It might be outside of the detection range of a certain golden man, especially if Saturn is between Earth and the Lagrange point. Also, Saturn has some nice colony prospects .
Last edited:
The Adventures Of Doctor Curlyhair, Girl Genius!
- Thread starter Nimodes
- Start date
- Crossover
It might be outside of the detection range of a certain golden man, especially if Saturn is between Earth and the Lagrange point. Also, Saturn has some nice colony prospects .
- Location
- Neptune
It is not. The limits the Entities impose on human users are not the limits they themself suffer.
Nimodes
Weary Worldwalker
- Location
- Arizona
Saturn's L4 is what I had in mind.
Yet limits they have and Saturn is quite a bit away.
- Location
- Neptune
Yet somehow they assigned a shard to one particular as of yet unborn person while chilling outside the Local Group. Do you understand how many orders of magnitude further away that is?
One is in a nearby parallel dimension/universe/whatever, and the other is several light hours away. Around their focus of interest, they have near omniscience, but the further away you go from the focus of interest in both directions dimensionally or simply distance on the same dimensional plan, the less they know. So the question would be how big their focus of interest is in both ways.
edit:
Sorry, the mean distance to Saturn is 1.277.420.000 km or 1,18 light hours away. My bad.
Last edited:
- Location
- Neptune
Last post on this for me.
The distance to Saturn I already corrected before you posted. I don't know what the local group has to do with anything, because every shard (and the entities) are on the same planet in a different reality (dimension). I quote from the Worm Wiki because my knowledge of the Worm universe is very spotty and I am not too sure what is exactly cannon or fannon:
As for the omniscience of the entities, the Thinker (the smart one of the pairs of Entities in Worm) failed a perception check to notice the planet it was heading to in time, then failed an acrobatics(or whatever skill applicable) check to land safely.
- Location
- Neptune
It's not hard to grasp. They observed Earth well enough BEFORE arriving on Earth, BEFORE being anywhere near Earth, while being millions of lightyears away - while travelling outside the Local Group.
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
This is one of the bits of Worm world-building that I'm very doubtful about. Along with the 10^80 Earths, and various other pointlessly big numbers like that.
Eighty (80) main human-occupied Earths would be enough for the story, with 'shadow' Earths being where all the shards live. If you are scanning something you are fools if you don't get as close as is reasonably safe. Cheaper and get better results.
So, probably scanning from in excess of 10M ll.y. distance - need FTL scanning, which breaks causality, to spot homo saps as 'interesting'? This... doesn't seem to me to add anything interesting to the Worm story. Though, if Taylor's planning to do anything about Entities as a species - big job.
- Location
- Neptune
They already have FTL travel and FTL communication. FTL sensorics are not breaking causality any further.
Okay, this is really my Last Post.
I would recommend that you ready the articel I quoted from (there is a citation mark that leads you right to it). The tldnr is that at the end of the cycle, all the shards reassemble over a single planet and share all the data, thus becoming proto-entities. Then they draw all the energy of every variant of that planet to that single planet causing a truly huge explosion that boosts most of the proto-entities in all possible directions. Some get destroyed in that explosion, and most never find any civilization to destroy. But there are so many proto-entities that some will by random chance pick up signs of civilization (radio communication would be the obvious clue) and can adjust their course to get there.
At no point did I find a mention of FTL travel (interstellar travel yes) or FTL communication. But again my knowledge of the original work is spotty and I did not read the wiki front to back. If you have the relevant citation please share.
- Pronouns
- he/him/his
TL;DR at the top:
Scion looks 33 years into the future to watch a specific trigger event in exacting, fully accurate detail, then, later, approaches the galaxy cluster said event occurs in.
This means that A) the Entities are travelling MUCH faster than light, B) their information gathering ignores lightspeed entirely, and C) the Butterfly Effect does not apply to their precognition.
~~~~~~
The citation is Interlude 26. Scion's Interlude. All of the following quotes are from it, and are presented in order.
Your description of the Entities' life cycle comes from this Interlude, mostly the first section.
Scion's ancestral line learned how to steer in space and possibly FTL with their second visited+destroyed planet:
3000 cycles later, destination: Earth:
Species selected: humans:
The study of Earth and humans is interrupted by crossing paths with another Entity, which encounter concludes thus:
Back to studying humans in great and intimate detail for the purpose of calibrating this cycle.
This continues for some time. In particular,
Yes, that was a longer quote. It was Aisha's (Imp's) trigger event, viewed in great detail with attention to the emotional state of the individuals.
More consideration of exactly how to distribute Shards follows.
Then we have this:
I need to stop and emphasize that.
Scion not only identified Earth and studied human civilization from outside the galaxy cluster, he accurately observed the emotional states of specific individuals during a specific incident 33 years in the future. Which is complete and utter bullshit if you hold that the Entities' future-sight works by mathematical models.
From far outside the galaxy cluster. Millions of lightyears away. The human species did not yet exist when the light currently reaching Scion left our sun. Light from Earth? Forget it, signal strength decays with the square of distance even when you ignore that space is not actually empty.
So, Scion either used a scant handful of photons that left Earth in the early Mesozoic to construct an accurate model of human civilization, including the bit he saw about Aisha, and somehow failed to notice Eden crashing and dying in the construction of said model,
OR
Scion ignored light cones and mathematical models in favor of directly looking at the future. Which is how Scion described it.
And then he traveled from "approaching the galaxy cluster in question" to Earth in --
Aisha triggered in 2011. Scion is first seen in 1982 but
arrived in 1980 at the latest. 2011 - 1980 = 31 years
FTL very much confirmed on all counts. However, it does cost energy to look into the distance of space and/or time. Indeed, looking at the future to see the result of the current cycle would cost more than actually running the cycle.
It is not a question of if Scion and the observation Shards can look at the Sun-Saturn L4 point, but of if they think to look and of if they bother to look. All the interesting things to look at are on Earth, mostly Earth Bet for now.
Physically leaving Earth's gravity well would be far more difficult, though. Their usual method of doing so is exploding the planet.
23: Countdown
New
Nimodes
Weary Worldwalker
- Location
- Arizona
* April 17, 2008 *
"How did they sneak up on an entire hospital?"
"Using two vehicles. One is a battered old tour bus, blacked windows all around, and concealing the more inhuman-looking members in there. The other vehicle was a medical transport van they hijacked from a nursing home parking lot."
"Three. We've identified a white passenger van that slipped through security immediately after those two."
"Run footage of all of them through identifier software. We need to know exactly who we're dealing with."
"Someone's flying up from the hospital!" (BOOM!) "Someone's falling out of the sky!"
"Look, it's a Shatterbird, it's a corpse, it's a spatter in the parking lot!"
"Hah, freaking hah, Dulaney. Though I admit seeing one of the Nine get incinerated to the point that she left a smoke trail does warm something in my heart."
"Really warmed her heart too."
"Oh, that really pissed off Burnscar, she's heading for the Space Marine that sniped her buddy."
* Small picnic area Parking Lot D *
Ed had come to Brockton Bay out of curiosity and hoping to see some of the weapons that ForgeTech apparently had available. He had, in point of fact, gotten a ticket for the tour tomorrow. Now that probably wouldn't happen.
Pity, he had been looking forward to it.
Now, here he was, in one of the little tabled areas where he had some cover from the damn supervillains. Oh, was that Shatterbird falling to splat onto the pavement? Looked like it. Well, day was looking up a bit.
Then he noticed the two girls moving through the parking lot, settling into positions nearby, and raised an eyebrow at not only what they were wearing but what they had with them.
One, wearing what looked like a sort-of steampunk costume, was wielding a pistol. A Heckler & Koch HK45 if he wasn't mistaken. Brass plating? Looked like it. Very nice.
The other was even more intriguing. A VSK-94? Maybe. He'd have to examine the rifle closer if given a chance.
"This is HK45. Civilian found, no injuries, am providing cover."
Ed noticed the bracer the pistol-packer was speaking into. He was also close enough to hear a reply.
"Understood," said a British accented voice. "Sister of Silence and Sister of Battle en route to your location. ETA: Three. Hold your bracer up, I need to scan the civilian."
Ed wasn't too surprised at that, as he WAS hanging around a crime scene.
The British voice spoke again. "He's clear. Gunsmith from Colorado on schedule for the civilian tour tomorrow."
Ed was considering what to say when a hole in the air opened up and three figures walked through. All three looked as if they'd stepped out of some Warhammer 40K book cover.
What really struck him was the Big Farking Gun. With pulsing green light along the sides of it. Being carried by someone wearing what he thought might be Custodes armor, though it was a little short for a true Space Marine from what he knew of the lore.
On the one hand, he was in a very dangerous situation with the Slaughterhouse Nine over there. Well, eight considering there was a smoldering pile of Shatterbird over there.
And there went Burnscar to teleport in a burst of fire to where the sniper had shot down her fellow and-
Burnscar fell out of the sky as her flames went out, and was grabbed by the neck by another Space Marine, who then slammed her into the ground hard enough that she probably wouldn't be getting up for a long time if ever.
Okay, well, the Slaughterhouse Seven were still in there. And they had no way to deal with the Siberian or Bonesaw.
The bracer/communicator beeped. "Siberian dealt with. Four was checking the van when the Siberian popped up. Serious damage to his armor, heading back to base but he destroyed the van and occupant and the Siberian vanished."
"Roger."
Okay, the Slaughterhouse Six. You know, he was going to be able to go into any bar in Colorado and get free drinks at this rate.
Oh, that HAD to be Crawler. Now roaring some sort of challenge, hard to understand because his mouth wasn't very human-like at the moment.
Caught in a crossfire between three places that he could see. Wow. He wondered if anyone would mind if he got pictures of those guns in operation?
* Astartes One *
There had been a moment of considering where the civilian was staring with such rapturous intent. That had dropped when the onboard computer had determined through a quick analysis of his eye-focus that the male gaze was ogling the weapons, not the girls wielding them. Despite the usually skimpy outfits the T-Dolls or the Nier gynoids tended to wear.
Ogling the guns was an American thing, but more tolerable. He knew a few Aussies who'd do the same thing.
Come to think of it, it was also sort of a thing about military sorts such as himself.
Ah, this 'Crawler' fellow sounded as if he was enjoying tanking some shots. Time to switch to the "specialty" ammo.
* Jackie *
The way things were going was not to his/her liking. Not at all.
"BURNSCAR! Don't -"
Damnit. Now he was down two. Burnscar just teleported in a burst of fire to that sniper nest and dropped out of the sky like she was... in range of Hatchet Face. "Shit. They've got a Null Trump over there."
Jackie picked up the intercom for the hospital's overhead system. "Naughty naughty. We're going to start killing some of the hostages now, since the little girl is still not here and you decided to start shooting us. Mannequin?"
* Nearby *
A chess piece moved into position.
"Neither of us are concentrating on this game," commented Professor X.
"Ah. He had a lot of plastic and non-ferrous materials in his construction, but Mannequin wasn't handling the stress very well. I'm afraid he came completely apart," said Magneto as he moved a piece in reply.
"And poor Bonesaw," said Professor X, shaking his head. "All those mental manipulations by Mister Slash, like a game of Jenga on a shaky table."
"I take it that it is all getting a bit shakier?" asked Magneto.
"Oh, I do believe the pile is swaying around just waiting for someone to bump the table," commented Professor X.
"Hmmm, those T-Dolls are interesting," said Magneto as one came nearby and settled down behind a hedge to get her weapons out.
"Should we tell her we don't actually require a guard?" asked Professor X.
"No, no," gently chided Magneto. "For all she was born artificially, she has good intentions and some degree of pride. Let her think she's performing a hero's duties."
"I suppose," said Professor X. "Do you recognize the weapon she is, or wields. I'm unsure what terms to use."
"Beretta BM 59," said the girl nearby. "I can hear you, you know."
"My apologies, dear lady," said Magneto smoothly and inclining his head. "Neither of us meant any slight against you or your kind."
"None taken," said BM 59. "I was literally born yesterday after all."
"Interesting," said Professor X. "Apparently when you hit him with that satellite, Mister Slash's brain wasn't entirely intact when it was salvaged."
"It doesn't appear to have made him any saner," noted Magneto.
"Honestly, he's worse. Because there's still a lot of Tiffani Bangs in there and the two do not get along at all," said Professor X.
"Did you say the original person's name was 'Tiffani Bangs'?" asked Magneto, sounding mildly scandalized.
"Yes, and her profession was exactly what you think it was," said Professor X. "Not that anything's wrong with it, of course."
"Of course, third or fourth oldest profession after all," said Magneto. "After hunter, gatherer, and leader."
BM 59 twitched as if she wanted to say something.
Professor X sat up straight quite abruptly. "She noticed."
"Which 'she'?" asked Magneto.
"Bonesaw. She realized that she hadn't loaded the sprayers with her bacterial cocktail. Hang on, I'm just letting a bit of doubt into her mindscape. That it was a rush job and she'd hesitated to unleash something so mundane when she could do so much better with a bit of work." Professor X concentrated a moment. "There we go, she's calmed down and is working on... well, that's better."
"She's working on some new viral or bacteriological horror?" asked Magneto. "Hardly comforting."
"Came up with the Pax Virus, neurological virus that the body would flush after 24 hours, causing those affected to want nothing more than to find some quiet spot and take a nap. It's now a getaway plan and not an assault on anyone. Still dangerous, but a lot less than the Zombie Apocalypse that was Plan A." Professor X nodded to himself.
There was the sound of a chainsword and a brief scream.
"I believe that was Hatchetface," said Magneto. "Check."
"I believe you were right," said Professor X, considering the board and making his move.
* Taylor *
A portal opened on the roof and disgorged two Sisters of Battle, 2A, and a small horde of spider-bots the size of a kitten. This was followed a moment later by a tall twelve year old.
"And so Doctor Curlyhair, girl genius, stepped into the darkness-"
"It's 1300 hours and sunny," noted 2A.
"-of the installation claimed by the treacherous supervillains in her first battle against evil!"
"It's Brockton Bay General and they only control the first floor."
"You're really spoiling the fun here, 2A."
"My apologies, Doctor, but it would be best to resolve this quickly."
"I know, but this IS a battle against recognized supervillains, and it's my first time."
"And it will be your last time, child," said Hatchetface as he stepped out of the stairwell.
A2's chainsword went through his Brute-rated form without much more resistance than it would a frozen steer, which was to say - very little at all.
"Spider-bots," said Doctor Curlyhair, planting her feet apart and sweeping her arm out towards the stairwell. "You have your targets. Seek & Destroy."
With a whirring noise of servos, the eighteen spider-bots zipped off.
"It's still my first actual battle, I need a catchphrase or something," said Doctor Curlyhair grumpily.
"A battle indicates there is a chance for the other side to win," stated A2. "This is not a battle. It is pest control."
"Interesting. I just got another Perk. This will be interesting," said Doctor Curlyhair, switching her Omnitool to Freeze Ray.
"Really? What is it this time?" asked A2.
"Another spaceship. No weapons or warp systems left, but there are blueprints," said Doctor Curlyhair.
"Intriguing," agreed A2. Anything that increased humanity's chance of survival was worth the effort in her opinion.
* Elsewhere *
"You're kidding," said President Hayes.
"No sir," said General Calhoun.
"Doctor Hebert wants a wrecked battleship, to turn into a SPACE battleship," said President Hayes. If it had been anyone other than Doctor Hebert and after the amount of time he'd seen inventions crossing his desk? He'd be recommending mandatory vacations and psychological evaluations.
"Yes sir, that does about sum it up," admitted General Calhoun.
"Why?" asked President Calhoun.
"Contingency plan, sir. That's what she says. Message was that it was better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."
President Hayes considered that for a silent few moments. "Hard to argue that point."
"No sir. Further points out that it would have a number of sensors and equipment for scouting out sites for further investigation."
"Well, we can't give her a battleship, even one destined to become a reef," said President Hayes. "How about a counter offer? She fixes and upgrades the heck out of it and we set up some labs that we can staff so we get all that nice data for her to look at."
"We'll pass that along." General Calhoun saluted and prepared to leave.
"General?" asked the President. "Can we actually do this? The whole explore the solar system and our galaxy like something out of Star Trek?"
"Before I'd met Doctor Curlyhair, I'd say we had twenty years before the extinction of the human race," said General Calhoun. "Now? After the room temperature superconductors, force field generators, teleport gates, photon cannons, portable fusion reactors? Now?"
An aide burst into the room. "Pardon sirs. The Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay demanding Doctor Curlyhair be turned over to them. Excuse me. The Slaughterhouse Eight. Pardon. The Slaughterhouse Seven. Six. We have unconfirmed reports that they're down to Five. Make that Four."
General Calhoun grinned. "Now? I'd say we have a damn good chance."
"Would you believe the Slaughterhouse Three?"
* Jackie *
"Poppet? Bonesaw? Crawler? Mannequin?"
Jack, currently Jackie, Slash was having a bit of a moment.
His prized intuition was giving him danger signals and a strong desire to raid one of the narcotics cabinets.
He hadn't felt himself since that little accident in Colorado.
It wasn't just that his body had been swapped out for a newer model that was decidedly more feminine. His intuition had been giving mixed results when it had been 100% right prior to his little misadventure. It was a lot of things.
For example, when he first got up in the mornings and he'd found that he was groggily going through the motions prior to a good cup of coffee. He'd never cared for or needed coffee or other morning stimulants prior to his death and rebirth. Now he found he was sitting at the table, having gotten dressed and having done his makeup, and only THEN after having the coffee had he been fully awake.
He was a guy, for all that the plumbing said otherwise. He was still Jack Slash. He was not... whoever had this body before Bonesaw had recovered it from a morgue.
Tiffani Bangs. No, that was a stage name. Edith Barnett. That was right, she was... NO!
"I could come back if you're having an aneurysm or something."
Jack reacted quickly, drawing a blade and extending his power.
(PING!)
The Space Marine armor lowered its gaze to look at him, apparently unimpressed with his knife skills.
Jackie Slash knew this was going to hurt. "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?"
It turned out, the Space Marine in question didn't hit a girl. Shooting her was apparently another thing altogether.
* Boston *
Accord turned his gaze from contemplation of the jacket and bracelet contained within a display, knowing his Ambassadors would not intrude on this time without due cause.
"The Slaughterhouse Nine have been dealt with. Two members captured, the rest killed."
Accord inclined his head slightly, as this was perfectly within his predicted outcomes.
"Bonesaw and Burnscar were captured," continued Citrine.
Accord nodded and went back to contemplating the subtle perfections of the objects in the display as Citrine quietly left the room. One roving band of chaos had been dealt with, and that pleased him on a basic level.
He would have to consider whatever new developments came out of Brockton Bay and alter his plans accordingly. That, however, was less a chore than a pleasure since some of the new tech - such as the environmental cleanup devices currently scouring pollution out of that bay of theirs - actually made things easier and less prone to breakdown.
Removing such unpleasant chaos was always a plus in his ledger.
* Cauldron *
"Huh, so that's a thing," said Contessa, pausing in what had been a long luxurious shower. "Good enough then."
She was pragmatic after all, anything that increased their odds of success even a tenth of percent was to be accepted.
* April 18, 2008 *
* PRT HQ *
"There's a new Master type parahuman in my city?!" asked Director Piggot.
"Yes," answered Armsmaster. "The Nine were here for Doctor Hebert, but they were also scouting this other for possible membership."
"What do we know about this new Master?" asked Director Piggot. Master-types could be anything from animating plushies to talking to dogs to the sort of monster that was Heartbreaker.
"They're a Gessellschaft cape," continued Armsmaster.
"So they're a Nazi?" interrupted Emily Piggot.
"Yes, in fact her name is Grammar Nazi," said Armsmaster.
Director Piggot stared at Armsmaster for a few moments. "You're joking."
"Sadly, no," said Armsmaster, tapping his tablet to bring up a display.
"She's wearing an SS uniform," said Director Piggot, feeling as if this was darn near the last straw and she was going home early today if anything else happened. "Is that a riding crop?"
"Yes," said Armsmaster.
"Go ahead and put the ident out for the troopers to be aware of her presence," said Director Piggot. "Any further details about the Slaughterhouse?"
"We have Bonesaw in custody," stated Armsmaster. "She started out making demands, and was trying to negotiate her way out of things when she saw one of the therapy dogs, called it 'muffles' and started having a breakdown. She's currently in a biohazard containment cell talking to a therapist."
"And the rest?" asked Director Piggot.
Armsmaster actually smiled at that. "Burnscar woke up, but was too injured to try and escape, currently only semi-conscious and it will take a few months for injuries to heal. Other than Bonesaw the Slaughterhouse are no longer a problem for anyone but the morgue."
"Oh?"
"When a US Marine says they will not hesitate to shoot, the intelligent move would be to take those words at face value," said Armsmaster.
"If more parahumans stuck to the 'intelligent move' my job would be so much easier," said Director Piggot.
There really was no argument to that, was there?
* April 19, 2008 *
The inaugural voyage was something to see and do.
Of course she could build a better one herself. Faster, stronger, more durable, with all sorts of additions.
She got to ring the bell though, so being among the crowd of people on the new ferry as it made its maiden voyage did count for something.
In the meantime she was using shadow clones and skills like Retro-Engineer to get everything she could out of that ship.
A roll came up, and Taylor considered the choice it gave carefully. The dangers of people like Heartbreaker had been duly noted, and the possibility of his visiting had been brought up while she was out of the room. Not that that mattered when you were quite capable of making tiny eavesdropping devices and having an Ancilla that could multitask and alert you of potential dangers.
Yeah, having an anti-Master power sounded really good. Just in case.
13.41.1-Derelict Ship (600CP)(DCEU)(Technology Database):
An additional ship from Krypton that arrived alongside the one that brought Superman to Earth. This ship has long since been abandoned, perhaps never even having a living pilot, and the systems relating to weaponry and movement have long since been irrevocably destroyed. However, it seems the ship was a science vessel and it retains an in depth database on almost all Kryptonian technology that existed. Weaponry, ships, armour, genetics and more are within the databanks here, governed by a friendly Artificial Intelligence that will assist you in learning all that is stored here.
17.34.1-Mega Attributes: Intelligence (500CP)(Trinity: Aberration)(Intelligence):
Outperform even the most advanced supercomputer clusters. You receive one of the following Enhancements for free: Taint resistance: Your grey matter is extremely durable. Any form of insanity you had before eruption is healed, and neural dysfunction as a result of Node growth will be greatly reduced. Your brain will also be far better at self-repair and working around injuries or drugs that impair mental functions. Analyze Weakness: Nothing is perfect, and you can easily identify flaws in what you can observe. This requires at least a basic understanding of the mechanics behind something, but you are otherwise not limited in what this Enhancement can apply to. Anything from structures to complex systems to bureaucratic procedures. Mental Prodigy: You naturally grok a particular field of study. Learning new skills, making advancements and intuitive leaps within this area comes easily to you. Your chosen field might be anything from a specific scientific field like engineering or medicine, finance, forensic science or military tactics.
Chosen: Taint Resistance.
Crunches:
[Alchemy (House of the Witch) + Chakra (Shadow Clones) + Enchanting (Dwarven Forge) + Marvel Magic (Chakra Books) + Library (Library of Sorrow) + Spell Cards (Bibiophile's Discerning Eyes)]
The Library of Forever. A magical library that expands to cover any new magic systems and magical knowledge that you gather or develop. Contains several tables, chairs, reading nooks, engraved summoning circles and other appropriate safety gear for your experimentation.
[Most Common Superpower (Removed From Context) + For The Camera (Chakra Books) + Cute Girls (Bibliophile's Discerning Eyes) + Savior's Presence (Comic Book Science)]
Charismatic Hero: You can look somewhat good looking if making an effort to blend in, but without that effort you are ridiculously attractive. You could land in a pig stye and be covered in terrible substance but still come out as extremely attractive.
"How did they sneak up on an entire hospital?"
"Using two vehicles. One is a battered old tour bus, blacked windows all around, and concealing the more inhuman-looking members in there. The other vehicle was a medical transport van they hijacked from a nursing home parking lot."
"Three. We've identified a white passenger van that slipped through security immediately after those two."
"Run footage of all of them through identifier software. We need to know exactly who we're dealing with."
"Someone's flying up from the hospital!" (BOOM!) "Someone's falling out of the sky!"
"Look, it's a Shatterbird, it's a corpse, it's a spatter in the parking lot!"
"Hah, freaking hah, Dulaney. Though I admit seeing one of the Nine get incinerated to the point that she left a smoke trail does warm something in my heart."
"Really warmed her heart too."
"Oh, that really pissed off Burnscar, she's heading for the Space Marine that sniped her buddy."
* Small picnic area Parking Lot D *
Ed had come to Brockton Bay out of curiosity and hoping to see some of the weapons that ForgeTech apparently had available. He had, in point of fact, gotten a ticket for the tour tomorrow. Now that probably wouldn't happen.
Pity, he had been looking forward to it.
Now, here he was, in one of the little tabled areas where he had some cover from the damn supervillains. Oh, was that Shatterbird falling to splat onto the pavement? Looked like it. Well, day was looking up a bit.
Then he noticed the two girls moving through the parking lot, settling into positions nearby, and raised an eyebrow at not only what they were wearing but what they had with them.
One, wearing what looked like a sort-of steampunk costume, was wielding a pistol. A Heckler & Koch HK45 if he wasn't mistaken. Brass plating? Looked like it. Very nice.
The other was even more intriguing. A VSK-94? Maybe. He'd have to examine the rifle closer if given a chance.
"This is HK45. Civilian found, no injuries, am providing cover."
Ed noticed the bracer the pistol-packer was speaking into. He was also close enough to hear a reply.
"Understood," said a British accented voice. "Sister of Silence and Sister of Battle en route to your location. ETA: Three. Hold your bracer up, I need to scan the civilian."
Ed wasn't too surprised at that, as he WAS hanging around a crime scene.
The British voice spoke again. "He's clear. Gunsmith from Colorado on schedule for the civilian tour tomorrow."
Ed was considering what to say when a hole in the air opened up and three figures walked through. All three looked as if they'd stepped out of some Warhammer 40K book cover.
What really struck him was the Big Farking Gun. With pulsing green light along the sides of it. Being carried by someone wearing what he thought might be Custodes armor, though it was a little short for a true Space Marine from what he knew of the lore.
On the one hand, he was in a very dangerous situation with the Slaughterhouse Nine over there. Well, eight considering there was a smoldering pile of Shatterbird over there.
And there went Burnscar to teleport in a burst of fire to where the sniper had shot down her fellow and-
Burnscar fell out of the sky as her flames went out, and was grabbed by the neck by another Space Marine, who then slammed her into the ground hard enough that she probably wouldn't be getting up for a long time if ever.
Okay, well, the Slaughterhouse Seven were still in there. And they had no way to deal with the Siberian or Bonesaw.
The bracer/communicator beeped. "Siberian dealt with. Four was checking the van when the Siberian popped up. Serious damage to his armor, heading back to base but he destroyed the van and occupant and the Siberian vanished."
"Roger."
Okay, the Slaughterhouse Six. You know, he was going to be able to go into any bar in Colorado and get free drinks at this rate.
Oh, that HAD to be Crawler. Now roaring some sort of challenge, hard to understand because his mouth wasn't very human-like at the moment.
Caught in a crossfire between three places that he could see. Wow. He wondered if anyone would mind if he got pictures of those guns in operation?
* Astartes One *
There had been a moment of considering where the civilian was staring with such rapturous intent. That had dropped when the onboard computer had determined through a quick analysis of his eye-focus that the male gaze was ogling the weapons, not the girls wielding them. Despite the usually skimpy outfits the T-Dolls or the Nier gynoids tended to wear.
Ogling the guns was an American thing, but more tolerable. He knew a few Aussies who'd do the same thing.
Come to think of it, it was also sort of a thing about military sorts such as himself.
Ah, this 'Crawler' fellow sounded as if he was enjoying tanking some shots. Time to switch to the "specialty" ammo.
* Jackie *
The way things were going was not to his/her liking. Not at all.
"BURNSCAR! Don't -"
Damnit. Now he was down two. Burnscar just teleported in a burst of fire to that sniper nest and dropped out of the sky like she was... in range of Hatchet Face. "Shit. They've got a Null Trump over there."
Jackie picked up the intercom for the hospital's overhead system. "Naughty naughty. We're going to start killing some of the hostages now, since the little girl is still not here and you decided to start shooting us. Mannequin?"
* Nearby *
A chess piece moved into position.
"Neither of us are concentrating on this game," commented Professor X.
"Ah. He had a lot of plastic and non-ferrous materials in his construction, but Mannequin wasn't handling the stress very well. I'm afraid he came completely apart," said Magneto as he moved a piece in reply.
"And poor Bonesaw," said Professor X, shaking his head. "All those mental manipulations by Mister Slash, like a game of Jenga on a shaky table."
"I take it that it is all getting a bit shakier?" asked Magneto.
"Oh, I do believe the pile is swaying around just waiting for someone to bump the table," commented Professor X.
"Hmmm, those T-Dolls are interesting," said Magneto as one came nearby and settled down behind a hedge to get her weapons out.
"Should we tell her we don't actually require a guard?" asked Professor X.
"No, no," gently chided Magneto. "For all she was born artificially, she has good intentions and some degree of pride. Let her think she's performing a hero's duties."
"I suppose," said Professor X. "Do you recognize the weapon she is, or wields. I'm unsure what terms to use."
"Beretta BM 59," said the girl nearby. "I can hear you, you know."
"My apologies, dear lady," said Magneto smoothly and inclining his head. "Neither of us meant any slight against you or your kind."
"None taken," said BM 59. "I was literally born yesterday after all."
"Interesting," said Professor X. "Apparently when you hit him with that satellite, Mister Slash's brain wasn't entirely intact when it was salvaged."
"It doesn't appear to have made him any saner," noted Magneto.
"Honestly, he's worse. Because there's still a lot of Tiffani Bangs in there and the two do not get along at all," said Professor X.
"Did you say the original person's name was 'Tiffani Bangs'?" asked Magneto, sounding mildly scandalized.
"Yes, and her profession was exactly what you think it was," said Professor X. "Not that anything's wrong with it, of course."
"Of course, third or fourth oldest profession after all," said Magneto. "After hunter, gatherer, and leader."
BM 59 twitched as if she wanted to say something.
Professor X sat up straight quite abruptly. "She noticed."
"Which 'she'?" asked Magneto.
"Bonesaw. She realized that she hadn't loaded the sprayers with her bacterial cocktail. Hang on, I'm just letting a bit of doubt into her mindscape. That it was a rush job and she'd hesitated to unleash something so mundane when she could do so much better with a bit of work." Professor X concentrated a moment. "There we go, she's calmed down and is working on... well, that's better."
"She's working on some new viral or bacteriological horror?" asked Magneto. "Hardly comforting."
"Came up with the Pax Virus, neurological virus that the body would flush after 24 hours, causing those affected to want nothing more than to find some quiet spot and take a nap. It's now a getaway plan and not an assault on anyone. Still dangerous, but a lot less than the Zombie Apocalypse that was Plan A." Professor X nodded to himself.
There was the sound of a chainsword and a brief scream.
"I believe that was Hatchetface," said Magneto. "Check."
"I believe you were right," said Professor X, considering the board and making his move.
* Taylor *
A portal opened on the roof and disgorged two Sisters of Battle, 2A, and a small horde of spider-bots the size of a kitten. This was followed a moment later by a tall twelve year old.
"And so Doctor Curlyhair, girl genius, stepped into the darkness-"
"It's 1300 hours and sunny," noted 2A.
"-of the installation claimed by the treacherous supervillains in her first battle against evil!"
"It's Brockton Bay General and they only control the first floor."
"You're really spoiling the fun here, 2A."
"My apologies, Doctor, but it would be best to resolve this quickly."
"I know, but this IS a battle against recognized supervillains, and it's my first time."
"And it will be your last time, child," said Hatchetface as he stepped out of the stairwell.
A2's chainsword went through his Brute-rated form without much more resistance than it would a frozen steer, which was to say - very little at all.
"Spider-bots," said Doctor Curlyhair, planting her feet apart and sweeping her arm out towards the stairwell. "You have your targets. Seek & Destroy."
With a whirring noise of servos, the eighteen spider-bots zipped off.
"It's still my first actual battle, I need a catchphrase or something," said Doctor Curlyhair grumpily.
"A battle indicates there is a chance for the other side to win," stated A2. "This is not a battle. It is pest control."
"Interesting. I just got another Perk. This will be interesting," said Doctor Curlyhair, switching her Omnitool to Freeze Ray.
"Really? What is it this time?" asked A2.
"Another spaceship. No weapons or warp systems left, but there are blueprints," said Doctor Curlyhair.
"Intriguing," agreed A2. Anything that increased humanity's chance of survival was worth the effort in her opinion.
* Elsewhere *
"You're kidding," said President Hayes.
"No sir," said General Calhoun.
"Doctor Hebert wants a wrecked battleship, to turn into a SPACE battleship," said President Hayes. If it had been anyone other than Doctor Hebert and after the amount of time he'd seen inventions crossing his desk? He'd be recommending mandatory vacations and psychological evaluations.
"Yes sir, that does about sum it up," admitted General Calhoun.
"Why?" asked President Calhoun.
"Contingency plan, sir. That's what she says. Message was that it was better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."
President Hayes considered that for a silent few moments. "Hard to argue that point."
"No sir. Further points out that it would have a number of sensors and equipment for scouting out sites for further investigation."
"Well, we can't give her a battleship, even one destined to become a reef," said President Hayes. "How about a counter offer? She fixes and upgrades the heck out of it and we set up some labs that we can staff so we get all that nice data for her to look at."
"We'll pass that along." General Calhoun saluted and prepared to leave.
"General?" asked the President. "Can we actually do this? The whole explore the solar system and our galaxy like something out of Star Trek?"
"Before I'd met Doctor Curlyhair, I'd say we had twenty years before the extinction of the human race," said General Calhoun. "Now? After the room temperature superconductors, force field generators, teleport gates, photon cannons, portable fusion reactors? Now?"
An aide burst into the room. "Pardon sirs. The Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay demanding Doctor Curlyhair be turned over to them. Excuse me. The Slaughterhouse Eight. Pardon. The Slaughterhouse Seven. Six. We have unconfirmed reports that they're down to Five. Make that Four."
General Calhoun grinned. "Now? I'd say we have a damn good chance."
"Would you believe the Slaughterhouse Three?"
* Jackie *
"Poppet? Bonesaw? Crawler? Mannequin?"
Jack, currently Jackie, Slash was having a bit of a moment.
His prized intuition was giving him danger signals and a strong desire to raid one of the narcotics cabinets.
He hadn't felt himself since that little accident in Colorado.
It wasn't just that his body had been swapped out for a newer model that was decidedly more feminine. His intuition had been giving mixed results when it had been 100% right prior to his little misadventure. It was a lot of things.
For example, when he first got up in the mornings and he'd found that he was groggily going through the motions prior to a good cup of coffee. He'd never cared for or needed coffee or other morning stimulants prior to his death and rebirth. Now he found he was sitting at the table, having gotten dressed and having done his makeup, and only THEN after having the coffee had he been fully awake.
He was a guy, for all that the plumbing said otherwise. He was still Jack Slash. He was not... whoever had this body before Bonesaw had recovered it from a morgue.
Tiffani Bangs. No, that was a stage name. Edith Barnett. That was right, she was... NO!
"I could come back if you're having an aneurysm or something."
Jack reacted quickly, drawing a blade and extending his power.
(PING!)
The Space Marine armor lowered its gaze to look at him, apparently unimpressed with his knife skills.
Jackie Slash knew this was going to hurt. "You wouldn't hit a girl, would you?"
It turned out, the Space Marine in question didn't hit a girl. Shooting her was apparently another thing altogether.
* Boston *
Accord turned his gaze from contemplation of the jacket and bracelet contained within a display, knowing his Ambassadors would not intrude on this time without due cause.
"The Slaughterhouse Nine have been dealt with. Two members captured, the rest killed."
Accord inclined his head slightly, as this was perfectly within his predicted outcomes.
"Bonesaw and Burnscar were captured," continued Citrine.
Accord nodded and went back to contemplating the subtle perfections of the objects in the display as Citrine quietly left the room. One roving band of chaos had been dealt with, and that pleased him on a basic level.
He would have to consider whatever new developments came out of Brockton Bay and alter his plans accordingly. That, however, was less a chore than a pleasure since some of the new tech - such as the environmental cleanup devices currently scouring pollution out of that bay of theirs - actually made things easier and less prone to breakdown.
Removing such unpleasant chaos was always a plus in his ledger.
* Cauldron *
"Huh, so that's a thing," said Contessa, pausing in what had been a long luxurious shower. "Good enough then."
She was pragmatic after all, anything that increased their odds of success even a tenth of percent was to be accepted.
* April 18, 2008 *
* PRT HQ *
"There's a new Master type parahuman in my city?!" asked Director Piggot.
"Yes," answered Armsmaster. "The Nine were here for Doctor Hebert, but they were also scouting this other for possible membership."
"What do we know about this new Master?" asked Director Piggot. Master-types could be anything from animating plushies to talking to dogs to the sort of monster that was Heartbreaker.
"They're a Gessellschaft cape," continued Armsmaster.
"So they're a Nazi?" interrupted Emily Piggot.
"Yes, in fact her name is Grammar Nazi," said Armsmaster.
Director Piggot stared at Armsmaster for a few moments. "You're joking."
"Sadly, no," said Armsmaster, tapping his tablet to bring up a display.
"She's wearing an SS uniform," said Director Piggot, feeling as if this was darn near the last straw and she was going home early today if anything else happened. "Is that a riding crop?"
"Yes," said Armsmaster.
"Go ahead and put the ident out for the troopers to be aware of her presence," said Director Piggot. "Any further details about the Slaughterhouse?"
"We have Bonesaw in custody," stated Armsmaster. "She started out making demands, and was trying to negotiate her way out of things when she saw one of the therapy dogs, called it 'muffles' and started having a breakdown. She's currently in a biohazard containment cell talking to a therapist."
"And the rest?" asked Director Piggot.
Armsmaster actually smiled at that. "Burnscar woke up, but was too injured to try and escape, currently only semi-conscious and it will take a few months for injuries to heal. Other than Bonesaw the Slaughterhouse are no longer a problem for anyone but the morgue."
"Oh?"
"When a US Marine says they will not hesitate to shoot, the intelligent move would be to take those words at face value," said Armsmaster.
"If more parahumans stuck to the 'intelligent move' my job would be so much easier," said Director Piggot.
There really was no argument to that, was there?
* April 19, 2008 *
The inaugural voyage was something to see and do.
Of course she could build a better one herself. Faster, stronger, more durable, with all sorts of additions.
She got to ring the bell though, so being among the crowd of people on the new ferry as it made its maiden voyage did count for something.
In the meantime she was using shadow clones and skills like Retro-Engineer to get everything she could out of that ship.
A roll came up, and Taylor considered the choice it gave carefully. The dangers of people like Heartbreaker had been duly noted, and the possibility of his visiting had been brought up while she was out of the room. Not that that mattered when you were quite capable of making tiny eavesdropping devices and having an Ancilla that could multitask and alert you of potential dangers.
Yeah, having an anti-Master power sounded really good. Just in case.
13.41.1-Derelict Ship (600CP)(DCEU)(Technology Database):
An additional ship from Krypton that arrived alongside the one that brought Superman to Earth. This ship has long since been abandoned, perhaps never even having a living pilot, and the systems relating to weaponry and movement have long since been irrevocably destroyed. However, it seems the ship was a science vessel and it retains an in depth database on almost all Kryptonian technology that existed. Weaponry, ships, armour, genetics and more are within the databanks here, governed by a friendly Artificial Intelligence that will assist you in learning all that is stored here.
17.34.1-Mega Attributes: Intelligence (500CP)(Trinity: Aberration)(Intelligence):
Outperform even the most advanced supercomputer clusters. You receive one of the following Enhancements for free: Taint resistance: Your grey matter is extremely durable. Any form of insanity you had before eruption is healed, and neural dysfunction as a result of Node growth will be greatly reduced. Your brain will also be far better at self-repair and working around injuries or drugs that impair mental functions. Analyze Weakness: Nothing is perfect, and you can easily identify flaws in what you can observe. This requires at least a basic understanding of the mechanics behind something, but you are otherwise not limited in what this Enhancement can apply to. Anything from structures to complex systems to bureaucratic procedures. Mental Prodigy: You naturally grok a particular field of study. Learning new skills, making advancements and intuitive leaps within this area comes easily to you. Your chosen field might be anything from a specific scientific field like engineering or medicine, finance, forensic science or military tactics.
Chosen: Taint Resistance.
Crunches:
[Alchemy (House of the Witch) + Chakra (Shadow Clones) + Enchanting (Dwarven Forge) + Marvel Magic (Chakra Books) + Library (Library of Sorrow) + Spell Cards (Bibiophile's Discerning Eyes)]
The Library of Forever. A magical library that expands to cover any new magic systems and magical knowledge that you gather or develop. Contains several tables, chairs, reading nooks, engraved summoning circles and other appropriate safety gear for your experimentation.
[Most Common Superpower (Removed From Context) + For The Camera (Chakra Books) + Cute Girls (Bibliophile's Discerning Eyes) + Savior's Presence (Comic Book Science)]
Charismatic Hero: You can look somewhat good looking if making an effort to blend in, but without that effort you are ridiculously attractive. You could land in a pig stye and be covered in terrible substance but still come out as extremely attractive.
I'm really happy to see you're dipping your toes into Trinity ABERRANT territory. The more you read about it, the more obvious it becomes that WORM is basically an ABERRANT fanfic.
Fun fact: monomolecular and even monoatomic blades are NOT science fiction. We have those already, though nobody seems on a rush to weaponize them. How can you buy a monomolecular blade today? Easy, go into a pharmacy or drugstore and buy a high quality scalpel.
Also, a medical firm made a mono-atomic scalpel for bragging rights but the blade is too delicate to be commercially successful
Still neat, tho.
Also, congratulations on no longer misspelling A2's name as 2A
Fun fact: monomolecular and even monoatomic blades are NOT science fiction. We have those already, though nobody seems on a rush to weaponize them. How can you buy a monomolecular blade today? Easy, go into a pharmacy or drugstore and buy a high quality scalpel.
Also, a medical firm made a mono-atomic scalpel for bragging rights but the blade is too delicate to be commercially successful
Still neat, tho.
Also, congratulations on no longer misspelling A2's name as 2A
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Yes, twas a terrible pity what happened to the SH9...
(Know the problem with nano-scale violins? You can have trouble finding the things, when you want to play them...)
Good to see Ed again. Hi Ed!
en.wikipedia.org
(Know the problem with nano-scale violins? You can have trouble finding the things, when you want to play them...)
Good to see Ed again. Hi Ed!
Well, Kryptonian super-science is some of the best there is, when you want to cover just about all areas. Yes, they know some stuff they didn't use, but you need to look to something like Bank's 'Culture' if you want higher tech...
I'm... afraid you're right. Super powers that are going to wreck your society, and evil supers who are so far up the powers curve they'll kill you by accidentally sneezing (no, you'll never catch up, definitionally). Even ref fiat is going to have to work hard to reduce your level of doom.
Aberrant - Wikipedia
Last edited:
grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
Objection, m'lud. Metals and ionic binary compounds are not molecular
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Hmm. The SH9 are no more... It might be... nice if Tiffani Bangs survived, even if Jack(ie) Slash didn't?
(Would that be a final one-finger salute to Jack+Broadcast?)
(Would that be a final one-finger salute to Jack+Broadcast?)
Last edited:
- Location
- <CLASSIFIED>
Any relation to G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate that got unleashed on Miranda? If so then it's a really fucking stupid idea.
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
She had quite a lot of spaceships before. I make this number four - an early-ish one was (NMS) "Bubble Tea". They were on her Supply World, which I think comes with it's own solar system, robot pirates, etc.
Upgrading the battleship is something she's likely to enjoy, and will give her plenty of good will...
(She'll probably only lightly arm it, while going the whole hog with shields, and sensors (restricted for Earth-use). Odds are only STL, and with a few STL 'longboats'.)
((FTL for later refits, once she's evaluated a few different sorts.))
Last edited:
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Not... as far as I know. She hasn't got a specific shipgirl Perk. Odds are she could make one, using Necron bits, or her new combined magical library, but... seems non-trivial. I thought she was going battleship ==> starship.
Space Battleship Yamato - Wikipedia
This is old stuff, 1970s anime... Your grandparent's anime?
Last edited: