abyssmal_kismet
Experienced.
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Yes, please.
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Inverness
The Foxiest Wife
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Suddenly I'm imagining a bunch of Contessas speaking to each other through giant monoliths about how everything is going according to the path.
Edit: And I totally agree that Lisa and Rebecca go rather well together. Their chapters are some of my favorites.
pepperjack
A Variety of Cheese
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I think this one wins.
dasstan
:)
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Eidolon: You know I'm not one to question the use of religious imagery, but don't you think you're going a little bit too far?
pepperjack
A Variety of Cheese
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Path to getting David to shut the fuck up: two steps. Step one, remove duct tape from suit-coat pocket...
evildice
(emotionally stable clown posse)
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Please don't make jokes that require the pedants amongst us to correct you.
Steps to anything-involving-Eidolon are
1: Fog;
2: more Fog; and
3: can't see number of steps because of all this goddamn Fog.
kenhikaru
Not too sore, are you?
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Err, I might be missing a joke, but if you're referring to her not being able to percieve Eidolon, that's not entirely true. She created a model of him, and she uses that model for her power. And considering how well she knows him, that model's going to be pretty accurate. It just can't really account for him perfectly.
pepperjack
A Variety of Cheese
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Step two was "raise left eyebrow."
Snake/Eater
Myth Maker of the North
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...Step 2, take belt off your pants and whip David's back 312 times...
cosoco
Not too sore, are you?
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I've heard this multiple times, but I've never been able to find a citation.
Could you tell me where you heard that?
dasstan
:)
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Amelia, Ch 334- Taylor
TanaNari
Verified Dick
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Amelia, Ch 334- Taylor
"Oh, wow, it is so cool to finally really meet you!" Beth gushed. She was shorter than me, but then most women were. Average height, I couln't help but note she was prettier than me. AmusementCuriousity. "Your power is just so amazing, I wish mine was like yours."
"I never really though of controlling bugs as all that good," I responded awkwardly. Being praised by normal people, I can handle. Being praised by top tier parahumans is something else entirely. And Anima was top tier, by any ordinary standard. "I'm just lucky to have others that can make me stronger." I slipped my arm around Amelia's waist. PleasedLove. Really, really lucky.
"Like I keep saying," Lily stated, distracting Beth from me. "It's all luck, who gets what kind of power. Sure, there's patterns you can use to predict things, but those patterns aren't something you can control." Unless you get one of Cauldron's vials. "It's all about what you do with what you have. And in Taylor's case, what she did was hook up with the world's most powerful biomancer to build giant bug monsters."
Beth had gone quiet. "I made myself look stupid again, didn't I?"
ConcernPity. She couldn't be any more different from me.
Lily put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "No, not at all," she insisted. "Everything's fine, it's just the anxiety talking."
ConcernSuspicion. Amelia's right, are they? Fuck, how am I supposed to handle that? If they're not, then bringing it up is just humiliating. If they are, then... fuck... this could get complicated in a very bad way, very quickly. Somehow I didn't imagine this would work out as well as Theo, Missy and Riley managed to. Lily was absolutely critical to our operations, but Sabah was a good person and didn't deserve being cheated on.
"You're sure?" she asked, looking to me for an answer.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," I responded, smiling and feeling incredibly awkward about it. Still, I dealt with Bitch, and was even getting through to her when... had it really been so long ago? ConcernSupportLove.
"Don't worry, we have everything set up to fix that. Ten or fifteen minutes and you'll be fine forever," Emma interjected. "Well, sorta. You'll still get the same natural awkwardness as all normal people do. I mean, I suppose we could fix that as well, but trust me when I say you don't want that."
"It's really that easy?" Beth asked, her words a blend of doubt and hope.
"It's really that easy," Emma confirmed. "Keep in mind this is only for normal neurochemical issues. The stuff associated with Parahuman powers is beyond our ability to undo, without removing them completely. And even then there's no promises."
Beth looked disappointed at Emma's warning. "My therapist said that, at best, I could control the problem with therapy and medication. The idea of a cure was never even even considered. How come this isn't being sold for everyone with problems like this? There are millions who could be helped."
"Well, a few reasons," Emma responded. "First, well, law hasn't caught up to parahuman technology. It would be a decade before USA medical technology laws gave us approval, even if we met all their requirements today. Using this stuff would be illegal almost anywhere on Bet. Lucky us, we don't live on Bet, so we can do pretty much whatever we please."
"But we do have tech review and patent laws on Avalon," Amelia was quick to point out. "They're managed by Dragon. This machine wouldn't pass the requirements to be publicly available here, either. It's too dangerous to put in the hands of anyone other than a select few Tinkers."
"What do you mean?" Beth asked warily.
"You've tried four different medications before you found the one that worked on you," Emma stated. "I can tell because of trace effects in your body, and basic logic. Your biology wouldn't be corrected properly by the most obvious drugs, so they'd work their way down the list until they found one that actually did what it was meant to do. That's three failures because the doctor couldn't know what to use. And that second one, especially, probably just made things worse."
Beth nodded, obviously in awe that Emma could even know all that. Frankly, I was more than a little impressed, too. I knew Emma's Thinker powers were good, but I hadn't realized they were that good. Meanwhile, Emma had moved over to the computer connected to the machine and was doing... whatever it was she needed to do. I didn't understand enough about this equipment to even understand how much I didn't understand. And she's worried about somehow being low level compared to other Tinkers?
"This tech is pretty much exactly the same, only worse because it's permanent," Emma continued. "I can't just point it at you and press the 'cure everything' button. That doesn't exist, and we've yet to find the Tinker that would make it possible. Try to cure the wrong problem, and you could cause permanent damage to the brain. As of right now, a total of three people on any world could use this machine correctly, and there's only one that can fix the damage if something does go wrong."
"We're still working on other, safer, versions of the technology," I added. "But for now, it's pretty limited. More a side effect of the resurrection and skill implanting tech than it is a new piece of equipment in its own right."
"That reminds me," Lily spoke up. "You should get a backup done, in case something does go wrong. Not now! This is totally safe!" She added hastily. "But later... well, you never know when some asshole with a sniper rifle will come along and ruin everything. And then there's the Endbringer fights."
"Y-yeah, you're probably right," Beth frowned. "That's morbid as hell to think about."
AgreementDismay. "Better than the alternative," I responded.
"Alright, let's get you in the chair," Emma spoke up. "While we're here, is there anything you've always wanted to do, but never had a chance to learn? Because we've got a long list of upgrades you might like. The medical care and personal combat upgrades aren't mandatory, but they're highly recommended. They can save the lives of you or your friends. Or just random strangers on the street. After that, well, we can add two or three other skills. Pretty much instant Doctorate, or whatever the equivalent is. Of course, after that we need to wait about six months to a year before we can give you a second set of upgrades, so choose wisely. If we put too much stress on the brain too quickly, things can get messy. Especially for parahumans."
"Yeah, Lily told me about that," Beth responded. "I've always wanted to be able to sing."
"Ooh, good choice," Emma agreed. "That's Clarice's favorite. That's mainly a right brain set, so how about we throw a left brain in? Say, a course in computer engineering and logic. Comes with a lot of other benefits in math, too. And we can plug music theory mathematics right alongside them."
"I suck at math," Beth admitted, climbing into the chair and laying back.
"You don't have to," Emma countered. "That's kind of the point. You're getting ten or so years worth of training in minutes. It can make you good at pretty much anything. So you may as well go for something useful that you're bad at."
"Okay, that sounds really cool," she agreed.
"Alright, so just close your eyes and when you wake up, everything will be good as new," Emma instructed. She hit a button, and Beth slumped, going from tense to unconscious immediately. Emma started setting up the rest of the encasing needed to do the scanning. I'd been through it, already, so I understood at least that much. A few minutes later, and she stepped away from the unconscious girl.
"Alright, everyone out of the room," she instructed. "Delicate instruments, I need to make adjustments in real time, usual warnings and the like."
=====================
A/N- Kinda small chapter, but that's because it was actually a really big chapter and growing... so I split it here to get something out today, because there's almost no chance of me finishing the whole thing AND enjoying Easter.
"Oh, wow, it is so cool to finally really meet you!" Beth gushed. She was shorter than me, but then most women were. Average height, I couln't help but note she was prettier than me. AmusementCuriousity. "Your power is just so amazing, I wish mine was like yours."
"I never really though of controlling bugs as all that good," I responded awkwardly. Being praised by normal people, I can handle. Being praised by top tier parahumans is something else entirely. And Anima was top tier, by any ordinary standard. "I'm just lucky to have others that can make me stronger." I slipped my arm around Amelia's waist. PleasedLove. Really, really lucky.
"Like I keep saying," Lily stated, distracting Beth from me. "It's all luck, who gets what kind of power. Sure, there's patterns you can use to predict things, but those patterns aren't something you can control." Unless you get one of Cauldron's vials. "It's all about what you do with what you have. And in Taylor's case, what she did was hook up with the world's most powerful biomancer to build giant bug monsters."
Beth had gone quiet. "I made myself look stupid again, didn't I?"
ConcernPity. She couldn't be any more different from me.
Lily put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "No, not at all," she insisted. "Everything's fine, it's just the anxiety talking."
ConcernSuspicion. Amelia's right, are they? Fuck, how am I supposed to handle that? If they're not, then bringing it up is just humiliating. If they are, then... fuck... this could get complicated in a very bad way, very quickly. Somehow I didn't imagine this would work out as well as Theo, Missy and Riley managed to. Lily was absolutely critical to our operations, but Sabah was a good person and didn't deserve being cheated on.
"You're sure?" she asked, looking to me for an answer.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," I responded, smiling and feeling incredibly awkward about it. Still, I dealt with Bitch, and was even getting through to her when... had it really been so long ago? ConcernSupportLove.
"Don't worry, we have everything set up to fix that. Ten or fifteen minutes and you'll be fine forever," Emma interjected. "Well, sorta. You'll still get the same natural awkwardness as all normal people do. I mean, I suppose we could fix that as well, but trust me when I say you don't want that."
"It's really that easy?" Beth asked, her words a blend of doubt and hope.
"It's really that easy," Emma confirmed. "Keep in mind this is only for normal neurochemical issues. The stuff associated with Parahuman powers is beyond our ability to undo, without removing them completely. And even then there's no promises."
Beth looked disappointed at Emma's warning. "My therapist said that, at best, I could control the problem with therapy and medication. The idea of a cure was never even even considered. How come this isn't being sold for everyone with problems like this? There are millions who could be helped."
"Well, a few reasons," Emma responded. "First, well, law hasn't caught up to parahuman technology. It would be a decade before USA medical technology laws gave us approval, even if we met all their requirements today. Using this stuff would be illegal almost anywhere on Bet. Lucky us, we don't live on Bet, so we can do pretty much whatever we please."
"But we do have tech review and patent laws on Avalon," Amelia was quick to point out. "They're managed by Dragon. This machine wouldn't pass the requirements to be publicly available here, either. It's too dangerous to put in the hands of anyone other than a select few Tinkers."
"What do you mean?" Beth asked warily.
"You've tried four different medications before you found the one that worked on you," Emma stated. "I can tell because of trace effects in your body, and basic logic. Your biology wouldn't be corrected properly by the most obvious drugs, so they'd work their way down the list until they found one that actually did what it was meant to do. That's three failures because the doctor couldn't know what to use. And that second one, especially, probably just made things worse."
Beth nodded, obviously in awe that Emma could even know all that. Frankly, I was more than a little impressed, too. I knew Emma's Thinker powers were good, but I hadn't realized they were that good. Meanwhile, Emma had moved over to the computer connected to the machine and was doing... whatever it was she needed to do. I didn't understand enough about this equipment to even understand how much I didn't understand. And she's worried about somehow being low level compared to other Tinkers?
"This tech is pretty much exactly the same, only worse because it's permanent," Emma continued. "I can't just point it at you and press the 'cure everything' button. That doesn't exist, and we've yet to find the Tinker that would make it possible. Try to cure the wrong problem, and you could cause permanent damage to the brain. As of right now, a total of three people on any world could use this machine correctly, and there's only one that can fix the damage if something does go wrong."
"We're still working on other, safer, versions of the technology," I added. "But for now, it's pretty limited. More a side effect of the resurrection and skill implanting tech than it is a new piece of equipment in its own right."
"That reminds me," Lily spoke up. "You should get a backup done, in case something does go wrong. Not now! This is totally safe!" She added hastily. "But later... well, you never know when some asshole with a sniper rifle will come along and ruin everything. And then there's the Endbringer fights."
"Y-yeah, you're probably right," Beth frowned. "That's morbid as hell to think about."
AgreementDismay. "Better than the alternative," I responded.
"Alright, let's get you in the chair," Emma spoke up. "While we're here, is there anything you've always wanted to do, but never had a chance to learn? Because we've got a long list of upgrades you might like. The medical care and personal combat upgrades aren't mandatory, but they're highly recommended. They can save the lives of you or your friends. Or just random strangers on the street. After that, well, we can add two or three other skills. Pretty much instant Doctorate, or whatever the equivalent is. Of course, after that we need to wait about six months to a year before we can give you a second set of upgrades, so choose wisely. If we put too much stress on the brain too quickly, things can get messy. Especially for parahumans."
"Yeah, Lily told me about that," Beth responded. "I've always wanted to be able to sing."
"Ooh, good choice," Emma agreed. "That's Clarice's favorite. That's mainly a right brain set, so how about we throw a left brain in? Say, a course in computer engineering and logic. Comes with a lot of other benefits in math, too. And we can plug music theory mathematics right alongside them."
"I suck at math," Beth admitted, climbing into the chair and laying back.
"You don't have to," Emma countered. "That's kind of the point. You're getting ten or so years worth of training in minutes. It can make you good at pretty much anything. So you may as well go for something useful that you're bad at."
"Okay, that sounds really cool," she agreed.
"Alright, so just close your eyes and when you wake up, everything will be good as new," Emma instructed. She hit a button, and Beth slumped, going from tense to unconscious immediately. Emma started setting up the rest of the encasing needed to do the scanning. I'd been through it, already, so I understood at least that much. A few minutes later, and she stepped away from the unconscious girl.
"Alright, everyone out of the room," she instructed. "Delicate instruments, I need to make adjustments in real time, usual warnings and the like."
=====================
A/N- Kinda small chapter, but that's because it was actually a really big chapter and growing... so I split it here to get something out today, because there's almost no chance of me finishing the whole thing AND enjoying Easter.
Last edited:
Hexed999
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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So does Beth have a secondary power that makes people think she's sleeping with other women or something? Because this is one incident away from a pattern.
TanaNari
Verified Dick
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She's attractive, emotionally vulnerable, and spends most of her time around lesbians that touch her a lot.
Do any of those count as a secondary power? Because if so, then yes.
pepperjack
A Variety of Cheese
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If Cauldron sells it, sign me up.
kenhikaru
Not too sore, are you?
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PleasedLove.
ConcernSupportLove.
AgreementDismay.
Was expecting/hoping for a conclusion to the Lisa snippet, oh well.
GiftofLove
A Gift From The Heart
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Wait, did Taylor not know that Lily and Sabbah broke up?
Or are they officially back together again? (Boo!)
Or are they officially back together again? (Boo!)
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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She has more important things to do than listen to gossip, so it's not unreasonable that she doesn't know.
GiftofLove
A Gift From The Heart
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That doesn't hold up as well when you consider that both the people involved are Endslayers though.
Then again I don't think that Lily and Sabah went around screaming that they were single again. Lily has been pretty reserved about it and Sabah is working out of another city.
dasstan
:)
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Taylor and Amelia don't actually do all that much (in the organization), all things considered. It's been noted more than once that they sort of... bundle themselves away and mush data.
Lisa seems to handle most of the... well, everything, really. Taylor and Amelia set policy, Lisa goes about making it happen and dealing with the minor issues of wrangling a bunch of conflict seeking parahumans. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Taylor was completely unaware of who is doing who.
Coruscant Knave
'Twas love that did this to you.
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There's an easy fix: delete the index! That'll show 'em.
Disgusting. I love it.
Classic Taylor.
CptTagon
Prolific Writer
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I have a feeling the next chapter is going to be an Emma/Beth interlude, and Emma wants to tell Beth a secret.
sephlington
Making the rounds.
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Oh god, I hope it's just something like that. I was worried it was heading into a nightmarish Broken!Beth, especially with the "Hey, we'll get your mind backed up after this perfectly safe thing!"
Amelia, Ch 335- Taylor
TanaNari
Verified Dick
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Amelia, Ch 335- Taylor
As we followed Emma's instructions to leave the lab, I discreetly circled around to Lily. Amelia already knew what was up, and the area outside the lab shifted, creating a small facsimile of a waiting room. Her ability to just craft rooms with a thought was astounding. The seats were well designed, and more than that they were articulated, looking very much like actual chairs instead of some kind of bean bag seat. Granted, even the bean bags were amazingly comfortable, but it was easier to take yourself seriously when you sat in a real chair. She even created a two seater for us.
"So, where's Sabah?" I asked. It was the most obvious question I could come up with to start the conversation. I went over to where Amelia was sitting, right across from the chair that Lily chose for herself.
"The West Coast has been pretty unstable lately," Lily responded. "After effects of Leviathan's attack. They can't afford to lose both her and Anima. And since we needed Eric to play chauffeur anyway, I volunteered."
I nodded my understanding. It was one of my greatest frustrations that only some of our team could provide assistance. Avalon meant most of us couldn't operate on Bet any longer, except during Endbringer attacks, or if a given nation was willing to ask us to assist. And certainly the USA wouldn't, for fear of making the whole nation look weak in the eyes of the international community. Apparently, there could be no greater sin to America than to admit they needed help. It also kept Lily from getting involved, thanks to the politics with Japan. In a way, we were fortunate simply to have recognition as dignitaries and be allowed to cross the borders freely.
"Sabah's really made a name for herself," I agreed, going that route instead. She really had, one of those things about being an Endslayer meant everyone wanted to know everything about her. Her real claim to fame, however, was how she became an Endslayer. Her power looked so weak to those who tracked that sort of thing. Even if the future Endbringer kills showed that Lily was the keystone power for Endslayer combinations, there was no denying that the battle armor placed Sabah at near Alexandria levels. And that sparked a lot of imagination and discussion.
Lily looked at me and her eyes narrowed. "So, what's this really about?"
"Nothing, just-"
"Please," Lily smirked. "Taylor. Don't get me wrong, you can do the whole motivational speaking thing with the best of them, but you really suck at the whole subtly fishing for information. I'm surprised Amelia didn't flood this room with truth gas first."
ShockedAdmonished. I looked over to Amelia. "I... uh... it might have crossed my mind," she admitted sheepishly.
"Okay, fine, you win," I conceded. "We're kinda worried that maybe, well, you and Beth seem awfully close. Are you? Did you and Sabah break up again?"
"What? No!" Lily exclaimed. "We're just friends. Beth's nice, but I'm happy with Sabah. Plus Beth's straight, and not all of us have the benefit of whatever it is the two of you are doing with your powers."
ConcernProtective. "Okay, sorry, I was just worried that this might cause a mess."
"Yeah, no worries, I get where you're coming from," she shrugged. "You've gotta worry about your people, and worry about your image, and worry about a bunch of other bullshit. It'd really suck if everything took a hit just because one of your employees couldn't keep it in her pants. Metaphorically speaking."
"You're a lot more than just an employee," Amelia insisted. "We're a team. And I'd like us all to be friends, if possible. I understand if you don't want to, what with Ri-Clarice... that's a lot of baggage, I know."
She looked down, away from us, lost in thought for a minute. "Yeah, it really is," she finally decided. "I get why you did it in the first place, because she understood the Passengers. Fuck, she even named them, and you needed that knowledge. And after... I can't imagine that anyone in the history of the world has ever tried harder to earn a second chance than she has. I can't be friends with her, but you were right to save her. I'm willing to continue pretending she's just another Tinker I never really talk to, kinda like Defiant and Tir."
GratitudePride. I smiled. "Thank you, that's probaby for the best."
"So, umm, how are things between you and Sabah?" Amelia asked. "If I'm not prying or anything."
"They're fine," Lily answered, although she didn't sound convincing. We just waited. "Well, they're pretty good. We don't see each other as much as I'd like, and... I dunno... we're feeling our way, I guess. If it works out, great. If not, well, I promise we'll keep our drama off the public stage and away from our jobs. We have enough things to worry about that actually matter. Lives to save."
"That's a really mature way of handling it," I responded. "Thanks for that." AgreementRelief.
"Yeah, I may be taking a few lessons from some experts in image consulting, leadership, and PR Bullshit 101," she responded. "When I get acknowledged by the Japanese royalty, well... rumors are already spreading about that. A couple of the more popular hero teams left in Japan are trying to unofficially recruit me, discreetly so far. Promises to be a real political mess, and I want to be ready for it. I just wish I thought to get a politics upgrade when I had the chance. Because I might be looking at functionally leading the entirety of Japan's superheroes by the end of this."
"Yeah, we're sorta waiting until we can get that plugged in ourselves," Amelia admitted.
I chewed over the idea of that. Japan wasn't really a significant power, especially when it came to Parahumans, but they had a fair amount. Maybe a couple thousand in total. Unify the heroes, provide the equipment and political pressure to break the villains... appeal to the rogues. Yeah, this could be huge. Hopefully we could do it more cleanly than we managed to with the Protectorate. "I'll ask Lisa to run things by her girlfriend, maybe Cauldron has some influence that'll smooth things out."
"You really need to hide your evil overlord scheming face better," Amelia teased, prodding my shoulder. "You don't have the mustache to make the look."
"You could fix that," Lily pointed out.
"Please don't," I responded, doing my best to pout for Amelia. "I only recently got to find out what it feels like to actually look like a girl, and I've come to like it. Pretty sure my fiancée does, too. And she's smart and sweet and thinks I'm beautiful, and I don't want to ruin that for her."
"Hmmm..." Amelia smiled mischievously and leaned in close. "Okay, fiiine, no epic 'stache for you. But only because your fiancée sounds awesome."
"She is," I agreed, leaning my forehead against hers and looking into her eyes. Her left was slightly darker than her right, and her smile was slightly lopsided. Just a couple of the many random details about her features that I'd memorized over the last few months. "I'll be sure to tell her you think so."
"Aren't they just adorable?" Emma asked. ShockEmbarrassment. Amelia and I jumped away from each other to look toward where the door to the lab had opened. "Sorry, Lily, didn't mean to interrupt your show, but Beth is about to wake up and she'll probably want a familiar face there with her."
"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lily agreed, standing and walking toward the entrance to the labs. "It was starting to get a little warm in here, anyway. They really are cute together."
EmbarrassedPleasedProud. Amelia grabbed my hand and squeezed slightly.
"Zach's got a bunch of clips," Emma stated. "I can have him send them to your email if you'd like. But you should get going now."
"Yes, please, thank you," she responded eagerly.
"We're still in the room!" I exclaimed.
"So was I," Lily countered as hurried into the lab.
ApprehensionWorry. "Is there really video of us, umm, like that?" Amelia asked.
"Oh, yeah, of course," Emma replied. "We're collecting them so we can humiliate you at your wedding reception. But that's not important right now. Right now, I want you to look at that." She gestured into the lab. Beth was sitting on the bed, talking to Lily.
ConfusionCuriousity. "Umm, what part?" Amelia asked.
"Just look at them," Emma insisted. "See how happy they are right now? Beth's had a lifetime of struggle, and now it's gone just like that. To us, sure, it wasn't that big a deal. But for her, it's a miracle. There's so many problems to worry about. Like the Endbringers, and the slow collapse of society in Europe, and the fact that half of the USA is teetering on the edge of anarchy, and all the bullshit with the CUI. And how we haven't found a way to fight Scion."
She paused for a second, then continued. "And it's easy to look at all that and lose hope, to forget what makes all of it worth fighting for. But we've done so much in less than a year. Achieved miracles the likes of which most people never believed could be possible. If you can do so much in so little time, how much more do you imagine you'll accomplish in a decade?"
AweHopePride. Amelia spoke first. "Wow..."
"Yeah, wow," I agreed as Amelia stepped over and leaned against me. "Thanks. For reminding us why we're doing this."
She shrugged, looking back in at the two girls who were talking excitedly, outside our hearing range. "I've started to realize that it's the little things that make the biggest difference in the end."
====================
A/N- See, there was a REASON Emma invited the bosses along.
As we followed Emma's instructions to leave the lab, I discreetly circled around to Lily. Amelia already knew what was up, and the area outside the lab shifted, creating a small facsimile of a waiting room. Her ability to just craft rooms with a thought was astounding. The seats were well designed, and more than that they were articulated, looking very much like actual chairs instead of some kind of bean bag seat. Granted, even the bean bags were amazingly comfortable, but it was easier to take yourself seriously when you sat in a real chair. She even created a two seater for us.
"So, where's Sabah?" I asked. It was the most obvious question I could come up with to start the conversation. I went over to where Amelia was sitting, right across from the chair that Lily chose for herself.
"The West Coast has been pretty unstable lately," Lily responded. "After effects of Leviathan's attack. They can't afford to lose both her and Anima. And since we needed Eric to play chauffeur anyway, I volunteered."
I nodded my understanding. It was one of my greatest frustrations that only some of our team could provide assistance. Avalon meant most of us couldn't operate on Bet any longer, except during Endbringer attacks, or if a given nation was willing to ask us to assist. And certainly the USA wouldn't, for fear of making the whole nation look weak in the eyes of the international community. Apparently, there could be no greater sin to America than to admit they needed help. It also kept Lily from getting involved, thanks to the politics with Japan. In a way, we were fortunate simply to have recognition as dignitaries and be allowed to cross the borders freely.
"Sabah's really made a name for herself," I agreed, going that route instead. She really had, one of those things about being an Endslayer meant everyone wanted to know everything about her. Her real claim to fame, however, was how she became an Endslayer. Her power looked so weak to those who tracked that sort of thing. Even if the future Endbringer kills showed that Lily was the keystone power for Endslayer combinations, there was no denying that the battle armor placed Sabah at near Alexandria levels. And that sparked a lot of imagination and discussion.
Lily looked at me and her eyes narrowed. "So, what's this really about?"
"Nothing, just-"
"Please," Lily smirked. "Taylor. Don't get me wrong, you can do the whole motivational speaking thing with the best of them, but you really suck at the whole subtly fishing for information. I'm surprised Amelia didn't flood this room with truth gas first."
ShockedAdmonished. I looked over to Amelia. "I... uh... it might have crossed my mind," she admitted sheepishly.
"Okay, fine, you win," I conceded. "We're kinda worried that maybe, well, you and Beth seem awfully close. Are you? Did you and Sabah break up again?"
"What? No!" Lily exclaimed. "We're just friends. Beth's nice, but I'm happy with Sabah. Plus Beth's straight, and not all of us have the benefit of whatever it is the two of you are doing with your powers."
ConcernProtective. "Okay, sorry, I was just worried that this might cause a mess."
"Yeah, no worries, I get where you're coming from," she shrugged. "You've gotta worry about your people, and worry about your image, and worry about a bunch of other bullshit. It'd really suck if everything took a hit just because one of your employees couldn't keep it in her pants. Metaphorically speaking."
"You're a lot more than just an employee," Amelia insisted. "We're a team. And I'd like us all to be friends, if possible. I understand if you don't want to, what with Ri-Clarice... that's a lot of baggage, I know."
She looked down, away from us, lost in thought for a minute. "Yeah, it really is," she finally decided. "I get why you did it in the first place, because she understood the Passengers. Fuck, she even named them, and you needed that knowledge. And after... I can't imagine that anyone in the history of the world has ever tried harder to earn a second chance than she has. I can't be friends with her, but you were right to save her. I'm willing to continue pretending she's just another Tinker I never really talk to, kinda like Defiant and Tir."
GratitudePride. I smiled. "Thank you, that's probaby for the best."
"So, umm, how are things between you and Sabah?" Amelia asked. "If I'm not prying or anything."
"They're fine," Lily answered, although she didn't sound convincing. We just waited. "Well, they're pretty good. We don't see each other as much as I'd like, and... I dunno... we're feeling our way, I guess. If it works out, great. If not, well, I promise we'll keep our drama off the public stage and away from our jobs. We have enough things to worry about that actually matter. Lives to save."
"That's a really mature way of handling it," I responded. "Thanks for that." AgreementRelief.
"Yeah, I may be taking a few lessons from some experts in image consulting, leadership, and PR Bullshit 101," she responded. "When I get acknowledged by the Japanese royalty, well... rumors are already spreading about that. A couple of the more popular hero teams left in Japan are trying to unofficially recruit me, discreetly so far. Promises to be a real political mess, and I want to be ready for it. I just wish I thought to get a politics upgrade when I had the chance. Because I might be looking at functionally leading the entirety of Japan's superheroes by the end of this."
"Yeah, we're sorta waiting until we can get that plugged in ourselves," Amelia admitted.
I chewed over the idea of that. Japan wasn't really a significant power, especially when it came to Parahumans, but they had a fair amount. Maybe a couple thousand in total. Unify the heroes, provide the equipment and political pressure to break the villains... appeal to the rogues. Yeah, this could be huge. Hopefully we could do it more cleanly than we managed to with the Protectorate. "I'll ask Lisa to run things by her girlfriend, maybe Cauldron has some influence that'll smooth things out."
"You really need to hide your evil overlord scheming face better," Amelia teased, prodding my shoulder. "You don't have the mustache to make the look."
"You could fix that," Lily pointed out.
"Please don't," I responded, doing my best to pout for Amelia. "I only recently got to find out what it feels like to actually look like a girl, and I've come to like it. Pretty sure my fiancée does, too. And she's smart and sweet and thinks I'm beautiful, and I don't want to ruin that for her."
"Hmmm..." Amelia smiled mischievously and leaned in close. "Okay, fiiine, no epic 'stache for you. But only because your fiancée sounds awesome."
"She is," I agreed, leaning my forehead against hers and looking into her eyes. Her left was slightly darker than her right, and her smile was slightly lopsided. Just a couple of the many random details about her features that I'd memorized over the last few months. "I'll be sure to tell her you think so."
"Aren't they just adorable?" Emma asked. ShockEmbarrassment. Amelia and I jumped away from each other to look toward where the door to the lab had opened. "Sorry, Lily, didn't mean to interrupt your show, but Beth is about to wake up and she'll probably want a familiar face there with her."
"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lily agreed, standing and walking toward the entrance to the labs. "It was starting to get a little warm in here, anyway. They really are cute together."
EmbarrassedPleasedProud. Amelia grabbed my hand and squeezed slightly.
"Zach's got a bunch of clips," Emma stated. "I can have him send them to your email if you'd like. But you should get going now."
"Yes, please, thank you," she responded eagerly.
"We're still in the room!" I exclaimed.
"So was I," Lily countered as hurried into the lab.
ApprehensionWorry. "Is there really video of us, umm, like that?" Amelia asked.
"Oh, yeah, of course," Emma replied. "We're collecting them so we can humiliate you at your wedding reception. But that's not important right now. Right now, I want you to look at that." She gestured into the lab. Beth was sitting on the bed, talking to Lily.
ConfusionCuriousity. "Umm, what part?" Amelia asked.
"Just look at them," Emma insisted. "See how happy they are right now? Beth's had a lifetime of struggle, and now it's gone just like that. To us, sure, it wasn't that big a deal. But for her, it's a miracle. There's so many problems to worry about. Like the Endbringers, and the slow collapse of society in Europe, and the fact that half of the USA is teetering on the edge of anarchy, and all the bullshit with the CUI. And how we haven't found a way to fight Scion."
She paused for a second, then continued. "And it's easy to look at all that and lose hope, to forget what makes all of it worth fighting for. But we've done so much in less than a year. Achieved miracles the likes of which most people never believed could be possible. If you can do so much in so little time, how much more do you imagine you'll accomplish in a decade?"
AweHopePride. Amelia spoke first. "Wow..."
"Yeah, wow," I agreed as Amelia stepped over and leaned against me. "Thanks. For reminding us why we're doing this."
She shrugged, looking back in at the two girls who were talking excitedly, outside our hearing range. "I've started to realize that it's the little things that make the biggest difference in the end."
====================
A/N- See, there was a REASON Emma invited the bosses along.
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Adrian Nightshade
Making the rounds.
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dasstan
:)
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I think Zach's been rubbing off on her.
GiftofLove
A Gift From The Heart
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And she didn't even get it. Sorry Emma, no pats on the head from Taylor today. Maybe tomorrow?