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After Amelia

Unofficial voting to see which story idea goes up.

  • Midara- Paradox, Heritage, and Echoes

    Votes: 37 18.5%
  • Path Magic

    Votes: 121 60.5%
  • Second Nature

    Votes: 41 20.5%
  • Price

    Votes: 71 35.5%
  • Midara- Other Options

    Votes: 31 15.5%

  • Total voters
    200
He didn't touch her in canon, in the timelines that he kept. The inference was that he did things to her (and his other minions) in the timelines that he dropped. Torture and murder almost certainly, rape not unlikely.

For general minions, Undersiders included, this is true but for such a critical resource like Dinah he wouldn't chance even a one in a billion chance that he would have to keep the unsafe timeline and lose her abilities entirely. If he's doing that to the US's and shit goes wrong, it hurts a little but no real loss. Dinah on the other hand combined with his power multiplies his abilities several times over.
 
For general minions, Undersiders included, this is true but for such a critical resource like Dinah he wouldn't chance even a one in a billion chance that he would have to keep the unsafe timeline and lose her abilities entirely. If he's doing that to the US's and shit goes wrong, it hurts a little but no real loss. Dinah on the other hand combined with his power multiplies his abilities several times over.
Point.
He was on the brink of achieving his goals. It would be a laughable tragedy, to get this close, only to have his power fail him, to accidentally choose the wrong reality, or to have his other self killed by accident or malicious intent, forcing him to live with the ramifications of these idle amusements. For now, he wouldn't touch his pet, nor any of his powered subordinates. Not when he was this close.
"For now."

He hadn't yet. But the inclination was there.
 
Let's paint all this as a scenario, shall we? Pairbonding mechanics were explored in Amelia... but let's look at a different potential bond... everyone grab your vomit bags... Dinah and Coil. Yeah, I'll wait a minute while you rinse out your mouths.

Their canon abilities are fairly well established... what would a Pairbond do for them? Mechanically... pretty much the most obvious answer is it would allow Dinah to piggyback on Coil's power and be aware of herself in both timelines. The ability to double dip into her power for answers, and the advantages of two sets of perceptions working side by side. Now, Coil doesn't gain any obvious benefits from this arrangement, which isn't uncommon for a pairbond... but it puts the impetus on Dinah to strengthen the psychological aspects of the link.

Over the course of a few weeks, Coil discovers Dinah is being remarkably cooperative, even eager to help. He's being influenced as well, if subconsciously. Weening her off the drugs is an obvious step- why use them now that they prove not only redundant, but harmful? Then they start just talking, usually in the alt timelines that are going to collapse... what Coil's plans are (he likes to brag, we see this in canon) and Dinah's willing to offer insights by using her power in ways he hadn't thought of to give him better odds. She'd undoubtedly figure out her "hot or cold game" variant on her power much more quickly than Canon.

He quickly realizes her ability to operate in both timelines, and that the more she knows about his plans the more useful she becomes. The relationship strengthens... and could get quite creepy quite fast. At some point, Coil is going to feel the need to apologize to Dinah for the whole kidnapping and drugging thing. Whether he honestly *believes* himself is another question entirely, but he'll come to the conclusion that it's a thing he should do. That's where things can go different ways.

Maybe Dinah decides he has nothing to apologize for, that she discovered she has a masochistic streak in much the same way Coil has a sadistic one, deliberately inflicting (temporary) harm upon herself in the timelines that are going to be collapsed. Or giving herself lethal doses of narcotics for basically the ultimate rush. Coil's reaction is... well, the less gets said about this path, the better.

Or maybe she accepts the apology (probably doesn't believe it, either, but accepts it) and from there on she's the 'heir apparent' to his empire... something of an adopted daughter... becoming a little Machiavellian bitch with a mentality something like a blend of Accord and Tattletale, delighting in the use of her power to prove herself superior to others. Indulging in complicated mindgames with her victims.

Either way, Coil's more than happy to indulge her. He uses his wealth and power to make her happy and feed whatever excesses she feels like testing out. She uses her power to make him even more wealthy and powerful, giving her access to even greater opportunities. Canon diverges at the point where Coil willingly lets Dinah go as was his deal with Skitter. Dinah just as willingly comes back a couple days later (she's not on drugs, don't forget, so no recovery needed), more than happy to be in the employ of her kidnapper. Also smugly amused at Taylor's guilt over her role in the kidnapping.

However you look at it, Brockton Bay is well and truly fucked.

This wasn't inspired by that particular Alcott+Calvert snip, was it?

The creepy one where she was eagerly awaiting her kidnapping, and warned him not to do anything lewd until she was old enough to appreciate it?
 
Random question but are there going to be any Tinkers (or something like them) in Price? Also would you mind giving us a update on how Price is going?
 
Random question but are there going to be any Tinkers (or something like them) in Price? Also would you mind giving us a update on how Price is going?
Doubt it. He said Price is going to be exclusive street level. Now how that works with a Victoria expy in play is beyond me - I honestly can't figure out how you can make her budget-PtV combat thinker power street level, but Tinkers have such wonky effects on tech progress that they inherently have global effects, especially with no endbringers or other strategic threats in play. I suppose we could see something the anti-reverse-engineering shenanigans of Worm, especially given how whatever is granting powers seems to be actively sadistic.
 
Random question but are there going to be any Tinkers (or something like them) in Price?
Well, yeah, although they're a harder powerset to pin down than they are in Worm. Less Clarktech, and more Doctor Doom//Reed Richards style technomagic. Reverse engineering is impossible, because the devices tend to have parts that cannot be reproduced. Or parts that simply cannot behave the way they do. In fact, the really impressive ones tend to have parts that you can't even prove actually exist.


"How does this death machine work?"

"Well, according to Psychotech, it's powered by Prana. Literally eats your life force to fuel itself."

"You're fucking with me."

"That's what he said. Before he exploded and that tentacle monster climbed out of his corpse and attacked us."

"Do you think it really..."

"All I know is we've ruled out all possible forms of combustion and electricity as a power source. And we're sending it to a power nullifier and then melting it down into slag, because I'm not willing to take that chance."


Yes. This is the kind of conversation that can actually happen in this setting. Does Pranic energy actually exist in Price? No one can prove it, but the number of Imbued that swear their powers come from the spiritual strictly outnumbers the ones that believe their powers have a scientific explanation. Of course, the powers show no real sign of favoritism toward any given belief or lack thereof... but they DO tend to give their wielders powers that fit their mentality... which means religious individuals often have powers that support their own beliefs about themselves.

Abrahamic faiths will tend to get angelic themed powersets like flaming swords and healing touch- a particularly evil or sadistic individual with an Christian upbringing may get "demonic" powers. A Buddhist will likely get more meditative and concentration themed powers and remote viewing or telekinesis type powers. Maybe ki style martial arts, even... although that's more likely to occur in a more Western mindset that likes to blend the spiritual with more flashy stuff... so, well, Japan...

And secularists also tend to get powers that support their own beliefs- if they're particularly scientifically minded, then they could very well get "Tinker" powers of Mad Science! And I do mean Mad. Most of these types of powers are off the wall campy weirdness a la "Weird Science' where there's no way in balls it's even trying to pretend it's seriously technology.

Not that only secularists will get up to stuff like that. There's no reason to expect a Christian to not be scientifically minded (contrary to certain opinions expressed by bigots), and thus end up with a "Tinker" power type. Although their tech will probably angle itself in a manner that supports the religious upbringing- like a "soul reader" that can tell if you're "evil". That Buddhist mentioned may also have that very same power, just with their own eyes instead of a machine.

Really, the key to any "Tinker" powerset, overall, is a personality that wants to give others the tools to accomplish goals as opposed to accomplishing them personally. The 'benefactor' type, like Merlin. But the expression of powers is as dynamic as the personalities of those who get them.


Europe and Asia have millennium old religious orders that have based their belief systems around certain assumptions about how powers work.

The Crown Jewels of England, France, China, and most other older nations include actual "magic" weapons that still work. Because someone who was a blacksmith just so happened to gain a "Tinker" powerset and used it to build magic swords. Because that was the nature of his personality.


Long story short- the only thing about Glaistig Uaine that would stand out in this universe is that she's exponentially more powerful than any other character. Granted, most people would still think she's quite insane... and "insane" plus "superpowers" is never a good combination. But it's also a combination they've seen plenty of times before.


Still working on the opening. Once I get some inertia going it should be easier, but damn if getting those first few chapters started aren't driving me insane.

Now how that works with a Victoria expy in play is beyond me
Because you're greatly overestimating Vicky's powers. She is strictly inferior, on every possible level, to Spider Man. Except the biodiagnostic power and the low end shapeshifting, but as far as powers go that one's not particularly exciting. What made her legitimately effective was her battle armor.

Now stick Spider Man in a suit designed by Tony Stark to specifically exploit his abilities... and then... well, actually, the Iron Man suits are ALSO strictly superior to Vicky and her equipment... so, yeah...
 
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Depends on a lot of factors. The best of ancient magic weapons compare favorably to modern special forces military equipment. As long as we're not counting vehicles. Swords that cleave a horse and rider in half. A hammer that start small earthquakes. Bows that summon down lightning. Sure, they can do damage... but compared to an assault rifle or LAW... well, really depends on the kind of fight you're going into, but the (really powerful) magic weapons usually win.

Compared to the fact that a military can give thousands of assault rifles to their armies for the same effective cost of one magic lightning bow? Suddenly you see the lure of conventional weaponry.

The best modern magic items.. tend to use modern devices to help make them. A gun that will never miss. Tank armor with a forcefield. A talking intelligent car. Usually still far too expensive to be worthwhile, however.

Very, very rare. There are never very many Imbued running around to begin with, less than .005% of the population. In the modern world, that means Chicago can expect around 130 Imbued in it. Most of whom don't have particularly earth shaking powers... the ability to change your hair style and color at will, or know how many people are looking at you at any given moment or perfect immunity to all forms of disease and poison. Most people get stuff like that.

Couple that with the fact that pre industrial revolution, most Imbued got powers focused on survival- responding to disease, famine, natural disaster, outside invaders and their own tyranical rulers. Personality based powers means that only cultures big on equipment have a chance that their already tiny populace of Imbued with powers that work that way.

Depends on the device... but most are designed with the expectation of eventual failure. Power sources run down. Blades dull. Metal rusts. The specific kingly bloodline that can tap into the item's power gets diluted with each new generation. Only the most powerful Imbued can make an item that doesn't succumb to entropy in a century or so... and even they are limited to doing that only once or twice and have to put strict limits on its use, usually in the realm of "(whatever nation/religion/family/etc)'s Darkest Hour". There are maybe a thousand confirmed ancient Artifacts on the planet, and the last time more than five or six of those were active at the same time was during World War Two.

As for more modern stuff? It exists and people are aware of it. But it's often prohibitively expensive and impractical for most people to bother purchasing.

Sure, you can easily buy a laser pistol that'll be all cool and deadly. But is it really worth spending five grand on something you could just as easily accomplish with a normal handgun? Usually the answer is no. So most of the time, the Tinkers do like they do in Worm (or Marvel and DC) and only outfit their own team, and even then only sparingly. Tinkers in the setting (called Gadgeteers officially, but calling themselves Techs while a lot of the other supers tend to annoy them by using the more archaic terms of 'Alchemist' or 'Artificer') have the advantage of being able to quickly and easily dismantle and rebuild their own- and sometimes each others'- devices on the fly.

A laser pistol isn't much better than a normal handgun (certainly not enough to justify ten to a hundred times the cost), but if the guy holding it can dismantle it and build a high power grenade, or use it as a power source to run a car, or as a tool for doing emergency brain surgery, or as an emergency broadcast radio... that's where it starts to shine in the field. Versatility. That only the Gadgeteer him or herself can use.


Beyond that? They mostly find themselves employed by very high end businesses and/or governments. Places with a lot of income that are willing to spend good chunks of it on important things.

Price's NASA has a device orbiting the sun less than a light minute from its surface and transmitting data back to them at FTL speeds. They have a super exotic scanning device that, if all goes as planned, is going to crash into Jupiter and still be sending back data for about a year after it sinks into the theoretical molten hydrogen metal core of the planet. One very much like it is in the core of our own planet. Sure, it costs billions of dollars to build these things, but they'll keep doing it as long as they can convince Congress to keep signing the checks.

Similar practices involving weather control devices used to cancel out hurricanes (specifically they steer them into the middle of the ocean and leave them there until they run out of power). It may cost about half a billion every time they have to use the things... but that's cheaper than fixing the damage caused by an actual hurricane.

Medical companies often hire Gadgeteers (and precogs if they can find one) to tell them how a new drug will perform before it goes into animal or human testing.

So yeah, this is a world where they make use of their resources... assuming it's on something they can justify expending something with such a limited supply in the first place. But "no schematics, no backups" is the rule for Price's supertech.


Or, really, more like "we have the schematics, but where the fuck are we supposed to find the testicle of an Elder God?"
 
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Okay, all the power classifications in this setting:


Brawler: Close Quarters powersets. Touch or near touch range attacks. Super strength, poison touch, claws, superhuman combat instincts, close range probability manipulation, and so forth. Expect a secondary Tank, Stealth or Escape/Transit power. Tend to be treated as less threatening than other powers at its classification level.

Breaker: As in "game breaker". Powers that nullify certain powers or otherwise have unique advantages over other Imbued. Tracker or Esper abilities that find Imbued can qualify if they include methods to specifically identify or counter those powers. Power copying. Potentially less dangerous against normals than against Imbued. People who are immune to precognition. Some of Wildbow's Trumps qualify- Glaistig Uaine and Bonesaw, for example. Others, like Eidolon (until he shows he has powers in this grouping, like precog immunity and perma-draining hundreds of parahumans for power), do not. And Lily's "pierce any defense ever" power classes her as a Breaker- so even people like Narwhal and Alexandria know to fear her attacks.

Esper: Means to obtain information seemingly from nowhere, or through a method that cannot be countered with reasonable precaution. Remote viewing, precognition, mind reading, or superhuman intelligence. Assume target knows and is prepared for your countermeasures. Expect an Esper to avoid the field of engagement. Best method to deal with Espers, unless you have a specialized Breaker or other Espers to counter them, is having several individuals through multiple layers of separation planning counter operations against the target simultaneously. Espers have limits to how much they can anticipate and counter.

Escapist: Powers that make the opponent significantly harder to contain. Teleportation, turning into energy/mist/air/water/etc, the ability to move through walls. Rarely used in the field- usually you're just going to say what the actual power is for movement powers. You know not to get in close range with a Brawler. You know a Summoner will be throwing barriers in your way that might try to kill you. You don't know if an Escapist is going to teleport a bomb into your lap, or going to walk through a wall and slit your throat from behind. And you can't fight one the same as the other.

Gadgeteer: A subclass of Maker that produces devices or equipment readily usable by others. Often has subclassifications because their devices can often emulate other powers. The Gadgeteer rank itself typically gives you an idea of how rapidly the individual can produce new devices. While the other ranks explain just what to expect of those devices as currently known.

Armsmaster, for example, would rank as a Tank, Striker, and Tracker for the known features of his armor. Lowish rank Sniper as well.

Gifter: Not typically threats on their own, these are powers that make others more dangerous or otherwise powerful. Usually temporary. Usually voluntary. Expect other classifications if they can force their effects (Ingenue). Othala, Teacher and Boost are all Gifters. Teacher and Ingenue are also a Breaker because they can alter parahumans. An Infiltrators for their ability to manipulate with their powers.

Infiltrator: Powers that tend to work directly against the (human) mind. Hallucinations. Mind Control (of humans). Glory Girl, Gallant and Newter don't count as Infiltrators, despite their powers' emotional side effects, since they can't be used to really gain anything of value. You got a Brawler (touch poison) and two short range Sniper powers. If Newter could generate truth serum or a love potion, THEN he'd be an Infiltrator. Imp is most certainly an infiltrator.

Maker: Generates permanent objects, effects, and/or rapid environmental changing abilities. Usually a subclass that applies to Summoners, and sometimes others. Very rarely do you have Maker *alone* as a power. That would require the ability to generate something that is completely nonthreatening. Someone whose only power is to call a (gentle) rain, or use the D&D Create Food&Water spell(s)... then you could be considered Maker Only. If you can generate something fast enough to make it a threat, then you're a Summoner.

The Maker part of the rating can be significantly different than the other part. Kaiser, for example, would rank as a medium level Summoner (of pointy metallic death) with a very low level Maker subset. Ultimately, as deadly as he is, what's left behind can be easily enough dealt with by normal people and equipment (welding torches and people who know how to use them count as normal, thanks). Nilbog would be the reverse. Extremely high level Maker, various other powers at low to medium levels. His threat is mainly in the numbers he can produce and them eating he faces of people even after he's gone.

Sniper: Ranged or remote targeting powers- including some subconscious or AoE fields. Often classed with other power types. Cherish, for example, would be an Infiltrator/Esper/Sniper because she can mind control at significant distance. Trickster's a Sniper/Summoner/Escapist for his ability to rearrange the battlefield. Sniper alone usually means use of cover to avoid line of sight. Sniper/Esper basically means you're fucked.

Sneak: Hiding abilities that tend to work against both people and machines. Camouflage, cloaking, transforming into objects, cosmetic shapeshifting, Shadow Stalker's abilities to move through walls makes her a sneak. So does Grue's darkness, though he's also a Summoner and Tracker type. Counter with infravision, echolocation, and other exotic senses. It's not mind control, so there's usually some chance of spotting the user.

Summoner: Powers that alter the landscape or generate secondary targets/threats in the area. Battlefield Control powers are usually Summoner types by definition. Some forcefield users (like Shielder and Narwhal, but not Glory Girl) who can project the field. Labyrinth. Plus nonhuman "Master" sets like Taylor, Bitch and Parian.

For a time, Summoner was two classifications: "Shaper"- terrain alteration, and "Controller"- monsters/etc creation, but they were considered superfluous since the combat methods are generally identical (fighting the environment is a battle you will lose- find the Summoner and put him/her down), and grouped together.

Tank: Super durability. Covers regeneration, personal forcefields (Glory Girl), weapons passing through the target without harm (Shadow Stalker), and other ways to counteract damage. Anticipate Brawler abilities. Tanks aren't considered a threat level on their own. A virtually unkillable Tank, if it has no other abilities (say, Alabaster), can have a very high Tank rating, but not be considered a legitimate combatant- you can trust the police to capture him and keep him in a cell if he's alone. This is more a measure of how much force is authorized against the target.

Tracker: Superhuman or nonhuman sensory powers that typically require some form of sensory input to work. Good counter against stealth types, both powered and otherwise. Trackers are typically very effective on the field but useless off the field, making them functionally the opposite of Espers despite having superficially similar abilities (info gathering).

Transit: Most movement powers that don't simply bypass the terrain. Flight, wall climbing, superspeed, the list goes on. Expect other powers alongside it. Typically found in conjunction with Brawler or Sniper powers. If you can find a way to catch them, they should stay trapped.


Numbering System:

Imbued have at least two numbers. One for their power type, the other for overall threat level. They can be different.


1- Little more dangerous than an baseline human being with rudimentary equipment. Brawler as dangerous as a man with a knife. Transit equivalent to a kid on a bicycle. Engage using standard police training to protect bystanders and arrest subject.

2- Effective equivalent of a skilled or trained human being. Or possessing dangerous but not exotic equipment. Man with a gun. Kid in a vehicle. Use of lethal force by non-Imbued officers only if they feel their own or bystanders' lives are in immediate danger. Imbued officers may not engage with lethal force except as necessary to save civilian lives.

3- Extremely dangerous. Beyond the capabilities of conventional police training. Use of special tactics or Imbued resources is preauthorized to engage the threat. Anticipate destructive abilities capable of destroying a small building. Man with military grade weaponry and special forces training.

4- Do not engage. Subject is beyond the capacity of non Imbued personnel to manage. Consider several miles to be endangered by the subject if given sufficient time to act. Contact National Guard and prioritize evacuation of civilians from the field of conflict. Equivalent to a dozen men equipped and trained with military capabilities. Imbued officers are authorized to use lethal force to neutralize resisting target.

5- Citywide threat. Evacuate and wait for military response. Equivalent threat level of invasion by a foreign power.

6- National level threat. Rapid military response no longer sufficient. Use of nonconventional weapons and Imbued abilities must be coordinated in anticipation of a protracted campaign to remove the threat in question.

7- Existential threat level. If other strategies fail, one must consider the possibility of using WMDs to neutralize the target.

8- Consider diplomatic concessions to appease the threat.



To date in the setting, no single Imbued has ever ranked higher than a 5, in any given ability- with exception to that of Tank, and very few ever get ranked a 5 as a total threat level. Everything above a '5' is reserved for large scale organizations- like an actual war between modern nations.

There are a few that get ranked 8 as a Tank, however. Which loosely translates to "no, that won't kill it either, stop asking".

As mentioned before, Alabaster would be a Tank 8, but only a Threat of 2. The ordinary cops can deal with him if he doesn't have any backup.

Zach, as seen in Amelia, is the following:

Brawler 2 (can remove equipment including clothes upon touch of a target). Summoner 3/Gifter 3/Breaker 1- Can recreate destroyed objects he's already touched, including Gadgeteer devices, explosives and ammunition and even other people. Mass limitations prevent more than approximately 200kg of matter at once. Tank 8/Escapist 1/Breaker 3- Instantaneous self restoring short range teleportation that activates in response to injury or attempts by other Imbued to use certain powers on him. Overall threat, 3.5.


As far as the lethal/nonlethal goes... it's much the same as rules for normal cops in our world. Shooting a suspect is something you really don't want on your record. And people with powers (at least ones that are combat effective) are expected to be less threatened by standard weapons, so their own powers are taken into consideration to whether use of lethal force is authorized.

Zach, for example, could never use self defense as a justification due to his powers. Someone with Tattletale's power can use it the same as any nonpowered officer might.
 
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Zach, for example, could never use self defense as a justification due to his powers. Someone with Tattletale's power can use it the same as any nonpowered officer might.
Wouldn't infiltrator, breaker or other non-physical dangers still be a threat to him justifying escalating force?
 
Depends an awful lot on how good his lawyer is and how big a dick the guy he killed is. Also, the possibility of civilian lawsuits.

What happened to Hookwolf during Amelia... would have gone to court in Price. Conviction would have been unlikely, though certainly not impossible, but it would have gone to court.


What happened to Jack Slash? Ehh... no. Although his murder would technically be as illegal as anyone else's seeing as he was trapped and not a danger to Amelia when she covered him in acid and let him burn. But he was also someone who cheerfully butchered gradeschools for the fun of it. A conviction NEVER would have happened if only because they'd never find a jury to do it. But if a prosecutor was feeling particularly contrary... it might have found its way to a courtroom... after all, it was still clearly premeditated murder of a defenseless man. Even if he deserved it and worse.


Killing Manton was, however, clear self defense. A Summoner of that caliber, with his history, is a clear and present danger to everyone in the same city at all times.
 
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What happened to Jack Slash? Ehh... no. Although his murder would technically be as illegal as anyone else's seeing as he was trapped and not a danger to Amelia when she covered him in acid and let him burn. But he was also someone who cheerfully butchered gradeschools for the fun of it. A conviction NEVER would have happened if only because they'd never find a jury to do it. But if a prosecutor was feeling particularly contrary... it might have found its way to a courtroom... after all, it was still clearly premeditated murder of a defenseless man. Even if he deserved it and worse.
Does that that mean that Price has nothing equivalent to a kill order then?
 
Does that that mean that Price has nothing equivalent to a kill order then?
Depends on the country. In the USA? No. Not for civilians, including vigilantes and nonmilitary law enforcement. Their legal system isn't much different than our own. Some states have some pretty generous "Stand Your Ground" laws that'll allow someone a lot of leeway in what constitutes a deadly weapon and/or defense of self or others where Imbued are concerned. And some states do not. Either way, there are exactly zero protocols for giving legal sanction to civilians, powered or otherwise, to hunt down and murder anyone.

What governments get up to in Black Ops missions... well, the whole point of those is not letting civilians know about them, so... yes, the CIA and Homeland Security have actual superhuman assassins on the payroll that they deploy where they feel the need. So by that standard, yes, they do have kill orders. But by that standard, so does the real world.

That said... you manage to pull it off against someone who's a big enough asshole... and you're likely enough to get away with it. But keep in mind that the guy who murdered Jeffrey Dahmer in prison was convicted of a life sentence for doing so. If you don't have a case for "if I didn't kill him, others would have died", you really don't want to test your luck.


Like I said... killing Jack Slash could have gone to trial. Of course, lawyers being lawyers they'd have put the "victim" on trial... and after a few pictures of what he and his merry band of murderhobos had done were shown... no jury would have convicted his killer... so, yeah, the investigators would have declared it a clear case of necessary force and been done with it.
 
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That's the European system from Amelia with the top levels changed to account for the absence of various OHGODWHY level capes and threats, isn't it?
 
Well, yeah, that was me doing my experimentations.

Toward the end there, Amelia sorta become a fusion between Worm and Price.
 
I'm trying to come with with something that sounds like the government would name it that's the loose equivalent of the ROTC, but for teens that have powers.

It's basically a summer job/school/etc. where they get some basic training in power use and education, but are not put out on the streets to fight crime or any such asinine bullshit. Price is more stable than Worm, they don't need or want to be perceived as using child soldiers... at least, America doesn't... and who cares about anywhere else?

What they DO want is to catalog every new power as it manifests, as much of the psych details as they can about who gets what powers and how they work, and divert as many Imbued as possible into jobs that are actually jobs as opposed to the hero/villain tradition. Whether government (Military, economic planning, NASA, etc) or civilian.

Point is, it's been around since the 1930s. Part of "New Deal" package to try to handle the outbreaks of Imbued in the wake of the World War and Great Depression. Its function has evolved a little in the 80 sum years since its creation, but there's the origin.
 
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Well. The government isn't exactly known for coming up with clever names for these sort of programs, so why not just be literal? Young Imbued Training and Education Program/Corps/Organization, etc etc.
 
They do try to stick to four words in most of the New Deal programs and agencies I've heard of, so I might go with Federal Gifted Education Program (or "FIEP," if they were already being called Imbued at that time). Or just Federal Youth Education Program, if you want to be even more circumspect.
 
Special Youth Training Corps.
 
They wouldn't use words like "training". Sounds too military for something that they want to sell to the public as a peaceful work skills development program which offers a wide variety of possible career paths and counseling.

... Especially after it becomes clear just how significantly Imbuement favors the disenfranchised. Mostly amongst the groups that believe themselves to be disenfranchised, one way or another. Powers seem to actively favor people who have a cause to resent the established order, so... long story short, they'd prefer to keep the obvious connections between this program and the military less obvious.
 
They wouldn't use words like "training". Sounds too military for something that they want to sell to the public as a peaceful work skills development program which offers a wide variety of possible career paths and counseling.

... Especially after it becomes clear just how significantly Imbuement favors the disenfranchised. Mostly amongst the groups that believe themselves to be disenfranchised, one way or another. Powers seem to actively favor people who have a cause to resent the established order, so... long story short, they'd prefer to keep the obvious connections between this program and the military less obvious.
Clearly, they need to establish a school as a cover. Perhaps a school for Gifted Youngsters?
 
I'm thinking maybe Powered Resources and Education Program, now. PREP? That sounds generic as fuck and lacking in any imagination while still trying to be clever and cool...

God, who knew it took so much effort to make something sound like it took exactly zero effort?

Super Prep Action Zone - Is Your Kid a SPAZ?
I might steal this as a derogatory name for said organization.
 
I'm thinking maybe Powered Resources and Education Program, now. PREP? That sounds generic as fuck and lacking in any imagination while still trying to be clever and cool...

God, who knew it took so much effort to make something sound like it took exactly zero effort?
Sounds exactly as wannabe-inspiring as all twelve dozen organizations and programs named SOAR. 'Good' 'job'. I'd keep this.

(A proper New Deal program would just be named a jumble of letters that don't spell anything, but there's a price for verisimilitude, after all.)
 

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