Ramification 5.1
April 12th, 2011. 3:55PM
Basilia Rubio.
"C-Calm down! Fuck…stop being
terrifying!" Grace scrambled back as earth cracked and shook beneath my feet, as I unleashed all to my power on a single spot to vent my frustrations. Then her comment registered…
"Calm…down…CALM DOWN! FUCK NO!" I screeched, throwing a stream of fire right at an inflammable target. Grace ran away, hiding behind a mildly terrified Charlotte. My eyebrows twitched when I saw Elle and Dinah playing together, passing a tiny round spirit back and forth like it was a ball. My anger and hatred for this fucked up planet didn't go down, and I continued to vent by tearing apart the training area.
Fire flew and burned. Water eroded and cut, air sliced and blasted, while Earth rumbled and broke.
"Basilia stop!" I shuddered when Amy came close to me, purposely keeping her hands off of my person.
I released my hold of the elements, sagging at the weight of my mistakes. "We were this close…with Terra's help we knew where his base was. With Armsmaster's and Dragon's help we tracked down most of his assets. Almost all of his damn contingencies were gone and he still got away…then I find out there's a
Keter Spirit manifested in the material world. That bending is starting to spread even faster!"
Amy sighed, her expression pointed. "I thought you said that you shouldn't take out your frustrations on other people who don't deserve it?" I deflated when she threw my own words back at me.
I winced as I noticed how devastated the training area was, I was lucky I didn't end up breaking something important…or hurting someone. I palmed my face, feeling tired and exhausted and unsure of what I needed to do or what I needed…no I did know.
"I need a break." Charlotte's terror shifted to glee, making eye contact with Vicky. Alarm bells were started, and both Dinah and Elle were gone in a flash of dimensional shenanigans, likely to Earth Lotus. Grace was looking for an escape route but unfortunately that was destined for failure.
If only.
The college graduate tried to escape but open reaching the exit, a barely visible golden hued force grabbed her by the waist. She was pulled back, and a similar golden hue was placed on the shoulders of everyone in reach.
Vicky clapped her hands together with a wide smile, eyes sparkling with stars. "Well I've got the
perfect idea, how about some shopping. All six of us?"
"S-Sorry…but I need to keep those tykes safe,
come on, come on!" Bakuda escaped with her plea, pulled into a corridor leading into another reality. She laughed triumphantly. "Later bitches!" She was gone…just like that.
Coward…
"Well I guess it's just the five of us. So…Charlotte? How, would you like to go on a shopping trip with superheroes?" The Earthbender's eyes sparkled, her lips widening into a very pretty smile.
"There's no escape, is there?" Taylor whispered in my ear, managing to muffle her shuffling to my side.
"No there is not." I said sadly.
___
April 12th, 2011. 4:30PM
Basilia Rubio
I swiveled my head to scan the food court, feeling satisfied with the Augmented Reality Overlay. The design had been overhauled about half a dozen times before I was sated with the highly complex code. Nanonic implantation made what would normally be a costly operation a complete and total piece of cake.
With the ARO I could take in an enormous amount of data without exhausting my own facilities. I could see things like electrical activity, the layout of cables and pipes underground, or with a built-in omni-tool scanner detect the organs of a living person.
Which was a little disturbing but it would be helpful if I ever needed to be a doctor.
I could even use it to identify people if I paired it with an isolated internet connection. Fortunately the internal network was built to be as impossible to interfere with as possible because
I'm not an idiot.
Besides that there were various mental augmentations for improving my own skills in superluminal math, hypercalculus, and the calculations used in the exotic physics of the Mass Effect and even entity physics manipulation. Combining them was a process of incredible effort and failed starts, not due to incompatibility but due to inexperience.
Veda had lost much to time and decay, and I had mainly been able to make use of her natural biology to jury rig entity derived technology. Dimension Transference, physics tweaking, biology, etc, etc…it's why most of what I was building was essentially just copied.
The new energy shield was a difficult effort, a fusion of omni-shielding and a limited form of Electro-Gravitic quantum tethering not too dissimilar to New Wave's shields. It had taken more than a month to get a large scale barrier, and there was an issue with sheer power consumption. Even the order of magnitude power consumption reduction from the specific molecular configurations of New Wave energy shielding barely made it possible on that scale.
But on an infantry scale…that was
another story.
I was suddenly given a light nudge from Amy, and I was snapped out of my tinker fugue. She smirked, and I quickly had the idea of covering her mouth with a projected barrier.
Too late.
"So…you're still looking for some cute girls to stare at or what?" I growled and swatted at her, and the healer laughed and ducked easily.
"No I am not. What? Did learning my secret somehow make you more confident at being an asshole?" She didn't quit laughing, and I felt my cheeks heat in anger and indignation.
Amy smiled. "Basilia I'm
always a bitch, it's what I do." She shrugged and I knew this friendship was going to be as horrific as Bakuda's. "You're the one with a soft heart and wanting to be all kumbaya." Her sarcastic tone easily betrayed her purpose in her words.
I was being teased.
I took a deep pint of fresh air, splaying my hands apart. "Amy. You're nowhere near annoying enough to make me go away. I'm well acquainted with my fair share of
irritating people. Besides, you're at least
cuter than any that I've met so far." Amy blushed and I shimmied my hips at the success.
"Soo…what are you looking at then?" Taylor deigned to intervene in our little spat, subtly smiling as she gripped a cup of sweet juice of some kind.
I tapped at the side of my head with my index finger. "
Testing my eyesight, having perfect vision is still pretty new to me." Amy rolled my eyes at my blatant lies, which I found amusing because I
was still getting used to having eyesight that wasn't crap.
"That's not something I'm used to…" Taylor's tone was dry, and Amy had a response for that before I did.
"I could fix your eyes if you want?" Her offer was tentative and even a little awkward, but it was genuine. Taylor adjusted her glasses, looking down at the twitchy healer from them.
"Are you sure…? You've only been using your powers at the hospital right…?"
The curly haired brunette shrugged. "Not as often as usual, people just haven't been getting hurt a lot recently. Most of the injuries I've had usually involved fights, cape or otherwise."
"That makes sense, that's going to be the new norm." I was going to start feeling bad for all the scientists of the future once they figured out someone managed to permanently break the laws of physics.
Panacea grabbed my wrist, her iron grip straining my poor bones. "I think I would like an explanation,
Basilia."
I straightened up. "Remember when your sister accidentally slapped you through a wall?" Amy stared right through me, expressing her irritation through her glare.
"I thought that was just because…you know?" She flicked a tiny gobule of water as a clear example.
I provided the answer. "No, most people can express that level of physical resilience. So I guess a lot less people will be needing to go to the doctor for anything other than sickness?" Which was both a good and a bad thing for Amy. Good in that the hospital won't be looming as heavily over her, and bad since she's using it as an escape.
"Oh." She shook herself from her brief stupor. "That doesn't matter, I can heal Taylor this once." Amy lifted a hand up, shaking it slightly with a nervous air.
Taylor glanced at me, and I raised an eyebrow. She huffed and nodded with a stern look. "Sure." The biokinetic lips twitched and she took the much taller and leaner girl's hand. A solid minute passed before Taylor sneezed, pulling off her glasses and leaving them to the side.
"So how'd I do?" The healer feigned confidence, eyes glimmering with a mix of emotions.
Taylor blinked, taking a good long scan of the both of us before replying. "Well, it worked pretty well…it's a lot easier than having to put on
contacts." I frowned at her, but didn't consider her discomfort with cybernetics any kind of insult. Though the difference between bionetics and cybernetics
was very thin. "You did a great job actually." Taylor marveled at her enhanced eyesight.
Amy preened. "I do good work." Her brief smile revealed dimples I hadn't noticed she had.
Very cute.
I didn't snort but I did grin. It was rare, but there were moments when Amy wasn't as down about herself, having time outside her family and away from Vicky has given her the start of an out for her. Without her shard nagging at her as hard, and maybe a few years of therapy and she'll be a perfectly functioning member of society. Which reminded me…
"So how have things been at New Wave?" The healer had started spending more of her nights at her aunt's place. Partially to not have too many questions start rising up and partially because they were
still family.
Amy huffed in frustration, exposing her teeth in a grimace. "They've been…going." She side eyed me, and some guilt cut through my curiosity. "Aunt Sarah and Carol have been fighting a lot…and dad's been a lot more…
up lately. New prescription." She explained swiftly, noticing our unasked questions. "Vicky has been a lot more serious, so she's been training pretty much nonstop with her powers." Amelia sounded a little frustrated, but not as badly as one would expect.
"That's goodish?" She paused and after a moment gave a weak nod in response.
"I guess…and…and a certain
someone has been an annoyance." That statement summoned Shaper's avatar, her pouty expression feeling rather unsuitable on the face of Amelia.
"Is that a bad thing or…" I questioned and the biokinetic gave a half shrug.
"
Annoying but…it's fine…it's fine." She picked at her food, and I quickly remembered to actually eat my food. I dipped the French fries in ketchup and nibbled on the fried potato slices. That then led to some thinking about how stupid the idea of freedom fries was, and internal criticisms about unnecessary and excessive patriotism and its degradation of one's mental facilities.
"Errr…" I felt out of my depth here, the setting being a little too casual for my taste. Not a bad thing but it's…been a while.
Amy snorted. "So…what are the two of you up to? Since neither of you
need school anymore. I'm a little jealous actually." She looked between us, expressing some friendliness. It wasn't fake either but it was definitely a little rusty…
I opened my mouth and then…stopped.
"I…huh…I don't really do a lot outside of work and school do I?" Taylor nodded, and I started to feel less confident in my ability to keep the conversation fresh. "Well I guess I hang out with Taylor…sometimes?" The fellow brunette seemed equally concerned about my lack of social interaction outside of that small number of scenarios. "I…sometimes like to relax in the garden, does that count?" The two shrugged, not providing me with much of an answer.
"Were…you like a recluse before coming to the city?" I opened my mouth to try to deny her claim, and was left with very few pieces of evidence to say otherwise.
Before this I pretty much only left the house because my parents forced me to, or because of my job or for school. I've literally been without non-familial related social interactions for months. I don't much like going outside even though I really should, I stuck to my phone pretty much 24/7.
I had absolutely no counters.
"Huh…" I rubbed my chin. "Pretty much." I had to admit I wasn't the best socializer even now. Being that the closest friends I had were a traumatized girl with trust issues, a crazed biokinetic with
problems, and a nosy brute with little restraint.
Then there's the bomb maker…there's Charlotte who's quite stable, but still mildly problematic. Elle is like thirteen, Dinah is just going on fourteen and both have their own problems on top of their…general youthful attitudes.
"How…the hell did you make friends out of anyone here?"
"I didn't." Bluntness would be the approach here. "Taylor and I clicked because we're both a pair of lonely sad sacks and she got a little too curious for her own good." She didn't meet my eyes. "You and your sister only showed up because we went to the same coffee shop and because you knew Taylor." I listed off the general outline of what drew us together. "Then that little
incident happened, and I suddenly became
neat with what I could do and what I knew. That's the gist of what's happening here." My tone was bitter.
I gulped air, kicking my feet as my nerves got the better of me.
I'm not used to talking this much outside a monologue.
"I…don't think it's quite that bad. You…didn't
have to talk to us, didn't
have to help us. But you did." Taylor soundly countered my points, and I was left with a lack of responses.
"I suppose." Amy shut her eyes, and I began to test my seismic sense to see how to integrate it with my cybernetics. Her breath hitched, her heart rate spiking.
She opened her eyes again, dark eyes filled with determination.
"Right…well since the two of you are a bunch of
lonely sad sacks," there was the sarcastic Amy I was used to. "I guess I'll have to help…do either of you have any hobbies or likes at all? Anything to phone home about?" That last thing mildly pissed me off but I let it go.
The tiny twinge in her chest told me she knew.
Fond memories bubbled up. "I…like to draw." Interest rose up in the healer's eyes. and I got more confident. "I never got
good at it, but I did draw a lot. Mostly just dinosaurs, and I got better and better at it over the years. I can even draw them with feathers. More accurate at least."
Taylor went next. "I…used to play the flute when I was a little…I've started to play again. It felt like the right time."
I tilted my head. "You've…never told me this, did you want it to be a surprise or what?"
She looked a little abashed. "I just felt like something that needed to be private, I would have told you eventually."
"I'm not upset. Just curious…" Taylor has done her best to not violate my privacy in the past few months. I'm not going to begrudge her on something so small and unimportant like a need for privacy.
Taylor turned her head, pulling a loose lock of her hair back. "So if that's us done, what hobbies does the great Panacea have?" She tentatively waved her arms in an excited bodily expression.
"I used to paint when I was little too…but that was years ago. I doubt that I'd be any good now." God…Dammit why did everyone I meet pull at my heartstrings like a bunch of dumb puppies? I remember being an asshole, not a softhearted fool.
Or maybe I'm just kidding myself…
"I-I…I'm sure you'd be great if you practiced. I could make you supplies, I'm pretty good at arts and crafts." I lifted my eyebrows in a suggestive fashion and I could hear Amy's groans from a mile away. Once she got over my stupidity, she nodded.
"I might actually take you up on that." A tap on the ground alerted me as two people decided to barge in on our heart to heart session.
Charlotte's steps were deeply rooted to the ground, but the space between them was quicker and less solid. A 'newer' style of earthbending but a rather interesting one all the same.
Victoria's steps were like that of an airbender because of her flight, but when she was on the ground they brimmed with the beat of fire. Other senses tingled, picking up the strange field of transmitted energy that Charlotte projected. It wasn't dissimilar from her seismic sense, but it was derived from her power. Oddly enough her shard had opted to remain hidden from sight, with the only thing that Taylor and I could see being the tiny circular rift in Charlotte's brain.
"Hey girls, are you all having fun?" My smile wavered at her reply, but I ignored that remaining bit of discomfort that still remained when I looked in the mirror.
Charlotte's eyes darted between us, expression shifting into an almost cold calculating gaze. It didn't last, and I could just about sense her misgivings with that facial movement. "I think they're doing okay…?" Her head tilted curiously, and my inbuilt cybernetic and natural senses picked up dimensional breakage as a lot of data was gathered.
So…Charlotte was a mix of a bunch of different types of Thinkers, all of it smushed together into a single coherent power that's well integrated with her own bending. She gathers data to enhance her sensory abilities, and can interpret that data in some specific way. If it works similar to her seismic sense then she can send out energy in numerous different manners…I wonder what shard she got?
The brunette blinked but didn't respond.
"I'm fine Vicky…" Amy waved off the question with a sincere grin, the weight on her shoulders dropping ever so slightly. The blonde smiled back, though there was a tension that I had previously not noticed without the enhanced perception of seismic sense.
I would imagine it's been quite awkward between the two of them.
"Soo…did any of us actually
buy anything?" Charlotte interrupted any more possible and horrid awkwardness between the two sisters in what felt like a rather purposeful move.
I absently dipped more fries in ketchup as I talked between bites. "Not really…I already have more than enough outfits, and outside of food. There's nothing I need." I waved the container of fries for emphasis, and both girls looked a little exasperated. They had been attempting to get me in the mood for 'shopping' and failing quite consistently.
I had gone because I
needed to get out, not because I actually liked shopping. The first time I had gone out had been an awkward and slow affair because Taylor hadn't had a friend in more than a year and I just plain didn't
like clothes shopping. I had just…wanted to help Taylor.
Shit…I really am turning into a bleeding heart.
"C'mon girl, live a little…you should flaunt what you've got." Vicky shook her fists in excitement.
"I just don't see the point, I'm not…into fashion. I just buy whatever isn't rags or horrifically ugly." I did my best to keep a blush from rising when Taylor gave me a disbelieving look. It…it's not like I liked having to try
so many clothes, it was the compliments honest!
…
I'm…acting like a tsundere…
"Not everyone is into stuff like that Vicky," Amy came to the rescue, and the blonde pouted. "If there's nothing she wants there's not much you can do."
Vicky fussed with her hands, biting her lips. "Well…at least you have a good sense of fashion." I got it from my mom…
The blonde and Charlotte both took their respective seats, and I could see Vicky scanning her surroundings. People didn't seem to really notice that they were in the midst of a locally famous superhero. Which Victoria had previously mentioned as being a little odd. The only theory I had was that her aura was more potent than she thought, and left a lasting impression. Not a true Master power obviously, at best it reinforces feelings and emotions that already exist.
Which is why Panacea didn't immediately go completely 180 the instant her sister gained control over her aura. At least half the problem was that Panacea was adopted beyond the age limit for…those kinds of issues. Someone would have to teach her that having a shitty life doesn't entitle you to…things…
If…she hasn't figured it out already.
"So…the two of you have hit it off then?" I asked, taking a sip of a large Mountain Dewish soda. Not the
healthiest thing to be drinking but biotics burn off calories with great swiftness.
Charlotte smiled, and the impression of a happy kitten was certainly on the minds of everyone around the table. "Yep, Vicky's very nice…I haven't really gotten to talk with any of you though." The pretty girl looked disappointed, and I coughed behind a fist. Amy gave me a pointed look, and waggled her eyebrows.
Damn her.
And damn my attraction towards girls.
"Well we can still do that next time." Her eyebrows furrowed at my statement.
"Next time?" She mouthed.
"Our leisure time for today has run out, we have an important event to attend." Taylor's expression set, and the others nodded their acceptance getting far more serious than before.
I could feel it in my bones now, the world was changing, the very laws of physics were being bent by an event more powerful than anything seen since the Big Bang.
I had managed to help out the PRT so far, and I wasn't planning on being any less cooperative unless they pulled something incredibly stupid. Especially since I was starting to pick up some
odd activity over the past few days. The ABB was sending members out of the city, disappearing for a day or two before taking the place of other members going out. I had the feeling that there was
something being planned soon, and I didn't like it.
So I needed the PRT to be cooperative, so I was going to give them an incentive to keep our relationship amicable. They would have to change, hopefully they would not do something stupid to survive. Otherwise my incentive to remain here would be…nullified
An annoying prospect for sure.
Great…
___
April 12th, 2011. 4:30PM
Missy Byron
"So…you think they're gonna be fashionably late?" I rolled my eyes when Dennis leaned over on my left side, cracking a lopsided grin. The whole Ward team was here, including Browbeat and the Ward they brought in from New York.
Gallant replied. "I doubt it, Erudition has always been pretty punctual. She doesn't seem like the type to show up late." All of us were in uniform, and I did my best to cover up my own disappointment. I didn't need Dean to start looking in my direction, especially with how his powers were growing stronger and
stranger.
Seriously…he started screaming about rainbows and snakes right around the time that thing showed up in Austr—
that…might be related.
I…also don't think I was supposed to know about it either…
Aegis didn't say anything, and I remembered that he and Dean had been lightly admonished by Piggot a while back about Sophia. I had been around for that whole mess, and I had never seen the Director that angry before…I guess I could understand it.
I had always known she was a bitch, but I never knew she was quite that bad…and that was
ignoring what she was doing in her civilian life. The worst part was that it seemed like the only reason Sophia got shipped off was because Piggot had gotten a Ward from another city.
It…didn't say good things about Brockton Bay if we were that desperate for heroes.
I sighed when the cape that replaced Shadow Stalker approached in her skintight purple costume. Her hero name was Flechette, and she had a power that let her make nonliving material ignore physics. She wasn't half bad, and her power was pretty strong. But…it was obvious she wasn't really used to how bad it could be in the city.
"So…do you know what this independent team is like?" I locked my shoulders but didn't let any annoyance get through. It wasn't her fault that my parents were being
useless. So I would answer her…
"Athena's corporate team is pretty new, they showed up out of nowhere around the same time Athena did. There's Erudition who's a Tinker, but can also control the classical elements. Monarch can control bugs…
lots of bugs, and can control air and gravity. I think they have new members but I don't know much about the—"
Then the door that led back into the PRT building opened up, spewing out a total of
six Capes. I blinked when I saw Browbeat straighten up, forgetting he was there since he was being so quiet.
Dean perked up and I held back a groan when I saw
Glory Girl walk up with an even more confident swagger than usual. I didn't really hate her, but sometimes she could be…too much. I could see Panacea but she was next to the other four capes that
weren't New Wave.
Did…she seem off or was it just me?
"Panacea?" Dean's breath hitched, and I could see why he reacted that way. The healer was usually kind of
crotchety most of the time. But…was she skipping or was I just seeing things?
Please tell me I'm just seeing things.
"Erudition…I see you've brought a few members from New Wave. But then Lady Photon and Brandish already informed me of their attendance. A new costume as well…?" Piggot stood up from her seat behind Browbeat, looking a lot better than a few days ago, when that…
thing popped up.
All the boys except Dean paused, and I could see Kid Win turning a little red. My eyebrows rocketed up at the costume that Erudition was wearing. It was a lot more form fitting than what she…typically used. Like most of her armor it was armored but was much more conforming to her curves. It was a dark grey bodysuit, which from what I had heard Chris raving about was made out of carbon nanotubes compressed by…Tinker bullshit.
I could tell there was some extra layer of material that looked a lot like steel…but… I think it was heavier and denser than it was supposed to be…so also compressed?
She didn't have her helmet on, allowing her wavy black hair to fly free as she hopped on…pockets of air.
The tinker glanced at the boys with an unimpressed look and smiled when she roved over me. "Well it's not like you're the only organization getting affected, so I took them under my wing so to speak." Panacea's eyes flitted over to the tinker with an angry look. "But they've been handling their…changes with considerable grace."
Director Piggot nodded. "I haven't gotten to meet the newest members of your team beyond that…incident." I turned, and froze as recognition nearly made me slip.
She was the most out of place on a team of older teenagers and young adults at about my age. The brunette was about my height but thinner, wearing a flowing heavy dark robe that easily hid the shape of her body but somehow also conformed to her shape at the same time. Her face was covered by a black domino mask, and she wore a bowler hat on top of her straight brown hair.
I
knew who she was…
Erudition smiles were always a little stilted, but there was a softer edge to this one. "Yes…well she's picked out a nice cape name, meet Delphi of The White Lotus." The shorter girl smiled shyly, and I startled as her eyes darted to meet mine.
Shit.
I moved on to the next cape in the line, a girl around Dean's age. Her outfit had the same high tech style that Erudition was known for. A black bodysuit with plates of silvery grey…which I could only see under rippling layers of rock that made the girl's curves a lot less obvious.
"Hello…?" I could only see her smile because she didn't wear a helmet, wearing the same Tinkertech domino mask that they all apparently had access to. But there was some type of weird collar thing that…felt oddly familiar to me. Like I was using my power…except I wasn't.
"This is Terra, she's a geokinetic." The grey eyed girl nodded, her eyes wide as she stared us up and down. "She's the one who helped us locate Coil's base to disable his countermeasures…at least most of them."
Piggot let out a sigh. "Proper introductions can come later. We came here…" the Director gestured to the outdoor power testing facility. "So you could grant us a greater understanding of the powers that are suddenly appearing."
Erudition's nod was a little more terse than before. "Fair enough…you have a spot open?" The Director pointed to our left, where Armsmaster waited patiently.
Piggot stood up hastily, her eyes darting to the open field with various bits of equipment laid out for power testing as well as a few whiteboards. "I'll be waiting elsewhere, I still have
other work to do." It was strange that Piggot had bothered to show up to greet the independent team.
"Then I'll take the lead here, will the Wards be here with us or…?"
"We've noted the same gradual alterations in their powers with Vista's being the most obvious. Aegis and Gallant have been showing…oddities with their powers as well. I need this sorted out as
quickly as possible." Her eyes were narrowed and the tinker cape ushered us over to Armsmaster as she murmured a quick answer to the PRT leader.
Armsmaster walked up to greet us, with…a very slight smile on his face. "So you continue to be punctual, Erudition. The data from this session of power testing will help the PRT greatly."
Erudition beamed. "Why of course, I might not myself be interested in government work. But there's only so much I can do on my own…" she went on and on, fussing with her hands as they set up the battery of tests.
What the hell?
A shadow appeared on my left, and I barely kept myself from lashing out with my powers. Monarch skittered to my sides in almost complete silence despite having almost a foot on my height.
"It's a little weird isn't it?" Her voice was distorted behind her mask, and with a small note of horror I saw that
bugs were crawling and laying within various pockets and compartments on her tight fitting armor. Which was made out of a dark black-purple chitinous plating…and I couldn't touch it with my power.
That thing is alive?!
"Yeah…Armsmaster isn't exactly known for his friendly personality." Chris could attest to that with how poorly he meshed with the adult hero.
"Erudition can tolerate him in small doses, or if she's listening to music." The slightly
terrifying cape shrugged. "She says he reminds her of herself if she was a little…more…full of herself?" My eyes started to twitch when Dennis made his approach.
"So you're Monarch?" He had to tilt his head up to meet where her eyes were. "What's it like being able to see
this with all those pairs of eyes?" He gestured to myself, and the silence from Monarch dragged on for an awkward minute.
…
Monarch turned up her chin. "You know…you should really take care of that parasite in your gut. S'not a pretty sight." I could
hear the bemusement, and the way that Clockblocker glanced at his stomach…
Priceless.
"R-Really?"
She shrugged. "Who could say? You'd have to go to a doctor to find out." Dennis didn't try to flirt again, and I think I was starting to like Monarch even more. This was besides the fact she was teaching me how to control my new powers so I don't blow up.
She was smart, her fighting skills were
off the charts, and she leveraged her power to a greater degree with each time I saw her work.
"Hello! I would like your attention here!" Erudition's voice resounded, and I could see the air rippling around her head.
So she could use her aerokinesis to enhance her voice?
"Power testing will commence, Panacea of New Wave will start us off." Armsmaster spoke plainly, and that got my rapt attention as she stepped up onto the platform.
I found a seat at a table that had been set up so we could watch whatever was going to happen. We hadn't been told much, but I had some guesses…
"So why is
Panacea going through power testing?" Flechette questioned aloud as the healer approached large containers of water, at least a few hundred gallons.
Erudition loudly cleared her throat. "Panacea here will demonstrate what she's learned." The gruff New Wave cape lowered into a stance, and…started to use Tai chi…what doe—
what?
Hundreds of gallons of water were pulled into the air by an unseen force, following Panacea's moves. Streams of water orbited around Panacea as she continued the motions with a carefree smile.
"Holy shit…she's a hydrokinetic?" Dennis breathed, and Carlos was staring more intently than before.
"Waterbending," Erudition softly corrected him. "It's an elemental martial art, and mastery of waterbending can provide numerous benefits." Panacea waved her arms, and the entire stream of water froze
solid in seconds. Then she
threw the column of ice hard, the block turning into a blur as it smacked into a target. It shattered before being forcibly reformed and then melted.
The entire platform was covered in a creeping layer of ice made from the deep puddle of water. Panacea smirked, and the ice was bent and compressed into a disc shape, she flicked her wrist…and a
storm of sharp ice cut divots in the target with its sheer force and speed.
The ice was turned back to water, and was formed into a cloak surrounding and protecting her body. The targets started to move, and with another flick of her wrists they were cut in half by whips of water cracking with what felt like sonic booms.
Armsmaster checked his arm. "This waterbending…what are it's limits? The amount of force and pressure to crush steel is…unique."
Erudition smirked, streaming water with her own powers. "Waterbending does have certain restraints, it's a martial art so it requires weeks, months or even years of practice depending on the practitioner's talent. Though it can be heavily instinctual at times." The stream solidified into a blade of ice, and she merrily swished it through the air. "A waterbender can control any source of water around them, in the air, in the plants, in bodies of water both above and below ground. They can freeze it, shape it into any amount of forms as long as they have the skill. They can even compress it…which if you know how water works shouldn't be possible."
Armsmaster grunted. "How much water can a waterbender manipulate…?" Despite her mask I could see a bright glint in the tinker's eyes.
"How much water have you brought out?" PRT workers scrambled to bring out multiple water tanks, with most of them going on rollers because of how
big they were.
"As much as required for our power testing." Armsmaster replied back with a flat tone.
"Why can I…?" I glanced over to Carlos, his stare had only grown stronger.
Armsmaster stepped back, typing on his tablet. "Panacea. Attempt to strike the target with as much water as you can push." A projector lit up to form a giant barrier like the Oil Rig. "That will bring suitable data on how to deal with other waterbenders."
"Sure. Whatever." The workers moved away, and I gasped as the tanks erupted. A gigantic wave of water over 20 feet high
smashed the energy barrier at top speed. Tens of thousands of gallons of water circled and rippled around Panacea as she concentrated.
"That's a lot of water…" Dennis shook his head slowly, and the other Wards weren't any different. It was definitely impressive…
"That was decidedly less precise than her previous moves, is that typical?" Armsmaster wasn't phased, and I actually had the same question.
"Usually yes…larger scale manipulation of the elements isn't as controlled but has far more power as you can tell," Erudition said. "This is probably about the level that average people will stay at…skilled benders could easily throw tens of times more water, or they can be exceedingly precise and creative with their power. Water
is everywhere after all."
"Good to know." Armsmaster paused, probably informing the other eggheads who were keeping their distance. "Panacea…would you mind testing your airbending?"
Wait…she got
two elements?!
"Sure…" Panacea hopped like she was on the moon in the same way that Monarch used her power. "It's not like I have anything better to do…" she chopped the air, and a blast of wind cut through another target like it wasn't even there. She kicked off the ground, and
moved.
"She…she's moving at over a hundred miles an hour." Kid Win helpfully informed me as I watched the New Wave member hop around like a rabbit on drugs. She would burst off the ground over a hundred feet in the air with little thought, and I felt jealous…until I remembered I had
biotics.
Soon…
Small tornadoes would come to life before Panacea would circle around and dissipate them.
"Now I'm not sure there's an explanation required for airbending since it's rather self evident at this point. Superhuman speed, flight…powerful gusts of wind. It's not quite as aggressive as the other elemental martial arts but it's potential is equally deadly."
Armsmaster turned. "Panacea. Thank you for your time." The moody healer shrugged, cleaned up the mess she made as she dumped all the water back where it came from.
"Terra. Glory Girl, could the two of you come up here?" Erudition asked, fidgeting as she leaned over to peek at what Armsmaster was writing.
Glory Girl flew over while Terra took the hard way, but even then she crossed the distance far faster than I could without warping space. There was a signal from Armsmaster and a large boulder about the size of a car was rolled over.
"Should I…?" The two tinkers nodded. Terra took a deep breath in a low stance, and with a low grunt she
lifted the entire boulder into the air. She punched it and rock shattered at her touch as she reshaped it however she wanted.
Rocks flew like bullets and Terra shaped stone into armor with a light smile. The ground rumbled with her every step as she went through what I recognized as a series of katas.
"Earthbending is a rather more stubborn martial art, and they're a pretty clear threat to things like buildings or roads. But they can also be used to
build them without any machinery or harmful emissions or waste. Then there's things like metalbending and lavabending." Terra faltered.
"Wait, you can
bend metal?"
Erudition chuckled. "Eventually."
She nodded at Glory Girl, and the busty blonde beamed. She lowered into an aggressive stance as Terra paused her actions.
FWOOSH!
Blasts of fire flew from her fingertips and the tips of her toes as she flowed between punches and kicks. Terra started back up and threw a few boulders which
shattered on impact with some of Glory Girl's stronger fireballs.
"Hah…!" That was…just not fair.
"Firebending is again self evident, control over fire. It has a few of its own subskills like lightning generation and redirection. But it's not overly complicated…" This time it was Victoria who faltered. Which…who wouldn't falter…creating lightning is just…unfair.
"Hmm…is there a way to test our Wards for these abilities?" Armsmaster asked and I blinked.
Huh?
"Yes…should we get on that or…?"
I had a bad feeling about where this was going when a few extra eggheads started to show up with even more equipment. Terra gave us an apologetic expression and I finally figured out why we were allowed to watch…
Oh…shit.
___
April 12th, 2011. 4:40PM
Basilia Rubio
I giggled as the poor Wards were put through their paces with a battery of tests using the machinery brought in for some outdoor training. Aegis was the one being put through the most pressure, currently wrestling with the weight of a Tinkertech hydraulic press. The tablet screen read an absurdly high number, well over twenty metric tons.
"Aegis is well over twenty times stronger than his previous records," there was a small hint of intrigue in Armsmaster's voice which pulled a grin from me. "Glory Girl has realized a similar increase, lifting 250 metric tons with only minor strain." The aforementioned blonde was preening, hanging off of Gallant with a happy little smirk.
"So an improvement over twenty times baseline at the bare minimum?" The older Tinker nodded, typing data into his secure tablet.
"So…Uhh when will it be my turn?" Kid Win spoke up, cradling his spark pistol.
"After Vista finishes on the treadmill." I could see Vista huffing and wheezing, her legs moving rapidly as she pushed herself to the limit. She beat an Olympic level sprinter by more than fifteen miles per hour. She could probably race down an ostrich now…well…maybe not if animals are getting physical enhancements too.
I glanced at Kid Win's gun…feeling a pull towards it.
"May I?" I pointed to the Wards weapon, asking for both of their permission.
"Err…sure?" The Protectorate cape didn't deny permission, so I took the stun gun into my own hand, studying it closely with the Striker ability I had in my possession.
Interesting…the Spark Pistol was actually a railgun but tuned down to a subsonic velocity. The power source was some type of gravity engine, a Tinkertech mechanism would open up portals and extract energy from the falling mass. Essentially a miniaturized hydroelectric generator but with far greater power density. The projectile was basically ball lightning encased in hard light which again was forcefully tuned down into an electroshock weapon.
"You know…there's actually a couple of settings here…come here." We moved toward another field away from the action with some PRT members keeping an eye on the Wards.
Kid Win asked. "Multiple settings?" I made a small adjustment, and there was a short laser pulse. The power went up by an order of magnitude, and
lightning arced through the conductive atmospheric wiring.
"Yes…there's a hyper lethal mode that turns it into an electrolaser," the ball lightning was compressed and turned into a supersonic spear of vaporized silicon, carbon, oxygen and decaying photonic molecules. It left a crater where it landed. "It can also form a spear of electrified dust which can do some damage…"
"What…would you assess as Kid Win's specialty?" Armsmaster sounded hesitant but hopeful, even if there was an
odd inflection to his tone. He was…
"A methodology of multiple settings and modularity is my bet. Inventions that can serve various different roles at once, or can be freely interchanged with other inventions. But I probably need more than one data point to make sure."
"How…?"
"I have an ability to examine Tinkertech at a touch, I can't well…perfectly replicate Tinkertech but I can gain a mild understanding of its inner workings with some effort." Previous attempts had taught me that instant gibbing of other's tech isn't likely. Attempts to replicate Collin's space warping modules had either ended in material warping, or only improved my work by about ten percent. I had the math to improve
his Tinkertech with
his tools. My equipment needed severe upgrades and considerable power sources, and an altered manufacturing process.
Turns out spacetime metric engineering is hard as shit…
"That's really impressive and it's giving me a lot of ideas…" the young tinker trailed off as I handed him back his gun. He ran off, and his superior stiffened up.
"I…will have to keep Kid Win…from…making any mistakes." Was it just me or did he shiver? "I will be back shortly." He marched off, his strides growing in length as the distance between him and Kid Win lengthened.
There was a crash and one of the new Wards went flying, rolling on the ground from a straight punch from Browbeat. Which meant it was time I really introduced myself…
I jumped, gliding on air until I landed in front of the Ward who had suffered a tumble. The girl wore a skintight deep purple costume with a tinted visor, a quiver and platinum-white armor panels that I identified as a potent nanoceramic derived from Athena. It was about 8% weaker than my own brand, and 2% heavier but it was functional.
"Are you alright?" The Ward startled at my voice and I offered a hand. She took the offer, and I pulled her back onto her feet. I felt a shiver, even a mere brushing of her fingers along my armor let me feel the slivers and wisps of Sting.
"I'm fine…that should have hurt a lot more than it did. I flew back at least…ten feet." She was caught off guard, and I let out a chuckle.
"That's normal…you won't be the only person in this crazy city who'll be dealing with this kind of thing. Have there been…any changes in your power?"
"Not particularly, I can shoot my needles a little faster but that's because I'm stronger." She held up her arbalest, pointing to her archery targets where wood had been shattered and warped by the ultimate weapon of the Entities. Which suddenly made me much more curious…
"Oh that's interesting but…as for your power…may I see an example of it? I might be able to find something new that'll help you out." I could see Armsmaster pulling back Kid Win from a tinker fugue. I silently messaged him, and after a moment he gave me permission.
"Oh…do you think so?" I grinned, cocking a hip with a confident swagger.
"If you're willing I can deduce at least a few things…" Flechette nodded, and she pulled out one of her needles. The projectile was three feet long, and over an inch in diameter. It probably weighed many dozens of grams at the bare minimum, and even without her power could prove rather dangerous.
"Give me a second to…" Space shuddered and warped to my senses, and unseen to Flechette was the lensing and unfolding of her chosen projectile. I turned on my omni-tool, selecting a new scanner using my greater understanding of the interface between electromagnetism and mass effect fields. They were potent transducer modules cribbed off the biology of early Entities and the Eezo saturated biology of the Asari. Carbon cages surrounded by complex molecular machinery to modulate and control miniscule quantum fields.
But…that wasn't important right now…what
was important was the subatomic discernment and sensory reception that was enabled by it. Alongside the natural senses of artificial entity shards…
well.
"You got it?" Flechette nodded and very carefully held the needle out to me. I scanned with my omni-tool, and flicked my tongue out as my shaman senses doubled down on the crime against reality. I didn't try anything stupid like touching it…but I did examine the field of energy infusing the deadly needle.
"So…are you getting anything?" I began to type on my omni-tool despite the lack of need just to sell the illusion.
"It's a very interesting spacetime metric." I muttered aloud, and there was a snap right after.
"Spacetime metric?" I let out a strangled yelp when Vista chirped in from my left side. Matter lost and gained mass as reality and space was warped to her will. More data was gathered from examinations of the near microscopic warpings to the fabric of spacetime.
I cleared my throat, arching my back. "Yes…Flechette's power involves a localized warping of the spacetime metric down to the deepest level of the physical world. Her power apparently overwrites physics, unfolding and phasing through multiple dimensions. A near unresistable attack against any known defense…" only another Entity could block that kind of attack, primarily by closing off access to their main body's dimension. Even then a powerful enough energy output given to Sting could overpower the dimensional blockage.
"So are you saying my power could go through
any defense." I had my suspicions that too much elaboration would end poorly for Flechette. I doubt the Simurgh would appreciate someone figuring out they could be killed with enough damage to plunge a needle into their core.
"Possibly…to be frank my equipment isn't sufficient to fully evaluate your power." Which was true, there might be limits to Sting that I wouldn't be able to realize without a
deep scan.
Armsmaster had been given some of the data, because frankly I wanted to see what he made of it himself. It wouldn't be much longer before this testing phase was over…eventually the PRT would need to start their own training plans for their benders.
…
It's going to be a mess.
___
April 12th, 2011. 5:30PM
Basilia Rubio
"
A European wild hamster." I curled up on the couch of my living room, nibbling on a chocolate bar as I sank into the warmth of the tiger print blanket. Cheery music played from the holographic television screen, and I watched eagerly with a wide smile at the antics on screen.
"Are you really watching some dumb hamster in a
nature documentary?" Amy spoke from her end of the couch, curled up in her own blanket.
"Yes. I like nature documentaries so we're doing that for today…I'll be on duty later tonight and I need some decompression before going back in. If you don't want to watch I'm not going to force you."
Amy's breath turned a little uneven. "No, it's fine. But don't you think it's a little weird to be watching a hamster eat funeral candles?"
I gave her a weird look. "It's a hamster, long as it fits in their chubby cheeks they'll eat it."
"I guess so?" She aborted several attempts to start up a conversation beyond hamsters and nature. So I took the initiative, a new thing for me…
"I know so. Besides that has there been anything new with Shaper?" She glared but there was no real heat behind them.
"She's been a lot less naggy, I think she's been more interested in how my bending works and is working on her own…stuff. Even if she still gives me puppy eyes like a damn kooky loon." I flexed my fingers, choosing my next words carefully.
"Have…you thought about using your powers for things other than healing?" Amy's following facial expression was unreadable, and the scrutiny was nerve wracking.
"A few times. Why do you ask?" To my surprise there was little suspicion in her query.
"Mostly…just curiosity, it's still your power. It seems a little sad to limit it where it is." I placed my arms behind my neck, stretching out across the couch. "Again I'm not going to try to persuade you to do anything you don't want to do." Placing all the weight on her shoulders again felt like it would set her back.
Amy dragged herself until her head rested on the top of the cushion. "What would you do with my power?"
Huh…interesting question.
"Well…I'd do more than just heal for one thing," I freely flicked a finger on my chin. "For example,
pharmaceutical testing. You know the human body better than anyone, with your senses you could with five minutes save companies millions. That would save ten times more lives, than one by one healing and would put less stress on someone."
"That's still healing though." Amy obviously wanted a little more detail than more of the same.
"Well if I wanted to be a little more aggressive I'd probably want to get a selection of different species for inspiration. Get the creative juices flowing you know?" Her brows knit. "Then once I had some good ideas, I'd build myself a suit of biological armor. Organometallic bones, reinforced muscles, maybe some studying of Brute powers to see if they can be replicated. How tough could Lung's scales be? Can you modify bacteria and viruses to act as biological nanofabricators? You could also create basic Genemod packets for the PRT and the military." I started to ramble, a hundred ideas coming together all at the same time.
I had slowly started to expand my comprehension of the different tech trees I had access to. The Asari, the Volus, the Batarians, the Salarians and the Rachni had powerful biotechnology with only certain capes like Bonesaw, Panacea, and Nilbog having anything on them. Especially Amy…if she ever got the idea of her multidimensional super weapons…
"I just…don't think that's a good idea." Amy confesses in a whisper, hiding her face in her blanket.
"Because you don't trust yourself?"
Her laugh was bitter and hard. "Of course you would know…you see the future." I shook my head, and she looked skeptical.
"I saw
a future Amy. A future that no longer exists because of what's changed," Taylor wasn't left to stew in a school that didn't give a shit, wasn't left in a vulnerable place for a blonde nitwit to manipulate her into a life of villainy. Not even for nefarious purposes…but because of her own neuroses that no one on this planet ever seems to want to deal with.
"But that future…it made you scared of me…because of what happened to you…"
"It's not always about you Amy." My reply was hot and angry, smoke billowing from my flaring nostrils. "My home didn't have insane biotinkers…didn't
have Masters capable of turning you into their slaves or weapons. My skin
crawls just thinking about the kind of things they can do to a person. You're just caught up in that same sphere for one reason or another."
"I…I'm sorry." She didn't sound sorry, but then Amy was always tired.
"What exactly do you want in life Amy?" She looked like she had swallowed a bug, and I expected that some of my answers wouldn't be what one would call likable or moral to my own standards.
"I don't know." I sighed when she didn't reply with the exact truth but then…what was the point of telling me what I already knew?
"I think you do know and
that's the problem isn't it?" She murmured what I believed was a yes. "There's a lot of things you want…that you can't have for one reason or another." Her expression was set but it wasn't quite at the point of outrage. "Best thing I can say…is…to get over yourself and
move on."
"It's not that…easy." I snorted, not denying the temptation of that kind of power.
"There's a lot of things in life that
aren't easy Amelia." She flinched and my grin was toothy. "A lot of people once they realize this, either do move on or dwell on it. Thinking that they
deserve a little happiness so they're entitled to it." The girl was pale now, and I barely kept some resentment from surging.
This Amy certainly
wasn't Red Queen yet, but I had no guarantees that she would turn away from that awful path. I might have read a lot of fanfiction that treated her as a woobie, but that wasn't an indication of how this Amy would turn out.
To be frank…that Amy was a complete piece of shit, and even my partial reading of Worm didn't paint a happy picture of a stable individual. Though it didn't really paint a good picture of anyone
except Dragon.
"Is that…something that happens to me?" I nodded, and her expression was unreadable.
I rubbed my face, doing my best to massage out the stress lines. "It's rather stressful you know? Having to deal with
so much shit that I should have stayed out of. No fault of your own of course…but it gets tiring. The best advice I can give you is to get a
fucking therapist to clean up your shit. God…I'm going to have to start looking for one for myself too. I just
know something will show up to give me a permanent amount of trauma." Besides whatever I was suppressing.
"I would ask if I could check you over…but I don't think you trust me enough for that." The offer was almost sweet but she was right, the only reason I didn't mind her healing me before was because it was necessary.
"Not until you figure yourself out…until you find
something else to give your life meaning, to give you happiness."
…
"Sometimes you say a lot of insightful things." Her smile was nearly invisible but it was there.
"I read a lot."
"Hmm…" I tried to think of a way to get this conversation onto something less icky and grim.
Oh.
I've got it.
I tapped to another video sourced from my world, data that had trickled down from the void of the vast multiverse. "Have you ever heard of Stentors?"
Amy's face twisted. "No?" I started the video upon that exchange of information.
"
Larger than a tardigrade though only a single cell and the fact that you've probably never heard of Stentor…" her eyes gleamed for a moment in interest.
"Neat huh?"
"Yeah…it is."
___
AN: Well this one ended up being a monster of a chapter, so don't expect most chapters to be this length. Most of the chapters from here and onwards are somewhere around 6-7K words in length, it's what feels comfortable.
This is the start of Ramification, and I'll probably post every two to three days. Or slower if I feel like building a larger buffer. So enjoy.
.
