Actual canon is that they collapse the worlds together to create an explosion that will act like a launch catapult to speed up their flight to the next world.
Unsanctioned Mishap (AdMis [Supergirl/Worm] / Sanctioned [Worm])
- Thread starter Alivaril
- Start date
- Crossover
Actual canon is that they collapse the worlds together to create an explosion that will act like a launch catapult to speed up their flight to the next world.
Disagree, let's take it to PMs.
Actual canon is unclear on this, it's possible and the main reason they do it is very much implied to be to gain energy and propulsion for their youngs, which pretty much rule out anything that doesn't use at least some form of catalyst in the way they do it, with collapsing the world together being a likely candidate given how shards works, but it is not confirmed as the method they use with 100% certainty.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I don't care where you take this discussion, but please have it not be here.
Chapter 12: Options
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
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Lena had mixed feelings about the new lawyers temporarily working for her. They did successfully convey an air of confidence and competence, but their behavior seemed… uncomfortable, to say the least.
"Is the child human?" was among their first questions. Her affirmative answer was followed by reassurances that, contrary to some unspecified news broadcasts, Minnie's human status was a good thing and would make the immigration and adoption process significantly easier. After all, it wouldn't do for aliens to have an easier time working through the courts than humans did, would it?
Perhaps Lena would have dismissed her initial impression as being overly critical if that was the only red flag to pop up. The way they'd smugly talked about how Lena and Minnie were likely to get preferential treatment on account of both parties being human, though? As though it was only right? It made her skin crawl. Still, she had to interact with worse people on a weekly basis, any other skilled alternatives seemed to have backlogs, and bringing in extras would provide more avenues for a premature leak.
Tolerating her new lawyers was still very different from liking them, however, and she was glad to return home—even if she was reasonably confident that there would be a mess waiting for her. Kara and Minnie didn't disappoint. Lena had scarcely passed through the front door before Kara came rushing in from the living room, her hair as disastrous as if she'd rubbed it against a balloon.
"Hi, welcome home, happy to see you, please don't squish any mecha-spiders!" Kara blurted out.
Lena slowly raised her eyebrows, checked to be certain the door behind her was shut, and inspected the frazzled blonde before her. She tried not to think about how nice being welcomed back sounded, coming from Kara.
"Do I want to know?" Lena asked rhetorically.
The answer was very much a yes, especially if it was urgent enough to say in the possibly insecure entryway. Still, Lena took disproportionate delight in seeing Kara flush further. Teasing her friend and apparent crush might not be very kind, but it was certainly fun.
Minnie followed in Kara's wake at a much more sedate pace.
"The spider is Static the First," Minnie explained evenly. "I disliked needing to worry about information security within the household and have fixed the problem in the areas we use most often, including this room. Static will continue to secure the household over the next day."
Lena's eyebrows rose. Bugs were frequently designed to appear small and innocuous, or were otherwise placed in positions people were unlikely to check. Being able to construct a bug-finder would require prior knowledge, and didn't that say more unfortunate things about Minnie's background?
"And by that," Kara half-complained, "she means she put sonic and electric weapons on a spider-bot the size of a hedgehog and set it loose."
Minnie promptly shook her head.
"Even if subverted, they couldn't do more to humans than cause some temporary deficiencies easily solved with dietary supplements. I was very careful."
'Temporary deficiencies,' Kara mouthed in apparent disbelief. Lena was with her. How, exactly, did one cause those with sound and shocks without also killing human cells? Multi-million-dollar laboratory equipment was less precise than that. It might be accomplished with enzymes, but 'Static I' presumably didn't use those; they wouldn't be able to attack listening devices as well. Not via anything related to sound or shocks, at least. Lena would need to ask Minnie about the mechanics later.
"Well, I'm glad your day has been as productive as mine. I was referred to a firm whom I'm not entirely comfortable with, but they seem like the smugly superior kind of human supremacist instead of the ones who attack others. I can tolerate them until we find a better alternative, and in the meantime, the initial requests have been submitted."
Kara rapidly ran the gamut from tired, to distress at bigots, to perking up, and Minnie produced a twitchy, pleased smile.
"Thank you for acting to adopt me. I will endeavor to ensure that your life is extended significantly beyond what I consume."
Well, the stress might be acting against you there.
Lena kept that thought firmly under lock and key and found herself inordinately glad that Minnie was not on the list of telepaths that they would need to guard against. How on earth did telepathic parents manage to avoid their offspring hearing harmful thoughts during moments of weakness? People weren't always saints; Lena imagined that the important part was to keep any horrible thoughts from being said aloud at, say, 3:00 AM after months with minimal sleep.
"Minnie, please don't worry about my safety. I really will be fine."
Minnie's twitchy smile vanished right as Lena's guilt reappeared. Maybe Lena shouldn't be complaining so much after all. This kind of fixation on Lena's safety implied some sort of traumatic past loss, and Lena was reminded that Minnie was apparently alone in the months before she was banished to their Earth.
"I was including longevity-related medical treatments, but it will also be easier to keep you alive if you accept one or more artificial bodyguards. I spent much of today verifying that many physical laws will work as expected. Based on today's results, I should be able to make you a bullet-intercepting Acquaintance to be worn around the neck or as a hair ornament. I intend to make such Acquaintances for myself, Kara, and you regardless of whether or not you approve of this venture."
Lena bit back her first objections and scanned Minnie's features for any signs of emotion beyond the visible. Minnie was distressingly emotionless as usual, but that kind of defiance was a good thing, wasn't it? Or at least, it was good when compared to Minnie's earlier instant obedience. Intending to create bodyguards with or without approval might not be the same thing as going against orders, but it was a start—even if the idea of something that clung to their heads without their consent was beyond disturbing.
"If it really means that much to you, then you can make them for us," Lena reluctantly allowed. "But please show me their blueprints first–"
Mid-sentence, Lena remembered Minnie's stance on obfuscation and changed what she was going to say.
"–or at least crude drawings."
Minnie nodded, seemingly solemn had Lena not been able to see the pleased lip-twitches return. Really, what kind of a monster didn't want to see Minnie happy and had taught her to hide those smiles?
"Understood. I have additional questions, but they can wait until everyone is seated."
Minnie turned on one heel and headed back toward the open living room door. Lena glanced at Kara, bemused.
"Will you be staying for dinner?"
The reporter blinked and turned her attention away from Minnie.
"Su–" Kara started, then stopped and appeared to think better of it. "Actually, I should go home and eat with Addy. And talk to Supergirl about the help you wanted. Maybe once Addy is up to joining us? Oh! Are you still going to be able to come to game night? I mean..."
Kara faltered, frowned, and sighed despondently.
"There's no way, is there?"
Lena felt a stab of sympathy. Kara had clearly been looking forward to the night even more than Lena had realized.
"It wouldn't look good for me to leave Minnie alone or even with a stranger right after submitting the paperwork to adopt an endangered child, no. I doubt Addy will be up to having Minnie around so soon, either, so bringing her along wouldn't be an option—and I'm not sure that playing against her future-alternate self would be fair for her, really."
Kara produced a wordless mmm of agreement.
"Speaking of outgrown stuff, um, Minnie kept trying to stick tools in her mouth? And then used those tools. She said it was for research purposes but kept blatantly changing the subject when I asked."
Lena blinked and hesitated. That could have been an ill-advised attempt at a cheek swab, she supposed. Minnie's Earth seemed to have similar enough disease strains for Minnie to not be immunocompromised and bedridden since arrival, and the hospital visit had ensured she had all the vaccinations necessary for a child of her age. Minnie might not know all that, though. The doctors were supposed to have explained what they were doing, but the report said that Minnie maintained a state of dissociation throughout that period. She might not remember.
What Minnie expected to learn from such a swab was beyond Lena, however. Lea hasn't stocked the workshop with even a low-magnification microscope, let alone any sort of biologically-derived materials such as antibodies. It had a ventilation hood built into a wall, but any bottles of chemicals should have been stored safely out of Minnie's reach–
Wait. Lena could have hit herself. She didn't exactly put up any sort of signs saying that Minnie wasn't allowed access to them. Lena just thought that Kara had better judgment than that.
"Please don't tell me that any of them had toxic chemicals on them."
Kara grimaced, and Lena fought down a stab of panic. Kara did know how important quick treatment was after poisoning, didn't she?
"I stopped her in time, don't worry. She said she could just negate them later, but I had to put the chemical bottles back on the shelves and dump her solutions after she tried to lick something with... I wasn't paying close enough attention at first, but I think it was a partially chlorine buffer?"
Lena simultaneously relaxed and winced. Minnie was safe, but that lab...
"In the drain?" Lena confirmed.
Kara blinked, seemingly befuddled.
"It—is a laboratory-tier disposal, isn't it? They're supposed to be made for hazardous materials."
Lena now had many questions, starting with who put that idea in Kara's head? Many, many chemical solutions could not be safely poured into even the plumbing of dedicated chemical labs without consequences. Plenty still could, but Kara's lack of knowledge ensured that Lena didn't know which the unknown solution fell into.
"No, Kara, technology isn't to the point of chemical-proof plumbing. Please, just—leave any unknowns in the hood next time and I'll deal with it when I get home. Or, better yet, don't get chemicals down from the upper shelves unless she actually explains what she's doing. Some of them are carcinogenic or even lethal if used wrong."
Kara wilted.
"Right. Sorry. She just—aside from the licking, it really seemed as though she knew what she was doing, you know? She even made this little box with magnets and oils that she somehow used to modify the chips for her little test robots. And, you know, the part where we now have a bug-seeking robot skittering around the house, there are tiny bits of thread inside it for whatever reason, and that isn't even the weirdest component I've seen her use."
Lena did know. What she'd seen yesterday was odd enough, but based on Kara's commentary, Minnie's assembly processes went beyond merely eccentric and into the realm of fantastical. And speaking of Minnie, the child soon stepped back into the entryway, appearing disgruntled.
"I expected you to follow me to continue your discussions from comfortable seating, not for you to continue speaking in the entryway. Should I join or will you come now that my intention has been made explicit?"
Lena stifled a snicker, and Kara started.
"No, um, I should get going. Be good for Lena, okay? And please stop sticking things in your mouth, it isn't healthy for you."
"Spitting is too imprecise," Minnie complained, and now Lena had yet more questions.
"And a bunch of those chemicals are toxic, so please don't?" Kara pleaded, then glanced at Lena. "Um, is the car you came in still here? Like, can I just walk out...? I really really like your company and everything–"
Lena blinked rapidly, foolish hopes momentarily rekindling before she forcibly snuffed them out. Kara seemed oblivious to the effect of such easily misinterpreted words and kept speaking.
"–but I think I'll spend another hour here if this keeps up."
"They're still out there, yes," Lena confirmed. "Thank you for looking after Minnie. I'll see you soon?"
"Of course!"
Lena could have moved out of the way to let Kara out. That would have been the polite thing to do. Out of some sense of petty mischief, however, Lena waited to move aside until after Kara looked as though she might awkwardly edge around Lena. It... was actually mean, and Lena should definitely curtail those urges in the future.
~ ~ ~
Kara's arm twitched as she did not pull back a sleeve to reveal the small, rainbow-scaled metal band hidden underneath. It wasn't a full-fledged "Kryptovore" like Minnie had wanted; it monitored Kara's vital signs instead of watching for Kryptonite. But it was a strangely reassuring weight nonetheless.
Watching Minnie at work had been enlightening in more ways than one. Kara had intellectually known that Minnie was part of an exceedingly exotic alien species, but Addy and Minnie acted so Kryptonian—or human, she supposed—that it was often hard to remember that. Seeing Minnie use strange household materials as tools, including silver salad forks, simultaneously reinforced those similarities and reminded Kara of the differences. Minnie's odd creations might use thoroughly non-standard and even primitive materials, but that was also a sort of protection—nobody would think of an alien as using something as simple as lint-covered string for a core component. That was the domain of the adorable 'science fairs' of human children.
Kara would be worried about her new scaled protector's ability to do its job and neutralize Kryptonite had Kara not stopped Addy from making a mass accelerator earlier that day. If nothing else, the little snake would serve as a distraction. Best-case scenario, it either destroyed the Kryptonite or stole any chunks and carried them well away from Kara.
...Wait. How much of a hair trigger is this on? It might negatively interpret red sun lamps or the Kryptonite reserves in the DEO base, at which point whoops. Maybe she should avoid the DEO for a while. Which Alex definitely would probably find pretty suspicious in the wake of Minnie's reveal, huh? Kara could just remove her new accessory, but the universe seemingly conspired to ensure that she would be attacked the one time that she wasn't wearing it.
~ ~ ~
Minnie had scarcely waited for Lena to sit down before turning to business. Which was ridiculous, really, but that was Lena's life now.
"What are my expected duties as your adoptive daughter?"
Lena blinked and turned the question over in her head. Minnie technically didn't have any 'duties', but Lena wasn't sure that outright saying such would be a good idea. Minnie's offers to prove her own worth stood out starkly in Lena's mind; Minnie might interpret an absence of duties as implicit instructions to make herself useful somehow.
"You're still a child; you aren't expected to do much more than learn and–"
Gah, Lena shouldn't say take care of yourself. Minnie might take sickness as a personal failing and try to hide it. Normal parents didn't need to worry this much about exact wording, did they? Lena shouldn't feel as though she needed a script for this.
"–avoid fighting us too much when we try to ensure your well-being. That doesn't mean I expect absolute obedience, and we can discuss and possibly change any rules you don't understand. For instance, I might stop you from eating too much dessert since it could make you sick in the short term or sickly in the long. Is there anything you want to do, though? Or want to learn? I should be able to arrange tutors if you want to, say, learn how to play the piano."
"Understood. I will not be expected to attend prestige-based gatherings?" Minnie asked, clearly dodging the question about what she wanted.
Even if Lena was worried about the avoidance of her question, Lena still felt disproportionately proud of how little time it took her to translate Minnie's words into normal speech.
"There might be times when your attendance would be helpful, but you're a child. I don't like the idea of using you for political gain, and I'm not going to subject you to parties or other gatherings if you hate them."
Minnie's forehead furrowed.
"Query: aren't such gatherings primarily for the purposes of establishing and maintaining alliances, gathering information, and generally reinforcing or establishing reputations?"
Eventually, Lena might stop being surprised by Minnie. She somehow suspected that day was a long way away.
"They are, but I'm not exactly someone admired by the public. Backhanded compliments and idle insults are fairly common, and failing to be polite would, will, often be seen as worse than such slights."
It was far more complicated than that, but it seemed like a good enough summary for the time being. Rather than being deterred as Lena had expected, Minnie actually stared shifting in her seat with apparent excitement.
"Yes. I can compensate for my absence of skill at socializing with humans–"
Lena kept her stab of pity from reaching her features. By the sound of it, Minnie really did treat her Friends as companions. Lena should probably consider herself lucky that Minnie didn't throw a fit whenever Lena needed to leave for work or send Minnie away.
"–by displaying disproportionate skills in other fields. Nobody else would be accompanied by an intelligent and emotional being of their own creation, would they? Exempting their children, which I don't think are supposed to count. Or, if pets are banned, I can easily wear enough disguised Friends to kill every enemy in the room. They are very efficient."
Lena's snickers at the phrasing died in her throat and she tried to grapple with the sudden flip from flaunting to massacre. Seriously, what kind of a war-torn hellscape did Minnie hail from?
"Minnie, I wasn't just warning you of subversion because I was worried about them killing the 'wrong' people. I don't want you to kill anyone. We have laws against that here, and no, we can't just conquer the continent to get rid of the ones we don't like."
"Incorrect," Minnie instantly disagreed. "I checked today and Conquest-class Friends should function acceptably well. I haven't tested some of the weapons and countermeasures utilizing or against exotic threats, but it should be enough to claim significant amounts of territory provided that the Kryptonians do not betray us. I would only need sufficient materials and three to six months to construct enough to deal with all relevant militaries, or approximately eleven to fifteen months if I dedicate limited amounts of time toward personal construction and otherwise allow expansion via self-replication."
Of course she has 'Conquest-class' Friends. I shouldn't be surprised.
"Minnie, at that point we would be betraying the superheroes. People aren't always literal when they say they can't do something, either; what I could have said is that we shouldn't try to conquer the continent. Even the most overwhelming level of force imaginable would still destabilize... the whole planet, really, but especially where we live. Humans don't just politely give up no matter how hopeless the cause—in some cases, defiance would be its own goal."
Minnie stared at Lena as though she was somehow missing the point. Whatever worrying thoughts were going through Minnie's head remained unsaid, however, which only worried Lena more. How was she supposed to help teach Minnie right from wrong if the child avoided uttering her more controversial thoughts?
"Understood. Are there any other activities in which it would be socially acceptable to wear the attire normally associated with such events?"
What, massacre? Lena kept herself from snarking. Not least because this was a much less objectionable line of inquiry and the last thing Lena wanted was to discourage it.
"Minnie, I'm not certain exactly what idea you have in your head, but unless it's for a specific occasion—such as a wedding—you can wear whatever you want."
Lena bit down the urge to add that it would even be a good thing if, unlike her dimensional counterpart, Minnie preferred fashionable clothing. Saying such seemed like a recipe for Minnie to claim she did no matter her actual wishes, though. It was darkly ironic that whichever monster had instilled obedience into Minnie had made Lena's job so much harder in the process.
"Thank you; that would be appreciated. Would you like to start designing a Friend together?"
Is this your way of saying that you're pleased with me? Unless Minnie intended to push Lena out of most of the process and do everything herself, Lena fully expected to pick up quite a bit of knowledge even if Minnie didn't explain anything.
Lena thought of the work backlog that was only getting worse with every day that she spent being only partially productive. She was going to need to start delegating if this kept up. Admittedly, a healthy portion of it could be delegated without issues—it would lead to a conspicuous decrease in efficiency, but what she could learn from Minnie would almost certainly more than compensate for that.
"Dinner first, Minnie. The menu binder is on the kitchen counter if you want to go look through it while I change."
And maybe the extra time would let Lena intuit whatever conquest-related reasons Minnie believed Lena missed. As long as Minnie disagreed on some level, Lena wouldn't be surprised if Minnie discreetly created an army out of some warped desire to keep their options open.
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- Location
- Queensland, Australia
And the first critter has been created. Unfortunately, it was a (apparently) robotic one. So we don't have the 'that's a living creature!' reaction yet. On the other hand, that means we get to see Kara and Lena getting used to weird and wacky cybernetic robots made out of odd bits and pieces... and then get hit with the 'that robot is a living creature' fact. Which should be more spectacular.
NightxAngel
Highlander
- Location
- The Origin
You know, to this point I'm still unsure if this Minnie will even be making any of the "Friends" which are non-robotic. The topic was really well avoided for the entire fic so far, so I can't be sure if that will be a deviation or not.
Still, if she does make any, the reactions are going to be hilarious.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
The way they speak about it makes it seem like aliens adopting and being adopted is incredibly common.
IIRC, this takes place after the implementation of the Alien Amnesty Act. Plenty of aliens orphaned by exciting amounts of violence/Cadmus before said law, and now they can legally be adopted so I imagine tons of them ARE.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Technically, it is a lint-covered string trigger,
- Location
- England
Given 'wearable friends' I foresee some use being made of that vagueness.
ohhh.... you did a whopsie. telling a girl that she can wear any Accientence Class she likes, as long as she makes them look like clothing... yeah, that is a way of getting out of an awqvard conversation...
this literally had me laughing out loud...
Genre awareness by a superhero regarding their one weakness? I mean sure this counts as a Chekhov's gun, but at least it's not taunting Murphy, which is a vast improvement on 99% of these scenarios. Good going Kara, may you bring enlightenment of common sense and genre conventions to the rest of the super powered community.
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Everybody was kungfu fighting, huah!
Those kicks were moving at a comfortable pace, huah!
In fact it was pretty cool, huah!
But they fought with expert timing.
Is this a new trend I see? Uploading on Administrative Mishap upload day? I would be very happy if it was, because this was an excellent chapter.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
*waggles hand* This sat about 95% finished for several weeks, and then AdMis prompted me to actually sit down and finish it.
Pethrai Darkos
Murder Ensued
Lena paused. "Within reason. Power armour isn't acceptable casual attire anywhere outside of Gotham or Greater Bialya; and even then it depends on who you're meeting since Bruce will take it as license to break out a salmon ladder and take off his shirt."
Fine by me. After reading the new AdMis chapter, I can see why anyone would be motivated.
Can see her waltzing around looking like a bloody onion knight.
(Fullsized, ofcourse, on stilts to maximize her
- Location
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
SHHHHHH! Do you hear that? Thats the sound of a million scientist sreaming out in the face of tinkertech. *suddenly scilence* Exactly.
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i find the alien racism really stuped. was it like that in the show? like i undestand if people where afraid and shit but the the humans in this fic seems to be for some reason think themselfs superior to races that can wipe our species like how in the word does the goverment in thar world even deal with the bullshit power some aliens have.
Yes.
It's a human thing to do; presuming supremacy. We like fitting things in boxes and saying our box is better. Or at least, so says history. Well, beyond that it was also intentionally instigated iirc. At least, early on.
And they don't typically; Superman or Supergirl or other aliens/meta humans deal with it.
- Location
- Spain
Racism is stupid, but here we are with people still being such