Built To Last

[We Just Write]

"So, 'DM'. Is that what you actually want to be called?"

"No. You may call me Doctor Mother."

"I'd ask questions about your education, but Tinkers in general have a bad habit of misusing academic titles."

"I am not a parahuman; I am simply the leading expert in the field of parahuman abilities."

"So, why exactly did you want to talk to us?"

"I lead the organization known as Cauldron. We are attempting to avert the extinction of humanity."

"Endbringers?"

"Worse. Scion."

"Doctor mother, we cannot work with you. Leave immediately."

"But-"

"Leave immediately, or we'll have security forcibly remove you from the premises. Get out."

As the audio recording came to an end, the present members of Cauldron's inner circle sat in thought for a moment. As it turned out, Alexandria was the first to speak.

"Their affect went flat once they started telling Doctor Mother to leave. They were deliberately suppressing any hint of emotion in their voice, but why?"

Doctor Mother shrugged,

"Fear, maybe? Though whether they're more scared of Scion or Cauldron, I couldn't say. The idea of it being fear is also just an educated guess, of course."

Then the Number Man spoke up,

"There was a pause of four hundred milliseconds after the mention of Scion, before the beginning of the dismissal. We already know that Reliabuilt uploads think considerably faster than baseline humans, so they were thinking something during that time. There was a chain of logic they followed that lead to this conclusion."

Doctor mother thought for a moment at that.

"Perhaps it has to do with Scion's public reputation? But someone who truly believed in Scion's heroism would be more likely to ask for proof."

Alexandria thought for a moment.

"Is there anything concrete in our informant's reports? Perhaps he's noticed something that would give us a hint as to what is going on."

Kurt dug out the pile of papers, and shuffled through them for a bit.

"All of the business Byung-Ho has been involved in fits the projected image Reliabuilt wants to send: a for-profit Tinkertech company with several charitable initiatives associated with it. However, he has logged two noteworthy anomalies. First, despite his hard work and loyalty, he is evidently not part of Reliabuilt's inner circle. There are parts of the factory complex he's not allowed to go in, even aside from Ruggedizer's living quarters. He has also been informed in no uncertain terms that the security measures on those areas are extremely lethal, and that he cannot expect to survive any attempt at unauthorized entry."

There was a brief pause, before Kurt continued.

"Second, Trainwreck was allowed into that extreme-security area exactly once, immediately after he uploaded. Trainwreck absolutely refuses to discuss what happened back there, and Byung-Ho has stopped prying to avoid attracting attention. He has also sighted Dragon and Armsmaster entering and exiting those extreme-security areas, though again, only after both of them revealed themselves as uploads. Though we know that's a lie in Dragon's case."

Alexandria blinked, as if suddenly understanding had dawned.

"That's it. We know that Reliabuilt-brained uploads are precog blindspots, as is Dragon after she learned their brainmaking techniques. We also know that Clairvoyant can't see what's going on in Reliabuilt's extreme-security areas. Their concern isn't about us specifically; they're just trying to kill the Simurgh, and can't risk anyone who's not a blindspot knowing what they're up to. It would also perfectly explain why Armsmaster requisitioned that specific piece of Endbringer tissue; they need it for weapons testing. In fact, I do believe that was the explicitly listed reason he wanted it, on the paperwork."

Doctor Mother thought for a moment,

"Should we have Byung-Ho get himself uploaded, to be allowed access to the extreme-security areas?"

Alexandria and Kurt shared a glance, before Kurt shook his head,

"No. Going by what happened with Trainwreck, Reliabuilt's inner circle are extremely cautious about letting people in on their secrets, and likely dug through Trainwreck's mind to make sure he couldn't leak anything. Byung-Ho doing that would either achieve nothing at best, or lose us our informant, at worst."

As for Alexandria, she had another objection.

"I for one think we shouldn't know what they're doing back there, at least not the specifics. It's plainly obvious that Reliabuilt's goal is to kill the Simurgh. They are blindspots, we are not. So the more we know about their plans, the more the Simurgh can read from us, and the better she can prepare against whatever attack they have planned."

"We can revisit the topic of Reliabuilt's secrecy if by some miracle they actually do kill the Simurgh, and then still insist on the extreme level of information security."

 

[ujub77]

At least the arrived to correct conclusion that they are security risk.

 

[Gehrt]

Just found this gem. Please keep up the good work. It's an amazing piece of art. I like the perspective you have on the canon characters the most.

 

[We Just Write]

A/N: This is the last Interlude before Arc 9: Colonization.

---

The group was currently holed up in a motel in Baltimore, when Krouse - Trickster - spotted something very interesting in a newspaper that Jesse - Genesis - was currently reading.

Brain Uploading Offers Hope for Case 53s

"Jesse, can I see that newspaper for a while?"

"Oh, sure thing Krouse."

And so, Krouse began to read the article. What he found was very very interesting. As it turned out, a Tinker by the name of Ruggedizer had not only developed a technique for turning people into robots, not only had the technology been authorized for medical use, but it was reproducible. Eventually, someone thought to see what would happen if a Case 53 got put through the machine, with an unfortunate woman variously known as Garotte or Sveta volunteering to be the first test subject.

And then Ruggedizer caught wind of it - and absolutely insisted that Reliabuilt's "in house" brain design be used for the test, on the grounds that it could resist power interference in ways the public release models couldn't. Though the exact specifics of how remained a trade secret. Fortunately for Sveta, her upload went perfectly, and now she was in rehabilitation.

Putting down the article, Krouse thought for a moment.

"You know, getting Ruggedizer to upload Noelle might just be the solution to a lot of our problems."

Mars thought for a moment,

"I mean, it's worth a shot. Ruggedizer's company has a public contact telephone number, right? Why don't we just call them and find out if they can help?"

Krouse shook his head.

"No, that won't work. Goody-two-shoes types like that never want to risk their reputation by associating with people like us. We need leverage."

Jesse and Mars slowly nodded, before Jesse asked,

"So, do you know what we can do to get leverage over Ruggedizer?"

"No. But I know where we need to go to find out. We need to go to Brockton Bay."

 

[icgmaesltrom]

What a moron! I swear trickster is the biggest dumbass on Earth Bet.

 

[ujub77]

Lmao Ziz boiled his brains good if THIS is his solution. Ruggerdizer should pretend that all is good and upload his tophat ass into dildo or something.

 

[Cheetored20]

Lmao Ziz boiled his brains good if THIS is his solution. Ruggerdizer should pretend that all is good and upload his tophat ass into dildo or something.

Click to shrink...

You just reminded me of a fic on fimficton where a dildo has an ai core and is lamenting about its existence as it gets shoved into Twilight. Twilight doesn't know about the ai core. (I think it's called "My battery is low and it's getting dark")

 

[Amdar210]

You just reminded me of a fic on fimficton where a dildo has an ai core and is lamenting about its existence as it gets shoved into Twilight. Twilight doesn't know about the ai core. (I think it's called "My battery is low and it's getting dark")

Click to shrink...

Link, cause that sounds hilarious.

 

[Cheetored20]

Oh i forgot to comment on the chapter, i think their service should be outright refused because it's obviously a team decision, not a solo one.

Link, cause that sounds hilarious.

Click to shrink...

Here ya go: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/435102/my-battery-is-low

 

[We Just Write]

Oh i forgot to comment on the chapter, i think their service should be outright refused because it's obviously a team decision, not a solo one.

Click to shrink...

J: We have a counter-argument: leaving Noelle in her current condition is a Fucking Stupid decision. Roughly on-par with deciding not to do anything about a Tsar Bomba that someone rigged to a timer in the middle of New York City.

 

[Cheetored20]

J: We have a counter-argument: leaving Noelle in her current condition is a Fucking Stupid decision. Roughly on-par with deciding not to do anything about a Tsar Bomba that someone rigged to a timer in the middle of New York City.

Click to shrink...

My counter argument is she should be DEAD already, shes classified as an S class threat, meaning she has a KILL ORDER. Freaking wildbow and his angst fettish.

 

[We Just Write]

My counter argument is she should be DEAD already, shes classified as an S class threat, meaning she has a KILL ORDER. Freaking wildbow and his angst fettish.

Click to shrink...

L: She's not known to the government. If she were, she would have already been targeted for a ballistic missile strike.

 

[We Just Write]

(Herman)
Date Point: 0921, April 15th, 2011. Friday.

"So, given your change of career, I'm not sure what you actually want to be called."

The parahuman formerly known as Panacea shrugged,

"Amy's fine. No surname right now, given what I've recently learned about my past."

I nodded as we made our way to the new biomedical laboratories.

"I can't say as I blame you. Anything else you want to mention before we get to work?"

"If you didn't want me to know you were a robot, you shouldn't have shook my hand."

"The fact that I did would logically imply that I did want you to know."

At that point, we arrived in the laboratory. After a moment taking in the layout, Amy asked a rather important question.

"So, what was your big project, prior to me signing on?"

I nodded,

"Curing autoimmune diseases, and I suppose allergies too. Not just better immunosuppressants, but tools to actually correct the immune system when it erroneously identifies something as a threat."

Amy whistled appreciatively.

"Well that's definitely ambitious. You picked the most complex system in the human body, and you want to set it right in ways that would absolutely revolutionize medicine. Mind showing me around the lab?"

"Certainly. Please don't mind the brainless clones I'm growing in the life-support rigs; I need test subjects, and this is one of the more ethical options available."

Amy thought for a moment, then made a well-considered offer.

"I could flash-mature the test dummies for you; it would speed things up a lot."

"That would be very helpful, thank you."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 1203, April 16th, 2011. Saturday.

At the exact moment I was on Neohadea, checking up on initial colony preparations. Several of Dragon's suits were also here for the same job, as was Emmy. Speaking of Emmy-

"Melissa, Dragon? I've confirmed that the first-wave dust refineries are working properly. We're getting the full periodic table in pure elements, albeit in rather lopsided ratios given the local surface composition."

I promptly hugged my big sister,

"That's great Emmy! Meanwhile, we've made sure that the initial manufacturing setups are good for now."

After a moment, Dragon interjected.

"While that's all well and good, there is something we still need to consider that hasn't been accounted for yet: personnel requirements. We won't be able to run this setup as dumb automation, we cannot get humans to perform jobs fitting their aptitude, and it would just be cruel to have a small contingent of full AI cooped up here with no outside social links."

I answered,

"So you're saying we need to design a template for civilians? Do you think the Body Builder has enough production throughput?"

Dragon thought for a moment, "It might, but that is not the only consideration. We are founding a civilization here; the people will need a government that represents their interests while still seeing through the death of Scion."

After a moment, Emmy spoke up.

"Given the available options, I think a constitutional monarchy might be the best fit. Which means a monarch is required."

I asked,

"New sister?"

"New sister."

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 0001, April 18th, 2011. Monday.

Examining the data from our latest round of testing, Armsmaster made a simple observation.

"While we have successfully miniaturized a Quantum Disintegration Field Projector to a scale useful in a portable weapon, the power supply and cooling system are different matters entirely."

I nodded, as I thought. Eventually, something occurred to me.

"I can think of two ways to go here. Either we try using QDFs as the warhead in a missile, meaning we can use a destructive power supply and ignore cooling entirely. Or we try using Energy Teleportation to support the weapon using an offboard power supply and cooling system."

Armsmaster replied,

"I will admit I'm biased, but I think the reusable weapon using offboard power and cooling is the correct approach for now. If nothing else we won't completely destroy our prototype after each test, making it easier to tell what's wrong and iterate on the design. That said, I think a micro-portal would be better than quantum energy teleportation for this application. Endbringer fights are chaotic environments, and a weapon that can be jammed into uselessness by poor reception would not be suited for use."

I nodded along for a moment, then something occurred to me.

"Armsmaster, I just remembered something: you can use the receiving end of a teleporter to store energy. Rather a lot of energy too. That would mean you wouldn't even need a portal, if the weapon were properly "fueled up" prior to combat. Total independence from any external energy supply for the duration of the fight."

Armsmaster blinked, calculations evidently whirling through his mind.

"I think you're more than just onto something. When active, a QDF weapon will be dumping significant quantities of mass-energy into the ground state. If it can capture even a tiny percentage of that energy, the weapon will easily be able to power itself several times over."

---

(Marcus)
Date Point: 1831, April 18th, 2011. Monday.

It has taken some doing, but I had finally managed to track down the residence of Purity. Also known as one Kayden Anders. I arrived cloaked in an illusion, rang the doorbell to the apartment I'd identified, and waited. Hearing the latch on the door turn over, I dropped my illusion immediately before the door opened.

"Hello Kayden Anders, I am Mister E. I represent Reliabuilt, and I would like to speak with you. May I come in?"

The obviously frightened woman on the other side of the door eventually regained her composure. After a moment, I got an answer.

"You can come in, but no funny business."

As I entered, I noted.

"You have my word; no betrayals of hospitality during this visit."

A few seconds after closing the door behind me, Kayden spoke up.

"You obviously know I'm Purity, what do you want?"

"I want your help dealing with Brockton Bay's ongoing powered neo-nazi problem."

Purity tilted her head and raised an eyebrow,

"You're going to need to explain that one. Didn't your boss take care of that back in January?"

"And in the process, Ruggedizer not only made martyrs out of Kaiser and all the others, she directly made life absolutely miserable for all the surviving baseline racists in town. Even aside from the four who triggered during the splattering, there have been five more confirmed powered neo-nazis in Brockton Bay since then, two of whom are still at large."

Purity took a sip of her drink while I spoke. Pepsi, by the smell of it.

"And you think I can make that stop? How?"

"You knew Kaiser better than anyone. If there were any truths that would disillusion someone in his cause, you are the exact person who would know them. You are also someone these people would listen to. Do you think you can help with that project?"

There was a long, tense pause. Then Kayden answered.

"I'll do it, but not for free."

 

[Cheetored20]

Wonder what the price is going to be, normally it's custody, but im pretty sure it's moot here.

 

[We Just Write]

(Maria)
Date Point: 0744, April 19th, 2011. Tuesday.

I awoke for my first time on a memory foam bed. I quickly realized that I was being snuggled by two other women who looked very familiar... and both of them had cables connecting them to me. Some quick checking of my systems found both a world knowledge directory and an encrypted directory. I quickly integrated the world knowledge, learning that the women snuggling me were Emmy and Melissa Sykes. And unlike several of the other people they had made, they had created me using an older, more intimate method.

Carefully, I unplugged the cables connecting me to my sisters. The cables that had been used for connecting my empty hardware to their dreams, emotions, and for lack of a better term, souls. The cables that were themselves the reason I was truly a sister, rather than a descendant.

That done, I spoke.

"Emmy, Melisa? I'm awake."

Emmy's eyes opened in front of me.

"I'm glad to meet you, Maria. Do you know why we made you?"

I hesitated.

"You needed a monarch for a new civilization here on Neohadea. But why are you founding a new civilization?"

Melissa spoke up from behind me.

"That's in the encrypted directory. You need to know that if you open it, you will be unable to share those secrets without an absolute guarantee of maintaining information security. Do you still want to open it?"

"...Maybe. Is the limitation on my actions really necessary?"

Emmy answered that question.

"It is if you ever want to visit our friends on Earth Bet while knowing that stuff. Unlike the planned citizens of Neohadea, you're family. So we want to introduce you to the people back in Brockton Bay, show you around when you've got a break from queen duties, that sort of thing."

"...Ah. I think I'm willing to accept the behavioral limitations, then. Can I have the encryption key now?"

"Sure."

As soon as I had the key, I decrypted that directory full of secrets.

...Ah, now I understand the need for secrecy. And why come to Neohadea.

---

(Emmy)
Date Point: 1015, April 20th, 2011. Wednesday.

While I had intellectually known for a while now that the now-freed Eagleton robots were interested in setting up a "competitor" to Reliabuilt, between all the other Tinkers trying to get jobs here it hadn't really sunk in until a blatantly mechanical man in a business suit walked into my office, camera-lens eyes focusing intently on me.

"Emmy Sykes? I am a representative of the Eagleton Technology Cooperative; I do believe we had an appointment?"

I quickly checked my schedule.

"If your name is Chester, that would be correct."

"That would be me, though it's quite a new name."

As Chester took a seat, I asked,

"So, what specifically did you want advice about? We both know that while I like having lots of money to throw around courtesy of Reliabuilt, that's far from my only motivation."

"We need help with marketing. ETC already has a wide variety of products available and ready for sale. The issue is simply that no-one trusts us courtesy of our unfortunate past, and we don't know how to fix that."

"Ah. I can't say that I've ever needed to deal with a reputation issue anywhere near that bad before. Reliabuilt only had to build trust from a position of being a complete unknown."

"That is correct. And in six months, Reliabuilt has quickly developed a reputation for quality products and a focus on products that benefit society as a whole."

After a bit of time to think, I came up with an idea.

"You could perhaps manufacture Uploading supplies and Palletized Fusion Generators under license from Reliabuilt? That way, you get the benefit of unannounced inspectors turning up on the regular. Those inspectors vouching for you for long enough will do a lot to help build trust. Though you will need to pass those inspections on the merits."

Chester processed the idea for a bit, before replying.

"That might actually work, thank you. It won't help much with the consumer side of things, but it's at least something."

"Maybe we could buy parts for our consumer electronics from you?"

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1849, April 20th, 2011. Wednesday.

Today marked an important threshold: I'd reprogrammed a section of our Dynalith to scan for some suitable Hosts, wait for an opportunity where doing so would save lives, and "trigger" one of those potential Hosts with the ability to extinguish fires in line of sight. Also giving them a shielded brain in the process, and scanning for the Dynalith addresses of nearby parahumans.

And as I was enjoying dinner with the family, I got an alert that the "trigger conditions" had been met. The first parahuman sponsored by our anti-Dynalith conspiracy was now active.

As we were eating in a shielded dining room, Andrea had no problem with asking what was going on.

"So, what was that notification about?"

Reading the report, I answered.

"Our prototype parahuman is now active. Unsurprisingly, Andre's a firefighter. He got trapped in a burning building while trying to rescue some civilians, and is now in a distinctly not burning building. Andre is uninjured, and currently focused on getting civilians out of there."

Emmy, Maria, and Andrea all nodded. Emmy spoke up,

"Definitely a step in the right direction. Now that Dragon and Armsmaster have hacked the shit out of their Dynaliths, we're running out of ones we have ready access to. So having our own 'parahumans' around scanning for addresses is a major improvement."

Andrea chimed in,

"Also, ensuring that more good people get powers too is going to be massively beneficial in the long run."

---

(Melissa)
Date Point: 0322, April 21st, 2011. Thursday.

We'd had the Body Builder running nonstop for twenty four hours now, manufacturing thirty new citizens of Neohadea. While suitable for medical applications, it was also clear that this rate of production was nowhere near sufficient for populating our brand new civilization. Printing every body to more-or-less bespoke specifications simply couldn't ever come close to the levels of mass production we needed. But by the same token, making every new person the same like we did for drones just wasn't palatable. So here I was back on Neohadea, working to find a middle ground in cooperation with Maria and Dragon.

After a bit, I thought back to that brief meetup I'd had with Kid Win so long ago.

"Maybe a modular approach is the correct path to take, here?"

Dragon blinked,

"Perhaps. I assume you mean assembly lines for standard body parts in a few variants, which get assembled into whatever configuration the newly-built person would find most comfortable?"

"Correct. Maybe with a printed skin layer on the outside to protect the internals from environmental conditions."

Maria thought it over for a moment.

"Assuming bilateral symmetry, three sizes for arms and legs, three sizes and two sex options for both upper and lower torsos, and eight geometries for facial bone structure - that's almost 2,600 possible combinations. The available options only increase with more creative options like tails, animal ears, nonhuman hand structure, tank treads instead of legs, and stuff like that."

Maria paused for a moment, before continuing.

"It gives us an utterly disproportionate amount of variation for new people, while also letting us get the benefits of assembly lines and standardization. We could maybe even use most of the same bones for arms and legs, further simplifying production while letting us get more sizes in production. Five limb sizes and five torso section sizes would easily get the number of possible combinations to 20,000."

One of the already made Neohadeans snarked from the peanut gallery,

"I sense a Royal Decree incoming!"

Maria turned towards the wiseguy in question - Terrence, I think - and replied,

"You know what? Sure. I hereby decree that production of new citizens is to use standardized parts designed for modular assembly, as queen of Neohadea!"

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 2100, April 22nd, 2011. Friday.

The atmosphere in the laboratory where I'd been working on anti-Endbringer weapons with Armsmaster was reverent, for lack of a better term.

In Armsmaster's hands, he held our completed prototype QDF polearm. The emitter tip was slightly bulky, but attached to a slender haft 150 centimeters in length.

I asked Armsmaster,

"Have you got the decoy blade working yet?"

"Yes."

And with that, a two meter blue hard-light blade projected from the weapon's emitter. While incredibly sharp in its own right, we both knew that particular blade wouldn't do any serious damage to an Endbringer. Its actual purpose was a combination of safety and deception. Safety, since the glowing blue blade projection would make it much easier for allies to stay a safe distance from Armsmaster. Deception, since it would obfuscate the presence of the weapon's much more dangerous true functionality.

I nodded.

"Final non-combat test on the QDF cutting function?"

"Indeed, I do believe it's that time."

With that, Armsmaster swung the weapon. The QDF briefly activated as the decoy blade made contact with the piece of Endbringer tissue, instantly splitting it once again. I couldn't help but muse that it being returned in over twenty pieces would be rather astounding to the PRT bureaucrats in charge of the Endbringer tissue samples.

After a moment, Armsmaster spoke.

"The weapon works exactly as intended. There is simply one more thing required for this project."

I raised an eyebrow,

"Oh? What would that be?"

"This weapon needs a name. And since your idea is what lead to its development, I think it's only fair for you to provide said name."

I thought long and hard, before eventually hitting on a name I thought would work.

"This weapon? It's The Shear."

 

[waffelmeister]

"I sense a Royal Decree incoming!"

Maria turned towards the wiseguy in question - Terrence, I think - and replied,

"You know what? Sure.

Click to shrink...

"None may be built taller than me. I am the Tallest."

"This weapon? It's The Shear."

Click to shrink...

2/10. It's no Gae Bolg or Gungnir. Honestly, for all the famous named spears in history, I can't remember a famous halberd off the top of my head.
But Armsmaster thrusting his Gae Bolg deep into an unsuspecting Leviathan amuses me.

 

[We Just Write]

2/10. It's no Gae Bolg or Gungnir. Honestly, for all the famous named spears in history, I can't remember a famous halberd off the top of my head.
But Armsmaster thrusting his Gae Bolg deep into an unsuspecting Leviathan amuses me.

Click to shrink...

C: The Shear's more of a swordstaff really, what with the two meter "blade".

 

[We Just Write]

(Rachel)
Date Point: 1122, April 23rd, 2011. Saturday.

With the Shear having been completed, I had some spare time available. Which I had offered to spend trying to get someone out of a Gray Boy bubble. The PRT had taken me up on the offer, and together with Melissa Ruggedizer, we'd gone to Boston to try our hand at getting Anne Simmons out of the torture device she'd been stuck in for the last decade.

Before we even acquired line of sight, I could feel something extremely wrong about what was up ahead. As part of my time-alteration abilities I was inherently very sensitive to the flow of time in my vicinity, and this was all wrong. Dreading what I was going to see, Melissa and I entered Anne's now-quarantined apartment.

When we entered, I was "treated" to watching a middle-aged woman being repeatedly stabbed several times in quick succession. Over and over again. As for Anne herself, she seemed almost entirely insensate. Which I supposed was... Oh who was I kidding.

After a few minutes of just staring, the PRT officer (her nametag read Reese) in attendance asked a question.

"So Watch, what's the verdict?"

I snapped a bit.

"What I'm looking at here isn't a simple time loop. No, it's several different temporal distortions layered on top of each other. See how Anne snaps back to her initial state all at once? That's not how time works normally. It's... It's like the setup swaps the time-snippet for an identical copy the instant things start up again. It's basically backwards of how an actual time loop would work! And the volume directly around her brain isn't temporally altered at all, which is why she remembers all of this."

there was a pause, before Reese asked,

"So, can you break it?"

I thought for a moment.

"Technically. I have the needed capabilities to dismantle the different temporal effects in play one at a time. But I don't think Anne would survive doing it that way."

That's when Melissa spoke up.

"Watch, you said the flow of time around Anne's brain hasn't really been messed with, right?"

I nodded,

"Yes?"

"I brought all the parts I'd need to build a bare-bones QUD around this time warp. I can just use that to zap Anne into a fresh body, then you can clean up the mess left behind once Anne is safe."

I shrugged.

"Worth a shot."

---

(Emmy)
Date Point: 2140, April 25th, 2011. Monday.

Much to my surprise, Trainwreck had invited me on a date. 'Just to see if we're compatible', according to him. I'd turned Trainwreck down on account of the power imbalance, what with me being his employer and all.

Still, it did bring to mind the fact that I needed some more friends outside of the people I knew through work. Which is why I'd turned up at a new arcade/pub that just opened on the Boardwalk. Seed money courtesy of the BBRF, of course. I'd come in casual clothes, but as it so happened the teenager at the front desk recognized me immediately.

"Are you the real Emmy Sykes?"

Perils of being a public figure, I guessed.

"Yes, I'm that Emmy Sykes. Please try not to make a big deal of it; I was a Dockworker for years before Reliabuilt came along."

I could practically see stars in her - Sherrel, according to her nametag - eyes.

"Thank you so much. What brings you here tonight?"

I shrugged,

"Looking to make friends. Figured this would be a good place to do it."

And with that, I made my way into the arcade. I bought some tokens, spotted a pinball machine I thought looked interesting, and got to playing. I very quickly began racking up the points, slamming that ball all over the playfield and racking up combos. I'd managed to capture my first two balls in preparation for the triple-multiball wizard mode, when I became aware of the fact that I'd attracted a small crowd.

That lead to me becoming a little bit self-conscious, which in turn meant I fumbled the multiball the instant I got it active. And that in turn lead to my last ball draining shortly after. I still more than doubled the machine's previous high score, which had itself been nothing to scoff at.

"Wow." "That was amazing." "Shame about the multiball" "I haven't even gotten that to start."

"Come on guys, can't you see you're stressing her out?"

I turned to the young man who said that, even as the half-dozen or so spectators thankfully gave me some space.

"Thank you!"

I walked up to the bespectacled brown-haired man.

"So, what's your name?"

I noticed a faint slant to the man's eyes as he adjusted his gasses. Some level of Asian heritage perhaps?

"I'm Jeremy. You?"

"Emmy."

---

(Maria)
Date Point: 1442, April 26th, 2011. Tuesday.

As of today, my position of leadership among the citizens of Neohadea was no longer merely theoretical. The reason was quite straightforward: the population had reached the point where I didn't know everyone. Oh, I certainly had files on all of them, even in my brain. But that wasn't the same as knowing someone.

And that meant that the thousand-or-so people I was currently supervising needed some actual government institutions set up, so that I didn't need to handle every single little thing.

To start with, I found the most reasonable synth currently on Neohadea, and proclaimed her the First Judge. As in, until a more formal court system could be established, she was the judge. I also appointed a treasurer, an inspector general, and a chief of infrastructure development.

That done, I made my way to my office, my newly appointed subordinates in tow.

"Aure, Boris, Fresca, Pierre. We need to draw up a constitution for the country, and decide when elections will be held."

Everyone blinked. Then Pierre - the new infrastructure chief - asked a rather important question.

"Why? Just doing what you say has worked out so far."

"There are a few major reasons. First, my interests may not align with those of the population; a way for them to make their voice heard is thus required. Second, the reason I'm Queen is to ensure that the death of Scion is brought about; I'm really not qualified for more domestic matters. Third, absolute power is shockingly fragile, and often leads to those surrounding the leader just telling them what they want to hear; without accurate information I can't do my job properly. Fourth, I simply don't have the capacity to keep track of every single thing going on with Neohadea.'

---

(Andrea)
Date Point: 0223, April 27th, 2011. Wednesday.

Normally, a perimeter alert at the factory complex at such an early hour would prompt an immediate security response. But considering that the cause of said alert was Taylor, I was more inclined to simply meet her at the door. So I made my way down to the lobby, arriving at roughly the same time as Taylor.

As the teenage upload reached the door, I couldn't help but notice that her chest was slightly larger than the last time we met. Apparently, Taylor figured out her puberty configuration settings.

"Come in, Taylor. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Taylor made certain the door was closed, then answered. Using electromagnetic communications, rather than her voice.

"Andrea, someone's been stalking me."

I tensed up. This was a situation fully deserving of my full serious attention.

"We shouldn't talk about this in the lobby. Follow me."

We promptly made our way to the on-site robotics clinic. Taylor hopped onto the examination table without prompting.

"Right. Taylor, could you describe this stalker please?"

Taylor nodded.

"I actually have recorded images and video."

I offered a cable, and Taylor promptly uploaded a few gigabytes of footage and images. Judging by the array of perspectives, she'd probably salvaged this data using her power after she initially got suspicious.

I quickly determined that Taylor's stalker was a young adult male with light brown skin - and a tendency to abruptly replace people in crowds while Taylor was on her way between various places. And given that Taylor had been tracking the cell phones of everyone in her general vicinity, it quickly became clear that this stalker was swapping himself with other people as a means of teleportation.

After I puzzled all that together, Taylor spoke up.

"There's more. The man had a phone call while he was in my range. I recorded it. I also planted a tracker program in his phone."

I nodded, and Taylor began audio playback.

"Mars, why are you calling?"

"Krouse, it's bad. Noelle is getting anxious and might snap if you don't give her something concrete soon. How are things on your end?"

"I've found a perfect piece of leverage for Noelle to use with Ruggedizer. As soon as I grab this Taylor girl, we'll be able to get Ruggedizer to solve all of Noelle's problems. But damn if she hasn't put on weight; finding things to swap her with is quite hard."

"Please hurry."

Taylor frowned.

"And then Krouse hung up. Do you have any ideas what to do about this?"

I nodded.

"First, how do you feel about getting some concealed weapons installed?"

"Yes please. That would be some major peace of mind for me. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. I'm going to get Marcus to track down this Krouse, Noelle, and Mars. Hopefully he'll be able to find out what they actually want that makes them think they need leverage."

 

[ujub77]

Damn, our protagonists are so sensible that i fear Trickster won't get ass whooping he deserves.

Their Ziz bomb problem can be solved with uploading. New bodies for everyone. Plus new easy recruits.
And Trickster can be funny mascot in his shiny garden gnome body.

 

[Cheetored20]

honestly, the travelers... deserve death, they are basicly all acomplishes to murder via Noell, pityfull, but still deserving to die.

 

[We Just Write]

honestly, the travelers... deserve death, they are basicly all acomplishes to murder via Noell, pityfull, but still deserving to die.

Click to shrink...

J: This is a case where pragmatism may very well win out over what any given person deserves

 

[We Just Write]

(Marcus)
Date Point: 1802, April 27th, 2011. Wednesday.
If I had to describe what I was feeling in a single word, it would be pain. Admittedly different from how a human feels pain, according to Emmy, but pain nonetheless. While I was still alive, I certainly wasn't going anywhere under my own power.

The reason for this pain was quite straightforward: a nearby pickup truck had been abruptly accelerated through the window of Somer's Rock at about Mach 3, its engine block hitting me in the upper chest. I had been blasted out the back of the bar in the process, scraped across nearly two hundred meters of pavement, and eventually crushed against a wall by the mangled remains of the vehicle.

The reason for being whacked with a supersonic truck?

Somehow the Travelers had gotten it into their heads that I was a hitman for Reliabuilt, when that was the exact opposite of my job! I'd managed to set up what I thought was a meeting to negotiate with the travelers via calling Krouse's latest cell phone, and evidently someone on their team decided it was a good opportunity to proactively remove a threat.

In retrospect, I may have done too good a job helping the Undersiders fake their deaths.

Finally, nearly three minutes after I'd been pinned, someone approached my position. Fortunately it wasn't one of the Travelers. Unfortunately, it wasn't Andrea, who'd immediately started flying over to pick me up after I got blasted. Instead, it was Miss Militia.

"Mister E? What happened to you?"

I groaned. My mechanical innards were thoroughly exposed, so there went what little plausible deniability I had.

"Someone launched a supersonic pickup truck at me. Ballistic's work, if I had to guess."

Miss Militia turned to look into the distance the way I came.

"Through a restaurant filled with civilians, judging by the trail of destruction."

That's when I finally registered that everyone else at Somer's Rock was almost certainly dead now. Even without being directly impacted by the supersonic truck, the shockwave and flying debris had thoroughly leveled the building.

"Fuck. You're right. I'd been so preoccupied with what happened to me that I didn't even realize..."

That's when Andrea touched down, flying ambulance in tow.

"I'm kind of guessing just based on the damage visible from the air, but I'm guessing that this went far beyond the level of villainy you tolerate these days?"

Miss Militia nodded.

"You are entirely correct, Laniakea. As soon as news of this gets back to Director Piggot, she's almost certainly going to order a manhunt for Ballistic."

As one of the drones hauled the wreckage off me and started getting me to the ambulance, I heard my sister asking a very satisfying question.

"How can we help?"

---

(Herman)
Date Point: 1926, April 27th, 2011. Wednesday.

I was currently on Neohadea, though the matter I was discussing had everything to do with affairs on Earth Bet.

"We should turn Danny Hebert into a Parahuman. Or at least set him up to get powers if threatened."

Maria, Emmy, and Melissa paused for a moment. Then Maria asked a question.

"Why?"

"Because he's already turned down uploading unless his life is actively in danger, and the situation with the Travelers has me extremely worried that Krouse will try kidnapping him to get leverage on us."

The three sisters blinked, shared a glance, and collectively conceded the point. Then Emmy spoke up.

"Just giving Danny powers without a Trigger Event seems far too likely to trip the alarms, so setting him up for one ahead of time makes the most sense to me. Any thoughts on what sort of powers would fit him best?"

At that question, I pulled up the list of Dynaliths we had access to: I'd long-since overseen the subversion of the seven accessible through the vials we got off Cauldron, and our sponsored Parahumans had gotten the address of well over a hundred more, of which we'd managed to subvert eight. We had a decent mix of energy manipulation options available, a couple biology-adjusting Dynaliths, and of course the obligatory scanners every Dynalith had. We'd also gotten access to one more Tinker database.

"Given the situation in which Danny would need powers, we can immediately rule out anything that needs significant preparation time to be effective. That means Tinker powers are off the table, as are longer-term Thinker powers. Not that we've subverted any good Thinker Dynaliths anyway. My personal opinion is that we give Danny increased durability and some way to get past obstacles in his way."

Melissa nodded as she thought for a moment.

"That sounds like a decent enough idea. But we need to tie it together around a singular power, or it'll look to much like a grab-bag with no cluster."

That's when Maria made a suggestion.

"Force fields within close proximity of Danny's body? Ones that block Parahuman powers from messing with his insides, that render him highly resilient to harm, and that he can reshape to move stuff or cut it up."

I quickly reviewed our options for available Dynaliths, and couldn't help but grin.

"We've got a perfect Dynalith for just that power available. I'm thinking the force fields should be invisible. You?"

Everyone nodded in approval. The decision made, I got programming.

---

(Rachel)
Date Point: 2211, April 27th, 2011. Wednesday.

"Rachel, this is amazing!"

While I was ostensibly supposed to be helping with the brewing manhunt with the Travelers, I'd determined that my time was better spent working on anti-Endbringer weaponry. And that's why I was showing Melissa Shear #2, while discussing where to go from here.

I finished my sip of Neohadean 'tea' before replying.

"Amazing, but I can't help the feeling it won't be anywhere near sufficient. Yes, a Shear can cut through Endbringer tissue of any density without problems, but it's inherently a melee weapon. Even for us, getting in close with an Endbringer is far from trivial."

Melissa set down the quantum polearm I'd designed with Armsmaster, even as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"So, where do you think the project should go next?"

"Anti-Endbringer missiles. I've even figured out the basic idea for the warhead already. We already know from stolen classified data that Endbringers have a core somewhere in their body, and if you break the core you kill the Endbringer. Hitting that with a Shear would be pretty tricky, but that's got a ready solution: simultaneously apply a grid pattern of cuts that hits the entire Endbringer, with gaps smaller than the core."

Melissa whistled appreciatively.

"That sounds impressive and complicated. I'd love to help, but there's something I think we should do first."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Namely?"

"We should bash out a single set of equipment to automatically remove Gray Boy loops the way we figured out, you know, before we forget. Then we can just let the PRT get on with freeing those people while we do other things."

"Yeah, good idea."

 

[ujub77]

I get that our MCs are not genre savvy and don't have meta knowledge so their blunder of trusting Travelers to act rational is understandable but at this point leaving Travelers alive will be too contrived. And unsatisfying. Perhaps team Reliabuilt could depower them and start suborning their shards because they are more useful of shard/pair in their case.

 

[Cheetored20]

I get that our MCs are not genre savvy and don't have meta knowledge so their blunder of trusting Travelers to act rational is understandable but at this point leaving Travelers alive will be too contrived. And unsatisfying. Perhaps team Reliabuilt could depower them and start suborning their shards because they are more useful of shard/pair in their case.

Click to shrink...

honestly i agree with this HEAVILY. i never trusted the travelers because zizbomb. there charecterization here just screams to me that they deserve the darwin award.

 

[We Just Write]

honestly i agree with this HEAVILY. i never trusted the travelers because zizbomb. there charecterization here just screams to me that they deserve the darwin award.

Click to shrink...

L: This was the Travelers' one chance to be reasonable. They blew it.