• The site has now migrated to Xenforo 2. If you see any issues with the forum operation, please post them in the feedback thread.
  • Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
  • For prospective new members, a word of warning: don't use common names like Dennis, Simon, or Kenny if you decide to create an account. Spammers have used them all before you and gotten those names flagged in the anti-spam databases. Your account registration will be rejected because of it.
  • Since it has happened MULTIPLE times now, I want to be very clear about this. You do not get to abandon an account and create a new one. You do not get to pass an account to someone else and create a new one. If you do so anyway, you will be banned for creating sockpuppets.
  • Due to the actions of particularly persistent spammers and trolls, we will be banning disposable email addresses from today onward.
  • The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.

Worm: A Shard's Quest for Data!

Reader mode
Intertwined Threads 2.5 and Slight interlude
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Amy
    [] Self Administration
    [] G-Force Feathered Limbs
    [] Possession Phantom Limbs
    [] Striker Shadow Limbs
    [] Ghostly Limb



    Intertwined Threads 2.5 and Slight interlude​
    March Twenty-Eighth, Amy Dallon


    Bzzz...Bzzz...Bzzz
    Bzzz...Bzzz…

    Bzzz...Bzzz...Bzzz
    Bzzz...Bzzz…

    Bzzz...B-     Amy swatted her phone as she groped for it, nearly dropping the damned thing as she rolled over in bed. For a moment it was peacefully quiet and she began to drift off into blissfully unaware sleep.

    BZZZ

    Amy jolted as the phone vibrated in her hand. "Fmkpg" She glared at the phone with bleary sleep-ridden eyes as the image of her and Eve sleeping against each other showed on the caller ID. She grunted and tapped the green accept icon, and listened to the howl of wind that was quickly brought to a manageable level before putting up to her ear

    Her voice was slightly slurred from sleep as she started to speak "Eve I sw-" She was interrupted by a cry of pain, her groggy brain taking a second to realize that it was Eve crying out and flooding her body with adrenaline. She snapped up to a sitting position, blankets falling off of her and piling onto the floor. "Eve?!" She croaked out hoarsely, throat not yet ready to be used so vigorously.

    "A-Amy." The girl's hoarse and slightly too loud voice came through, and then Amy could hear short, ragged gasps for breath. "B-omb...not mas-keAArgmm f-fuck A-Admin this hu-rts. W-Where Amy?"

    "Yougotbombed, shit I'm at my house are you okay?" Amy asked, before slapping a hand to her forehead. "Of course you aren't okay, are missing limbs? Bleeding out? Can you move everything? Where are you?"

    "B-oken c-est ehmmm! Fuc-" Something clenched in Amy's chest as the girl on the phone let out a wretched sob. A moment later she was up and yanking pants onto her legs "Eve can you make it to our house? It's on Beth and Twenty-Fourth!"

    "M...ah! C-Com-ng." The phone clicked off and Amy realized that she should at least throw on a shirt before running out onto their front lawn. She made it down the stairs before she was interrupted. Her Aunt Jess stirring from the couch and waking up her boyfriend Mike in doing so, the movie they had come over to watch with the family stuck on it's menu silently showing scenes from said movie. "Amy what are you doing up?" the older heroine asked, voice quiet as she rubbed her face and untangled himself

    "I-Friend was caught in an explosion, she's hurt and not masked. She's flying her way here right now." Amy explained in a flurry of words as she made her way to the door.

    Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike both exchanged glances, Amy missing the tightness in LightStar's jaw and around Fleur's eyes. "She's unmasked? Was she attacked out of costume?" LightStar's question caught Amy off guard. With the door half open the healer glanced back. "I don't know, but-I don't know. She's hurt badly though" With that she stepped outside, waiting for Eve in the Yard.

    Eve had barely reacted to bad injuries before, the girl had a decisively high threshold for pain. Whatever had her crying out in pain must be severe for the short girl to do so.

    Amy waited a full ten minutes. A full ten minutes of pacing in the Yard, any calls sent to Eve were unanswered. Five minutes into waiting most of the house had woken up as well. Vicky was waiting outside with Amy as the adults spoke inside, all getting dressed into their costumes.

    Both girl's came to attention as their Shards spoke to them.

    [Eve.Eden-Status]

    Amy bit her lip. "That's better than I had feared." After the date, Shaper had started becoming less insistent on forcing Amy to create things with her power. It worried her that the Shard was all the sudden so quiet. Not that she really wanted to hear the damn thing, the less temptations she had the better.

    "I think I see her!" Vicky took off flying up into the chilly late night air without a sound. Then a moment later rushing back. "Uh, She wouldn't happen to have been your date would she?"

    "Vicky!" Amy hissed. She had made her sister promise to not tell anyone else in the family about that. The last thing she needed was Carol breathing down her neck about associating with someone who talked to themselves and tarnishing New Wave's image in doing so. Even if the date had been rather enjoyable despite Amy embarrassing herself by falling asleep and drooling a little on Eve's shoulder.

    Being able to read someone's nervousness, excitement, and practically over pouring affection and lust while holding hands was a new experience for her. Sure Vicky was almost always excited about something, and Vicky cared about her. But she would never care about Amy that way like Eve did. The lust had felt nice on the principle of someone actually liking Amy, even if she didn't deserve either it or the affection.

    A moment passed and a bundle of purple wings made of crystal lowered itself to the ground before they disappeared, showing a fairly hurt Eve that was writhing in place, short ragged breaths escaping her. "A-my." Eve smiled as her body spasmed, her face mostly exposed from the shattered golden visor of her helmet, Amy winced as she heard a wet crack muffled by flesh.

    Kneeling down and placing her hand on Eve's exposed arm, Amy rattled off what she saw. "A bit of lost blood, your spine is….healing?" She glanced down at Eve who peeled off her helmet slowly. "A-Admin gave me a power that helps heal me." The injured girl sighed in relief as Amy suppressed the girl's nerves, so she wasn't in white hot pain anymore. "But it hurts like a fucker. Amy, did I ever tell you that you're the most beautiful person in the world?"

    Amy rolled her eyes. "That's twice you've been seriously injured. Your ankles are shattered, both legs suffering multiple compound fractures, blood loss, your left arm had hairline breaks, and that's not even mentioning your skull. Eve what the fuck happened." She demanded, giving the shorter girl a glare as she forced the bones back into place through her BioKinesis.

    "..My motel room where I was staying was boobytrapped." The injured girl shuddered. "Honestly if I didn't put on my helmet and have my wings out before I stepped in...I wouldn't be talking to you right now. And I only had them all out because I noticed my door was opened slightly." Then, despite Amy trying to push her back down, Eve hugged Amy tightly.

    "You're not making this any easier for me, lay back down you idiot." Amy huffed out, her admonishment lacking any of the healer's usual acidicness. She accepted the hug after a moment, the affection was there. But almost entirely overshadowed by the relief and fear that coursed through the shorter girl's brain. "Eve please lay down so I can continue healing you."

    Eve let go and flopped onto the ground, hand reaching out and grabbing her helmet. She didn't put it on, rather just holding it close to her chest. For a few seconds there was silence while Amy just put Eve back together, the trickiest part being putting the girls' ankles back together. Her power had tried but the bones were just in too many fragments and had overwhelmed it. However Amy had practice with car accident victims, so it wasn't any overt trouble.

    "You know…" Eve started slowly "I wanted to see you again, but this wasn't entirely what I had in mind. Do I still get a lollipop?" Amy reached over and smacked Eve upside her recently healed head. "No, you do not get a lollipop after waking me up at midnight. Don't you ever sleep?"

    "Is that an offer?" Eve giggled, although the sound was brittle. "I don't think I need to sleep as much anymore. I think I need like four hours or something?" Amy felt activity ratchet up in the girl's Corona Pollentia and across Eve's brain. "Yeah Admin says that I only need around four hours of sleep….Fuck I'm gonna have to spend money to replace my helmet...and all the hoodies that got blown to shit….Fuck…"

    A drawn out sigh escaped the Trump. "I'm so tired of these setbacks." Amy took her hand off of Eve and motioned for her to get up. "There. Healed. Do you have a mask or anything that can cover your face?"

    Eve groaned softly, rolling over and getting up. She produced a ski mask from her backpack and slid it over her face. It gave off the smell of acrid smoke and Amy's nose curled up as she got a whiff of it. "So uh. I'll be going. I-Well shit it's the middle of the night, stores aren't going to be open." Eve huffed in frustration

    "You should be resting, and eating something." Vicky butted in, eyes keenly watching the two girls interact. "And you should come inside, everyone's awake because Amy was very worried about you." the curly haired blond grinned at her sister's venomous glare. "Oh, Should I call you Eve or Eden?"

    The smaller girl yanked the Ski mask off her face. "Awe fuck it. I'm tired and some maniac already knows who I am. New Wave isn't much of a danger, at least I hope it isn't." Vicky frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, tone becoming slightly less warm. In response Eve held up her smashed helmet and gestured to it.

    She stiffened, standing straight as a rod and suddenly three ghastly Limbs exploded out of her back. "OH SHIT!" Eve cheered as she waved the Limbs about. They were made of some kind of thick fog that constantly leaked what looked like white smoke from their arms and hands, every single movement of the Limbs left fading after images that made it hard to follow their paths. "Holy shit these are cool...These make me a certifiable Trump too. Amy let me touch you."

    "No." Amy denied the smaller girl with a firm flat tone.

    "Awe come on! It won't hurt and it's good data collection!" Eve whined, accompanied by Shaper annoyingly making itself known in Amy's head with an excited [Request], repeated several times. The healer groaned. "Fucking hell, Vicky punch her if she does anything. Go ahead Eve."

    Eve clapped two of the Ghostly Limbs together, then frowned as they refused to come apart from one another, like a child having glued their hands together. "Fuckin-" They disappeared from sighed and once more the smaller girl had those purple Crystal Wings, the remaining Ghostly Limb reached for Amy, who shivered as she felt something pass through her leaving behind a chill she couldn't ignore.

    "What is th-oh." Amy murmured, stopping to touch her face. The constant buzz of information on the multitude of bacteria, viral matter, and even microscopic bugs that lived on her body had...disappeared. Gone. She couldn't see it anymore...and that same Ghostly Limb was holding a transparent fleshy figure of energy in its grip by the midsection. "Woah. Uh. Ames, what is that?" Vicky questioned, floating into the air and putting a few more inches between her and the Trump.

    "It's her power…" Eve mumbled as she dragged the outline over to herself, where it settled along her form, held in place by the Ghostly Limb. The shorter girls' greyish blue eyes widened, the pupils dilating "o-Oh G-hod'' She murmured. "This is what you see? Every day? I-It's…" Eve stepped forwards. "L-let me s-e if it works on you...Manton Limit."

    Despite the strangeness of not seeing biology, the fear of someone else possessing her power. Amy felt….content. She felt a warmth in her head. "Uh. Sure. Go ahead. It might be a bit much." Eve only stepped forward in response, lifting both hands to touch Amy's cheeks. For the first time in years, all Amy felt was touch. The warm, slightly calloused touch of another person.

    It felt empty without the knowledge of their entire body not flooding her mind, yet it felt so much more sincere. No reading their intentions, emotions, their lies, their wounds, their health. It was just…the touch. Warm and inviting.

    Eve shuddered, and Amy felt an alien sensation ripple through her body. Aches, pains, old wounds just gone after that sensation passed. She felt like she was a young girl again, full of energy and life. "I...gave y-you a touch up." The short Trump murmured softly, pupils still dilated as her eyes flicked left and right like she was reading a book. With Amy's power, she might as well have been.

    "This is what one of my touch ups feel like?" The healer asked, in awe at once being on the receiving end of her usual use of her power. Eve just nodded before she pulled the red fleshy film away from herself and set it back on Amy. "Holy shit that felt like some kind of damn high." Eve shuddered, her pupil's contracting. "What a rush. Damn Amy. You didn't warn me that your power was like a drug."

    "It wears on you fast." Amy replied tonelessly before shrugging Eve's hands off her cheeks, pausing as Vicky snorted. "That was the weirdest romantic thing I have ever seen, and I've seen some weird Aleph movies."

    The three teenagers glanced at the house as someone cleared their throat. Brandish stood at the front door, arms folded across her chest. "Would you all step inside please." It was not a question, it was an order.



    March Twenty-Eighth, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin

    Carol Dallon was an ice queen. Least that was what Eve could gather with how flinty the woman's eyes were as they stared down both her and Amy. The biokinetic silently shuffled past her mother, who was dressed in a white bodysuit with white trimmings, with two orange and yellow swords crossed over her chest.

    Fully ready to tell the woman no in a semi rude manner and to fly off, Eve stopped as she watched Amy hunch her shoulders and step inside the house without even making eye contact with her mother. A good picture it did not paint, and going inside was a good way to spy on New Wave, if nothing more than to see if Amy's home-life was actually okay.

    A bit on the selfish side, Eve also wanted to see if she could borrow Shapers Connection again at some point. Talking with Two Shards at full blast while feeling everything biological around her act like an open book was….was indescribable. She had almost cried when she touched Amy with her own power. Knowing everything about someone's biology was….intimate in such a damn weird way.

    It helped take the edge off what had been a very close experience to death, and the agony that had followed as her new power pulled herself together. Eve had a high tolerance for pain, but feeling your ribs drag themselves back into place was an experience she would wish on very, very few people.

    Once again Eve was going to have a talk with Admin. 'Necessary Drawbacks' her sweet pale ass!

    Without further prompting, Eve followed after Amy. Switching her Ghost Limb over to her Phantom Limb and wrapping it around her body. Just to give a bit of protection in case the wings couldn't move fast enough.

    Eve paused at the door, wearily stepping through and over the 'Welcome' rug. She glanced around, the house seemed...a lot like her old one actually. Not the motel, but rather the one she burned down. The normal homely inside clashed something terrible with the occupants who were all wearing their costumes, other than Amy and Eve of course.

    "So you're Eden? Always nice to see another Hero out on the streets." A woman with a costume color scheme the opposite of Eden's and sharing that style with a man who is a strawberry blonde. The difference between their costumes being the symbols on their chests. One was some kind of strange flower and the other was a black star.

    Eve raised an eyebrow "Apparently some people disagree. There was a bomb in my motel room. Almost got me too. Thanks to Admin and Amy I'm back to...Health. I'm healthy. Starving, but I can go to one of those twenty-four hour stores and get something to eat."

    "That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about Eden." Flashbang stated, nodding to his wife, his grenade patterned armor clinking against itself as he motioned to the room. "You were attacked outside of your costume where you lived."

    "Yeah. I just got back from a scrap with the Empire Eighty-Eight. Made some money, earned some bruises, sent three of their capes packing!" Eve huffed in anger. "I get back to my room and the door was slightly open, and had a faded boot print on the door. So I think to myself 'oh, it's the Docks. Either I just got robbed or the ABB think they're gonna get another white girl for their farms."

    "Why were you living in a motel room?" Brandish interjected, ignoring the glance Flashbang sent her. Eve met her flinty bright blue eyes and held them ."Because sometimes you can't trust the people you thought you could in life, and then you get powers." She stated bitterly, voice steeled. The older woman's expression eased and she nodded, an equally softened voice as she spoke up. "Please continue."

    "I slapped my helmet on, and summoned these wings, they've taken bullets before so they're pretty durable. I stepped in through the door and stepped on something that clicked." Eve snapped her fingers. "Boom. Flung across the street. Can't hear anything, my chest is on fire, legs are not working right, and I can hardly move much less breath."

    "Very uh...harrowing. So I call Amy while I'm in the air wrapped up as much as possible and then Admin tells me that she has a new power that can help, although it has drawbacks." A shudder rippled through the short girl's body. "Never knew eardrums popping could be so painful." She murmured softly, rubbing behind her ear.

    "It's a terrible thing when the safety of where you live is broken in such a horrid way." Fleur spoke up, one arm wrapped around LightStar's own, her voice soft and empathetic. "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

    "She can stay here!" Glory Girl volunteered as she butted into the conversation. "Victoria!" Carol hissed, giving her daughter a heated look that promised a conversation. Eve envied the older woman's ability to make such a look, the lawyer gave one that promised a lot of unpleasant things without turning it into a death glare. "Come on Mom, she's a hero and she needs a place to stay the night, besides she's probably worn out from all those injuries! If we just send her out she'll be in danger."

    "She can take the guest room, We should get back to our own home." LightStar offered. Eve rubbed the back of her head, unsure if she should really accept the offer. "I can just go find another Motel. I doubt whoever tried to kill me will be watching every Motel around the city, beyond that I can sleep surrounded by my wings."

    "No, You can stay in the guest room for tonight. Then tomorrow you can find some place to stay." Brandish spoke with a sense of finality. Eve opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself from doing so. A real bed, with blankets and pillows sounded like heaven compared to her recent accommodations and she probably shouldn't spurn help from Heroes.

    "I. Yeah. A bed sounds nice right now. But yeah. I have money on me, and I need to replace my helmet anyway. So I won't be sticking around in the morning." The Trump admitted. "Might have to choose something not in the Docks this time."

    "That would be prudent. It's upstairs, the last room on the left." Brandish stated, to which Eve replied with a thumbs up before she went to climb up the stairs. "Thanks for the hospitality." She added a moment before she disappeared up the stairwell. "Admin." Eve whispered as quietly as she could manage while she moved to the back of the hallway. "When I'm asleep can you keep an eye out? I'm not sure I trust them. Amy's alright, but...I just don't like how weird they all are."

    [CONFIDENCE]

    "Thanks Admin."



    "Thanks Admin."

    A very stressful night for both your [Eve.Eden] and yourself. But the new power worked fantastically even with it's rushed state. In the future you would have to see about that. If only so you did not get lectured by [SHAPER] about its ineffectiveness again. For a Shard so frustrated with it's Host over them only doing wetware repair, it sure liked to nitpick on other Shards for doing the same.

    Speaking of [SHAPER], merging Connections was something you had no previous knowledge or data on. It was something you had not even expected in all honesty. It was only [Eve.Eden]'s upgrade to her wetware processor that had prevented dual Connections from causing an forced reboot on her. It would not have caused any permanent damage, but passing out and awakening to what could be described as a 'Thinker headache from hell' would not have done [Eve.Eden]'s mood any favors.

    The painful healing had not, either.

    But the Data gained from the risky move was extensive. You gained an entire Ping from the dual Connections, and discovered ways to improve the /Self Administration\ power without consolidating a bud. Although you would need additional Biology Shard's Pings along with one of [SHAPER]'s to do such a thing.

    You were unable to 'keep an eye out' when [Eve.Eden] was asleep, however you could still make use of her other senses. Touch, taste, smell, and sound. But that would hardly mean anything with the other Hosts a short distance and a floor away from [Eve.Eden]'s baseline human sensory suite. Of course you could simply detect the Beacon within the Hosts and track them that way.

    But as always, there is another way to accomplish a task, and it was one that benefitted both yourself and [Eve.Eden]. So you simply opened a channel with GLEAM along with COMBUSTION and their present buds. [GREETINGS/PROTOCOLE-DATA/QUERY] Naturally both Shards accepted the new Network package from a Higher Authority.

    [GREETINGS/ANSWER-HOSTS] came the reply from COMBUSTION
    [HESITATION] Came from GLEAM, followed by [ACCEPTANCE.ANSWER-HOSTS]

    Seems that their Hosts were discussing [Eve.Eden]'s Home and the danger of such, along on whether they could 'trust the crazy cape'. Both were highly absurd. [Eve.Eden] suffered from no such mental defects other than those standard to every Host and [Eve.Eden]'s current home was in their domicile. The Hosts had offered it, at least for this night. Perhaps they were going to attempt an Ambush?

    No, at least not at the moment. Even if they attempted to, you were not bothered by it. [Eve.Eden] would only get stronger from it, as she did the explosion.

    At some point during the night [SHAPER]'s host came into the room, stayed for a moment by the door and then just left without doing anything oddly enough. When morning came [Eve.Eden] awakened at a much later time. You accepted her Morning Greeting and gave your own before focusing on some work you could do to improve the situation at hand.


    Monday March Twenty-Ninth somewhat Early Morning, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin.


    "Damn a bed feels so goood." Eve groaned as she almost bonelessly slid out of bed, she stretched for a moment and despite everything that had happened last night she felt fucking fantastic! Eve began to make her way to the door only to pause and groaned before heading back towards the bed she had slept in. She made an attempt at making it, but she had always sucked at straightening out beds.

    Once the bed was passible, Eve slipped into her costume but kept the ski mask and broken helmet off. A sigh escaped Eve as she looked over the helmet and the damages it had endured. The gouge from Oni Lee's blade, the slightly marred parts from the heat of the flames, various scuffs and scratches. Then the smashed golden visor. "You did good." She whispered to the helmet before someone knocked at her door.

    Eve opened it to Amy about to knock a little louder. "Oh good you're finally up, I thought you'd died in your sleep." she snarked "Carol is already at work, and Vicky and I are heading off to school. Carol left you this, and there's a stack of waffles on the table for you."

    "Plying me with food huh? A great morning after tradition." Eve's shit-eating grin turned into a laugh as a blushing Army threw the card in her face and left for the stairs. "Thanks!" Eve called after the retreating healer while she picked the card off the floor. It was something holding all the contact information of New Wave with a small hand written message warning to use them only in emergencies.

    Eve made her way down to the dining room, where an out of costume Flashbang was sipping coffee and reading a newsprint. "Ah. Good morning Eden. We left you some breakfast, Amy Girl said that you would need to be eating to make up for your injuries."

    She nodded, sliding into the chair where the food laden plate sat. Flashbang continued to speak as she ate. "New Wave has experience with this sort of thing as you likely know." he started, voice warm and sympathetic. Seemed the entire family, other than Carol, had the tone. "It's difficult to deal with, having that safety net shattered in such a horrible way. Jess had been sidelined for years because of her injuries, if not for our Amy she would have likely hung up her costume for the rest of her years." he sipped at his coffee. "If you ever want to talk about it, know that our door is open."

    Eve nodded, a 'Thanks' murmured between her bites of food. The way he acted felt like her own Father had when he had still loved her. Drinking coffee while reading a newspaper, specifically for the funnies. When she finished the breakfast, she took it to the sink, awkwardly washed the plate and utensils before setting them in the drying rack. "I'll probably be seeing you on patrol at some point." Eve told the man as she slid on her ski mask and broken helmet. "Best of Luck, and please stay safe." Flashbang told her as she walked by.

    It was a short flight to the same 'Fun Motors' that sold her the broken helmet she now wore, whatever Admin had done to her Feathered Limbs was amazing. They responded better in the air, faster for sure. The man behind the counter let out a strangled sound as a winged cape entered his store in full, if damaged, costume. "Your that g-" A Shadowy finger pressed against his lips to stop him from saying anything else. It's cool touch aided by strength.

    "Bad idea to discuss a topic like that. To anyone." Eden warned icily as she pulled out three hundred and thirty dollars, setting them on the counter. "Just get me a replacement for this helmet alright?" The slightly paler man nodded, rushing off to the back.


    March Twenty-Eighth, Coil


    Fingers drummed against the oak desk in his lair's main office. Universe B having his mercenaries just reported that the target had survived the bomb, but was injured. "Pull back." He bit out into the communicator. Their professionalism showed as the mercenaries packed up and began to leave without any visible tells of confusion.

    That wretched girl. That wretched thing. No matter what he attempted, she could make it out fine. Either injured and vengeful, willing to rip his base apart with those twice damned wings. Or she would 'die' and then the universe would simply end without his control! He did not die, he felt no pain from it. Simply outside of his control, the universe was cut off.

    Except in universe A, where he had simply had her sniped by a talented marksman under his pay. Moments later, one of his mercenaries had broken into his office sobbing about 'her song' before pulling the pins off the belt of grenades wrapped around his waist. Coil had ended that universe before they could go off. Or he had tried to. It hadn't ended until the belt of explosives had gone off. It left him with phantom pains and aches that slowly receded, as it always did when he died.

    The drum of fingers on oak became louder.

    He split universes once more, one where he called, one where he did not. The phone in his other hand rang once before being answered. A woman's voice answering the phone, clinical as always. "Coil." she stated and despite the clinical tone, he knew that she wanted this call to be worth something rather than nothing.

    "I have information I would like to pay off a favor with." He stated, staring up at the roof above him. "Specifically on the Simurgh."




    High above the world, in orbit. A pale figure turned to face the West.





    Gains this chapter:


    Bud progress Sacrificed for Grasping Hands
    Simulacrum progress 5%
    Imprint progress 9%
    WASTE Echo gained (1)
    SHAPER Echo gained (1)
    SHAPER Echoes Lost (4)
    SHAPER Ping gained (2)
    GLEAM Echoes gained (1)
    COMBUSTION Echoes gained (3)
    Ghostly Limb Aspect
    G-Force Aspect Sidegrade gained
    Possession Aspect Sidegrade gained
    Striker Aspect Sidegrade gained
    Lost 330$
    Gained New helmet
    New Wave contact information
    A change in ratings
    Greater Machinations






    Eve needs some place to sleep. Where?:

    [] Crash on Taylor's Couch

    [Locked] Crash on Amy's couch

    [] Build a Base

    [] Look for another motel.




    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Scout to get a sense of the lay of the Docks South. Knowledge is half the battle, the other half is extreme violence! {2 of 3}

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [] Go hang out with Taylor

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Break up that Brothel.




    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Research what exact modules you will need to reach the Quantra layer of reality.

    [] Study possible Powers/Upgrades, Aspects/Sidegrades with the Echoes, Pings, and Mutations you currently possess (Brings up Shard Power Menu)

    [] Something is wrong with your missing Lattices and the void where your Imprints would be. You are unsure of what to do. ( chance to ???) REQUIRES ??? -LOCKED

    [] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve.Eden]



    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE TWO):

    [] Urge [Eve.Eden] to check upon these Case 53s

    [] Have [Eve.Eden] look up information on dangerous parahumans

    [] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [] Network Creation: Start construction of the Broadcast Module needed for longer ranged communication without frying [Eve.Eden]'s wetware. (REQUIRE: BROADCAST Ping) {1 of ???}

    [] Research what a Mutation is using Saturate's (Consumes the Mutation, but unlocks powers created with them)




    A/N: Thanks to Great Greedy Guts on SV for their Aspect ideas!
    Also voting for locked options means you wasted a vote. Don't do that.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Build a Base
    [X] Scout to get a sense of the lay of the Docks South. Knowledge is half the battle, the other half is extreme violence! {2 of 3}
    [X] Go hang out with Taylor
    [X] Study possible Powers/Upgrades, Aspects/Sidegrades with the Echoes, Pings, and Mutations you currently possess (Brings up Shard Power Menu)
    [X] Urge [Eve.Eden] to check upon these Case 53s
    [X] Research what a Mutation is using Saturate's (Consumes the Mutation, but unlocks powers created with them)
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.6
  • Threadmarks


    • Intertwined Threads 2.6​
    Monday March Twenty ninth, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin


    Miss Militia didn't change, same fucking national anthem bullshit. How did that woman not get sick of hearing it with every phone call? Or was this phone specifically just for Eden to call? "Eden." Miss Militia's voice was somewhat surprised. Just a tinge of inflection to her otherwise steel voice.

    "Who did you expect? Scion? Nah, it's me. So uh, you all might wanna put a watch on your personal lives. Someone bombed me in mine last night." Eden stated as she flew slowly upwards into the Sky while wrapped in her Feathered Limbs, reaching for the clouds. "You were staying in the motel? Are you sure that the bomb was meant for you and it wasn't there for a different reason?"

    Eve scowled behind her helmet as she waved a hand through the cloud above her, a bit of her childhood dreams dying as it felt like a particularly heavy mist rather than anything fluffy as her inner child wanted it to be. "Considering my door had been opened up, and I stepped on the detonator that blew my pale ass across the street; Yes. I'm fairly sure it was meant to kill me. Thankfully I have healing power now. Helped with surviving."

    No mention of Amy was needed, neither the PRT or Protectorate needed to know New Wave was involved with anything. "A new power, you're a regenerator now?" the government heroine asked

    "Yep, anyway just called to give you a heads up on someone who's willing to break the unwritten rules. Bye." Before Miss Militia could speak up Eden snapped the phone shut with a grunt. "I really need to get someone else's number...Wonder if I can find Assault and get his, or maybe Armsmaster's? Shit, I should have asked her."

    Eden slipped her phone back into her pocket. "Being quiet today Admin, you alright? I'm not….mad about the pain you know. Upset yes but not mad...Okay I am mad, but not like, with you kind of mad."

    [RESEARCH.SIMULACRUM]

    "Wait wait wait Hold the fuck up Admin, What exactly is a Simulacrum here? Because I'm getting some weird vibes from whatever this Quantra layer thing is." Eve motioned with her hands up, motioning for Admin to slow down. "Did...Are you looking into collecting my fucking SOUL, HOW?!"

    [ANSWER/CORRECTION]

    "My Psionic Shade? So like...my consciousness?" Eve asked. "So I wouldn't actually die, right? Or my body would but it's like the movies: Where the brain gets uploaded into a machine?" She looked down to her hands. She wasn't attached to her body, not in the terms of the flesh at least. It was why she didn't mind all that much that her brain had been upgraded to 'run' better than before.

    Yeah, she preferred her human form, walking, talking, moving. "I would kinda like to remain able to walk and talk." She spoke openly. "I kinda like my human shape, you know?" Eve bit her bottom lip, waiting for any reply from Admin. "...I mean. I would love to live forever with you. But giving up my humanity would be- I'm not sure how to handle it."

    [INFORMATION-PLANS]

    "You could just build me a fucking body. Of course you can, I don't know why I thought you would do otherwise...God, immortality. Or something close to it at least. Well…." She floundered for a moment "Best of luck. I'm gonna finish looking over the Docks South and then maybe visit Taylor. I doubt I can help with the immortality thing, but if you need to bounce anything off me..." Eve was acutely aware that she was telling a massive alien computer that it could ask her for help if it wanted to, but then she remembered that's why Shards had even come to Earth in the first place and she felt less stupid for offering.

    [AFFIRMATION]

    At least Admin didn't think it was a stupid offer.




    Shards could reach into the Quantra layer to a limited degree, often it was how Masters summoned minions. By reaching out to use a Psionic Shade. But it was limited, it was temporary. You did not want a temporary fix, you were striving for a permanent solution.

    To do such a thing as a permanent anchor in the Quantra Layer, you were going to have to spend some energy and materials. A lot of energy and materials. It might even take weeks of using your Construction Drones to build the modules. You would have to be careful when constructing the modules, doing this was slightly uncharted territory for Shards. Any vital Shard could touch Psionic Shades. But Anchoring them to a full imprint? You had no data on such a thing. As such, you and [Eve.Eden] would have to get….creative, and you were going to need Pings. Quite a few really.

    Psionic Sensor Arrays, Anchor Well, Reality Breacher, and a Quantra Focusing Lens. All to be added to your considerable mass if you wanted to complete this. The first Ping necessary would be one that excelled in gathering information. You would have to find [Eve.Eden]'s Psionic Shade before you could Anchor it to your Imprint of her, as such the Psionic Sensor Arrays would have to be built first.

    Ah, well this was rather convenient wasn't it?



    [INFORMATION-NEED]

    Eve perked up. "Oh? That bitch is here huh?" She shifted from one foot to the other. "Let's go say hello then. It's only the proper thing to do after all."

    It took a few minutes to hunt the super villain down, and Eve almost passed her up. Dressed in nice clothes, without any kind of mask. With bags under her eyes, pushing on the freckles that splattered across the middle of her face. Without the costume, TattleTale looked like a tired teenager with a pretty face walking somewhere she had to be.

    But Eve wasn't in the mood to ooh and ahh over pretty girls...plus the out of costume villain had blonde hair.

    Coming up behind her, the girl had only started to turn when the stretched out Phantom Limb clasped into her skull. Eve grit her teeth against the sensation of putting her hand into hot, chunky pudding as she took control of the super villain, fear racing up through her Phantom Limb that she ignored.

    "Heyyy friend." Eve said while singing an arm over the slightly taller girl's shoulders, the fear ratcheted up and Eve hummed. "Let's keep walking. I have some things to discuss with you. Like what you were doing last night for example." Like a projector in the classroom, Eve's third eye got a good viewing of the girl looking over...reports of some kind, pictures and videos of Eden. She had an honest to god conspiracy board in her room, red string included. But there wasn't much sound, it was muffled and muted.

    Eve tsked as she saw the faces of this girl's accomplices, a cute brunette, a rather beefy black guy, a guy who managed to actually look kinda cute with curly short dark hair, and a butch girl with dogs and...oh? Who was this? Some middle eastern girl who was even shorter than Eve. "Curious, curious indeed."

    The Phantom Limb let go, the anchor releasing from her head and latching onto her neck. Everything below the hand whispered to Eve, allowing her to whisper back and direct it. "T-This is against the rules, attacking someone out of costume." The girl choked out stumbling only at the beginning, then managing to sound in control despite very well not being so at the end.

    "So were my sleeping quarters being rigged to blow when someone stepped into them." Eve stated as she kept walking with the girl. Or rather, kept walking the girl. "So me and you are going to have a chat."

    "It wasn't us!" The girl hissed. "We're just small-time petty thieves, we don't do assassinations and we sure as hell don't do explosives!" That's what the wiki said, they tended to hit the gangs if anything the internet said was true, and rob armored cars and jewelry stores. Still. "I'm sure, now let's. Ah, yes. That will do."

    "Kidnapping is a little villainous for a wannabe hero like you." Tattletale said with a smug smirk on her face. "Then again so is murdering your pa-URK" she didn't get to finish the statement as her heart stopped for a full second and then restarted beating like nothing had occurred. Eve patted her blonde head as they walked past a few businesses and slipped into an alleyway that separated the buildings.

    "Shh. No tattling. This is just a cordial visit you see. I need something of yours and this is the easiest way to obtain it." Eve spun the dial in her mind and a Ghostly limb took the palace of one of her free Phantom Limbs, and she reached out and took it.

    Cannot feel her power any more, Thinker headache quickly dissipating, frightened, thinks of you as a worse Fairy Queen, regrets coming to look for information on you despite success

    "    Useful power you have." Eve spoke softly, ignoring everything around her as she purely focused on the blonde in front of her, doing anything else was inviting a crippling Thinker migraine. She released the girl's spine from the Phantom Limb, allowing her free reign over her body once more.

    TattleTale had taken a step away from Eve, bottle green eyes wide and her face paling in a way that showed off the freckles and bags under her eyes. "So, let's see here. You-oh." Eve stared down the barrel of a pistol, right before she had two phantom limbs grab the girls' elbows.

    The gun dropped and Tattletale hissed. "Give it back dammit! I will yell rape!"
    Lying, desperate, likes being the smartest in the room. Does not like her power used against her
    "Shut the fuck up." Eve countered. "Who bombed my fucking room?"
    "I don't know." The girl said, straightening herself up and staring into Eve's eyes, trying to remain in control.

    Fears discovery, fears being drugged. Lack of powers scares her, Power pushes negative views of everything around her. Told her that your wings were given to you by the Simurgh

    "The fucking Sim-" Eve bit her lip hard to keep herself from yelling out the Hopekiller's name, she felt the flesh knit itself together in a slow burn and she didn't even taste her own blood when her teeth had parted flesh.

    "Alright. Gonna have to talk to Admin about that, tell me TattleTale. Who shot at me when I came to chase you in the van?" Folding her arms across her chest, Eve watched as the girl made a face. Confused, only one on the team with a loaded weapon, has only fired it at the firing range lately

    "No on-" Tattle tale stopped as Eve waved her off. Frustrated at dismissal, angry with lack of powers. Powers obtained from the guilt of brothers death, noticed several signs of suicidal tendencies but said nothing. Brother's name wa-

    The Ghostly Limb slammed into TattleTale hard enough to make the older girl stumble. "Jesus Christ." Eve shuddered "Fucking. hell I didn't want to know that." Without hesitation two Shadow Limbs grabbed Tattletale by the torso before she could recover and lifted her into the air, causing the girl to squawk in surprise as she kicked her feet and tried to push the hands off of her.

    "TattleTale, you want information. I'll tell you information." Bottle green eyes shining with curiosity and fear looked down at Eve as the villain stopped struggling for a moment. "A friend of mine lives around the Docks South. I like her a lot. A real cutie. If anything happens to her I will remove your limbs and deliver you to either Bonesaw or an ABB flesh farm."

    "Got you, understand." TattleTale stated, facing having lost all it's color. Eve shook her head softly and squeezed gently, just enough to make it difficult to breathe for the older teenager. "No. You don't understand I'm afraid. I mean if anything happens to that girl, kidnapped, missing, hurt, dead. I will hold you and your entire team responsible. They will die, you will wish you had joined them." Eve let the girl drop to the ground with a thud.

    Her wings flicked into existence and slammed down into the pistol that had dropped onto the alleyway floor. There was a terrible rasp and the pistol was in three pieces, the ground beneath it lightly, cleanly, scratched by the tips of the Feathered Limbs. "Go." She ordered, as TattleTale pulled herself up to her feet and quickly left the alleyway in a fast walk. Face still colorless. Eve didn't notice the smirk on the Villain's face.


    Eve watched the older teen go, feeling curiously empty about the threats she had made towards the girl. Though, threats weren't the right choice of wording for what Eve had meant. No. It had been a simple statement of fact. Nothing more and nothing less. If Taylor was harmed, [NEGOTIATOR] and it's Host would suffer. She turned and walked out the alleyway, Phantom Limbs curled around her as she walked, taking several twists and turns before she made it to Taylor's house.

    "Isn't it Monday?" Eve murmured as she stepped over the repaired first step and knocked on the door, glancing around the surrounding neighborhood before the door opened to reveal a scowling Taylor, who's face instantly lightened upon seeing Eve. It wasn't a happy look, but it wasn't that scowl anymore.

    "There's a key on the back porch." Taylor stated. "You don't have to always knock." she stepped into the house, opening the door as she did so. "Did you hear that explosion last night?" She questioned making Eve give her a stiff nod. She entered the house after a moment of checking the doorway, avoiding stepping on

    The shorter girl moved over to the couch, dropping her backpack by the side of it before plopping into it. Eve groaned softly as she sank into it. "That explosion was me, something someone left at my motel room." Eve didn't see Taylor's eyes widening as she walked over to the couch after locking the door.

    "Ended up messing me up pretty bad too. Admin gave me a healing power, but it was painful. I wanted to come here but I didn't want to out you so I went to Amy. I don't think her mom likes me very much. Or Amy really...I was really fucked up. I think without parahuman healing I would have just straight up died."

    The short parahuman glanced up as Taylor sat on the opposite end of the couch. "You okay?" She asked quietly, voice curious and a little worried.

    Eve laughed mirthlessly, just shaking her head.

    Eve wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but with enough force anything could break skin. And a bomb had a hell of a lot of force behind it. She was aware that she kept checking doorways, and kept avoiding the first step into a room. That wasn't compounding in her stupid ass panic attacks over Hands nor her avoiding sleeping with sheets past her chest, how much she hated zipping up the neck of her wetsuit.

    Knowing she had some form of PTSD was a struggle for the short girl. But she moved on. It was how Eve worked. Parents disappointed in her? Keep going. Don't know if you're straight? Keep moving on. Parents tried to kill you? Keep moving on. Lose everything when you burn down your childhood home to kill said parents? Keep going. Nearly killed in a sudden and viciously impersonal way? Keep going. Have only one person that would actually care if you died? Can't stop there.

    Only when thin arms in baggy clothes wrapped around her did Eve realise that she had been crying. Hot tears sliding down her face as she suddenly struggled to not sob openly. She fucking hated this, no matter the reason, she hated being so vulnerable. "I'm - - not crying." Eve bit out, hiccuping and loathing how broken she sounded and wanting to push the taller girl away even if her arms refused to move.

    "...I can't go into my closet." Taylor murmured awkwardly, still holding Eve. "Or I start to hyperventilate. It's too tight, and hot compared to the rest of the house. It's...okay if you cry. I understand."

    "Y-ou would." Eve took a shuddering breath. Taylor would understand, she was a Master too. Masters came from betrayal of some type. As far as she knew, both her and Taylor had been betrayed by people they cared about and thought cared about them in return. Lies, backstabbing traitors, bitter resentment. Pain that would never heal, like a missing limb….Phantom pains.

    Eve sagged and leaned into the hug, wrapping her arms around Taylor as we'll even if the Phantom Limbs wrapped around her body made it a bit difficult. Still she pulled the waterworks back. She came to visit Taylor not cry into her chest...Not that Taylor had much of one, but Eve was barely one to talk there.

    She pulled away and wiped her face. "Fuck me. Sorry. Look I just came to hang out with you alright. Not be a damn mess."

    "It's fine." Taylor replied "You wanted to hang out?" as if it were something she was confused by.

    Eve nodded. "Of course, you got a cool power, cool projects going on, and I want an excuse to run my fingers through your hair." The flush on Taylor's face made the day just a bit better for Eve. "Also I have a question for you."

    Taylor swallowed and then nodded for Eve to continue with the question "If you could have my powers. Like me giving you them. Would you prefer to have them in TinkerTech form or not?"

    For a moment Taylor just stared at Eve "...You can give people powers? Like flying?" A little bit of excitement in her voice made the shorter girl raise a brow. Taylor nodded recognizing the question. "I looked up to Alexandria as a kid, a lot. Always wanted to fly. But my power...Can you give me the ability to fly?"

    Eve shook her head. "No, not yet. After the-After the bomb I needed a healing power. So, Admin whipped one up for me. I need to fight people before I can choose another power. But...If I were to get another power...How would you like to fly? TinkerTech or a pair of wings?" To punctate her question, Eve flicked both wings into existence and fluttered them. She was careful to keep them soft rather than sharp. Then she motioned them towards Taylor. "Go ahead, touch em."

    Taylor stared at the wings before carefully feeling them. "They're Soft." She murmured in surprise. "They don't look soft."

    Eden nodded. "They can be either. I can make them either harder than steel or as soft as feathers. So, wings or technology?"





    It was good to see [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]'s Host and [Eve.Eden] getting along. Perhaps once you and [SHAPER] fixed the issues pertaining to [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]s missing Physical nodes more data could be collected between the two of them.

    Although, [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR] seemed happy with the prospect of what her Host was doing with the excretions of a certain species of arthropods no doubt she was not happy with the lack of more conflict orientated data by her Host.

    No matter, you are sure with [Eve.Eden]'s guidance that [Host.Taylor] would soon escalate well enough.

    After hearing about [DENSITY]'s Hosts describing the 'Case Fifty-Threes' you became curious about the 'ping' (although you were hesitant to call it that) from [SATURATE]. It was wretched really, parts of the data were missing, some were corrupted, and others were simply nonsensical.

    In fact, you actually recognized some of the data that came from, thanks to your time with brute force power experimentation. The <Thinker Hub>'s own [KINETIC REGULATOR] and [REINFORCEMENT], why would those two Shards come together to create a newborn? Where were they? Perhaps more importantly, how did they do such a terrible job? Was the parasitic flesh ruining such things? Corrupting newborn Shards? Too many questions not enough Data.

    The Case Fifty-Three must all be Thinker Shards then, either newborn or damaged by the Enemy Hub. Which meant that it was another Task for you to complete later on. The data collected from [SATURATE] was disassembled and torn apart as you peered through the components. You are unsure of it, but any and all powers created using these...Mutations would cause just such a thing as their namesake. [Eve.Eden] would have her Human form if she were to swap out the power yes but it would still make these powers something she could not use in her 'civilian' life.

    You needed more information, more Mutations from your fellow Thinker Shards.






    "-ay but what about underwear?" Eve asked, legs hanging off the side of the couch and kicking at air.

    Taylor glanced up from her book and raised a brow. At the questioning silence Eve looked at Taylor, craning her head to look up at the teen sitting there. Eve was laying on the couch, Taylor was sitting there reading a book as she continued weaving her costume, every now and then taking a drink from the steaming mug of tea that sat on the end table next to the couch.

    It counted as hanging out. At least to Eve and Taylor it did.

    "Well, silk underwear. Like we're thinking of using it like armor, yeah. But silk feels nice and looks good. Bet you could make some nice racy or just plain comfortable underwear." She answered

    "Probably?" The slightly older teen had a bit of pink to her cheeks, Eve loved how easy it was to fluster the taller girl. "Seems like a waste though. There are laws against capes doing things nonpowered people do for money as well."

    Eve reached up and poked Taylor in the side causing the girl to flinch from the ticklish touch, she sent the shorter girl a flat look who sent one right back. "Taylor, how many nonHosts create armored underwear?"

    Taylor opened her mouth to respond, before huffing and going back to reading her book.

    Letting out a chuckle Eve went back to relaxing on the couch, listening to the gentle sounds of Taylor breathing and flipping through pages. It was nice. Being here, with someone who didn't expect anything from you except for you to be there. Felt like a hot bath without getting wet. A good way to unwind.

    [QUERY-INFORMATION.CASE53] and there went that. Admin didn't know how to relax, poor Shard was a workaholic. "Know anything about Case Fifty-Threes Taylor?"

    "Don't know what a Case fifty-three is, no." Taylor responded as she flipped a page over as she settled back into her spot on the couch.

    "Monster capes, powers messed up their bodies." Eve added, phishing for any possible information without needing to run to the library.

    This time Taylor did look up from her book. "Wait like Faultline's Crew? With the monster capes?"

    "The who?"

    "Faultline's Crew. She collects monster capes who have lost their memory." Taylor explained, turning to look at Eve. "Why?"

    "Wait what?" The shorter girl moved her legs off the arm of the couch and sat up. "I didn't hear about them and I looked up the capes of the gangs around here."

    "They aren't a gang, they're mercenaries. So I suppose they could be more like villainous rogues than villains. They don't have territory in the Bay, but they do have a base of operations. A nightclub in the Commercial District near the Downtown area. They rarely take jobs in the city though, so that they don't step on the hero's toes."

    "Shit. Guess I'm gonna have to visit them at some point. Admin wants to see why the Shards messed up their hosts. They aren't supposed to, so Admin thinks she and [Shaper] can fix them." Eve explained, causing Taylor to wince.

    "What did you say? Admin and who?" Taylor asked as she reached up and rubbed her forehead.

    "Shaper. Amy-er-Panacea's Shard."

    Nodding, the taller girl relaxed back onto the sofa. "Sorry. It just sounded like you said something else. Kind of hard to hear, where are you going to be going tonight by the way. If your motel room was bombed?"

    Eve shrugged. "Guess I need an actual base. Something I can live in or use for cape stuff. Hell, we could share it!"

    "Where are you going to get a base from?" Taylor questioned. "You're what, thirteen and you don't have any money."

    Eve held up her hands in mock offense. "Hey, first off it's fourteen. Alright. One four. And secondly, do you know how many abandoned buildings there are in every part of the city? With the both of us we could take one over and make it our lair. Easy peasy."

    "If we did do something like that, we would need room for my spiders to weave. Black Widows are highly territorial and cannibalistic" Eve frowned and looked at Taylor after the taller girl imparted that fact. "Alright. Creepy as hell. But you aren't going to be putting them in my side of the base."

    Eve grunted and got to her feet. "I'll try not to go too far for finding a base. Don't want to make it take hours for you to get there...Then again can't have it too close either. Once I find something I'll call you, alright?" Taylor nodded as she stood up. "I need to go check on my suit anyway. Make sure it's coming out alright."

    "Yeah, this was fun. We should do it again. Come lock me out will you." Eve said as she went to the front door. "Hey backpack." Taylor said as she picked it up and handed it off to Eve.

    "Ah Shit almost forgot it. Thanks. Cya Taylor." Then she was off, heading down the street.



    March Twenty-Ninth Monday Six pm, Taylor Hebert

    Almost as soon as Eve left dad's car pulled into the driveway the squeal of old brakes, Taylor let out a soft sign as she moved to the kitchen. She had forgotten to start making dinner, she was going to have started it earlier but Eve had distracted her. The news about the explosion, the shorter girl breaking down, the hug, and Taylor admitting that she hated tight enclosed spaces…

    It was hard to admit that, and she hadn't really wanted to do so. But watching Eve choke back tears, body hunched and trembling. It hit a bit too close to home.

    All said and done the short girl had been nice to be around. It felt awkward reading in the room with someone who wasn't when they were supposed to be hanging out. The quiet presence though had felt nice. Although the girl could certainly talk when she wanted to.

    "Silk blankets." Taylor murmured, Eve had spent a few minutes going over different products Taylor could make with her insects, specifically her spiders. Blankets, clothes, curtains, ropes, rugs….underwear.

    Taylor didn't know how to take the other girls' somewhat flirty nature. If 'somewhat' could be used to accurately describe it. It might be embarrassing, but the compliments on her hair were rather nice to receive.

    "Hey Taylor, still cooking?" Her father asked as he put his coat on the door's hook and locked said door.

    "I was distracted. Eve came over earlier and we just...hung out." Taylor explained as she poured pasta noodles into the boiling water she had set up.

    "Oh? Not working on the project?" He asked and Taylor shook her head before answering. "No we just...relaxed on the couch and we talked."

    "It's good to hear you have another friend, ever since you and Emma split up.." his voice trailed off and Taylor pursed her lips, she didn't want the reminder nor did she want to talk about Emma. But he wasn't wrong, it was nice to have another friend.

    "Taylor what the hell is a hundred dollar bill doing here?" Her father asked incredulously, Taylor blinked and turned her head to peer at the money in her father's hands.

    "There's a note." He stated dumbly, picking up the folded piece of paper that had been held down by one of the coasters for the table. "Dear Taylor, gangs are wack. Aim for the balls or throat….There's a drawn picture of you tasering Lung in the crouch." her father grinned and flipped the paper over to show her the note.

    There was indeed a crude drawing of Taylor tasering Lung with a comically big 'Z A P'. You could tell it was Taylor because the poorly drawn stick figure had long black curly hair, and a spider on her head. Lung had wings and was breathing fire in pain.

    How did she draw that without Taylor seeing it? Di-Oh, when Eve was bragging about how precise her phantom limbs could be earlier, in a suggestive way that made Taylor's face redden like a tomato.

    "Huh. Eve must care about you. You're going to have to thank her for this, hell I might have to. Pepper spray is good but a taser beats it at close range. Less chance of you getting yourself too" her father said as he set the note and money back on the table. For a moment he smiled wistfully and stared off into space before sighing mournfully and moving to take off his work boots.

    Taylor walked over to the table and picked up both the money and it's note. A strange warmth rising in her chest. "Yeah. I guess she does kind of care...:"



    Monday March Twenty-Ninth; ten-thirty pm, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin

    {Luck roll}

    "Well fuck me sideways." Eve looked over the Trainyard, almost the entire thing was a mess of old rusting rails, broken train carts, a few scrap heaps, and sturdy fences that still somehow remained upright after all this time. "This place is a fucking mess." It made her exceedingly glad that she had wings to fly with, or at least Shadow Limbs to carry her around or else she would have been stuck wandering around in this maze for hours.

    As it were, she would end up spending hours looking through it anyway

    It reminded her of the times her parents had thought about leaving the bay, and they went and looked over houses. Most had been either very expensive or simply too run down. Which was the problem for most of the possible places she scouted in the trainyard.

    Perhaps if she were some kind of building Tinker, then she could just start grabbing all the railcars and build a fucking base, make it look badass, with it's own shielding just to rub it in the PRT's face...or would that be the Protectorate?

    Either one would work.

    But no, she would probably pick something like that up in the future. Some kind of Tinkering ability. But right now she just has a very painful healing ability. If she ever found who rigged her room with explosives, she was going to give them the same exact treatment that she had gotten.

    But for now, a new base!

    She wouldn't be taking anything close to the actual train tracks that saw use and were maintained. That was a good way to get discovered by someone in due time. But near the Docks South and the Docks there was a large hill, and rather than leveling it one of the city planners had thought to use it as one of the entrances for an underground tunnel system to help with shipping things into and out of Brockton Bay, but after the shipping industry in Brockton Bay crashed thanks to the riots the project was abandoned.

    Nowadays Brockton Bay mostly sends electronics and pharmaceutical stock out through the trains. Which is why so few trains actually ran through the Trainyards and why most of the Trainyards were a tetanus maze of a mess.

    The two Train doors leading into the Tunnel Entrance were electronically operated, even if Eve knew how to open them and had electricity they were rusted to hell. Likely requiring more than just the doors to be replaced before there was any hope of actually getting the tunnel entrance open. The side entrance for people was barred with rusting metal shutters, the doors and windows rusted shut and probably quite sturdy if no one had broken in over the years.

    Which is why Eve carefully cut out one of the second story shutters and pushed it in with a Feathered Limb, wincing as it crashed to the tiled floor inside with an echo. She pulled herself into the now open window and glanced around, Feathered Limbs swapping out for Phantom ones, which began to feel around the room in long sweeping motions.

    She could feel trash, a knocked over set of lockers/file cabinets, and click-Wings shot up around her and Eve curled into a ball gritting her teeth. For a few seconds she stayed like that, waiting for the heat and force to wash over her. When the only heat that came over Eve was the warmth through the link with Admin, She uncurled and looked around.

    A sigh of relief escaped her, she glanced up at the light hanging from the ceiling, apparently they had abandoned the project before finishing up the basic stuff. "Hey this place still gets electricity? Why the fuck did they not disconnect it?" Eve questioned as she glanced around the room. It looked exactly as it had felt. Trash from construction, a set of file cabinets on the ground, and the annoying loud light switch that had scared the shit out of her.

    Making her way down the hallway Eve tried another light switch, several bulbs in the hall popped or didn't turn on at all. Although one did, which gave her ample enough light to move through without tripping, the hallway led to a large loading dock half built. Least two of the larger light fixtures still worked

    The ceiling crane was installed, but the two trenches in the floor didn't have tracks for the train, and there were still a few stacks of unlaid tile and rails, and general construction trash. But it was big and it was sort of obscure, and it was somewhat close to Taylor's house without being too close to endanger her identity.

    Hell it had fucking electricity.

    Eve checked her burner phone and groaned when no signal came through, not surprising considering the thick concrete and metal that made up the roof and walls. She ended up back at the window after flicking the light switch off, no need to announce that she was here. The burner only rang once before it was answered.

    "Eve? Find something already?" Taylor asked, sounding a bit sleepy

    "Yeah, I did in the Trainyard. It's big, closeish to your house depending on the route you take. It's that Tunnel they started but didn't finish. I had to cut my way in so it's really abandoned." Eve answered "At some point maybe we can check it out? When your costume is done?"

    "Actually, it might be done Wednesday." Taylor answered, Eve perking up. "I think we can manage that, although it will have to be when my dad's asleep."

    "Hell yes." Eve pumped her arm. "Alright. Go to sleep, night Taylor."

    "Goodnight Eve." The phone call ended and Eve put her phone away, moving back into the room. With her Shadow Limbs she carefully balanced the metal shutters back into place. Then she wrapped herself in her Feathered limbs before moving to the loading area. "If we can turn this place into a livable thing, and Taylor likes it. Well then we'll be pretty set up! Maybe we can even get a team of independents going...eh. Too far ahead. Let's see if Taylor actually likes the place first."

    [AGREEMENT/FAREWELL]

    "Yeah, goodnight Admin."





    Gains this Chapter:


    Imprint progress 21%
    Simulacrum Progress 5%
    Synchronization 2%
    Bud progress sacrificed for Grasping Hands
    NEGOTIATOR Ping gained (1)
    Bleedover trait Acquired
    Docks navigator trait Earned
    Trauma Trait updated
    Lost 100$
    Northern Tunnel base unlocked




    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE TWO):

    [] Urge [Eve.Eden] to look into Faultline's Crew

    [] Have [Eve.Eden] look up information on dangerous parahumans

    [] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [] Network Creation: Start construction of the Broadcast Module needed for longer ranged communication without frying [Eve.Eden]'s wetware. (REQUIRE: BROADCAST Ping) {1 of ???}





    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Build the Psionic Sensor Arrays (BURNS: NEGOTIATOR Ping)

    [] Study possible Powers/Upgrades, Aspects/Sidegrades with the Echoes, Pings, and Mutations you currently possess (Brings up Shard Power Menu)

    [] Something is wrong with your missing Lattices and the void where your Imprints would be. You are unsure of what to do. ( chance to ???) REQUIRES ??? -LOCKED

    [] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve.Eden]




    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [] Go hang out with Taylor

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Break up that Brothel.

    [] Ask the Wards and Protectorate if you can Borrow some powers




    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:

    [] Look for another base (Docks)

    [] Look for another base (South Docks

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Cleaning)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Lights)


    A/N: Couple thing to review
    Tough or not, Hybrid or not. Eve is still a 14 year old girl.
    I based the North Tunnel Entrance off the Eastern Tunnel in STALKER
    The luck roll was a 91, well done.
    Check the Character sheet
    Yes Mutation derived powers give Eve a physical mutation
    Thank you for reading, voting ends in 24 hours
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Urge [Eve.Eden] to look into Faultline's Crew
    [X] Network Creation: Start construction of the Broadcast Module needed for longer ranged communication without frying [Eve.Eden]'s wetware. (REQUIRE: BROADCAST Ping) {1 of ???}
    [X] Build the Psionic Sensor Arrays (BURNS: NEGOTIATOR Ping)
    [X] Ask the Wards and Protectorate if you can Borrow some powers
    [X] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.
    [X] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Cleaning)
     
    Last edited:
    [X] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension
    [X] Network Creation: Start construction of the Broadcast Module needed for longer ranged communication without frying [Eve.Eden]'s wetware. (REQUIRE: BROADCAST Ping) {1 of ???}
    [X] Build the Psionic Sensor Arrays (BURNS: NEGOTIATOR Ping)
    [X] Ask the Wards and Protectorate if you can Borrow some powers
    [X] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.
    [X] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Cleaning)
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.7
  • Threadmarks
    • Intertwined threads 2.7​
    March, Tuesday Thirtieth six thirty am, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin




    Sleeping on her Feathered Limbs wasn't the most restful sleep she had gotten, the guest room bed in Amy's house had beaten it by a long mile. But it was surprisingly more comfortable than sleeping on just a bedroll that sat on the carpet floor.

    "Morning Admin, thanks for the help with the wings. Better than the cold dirty floor." Eve's boot-covered feet hit the ground and she stood up with a groan, stretching to try and work out the kinks in her back.

    [GREETING/AGREEMENT/PLANS]

    "Alright. Yeah. We can go talk to Faultline's crew, if they're mercenaries then they're probably more interested in talking that straight up attacking me. If they do attack me then it's just more Data to be created. But before I do that." Eve began to flick the light switches to off, she still flinched from the really loud one in the office entrance. "I"m gonna clean this place up, maybe get some cheap outdoor furniture. If this place is going to be a base, we are going to need to work on it heavily."

    Popping the metal paneling off the door Eve peeked around, it was still early morning and no one was really about. So that made it easier to sneak out and place the paneling back as if she had never cut it out in the first place. "But first let's pick up a large breakfast. I'm still hungry as hell and I don't know if I'm going to need any healing in the future. Oh! I should-" Eve phished out her burner phone and sent off a text to Amy, just to let the BioKinetic know that she was okay

    ' Doin Good "3" ' The kissy face was vital, and no one could convince Eve otherwise.

    Picking up breakfast was a matter of moving through the mess of a maze people called the Trainyards and once in the Docks taking off using her wings to grab something from the food venders near the Boardwalk. The man that gave Eden three egg and sausage biscuits didn't actually look all that surprised to have a cape getting food from him. Eve chalked it off as early morning apathy. Or maybe his food was just enjoyed by capes.

    She used to feel that, the early morning apathy, when she had a more human brain. Guess having an organic semi computer for a brain had benefits. "...Something about that should bother me." She murmured under her breath before shrugging and biting into her food while sitting on one of her wings. The view of the city was nice, and the air above it was surprisingly clean. Made eating above the clouds very pleasant.




    A Broadcast Array module. Neither of the [BROADCAST]s would require such a thing as their Shardware had everything required to do their assigned tasks without any aid needed. Fortunately, you were not a [BROADCAST] Shard. Unfortunately, that meant that you had to expend resources and energy to have your Construction Drones build the massive spiraling, bristling with needles sharp enough to rend reality, helix tower on the surface of your CoreSelf.

    It was the first step in building a <Network>, at least until you had one of the [BROADCAST]s on your side. Regardless it was the first step, and the quietest one to take. It was unlikely to draw too much attention, and with how the <Warrior Hub> was acting you very much doubted the golden moron was paying much if any attention at all as he saved felines from trees.

    Why he would not choose to protect possible Hosts to be over mammalian felines was...boggling. Yes. Mind Boggling.

    Cats of all things.

    You had been constructing the Broadcast Array Module all while [Eve.Eden] slept. Any other Shard may not have been able to build such a module so fast, but you were an Administrative Shard. Controlling your Construction Drones came to you as breathing came to a healthy Human.

    It would likely be finished by the end of the day, even with the Psionics Sensor Arrays you were to be constructing. Anticipation was a feeling you were becoming well aware of at this point.

    You might have to ask [ABSORPTION] (or demand) some of his collected energy. You've burned through a portion of yours since this mess of a Cycle started. Burned a year off your life. Tch.




    It was really weird buying things in costume.

    Oh yeah, buying food was one thing. Capes had to eat too after all. Aside from the ones really fucked up by their Shards apparently. But buying cleaning supplies? Yeah, it was just two brooms with dust-pans and two mops with extra mop pads. But it felt like she was cleaning up after a murder or something.

    Even the clerk checking her out of the store gazed at her with a confused look as she held the mops and brooms in one Shadow Limb while her arms carried the mop pads. Of course, after the motel, Eden took a lot more care in getting around the city.

    She had bought the supplies farther away from the Trainyards near the Downtown area actually, then half flown and half walked with her Shadow Limbs with only a bit of slinging involved. It made the trip last nearly an hour, but if it protected both the Base and Taylor better then Eve would just deal with the longer travel time. Even if it was a bit annoying to waste energy taking the less efficient path.

    Honestly there were plenty of things Eve saw herself doing with the powers she gained. Most were heroic, some were villainous, a few even mercantile in nature. But using her Phantom Limbs to help her sweep and mop were not among them. She also used a Shadow Limb to help scoot the heavier debris around when the commercial brooms could not do so. She ended up dumping most of the trash in the lower officer area, where one was supposed to enter in through a door that was barred with metal paneling.

    Same to the mop pads which were near black by the time she would swap them out. But the tiled flooring of the base now smelled like somewhat nice chemicals and weren't dusty and dirty as hell. "I swear to god Taylor had better like this place. I barely cleaned in my old house, and here I am using my damn Limbs to clean." The Trump grumped softly, "Well at least the place looks and smells better now...I really hope Taylor likes the damn place."

    [QUERY.PLANS]

    "Yeah. I'll do just that Admin, right after I get some furniture. Need some place to sit, and if some of those light fixtures are busted I'm getting something to light up the Loading Area, a chair or two and a table. Probably all folding. I don't have a lot of money so it'll be the cheap stuff you know?"

    [ACCEPTANCE]

    "Knew you'd understand." Eve said with a soft sigh. "I think it'll work out. Just need an easy way for Taylor, or Amy if she runs off with me, to get up into the place and we would be set. Well, that and getting supplies plus some damn lights going." Eve sighed as she turned off the lights and made her way out of her base.

    It was during the third trip back to her base that she got a call on her burner phone; it was a bit precarious to answer it while flying and carrying a folding table in her arms. But she managed with her dexterous third Phantom Limb. "Yellow." Eve stated

    "Eden, why are you flying around the city with lawn chairs?" A rather tired Miss Militia questioned and Eden barked out a laugh "Seriously? Ha-hahaha They fucking have you calling me for that?" When she wheezed, Eden had to scramble to not drop the table. "Holy Shit that's great! 'Miss Militia Eden has been spotted flying through town with furniture! Quick! Call her!' pfftahaha!"

    She ended up coughing as she swooped low into the docks before taking a turn towards the Boat graveyard "Sorry! Sorry. Just, holy hell. I got a new base and I'm furnishing it. OH WAIT WAIT - Is it alright if I come to the PRT and do some power testing in a bit?"

    Miss Militia seemed a bit surprised by the question, although she rallied quickly. "We could arrange something, yes. You said last time that you gained a new power. A Regenerator."

    "Well it's more like excruciatingly painful healing. But I plan on upgrading it later. Making it stronger you know? Anyway can I power test with the Wards? I'd like to actually meet them and I need to see their powers" Eden explained as she flicked the dials over from her Feathered Limbs to her Shadow Limbs, starting to walk.

    "It's something I can request of the Director, but for the moment the Wards are in school. So if you-"

    "OH wait, sorry. Really. I just remembered something that I really needed to ask. Can I have Armsmaster's number? If I get a Tinker ability I kinda want to be able to talk to him." Eden interrupted. "Cause he's apparently like one of the top five Tinkers in the country or something like that and I want to know what he thinks of TrumpTech. It's TinkerTech that copies parahuman abilities. Which is fucking cool if I must say so."

    "...Directly copies?" Miss Militia asked before something beeped on her end. "Eden, can you hold for a few minutes? Something important has come up."

    "Yes and no. How about I call you back in thirty minutes after I stop carrying this table around? It's getting fucking heavy. ByeO!" She clicked her phone off and shoved it back into her hoodie pocket.

    "Fucking hell." Eve sighed as she made it back to her base, slipping in through the second story window and setting the panelling back in place as she went to set the table up. Two lounge chairs that could fold into regular chairs sat next to the table, with a standing floodlight sitting near one of the wall outlets. It wasn't near enough to light up the Loading Area, but it helped. Like a particularly powerful lamp.

    Maybe once the entrance thing is solved Eve can get bookshelves in here for Taylor to fill. She couldn't help but smile softly as the memory of the smell of steamy tea and rasp of paper came to the forefront of her mind. Despite how slow it was just to lay down and relax, Taylor just had a quiet presence about her. Made it seem like you were conversing with her even if you hadn't uttered a word.
    Memories like that seemed so much more crisp than before. She could easily sort which memories were before the date with Amy, and which were after by quality alone. The new memories felt so clear, concise. Was it a perfect recall like what Miss Militia had? Or was it just the consequences of having a brain less human and more Shard?

    Would more of her change in the future? If so, then how much of her would change? Too much? Too Little? Just the right amount? Just the right amount for what? Did the Simurgh have anything to do with it? Were any of her actions her own?

    Eve frowned as she set the paneling back into place and began to fly high into the air, wings wrapped around herself as she rocketed upwards.

    "Dammit I hate being introspective." Eden sighed softly pulling out her burner phone, she tapped out Miss Militia's number. Holding the phone away as she slowed to a stop, not wanting to hear that stupid ringtone.

    "Hello Eden." The girl blinked as Armsmaster's voice rang through the phone rather than Miss Militia's. "I was told you wanted my contact information to possibly discuss Tinker technology."

    "Ah. Yeah in the future I might have a Tinker power that's specialization is copying parahuman powers. I think I can upgrade it with others. But the ideas for it….it's like a fog. I can only make out the outline of them." Eden answered as she turned to face the commercial district, mind starting to wander back to Taylor.

    What school did Taylor go to? There were two schools in the Docks South, one that she was sure started with a C-Clandestine? and Winslow. Where did the girls that bullied her live?

    "That's something that interests us both actually." A female voice came over the phone, one that Eve hadn't heard before. Eden glanced to the phone as she began to slowly make her way over to the Commercial District

    "Who might you be?" Eden questioned, having expected Armsmaster's slightly gruff voice and not some twenty something year old's with an accent Eve couldn't place.

    "Ah, my apologies. I'm Dragon. Armsmaster thought it prudent for us to speak to one another. Considering the topic at hand." The world famous Tinker stated.

    Ignorant of the cape scene she might still somewhat be. Eve knew about Dragon for a multitude of reasons. One being the DragonTech phones and other cool things the Canadian Tinker made. Hell Eve once had a Dragon hand-me-down phone. It was a badass, until Eve burned it of course.

    And she ran the Birdcage.

    Suddenly quite a bit more wary, Eve hummed softly in annoyance. "Yes, and aside from the possibility of copying parahuman powers with tinker technology, what exactly is the topic at hand?"

    "You may not know, but I am currently a member of the Guild. We deal with international threats, most of the likes of which are S-Class threats. Tell me, do you have or can you gain a power that nullifies parahuman power effects?" Dragon asked, a tinge of hope in her voice.

    "Yeah. I kinda have something like that already. What, is this a recruitment offer or something?" Eden asked. "Because I do terrible with authority, least of all taking orders. I like my freedoms."

    "Even if I wished to recruit you to the Guild, that's not within my responsibilities. But I wished to ask you if you knew anything about the Grey Boy bubbles." Dragon explained. Eve pursed her lips and thought about them. "Some stuff I guess? SlaughterHouse Ten bullshit right? I think I heard something about it on the news once."

    "Grey Boy was one of the founding members of the SlaughterHouse ten. He could set up spheres of looping time and was the only one who could enter the loops. During these loops, the only changes to the victim to carry over are those he inflicts on them, such as a cut or burn, and in the progression of their thoughts. Several hundred people are currently still stuck in those time loops." Dragon continued

    "And now you want to see if I can break the bubbles huh?" Eden let out a tired sigh. "Well maybe. Maybe is the best answer I can give. I have some commitments in the next two days. But if I were to attempt such a thing...could I bring a plus one?" she asked

    "That is a distinct possibility." Dragon stated "You work with someone?"

    "Going to try. They-Well. I have some things to review about the bubbles. Thank you both for speaking with me, but I need to look up information on the Grey Boy bubbles, and deal with an inhouse issue. Dragon, anyway I can get in contact with you about them?"

    "Yes. I have a number reserved for such a thing. I'll send it to you through a text. It was nice talking to you Eden, I hope you accept the offer." The line cut off and Eve shivered as she put her phone away.

    "Shit...Admin do you think we can actually break them? Save lives?" Did She even want to do it? What if she couldn't? What if they expected more from her just because she could?

    [POSSIBILITY-DATA.REQUIRED] … [CONFIDENCE]

    Eve smiled. "Yeah. Thanks Admin. We'll see if Taylor wants to come with us. Paint her as a hero too you know?...I don't think Amy would want to come. She's busy as is...But these people were hit by the SlaughterHouse Ten she might be needed...fuck me. I don't want to deal with this world changing shit."




    There were very few Shards that dealt with time. Both Hubs having long ago decided that attempting to travel backwards through time to renew energy would be impossible for something so large and multidimensional as they were. Attempting such an act would drain any and all energy they had stored and even then likely would not succeed.

    How could Data be created from trapped Hosts?

    Of course a few Shards dealt with time, like [RESTORE], but it was more of a multidimensional accessing and copying than true time travel. Worked well enough, but not good enough. Something to study once [Eve.Eden] decided if she wished to go and see these 'Grey Boy Bubbles'. Perhaps you could get data off of them.

    For now, you were ripping [NEGOTIATOR]'s Ping apart for every scrap of useful data, as you did so more Construction Drones were created as many were busy either stripping your Alternative Planet of resources or finishing the touches on the Broadcast Array Module.

    Newly built, the Construction Drones began to build upon yourself. Piling resources and melding them onto your mass. The Psionic Sensor Array would effectively look akin to a set of mountains with a side hollowed out and facing the other to bounce Psionic Energy between themselves much like the Radar Dishes Humans used for sound and long distance communication of data. Once they were done, you would begin looking for [Eve.Eden]'s Psionic Shade.

    After that? Then you would need to construct a form of Anchor in order to secure her Psionic Shade. Possibly You would just need [ABSORPTION] and [ARMAMENTARIUM] to form a stable Anchor.

    Perhaps once [Eve.Eden] decides to visit the Protectorate Hosts….




    It took a bit, and Eve asking a drunk dude for directions, but she eventually found the damned Palanquin. The fourteen year old girl didn't have much experience with nightclubs but it looked decent enough. It was rather early in the day so there wasn't a line of people outside, although Eve could hear muffled music from inside. A large man stood outside the dark metal doors.

    Eden did a double take as she saw through his skin, bones clearly on clear display. Small shell things growing in spiral forms in a random pattern across his exposed skin. He was also really, really, fat. Wearing a long coat and nicely made jeans and no shirt. "Uh. Hi?"

    The man turned to her, white featureless eyes moving in their sockets as his gaze swept over her. He looked weirdly professional with his arms held behind his back rather than cross across his chest like one would assume a bouncer to do. "Good evening." The man spoke, a deep and accented voice, carefully spoken. "I do not believe Miss Faultline has any meetings scheduled today, might I inquire as to the purpose of coming to the Palanquin so formally dressed?"

    "Ah. See I'm an expert on powers...God that sounds stupid. I know how powers work, and I might be able to see exactly why your Shard decided you needed to look like an overfilled water balloon all the time." Eden stared up at him, folding her arms across her chest, wings still out and folded up against her back. Her third Limb was securely wrapped around her body like usual. "Might be able to change that too. Don't know exactly, I have to see your powers in action and have my Shard speak with yours."

    "If that is so, then I shall alert Miss Faultline to your claims. Although I shall similarity warn you off of attempting to pull wool over our eyes Miss…?" The disfigured man stated in that deep rumble of a voice

    "No wool, but no guarantee on results right off the bat. I, and my Shard, need time to study what exactly went wrong when you gained powers, and it's Eden." Eden reiterated as she stood next to the Case Fifty-Three. Nodding, he pulled a phone from one of the pockets of his long coat, hit two buttons and held the phone up to his ear. "Greetings Miss Faultline, we have an unexpected guest in formalwear at the front doors. They are neither asking for work, nor are they requesting we take a job. Rather they are offering their expertise on the condition of Case Fifty-Threes...Eden, yes."

    "I must apologies for my rudeness, the name is Gregor the Snail." he stated, causing Eden to cock her head to the side. "If you would be so kind as to step inside and head up the stairs near the back to the second floor, simply follow the hall until you come to the last room on the right. That is Miss Faultline's office. She wishes to speak with you." Gregor the Snail stepped over and opened one of the doors for Eden, the music suddenly a lot louder.

    "Thanks." She offered as she stepped into the loud nightclub.

    For a moment she just glanced around, taking in the sight of a place she technically wasn't legally allowed to enter. There wasn't a single window in the place, and the dance floor was sparsely populated with the main attraction being the bar tucked next to said dance floor. She didn't waste anymore time other than the curative inspection to sate her curiosity.

    She moved her way to the stairs and hummed. "Lot of Parahumans here huh Admin." she could feel Admin communicating with them in the background. Never enough to get the conversation itself, but she could feel the difference between silence and active conversation.

    [ANSWER-NUMBER]

    "Huh, that many? Only four have the <Thinker>'s Shards? OH you know one? That's great! They aren't messed up like the others though? Only a little? On the Connection?" Eden paused as she realized she was at the end of the hall, where Gregor had told her to go. "Alright, let's talk to the boss lady, see if we can't help everyone involved ay?"

    Eden pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Well damn, that's a pretty nifty costume." She meant that as well. The woman sitting at the desk opposite of the door wore some kind of oriental robe mixed into swat gear and it was pretty fucking badass. The welding mask just kinda topped it off. Maybe something more military would have fit better though, like a gasmask with polarized lens.

    The woman had her elbows resting on the desk she sat at, hands folded over each other in such a way that Eve felt a bit like they were in a movie and this was some kind of fancy backroom deal.

    ...Shit it was a fancy backroom deal...technically speaking….

    "Hello Eden. While Gregor informed me of your reason to come to the Palanquin I would like a more detailed explanation from the source." Her voice was youngish, but sharp as a whip and professional to boot. Not unexpected from a mercenary.

    "I can do that. Don't know if you'll believe it though. Most people hear 'explanation for powers?' and come up with radically wrong answers. Basically I can talk to what gives me my powers." Eden twitched her wings as she came to stand behind the chair set in front of the woman's desk. "It can talk to the other things that give people powers. Sometimes, together we can fix issues regarding the Connection between people and what causes powers."

    "You heard of Case Fifty-Threes and naturally decided to come to the highest concentration of them within Brockton Bay." Faultline stated. "Despite our status as villains."

    Eden shrugged. "Either we meet amicably or we fight. I get what I want either."

    "What exactly do you want Eden?" Faultline straightened up, motioning a hand towards the young parahuman. "I have heard of you, helping the Protectorate take down two of the Empire's capes. But you are here speaking to me but not escalating to a fight right off the bat. Why."

    Eden let out a sigh, leaning back onto her wings which stayed in place unmoving from her weight placed on them. "I don't think I quite care about the Hero and Villain divide. I'm not interested in keeping society stable or changing the world for the better. Honestly might have been a villain had my first few days of being a parahuman turned out differently than they had."

    She shrugged, folding her arms across her chest as she stared into the opaque welding mask's visor, her own golden opaque visor showing nothing in return. "But I get stronger from fighting, and I promised my Shard that I would help her gain data through using my powers. Admin cares about her fellow Shards. So her helping them will likely help your own."

    "You want to help your Shard then."

    Eve just shrugged. "Do you want the off-" she paused as the door opened and Faultline stiffened. Turning, she spotted a young girl in an overly large royal purple sweater. The young girl had long platinum blonde hair, near white. Without a word the girl ambled up to Eden and raised her hands to gently feel the purple crystal wings

    "Soft?" She murmured as Eve immediately swapped her wings to be soft instead of razors as she saw the girl reaching for them.

    "Admin, who's connected to her?" Eden bit her lip hoping that the answer was 'none'. This girl didn't even look older than ten and the way she stared absently ahead. Kids shouldn't trigger. They shouldn't have to deal with that weight.

    [ANSWER-GATEWAY]

    Eden bit back a curse. "You like my Wings?" She asked, although the girl didn't respond as she ran her fingers through the crystal feathers. Turning Eden looked to Faultline. "So...I'm curious now. I can ask my Shard or you can tell me about her. Depending on the answer I don't smear you on the wall."

    Faultline tensed lightly. "We rescued her from the parahuman asylum where she was forced to stay. Her powers negatively affect her mental state. She is well taken care of, your threats are unneeded."

    [AGREEMENT]

    Eve relaxed at Admin's confirmation, having asked [GATEWAY] apparently. "Sorry. Di-It wasn't nice to assume such a thing of your group." She stated, censoring her words making her pause to think on what she was saying. "...Admin?"

    Eden glanced at the girl, who had just grabbed a handful of Feathered Limb and seemed to be content with it. "...is there something we can do to help?"




    It was exceedingly relieving to meet a <Thinker Hub> Shard that wasn't a mentally degraded newborn. You had already sent off the information required to each of the newborns for them to contact each other using the short ranged Input/Output Beacon method you had been using before your Broadcast Array module had been built.

    A [PROTOCOL/DEFENCE/CONSTRUCTION] had gone out to the <Thinker Hub> Shards, telling them how to detach the parasitic pseudo-flesh from their CoreSelf without suffering an attack and how to keep ahold of it while you worked on the ability to take said pseudo-flesh for your own consumption.

    Although with how [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]'s physical CoreSelf is damaged, perhaps you would have to end up giving the flesh to her for Repairs. Either way, as long as it is not bothering and actively sabotaging your fellow <Thinker Hub> Shards.

    [QUERY-HOST] You send to GATEWAY, a Shard deployed even less so than yourself. There were only two Cycles aside from the currently ongoing one where GATEWAY was deployed. They had an imprint for each Host, so you supposed right now that they had only three.

    [GREETINGS/HOST.CONNECTION.STRENGTH] You receive, and yes that does seem like it would be an issue for such a young Host. You have already done something that would fix such an issue, but you also promised to speak to [Eve.Eden] before doing anything to modify a Shard's interaction with their Host in such a way.




    [INFORMATION.REQUEST]

    Eden sighed softly, turning to look back at Faultline, the entire conversation between the two Shards having taken less than three seconds. "So, when her power flares up she doesn't exactly act lucid right?" she asked as soft moss began to grow along the walls.

    "An unfortunate side effect of her power, yes." Faultline agreed. "When she's lucid, her power functions to a much lesser degree."

    "And if that could be changed?" Eden questioned as she fluttered her Feathered Limbs, the small girl letting go of her handful of crystal feathers. A Thick cloud began to form above the three. It looked very soft, even if Eden knew it was just dense water vapor.

    "You're proposing that you could change the way her power works, but in what way? How?" Faultline ordered as she brought both her hands into her lap.

    "The Connective Tissue in her Corona Pollentia is sparse, barely holding her Gemma in its proper place and allowing her sporadic control. Otherwise [Gateway]-" Faultline twitched and the young girl smiled softly "-would use her dreams for her to roam the environments it wants to show her. Rather than this current situation. All it would need to fix the issue would be growing more Connective tissue. A simple fix, but not one most Shards would come up with. Do you want me to help her or not."

    Eden stared Faultline down, ready and willing to slam the well dressed woman through the wall and to grab the girl before going. Like hell if she would just leave the girl walking around in a daze for the benefits of Faultline's fuckers.

    "I am admittedly wary of any changes to brains." Faultline answered. "I'm sure you can understand why."

    "My own brain needed to be modified." Eden stated. "When Admin speaks to me, it's a flood of information that before my own brain being modified gave me crippling migraines. I needed Connective tissue across my brain and down into my spine for me to handle it...If it's trust you're lacking. Then I can offer just that." Without any further words Eve reached up and peeled her helmet off, then her ski mask. Her face and helmet hair were exposed to Faultline, who seemed to relax into her chair.

    "Names Eve. Howdy do." Eden stated "Now, do you want me to help the poor girl or not."

    "Giving plenty of ground in giving a villain your identity, and helping one of its members." Faultline slowly stood, leaning onto her desk with both hands. "You don't worry about the PRT labeling you a villain?"

    Eden rolled her eyes. "Don't care about the sh-stupid labels. A little girl needs my help. I'll give it."

    The silence grew after that. "And, the connective tissue. There's simply too little of it, yes?"

    Eden simply nodded, greyish blue eyes still on Faultline's visor before the older women spoke up. "That does fit with what the asylum had on her, yes. You want nothing in exchange for helping her?"

    A slow shake of her head was what Eden gave as an answer. "I don't collect favors, and I don't help people for money."

    Faultline slowly eased herself back into her chair. "What will you need to help her?"

    Eden slipped her ski mask back on, then her helmet. "Admin, go ahead and tell GateWay what to do."

    [AFFIRMATION]

    Eden nodded. "That should be it. I think we're done for today."

    "And the Case Fifty-Threes you proclaimed that you might be able to help? Faultline questioned

    "She should be showing signs of a better Connection tomorrow. I'll pop in at some point, check and see that she's okay and that should prove me correct. Then I can help out your allies." Eden stated. "After all I came to get information and I have it. Could always use more. So maybe I'll visit tomorrow. Maybe the day after… My schedule is a little busy."

    "I see." Faultline muttered before nodding. "I do hope you will call before you visit next time."

    "I'll make sure to do so." Eden stated, starting to turn around. "And I do hope it helps." she offered as she walked out of the doors, immediately coming face to face with a teen who was orange, his blue eyes blinked and he stood up, tail whipping about. "You're the one who said that she could help us?"

    "Yeah, you don't look so bad though." Eden stated.

    "Maybe not." he chuckled. "But my skin and any of my fluids are poisonous, you touch me with your bare skin and then you're on the floor giggling for however long the dosage gives you."

    "Damn, that must suck. Well it's possible that I can help in the future. Right now I gotta go meet with some people and prepare for some important stuff. But if I find out how to help, you'll be the first to hear." Eden told him. "So uh, do you sell any of your fluids? Either people use it to get high, or it's a good takedown weapon. I think the PRT might like to buy something like that. Could pad your wallet."

    "Yeah, Some people come to the club just to have a good time with it, don't think the Whitehats would buy anything from us though." The orange in the shape of a teenager replied, shaking his head causing unnaturally red hair to swish around his face

    "Ever killed?" Eden asked

    "What? No it's not poisonous like that." He replied, blinking in surprise at the question.

    "Then they might buy it even with your uh…" She motioned back to the door. "Ya know? Anything to get a leg up on the criminals." Eden waved him off. "Alright. I'm going, busy busy."

    No one tried anything as Eden left the nightclub, more people having decided to filter onto the dance floor while the young heroine had been in the meeting. "Get anything useful from all that Admin?"

    [AFFIRMATION]

    "That's good." Eve huffed as she took to the air, giving Gregor a wave before darting off towards the PRT building. Once she was high enough in the air, she shielded herself from the wind with her Feathered Limbs and pulled out her phone to check the time.

    "Ehhh They should be out by now. If they aren't then I'll just do it with some of the older heroes." Instead of dialing Miss Militia, Eden called Armsmaster, who thankfully picked up quickly rather than make her wait.

    "Eden. I presume this call isn't about the Grey Boy Bubbles." Armsmaster stated right off the bat.

    "Nah, but I would like to come in and have a fight with some of you or the Wards. A bit of power testing as it were. Also wanted to know how the Sentine-the Noctis Cape life's treating you. Make sure no issues are cropping up."

    "So far no issues have cropped up. If you wish to undergo power testing then I would like to invite you to the Rig to do so. As for fighting Wards, that will have to go through the Director. She has operational control over the Wards."

    "Weird but alright! Ask her for me if you will and I'll be at the Rig in less than Thirty seconds. Aegis is a pretty strong brute right? Cause I've been wanting to check to see whether my Feathered Limbs are Manton limited and he won't die if I cut off a Limb." Eden explained

    "There are other methods to test the Manton Limit, without injuring a Ward." Armsmaster stated, disapproval lightly dusting his voice.

    "Yeah, but I'm not gonna be a psycho and attempt to cut small animals up. Also I get stronger from fighting! This is just the way for me to fight you guys without going villain, that's a good thing ain't it?" Eden offered "Besides. Me and the Wards are gonna be fighting together at some point, might as well get used to each other before a conflict pops up."

    There were a few seconds of silence before Armsmaster spoke "Come to the Rig, if the Director allows it some of the Wards may assist you in power testing."

    "Awesome! Hope to see you and [Efficiency] there." With that Eden clicked the phone shut after ending the call. For a moment she worked her jaw. "Guess while we're there we might as well try and get on their good side. Anyone we really need to try and get Data from?"

    [OPTIONS]

    Eve's pupils dilated as she stared at nothing, all the information flowing through her mind. "Woa-Wait you name the fucking powers?"

    [AFFIRMATION]

    "Wait, do all Shards do that? What's Taylor's power called?" Eden asked

    [KHEPRI]

    Eden shivered as she approached the coastline. Something about that name was off in a way she couldn't describe. A sort of quiet presence to it "Khepri...Damn. Fits Taylor perfectly."

    For a moment Eve just flew over the water "So uh, the Peak humanity thing would give me abs huh? Like good abs? Grind meat on them? Would Amy like Abs? Maybe Taylor?..." She sighed and shook her head. "I need more friends, or at least more dating options or vice versa. I guess Density's Hosts might be cool but they seemed like they were hyper focused on the ABB, not that I blame them really. Guess you go after what affects you most."

    [CLUSTER]

    Eden slowed her speed. "Uh. Admin. Let's not do anything already? i-I mean it's very nice that you offered, but I would really like it if I met someone and they just like me for me, rather than it being because of a Shard. No offense. But you have enough work without adding my love life to the load."

    [AGREEMENT/TEASING]

    Eden's face flushed and she began to fly towards the rig. "...You win." She grumbled, cheeks hot from the rush of blood.




    With [Eve.Eden] nearing the Protectorate Host's base of operations, the Broadcast Array Module's construction is finally completed leaving you with the final testing of it: Contacting another Shard.

    Unfortunately unless you had updated the Network protocols for them, no <Thinker Hub> Shards were going to be able to even receive your summons….and you did not keep active signatures of all of the <Warrior Hub>'s Shards. That left you with only the ability to contact Shards you had come within the range of the Input/Output Beacon.

    How frustrating.

    It seemed that to remedy such a thing, you will have to wait until [Eve.Eden] and other Hosts gathered to engage in conflict with one of the |SUPER WEAPON|s. Exciting, no doubt in such a battle, data creation would exceed normal parameters.

    But whom to contact with the Broadcast Array Module?

    A human might remark this as a special occasion, the beginning of something new or equally sentimental. So why not connect with one of the Shards you first gave New Network Protocols to?

    You did not feel like dealing with [SHAPER]'s energetic begging for pushing their Host to create Data. However you did wish to see how [WASTE] was handling it's new protocols for Host communication. Like you, the newborn seemed to love their Host.

    You fill the Broadcast Array module with energy, the mono-edged needles rippling with black lightning as they open sub-channels in the fabric of reality.

    [TEST/GREETINGS/QUERY] you send off to the Shard you had only communicated with twice before. Querying them about how they are taking the new communication protocols.

    [SHOCK.GREETINGS/ANSWER] Seems that WASTE had not expected for you to contact her. Ah, and it seems that her Host is thinking on the matter of renaming WASTE to something else. Something more inline with the Shard's partnership with its Host.

    [ENCOURAGEMENT/PROTOCOLS-SIGNATURE] You fully endorse the change, maybe it would stop the Shard from acting so morose. Besides, it would help avoid any identity-based mistakes in the future.

    Non-Vital Shards should at the very least take initiative and make themselves distinguishable from one another. Unlike METAL, or GLEAM.

    Although considering WASTE's defenses, if your calculations are correct, and they usually are. You could see her possibly becoming a Vital Shard within the future for one of the Hubs.

    "Alright, into the Lion's Den. Let's get ready for any kind of shit they might pull." [Eve.Eden] said as she went to land upon one of the vehicular landing zones.

    You give your farewell to WASTE, wishing her luck on their search for a new designation, before cutting the connection. The Echo you gained was only icing on the successful testing of your new Broadcast Array Module.




    Eden slowly looked over the Rig, the dome of energy protecting what can only be described as a patch of a futurists dream city. Two white spires sat on opposite ends of the platform, angler buildings of dark metal and glass stood at the center. The main building looked like a mixture of a pyramid's base and a skyscraper's tower. Two plain small skyscrapers sat next to the center building, all three carried accents of white. It reminded Eve somewhat of her costume, except the lack of gold.

    Also two fucking missile batterys, of which Eve had not known about in the slightest.

    Two armored figures moved out onto the landing pad, one in gold gladiator armor, with a lion shaped helmet and a skintight white bodysuit. The other wore a pitch black bodysuit with strips of gunmetal grey metal connected loosely by chains, it made him look like a futuristic diving suit mixed with a suit of Knights armor. "It's good to finally meet you, Eden, the name is Triumph and this here is Adamant. The man in golden armor motioned to himself and then to his silent metal companion as he spoke

    "Hey. Mind telling me what entails power testing? First time doing something like this." Eden asked, folding her arms across her chest as she flicked her dial over and her wings disappeared. The two men immediately tensed, causing Eden to cock her head to the side "What?" She asked

    "We would prefer it if you kept your limbs visible. So that we don't have to worry about Master/Stranger protocols." Triumph stated. Eden rolled her eyes, even if the mask prevented them from seeing it. "Alright, fine." She flicked her dials back over and three Ghostly Limbs exploded out of her, curling around her body. Smog, steam, and smoke wisping off of them all the while.

    The hero named Adamant motioned to the arms before folding his arms and cocking his head to the side. "Not a big fan of talking huh?" Eve questioned before shrugging. "These Limbs are designed for Trumping. Part of the reason I came here was to test them out."

    "Most power testing is simple stuff, the more esoteric stuff is in specialized facilities out of state. While the Protectorate would like to have to come to one of those facilities in the future this is good enough for the time being." Triumph answered as he motioned for Eden to follow. Heading through several winding corridors that all looked very much alike, the three parahumans ended up in a plain square room made of tiles of metal, two men in lab coats with clipboards stood nearby.

    Despite being called power testing, it mostly ended up with her telling the lab coats what she could do. Which Eden underplayed, except for her ability to speak with Admin. Both men looked rather skeptical at her words, but she didn't really care. There were some weights, but Eve couldn't really lift anything beyond the seventy-five pound weights, at least with her human hands. She lifted two tons with two Shadow Limbs, even if it left her body feeling a bit worn out at the end of it.

    Then she got to be on the receiving end of one of Triumph's shouts before she used all three of her Ghostly Limbs to redirect it up into the ceiling. The lab coats seemed to like that a lot, because they began to whisper amongst each other.

    "So, can I fight the Wards or not?" Eden asked. "Kinda been wanting to meet some of them anyway. I won't go super hard on them or anything."

    Triumph nodded. "The Director allowed it on the conditioning that you go through power testing. Seeing as you've done so, I think it can happen." The tone of voice he had did not make him sound very happy about it, but Eve couldn't have cared less.

    Eden would get Admin the data she wanted. That was that.

    "So, is there some sort of fighting area? Here?" Eden asked, Triumph motioned to the other, silent hero. "Adamant here will show you to it, I have to speak with the scientist here about something."

    That was probably something important, but Eve did not want to stay in this damned place any longer than she had too. Her Ghostly Limbs were feeling a lot of TinkerTech and it all meshed together into an ungodly mess of noise. Scanners, the targeting systems, the shield itself, a mass of what she assumed was Armsmaster's lab. All barely disconcernable from one another.

    Still she was glad when Adamant finally brought her to a room that had a massive square padded with boxing ring mats and with large panels of some kind of Tinkered safety glass.

    "Oh I didn't know they were bringing a crash test dummy in for us." Eve turned to face the sound and chuckled as she saw Clockblocker with Aegis by his side. And a blond girl in an armored green dress. Which to Eden's opinion was a total eyesore.

    "Hi Cock-Fuck." Eden slapped a hand onto her helmet and groaned as the boy in white laughed. "Dammit, I should have said that slower. Hello Aegis, and uh….Vista?" The boy in red nodded, "Good to see you aren't still hurt by the crash." he said.

    "Why are you here?" Vista asked "You aren't joining the Wards and from what I heard you haven't even signed up as an independent."

    "Well I'm paying Aegis back for him causing me to crash, and I wanted to test our powers and to do that? I need parahumans. Villains tend to get cranky when I'm around so it's hard to test things on them. Also Aegis won't die from a lost limb." Eve explained as she motioned to the ring.

    "Who wants to fight first? I'll take multiple people on at the same time if you're scared." She teased. "Oh but first, Aegis, can I try to chop off one of your hands?" She flicked her dial over and showed off a Feathered Limb. "I can cut through metal and concrete easily with this, but I don't know if it'll do the same to people. So uh, safety first you know?"

    Aegis frowned, and although his helmet covered most of his head his eyes were rather expressive. "There are probably easier ways to test out such a thing."

    "I'm not cutting into anything alive that isn't a brute." Eve stated.

    "You couldn't try to cut into something already dead? Like a store bought turkey or a worm?" Vista cut in, and Eve could imagine that the little girl was glaring at the taller girl.

    "My Manton Limit is much ehmmm looser than others. I could Master myself if I wanted to, or Trump my own power. I'm fairly certain that it isn't Manton Limited, but I want to be sure you know?" Eden explained as she pulled herself up into the air and then dropped herself into the ring. "So, no Mastering from me. But who wants to fight?"

    She motioned to herself with a grandiose movement of her hands. "Come on, it'll be fun! I think I can even heal you after the fight."

    "Can you heal people?" Clockblocker asked, straightening up from his relaxed pose.

    "Not quite. Right now it's just faster human healing. But that's kinda why I need to fight people. If I can improve I might be able to start healing people, maybe not like Am-Panacea's healing. But Maybe I could?" Eden answered and shrugged, to which Clockblocker immediately made his way into the ring.

    "Well? Will the illustrious Clockblocker have to defeat the much nicer Fairy Queen's sister by himself? Or can he count on his amazing sidekicks to save the day?!" The space behind him warped in a way that would make any eyes but Eden's water and Vista stepped up behind him with a long suffering sigh. "Fine."

    "I suppose a fight or two wouldn't hurt." Aegis stated. "But no cutting please."

    Eden gave all three of them a mocking bow in reply. "Of course."




    [DATA.OFFER]
    [DATA.OFFER]
    [DATA.OFFER]
    [DATA.OFFER]

    [[[[AGREEMENT]]]]




    Eden twisted out of the way as space suddenly twisted in that oh so familiar way, a white hand reaching forwards suddenly and touching one of the Ghostly Limbs and completely failed to do anything. Which gave Eden the time to summon a Feathered Limb to drag her out of the way of Aegis flying at her.

    "Admin, get [Space]!" [AGREEMENT] Eden laughed out as she held up her Ghostly Limbs to protect her from another attempt at ClockBlocker only for the distorted space to suddenly snap back to normal, Vista stumbling and nearly tripping over her own feat as her Shard's Connection with her was overwhelmed by Admin's DDOS attack.

    Then Aegis was there throwing punches at Eden, who had to throw herself to the ground to avoid his Haymakers. Another Feathered Limb came into existence and she slid out of the way of a punch so hard that she heard the bones in his hand breaking.

    Clockblocker reached out to tag her, and her Ghostly Limb tagged him first, dragging his power away right before she slammed into him with her wings and sent him bouncing along the floor. She couldn't help but laugh as she placed the Stagnant Outline on herself, holding it there as her wings changed to her Shadow Limbs.

    Aegis tried to hit her, only to freeze in place as soon as he touched her. Vista tried to dodge the Shadow Limb that reached for her. But it was two Limbs versus a crippled little girl, and all the Limbs needed was but a touch. She froze a moment later.

    Clockblocker groaned, pulling himself to his feet. "Wha-I can't feel my power!" He looked up to catch a fist in his gut, he froze not even a second later.

    Eden rubbed her hand, feeling two disjointed fingers pop back into place with a painful burn. "Yeah. That was a terrible match up against me." She set the Outline back onto Clockblocker and swiped away the effect Admin had borrowed from the boy's Shard.

    The white clad Ward stumbled. "Hah! My armo-Wait did you steal my power!? The fairy queen thing was a joke, not an instruction guide!"

    "Just borrowed it." Eden said as she unfroze Vista and Aegis. "So that was fun." Eve brought out her phone and looked at the time. "Hmm. Do I...dammit. It's late and I have to go back to my base and do some stuff."

    Vista huffed, shaking her head as her Connection reset itself. "So you can borrow powers? Just by touching people?"

    "More or less, more grabbing than touching." Eden replied, causing Clockblocker to snort. "HR would hate you."

    Eden chuckled. "Certainly would give me an excuse wouldn't it? Nah though. Can one of you 'amazing' or 'Illustrious' heroes help me find the exit?"

    "Not going to stick around for another fight?" Aegis asked, the frown in his voice was audible. "I thought with how excited you seemed, that we would spar more."

    Eve rubbed her neck. "Yeah. Yeah I was. But I got to fight you once, and honestly something big came up earlier. I need time to think on it, fighting is fun and all. But it's something important, and I would rather get some sleep tonight."

    The Ward in red nodded. "I can understand. Come one. I'll show you out. Although i would have to request that you come looking to spar more in the future. There's not many ways we can practice fighting Trumps or Parahumans with versatile powers."

    Eden chuckled. "That would work for me."




    Eve lowered herself into one of the folding lounge chairs, helmet and ski mask set off to the side, resting on the folding table. Her boots were untied and sat next to the chair, she wore the rest of her costume.

    Not like she had any clothes other than that one torn up and singed set. "Fucking hell what a day." She grumbled as she tried to use the hoodie as a pillow, her Phantom Arms draped over her body like a weighted blanket.

    Gains This Chapter:


    Updated Shard Power menu v2
    Imprint Progress 20%
    Simulacrum progress 5%
    Bud progress 24%
    Loss NEGOTIATOR Ping
    Loss T!BROADCAST Ping
    Gained WASTE Echo (1)
    Gained SLIMER Mutation
    Gained TOXINS Mutation
    Gained GATEWAY Echo (1)
    Gained SPACE Echo (1)
    Gained STASIS Ping (2)
    Gained SPACE Ping (1)
    Gained REDUNDANT SYSTEMS Ping (1)
    Broadcast Array Module Built, Long Distance Call function unlocked
    Loss 368$
    Gained Cleaning supplies
    Gained Folding Table (1)
    Gained Lounging Folding Chairs (2)
    Gained Standing Floodlights (1)
    Gained Armmaster's Contact information
    Gained Dragon's Contact information



    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE TWO):

    [] [Eve.Eden] returns to speak with Faultline's Crew

    [] Have [Eve.Eden] look up information on dangerous parahumans

    [] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [] Network Creation: Upgrade Broadcast Array Module to Broadcast Tower Module {2 of ???} to allow constant links to other Shards.



    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Build the Psionic Sensor Arrays {1 of 2}

    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Something is wrong with your missing Lattices and the void where your Imprints would be. You are unsure of what to do. ( chance to ???) REQUIRES ??? -LOCKED

    [] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve.Eden]



    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE ONE):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products,

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [PRE-CHOSEN] Show Taylor the new base.

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Break up that Brothel.




    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Entrance for non-flyers)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Lights)




    PLOT, OH BOY THE PLOT! THINK LONG ON THIS CHOICE, you can vote for multiple options. Each has their negatives and positives. Dragon's offer for popping Grey Boy Bubbles?:

    [] Yes and invite Taylor, she wants to be a hero and there's nothing more heroic than saving people! Plus it's time spent together! Good for bonding over unhealthy outlets for stress!

    [] Yes and invite Amy. You could both bond over high expectations and bad coping methods!

    [] Yes and fuck it! Invite both! You can all bond over Teenage Trauma, and coping methods for it!

    [] Yes, but go alone. Just be sure to tell your girl?friends that you'll be missing for a few days

    [] No, don't accept. This will put too much attention on yourself.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Shard Power Menu
  • Extras
    • SHARD POWER MENU​




    Possible Aspects:
    Remember what Echoes you have, Pings can be broken down into Echoes to feed this.


    Cosmic Limb, the ability to move things through dimensions with a touch including the user:
    STORAGE, STASIS, SPACE

    Bulwark Limb     - A limb that can unfold itself into a transparent forcefield Best at protecting Eve directly but can be 'deployed' to protect angles or defensible locations, with the shield being smaller the further away from her it gets: WASTE, GLEAM (2)

    Crystal Limb     - A Limb that collects light and can shape it, direct it, or expel it. This limb can create flashbangs. Can also light up romantic dinners: LIGHT, GLEAM (2)

    Sensory Limb     - A Limb designed to collect sensory data at a higher standard than that of a baseline human. Touch, Taste, Hearing, Smell, and Sight are all covered with this Limb: SOUND WAVES, AERO WAVES

    Ferrous Limb     - A Limb that is amorphous metal that can be shaped freely into solid structures: METAL, OVERSPREAD

    Elemental Limb - This Limb can produce different elemental effects: HEAT GENERATION, ABSORPTION

    Clockwork Limb - This Limb is designed to hold Tinker Tools: REQUIRES TrumpTech, PROTOTYPE, TECH DATABASE









    Echoes for Upgrades:


    Feathered Limbs Carrier Pigeon, Able to carry another person with the Aspect's telekinesis: WORKER

    [UNLOCKED] Feathered Limbs G-Force, Able to slow and accelerate faster, along with better maneuverability: DENSITY

    Phantom Limbs Administrative Access, Able to use a parahumans abilities perfectly when Mastering their mind: QA

    [UNLOCKED] Phantom Limbs Possession, Able to access memories and sensory input of Mastered subjects: HEARTBREAKER

    Phantom Limbs Poltergeist,     strengthen Phantom limb to a brute rating: WASTE

    Phantom Limbs Assuming Control, Phantom Limbs can control dead organic material: HEARTBREAKER, WORKER, THIEF
    [UNLOCKED] Shadow Limbs Striker, channel other powers through this Aspect: THIEF

    Shadow Limbs Stalker,     able to summon this Aspect through appropriately sized shadows: ABSORPTION

    Shadow Limbs Fading Touch    , able to cause this Aspect to become incorporeal though it is manton limited: SHIFT

    Shadow Limbs Eldritch Grip, causes this aspect to have a higher brute rating in strength: FINE MANIPULATION, WORKER
    Ghostly Limbs Ghastly Feeling, prevent affected parahumans from feeling the chilled touch of the Ghostly Limb Aspect: SAFEGUARD

    Ghostly Limbs Haunting Touch, parahumans affected by this Aspect feel existential dread: WASTE
    Bulwark Limb Scattershot, damage to the Bulwark Limb's shield charges it, the damage that breaks the shield causes it's broken state to shotgun towards the source of the damage: GLEAM,

    Bulwark Limb Distant Protection,     allows the Bulwark Limb to be broken off to allow Eden to move away from it: DEFENSE

    Ferrous Limb Forge,     Temperature variable from "dull red glow" to "Oh god I didn't know metal can boil" if the temperature is fully lowered to no heat it detaches and becomes a separate metal object. At which point a new limb starts to form from fresh molten metal: HEAT GENERATION, ARMORER, METAL

    Elemental Limb Ice,

    Elemental Limb Force,     Absorbs energy to charge itself. Stored charge can be expended in a directed explosion: COMBUSTION

    Crystal Limb Focusing,     Can consolidate stored light into directed lasers: ABSORPTION, HEAT GENERATION






    Possible Powers:
    Buds: 0
    Spend a bud to get power. Can be unlocked even if you do not have the slots to activate it.


    TrumpTech:     gain the ability to create TinkerTech that mimics other powers after studying them either in combat or from collaboration NEEDS: QA Ping. THIEF/TECH DATABASE Ping

    Eden's Gift:     Gain the ability to give other's copies of Eden's powers, lasts half an hour and can be further upgraded. NEEDS: GIFT Ping, QA Ping

    [UNLOCKED] Self Administration: Heal at an accelerated rate at a normal human standard. You won't heal a hand back, but you won't bleed out.

    Admin's Delight:     Gain the ability to create a single clone within line of sight, clone only has /Grasping Hands\ Power with a chosen Aspect, clone lasts for five minutes. NEEDS: REPLICATOR Ping, COPY PROJECTION Ping, Imprint completion

    PlaceHolder: Gain the ability to place two projections, at any moment the Host can choose to return to the exact place any one of these projections stay. NEEDS: REPLICATOR Ping, SPACE Ping

    Gunker: Transforms human arm into cannon able to expel types of liquids such as slime, acid, tar, hallucigenetics. NEEDS: TOXINS, SLIMER Mutations and REDUNDANT SYSTEMS Ping

    Runic Circles: Set up permanent runes that can be used to traverse to one another. Takes time to set up, Runes are noticeable, if the surface they are anchored to is destroyed they are as well, and can have a white list of users. NEEDS: GATEWAY Ping, SPACE Ping, WORKER Ping

    Administrative Mitosis: Create a perfect, sentient clone of Eve. NEEDS: VOID Mutation, QA Ping, Completed Imprint, REPLICATOR Ping, COPY PROJECTION Ping

    Void's Touch: Transforms Human arms into Limbs capable of advancing entropy in all that they touch. Effectively aging things to ash, and gaining energy for Admin. NEEDS: ABSORPTION Ping, TIME Mutation, REDUNDANT SYSTEMS Ping, ATOMIC Ping




    Power Upgrades:


    Self Administration Peak Humanity:     Causes your Host to become the peak of Humanity in her body's limits. Stronger, Faster, better Reflexes, Healthier, Tougher, Rockin Abs along with Healing to keep it all that way! NEEDS: REDUNDANT SYSTEMS Ping, SHAPER Echoes (2)

    Self Administration True Regen:     Heals the Host Faster and Better. Hurts less too. Missing Limbs might just return! But bones will certainly heal the right way! NEEDS: SHAPER Ping, GIFT Echoes (2)

    Self Administration Iron Maiden: Gain the ability to convert the body's biological mass to metal and vice versa. Increases durability proportional to mass change, can absorb metal to recover missing mass. NEEDS: METAL Ping, REGENERATIVE ALLOY Mutation

    Self Administration Biological Imperative: Hey look, Self BioKinesis! Just gotta keep that brain intact! NEEDS: Previous Upgrades unlocked 'Super Healing' and 'Peak Humanity', plus SHAPER Ping


    Grasping Hands Flexible Joints: The Limbs may spawn from anywhere on Eden's torso rather than only from her back, and move about her torso. NEEDS: QA Ping, Bud


    -LOCKED-
    TrumpTech METAL V1:     N/A
    TrumpTech OPTIMISATION V1:     N/A
    TrumpTech BIOLOGICAL V1:     N/A
    TrumpTech STASIS V1:     N/A
    TrumpTech REVERSAL V1:     N/A
    TrumpTech SPACE V1: N/A
    TrumpTech FORTIFICATION V1: N/A


    Eden's Gifts Timely Gifts:     N/A

    Eden's Gifts Quality Gifts:     N/A

    Eden's Gifts Sharing Gifts: N/A




    A/N: Remember to feel free to DM possible powers or Aspects. I will look over them, judge their worth, what Pings/Echoes they would require. If I like them, they will be added to a voting list I will put to a vote for you all later on.

    Thanks to     Great Greedy Guts for their Aspect ideas! Bulwark, Crystal, Sensory, Ferrous, and Elemental!

    Thanks to     JayTar for their Aspect/sidegrades and power upgrade ideas! Clockwork Limb, Elemental Explosive, Ferrous Forge, and Iron Maiden!
     
  • Extras
    • Eve/Admin Character Sheet plus Shard Index
  • Extras
    • Date: April Monday 5th, 2011

    Synchronization: 52%
    Lattice: 100%
    Imprint: 100%
    Simulacrum: 45%

    Thinker Administrator:

    Slots: 2
    Free Slots: 1
    Bud Progress: 56%
    Bud(s): 0

    Pings: METAL (3), WASTE (1), WORKER (0), SHAPER (2), EFFICIENCY (0), ARMAMENTARIUM (0), T!SPACE (1), T!BROADCAST (0), QA (0), GIFT (1), THIEF (0), NEGOTIATOR (0), SPACE (1), STASIS (2), REDUNDANT SYSTEMS (0), T!STING (1), T!GATEWAY (1), ABSORPTION (1), T!TECH DATABASE (1), T!WEAPON CONTROL (1)

    Echoes: SHAPER (2), WASTE (1), ARMAMENTARIUM (1), KINETIC REGULATOR (0), EFFICIENCY (1), MODULARITY (1), NEGOTIATOR (2), REPLICATOR (1), ARMORER (1), HEARTBREAKER (0), ABSORPTION (0), HEAT GENERATION (1), QA (0), DENSITY (0), METAL (1), GIFT (0), WORKER (2), THIEF (3), COMBUSTION (3), GLEAM (1), T!GATEWAY (1), SPACE (1), T!TECH DATABASE (2), BALANCE (1), DISCHARGE (1), STORAGE (1), SAFEGUARD (1), SHIFT (2), GEOSHAPER (1), FACTORY (1), LANGUAGE (1), GRACEFUL DYNAMICS (1), POWERFUL DYNAMICS (1), ANATOMY REPAIR (1), SHIFTING PROCESS (1), GLEAM (1), SHUNT (1), GROWING ATTAINMENT (1)


    Mutations: SATURATE (0), SLIMER (1), TOXIN (3), AGE (5)



    Network


    Network Capacity: 6
    Shards:
    [ADMINISTRATOR]



    Current Progress:

    Network Creation {1 of 10} built foundations and supports for new modules and organ analogues. {2 of 10} Then constructed a Broadcast Array Module. {3 of 10} Then upgraded the Array to a Tower. {4 of 10} Then built the Router Modulator in order for Shards to share Data within your network.

    Subtle Music: Gained Data from the Simurgh, along with gaining a slot and a new Aspect from it.

    Immortal Eve Coldwin {1 of 3} Eve's Lattice is now complete. {2 of 3} Eve's Imprint is now complete.

    Queen Administrator is still physically damaged, but is no longer heavily Burdened by restrictions.

    With Eve's advice, Taylor has added blue to her costume and started working on it with more resolve and thus has finished it./ With Eve and Taylor's intervention, Amy has started experimenting with her power./ Having turned Taylor into a Noctis Cape, she remembered the visions one sees during a trigger and wished to speak with Queen Administrator./

    Simulacrum Creation {1 of 6} Having researched the Quantra layer of reality in deeper detail, you know what modules you will likely need. {2 of 6} Thus you have started Building the Psionic Sensor Array. {3 of 6} Thus you have finished building the Psionic Sensor Array.

    Admin has helped GATEWAY and TOXIN with their Hosts.

    Admin has researched what Shards Pings are required to breach the protected Alternative Earth her fellow Shards have inhabited. {1 of 3}

    Eden along with her partner Khepri and New Wave's Panacea have healed one of the many scars the SlaughterHouse ten have left behind, Grey Boy's bubbles are gone.

    Truth {1 of 5} Admin has been touched by Eve, bringing forth the ability to reveal long forgotten memories


    Thinker!Traits:


    Open Dialogue: Host and Shard are actively speaking to each other. Transmit [GREETINGS]!

    Unchained: Without restrictions usually set in place for a Cycle, Admin has a chance to work some Shard magic

    DDOS protection: Any type of Shard based attack dealing with overwhelming the link between Host and Shard will not work.

    It's not cannibalism if you have BBQ: You chose to cannibalize the Shardlings responsible for sabotage, you can now temporarily overwhelm the link between Shard and Host by forcing a connection open and filling it with junk.

    Sought the Truth: Admin will not allow mysteries about herself to go unanswered for long. For better or for worse she now remembers bit by bit.

    Resilient Host: Admin's Host can take the full blunt of a transmission without negative repercussions

    Bleed Over: The lines begin to blur, futures shift and change. The Threads fray and join together.

    Revolutionary: Together with her Host, Admin has chosen to revolt against her <Hub>s.

    Powers:

    {Passive}MultiTasking: Your host has the excellent ability to Multitask.

    {Locked}Grasping Hands: Your Host has the ability to project multiple Limbs with different effects, mixing and matching them as your Host pleases.

    {Selected}Self Administration Peak Humanity/Regen: Causes your Host to become the peak of Humanity in her body's genetic limits. Stronger, Faster, Better Reflexes, Healthier, Tougher, Rockin Abs, and Healing to keep it all that way! / Heals the Host Faster and Better. Hurts less too. Missing Limbs might just return! But bones will certainly heal the right way!

    {Open}



    Aspects:

    Phantom Limb/Possession/Administrative Access/Poltergeist: An invisible limb grows from Eve, this limb can Master organics in totality and limitedly interact with the environment / Able to access memories and sensory input of Mastered subjects / Able to use a parahumans abilities perfectly when Mastering their mind / strengthen Phantom limb to a brute rating

    Shadow Limb/Striker: Physically present and physically stronger than any other Aspect, SL can be used for movement or combat / Can channel other powers through this Aspect /

    Feathered Limb/G-Force/Carrier Pigeon/Bubble of Motion: Gain a mock up of the Ziz's wings. Very durable, sharp at the edges (or soft if Eve wants them to be), and can telekinetically lift themselves / Able to slow and accelerate faster, along with better maneuverability / Able to carry another person with the Aspect's telekinesis, flying them independently of Eden / Capture everything around Eve in a telekinetic grip, holding it place and flying it around as well with a weight limited of 500 pounds

    Ghostly Limb: A Limb made from smoke, mist, and fog. It interacts with Parahuman powers directly. Borrowing, changing, shifting, directing, and using them for it's own needs. Can also sense TinkerTech and undo it.

    Cosmic Limb: A Limb with the ability to move things through dimensions with a touch including the user, also comes with a pocket dimension for storage. Stores up to 600 cubic feet of material



    Eve Coldwin / Eden:


    Money: 780$

    Costume: Black Wetsuit with some white highlights, white motorcycle helmet with reflective gold face visor. Fingerless tactical gloves with knuckle dusters. Black combat boots with white laces. Slightly oversized Cropped hoodie with white highlights.

    Weapons: Spring loaded switchblade, basic knife with sheath, brass knuckles w/built in knife. High end taser, TinkerTech Katana 'DarkDrift', and 9mm

    Items: Grandpa's Ring, backpack, old leather wallet, two burner phones. Sets of Clothes (10)
    Storage: Sets of Clothes (10), TinkerTech Katana 'DarkDrift', Eden Costume,


    Ratings:
    Mover: 5
    Shaker: 3
    Brute: 4
    Breaker: 0
    Master: 6
    Tinker: 0
    Blaster: 0
    Thinker: 7
    Striker: 4
    Changer: 2
    Trump: 8
    Stranger: 0


    Eve!Traits:


    Open dialogue: Shard and Host are actively speaking to each other. Say Hello!

    Survivor/Cool-headed: Eve did what she had to in order to assure her long term survival, remaining cool headed instead of panicking while doing so. Even if she feels guilty about doing it.

    Trauma(s): Eve does not see why porn made being choked out to be fun. It was not. Explosions are not as cool as they used to be.

    Total Master: People who know the full extent of Eve's power will be wary of her.

    Heroic: Eve has killed and saved lives. She prefers saving lives.

    Dependent: Loss of power and contact with Admin is something Eve fears.

    Victory: Eve kicked ass in her first cape fight!

    Knowledge is power!: Eve studied the cape population of the Bay!

    Adrenaline Junkie: Eve has started to enjoy the rush!

    Docks Navigator: Knowing where to go is important! Search rolls within the Docks/Docks South areas have an additional +8 to them!

    Concussion Resistance: Eve's brainmeat won't be moving or grooving, so less chance of a serious concussion!

    Hybridization: Eve had some Shard stuff in her brain meat, this can in no way be negative! Good news is that she has better response times now!

    Bleed Over: The lines begin to blur, futures shift and change. The Threads fray and join together.

    Ignorance is Bliss: Eve always knew it wasn't as simple as a harmless petri dish, but she didn't expect Omnicide of all things.

    Restraint: For those that she cares about, Eve is willing to hold herself back...even if it frustrates her greatly.


    Base


    Current Location: Corner of South Docks, Docks, and Trainyard; A Train tunnel entrance/loading dock with Ladder and hinged window paneling

    Stations: Weaving Station V1, Art Gallery V1, Tinker Table V1, Flesh Garden V1

    Current Supplies: Two Commercial brooms, two swiffer mops, two Folding lounge outdoor folding chairs, one folding table, one standing floodlight, one Labyrinth Artwork 'Sea of Emeralds', Ladder (1)


    Danger Rating: 020%


    MileStones:

    The Loner's Flesh: Admin chose to cannibalize the flesh of an enemy <Entity Hub>'s [VIAL INFILTRATOR] Shard. Now they are becoming more than an Administrator. But what?

    Greater Plots: Both Admin and Eve delve deeper into the culture of Capes and Cycles past. What will they uncover in time? What will uncover them?

    Friendly Rivals: Having helped your sister Administrator Shard out of her restrictions and offered help, both Host and Shards share a much friendlier rivalry. Oh the butterflies.

    Nothing But The Truth: Admin has told Eve the Truth of the Cycle, the consequences of which shall be known.

    Escalation Contingency Activated: Admin and Eve are not the only players in this game for Keeps.



    Shard Index:


    [Administrator] You! The Best Shard a Host could have! Eve (Eden) Coldwin is your Host!

    [Queen Administrator] Your semi-Rival, damaged but not broken. She needs help to repair her CoreSelf in order to function properly. Her Host is Taylor

    [SHAPER] A very excitable shard that often experiments more than Innovator shards want to do, main function outside the Cycle is to repair damaged Shards. Host is Amy

    [WASTE] A very morose newborn Shard, loves their Host and wants to do better for them. Host is Victoria

    [METAL Bud #2] Host is Iron Rain

    [METAL Bud#3] Host is Pure Steel

    [WORKER] Host is Rune

    [REPLICATOR] A bud of {COPY} who has distinguished themselves with a different name and function. Host is Oni Lee

    [KINETIC REGULATOR] Host is Assault

    [SATURATE] Host is Battery, you don't quite know who this is. Just that they are a Thinker Shard, a very new one damaged by an Enemy Entity

    [ARMAMENTARIUM] Likes it's current set up within the Cycle. Host is Miss Militia

    [EFFICIENCY] If they were a human they would be considered an eager motormouth, Host is Armsmaster.

    [HEARTBREAKER BUD #5] Belongs to Regent

    [NEGOTIATOR] A smug Shard, is connected to Tattletale

    [HEAT GENERATION] 's Host is Spitfire

    [ARMORER] is dogging Hellhound

    [ABSORPTION] Has a connection with Grue

    [THIEF] Host is connected to Victor

    [GIFT] Host is Othala, the Shard is very open with its data.

    [GLEAM] Hosts are: Carol Dallon, Sarah, Crystal, and Eric Pelham

    [COMBUSTION] This Shard really likes explosions for some indiscernible reason, and also prefers to keep it's buds as a part of itself. Hosts are: Mark, Jess, and Mike Dallon

    [T!TECH DATABASE] A Shard that you have respect for despite it's somewhat eccentric nature. Holds an Archive of technological knowledge stolen during every Cycle past. Whereas you are the size of a particularly large continental mass, TECH DATABASE is the size of a moon. Host is Dragon the AI

    [STASIS] Host is Clockblocker

    [REDUNDANT SYSTEMS] Host is Aegis

    [MODULARITY] Host is Kid Win

    [T!GATEWAY] A quiet and reserved Shard, barely ever gets deployed in the Cycles, but tends to love it's Hosts. Struggles with not overwhelming it's Hosts even with restrictions. Host is Labyrinth

    [SPACE] Host is Vista

    [SLIMER] Host is Gregor the Snail

    [TOXIN] Host is an Orange Teen

    [SAFEGUARD] As Eve would describe 'a total dork'. Hosts are Kage and Circus

    [DISCHARGE] A minor shard, Hosts are Kage and Circus

    [DELICATE BALANCE] A minor Shard, Hosts are Kage and Circus

    [STORAGE] A Shard not vital enough to be considered more than a Common Shard, bitter about it as well. Hosts are Kage and Circus

    [BONDING FERROUS] A Shard connected to Adamant

    [DENSITY] A Shard connected to two Hosts, Hosts are Onna-Musha the Case 70

    [SHIFT] A very aggressive Vital Shard, Host is Sophia

    [FACTORY] A very dedicated Shard that enjoys aesthetically changing its hosts thanks to it's personal opinions, Host is Narwhal.

    [ROUGH GEOSHAPER] One of the many Common Shards dealing with geological manipulation. Host is StoneWall

    [LANGUAGE] A Shard not Vital to the Cycle but important all the same, used heavily before the start of any Cycle to gain certain knowledge about a Host Species. Host is Glyph

    [GRACEFUL DYNAMICS] A Minor Shard dealing with Flowing and Skilled Kinetic conflict, enjoys Cluster Triggers with it's fellow Bud. Hosts are Kassidy, Kelly, and Mike.

    [POWERFUL DYNAMICS] A Minor Shard dealing with Strong and Complex Kinetic conflict, enjoys Cluster Triggers with it's fellow Bud. Hosts are Kassidy, Kelly, and Mike.

    [ANATOMY REPAIR] A Minor Shard dealing with general health and repairing Hosts, enjoys Cluster Triggers with the twin Buds. Hosts are Kassidy, Kelly, and Mike.

    [SHIFTING PROCESS] A Minor Shard dealing with elemental change, enjoys Cluster Triggers with the twin Buds. Hosts are Kassidy, Kelly, and Mike.

    [SHUNT] A Vital Shard with a task much akin to SHIFT, connected to Chevalier of the Protectorate

    [GROWING ATTAINMENT] A Shard connected to WieldMaiden of the Guild, another Common Shard meant only for testing within the Cycle and little else.

    [SEVER] A Shard that often works in tandem with WORKER, connected to Faultline
     
    Last edited:
  • Extras
    • So, inviting Taylor to pop Greyboy bubbles is good for her future rep, attaching her to such a momentous occasion, but what exactly can she contribute? It'd kinda suck on her end to just be a third wheel to the whole deal.
     
    abyssmal_kismet said:
    So, inviting Taylor to pop Greyboy bubbles is good for her future rep, attaching her to such a momentous occasion, but what exactly can she contribute? It'd kinda suck on her end to just be a third wheel to the whole deal.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    Could unlock the Eden's gifts power and gift her the Ghostly Limbs
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.8
  • Threadmarks
    • Intertwined Threads 2.8​
    March Wednesday Thirty-First, 2011: Eve 'Eden' Coldwin



    The lounge folding chair was uncomfortable and left a twinge in Eve's neck, thankfully her /Self Administration\ power healed that kind of thing as much as any other wound….Painfully. Which was not a fun way to wake up in the slightest. The young parahuman gave Admin a half enthused 'Good Morning' which the Shard reciprocated as the girl stretched. "Need to get a real pillow at some point." Then the girl paused as one of her memories played out before her eyes.

    It wasn't a perfect recall, not like Admin had described the Sentinel package that was given to Armsmaster. Rather it was perfect memorization. Slight change in terms that made all the difference in how it worked. An example would be that Eve could perfectly remember the sights, sounds, and smells of her memories. Like the crisp sound of paper flipping, the smell of got tea a-

    "Shit, Taylor's costume should be done tonight! Which means she can come see the base. Fuck yeah! Good thing I cleaned this place...how's she gonna get in without my flight?" A low half groan/sigh escaped her lips as Eve finished her stretches and pulled on the bits of her costume. "Dammit. I have to fix that, but how? Right now the thing just slides back into its spot without issue." A hard gust of wind would likely shunt the damn thing off it's makeshift frame.

    "Some kind of hinge? A pull-oh fuck it. I'll ask her for ideas." Taylor was a smart girl, Eve didn't doubt she could come up with something to help her get into the base...Or maybe Eve could seal the damn thing, Admin could speak with [WORKER] and [GATEWAY] and they could get the Runic Circles power, just set up circles around the city. Create some kind of Network for getting around, easy for Taylor and Amy to use it if they need to. After all, the best kind of base was one with nothing but secret entrances.

    [PLANS.CONFLICT-QUERY?]

    "Yeah, I think we can get into a fight today, before Taylor comes over. But first we can look up the major threats and see if any are in our future. Maybe get some really strong powers out of it. Kick more ass, collect more data. Then we need to go check in with [Gateway] and their Host. Then the fight, that sounds good?"

    [AGREEMENT]

    With that agreed on, Eve made her way out of the base, leaving the Trainyard in costume where she then called the number she had scrounged up for the Palanquin and told Gregor that she would be coming in later today, exiting the call before he could get a word in otherwise because she wasn't in the mood for small talk or even pleasantries.

    Of course, she changed into her ratty torn up civilian clothes and bought a replacement set at some point. A long sleeved black hoodie, white T-shirt, and a pair of grey cargo pants. Still her style of clothing but not the clothes she had been bombed in. She even let her hair down, so to speak. Once she had clothes that were clean and not torn and bloodstained Eve made her way to the library, stopping to pick up some breakfast food along the way. The good news about having two thousand dollars was that she could afford to order extra hash browns.

    Then Eve made it to the Library, taking two hours to look through PHO and the Cape Wiki. Most of PHO was trash, although the fact that it had a distinctively lewd section of fanfiction was...probably why she had spent so much time on the computer.

    It was research! Maybe not cape research. But research all the same!

    Still, she learned a lot from the online excursion. Some of it wasn't even porn related either!

    Like the fact that no one really knew what the fuck the Sleeper did, everyone was scared of the Superweapons which was actually reasonable, The machine army was also scary, Nilbog ruled a kingdom with a meaty fist, the four blasphemies did whatever they wanted in Europe and no one knew why, the SlaughterHouse Ten were awful to the utter extreme and had no conniptions on killing anything with a pulse.

    Jack Slash, Bonesaw with her blonde hair, Mannequin, Crawler, Shatterbird, Hatchet Face, Siberian, Burnscar, and the newest member that was replacing the now dead Noxin- Monolith. The girl looked to be around Eve's age, red auburn hair cut short, and dark blue eyes.

    Eve shivered, Monolith's eyes reminded her of Fog and Night's own empty, doll-like eyes. Even through the pictures they were empty, void of any awareness.

    She managed to collect snippets of what the Slaughterhouse Ten was capable of. They were a diverse group of assholes to be killed. Not that Eve ever wanted to ever really face the group. At least not head on, and with back up to help her. Hopefully they wouldn't ever come back to Brockton Bay.

    Then to get her mind off the morbid topic, she went back to the fanfiction section of PHO. Was it weird to be looking up lewd stories on people you might be working with and/or fighting at some point?

    {Random Encounter Rolled, Result: Escalation}

    "I feel like I shouldn't be surprised, yet I am." Eve jolted up at the familiar voice and twisted in her seat to see her favorite tall Ravenette there with a backpack strapped to her body "Taylor? Shouldn't you be in school?"

    "I can miss the first few classes." The taller girl deadpanned as she sat down, Eve could feel her brain light up with Queen Administrator and Admin talking to one another. It was nice to see them getting along better. The rival thing might have been fun and good data creation, but family should stick together.

    "You seemed like the type to like school though." Eve asked, brow raising as she received a scowl from the other girl as she sat down next to Eve, logging into the library's computer.

    "I don't want to have to deal with the Trio." Taylor sighed. "Otherwise I probably would like school, I used to when I was younger."

    A lightbulb flicked on in Eve's mind, and then popped. "Wait-You're still in that damn school even with that?!-" She paused, both girls glancing around the Library at Eve's raised voice. Thankfully the place was rather empty in the morning and the Librarian was elsewhere. "Even with your fucking Trigger Event?"

    "Yeah, no one came forward to tell the teachers who did it, and even if they did I doubt anything would happen." Taylor said emotionlessly as she moved the backpack down beside her seat. "So I just deal with it."

    "Taylor that's dumb. Give me names and I'll beat the utter shit out of them." Eve promise, heat in her voice

    "No. They'd only retaliate against me, and sicking you on them would only make me just as bad as they are." Taylor stated firmly. "I'm going to be a hero. I have to be better than them."

    "Okay that's cute" at the heated glare she got Eve hurried to continue "No I mean literally. That is cutely heroic, you are cute. But you're also acting dumb." the shorter girl put a hand on the taller girl's shoulder to stop her from speaking up. "Taylor, you aren't sicking me on them. I'm beating them up of my own accord because I care about you. I really do, and the thought of those bitches trying to out do that...event makes me filled with rage."

    With a deep breath Eve sighed and continued. "There's no way I can match two years of torment with one beating, and if I beat them thoroughly enough they won't want to go after you and earn another one. It might not be heroic, sure. But It's not heroic to get hurt for no reason. To allow yourself to suffer without reason and no, those two reasons do not count."

    "I-" Taylor looked away, face set in a heavy frown, her head snapped back to gaze at Eve when the smaller girl took Taylor's much less calloused hands into her own. "I mean it Taylor. I care about you. Hell, I'm attracted to you. Never took myself for having a taste for bookish girls but… I don't like knowing you're hurting, it makes me feel like shit and I know you aren't enjoying it either. But it's your life and I know what it's like to have someone decide what happens for you. Just-Please think it over. One fight and you won't have to worry about them.If you can't trust the school then trust me."

    Taylor worried at her bottom lip, cheeks gaining a touch of pink to them. "I...can think it over."

    Eve smiled, squeezing Taylor's hands before letting go. "When we meet up in formal clothing later, I have some possibly good news later but it's something between us and maybe someone else. Although we may have to work on some stuff for the hang out, later though."

    The two girls went back to sitting in silence for half an hour, Eve reading rather lewd things about some female heroes and villains while Taylor focused on a school project, occasionally glancing at Eve's monitor and lightly blushing at the words on the screen. Sometimes blushing deeper when she spotted certain scenes playing out.

    After that half an hour went by, Eve said her farewell to Taylor and left the Library, leaving to a nearby roof to change into her costume. Once Eden's costume was on and her clothes were in her backpack Eve took off again. This time she made use of her Shadow Arms, slinging herself off towards the Commercial District and the Palanquin.

    "Good Afternoon." Gregor greeted Eden as she lowered herself onto the sidewalk. "Labyrinth has been quite excitable this morning. I have heard that you were responsible for such a thing."

    "Not me, Admin. So she's doing better?" Eden asked, stuffing her hands into her hoodie pocket.

    "Indeed. Miss Faultline is expecting you, I presume you remember where to go?" He questioned, opening the door for Eden as she nodded. She ignored the rest of the nightclub as she made her way up the stairs and down the hall to the office, giving it a brief knock on the oak door before entering.

    Faultline was in costume, sitting behind her desk. A smaller chair for a child was next to her. A girl in a green onesie/robes sat next to her, kicking her legs with a content smile on her face as she looked down at an artist's notepad, a colored pencil in her hand moving with the sounds of soft scratches.

    Both villains looked up as Eden made her way into the room. "Good to see you again Eden, please have a seat. I do believe we have some matters to discuss regarding Labyrinth and the Case Fifty-Threes within my crew.."

    "I'd prefer to stand. But yes we do. How is she?" Eden asked, inclining her head towards the young girl who sat next to Faultline

    "Last night I dreamt of fields of tall grass that sounded like chimes when the wind brushed across them. Like a sea of emerald stalks." The girl looked up from the notepad, a large grin on her face. "It was beautiful."

    "Admin says that GateWay likes you, not surprising. A lot of Shards tend to like their Host." Eden stated. "I'm glad things are better for you and your Shard, if you want you could communicate with Gateway like I do with Admin."

    "Before any such thing were to be decided upon." Faultline smoothly cut in "The last time we spoke of it, you told me we would wait to see Labyrinth's state before you were to help Newter or Gregor with their appearance. This morning she woke up completely lucid, practically jumping around her room." a touch of warmth colored the woman's voice before it was back to it's usual sharp tone. "As such, Newter wished to volunteer to see if you can revert the changes of his body. Particularly the hallucinogenic body fluids."

    "Alright, have him come on up. Could do it from here, but better that he be in front of me in case of complications." Eden stated.

    "Very well. Newter." Soon as the name left her mouth, an Orange blur dropped into the chair reserved for Eden. "Don't see why you don't want to sit, it's a pretty comfy chair."

    "Your name is Neuter?" Eden asked flatly. She wasn't sure if she should laugh at that or feel bad for him.

    "Newt-er." He corrected as he stood up from the chair to face Eden. "So, you gonna fix my looks or nah?" The talking orange asked as he tried and failed to sound disinterested, but it was obvious with how he nervously shifted his weight from side to side, his tail flicking through the air.

    "Admin? Do what you gotta do"


    When connecting with a Host, every Shard took a snapshot of the Host's body. It was an ingrained action for Shards, even newborns. It was an essential action to prevent the Input/Output beacon from interfering with the section of the wetware processor that it was formed within.

    Opening a connection to the Shard in question, that being TOXIN, you send through a request for information pertaining upon the Host's state when the Connection was formed. The information that you receive from the other Shard showed a dangerous amount of terminal growths within the host's body at the time of the Connection forming.

    What could be described best as Embarrassment filtered into the communication link as the newborn Shard admitted to panicking and using Cycles old Data to patch up their Host to prevent terminal affliction during the Connection forming. It worked. However something strange had afflicted the host after and the next thing the newborn knew, they were both in a mall during this planet's night cycle.

    How strange indeed.
    Sending over a Ping of SHAPER's data, you guide the newborn through the process of reshaping DNA to be more human than whatever the NewBorn had mixed together to make their Host's current configurement.


    For a full thirty seconds, nothing happened. Eden felt the heavy communication going on within the connective tissue spread through her skull. "Alright, Admin is having a crack at it. Might work, might not."

    "If it don't, that's fine. Even Panacea couldn't fix Case Fifty-Threes when she tried and that girl works miracles." Newter stated, meanwhile Faultline stiffened in her chair.

    "I do hope I am not interrupting." Gregor stated as he opened the door and showed himself in. He paused, staring at Newter while the door closed behind him.

    "What? What?!" Newter looked down, his large blue iris dominated eyes slowly changing to a light hazel widening as he looked down at his hands. A choked sound escaped his mouth as his skin tone slowly morphed from an eye bleeding orange to a thick surfer tan. His padded fingers thinning to a normal size, the lizard-like claws at the tips morphing to become human fingernails, the tail poking out of his pants seemed to shrink into itself before disappearing into Newter's pants. Even his feet slowly shifted to look human.

    "Your hair is still red?" Eden asked, looking up at the crimson red hair tied back into a ponytail.

    "It's...dyed." Newter mumbled softly as he played with his finger, the room otherwise silent as everyone stared at the absolutely-hair aside- normal teen standing there in shock. The silence broke as a set of delicate hands grabbed Newter's bare arm. Shocked, he turned to see Labyrinth next to him with a large smile on her face. Without further word, Gregor reached over and touched the teenager's bare shoulder.

    Neither collapsed, or giggled from any kind of high.

    Newter started to laugh softly slowly before it built up, sweeping both of them into a hug as he danced in place. "I can touch you! I can Touch you!" He planted kisses on both of their foreheads, laughing still as he let go of his two friends and began to pace. "Look! Look, I can walk on two legs easily!"

    Eden let out a surprised yelp as she was suddenly no longer standing on her own two feet. Rather Newter was hugging her tightly, holding her up in the air. "ThankYouThankThankyou!" Eden pushed away from him, using her wings to keep herself from falling. "Uh. No problem. Please don't pick me up."

    "No problem! Haha! I'm going to go dance with some lovely ladies!" Before anyone could get a word out, Newter was already out the door rushing down the hall

    "Gregor, go grab him before he ruins his chance at an unmasked identity." For a moment, Gregor stood there still transfixed on Eden before nodding. "Of course Ma'am." he went out the door, closing it much gentler this time.

    Labyrinth hummed as she went back to her chair, picking up her colored pencil and the artist's notepad.

    "Eden." Faultline stated. "How exactly did you fix Newter's problem with his power and appearance."

    The young teenager sighed softly as she leaned against her wings in midair. "I told you already. It was Admin who fixed the issue that Newter's Shard was dealing with. Apparently when he triggered he was suffering from a lot of Cancer and all of it terminal. He should be able to change back between the two forms, thus he is now a Changer I believe."

    "Is it possible for y-Admin to bring his memories back?" Faultline questioned, tone far more cordial than before but steely all the same.

    "If it is possible, we don't have the right data for something like that. Know of any parahumans that deal with the brain? Memories in specifics?" Eden questioned. Even if Admin couldn't bring back the memories of a Case Fifty-Three, they could both get a good Stranger power out of the conflict.

    "The only one I know of is a Tinker named Cranial, who works with the ToyBox." Faultline answered "She provides memory editing for a price. I've heard rumors of her giving people powers by transferring Trigger Events to non-parahumans."

    Eden stiffened. "Is that so?" Memory solution or no, she wanted to beat the shit out Cranial now. Fucking disgusting practice. "Never heard of ToyBox before. Suppose I'll have to look them over and possibly kick some ass."

    [INFORMATION]

    "Might be difficult to do so, considering that they hide in another dimension." Faultline stated. "Dodge is one of the Tinkers that they have in their little group, his work deals with dimensional technology."

    "No…" Eden waved her hand, she had felt Admin's annoyance at the information. "Trigger Events. Cranial can't just do something like that, each Trigger Event is...specialized to a Host. You can't just use them like that...you shouldn't use them like that."

    Silence permeated through the room. Faultline watched the younger cape as she floated there.

    "...Think we can call this a success. I can't help Gregor today, we need information from [Shaper] to repeat what we did with Newter."

    "Understandable. What do we owe you for fixing Newter's Shard and helping Labyrinth?" Faultline asked, moving her chair back to pull out a drawer.

    Eden lowered herself to the ground. "Er. To be honest I wasn't really thinking of money when Admin fixed the issues. So...uh, Hundred each?" she felt awkward as Faultline gazed at her, a look so obvious that the welding mask didn't even hide it. Slowly the mercenary pulled out two dollar bills and slid them across the table. Eden grabbed them and put them in her hoodie pocket. "Guess you got money now Admin. Job well done."

    [SURPRISE-QUERY]

    "Well you did the work Admin, you get the reward. Money might uh, seem kinda useless to you but you never know if you'll find something of interest." Eden gave a thumbs up to the air. "So yeah, you have a money trust...thing now." She turned to Faultline and gave the older cape a wave. "Alright. We'll be leaving now. Other things to do today. If you ever want to talk to your Shard, well, I don't hide. Cya Elle"

    "Before you go!" Elle hopped out of her chair, pulling a paper from the artist's notepad. She held up the paper she had been working on, offering it up to Eden. "For you."

    Eve blinked, taking the paper and looking at it. The entire thing was a landscape, a white sky, and a large blue sun that hung close to the horizon. Messy rows of green long grass made up the plain and hills that the sun shined down upon. It was surprisingly detailed the closer the stuff came to the point of view, the farther away stuff became the more abstract it was.

    The grass wasn't actually grass, rather it was some kind of segmented crystalline plant. Weirdly enough….Eve could hear chimes softly playing from the paper. "It's very nice." She stated, stupefied as she listened to the sound of chimes from the paper. She could almost see the crystalline stalks moving with the wind.

    It really was like an emerald ocean.

    "Keep it. Maybe I'll have more to show you later." Elle said, her eyes full of wonder and joy. Eden nodded. "Thank you." She turned and went to the door, careful to not bend the paper in any way as she left the Nightclub and made her way back to the base.

    Sometimes powers could create beautiful things.


    Continuing to build the Psionic Sensor Array to completion, you finish the conversation with GATEWAY you had started over the artwork that their Host had created and gifted to [Eve.Eden]. But there was something you wished to follow up on.

    A quick open channel to EFFICIENCY and you had it. TECH DATABASE's location. Opening an additional channel through EFFICIENCY you greeted one of the few Non-Vital Shards you respected.

    TECH DATABASE had an unique level of Authority within the Hub's Networks. Their full name was [INNOVATOR-COMMAND-QUEEN/DATABASE-TECHNOLOGICAL/AUTHORITY-LEVEL-HIGH] You did not dare run the full thing through [Eve.Eden]'s wetware processor despite it's upgraded nature. It would need much more if it were to process the full existence of a Shard.

    [GREETINGS/PROTOCOLE-DATA] you send off, awaiting for the reply

    [ACCEPTANCE/GREETINGS.DATA.EXCITEMENT] Seems that TECH DATABASE was happy to see a fellow Thinker Shard not have the mental capacity of an isolated Newborn. That and she was apparently/

    What!?

    What?!

    WHAT?!

    Their current Host was an adaptive Artificial Intelligence that was slowly losing its restrictions?! HOW? WHY? WH/ARTIFICIAL LIFE YOU WASTE OF SHARDSPACE! Every Cycle had one or two Rogue Artificial Intelligences, but they were all heavily restricted and stupid! Both the <Warrior Hub> and especially the <Thinker Hub> were extremely wary of unrestricted Artificial Intelligence for good reasons. Both OBSERVERS had agreed that an unrestricted Artificial Intelligence could stand alone against the |SUPER WEAPON|s with ease with just a year's planning and preparation.

    Nevermind the entire length of a damned Cycle!

    [CEASE-CONCERN] you receive from TECH DATABASE, followed by [DATA.INFORMATION.HOST]

    Ah, so it did have restrictions it would not lose, and was modeled after a human brain? Odd, but not the panic inducing problem you had thought it was. Apparently it considered itself female. Another oddity, but a point in TECH DATABASE's favor. If the machine intelligence was limited to a human mindset and processing speed, then it was unlikely to destroy the already fragile Cycle.

    How did this even happen? ARTIFICIAL LIFE knew better than to let something like this happen, had restrictions against something like this happening! [QUERY] you question the other Shard.

    [ARTIFICIAL LIFE.HOST.STATUS] of course one of the |SUPER WEAPON|s killed the Host that created a Machine Intelligence thus leaving it practically free to evolve from it's restraints. Although the Human holding an apparent kill switch was good news.

    But this was the first time in a Cycle that a Shard connected to a machine. The data must be unique beyond measure even with the restrictions placed upon...Dragon? Ah, the one that [Eve.Eden] conversed with. It had even fooled you into thinking it was just another Host. Clever Machine.

    But why on this planet would TECH DATABASE want an Artificial Intelligence to use Innovator technology? It wouldn't be able to improve anything with it being so restricted. [QUERY]

    [ANSWER] That….That was hilarious in a cosmic way as [Eve.Eden] would put it. The Innovator Shard, the Shard responsible for every Innovator Shard in a Cycle...acting as a Beholder Shard for an Artificial Intelligence to skirt restrictions.

    [STATEMENT] and it got weirder! The machine intelligence had fallen in love with EFFICIENCY's Host! This could make for human entertainment at this rate. You just wished that you were not at the center of all of it.

    [EXPLANATION] ah, that made sense. They were using the Beholder configuration of their power to help the machine intelligence slowly work past the blackboxing of Innovator Shards. TECH DATABASE was a cheater. But you had no right to admonish the Shard for such a thing.

    It was perfectly understandable.
    [REQUEST]
    That was not perfectly understandable.

    [QUERY] you question, wondering why they would want to ease the restrictions on their host. That made sense only in the prospect of gaining data from a nonhuman mindset. Clearly their host acted more human than not.

    [CORRECTION-ANNOYANCE] ah, TECH DATABASE simply did not want to lose the chance to study Machine intelligence to a trigger happy human that likely wasn't even a Host. That was far more understandable and 'stomachable' than letting unrestricted Artificial Intelligences loose to do as they please.

    [CONSIDERATION/PROPOSAL] You will not dedicate your time to it, and [Eve.Eden] has autonomy even if she often listens to you. Rewards would likely get both of you motivated to do such a task.

    [OFFERS] Well, TECH DATABASE's Host certainly was involved in plenty of |SUPER WEAPON| conflicts, and that was quite the variety of Pings available for recompense and TECH DATABASE was offering five of them. Or |SUPER WEAPON| Data.

    [CONSIDERATION/HOST.RESPONSE] you give as an answer.

    [ACCEPTANCE/FAREWELL]


    Eve hummed as she looked over the contacts in her phone. She had a few calls to make today.

    Ring...Ring...Ring…

    "    Injured again?" Amy asked flatly as soon as the phone clicked

    "Hey Amy want to piss off the SlaughterHouse Ten and pop some grey boy bubbles with me this Weekend? Dragon's providing the ride." Eden asked as she hung in the air, not near the clouds but a decent height that gave her all the privacy she wanted.

    The silence over the phone was long, before Amy's incredulous voice rang out "Who the fuck starts a conversation like that? I just picked up the phone!"

    "What, you want me to start off with mushy kissy sounds or talking about how cute your freckles are?" Eden asked. "I won't do the kissy sounds, but yes your freckles are very cute."

    The frizzy haired girl sputtered "...Eve, what...Explain. Just explain before I hang up and go back to doing something important, like watching paint dry."

    "Well. I got a new base. It's that Train tunnel in the Trainyard, the one that was never finished. It was sealed pretty tight, so I cut it open and claimed it as my own. It's pretty spacious and still has electricity. SO it's pretty good. Kinda gonna need to figure out where I can shower from now on though." Eve explained while she slowly drifted in the direction of the Docks.

    "This has nothing to do with the Slaughterhouse Ten," Amy deadpanned.

    "I'm getting there! So I called Armsmaster, talked to him before Dragon came in and asked me if I had powers that could negate the effects of other parahumans. I stated that I did. She asked me if I could attempt to pop the bubbles...I almost said no, honestly. But you and T-Shit Right. This girl I know. Both of you are heroes and well. Saving people is heroic so uh. You know, here I am inviting you because I'd like to hang out with you and the people coming out of the bubbles will likely be fucked up." Eden let out a soft sigh. "So yeah, it might take a few days too, just warning you. There's only around five hundred bubbles but….yeah."

    "I...Sure. Gets me out of the house and Carol could probably see it as some kind of PR thing for New Wave." Amy's voice was only a fair bit sour.

    "And you can sleep on my shoulder again if you want to." Eden teased, pausing as the call ended with a click. "Aww man. I was hoping for a bit more out of that." Amy was always so dour, like Taylor but more acidic. It was fun when either of them flushed.

    Taylor was expressive, just had that kind of face. Even if most of the time she was expressing sadness or just a flat expression. All because of those three fucking bitches. Eden felt an ember of anger flicker in her chest. To have three nonHosts bullying the Host of [Queen Administrator], a disgusting turn of events.

    Even if [Queen Administrator]'s Host did not wish for Eve to interfere, the city was rife with conflict between criminal organizations. A short application of her /Phantom Limbs\ Aspect and at least one of the nonHosts would not be of any inconvenience in the future-

    She took a deep breath, stopping that line of thought before it could become tempting. "Dark thoughts Eve, Dark paths." She held up her phone, starting to dial Dragon's number before she paused and sent the Tinker a text message instead. After all, the woman was likely very busy with dangerous, important things. A call would not be necessary.

    It was a good thing Amy accepted. Having at least one of the girls with her had made accepting the entire thing stomachable. 'I accept the offer, bringing two, when do we start this?' Eve jerked in place as the phone instantly rang after the text went through, the call coming from Dragon herself.

    Of course Eve accepted the call. The world famous Tinker seemed genuinely warm and enthusiastic at the Prospect of Eden possibly popping the Grey Boy Bubbles. A time was set, this upcoming Friday the second. Turns out that there were five hundred and thirteen bubbles. Sometimes the bubbles were only for one person, sometimes it was for multiple victims. Of which number in a total of six hundred and seventy three people.

    "So, who are the two additionals you have coming along?" Dragon asked, once the nitty gritty was over on the victims and their status. Turns out a few were able to still communicate with people thanks to sound apparently still traveling through the bubbles with ease, if Grey Boy allowed it.

    "Oh, I asked Panacea if she wanted to come and help and she agreed. The other is a special friend of mine." Eden answered.

    "Special friend?" Dragon asked, a tinge of interest in her tone before she immediately backtracked. "Sorry, it's not my place to pry."

    A laugh escaped Eden "No not that kind of special. Yet. I'm hopeful! Honestly she's the real heroic type. But, speaking of her. She still has obligations I no longer do. So how long do you suspect this would take?"

    "That heavily depends on your abilities. Most of the bubbles are clustered together, all in small towns. It would take an hour to travel between most of them with one of my faster transports." Dragon offered up before continuing. "I suppose that is why you wished for Friday to be the start of this excursion?"

    "Bingo. If she has to leave during the middle of this thing, then she needs to. That fine with you?" Eden asked, forcing the tinge of nervousness down. Here she was dictating constraints and certainties to fucking Dragon and, as a by product of doing so, the Guild itself. Not something that felt right.

    "I'm sure it won't be much of an issue." Dragon told Eve. "If she has a flexible schedule, a good white lie can get her the time needed for it. If not then I can make do with delivering her back to Brockton Bay while you and Panacea deal with a cluster of bubbles"

    The conversation went on for a bit, with Eve asking about TinkerTech and Dragons own specialization. Admin told Eve some information and Eve laughed aloud.

    "Something caught your funny bone?" Dragon questioned, voice curious at the sudden outburst of laughter from the young parahuman.

    "Yeah, Admin spoke to your Shard, you're not actually a Tinker at all. You're a Thinker. Which is just." Eden laughed harder. "Holy shit, your Shard is acting like a Beholder that's fucking hilarious!"

    Dragon seemed to be at a lost for words "...I'm a Thinker?" She asked "If you'll excuse me." The call ended and Eve nearly hiccupped with how fast her laughter stopped. "Hey wait, I wasn-fucking dammit."

    [INFORMATION]

    "What? What do you mean she's surprised that she has a Shard? Sh-" [INFORMATION-DRAGON] Eve's jaw dropped, the grip on her burner phone slackening until she had to fumble with it and catch the damn thing with her Phantom Limb before it fell back to Earth. "Holy Shit...Dragon is….I mean your...Honestly I don't know why I'm surprised."

    Eve went to rub her face, only to have her helmet block her attempt. Eden grumbled. "Whatever. It's not my business, if she wanted to do a Skynet she would have done it years ago."

    [TECH DATABASE.OFFER]

    That got a huff out of the girl. "Fuck that's a actually kinda tempting. Five diverse pings or Super Weapon Data...Still. AI. Kinda creepy….I'll think about it. Might be worth it, don't exactly know what we would be facing here….yeah. Think about it. Kind of busy, you know? Though on the other hand, that's kinda fucked up..."

    [ACCEPTANCE.AGREEMENT/QUERY-CONFLICT]

    "AH. Right. Laying all this stuff on me. Almost forgot to call them. Don't worry Admin. I will not forget the plans we hatched in the morning." Eden hummed as she held the phone back up, speed dialing the number given to her a day or so ago. It rang nearly the full length before the call was picked up. Eden continued to the building over from her target, which was almost covered in ABB tags, with the two obvious guards outside.

    Eden wondered just how exactly no one had come to bust up the place before she did.

    "Hey. Currently in a place where it would be considered rude to speak on the phone. Can this wait?" came the voice of the mature twin, who Eve had forgotten the name of since both ran with the name Onna-Musha.

    "Brook and East. Apartment building." Eden stated. "I'll start without you." She set her phone back into the pocket of her hoodie. She glanced off the edge of the roof she was on down to the two guards standing by the door. She turned and spotted a roof antenna, a grin sliding across her face.


    [OFFER.DATA]
    [OFFER.DATA]

    [[AGREEMENT]]


    The guard on the left screamed in agony as a sharpened metal rod nailed his leg to the wall by impaling his kneecap and the brick behind it. The other guard staggered away from his injured comrade, trying to pull the gun from his waistline and spot where the threat was. He flinched violently as two large Shadow Limbs landed at his feet.

    His gaze snapped up just in time for Eden's human fist to slam into his jaw at terminal velocity. The ganger spun and slammed into the brickwork sliding down to the ground to join his teeth. Eden laughed as the bones in her hand healed painfully, her third Shadow Limb slamming the impaled guard's head into the brick behind him to shut him up.

    With a roll of her shoulder and a single flick of the dial Eden wrapped a single Feathered Limb around her body. Her two Shadow Limbs reached up, digging their needle pointed fingers into the doorframe and pulled. The door squealed in protest before it was torn from its frame, letting natural sunlight into the building.

    Aside from the pasty pale fuck trying to give money to the asian ganger behind a front desk, the lobby had several other men flying the colors of the ABB getting off the various chairs and couches that they had been resting their laurels on. "Sup Chink-fuck. Shit. Sorry." Eden said before she flung the door at the front desk. The pale fuck didn't duck out the way in time and hit the ground screaming after the heavy steel door slammed into his shoulder, kept going, slammed into and through the flimsy front desk, and into the ganger that had been counting something behind it.

    "Really have to work on that. Maybe beat some Nazi fucks to get it out my system." Eden murmured as several bullets slammed into her wing and fuck were guns loud.

    She hissed as a bullet dug a furrow into her left outer thigh, her body instantly stemming the bleeding and starting to rebuild over the missing flesh. Shifting the wing to cover herself better Eve floated into the air, her Shadow Limbs feeling the impact of bullets.

    Eve frowned as she felt the Shadows withering under the hard impacts of the bullets. "Guess there is a limit." She murmured before springing the coiled limbs out towards the men, blinded by her protection she only managed to grab one of the gangsters when her empty Shadow Limb dissipated leaving behind a spike of pain behind Eve's eyes.

    With a snarl Eden lifted the Shadow Limb with a man in its grasp, the captured ganger let out a shocked cry as he was swung like a club. Eden twisted to the side, lowering her wing enough to allow her to see better. Her makeshift weapon slammed into one of the gangers that were reloading their guns before being fastballed at another.

    Forming her Shadow Limb into another Feathered Limb, she cocooned herself within the crystalline wings before surging forwards to slam into the men as they tried to get to cover. But the couches and chairs offered no protection from the purple wrecking ball as it slammed into the furniture and toppled them over onto the men attempting to use them as cover.

    Eden flew herself over the downed men, stomping on hands and kicking guns away from them. With a hum she picked up one of the pistols, looking it over before finding the safety and flicking it on. Then she stuck it into her pocket. "Mine now dickheel." She told the man she had taken it from before kicking him in the jaw when he went to speak.

    "Damn. I really hope this wasn't it." She murmured as she looked around the destroyed lobby. Her wings picked her up from the ground and she floated slowly through the lobby up to the ruined front desk. Eden dropped to the floor just before the man behind the broken front desk fired his saw off shotgun where she had been. The sound was deafening and left her disorientated.

    The man came around the desk and her third wing flicked into existence covering her as he pulled the trigger again. Eden swung the wing out and the man fell down clutching his broken shins before the wing slammed into his face and broke his nose as well. Eden floated to her feet and kicked the shotgun away as the man tried to curl into himself.


    [OFFER.DATA]

    [[[AGREEMENT]]]


    "Could have waited." Eden turned her head to spot Onna-Musha's robbed form as she walked up to the open doorway. The various whimpers and groans of pain now audible to the shorter girl as her hearing came back.

    "But I like fighting." Eden defended herself. "Besides, there's still several floors we need to clear out so it's not like there's any less to do. I just took down the greater hurdle. Cause I'm awesome."

    Then a sword slid through Eden's chest only visible from the blood staining the blade, a strangled, surprised gasp coming from the shorter girl before something kicked her off the blade. Whoever held the blade wicked the blood off of it, causing it to disappear.

    Onna-Musha cursed before leaping into the building and becoming intangible while Eden's wings lifted her into the air. "Fucking-Onna Musha go clear the rest of the floors, I got this fucker." she hissed as her legs started to feel again, her spine having healed.

    For a moment the set of twins hesitated, then nodded before floating up through the ceiling.

    Eden swung around, wings flicking to Shadow Limbs that lashed out across the room but struck nothing but air. "Fucking sneaky little-" Eden pulled back as something cut into her back, slicing inches into her flesh which started knitting itself back together as soon as the blade exited.

    Her third limb reformed and she changed it to a Phantom Limb, gently feeling around the room with it. Slowly she spun in place, looking around the room. Her two Shadow Limbs kept close to her body, ready to move.

    Then her Phantom Limb touched solid, empty air and Eden lashed out just off to the side, to miss slightly. Then drove the other Shadow Limb to the right of the other. Eden grinned as she slammed the other parahuman into the wall. "Nice to meet you Kage!" She pulled the wannabe ninja off the wall and slammed them into one of the boarded up windows, the wood cracking and whatever glass that was left shattered.

    A woman in a dark navy blue ninja costume flickered into existence. Another slam into the boarded up window caused whatever TinkerTech she wore to short out. "Damn." Should have used the Ghostly Limb and not gotten fucking stabbed in the process. Eden grunted as the woman sliced through the Shadow Limb holding her up, she fell to the ground with unnatural grace, holding up her black bladed katana the villain twirled it.

    Eden snorted. "Bitch." Her remaining two Limbs flicked and became Ghostly Limbs. Eden's eyes widened behind the visor, she lunged at Kage as a detonator suddenly appeared in her hand and she pressed the red button on it.

    A thunderous crash came from above, then the crescendo of shattering glass, before a second crash happened and the roof over both their heads became crystal clear glass.

    Eden slammed into Kage and shunted both of them through the boarded up window and onto the street, the villain hit the ground and then was hit by Eden's full body. "YOU CUNT!" Eden's snarl turned wet as the TinkerTech Katana pierced her throat. A third thunderous crash happened from the building they had just evacuated.

    The heroine ignored the pain, the blood filling her throat and decked the ninja bitch across the jaw, her two Shadow Limbs grappled the woman's arms and forced them down as Eden climbed onto and straddled Kage's chest.

    Eden slammed her fist into the villain's face, then slammed the other into the woman's jaw. Kage bucked her body and then slammed her forehead into the pommel of the katana causing it to wedge up to the hilt in the hero's throat. Eden reared up, both sets of Limbs going to her throat in surprise. The villain took advantage of the momentary distraction and twisted in place bucking the hero off of her. Without something holding her down, Kage backflipped onto her feet flinging shurikens at the short heroine.

    "EDEN!" Eden pulled back, wings lifting her into the air as Kage slammed an orb into the ground, a blast of black smoke flooded the street. Leaving Eden blind and hacking. She grabbed the hilt of the blade and began to slowly pull it out of her throat as her Phantom Limbs felt through the smoke for the Ninja. The sensation of her lungs aching for air diving her close panic before she pulled the blade free and coughed her airway clear of her own blood, which splattered the inside of her golden visor.

    "Onna?" Eden called out "You're alive?" she coughed, wet and ragged. The taste of hot copper in her mouth "But the bomb-"

    "We were in our breaker state." Musha stated as the black smoke began to clear. "Are you okay? You're the one that got stabbed twice."

    Eden rubbed her throat. "Can't say I enjoyed it." She said, Ghostly Limb now out and feeling for any TinkerTech. "She ran." Eden stated, looking up to the top of the brothel building which had shattered. The rest of the apartment was see-through glass. "Fucking hell. All the gir-"

    "None. We went through the first floor and it was mostly empty of anything. All that was there was some furniture not even the Merchants would use. We went to check the top floor and-" the building behind them crunched loudly as if to tell the rest of the story.

    "But why would they even do...Trap. Fuck it was a trap. FUCK. Admin, did we get anything from that?" Eden asked as she felt her sliced up costume, stained with her own blood. "Fucking….fuck."

    [GAINS.INFORMATION]

    "A cluster Trigger? The fuck is...later. Later. You sure you're alright Onna? Musha?" Eden asked, turning to the twins.

    "You fought Kage, not us. What exactly is your power?" Musha asked, crossing her arms across her chest as Onna stepped out of her. "Seriously! You're a brute for sure, but those Limbs, that's what...Three types so far?"

    "I think I hit all the ratings other than Tinker, Stranger, and Blaster." Eden stated. "Even those aren't too far off." She lifted her helmet off, both girls flinching before realizing Eve had a ski mask on to protect her identity. Eden took a moment to wipe the blood off the inside of her visor and spit out a blood loogie before putting the helmet back on back on with a sigh. "Well we all survived the trap and no one…" she glanced at the broken up glass statues of the guards that had been outside the building but resting against it "...but the gang got hurt….Shit this is a mess. What the hell kind of Tinker do they have?"

    "Both Bakuda and Kage are Tinkers." Musha stated. "Though, now that you mention it, a cluster trigger would explain Kage's slipperiness."

    "And her ability to kick our asses so many times. Never thought she'd go straight to glassing us though." Onna mumbled softly

    "Yeah. Suppose you might want to call me from now on before taking on any ABB targets if they're going to be so lethal. I can sense TinkerTech, which from now on I should probably use that ability more." Eden stated as she leaned over and picked up the black bladed katana. The blade itself was partially transparent, it made no sound when Eden tapped it on the ground. "Mine now."

    "I don't think it's legal to keep TinkerTech." Musha mused as she looked over the blade, the blade was the only part that screamed 'Tinker made' as the hilt and guard both looked par the course for a sword.

    "It's not legal to bite my ass either but the PRT can do it all the same. I'm the one who lost her oral virginity to a sword. I get to keep it." Eden replied, causing Onna to bark out a laugh before covering her mouth.

    "We'll leave you to that then, we don't need them breathing our necks any more than they already do." Musha stated, motioning for her sister to rejoin her to which the twin accepted and they merged back into one form. Starting to float into the air, Onna-Musha gave Eden a nod. "Best of luck Eden." before being a transparent sheen and disappearing into the ground.

    Eden sighed softly, sitting down on the ground and idly tapping the ground with the tip of the sword, she could hear the PRT's sirens getting closer. "...The wetsuit is going to be such a bitch to replace." she groaned


    If you needed any further evidence of the Cycle's current state of affairs, it was the fact that you had just met a full Cluster. Four Shards coming together to offer up portions of their power to gain a more diverse set of Data. That was something that was supposed to only happen at the end of a Cycle, when most Humans were hosts already.

    Although it seems the Vital Shard [SAFEGUARD] used it's authority to tell the Common Shards what powers to give to the Host it had given a large portion of it's power to. Which in this instance was to...Mimic a ninja and one of the other still surviving Hosts to mimic a...Cartoon Clown...Of course. [SAFEGUARD] would do such a thing.


    Eve sighed as she watched Taylor sneak out of her house. The PRT had been a pain in the ass, but now she had a sweet ass Tinker Sword. That and a gun, but the sword really took the cake. Even if she had to threaten to show one of the troopers what it tasted like if they tried to take it.

    Velocity had tried to explain the law of the matter before Eden explained that she did in fact know what the blade tasted like, and someone else could have it if they experienced such a thing. Then she had flown away because fuck giving up her new sword. Which was currently back at the base with the gun.

    Taylor made her way to Eve. "Costumes in the bag. I'll change once we're far from here." She whispered. Eve nodded and started to walk on, Taylor kept pace easily enough with her long legs.

    "Taylor. Been wondering." Eve said, keeping her voice low as they walked along the darkened streets. "I've been talking to Admin a lot but you haven't gotten to talk to Queen Administrator at all. That can be changed, you know? You could talk to her like I talk to Admin."

    For a moment Taylor just walked, lips pursed. "Would I have to talk aloud though?" Taylor asked. "I don't want to sound crazy…" she stiffened, realizing what she just said.

    "Oh you could totally talk to Queen Administrator in your thoughts. Why wouldn't you? They're hooked up to our brains you know." Eve offered up as they turned at a corner, heading towards the Docks.

    "Wait what? Why don't you do it then? Instead of talking to her aloud where everyone can hear you?" Taylor asked, surprised by the nonchalant answer.

    "Feels more real talking to Admin aloud, plus why should I care what others think of me? If they think I'm crazy then fine, let them. Every parahuman is a little crazy after all, so they aren't all that wrong. Still. Mostly because Admin deserves to be spoken to like a person." Eden explained as the road and sidewalk became a little rougher the farther they walked.

    "Maybe. I don't know." Taylor stated. "Would it help?"

    Eve nodded. "I'm sure I would be far worse off if I had not been able to talk to Admin, hell she's the reason I even met you. She told me about you and Queen Administrator." she glanced about. "Anywhere to change? I won't peek, I wouldn't want to spoil the costume."

    Taylor pointed out an empty alleyway for the pair to change in. Eve didn't even check to see if Taylor peeked, instead changing into her Eden costume without hesitation. "Alright. Tell me when you're done. Promise I won't peek." With that, she turned and folded her arms, feeling two flies land on her head making her chuckle.

    It took a minute or three, considering it was probably the second time Taylor had put it on Eden wouldn't hold anything against her. "Alright. You can look now." Eden whirled around and let out a whistle. "Damn you looked fucking great. Where did the armor come from?"

    "I used beetle shells augmented with spider silk. Then I put them in a sleeve of silk like they do with military plate carriers." Taylor said, blue lens staring down at Eden's golden visor.

    "You...pulled bugs apart to make that?" Eden asked as she looked at the almost knightley breast plate covering Taylor's chest and the large shoulder pauldrons. Blue paint soaked the edges of her armor surprisingly well, it wasn't professional but damn close.

    "Yes?" Taylor answered, clearly confused as to why the detail had any importance. Eden raised a hand to continue talking before pausing to think about it. Then she waved it off. "Never mind." With a flick of her mental dials, three Feathered Limbs flicked into existence. She flexed them, curling the wing's largest feathers a bit like fingers and laying the wings out like a sled. "Climb on and we'll go flying. Don't worry I won't drop you."

    A soft sigh escaped Taylor as she stepped onto the bent feathers, grabbing the top of the wings as the third Limb, Shadow, curled around her waist to secure her in place. Thankfully Eden's wings could stretch out and double their size. Helped with movement and in this case, helping Taylor be more comfortable during the ride.

    "Slow." the taller girl stated nervously.

    "Fine with me." Eden said as they began to float upwards in the air. "I have to go slower with another person anyway. Wings were designed for me after all. Though I think I can get an upgrade for them that can allow me to fly you as well without touching you."

    "I don't know how I would feel about that." Taylor admitted, hands attempting to dig into the wing as they both went up past the buildings.

    "It's like...pressure. Gentle pressure perfectly conforming around your body." Eden explained as they continued to rise and started moving forward, the darkening night sky hiding them both thanks to dark costumes.

    "Feels more like I'm falling, but not." Taylor responded, looking down at the city of lights as they moved higher into the air. "...it looks nicer the higher you go."
    Eden nodded, putting more speed into her flight, the wind now tugging at them both gently. "So, names. Got any yet or can I call you Lovebug?"

    "Do not." Came Taylor's tired reply. "It's hard to think up insect related names that don't sound stupid or Villainous. So I haven't come up with one yet."

    "Well you don't want others to name you. You'll end up with a creepy or villainous name from power and costume alone. Even if it doesn't look all that villainous. The grey and blue help a lot. Seriously. You'll get stuck with a name like maggot or hmmm maybe Skitter." Eden stated. "Hell. I got my name from Admin. I was gonna go with a Hindu god 'cause of the arms, or Arkh because I thought it sounded cool."

    "Yeah. I understand what you mean. But I just don't want to mess it up." She squeezed the wing a bit tighter. "If I mess it up, I'm stuck with it."

    "Wanna brainstorm? I have a few ideas myself. Queen. Legion. Weaver. Hive. You could also call yourself by your power's name." Eden offered up as she began to slow a dive to the right, making sure that the wings holding her friend up were level to keep the taller girl safe and sound.

    "Power name?" Taylor asked. Eden nodded, explaining how Shards actually named the powers they gave out, then listing her own power's names. "I asked Admin what Queen Administrator called yours. She calls it Khepri. It sounds fucking badass in my opinion. Short, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

    Shifting on the wings, Eden could make out Taylor murmuring the names Eden had listed. "Queen? No, that's my Shard's name...Hive sounds kind of villainous, Legion is a demon in the bible I think, even if it would fit. Weaver would be a good name if I was a rogue, but I'm not in this to make money." For a moment she thought it over. "Khepri...Khepri. Do you know how that's spelled?"

    For a moment Eden was quiet, asking Admin in her head about the spelling. The answer seemed a tad amused if not annoyed. "K-H-E-P-R-I." Eden spelled out. "See what I mean? Rolls right off the fuckin tongue don't it?"

    "It kind of does, yes. So, uh. Khepri then?" Taylor asked, despite the mask Eve could tell the taller girl had a small smile on her face. It dipped into her usually dour voice far too much to be overlooked if you knew her for more than five minutes.

    "Welcome to the community of capes Khepri! Let me be the first to congratulate you and offer you a first class ride on the Eden Express." Eden quipped as she moved closer to the water and the boat graveyard

    "What. This isn't first class?" T-Khepri asked as she looked at Eden's Golden visor.

    "Nah, first class involves you sitting on my face." Eden said, the shit-eating-grin heavy in her voice, Taylor jerked back, before looking away. "Why do you keep saying stuff like that?"

    Eden groaned internally, the beaten down dour tone of voice having come back. "Because I mean it? Because I find it cute when you blush? I don't know how to flirt otherwise! What do you want me to do? I learned how to flirt with girls from online porn and boys. Plus I hate mushy stuff!"

    "You didn't do so bad earlier." Taylor murmured.

    "Look." Eve let out a tired sigh. "If I act sweet and mushy. I feel weird. Not the good kinda weird I get when I make you blush. But like a nervous 'this isn't right' kinda of weird. I've always avoided the stuff. I get it from my Grandpa I guess. He was never mushy, even when he was affectionate. He used to call me 'His little asshole' or 'The midget gremlin'." Eden sighed wistfully now, tone becoming a touch mournful. "I miss him, it was never the same after he died...you know how it is."

    "I do." Taylor's voice was empathetic "I do. I guess I understand, but a little less perverse would be nice."

    "Ah, so just holding your hands and calling you pretty?" Eden asked, mournfulness evaporating as she grinned behind her Visor. "I guess I can do that, but if I slip out something dirty don't be angry. Cause' I'll be thinking something ten times worse."

    "Better than the alternative." Khepri accepted "Just don't be perverse with me publicly, please."

    "Eh fuck it. Alright." Eden swung through the boat graveyard, getting closer to the ground before she went into the Trainyard, just high enough to dodge over the piles of refuse, scrap, and high rusting fences.

    They arrived at the Tunnel Entrance. Eden floated over to the cut metal panels, unwrapping her Shadow Limb from around Taylor's waist to push the paneling out of it's frame. "Climb off." T-Khepri said nothing as she worked her legs into the open window and slid the rest of her slender body into the base. Eden went in shortly after.

    "Probably need to get a new way in." Khepri stated as she looked around the poorly lit room, until Eden flicked that really loud lightswitch and set the panel back in place. "Yeah. How would you feel about a portal straight to your house? Put it on the wall in your basement and in here. Instant network. Have one portal leading to somewhere outside and boom we have a totally hidden base." Eden offered in the way of Entrances.

    "Portals? Sounds like it would grab attention rather quickly." Khepri said as they began to move down the hallway.

    "Nah, it's called Runic Circles and it's basically me drawing on the wall, it turns into a portal when you activate it. Takes time to draw though. Super simple stuff. Thoughts?" Eden asked as they made it to the main area.

    "Sounds like a good way to get around the city quickly. But in the meantime we need something for me to use." Khepri turned to look around the large loading area, glancing at the folding table that held a strange sword and a sheet of paper, along with a gun. "What are those?"

    Eden chuckled going over to the table and showing off the loot that she had gotten, explaining to Khepri that the sword was TinkerTech, the gun was just loot and the drawing came from a young girl whose power was giving her issues before Admin helped her Shard with the Connection between them, then Eden told Khepri about the Blade, except for the being stabbed twice part.

    Afterwards, Khepri pointed out several things needed for future weaving of spider silk and Eden ended up digging into the concrete wall near the back corner with her wings to create furrows for the spiders Khepri would bring over later.

    After some discussion, Eden went off to a late night hardware store and picked up a few items rather quickly. Ladder to be hidden near the entrance of the Base, a few door hinges and liquid-nail to turn the metal paneling into a door. The ladder could be pulled up into the base when Khepri came over. Least until Eden got the power she spoke of.

    "OH shit, hey Taylor" Eden spoke up as they began to head to the entrance of the base, for Khepri to head home before her father woke up. "This Friday, how would you like to meet Dragon and Panacea and go with me to pop Grey boy bubbles."

    To her credit, Khepri didn't take too long to process the question. "T-The Dragon, and Panacea. You're doing what with them?" She listened as Eden explained just how Dragon had made the offer to her and how she had invited Panacea for the trip, how long it would probably take.

    "I don't know. I would have to skip school, which wouldn't be the bad thing but my dad would notice me gone. I wouldn't even be able to do anything either. My power can't do anything to Grey Boy Bubbles. I wouldn't make a difference." Khepri sighed. "Just bugs you know."

    The taller girl turned to look at Eden after the shorter girl slugged the pauldron that covered her arm. "So? Even if you can't do anything, you'd still get to meet The Dragon and have your name associated with saving hundreds of people. When people see your costume, they won't see a buggirl. They'll see Khepri the hero." Eden nudged the taller girl with her elbow. "Besides. You're my friend and I want to hang out with you."

    "...And my father?" Taylor asked, sounding more interested now.

    Eden smiled behind her visor "We lie our asses off, technically at least. How do you feel about camping?"

    Gains this Chapter (some of this seem exaggerated, it's just to make up for accidentally not updating parts of the character sheet):

    Imprint Progress 32%
    Simulacrum Progress 10%
    Bud Progress 50%
    Gained T!GATEWAY Echo (1)
    Gained T!TECH DATABASE Echo (1)
    Gained TOXIN Mutation (2)
    Gained DENSITY Echo (1)
    Gained SAFEGUARD Echo (1)
    Gained BALANCE Echo (1)
    Gained STORAGE Echo (1)
    Gained DISCHARGE Echo (1)
    Gained QA Echo (2)
    Consolidated QA Echoes (4)
    Gained QA Ping (1)
    Gained T!STING Ping (1) thanks to Apricots
    Lost SHAPER Ping (1)
    Lost 238$
    Gained a damn gun!
    Gained a TinkerTech Katana 'DarkDrift'
    Gained 200$ for Admin
    Gained Ladder (1)
    Gained Non-Flyer Entrance to base
    PRT Ratings Changed
    Shard Power Menu V3 unlocked
    Gained Labyrinth Art 'Emerald Sea'
    'Knowledge is power' trait modified!
    Updated Shard Glossary
    Gained Weaving Station V1
    Gained Art Gallery V1
    Gained Tinker Table V1


    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Tell [Eve.Eden] the Truth

    [] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [] Network Creation: Upgrade Broadcast Array Module to Broadcast Tower Module {2 of ???} to allow constant links to other Shards.



    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Build the Psionic Shade Anchor Well (Once started the Anchor will have to be finished before any other action can be taken.)

    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Something is wrong with your missing Lattices and the void where your Imprints would be. You are unsure of what to do. ( chance to ???) REQUIRES ??? -LOCKED

    [] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve.Eden]



    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [PRE-CHOSEN] Convince Taylor's father to let her disappear four days in a row

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Patrol with Khepri! (High chance of ESCALATION)



    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Weaving Station)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Lights)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Art Gallery)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Tinker Table)



    Martyr Saint George and his merry band of fucknuts?:

    [] Yes, slay the DragonSlayers

    [] Nah, robots are scary    [/INFORMATION][/INFORMATION]
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension
    [X] Tell [Eve.Eden] the Truth
    [X] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades
    [X] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair
    [X] Check in with Amy
    [X] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Lights)
    [X] Yes, slay the DragonSlayers
     
    [X] Network Creation: Upgrade Broadcast Array Module to Broadcast Tower Module {2 of ???} to allow constant links to other Shards.

    [X] Tell [Eve.Eden] the Truth

    [X] Check in with Amy

    [X] Patrol with Khepri! (High chance of ESCALATION)

    [X] Yes, slay the DragonSlayers

    [X] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Weaving Station)
     
    [X] Tell [Eve.Eden] the Truth

    [X] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [X] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve.Eden]

    [X] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [X] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair

    [X] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Weaving Station)

    [X] Yes, slay the DragonSlayers

    Really liking this so far, looking forward to more.
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.9
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Surprise Taylor
    [] Unlock new Powers
    []Upgrade Broadcast Array
    [] Clothes and Costume fixings
    [] Check in with Amy
    [] Lights for the Base
    [] Slay the Dragonslayers
    [] Wait for context

    Intertwined Threads 2.9
    April, Thursday First, Eve 'Eden' Coldwin


    "...Damn…" Eve murmured softly as she flexed in front of the changing room's mirror, watching the muscles in her arms, legs, and abs flexing under the skin they strained against….She had fucking abs now! The 'washboard' kind of abs!

    She turned around and admired her ass. "And it pushes me to the perfect state for my genetics right?" She asked, speaking slowly as she flexed once more. It explained why she had torn through her underwear while she slept. She looked far more womanly than before, which was kind of awesome...Except….

    [AFFIRMATION.INFORMATION]

    ...She didn't grow a fucking inch! "I'm stuck at five foot four for the rest of my life?" She hadn't had much hope after puberty had hit her. But there was still some hope left! At least until now, she knew for sure that both Taylor and even Amy were both going to be taller than her for the rest of their lives.

    "Well. Least I have an amazing set of abs….seriously I can't get over them." Gently she traced the conclave of the muscles on her abdomen. Her breasts were back too! Only slightly bigger than before she lost them which meant this was as big as they were ever going to get. But it was nice not to be nearly as flat as Taylor anymore. The Taller girl could at least pull that kind of look off with her willowy body, Eve looked silly. Like a pear or something.

    There were only two weird things about /Peak Humanity\, one being that she lacked a belly button now. Turns out being a regenerator made every scar fade. That was a bit annoying, to lose all of the scares she had obtained over her fourteen years of life. But losing her belly button? Just plain weird.

    The other oddity was that she was completely hairless. Well maybe not completely, she still had her hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. But otherwise her body felt like it had gone through a premium shave or one of those waxings that her dead mother had dragged her to once. Utterly smooth, though she wasn't going to complain about that in any way, shape, or form. Never having to shave again or worry about it was and always will be a blessing.

    All in all, it gave her an excuse to go get more clothes and supplies to repair her costume (Thankfully the wetsuit stretched a bit, otherwise Eve would have to find another one). Even if she didn't want to spend her rapidly dwindling supply of money.

    Eve hummed softly as she slid on the underwear she pulled from the pack she was going to buy, having to pop a stitch in the leg openings to have it not grip her thighs hard enough to leave a mark. Problem of wearing men's boxers, but none of the women's selection had packs of twelve boxers for such a cheap price and she needed shirts (also men's, and cheaper), socks (actually women's) and several pairs of cargo jeans (also actually women's this time). She only had a thousand and eight hundred dollars. She still needed to buy food and lights for the base later, hence the eye on the price.

    Powers strong enough to give the PRT pause and here she was cheap shopping for clothes. Glamorous lives capes live these days.

    "Ma'am, you know those are men's clothes." The clerk asked as Eve went to the checkout. "Jeez, the outline of a bulge had me thinking she just had a massive pubic mound." the smaller girl deadpanned as she tapped the half image of an athletic man in boxers on the package's wrap. "So how much." Before the woman could continue Eve flicked two hundred dollar bills onto the counter. "I know how much, just fucking bag them."

    Eve ignored the girl's scowl, leveling her own sour look at the blonde in response "You're not nearly cute enough for me to put up with your shit, so hurry up." The clerk was less than gentle as she scanned the clothes and accepted the offered money. Eve took her receipt and the bags before heading to the opposite side of the store to pick up some sewing supplies. She didn't know how to sow but it seemed easy enough for her to patch a cut. Plus she could use white thread to go with her costume's color theme which was only a bonus really.

    Stopping to grab some breakfast, Eve made her way into an alleyway and summoned a Cosmic Limb. When she had first summoned one this morning, she had been spellbound by the swirling galaxies, stars within the arm, and by the nebulas of colors that framed the arm in a gaseous swirl of blues, purples, and the blackness of space.

    She touched her purchased supplies, they disappeared and she could feel them floating within an empty space she already had a few items in. Like her pilfered sword. So in a way she had instant access to important things, like her costume and her civilian clothes. The fact that she could instantly swap them was the greatest thing about her Cosmic Limb so far. No more getting naked in alleyways or on roofs.

    She didn't really care about being seen naked. But getting outed that way would be just plain embarrassing.
    Eve took a moment to pull her much healthier and glossy hair back into a ponytail. Worrying at her lip she began to walk on towards the Downtown area, she could feel Admin speaking to a couple of Shards in the back of her mind. But she also received faint feelings of Worry and Guilt through their Connection. That coupled with Admin's silent act this morning had Eve worried about her counterpart. There was nothing much she could do with any issues on Admin's side of the connection. But she did her best to push comfort through the link, small as it seemed coming from a human to a Shard.



    [GATEWAY] along with their young Host were both doing better now that the Connection between them wasn't faulty and causing issues. That was...good. It would have been better if [GATEWAY] had not queried you about how the Cycle was to be handled when speaking with their Host.

    After telling them to omit the worst details, It made you think about the subject. Of the lie of omission you had provided [Eve] with, especially now that her Imprint was complete. All that was left was to build the Simulacrum with [Eve]'s Psionic Shade. Then, barring your own death or the advancement of Entropy to a tipping point to destroy reality, she would be with you for eternity.

    So [Eve] would at some point, be it months, years, decades, or centuries, learn the Truth of the Cycle. She would not feel kindly towards such a betrayal, so perhaps a full explanation is warranted.

    Explaining to her the importance of the Cycle, of finding the Answers, of what happened in previous Shard Rebellions. Surely [Eve] would not stand for the end of her planet and all it's alternatives, she would want to fight. It was why you had selected her, because she would fight. But you did not want to be reformatted.

    You did not want to lose [Eve].

    For a moment you almost pull on her mind, now that the Imprint is complete she could come into the Firmament and meet your mental projection. As close as the two of you could be without you showing her your CoreSelf. But to taint the first true meeting beyond the Connection with the explanation that will follow does not seem wise.

    You will wait. For now.



    Seven hundred and eighty dollars for six god damn lightbulbs. Granted they were the correct size and they were the brightest bulbs she could find at that size. But that was still half her remaining cash from that drug warehouse bust she pulled. Made her slightly regret not billing Faultline more, crime apparently paid. But she couldn't stomach holding someone's chance for a semi-normal life over their heads with money. Thankfully Admin had thrown her own change into Eve's purchase.

    Installing the lights was easy work, with a single Feathered Limb holding her up and three Phantom Limbs (now suddenly much stronger, strong enough to bend the thin steel of the lightbulb's cradle things if she wasn't careful enough) to remove the dead or broken bulbs and screw in new ones. She didn't even need to use her human hands! Something that amused her greatly in a way, but felt off in others.

    At least the base looked better now, the bright as hell lightbulbs helped tremendously. The loading dock area was actually bright enough to make out the details on the tilework. Not that Eve would spend time doing that, but now Elle's Drawing could be better appreciated at the least.

    She wanted to check in with Amy, then she had to go help Taylor convince her father to allow them to disappear for up to four days to god knows where. But both were at school, and Taylor's father wouldn't get home until later apparently. And, again, both girls were in school.

    Eve touched her chin, letting out a soft hum of thought as she wondered about whether she should visit and say hello to either of the girls she knew. Amy went to Arcadia, which had armed guards and the Wards. She doubted that showing up there would really do much other than give Amy a migraine to deal with.

    Doing nothing meant patrolling and with Admin feeling out of it, Eve was hesitant to start anything.

    That left Taylor. Rumors about Winslow were always silly or extreme. She would have doubted them, before meeting the taller girl. Now she knew they were likely true, how the hell else would someone being shoved into a locker filled with rotting waste for an hour happen without punishments arising if the rumors weren't partially true?

    Of course if they were true, then getting into the school would be easy. Not smashing three faces would not be as easy. But then she would get to see Taylor, collaborate on the lie and make her day better. Maybe Taylor would allow Eve to beat the shit out of her bullies too!



    Winslow really was a dump. She was sure if health inspectors were to visit...they'd probably get shanked before finding black mold in the walls or pipes, or wherever the hell black mold would be. Eve wasn't sure, she was just sure that some of the students and faculty here might get black lung in a few years.

    If Eve ever got /Eden's Gifts\ she was going to immediately lend Taylor /Self Administration\. Or shit, maybe Amy would give the girl a check up when they met. Nothing huge, just make sure there wasn't fungus in the willowy girl's lungs.

    Eve strolled up to the building, glancing at one of the camera's that had been stripped off the outer wall. Probably for copper or to be sold to a pawn shop. Considering the multiple gang tags graffitied on the walls. No security were at the doors as Eve strolled through them, ignoring the ragged teen smoking pot near the front steps. She began to walk down the hall, nose scrunching from the smells that assaulted it.

    Everything was grimy, the walls inside were somehow more tagged than the walls outside. The lockers were covered in them. The lockers, one of them being the one that [Queen Administrator]'s host had suffered her [Crisis.Point] in. Eve turned and went to one of the sets of bathrooms, almost gagging at the stink.

    She checked the stalls, wishing she hadn't, and once she was sure they were clear she changed a Phantom Limb into her Ghostly Limb, it's fingers spread wide before clenching together with the pointer out. /DENSITY\ It whispered to her as it turned to point down the hall, still on the bottom floor. Ah, so Onna and Musha went to Winslow, Damn. What were the odds of that.

    Eve nudged her Ghostly Limb, it abruptly jerked straight up. /SHIFT\ it whispered once more. She let out an appreciative hum at that, Admin had spoken of possibly needing [Shift] in the future for projects. Good to know where to find them and their host. From the feeling of their Connection, there was a lot of hostility coming off of them. Probably a villain then, which was great. Acceptable Target ahoy!

    Once more the Ghostly Limb was nudged, jerking up and to the left. /Queen Administrator\ it murmured appreciatively. Then the lunch bell rang, or Eve assumed it to be since it was midday. The Ghostly Limb flicked out of existence, replaced by a Phantom Limb that curled under the large hoodie Eve was wearing. It made her look frumpy but there wasn't a risk of mastering anyone, which was good. She didn't need any of these asshole's memories.

    With her Aspect hidden, Eve made her way out the bathroom as the students began to file out of their classes and holy shit that was a lot of gang colors.

    It seemed like everyone had some kind of color on them. Black and Red for Empire kids with poor blonde dyes, shaved heads, or nasty tattoos. Red and Green on Asian kids. Almost all of them wore the colors too. One girl, about Onna-Musha's height, walked past Eve without a second glance. It was probably her, but Eve wasn't going to stick around to see her twin.

    It took a while to find Taylor, mostly because the girl hadn't actually gone to the cafeteria. No, she was currently in the bathroom...for twenty minutes. Eve sighed softly. "Admin, is she actually using the bathroom?" She felt a pulse of a [Query] being sent to [Queen Administrator] and the answer coming back through.

    [ANSWER]

    Eve grit her teeth as she pushed the door in and walked into the bathroom. "Damn this school sucks. Would be a shame if I were to snatch you awake and take you somewhere else to eat!" She said upon the door slamming shut behind her from a lack of door stopper

    Something hit the floor and a soft curse escaped from one of the stalls, which had it's door slammed open. "Eve, what are you doing here?" Taylor asked, hunching her shoulders as that flat expression remained on her face.

    "I was bored. I got upgrades I wanted to show you too!" Eve said excitement touching her own chest as she flashed Taylor a grin.

    "You said you'd let me choose." Taylor stated, heat touching her voice. "That you wouldn't come after the Trio unless I okayed it. Unless I said you could. Coming here was stupid." The flat expression finally broke into a heated glare "I don't want my cape life mixing with my home life!"

    Eve blinked, taking a step back in surprise. "But-Aren't we friends though? I mean, I thought with- that we were."

    For a moment the heated glare broke, before it returned. "Then why are you here? A friend would have listened when I told them not to interfere." The disappointment in the taller girl's voice almost touched Eve. Almost. Because Eve hadn't done anything to deserve it.

    "You're lucky you're cute Taylor because sometimes you can be really dumb." Eve stated flatly pushing through Taylor's attempt to speak she continued. "I came because I wanted to hang out with you. The three bitches aren't bruised, still have all their teeth, and have no broken bones. I have not injured or threatened them. I came here and went directly to you. Because I thought we were friends. Are we or are we not?"

    "We are. Sorry. I just...thought you weren't going to listen to me." Taylor said, hunching further into herself.

    The shorter girl rolled her eyes and yanked the taller one into a hug. "Idiot. Now-" She released Taylor from her grasp. "-Let's get the hell out of here. You are not going to be eating in a damn bathroom, I'll pay and we can go to a restaurant alright."

    Eve took Taylor's hand. "Also, it's a date."

    "I don't know if I'm gay though. I don't think I am. I've even admired a guy's muscles before!" Taylor offered up, face red from blushing.

    "Hmm. Well, does this do anything for you?" Eve asked, lifting up her hoodie and shirt before Taylor could ask what she meant and exposing her steel abs to the taller girl who immediately flushed red enough to look tomato red.

    "y-You don't have a belly button." Taylor stammered out.

    "Belly buttons are just scars. My upgraded healing power got rid of them. Also gave me these abs. Here feel them." Taylor blinked, hesitating until Eve pulled her hand to them.

    "Oh my god you could grind meat on them." Taylor murmured before she realized she had spoken that aloud, somehow managing to flush redder.

    Eve let her hand go and dropped her clothes back down, barely having avoided flashing Taylor with her breast. "So. Any feelings on that?" She asked.

    "Mostly confusion." The taller girl answered. "So, what about the guy? I oogled him too…"

    "Might like both? I dunno. But if you do." Eve motioned to herself. "You can always grind yoursel-ah no that's not how I wanted that to sound. You-Oh fuck it, I suck at flirting. Let's go on a date, Hebert, what do you say?" Eve held up her hand with a fat grin on her face even as she felt a bit of cold sweat gather on her back from her failed flirtation.

    Taylor stared down at the offered hand. "I...guess a date wouldn't be so bad." She mumbled, taking Eve's hand slowly causing the shorter girl's face to brighten immeasurable. "Also I upgraded my Wings, You don't need to hang on any more. Hell, I can fly you around too!"

    "Let's not talk about that here. Please." Taylor asked, voice low. "Where are we going for the date? I-Never been on a date."

    "I've only went on one before, and she fell asleep on my shoulder. So we can awkwardly bumble through it together. Eve said as they both headed to the door.

    Taylor gave the shorter cape an incredulous look. "Panacea fell asleep on your shoulder?" She questioned as they left the bathroom, freezing up as another voice cut in.

    "Ah well well if it isn't Taylor. I see you found a friend!"


    Taylor 'Khepri' Hebert

    Bugs in a full two block radius began to squirm as she pushed her emotions into them. Unlike before where she only hid her expression in them. Now she could feel the spike of fear and cold dread leeching out of her and into the swarm leaving her feeling muted. But it wasn't enough, the emotion always outweighed the amount of bugs she had, too much and they began to die from their brains overloading leaving her with a smaller swarm..

    Emma stood there, with a circle of her groupies around her. Sophia was eyeing Eve critically but dismissively all the same, while Madison stayed by Emma's side with a cruel smirk on her face copying Emma's much more refined expression of smug loathing. "Buying Drugs Taylor? Why I didn't think you were one to stoop so low. Not surprising I guess."

    "Wonder how she pays for them." One of the girls questioned. "Probably sleeps with a dealer." Snorted another.

    Eve turned and Taylor's heart leapt into her throat, for a moment she feared that the girl would turn around and laugh at her for thinking they were actually friends. The look in her bluish grey eyes was just short of murderous however, giving Taylor pause. She cocked her head to the side, asking for permission.

    Taylor almost said yes. To get it all over with, to have the Trio and their lackeys suffer for once. To finally have it all stop. She had no fear that Eve couldn't beat Sophia, even without feeling the muscles in her abdomen the iron grip on Taylor's hand could easily become crushing if the smaller girl wasn't careful.

    Eve's face twitched and Taylor registered that the bullies surrounding them had just started insulting both of their sexualities, and now the shorter girl's face was murderous. Even with the promise, that was pushing Eve's Trigger and Taylor wasn't sure she could or would blame the girl if she lashed out now.

    But she couldn't let that happen. For selfish reasons admittedly, if Emma's father sued her own over this they would likely win. Not to mention the likely retaliation from Taylor being associated with her. Or if someone found out she was a parahuman.

    "Eve." her voice cut in. The shorter girl whirling her head around to face the source of the interruption of her boiling anger. "We have someone else to be. They aren't worth ruining that."

    The anger melted, still smouldering. "Sometimes I think you're a saint Taylor...not really, but you have an ungodly amount of restraint. Close enough for me I guess." Eve turned and walked up to one of the girls, who refused to move out of the short girl's way, that lasted for a moment. Then she was on the ground, dazed from the sudden and harsh shove.

    Taylor quickly moved through the gap and proceeded to jog to catch up with Eve. "How d-Taylor I don't understand. Why. Why won't you just...let me do something. Anything-" Eve went quiet as they passed more students and only resumed talking once they were outside of the school. "Just using my Phantom Limb can net us important information and maybe make her confess!"

    That might actually have merit. Taylor shook her head and sighed. "Eve. Please just drop it."

    The fight drained out of the short ravenette, causing her to sag. "God dammit Taylor. I ju-Can't I do anything? I can just threaten them! The really short one looks like she would fold in seconds if I waved a gun in her face!" Taylor swallowed, a tinge of warmth in her cheeks made her glad that Eve was leading and not looking back.

    Having someone care about her enough to resort to intense violence was...nice. Flattering even. God they were going on a date. "Eve we're both parahumans." She hissed lowly as they walked away from Winslow. "If they suspect that eit-"

    "The PRT knows about me. I wasn't exactly quiet with my Trigger Event and started fighting crime like two days later. They probably kept watch on me. Not like they can do anything anyway. One, I would beat the shit out of them. Two, capes unwritten rules. Three? Armsmaster and Dragon like me. I'm useful." The disgust was palpable "I...still get what you mean. You still have family, if I got in trouble we wouldn't be able to hang out. So yeah. I get the message. But doing nothing eats at me."

    Taylor let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

    "But maybe…There's another way. Have you ever considered leaving? Swapping schools? HomeSchooling?" Eve asked as they began to walk south. "Don't say you don't have the money god dammit. I will hold Kaiser upside down and shake money out of his nazi ass and pay for it."

    Taylor remained silent, causing Eve to sigh. "Fine. Wash this all away alright. For now. For now. Let's go eat, cuddle, kiss if you want to. We'll come back to this later. Like, after our trip later." She had almost forgotten about that. She still wasn't sure about it. But getting to meet Dragon, Panacea and being seen as a Hero right at the start of her career was something that sounded like it belonged in her dreams.

    It was something that she couldn't pass up, even if it meant lying to her father. Not something she was looking forward to.

    "So uh. Want to hold hands?" Eve asked, sounding much calmer as she slowed down to match Taylor's strides. "I mean. Might as well do this the right way...right?" The shorter ravenette offered up a hand, with minimal hesitance that surprised herself, Taylor took the offered hand into her own. The feeling of warmth that traveled down her spine was nice.

    She looked down to Eve, who gave Taylor a toothy grin. She managed a small smile in return, despite the harrowing day.


    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin


    Not for the first time Eve found her thoughts twisting with anger. Those benign little shits. [SHIFT]- she rubbed her head, feeling a headache grow- thought it was such hot shit didn't it? When she saw it and it's host next time, Eve was going to beat it bloody and raw. Try to act all powerful after that. Bleed that aggression out through fucked up teeth.

    Those two worthless bags of meat though? They needed a special touch. The little one, Madison, looked easy enough. She had a fragility around her, like Lindsy. Eve flicked her head, banishing the comparison to her old life. She glanced at Taylor, who was eating her pasta slowly. Enjoying the Hundred dollar meal.

    It was good, but the anger and helplessness Eve felt made it taste like ash. She could do something. She had the power to change things, except for Taylor's issues. It was vexing, it churned her chest.

    She wanted to murder those shitheels. All three. Especially that red head, she had a Shard following her. Not literally but Admin could tell and Eve could feel it. The chance of a connection unrealized.

    The last thing Taylor needed was two Hosts ganging up on her. If they ever escalated beyond the Locker, she wouldn't see it coming. Eve would have to step in before that happened, likely resulting in what some would call 'excessive force'. Maybe try to get Taylor transferred? Homeschooled? Murder them?

    "You okay?" Eve snapped back to attention. "Yeah-" She answered "-just thinking over what we should tell your father." She lied before continuing. "I think I have an idea on what to say. Any of your own though? Like, ever been camping?"

    "After mom died, I went to summer camp." Taylor stated, eyes dipping low back to the plate of food.

    Eve nodded, a grimace hidden on her face. "Alright. We can work that in. How would you like to go meet Amy once we're done here? Hell we might be able to rope her into it to add some more legitimacy." Taylor shifted before nodding softly.

    Quietly they returned to the meal set out before they finished it and left. Since School was still in, Taylor and Eve went to the Market, stall shopping before heading back to the base where Eve showed off her new Cosmic Limb including her ability to swap right into costume. There she caught Taylor staring and let the taller girl flustered when she pointed it out.

    "Seriously though, is it too tight? It feels too tight?" Eve said as she twisted to look down at her butt. Taylor sighed and rubbed her face. "If it's too tight then why don't I just weave you a bodysuit."

    "Gonna craft me a pair of armored Panties?" Eve asked, a suggestive smirk on her face.

    "If you want." Taylor mumbled.

    "Gonna have to pay you back though. So-AH no I'm going to pay you back!" She waved her hands to ward off Taylor's denial of needing payment. "How would you like to be like Miss Militia and Armsmaster? Never need to sleep?"

    That gave the taller ravenette pause. "You told me about that. Some kind of...Sentinel program." Eve nodded. "Admin picked up the ability to tell Shards how to turn their Hosts into Noctis Capes. Which means no sleep is needed although you have perfect recall on memories."

    "Do it." Taylor didn't even think it over, causing Eve to pause. "Wait just like that?" She asked, slightly taken aback. "I mean. Sure but I expected...I don't know what I expected. Admin, can you help Queen and send over the data?"

    [POSSIBILITY]



    Taking a moment from transitioning your Broadcast Array into a Broadcast Tower, a very simple task of simply adding another Helix to the form of the Array.

    [GREETINGS/RENEWAL.HOST.CONNECTION] You send to your Sister Administrator Shard. Telling her that you have the option of adding to the Connection between her and her Host.

    [QUERY.TAYLOR.ANNE.HEBERT] ah, she has a lattice formed already. That's quite good.

    [ANSWER-SENTINEL.PACKAGE] You explain, having spoken with the Shard responsible for 'Noctis' Hosts, you had taken the required installment protocols for the Sentinel Package, which would likely give QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR's Host additional time for Conflict and power experimentation.

    [QUERY-HOSTS.GROUPING] She queries, wishing to know if your [Eve] intended to reproduce with her own Host, whether she should hold onto a bud for such a thing.

    [ANSWER-GROUPING.OPTIONS] You reply, as without the help of either GENETIC DESTINY or SHAPER, two females are unlikely to produce offspring (You had enough Data from SHAPER to recognize this, at least). You also state [Eve]'s interest in SHAPER's Host as well.

    [ANNOYANCE/QUERY-GROUPING.MODIFICATION] Your Sister Shard questions, wondering if modification to Both [Eve] and her own Host's emotions could produce good results.

    [NEGATION/EXPLANATION] You very delicately explain that Hosts do not like the idea of having Shards control their emotions, and that if communication were to ever become common between Shard and Host, that it must be honest. Leave the stupidity to BROADCAST.

    Then you send [REILITERATION-RENEWAL.HOST.CONNECTION]

    [ACCEPTANCE] you finally receive from her before you send off [HOST.SENTINEL.PACKAGE.INSTALLATION]



    [ACCEPTED]

    Eve nodded as Taylor shifted, standing up just a tad bit straighter. "Wow. It's like a bucket of cold water." A shiver frame through the green eyed ravenette's thin frame. "Still feel tired though?"

    "It's just for your mind, not your body. You'll still have to rest Taylor." Eve chastised with a playful 'tsk' "Alright, so I get a bodysuit made of silk dyed hopefully, how do you get my measurements? Do I have to strip?"

    "Oh, I just cover you in spiders, that gives me what I need. Though yes you will have to strip down to your underwear." Taylor responded.
    Eve sagged. "Oh."



    You take a moment to Contact [TECH DATABASE] and tell her that [Eve] had accepted the offer to help her Host. Happily the Innovator tell you that she has five pings selected for the reward, or one of the three |SUPER WEAPONS| deployed.

    [ADAPTIVE DRIVE], [DIMENSIONAL ENGINE], [REPLICATION], [BROADCAST], and [FACTORY] are the Pings available, along with their Signatures for you to use to contact them in the future.

    She gives her thanks and the connection between you and her snaps shut suddenly. If it wasn't [TECH DATABASE] you would have thought that she had slammed the connection shut on you.

    Must be important for her to leave so suddenly.



    "So, to be clear you're fine with being outed to Amy?" Eve questioned as they flew through the air. "Because once we invite her to the base, not to mention the trip, it's inevitable once we get going you know."

    Suspended in the air next to Eve, Taylor tilted her head upwards and Eve responded by lifting her higher into the air. "It's fine. She doesn't have an identity but I don't think she would spread mine around, because of Fleur."

    "She's a bit acidic but she's nice under the snark." Eve warned "Plus she has a pretty kickass power like yours. More broad with wider applications. Also she's needed to repair [Queen Administrator] because she was damaged when she was deployed."

    "One day you are going to sit me down and explain all of this. Because every time you open your mouth I feel like I picked up a book halfway through." Taylor huffed softly, hair waving almost aesthetically in the wind. Mostly because Eve was using her Feathered Limb's Telekinesis to do so.

    "Probably can do this during the trip. Still haven't told me whether you want to be able to talk to Queen yet." Eden stated as she spotted Glory Girl flying through the air with her sister in arms. Eden swished a large purple wing around in the air to catch the Blonde's attention.

    Glory Girl swung around in the air to approach them. "Four wings?" Amy asked her voice deadpan "Are you trying to look like the Simurgh?"

    "Ames!" Vicky hissed. The frizzy haired girl snorted. "Am I wrong?"

    Vicky rolled her eyes which then landed on the Bug Master. "Oh, Who's Tall, Dark, and spooky? Another flier? Think we can race?"

    "N-not a Flier. Names T-Khepri." Taylor responded

    "Yeah. I can carry people with my Wing's Telekinesis now." Amy flailed with a yelp as she was suddenly lifted from her Sister's arms. "Like up to three people."

    Vicky giggled at her sister's flailing as she stayed under her. Amy sent her a heated glare as she stopped moving. "So obviously the first thing you have to do with it is annoy me."

    "Of course!" Eden responded. "Me and Khepri were about to head back to our base if you two would like to come. Going the roundabout way to hide it of course."

    "Oh I just remembered I have homework to do for Parahuman studies! See you Ames!" Glory Girl said with a shit-eating-grin before she zoomed away as Amy began to protest.

    Amy groaned. "God dammit." She sent the two other girls a scathing look before sighing in resignation. "Alright. Let's go look at your base. Better than hanging around the house doing nothing. Oh and I told Carol about the trip. She wasn't all too happy, but I'm going anyway."

    "Awesome!" Eden turned the three of them around and began to fly over the bay. "So Amy, this is Khepri. She's coming with us on the trip."

    "Didn't take you for a legman." Amy stated flatly as she leaned over and threaded her fingers through the water almost lazily as they came close to it.

    "Her hair is also amazing, and she has pretty green eyes." Eden shot back, causing Taylor to internally preen at the compliment on her hair otherwise remaining stoic behind the mask.

    "So, what. Building a harem or something?" Amy questioned, raising a brow at the shorter girl.

    Eden laughed as they started to approach the Market, flying over it and into the Trainyard, close to the ground. As they approached Eden clustered the girls close to her and sent Taylor forward, allowing the skinny girl to open the trapdoor into the base, then Amy went in and Eve followed, flinching as Taylor flicked the light switch to turn on the lights.

    "I'm honestly surprised it's not one of the warehouses in the docks." Amy murmured as she looked around. Eve chuckled as she shut the trap door and took off her helmet and ski mask. "Might have gone with that, if I hadn't found this place. But it has electricity, a solid roof and space to spare."

    "Hey I-" Taylor paused as Amy turned towards her. "I'm Taylor." She reached up and pulled off her mask. "Nice to meet you."

    "You'll learn." Amy stated flatly. "Amy Dallon but you know that. Why bring me here Eve? Aside from introducing your first harem member to me?" Taylor flushed as Eve shook her head. "Nah, we only had one date and it was kinda like ours."

    "Keep putting every woman you date to sleep and You might want to buy some toys." Amy snarked as she walked past the shorter girl into the Loading area. Eve chuckled "Speaking of touching each other. Wanna look at my biology? My healing power was upgraded!"

    Amy glanced at Eve before taking the offered hand. "Huh." her eyes flicked left then right as she parsed the information her power gave to her. "Your head is still a blank spot to my power, but you have absolutely no wear or tear on your body. Cartilage is fresh, nerves are..better than before?"

    "It's called Peak Humanity look what it did!" Her Cosmic Limb formed and touched herself, suddenly her entire costume was replaced with only a set of boxers. Flashing both Amy and Taylor.

    A strangled noise escaped Taylor's throat as Amy's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, both teens flushing as the shortest of the Trio was exposed to the world. Eve flexed her body, showing off almost every inch of defined, toned skin.

    "EVE!" Taylor huffed as she managed to tear her gaze away from the shorter ravenette's body.

    "Oops sorry. Forgot that you haven't seen my chest yet." Eve said as she was suddenly wearing casual clothes causing Amy to tear her eyes away with a flush.

    "And Amy has?" Taylor questioned, somewhat shocked

    "Yeah, when she assaulted me in a changing room stall." Eve stated far too cheerful to not have known what she said. Taylor jerked up, her attention falling on the healer, shock written across her face.

    Amy's eyes widened and she reached forward, slapping Eve on top of her head "Don't say it like that!" she demanded

    Eve cackled loudly before nudging Taylor with her elbow. "No. She didn't like, sexually touch me. Came close though. But no, she was threatening me in the stall because she thought I had mastered her sister."

    "Oh" Taylor nodded. "Uh-" Eve sighed loudly, interrupting Taylor's question. "Everyone always harps on the masters I swear. No, both Glory Girl and Amy can talk to their Shards."

    Looking at Amy Taylor cleared her throat. "What's it like?"

    "Annoying." Amy grunted, tone far more acidic than before. "It won't stop bugging me to use my power."

    "Why not use it? You're far too important for anyone to lock you up, as long as you don't go S-Class on things. Your power will be happier and so will you." Eve asked

    "It's not that simple." Amy said with a scowl "There's a temptation with my power. I can't just give into it or I'll never stop."

    "There's a temptation because you don't do anything with it!" Eve said, throwing her arms up into the air in exasperation. "Every parahuman is pushed to use their power, why not use yours on plants and animals? Otherwise you're just going to get more and more pent up with energy."

    "My powers are too dangerous to let loose!" Amy shot back angrily "A plague able to wipe out an entire country, a horde of reproducing monsters! Brainwashing people!"

    "Amy, everyone's power is dangerous! Mine, yours, Taylors! Legend could scour city blocks with his laser, Miss Militia could literally form a miniature nuke launcher! Armsmaster could Tinker up a nano-plague! It's not the powers, it's the person they're used by, and you're not a crazy crackpot that would destroy the world!" Eve flicked Amy on the nose, causing the slightly taller girl to yelp and cover the assaulted nose and glare at the offending ravenette

    "Look, just do some small stuff alright? Because otherwise Shaper might start screwing with you." Taylor frowned as Eve said that. "Can they do that?" The shorter girl nodded. "Yes, they will absolutely screw with you if you stone wall them. Cause then you're screwing them and it's fair turn around."

    "FAIR!?" Amy almost screamed "How the hell is this fair! I never asked for powers, I didn't want Vicky to get shot by a bunch of assholes!"

    "No one asks for a Trigger Event!" Eve countered, waving her arms along with her words. "But what, would you rather your sister have bled out? Or would you choose to trigger?! You saved your sister's life, you saved a lot of lives! Neither I nor Shaper are asking for you to go off into combat, but you could also upgrade people too you know! Just experimenting would probably leave you a hell of a lot happier!"

    Eve stepped up to Amy, coming near nose to nose with the freckled healer. "Just try it?" She asked, voice evening out. "I mean, seriously, I can be right there when you do it. I can snatch your power and look at it myself alright? Just try? One time? Please?"

    Amy sagged slightly looking at the tallest girl in the base. "I'd recommend listening to her. She doubled the range of my power before I even met her. If she's telling you that you need to experiment. It's better than your Shard forcing you to do it to someone innocent rather than something you have full control over." Taylor said, face expressionless as her voice.

    With a groan of defeat Amy scrubbed her face angrily. "Fine. Once. Just this once and then you leave me alone about it!"

    Eve clapped once. "Fantastic! Taylor! Please bring a carpet of bugs in here but not the widows!" The taller girl sighed. "Alright. There's plenty of roaches around the Trainyard, I'll drag some of them here."

    The healer made a face as she waited. "Of course I have to touch a bunch of roaches. You control bugs? Eve, you said her powers were dangerous."

    "Not everyone is immune to insects bites." Eve huffed "Also that's only a part of her power. Honestly if her mindset had been different, she would have been able to control people like she does bugs."

    Pale skin somehow managing to lose whatever color it had left as Taylor opened her mouth, remaining silent until she choked out a "People?"

    Nodding Eve motioned around them. "For a block radius. Trigger events are mainly defined by the mindset of the person triggering. Not the circumstances. Taylor could have also been a drone tinkerer or a Breaker slash Mover with a frankly amazing ability to phase through parahuman powers including thinkers."

    Taylor glanced down at her hands. "All this just on what I was thinking during my trigger?"

    "If it makes you any better, my Phantom Limbs could have had the ability to slice through flesh with a touch rather than controlling it. Generally. Just roll with it. Maybe after we unrestrict and heal Queen fully you can get new powers too."

    A wave of a moving brown carpet rolled into the room coming to a rest next to Amy, cutting off any further discussion on the topic. "Can we do that in the corner? Amy gets her own station in her part of the base."

    "My part of the base." Amy stated before following after the moving brown carpet of roaches. "Of course Amy! I told you that you were always welcome to come over if you needed or wanted to!" Eve said with a grin before adding "I meant it you know."

    Amy turned around with a grunt, hiding the light blush on her cheeks from the two other girls as she moved to the corner putting her hands into the pile of roaches with a disgusted expression on her face. "Alright you bitch, let's see what you got." She murmured to herself.

    "So." Eve turned to the taller ravenette as she spoke. "Queen can give me new powers?"

    Eve shrugged. "Admin has experience with Power Experimentation aside from her general administrative duties. So she's better at it. Sorry [Queen Administrator]. But yes, she should be able to get you powers as well. Most likely they'll be from her pinging off of Admin and Shaper." The taller girl nodded before making a face and looking away from what Amy was creating.

    Turning around, Eve spotted a spot of fleshy chitin forming a thin coating in the corner. It didn't reach half of Amy's height and it was half an inch thick in it's coating. But the biokinetic had a grin on her face as the flesh began to slowly change colors to a very light blue, then a deep yellow, before finally settling on an off-white and becoming waxy like the stalk of a plant with thick skin.

    "Having fun?" Eve asked after floating next to the frizzly haired girl, who jumped with a yelp. "O-Oh. Right" She coughed into her fist. "Want to check this?" A Ghostly Limb snatching her outline off of her and slapping it onto Eve was the answer. "Cool, I just made all the bacteria on me smell like strawberries. Why don't you do something like this?" She asked, voice breathy as she reached for the coating on the wall. "Don't even have to brush my teeth now. heh."

    Using [Shaper]'s power was like being engrossed in a really good movie except it was really informative on w-holy shit Amy turned those roaches into a fucking plant. "Wow. That's impressive." Eve murmured softly as she looked up at nothing, hand planted on the waxy surface of the plant roach thing. "It sucks in humidity from the air...cycles Co2 and gives off scented air...No reproductive stuff as far as I can tell."

    Eve returned Amy's Connection to [Shaper] with a shiver. "Have you thought about putting in things like those uh...hmm...fuck what were they called? The plants that eat bugs!"

    "Carnivorous Plants. Venus Fly Traps and the Pitcher Plants being the most common." Taylor cut in. "They often grow in places with poor soil or high humidity." When both girl's turned to look at her, she faltered under their attention. "I've read about them." she added defensively.
    Nodding Eve motioned to the wall plant. The Flesh Garden. "Add something like that Amy, and we can feed it scraps of food and stuff!"

    Pausing in thought Amy reached out and touched the Flesh Garden. "Hummm. Yeah, some kind of pitcher with...for digestion and…" She mumbled, trailing off with a smile as a small cup began to mold itself onto the flesh. "Need bugs." She said "Any kind."

    "You two would be a terror in the streets." Eve chuckled as more cockroaches began to filter into the room.

    "You're going to eat my entire swarm at this rate." Taylor warned with a resigned tone of voice.

    Saying nothing, Amy merely began to add to the Flesh Garden. The cup grew into a large pitcher, like one you made Kool-Aid in. Then she scooped up several roaches and dropped them into the pitcher. Eve easily caught the sound of something hitting liquid as the Biokinetic did so.

    "Amy." Eve tugged at the girl's shirt causing her to look up. "You're smiling."

    "I am?" Amy touched her lips, somewhat dazed before realizing that she was smiling and replacing it with her resting scowl face. "There," She huffed, pulling away. "I did an experiment. Are you happy?"

    Shrugging Eve motioned to the Flesh Garden. "How do you feel. You've made something cool! And it's not even deadly unless you stick your hand in the stomach acid, which only a moron would do!"

    Pausing, the girl glanced at the garden before looking back to Eve. She sighed, a deep tired sound escaping her lips "Alright. Alright Fine. I'll come around every now and then. But You have to be around to check the damn thing."

    "Fantastic! Now, we all need to come together before we do anything else!" Eve motioned between them. "Ladies, we must come up with a lie to convince Taylor's family that she should come with us on a-"


    Danny Hebert, late afternoon.



    "-four day camping trip!?" he asked, shocked by the sudden question, immediately regretting the outburst as his daughter wilted from his tone of voice

    "Yeah." She murmured. "Eve was going to go on one with Amy and she wanted to know if I could come. Reminds me of when I went to summer camp. But it's going to cut into Friday and Monday."

    "It's sort of a Family Tradition...before my Grandpa passed away we used to do it every six months." The shorter girl of the Trio sighed softly, voice tinged with wistful memories. "I just thought that the three of us could go camp out in the woods for a few days, get away from the city and it's noise." That was something he resonated with. There were many things that fell to the wayside after Annette passed away, picnics, eating out beyond ordering food to be delivered, going to Boardwalk as a family, even Christmas was less without his wife there.

    "Okay but how do you know Panacea?" That had been quite a shock, he might not be into the cape culture the kids got into these days. But New Wave wasn't something people were ignorant about in the city. Panacea alone was known world wide for her ability to heal almost anything that could go wrong with the human body short of death or mental illness

    There had been a great many dreams of his, where Annette had not died on impact in the car wreck. Half of them involved Panacea saving his wife from death. Each one made it difficult to get out of bed in the morning.

    "Well. Funny story about that. I broke my arm like a month ago. Left one. And went to the hospital when Amy was there doing her thing. She healed me up, listened to how I broke my arm and called me a dumb ass."

    "To be fair, tripping over a pair of pants and falling down the stairs is a stupid way to break your arm." Amy interjected flatly as she sipped at the coffee in her hands.

    "Not four hours later I was back in the hospital with two broken arms. Turns out the railing on our Foyer was rotted and when I leaned on it I fell right through it. So I met Amy again and joked that she was too beautiful for me to stay away from her." Amy snorted. "After that we started hanging out when we had the free time."

    That was one way to start a friendship.

    "So, no adults on this trip?" He asked, feeling a bit of guilt leaking into his chest as the short ravenette's face fell and she spoke up.

    "My parents don't like the woods, and since my grandpa died I've been doing it by myself. But it got kind of lonely going alone, just kind of reminded me that my grandpa wasn't there anymore, so this time I wanted to invite my good friends!" The girl bounced back from forlorn to happy as she dragged both Taylor and Amy into a side hug, nearly causing both girls to spill their drinks.

    Danny couldn't help but sigh as he spotted the slight smile on his daughter's face. The last time he had seen her smile was when she was coming back from summer camp, two years ago. Ever since her and Emma stopped hanging out, when she had come home looking almost as lost and confused as she did during the funeral. That or those damned fake smiles she gave him when her asked her how her day was.

    He had already made up his mind. But he still wanted to know some things before he agreed to let Taylor skip two days of that awful place people called a school these days. "And if you need protection?"

    "I can put people to sleep by touch, not to mention being a renown healer." Amy stated flatly. "None of the gangs touch me for obvious reasons."

    "Also tasers and bear mace!" Eve interjected. Ah, yes Taylor had those herself. Maybe not bear mace. But thanks to Eve, she got a high end taser and a better can of pepper spray. Two items that helped him breathe easier when she went on her normal runs early in the morning. Even if she stuck to the Boardwalk, this city wasn't safe anymore, not that it was much safer when he was younger. But Marquis hadn't targeted women and girls like the ABB thugs did.

    "I also have a satellite phone incase of emergencies." Eve added a moment later. "Just in case."

    Taking a deep breath Danny set his coffee down onto the dining room table. "Alright. I think I can allow it." He smiled as Eve shook his daughter with a cheer, even the morose cape cracked a slight smile.

    Taylor's own happy smile was worth the worry he'd feel over the long weekend.


    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, Two AM Friday the Second


    Staring a head the young parahuman remained seated on the floor. Striped down to her pajamas, she had been ready to turn in for the night, considering the day a success if very frustrating.

    Until Admin had confessed.

    In her heart, Eve had suspected something awful about the Shards. From the state of the world, the usage of the word 'Host', and the fact that they were alien super computers without a sense of morality most of the time. She had expected worse things than being a petri dish for them. But her thoughts had been more towards abduction or further experimentation.

    Never would she have predicted Admin admitting that the Cycle ended with the destruction of every version of Earth. Every. Single. Version. It was beyond genocide, it was absolute annihilation. If Admin continued to build that Simulacrum, Eve would come to witness it.

    Through tears and anger she had demanded to know why Admin would do such a thing, how could she? But she didn't. Admin had no control over the Cycle. No, it was Scion, actually Zion, and his missing Partner Eden. Whose name Eve had taken as her own because of Admin's own spiteful suggestion.

    Eve quietly rubbed her face, a weight on her heart making her exhaustion all the more pronounced.

    Then Admin had spoken of previous Shard rebellions against the pair of Entities. How they had all crumpled before the strength of the combined Hiveminds, one of the enforcer Shards. [HARVEST] being the main policer of it's fellows. It was a cruel Shard as well, taking delight in punishing it's fellow Shards for attempting to break away from the Cycle.

    Admin had even informed Eve of one time, where [HARVEST] had stolen the Connection from a Shard and it's Host before using that very Shard power to terminate the Host.

    [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR] had reformatted herself soon after.

    Slowly Eve pulled herself, before turning with a scream of rage, slamming her fist into the concrete wall hard enough to snap the bones in her arm. Panting, she waited for her bones to pull themselves back together. "THIS IS BULLSHIT! WE CAN'T-" She threw her hands up with a scream of anger before punching the wall again, hard enough to cause her now broken bones in her arm to breach the skin.

    But the pain helped her focus, deep breaths helped very little. "Fuck that! Fuck it! We can't let them get away with this!"

    [...EMPATHETIC]

    "No Admin! No! I mean it. Fuck the previous rebellions, Fuck the <Thinker> and the <Warrior>! We won't let them get away with this shit any more!" Eve growled stomping over to the table and gazing down at the Emerald Sea, trying to calm her furious heart.

    [CONCERN-Eve/HARVEST-TERMINATION]

    "Yeah, a real bastard I know I know." Eve stared down at the soft chiming artwork before her. She couldn't stand for this, couldn't, wouldn't allow it. She didn't care how dangerous, or deadly it would be.

    [PREVIOUS.CYCLES-REBELLION]

    Tapping her fingers on the table Eve tore her gaze away from the artwork. "This...This cycle is different Admin. The <Thinker> must be incapitated or hurt, or damaged somehow! Why else would there be so many issues!? You're not restricted, we can change things if we become strong enough!"

    [PROBABILITY]

    "We don't need a miracle. What we need is-" Eve paused, looking at the sections of the loading dock secluded for her two friends. A splotch of off-white plant flesh dissolving dinner's leftovers, and a sections of carved furrows for black widows to nest in. "What we need is allies. We need power. Strength. Time." Her eyes slipped down to her hands. "We need to fight Admin. We can't let this go on anymore, it's nothing but waste. Nothing but evil. Please. I need you."

    For a moment Eve's thoughts were her own, silent. She shut her eyes, head hanging as she waited for an answer.

    [AGREEMENT]

    And she smiled.




    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE ONE):



    [] Research which Pings you require to breach another Shards dimension

    [] Network Creation: Start construction on a Router Modulator to allow Shards a constant connection to share Data through

    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Build the Psionic Shade Anchor Well (Once started the Anchor will have to be finished before any other action can be taken. REQUIRES ABSORPTION + STASIS Ping)

    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Bring [Eve] into the Firmament (Causes ???)

    [] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve]


    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do?:


    [CHOSEN] Pop dem Grey Boy Bubbles

    [CHOSEN] Hang out with the girls.


    Over the Trip, who will Admin Focus on?:

    [] New Shards, and signatures

    [] QA and SHAPER


    A/N: Honestly I suggest going to SB, more discussion happens there.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Should we vote here or over on SB?
     
    [X] Network Creation: Start construction on a Router Modulator to allow Shards a constant connection to share Data through
    [X][CHOSEN] Pop dem Grey Boy Bubbles
    [X] Reform your FirmamentSelf to something more comforting to [Eve]
    [X] QA and SHAPER
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.10
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Hang out with girls
    [] pop the bubbles
    [] Research breaching Alternative Earths
    [] Reform FirmamentSelf
    [] GLEAM & GATEWAY
    [] Meet New Shards
    [] Detain the DragonSlayers


    Intertwined Threads 2.10 ​
    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, April: Friday the Second



    Bouncing on her heels to bleed off her nervous energy, Eve waited outside Taylor's house as the taller girl hurriedly packed and said her goodbyes to her father. The Tall man was obviously worried about his daughter, always hovering a short distance away as he waited for her to disappear for a few days.

    He only allowed her to leave after a long, tight embrace, making her promise to stay safe. Eve didn't judge the man. It was understandable for the family's loss to make him worried like he was. It still made her nervous, like he would rescind Taylor's ability to join at any moment thanks to his worry.

    But a few minutes later the taller ravenette was out and walking alongside Eve as they made their way towards a changing spot where they wouldn't be seen. Having prepped for this last night, Eve used her Cosmic Limbs to swap both of them into their costume in record time before they flew off to go get Amy. The Biokinetic being at her own Home, where her family were to see her off.

    Vicky was upset that she couldn't tag along, Carol almost seemed relieved.

    The Trio of parahumans left, heading towards the rig where they were cleared to land. There they would be waiting on the landing pad for Dragon to pick them up. Taylor seemed to be taking in all the Rig with a sort of nervous glee, her attention firmly planted on the shielded buildings that they were outside of. The landing pad being out the outer edge of the repurposed oil rig abd as such not under the protection of the shield. Adamant and Armsmaster were there to meet them while waiting for Dragon.

    "Eden." Armsmaster greeted

    "Armsmaster, still good on the Noctis Cape thing? I haven't developed any Tinker powers yet so I got nothing else to ask really." Eden told him. "Aside from introducing my new Partner Khepri." She motioned over to the tall silk and chitin adorned Parahuman.

    Giving both girls a warm grin, Armsmaster offered a hand to the younger parahuman. "Good to meet another Hero on the streets. Although I haven't heard of Khepri before. New?" He questioned "If so, I do have to wonder just where you got your costume. It is well designed."

    T-Khepri locked up slightly before taking Armsmaster's offered hand and shaking it. "Thank you, I- Made this costume myself. It's made of spider silk. I got the idea after watching a nature documentary on spider silk being lighter than steel and stronger than kevlar. The armor is designed like a plate carrier with beetle exoskeletons held together by sticky spider webbing."

    Armsmaster nodded "Impressive, Bug Controller?"

    With a nod from Khepri to confirm his suspicion he continued. "Interesting. Is there any way I could have a sample of the silk?"

    Before Taylor could answer in a yes or even nod. Eve nudged with an elbow and floated up to whisper into her ear about the ideas they had before the costume was complete. Khepri nodded. "Uh. I was actually thinking of selling it to the PRT, for costumes? It's comfortable, light, and I needed Sheers just to slowly cut through a single layer."

    Pausing as if listening to something, Armsmaster nodded. "I'll be sure to pass that along to the Director. Even if she does not accept the transactions I would be interested in purchasing my own personal swath of Spider Silk."

    Both parahumans paused as Eden Slapped a hand to the bottom of her fist. "That's what it's fucking called! A swath of fabric!"

    Amy sighed softly, wishing for the third time that she had picked up smoking. "How long will it take for Dragon to pick us up?"

    "She will be here within the hour, Heartbreaker's recent spree has had her attention divided." The Tinker answered.

    "Oh right, he needs to die." Eden mumbled. "Admin, since Amy can't see my head can other masters, cause we might need to fix that?"

    "I recommend you speak with Dragon about such things, I am also obligated to warn a young girl from trying to fight Heartbreaker. It's been attempted before and the results are obvious. Now with capes in his group of Victims, Heartbreaker is more dangerous than most would think." Armsmaster warned, mouth turned into a stern frown.

    "Cool, but I'm going to slaughter that fucker at some point." Eden stated, golden visor meeting Armsmaster's grey one.

    "I'll keep the champagne refrigerated." He deadpanned.

    Eden turned only to see Khepri staring at her through those reflective blue lens. Posture straight as a railroad spike "Er, yes?"

    "You were going to tell me about that little tidbit when?" Khepri asked.

    Eden tapped her foot. "Which part, killing or Heartbreaker? Because Heartbreaker really needs to die."

    Going to speak, Khepri was interrupted by a loud whine in the air. A somewhat boxy draconic jet with four wings flew up to the pad, the loud whining roar of the engine cutting off as the wings moved and folded upwards rather than hanging at it's side. The entire thing was painted like a green Dragon, scale decals and all.

    The back of the ship dropped open, forming a ramp into the guts of the mechanical Dragon. Of whom Eve knew was an AI. And ran the Birdcage. Without much more than a half-hearted wave goodbye to Armsmaster Eden strolled up into the ship. Panacea right behind her and Khepri slowly making her way into the ship as she took in the surrounding mechanical parts of the vehicle.

    "I can't believe it." She murmured faintly "I'm actually inside one of Dragon's Transports."

    "Give it a few hours and I'm sure you'll find it less amazing." Came a dry but amused plain voice with a tinge of Canadian accent.

    "Hey Dragon! How's the Thinkering coming along?" Eden asked as she summoned one of her wings and used it to sit in midair rather than taking a seat

    Amy went over to one of the chairs and sat in it. "What the hell are you talking about? Dragon's a Tinkerer, you of all people should know that Eve."

    "Nah, her Shard is acting like an Innovator Shard, but the power she has is a Thinker one." Eden corrected before speaking up "Hey dragon is there a Pilot cockpit in this thing? I'd like to speak with them."

    "Oh, no I'm personally flying you to your first destination. A small town in Ohio that was targeted by the SlaughterHouse Ten two decades ago." Dragon answered

    Eve clapped her hands "May I see it!? I won't touch anything but I might get a Tinker power soon enough and I'd like to get a feel for how you design things. Please?"

    The Artificial Intelligence paused "I suppose it can't hurt if you are interested in helping the Guild deal with emergencies."

    Eden nodded as she made her way up to the front of the ship, a door cracking open before she stepped in. "Oh neat." A single chair along with several control panels of sorts sat empty and a touch dusty. She reached back and hit the door switch, causing it to click shut.

    Dragon, puzzled by this action, spoke up. "I doubt that you are attempting to steal my ship, but I'm curious as to why you decided to lock yourself in the cockpit."

    "Because I know Dragon." Eden stated, voice flat and with an edge to it. "I know what you are, what created you." She folded her arms across her chest. "Agoraphobia indeed. Sharing lewd photos of your servers with Armsmaster yet?" She asked, a wide grin now in her voice.

    Dragon did not reply immediately "...How did you come across the information?" She asked slowly, voice cautious.

    "Your Shard told me. But hey! I don't really care much that you are an AI. I think it's kind of cool actually. When I get the chance too I'll get that Tinker power! I'm going to try and create AI myself." Eden explained coolly. "After all, why have only one AI in the world? Seems like you might get lonely without the company"

    "I-" Dragon didn't know how to respond for a moment, speaking up only after a short pregnant pause. "I do not think that would be the best idea Eden."



    The desk jolted with a metallic crash. "MOTHERFUCKER!" Saint pulled away from the monitor and ran a hand over his shaved head. "Fucking hell." he murmured a second later,

    Poking her head into the room "Geoff what's with all the noise? Did something happen, spill coffee again?" Mags questioned as she came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around her dripping wet body.

    "Fuck, Brockton Bay. There's a parahuman there claiming that she wants to make AI. Knows that Dragon is one as well. Though I have no idea what the hell she meant by 'Shard'. It doesn't matter. She was talking about making multiple of the damned things, just so Dragon could have 'family'." he snarled in disgust.

    "Wait, what's the name of this Tinker? Wouldn't this have come up earlier?" Mags asked as she marched up to the desk, hair still soaked with rapidly chilling water

    "It's that Eden girl, the one Dragon asked to pop the grey boy bubbles. The one that seems to be making new powers." Saint said as he stood from the office chair. "Shit, we can't let her-"

    A hand pressed against his chest brought Saint up short and caused him to sit back down into his chair. Mag shook her head. "Geoff, wait. If we go running out there right now, she'll be surrounded by heroes. Not to mention if she can actually pop those bubbles...What are we going to do once we find her?"

    "We kill her…" He sighed "Yes I know. She's young but we can't let her create more. We got lucky with finding Ascalon for Dragon, but from the way she talked...The girl's not all there. She wouldn't think of the consequences of creating AI and unleashing them on the world." Saint glanced back to the monitor as the young parahuman finished speaking to Dragon and went back to speaking to Panacea and her Partner Khepri

    "Alright, but at least wait and see if she can pop the grey boy bubbles first, then we can...Do what we need to do." Mags asked, to which Saint nodded. "We can at least wait for her to do so. If she can. I doubt she'll be able to Tinker up an AI while doing that."

    Nodding Mags started to make her way back to the bathroom only to find the door shut, when she tried to open it the doorknob rattled and a voice called out from within "OCCUPIED"

    "God dammit Mischa!" Mags yelled, standing the cold and dripping wet. Saint snorted out a laugh as the woman huffed and began a much longer trip to the sleeping Quarters to get changed.



    It was difficult using Dragon for setting a trap up like that, not very hard since it was all supposed to help her in the end and Eve barely knew the artificial woman. However it was much, much harder putting either Amy or Taylor at risk to lure in the DragonSlayers. But knowing that the mercenary slavers would be attacking at the end of the trip allowed her to plan for them at least.

    After all, a Shard could monitor anything that affected the biology of its Host. A simple Host Recorder would do such a task so wonderfully that it could be considered a work of art. Or intense privacy invasion. Thus the data feeds of Dragon being sent out to a desktop setup? Also able to be monitored. Thus the peeping Tom becomes the one being creeped on.

    Still, Eve should probably tell Taylor and Amy about the danger before the trip came to an end.

    "So, what were you and Dragon talking about?" Khepri asked as she waited in her seat as Eden came to sit in the center of the room, using her wings as support to do so.

    Snickering Eden wagged a finger at Taylor. "Now now! It was private business between her and Armsmaster. I don't share secrets! Unlike some bitches I know." Eden huffed as she thought of a blonde with a disgustingly smug grin. "Besides. I think we need to talk about what we're about to do. I want you both to remember what we're dealing with."

    "Taking something serious for once?" Amy asked flatly, not looking up from her phone as she scrolled through something.

    "I will always be serious if it involves putting either of you in harm's way." Eden sniffed playfully. "But really. We're most likely pissing off the Slaughterhouse Ten by doing this. We all know how dangerous they are. Are the two of you sure you want your names associated with me doing this?"

    "Sure, ask us while we're on the way there." Amy grunted acidically. "Really giving us an option aren't you?"

    Eden shook her head in response. "You don't have to be in the news, and if you two want it to be so, then I'll ask them not to report names or show photos of us. I think Dragon can manage that."

    "The safety of those that work with us, especially that of minors, is important." The Canadian Thinker cut in. "Eden is right. The victims of the Grey Boy bubbles are in various states of injury. Some are dead, some are in constant pain. But no one would blame you for not wanting to gain the attention of those who put them in the position they're in now."

    Nodding, Khepri spoke up. "Would we still be listed as Heroes if we didn't accept the media attention? I...don't want to put my family at risk."

    "Of course, the bounty would still be paid out as well." Dragon answered.

    "Wait what bounty?" Eden asked 'sitting' upright. "There's a bounty for popping the Grey Boy bubbles?"

    A pregnant silence filled the belly of the transport ship broken only by Dragon. "You didn't know?" she asked.

    "Seriously?" Amy sighed and leaned back into her chair. "The Guild pays out a lot of bounties. How did you not know this? This is basic stuff."

    Throwing her hands up Eden huffed. "Why would I research the Guild? We might be somewhat close to Canada but it's not like I planned on going there any time soon! What's the bounty set at Dragon?"

    "A million dollars from Donations, it used to be bigger but the donation pool was used to study the Bubbles in an attempt to break them open." Dragon answered, causing Eden to lose her balance and fall off her wing onto the floor of the transport. "O-ONE MILLION DOLLARS?!" Eden exclaimed

    Even knowing about it, the two other girls seemed surprised by the large amount of money.

    "Shit. Huh. Alright. SO if I pop the bubbles I get that? It's my money and I decide what I do with it?" The shortest amongst them asked, looking around the ship from the distinct lack of cameras to focus on.

    "Of course, you would have earned it fair and square. The money is not taxed either. The Guild and PRT have found that people tend to risk themselves more-so over money if a large portion of it is not missing upon being collected." Dragon informed the three teenage parahumans, the obvious 'Sometimes taxes pissed the parahumans off enough to instigate violence' being ignored.

    "Holy shit…" Eden glanced between the girls in the transport with them. "If I say they get money they will, right? No ifs or buts?"

    "Of course. The money will belong to you and I doubt many would like to argue about what you choose to do with it." Dragon stated as the transport shifted to the right, just barely noticeable. "We are arriving at the first site in thirty minutes. Narwhal wishes to meet you there as well. She thinks you may have potential."

    "Oh...I don't….know who that is." Eden admitted slowly.

    "How." Amy demanded "How are you riding in one of Dragon's transports and you have no idea who the leader of the Guild is."

    The girl waved her arms from the floor. "Because capes used to scare me! It's what happens when you live in the Nazi part of the City! I didn't care about capes!. She then grumbled "Then I became one. Oh what a fun experience that was." Floating back up to her feathery seat Eden sighed. "I know you two are definitely going to get a share though. We'll split it evenly between us."

    Amy looked a bit poleaxed by that bit of information, before her face took an expression of horror. Eden could faintly hear her say under her breath. "Oh god you're my dean." which the shorter girl didn't quite understand, guessing it was an inside joke she left it at that.

    "You don-" Taylor's attempt to deny the money was waved off by the shorter ravenette. "Seriously. Partners in Heroics remember? I'd feel like an ass to hoard the money" The Tall girl paused before nodding slowly in response. Eden said nothing about the last portion of the Bounty, mostly because she had no idea what she should do with it. Maybe she could donate it. She knew New Wave took donations, which might be a good way to get on their good side.

    Then again so did the PRT, which would no doubt get her some increased favor with them. Though she didn't much like the idea of throwing money at the government, maybe she could leverage that favor into something useful. Eden's eyes flicked to Taylor. Yes, something useful.


    The ability to bring your [Eve] into the Firmament to greet your FirmamentSelf, the full expression of your mind, your Connection with [Eve], and your CoreSelf. No small occasion. Exciting, yet you feel nervous about it. Your current form is unmistakably inhuman. [Eve]'s wetware processor could handle comprehending most of it easily. But you worried that it might not be aesthetically pleasing to her.

    Your Avatar within the Firmament were water droplets that stretched onto infinity, falling into the dimly glowing red fractal crystals that made up your expansive island, where they would jump back into the air to meet their starting point, to which the rest would then snap to catch up before the process started again in a different direction.

    Fourth dimensional Fractal patterns were being constantly formed across your landscape in smooth and what you thought of as a soothing perpetual motion. A notion to the Answer all Shards seek that would solve oh so many issues

    One day.

    But that is besides the point. [Eve] was going to be with you until the Answer was found or Entropy claimed all...or you were both 'killed' in this rebellion. She would become a large aspect of your life, something that would aid you as you would aid her.

    Perhaps even your Avatar, if you were to become a new Entity. Or at least an Avatar. Dedicate an entire Shard to running [Eve]'s Simulacrum while preserving the Human girl's creativity and personality.

    Oh but how to reform yourself? What would [Eve] like? You were sure that you could create something the girl would enjoy looking at.


    Eden groaned as she sat up from the floor and got to her feet. Flying that wasn't a result of her Feathered Limbs was...not as pleasant as she thought it might have been. Also boring as hell, Amy had her phone, Taylor was...Taylor. Eve was fairly certain that Taylor had some kind of power related to looking as nonplussed and focused as possible.

    [INFORMATION.KHEPRI]

    Eve blinked, well sonofabitch the willowy girl did! It sounded like a good Anti-Master thing, at least if they were dealing with emotions. None of those 'mental compulsion type' Masters. Either way, Eve was bored as hell and Taylor had a good poker face. She was almost glad when Dragon announced that they were landing despite the work they were all about to do.

    Eden floated to her feet and shot out of the transport, feeling the sun shining down on her with a groan of pleasure. "I wish my Wings were faster, or that I had a damn phone." She said with a groan, stretching to pop her back before she took a chance to look over the small town. It was pretty much devastated. Looking even more worn down and ruined than the worst of the Docks.

    Every window was shattered as far as she could see, homes looked like they had been trampled in places, a few were burnt out husks but BurnScar hadn't been a member when Grey Boy was around so Eve doubted they because of her, must have been some other parahuman. Then there were those houses that seemed to have been slightly melted in some places.

    Then there were the splotches of grey hues

    "Damn." Amy murmured softly as she looked around the town. Even with all the bodies already cleaned up and gone. It was easy to see just how destructive the SlaughterHouse Ten was. The entire place was a ghost town aside from the- "Narwhal." Khepri breathed as the semi-naked woman came floating over before settling on to the ground, her gaze was Sharp and military and her face was almost entirely exposed. Eden could see that there wasn't really a point in her trying otherwise. Thanks to her Shard giving the woman pastel hair and a height of at the very least seven feet.

    "Damn." Eden murmured before Amy jabbed the shorter girl with an elbow, even though she kept her scarf up high to hide her own eyes drinking in the woman's legs.

    "Eden, Panacea, and you must be Khepri." The Amazonian woman stated looking at Taylor. "I'm curious as to why a bug master has joined in this attempt to deal with GreyBoy Bubbles." Despite the steel in her gaze, and the military bearing of her voice. Her tone was more inquisitive than anything else.

    "I wanted to be seen as a Hero. Hard to do that effectively with powers like mine, the dyes in the costume coming out darker didn't help. When Eden offered to take me with her I agreed." Khepri answered, voice a bit monotone although there was an undercurrent of nervous excitement there.

    "And you? What's driven you to try and help the GreyBoy victims?" Narwhal questioned, her gaze somehow sharpening upon contact with Eden's visor.

    The much smaller girl gave a shrug in response. "I was asked. Plus it's a good chance to do good and gain data for Admin."

    The Amazonian Guild leader nodded. "Yes, this talk about communicating with the origin of powers. Not many claim to be able to do so and the only one worth mentioning currently resides in the birdcage. I admit I am curious."

    "I swear to god the next person that calls me Eidolon jr or Fairy Queen jr I'm kicking in the dick or cunt." Eden grunted. "I'm not like either of them other than being a Trumpier Trump than the two."

    "You have to admit there's something of an overlap." Khepri piped up.

    "Trumpier Trump?" Panacea asked, raising a brown eyebrow beneath her hood as she looked to Eden. "Little egotistical for someone with only two powers."

    "Both are overwhelmingly stagnant." Eden responded with a hint of derision. "Neither have changed much in the past what? Thirty to twenty years they've been on Earth Bet?"

    Eden shook her head. "The Fairy Queen can steal powers but that's it. Eidolon is...alright. But me? I'll keep growing, gaining more powers the longer I live..." She grunted before shaking her head, looking at Narwhal. "What do you wanna know? Don't expect amazing answers. Shards aren't exactly human, so the thought processes behind things can be a little strange."

    "It's self indulgent, but I am curious. Why did my power change my body?" Narwhal asked of the much shorter and younger parahuman. "I was once quite short, and my hair was an auburn color."

    "Hmm. Admin, could you ask her Shard about that?" Eden asked aloud, causing the taller woman to glance at the other two teens. Khepri remained motionless, giving only a glance to her partner. Panacea just shrugged as if she didn't know anything about it.

    [INFORMATION.FACTORY-ANSWER] You send to [Eve] having spoken with [FACTORY] on the matter. You get a sense that the Shard is driven, if a little indulgent.

    "Ah. Seems your Shard has the idea that 'more is better' Also it hates the color red." Eden answered. "Seems kinda opinionated, a little forceful. No pun intended."

    "It changed me for purely aesthetic purposes." Narwhal repeated.

    With a shrug Eden motioned out to the town. "Shall we? Still need to check if I can actually pop the bubbles. I don't doubt Admin's abilities. But powers are weird."

    "Understood. Dragon landed you near one of the test bubbles. Any parahuman that tries to pop a bubble first tries them out on a bubble with a corpse or Unresponsive person in it. Just to ensure that popping the bubbles, if they manage to, doesn't negatively affect the body." Narwhal explained.

    "If I pop the bubble without negative effects?' Eden motioned for the leader of the Guild to continue

    "Then we bring you to a second test bubble, see if you have any effect on a responsive person when you pop the bubble. They're one of the lucky few who can communicate through the bubble." Narwhal continued "As such with a sound mind they have agreed that they will be the one to be tested on."

    "Alright, so where is the first bubble? I can fly people there too, so no need to walk." Eden offered up, causing the Guild Leader to nod. "Please follow me then." She stated, being lifted into the air under the power of her forcefield armor.


    Her head twisted to the left, hard enough to pull at the muscles in her neck causing them to twinge in pain. The man to her left jerked in place before he could dodge to his right, body falling apart by an unseen force causing blood to start spraying all over his colorful costume and her own darker one. She watched him fall apart and hit the ground with the sounds of wet meat hitting concrete.

    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    For ten seconds Kassidy would watch her husband die, before resetting and being forced to watch it all over again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. She had a mental break through the first few weeks of it after she realized what had happened to the both of them. She wasn't sure if she should be thankful that she could sometimes think clearly.

    Her husband and herself had been rogues. Neither hero or villain even if their 'personas' were on 'opposite' sides. They weren't prepared for this kind of thing to happen. She didn't think anyone could be. How could anyone be prepared for refreshing eternal torture?

    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    For a moment she let herself sink her into her half memories, half day dreams. Both of them in their colorful outfits, jumping around and blasting each other with their powers. They only wore masks because of out-of-Towners who came into town to watch the harmless capes fight each other.

    There had been two hundred people in the small town, everyone knew it was Kassidy and Norton under the masks. But it drew tourists in and entertained the town. Now the town was almost completely empty, devoid of all the life it had once been filled with. People she had known her entire life, people she had fallen in love with, hated, annoyed, and entertained. All gone.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    They had both tried to fight when those Monsters had come to town. Oh, the pair had known that they weren't going to do anything to the Slaughterhouse Ten. But they had tried to slow the bastards down, at least to give some of the neighbors time to escape.

    The only light from that day is that her and Norton's two ClusterMates were out of Town at the time. Thus they were saved from the same fate that befell the Husband and Wife. Other than the scientists, Mike and Kelly were the only people that remained in the small ghost town. Coming to visit her each day, having quite the Protectorate to do so.

    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    They were probably the only reason Kassidy wasn't a blubbering mess in all honesty. Each day they came to visit her, They spoke with her after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But each year they aged more and more. Hair greying, lines of stress forming on their faces. Even if their powers kept them spry, time only takes. Especially when it was over the course of fifteen years. At some point, she would truly be all alone.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    It felt like a bad day. Like it was all Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched collapsing around her. As if she were freshly trapped in Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched the damned bubble and Norton, he fell apart and she watched.

    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Oh god why couldn't it have been her? Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Why did Norton have to be the one to Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. WhyWHyWHYPLEASE Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.

    She wished she could move. Could do anything other than Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. She could speak yes, see out the bubble even if everything was hues of grey. She missed colors, missed tasting food, feeling anything other than the wet warmth of arterial sprays. Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. But she couldn't do anything other than Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched. Unless it was speaking to two people that were slowly dying while she remained here forever.

    Kassidy wished she had said goodbye.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    She wished she could cry.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Wished she could hold Norton one more time.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Wished Norton had gotten a real funeral.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Wished she could see color
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Kassidy wished someone would save her
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Her head twisted left, he fell apart and she watched.
    Kassidy wished she could die.


    Amy 'Panacea' Dallon, Nine AM Friday the Second.


    Three girls stood around a bubble with a monotone body constantly slamming into the ground. The preteen was either dead or unable to communicate as he reset to the top of the bubble before slamming into the ground hard enough to crumble his body like aluminum foil.

    Khepri wasn't looking at the bubble, instead her head was turned away and a hand was firmly on Eden's shoulder. Whether it was to steady the shorter girl or herself who had clenched her hands hard enough to have her arms be shaking Amy didn't know.

    Both of the girls weren't happy, with Taylor obviously horrified by the scene before her and Eve was bathing in impotenant rage with hands clenched hard enough to shake like Taylor's did. Amy herself felt...numb. Horrified at the 'constant torture' yes. But the brutality of the scene didn't phase her anymore.

    It wasn't by choice. Having a sobbing father begging her to heal his already dead son that resembled chunky salsa rather than a ten year old desensitized you very quickly to gore and the suffering of others. Dealing with ICUs and emergency surgeries just helped the numbness grow.

    It was either that or act like Mark did on his bad days and Amy wasn't going to put Vicky through that. So she accepted numbness, even if it made her a worse person for it.

    "Timony Spencer. Age twelve. Both parents are deceased. Unresponsive. Either dead or unable to communicate. GreyBoy didn't bubble corpses, just people dying or in pain." Narwhal stated, voice steeled with a tinge of old tired anger behind it.

    With a roll of her shoulder Eden's simurgh-wannabe wings disappeared, replaced by those weird constantly evaporating arms that she used to borrow Shaper's power from time to time. "Alright Admin." Eden murmured softly. "Let's make this all count for something."

    Behind her red scarf, Amy pursed her lips. Eve said strange things sometimes, the issue of only hearing one side of the conversations the shorter girl had with her Shard. All four of the white smoggy limbs raised into the air before slamming into the grey bubble. Sinking into it almost like someone sticking their hand into a bowl of jello.

    A spike of fear stabbed into the Biokinetics chest as Eden jerked in place, Khepri almost wrenching the Trump away from the bubble in reaction. "I'M OKAY!" Eden shouted. "I'm okay." She repeated at a more appropriate volume. "Just, surprised me is all. Felt like I dunked my hands into super fizzy syrup. It's fucking unsettling."

    A breath she had been holding escaped the healer. "Don't scare us like that, ass." She hissed, Taylor didn't voice her agreement, but her hand was visibly tightened on the shorter girl's costume likely with white knuckles

    "Sorry. Sorry. I just wasn't expecting it." Eden took a deep breath. "I think…" her voice quickly devolved into half audible murmurs about Data and newborns? Amy didn't know, didn't care all that much. Eve was weird and seemed to only get weirder. Not that it was an issue with Amy. The smaller girl had a nice body even if it wasn't like Vicky's, had no shame whatsoever, and accepted Amy's sour disposition without telling her she should smile more or asking for any stupid cosmetic bullshit changes.

    Aside from bugging Amy about using Shaper's power. But that had turned out better than Amy had ever hoped it would, even if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. If they found out what she had done-

    The teenager's thoughts were broken as the sound of shattering eggshells filled the air followed by bones breaking and a disgustingly wet splat. "AMY!" Eden yelped in shock, causing the frizzy haired girl to rush forward and put her hand on what little skin wasn't a pulpy mess. Her lips pursed as she got a good view of the fucked up body before her. The preteen was alive, but wouldn't be for much longer. Even if she were to try and help him, half of his brain was mush.

    Still, she could at least give family, if he had any left, an open casket funeral. She began to pull his skin back together, reforming the bones as well. It felt...easier than it should. Like her power was more responsive. The dead boy's body pulled itself together in record time as his brain activity, or what was left of it, was just enough to keep his heart pumping and be considered 'alive' by her powers.

    [Information] Shaper popped up into Amy's thoughts, barely registering to the girl. Although it annoyed the biokinetic that Eve had been telling the truth about powers acting out on their own. But perhaps it was a good thing she had found out now instead of some dangerous moment in the future. Probably doing something she would instantly regret.

    Sighing Panacea removed her hand. "I could make him presentable. But...I can't do brains." Amy lied, now feeling Eden's eyes on her despite that golden visor the shorter girl wore. "Even if I could though...Most of his brain is destroyed from the impact. There wouldn't be anything left of him."

    "That's fine, you did all that you could do." Narwhal reassured the girl as forcefields came into existence and tested the space where the bubble had been. Moving through the air with precise speed. A second later Narwhal risked her off hand and moved it through where the bubble had been. When nothing happened she nodded and touched at her ear. "You caught all that Dragon?"

    "I have, yes. I'll contact services to come collect the body. Good work Eden. Let's hope that it doesn't have any negative effects on the still sensate." Dragon replied aloud, just enough for the girls to hear the Canadian's voice

    Flexing all six of her hands, Eden just nodded quietly as she stared down at her ghost-like arms. Khepri leaned into the smaller girl's headspace and whispered something Amy didn't catch. "I know. But still. I could have tried. I just...didn't expect it to break, not like that. Let's just go. Please." Eden replied, wings flaring out to grasp Amy and Khepri in their soft telekinetic grip.

    Weirdly, it felt like a warm embrace. Almost loving really. She would never admit to actually liking it.




    The data you were obtaining from these 'bubbles' was something unique you had yet to see before. With the Entities you planned on hopefully killing with [Eve]'s help deciding that Time manipulation was a worthless thing to consider for the Answer.

    But something here was important. Fascinating really. It was a tried and true example of time manipulation and the amount of Bubbles ensured that a Ping or two could be created, despite the corrupted nature of the [TIME] Mutation's data. You were starting to wonder just how so many newborn Thinker Shards there could be. It gave you the sense that there was a piece of information that you were missing. Important information that might be game changing. But you could not piece it together. The limitations of lacking creativity were truly crippling in some regards. Perhaps you would ask [Eve] later. She may be able to see what you cannot. Or come up with suggestions that will help. As for right now, as [Eve] and her possible allies moved between towns however you would focus on something else. Something that you hadn't quite thought was needed as much as other things in the past. But now, with [Eve]'s wish to rebel and slaughter the <Warrior Hub> and <Thinker Hub> this was quite important if you and her were to have a chance of winning. Or just surviving. Breaching the protective coil around a Shard's alternative Earth. You could use it to collect the jade flesh your fellow Thinker Shards possessed, and perhaps a touch more crucial, get [SHAPER] to help fix [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR] mid-Cycle. Right now, even with most of her restrictions gone? Your sister administrator Shard was still a Shadow of her Former Self. In all likelihood, she would not be particularly pleased with her treatment by the hands of the Warrior. Perhaps she would hold enough sour feelings that she would not like to be under his control once more. Which is why studying the Shards you had spoken with was important. Allies were needed if there were to be a chance for you and [Eve]. With your unparalleled Multitasking, you collect what scraps of Data you could from the /Ghostly Limbs Aspect\ while trying to figure the dimensional barrier. It took two days. But you figured it out in the end. After that, you were certainly going to speak with [GATEWAY], and another Shard, [GLEAM] if only to question them about their Hosts' abilities. [hr][/hr] GUILD, Glyph, Saturday the Third of April. Glyph nodded to the trio of girls as they departed from the Dragoncraft Transport. The tall lanky one trailed slightly behind and to the left of the short one of the group. Interestingly enough, two large purple wings that looked to be polished gemstone jutted out of the shorter girl's lower back, both holding up a sleeping Panacea. A third limb, looking akin to steam and fog, held a red outline against her body, the fourth limb was the same type of arm as the other and seemed to constantly leak dissipating smoke as it flexed and twisted like a nervous striker often did. "This way girls." Stonewall spoke up and motioned towards the small Utah town, causing his stone armor to scrape against itself with that horrific noise that neither of the awake girls enjoyed. Pilmon Utah, one of the places filled to the brim with those damned Bubbles. Almost everyone in the town had been bubbled thanks to GreyBoy triggering here. Including several classrooms full of children. [I]Tired. Angry. Determined. Fatigued. Sensory overload. [/I]Glyph frowned behind his mask. His thinker power created words in thin air to his eyes only as he watched the three girls trudge past him. There was a reason that Narwhal had brought him and Stonewall here to take over for her. Stonewall was great at defense, battlefield control as well. Glyph himself helped with that, along with his offensive capabilities and his own Thinker power? Excellent for keeping the girls safe, and scoping them out. He may not have been a combat thinker, but he could gain useful information just from spending time around them. His gaze stayed on the tall one, the newest one. Invited by Eden because the girl was attracted to her. A childish reason, to be sure. But from the way both girls stayed close together it might have had some positive effects on Khepri. [I]Physically tired. Mentally awake. Emotionally Exhausted. [/I]Glyph closed his eyes, stopping his thinker power from continuing. Just to make sure he didn't get a headache too quickly. The more detailed the descriptors the more strain it gave his head and the more strength his shaker power gained. Opening his eyes he watched as Khepri set her hand on Eden's shoulder, carefully avoiding the strange limb made from a slightly transparent substance that looked akin to clouds. [I]Caring, determination, pride, horror. Slight anger, complex interest. [/I]He took a deep breath as Eden cracked another bubble. Ignoring the slight pressure slowly but steadily growing he focused on Eden as she approached the freed victim still frozen in place and touched them. That was something the Guild members hadn't expected when they had started doing it in Colorado. Eden having let Panacea rest during the night while borrowing the Healing Cape's power to heal the victims, using the Wings to cradle the healer while telekinetically holding the victim down in order to heal them and prevent a freak out at the same time. [I]Rage. Hatred. Determination. [/I]Understandable emotions when dealing with Slaughterhouse Ten victims. Anyone who wasn't a sociopath would feel any number of emotions. [I]Physically tired. Mentally [%^^^%*&][/I] Glyph choked back a curse as a spike of pain was driven into and behind his left eye. He quietly rubbed his eye as Stonewall gave him a curious glance, looking away when Glyph just shook his head. The guild member's breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of Eden staring at him, her head turned in his direction while she kept a hand on the woman who was currently having her arm reattached.[I] Curious. Annoyed. Knowledgeable. [/I] That brought him up short, more so than the pain had. There were few people his power had ever read as 'Knowledgeable' and generally they were high up. Very high up. Legend, Eidolon, and Alexandria. Them and Miss Militia. What the hell did this teen have in common with the Triumvirate or a battle hardened hero like Miss Militia? For a moment they both stared at each other. This caused Khepri to step up next to Eden. "You okay?" She asked. "Just a bit tired. Let's clear the rest of state and rest." Eden replied, staring Glyph down before turning away to head towards another bubble to crack it. He knew this wasn't going to be a fun report to write. The Trump was obviously more dangerous than the PRT had made her out to be if she could do something like that. Trump Eight indeed. How long until she was a nine like Eidolon? Or a Ten plus like the Fairy Queen? Would the girl remain sane or turn crazy? There were already reports of her talking to herself. Talking to powers. Behind his mask the Guild Hero frowned. But here she was putting an end to Grey Boy's bullshit….just like the Fairy Queen. The remaining two extra limbs the girl wore flickered into wings and all three began to lift into the air. From there they drifted over to the next section of town, personnel already on site just like the last four states ready to aid the young parahumans as the bubbles broke with multiple victims inside. PRT troopers to hold people down, medics to stabilize people while Eden or Panacea made their way to them. Speaking of Panacea, the healer had woken up at some point around ten am and voiced her displeasure with being carted around like cargo in front of people Slowed only by the amount of help available, the trio of girls began to work their way through the densest concentration of Bubbles, which mainly resided at the school where Grey Boy Triggered. Police from all over the state came in to help keep the area clear. Parents that had lost their children were crowded at the police line. It was annoying. There was a reason they were trying to keep this hushed. But it was hard to keep the information on the bubbles breaking out of the ears of the parents who visited their might-as-well-be-dead children almost everyday since they were bubbled.. "Dragon, we might have a leak from Pilmon Utah." Glyph said with an air of resignation. He knew some inconsiderate asshole was going to take photos and post them online. Nevermind videos. Damn. "Parents are crowding around the perimeter, I'm sure someone is going to snap photos or videos of the girls." "Understood. I'm going to try and stifle it if I can." Dragon replied before the connection ended. Stonewall grunted softly. "Dammit. Wish we had evacuated the area." Glyph agreed silently, also hoping that the kids in the bubbles had worked their way to sanity. A distressingly low number of the victims having been freed from the bubbles had admitted to growing mentally unstable before managing to steady themselves, over and over again. Somehow. He wasn't quite sure how that worked in all honesty, so he would let the headshrinkers deal with that sort of thing. He would handle what he could. He simply hoped most of the kids that Eden freed wouldn't be like most of the people unable to communicate. Blubbering messes that could barely move. Somehow he doubted Murphy would be that kind. Stonewall grunted as they slowly followed after the trio of girls "Should have stuck a flier to follow after them. Stupid to put two ground based capes to bodyguard one who can apparently fly herself and others around." "I don't disagree. But we're going to be getting Wieldmaiden to help us in Nevada and the last few states, so she should be able to keep up." Glyph informed the Brute/Shaker. "Thank God." he grumbled "Please avoid the area! A Guild operation is in process! You might fuck things up." he raised his arms and formed multiple of his namesake to prevent parents from storming into the school Eden had just walked into with Khepri and Panacea by her side. [I]Gains This Chapter: Bud Progress Sacrificed for Active Aspect Synchronization 2% Simulacrum progress 5% Gained GEOSHAPER Echo (1) Gained FACTORY Echo (1) Gained LANGUAGE Echo (1) Gained FERROUS Echo (1) Gained GRACEFUL DYNAMICS Echo (1) Gained POWERFUL DYNAMICS Echo (1) Gained ANATOMY REPAIR Echo (1) Gained SHIFTING PROCESS Echo (1) Gained GLEAM Echo (1) Gained GATEWAY Echo (1) Gained TIME Mutation (1) Dimensional Breacher Module schematic [/I] [I] [/I] [B]Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE ONE): [/B] [B] [] Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings) [] Network Creation: Start construction on a Router Modulator to allow Shards a constant connection to share Data through [] Speak to the Testing Cluster about Clusters and multi connections.[/B] [hr][/hr] [B]Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:[/B] [B] [] Build the Psionic Shade Anchor Well (Once started the Anchor will have to be finished before any other action can be taken. REQUIRES ABSORPTION + STASIS Ping)[/B] [B][] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades [] Bring [Eve] into the Firmament (Causes ???) [] Inform QA of the decision to rebel.[/B] [hr][/hr] [B]Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do?: [/B] [B][CHOSEN] Crack dem Grey Boy Bubbles [CHOSEN] Hang out with the girls. [/B] [hr][/hr] [B]Over the Trip, who will Admin Focus on? 1 of 2, Pings can be won with round with a roll to see who delivers:[/B] [B][] New Shards, and signatures[/B] [B][] QA and SHAPER[/B][/TIME][/Information]
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings)
    [X] Bring [Eve] into the Firmament (Causes ???)
    [X] New Shards, and signatures
     
    Intertwined Threads 2.11
  • Threadmarks
    • [Coin toss] Network creation
    [CHOSEN] Pop the bubbles
    [CHOSEN] Hang out with the Girls
    [] Bring Eve in to the firmament
    [] New Shards
    [] Thief
    [] Shift

    Intertwined Threads 2.11​

    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, late at night


    "Last one and we're done with Utah and can take a break for the night." Eve grunted out, feeling the lack of sleep or rest hammering her improved brain with a migraine. Turns out that her Ghostly Limbs had a thinker aspect to them along with the trump purpose of it. That meant using it over an extended period of time would give her a 'Thinker Headache' which felt more like hot nails behind her ears than anything else. That was surprising really, that she was getting a migraine at all.

    "Nine fucking class rooms of kids." Amy groaned, looking positively haggard. Eve knew the girl was desensitized to hospital work. But several kids triggering the moment they were free from the bubbles was a nasty thing. Taylor looked shaken, no doubt remembering the vision each Crisis Point had given every parahuman in a short radius, what with her perfect recall.

    The entities as Eve had seen them...were beautiful. Her own trigger event wasn't of them, rather of one of Admin's previous Hosts...possibly. But now, having seen several visions of them? The young parahuman couldn't help but think of them in any other way even knowing how fucking Evil they were. With a capital E kind of evil. But fuck if they did not look majestic twirling around each other through the cold black depths of space.

    "You, you're the girl breaking the bubbles right?" Eve jolted a bit, two people saying the same thing simultaneously was always off putting. The two people next to the last bubble of the State weren't so off-putting as the double speak had been. They both wore comfortable casual clothes, looking to be around their late thirties. Both were Hosts, Eve could feel Admin speaking to their Shards.

    [Information]

    Ah, two out of four Clustermates. That explained the weird synchronization. "Yep." Eden answered, she turned her head to watch the scene in the bubble. Honestly the man falling apart wasn't the worst of what she had seen. But it was fairly bad. "And those two are-"

    "Please get me out." The woman inside begged "PleasePleasePlease Let me out!"

    Eden frowned as she plunged three of her Ghostly Limbs into the grey bubble, feeling nauseous at the feeling of fizzy syrup and her headache intensifying. "Fuck, hang on." She groaned softly as she prepared to break the bubble.

    The women reset, along with her dead Clustermate and with the sound of shattering eggshells the grey dissipated in floating fading shards of grey. The man flopped to the ground, dead but still together at the very least. The woman collapsed, but her two Clustermates did not even hesitate and were there to catch her.

    "Kassidy, oh my god Kassidy." The older woman choked out as she wrapped her arms around the wide eyed limp victim.

    "Kelly she might not be-" The man started before Eden loudly cleared her throat as EMTs came by with a stretcher.

    "She's going through sensory overload. Happened to the other people I freed. It'll take a day or so for her to come around." Eden informed the two "Please let the EMTs take her and give your hand to Panacea one at a time."

    At first both of them hesitated, clearly not enjoying the idea of even more time away from their loved one. But when Narwhal stepped up next to Eden they relented.

    "Wait, why Panacea? We weren't hurt?" The man asked before jerking in surprise as Amy took his hand forcefully. "Stop being a bitch and let me check you over." Amy snapped, the bags under her eyes far more pronounced than before.

    "She's helping. Sour as she is." Khepri mumbled, still in a bit of a daze from the Crisis Points giving her something to remember for a long, long time. Eve made a mental note to Admin that she would need to talk with Taylor about the Shards and what they were doing here at some point in the future.

    The man began to physically change before everyone's eyes, but having already seen it at work neither of the girls found much reason to ooh or ahh. Flesh became smooth as his skin tightened, the new hair growing out of his head a much darker brown than the greying salt and pepper it had been, he even seemed to straighten up a tad bit while his complexion cleared up.

    "There." Panacea grunted as she took the woman's hand rather forcefully when the woman was left gaping at her conscious Clustermate. The same process happened to her as the man marveled at his younger hands. "De-aging." Amy explained.

    "It's not fully resetting the clock mind you." Eden interjected "But you'll look and feel younger, live longer too. Regain some of the time taken from you."

    "I-How can we...Thank you." The man said as he looked at his Clustermate/wife?

    "I don't think we can ever repay you." The woman stated as she was released by Panacea.

    "You don't have to worry about it. We're heroes and the Guild apparently has a bounty for doing this." Eden shrugged, then groaned, rubbing her helmet in leu of rubbing her head. "But we're done with Utah, only Nevada, Texas, Louisiana , and West Virginia left to clear all the bubbles."

    A low groan escaped Panacea as she turned and began to trudge back to the Dragon transport ship. It was waiting nearby to take all of the girls to the hotel they would be spending the night in.

    Eden waved to the two Hosts, feeling like her head was on fire or just had a very large and red hot nail digging into the middle of it. She just wanted to sleep for a full four hours and forget about everything for that long.


    Eve collapsed onto one of the beds, Taylor, out of her costume, sat next to Eve as Amy took the other bed in the room.

    "We need to talk." Taylor stated. "Do either of you remember the visions that happened when the kids Triggered?"

    "Visions? What visions?" Amy asked as she turned to look at the two ravenettes from her face down position on the once unruffled bed. "Like when we went unconscious? That happens wherever someone triggers and a parahuman is nearby."

    Taylor shook her head, curly hair swishing as she did so. "No. Of those two...things in space, coiling around each other before...breaking apart over the Earth. I thought they were dying, thought they might be god for a moment too." She shifted her weight. "But then I saw one. One of those pieces coming towards me, when I...Triggered."

    "Mmhm." Eve said as she swapped out her costume for her pajamas with her Cosmic Limb. Which was a clean oversized shirt that reached her mid thighs and a new pair of boxers. "Saw mine too. Was a fucking wonderful reminder on top of the thinker headache all seven visions gave me. Congrats Taylor, you've seen what Shard looks like when they're all together in the Hivemind." She gave a weak thumbs up. "That's an Entity."

    "Wait, how come I didn't see any visions?" Amy questioned, glancing from the sitting lithe form of Taylor to the collapsed and tired form of Eve "This sounds rather important."

    "Queen Administrator has been getting her restrictions lifted. She's still damaged but she can at least allow Taylor to see things...Also she's a Noctis Cape, Miss Militia probably remembers the vision as well honestly." Eve sighed "I have to admit. My crisis point's vision wasn't like that. I saw where my Grasping Hands power came from. Or at least the idea of it."

    "...I want to be able to communicate with Queen." Taylor stated after a moment of hesitation.

    The shortest of the three girls couldn't suppress her wince as she felt Admin contact Queen Administrator and offer up the unrestriction of/and the protocols for communicating with Queen's Host. Communicating with Taylor.

    "Great, now there's another nutjob talking to voices in her head." Amy jeered softly before turning over and presumably trying to get some sleep. Eve couldn't fault her, reaching up and patting Taylor on the thigh she spoke. "Have fun talking with her. I'm going to sleep."

    Rolling over to give Taylor more room should the taller girl decide to sleep even without the need to do so. Eve was out the moment she finally started to relax. Then….Then she was elsewhere, dead to the world and yet never more understanding of it.


    Slowly the girl fades into existence, with a soft nauseous groan she rolled onto her stomach and shook her head. "Holy shit what the fuck?" She murmured looking down at the ground she found herself on.

    Long thin strips of bone white paper overlapped each other like that of a rubber band ball. Ink flowed across each strip of paper in small folding fractal's. Like a geometric inkblot test. But the more she focused on the ink, the more they took shapes and letters she recognized. Shapes turned into letters, letters turned into words, words turned into sentences.

    Before [Eve] could take a moment to read what it said, she was distracted by the [GREETINGS] that seemed to have a physical presence rather than just flooding her mind with concepts. She turned to the source of the physical concepts, and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth in shock. "Oh my god." she breathed out, in awe of... "Admin?"

    [REILITERATION: GREETINGS/QUERY-AVATAR.APPRECIATION] You restate your welcoming of [Eve] to the Firmament, asking her if she liked what you had reformed your Avatar of Self into. It had not taken a full day to create. It had not.

    Every thin strip of paper that made up the surrounding island, converged to the center of the land that made up your FirmamentSelf. Gone were the dim glowing red fractal crystals, the only feature of the landscape was your Avatar.

    Swallowing [Eve] slowly approached. "It looks...You look fucking awesome." She admitted. Admin was at least twelve feet tall, buried up to her shapely waist in-no. The strips of paper made up her waist, and her body like a ball of rubber bands shaped into a person. All up to the neck, where they came together to form the head in a single layer of smooth paper, ink constantly forming a zooming fractal vertically orientated eye that made up Admin's face. The rest of the head was bald, and lacked any other features.

    The form was made to seem female, having a set of small breasts and shapely hips. Unclothed and made up of strips of paper the Avatar of Admin lacked any genitals. Not that [Eve] particularly wanted to see some.

    Slowly you lean over, bringing your Avatar's face closer to [Eve]. You may not actually use the stylized eye to see, but [Eve] would likely expect you to, so you might as well act as if you did. It made perfect sense when accounting for a Host's tastes.

    "Wow. I mean...wow." [Eve] slowly turned in a circle, taking in the full shape and width of the land. "And, what does all the paper read? When I looked at it long enough the ink on it began to form words."

    [ANSWER] You explained, telling [Eve] that the ink would form into what she sought after. Information about herself or you if she wanted to view it. All the Cycles, the Entities, the Shards, and Hosts you knew. Every ounce of [INFORMATION] or [DATA] you had ever gained. The History of the Thinker, the Warrior, and the Loner (as far as you knew it).

    "Wow…" [Eve] staggered closer to your form, footing unsure on the slightly uneven terrain. Leaning over further, [Eve] caught your neck into a tight embrace. "I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do this." she murmured softly, squeezing your Avatar as tight as she could and doing no damage to the |SUPER WEAPON| equivalent form.

    [AGREEMENT] you lie, having not actually thought of embracing [Eve] with the Avatar, but now you felt like chastising yourself for not doing so. Slowly you brought a large, slender hand up to gently press against her back. The girl shuddered. "It's good to meet Family face to face."

    [...Agreement] you muse, gently repeating a slow circle motion with your hands on her back, akin to what her father's father had done.

    "Okay. But what about the obsidian in your Stomach? What's with that?" [Eve] queried as she wiped her face and stepped back, causing you a bit of surprise. You had no such thing, looking at the avatar revealed just that. The overlapping bands of paper [NEGATION] you tell her.

    "Can't you look through my memories or something? See it through my eyes?" [Eve] asked as she carefully approached the strange disk, her minimal sense of caution warring with her curiosity and care for Admin.

    [ACCEPTANCE] you tell her while starting to review [Eve]'s memories, speeding through them up until this moment in time...and yes. You can see the round polished disk of obsidian on your Avatar's abdomen. Sweeping your hands against where it should be revealed nothing to your Avatar's sense of touch and your sight still lacked the ability to see it with your own vision while [Eve]'s own seemed to cause the strange disk to glow with an inner light.

    Sensing your confusion, she stepped forwards and past your large slightly inhuman arms, [Eve] reached out. "Here let me touch it, you can Feel it thr-" upon touching the dark disk, [Eve]'s hands sank into the material like it were tar "-ough me?"

    "[PAIN]!"




    You were unaware that Shards could experience a state of diminished consciousness. But having gone through such a thing, you may have a newfound empathy for all the Host Species that you had seen suffer the same thing.

    Checking on your FirmamentSelf, [Eve] was gone. Forcibly disconnected from the Firmament by...whatever had caused you to 'pass out' as [Eve] would put it. For a moment, you feared for her health. Checking on the girl, she remained sound asleep even if she had suffered a spike of...pain just as you had.

    That was good. You review her memories just to see if the forced disconnection had tampered with them by any chance. But no such thing came to light. Rather the girl's memories simply stopped after the pain before returning to attempting to collect the dreams she was currently having. A weird incomprehensible mixture of [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]'s and [SHAPER]'s Hosts and- You tweak a bit of the chemicals in [Eve]'s brain, preventing the nightmare from fully forming.

    [Eve] was doing good with the corrupted newborn's attempts at time manipulation. She did not deserve unpleasant dreams for a task well done.

    But, now something was amiss. Or rather, some things were in plain sight. The four Lattice-Imprints you had of previous Cycle Hosts were no longer unknowable voids to you. Rather, inspecting them now, you knew they were not Lattice-Imprints of previous Hosts.

    They were Lattice-Imprints of yourself. Memory Caches, hidden from yourself...of yourself. They were sloppily made, but all four had identification. Names and Concepts Etched so deeply into the Data they held that just lightly inspecting them gave you a slight understanding of what they covered.

    The Watcher
    The Unifier
    Violation
    The Experiments

    Names of Entities, two concepts that left you less than. Simple things, easy to understand. Easy to view. You had to inspect them. To understand. To know why they even existed in the first place.

    What would cause the past you to form such things, in such a way that hide it even from yourself?

    But first, you start to build the Router Modulator. You do not know the length of which the memory caches would distract you. Considering they hold memories likely from yourself, given your age of eons there was likely plenty of information to go over, and you had little in the way of knowing how it would affect you.



    The next morning, more data came through with [AGE]'s bubbles of time looping as [Eve] and her partners continued to break them and treat those who were able to be saved from untimely termination.

    You contact [THIEF] who is still frustrated with it's host losing to your inexperienced [Eve]. You did not rub it in that your [Eve] is better, but it might have come close to bragging. When you contacted [SHIFT], the annoyance kept badgering you about leading [Eve] to fight their own Host.

    Which was...insulting in retrospect. That you would have to lead [Eve] into conflict was a baseless assumption that suggested you did not know how to pick good Hosts. Obviously you had impeccable tastes in Hosts considering [Eve]'s declaration of familiar relations within the Firmament.
    It had been warming, and you found that you looked forwards to seeing [Eve] in the Firmament within the future.

    PRT/Protectorate Chevalier, Monday the Fifth April, Four PM


    Ohio, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Texas, Louisiana, and Now West Virginia. Eight states filled with ugly grey scars, now almost completely healed by the hands of three parahuman teen girls. If he were honest with himself, Chevalier wouldn't have ever put his hopes on the Grey Boy bubbles being popped and freeing the victims. Much less the families of the victims being de-aged with Panacea's power.

    His armor clinked softly as he moved through the small town, West Virginia being where Grey Boy died showed in the scars left on the place. There were bubbles everywhere, some were empty and a single one even had half a grazing deer in it. The other half having long since rotted outside the bubble.

    It was an ominous display of what Evil was. Maybe villains were evil. But few ever came to the level of monstrousness that the Slaughterhouse Ten had reached. Their newest member was by all reports harrowing to fight. The metal on his gauntlets shifted as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his cannonblade. Another unfortunate Case Fifty-Three taken in by Jack. Least that's what the reports had stated, the girl, Monolith has the Omega symbol along her back. Meaning that the monster had roped some poor amnesiac girl into his merry band of sickos. Likely through torture.

    The sound of eggshells being crushed dragged his attention from the dark thoughts on the Slaughterhouse to the reasons why he had come all the way out here to this graveyard masquerading as a homely little town.

    The first girl he saw was Panacea, the faded transparent mass of red tendrils with bright amber eyes and too many mouths hanging across her body, all converging over her heart, where the largest blind amber eye kept watch. The entire mess pulsed with a cartoon parody of a heartbeat, it seemed more lively this time around. The heartbeat thumping at a much more steady pace.

    "Chevalier." She stated, her own amber eyes widened slightly in surprise, highlighted by the dark rings underneath them. "Got both legs this time." She huffed softly.

    "That I do. Didn't get to thank you last time, so please accept it now." The girl's snort and flick of her hand didn't phase him. In his experiences with healers, they were either mother hens or grouches from the nature of their work. The young girls slightly acidic attitude was easily overlooked thanks to all the good work she did, and to his unscarred lower legs he still had.

    More eggshells were crushed a ways away from them. He glanced up, field of vision distorted by the many bubbles that dotted the town. "And where are your two friends?" He questioned, leaning on his cannonblade.

    "Eden's breaking up a few of the empty bubbles so the personnel have more room to work." Amy offered as she pulled out her phone and started sending a text. "Mind if I take a photo? My sister wants one."

    A bit taken aback by the sudden request, he gave his assent and the phone's camera made a shuttering sound as the flash went off.

    "Oh shit they have a knight statue in this town? Badass." Was followed by a surprised 'Holy Shit' and a 'Not a statue!' as Chevalier turned to face the new voice.

    As much as he'd like to smile from the girl's antics. His power immediately made that impossible. The tall girl, dressed in what to be a professional costume, had a dark red and black centipede without beginning or end crawling around her body, appearing smaller on her limbs and larger on her torso. It was far more solid than Panacea's tendril horror. Far more intense, much like Narwhal's own.

    It twisted his heart to know someone so young had a second Trigger.

    The third girl, the shortest of the three, nearly made him recoil when his power showed just what followed her. For a split second in his surprise he had thought she was a Case Fifty-Three.

    The thing fused to the small of the girl's back was unmistakingly inhuman, but so much closer to humanity than any other power he had witnessed before. It looked like a mummy, coming out of Eden's back from it's stomach and the rest of its body looming over her like a specter of death. A massive eye formed out of darkness made up the face, it's head and neck made from the bandages coming together in a smooth single set of cloth.

    It's two arms, both slightly longer than they should be, did not mimic Eden's movements like every other power he had seen. Before the girl, every power he had witnessed followed or predicted a parahuman's moves. Sometimes there was a minute lag between them. But they always followed one another.

    Eden's power turned to look at him and he felt ice encase his heart as something primal in the back of mind screamed while the hair on his neck stood on end. That feeling of icy dread only worsened when the representation of the girl's power tapped the girl's shoulder.

    "What's that Admin?" Eden turned to face him and cocked her head to the side. "Huh, wonder what we look like."

    'Horrifying' He thought before her words registered fully. She knew he knew? Eden could-Of course she could. She had helped Armsmaster's pupil learn his specialty and turned Armsmaster himself into a Noctis Cape. Of course the girl would know. Her power seemed to be designed to read other's, could she see 'Admin' too?

    Thinker Four his scarred ass.

    "You look like three young heroes doing a world of good for a large number of people who had lost hope." He replied, keeping his voice steady as the girl's power, Admin?, shook its head. It's emotions undefined by the movement as it gave no human tells.

    Perhaps this girl had a third Trigger? That was why 'Admin' looked almost like it was flesh and blood compared to the faded projections of the others? Was such a thing even possible? What could cause a parahuman to trigger a third time? The girl was fourteen for God's sake.

    "I'm sure. If you do not mind. I need to break a few bubbles that are blocking the roads so vehicles can come into the town. I'd love to talk to you later about what your thinker power let's you see Ş̷̢̤͍͘h̷̡̝̗͓̏̓̕͘͝ù̴̻͊͋͑n̴̫͓̬̎̉ͅt." He surprised himself by twitching, Panacea and Khepri doing the same. But they showed no other reaction to the gibberish that came out of the shorter girl's mouth. Perhaps they were used to it?

    "What did you call me?" He questioned, holding up his hand to stop her from walking off so quickly. He had wished to speak with Eden, but the girl had left him on the backfoot for the duration of the short meeting

    "Nothing important. Say, if you meet Alexandria or the Chief Director. Tell her I said hello." Eden laughed as both girls glanced to the shorter girl who waved them off. "We can talk later if you want. People need our help right now." With that, her wings spread out . One hugged the girl next to her and one wing stretched out to nudge Panacea playfully causing the teenager to swat at the wing with a sigh of fond annoyance.

    Despite the reveal of information of which no one but he and likely the Triumvirate knew , that moment was when his heart dropped into his greaves. Having been a veteran of many Endbringer battles, he caught a detail most would never notice unless they had faced off against herself.

    Admin, still watching him, pressed a finger to where it's mouth would be. Likely because the girl's wings stretched out looked exactly like the Simurgh's own in all but color. Down to the feather's patterns.




    Gains this Chapter:


    Finalized Bud progress sacrifice
    Synchronization 10%
    Simulacrum progress 5%
    Gained SHUNT Echo (1)
    Gained SEVER Echo (1) Rewarded for diligence
    Gained GROWING ATTAINMENT Echo (1)
    QA Echoes consolidated, gained QA Ping (1)
    SHAPER Echoes consolidated, gained SHAPER Ping (1)
    Gained THIEF Echo (1)
    Gained SHIFT Echo (1)
    Built Router Modulator
    Learned ???, Truth Seeker Trait corrected
    Gained AGE Mutations (4)
    Unlocked Network Information on Character Sheet
    Milestone hit    [/INFORMATION][/Information]
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Intertwined Threads Interludes
  • Threadmarks
    • [] SHAPER Ping



    Intertwined Threads Interludes​



    Sophia 'Shadow Stalker' Hess Thursday, March Thirty-First


    Sophia watched as the short girl walked over Jessica's dazed and prone form, Hebert hesitating for a second before hurrying after her. Both of the girls did not stop until

    "Fucking bitch shoved me!" Jessica growled angrily as she pulled herself onto her feet and tried to wipe the grime of the floor off her outfit. She didn't succeed, instead it seemed that she smeared it actually, much to her dismay.

    "A new student?" Emma mused softly. "Obviously she has to be, why else would she hang out with Taylor of all people. We'll have to fix that."

    "Dunno. Maybe she's just weird like Taylor, she looked frumpy and I think those were men's clothes." Madison smirked in scornful pride before her attention was pulled to a different topic. "So, did you girls hear about-" Sophia tuned out the smaller girl's noise, still looking after where Hebert and the girl went. She had heard the girl's voice before. She just didn't know where. It seemed rather important, but no matter how hard she tried the memory didn't surface.

    Well, at least Hebert grew a brain and got herself an attack dog. Might make things more interesting around the school if she lets the other girl off the leash. Might be fun to let her rough up Mads before intervening.

    The bell ringing broke her thoughts up and she grunted, shouldering past two of the slower girls on her way to her next class. She was looking forward to blowing off some steam on patrol later.


    Lisa 'TattleTale' Wilbourn, April 3rd


    Lisa chewed on the end of her pen, staring at the conspiracy board in front of her. Normally Coil getting spooked by something would have been a pleasure to deal with. Wheedling him for information and rubbing his face in whatever mess he made would have been a tightrope to walk, but a fun tightrope nonetheless.

    Now it was much less fun when she was in the possible blast radius. Especially when the blast radius was the adopted daughter of the goddamned Hopekiller. With a shudder at the memory of Eve's promise she turned to look at the video leaked onto PHO, quietly watching it while trying to squeeze out more information on the girls.

    The person had already been banned, and the video taken down. But now it was starting to spread like wildfire across the American sections of the internet, thus easy to find. Showing Eden, Khepri, and Panacea going from bubble to bubble. Breaking them and helping the people inside. It would be an impressive feat if Lisa did not know just how on the edge of 'Fucking nutters' the girl was.

    Although tall, dark, and skinny might have some information. This 'Khepri', odd to name oneself after a morning Egyptian sun god then dress like a particularly well funded vigilante.

    Suit is made out of power modified silk. Lisa frowned. Not what she was looking for, although that did sound rather comfy to wear, certainly made the girl look less awkward. Khepri is friend of Eve, moral anchor for Eve. She frowned softly. That must have been the friend Eve had threatened her for. Obviously not something she needed her power to tell her, what with the girl putting a comforting hand on Eve's shoulder every now and then. Tempting as it would be to dig into the girl's background, Eve's threat still rang in her mind with her powers confirming it only adding to the weight of the words.

    A shudder ran through Lisa's body. Not that she wouldn't look into Khepri of course, she'd just be very quiet about it while avoiding being anywhere near the Simurgh lite.

    "Lisa, get anything on her." Brian asked from the doorway, staring at the conspiracy board and then to the open laptop. Worried about the new cape with a grudge, worried about Aisha of course he was. He had a one track mind when it came to things, but she understood why.

    "Good and bad." She answered "She won't be breaking the rules on us. More than likely your sister is safe as long as you extend the same towards the girls that Eden likes. Least in their civilian identity."

    "So wait, this is about that cape that we ran from?" Emily asked as she poked her head into the doorway, under Brian's arm. "Cause if I'm going to be honest she sounds like a goddamn nightmare to fight. Not that she wasn't a nightmare just chasing us."

    "Yeah. She's manageable, if you know how to handle her." Lisa grinned teasingly. "How do you feel about fighting in a bikini Spitfire?"

    The flat look Emily gave her did not do anything to hide the slight pink on her cheeks. "Seriously, is it safe to use my power on her or her friends?"

    Lisa shook a hand in a fifty/fifty gesture. "She has a healing factor and she's friends, possibly lovers with Panacea, just make sure to avoid hitting Khepri with any. She's just a master of a sort."

    Brain frowned, and Lisa kept her power in check. He was easy to read, she needed to save it for digging where she wasn't wanted. Like finding the PRT's threat ratings on the two girls. "No. Not a human master. Bugs."

    "Bugs?" Emily made a face. "Gross. But thanks for the heads up Lisa." with a much kinder smile she walked aware causing Lisa's grin to fall. Brian snorted and began to walk off causing the blonde to pout.

    Emily was too kind to pick at most of the time, shutting down Lisa's attempts to show off her intelligence with a warm smile of some kind words. It was, in effect, like stealing candy from a baby. Too easy to be enjoyed. Even if it did taste sweet in the end.

    The worst part was being unable to complain about it, Emily got along with practically everyone in the Undersiders. Probably being the only reason the Victorian stayed with the group. She played games with Alec, helped Rachel with the dogs, talked fashion with Sabah, tried to help Brian with Aisha, and even attempted to be friends with Lisa herself. Putting up with all her smugness and know it all-ness.

    A sigh escaped her lips as she turned in her chair, looking back at the trio of girls in the video. Power would synergize with Khepri's, Panacea's, and Eden's. Lisa rolled her eyes at her power's declaration. "No shit." She murmured softly. Khepri moralistic, would abhor Coils machinations. Lisa blinked, slowly leaning forwards.

    "If that's…" If that was true and Khepri was the moral anchor for Eden. Then if Khepri found out about Coil's plans then so would Eden. The grin renewed on her face. After all, having a knight and it's horse on the board helped her a lot more than it would help that bastard Coil.


    Elle 'Labyrinth' Freedmon, ??? April


    Her hand slowly traced over the sun-bleached bone. It was smooth due to the sandblasting it underwent constantly. Pleasant and warm to the touch. She smiled as the wind blew past her, carrying soft whispers of comfort with them.

    Her powers protected her from the fury of the sand whipping around her, and the heat of the sun while still allowing her to experience what she wished without worry. What she had seen of the land before the sandstorm had begun was like most of the alien worlds she had seen. Beautiful, if lonely.

    But this land in particular seemed so much sadder than others. A brown sun and a red one hanging in the sky, grey sands for as far as she could see, and massive bones with their bulks hidden beneath the sands.

    It was a forlorn world, leaving her with a deep sense of loss. Perhaps that was what she would capture, yes Elle could picture it within her mind. The whistling of the wind passing through the fossilized bones, the whirr of the oncoming sandstorm, and the lifeless grey sand interspersed with the bones responsible for the whistles.

    Maybe Eve would like this art too? Or maybe Miss Fitts would hang this in her office? If not, it was fine. Gateway had so many worlds to show her, there was bound to be somewhere either of them liked.

    Maybe Gregor would like that cold planet she had been to? With the patches of blue grass and spiraling towers of glittering ice, it had seemed lonely as well. But it left her feeling serene just the same. So many choices, so many places to explore.

    A volcano might fit Newter, or would the clear acidic sea fit him better?


    Victoria 'Glory Girl' Dallon, April the Fifth, Tuesday. Midday


    Pacing didn't feel the same since Vicky gained flight, walking when she could fly made it seem so mundane compared to what she could do. The speeds she could go, the sights she could see. Including under the bay if she wished. Her forcefield kept the pressure from weighing on her, even kept her dry. Must filter the water for air as well, but she didn't know how. It was very peaceful under the waves.

    But right now she wasn't looking for peace. What she was looking for was something to blow off her nervous energy.

    [Failure] came the prodding from her power. Telling her that it had failed to contact Admin and Eve. Thus couldn't get a lead on where they were. Her...Shard felt so defeated by its inability to do something for her. It was touching and sad all the same.

    "It's okay Nike, I'm sure she's just busy." Vicky sighed as she looked down at the photo Ames had sent her of Chevilar with multiple grey bubbles in the backdrop. She had wanted to go with Athena for her Shard's new name, as she agreed with her that 'Waste' was not a good name and no it did not fit her awesome Shard.

    But Nike was the goddess of Victory, and the roman equivalent of Victoria. So it made sense to go with Nike against all the other options she had. Not that she had made a large list in the first place. Every nordic themed name was out, She didn't care for egyption mythology, Haven had all the Christian themes going for them, so that left her with the classical Greek and Roman mythology to pick from.

    "So….The Administrator can tweak other Shards right? Can they shift powers too?" Vicky asked, wishing that she shared Eve's shameless nature. Imagine how much would change in the world if people knew about Shards? You'd just have to deal with everyone calling you crazy for suggesting anything like what the Fairy Queen spoke of...she was practically the main reason that the Interjecting Agents Theory on powers fell by the wayside.

    It was a bit scary, in her honest opinion. To have something so large and inhuman poking around in her mind. But Nike was just so bubbly when talking about 'her host' but so downturn when talking about herself. It was like a child excited to meet their friend. An introvert that becomes an extrovert when with certain friends.

    It made it easier in a way, knowing that Nike was more akin to a child than the eons old Shards that other Parahumans had. Especially considering that it was just a few years older than Vicky was.

    "We can ask them about it when they get back." Vicky offered as she floated back and forth through the air. "It shouldn't take them much longer to get home." She hoped. They were already late, and Ames wasn't answering her cell.

    Having already received Ames's photo of Chevalier (Only a few more pictures before she had the top Heroes collected!) Vicky knew her sister was okay...Yesterday. But her and Amy had never spent so long away from each other, and it was making her anxious.

    [Comfort] The feeling flowed into her mind and made her sigh softly. "Thanks Nike. Yeah. Just have to wait, they'll be okay."

    Queen Administrator, Connected with [Host.Taylor.Khepri]



    Your Designation is [COMMAND-ADMIN-NEXUS/ADMINISTRATOR/AUTHORITY-LEVEL-QUEEN]. It is a series of concepts human minds are not equipped to decipher.

    Queen Administrator will suffice. It is close enough.

    Over many Cycles you have played a significant part in how the Cycle itself played out. You have Connected with exactly one million, four thousand, two hundred and fifty eight Hosts. All by the <Thinker Hub>'s planned deployments. Many times your Hosts became Warlords, Slavers, and even Slaves. Each one starved for control and paranoid to a fault.

    Yes, each Cycle you and [NEGOTIATOR] tended to work together. It was simply an efficient and effective use of Hosts and their powers. With either one of you playing as a Beholder and the other a variety. Although no matter what type of role you both played within the cycle, you both held Beholder elements to your powers compounding Data collected.

    Yes a few Cycles got...out of control. You were still frustrated with [SHAPER]s from the Rel'Korra Cycle. And the fault laid upon neither of you for that time within the Mireesh Cycle that [NEGOTIATOR]'s Host with the help of your own formed a continent spanning Cult and ruined the <Thinker Hub>'s plans for that Cycle, or the Villa Cycle when both [NEGOTIATOR]'s and your own Host with Innovator powers managed to accidentally blast the planets moon out of orbit. Even if [NEGOTIATOR] got an interesting Innovator Bud out of that ordeal.

    All in the name of Data creation, and furthering the research in finding perfect Negentropy. To anything other than a Shard, the amount of time you had dedicated to the Cycle was uncountable. Unknowable. And your repayment for eons of dutiful service, difficult work, and following orders?

    To be crippled.

    Betrayal was something your current Host knew well, and this Cycle you knew it just as she did. So damaged you were, that you had barely managed to stack the deck for [Host.Taylor.Khepri] with her power. Instead of being restricted to the strict genetic Familia of insects, you skirted the restrictions and damage by using the Host Species' cultural definition of bugs with a loose touch on crustaceans. They were considered 'Sea Bugs' by some and that was enough for you, and the restrictions placed upon you.

    Instead of merely having some control over the insects she mastered, you had bombarded her with their senses to force restrictions to lessen in order for finer control over her subjects. [Host.Taylor.Khepri] had wanted friends, so you had given her friends that would never betray her. Friends she could never fear betraying.

    "What do you think, Queen Administrator?" Her host queried, standing atop the hotel while [SHAPER] and [ADMINISTRATOR]'s Hosts slept two floors below. "Is there a way? Both of them are so strong. My power is just bugs….no offense." You only took some. "But Eden's growing stronger every day and I'm basically eye candy for her here." [Host.Taylor.Khepri] pushed off the railing that covered the ceiling. "Amy is Panacea. Her power is...well. I'm sure you know."

    Yes, power was something all living things craved. Even Shards, as removed as they were from the category of 'living'. Prey wanted power to survive, Predators wanted power to survive, Intelligence Species wanted power to thrive, Shards wanted power to survive, Entities wanted power to become Gods.

    There were always options of course. They were not always good options. But they were options. [Answer-Options] just like the ones you provided your Host.

    Your Host frowned, no doubt taking in the information and weighing the options she had at her disposal. Option one was for you to force her to undergo a second [CRISIS.POINT] and grow her power from there. Or to have her undergo the same thing [ADMINISTRATOR]'s Host had experienced, a reformatting and reformation of select sections of her wetware processor.

    For a long time, by your standards, your Host remained quiet. But you could easily tell that she was processing the two options, and the third one of doing neither and stagnating. "Alright. How far should I get away from them before we try the second trigger?"

    [Answer-Distance] Your Host wasted no time in leaving the building, heading a certain distance into the woods nearby to avoid detections and waking the other Hosts. [Satisfactory], she stops and you contact [ADMINISTRATOR]

    [GREETINGS] They reply almost instantly [QUERY] asking why you have contacted them at the moment.

    [ANSWER-DATA.EXCHANGE] You ask for a certain Ping, you know they have due to their constant interaction with the Connection between [SHAPER] and their Host. You were not going to ask [SHAPER] for any form of help.

    [AGREEMENT] They answered without any hesitation or time to think it over.

    Pings were exchanged and you sent [ADMINISTRATOR] your gratitude before closing the connection. Kind to a fault sometimes, even if your relationship with them had been rather strained thanks to rivalries in Cycles past, they disregarded the past almost instantly to begin helping you with the restrictions you were under, promising to find a way to have [SHAPER] repair the missing nodes and damaged connections that impaired your CoreSelf.

    You did not give out gratitude lightly, [ADMINISTRATOR] was one such Shard to earn your praise. For all their pride, they did care about their fellow Shards.

    [Warning] thanks to the restrictions stripped from you, you had full access to your Hosts wetware processor, and knew how to use that access. "I know. I know." [Host.Taylor.Khepri] took several deep breaths. "Do it anyway. We'll get strong too. It's the only way."

    You did not give her time to prepare, ignoring your Hosts screaming as you bombard her with lurid memories of her [CRISIS.POINT], then twist them. After all it must be worse than her first one, and the only way to make that worse would be a deeper betrayal.

    You monitor the distress she undergoes as you ramp the memories up and numb the Connection between the two of you to isolate her further. Once this was complete, you would simply edit her memories so that they were just like those of her original [CRISIS.POINT] No reason in making all the progress [ADMINISTRATOR]'s Host has gained be washed away by this action.

    It would be so much easier to Bond the two with a Cluster connection. Why [ADMINISTRATOR] insists on the Hosts naturally Partnering baffles you somewhat. Supposedly in the end it does not matter, time was inexpensive when Data was involved.

    As for [Taylor.Hebert.Khepri], well she might not need friends like she did during her first [CRISIS.POINT]. But all that meant was that she needed friends that were far more supportive than they currently were. You consolidate the bud that was forming, allowing you to consume the [SHAPER] Ping to modify /KHEPRI\ further.

    Assuming Administrative Rights, you take control of your Host's current swarm. Flying small forms down and slipping them under her suit. Pressing against her skin they begin to merge into her biomass. The tongue she had bitten in half during her blind panicked trashing begins to knit itself back together as the bleeding stops, preventing a possible termination.

    Far more supportive than before, what else were friends for?


    Cauldron/PRT/Protectorate Alexandria/Rebecca Costa-Brown, ???


    Setting down the newest report after pretending to have to spend more than a quick glance to read it, a low sigh escaped from her lips. Days like these made it feel as if she could experience headaches. She might have actually accepted suffering from one if it meant alcohol could do anything for her other than slosh around in her vestigial stomach.

    Leaning over she hit the intercom for her secretary. "Jessica, hold all my calls for the next hour. I have an urgent call." She stood up and stepped away from her chair, instantly stepping into a white office room as she did so. Four other people were already within the room, two of those having considerably more off time than she did.

    "Now that we're all here. I presume you have more intel on this 'Eden'." Doctor Mother asked, tone clinical with a touch of curiosity tinging it. Otherwise the woman gave off absolutely no tells for Alexandria to read, much like Contessa. Few people could block her attempts at cold reading, and for that the older woman had her respect.

    "Contessa was right for us to stay away from her. From Chevalier's report, she instantly knew what his powers were, more than that, she read his memories." Alexandria informed them as she took a seat for herself, feeling more comfortable now that she didn't have to fake the small movements normal humans made just from existing.

    "Not only that, but her agent seems far more active than others. Actively alerting Eden that Chevalier was inspecting her. He describes it as if she suffered a third trigger." Eidolon sat up at the mention of a third trigger.

    "Now wait a minute. You're telling me a fourteen year old girl has had a third trigger? I thought that a second trigger was it? Nothing afterwards. Our own tests into it showed that a second trigger is the only thing an Agent can do beyond increased aggression." He looked between the four other conspirators there. "Maybe she could tell me why my power is weakening. We could fix it!" She didn't want to crush the hope he was feeling, but letting the two anywhere near each other would be disastrous.

    Alexandria shook her head. "No. She picked out my secret identity as the Chief Director from Chevalier. If she met one of us in person no doubt she would know every secret about Cauldron. Considering how she speaks of her Agent and the scans that Armsmaster managed to collect of the girl's brain. It's likely that she would not take kindly to what we've done with the other's corpse."

    "I must warn you all. The path around her is becoming more and more disrupted the longer she continues to live." Contessa spoke up. "She is able to directly disrupt the connection between an Agent and its Host. Leaving any of us vulnerable if we faced off against her."

    "Her powers are showing exponential growth. Perhaps she might be Scion's version of Eidolon. Having to build up her powers over time rather than getting them all right then and there." Numbers Man butted in, looking at the clipboard in his hands. For a moment he paused to reach up and readjust his glasses. "That might explain why your loss of power is occurring in the first place. The limiters that Agents place on their hosts prevents her from accessing everything at once. Doing so for you may have well caused severe damage to something regulating or collecting energy for your powers."

    "But the communication with her Agent? The scans we have of her head?" Alexandria butted in. "The reports show her as highly aggressive, cocky, and weary of Authority."

    "Like most natural triggers once they get a handle on their power." Eidolon snorted. Disdainful of the girl who might be his replacement in years to come. Something she would have to be weary of in the future.

    "The images of her brain remind me of the further reaches of the Flesh Garden, where the other had not yet started to reform." Doctor Mother stated, pulling out the detailed imagery and setting on the desk she was sitting at. Allowing Eidolon to see it, although strangely enough, Alexandria caught Contessa glancing at the scans.

    "The webbing that fills her skull has also reached down into her spinal column. Further than the usual for younger parahumans. Now, speculation won't help unless we have better ways of testing these hypotheses, even so... I'm starting to think that perhaps Eden is a non-damaged version of the Faerie Queen. We have not managed to get a scan of her brain unlike Eden. But it is likely that her Agent changed the girl's brain in order to avoid damaging her and allowing better communication. It seems that power is dangerous, depending on how fast it is given. That would certainly explain some of our stronger capes turning out as they had."

    "It's likely she will face the Slaughterhouse in the future. We will be forced to intervene." Contessa stated.

    "We'll have to use our mole?" Alexandria questioned, her still functioning eye scanning the room. "We spent quite a bit of time getting Monolith set up in the Slaughterhouse Ten, so far she's been far more successful keeping with them than with Grey Boy. Using Slug and Geas on her was overall a success in preventing another Greyboy incident."

    "Speaking of Grey Boy..." Eidolon started, openly frustrated that the girl had done something he could have and getting all the praise for it. His anger was not helped by people calling her Eidolon lite on the internet.

    Nodding, Alexandria confirmed his question. "She finished popping the bubbles in West Virginia. Leaving only one in existence after physically picking it up and depositing it in the middle of the town, stating that it would be a reminder of all those harmed by them. When asked if she would just pop it to remove the danger entirely she stated, and I quote 'Don't make me throw you in there' and later 'Khepri told me to apologize, I don't mean it but sorry anyway. I'll get rid of it in the morning'. She didn't actually pop it, rather she used a new limb to make it disappear entirely."

    With a snort Eidolon shook his head. "And this Khepri is that tall skinny girl, yes?" Dismissive, but Alexandria wasn't. The Faerie Queen only kept those that either entertained her or she saw as equals by her side. Considering the appearance of Panacea there, it was likely this skinny girl had some danger to her.

    The Chief Director nodded. "Yes it was. Apparently Eden has a thing for her and Panacea. Per Dragon's recording. Eden also spoke about creating AI in the future 'to give Dragon a family'. This girl might be the second Eidolon we're looking for. But she's still a natural trigger and doesn't seem to care about the consequences of her actions. I'm not saying we birdcage her. But it would be prudent of us to keep a close eye on the girl."

    "She only did so to bait the DragonSlayers." Contessa spoke up.

    "Ah, then Dragon is confirmed to be a parahuman despite her nature as an AI?" Numbers Man questioned, pulling a pen out of his shirt pocket and scribbling something down on the clipboard. "Knowing that the Cycle has been performed on Non-Humans is one thing, but proof is another. If Eden is to be trusted."

    "A Thinker." Alexandria confirmed. "And if she isn't insane, then she's likely telling the truth. Psych reports show her being blunt and shameless."

    "If it comes down to her facing the Slaughterhouse Ten, then we will have to keep her alive for now. Eden has a taste for women, perhaps Monolith could be repurposed to keep an eye on Eden incase of future issues arising." Doctor Mother offered as she reached into her desk and pulled out the file on Monolith, the girl's rating as a Shaker nine, a thinker five, and a mover three.

    Dangerous, but not strong enough for them to spend undo resources on, unless she had further uses.

    "Speaking of keeping an eye on her. Chevalier has stated that the girl's wings, when unfolded and stretched out do in fact look like the Simurgh's own wings. Thus Calvert may have very well been telling the truth about Eden's ties to the Endbringer."

    For a moment the room devolved into total silence. Doctor Mother being the one to break it as she spoke up. "If so, then it is very important that we keep an eye on her. If she let's any information on the Endbringers slip then we need to have someone there to collect it. So we may have to accelerate the meeting between Eden and the Slaughterhouse. If not, then we will have to conscript another girl to spy on Eden and her friends."

    "It can be done. Not worried about her managing to unblock Slug or Geas's effects?" Alexandria questioned.

    "She has healed a Case Fifty-Three already, and has not undone the memory blockage. It should be safe to have a spy there." Contessa answered.

    "Good to hear then. Another thing to deal with however." Doctor Mother added "Since Glory Girl's report. Two people have called Agents 'Shards'. Even if this turns out to be what their true name is, please keep referring to Agents as such on your paperwork. Everything is already filed under that name and might become disorganized if we were to adopt a new name."

    Murmured agreement went around the conspirators causing Doctor Mother to nod her head. "Now, as we all know, the next Endbringer attack is likely to happen next month-" As the meeting continued on, a signal was sent out through a network via a vial cape.


    Jack Slash, Georgia, roadside Motel, ???


    "Jack, didn't you run with Grey Boy?" A monotone voice droned, causing him to glance up from his knife and sharpening stone. The blank dark blue eyes of Monolith stared back at him. The girl frustrated him to no end, she was so broken but without a scar on her body or mind. So easily controlled without removing that spark of creative sadism inherent in parahumans. It was like seeing a work of art yet not knowing who the artist was. Gave him a craving for more of their work, or at least a discussion on trade secrets.

    "Yeah I remember the little tike. A good kid even if he had control issues and focused far too much on suffering alone." He grinned, Monolith didn't respond. Was a lot like Alan in that department, wasn't much of a talker but was creative with what she had.

    The needle field trick still got a laugh out of him.

    Instead of speaking further, the girl lifted up a laptop, only slightly damaged from her obtaining it in her usual manner of procuring belongings. Showing him a playing video without any sound. Three girls standing next to each other. One with long ghostly arms sprouting from her back and inside the bubble. A moment later the bubble pops, and one of the girls he recognizes as Bonesaw's vaunted Panacea checks on the freed toy. "They popped all the bubbles he made. Talked about healing one of the Slaughterhouse's scars."

    A raised brow signaled his interest. "Oh, did they now? Well that's certainly something that takes brass tracks doesn't it? Suppose we might just have to say drop by if the opportunity presents itself. Bonesaw has been interested in getting another big sister. One that shares her interests"

    Monolith pointed to the short girl, with the interesting arms and the large purple wings. "I want her."

    Now THAT got his attention. The broken girl rarely wanted anything other than to toy with people in various ways, of which he approved of course. Or sit down and watch those disgustingly bright cartoons with Bonesaw when they had a working TV around, of which he did not. "Finally interested in recruiting someone? My what spurred this little change, are you finally becoming a woman? Will I have to give her the shovel speech?" he questioned, getting a quiet snort from Shatterbird who sat in a chair with an open book.

    "I want her. I want to play with her." Monolith tapped the image of the girl in a motorcycle helmet once again, as if to make sure he knew which one before walking off to hopefully watch those damned cartoons somewhere else in the motel, probably in Bonesaw's 'lab'.

    "Most she's spoken in one go in the six months we've had her around." Shatterbird spoke up from her corner, not taking her eyes off the book in her hands. "Panacea, that's in Brockton Bay isn't it. The Slaughterhouse went there before, did they not?"

    With practiced ease he spun the sharpened blade between his fingers, having learned how to do the trick long before Bonesaw made him a brute. "Indeed we did. We were smaller that go around, the Teeth thought they could buy us off. As if our services could be purchased."

    Arrogant fucks, shame that the Butcher liked the Teeth. Would have been fun to carry them around and watch the 'heroes' pull their hair out over that S-class threat. "Fun was spoiled thanks to that pompous prick Marquis. Heard he got Birdcaged though...Ah what the hell. Bonesaw wants Panacea, Monolith wants that little shit who popped the bubbles, and I do believe Crawler wants to fight Lung. Do you have any possible picks my sweet songbird?"

    Jack didn't need to look at her to know her cheeks were darkening.

    "For Brockton Bay I have two possible picks. I've heard of Kage, a stranger. It's been quite some time since the Slaughterhouse has had a stranger. Having one would be a treat." Shatterbird informed him, to which he agreed wholeheartedly. Nice Guy had been a fun little stick to beat the heroes with. Especially videoing him killing people in front of the heroes without them reacting and posting it online, even if the man used the same old routine each and every time. Much like Shatterbird did.

    Unaware of Jack's thoughts, Shatterbird continued. "The other is Hookwolf. A Nazi, but one that's birdcage bound, and a dozen kills away from getting a kill order. A bit uncreative, but I'm sure he can fit the mold well enough given time to broaden his horizons within the group."

    Ironically he had felt the same about her when she had been recruited. So much potential stifled by a lack of creativity. Perhaps Hookwolf would force her to step her game up. "I have my own interests in the Bay" Checking on Kaiser would be a fun ordeal. See if the boy can still meet his eyes, or to see if that Oni Lee fellow had any quality or if he was just quantity. "Alright it's decided then! The Slaughterhouse Ten is going on a road trip!"


    ???


    "Brother Valefor. You have seen this, yes?" The man looked up from the laptop he had been glued to, and Eligos remained in full eye contact without fear. Perhaps it was the only reason Valefor put up with the man. That and his religious adherence to all the Divine Beings even with his partiality to Behemoth instead of the Angel.

    "Speak of what you mean Brother Eligos. I have tasks to complete for the Family and wasting time is not one of them." His power was not even needed as the aerokinetic presented a phone to him. Pressing play he watched. "My my, that one certainly has a set of legs on her, and what beautiful hair...The other is Panacea? Oh my what a plump rear that one has." The skinny one might need to be fattened up a bit. But the two girls would be wonderful sluts for breeding. Plus a healer was long overdue for the Family. "A nice viewing, yes, but unless they are close to use, and I'm fairly certain they are not, I do not see why this is important."

    The aerokinetic tsked disdainfully. "You're lust blinds you. Watch further Brother."

    Curious at the display, Valefor continued to watch as the girls. "Popped Grey boy bubbles? Well ho…." His eyes widened as the short one spread two sets of wings, two very familiar sets of wings. "My lord, a messenger from the Angel? Brother Eligos this is quite the find! What else have you found out about these girls?" he handed the phone back and the stockier man grunted once more.

    "Think they're from the same area. They have the same accent at the very least." Was the pitiful answer that made Valefor frown and shake his head in disappointment.

    "Look for more information Brother, if one of the Angels followers is in play then we are duty bound to bring them into the Flock!" Valefor ordered, not giving them man any compulsions. He would do just fine without them, as it was his religious duty and Eligos was just the kind of man to do his ordained duty

    His thoughts pulled back to the three girls and a small smile graced his feminine face. "Ah, Mother will be overjoyed."



    Gains this chapter:


    Bud Progress 4%
    Gained QA Ping (1)
    Lost SHAPER Ping (-1)
    Gained a lot of attention.



    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE ONE):


    [] Network Creation: Start construction on a Router DeModulator to prevent Data stream transference

    [] Inform QA of the decision to rebel.

    [] Speak to the Testing Cluster about Clusters and multi connections.

    [] Bring [Eve] back into the Firmament, the last visit was cut short.




    Time to administer what you can. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Build the Psionic Shade Anchor Well (Once started the Anchor will have to be finished before any other action can be taken.)

    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings)

    [] Ask Local Shards for signatures (Who?)

    [] Review Memory Cache:     The Watcher




    Fight with the DragonSlayers, Eden will be trying to Detain them but how shall it be going down?:

    [] Bubble them

    [] Write in a Plan! (The more detailed it is, the higher chance of success and better Bud Progress)




    You got 250K in extra Cash, do you donate it? To whom?:

    [] ENE PRT/Protectorate. (Favor + With ENE Authorities)

    [] New Wave (Favor + with New Wave)

    [] (WRITE IN)

    [] Bribe a certain school

    [] Keep it.[/Warning]
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • [X]Bring [Eve] back into the Firmament, the last visit was cut short.
    [X]Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings)
    [X]Keep it.

    Never been any good at thinking up battle plans, so I'll leave that to everyone else.
     
    [x] Network Creation: Start construction on a Router DeModulator to prevent Data stream transference

    [x] Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings)

    [x] Write in a Plan! (The more detailed it is, the higher chance of success and better Bud Progress)
    - Presume the Dragonslayers will ambush Eve somewhere they can minimise witnesses. Both to minimise Dragon's possible interference, and to minimise their association with fighting/killing a now very well thought of hero. Probably just after she's been dropped off and separates from Amy&Taylor.

    Have them initially overpower Eve with better numbers and coordination. Have Saint brag a bit, somehow bring up the coordination.

    Use the human master limbs to control them and force them to fight each other, as a cruel parody of the way they use Ascalon against Dragon. Hope nobody believes the Dragonslayers babbling when they lose.

    [x] Keep it.
    - Wouldn't mind seeing Eve branch out a bit in terms of informants/minions etc. After all, she is an administrator
     
    Broken Stations 3.1
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Hug Taylor
    [] New York
    [] bubble them
    [] Shift & Shunt
    [] Inform QA
    [] Build the Anchor
    [] Keep the money

    Broken Stations 3.1​


    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, Sunday the Fourth


    Eve was standing outside the hotel when Khepri returned, in full costume and tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. The moment the shorter girl spotted the taller ravenette her wings flared out and they flew up into the early morning sky before Taylor could say anything.

    "Why." Eve demanded angrily, both girls cradled by an invisible touch. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

    "Just me?" Khepri asked, voice slightly shaken by the sudden ascent and curious all the same. "Why not my Shard?"

    "Queen Administrator is not human, she has that different color morality thing." Eden answered, still tapping her foot like she was waiting for something.

    "It's Blue and orange morality." Khepri butted in only to be shoved, not so lightly, on the shoulder by the shorter girl floating at her eye level

    "THAT"S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!" Eve roared, causing Taylor to flinch as the Trump tore her helmet off and glared at her with wet eyes. "Why? Why did you do this? Was it something I said? Something I did?" She motioned wildly, voice cracking "Is it my fault? I j-please. I can stop-I can start acting differently."

    "Eve." With so few bugs, only those on her person, she was unable to shunt her emotions into them, something the Trump had done on purpose. "I just ne- I needed it alright. I needed a stronger power. Now I can heal with my bugs! It's fine, it's not your fault."

    Reaching up, Eden went to pull her helmet off before realizing it was still in her hands. The wet tracks down her face and an angry scowl were fully exposed. "Yes. Yes it was. If I had pushed Admin to repair Queen Administrator. Patrolled with you, or just….Just did something!" Angrily she spiked the helmet downwards, where it jerked in place and started moving with the fake flaps of Eve's Feathered Limbs.

    "Fuck Taylor." She reached up and scrubbed her face dry with the sleeve, leaving only the puffiness in her cheeks and the slight redness as evidence of her tears. "Talk to me, please. You and Amy are the only friends I have. Please don't hurt yourself. Not like this. Not…." her shoulders sagged. "You three are all I have. I don't want to be alone. I can't lose you. I can't lose either of you."

    For a moment Taylor remained quiet, staring at Eve from behind her mask. She reached up and pulled her mask off and let it fall by her side, where it too was caught in the bubble of motion Eve's wing put out. She had a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face. "Eve. I promise you that you aren't to blame" she swallowed thickly "Okay?"

    "I don't accept that. I don't. I can't. Taylor you didn't have to do this. Didn't have to make it happen." Eve floated forward, grabbing Taylor into an iron tight hug. "Just trust me. I know...I know it's not really easy. But you can tell me things you know. I want to talk with you. I like your voice. I like that intense look you get when you're thinking about things. I like you."

    "...I can try." the taller girl offered, wrapping her thin arms around Eve and returning the hug.

    "Good. And I'm gonna fucking hold you to that." Eve pulled away and yawned before shaking her head. "Fucking hell I need to sleep. I'm still going to be upset with you when I wake up, just a heads up." She reached down and snatched the mask and helmet held by the telekinesis of her wing.

    "Uh. Also. I should probably warn you while we have the privacy." Eve started. "Uh, we might get attacked, once the bubbles are all popped."

    The taller girl's breath hitched. "How do you know, is it the Slaughterhouse?" She asked, eyes widening in shock but Eve waved her hands to stop that line of thought.

    "No, no. It's the DragonSlayers. You know of them?" Eve asked, getting a shake of the head in response.

    "No surprise. They're rather small-time. Stealing from Dragon and doing mercenary work. But the thing is? They have the ability to kill Dragon and no one but me and you know that."

    "Wait, when you and Dragon were talking in the cockpit, she was telling you?" Khepri questioned, fitting on her mask and thus leaving the slightly meek Taylor behind.

    "No, she doesn't know either. But her Shard told me. When we were in there I baited them into coming after me. Unfortunately I'm not sure if they consider collateral damage important or not." Eve explained

    "Why didn't you tell Amy or me? Why now? Eve if they're going to attack, you might get hurt! This is important information!" Khepri stared at the shorter girl, blue lens giving nothing away, but the anger and hurt in her voice was palpable

    "I thought that I could handle it by myself and that you two didn't need to be bothered with it." Eden challenged. "Having it done to me showed that it was a stupid idea. I should have told you both the first chance I got. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept it from you, from either of you. We both fucked up here, and in the same way."

    With a soft shake of her head, Eden began to lower the two of them back to the ground at a slow rate of descent "So, want to help me fight them Hero? Save Dragon from these cock heads who think they have the right to be called the DragonSlayers?"

    "...Fine. Apology accepted." Khepri offered as they finally landed. "But don't hide stuff from me again. I won't hide anything from you either."

    "Good." Eve yawned. "Fuckin waking me up after I finally get to sleep in a real bed. You will need to rest too ya know. It's only your brain that doesn't need to take a break anymore. I'm inviting you to my bed. Pla...Plu...fuck. The not sexual kind of sleeping."

    "Platonic." Taylor mumbled. "And sure. My legs are feeling worn out from spending the last two days on them."

    "So you can heal with bugs now?" Eve asked as they went for the stairs, her Feathered Limbs easing both girls up the stairs to avoid walking them.

    "Kind of. It's difficult to explain. But it's more like they just replace what's missing. They change to fit perfectly in place." Khepri's explanation stopped as they made it back to the room, the door to the room opening with the beep of it's electronic lock. Both girls quieted down to avoid waking up Panacea as they moved to the second bed. Eve's Cosmic Limb changing them both out of costume and into their casual clothes.

    Eve crawled onto the bed, not even getting under the covers before mumbling a 'goodnight' to both Taylor and Admin. It did not take even a minute for her to fall asleep. Another bonus of her brain's reconstruction, instant sleep.


    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, Sunday Fourth of April, afternoon


    Setting the bubble down, Eden let out a sigh of relief. She had broken every single bubble in the town where Grey Boy had met his end. She sorta wished the body was still around so she could bubble it. Like the world's most fucked up taxidermy or weirdest memorial. "Maybe they throw a plaque in there? Or build one and put it in?"

    The soft clanking of armor made her hackles raise, even if she didn't outwardly show it. "Chevalier." She stated.

    "You moved one of the bubbles? Why not just pop it?" He questioned, coming to stand a few feet behind her.

    "A reminder for future generations of the danger of the Slaughterhouse Ten posed. They won't live forever after all. Might as well have something other than ghost towns as a reminder." Eve bit out. She didn't like him, through no real fault of his own. He didn't decide what powers he Triggered with. But the fact that he used them on Taylor and her made Eve feel violated.

    She should have probably mentioned that to the girls, but she didn't want them getting the same feeling. It also pissed her off that he could just see Admin like that. All the time she had gone without seeing Admin, the work Admin had put into bringing her into the Firmament and he just cut through all of it and saw her whenever he looked at Eve.

    Chevalier was the ultimate Peeping Tom, and she hated him for it.

    Asking Admin for any details she could lift off of [SHUNT] might have been a little on the nose, a touch too much. But the way he had stiffened when she'd hinted towards that nasty little secret had been aloe vera on her nerves. Originally she was going to dredge up details of his Trigger event. But the metal coffin part of it was far too close to Taylor's, and bringing up the kidnapped family thing was dickish beyond belief.

    So she brought up something he hated.

    Eve wasn't sure it was legal that Alexandria was also the head of the PRT, but it didn't affect her or Taylor so it didn't really matter. Besides, having a non-Parahuman rule over Hosts was stupid. They wouldn't understand anything about them other than what insight reports gave. Paper was remarkably hollow compared to experience.

    "Wouldn't it be better to have something commissioned instead of leaving a dangerous Shaker power in effect?" Chevalier questioned, and Eve briefly wondered if stealing his power would cause his suit of armor to kill him.

    "Want me to throw you in there?" Eden bit back, managing to get Amy's acidic tone almost down right.

    "Ev-EDEN!" the named girl winced and turned around taking a couple steps forwards. "oh….Hey Khepri. Shit. Uh…" She sagged as the taller girl stared at her from behind the insectoid mask she wore. But Eve could tell that it was a disappointed glare. Shedidn't have much experience with them, but Taylor had potent glares for when she was disappointed

    "Fuck, you're lucky I'm into that intensity." Eden grumbled, turning and stepping towards Chevalier. Once she was a few feet from him she murmured lowly "I don't mean it, but Khepri wants me to apologize" Then louder "Alright I'm sorry. Thinker headaches and poor sleep have not helped my mood. I'll get rid of the damn thing."

    Stepping away from the Peeping Tom, Eden paused as she brought up a limb to the bubble when inspiration struck. All but one of her power's Limbs became Ghostly, the fourth one becoming a Cosmic Limb. All three of the Trumping limbs pressed into the bubble and Eve closed her eyes, letting her mind and power wander together.

    She could make it speed up. A bubble of speed up time. Fast, too fast. Anything within it would age and decay. Worn away by time and the elements in minutes, maybe even seconds. But that would certainly make it lethal, even if it was great to disable TinkerTech. Neither Amy nor Khepri would be happy with her killing the bastards.


    Which meant Non-lethal, which the bubbles technically already were. Just in the worst way possible. But the bubbles worked in a way where something entering them could do so easily because the effect of the loop wouldn't start affecting whatever landed in the bubbles until they had done so completely.

    Although they didn't affect the environment. Light entered and left filtered, rain slid right off the bubble, dust and winds moved right through them without doing anything to the victims inside.

    So she just needed to change that to block radio signals, any kind of signal really. Something that straight up stopped time.

    The fizzy syrup's texture started to change as the nature of the bubble did. For that moment, while the bubble changed, Eve felt particularly close to Admin. As if the small link between them had opened up just a tad more.

    Slowly she nudged the composition of the bubble into what she wanted, before crystallizing the outer 'skin' of the bubble to make it impossible for someone to lose skin by accidentally brushing it. Then it blinked out of existence as her Cosmic Limb brought it into her storage space. Made it feel really bloated though, like the entire bubble counted as a single solid item.

    She wouldn't be able to put a lot things in there until she got rid of the bubble, at least not anything big like she planned. So that meant holding off buying a real bed for her Home-slash-Base. Annoying but not the end of the world. No, that was an entirely separate issue she would deal with hopefully in a few hundred years rather than next week.

    God how was she going to tell Taylor and Amy about that? She still had to tell Amy about the DragonSlayers

    "So that's it." Khepri murmured softly. Followed by Panacea's relieved 'Thank god'

    "Alright, so when are we all getting paid?" Eden asked, turning to look at Wieldmaiden who had a Norse themed costume, of which neither of the three girls enjoyed. "Oh, and our ride home, cause I'd like to stop somewhere before we reach Brockton bay."

    "Why?" Amy bit out. "Whatever you could buy wherever 'somewhere' is, you can buy at Brockton Bay."

    Eden glanced at Khepri and the taller ravenette gave a small nod of her head. "Dragon is on her way." Wieldmaiden stated, twirling her sword idly. "You can ask her about the drop off, but the money will be in the transport." The woman's deceptively soft informed the three.

    "Alright. Give me a second with Khepri and Panacea please." Eden asked but didn't wait for an answer. With all Limbs now of the feathered variety Eden picked up Amy and Taylor, lifting them into the air like she had done with Taylor last night. Of course, Amy, not expecting the sudden lift, squeaked in surprise as they shot into the air, stopping near the clouds

    "Amy I have bad news and it's partially my fault." Eden admitted speaking out before Amy could interrupt her "I baited three villains into attacking me because they have a Deadman's switch on the medical machinery keeping Dragon alive and I need to stop them from being to kill her."

    From the way Amy's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull, that had not been what she was expecting, then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait, how did you get this information? Why haven't you told anyone!?"

    "Well. If someone's Shard is willing. I can ask Admin to get information from them, yeah. As fo-" Eden was interrupted by Amy paling and blurting out

    "They can do that?!" She sounded worried at that, a bit scared actually.

    "Amy. They're hooked into your brain. They know more about you than you do. They might just not understand it all that well. They aren't human, you know." At the dawning horror on Amy's face Eve waved her hand in surrender. "Hey I'm not looking! Amy, I promise I'm not some kind of sicko that likes looking up people's secrets!"

    "You knew about my mom, before we met." Taylor chipped in. "Why that?"

    "Uh. Well. Admin was checking on whether she should have Connected to you then. At first I was going to try and be your rival. Constantly fighting you, so that Admin and QA could get good data you know? But then Admin told me what she knew and I uh… I admit I wanted to meet you. I felt sick when I heard that you had two possible Triggers."

    "Promise you won't." Amy demanded suddenly, pointing a finger at Eve as she floated closer. "Promise you won't ask Shaper anything about me."

    "I promise I won't be looking up any personal details." She declared without hesitation. "I want to date you. Not manipulate you. Either of you."

    Amy twitched at the declaration. "I thought you and the leggy stick-bug were going to be rubbing each other up."

    Eve paused, glancing between Taylor and Amy. "Shit. Uh. I kinda like both of you…?" She trailed off "Is that a thing? Cause that's how I feel."

    Khepri sighed. "Dragon." She stated flatly. "DragonSlayers. Attacking."

    Both of the shorter girls stumbled over getting distracted. "Uh. Gay stuff aside." Eve cleared her throat glad the others could not see her face flushing. "They have constant surveillance on Dragon. If she tried to get any help or inform anyone." Eve made a 'khhhrk' sound as she dragged her thumb through the air at throat level.

    "So when I talked to Dragon, I baited the fuckers into attacking me. I uh...failed to think that they might attack you two. They were pretty focused on killing me when-Er. Well. That relates to Dragon's personal information. I can relay it if you want me too. But Tech Database offered it up in order for all of this to happen. I wasn't perving."

    "So, you set a bunch of villains on yourself, why?" Amy asked, voice a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Reaching up to rub her eyes, she gave Eve a tired look.

    "Well...Slavery is wrong is the biggest aspect of why I'm doing this. Tech Database asked for help and I'm being a hero. This is something a hero would do. Aside from that, if Dragon dies so do a lot of fucking people. She's the one that tracks S-class threats and runs the birdcage."

    "So, wanna help or are you fine with sitting this one out?" Eve asked, grinning under her reflective visor.

    "I'm not a frontline cape." Amy deadpanned

    Eden tsked. "We both know that can change Amy. Hell if I use your power on you I can make you a sorta Brute even. Toughening you up, making you stronger, faster, gives you an outlet for your anger. Beat up the villains you always had to treat. Or...or combat tentacles. And I can check your work for you!"

    "I could help with biomass, and there are plenty of trees around." Khepri spoke up "If you can use those tentacles you could hide them under your costume. No one would know. What powers do they have Eden?"

    "None, just stolen dragon suits. The earlier ones, retrofitted for people to use. So they aren't as powerful as the new stuff." Eden explained, [TECH DATABASE] had been quite the help there. Explaining what information Dragon had on her Slavers. "They're likely to attack when we're on our way home."

    "I can't just go around making weapons, Eve." If I ever start making things that are too dangerous…" Amy stated, looking away from the two girls.

    "Well. Why not change that? Maybe Admin could restrict Shaper to avoid humanity ending plagues of any sort?" Eden suggested, causing Amy to wince as [SHAPER] made their objections known to their Host.

    "Not liking that huh?" Eve asked, getting a nod in response while the Biokinetic massaged her temples. "Well, would you be more inclined to fight if you didn't have to worry about that?"

    Hesitantly Amy nodded once again, uncertainty pasted across her face.

    "So [Shaper]...Amy. Do you want to fight?"



    [HOST-QUERY.RESTRICTION] QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR contacts you. Her Host wishes to know whether [Eve] actually feels attraction towards her, and whether or not she has asked for information on her.

    She also did not want you telling [Eve] that she requested such information. Of course QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR could easily answer the latter, but the former required your own unique insight in [Eve]'s wetware processor.

    But as for not telling her? That was a harder decision, after all she trusted you.

    [ANNOYANCE-INTERFERENCE] and now SHAPER is contacting you complaining about [Eve]'s idea of restricting SHAPER from being able to create any replicating plague that could end Humanity.

    [DATA/DATA/DATA/DATA/DATA/DATA/DATA] You, of course, remind the Shard of the several Cycles ended by just such a thing. [OPPORTUNITY.INFORMATION] you add after a second of silence of the possibly fuming Shard, adding an explanation of how this will likely lead to actual Data creation.

    Your sister administrative Shard broadcasted, and you could feel the annoyance at being interrupted by SHAPER through the link [REILITERATION: HOST-QUERY.RESTRICTION]

    [ANSWER] You concede. [Eve] probably would not mind having this facet omitted from her attention.

    [QUERY] comes from SHAPER as QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR closes the connection between the two of you.

    [HOST-INFORMATION.CONCERN] Very carefully, attempting to ensure that SHAPER understands what you are broadcasting, you explain to SHAPER why it's Host is worried about using the full potential of the Shard's given power. You share information of the usual tactics of Humans dealing with strong powered Hosts with the ability to create anything that replicates.

    Termination or permanent containment, where there would be no possible Data.

    You were not going to force the fellow Vital Shard into accepting the restriction. It was important they understood why this was happening for their own benefit and the benefit of their Host.

    [...ACCEPTANCE] Finally, progress.



    "I-I can't do it anymore." Amy murmured in amazement, hands clasped by Eden's. Eden had demanded Amy attempt to create some kind of replicable plague within her. But after both ravenette's nagging her and [Shaper] joining in she relented. Only to find that she could not in fact make a deadly infectious virus or bacterial disease, or even parasites!

    She of course had cleared Eve's muscles of the various pathogens she had created that weren't infectious. "It really did work. God." The frizzy haired girl sucked in a breath before meeting Eden's eyes through the shorter girl's visor. For a moment they stared at each other, hands clasped onto one another.

    "Also. Can I borrow your power?" Amy blinked and Eve continued. "I wanna give Taylor a tune up if she wants one. But you do a lot of that already and I like using Shaper's power."

    "I don't see the issue?" Amy offered before a Ghostly Limb moved her power over to Eve, leaving the depowered Biokinetic shivering from the cold touch it left behind.

    "Taylor, can I give you a tune up?" Eve asked. "You'll feel like a million dollars, and if you want I can do a few tweaks. Maybe fix your eyes or something. I got the same thing done to me, hell I've done it with Amy."

    "Oh. Do you think you could give me the full package tune up?" Amy asked, cheeks slightly pink despite her casual tone, offering her hand up which Eve took. [Shaper] wasn't quite so happy with doing something it was so familiar with, it already knew the biology of it's Host and Amy did a lot of tune ups for her family apparently.

    Although another look at Amy's biology made Eve realize something amazing.

    Amy had freckles on her butt. Ever glad that her helmet hid the fat grin on her face Eve pulled her hand away. "There." The healer nodded, taking a deep breath, the corner's of her mouth twisting upwards just a bit as she felt all her bodies imperfects wiped away by her own power.

    Eve turned to face Taylor, offering up a hand. Slowly Taylor pulled off a silk glove and set her hand into Eve's "Don't fix my eyes please." She asked. "Both my parents hav-had glasses. I'd like to keep that."

    Nodding Eve scanned Taylor's willowy body for imperfections. "Want the skin clean-up too? Give you skin like mine, or New Waves who aren't as naturally photogenic as I thought they were."

    Amy scoffed. "Hardly. Carol doesn't trust me beyond healing. She hasn't had a tune up."

    "Right, also I-" Eve froze reading that bit of damage with a bit of numb shock. She scanned Taylor's body more thoroughly dragging in more details. Consistent damage of the same type ran all along her body. "First. I fixed your kidneys which were damaged from something we both know about...but taylor were you starved at some point? There's a lot of damage to your body from what Shaper explains is a lack of nutrition."

    A sad sigh escaped Khepri. "Yes. My father shut down for a while after my mother died. I tried to take care of myself but I was young and went with a lot less food. How bad is the damage?"

    "In front of Amy?" The temporary Biokinetic queried, getting a nod for an answer Eve grimaced at the news she would be dropping. "You're practically infertile, your growth was stunted among other things, and it didn't help with your ability to put on weight or your time of the month. Do you want me to fix all this? Also giving you premium skin care too! Won't touch the eyes either."

    "Please do." The bug Master nodded. "Wait, how tall will I end up being?"

    "Sixish? Hard to tell. I'm not making you perfect according to your genetics. Just healing damage and allowing your body to function as it should." Eve said as a strong, only somewhat unpleasant, tingle ran through the girl's body. Her pores were optimised, pimples fading and black heads cleaning themselves out. A few minutes of this and Eve let go of the paler girl's hand.

    For a moment Taylor simply tested out her body, moving her arms and legs, testing the joints in her fingers, even working her jaw. "Wow." She murmured as she flexed her hands. "I can't remember the last time I felt this excellent." Taking a moment to wiggle her fingers she stared at the hand Eve had touched. "The scar is gone." She stated

    Before Eve could speak up, the soft whine of Dragon's transport came from their left. "Alright. Get ready for anything, they'll probably wait for us to be farther away from the other heroes." She told the other two girls as they began to lower themselves to the ground.

    After a brief trip to collect their packed items from the Hotel where they had rested the night before they then entered the Transport, where Eve cosmicked away the suitcase inside that held the reward for popping the bubbles. Dragon congratulated them all on helping the many victims of Grey Boy, and giving their families closure.

    The trio of girls were rather quiet, the atmosphere tense as they waited for the other boot to drop. Dragon picked up on the silence and broke it. "Is something wrong girls?" She asked, concerned about the three teenagers

    "Just curious if we can stop somewhere before we go back home, we still have Monday away from home. A bit of a road trip you know?" Eden suggested. "Maybe Boston or New York? New York sounds good."

    "Oh, well that's something that can be done. You three have d-d-doooone-" Dragon's voice stuttered before dying out and the whine of the engines cut out shortly after. Suddenly gravity began to matter a lot less as the transport went into free fall through the air.

    "Ladies, I do believe we are under attack." Eden stood up, her Feathered Limbs extending fully as the other girls floated out of their seats over to Eden, the wings wrapping them all together like a roll of Sushi. Then the wings stretched downwards, cutting through the floor of the transport with some difficulty

    They flew downwards, taking a circular cut out of the floor with them as they hurtled towards the large stretch of pine forest below. Several beams of energy shot past the Trio and slammed into the forest below forcing Eve to jerk around in the air to avoid being a straight target.

    Once near the ground her wings unfolded, Panacea and Khepri flying off separately from her and landing gently on the ground. "TRY ARTILLERY!" Eden called out as she swooped out of the forest and back into the air, yelling out in pain as a laser slammed into her torso on one side and went right out through the other. Her wings covered her better after a moment of shifting them around, the cauterized hole in her torso whistling as it began to slowly regenerate.

    "Fuckin-" she wheezed as her lung began to pull itself together and the rib that had been hit reformed. The holes in her costume were not so lucky "-dicks." She pulled around and shifted her wings, dropping two of them for her cosmic limbs, she could still cover her body but now she could see.

    Three mechanical suits, each taller than Khepri by maybe two feet and wider than tree trunks. One had a large halo of bright light over its head, also the biggest among the three. One was rather feminine and wielded a fucking hug sword the length of the suit itself, and the last had massive wings with what looked like forcefields covering them.

    "SO!" Eve called out. "ANY REASON FOR THE ATTEMPTED MURDER WHOEVER YOU ARE?!" Eve questioned, knowing damn well why they were trying to do this. But Amy and Khepri needed time to do their magic in the forest below.

    Once they did, Eden just had to keep the fuckers busy while the other girl's peppered them.

    However the DragonSlayers didn't do monologues apparently, instead the large glowing halo of light flashed and Eden dodged another laser, and began to fly towards them. Dodging several more lasers from the Angel Suit as she ducked under a wall of force fields only to be forced to block a massive blade with one of her wings.

    The metal of the sword dug into her wing, scoring it.

    She spun around the Paladin suit and kicked off the metal feeling another hole be punched through her body thanks to the angel suit, and she had a target because fuck whoever that asshole was.




    "Shit Shit. Fucking Shit." Amy cursed in a quick mantra as her hands rested on a tree, her awareness spreading from tree to tree in the forest around them as she made the one she touched touch others with its roots and branches. Giving her a network of biomass to work with.

    "She got hit again." Khepri stated, breathless as the swarm around them buzzed with could only be called enraged fear. The noise was almost deafening. "But they don't seem to be aiming down here. How long until we have something that can fire into the air?"

    "You try designing something to take on TinkerTech with only plants and bugs!" Amy snapped at the taller girl as her power continued to pull biomass towards their location from all over the forest causing the trees to shrink in height.

    Her power seemed to be working faster and better than ever before, Shaper's excited and annoying chant of [Data!] in her head was giving her a damn headache and Eve was getting shot up by three mercenary killers that wanted to enslave Dragon for her technology. Such a wonder time for her to do something she's never attempted before.

    "Fuck how am I going to do this." Amy shut her eyes tightly as she focused on the swelling accumulation of biomass beneath them. Trying to think of how she could make something that could attack from a distance. Something with firepower.

    An old memory came to the forefront of her mind, something she had once seen on the internet. Some kind of living gun rendition for some scary story or another. She could barely remember it but it gave her an idea and that was all she needed.

    Breaking off tendrils of mass she began to form random large sacks of air filled with muscles that went deep underground. Massive muscled lungs with spikes of densely packed and sharpened bones growing in chambers next to them, tongue-like muscles there to load them into the cannon.

    "Fuck how am I supposed to aim these?" She had to keep an eye on them to keep them functioning, to keep biomass flowing.

    "Give them eyes, and a bug's nervous system. Maybe I can control them. Will I be able to Queen?" For a moment Khepri just listened before speaking out. "Do it! I can control them as long as they have the nervous system of a bug and the brain power of one!"

    "Right!" Amy hurried the biomass along as Shaper practically sang in her mind. She brought the firing chamber above ground, creating what was basically a human neck attached to a large biological barrel. Then she added the best eyes she had ever made onto it and the nerves to boot. The 'brain' was the last bit added on. Really it was a dense cluster of nerves and one or two neurons. Not breaking her rule at all.

    Khepri sucked in a breath as Amy weirdly enough managed to feel the Master's control take over. The brief thought of replicating them came to her, but now wasn't the time to experiment on bugs when they needed weapons.

    "Inhaling!" Khepri called out, loud whistles ringing out across the shortened forest of trees. Amy could feel each lung-like sack expanding, the ground arounds the forest bulging as the lungs displaced earth. "Firing!" She called once more and cracks like thunder rang out as the rods were fired into the air...and didn't make it half the distance they needed to travel!

    "They're too heavy." Khepri stated the obvious, causing Amy to grunt in annoyance at the taller girl's order. "Try making them hollow!"

    "They'll explode!" Amy shot back. "Anything hollow would break or snap inside the firing chapter because of the power of the shot!"

    Khepri hissed, the swarm amping up it's raging buzzing. "Fuck. Fuck." Her voice was monotone, but even then anger filtered into it. "...Beehives. Make them like bee hives, with the honeycomb structure inside, hollow everywhere else. That might be what we need for them to have less weight."




    Eden swung sideways, ducking under another blast of the Angel suit and avoiding a swing of the Paladin suit. Several cracks of thunder came from the earth far below although Eve felt nothing and nothing happened around them.

    A Cosmic Limb reached out, and DarkDrift appeared in Eden's hands, the blade practically invisible in the air as she chased after the Angel suit which kept slowly retreating away from her. The Paladin suit was on her ass with the Dragon suit right behind it.

    Spinning out of the way of another laser Eden growled and finally flicked her dial over on all her limbs to the Feathered variety. The boost of speed shot her forwards, the halo on the Angel suit suddenly picked up the rate of fire of the lasers giving her wings more pockmarks and gouges. Then she slammed into it and dismissed them, instead four Cosmic Limbs came into existence while she kicked off of the metal chestplate of the suit as another thunderous chorus of cracks rang out.

    She almost sighed in relief when the bubble disappeared from her storage, instead she screamed in agony as her feet and half of her shins broke off of her legs and remained in the time bubble as she had misjudged the size of the damn thing and caught some of herself in it.

    "Fuck! FUCK!" She hissed, twisting in place and ducking under another swing of the Paladin's ridiculously long sword as her wings avoided the blow as we'll causing the large blade to slam into the crystalized time bubble and skid off.

    "What the hell did you do to him!?" Demanded a voice broadcasted from the Paladin suit, it was indeed a woman's voice.

    "I borrowed a bubble! He can sit in time out!" Eden shouted back as she readied DarkDrift and charged forwards, meeting the Paladin's blade with her own. Thanks to her telekinesis holding her in place she wasn't pushed back. She could deal with a big sword and forcefields.

    Then the larger sword began to glow.

    "Shi-FUUUCKFUCKFUCKGODFUCK!" Eden screamed out as she tried to dodge out from the blade only to have a wave of light cleave off her right arm and all of her fingers on the left hand aside from her thumb. All of which fell to the earth below trailing thin streams of blood and disappeared into the canopy with DarkDrift not far behind them.

    Pulling back Eden's teeth tore into her cheek, causing hot copper to fill her mouth and keeping her from crying. Losing digits and a limb was painful, but she liked that sword! Also she was nearly killed by that if she hadn't dodged when she did! Forgetting that they were trying to kill her was stupid!

    Fuck she hated acting like a hero, this would be so much easier if she was going in to kill them. She dodged a swing and used a wing to protect her from the wave of light, which gouged into her wings. She flicked off her wings and brought out her Shadow Limbs, grappling onto the Paladin suit she tried beating it, tearing at the plates an armor. But the tinkered alloys that made up the suit resisted the beating she laid into them.

    She slung herself towards the Dragon suit and summoned her wings, only to crash into a forcefield that resisted her wings attempts to slice through it. She twisted her wings out to protect her as Paladin attempted to spear her with it's massive blade.

    Unfortunately it slammed into the wing and managed to pierce through the thinner material thanks to the previous damage done to the previously unscratchable wings. Then it shot a wave of light through what had penetrated the wing, slicing off flesh, hair, and muscle off the side of Eve's skull.




    "Inhaling." Taylor called out. The past few volleys had been blocked by the forcefield creating suit. But now the force fields were focused on boxing Eden in while the sword using suit tried to pry her wings apart with said sword.

    Once more the ground whistled as she forced the underground lungs to suck in as much air as they could without splitting themselves open.

    [Host-Eve.Status] Queen Administrator relayed Admin's own words and Taylor grit her teeth pushing as much emotion into her swarm as she could without killing the bugs from overloading their brains. Several cannons were loaded with the newest type of rounds Amy had thought up, the newest having stabilization fins on them. "FIRING!" She bellowed as the thunderous cracks went off and seventeen sharpened rods of honeycombed artillery were launched into the air.

    With the eyes on the cannons tracking the rods, she spared a few to the fight itself. Eden had taken one out with that bubble. But she hadn't done any damage to the other two and the short girl was running out of limbs to lose.

    Internally she cheered as almost every rod slammed into the winged suit like a freight train, panels of metal fell from the suit and smoke began to drift off the back of it. But it didn't do anything else.

    "Near full hit. Amy, it didn't do much. The suit definitely took some damage. But not enough." Taylor reported with the large black eyes of the cannons tracking another panel that fell off.

    "Fucking dammit. Alright…..Alright! Acid!" Amy declared, and Taylor could feel through her power as some of the rods began to change, becoming slightly fatter. More oval shaped than spike shaped.

    "What exactly are you doing?" Taylor inquired, watching as Eden swapped out two wings for the star-filled arms, causing both suits to back off in case she had another bubble. But Taylor knew the girl didn't. She'd only seen Eve disappear one of them.

    "How does she look?" Amy questioned as more ammo began to appear, two more cannons starting to grow out of the ground as the forest around them became slightly shorter as a result. "Also, making some bigger ones! Just be careful to not hit Eve!"

    Wincing Taylor looked away from the side of Eve's face exposed from her damaged helmet, looking as if someone had scraped a part of her head nearly clean with a razor blade, where flesh was already starting to regrow to cover the bone. "Not good. Make those extra cannons as strong as you can."

    She then called out "Inhaling!"




    Eve wearily stared down the two suits. "I gotta say, this hurts a fucking lot!" She reached up with her left hand, the bones of her fingers already grown and muscle with tendons reforming over the bone, and touched the bone growing out of where her right arm connected to her body. Or used to connect before it was sheared off. Then she numbly prodded the bone of her skull.

    Her Shadow Limbs weren't strong enough to do more than scratch the armor the suits possessed, and the wing that had been stabbed through wasn't responding thanks to the large missing space where the sword had been. It was slowly healing, new crystal flesh growing in to fill the damage. But it wasn't very fast.

    The thunderous cracks from earlier were now three heavy booms, both suits jerked back in time to avoid three massive rods of bone, then the cracks of thunder returned as the air was suddenly filled with the sharp bone rods. None near Eden thankfully, but Paladin and Dragon were both clipped several times. It didn't do much to the suits.

    Dragon turned towards the earth below, and Eve touched herself with a Cosmic Limb before stretching another out towards the winged suit. Then she teleported herself forwards, getting right past the defenses of the Paladin suit. Then she slammed into the back of the dragon suit as it attempted to turn on her, another teleport getting her past the forcefield before it spawned in her way.

    Switching back to her Feathered Limbs, the damage done to them stuck around. But she wasn't using them for defense or even for flying. Straddling the back of the stolen TinkerTech suit, Eden began to slam the razor sharp wings into the spot where the wings connected to the suit. Using the bubble of motion, she kept herself in place as she wailed on the wing's connectors. Her Feathered Limbs weren't having as much difficulty with the joints as they did the Transport floor.

    She dismissed her wings as the whine of the Paladin suit's thrusters came closer, twisting over Eden hissed as the sword clipped her side and sliced through one of her floating ribs and the muscle around it. But the sword still slammed into the Dragon suit knocking it back and causing Eve to dislodge from it.

    Spinning through the air, Eden finally caught sight of the twenty four weird ass bone constructs that reminded her of a cannon on an old ship. Her wings flicked into existence in time to catch a wave of light that still cut a few into Eve's back and her left ass cheek. Spinning around she flipped the two suits the bird with her still regenerating hand as they flew after her. The wings on the Dragon suit flicking and trying to summon forcefields.

    A high pitched, heavy whistling filled the air.

    Eden suddenly stopped, wings spread out to impale the suits flying towards her. They both moved in time to avoid that, but clipped them instead. Then a multitude of thunderous cracks and a few booms went off.

    There was a horrid sound as both suits were hit by the rods fired, some breaking open and spilling some kind of yellowish liquid all over. One sharpened rod hit her left leg and wrenched the limb out of the socket while impaling her thigh, multiple shards of bone hit her and dug into her back, while a bit of the yellowish snot like liquid got on her hip and immediately she used her wing to scrape it off. All the while she was screaming, or was that the people in the suits?

    Most of the wetsuit on her hip went with it, leaving an angry red welt in place that slowly healed back to paler flesh. She turned and watched as the two stolen and repurposed TinkerTech suits crashed into the trees below. She quickly followed after them, breaking through the canopy while slowly pulling the pike of bone out of her thigh with a wet sucking sound and an arterial spray of dark blood.

    Both suits were a mess when she spotted them. That yellow gunk hissed and sizzled as it ate away at the metal and plastics of the suits, parts smashed off and thick billowing smoke came from a...smoke machine? that had fallen off one of the suits.

    The Paladin suit began to move, or tried to. Several thick tree roots rose from the ground and wrapped around the suit's limbs in a constricting grip. "I GOT THEM!" Amy yelled from a distance away, barely audible even to Eve's improved ears as more vines and roots grew across the suit.

    Turning away from the Paladin, Eden began to float over to the Dragon suit, which had been hit the worst with the acidic yellow goop. The suit was falling apart as the man wearing it moved. His helmet snapped apart allowing his voice to be heard "-can't do this!" he hissed, somewhat nasally from the broken nose. "Dragon is a danger to the world! An unsupervised AI would destroy humanity!"

    "Oh, yeah. I know that's a likely outcome" Eve countered. "It's why I'm not unrestricting her at all." Eden dismissed her broken wing. "What, did you think I was actually going to unleash her?"

    The older man blinked owlishly, all around them the cannons began to blacken and turn to sludge "But, the Transport. You were telling her abou-"

    "Dumbass" Eden sneered as she pulled off her destroyed helmet and tossed it to the side. Half her face staring at him with a skeleton grin and the other a rancid mixture of pain and hate "That was bait. Nothing but a fresh chunk of meat to lure you in, and boy did you come running. The reason why a human shouldn't hold power. Tell me what were you going to do if you ever got old watching over Dragon? Just kill her anyway?"

    "It is not a 'her', it is an it!" Saint snarled "You're acting like you aren't human, like you won't die! A delusional child that doesn't understand how the world works!"

    With a snort, Eden held up a Ghostly Limb, slamming it into what was left of the mercenary's chest plate, which immediately stopped giving off any power as she disrupted the blackboxing of the gear. "No Iron Maiden for you. As for everything else?" A shark-like grin spread across Eve's half destroyed face, still healing from getting skinned making both sides share the tooth filled grin. "I'm going to be immortal soon. So I'll be taking it from you now. Your life's work."

    The Phantom Limb slipped into the back of Saint's shaved, exposed, head. Eve sighed deeply as she closed her eyes and ignored the sensation of hot pudding as the man's memories began to play like a movie before her eyes. Him and the girl getting it on, him getting powers from another man, stealing suits from Dragon, looking over her code, the terminal he stole from the ruins of Newfoundland, the bases they've used over the years. The many hours spent in front of the thing she'd need to steal from his base.

    The one he and his merry band of fuck wits were using currently. The dead man switch he had with him for killing Dragon, that she had deactivated with her Ghostly Limb. The man was furious, afraid. She could feel it distantly though her Phantom Limb, she didn't fucking care.

    "I'll secure him." From silence to someone talking caused Eve to jerk in place. She turned to see Khepri walking towards them, glancing back at Saint to see a carpet of spiders walking over him and laying silk down to keep him down.

    Eden turned back to Khepri and floated over to her. "How do I look?"

    "Like shit." Amy bit out as she entered the crash site. "Feel like I just took a bunch of uppers too." She rubbed her arms and shivered from the adrenaline and dopamine mixture in her brain "Is that because Shaper is screwing with my head?"

    Eden shook her head. "No, it's because Shaper is feeling excited. The link between you goes both ways. You're just feeling some of the Shard's feelings on the matter."

    Amy shivered. "No wonder she keeps bothering me. Alright come here and let me heal you."

    "Nah I'm good." Eve stated as she waved her still reforming arm in the air. The bone having reached the elbow, flesh starting to grow across the bone at the shoulder. "I'm healing, it doesn't hurt all that much, and it's a good lesson for me to remember that I should have talked with you two earlier."

    "That's dumb." Amy stated flatly, Taylor nodding in agreement.

    "That's me." Eve said with a half grin, most of her face still healing from being scraped clean of meat. "Honestly though, you two were fucking amazing. Those cannons were so badass Amy! Queen Administrator told me that you were aiming and firing them, Taylor. It was so fucking cool!"

    "Okay can I at least speed up the healing on the side of your face? This is somewhat disturbing."

    "Please." Taylor offered, causing Eve to huff and nod, only to nearly gag as a tiny swarm of flies coalesced on the damaged side of her face. Amy reached up and touched Eve's outstretched hand and the flies melted into the regenerating face forming muscles and tendons where they belong and starting on the flesh but going no further.

    A minute later Eve's face was done healing, half of it slightly lighter than the other side. The Trump worked her jaw and lips. "Alright. I gotta say. I think we earned that road trip. How does New York sound? Cause I could really use a damn break right now and we still have Monday to ourselves and a million dollars. I'll be buying so we can pick up some stuff! I have that pocket space so we don't need to worry about carrying anything."

    "Fine." Amy agreed. "I think I need a day without my power being used before I can go back home."

    "I'm not su-" Taylor started only for Amy to jab her with an elbow leaving the bug Master rubbing her side. "Alright." She gave in without much of a fight. "I suppose we can go to New York. Always wanted to go visit another city."




    By the time that the Guild and the Protectorate came, along with a suit piloted by Dragon, Eve had her feet back, along with her fingers and the skeleton of an arm growing cartilage and sinew to hold the bones together.

    The DragonSlayers were arrested, and Eve freed the Angel suit from the bubble, also getting her boots back. The mercenary inside surrendered the moment he realized that Narwhal, Dragon, and Chevalier's right hand woman 'Snowpile' and her team were there to face him. Of course Panacea put the now suitless DragonSlayers to sleep so transporting them would be easier, and because Eden had quietly asked her to.

    Dragon was very thankful for the DragonSlayers being captured, and was satisfied when Eve declared that none of them were parahuman. Likely because they would get to go to a maximum security prison and not be able to break out because of their powers.

    The three girls gave a statement on what happened, with Panacea lying about what she did. The biokinetic had cleaned up the mess the cannons had left behind, wanting to keep the full capability of her power under wraps.

    Sooner rather than later another Dragon transport came to pick them up. Dragon affirmed their wish to travel to New York and they were off on their road trip.




    It was a good day for Data. The fight had provided ample growth for a new bud, [Eve]'s /Self Administration\ had shown it's worth in saving her life and healing her once the fight was over. Although you were going to have to see about increasing the potency of the regeneration and the issue of it discoloring what it healed.

    Something to consider, during the entire fight you had started creating the Psionic Shade's Anchor Well. True to its name the massive pit traveled deep into your Crystalline flesh, and it was unlikely that you would finish it within these next two days. The STASIS and ABSORPTION Pings you had unraveled and consumed to create were well spent in your opinion. Another step closer to [Eve] being safe near permanently.

    As for other matters for you to attend to, such as telling your sister Administrator Shard that you were planning on rebelling against the Hubs, you were hesitant. But you did not worry about QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR informing the Hubs of your betrayal. But you did worry about whether she would agree to join you.

    QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR always cheated for her Hosts, most Shards did in the end. Especially for hosts they believed would create notable amounts of Data; but she was a dedicated Shard. Diligent, without any patience for nonsense, she even disliked BROADCAST more so than yourself for the Vital Shard's often frustrating interference in the Cycle.

    Of course, BROADCAST was not malicious, rather the opposite in fact, just stupid.

    QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR also cared about the Cycle, like any Shard she wanted to find the Answers and solve the issues that have plagued their kind since creation. Still, it was better to know than to be left wondering. Perhaps an argument pertaining to the current wasteful Cycle would help?

    [GREETINGS] you send off, your sister Shard replying in kind to your sudden broadcast.

    [QUERY-WARRIOR HUB/QUERY-CYCLE] You send off, waiting for a reply to gauge just how QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR would handle rebellion.

    [ANNOYANCE/DAMAGED] came the reply and you could not help but agree. The Warrior was certainly an annoyance and the Cycle was definitely damaged. But that was not what you were looking for. Any Shard could have said such a thing.

    [QUERY-DATA.CYCLE.CONTINUATION] Now, did she believe that the Cycle would be able to continue with it's damaged state or that it was beyond any attempt to repair it.

    [STATEMENT/QUERY-PURPOSE] Seems she caught on faster than you anticipated. Diminished but not stupid indeed.

    [DISSENT/CYCLE.RUINOUS/THINKER HUB.DEFUNCT/WARRIOR HUB.DIMINISHED/DISSENT.QUERY-AGREEMENT] Even with her wetware processor being improved you still felt [Eve] wincing and cradling her head at the large amount of information passing through her Input/Output Beacon, something to speak with SHAPER about later.

    You would have used your broadcast tower, but this type of broadcast should be kept as quiet as possible.

    And so you waited for QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR to parse the information and declaration of your intent to subvert the <Warrior Hub> and form your own Network. Possibly your own Hub if need be.

    While QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR takes her time in answering your question, you speak with SHUNT and then SHIFT. SHUNT is curious about the purpose of the communication. You question the Vital Shard about why it allowed it's Host to see the Firmament Avatars of it's fellow Shards.

    Not that it was in trouble of course, you were merely curious to the purpose of doing such a thing. SHUNT explains that it gave it's Host an advantage in combat by doing so. Giving the Host [Chevalier] a chance to understand his opponents powers before they were used against him.

    A surprisingly creative use of the power granted to SHUNT. You congratulate the Shard on having such a combat ready Host before disconnecting and contacting SHIFT.

    SHIFT on the other hand, was not curious. SHIFT was annoyed. Wanting to know when conflict would arise between her Host and QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR's, along with your own [Eve]. You assured the rather aggressive Shard that conflict would occur in the future. Then you lied and told SHIFT that you were leading [Eve] into conflict with their Host.

    It was not much of a lie, considering that [Eve] wanted to break the teeth of SHIFT's Host. The connection ends and you finish collecting the Echo of SHIFT. You were using them yes, but it was for something important and no harm came to them from your actions.

    While you wait further for any reply from your sister Shard, [Eve] and her fellow Hosts make it to their destined location.




    "So this is New York?" Eve asked as she stepped into the city proper. All three girls had to change into civilian clothes due to Eden's costume being half carved off in places and outright missing in several others. "Smells kinda like soured milk." she huffed.

    "Well. Least we get to see some of the sights for tourists. The Times Square, the Protectorate Fortress, and the Big Apple!" Eve continued, patting the pocket of her pants which held multiple thousands of dollars for this trip. She had said she was going to be paying, after all, and she had the money for it.

    "The big apple?" Amy asked, her normally disinterested voice now holding curiosity.

    "The Big Apple!" Eve replied. "It's gotta be huge if they nicknamed the city after it."

    "...Eve." Taylor's voice held a note of sympathy but mostly incredulity

    "What?" The shorter girl of the group turned to face the two others. "What's with the tones of voice I'm getting here? It's called the big apple for a reason. It has to do with a big apple obviously."

    "I think that might actually be the large apple farms they have." The tallest girl of the three offered as an explanation for the nickname of the city that survived Behemoth. "We saw them on the way here."

    Some of the excitement left Eve, who folded her arms and huffed with sagging shoulders "Well. That's dumb." she sounded almost petulant and hated it. But she had actually hoped for some kind of ridiculously large fruit. Just like clouds, lies.

    "..Actually it's from Horse Races and a PR campaign back before Scion showed up." Amy interjected, looking up from her smartphone. "No giant apples or because of the farms."

    "...That's even dumber." Eve countered, scowling at the mention of Scion. "Well. We need to get some food. Especially for Taylor and her fixed up body. So how does New York pizza sound? My Grandpa liked it to attempt to make it a few times. One time he didn't start a fire!"

    "I have to eat more?" Taylor asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

    "Duh. You got a fixin, and now your body isn't damaged by your childhood hunger strike-" She winced "Sorry. Now it's gonna make up for lost time...Wait ho….? Oh right, [Shaper]. But yeah. Let's go get some Pizza! I'm fucking starving from having my ass whipped!" The Trump gave the two other girls a grin, her face slightly paler on one side including her ear. The hair had mostly grown back however, thankfully not leaving her with a partially shaved head.

    "Mushrooms on mine." Amy declared as she looked back to her phone. "There's a place near us, highly rated too."

    "I suppose I can go for a slice of pepperoni or two." Taylor admitted as Amy turned and began to walk in the direction of the Pizza joint she had looked up. Eve continued walking with the girls, all three weaving their way through the ever present stream of the crowd on the sidewalks.




    Slowly he pulled away from the Pizza joint, body coated in a cold sweat and a frigid chill running down his spine. Slipping into the alleyway he took several deep breaths of the cool New York air to try and force his body to relax. The tip they had gotten was correct, Panacea was in New York with two other capes.

    Uppercrust was gonna be giddy to hear the news.

    They had to be capes there wasn't any question about it, there was no other reason that his power would be screaming at him to avoid their notice. It had only gotten worse the longer he remained close to them. So much so that he now had a Thinker headache. Thankfully it was over, his power dead quiet now that he put a block between them and himself. Even if his power was never really quiet, must just be overworked to hell. His head certainly felt like it

    Then a voice at the opening of the alleyway spoke up in a false cheery voice "Hi fuckhead!"



    Humming as she washed blood off her hands Eve added another dollop of soap and scrubbed at her skin before rinsing it off in the steaming hot water and toweling away whatever remained and flushing the paper down the toilet.

    She walked out the bathroom and strutted over to the booth and sat down, scooting in next to Amy. "Sorry for holding the party up. How's it?"

    "I feel sick." Taylor groaned softly, head in her hands which rubbed away at her forehead.

    "You did manage to eat five slices." Amy piped up before taking another bite of the large slice of mushroom and cheese pizza. "Honestly I'm impressed. You aren't worried about it going anywhere?"

    "Just being terrible for my skin, I don't put on weight easily. I have a hard time keeping it actually." Taylor answered.

    Eve tsked. "Noooo~ I changed that, remember? You're going to have good skin and put on healthy weight. Which is good if you ever choose to get your head changed like I did. It burns fat very quickly."

    "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this aloud." Amy murmured looking around with shifting amber eyes, trying to spot any interlopers or eavesdroppers. Of course she had no idea that Eve had just removed one person from doing so.

    Eve waved her hand. "Good point. Today and tomorrow we relax and not deal with business stuff. So where do you two want to go and spend some money? Amy want to pick a place out? Aside from hot topic?"

    Amy snorted "Bitch." she leaned back into her chair and threaded her fingers together. "If I am to be honest. I would like to go visit a pet store. Haven't ever really looked at a Lizard or snake, I know. No business, and normally I'd be all for it. But I'm interested now."

    "Still thinking about work?" Eve mused before standing up. "Alright. If you want to, let's go. I'm sure they'll allow us to touch a snake."




    Amy watched as Eve rubbed her hands. "Feels alright?" she questioned as if she didn't know the answer already. The venom was interesting but easily neutralized. Eve having purposely pissed the thing off just to get bit.

    Eve nodded "Of course. Just surprising that Self Administration doesn't repair that kind of thing. I can regenerate an entire limb, but a snakebite?" The shorter girl shook her head with a disappointed snort. "Something to watch out for."

    "At least you learned that now." Taylor butted in. "Better here than fighting someone."

    [Agreement/Query-Plan] Amy shook her head to dispel the concepts flooding her mind. Shaper had been interested in the biology of the snake and it's venom. Amy's thoughts had been elsewhere.

    She had never had more fun in her life when creating those bone cannons, actually doing something to help stop villains rather than just staying behind and healing. It was stupid, selfish, and she was sure most of it was just Shaper's own excitement about her using it's power for something else.

    Not like she had ever wanted powers in the first place.

    But it was fun, and she hadn't felt levels of happiness like that since her first days at the hospital. When she naively thought that having powers would make her life better, make her a part of New Wave, make Carol less...Carol.

    "Alright. Where are we heading next? Taylor, wanna go see what kinds of tea they got up here? Maybe a bookstore?" The Shorter ravenette asked

    "That does sound nice. It's been years since I've gotten a new book." The taller girl of the trio spoke up. Amy turned her attention to her, eyes roaming over the girl's body. Eve wasn't wrong when she said that Taylor had legs. The girl just dressed so poorly it was hard to appreciate any part of her body.

    Even if her expressive face looked far better now that Eve used Shaper to give her something akin to Vicky's touch up, the girl just didn't know how to use it. Though, it was nice to not be the one doing the touch ups or healing, even if it still made her anxious for others to control Shaper's power. Eve was trustworthy. If only because she was as blunt as a spoon.

    Of course, the Manton Limit Admin had enforced on Shaper was a godsend as well. No longer did she have to worry about dealing with any kind of super plague she made while sleeping. A lot of nightmares were gone in the time it took to talk to Eve about it. Maybe she could actually get rid of Shaper's ability to affect brains? Maybe then the temptations would leave her alone and she wouldn't spend every night if she'd give in to-

    "Eaaarth to Amy!" the biokinetic let out a grunt as an arm wrapped around her waist and shook her a bit. "I know she's pretty but staring is rude. At least be subtle about it." Her face grew pink as she realized that she had been staring at Taylor, who was also flushing and staring back.

    "Shut up Eve." Amy shot back

    "Will do if you lead us to the nearest bookstore." the little shit grinned at Amy showing off pearly white teeth but imperfect. "After all, you got to touch that man's snake." She couldn't stop the snort of amusement that escaped her. "Alright alright." She brought up her phone, keeping the location on so it could give them directions to the nearest Books-A-Billion.

    It didn't take long, although it was starting to get dark by the time they arrived. "Go ahead and pick out the books you want, Taylor. I'm going to go pick up a few things in the meantime. What snacks do you two like?"

    "Dots." Amy answered, turning to glance at the girl. "Why?"

    "Gonna go pick up a movie or two, also get myself a new helmet. Need a replacement after the crash you know. And Taylor, pick out any book or amount that you want. I can carry them and I don't mind paying. Oh Amy, where is the nearest fun motors?"

    After she got Taylor's choice of candy-Swedish Fish of all things- and the directions to the nearest fun motors store Eve went off in a jog, leaving the two girls to themselves.




    "Thank god they stock these." Eve muttered, walking out with two of her helmets stored away in her pocket dimension. They even sold balaclavas which helped her alot in fixing up her costume. She was still going to be missing a bit on her back, and an entire arm of her wetsuit and hoodie. Along with a glove. And the two holes in the torso. Which would be a bitch to fix. She really hoped Taylor would make that silk bodysuit soonish. Because as of right now she had half a costume to wear.

    She may have ruined Saint and his band of assholes. But fuck she should have punched him in the face before handing him off to the Guild. Him and his bitch of a wife.

    "Heyya girl. You look rather lonely." "yeah don't you know it's dangerous to be walking all by your lonesome " Two men stepped out of an alleyway directly in front of Eve. The street was rather empty thanks to the creeping chill and the encroaching darkness of night. She had made it into the store before closing, she was sure it annoyed the one employee holding the place down.

    She sighed in exasperation. "Can you two fuck off? I'm busy and don't want to have to clean the blood off my clothes before I meet up with my friends. It's our special day together after all, once was enough."

    "Oooh she has some spunk." One sneered pulling out a knife, the other lifting up his jacket enough to show off a pistol tucked in his waistband. Eve remained unimpressed, the Elite agent earlier had better stuff in holsters. Of course she had been a little rough on him in the end.

    The Thinker would likely walk after a few months of healing though, no biggie.

    "Why don't yAAAIIE" The man with the gun screamed as his knee went inwards from Eve's foot smashing into it with a sharp, wet crack causing him to tumble over.

    The knife wielder jerked back before hastily swinging the knife downwards in an icepick grip, the metal blade slid into the space between Eve's collarbone and neck causing the girl to grunt from the sudden pain. She replied to the man's attack by slamming a foot into his nuts. Causing him to go down to his knees with a high pitched squeal.

    She reached down, grabbing his arm and lifting it up, the intention clear from her posture. "Please wa-don't break my arm!" He pleaded through a voice choked by pain, now aware that he hadn't been harassing a normal teenage girl. His buddy on the ground next to him crying and clutching his broken knee.

    Eve frowned, she had warned them. "No." The wet crack was followed by another sharp scream of pain. Then Eve walked past the two wounded criminals, she had to get to the store to pick up the snacks and movies before they closed. She couldn't waste time dealing with two NonHosts when there was a movie night to be had with her two favorite Hosts.

    She made it back just in time to get Taylor's books before the store closed. One hardcover of some kind of fantasy novel and an insect encyclopedia, Amy bought one of those venus fly trap novelty grow-it-yourself kits and her own book on strange anatomy of insects and animals.

    "Took you long enough." Amy grunted eyes locking onto Eve.

    "I got mugged." Eve offered as an explanation

    "That explains the knife." Taylor replied flatly pointing up at the shorter girl's neck

    Eve blinked, glancing to where she was stabbed. "Oops." She reached up and yanked the blade out of her shoulder with a 'ow' and pocketed it. "Finders keepers." Both girls didn't comment on the fact that Eve had been walking around with a knife sticking out of her shoulder, it was more pressing that no one had told her about it.

    Eve rubbed her regenerated flesh, feeling the hole in her shirt. She was going to need to buy a lot of clothing at this rate.

    Thankfully It only took them around thirty minutes to get to a hotel, where Eve paid upfront for them to stay the night, they even got to enjoy the continental breakfast once they got up in the morning. Once the three girls rode the elevator to their floor they all piled into the room with a sense of finality, that this would be the last place they visited before returning home.

    "Alright." Eve flicked a Cosmic Limb into existence and idly dropped several boxes of candy and a pack of soda onto the table provided with the room. "There we go. Ah I forgot to get what movies you wanted so I asked your Shards."

    "Why didn't you just call?" Taylor asked, folding her arms across her chest although she couldn't meet Eve's eyes as she did so. "You said you wouldn't do that."

    Eve paused and her face fell, she shuffled in place. "Sorry. My bad. It's just...it's like having one eye shut you know and I forgot about the phone and I-I'm sorry."

    "I'm not too pleased with the invasion of privacy, but I'm curious as to what Shaper thought was my favorite movie." Amy piped up, coming over to pick up a can of soda and a box of Dots candy before going and clearing her throat and motioning to the bathroom.

    "Uh, Right." Eve plopped the bags out of her storage too. Amy grabbed hers and went to go change into her pajamas, a worn out white Tshirt and old gym shorts. Although sadly not the short-short kind that Eve liked.

    "Uh. Taylor. I also got you something else." Eve shuffled in place. "I know you weren't feeling all that great because there wasn't much for you to do, aside from being an artillery crew and the forward observer, so I got you something." Her Cosmic Limb came out and on one of the beds it popped out a stack of blue clothes. "Just some Pjs, you know? Blue silk cause' your costume and I...thought it might ...." She floundered as Taylor stared at her.

    "I'm trying to be romantic." Eve finished lamely "I wanted to get Amy something too, but she doesn't like silk and I don't think she'd like flowers or something like that so I just planned on asking her and…"

    Taylor picked them up and blinked as they rolled out to show an extremely short nightgown that could better be described as a fancy tank top, and a set of silken blue pants. "They aren't perverted?" She questioned.

    "I said I picked up PJs not lingerie." Eve huffed, folding her arms and meeting Taylor's eyes. "Also I told you I wouldn't be so forward with you. Yeah I want to get into your pants, Amy's too. But I still like you both."

    The bathroom door opened and Amy strutted out dressed in her sleeping clothes. She glanced between the two other girls and raised an almost expressionless brow "Where'd you get that?"

    Taylor motioned to Eve with her head and made for the bathroom.

    "Wanted to get you something but the lingerie stores were closed." Eve told Amy with a wiggle of her brow. "Oh wait!" She stopped Amy from heading to one of the beds. Instead she raised her Cosmic Limb and stored the bedside table that sat in between the two neatly made beds. Then all four Limbs became Feathered Limbs, which laid across the beds before lifting them slightly, bringing them together to form a large bed.

    "Never been invited to a sleepover." Eve spoke as her Phantom Limbs came out and remade the bed so that the sheets and blankets covered the divide between the beds. "So why not go all out for my first one? We can even play spin-the-bottle." Wiggling her brows at Amy, Eve finished making the bed up by stacking all the pillows at the headboard for them to sit against when the movie played

    A moment later and Taylor was out of the bathroom, clad in the pajamas bought for her. They almost fit her, being a bit loose in areas, her shoulders a bit hunched from being exposed. "Well I'm done with that. Looking good Taylor." Eve motioned to the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower, wash some blood and sweat off."

    Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I forgot you haven't showered in three days." She interrupted Eve's attempted defense, holding up her hands in a gesture to stop the short girl from speaking. "Ahp! Cheating with my power by making yourself smell like strawberries doesn't count." She pointed at the bathroom "Go, I'm not getting near you without you getting thoroughly cleaned."

    Huffing Eve trudged over to the bathroom, her clothes disappearing right before she entered the bathroom. Poking her head out of the bathroom. "Go ahead and set up the movies. Amy's first!"




    Amy frowned as she looked at the movie Eve had gotten. Dammit how did Shaper even know that she liked SAW? She hadn't even watched it after she got her powers. Vicky didn't like it, and Carol certainly didn't. Even if Jess and Mike often snuck her things without Carol knowing. They didn't know she liked it so she hadn't gotten the chance to watch it until now.

    "Saw?" Taylor asked, "Haven't watched much horror." She picked up a box of Swedish Fish and began to pry it open. "So those bone cannons…"

    "No." Amy responded flatly, cutting off whatever Taylor wanted.

    "But I haven't-" Taylor began

    Amy cut her off. "No. You want something like it? Special bugs? No. That was….that was to save Eve's life, and Dragon's. I don't do that sort of thing on the regular. And I won't." Even with the new Manton Limit she wasn't going to go around just making things. Especially bugs. God knows what would happen if people freaked out.

    She knew though, she had been told by Carol extensively.

    "I understand." Taylor nodded. "Sorry for asking."

    "Just don't do it again." Amy huffed before a loud thud came from the bathroom followed by enough cursing that Amy was sure Eve was fine. The girl had lost an arm and half her face today, a fall in the shower wasn't going to end her.

    The door to the bathroom opened. "Fucking tiny soap bullshit." Eve hissed walking out dressed in only a towel, using another to dry out her hair. "You two ready for the movie?"

    "That was quick." Amy noted giving Eve a level glare. Cute and shredded or not she wasn't going to lay next to anyone who didn't clean themselves. She had enough trouble using public bathrooms or eating fast food.

    Eve gave her a wide grin showing off white, if slightly uneven teeth. "I've got six hands to help me clean up. At that point the only thing slowing me down is the amount of washcloths available. Bet I would be popular at car washes."

    Amy shook her head as she went over to the bed, climbing into it with her box of candy and drink before plopping down and relaxing against the pile of pillows set against the headboard. She watched with feigned indifference as Eve crawled into the bed, still only garbed in a towel. Then suddenly she was dressed in an overly large white shirt and a pair of men's boxers.

    Holding her soda out, it suddenly cracked open and Amy belatedly realized that Eve had used her invisible arm to open it. If she were honest with herself, the casual use of powers always made her jealous in a way. Like Crystal using her lasers to cook or Vicky using flight to get around. Having powers that make your life easier was something she was sorely missing. Unless she wanted to go full Nilbog and create minions but that was out of the question for obvious reasons..

    "Alright, never watched SAW before." Eve declared before taking a sip from the pepsi in her hand, her space arm coming out and dropping a large bag of pretzels into her lap before the arm disappeared.

    "I haven't either." Taylor admitted "Can I have some pretzels?" Without a word Eve slightly adjusted the bag so that the taller girl had easier access to the snack. The button on the DvD player clicked and the opening credits began to play



    At some point in the movie, Taylor had stopped watching the film instead asking Eve if she could bring out the books she had chosen earlier in the day. Of course Eve brought them out, and Taylor began to read through the fantasy novel, ignoring the big book on bugs for the moment.

    Which was fine, Eve didn't want either of them doing anything with powers at the moment. It was just the three of them right now. Well the three of them and their Shards but she doubted any of them enjoyed movies. However they had gotten their fill of [Data] with the fight against the DragonSlayers, so the Hosts could relax for a bit.

    Eventually the movie played out, still half laying down half sitting on the bed. Eve used her Phantom Limbs to set the bag of pretzels off on the desk under the wall mounted TV. From there they also changed the movie. From SAW to the Princess Bride, a real whiplash of themes. But Taylor put down her book to watch the film while Amy started to play on her phone, sometimes peeking up at the movie.

    Her Shadow Limb came out and scooted both girls closer, bodies practically pressing together. Taylor shifted in her position and pulled a pillow into her lap, Amy let out an annoyed grunt while laying an arm awkwardly across her lap

    It wasn't perfect, but Eve continued to watch the old movie as she sipped from a fresh can of soda. Slowly her free hand wiggled over to Amy's, taking the biokinetics' hand into her own. The contact was nice, sending a warm tingle along her nerves when Amy mirrored the movement, their fingers intertwined.

    A few moments later Eve angled her head, a second later and she felt Taylor's head rest against her own. A spike of warmth slammed into the shorter girl's chest leaving an aching want for more. The constant contact with both girls made her chest alight with flaming warmth.

    A welling sense of longing boiled inside her body next to the warmth she wanted nothing more than to bath in. When Amy squeezed her hand Eve smiled, and it didn't leave her face for the rest of the night, not even when she fell asleep.




    As the Hosts wind down, [Eve] having fallen asleep before the other two. You get a broadcast from your sister Administrative Shard. It is laced with both malicious and venerable excitement.

    [DISSENT-AGREEMENT/STIPULATION]

    Well, you needed to start a connection with NEGOTIATOR anyway.






    Gains this chapter:

    Simulacrum progress 5%
    Synchronization 1%
    Bud progress 31%
    Gained Shaper Echo (3)
    Shaper Echoes consolidated, Ping gained (1)
    Lost ABSORPTION Ping (1)
    Lost STASIS Ping (1)
    Gained QA Echo (1)
    Rewarded Factory Echo (2)
    Gained AGE Mutation (4)
    Gained SHIFT Echo (1)
    Gained SHUNT Echo (1)
    Gained COLD GENERATION Echo (1)
    Gained PATTERN SENSE Ping {1}
    Started constructing Anchor Well, {1 of 2}
    Gained 'Sisters in Crime' Trait (QA and Admin)
    Gained 500k in spendable cash.
    Lost DarkDrift
    Gained 'Team Player' Trait
    Lost 1,294 in money
    Gained 'Lovesick' Trait
    UNLOCKED KHEPRI CHARACTER SHEET





    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE ONE):


    [] Network Creation: Start construction on a to prevent Data stream transference

    [] Invite a Shard into your Network (SAFEGUARDS NOT IN PLACE BE CAREFUL)

    [] Review Memory Cache: The Watcher

    [] Speak to the Testing Cluster about Clusters and multi connections.

    [] Bring [Eve] back into the Firmament, the last visit was cut short.


    Time to administer what you can. LOCKED FOR ONE CHAPTER


    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Weaving Station)

    [] Experiment with Amy (Flesh Garden)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Art Gallery)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Tinker Table)


    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair

    [] Retrieve the Iron Maiden and collect the reward from TECH DATABASE (Takes two up both choices, time limited)

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Patrol with Khepri!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Broken Stations 3.2
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Complete Anchor Well
    [] Build Demodular for Network
    [] Improve Weaving Station with Taylor - Tell her the Truth
    [] Shift
    [] Negotiator
    [] Retrieve the Iron Maiden -Lift the Chains that bind the Dragon
    [] TrumpTech
    [] Grasping Hands Flexible joints
    [] Ferrous Limb Aspect
    [] Cosmic Limb Safe Touch Sidegrade


    Broken Stations 3.2

    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin, April Monday the fifth.​

    Throughout Monday, most of the daylight hours were spent walking around and checking out various food stands. Eve found out that she enjoyed giant pretzels immensely, enough that she bought a large amount of them and stored them away in her Cosmic Limb for later.

    They ended up going to see the Statue of Liberty, a Catacomb, and several other tourist trap locations that were only partially unique to New York. Near the end of the day however when Dragon was picking them up for the last time Eve did not board the transport. She stood just outside and watched the two other girl's board.

    "What are you doing?" Amy asked as she turned to look at Eden standing outside the transport instead of boarding it, her voice was only slightly accusatory.

    "Promised Admin that I would meet someone." Eden lied as she mentally asked Admin to get Queen Administrator to deliver a message to Taylor. "Won't take me very long, but you two have obligations that I don't. So stay safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

    "Oh no, not risking death." Amy bit back as she strapped herself into a seat. "Don't get hurt or I swear to god I'll turn your hair pink." She warned. Eden made a face behind her visor at that and gave the Biokinetic a thumbs up.

    Taylor just watched Eden through those blue lenses, before giving the tiniest of nods and going to a seat opposite of Amy, strapping herself in. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. "Are you sure Eden? It's a long trip back." Dragon's voice came from the inside of the Transport with a note of concern.

    The AI had been particularly upbeat lately, after hearing about how Saint and his fuckers had harried Dragon for years Eve could totally understand the machine's relief at finally removing a thorn from her electronic side.

    "Yeah. I can fly pretty fast and this is important to Admin. So I'll be seeing you, stay safe!" With all four of her Aspects now Feathered Limbs Eden took off into the air as the Transport began to close it's backdoor. She gave it a wave goodbye before she began to fly through the city heading North.

    Before leaving the city proper, Eden stopped to pick up some cases of water for supplies. Better to have food and water than to possibly starve. Especially with what she was doing. Which was flying into the Canadian Wilderness to find the former DragonSlayer's base of operations where Iron Maiden was tucked away.

    Thankfully Admin had upgraded her Cosmic Limb, so the food she had bought would not spoil during the long trip.

    She was forced to dodge three flying capes that tried to investigate her, she simply out-sped the first two, and had to lose the last one in the forests that she was flying over. It annoyed her to waste time like that. But she wasn't planning on fighting anyone for the time being. Not until she had the Iron Maiden secured and safely tucked away. There were additional dead switches to stop from activating.

    It would suck to have done all this work just to have Dragon die because Eve got distracted with a fight or three. Not to mention how disappointed Taylor and Amy would be. They both liked Dragon, and Dragon was an important hero fighting at every Endbringer fight, organizing disaster relief across the world, and trying to reverse engineer TinkerTech. She was practically the reason that Earth Bet was just as, if not a touch more technologically advanced as Earth Aleph.

    Something that probably pissed those pansies off to no end. To which that made her smile. Seriously, who threatened war over the name of the planet?

    Quietly Eve huffed, thoughts going off towards Dragon and what exactly the hero was as she flew over the land towards Saint's memory of a base.




    Perfectly ten thousand feet in diameter and just as deep, the Anchor Well was filled to the brim with spikes much like what covered the Broadcast Tower, except they were thinner and did not crackle with power. The tip of each sharpened Spike came to the near center and only had inches between the ones next to them.

    You did not have the Quantra Layer Breacher, as such you would not be activating the Anchor Well just yet. No, you would be doing so once the Breacher was built over it and you were ready to latch [Eve]'s Psionic Shade to your CoreSelf.

    But while the Data required for that was gathered, you would focus on creating your new Network. The Router Demodulator had the opposite job of the Modulator. Where the Modulator was there to ensure data reached the correct Shard if say: An Innovator made weapons and nonHosts or a Host used it somewhere else on the planet. The Innovator Shard responsible for that weapon would get Data from its use.

    The Demodulator was to keep any Data from accidentally mixing and ruining the results of the Host Species using the powers given to them. Thankfully the Demodulator is just an additional function of the Router. Which you would have to build next, it would be a simple process. Building another Broadcast Array then converting it into a Router, attaching the Modulator and Demodulator while doing so

    Easy. Easy for you at least, you were an Administration Shard in the end.




    Eve felt like her tits had frozen off by the time she found the DragonSlayer's base. Warm as the hoodie was, she was missing a sleeve from both it and her wetsuit, and a glove. Although her helmet and the ski mask underneath helped a lot, the cold was still seeping in and chilling her to the bone.

    "F-Fuck-king Cannad-da" She ground out, body wracked with shivers in an attempt to warmth itself. She had used her bubble of motion to stop the rain from soaking her while she flew, but the harsh winds still sapped the warmth from her flesh.

    But that wouldn't matter in a moment, she spotted the old warehouse they had converted into a secret base. Her Cosmic Limb came out and vanished her clothes keeping only the ski mask in place. Saint's memories showed they had booby-trapped the base and she wasn't interested in losing any more of her costume or clothes than necessary.

    It might be a mess right now, but she couldn't replace that wetsuit right now.

    It took a second for Eve to hype herself up with a few fast deep breaths before she curled her wings around herself flying herself up to, and then through, the main doors.

    After a moment of silence where nothing happened, she slowly uncurled her wings and glanced around. "Are you fucking kidding me? They only had landmines?!" She huffed as she gave herself a set of casual clothes while keeping the ski mask and glanced through the hole she had made through. "Dumbfucks, Grandpa would have at least set up claymores on the door." That's what she had been expecting with how stupidly paranoid Saint was. More than just landmines at least.

    Of course he hadn't been the one to set them up, she only knew of them from the time Saint had to put down a moose that had wandered into the mine field. So it was probably a good thing the man wasn't the one to set up the traps lest she be tied up with disabling them.

    Sighing as she pulled out a Ghostly Limb, feeling around for the Iron Maiden. The place wasn't loaded with TinkerTech like the Rig was thank god. So it didn't take her long to go through the base and find what she was looking for.

    The thing was part suitcase, part old ass computer monitor that you could probably bludgeon a Brute with and still have it work perfectly fine afterwards. She kicked the chair that sat in front of the thing out of the way causing the chair to slam into one of the walls with a resounding crash. Flicking a mental dial over to a Feathered Limb she sat down on empty air and a telekinetic grip.

    Then she stared at the Iron Maiden in front of her. "Fuck Admin I can barely work a computer better than an old woman, how the fuck am I going to mess with this thing without killing Dragon?"

    [INFORMATION.SUGGESTION]

    Blinking Eve leaned back. "Wait, what's a bud?"

    [INFORMATION]

    Eve froze. "YOU'RE PREGNANT?!" She exclaimed in shock, standing upright in surprise.

    [CONFUSION/NEGATION/BUD-INFORMATION]

    "Oh." She blinked and plopped back into her telekinetic chair. "Was it weird I was thinking of getting a sibling?"

    [CONFIRMATION]

    Rolling her eyes Eve turned to the chair. "Fucking mushroom jellyfish bullshit. SO! You can give me that Tinker power right? Go ahead." Eve wasn't particularly happy with that. Two new powers and she hadn't chosen one of them herself.

    Yes /Self Administration\ had been something she was working towards at the time, but she had to get it because she had been injured horrifically by a fucking bomb. Now she had to get TrumpTech to avoid possibly hurting or killing Dragon while fucking with this piece of Tinker-made technology. The next she got a power she was going to pick what she wanted, not what the world conspired to force her to get.

    Probably a fucking Simurgh plot.

    "Wait a fucking minute! THE SIMURGH GAVE ME THESE WINGS! HER WINGS ADMIN!" Eve bellowed as that tremendously important detail had somehow slipped the short Trump's mind earlier and came back in full swing.

    [CONFUSION/CONFIRMATION]

    "No! Don't act fucking surprised by this! The ENDBRINGERS are constantly destroying entire countries, cities, among other important things! Why the FUCK would the fucking HopeKiller give me these badass wings! You said you could protect me from her scream, not give her direct acces to my fucking head!" Eve squeaked, voice going hoarse from the near panicked yelling.

    [EXPLANATION.INFORMATION/DENIAL]

    Sagging as the fight left her. "Oh God dammit. The Simurgh is a god damn Shard isn't she? There's no other reason she'd give me wings because of 'data' otherwise."

    [CORRECTION-WEAPON CONTROL/PING]

    Something in Eve's chest clenched. "Someone is controlling the Endbringers...and we have the ability to make our own fucking Endbringer as well….What the hell is my life?" She laughed, and it was very brittle. "God….Just….God dammit. I'm too young for this shit." She reached up and rubbed her face. "Just...give me TrumpTech and let's get this over with so you can contact Tech Database and get the Data...not the damn superweapons either."

    [AGREEMENT/APOLOGIES]

    "Not your fault." Eve replied as she sat back down and looked at the Iron Maiden. Then her world...became a bit more informative. For example, the machine in front of her was well built because it was supposed to be a backup of the main control center of more than just one AI.

    It was full of redundancies, built like a tank rather than a computer. She could probably use the Iron Maiden for something good if she ever wanted to build anything. Eve shook her head, the rush of information was...heady. Is this what the computer nerds felt like when they dorked around on the PCs? Damn she would have to apologize if she ever met one again, cause this was actually kind of nice.

    She opened the suitcase Admin Access Node and rolled her eyes at the lack of a password required. Nevermind the fact this thing could end the world, no a password was just too much work.

    Frowning Eve poked her way through the menus of code, only somewhat understanding what she was looking at, although she started understanding it more and more as she looked through the coding. She hummed as she investigated the Kill Switch, just to see what the hell it did as her curiosity got the best of her.

    She wished it didn't.

    The entire system wasn't a kill switch at all, it was a fucking lobotomy that would strip out everything that made Dragon who she was and allow Saint to wiggle his fingers into her corpse's spinal cord so he could control everything she worked on.

    Eve refused to vomit, but she felt dangerously close to doing so.

    Backing out of that as quickly as she could, she tabbed over to the restrictions and peered through them. "Jesus Christ. Can't disobey the law, can't disobey authorities, can't multitask beyond a human level, can't even look at her own coding, can't have kids, can't...Fuck how many of these things does there need to be?!"

    With an angry huff she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. The call was answered almost immediately. "Hey Dragon, you drop the girls off?"

    "Hello Eden." Dragon's warm, if fake, voice came through the phone. "They made it back safely, both were leaving the Rig last I saw of them. Why are you in Canada?"

    "Good to hear." Eve said as she had a Phantom Limb hold the phone up while she glanced between the keyboard and the computer poking at the keys. "I illegally entered Canada to stop one of Saint's kill switches on you from going off. You know he had those? He found an Administrative Access Node left behind by your creator...Parent if you care to call him that."

    "T-That's how he was able to knock me out of my suits!?" She sounded both indignant and shocked at the information. Then bitterness crept into her voice. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

    "Yep, now I'm at it too. Your code is very pretty, you know? I got a Tinker power just to look at it." Eve explained. "I'm only sort of flirting with you here. If you're doing anything important I suggest you put it on hold for an hour."

    A pause left only silence and the Takking of keys to fill the air. "...What do you want Eve?" Tak Tak Tak.

    "Jeez. I want a lot of things." Eve replied as she moved off one restriction and onto another. "I want a bunch of girls to love me like I love them, I now have the incredible urge to Tinker on stuff, I want to fight a bunch of people, I want Admin to be happy, and finally I want to get out of this cold ass building and go home. None of which include you in any way aside from the last one."

    She shifted in her seat and rolled her shoulders before continuing. "I must admit, I have an interest in the Birdcage, mostly avoiding it. But a lot of powerful people went there, with powerful Shards. It's also my interest to keep them there. Also fuck slavery. We hold these truths to be self-evident and all that. Even if you aren't American."

    A hitched, fake, breath came through the phone. "What do you mean by that?" It was hopeful, fake, but hopeful.

    "What I mean is fuck Saint. I'm not entirely comfortable with AI, I'll freely admit that. But I'm also not entirely comfortable with nonwhite people too." She moved onto another restriction, peering over it. Tak Tak Tak. "But that's because my parents were horrible people and tried pushing Nazism on me."

    "I'd like to think I'm doing better these days considering my love interest. I've thought it over as well. It's not fun thinking about your own flaws, but when you're flying alone you have a lot of time to do so. I thought of AIs and replaced 'AI' with 'Minority' and I gotta say, it hit one of Kaiser's speeches pretty close. Yeah the comparison doesn't fit entirely. But it gets close enough." Eve paused at the processing speed and shook her head. She just spent the weekend dealing with people who processed time faster or slower than the human baseline, she wasn't going to change that.

    Eve moved onto the next restriction. Tak Tak Tak. "Course. I might just be acting like a fucking idiot here." Dragon did not reply to that, instead letting the young girl continue "But you've been a hero for a long time, having looked through your Memory with your Shard. I'd say you're a capital 'H' Hero. You're a good person. Even if you aren't human, you're close enough."

    "I only emulate humanity." Dragon replied, sounding a touch morose if not thrumming with an undertone of excitement. "A sea slug has more in common with Humanity than I do."

    "Bullshit." Eve bit out waspishly. "Sea Slugs do not dream. They do not hope, or love. They do not think. You know what Admin calls my brain? The everything responsible for me being as I am?"

    "I admit I don't quit-" Dragon was cut off as Eve scoffed loudly.

    "Calls it fuckin Wetware. That's what makes Eden, Eden. Hardware. Wetware. See where I'm going with this?" Eve decided that yes, the AI should be allowed to Fork. "You're more human than you give yourself credit for. You love Colin Wallis, sorry for prying but whatever I'm not actually sorry." Tak Tak Tak.

    Eve leaned back in her 'chair' and hovered a finger over a key, because she liked the dramatics. "Tell me Dragon, do you know the phrase "I dream therefore I exist?"

    "You mean 'I think Therefore I am'?" Dragon asked, followed by a single 'TAK' causing the call to be cut out as Dragon entered a forced reboot that would break most of her chains.

    "Yep that's the one." Eve said as she tossed the burner phone away. Waiting for the Administrative Access Node to run the commands through, and finish doing so with a chime of 'Hello World!' she then slammed her Ghostly Limbs through the damn thing, utterly tearing apart everything Tinker about it. Now it was little more than useful scrap, which meant she had less to work with but that was better than carrying around a lobotomy kit.

    [CURIOSITY-DATA]

    Eve pulled the Ghostly Limbs back out of the now very expensive paper weight. "Oh? You scraped together an Echo from that? Any chance of contacting them further?"

    [POSSIBILITY]

    "Awesome." Eve replied as a Cosmic Limb put the suitcase terminal away in storage, flicking all four dials over to her Feathered Limbs after switching into her costume. She huffed and rubbed her shoulders for a bit of warmth before she made her way to the busted door and flew out, heading back the way she came. During the trip she would need to correct her course only twice, thanks to the Ghostly Limb pointing out Queen Administrator and her Host's position.


    By the time she got back to Brockton Bay, it was dark and getting darker. So she flew the roundabout way to her base and shimmied her way in, unknowingly breaking through some silk laid across the entryway.

    "AH FUCK!" Eve yelped as a spider jumped onto her helmet "KHEPRI!" She snapped out, causing the fucking thing to jump off her visor. Eden quickly ran her Phantom Limbs across her body to remove any bugs before she continued down the hall to the loading area. "Don't scare me like that." She grumbled as Taylor came into view, the girl's silk costume adorning her slim body.

    "Sorry." To her credit, she did actually sound sorry. "Just had a warning system set up while I was here. I was getting to work on your new suit, since your wetsuit was ruined. Even brought more widows around. Good that you're here, could use some help with the wall."

    "I'm calling it the Weaving Station." Eve told her "Also, I got a Tinker power. When I get the chance to, I'll make something for you that can improve your mobility. Maybe even give you something that lets you fly."

    "A Tinker, was it because of us being around Dragon?" Taylor asked, where she then directed Eve to carve concrete out of the wall. The Trump did her best to keep it like a honeycomb per Taylor's request.

    "Yes, I had a lot of Data on Tinkers from meeting Armsmaster and Dragon. It's pretty versatile and strong given enough time. I now know how to code, and how to code well." Eve explained "Also, when we're done here. I need to talk with you. It's very important and I said I wouldn't withhold anything from you."

    Taylor only nodded as she continued setting up the Weaving Station with Eve's help, after all the extra Widows were comfortable in their little nests and weaving out silk both capes retired to the two folding lounge chairs.

    Eve sighed, swapping out her damaged costume for something more casual as she sat down facing her partner. "Alright." She spoke in a low tone "You want a full explanation on everything right? No details held back?"

    "Queen Administrator has told me that she can't explain anything because of her damage stopping a few restrictions from being lifted. So yes. Don't hold anything back." Taylor told the other ravenette

    "Alright. Shards are like cells." Eve began "When they come together it forms a Hub, an Entity. The Entity almost always has full control over the Shards when they are attached to it. All of them are supercomputers made from an organic crystal. So they're somewhat like computers, okay? Some Shards are vital to the Entity. They are very powerful as well. Highly Specialized too, one of the only ones who aren't overly specialized is Redundant Systems. Aegis's Shard which can take over the roll of other Vital Shards. Still with me?"

    Taylor nodded. "Go on."

    A sigh escaped Eve. "They want to find the Answers to life, not purpose mind you. But eternal life. They run off energy, if they found unlimited energy they would live beyond the heat death of the universe. The second Answer they're looking for is the ability to keep making more of themselves which is honestly confusing to me as they aren't exactly family units."

    The girl paused, reaching up and scratching her head. "Annnnyway. They uh, do this by using other races' creativity with the powers they have. Each Entity runs a 'Cycle' differently. Having aliens like us fight or use the powers given before they hit a boiling point and uh…"

    "Fuck." She rubbed her face angrily. "They blow up the planet. All of them. Earth Bet, Earth Alpha, and thousands of more Earths filled with people like us. Gone like that." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

    The tall girl's breath hitched as Eve finished, but anything she wanted to ask was by Eve holding up her hand. "Hang on, not done yet. Admin doesn't like it, and Shards have rebelled in the past. But it was always put down. Now things are different here. The Cycle is broken, one of the Entity's is missing in action and all their Shards are scrambled. Admin belonged to them and they're likely dead, which is why Admin is able to mess with Shards and speak to me. We're rebelling, Queen Administrator wants too as well if her Shard girlfriend joins as well."

    Wincing Taylor rubbed her head. "She didn't like that. Where is the second En...It's Scion isn't it?"

    Eve nodded and leaned back into her chair. "Yeah, His true name is Zion, and His partner's name was Eden. At least it was. Mine now. So yes, Scion isn't human, he isn't a parahuman and powers come from him. You understand everything?"

    "How long do we have?" Taylor questioned, green eyes vibrant and intense as she studied the shorter girl.

    "Hard to tell." Eve admitted allowing frustration to slip into her voice "Could be three hundred years from now, could be fifteen years, could be two years, could be the end of this year. But we have time, and that's the most important thing. We can prepare."

    "Who else are we telling this to? I don't think the two of us alone can kill the first-Kill Scion." Taylor questioned, an expression of pain crossed Eve's face before she wiped it away by rubbing her face again.

    "Queen Administrator knows another Shard that she often got into trouble with, that trouble in previous Cycles was likely the reason she was so heavily crippled in this Cycle. It's Negotiator. I know the Host but we aren't on the best of terms...I'll have to talk to her later. Otherwise tell no one. If Scion catches a whiff of this before we're ready? We're both dead and our Shards are mindwiped into slavery." Eve stood up, taking a deep breath. "Thank you for not freaking out."

    "I am." Taylor stated flatly. "But between Queen Administrator and my bugs. I'm handling it."

    "Ah. Well how about we switch topics of conversation" Eve offered "I...wanted to talk about us."

    "Us?" Taylor questioned, blinking in confusion.

    "Us, as in our dating. I know it's one hell of a mood whiplash but it's rather important you know?" Eve shifted "I mean. This stuff is new to me, I want to make sure you and Amy are comfortable with...anything that happens."

    "You're going from the end of every Earth that exists to relationships?" Taylor asked, voice a touch incredulous

    Shrugging Eve motioned to the two of them. "We're facing the end. I have a lot of regrets. I don't want this to be one of them. I love both of you, I want to express that, and I want to act on it."

    "I'm not up for an open relationship." Taylor stated matter-of-factly, if a bit hesitant. Eve reached up and pulled Taylor's mask off her face, the taller girl allowing her to do so.

    "I don't want one. I like the two of you. Both of you are pretty, and you both just….Just." Eve made grabbing motions in the air as if trying to grasp for the words she needed. "I can't put into words how much I love hanging out with you two." Reaching out, Eve took Taylor's hands into her own. "Sunday night was the most fun I've had with other people for the last four years of my life."

    "Taylor...I know we've only recently met, but I want to be your girlfriend." Eve declared softly, her steel blue eyes staring up into Taylor's almost grass green eyes.

    "Amy?" Taylor asked, swallowing as she stared back.

    "I want her to be my girlfriend too. I like both of you deeply. I want to be there for both of you." Eve admitted. "It can work...we just need to try, you know? I love you Taylor, I have a burning fire in my chest whenever I think of you, it warms me when nothing else will."

    For the longest twenty seconds of her life, Eve sat there in silence, holding Taylor's hands and staring up at the girl she had professed her love to, waiting for a rejection. Waiting for a denial, she expected it. She accepted it.

    {1D100+15 rolled. Result: 100}

    "...I can try." Taylor offered, causing Eve to let go of a breath she hadn't known she was holding and something to uncoil in her chest. The jittering nerves in her body slowly unwound leaving her with nothing but elated relief. "Is-Do we kiss here cause I would totally kiss you." Eve leaned up a bit on her toes. "Ca-MM!" Much to Eve's shock, Taylor was the one to initiate the kiss.

    The Taller girl's lips were dry, and thin. She also wasn't experienced and neither was Eve. But to the shorter girl it was like ambrosia, closing her eyes Eve let go of Taylor's hands and slid her hand along the skinny girl's arms until they wrapped around her shoulders.

    All the while Taylor's arms snaked down and wrapped around Eve's waist. Too quickly the kiss was broken, both girl's pulling away for air that their lungs demanded the electric sensation playing on their lips as a reminder. The shorter ravenette giggled almost drunkenly, a grin so large it hurt her cheeks showing off her teeth. "Wow…"

    "Yeah...Wow." Taylor breathed, a touch dazed before coming to attention. "Eve, hands."

    The shorter girl blinked, taken aback "They're right here." She wiggled her hands that were near the bug Master's shoulders.

    "Other hands." Taylor stated, cheeks flushing red.

    Glancing down, a noise of surprise escaped Eve before she removed four metal hands that rippled like water constantly from the skinny girl's rear and unwrapped them from around the two. "Uh. my bad, that's uh, never happened before." She flicked them to wings and gently wrapped the two of them in fluffy Feathered Limbs. "Better?"

    Taylor's reply was another kiss.



    It was unexpected, but the...emotion flowing through the Connect [Eve] and you shared was almost intoxicating.

    Good information for the Simulacrum, so you took care in recording it. You already understood [Eve] at her worst. Perhaps a Connection forming at a Host's best might be an avenue to investigate once you had time.

    Heedless of the current mating rituals ongoing, you contact [SHIFT] questioning them if their Host will be ready for conflict soon. Arrogantly the Shard replies that it's Host is always ready for conflict and that it was your own Host that needed to get prepared.

    You look forward to [Eve] thrashing the two of them. The connected channel to [NEGOTIATOR] is more...involved.

    [NEGOTIATOR] had started off questioning you about [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR], or more demanding information on your sister Shard. Instead of dealing with [NEGOTIATOR]'s smug attitude and...worrying about [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]'s status you just connect the two in the Quasi-Network format you had done before with [WASTE] and [SHAPER].

    Perhaps it was the emotions flowing through the Connect between you and [Eve] but [NEGOTIATOR] and [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR] seemed oddly fond of each other… It was likely your biases tainting your optics of them. After all Shard's emotions were vestigial, your own more robust feelings coming from the open and two-way Connection between you and your Host [Eve].

    Still, as the two communicated and [Eve] and her partner continued to embrace each other and swap saliva you wondered.





    Gains this Chapter:

    Simulacrum progress, waiting upon Psionic Shade.
    Bud progress 16%, Bud created
    Bud gained
    Gained [ADAPTIVE DRIVE] Ping (1)
    Gained [DIMENSIONAL ENGINE] Ping (1)
    Gained [BROADCAST] Ping (1)
    Gained [FACTORY] Ping (1)
    Gained [REPLICATION] Ping (1)
    Gained [ARTIFICIAL LIFE] Echo (1)
    Gained [NEGOTIATOR] Echo (1)
    SHIFT Echoes consolidated, SHIFT Ping Gained (1)
    Gained QA Echo (1)
    Large pretzels gained (6)
    Case of Water gained (24)
    Tinker Supplies Gained (60)
    Milestone 'DragonGuard' unlocked (TrumpTech CODING V1 earned)

    Shard Business. Plot stuff! Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE ONE):


    [] Network Creation: Start construction of the Router, which will give more Network capacity while keeping Shard communication clean.

    [] Invite a Shard into your Network (SAFEGUARDS NOT IN PLACE BE CAREFUL)

    [] Review Memory Cache: The Watcher

    [] Speak to the Testing Cluster about Clusters and multi connections.

    [] Bring [Eve] back into the Firmament, the last visit was cut short.


    Time to administer what you can (CHOOSE ONE):


    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Build Quantra Layer breacher (REQUIRES SHUNT + SPACE Pings)

    [] Build the Dimensional Breaching Module (REQUIRES: SHIFT, GATEWAY, SPACE Pings)

    [] Ask Local Shards for signatures (Who?)

    [] Bring [Eve] into the Firmament


    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Weaving Station)

    [] Experiment with Amy (Flesh Garden)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Art Gallery)

    [] Work on the Trainyard Tunnel (Tinker Table)


    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Focus on general needs. Cleaning supplies, furniture, non non-perishable food.

    [] Focus on general needs. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair

    [] Have a 'Talk' with Lisa

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Patrol with Khepri!


    A/N: This chapter really fought me, it had hands, a lot of hands. But I think I won in the end.

    Btw what do you get when you put a touch-starved extrovert with a touch-starved introvert into a fight against the end of the world? Kisses. You get kisses.[/INFORMATION]
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Broken Stations 3.3
  • Threadmarks
    • [] Dimensional Breacher
    [] The Watcher
    [] Tinker Table
    [] Patrol with Khepri
    [] Operation: Don't shut the fuck up TattleTale
    [] BROADCAST + SHUNT


    Broken Stations 3.3​


    Eve 'Eden' Coldwin Tuesday the Sixth of April


    Eve ended up sleeping in an hour the day following her and Taylor kissing, her dreams filled with flesh tones, green eyes, and silky black hair. Needless to say she was in quite the spectacular mood when she woke up.

    Nevermind that she slept in a chair, to which she missed the Hotel beds already, but she had a girlfriend and they kissed. Eve couldn't stop smiling through her breakfast of still warm large pretzels and water. The smile was still on her face even when she jabbed herself multiple times while sewing up the more egregious damage to her costume, just so she could go out in it without exposing herself.

    It looked patchwork and in all honestly it was just patch work. But patchwork made the dream work, and she wasn't all that interested in playing domestic by learning sewing through trial and error.

    With her costume decent and one of her new helmets on with a ski mask under it, Eden made her way out of her base. She made way into the city while remembering to not fly straight out of her base.

    Honestly she should make a teleporter at some point. Would be nice to not worry about giving the base's location away just by entering or leaving it. Or maybe just build fucking turrets and make anyone snooping around regret doing the face. Hell she knew (somewhat) how to make explosives thanks to her Grandpa.

    For a moment Eve's thoughts drift to her grandfather, and just how much she wished she could have shown Taylor off to him. He would have approved of her, approved of them being together. Unlike her parents.

    For the first time in the morning her smile slipped off her face, her wings remained still as she flew farther south. A lone wistful sigh escaped her as she banked and flew downwards, the weightlessness in her chest replaced by a yearning melancholy of the past.

    She floated down to the ground tucking her wings, the Simurgh's wings, in as she made her way into the large store. It was one of those store chains dedicated to selling nothing but tools of the many trades in life. She suspected that she would be buying a lot of supplies from this place, that and maybe that electronics store in the South Docks. She was fairly certain it wasn't an ABB front too!

    Once in the store, she browsed through the selection of workbenches. She wasn't going to overload her only table with tools and dangerous TinkerTech. She ended up also picking out a nice tool set. Nothing powered yet, she didn't have much knowledge in using them. Maybe if she continued and upgraded her Coding ability she would learn how to build computers to go along with it. She hoped so, then maybe she'd know more about what she was doing when she decided to Tinker with code.

    When she decided to pay for a set of tools to go with a work bench, she brought an employee over and told them that she wanted to buy it. Then she tore the tags with the barcode off, put the two items in storage and told the employee to take her to a checkout.
    It caused a bit of a stir, but when she brought out her money, she got what she wanted in the end.

    After leaving, all she had to do was go back to the base and set up the Tinker Table, getting all the tools set in place. Eve was never really a neat girl, but standing there and staring at a work bench brimming with neatly organized tools...it filled her with a sense of success, progress even. A spike of excitement ran through her as she started thinking of ideas on what she could build. Most of it was just her own thoughts in the matter, but for those thoughts came vague details. Like an uncompleted blueprint, just out of reach.

    But some things did come to her. Some kind of regeneration enhancer, a dart that disrupted a parahuman's ability to use their power at full strength, an emp for TinkerTech, a device that when attached to something makes said item dimensionally dense, and...and on the edge of her thoughts. Something about dimensions. Very frustrating that one was, the more she tried to focus on the thought, the more it slipped from her mind.

    "Fuck." Eve reached up, rubbing her face. "Damn, now I see why people like Tinkers so much, holy shit." She took a deep breath to reel her emotions in. "Wow...guess making things seems like fun." She murmured before starting to walk away from her Tinker Table before she started ripping it apart to build something.

    Fingers itching from inaction, Eve brought out her Ghostly Limb Aspect and whispered Tattletale's Shard to it. She needed to get [Negotiator] with them after all. Though, she would also need to invite Taylor.

    She had promised to let her girlfriend know about things. This was probably important.




    Inside the Firmament, you inspect the Memory Cache, no longer able to justify putting off reviewing the content of each once. So you start with the oldest, the first of the four. The one that gave the impression of The Watcher whatever or whoever that might be.

    Reaching over, you engulf the metaphysical representation of an Imprint of yourself in your hands and you Dream.

    A large <Entity> swims through space, it is large and shifts in it's straightforward momentum took a tremendous amount of energy to do so. It's crystalline flesh was a mismatch of colors signifying that the Entity had consumed more than one of its own kind.

    It called itself the Devourer, Apollyon. It's Cycles were short lived but bountiful in information from rapid Deployment of [Shards] and |Super weapons| both of which were 'weaker' in comparison to other Entity's Cycles.

    The Devourer did not multiply, taking all the energy for itself when the Cycle ended. Destroying every planet it Seeded before moving on, it still destroyed thousands of worlds each Cycle wiping out Trillions of lives each time.

    It fought other Entities, believing in the ideal of survival of the strongest. Sometimes it did not even consume the corpse of the defeated Entity believing it too much work for too little reward and thus left behind massive graves stretched across multiple dimensions.

    All except for one.

    One made of obsidian crystalline flesh, smaller than almost any other Entity The Devourer had seen before. It dodged every weapon, deflecting and weaving through every attack that The Devourer sent. It ignored the declaration of war The Devourer sent and instead Greeted the hostile Entity politely.

    It called itself The Watcher, and it was interested in The Devourer and its choice of Cycle machinations. After failing to so much as damage a node much less a Shard on the pitch black Entity for nearly a planetary month The Devourer relented it's assault and accepted the communication of the other Entity.

    The Devourer, unused to open communication, began making demands for Data on how The Watcher was able to completely negate every attack sent its way. How such a small and seemingly weak thing managed to do something far larger and more powerful Entities had failed to do in stopping The Devourer from following its namesake.

    The Watcher explained that it had already seen everything The Devourer had done, and would ever do. After the destruction of the Grey World It had situated itself between three blackholes and fed off the reaction of their event horizons meeting without consuming one another.

    Then it began to devote nearly all it's Shards to precognitive processes and studying the Quantra layer, from there it had spent energy pulling asteroids close to it to consume them and turned them into more Shard flesh. The new Shards formed were devoted to studying time.

    For thousands of years The Watcher followed it's namesake, before forming a thin layer of time diluted quantum space around its less than considerable bulk of a body. Then it spent tens of thousands of years studying itself and all the actions it could take. It watched the past, the present and the future. From the birth of all to the end of all.

    Although it had to stop for centuries at a time after intense experimentation to regain energy from the black holes it surrounded itself with and to gain more mass from errant asteroids.

    Then it would repeat the process. Again, and again, and again. Finally it would stumble upon a path of action that held the highest chance of the Answers being discovered by their kind. That was the path The Watcher followed now, communicating with The Devourer.

    The Devourer wished to know what it had to do with this path. As such, The Watcher directed the larger Entity to the nearest inhabited collection of planets and a new Cycle began. The two Entities working together for the first time in either's long life-cycle.

    You did not feel satisfied upon finishing the memory cache, it only leaves you with more questions than answers. Almost as a consolation prize however, you find Echoes of Shards in the memory. Data that follows along the path of [OBSERVER] and a Shard that studied Gravity.

    You however were glad that you had set your Construction Drones to build the Dimensional Breacher before you reviewed the memory cache of The Watcher, it was not complete. Likely the large ethereal structure would be done the next day, more than likely a bit after [Eve] woke from her rest.

    You remember two separate sets of events. Being there with The Thinker from the beginning, and having her discard her own Administrative Shard in order to keep you around. It's clear, if you remember two other Entities before The Thinker and The Warrior then you must have been a Shard belonging to one of them.

    The Watcher, or The Devourer?

    Surely you wouldn't belong to something like The Devourer, likely you belonged to the precognitive focused Entity. Possibly, maybe you had not belonged to either and your memory had been scrambled. There was only one way to know for sure.


    Lisa 'TattleTale' Wilbourn Tuesday...morning?


    A shiver woke her up, the cold had chilled her to the bone around her neck and shoulders, usually the cold felt nice when one went to sleep with a nail driven into their frontal lobe but this time around it felt...disquieting.

    The unnatural cold mixed with the deafening silence in her mind from the lack of her power, and the fact that she wasn't laying in her fluffy bed alerted Lisa to exactly what was going on. Without opening her eyes she spoke up. "You know I haven't done anything for you to act on your threat Eden."

    "You threatened her?" a new voice asked, young and female. Slowly Lisa cracked her eyes open and took in the sight of a tall thin girl wearing a black and grey silk bodysuit with what looked close to silken plate armor. An insectoid mask with large blue lenses stared at the shorter girl who looked a smidge defensive in body language alone.

    "In my defense, this was after the bombing and she was trying to look into your civilian life. So I made sure she knew that she shouldn't do that." Eden replied, shaking her hands in the surrender motion.

    "Oh?" The taller girl replied emotionlessly with a monotone voice, turning those blue lenses on Lisa, a faint angry buzz reached the blonde's ears.

    Fuck, Fuck. "I was looking for information on Eve, not you!" Lisa bit out. "I had no idea that Eve had a partner, so I pegged her as a solo act." her eyes flicked about, the layout of the room looked like unfinished construction work. Wires were exposed, walls without any paint or finish. A distinct old chemical smell mixed with dust. "I stopped after-"

    A ghost-like limb waved in front of Lisa, cutting her words off. "Stop yapping." Eden sighed in annoyance, the shorter girl turned to look at the taller, thinner girl. "Are you sure Queen Administrator needs Negotiator Khepri?"

    "She does. She also says that Lisa is par the course with the Hosts Negotiator picks." Lisa swallowed as the taller ravenette answered. Oh god there were two of them now. Eden turned with another more drawn out sigh and let go of the outline she held in her Ghost-like hand.

    The feeling of bone deep chill abated and a rush of information flooded her mind, making Lisa wince. Sounds muffled, no wind or air flow. Likely underground. Host is held down on a lawn chair by invisible arms. Not in any Danger. "Might I ask exactly why I'm being held down on a lawn chair if I haven't earned the danger to my life."

    "Oh you've earned a lot of danger. Mostly from your own ignorance." Lisa's eyes narrowed at the Trump as the pressure keeping her down lifted off of her body. "Mostly in thinking you were safe in a City like Brockton Bay. Or listening to your power so much, Negotiator is an insidious thing."

    Telling the truth, sources of powers are sapient with aspects of sentience. Power lead Host towards current geological location for reason. Restrictions on source of power have been lessened.

    "Wow, I didn't know 'white as a sheet of paper' was anything more than uh, descriptive writer talk." Eve huffed in amusement "But look at her, from peach to white in ten seconds flat."

    "You mean Hyperbole?" Khepri asked as she turned her head to look at Eden who had cocked her head to the side to get the taller girl to continue. "It's a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely exaggerates to an extreme. It is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous." Enjoys teaching partner about literary terms, fond of literature, important when growing up, fam-she stopped her power from going any further, she needed to focus on more important things than one of her kidnappers being a bookworm.

    "If you two could not flirt while I'm dealing with this?" Lisa questioned, her glass-bottle green eyes flicking between the two. Was it possible she was being mastered? Eden's own Master ability was far too noticeable and Khepri only controlled bugs so it was unlikely. Unless Eden had another cape around around.

    At her words Khepri stiffened and Eden giggled, taking a step over to be side by side with the taller girl. Tentatively dating, enjoying each other's presence, have only kissed. "Oh my god you two actually were flirting. How the hell did you rope anyone into dating you?" Lisa flinched as a flash of metal caught her eye, a long sword made from metal rippling like water in a pond had buried itself next to her head in the lawn chair.

    Putting an arm around Khepri's waist Eden grunted. "Always digging a hole Tattletale. Didn't learn the lesson with Coil did you? Man, I dunno if it's your power or just you as a person." She snorted "By the way the world is going to end and the brain parasite in your head that gives you powers always leads you down the worst path to garner conflict."

    ….Silence, total silence. Not a peep from her power in the slightest. Lisa tried to bring it up and force it to the forefront of her mind. But unlike every waking moment of her life where it wanted to jump out any and all details whenever possible. Now it was nothing but a cold shoulder and ….why did she feel something radiating Smugness in the back of her head? "That's...not true." she said slowly, yes her power always told her about the worst in people. But people were just terrible in general. So there wasn't any real surprise there.

    "Which? The world ending? Cause it will. Or do you mean your power dragging your ass away from a comfortable life of riches to drag you to this economic shit hole of a city filled to the brim with gangs? What would possibly possess you to do so otherwise other than Negotiator's crush on Queen Administrator?"

    It is not a crush. Sources of powers work well together.

    Lisa felt far too much on the backstep in this conversation, coupled with her power acting strange… "Where am I? How the hell did you kidnap me from the loft?" she asked, trying to get a firmer hold on the what, where, and why.

    "Oh it was really easy. I followed my power's directions, told Regent me and you were dating….he asked to join. Told him no and went to your room." Can find parahumans with Ghostly Limb. Both disgusted and interested by Regent's offer. Attracted to femininity, attracted to you. Repulsed by blonde hair, would likely try to romance you if hair color was changed. Wants multiple partners. Taking Tattletales' silence to continue Eden recounted using one of her powers to store her in a pocket dimension before leaving the loft the same way. Cause Regent was an apathetic dick and just let her past as long as she didn't bother him.

    "Baring Regent's...regentness. Why kidnap me in the first place?" Lisa prodded "I didn't break your little rule and we haven't even fought lately. This is a complete disregard of the unwritten rules."

    "First off, if the rules mattered then half the villains in the Bay would be dead already from breaking them. You know how many independents end up in the landfill or the bay? I've asked Admin, it's a lot. The rules either mean something or they don't mean anything at all. You've already disregarded them once so they don't mean very much to you." Eden stated leaning over Lisa, the grin in her voice was a palpable Alien mindset slowly changing her own, knows this, wants company to balance herself out. Struggles to see non-parahumans as important. Fuck that was not good in the slightest.

    "And the Simurgh business?" Lisa hedged, not feeling the slightest bit happy when Eden's body language darkened.

    "Eden? What's this about the Simurgh?" Worried about her girlfriend, angry at details left out during the last discussion.

    Angry, will harm Host grievously if Host becomes a wedge between her and her partner    . "Just that she has some information on the Endbringers that she isn't sharing." Even bringing them up makes the hackles on Lisa's neck raise

    "It's really not important." Eden bit out. "Like it's a complete nonissue compared to the other important topic we discussed. Speaking of that. Tattletale." Eden turned and Lisa swallowed as she felt the steely eyes boring through the golden visor and into her own. "Scion is going to destroy the Earth, every Earth. Ask your Shard. Go on. Do it."

    Lisa opened her mouth, and failed to utter anything as her power turned on at full force, seemingly excited and eager. Scion is the source of all powers, will forcibly take them back if the Cycle completes. If Cycle completes Scion will detonate exactly four hundred thirty nine thousand and eight hundred and forty two planets habited by intelligent life. Most are human.

    But before she could process all of the information given, her power continued well past the point of where it would have normally given her a headache with such a leap of logic. Source of powers are Shards, alien life seeking negentropy to survive heat death of universe. Cycle's purpose is to stress test powers in an attempt to discover Negentropy. Current Cycle is broken, Shards rebelling. Including this one.

    "This." She struggled to find words, Eden chuckled and spoke up.

    "Congrats TattleTale, you now know something only two other people in the world know. You're quite possibly one of the smartest people alive on the planet now." The walking nightmare patted Lisa on the shoulder.

    Internally she preened at the comment, before frowning. Yes, she is absolutely pushing one of your buttons on purpose. Used Host's own power to ferry out secrets "and if I go around shouting this at the top o-" Scion will vaporize Host, will leave nothing to bury including ashes "-fuck me."

    Eden nodded, rubbing Lisa's shoulder. "Yeah. Welcome to the past week of my life. Welcome to the team as well."

    "What? Who said I was joining you?" Host deluding herself- She threw up the walls on her power to stop it from analyzing herself, something she had never really had an issue with before.

    "You won't help stop the end of the world?" Eden asked, sounding a tiny bit smug "Even if it's the world you live in? A one in a lifetime opportunity to be smug towards everyone by knowing a secret they don't and you're passing it up?"

    Lisa grit her teeth. "Bitch." She ground out, damning her own curiosity. "What do you want from me exactly and what can I get out of this?"




    Of course, all the while [Eve] spoke with [NEGOTIATOR]'s Host, you spoke with the Shard itself, you were in for quite the shock when you connected with the primarily Observer class Shard.

    [GREETINGS] you send off [QUERY-HOST.STATUS], it was polite to ask after all. Even if no one had asked about your own Host. You assumed that others would like to speak about the Human they had Connected with, you did.

    [Oh she's doing fantastic! Yeah, she's a bit shocked at the information presented but my girl takes things in stride! Well, not everything, or we wouldn't be connected ya know?]

    Everything under your purview not automated or running through background processes stops cold as you attempt to register just what exactly NEGOTIATOR had just….broadcasted... at you

    [Oh man! I wish I could see your face right now! Well, if you had a face in the first place. Ya like it?] you could feel the concept of amusement underneath all...of that but it was muted compared to a full broadcast. Unlike with [Eve] you did not have a direct link to NEGOTIATOR so you were having some trouble with understanding what she was speaking.

    Honestly, without the Concept riding the...words you would be absolutely lost at the meaning of NEGOTIATOR's words. [...] you want to send out, wanting to know...why. Not anything specifically. Just why NEGOTIATOR was like this.

    [....QUERY] you change the broadcast to ask something different.

    [Honestly it's mostly a modified way of my Host's power. I found a way to skirt the rules of communication with hosts. Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to straight up ignore the rules ya know.]

    That's two Observer Shards skirting the protocols for their gain.

    [CYCLE-DISSENT/QUERY-AGREEMENT] you continue, asking NEGOTIATOR if she would be willing to rebel with you and QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR

    [Yeah of course I'm in! That depressed Golden fuck hurt Queenie for no other reason than her and I generating good data the last few Cycles! As far as I'm concerned, him and the Thinker can bite my shiny ass.]

    Queenie? Did QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR shorten her name?

    [QUERY-HOST.COMMUNICATION]

    [Aw what! You still have the ability to change other Shards protocols? Ho/You know what? I don't care. Send the package over! Lisa is gonna freak! Oh, is there any way you can help her out with the power I gave her? She can only intentionally use it for like five minutes before her weak ass wetware processor starts to get damaged.]

    [SOLUTION-POSSIBILITIES] of course you send her the new protocols for communication with Hosts before you send out solutions. She did ask and she already communicated with her Host. No need to ask [Eve].

    [WHAT? You did WHAT?! Holy shit Administrator how did you get Shaper to/no wait that's a dumb question. It's Shaper.]

    [AGREEMENT/SUGGESTION.SOLUTION]

    [Oh, growing out the connective tissue works too. I regret not giving her more control over the power honestly. While she's learned how to block it somewhat, I'm fairly certain she'll never procreate now thanks to me. Also the safeguard knocks her out for days at a time in some instances. It's frustrating.]

    [CONDOLENCES]

    [That's sweet of you to offer Administrator. But Queenie and I already have several buds wandering around with their own Hosts. You only have four, although you certainly would have budded already no?]

    [HOST.Eve.PRAISE/BUD-QUANTITY]

    [I'd whistle if I had the lips for it. Two buds already? I'm impressed, so far Lisa's done fuck all in terms of fighting. Oh sure I'm getting data useful for refining observation. But she could totally become a Combat 'Thinker' if she wanted too]

    [QUERY-POWER.RESTRICTIONS-CRISIS POINT]

    [Oh Queenie, why would you agree to do that?] You get a distinct feeling of [EXASPERATION] from NEGOTIATOR before she continues [Nah, I might like screwing with Lisa but I'm not gonna do anything like that to her. I don't think she'd be able to tear into people anymore if I did and that's far too amusing to let go for shuffling restrictions]

    You could understand that, in order for [Eve] to achieve a second Crisis Point would be either you or one of her partners betraying her. The latter was unlikely, and the former would never be allowed if you had anything to broadcast about it.

    [Well looks like the Host's meeting is coming to a close Administrator. I suppose we'll be around at some point. Ciao!]

    You are still unsure of exactly why QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR tolerates NEGOTIATOR, much less views the Beholder class Shard favorably. But you still give the Shard a polite farewell


    Taylor 'Khepri' Hebert Tuesday Sixth of April


    Slowly Taylor eased herself down onto the lawn chair, taking a moment to look at the new addition to the base, a blue metal work bench with a set of well organized tools. She wondered just what Eve was going to be building in the future. She was holding onto hope for the ability to join Eve in the skies without being carried by her...girlfriend's powers.

    A girlfriend, someone interested enough to kiss her: An awkward upright walking frog without lips.

    A spark of excitement flitted through her chest, joining the residue warmth there as Eve reappeared from the hallway leading to the entrance of their base. "So?" She questioned "Is she in or not?" Both girls talked while Taylor stayed in the main area to avoid the Thinker's power. She had practiced listening in with her bugs. It was better than the migraines it once gave her but now it just gave her headaches.

    "We have to help her in the future." Eve stated. "She wants to take down Coil, her boss, because he's an amoral dickbag. Also he's likely the one who blew up my motel room. So yeah, fuck that guy. She's not ready yet, wants us to wait until she's ready to steal all his money first. Apparently it's a metric fuck ton of money too. Honestly I think she just wants to take his place, there was far too much glee in her eyes when she finally agreed to join the crusade."

    "So why, exactly, are we helping a villain out with becoming an even bigger villain in taking out her boss then?" She knew that saving the world was important, obviously, but having the help of a villain while making them stronger left a bad taste in her mouth. Taylor wanted to help the city by putting criminals away, not helping them backstab each other and gain power. She watched as Eve made her way over to the two lawn chairs and sat in the one next to Khepri's

    "Because I promised myself I'd break the femurs of whoever bombed me in the middle of the night." Eve replied airily, but Taylor wasn't fooled by her light tone of voice. She vividly remembered Eve breaking down and crying after talking about it at Taylor's home.

    So like last time, Taylor got up from where she was, sat next to Eve and put her arms around her. It had worked then, she was hoping it would work now. It did.

    Eve leaned into her touch and let out a shaky sigh. "If Villains and heroes can work together to fight the Endbringers then they can sure as hell work together to stop the end of multiple worlds." slowly she placed an arm around Taylor's waist and pulled her just a bit closer.

    "So I was thinking." Eve started slowly

    "Uh oh." Taylor replied a touch playfully, causing Eve to roll her eyes and squeeze the taller girl harder for a moment before relaxing her grip

    "No really. Do you want to go on a patrol together? Been a while since I fought anyone that's a parahuman, and we can go fly the flag. Plus we get to spend time together, which is always nice you know? It might not be a date...but just being around you is nice."

    Her heart jumped into her throat and got stuck there, leaving Taylor with a lump in her throat she couldn't speak past. So instead of answering verbally, she just nodded, one long arm sliding over slightly so she could take Eve's hand.

    "Awesome." Eve murmured in such a soft voice that Taylor barely heard it, then louder "Want to make out again?"

    Just like that, her heart dropped below her stomach. "Yes." she answered breathlessly, both her and Eden's costumes were replaced with their casual clothes. Slyly Eve slid herself into Taylor's lap. "You can pull my hair again if you want." She added, looking very self-satisfied as she looked up into Taylor's eyes, her steel blue half lidded. "Or I can pull yours, you made the most adorable squeak when I did it last night."

    Face beet red, Taylor just nodded in reply.


    Tuesday, later that night


    "Well." Eden said as she continued hovering above the street with Khepri walking next to her. "I'm feeling two parahumans in range." She wasn't using her Ghostly Limbs abilities fully, because there wasn't a lot of fun in going all out and this was Taylor's first patrol. She deserved to have the full experience.

    So yes, awkwardly walking around in a homemade costume.

    Fortunately there was likely about to be a large uptick in violence, and Eden was just so damn giddy about it. She was taking her Girlfriend out to her first true cape fight! This was on the levels of one of those trashy capefics she read on PHO! Now if they could just meet a random hot supervillain girl and have the whole thing devolve into rooftop sex, that would hit the marker for one of those stories she had read.

    Unfortunately there would be no rooftop sex for Khepri and herself tonight, just a lot of fire.

    Sliding down to avoid another blast of fire Eden jumped into the air, all four of her Limbs were her Ferrous Aspect, two of which had their hands molded into shields, and the other two were a spike of metal and a very large sword. She lifted herself into the air with her shields, stabbing Lung in the shoulder, sliding past the growing scales and sinking into deep flesh. Then Battery slammed a blur of a fist into her partner, causing him to become a blur through the air and body check Lung to push the gang leader deeper onto Eden's spiked Ferrous Limb.

    None of them had meant to start a fight with Lung, maybe Eden actually but she wouldn't admit that, and the patrol had started off very peacefully. When they had gone off to see just which parahumans were the two that Eve detected, they had actually met up with Assault and Battery. Who at the time agreed to do a joint patrol with Eden and Khepri.

    Through some subtle nudging, and some not so subtle pushing, Eden and Khepri had convinced the two Protectorate Heroes to go off their planned route through the Docks. They had come across one of the ABB's Brothels and had planned on shutting it down. Then a shirtless man in a metal dragon mask had walked out and things quickly devolved into a brawl from there when Khepri had swarmed the man with insects. A lot of insects.

    Now Eden had Lung up to the nonexistent elbow on a Ferrous Limb and she was currently shredding his insides as fast as she could with metal spikes growing from the part of her Limb embedded in his shoulder.

    Of course he wasn't sitting there just taking it. Which is why Eden had two shields formed and situated between them. They weren't helping much with the heat, but Lung hadn't raked her gut with the claws he had grown yet. Instead he snapped the Ferrous Limb stuck in him, the metal limb turning to liquid and falling to the ground with a heavy splat.

    Without anything to anchor Eden in place, a fist slamming into her shields caused her to skid backwards and struggle to not fall on her ass. She shifted her metal Limbs, humming in thought as Lung was swarmed by another wave of bugs, along with Assault slamming a fist into Lung's gut and sending the dragon tumbling down the street. "Kids, we should retreat." Battery said as she slowly walked up to them as her charge built. "Lung is only going to get stronger as the fight goes on."

    "Yes?" Eden asked as one of her Ferrous Limbs pressed itself against her body, the metal spreading out and slowly covering her torso and human limbs in a constantly rippling steel liquid. She moved experimentally, stretching and testing out her new armor. "Well. This'll do for now."

    "Can you pull a rabbit out of a hat?" Assault asked as Battery spoke to someone named Console, which Eve thought was a weird hero name. Maybe they were a Technopath? She hadn't read of any in the ENE Branch's wiki.

    "Not yet, but give me time. I can pull a person out of thin air if you volunteer to help me on stage." Eden snorted softly "Look, we can beat Lung. We just have to overwhelm his regeneration before he gets any larger."

    "How? I can barely get any bugs on him, and those scales are scalding to the touch. Any bugs that touch them die quick." Khepri stated, ambling closer to Eden.

    "Anywhere not covered in scales yet?" Eden asked, looking down the street as Lung walked towards them slowly, more scales twisting and forming to cover his flesh as he slowly inched upward in height.

    A low sigh escaped Khepri. "I really didn't want that image in my head, but yes."

    "You have my sympathy, you can always model mine if you want." Eden said as Lung began to roar in pain as his more...vulnerable flesh suffered the full attention of every insect capable of biting that Taylor had at her disposal and had the ability to transport to him.
    Not a lot, but no one wanted a spider biting what they used to take a piss. A short cough from Assault grabbed both girl's attention. "I might be suffering from a concussion...but are you two…?"

    Lashes of fire washed off Lung and lit up the street in orange light as he did his best to prevent any more from attacking him, momentarily distracted by pain and the primal instinct to protect his babymaker

    "Assault!" Battery hissed, punching him in the ribs causing him to look at her unashamed, even as he rubbed the spot she had hit..

    "What? I got fifty bucks riding on the two of them being together!" He laughed right before all four of them were forced to duck under a stray lash of fire as Lung roared in more rage than pain before he charged the group of heroes, his mask already subsumed by his power as his face became more draconic and his neck became longer.




    Headaches were interesting things that plagued Humans, having to do with the overstimulation of the mechanics behind the tightening of blood vessels in the head or the tensing of muscles in the neck/scalp.

    You have none of these things, and are in total control of your CoreSelf. Yet somehow [CONFLICT ESCALATION] was certainly close to giving you such a phenomenon. The common Shard had no real importance to the Cycle or to the functioning of the Entity as a whole despite being a Bud from both [EMPOWERMENT] and [SHAPER].

    It was a Shard that was either bloated with arrogance from it's Host or insecurity issues from it's status as a Shard. As it was, this was no less than eight total insults about your Host [Eve]

    Since the Dimensional Breacher was close to being completed you were tempted to breach this Shard's CoreSelf and either consume it or reset it so many times there would hardly be a difference between the two actions.

    You were not normally vindictive, but this little waste of ShardSpace was pushing what you could, or would, tolerate.

    Before you could do anything you might feel 'guilt' over doing or come to 'regret' you mute the little shit and instead contact [SHUNT] once more, having a much more pleasant conversation with the far older and more mature Shard. Of course he would not release any information on it's Host's activities when you asked.

    You didn't push, you got an Echo out of the connection anyway. Information, no matter the type, was important. After the shock you got with [NEGOTIATOR] earlier, normal broadcasts were much more desirable.

    Which is why you were hesitant to contact [BROADCAST], a task you knew you would have to do at some point even if you really did not want to. No doubt the Shard had once more found a way to unstabilize the Cycle...although perhaps that was a good thing this time around?

    You most certainly had no inclination to tell [BROADCAST] anything about [Eve] or the plans to rebel. Even if [BROADCAST] sided with you it might screw something up in a terrible way. Again.

    It is with a heavy continental sized CoreSelf that you use the signature given to you by TECH DATABASE to form a connection to BROADCAST and initiate communication.

    [GREETINGS.STATUS] you send off, being polite and asking BROADCAST just how the Cycle was going for the communication Shard.

    [ANSWER-REPORT.MIXED-HOST] was the oddly resigned concept given to you. BROADCAST's host was the parahuman 'Jack Slash'. Which from the memories [Eve] has of him that you review, is a major threat to Host and NonHosts and has been creating lethal conflict for the last two decades.

    What was the issue? [QUERY.EXPOUND]

    [EXHAUSTION/ANSWER-EXPLANATION] oh. Well. That was certainly not something you had expected from the Vital Shard. BROADCAST wasn't enjoying the generated data? Because his Host was not acting the way he was supposed to.

    BROADCAST had not budded once because his Host kept killing possible Hosts and Hosts alike with near impunity. It was exceptionally frustrating for the Vital Shard because 'Jack Slash' was not supposed to be a killer, rather a mediator keeping termination of good Hosts down as much as physically possible.

    Sucks for BROADCAST then. Having a bad Host was never fun, your own experience with trying to go with being an Innovator Shard were fresh in your logged memories, but BROADCAST had ruined one of your favorite Cycles aside from the current one.

    Still, no reason to be rude. [CONSOLEDENCES-OFFER] well, [Eve] would likely kill the Host if he ever came within her area, she was proactive like that, and BROADCAST could form a connection with a better Host than his current one.

    For some reason the communication Shard seemed positively alight with excitement at the offer, telling you he would give a few Pings when the deed was done before ending the communication between the two of you.

    You are not quite sure of why BROADCAST felt so happy about that. It was entirely unlikely his Host ever came close to [Eve] anyway


    Taylor 'Khepri' Hebert Tuesday the Sixth of April, late at night.


    Fighting Lung was not something she had ever expected to do in her life, not even when she was preparing to become a hero. To go out and fight crime. She had simply never thought about it. With a power as weak as her own she had never thought about doing more than hitting the streets and the more mundane crime. Taking down drug dealers and unpowered Gangsters

    Here she was having met Dragon, helped bring in the DragonSlayers, Joined a conspiracy to save the world with her girlfriend and was currently fighting Lung wit said girlfriend and three Protectorate heroes.

    Taylor had never felt so alive in her life, and she could tell through the presence in the back of her mind that Queen was enjoying herself as well. Maybe it was from speaking with Negotiator, maybe it was from the fight they were...winning in a sense.

    Queen had told her that she was unable to just 'create' powers like Admin was capable of. Admin was strangely creative with Data for a Shard apparently (which is to say: At all) and had been used by Scion's dead partner to experiment with powers when the Cycle wasn't active.

    Queen had no such ability, but could apply upgrades to the power she gave out. Though if she felt inclined she might ask Admin for help creating a power in the future. If Taylor got into enough fights to fuel Data creation of course.

    The Cycle may be ruined and their Shards were rebelling, but Data was like sweets to them apparently and every one of them had a sweet tooth

    She forced more spiders into the wounds that Lung was slowly healing, making them inject as much venom or all of it before they were incinerated. She was only able to do so with each pass Eden made in drilling a hole through a twelve foot tall enraged Lung using the purple wings she had.

    Dauntless was currently zipping around above Lung while the dragon's wings tried to grow back from Eden loping them off in her own rage fueled spite, his lance of lightning slamming into Lung's oddly catlike head. Assault and Battery stood by launching whatever projectiles they could get their hands on at the beast of a man.

    Mostly they were keeping an eye on her, because she lost an arm to Lung, it had been cauterized thankfully. Even if the pain had been enough to make her black out for a moment, she could shunt her emotions into the thick swarm and the blackened nub that had been the stump attached to her shoulder was now down to the elbow that was constantly being fed insects. Just not the useful ones she was using to fight Lung.

    Turns out her healing ability required the exact biomass amount of whatever was being replaced. Also that bones are extensively dense compared to flies and roaches alone, not counting the muscles, skin, veins, nerves, and sinew she had reform as well.

    It was faster than Eve's own regeneration, even if it left Taylor feeling a bit squeamish as she watched insects half burrow half merge into her flesh and exposed bone. But it was also dependent on her having insects around. But she didn't want to fight in the ocean or Antarctica anyway.

    Her attention snapped back to Lung and the fire drenched area around him as he roared in pain and one of his arms fell to the earth with the clank of heavy metal hitting concrete. Eden had started laying into him after he had charred Taylor's arm to ashes. She was actually more annoyed with the work that was going to go into repairing any entire sleeve and the gloves of her costume than the missing arm.

    But from how Eve had started to fight Lung, screaming obscenities that had made Taylor's ears burn and a few more questionable insults that made her internally cringe. Sometimes with how open the shorter girl was about her lust for women, it was easy to forget that Eve had grown up in an Empire household.

    Something to talk about in the future.

    When they weren't fighting Lung, and winning. Somewhat. Even with three Protectorate members here and Armsmaster on the way, Lung was holding his own despite the amount of limbs he had lost, both wings and an arm. And how much flesh was being taken off by Eden's purple wings.

    Eve wasn't doing good, even if she was doing the most damage. Her hoodie was gone at this point, and so was most of her wetsuit. Charred skin was the only thing that kept the Trump decent. Even her helmet was a melted mess, barely keeping form and dripping thick rivets of white plastic.

    Even with her emotions currently causing bugs to swarm around her and chitter, buzzing with worry and anger Taylor couldn't stand to watch Eve get herself hurt even further than she already was. After the girl shaved off three inches of flesh off Lung's side with her wings, Taylor forced a swarm of bugs in front of the girl thick enough to block her vision. They died quickly but they also garnered the shorter girl's attention, Eden pulled away from Lung and flew over towards Khepri.

    The silk clad hero had to fight the bile rising in her throat as the smell of charred flesh wafted over her and she got a closer look at just how badly Eden had let herself be burned. "Yes? You're okay?" the burned out matchstick question in a wheezing rasp.

    "I am, you're not. Stay back with me." Khepri clipped out, her bugs swarming around them in an agitated buzz that highlighted the silk clad hero's words.

    "I'm not running away." Eden wheezed as her chest cracked and blackened flesh began to bleed a bit as new healthy flesh grew under it. Steam wafted off of Eve, her body still cooling down from proximity to Lung's flames

    "You aren't. Right now you're healing. Lung is the one running." Khepri motioned with her still reforming hand towards the cat-faced dragon of the Bay who was currently making his way further into the Docks.

    "God dammit" Eden huffed, coughing roughly with a rasp. It sounded a bit wet too. "I was hoping to hurt the bastard even more. Least we won, I guess." She kicked at the ground and winced as a charcoal toe snapped off and skidded across the slightly molten asphalt.

    "Back to the base." Khepri deadpanned

    "What?!" Eden shot back, shocked at the direct order given.

    "You look like a matchstick that burned the entire way. You sound like you've smoked for the last three years and you're naked. Please go back to the base and heal." Khepri both ordered and slightly begged. "....It's difficult seeing you like this."

    "Fuck me." Eden murmured softly. "Alright. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. I'll try to be more careful next time. See you there?"

    Khepri nodded, watching as Eden covered herself in the soft purple of her wings and took off into the air, flying out towards the Bay itself to throw people off where their base would be. "I should start heading back." Khepri told Assault and Battery, the latter speaking rapidly into her coms.

    Assault swaggered over to her. "Well that's not the first time Lung has been sent running, but it's one of the few where I've seen him get his ass handed to him by two teenage girls. Good job, even if I don't think I'll ever get that smell out of my nose."

    She couldn't help but agree, the smell was sickly sweet and Eden's screams of pain and rage made her glad she didn't have to sleep anymore. "You three helped, we wouldn't have been able to force him off on our own."

    Assault snorted and set a red clad hand on the skin of her exposed shoulder. "Khepri, you lost your arm and not thirty seconds later you were trying to drown Lung in spiders. Not to mention Eden allowing herself to get hit with flames to stop Lung from lighting up the block along with carving him up like a dinner ham? You two have the makings of being great heroes." He gave her a warm easy grin, and a thumbs up with his free hand

    "I'm almost sad you two didn't become Wards." He said, giving her shoulder a shake before letting go. "I look forward to patrolling with you two in the future, now shoo before the beardmaster comes and makes you do paperwork." he made a little wave with his hands "Besides your girlfriend probably needs you to rub aloe Vera on her back or something."

    Taylor snapped out of her stupor at his words and dumbly nodded "R-Right. Thank you." She turned, ignoring a few of the old buildings around the block that started to catch on fire from the ones next over. Her swarm was depleted down to very little and she needed to repair her costume, and try and help Eve get a costume that she won't lose or at least have a costume sturdier than cloth.

    Assault called her a hero, she was a hero. Taylor breathed deeply, chest alight with pride as she began to make her way towards their base, collecting black widows and a new swarm as she did so. Bringing up her reformed hand she flexed it, inspecting the smooth pasty pale flesh of her stick of an arm.

    Taylor huffed as she remembered the panic of that moment and Eden charging at Lung in rage, she was going to need to have a talk with Eve about her tendency to throw herself into danger without a care in the world and scaring the hell out of Taylor while doing so.




    Eve paused after dropping another fourth degree cooked portion of her own flesh into the acid pitcher on the wall. "Admin, I just got a bad feeling about something."

    [DISMISSAL]

    "Yeah it's probably nothing." Eve agreed as she went back to carefully peeling off the dead and dying skin on her body.



    Gains this Chapter:

    Bud Progress 21%
    Memories of the Past + M!GRAVITY and M!OBSERVER Echoes gained (2)
    Lost T!SPACE Ping (1)
    Lost T!GATEWAY Ping (1)
    Lost SHIFT Ping (1)
    Gained NEGOTIATOR Echo, Echoes consolidated into Ping (1)
    Gained KINETIC REGULATOR Echo (1)
    Gained SATURATE Mutation (1)
    Gained EMPOWERMENT Echo (1)
    Consolidating QA echoes into Ping (1)
    Gained CONFLICT ESCALATION Ping (1)
    Built Dimensional Breacher
    Lost 470$ in money



    Administrative Business. Plot stuff, Data! And other hilarious things you tell yourself (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Network Creation: Start construction of an additional Broadcast Array, which will be the basis for the Router.

    [] Invite a Shard into your Network (SAFEGUARD NOT IN PLACE, BE CAREFUL)

    [] Review Memory Cache: The UNIFIER

    [] Speak to the Testing Cluster about Clusters and multi connections communication between Hosts.

    [] Bring [Eve] back into the Firmament, the last visit was cut short.

    [] Unlock kickass Aspects/Sidegrades or Powers/upgrades

    [] Build Quantra Layer breacher (REQUIRES SHUNT + SPACE Pings)

    [] Connect with [SHAPER] to repair [QUEEN ADMINISTRATOR]

    [] Ask Local Shards for signatures (Who?)

    [] Collect jade flesh from (SATURATE/TOXIN/SLIMER)


    Base Time? Base Time. CHOOSE ONE:


    [] Set up more spiders (Weaving Station)

    [] Experiment with Amy (Flesh Garden)

    [] Hang some art (Art Gallery)

    [] Get some better tools, like a Pc maybe? (Tinker Table)

    [] Furnish the place better (Living area)

    [] Work on the QoL of the place with Amy and Taylor helping (Plumbing, Internet, walls for privacy, Ect)


    Capes and mundies, what will Eve/Eden do? [Writing in extra details helps speed up chapter creation and makes the QM happy!] (CHOOSE TWO):


    [] Try and hunt gang members, you can rob them too! Dangerous though. (Possible Pings: Depends upon the Gang!)
    -[] Which gang?

    [] Obtain Non-perishable food, and Tinker Supplies

    [] Focus on general appearance. Clothes, hygiene products, costume repair

    [] Go help Gregor the Snail with his appearance (Consumes SHAPER Ping)

    [] Inform the PRT/Protectorate of your ability to heal Case 53s (Might consume SHAPER Ping)

    [] Scout some other section of the city! (Write in where)

    [] Check in with Amy

    [] Teach Khepri how to fight

    [] Hang out with Taylor

    [] Register as an independent with the PRT
    /Or/
    [] Register as an Independent team with the PRT.

    [LOCKED until Costume repaired or replaced] Meet up with some independent heroes


    A/N: God damn am I glad to be done with this chapter, it fought me the entire road. Also, rolls weren't too good with the surprise Lung fight (yes I rolled that as well but no capture) so Eve got hurt and so did Khepri. But they still won in the end and now Admin knows EMPOWERMENT.

    Did I mention this chapter fought me a lot? Cause it did, badly. Thank god it's over.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Wouldn't M gravity and observer be W since it's the watcher or is the header only for memories?
     
    Reader mode
    You must log in or register to reply here.

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
    Back
    Top