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Voracity (Worm Case 53 Quest)

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[X] Armsmaster. During patrol, we should begin to talk about getting another hunch about Sophia doing terrible things on her off time, and having proof of it on her phone.
 
[X] Armsmaster
[X] You totally think Shadow Stalker has been sexting doing Bad Things on her ciivv phone. Yes.
 
[X] Armsmaster
[X] You totally think Shadow Stalker has been sexting
 
New laptop! Model isn't as fantastic as my previous one, but it works. We're back in business. Update in a few days. Vote called for now.

[X] Armsmaster
No. of Votes: 24
Pita
BlueRose
Chartic
LigerHorse
RagingCitrusTree
Assembler
Kyakan
MonoArch
Twei
1986ctcel
Always Late
Briefvoice
Caerwen
Dark-Lord-Jax
Gorgoneion
lockingbane
Neuromute
Portec
profDEADPOOL
WantonConstruct
PitaEnigma
CouncilOfShadows
Night_stalker
veekie

-[X] During patrol, we should begin to talk about getting another hunch about Sophia doing terrible things on her off time, and having proof of it on her phone.
No. of Votes: 14
Pita
BlueRose
Chartic
LigerHorse
RagingCitrusTree
Assembler
Kyakan
MonoArch
PitaEnigma
CouncilOfShadows
Night_stalker
veekie
Gorgoneion
Twei
1986ctcel

[X] Battery
No. of Votes: 10.5
inverted_helix
Anachronous
AramilOniasha
Avian Overlord
JadeDemilich
NaGeL
roguelonewanderer
frustratedFreeboota
maroon_sweater
Shaseyu
Verthelion

-[X] You totally think Shadow Stalker has been sexting.
No. of Votes: 8
WantonConstruct
Always Late
Caerwen
Dark-Lord-Jax
Neuromute
profDEADPOOL
Portec
lockingbane

[X] Assault
No. of Votes: 4.5
magicdownunder
Volkogluk
maroon_sweater
NemoMarx
Frescopino

-[X] Work on catchphrases and jokes so you're less scary for the patrol?
No. of Votes: 2
NemoMarx
Frescopino

[X] Triumph
-[X] we should get to know the team more, maybe ask about his hobbies or what's his family is like?
No. of Votes: 1
RyubosJ

[X] Show off them portal shields... And get a bite out of a finger or two... Totally accidentally, of course.
No. of Votes: 1
Frescopino

[X] Miss Militia
No. of Votes: 1
Nagon
 
So we aren't gunna get Sophia's phone checked for sexting? It would have been so in character for her though :cry:.......
 
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March Patrol 1a
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    • [X] Patrol at night. You're not in the mood for complications, and nighttime means a lower chance of PR problems. Any other trouble is likely to be the kind you can just bite, which is good, because you really need to start building your local rep!
    -[X] Armsmaster
    --[X] During patrol, we should begin to talk about getting another hunch about Sophia doing terrible things on her off time, and having proof of it on her phone.

    Immune to gravity or not, it's hard inventing dance moves that do something with the sheer amount of limb attached to your body. The tentacles usually just kinda trail in your wake, which has a nice lazy elegance, but compact movements are a different story. If it's just an elegant coil, that's easy, and a sea-urchin spike-ball looks nicely imposing, but anything beyond that is a work in progress. Ribbon gymnasts don't exactly wield eight at the same time.

    It's a usual night, alone in the roomy Wards base, though you think of it as your living room. People who work from their living room always seem to have life all figured out. It hasn't kicked in for you yet. Bummer.

    You finish a whirlpool pirouette and glide back to the computers. It's hard to stay motivated without music, and you can't do music because you're working. Console duty! Something the Protectorate has PRT people for, but it's a learning experience for you. Velocity was kind enough to explain how to patch the Wards equipment into the Protectorate channels, which… was something he was a little hesitant about, strangely enough. Said it might be better to let you practice with the Wards. Almost like you're being treated as an honorary Ward or something.

    …

    Naaah.

    You yawn loudly, making the sound rather than the movement, just to fill the lonely silence. Maybe the PHQ would be more lively at night? It kinda sucks how the person you want to have a sleepover with doesn't actually sleep. What the heck! Other people's powers are the worst.

    You turn to the monitors and check on Triumph, patrolling the outskirts of downtown, where Avalon is renting their hotel room. Status green. As Armsmaster predicted, the city's been quiet so far, and tonight seems to continue that trend.

    Over the course of the last two days, Avalon has been steadily working down the short list of independents, reaching out, showing their face around town. They managed to catch the city's only public rogue today, who ended up running away from them while cradled in the arms of a giant bipedal bunny. You wonder if she'll make an octopus if you ask nicely.

    Not many known capes have visited Avalon on their own accord yet, at least as far as you and the PRT know. Shamal, one of the independents, was rejected by Nimue so forcefully she fled in tears. Possibly fled the city. Is that Avalon's villainous plan, chasing away all the well-meaning independents? Sinister.

    There were two or three others who showed up on Avalon's doorstep in low quality costumes, capes the PRT didn't know about yet. They're still unknown even now, as the only one who volunteered a name turned out to be powerless – he thought Avalon would be able and willing to remedy that problem. Mist had to chase him away with a sword. Civilians continue to be weird.

    "Console?" Triumph voice emerges from the computers. "I'm catching some rooftop movement here. Newter would be my first guess."

    "Cirrata on the console, your lovely operator for tonight. Trouble?"

    "Couldn't say. Faultline doesn't tend to be a problem, at least not here, but they're still mercenaries. Did Armsmaster or Miss Militia leave any recent notes on their files?"

    "Stand by." You quickly log into the system, navigate to local villains. Even if Faultline's crew is a relatively benign group, that could easily change if someone puts down enough money. Picking a fight with Avalon? "All I'm seeing is a recent note from Armsmaster to be more wary – new member may affect group dynamic. I guess he means they might cause even more collateral damage now that they have Spitfire. Nothing about interactions with Avalon in specific, but their priority rating wasn't increased."

    Triumph is being silent for now, so you read on.

    "They do have a Shaker twelve held back by 'cognitive deficiencies'," you continue. "Caused by her powers maybe? They might be meeting Avalon as clients, see if removing that drawback is an option."

    "That... doesn't sound like good news for us."

    You shrug, knowing Triumph won't see it. You're hardly going to begrudge someone a potential cure to their affliction. He's right that it may be inconvenient to deal with a Shaker twelve... but, to be fair, her power sounds like the most awesome thing to fight ever. All-terrain octopus versus summoner of worlds? Bring it on! Have you been added to Brockton Bay's cape gambling sites yet? Not that you'd ever think of earning some spare change on them or anything, aha, perish the thought.

    "What do you think?" Triumph asks. "Aggressive approach if I meet them? Or can we afford to leave them alone?"

    You wonder if he's testing you or if he genuinely wants advice. Could be the latter – he's a fairly recent graduate. "Um. I know you heal and all, but it'd be a bit silly to spend time and energy and maybe PR goodwill on fighting mercenaries when we might need those things against the Empire or ABB later." There, that sounds reasonable. Soft spot for your fellow case 53s aside, avoiding trouble just seems best here – especially considering you're not there, you're stuck behind a computer. Mucho dull.

    "Can't exactly condone their group though." Meaning, the Protectorate can't be seen condoning them.

    "Wouldn't they run from you anyway? Just uh, show your face and call reinforcements, or pretend to? Faultline isn't dumb." You spit up your phone. "Should I contact Armsmaster to double-check?"

    A small pause. "No. You're right, Faultline has always been a low priority. Between Spitfire and Avalon, no reason to provoke them now. Thanks Cirrata. You're getting good at this."

    Yay. Reading up on local villains wasn't for nothing. "Course. I'm not pretty enough to be dumb."

    Triumph's microphone manages to capture the awkward silence quite well.

    You roll your eyes. "It was a joke, you goof. And it wasn't a dig at you. I don't think you're dumb. Or pretty actually, although you could probably rock a dr–"

    "Triumph out."

    Aaand back to boredom. Might as well check some of your fanmail. As usual, more for Skye than Cirrata, though a lot of people haven't caught on that you're trying to keep those identities separate. Most of the initial buzz about your songs has died down by now – your singing didn't become a massive viral hit, but it's certainly shaping up to be a well-known curiosity on the internet. Four to five digit views on youtube, depending on the song, increasing every day. Some amateur artists have asked permission to sample your voice for remixes, which is very cool, and a few ongoing conversations are clearly probing for other possibilities.

    You get the sense no one's daring enough to even consider poaching from the Protectorate, but it's still pretty awesome.

    "Eyes on combat," Triumph calls in after a while. Despite the words, he sounds calm, a bit distracted even.

    "Status? Combat between?"

    "I circled round to their hotel, found Faultline's group talking to Avalon in the parking lot. Seemed peaceful until Nimue tried to strike Faultline. Well, slap. More of a spasm in her direction, really. No training behind it. Fragarach is dragging her away in a chokehold."

    "Faultline?"

    "Nimue."

    … huh.

    "I'll see about getting the details. Triumph out."

    Hard to imagine Nimue getting slap-someone angry. You distract yourself with some more fanmail until he calls in again.

    "I'll have more details in my report," he says, "but the gist of it is, Nimue really doesn't like mercenaries."

    "They're traveling merchants. Aren't they doing a comparable thing?"

    "Please don't ask me to make sense of these people, Cirrata."

    Well. You know. What can you say? Fair enough.

    The rest of the evening is quiet. A PRT employee calls to take over the console eventually, and you roll yourself into a blanket, skipping your usual night flight. Tomorrow's a heavy day of studying and a patrol with Armsmaster, sleep is important.



    The morning and afternoon are largely spent cramming for the GED-equivalent tests they've got lined up for you, the first of which is tomorrow. You're not sure how standard GEDs work, but you're fairly sure whatever you're doing has been ridiculously accelerated, the load lightened. Maybe it's bad PR if a Protectorate employee doesn't even have a high school education? Whatever the case, you're looking forward to getting out of this self-study schedule and becoming a lazy college student. The PRT might try to enroll you in some kind of TV course arrangement… but well, you won't blame them for trying.

    A few hours after dinner, you find yourself flying through the well-lit streets of downtown Brockton Bay, away from the central skyscrapers, though remaining firmly within the wealthier area. With your improved speed, it's easy to keep up with cars so long they occasionally run into traffic lights, or turn corners. Still sluggish compared to the top speed of Armsmaster's bike, but you can keep up a lot better than before. Seems to frustrate him less.

    After a day of being cooped up inside, studying, being out and about is… nice. Relaxing even, accompanied by the most powerful and resourceful hero in the city. With Armsmaster on his iron steed, polearm on his back, you sorta feel like a hunting hawk, accompanying its knight on a hunt. Comparing yourself to a trained animal should probably be demeaning or something, but it's not. You like the image lots. Can your body do an eagle cry? The cinematic sound of justice, not actual eagle sounds – those are just cute chirps. Adorable, just not very useful for striking fear into the tasty parts of villains.

    "Armsmaster?" you speak into the communicator temporarily glued to your chest armor. "Can I ask a question?"

    "Yes?" comes the reply. His bike slows down marginally – you move down to float slightly ahead of him.

    "Um. I've been thinking. This city has a dragon villain, a dog villain, a snail villain, a lizard villain, a snake villain, a wolf villain, a tiger villain, a bug villain, another… bug hero actually, wow, odd one out." Good, because you ran out of tentacles to count with. "Any chance we'll find a fish villain? I've been patrolling the beach on my free time but no luck." Natural predation aside, you've stockpiled some great taunts and an ironic smiting implement, namely a fish. It's just overwhelmingly appropriate. The world owes this to you.

    "Leave the nonsense for when you're somewhere safe, Cirrata," Armsmaster says, not unkindly. There might be the tiniest hint of a smile on his mouth. "There's a time and place. This isn't it. The Empire fought Coil's mercenaries in this street not two weeks ago."

    "Roger roger." You glide back up, to low rooftop level. Maybe Parian can be persuaded to start using sharks? "Actually, I had something else to talk about. Something serious, promise. Drink stop?"

    Armsmaster doesn't reply, but he turns a corner, slowly decelerates, finally stopping at a street corner with a good view of multiple directions. He retrieves a thermos from somewhere in the magical techno-mount he calls a bike, quite possibly generating it from dark matter right here and now, who knows. You far more sensibly regurgitate a bottle of coke, which you hand to Armsmaster for opening.

    Now, how to broach the subject? Shadow stalker's been giving you some odd vibes over the last few days… which is in itself odd, because you don't meet with her much. Maybe you'll just be straight-forward about it. What's the worst that could happen?

    "Hey Armsmaster? I think Shadow Stalker is doing really terrible things. Just… terrible. Really bad. Dunno what, but proof is definitely on her phone, you should look into that."

    Thunder crackles in the distance. Heat seeps out of the world. "Are you suggesting I invade the privacy of one of my precious Wards? That's a criminal act, you realize. That makes you a villain! I knew it! En garde!" Armsmaster brandishes his halberd with a flourish and then just fires tranq darts into your every tentacle, the cheater. You're promptly chopped up into pieces and shipped to Europe to be processed into calamari. Your legacy is being called delicious in six different languages.

    … no, that line of thought was silly, even as a worst case scenario.

    You mull over the issue of Shadow Stalker some more while, inside your sealed mouth, you violently shake your coke bottle. The resulting geyser coats your insides – it tastes best with maximum coverage. The only problem is how the echo inside you sounds like the unholy hiss of a thousand-headed serpent (according to Clockblocker imitating Nimue), but it's not like there's any easily-spooked civilians around.

    Armsmaster coughs. "What did you want to discuss?"

    You burble internally. Not in reply, just in general. Ehh, here goes! "Shadow Stalker. For the last couple days, I've felt… well, had a hunch, I guess. Like she was doing something bad. I got drawn to her phone, like I should investigate."

    Armsmaster's jaw shifts through a variety of positions. You assume he's considering things but you're not fluent in beard.

    "I don't believe Shadow Stalker has made a secret of her probationary status on the team," Armsmaster sort-of inquires. You give a quick nod. "As part of her probation, she did waive certain rights, but her right to privacy was not one. It wasn't related to her crime. I'd need reasonable suspicion to check her personal communication, and needless to say, your strictly off-the-record hunches don't qualify."

    He pauses – you remain silent. What can you say? Amnesia and some studying didn't exactly equip you to bite through legal obstacles.

    "It's not an insurmountable problem," Armsmaster continues, almost musing to himself, "but it's not something I'm eager to do. Despite her discipline problems, Shadow Stalker has been fulfilling all obligations of her probation, from attending therapy to duty to mandated civilian activities."

    It's pretty clear he doesn't see any reason to investigate her activities, not without a better reason than your hunches. "Can't you just... peek into her phone?"

    "And find evidence we can't use, assuming there is any to find?" Armsmaster sips his coffee. "While the PRT has some discretionary means of disciplining the Wards, genuine punishment has to occur through proper channels. They're afforded more legal protection than you may think."

    … and you guess Shadow Stalker isn't the type to meekly accept punishment, and forget about being quietly shuffled off to another department, or juvie. Would it come to a court case?

    "Obviously," Armsmaster says, "a confirmed Thinker power would provide reasonable cause. An independent like Mouse Protector isn't as trustworthy as a member of the Protectorate, but confirming your claims still shouldn't take more than two weeks and some testing. I already made a private inquiry with the Columbus department myself."

    Ehh. Choosing to go official with your hunches now would go against your earlier hunch to keep things secret. Balancing one against the other… what do you stand to gain? You got the sense secrecy was for personal safety, which is precious. On the other tentacle, what good does investigating Shadow Stalker do? Discipline… no, you don't really care about that. It's not like it'll make you happy to see her unhappy.

    Maybe it's something so bad she'd get kicked off the team? It'd rid the team of her toxicity, but it would also decrease the number of Brockton Bay heroes by one. Better a jerk hero than one more villain out there, and Shadow Stalker does contribute to crime-fighting, even if it's just taking down street thugs.

    Or perhaps your hunch is about prevention? She could be a traitor, ready to stab someone in the back at a critical time. Doesn't seem likely. Some kind of PR issue? Shadow Stalker doesn't even like the public eye – seems to disdain it even. Any scandal would probably be equally annoying to her than it would be damaging to the organization, and considering her probation, it's really in her self-interest to behave. She's got issues, and she doesn't strike you as all that intelligent, but she's not self-destructively dumb. After working as a cape for years, you'll credit her with that much.

    "Simple question," Armsmaster says. "Do you have reason to believe Shadow Stalker is a threat to you, the team, or the organization?"

    You slowly, hesitantly shake your head. "I don't think she's dangerous to me or anything, although we did get off on the wrong foot. Think she made some assumptions about how I'd be because of, well, my situation. Expected me to be less me, I guess." Which seems to be the trend. Baffling. "At the time I responded less mature than I could've, but nowadays we just ignore each other."

    "Your power is giving you no specifics?"

    You concentrate. Nothing. You raise your skull-tentacle into the air and spin it around a bit. Despite the helmet, you can tell Armsmaster is giving you a look.

    "What?" you ask. "I'm checking if I can get better reception. I don't know my power doesn't work that way."

    Armsmaster seems torn between being unable to fault your intent of testing the easily-tested, yet disagreeing with the precise execution. You leave him to it.

    Hrrn… hrrng… hmmmm? Sexting? Ugh, yeah, no. You have no idea where that thought came from, but sexting can't be it, and even if it is, you frankly want nothing to do with what Shadow Stalker gets up to in her private time. She's a teenager you don't like, therefore gross.

    "Nothing sensible," you tell Armsmaster.

    "Then we leave the matter be for now." He stores the thermos into a compartment that didn't seem to be there moments before, its seams disappearing. "But talk to me if your hunches persist or change. There are likely rules to them that you simply haven't found yet."

    "Okay." It's a little worrying to ignore your hunches like this, but looking into Shadow Stalker without any other hints feels too difficult, a pain in the butt, and without reward. And you really need to find a better name for them than hunches – it doesn't feel entirely accurate, and you keep thinking of Hunch. Confusing.

    Armsmaster mounts his bike. "We'll resume patrol if you're done?"

    "Sure. Where to?"

    Armsmaster opens his mouth, closes it, turns to you. "Perhaps you should suggest an area, in the spirit of testing. I planned to patrol the Fairbanks area." He gestures at a direction that means nothing to you. "An area with little of interest besides the hotels, but it's still nominally downtown. We should be able to respond to events elsewhere… not quickly, but within an acceptable time frame."

    "Uhh." Aaagh, surprise responsibility.

    ===

    Thursday, March 10th. Patrol area:
    [ ] Armsmaster's plan is fine, you guess? Patrol the hotel area, on the fringe of downtown. Avalon is the priority anyway.
    [ ] Write-in

    ===

    Well, that didn't explode, but the law trumps your off-record Thinker power. It's also canonically difficult to get rid of troublesome Wards cleanly. ^^

    As an aside, Armsmaster was one of the two options who'd have given you any kind of agency at this juncture, so good choice, maybe? Now use it wisely! Or not, I guess. :p

    Also, plugging this again, because I didn't yet in a proper story update: When Skye Gets Mastered Into Doing Stupid Things by Otterberries. :D :D
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Well it didn't completely explode in our... sort of face.

    MOAR HUNCHES

    [X] In the eastern part of the Docks, about twenty minutes' walk from the old ferry is an old red-brick factory labeled 'Redmond Welding'. You have a sneaking suspicion that some criminals are based there.

    EDIT - I edited based on a brilliant idea by Kyakan on SB. Let's be suspiciously close to "Redmond Welding"! I hear they don't actually do welding!

    (Also, Lyova, don't count this vote, count the one on SB because that one was first)
     
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    Yeah, thought it would be better to just not bring this up until we had something more than a "hunch" and meta knowledge.

    [x] Armsmaster's plan is fine, you guess? Patrol the hotel area, on the fringe of downtown. Avalon is the priority anyway.
    - [x] You don't feel like munching. If a fight seems inevitable, try to stun your opponents with your warm smile of acceptance and friendliness. If it doesn't work you can always try to hug!
     
    Quick question, where did Skitter's fight with Lung happen in canon? Because once I know I'll vote for about there-ish.
     
    PitaEnigma said:
    I figure we can get it down more officially, and try to collect proof that Stalker is using lethal ammunition, or at least carrying it. The issue is that I'm not sure which of my memories are fanon.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Well, she definetely used lethal ammo against Grue. Alec is a good sport to remind us that literally as soon as Taylor joins the Undersiders, without counting that one time she literally tried to slit Skitter's throat with a sharp bolt. I seem to remember some conversation between her and Emma that suggests that she still carried lethal ammo during some patrols, maybe during Emma's interlude.
     
    Also yes Shadow Stalker is still using lethal ammunition as a Ward in certain situations despite it being banned. However she seems to be smart enough about keeping it hidden I don't think we can catch her on that.
     
    [x] Armsmaster's plan is fine, you guess? Patrol the hotel area, on the fringe of downtown. Avalon is the priority anyway.
    - [x] You don't feel like munching. If a fight seems inevitable, try to stun your opponents with your warm smile of acceptance and friendliness. If it doesn't work you can always try to hug!
     
    [x] Armsmaster's plan is fine, you guess? Patrol the hotel area, on the fringe of downtown. Avalon is the priority anyway.
    - [x] You don't feel like munching. If a fight seems inevitable, try to stun your opponents with your warm smile of acceptance and friendliness. If it doesn't work you can always try to hug!
     
    CouncilOfShadows said:
    Quick question, where did Skitter's fight with Lung happen in canon? Because once I know I'll vote for about there-ish.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Down by the Docks is where Skitter saw Lung and the gang members congregate.

    Which, by the by, is what I'm casting my vote for.

    [X] Move your patrol to the Docks district, because it's a well-known hotspot for criminal activity and a breeding ground for mooks, gangmembers and henchmen in the Bay, which means it's always worth keeping an eye on it. Plus, if you and Armsmaster encounter more trouble than you can handle, both of you have what you need to make a quick getaway, thanks to Armsmaster's Bike and your flying capabilities.
     
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