Just a Phase [Worm]

[RogueInquisitor]

If Taylor is able to file suit, the first thing the school will do is seek a settlement. Then the question becomes how much can they offer, and how badly does Taylor want to see them inside a courtroom. I could easily see Taylor declaring she's going to trial, because she doesn't care about the money, she just wants to drag all the dirty laundry out onto the public record. Of course, the PRT ENE is in a bit of a bind. They want to avoid any mention of their involvement coming up, but that would require them to actually file motions to that effect. Even if filed under seal, the fact motions were filed by the PRT ENE would raise questions.

 

[The Unicorn]

If Taylor is able to file suit, the first thing the school will do is seek a settlement. Then the question becomes how much can they offer, and how badly does Taylor want to see them inside a courtroom. I could easily see Taylor declaring she's going to trial, because she doesn't care about the money, she just wants to drag all the dirty laundry out onto the public record. Of course, the PRT ENE is in a bit of a bind. They want to avoid any mention of their involvement coming up, but that would require them to actually file motions to that effect. Even if filed under seal, the fact motions were filed by the PRT ENE would raise questions.

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The issue is, Taylor is a minor, while she can technically file a suit, actually retaining a lawyer to handle things for her ranges from difficult to impossible.
The setup in the Omake in question means the school would find it much cheaper (by an order of magnitude or more) to pay for a lawyer for Taylor to seek emancipation (which any para-human can easily meet the requirements for, and with the demonstrated abuses of the PRT it is unlikely a judge would refuse) than to try and reach a conventional settlement.

Taylor couldn't declare she's going to see things to trial because while the PRT may be required to see to seeking reasonable damages for Taylor, no one would make them keep fighting after a reasonable agreement was reached, even if Taylor demanded they keep going.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

And while you're right it could be handled with an out-of-court settlement

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I imagine the PRT lawyers running the case would also very much like to take the settlement and be done with the whole thing. Only to run into the disapproving frowns and shaking heads of the Youth Guard minders looking over their shoulders before getting back to work on the lawsuit.

since what Taylor actually wants is to be free of the PRT I doubt it would be - the cost of a lawyer to handle her emancipation request is a lot less than the sort of damages it would be reasonable for her to demand so as long as she's under the PRT they're required to press the suit for her, and so the school will pay for her emancipation while dragging their feet on the civil suit. Once Taylor is free of the PRT either she drops the suit, or tries to keep going and the school reveals they've been supporting her and even if they lose the case the damages awarded will be less than the legal costs.

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Though the PRT will probably not take such attempts at courting Taylor with promises of emancipation lying down. Since they have a vested interest in keeping Taylor as a Ward and have already sank a fair bit of resources into her. Again not a lawyer so I am not sure how they would counter such a thing from the school but I imagine they might be able to pull something regarding Taylor's status as parahuman or secret ID making the PRT the only eligible guardians for her.

Oh, I figure she'll find out about it within days, even if the school doesn't have standing to sue the PRT (which they might) they'll be calling Sophia, Emma, their handlers and everyone else they can think of in as witnesses

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I imagine a lot of the students in the hallway that day along with a good number of Emma's hanger ons will be very quick to turn on her to cut themselves a better deal. Which cuts nicely into how and why the PRT's own investigation into the allegations against their two Wards are still in ongoing.

Also the school suing the ENE would be a nice consequence and a good way to get around the whole conflict of interests with Boston suing them in a very roundabout way (Ha!). Almost like Taylor and Jim planned for it.

Still though Piggot will be absolutely apocalyptic about Armstrong not warning her about what was about to go down leaving her legal department to scramble for excuses on very short notice after being caught off guard and flat footed.

 

[The Unicorn]

I imagine the PRT lawyers running the case would also very much like to take the settlement and be done with the whole thing. Only to run into the disapproving frowns and shaking heads of the Youth Guard minders looking over their shoulders before getting back to work on the lawsuit.

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A clause forcing them to seek "resonable damages" for the Wards is plausabile, one that forces them to keep fighting until the kid is satisfied is not.
Although as noted it doesn't matter in this case because the school has a much cheaper option.

Though the PRT will probably not take such attempts at courting Taylor with promises of emancipation lying down.

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I'm not quite sure how they could stop this. THe way it works is X goes to a lawyer and tells them "we'll pay your fees up to such and such sum" the lawyer says okay, then goes over to Taylor and says "Persons who wish to remain anonymous offered to pay me to act as your lawyer, do you agree?" Taylor says yes, he's her attorney and any attempt to interfere in that is illegal and even looking into the finances may be problematical given Taylor is suing the PRT.

Since they have a vested interest in keeping Taylor as a Ward

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I don't think they do. In fact the PRT as an organization have a vested interest in getting her out of the Wards program ASAP. They do however have an interest in keeping the entire mess quiet.

Actually thinking about it, if Taylor managed to get a lawyer to file for her they might agree not to oppose the request as long as Taylor signs an NDA covering the entire fiasco.

they might be able to pull something regarding Taylor's status as parahuman or secret ID making the PRT the only eligible guardians for her.

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The point of emancipation is that the person doesn't need a guardian.

Still though Piggot will be absolutely apocalyptic about Armstrong not warning her about what was about to go down leaving her legal department to scramble for excuses on very short notice after being caught off guard and flat footed.

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Oh, definitely. And the scathing emails she and Armstrong send at each other are liable to end up in Discovery and be used to impale both of them...

 

[RogueInquisitor]

I don't think they do. In fact the PRT as an organization have a vested interest in getting her out of the Wards program ASAP

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They want her as a Ward. Director Armstrong is getting pressure from above to get her to be a full Ward ASAP. The organization would probably be far better off cutting their losses and letting her go, but they have consistently doubled down on doing the opposite of that.

As for whether a settlement is accepted, Taylor is the client. It doesn't actually matter who pays the bills for the lawyer, their duty is to the client. If Taylor says "I want to drag out every skeleton and dirty secret at a trial, fuck the money," then the lawyer will have to follow through, no matter what the PRT wants. The PRT also probably can't get away with trying to refuse to pay, because the regulation says that Wards are entitled to "full legal support and counsel." That's about as close to a blank cheque I can think of.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

A clause forcing them to seek "resonable damages" for the Wards is plausabile, one that forces them to keep fighting until the kid is satisfied is not.

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But those "reasonable damages" will be defined by the Youth Guard and thanks to whatever Taylor and Jim worked out in the two days leading up to the meeting with Armstrong they have a vested interest in seeing things through.

Actually thinking about it, if Taylor managed to get a lawyer to file for her they might agree not to oppose the request as long as Taylor signs an NDA covering the entire fiasco.

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Honestly I wrote the omake with the thought that Taylor doesn't want a settlement. If she did she would have been alright with being moved to a different school and never interacting Emma or Sophia again. No her main issue is with the PRT covering things up and letting her abusers get away with what they did to her. So she might not accept a settlement if what she is really after is getting Emma, Sophia, and their enablers punished for their crimes and signing an NDA or taking a deal would be the opposite. This is Taylor we are talking about let her be unreasonable.

Oh, definitely. And the scathing emails she and Armstrong send at each other are liable to end up in Discovery and be used to impale both of them...

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Yeah it will be a non-stop back and forth between them with Piggot yelling at Armstrong for not controlling the girl who is destroying her department, and Armstrong firing back that Piggot got them into this mess by completely misleading him about Phase's minor issues with the Brockton department being full blown attempted murder when getting him to agree with the transfer.

Also what do you mean by Discovery it is capitalized for some reason.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

Also what do you mean by Discovery it is capitalized for some reason.

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So, in a court case, Discovery is information that you have, that the other side can ask for and get, as well as the stage for asking for and receiving that information. In the context of suing Winslow, the records of Taylor, Emma, Sophia, and Madison would all be subject to the discovery process, as they are relevant to the case, and the school would likely be required to turn them over. They may be able to fight it on the basis of personal information of minors, but given that they are likely to be central to any case, production would probably be compelled.

 

[The Unicorn]

Honestly I wrote the omake with the thought that Taylor doesn't want a settlement. If she did she would have been alright with being moved to a different school and never interacting Emma or Sophia again. No her main issue is with the PRT covering things up and letting her abusers get away with what they did to her. So she might not accept a settlement if what she is really after is getting Emma, Sophia, and their enablers punished for their crimes and signing an NDA or taking a deal would be the opposite. This is Taylor we are talking about let her be unreasonable.

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I agree with you about Taylor, I'm just saying it's not her decision, not even the Youth Guard's. What the youth Guard can do is go to a judge to complain about the PRT not doing their job, and if the judge agreed, then the PRT would be in trouble, so it basically comes down to the settlment needs to be one two judges accept - the first hearing the civil suit between Taylor and the school, and the second hearing Taylor/YG's complaint against the PRT not pushing the issue.

Also what do you mean by Discovery it is capitalized for some reason.

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Discovery, is when the two lawyers demand the other present the evidence they're holding interview witnesses, etc. It's part of the legal process before it actually goes to court
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/..._education_network/how_courts_work/discovery/
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/what-is-discovery-and-why-is-it-5435246/
Although it seems I was wrong to capitalize it.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

I agree with you about Taylor, I'm just saying it's not her decision, not even the Youth Guard's. What the youth Guard can do is go to a judge to complain about the PRT not doing their job, and if the judge agreed, then the PRT would be in trouble, so it basically comes down to the settlment needs to be one two judges accept - the first hearing the civil suit between Taylor and the school, and the second hearing Taylor/YG's complaint against the PRT not pushing the issue.

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Well they would have a decent case for it considering that the PRT never brought it up to Taylor or her dad, and Taylor had to dig through some lengthy legalese and jargon to find it. And that is not even mentioning the whole mess that caused it with the PRT trying to obscure the crimes of their two Wards. So I feel like a good number of judges would agree with them there.

 

[The Unicorn]

Well they would have a decent case for it considering that the PRT never brought it up to Taylor or her dad, and Taylor had to dig through some lengthy legalese and jargon to find it. And that is not even mentioning the whole mess that caused it with the PRT trying to obscure the crimes of their two Wards. So I feel like a good number of judges would agree with them there.

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They'd have a case before the PRT agreed to sue the school, after that it depends on the facts available and the details of the deal being offered. If for example the evidence is such that a the judge figures Taylor would probably win, but it's not a slam dunk and the school offers to pay a million $ to Taylor's trust fund I think very few judges would blame the PRT for keeping pushing past that point (even though it's an agreement that in practical terms doesn't give Taylor anything).
On the other hand, if the PRT tried accepting the first offer the school made I'd expect they'd get in a bunch of trouble for that.

 

[BF110C4]

Frankly the other side of the trap is that the PRT/Protectorate needs to be reasonably effective and competent as Taylor lawyer because their worst case scenario is that Taylor demands the judge an Ad Litem guardianship for the exclusive purpose of the prosecution of civil lawsuits regarding the bullying incidents in Winslow. In practice it would mean that they would lose the ability to make decisions in Taylor's regard regarding lawsuits to the implicated parts beyond what their obligations as a federal agency entails. That for example would easily open the door for civil lawsuits against Emma and Sophia as well as the subsequent lost of control of the Discovery phase during the trial. Hell, while I'm reasonably certain Emma can count on her family to legally protect her and maybe to even pay a percentage of any settlement in Sophia's case they might do something harsh when they hear that they are being sued by more money they ever had.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Omake: Hype Trainwreck


The ins and out of the PR department wasn't something Director Armstrong usually concerned himself with on a day to day basis. Sure he had to give frequent public speeches whenever something happened in Boston and the occassional interview with the press, but those events could be planned for and handled in advance. Besides maintaining good public relations more often than not fell under the perview of the Protectorate and Wards, and both Weld and Bastion tended to keep a good handle on things baring a few minor slip ups now and then.

Which is why it was a surprise for Armstrong to see O'Hannon the resident head of PR in Boston looking ragged and waiting for him when he came into the office.

"O'Hannon what do I owe the pleasure." Armstrong said while taking a seat at his desk.

"No pleasure I'm afraid just one giant fucking messes is about to explod in our fucking laps if we don't do anything about it." O'Hannon said skipping all formalities if he was swearing like a sailor already.

Armstrong sighed, "What is it this time Bastion say something he shouldn't near a mic or one of the Wards posted something confidential."

"The latter is close but not quite and I am sure you know what I mean by that."

"Let me guess Phase." Armstrong asked already knowing the answer, "What could she have done this time? We already banned video during the tours and the other Wards are running damage control if people start asking questions."

"It's more like what she has already done and continues to do, and I hate to admit it but part of it is because we fucked up in handling it." The PR chief said, "You remember her first tour right and the mess it caused my office."

"How could I forgot we got calls all night asking us if we were really drafting children against their will into the Wards. But I thought your department already handled it so why is it an issue now?" Armstrong asked.

"Because we only thought we handled it instead all we did was turn one problem into a different one. All we did was calm down the reporters but we forgot about the viewers those who saw the video and got interested. I hate to say it but that girl somehow got people hyped to learn more about her." O'Hannon explained.

"Hype? What is that." Armstrong asked confused.

"Anticipation, interest, followers, a catch all term for people eagerly awaiting something new and interesting, and Phase has it and its growing." The head of PR detailed looking increasingly frazzled obviously having had one to many coffees.

"And this is a bad thing because?" Armstrong asked not quite getting what the issue was.

"Well normally it isn't a bad thing, in fact most of the time in my profession it is a good thing. People get interested in the new hero we release a pieces of concept art for their costume, and when they debut they get a nice boost to their popularity to start with. But the issue is with Phase she unknowingly turned this against us, now instead of being interest in a new Ward joining the team they are interested in her situation and why she hates the program." O'Hannon said.

"Well I don't know what you expect me to do about it, I don't control the internet after all much less what people discuss on the forums. And besides we already banned recordings during the tour so there isn't much more we can do besides removing Phase from them entirely."

"Unfortunately banning videos seems to have only made the problem worse in the long run from what my department has seen so far. People caught on to the video of Phase telling the organization off and the ban immediately after and now seem to think we attempted to keep Phase from telling the public things we don't want them to know about the Wards. Which isn't necessarily wrong but sounds far worse when filtered through conspiracy theorists and forums on the internet. As for taking her off tours entirely forget it if we do that now it will only add gas to the fire. We may have stopped them recording but people still talk about what they see during the tours and they haven't missed how everyone walks on eggshells around Phase or that the tour guides keep giving her the evil eye. Removing her now will only convince them that they were right and something is going on, in fact the issue has gotten so bad that my department thinks that the recent increase in ticket sales are due to people wanting to see Phase go off on the other Wards or looking for evidence to report back to the forums. It has gotten so bad we can't even release the regular Wards status updates without the topic inevitably turning back to Phase." O'Hannon finished with a grimace.

"Again I fail to see why this is a major issue the internet will be the internet and we can't change that. Besides the PRT and Protectorate have survived worse hits to our reputation give it a another month and people will simply move to the next topic." Armstrong explained to O'Hannon.

"Normally yes that would be the standard way of doing things, we take the hit and move on and the hype dues down when nothing happens. That is if it wasn't for this." He said taking out his phone and showing Armstrong a video he had seen before while going over after action reports. It was of Taylor's fight in the electronics store, someone had apparently found the video from the security cameras and posted it in a thread about new capes in Boston.

"I'll get over the fact that you didn't let my department know about our most disobedient Ward's new past time leaving us scrambling to make plans incase the worst happens on our own. But this is a major problem if it gets out." O'Hannon continued.

"There is nothing tying Phase to the vigilante Ghost as far as anyone else knows they are separate people." Armstrong said attempting to placate O'Hannon.

"Are you fucking serious?!" He asked, "The 'new vigilante's' power is phasing and our new Ward's current name is Phase. You don't need to be a Thinker to put those pieces together let alone notice that they have the same hair and body type. Once people notice that if they haven't already then they will start questions on why a Ward is acting as a lone vigilante. At which point online conspiracies start getting actual attention and we have to answer some very uncomfortable questions. Or worse they start trying to ask Phase directly and we both know whatever she will say will in no ways make us look good."

"Fine I see what you mean and why it's a problem, unfortunately I have already checked our own rule book and there isn't anything official I can do about her hobby." Armstrong admitted.

"What do you mean there isn't anything you can fucking do? You're the god damn director!" O'Hannon exclaimed.

"Yes and as such there are rules even I have to follow. If I could I would stop Phase from going out there but she has us stuck in a technicality so my hands are tied. We can't do anything about her secondary identity until she gets a permanent one with us, which we can't give her until after she goes through power testing something she has been rather firm on not doing." Armstrong said back almost yelling at the PR chief.

"Fine." O'Hannon said taking a deep breath to calm down, "Then our options become to get her onboard as soon as possible and hope we can turn the hype she gathered in our favor if they see her willingly join, or transfer her to another department and pass the buck like Brockton did."

"Well we still haven't made any progress getting her to join the normal way but we are still working on it. As for transferring her not a chance, and before you say anything it isn't my choice. While we do have custody of her we still have to pass certain things through to her father and he has refused any transfers further out. Besides I don't want to mimic Piggot's brilliant strategy by dragging a third department into this mess." Armstrong explained.

"Jesus fuck this is a shit show isn't it." O'Hannon asked rubbing his eyes.

"Welcome to my world, it's like a trainwreck that you can see coming in real time but are helpless to stop and all you can do is sit back and watch your imminent demise." Armstrong said while pulling out a bottle he kept for whenever shit hit the fan and poring himself and O'Hannon a drink.

O'Hannon accepted the glass that was offered, "The only other idea I can think of is getting Phase herself to defuse the situation."

Both men shared a look at each other before bursting out laughing.

"God no, just look at what she has done with the Youth Guard imagine if she found out she had a group of people willing to hang from her every word. It would be a disaster for both us and the ENE, well more of a disaster then it already is." Armstrong said.

"It is a shame though." O'Hannon admitted, "If this is what that girl could do unknowingly imagine what she could have done if we got her to play ball. It would have been great I bet."

"Well to lost opportunities then." Armstrong proposed.

"If that's what we are drinking to you are gonna need another bottle." O'Hannon replied.

With that the two men tool a swig of their drinks before having to go back to their other duties, and trying to think of new ways to disarm the increasingly destructive bomb Boston's most frustrating Ward was becoming.

---

A.N: Well here is a new omake just something I wrote to get back into the swing of writing omakes now that my semester is ending and it kinda spiraled from there. So anyways here is an omake about the internet hivemind taking an interest in Taylor, and I might have messed up on Armstrong's characterization at the end there. Anyways as always let me know what you all think.

Also FirstSelector

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Omake: Hype Trainwreck

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Another lit fuse this omake didn't cover?

Just by putting Phase in the Ward's tour rotation? The Boston department started a clock. "When are we going to see Phase out on patrol, on PR visits outside of the Ward's lounge, or even pictures of her in costume?"

The longer the delay and "the most anemic Ward reveal ever" and people are going to notice the normal time line is stalled. The dog that does not bark to quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And the more people are going to ask questions, and be more insistent on getting a real answer.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Another lit fuse this omake didn't cover?

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That is more or less what happened even if it wasn't directly stated in the omake. The first tour got people interested in Phase and when the department failed to produce anything about her after people began filling the gap themselves with their own interpretations of what is happening.

The longer the delay and "the most anemic Ward reveal ever" and people are going to notice the normal time line is stalled. The dog that does not bark to quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And the more people are going to ask questions, and be more insistent on getting a real answer.

Click to shrink...

I did contemplate adding a scene where O'Hannon asks if his department could release some concept art or open a PHO account for Phase to defuse the tension, and Armstrong explaining why that would be a bad idea because Phase and Youth Guard. But I wasn't able to figure out how to get it to fit organically in the omake so I left it out.

 

[JustOneGuy]

they could claim that similar rare power can run in family, and imply that it (there being a siblingstill acting as independent) is the case and related to why phase is held back from a more active role

this kind of lie can explode and make everything worse, but it can also patch thing in the short term, and there would be an easy excuse for the lack of information "protecting ward family and identity"

 

[KingCrimson1081]

they could claim that similar rare power can run in family, and imply that it (there being a siblingstill acting as independent) is the case and related to why phase is held back from a more active role

this kind of lie can explode and make everything worse, but it can also patch thing in the short term, and there would be an easy excuse for the lack of information "protecting ward family and identity"

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I mean the story they spun for Phase was that her family wanted her safe in the Wards even if Phase herself didn't want that. Which brings up the question on why they didn't do the same thing with Ghost. Unless of course they just say Ghost ran aways from home which is why she isn't in the Wards.

 

[The Dude]

I mean the story they spun for Phase was that her family wanted her safe in the Wards even if Phase herself didn't want that. Which brings up the question on why they didn't do the same thing with Ghost. Unless of course they just say Ghost ran aways from home which is why she isn't in the Wards.

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Then someone on a tour asks her about her sister, and she goes "What sister? I'm an only child," then the fecal matter hits the rotary airflow enhancement device.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Then someone on a tour asks her about her sister, and she goes "What sister? I'm an only child," then the fecal matter hits the rotary airflow enhancement device.

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Better yet she plays it up and spins a story about how the PRT tore her family apart and seperated her from her beloved sister.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

Better yet she plays it up and spins a story about how the PRT tore her family apart and seperated her from her beloved sister.

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Or claim that her sister must have triggered as a result of the PRT conscripting Phase, and Ghost must have run away to escape the same fate befalling her.

 

[Arksurek]

Better yet she plays it up and spins a story about how the PRT tore her family apart and seperated her from her beloved sister.

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Or claim that her sister must have triggered as a result of the PRT conscripting Phase, and Ghost must have run away to escape the same fate befalling her.

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Eh, better to just expose the lie and be done with it. Keeps things simple and it can't come back to bite her somehow in the future.

 

[The Unicorn]

You seem to have forgotten that secret identities are a thing, and very respected in Worm even when they aren't legally enforced.
No one will be giving out details about Phase's family fictional or otherwise and anyone asking for such details in public will be treated about as badly as if he'd demanded she's show her tits in public.

If the PRT had any brains the response to questions about the other very similar cape would be to imply they are related to Phase without actually saying anything and let everyone draw their own conclusions, while simultaneously shutting down all the more reputable sources from reporting on it at all (since that will be speculating on a Ward's secret identity which would not be something most people do).

 

[DrWhoFan13]

Eh, better to just expose the lie and be done with it. Keeps things simple, and it can't come back to bite her somehow in the future.

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Exposing the lie, so to speak, makes things worse because it causes more problems in the long run, namely:

1. It makes the local PRT look incompetent.
2. Admitting that Phase is a Vigilante while on Wards hours would mean other Wards are likely to follow in her example, and there's already a Wards team primed to do so.
3. Fuels more speculation on what's going on.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the best way to fix the mess that is Taylor Hebert's PR problems is to reveal enough of the truth, but doing so would worsen the situation in Brockton Bay because of Nazis.

 

[Arksurek]

Exposing the lie, so to speak, makes things worse because it causes more problems in the long run, namely:

1. It makes the local PRT look incompetent.
2. Admitting that Phase is a Vigilante while on Wards hours would mean other Wards are likely to follow in her example, and there's already a Wards team primed to do so.
3. Fuels more speculation on what's going on.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the best way to fix the mess that is Taylor Hebert's PR problems is to reveal enough of the truth, but doing so would worsen the situation in Brockton Bay because of Nazis.

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1. The PRT needs no help from Taylor to look incompetent.
2. Correcting the mistaken idea that she has a sister is not the same thing as admitting she is Ghost.
3. More speculation means more headaches for the PRT and the Protectorate, a plus in Taylor's book I'm sure.

 

[DrWhoFan13]

Correcting the mistaken idea that she has a sister is not the same thing as admitting she is Ghost.

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No, but it does open the general public to think she's Ghost.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Correcting the mistaken idea that she has a sister is not the same thing as admitting she is Ghost.

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No, but it does open the general public to think she's Ghost.

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Yeah one of the main things letting Taylor go out as Ghost is the plausible deniability that she is doing it, besides the creative but not prohibited interpretation of the rules. If she losses that the PRT has more options to turn the screws to her and she runs the risk of losing a fair bit of support from the Youth Guard.

 

[BF110C4]

Frankly is less risky for the Wards to imply that Phase's powers are Thinker abilities to prevent the relationship between both her aliases from being made. They don't even need to use official channels for that, some rumors from totally not PRT troopers private accounts, maybe one of the Ward's thinkers complaining about interference when he thought a tourist couldn't hear him and a slide comment that Phase is moon related and Ghost becomes a far less obvious alter identity.

Best part? It would be in Taylor's interests not to expose the lie in order to both protect her secondary identity and to obscure her own powers just in case…

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Frankly is less risky for the Wards to imply that Phase's powers are Thinker abilities to prevent the relationship between both her aliases from being made. They don't even need to use official channels for that, some rumors from totally not PRT troopers private accounts, maybe one of the Ward's thinkers complaining about interference when he thought a tourist couldn't hear him and a slide comment that Phase is moon related and Ghost becomes a far less obvious alter identity.

Best part? It would be in Taylor's interests not to expose the lie in order to both protect her secondary identity and to obscure her own powers just in case…

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Shit still hits the fan if they ever get to Phase's official introduction (which is still their end goal) and her power has nothing to do with the moon or isn't a Thinker ability and is in fact the same power as Ghost.

 

[BF110C4]

Shit still hits the fan if they ever get to Phase's official introduction (which is still their end goal) and her power has nothing to do with the moon or isn't a Thinker ability and is in fact the same power as Ghost.

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Except that her power does have a Thinker/Stranger element so they would not be quite lying. Not to mention that said powers were never mentioned on any official press release so technically not lying and anyone who took them seriously should review their sources, in particular when said sources come from PHO.

As for Ghost? Both Glory Girl and Alexandria can fly, hit like a brick and take a punch, but they aren't the same person nor they powers are the same when seen up close. Maybe if Ghost comes to power testing they can show the difference between the independent hero and the Ward heroine.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

As for Ghost? Both Glory Girl and Alexandria can fly, hit like a brick and take a punch, but they aren't the same person nor they powers are the same when seen up close. Maybe if Ghost comes to power testing they can show the difference between the independent hero and the Ward heroine.

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Well there is also the fact that both parahumans are girls at around the same height, age, hair color, and body type in addition to the near identical powers. Plus there would the question of why Ghost seems to have vanished (Taylor wouldn't have her loophole anymore) at the same time Phase became a full Ward. That's enough connections between the two that the belief that they are the same person would never truly die.

Except that her power does have a Thinker/Stranger element so they would not be quite lying. Not to mention that said powers were never mentioned on any official press release so technically not lying and anyone who took them seriously should review their sources, in particular when said sources come from PHO.

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The internet does not care for such things like verifiable sources and conspiracy theorists will theorize.

 

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Well there is also the fact that both parahumans are girls at around the same height, age, hair color, and body type in addition to the near identical powers. Plus there would the question of why Ghost seems to have vanished (Taylor wouldn't have her loophole anymore) at the same time Phase became a full Ward. That's enough connections between the two that the belief that they are the same person would never truly die.

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But if Phase is a willing Ward then you can use more specific tactics such as an outright denial from her mouth or even careful appearances by a body double with similar but slightly different bodies that can be used to offer some evidence that they are different people.

The internet does not care for such things like verifiable sources and conspiracy theorists will theorize.

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And politicians will offer pausible deniability as well, in particular if the source is so messy and suspicious as a random internet troll. The trick is to avoid people with actual legitimacy such as serious investigative reporters to take those allegations as serious, so having conspiracy theorists scream its a trick will obscure the Phase/Ghost affair until the next scandal shows itself.