Drider-Girl and the Head-Cannon of DOOM (Worm SI SV!CYOA)

[Nekraa]

She has access to mind bullets. It could be either.

Click to shrink...

I actually thought that it was a possible interpretation of the title of the story, yes. But when thinking about the PRT case worker she mentions the one in cannon, which isn't quite right. Probably.

 

[SamPardi]

Fixed that. The title is exactly as intended.

 

[mannan]

Love this story.
And I can't to see the reaction when she reveals that she has functional telepathy, which would make others terrified of her, as the only other telepath in Worm would be the Simurgh and thus would allow an easy link to a master ability which would make others even more paranoid.

 

[Ampersandwich]

Hmm.

Fixed that. The title is exactly as intended.

Click to shrink...

Might want to check the thread tags, too.

 

[Jiven]

The Drider girl is cute, I like it.

 

[SamPardi]

Chapter 1.4: Waiting for a Supergirl

Sam stood next to the van as they waited for the ferry to reach The Rig. She couldn't stand to stay cooped up in the vehicle while they were on the water but wasn't particularly comfortable closer to the railings either.As much as she tried to put on a smile and enjoy the ride seeing the kids with the latest tour group hanging over the railings had her jaw clenching painfully tight.

It was the smell, she'd eventually decided. There was nothing truly familiar in the sound of waves or the occasional spray of sea water. But as soon as she got close enough to really smell the water it always came back.

Waves rolling over her head. Current tugging at her feet. Slipping. Flailing. Can't breath. Can't breath. Strong arms pulling her out. Her grandfather's voice reassuring her as she chocked and coughed.

They weren't flashbacks or some sort of PTSD. It was just that living in a desert she'd been able to forget the details and let the memory fade into the background. She had even gotten over her childish phobia of having water on her face... Eventually. The smell of the sea, though, brought it back in full glorious color and left her chest tight with pointless apprehension.

She finally resolved to find out if she could take swimming lessons. It wasn't exactly her forte before and now she needed real help to figure out how to make it work with her new body. Hopefully it would at least ease her tension by giving back her feeling of control over the situation.

Her thoughts were disrupted by their arrival. She rode with her escort as they drove to the vehicle lift. After that they split up to take the van back to the garage while she took the elevator to the back entrance of the Wards level. The lift opened to an empty lobby with a door leading off to the right and straight on. The door to the right led to mission control, Protectorate members could wander through there whenever they wanted but Wards were only allowed in when it was their shift at the console. So she walked up to the door leading straight and reached into her bag to disguise the act of pulling her ID out of her inventory. The card had to be slid into the slot lengthwise and it still took a few seconds before the reader lit up green and the door clicked open.

"De-livery for you!" Missy, cape name Vista, sang out as soon as she caught sight of Sam. She'd joined the Wards only a few months ago just before her eleventh birthday. For children their age it was quite the age gap, two years, but among the older teens that usually made up the Wards it pushed them together. She grabbed Sam's hand and dragged her an unnaturally short distance to the rec room. It always amazed Sam how casual she was about just twisting space to her whim, then again it certainly was convenient.

"What name was it addressed to?" Sam asked. Since she was under thirteen they didn't really let her have any input on her cape name or costume, though she did get sent a short-list of possibilities a few days ago.

"Octette," Missy replied.

"Damn, I was holding out hope for Subdueller," Robert, cape name Scramble, said from his seat on the couch watching something on MTV or some equivalent. When the sixteen year old felt like moving he could very nearly give Velocity a run for his money, and better he randomly surged electricity behind him frying nearby electronics and often tasing people if he bothered to touch them. Also meant they were a lot stricter about his use of powers around the base than they were with Vista. "That would have been an awesome name to call over the radio. 'Take him down Subdueller'."

"Where are the big guys?" Sam asked after a quick look around. Rory 'Triumph', Carlos 'Aegis', and Dean 'Gallant' were seventeen, sixteen and fifteen respectively and had all been part of the team since before Vista making them the all around senior Wards of the group. Robert was in their age range but had only joined a month before Sam.

Missy grabbed a medium sized packing box and shoved it into Sam's arms. "Here. Go try it on. And the big guys are in a briefing about the recent attacks by E88."

Nearly giddy with excitement the young half spider hurried to one of the bathrooms and practically ripped open the box. All four eyes were completely focused on the first garment as she drew it out of the box... And more of it out of the box... And more. "What the shit?" She asked herself out loud as she finally got a fair idea of what she'd been given. Frowning she glared at the mass of cloth hoping beyond hope that she would manifest a gift for pyrokinesis and cause it to burn to ashes. Instead she gained a single skill point in Trance, confusingly enough.

Finally she gave up and put it into her inventory. No way she was going through the effort to put that on manually. Underneath it was a domino mask with all four eye holes and a golden tiara with decorative metalwork meant to line the sides of her face. They also went into the inventory and were equipped immediately. Looking in the mirror she couldn't help but admit they did make her look more mature and perhaps mysterious or otherworldly. The last bits out of the box were a pair of elbow length velvet gloves in dark purple and a small stack of pages giving instructions on how to put things on and how to wear her hair and what to do for make-up and the like. Actually the last few pages were an entire treatise on comportment and acceptable poses to make in battle. Those disappeared to give her five free points in Combat Aesthetics and Command Presence.

No longer able to put it off, Sam unequipped her school uniform and hesitated very briefly before double tapping on the costume's icon in her inventory. In an instant she was wearing a primary blue dress that looked like someone had straight up stolen it off a courtier in Versailles. The train had been modified and thinned out along her thorax only to grow out large enough to act as barding for her spider-half's abdomen. A trail of three dark purple bows went down the front and ended right where the dress turned into ruffles.

She looked at herself in the mirror and had to fight the urge to scream in frustration. Not that it didn't look nice, but it covered the spines on her abdomen and made her look utterly adorable. How was she going to convince gangsters to give up fighting with her mere presence when all they saw was a little girl playing princess dress-up.

After several long minutes to work up her courage she finally opened the door and walked back out into the main room. Unexpectedly it was a lot fuller than when she'd left. The big guys were all back and Assault and Battery as well. Missy took one look at her and froze with wide eyes. Robert looked like he had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing but he managed it. The rest of the Wards looked more flummoxed than anything. "It... It wasn't what I was expecting." Sam said, trying to put a good face on the ball of embarrassment and shame roiling in her stomach.

"Hey, it looks good on you." Assault tried to break the mood, "Looks like the Wards have a new mascot!" Despite his intent the words cut deep. Mostly because they were pretty clearly true. That was obviously how the PRT thought of her, their new mascot to play dress up with, and not a serious member of the team who might have to face someone like Hookwolf in a fight for their life.

"I... Need to go. Go train. Get used to moving in all... This..." She managed to break away from the group and head towards the training room just as the first tears started to fall. It did make her smile slightly to hear the sound of someone getting head-slapped in the distance.

---

Robert Neally was a skilled artist and a dab hand at the sewing machine as well. Only three of his designs had actually made it onto a member of the Protectorate or Wards, but each one got him a small commission on each use of their image and it was slowly adding up to a decent retirement fund. Now his fourth was sent off and if the market research was true there would be nothing slow about the growth rate of that retirement fund soon enough.

His very first work was a gladiator theme with a helmet designed to look like a lion roaring. He'd always imagined it would look quite intimidating to the crooks on the street when it's wearer showed up. What he'd imagined was nothing compared to the reality of facing it down now as it's owner scowled at him in open rage.

"You're going to explain this to me. Very. Slowly." A very, very angry Triumph growled out as he pointed at the large sketch of Octette's new costume that hung on the wall.

Robert swallowed heavily, "We-well, we had a few different designs. Like always, I mean. We sent them out for market research and it was the top by an overwhelming margin."

"And it didn't occur to you that someone had to actually wear that? I've got a little girl; A little girl that volunteered to be a hero and has been training her ass off every day to be just that little bit more useful to the team, in tears because she's convinced that all this organization sees her as is a walking Barbie doll advertisement!" Triumph all but roared.

"Look, it wasn't just me okay. It got sent off to the thinkers, standard protocol, and they predicted a five percent increase in Wards recruitment nationwide! Five percent! Do you know how huge that is for an organization this size!? Director Costa-Brown signed off on this herself!" Robert replied.

"Well why didn't you at least give us some warning!? Send someone to ease her into it!" Triumph shot back.

"What little girl doesn't want to be a princess?" Robert asked, then paled at the glare he received in reply.

For several long moments the young Wards leader just glared at him. Finally Triumph sighed and shook his head in annoyance. "Look, email me all of that market data and ANYTHING you got directly from the Chief Director by tomorrow. It'll at least give me something to show her. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a teammate that needs to be reassured that we see her as a valuable member of the team."

---

Rory still hadn't completely calmed down by the time he made it to the training rooms. Missy was near the transparent aluminum windows watching their newest recruit but giving her space in a manner slightly less literal than her norm. "How's she doing?" He asked as he stopped to watch as well.

"Well she was literally climbing the walls there for a while. Then some shadow boxing. I have to admit, the dress doesn't slow her down as much as I thought it would," Missy told him.

"That's good. She may have to get used to it," Rory told her regretfully. "They got Costa-Brown's signature on it."

"Shit!" Missy swore and then blushed as Rory chuckled. "I don't see how we can fight that."

"Me neither. But in any case, she needs to know we don't see her as a mascot." Rory pronounced and Missy nodded solemnly in agreement. "After she stops shooting sharp objects at moving targets." This time she grinned at him.

They both watched quietly as the girl in question shot a few spines from her front legs up into the air and then did something to change their trajectory and drop them down on some human shaped targets moving along a track. Rory figured it was telekinesis, but he wasn't sure how she grabbed the airborne spines without robbing them of their momentum. Then the girl did something slightly different and he could just see a slight green glow around the next spines. The needle-like projectiles shot up into the air like normal, but what came down was a rain of dozens of spines.

He ran to get into the room and check out the damage himself, but when he got there the only spines still in the dummies were the ones from her earlier attempts. "How did you do that?" He asked coming up beside Sam, "That was awesome."

The shy half-spider blinked and blushed slightly, "I'm not sure. I just tried to 'mark' the spines with my telekinesis before I actually fired them. It wasn't something I thought would work, and then that happened."

Rory thought for a moment and then walked over to the equipment depot and picked up a bag of baseballs. First he held the baseball himself out in front of her. "Alright, try it again with this ball." Sam nodded and concentrated hard on the ball for a moment, but nothing happened. "That's fine," Rory assured her and then handed her the ball. "Now try."

Sam concentrated again and this time it almost instantly pulsed green. She smiled and threw the ball across the room, halfway there it broke into a dozen or so different balls all traveling in slightly different directions. The balls hit the opposite wall or one of the still moving targets and made reassuringly solid thumps, but as soon as they came to a rest on the floor they disappeared. Even the supposed original.

"Great," Rory encouraged her and handed her another ball. "Now can you aim each one separately?"

"Yeah, I think so." Sam agreed and again the ball pulsed green. This time when it split apart each of the balls was on a slightly curved arc away from each other. Then they each changed trajectory slightly. Out of the twenty or so balls Rory had counted, only two didn't strike one of the human shaped targets this time. "Great, this looks like something you'll need to practice though. What do you think?"

"Practice, definitely. Although... It feels like I'm missing something... Like this is too simple and there's more going on here than what I can see right now." Sam told him. "I... Can't really explain it."

"Hey, that's fine. Take your time, practice." Rory told her with a smile. Then he sighed as he got to what he'd really come down here for, "I want you to know I'm on your side here, but... I don't think I can get them to change the costume."

"It's... It's fine really. I mean, it's not as hard to move in as I thought it would be. It's just... Well, if it can't be changed then I just need to get used to it and make it work for me." Sam stated.

"That's the spirit. Trust me, we're all behind you here. If you have to be dressed up as a Barbie doll, then we'll just have to make it so the gangs around here piss themselves at the sight of a Barbie doll." Rory grinned down at her.

She smiled up at him conspiratorially and, for just a moment, he could already see the face that would haunt the nightmares of Brockton Bay's underworld. Some day.

---

Psychic Specialty: Belphagor Unlocked.

A/N:
Got distracted by feels and didn't make it to patrol schedules and what not.

I'm honestly not sure why this wound up being such a bad afternoon for Sam. I swear I had this whole bad-ass blue and yellow long coat with armored pieces and shit all planned out when I started this chapter. Then suddenly I saw a Visual Kei picture in with the coats and the whole 'we shall make her every girl's dream of becoming a princess!' thing smacked me out of nowhere and dragged me along for the ride. And honestly... It is kind of the best they can do. Focusing on her cute pretty princess looks rather than the fuck-huge spider she happens to be part of.

Also someone will mention this in the story at some point but Sam does have spinnerets and can produce a quite respectable amount of silk, especially while using rise. It's just that while her human part has been changed in some ways to be more spider, two more eyes for instance, parts of her spider have changed to be more human. So... She kind of needs to wait for puberty for her spinnerets to come in, just like certain other assets.

 

[anechoic]

Great chapter! I can definitely see the PR folks doing something like that and all the reactions to it felt dead on.

 

[HypoSoc]

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression Vista had seniority over all the wards at Worm's start. So, shouldn't Aegis and Gallant not be here yet?

 

[SamPardi]

I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression Vista had seniority over all the wards at Worm's start. So, shouldn't Aegis and Gallant not be here yet?

Click to shrink...

This already came up, and Cyclone helpfully found the appropriate interlude and quoted it here. Essentially Missy was the longest serving of those that survived Leviathan. Whether Carlos and Dean were there first or joined later then comes down to fanon. In this case I made them both come first because I wanted the BB Wards to feel fairly familiar to readers.

 

[ryune]

This already came up, and Cyclone helpfully found the appropriate interlude and quoted it here. Essentially Missy was the longest serving of those that survived Leviathan. Whether Carlos and Dean were there first or joined later then comes down to fanon. In this case I made them both come first because I wanted the BB Wards to feel fairly familiar to readers.

Click to shrink...

It was probably the best decision. While I wouldn't have been put out by having a full cast of OCs minus Vista, I was somewhat surprised how much I liked the others being there.

 

[Scope]

Can you post the Visual Kei image?

 

[SamPardi]

Larger

That was the image I came across that first derailed me.

[Source]

And this was the dress that finally pushed me over the edge into dropping the long-coat idea for a dress.

 

[Vanargandr]

Hmm.

Might want to check the thread tags, too.

Click to shrink...

HMMM looks suspiciously like this...

 

[SamPardi]

I caught a math error in the Gamer style Character Sheet. I wound up doing the math for a the remaining 55% rather than a 55% penalty. However I didn't want to mess with the adjusted values now. So instead the base values have all been given a boost except for those taken from skill-books. Those are still only worth +5 base skill.

Also spotted something that might confuse people. So just know that Fuzzy Existence didn't stop thinkers from getting a read on the dress design because their powers were working solely on the market impact of the dress itself. That's part of why the numbers were so good, they weren't properly adjusted for who would be wearing the dress in question. And yes the 5% figure will probably be adjusted downwards at some point. I just don't feel like doing the work to figure out what kind of headcount their organization must get in annual recruiting. No that is not a plea to the fanbase to do it for me.

Right now I'm mostly trying to figure out the complication for the next chapter since it's going to be our first real quest. Can't say much yet, but expect more Meagan and Amy(Not that one.).

 

[SamPardi]

Chapter 1.5: 'Gainst the Wicked Stand the Good... And That Scares Me.

Sam sat in the center of her room surrounded by a small storm of books and stuffed animals. She figured they would suffer least from being dropped. A cord invisible to normal senses also stretched from her forehead and into the cell-phone sitting in front of her. Thanks to the 'Multitasking' perk she got from getting her programming over fifty she could now easily handle twice as many individual tasks with her power. She'd already been levitating six objects before and a single trance connection was actually less work than levitating an object, so it came to eleven regularly sized objects alongside her connection.

Her trance was also clearly specialized in technopathy. At the moment she wasn't automatically gaining root, so it was more like just hijacking a user's session. But it was much easier than the few times she'd tried to connect with an object or with Margo. The wealthy widow had taken the news that Sam might be able to use telepathy with remarkable aplomb. Of course when asked how she could be so calm the answer was, "You're a wonderful girl, Sam, I fully trust you not to misuse such a gift."

In any case despite the necessity of her training, Sam was feeling rather bored. As one of the books passed by she snatched it out of the air. It was a beginner's book for playing the piano. Child's stuff, even by her standards. Nonetheless it was better than staring at empty space or trying to wrap her head around the stupid that infested PHO... Clearly Miss Milita was not going out with Armsmaster, what at terrible match; She was clearly waiting for Laserdream to become legal before engaging in a torrid affair with the girl, duh. In any case she flipped through the book with only partial interest. When she reached the last page the book disappeared and she got five more points to piano.

She paused for a long moment in surprise. "Wait, you can use the beginner books at any time!" Dropping the items hovering around her on the bed she walked over to a nearby wall and began beating her head against it. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." After twenty repetitions she finally leaned back, "Note to self: Use skill books for the LAST five points, not the first." With the way skills scaled, that could save her weeks, maybe months, of training someday... At least on those skills she hadn't already used one on.

A knock at the door interrupted her from her thoughts. "You decent in there, Sammie?" Margo called through the door.

"Come on in," Sam replied.

Margo entered and took a discrete look around, pausing at the debris covered bed and the slight red mark on Sam's forehead. "You know, most people wait until their thirties before they feel the need to bash their head against something... And that's usually because of things they did in their twenties..."

Sam chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, I was just playing this game and I missed something really obvious. Only now its too late to go back and fix all the times I did it wrong."

Margo nodded while humming understanding. "You like the kind of games that require an investment don't you? When I was in college we used to play war games. I was the only woman in the group so the guys had a tendency to flock around me." She chuckled at a fond memory. "That's where I met Harry, come to think about it. It wasn't until a few years later that we actually started dating. Got myself a job at his father's company that way though, he challenged the whole group to a game of Management with the winner getting a position as assistant manager of the store he'd just been given to run. I'd never played so hard in my life, nor do I think I ever enjoyed winning so much."

The woman reached out and started rubbing the top of Sam's head. "I guess I'm trying to say I don't dislike those kinds of thing, but don't go beating yourself up over them either. You've got a long while to look forward to. These things are frustrating in the moment, but give it time and they'll just wash away to leave you with the good things." She let the words sink in for a few moments before continuing, "Now you got everything ready for tomorrow?"

"My school bag is empty so I can carry things home, I've already called Meagan and Amy and they'll meet me at the bus-stop by the park in the morning." Sam reported.

"Good." Margo smiled and reached into one of her pockets pulling out a roll of bills. "Here's a hundred on me. Just promise me you won't spend it on anything technical."

Sam blushed but accepted the money, slipping it into her pocket just before it disappeared into her inventory. "Don't worry, this trip will be all about relaxation reading!"

"Glad to hear. Now I do believe it's time for bed." Margo reminded her.

Sam pouted but only got a raised eyebrow from her guardian. Mumbling something about lost charisma ranks, she sidled into her attached bathroom and closed the door behind her. For a few moments she just waited, knowing it was supposed to take some time to change out clothes. Finally she opened her inventory switched her normal clothes for her nightshirt.

"Remember to brush your teeth. Before bed is the most important time to do so." Margo called through the door.

'Is she psychic?' Sam wondered to herself jokingly. She shook it off and brushed her teeth, careful to get around all of the sharp points and her tongue. It was kind of pointless with Gamer's body, but it also felt a lot nicer than it used to. Maybe sharp teeth were just higher maintenance?

When she got out of the bathroom she noticed her bed had been cleaned off. The books stacked neatly on the table and the stuffed animals back by the headboard. She managed to wiggle her way onto the bed just fine without help, a feat she hadn't been capable of her first few nights in this world, but she still needed Margo's help to get tucked in under the covers. Well, she could have used her telekinesis, but the older woman had clearly wanted to help tucking her in and Sam wasn't going to take that away from her.

"Goodnight, Sammie. Happy dreams." Margo said as she kissed Sam on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Margo," Sam replied. She doubted she'd ever have dreams again, but she didn't say it out loud. Margo would probably just find it depressing.

Margo turned the lights off as she left, leaving Sam alone in the darkness. She was okay with that. For some reason, the darkness always felt safer to her. Like things were always hiding in the light, just out sight or in the harsher shadows, but in the dark there the lies and distortions of the eyes faded away. It was the world of sound that felt most honest to her, and she let it lull her into sleep.

---

"Pounce!" Meagan shouted as she jumped on Sam's back, straddling her thorax like she was riding a horse. "On pony!"

Amy rolled her eyes, "Meagan, she's not a horse."

Sam shrugged, "It's fine."

"Yeah Amy, we need to hurry. Mischa Murray is going to be there after all. Didn't you want your book signed?" Meagan teased making Amy blush.

"What, it's a good book. You liked it too!" Amy replied.

"I know, just easing ya. I brought my copy too. How about you Sam?" Meagan asked.

Sam reached into her bag and then searched her inventory for the item in question. "Yeah. I thought it was pretty good." The book had been a somewhat surprising gem about a group of teens that get drawn into working for a mysterious thinker to stop a local conspiracy. Of course before the end there were plenty of twists and off-the-wall turns that leave that description woefully inadequate but still technically true. It reminded her of the second and third books in Harry Potter, more complicated and detailed but still written to a level that your average sixth grader could at least comprehend all of the words if not always all of the implications.

"It's too bad they aren't releasing the next book today. That would have made this really awesome!" Meagan crowed.

"Except then we'd all be wanting to go home and read it, not hang out at a fair." Sam pointed out. Amy blushed a bit as the words hit home while Meagan just chuckled awkwardly.

When they finally made it to the fair it was a surprisingly upbeat affair. Due to the open air setting most of the books were arranged on long tables and shelves under awnings. Around them a number of group discussions had formed and there were even a few street performers setting up to cash in on the event. A number of booths dotted the area as well, these represented individual publishers and usually had stacks of copies of only one or two of their latest releases. The point of those was really to get connected to an author's social media accounts.

The mothers of her two friends were also around, having come as chaperons, and seemed to have found a group of other wealthy professionals to mingle with.

"Anything you two are looking for in particular?" Sam asks her friends.

"I need book three in the Tamberlin Saga. The library has books four through seven, and I already own books one and two. I just need this one to cover the gap." Amy replied shyly.

"Well, lead the way!" Meagan shouts and hops off Sam and grab's Amy by the shoulders. The shy girl sighs but sets off for one of the awnings without comment.

The next couple hours were uneventful for the trio as they browsed. Occasionally they would be interrupted by someone wanting pictures of or with Sam, and she'd play along though she was always careful Meagan and Amy were out of the shots. Each time she also did her part to advertise for her upcoming debut, frankly she found it annoying and a little exhausting but it was a game she at least understood the purpose of if not all the rules.

"Umm, excuse me," A quiet voice interrupted Sam as she was flipping through pages in a romance novel. She turned to see a freckled brunette at least five years older than her almost folded in on herself. "Do you mind if... That's the only copy and I..." The girl tried to articulate but obviously found the situation too embarrassing. Sam could relate. She hated asking other people for things they were holding, especially strangers, it made everything way more awkward than necessary.

"Sure. I wasn't really getting hooked by it." Sam handed the novel over, not noticing their hands brush for a slight moment or the way the girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't get me wrong it's not bad or anything. I mean I once read a novel that was twenty-two pages of exposition dump just trying to introduce their heroine." She noticed the way the girl was actually staring at her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, sorry, yeah. Umm, this is going to sound weird but can I touch you? Just on the hand, I mean." The brunette asked.

"Uh, okay. It's not that weird, I've had people requesting to pet me, after all," Sam replied and held her hand back out. This time she actually felt it a small tug similar to a trance attempting to make connection but weaker and way more exotic. Of course her own psychic power was no-selling the attempt.

"That's... Very strange... I'm sorry I didn't mean-- I'm Amy Dallon, Panacea. It's just that I can't actually get a read on your biology and this is the first time that's happened for me," the brunette, Amy, Other Amy, Amy D, explained as she let go.

"Oh okay. Yeah, we're still trying to figure out everything my power can do down at Protectorate HQ, since I'm a bit of a grab bag. I'm sure they'll love to add this to the list. Actually, Amy, err, well I have friend named Amy mind if I call you Amy D?" The brunette shook her head in agreement. "Well, want to try that again. I felt something, and I think I can let you in."

Amy nodded and grabbed Sam's hand once more. This time she had a trance connection ready and let it connect through it like a port. In an instant she felt the power's scan washing over her and the trace 'port' expanding double to keep up with the real-time flow of information passing through it. Once again Amy was staring at her with wide eyes, though this time they were almost comically wide and Sam was pretty sure the older girl was forgetting to breath. "You're not a para-" Was as far as the brunette got before something else hit her psychic defenses like a tidal wave and used their connection to force its way in.

Adrenaline pumped through Sam's body at levels fatal to mere humans and the fear centers of her brain instinctively shut down as her inhuman fighting instincts took control. The noises of the park that had been barely audible a moment ago were now pounding through her head at the volume of a rock concert, but without overlapping. All four eyes had the pupils and irises reduced down to the size of near-pinpricks and her head involuntarily snapped around to stare at a frowning blond girl several yards away.

With a target her instincts automatically moved her body, rearing back so that her head was several feet above the crowd and her first two legs were raised in a threatening posture. The retractable claws she'd carefully kept out of sight for weeks, two per foot, were out and digging into the sod underfoot or clicking together menacingly from her raised legs. Formerly silk-soft hairs all over her body were standing on end with longer spikes wickedly jutting out across her legs and spider abdomen.

Last of all she detected the distinctly sweet scent of sexual pheromones and it was getting stronger. 'Amy' Her hyper-active mind supplied the source. In an instant it processed a thousand factors to determine her status as friend or foe. Potential friend, it finally supplied, cultivation required but potentially useful. Options for cutting the link were discarded from her mental work-space and a plan for defending both their minds was winnowed out and selected.

She reversed their connection and for just a second she found herself standing on a vast and empty world staring at an enormous machine, parts organic, parts mechanical, and so arcane in make and construction she couldn't identify any of what she was looking at. When seen from one angle the parts looked mechanical, from another clockwork, and yet another crystalline. Then it was gone and she was staring at Amy Dallon's surface thoughts.

She carefully kept herself from sending any thoughts through the connection as she worked. She briefly caught sight of the adult-matinee that a section of the girl's mind had become mired in but she forcefully ignored it. Instead she focused on forming a proper psychic barrier, reducing the tsunami down to a trickle. Then she attached it to the girl's nascent psychic gifts, the strange interaction with her passenger had actually developed her psychic potential at least a little... Or perhaps it was the other way around, that would require research at a later point. In any case it was enough to anchor the shield, though it would degrade continuously over the next year or so until it broke altogether.

When she returned to herself Amy had just dropped her countenance of worship in favor of bemusement. Without the back door into her head Sam's own mind was downshifting from its particular method of handling what should have been absolute terror. The first sign of that was her tunnel vision on the blond finally dropping and allowing her to actually see people around her and how they were reacting. Closer to the blond they were mostly looking at the girl in surprise and worship, it was generally those out past me that were staring at Sam with shock and in some cases outright terror. And then she saw Meagan, staring at her with wide eyes as the girl was subconsciously backing into a table a few meters away. The hurt cleansed the rest of the anger from her body in an instant and once again her body looked to have silken fur and not a single spine in sight.

The worst part was if she moved towards those already freaking out it would only get worse, so her only exit was passed the blond. It didn't slow her down, though, she just kept her eyes on the ground to avoid having to see the face of the girl who'd probably just utterly demolished weeks of hard-won PR over a fit of pique. If the bitch was smiling she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to stop herself from giving them an embolism.

It was only after she'd found as semi-secluded place that she realized she had skill gain warnings. Psychic Rise +12, Psychic Trance + 8, Achievement: I Ain't Afeared, Perk Unlocked: Berserker (Gained from Drider Body and I Ain't Afeared). The realization that she must have been subconsciously using Rise came when she heard a familiar voice and focused on that discussion.

"Well, I hope you're happy with yourself, Victoria. It takes a real hero to publicly humiliate a little girl almost half her age, and a fellow Hero at that. They're announcing her membership in the Wards tomorrow. I recommend you not show up." He said. Sam couldn't help a slight smile to herself or listening as he walked over to her.

She took a quick glance at Assa-- no Ethan as he stood next to her but not crowding. "Thanks," She quietly managed.

"You heard that? We may need to add good ears to your power set," Ethan replied.

"It's the hairs, they're really sensitive. But I have to be... In the zone? Something like that to really use them. It's already fading." She told him.

He hummed in agreement. "Look... I'm sorry about the other day. Sometimes... Well all the time, really, I just say what's on my mind. I don't necessarily think it all the way through."

Sam shook her head, "It's okay. I wasn't mad at you or anything. You didn't do anything, just... Gave voice to why it hurt so much, I guess. That's not on you."

"Well I'm glad you think so. Puppy's been ignoring me for a week now," He whined in a pitiful tone.

She snorted, "And let me guess you want me to tell her that we're okay now and you've been properly chastised?"

"Would you?" He replies hopefully.

"Of course. I'm not heartless you know," Sam chuckles.

"Great! You see I'd just talked her into our first date that Saturday and it went really well. She doesn't know it yet, but puppy and I, we belong together," Ethan stated with a big grin.

Sam smiled back at him, "Yeah, maybe you do."

"And there's a smile, those look the best on you. Seriously you have these dimples, it's like a beam of pure cuteness... Hey maybe you and Dean could work together. You hit em with the cute beam, stunning them, then he hits 'em with the guilt and shame beams!" Ethan exclaimed making her giggle. "Anyways it looks like the Dallons have decided to call it a day. No need to lose the rest of yours."

"Will you..." Sam trailed off embarrassed to be actually asking for a chaperon.

"Sure. What were you thinking of doing next?" Ethan asked.

"Well, my friends wanted signatures from Mischa Murray. I figured I'd at least listen to what her speech was about then get in line for that," Sam told him.

"Right, I saw the sign for that. Alright, crew, mush!" Ethan joked as they walked back towards the tents.

She didn't see Meagan for the rest of the fair. In spite of that she still got an extra copy of the book signed, figuring if she left early then she'd probably missed that part.

---

Spoiler: Quest Completion Notice

Quest: Go to county book-fair Saturday Morning on Captain's Hill. - COMPLETE
Reading Comprehension: +10
Psychic Trance: +10
Social: +5

Achievements Unlocked:
Sisters From Another Mother - Met the Dallon Sisters, for certain values of met.
Signed, Sealed and Let's Deliver - Still got a book signed for Meagan.
My Lawyers Will Call Your Mother - Victoria's actions will have consequences, to what extent remains to be seen.

Contacts Added:
Mischa Murray - Is it just you or does her book contain subtle hints to the truth of certain events in Brockton Bay's future.
Panacea/Amy D - Perhaps letting the worlds top biotinker see the inner workings of your cranium wasn't such a good idea. Or maybe it was.
Assault/Ethan - A bit of a goof, but a good friend nonetheless. Just be ready with the telekinetic head slaps, he'll earn em.

New Quests:
Spreading the Good News: First, Do Not Flatline
Mending The Rifts: Girlfriends

---

A/N:
/me sets head on desk and sighs.
This was the chapter that refused to get started. And now it's over. Ufufu.

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Samantha Doe
Age: 9 (25)
Level: 5 (12)
Class: Psychic
HP: 20/20 (200/200)


Strength: F+ (E+)
Intelligence: F (E)
Dexterity: F+ (E+)
Constitution: F+ (E+)
Charisma: E (D)
Luck: D (C)
PSY: E (D)


Skills:
Psychic Burst: 21 (48)
Psychic Rise: 7 (17)
Psychic Trance: 13 (30)
Psychic Programing: 29 (66)
Belphagor: 9 (22)


Performance: 10 (22)
Piano: 31 (70)
Singing: 13 (30)
Dancing: 14 (31)
Drawing: 20 (45)
Poetry: 13 (29)
Creative Writing: 19 (43)
Cooking: 10 (23)


Athletics: 12 (28)
Martial Arts: 8 (18) - Growth reduced 50% by lack of applicable martial style for body type.
Combat Tactics: 21 (48)
Combat Strategy: 17 (38)
Logistics: 18 (42)
Combat Communication: 6 (15)


Social: 14 (33)
Oration: 21 (48)
Expression: 13 (29)
Listening: 13 (30)
Reading Comprehension: 21 (48)
Posting Discipline: 12 (28)


Maths: 16 (36)
Algebra: 19 (43)
Calculus: 6 (14)
Trigonometry: 14 (32)
Geometry: 13 (29)
Logic: 18 (40)


Geography: 18 (40)
Geology: 12 (27)
Physics: 17 (38)
Cosmology: 16 (36)
Particle Physics: 11 (25)
Quantum Physics: 6 (14)
String Theory: 2 (5)


Computers: 22 (49)
Electrical Engineering: 8 (18)
Electronic Components: 10 (23)
Computer Programming: 19 (43)
Algorithms: 12 (27)
Encryption: 9 (20)


Carpentry: 2 (5)
Metal Working: 2 (5)
Leather Working: 2 (5)
Survivalism: 2 (5)
Dog Training: 4 (9) (Skills below this point had at least minor prior experience.)
Vehicle Repair: 7 (16)
Whittling: 7 (16)
Animal Husbandry: 11 (25)
Coded Hand Signals: 9 (20)
Morse Code: 15 (34)


Achievements:
Sisters From Another Mother - Met the Dallon Sisters
Signed, Sealed and Let's Deliver - Still got a book signed for Meagan.
My Lawyers Will Call Your Mother - Victoria's actions will have consequences, to what extent remains to be seen.
I Ain't Afeared - Maybe it's the viking blood or maybe its the history of bullying, but when struck by terror your first instinct was to act by activating Rise for the first time.

Perks:
Hero: (Gained by joining Wards)
Your reputation as a crusader for good precedes you. The more lawful elements of the world will give you greater deference and attention. On the other hand villains will more likely choose to brain you first and ask questions later. %10 bonus to reputation checks for civilian, law enforcement and heroes. %10 penalty to reputation checks for criminals, outsiders, gangs and villains.


Gamer Mind/Gamer Body: (Gained from the Gamer Powerset)
You are both unnaturally calm and focused even when you should be under enormous amounts of duress. Skills and abilities are gained based on an experience system and possibly from perks, not from training as others understand it. With this your power will tend to plateau for a while between explosive growth spurts rather than build steadily over time.


Split Attention: (Gained from Drider Body)
Having two sets of eyes is immensely helpful for watching two things at once. Your brain is also wired slightly differently to allow you to properly multitask with both focuses.


Spiders Climb Walls: (Gained from Drider Body)
It's obvious to anybody who thinks about it that spiders are creatures that can climb vertical surfaces like walls. So obviously having the lower body of a spider means you can too. Its just what you do.


Berserker: (Gained from Drider Body and I Ain't Afeared)
The Tarantula is not the kind of nervous spider to scurry off when the lights come on. When faced with an unknown adversary like a cat or a dog or a half ton pick-up truck their first instinct is to rear back and assert dominance. Since your human part seems to be in agreement you have been rendered completely functionally immune to Fear effects, instead you have your hackles raised and a brief moment of hyper-lucidity during which others can still break you out of the effect entirely. If you get past that moment of hyper-lucidity, rather than being afflicted with Fear you are afflicted with Rage.


Nimble Fingers: (Gained from achieving over 50 points with an instrument.)
Your hands are especially dexterous and quick from all your music practice. This now carries over to any other use of your hands. From origami to lock-picking to surgery so long as it uses your hands you gain a bonus to your dexterity rank for the duration of the attempt.


Multitasking: (Gained from achieving over 50 points with Psychic Programming.)
You've moved past the fumbling and experimentation phase of psychic programming and into the optimization phase. While you can still only perform programs of a maximum complexity equal to your available skill level in Psychic Programming, you may now execute up to double your Psychic Programming skill worth of programs.


Fuzzy Existence: (Gained from the Woman of Mystery.)
Your existence is a mystery and for better or worse it's pretty much going to stay that way. Even Panacea won't be able to get a proper read on you and thinkers like Tattletale or Contessa will just come up blank.


Childish: (Gained from Pint-Sized complication)
Having been an adult, you are well aware of how much being a child sucks. However some higher being has decided to piss on you and now you're stuck. You'll be acting more like a child with the same short attention span and high energy. You'll also take a %5 penalty to skills for every year below 20 and lose an entire rank in all stats until the same.


Geas: (Gained from the Geas complication)
You are not allowed to speak of your past life or the information about Worm you learned from it. Nor can you in any way imply that it exists. Lying to perpetuate this will automatically register as truth to all thinkers and lie detectors.


Abilities:
Telekinesis: (Psychic Burst/Psychic Programming)
You can manipulate objects you can see or have recently seen in the world around you with your mind. Pushing, pulling, lifting, crushing it's all technically possible. However in order to affect the world exactly as intended it needs to be Programmed. When using Telekinesis, consider Psychic Burst to be your required check for strength and Psychic Programming as an analogue to dexterity.


Matter Rain: (Psychic Burst/Psychic Programming/Belphagor)
Activate Belphagor's Consumption on an object in touch range up to your Burst's maximum weight threshold. Create a multi-step program for using Telekinesis on that object. After step one Belphagor's Propagation will activate creating unique copies of the object up to your limit in Psychic Programming. Ten seconds after the program ends all copies of the object, including the 'original', will cease to exist.

 

[tEN]

I always like fun quest/achievement/perk names.

 

[OverReactionGuy]

Hope Sam doesn't lose any friends because of her getting fear aura'd. Honestly, why the hell did Glory Girl do that even? Or was it the Awe aura that shocked Sam so much?

-edit-

Though I can't believe you let Panacea in your head.

 

[Cutesquid]

Honestly, why the hell did Glory Girl do that even?

Click to shrink...

Glory Girl rips out the intestines of people who look at Amy funny. Most likely, she's biased against Sam's appearance.

And what do you know, Vicky's power conveniently reinforced her own prejudices.

 

[SamPardi]

I might do some Dallons perspective to elucidate on what happened, but I don't think I'm spoiling too much just giving a bit of Vicky's head space. The simple answer is, Victoria doesn't 'get' her aura. She didn't get it canon, so I doubt she's got any healthier of an understanding less than six months after triggering. While she can somewhat enforce high or low on specific targets, it's all one aura and usually responds based on how she sees them and how they see her. (Amy triggered in '08, assuming Victoria really did trigger at a high school basketball game and within a year, that season is usually Nov-Feb or so giving us a likely Dec/Jan trigger. Chapter 1.5 takes place April 4th)

Basically, Victoria knows it can be a weapon during a fight, but in social situations it's just 'putting on the presence' since it's always there at least a little. Also she's almost always around, socially, people who like or look up to her. She's a Hero and a surprisingly powerful and successful one despite her youth. To the people of Brockton Bay she's an icon of good, and that gets into their subconscious on some level. Sam doesn't have that view of her. Sam sees her as a reader of Worm and it's many fanon interpretations, as an irrational and possibly dangerous powerhouse who, unintentionally admittedly, undermines the wills and desires of everyone around her. Basically, a walking catastrophe she has no desire to spend any time within ten meters of.

So Vicky sees her sister behaving unusually, Amy hates touching people, with an unknown parahuman that unintentionally touches on many of the nerves from her trigger event. (Being ignored in favor of more interesting powers, 'being replaced' due to how Sam is a blond like Victoria but has E rank charisma making her cuter than is technically humanly possible, and feeling a bit left out because she's honestly pretty bored with the venue while Amy's been quite happy just browsing books and taking reading breaks.) Add a touch of involuntary disgust at Sam's spider portion... Well, basically she decided to solve the problem the way she has everything since gaining her powers. 'Put on the presence' and go impress Amy's new friend and take back the center of attention.

But her target isn't already impressed by her, and Victoria isn't all that happy with them, so the aura's effect on Sam isn't 'awe', it's 'fear me, peon'. When I finally get the character sheet updated, the perks will make it more obvious why she wasn't paralyzed in fear and instead went 'super battle mode'.

So basically, it was an accident... But one that could have been easily avoided if they treated her aura with the seriousness it deserves as a strong, even if not directly permanent, stranger effect rather than a minor detail of how awesome she is.

 

[OverReactionGuy]

I might do some Dallons perspective to elucidate on what happened, but I don't think I'm spoiling too much just giving a bit of Vicky's head space. The simple answer is, Victoria doesn't 'get' her aura. She didn't get it canon, so I doubt she's got any healthier of an understanding less than six months after triggering. While she can somewhat enforce high or low on specific targets, it's all one aura and usually responds based on how she sees them and how they see her. (Amy triggered in '08, assuming Victoria really did trigger at a high school basketball game and within a year, that season is usually Nov-Feb or so giving us a likely Dec/Jan trigger. Chapter 1.5 takes place April 4th)

Basically, Victoria knows it can be a weapon during a fight, but in social situations it's just 'putting on the presence' since it's always there at least a little. Also she's almost always around, socially, people who like or look up to her. She's a Hero and a surprisingly powerful and successful one despite her youth. To the people of Brockton Bay she's an icon of good, and that gets into their subconscious on some level. Sam doesn't have that view of her. Sam sees her as a reader of Worm and it's many fanon interpretations, as an irrational and possibly dangerous powerhouse who, unintentionally admittedly, undermines the wills and desires of everyone around her. Basically, a walking catastrophe she has no desire to spend any time within ten meters of.

So Vicky sees her sister behaving unusually, Amy hates touching people, with an unknown parahuman that unintentionally touches on many of the nerves from her trigger event. (Being ignored in favor of more interesting powers, 'being replaced' due to how Sam is a blond like Victoria but has E rank charisma making her cuter than is technically humanly possible, and feeling a bit left out because she's honestly pretty bored with the venue while Amy's been quite happy just browsing books and taking reading breaks.) Add a touch of involuntary disgust at Sam's spider portion... Well, basically she decided to solve the problem the way she has everything since gaining her powers. 'Put on the presence' and go impress Amy's new friend and take back the center of attention.

But her target isn't already impressed by her, and Victoria isn't all that happy with them, so the aura's effect on Sam isn't 'awe', it's 'fear me, peon'. When I finally get the character sheet updated, the perks will make it more obvious why she wasn't paralyzed in fear and instead went 'super battle mode'.

So basically, it was an accident... But one that could have been easily avoided if they treated her aura with the seriousness it deserves as a strong, even if not directly permanent, stranger effect rather than a minor detail of how awesome she is.

Click to shrink...

Hopefully with this happening they will start treating Victoria's aura like they should have from the start. Plus hopefully this Victoria would actually grow up learning restraint.

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

That was adorable!

Hm... I wonder how her physiology will interact with Taylor's powers.

Anyway, looking forward to more.

Click to shrink...

...Not at all? She has a human brain. It's her lower body that's a spider.

Click to shrink...

I doubt this will come up barring a timeskip, but I think Taylor would, arguably, be able to seize control of her lower half. IIRC, she controls their nervous system, not direct by brain, doesn't she? I may be entirely wrong on that, but that's what I remember. I think they'd interact by Taylor being able to manipulate the spider bits, but not the human half.

Sorry for only commenting on this now, but I only just read this. It's a really interesting story, and I can't wait to see where you are going with it.

 

[LagrangePt]

I doubt this will come up barring a timeskip, but I think Taylor would, arguably, be able to seize control of her lower half. IIRC, she controls their nervous system, not direct by brain, doesn't she? I may be entirely wrong on that, but that's what I remember. I think they'd interact by Taylor being able to manipulate the spider bits, but not the human half.

Sorry for only commenting on this now, but I only just read this. It's a really interesting story, and I can't wait to see where you are going with it.

Click to shrink...

Taylor's power isn't about insects - it's about brains that fall within a certain band of complexity. That's why she can do crabs and whatnot.

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

Taylor's power isn't about insects - it's about brains that fall within a certain band of complexity. That's why she can do crabs and whatnot.

Click to shrink...

I can't find the exact quote, but IIRC it was complexity of the nervous system. Basically, however SamPardi wants to run it, they can run it that way; I can see it going either way. I just mentioned it because I thought if a time skip did happen, it might make for interesting plot later on if the author decided to draw upon that.

 

[Tavarokk]

The noises of the park that had been barely audible a moment ago were now playing in stereo but without overlapping and last of all she detected the distinct scent of pheromones and it was getting stronger.

Click to shrink...

Poor wording. What does stereo have to do with increased sensitivity of hearing or her ability to discern each individual sound? What kind of pheromone did she feel and from what source? Very unclear.

'Amy' Her hyper-active mind supplied and immediately acted.

Click to shrink...

I feel this would sound smoother if you specified that she moved to protect the other girl.

Their connection reversed

Click to shrink...

='She reversed their connection'? English isn't my native language, but I don't think 'to reverse' is reflexive. At least not in the dialect I've studied.

she caught sight of the adult-matinee the girl's mind had become

Click to shrink...

Do you intentionally imply raw lust rather than awe and admiration here?

Without the back door into Sam's head her own mind was downshifting from its particular method of handling what should have been absolute terror.

Click to shrink...

Would sound smoother if it were 'back door into her head, Sam's mind', imho. Original wording reads like 'her' and Sam may be different people and 'her' is no longer hidered by the link to Sam.

see people around me and how they were reacting.

Click to shrink...

Insufficient emphasis on how scary and threatening Sam became, reaction appears unjustified. Maybe throw in aggressive posture and hissing?

 

[Beyogi]

Great story so far, but I'm kinda wondering about the stats of your character. What is the red number and what is the number in brackets?

 

[SamPardi]

Poor wording. What does stereo have to do with increased sensitivity of hearing or her ability to discern each individual sound? What kind of pheromone did she feel and from what source? Very unclear.

I feel this would sound smoother if you specified that she moved to protect the other girl.

='She reversed their connection'? English isn't my native language, but I don't think 'to reverse' is reflexive. At least not in the dialect I've studied.

Do you intentionally imply raw lust rather than awe and admiration here?Would sound smoother if it were 'back door into her head, Sam's mind', imho. Original wording reads like 'her' and Sam may be different people and 'her' is no longer hidered by the link to Sam.Insufficient emphasis on how scary and threatening Sam became, reaction appears unjustified. Maybe throw in aggressive posture and hissing?

Click to shrink...

Should be a bit cleaner now.

Great story so far, but I'm kinda wondering about the stats of your character. What is the red number and what is the number in brackets?

Click to shrink...

Sam is operating under a status effect, the red are the adjusted values that she actually has to work with. The black values in the bracket are the actual values as they would be without the status effect.

 

[SerbobIV]

Great read so far.

Wouldn't Gamer's Mind have just no-sold Vicky's aura before it could make her fight-or-flight?

Also, if I read the last chapter right, it seems like PanPan will be immune to her sister's aura for a while, big ol' butterfly right there.

Wouldn't she have eight eyes rather than four? The rear four would just be covered by her hair. And finally, multitasking feels more like a skill than a perk, with more levels allowing more ongoing tasks, rather than a perk (not sure how that fits in with programing, either, tbh)

Edit: maybe change the perk to "parallel processing" and have it double her multitasking ability so she can grab multitasking at a later date.

 

[OverReactionGuy]

Great read so far.

Wouldn't Gamer's Mind have just no-sold Vicky's aura before it could make her fight-or-flight?

Also, if I read the last chapter right, it seems like PanPan will be immune to her sister's aura for a while, big ol' butterfly right there.

Wouldn't she have eight eyes rather than four? The rear four would just be covered by her hair. And finally, multitasking feels more like a skill than a perk, with more levels allowing more ongoing tasks, rather than a perk (not sure how that fits in with programing, either, tbh)

Edit: maybe change the perk to "parallel processing" and have it double her multitasking ability so she can grab multitasking at a later date.

Click to shrink...

Don't think Gamers mind works like that.

 

[SerbobIV]

Don't think Gamers mind works like that.

Click to shrink...

Unless it is drastically changed from the "The Gamer" version it:
"Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through
Allows peaceful state of mind
Immunity to psychological status effects"

 

[Nervaqus987]

Don't think Gamers mind works like that.

Click to shrink...

That's exactly the way it works.