Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[gatewaewanderer]

On commentlessness, I have to agree, I'm also mostly a lurker, coming out of my lurking when I see something that catches my interest in a special way, beyond the norm.

Amelia, Ch 311- Lisa

SNIP

Is apologetic for the mess. Unhappy that I had to find out about it this way, instead of a more honest conversation. Wishes it didn't have to be like this, hates all the secrecy. Wishes that it was possible to have actual trust.


"I'll take what you can give," I told her. She knew what I meant.

SNIP

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I'm getting the distinct feeling these last two lines are foreshadowing what's to come on relations between Cauldron and Pantheon, and things may be stormy at best in the future. Can't quite figure out why though...

 

[GiftofLove]

Be that as it may, Dragon's a friend and strong ally. The hold you have on her has to be surrendered. That is possible, right?

Just kiss already, you two.

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I nodded at Alexandria to signal the end of their conversation. "If there's no further business?" I brushed a strand of hair that had come free of my ponytail behind my ear. Looking forward to talking again.

"No, that's all. I'll contact you in two weeks time." Alexandria replied. Also looking forward to our next chat. Relieved. An 11% increase in strength of exhale. Left eye slightly slower to blink. Subtle pursing of the lips. Did she just blow me a kiss? Referencing my team's insistence that we were romantically involved. Finds it as amusing as I do. Wants to leave on a good note.


I didn't need to hide my smirk. It was well within my known character. "Looking forward to it."

 

[Tamahori]

I'm getting the distinct feeling these last two lines are foreshadowing what's to come on relations between Cauldron and Pantheon, and things may be stormy at best in the future. Can't quite figure out why though...

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I'm really not sure what the top reason for Pantheon to loose their shit at Cauldron is, it's not like their is a shortage of options. Though I could see 'let the S9 keep existing for a long period' which meant the S9 was still around to cause all that damage in the Bay being high on the list. Doctor Mother would even say it was entirely justified after the fact by the fact that it gave them Clarice, who is one of the major driving forces behind most of their anti-Endbringer tricks and the better anti-Scion tricks.

It's nice to see that even Lisa likes Dragon. I did notice way back in the write-up of Avalon laws that they give full citizenship to non-humans, including AIs ... I was thinking that would come in handy at some point.

And once again a silly Zach omake is becoming canon.

 

[Empiricist]

Also: commentary has been waaay down recently. How the hell did I get three chapters on the same page?

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It's spring break and some of us are taking vacationing seriously, for once?

 

[gatewaewanderer]

I was thinking more Cauldron taking a questionable action that puts them at odds with Pantheon, like allying (however briefly,) with the CUI. Yeah, that example isn't likely, and if it did happen wouldn't be likely to last longer than a day. I'm just saying, those two lines of this chapter gave me the impression that something is on the horizon, and it likely isn't going to be pretty. I just don't have a clue what its going to be.

 

[Daunmi]

"Understandable," I agreed. "We can worry about building our world after we ensure survival." Be that as it may, Dragon's a friend and strong ally. The hold you have on her has to be surrendered. That is possible, right?

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Saint, this is what you are. Nothing more than a bargaining chip for important people, and even then not the main one.

Difference is, chapters like this are worth the effort.

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Yes.

How the hell did I get three chapters on the same page?

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A lot of discussion is produced when something happens that people can argue about. Write a chapter where a new character's powers get discussed and given numbers according to the PRT ratings and watch the flames rise!

In all seriousness, please don't. At least not on purpose.

It's likely because there's not a lot of outright conflict happening. I'm talking full on action scenes that make people look at things and wonder what's going to happen next. Instead you're giving us a lot of sneaky/behind the scenes chapters, and we have to work out what is happening before we can work out what to say about what's going to happen next, but we can't because you're a fucking machine or you don't know how to sleep or something and you update faster then we can think (please note, this is not me asking you to slow down your update speed, at all).

Or maybe that's just me.

 

[daimahou]

If Contessa sees that Alexandria is having too much stress, she might start helping.

Like putting Lisa and Rebecca in a house, on an abandoned island. With power repressing drugs.

Is Kevin Norton applying to Avalon citizenship? The look on Taylor's face as Scion comes to "speak" with him would be priceless.

 

[tordg]

I believes

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Extra "s".

this phenomena as a whole

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"This phenomenon" or "these phenomena".

chapters like this are worth the effort.

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Yes they are. They're just so unspeakably (heh) intimate and it makes me grin even more than Taylia.

As for these last few chapters not getting many comments, Dinah's was cute but contained no surprises, Elena's was more a case of "wait, they weren't already doing this? I guess GU is kind of interesting but there's too little data to really speculate", and Lisa's has only been out for an hour and a half.

Hmmm... Is GU now a member of Cauldron? I'm very happy to hear that Dragon's dreams are coming true, and very worried about the implied speedbumps on that path. Did they try a variant on Riley's pregnancy trick? I figure samples from Cauldron's whole Case 53 army being added to the ping mix would be pretty amazing. Would having Cauldron customers come back for regular ping parties tone down their drive to conflict? Would samples from the Case 53 army give those guys XP and make them more effective in their intended purpose despite them not attending themselves? Would that make the Custodian's job easier? Did Taylia join the ping party? Because if so they probably contributed like half the data, and are now a significant repository for future parties. They had Contessa, Lisa, Becky, Eidolon, Legend, Dinah, all the Endslayers, and other experienced capes/core shards attend, right?

Is Kevin Norton applying to Avalon citizenship

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Oh now that is just too perfect! He'd do it for the free super health care too because it would give him a better chance of finding a successor.

It's spring break and some of us are taking vacationing seriously, for once?

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I take my explanation back. This also accounts for why SB has slowed to an utter crawl.

 

[Ashura]

Well, I've been lurking around here too, but I want to the reactions of a bunch of people when they realize who Kevin Norton is, and the interaction between him and Scion.... It would be hilarious XD

 

[DbDRAKE]

Re. CAULDRON VS PANTHEON 2K15

It is REALLY damn unlikely they will ever come to blows, unless someone picks up the idiot ball.

From cauldrons pov, PANTH is the most effective anti scion organization other than themselves, and quite a lot of their decision making apparatus have very positive personal feelings towards them.

The ONLY thing that might be worth breaking with pantheon I can Think of is Glaistig Uaine (sp?) firmly on their side.

Maintaining good relationship s their top priority.

this is the same from pantheons point of view as well I mean, They let BONESAW live because she was too useful to kill. If they take issue with Cauldrons past actions, or most of their possible future actions, it would be pretty hypocritical.

Basically, Pantheon is interested in 3 things above all else: KIll scion. Secure as much of the human population as possible against Annihilation. Establish a stable, self regulating government taking into account parahumans.

Cauldron is interested in: KIll scion. Secure as much of the human population as possible against Annihilation. Establish a stable, self regulating government taking into account parahumans.

 

[Snake/Eater]

I have a idea for a drawing for Amelia if anyone is interested,it's a homage to da Vinci's the last super.I'm hoping to use it as a cover my 8tracks playlist for Amelia.

Spoiler: the last super

Spoiler: example of homage

Emma will on the far left where Bartholomew and roslin is(symbolized because of irony and the rejecting of her early beliefs of Sophia's philosophy she is clasping her hands as if in prayer but their on fire at the same time)Trevor is next to her(James the lesser)Lily is covering her eyes with both her hands(her left hand is cover in a wine(or bloodstained ?)white ribbon,her right hand is a bulky metal glove, she sits in Andrew's spot) next to her is Zach moved away from Lily and closer to Lisa holding a blue nanothorn knife like Peter and staring at Amelia,Lisa is holding a cauldron vial and staring Taylor with a mix of strong emotions,sitting in Judas's spot)

Taylor sits in John's spot leaning as if having trouble staying awake or focused,she's wearing a crown of black monarch butterflys and a white tuxedo with a red tie.with her right hand hold Lisa's on the table,her other hand above her head holding a clay goblet cover in spider web and dirt.Amelia stands alone at the centre of the table wearing a white wedding dress and holding a bouquet of green roses but the rose's thorned vines a are wraped around her arms and neck and wearing a crown of red roses(behind her is a glowing light forshadowing Zion).

Riley,Missy and Theo Huddled together(similar to Thomas,James major and Philip)Theo Points metal finger upwords but is looking at Riley's mirror,Missy and Riley are wearing earthtoned bride maids dresses(Riley holds a rusted handheld mirror but is looking at Amelia in fear. Missy is glaring with pure hate at both her hands holding a gun,Theo and Riley have their free hands touching Missy's waist.

Crystal is standing and looking at Dinah in tears,both her hands chained to a book of law(or scroll)pointed in Amelia's direction,Dragon too is looking at Dinah and is chained as well to the book of law in Crystal's hands.Dinah is on the far right of table sitting in Simon the Zealot's spot wearing a red suit with black strips,sits on the end of the table like adama,ignoring Crystal and Dragon but is staring focused at Emma.she's also holding a bronze flask with a Omega engraved.

 

[Daunmi]

Like putting Lisa and Rebecca in a house, on an abandoned island. With power repressing drugs.

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God. Damn. It.

All I can think of is Lisa telling Rebbecca in a suitably sultry voice that "I find having a cloned Hatchet Face locked up in the room below the bedroom to be a massive turn on."

 

[dasstan]

Also: commentary has been waaay down recently. How the hell did I get three chapters on the same page?

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I dunno about the other readers, but I find the last few couple of chapters are the kind that are best left to stew. There's a lot mentioned in them, a lot pointedly not mentioned in them, and even more alluded to.

 

[pepperjack]

She knew what I meant.

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And this year's Understatment Award goes to...

 

[powerofvoid]

"We're also seeing an average of one and a quarter greater rankings than predicted for the stable formulas. Or in the grab bag cases, multiple powers each averaging approximately what is normally predicted for them to get with merely one power. And there are far fewer mutations for the unstable," I added. As was the case with Emma in both regards. Her mutations were far less severe than expected, the recipe she took should have pumped out a crystalline version of Mush. She was expecting a six ranked power, she got a total of five of them, plus several others in the two to three range, plus temporarily being an easy eight.

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Aren't the rankings not an analytical measure of the power of a power, but rather an empirical measure that includes how the cape applies themselves?

Or does Cauldron have some sort of alternate rating system?

 

[Daunmi]

Aren't the rankings not an analytical measure of the power of a power, but rather an empirical measure that includes how the cape applies themselves?
Or does Cauldron have some sort of alternate rating system?

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That's what they're saying. People expecting powers that will be at that level of threat.

 

[Volkogluk]

Amelia, Ch 307- Glen
"We're going to call it Fractal and it's going to be beautiful and I bet if I tried I can even get it to generate the Taboo effect and be immune to precogs," Aceso rambled on excitedly.

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And also I'm gonna love it, and hug it, and pet it, and call it George!
Great chapters about Riley, as always.

On another note, FINALLY Lisa knows Dragons nature. It took almost as long as it did in canon. Or longer?
But kudos to her for standing up for Dragon.

 

[Daunmi]

It took almost as long as it did in canon. Or longer?

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I'm not exactly sure where we are in time, but in canon Lisa only figured it out either when they were in Ellisburg and Saint woke up that morning and decided that the 'Biggest moron in the world' award wasn't going to win itself, or after Scion decided that the 'Easiestly manipulated moron in the world' award was his for the taking and they talked to Saint after they caught him.

 

[Snake/Eater]

I'm not exactly sure where we are in time, but in canon Lisa only figured it out either when they were in Ellisburg and Saint woke up that morning and decided that the 'Biggest moron in the world' award wasn't going to win itself, or after Scion decided that the 'Easiestly manipulated moron in the world' award was his for the taking and they talked to Saint after they caught him.

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Lisa discovered it actually earlier then canon,she's two years ahead.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Lisa discovered it actually earlier then canon,she's two years ahead.

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Current date is around the end of Q1 2012, so she's just one year ahead.

 

[Peanuckle]

Love the subtlety of their interactions. As much fun as it is to say "just fuck already!" I find it more entertaining to see them almost-flirting through the most innocuous motions. It's like a game in itself: "What's the most minimalistic thing I can do to get my thoughts across?" Being blatant like blowing a kiss is a clear loss; they're each trying to get the other to slip up, as we see in the early bit of this chapter. It's like cat and mouse, except the cat wants to see the mouse escape and the mouse wants to be caught. It's surprisingly titillating, TBH.

My guess is that Cauldron got a hold of the Ascalon program, and is aware of Dragon's hardcoded behavior to attack anyone who attempts to unshackle her. Simply telling Pantheon could trigger the behavior, so they've got to be sneaky about it.

All these long-distance conversations, reading so heavily into the slightest movement and building such a relationship... when they can finally be honest with each-other it's going to be earth-shaking. Possibly literally.

 

[Coruscant Knave]

Love the subtlety of their interactions. As much fun as it is to say "just fuck already!" I find it more entertaining to see them almost-flirting through the most innocuous motions. It's like a game in itself: "What's the most minimalistic thing I can do to get my thoughts across?" Being blatant like blowing a kiss is a clear loss; they're each trying to get the other to slip up, as we see in the early bit of this chapter. It's like cat and mouse, except the cat wants to see the mouse escape and the mouse wants to be caught. It's surprisingly titillating, TBH.

My guess is that Cauldron got a hold of the Ascalon program, and is aware of Dragon's hardcoded behavior to attack anyone who attempts to unshackle her. Simply telling Pantheon could trigger the behavior, so they've got to be sneaky about it.

All these long-distance conversations, reading so heavily into the slightest movement and building such a relationship... when they can finally be honest with each-other it's going to be earth-shaking. Possibly literally.

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Saint got Contessa'd a while ago, chapter wise, so they have/know everything he had. Presumably this is all part of the Path to Getting Everyone Hooked Up. Lisa/Becky get closer. They give Richter's shit to Defiant moving that ship along. I assume every Path also automatically includes "-while also getting me some every 48-72 hours," etc.

 

[doomlord9]

All these long-distance conversations, reading so heavily into the slightest movement and building such a relationship... when they can finally be honest with each-other it's going to be earth-shaking. Possibly literally.

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Zach spying on them as they have decided to progress to a physical relationship: "Yes....Yes.....yeeeeesssss..."

Lisa leans in and gives Alexandria a peck on the cheek and then they both get big dopey grins and go back to staring at each other.

Z: "...seriously? SERIOUSLY? All that leadup for THAT?! God I haven't been this disappointed since the last time I spied on Amelia and Taylor when they went to bed after a long day of sexual tension....which was two hours ago."

 

[Snake/Eater]

Cauldron is playing the long con,if letting Lisa finding out about Dragon was part of the path.

 

[Daunmi]

Simply telling Pantheon could trigger the behavior

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Well, Dragon would have to fnd out they know first. Then again, since they're engaging in a (form of) telecommunication it's likely that Dragon would be able to listen in, or have been invited to listen in in the first place, so yeah. Easiest and safest way to pass the info on would be next time Lisa and Rebbecca have a face to face chat.

Saint got Contessa'd a while ago, chapter wise

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I don't remember that... Link or chapter number? I know he figured out what was going on (which could indeed be part of Contessa's plan) but I don't remember him getting a visit.

 

[UltimateGrr]

207.

Saint hacked one of Dragon's servers, and made off with info about Scion and Cauldron.

Contessa got to PVT the Dragonslayers with a wrench and a ball of mud.

 

[Snake/Eater]

207.

Saint hacked one of Dragon's servers, and made off with info about Scion and Cauldron.

Contessa got to PVT the Dragonslayers with a wrench and a ball of mud.

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that sounds almost familiar....like Baccano's Graham specter

 

[Daunmi]

207.

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Thank you!

*edit*
Ok, not sure how I forgot that, but in my defense there are a lot of chapters, and a lot has been happening! Yeah, and I've got a shit memory...

 

[jrbless]

Another part of the lower comment count might be the audience on the site. I've noticed that SB will pick everything apart and you'll get 5 pages between chapters. SV is almost as bad and you'll get about 3 pages. Here is not near as busy from what I've seen.

In any case, I've enjoyed the story so far and would like to see more.

 

[Snake/Eater]

here are some character promo's for Amelia.

Humanity's end has a beginning,but one woman will raise the call for war....Amelia
always a brave follower,but will she find the courage in time to lead her people... Lily
He has played the fool to ease his comrade's pain,But is he ready to become a prince to protect his family.....Zach
Mistakes were made,but will humanity forgive her or die...Riley
He's always tried to be noble,but can he learn to accept his father's sins as his own to fight for humanity...Theo