* August 3, 2004 *
There had been an old well at the camping site, she hadn't seen it, she had fallen.
She was alone.
She was all alone.
She...
(Image: Standing on a stage that was lit, while in the darkness something huge loomed over her. It examined her, found something it was looking for, then vanished in a direction that didn't exist.)
(Image: A short redhaired woman stepped in from the curtains, regarded her briefly, then said "I think I can work with this" before vanishing into the curtains again. Despite the curtains not actually existing.)
"What the he... heck?" asked nine-year-old Taylor. "Is this a Lewis Carroll thing?"
Nothing answered her, which she very quickly decided was all for the better considering what her mother had said about Lewis Carroll and the possibility of something called laudanum? Taylor wasn't sure of that name because her mother hadn't explained it very well.
Unfortunately, it didn't get her out of the well until an hour later when her mother went looking for her.
There was the brief sense of something rotating, of constellations passing by, of a tether reaching out but falling short.
Taylor didn't understand any of this, but did understand she had found this very shiny key somewhere.
It wasn't until the car ride home that she finally felt that constellation rotate close enough for her tether to touch something, but she was very unsure about how to explain ANY of this.
With or without that laudanum stuff.
"It connected with the Workshop," pondered Taylor out loud in the backseat. "What's a '3-D Fabricator' or a 'Gunnm' for that matter?"
"What was that dear?" asked her mother, craning her head back to look as she'd lost the coin flip and was not driving at the moment.
"According to that thingie the redheaded girl, even redder than Emma! Anyway she gave me that key, I think. And this wheel of stars kind of thing that just gave me something called '3-D Fabri-ca-tor' for my workshop. Do you wanna hear the text thing?" asked Taylor, sounding out unfamiliar words as her mother had taught her to.
"Sure," said Annette, thinking this was at least more complicated than her imaginary friend 'Dark Dogstar Emperor Pupatine' or Emma's imaginary friend 'Bing Bang' from the sound of it.
"Ahem," said Taylor, focusing her eyes on something six inches in front of her face. "Powered tools for cy- cy-bo-rg disassemb-ly and repair. Bulky diagnosk- diagnostic computer, ten ki-lo-grams of miscellaneous spare parts. Very rare compact 3D fabri-ca-tor capable of milling custom components and printing or repairing circuitry. Free Rocket Hammer."
Annette felt the car slow and drift a bit towards the side as Danny pulled off the road. She and Danny exchanged a look.
"I get a rocket hammer?" asked Taylor. "That sounds cool!"
"Honey," said Annette when she had returned her attention to Taylor. "Can you tell me again about the crab lady?"
"That was just how she styled her hair, it was kind of funny," said Taylor. "I wonder if I have to go somewhere to get my rocket hammer?"
"No rocket hammers in the car," protested Danny Hebert, who then wondered at the sheer strangeness of telling his daughter that she couldn't play with a rocket hammer. In the car.
Slowly and carefully Danny got back onto the road and proceeded towards home again.
* August 13, 2004 *
The trip home had been, apparently, an outlier. Taylor had not gotten anything happening other than an occasional "Missed connection" since that once where she'd gotten the rocket hammer. They had begun relaxing, somewhat.
Then Danny had gotten the idea to see if the key had fit anything.
"Okay, this is some sort of cape stuff," said Danny Hebert, staring at the entryway.
"I see a short hallway with our storage closet door on one side and an old wooden door on the other side," said Annette. "Walls and ceiling of the hallway are a soft white with a dim illumination that doesn't seem to have a particular source."
"Yeah?" asked Danny.
"So we do see the same thing?" prompted Annette.
"Ah. Yes. That does seem to be the case," agreed Danny.
"Coooool!" said little Taylor as she looked all around.
"Stay behind us, sweetie," said Annette as she made sure by grabbing one of Taylor's shoulders firmly. "Danny?"
"Right," said Danny, aka Daniel Hebert, head of hiring for the Dockworker's Union and a wiry individual who might be thinly built and beginning to show some signs of his age - was still in pretty good shape and had picked up his gun. Which was an old but serviceable 1911 that could stop a cow if one happened to attack.
They'd both seen movies where something like this ended up with monsters appearing and menacing the kid. Not that they thought it was likely but survival instincts were there for a reason. That being that the ones with those instincts tended to survive.
"Another room," declared Danny after opening the door and glancing within before moving quickly to the side. After nothing horrible popped out, he went through and moved immediately to the left. "Looks similar to that hallway, guess it to be about fifteen by fifteen, same height as hallway, locker marked... 'Rocket Hammer' to the left. Several workbenches to the right. No movement."
Annette went through the door, quickly looking around, then gestured for Taylor to come forward.
Taylor was pretty excited so she ran, looking all around her with wide eyes. "Oh. I'm gonna need a stepstool to reach any of this."
"You know what these are then?" asked Danny.
"Sure!" chirped Taylor enthusiastically. "That's the surgical bed, it folds out when it's not in storage mode. That's the diagnostic computer. Powered down though. That's the sorting bins for cyborg parts. Oooh, that's Triax manufacturer right there. Wonder how that got in with the generics. That's the fabricator, that's a top end model made in 2357 originally and upgraded in 2593. Very good model, very precise. Lathe, decent but not great. That's a micro-manipulator for making nanostructures. That's the extruder for making pseudo-flesh and bio-mech interfacing."
"And you know how to use this sort of thing?" asked Annette.
"Well, of course..." Taylor paused, thinking very hard. "That means I'm Doctor Curlyhair, Girl Genius!"
"You are nine years old. You are NOT going out and fighting crime, young lady," chided her mother.
"Well, of course not," admitted Doctor Curlyhair (girl genius!). "I'm more interested in..."
Danny and Annette exchanged glances as the area around them made a slight rumbling noise and another locker appeared.
"Oh boy!" declared Doctor Curlyhair. "I got an omni-tool!"
Danny naturally tried to open the new locker. It remained stubbornly stuck. Reluctantly, he waved Taylor forward.
She actually skipped (and would deny it later) as she went to the new locker and opened it without any hint of resistance on the locker's part.
"It's too big," fretted Doctor Curlyhair (girl genius! part being left unsaid except within her mind because genius superheroes should always have some sort of tagline, right?) as she looked over the device.
"What does it do?" asked Annette, thinking it looked about the right size to fit on her own arm.
"The Type III Omni-Tool," began Taylor, who then stopped and frowned. "Can I get a lab coat? It doesn't feel right to do expository dialogue without a labcoat."
"I don't think they come in your size," said Annette after a few moments of consideration. "Though I admit, it would look better as part of your cape costume."
"Annette?" asked Danny.
"Powers need to be used," said Annette, shrugging. "I remember that from some of Lustrum's group. At least she's a Tinker of some kind and won't need to go out and start fights with Lung or something insane like that."
"Everything's when I get older," pouted Taylor before clearing her throat and starting again. "Ahem. An omni-tool is a 'hack of all trades master of none' sort of device. It has scanners and manipulators. Also a flamethrower, but that's just doing an overcharge from the welder. I might be able to shift it around some and use the arc-welder to throw electricity instead. Ohh, yeah. Taser-punch, that'll work. Anyway, it allows me to break down mom's compost and rebuild it into medi-gel. I can also make ammunition or power cells. That'll take a bit as I'd be working with stone knives and bearskins around here."
"Nice reference," said Danny, feeling a bit of pride at his daughter's inner nerd showing.
"It's got a computer and fabricator and stuff built in too," continued Taylor.
"Now we're going to need some more detail here," said Annette, shaking her head. "And you do not mention ANY of this to ANYONE without our permission ahead of time. I saw enough of the Parahuman Response Team and their reactions back then, and I trust them about as much as I could throw their gaudy little repurposed oil rig."
* September 9, 2004 *
"What do you mean that Taylor's cheating?" asked Annette.
Mrs Sales frowned at Annette Hebert, apparently convinced that a fellow teacher should accept her judgement without question. "Because she's obviously cheating. Look at these test results!"
Annette did look, she went over both sides of the test then fixed her gaze upon her daughter. "How did you miss this one?"
"Because the arrow isn't pointing to the Left Ventricle, it's pointing to the Mitral Valve," pointed out Taylor, sounding quite indignant.
"And what does the Mitral Valve do?" asked Annette, now giving the other teacher a bit of side-eye.
"It controls blood flow from the Left Atrium to the Left Ventricle," said Taylor, in a voice that indicated "well duh" without saying anything even remotely close to that.
"Well, it does look like it's pointing towards the Mitral Valve," admitted Annette. "What's this you wrote under it?"
"Oh, the drawing isn't very good, so it looks like it's prolapsed," said Taylor. "Though maybe that's just the art."
"How does a fourth grader know what a prolapsed Mitral Valve look like? She's not that smart," protested the fourth grade teacher.
(LOOM!)
Annette Hebert had drawn herself up, and shadows seemed to have gathered slightly around her. Not that this was a cape power, but she HAD spent a year or so in theatrical productions. She felt it should be required for teachers and other public speakers. "Did. You. Just. Call. My. Daughter. Stupid?"
Mrs Sales was momentarily taken aback. "Uhm. No?"
"Was that a question?" asked Annette, thinking momentarily that it was a pity Danny was missing this.
"No. No, it's just that she's only showing this sort of knowledge in very select areas," said Mrs Sales. "Surely you realize that this is abnormal."
"You're saying MY child is deformed now?" practically hissed Annette Hebert.
"Or am I just a genius within certain defined parameters?" piped up Taylor.
"Oh," said Annette, calming down. "That's much more acceptable. Were there any other problems with her schoolwork?"
"No, not at all," decided Mrs Sales, she'd bully some other student's parents from her position of authority and absolutely do nothing to get Mrs Hebert back here. Far from the fellowship she'd expected, this was a lot less in atmosphere a comrade and more like she was facing an angry lioness. And everyone knew those were more dangerous than the male lions.
"Good," said Annette. "I'll make sure to address any shortcomings in her education. Where is she lagging precisely? I see you're giving her a C in Art and a B+ in Social Studies?"
"Uhm, yes, she tends to do everything in mechanical sketches and doesn't always follow the directions," said Mrs Sales, a bit relieved this was going into more familiar ground.
On the way home, Annette asked the obvious question. "Anything today?"
"I just missed a connection to the Metallurgy constellation just now, and earlier was a missed connection to the Magitech constellation," answered Taylor.
"What is 'magitech'?" asked Annette.
"Dunno. Everything's out of reach," complained Taylor. "And I know. Maybe when I'm older. I want it now though."
"Don't grow up too fast, dear," chided Annette.
* Sunday, December 5, 2004 *
Emma Barnes was aware that something was going on with her best friend. Something had changed and she wasn't sure what. Oh, they still got along fine, but occasionally Taylor would look up with clear hope in her expression only to momentarily sadden as something didn't work out.
It was very strange and very frustrating. Taylor also seemed to be a little more distant.
As Emma watched, Taylor went into the same weird waiting for something pose but this time Taylor went to smiling and excited. "Just a minute, Ems! I need to tell Mom something!"
Watching her friend leave the board game behind to go racing off, there was an obvious choice for Emma Barnes. Change the places so she was no longer behind, or follow her friend as sneakily as possible to maybe figure out what was going on with her.
After a moment's consideration, sneaky won out.
Traipsing down the stairs as quietly as possible, stopping just short of where she could see, Emma listened.
"Mom! I got one this time," said Taylor's voice.
"Constellation?" asked Annette's voice, making Emma quite curious about zodiac signs since Taylor had pooh-poohed the whole concept when Emma had brought it up recently.
"This was a small mote from the Appearance constellation," said Taylor's voice, confusing Emma momentarily.
"Oh?" said Annette, with the rustling of papers accompanying that. "Okay, that one hasn't come up before. Let me pencil it in. What did this one do?"
"It's 'Artiste'," said Taylor, sounding as if she was putting a faux-French accent on the word. "It makes me really good at anything involving arts. As in Really Good."
Emma frowned. When did Taylor learn to say things so that she could hear the capital letters?
"Well, when you take Shop class next year, that should help bring your GPA up," said Annette.
Emma frowned a little more. Wasn't Taylor enough already? She already had higher grades in, well, everything.
"This one wasn't age-blocked or not enough points or anything, but apparently I can learn art skills really easy and master them quickly too," said an excited Taylor.
There was a silent pause for a moment before Annette's head peeked around the corner and she looked directly at Emma.
"Uhm, I just wanted a cookie?" asked Emma.
"Nice try," said Annette, following it up with a sigh. "Only a matter of time I suppose."
* Saturday, December 11, 2004 *
* Alan Barnes *
Emma had been practically bouncing around with a secret she couldn't tell because she'd promised Auntie Annette.
When he'd called during the week, Danny had been just as mysterious - saying they'd find out on Saturday.
Bringing them to here and now. When a freestanding door with a frame on casters had been wheeled into the room, Taylor had opened it with a silver key and...
Zoe Barnes decided it had to be said. "It's bigger on the inside!"
Sometimes his wife, despite her numerous good qualities, just had to be a massive nerd.
"So, Taylor's a cape?" asked Alan, thinking she was awfully young to be a superhero.
"Not exactly," said Annette, doing that two-fingers-pushing-up-her-glasses thing that had to be some college professor habit. Too many professors did that sort of thing. Had to be a class in dramatic gestures or something.
"How exactly?" asked Alan as he stuck his head in the door to get a better look at the weird effect.
"I did extensive research when Taylor started doing this, and she's very atypical of Tinkers in how her power operates," said Annette. "No Tinker fugues. No narrowly defined areas. No black boxed gadgetry that absolutely should not work. No mania, or at least not much of one, to HAVE to build insults to physics."
"But I WANT to build insults to physics," grumped Taylor briefly.
"You're building futuristic super-science, dear. Entirely different thing," said Annette.
"Shouldn't you take this to the PRT though? I mean they kind of deal with this all the time," pointed out Alan, unprepared for the Annette Glare leveled his way as soon as he'd asked that question.
"No. They do not get to take away my daughter, stuff her into a silly costume, and lock her in a lab so she can turn out gadgets for their silly little cops-and-robbers games. When THAT agency acts like they can manage and be responsible for something more complicated than a lemonade stand I will consider it." Annette hmphed at the end just to add a certain degree of emphasis.
"Okay then," said Alan, holding up his hands. Then glancing to the side at the sound of a rumble. "Should I be worried?"
"That? No. Most of the time it's a 'swing and a miss'," said Danny.
Alan noticed that Taylor had crossed fingers on both hands, had an expression of intense concentration, and was mouthing the word "please" repeatedly. So it was important to Taylor at least. A glance at his own daughter showed likewise some anticipation and switching her gaze from the doorway to Taylor repeatedly.
"Small mote, Magical Facilities constellation," said Taylor, her voice getting more excited. "It's... good!"
Annette had a notebook out. "Title?"
"House of the Witch," answered Taylor. "Oh yeah. This'll be awesome."
"I have to admit the name is something I have mixed feelings about. Source?" asked Annette.
"Fate Legends," answered Taylor as she scampered through the door and down the hallway. "This is great! There's a new door!"
Danny motioned to him as Danny went through the door. "Don't worry, with the door open the frame's locked in place. We tested that."
"That wasn't my primary worry," admitted Alan, as he prepared to follow his old college buddy (for the pre-Law section at least) into whatever weirdness Taylor had gotten into.
Taylor and Danny had gone through an old-style wooden door set into one of the walls of the room beyond the short hallway and...
The inside was exactly what you would picture a witches hut carved into the living center of some massive sequoia would look like. A stairway led to a hollow with a bed in it, there was a large cauldron, what looked like a chemistry set that had instruments that looked positively medieval era mixed with more modern versions and a large rotating blue glowing crystal floating with no apparent mechanism.
"Eh?" asked Alan.
"Alan. You're blocking the doorway," said Zoe from behind him.
"Can we sleep here tonight?!" asked Emma as she ran in a circle around the room.
"No," said Alan automatically.
"Awwwwwwwww!"
"What does all this do?" asked Annette, looking at test tubes on racks in one cabinet.
"Pancakes!" said Emma.
"I'm pretty sure these are potions," said Annette, then glancing at the large cast iron stove upon which were. "Ah. Pancakes."
The pantry turned out to have a variety of syrups and the icebox had both juice and butter. Both Taylor and Emma had to be dissuaded from trying them.
"Oh, those are healing potions. Those are youth potions. Those are weight reduction, those are weight gaining, those are combat potions to make you stronger and faster but those only last for five minutes," said Taylor, pointing at each different color of potion in their test tubes.
"This does NOT get out," said Annette to the two children, pointing at the potions. "You do NOT speak of this. Ever."
* Perks This Chapter *
Workshop (Personal Reality) 100:
Each purchase of this adds to your Personal Reality Workshop needed to perform specific type of craft, which is to be specified when purchase is made. It comes with a basic set of tools and supplies. Good for fixing or creating all sorts of things, although any complex parts or nonstandard supplies will have to be brought in from outside. Additional purchases can add different types of Workshops to your Personal Reality or expand existing ones. Anything built in one of those workshops is fiat backed to be restored to its original condition within 48 hours if damaged or destroyed.
Access Key (Personal Reality) Free:
This is a special key which lets you access your Personal Reality and its contents.
When inserted into any lock on any door, the door opens to reveal a gateway into your Reality at a predetermined location within it. You are the only person who can take the key from the lock, the gateway remains open as long as the key is in the lock, and if key is ever lost or stolen you will find it in your pocket a few minutes later. You cannot close the door as long as you are inside the Personal Reality.
Entrance Hall (Personal Reality) Free:
This is the room your Access Key opens a door to. It starts off as a 5 meter cube with blank white walls, floor, and ceiling, as some doors, one leading to the current Host Reality, the other into your Cosmic Warehouse, with additional doors leading to other extensions as these get added to your Personal Reality. Feel free to customize this Entrance Hall as you see fit. Additional Halls can, at your discretion, be linked only to certain keys or only to certain extensions. This allows you to have an entry hall just for skiing if you want.
Cyber-doctor Equipment Package (GUNNM/Battle Angel Alita) 200:
As Medic, plus powered tools for cyborg disassembly and repair. Bulky diagnostic computer, ten kilograms of miscellaneous spare parts, very rare compact 3D fabricator capable of milling custom components and printing or repairing circuitry. Free Rocket Hammer.
5.21.1--Omnitool (100CP)(Mass Effect Andromeda)(Toolkit/Technology):
You get an omni-tool loaded up with programs and information that'd be best suited for unsupported colonization in a new galaxy. Because the Andromeda Initiative knew that they'd be going with a finite supply of ammo, medi-gel and power cells, each omni-tool can recover and repurpose appropriate resources to serve appropriate functions. For example, liquid coolant allows weapon heatsinks to be reused, and organic compounds can be refined into medi-gel. They can also convert consumable items into immediately usable forms. Finally, they do everything else regular omni-tools can: Communication, manufacturing fabricator, sensor analysis, and computer mainframe.
"32.7.1-Artiste (100CP)(Girl Genius SB)(Appearance):
From acting to painting, there's a lot of call for people like you around here! Simply put, you have the skills and talent to be one of the greatest, finest artists of all time. Not just in any one field either. Your talent is boundless and unbelievable at everything remotely art-related you do. With the slightest effort, you could be a scintillating star in all fields from writing, painting, singing, underwater basket weaving... er, you get the idea. Crowds throng to listen to a concerto from you, and books you write may well cause knife fights between people wanting to buy them!
Such is your talent that in but a handful of months you could become a celebrity every bit the equal of the Queen of the Dawn, or any other celebrity you've heard of. This also makes anything you do look unbelievably good, from your fighting which looks like a dance, to your clanks which all look like Things of Beauty and Grace even when stuffed chock-full of firepower.
8.4.1-House of the Witch (100CP)(Fate/Legends - Empires of Antiquity)(Facilities Magical):
Every young witch's favourite birthday present, at least until they know how to make it themselves. This small house is rather rudimentary when it comes to living necessities but quite filled out in regards to potion making. Not only does it have a high quality set of tools and appliances towards creating potions, poisons and designing magical rituals, it also comes with a weekly replenishing stock of low to mid range potions in the pantry. From youth restoring drinks, potions to plump or slim down the form, some love potions and even a few useful for combat potions that can temporarily improve strength and speed. The house also always has a fresh batch on pancakes ready on the stove, covered in your choice of delicious topping.
