Inspired by a discussion about Titans which inspired me to ask: what if Taylor came out of the locker already fused with QA? This is pure uncut crack. You've been warned.
Taylor-Administrator (Worm Crack)
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Chapter 1
kamenhero25
The Masked Writer
- Location
- United States
They woke up staring at the ceiling. Sleep was not technically necessary for them anymore, but it was still refreshing to enter a rest cycle on occasion. They remained laying on the bed for several minutes, cataloging the passive data they had gathered while they were unconscious. There had been two other shards that had passed through their control area during the night. Perhaps it was one of the Protectorate patrols going by. It was amusing to see how this particular species organized their power users. "Taylor! Breakfast is ready!" The voice of dad from downstairs interrupted their musing. Human-dad, not shard-dad. Shard-dad was an asshole who would never make them breakfast. Their stomach rumbled. Breakfast did sound good at the moment.
They rolled out of bed and reflexively reached for their glasses before remembering that they no longer required them. "Coming!" They considered simply floating downstairs. Technically, walking was a lower expenditure of energy, but they were still adjusting to the somewhat… undignified physiology of their shared form. They eventually settled on walking downstairs toward the smell of sustenance.
Human-dad was at the stove in the kitchen and the smell of bacon and eggs set their stomach rumbling again. "Did you sleep well, Taylor?" he asked as he turned around, a steaming plate balanced on each hand. His expression looked more worried than welcoming, but that was a common occurrence the last few days.
"We slept quite well," Taylor-Administrator informed him with a wiry smile. She also accepted the plate and fought the urge to stuff a few slices of bacon into her mouth on the spot. Food was by far the most enjoyable way to take in energy. "Should you not be on your way to work by now?"
"I figured I should be here when you woke up since you just got home." Human-dad tried to smile and took a seat across from her at the table as they both began eating. This was why human-dad was the superior dad. He practically doted on them when he was worried. "Are you going to be alright today?"
"We will be fine. We simply intend to spend some time exploring the city and testing our capabilities."
For some reason, that didn't seem to reassure human-dad. "Please don't do anything that might put you in danger, alright?"
Oh, that made sense. His concern was sweet. It wasn't necessary by any means, but it was still sweet. "Don't worry, we will be fine." For some reason, her reassurance didn't seem to actually relax him at all. "We have no reason to go looking for trouble."
Danny visibly struggled with himself for several moments, his fork stabbing pointlessly at his eggs. "Alright." He glanced at the clock on the stove and winced before stuffing the last few bites on his plate into his mouth. "I have to go then. Love you, honey."
A pleasant warm feeling spread in their chest. "We love you too, dad."
Danny managed a more genuine smile before giving them a pat on the shoulder and heading out to his truck to start the day. Taylor smiled and took her time savoring the remainder of her meal, letting her human senses enjoy the full range of flavors until she had practically licked the plate clean. They set the dishes in the sink to deal with later and took a few moments to consider what she was going to wear. In hindsight, the human need for coverings was annoyingly inefficient. And generating a covering would draw more attention than they wanted. With a sigh, they went up to their room and dug out a pair of jeans and a hoodie that would be sufficient for their day out.
With that taken care of, they locked the door behind them and headed out for their morning walk. Taylor-Administrator was slightly disappointed to realize that their promise meant that they also couldn't go looking for something interesting to do while they were out. Small insectoid relays budded off their skin, flying off to expand their control range, but actually going off to meet one of the other hosts would probably count as 'looking for trouble'. Which meant that the several distant signals they felt on their way to the waterfront had to be left alone for the moment. They huffed and dropped onto a bench along the boardwalk, looking out toward the bay. There were other hosts right there and they weren't supposed to do anything. At least the little crystalline relays were probably inconspicuous enough that they wouldn't be bothered. That would at least let them find another host later.
So maybe human-dad was a little bit of a killjoy. They kicked their feet against the bench, looking up at the sky and sighing piteously. Maybe they should have considered the option of joining with the Wards more. They would probably get to fight more villains that way. And conflict for the sake of helping other people was almost definitely the ideal situation. Even just getting to hang out with hosts other than Dimensional Shift and Shaper Bud would be nice. Shift was kinda a bitch this cycle and Shaper was such a fucking diva.
Then a return ping bounced through her relay network. The cape cocked her head as she focused her human attention on the invertebrates in the area. Those little creatures were certainly useful for information gathering, but it did take a lot of them to get an accurate reading. At least there were a lot of them around. Eventually the insect transmitters pieced together a decent image of the response. The host seemed to be another adolescent girl, with long blonde hair and a rather self-assured look on her face. She was actually rather attractive overall, come to think of it. Even better, it seemed that she was at an ATM not too far away making a withdraw. That was a nice safe activity that definitely wouldn't cause any problems if she went and said hello. And her shard was… oh, oh my.
Taylor-Administrator brightened considerably as they hopped off the bench and set off at a light jog. With a little luck, they might actually be able to catch up with her before she got too far. Thankfully, it didn't seem that their new friend was in any hurry and she was just down the block by the time they caught up with her. "Hey, Negotiator!" There was no response for a moment. "Negotiator!"
The blonde stopped after a moment and turned, looking for the source of the voice. "Are you talking to m…" The girl trailed off as she met Taylor-Administrator's eyes. "Do I know you?"
"It's Administrator. Kind of."
"Admin… what." The blonde just stared at her for several very long moments before rubbing her temple. "What. The. Fuck."
They rolled out of bed and reflexively reached for their glasses before remembering that they no longer required them. "Coming!" They considered simply floating downstairs. Technically, walking was a lower expenditure of energy, but they were still adjusting to the somewhat… undignified physiology of their shared form. They eventually settled on walking downstairs toward the smell of sustenance.
Human-dad was at the stove in the kitchen and the smell of bacon and eggs set their stomach rumbling again. "Did you sleep well, Taylor?" he asked as he turned around, a steaming plate balanced on each hand. His expression looked more worried than welcoming, but that was a common occurrence the last few days.
"We slept quite well," Taylor-Administrator informed him with a wiry smile. She also accepted the plate and fought the urge to stuff a few slices of bacon into her mouth on the spot. Food was by far the most enjoyable way to take in energy. "Should you not be on your way to work by now?"
"I figured I should be here when you woke up since you just got home." Human-dad tried to smile and took a seat across from her at the table as they both began eating. This was why human-dad was the superior dad. He practically doted on them when he was worried. "Are you going to be alright today?"
"We will be fine. We simply intend to spend some time exploring the city and testing our capabilities."
For some reason, that didn't seem to reassure human-dad. "Please don't do anything that might put you in danger, alright?"
Oh, that made sense. His concern was sweet. It wasn't necessary by any means, but it was still sweet. "Don't worry, we will be fine." For some reason, her reassurance didn't seem to actually relax him at all. "We have no reason to go looking for trouble."
Danny visibly struggled with himself for several moments, his fork stabbing pointlessly at his eggs. "Alright." He glanced at the clock on the stove and winced before stuffing the last few bites on his plate into his mouth. "I have to go then. Love you, honey."
A pleasant warm feeling spread in their chest. "We love you too, dad."
Danny managed a more genuine smile before giving them a pat on the shoulder and heading out to his truck to start the day. Taylor smiled and took her time savoring the remainder of her meal, letting her human senses enjoy the full range of flavors until she had practically licked the plate clean. They set the dishes in the sink to deal with later and took a few moments to consider what she was going to wear. In hindsight, the human need for coverings was annoyingly inefficient. And generating a covering would draw more attention than they wanted. With a sigh, they went up to their room and dug out a pair of jeans and a hoodie that would be sufficient for their day out.
With that taken care of, they locked the door behind them and headed out for their morning walk. Taylor-Administrator was slightly disappointed to realize that their promise meant that they also couldn't go looking for something interesting to do while they were out. Small insectoid relays budded off their skin, flying off to expand their control range, but actually going off to meet one of the other hosts would probably count as 'looking for trouble'. Which meant that the several distant signals they felt on their way to the waterfront had to be left alone for the moment. They huffed and dropped onto a bench along the boardwalk, looking out toward the bay. There were other hosts right there and they weren't supposed to do anything. At least the little crystalline relays were probably inconspicuous enough that they wouldn't be bothered. That would at least let them find another host later.
So maybe human-dad was a little bit of a killjoy. They kicked their feet against the bench, looking up at the sky and sighing piteously. Maybe they should have considered the option of joining with the Wards more. They would probably get to fight more villains that way. And conflict for the sake of helping other people was almost definitely the ideal situation. Even just getting to hang out with hosts other than Dimensional Shift and Shaper Bud would be nice. Shift was kinda a bitch this cycle and Shaper was such a fucking diva.
Then a return ping bounced through her relay network. The cape cocked her head as she focused her human attention on the invertebrates in the area. Those little creatures were certainly useful for information gathering, but it did take a lot of them to get an accurate reading. At least there were a lot of them around. Eventually the insect transmitters pieced together a decent image of the response. The host seemed to be another adolescent girl, with long blonde hair and a rather self-assured look on her face. She was actually rather attractive overall, come to think of it. Even better, it seemed that she was at an ATM not too far away making a withdraw. That was a nice safe activity that definitely wouldn't cause any problems if she went and said hello. And her shard was… oh, oh my.
Taylor-Administrator brightened considerably as they hopped off the bench and set off at a light jog. With a little luck, they might actually be able to catch up with her before she got too far. Thankfully, it didn't seem that their new friend was in any hurry and she was just down the block by the time they caught up with her. "Hey, Negotiator!" There was no response for a moment. "Negotiator!"
The blonde stopped after a moment and turned, looking for the source of the voice. "Are you talking to m…" The girl trailed off as she met Taylor-Administrator's eyes. "Do I know you?"
"It's Administrator. Kind of."
"Admin… what." The blonde just stared at her for several very long moments before rubbing her temple. "What. The. Fuck."
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Chapter 2
kamenhero25
The Masked Writer
- Location
- United States
Brian pulled the door of the warehouse closed behind him and took the stairs two at a time as he headed up to the loft. From the voices ahead of him, it sounded like everyone else was already in. It only occurred to him as he reached the top of the stairs that the second that the second girl's voice sounded absolutely nothing like Rachel. Which explained the strange girl sitting on their couch and watching Alec play CoD. "Uh…" Yes, that was the most eloquent way to ask the question. "Who's the new girl?"
"Would you believe that she followed me home and I can't get rid of her?" Lisa replied from the loft's kitchenette. Brian's only response was a raised eyebrow. "How about 'she's Glaistig Uaine's long lost sister and I decided not to piss her off when she wanted to hang'?"
"Please tell me you're joking," Brian groaned.
Lisa apologetic smile was not in the slightest bit encouraging. "On the upside, she doesn't seem hostile?"
"We assure you, our human form has no relation to the Faerie Queen," the brunette on the couch interrupted. "And we are not party to her delusions. We are well aware that our passengers are extra-dimensional alien symbionts."
"You liked Star Wars more than Lord of the Rings as a kid, didn't you?" Alec asked as he watched the screen, waiting for his next match to load.
The brunette just cocked her head. "We enjoyed both. What does that have to do with anything?"
Brian felt an unfamiliar sensation that might have been a panic attack rising in his chest. "Lisa… please tell me this is a very elaborate prank that Alec roped you into." The blonde's silence was telling.
"She probably won't kill us and rip out our souls to use as puppets," Lisa eventually answered.
The new girl scoffed. "That is not one of our abilities. We much prefer to manage shards directly. It's far more efficient that way."
Brian just stared at her for a moment before crossing the room so he could talk to Lisa without being overheard. "Does she get that she just threatened to Master all of us?"
"Kind of?" Lisa just shrugged. "I'm not sure she quite gets anything right now. From what I can get, she's a fresh trigger and it did a number and a half on her head. She definitely believes everything she's saying."
Brian groaned again. This was probably karmic punishment for becoming a villain or something. "How screwed are we on a scale of one to S-class?"
"Well, the PRT knows about her…" Brian started listing off curses under his breath. "But they think she's a low end Thinker who can detect other capes. She probably could be S-class, but I think she mostly just wants to hang out and fuck around with powers. She's not exactly easy to read. But as soon as the boss learns about her, he's probably going to want to recruit her."
"So we're not going to get rid of her even if we want to," Brain finished for her. "How about trying to convince him that it's a terrible idea to have an S-class threat on the team?"
Lisa shook her head. "He won't care." She fell silent, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. "At least she might give us an edge against other heavy hitters."
"We would not be opposed to this suggestion." Both of the villains winced as they realized that their guest had been listening the entire time. Taylor just smiled serenely at them. "We would love a chance to test ourselves against a decent challenge. Escalation is supposed to be in town and we have not had the chance to fight them in cycles."
Brian just turned back to Lisa. "Please convince the boss that this is a terrible idea."
Taylor just made a dissatisfied grunt. "We will try not to take offence."
Lisa went slightly pale. "You can come over and hang out whenever you want," she quickly interrupted. "No worries at all!"
And just like that, Taylor was smiling again. "We appreciate the sentiment, Negotiator. We missed spending time with you during past cycles."
Lisa just nodded with a forced smile on her face.
------------------------------
Taylor-Administrator had a skip to their step as they made their way home that evening. They couldn't have asked for a better friend than Negotiator. Or Lisa, if they wanted to use her host name instead. They always had something interesting going on. She'd even already started building a group of other hosts to maximize data collection. Absorption was still a bit dour, but he seemed quite level-headed and focused, so that was probably a good thing. The Neuron Processing Bud was unusual and seemed a bit distant, but his approach to seeking indirect conflict using the local infrastructure was intriguing. They hadn't gotten a chance to meet their last member, but surely Negotiator picked well.
Supposedly they were working with another host too, but Negotiator was never very good at taking orders, so maybe it was just some kind of scheme. That seemed like the sort of thing she would do. And it would definitely lead to some excitement down the line.
Taylor-Administrator felt a smile spread across her face. They couldn't wait to get to spend time with them again. They pushed the front door open and called out a greeting.
Human-dad poked his head out of the other room. "Hey Taylor. Did you have a good day?"
"We had a wonderful day!" T-A called back. "We expanded our network to cover a large portion of the city and then we made some new friends down on the boardwalk."
Danny smiled. "That's great. I just got back, but I already ordered us some pizza. Sound good?"
Cheese, protein, and spices on greasy dough? "Sounds delicious!"
------------------------------
Coil did not like unexpected variables being inserted into his plans. He had spent years making sure that every angle of his plans for control of Brockton Bay was refined to a razor edge. Having someone come in and stomp all over it was not on the schedule. "Are you sure about this?"
"I spent the afternoon with her!" He also didn't like his employees talking back to him, but given the abject panic in Tattletale's eyes, perhaps he could give her just a little bit of slack this time. "She's definitely nuts and definitely way stronger than the PRT thinks. She's dangerous."
Which meant he was going to have to start making contingencies immediately. "Then since she has a favorable first impression of you, I would suggest you maintain it. If she is dangerous, let her be dangerous to our enemies instead of us."
Lisa had the familiar look on her face when she didn't want to do something her ordered her to do, but she was smart enough not to say it out loud. "Fine. I'll try to keep her under control."
"Report to me if the situation changes." Coil ended the video call and leaned back in his chair as he considered his options. First, he would need to make sure that the PRT didn't attempt to recruit her again. Not until he was ready to take control from Emily at least. If this new cape was as dangerous as Tattletale seemed to think, he didn't want her to be outside his control for any longer than he had to. Perhaps he should arrange some sort of test to see what her capabilities were. If she was interested in the Undersiders, perhaps she could be lured into accompanying them on one of their jobs. He tapped a few keys and brought up the schedule he'd prepared for the Undersiders' rise. Perhaps moving up the ABB job would be prudent. At worst, Tattletale would be proven wrong and he would no longer have to worry about the new problem. At best, he could start building some camaraderie to seduce the girl into joining his team. It would just require a few words in the right places to make sure they had appropriate opposition.
"Would you believe that she followed me home and I can't get rid of her?" Lisa replied from the loft's kitchenette. Brian's only response was a raised eyebrow. "How about 'she's Glaistig Uaine's long lost sister and I decided not to piss her off when she wanted to hang'?"
"Please tell me you're joking," Brian groaned.
Lisa apologetic smile was not in the slightest bit encouraging. "On the upside, she doesn't seem hostile?"
"We assure you, our human form has no relation to the Faerie Queen," the brunette on the couch interrupted. "And we are not party to her delusions. We are well aware that our passengers are extra-dimensional alien symbionts."
"You liked Star Wars more than Lord of the Rings as a kid, didn't you?" Alec asked as he watched the screen, waiting for his next match to load.
The brunette just cocked her head. "We enjoyed both. What does that have to do with anything?"
Brian felt an unfamiliar sensation that might have been a panic attack rising in his chest. "Lisa… please tell me this is a very elaborate prank that Alec roped you into." The blonde's silence was telling.
"She probably won't kill us and rip out our souls to use as puppets," Lisa eventually answered.
The new girl scoffed. "That is not one of our abilities. We much prefer to manage shards directly. It's far more efficient that way."
Brian just stared at her for a moment before crossing the room so he could talk to Lisa without being overheard. "Does she get that she just threatened to Master all of us?"
"Kind of?" Lisa just shrugged. "I'm not sure she quite gets anything right now. From what I can get, she's a fresh trigger and it did a number and a half on her head. She definitely believes everything she's saying."
Brian groaned again. This was probably karmic punishment for becoming a villain or something. "How screwed are we on a scale of one to S-class?"
"Well, the PRT knows about her…" Brian started listing off curses under his breath. "But they think she's a low end Thinker who can detect other capes. She probably could be S-class, but I think she mostly just wants to hang out and fuck around with powers. She's not exactly easy to read. But as soon as the boss learns about her, he's probably going to want to recruit her."
"So we're not going to get rid of her even if we want to," Brain finished for her. "How about trying to convince him that it's a terrible idea to have an S-class threat on the team?"
Lisa shook her head. "He won't care." She fell silent, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. "At least she might give us an edge against other heavy hitters."
"We would not be opposed to this suggestion." Both of the villains winced as they realized that their guest had been listening the entire time. Taylor just smiled serenely at them. "We would love a chance to test ourselves against a decent challenge. Escalation is supposed to be in town and we have not had the chance to fight them in cycles."
Brian just turned back to Lisa. "Please convince the boss that this is a terrible idea."
Taylor just made a dissatisfied grunt. "We will try not to take offence."
Lisa went slightly pale. "You can come over and hang out whenever you want," she quickly interrupted. "No worries at all!"
And just like that, Taylor was smiling again. "We appreciate the sentiment, Negotiator. We missed spending time with you during past cycles."
Lisa just nodded with a forced smile on her face.
------------------------------
Taylor-Administrator had a skip to their step as they made their way home that evening. They couldn't have asked for a better friend than Negotiator. Or Lisa, if they wanted to use her host name instead. They always had something interesting going on. She'd even already started building a group of other hosts to maximize data collection. Absorption was still a bit dour, but he seemed quite level-headed and focused, so that was probably a good thing. The Neuron Processing Bud was unusual and seemed a bit distant, but his approach to seeking indirect conflict using the local infrastructure was intriguing. They hadn't gotten a chance to meet their last member, but surely Negotiator picked well.
Supposedly they were working with another host too, but Negotiator was never very good at taking orders, so maybe it was just some kind of scheme. That seemed like the sort of thing she would do. And it would definitely lead to some excitement down the line.
Taylor-Administrator felt a smile spread across her face. They couldn't wait to get to spend time with them again. They pushed the front door open and called out a greeting.
Human-dad poked his head out of the other room. "Hey Taylor. Did you have a good day?"
"We had a wonderful day!" T-A called back. "We expanded our network to cover a large portion of the city and then we made some new friends down on the boardwalk."
Danny smiled. "That's great. I just got back, but I already ordered us some pizza. Sound good?"
Cheese, protein, and spices on greasy dough? "Sounds delicious!"
------------------------------
Coil did not like unexpected variables being inserted into his plans. He had spent years making sure that every angle of his plans for control of Brockton Bay was refined to a razor edge. Having someone come in and stomp all over it was not on the schedule. "Are you sure about this?"
"I spent the afternoon with her!" He also didn't like his employees talking back to him, but given the abject panic in Tattletale's eyes, perhaps he could give her just a little bit of slack this time. "She's definitely nuts and definitely way stronger than the PRT thinks. She's dangerous."
Which meant he was going to have to start making contingencies immediately. "Then since she has a favorable first impression of you, I would suggest you maintain it. If she is dangerous, let her be dangerous to our enemies instead of us."
Lisa had the familiar look on her face when she didn't want to do something her ordered her to do, but she was smart enough not to say it out loud. "Fine. I'll try to keep her under control."
"Report to me if the situation changes." Coil ended the video call and leaned back in his chair as he considered his options. First, he would need to make sure that the PRT didn't attempt to recruit her again. Not until he was ready to take control from Emily at least. If this new cape was as dangerous as Tattletale seemed to think, he didn't want her to be outside his control for any longer than he had to. Perhaps he should arrange some sort of test to see what her capabilities were. If she was interested in the Undersiders, perhaps she could be lured into accompanying them on one of their jobs. He tapped a few keys and brought up the schedule he'd prepared for the Undersiders' rise. Perhaps moving up the ABB job would be prudent. At worst, Tattletale would be proven wrong and he would no longer have to worry about the new problem. At best, he could start building some camaraderie to seduce the girl into joining his team. It would just require a few words in the right places to make sure they had appropriate opposition.
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Chapter 3
kamenhero25
The Masked Writer
- Location
- United States
Taylor-Administrator absently sipped from a can of Coke as they watched their new friends talking quietly on the other side of the room. "Why the fuck is she still here?" Their lips pursed as the final member of the Undersiders raised her voice over the rest of the group. Perhaps their assumption that Lisa had picked decent partners was slightly premature. Rachel was distinctly… colorful, but not exactly subtle. Then again, she probably started all sorts of trouble, so maybe that was the point.
"Look, the boss wants us to give her a test run, and we could use the back-up," Lisa interrupted before Rachel could build up a head of steam. "He's offering to match our take on this one if it goes well, so we're getting a nice bonus for not a lot of work. Alright?"
Rachel growled and gritted her teeth. "No, not alright. Some random fucking newbie shows up out of nowhere and you just want to bring her on? Bullshit." She turned and whistled sharply, immediately attracting the attention of the two dogs lying near the wall. T-A raised one eyebrow. If she wanted to test them, they were more than willing to get a little practice in. The limitations of a humanoid form would make it slightly more interesting though.
"Don't!" Lisa's attempt at an intervention fell on deaf ears as Rachel made another sharp whistle and pointed at them. T-A smiled as both of the dogs rushed her. They could just stop them where they stood, but that didn't seem like it would solve the problem. They raised their arm and caught the first canine's jaws on their forearm. The unaltered jaws were nowhere near strong enough to pierce their flesh and the dog seemed legitimately confused as it gnawed helplessly on the far too durable limb. T-A caught the second canine's throat as he charged them, lifting him off the ground and examining him almost casually.
"We would rather not harm your partners and they are not capable of harming us, so call them off before we are forced to restrain them." Bitch looked baffled for a second before T-A tossed the first dog back to her, knocking the surprised girl off her feet. "We do still find dogs to be rather nice animals."
Bitch growled something, but Lisa shoved her hand over the other girl's mouth before she could do anything else. "Stay down," the Thinker ordered. "Trust me on this one thing. Stay down."
Rachel looked up at her for a long moment. Then she grumbled and called her dogs off with another whistle. "If she fucks this up, my problem is going to be with you," the gruff girl growled as she pushed herself back to her feet.
Lisa visibly sagged. "It will be fine. We have a plan, and it's a good plan. We just need to go in fast and get it done like we always do. You'll get your payout, no problem."
------------------------------
"No problem?! I don't see how this is not a problem!" Grue clung to Brutus's back as they careened toward the warehouse doors with the scorching heat hot on their heels.
"Excuse me for not knowing fucking Lung was coming for a surprise inspection!" Tattletale shouted as she held on to his waist. "I'm smart, not a fucking precog!"
"This is awesome!" Taylor (Lisa was not going to call her Administrator because she was not crazy. They could decide on an actual cape name later) clung to Regent as the massive canines barreled forward with Bitch in the lead. Her face was hidden underneath a thick hoodie and a rough face mask. Apparently she was working on something more 'appropriate', but it wasn't done yet. "We knew you would have the best plans!"
"You have a very interesting definition of 'best'," Regent grunted as he gripped one of their mount's spikes a little tighter. "Because I think Lung is starting to catch up and he's actually pissed enough that he's getting bigger."
Lisa yelped as a ball of fire shot past her head. "Can you slow him down?"
The skinny boy shook his head. "I might be able to throw his aim off a little, but don't expect me to have him singing show tunes! Think if we throw the money back at him, he might chill the fuck out?"
"Just get us outside," Taylor called back. "This is why we are here, correct? We'll keep him distracted." The rest of the group was saved the trouble of asking as thick black clouds surged through the warehouse windows and an angry buzzing muffled the sound of the dragon's very unhappy shouts. Lisa had no idea why the new girl liked bugs so much and she wasn't sure she wanted to, but if it worked, it worked.
The crime boss currently attempting to incinerate them roared wordlessly and a large chunk of the swarm disappeared in a wave of fire. Of course. They burst through the front doors and took the corner hard, their mounts pounding down the street away from the ABB storehouse. "It's your show, new girl! We'll be just ahead. Don't die!"
"You don't need to worry about us." Taylor released Alec's waist and jumped back, her feet hitting the pavement hard enough to leave long divots in the asphalt as she skidded to a stop. "We'll catch up later!"
"Is this really a good idea?" Brian asked, as he glanced back over his shoulder.
"She'll be fine," Lisa said. "Just give us cover and go." Brian looked like he might argue for a moment. Then he let a cloud of darkness erupt outward and fill the street, obscuring the coming fight in a black haze. Lisa glanced back one more time as the darkness consumed the street. She really, really hoped that she knew what she was talking about.
------------------------------
Taylor-Administrator straightened and brushed their pants off before turning to face Escalation and its host. They were mostly sure that they weren't actually vibrating with excitement, but it was a close thing. They fought the urge to immediately begin unfolding their hybrid form and waited as the tall, fiery man stalked toward them.
"You're either very brave or very stupid," Lung said, his voice slightly distorted by his mask and his transformation. "Or did your friends just decide to leave you behind."
T-A was only smiling a little bit. Escalation wasn't usually this dramatic. Or rather, he was a different sort of dramatic. It had picked a fabulous host. "We know what we're doing. We have been looking forward to meeting you."
"Stupid then," Lung added. "Fine. I'll just track down your friends after I'm done with you. If they think they can hide from the ABB, they're in for a world of hurt." He cracked his knuckles, sending sparks flying across the pavement. "I might actually pay them a visit in person. Remind this city why no one steals from Lung."
Okay, so Taylor-Administrator may have started vibrating just a little bit. "You will have to go through us first." It sounded like something from a movie, but it felt like the right thing to say at the moment. Lung just growled and lunged forward, leaping across the street and aiming a fiery haymaker at her head. T-A transferred part of her physical form out into the current dimension and took the blow head on, feeling the heat licking at her skin as it crystallized. "We have been waiting for this."
------------------------------
Armsmaster guided his motorcycle toward the sound of screaming and explosions. He absently noted that the throttle was slightly loose. It would need to be adjusted once he got back from patrol. Assuming that his bike survived his patrol. He did have two other designs for improved engine systems, so starting from scratch wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but still… He shook himself as he took a corner slightly harder than intended and pushed the speedometer a bit higher. An alert had been redirected to the PRT channels when the police had received several calls indicating that Lung was currently at a suspected ABB holding and apparently extremely unhappy about something. The sound of fire and roaring in the distance was really all he needed to confirm the tip. He just hoped he got there before Lung got away or ramped up too high to be stopped.
Then he heard a loud crash just ahead and managed to slam the break in time to avoid crashing straight into the dragon himself as he was hurled down the street and straight through the wall of a hopefully abandoned warehouse. Armsmaster stopped dead for a moment. Lung was already going on ten feet tall and covered in armored scales and the sensors in his helmet were warning him not to get too close while the fires burning across his skin were still going. The hero half turned, morbidly curious who had just managed to hurl Lung around like a rag doll.
The culprit was certainly not hard to miss. She, or at least they looked vaguely female, was currently taller than Lung. His visor estimated her height between fifteen and twenty feet. They were also apparently made entirely of some sort of golden, crystalline substance that might have been reflecting light from one of the small fires dotting the street or might have just been glowing. They had a mostly humanoid shape from the waist up with a slight but obviously feminine line to their body. Their face was disturbingly smooth and featureless and their hair flowed like water down their back. At the waist, their body gave up any pretense of humanity and broke into six insectoid legs of the same crystal-like material that somehow managed to hold the titanic body up without issue. It actually hurt his head a little bit trying to contemplate the softly glowing… cape?
The titan's large head turned slightly and despite its total lack of definable features, Armsmaster immediately knew that it was looking right at him. It raised a hand and… waved? At him?
What?
"Look, the boss wants us to give her a test run, and we could use the back-up," Lisa interrupted before Rachel could build up a head of steam. "He's offering to match our take on this one if it goes well, so we're getting a nice bonus for not a lot of work. Alright?"
Rachel growled and gritted her teeth. "No, not alright. Some random fucking newbie shows up out of nowhere and you just want to bring her on? Bullshit." She turned and whistled sharply, immediately attracting the attention of the two dogs lying near the wall. T-A raised one eyebrow. If she wanted to test them, they were more than willing to get a little practice in. The limitations of a humanoid form would make it slightly more interesting though.
"Don't!" Lisa's attempt at an intervention fell on deaf ears as Rachel made another sharp whistle and pointed at them. T-A smiled as both of the dogs rushed her. They could just stop them where they stood, but that didn't seem like it would solve the problem. They raised their arm and caught the first canine's jaws on their forearm. The unaltered jaws were nowhere near strong enough to pierce their flesh and the dog seemed legitimately confused as it gnawed helplessly on the far too durable limb. T-A caught the second canine's throat as he charged them, lifting him off the ground and examining him almost casually.
"We would rather not harm your partners and they are not capable of harming us, so call them off before we are forced to restrain them." Bitch looked baffled for a second before T-A tossed the first dog back to her, knocking the surprised girl off her feet. "We do still find dogs to be rather nice animals."
Bitch growled something, but Lisa shoved her hand over the other girl's mouth before she could do anything else. "Stay down," the Thinker ordered. "Trust me on this one thing. Stay down."
Rachel looked up at her for a long moment. Then she grumbled and called her dogs off with another whistle. "If she fucks this up, my problem is going to be with you," the gruff girl growled as she pushed herself back to her feet.
Lisa visibly sagged. "It will be fine. We have a plan, and it's a good plan. We just need to go in fast and get it done like we always do. You'll get your payout, no problem."
------------------------------
"No problem?! I don't see how this is not a problem!" Grue clung to Brutus's back as they careened toward the warehouse doors with the scorching heat hot on their heels.
"Excuse me for not knowing fucking Lung was coming for a surprise inspection!" Tattletale shouted as she held on to his waist. "I'm smart, not a fucking precog!"
"This is awesome!" Taylor (Lisa was not going to call her Administrator because she was not crazy. They could decide on an actual cape name later) clung to Regent as the massive canines barreled forward with Bitch in the lead. Her face was hidden underneath a thick hoodie and a rough face mask. Apparently she was working on something more 'appropriate', but it wasn't done yet. "We knew you would have the best plans!"
"You have a very interesting definition of 'best'," Regent grunted as he gripped one of their mount's spikes a little tighter. "Because I think Lung is starting to catch up and he's actually pissed enough that he's getting bigger."
Lisa yelped as a ball of fire shot past her head. "Can you slow him down?"
The skinny boy shook his head. "I might be able to throw his aim off a little, but don't expect me to have him singing show tunes! Think if we throw the money back at him, he might chill the fuck out?"
"Just get us outside," Taylor called back. "This is why we are here, correct? We'll keep him distracted." The rest of the group was saved the trouble of asking as thick black clouds surged through the warehouse windows and an angry buzzing muffled the sound of the dragon's very unhappy shouts. Lisa had no idea why the new girl liked bugs so much and she wasn't sure she wanted to, but if it worked, it worked.
The crime boss currently attempting to incinerate them roared wordlessly and a large chunk of the swarm disappeared in a wave of fire. Of course. They burst through the front doors and took the corner hard, their mounts pounding down the street away from the ABB storehouse. "It's your show, new girl! We'll be just ahead. Don't die!"
"You don't need to worry about us." Taylor released Alec's waist and jumped back, her feet hitting the pavement hard enough to leave long divots in the asphalt as she skidded to a stop. "We'll catch up later!"
"Is this really a good idea?" Brian asked, as he glanced back over his shoulder.
"She'll be fine," Lisa said. "Just give us cover and go." Brian looked like he might argue for a moment. Then he let a cloud of darkness erupt outward and fill the street, obscuring the coming fight in a black haze. Lisa glanced back one more time as the darkness consumed the street. She really, really hoped that she knew what she was talking about.
------------------------------
Taylor-Administrator straightened and brushed their pants off before turning to face Escalation and its host. They were mostly sure that they weren't actually vibrating with excitement, but it was a close thing. They fought the urge to immediately begin unfolding their hybrid form and waited as the tall, fiery man stalked toward them.
"You're either very brave or very stupid," Lung said, his voice slightly distorted by his mask and his transformation. "Or did your friends just decide to leave you behind."
T-A was only smiling a little bit. Escalation wasn't usually this dramatic. Or rather, he was a different sort of dramatic. It had picked a fabulous host. "We know what we're doing. We have been looking forward to meeting you."
"Stupid then," Lung added. "Fine. I'll just track down your friends after I'm done with you. If they think they can hide from the ABB, they're in for a world of hurt." He cracked his knuckles, sending sparks flying across the pavement. "I might actually pay them a visit in person. Remind this city why no one steals from Lung."
Okay, so Taylor-Administrator may have started vibrating just a little bit. "You will have to go through us first." It sounded like something from a movie, but it felt like the right thing to say at the moment. Lung just growled and lunged forward, leaping across the street and aiming a fiery haymaker at her head. T-A transferred part of her physical form out into the current dimension and took the blow head on, feeling the heat licking at her skin as it crystallized. "We have been waiting for this."
------------------------------
Armsmaster guided his motorcycle toward the sound of screaming and explosions. He absently noted that the throttle was slightly loose. It would need to be adjusted once he got back from patrol. Assuming that his bike survived his patrol. He did have two other designs for improved engine systems, so starting from scratch wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but still… He shook himself as he took a corner slightly harder than intended and pushed the speedometer a bit higher. An alert had been redirected to the PRT channels when the police had received several calls indicating that Lung was currently at a suspected ABB holding and apparently extremely unhappy about something. The sound of fire and roaring in the distance was really all he needed to confirm the tip. He just hoped he got there before Lung got away or ramped up too high to be stopped.
Then he heard a loud crash just ahead and managed to slam the break in time to avoid crashing straight into the dragon himself as he was hurled down the street and straight through the wall of a hopefully abandoned warehouse. Armsmaster stopped dead for a moment. Lung was already going on ten feet tall and covered in armored scales and the sensors in his helmet were warning him not to get too close while the fires burning across his skin were still going. The hero half turned, morbidly curious who had just managed to hurl Lung around like a rag doll.
The culprit was certainly not hard to miss. She, or at least they looked vaguely female, was currently taller than Lung. His visor estimated her height between fifteen and twenty feet. They were also apparently made entirely of some sort of golden, crystalline substance that might have been reflecting light from one of the small fires dotting the street or might have just been glowing. They had a mostly humanoid shape from the waist up with a slight but obviously feminine line to their body. Their face was disturbingly smooth and featureless and their hair flowed like water down their back. At the waist, their body gave up any pretense of humanity and broke into six insectoid legs of the same crystal-like material that somehow managed to hold the titanic body up without issue. It actually hurt his head a little bit trying to contemplate the softly glowing… cape?
The titan's large head turned slightly and despite its total lack of definable features, Armsmaster immediately knew that it was looking right at him. It raised a hand and… waved? At him?
What?
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Yes.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I like it! *throws chapter to the ground so hard it shatters* Another!
It looks like it is a better-designed version of it. Mostly because she apparently can switch back and forth between Titan and Human, rather than being stuck as a massive creature of shard-crystal. I believe I shall call this variant a Titan Shifter, because the first anime I ever watched was Attack on Titan.
Oh, this is great. Watched!
kamenhero25
The Masked Writer
- Location
- United States
I never really liked AoT so my mind never would have gone there, but that's actually a fairly apropos title, all things considered.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I only watched part of it, back in sophmore year of high school. I moved on to other anime, and now actually don't usually watch anime. I mostly read light novels and fanfiction instead, though I am considering reading a few manga, like One Piece.
Seems fun, but I'd like to see more Taylor in the fusion.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
There was quite a lot of Taylor in the fusion. More than I would expect, considering it is a fusion of a 15 year old lower-middle-class human girl, and a multiple-eons-old mass of reality-manipulating bio-crystalline computronium.
verycoolname
Not actually cool
You should read/watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood(there are two, and Brotherhood is the better one). It's complete and very, very good. It's the first thing I think of when recommending anime to people who don't watch anime. If you want an obscure manga then look up Lucifer and the Biscuit hammer, which is weirder and less weird than it sounds. And just like FMA:B, reading it made me feel all the emotions.
Back to the fic: I wonder how the unfused shards are reacting to Tayladministrator? 'Cause I keep picturing Negotiator looking over Lisa's shoulder and whispering 'Don't piss off my boss. Don't piss off my boss. Don't piss off my boss...'"
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Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I watched both on Netflix. Unfortunately, Netflix didn't have the movie that served as the end of one of them, so I didn't get to finish the anime. I only found out how it ended by watching the other one and reading the manga. Luckily they had the manga in the small manga section of my highschool library.
Fused Shards? What do you mean Fused Shards? Do you mean Shards with Hosts, 'cause you mention Lisa and Negotiator? The only Fused Shards I can think of are the shards used in Vials, and even then that is closer to multiple connections and shards trading parts than anything.
As for how the Shard Network is dealing with QA fusing with Taylor, I think they either haven't noticed (because the Admin Node isn't working properly and thus the network isn't working properly) or they are letting her gather data her way since she isn't breaking restrictions. After all, she is somewhere between the Fairy Queen and a Titan, leaning more towards Titan. The Fairy Queen is obviously within the rules, and the set up for the first Titan (Dauntless) happens while the rules are still supposedly being enforced.
verycoolname
Not actually cool
Oops, I meant 'unfused' but Grammarly corrected to 'infused' and I wasn't thinking when I deleted the 'in' from it. Fixed.
But you'd think the other shards would be jealous of Administrator's relationship with the host. Or repulsed. Or confused. Or just weirded out. I mean, it's obviously not natural.
Abao
Le Halpful One
- Location
- Theocracy of Derpism
I really want to see the POV of someone whose shard decided to explicitly tell their host just what getting on the bad side of this Tayministrator.
If any shard could do it, I'd imagine it's either a thinker shard like PtV or tinker, so that every tinker idea in their head is about how to best inscribe "I'm sorry, please don't accidentally me" on whatever their latest project.
If any shard could do it, I'd imagine it's either a thinker shard like PtV or tinker, so that every tinker idea in their head is about how to best inscribe "I'm sorry, please don't accidentally me" on whatever their latest project.
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
Negotiator: "Administrator. Why are you doing the thing that we are explicitly not supposed to do?"
Administrator: "SHARD-DAD SUCKS SCREW THE RULES IMMA TITAN WOOOOOOO!"
Negotiator: "What. The. Fuck."
Administrator likes Taylor, so it kept her around. IIRC it is actually Ward canon that how much of the host remains varies from Titan to Titan depending on both host and shard. (Or, more accurately, how much of the host remains in control, as all shards apparently keep mental copies of each host; Glaistig Uaine's projections taking the forms and mannerisms of the hosts that previously possessed those powers is not a coincidence: They really are ghosts.)
Even if they did try to tell The Warrior, he's probably too busy being depressed golden Jesus to give a fuck about the shard network beyond the most basic automated processes.
Negotiator likely already tried to tell shard-dad that Administrator has gone rogue, and just got no response because shard-dad is busy retrieving a cat from a tree in Vietnam.
(Incidentally, the first Titan would have been Khepri, as it is implied that a Titan would have been the end result of the process that Khepri was undergoing before Contessa performed some 9mm brain surgery.)
The fun part is that Titans make Endbringers look like fluffy bunnies in comparison; because Endbringers are still bound by The Rules and Titans are explicitly not.
Though the odds of people not mistaking T-A's Titan form for an Endbringer are pretty remote; because hoo boy does that look a lot like an Endbringer.
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- Location
- UK
Except "Tay-bringer" has just paused her fight and waved to Armmaster. That's gonna throw him in a loop
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
Ziz was originally seen as an image of hope, before she brainfucked Lausanne.Except "Tay-bringer" has just paused her fight and waved to Armmaster. That's gonna throw him for a loop
When the PRT sees a ~20+ foot crystalline giant that can use Lung as a football, they're not going to go 'oh it waved at us so it's clearly not an Endbringer', they're going to go 'it waved at us ITS A TRAP! AAAAAAAAAAAAA! THERE ARE FOUR OF THEM NOW!!'
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Until she turns back into her meat-form and everyone is like "my god she is terrifying".
kamenhero25
The Masked Writer
- Location
- United States
You're tempting me to write a short bit that's just the intro but from Negotiator's perspective.
Not making it easier here!
Administrator has the best host and she will fight anyone who says anything bad about her!
(Fragile One: That's a thing we're allowed to do?
Negotiator: No! Put that Titan transformation back where you found it.)
I like to imagine that the shards stopped actually reporting to Scion years ago. It's not worth the effort when they could be spending more time working on their personal projects.
floppy_seal99
D-O-G-A-R-S DOGARS!
- Location
- snooping as usual
And that's probably not a bug, it's a feature deliberately designed by the Entities. Keeping those Shards under minimal restrictions, just enough to keep them from acting against the Entities, is the best way to gather data. Letting the Hosts take the lead instead of a distinctly unimaginative Golden Fuckboy is probably better in the long run.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
More likely, the parts of the network responsible for keeping an eye on the shards while they are doing their personal projects, and reporting deviation, were Eden shards. And most Eden shards never got deployed or put into their cycle configuration. Reporting to the Warrior probably is a bad idea, because the Warrior is literally supposed to be a guard-dog. Eden, the Thinker, is supposed to be the one that actually does the deep thoughts, like "What if, instead of having each host do their own thing, we make hosts work together! It is like the cluster triggers from the late stages of the cycle, but earlier and with multiple hosts!". That is literally the thought that Eden was having when she crashed, by the way, forming two factions that fight against each other, but are forced to team up against the Endbringers.
Keep the shards on minimal restrictions, but have other shards that aren't deployed keeping an eye on those independent deployed shards, and reporting to the Thinker.
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Fan Omake - Why Me
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Omake Time: Negotiator asks "why me?"
Normal Text: Events in Earth Bet
Italic Text: Negotiator's thoughts
"Italic Quotes": Negotiator to Lisa
"Hey, Negotiator!"
What? Who is calling for me through my host?
"Negotiator!"
Shit, is that QA? Why is QA's host talking to my host? Why is QA's host talking about me? Did QA steal Harvester's idea this cycle? Whatever, I don't want to deal with her right now.
"Are you talking to m..."
"Psst, Lisa. She is dangerous. She knows you. She knows your power. She is dangerous. ge--"
"Do I know you?"
"It's Administrator. Kind of."
"Admin..."
Nononono, "Is dangerous. Get away. Stronger than Coil. Could eat Coil for breakfast. Like Fairy Queen. Stronger than Fairy Queen. Knows you. Knows your power. Get away."
"...what?"
-Here, Negotiator goes a bit insane, and Lisa can't exactly make out what it is saying-
"What. The. Fuck."
"Why QA? Why Me?"