Cheetored20
Versed in the lewd.
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worm has a law on cape ressurections, it still counts as a full murder clause unless it was for medical reasons.
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Built To Last
- Thread starter We Just Write
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Jason_Argo
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Permanent death of the person or permanent death of the body? Because that body she left behind is in fact permanently dead. That's might be where they got hung up and ended up with it's still murder but she isn't legally dead. Parahuman powers make for complicated laws
Doomsought
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Its murder is not based on clinical death, its based on legal death (dead and gone). This means it would be attempted murder. There is plenty of legal precedent with the resuscitation of someone who was clinically dead (heart stopped, etc) even in RL, even with parahuman shenanigans that would just build more case law to support the precedent.
The Unicorn
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Interesting. How are you handling Sophia's probation?
This only makes sense if it's the result of a plea-bargain. Even if the handler didn't actually know about the attempted murder they would still charge her with accessory before the fact on the basis that she knew Sophia was committing felonies and was (de-facto) supporting her in that, and both before and after for the other crimes. Also there's all the falsified reports she'd had to file, which as a LEO get a few extra charges in addition to fraud.
I find it unbelivable that the staff weren't guilty of a bunch of other (unrelated) crimes which would be discovered once people started looking.
That would be a ridiculous claim as it would be very easy to disprove - all the prosecution needs is a single case of Emma acting to hide her crimes and they've dis-proven the claim she's legally insane. Arguments of diminished capacity and/or blaming Sophia I could see working, or at least have a chance a lawyer might use them, but legal insanity over a prolonged period of time while participating in a conspiracy
.
Either all or none of it should be admisable. If Taylor takes the stand all of it should be admisable, if she doesn't it's all Hearsay. The journals could point the police to where they'd find more evidence of the attacks on Taylor and the school ignoring evidence of same, but unless Taylor takes the stand they wouldn't themselves be admissible.
Also, I'm assuming this is a summary of charges arising from the investigation which would be handled in a dozen different and unrelated trials, because there are at least that many unrelated issues here.
We Just Write
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Z: As Lucifer noted earlier, we are not legal experts.
Investigation 4-3
We Just Write
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One of the nice things about getting moved over to a synthetic body was not needing to sleep. Which is why both myself and Melissa were awake at one in the morning, when Taylor showed up at our factory and rang the doorbell. We both came to the door and let the somewhat distressed teenager in.
Melissa asked first,
"Taylor, why are you here?"
As soon as the door closed, Taylor answered.
"I've got a power, and I want you to make it stop!"
I blinked.
"Please elaborate?"
Taylor sat down on one of the sofas in the factory lobby, then explained.
"It doesn't work on any of the stuff you've made for some reason, but it's like I've got computer telepathy. Doesn't matter if I've got a signal or not, I have total control and awareness of anything with integrated circuits in a three block radius."
Melissa tilted her head in confusion,
"That seems like a pretty usefu-"
Taylor interrupted her,
"Do you have any idea how many terabytes of porn are in my radius at any given moment!? Because I do, my power tells me every single detail about those files every millisecond they're in range, and I wish it didn't! Not to mention all the personal information I've accidentally stolen that I really want nothing to do with! MAKE IT STOP!"
What followed was a quick lesson on adjusting her partitions for Taylor, and she immediately slammed the door on that extremely intrusive technopathy ability. Sighing in relief, she flopped onto the floor of the lobby, all splayed out. Then she spoke,
"I'd thought I would keep it a secret and use it to be a hero, you know, airing the bad guys' dirty laundry, deleting their plans, and stuff. But there was just so much… After a couple days I just wanted to throw up. It took all my restraint not to start complaining about it during that meeting with Mrs. Cobbler yesterday."
I nodded as I sat down on the floor next to Taylor.
"Do you want a hug?"
"...yes. Can I stay here for the rest of the night?"
We thought for a moment, then Melissa answered.
"Only if you let us notify Danny where you are, so he doesn't get too worried about you."
"Okay. Please don't tell him about my power."
"We won't."
(Melissa)
On Friday, we finally got around to submitting our teleportation system for Tinkertech review. It had been working for a while now, but between the uploading project and everything to do with Taylor's school situation, actually getting it evaluated had fallen by the wayside.
So with the aid of some heavy machinery we helped load the pair of teleporters onto the truck the PRT sent over to collect them. I was actually pretty curious about how it would go, so I volunteered to come along and answer questions.
The teleporters were still being set up when Deputy Director Renick came into the room. Idly he observed,
"Interesting; these teleporters look an awful lot like that robotifying machine of yours."
He must have looked at the photographs that were taken of the QUD, then. I nodded,
"Given that the QUD works using principles derived from these teleporters, the similarity is to be entirely expected. Don't worry, there aren't any corpses left behind."
Mr. Renick raised an eyebrow.
"Ruggedizer, that's not exactly encouraging you know."
I blinked and readjusted my worldview slightly.
"So.. I can try and explain how it works?"
I immediately noticed several very attentive scientists looking my way. Right, no pressure.
"So, the short version is that it combines the energy teleportation that's already been reproduced with 'conventional' quantum teleportation. So both the mass-energy making up the teleportation subject and the quantum information defining them get moved to the receiver unit as soon as the classical carrier data is received. Delayed-choice quantum eraser effects mean that the teleportation simply doesn't happen if it wouldn't be received properly. The receiving chamber needs to be vacuum to avoid problems with air molecules ending up inside whatever's getting teleported."
Renick blinked, then turned to the assembled scientists.
"I think I understood maybe a fifth of that. Was what Ruggedizer said real scientific principles, or was she talking Tinker-babble?"
One of the physicists (her name tag read "Sophie") nodded,
"The broad strokes of what Ruggedizer said make sense; she's clearly done her homework on the matter. Especially the delayed-choice quantum eraser; that's actually an experimentally verified phenomenon, though it's very counterintuitive."
I quipped,
"What about quantum mechanics isn't counterintuitive?"
"Point."
(Emmy)
Saturday, Melissa and I were digging through the stash of confidential data again; we'd moved it to a dimensionally shielded vault in a sub-basement, with utterly extreme security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access. Security measures that stood a good chance of vaporizing a fully ramped Lung if necessary. It might seem excessive, but given the increasingly extremely concerning information we were discovering, we weren't taking any chances whatsoever.
We'd barely gotten an hour into our archive delve today when I found an utterly horrifying record: the fate of the previous world these power-granting aliens had visited.
In the virtual space we were using for the delve, Melissa and I could only stare slack-jawed as nearly uncountable people were snuffed out in an instant, the dimensional variants of the planets they had lived on being consumed as fuel to propel the aliens across the void.
"They're… They're monsters."
Melissa pointed out something I'd missed, sixty five additional signatures departing from the destroyed world, all in different directions.
"It's worse. They're fecund monsters. How many similar logs are there?"
I quickly threw together a software bot to sort through matches. After a moment, it returned an answer.
"This particular lineage has destroyed two hundred and seven worlds, counting all dimensional instances of a single inhabited planet as one, and disregarding their planet of origin. On average there are 12.3 diverging offspring per cycle."
We both did some quick math. I spoke first.
"Not accounting for infighting or other sources of Sunderer mortality, there are 4.077*10^225 of these abominations across reality. I suspect the only reason the entire multiverse hasn't been wiped clean of life is limitations of their travel speed."
Melissa shuddered.
"We need to do something about them. I think we might be the only ones who can."
Melissa asked first,
"Taylor, why are you here?"
As soon as the door closed, Taylor answered.
"I've got a power, and I want you to make it stop!"
I blinked.
"Please elaborate?"
Taylor sat down on one of the sofas in the factory lobby, then explained.
"It doesn't work on any of the stuff you've made for some reason, but it's like I've got computer telepathy. Doesn't matter if I've got a signal or not, I have total control and awareness of anything with integrated circuits in a three block radius."
Melissa tilted her head in confusion,
"That seems like a pretty usefu-"
Taylor interrupted her,
"Do you have any idea how many terabytes of porn are in my radius at any given moment!? Because I do, my power tells me every single detail about those files every millisecond they're in range, and I wish it didn't! Not to mention all the personal information I've accidentally stolen that I really want nothing to do with! MAKE IT STOP!"
What followed was a quick lesson on adjusting her partitions for Taylor, and she immediately slammed the door on that extremely intrusive technopathy ability. Sighing in relief, she flopped onto the floor of the lobby, all splayed out. Then she spoke,
"I'd thought I would keep it a secret and use it to be a hero, you know, airing the bad guys' dirty laundry, deleting their plans, and stuff. But there was just so much… After a couple days I just wanted to throw up. It took all my restraint not to start complaining about it during that meeting with Mrs. Cobbler yesterday."
I nodded as I sat down on the floor next to Taylor.
"Do you want a hug?"
"...yes. Can I stay here for the rest of the night?"
We thought for a moment, then Melissa answered.
"Only if you let us notify Danny where you are, so he doesn't get too worried about you."
"Okay. Please don't tell him about my power."
"We won't."
(Melissa)
On Friday, we finally got around to submitting our teleportation system for Tinkertech review. It had been working for a while now, but between the uploading project and everything to do with Taylor's school situation, actually getting it evaluated had fallen by the wayside.
So with the aid of some heavy machinery we helped load the pair of teleporters onto the truck the PRT sent over to collect them. I was actually pretty curious about how it would go, so I volunteered to come along and answer questions.
The teleporters were still being set up when Deputy Director Renick came into the room. Idly he observed,
"Interesting; these teleporters look an awful lot like that robotifying machine of yours."
He must have looked at the photographs that were taken of the QUD, then. I nodded,
"Given that the QUD works using principles derived from these teleporters, the similarity is to be entirely expected. Don't worry, there aren't any corpses left behind."
Mr. Renick raised an eyebrow.
"Ruggedizer, that's not exactly encouraging you know."
I blinked and readjusted my worldview slightly.
"So.. I can try and explain how it works?"
I immediately noticed several very attentive scientists looking my way. Right, no pressure.
"So, the short version is that it combines the energy teleportation that's already been reproduced with 'conventional' quantum teleportation. So both the mass-energy making up the teleportation subject and the quantum information defining them get moved to the receiver unit as soon as the classical carrier data is received. Delayed-choice quantum eraser effects mean that the teleportation simply doesn't happen if it wouldn't be received properly. The receiving chamber needs to be vacuum to avoid problems with air molecules ending up inside whatever's getting teleported."
Renick blinked, then turned to the assembled scientists.
"I think I understood maybe a fifth of that. Was what Ruggedizer said real scientific principles, or was she talking Tinker-babble?"
One of the physicists (her name tag read "Sophie") nodded,
"The broad strokes of what Ruggedizer said make sense; she's clearly done her homework on the matter. Especially the delayed-choice quantum eraser; that's actually an experimentally verified phenomenon, though it's very counterintuitive."
I quipped,
"What about quantum mechanics isn't counterintuitive?"
"Point."
(Emmy)
Saturday, Melissa and I were digging through the stash of confidential data again; we'd moved it to a dimensionally shielded vault in a sub-basement, with utterly extreme security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access. Security measures that stood a good chance of vaporizing a fully ramped Lung if necessary. It might seem excessive, but given the increasingly extremely concerning information we were discovering, we weren't taking any chances whatsoever.
We'd barely gotten an hour into our archive delve today when I found an utterly horrifying record: the fate of the previous world these power-granting aliens had visited.
In the virtual space we were using for the delve, Melissa and I could only stare slack-jawed as nearly uncountable people were snuffed out in an instant, the dimensional variants of the planets they had lived on being consumed as fuel to propel the aliens across the void.
"They're… They're monsters."
Melissa pointed out something I'd missed, sixty five additional signatures departing from the destroyed world, all in different directions.
"It's worse. They're fecund monsters. How many similar logs are there?"
I quickly threw together a software bot to sort through matches. After a moment, it returned an answer.
"This particular lineage has destroyed two hundred and seven worlds, counting all dimensional instances of a single inhabited planet as one, and disregarding their planet of origin. On average there are 12.3 diverging offspring per cycle."
We both did some quick math. I spoke first.
"Not accounting for infighting or other sources of Sunderer mortality, there are 4.077*10^225 of these abominations across reality. I suspect the only reason the entire multiverse hasn't been wiped clean of life is limitations of their travel speed."
Melissa shuddered.
"We need to do something about them. I think we might be the only ones who can."
Aleh
Destroyer of Faith in Humanity
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It's assuming zero mortality among the Entities -- and Scion's interlude explicitly states that there was a lot of it, especially early on.
We Just Write
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L: Things still work out to a fuckton of Entities.
Aleh
Destroyer of Faith in Humanity
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Well, yes. It's just not a number greater than the number of particles in the universe squared.
Edit: Or, more relevantly, a number greater than the number of subatomic particles in each universe times the number of entity-known/accessible alternates.
The Unicorn
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Vagueness is your friend when writing about a subject you don't know much about, especially when it's something that there are plenty of people who know a fair amount about around.
Actually I don't see what any of that post contributes to the story, but assuming it was needed you could look up the details or ask for advice on how court cases go.
EDIT:Great chapter, although I think Ruggedizer would realize that there had to be a LOT of entities being killed.
Last edited:
We Just Write
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P: Well yeah, but the math to get estimates on that is way more complicated.
Investigation 4-4
We Just Write
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Having discovered the horrifying truth of what the Worms did, Melissa and I started digging into the how. What we discovered was both concerning and relieving at the same time. Melissa clicked onto it first.
"Emmy, I think the aliens are pretty stupid actually."
I raised a virtual eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Melissa pulled up a list.
"They've got all these exotic capabilities, right? Mind control, scanning, dimensional fuckery, obscene amounts of processing power for predictive modeling. You'd think they'd have actually integrated that information into a coherent understanding of how reality works, right?"
I nodded hesitantly,
"Are you saying they actually don't understand the fundamental basis of their abilities?"
"Yes. Take a look here? See our power's database of designs? It's got loads of blueprints and methods for optimizing different components, but absolutely nothing on how those components work, which means it couldn't extrapolate any of the principles involved."
Something clicked in my mind,
"So that's why our power was so unhelpful with the teleportation research. Despite having working designs for quantum computers, it knows absolutely nothing about the underlying physics, and it couldn't provide us with working designs for other stuff exploiting quantum effects."
Melissa chimed in,
"Which also means that our teleporters aren't Tinkertech. They're real technology that we ourselves actually invented. Which explains a lot about why they're so readily reproducible; instead of a jumble of black boxes slapped together into a vaguely functional whole, the insides of our tech are based on actually understood principles that we put the work into developing."
I thought for a moment, before noting,
"A couple things come to mind; first, this confirms my suspicion that our robot brains are a heck of a lot smarter than organic brains, at least in the science department. Second, we should probably start making our tech as untinkery as possible. I don't want the Worms having their hooks in it."
Melissa thought for a moment,
"Actually, if our power is basically a non-conscious computer system, maybe we can hack it? I'd feel a lot more comfortable having total Admin control over something hooked that deeply into our minds, even if we can partition it off."
(Emmy)
Given both the dire implications of the Worms and the assorted villains and S-Class threats who might want to take a swing at us, keeping all our eggs in one basket was straight-up stupid. That's why we were looking into opening a second factory complex in another city.
So while Melissa stayed in Brockton Bay to get some engineering (emphatically not Tinkering) done, I went to Manchester to look into buying some land to build a factory on. I showed up for the appointment at the real estate office at 10 AM sharp, wearing a lovely blue business suit.
The middle-aged redhead I was supposed to meet with happened to be in the lobby at the time, and then it clicked just who I was meeting with.
"Emmy? I haven't seen you since High School."
I blinked,
"Ruby? Yeah, it has been a long time. How's life been?"
"Life's been good; I've got four kids, a loving husband, a collection of extremely affectionate felines, and a well-paying job that respects my work-life balance. Anyway, you're looking into buying land for Reliabuilt, correct?"
"Yep."
The meeting went on for a good two hours, took a break for lunch (which also featured some casual chatter between myself and Ruby), then resumed. By the end of it, I'd arranged to purchase (NOT lease) a square kilometer of tough ground near the highway. It would be an excellent place to set up an industrial park; not arable, decently flat, and with ready access to the interstate. Could probably put in a rail connection at some point too..
(Melissa)
Meanwhile, our growing marketing department had determined that there was a reasonable (though still niche) demand for nigh-indestructible personal electronics. I quickly prototyped a smartphone, laptop, and desktop computer with associated peripherals, and handed them off to the marketing department.
The first thing Ruth did when I handed her the prototype smartphone? Throw it at the concrete floor as hard as she could. The phone was totally unharmed, as was the floor.
"I know your stuff is obscenely tough Ruggedizer, but I had to check."
I chuckled,
"I don't mind. In fact, I consider it a vote of confidence."
Andy quickly scooped up the phone off the floor, noting "We'll come up with product names for these pretty soon. I'm quite looking forward to the results of putting them out there."
Next on my list was a meeting with Danny Hebert; it would be nice to have a chat, but this particular time slot was for business, not pleasure. That's why there were also people from the municipal government here, along with the PRT and a few other government agencies.
I stepped into the conference room in my dress armor, nodding to Danny as I did so.
"So, the topic of today's meeting is threefold: getting rid of that massive sunken cargo ship blocking the bay, dredging the channel to make it suitable for heavy maritime traffic again, and building a bridge across the mouth of the harbor to replace the defunct ferry."
The PRT liaison raised an eyebrow.
"I can see how you'd be quite helpful in getting rid of the tanker and dredging the channel, but there's laws about using Tinkertech in infrastructure. So the bridge is off the table."
"What if we here at Reliabuilt simply pay a mundane construction company to do it according to our plans, using the money in the Brockton Bay Revitalization Fund? Fifty million dollars would more than cover the construction costs, even with the overbuilding we're factoring into the design. Because I never only design something to meet the bare minimum requirements."
The PRT liaison nodded,
"That would be allowed, yes, provided appropriate building permits could be secured. That said, I would still recommend getting some mundane civil engineers involved in the planning phase."
Danny asked,
"I know you're getting a lot of money from selling energy teleportation products and a few other things, but fifty million dollars? Really?"
I blinked.
"It's not like we'll be making the full payment up front; we fully expect construction to take a while, which means we can spread the cost out over time."
"Emmy, I think the aliens are pretty stupid actually."
I raised a virtual eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Melissa pulled up a list.
"They've got all these exotic capabilities, right? Mind control, scanning, dimensional fuckery, obscene amounts of processing power for predictive modeling. You'd think they'd have actually integrated that information into a coherent understanding of how reality works, right?"
I nodded hesitantly,
"Are you saying they actually don't understand the fundamental basis of their abilities?"
"Yes. Take a look here? See our power's database of designs? It's got loads of blueprints and methods for optimizing different components, but absolutely nothing on how those components work, which means it couldn't extrapolate any of the principles involved."
Something clicked in my mind,
"So that's why our power was so unhelpful with the teleportation research. Despite having working designs for quantum computers, it knows absolutely nothing about the underlying physics, and it couldn't provide us with working designs for other stuff exploiting quantum effects."
Melissa chimed in,
"Which also means that our teleporters aren't Tinkertech. They're real technology that we ourselves actually invented. Which explains a lot about why they're so readily reproducible; instead of a jumble of black boxes slapped together into a vaguely functional whole, the insides of our tech are based on actually understood principles that we put the work into developing."
I thought for a moment, before noting,
"A couple things come to mind; first, this confirms my suspicion that our robot brains are a heck of a lot smarter than organic brains, at least in the science department. Second, we should probably start making our tech as untinkery as possible. I don't want the Worms having their hooks in it."
Melissa thought for a moment,
"Actually, if our power is basically a non-conscious computer system, maybe we can hack it? I'd feel a lot more comfortable having total Admin control over something hooked that deeply into our minds, even if we can partition it off."
(Emmy)
Given both the dire implications of the Worms and the assorted villains and S-Class threats who might want to take a swing at us, keeping all our eggs in one basket was straight-up stupid. That's why we were looking into opening a second factory complex in another city.
So while Melissa stayed in Brockton Bay to get some engineering (emphatically not Tinkering) done, I went to Manchester to look into buying some land to build a factory on. I showed up for the appointment at the real estate office at 10 AM sharp, wearing a lovely blue business suit.
The middle-aged redhead I was supposed to meet with happened to be in the lobby at the time, and then it clicked just who I was meeting with.
"Emmy? I haven't seen you since High School."
I blinked,
"Ruby? Yeah, it has been a long time. How's life been?"
"Life's been good; I've got four kids, a loving husband, a collection of extremely affectionate felines, and a well-paying job that respects my work-life balance. Anyway, you're looking into buying land for Reliabuilt, correct?"
"Yep."
The meeting went on for a good two hours, took a break for lunch (which also featured some casual chatter between myself and Ruby), then resumed. By the end of it, I'd arranged to purchase (NOT lease) a square kilometer of tough ground near the highway. It would be an excellent place to set up an industrial park; not arable, decently flat, and with ready access to the interstate. Could probably put in a rail connection at some point too..
(Melissa)
Meanwhile, our growing marketing department had determined that there was a reasonable (though still niche) demand for nigh-indestructible personal electronics. I quickly prototyped a smartphone, laptop, and desktop computer with associated peripherals, and handed them off to the marketing department.
The first thing Ruth did when I handed her the prototype smartphone? Throw it at the concrete floor as hard as she could. The phone was totally unharmed, as was the floor.
"I know your stuff is obscenely tough Ruggedizer, but I had to check."
I chuckled,
"I don't mind. In fact, I consider it a vote of confidence."
Andy quickly scooped up the phone off the floor, noting "We'll come up with product names for these pretty soon. I'm quite looking forward to the results of putting them out there."
Next on my list was a meeting with Danny Hebert; it would be nice to have a chat, but this particular time slot was for business, not pleasure. That's why there were also people from the municipal government here, along with the PRT and a few other government agencies.
I stepped into the conference room in my dress armor, nodding to Danny as I did so.
"So, the topic of today's meeting is threefold: getting rid of that massive sunken cargo ship blocking the bay, dredging the channel to make it suitable for heavy maritime traffic again, and building a bridge across the mouth of the harbor to replace the defunct ferry."
The PRT liaison raised an eyebrow.
"I can see how you'd be quite helpful in getting rid of the tanker and dredging the channel, but there's laws about using Tinkertech in infrastructure. So the bridge is off the table."
"What if we here at Reliabuilt simply pay a mundane construction company to do it according to our plans, using the money in the Brockton Bay Revitalization Fund? Fifty million dollars would more than cover the construction costs, even with the overbuilding we're factoring into the design. Because I never only design something to meet the bare minimum requirements."
The PRT liaison nodded,
"That would be allowed, yes, provided appropriate building permits could be secured. That said, I would still recommend getting some mundane civil engineers involved in the planning phase."
Danny asked,
"I know you're getting a lot of money from selling energy teleportation products and a few other things, but fifty million dollars? Really?"
I blinked.
"It's not like we'll be making the full payment up front; we fully expect construction to take a while, which means we can spread the cost out over time."
Aleh
Destroyer of Faith in Humanity
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This is fanon. It's also -- due to the sheer number of people who pick up on it and insist it's canon despite its lack of basis in canon or the supplementary materials (for instance on the latter: Brockton Bay's semi-canon maps all depict it as an open bay of the sort that'd be literally impossible to block that way).
TL;DR: Canon mentions a riot that involved sinking a container ship (presumably in its berth), as a sort of culminating point in the Bay's economic decline.
Prey 14.11 said:
Now, we know from elsewhere that some of the boats there are pretty darn big (Monarch 16.8 estimates that it'd cost 23 million to clear and dispose of them, and Prey 14.11 mentions that Leviathan's waves had smashed around 40-50 ships, some of which Skitter claimed out-massed "the skyscrapers downtown"), but that's another issue entirely.
The important part is the "opinions varied on whether the incident had been a symptom or a cause" bit. That phrasing, and the rest of Skitter's musing, wouldn't fit -- at all -- if there'd been a clear, distinct blockage creating a significant, ongoing obstacle to the Bay's recovery.
We Just Write
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L: In this fic's timeline, Brockton Bay is replacing the IRL city of Newburyport - which is the sort of harbor with a narrow channel. New Hampshire also has some land that is part of Massachusetts IRL.
Investigation 4-5
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Given all the bureaucratic chaos involved, Taylor's first day of school in her new body ended up being a Thursday; more specifically the 21st of January. We'd all agreed to give Taylor a ride over for the occasion, Danny, Melissa and I all coming along.
We were still a few minutes out when Taylor admitted,
"I'm honestly really nervous. Last time I went to school got me killed."
Melissa - currently wearing her dress armor - nodded.
"Arcadia isn't like Winslow; they take bullying seriously there."
"I hope you're right. At least I'm a lot more durable than I was at Winslow…"
Soon enough, Arcadia came into view. Danny pulled us into one of the short-term parking spaces, and we all got out of the car. We were halfway through giving Taylor her hugs, when a flying blonde almost literally dropped into the conversation. Glory Girl, also known as Victoria Dallon.
We all stood stunned for a moment, one of Victoria's eyebrows raised. After a moment, she said,
"I could swear I've seen you all on the news, and recently too."
Taylor looked incredibly uncomfortable, even as Melissa said,
"Yeah, I'm Ruggedizer. I sometimes show up in commercials advertising my products."
Victoria nodded, then looked at Taylor.
"Then that means you must be the lock- oh shit sorry I said anything."
Taylor shuddered,
"Thankfully I don't remember the worst of it, but I still read the autopsy report and looked at the pictures. I don't like thinking about it."
Vicky nodded,
"I understand completely."
Something clicked, and I asked Vicky a question,
"Do you think you could keep people from prodding Taylor too much about that topic? It's still pretty raw, and I don't want her to feel uncomfortable during her first day back at school."
Victoria saluted,
"I can do that, no problem."
(Emmy)
Down in the shielded vault where we discussed our stash of forbidden knowledge, I was looking at the scale of the problem laid out ahead of us.
"There's no fucking way we're going to deal with this all on our own. We need help."
Melissa sighed,
"We also can't just go around telling everyone that evil aliens hidden in another dimension are the cause of parahuman powers. Even if people believe us and don't go on a counterproductive witch hunt, we've got records of how the Worms react to that level of security breach."
Melissa was right; patching security holes seemed to be one of the Simurgh's primary roles during prior deployments, and past a certain level they just incinerated that instance of the planet and picked a new version as their primary petri dish.
"I suppose we could make people who won't trigger the security protocols, but where would we put them?"
"An uninhabited Earth, maybe? But that's for a bit longer of a time horizon. In the short term, how are we going to wring enough information out of our power to hijack it without alerting the Worms?"
I thought for a moment.
"Exhaust its list of blueprints via methodical querying? Even aside from getting us a good haul of tech to take a look at, we can probably learn an awful lot about its database structure. That's a decent first step to figuring out an exploit to seize control."
Melissa nodded.
"Shame we can't get Taylor in on this; she's a smart girl, but there's just too much security risk involved."
I sighed in disappointed agreement,
"We need to only share the absolute bare minimum of this information with Taylor. Even with her having partitioned off that power of hers, she's unavoidably more compromised than an unpowered individual because of it. Also I'm pretty sure her power is smarter than ours, or at least a lot more likely to sound the alarms. If and when we get admin control of Taylor's power, we bring her fully into the fold. Not a moment sooner."
Melissa took a moment to think that over, then she made an observation.
"So we're going to be working under absolutely draconian infosec and opsec conditions, then. We can't tell anything to any humans whatsoever, anyone with powers is compromised by default, and we can't afford having our backstage activities connected to our civilian or Rogue identity in any way, shape, or form."
"Yeah that about sums it up. Now let's get to work on mapping out our power's database."
(Melissa)
Friday, we were celebrating the launch of our new electronics line - and also the full activation of one of the additional buildings in our Brockton Bay factory complex. Marketing had done an awesome job on the names for the devices, especially the smartphones, which got dubbed the Impervium 1.
It had a fairly hefty price tag as smartphones went, but you got what you paid for. In this case, what you were paying for was a sleek touchscreen phone with a good camera… that could survive being dunked in molten copper and shot with a 12 gauge slug, among all sorts of other abuses. Went through four diamond-tipped drill bits demonstrating the screen's scratch resistance, for example.
After I picked the last few bits of slag off the phone with a chisel, I passed it to the reporter who'd agreed to come take a look at the demonstration model. He pressed the power button, and practically jumped in shock when the phone screen lit up.
"I… I honestly wasn't expecting the phone to still work after all that."
I chuckled,
"Here at Reliabuilt, a lifetime guarantee means something. We want our customers to be secure in the knowledge that anything they buy from us will keep working as long as they need it to."
Things wrapped up quickly after that, the reporter in question sufficiently impressed to buy an Impervium 1 for himself as soon as the cameras were turned off. They left the factory premises shortly thereafter, and I flopped down on the couch next to Emmy.
"Ah, it's nice to have stuff going well."
"That it is Melissa, that it is."
That's when we got a call from Taylor. I answered immediately.
"Emmy, Melissa? Uber and Leet tried to kidnap me on my way to therapy - I'm fine, I jacked their power armor and robots - but if I bring them right to the PRT they'll learn about my power. Can I bring them to the factory?"
Me and my big mouth.
We were still a few minutes out when Taylor admitted,
"I'm honestly really nervous. Last time I went to school got me killed."
Melissa - currently wearing her dress armor - nodded.
"Arcadia isn't like Winslow; they take bullying seriously there."
"I hope you're right. At least I'm a lot more durable than I was at Winslow…"
Soon enough, Arcadia came into view. Danny pulled us into one of the short-term parking spaces, and we all got out of the car. We were halfway through giving Taylor her hugs, when a flying blonde almost literally dropped into the conversation. Glory Girl, also known as Victoria Dallon.
We all stood stunned for a moment, one of Victoria's eyebrows raised. After a moment, she said,
"I could swear I've seen you all on the news, and recently too."
Taylor looked incredibly uncomfortable, even as Melissa said,
"Yeah, I'm Ruggedizer. I sometimes show up in commercials advertising my products."
Victoria nodded, then looked at Taylor.
"Then that means you must be the lock- oh shit sorry I said anything."
Taylor shuddered,
"Thankfully I don't remember the worst of it, but I still read the autopsy report and looked at the pictures. I don't like thinking about it."
Vicky nodded,
"I understand completely."
Something clicked, and I asked Vicky a question,
"Do you think you could keep people from prodding Taylor too much about that topic? It's still pretty raw, and I don't want her to feel uncomfortable during her first day back at school."
Victoria saluted,
"I can do that, no problem."
(Emmy)
Down in the shielded vault where we discussed our stash of forbidden knowledge, I was looking at the scale of the problem laid out ahead of us.
"There's no fucking way we're going to deal with this all on our own. We need help."
Melissa sighed,
"We also can't just go around telling everyone that evil aliens hidden in another dimension are the cause of parahuman powers. Even if people believe us and don't go on a counterproductive witch hunt, we've got records of how the Worms react to that level of security breach."
Melissa was right; patching security holes seemed to be one of the Simurgh's primary roles during prior deployments, and past a certain level they just incinerated that instance of the planet and picked a new version as their primary petri dish.
"I suppose we could make people who won't trigger the security protocols, but where would we put them?"
"An uninhabited Earth, maybe? But that's for a bit longer of a time horizon. In the short term, how are we going to wring enough information out of our power to hijack it without alerting the Worms?"
I thought for a moment.
"Exhaust its list of blueprints via methodical querying? Even aside from getting us a good haul of tech to take a look at, we can probably learn an awful lot about its database structure. That's a decent first step to figuring out an exploit to seize control."
Melissa nodded.
"Shame we can't get Taylor in on this; she's a smart girl, but there's just too much security risk involved."
I sighed in disappointed agreement,
"We need to only share the absolute bare minimum of this information with Taylor. Even with her having partitioned off that power of hers, she's unavoidably more compromised than an unpowered individual because of it. Also I'm pretty sure her power is smarter than ours, or at least a lot more likely to sound the alarms. If and when we get admin control of Taylor's power, we bring her fully into the fold. Not a moment sooner."
Melissa took a moment to think that over, then she made an observation.
"So we're going to be working under absolutely draconian infosec and opsec conditions, then. We can't tell anything to any humans whatsoever, anyone with powers is compromised by default, and we can't afford having our backstage activities connected to our civilian or Rogue identity in any way, shape, or form."
"Yeah that about sums it up. Now let's get to work on mapping out our power's database."
(Melissa)
Friday, we were celebrating the launch of our new electronics line - and also the full activation of one of the additional buildings in our Brockton Bay factory complex. Marketing had done an awesome job on the names for the devices, especially the smartphones, which got dubbed the Impervium 1.
It had a fairly hefty price tag as smartphones went, but you got what you paid for. In this case, what you were paying for was a sleek touchscreen phone with a good camera… that could survive being dunked in molten copper and shot with a 12 gauge slug, among all sorts of other abuses. Went through four diamond-tipped drill bits demonstrating the screen's scratch resistance, for example.
After I picked the last few bits of slag off the phone with a chisel, I passed it to the reporter who'd agreed to come take a look at the demonstration model. He pressed the power button, and practically jumped in shock when the phone screen lit up.
"I… I honestly wasn't expecting the phone to still work after all that."
I chuckled,
"Here at Reliabuilt, a lifetime guarantee means something. We want our customers to be secure in the knowledge that anything they buy from us will keep working as long as they need it to."
Things wrapped up quickly after that, the reporter in question sufficiently impressed to buy an Impervium 1 for himself as soon as the cameras were turned off. They left the factory premises shortly thereafter, and I flopped down on the couch next to Emmy.
"Ah, it's nice to have stuff going well."
"That it is Melissa, that it is."
That's when we got a call from Taylor. I answered immediately.
"Emmy, Melissa? Uber and Leet tried to kidnap me on my way to therapy - I'm fine, I jacked their power armor and robots - but if I bring them right to the PRT they'll learn about my power. Can I bring them to the factory?"
Me and my big mouth.
Interlude: Taylor
We Just Write
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In theory, getting from Arcadia to my twice-weekly therapy appointments was supposed to be simple. Leave school, get on a bus, get off at a stop, wait a few minutes for a different bus,ride the second bus for a few stops, then walk a quarter mile until I reached the clinic.
Today clearly disagreed with that theory. I'd barely walked a hundred feet from my last bus stop when suddenly a brightly colored gunshot punched through a lamp post right in front of me. I whirled and saw an infamous duo of local villains, wearing generic-looking power armor with a big "N7" logo on the front. They also had that infuriating flying golden camera of theirs hovering around.
Uber and Leet.
...You know what, no. I'm not dealing with this right now. These fucks clearly want something to do with me specifically. I popped open the mental "cork" I'd shoved in my power, and just like that every computer system in a huge radius was mine.
The very first thing I did was to wipe every last bit of footage they'd recorded with that stupid camera drone, before bricking the thing so thoroughly even my power refused to register it as a computer system anymore. Then I seized control of the servos in their powered armor and frog-marched the two of them over to me, even as I bricked their guns too. I also directed the flashlight-headed robot they'd had on overwatch to get down here.
As soon as the two of them were within arms' reach of me (though with their arms thoroughly locked in place by their suits), I hissed at them in a furious whisper.
"What the fuck do you two think you're doing?"
The slimmer of the two (Leet, I guessed) squirmed against the servos, even as he answered.
"Neutralizing a Cerberus-aligned-"
"Drop the act. I bricked your camera, and no-one here cares about your shitty roleplay."
Presumably-Leet shrieked, "YOU WHAT!?"
After a moment, the other one (probably Uber?) spoke up.
"We were going to ransom you. We wanted some of Ruggedizer's money."
He didn't make any excuses, so he must have figured they wouldn't sway me. Still, now I had to figure out what to do about these two; if I killed them I'd be on the hook for murder, they'd definitely say I was a Parahuman if I gave them to the PRT, I couldn't just delete their memories of their encounter with me.
Maybe Emmy or Melissa would have some ideas about what to do with these two?
"Well, if you want to talk to Ruggedizer so much, maybe I can bring you to her?"
Uber's suit strained as he flinched back at the idea.
"Nonono do you have any idea what she does to villains!? I don't want to die!"
"Should have thought of that earlier!"
Now, let's just call up the factory on my internal phone before I start heading over there.
Today clearly disagreed with that theory. I'd barely walked a hundred feet from my last bus stop when suddenly a brightly colored gunshot punched through a lamp post right in front of me. I whirled and saw an infamous duo of local villains, wearing generic-looking power armor with a big "N7" logo on the front. They also had that infuriating flying golden camera of theirs hovering around.
Uber and Leet.
...You know what, no. I'm not dealing with this right now. These fucks clearly want something to do with me specifically. I popped open the mental "cork" I'd shoved in my power, and just like that every computer system in a huge radius was mine.
The very first thing I did was to wipe every last bit of footage they'd recorded with that stupid camera drone, before bricking the thing so thoroughly even my power refused to register it as a computer system anymore. Then I seized control of the servos in their powered armor and frog-marched the two of them over to me, even as I bricked their guns too. I also directed the flashlight-headed robot they'd had on overwatch to get down here.
As soon as the two of them were within arms' reach of me (though with their arms thoroughly locked in place by their suits), I hissed at them in a furious whisper.
"What the fuck do you two think you're doing?"
The slimmer of the two (Leet, I guessed) squirmed against the servos, even as he answered.
"Neutralizing a Cerberus-aligned-"
"Drop the act. I bricked your camera, and no-one here cares about your shitty roleplay."
Presumably-Leet shrieked, "YOU WHAT!?"
After a moment, the other one (probably Uber?) spoke up.
"We were going to ransom you. We wanted some of Ruggedizer's money."
He didn't make any excuses, so he must have figured they wouldn't sway me. Still, now I had to figure out what to do about these two; if I killed them I'd be on the hook for murder, they'd definitely say I was a Parahuman if I gave them to the PRT, I couldn't just delete their memories of their encounter with me.
Maybe Emmy or Melissa would have some ideas about what to do with these two?
"Well, if you want to talk to Ruggedizer so much, maybe I can bring you to her?"
Uber's suit strained as he flinched back at the idea.
"Nonono do you have any idea what she does to villains!? I don't want to die!"
"Should have thought of that earlier!"
Now, let's just call up the factory on my internal phone before I start heading over there.
XZR-2
Getting sticky.
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tarrangar
Versed in the lewd.
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Personally I wouldn't want that phone, now if she could make a bike that require no maintenance and isn't too much heavier than a normal bike(my legs are powering this thing, a few extra kilos are ok 50 are not) then I would Shell out even if it cost 10-20k, because I will probably spend more than that on my bile though my life, and the thought of never being stuck anywhere due to a flat wheel, never having to drive in the wrong gear because the gearbox froze, never risking a ticket because the lights went out, that would be worth increasing what I expect to pay for my bike though my life and paying it at once.
Although I would probably want a tracking device added to prevent it being stolen.
Phones on the other hand get outdated, so unless it's eternally compatible with the newest software and running at good speed even with increasing data Per second demands, that phone will need to be replaced at some point.
But the bike would really be the Dream, a bike that never misfunction, always run at its best, the tires are never even missing a bit of air, the chain is always perfectly oiled, the brakes are always finetuned, the gear never so much as take a second too long to shift, the lights always work, and the pedals never gets stuck.
I would Also gladly pay at least a few hundred dollars each, for kitchen knives guaranteed never to dull.
Although I would probably want a tracking device added to prevent it being stolen.
Phones on the other hand get outdated, so unless it's eternally compatible with the newest software and running at good speed even with increasing data Per second demands, that phone will need to be replaced at some point.
But the bike would really be the Dream, a bike that never misfunction, always run at its best, the tires are never even missing a bit of air, the chain is always perfectly oiled, the brakes are always finetuned, the gear never so much as take a second too long to shift, the lights always work, and the pedals never gets stuck.
I would Also gladly pay at least a few hundred dollars each, for kitchen knives guaranteed never to dull.
We Just Write
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C: It's primarily marketed towards people who tend to get into scrapes. So, Brutes, basically.
tarrangar
Versed in the lewd.
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That makes sense, but it's Also a niche market, kitchen knives especially would be a good mainstream market to break into, because people absolutely would pay a lot for a knife always sharpened to perfection, that would save so much cooking time.
Akuma-Heika
The Devil Exists Within
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Except she wasn't resuscitated, which was the point Jason was bringing up. She was, and is, clinically dead as understood by human science. If her biological brain had been transplanted, it likely would have counted though. It could be argued that "Robo Taylor" is no longer Taylor Hebert by RL US Law, since she is essentially an AI copy of Taylor's brain
This is all on the assumption that no new laws were made in the wake of parahuman fuckery though; precedents in RL Earth could have been overruled with the alternative trials (and thus new precedents), politicians (new/different laws), and events of Bet. The big issue with AR Earth fics
january1may
Versed in the lewd.
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My headcanon is that Brockton Bay corresponds to the OTL region of Hampton Harbor in New Hampshire (IOTL split between the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, Hampton Beach, and Seabrook), which has a nice narrow channel in the Hampton Beach area.
That said, Newburyport is also a common placement, and it gets bonus points from also being the prototype of Innsmouth, to which Brockton Bay is commonly compared. (It's also where Timothy Dexter lived in his more ridiculous years, and some day I hope to see a Worm fic that made use of that...)
Preparation 5-1
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(Melissa)
I was suited up in my combat armor when Taylor arrived at the factory, Uber and Leet being frog-marched by the powered armor they were wearing.
"Ah. Uber and Leet. Please come in. We need to have a talk."
I swear I could hear the two of them gulp. Once we got inside, I quickly had some security robots confiscate every last bit of Tinkertech these two had on them. Also the mundane knife Uber had. With them subsequently restrained using a whole roll of duct-tape each, I had the both of them taken to a private meeting room for a chat.
I took a good long look at their faces after removing the ski masks they'd both been wearing under their helmets. Then I spoke.
"You two tried to kidnap one of my friends, and I don't take that lightly. I am fully aware that unmasking you breaks the supposed 'unwritten rules', and to be completely honest, I don't care to humor them. What exactly I do with you is your decision, because luckily you have something I want."
Uber paled slightly, while Leet grinned.
"I knew it! You want me as a boyf-"
I smacked him in the face; not hard enough to cause serious injury, but definitely hard enough to shut him up.
"No, I want the location of your laboratory, along with instructions to get past any security systems you might have in place. Every last bit of Tinkertech you've made is forfeit."
Uber asked an actually intelligent question then,
"Why should we tell you that? Leet can only make a given invention once, so there's no way we would ever be able to recover from that."
Well, semi-intelligent.
"You should tell me that because no-one knows where you are, no-one likes you enough to spend serious effort trying to find you if you vanish, and a lot of my more exotic technology requires animal testing. Funnily enough, humans are a species of animal."
Leet managed to get out a whimper, followed by
"If I tell you, you let us go, right?"
I nodded,
"Yes, I will release you after acquiring your backlog of Tinkertech. In Phoenix, Arizona. Five grand cash between you, so you won't need to victimize anyone to stay off the street. I'm not a monster after all."
That got the two of them talking; especially when I made clear that any "omissions" about their lab's security would get the deal canceled.
(Emmy)
I was an hour into sorting through the massive collection of Leet's Tinkertech when Melissa got back from Arizona. I greeted her with a hug, and asked
"So how'd the flight go? I hope Uber and Leet were well-behaved."
Melissa sagged,
"They couldn't get up to much trouble, given that they were cocooned in duct tape until I was actively in the process of dropping them off. Though they were still really annoying."
My little sister shuddered at the memory and leaned into my hug,
"Thankfully, the flight back was pretty boring. Still, that's six hours I'm never getting back, and the flying ambulance needs to be refueled."
Melissa looked up.
"Anyway, had any luck taking a look at Leet's kit?"
I groaned,
"Sadly not. There's just so much of it that it's hard to catalog everything. Plus, the bits I have opened up are black-boxed as fuck. I don't mean just a deliberately obfuscated design, I mean that critical components are outright missing, with Leet's power filling in the gaps."
Melissa looked thoughtful for a moment.
"There's just too much for us to do. You need to be my employer publicly, I need to keep our livelihood afloat, and between the two of us we're pulled every which way, leaving barely any time for the ever-growing pile of important stuff that needs doing."
I nodded,
"I think we may need to make some more people sooner rather than later. Either that or try to get volunteers for uploading."
Melissa nodded,
"Either option is risky. Making people could lead to questions about where everyone is coming from, while uploading has the issue of needing to trust the volunteers."
I considered things for a moment.
"We could do duplicates? But that would give the game away immediately if our extra instances get spotted. We shouldn't do fake Case 53s though; they're almost certainly produced by some sort of organization given the matching tattoos, and we don't want to get their attention more than necessary."
Melissa scowled. "Yeah that makes sense. If we're going to upload people, maybe coma patients?"
I thought for a moment, before asking,
"Why don't we just add it to the company health plan as an option? The people working here tend to be really loyal to us after all."
"Going to need to get it approved and signed off on by the PRT then, and that's going to be an absolute nightmare."
I hummed, before offering a third option.
"How about this, we make two or three fake capes as 'corporate security' regardless of how the evaluation of the QUD turns out, and start uploading people on request if it's approved?"
"Probably the best option available to us right now."
(Melissa)
I arrived at the PRT's Tinkertech evaluation department just in time to hear "What the fuck, it's reproducible!?" followed by a meow.
This I had to see. I quickly walked around the corner, seeing Sophie holding a fluffy white cat as she explained to some bureaucrat,
"Just what I said, Arthur. Ruggedizer's teleporter technology is reproducible; Snowy here's been teleported by our version six times, and medical examination hasn't revealed any issues at all. We'd still need to do some work to scale it up for moving people though."
"Sorry, it's just… Tinkertech this exotic isn't supposed to- oh, Ruggedizer. Here to learn about the evaluation of your teleportation technology?"
I nodded to Arhtur,
"That would be nice, but it's not why I came here. I want to submit the Quantum Uploading Device for evaluation."
"...Oh."
I was suited up in my combat armor when Taylor arrived at the factory, Uber and Leet being frog-marched by the powered armor they were wearing.
"Ah. Uber and Leet. Please come in. We need to have a talk."
I swear I could hear the two of them gulp. Once we got inside, I quickly had some security robots confiscate every last bit of Tinkertech these two had on them. Also the mundane knife Uber had. With them subsequently restrained using a whole roll of duct-tape each, I had the both of them taken to a private meeting room for a chat.
I took a good long look at their faces after removing the ski masks they'd both been wearing under their helmets. Then I spoke.
"You two tried to kidnap one of my friends, and I don't take that lightly. I am fully aware that unmasking you breaks the supposed 'unwritten rules', and to be completely honest, I don't care to humor them. What exactly I do with you is your decision, because luckily you have something I want."
Uber paled slightly, while Leet grinned.
"I knew it! You want me as a boyf-"
I smacked him in the face; not hard enough to cause serious injury, but definitely hard enough to shut him up.
"No, I want the location of your laboratory, along with instructions to get past any security systems you might have in place. Every last bit of Tinkertech you've made is forfeit."
Uber asked an actually intelligent question then,
"Why should we tell you that? Leet can only make a given invention once, so there's no way we would ever be able to recover from that."
Well, semi-intelligent.
"You should tell me that because no-one knows where you are, no-one likes you enough to spend serious effort trying to find you if you vanish, and a lot of my more exotic technology requires animal testing. Funnily enough, humans are a species of animal."
Leet managed to get out a whimper, followed by
"If I tell you, you let us go, right?"
I nodded,
"Yes, I will release you after acquiring your backlog of Tinkertech. In Phoenix, Arizona. Five grand cash between you, so you won't need to victimize anyone to stay off the street. I'm not a monster after all."
That got the two of them talking; especially when I made clear that any "omissions" about their lab's security would get the deal canceled.
(Emmy)
I was an hour into sorting through the massive collection of Leet's Tinkertech when Melissa got back from Arizona. I greeted her with a hug, and asked
"So how'd the flight go? I hope Uber and Leet were well-behaved."
Melissa sagged,
"They couldn't get up to much trouble, given that they were cocooned in duct tape until I was actively in the process of dropping them off. Though they were still really annoying."
My little sister shuddered at the memory and leaned into my hug,
"Thankfully, the flight back was pretty boring. Still, that's six hours I'm never getting back, and the flying ambulance needs to be refueled."
Melissa looked up.
"Anyway, had any luck taking a look at Leet's kit?"
I groaned,
"Sadly not. There's just so much of it that it's hard to catalog everything. Plus, the bits I have opened up are black-boxed as fuck. I don't mean just a deliberately obfuscated design, I mean that critical components are outright missing, with Leet's power filling in the gaps."
Melissa looked thoughtful for a moment.
"There's just too much for us to do. You need to be my employer publicly, I need to keep our livelihood afloat, and between the two of us we're pulled every which way, leaving barely any time for the ever-growing pile of important stuff that needs doing."
I nodded,
"I think we may need to make some more people sooner rather than later. Either that or try to get volunteers for uploading."
Melissa nodded,
"Either option is risky. Making people could lead to questions about where everyone is coming from, while uploading has the issue of needing to trust the volunteers."
I considered things for a moment.
"We could do duplicates? But that would give the game away immediately if our extra instances get spotted. We shouldn't do fake Case 53s though; they're almost certainly produced by some sort of organization given the matching tattoos, and we don't want to get their attention more than necessary."
Melissa scowled. "Yeah that makes sense. If we're going to upload people, maybe coma patients?"
I thought for a moment, before asking,
"Why don't we just add it to the company health plan as an option? The people working here tend to be really loyal to us after all."
"Going to need to get it approved and signed off on by the PRT then, and that's going to be an absolute nightmare."
I hummed, before offering a third option.
"How about this, we make two or three fake capes as 'corporate security' regardless of how the evaluation of the QUD turns out, and start uploading people on request if it's approved?"
"Probably the best option available to us right now."
(Melissa)
I arrived at the PRT's Tinkertech evaluation department just in time to hear "What the fuck, it's reproducible!?" followed by a meow.
This I had to see. I quickly walked around the corner, seeing Sophie holding a fluffy white cat as she explained to some bureaucrat,
"Just what I said, Arthur. Ruggedizer's teleporter technology is reproducible; Snowy here's been teleported by our version six times, and medical examination hasn't revealed any issues at all. We'd still need to do some work to scale it up for moving people though."
"Sorry, it's just… Tinkertech this exotic isn't supposed to- oh, Ruggedizer. Here to learn about the evaluation of your teleportation technology?"
I nodded to Arhtur,
"That would be nice, but it's not why I came here. I want to submit the Quantum Uploading Device for evaluation."
"...Oh."
Preparation 5-2
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(Emmy)
I came out to Manchester on Tuesday to take a look at the construction site for the new factory. As I took a look at the progress so far I could only remark,
"That's a great big hole in the ground."
A hard-hatted man who was currently eating his lunch remarked,
"Yeah, and it's going to be a whole lot bigger. Why does a factory need three basement levels anyway?"
I shrugged,
"Ruggedizer wants more lab space, and it's a lot easier to make it secure if it's below ground level."
The construction worker nodded.
"That makes the extreme level of structural reinforcement make sense at least. I accidentally ran over my new flashlight with my truck, and it was barely scratched."
I nodded,
"That won't be a problem, I hope?"
He actually laughed,
"Not in the slightest! Compared to the borderline infeasible art projects a lot of architects ask for, this project is a breath of fresh air! It's just good honest utilitarian construction with high quality materials."
Then a notification on the construction worker's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket, read the text message, and swore out loud.
I blinked in shock. "What's the issue?"
"My son's an exchange student in Sydney, and the Simurgh's started on a trajectory towards Australia! I hope he gets out of the way before his brain gets screwed up by that monster."
Oh. Oh we really needed to get things into high gear. There was no way we could fight an Endbringer yet, and they wouldn't be waiting for us.
(Andrea)
My very first moment of awareness was soft. I was apparently lying down on a… bed? Huh, I actually knew a lot now that I took a moment to pay attention to the inner workings of my mind.
"Andrea, are you feeling alright?"
I turned to look at who'd said that, seeing a pair of very similar brown-haired women looking at me. My recognition systems identified them as Emmy and Melissa. I quickly lifted myself up into a sitting position.
"I think so?"
There was a brief pause, before a question occurred to me.
"Why do I exist?"
Emmy sighed,
"We built you as a means to an end, but we'll still treat you decently regardless of that."
I blinked (what an odd mannerism to have), before asking another question.
"What do you need me to do?"
Melissa answered,
"Basically, we just don't have enough time to go around between what we need to do in public and what we need to do in private, even accounting for humans needing sleep when we don't. We're hoping you can help address that."
Why was I so doubtful about being created anyway? But my curiosity was sparked now.
"Why couldn't you just recruit a trustworthy individual?"
Emmy's expression saddened.
"The information is already in an encrypted directory inside you. But before you open it, we decided you deserve a choice. There's a program in there that will change you if you learn what's in that directory; you physically won't be able to share that information with anyone lacking sufficient security bona fides, and even then you'll only be able to talk about it in known secure areas."
I nodded,
"What's in that directory is important, isn't it?"
"Extremely, but like I said, you deserve a choice on whether or not to learn it."
I stood to attention, the dozens of gravitational nodes inside my frame allowing me to hover a bit off the floor as I did so.
"You made me to fulfill a purpose, and I choose to do so."
With that I decrypted the directory, feeling my future actions becoming constrained in the process.
…Oh. Oh the world was so fucked…
(Melissa)
With Andrea and Emmy cataloging Leet's tech, I was free to focus on probing our power's database. I was primarily focused on decoding its address structure, but if some useful exotic technology happened to fall out in the process I wasn't going to complain.
Well, calling it an "address structure" was perhaps optimistic. Within only a few minutes of investigation I'd been able to determine that the inner workings of this alien were a lot more akin to a fucked up hybrid of neurology and analog electronics than anything remotely digital. Still, it was comprehensible after I spent a little while adjusting my thought processes.
Soldiering on, I was still in the "poking at random addresses" stage of things when I stumbled onto a rather interesting component; apparently the civilization this techbase was originally plundered from had absolutely mastered nuclear fusion. Still couldn't make a power plant much smaller than a car's engine compartment without compromising the radiation shielding, but there were all sorts of uses I could think of for this. Also the superconductors the reactor called for looked incredibly interesting in their own right.
That said, I didn't let myself get distracted; the fusion reactor plans were quickly filed away for later reference, and I continued with my efforts to map out the alien that was providing our Tinkering ability. By three in the morning I was nowhere near done, but I'd at least developed a vague theoretical framework to build off of. Time for a break, as far as I was concerned.
When I got to our newly-shielded living room, I was treated to a sight of Emmy and Andrea snuggling on the couch, our daughter(?)'s red hair draped over the armrest.
"So, I've made some good progress on mapping our power's database, and found plans for fusion reactors in the process. How'd your end of things go?"
Emmy shrugged, "Decently; we haven't been able to directly replicate any of Leet's creations on account of all the gaps, but we've managed to cobble together a workable hard light projector based on the parts that were actually real from various devices."
I blinked,
"How does it work?"
Andrea lifted her head from the armrest,
"Photon molecules! Do a thingy with photons and they act like mass. We managed to make a thingy that can project light in order to make solid barriers out of photon molecules. They don't last long and it's Tinkery as all get out, but they can block gunshots and they're constantly being refreshed anyway, so incremental damage is useless against them."
Emmy sighed,
"Andrea, you're forgetting the special dust particles it needs to optically manipulate to work. Though with a discrete source of dust, it's quite good at producing solid visual illusions. We can maybe use that as the basis of a second fake Parahuman's abilities."
I came out to Manchester on Tuesday to take a look at the construction site for the new factory. As I took a look at the progress so far I could only remark,
"That's a great big hole in the ground."
A hard-hatted man who was currently eating his lunch remarked,
"Yeah, and it's going to be a whole lot bigger. Why does a factory need three basement levels anyway?"
I shrugged,
"Ruggedizer wants more lab space, and it's a lot easier to make it secure if it's below ground level."
The construction worker nodded.
"That makes the extreme level of structural reinforcement make sense at least. I accidentally ran over my new flashlight with my truck, and it was barely scratched."
I nodded,
"That won't be a problem, I hope?"
He actually laughed,
"Not in the slightest! Compared to the borderline infeasible art projects a lot of architects ask for, this project is a breath of fresh air! It's just good honest utilitarian construction with high quality materials."
Then a notification on the construction worker's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket, read the text message, and swore out loud.
I blinked in shock. "What's the issue?"
"My son's an exchange student in Sydney, and the Simurgh's started on a trajectory towards Australia! I hope he gets out of the way before his brain gets screwed up by that monster."
Oh. Oh we really needed to get things into high gear. There was no way we could fight an Endbringer yet, and they wouldn't be waiting for us.
(Andrea)
My very first moment of awareness was soft. I was apparently lying down on a… bed? Huh, I actually knew a lot now that I took a moment to pay attention to the inner workings of my mind.
"Andrea, are you feeling alright?"
I turned to look at who'd said that, seeing a pair of very similar brown-haired women looking at me. My recognition systems identified them as Emmy and Melissa. I quickly lifted myself up into a sitting position.
"I think so?"
There was a brief pause, before a question occurred to me.
"Why do I exist?"
Emmy sighed,
"We built you as a means to an end, but we'll still treat you decently regardless of that."
I blinked (what an odd mannerism to have), before asking another question.
"What do you need me to do?"
Melissa answered,
"Basically, we just don't have enough time to go around between what we need to do in public and what we need to do in private, even accounting for humans needing sleep when we don't. We're hoping you can help address that."
Why was I so doubtful about being created anyway? But my curiosity was sparked now.
"Why couldn't you just recruit a trustworthy individual?"
Emmy's expression saddened.
"The information is already in an encrypted directory inside you. But before you open it, we decided you deserve a choice. There's a program in there that will change you if you learn what's in that directory; you physically won't be able to share that information with anyone lacking sufficient security bona fides, and even then you'll only be able to talk about it in known secure areas."
I nodded,
"What's in that directory is important, isn't it?"
"Extremely, but like I said, you deserve a choice on whether or not to learn it."
I stood to attention, the dozens of gravitational nodes inside my frame allowing me to hover a bit off the floor as I did so.
"You made me to fulfill a purpose, and I choose to do so."
With that I decrypted the directory, feeling my future actions becoming constrained in the process.
…Oh. Oh the world was so fucked…
(Melissa)
With Andrea and Emmy cataloging Leet's tech, I was free to focus on probing our power's database. I was primarily focused on decoding its address structure, but if some useful exotic technology happened to fall out in the process I wasn't going to complain.
Well, calling it an "address structure" was perhaps optimistic. Within only a few minutes of investigation I'd been able to determine that the inner workings of this alien were a lot more akin to a fucked up hybrid of neurology and analog electronics than anything remotely digital. Still, it was comprehensible after I spent a little while adjusting my thought processes.
Soldiering on, I was still in the "poking at random addresses" stage of things when I stumbled onto a rather interesting component; apparently the civilization this techbase was originally plundered from had absolutely mastered nuclear fusion. Still couldn't make a power plant much smaller than a car's engine compartment without compromising the radiation shielding, but there were all sorts of uses I could think of for this. Also the superconductors the reactor called for looked incredibly interesting in their own right.
That said, I didn't let myself get distracted; the fusion reactor plans were quickly filed away for later reference, and I continued with my efforts to map out the alien that was providing our Tinkering ability. By three in the morning I was nowhere near done, but I'd at least developed a vague theoretical framework to build off of. Time for a break, as far as I was concerned.
When I got to our newly-shielded living room, I was treated to a sight of Emmy and Andrea snuggling on the couch, our daughter(?)'s red hair draped over the armrest.
"So, I've made some good progress on mapping our power's database, and found plans for fusion reactors in the process. How'd your end of things go?"
Emmy shrugged, "Decently; we haven't been able to directly replicate any of Leet's creations on account of all the gaps, but we've managed to cobble together a workable hard light projector based on the parts that were actually real from various devices."
I blinked,
"How does it work?"
Andrea lifted her head from the armrest,
"Photon molecules! Do a thingy with photons and they act like mass. We managed to make a thingy that can project light in order to make solid barriers out of photon molecules. They don't last long and it's Tinkery as all get out, but they can block gunshots and they're constantly being refreshed anyway, so incremental damage is useless against them."
Emmy sighed,
"Andrea, you're forgetting the special dust particles it needs to optically manipulate to work. Though with a discrete source of dust, it's quite good at producing solid visual illusions. We can maybe use that as the basis of a second fake Parahuman's abilities."
Preparation 5-3
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2020
- Messages
- 1,130
- Likes received
- 15,600
(Andrea)
My official debut as a Reliabuilt-affiliated Cape was on Thursday. I'd been fitted with a basic armored bodysuit (though it was skintight), in blue-silver colors. An expressive visor like what was on Melissa's dress armor completed the ensemble, covering the top half of my face. Though I was honestly tempted to just switch faces between my cape and civilian personas; it was just a flexible covering after all.
As for the debut event, there was a press conference scheduled. At exactly 11:00 AM, I flew down onto the stage and set myself down behind the podium. Right, let's start with the script we've prepared.
"Hello, I'm Laniakea, and I'm a low-grade Alexandria Package hired as part of Reliabuilt's security division. I'm here to ensure the safety of Reliabuilt staff, both on and off the clock."
One of the reporters asked a question.
"What can you do that Ruggedizer's oh-so-effective security robots can't?"
I nodded, that was an actually pretty intelligent question, and one I'd prepared for.
"A couple things. First, I'm a lot more approachable than the security robots; people are therefore more likely to actually tell me about issues and concerns they might have. Second, while everyone tends to forget the Thinker side of an Alexandria Package, mine is actually fairly important; it means I'm really good at maintaining attention to detail while also focusing on the big picture. That means I'm very good at tasking our security robots and any human security personnel for maximum effect."
"So your position is largely administrative?"
"Correct; a lot of my time in costume will be spent flying a desk, so to speak. Still I do intend to go out for flights now and then, showing the colors and helping out where applicable."
(Melissa)
It was Thursday afternoon when we got a notification: a shipment of laptops we'd had leaving the city got hit by the Undersiders. Thankfully the security robots with the shipment were able to keep losses down to a single box of six laptops and they captured Tattletale to boot, but the rest of the gang managed to escape.
Then Tattletale just had to say something that threw a wrench in the process of handing her off to the justice system.
"You can't send me to the PRT! Coil's moles will kill me!"
I groaned, ordered the security robots to keep custody of her for the moment, and called the local PRT.
"Hello Ruggedizer, how can the PRT help you today?"
"The Undersiders hit one of our outbound shipments, and in the process the security robots captured Tattletale."
"Do you want us to come pick her up?"
"I would, but Tattletale claims that Coil's moles in the local PRT would kill her if remanded to your custody. I know that there's rules about trusting Thinkers, but I can't in good faith risk her life over this."
"A moment, I need to connect you to Director Piggot."
A moment later, a gruff voice I was quite familiar with came on the line.
"So, according to the transcript here you've apprehended Tattletale, and she claims her life would be in danger due to moles in the PRT if placed in our custody?"
"Yes, that's correct. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"
"My gut tells me that she's full of shit, but the prospect of moles in the local PRT is distressingly plausible. My advice would be to transfer her to the custody of a different PRT branch at the earliest possible convenience and keep an extremely close eye on her in the meantime."
"We have a Tinkertech VTOL aircraft capable of transonic speeds with a flight duration exceeding six hours. Do you have any advice on where we can send her?"
"I need to contact head office; give me a few minutes to call you back."
Ten minutes later, Piggot indeed called back.
"Head office says to transfer her to Houston Texas as quickly as possible. Happy flying."
…Right, looks like I was going to lose a good chunk of my evening to another villain deportation.
…I was definitely going to tape Tattletale's mouth shut.
(Emmy)
It was Friday, the 28th of January when Rose paged me.
"Emmy, we have a call for you or Ruggedizer. It's from Dragon."
"Connect her please."
A moment later, the phone extension in my office rang. I picked it up.
"Hello, this is Dragon speaking."
"You've reached Emmy Sykes. What can I help you with?"
There was barely any hint of a pause before Dragon replied. Accounting for signal lag, that was a fair bit quicker than human reaction times. Hmmm.
"It's about Armsmaster; I'm worried that he's going to seriously hurt himself."
I blinked.
"Please explain?"
"It's the Quantum Uploading Device currently going through evaluation. Armsmaster's decided that he's going to build himself a synthetic body in the event of it being approved. The issue is that his technology is a lot more prone to sudden issues and intensive maintenance than Reliabuilt products, and I'm worried that in his stubborn insistence to do it himself, he's going to get himself stuck in a malfunctioning body. That's not even considering the utter disaster that could ensue if he decides to also develop his own uploading machine."
I groaned,
"Guessing you've already tried to persuade him to use a Reliabuilt body?"
"Yes, but to be completely honest he's developed a bit of a grudge towards you. He acknowledges that it's stupid and unprofessional, but he can't help feel jealous about everything Ruggedizer has accomplished."
Ah. That made sense. After a moment, an idea occurred to me.
"Would he be willing to use a body you design? I do believe your specialty is reverse-engineering, so you should be able to make a body that's super-reliable like mine with a bit of work."
"That could actually work."
That response was definitely too fast. Something was fishy here.
"I'll probably need to come visit you with a suit, unless you want to ship a spare body up to Toronto."
"It's always nice to have guests; does Sunday work?"
"It does, actually."
There was a pause, before I asked,
"You really care about Armsmaster, don't you?"
"Yes. I… I love him."
The conversation quickly wound down after that, there was an exchange of formalities, and we disconnected. Shortly afterwards, Rose informed me that there was another call, this time from Taylor.
"Hi Taylor. Anything I can do for you?"
"Hi Emmy. I'm wondering if I can get my taste buds adjusted? A lot of my favorite foods from before just don't taste right anymore. Also, Victoria's asked if I can get her and Amelia a tour of the factory? Is that ok?"
I thought for a moment.
"Sure, you and the Dallon sisters can come over. Does Sunday afternoon work?"
"I've got a thing Saturday, so yeah that works fine."
My official debut as a Reliabuilt-affiliated Cape was on Thursday. I'd been fitted with a basic armored bodysuit (though it was skintight), in blue-silver colors. An expressive visor like what was on Melissa's dress armor completed the ensemble, covering the top half of my face. Though I was honestly tempted to just switch faces between my cape and civilian personas; it was just a flexible covering after all.
As for the debut event, there was a press conference scheduled. At exactly 11:00 AM, I flew down onto the stage and set myself down behind the podium. Right, let's start with the script we've prepared.
"Hello, I'm Laniakea, and I'm a low-grade Alexandria Package hired as part of Reliabuilt's security division. I'm here to ensure the safety of Reliabuilt staff, both on and off the clock."
One of the reporters asked a question.
"What can you do that Ruggedizer's oh-so-effective security robots can't?"
I nodded, that was an actually pretty intelligent question, and one I'd prepared for.
"A couple things. First, I'm a lot more approachable than the security robots; people are therefore more likely to actually tell me about issues and concerns they might have. Second, while everyone tends to forget the Thinker side of an Alexandria Package, mine is actually fairly important; it means I'm really good at maintaining attention to detail while also focusing on the big picture. That means I'm very good at tasking our security robots and any human security personnel for maximum effect."
"So your position is largely administrative?"
"Correct; a lot of my time in costume will be spent flying a desk, so to speak. Still I do intend to go out for flights now and then, showing the colors and helping out where applicable."
(Melissa)
It was Thursday afternoon when we got a notification: a shipment of laptops we'd had leaving the city got hit by the Undersiders. Thankfully the security robots with the shipment were able to keep losses down to a single box of six laptops and they captured Tattletale to boot, but the rest of the gang managed to escape.
Then Tattletale just had to say something that threw a wrench in the process of handing her off to the justice system.
"You can't send me to the PRT! Coil's moles will kill me!"
I groaned, ordered the security robots to keep custody of her for the moment, and called the local PRT.
"Hello Ruggedizer, how can the PRT help you today?"
"The Undersiders hit one of our outbound shipments, and in the process the security robots captured Tattletale."
"Do you want us to come pick her up?"
"I would, but Tattletale claims that Coil's moles in the local PRT would kill her if remanded to your custody. I know that there's rules about trusting Thinkers, but I can't in good faith risk her life over this."
"A moment, I need to connect you to Director Piggot."
A moment later, a gruff voice I was quite familiar with came on the line.
"So, according to the transcript here you've apprehended Tattletale, and she claims her life would be in danger due to moles in the PRT if placed in our custody?"
"Yes, that's correct. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"
"My gut tells me that she's full of shit, but the prospect of moles in the local PRT is distressingly plausible. My advice would be to transfer her to the custody of a different PRT branch at the earliest possible convenience and keep an extremely close eye on her in the meantime."
"We have a Tinkertech VTOL aircraft capable of transonic speeds with a flight duration exceeding six hours. Do you have any advice on where we can send her?"
"I need to contact head office; give me a few minutes to call you back."
Ten minutes later, Piggot indeed called back.
"Head office says to transfer her to Houston Texas as quickly as possible. Happy flying."
…Right, looks like I was going to lose a good chunk of my evening to another villain deportation.
…I was definitely going to tape Tattletale's mouth shut.
(Emmy)
It was Friday, the 28th of January when Rose paged me.
"Emmy, we have a call for you or Ruggedizer. It's from Dragon."
"Connect her please."
A moment later, the phone extension in my office rang. I picked it up.
"Hello, this is Dragon speaking."
"You've reached Emmy Sykes. What can I help you with?"
There was barely any hint of a pause before Dragon replied. Accounting for signal lag, that was a fair bit quicker than human reaction times. Hmmm.
"It's about Armsmaster; I'm worried that he's going to seriously hurt himself."
I blinked.
"Please explain?"
"It's the Quantum Uploading Device currently going through evaluation. Armsmaster's decided that he's going to build himself a synthetic body in the event of it being approved. The issue is that his technology is a lot more prone to sudden issues and intensive maintenance than Reliabuilt products, and I'm worried that in his stubborn insistence to do it himself, he's going to get himself stuck in a malfunctioning body. That's not even considering the utter disaster that could ensue if he decides to also develop his own uploading machine."
I groaned,
"Guessing you've already tried to persuade him to use a Reliabuilt body?"
"Yes, but to be completely honest he's developed a bit of a grudge towards you. He acknowledges that it's stupid and unprofessional, but he can't help feel jealous about everything Ruggedizer has accomplished."
Ah. That made sense. After a moment, an idea occurred to me.
"Would he be willing to use a body you design? I do believe your specialty is reverse-engineering, so you should be able to make a body that's super-reliable like mine with a bit of work."
"That could actually work."
That response was definitely too fast. Something was fishy here.
"I'll probably need to come visit you with a suit, unless you want to ship a spare body up to Toronto."
"It's always nice to have guests; does Sunday work?"
"It does, actually."
There was a pause, before I asked,
"You really care about Armsmaster, don't you?"
"Yes. I… I love him."
The conversation quickly wound down after that, there was an exchange of formalities, and we disconnected. Shortly afterwards, Rose informed me that there was another call, this time from Taylor.
"Hi Taylor. Anything I can do for you?"
"Hi Emmy. I'm wondering if I can get my taste buds adjusted? A lot of my favorite foods from before just don't taste right anymore. Also, Victoria's asked if I can get her and Amelia a tour of the factory? Is that ok?"
I thought for a moment.
"Sure, you and the Dallon sisters can come over. Does Sunday afternoon work?"
"I've got a thing Saturday, so yeah that works fine."
XZR-2
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2022
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