Panacea Quest

[serra2]

So...


Basically you are telling me that you all are going to acquiesce to this? That you will meekly accept Emma's Dominion...


First you decide to pick her as a route because she's 'easy'. (never mind it was pointed out that she Held a central fragment of Eden... where as Victoria was perfect as a tool for the role psudo entity..._

But now you bend your knew to her when we have a perfectly good chance of taking her down, then reworking her into something we can use.

What ever. You all deserve what ever it is you get.

Click to shrink...

Deanno's plan seems to be winning, and it involves mindraping or killing Emma.

 

[Lement]

[X] One eye

[X] The nose

[X] The mouth

[X] Both ears.

Click to shrink...

Um. Objectively, as pointed out with the sunset example, if Emma for every day for the rest of her life played at being Slaugherhouse 9 member, she'd still be better than Scion firing one continent-buster in one dimension. Utilitarian value, any of those is worth less than the lives this saves, but Amy holds Victorian not utilitarian values, really.

You can't watch, turning away.
"What is your answer?"

Click to shrink...

Taylor is right. She is scared - and lashing out to establish dominance. I think, partly, she is pissed at seeing the rot of Cauldron, for example, and being powerless to stop it. Others, when taking control of Scion, might become moral vigilantes with that power. Emma? At most, I see her going to judge everyone she meets, and find them all lacking - much like Tattletale. Anyway, she is going to find out fast if we're going to mindrape her.

Furthermore, I oppose killing Emma just because of that. Yeah, fucked up, but guess what? During everyone into Victoria incubators is more than a million times worse. More than a billion times, even. These numbers are a bit inconceivable, but to use the parallel in the post, 1 millionth of total bodily destruction is loss of 0.06 grams of matter for 60k person - and that is still a thousand times worse on the scale. It is kind of hypocritical to kill her over this, especially after going to ask her help.

[X] "I do and have done everything for Victoria, Emma. Compared to her, you're just a backup. Perhaps you wouldn't be if you hadn't left to another city and were still a friend. And there are other options and you know there are if you have copied my memories. I'd rather sacrifice whole word than hurt Victoria like that."
-[X] Take your party and leave her sitting there.
-[X] Have Candle of Invocation Eidolon copy her.

Because guys, Amy has been somewhat sane in letting her fight and stuff.

Lement, you did see that Annie was killed horribly in the update, right? Crushed to death against Victoria's shield. It will take time and resources to revive her, though she does have a nearly up to date personality stored in a Cranial computer.

Click to shrink...

Um, I thought there was only one person with the genes of Taylor Herbert in the world, especially as I never got response to this:

On that note, is there actually now another Skitter or Lady Bug running around? Kinda weird to have that as footnote, especially given that she isn't particularly useful outside directions.

Click to shrink...

Basically, if you have to read brain scan anyway to clone, why scan Skitter's/original Taylor's when you can do Lady Bug's? And given the powerset with relays, it is remarkably useless to have two of it outside as backup.

Although I am not sure why, it appears there is at least one Taylor as opposed to Annie now running around, although I'm not sure if she has Annie's memories or not and any powers or not.

I kinda wonder how Sophia feels about her now, though. She never apologised in person, did she?

 

[Biigoh]

[X] "I do and have done everything for Victoria, Emma. Compared to her, you're just a backup. Perhaps you wouldn't be if you hadn't left to another city and were still a friend. And there are other options and you know there are if you have copied my memories. I'd rather sacrifice whole word than hurt Victoria like that."
-[X] Take your party and leave her sitting there.
-[X] Have Candle of Invocation Eidolon copy her.

 

[Jinnt]

Geez you guys one crazy rant and you turn on her like a pack of dogs. How many crazy rants has Amy made in this quest?

[x] Emma you could be so much more then just a survivor, you could be a model again, only this time you'd be showing the world how to move forward how we could overcome each other, the endbringers, and even Scion himself to do something incredible. With his power you would be the most beloved person on the planet, kill the endbringers, heal the sick, launch humanity to the stars you could do it all and people would worship you for it. You survived Emma you really did now it's time to move past that and LIVE.

 

[Jinnt]

Why did my x become a bullet point. Grr no edit function and I don't have time to figure this out before work.

 

[WyldCard4]

Geez you guys one crazy rant and you turn on her like a pack of dogs. How many crazy rants has Amy made in this quest?

Click to shrink...

This is a really good point. Consider the group of people you took to her. Pretty much every single one has killed, or planned to kill, someone.

[X] Emma you could be so much more then just a survivor, you could be a model again, only this time you'd be showing the world how to move forward how we could overcome each other, the endbringers, and even Scion himself to do something incredible. With his power you would be the most beloved person on the planet, kill the endbringers, heal the sick, launch humanity to the stars you could do it all and people would worship you for it. You survived Emma you really did now it's time to move past that and LIVE.

Click to shrink...

Capitalizing the X works.

Um. Objectively, as pointed out with the sunset example, if Emma for every day for the rest of her life played at being Slaugherhouse 9 member, she'd still be better than Scion firing one continent-buster in one dimension. Utilitarian value, any of those is worth less than the lives this saves, but Amy holds Victorian not utilitarian values, really.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much.

Taylor is right. She is scared - and lashing out to establish dominance. I think, partly, she is pissed at seeing the rot of Cauldron, for example, and being powerless to stop it. Others, when taking control of Scion, might become moral vigilantes with that power. Emma? At most, I see her going to judge everyone she meets, and find them all lacking - much like Tattletale. Anyway, she is going to find out fast if we're going to mindrape her.

Click to shrink...

Indeed.

Furthermore, I oppose killing Emma just because of that. Yeah, fucked up, but guess what? During everyone into Victoria incubators is more than a million times worse. More than a billion times, even. These numbers are a bit inconceivable, but to use the parallel in the post, 1 millionth of total bodily destruction is loss of 0.06 grams of matter for 60k person - and that is still a thousand times worse on the scale. It is kind of hypocritical to kill her over this, especially after going to ask her help.

Click to shrink...

Admittedly, Amy never actually released the plague she fantasizes about.

Um, I thought there was only one person with the genes of Taylor Herbert in the world, especially as I never got response to this:
Basically, if you have to read brain scan anyway to clone, why scan Skitter's/original Taylor's when you can do Lady Bug's? And given the powerset with relays, it is remarkably useless to have two of it outside as backup.

Click to shrink...

I admit I never answered this.

Basically, they happened to have a Skitter brain emulation, and were cloning everyone they could in the Dispatch bubble in the small chance it would be useful. The Taylor was made because, basically, they thought it was better to have a mind with different vulnerabilities than Annie's, and Cranial feels really guilty about the Annie thing.

 

[Lement]

...No, Amy didn't, but she did plenty bad shit to dominate both enemy and friend(sic!) and allowed Victoria to get away with such things too. Between licking soap from ground and kissing someone you hate, which is worse?

So I guess Taylor doesn't have Annie's memories?

@Jinnt: I love how your plan appeals to Emma's better side and vanity. I really do.

Unfortunately, this Emma is effective postcog/mindreader/stranger&changer. She is cynical/paranoid/realistic enough to see people trying to control her, even if she works Scion better than Panacea - and she isn't as good as Amy.

Candle of Invocation Eidolon(it is a location iirc, but what would be femine form?) can pick two other capes to protect herself with, though.

 

[WyldCard4]

I have jury duty tomorrow, and have been preparing for such. Updates will be irregular until this is resolved.

Candle of Invocation Eidolon(it is a location iirc, but what would be femine form?) can pick two other capes to protect herself with, though.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't trust that Eidolon to do anything without highly specific instructions. She has very little agency. Talking to Scion is a critical task.

 

[WyldCard4]

I was not randomly selected for the grand jury.

Begin the celebration!

 

[Immanent Thing]

Candle of Invocation Eidolon(it is a location iirc, but what would be femine form?)

Click to shrink...

Eidolon is an Ancient Greek word that happens to be the root for 'Idol'. Alexandria is an Egyptian city that dates back to Alexander the Great.

I think that Tohu Eidolon, who may become the doppelgänger of the Thinker Entity, should be known as Olympia. A divine location, like Zion and Eden, and one that harkens back to her older brother, Eidolon, who is the High Priest. It fits in a number of ways.

[X] Plan Lement

We could ask the Yangban to share her power out, and now we've cloned the power-booster, it can be full-strength. I'm not sure who would receive it, though. If the transfer requires consent, of course, we couldn't win that social confrontation any more than we could win right now. A mentally-impaired near-automaton (?) is not as susceptible to corruption as a natural human, as long as the details are worked out - orders and handlers. We can vote on that.

 

[WyldCard4]

With some variation, the winner is to use Olympia to copy Emma, right?

 

[Lement]

I wouldn't trust that Eidolon to do anything without highly specific instructions. She has very little agency. Talking to Scion is a critical task.

Click to shrink...

Huh, I was under the impression that she could still make decisions on her own, as she did when choosing powers. Well, here's to hoping Scion doesn't see through the ruse.

In any case, what should one tell anyway? (Of course, Olympia should have thinker powers to help)

Atm I'm thinking of primarily asking to stop murdering massive swathes of normal humans and parahumans, as that leads to less conflict, perhaps instead making triggering easier?

The Thinker's plan to divide the world into ≃ equal sides with threat to stop war isn't bad thing at all to do, although we can save the Cold War.

And perhaps using the kept shards to make the world able to support more and humans far less likely to die.

Later on, lengthening the cycle to gather more experience and get more time to recover and building a Dyson sphere(totally for gathering energy to help Thinker Entity) might be good idea.

 

[mc2rpg]

[X] Plan Lement

 

[WyldCard4]

[X] "I do and have done everything for Victoria, Emma. Compared to her, you're just a backup. Perhaps you wouldn't be if you hadn't left to another city and were still a friend. And there are other options and you know there are if you have copied my memories. I'd rather sacrifice whole word than hurt Victoria like that."
-[X] Take your party and leave her sitting there.
-[X] Have Candle of Invocation Eidolon copy her.

Click to shrink...

Suddenly, like a flash, Sophie punches Emma in the face.

"We have a backup plan, right?" She asks.

"Sure we do, love." You smile at her.

"I've been inside their heads." Emma says. "Believe it or not, I care more about you than they do."

"I don't believe it." Madison says. "Sophie always loved you way more." She sighs, and departs.

"Taylor, you coming?" Sophie asks. There's a pause.

"Get out of my sight." Taylor whispers. There's venom to it. "You're playing games, all of you, with the fucking world at stake. Why can't you all just..."

"Door me." You say, and you leave her sputtering her justifications.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

"We do have a backup plan, right?" Madison asks.

"It's, um, only 20% more likely to end horribly." You mutter.

"Sounds good." Sophie says. "She'd just have wanted to cook Claire on a barbeque anyway. We can't let her get that kind of power. She looks angry, hurting. Sophie's yours, now. She's your responsibility, even if she's not the love of your life. She doesn't have much else, and she loves you.

With all that Victoria's given, you need to pay everything forward. You have gotten everything because Victoria took a stranger into her heart and home. You couldn't let Sophie suffer without that.

"Thank you." You tell Sophie. "I'll never leave you like she did."

"You'd better not." Sophie mutters. You'll take that as a compliment.

"We should never have let Taylor back alive." Madison says thoughtfully. "Annie's superior in every way."

"Cranial wanted it." You tell her. "She said, if she died, we needed to make sure she was still, well..." You really don't want to admit Cranial did something stupid right now.

"She's a traitor, truce breaker, murderer, criminal, supervillain, and worked with worse." Sophie mutters. "Have you read the Undersider rap sheets?"

"I did." Madison says sadly. "So, the plan?"

"If Emma proved too craycray, we use someone who copies powers. Currently, there's one fighting Scion. We're getting a message through." You walk into the conference room in Nevada that's serving as the current HQ of everyone who doesn't want the world to end. There are very few people standing there now. Everyone has things to do.

Doctor Mother sits down, looking exhausted.

"So, she's really that crazy?" She asks.

"She thought asking me to cut up Victoria's face was a good baseline price. She was terrified of everyone. Maybe it's just selfish, but I'm not entirely sure she wouldn't order Scion to kill every parahuman just to feel a bit safer." You say. It's nice, thinking there's a legitimate reason to say no. "Go with that Eidolon clone."

The message is sent." Doctor Mother answers.

You wait. Nerves pile up. On a screen, you watch a fight. Fifteen members of the Yangban, all of the Myrddin clones, none of which have died, two Eidolons, three Gavels, Florida Man, Alexandria...

"Is that all." you gasp.

"Everyone who is still fighting." Doctor Mother answers. "A few are holding back, a lot are too tired to go on. The way he's been fighting the last few hours, I don't really know how many can fight, even the healthy ones." You grind your teeth. "Victoria couldn't."

"I knocked her out." You growl.

"Oh, of course." The Doctor looks at the screen. Suddenly, someone new enters the field. Incredible variety, explosion after explosion, effect after effect.

"Who's that?" Madison asks in wonder.

"That would be Oni Lee, in Two's effect field of course, with Bakuda's armaments." Doctor Mother explains. "He is buying time."

"For what?" Sophie asks.

A bubble of slowed time fills the screen, and one of the Eidolons disappears. For a few seconds, Scion is held back by Oni Lee, hitting terribly hard, and then the bubble bursts.

The gray woman that stands before the gathered heroes and villains is beautiful and rigid the same way Scion is. Her skin is gray. The two look at each other. Then, using some power, or combination of powers, she looks Doctor Mother in the eye.

"You lose." She mouths.

Glaistig Uaine falls out of the sky. The clones of the Keeper of the Dead, and their many ghosts, charge at Scion. He moves to defend his mate. The ghosts begin dropping like flies. Glaistig Uaine had rejoined the fight, but why? She seems determined to get to the Eden Eidolon. Scion is equally determined not to let that happen. The remaining defenders move back, let the ghosts and the traitors die to hold him back. The Eden Eidolon is speaking through it. You sigh, recognizing some of the ghosts. Dispatch, Gavel, Nilbog, Marquis, wait, Sleeper?

Then, Scion is holding Glaistig Uaine with his fist. You see the most savage smile on Scion's lips, and she dies.

The Eden Eidolon touches her corpse. Wasn't she copying Glaistig Uaine's powers?

Scion keeps talking to her. You catch a look of wonder, joy radiating from Scion. Is this the end?

Scion and his new partner's fingers touch, and she says something you don't hear. The two vanish.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

"What is going on?" Kitsune asks over some electronic method. Might even have been a normal speaker phone.

"We went with a fourth option." You say. "No handing the world over to a sadist, no butchering an innocent girl to save the world, no blowing up one world to save many. We used the Eidolon who could copy power sets."

The room is completely silent.

"You gave the woman with no volition, no drive, the memories of one of the most dangerous people who ever lived?" Kitsune asks. "Why would she talk him down?"

"She's got..."

"Noelle mass produced the easiest force to control! The manipulator, the controller, is in her head."

"Why didn't that happen with Emma?" Madison asks.

"She's strong, got a lifetime of fear to beat back anyone else, a life of drives and passions. Noelle didn't copy over all of that. Her clones are flawed. Sometimes in body, sometimes in mind, always in spirit. Clash of wills or something, I'd put the broken fucked up cunt over a cheap knockoff of Eidolon any day of the week." Kitsune mutters.

"Okay, we need a plan, now!" Madison shouts. Everyone looks at her. "I am not going to have Taylor Hebert beat me." Madison declares, fire in her eyes. "She is not going to prove us wrong. Think!"

"Dispatch, please." Doctor Mother says, and the accelerated time bubble hits.

"None of us are thinkers." Sophie says softly. You take her hand and hold on tight. "We're not even Victoria."

"Being a thinker doesn't mean you're smart. If it did, then Scion would have broken the agent further." The Doctor says quickly. "Now, girls, think. What is the plan?"

"So, we basically have Eden, the big bad thinker entity, back. Scion's not any weaker, and won't listen to Emma anymore, right?" Madison says. She looks thoughtful. "So, it's down to the magic bullet or bolting Victoria to Eden's corpse."

"No." Sophie also looks thoughtful. "Now he has something to lose. He went from grief to fear. He loves Eden. He didn't have a weak point before, now he does."

"Before, he was just killing time pulling wings off flies, but now he has something to live for. They'll probably try to restart the original plan, right?" Madison says.

"Where did you two learn all of this stuff?" Doctor Mother asks.

"Annie thought we should know. She loves us." Madison explains. "And we didn't really have much else to do, especially me."

"We really should have gotten a more reliable communication system." Doctor Mother looks annoyed. "So, we tempt them with a restarted cycle? That does leave the issue of the world being destroyed in three hundred years, along with a progression of horrors starting with world wars, ending with parahumans stretching across all the worlds that could exist and bringing their war to them, and culminating with them ripping our shards from the saturated worlds, slaying us all."

"We could trick them." You suggest. "Lie to them."

"Eden will have 30 power sets, biased towards where Scion is weakest. She will be Dinah and Kitsune, Accord and Alexandria. The Two ghost will be active."

"We kill the Two ghost." Madison suggests. "We continue the battle until that's destroyed, then call for a peace treaty."

"Do we really trust ourselves to lie well enough to get a better fate?" You ask.

"There's someone I trust to enough to charm them." Sophie laughs. "Someone who can make everyone believe her nose is more valuable than the world."

"Glaistig Uaine knew of her." Doctor Mother says thoughtfully. "She called Glory Girl the villain of their story, and noted her social abilities. She could also battle with them physically, directly. If we could win by trickery, she is probably the one most likely to succeed."

"She could save us all." You smile at the thought. She couldn't feel inferior if that happened.

"Okay, we have a plan." Madison claps her hands together. "Also, I'll be there to shoot her if it doesn't work. That way, he'll need Emma again."

"Why would she still help us?" Sophie asks. "Like, we told her to fuck off."

"She did." Madison bobs her head. "If we come crawling back to her with Victoria's eye on a platter she'll definitely keep Scion busy for a while. Then, if she gets too nasty, we use the magic bullet thingy, and they're both swallowed up.

The fact that you end up going with a plan devised by someone who dropped out of high school may be a bad sign.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Eidolon destroys the ghost of Two with little fanfare without even being told. There's another burst of time distortion, and the combination of Jabberjay, Glaistig Uaine, and Eidolon, using ghosts of Glaistig Uaine, Eidolon, and someone you don't recognize is on screen. Doctor Mother and Kitsune send the orders to retreat.

You and your Dispatch head to Victoria.

"Hello, Amy." She says when you wake her up, refreshing her. "How badly did we lose?"

"Um, worst case scenario, we only have to destroy one planet." You try to grin, and explain. Victoria looks grave.

"They're evil, right?" She mutters.

"They're evil. Some of the worst people in the world, I think. Some of the worst people ever. You're a villain of their story." You touch her face. "That makes you a hero of ours."

"Do you ever get the feeling you've done this all before?" Victoria asks. "Reincarnation, that it's all one big cycle?"

"No." You say after a moment's thought. "I've never met anyone like you before. You weren't familiar, when we met. You were glorious and new and better than anything else. Better than my dad, really. He had to take me, you didn't."

"I love you more than life itself." Victoria kisses you, first on your forehead, then on the lips.

"I'd cut off my tits to see you smile." You pause. "I have hurt myself just to make you happy."

"You did." Victoria hugs you very closely. "If you want, I won't go with this plan." You look at her.

"What?"

"You'd give up the world for me. If you really, honestly would rather fire the magic bullet and turn the world to glass rather than have me risk something talking to the monsters, I'll do it. Or, if we're at the negotiating table, you want me to offer everything for us, I'll do that." Victoria shudders.

"You'd do that for me?" You feel something crashing inside you.

You're disappointed in her. She suddenly looks scared and confused and sullied. Something impure is there.

"God, I don't want to, but we've lost. Amy, we've lost this fight. This was Cauldron's war. Cauldron chewed you up and spit you out. They were never fighting to save anyone. They were using the entire world as pawns to sacrifice for this fight." Suddenly, you realize something. You press your hand to her forehead and examine the brain, stress signals.

"You're lying." Victoria pauses.

"What?" You're sure of it. You've been working long and hard at being a human lie detector.

"I can't stop you from trying to save the world." You whisper. "You're lying so I give you room." You hug her. "God, thank you." You cry into her shoulder.

"It's the world. You've seen me try to die for it, Ames." Victoria laughs. "I've risked my life for a lot less. I love you, but I want to be a superhero. I want to fight evil, do what's right, be true to myself." You look at your Idol.

"We're having a baby." You remind her.

"So are a lot of people. You think no one Scion's killed had babies?"

"You're a superhero. You're perfect. You're the best thing in the world." Victoria gives you her best smile.

"I know."

[X] "I'm sorry." You press your hand to her, and knock her out. Let the world burn. Victoria is not going to try to talk to Eden.

[X] "Save us." You press your lips to the love of your life, and hit her brain with everything you have. You have time, and Dispatch will be easy to control. You can make sure she'll fight tooth and nail to give you and Victoria your happy ending, damn the world.

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."

 

[hyzmarca]

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."
-[x]"Try to come back in one piece. If you die out there, I'll kill you."

 

[Xicree]

I'm letting ALL of you who refused to make the Victoria Entity... I'm laughing at you ALL. Right Now.

Not voting at this next one. Gonna watch and see if you burn everything by picking the wrong way AGAIN. 3 for 3 guys.

 

[WyldCard4]

I'm letting ALL of you who refused to make the Victoria Entity... I'm laughing at you ALL. Right Now.

Not voting at this next one. Gonna watch and see if you burn everything by picking the wrong way AGAIN. 3 for 3 guys.

Click to shrink...

Victoria becoming the entity would have been no worse than Emma being put in charge of Scion.

Also, Scion's not actively engaging in torture murder anymore. So, progress.

 

[DeAnno]

I'm letting ALL of you who refused to make the Victoria Entity... I'm laughing at you ALL. Right Now.

Not voting at this next one. Gonna watch and see if you burn everything by picking the wrong way AGAIN. 3 for 3 guys.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that would've gone even worse. We definitely would've lost Victoria. We should've glassed the planet when we had the chance.

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."
-[X] Screw stale bows and quotes, this action instead: You kiss Victoria, hard. "Don't die, save the world, and kick ass doing it."
-[X] You've got a hunch, "She thinks she's Eden, but she's still Eidolon underneath that. Candle doesn't have his strengths, but she might still have his weaknesses. He always wanted, needed, a worthy opponent, and now Candle has one in Scion. Use that, turn her against him."
-[X] Victoria, idly, mostly to Candle/Eden: "Did you ever wonder who was better? The Warrior or the Thinker? Do you think you'll ever find out?"

 

[Biigoh]

I don't even.... -_-

 

[WyldCard4]

I definitely need more votes before I can get to work.

 

[Acaila]

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."
-[X] Screw stale bows and quotes, this action instead: You kiss Victoria, hard. "Don't die, save the world, and kick ass doing it."

I'm not participating in this quest to 'win'; with the amount of random crap that's happened and unpredictable results from vote choices, that's mostly decided by Wyld. I'm participating in this quest to be awesome. I don't believe in no-win scenarios. Even if we have to glass the earth, so what? We're still better off than in canon. It's hard to expect a perfect outcome when you're trying to kill multidimensional eldritch gods before they kill you.

And Xicree, you're just coming off as an asshole. Everyone has different ideas about how votes will turn out; ultimately the only person's opinion who matters is WyldCard's.

 

[serra2]

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."
-[X] Screw stale bows and quotes, this action instead: You kiss Victoria, hard. "Don't die, save the world, and kick ass doing it."
-[X] You've got a hunch, "She thinks she's Eden, but she's still Eidolon underneath that. Candle doesn't have his strengths, but she might still have his weaknesses. He always wanted, needed, a worthy opponent, and now Candle has one in Scion. Use that, turn her against him."

Make the best of a bad situation.

 

[Immanent Thing]

[X] Plan DeAnno

So, my idea failed so hard, it raised the dead? I recall a quote from one of the GMs on SB which went along the lines of, "If the players can choose between three options which all work to one extent or another, they'll invent a fourth option that won't work at all."

We had the idea to bolt a cape to Eden's Corpse as a weapon. Eidolon was one of the capes that might have worked, and Eden was revived in a body that was cloned from Eidolon, so as far as I can tell, it's the quickest way in which she may regain a significant fraction of her old strength. It would be bad if this happened, but we can always glass the planet.

Will we have thinkers talk to Victoria before she tries to deceive the enemy, or do we just hope her shard will nudge her in the right direction?

 

[WyldCard4]

So, my idea failed so hard, it raised the dead?

Click to shrink...

Well, it stopped Scion's attack. It actually worked, in that you found someone who could talk Scion down. It's just that, well, it had unpredictable complications.

On an in-universe level, I kind of want to credit Scion's path to victory for this.

I recall a quote from one of the GMs on SB which went along the lines of, "If the players can choose between three options which all work to one extent or another, they'll invent a fourth option that won't work at all."

Click to shrink...

I have noticed that.

Will we have thinkers talk to Victoria before she tries to deceive the enemy, or do we just hope her shard will nudge her in the right direction?

Click to shrink...

Probably going with the former, unless I decide things are going particularly poorly.

 

[Jinnt]

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."
-[X] Screw stale bows and quotes, this action instead: You kiss Victoria, hard. "Don't die, save the world, and kick ass doing it."
-[X] You've got a hunch, "She thinks she's Eden, but she's still Eidolon underneath that. Candle doesn't have his strengths, but she might still have his weaknesses. He always wanted, needed, a worthy opponent, and now Candle has one in Scion. Use that, turn her against him."
-[X] Victoria, idly, mostly to Candle/Eden: "Did you ever wonder who was better? The Warrior or the Thinker? Do you think you'll ever find out?"

 

[Lement]

[X] "I would not love you half as much, if you did not love honor more." You bow to Victoria. "Try to save the world."

Hm, turning Eden against Scion...If it succeeds, how big would be collateral damage?

Also, yes.

Well, it stopped Scion's attack. It actually worked, in that you found someone who could talk Scion down. It's just that, well, it had unpredictable complications.

Click to shrink...

I consider this a success, moreso than Emma in charge in Scion would be.

 

[WyldCard4]

[X]You kiss Victoria, hard. "Don't die, save the world, and kick ass doing it."

Click to shrink...

Victoria's eyes, clear blue green, show a blazing passion.

She loves you.

You've got a hunch, "She thinks she's Eden, but she's still Eidolon underneath that. Candle doesn't have his strengths, but she might still have his weaknesses. He always wanted, needed, a worthy opponent, and now Candle has one in Scion. Use that, turn her against him."

"Good idea." Victoria kisses you harder than you kissed her.

It is a long time before you're ready to leave.

Victoria floats and looks at the edge of the bubble. Only a small light illuminates the scene.

She turns to Dispatch.

"Thank you." She says solemnly. "I can't think of anyone else who has done more to save the world." Dispatch looks at her, then laughs.

"What the Hell, it's the end of the world. You bitches are crazy." Victoria grins at him.

"Hell yes, we are. Amy, marry Dispatch if I die." She orders. You frown. "That is, literally, my last request, if we don't talk again."

"Um, Victoria..." You stammer. "We barely talk."

"You two, get to know each other. Now. It is, literally, the end of the world. Can't be picky about your backups if most people are dead. Marry Emergency Backup Victoria, and it will suck. Marry someone new, and have a really different life."

"Victoria, I can't do that." You whisper, unsure how to take it.

"Well, you're doing it if I die. You can't do it. Hence, I'm not going to die." Victoria laughs. "Dispatch, let us out." The bubble collapses and Victoria is off, the white and gold comet you love.

"She does realize she's heading in the wrong direction, right?" Dispatch asks.

"Probably not." You look at him. "Um, you know, I've been a complete and utter asshole to you. You've really, um, signed up for having a job of giving me more hours in the day." Dispatch pauses and smiles. "My job has become watching eighteen year old lesbians. Eidolon was a fucking terrible boss, and wrangling the rejects they sent to Houston, it made the Shepherds look sane."

"I think you'll be Claire's godfather now." You tell him. "For efficiency, if nothing else." He smiles.

"She'll need some father figure in her life. By efficiency I guess that's me." Dispatch is silent for a moment. "I'm going to end up lactating to feed her, aren't I?"

"Without a doubt." You smile at the hero. "Any regrets?"

"I never punched David in the face." Dispatch answers. "I wanted to do that since I was fourteen and the Protectorate practically married us because my powers were so good for him."

"I'll see if I can arrange that, Dispatch." You tell him with a smile.

"God I hated Houston. Damn place gave me sunburn every fucking day. I had to stand and look dangerous with that small overpowered asshole for eight fucking years." Dispatch growls.

"Eight years." You think of being stuck in the hospital for that long. "We really need to pay you more, now."

"Live in servant with a Protectorate paycheck isn't that bad." Dispatch smiles. "But yes, more money would be good." You pause.

"Think we'll have a Protectorate after this?" The two of you suddenly realize communications are messed up enough it would be better to go back to the command room. Dispatch picks you up and begins a set of accelerated hops down the hall, warping time just a bit, not enough to cut out the universe. It is easier this way. It still gives you time to talk.

"Hm, last I heard we lost the Gulf and West Coasts. Something of the US survives, or we'll migrate to Aleph or something if there's not enough left. The Protectorate organization will probably change itself a bit if we have anyone left who is powerful and interested in it. If we have Eidolon or Alexandria we'll still have one. Honestly, if we have you we'll still have a Protectorate."

"I'm not a member of the Protectorate." You point out.

"You just give them all the free stuff you can think of, including more members of the Protectorate." Dispatch laughs. "Okay, let's assume Eidolon, Alexandria, Dragon, and every Armsmaster dies while Myrddin goes rogue because he's crazy. What do you think people like Florida Man or Rime would do? We'd go to whoever is left, strong, and could reasonably be argued to hold stuff together. That's the Shepherds, or basically you and Glory Girl. You'd just inherit a bunch of capes and make a slightly different organization with most of the same leaders. We'll be fine. We don't actually have any reason not to stay together. It's not like half of us think we should enslave normals and half of us don't. We're mostly public servants. We'll serve the public, just by working with the new boss. If we wanted to be warlords we'd be supervillains. As long as you're still around, we'll be the scariest army around. Even if half the villains and one in ten heroes survive, if you're alive then the heroes have a pretty damn big advantage."

"I am kind of important." You agree.

Dispatch ends his time warp as you enter the command and control room. Doctor Mother talks with Kitsune on the speaker phone, with Victoria nowhere to be seen. Sophie sits like a cat, looking tired, with Madison scratching the back of her head.

"So, what are the chances?" You ask when there's a lull in the conversation.

"Victoria's talking to them now. Ah, and now they're in a Dispatch bubble. You know, in a hundred years dispatch will probably be a word for time manipulation. God I have a headache and Scion blasted Teacher."

"Teacher's dead?" You start trembling.

"Oh, get over it. Once whatever he did to your head fades you won't like him anymore." Kitsune snaps.

Everyone is silent for a moment.

"Why are you such a bitch?" Madison asks the speakerphone. There's a moment of silence.

"You're one to talk." The former Tattletale says. Somehow though, she seems really hurt by it.

"Okay, that's it. You two are going out on a date. Sarah, Madison, you're dating now." There's a stunned silence.

"Did you go insane?" The Doctor asks.

"Victoria said if she died, I'm marrying Dispatch. Yes I am now officially nuts. Whatever I need to do to your head, Sarah, I'm doing it to make my ex fuckable to you. Madison, she's so valuable they thought asking me to mindfuck her was the smartest choice, and she's a bitch, she's perfect for you." Sophie smiles lazily.

"Yeah, they'd make a cute couple." Dispatch nods. "Lesbians for everyone."

"I could make you a lesbian." You offer. "If you're feeling left out."

"Why the fuck not?" Dispatch laughs. "I like Katie."

"Wait." Sophie says. "She wants you to marry Dispatch over me?"

"I marry Dispatch if she dies, I'm not marrying Dispatch, so she's not dying." You explain. "Sense, it is made."

"Damn it." Sophie growls. "I'm dying a virgin, aren't I?"

"That probably applies, yeah." You go over and scratch the back of her head, and lazily mold her ears into cat like shapes. "Not sure how much Victoria really wants to share. She might knock you up anyway."

"Huh, can I have a pair like that?" Doctor Mother asks. Everyone stares.

"Why?" You ask.

"We've decided to go insane, as the world ends. Why not join it?"

Then Scion appears, holding Victoria's force field and throat. She struggles, rapidly.

<She's dead.> Victoria transmits.

Time for celebration?

Scion plows across the room, and pins you to the wall with Victoria. Your taller sister covers you completely.

Then, Scion unleashes the blast. The sphere moves outward slowly, and everyone runs. Victoria holds her force field firm, but she can't have charged for long. You and the wall are protected. You can't see anything outside of that.

<He be pissed?> You transmit to Victoria's suit.

<He be weaker.> Victoria transmits. <He didn't give up energy, he gave her shards. Before they fought, he reinforced her, gave her power. He didn't get those shards back.>

<So, how do we get out of this?> You ask.

Then you scream, wild and uncontrolled, as the horror really hits you. When Victoria's shield goes down, you'll be vaporized. She can't have charged it for long.

And Scion is pushing you into the rock, crushing you. If the shield doesn't go down, you'll be...

Victoria is pressed against you in the harshest of embraces. Scion had done it again and again, a taunt, a way to hurt. All he has to do is keep pushing forward. He could just splatter you at any time.

Victoria's tears fall on your hair.

<Don't do it.> A signal you don't recognize tells you in your suit. <When you think of it, you shouldn't do it.>

What?

You can't hear what Victoria is trying to say Something about the pressure and the noise of the destruction is warping her words, and you can barely think.

Then it clicks. You can use your powers on Victoria, wrap her around you like a shroud, change her body into a suit of armor, her force field still present. It would stop the crushing. The force field would go out, but Scion couldn't crush you to death.

Why shouldn't you do it? You ask your suit, but there's no answer. Was the sender of the message killed, forced to ruin, some nasty precog who is fucking with all of this?

Does it matter?

[X] Wrap Victoria around you as a cloak, a ball, a shell, keeping her brain and memories safe. It will keep you alive.

[X] It won't work for long, will it? The sender of the message had to be using some weird thinker powered move. Or it was Scion, or something the new Eden had prepared.

[X] You feel Scion's fingers around Victoria's throat. He hasn't sent his blasts from them. You could part your suit. It can't possibly work, taking control of his biology. That might be a much worse idea than wrapping Victoria around you as a shield.

 

[Xicree]

[X] Wrap Victoria around you as a cloak, a ball, a shell, keeping her brain and memories safe. It will keep you alive.

 

[hyzmarca]

[X] You feel Scion's fingers around Victoria's throat. He hasn't sent his blasts from them. You could part your suit. It can't possibly work, taking control of his biology. That might be a much worse idea than wrapping Victoria around you as a shield.

 

[Jinnt]

The warning certainly makes more sense as being against trying to control Scion. On the other hand Victoria isn't going to be too happy getting worn as a suit and I don't think we can knock her out without losing the shield. Tough call.