Feline Problem Solving Techniques

[Roomster]

"I can help with that! I figured out exactly what car Bakuda was going to be driving and what routes she'd be taking; that's why Taylor and Cat had such an easy time intercepting her! Now she can't kill the hundreds of civilians she would have otherwise!"

Click to shrink...

Thank you Dinah for cofessing your part of the crime.
Potential dead is not something we can accept as reason, so please enjoy your stay in a jail cell.

Jokes aside, that was a terrifying thing to say.
The Vista-will-splatter-me-across-the-city as well.

 

[We Just Write]

"Jack, why are we going to Brockton Bay again?"

Jack Slash turned to Shatterbird, a grin on his face. "Why, to find out who set off that lovely explosion at the Medhall building of course! After all, someone like that will be a perfect fit in our little family."

In truth, Jack was getting very mixed messages from his instincts. About Brockton Bay on the whole he was getting a distinct feeling of forboding, but he wasn't feeling anything like that about the killer who'd been turning Brockton Bay into their personal playground.

After some thought on this, Jack pulled over by the side of the road. "I think we should probably split up and lay low until just before we leave. Take a page from our soon-to-be new friend's playbook and only hit once we're fully prepared to leave them behind with the damage."

Bonesaw piped up from the back of the RV, "That sounds like fun! I'm getting all sorts of ideas for things I can do already. Maybe zombies? Hmm, no, that'll get samey. Need some more time to think on it."

"Well, it's about time for bed. You'll have plenty of time to think on it while you sleep."

Starting the next day, Jack couldn't help the feeling of being watched. So he "traded" RVs with an unfortunate civilian, and significantly increased the convolution of his route. After a few hours, the feeling of being watched faded away.

The very next day, the feeling of being watched had returned in full force, prompting another vehicle switch. This pattern continued until the group split up into four different cars a few hours drive from Brockton Bay, at which point the feeling of being watched abruptly stopped.

Breathe in, breathe out. Whoever the mystery stalker was, Jack had finally lost them. Soon, he'd recruit Brockton Bay's new talent, and then he'd never need to bother with the city again.

The car Jack was driving had just crossed Brockton Bay's city limits, before suddenly there was a horrible noise and what sounded like an explosion from under the hood. In less than a minute, Jack Slash found himself coasting to a stop. This was clearly bad, but the instincts he'd grown to rely on were dead silent.

Reluctantly, Jack Slash got out of the car. Then he felt his chest cave in, even as he heard an ear-splitting crack from a very large bullet. With his spine and ribcage utterly shattered by the force of the shot, Jack Slash fell to the ground.

Dimly, the unrepentant murderer heard the footsteps of another unrepentant murderer approaching. Then he was shot in the head, a .700 Nitro Express expanding round splattering his brain across the pavement.

By some miracle of Bonesaw, Jack Slash was still barely conscious, some backup system or other substituting for his now destroyed brain. That's how he was able to to hear the brief conversation that followed.

"Cat, he's got to be dead after that. Shouldn't we call it in?"

"I'm not taking any chances Ernest, now hand me the ten gallon bucket of Thermite."

 

[Alkeniw]

Well, Cat did her job. Let's see who didn't.

 

[We Just Write]

Once Jack Slash was thoroughly ablaze, Ernest called in with his radio to confirm the kill. I piled into the back of the van with the other three members of Marksman Team 2, then Ernest joined us shortly after. Now that everyone was aboard, our driver started us towards the southern rally point, to await further orders.

While the van bumped along, I heard the voice of Miss Militia come over the radio.

"This is Marksman Team One! We have a confirmed kill on Shatterbird. I repeat, we have a confirmed kill on Shatterbird."

I couldn't help but purr upon hearing that, which actually prompted one of the female PRT troopers sitting near me to pat me on the head. Oh that felt good, so I leaned into it.

The radio crackled on again.

"This is Velocity with Bag Team. We've foamed Bonesaw, but she's got an internal reservoir of the solvent and our foam supplies are limited. Requesting Clockblocker or more foam for more thorough containment; coordinates are Alpha-Three."

"More foam en route by helicopter; it should reach your location in about four minutes, so hold tight."

"This is Marksman Team Five! We have a confirmed kill on the Siberian's Master! We need medical assistance urgently, Andre's legs are gone and Kate's lost a lot of blood! Coordinates are Gamma-Niner!"

"Understood; medevac inbound from Brockton General. Should reach your location in about two minutes."

"Marksman Team Three calling, Mannequin bypassed our ambush point. I repeat, Mannequin has bypassed our ambush point. Mannequin's location is currently unknown."

"Marksman Team Four calling, We missed; Hatchet Face has escaped our ambush. I repeat, Hatchet Face has escaped our ambush. Hatchet Face sighted heading south. Coordinates are Gamma-Four"

"This is Armsmaster with Crawler Team. Message received about Hatchet Face; we'll be on alert for him to show up."

"Marksman Team Six calling; Burnscar wounded, I repeat, Burnscar wounded. She teleported away before we could confirm the kill."

Then Ernest called out over the radio,

"This is Marksman Team Two. We have reached rally point Beta. Awaiting further orders."

A few seconds passed, then Emily Piggot's voice crackled over the radio.

"Marksman Teams One, Two, Three, and Four, I'm sending you after Mannequin. Oracle indicates he's gone to ground in grid square Beta-Eight, so I'm also setting up a containment perimeter to make sure he can't get away. Happy hunting."

We all nodded, even as the engine in the van revved up. I unloaded the brasscase currently in my rifle's breech, and got one of the special rounds off my belt: High Explosive Squash Head.

We'd barely gotten underway when Armsmaster called in on the radio again.

"This is Armsmaster with Crawler Team. We have a confirmed kill on Hatchet Face; no injuries on our side."

There was a brief pause.

"Crawler sighted and approaching rapidly! Preparing to engage!"

I nodded grimly. Over the last few days, I'd discovered that I rather liked and respected Armsmaster. Even with the most optimal team composition for facing Crawler, Dinah had only given 50% odds of successfully taking him down. So I really hoped Colin pulled through.

Then we reached grid square Beta-Eight, and everyone piled out of the van to start searching for Mannequin. While he would be at his most dangerous in close quarters, this also technically applied to me.

So I found myself combing through a hotel currently closed for renovation, in hopes of finding a murderous cyborg. I'd gotten to the fourth floor, when I heard a suspicious rattling noise from one of the vents. I turned to look, just in time to see one of Mannequin's detached arms on a chain starting to dangle down towards Ernest. Yeah, no.

I promptly conjured up a whacking stick and hit Mannequin's arm up against the wall, before conjuring a nail right through it to anchor it in place against a structural beam. Ernest's eyes widened as he realized what I'd just saved him from.

There was an awkward pause as Mannequin presumably tried to decide what to do next, before we heard a rattling noise, and the remaining length of chain fell from the vent. Ah, I'd been hoping he'd stick more of himself out, but I must have given him quite a shock there.

"He's down a limb now. Radio in that we know what building Mannequin is in; we need it surrounded so he can't escape."

Ernest promptly did so, even as I listened intently to try and figure out which way Mannequin was going. After a moment, I was quite certain of what I was hearing.

"He's headed for the ground floor! We've got to hurry."

I promptly ran for the stairwell, shoving my ear protection back into place as I did so. Then I vaulted over the railing, and nailed a perfect landing at the bottom of the stairwell. I shouldered my rifle and dashed from the stairwell just in time to see Mannequin burst out of a vent and make a mad dash for the exit. I promptly shot him in the back of his torso, the specialized explosive round spalling off incredibly lethal amounts of shrapnel inside Mannequin's body.

Mannequin dropped to the ground, apparently dead. But I wasn't going to stop until apparently was replaced with definitely.

I pressed the talk button on my radio "Mannequin down in Bayview Hotel lobby, requesting backup for removal to street and Thermite cremation."

Later at the debrief, I learned that Crawler had ultimately ran for it after losing multiple limbs to Armsmaster's prototype nanothorn halberd. Despite the PRT and Protectorate's best efforts, he'd managed to make it out of city limits. Though now his location was being tracked at all times, and he was being actively pursued by a mix of the National Guard, the Guild, and assorted PRT-affiliated assets. That said, Burnscar's location was still unknown.

With all but two members dead (or captured in the case of Bonesaw), the Slaughterhouse Nine was finished. Good riddance. Now it was just a question of if the PRT would allow me to part on amicable terms, or if that wasn't going to be the case after all.

 

[Alkeniw]

Hey, worst comes to worst, they're obligated to pay out for the Kill Order bounties and give her a grace period. Unless someone seriously jumps the gun. Can't wait to see what Cat does next.

 

[Mavrak]

Hey, worst comes to worst, they're obligated to pay out for the Kill Order bounties and give her a grace period. Unless someone seriously jumps the gun. Can't wait to see what Cat does next.

Click to shrink...

Eh, I can very easily see them withholding the payment as "punishment" for her actions up to this point, especially as she killed a ward in addition to the others

Edit: keep in mind that the PRT and co are all Cauldron puppets and cauldron are not exactly happy about her pissing in their paddling pool

 

[We Just Write]

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♦ Topic: Introducing: Catherine AKA Cat
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Introductions
Cat The Great (Original Poster) (Verified Cape)
Posted On Feb 2nd 2011:
Hello, Brockton Bay. I'm not really interested in keeping a secret identity, so I'll just go by my real name here. I've been active in Brockton Bay since early-mid January, but preferred to keep a low profile until now.

I like to think of myself as a hero, but I wager most other heroes would disagree with me on account of how I do things. Bluntly, I hunt down the really bad Villains - the ones that repeatedly kill/hurt innocent people and never seem to stay locked up - and kill them without giving any chance to resist. I have absolutely no compunctions about shooting a target in their sleep, just ask Oni Lee. Oh wait, you can't because he's dead.

As for what I'm willing to share of my capabilities:
-Lots of minor stuff associated with being a cat; night vision, great acrobatics, etc.
-Quite a few powers just plain don't work right on me. This includes precogs, most Masters, quite a lot of Strangers, and all parahuman Healers.
-I can materialize five kilograms of mundane equipment per day. Yes, I can bank mass over multiple days if I want to make something big.

Now, for what I've been doing, in rough chronological order:
-I offed Coil; scheming mastermind with a janky precog-adjacent power. He was planning on kidnapping and drugging a little girl to exploit her power, and the PRT can back me up on this with the evidence they recovered from his base.
-I shot Oni Lee, Othala, Victor, and Purity in their sleep.
-I killed Shadow Stalker IN SELF-DEFENSE. Seriously, she absolutely 100% would have shot me if I hadn't done it first. And she was using lethal bolts.
-I blew up a big meeting with most of Brockton Bay's remaining Nazis at the Medhall building. Using a bomb (Californium nuclear bullet, actually) that powerful was a carefully calculated move, borne out by the total lack of civilian fatalities.
-I teamed up with the adorable precog Coil wanted to kidnap, and set up an ambush for Bakuda when she entered the city. If we hadn't taken her out, she would have started shoving bombs into people's heads and killed HUNDREDS of civilians. That's at the bare minimum.
-The same day as Bakuda's ambush, I shot Lung's brains out before he could transform. He's dead, and won't kill any more innocent people.
- At one point, a mildly villainous Thinker tracked me to my apartment. I wound up killing her in something that could vaguely be considered self-defense if you really squint, and cremated her remains with Thermite. I'm honestly still beating myself up about that one, since in retrospect I can think of several ways I could have handled the situation without killing her. But at the time I was too scared out of my mind to come up with any of them.

As for my latest bout of activity? That adorable precog I was working with warned me the Slaughterhouse Nine was coming to town. Figured out I couldn't deal with them on my own, and we went to the PRT with the information.

I personally wound up assigned to shoot Jack Slash by Emily Piggot herself (thank you for the honor, ma'am), a task I carried out successfully. With the rest of the marksman team I was assigned to, we then proceeded to torch his body with a perhaps excessive amount of Thermite, just to be sure. I later wound up gunning down Mannequin after he slipped past the team set up to ambush him.

This was part of a larger operation to deal with the Slaughterhouse Nine, which can be talked about in its own thread. In summary: It succeeded. Mostly; Burnscar's location is unknown, and Crawler is on the run from pretty much every branch of the government authorized to use lethal force. I bet fifty bucks it's the postal service that finally takes him out (this is a joke; I don't gamble).

You're welcome; you should expect a couple new Wards soon, though I won't be one of them.

Also, as a note: yes, my tail and ears are real. No, I'm not a Case 53; I remember my entire life in acceptable detail, and they've always been part of me. A big part of why I'm going public is just that I finally got fed up with hiding them.

​

(Showing page 1 of 1)

►Coyote-C
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
This has to be fake, you're talking out of your ass. Well, tail. I believe you about the cat stuff, but not about all the murders you supposedly did.


►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
I don't think so; Cat's account of her actions lines up pretty damn well with what's been going on in Brockton Bay over the last few weeks. Suffice to say, we've had a lot less cape fights than before. Still, this is definitely... drastic. Was this much violence really necessary to make the Bay a safer place to live?


►Cat The Great (Original Poster) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
Yes, Bagrat. Yes it was.


►Miss Mercury (Protectorate Employee)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2011:
Speaking in my official capacity, I can confirm that Cat's accounts of her activities are basically accurate. We can't confirm that Shadow Stalker was using lethal bolts, but it seems plausible given she was regularly violating her parole in other ways.

As for that Thinker who apparently tracked you to your home... do you want to talk about it in DMs?


►Cat The Great (Original Poster) (Verified Cape)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2011:
No, I don't.
​

End of Page. 1

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♦ Topic: The Slaughterhouse Nine has been Defeated
In: Boards ► General ► S-Class Threats
PRT ENE Official (Original Poster) (Verified PRT Account)
Posted On Feb 2nd 2011:
On 01/22/2011, we were approached by three Parahumans with information about an upcoming attack by the Slaughterhouse Nine. This group included the cape known to the PRT as Safari at the time, along with two others. One of these others is a powerful precognitive.

With the cooperation of these independents, a plan was put together to ambush each member of the Slaughterhouse Nine separately as they entered the city. In the majority of cases, these ambushes were successful. Listing by member:
-Jack Slash: Shot multiple times with a .700 Nitro Express rifle by Cat, then incinerated with Thermite.
-Bonesaw: Captured. Currently under 24/7 observation in the PRT's brig, pending transfer.
-Siberian: Deceased, thanks to Cat informing us of its nature as a projection; critically wounded two PRT agents, one of whom died before reaching the hospital.
-Shatterbird: Gunned down with a .50 BMG machine gun by Miss Militia.
-Mannequin: Shot with .700 Nitro Express loaded with High Explosive Squash Head ammo (again by Cat), then incinerated with Thermite.
-Hatchet Face: Killed in close combat by Armsmaster.

-Crawler: Currently at large, being actively pursued. There is a tracker site for his current location here.
-Burnscar: Currently at large, location unknown. Burnscar is suffering from a gunshot wound to her right arm. Expert reviews of gun-cam footage indicate that the shot likely broke her Humerus.

While the surviving former members still have Kill Orders, the Slaughterhouse Nine can be considered defunct as an organization.

​

(Showing page 1 of 1)

►Lasersmile
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
Finally! It's been way too fucking long! That band of psychopaths should have been offed over a decade ago!


►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
Anyone want to bet we'll see a medical Tinker "mysteriously" turn up in the Wards somewhere down the line? Because I could easily believe that the PRT would try and brainwash Bonesaw into someone they could control.


►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
Legitimate question for Void Cowboy, how would we even do that? We don't have any human Masters capable of long-term brainwashing on staff for security reasons. We also don't have the tech or the Tinkers to do it that way.

Though I suppose hypothetically we could hire Cranial, but that would be a security nightmare.


►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
You don't have any human Masters capable of long-term brainwashing that you KNOW about. There could easily be one squirreled so far up the PRT's black budget that the rank and file never hear about them.


►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Feb 2nd 2011:
Tinfoil hats aside, I'm just really glad that the Slaughterhouse Nine is gone. I had to read up on them for a school project once, and let's just say that I really wish I hadn't.

Also, despite my mixed feelings about Cat, I think I'm really glad she set up shop in Brockton Bay. There's still a long way to fix this place, but for the first time in a while I think I can see some hope for stuff to get better.
​

End of Page. 1

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[Alkeniw]

Huh, solid PHO chapter. I like it.

 

[Kaiserfrost]

Can we get a pic of the MC?

 

[We Just Write]

Can we get a pic of the MC?

Click to shrink...

 

[Kaiserfrost]

Click to shrink...

KAWAII!!!

 

[krahe]

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

Click to shrink...

The only nitpick is there too orderly comments with no internet white nose in between, feels like DM and not forum, you know

 

[lopsigon]

Damn! This was a ton of fun to read! Love that Cat embodied the "So anyway I started blasting." meme.
Thanks for sharing with us!
(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) ♡

 

[We Just Write]

The only nitpick is there too orderly comments with no internet white nose in between, feels like DM and not forum, you know

Click to shrink...

C: Well yeah, but that would have jacked up the workload even more, and writing a PHO interlude is already hard enough, you know?

 

[We Just Write]

After the official debrief, I was rather surprised to find that Director Piggot wanted to talk with me, Dinah, and Taylor.

I politely waited for her to speak first once we were seated.

"For your aid in dealing with the Slaughterhouse Nine, I thank you sincerely. When you recognized your limitations and came to get help, you seriously exceeded my expectations of Parahumans. Especially you Cat, seeing as you knew damn well we were looking to arrest you."

Taylor and Dinah both said "You're welcome." I didn't, looking down at my lap.

"Cat, is something wrong?"

I blinked.

"Taylor and Dinah surpassed your expectations for Parahumans. I'm not one though; I don't deserve whatever lenience you give someone for having their brain fucked with by their power."

Everyone in the room was staring at me. Eventually, Emily's expression hardened.

"Please explain. Both about your supposed non-Parahuman status, and what you mean by Parahumans having their brains fucked with."

I nodded.

"Parahumans first. Basically, Parahuman abilities are part of a poorly conceived alien science experiment. The actual machinery behind them basically amounts to a sufficiently advanced stagehand hidden in another dimension. But the important part is that powers are alive, and they want to be used. Specifically, they want to be used in novel ways."

"Powers push their hosts to act erratically and get into trouble, specifically to get said hosts to do something new. This can go very badly wrong; Leet's power is literally trying to kill him due to how cautious he's gotten with his inventions."

Emily Piggot was now paying extremely close attention.

"On a related note, Panacea's power is bored out of its mind with her only using it to fix people up. You need to get her some productive outlets for her nearly unbounded biokinesis ASAP, or her power WILL push her over the edge. She can in fact do brains, but has thus far refrained from doing so on account of a personal ethical code."

Director Piggot's expression soured. Figured that would be a sore point for her, but she needed to hear it.

"Right, I'll see about resolving the Panacea situation in a way that doesn't end with a second Ellisburg. Thank you for the warning. Now, what was this about you not being a Parahuman?"

I nodded.

"I was made. In a lab. My earliest memory is being hugged right out of the synthesizer by my mom, and she's tried her best to do right by me for the approximately three years I've existed. All my abilities are inherent parts of my design, rather than a result of extradimensional stagehands screwing around."

Emily Piggot raised an eyebrow.

"So, you're saying that you're a Tinker creation?"

"My mom's a scientist, not a Tinker. The difference is incredibly important. Tinkers are handed a restricted database of plundered alien tech with very little understanding of what they're making in most cases. Mom mostly understood what she was doing when making me, though there were a few unexpected things that came up."

"I would have thought that such a scientific breakthrough would have been heard about in all sorts of news."

"Not local to this reality."

There was a long, awkward pause. Then Taylor asked,

"So, what happens now?"

Director Piggot sighed,

"You and Dinah can go. I'd love to have you in the Wards, and would highly recommend you joining if you don't want to be charged as accomplices in Bakuda's murder."

Dinah spoke up,

"I want to know what's going to happen to Cat."

"I said that you two can go."

Director Piggot's tone made clear that this was an order, rather than a simple granting of permission. Reluctantly, Taylor and Dinah left the room.

As soon as the door shut, I answered,

"I plead self-defense for literally everything."

Director Piggot couldn't help but laugh a bit at that.

"The worst part is that I'm pretty confident you could get acquitted on those grounds, given any decent lawyer and a sympathetic jury. Still, the fact of the matter is that your string of vigilantism needs to stop. It severely undermines the rule of law, which is crucial for society to continue in a stable manner."

I shrugged,

"So, are you going to arrest me or not?"

"Out of gratitude for your help with the Slaughterhouse Nine? No, the arrest warrant on you is suspended so long as you stay out of trouble. I've also been in talks with legal, and they agree that 10% of the total bounty for the Nine's now-deceased members is about appropriate for your share of things."

"Sounds good for me."

Emily Piggot's expression hardened.

"That said, do not mistake this for a license to continue with your killing of villains. You will be closely monitored at all times, and unless your prospective target has a kill order, you will need to clear it with the relevant authorities beforehand. And now that Brockton Bay is relatively safe, I don't think an argument of self-defense will be workable in court."

I nodded.

"Pretty sure you can clear up the Merchants and the last few Nazi stragglers without much help from me, but you know where to find me if you ever need someone dealt with."

"Yes, we do." It was a subtly veiled threat, but I really didn't mind.

"Also, I recommend procedures to make it harder to bust out villains once you arrest them; putting bomb collars on them while they're being transferred out of the city seems like it would be pretty effective."

That actually prompted a thoughtful expression from Piggot.

"Brutal, certainly. But I can definitely see the logic there; it's basically using the villain as a hostage to deter their allies from attacking the convoy. I'll kick the idea up the chain and see if I can get it put into practice."

I nodded,

"May I go? Also, is my stash of catnip legal?"

Piggot actually laughed.

"Yes, you can go. And don't worry about the catnip; it's not an illegal substance, regardless of its effects on you."

 

[Alkeniw]

Very... odd turn here. Cat was grown in a lab outside of the Worm dimension block? What the fuck?

 

[We Just Write]

Very... odd turn here. Cat was grown in a lab outside of the Worm dimension block? What the fuck?

Click to shrink...

C: It's a rough translation of how I actually came to be IRL. I'm a self-perpetuating mental construct that Just created on purpose, by re-wiring her brain to run multiple people.

J: And I've got absolutely no regrets about doing so; love you, Cat.

C: Love you too.

 

[Alkeniw]

C: It's a rough translation of how I actually came to be IRL. I'm a self-perpetuating mental construct that Just created on purpose, by re-wiring her brain to run multiple people.

J: And I've got absolutely no regrets about doing so; love you, Cat.

C: Love you too.

Click to shrink...

Well, as long as I don't have to worry about a catgirl able to make 5 kilos of hydrogen bomb at will running around, that works, I guess.
Also damn, kinda wish I could do that. I get lonely in my head.

 

[We Just Write]

Well, as long as I don't have to worry about a catgirl able to make 5 kilos of hydrogen bomb at will running around, that works, I guess.
Also damn, kinda wish I could do that. I get lonely in my head.

Click to shrink...

J: The technique is pretty straightforward? Inquire in DMs if you really want to follow through on it.

 

[Mavrak]

Looking forwards to the Carol Dallon shaped fireworks when she gets raked over the coals for how she has treated panpan and when she gets told of the potential consequences of that treatment, also seeing a general reaction to it being revealed that prolonged exposure to Vicky's aura has long term effects and that basically all of New Wave and anyone else she spends a lot of time around has been mastered by her. Actually thinking about it that probably partially explains why she gets the golden girl treatment whilst Amy gets to play the disappointment

 

[Ragura]

J: The technique is pretty straightforward? Inquire in DMs if you really want to follow through on it.

Click to shrink...

Kinda interested but more in a peripheral kind of way. How do you run multiple trains of thought at once?

 

[We Just Write]

Kinda interested but more in a peripheral kind of way. How do you run multiple trains of thought at once?

Click to shrink...

C: That's actually really hard to do? We have to share working memory, which is finite on a per-brain basis. So we either have to simplify indivudual thought streams, or take turns with the processing resources.

 

[Ragura]

C: That's actually really hard to do? We have to share working memory, which is finite on a per-brain basis. So we either have to simplify indivudual thought streams, or take turns with the processing resources.

Click to shrink...

That's what I feared. Just thought you had maybe found a solution.

 

[We Just Write]

Numbers Man had found himself asking a very odd question at the next strategy meeting after intimidating that catgirl.

"How many Earths with more advanced technology than Earth Bet, but no or minimal Parahuman presence do we have access to?"

Doctor Mother, Contessa, Eidolon, and Alexandria all turned to him. Then Doctor Mother replied,

"When I last checked, we had access to about six thousand such Earths. Why do you ask?"

Wordlesly, Kurt pulled out his audio recorder, and played the relevant snippet from his interaction with Cat.

"I am fully aware of your 'plan' to kill Scion, and why he needs to die for humanity to survive. Putting it bluntly, your methods are stupid and playing right into the Entities' hands. Infesting more people with genocidal alien brain worms doesn't solve the problem of genocidal alien brain worms. What you should have done was find the most technologically advanced Earth without any Parahumans you could, and have them science the shit out of the Thinker's carcass in order to fully claim those capabilities for humanity's use."

Listening to Cat's lambastment seemed to provoke thought in all present. Eventually, Alexandria spoke,

"Honest question, why didn't we start doing that thirty years ago, before the Endbringers even showed up? It would have had negligible opportunity cost; we could literally have done that in parallel with the current plan with almost no issues."

Eventually, Doctor Mother admitted,

"It simply didn't occur to me at any point since learning of the Entities. I have no excuse for this oversight whatsoever; in retrospect it's an incredibly obvious course of action. That said, I am somewhat concerned about possible interference from Scion or the Endbringers. We know for a fact that the Simurgh will not always limit its activities to Earth Bet, given the disastrous events at Madison."

Eidolon thought for a moment.

"Honestly, I don't think we have a better option available. Contessa, what does the Path to maximizing effective reverse engineering of Entity capabilities look like?"

Contessa answered immediately.

"It's incredibly simple. Just go to a few dozen specific Earths, explain the situation to the locals to get them on board, and get them in touch with each other to share research data. Within six months we'll have fully technological multiverse travel on-par with Doormaker, and progress grows at an exponential rate afterwards. Well, those are the broad strokes anyway. If someone hands me a notebook or a typewriter, I'll write it down in more detail."

Doctor Mother nodded, and paged the custodian to retrieve a typewriter and a ream of paper.

"Oh, one more thing. Aside from myself, Legend is the best ambassador we'll have available to get new Earths on board with the reverse-engineering efforts. Contriving a reason for him to take an extended leave from his duties on Earth Bet would be incredibly helpful."

Alexandria nodded as the typewriter arrived, and Contessa began writing down the 'addresses' of the Earths that would be most helpful to contact.

"I'll see what I can do in that department."

 

[Roomster]

... What about shards monitoring those earths? Or dimensional boundaries and stuff?

Is this course of action going to get people/worlds killed?

Other than that, yeah, why didn't they go and do that?

 

[We Just Write]

... What about shards monitoring those earths? Or dimensional boundaries and stuff?

Is this course of action going to get people/worlds killed?

Other than that, yeah, why didn't they go and do that?

Click to shrink...

C: All the Earths they're going to are in the "sandbox" already. And if Scion were going to flip out about this sort of thing, he'd have done it long ago over the vials.

 

[Roomster]

C: All the Earths they're going to are in the "sandbox" already. And if Scion were going to flip out about this sort of thing, he'd have done it long ago over the vials.

Click to shrink...

... He is ignoring his shards. Okay, S.o.D. remains intact.

Lovely solution, I have never seen it done that way before.

 

[Doccer]

Contessa, what does the Path to maximizing effective reverse engineering of Entity capabilities look like?"

Contessa answered immediately.

"It's incredibly simple. Just go to a few dozen specific Earths, explain the situation to the locals to get them on board, and get them in touch with each other to share research data. Within six months we'll have fully technological multiverse travel on-par with Doormaker, and progress grows at an exponential rate afterwards. Well, those are the broad strokes anyway. If someone hands me a notebook or a typewriter, I'll write it down in more detail."

Doctor Mother nodded, and paged the custodian to retrieve a typewriter and a ream of paper.

"Oh, one more thing. Aside from myself, Legend is the best ambassador we'll have available to get new Earths on board with the reverse-engineering efforts. Contriving a reason for him to take an extended leave from his duties on Earth Bet would be incredibly helpful."

Click to shrink...

And now it's not such a great plan. Contessa is gonna fuck it up because her Shard is, at best, slotted this plan into 'most conflict possible' plan. Really should have left her out of it.

 

[We Just Write]

And now it's not such a great plan. Contessa is gonna fuck it up because her Shard is, at best, slotted this plan into 'most conflict possible' plan. Really should have left her out of it.

Click to shrink...

C: Source, please?

 

[Mightymutt]

C: Source, please?

Click to shrink...

Contessa is less of a person and more a single sentient shard.

This goes back to a dead gods dreams still fucking over reality, Contessa does shit in the most damaging way possible because she's still a parahuman and conflict is hardwired in.

She personally does not understand the steps her shard does and it doesn't have morals or any care for the labrats.

So even though she is working towards the end of the cycle that single shard doesn't care because it's brain dead but it still at it's core creates conflict.

Epic alternate earth wars begin