sworded
Know what you're doing yet?
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Well as long as Happiness Worms aren't involved.
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Empiricist
GSV
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Thank you.
Daunmi
Shun the sun, night so nice
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The first instance that comes to mind is in the aftermath of the Behemoth/Simurgh fight, where everyone's busy tyring to keep everyone else alive and Amelia lets Riley out of the massive suit they were sharing, where Amelia does a quick swap so that they have some sort of semi-plausibility when they try to either pass her off as not-Bonesaw or whatever.
I can't recall any other specific instances where Riley has undergone some sort of change (except for the full body transplant in the chapter after Jack comes down with a nasty case of dead, but we're not given any details on how exact a copy the new body was), but it's pretty safe to assume that she's modified herself or through Amelia's assistance fairly frequently since she's just like that.
I assume her shard did to her regarding self modification what Taylor's shard did to her automatic reaction to bugs.
TanaNari
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Fanon. Mostly Heredity fanon. But still fanon. Taylor very clearly does NOT like touching bugs, although she eventually forces herself to get used to it.
But she forces herself to get used to a LOT of horrible, horrible things.
There's a reason Amelia!Taylor doesn't use them much. Y'know, beyond "I have an army of supermonsters, wanna see?"
Coruscant Knave
'Twas love that did this to you.
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"I'll show you mine if you show me yours... shit, wait. I knew I had a plan for after 'hit on the empress of her own planet already in a very public relationship and founder of an inter-dimensional super power'.. but it eludes me. So, got any sisters?"
"So many."
jaelin910
habitual lurker
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just one would be sufficient.
dasstan
:)
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She's really, really busy, though.
Amelia, Ch 332- Emma
TanaNari
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Amelia, Ch 332- Emma
I watched as the various new recruits met their official bosses. In some ways, being put in charge of the Tinker group was the opposite of a promotion for me. Not a demotion... a, umm, downmotion? The hell do you call a promotion that's more punishment than reward? It made more of my job management, and less of it Tinkering. If I was being honest, that was probably for the best. I had met my limits as a Tinker, there was little left for me to achieve on my own. That's all I'll ever be, isn't it? The one who profits from the hard work of others, instead of on my own accomplishments? Fuck, I really am perfect for management.
Riley, no I need to start thinking of her as 'Clarice' in my head, gravitated toward Rey. Which put Symbiosis and Elena together as well. Those two teams had a lot of overlap, enough to be considered a single operation. The divisions were created specifically because of how valuable the two projects were. And, in a way, to keep Symbiosis away from Clarice as much as possible. Biomanipulators were rare, biotinkers rarer still. The odds were very high that he had enough knowledge to connect the needed dots and associate Clarice with Bonesaw. It wouldn't be as much a disaster now as it may have been before, but it was better to not deal with it at all.
Trevor, meanwhile, was dealing with Anton, Monica, Amanda and George. His department also functionally included Dragon and all Dragon's recruits. Which meant Defiant, Leet, and Masamune. I could see both teams slipping into 'fugue' modes.
They already got their general orientation, including the lights out rules, and the exemptions for those who didn't need sleep or were adults and allowed to set their own pace, to a certain degree, at least.
One of the things to know about Tinkers is that there was no nine to five for us. We worked when we felt the need to work. Which usually came to around ten to fifteen hours a day if you let us. Depending on the Tinker in question. And since Pantheon didn't do that utterly asinine bullshit the Protectorate did in sending Tinkers out on patrolling for supervillains, we were dedicated entirely to our jobs. Which meant we'd see exponentially more productivity from ours.
As if patrolling was ever a good idea. Seriously, what moron ever thought of that? Sending people like Victoria... or Sophia... out on patrol, that made sense. But there were so damn few parahumans who could create, rather than destroy. And sending them out to die in fights against fuckers like Hookwolf or Lung... or the Siberian? Sure, the Passengers contributed to the phenomena, but Tinkers were perfectly content with not being in the direct line of fire most of the time.
For that matter, why did the Entities even create Tinker type parahumans in the first place? Where did 'put advanced weapons in the hands of the host species' fit into their evolutionary model? Seemed like an intentional design flaw, if you asked me.
Lost in my thoughts, I left the others behind. Rey, Clarice and Trevor had it well under their control. I went straight for our head office, where Taylor and Amelia were handling the stuff they generally handled.
"Hey, Tay," I started as I walked in. Taylor was already looking up at the entrance. We were amongst friends, we could afford to be informal. Our equivalent to the Oval Office was a triangle, with a sort of curved desk layout for Taylor and Amelia, so they could sit back to back while at work, whenever they actually did any office work. Really, this room was designed to hold meetings more than it was designed to be a private office, looking more like a college lecture hall than anything else I could think of.
"Done so soon, Ems?" She smiled as she asked the question. She already knew the answer. Full awareness of all of us if we were in our suits, and we were definitely in our suits for this show.
"Yeah, I didn't have much to do anyway," I responded. It was more for Amelia's benefit than Taylor's. She didn't have the limited omniscience of her fiancée. "R-Clarice and Trevor can handle the rest of it. We know I'm at my best when I have something in front of me to work with." Oh, right, I still need to see what Anton put together in the couple hours he's been here.
"I wouldn't say that's true," Taylor responded. "I mean, look at Caliburn and Harpe. One's just shy of an Endslayer weapon, and the other very well might be Endslayer quality, we're just afraid to test it in case the next one adapts."
"Those aren't honestly my work," I admitted. "They're Dragon's technology, and Clarice's understanding of powers. Technology sourced from a dozen other things that Dragon collected. Maybe I put them together, but ultimately it's still just me using someone else's work better than they did."
"I don't know enough about what it's like to be a Tinker to say," Taylor responded. "But I guess we're a lot alike. My powers are pretty crap all by themselves. I have people like Amelia and you to give me the edge I need. Without you, all I have are bugs."
True, in a way I was a better Tinker than Dragon- on a very small scale and only after she'd done the legwork- but I had reached my peak, advanced Dragon's technology as far as I possibly could with the abilities I had. Dragon still hadn't. I'd have to take my pride in knowing that she would not be as advanced as she was, without my help. There was nothing left that I could teach her, and I had a feeling she was far from reaching her apex.
Amelia's eyelids fluttered for a second. I should mention something about that. "Umm... you guys have really got to learn to work on your poker faces when dipping into your link," I spoke up. "It's pretty obvious to those who know what to look for. And if your allies are figuring it out..."
"Then enemies, especially enemy Thinkers, might as well," Taylor concluded. "Yeah, thanks, I promise we'll keep that in mind."
"It shouldn't matter too much," I offered. "I mean, usually when you're in public together, you're wearing your armor systems."
"No, you're right," Amelia responded reluctantly. "If nothing else, we need to keep it in mind, so we can break the habit."
I might have sighed in relief. Amelia was more standoffish with me than Taylor, for a number of reasons. Some of which I deserved, like what I did to Taylor. Others I'd probably object to more if it weren't for the ones that I deserved, like my developing suspicion that Amelia was jealous of me. Maybe not quite in a romantic rivals sort of way, but something.
It had been a long road for Taylor and I to return to something like friends, able to speak freely like this. Amelia could end that progress with a single thought, if she chose to.
"So, how is the other group doing?" I asked, hoping to change subjects. "I didn't get a chance to review the Thinkers."
"Umm, pretty well," Taylor anwered. She moved her arm, and I knew she'd grabbed Amelia's hand under the desk. No, she's resting her hand on Amelia's thigh. Close enough. "We've got a new Precog. The ability to detect whether a given action will either get closer or further away from a set goal. Sort of like playing Hot and Cold."
"I remember that game," I smiled. Taylor would remember it, too. It was a game her mother used to play with us. Knowing how her mom thought, it was probably some kind of critical thinking training program. "So, what level are we talking, power wise?"
"He's nowhere near Dinah's level," Taylor responded. "Not even a match for Coil, generally. But he can use his power more than six or seven times a day. He'll help us conserve Dinah's questions. Lisa says she can use him to functionally triple Dinah's effectiveness. Or approximately double Accord's, if we assign him to help in that department. He's versatile enough to use for a lot of things."
"That's actually better than we were hoping for," I responded. It was true. With people like Dinah and Lisa on this team, it was easy to forget that most Thinkers weren't on that level the same way most Brutes weren't on Alexandria's. "Is he past the Taboo?"
"The same way Lisa is," Taylor informed. "He can't see Scion or Endbringers, but he doesn't have the memory blocks. He doesn't even have a workaround like 'saving more people from dying during the next Endbringer battle' as a goal like we can sort of use Dinah for."
"No surprise," I sighed. "We can beat the human side of the Taboo, but not the Passenger side. The Passengers have never worked with humans before, it makes sense they can make mistakes on that side. But they've been following their cycle for millions of years, they've probably figured out all the possible errors that could grant powers that break through on their own."
"We still only have one method," Amelia whispered. I knew what she meant, so did Taylor.
The final solution, kept so secret that Lisa and Clarice were the only other people that knew it was possible. We knew what happened to Noelle's power. We had the only known hard copy of a parahuman before and after triggering. We had records of Second and Third triggers as well. If we absolutely had to, we could artificially induce the process. But the price was astronomical... there was no way to know how the power would respond, other than going way beyond the levels that the Passengers normally allow. What we did know is that it would inevitably kill the brain of the subject. And given the weird way Passengers interacted with hosts, the only remotely safe way to resurrect a host would be how we handled Noelle.
"We'll find another way," Taylor insisted. "Trying to create a power with absolutely no limitations is Cauldron's holy grail, not ours. We don't even know that it would work. If we get a truly uninhibited power, that's great. But how many unlimited powers does Scion have? For now, we focus on power interactions and Tinkertech. Finding a way to breach into the dimension containing Scion's real body, that's the best hope for us. We don't need an unlimited power to do that."
We hope, I added silently. So did they, based on their biosigns. Even Taylia had its limits for mood correction.
"So, maybe you two should come down to the lab, tomorrow," I offered. "Two in the afternoon. I have something to show you."
"And you're not going to share what it is," Taylor quipped.
"What would be the fun in that?" I asked. "Also, you're not allowed to cheat and ask Lisa. Or anyone else."
===================
A/N- Woulda had this last night, but I was tired and opted to sleep and reread in the morning. Good god am I glad I didn't publish the mess last night. Ugh.
I watched as the various new recruits met their official bosses. In some ways, being put in charge of the Tinker group was the opposite of a promotion for me. Not a demotion... a, umm, downmotion? The hell do you call a promotion that's more punishment than reward? It made more of my job management, and less of it Tinkering. If I was being honest, that was probably for the best. I had met my limits as a Tinker, there was little left for me to achieve on my own. That's all I'll ever be, isn't it? The one who profits from the hard work of others, instead of on my own accomplishments? Fuck, I really am perfect for management.
Riley, no I need to start thinking of her as 'Clarice' in my head, gravitated toward Rey. Which put Symbiosis and Elena together as well. Those two teams had a lot of overlap, enough to be considered a single operation. The divisions were created specifically because of how valuable the two projects were. And, in a way, to keep Symbiosis away from Clarice as much as possible. Biomanipulators were rare, biotinkers rarer still. The odds were very high that he had enough knowledge to connect the needed dots and associate Clarice with Bonesaw. It wouldn't be as much a disaster now as it may have been before, but it was better to not deal with it at all.
Trevor, meanwhile, was dealing with Anton, Monica, Amanda and George. His department also functionally included Dragon and all Dragon's recruits. Which meant Defiant, Leet, and Masamune. I could see both teams slipping into 'fugue' modes.
They already got their general orientation, including the lights out rules, and the exemptions for those who didn't need sleep or were adults and allowed to set their own pace, to a certain degree, at least.
One of the things to know about Tinkers is that there was no nine to five for us. We worked when we felt the need to work. Which usually came to around ten to fifteen hours a day if you let us. Depending on the Tinker in question. And since Pantheon didn't do that utterly asinine bullshit the Protectorate did in sending Tinkers out on patrolling for supervillains, we were dedicated entirely to our jobs. Which meant we'd see exponentially more productivity from ours.
As if patrolling was ever a good idea. Seriously, what moron ever thought of that? Sending people like Victoria... or Sophia... out on patrol, that made sense. But there were so damn few parahumans who could create, rather than destroy. And sending them out to die in fights against fuckers like Hookwolf or Lung... or the Siberian? Sure, the Passengers contributed to the phenomena, but Tinkers were perfectly content with not being in the direct line of fire most of the time.
For that matter, why did the Entities even create Tinker type parahumans in the first place? Where did 'put advanced weapons in the hands of the host species' fit into their evolutionary model? Seemed like an intentional design flaw, if you asked me.
Lost in my thoughts, I left the others behind. Rey, Clarice and Trevor had it well under their control. I went straight for our head office, where Taylor and Amelia were handling the stuff they generally handled.
"Hey, Tay," I started as I walked in. Taylor was already looking up at the entrance. We were amongst friends, we could afford to be informal. Our equivalent to the Oval Office was a triangle, with a sort of curved desk layout for Taylor and Amelia, so they could sit back to back while at work, whenever they actually did any office work. Really, this room was designed to hold meetings more than it was designed to be a private office, looking more like a college lecture hall than anything else I could think of.
"Done so soon, Ems?" She smiled as she asked the question. She already knew the answer. Full awareness of all of us if we were in our suits, and we were definitely in our suits for this show.
"Yeah, I didn't have much to do anyway," I responded. It was more for Amelia's benefit than Taylor's. She didn't have the limited omniscience of her fiancée. "R-Clarice and Trevor can handle the rest of it. We know I'm at my best when I have something in front of me to work with." Oh, right, I still need to see what Anton put together in the couple hours he's been here.
"I wouldn't say that's true," Taylor responded. "I mean, look at Caliburn and Harpe. One's just shy of an Endslayer weapon, and the other very well might be Endslayer quality, we're just afraid to test it in case the next one adapts."
"Those aren't honestly my work," I admitted. "They're Dragon's technology, and Clarice's understanding of powers. Technology sourced from a dozen other things that Dragon collected. Maybe I put them together, but ultimately it's still just me using someone else's work better than they did."
"I don't know enough about what it's like to be a Tinker to say," Taylor responded. "But I guess we're a lot alike. My powers are pretty crap all by themselves. I have people like Amelia and you to give me the edge I need. Without you, all I have are bugs."
True, in a way I was a better Tinker than Dragon- on a very small scale and only after she'd done the legwork- but I had reached my peak, advanced Dragon's technology as far as I possibly could with the abilities I had. Dragon still hadn't. I'd have to take my pride in knowing that she would not be as advanced as she was, without my help. There was nothing left that I could teach her, and I had a feeling she was far from reaching her apex.
Amelia's eyelids fluttered for a second. I should mention something about that. "Umm... you guys have really got to learn to work on your poker faces when dipping into your link," I spoke up. "It's pretty obvious to those who know what to look for. And if your allies are figuring it out..."
"Then enemies, especially enemy Thinkers, might as well," Taylor concluded. "Yeah, thanks, I promise we'll keep that in mind."
"It shouldn't matter too much," I offered. "I mean, usually when you're in public together, you're wearing your armor systems."
"No, you're right," Amelia responded reluctantly. "If nothing else, we need to keep it in mind, so we can break the habit."
I might have sighed in relief. Amelia was more standoffish with me than Taylor, for a number of reasons. Some of which I deserved, like what I did to Taylor. Others I'd probably object to more if it weren't for the ones that I deserved, like my developing suspicion that Amelia was jealous of me. Maybe not quite in a romantic rivals sort of way, but something.
It had been a long road for Taylor and I to return to something like friends, able to speak freely like this. Amelia could end that progress with a single thought, if she chose to.
"So, how is the other group doing?" I asked, hoping to change subjects. "I didn't get a chance to review the Thinkers."
"Umm, pretty well," Taylor anwered. She moved her arm, and I knew she'd grabbed Amelia's hand under the desk. No, she's resting her hand on Amelia's thigh. Close enough. "We've got a new Precog. The ability to detect whether a given action will either get closer or further away from a set goal. Sort of like playing Hot and Cold."
"I remember that game," I smiled. Taylor would remember it, too. It was a game her mother used to play with us. Knowing how her mom thought, it was probably some kind of critical thinking training program. "So, what level are we talking, power wise?"
"He's nowhere near Dinah's level," Taylor responded. "Not even a match for Coil, generally. But he can use his power more than six or seven times a day. He'll help us conserve Dinah's questions. Lisa says she can use him to functionally triple Dinah's effectiveness. Or approximately double Accord's, if we assign him to help in that department. He's versatile enough to use for a lot of things."
"That's actually better than we were hoping for," I responded. It was true. With people like Dinah and Lisa on this team, it was easy to forget that most Thinkers weren't on that level the same way most Brutes weren't on Alexandria's. "Is he past the Taboo?"
"The same way Lisa is," Taylor informed. "He can't see Scion or Endbringers, but he doesn't have the memory blocks. He doesn't even have a workaround like 'saving more people from dying during the next Endbringer battle' as a goal like we can sort of use Dinah for."
"No surprise," I sighed. "We can beat the human side of the Taboo, but not the Passenger side. The Passengers have never worked with humans before, it makes sense they can make mistakes on that side. But they've been following their cycle for millions of years, they've probably figured out all the possible errors that could grant powers that break through on their own."
"We still only have one method," Amelia whispered. I knew what she meant, so did Taylor.
The final solution, kept so secret that Lisa and Clarice were the only other people that knew it was possible. We knew what happened to Noelle's power. We had the only known hard copy of a parahuman before and after triggering. We had records of Second and Third triggers as well. If we absolutely had to, we could artificially induce the process. But the price was astronomical... there was no way to know how the power would respond, other than going way beyond the levels that the Passengers normally allow. What we did know is that it would inevitably kill the brain of the subject. And given the weird way Passengers interacted with hosts, the only remotely safe way to resurrect a host would be how we handled Noelle.
"We'll find another way," Taylor insisted. "Trying to create a power with absolutely no limitations is Cauldron's holy grail, not ours. We don't even know that it would work. If we get a truly uninhibited power, that's great. But how many unlimited powers does Scion have? For now, we focus on power interactions and Tinkertech. Finding a way to breach into the dimension containing Scion's real body, that's the best hope for us. We don't need an unlimited power to do that."
We hope, I added silently. So did they, based on their biosigns. Even Taylia had its limits for mood correction.
"So, maybe you two should come down to the lab, tomorrow," I offered. "Two in the afternoon. I have something to show you."
"And you're not going to share what it is," Taylor quipped.
"What would be the fun in that?" I asked. "Also, you're not allowed to cheat and ask Lisa. Or anyone else."
===================
A/N- Woulda had this last night, but I was tired and opted to sleep and reread in the morning. Good god am I glad I didn't publish the mess last night. Ugh.
Last edited:
Ack
(Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)
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Nice chapter.
Comments and typos:
I like the recap of what Pantheon has achieved. Also, how did they deal with Noelle again?
Comments and typos:
Being kicked upstairs.
Patrol.
Phenomenon , if you're referring to a single thing.
as she asked the question (maybe?)
I like the recap of what Pantheon has achieved. Also, how did they deal with Noelle again?
Ashura
Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?
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Didn't they clone her mind then turn her old body to ashes? That's what I figured they did to her.
sephlington
Making the rounds.
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On the face of it, Tinkers do seem like odd ones out, until you remember the chaos and conflict caused by a Tinker who specialised in closed systems, and manage to weaponise that. Really, humans are a very good choice to give Tinker powers to - we're very good at finding ways to make weapons from our technology.
Empiricist
GSV
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For those who will annoy TanaNari by not getting it Cannon Khepri and subsequent de-powering foreshadowed.
GiftofLove
A Gift From The Heart
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Lame.
Dark Fixfic. Cloning technology is lost. Only option left is for Amelia to take care of a Khepri'd Taylor as best she can, searching for a solution.
cosoco
Not too sore, are you?
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This seems like a mistake. 'Blocks against that Doormaker would be absurdly valuable.' flows better.
Careful, you're getting close to the fourth wall.
Why would they do that? Dragon, Riley, and Amelia can create something a thousand times more sophisticated. The system can be rigged to use control implants rather than Taylor's power. They can also make it so that it 'grows' their body into one of their armor systems, giving everyone flight, dimension jumping, and low Brute status. And, if they add a way to turn off the control, then they don't even need to remove them after the battle is over.
Amelia, Ch 333- Lisa
TanaNari
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Amelia, Ch 333- Lisa
"Now feel free to socialize in the main areas and get accustomed to the dorms," I stated. "As you already know, Pantheon doesn't encourage the concept of secret identities, but we don't have rules against it, either. Respect the decision of the others, whichever way they choose to operate. You have a few hours to get to know each other. Who knows, you might even meet some of the other set of new recruits."
There were some chuckles at that. The odds of us actually meeting the Tinker recruits was basically zero, and most of these new Thinkers were smart enough to know that the others were just plopped down in a room full of other Tinkers and some of the most advanced resources they'd ever laid eyes upon. We'd be amazed if any of them came out of the labs all week.
"And I would ask you to remember that most of the senior members of this team are younger than you," I continued. Because they're natural triggers and you're not, we all know that needs to stay a secret as well. "We will likely establish an age division as well as the gender one in the near future. More likely than not, all adults will be provided their own private residences offsite, for them to use as they see ift. This depends upon a number of factors, not all of which can be known yet."
"Understood," William and Jerome spoke together. They shared the code name Gemini. Cauldron's little experiment within the experiment. Identical twins, identical formulas, just to see how things came out. Turns out, pretty much identical. They were busy flirting with Seeker, the only female cape I'd gotten in this mix. She seemed to be enjoying the attention, so I turned and left them to their devices.
Her power was either really good, or mostly useless, depending on what you needed. She could select a single object or person and be able to follow a direct path to locate said object. Only problem, it needed to be something she already knew. Car keys, yes. Escaped prisoner whose photo we could show her, yes. Perpetrator of an unsolved crime, no. And if she looked for something too general, she'd just be led to the nearest version of that thing. Which meant tracking keys didn't really work unless she knew those specific keys.
If she didn't have such a painful case of hero worship for us, I'd have gotten rid of her in our trade-shuffle with Cauldron. As it stood, she did have some use. I could see giving her a Changeling and sending her off with Victoria, and Eric. Or better, wait for Missy to recover her powers. Wipe out a few of the nastier remaining known villains, drum up some good PR in the face of all these less than stellar Endbringer conflicts. But for the most part, she'd be more valuable from a nonpowered perspective. Someone energetic and enthusiastic to encourage the mostly insular girls on the team.
I paused before walking in to talk to the Empresses. The light, constant bleed of my postcog let me know Emma was already in there. Done with her orientation, wants to bask in minor success, hoping for attention and approval from Taylor. Some days, Emma made it really hard for me to remember how much I hated her, through all the pity. But Emma brought her lot in life on herself. Nobody forced her to be a psychotic bitch.
I opted to not go in. Let Emma have her moment of attention, I can talk to Taylor later. I'll take care of other business.
I ducked into my office and set it to lockdown. Then I made my phone call. Rebecca answered it almost immediately, although she didn't activate the video communications. Is outside, dealing with hero related issues.
"Did I get you at a bad time?" I asked, my voice relatively calm.
"Not at all," she replied. Voice hollow, using subvocalizing and her suit to transmit message without speaking. "Dealing with a minor hostage crisis." Legitimately unconcerned, aware that hostages aren't in real risk unless someone does something absurdly stupid. Doesn't consider herself in charge of operation. Far more interested in speaking to me than dealing with this.
"Funny, I would have expected to hear about it," I replied, putting a little more honest emotion in my voice than normal, instead of my usual calculated tones. With her being limited to nonvisual clues, we had to be a little more open in our conversations. Eki's been called in already, doesn't think she needs to call and confirm. Gaining confidence as a leader. Planning to use GL to disable their weapons. I smiled at that. Not needing to constantly hold Crystal's hand would be a welcome change of pace.
There was a sudden pop of sound over the phone. Using her flight, high speed. I waited patiently for a while, thumbing casually through reports until she had time. I started typing up an opinion on Breather's powerset. Possible precog or time manipulator. Can speed his own perception of time, gaining about five minutes percieved time for thought in a second or so to the rest of us, lacks ability to move at superhuman speeds. Lacks other powers to exploit during accelerated period. Design education plan with skill upload tech. Consider putting in requisition for Vicky/Chevalier upgrade for improved abilities. Also have custom Changeling model built for him to use in the field.
"Sorry for the distraction," she spoke, still through subvocalizing. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as hearing her actual voice, or the body language conversations we often had. But it was by no means unpleasant. "I've got at least a few minutes to talk, now."
"I understand," I responded. I finished my report and flagged a moderate priority request for him to get full testing from our Tinkers. "We live eventful lives. Speaking of, I meant to talk to you about maybe visiting sometime soon?"
"Is that so?" Amused by implication, teasing.
"It's work related," I responded.
"A pity," she quipped back. Feigning disappointment to cover legitimate disappointment.
"It may take a couple hours that, unfortunately, will be rather boring," I stated. "We need to test Gemini's power to imitate other Thinkers. We currently have them assigned to our economics department."
"I'm afraid I'm uncertain how useful my power would be for them," Alexandria responded. "I grant you, it's flattering that you feel my Thinker powers alone are so valuable, but what are you hoping to accomplish?"
"Well, we already know they can scan a Thinker power each, and blend weaker versions of those powers with each other," I responded. Pity it didn't work on Tinker or Precog abilities, then we'd be really in the money. "We have them running Accord's power alongside mine, and I think that will be their default setting. We're going to see if maybe they can get some permanent improvements to their abilities by borrowing your power, and likely Uber's alongside it. He can temporarily know skills. It's pretty limited."
"You're hoping that my perfect memory and accelerated learning and perception rates will translate to permanent retention of skills, especially ones too unique to have for your memory tech," she stated. Emphasis on memory tech in statement, confidence, too high a confidence and pride for reference to Gemini. Oh, so it worked. Excellent.
"Speaking of memory tech, was your resident terrifying little girl placated by our latest project?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. We still wanted to keep just how thorough our communications could be a secret. There was reading subtext, and then there was the ability to plot incredibly complex details using nothing more than the flutter of the eyes or the positioning of a finger based upon millimeters. "Did having the duplicate active alongside the original cause any significant side effects?"
"Impossible to say for certain," Alexandria responded back. "There was no time for the pair of them to really stress their abilities. We are, however, quite confident in our belief that the power will go mainly unused. She refers to it as a 'poisonous fruit'. Remarkably biblical imagery all considered."
"She's insane," I responded. "She's borrowing mental images from every source possible that she understands. Besides, the telling of the fall is an old one, older perhaps than her usual metaphors of choice. I doubt she'd consider it in any way dissonant from her usual. Still, it's an interesting line of thought to follow."
"I'll be certain to relay your opinions to my friends," she responded. "We'll have the most recent set of recordings ready for you soon, by the way." Concerned over that fact. Afraid I'll be upset by something in the tapes. Correction, something not in the tapes. Tapes will be edited. Will lack data that she fears might be critical, given that no one can predict what information will or will not be critical to my powers. Wondering if we should break the rules by smuggling full copy. Worried about risk of their precog realizing information was stolen.
Willing to take that chance.
Wow, that... that's actually huge.
"Tell them I appreciate it," I agreed. I don't want her to take the risk. I'll take the censored tapes for now. "While we're on the topic, there is the matter of our agreed payment for a copy of that tech. We provided it in good faith, after all."
"Indeed," Alexandria agreed. Is startled by the lack of concern over censored tapes. Mentally reevaluating assumptions about my abilities. Has concluded I can compensate for edits somehow. Knows it's not part of my normal- oh, well there goes that secret. Fuck me running. "I'll see to it that it's provided shortly."
Concerned that I didn't share the secret sooner. Sorry. "Thank you," I responded. "We'll discuss the rest of it in person, plus the matter of Gemini and the recordings. Kill all the birds with one stone." I'm sorry, but I really need to go prepare for this. "The Empresses will need to be informed." Please don't be too upset with me.
"Thursday would be best," she responded. Eager to discuss, worried, curious to know what secret power actually is. "I may be able to swing Wednesday. If not, we'll need to wait until next week."
"Thursday is acceptable," I agreed.
====================
A/N- Possibly my new favorite chapter ever. Of all time.
"Now feel free to socialize in the main areas and get accustomed to the dorms," I stated. "As you already know, Pantheon doesn't encourage the concept of secret identities, but we don't have rules against it, either. Respect the decision of the others, whichever way they choose to operate. You have a few hours to get to know each other. Who knows, you might even meet some of the other set of new recruits."
There were some chuckles at that. The odds of us actually meeting the Tinker recruits was basically zero, and most of these new Thinkers were smart enough to know that the others were just plopped down in a room full of other Tinkers and some of the most advanced resources they'd ever laid eyes upon. We'd be amazed if any of them came out of the labs all week.
"And I would ask you to remember that most of the senior members of this team are younger than you," I continued. Because they're natural triggers and you're not, we all know that needs to stay a secret as well. "We will likely establish an age division as well as the gender one in the near future. More likely than not, all adults will be provided their own private residences offsite, for them to use as they see ift. This depends upon a number of factors, not all of which can be known yet."
"Understood," William and Jerome spoke together. They shared the code name Gemini. Cauldron's little experiment within the experiment. Identical twins, identical formulas, just to see how things came out. Turns out, pretty much identical. They were busy flirting with Seeker, the only female cape I'd gotten in this mix. She seemed to be enjoying the attention, so I turned and left them to their devices.
Her power was either really good, or mostly useless, depending on what you needed. She could select a single object or person and be able to follow a direct path to locate said object. Only problem, it needed to be something she already knew. Car keys, yes. Escaped prisoner whose photo we could show her, yes. Perpetrator of an unsolved crime, no. And if she looked for something too general, she'd just be led to the nearest version of that thing. Which meant tracking keys didn't really work unless she knew those specific keys.
If she didn't have such a painful case of hero worship for us, I'd have gotten rid of her in our trade-shuffle with Cauldron. As it stood, she did have some use. I could see giving her a Changeling and sending her off with Victoria, and Eric. Or better, wait for Missy to recover her powers. Wipe out a few of the nastier remaining known villains, drum up some good PR in the face of all these less than stellar Endbringer conflicts. But for the most part, she'd be more valuable from a nonpowered perspective. Someone energetic and enthusiastic to encourage the mostly insular girls on the team.
I paused before walking in to talk to the Empresses. The light, constant bleed of my postcog let me know Emma was already in there. Done with her orientation, wants to bask in minor success, hoping for attention and approval from Taylor. Some days, Emma made it really hard for me to remember how much I hated her, through all the pity. But Emma brought her lot in life on herself. Nobody forced her to be a psychotic bitch.
I opted to not go in. Let Emma have her moment of attention, I can talk to Taylor later. I'll take care of other business.
I ducked into my office and set it to lockdown. Then I made my phone call. Rebecca answered it almost immediately, although she didn't activate the video communications. Is outside, dealing with hero related issues.
"Did I get you at a bad time?" I asked, my voice relatively calm.
"Not at all," she replied. Voice hollow, using subvocalizing and her suit to transmit message without speaking. "Dealing with a minor hostage crisis." Legitimately unconcerned, aware that hostages aren't in real risk unless someone does something absurdly stupid. Doesn't consider herself in charge of operation. Far more interested in speaking to me than dealing with this.
"Funny, I would have expected to hear about it," I replied, putting a little more honest emotion in my voice than normal, instead of my usual calculated tones. With her being limited to nonvisual clues, we had to be a little more open in our conversations. Eki's been called in already, doesn't think she needs to call and confirm. Gaining confidence as a leader. Planning to use GL to disable their weapons. I smiled at that. Not needing to constantly hold Crystal's hand would be a welcome change of pace.
There was a sudden pop of sound over the phone. Using her flight, high speed. I waited patiently for a while, thumbing casually through reports until she had time. I started typing up an opinion on Breather's powerset. Possible precog or time manipulator. Can speed his own perception of time, gaining about five minutes percieved time for thought in a second or so to the rest of us, lacks ability to move at superhuman speeds. Lacks other powers to exploit during accelerated period. Design education plan with skill upload tech. Consider putting in requisition for Vicky/Chevalier upgrade for improved abilities. Also have custom Changeling model built for him to use in the field.
"Sorry for the distraction," she spoke, still through subvocalizing. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as hearing her actual voice, or the body language conversations we often had. But it was by no means unpleasant. "I've got at least a few minutes to talk, now."
"I understand," I responded. I finished my report and flagged a moderate priority request for him to get full testing from our Tinkers. "We live eventful lives. Speaking of, I meant to talk to you about maybe visiting sometime soon?"
"Is that so?" Amused by implication, teasing.
"It's work related," I responded.
"A pity," she quipped back. Feigning disappointment to cover legitimate disappointment.
"It may take a couple hours that, unfortunately, will be rather boring," I stated. "We need to test Gemini's power to imitate other Thinkers. We currently have them assigned to our economics department."
"I'm afraid I'm uncertain how useful my power would be for them," Alexandria responded. "I grant you, it's flattering that you feel my Thinker powers alone are so valuable, but what are you hoping to accomplish?"
"Well, we already know they can scan a Thinker power each, and blend weaker versions of those powers with each other," I responded. Pity it didn't work on Tinker or Precog abilities, then we'd be really in the money. "We have them running Accord's power alongside mine, and I think that will be their default setting. We're going to see if maybe they can get some permanent improvements to their abilities by borrowing your power, and likely Uber's alongside it. He can temporarily know skills. It's pretty limited."
"You're hoping that my perfect memory and accelerated learning and perception rates will translate to permanent retention of skills, especially ones too unique to have for your memory tech," she stated. Emphasis on memory tech in statement, confidence, too high a confidence and pride for reference to Gemini. Oh, so it worked. Excellent.
"Speaking of memory tech, was your resident terrifying little girl placated by our latest project?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. We still wanted to keep just how thorough our communications could be a secret. There was reading subtext, and then there was the ability to plot incredibly complex details using nothing more than the flutter of the eyes or the positioning of a finger based upon millimeters. "Did having the duplicate active alongside the original cause any significant side effects?"
"Impossible to say for certain," Alexandria responded back. "There was no time for the pair of them to really stress their abilities. We are, however, quite confident in our belief that the power will go mainly unused. She refers to it as a 'poisonous fruit'. Remarkably biblical imagery all considered."
"She's insane," I responded. "She's borrowing mental images from every source possible that she understands. Besides, the telling of the fall is an old one, older perhaps than her usual metaphors of choice. I doubt she'd consider it in any way dissonant from her usual. Still, it's an interesting line of thought to follow."
"I'll be certain to relay your opinions to my friends," she responded. "We'll have the most recent set of recordings ready for you soon, by the way." Concerned over that fact. Afraid I'll be upset by something in the tapes. Correction, something not in the tapes. Tapes will be edited. Will lack data that she fears might be critical, given that no one can predict what information will or will not be critical to my powers. Wondering if we should break the rules by smuggling full copy. Worried about risk of their precog realizing information was stolen.
Willing to take that chance.
Wow, that... that's actually huge.
"Tell them I appreciate it," I agreed. I don't want her to take the risk. I'll take the censored tapes for now. "While we're on the topic, there is the matter of our agreed payment for a copy of that tech. We provided it in good faith, after all."
"Indeed," Alexandria agreed. Is startled by the lack of concern over censored tapes. Mentally reevaluating assumptions about my abilities. Has concluded I can compensate for edits somehow. Knows it's not part of my normal- oh, well there goes that secret. Fuck me running. "I'll see to it that it's provided shortly."
Concerned that I didn't share the secret sooner. Sorry. "Thank you," I responded. "We'll discuss the rest of it in person, plus the matter of Gemini and the recordings. Kill all the birds with one stone." I'm sorry, but I really need to go prepare for this. "The Empresses will need to be informed." Please don't be too upset with me.
"Thursday would be best," she responded. Eager to discuss, worried, curious to know what secret power actually is. "I may be able to swing Wednesday. If not, we'll need to wait until next week."
"Thursday is acceptable," I agreed.
====================
A/N- Possibly my new favorite chapter ever. Of all time.
Last edited:
kenhikaru
Not too sore, are you?
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Italics.
Also, what happened to Minerva and Alexandria's shards copying Taylia? Is that the ridiculous level of communication they have, or has it not manifested yet?
evildice
(emotionally stable clown posse)
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The standard word for that is "promotion".
Tattlexandria remains incredible.
RocjawCypher
Making the rounds.
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Is the answer yes? Or No? Is the story True? Or False? Is Contessa dead or alive?
F****ING BOTH.
F****ING BOTH.
Silver W. King
King of Adventures
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Contessa has become a cat. Her name is now, Schrodinger.
Empiricist
GSV
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Okay I know they can use the dimensional shunt to observe places, did they remotely watch the awakenings, or is there some other way they are undoing the edits?
kenhikaru
Not too sore, are you?
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Lisa's second trigger gave her a really powerful form of postcognition. She can peace it together by herself.
Snake/Eater
Myth Maker of the North
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Maybe Contessa can adopt Zach since they belong in the same Category.
kenhikaru
Not too sore, are you?
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More italics.
GiftofLove
A Gift From The Heart
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I think Lisandra is a much more elegant name for them.
evildice
(emotionally stable clown posse)
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Mixing civilian and cape names is not elegant at all.
Maybe you're trying to optimize for lower letter count?
- Costa-Burn (civilian last names)
- Sarabecca (real first names)
- Minervalex (new cape name + Alexandria)
- KnowKnow ("no-no", and also they know everything, and also they are the knowers who "know" each other in the Biblical sense)
Coruscant Knave
'Twas love that did this to you.
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The cat-clone was the one GU took. Pfft, quantum mechanics. Easy peasy.