Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[TanaNari]

And a power supply. And raw materials. And more raw materials. And huge amounts of equipment.

I think Khonsu has certain amounts of space limitations, and to make this plan work you'd need to cover an area the size of New York. State.

 

[The Shadowmind]

And a power supply. And raw materials. And more raw materials. And huge amounts of equipment.

I think Khonsu has certain amounts of space limitations, and to make this plan work you'd need to cover an area the size of New York. State.

Click to shrink...

Dragon has grown into a big girl hasn't she?

 

[dasstan]

And a power supply. And raw materials. And more raw materials. And huge amounts of equipment.

I think Khonsu has certain amounts of space limitations, and to make this plan work you'd need to cover an area the size of New York. State.

Click to shrink...

The very ground can channel energy and raw materials. Wake up an Amelia clone and stick it in there. Or have Eidolon give himself a power similar to Alexandria's timelocked power, and put him in the time field. As to the size problem, wait until Missy is better, find a patch on Avalon that is uninhabited, move everything there and then do all the other stuff?

They have a power tinker around, and an endbringer that gives whatever tech it uses an absurd boost. Build a Vista-enhancer/duplicator, and give it to Quezacotl.

It's a little silly to try and claim infrastructure limitations when you have 15 Endbringers at your disposal, and the single most versatile trump.

 

[TanaNari]

No reason to believe a single thing you just said makes sense. From a ground level or from a meta level. They already know high end shakers don't react well together. Endbringer grade power interactions= well, Dinah didn't see THAT coming. But the readers should.

Plus it's kinda retarded to expect scientific studies to be accurate inside a bubble of altered reality.

"Let's study physics in a place where those physics don't work". Yeah.

 

[Snake/Eater]

Why not create a tinker and thinker temporal colony for the clones of the Research and Development crew,any children born during the timewarp would increase their manpower and the research notes would end up being the envy of world....afterall they're all running out of time,why not cheat.To boldly go where no man has gone before...The Final Frontier.

 

[LuridThrone]

You people are really overblowing this, for my suggestion to work all you need is a single tower with a unshacked Dragon on it and a generator. She can access and improve her own code in virtual space, she doesnt need materials or databanks or anything else to do that.

 

[dasstan]

No reason to believe a single thing you just said makes sense. From a ground level or from a meta level. They already know high end shakers don't react well together. Endbringer grade power interactions= well, Dinah didn't see THAT coming. But the readers should.

Plus it's kinda retarded to expect scientific studies to be accurate inside a bubble of altered reality.

"Let's study physics in a place where those physics don't work". Yeah.

Click to shrink...

Not really a reason to believe it wouldn't, though? There's an Endbringer that can run different parahumans together without exploding in a tangle of Eden parts. Obviously, you're the author, so you get to decide if there would be a power interaction or not. That said, it'd be stupid not to take advantage of the fact that they have a hyperbolic time chamber to play around with.

 

[TanaNari]

unshacked Dragon on it and a generator

Click to shrink...

First they have to work up the guts to unshackle Dragon. Then give her roughly a thousand years of pure sensory isolation. Because that's something you want to inflict on a being that's just inches away from being a god.

That said, it'd be stupid not to take advantage of the fact that they have a hyperbolic time chamber to play around with.

Click to shrink...

Well, it is a research facility. It'd be unbelievably stupid for them not to toss probes in to see what they can discover.

The fact that they're choosing not to use it for anything more than that *might* be a hint that it's not a good idea.

 

[Viterbi]

The fact that they're choosing not to use it for anything more than that *might* be a hint that it's not a good idea

Click to shrink...

It's nice having a precog so powerful she's indistinguishable from author fiat, isn't it?

 

[LuridThrone]

My argument presumes they made such a decision

Never said it was a good idea, Singularity-level AI is one hot potato. But in terms of taking what they have and making the absolute best use of it i cant imagine anything more overkill than unshackling dragon and letting her make use of khonsu's dilation field to begin rapid self optimization. And because i dont think shed want to give up her colin-nuzzling time or shirk her responsibility, sending a fork in and merging after is the best solution.

That said, you seem to think im being cruel here somehow , thats not my intent. The way i imagine it, it would probably even be Dragon's idea. Afaik shed leap at the chance to realize her potential so she could put it to good use. Leaving her in there for a thousand years (when i said a few days, i was just throwing out numbers, i have no idea what the ratio is), is similarly unnecessary she could pop in and out every few weeks(dilated time) to merge and refork. Hell, do they have backups of Colin? If so, he could join her in the time bubble, a virtualized human intelligence is little different from a artificial intelligence. they could rub 1s and 0s together

I'm just... what do they call it? Munchkining? Not saying you should have them do that, just pointing out they basically have a all the parts to not only free dragon, but give her the ability to self-improve at even greater speeds than she might have had before. And i preferr dragon to scion.

 

[TanaNari]

It's nice having a precog so powerful she's indistinguishable from author fiat, isn't it?

Click to shrink...

Precogs don't work on Endbringers. So Dinah's answers are "uhhh... fuck if I know?".

They're favoring caution over unknown risk of horrible death right now.

 

[Snake/Eater]

Precogs don't work on Endbringers. So Dinah's answers are "uhhh... fuck if I know?".

They're favoring caution over unknown risk of horrible death right now.

Click to shrink...

There is one man who is immune to to the Endbringers... Thomas Calvert!he is not a True precog, Paris proved that his power works against them.on unrelated note i found the perfect song that would be voted the national anthem of Avalon's Royalty.... Iron Maiden's "Isle of Avalon" ...it's kinda scary how Accurate the song fits...

Spoiler: Isle of Avalon

cue Zach and Lily airguitaring
Amelia:
Defiant:That is absurd,I will show you how to efficiently airguiter Heavy metal.
Cue Colin showing off his virtuoso airguitar skills
Amelia:

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 375- Rebecca


Whatever happens, you must not laugh. Whatever. Happens. Do. Not. Laugh.


Lisa leaned back and smiled. "So, let's have our introductions. I'm Crow, most of you already think you know me."


She pointed at Number Man. "Huh, so Riley's your goddaughter. You must be so proud." It actually took me a moment to connect the dots of Lisa's logic. Judging by Number Man's reaction, he took even longer than I did.


He was not happy about it, either, but Lisa had already moved on, turning toward Legend. "Holy shit, you're actually a decent human being! The fuck are you doing around people like us? Oh, and your hubby's a good guy, but the whole talk about getting a pet cat? Don't do it. Sorry for intruding into your personal life."


Shift of the shoulder toward me when she said sorry. Apologizing to me as well. They'd probably pick up on how she wasn't distinguishing herself as better, though I had to wonder if any caught the significance that she was including me as well. The apology is for her honesty on the subject for saying I'm not a good person. I lowered my eyes a little, an equivalent to the nod of the head. She's right, we're not good people, there's nothing for her to apologize for.


Legend shifted uncomfortably. "I'd probably say something about it being okay, but don't do it again. But it's really not okay and we both know you're not going to stop, it's too ingrained in your personality and the way your Agent influences your mind."


I glanced toward Legend as he started to speak, then looked back toward Lisa. I lowered my hand just a little, advising her to tone it down. She was clearly overcompensating for the lack of Agent influence, trying too hard to sell her new persona. Making some very powerful individuals unhappy.


She smiled at Eidolon. "You're still basically immune to my powers. That whole 'Primacy' thing is really fucking nice. Wish I had it. Heads I win, Tails everyone else loses. And everyone's so hung up on your flashy powers when that's the one that's really godlike. Man, if I had that, I'd be riding an Endbringer to work just for the fun of it. Of course, it does sorta take the challenge out of, well, everything."


Eidolon flinched. "I presume you have a point to all of this." Of everyone in the room, he was the least able to hide his emotions. My Thinker powers didn't work on him, and now I knew why, but I still had human intelligence, and he still had human behaviors, and that's all it really took.


Lisa shrugged halfheartedly, which was obviously calculated. Eidolon wouldn't be her target, Contessa on the other hand... Testing the most powerful Thinker in the room, possibly in every world, is exactly the sort of thing that she would do. "Not entirely sure yet, but there's more introductions to be made!"


She waved at me. "Hi, Mom!" I allowed myself to cringe enough that Number Man picked up on it. He'd relay that information to the others. To say I couldn't believe Lisa had picked up on that whole 'daughter' thing and ran with it wasn't true. I very much believed it. It was just awkward. We knew it would fit their models, both general psychological and precognitive. Lisa clearly had a deep seated need for emotional support and a history of acting out to get attention. Something that I could use to control her and get her on board with our goals.


She turned toward Contessa and Doctor Mother and her skin paled. She can't fake a reaction that easily, this is real. "Oh holy fuck. I thought you people had a fucking plan for what you're doing!"


Doctor Mother sat forward, moving in front of Contessa. It was a genuine act of caring for the younger woman. "We do have a plan!"


Lisa stood, slamming her hands on the desk. The anger was faked, she was pretending to be emotional to throw off the Thinkers. To throw off Contessa's power. "No you don't. You have a fucking Passenger doing all the work. A Passenger that, I remind you, is just as tied to conflict generation as mine is. One that follows the same Primacy rules. It's going to select the course of action that causes the most destruction. And while we're on the subject, the thing that was using it first managed to run face first into a planet so hard that a baseline human with a cheap knife could kill it. From where I'm sitting, that's not something I want to rely on."


Contessa shifted, preparing to act. If it came to a fight between the two of them, Lisa stood no chance. Her battle suit would keep her from being an easy fight for Contessa, but Lisa would still lose. I'd have to intervene.


Lisa met her eyes. "You could kill me, but we both know I'm too valuable to waste. You're looking for the best way to attack me psychologically, but I'm betting you're getting a bunch of Error messages, right? Yeah, I thought so. And you don't know why. It's because I'm a Third Trigger."


Doctor Mother lifted her hand, waving Contessa back. "There is no such thing as a Third Trigger. And there is no way you can know the things you claim to know."


I again fought the urge to laugh. Doctor Mother is trying to manipulate Lisa into giving away useful information we don't have. And doesn't realize Lisa wants to be 'goaded' into giving that information. Lisa was threading the needle between being immune to precog manipulation, but still vulnerable to human manipulation. She was using her postcognitive powers to slide herself into a position not that different from Eidolon's.


Lisa stepped back from the table. "Not in the sense of granting more powers, no. Third Triggers can see past the memory Taboos and ignore some of the behavior alterations that powers plug into their users. They also tend to fuck with precognition and other thinkers. Pantheon's identified three separate Third Triggers and have our suspicions about a few others out there. Amelia, Glaistig Uaine and I are confirmed. Eidolon's Primacy power grants him the equivalent, lucky bastard that he is."


....


Number Man approached me. "Alexandria, a word if you please?"


I looked at him, but he was unreadable as usual. In a way, I had to wonder. If he and I were a little more willing to express our emotions, would we have had a power interaction the way Lisa and I did? The answer was irrelevant, either way. "This is about Crow, I presume?"


"Do you believe you can control her? She's proven to be rather capricious in the past. Playing 'mother figure' can't last forever."


"Speaking from experience?"


"Perhaps a little."


I nodded to the man. "You're probably right. If it were merely that, I doubt it would work. However, she does legitimately want Scion stopped, and has been working toward that goal since the moment she knew of the threat."


"And why she would choose you over her best friend and replacement sibling?"


Because as far as she's concerned, that friend is dead. She Triggered over that suicide as well. "I'm afraid I can only speculate. Perhaps her parents were a greater emotional loss to her? Or perhaps she feels a need to fix problems, and as Khepri is clearly in an enthusiastic relationship with Gaea right now... I understand that is the problem with being the sort of person who wants to save other people. If you ever succeed, they don't need you anymore. Have you given a thought to what you'll do in a world without Scion?"


"That is an interesting conundrum. Does that imply that Crow thinks you're the type of person who needs to be 'saved'?"


I allowed a bit of a smile to come to my face. "Perhaps I do, at that. Or perhaps she's hoping to find someone to save her. Isn't that another common paradox, those who try to save others are the ones who most desire to be saved?"


He regarded the smile, knowing it was calculated. "Which brings us back to your role as a mother."


"And how it can't last? That is true. Don't all children grow up and move away from the nest, eventually?" I turned and walked away.


I focused on the event, forcing it to be as emotionally impactful as possible. I'd need Lisa to see it. I could tell her to look, but without a beacon, she wouldn't know the when or where to look.


There was no doubt my companions would run through our reactions with a fine toothed comb. Both myself and Lisa. If we were to make this work, the pair of us needed to make it look believable. It did help that our relationship really wasn't that different from a mother and her pain in the ass teenage daughter. I couldn't expect Number Man or Contessa to understand it, but Eidolon, Legend and Doctor Mother knew what families looked like, at least. They'd think they understood, I could imagine a few snide comments from Legend about how it turns out I'm actually human after all.


That was fine, as long as they never caught on to our power interaction and everything that implied.


....


Lisa was last to the meeting, as usual. "Hey, Fortuna, how's the future looking?"


Contessa waited a moment, then took the time to answer. Holy crap, she's speaking for a reason we know can't be part of her power. "Details get murkier every day. I can no longer rely on any model that extends more than a few days."


Lisa smiled, she'd taken to not wearing her mask around us. "I'm not sure how your power works, exactly, but Dinah managed to compensate pretty well by phrasing her powers with the assumption that Amelia and Taylor would remain together. For whatever reason, all precog powers seem to assume they'll break up in a week or two at the most."


She shifted her foot and glanced in my direction for just a moment. Asking me yet again if I'm sure about this path and lying to them about the power interactions. I stay resolute. She understands, as always. She draws her arms together slightly, the ghost of a hug. I return the gesture.


Contessa nodded and spoke hesitantly. "Thank you?"


"So what's the news with the Golden Asshole?"


I took the prompt. "Crow, please control the language. This is polite company, after all." My annoyance wasn't faked. She was embarrassing me, and at least some of the people at this table could detect that.


Lisa sat down in her chair, even managing to look a little chastised. "Sorry, I'll try better. But he's still an asshole."


Meanwhile, she folded her hands together, taking the top pointer finger and sliding it down between the hands, to scratch the ball of her thumb. It was a vaguely obscene gesture, not so much her telling a dirty joke as pointing out that there were plenty of such jokes to be made about this. Again, I forced myself to not laugh. Number Man gave me a sidelong glance, suspicious. Pretending not to notice wouldn't have worked, so I simply shrugged slightly at him.


Doctor Mother regarded Lisa for a moment. "We followed your suggestion. It turns out, Scion was in fact paused by the same effect Eidolon used to control the Endbringers. He's vulnerable to that power."


Lisa smiled. "Correction. Was vulnerable. I'm sure he's already made whatever tweak it was necessary to guarantee it won't happen again."


Eidolon deflated. "You mean I had a chance to win this, and I failed. Is that the Primacy effect that Glaistig Uaine talked about? When it came to an opportunity to kill Scion I simply didn't think of it in time because my Agent won't let me?"


Lisa shook her head. "No. Well, maybe it did keep you from thinking of the idea. Don't have enough information to say for certain about that. What I'm certain of is that it wouldn't have succeeded if you tried. What would you do? Order him to kill himself? Okay, let's say that even works and he doesn't just kill you for trying. Scion kills himself, and then about ten seconds later a new Scion pops into existence. That body is a fake, just an Avatar like Genesis or Siberian. Killing it means nothing. Sure, maybe if you do it enough times, the real Scion will eventually die of power loss. But you can't do that with a single power, no matter what it is. Not without finding a way into Scion's home dimension."


"Which is Pantheon's goal," Contessa spoke. She probably didn't figure that out, just wanted to use her power to say what Lisa was hinting at.


"Pretty much. Have to admit, it'd be really nice if it works."


Number Man finally broke his silence. "You don't believe it will work. That's why you're here."


Lisa shrugged. "It's not that I don't believe it will work. I honestly don't know one way or another. What I do know is that I won't be able to help make it work. My power isn't one that works for that. They have Dragon and their power interactions to harness in an attempt to reach Scion. I'm no longer a relevant piece of their game plan. Your plans, on the other hand, are exactly my speed. I can make some actual progress for a change."


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


A/N- A few days in the life of mommy Rebecca.

 

[GiftofLove]

Three days before she smothers Lisa in her bosom.

Literally.

 

[Slayer Anderson]

Well, Lisa, good job.

Cauldron is a sitcom now. I'll get the popcorn.

Who's got the laugh-track?

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

Well, Lisa, good job.

Cauldron is a sitcom now. I'll get the popcorn.

Who's got the laugh-track?

Click to shrink...

*sits in the corner, ripping up the tape for the laugh-track*

What?

I really fucking hate laugh-tracks.

 

[dasstan]

He was not happy about it, either, but Lisa had already moved on, turning toward Legend. "Holy shit, you're actually a decent human being! The fuck are you doing around people like us? Oh, and your hubby's a good guy, but the whole talk about getting a pet cat? Don't do it. It's a ploy to warm you up to the idea of adopting. Not that I'm saying that adopting's a bad idea. But the cat is. Sorry for intruding into your personal life."

Click to shrink...

Don't he and Arthur already have a kid?
edit: The kid's name is Keith.

She shifted her foot and glance in my direction for just a moment. Asking me yet again if I'm sure about this path and lying to them about the power interactions. I stay resolute. She understands, as always. She draws her arms together slightly, the ghost of a hug. I return the gesture.

Click to shrink...

Was the change in tense intentional? If so, the "she shifted her foot" needs to be changed to "shifts" and "glance" needs to be either "glances" or "glanced".

 

[pepperjack]

I can only enjoy laugh tracks by thinking about how all the people laughing in them are long dead.

Three days before she smothers Lisa in her bosom.

Literally.

Click to shrink...

Well, if you have to go...

 

[TanaNari]

Don't he and Arthur already have a kid?

Click to shrink...

Good fucking god I need to go reread the whole story.

Whelp. Amelia's on hiatus until I can work my way through a million and a half words. See you guys in a few weeks.

 

[Z000]

still feel like killing Lisa right now
i just know she going to fuck with every one eventually
that bitch work like that

 

[Daunmi]

Hmm. Time skips.

Canon Worm had one, starting back up on Taylor's 18th birthday and leading to Scion.

Will we be seeing an interrupted wedding?

 

[gatewaewanderer]

Now if only Lisa could accept Taylor as, well, Taylor. Yeah, she's not the same one, but for all intents and purposes, she might as well be. I get the feeling most of the reason Lisa hasn't been able to accept that is a constant, unrelenting reminder from her power whenever she looks at Taylor.

Still... Any bets on how long it takes Cauldron to get fed up enough with Lisa to cause a major scene? I'm betting 1 day, maybe 2.

 

[TanaNari]

Still... Any bets on how long it takes Cauldron to get fed up enough with Lisa to cause a major scene? I'm betting 1 day, maybe 2.

Click to shrink...

Well, they've held out a couple weeks based on the in story info. So you've already lost that bet.

 

[gatewaewanderer]

Ah, I forgot about that.

 

[tordg]

They'd probably pick up on how she wasn't distinguishing herself as better, though I had to wonder if any caught the significance that she including me as well.

Click to shrink...

"That she was including"?

The apology is for

Click to shrink...

Present tense.

Something I could use that to control her and get her on board with our goals.

Click to shrink...

Redundant "that"?

Or perhaps she feels a need to fix problems, and as Khepri is clearly in an enthusiastic relationship with Gaea right now.

Click to shrink...

I think the end of the sentence is missing.

pain in the ass

Click to shrink...

Isn't this class of phrase usually hyphenated?

They'd think they understood, I could imagine a few snide comments from Legend about how it turns out I'm actually human after all.

Click to shrink...

not sure if the comma is a sufficient separation of the clauses. Also, you went to present tense again.

Contessa nodded and spoke hesitantly. "Thank you?"

Click to shrink...

awwwwww

Order him to kill himself?

Click to shrink...

God. Fucking. Dammit. TanaNari. You. Collossal. Fucking. Tease.

Amelia, Glaistig Uaine and I are confirmed.

Click to shrink...

Oxford commas are good things.

I really enjoyed Becky's sense of humour here. I also think we need to see more from her; her annoyance at Lisa felt kind of forced to me and I suspect it might have to do with a lack of foreshadowing. Or maybe it's just me. Either way, moar Becky; she's awesome.

Happy reread!

 

[TanaNari]

her annoyance at Lisa felt kind of forced to me

Click to shrink...

She was annoyed? When?

She was just a little embarrassed at Lisa's behavior in front of her colleagues. Something that she clearly considered worth it in the long run.

 

[tordg]

She was annoyed? When?

She was just a little embarrassed at Lisa's behavior in front of her colleagues. Something that she clearly considered worth it in the long run.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmm so I was reading that as stronger than intended... And I forgot a line or two... Recalibrating... Okay, complaint redacted.

 

[Daunmi]

It's revealed now! The final chapter:

Contessa: "You know what? Fuck it all. Path to beating that smug bitch at her own game motherfuckers!"
Everyone else: "Well shit."
Scion: *dies from smug overload*
Contessa: "Exactly as planned!"
Lisa: "Just what I'd intended to get you to do from the start."
Contessa: "Just liked I'd planned when I Pathed accepting you into Cauldron!"
Alexandria: "Oh god, what have we done?!"
Lisa: "Just like I'd wanted when I first started having feelings for Alexandrimum."
Contessa: "Just like I'd planned when I first Pathed getting her to feel materialistic towards someone!"

*Time skip to a few days later*

Lisa: "Ok... So if you didn't convince my brother to commit suicide as part of a Path to get me to trigger as one of the potential options to help guide Brockton Bay's progress..."
Simurgh: *pops back in*
Contessa: "Eidolon, get her!"
Lisa: "You can't Path him."
Contessa: "So?"
Lisa: "He died attempting to contain the smug so it could reach critical levels to kill Scion."
Contessa: "... This Path kind of sucks..."
Lisa: "Yeah, we're fucked."

*Simurgh wins, bad end, darkest fix fic achieved*

*Three months later TanaNari posts the real ending because he's a dick*

 

[Malkara]

We followed your suggestion. It turns out, Scion was in fact paused by the same effect Eidolon used to control the Endbringers. He's vulnerable to that power."

Click to shrink...

Thank you

Correction. Was vulnerable. I'm sure he's already made whatever tweak it was necessary to guarantee it won't happen again."

Click to shrink...

Aww

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 376- Taylor


ImpatienceConcern. Amelia leaned closer to me. "So, how is he doing in there?"


I shrugged. Normally I wouldn't admit to listening in on something like a top secret United Nations meeting. Especially not while in the building that they were being held. But this wasn't all that normal. There was nothing we wouldn't be informed of in a few minutes anyway. Frankly, we could have sat in and watched if we liked, but we were afraid if we were in the room they might feel pressured to give us what we were asking for, and that would be bad. "Surprisingly, it's going way better than we expected."


TrepidationConfusion. "You mean they're going to give us permission to use the Endbringers for this?"


"Not even a little bit. They went with reminding us that the Endbringers are the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction ever made, and they cannot justify deploying them against terrorists. The loss of a single colony that was replaced within a week isn't significant enough to warrant that kind of action. Pretty much word for word."


ReliefSuccess. Amelia hid her smile well. "So, what did they compromise with?"


I patted her knee, then stood up. "Better if you hear it from him." I turned a moment before the doors opened. The three cameras trained on us, and the however many Thinkers they had viewing the film, could use the reminder that my senses extended to everywhere nearby. There were very few environments that could support human life, but not insects. And strangely enough, Avalon came close to being one of them. Or maybe I just wanted to enjoy the nostalgia of my powers before Amelia came along to upgrade me to a functional demigod.


Powers which got nearly got me burned to death by one of the lowest of upper tier parahumans, I remembered quickly. Know what? Fuck the very concept of nostalgia. I dipped into the link hard, drawing in Amelia's emotions like a deep breath of spring air. ConfusionAmusementCuriousity. Sorry, nothing that's that significant, I'll tell you later. RelaxationConcernPatience.


The man we were waiting on bowed after walking over to us. Amelia and I curtsied slightly. InterestHope. "So, how did things go, Doctor Sato?"


Doctor Sato was our official representative with the United Nations, now. A refugee from Kyushu, and a former Japanese diplomat. He then got a similar career with England before we came along. He wore traditionalism, both Japanese and British, with pride. He was damn good at his job and believed in doing it to the best of his ability.


The part where he, like everyone, knew China was responsible for the attacks on the portals only made him that much more determined. Apparently the CUI had a longer history of abuses against Japan than we'd realized. Like a practice of raiding it and several of its other neighbors for parahumans to brainwash into the Yangban. "Unfortunately, they were not willing to consider the Endbringers an option, even if deployed only as a transportation device to a colony world which likely had no civilian life on it."


AcceptanceAnnoyance. Amelia drew herself up to a military stance. Overcompensating for the 'no slouching in front of the international community' rule that our behavior coaches hammered into us. "Well, that is unfortunate."


Doctor Sato nodded. "I do have some good news. They were more willing to issue a sanction classifying the attackers as an international terrorist organization. With all legal rights, or virtual lack thereof, that such a thing implies. Including pledges from most members of the international community to aid in the tracking or removal of suspected members."


ConfusionConcern. "Who didn't sign? Why?"


"France has taken a dim view of your nation not explicitly banning the death penalty. It and a handful of other nations are holding out until you issue an official ban on the practice. In spite of assurances about your admittedly unusual legal system and the severity necessary for such a punishment to be exacted."


Severity, indeed. Only mass murder and treason or espionage meet that requirement. AnnoyanceDisappointment. I glanced at Amelia. "I suppose it can't be helped. We can always come put that on the table for later negotiations, I suppose. If we feel we need it then."


Doctor Sato kept the neutral face he'd probably spent decades training. "With that exception, you are preauthorized to respond in full to any attempt to attack any more portals. With exception to the anti-Endbringer weaponry. Those are still considered an unacceptable force deployment that requires permission from the nation you plan to deploy them on. I might have been able to push for permission to deploy the 'cat' models if you are willing to accept other conditions."


I almost laughed. I didn't know which part of that was more absurd. The idea that our zerg were sitting in the same class of military action as sending battleships or aircraft carriers. Or the idea that these people believed those were a more dangerous weapon than my bugs. "I wouldn't be opposed to learning what concessions they need, but the anti-Endbringer weapons were meant to fight Endbringers. They're intended to end wars, not track down criminals, even terrorists."


VictoryAnticipation. Oh crap, if Amelia talks now, she'll blow it. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. I know it's not everything that we were asking for, but it is an excellent start. Your efforts are greatly appreciated."


He bowed again. <You honor me.>


I wasn't sure why he switched to his native language to say that, probably some cultural thing. But by the look in his eyes told me he suspected something. I smiled at him, and gave a small nod. He was working for us and he hated the CUI even more than we did. I didn't mind hinting that there was more to our plans than we were willing to share with him. "We should get going. One would think that we'd have a chance to relax with the Endbringers disabled, but it seems we're busier than ever."


....


Gathering our forces for the mission was actually pretty relaxing. Clarice, Missy, Theo and Zach were already part of our main team, so they rode along with us. Lily had a pretty easy direct access line with the transit shuttles we were starting to build. I really need to remember to thank Trevor for that design. Vicky was the last one to arrive, but then she didn't have access to a shuttlecraft, or live on Avalon.


Victoria clapped her hands together and rubbed them as together as if trying to warm them. "So, what's this I hear about you needing my awesome awesomeness for a super top secret mission that you couldn't tell us about until the middle of my romantic evening?"


"Yeah," Lily spoke up. "I'm kinda curious, myself. You've been all hush hush about this since right after Khyber."


I nodded, deciding to start with the actual command layout. "Okay. Victoria, you're officially working as a member of a mercenary company hired to support Avalon's forces in a direct strike on a terrorist organization. Fifty grand for the mission itself, another five thousand dollars per target you disable during."


Victoria looked at me like I grew a second head. "Avalon's forces? Mercenary company? No offense, guys, but I think you spent too long around military types and forgot how to talk like people."


Zach handed her a piece of paper. "Here, this is everything you need to know about the battle plan."


She unfolded the paper. "It just says 'Victoria smash', with an exclamation point. And a stick figure with boobs punching another stick figure in the head. And is all the red ink supposed to be blood spatter?"


Zach nodded slowly. "I trust you appreciate the brilliance of this masterwork in military strategy."


Victoria's expression was completely unreadable. She daintily folded the paper and lowered her hand to her hip, dropping the so-called brilliant strategy into the storage compartment on her armor. "Best. Plan. Ever. Of all time."


AmusementAgreement. I even cracked a smile despite myself. Okay, Zach, you win this time.


Lily looked back toward me. "So basically you're going to swarm them with enough bugs to kill a herd of elephants, and we're supposed to break anything that's still standing when you're done?"


"Even better, we get to beat the shit out of racist assholes who commit war crimes against their own people," Zach added. "So they're basically the same thing as Nazis, only Asian. Think of it as Lung having Kaisers love child. That you get to punch."


Vicky walked in closer to us. "So this is what they mean by tears of joy. I always thought that was just a figure of speech." In her case, it was a figure of speech, since there were definitely no tears.


AmusementAgreement. Amelia smiled broadly. "There, now you can't say your sister never gives you anything nice for your birthday."


Vicky glared at Amelia and put her hands on her hips. "Last year you gave me a stupid Maggie Holt book. And you didn't get me anything for my birthday this year."


Amelia pouted. "That was the last one in the series."


Vicky crossed her arms. "Which would probably mean more to me if I read any of the others."


DefensiveAnnoyed. "And I totally got you something this year! I upgraded your boyfriend! Granted, it was a little bit late, but that part is totally not my fault. And you have thanked me for it at least twice a week since the two of you started dating."


A dreamy smile creeped over Vicky's face. "Hee hee. I remember. Speaking of..." she leaned in and whispered something to Amelia.


SurpriseEmbarrassment. "No! Sorry, there's just no way I can do that for you. Sorry."


"But I do it to myself all the time!"


Amelia sighed slowly. "Okay, you're right, I can do it. But not without reworking his genetic code in unacceptably dangerous ways. There's no safe way for me to make him taste like chocolate. Now can we get back to talking about the job?"


Vicky shrugged and leaned back. "Sure."


I sighed a little and then focused. "Alright, here's the full plan..."


"Ooh! Don't forget to tell them the name!"


"Zach, we don't do mission names. And even if we did, there's no way in hell we'd call it Operation: Chink in the Armor."


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


A/N- Reader values litmus test! Which is reacted to most strongly? The god awful pun, or the casual racism?

Or the implications that Vicky can and has made herself taste like chocolate.