Taylor Hebert had never been into trains, but after getting in an accident, a relic from her father's youth provides an opportunity that will help revitalize the city of her birth.
The World is my Layout [Worm AU/Alt Power]
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Chapter 1.1
- Location
- Seattle area
Worm is owned by Wildbow
Author's Note:
Chapter 1
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Brockton Bay, New Hampshire
"Dad! I'm bored. Do you have anything that we can do together?"
Danny Hebert looked up from the dinner table and the paperwork he had brought home from the DWU. His daughter Taylor stood shakily before him, her right leg in a cast and a crutch under her arm. Both were souvenirs of the nasty car accident with one of Squealer's invisible vehicles, which had occurred a week prior.
Annette had been driving Taylor home from Arcadia Middle School's orientation when the cape's car smashed into her vehicle's driver-side door. His wife's condition had been touch and go for a while there, and she was still in the hospital. Hopefully, they would let her go in the next day or two, but that was still up in the air.
"And before you ask Dad, I've already been through half the books in the house. Emma's still on vacation with her family, and I've triple-checked my summer homework. I can't go anywhere on this leg, so any activity will have to be in the house." Taylor smiled broadly at him, "So, you'll have to put the pen down and help me find something to do."
Danny made a cursory glance at the papers on the table. They were nearly completed anyway, and he could use a short break. He'd had to field similar requests from his daughter since he had brought her home from Brockton Bay General. It turns out a broken leg hampers a youth's entertainment options.
Setting down his pen and looking back up, Danny gave Taylor a fond smile. "Well, I'd better get up and help you then, shouldn't I. We can go through my stuff in the basement today. Maybe something from my boyhood momentos can keep you busy."
---------
Taking his injured daughter down the basement stairs was, of course, not a very good idea. Therefore, while she stood at the top of the stairs peering down at him, he rummaged through the things he had in storage down here. "How about a board game? I have a couple here that two can play," he began.
Taylor shook her head, "No. Games that only require two don't hold my attention as much."
"Alright then, Maybe you can reassemble my Lego sets?" Danny suggested next, pulling out a box of the plastic mines.
The girl waggled her free hand, "Ehh, maybe later. I'm not feeling in the mood for building right now."
"Another time then. Dungeons and Dragons?"
"Same problem as the board games, Dad."
Danny could hear the eye-rolling in that response. "Of course. I should have thought of that myself. Silly me." A giggle from behind let him know she was amused.
Taylor next refused a Nintendo 64 and its dusty cartridges, followed by some Warhammer figurines. He was about ready to give up when he uncovered one last box.
"Aha! My train set. Maybe you can set up a layout on the coffee table and run it for a while. The locomotives might need some work. They haven't run since you were little."
Not hearing another denial, Danny looked up the stairs. Taylor had a somewhat glazed look on her face. "Taylor? Little Owl? You okay there?"
His daughter shook her head as if to clear it of drowsiness. "Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine. Can you bring that up here so I can look at it?"
Slightly puzzled, Danny complied and, once he ascended the stairs, took the large box to the living room and set it down. Taylor followed him, the thump of her boot cast and her crutch the only noise she made as she did so.
As she approached, Danny opened the large box for her, which was perhaps 36 inches long by 24 inches wide by 24 inches deep. Taylor stared inside as several locomotives and various train cars appeared atop a deep layer of railroad track. A fine layer of dust covered the rolling stock collection, but she could still clearly see the different liveries on them.
"This is my collection of N-scale railroad equipment," Danny said, "You'll have to dust everything off if you want to run them. None of them are DCC. I bought or received them before that became widely available."
Danny watched with interest as Taylor leaned forward to pick up a streamlined diesel locomotive. A model of an E7A unit, the engine was painted in maroon with gold stripes running down the length of it. A man in a colonial outfit holding a musket stood under a banner that read 'Boston and Maine.'
The girl's free hand began to dust the engine off with a small smile. His daughter momentarily distracted, Danny started clearing off the coffee table. It didn't take very long before Taylor was laying track on the table. Danny went to grab a cloth to help with the dusting as she carefully placed the E7A locomotive on a re-railer track section.
------
POV change: Taylor Hebert
------
A few minutes ago, Taylor would never have guessed that she had any interest in model trains. But when Dad turned up his old box of model railroad equipment and track, she could not keep her eyes off them.
Ever since the accident, she had been somewhat restless, unable to keep her attention focused on any one thing for too long. Even visiting Mom's recovery bed at the hospital hadn't distracted her much. Now, however, she was entirely focused on the box sitting on the living room floor in front of her.
She quickly scanned over the contents of the box. Focusing on a streamlined diesel locomotive, she looked at it closely. The livery seemed somewhat familiar. Something local, perhaps? She was sure she'd seen it in a book somewhere. Picking the engine up, she began to dust it off. Dad began to clear off the coffee table then went off to get a dust cloth. When she completed dusting the engine, Taylor placed it on the table and started selecting some track to use.
One, of course, always starts with the re-railer, so she selected one based on a 10 inch straight to begin her layout. Looking at the box's contents, she noted that the locomotive's matching passenger cars were heavyweights. Something told her that these cars were near the end of their service lives compared to the new engine era-wise.
She didn't see any streamlined cars, so the heavies would have to do. Therefore, she chose the 15-inch radius curves for the basic oval she would set up. The wider the radius, the faster a train could go and the less overhang there would be.
Completing the oval took a few minutes, during which Dad had returned with the dust cloth. She carefully dusted four separate passenger cars off with it until their livery shone in the daylight coming through the window. She then re-railed the baggage car and three coaches she'd picked behind the locomotive.
"You seem to know what you're doing," her father remarked, "That consist is just right for a small commuter run down to Boston."
Taylor considered that. She did indeed seem to know more about model trains than expected. I wonder what that's all about. Odd. Shrugging, she pulled the power pack and cord from the box and went to plug it into the layout and the wall. "Alright, let's see if this works!" She said in renewed excitement.
You're not going to need that. Something in the girl's mind said.
Taylor froze a split second before she could plug the power pack in. "Huh?" She asked aloud.
You're not going to need that. A small voice repeated in the back of Taylor's head. You just need to order the train to move, and it shall.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" She demanded of the voice.
Danny spoke with some worried curiosity, "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure. My head is telling me that the train doesn't need the power pack to run," Taylor replied with apparent bewilderment.
This statement brought her dad up short. "That is... quite weird," He said hesitantly, "Voices in your head are traditionally a bad sign."
"I know, right?" Taylor felt a strange amusement at the situation. She was trying to investigate a new hobby and was getting hints about it from some mysterious corner of her brain. She plowed on with this bizarre conversation. "Okay, Voice in my head. How do I order an electric train to move on its own?
It's pretty simple. Merely look at the locomotive and either tell it to move or mentally think towards it.
"That sounds too simple, but I can give it a shot." Taylor looked directly at the locomotive. Before she could speak, more information from the voice made an unwelcome interjection.
This engine is an EMD E7A diesel-electric locomotive belonging to the Boston and Maine Railroad. Painted in the Maroon and Gold Minuteman Scheme and numbered 3800, this locomotive served from 1945 to 1959. E7 units pulled exclusively passenger trains. E7As possessed 2000 horsepower and were often paired together with the cabless E7B or other E7A units to increase a train's pulling power and efficiency.
"Agh! I wasn't expecting that Voice!" The addition of information was not painful, but she still held her head, if not in pain then in exasperation. "Okay, 3800, why don't you turn on and give me uhh… 10 percent acceleration?" Taylor immediately felt a short burst of power from somewhere deep within her.
Nothing else happened for a short moment, then the quiet noise of a diesel engine turning over and catching came from the little locomotive. The sound changed to a contented rumble. For a couple more seconds, it was the only sound in the whole house as Taylor and her dad were staring widely at it as it began to move ever so slowly down the track. As it did so, the locomotive and the cars started to make that classic clickety-clack noise with their wheels.
The train continued down the track for a short way before Taylor found her voice again. Barely managing to keep from stuttering, she said, "3800 accelerate to half speed and make a complete circuit of the track." The locomotive complied with her request, the engine and wheel noise winding up as it accelerated to the requested speed.
Clickety-clack Clickety-clack Clickety-clack
"This is decidedly not normal, kiddo. Something must have happened to give you this ability." Dad said softly as the two of them watched the train move around the oval. "And I think I know what."
"Me too," Taylor nodded, still quite shocked at what was going on. The accident that had left her with a broken leg had been much more severe for her mother. The doctors didn't think she would be coming home for a couple more days yet.
Annette had been knocked unconscious by the impact that had also broken a couple of ribs, an arm, and a leg in multiple places and caused bruises on several internal organs. Taylor's broken leg hadn't damaged her enough to lose consciousness from the pain, but in combination with seeing her mother's injuries and pleading with her to wake up, the 13-year-old did eventually faint.
Shaking her head to clear away memories of her fearful pleading and her mother's blood, Taylor looked at her Dad. "I may or may not have Parahuman powers," she said quietly to him.
Danny nodded in confirmation, "But powers to control model trains? That's not a power set that I'd considered possible or even that good."
"There's probably more to it than controlling a single little locomotive," Taylor replied somewhat defensively.
Danny held up his hand, "Of course, Taylor. We just have to find out what it is." Returning to looking at the content train, the man scratched his chin, "Your power may also extend to other things found on a layout such as buildings, other vehicles, or terrain.
Some hobbyists have skills in constructing such things and maintaining or building both locomotives and rolling stock. The electrical side of things that you don't seem to need may play a part somewhere. All of those things could add up to a minor Tinker rating in addition to what I would consider a harmless Master skill."
"That all may be true, but I don't see how any of it would be useful at this scale," Taylor complained.
The unknown voice spoke up again. The scale is not a problem in this case. There are ways to exploit the size of the train you are using.
"That's not very helpful, Voice."
I shall show you an example. I need you to open a door into the layout room that has been prepared for your use.
"A layout room? How do I get there?"
Merely touch a blank wall with a hand and say 'Layout Room.' That action will generate a portal to the layout.
"If you say so, Voice," Taylor mumbled.
"What's going on now, Taylor?" Danny was beginning to get a bit miffed that his daughter heard a voice that he couldn't. He couldn't do anything about it, but he could at least stay on top of events.
"The voice in my head says it has prepared a layout for me in a room that needs a portal to access it. It gave me instructions on how to do so. Stand back and close the curtains, Dad. We're going to need some privacy, I think."
"A portal? Now that's a leap I didn't see coming," Taylor's father remarked as he strode to the living room window to close the curtains. He also went to the front door to make sure that he locked the door too.
Upon returning to the living room, he watched as Taylor ordered the locomotive to shut down. Hobbling over to a blank wall in the living room, she placed a hand on it. "Layout Room," she said in a somewhat dramatic tone.
Taylor felt a surge of power go through her. It is much greater than the one that seemed to feed the locomotive earlier. From her fingertips, a 6-ft diameter hole emerged, covering most of the wall. Peering through it, Taylor could see a vast room that seemed to have a perfect N-scale model of Brockton Bay in its center.
From the Boat Graveyard to Downtown, from the Trainyard to the Commercial district, and from Captain's Hill to the blocked shipping channel, everything seemed represented. Every house, every car, every skyscraper, every wrecked boat in the Graveyard.
Before stepping inside, she turned back to the coffee table and grabbed the locomotive. Danny meanwhile, proceeded to pick up the rest of little consist and the tracks they had occupied. He placed these into the box and followed Taylor through the portal.
Upon entering the new space the Voice greeted the pair verbally. "Welcome to the Brockton Bay Layout Room, Taylor and Danny Hebert."
Danny could hear the voice now and so demanded an explanation as he stepped into the room after Taylor, who was busily making her way around the layout, examining every little thing. "Okay, voice, what is going on here exactly?"
"Greetings, Danny. Please, do not be alarmed at my presence. I am called Yardmaster. I am an expression of Taylor's power. I am here to guide her through the application of her abilities." The voice, which sounded androgynous, if slightly feminine, seemed pleased at Danny's protectiveness. "I can speak verbally here. I must talk to Taylor mentally at all other times. In public, I advise her to do the same so she doesn't draw attention."
"Hmm, that's convenient. At any rate, what are her powers? It's gotta be more than just controlling a model train."
"Indeed it is. Taylor, when you arrive at the Trainyard, be ready to place your locomotive down." Even at N-scale, the city's model was quite large, and Taylor would need several minutes to get to a location on the other side. "At any time, you may walk through the model. If any part of your body touches it beside your hands, it immediately becomes holographic, and you can get to places much quicker. Try it now."
Taylor and her Dad had come in on the east side of the great model, and the Trainyard was on the north side. At Yardmaster's direction, Taylor approached the edge of the layout. As soon as her body touched it, the model became holographic, allowing Taylor to walk through it. Upon exiting again, Taylor noted that the layout immediately became solid.
"Neato." Taylor's smile was wide and excited. "Okay, what next?"
"Near the back of the railyard, you will find an abandoned roundhouse, turntable, and locomotive workshop. There are run-down locomotives in some of the sheds there, but we will deal with them later. Go ahead and place the 3800 on the turntable," Yardmaster instructed. "After you do so, please turn your attention to the screen to your right."
A holographic screen projected itself from the wall behind her as Taylor leaned in, her arm outstretched and E7A in hand. The screen showed a highly detailed, almost life-like scene of the engine yard. Having followed his daughter, Danny squinted at the screen. He could see birds swooping in the air, cars driving the street, and a light drizzle wetting the environment.
Before he could say anything, the model E7A made contact with the layout turntable rails. Taylor shuddered as another surge of power went through her. On the screen, an identical unit manifested, appearing as if from nothing in a few seconds.
There was yet another round of silence. Danny rubbed his eyes as if trying to clear them of debris. "That... is that real? Did you just manifest a model into the real world via this layout?"
"It is entirely genuine, Mr. Hebert." The voice of Yardmaster sounded both satisfied and a little smug at the same time.
"Then that changes everything. A power like this in the city could do so much good."
"And we've barely even started testing it out," Taylor said excitedly. "Come on! What's next?"
Author's Note:
Greetings and Salutations. My handle is GeneralPatt1000 (GeneralPatton1000 in other places) and this is my first foray into fanfiction. I have been reading quite a bit of Worm fanfiction these past 2-3 years and the desire to write my own finally bit me. This particular idea has been percolating my head for a few months now and I couldn't resist anymore. I hope that I can use my 10 years of long-form text roleplay writing experience to create at least a satisfactory story for your enjoyment. All constructive criticism is welcomed and desired. This first chapter was beta-ed by a close friend who was a participant in several of the roleplays I have either written in or hosted. Thank you to @DrYuriMom. Now, please enjoy The World is my Layout.
Chapter 1
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Brockton Bay, New Hampshire
"Dad! I'm bored. Do you have anything that we can do together?"
Danny Hebert looked up from the dinner table and the paperwork he had brought home from the DWU. His daughter Taylor stood shakily before him, her right leg in a cast and a crutch under her arm. Both were souvenirs of the nasty car accident with one of Squealer's invisible vehicles, which had occurred a week prior.
Annette had been driving Taylor home from Arcadia Middle School's orientation when the cape's car smashed into her vehicle's driver-side door. His wife's condition had been touch and go for a while there, and she was still in the hospital. Hopefully, they would let her go in the next day or two, but that was still up in the air.
"And before you ask Dad, I've already been through half the books in the house. Emma's still on vacation with her family, and I've triple-checked my summer homework. I can't go anywhere on this leg, so any activity will have to be in the house." Taylor smiled broadly at him, "So, you'll have to put the pen down and help me find something to do."
Danny made a cursory glance at the papers on the table. They were nearly completed anyway, and he could use a short break. He'd had to field similar requests from his daughter since he had brought her home from Brockton Bay General. It turns out a broken leg hampers a youth's entertainment options.
Setting down his pen and looking back up, Danny gave Taylor a fond smile. "Well, I'd better get up and help you then, shouldn't I. We can go through my stuff in the basement today. Maybe something from my boyhood momentos can keep you busy."
---------
Taking his injured daughter down the basement stairs was, of course, not a very good idea. Therefore, while she stood at the top of the stairs peering down at him, he rummaged through the things he had in storage down here. "How about a board game? I have a couple here that two can play," he began.
Taylor shook her head, "No. Games that only require two don't hold my attention as much."
"Alright then, Maybe you can reassemble my Lego sets?" Danny suggested next, pulling out a box of the plastic mines.
The girl waggled her free hand, "Ehh, maybe later. I'm not feeling in the mood for building right now."
"Another time then. Dungeons and Dragons?"
"Same problem as the board games, Dad."
Danny could hear the eye-rolling in that response. "Of course. I should have thought of that myself. Silly me." A giggle from behind let him know she was amused.
Taylor next refused a Nintendo 64 and its dusty cartridges, followed by some Warhammer figurines. He was about ready to give up when he uncovered one last box.
"Aha! My train set. Maybe you can set up a layout on the coffee table and run it for a while. The locomotives might need some work. They haven't run since you were little."
Not hearing another denial, Danny looked up the stairs. Taylor had a somewhat glazed look on her face. "Taylor? Little Owl? You okay there?"
His daughter shook her head as if to clear it of drowsiness. "Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine. Can you bring that up here so I can look at it?"
Slightly puzzled, Danny complied and, once he ascended the stairs, took the large box to the living room and set it down. Taylor followed him, the thump of her boot cast and her crutch the only noise she made as she did so.
As she approached, Danny opened the large box for her, which was perhaps 36 inches long by 24 inches wide by 24 inches deep. Taylor stared inside as several locomotives and various train cars appeared atop a deep layer of railroad track. A fine layer of dust covered the rolling stock collection, but she could still clearly see the different liveries on them.
"This is my collection of N-scale railroad equipment," Danny said, "You'll have to dust everything off if you want to run them. None of them are DCC. I bought or received them before that became widely available."
Danny watched with interest as Taylor leaned forward to pick up a streamlined diesel locomotive. A model of an E7A unit, the engine was painted in maroon with gold stripes running down the length of it. A man in a colonial outfit holding a musket stood under a banner that read 'Boston and Maine.'
The girl's free hand began to dust the engine off with a small smile. His daughter momentarily distracted, Danny started clearing off the coffee table. It didn't take very long before Taylor was laying track on the table. Danny went to grab a cloth to help with the dusting as she carefully placed the E7A locomotive on a re-railer track section.
------
POV change: Taylor Hebert
------
A few minutes ago, Taylor would never have guessed that she had any interest in model trains. But when Dad turned up his old box of model railroad equipment and track, she could not keep her eyes off them.
Ever since the accident, she had been somewhat restless, unable to keep her attention focused on any one thing for too long. Even visiting Mom's recovery bed at the hospital hadn't distracted her much. Now, however, she was entirely focused on the box sitting on the living room floor in front of her.
She quickly scanned over the contents of the box. Focusing on a streamlined diesel locomotive, she looked at it closely. The livery seemed somewhat familiar. Something local, perhaps? She was sure she'd seen it in a book somewhere. Picking the engine up, she began to dust it off. Dad began to clear off the coffee table then went off to get a dust cloth. When she completed dusting the engine, Taylor placed it on the table and started selecting some track to use.
One, of course, always starts with the re-railer, so she selected one based on a 10 inch straight to begin her layout. Looking at the box's contents, she noted that the locomotive's matching passenger cars were heavyweights. Something told her that these cars were near the end of their service lives compared to the new engine era-wise.
She didn't see any streamlined cars, so the heavies would have to do. Therefore, she chose the 15-inch radius curves for the basic oval she would set up. The wider the radius, the faster a train could go and the less overhang there would be.
Completing the oval took a few minutes, during which Dad had returned with the dust cloth. She carefully dusted four separate passenger cars off with it until their livery shone in the daylight coming through the window. She then re-railed the baggage car and three coaches she'd picked behind the locomotive.
"You seem to know what you're doing," her father remarked, "That consist is just right for a small commuter run down to Boston."
Taylor considered that. She did indeed seem to know more about model trains than expected. I wonder what that's all about. Odd. Shrugging, she pulled the power pack and cord from the box and went to plug it into the layout and the wall. "Alright, let's see if this works!" She said in renewed excitement.
You're not going to need that. Something in the girl's mind said.
Taylor froze a split second before she could plug the power pack in. "Huh?" She asked aloud.
You're not going to need that. A small voice repeated in the back of Taylor's head. You just need to order the train to move, and it shall.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" She demanded of the voice.
Danny spoke with some worried curiosity, "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure. My head is telling me that the train doesn't need the power pack to run," Taylor replied with apparent bewilderment.
This statement brought her dad up short. "That is... quite weird," He said hesitantly, "Voices in your head are traditionally a bad sign."
"I know, right?" Taylor felt a strange amusement at the situation. She was trying to investigate a new hobby and was getting hints about it from some mysterious corner of her brain. She plowed on with this bizarre conversation. "Okay, Voice in my head. How do I order an electric train to move on its own?
It's pretty simple. Merely look at the locomotive and either tell it to move or mentally think towards it.
"That sounds too simple, but I can give it a shot." Taylor looked directly at the locomotive. Before she could speak, more information from the voice made an unwelcome interjection.
This engine is an EMD E7A diesel-electric locomotive belonging to the Boston and Maine Railroad. Painted in the Maroon and Gold Minuteman Scheme and numbered 3800, this locomotive served from 1945 to 1959. E7 units pulled exclusively passenger trains. E7As possessed 2000 horsepower and were often paired together with the cabless E7B or other E7A units to increase a train's pulling power and efficiency.
"Agh! I wasn't expecting that Voice!" The addition of information was not painful, but she still held her head, if not in pain then in exasperation. "Okay, 3800, why don't you turn on and give me uhh… 10 percent acceleration?" Taylor immediately felt a short burst of power from somewhere deep within her.
Nothing else happened for a short moment, then the quiet noise of a diesel engine turning over and catching came from the little locomotive. The sound changed to a contented rumble. For a couple more seconds, it was the only sound in the whole house as Taylor and her dad were staring widely at it as it began to move ever so slowly down the track. As it did so, the locomotive and the cars started to make that classic clickety-clack noise with their wheels.
The train continued down the track for a short way before Taylor found her voice again. Barely managing to keep from stuttering, she said, "3800 accelerate to half speed and make a complete circuit of the track." The locomotive complied with her request, the engine and wheel noise winding up as it accelerated to the requested speed.
Clickety-clack Clickety-clack Clickety-clack
"This is decidedly not normal, kiddo. Something must have happened to give you this ability." Dad said softly as the two of them watched the train move around the oval. "And I think I know what."
"Me too," Taylor nodded, still quite shocked at what was going on. The accident that had left her with a broken leg had been much more severe for her mother. The doctors didn't think she would be coming home for a couple more days yet.
Annette had been knocked unconscious by the impact that had also broken a couple of ribs, an arm, and a leg in multiple places and caused bruises on several internal organs. Taylor's broken leg hadn't damaged her enough to lose consciousness from the pain, but in combination with seeing her mother's injuries and pleading with her to wake up, the 13-year-old did eventually faint.
Shaking her head to clear away memories of her fearful pleading and her mother's blood, Taylor looked at her Dad. "I may or may not have Parahuman powers," she said quietly to him.
Danny nodded in confirmation, "But powers to control model trains? That's not a power set that I'd considered possible or even that good."
"There's probably more to it than controlling a single little locomotive," Taylor replied somewhat defensively.
Danny held up his hand, "Of course, Taylor. We just have to find out what it is." Returning to looking at the content train, the man scratched his chin, "Your power may also extend to other things found on a layout such as buildings, other vehicles, or terrain.
Some hobbyists have skills in constructing such things and maintaining or building both locomotives and rolling stock. The electrical side of things that you don't seem to need may play a part somewhere. All of those things could add up to a minor Tinker rating in addition to what I would consider a harmless Master skill."
"That all may be true, but I don't see how any of it would be useful at this scale," Taylor complained.
The unknown voice spoke up again. The scale is not a problem in this case. There are ways to exploit the size of the train you are using.
"That's not very helpful, Voice."
I shall show you an example. I need you to open a door into the layout room that has been prepared for your use.
"A layout room? How do I get there?"
Merely touch a blank wall with a hand and say 'Layout Room.' That action will generate a portal to the layout.
"If you say so, Voice," Taylor mumbled.
"What's going on now, Taylor?" Danny was beginning to get a bit miffed that his daughter heard a voice that he couldn't. He couldn't do anything about it, but he could at least stay on top of events.
"The voice in my head says it has prepared a layout for me in a room that needs a portal to access it. It gave me instructions on how to do so. Stand back and close the curtains, Dad. We're going to need some privacy, I think."
"A portal? Now that's a leap I didn't see coming," Taylor's father remarked as he strode to the living room window to close the curtains. He also went to the front door to make sure that he locked the door too.
Upon returning to the living room, he watched as Taylor ordered the locomotive to shut down. Hobbling over to a blank wall in the living room, she placed a hand on it. "Layout Room," she said in a somewhat dramatic tone.
Taylor felt a surge of power go through her. It is much greater than the one that seemed to feed the locomotive earlier. From her fingertips, a 6-ft diameter hole emerged, covering most of the wall. Peering through it, Taylor could see a vast room that seemed to have a perfect N-scale model of Brockton Bay in its center.
From the Boat Graveyard to Downtown, from the Trainyard to the Commercial district, and from Captain's Hill to the blocked shipping channel, everything seemed represented. Every house, every car, every skyscraper, every wrecked boat in the Graveyard.
Before stepping inside, she turned back to the coffee table and grabbed the locomotive. Danny meanwhile, proceeded to pick up the rest of little consist and the tracks they had occupied. He placed these into the box and followed Taylor through the portal.
Upon entering the new space the Voice greeted the pair verbally. "Welcome to the Brockton Bay Layout Room, Taylor and Danny Hebert."
Danny could hear the voice now and so demanded an explanation as he stepped into the room after Taylor, who was busily making her way around the layout, examining every little thing. "Okay, voice, what is going on here exactly?"
"Greetings, Danny. Please, do not be alarmed at my presence. I am called Yardmaster. I am an expression of Taylor's power. I am here to guide her through the application of her abilities." The voice, which sounded androgynous, if slightly feminine, seemed pleased at Danny's protectiveness. "I can speak verbally here. I must talk to Taylor mentally at all other times. In public, I advise her to do the same so she doesn't draw attention."
"Hmm, that's convenient. At any rate, what are her powers? It's gotta be more than just controlling a model train."
"Indeed it is. Taylor, when you arrive at the Trainyard, be ready to place your locomotive down." Even at N-scale, the city's model was quite large, and Taylor would need several minutes to get to a location on the other side. "At any time, you may walk through the model. If any part of your body touches it beside your hands, it immediately becomes holographic, and you can get to places much quicker. Try it now."
Taylor and her Dad had come in on the east side of the great model, and the Trainyard was on the north side. At Yardmaster's direction, Taylor approached the edge of the layout. As soon as her body touched it, the model became holographic, allowing Taylor to walk through it. Upon exiting again, Taylor noted that the layout immediately became solid.
"Neato." Taylor's smile was wide and excited. "Okay, what next?"
"Near the back of the railyard, you will find an abandoned roundhouse, turntable, and locomotive workshop. There are run-down locomotives in some of the sheds there, but we will deal with them later. Go ahead and place the 3800 on the turntable," Yardmaster instructed. "After you do so, please turn your attention to the screen to your right."
A holographic screen projected itself from the wall behind her as Taylor leaned in, her arm outstretched and E7A in hand. The screen showed a highly detailed, almost life-like scene of the engine yard. Having followed his daughter, Danny squinted at the screen. He could see birds swooping in the air, cars driving the street, and a light drizzle wetting the environment.
Before he could say anything, the model E7A made contact with the layout turntable rails. Taylor shuddered as another surge of power went through her. On the screen, an identical unit manifested, appearing as if from nothing in a few seconds.
There was yet another round of silence. Danny rubbed his eyes as if trying to clear them of debris. "That... is that real? Did you just manifest a model into the real world via this layout?"
"It is entirely genuine, Mr. Hebert." The voice of Yardmaster sounded both satisfied and a little smug at the same time.
"Then that changes everything. A power like this in the city could do so much good."
"And we've barely even started testing it out," Taylor said excitedly. "Come on! What's next?"
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Only time I know of US schools having summer homework is if you're going to summer school.
- Location
- Seattle area
Thank you for the follow! I hope I will be able to keep your interest.
Thank you for the comment. Admittedly I didn't do a lot of research on this topic. I assumed most children of middle school age are assigned at least a book report. I don't personally recall any summer assignments from my school years but that doesn't mean I didn't have any. Taylor goes to Arcadia Middle School which is part of a high-end education system. I decided that they would naturally give out something for their students to do over the summer.
Twisted
Science, because it's basically magic.
- Location
- The Land Down Under.
- Pronouns
- Sir, He, Him
Sooo this is like a model makers wet dream I guess?
Build a fantasy castle out of cardboard but paint it all to perfection and put on your N-Scale model and Brockton bay has a new castle I guess?
Cause I'm pretty sure that model was an electric toy and not an actual diesal train from the 1950's.
The limits and range on this makes her at least a Shaker 12 just for sheer scale of her power.
Although her own energy must be a limitation seeing as you make it clear it costs something to put stuff down.
I am imagining WH40k style hive cities sprouting from the seabed and artificial islands, dams, all sorts of cool stuff.
I wonder how technology works through her power, does it have a limitation of "the closer the small scale is to real thing, the lower the cost in energy and higher its effectiveness?"
Or something?
I have so many questions!
Build a fantasy castle out of cardboard but paint it all to perfection and put on your N-Scale model and Brockton bay has a new castle I guess?
Cause I'm pretty sure that model was an electric toy and not an actual diesal train from the 1950's.
The limits and range on this makes her at least a Shaker 12 just for sheer scale of her power.
Although her own energy must be a limitation seeing as you make it clear it costs something to put stuff down.
I am imagining WH40k style hive cities sprouting from the seabed and artificial islands, dams, all sorts of cool stuff.
I wonder how technology works through her power, does it have a limitation of "the closer the small scale is to real thing, the lower the cost in energy and higher its effectiveness?"
Or something?
I have so many questions!
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- Location
- Seattle area
Thank you! I hope I can keep you hooked to your satisfaction.
Thank you for your comment! I hope to answer all your questions eventually. The next chapter will do some of that. What I can say now is that yes, any model that is to scale that Taylor builds and places somewhere on the layout will manifest in the real world and appear to be real. I will try to keep the models she places on theme with an American city but there may be special pieces at some point.
The model is still an electric train. Taylor's power is just operating it in place of normal electricity. In the real world though... I haven't gotten to that point. You'll have to wait and see. As you can tell though, her power is manifesting a model in the real world via what is obviously a pocket dimension. Every time she does something on the layout, she will be able to feel at least some of the power her Shard is exerting. Too much exertion will be a problem at some point but not yet.
We're going to work on getting Brockton Bay in order and establishing a run to Boston first. We'll see what happens after that. I like the way you think though.
Thank you! This fic is a result of my model train collection and layout that I've been working on for 4-5 years now. I wondered how such a thing might work on Earth Bet. This first chapter is product of that wondering.
Thank you. I've not seen many ideas similar in design. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Ancient Legos.
Piggot is not going to be happy. So normal for her then.
The city authorities will like the new infrastructure but not like that they can't claim credit for it.
If Taylor removes the ships from the boat graveyard then repairs them Brockton Bay could gain quite the merchant fleet. I'm assuming the wrecks have been written off.
The city authorities will like the new infrastructure but not like that they can't claim credit for it.
If Taylor removes the ships from the boat graveyard then repairs them Brockton Bay could gain quite the merchant fleet. I'm assuming the wrecks have been written off.
- Location
- Seattle area
Hey folks, I've sent the draft of the next chapter to my beta, but she's a busy doctor IRL so I don't know when it will be available to read. I hope to commit to at least one chapter a week. Stay tuned.
Heh, heh, no, she won't be happy, especially since Taylor's operations will be a guaranteed magnet for trouble. The mayor will be glad, of course.
Ship removal is definitely on the list down the road. But you're looking at my notes.*Hides notes* No peeking.
Heh, heh, no, she won't be happy, especially since Taylor's operations will be a guaranteed magnet for trouble. The mayor will be glad, of course.
Ship removal is definitely on the list down the road. But you're looking at my notes.*Hides notes* No peeking.
- Location
- United States
Seems interesting so far as the first chapter.
If her power can show just the city it could also show the whole world I bet. Though having a train that goes to the Moon would be cool.
If her power can show just the city it could also show the whole world I bet. Though having a train that goes to the Moon would be cool.
You can hide your notes after my eyes are no longer glued to them.Ship removal is definitely on the list down the road. But you're looking at my notes.*Hides notes* No peeking.
She needs to get some 40k stuff too....for BB defense purposes.
That is an excellent idea, if and only if PRT/Protectorate can be convinced that real technology and not magical TinkerTech.
I think Taylor would find it easier to use the LEGOs previously mentioned to fix the BB.
If I have a couple companies of Space Marines with some support units I'm not sure I care about the PRT thinks...
Ah. Thank you that clarification. I was thinking tech-emplacements, not personnel units.
I feel foolish for posting my comment.
Taylor's of Space Marines and their support units depends on her being able to summon people.
In BB (and the worm universe for that matter) that is probably the least weird thing, he's seen. After all, you have a person that turns into a dragon and somehow generates mass from know where. Alexandria that somehow can tank damage and keep going ala Saitama style. And tinkers that routinely break physics with their stupid tech. the power to place something and a model and have it show up in the real world would be counted as a projection at least and reality-warping at most. Labrinth jumps out for that one and her power is just scary.
At this point, I think Danny is just burnt out. Wait until the wife gets home and then the fecal matter starts to fly. That or Danny hasn't let it set in yet, give him a night's sleep and by morning he's probably going to freak.
Edit: To the author, you had my interest, you now have my attention.
- Location
- Seattle area
All shall bow before my mighty manifest freights and high speed passenger services! Mwahahaha!
I am a bit concerned about getting characters correct. Reading tons of fanfics doesn't really prepare one for actually writing the characters. Things should get better over time. I do think I have a little leeway though since this is an AU.
No autobots in this story, sorry. Maybe for a non-canon omake at some point though.
Thank you for your interest and attention! I initially was writing Danny as a supportive father trying to keep his 13 yr old daughter busy while Annette recovers from her injuries. As I said in the chapter, a broken leg really hampers an active girl's entertainment options. He's been run ragged between her and the work he's brought home from the union.
I'm sure at some point it'll really sink in that Taylor is a parahuman but it won't be immediate.
- Location
- The Midlands.
Never mind Transformers, I want to know what happens if she buys a Thomas the Tank Engine model... Although those would probably be a huge pain to find in N-gauge, I don't know about the North American market but here in its country of origin the franchise license is held by Hornby and they're almost exclusively a 00-gauge brand...
Say. Come to think of it, is Taylor limited to any particular source for her models? Because I can think of at least one foreign import she might find useful if changing the "layout" (expanding and modifying track) is harder than adding rolling stock and she wants to compete with the interstate on speed as well as comfort.
Say. Come to think of it, is Taylor limited to any particular source for her models? Because I can think of at least one foreign import she might find useful if changing the "layout" (expanding and modifying track) is harder than adding rolling stock and she wants to compete with the interstate on speed as well as comfort.
- Location
- Washington, USA
If it works on fictional models, then she has become a Tinker/Master on a frankly scary scale. She'd be able to mold her own cars for stupid weapons that would cost far too much to produce for too little gain, I doubt that the author wants her to have a train with an avenger 30mm cannon.