So this is based on the more interesting, imho, and slightly less broken CYOAv3 from Sufficient...
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Drider-Girl and the Head-Cannon of DOOM (Worm SI SV!CYOA)
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Chapter 1.1
SamPardi
Optimistic Nihilist
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So this is based on the more interesting, imho, and slightly less broken CYOAv3 from Sufficient Velocity. Frankly I'm a going to forgo the stylistic first person that pervades Worm fics because I'm tired of it. This will all be third-person limited.
Chapter 1.1: Vhwee Ahr Gi-ahnt Spy-dahr!
Miss Militia pressed her lips in concern and gunned the engine of her tinker-modified Triumph America. It was, more often than not, the first appearance of a new cape that was the most dangerous. New triggers were inherently unstable and Case 53s were both disoriented and frightening to those around them. Thus why she couldn't help but expect the worst when called in to handle the sudden appearance of an unknown cape.
The address was unfamiliar but right off the boardwalk which made it even worse. If anything went wrong there would be masses of civilians around and it could potentially disrupt tourism, one of the few remaining revenue sources keeping the city afloat. For the sake of everyone she hoped they were something approaching reasonable.
She had to slow to what felt like a crawl as she approached the boardwalk due to the press of pedestrians and traffic. Most recognized her well enough to open a way but she still couldn't afford to just speed through the area. A few minutes later she finally arrived at the address to discover it was actually a locally famous ice cream parlor and coffee shop, Cream & Creamer.
One of the employees, a teenage boy with a skinny frame, was waiting outside and approached her as soon as she got off the motorcycle. "What's the situation?" She asked the kid.
"We set up one of the TVs to show cartoons and gave her some ice cream. Since then she's been more or less parked in front of the TV with Mrs. Thayer. There were a few people with camera phones running before Mrs. Thayer had us close for the day and kick everyone out, so I don't think it's a secret she's here anymore." He sounded more nervous about that last part.
Miss Militia blinked in surprise. 'Cartoons?' She thought to herself. In any case she nodded and let the boy lead her into the store.
As soon as she entered she saw a young platinum blond girl in a Death Cab for Cutie t-shirt sitting on one of the booth tables and facing away from her, staring up at a TV which was playing a cartoon she barely recognized about winged pixies and witches. Beside her sat a middle aged woman in an expensive looking suit. The woman had an arm around the girl's waist but resting on top of a blanket that covered the table for some reason.
Miss Militia approached the pair and cleared her throat. Both of them turned to look at her at the interruption and she had to work not to jump. While the woman was completely normal the girl had an extra, smaller, set of eyes just above and to the outside of her main pair as well as a full mouth of needle sharp teeth. It was also only now that she realized the girl was holding a small tub of ice cream with a spoon in it that was stirring of its own volition. 'Telekinetic,' she made a note to herself.
"Hello, I'm Miss Militia from the Protectorate. It's nice to meet you." She said and held her hand out.
"Margo Thayer, I own the entire chain. I just happened to be visiting this location when I caught Sam looking in the window. I couldn't just leave the poor dear out in the cold like that so I invited her in and have been looking after her since." The older woman said as she shook her hand. Noticing that Sam's body language was somewhat bashful Margo spoke to the girl, "Sam this woman's a real Hero. You can trust her with your life."
Sam looked at the older woman for a moment and then nodded. When she moved to shake hands the entire table seemed to move under the blanket. "Hi." The girl said quietly as she gently shook the older heroine's hand.
Miss Militia braced herself and asked the main question on her mind. "Sam, do you have any strange tattoos or marks anywhere on your body?" The girl hesitated and then nodded. "May I see it?" She blushed and looked at the older woman who hesitated a moment and then nodded. Margo quickly slid out of the booth and several feet away to Miss Militia's momentary confusion. Then Sam moved.
Eight fuzzy spider legs unfolded from beneath the blanket and found purchase on either the back of the seats or the seats themselves. With surprising fluidity she slid out of the booth, allowing the blanket to slide away and reveal a fuzzy spider abdomen, and onto the floor facing Miss Militia. To the heroine's surprise the girl's spider half was huge enough that standing comfortably the girl was eye to upper eye set with Miss Militia. Then the girl lifted the hem of the oversized shirt until it was high enough to reveal her belly button as well as the familiar stylized omega symbol tattooed on her inner left hip.
"Alright, you can cover up again. Thank you for trusting me enough to show me that. Now, do you remember anything before coming into this store?" Miss Militia continued her interview.
Sam nodded, "I remember being in an alleyway over there." The girl pointed off to the northeast.
"And before that?" Miss Militia asked. This time the girl shook her head sadly. "That's okay. It's unfortunate but we do get a few cases like yours from time to time. The Protectorate sponsors a program for younger capes, people with more than human abilities and attributes, to get both the protection and training they need. It's called the Wards. I was a part of the very first group in the Wards and I can tell you it's incredibly useful. They'll also have resources to help you settle in to life and adjust to your... changes."
"Can.." Sam started and then trailed off. "If I wanted to sign up would I have to go somewhere or just do it here?"
"We'd have to catch the ferry to Protectorate HQ." Miss Militia replied.
The girl turned to Mrs. Thayer with a slightly pleading look, "Would you... come with me?"
"Of course, Sam. In fact I quite insist. You'll need someone to represent your interests anyways." Mrs. Thayer beamed, "No matter how good the people, government is government. You should always have a trained eye on the paperwork."
"One of the van's should be here in a few minutes. We can get you situated in one of them for the ride there." Miss Militia offered and received polite thanks in return.
---
"So what are we looking at in terms of powers?" Armsmaster asked as he looked at the pair visiting his workshop. Miss Militia immediately deferred to Triumph, allowing the young leader to get some experience.
"Well, she seems to be a bit of a grab-bag cape, but a lot of that is her unique biology at play. For instance she gets a brute two just because those spider legs have a mean stomp. They're strong enough to cave a man's chest in if she really tried." Triumph started, his lion themed helmet bobbing slightly as he spoke. "While most of the fur on her body is decorative there are a few longer strands scattered throughout that become rigid and needle-like when she feels threatened and can even be shot. That's earned her a blaster one since their still only about as dangerous as our dart guns and not in any way poisonous."
"Mover one because, in defiance of all physics, she can climb up walls. Strangely this doesn't apply to ceilings which she'll fall off of if she doesn't anchor herself just like anyone else. And lastly Shaker four. She has telekinesis and can effect anything within her sight. Unfortunately it isn't particularly strong, at best she'll be tripping people in combat. The high number is because it isn't manton limited. Right now she just can't imagine trying to affect someone's insides, but if pushed she could be pretty dangerous if not necessarily very powerful." Triumph continued.
"Personality?" Armsmaster asked.
"Shy, but very calm. Even when confronted with a surprise sparring match she didn't get upset or particularly react. She followed orders to the spirit when she properly understood them, but has a bad habit of not asking for clarification when she doesn't." Triumph reported.
"And this, Margo Thayer... is going to be her new guardian?" Armsmaster asked. This time Triumph had to pass it back to Miss Militia.
"Yes. Despite living alone she has plenty of resources and can easily accommodate the needs of a child as special as Sam is. I think it's also important for a child Sam's age to interact with her peers and Mrs. Thayer agrees so she'll be starting classes at Clarke Anderson Elementary in a few weeks." Miss Militia reported. "I'll be contacting them tomorrow so we can get the ball rolling on any remodeling they may require."
Armsmaster nodded. "Alright, I'll get this all bundled into a single report and send it off to Director Piggot and PR. They're just going to love this one, I can already tell." While he couldn't see either of their mouths he could tell they'd both smiled at the joke. "Dismissed for now. Keep me updated on her progress for the next few weeks. She's now our youngest ward and the Youth Guard will be watching us closely for a while, especially since we already have Vista."
Edit:
Did some reading and found age nine is more like 4th grade so I rolled up an OC school for her to attend.
Name: Samantha Doe/Thayer
Standard +5
Start Date: 3/20/09
Complications:
Geas (The First Rule of Wildbow is you don't talk about the Wildbow.) +2
Pint-Sized (9) (+1) (Also inflicts mental state Childish making it hard to act like the mature adult you really are.)
Case 53 (Drider Appearance: New-World Tarantula) (+0)
Powers:
Gamer: (-4)
Apprentice (Psyren Psychics): (-2)
Advantages:
Companion: (-1)
Margo Thayer is an amazingly wealthy, old-money widow who owns a chain of eight ice-cream stores. When Samantha first showed up at one of the stores she was visiting she resolved right away to adopt the girl. She loves Samantha as though she were her own. Resources (2)
Woman of Mystery: (-1)
Due to the vagueries of her geas and Gamer Mind/Body nobody can tell Samantha is lying about not remembering anything. She also seems to occasionally know more than she should or acts like she knows more than she lets on. Any attempt to divine what she knows or how fails, including simply asking her.
Standard +5
Start Date: 3/20/09
Complications:
Geas (The First Rule of Wildbow is you don't talk about the Wildbow.) +2
Pint-Sized (9) (+1) (Also inflicts mental state Childish making it hard to act like the mature adult you really are.)
Case 53 (Drider Appearance: New-World Tarantula) (+0)
Powers:
Gamer: (-4)
Apprentice (Psyren Psychics): (-2)
Advantages:
Companion: (-1)
Margo Thayer is an amazingly wealthy, old-money widow who owns a chain of eight ice-cream stores. When Samantha first showed up at one of the stores she was visiting she resolved right away to adopt the girl. She loves Samantha as though she were her own. Resources (2)
Woman of Mystery: (-1)
Due to the vagueries of her geas and Gamer Mind/Body nobody can tell Samantha is lying about not remembering anything. She also seems to occasionally know more than she should or acts like she knows more than she lets on. Any attempt to divine what she knows or how fails, including simply asking her.
Chapter 1.1: Vhwee Ahr Gi-ahnt Spy-dahr!
Miss Militia pressed her lips in concern and gunned the engine of her tinker-modified Triumph America. It was, more often than not, the first appearance of a new cape that was the most dangerous. New triggers were inherently unstable and Case 53s were both disoriented and frightening to those around them. Thus why she couldn't help but expect the worst when called in to handle the sudden appearance of an unknown cape.
The address was unfamiliar but right off the boardwalk which made it even worse. If anything went wrong there would be masses of civilians around and it could potentially disrupt tourism, one of the few remaining revenue sources keeping the city afloat. For the sake of everyone she hoped they were something approaching reasonable.
She had to slow to what felt like a crawl as she approached the boardwalk due to the press of pedestrians and traffic. Most recognized her well enough to open a way but she still couldn't afford to just speed through the area. A few minutes later she finally arrived at the address to discover it was actually a locally famous ice cream parlor and coffee shop, Cream & Creamer.
One of the employees, a teenage boy with a skinny frame, was waiting outside and approached her as soon as she got off the motorcycle. "What's the situation?" She asked the kid.
"We set up one of the TVs to show cartoons and gave her some ice cream. Since then she's been more or less parked in front of the TV with Mrs. Thayer. There were a few people with camera phones running before Mrs. Thayer had us close for the day and kick everyone out, so I don't think it's a secret she's here anymore." He sounded more nervous about that last part.
Miss Militia blinked in surprise. 'Cartoons?' She thought to herself. In any case she nodded and let the boy lead her into the store.
As soon as she entered she saw a young platinum blond girl in a Death Cab for Cutie t-shirt sitting on one of the booth tables and facing away from her, staring up at a TV which was playing a cartoon she barely recognized about winged pixies and witches. Beside her sat a middle aged woman in an expensive looking suit. The woman had an arm around the girl's waist but resting on top of a blanket that covered the table for some reason.
Miss Militia approached the pair and cleared her throat. Both of them turned to look at her at the interruption and she had to work not to jump. While the woman was completely normal the girl had an extra, smaller, set of eyes just above and to the outside of her main pair as well as a full mouth of needle sharp teeth. It was also only now that she realized the girl was holding a small tub of ice cream with a spoon in it that was stirring of its own volition. 'Telekinetic,' she made a note to herself.
"Hello, I'm Miss Militia from the Protectorate. It's nice to meet you." She said and held her hand out.
"Margo Thayer, I own the entire chain. I just happened to be visiting this location when I caught Sam looking in the window. I couldn't just leave the poor dear out in the cold like that so I invited her in and have been looking after her since." The older woman said as she shook her hand. Noticing that Sam's body language was somewhat bashful Margo spoke to the girl, "Sam this woman's a real Hero. You can trust her with your life."
Sam looked at the older woman for a moment and then nodded. When she moved to shake hands the entire table seemed to move under the blanket. "Hi." The girl said quietly as she gently shook the older heroine's hand.
Miss Militia braced herself and asked the main question on her mind. "Sam, do you have any strange tattoos or marks anywhere on your body?" The girl hesitated and then nodded. "May I see it?" She blushed and looked at the older woman who hesitated a moment and then nodded. Margo quickly slid out of the booth and several feet away to Miss Militia's momentary confusion. Then Sam moved.
Eight fuzzy spider legs unfolded from beneath the blanket and found purchase on either the back of the seats or the seats themselves. With surprising fluidity she slid out of the booth, allowing the blanket to slide away and reveal a fuzzy spider abdomen, and onto the floor facing Miss Militia. To the heroine's surprise the girl's spider half was huge enough that standing comfortably the girl was eye to upper eye set with Miss Militia. Then the girl lifted the hem of the oversized shirt until it was high enough to reveal her belly button as well as the familiar stylized omega symbol tattooed on her inner left hip.
"Alright, you can cover up again. Thank you for trusting me enough to show me that. Now, do you remember anything before coming into this store?" Miss Militia continued her interview.
Sam nodded, "I remember being in an alleyway over there." The girl pointed off to the northeast.
"And before that?" Miss Militia asked. This time the girl shook her head sadly. "That's okay. It's unfortunate but we do get a few cases like yours from time to time. The Protectorate sponsors a program for younger capes, people with more than human abilities and attributes, to get both the protection and training they need. It's called the Wards. I was a part of the very first group in the Wards and I can tell you it's incredibly useful. They'll also have resources to help you settle in to life and adjust to your... changes."
"Can.." Sam started and then trailed off. "If I wanted to sign up would I have to go somewhere or just do it here?"
"We'd have to catch the ferry to Protectorate HQ." Miss Militia replied.
The girl turned to Mrs. Thayer with a slightly pleading look, "Would you... come with me?"
"Of course, Sam. In fact I quite insist. You'll need someone to represent your interests anyways." Mrs. Thayer beamed, "No matter how good the people, government is government. You should always have a trained eye on the paperwork."
"One of the van's should be here in a few minutes. We can get you situated in one of them for the ride there." Miss Militia offered and received polite thanks in return.
---
"So what are we looking at in terms of powers?" Armsmaster asked as he looked at the pair visiting his workshop. Miss Militia immediately deferred to Triumph, allowing the young leader to get some experience.
"Well, she seems to be a bit of a grab-bag cape, but a lot of that is her unique biology at play. For instance she gets a brute two just because those spider legs have a mean stomp. They're strong enough to cave a man's chest in if she really tried." Triumph started, his lion themed helmet bobbing slightly as he spoke. "While most of the fur on her body is decorative there are a few longer strands scattered throughout that become rigid and needle-like when she feels threatened and can even be shot. That's earned her a blaster one since their still only about as dangerous as our dart guns and not in any way poisonous."
"Mover one because, in defiance of all physics, she can climb up walls. Strangely this doesn't apply to ceilings which she'll fall off of if she doesn't anchor herself just like anyone else. And lastly Shaker four. She has telekinesis and can effect anything within her sight. Unfortunately it isn't particularly strong, at best she'll be tripping people in combat. The high number is because it isn't manton limited. Right now she just can't imagine trying to affect someone's insides, but if pushed she could be pretty dangerous if not necessarily very powerful." Triumph continued.
"Personality?" Armsmaster asked.
"Shy, but very calm. Even when confronted with a surprise sparring match she didn't get upset or particularly react. She followed orders to the spirit when she properly understood them, but has a bad habit of not asking for clarification when she doesn't." Triumph reported.
"And this, Margo Thayer... is going to be her new guardian?" Armsmaster asked. This time Triumph had to pass it back to Miss Militia.
"Yes. Despite living alone she has plenty of resources and can easily accommodate the needs of a child as special as Sam is. I think it's also important for a child Sam's age to interact with her peers and Mrs. Thayer agrees so she'll be starting classes at Clarke Anderson Elementary in a few weeks." Miss Militia reported. "I'll be contacting them tomorrow so we can get the ball rolling on any remodeling they may require."
Armsmaster nodded. "Alright, I'll get this all bundled into a single report and send it off to Director Piggot and PR. They're just going to love this one, I can already tell." While he couldn't see either of their mouths he could tell they'd both smiled at the joke. "Dismissed for now. Keep me updated on her progress for the next few weeks. She's now our youngest ward and the Youth Guard will be watching us closely for a while, especially since we already have Vista."
Edit:
Did some reading and found age nine is more like 4th grade so I rolled up an OC school for her to attend.
Last edited:
Jack of Olives
Knows just enough to be dangerous.
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- Apr 27, 2014
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That was adorable!
Hm... I wonder how her physiology will interact with Taylor's powers.
Anyway, looking forward to more.
Hm... I wonder how her physiology will interact with Taylor's powers.
Anyway, looking forward to more.
Selias
Well worn.
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2013
- Messages
- 6,462
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- 20,312
...Not at all? She has a human brain. It's her lower body that's a spider.
DieKatzchen
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2014
- Messages
- 161
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- 497
How did I miss this little gem for a whole day? Adorable little drider girls with needle teeth get you a watch.
1.2
SamPardi
Optimistic Nihilist
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2015
- Messages
- 1,277
- Likes received
- 26,327
Chapter 1.2: Morning Doldrums.
Dawn light filtered through pastel curtains and drew geometric shapes on the cream carpeted floor. Off-white walls looked vaguely green from the light reflecting off the forest green accent wall. That wall was home to the king-sized bed with its dark green and gold comforter which currently covered a lump large enough to pass for a bear.
A shrill chirping filled the air and caused the lump shift. It swayed slightly as the owner turned beneath the covers to face a bedside table. The arm of a young girl, skin soft and unblemished, reached out from the pile of covers and grabbed the chirping smart phone. It brought the phone closer while a mop of blond hair poked out to look at it. With a frustrated sigh the girl brought out her other hand and swiped the unlock feature and then finally pressed the button to deactivate the alarm. Girl and phone disappeared back under the pile of covers as she checked her messages and the alerts she'd tied in to the PHO forums.
Finally the lump began to move in earnest and slid out from the covers onto the floor with a semi-drunken sway. For a brief moment she looked disheveled with a wild mop of platinum hair covering her face down to her chin and poofing out with random bouts of waviness. Then Gamer's Body took control and suddenly she was wide awake with her hair slicked back into a pair of low sitting pig-tails, even her night shirt suddenly looked as though it had come straight from a drawer rather than been slept in all night. A moment later and she'd equipped the wearable portions of her new school uniform, thankfully it included a skirt that fully covered where her hips connected to the spider's thorax. She waved her hand at the bed, mentally activating her telekinesis with a program to make the bed.
Sam smiled as she sat down in front of the TV and next to a stack of teach-yourself books. "Four eyes!" She joked with herself as she caught sight of her reflection in the TV and giggled. Those extra eyes were entirely too useful. With another thought the TV activated and turned to the news. Her top eyes watched the announcers carefully while her main eyes were occupied flipping through the small stack of books. So long as she at least looked at every page the book would disappear and give her a few starting points in a particular skill. So far she'd been able to determine that it was a scale to one-hundred with ten being conversational, fifty being average professional, seventy five being master-level, and one hundred for living legend. The Childish status effect, though, reduced her usable points by five percent per year below twenty, so she was at a fifty-five percent disadvantage.
A series of optional side-quests popped up from the news. Some of them were obvious like 'Beat down Empire aggressors' while others were intriguing like 'investigate cause of car accident on 9th.' Unfortunately, most of them were ear-marked for the level she would be without 'Childish' or higher. The only quest for her level was 'Go to county book-fair Saturday Morning on Captain's Hill.' Not that she'd turn it down, but it was frustrating to be locked out of so much possible advancement.
A knock at the door startled her slightly. "Come in!"
Margo opened the door dressed in comfortable capris pants and a t-shirt but barefoot as she usually was indoors. "Hey Sammie, you all ready to go?"
"Totally!" Sam replied putting down the book she was reading and turning to completely face her new guardian. Behind her the TV turned off on its own. "I even got a look at my thread over on PHO. Some of the people were pretty cool, but there were some real creeps as well. I hope my classmates are more like the first ones, you know?"
Margo chuckled, "That's the internet. I'm sure you'll find plenty of great kids in class. Just give them a chance to adjust, okay, people aren't always how they first seem, kids especially." Smiled and nodded. "Now come down and get some breakfast. If we've got extra time you can even play the piano for me."
Sam followed her down the stairs for three flights. She was given the top floor suite for herself and Margo lived on the third floor, their live in maid Angela and her baby daughter, Rachel, lived on the second floor. Their destination was the breakfast nook connected to the kitchen. As they arrived Angela smiled at them from the kitchen and quickly moved to serve the food she'd prepared. "Omelet with all of the fixings and extra tomatoes, ma'am." Angela reported as she set a mid-sized omelet in front of the millionaire, then she set a much fuller plate in front of Sam. "Blood sausage, bacon and a small breakfast steak." Sam's mouth watered at the smell of blood and meat, her new body craved it often even through the malaise of Gamer's Body.
"Thank you Angela." Margo said, and Sam sheepishly echoed her.
Angela just smiled and set down a green colored drink. "My own special blend of herbs and vegetables based on your nutritionists recommendations. Make sure you drink it all."
Sam nodded, "Thank you, very much, Angela." She eyed the drink suspiciously but tasted it first. The texture would take some getting used to, but the zest was actually rather good. With a slight smile she dug in, though she worked hard to made sure to keep her eating tidy. Honestly she was still somewhat adjusting to her teeth, it was strange not having any flat teeth to grind with.
"Well, I think we've got a few minutes before you have to leave," Margo said after they'd both finished eating. "Go ahead and brush your teeth, then I would very much like it if you'd play something for me."
"Aye aye, boss lady!" Sam replied and scuttled off. A few moments later she was situated in front of the piano in the sitting room while Margo had draped herself across a love seat.
The girl thought for a moment and then smiled wide and started to play. Through daily and concerted practice she'd managed to get her adjusted skill level with the piano up to twenty-eight, the only one above her 'Psychic Programming' skill which was at twenty-two. While it wasn't enough to bring her up to the level of a professional, it let her at least play without any outstanding errors and only minor timing stumbles.
When she finished Margo walked over to her and gave her a hug. "That was beautiful. Now come on, the van's going to be here in a few minutes and we need to get you off to school."
A/N:
I just realized I forgot to include the contents of the skill books and a cooking skill... I'll fix that later, too hungry right now.
Dawn light filtered through pastel curtains and drew geometric shapes on the cream carpeted floor. Off-white walls looked vaguely green from the light reflecting off the forest green accent wall. That wall was home to the king-sized bed with its dark green and gold comforter which currently covered a lump large enough to pass for a bear.
A shrill chirping filled the air and caused the lump shift. It swayed slightly as the owner turned beneath the covers to face a bedside table. The arm of a young girl, skin soft and unblemished, reached out from the pile of covers and grabbed the chirping smart phone. It brought the phone closer while a mop of blond hair poked out to look at it. With a frustrated sigh the girl brought out her other hand and swiped the unlock feature and then finally pressed the button to deactivate the alarm. Girl and phone disappeared back under the pile of covers as she checked her messages and the alerts she'd tied in to the PHO forums.
Finally the lump began to move in earnest and slid out from the covers onto the floor with a semi-drunken sway. For a brief moment she looked disheveled with a wild mop of platinum hair covering her face down to her chin and poofing out with random bouts of waviness. Then Gamer's Body took control and suddenly she was wide awake with her hair slicked back into a pair of low sitting pig-tails, even her night shirt suddenly looked as though it had come straight from a drawer rather than been slept in all night. A moment later and she'd equipped the wearable portions of her new school uniform, thankfully it included a skirt that fully covered where her hips connected to the spider's thorax. She waved her hand at the bed, mentally activating her telekinesis with a program to make the bed.
Sam smiled as she sat down in front of the TV and next to a stack of teach-yourself books. "Four eyes!" She joked with herself as she caught sight of her reflection in the TV and giggled. Those extra eyes were entirely too useful. With another thought the TV activated and turned to the news. Her top eyes watched the announcers carefully while her main eyes were occupied flipping through the small stack of books. So long as she at least looked at every page the book would disappear and give her a few starting points in a particular skill. So far she'd been able to determine that it was a scale to one-hundred with ten being conversational, fifty being average professional, seventy five being master-level, and one hundred for living legend. The Childish status effect, though, reduced her usable points by five percent per year below twenty, so she was at a fifty-five percent disadvantage.
A series of optional side-quests popped up from the news. Some of them were obvious like 'Beat down Empire aggressors' while others were intriguing like 'investigate cause of car accident on 9th.' Unfortunately, most of them were ear-marked for the level she would be without 'Childish' or higher. The only quest for her level was 'Go to county book-fair Saturday Morning on Captain's Hill.' Not that she'd turn it down, but it was frustrating to be locked out of so much possible advancement.
A knock at the door startled her slightly. "Come in!"
Margo opened the door dressed in comfortable capris pants and a t-shirt but barefoot as she usually was indoors. "Hey Sammie, you all ready to go?"
"Totally!" Sam replied putting down the book she was reading and turning to completely face her new guardian. Behind her the TV turned off on its own. "I even got a look at my thread over on PHO. Some of the people were pretty cool, but there were some real creeps as well. I hope my classmates are more like the first ones, you know?"
Margo chuckled, "That's the internet. I'm sure you'll find plenty of great kids in class. Just give them a chance to adjust, okay, people aren't always how they first seem, kids especially." Smiled and nodded. "Now come down and get some breakfast. If we've got extra time you can even play the piano for me."
Sam followed her down the stairs for three flights. She was given the top floor suite for herself and Margo lived on the third floor, their live in maid Angela and her baby daughter, Rachel, lived on the second floor. Their destination was the breakfast nook connected to the kitchen. As they arrived Angela smiled at them from the kitchen and quickly moved to serve the food she'd prepared. "Omelet with all of the fixings and extra tomatoes, ma'am." Angela reported as she set a mid-sized omelet in front of the millionaire, then she set a much fuller plate in front of Sam. "Blood sausage, bacon and a small breakfast steak." Sam's mouth watered at the smell of blood and meat, her new body craved it often even through the malaise of Gamer's Body.
"Thank you Angela." Margo said, and Sam sheepishly echoed her.
Angela just smiled and set down a green colored drink. "My own special blend of herbs and vegetables based on your nutritionists recommendations. Make sure you drink it all."
Sam nodded, "Thank you, very much, Angela." She eyed the drink suspiciously but tasted it first. The texture would take some getting used to, but the zest was actually rather good. With a slight smile she dug in, though she worked hard to made sure to keep her eating tidy. Honestly she was still somewhat adjusting to her teeth, it was strange not having any flat teeth to grind with.
"Well, I think we've got a few minutes before you have to leave," Margo said after they'd both finished eating. "Go ahead and brush your teeth, then I would very much like it if you'd play something for me."
"Aye aye, boss lady!" Sam replied and scuttled off. A few moments later she was situated in front of the piano in the sitting room while Margo had draped herself across a love seat.
The girl thought for a moment and then smiled wide and started to play. Through daily and concerted practice she'd managed to get her adjusted skill level with the piano up to twenty-eight, the only one above her 'Psychic Programming' skill which was at twenty-two. While it wasn't enough to bring her up to the level of a professional, it let her at least play without any outstanding errors and only minor timing stumbles.
When she finished Margo walked over to her and gave her a hug. "That was beautiful. Now come on, the van's going to be here in a few minutes and we need to get you off to school."
A/N:
Samantha Doe
Age: 9 (25)
Level: 5 (11)
Class: Psychic
HP: 20/20 (200/200)
Strength: F+ (E+)
Intelligence: F (E)
Dexterity: F+ (E+)
Constitution: F+ (E+)
Charisma: E (D)
Luck: D (C)
PSY: E (D)
Skills:
Psychic Burst: 18 (40)
Psychic Rise: 2 (5)
Psychic Trance: 6 (14)
Psychic Programing: 22 (48)
Psychic Specialty: Not Unlocked
Performance: 8 (18)
Piano: 28 (63)
Singing: 12 (27)
Dancing: 14 (31)
Drawing: 20 (45)
Poetry: 13 (29)
Creative Writing: 19 (43)
Cooking: 10 (23)
Athletics: 10 (23)
Martial Arts: 5 (12) - Growth reduced 50% by lack of applicable martial style for body type.
Combat Tactics: 12 (27)
Combat Strategy: 14 (32)
Logistics: 18 (40)
Combat Communication: 2 (5)
Social: 12 (27)
Oration: 21 (47)
Expression: 13 (29)
Listening: 11 (25)
Reading Comprehension: 17 (38)
Posting Discipline: 10 (23)
Maths: 16 (36)
Algebra: 19 (43)
Calculus: 6 (14)
Trigonometry: 14 (32)
Geometry: 13 (29)
Logic: 18 (40)
Geography: 18 (40)
Geology: 12 (27)
Physics: 17 (38)
Cosmology: 16 (36)
Particle Physics: 11 (25)
Quantum Physics: 6 (14)
String Theory: 2 (5)
Computers: 20 (45)
Electrical Engineering: 8 (18)
Electronic Components: 10 (23)
Computer Programming: 19 (43)
Algorithms: 12 (27)
Encryption: 9 (20)
Skillbooks:
Carpentry: 2 (5)
Metal Working: 2 (5)
Leather Working: 2 (5)
Survivalism: 2 (5)
Dog Training: 4 (9) (Skills below this point had at least minor prior experience.)
Vehicle Repair: 7 (16)
Whittling: 7 (16)
Animal Husbandry: 11 (25)
Coded Hand Signals: 6 (14)
Morse Code: 15 (34)
Perks:
Hero: (Gained by joining Wards)
Your reputation as a crusader for good precedes you. The more lawful elements of the world will give you greater deference and attention. On the other hand villains will more likely choose to brain you first and ask questions later. %10 bonus to reputation checks for civilian, law enforcement and heroes. %10 penalty to reputation checks for criminals, outsiders, gangs and villains.
Gamer Mind/Gamer Body: (Gained from the Gamer Powerset)
You are both unnaturally calm and focused even when you should be under enormous amounts of duress. Skills and abilities are gained based on an experience system and possibly from perks, not from training as others understand it. With this your power will tend to plateau for a while between explosive growth spurts rather than build steadily over time.
Split Attention: (Gained from Drider Body)
Having two sets of eyes is immensely helpful for watching two things at once. Your brain is also wired slightly differently to allow you to properly multitask with both focuses.
Spiders Climb Walls: (Gained from Drider Body)
It's obvious to anybody who thinks about it that spiders are creatures that can climb vertical surfaces like walls. So obviously having the lower body of a spider means you can too. Its just what you do.
Nimble Fingers: (Gained from achieving over 50 points with an instrument.)
Your hands are especially dexterous and quick from all your music practice. This now carries over to any other use of your hands. From origami to lock-picking to surgery so long as it uses your hands you gain a bonus to your dexterity rank for the duration of the attempt.
Fuzzy Existence: (Gained from the Woman of Mystery perk.)
Your existence is a mystery and for better or worse it's pretty much going to stay that way. Even Panacea won't be able to get a proper read on you and thinkers like Tattletale or Contessa will just come up blank.
Childish: (Gained from Pint-Sized complication)
Having been an adult, you are well aware of how much being a child sucks. However some higher being has decided to piss on you and now you're stuck. You'll be acting more like a child with the same short attention span and high energy. You'll also take a %5 penalty to skills for every year below 20 and lose an entire rank in all stats until the same.
Geas: (Gained from the Geas complication)
You are not allowed to speak of your past life or the information about Worm you learned from it. Nor can you in any way imply that it exists. Lying to perpetuate this will automatically register as truth to all thinkers and lie detectors.
Abilities:
Telekinesis: (Psychic Burst/Psychic Programming)
You can manipulate objects you can see or have recently seen in the world around you with your mind. Pushing, pulling, lifting, crushing it's all technically possible. However in order to affect the world exactly as intended it needs to be Programmed. When using Telekinesis, consider Psychic Burst to be your required check for strength and Psychic Programming as an analogue to dexterity.
Age: 9 (25)
Level: 5 (11)
Class: Psychic
HP: 20/20 (200/200)
Strength: F+ (E+)
Intelligence: F (E)
Dexterity: F+ (E+)
Constitution: F+ (E+)
Charisma: E (D)
Luck: D (C)
PSY: E (D)
Skills:
Psychic Burst: 18 (40)
Psychic Rise: 2 (5)
Psychic Trance: 6 (14)
Psychic Programing: 22 (48)
Psychic Specialty: Not Unlocked
Performance: 8 (18)
Piano: 28 (63)
Singing: 12 (27)
Dancing: 14 (31)
Drawing: 20 (45)
Poetry: 13 (29)
Creative Writing: 19 (43)
Cooking: 10 (23)
Athletics: 10 (23)
Martial Arts: 5 (12) - Growth reduced 50% by lack of applicable martial style for body type.
Combat Tactics: 12 (27)
Combat Strategy: 14 (32)
Logistics: 18 (40)
Combat Communication: 2 (5)
Social: 12 (27)
Oration: 21 (47)
Expression: 13 (29)
Listening: 11 (25)
Reading Comprehension: 17 (38)
Posting Discipline: 10 (23)
Maths: 16 (36)
Algebra: 19 (43)
Calculus: 6 (14)
Trigonometry: 14 (32)
Geometry: 13 (29)
Logic: 18 (40)
Geography: 18 (40)
Geology: 12 (27)
Physics: 17 (38)
Cosmology: 16 (36)
Particle Physics: 11 (25)
Quantum Physics: 6 (14)
String Theory: 2 (5)
Computers: 20 (45)
Electrical Engineering: 8 (18)
Electronic Components: 10 (23)
Computer Programming: 19 (43)
Algorithms: 12 (27)
Encryption: 9 (20)
Skillbooks:
Carpentry: 2 (5)
Metal Working: 2 (5)
Leather Working: 2 (5)
Survivalism: 2 (5)
Dog Training: 4 (9) (Skills below this point had at least minor prior experience.)
Vehicle Repair: 7 (16)
Whittling: 7 (16)
Animal Husbandry: 11 (25)
Coded Hand Signals: 6 (14)
Morse Code: 15 (34)
Perks:
Hero: (Gained by joining Wards)
Your reputation as a crusader for good precedes you. The more lawful elements of the world will give you greater deference and attention. On the other hand villains will more likely choose to brain you first and ask questions later. %10 bonus to reputation checks for civilian, law enforcement and heroes. %10 penalty to reputation checks for criminals, outsiders, gangs and villains.
Gamer Mind/Gamer Body: (Gained from the Gamer Powerset)
You are both unnaturally calm and focused even when you should be under enormous amounts of duress. Skills and abilities are gained based on an experience system and possibly from perks, not from training as others understand it. With this your power will tend to plateau for a while between explosive growth spurts rather than build steadily over time.
Split Attention: (Gained from Drider Body)
Having two sets of eyes is immensely helpful for watching two things at once. Your brain is also wired slightly differently to allow you to properly multitask with both focuses.
Spiders Climb Walls: (Gained from Drider Body)
It's obvious to anybody who thinks about it that spiders are creatures that can climb vertical surfaces like walls. So obviously having the lower body of a spider means you can too. Its just what you do.
Nimble Fingers: (Gained from achieving over 50 points with an instrument.)
Your hands are especially dexterous and quick from all your music practice. This now carries over to any other use of your hands. From origami to lock-picking to surgery so long as it uses your hands you gain a bonus to your dexterity rank for the duration of the attempt.
Fuzzy Existence: (Gained from the Woman of Mystery perk.)
Your existence is a mystery and for better or worse it's pretty much going to stay that way. Even Panacea won't be able to get a proper read on you and thinkers like Tattletale or Contessa will just come up blank.
Childish: (Gained from Pint-Sized complication)
Having been an adult, you are well aware of how much being a child sucks. However some higher being has decided to piss on you and now you're stuck. You'll be acting more like a child with the same short attention span and high energy. You'll also take a %5 penalty to skills for every year below 20 and lose an entire rank in all stats until the same.
Geas: (Gained from the Geas complication)
You are not allowed to speak of your past life or the information about Worm you learned from it. Nor can you in any way imply that it exists. Lying to perpetuate this will automatically register as truth to all thinkers and lie detectors.
Abilities:
Telekinesis: (Psychic Burst/Psychic Programming)
You can manipulate objects you can see or have recently seen in the world around you with your mind. Pushing, pulling, lifting, crushing it's all technically possible. However in order to affect the world exactly as intended it needs to be Programmed. When using Telekinesis, consider Psychic Burst to be your required check for strength and Psychic Programming as an analogue to dexterity.
I just realized I forgot to include the contents of the skill books and a cooking skill... I'll fix that later, too hungry right now.
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steamrick
Matter: protons, electrons, neutrons and morons
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I love the starting power combination
Wow, your interpretation of the trait childish is much more crippling than one point's worth has any right to be...
Will she be able to use a regular martial arts skill book or does she have to invent an entirely martial art due to her distinctly nonhuman body?
Wow, your interpretation of the trait childish is much more crippling than one point's worth has any right to be...
Will she be able to use a regular martial arts skill book or does she have to invent an entirely martial art due to her distinctly nonhuman body?
SamPardi
Optimistic Nihilist
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Well, I actually would rather do these in Skitter Mode, but that takes away my favorite power sets, Mad Enhancement and/or Gamer. So instead I try to make the complications really complicate things. Also it hard locks out the anti-endbringer abilities until she's at least fifteen when the penalty is reduced enough for her to have 75 effective skill points.
She'll need to invent a new martial arts, or have it invented for her by an expert or thinker with the proper skills/gift.
She'll need to invent a new martial arts, or have it invented for her by an expert or thinker with the proper skills/gift.
Nervaqus987
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Psyren!
Watched!
Watched!
anechoic
they/them/theirs
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Interesting power-set. I'm curious to see just when you've showed up relative to canon and* how you're going to handle things.
*Just saw your post below. Didn't notice the date when I looked at your character sheet.
Interesting. Looks like you're still gonna be a bit of a pip-squeak at the start of canon.
*Just saw your post below. Didn't notice the date when I looked at your character sheet.
Interesting. Looks like you're still gonna be a bit of a pip-squeak at the start of canon.
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1986ctcel
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Its in the character sheet at the top "Start Date: 3/20/09" so two years before canon.
steamrick
Matter: protons, electrons, neutrons and morons
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Thanks, I didn't see that.
Timeline... Annette has been dead for two years and Sophia became Emma's BFF last summer... not that Sam has any reason to interact with any of them until Shadow Stalker is forced into the Wards unless she finds a reason of her own.
Also, that makes her about a year younger than Missy. I bet she'll be ecstatic to have someone of similar age in the wards.
Who's in the Brockton Bay Wards at this time anyway? Half of the canon wards probably haven't triggered yet and this is a good chance to create an OC that would have either transferred or died.
Timeline... Annette has been dead for two years and Sophia became Emma's BFF last summer... not that Sam has any reason to interact with any of them until Shadow Stalker is forced into the Wards unless she finds a reason of her own.
Also, that makes her about a year younger than Missy. I bet she'll be ecstatic to have someone of similar age in the wards.
Who's in the Brockton Bay Wards at this time anyway? Half of the canon wards probably haven't triggered yet and this is a good chance to create an OC that would have either transferred or died.
SamPardi
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Brockton Bay Cape Lineups for this AU:
Protectorate:
Armsmaster (Team Leader and Wards Commander)
Miss Militia (Wards Liason)
Challenger
Assault
Battery
Velocity
Wards:
Triumph (Leader)
Aegis
Gallant
Vista
Scramble (Mover/Shaker, moves at high speed while leaving sporadic EMPs behind, originally transferred to West Coast Feb 2010. OC)
New Wave:
Brandish
Flashbang
Manpower
Lady Photon
Panacea
Glory Girl
Laserdream
Shielder
Independent Heroes:
Shadow Stalker
E88:
Kaiser
Purity
Victor
Othalla
Kreig
Hookwolf
Stormtiger
Warhammer (Brute, minor alexandria package, originally killed by Lung in Aug 2009. OC)
Gram (Striker, could cause cuts consistent with a broadsword's blade with a touch, originally killed by Oni Lee in Dec 2009. OC)
ABB:
Lung
Oni Lee
Fullburn (Blaster, minor pyrokinetic, originally died in a skirmish with E88 in July 2009. OC)
Kaze (Thinker, combat intuition, originally killed in a fight with Cricket late 2010. OC)
Independant Villains:
Blasto (Originally driven to Boston in April 2009 by E88.)
Skidmark
Coil (Not actively doing anything as his base is still under construction.)
Protectorate:
Armsmaster (Team Leader and Wards Commander)
Miss Militia (Wards Liason)
Challenger
Assault
Battery
Velocity
Wards:
Triumph (Leader)
Aegis
Gallant
Vista
Scramble (Mover/Shaker, moves at high speed while leaving sporadic EMPs behind, originally transferred to West Coast Feb 2010. OC)
New Wave:
Brandish
Flashbang
Manpower
Lady Photon
Panacea
Glory Girl
Laserdream
Shielder
Independent Heroes:
Shadow Stalker
E88:
Kaiser
Purity
Victor
Othalla
Kreig
Hookwolf
Stormtiger
Warhammer (Brute, minor alexandria package, originally killed by Lung in Aug 2009. OC)
Gram (Striker, could cause cuts consistent with a broadsword's blade with a touch, originally killed by Oni Lee in Dec 2009. OC)
ABB:
Lung
Oni Lee
Fullburn (Blaster, minor pyrokinetic, originally died in a skirmish with E88 in July 2009. OC)
Kaze (Thinker, combat intuition, originally killed in a fight with Cricket late 2010. OC)
Independant Villains:
Blasto (Originally driven to Boston in April 2009 by E88.)
Skidmark
Coil (Not actively doing anything as his base is still under construction.)
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SamPardi
Optimistic Nihilist
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All I've got for Challenger is that Lung fought him once sometime before 2011. Even then until you mentioned him the name had never particularly stuck with me. So do you know where I can find more on him? I'm going to go ahead and add him to the Protectorate list since the timing is about right. I just hope I don't have to invent a canon character's details from whole cloth. -.-
I know Kid Win joins later in the year and I was trying to leave them with more than two cannon wards... Maybe I could switch out Aegis for him... I'm trying to dig through the interludes to confirm this stuff, but if you know off the top of your head where they went into this I'd appreciate a link.
I know Kid Win joins later in the year and I was trying to leave them with more than two cannon wards... Maybe I could switch out Aegis for him... I'm trying to dig through the interludes to confirm this stuff, but if you know off the top of your head where they went into this I'd appreciate a link.
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Cyclone
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Vista is the longest serving of the BB Wards who survived Leviathan. I don't think we get any info on how long those who were killed in the Levi fight were Wards. ISTR a reference to Vista having nine months over Kid Win but cannot cite a source right now.
Alas, that is all we know about Challenger, that he was a member of the Protectorate who fought Lung in his grand entrance to Brockton Bay.
Alas, that is all we know about Challenger, that he was a member of the Protectorate who fought Lung in his grand entrance to Brockton Bay.
ryune
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Huh. it's too bad she you went with a Tarantula for the spider half. Being able to produce spider silk in large quantities would have been game breaking for the safety of the wards. That said, I am somewhat surprised that she doesn't have a lot of hearing based advantages. Those hairs on their legs are a part of a spider's ear equivalent and are very sensitive. I wouldn't be surprised if she could develop eco-location and a tremor sense. Does she have a poisonous bite?
Cyclone
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Okay, found some relevant information on the Wards:
Sentinel 9.5 said:
This passage tells us quite a bit. She's been a Ward nine months longer than Kid Win. She's thirteen years old just after Leviathan hit, but joined the Wards a month before turning eleven, so anywhere from two years and one month (if she turned thirteen just prior to canon) to two years and eleven months (if she's just shy of turning fourteen as of this chapter) prior to canon, so probably two and a half years prior to canon, which would be around fall 2008.
"She knew from her own experience that the pictures would have been taken in their first week on the team." The phrasing of this sentence confirms that Vista wasn't present when the pictures were taken but also strongly indicates that she wasn't a Ward yet when they joined, as if she had been a Ward then, she logically would have seen the pictures shortly after they were taken and would know from that and not "from her own experience" when the pictures were taken.
And for completeness's sake, all we know about Challenger is this:
Interlude 22.y said:
Which incidentally gives us the Protectorate line-up at that time. All other uses of the word "challenger" that a site-wide search of parahumans.wordpress.com yields are the common noun use of the word or the Fugly Bob Challenger.
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Vanargandr
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So Spiders huh?
Well good luck you adorable creepy as all hell thing
DieKatzchen
Know what you're doing yet?
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I /almost/ recognize what the title is a reference to, but it eludes me. Some help please?
Nervaqus987
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Chibi-reaper's Witch Quest.
MC is a Spider Witch with a bit of a speech impediment due to being a giant spider monster.
ryune
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Alright. Some further thoughts on the chapter.
Was it really appropriate to comment on the 9 year old having a "camel toe" in the SFW section? Especially considering she was likely fully exposing herself?
Could someone give me an outline of the specific Psyren powers? I have a fairly good idea of what they all do together but it has been a very long time since I even though of the series and could use a refresher.
Also, how does the Gamer power specifically apply here? Yes, she is restored to full every time she sleeps and can train her skills but is that level 100 and actual skill cap or does she just become blatantly supernatural once she passes it?
Was it really appropriate to comment on the 9 year old having a "camel toe" in the SFW section? Especially considering she was likely fully exposing herself?
Could someone give me an outline of the specific Psyren powers? I have a fairly good idea of what they all do together but it has been a very long time since I even though of the series and could use a refresher.
Also, how does the Gamer power specifically apply here? Yes, she is restored to full every time she sleeps and can train her skills but is that level 100 and actual skill cap or does she just become blatantly supernatural once she passes it?
DieKatzchen
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Hmm... I've never read that. It must just be a popular fictional speech impediment. Now this is gonna drive me nuts.
Nervaqus987
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Psyren basics.
Psy is broken up into three branches; Burst, Trance, and Rise.
Burst is psychic power used to affect the physical world. Examples include pyrokinesis, telekinesis, etc.
Trance is psychic power used to affect the mind. The common variant is, of course, telepathy. Other uses are precognition, remote viewing, and other things of that nature.
Rise is psychic power used to affect the user's own body, making them stronger, faster, tougher, improving senses and healing ability, etc.
DieKatzchen
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Just remembered where else I've seen that speech impediment. Cultist-chan! Oh man, that's a load off my mind.
Chapter 1.3
SamPardi
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Chapter 1.3: Lights Dancing in the Distant Skies.
"We're very pleased to have a member of the Wards joining our school. It sets a great example for our students and many of the parents find it reassuring," Principle Stockham said as he led Sam and her PRT liaison through the walls of Clarke Anderson Elementary. Unlike whoever had gotten Shadow Stalker's case in canon her PRT liaison, Agent Don Henderson, was the kind of grim-faced man that took his job very seriously. Of course since she wasn't on probation his job was more to ensure compliance with regulations, on both her part and the school's, and make sure everything stayed above board.
Classes had already started but the layout of the school rooms meant that some of them had open doors allowing the students within to gawk at her as they passed. The teachers regained their focus easily enough, but she could just hear the susurrus of whispers lingering in those classes. Even with an additional decade and a half experience it still got her nerves itching, but not enough to disrupt her constant smile.
"Now, with the scores from your aptitude tests we've bumped you up into our most advanced fifth grade class. We felt it gave the best mix of preventing classroom boredom and still allowing for interactions within your age group," He continued while giving Sam a friendly smile. 'And it gives them a de-facto probationary period,' she realized. Since both Clarke Anderson and Arcadia Middle had sixth grade they could quietly transfer her out after the few months left of this year if they found her a problem. Or they could let her continue attending and appear to have never had any doubts. 'Clever.'
"I'll work hard so you won't regret your decision," Sam says with a formality that sounds practiced. The Principle just gives her another smile. Finally the group stops outside a double-door that smells strongly of lacquer and fresh paint and too pristine to be anything but brand new. The principle knocked quietly on the door. There was a brief moment of collective silence before it opened from within.
The teacher was a younger woman, maybe thirty or so, with auburn hair and a gentle smile. "Principle Stockham, Agent Henderson, good to see you. This must be our newest classmate, Samantha. I'm Mrs. Lamareaux. It's very nice to meet you. Would you prefer to be called Sam or Samantha?"
"It's nice to meet you too, and I prefer to go by Sam," the girl responded shyly.
The teacher smiled brightly and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Well, Sam, why don't you come in and meet your classmates?"
They walked into the classroom and Sam had to fight down her nerves to keep smiling as she surveyed the room. The class was arranged around several long tables with seven seats at each, since the head of the table was empty. Her eyes roved over the children looking at her, most with barely contained interest, and a few with outright disgust, a couple were even looking with concern. "Class, we have a new student today. Her name's Samantha Doe, but as a member of our class you should call her Sam. Say hello, dear."
She nodded and quickly gathered her thoughts, "Hi, uh, I'm Sam. I like reading and video games, and Margo, my guardian. They haven't announced it yet, but I'm allowed to tell you that I'm a member of the Wards, so I might have to leave class for that sometimes." Whispers of 'cool' and 'I wonder if she knows Vista/Gallant/Triumph' filled the room for a moment until Mrs. Lamareaux got their attention.
"Now, let's go around the room and all say our names so Sam can get to know us. Mary, why don't you start," She instructed. Sam mentally called up the status bars she usually kept turned off. As each child said their name the bar above their head updated from child to 'Mary' or 'Gordon' or whatever. With this she wouldn't have to trip over trying to remember twenty-odd names. "Great, now there's an opening at the Meagan's table, Sam. If you'll get set we can get class started for the day." The spider-girl nodded and moved to the foot of the table indicated, it was obviously left empty for her since she couldn't really fit in the aisle's between tables.
"Hey, are you really going to be a Ward?" Meagan, a brunette who was a bit tall for her age whispered to her once she had properly folded her legs underneath her to sit down.
"Well, I'm not going on patrols yet, but I have training with them every day after school." Sam whispered back, careful to keep in unobtrusive.
"Cool! Do you think you could get me Vista's autograph?" Meagan asked. The girl across from her, Amy, shushed her and Meagan managed to at least look slightly sheepish. Sam just nodded and turned her primary attention to the teacher as the lesson started.
As much as being back in elementary school was a bit boring it was also a surprisingly novel experience for Sam. The material and classroom discipline was much much better than the elementary schools she'd attended in Arizona. Whether that was a product of being on the East Coast or in a more exclusive school she couldn't really say. Most of the day passed from there with surprising ease. A girl named Amanda talked crap about her behind her back, but she easily ignored it. At lunch she sat with Meagan, Amy, and a quiet boy named Mark who sat at one of the other tables in class. There were the expected questions like whether they could rub her legs, she was careful to keep her spines down so they only felt the silky fur, can she climb on walls, 'of course!', why was she drinking her lunch, 'because I need more protein than usual' was the out loud answer but really she just didn't want to freak anyone out with her carnivorous eating habits.
An hour later she found herself back in class and with a pair of eyes staring out over the sprawl of Brockton Bay while her main pair focused on class. Since the school was a bit up Captain's Hill the windows in their classroom looked out over almost the entire city. Far in the distant North side of the city a mote of bright white light floated up into the sky. A few seconds later it started raining down seemingly tiny pulses of light on the dilapidated districts below, sometimes leaving tiny black scars in their wake. Several minutes later more light sources, lesser and usually some neon color joined her in the sky. Blue flashes were followed by white flashes which elicited tiny purple pinpricks of light in response. Finally the bright white light dropped down among the buildings and zipped across half the city before disappearing.
This seemed to signal the end and the neon lights faded away as well. Only a few pinpricks of yellow and scars of black remained in their wake. A few more flashes of neon and the yellow pinpricks were gone.
Without anything else to keep her attention it returned to the room. This time she she started doodling on a piece of scrap paper without touching the pencil. She had a feeling her drawing and psychic programming skills were going to level significantly during class time.
----
A/N:
Ah, the banality of war.
Ryune:
Is it appropriate? Don't know. Appropriateness isn't always something my brain computes, and in this case all I see is a minor anatomical detail that I may want to use later. It's not strictly speaking necessary, but since I haven't faced popular or mod backlash it's staying as is for now. (I also tend to view character over body, so to me it's a 25 year old that has a camel toe, they just look like a nine-year old to outside observers.)
Nervaqus hit on the main points of Psyren psychics I'd just add one more thing. Every Psychic in Psyren had a particular 'flavor' based on their self and personality. The categories are still the same, but their expression is not. Frederika for instance was a burst focused master who only ever used pyrokinetics, while her adopted sister Marie was the same but with telekinetics. On the other hand Kyle also used burst, creating hyper dense cubes, but mixed it with a focus in rise to create a mixed style of dense projectiles and strong CQC. Then there are the more exotic ones like Amemiya perfecting trance, with rise support, to the point where she can double-team people with her split personality or Miroku's Sephiroth tree that is a burst construct that consumes life energy to fuel himself or the construct in question. So think of the three categories more like PRT ratings. A high burst user is going to hit you from a distance, but that could be anything from a beam of doom to telekinetically ripping off your arm and beating you with it.
In this AU, Psychics can be taught but it requires a very high skill in trance to do so and highly skilled medical care on hand. All humans, even in Earth Bet, are psychic but it's a vestigal property like tits on a male. Technically there and possibly functional, but the important parts behind it are entirely undeveloped. The trance user has to trick the brain into releasing the necessary hormone cocktails to kickstart the development of that portion of the brain.
With Gamer the biggest thing is that it highly accelerates and better yet creates good metrics for skill gain. However the real value of the system are the perks and ranks. At skill level 50/75/100, base not adjusted, you receive a perk giving you a permanent bonus in something. Eventually she'll figure out how to interrogate a skill tree for it's perks and plan ahead better, for now she just knows they exist because she got one for getting Piano to 50. At certain skill levels, adjusted this time, you also gain access to certain abilities or new skills. When a skill both base and adjusted reaches 100 it's changed to Rank E. Rank E means your better than any human alive could be at the given skill. From there it can only be increased through special quests which are given exceedingly rarely and always involve going beyond the norms of human ability, like hacking Dragon without using Richter's backdoors or beating Jack Slash in a social-fu contest for control of Bonesaw. Every rank above E is an order of magnitude above the capabilities possible for a human.
"We're very pleased to have a member of the Wards joining our school. It sets a great example for our students and many of the parents find it reassuring," Principle Stockham said as he led Sam and her PRT liaison through the walls of Clarke Anderson Elementary. Unlike whoever had gotten Shadow Stalker's case in canon her PRT liaison, Agent Don Henderson, was the kind of grim-faced man that took his job very seriously. Of course since she wasn't on probation his job was more to ensure compliance with regulations, on both her part and the school's, and make sure everything stayed above board.
Classes had already started but the layout of the school rooms meant that some of them had open doors allowing the students within to gawk at her as they passed. The teachers regained their focus easily enough, but she could just hear the susurrus of whispers lingering in those classes. Even with an additional decade and a half experience it still got her nerves itching, but not enough to disrupt her constant smile.
"Now, with the scores from your aptitude tests we've bumped you up into our most advanced fifth grade class. We felt it gave the best mix of preventing classroom boredom and still allowing for interactions within your age group," He continued while giving Sam a friendly smile. 'And it gives them a de-facto probationary period,' she realized. Since both Clarke Anderson and Arcadia Middle had sixth grade they could quietly transfer her out after the few months left of this year if they found her a problem. Or they could let her continue attending and appear to have never had any doubts. 'Clever.'
"I'll work hard so you won't regret your decision," Sam says with a formality that sounds practiced. The Principle just gives her another smile. Finally the group stops outside a double-door that smells strongly of lacquer and fresh paint and too pristine to be anything but brand new. The principle knocked quietly on the door. There was a brief moment of collective silence before it opened from within.
The teacher was a younger woman, maybe thirty or so, with auburn hair and a gentle smile. "Principle Stockham, Agent Henderson, good to see you. This must be our newest classmate, Samantha. I'm Mrs. Lamareaux. It's very nice to meet you. Would you prefer to be called Sam or Samantha?"
"It's nice to meet you too, and I prefer to go by Sam," the girl responded shyly.
The teacher smiled brightly and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Well, Sam, why don't you come in and meet your classmates?"
They walked into the classroom and Sam had to fight down her nerves to keep smiling as she surveyed the room. The class was arranged around several long tables with seven seats at each, since the head of the table was empty. Her eyes roved over the children looking at her, most with barely contained interest, and a few with outright disgust, a couple were even looking with concern. "Class, we have a new student today. Her name's Samantha Doe, but as a member of our class you should call her Sam. Say hello, dear."
She nodded and quickly gathered her thoughts, "Hi, uh, I'm Sam. I like reading and video games, and Margo, my guardian. They haven't announced it yet, but I'm allowed to tell you that I'm a member of the Wards, so I might have to leave class for that sometimes." Whispers of 'cool' and 'I wonder if she knows Vista/Gallant/Triumph' filled the room for a moment until Mrs. Lamareaux got their attention.
"Now, let's go around the room and all say our names so Sam can get to know us. Mary, why don't you start," She instructed. Sam mentally called up the status bars she usually kept turned off. As each child said their name the bar above their head updated from child to 'Mary' or 'Gordon' or whatever. With this she wouldn't have to trip over trying to remember twenty-odd names. "Great, now there's an opening at the Meagan's table, Sam. If you'll get set we can get class started for the day." The spider-girl nodded and moved to the foot of the table indicated, it was obviously left empty for her since she couldn't really fit in the aisle's between tables.
"Hey, are you really going to be a Ward?" Meagan, a brunette who was a bit tall for her age whispered to her once she had properly folded her legs underneath her to sit down.
"Well, I'm not going on patrols yet, but I have training with them every day after school." Sam whispered back, careful to keep in unobtrusive.
"Cool! Do you think you could get me Vista's autograph?" Meagan asked. The girl across from her, Amy, shushed her and Meagan managed to at least look slightly sheepish. Sam just nodded and turned her primary attention to the teacher as the lesson started.
As much as being back in elementary school was a bit boring it was also a surprisingly novel experience for Sam. The material and classroom discipline was much much better than the elementary schools she'd attended in Arizona. Whether that was a product of being on the East Coast or in a more exclusive school she couldn't really say. Most of the day passed from there with surprising ease. A girl named Amanda talked crap about her behind her back, but she easily ignored it. At lunch she sat with Meagan, Amy, and a quiet boy named Mark who sat at one of the other tables in class. There were the expected questions like whether they could rub her legs, she was careful to keep her spines down so they only felt the silky fur, can she climb on walls, 'of course!', why was she drinking her lunch, 'because I need more protein than usual' was the out loud answer but really she just didn't want to freak anyone out with her carnivorous eating habits.
An hour later she found herself back in class and with a pair of eyes staring out over the sprawl of Brockton Bay while her main pair focused on class. Since the school was a bit up Captain's Hill the windows in their classroom looked out over almost the entire city. Far in the distant North side of the city a mote of bright white light floated up into the sky. A few seconds later it started raining down seemingly tiny pulses of light on the dilapidated districts below, sometimes leaving tiny black scars in their wake. Several minutes later more light sources, lesser and usually some neon color joined her in the sky. Blue flashes were followed by white flashes which elicited tiny purple pinpricks of light in response. Finally the bright white light dropped down among the buildings and zipped across half the city before disappearing.
This seemed to signal the end and the neon lights faded away as well. Only a few pinpricks of yellow and scars of black remained in their wake. A few more flashes of neon and the yellow pinpricks were gone.
Without anything else to keep her attention it returned to the room. This time she she started doodling on a piece of scrap paper without touching the pencil. She had a feeling her drawing and psychic programming skills were going to level significantly during class time.
----
A/N:
Ah, the banality of war.
Ryune:
Is it appropriate? Don't know. Appropriateness isn't always something my brain computes, and in this case all I see is a minor anatomical detail that I may want to use later. It's not strictly speaking necessary, but since I haven't faced popular or mod backlash it's staying as is for now. (I also tend to view character over body, so to me it's a 25 year old that has a camel toe, they just look like a nine-year old to outside observers.)
Nervaqus hit on the main points of Psyren psychics I'd just add one more thing. Every Psychic in Psyren had a particular 'flavor' based on their self and personality. The categories are still the same, but their expression is not. Frederika for instance was a burst focused master who only ever used pyrokinetics, while her adopted sister Marie was the same but with telekinetics. On the other hand Kyle also used burst, creating hyper dense cubes, but mixed it with a focus in rise to create a mixed style of dense projectiles and strong CQC. Then there are the more exotic ones like Amemiya perfecting trance, with rise support, to the point where she can double-team people with her split personality or Miroku's Sephiroth tree that is a burst construct that consumes life energy to fuel himself or the construct in question. So think of the three categories more like PRT ratings. A high burst user is going to hit you from a distance, but that could be anything from a beam of doom to telekinetically ripping off your arm and beating you with it.
In this AU, Psychics can be taught but it requires a very high skill in trance to do so and highly skilled medical care on hand. All humans, even in Earth Bet, are psychic but it's a vestigal property like tits on a male. Technically there and possibly functional, but the important parts behind it are entirely undeveloped. The trance user has to trick the brain into releasing the necessary hormone cocktails to kickstart the development of that portion of the brain.
With Gamer the biggest thing is that it highly accelerates and better yet creates good metrics for skill gain. However the real value of the system are the perks and ranks. At skill level 50/75/100, base not adjusted, you receive a perk giving you a permanent bonus in something. Eventually she'll figure out how to interrogate a skill tree for it's perks and plan ahead better, for now she just knows they exist because she got one for getting Piano to 50. At certain skill levels, adjusted this time, you also gain access to certain abilities or new skills. When a skill both base and adjusted reaches 100 it's changed to Rank E. Rank E means your better than any human alive could be at the given skill. From there it can only be increased through special quests which are given exceedingly rarely and always involve going beyond the norms of human ability, like hacking Dragon without using Richter's backdoors or beating Jack Slash in a social-fu contest for control of Bonesaw. Every rank above E is an order of magnitude above the capabilities possible for a human.
Last edited:
ryune
Experienced.
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She has access to mind bullets. It could be either.