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Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

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TanaNari said:
The more I thought about it, the more I realized our capital buildings were an incredibly high end military research facility than they were anything else.
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Missing comparative. I'd feel more comfortable recommending "were more of an" if it wouldn't result in the word "more" appearing thrice in the same sentence. That kind of thing just feels crowded.

Cloud city is going to need a tether to the ground if they want to retain dominion, resulting in the appearance of the thinnest trunked tree ever. Of course that just makes names like Asgard and Valhalla even more appropriate.
 
tordg said:
Cloud city is going to need a tether to the ground if they want to retain dominion, resulting in the appearance of the thinnest trunked tree ever. Of course that just makes names like Asgard and Valhalla even more appropriate.
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Nonsense! All you really need is to merge Amelia and Taylor to make Amelia's strike based power work through the bugs.
 
Chevalier spent a good portion of at least a few chapters dodging Ingenue and her powers (think it was a Master power, pheromones or something else, can't remember; just looked it up, according to the Parahumans Wiki: http://worm.wikia.com/wiki/Ingenue
Parahumans Wiki: said:
Ingenue's power works by boosting one aspect of someone's power in exchange for dropping proficiency in another. This has the unfortunate side effect of driving her 'partners' homicidally insane after prolonged periods of use.
Ingenue can also change her personality into her target's 'ideal woman' which makes manipulating them easier. It was also implied that she may be able to see passengers and trigger events.
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So Chevalier, when placed in a superficially similar situation, dodhed for all he was worth, and held out pretty darn admirably, especially against someone who could essentially alter herself to be able to Master her target without actual direct use of her on said target, only indirect use ( I think I'm understanding that right. ) While Vicky is a more benign female suitor, Pantheon is some ways kind of a rival organization to the one Chevalier belongs to, so he may try to hold out as long as possible, not to mention that just seems to be part of his personality. The interactions between are pretty entertaining as is, but I am very interested to where those two will end up. Especially if the heat turns up enough that villains start to be called into the Endbringer fights in bigger ways, more akin to the way things were when Scion was rampaging, and Ingenue turns up, spotting someone interesting to her but there's already a rival. That'd be an especially interesting interaction, even if the odds are high Ingenue would push the boundaries a little too far and end up getting a justified beat-down by Victoria.
 
cosoco said:
I was wondering if Amelia or Taylor had been getting upgrades. Good to have a clarification on that. It does have a nasty side-effect of breaking chairs, though.
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You didn't already know?

I mean... I made it pretty clear that all the copies get hooked up with superhuman bodies. Amelia and Taylor have both been replaced. Twice in Taylor's case.

gatewaewanderer said:
That'd be an especially interesting interaction, even if the odds are high Ingenue would push the boundaries a little too far and end up getting a justified beat-down by Victoria.
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This would truly be a cunt punt for the history books.

... Here's hoping it gets into the story...
 
TanaNari said:
You didn't already know?

I mean... I made it pretty clear that all the copies get hooked up with superhuman bodies. Amelia and Taylor have both been replaced. Twice in Taylor's case.
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It's a long story. You can't really expect people to remember that Bonesaw worked tirelessly to bring Amelia back and gave her a superbod along the way, or how Taylor found it weird that her teeth weren't in the same place once she came back online.

I mean, who would do remember that?
 
TanaNari said:
You didn't already know?

I mean... I made it pretty clear that all the copies get hooked up with superhuman bodies. Amelia and Taylor have both been replaced. Twice in Taylor's case.
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It may just be that it got lost looking back over three hundred chapters, but I don't think it was mentioned how superhuman they were. I had assumed they were just at peak human, not packed with Tinker tech to two to three time the expected weight for their height.

Though it does make more sense now why they were having trouble resurrecting Amelia, now.
 
GladiusLucix said:
It may just be that it got lost looking back over three hundred chapters, but I don't think it was mentioned how superhuman they were. I had assumed they were just at peak human, not packed with Tinker tech to two to three time the expected weight for their height.

Though it does make more sense now why they were having trouble resurrecting Amelia, now.
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Two to three times weight for height would still be "absurdly fit packed", not "tinker packed". Also, in Amelia's case it'd be more like 70-80% more than expected weight. Figure 5'3-5'4 "ideal" is around 130 pounds... Toss an extra 70 (which is around 53%) to get to 200.

... Your average professional figure skater at that height probably weighs around that much, if not more...

Of course, the clones DO have the benefit of a "perfected" growth system, with a denser bone structure in addition to more efficient bone and musculature, not merely greater mass. Kinda how a chimpanzee is a great deal stronger than a human, despite being smaller and lighter, generally.

So they can outperform someone else who looks similar to them, but got it the natural way. And they already look like professional athletes.
 
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TanaNari said:
Two to three times weight for height would still be "absurdly fit packed", not "tinker packed". Also, in Amelia's case it'd be more like 70-80% more than expected weight. Figure 5'3-5'4 "ideal" is around 130 pounds... Toss an extra 70 (which is around 53%) to get to 200.

... Your average professional figure skater at that height probably weighs around that much, if not more...

Of course, the clones DO have the benefit of a "perfected" growth system, with a denser bone structure in addition to more efficient bone and musculature, not merely greater mass. Kinda how a chimpanzee is a great deal stronger than a human, despite being smaller and lighter, generally.

So they can outperform someone else who looks similar to them, but got it the natural way. And they already look like professional athletes.
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Not to mention that there are lots of subtle things that you can do to improve strength. Tendons can be both stretchy and thicker, meaning muscles are stronger and far less likely to tear. Bones can be woven and denser into solid masses with much higher break resistance (as happens after intense impact training). All in all, the body makes lots of compromises due to the fact that it has to start out semi-functional at less than 25lbs. Starting with an adult shape and mass will allow for much more efficient design. Even fully solidifying the bones that meld to form the skull would be notably stronger in a more perfect rounded shape, as the melded joins cause weakpoints.
 
Ack said:
The ongoing slow dance of courtship, quite literally in front of everyone, is amazing.
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I think the best part is that (pretty much) everyone probably knows it's happening, but they can't call them on it, and they don't actually understand the specifics.

Such as the two of them discussing how they're going to hook up in the middle of an Endbringer debriefing.

TanaNari said:
instead of doing what Zach and Emma did and trying to avoid getting caught.
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... They... They can't not know there's no way they can get away with that. I mean, they know that Taylor can see pretty much whatever she wants, Amelia can feel anywhere in their world and Lisa can figure it out in an instant. They've got to be just doing and ignoring the consequences.

Which kind of means Taylor and Amelia need to come down on them hard before it gets out of hand with everyone else.
 
TanaNari said:
"Okay," she agreed. She'd need the natural sleep that I prevented her from getting before. I didn't know exactly what she experienced through Beelzebub's creatures, but I had my suspicions. What I felt through our link was almost enough to make me physically ill. Couple that with what Riley had been saying about the way the parasites linked themselves into the nervous systems... she could easily have been experiencing every sensation and every thought of every victim. With any luck, she would never remember any part of it.
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I get the sinking feeling Amelia has erased/locked away Taylor's memory without consulting the thinkers, and more a hunch there is actionable intelligence there. I'm not sure which is worse however, being right, or being wrong and enjoying TanaNari's story, where it's a probable hypothesis.
 
Empiricist said:
I get the sinking feeling Amelia has erased/locked away Taylor's memory without consulting the thinkers, and more a hunch there is actionable intelligence there.
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I thought that was obvious? It basically says as much in the text. She got horrible signals from the bond, and acted to protect her lady love.
 
Further apology for last night attitude, I really should expect people to make lung joke from that.

Anyway, TanaNari, I would like to ask if we will see Sophia anywhere in the fic again, mostly to see how she realised she had fucked up badly.
 
Daunmi said:
... They... They can't not know there's no way they can get away with that. I mean, they know that Taylor can see pretty much whatever she wants, Amelia can feel anywhere in their world and Lisa can figure it out in an instant. They've got to be just doing and ignoring the consequences..
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Which is very much in character for both of them, to be honest.
 
dragonkid11 said:
Anyway, TanaNari, I would like to ask if we will see Sophia anywhere in the fic again, mostly to see how she realised she had fucked up badly.
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From her perspective, she's made the world a better place for her actions and paid a price for it....so she's the hero nobody wanted,but the one we need...
 
Snake/Eater said:
From her perspective, she's made the world a better place for her actions and paid a price for it....so she's the hero nobody wanted,but the one we need...
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In canon, she threw a huge tantrum when Taylor was outed as Skitter, and she realised that the villain who beat her so thoroughly was actually the weakling that she despised.

If/when Taylor is revealed to be a founding member of the Pantheon ...
 
Amelia, Ch 321- Missy
  • Threadmarks
    • Amelia, Ch 321- Missy


    I brutalized Zach's punching bag. It cracked with the force of my blows, the bone armor under the padding layer crunched and then rebuilt itself. Kicks, punches, elbows, I ran through the entire defense routine trained into me by the Protectorate, testing how it worked against the world class expert training that we managed to add to our uploadable skill banks. Surprisingly, the CQC we got from the wards training was good, in a general sense. It lacked the sheer brutality of military combat techniques, but from a defensive standpoint it was honestly excellent.


    I'd never been one to be the workout fiend. It was funny, really. Of all the Wards, only Sophia really took the physical training seriously. The rest of us did what we were required, sure, but none of us really cared for it. Dennis and Chris especially hated it. Carlos and Jason had powers that let them not need to train to have perfect bodies. Even Dean wasn't really a fan, although being who he was he pretended he thought it mattered. I don't think any of us believed he meant it.


    Working out was always Sophia's thing. Said that relying on your powers alone made you weak. Right now I was strong enough and capable enough that I could give an adult man with special forces training a run for their money in a straight fight. I wasn't superhuman, but I was as close as you could get without crossing the line. Classifiable as a Brute three. I'd tear Sophia to pieces and not even break a sweat doing it. I have never felt more helpless in my life.


    I didn't even have the benefit of watching the fight. After the debacle that was Tohu and Bohu, they put a moratorium on televising the Endbringer conflicts, as a matter of national morale. Oh, they didn't use that as the rationale. Something about respecting the victims of the disaster by not filming it or some such.


    Whatever, it was officially a United Nations policy to forbid taping of the fights anymore, with a nearly unanimous signing because a lot of countries were afraid the Protectorate and Avalon might not show up if they refused and got attacked. The why of it meant very little right now. I'd have to listen to stupid reporters speculate on the outcome of the battle, despite them not even knowing what the Endbringer's name even was.


    Meanwhile, almost everyone I had left was out there fighting, risking their lives to help protect others, and I was stuck here wondering what would happen next. Would they come away with another slain Endbringer? It wasn't like it was unheard of. Wendigo died in her first battle, after all. Were there people who would live if I were there to help? If the Endbringer escapes, could I have made the difference that would have won the fight? Would some of them die in the battle? Would I have to mourn the loss of more people that I loved?


    No, seriously. Do I mourn? If it happened, our equipment means they'll be back in just a few days, plus about a thousand fringe benefits. All for the ever so attractive cost of losing a week of memories and a few really unpleasant weeks as your body teaches itself how to digest solid food again. Even now I hadn't regained my American teenager tolerance for greasy fast food. I couldn't force myself to eat the stuff anymore. Which was a blessing in disguise. Not much of a disguise, either.


    Taylor's been restored twice. Amelia once. Theo and I as well, which was the source of my new unfair physical abilities. So, do I mourn the dead, or just miss them as I wait around a while for them to come back? It was a hard question to answer, maybe an impossible one. I suspected I could ask a hundred people that question, and get at least eighty different answers.


    And when did I become two of the things I hated most? One, Sophia, being angry and full of pent up frustration and an obsession with hating weakness. Two, the terrified girlfriend waiting at home while her boyfriend went off to war. And girlfriend, in my case. Which was still weird as hell. Letting Theo and Riley see each other with my knowledge and even blessing was one thing. Strange, but it at least made sense. Actually classing Riley as my girlfriend as well? Zach would have something to say about that, probably with comments like 'best of both worlds' that would result in me punching him.


    But, well... was that something I wanted? I'd never had to ask myself that question before, I'd never thought of other girls as attractive, and then I kissed Riley on impulse and it felt nice. Right, somehow.


    I found myself interested in Dean before I even figured out what physical attraction was. I loved him, and in a way I probably always would. I also loved Theo and Riley in their own unique ways. Maybe that's just how I work? I fall first, and desire second? It seemed to fit, but I didn't exactly have a lot of experience.


    I needed to ask someone about that, if only to help me sort it all out. My own mother was so not an option. For someone who's been in as many relationships as she has, she didn't know shit about them.


    There was always Zach. I mean, he was pretty helpful after I lost my powers, after all. I could probably at least trust him not to tell anyone about it if I asked. Maybe Trevor was a better choice, with him actually being gay and all. Zach's solution would probably be something along the lines of telling me there's plenty of material on the internet and I should do some independent studying. Which would result in me punching him again.


    I unleashed another volley of blows against the bag. Charge in, left palm strike center, right palm strike above, knee in, fall, break the combo. Repeat the combo, add a close elbow strike. Each blow caused light cracking of the bag's armor. It was, at least according to Riley, durable enough that if it crunched, that meant you were hitting with enough force to break an average adult male's rib bones. I was satisfied to note that every strike I delivered crunched.


    I could ask Lisa, but that would require actually going to Lisa for help. Whose solution to Zach's emotional state after Dream Girl was to functionally prostitute Emma for him. Granted, they wound up together in the long run, but only after Vicky actually set the stage to make it work. Well, while we were on that subject, maybe I could ask Vicky for her thoughts?


    Hmmph. Wouldn't that be something? After spending the better part of a year hating her for how she jerked Dean around with break up and make up drama bullshit, to go to her for relationship advice. Fuck, I really must be desperate about this.


    Desperate and alone.


    They're still out there making a difference, and I'm still in here punching a stupid bag. Fuck! I thrust out as hard as I could. The shell of the bag, which was pretty damn tough, caved to the strike. It hurt like hell, but I buried my hand in the soft 'flesh' of the bag. It felt an awful lot like the inside of a baked potato that cooled down to about room temperature. I tugged, and with a squishing sound, my hand was released. It would mend itself in time.


    Hopefully so would my wrist, because damn that hurt.


    Is this the path Sophia went down? Did she feel like this, having a problem she was unable to solve, one that she brought on herself? There are certainly plenty of ways to pick out a Trigger Event, aren't there? Now would be an awesome time to have a second Trigger and be able to go in blazing with a whole new power.


    Of course, Sophia had no friends and no support. If Emma was to be believed, she didn't want any. She didn't want to admit for a second that she was weak enough to need others to help her. But isn't that what got me into this fucking mess in the first place? I didn't want to admit I wasn't good enough, so I used that damn stim drug even knowing how dangerous it was. I didn't think there'd be any consequences, despite the warnings. Which of course bit me in the ass.


    And now I'm here beating on something that can't fight back.


    Guess we're not as different as I thought we were, Sophia.


    Fuck that. There's at least one important difference between us. I actually want to be a human being, not some psychotic bitch whose only chance of not dying alone is someone deciding to hurry the occasion along.


    Maybe I could ask Taylor or Amelia. Not about Sophia. I was content with not turning out anything like her. And the two of them were probably not useful sources even if I did want to know more about the psycho. But about relationship advice. Taylor was clearly putting love above attraction, since she was actually straight. That was probably the closest I was going to get to my situation right now.


    Wait, how did I even know she was straight? It's not like anyone around here talks about stuff like this. Except Zach, and by his logic Taylor's gay because Amelia's such a pimp that she's seduced every last female member of the team. Including me and possibly Dinah.


    Oh, right, I remember now. It was back during the 'watch Heartbreaker be publically humiliated' party. Pity it wasn't a public execution. Emma showed up, blah blah drama, blah blah Lily hated her and so did I. Blah blah, turns out she wasn't a bigot, just a psychopath. And later it turned out that she wasn't psycho, either. Just batshit fucking crazy.


    Taylor admits she's not gay. Amelia says she's okay with that and their relationship is their own business after... right, Rapture knew it ahead of time because that's how her power works.


    That's it! I can talk to Rapture! Her power is perfect for this sort of thing, and she didn't have any problem with Taylor and Amelia's relationship. Or Lily and Sabah's, for that matter.


    I wonder if she knew they'd break up? Whatever, she was open minded enough and could help me figure out all of this. Then again, homosexuality and polygamy were quite a bit different, so maybe she wouldn't. But it cost me nothing to ask, right? I should call her ri...


    Oh, right. Endbringer battle. She'll be there, worrying about that.


    Fuck everything.


    Maybe Dinah wants to play a card game?


    ================

    A/N- Missy's kinda not having fun right now.
     
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    • TanaNari said:
    I brutalized Zach's punching bag. It cracked with the force of my blows, the bone armor under the padding layer crunched and then rebuilt itself. Kicks, punches, elbows, I ran through the entire defense routine trained into me by the Protectorate, testing how it worked against the world class expert training that we managed to add to our uploadable skill banks. Surprisingly, the QQC we got from the wards training was surprisingly good, in a general sense. It lacked the sheer brutality of military combat techniques, but from a defensive standpoint it was honestly excellent.
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    That sentence only needs one instance of 'surprisingly', and it should be 'CQC' (for 'Close Quarters Combat'), not 'QQC' ('Questionable Questing Combat' might be amusing, but I doubt most of the Wards are trained in it).

    TanaNari said:
    A/N- Missy's kinda not having fun right now.
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    Poor Missy.:(
     
    I'm starting to wonder if I inherited psychic power from my mom.

    That chapter couldn't come with a better timing.
     
    Oh, right, I remember now. It was back during the 'watch Heartbreaker be publically humiliated' party. Pity it wasn't a public execution. Emma showed up, blah blah drama, blah blah Lily hated her and so did I. Blah blah, turns out she wasn't a bigot, just a psychopath. And later it turned out that she wasn't psycho, eithr. Just batshit fucking crazy.
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    I think I missed something. Which 'she'?

    Also, typo: 'eithr' = 'either'
     
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