Just a Phase [Worm]

On another note I am surprised that no one in the PRT has commented on how Sophia's and Taylor's powers are similar to each other. Hell one could argue that Taylor's powers are a better version of Shadow Stalkers due to her not having the same vulnerablities as Sophia along with the extra powers of clairvoyance, danger sense, immunities to thinker powers, and the potential to turn other people intangible as well, sure she doesn't have the same mover type power Sophia does but overall Taylor seems more versatile.

 

The difference is that Vista wants to be seen as mature and professional so she tolerates in silence the indignities. Taylor on the other hand don't want to do the same and since she is a Ward in good standing they have a lot less tools to force her to comply so negociations are needed and by necessity are going to be bilateral. So on one hand nothing that make her look similar to Sophia since that's in the same category of poor taste as giving a jew a disguise that sort of looks like a nazi uniform, on the other hand they can't pile pile too many cutesy elements without her throwing the costume to the trash can and going to the nearest TV station.

Any cape identity is going to be a matter of negociations and a very careful approach since Taylor got less to lose PR wise than the Ward Program and she knows it and since the PR people is going to need to do damage control on anything she says and do the more logical strategy is to minimize unscripted contact with the public, minimize reasons for her to feel necessary to go off-script (including childish revenge from the guys making her disguise) and get her something to motivate her to not cause PR disasters.

 

Which they don't exactly dare to do. Because she's a flight risk and there's literally nothing they can do to stop her if she pulls a runner. XD

Even if they disregard the deadlock she managed to instigate.

 

The scientists are probably very enthusiastic about studying how her powers evolved from being close to two other parahumans with very different abilities, Amstrong being included in that group. Of course while Kamil sees it as an excellent research opportunity at this point is far more worried about Taylor agreeing on any test than to write a classified article in a scientific publication about 'Hybrid power creation due to triggers near multiple parahumans not actively using their abilities during the event', particularly since Taylor might go berserker from simply hearing about the topic in question.

 

I honestly want to see an omake set during costume negotiations just to see how that could potentially go down, maybe have a designer intentionally try and give Taylor a costume she hates as a means of revenge.

 

Yeah her situation with her powers would be a goldmine for any potential researcher looking into why some people get certain powers, because while it is known to the public that capes that are related to each other get similar powers New Wave being the primary example, and Kaiser's family being a second potential example. Taylor's situation is probably the only one they are aware of where someone with no relation to the other parahuman, only close proximity over time obtained similar abilities. The only thing that would make it better in a potential researcher's eyes would be if Taylor also showed hints of having similar abilities to Emma.

 

Then Taylor shows up to the press conference in a bikini, and says her costume was not ready, and the PR department gave her a choice of either this overly-sexualized bikini or some horrible childish thing that makes her look like a 5-year old. She'd rather be thought of as the slutty exhibitionist than the childish, immature 5 year old even if she didn't like either option. Say the bikini was meant as a threat as they thought she'd be too mortified to appear in it, but she's calling their bluff because it really was that bad. Also mention she burned the cutesy childish outfit and that she's not going out until she has a PROPER costume.

Standard software contracts limit the damage against the company that makes the software to the purchase price of the software.
Mandatory Arbitration, by an Arbitrator selected by the big business but paid for by the claimant that has a vested interest in ruling for the Big Business (so they continue to get repeat business as an Arbitrator that typically rules against the Business will find that said company will start trying other Arbitrators that interpret things more favorably) has become standard practice. Outright prohibiting class-action lawsuits is SOP, and giving the option to take any lawsuits to Arbitration is also standard for most businesses with almost any customer contract. By limiting class-action lawsuits, they can also make it uneconomical to bring a claim at all. If they screw a whole bunch of customers out of say $350, it would cost more to pay for arbitration than they would win. The EULA has waived the right to band together and launch a class-action lawsuit to recover the $350 for each person screwed with a single trial, because the company is more likely to lose more money that way since few people would bother over such a small sum when it costs time and money to get an attorney and pay for arbitration.

So I fail to see how you examples count.

 

As far as I understand the rules the story implies as long as Taylor refuses power testing there will also be no costume or official cape name since both of those processes hinge on her getting the power testing box ticked first. In addition there seems to be no easy way to force her into power testing (which would be a bad idea regardless since since a lot of powers only do stuff with the parahuman activily useing them).

And as far as I understand her motivations she is ready to play ball as long as the PRT/Protectorate stick to their own rules. Since she seems to have decided that food & shelter & the college fund are worth that amount of effort. Once they start to bend or break their own rules she might just refuse to comply with anything or outright do a runner. Overall it seems by makeing the rules and the people enacting them mostly resonable the story took away a lot of good avenues to put Taylor into sittuations where she can malicously comply. Without being able to forcer her into sittuations she also does not get options to throw wrenches into the machine without technically breaking the rules.

Still I hope we see more of this since the setup is interesting. Rather than unhinged other Wards and adults actually out to get her she is faced with adults that actually want to help her and she is kind of her own worst enemy since she projects her expiriences with the BB authoreties to them as well.

And interesting Onmake/Intermision could be the PRT useing her stated hobby against her by getting Youth Gurad and the school on board to sign her up for a school club that involves running (and thus attempting to get her hobby time block locked that way). I wouldn't say it is unresonable for her gurdian to insist on a safe enviroment after all. That would force a sittuation where Taylor has to actually think how to get out of it and so on.

 

Uh, IIRC, she literally can;t leave. Like, legally.

She's a Ward of the State, signed away by her dad. And her handlers are trusted to 'make decisions in her best interest'.

She hasn't run purely because she doesn't want to be a villain, and she has no support network outside a father that, in her view, signed her away. From what I remember without a reread, at least.

She's not projecting her issues, entirely, she doesn't want to be there.

She might make the worst assumptions, due to past experiences, but that stems from her experiences and a desire to very much not be there, but an inability to, well, leave. She doesn't want to connect with the other wards, because then the PRT both wins and gets away with not punishing literally anyone she sees as involved with her Trigger.

If she makes friends or drinks the koolaid, then the PRT wins. Her goal is to be a Hero on her own terms, her being a Hero in the Protectorate/Wards is the Win Condition of the PRT.

Her outright goal might not be 'Fuck the PRT', but she's highly unlikely to start helping them, and the core appeal of this story is PRT Controlling Bureacracy vs. Taylor That They've Wronged's Stubbornnedd, and the Bureaucracy losing.

That's my read of things, at least. Could be wrong, though.

 

Only problem I see with the Omake idea is that it would require YG and the Protectorate to work together. Which would be political suicide for the YG, so, likely not gonna happen.

Not unless its presented in a way that benefits Jim or whatever his name was.

Either way, he'd be hesitant to try. Taylor is currently his Golden Goose. A Parahuman Teen that legitimately goes straight to YG whenever the Protectorate so much as breathes in her direction.

I kinda see him as too weary of alienating her, even if he knows what she is doing is dangerous.

 

The main problem that the Boston department is facing dealing with Taylor is that they are not realizing that her perceptions of their organization is not based around the actions their best members but of their worst members and Taylor has certainly met some of the worst members (Emma and Sophia) which in turn paints her whole perception of the Organization and its action. Because of the actions against her she will always assume the worst about the PRT's motives and will take steps accordingly.

 

Yeah. They see it as "she was in a rotten branch. But she'll realize that we're different, eventually."

Whereas she stubbornly looks at it like "the whole thing is rotten to the core and fuck the branch in my home specifically."

At the same time. She's strong, and Earth Bet is a hellhole bent under the weight of its own hypocrisy. So... Yeah.

I'm still over the moon at the fact that she can literally reach into someone's chest and pluck their heart out. Like, goddamn, Taylor scary.

I've actually had an omake idea for this thing tumbling around my head for a while. Imma see if I can find the time to write it, or if it comes out any good.

 

Yeah that seems to be the plan the Boston Protectorate is banking on to work which it just might stockholm syndrome is a thing and considering she has to spend every day for the next three years with these people the chances of her eventually opening up to them increase considerably over time.

As for her hating the organization that might start dying down over time as well due to that level of hatred is simply exhausting to maintain for a prolonged stretch of time. Most likely the higher ups assume she will eventually get tired of hating them and open up because of proximity and not having other options besides villainy.

Considering her yeah they are terrifying to a point that the PRT is probably thank full that Taylor is against the idea of simply murdering her problems. Considering the fact that Taylor's powers completely ignore any forms of protection and allow her to ignore any physical attacks without issue. Hell it is even brought up in the story that if Taylor decided to go rogue that the PRT/Protectorate will have absolutely no ability to contain her or even track her with thinker abilities.

For your omake idea I say go for it, and take your time you don't have to write it all out in one sitting.

 

Yeah, in a sane world, they'd have a chance of that working.

Problem is, they're in Earth Bet, and she is *absolutely* going to see another example of PRT fuckery before the exhaustion/stockholme sets in. Or have the PRT push too hard, too fast, and rekindle her annoyance/ire.

 

I guess Taylor could in theory sue her father. If she could prove that her father was either Incompatent or mentally unstable then the contract he signed could be disputed. Of course there would nothin stopping the government from simple takin Taylor from a broken home if proven. The government dose it all the time however its one thing to take someone someone its another to conscript them. Basicl its a catch 22 however it would give The PRT such a headache. cases like theses last years and with the youth guard in her pocket I could see them backin Taylor to make case law.

 

Now that think more about it seems that the reason why Piggot was so willing to let Taylor go to Boston instead of holding on to another Ward for her department is that she realized this for herself and didn't want to be called into work one day because the new ward decided to de-organ two of her tormentors due to a mental breakdown.

 

Nah. If anything, had Piggot the Biggot known how strong Taylor actually was. She'd have thrown Sophia and Emma under the bus hard.

How many people can rightly claim they can walk into Hookwolf and leave a quick dissolve tablet with tinker-tech sedative inside him, and walk out unscathed? Do the same to everyone that doesn't have a Mover rating in all of the gangs?

Had Piggot had an inkling of how strong Tay actually is, with how many easy ways there are to make her a force multiplier, she'd have bent over backwards to appease her and keep her in BB, or trade her for like, five more bodies.

 

Yeah Taylor's biggest offensive power is that she can just straight up ignore any of her opponent's defensive abilities/precautions if she gets in close enough. Oh you make force fields ignored, invulnerable skin ignored, touching you causes cancer ignored, and so on.

 

You are literally giving off enough heat to melt asphalt and turn steel into putty? Hadn't noticed, also I left a grenade inside you.

What's this? Serial suicide bomber? Ignoring that now.

Yeah no. While there's a very simple counter to Taylor and her power. (Turn around and run away). She's powerful. Anyone fighting her has to dodge her perfectly every time, while she only needs to get lucky once.

Hooooly shit she scary.

 

Yeh if Tay goes villain she is going to own Boston in short order

 

Frankly he would do something because what Taylor is doing is a two edged sword aimed ar their policies. If Amstrong formaly informs Jim of the fact that a Ward is using the huge, easily avoidable loopholes the YG regulations have and she gets hurt, hurts other people or reveals her identity and motivations in a way that cannot be easily spinned off then the PRT and Protectorate can force many of those regulations to be reformed on their terms (and incidentally to fire Jim) on the basis that a teen is misusing those same rules to put herself in greater harm that the Wards program would allow even to probatory Wards (and Taylor is technically a Ward in good standing).

Other risk is that the Protectorate decides that stopping Taylor from playing superheroine without back-up or training are worth the eventual penalties from the YG, and gather evidence that she is breaking god knows how many laws and regulations designed for her own safety (including a bunch championed by Young Guard's lobbyists) and then when they get YG restrictions and fines ask for mediation with a third party. There is a good chance that with the right arbitrator and presenting the very real argument that they breach the privacy of a minor they were legally and morally responsible after a Protectorate hero identified Taylor through her disguise they would get te penalties reduced or negated and once more Jim would be in hot water since part of his obligations are related to the safety of the Wards not only political games regarding Wards of a different jurisdiction.

 

Nah, I guess what I meant to say was that both sides would try individually. Both sides refusing to join forces out of mutual dislike and distrust.

 

To be fair in the interlude director Amstrong is not against the mission and methods of the Young Guard and he would probably offer a compromise with them before taking the nuclear option. Jim himself I dislike because playing with the rules to separate abused children for political gain rubs me the wrong way, but at least he is, in his own way, worried about Taylor.

 

And a Ward using those regulations to actually have whatever training or visit some sort of store the HQ doesn't have is just as likely to suffer injury because the world isn't safe and being a Ward does not confer an immortality clause. Say for example, if they're a customer of the shop that Snap and Split were accosting.

Unless Jim specifically promotes Taylor to engage in behavior that is illegal or amoral etc. et al, that sort of dismissal would be akin to wrongful termination. Pretending someone is supposed to be a mind reader is frankly far beyond specious, and I patently refuse to even associate the word logic with that notion because it is entirely bereft of such.

The Youth Guard is oversight for the PRT. Not the other way around.

And frankly, the Wards are supposed to be about how to safely manage your power. Not turn every single kid that walks through into a cop or soldier. She doesn't need power testing to figure out how to step through doors or abusive adults with power over her, that part of their job (since the part of guardian still is in play) is done.

It appears you're not doing any risk assessment in the least with regards to these hypotheticals, since the penalties from the YG or Congress are peanuts compared to the public / potential Wards when they learn why Phase was painted as an "angry kid being angry" getting signed up against her will for the Wards, and why she didn't for a single second bother with their indoctrination program. Much less how even kool-aid drinkers might feel about the truth and not "issues with home department".

Or, on something an order of magnitude more important if less focused on Taylor, what the potential ramifications are for the program as a whole when people in her position stop letting themselves get pushed around by bureaucrats and this insipid viewpoint that "letting the PRT house you for years is a better victory than actual life" that get repeatedly touted during malicious compliance fics and those with relatively similar positions regardless of the other differences.

Considering rebranding is a thing the PRT does, I'm pretty sure you'd need a legally sufficient way to prove (which given powers, in and of itself is something I wager isn't going to happen often, if ever), that someone can identify a cape without the requisite exposure of their identifying features that anybody reasonable would actually expect. Furthermore, yet again, it's the PRT/Protectorate's job to protect that information, not the Youth Guard. Their job is as an oversight agency of the aforementioned.

Particularly if, yet again, the Youth Guard agent is not specifically advancing that one of their advocates engage in illegal behavior. Sure, the beast may be interested in changing policy if it's susceptible to abuse. That's entirely separate though.

Jim's entire organizations purpose is a "political game", considering that, as per said Armstrong's pov, he seemingly welcomes the presence of the agency, yet does everything he can and celebrates fellow kool-aid drinkers doing their best to effectively obfuscate every issue they're supposed to deal with by going around the Youth Guard, and laments how Taylor mucks everything up he had going before by reporting things via the proper channels. That interlude basically makes him out to be a ludicrously massive hypocrite or an idiot who can't decide on anything. Alternatively, someone just as corrupt as Piggot, but with a happier exterior.

Considering Jim was the one that had to ban Ampere and Shadow Stalker from being able to (directly) contact Phase, something that Armstrong or Gauss should have put in for before Danny even finished signing the entirety of the paperwork in 1.1, any issues someone may have with him are, imo, directed towards the wrong individuals. Armstrong should be rubbing you wrong. Gauss should be rubbing you wrong. Later, Weld should be rubbing you wrong. Flechette should be rubbing you wrong. Jim, even if he is taking a capricious pleasure out of being able to actually do his job, should not be faulted for actually doing so.

Because someone should for once.

 

Actually I was referring to the fact that Taylor was enganging in vigilantism using the a too broad freetime rule, which the PRT can at least probe to the level of asking a warrant from a judge simply by recording the vigilante's voice and comparing it to Taylor which as both Law Enforcement and their legal guardians would be legal to adquire on both ends, and that in the specific scenario the Protectorate would inform Jim about it before they making an strategy to stop her with minimal disruption. If Jim protects the right to free unsupervised time for Taylor without taking in consideration she is using the loophole of a regulation to put herself in personal danger and then that danger becomes something serious then there is a very real chance that his own superiors would fire him.

Also worth taking into account that the YG is a watchdog, but one focused in protecting a specific set of rights within the Wards program. In fact their stated first priority is towards safety, essencial and secondary needs, education and then identity. Meaning that by their own rulebook they need to first address situations that put the Ward in danger, such as the Ward using a loophole in a passtime rule to go to unregulated, unsupported patrols. In such circumstances I can see that if they get in a Catch 22 situation such as the one Taylor is imposing by using an ill defined ruling to do something undeniably more dangerous than a Ward patrol since her own versions of patrols are without the benefit of training (which she has refused to take alongside even the most basic testing), in dangerous areas, and without means of getting any kind of back-up they will need to patch the rule themselves, simply by forbidding enthusiastic walks in the middle of gang territory before a canny pro-PRT senator finds out and makes an scandal specifically to change the rules to something a lot less favorable towards the Wards who are not abusing the rules.

Also the fines and punishments the YG can impose are limited by nature, especially in a squeaky clean department such as Boston, in this case first offense is basically reduced hours from the Ward, a 10K fine and sensitivity training, which is not too bad for a relatively well funded department. Not too bad, and administrative punishments to government offices usually got a mechanism to complain about onerous or misguided punishment, such as breaking a PRT rule about free time when a ward of state is using said rule for breaking far more serious regulations regarding vigilantism (and if the YG lacks rules about solo, unsupervised, patrols of Wards I'll eat my hat) which would put Jim in the middle of a controversy that might not go his way, which is why I believe it would be on his personal and professional interest for him to do something to help stop Taylro from going to unsanctioned patrols.

 

I know what you were referring to. Again, it doesn't matter, chiefly because you're misrepresenting said regulation and because you're pretending Taylor is a full Ward. Wards, as per the actual excerpt from the chapter and not a frankly horrific paraphrasing, can strictly not maintain a secondary persona. Taylor does not have a primary one, yet. She has a temporary one, that they had to creatively bruteforce through the system to get her the ability to move about the facility on her own because it was not designed to treat such identities as legitimate ones, so she does not, in point of fact, have an actual legitimate Ward persona. That key element is referenced repeatedly, by multiple people in multiple points of view. It's why this is called Taylor utilizing a loophole, and not her explicitly breaking said regulation. You can argue that as a grey zone, but since a legitimately vast portion of every aspect of society operates off even greyer loopholes and nobody really giving a damn, I doubt it'd be worth it. It certainly wouldn't be done with a legal or logical basis.

It's obviously something they wouldn't like, but didn't think to explicitly ban because they're too arrogant to assume they'd get anyone that wasn't a kool-aid drinker or more in Sophia's position as a legitimate probationary ward / juvenile offender type ward of the state who actually is bound by law to obey their orders or off to jail they go.

You want to keep on in that general theme, find an actual legitimate foundation. That one regulation isn't it, not for Taylor, and not for your current track.

I'm not sure why you'd bother bringing up Jim with regards to that baseless warrant, either. Particularly in the context of defending a valid regulation under grounds that despite any and all other activities one can engage in, regardless of location, carrying summarily equivalent risks to one's health and well-being by nature of reality, much less a setting with individuals who can be classed as city+ level threats, that this one particular thing is untenable...

Since it's also amazing how you so willfully neglect the worldbuilding showcasing explicitly how a similar regulation, in point of fact, inherently protects something that can and was construed by the bureaucrats as undeniably more dangerous than say, walking, or using public transportation. All of which she's had to do during their hours, making any danger done during her private time functionally irrelevant. As far as the legalities (assuming say, the author retcons the regulation to explicitly cover even Wards without an official persona, which is expressly why none of your defense matters thus far), in the end Taylor might not actually care because they can't legitimately do anything to her beyond further expound her justifications toward them being as bad or worse than living out of a cardboard box (or gang flophouse).

That's not worth taking into account because it doesn't alter the fundamental definition of what they are and how they operate. Their first stated priority is safety, but pretending that demands military/police training is explicitly counter to their general intent, and is why as we see in this fic, is in a score of things that aren't mandatory.

You know, like the very reason behind that regulation existing so that the charges of the PRT/Protectorate can actually be more than tools in a tray. Or how she can actually legitimately sit there and not go through with power testing / et al, regardless of how speciously people pretend merely having them means she's a breath away from violently dying. Or that walking down the street at a specific time is so lethal she has to do it with the club.

Sure, a pro-prt senator could cause a scandal. Doesn't really matter though, since it would merely punish Phase, and not automatically imprison her as a villain.

Since I already covered the PRT "rule breaking" above;

Considering Taylor expressly decides not to inform Jim about her plans, why the fuck does it matter what rules the Youth Guard have? Again, he's not and is not supposed to be a mind reader, so short of her saying something, he is entirely without blame there. Especially again if we're talking about regulations crafted almost to the letter to concern full Wards or bad Wards only, and not those who have no intention whatsoever to engage in the circus act. I'm not sure what you expect him to do, especially given that, as of yet not a certainty how fanatical he is to relative YG hardcoreness, he could deliberately act "against" their interests even moreso than he already is by doing his job.

Furthermore, you have to be completely mental if you think the PRT is actually going to bother involving the Youth Guard to that degree when it comes to trying to tamp down on Ghost if that's the route they choose to take with Phase, since the only individual other than Taylor who has expressed not resenting their existence still rejoices in avoiding them via obfuscation and misdirection.

For all your talk of political games, you seem to be neglecting that the YG might consider risking Phase/Ghost in light of the bigger picture. As I said, risk assessment and hypotheticals.

 

I never said she could legaly leave. But she could just leave. Who could stop her? The point is that the sittuation seems to not be unbreable enough to pull that option. And that from the internal monolouges we get she still seems to care about the college fund and stuff like that. The other point was that she and the other side are very aware that should Taylor decide it is not worth it anymore she can do a runner and no matter the legal sittuation no one would be able to physically stop her. In the end the law only counts, if someone is able to enforce it after all.

On the topic of her projecting. You have apoint but you also miss the one I made. Yes in the sittuation she is in you are right. But she was only navigated into seeing the world that way by how the BB PRT handled the matter. The entire point was that Boston PRT as well meaning as they are got handed a very problematic case. Still I'm not so sure your thoughtline about how the PRT wins should Taylor give in that already has the assumption build in that the PRT is her enemy which is not established fact in this story. Her giving in to power testing and some light Ward duties could very well lead to a less mentaly stressful time with the option to just not join up the Protectorate once she turns adult (go to College with that College fund and all that). And I don't see the Protectorate makeing a fuss about Wards takeing that route, they are likley more than happy to be there to offer employment after College is done.

I would disagree on this one. YG is all about makeing it safe for minors to be in the WARD program so a resonable suggestion/request by the PRT will likley not be ignored out of spite. Doubly so since that could be a lever down the line for the PRT to point at that YG is not actually careing about their stated mission statement. Also I think the assumption that YG and PRT/Protectorate are always antagonistic towards each other is likley wrong. So far it seems YG and Boston PRT have a good working relationship. Armstorng didn't seem particulary annoyed with Jim but just sees it as Jim doing his job. Assumeing a professional relationship means that Taylor can't be sure they won't work together "in her best interest" even if that does not align with what she wants YG to do.

----

Overall I think the notions about the PRT, Protectorate and YG seem to be quite set in stone in this fandom while canon is mostly vague and allows different interpretations. And given that all those institutions seem to largley work I prefer a more resonable interpretation for all 3 of them when looked at in a general sense (rather than laser focused on what happened in BB and other sittuations we directly looked at in canon). Similar for the Ward program it is so often interpreted as a waste of effort and something the teens do not enjoy, pure PR show and so forth. But if that is the case how does the WARD program still work? Why do WARDS seemingly in general join the Protectorate (at some point), if their expirience was universially a bad one? Additionally any interpretation where the junior heroes outside BB only do PR stunts kind of ignores the Chicago Arc in canon (not to mention the WARD members there who are generally on board with the hero organisations).

So yes this could very well be a sittuation where Taylor is being confronted with a resonable organisation that actually takes her interests into account. Admittetly likley not soley since she is a parahuman and thus a potentioal danger to the public (but then would you let teens with powers just run around doing whatever they want?). From Taylors pov her reaction is resonable but from the other side or an outsider perspective the sittuation looks differently. Because what other options do exsist? Leaving her to her own devices (and leaving her with this Danny basically would be that) is not really an option for the PRT once they have gurdianship. They could transfer gurdianship to another organisation or person that can provide the nesseary guidance and assistance but for parahuman teens those do not exsist (unless someone wirtes one in). With the possible exception of parahuman asylums (and I would argue that would not be seen as an improvement by Taylor).

So yes I see this as a sittuation where Taylor is to some degree her own enemy. Of course that argument only works as long as you don't buy fully into a view of the world where the PRT /Protectorate are inherently evil (including basically all personell working there).

 

What would a second trigger for Taylor look like and how bad would it be for everyone else?

 

either someone figuring out how to contain Taylor and trapping her in a place she cant phase from. O somehow replicating those emotions that lead he to trigger in the first place