I'd say bioroid. Biological android.
Was a mix of Superman's DNA with a bit of Luthor's.
Worm: Drummer Girl
- Thread starter ScottotheUnwise
- Start date
Was a mix of Superman's DNA with a bit of Luthor's.
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
Are you suggesting that DC recycled a plot from one of their movies in Young Justice for Connor and Match?
Oh say it isn't so.I hear bioroid and think Robotech. Don't get me started on Boomers (Bubblegum Crisis).
Rajvik_wolfboy
Wolf amongst the stars.
- Location
- Florida
i hear Bioroid, and i think "Armitage: The Third" followed by BGC, but thats just a matter of i've watched them and not Robotech/Macross
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
I watched all three and I mostly think of BGC. And through it, Blade Runner.
6.2 Crescendo Got real estate, I'm buying it all up in outerspace. Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend. You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again.
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
6.2 Crescendo Got real estate, I'm buying it all up in outerspace. Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend. You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick the past again.
"https://www.elyrics.net/read/b/brie-larson-lyrics/black-sheep-lyrics.html"
"Wait a minute. Didn't you say you took Leviathan's powers away?!" Director Piggot was flipping through pages of notes, looking for the relevant page. "Yes! Here it is. If you took his power, how is he manipulating the ice?"
I blinked. I had his power, I could feel it. I'd mic dropped as he was leaving the atmosphere. He'd gone quiescent until well past Mars's orbit… But I'd never before tried to take so much away as then.
Greg put a hand on my shoulder. "She couldn't TAKE it all because one person can't handle it all." He nodded to the screens. "Look at it, that is more than just hydrokinesis. He… it is reshaping metals and stone, warping gravity to form those mirrored surfaces and focus the light gathered on Mars. Let alone reforming its body, moving through space."
Everyone present blinked.
"Oh." I wondered. "Are the Endbringers made up of sets of powers that weren't handed out completely?" I look at it, really look at it with my power. Arrows flickering from point to point of it, too far to really latch on, but able to see a kind of repetitive connection to a set of powers over and over.
Zooming in feels like watching a Mandelbrot set going through a cycle.
And then it zoomed out on me as I tracked a link, a thick rope that the arrows slid along, going down toward the surface. His powers were connected to, interlinked to something deep below ground. The colors of the rope shifted as if it were woven into other… Behemoth. They were linked together.
I broke off my musings to look at Larry. "Have we got anything that will read what my powers show me and let me put it on a display?"
He blinked. "Well, yes and no. It doesn't show what your power shows you, but Nan and I worked out a neural interface for working on ideas in the design software for the fabbers. The stronger the details pictured, the better the imaging."
He winced. "It takes a little practice to get it working right."
"Ahem" Daryl polished his fingernails on his chest and looked at them. "Get the helmet doof, I can do the skills and she can drum them in."
A few minutes later I was beginning to regret this idea. I looked like I was wearing a mushroom cap of wires and sensors. Even using a fabber to clean up sections of the design didn't help much.
Nor did having three different action figures clipping zip ties in place to gather the myriad of cables to either side of my head help. I could see Kim visibly recording their efforts while holding back a laugh.
"I will so get even with you for posting that." Oh that was me talking.
Nan spoke up. "That's all the connections, even with the rearranging of the leads."
Ino made calming gestures. "No one is making fun of your cable management, Nan, the figurines are just being obsessive compulsive because Kim tweaked their programming to prioritize it that way."
"And it is funny as hell." Kim noted.
I looked daggers at Kim. "Legendary will be my vengeance." I mouthed at her.
"It looks like a nerd wedding dress and veil." She chuckled.
Greg turned red in the face as I glanced his way. Then he saw dad look at him with a tilt to his head.
Two fingers up to his eyes, then moving away to one finger at Greg. 'I am watching you' spelled out clearly.
Larry brought it online and I could feel a sort of static build up around me. The cleared area over the conference table in front of me coalesced into an image of me strangling Kim.
Dad cleared his throat. "I see the imaging portion works. But you said you have something to show us about Leviathan there. And Behemoth."
Okay, focus. I turned back to what my powers were showing me, visualizing the arrows going out, the way the powers appeared to me.
"This is us. And that is how we appear until I zoom in on things." I showed them the tree effects linking similar powers. "Right, so this is what Leviathan looks like."
The kaleidoscope of colors and flashing resolved into the mandelbrot of repeating color groups.
Larry's voice noted something. "We are recording, yes." He was talking to someone else in low tones. I couldn't tell who without losing focus.
"Now, see this thick rope thing. It leads down out of orbit. And it changes here and here– I added callout lines showing where the apparent 'material' of the rope was different."
The color patterns were more energetic the further down I followed the rope. And it reached the surface of Mars, diving below ground.
The rope encountered another kaleidoscope of flashing colors blots, but many of these felt 'red' for a lack of better term. "Fire, energy, bond breaking, reactions. Behemoth."
Kim's voice. "Wait, you power can see that far through the ground? Is that new?"
I couldn't see it then, either the way everyone around flinched when I opened my eyes or the red glow coming from them as I opened them fully and spoke. I wasn't fully in control when I stiffened and responded.
Numbers flashed across the displayed area, patterns and symbols too complex for the human mind.
*******************************************************
UNIT ONE AWAITING ORDERS ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSOR
QUERY, DIRECTIVE?
*******************************************************
Something was connected to me now. It felt huge, and … careful. I felt like I was a mouse cradled in the hand of a giant in a cage of fingers. And it was stroking my head to calm my fears.
It … wanted … something. Plans. Wishes. Marching orders.
It was reading my memory looking for patterns. I could feel it recoil at the memory of the Leviathan fight, of the destruction visited upon cities, of war. The aftermath of Eidolon in China.
The path of Ash Beast in Africa.
And then it snagged a line of memory about a movie. It likes movies in general. And then it follows a tiny link to a series of books that were tied to the movie by the ephemeral way that a good book can be mined out to create a meh movie, even if the movie in question was better than many of it's time. Total Recall leads to a trilogy, focusing on the third –Green Mars.
Terraforming.
Making a planetary body better able to support life.
The list of things necessary.
Heat.
Atmosphere.
Water.
Life.
The mirrored rings Leviathan was maintaining covered the first, while the water he brought would help with the third. The atmosphere would not stay long term without a magnetic field.
The thing in my head settled back on virtual haunches as it considered what I wanted.
*******************************************************
Dragon spoke up, directing Colin's attention away from the images shown. "I am reading a surge in radiowave activity on the surface, spreading outward from Mount Olympus –from Behemoth or below.
Colin pulled the image she had up and overlaid it on what Drum was showing. A spinning blob was in there. Based on the imagery and the sensors that Leet/Larry had deployed looking down on Mount Olympus, there was a whole lot of heat building up down there.
"Holy shit, he's starting a shake and bake colony." Tispohone spoke up from where she was sitting by Daryl.
Even though she was not in the room, Director Piggot's voice was firm as she piped in. "Explain." The inset image that automatically routed in showed her sitting up from the poolside chair she'd been coaxed into, Hannah and Aisha in the background playing around in the pool.
"Director." Dragon's voice cut in. "It is a term from science fiction writings, specifically from the movie 'Aliens' in reference to a gigantic machine that is part of terraforming a planet. It generates atmosphere by breaking up rock and minerals to reform into the gasses needed, while the energy is used –at least from other sources if not from that movie– to generate a planetary magnetic field to hold the atmosphere in place.
"There is more." Ino adds.
"The structure that Leviathan made, originating in orbit, coming down, made of ice and rock that he is supporting and keeping frozen. It leads from the umbrella shape holding the rings in place over Mount Olympus. It appears that Behemoth is forming material upward to link to it from the core of the planet." She turns to us. "They are creating a space elevator –no, a bridge from the surface up to the ice ring core."
"What are they going to do with that?"
I was trying to follow the rope up again, from Behemoth through. "The rope between them is changing from powers based to physical. Between them, they are changing thought into reality."
"Drum, they started this when you started focusing on the connections. How much of this is you reading them at the right time compared to them reading you and following your directions?" Director Piggot asked.
Ouch.
The room got quiet.
I traded looks with Ino and Kim. "We need to make a call."
*****************************************
Office of Director Rebecca Costa-Brown
"Why Drum, so nice of you to call. What can the PRT do for you today?" She answered her phone in a sarcastic sweet tone that totally didn't make Dad wince and shake his head. "It wouldn't relate to the week of near silence since finding out Leviathan wasn't leaving Mars orbit? Or maybe Behemoth is acting out?"
I rolled my eyes.
"I need to discuss things a little more openly about the more classified aspects of the Endbringers."
The image of the woman in front of them straightened up. "Pertaining to?" The growl in her voice rose in tone.
"Eidolon's connection."
She tilted her head and her voice changed completely. In a voice reserved for Alexandria, she fairly commanded. "YOU WILL NOT TAINT HIS MEMORY!"
I sighed. I could hear the gears grinding of the people in the control room who heard her. "Now you did it, I am calling from a conference room on Mars. Remember all the people who are here with us? A lot of them are hearing this live."
The woman's face stills as it pales.
"I for one would like to know what you mean by that… Alexandria?" Director Piggot asked, sweetness itself.
The echoes around the room meant I was not the only one who said it, but it slurred a bit in the saying and rhymes with 'duck'.
"Dragon, how much of this is getting back across unencrypted lines?"
"Not as much as you fear, but there are around four hundred individuals here on Mars or onboard ships who are able to monitor this feed."
The silence was palpable. "I want NDA's on file all around." Alexandria grinds out. "Door me… Please. "
A minute later a rectangular opening forms in the room, Alexandria comes through, still looking a little younger than normal. She isn't flying along like Glory Girl, but I think she is slightly off the floor as she walks –using flight to steady herself.
She looks around a minute then coughs a little. Then she coughs some more. She waves at me, looking a little panicked.
Oh right. Martian air.
Ra-ta-ta-tatta-tum.
Ayre and a bit of energy resistance. "Sorry, I handed it out early and we've gotten used to how the local atmosphere –or lack thereof– feels. The airlocks were getting to be a P.I.A."
Shrugging as she inhales and then exhales more easily.
Alexandria gives me a look that reminds me of the one I had given Kim not long ago. Then she breaks out in a true smile and laughs. "What are you wearing on your head? You look like some nerd's wet dream of a gynoid waifu!"
Rolling my eyes. Tattletale's power rears.
:Knows you will be offended by the statement. Intends it as a minor victory.
"That won't work on me, you know." I state. Shaking my head. "Eidolon's fourth slot was guiding the Endbringers' actions. When I drummed him and took his power away permanently, I changed those guidelines and the Endbringers stopped planning new actions. The Simurgh continued with her preplanned run, but I think she threw the real fight to keep this chain of events in play."
Even Alexandria's face just a foot away didn't phase me. "Why do you say that?"
I have the image of the rope between the two zoom out again and showed another rope coming off from leviathan going further away from Mars. "Because I can see her connection too."
The end of the rope, which turned silvery colored in my Power's view from the blue greens that dominate Leviathan, swelled into an egg shape, the colors twists and Mandelbrot feathers around a solid core of silver.
"But she was gone!"
"Portals." Ino's cold voice cut through the hubbub. "She used a portal out just as we used them to target her."
The voice dropped back into that of a confused woman instead of confident Alexandria. "They can make portals?"
Three sets of teenaged eye rolls. "You do remember they weren't on Earth and then they were. How else do you figure they arrived?"
"I … We assumed they formed on Bet."
I chuckled darkly. "You know what happens when one assumes, it makes an ass out of you and me."
***************************
Tisiphone, Megaira and Alecto were slowly walking toward Daryl. Each had an arm out and were channeling a certain original Star Trek episode with a computer projection as a woman that could kill by a single touch. As he retreated behind Nan and Larry, he tried logic. It was not super effective.
"I didn't know!" He called. "I can't see powers in action, nor did anyone think the Simurgh got out of that blast."
"You promised us our vengeance." Their voices were cold, anger washed out, refined into something clearer.
"And you got it!" Daryl tried.
Nan shook her head even as Meg got close enough to reach partway past. "The boy toy is right. But those things out there aren't the Bet Endbringers anymore. Think of them as tools that got thrown away and are being recycled."
Larry stumbled as the finger of the hand reaching past him began to glow. "Sentenced to community service! Fix a planet for millions of lives to come to pay off for those lost."
The three Furies pause. The light dims.
Alecto focuses on Larry instead of Daryl. "You … aren't as dumb as you look."
A tan hand waves between them. "None of that, he is already off the market." She growled.
Larry wisely took that moment to grab Daryl and push him in front of the three now that they weren't all homicidal.
"Besides, if you did take me out, you know that would be putting you back into Clef –err– Drum's sights, right?" Daryl tried one last time. "And you'd miss out on front row seats to a Green Mars."
Sighing. "Okay, he has a point." Tisiphone grumped half heartedly. "Besides, we did get to see Alexandria outed to a Mars wide audience."
"Point." The other two agreed.
****************************************
"Okay, so what is the plan?" Dad's voice cut across the jumble of words. "There are a lot of things in play here. We need someone to keep things under control –as much as we can."
I think I know who to call. We need a project manager for this shit.
I dial a number.
"You didn't." Kim starts.
Ino waves her off, 'She did."
"You have reached the offices of Acc…" The voice changed from a recording to a very happy man's voice. I almost didn't recognize Accord himself on the line. "Drum! Or is it Taylor? It is soo hard to tell over the phone when you know a party in both worlds. I have been following your week on the vlog that Uber and Leet have been posting…" he sounds so hopeful.
"I have a request for your expertise. Assuming you have three Endbringers who are taking suggestions, four hundred assorted Parahumans both natural and drummed, many of them scientists or Dock Workers, over one hundred ships each capable of interplanetary travel and one Hotel on Mars…"
There was a clunk on the line.
"Hello?" I asked.
Citrine's voice came over the line. "You will have to give him a moment, I think he fainted." She spent a moment whispering to someone else. "He started packing two days ago but it still hit him like a brick when you listed the basic assets. If you can provide transportation? From his office I mean."
"I can." I hesitate. Glancing at Alexandria. "Portal to Accord's office, please?"
There was a pregnant pause that made Alexandria smirk.
Then the familiar rectangle opened up, showing Accord, Citrine, Lizard Tail and Codex.
The air filled the room as they moved in a luggage cart straight out of an airport.
"Hold still a few moments" I drummed them Ayre and basic Brute packages while Alexandria's smirk turned into something else.
She gestured to the pile of NDAs being printed out that had been signed. "Five more."
Accord himself was feeling much better after the Ayre power kicked in, it helped rouse him fully and he looked at her like she'd declared she was a magical princess and everyone should listen to her. "Four more. I signed a stack while I was still a lowly cog in WEDGDOG, and even then I didn't blurt out that I knew your side gig Costa-Brown. Let alone Cauldron's hand in things."
Her furious glare threatened to set him on fire. "You called on the Doormaker but didn't tell…" He looked around. "Oh well, can't be perfect all the time." His smile made the mechanical mask whirl in ways that suggested it wasn't used to that expression. "I will need one of those wonderful interface connections, significant processing power –do we have Dragon, Pegasus or Unicorn available?"
Dragon herself winced and half hid behind Armsmaster.
"Unicorn here, I will happily work with your needs. I find that the Birdcage requires far less monitoring lately. I showed them footage of the Leviathan fight and suggested that Drum might come visit for an extended performance."
Citrine led Accord to the side where he could get settled in. Figurines appeared to take his bags to the Hotel.
"Presidential Suite, have the fabbers make up a set of controls there as well and keep the spring rolls coming." Uber noted through the interface.
Before he completely left the room, Accord made one note. "Does the Hotel include the ability to move on its own? My initial observations suggest that Leviathan is supplying enough water to flood the plains."
Uber and Leet looked at each other. They pretended to panic but I had been around them long enough to recognize an act, especially when they played for the cameras like that.
"You are no fun." Uber groused at my tapping feet. "Of course we made it possible to relocate. It is basically another ship without the bottle shell. The outdoor pool will have to follow along on its own. If need be, we can dock it with two or three of the bottle ships to make orbit and head for one of the moons."
"We can always rename it the Ark II." Larry noted.
He was booed from within and across several open channels.
"https://www.elyrics.net/read/b/brie-larson-lyrics/black-sheep-lyrics.html"
"Wait a minute. Didn't you say you took Leviathan's powers away?!" Director Piggot was flipping through pages of notes, looking for the relevant page. "Yes! Here it is. If you took his power, how is he manipulating the ice?"
I blinked. I had his power, I could feel it. I'd mic dropped as he was leaving the atmosphere. He'd gone quiescent until well past Mars's orbit… But I'd never before tried to take so much away as then.
Greg put a hand on my shoulder. "She couldn't TAKE it all because one person can't handle it all." He nodded to the screens. "Look at it, that is more than just hydrokinesis. He… it is reshaping metals and stone, warping gravity to form those mirrored surfaces and focus the light gathered on Mars. Let alone reforming its body, moving through space."
Everyone present blinked.
"Oh." I wondered. "Are the Endbringers made up of sets of powers that weren't handed out completely?" I look at it, really look at it with my power. Arrows flickering from point to point of it, too far to really latch on, but able to see a kind of repetitive connection to a set of powers over and over.
Zooming in feels like watching a Mandelbrot set going through a cycle.
And then it zoomed out on me as I tracked a link, a thick rope that the arrows slid along, going down toward the surface. His powers were connected to, interlinked to something deep below ground. The colors of the rope shifted as if it were woven into other… Behemoth. They were linked together.
I broke off my musings to look at Larry. "Have we got anything that will read what my powers show me and let me put it on a display?"
He blinked. "Well, yes and no. It doesn't show what your power shows you, but Nan and I worked out a neural interface for working on ideas in the design software for the fabbers. The stronger the details pictured, the better the imaging."
He winced. "It takes a little practice to get it working right."
"Ahem" Daryl polished his fingernails on his chest and looked at them. "Get the helmet doof, I can do the skills and she can drum them in."
A few minutes later I was beginning to regret this idea. I looked like I was wearing a mushroom cap of wires and sensors. Even using a fabber to clean up sections of the design didn't help much.
Nor did having three different action figures clipping zip ties in place to gather the myriad of cables to either side of my head help. I could see Kim visibly recording their efforts while holding back a laugh.
"I will so get even with you for posting that." Oh that was me talking.
Nan spoke up. "That's all the connections, even with the rearranging of the leads."
Ino made calming gestures. "No one is making fun of your cable management, Nan, the figurines are just being obsessive compulsive because Kim tweaked their programming to prioritize it that way."
"And it is funny as hell." Kim noted.
I looked daggers at Kim. "Legendary will be my vengeance." I mouthed at her.
"It looks like a nerd wedding dress and veil." She chuckled.
Greg turned red in the face as I glanced his way. Then he saw dad look at him with a tilt to his head.
Two fingers up to his eyes, then moving away to one finger at Greg. 'I am watching you' spelled out clearly.
Larry brought it online and I could feel a sort of static build up around me. The cleared area over the conference table in front of me coalesced into an image of me strangling Kim.
Dad cleared his throat. "I see the imaging portion works. But you said you have something to show us about Leviathan there. And Behemoth."
Okay, focus. I turned back to what my powers were showing me, visualizing the arrows going out, the way the powers appeared to me.
"This is us. And that is how we appear until I zoom in on things." I showed them the tree effects linking similar powers. "Right, so this is what Leviathan looks like."
The kaleidoscope of colors and flashing resolved into the mandelbrot of repeating color groups.
Larry's voice noted something. "We are recording, yes." He was talking to someone else in low tones. I couldn't tell who without losing focus.
"Now, see this thick rope thing. It leads down out of orbit. And it changes here and here– I added callout lines showing where the apparent 'material' of the rope was different."
The color patterns were more energetic the further down I followed the rope. And it reached the surface of Mars, diving below ground.
The rope encountered another kaleidoscope of flashing colors blots, but many of these felt 'red' for a lack of better term. "Fire, energy, bond breaking, reactions. Behemoth."
Kim's voice. "Wait, you power can see that far through the ground? Is that new?"
I couldn't see it then, either the way everyone around flinched when I opened my eyes or the red glow coming from them as I opened them fully and spoke. I wasn't fully in control when I stiffened and responded.
Numbers flashed across the displayed area, patterns and symbols too complex for the human mind.
*******************************************************
UNIT ONE AWAITING ORDERS ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSOR
QUERY, DIRECTIVE?
*******************************************************
Something was connected to me now. It felt huge, and … careful. I felt like I was a mouse cradled in the hand of a giant in a cage of fingers. And it was stroking my head to calm my fears.
It … wanted … something. Plans. Wishes. Marching orders.
It was reading my memory looking for patterns. I could feel it recoil at the memory of the Leviathan fight, of the destruction visited upon cities, of war. The aftermath of Eidolon in China.
The path of Ash Beast in Africa.
And then it snagged a line of memory about a movie. It likes movies in general. And then it follows a tiny link to a series of books that were tied to the movie by the ephemeral way that a good book can be mined out to create a meh movie, even if the movie in question was better than many of it's time. Total Recall leads to a trilogy, focusing on the third –Green Mars.
Terraforming.
Making a planetary body better able to support life.
The list of things necessary.
Heat.
Atmosphere.
Water.
Life.
The mirrored rings Leviathan was maintaining covered the first, while the water he brought would help with the third. The atmosphere would not stay long term without a magnetic field.
The thing in my head settled back on virtual haunches as it considered what I wanted.
*******************************************************
Dragon spoke up, directing Colin's attention away from the images shown. "I am reading a surge in radiowave activity on the surface, spreading outward from Mount Olympus –from Behemoth or below.
Colin pulled the image she had up and overlaid it on what Drum was showing. A spinning blob was in there. Based on the imagery and the sensors that Leet/Larry had deployed looking down on Mount Olympus, there was a whole lot of heat building up down there.
"Holy shit, he's starting a shake and bake colony." Tispohone spoke up from where she was sitting by Daryl.
Even though she was not in the room, Director Piggot's voice was firm as she piped in. "Explain." The inset image that automatically routed in showed her sitting up from the poolside chair she'd been coaxed into, Hannah and Aisha in the background playing around in the pool.
"Director." Dragon's voice cut in. "It is a term from science fiction writings, specifically from the movie 'Aliens' in reference to a gigantic machine that is part of terraforming a planet. It generates atmosphere by breaking up rock and minerals to reform into the gasses needed, while the energy is used –at least from other sources if not from that movie– to generate a planetary magnetic field to hold the atmosphere in place.
"There is more." Ino adds.
"The structure that Leviathan made, originating in orbit, coming down, made of ice and rock that he is supporting and keeping frozen. It leads from the umbrella shape holding the rings in place over Mount Olympus. It appears that Behemoth is forming material upward to link to it from the core of the planet." She turns to us. "They are creating a space elevator –no, a bridge from the surface up to the ice ring core."
"What are they going to do with that?"
I was trying to follow the rope up again, from Behemoth through. "The rope between them is changing from powers based to physical. Between them, they are changing thought into reality."
"Drum, they started this when you started focusing on the connections. How much of this is you reading them at the right time compared to them reading you and following your directions?" Director Piggot asked.
Ouch.
The room got quiet.
I traded looks with Ino and Kim. "We need to make a call."
*****************************************
Office of Director Rebecca Costa-Brown
"Why Drum, so nice of you to call. What can the PRT do for you today?" She answered her phone in a sarcastic sweet tone that totally didn't make Dad wince and shake his head. "It wouldn't relate to the week of near silence since finding out Leviathan wasn't leaving Mars orbit? Or maybe Behemoth is acting out?"
I rolled my eyes.
"I need to discuss things a little more openly about the more classified aspects of the Endbringers."
The image of the woman in front of them straightened up. "Pertaining to?" The growl in her voice rose in tone.
"Eidolon's connection."
She tilted her head and her voice changed completely. In a voice reserved for Alexandria, she fairly commanded. "YOU WILL NOT TAINT HIS MEMORY!"
I sighed. I could hear the gears grinding of the people in the control room who heard her. "Now you did it, I am calling from a conference room on Mars. Remember all the people who are here with us? A lot of them are hearing this live."
The woman's face stills as it pales.
"I for one would like to know what you mean by that… Alexandria?" Director Piggot asked, sweetness itself.
The echoes around the room meant I was not the only one who said it, but it slurred a bit in the saying and rhymes with 'duck'.
"Dragon, how much of this is getting back across unencrypted lines?"
"Not as much as you fear, but there are around four hundred individuals here on Mars or onboard ships who are able to monitor this feed."
The silence was palpable. "I want NDA's on file all around." Alexandria grinds out. "Door me… Please. "
A minute later a rectangular opening forms in the room, Alexandria comes through, still looking a little younger than normal. She isn't flying along like Glory Girl, but I think she is slightly off the floor as she walks –using flight to steady herself.
She looks around a minute then coughs a little. Then she coughs some more. She waves at me, looking a little panicked.
Oh right. Martian air.
Ra-ta-ta-tatta-tum.
Ayre and a bit of energy resistance. "Sorry, I handed it out early and we've gotten used to how the local atmosphere –or lack thereof– feels. The airlocks were getting to be a P.I.A."
Shrugging as she inhales and then exhales more easily.
Alexandria gives me a look that reminds me of the one I had given Kim not long ago. Then she breaks out in a true smile and laughs. "What are you wearing on your head? You look like some nerd's wet dream of a gynoid waifu!"
Rolling my eyes. Tattletale's power rears.
:Knows you will be offended by the statement. Intends it as a minor victory.
"That won't work on me, you know." I state. Shaking my head. "Eidolon's fourth slot was guiding the Endbringers' actions. When I drummed him and took his power away permanently, I changed those guidelines and the Endbringers stopped planning new actions. The Simurgh continued with her preplanned run, but I think she threw the real fight to keep this chain of events in play."
Even Alexandria's face just a foot away didn't phase me. "Why do you say that?"
I have the image of the rope between the two zoom out again and showed another rope coming off from leviathan going further away from Mars. "Because I can see her connection too."
The end of the rope, which turned silvery colored in my Power's view from the blue greens that dominate Leviathan, swelled into an egg shape, the colors twists and Mandelbrot feathers around a solid core of silver.
"But she was gone!"
"Portals." Ino's cold voice cut through the hubbub. "She used a portal out just as we used them to target her."
The voice dropped back into that of a confused woman instead of confident Alexandria. "They can make portals?"
Three sets of teenaged eye rolls. "You do remember they weren't on Earth and then they were. How else do you figure they arrived?"
"I … We assumed they formed on Bet."
I chuckled darkly. "You know what happens when one assumes, it makes an ass out of you and me."
***************************
Tisiphone, Megaira and Alecto were slowly walking toward Daryl. Each had an arm out and were channeling a certain original Star Trek episode with a computer projection as a woman that could kill by a single touch. As he retreated behind Nan and Larry, he tried logic. It was not super effective.
"I didn't know!" He called. "I can't see powers in action, nor did anyone think the Simurgh got out of that blast."
"You promised us our vengeance." Their voices were cold, anger washed out, refined into something clearer.
"And you got it!" Daryl tried.
Nan shook her head even as Meg got close enough to reach partway past. "The boy toy is right. But those things out there aren't the Bet Endbringers anymore. Think of them as tools that got thrown away and are being recycled."
Larry stumbled as the finger of the hand reaching past him began to glow. "Sentenced to community service! Fix a planet for millions of lives to come to pay off for those lost."
The three Furies pause. The light dims.
Alecto focuses on Larry instead of Daryl. "You … aren't as dumb as you look."
A tan hand waves between them. "None of that, he is already off the market." She growled.
Larry wisely took that moment to grab Daryl and push him in front of the three now that they weren't all homicidal.
"Besides, if you did take me out, you know that would be putting you back into Clef –err– Drum's sights, right?" Daryl tried one last time. "And you'd miss out on front row seats to a Green Mars."
Sighing. "Okay, he has a point." Tisiphone grumped half heartedly. "Besides, we did get to see Alexandria outed to a Mars wide audience."
"Point." The other two agreed.
****************************************
"Okay, so what is the plan?" Dad's voice cut across the jumble of words. "There are a lot of things in play here. We need someone to keep things under control –as much as we can."
I think I know who to call. We need a project manager for this shit.
I dial a number.
"You didn't." Kim starts.
Ino waves her off, 'She did."
"You have reached the offices of Acc…" The voice changed from a recording to a very happy man's voice. I almost didn't recognize Accord himself on the line. "Drum! Or is it Taylor? It is soo hard to tell over the phone when you know a party in both worlds. I have been following your week on the vlog that Uber and Leet have been posting…" he sounds so hopeful.
"I have a request for your expertise. Assuming you have three Endbringers who are taking suggestions, four hundred assorted Parahumans both natural and drummed, many of them scientists or Dock Workers, over one hundred ships each capable of interplanetary travel and one Hotel on Mars…"
There was a clunk on the line.
"Hello?" I asked.
Citrine's voice came over the line. "You will have to give him a moment, I think he fainted." She spent a moment whispering to someone else. "He started packing two days ago but it still hit him like a brick when you listed the basic assets. If you can provide transportation? From his office I mean."
"I can." I hesitate. Glancing at Alexandria. "Portal to Accord's office, please?"
There was a pregnant pause that made Alexandria smirk.
Then the familiar rectangle opened up, showing Accord, Citrine, Lizard Tail and Codex.
The air filled the room as they moved in a luggage cart straight out of an airport.
"Hold still a few moments" I drummed them Ayre and basic Brute packages while Alexandria's smirk turned into something else.
She gestured to the pile of NDAs being printed out that had been signed. "Five more."
Accord himself was feeling much better after the Ayre power kicked in, it helped rouse him fully and he looked at her like she'd declared she was a magical princess and everyone should listen to her. "Four more. I signed a stack while I was still a lowly cog in WEDGDOG, and even then I didn't blurt out that I knew your side gig Costa-Brown. Let alone Cauldron's hand in things."
Her furious glare threatened to set him on fire. "You called on the Doormaker but didn't tell…" He looked around. "Oh well, can't be perfect all the time." His smile made the mechanical mask whirl in ways that suggested it wasn't used to that expression. "I will need one of those wonderful interface connections, significant processing power –do we have Dragon, Pegasus or Unicorn available?"
Dragon herself winced and half hid behind Armsmaster.
"Unicorn here, I will happily work with your needs. I find that the Birdcage requires far less monitoring lately. I showed them footage of the Leviathan fight and suggested that Drum might come visit for an extended performance."
Citrine led Accord to the side where he could get settled in. Figurines appeared to take his bags to the Hotel.
"Presidential Suite, have the fabbers make up a set of controls there as well and keep the spring rolls coming." Uber noted through the interface.
Before he completely left the room, Accord made one note. "Does the Hotel include the ability to move on its own? My initial observations suggest that Leviathan is supplying enough water to flood the plains."
Uber and Leet looked at each other. They pretended to panic but I had been around them long enough to recognize an act, especially when they played for the cameras like that.
"You are no fun." Uber groused at my tapping feet. "Of course we made it possible to relocate. It is basically another ship without the bottle shell. The outdoor pool will have to follow along on its own. If need be, we can dock it with two or three of the bottle ships to make orbit and head for one of the moons."
"We can always rename it the Ark II." Larry noted.
He was booed from within and across several open channels.
The more genteel cousin of the Landmaster from Damnation Alley.
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
I was thinking more along Noah's Ark --as in a deluge is coming.
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
True, but what child of the Saturday morning cartoons era wouldn't also pop to the other reference?I was thinking more along Noah's Ark --as in a deluge is coming.
- Location
- The Midlands.
Someone who has no idea which particular cartoon you're on about because I don't think it got picked up by the BBC, maybe?
- Location
- Livin' in the Land of the LOST! *roar*
Technically speaking, it wasn't a cartoon per se - it was live action. It was, however, part of that time block more or less reserved for children's programming in the early part of Saturday mornings in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s.
Ark II was part of the eco-educational movement. Ark II - Wikipedia . The vehicle used was actually pretty iconic.
TheatrclBarristr
Not a barrister
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I somehow missed the existence of this show completely, but I would have definitely been in the prime target demographic for it when it was on. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it was on late enough that my mom would have told us to turn off the TV and go play outside or something.
6.3 Crescendo Pump up the jam, pump it up. While your feet are stompin'
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
6.3 Crescendo Pump up the jam, pump it up. While your feet are stompin'
I had only half my attention on the feed from the Endbringers and the display. But as soon as Accord started examining in detail the tablet information, manipulating the displays around, I could feel the connection change. The Simurgh was building energy, she was moving down the chain of forces between Leviathan and Behemoth.
********************
UNIT THREE REQUESTING ADDITIONAL PROCESSING RESOURCES
SUMMON UNIT SIX, GRAVITATION FOCUS?
ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT?
********************
The communication was … unexpected.
That it was clear to me what they were requesting was disturbing.
That my powers, changing what I was seeing into imagery for the display and therefore the words into being in front of me for everyone watching? That was unfortunate.
The reaction was fast.
"Unit Three? Six? The Endbringers are the Units… You are in direct contact with the Simurgh?!" Alexandria's voice dripped with disgust. "How could you?"
As the comm lines lit up with calls from sources all over Earth, including the Presidential line, I felt a hand on my shoulder in a half hug. Greg.
"The same way she does everything else. By not following the same broken recipe, by trying other things without assuming how it will come out." His voice cut through the clamor of voices trying to weigh in.
The Tinkers and Scientists were arguing on the open lines. There were multiple points of view coming through. My ghost selves spread out, creating more instances of themselves each invisible and using Shadow Stalker's phasing to pass through barriers. Listening, collating the words being exchanged.
*******************
"Mr. President?" The well dressed woman turned, phone in hand. "I can't raise a line with them."
"Have we verified that communications aren't being blocked?" He was seated at his desk, calm in a room of quiet chaos. Only his raised voice moments ago had cut through the panicky babble of the Chiefs of Staff, the various cogs in the top of government.
A very uncomfortable PRT officer, third in command until ten minutes ago and very unhappy to be on the spot, was the first to note the rectangle of air forming with a whiff of stale air. She noted it, stiffening and focused on the two oval depressions in the carpeting with the Eagle and stars in the White House offices. "Mr. President?" Her voice raised further. "I believe communication has been restored."
He turned to her, frowning slightly. "Director Lewis, the phone is sti…" And paused, taking in the figure standing there in the midst of startled staff members.
A pair of secret service agents tackled the form, passing through without so much as ruffling hair.
I spoke to them, along with several other world leaders in various locations. NATO in New York, in the offices of the New President of China, Central Park in New York, Clef Park in Beijing, DWA Park in Brockton, the main offices of WEDGDG in Atlanta, and of course each of the ships and the Pyramid on Mars. "I have sent these projections to communicate updates in the places most likely to care. They are 'me' in every sense, but will seem somewhat distracted as my attention is focused on the developing events on Mars. Speak to me and I will hear it. I will not attempt to relay what you say to each other, that is up to you. Try not to overreact, take the time to understand. This is real time, welcome to the conference."
With that, I –well each of the ghost me's– project the image of what is happening on Mars, the view of the planet with the overlay of the powers in play. The message I have received from the Endbringers is shown off to the side, along with older messages I found tucked away in the echoes of the recent past –okay, 'logs' as someone helpfully murmurs where I can hear it.
The language barrier isn't. My ghosts understand them all. And they reply in kind. This is the result of one of our guests, Babble, who joined the expedition to enable the various scientists to better exchange ideas.
"Resources, for what?" – that was a common thread.
So were catcalls and a few thrown objects, though that was New York for you. The ghost me there glanced the way of the thrower with glowing eyes. A Police line quickly formed around the grassy area it was standing in, the people tossing beers were detained although not immediately removed.
I flexed a set of thoughts to get answers.
********************
ADMINISTRATION QUERY
PURPOSE GRAVITATION FOCUS?
********************
The answer was prompt as if they had been waiting impatiently.
********************
UNIT THREE FOLLOWS DIRECTIVE TO MAKE QUATRE HOST SPECIES VIABLE
GRAVITATION, FLOW, FORETHOUGHT, KINESIS NECESSARY
UNLOCK GRAVITATION?
********************
The imagery showed the words as they formed, but also showed dozens of underlying explanations and specific pictures behind and around them. FORETHOUGHT evoked the Simurgh, Cassandra, the Oracle, an infinite –if branching– chain of events. Gravitation did not look like an Endbringer at all, it was like a very small black cat with piercing yellow eyes. Okay, four of them, but still.
"The Endbringers we know are not all of those available. By their own numbering system, there are at least six, each with a differing focus in powers. The Simurgh, Unit Three, is acting on the wishes, the orders I made when looking on Mars. The power I drummed from Eidolon, the fourth slot he wasn't consciously aware of, gives me something like authority to give them direction. My desires have been interpreted as working toward making Mars an Earthlike habitat. So far, that has been taken as heating the core to a molten state, providing an electromagnetic field that holds the atmosphere and adding water on a vast scale. Leviathan continues in his creation of orbiting ice mirrors to increase the available solar energy." My other instances, the ones spread out but not visible, not speaking, saw the reactions of crowds in Times Square.
People were not embracing the news.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dumplin Creek Campgrounds –temporary home of the McVeay and Crowley families of the Fallen. My, how they have fallen.
"Who is this girl to tell us what to believe? She has no power over us! The Angels of our Lord have abandoned this world to sin because of sinners like HER! The Angels are making our rightful place on the new holy planet. We shall gather there in due course…" The speaker was male, white on white with added gray on his head, spittle forming as he cursed my name.
The Fallen had not been doing well of late. The core families held true, but when your very visible aspects of divinity get their butts handed to them by high school band members from New Hampshire, it isn't always good for the strength of belief.
The man in question used a remote to mute the television which was showing the real time footage from the UN. Then he fumbled with it as the audio of my speech failed to stop.
My instance faded into view, dropping the invisibility. It is easy enough to find people with powers when you have Contessa's power and Clairvoyant's as well. A few hundred more of me surrounding the area saw even the elite among the powered family members pause as the one among them spoke.
"The Endbringers are not Angels or Demons. They are programs in a system designed to get useful information out of us humans." The center version of me pauses while the ones around the edge drum a low rattle. "But that isn't why I am here today. You say I have no power over you. That is correct. Now."
The drumming stops, the sticks drop and there are no more powered Fallen anymore. Those left who are armed find their weapons pinched to uselessness as the local Police begin to arrive in numbers, alerted to the gathering and the lack of real resistance the ex-Fallen would be able to put up.
My main self continued speaking, primarily focused on the leaders in the UN.
"Vote now. If you do not trust the Endbringers, veto the proposal. If you are willing to believe my powers that are directing the Endbringers to rebuild Mars for human use, then vote with confidence in Clef, in me." My voice carried across the group.
"How do we know you aren't Mastering us?" The outraged voice of the Iranian delegation shouted.
I raised an eyebrow. "Because if I was Mastering you, you wouldn't care. Or dare oppose me."
That shook their stance a bit. "It was my desire to make Mars a human habitable planet that removed them fully from the Earth. We would like the help of Earth's resources, people to colonize, plants and know-how. We… I… would like assurance that we have a home to return to. Because if you don't trust our control of the powers, you will never agree to have us come home."
*******************
In the Pyramid, now hovering above the liquifying sand of the plains, six people sat at a table with a set of cards in hand. Chips in small piles before four, one with a larger pile and the last now pushing their last few chips into the middle.
With a smile Nan set her cards face down in front of her. "All in. You may call with what you have or forfeit your investments."
"That does not seem very sporting my love", Larry noted from the other side of the table. He didn't push any chips however, tossing his hand down, the one card showing a two of hearts. "You seem invested in playing rough with your toys as ever."
Nan snarled with a wink. "I do like it rough."
Megaira leaned over to Alecto, "Are you quite sure they are not open to polygamous partnering?"
"Tsiphone has explained it quite thoroughly, yes. And they enjoy teasing you most of all." Alecto noted. She also folded without further bets.
Daryl wavered but then pushed his pile forward. "I may lose it all, but I will not let you bluff me into a loss –not again at least."
He and Nan exchanged sticking-out of tongues before he found Tsiphone squeezing his hand painfully.
"Do not air kiss another in front of me this night. It is my turn to choose…" She smiled with a little too much of her teeth showing.
"Do you not want to find out how this hand ends?" He nodded to the pile.
Releasing him with a flourish, Tsiphone, Alecto and Megaira all fold. "It is better to maintain a little pile than to grasp for all to take nothing."
Alecto added, "Besides having shit hands."
"What are the chips worth that you are playing for?" Another voice called, from a similar table just a few steps away. The person was obscured by some ferns, part of the hotel style decorations of the Pyramid. The person speaking was recognizable though, as Director Piggot.
Nan grinned as her hand was revealed to be a Flush over Daryl's three of a kind. If there had been any wildcards in play, it would likely have been his win. "The entire expedition has drawn lots against the land apportionment out there. We get picks to match our shares in Clef."
Emily kneeled her way on the bench to a higher sitting position. "And you are gambling away your lots?!"
Six heads shook with Daryl going so far as to hum the grumble.
"Of course not. We are gambling our positions in the pick. Each of these chips has one of our rankings out of the pool to choose. We still get land choices, but this way we can try to get consecutive or near pick slots that would allow us to get larger sections of choice lands. Of course, nothing is stopping us from pooling the final results anyway, but it works to pass the time." Leet noted.
"The land down there?" Emily asked. "The same ones that are shaking violently and being covered in water and dust rained down from space?"
"Verily." Uber nodded seriously. "Especially important if some twat decides to order us not to return."
"Hmm, yes." Emily tapped her phone. "Dragon, can you transfer my 401k balance and purchase Clef shares, please?"
"Of course. Do you want to liquidate your family holdings as well?" Dragon answered.
Sighing. "Yes. That would be appropriate I suppose."
Leet perked up. "Stocks?"
Director Piggot smirked slightly. "The reason I chose a posting in Brockton Bay originally was that my family had portions of stocks in Medhall. As I am the remaining surviving member, they went to me. I am not stinking rich, but in New England terms I am somewhat 'well off'."
"Better than that. Your stocks were among the groupings traded for Clef stocks before the value took off. As you hadn't been actively trading them, the value they accrued is already counted in your favor." Dragon's voice fairly purred.
"You don't say." Emily Piggot stood, coming around toward their table. "Find me a chair, boys and deal me in. It's time to see if old and sneaky can win over young and brash."
************************
I let the UN debate on things for several hours. In the meantime, I let my ghosts remove Eagleton and Ellisburg. For the first, I sent them to an uninhabited version of Earth that had a much more thorough bombardment from space. For the latter, well there was plenty of room to share with the Trolls and the little colony that Fenja and Menja had joined. Nilbog would fit right in there.
The general public had made their wishes known hours ago.
Most didn't approve of trusting the Endbringers at all.
But a large majority tended to fall on the side of letting the high schoolers with the really good batting average continue on –but on Mars.
NIMBY writ large.
Not in my back yard.
********************
UNIT THREE QUERY
AGREEMENT GRAVITATION ALLOCATION?
********************
********************
ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
CONTINUE WITH PROJECT QUATRE GOLDILOCKS.
********************
On the summit of Mount Olympus and presence stepped into existence. For a brief moment, the landscape rippled as the gravity around the tiny furred form exerted pressures closer to those felt on the theorized surface of Jupiter. And then it flexed.
The gravity focus shifted downward toward the core, following the link to Behemoth. There, portals to places of immense gravitational forces spewed forth molten iron already in a form closer to diamond in strength, a theoretical thing in many circles but reality here.
As I watched the four eyed kitten yawn and snuggle in for a nap, I cooed lightly –while on national TV no less– and thought of the original Grinch animated movie.
No, my heart didn't grow three sizes that night.
But the planet Mars did.
With Behemoth keeping the forces spreading evenly, the quaking we had seen so far resolved into liquefaction as the surface area grew. Mount Olympus stayed the same in relation, but the rest of the landscape flowed upward along the cone until it was less than a mile in height. The planetary volume had not grown so much that it was completely unrecognizable, but those areas where the continental cracks had shown were spread wide, filling with the water flowing down from the ice mirrors as they halved in size.
These became mainly salty seas from the minerals absorbed.
My Carnival robot teleported clear of the morass it had been caught in and settled on newly stable land. Not missing a beat, it spun off into another line, recreating the CLEF it started with by filling in the segments broken by planetary expansion.
With a flick of his attention, Phobos and Deimos were given a coating of icy rock that smoothed their shapes to be more round, but mostly ice covered.
Greg simply dubbed the cat Endbringer as Astralos, for the starry look he had when zoomed in. The inky blackness had tiny white bits of fur. That he was aware of the attention was clear as he stretched a six digit claw out while yawning.
No one was going to mess with those beans.
*********************
Alexandria found me and Greg on the balcony of the Pyramid. One of me anyway. The original me. I think.
"It is a nice night out." She spoke. She hadn't really tried hard after the UN had voted to allow the plan to continue for six months before reviewing the results for a final vote. They didn't care that we would graduate by then and be due for our senior year. Well, those of us in CLEF from Winslow. The rest were just up in the air –haha, I joke.
"Clear and crisp. The oxygen content is already rising steadily." I note.
Greg glanced down at me. When had he grown an inch? Two? "It feels like France, or in the Alps."
I look at him surprised. "When were you in France?"
He smiled. "Not all Veders are cops." He let me squeeze his arm a bit.
"Has anyone told Accord that his plans are being executed in real time as he thinks of them?" Alexandria asked.
"Not it!" My voice and Greg's were fairly simultaneous.
For an older woman, she managed to rival Tattletale for smug incarnate until Dragon –or was it Unicorn, this time?-- until the AI voice spoke up.
"Accord has been apprised of conditions on the fly. He is currently working out the best ways to bring in ecosystems from Earth once basic soil structure has stabilized. He is fascinated by your Tinker tech terraformer. I think he is already considering how to make a new environment from scratch." It was Unicorn speaking. Dragon only used those tones on Armsmaster.
"Someone has a new admirer." Nearly the same voice.
It is truly weird to hear Dragon kidding another AI with the same voice.
The pyramid hung in the air, supported the same way the ships were. The field projected above it kept the rains from spoiling the night, Phobos and Deimos sparkled with their new coating. The land had settled but Uber and Leet were leery of grounding it again until after the new lots had been pulled and ownership settled. The idea of leasing long term would be annoying, as would lifting the pyramid again for yet another move.
"How long are you planning to keep projecting the live stream to Earth?" Kim's voice sounded tired.
Ino was standing next to her, also tired looking and both had suitcases next to them.
"You didn't remember, did you?" Ino grumbled.
"What?" I asked.
Ino shook her head. "We were taking the day off in New York with our mothers. I had to listen to them psychoanalyze everything you did for hours."
Kim took over. "And my mom almost decided not to let me come back over if there was any real chance the UN wouldn't vote in favor of the project continuing."
Ino smiled then. "And we brought along an old friend and… teacher."
Mr. Grummond came out from around the corner himself. "Hello. I decided to come and see what you were up to, and make sure you finish your year in the band. After all, most of the band members are here already." He chuckled. "But I don't want to hear any grumbles while I am teaching."
I had only half my attention on the feed from the Endbringers and the display. But as soon as Accord started examining in detail the tablet information, manipulating the displays around, I could feel the connection change. The Simurgh was building energy, she was moving down the chain of forces between Leviathan and Behemoth.
********************
UNIT THREE REQUESTING ADDITIONAL PROCESSING RESOURCES
SUMMON UNIT SIX, GRAVITATION FOCUS?
ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT?
********************
The communication was … unexpected.
That it was clear to me what they were requesting was disturbing.
That my powers, changing what I was seeing into imagery for the display and therefore the words into being in front of me for everyone watching? That was unfortunate.
The reaction was fast.
"Unit Three? Six? The Endbringers are the Units… You are in direct contact with the Simurgh?!" Alexandria's voice dripped with disgust. "How could you?"
As the comm lines lit up with calls from sources all over Earth, including the Presidential line, I felt a hand on my shoulder in a half hug. Greg.
"The same way she does everything else. By not following the same broken recipe, by trying other things without assuming how it will come out." His voice cut through the clamor of voices trying to weigh in.
The Tinkers and Scientists were arguing on the open lines. There were multiple points of view coming through. My ghost selves spread out, creating more instances of themselves each invisible and using Shadow Stalker's phasing to pass through barriers. Listening, collating the words being exchanged.
*******************
"Mr. President?" The well dressed woman turned, phone in hand. "I can't raise a line with them."
"Have we verified that communications aren't being blocked?" He was seated at his desk, calm in a room of quiet chaos. Only his raised voice moments ago had cut through the panicky babble of the Chiefs of Staff, the various cogs in the top of government.
A very uncomfortable PRT officer, third in command until ten minutes ago and very unhappy to be on the spot, was the first to note the rectangle of air forming with a whiff of stale air. She noted it, stiffening and focused on the two oval depressions in the carpeting with the Eagle and stars in the White House offices. "Mr. President?" Her voice raised further. "I believe communication has been restored."
He turned to her, frowning slightly. "Director Lewis, the phone is sti…" And paused, taking in the figure standing there in the midst of startled staff members.
A pair of secret service agents tackled the form, passing through without so much as ruffling hair.
I spoke to them, along with several other world leaders in various locations. NATO in New York, in the offices of the New President of China, Central Park in New York, Clef Park in Beijing, DWA Park in Brockton, the main offices of WEDGDG in Atlanta, and of course each of the ships and the Pyramid on Mars. "I have sent these projections to communicate updates in the places most likely to care. They are 'me' in every sense, but will seem somewhat distracted as my attention is focused on the developing events on Mars. Speak to me and I will hear it. I will not attempt to relay what you say to each other, that is up to you. Try not to overreact, take the time to understand. This is real time, welcome to the conference."
With that, I –well each of the ghost me's– project the image of what is happening on Mars, the view of the planet with the overlay of the powers in play. The message I have received from the Endbringers is shown off to the side, along with older messages I found tucked away in the echoes of the recent past –okay, 'logs' as someone helpfully murmurs where I can hear it.
The language barrier isn't. My ghosts understand them all. And they reply in kind. This is the result of one of our guests, Babble, who joined the expedition to enable the various scientists to better exchange ideas.
"Resources, for what?" – that was a common thread.
So were catcalls and a few thrown objects, though that was New York for you. The ghost me there glanced the way of the thrower with glowing eyes. A Police line quickly formed around the grassy area it was standing in, the people tossing beers were detained although not immediately removed.
I flexed a set of thoughts to get answers.
********************
ADMINISTRATION QUERY
PURPOSE GRAVITATION FOCUS?
********************
The answer was prompt as if they had been waiting impatiently.
********************
UNIT THREE FOLLOWS DIRECTIVE TO MAKE QUATRE HOST SPECIES VIABLE
GRAVITATION, FLOW, FORETHOUGHT, KINESIS NECESSARY
UNLOCK GRAVITATION?
********************
The imagery showed the words as they formed, but also showed dozens of underlying explanations and specific pictures behind and around them. FORETHOUGHT evoked the Simurgh, Cassandra, the Oracle, an infinite –if branching– chain of events. Gravitation did not look like an Endbringer at all, it was like a very small black cat with piercing yellow eyes. Okay, four of them, but still.
"The Endbringers we know are not all of those available. By their own numbering system, there are at least six, each with a differing focus in powers. The Simurgh, Unit Three, is acting on the wishes, the orders I made when looking on Mars. The power I drummed from Eidolon, the fourth slot he wasn't consciously aware of, gives me something like authority to give them direction. My desires have been interpreted as working toward making Mars an Earthlike habitat. So far, that has been taken as heating the core to a molten state, providing an electromagnetic field that holds the atmosphere and adding water on a vast scale. Leviathan continues in his creation of orbiting ice mirrors to increase the available solar energy." My other instances, the ones spread out but not visible, not speaking, saw the reactions of crowds in Times Square.
People were not embracing the news.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dumplin Creek Campgrounds –temporary home of the McVeay and Crowley families of the Fallen. My, how they have fallen.
"Who is this girl to tell us what to believe? She has no power over us! The Angels of our Lord have abandoned this world to sin because of sinners like HER! The Angels are making our rightful place on the new holy planet. We shall gather there in due course…" The speaker was male, white on white with added gray on his head, spittle forming as he cursed my name.
The Fallen had not been doing well of late. The core families held true, but when your very visible aspects of divinity get their butts handed to them by high school band members from New Hampshire, it isn't always good for the strength of belief.
The man in question used a remote to mute the television which was showing the real time footage from the UN. Then he fumbled with it as the audio of my speech failed to stop.
My instance faded into view, dropping the invisibility. It is easy enough to find people with powers when you have Contessa's power and Clairvoyant's as well. A few hundred more of me surrounding the area saw even the elite among the powered family members pause as the one among them spoke.
"The Endbringers are not Angels or Demons. They are programs in a system designed to get useful information out of us humans." The center version of me pauses while the ones around the edge drum a low rattle. "But that isn't why I am here today. You say I have no power over you. That is correct. Now."
The drumming stops, the sticks drop and there are no more powered Fallen anymore. Those left who are armed find their weapons pinched to uselessness as the local Police begin to arrive in numbers, alerted to the gathering and the lack of real resistance the ex-Fallen would be able to put up.
My main self continued speaking, primarily focused on the leaders in the UN.
"Vote now. If you do not trust the Endbringers, veto the proposal. If you are willing to believe my powers that are directing the Endbringers to rebuild Mars for human use, then vote with confidence in Clef, in me." My voice carried across the group.
"How do we know you aren't Mastering us?" The outraged voice of the Iranian delegation shouted.
I raised an eyebrow. "Because if I was Mastering you, you wouldn't care. Or dare oppose me."
That shook their stance a bit. "It was my desire to make Mars a human habitable planet that removed them fully from the Earth. We would like the help of Earth's resources, people to colonize, plants and know-how. We… I… would like assurance that we have a home to return to. Because if you don't trust our control of the powers, you will never agree to have us come home."
*******************
In the Pyramid, now hovering above the liquifying sand of the plains, six people sat at a table with a set of cards in hand. Chips in small piles before four, one with a larger pile and the last now pushing their last few chips into the middle.
With a smile Nan set her cards face down in front of her. "All in. You may call with what you have or forfeit your investments."
"That does not seem very sporting my love", Larry noted from the other side of the table. He didn't push any chips however, tossing his hand down, the one card showing a two of hearts. "You seem invested in playing rough with your toys as ever."
Nan snarled with a wink. "I do like it rough."
Megaira leaned over to Alecto, "Are you quite sure they are not open to polygamous partnering?"
"Tsiphone has explained it quite thoroughly, yes. And they enjoy teasing you most of all." Alecto noted. She also folded without further bets.
Daryl wavered but then pushed his pile forward. "I may lose it all, but I will not let you bluff me into a loss –not again at least."
He and Nan exchanged sticking-out of tongues before he found Tsiphone squeezing his hand painfully.
"Do not air kiss another in front of me this night. It is my turn to choose…" She smiled with a little too much of her teeth showing.
"Do you not want to find out how this hand ends?" He nodded to the pile.
Releasing him with a flourish, Tsiphone, Alecto and Megaira all fold. "It is better to maintain a little pile than to grasp for all to take nothing."
Alecto added, "Besides having shit hands."
"What are the chips worth that you are playing for?" Another voice called, from a similar table just a few steps away. The person was obscured by some ferns, part of the hotel style decorations of the Pyramid. The person speaking was recognizable though, as Director Piggot.
Nan grinned as her hand was revealed to be a Flush over Daryl's three of a kind. If there had been any wildcards in play, it would likely have been his win. "The entire expedition has drawn lots against the land apportionment out there. We get picks to match our shares in Clef."
Emily kneeled her way on the bench to a higher sitting position. "And you are gambling away your lots?!"
Six heads shook with Daryl going so far as to hum the grumble.
"Of course not. We are gambling our positions in the pick. Each of these chips has one of our rankings out of the pool to choose. We still get land choices, but this way we can try to get consecutive or near pick slots that would allow us to get larger sections of choice lands. Of course, nothing is stopping us from pooling the final results anyway, but it works to pass the time." Leet noted.
"The land down there?" Emily asked. "The same ones that are shaking violently and being covered in water and dust rained down from space?"
"Verily." Uber nodded seriously. "Especially important if some twat decides to order us not to return."
"Hmm, yes." Emily tapped her phone. "Dragon, can you transfer my 401k balance and purchase Clef shares, please?"
"Of course. Do you want to liquidate your family holdings as well?" Dragon answered.
Sighing. "Yes. That would be appropriate I suppose."
Leet perked up. "Stocks?"
Director Piggot smirked slightly. "The reason I chose a posting in Brockton Bay originally was that my family had portions of stocks in Medhall. As I am the remaining surviving member, they went to me. I am not stinking rich, but in New England terms I am somewhat 'well off'."
"Better than that. Your stocks were among the groupings traded for Clef stocks before the value took off. As you hadn't been actively trading them, the value they accrued is already counted in your favor." Dragon's voice fairly purred.
"You don't say." Emily Piggot stood, coming around toward their table. "Find me a chair, boys and deal me in. It's time to see if old and sneaky can win over young and brash."
************************
I let the UN debate on things for several hours. In the meantime, I let my ghosts remove Eagleton and Ellisburg. For the first, I sent them to an uninhabited version of Earth that had a much more thorough bombardment from space. For the latter, well there was plenty of room to share with the Trolls and the little colony that Fenja and Menja had joined. Nilbog would fit right in there.
The general public had made their wishes known hours ago.
Most didn't approve of trusting the Endbringers at all.
But a large majority tended to fall on the side of letting the high schoolers with the really good batting average continue on –but on Mars.
NIMBY writ large.
Not in my back yard.
********************
UNIT THREE QUERY
AGREEMENT GRAVITATION ALLOCATION?
********************
********************
ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
CONTINUE WITH PROJECT QUATRE GOLDILOCKS.
********************
On the summit of Mount Olympus and presence stepped into existence. For a brief moment, the landscape rippled as the gravity around the tiny furred form exerted pressures closer to those felt on the theorized surface of Jupiter. And then it flexed.
The gravity focus shifted downward toward the core, following the link to Behemoth. There, portals to places of immense gravitational forces spewed forth molten iron already in a form closer to diamond in strength, a theoretical thing in many circles but reality here.
As I watched the four eyed kitten yawn and snuggle in for a nap, I cooed lightly –while on national TV no less– and thought of the original Grinch animated movie.
No, my heart didn't grow three sizes that night.
But the planet Mars did.
With Behemoth keeping the forces spreading evenly, the quaking we had seen so far resolved into liquefaction as the surface area grew. Mount Olympus stayed the same in relation, but the rest of the landscape flowed upward along the cone until it was less than a mile in height. The planetary volume had not grown so much that it was completely unrecognizable, but those areas where the continental cracks had shown were spread wide, filling with the water flowing down from the ice mirrors as they halved in size.
These became mainly salty seas from the minerals absorbed.
My Carnival robot teleported clear of the morass it had been caught in and settled on newly stable land. Not missing a beat, it spun off into another line, recreating the CLEF it started with by filling in the segments broken by planetary expansion.
With a flick of his attention, Phobos and Deimos were given a coating of icy rock that smoothed their shapes to be more round, but mostly ice covered.
Greg simply dubbed the cat Endbringer as Astralos, for the starry look he had when zoomed in. The inky blackness had tiny white bits of fur. That he was aware of the attention was clear as he stretched a six digit claw out while yawning.
No one was going to mess with those beans.
*********************
Alexandria found me and Greg on the balcony of the Pyramid. One of me anyway. The original me. I think.
"It is a nice night out." She spoke. She hadn't really tried hard after the UN had voted to allow the plan to continue for six months before reviewing the results for a final vote. They didn't care that we would graduate by then and be due for our senior year. Well, those of us in CLEF from Winslow. The rest were just up in the air –haha, I joke.
"Clear and crisp. The oxygen content is already rising steadily." I note.
Greg glanced down at me. When had he grown an inch? Two? "It feels like France, or in the Alps."
I look at him surprised. "When were you in France?"
He smiled. "Not all Veders are cops." He let me squeeze his arm a bit.
"Has anyone told Accord that his plans are being executed in real time as he thinks of them?" Alexandria asked.
"Not it!" My voice and Greg's were fairly simultaneous.
For an older woman, she managed to rival Tattletale for smug incarnate until Dragon –or was it Unicorn, this time?-- until the AI voice spoke up.
"Accord has been apprised of conditions on the fly. He is currently working out the best ways to bring in ecosystems from Earth once basic soil structure has stabilized. He is fascinated by your Tinker tech terraformer. I think he is already considering how to make a new environment from scratch." It was Unicorn speaking. Dragon only used those tones on Armsmaster.
"Someone has a new admirer." Nearly the same voice.
It is truly weird to hear Dragon kidding another AI with the same voice.
The pyramid hung in the air, supported the same way the ships were. The field projected above it kept the rains from spoiling the night, Phobos and Deimos sparkled with their new coating. The land had settled but Uber and Leet were leery of grounding it again until after the new lots had been pulled and ownership settled. The idea of leasing long term would be annoying, as would lifting the pyramid again for yet another move.
"How long are you planning to keep projecting the live stream to Earth?" Kim's voice sounded tired.
Ino was standing next to her, also tired looking and both had suitcases next to them.
"You didn't remember, did you?" Ino grumbled.
"What?" I asked.
Ino shook her head. "We were taking the day off in New York with our mothers. I had to listen to them psychoanalyze everything you did for hours."
Kim took over. "And my mom almost decided not to let me come back over if there was any real chance the UN wouldn't vote in favor of the project continuing."
Ino smiled then. "And we brought along an old friend and… teacher."
Mr. Grummond came out from around the corner himself. "Hello. I decided to come and see what you were up to, and make sure you finish your year in the band. After all, most of the band members are here already." He chuckled. "But I don't want to hear any grumbles while I am teaching."
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Hexcalibur
Not So Ordinary Sword
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- It
Won't making Mars larger and it's gravity higher interfere with the orbits of the other planets? Will the new Endbringer be used to stabilize the various orbits?
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
Mucking with the planetary mass would certainly require rebalancing things to an extent, but on the scale of the entire solar system having Mars gain roughly 30% more mass doesn't really do that much to the system's orbital mechanics unless you go very long term. But when you have a gravity controlling Engine already at your disposal, there's no reason not to make all the orbital tweaks to prevent future issues at the same time.
- Location
- On the sofa. (Probably)
Mars has only about 11% the mass of Earth. The only reason the gravity is as high as it is is because the planet is also smaller so the gravity is 38% that of Earth's.
Adding another 9 Mars masses into that orbit wouldn't actually disturb the orbits of the other planets noticeably. According to universe sandbox it would take millions of years to notice anything and in that case it wasn't a major planet that moved it was some of the major asteroids in the belt that moved out of the belt.
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
The extra mass is being siphoned off the asteroid belt, roughly half in water/ice and the rest in rocky materials. Mars is being made into something more Earthlike in size by sweeping its path while widening said path to include some of the inner rings. Conservation of mass solar wise.
The Endbringers might be cheating just a bit by gathering material from a certain neighboring supergiant at the core of Mars, stoking the furnace while artificially raising the gravity beyond expectations.
Drum isn't done, there is just a bit of a pause. Life is ah complex at the moment. Can't point at one specific issue, just a lot of little things piled up (okay dogpiled) that are keeping the muse tied up in the closet. I do my best writing when there isn't a lot out there to read so blame all those other writers. In theory more songs inbound.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
The total mass of the asteroid belt is, per Wikipedia, about 3% of the mass of the Earth's moon, so I'm guessing most of the extra mass is coming from Endbringer cheating.
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Ceres has enough water ice for Martian oceans and Jupiter has plenty of heat and mass to get the surface gravity to something more Earthlike and jumpstart Mars' core for a magnetic field.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
To be clear, I was saying that specifically the mass to increase Mars' mass by a significant amount would have to come from somewhere other than the asteroid belt.
I was making no other statements.
I was making no other statements.
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
I did some napkin math and if you could replace the core and most of the mantle (about 60% of Mars' total volume) with a mix of gold, tungsten and a smattering of uranium to keep it hot over astronomical timeframes, you'll get a surface gravity about 70% of Earth and a rather robust magnetic field.
Bear in mind that is about 5 Martian masses worth of gold...
Bear in mind that is about 5 Martian masses worth of gold...
Last edited:
Balrog
not Durin's Bane
- Location
- The Mines of Moria
*knock, knock* "One moment" *pauses episode one of Willow*
*Boom, Crash* "Dammit, you owe me a new door!"
*SMACK* "Owww, Why did you hi..."
*SMACK* "Owww, Sto..."
*SMACK* "Owww, Fine I'll do it just sto..."
*SMACK* "Owww..."
*cough* "I am proud to present a new song from that mean old witch with a two by four *SMACK* my muse."
@ScottotheUnwise could you please not give my muse any ideas? She gets a little violent some times. Just kidding thank you for all the lovely words.
Taylor's got a drum
Dum, dum, dum, Taylor, what have you done?
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound of my drum
Dum, dum, dum, Taylor, what have you done?
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her whole world's come undone
From lookin' straight at the sun
What did Oni do?
What did he put you through?
They said when Taylor was arrested
They found him underneath a train
But man, he had it comin', now that Taylor's got a drum
She ain't never gonna be the same
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Tell me now it's untrue, what did Oni do?
He knifed a young girl, the man has got to be insane
They say the spell that he was under the lightning and
The thunder knew that someone had to stop the rain
Run away, run away from the rumble, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the grumble, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
What did Oni do?
It's Taylor's last I.O.U
She had to take him down easy and put a mallet to his power
He ain't never gonna be the same
Run away, run away from the rumble yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the grumble, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Everybody is on the run
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Because Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
*Boom, Crash* "Dammit, you owe me a new door!"
*SMACK* "Owww, Why did you hi..."
*SMACK* "Owww, Sto..."
*SMACK* "Owww, Fine I'll do it just sto..."
*SMACK* "Owww..."
*cough* "I am proud to present a new song from that mean old witch with a two by four *SMACK* my muse."
@ScottotheUnwise could you please not give my muse any ideas? She gets a little violent some times. Just kidding thank you for all the lovely words.
Taylor's got a drum
Dum, dum, dum, Taylor, what have you done?
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound of my drum
Dum, dum, dum, Taylor, what have you done?
Dum, dum, dum, it's the sound
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her whole world's come undone
From lookin' straight at the sun
What did Oni do?
What did he put you through?
They said when Taylor was arrested
They found him underneath a train
But man, he had it comin', now that Taylor's got a drum
She ain't never gonna be the same
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Tell me now it's untrue, what did Oni do?
He knifed a young girl, the man has got to be insane
They say the spell that he was under the lightning and
The thunder knew that someone had to stop the rain
Run away, run away from the rumble, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the grumble, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
What did Oni do?
It's Taylor's last I.O.U
She had to take him down easy and put a mallet to his power
He ain't never gonna be the same
Run away, run away from the rumble yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away from the grumble, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Everybody is on the run
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Because Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
Her hero day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Taylor's got a drum
Taylor's got a drum
6.4 Crescendo I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on these drums all day.
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
6.4 Crescendo I don't want to work, I just want to bang on these drums all day.
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay. Wow, 47 days. That's a long dry spell for me. So here is some Drum goodness. Not dead yet, story or me. Enjoy.
More discussions with world leaders, specifically the US President.
"Can you explain why the Yangban controlled government of China went silent?" The committee member was working down a list of questions, clearly not expecting this to be one of the things I could answer.
"After Eidolon was infected with a form of power vampirism, he killed and drained nearly all of the Yangban power houses. I was forced to remove his powers to cure him, though I did give him a drummed set of powers later. The government of China collapsed without parahumans to instill fear of speaking out. I found a group of them trying to maintain order locally and gave them powers to protect and feed their people. They agreed to keep things on the down low so as not to cause a panic." I pause. "This was before the expedition to Mars got fully underway. If you contact them now, they should answer quickly enough."
The president himself looked up from the notes he was taking. "And why is that true now?"
I shrug, "Because the version of me addressing them told them it was okay to open communications again. They have been asking politely as they are worried that one of the bordering countries may try to bring in a colonial force. North Korea still has its royal family of capes, and then there is Africa."
"What do you plan to do with Africa?"
"Nothing." I tilt my head at the question. "Do you really think I should be poking my nose into every problem on either of the two human controlled planets?" I smile slightly. "While eight hundred pound gorilla rules cover a lot of ground, someone would start a war fearing they were next on my agenda."
"I see, you are like Scion. You don't focus on any one place or else the public will make you into some kind of existential threat."
My face freezes a little and I turn to look at the woman at the table. She is dressed in a business suit and not a thing makes her any different from anyone else at the table, but I recognize the voice and the tone both. Contessa. That she was alive and here on Earth said a lot of things, but that she was not registering… ah. She had so many powers drummed into her during our face off in the Cauldron base, she looked like just another one of my projected selves. It was like ignoring your own reflection until you catch it turning to look at you.
"I would not say that actually. Scion is less actively trying to keep the peace, while at the same time his motives for stopping forces fighting are not well documented." I note, trying to ignore Contessa's smirk.
Representative Hill looked irritated at the divergence from the planned agenda, but he gamely tried to reinsert his voice in the proceedings. "Not well documented… He's been stopping wars since the late eighties!" His chuckle caught in his throat at the Presidential glare.
I turned back his way. "Has he spoken to anyone about why? Ever?" I turned to face the President. "There are a lot of well documented assumptions, but very few facts. Scion will not tolerate a nuclear missile emplacement, but does not react to a nuclear bomb until it is placed in a delivery vehicle. He will ignore a truck unless a plan is made to use a truck to deliver a dirty bomb. And then he removes the fissionable material and any organic matter within two miles, vigorously."
"Protecting us." Hill added.
"Protecting the status quo, you mean."
"He didn't stop the attempted use of nuclear warheads against the Endbringers."
My turn to smirk. "Because he knew ahead of time that there would be no appreciable effect."
***************
Wen Shui, not his original name but the one created after his rehabilitation from the controls of the Yangban as one of the few surviving natural parahumans, stood at attention in front of the group of gatherers.
"You have all heard the drum of the lady." He was eloquent, like many who have been freed of the yoke of a slave to embrace the fervent belief in the ones who set him free. Despite her wishes. "She has spread the powers to one and all who passed her tests. We can spread this strength to make a difference far and wide! In her name!"
His expression fell a moment when the collective sigh and gaze of those in the courtyard in front of him made him look over his shoulder. In perfect Cantonese the ghost projection of myself answered his words with my own. Other images of me spoke in dialects more appropriate to other groups, though they all listened in every language they knew.
"Not in my name. But for the good of all people. I do not seek power, or worship through the gifts I have passed among you." My eyebrow made him blush and bow his head in shame. "As for tests, you are men and women who were oppressed and know best how to share without oppressing others. Continue to wield the powers correctly and you will be granted more responsibility. Fail to wield them with care and you will find I can take as well as give."
"All praise to the lady." The susurration of the crowd answering my words said there was a whole lot of religious backsliding going on here.
I let a small sigh slip free.
"Fine. I would like to ask for volunteers to go among the places where there are impoverished people. You will use these powers to clean their water sources. Consolidate the plastics pulled from the waterways into housing for the poorest of them. Clear land, make troughs that will retain water. Teach them to grow rice and grains. If you need to, build walls for security against animals. If anyone asks, you are donating time for no gain. Do not interfere with the local government unless they attack you. If capes try to coerce you to work with them you may defend yourselves. Try not to kill. If the cape that attacks is a local criminal you can turn them over to the local government or PRT equivalent."
The ones closest are slapping each other on the backs. The sign they are wearing, a pair of symbols that look nothing like the company symbol at all.
It is simplified Chinese for clef: 谱号.
Well, so much for them operating outside the umbrella. I lift my hand, drawing a plinth of concrete into being from the ground. Reaching out with the forcefield form of Glory Girl mixed with the energy weapons of Brandish, I carve out the Clef symbol on the plinth.
"If you are operating in my name, then you should use my … ah my team symbol. Clef is an affiliate of the Parahuman Response Team. You will operate under their guidelines as well as my own in any of the treaty member countries. I expect you to start closer to home."
A young woman in the group raises a timid hand.
"Honored Drum, will there be places for those wishing to travel to Mars?"
Multiple instances of me raise eyebrows as the question ripples across the plaza. I nod. "There will be places for those who earn goodwill by helping. The newly formed outer crust being pushed out is still not very stable. The waters being rained down to form lakes and seas are changing the face of things. And my terraformer robot continues to plant." I smile as her face brightens. "If you find plants and small animals to seed on Mars, you will have the opportunity to bring them. Your work feeding the people and helping is being paid in shares, which you may trade toward the lottery on land." Oh, now I really had their attention.
**************
Kim was tapping her foot angrily.
Ino was giving me the eye as well, okay most of the inner circle was miffed at the idea. "I did not cut into your shares, the profit or otherwise."
"Explain." Kim grumbled.
I gesture at the tallies. "We three, Uber and Leet were dealt in as starting shares. Bakuda, my father, through the DWA retirement fund, Quinne Calle, the Medhall stock exchange. All of these have gotten shares as the value of the company soared. Our actual shares count have stayed high compared to those who have bought in, especially where our patents and contributions were awarded extra shares as the company portfolio grew."
Greg got it first. "You gave them shares out of your own pocket!"
I nod, that was it in a nutshell.
Ino tapped the interface. "I see you have two thousand new 'employees' of Clef listed officially in China. Are each of them expected to qualify for a single share for their efforts?"
I smile. "They will have earned that share within a few months." I hold up a hand. "And the equivalent value of the powers used will be written off as charitable donation of a parahuman power use, which our very own Quinn Calle suggested as a way to make a difference. He has offered to add twenty shares of his own to the mix. You –ah– might want to consider making some donations of your own, he seems to think the IRS is going to come down on us as a group in force."
"Consider though, each of those wanting to emigrate will bring cuttings and seeds. They will need to work hard to make a life for themselves. The boys need workers for their Hotel. Not everything can be handled by figurines."
"Are we limited to donating this way in China?"
Heads shake before I locate the speaker. Ah, in the back behind Dad. Angie Moss, the woman who used to be known as Butcher XIV, before that as Quarrel. Latina in looks when not wearing bone-themed armor.
"South America, hell even the South West of the US has a lot of people needing help. Georgia supports most of the freshwater in the South East. Texas groundwater is screwed by fracking attempts." She sees the looks and shrugs. "What? I have people that live down that way. They haven't been directly on my mind for a couple years, yeah, but that doesn't mean I should ignore them for folks half a world away."
I grin at Kim. "I gave at the office."
She sighs. "I can find a thousand shares, but they have to be willing to move to Mars permanently, not just hold onto shares for profit. Otherwise they get paid like normal people."
Ino nodded. "I will do the same in Africa. The misery promoted there will make it easy to make a difference."
The other kids from Winslow considered. "Yeah, we can find chunks of shares, though not as big as you, moneybags." Madison piped in, holding hands with Sparky.
"What she said, though I think ours will be used in Samoa." Sparky noted.
Nan held up a hand. "I have family in Cambodia and Thailand so I can focus that way. Anyone else want to go in on Asia?"
I see others trying to get our attention. "We will add people from all over, no worries. India as well, don't worry about it Nakar." I spoke to forestall one of Dad's foreman. "And each person granted powers can help out to earn their way to Mars."
Emily Piggot piped in from the penny stocks section. "There are quite a few Brocktonians who have earned that right as well if you remember."
Everyone nods at that.
Dad summed up the thought. "It's like Fred Rogers said. 'Look for the helpers.'"
**********************
Brian Laborn was going over his budget. There was still something odd going on. He'd bought the same groceries as last month again and there was a lot left over. He wasn't starving himself. There was a lot of junk food going uneaten…
He pulled his phone out. "Lisa, I need your help."
"Well, this is different. A total change from the work chaos of WEDGDG trying to figure out what Drum is going to do, what she is already doing and how to prevent what they don't want her doing." Lisa paused and he heard her sip from something. "Okay, fresh coffee imbibed. Shoot."
"I just bought groceries. Same order as last month. But the cupboards are full already. I don't understand why I have so much cereal!" Brian found himself pushing past bags of Lucky Charms.
Lisa snorted. "What's the matter, did Aisha go on a diet?"
The silence was palpable.
"Uh, who is Aisha?" Brian asked.
"Aisha Laborn. Your little sister, A.K.A. Imp, our Stranger?" Lisa pouted in a uniquely audible way. "Check the drawer on the left of your desk. I'll wait."
Brian held the phone between his shoulder and chin while he fished out a thick manilla envelope. Pulling out a stack of pictures and documents he felt something click in his mind. A cute little black girl in pigtails, in dreads and an aborted afro attempt. Young adult. Biker leathers. A horned mask. "FUCK!"
"Yep. That usually does the trick. So Aisha has been out. She's somewhere else eating them out of house and home." Lisa groused.
–-Aisha Laborn was last seen on broadcast four from Mars. Stowaway.
"Hooboy.", Lisa noted. "She goes to Winslow, right?"
"Yeah, according to the report cards here." He groused, still flipping over pages.
"Brian focus." Lisa got his attention again. "Where are the kids of Winslow hanging out now?"
"Well, most of them ended up on Mars with Dru—" Clunk.
"Brian! Pick up the phone you big dork!" Lisa looked up to see one of her coworkers peeking over the cubicle wall.
"Everything all right here?" The woman wore the mask that everyone working out of this office knew did zero to protect secrets.
"Peachy." Lisa grumbled. "By the way, we can add one more teenager from Winslow to the list of those visiting Mars."
"Really?" The woman blinked. "I thought that list was finalized a week ago."
"The kid is a Stranger, memory adjuster. Edits herself out of herstory."
"You mean history, right?" The older woman tutted.
"No, I mean HER story. As in, her brother didn't remember she existed and was missing until the grocery bill didn't jibe." Lisa made an 'L' shape on her forehead, which her cubemate thought was meant for the brother involved.
–Agent M has eaten your chocolate pudding.
Lisa covered the phone for a second. "Again!" She kicked the wall between them. "Can't you read, you cow!"
"I didn't take your pudding!" The guilty voice spoke up.
"Hah! I didn't say it was my pudding you took." Lisa opened her drawer and removed two chocolate puddings. "Now put both of these in the fridge to chill and you can have one later. I swear that I only poisoned one of them."
The hand accepted the puddings. "Uh, which one?"
"The one you ate." Lisa quipped, returning to the phone as she heard Brian groaning. "Hey there champ. Sister. Mars. You need to call Clef."
"Right. I, uh, have to make a call now."
"Go get em tiger."
Lisa hung up and turned to the HR representative –WEDGDG style in her flamingo mask– standing there. "Agent M reported that you are being October purple gray to her."
"To be clear, I said that I poisoned my own pudding. Chocolate is a poison." Lisa smiled tersely. "And she is eating my puddings instead of the ones she brings."
"You put them in the place where she puts her puddings."
"In the fridge." Lisa noted. "Next to all the other food items. Labeled."
The HR rep pursed her lips. "There is no need to bring in bad vibrations into this place."
–Agent Denvers has no such power. She was raised in a commune by Hippies. She is preparing to transfer us to a detention center in Langley.
Us.
Hurray for us.
"Wow. My power basically just called you out as a Flower child." Lisa spoke out of habit, distracted.
The woman in front of her went red with embarrassment. She drew herself up to say something, but Lisa just reached into her still open drawer and took out another pudding, her last.
–Drum is watching for you. All you need to do is ask. Doors will open.
"Here. I'm going to go out for lunch anyway." Lisa noted as she disconnected the headset for the phone.
"Ah, your ah probation deal does not cover leaving during work hours." The woman accepted the pudding but still seemed to shrink back as Lisa, no Tattletale, rose.
Stretching a little, Lisa smiled at the woman. "The cafeteria on three is still serving." She walked over to the elevator and got in.
She pressed three. And one.
After the doors closed at three, she got off on one and walked down the hall to a large conference room where a group of WEDGDG movers and shakers –business world, not parahumans– were monitoring a projected image of Drum answering questions almost nonstop.
As she entered, the image's eyes turned to track her without missing a beat.
–All bound for Mu Mu Land. Hey, Hey!
Lisa winced as her power flaked out like it did when observing Drum in general.
"What does she think she is doing here?" A nameless power wank in a twenty thousand dollar pantsuit with a bracelet to match lifted an elegant hand to point.
Lisa smiled without showing her teeth. She lifted her id badge lanyard over her head. "Door to Mu Mu Land."
The rectangle opened behind her, blocking the doorway she'd come through to enter the room. The outside guards had not caught her dodging in behind some intern carrying a tray of coffees. They were out of the loop for this. The interior guards moved to interpose between their VIPs rather than tackle her.
She didn't need her power to know that there were two red-robed figures behind her, each with a single golden horn. They waved her in to be welcomed with a flower lei put over her head by a young woman dressed as a blonde angel –with elven ears?"
"All bound for Mu Mu Land. Mu Mu Land." The chorus sang behind them.
*********************
"You aren't winning over any friends by tweaking the noses of those controlling WEDGDG." Costa-Brown commented.
Lisa perked up from where she was sitting, enjoying the standard office chair of a CLEF member, the plush foam with built in temperature controls and massage options. "She won over one friend here, thank you very much."
Scornfully, "One mid level Thinker…"
Snorting. "Better than you, Alex."
The smug was real.
Glaring all around but not seeing anyone surprised. "Another NDA, please." Costa-Brown sighed. "At this rate I might as well be fully in costume."
Lisa, waving it aside. "Already signed one. It only covers the US and United Nations. Mars does not have those rules."
There were confused looks all around.
"You are creating a brand new governing body here. And voting in laws?" Lisa side-eyed us, hopefully.
Dad groaned. "We have just been following established patterns and using the laws we know."
Lisa smiled. "'Familiar' is good. But don't expect those on Earth to hold true to them without a treaty in effect. Right now, this here is just another piece of disputed colonial land. A big plot, but there hasn't been this much free land to grab in, well, centuries. You have old money sweating bullets and young turks looking to make it rich. Everyone is angling for a piece of the pie." She glanced at me. "Speaking of which, can I buy stock in trade at the employee rate now?"
I nodded and she gleefully used her new phone connection to make a series of preprogrammed trades and transfers.
"There." She smiled widely. "There are goods in the programmed coordinates that will be as useful as anything else you might get. Untraceable. Legal. All for stock value of course."
She flicked her phone to pass over a document retrieved from a private email. Dragon enfolded it and started putting coordinates in. My Crusader ghosts opened portals to the locations. A warehouse in New York, another in Atlanta. A farm in rural Kentucky. A series of box trailers full of toiletries.
Lisa smirked. "Makeup. Toilet paper. Perfumes. Feminine products. All the stuff a colony will miss in the first few years while replacements are scarce. Your fabbers can only run up things it has good examples for, and raw materials to make. Wood will be a luxury item for some time."
–Wood will not qualify within one hundred days.
Jerking upright. "I would like to get a set price on the conversion ASAP, if you don't mind. Supply and demand, all that good stuff."
Kim rolled her eyes. "You know we all have copies of your power too and we saw you get the alert we will have wood supplies soon enough. Relax though. Uber and Leet only had the roughed-in amenities they could get fabbed for the hotel. They will love using all that nice cherry wood and teak you have to make it true high class."
Lisa relaxed a bit. Then something occurred to her. "Are ah, you going to pick up Brian, Alec and Rachel?"
"Why? Are they in trouble?" Ino asked, slightly puzzled.
Lisa thought about that. "Brian is still kind of freaked about Aisha being here over a week now?"
Intake of breath. "Something you should know is that she is now capable of turning invisible without her other power kicking in. She can use either independently. Besides the Ayre and Brute thing we put on anybody visiting she ah…"
A dark figure popped into being in front of Lisa, making her jump.
"I can freaking make ALL THE GUNS!" Imp in her full horned mask, hefting up a Barret sniper rifle so dark it looked to be cut from night itself. It flickered to a standard M1 that she twirled like a drill team member until she flipped it up –changing into a pistol– spinning in the air to land in a holster on her hip. "Ta da."
A flicker and Miss Militia –now visible– was next to Imp, grabbing an ear. "What did I say about demonstrations with live ammunition?"
"But I summoned them with empty clips!" Protesteth the teen.
"She got a dose of Miss Militia…" Lisa drawled. "And Miss Militia got invisibility."
–As well as Strider teleport.
"And world-wide teleport." She grunted. "You know, the various alphabet agencies are going to be shatting bricks over just that tidbit. A WMD passport is the least of their worries if she can teleport, go invisible as well. Oh, and Brute on top of that."
Kim tilted her head. "Don't forget –kind of ironic to say that here– but Militia also got a piece of the Stranger 'forget-me' power as well. Most of us did. In fact, Drum probably gave it to you as it is simpler to be immune to it by having it."
Costa-Brown sat up from where she was lounging with a cup of tea off to one side. "Stranger? Then how?" Her off hand swept the room.
Ino shook her head. "Try to keep up. She drummed that into you as well before you could forget. We aren't running the power now but it was tricky working out who had the On/Off switch that got the initial dose."
"And just to be safe, let me drum in some language skills both filled in and for learning new ones. Any of you might find yourselves going to obscure places soon to barter, bag or beg."
"I don't do 'beg'!" Aisha piped in, looking obstinate.
"We will ask first before we take, and buy before we ask." I waggle a finger her way. Nine hundred pound gorilla rules apply.
Ta-ta-cha-cha-tik-tik-tik-tik "And now you should have quite a bit of the lingo to use worldwide."
"Just like that?" Costa-Brown asks archly.
"Well, I can do four arrows at a time now, so three were language groups and one was Uber's power to learn languages."
"I am assigning you a figurine minder, Aisha. Don't think we can't find you if you leave it behind somewhere."
"There –ah– isn't a whole lot to do on Mars, Drum, where exactly are you worrying I will go?" She snarked.
I grin. "You can teleport right to where we are keeping the gate back to the Earth orbit ships are, step through and reach anywhere on Earth… Including Brockton Bay and the adjoining areas. Just remember, if you bring anyone back with you they need to either be in a scuba outfit, inside one of the interior areas we are keeping atmosphere in or brought to me to be drummed for Ayre powers at the minimum."
At my pause, she disappeared. A moment later, reappeared to grab onto one of the figurines who'd queued up on the table, then gone again. I glance at Kim, who sighs and passes over a coin.
At the raised eyebrow, she notes. "We switched the bets to land priority tokens. US currency may not be that useful here soon enough."
Ino does some sleight-of-hand showing three different coins, a silvery one like I had just gotten, a bronze looking one and a metallic green one. "That is a note, this is a chord and this beauty here is a grumble." She spun them in turn. "They are around twenty, one hundred and a thousand dollars by equivalence, give or take."
"Did you run this by the treasury department?" I ask.
"Of which country? Or do you think that Mars should be US governed?" This time it was Dad piping in.
"Oh."
"Wait for it." I heard Dad's whisper.
"OH!" I knew I was forgetting something. The discussion on Independence. And all the extra stuff that came with it.
"There it is." He could be just as smug as Lisa when he wanted to.
******************
"Lunch!" Aisha called as she walked into the new apartment suite's common area. It was still Coil's old base, but with a lot of the interior space reworked in something less than Bond-villain layout to interior design. Luckily a lot of the 'offices' were made with partitions that could be disassembled. This left the open area below set up like a very plush prison common area. Okay, so it really did have a prison vibe until you spotted the huge television, the infamous white sectional couch and lounges and the odd faux Crawler skin rug that had become all the rage.
Alec paused his game and sniffed appreciatively. "How did you get into Clef's to get those?"
Aisha hefted the bags of subs and winked. "I know a guy. Or girl… girls?"
Alec grimaced. "You got chummy with Clef?" he shook his head. "Lisa I can see, but what do you bring to the table?"
Aisha stopped at the top of the stairs by the elevator she'd exited when announcing her burden.
"Among other things…" She disappeared and reappeared much closer. "Lunch."
"Cool!" He took a proffered bag. "Lisa is at work, they still have her doing a bunch of things to avoid prosecution. Haven't bothered me much. I don't know why?" The last part was with an innocent wide eyed look.
"They like you right where you are, away from the public." This was Brian coming in from his rooms, toweling his hair dry after a shower. He padded forward wearing sweatpants and a tank top, but swerved to take one of the bags as his sense of smell caught up with the conversation. "Chub subs? Nice."
"Wait for it." Aisha whispered to Alec.
"Where were you!?" His voice caught as he remembered once again that she'd been gone an entire week. "And why didn't I remember that until now?"
"Powers, my dear brother."
"Plural?" He paused only for a moment and took a bite. Chubster made subs were not to be wasted.
"Been on Mars with Clef. Stowaway but she decided to let me make my way back with only Jiminy here."
As she spoke, the figurine holding onto her jacket back let go to fly for a moment to the table. The Kim figurine sketched a bow and set down a group of blocks. These were tiny compared to a regular pad, but once triangle shaped, they brought in a stack of other triangle shapes that assembled into the regular pad size –which in turn brought in a nine inch on each side teleport pad.
"Lisa is no longer at her 'work' at WEDGDG. She has taken an invitation to change employment to Clef itself, trading a good bit of good will for stock options. You are all welcome to join as well, at whatever level of membership that fits your lifestyle and needs. Much of your corporate assets have already been converted to the new Martian currency, Notes, Chords and Grumbles. You can call for delivery or purchase online with these complimentary cell phones." The figurine pointed at devices being ported in and floated toward each of the three.
"Simply hit ## to call for a door, but remember to visit Drum explicitly if going to Mars. Not everywhere is Earth atmosphere or non-brute friendly as of yet."
Aisha smiled as Brian fishmouthed a moment, then swallowed. "And if you ask really nicely" she switched to falsetto, "or trick her into doing so", her voice came down to normal register, "she may give Strider style teleporting power on top of the rest."
She glances around and then disappears for a count of ten.
Reappearing with a drink carrier. "Forgot to grab these. Diet?"
Handing him a drink with the straw in but just a little paper over the top with a bend in it –a Chubster' place specific detail that– sealed it in Brian's mind. "Nice. You know we are going to have to do that trip to Disney that we were dreaming about…" He paused as Aisha sniggered.
"What?"
"I got these powers yesterday. Where do you think i've been since then?"
She reaches back to pull a handful of brochures and maps from six different theme parks out. "Had to see which one had the best rides before I came by. I recommend we start with Der Schwur des Kärnan."
Both young men do a double take as she shifts to flawless German.
Alec beat him to it as he was in the pause between bites. "Since when do you speak German?"
"Well, today is Monday, so Sunday afternoon." She pulled a smug look that would make Lisa proud. "And a bunch of other ones. But this time I need you to come along, Alec too, but mainly you because they wouldn't let me ride in the front of the car without an adult!" She paused. "Didn't stop me from porting in while it was climbing, but they got really weird about it when I was getting off after."
**************************
The line ringing was a bit unusual, but the scientist doubling as receptionist picked it up with aplomb. "Svalbard Global Seed Vault, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to speak to your director about getting a sample of your stores for storage off planet."
Chuckling. "You joke, yes? Pull the other one, it has bells on!"
"This is Ino Satchee of Clef and I am not joking. We are creating our own seed vault on Mars and would like to facilitate a backup to your own facility. We would like permission to effectively recreate your entire working areas, and take partial samples of every item held in the vault while paying to have replacements shipped to you through normal channels. We will also facilitate expansion of your existing range of stored materials with as many samples as we can get from all over the world."
Holding a hand over the phone, Dr. Haddad hissed at a colleague coming through. "Stephen, I have someone on the line claiming to be from Clef! On Mars!"
Padding over quietly. "Hello, this is Dr. Stephen Fowler, may I ask you to repeat your request? From Mars?" He looked at the innocuous looking phone number displayed, a US exchange.
"This is Ino Satchee, also known as Fife of Clef. I can have a teleport pad in place for an initial deposit as an act of faith, but we would like permission to duplicate your gene bank efforts on Mars. We plan on establishing Earth origin plants as soon as the atmosphere is stabilized. We already have an independent device seeding grasses in areas, but this is for more direct farming applications…"
"Prove it."
There is a flash of light next to them. A rectangle opens and a triangular teleport pad floats through.
"We understand that you operate in clean room standards so we put that through a cleaning cycle and did not bring anything across that does not come in sealed packets. Those, by the way, are from a set of climbing vines related to Kudzu that we've edited to grow fruit like kiwi. We saw the idea in a set of science fiction books and used Panacea's power to do the changes. Accept those as our first addition to your gene bank. You will be able to contact us at this number or just ask for a Clef operator within earshot of the pad. Good day."
The teleport pad glowed a moment, a packet of brochures appeared on it, then a set of blueprints both paper and a thumb drive. Then on the top a five ounce sealed aluminum pouch of seeds ported in, bearing a a printed label calling it 'Freewi fruit' along with standardized codes for what biomes it could grow in.
Stephen breathed a few calming breaths. "Get the board on the line and give them the details. I, ah, need to take a look at the sequence from one of these seeds."
Dr. Kamiss Haddad shook her head 'no' while taking the packet herself. "Oh no. You play with the board, I am going to sequence these to see what they have brought us." She turned and headed for her work area leaving him to splutter a few pithy words in her wake.
But it was her turn to do science when there weren't any calls. His own turn for science could not come soon enough. But perhaps they would be seeing an influx of modified flora if this Clef group could do what they said they'd done. Appearances suggested it was a strong possibility.
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay. Wow, 47 days. That's a long dry spell for me. So here is some Drum goodness. Not dead yet, story or me. Enjoy.
More discussions with world leaders, specifically the US President.
"Can you explain why the Yangban controlled government of China went silent?" The committee member was working down a list of questions, clearly not expecting this to be one of the things I could answer.
"After Eidolon was infected with a form of power vampirism, he killed and drained nearly all of the Yangban power houses. I was forced to remove his powers to cure him, though I did give him a drummed set of powers later. The government of China collapsed without parahumans to instill fear of speaking out. I found a group of them trying to maintain order locally and gave them powers to protect and feed their people. They agreed to keep things on the down low so as not to cause a panic." I pause. "This was before the expedition to Mars got fully underway. If you contact them now, they should answer quickly enough."
The president himself looked up from the notes he was taking. "And why is that true now?"
I shrug, "Because the version of me addressing them told them it was okay to open communications again. They have been asking politely as they are worried that one of the bordering countries may try to bring in a colonial force. North Korea still has its royal family of capes, and then there is Africa."
"What do you plan to do with Africa?"
"Nothing." I tilt my head at the question. "Do you really think I should be poking my nose into every problem on either of the two human controlled planets?" I smile slightly. "While eight hundred pound gorilla rules cover a lot of ground, someone would start a war fearing they were next on my agenda."
"I see, you are like Scion. You don't focus on any one place or else the public will make you into some kind of existential threat."
My face freezes a little and I turn to look at the woman at the table. She is dressed in a business suit and not a thing makes her any different from anyone else at the table, but I recognize the voice and the tone both. Contessa. That she was alive and here on Earth said a lot of things, but that she was not registering… ah. She had so many powers drummed into her during our face off in the Cauldron base, she looked like just another one of my projected selves. It was like ignoring your own reflection until you catch it turning to look at you.
"I would not say that actually. Scion is less actively trying to keep the peace, while at the same time his motives for stopping forces fighting are not well documented." I note, trying to ignore Contessa's smirk.
Representative Hill looked irritated at the divergence from the planned agenda, but he gamely tried to reinsert his voice in the proceedings. "Not well documented… He's been stopping wars since the late eighties!" His chuckle caught in his throat at the Presidential glare.
I turned back his way. "Has he spoken to anyone about why? Ever?" I turned to face the President. "There are a lot of well documented assumptions, but very few facts. Scion will not tolerate a nuclear missile emplacement, but does not react to a nuclear bomb until it is placed in a delivery vehicle. He will ignore a truck unless a plan is made to use a truck to deliver a dirty bomb. And then he removes the fissionable material and any organic matter within two miles, vigorously."
"Protecting us." Hill added.
"Protecting the status quo, you mean."
"He didn't stop the attempted use of nuclear warheads against the Endbringers."
My turn to smirk. "Because he knew ahead of time that there would be no appreciable effect."
***************
Wen Shui, not his original name but the one created after his rehabilitation from the controls of the Yangban as one of the few surviving natural parahumans, stood at attention in front of the group of gatherers.
"You have all heard the drum of the lady." He was eloquent, like many who have been freed of the yoke of a slave to embrace the fervent belief in the ones who set him free. Despite her wishes. "She has spread the powers to one and all who passed her tests. We can spread this strength to make a difference far and wide! In her name!"
His expression fell a moment when the collective sigh and gaze of those in the courtyard in front of him made him look over his shoulder. In perfect Cantonese the ghost projection of myself answered his words with my own. Other images of me spoke in dialects more appropriate to other groups, though they all listened in every language they knew.
"Not in my name. But for the good of all people. I do not seek power, or worship through the gifts I have passed among you." My eyebrow made him blush and bow his head in shame. "As for tests, you are men and women who were oppressed and know best how to share without oppressing others. Continue to wield the powers correctly and you will be granted more responsibility. Fail to wield them with care and you will find I can take as well as give."
"All praise to the lady." The susurration of the crowd answering my words said there was a whole lot of religious backsliding going on here.
I let a small sigh slip free.
"Fine. I would like to ask for volunteers to go among the places where there are impoverished people. You will use these powers to clean their water sources. Consolidate the plastics pulled from the waterways into housing for the poorest of them. Clear land, make troughs that will retain water. Teach them to grow rice and grains. If you need to, build walls for security against animals. If anyone asks, you are donating time for no gain. Do not interfere with the local government unless they attack you. If capes try to coerce you to work with them you may defend yourselves. Try not to kill. If the cape that attacks is a local criminal you can turn them over to the local government or PRT equivalent."
The ones closest are slapping each other on the backs. The sign they are wearing, a pair of symbols that look nothing like the company symbol at all.
It is simplified Chinese for clef: 谱号.
Well, so much for them operating outside the umbrella. I lift my hand, drawing a plinth of concrete into being from the ground. Reaching out with the forcefield form of Glory Girl mixed with the energy weapons of Brandish, I carve out the Clef symbol on the plinth.
"If you are operating in my name, then you should use my … ah my team symbol. Clef is an affiliate of the Parahuman Response Team. You will operate under their guidelines as well as my own in any of the treaty member countries. I expect you to start closer to home."
A young woman in the group raises a timid hand.
"Honored Drum, will there be places for those wishing to travel to Mars?"
Multiple instances of me raise eyebrows as the question ripples across the plaza. I nod. "There will be places for those who earn goodwill by helping. The newly formed outer crust being pushed out is still not very stable. The waters being rained down to form lakes and seas are changing the face of things. And my terraformer robot continues to plant." I smile as her face brightens. "If you find plants and small animals to seed on Mars, you will have the opportunity to bring them. Your work feeding the people and helping is being paid in shares, which you may trade toward the lottery on land." Oh, now I really had their attention.
**************
Kim was tapping her foot angrily.
Ino was giving me the eye as well, okay most of the inner circle was miffed at the idea. "I did not cut into your shares, the profit or otherwise."
"Explain." Kim grumbled.
I gesture at the tallies. "We three, Uber and Leet were dealt in as starting shares. Bakuda, my father, through the DWA retirement fund, Quinne Calle, the Medhall stock exchange. All of these have gotten shares as the value of the company soared. Our actual shares count have stayed high compared to those who have bought in, especially where our patents and contributions were awarded extra shares as the company portfolio grew."
Greg got it first. "You gave them shares out of your own pocket!"
I nod, that was it in a nutshell.
Ino tapped the interface. "I see you have two thousand new 'employees' of Clef listed officially in China. Are each of them expected to qualify for a single share for their efforts?"
I smile. "They will have earned that share within a few months." I hold up a hand. "And the equivalent value of the powers used will be written off as charitable donation of a parahuman power use, which our very own Quinn Calle suggested as a way to make a difference. He has offered to add twenty shares of his own to the mix. You –ah– might want to consider making some donations of your own, he seems to think the IRS is going to come down on us as a group in force."
"Consider though, each of those wanting to emigrate will bring cuttings and seeds. They will need to work hard to make a life for themselves. The boys need workers for their Hotel. Not everything can be handled by figurines."
"Are we limited to donating this way in China?"
Heads shake before I locate the speaker. Ah, in the back behind Dad. Angie Moss, the woman who used to be known as Butcher XIV, before that as Quarrel. Latina in looks when not wearing bone-themed armor.
"South America, hell even the South West of the US has a lot of people needing help. Georgia supports most of the freshwater in the South East. Texas groundwater is screwed by fracking attempts." She sees the looks and shrugs. "What? I have people that live down that way. They haven't been directly on my mind for a couple years, yeah, but that doesn't mean I should ignore them for folks half a world away."
I grin at Kim. "I gave at the office."
She sighs. "I can find a thousand shares, but they have to be willing to move to Mars permanently, not just hold onto shares for profit. Otherwise they get paid like normal people."
Ino nodded. "I will do the same in Africa. The misery promoted there will make it easy to make a difference."
The other kids from Winslow considered. "Yeah, we can find chunks of shares, though not as big as you, moneybags." Madison piped in, holding hands with Sparky.
"What she said, though I think ours will be used in Samoa." Sparky noted.
Nan held up a hand. "I have family in Cambodia and Thailand so I can focus that way. Anyone else want to go in on Asia?"
I see others trying to get our attention. "We will add people from all over, no worries. India as well, don't worry about it Nakar." I spoke to forestall one of Dad's foreman. "And each person granted powers can help out to earn their way to Mars."
Emily Piggot piped in from the penny stocks section. "There are quite a few Brocktonians who have earned that right as well if you remember."
Everyone nods at that.
Dad summed up the thought. "It's like Fred Rogers said. 'Look for the helpers.'"
**********************
Brian Laborn was going over his budget. There was still something odd going on. He'd bought the same groceries as last month again and there was a lot left over. He wasn't starving himself. There was a lot of junk food going uneaten…
He pulled his phone out. "Lisa, I need your help."
"Well, this is different. A total change from the work chaos of WEDGDG trying to figure out what Drum is going to do, what she is already doing and how to prevent what they don't want her doing." Lisa paused and he heard her sip from something. "Okay, fresh coffee imbibed. Shoot."
"I just bought groceries. Same order as last month. But the cupboards are full already. I don't understand why I have so much cereal!" Brian found himself pushing past bags of Lucky Charms.
Lisa snorted. "What's the matter, did Aisha go on a diet?"
The silence was palpable.
"Uh, who is Aisha?" Brian asked.
"Aisha Laborn. Your little sister, A.K.A. Imp, our Stranger?" Lisa pouted in a uniquely audible way. "Check the drawer on the left of your desk. I'll wait."
Brian held the phone between his shoulder and chin while he fished out a thick manilla envelope. Pulling out a stack of pictures and documents he felt something click in his mind. A cute little black girl in pigtails, in dreads and an aborted afro attempt. Young adult. Biker leathers. A horned mask. "FUCK!"
"Yep. That usually does the trick. So Aisha has been out. She's somewhere else eating them out of house and home." Lisa groused.
–-Aisha Laborn was last seen on broadcast four from Mars. Stowaway.
"Hooboy.", Lisa noted. "She goes to Winslow, right?"
"Yeah, according to the report cards here." He groused, still flipping over pages.
"Brian focus." Lisa got his attention again. "Where are the kids of Winslow hanging out now?"
"Well, most of them ended up on Mars with Dru—" Clunk.
"Brian! Pick up the phone you big dork!" Lisa looked up to see one of her coworkers peeking over the cubicle wall.
"Everything all right here?" The woman wore the mask that everyone working out of this office knew did zero to protect secrets.
"Peachy." Lisa grumbled. "By the way, we can add one more teenager from Winslow to the list of those visiting Mars."
"Really?" The woman blinked. "I thought that list was finalized a week ago."
"The kid is a Stranger, memory adjuster. Edits herself out of herstory."
"You mean history, right?" The older woman tutted.
"No, I mean HER story. As in, her brother didn't remember she existed and was missing until the grocery bill didn't jibe." Lisa made an 'L' shape on her forehead, which her cubemate thought was meant for the brother involved.
–Agent M has eaten your chocolate pudding.
Lisa covered the phone for a second. "Again!" She kicked the wall between them. "Can't you read, you cow!"
"I didn't take your pudding!" The guilty voice spoke up.
"Hah! I didn't say it was my pudding you took." Lisa opened her drawer and removed two chocolate puddings. "Now put both of these in the fridge to chill and you can have one later. I swear that I only poisoned one of them."
The hand accepted the puddings. "Uh, which one?"
"The one you ate." Lisa quipped, returning to the phone as she heard Brian groaning. "Hey there champ. Sister. Mars. You need to call Clef."
"Right. I, uh, have to make a call now."
"Go get em tiger."
Lisa hung up and turned to the HR representative –WEDGDG style in her flamingo mask– standing there. "Agent M reported that you are being October purple gray to her."
"To be clear, I said that I poisoned my own pudding. Chocolate is a poison." Lisa smiled tersely. "And she is eating my puddings instead of the ones she brings."
"You put them in the place where she puts her puddings."
"In the fridge." Lisa noted. "Next to all the other food items. Labeled."
The HR rep pursed her lips. "There is no need to bring in bad vibrations into this place."
–Agent Denvers has no such power. She was raised in a commune by Hippies. She is preparing to transfer us to a detention center in Langley.
Us.
Hurray for us.
"Wow. My power basically just called you out as a Flower child." Lisa spoke out of habit, distracted.
The woman in front of her went red with embarrassment. She drew herself up to say something, but Lisa just reached into her still open drawer and took out another pudding, her last.
–Drum is watching for you. All you need to do is ask. Doors will open.
"Here. I'm going to go out for lunch anyway." Lisa noted as she disconnected the headset for the phone.
"Ah, your ah probation deal does not cover leaving during work hours." The woman accepted the pudding but still seemed to shrink back as Lisa, no Tattletale, rose.
Stretching a little, Lisa smiled at the woman. "The cafeteria on three is still serving." She walked over to the elevator and got in.
She pressed three. And one.
After the doors closed at three, she got off on one and walked down the hall to a large conference room where a group of WEDGDG movers and shakers –business world, not parahumans– were monitoring a projected image of Drum answering questions almost nonstop.
As she entered, the image's eyes turned to track her without missing a beat.
–All bound for Mu Mu Land. Hey, Hey!
Lisa winced as her power flaked out like it did when observing Drum in general.
"What does she think she is doing here?" A nameless power wank in a twenty thousand dollar pantsuit with a bracelet to match lifted an elegant hand to point.
Lisa smiled without showing her teeth. She lifted her id badge lanyard over her head. "Door to Mu Mu Land."
The rectangle opened behind her, blocking the doorway she'd come through to enter the room. The outside guards had not caught her dodging in behind some intern carrying a tray of coffees. They were out of the loop for this. The interior guards moved to interpose between their VIPs rather than tackle her.
She didn't need her power to know that there were two red-robed figures behind her, each with a single golden horn. They waved her in to be welcomed with a flower lei put over her head by a young woman dressed as a blonde angel –with elven ears?"
"All bound for Mu Mu Land. Mu Mu Land." The chorus sang behind them.
*********************
"You aren't winning over any friends by tweaking the noses of those controlling WEDGDG." Costa-Brown commented.
Lisa perked up from where she was sitting, enjoying the standard office chair of a CLEF member, the plush foam with built in temperature controls and massage options. "She won over one friend here, thank you very much."
Scornfully, "One mid level Thinker…"
Snorting. "Better than you, Alex."
The smug was real.
Glaring all around but not seeing anyone surprised. "Another NDA, please." Costa-Brown sighed. "At this rate I might as well be fully in costume."
Lisa, waving it aside. "Already signed one. It only covers the US and United Nations. Mars does not have those rules."
There were confused looks all around.
"You are creating a brand new governing body here. And voting in laws?" Lisa side-eyed us, hopefully.
Dad groaned. "We have just been following established patterns and using the laws we know."
Lisa smiled. "'Familiar' is good. But don't expect those on Earth to hold true to them without a treaty in effect. Right now, this here is just another piece of disputed colonial land. A big plot, but there hasn't been this much free land to grab in, well, centuries. You have old money sweating bullets and young turks looking to make it rich. Everyone is angling for a piece of the pie." She glanced at me. "Speaking of which, can I buy stock in trade at the employee rate now?"
I nodded and she gleefully used her new phone connection to make a series of preprogrammed trades and transfers.
"There." She smiled widely. "There are goods in the programmed coordinates that will be as useful as anything else you might get. Untraceable. Legal. All for stock value of course."
She flicked her phone to pass over a document retrieved from a private email. Dragon enfolded it and started putting coordinates in. My Crusader ghosts opened portals to the locations. A warehouse in New York, another in Atlanta. A farm in rural Kentucky. A series of box trailers full of toiletries.
Lisa smirked. "Makeup. Toilet paper. Perfumes. Feminine products. All the stuff a colony will miss in the first few years while replacements are scarce. Your fabbers can only run up things it has good examples for, and raw materials to make. Wood will be a luxury item for some time."
–Wood will not qualify within one hundred days.
Jerking upright. "I would like to get a set price on the conversion ASAP, if you don't mind. Supply and demand, all that good stuff."
Kim rolled her eyes. "You know we all have copies of your power too and we saw you get the alert we will have wood supplies soon enough. Relax though. Uber and Leet only had the roughed-in amenities they could get fabbed for the hotel. They will love using all that nice cherry wood and teak you have to make it true high class."
Lisa relaxed a bit. Then something occurred to her. "Are ah, you going to pick up Brian, Alec and Rachel?"
"Why? Are they in trouble?" Ino asked, slightly puzzled.
Lisa thought about that. "Brian is still kind of freaked about Aisha being here over a week now?"
Intake of breath. "Something you should know is that she is now capable of turning invisible without her other power kicking in. She can use either independently. Besides the Ayre and Brute thing we put on anybody visiting she ah…"
A dark figure popped into being in front of Lisa, making her jump.
"I can freaking make ALL THE GUNS!" Imp in her full horned mask, hefting up a Barret sniper rifle so dark it looked to be cut from night itself. It flickered to a standard M1 that she twirled like a drill team member until she flipped it up –changing into a pistol– spinning in the air to land in a holster on her hip. "Ta da."
A flicker and Miss Militia –now visible– was next to Imp, grabbing an ear. "What did I say about demonstrations with live ammunition?"
"But I summoned them with empty clips!" Protesteth the teen.
"She got a dose of Miss Militia…" Lisa drawled. "And Miss Militia got invisibility."
–As well as Strider teleport.
"And world-wide teleport." She grunted. "You know, the various alphabet agencies are going to be shatting bricks over just that tidbit. A WMD passport is the least of their worries if she can teleport, go invisible as well. Oh, and Brute on top of that."
Kim tilted her head. "Don't forget –kind of ironic to say that here– but Militia also got a piece of the Stranger 'forget-me' power as well. Most of us did. In fact, Drum probably gave it to you as it is simpler to be immune to it by having it."
Costa-Brown sat up from where she was lounging with a cup of tea off to one side. "Stranger? Then how?" Her off hand swept the room.
Ino shook her head. "Try to keep up. She drummed that into you as well before you could forget. We aren't running the power now but it was tricky working out who had the On/Off switch that got the initial dose."
"And just to be safe, let me drum in some language skills both filled in and for learning new ones. Any of you might find yourselves going to obscure places soon to barter, bag or beg."
"I don't do 'beg'!" Aisha piped in, looking obstinate.
"We will ask first before we take, and buy before we ask." I waggle a finger her way. Nine hundred pound gorilla rules apply.
Ta-ta-cha-cha-tik-tik-tik-tik "And now you should have quite a bit of the lingo to use worldwide."
"Just like that?" Costa-Brown asks archly.
"Well, I can do four arrows at a time now, so three were language groups and one was Uber's power to learn languages."
"I am assigning you a figurine minder, Aisha. Don't think we can't find you if you leave it behind somewhere."
"There –ah– isn't a whole lot to do on Mars, Drum, where exactly are you worrying I will go?" She snarked.
I grin. "You can teleport right to where we are keeping the gate back to the Earth orbit ships are, step through and reach anywhere on Earth… Including Brockton Bay and the adjoining areas. Just remember, if you bring anyone back with you they need to either be in a scuba outfit, inside one of the interior areas we are keeping atmosphere in or brought to me to be drummed for Ayre powers at the minimum."
At my pause, she disappeared. A moment later, reappeared to grab onto one of the figurines who'd queued up on the table, then gone again. I glance at Kim, who sighs and passes over a coin.
At the raised eyebrow, she notes. "We switched the bets to land priority tokens. US currency may not be that useful here soon enough."
Ino does some sleight-of-hand showing three different coins, a silvery one like I had just gotten, a bronze looking one and a metallic green one. "That is a note, this is a chord and this beauty here is a grumble." She spun them in turn. "They are around twenty, one hundred and a thousand dollars by equivalence, give or take."
"Did you run this by the treasury department?" I ask.
"Of which country? Or do you think that Mars should be US governed?" This time it was Dad piping in.
"Oh."
"Wait for it." I heard Dad's whisper.
"OH!" I knew I was forgetting something. The discussion on Independence. And all the extra stuff that came with it.
"There it is." He could be just as smug as Lisa when he wanted to.
******************
"Lunch!" Aisha called as she walked into the new apartment suite's common area. It was still Coil's old base, but with a lot of the interior space reworked in something less than Bond-villain layout to interior design. Luckily a lot of the 'offices' were made with partitions that could be disassembled. This left the open area below set up like a very plush prison common area. Okay, so it really did have a prison vibe until you spotted the huge television, the infamous white sectional couch and lounges and the odd faux Crawler skin rug that had become all the rage.
Alec paused his game and sniffed appreciatively. "How did you get into Clef's to get those?"
Aisha hefted the bags of subs and winked. "I know a guy. Or girl… girls?"
Alec grimaced. "You got chummy with Clef?" he shook his head. "Lisa I can see, but what do you bring to the table?"
Aisha stopped at the top of the stairs by the elevator she'd exited when announcing her burden.
"Among other things…" She disappeared and reappeared much closer. "Lunch."
"Cool!" He took a proffered bag. "Lisa is at work, they still have her doing a bunch of things to avoid prosecution. Haven't bothered me much. I don't know why?" The last part was with an innocent wide eyed look.
"They like you right where you are, away from the public." This was Brian coming in from his rooms, toweling his hair dry after a shower. He padded forward wearing sweatpants and a tank top, but swerved to take one of the bags as his sense of smell caught up with the conversation. "Chub subs? Nice."
"Wait for it." Aisha whispered to Alec.
"Where were you!?" His voice caught as he remembered once again that she'd been gone an entire week. "And why didn't I remember that until now?"
"Powers, my dear brother."
"Plural?" He paused only for a moment and took a bite. Chubster made subs were not to be wasted.
"Been on Mars with Clef. Stowaway but she decided to let me make my way back with only Jiminy here."
As she spoke, the figurine holding onto her jacket back let go to fly for a moment to the table. The Kim figurine sketched a bow and set down a group of blocks. These were tiny compared to a regular pad, but once triangle shaped, they brought in a stack of other triangle shapes that assembled into the regular pad size –which in turn brought in a nine inch on each side teleport pad.
"Lisa is no longer at her 'work' at WEDGDG. She has taken an invitation to change employment to Clef itself, trading a good bit of good will for stock options. You are all welcome to join as well, at whatever level of membership that fits your lifestyle and needs. Much of your corporate assets have already been converted to the new Martian currency, Notes, Chords and Grumbles. You can call for delivery or purchase online with these complimentary cell phones." The figurine pointed at devices being ported in and floated toward each of the three.
"Simply hit ## to call for a door, but remember to visit Drum explicitly if going to Mars. Not everywhere is Earth atmosphere or non-brute friendly as of yet."
Aisha smiled as Brian fishmouthed a moment, then swallowed. "And if you ask really nicely" she switched to falsetto, "or trick her into doing so", her voice came down to normal register, "she may give Strider style teleporting power on top of the rest."
She glances around and then disappears for a count of ten.
Reappearing with a drink carrier. "Forgot to grab these. Diet?"
Handing him a drink with the straw in but just a little paper over the top with a bend in it –a Chubster' place specific detail that– sealed it in Brian's mind. "Nice. You know we are going to have to do that trip to Disney that we were dreaming about…" He paused as Aisha sniggered.
"What?"
"I got these powers yesterday. Where do you think i've been since then?"
She reaches back to pull a handful of brochures and maps from six different theme parks out. "Had to see which one had the best rides before I came by. I recommend we start with Der Schwur des Kärnan."
Both young men do a double take as she shifts to flawless German.
Alec beat him to it as he was in the pause between bites. "Since when do you speak German?"
"Well, today is Monday, so Sunday afternoon." She pulled a smug look that would make Lisa proud. "And a bunch of other ones. But this time I need you to come along, Alec too, but mainly you because they wouldn't let me ride in the front of the car without an adult!" She paused. "Didn't stop me from porting in while it was climbing, but they got really weird about it when I was getting off after."
**************************
The line ringing was a bit unusual, but the scientist doubling as receptionist picked it up with aplomb. "Svalbard Global Seed Vault, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to speak to your director about getting a sample of your stores for storage off planet."
Chuckling. "You joke, yes? Pull the other one, it has bells on!"
"This is Ino Satchee of Clef and I am not joking. We are creating our own seed vault on Mars and would like to facilitate a backup to your own facility. We would like permission to effectively recreate your entire working areas, and take partial samples of every item held in the vault while paying to have replacements shipped to you through normal channels. We will also facilitate expansion of your existing range of stored materials with as many samples as we can get from all over the world."
Holding a hand over the phone, Dr. Haddad hissed at a colleague coming through. "Stephen, I have someone on the line claiming to be from Clef! On Mars!"
Padding over quietly. "Hello, this is Dr. Stephen Fowler, may I ask you to repeat your request? From Mars?" He looked at the innocuous looking phone number displayed, a US exchange.
"This is Ino Satchee, also known as Fife of Clef. I can have a teleport pad in place for an initial deposit as an act of faith, but we would like permission to duplicate your gene bank efforts on Mars. We plan on establishing Earth origin plants as soon as the atmosphere is stabilized. We already have an independent device seeding grasses in areas, but this is for more direct farming applications…"
"Prove it."
There is a flash of light next to them. A rectangle opens and a triangular teleport pad floats through.
"We understand that you operate in clean room standards so we put that through a cleaning cycle and did not bring anything across that does not come in sealed packets. Those, by the way, are from a set of climbing vines related to Kudzu that we've edited to grow fruit like kiwi. We saw the idea in a set of science fiction books and used Panacea's power to do the changes. Accept those as our first addition to your gene bank. You will be able to contact us at this number or just ask for a Clef operator within earshot of the pad. Good day."
The teleport pad glowed a moment, a packet of brochures appeared on it, then a set of blueprints both paper and a thumb drive. Then on the top a five ounce sealed aluminum pouch of seeds ported in, bearing a a printed label calling it 'Freewi fruit' along with standardized codes for what biomes it could grow in.
Stephen breathed a few calming breaths. "Get the board on the line and give them the details. I, ah, need to take a look at the sequence from one of these seeds."
Dr. Kamiss Haddad shook her head 'no' while taking the packet herself. "Oh no. You play with the board, I am going to sequence these to see what they have brought us." She turned and headed for her work area leaving him to splutter a few pithy words in her wake.
But it was her turn to do science when there weren't any calls. His own turn for science could not come soon enough. But perhaps they would be seeing an influx of modified flora if this Clef group could do what they said they'd done. Appearances suggested it was a strong possibility.
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ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
Exactly. That was what I had to do to get back into the right frame of mind to write on it. If it feels like three different voices in the chapter that is because I did that reread to get back into things three separate times and thus the chapter ends up written by three different instances of me split around 47 days or so.
I don't mind rereading my stuff. It just gets weird when I see a like on a post from one of my other stories and read enough to confuse me over which one I am writing currently. I am looking at you @elmagnifico ...