, and it'd only be a matter of time before Symphony 2.0 would show up out of spite. Worse, Eidolon can only be in one place at a time, and without Atlas his potential for collateral damage is worryingly high. All you'd end up doing is forcing a mass slaughter of the very people you ostensibly want to save. What the fuck man?


►Chevalier (Verified Sentinel) (True Knight Aspirant)

Replied On Jul 20th 1987:

As interesting as the last few pages of discussion have been, I would like to remind this thread that an official announcement has yet to be made on the subject of our vacant leadership position. Rest assured that any such choice will be made only after a thorough discussion of its merits and drawbacks.


End of Page. 1 ... 9, 10, 11, 12, 13



(Showing page 13 of 13)




►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

So, I heard recently that Hero made some kind of breakthrough on MM's tech, and that Alexandria was given permission by the Chief Director to mount a rescue mission. It's all rumour right now, but given my previous (and regretted) pessimism I thought I'd deliver some good news for a change


►Envoy of Acedia

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

It seems I was mistaken. I will never be happier about such an event in my life


►Feychick

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

ATLAS IS COMING BACK BABY! FUCK YEAH!


►Chilldrizzle (Verified Grammar..... Guy)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

Hold your horses, it's only a rumour..... albiet a very welcome one. With that said, I too hope for a successful recovery of Atlas


►BadSamurai (Verified Bad Boy) (Bushido Enthusiast)

Replied On Jul 22nd 1987:

Too tru Bro... but for now, all we can do is w8.



End of Page. 1 ... 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Click to shrink...

I can't believe it. Didn't think this would actually happen, definitely not after the quest died.

 

[Supermushu]

I can't believe it. Didn't think this would actually happen, definitely not after the quest died.

Click to shrink...

Admittedly the onset of exams gleefully crushed my naive dreams of getting it all done in a week, but there's no way i'll let one of my first quests die like this! Rage, rage against the night and all that...

 

[Argidoll]

Rage, rage against the night and all that...

Click to shrink...

Until the sun returns.

I feel ya.

 

[IKnowNothing]

I can't believe it. Didn't think this would actually happen, definitely not after the quest died.

Click to shrink...

Admittedly the onset of exams gleefully crushed my naive dreams of getting it all done in a week, but there's no way i'll let one of my first quests die like this! Rage, rage against the night and all that...

Click to shrink...

And it's amazing to see.

Can't wait to see the rest, even as I finalize some notes for later.

 

[Zennon]

• He is. His body is stored in a pod and he controls a hive mind of nanites that change into different shapes depending on what he made. (Side note, Alex had a chance at having this power, as the vial used to make sandstorm was sold to the singularity during Alex's coma by doctor mother) Sandstorm was going to be paid by one of All Father's more zealous followers to kill Atlas and he would've done it. Alex can only move what he can perceive, and Sandstorm would simply trickle enough nanobots into Alex's bloodstream by having them hitching a ride on his breath and just stop his heart or something. Thankfully, when this was going to come to pass, David was on hand to get Alex out of it since he chose to be bros with David and fly around the country beating the shit out of parahumans.

Click to shrink...

I was just wondering about any other ideas you may have had for the applications of the nanobot Tinker power; what other stuff would Alex have been able to accomplish down the line with that?

 

[IKnowNothing]

I was just wondering about any other ideas you may have had for the applications of the nanobot Tinker power; what other stuff would Alex have been able to accomplish down the line with that?

Click to shrink...

Sorry for taking a bit to get to this, but here goes.

The first idea that I came up with when I got the power actually wasn't any sort of like Iron man like armor, it was mostly from just a hive mind. A thousand computers operating all at once, making Dragon look like a calculator in comparison to the huge processing power that Alex would have access to. He would be on par and possibly even greater than the thinker abilities of Rebecca if things got there.

Second, of course, would be the armor, Alex would never turn himself into a machine. he would help his thoughts, but he would keep the body he has so he'll start making a bunch of adaptable armors that would suit his needs as a hero on the field.

Thirdly, if you guys ran into Dragon and company, there was a chance to get her to be the AI that helped operate all the different nanobots, even going so far as to give her a better body than she could ever ask for if Alex devoted enough time to it.

A lot of the higher end stuff would be mitigated by David and Rebecca, as Alex with his need to be better and help people might slip into creating a grey goo sinario.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blood of Gaea]

That's pretty awesome really, but boo to no Alex nano-cyborg.

 

[IKnowNothing]

That's pretty awesome really, but boo to no Alex nano-cyborg.

Click to shrink...

I was honestly willing to go full terminator and have Alex go out in a T-1000 suit for combat, or even just replace whole limbs and body parts of those that have been injured. If that route was going down, he'd be looked at more as the best medical tinker than anything else.

 

[Supermushu]

Radiant 1.1


Alex Everett had a secret.

It was, in the grand scheme of things, not a large one; it would topple no Empires, break no bonds- and yet, it was one that he had held close to his heart for years, never speaking of it even to his closest friends and family.

Alex Everett hated waking up.

He hated it because, every time he found himself swimming up from the depths of unconsciousness he couldn't help but feel a stab of atavistic dread- that this would be the time he awoke to the face of a smiling nurse or doctor, proclaiming the success of his most recent treatment and expecting a joyous reaction to the news that his whole life was once more ahead of him.

Of course, under normal circumstances this irrational fear would quickly be dispelled- he would feel Rebecca in bed next to him, see the wooden panelling of his office or notice one of a myriad of details he could use to banish the horrible falling feeling he was forced to endure at the boundary of wakefulness. Not this time, however.

The first clue was when that feeling refused to go away. The second, and perhaps more obvious piece of evidence, was when he snapped to full attention and noticed three things:

1. The wind was whipping through his hair on its own, without the fan being on

2. His cape, not the blankets, was the reason for the shadow on his face

3. Combined with his first observation and that feeling, it seemed that he was falling out of the sky.

Clearly, Alexander Everett was out of his depth here.

As such, Atlas reached out with his power; and the waves responded. Hundreds of them rushed in- from both close and distant positions- cocooning him in a protective barrier even as his previous freefall slowed to a controlled descent, and eventually a hover. As he did so, he also recalled the circumstances of his arrival.

The last thing he remembered was pushing Rebecca out of range as Mirror Master overloaded his portals… so the logical conclusion was that he had been displaced to his current, unknown location. The thought made his heart clench; he felt none of the disturbances that characterised Mirror Master's portals, which meant that he was stranded in an unknown location with no way home. Worse, it had been right after Rebecca had told him….

As if summoned by the thought, a voice, warm and commanding and sounding so much like her echoed through his mind.

'Think, Atlas- remember your training. Objectives, Resources, Obstacles.'

Well then. A faint smile curled his lips as he gathered his bearings- 'even now, she continues to save me' – but the point was well made. His mind spurred to action, Atlas attempted to analyse his situation. His Objective was obvious- return home, by any means necessary.

'Okay then' he thought. 'What is my current status?'. A quick once-over showed him that he seemed to have gotten through the detonation unharmed, barring some minor damage to his costume from the earlier battle, and his earlier flight showed that his powers were in no way diminished. All of the tinkertech built into his suit and mask seemed fully operational, and a quick flex of his power confirmed that his… Proton Balls… (he supressed a grimace at the memory of Charles laughing uproariously when the PR team had given him that name) had made it through intact as well. With that said, an insistent chiming in his ears reminded him that all of it also seemed to have lost its connection to Charles' Tac-Net ('Da, Comrade' exclaimed Charles in a ludicrously fake Soviet accent 'Charles' Command and Co-ordination Protocols will ensure the stability of your Union for a thousand years!'). Not entirely unexpected, but certainly worrying, given that its range extended both worldwide and into quite a few of Cauldron's more exotic locations, and throwing any hope of an easy rescue right out of the window.

Speaking of which- obstacles. Yet another quick sweep of the area around him revealed no decaying portal or spacetime tear -a faint hope given its earlier absence- so he finally turned his gaze to the city below him, hoping beyond hope he would spot a familiar landmark or location.

The results were not very encouraging.

It took only a few seconds to identify the sprawl below him as Brockton Bay- and only a second or so more to verify that it was not the Brockton he was familiar with; for one, there was a massive wasteland of rusted metal next to the Boardwalk where a small but well-fortified port should have been. For another, there appeared to be a massive blue dome (A phased ion shield, declared Charles, standing proudly next to his prototype) over the location of the old oil rig in the bay. The central and downtown zones of city itself seemed similar, but there was a pall of… tiredness that hung over the area that he could have never associated with the city he knew.

It said much about the absurdity of the situation that his first thought was a numb 'Well, I finally have my first Obstacle'.

Even so, he could now narrow down his options. Given the obvious similarities in overall landscape and layout, his location had not been changed leaving two possible conclusions: either he had been displaced in time, or forced into an alternate dimension.

The concept of other worlds was not a new one to him- Cauldron had access to many uninhabited worlds as training zones, after all- but it was the first time he had seen one that was inhabited, and seeming so close to the state of his own at that. On the one hand, this boded well. Such an obviously inhabited world meant that there were more opportunities to find aid, but it could also come with many more obstacles. He needed information, and he needed it fast.

His first thought was to seek out PRT headquarters for information (and the force-field over that oil rig gave him a clear lead as to its location) but caution and Rebecca's training made him pause ('You can't always charge in like a fool' she chided him, but the effect was ruined by the warm smile on her face-) and take a moment to compose himself. He was making far too many assumptions.

For all he knew, the PRT was corrupt in this (world? Timeline?) or was incredibly discriminatory against parahumans. Even in his world, Rebecca had needed to ride herd over the agency to prevent discrimination for years until the idea of professional heroes was accepted. Indeed, he had no proof that capes existed in this world at all, since they were by definition restricted to a very limited set of worlds by the presence of Agents and their Progenitors. At best, he would be an unknown- and clearly dangerous- parahuman with an uncertain affiliation. At worst, he could be the cause of an international catastrophe. Even the presence of the field itself was no clue; it could be that this world humanity was capable of such feats without Tinkers.

As such, he required another source of information. A library would be an excellent start, but for those he would need his civilian attire….. which he had left in PRT headquarters before the battle. While he had a set of ID cards- both hero and civilian – in a pocket of his costume (yet another thing to thank Rebecca for) walking into a Library as he was would result in him being reported in moments. Even so, staying put would gain him nothing: every extra minute he spent up there was increasing the chance that he would be spotted, one way or another. At least once he was on the ground he would have a better chance at concealment than suspended in the sky in his gleaming golden armour. Making a mental note to have Charles add a stealth mode to his costume, Atlas gathered his waves and dove.



Over the years, Atlas had picked up quite a few tricks for his powers. Some, he had developed in order to curb his originally horrific potential for collateral damage. Others had been suggested to him by Rebecca or Manton, and the time spent developing them ranked among the fondest of his memories. His 'invisibility' was one of these, despite the rarity of its use (he never was cut out for covert operations, in both capability and temperament ). The physics of it flew over his head, but the general gist was that he could bend light rays around him with his waves, preventing them from touching him and thus allowing him to seemingly vanish into thin air. It wasn't perfect, of course- the act of bending light produced faint distortions like a heat haze around his position – but it would fool someone who wasn't looking closely.

Right now, drifting slowly along the Boardwalk, that was all he needed.

The boardwalk itself had changed surprisingly little from what he remembered from the one he had walked down with Rebecca not a week before; the ludicrously overpriced stores with their flashy displays lined the road, and most of the remaining space was packed full of a ramshackle collection of stalls, selling both food and a variety of other trinkets. He was tempted to look closer at the obvious 'hero brand' merchandise (so this universe did in fact have capes), but eventually judged it to be not worth the risk. Idly, he wondered what his PR team would make of his current situation. 'Breakdown of Law and Order as Hero Atlas steals newspapers from bins' seemed about right given their… enthusiasm for sensationalist stories. Honestly, Rebecca's well-practised Death-Glare as the only reason he could think of for them to have any privacy at all.

As much as he would have loved to just reminisce, however, he also had a mission to accomplish, the banality of it notwithstanding. It was a moment's work to find a binned newspaper, but the execution was a fair bit harder than he anticipated (who knew how much effort it would take to mimic the wind with his waves?) but he eventually managed to snare one and quickly removed himself to a nearby, run down alleyway to peruse it.

He had thought that he was prepared for anything when he opened it. Alien invasions, AI rebellions- the works.

Somehow, the small set of letters and numbers printed on the top of the front page floored him all the same:

29th March, 2011.

(A/N: here we go! Hopefully I have kept Alex true to his characterisation in the quest and given him a solid thought process- but what the hell. We all know he'll throw it all away the second he sees someone in danger *hint hint*)

 

[Dark as Silver]

'Breakdown of Law and Order as Hero Atlas steals newspapers from bins'

Click to shrink...

Its a vicious cycle first you lie to your father next your gang conquers the city and rules it as super powered feudal overlords. Only J.J.J can save us from Spiderman Atlas.

 

[Zennon]

Hope that helps.

Click to shrink...

It does, thanks.

Though now I'm curious about the higher end stuff that he'd be held back from...

Radiant 1.1

Click to shrink...

Huh. Interesting and not what I expected. Did he somehow get launched into a different multiverse? With a different (canon, I assume) version of Rebecca, Cauldron, Scion, the whole schebang?

 

[IKnowNothing]

It does, thanks.

Though now I'm curious about the higher end stuff that he'd be held back from...

Click to shrink...

A grey goo scenario would be out of the question, it would just swallow the world and render the entire experiment with the WORM's pointless.

Huh. Interesting and not what I expected. Did he somehow get launched into a different multiverse? With a different (canon, I assume) version of Rebecca, Cauldron, Scion, the whole schebang?

Click to shrink...

It's the cannon WORM timeline. Which means for Alex, there's no charles, no family, no friends, just a world that has gone so far off the deep end that it's not really worth saving.