Just a Phase [Worm]

[KingCrimson1081]

Maybe not try to test her against a Endbringer?

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I mean the fact that she might be undetectable to Endbringers, particularly the Simurgh, was the main reason they ran the experiment in the first place, and they didn't exactly have a friendly Endbringer to test her on. They don't care if Taylor is potentially useful against the dangerous and tricky Thinkers out there like Mama Mothers they care if she is invisible to Endbringers or potentially Scion. So to determine that they need to actually test her power against an Endbringer which carries a notable risk. They took precautions which is why Alexandria attempted to drag her near the Wards area, but Taylor managed to go off on her own cus it is very hard to drag someone who can phase through matter somewhere against their will.

 

[fluxoid]

I mean the fact that she might be undetectable to Endbringers, particularly the Simurgh, was the main reason they ran the experiment in the first place, and they didn't exactly have a friendly Endbringer to test her on. They don't care if Taylor is potentially useful against the dangerous and tricky Thinkers out there like Mama Mothers they care if she is invisible to Endbringers or potentially Scion. So to determine that they need to actually test her power against an Endbringer which carries a notable risk. They took precautions which is why Alexandria attempted to drag her near the Wards area, but Taylor managed to go off on her own cus it is very hard to drag someone who can phase through matter somewhere against their will.

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In fairness, if they're acting sanely and want to see if she is invisible to Scion, they could test her against Scion, who is basically acting as a friendly Endbringer-equivalent at this point.

Honestly though, would it be Worm if capes behaved sanely?

Cauldron, who are aware that all the Earth's major problems are the direct result of powers and the entities that grant them, have made maximizing the number of capes/trigger-events one of their goals. Cauldron, who are aware that Africa is run mainly by parahuman warlords, decided that a random city in the USA would be a good place to test out parahuman government, by allowing villian to spend years planning and carrying out a coup in the territory of their biggest source of support, instead of just providing some defensive shields and advisors to one (or many) of the various large islands off the coast of Africa and seeing if they could form a functional state in a year or so. IMHO that says it all: These people are clearly not sane.

The only way Worm makes sense (to me anyway) is if you accept the unspoken premise that Taylor's entire life (since age 12 or so anyway) is a Simurgh plot to bring about an endgame in which Scion dies and Simmie intends to survive. All the other precogs are pulling strings based on incomplete information either because they're shortsighted morons (Scion) or at the mercy of their shards' conflict-maximizing agenda (Contessa, Dinah).

Bringing it back to this story, if Scion or more-likely Ziz, precogged her being a genuine threat to their plans, I can absolutely believe either of them might manipulate Cauldron into getting Taylor killed, no matter how insane it might look to an outside observer.

p.s. I quite like your omakes though. Please keep up the good work.

 

[Prince Charon]

O_O Emma has issues. Of course, that was already pretty clear, but this does put it into perspective.

 

[The Unicorn]

In fairness, if they're acting sanely and want to see if she is invisible to Scion, they could test her against Scion, who is basically acting as a friendly Endbringer-equivalent at this point.

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To play devil's advocate for a moment - if they tested her against Scion it's possible he won't be able to see her...but will be able to adjust to that so they need to test against someone OTHER than Scion to see if she might work against Scion.

Of course that doesn't justify them not providing her some discreet protection, keeping her way from SS, throwing the book at Emma and Sophia to get on Taylor's good side, or even (heaven forbid) actually talking to Taylor about this.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

To play devil's advocate for a moment - if they tested her against Scion it's possible he won't be able to see her...but will be able to adjust to that so they need to test against someone OTHER than Scion to see if she might work against Scion.

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Pretty much my thought process there, and the fact that Scion just passively ignores everything outside cats in trees and disasters so odds were he wouldn't give accurate results.

Of course that doesn't justify them not providing her some discreet protection, keeping her way from SS, throwing the book at Emma and Sophia to get on Taylor's good side, or even (heaven forbid) actually talking to Taylor about this.

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Cauldron tends to get caught up in the big picture and forget the little details like Taylor's situation outside of the basic she in non-compliant. They couldn't talk to Taylor about it because it would reveal to much, and odds were Taylor would just refuse outright and they couldn't rely on Thinkers to guide her to the outcome they wanted.

Of course they weren't total idiots they had an agent (Nebula) there to look after her and they did place her in the relatively low risk search and rescue job with other Wards. Their issue there was Taylor's stubbornness causing her to avoid any Protectorate or Wards member, and they had no means of forcing Taylor to the Wards area as seen with Taylor escaping Alexandria.

O_O Emma has issues. Of course, that was already pretty clear, but this does put it into perspective.

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Yeah she just lost most of her friends and her best friend is currently looking at a Birdcage sentence for killing someone she was desperate to make amends with. So yeah Emma is not in a good place right now, though it could potentially improve if someone tells her Taylor might be alive.

 

[The Unicorn]

They couldn't talk to Taylor about it because it would reveal to much, and odds were Taylor would just refuse outright

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And? Cauldron couldn't actually lose. Their wirst case scenerio is the same as if they didn't talk to her. Cauldron in both canon and most fanfiction act as evil idiots whose priorities are
1)Gain as much power as possible.
2)keep their activities secret.
3) save the world

 

[KingCrimson1081]

And? Cauldron couldn't actually lose. Their wirst case scenerio is the same as if they didn't talk to her.

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But then they wouldn't be able to test to see if Taylor is invisible to Endbringers which would be the whole point of throwing her into an Endbringer battle.

Also @FirstSelector the original omake I based mine off of still hasn't been threadmarked.

 

[The Unicorn]

But then they wouldn't be able to test to see if Taylor is invisible to Endbringers which would be the whole point of throwing her into an Endbringer battle.

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Sure they can. It's not like talking to her suddenly makes them unable to throw her into a fight she didn't volunteer for.
If they're able to force Taylor to fight an Endbringer without talking to her, they're just as able to do so after they talked to her and she refused.

 

[BF110C4]

Sure they can. It's not like talking to her suddenly makes them unable to throw her into a fight she didn't volunteer for.
If they're able to force Taylor to fight an Endbringer without talking to her, they're just as able to do so after they talked to her and she refused.

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With her powers it might be practically impossible without the surprise factor.

 

[The Unicorn]

With her powers it might be practically impossible without the surprise factor.

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With her powers, if she decided to resist it would be impossible with the surprise factor. Even if they use a portal to drop her directly in front of an Endbringer, Taylor could easily simply leave if she chose to.

Basically, they can only force her to fight an Endbringer if she lets them, so why not try and talk to her to give her a reason to actually cooperate with them?

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Basically, they can only force her to fight an Endbringer if she lets them, so why not try and talk to her to give her a reason to actually cooperate with them?

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Because as far they know based on Taylor's interactions with the Protectorate/PRT she will tell them no out right. So their only guaranteed option to get her to the Endbringer fight would be to trick her instead of informing her having her say no and then being on guard for any attempts to drag her their against her will. Plus if Cauldron did talk to her and she said no then they will have someone who knows about Cauldron and isn't on their side which is something they really don't want.

 

[The Unicorn]

Because as far they know based on Taylor's interactions with the Protectorate/PRT she will tell them no out right.

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1)Why would they reveal they are part of the PRT/Protectorate?
2)How is that situation worse than trying to fiorce her with no explanation.

So their only guaranteed option to get her to the Endbringer fight would be to trick her instead of informing her having her say no and then being on guard for any attempts to drag her their against her will.

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Why would talking to her but her on guard against attempts to force her?
Why do you assume she wouldn't be on guard against attempts to trick her if they don't talk to her? Did she suddenly develop some trust in the PRT?
Assuming they did successfully trick her, why wouldn't she leave immediately, preventing them from getting any information?

 

[Darkcrest]

Is 20+ pages of useless pasta and over a year since the last story post not enough? can we please let the thread rest until op is ready/willing to continue the story.

 

[Mr.unlucky]

Don't know if it was mention before but could Taylor possibly kill endbringers by getting a sniper rifle and phasing the bullet to there core or something simmer to that?

 

[The Unicorn]

Is 20+ pages of useless pasta and over a year since the last story post not enough? can we please let the thread rest until op is ready/willing to continue the story.

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Just because you're not interested in Omakes or discussion doesn't mean the rest of us need to accommodate you.
The last threadmarked omake was just last page.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

1)Why would they reveal they are part of the PRT/Protectorate?
2)How is that situation worse than trying to fiorce her with no explanation.

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1) Why would they reveal anything about Cauldron since their whole thing is keeping themselves secret.
2) Because then Taylor would know who threw her at an Endbringer.

Why would talking to her but her on guard against attempts to force her?

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Because then she would know some people want her at an Endbringer power and thus would be on alert when an Endbringer battle starts.

Why do you assume she wouldn't be on guard against attempts to trick her if they don't talk to her? Did she suddenly develop some trust in the PRT?

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Because there is a distinct difference between the Boston Department's current actions and sending her to an Endbringer battle that has a 1 in 4 fatality rate on a good day. And nothing they have done to that point shows that they will make that sudden of an escalation.

Assuming they did successfully trick her, why wouldn't she leave immediately, preventing them from getting any information?

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Because depending on where they dropped her she might not have choice and it is either fight or die.

Don't know if it was mention before but could Taylor possibly kill endbringers by getting a sniper rifle and phasing the bullet to there core or something simmer to that?

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Don't think so since so far it seems Taylor needs to at least be touching the object to have it phase with her. She can't charge an object with her power like Sophia or Lily can.

 

[Serin781]

How is this still alive? The last update was more than a month.

 

[BigGreenBird]

How is this still alive? The last update was more than a month year ago.

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You misspelled a word there. That word you spelled month is actually spelled year.

 

[Serin781]

You misspelled a word there. That word you spelled month is actually spelled year.

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Oh.

 

[Mr.unlucky]

Don't think so since so far it seems Taylor needs to at least be touching the object to have it phase with her. She can't charge an object with her power like Sophia or Lily can.

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but Taylor never try to so she could do it. epically since Sophia was there when she trigger. (triggering when capes are near by can cause some of there power to copy)

 

[KingCrimson1081]

but Taylor never try to so she could do it. epically since Sophia was there when she trigger. (triggering when capes are near by can cause some of there power to copy)

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True, but not always after all Taylor didn't get anything from Emma's weakness sense or electrical powers and she was there to. It can be argued that Taylor's Thinker immunity was a direct result of Sophia and Emma's presence to her trigger since Trumps are a result of parahumans being involved in the trigger.

Additionally Taylor has had her powers for over a month now and has been using them and has shown no signs of being able to charge things with her power.

 

[The Unicorn]

1) Why would they reveal anything about Cauldron since their whole thing is keeping themselves secret.

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This is true, and the big problem.
The entire premise of the discussion is how they could do better at saving the world if they focused on that rather than on keeping and gaining power and keeping themselves secret.

2) Because then Taylor would know who threw her at an Endbringer.

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How would that make things worse for them?
Basically, Taylor could have easily left the Endbringer battle if she chose, nothing Cauldron could do would prevent that and if she chose they wouldn't get any data(again even if they used a portal to drop her into the battle. Making her think that throwing her in an Endbringer battle is more PRT/Protectorate pointless dickery, or even a deliberate attempt to have her killed is less likely to have her cooperate (and they need her to cooperate) than revealing the reason.
Also, given her (very obvious and known) attitude towards the PRT revealing they are someone OTHER than the PRT would only improve their chances of getting Taylor's cooperation.

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Because depending on where they dropped her she might not have choice and it is either fight or die.

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One idea not mentioned for an option.

"The Simple Solution"

Rune looked at Taylor. "Say, you can phase through anything, right?"

Taylor nodded back, retying her sodden hair back, "So far."

Rune pointed down at a familiar sign. "Like an Endbringer Shelter?"

Taylor slapped her head and laughed, "It's always the simple solution that you miss."

Rune patted her on the shoulder, "Well, Endbringer attack with no warning. No one's at their best for that."

Taylor started fiddling with her arm band, "Just have to ditch this..." Rune notice Taylor was having trouble, and paused lowering them down to help.

Rune looked at the catch, comparing it to her own. "Shit, I think they locked this on. It shouldn't lock, this isn't a Simurgh attack."

Taylor paled, because she knew what else was in those particular bands. "Yeah, fuck this conscript shit!" She concentrated and phased out of the arm band, rapidly throwing it through a still intact store window.

Rune dropped them as fast as she could safely. This shit was getting beyond suspicious, best to drop Taylor off and scoot, to be out of the area before anyone checked on the armband. "Better move before,"

Taylor finished with her, "They come looking to drag me back." With a quick wave Rune saw Taylor dive into the concrete to reach inside the shelter, as she lifted off to clear the area. Her report to Victor after this would be very interesting.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

One idea not mentioned for an option.

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Would be funny if she ran into her dad in that shelter.

Danny: Taylor what are you doing here aren't you supposed to be in Boston.

Taylor: Funny thing about signing your kid up to be a child soldier dad apprently they get to send your kid to their certain doom against their will without telling you. Really puts their claim keeping me safe into question doesn't it dad.

Danny: I am gonna have to make a few calls after this won't I.

Taylor: That you certainly will.

 

[NooneImportant]

Don't know if it was mention before but could Taylor possibly kill endbringers by getting a sniper rifle and phasing the bullet to there core or something simmer to that?

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That is exactly why they kept on Sophia. Also, not sure. Most cape powers are geared for some form of combat, but passes are primarily defensive compared to Sophia. But maybe.

 

[Night_stalker]

That is exactly why they kept on Sophia. Also, not sure. Most cape powers are geared for some form of combat, but passes are primarily defensive compared to Sophia. But maybe.

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False. That's bad fanon, SS was never going to be useful against EBs.

 

[NooneImportant]

False. That's bad fanon, SS was never going to be useful against EBs.

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Just checked, you're right. Sophia survives two Endbringers, but doesn't as much as scratch them.

Which kinda puts my omake in a little jeopardy because the ultra pierce that hit Taylor doesn't ultra pierce, but I don't wanna rewrite it so that Foil is holding the bag. So I need a headcanon patch.
So uh… Sophia and Taylor's powers use the same specific half-dimensional whatever for physical phasing since they copied each other's homework.
This technically makes Taylor a counter to Sophia, since she can hit her when phased, which sorta fits the monkey's paw nature of triggers. Because, naturally, Sophia can also hit her when phased.

 

[Mr.unlucky]

False. That's bad fanon, SS was never going to be useful against EBs.

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Agreed SS is only good against non brutes. Even then she is useless against tinkers

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Agreed SS is only good against non brutes. Even then she is useless against tinkers

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She is useless against anyone with a taser or a can of pepper spray since chemicals also fuck with her when phasing. So yeah she is only useful against people using conventional melee weapons or solid projectiles.

Which is why I don't like the idea of Taylor's powers using the same method since the idea of Taylor being a genuine upgrade to Sophia is amusing to me.

 

[The Unicorn]

That is exactly why they kept on Sophia.

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Fanon, and not very good fanon at that - they know Sophia can't phase through anything and that Endbringers are immune to many powers. They kept Sophia because Piggot didn't have an excuse to get rid of her quietly. In canon not only didn't they think Sophia could kill Endbringers, they'd lost all hope ANYONE could kill one.

Agreed SS is only good against non brutes. Even then she is useless against tinkers

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Why do you think that? There are many types of brute and most of them do not rely on either being super dense, or whatever dimensional bulshit Endbringers use for their toughness so why do you assume Sophia can't hurt them and/or use her power to avoid getting hit?

As for Tinkers, having crossbow bolts (or other foreign objects phased into the delicate workings of tinkertech would be quite effective - Sophia might not be able to safely phase herself through random Tinkertech but she could definitely phase objects into it. For that matter, not all Tinkerech has enough electricity running through it to make her phasing through it dangerous and with the Tinkertech mask she has she'd be able to tell where is safe to phase through.

The main reason Sophia was useless in canon is because she was Sophia, not because of her power's limitations.

She is useless against anyone with a taser or a can of pepper spray since chemicals also fuck with her when phasing.

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Being By the same logic Canon Taylor is useless against anyone with a rifle.
"Is not completely immune to their weapon" is very different from "is useless against them". Crossbows have MUCH greater range than tasers or pepper spray.

Which is why I don't like the idea of Taylor's powers using the same method since the idea of Taylor being a genuine upgrade to Sophia is amusing to me.

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I think it would be much better for Taylor to have the same power limitations, only she actually uses her power very well. i.e rather than being gifted an upgrade over Sophia, have the difference be Taylor's ability to think outside the box .