Just a Phase [Worm]

[Derr]

outside of keeping her in a drug induced comma forever.

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PRT Consultant Thomas Calvert suddenly perks up and relocates to Boston.

 

[Ina_Meishou]

But one has to remember that the PRT is heavy handed for a REASON.

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Nobody is arguing that the PRT doesn't have a reason for being the way they are.

The point is that having a cause, even an admirable one, is not the same thing as your actions in service to the cause being reasonable or well thought out.

The PRT is heavy handed for a reason, sure. But in the context of this particular situation being heavy handed is objectively contrary to their desired ends.

Competence includes the intellectual and emotional maturity to recognize when your standard strategy is a bad fit and changing it. So far, the PRT and Protectorate are conclusively demonstrating a complete lack of ability in that area. Including Armstrong.

They want Taylor to get power tested for entirely understandable, potentially sympathetic (in Armstrong's case) reasons. Their standard method isn't working...so a competent director would change the method.

They want Taylor to join them as a Ward for entirely understandable, potentially sympathetic (in Armstrong's case) reasons. Their standard methods aren't working...so a competent director would change the method.

etc.

In comparison, Taylor wants to not be a Ward, and to not allow her image and deeds to serve to increase the PRT or Protectorate's reputation. Which is why her obstructionism and recalcitrance is in fact rational in this context. Any cooperation on her part would be actively counter to her stated goals.

If she gets tested, they can legally (in the context of this story per WoG) force her into the field under their banner. If she cooperates with them to actually be effective, it makes an organization she dislikes look good on the back of her work.

Her going out for Solo Heroics on the other hand, is just her being an idiot teen parahuman. Taylor has her own laundry list of flaws and all that.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

One thing to note is that this Taylor does want to be a hero she even mentioned that she would have been willing to put up with Sophia on the Brockton team since her power makes physical violence against her impossible it was finding out that Emma was also on the team that ruined any chance of her joining since her power can't protect her from Emma's method of bullying.

 

[Evilreadermaximum]

she even mentioned that she would have been willing to put up with Sophia on the Brockton team

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uh no she didn't, she said she'd rather be a villian then be on the same team as Sophia and emma.

 

[DrWhoFan13]

One thing to note is that Taylor does want to be a hero. She even mentioned that she would have been willing to put up with Sophia on the Brockton team.

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I don't recall Taylor saying this. There is literally no mention of Taylor willing to stay on the same team as Sophia. Every single time Taylor mentioned Sophia, it's how even when they're not in the same city she's ruining Taylor's life.

 

[Garreon]

don't think their parental rights go so far as to transfer Taylor without her father signing on for that.

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No, no. They have the absolute authority over Taylor.
Danny waived his parental rights and made her a Ward of the State under Armstrong's recommendation. Right now Taylor is Danny's biological daughter, yes, but her legal guardian is the PRT. Which means that Danny cannot say squat if they decide to transfer her.
Even if he decided to take them to court, just by showing the paperwork, the judge would laugh at Danny before ruling on the PRT's favor. After all he signed that under his own free will and in possession of all his mental faculties, it's not the PRT's fault he didn't see far enough into what could happen in the future.

They just have to frame it as they thinking it will be better if she was sent to a place where she can be "helped".

 

[KingCrimson1081]

uh no she didn't, she said she'd rather be a villian then be on the same team as Sophia and emma.

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I don't recall Taylor saying this. There is literally no mention of Taylor willing to stay on the same team as Sophia. Every single time Taylor mentioned Sophia, it's how even when they're not in the same city she's ruining Taylor's life.

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I admit I was wrong so I was most likely not remembering something right or thinking of a different story.

No, no. They have the absolute authority over Taylor.
Danny waived his parental rights and made her a Ward of the State under Armstrong's recommendation. Right now Taylor is Danny's biological daughter, yes, but her legal guardian is the PRT. Which means that Danny cannot say squat if they decide to transfer her.
Even if he decided to take them to court, just by showing the paperwork, the judge would laugh at Danny before ruling on the PRT's favor. After all he signed that under his own free will and in possession of all his mental faculties, it's not the PRT's fault he didn't see far enough into what could happen in the future.

They just have to frame it as they thinking it will be better if she was sent to a place where she can be "helped".

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Yep once Danny signed Taylor away they stopped caring about his rights as a parent, which will also make it incredibly difficult to get Taylor out of the program if for some reason Danny ever comes to his senses and realizes he made a terrible mistake.

As for putting her in a place that can help Taylor, well their idea of helping is putting her in spandex and showing her off to the adoring public while also throwing her into gang warfare.

 

[WindCall12]

No, no. They have the absolute authority over Taylor.
Danny waived his parental rights and made her a Ward of the State under Armstrong's recommendation. Right now Taylor is Danny's biological daughter, yes, but her legal guardian is the PRT. Which means that Danny cannot say squat if they decide to transfer her.
Even if he decided to take them to court, just by showing the paperwork, the judge would laugh at Danny before ruling on the PRT's favor. After all he signed that under his own free will and in possession of all his mental faculties, it's not the PRT's fault he didn't see far enough into what could happen in the future.

They just have to frame it as they thinking it will be better if she was sent to a place where she can be "helped".

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oof yeah. PRT can transfer her willy Lily.

 

[Xicree]

oof yeah. PRT can transfer her willy Lily.

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Kinda... she has a shield in the Youth Guard against that... but she has to WANT to not be transferred all over the place. And Frankly right now she's too hot headed and stubborn to realize that she landed in the nest of the single most empathetic PRT director she could have... so it's doubtful she'll use that protection.

 

[MovingTarget]

Kinda... she has a shield in the Youth Guard against that... but she has to WANT to not be transferred all over the place. And Frankly right now she's too hot headed and stubborn to realize that she landed in the nest of the single most empathetic PRT director she could have... so it's doubtful she'll use that protection.

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She might fight to stay so she doesn't loose here YG best bud Jim

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Kinda... she has a shield in the Youth Guard against that... but she has to WANT to not be transferred all over the place. And Frankly right now she's too hot headed and stubborn to realize that she landed in the nest of the single most empathetic PRT director she could have... so it's doubtful she'll use that protection.

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Pretty sure she would use the Youth Guard as a shield because being transfered would be doing what the PRT/Protectorate wants and we all know how Taylor feels about that.

 

[BF110C4]

Plus moving out of the city a second time in less than a year is hard physically and mentally. Not to mention the fact that in Boston she at least knows how the local PRT and Protectorate officers think and the Wards don't bother her too much, in any other city she would be facing new and probably unwanted changes, like a department with an incompetent YG rep or a PRT director willing to play dirty.

 

[Xicree]

Pretty sure she would use the Youth Guard as a shield because being transfered would be doing what the PRT/Protectorate wants and we all know how Taylor feels about that.

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Spite might well work to keep her from moving lol.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

ike a department with an incompetent YG rep or a PRT director willing to play dirty.

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They send her back to BB who has both those things.

On a personal note my head canon is that Piggot's plan was to dump Taylor in Boston for a few months before requesting her back after she had cooled off a bit, but obviously that isn't what is going to happen.

 

[BF110C4]

They send her back to BB who has both those things.

On a personal note my head canon is that Piggot's plan was to dump Taylor in Boston for a few months before requesting her back after she had cooled off a bit, but obviously that isn't what is going to happen.

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Parahumans are a rare commodity, once she was relocated on a different state at the dime of Boston Office it would have been unlikely that Armstrong would give her back without something in exchange of equal or greater value.

Piggot was simply in Damage Control mode and her focus was on limiting additional problems inside the ENE Wards, and since sending either Sophia or Emma would have been hard due to the fact they had access to a lawyer plus to keep the peace with Taylor she would have to kick out both she focused on relocating Phase so she was out a rookie Ward instead of two seasoned ones.

 

[Rymu]

Pretty sure Boston and Brockton Bay are in the same state. Unless my geographic knowledge of the north-east is worst that I thought and/or I'm forgetting something mentioned in this fic.

 

[DresdenWinchester]

Pretty sure Boston and Brockton Bay are in the same state. Unless my geographic knowledge of the north-east is worst that I thought and/or I'm forgetting something mentioned in this fic.

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Brockton doesn't have a canon state. But based off of information in canon it can only be in New Hampshire or Maine it can't be in Massachusetts like Boston.

 

[BF110C4]

Pretty sure Boston and Brockton Bay are in the same state. Unless my geographic knowledge of the north-east is worst that I thought and/or I'm forgetting something mentioned in this fic.

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Its an hour by car but in a different state if my memory serves me right.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Parahumans are a rare commodity, once she was relocated on a different state at the dime of Boston Office it would have been unlikely that Armstrong would give her back without something in exchange of equal or greater value.

Piggot was simply in Damage Control mode and her focus was on limiting additional problems inside the ENE Wards, and since sending either Sophia or Emma would have been hard due to the fact they had access to a lawyer plus to keep the peace with Taylor she would have to kick out both she focused on relocating Phase so she was out a rookie Ward instead of two seasoned ones.

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Ideally Piggot was probably thinking that Taylor would want to come back at some point since you know its her home town and her dad still lives there, but Piggot didn't account for Taylor's natural stubbornness messing things up in her department without her actually being there.

As for Piggot doing damage control she is probably regretting her actions at this moment since she put Taylor in touch with a competent Youth Guard rep who has currently gotten her Wards team tied up in red tape and her department placed under investigation so she is probably wishing she got rid of the trouble makers instead of the new girl.

 

[SlickRCBD]

Contracts signed under false pretenses are not legally valid, them trying to convince Danny and Taylor that the custody swap, which was explicitly signed under false pretenses, is incontestable, is...criminal.

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Actually, no. They are valid.
Judges tend to listen to what is actually written in the signed contract, rather than what was promised verbally.
If you didn't read the contract carefully enough, then that's on you. You should have had a lawyer go over it to explain things to you. You can't afford a lawyer and trusted the other party's explanation of what this bit of legalese actually means? Too bad, you should have gotten that explanation/clarification in writing and had the other party sign it before you signed the contract.

They tend to only overturn things when it becomes "unconscionable" or outright illegal, and the bar is rather high for "Unconscionable".
Also law enforcement agencies tend to get some exemptions for plea agreements when it comes to Unconscionable actions and mutual consideration, and of course the obvious about signing under duress.

 

[Ina_Meishou]

Snip

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Fair, but I'd argue that it's entirely reasonable to characterize loss of custody of one's child under false pretenses as unconscionable.

Though as you point out, it's also valid to expect the law to side with their own, particularly given the authors WoG on the way the law has been changed in this AU.

 

[SlickRCBD]

Fair, but I'd argue that it's entirely reasonable to characterize loss of custody of one's child under false pretenses as unconscionable.

Though as you point out, it's also valid to expect the law to side with their own, particularly given the authors WoG on the way the law has been changed in this AU.

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He gave up the custody willingly and knowingly, it is the lack of visitation under false pretenses that he might be able to contest.
He was assured that Boston was only 50 miles away, he could visit Taylor on weekends. Then he gets shut out from her completely. That is the false pretense.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

He gave up the custody willingly and knowingly, it is the lack of visitation under false pretenses that he might be able to contest.
He was assured that Boston was only 50 miles away, he could visit Taylor on weekends. Then he gets shut out from her completely. That is the false pretense.

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To be fair Taylor was the one who shut him out when the PRT convinced him to come over to talk her into power testing.

 

[SlickRCBD]

To be fair Taylor was the one who shut him out when the PRT convinced him to come over to talk her into power testing.

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I believe the false pretenses were that he was giving parental rights similar to the way a boarding school can act in local parentis, not that he could be shut out completely from Taylor.
Nor did the PRT anticipate Taylor's reaction.

 

[Prince Charon]

I believe the false pretenses were that he was giving parental rights similar to the way a boarding school can act in local parentis, not that he could be shut out completely from Taylor.
Nor did the PRT anticipate Taylor's reaction.

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Of course, if it did come to trial, or even a hearing before a judge, the judge might want to hear from Taylor, and Danny would almost certainly be fine with that, while the PRT might be rather a lot less fine with it. That (if they expressed it in court in a way the judge noticed) would probably make the judge rather suspicious, and thus more insistent on Taylor appearing, and assuring her that, yes, she can talk about an ongoing investigation or anything else that the PRT has told her that she can't talk about, as long as it's to answer a question asked on the witness stand.

(Yes, this does require a remotely competent judge who has an interest in appearing fair, which is not even assured in real life, but it's at least plausible that it could happen. Even dishonest judges don't like it when someone is clearly trying to pull a fast one on them.)

 

[Ina_Meishou]

I believe the false pretenses were that he was giving parental rights similar to the way a boarding school can act in local parentis, not that he could be shut out completely from Taylor.
Nor did the PRT anticipate Taylor's reaction.

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This exactly.

"You signed the forms, didn't you?" Jim asked. "You wanted Taylor to live here on base and be afforded the maximum protection of the PRT, and that meant making them her legal guardians."

"Right, right, I remember now," Danny said weakly. "But you said everything would be the same, like boarding school. That Taylor could come home on the weekends."

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The PRT specifically presented this and argued it as being equivalent to Boarding School. When it was actually a permanent adoption.

"I… what?" Danny asked, and Kamil couldn't help but feel bad about the sudden pain and confusion in his voice. He had given those forms to Danny, specifically. But Taylor's well-being came first, no matter how upsetting it was to her father.

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Also, amusingly, Armstrong's inner thoughts indicate that he didn't have to use that specific set of forms, but chose to do so anyway. So he was in fact deliberately lying to the man in an effort to steal custody. He does at least internally consider that lie in service to Taylor's best interest. But given that just a couple paragraphs earlier he was thinking about how strong and worrying her power is and how he needed to put more pressure on her to get her tested and in the field that kind of rings hollow.

As you pointed out, it's not necessarily guaranteed that a Judge would rule in Danny's favor. But it's pretty clear that the PRT were and are being shitstains and skirting the edge of legality.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

But given that just a couple paragraphs earlier he was thinking about how strong and worrying her power is and how he needed to put more pressure on her to get her tested and in the field that kind of rings hollow.

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It is important to remember that Armstrong is a PRT director so he has to be of the mind of putting the organization first or else he wouldn't have gotten the job. To be entirely honest I believe the only reason Armstrong hasn't used a loophole designed specifically to bypass the permissions for powers testing is because he knows that if Taylor doesn't go willingly she won't go at all and thanks to her power they have no real way of forcing her.

 

[Evilreadermaximum]

It is important to remember that Armstrong is a PRT director so he has to be of the mind of putting the organization first or else he wouldn't have gotten the job. To be entirely honest I believe the only reason Armstrong hasn't used a loophole designed specifically to bypass the permissions for powers testing is because he knows that if Taylor doesn't go willingly she won't go at all and thanks to her power they have no real way of forcing her.

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Well that and the youth guard would raise seven kinds of hell about the whole thing.

 

[Garreon]

It is important to remember that Armstrong is a PRT director so he has to be of the mind of putting the organization first or else he wouldn't have gotten the job. To be entirely honest I believe the only reason Armstrong hasn't used a loophole designed specifically to bypass the permissions for powers testing is because he knows that if Taylor doesn't go willingly she won't go at all and thanks to her power they have no real way of forcing her.

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Well that and the youth guard would raise seven kinds of hell about the whole thing.

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Both of those and the fact that, if Kamil tries to force her into power testing, it would make Taylor, snap, pull a rabbit and get the heck out of dodge.
Taylor has them by the balls, but she is also in a very precarious position due to her heroic antics, only reason why she isnt running is because it would push her into stealing to survive, basically become a villain. Her situation is not great but it could be worse.
Imagine if she got sent to L.A? Or worse, Texas?

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Both of those and the fact that, if Kamil tries to force her into power testing, it would make Taylor, snap, pull a rabbit and get the heck out of dodge.

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Or more passive aggressively refuse to show up. The PRT has a duty to fill her needs, what are they going to do, dock her Wards patrol time? Ban her from the gym? "Fine I'll run outside more then." They can't even drag her up by force, since she'll phase through any grab, never mind the hell her Youth Guard rep would raise over attempting to lay hands on her for this.

Taylor has them by the balls, but she is also in a very precarious position due to her heroic antics, only reason why she isnt running is because it would push her into stealing to survive, basically become a villain. Her situation is not great but it could be worse.
Imagine if she got sent to L.A? Or worse, Texas?

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If they tried she'd just phase out of the car on the way to the airport, if not out of the PRT building when they tried to move her.

Which is something Armstrong should be pointing out, if Phase wants to run, the PRT doesn't have a reliable way to stop her, even if they want to resort to lethal force. Even the standby of "wait till she sleeps" is problematical because Thinkers can't track her. Short of supersonic flight or continental range teleporting she couldn't have a better power for running away from anyone.

Basically Armstrong specifically and the PRT generally needs Taylor to willingly buy into being a Ward for anything to work. Save he didn't consider that necessary when first inducting her, and thus found out he needed that buy in long after he burned that bridge. And any attempt at forcing her now is just dynamiting the charred piers and abutments.