Just a Phase [Worm]

[Mr.unlucky]

Omake: Later

@FirstSelector

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this feels like a cauldron plot to either kill or get rid of Taylor as she is making going independent a better option then join the PRT.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

this feels like a cauldron plot to either kill or get rid of Taylor as she is making going independent a better option then join the PRT.

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No actually since Taylor in the grand scheme of things is only a minor PRT headache since despite having strong opinions about the PRT/Protectorate she isn't starting a national movement against them or advocating for them to be shut down. Also in an ironic way her team's success has boosted the rep of the Wards program since the majority of her teammates are former Wards and that they are a successful and professional team. The PRT can point to them as success story because they used the skills they learned in the Wards to be heroes and not villains which is part of the Wards public goals of teaching young parahumans to use their powers responsibly. It also helps them fight off claims that the Wards are just a pipeline to the Protectorate by critics.

In actuality the Brockton Wards ended up doing more damage to the program's rep than Taylor in this omake. They didn't publicly get branded as Brockton Bay's Bad Batch for nothing after all.

 

[libertinlary]

This story hasn't had a chapter for 1.5 years, can we please let it lie fallow?

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That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die- hp lovecraft

 

[JustOneGuy]

This story hasn't had a chapter for 1.5 years, can we please let it lie fallow?

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The story was dead before the author migrated it to QQ, specifically so that reader would have an easier time posting, reading and reacting to omakes compared to AO3.
As the thread was never active, and will never be active, the only reason to place alerts are to participate or read those interaction, so necromancy does not have any drawback in this case.

 

[tarrangar]

The story was dead before the author migrated it to QQ, specifically so that reader would have an easier time posting, reading and reacting to omakes compared to AO3.
As the thread was never active, and will never be active, the only reason to place alerts are to participate or read those interaction, so necromancy does not have any drawback in this case.

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The story wasn't dead when it was posted here, as seen by some of the chapters posting time being literal years apart, it's not neccesarily forever dead either, fics have come back from longer hiatuses.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

The story wasn't dead when it was posted here, as seen by some of the chapters posting time being literal years apart, it's not neccesarily forever dead either, fics have come back from longer hiatuses.

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Also helps that the author still adds omake threadmarks and is still active in general while stating they intend to come back to this fic when their IRL stuff settles down.

Also unrelated but I am surprised no one has asked about the Brockton Bay's Bad Batch comment in thr omake.

 

[Rymu]

I felt like it was pretty self evident.

 

[Tukata]

Also unrelated but I am surprised no one has asked about the Brockton Bay's Bad Batch comment in thr omake.

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Hmmm so that sounds like Clockblocker is the only one with out a ton of egg on his face.
Vista feels like she is going to snap first, given not being able to hero + parents + not fully understanding/empathizing with Taylor.
Sophia and Emma don't need to say anything.
Not sure about the rest unless Gallant gets caught as a Vial Cape.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Hmmm so that sounds like Clockblocker is the only one with out a ton of egg on his face.

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Not actually sure where you got this from considering he wasn't mentioned as separate from the rest.

Vista feels like she is going to snap first, given not being able to hero + parents + not fully understanding/empathizing with Taylor.

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Pretty much what is likely to happen if the Brockton Wards program goes down.

Not sure about the rest unless Gallant gets caught as a Vial Cape.

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They could be dead since he canonically didn't make it out of Leviathan along with several other Wards.

 

[Mr.unlucky]

No actually since Taylor in the grand scheme of things is only a minor PRT headache since despite having strong opinions about the PRT/Protectorate she isn't starting a national movement against them or advocating for them to be shut down.

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until something goes wrong and she speaks out. my guess a new PRT director will try to used Emma to get Taylor to commit a crime and arrested her or mark her as a villain but of course it backfire's.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

until something goes wrong and she speaks out. my guess a new PRT director will try to used Emma to get Taylor to commit a crime and arrested her or mark her as a villain but of course it backfire's.

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I mean at the moment Taylor has no reason to speak up against the PRT because a lot of the issues she had with the organization are no longer a factor and she is more or less happy at the moment with her new team. She isn't a Ward anymore and Emma and Sophia went to prison along with the Brockton department now being defunct. Sure a PRT director could attempt something but Taylor and her team aren't an issue anymore than any other independent group of heroes. That and Armstrong is still in charge of Boston and neither he or Weld are interested in starting shit after everything that has happened.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

Would Taylor put out a statement in response to Emma getting hired? She could call it a move that perfectly encapsulates why she ditched the PRT as soon as she legally could.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Would Taylor put out a statement in response to Emma getting hired? She could call it a move that perfectly encapsulates why she ditched the PRT as soon as she legally could.

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I mean she could but as Weld put it in the omake she doesn't have a say in who the Protectorate recruits, and the Protectorate is in the clear because in this omake Emma went to juvie and did her time. Nothing says the Protectorate can't recruit a criminal parahuman who did their time, in fact many would consider it the prefered outcome when a parahuman leaves prison instead of turning to villainy due to a lack of options. At this point it would be dragging up an old issue that many already consider to be solved.

Of course so long as neither Taylor or Emma decide to make a scene if/when they run into each other.

 

[tarrangar]

I mean she could but as Weld put it in the omake she doesn't have a say in who the Protectorate recruits, and the Protectorate is in the clear because in this omake Emma went to juvie and did her time. Nothing says the Protectorate can't recruit a criminal parahuman who did their time, in fact many would consider it the prefered outcome when a parahuman leaves prison instead of turning to villainy due to a lack of options. At this point it would be dragging up an old issue that many already consider to be solved.

Of course so long as neither Taylor or Emma decide to make a scene if/when they run into each other.

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They might consider it a preferred option, but people are hypocrites, just look at how most people believe ex-cons should get a job, yet most places hiring has a no ex-cons policy, so Taylor absolutely could do a lot of harm to Emma's career, by repeatedly reminding the world she's an ex-con with severe crimes on her head.

 

[BF110C4]

They might consider it a preferred option, but people are hypocrites, just look at how most people believe ex-cons should get a job, yet most places hiring has a no ex-cons policy, so Taylor absolutely could do a lot of harm to Emma's career, by repeatedly reminding the world she's an ex-con with severe crimes on her head.

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And it doesn't help that Taylor can still try to sue Emma for her actions since at no point she or her father signed a settlement or any other documentation in which she renounced to her right to start a civil lawsuit against Emma's and Sophia's civilian identities, which the Protectorate can't protect since the transgressions weren't done while they were acting as law enforcement.

If they're few departments willing to accept an ex-con, there are even less willing to accept ex-cons with a live lawsuit on their heads, both for the bad publicity and the time they'll have to dedicate to the court case even if they're willing to settle.

Hell, depending on how much they want Emma the Protectorate can lend her the money in exchange of a guaranteed service term measured in years or S-class contingencies.

 

[SlickRCBD]

Seems like weld is pissy about Taylor there at the end.

But yeah what did he expect "oh yeah now that I can join the guys that forced me here I'll totally be happy"? If he did, well he's an idiot

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Quite a few draftees would re-up back when America still had a draft.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

They might consider it a preferred option, but people are hypocrites, just look at how most people believe ex-cons should get a job, yet most places hiring has a no ex-cons policy, so Taylor absolutely could do a lot of harm to Emma's career, by repeatedly reminding the world she's an ex-con with severe crimes on her head.

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I'm just going to point out there is a great difference between hiring an ex-con at a McDonalds, and hiring one as law enforcement, and even then, I expect the poisoners to be barred from food service entirely.

More directly on-topic, how would the Unwritten Rules work with ex-Wards, and other parahumans who knew each other prior? Especially in Emma's case, where she moved in from out of town?

 

[BF110C4]

I'm just going to point out there is a great difference between hiring an ex-con at a McDonalds, and hiring one as law enforcement, and even then, I expect the poisoners to be barred from food service entirely.

More directly on-topic, how would the Unwritten Rules work with ex-Wards, and other parahumans who knew each other prior? Especially in Emma's case, where she moved in from out of town?

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Probably by not talking about secret identities with anyone not knowing about that specific bit of knowledge and strictly separating the deals with a civilian identity from those with the cape alter-ego.

Since in this case Taylor doesn't want to talk with either Emma or Ampere and is perfectly willing to ask for a Restriction Order for the former and the later just received explicit orders to actively avoid making contact with Phase in or out of costume the end result is that unless Phase and Ampere are forced to respond to the same incident and can't disengage there's no reason they should interact at all, and even then Phase will insist on record to keep things 100% professional and not to talk beyond the tactical situation.

 

[Darwin Candidate]

Quite a few draftees would re-up back when America still had a draft.

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Not really comparable. I doubt those draftees that stayed in were drafted as a direct result of getting the shit kicked out of them by soldiers.

 

[BF110C4]

Most of those who re-enlisted did so out of loyalty to their fellow soldiers rather than patriotic fervor or economic incentives. In this specific case however Taylor did take a lot of care not to fall through that particular trap and keep her distance from the rest of the team so that's probably another recruitment death end.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

In this specific case however Taylor did take a lot of care not to fall through that particular trap and keep her distance from the rest of the team so that's probably another recruitment death end.

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Maybe not considering that she has slowly started to warm up to Flechette and Valve. While she is being safe by avoiding anything Wards related with Valve but she isn't doing that with Flechette due to the offer of lessons and pointers.

 

[BF110C4]

Maybe not considering that she has slowly started to warn up to Flechette and Valve. While she is being safe to avoid anything Wards related with Valve but she isn't doing that with Flechette due to the offer of lessons and pointers.

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More or less, being simply friendly seldom gets people to re-enlist, you can find a lot of amiable people in the course of civilian life. What makes people willing to sign for a life of hardship and danger is to ensure your fellow GIs who saved your life as often as you saved theirs have someone covering their backs on the field.

Taylor is non-confrontational with Valve and Flechette because they agree that she got a right not to be conscripted by the Protectorate/Wards not because they shared grueling training and life and death experiences. They don't depend on Phase to makes lewd jokes about the sarge who put them to clean the floors with their toothbrush or to save their lives from the Teeth and viceversa and without that bond once Taylor reaches the majority of age and leaves they won't do more than missing her a couple of days and send an e-mail every few months, much less pressure her for weeks to sign with the Protectorate.

 

[Natelord28]

Love the story

 

[SlickRCBD]

My point was that they were probably thinking "We have 3 years to work on her, we can convince her to re-enlist" and that lots of people who were drafted did re-enlist.
Then they were shocked that they failed to convince her despite the issues she had.

 

[Mr.unlucky]

My point was that they were probably thinking "We have 3 years to work on her, we can convince her to re-enlist" and that lots of people who were drafted did re-enlist.
Then they were shocked that they failed to convince her despite the issues she had.

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i say they got lucky she didn't go full villain since that would hurt PRT more since word would get out why she went villain.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Snip

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True while they aren't interacting as teammates like Armstrong and Guass would prefer it should also be noted that Flechette is correct in her statement that Taylor currently has no one to confide in regarding her parahuman status and activities besides the other Wards. She can't go to Jim about her vigilante activities because that will cost her the support of him and potentially the wider Youth Guard, and Taylor's upcoming interactions with Flechette will be directly related to her heroism which is exactly what Armstrong is counting on based on the last interlude.

My point was that they were probably thinking "We have 3 years to work on her, we can convince her to re-enlist" and that lots of people who were drafted did re-enlist.

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This is pretty much Armstrong's plan with the slow and steady approach he is taking, and it will probably work better than whatever PRT demand to get her waving the flag by Yesterday is going on in the background.

i say they got lucky she didn't go full villain since that would hurt PRT more since word would get out why she went villain.

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Not necessarily since Taylor going villains runs the risk of the overfunded PR department spinning her actions as that of a school shooter.

 

[BF110C4]

Not necessarily since Taylor going villains runs the risk of the overfunded PR department spinning her actions as that of a school shooter.

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Nah, the PRT PR Department fears a villain Phase the most, not only she got an easily verifiable story of two Wards torturing an innocent while the PRT hid their crimes but because her powers make her the perfect whistleblower. In fact she's already on record mentioning that she is a reluctant conscript.

As a villain she can walk to the PRT, steal confidential archives of embarrassing operations, go through the entire rooster of troopers and capes without the use of any kind of violence that could help paint her actions as evil, and deliver them to investigative reporters. She's also within splitting distance of two high level thinkers who would love to give her jobs and sell her intel against the PRT/Protectorate.

And just as bad is the fact that the powers of the heroic teams of BB and Boston are quite likely incapable of stopping her while on her Breaker state, so they would need to bring reinforcements to (hopefully) incapacitate her. And since her Stranger and Thinker powers makes her near impossible to ambush any hard counter would need to be stationed in Boston indefinitely which would need to negotiate with a different Protectorate department. Nothing torpedoes morale like having to bring outside talent at the cost of moving out another member of the team, all to capture a former Ward.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Snip

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Still though being deemed a villain has a lot of negative connotations in Bet's culture that would hurt her credibility if she tries to expose things. That and that it is established that from the perspective of the average Bet citizen the Protectorate has a pretty good public reputation. We as the readers are more critical of them since we can see the wider picture but the average Joe or Jane on the street doesn't have that.

So it is entirely possible for the Protectorate to get the jump on things with their own statement on a Ward going rogue, and Taylor would have other priorities if she goes rogue giving the PRT plenty of time to act before she can. Plus considering how many eyes are on Taylor and her behavior they might already have a statement ready if she does go villain. That and to be declared a villain Taylor does need to commit a crime or join a gang which wouldn't garner public sympathy.

Considering that nothing came of the Locker Incident in canon and Piggot most likely covering things up more the easily verifiable story becomes less so. The alternative is that the PRT shows that they were doing an internal investigation along with downplaying things, which they were even if it was only on paper, and that Taylor was just impatient and a troubled child who decided to interfere and go villain muddling the case. We also have to remember that at this point Taylor doesn't have any allies or contacts whereas the PRT is deeply connected with the news and other media. Sure Taylor can leave a file with the information but a random reporter isn't guaranteed to believe it, Thinkers and other parahumans have probably made people even more wary of conspiracy theories than in IRL, and if she does get it out the PRT isn't prevented from responding with their own side of things.

Not saying Taylor going villain wouldn't be bad for the PRT but your interpretation is extremely favorable towards Taylor's success and the PRT being incapable of doing anything. In actuality the whole situation would be far more complicated and ugly. After all Taylor going villain officially gives the PRT far more options in how to deal with her.

 

[The Unicorn]

Still though being deemed a villain has a lot of negative connotations in Bet's culture that would hurt her credibility if she tries to expose things.

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That is an interesting claim, what do you base it on? canon does not have any "peaceful villains" that we could see how people react to them, although Toybox and parts of the Elite come close (and the way they're treated does not support people disbelieving their claims because they're villains).

Fanfiction has everything from "people automatically trust the PRT because it's the government" to "No one actually believes what the PRT says" but I don't believe there's anything in canon about how trustworthy most people find them to know how much being labeled a villain will affect the cultural perception of a cape.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

That is an interesting claim, what do you base it on?

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What is the image that first pops into someone's head at the term villain. In Earth Bet it would have connotations of criminals, and gang members usually with dangerous powers. Most people don't have a good opinion of criminals in IRL so it is safe to assume that the average Bet citizen would be wary of someone labeled as a villain especially by the largest hero organization in the country.

Fanfiction has everything from "people automatically trust the PRT because it's the government" to "No one actually believes what the PRT says" but I don't believe there's anything in canon about how trustworthy most people find them to know how much being labeled a villain will affect the cultural perception of a cape.

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Probably a more nuanced mix of the two like in real life when regarding the government. Though I can believe that Bet natives are either desensitized or pay closer attention due to how bad things can get when parahumans are involved.