Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[Hexed999]

They stole the shield generators? That's... Carmen Sandeigo levels of bullshit.

"Agent 12, a henchman working for P.A.N.T.H.E.O.N. has stolen the salt out of the world's oceans!"

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You know that might actually happen now right? They probably can make the tech to do it.

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In theory it'd be as simple as Amelia developing a species of Yggdrasil that filters out salt from the water and then shunting the salt elsewhere. In practice the energy requirements would be a bitch (obtainable because it's fucking Pantheon, but still a bitch), they'd need several different species of Yggdrasil for different parts of the ocean (Amelia's power chews through this, but it's as tedious as hell) and they'd calculating the ocean currents to get all the salt (it would take a while but a simple matter of developing the right program and using it, and they've got more then enough tinkers). Of course the earth's climate and ecosystem would go to shit but since they're such bullshit they could deal with that too.

In summary the only reason the worlds oceans still have their salt is because stealing it would be too much work.

 

[Darkmavrik]

Doesn't Sting work across all dimensions? Couldn't she snipe Endbringers and other threats from the safety of there personal world?

 

[Student of Zelretch]

It works by effecting an object in all demensions it's in. Therefor, shooting a certain spot in china (Aleph) or Yiggsdrasil analog (China) would do nothing... Although if they shot one of the worlds that Behemoth is in, then *all* the Behemoths would get shot (and I know that technically he's only seen in Bet, but I'm guessing there's a few dozen (hundred) worlds with no humans, but a Behemoth.)

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 219


Thankfully, China's city killer weapon was designed to be transportable by convoy truck. Ultralisks were more than capable of doing the lifting needed, and with Missy there to do the work, it only took us a fairly short amount of time to put the devices in our storage location. Our Tinkers were quite excited to work with the devices, of course. Or, at least, Emma and Trevor were. At the very least, they were going to talk with Dragon about tech trading. Not really Riley or Rey's specialty. I, meanwhile, was simply in shock. We watched them murder a city.


"Why'd they do it?" I asked as we finally got into our home. I could have asked sooner, but somehow I had to wait until we were inside a familiar setting. Lisa just looked away. She had an answer, she just didn't want to say it.


"Reputation," Eric volunteered. "My father's like that, too. If someone outstaged him, he had to find a way to outstage them right back. You can't run a gang without being the scariest fucker on the block."


"Sounds about right," Theo nodded. "It's about power and image. We killed an Endbringer. They had to kill one or they would look weaker than us."


"They are weaker than us," Victoria replied. "When we kill Endbringers, they actually die. Behemoth lived through their attack."


"They got what they wanted," Lisa informed us. "Behemoth was destroyed."


"Not by them," Vicky retorted.


"The story they tell is quite different," she sighed, holding up her smartphone. "Heroic sacrifice, yadda yadda, shield yadda yadda, prevented Behemoth from destroying China the way the Simurgh did India, more yadda yadda. Victory for the CUI, and proof of the Mandate of Heaven, or whatever bullshit propoganda they're using this week. Doesn't matter what the truth is, they only have to fool their own people. Imperial China has won its internal PR war." DisgustHate.


"By killing millions of their own?" I voiced the outrage all of us were feeling. "They didn't even let the ones who could escape get out. They were gunning them down like they were already dead."


"I wish I could say it was even something so callous as removing witnesses," Lisa replied. "This was... fuck, I guess it's analogy time. Did you know grenades aren't designed to kill people?"


"No," I admitted.


"I do, ma'am," Theo simply closed his eyes and put an arm around a very upset looking Missy. "We can leave, if you want," he offered her.


"No, I need to hear this," she answered. "I want to know why."


"I know it sounds counter intuitive," Lisa continued. "Until you start thinking economics." DreadDisgust. "A dead soldier costs the enemy a patch of dirt and a gravestone. A wounded soldier costs hospital beds, doctors, food and money. It's functionally the same thing here. A good chunk of the city was destroyed, along with all its residents. Now they'll build a monument to all the dead in its place. If the people had escaped, there'd be refugee camps and aiding the homeless. Or, maybe they wouldn't, and they'd just tell the refugees to suck it up. But that would still be disruptive and remind their people that this so called victory of theirs had victims instead of heroic sacrifices. Easier just to let everyone pretend this is a happy occasion."


"That's beyond fucked up," Zach replied. "Can they really do that?"


"Already did," Lisa answered. "In the time it's taken us to get home, their royal family has already declared it a national holiday. Something which, I remind you, no one did after the Simurgh's death. We mourned the lives lost in India as one of the greatest tragedies in human history. China celebrates its dead as heroes, and brags that its forward thinking prevented the damage from being worse. Welcome to propaganda."


"Fuck," I cursed.


"It's not all bad," Lisa replied. "Thanks to this being such a 'great victory', it means they have to stay silent about anything that disproves that claim. They're not going to say anything about the stolen tinker tech. At least as long as we don't say anything about their little mass murder spree, they won't be able to officially complain about us walking away with their doomsday weapon."


"So, basically, we're looking at the glass as half full," Zach replied. He waited a beat. "While ignoring the part where the liquid inside is cat piss concentrate. Know what? Fuck it. I'm done. If you need me, I'm going to be online finding a shooter game that involves mowing my way through a Chinese army. Killing Nazi zombies just isn't going to cut it for me anymore."


"Aww," Riley whined. "I worked so hard on that Christmas surprise, too." AnxiousHorror. We all went silent and looked toward the girl. Every last one of us. She looked at our expressions. "What?" she asked.


"Don't worry," Lisa cut in. "She was just telling a joke." The rest of us breathed a collective sigh of relief.


....


"No, dad, we didn't even do anything," Taylor spoke into the phone. "We geared up before finding out he was going after China. They refused to let us help. Sat around and waited to see if they'd change their minds. Not much we could do without starting World War Three. No, they don't. Scion did it. I think he always could. I don't know why he didn't. Hard to figure out a guy who doesn't speak and spends as much time rescuing kittens from trees as he does stopping volcanoes. Sorry our dinner went to waste." MisgivingReluctantHappy. "Oh, well that's good. I'm just going to stay here tonight, I thought you wouldn't mind. Sounds good. Love you too."


She sighed after hanging up the phone. "How is it that I lie to my dad more now than before he knew I was a cape?" She sat down on 'her side' of the bed.


"Welcome to international politics, I guess," I turned and crawled up behind her.


"Know what sucks the most?" she muttered as I brushed her rather abundant hair off to the side. "This feels like something Piggot would do. Like we're leaving the victims to suffer because the abuser's more useful to us than they are."


"We're not," I insisted. Taylor let out a light moan as I pressed the balls of my thumbs into her back. "It's more like a hostage situation. If we go in now, it's going to hurt a lot of innocent people. Unacceptable amounts of them. China still has almost a billion people in it, and they'll all suffer if we attack the CUI."


"And we have 'more important' monsters to go after," Taylor sighed. "Scion takes priority. Fucking moral arithmetic."


"Even you can't be everywhere and do everything," I offered.


"I probably cou-," she gasped as I sent a pulse of my power through her body, lightly stimulating her entire nervous system. "That's cheating," she finally managed to form words. "That is so not fair."


"Hey, you're the one who used her doppleganger," I pointed out. "You don't get to complain when I use my powers." I pressed my elbow against a spot on her lower back that my power kindly informed me was a prime location. I smiled as she moaned softly.


"I didn't hear you complaining," she replied, pushing her back against me in a way vaguely reminiscent of a cat. For the briefest second, that caused me to freeze up. Her body was so absurdly strong and flawless, reminding me that she was the copy, not the original. I crushed that thought immediately. She's still Taylor.


"I don't hear you complaining either," I countered, hitting her with another pulse that caused her to slump back against me.


"Why would I?" she asked happily. "Oh, by the way, your Aunt Sarah says hi."


"When did you ta-" I hesitated for a second. "Oh. You mean?"


"Yup," Taylor answered. "They apparently decided that it would be wrong to let dinner be wasted. And then she stayed over."


"Eww," I responded.


"I know," she agreed, still leaning up against me. I allowed myself a look down her shirt when she did. AmusedPleasedConfident. "So I'm staying here tonight."


"I should charge you rent," I teased.


"You still owe for that house I got you," she argued.


"Okay," I agreed. "So we're even. Are you feeling better?"


"A little," she replied.


"Good," I scooted a bit away from her and rolled face down over on my side. "My turn."


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

A/N- mood whiplash! I never tire of it.

 

[Mogget]

Wait, did I miss Scion killing Behemoth or is it going to stay vaguely referenced?

 

[Snake/Eater]

Trevor just saved the world, and he's super humble about it.

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That proves why he's the Only Sane Tinker,plus he got what he wanted with Stealing the Third Impact doom ray.i wonder what would happened it the Simurgh had been alive and telling Behemoth how to manipulate the reality changing energy....for another scary thought this was just a test with a prototype,OMG the Yangban wanted PANTHEON TO STEAL IT, but why.......

 

[dasstan]

Wait, did I miss Scion killing Behemoth or is it going to stay vaguely referenced?

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A/N- And, sometimes, no matter how far off the rails you go, you intersect canon.

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We can infer that Behemoth's death was mirrored.

 

[cosoco]

Fuckin moral

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Fuckin'

moral arithmatic

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arithmetic

counter intuitive

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Usually written as counterintuitive or counter-intuitive.

"Aww," Riley whined. "I worked so hard on that Christmas surprise, too." AnxiousHorror. We all went silent and looked toward the girl. Every last one of us. She looked at our expressions. "What?" she asked.


"Don't worry," Lisa cut in. "She was just telling a joke." The rest of us breathed a collective sigh of relief.

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Riley is self-aware.

"I didn't hear you complaining," she replied, pushing her back against me in a way vaguely reminiscent of a cat. For the briefest second, that caused me to freeze up. Her body was so absurdly strong and flawless, reminding me that she was the copy, not the original. I crushed that thought immediately. She's still Taylor.

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Taylor still noticed you thinking about it, and now she feels insecure about being a copy.

"You still owe for that house I got you," she argued.

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I'm confused. What house did Amy give to Taylor?

 

[gunghoun]

Wait, did I miss Scion killing Behemoth or is it going to stay vaguely referenced?

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Author's note and familiarity to canon is all you get.

I'm assuming TanaNari won't cover it because it was canon, but by this point in the timeline Kevin Foster (?) would have met up with Scion again and told him he was supposed to be killing the Endbringers, not just driving them off.

Was it ever explained in canon why Scion stopped after only killing one Endbringer?

 

[Snake/Eater]

Our Gang Of Gods got played like a priceless violin.that takes super planing.

Spoiler: Gendo

Spoiler: Petyr Baelish

Spoiler: Frank Underwood

MEDIA=youtube]a5Ha3IWeXOo[/MEDIA]

 

[CptTagon]

Was it ever explained in canon why Scion stopped after only killing one Endbringer?

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I believe because he couldn't catch Khonsu, but I'm not certain about the other ones. Perhaps because, unlike Behemoth, they weren't badly damaged when he arrived, and the "timer" ran out on the fight before he could kill them? After the timer runs out Levi goes underwater, the Smiurgh goes up, and the twins go wherever they go?

 

[TanaNari]

Wait, did I miss Scion killing Behemoth or is it going to stay vaguely referenced?

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"They got what they wanted," Lisa informed us. "Behemoth was destroyed."

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This is vague?

I'm confused. What house did Amy give to Taylor?

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You are confused. Taylor was the one that gave Amy a house. Around chapter 20 or so.

Was it ever explained in canon why Scion stopped after only killing one Endbringer?

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The Endbringers changed tactics after Scion. Instead of sticking around and ripping into shit, they switched to guerrilla tactics and didn't stay around long enough for Scion to show up.

Why he didn't kill them when they were hibernating? Iunno.

Our Gang Of Gods got played like a priceless violin.that takes super planing.

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What story are you reading?

 

[thatavidreader]

I wonder how the next Endbringer will embody being immune to the reality warping bomb...

 

[Hexed999]

Why [Scion] didn't kill them when they were hibernating? Iunno.

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This is Scion we're talking about. The guy can't think ahead while using a precognitive ability

 

[BlackBulletOfSeven]

Technically, if we go by what canon showed, we don't get that. Behemoth was killed by Scion afterall, not the bomb. So it's entirely plausible to get Khonsu, and Tohu&Bohu again.

Though I'd personally vote for Tohu&Bohu and a new one. Maybe instead of the usual one we get an Endbringer that has a power more attuned to Stranger/Thinker/Master powers combined with Khonsu's Mover ability.

Because these Endbringers need to escalate to the same level as the protagonists imo

 

[dasstan]

Because these Endbringers need to escalate to the same level as the protagonists imo

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I'm just speculating, but the actions that the last endbringer, Fred, took makes it seem like the new goal is to make Eidolon the most useful he can be.

 

[Abcde]

The worst part is, twenty or so years ago IRL (maybe a little more like thirty or thirty five) I could see IRL China doing this.

But, here's a crazy idea.

Let's have Pantheon break canon and one-up the Chinese. Beat 'em best two out of three.

Dragon tracks Leviathan, albeit somewhat ineffectively, while he's in hibernation. With Pantheon's dimension ruled by Yggdrasil, it shouldn't be impossible for them to get "under the sea" with a strain modified for extreme pressure. Map out the lowest parts of the ocean floor with Yggdrasil, and shunt a MASSIVE (emphasis on thickness) enclosure into the bottom of Earth Bet's ocean around Leviathan, for the sole purpose of delaying any escape. "Underwater Zerg" won't work since Leviathan would just keep water out of gills, but we now remember that Vista's powers exist. Pantheon shunts out a small amount of water, Vista expands that bubble to a twenty-mile-radius (as quoted from her armor) sphere. Here's where things get fun: Pantheon sets up in the sphere, Vista MOVES THE SPHERE. Leviathan doesn't generate nearly enough water with his afterimage to fill in a space 20*20*20*4/3*pi cubic miles in a non-large amount of time. Leviathan starts dodging the *insert Endbringer kill plan here* while trying to break the Yggdrasil, Pantheon starts draining the water (mechanism: maybe Eric's powers? Alternatively, Eidolon could come along for the ride. Did Myrrdin survive India? Probably not, because otherwise Pantheon and Cauldron would be utilizing his bullshit dimension hacks.). Pretty soon, Leviathan gets his speed shut off. GG.

Now, the issue here is that it would be stupid to do this because nobody knows how endbringers react to being attacked in hibernation. And I don't care if we have a vista-bubble, BEING UNDER THE OCEAN FIGHTING LEVIATHAN IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. Also, he can probably generate an arbitrary amount of water instead of just his displacement, which screws the plan over.

... But it was a nice thought.

/rant

 

[Snake/Eater]

The worst part is, twenty or so years ago IRL (maybe a little more like thirty or thirty five) I could see IRL China doing this.

But, here's a crazy idea.

Let's have Pantheon break canon and one-up the Chinese. Beat 'em best two out of three.

Dragon tracks Leviathan, albeit somewhat ineffectively, while he's in hibernation. With Pantheon's dimension ruled by Yggdrasil, it shouldn't be impossible for them to get "under the sea" with a strain modified for extreme pressure. Map out the lowest parts of the ocean floor with Yggdrasil, and shunt a MASSIVE (emphasis on thickness) enclosure into the bottom of Earth Bet's ocean around Leviathan, for the sole purpose of delaying any escape. "Underwater Zerg" won't work since Leviathan would just keep water out of gills, but we now remember that Vista's powers exist. Pantheon shunts out a small amount of water, Vista expands that bubble to a twenty-mile-radius (as quoted from her armor) sphere. Here's where things get fun: Pantheon sets up in the sphere, Vista MOVES THE SPHERE. Leviathan doesn't generate nearly enough water with his afterimage to fill in a space 20*20*20*4/3*pi cubic miles in a non-large amount of time. Leviathan starts dodging the *insert Endbringer kill plan here* while trying to break the Yggdrasil, Pantheon starts draining the water (mechanism: maybe Eric's powers? Alternatively, Eidolon could come along for the ride. Did Myrrdin survive India? Probably not, because otherwise Pantheon and Cauldron would be utilizing his bullshit dimension hacks.). Pretty soon, Leviathan gets his speed shut off. GG.

Now, the issue here is that it would be stupid to do this because nobody knows how endbringers react to being attacked in hibernation. And I don't care if we have a vista-bubble, BEING UNDER THE OCEAN FIGHTING LEVIATHAN IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. Also, he can probably generate an arbitrary amount of water instead of just his displacement, which screws the plan over.

... But it was a nice thought.

/rant

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it would revitalize the world economy by creating deep sea ocean transport train tunnels or create secret safe-houses.

 

[Student of Zelretch]

Meh, even if levi dies that's unlikely to become popular with Benny running around... Now Floating cities, on the other hand... Hells, with Simmy and Maniquin gone, Operation Leave/Moonbase can be go again, especially if we figure out how to vista+legend+sphere/squealer faster than light LoL!nope, Im leaving tech...

 

[Snake/Eater]

If they can plant Yggdrasil on a dead earth then they could tarraform other planets in our solar system, but I think that can't happened with the shards. Parahumans don't seem to have any motivation to leave earth.going to different earths are the only thing to do as an exit strategy.but that was only a fluke because of Lisa.

 

[BlackBulletOfSeven]

Really quick, can someone remind me if Armsy/Defiant is alive and if he's with the Guild?

 

[Snake/Eater]

All of the Cauldron parahumans minus Contessa are all dead shard users,the question to consider is..are they following different programming then natural Scion budded parahumans.

 

[BlackBulletOfSeven]

All of the Cauldron parahumans minus Contessa are all dead shard users,the question to consider is..are they following different programming then natural Scion budded parahumans.

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Number Man is a natural trigger.

 

[dasstan]

If they can plant Yggdrasil on a dead earth then they could tarraform other planets in our solar system, but I think that can't happened with the shards. Parahumans don't seem to have any motivation to leave earth.going to different earths are the only thing to do as an exit strategy.but that was only a fluke because of Lisa.

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I think that might be due to all the changes that cycle caused in the first place. Leaving for another planet has left the cultural consciousness due to a combination of, to quote from SV...

Endbringers ruin various big things every year, but cape-related crime destroys infrastructure more insidiously. How many gangs can a city support as parasites before the commerce they leech from fails? How may super-villain thefts can a manufacturing base sustain before it collapses?
And that's where Worm is: trade is drying up, economies-of-scale are failing, and within ~30 years it's projected that these failures will take down civilization.

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and from the Simurgh's swatting Sphere's escape colonization attempt out of the sky.

Leaving for space seems obvious to us, since we actually have a space program that makes the news, as well as countless stories set in space. It might be less obvious in a setting where an attempt to explore got actively ruined and where everything is failing.

 

[TanaNari]

Really quick, can someone remind me if Armsy/Defiant is alive and if he's with the Guild?

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Alive and well. Or around 53% alive, 47% robot. Close enough.

Hells, with Simmy and Maniquin gone, Operation Leave/Moonbase can be go again, especially if we figure out how to vista+legend+sphere/squealer faster than light LoL!nope, Im leaving tech...

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Fanon.

and from the Simurgh's swatting Sphere's escape colonization attempt out of the sky.

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Still Fanon.


Simurgh didn't wreck space tech. She might have if she felt she needed to, no way to know. But that never happened in canon. They had satellites. They had orbiting tech. They even had space vehicles.

Also: if OUR Earth suddenly discovered a way to access countless worlds full of exploitable space and resources... we'd drop space travel the way we dropped undersea colonization.

 

[Snake/Eater]

So the logical approach is to kill all the parahumans...

 

[Sheaman3773]

Fighting us in person is... more like a polite formality than anything.

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Honestly the most terrifying thing about them.

You know... No one's even considered the fact that this might be Standard Operating Procedure for the CUI when it comes to Endbringers.

I could definitely see them denying the Endbringer's existence to the populace, or making it seem like they had already killed the Endbringers.

"Just keep doing your jobs people; there's nothing wrong in the world, and we exist to protect you if anything does go wrong. All our enemies have been destroyed....yadda, yadda, yadda."

And of course, what do you have to do when an Endbringer shows up and proves you're lying? Kill all the witnesses.

It makes sense that as Xenophobic as they are, they'd block all communication and internet traffic into and out of their country, except for official channels. It would be easy to keep the populace ignorant.

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I would think that they wouldn't be surprised that Endbringer sirens weren't going off then, that at least one of Pantheon would know this was their SOP, but I might be subscribing hyper-competence.

Killing Nazi zombies just isn't going to cut it for me anymore."


"Aww," Riley whined. "I worked so hard on that Christmas surprise, too." AnxiousHorror. We all went silent and looked toward the girl. Every last one of us. She looked at our expressions. "What?" she asked.


"Don't worry," Lisa cut in. "She was just telling a joke." The rest of us breathed a collective sigh of relief.

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XD

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised they still thought she'd do it. Rule of Funny, I guess. It definitely was funny, at least.

 

[evildice]

Alive and well. Or around 53% alive, 47% robot. Close enough.

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Dragon: "53% alive, 47% well."


EDIT:

Also: if OUR Earth suddenly discovered a way to access countless worlds full of exploitable space and resources... we'd drop space travel the way we dropped undersea colonization.

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Yeah but let's be honest here.

We'd drop space travel for fucking Instagram shares.

 

[dasstan]

Still Fanon.

Simurgh didn't wreck space tech. She might have if she felt she needed to, no way to know. But that never happened in canon. They had satellites. They had orbiting tech. They even had space vehicles.

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...I didn't claim that she did? All I said was that she put the kibosh on Sphere's moon plan. What I did say was that that, coupled with failing industry across the board probably lead to a reduction in the idea of going to space as a viable alternative.

 

[Snake/Eater]

Amelia could create Yggdrasil that be a living orbital elevator that could spit out tarraformer seeds.add in some bug relay that breaths it's own oxygen from it's modified organs you having a living sattalite for Taylor not just watch the earth... But for her to control bugs outside our solar system... Awesome right.