Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[Rean]

Although, actually, now that I think about it, that's something I wouldn't mind seeing once or twice.

Click to shrink...

A core conceit of vista's character is the conflict between her age and her experience as a hero. In her search for respect, she throws herself into her work and pushes on independently. Others see this and want to spare her hardships thus continuing to feed the cycle. Even as she throws away her innocence, she's still a thirteen year old in the end. Considering that this doesn't even fall under the locus of prestige, it's rather OOC for this to come to mind for her.







oh, yeah, and good story+1etc

 

[Jackercracks]

I don't get noticed much. Curse of the tinker, y'know?

Click to shrink...

I'll say! I forgot Chariot was even a part of Pantheon. Took until the first line break before I figured out who the hell this Trevor guy is.

Also, heeey I got quoted in edale's signature, high five!

Pantheon is really building up a lot of potential for dramatic monologues here. Just some fantastic put-downs if they get into a word-slinging match, they can stay completely factual and sound like they're making it up.

Pantheon: Who are you to challenge us? Our spies are everywhere, our listeners outnumber humanity! Our legions are armoured with the bones of Endbringers! Succeed in the impossible task of killing one of us and they shall quickly return! Our allies are given planets out of goodwill. We face the strongest monsters humanity has to offer, secure in their power and terrible in their cruelty. We do it out of boredom!

Who are you to face us?

 

[pheonix89]

Vicky really has a screw loose if she couldn't pick that up with her thinker power before Trevor actually said something. If she did see that and still attempt the setup date, however, she's an even worse asshole than ever.

Click to shrink...

Her thinker power is pure combat thinker.

 

[Ichypa]

Her thinker power is pure combat thinker.

Click to shrink...

Can't she cold read, though? She was reading body language in her interludes, detecting emotions and everything.

Also, nice, a Chariot chapter.

 

[Cyclone]

"Hey, Trevor," Victoria caught up to me. "Have a couple minutes?"

Click to shrink...

Minor typo.

What scares me is the thought that with Silencio effectively dead, and people being shipped everywhere you look, this story is one of the most likely to get a shipping chart.

Click to shrink...

It's already got one. Zach made it.

 

[dasstan]

Now we just need an interlude of Taylor and Trevor ogling beefcake at the mall. Or an interlude of Vicky trying to turn Trevor into her GBF only to have Trevor be all "yeah, no. Not that kind of gay."

 

[selonianth]

... So I couldn't remember who Trevor was until someone said it lol.

 

[TanaNari]

So... any particular reason we don't get to learn Purity and Crusader's new code names?

Click to shrink...

Because Missy doesn't know them and they didn't get mentioned.

Also, the author's a dick.

Whatever happened to Rune?

Click to shrink...

I might do an interlude for her some day.

I take it that this is reason that this is the reason 70,000 people would've died if they had killed Nilbog?

Click to shrink...

Nope.

Tana, have you considered putting Next and Previous Links in your Updates?

Click to shrink...

Yep.

speaking of which nothing for Assault in order to abuse kinetic energy maniplulation ?

Click to shrink...

They have a finite amount of resources for named suits- at most one a week, usually. Battery got priority because her power is more interesting for Pantheon's researchers. Time manipulation and all that jazz.

So yeah it was a nice update, now a bit of a Rey PoV maybe, it's been a long time.

Click to shrink...

There's really not a lot going on for Rey. Maybe I could use it to show what Rapture's up to as well. That might be enough material to grow a chapter from.

has a screw loose if she couldn't pick that up with her thinker power before Trevor actually said something.

Click to shrink...

How. The fuck. Does Vicky's power apply to knowing someone's sexual preference? Outside of niche circumstances, like noting he has another man's sperm in his lower intestines and seems happy about it, it doesn't.

Isn't her power a weakness detector?

Click to shrink...

Weaknesses and physiology both. But angled toward weaknesses. "This is how you kill the thing you're looking at" the power.

this story is one of the most likely to get a shipping chart.

Click to shrink...

Chapter 62. In case you're curious.

so I ask what about Crystal ?

Click to shrink...

Seeing as prior chapters have her conspiring with Lisa to hook them up? Surely not that hard to figure out.

it's rather OOC for this to come to mind for her

Click to shrink...

Having normal human influences is OOC? Also... she spends most of her free time around Theo, Riley and Zach. One of them's a bad influence.

Can't she cold read, though? She was reading body language in her interludes, detecting emotions and everything.

Click to shrink...

And how would that let her know his sexuality? She could figure out that he was turned on- but not that he was thinking about that did it. Her power's not like Lisa's.

She cold reads with "these people get frightened and secretive when I talk about specific things".

 

[dasstan]

How. The fuck. Does Vicky's power apply to knowing someone's sexual preference? Outside of niche circumstances, like noting he has another man's sperm in his lower intestines and seems happy about it, it doesn't.

Click to shrink...

Bottom Chariot confirmed. A powered bottom, even. He likes fast rides. Vroom.

 

[Sheaman3773]

Her power's not like Lisa's.

Click to shrink...

You can hardly blame readers when you portray it precisely the same from the outside.

Well. You can blame readers, probably

She cold reads with "these people get frightened and secretive when I talk about specific things".

Click to shrink...

I will admit it was a bit jarring for me as well. Even in retrospect, I would expect her to pick it up once he started getting evasive. Was her power just telling her that he was shutting her down because he wasn't interested and not why?

 

[jaelin910]

Battery's exotic electromagnetism leaving its residue in the air as moved so fast that she seemingly teleported into the room.

Click to shrink...

missing a word here

 

[Zerul X]

How. The fuck. Does Vicky's power apply to knowing someone's sexual preference? Outside of niche circumstances, like noting he has another man's sperm in his lower intestines and seems happy about it, it doesn't.

Click to shrink...

When you first showcased it, you had her doing a deduction show against Lisa and both of them acknowledging her thinker power as being in the same ballpark (Vicky thought she was just as good or better at reading people). Expecting them to be similarly capable, particularly about such a mundane detail, is not that odd for a reader.

 

[nebelmann]

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV. I mean in 500 000 city I live we have zero open gays or lesbians. It will be literally suicide to coming out or at least social suicide. In capital maybe not. But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

 

[dasstan]

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV. I mean in 500 000 city I live we have zero open gays or lesbians. It will be literally suicide to coming out or at least social suicide. In capital maybe not. But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

Click to shrink...

Considering the Wormverse has Legend, who basically has the publicity of pre-nu52 Superman, an out celebrity hero, you can safely assume that a lot of the gay rights movement has been beneficially altered by those butterflies.

But beyond that, in real life America, the social trend has been towards being more accepting of homosexuals.

edit: Just to clarify, I'm talking in broad strokes. There are obviously places in the US where homosexuality is not okay.

 

[Zerul X]

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV. I mean in 500 000 city I live we have zero open gays or lesbians. It will be literally suicide to coming out or at least social suicide. In capital maybe not. But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

Click to shrink...

It varies, and the wormverse is a lot more accepting, but yeah. A lot of america, or at least the major cities, are pretty accepting and the kind of rhetoric you're describing wouldn't be well accepted on mainstream media.

 

[TanaNari]

Even in retrospect, I would expect her to pick it up once he started getting evasive.

Click to shrink...

She would only pick up that he was being evasive. Which he wasn't. He basically just said "not interested" and Vicky's power confirmed he was telling the truth, and then she was like "why not"?

Was her power just telling her that he was shutting her down because he just wasn't interested and not why?

Click to shrink...

Well, he wasn't emotional about shutting her down. He's not ashamed of his sexuality- he's keeping it a secret more for fear of people connecting his civilian ID to his cape ID. Not everyone in Pantheon feels comfortable about their identity being public like that.

When you first showcased it, you had her doing a deduction show against Lisa

Click to shrink...

Correction- when I *first* showcased it, I had her deciding she learned something about Aunt Sarah that she really didn't want to know. Through bioscan. Because that's her power. Bioscan. Not brain read. Not intuition jump. Just bioscan. At best, she's a lie detector that doesn't need to wait for the target to answer.

Plus her combat precog, but that's a separate thinker power. It doesn't apply here.

both of them acknowledging her thinker power as being in the same ballpark

Click to shrink...

Depends on who you ask. All Lisa did was admit that Vicky *would* figure it out, through a combination of wild guessing and her power confirming it.

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV.

Click to shrink...

Eh, I'm openly bisexual and live in one of the more bigoted parts of the country (especially toward hispanics... for a country founded on immigration and proud of it, we sure treat immigrants like shit)... I've had the occasional profanity lobbed at me, and that's the worst of it, and even that's pretty rare.

Actually, I get treated worse by the gay community. Depending on who you ask, I'm either straight and in denial, gay and in denial, too busy being a slut to be picky, or a traitor. Yeah, because somehow being gay's a thing that can be betrayed.

With heteros, the most insulting things I get on a regular basis are guys going with the "well, I'm cool with you as long as you don't hit on me" and girls going "that's hot... if I blow you, will you let me watch you and another guy?"

Which, I grant you, is insulting. But at least they're not accusing me of being a traitor or demanding that I "prove it".

But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

Click to shrink...

One of many reasons I'm glad I don't live there.

 

[BlackBulletOfSeven]

Speaking as a bisexual who has been all around the US, the only place that is still pretty against Homosexuality is the South, with the exception of Florida. But most Southerners that I've seen are not what one would call "open minded" to anything.

I could get really, really sociopolitical, but I don't feel like potentially sparking a flame war.

 

[dasstan]

I'm openly bisexual

Click to shrink...

Speaking as a bisexual

Click to shrink...

*solidarity fist*

 

[Slayer Anderson]

Speaking as a bisexual who has been all around the US, the only place that is still pretty against Homosexuality is the South, with the exception of Florida. But most Southerners that I've seen are not what one would call "open minded" to anything.

I could get really, really sociopolitical, but I don't feel like potentially sparking a flame war.

Click to shrink...

No, speaking as a Southerner (and I mean *deep* American South), that's about how it is. My brothers and I are fairly supportive of gay, bisexual, asexual and other less-well-know orientations, but the older members of our family...

We joke about how irritating it is, but no, it's fairly embarrassing that they're still this bigoted.

 

[edale]

Finally caught up!

=/

Direct your attention to the last update in the article tkloz linked. A couple "designed" their child to be deaf so it could be like them. I... I have the words for what I think of this but they aren't really appropriate or relevant for this thread.

Click to shrink...

After you pointed that out, I went and read it, I literally got nauseous. These people are BRAGGING about what is easily the worst and most disturbing case of child abuse I've ever come across.

Leviathan: rrrarg garrar ragagara *clasps talons together as if in prayer*

Legend: What? What is he doing?

Dragon, over the armbands: All forces! Disengage! Leviathan is doing something new!

Levi: rah ra gar, graaah ha raaa. *Thousands of pools of water gather around him in the air in the shape of swords*

Alexandria: Get ready!

Levi: arg ah ra. Ra Gah Hargar! (Unlimited Water Works)

Click to shrink...

I am the water of my ocean;
Ice is my body, and water is my blood.
I have created over a thousand tsunamis;
Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain.

Have withstood cape assault to create many casualties;
Yet, those claws will never hold anything.
So, as I pray,
Unlimited Water Works!

Snip

Click to shrink...

I honestly can't decide if this is constructive criticism or just inane ranting.

wait, he's already over nine thousand? huh....you'd think that'd have been pointed out more

Click to shrink...

Also, heeey I got quoted in edale's signature, high five!

Click to shrink...

After some slight editing. The inner grammar-nazi must be satiated after-all.

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV. I mean in 500 000 city I live we have zero open gays or lesbians. It will be literally suicide to coming out or at least social suicide. In capital maybe not. But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

Click to shrink...

No one will really be open about it in high-school in the US either, for the 'social suicide' reason; but by college, no one cares.

I myself have several friends that are gay, and the only one that ever really has any problems is the trans-gender that makes it a point to loudly describe the details of the sex-change operation in graphic detail as often as possible....NO ONE wants to hear about having their dick hollowed out and the loose skin folded in....No one.

Spoiler: probably NSFW comedy skit

Honestly, the only problem I have with gay people are when one hits on me (which, honestly, can be a bit flattering), I tell them I'm straight, and they KEEP hitting on me. (it's happened more than once...)

Actually, I get treated worse by the gay community. Depending on who you ask, I'm either straight and in denial, gay and in denial, too busy being a slut to be picky, or a traitor. Yeah, because somehow being gay's a thing that can be betrayed.

Click to shrink...

Don't you know the only bi-sexuals the US supports (and encourages) are female bi-sexuals? (bring on the flames!)

 

[Helpless Kitten]

Hmmm... I actually know fewer people with a standard sexuality than people who are complicated. I've never come across anyone more homophobic than 'Please don't hit on me it makes me super uncomfortable' or the generic, immature use of the words 'faggot' or 'gay' as curses. I must not live deep enough in the south. *Goes to skip a stone over the Rio Grande*

More seriously, alternate sexuality is pretty well accepted in most parts of America. Our motto has pretty much always been "You build the life you want to live." We even called it "The American Dream". We haven't always lived up to it, far from it. Just look at American slavery or the things that prompted the civil rights and sufferege movements. But we do try.

Sorry bout the mini rant. One of the down sides to being lawful good IRL, you tend to wax poetic about virtuous things. And just for solidarity's sake, I'm an Asexual male. That was really confusing growing up and it's kinda annoying when people don't recognize it and I have to explain, but, hey, it's kinda impossible to trample on my rights without delving into the realm of bad Harry Potter Fanfics.

 

[nebelmann]

Ok, thanks for the info. Cause TV and stereotypes are always different from the real life. But guess I will have to keep my bisexuality in secret till the grave - living in one country with Ramzan Kadyrov is scary.

Oh, and I'm a very very bad reader It took me at least 3 minutes till I remember who the hell Trevor is (Had to look into the character list) I have completely forgot about him.

 

[Snake/Eater]

i don't really have a clue where the Brian/Grue/Chernobog arc is going but, i suspect that at some point he's going to make a crazy badass insane speech to contessa or doctor mother similar to this.

 

[Alterego9]

guess I will have to keep my bisexuality in secret till the grave

Click to shrink...

Or at least for the next 10 years or so.

The public opinion shift has been extremely recent even in the US, at least compared to the speed with which moral standards tend to change. What you are seeing in the past few years' US media, is passing over a tipping point where suddenly pro-gay people slightly outnumber homophobes, so it's profitable for movies and so to make a pro-gay stance, and for politicians to pander to gay rights, further accelerating the opinion shift.

Even if the same effect wouldn't happen in the east on it's own, US media dictates global culture, and let's get real here, US politicians dictate international standards, so the same results will happen anyways, only with a decade's lag.

 

[edale]

Even if the same effect wouldn't happen in the east on it's own, US media dictates global culture, and let's get real here, US politicians dictate international standards, so the same results will happen anyways, only with a decade's lag.

Click to shrink...

And the US believing that is why the rest of the world hates us. Don't count on it being so cut-and-paste.

 

[Alterego9]

And the US believing that is why the rest of the world hates us. Don't count on it being so cut-and-paste.

Click to shrink...

I am from Eastern Europe myself. Nationalist posturing notwithstanding, it's enough to look at the statistics that our gay marriage support ratio is exactly where the USA's was a decade ago, and shows the same growth. Likewise, Russia's is where ours was a decade ago.

7-8 years ago I was your cookie-cutter teenage homophobe from rural Hungary. Maybe it's not cool to admit that globalized western media "brainwashed" me to accept the "homosexual agenda", but realistically, that's exactly what happened, sans scary phrasing.

 

[Jackercracks]

Always was wondering if America is really this tolerant to homosexuality or it is all just in books and TV. I mean in 500 000 city I live we have zero open gays or lesbians. It will be literally suicide to coming out or at least social suicide. In capital maybe not. But in the middle of Siberia? When main government channel on TV calls to burn the hearts of the dead gays... No one will take a chance especially in school.

Click to shrink...

So far as I can tell the situation is much like in the UK. Things are slightly less tolerant than fiction might suggest, because such fiction tends towards being written by the more liberal types and they can score points by having it handled impeccably. They can only score those points though because the majority agrees with them. Children will still give another kid a hard time for being thought gay, maybe some name calling. Then again, they give each other the same amount of hardship for having ginger hair. Adults tend to not make a big deal about it and most of the time anyone who does make a big deal of it is told to stop being a dick. For example, my brother for three Christmases in a row brought his boyfriend home and nobody made any particular fuss. My mother still occasionally mentions to me how Crispin was nice and made such good cakes. Now my brother is engaged to a fine woman and they seem very happy.

I had a gay friend in university. People only cared about it if he started hitting on them. The overwhelming reaction was "meh, okay then". I am sure there are more backwards places in my country where it is less accepted, amongst the small villages or the older generation, but the places I have been largely did not mind. I have never head from my brother of any discrimination in his city either, although I did not ask.

Or at least for the next 10 years or so.

Click to shrink...

I would not count on it. The Russians appear to be currently defining their national identity by being the opposite of the US and the Europeans. They are currently actively propagandising against homosexuals and have made promoting a gay lifestyle illegal. I look to the red scare for cues as to how long this kind of mindset can stick around for once it is put in place. People tend to make up their mind once on such matters and then not change it, with some exceptions of course. I think Russia may be against gays for a while longer than 10 years. It is a sad thing.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 198- Rey


Riley and I examined our samples of Simurgh material. The crystalline pseudo-organics were incredible. "Nothing in this should allow them to be alive," I informed the girl. She no doubt already figured it out, of course, but I was as much asking her to educate me as anything. As much as it galled me to admit it, sometimes, Riley was simply a stronger tinker than I was. Besides, she was splitting her attention between this and watching as Emma and Chariot worked with Chevalier. I hadn't seen our bosses so excited about a power since Lily's anti-Endbringer capability was suspected.


"That confirms Lisa's suspicions," Riley responded. "Endbringer matter is merely a construct, and the real life form powering the creatures exist in another dimension."


"Like the Passengers?" I asked. I had long wanted to know where powers came from, and had read every transcript that Emma and Riley put out on the subject, as well as my own contributions to the theories and discussions. I wasn't as gifted as Riley, though I had Emma beat as far as tinkers went. Her advantage was she didn't have the Taboo holding her back like the rest of us. Still, my part in the dialogue mattered, and helped our research move forward.


"Possibly," she answered. "Lisa's convinced that the Endbringers are controlled by people, not Scion."


"So unless someone's found a way to take control of Passengers, it's a parahuman power involved," I concluded. I'll have to bring up the possibility with Ruth.


"Power combination, most likely," she volunteered. "A team of powerful parahumans, like us."


"A team with nothing better to do than torture our entire world?" I asked. "What kind of sick fucks would do that?"


"The Slaughterhouse Nine," she whispered. Congrats, Rey, would you like some bread with those feet?


"Sorry," I don't know how to handle things like this. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." I wished I could talk to Ruth about this, but I couldn't imagine how she'd react to us keeping one of the most dangerous tinkers in the world like this. She was a wonderful woman, and I was prepared to even say that I loved her, but this was Bonesaw, here. That would be a bit much to ask her to accept.


"I'll be fine," she answered, going back to her work. I frowned. There was a time when I thought she was far too childish to be the monster she was. Now it was the opposite. The child was far too young to act so old.


I went back to my work as well. It wasn't my place to get involved. She had her friends, good ones, and they would take care of her. I just worked here. Side by side with some of the most powerful teenagers to have ever existed while solving the problem of a space whale virus god that would destroy the world a decade or two from now.


"Riley, come look at this," I spoke up after about an hour more work. I was watching the clone sample of SEB tissue. She followed my instructions, of course.


"It's summoning mass from nowhere," she responded.


"A lot more," I confirmed. "By my calculations, its current density is akin to a hundred pounds of mass, yet it's only consumed a couple gallons of nutrient fluid material."


"Which means it's still capable of breaking the laws of physics, even without a Passenger connection!" Riley declared. "It actually is tinker tech!"


"It's like a nanotech assembly system that exists in multiple dimensions," I continued. "In fact, each nanite probably only exists partially in a single dimension, allowing them to..." I paused for a second. What was I talking about?


"The mass exists only partially in our own dimension," I continued. "But the properties of all its dimensions still exist in this one. In that way it is a lot like Chevalier's power, and even more like Theo's. His power does resemble the Endbringer mass, at least until a certain density is reached."


Riley's face darkened a little. "Theo's power looks like an Endbringer?"


"A little," I replied. "We know how shards evolve. Maybe one of the power synergies used to build them came from a Passenger that evolved from the same source."


"Maybe," she frowned. "We'll tell Lisa about the theory."


"Have to anyway," I informed her. "According to the computer, we tripped the Taboo at some point."


"Endbringers are Taboo?" she asked. "I always thought they were just power resistant. That's huge."


I pressed a couple buttons. "Flagged as priority," I informed Riley. "Lisa should get back to us right away on it."


"Taboo really sucks," Riley complained, going back to her computer. I went back to mine. This material was insane, and even if it had no other special features to exploit, there was no doubt the next generation of Zerg would be far more powerful. Especially now that we knew we could grow the tissue out of the amnio gel, instead of expensive and hard to manufacture tinker metals. Granted, we still needed those expensive components for shunting and power supplies, but now we only faced about a third of the expenses as before.


Of course, it would mean a new rebreeding program to adapt the zerg to their new physiologies, but at this point Khepri could do that on her own. There was no innovation to that process. Merely time and repetition. Building the new SEB growth shaping system would be far more complex. I started drawing up plans immediately while keeping an eye on the testing machinery. Powers testing would come later, as would 'breeding' it with other EB samples promised in the future, but we could give Emma a head start on her research into the energy properties of the materials.


I was still hard at work when Chevalier was finished with our battery of tests, six hours later. He looked exhausted when I came out, carrying the new weapon I'd grown for him. He looked up at me, then glanced at the gorgeous ivory sword. The SEB blade was flawless, and he wasn't even trying to hide his admiration.


"It is pretty," I said as I held it out for him.


"Very," he agreed.


"It's yours," I informed him. "One part apology for the ringer they put you through during testing, and another part proof of concept. Based upon our testing of your original weapon, this one's almost better even without your power behind it. A little heavier than your decorative ceramic sword, only slightly less durable than the giant blade. Its only real weakness, such as it is, is the size.


"Which is something I can easily fix," he concluded with a smile, taking the blade.


"Careful," I advised. "It's a lot sharper than your original weapon."


"Wait until you hear what else were gonna do for you," Emma's teasing could be mistaken for flirtatious. The girl had a tendency toward celebrity worship, and Chevalier was one of the big names. "Since all the durability is built into the SEB sword, we can replace your giant weapon with a tinker device."


"What would I be expecting out of it?" Chevalier asked, curiously.


"What do you want?" Emma replied. "The Protectorate's footing the bill for this baby, right? And I can make it the size of an RV and you'd still be able to make use of it. Which means I can set you up with forcefields, gravity sheaths, nanothorns, and have space to spare. How about a railgun? Adjustable output, of course, but it wouldn't be hard to build something awesome. Especially if you can use your power on the bullets. Depleted Uranium weight, plus Endbringer durability? In fact, I could probably make it rapid fire! I might have to create a secondary weapon-"


"Umm, Emma?" I interrupted. "You're starting to fugue." Of all the tinkers on the team, she was actually best about avoiding that, but she wasn't anywhere near immune.


"Uh, sorry," she blushed. Or, her body's equivalent to blushing. I doubted anyone who didn't know her would spot it.


"That's fine," Chevalier insisted, offering a winning smile to the pair of us. "I've worked with tinkers, before. I remember the first time I saw Hero come up with something that excited him. But he never thought of using my power to accomplish something like this. I mean, it all seems so obvious now that you've started doing it, but all those years going by without anyone really thinking to build specialized equipment to harness powers this way. You've accomplished something incredible, here."


The Taboo, I recognized. That's why it wasn't until Amelia broke through that we started seeing tinker-power augmentation, and power interactions. Of course, now that the idea had taken root in other organizations, it was only a matter of time until it became the norm instead of the exception. It made me nervous, however. Power interactions seemed vastly stronger than any individual parahuman. What would we do when we were faced with enemies using strategies like our own?


"Here," Emma offered him a card. "This has my personal email. I'll draw up a list of options for you, with a few estimates for costs and equipment requirements."


He accepted it. "Thank you, I'll get in touch immediately after I return home."


....


Ruth looked worse off than Chevalier did. The advantages and disadvantages of video calls. Tinker grade ones, no less. "Rough day?"


"Very," she agreed. "The Vasil children are starting to test their boundaries. Their father used fear to keep them under control, and that's wearing off. For some, it's a good thing. A chance for them to enjoy normalcy. Others are... well, they've started implementing the antimaster drug as a preventative instead of a treatment. It's getting to the point where some people are talking about giving up and locking them all away for life, instead of trying to help them."


"Masters scare people," I replied. "I should know, I am one."


"Fortunately, we haven't faced the nightmare scenario of one of them having a power on the order of Cherish or Heartbreaker himself in any of the children, it's basically the only reason this project still exists," she informed me. "We're trying to find homes for them within the Protectorate's system. So that when this implodes, hopefully there will be places for them to go."


"We came across one of those," I informed her. "Apparently they're implanting compulsions in criminals to stop them from using their powers. The bosses weren't happy to find out the way they did."


"That would be Florence," she sighed. "Tell them I'm sorry about that mess. It was part of our deal. Haven's taken responsibility for her and a few of the children who haven't had triggers. She's one of ones we have the most hope for."


"Well, that's a start, at least," I tried my best to sound compassionate. I was never good at conveying my feelings. Luckily, with Ruth I didn't need to be. Her powers meant that it literally was the thought that counted. She'd know what I meant, no matter how badly I bunged it up. Of course, it cut both ways. I couldn't fake anything past her even if I were the best liar in the world. "I know your powers make you a better expert than I could hope to be on psychology. But, one of the things they teach you early in med school is that you can't save everyone. You do your best, of course, but you have to find a way to come to terms with the idea that you're still human.


She smiled, genuinely. "A very smart, very good man said something like that to me before," she told me. "Thank you for reminding me."


"Hey," I said. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't share the wisdom I've accumulated? Just don't expect me to do it again, because that was all of it."


She laughed.


I hesitated, then asked anyway. "So... you know how we talked about Passengers, and how they try to compel us to use our powers to the fullest extent?"


"Yes," she responded, a little warily. Conversations on the subject tended to upset her a little, and she refused to share why.


"Lisa came to the idea that Endbringers have a human controller, or controllers, recently," I informed. "I was thinking, you could probably apply your power to how they work. You could probably get a lot of data off Dragon to help. It might help you relax some."


"If I can find the time," she quickly agreed.


=============

A/N- Woo, Rey gets an interlude! Actually, I'm glad I did his one... more of the loose ends being tied up from the last couple arcs.

Also, I might still do that Rune interlude. Maybe. Anyone know if her actual name is ever mentioned in the story?

 

[Peanuckle]

Now they're onto the source of the Endbringers. They'll either discover that they're entity-made, or that Eidolon woke them up. Either one is gonna be a nasty wakeup call.

 

[Nigel Burnelli Isaacs]

Ah, a Rey interlude!!! That was a nice read, I love how he analyses the Endbringer material and the explanation he comes up with for it before Taboo(tm)hits him. I liked the comparison to Theo's power and Riley's reaction to it(she seems to REALLY like the guy)and the Theory that comes from that about the hypothetical Endbringer controllers. I also liked how Rey was wary of more people thinking of power interactions and Tinker enhancements, heh that's something I could see the Gesellschaft play with right now, oh and the explanation as to why it was not done before was a nice touch too.

The interaction with Chevalier and how Emma was acting was also rather good, I loved Rey pointing out she was going on a fugue and the detailabout her being the one who copes with it the best was nice too .Also good to see that Rey doesn't want to hurt Riley and that he would like to talk to Rapture about her.

Having said that, it is good to have some news of her and to see that her relationship with Rey is still there, also nice to have some insight on why she is a god fit for him. Her project with the Heartbroken really seems to take a lot from her, which is quite understandable now I am a bit surpised that none of the children got Power on the level of their father and sister, but then again master and stranger effects can be sneaky. Ah and nice to see Rapture agreeing to track the "endmasters" if she has time, if only she could get some for Lisa and Victoria...