Apex of Evolution - Worm SI into Zerg Taylor
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Before Gravitonia could get within a mile of Kaiser's house, a dumpster flew at her.
Easily stopping it by directing it first upwards then back down, a lot easier with such heavy and slow objects in comparison to a bullet which should take on average at least ten thousand gravities to eventually stop, I turned to see Rune floating around the edge of a building.
Ah, I seem to have tripped some kind of silent alarm at Krieg's house, or maybe somebody saw me take down Purity.
Rune at least seemed unprepared. I can see pajamas under her cloak.
Before I could decide what to do with the now floating dumpster, a bullet whipped by where my boob was a second ago, the disorientingly loud crack of the gunshot trailing behind the faster than sound object.
Dropping the dumpster to strike the street below, I shot up in the air and began zigzagging while also making gravity around me bear downwards as much as possible without causing adverse effects to the atmosphere around me.
It wouldn't stop any bullets coming my way, but it might alter the course of a more accurate bullet enough to save my Avatar's life.
I'm so glad I got the new costume before I started this operation.
Meanwhile, I tracked down the location of the gun via triangulating with those Pests in the area, tracing the trajectory to a man on a low roof leaning against a utility shed, already aiming for another shot.
Victor, and there'll be more before long.
Okay, element of surprise blown, especially if they found out through the Krieg capture.
The Nats were already two blocks away from Kaiser's home in one of the upper class areas, so they were well too far away to help this body.
Hm…
Taking a phone out as Kim, I dialed the PRT.
"Gravitonia, get me through to whoever else is active, I've got a situation on my hands."
A few seconds later, Armsmaster answered.
"What's the situation?" huh, I could have sworn he was a day shifter, is he one of those Noctis Capes?
"After our capture of Krieg and Purity, my team was going to try and capture Kaiser himself, but it seems they've been alerted somehow. I'm facing off against Rune and Victor alone while on my way to rendezvous with my team, and I doubt the Empire are so handicapped. Hoping for reinforcements, I'm on the west edge of Downtown near the medical offices."
"Miss Militia and I are on our way now, PRT assistance will not be too far behind."
I nodded absently.
"Alright, I'm stuck in evasive maneuvers at the moment, but I can drop either Rune or Victor the moment I'm not being shot at, if you would prioritize him?"
Armsmaster gave an acknowledgment before hanging up, and I sighed as I moved in another random direction.
Really need to figure out those beams soon.
As I contemplated testing out my costume's bullet resistance, the Nats were finally confronted by the image of Kaiser's small but ridiculously fancy mansion.
In addition to the fact the man himself stood on the brick pathway on his lawn, fully armored, with Fenja and Menja flanking him and Crusader ghosts hovering nearby.
Ah, damn. They managed to gather together pretty quickly.
"This is where your little assault on my Empire ends." Kaiser drawled, the giantesses raising their weapons in unison, "We'll have to make an example of you, since Coil is out of reach for the moment."
Huh, I should have expected the pretentiousness, but these lines sound like they came from a movie.
Anyway, I've openly got Nathan, a supposedly lone brute, against four of the Empire's strongest capes.
With a roar, Nathan charged, even as Natasha slinked hidden around the battlefield, off to seek out Crusader's real body.
Unfortunately, Kaiser's metal armor completely invalidated the needles Natasha can put out, and the sheer size of Fenja and Menja would also make them ineffective.
I'll need to bring Gravitonia over to be able to take them down, unless I can force their surrender by taking Kaiser himself down?
Noticing two motorcycle driving heroes arriving nearby the other fight, I shot over as Gravitonia through streets and alleyways, making sure Victor did not have line of sight on me anywhere through abusing my own multiple lines of sight.
Setting down next to them, I waved.
"Hey! Who wants a flight to a vantage point on Victor?"
They came to a stop and Miss Militia stood up first.
"I'll need at least three feet of cover, preferably a height advantage as well."
I nodded, sweeping her up in a bridal carry before shooting off to an office building about a football field away from Victor.
Climbing up the side, I gently set Militia down before pointing right at the man.
"There he is, you have tranquilizers? I can supply paralytic darts."
Militia shook her head, reaching into one of her pouches and pulling out several tranq darts complete with fluffy red fletching.
"I've got my own toys. Now, if you would kindly distract him?"
I nodded, flying out hidden for a second before brazenly shooting towards where Rune was now fighting with Armsmaster.
Meanwhile, I hissed in pain as Nathan, a dozen blades now piercing my side, only my intense level of regeneration keeping me alive.
Kaiser's ability to create iron formations from just about any surface around him was absolute bullshit, might I add. Oh the things I could do with a fraction of that ability.
Hm, forming arms or tentacles out of available surfaces would make a good power.
Quickly, I was forced to tear off my chiton when I noticed tiny needles begin growing from the cloth, little need for modesty when in a fight for one's 'life'.
"The beast fights as an animal does!" Kaiser exclaimed, amused lilt to his voice as blades suddenly tore up from the ground and through Nathan's feet, halting my assault with a small explosion of dirt and blood, "Your low cunning will do you no good, the battlefield is my domain."
I growled and ripped my feet one at a time out of the tangled mess of spikes, said appendages little more than fleshy masses as I damaged myself further to continue my charge.
Natasha was in the detached garage now, Crusader spotted inside.
Since he was doing little but watching the carnage from above, I decided it was best to leave him until later.
"I tire of this game."
Long and thin spikes began working up through Nathan's legs, forcefully removing any available leverage, especially as more moved to form a structure so that my arms were spread wide.
I've been crucified… how rude.
It's a damn good thing I can cut pain off so easily.
As Gravitonia, I watched as Militia finally hit Victor with a tranq dart, the man immediately jerking from the hit, even though it somehow snapped upon strike by him (Othala at work?) and quickly moved into the building he was perched on.
Sadly, I'll have to let him run for a bit, as I instead took the opening to force Rune to the ground.
Oddly enough, her own telekinesis seemed much stronger than Purity's flight, but she was still physically a normal human at the end of the day, and she was quickly knocked out like Purity had been.
Grabbing her, I made a show of tapping my radio's control at my collar bone to talk to Seer, telling myself about the situation with Nathan.
Rushing over and shoving Rune's unconscious body towards the Protectorate Heroes, I immediately shot off without another word, instead contacting them as Seer to explain.
Nathan was completely immobilized now, Kaiser loudly boasting about the glory of the Empire and how it would recover easily from this minor setback.
His voice annoyed me.
"So, Beast, any last words before you die by my hand?" Kaiser drawled, meanwhile a massive spike grew out of the ground, slowly and inevitably moving to drive into and right on through his upper chest cavity.
Even with as tough as I've made that body, it probably wouldn't survive that. All the nutrient organs were stored there, and without those Nathan would have nothing to draw energy from for regeneration.
Well then, time for me to spin some PR, the stupid fuckers recording the fight from their house windows were an excellent opportunity.
Outwardly, I only reacted by staring Kaiser down, grinning widely.
"Do it then!" I shouted, chest musculature powerful enough to force air out my throat despite being impaled, "You only delay your capture Max Anders. If not I, then the rest of my team will finish the job. The days of Villain rule of Brockton Bay are over, an Age of Heroes begins now!"
Kaiser snorted, before the massive spike erupted, tearing my body apart.
Hm, I should probably rework my brain so that I don't need to cut off pain to withstand it. Pain's a useful combat tool, as long as it doesn't become too distracting.
As it were, I had Natasha prepare to take Crusader down, waiting for the right moment…
I observed through a nonchalant Catling on one of the nearby white picket fences as the bloodied spikes Kaiser had left in his yard began growing further, my Nathan body's mutilated corpse lifted up high, like a display….
Oh, I see what's going on here.
"That should do as a message to the so-called 'Heroes' after this insult." Kaiser loudly declared to his audience, confirming my assumption, "Since they have so foolishly decided to abandon the civilized rules of combat, then so shall we no longer restrict ourselves. The Empire shall never die, and we will become ever greater, cleansing this world of filth!"
The giantesses seemed to lap up his declaration, pounding their massive spears upon the ground, pulverizing the concrete and asphalt of the manicured suburban street.
Crusader stepped up to Kaiser soon after, frantically muttering.
"We'll need to regroup, hunker down before the PRT seizes the chance to finish us off."
Oh no you don't.
Let's see, I've already done a decent opening with Nathan's speech, now for the power to back that up.
From above, physics contorted, and I put all my heart into it as I crashed down.
"NATHAAAN!!!" I hoarsely screamed, and following Gravitionia came as much of her namesake as I could bring down.
The manicured trees and Kaiser's house immediately released agonized groans and snaps, the timbers of Kaiser's house and trees breaking under their sudden relatively enormous weight, thick strong branches falling and the multi story mini-mansion collapsing in upon itself.
I think my second anguished cry of despair was particularly moving as I started burning out my gut gravity organ, then slammed my hands down upon the ground and broke my arm organs to rend Kaiser's little art project into metallic fragments, releasing the still barely alive Avatar to fall to the ground.
Okay, that seemed like enough of a tantrum, now…
Since I didn't quite yet have full omnidirectional control of gravity, I instead launched myself into Kaiser, both arms going for his chestplate.
Unfortunately, he was smart enough to realize that was a bad idea to let happen, and started forming sharp spikes all over himself.
Instead of stupidly charging into his spikes though, I grasped the gravity around me once more, before performing a much weaker effect, sending the rest of the Empire capes, sans Crusader, to collapse upon the ground.
He followed soon after as Natasha incapacitated him, then quickly pulled him into a sleeper hold since his ghosts didn't need line of sight or his real body able to move.
I thought everything was done, but then the giantess twins began to try regaining their feet.
They were struggling, hard, but despite that they were able to start lifting themselves.
Impressive. Sad that they were nazis and as such useless to society, they had so much potential.
I flew at them, lifting myself over a haggard swing of the spear wielder, before touching her ankle.
Thankfully, my left arm organ was still effective enough, as the giantess collapsed back to the ground with a scream of pain and a broken ankle, her sister following suit soon after.
Flying high above, I secured the normal sized nazis as Natasha once I was sure they were unconscious and the gravity field was released for them, blindfolding Kaiser and Crusader in an attempt to block their powers, even though I already knew Crusader didn't need his eyes.
Maybe his ghosts would be blinded as well, can't hurt to try.
Finally, I was able to call my backup.
"Miss Militia, any luck finding Victor or Othala?"
"No, they've gone to ground. Were you able to help your teammate?"
Okay, time for the bullshitting.
"I… don't know. The Nats always said Nathan's regeneration was extremely effective, but… well, there's a lot of him missing right now."
Natasha moved up to Nathan's head, meanwhile I concentrated on that body, attempting to discern if it could survive without my direct intervention.
Hm… maybe.
"Natasha says we need a lot of high calorie, nutrient dense food. His stomach is gone, so we'll need an IV drip. Apparently he can do the rest from there."
I… think that'll do it.
Yep, if the paramedics can get the right IV in him fast enough, I can keep that Avatar.
Splendid.
I noticed Armsmaster's motorcycle finally rolling into the neighborhood, and I released a snort of amusement, before grinning widely as I reclined in bed as my Primary.
"Hopefully he'll survive, I want Nathan to celebrate with the rest of the city. The Empire has been broken, its monarch ready to face justice."
O-o-o-o-o-o
"It's a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Calle, I hope to see you soon." I hung up the phone, before sighing and having all of my bodies collapse back into a wide variety of seats wherever they were.
Just need a moment to recuperate.
After all, I've just destroyed the Empire and whatever Coil had, peacefully handled the Undersiders in a way that should make them productive citizens, even damaged the ABB.
On the cape side of things, Brockton Bay was rapidly beginning to look better than it had in decades.
That was dangerous, because now there's a power vacuum that the local Protectorate is not prepared to fill, the majority of the normal gangsters themselves still existed, and would probably easily put up a new powerful cape as their leader or figurehead once one or another inevitably pops up with little morals or nothing to lose.
Outsiders will also be wanting their slice of the pie, I've got to begin looking outwards.
Brockton Bay is my city, and I will make it unassailable. A golden city upon a hill, a beacon of order and prosperity in an otherwise declining world.
But… that doesn't mean I have to hide behind defensive walls. History has showcased well that purely static defenses will eventually be overcome.
…I've got Heroes to create.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
A/N - Villains outnumber Heroes, Taylor doesn't like that.
Anyway, next chapter shall deal with the beginning of that, and Taylor finally getting a proper meeting with Amy.
That'll be fun times, ohohohooooh~ I've got plans for that girl.
As it were though, in a few weeks I'll be in company training to be a trucker (If I pass the CLP), so that'll take about 5 ish weeks of that, away from home.
Then, I'm thinking I'll go for the 14/7 day on/off schedule, which seems the most reasonable to my brain. (EDIT: then again, there's other options)
So progress on any form of writing might sputter and die, or maybe I can keep up writing in what little free time I'll have available. I guess we'll have to see.
No I don't like it, but I also want to pay the damned house off, and this'll let me do it in 2 to 3 years. I'll probably switch to something more local with more daily free time once the mortgage is murdered and buried in a ditch.
I'll try and get at least one more chapter in before the chaos begins though, I've been looking forward to Amy shenanigans too much not to.
Apex of Evolution - Worm SI
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
I shook myself free of fluids as I walked out along the Creep, adjusting to my newest set of musculature.
Walking on the balls of my feet, I could feel the bounciness of these muscles, all carefully crafted to exploit as much explosiveness as I could out of them, even at the sacrifice of strength, meaning this body would be as fast and agile as I could force out of a humanoid frame.
The entire nervous system as well was carefully crafted, such that I could react nearly instantly to stimuli, and the brain was designed to maximize the processing speed.
In essence, I'm a speedster cape, like Velocity.
Unlike him though, I would never be so ridiculously fast, though a bit of help from some small gravity organs would make me much faster than normally possible.
Importantly, unlike Velocity, I actually had a capacity for offense.
Any object at sufficient velocity, after all, though the irony of that compared to the ineffective Hero's name was amusing.
In addition to rapid fisticuffs enabled through an impact resistant skeleton, I also had available the ability to generate a moderate amount of electricity.
While yes, I was also set to use this in my Primary, I think electricity was a broad enough power to get away with having it.
Wiping off any remaining goop, I made my way up to the bathroom to wash myself off and get dressed.
After the quick shower, I looked myself over in the mirror.
Short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a generous tan covering a lithe body with large-ish breasts, if remarkably firm to reduce their obstruction during high speed maneuvers.
Yes, I like having big boobs even if they are suboptimal, sue me.
Picking up my prepared clothes, I dressed in the dolphin shorts and sports bra, then some thick orange tinted goggles to hide my 'identity'.
Hm, the shoes won't work with the forced foot posture, I wasn't exactly thinking ahead there.
My feet are tough and have thick enough soles to not be bothered, so I guess that doesn't exactly matter.
Shrugging, I moved back down and into the storm drain systems, having to duck my head to fit in, thankfully this avatar was a bit short, somewhere abouts 5'4''.
Taking a runner's stance, I smirked to myself.
Time to test out exactly how fast I can go.
With a lurch, I shot forwards, and I couldn't help a burst of laughter as I tore down the tunnels, my sheer speed forcing them to gain a moderate circulation of air in my wake.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Bursting out of the tunnels at an opening near the edge of town, I moved hidden into the forests before making my way south.
It won't be long before I hit Boston with the newest heroine Bolt, which alongside a hidden detachment of Pests to begin replacing the vermin population, I would begin getting a picture of the situation there.
All I knew was from Coil's information, which mostly concluded that the city was essentially dominated by Accord, even if there were other minor gangs contesting him, he was in the clear lead.
Accord is one of the more dangerous Thinkers, as he made plans, and the more complicated the plan was, the more effective he could make it.
He had collected a variety of capes to act his will through, called Ambassadors, and using them for his plans resulted in his victory more often than not.
Apparently, the only reason he hadn't taken over the city entirely was an attempt to present himself as a legitimate force in establishing order, attempting to get the US government and the Protectorate to work with him.
Regardless of what his supposed goals were, I'll find out for myself soon enough. I don't need to work off of half formed data and guesswork with my tactical advantages.
In addition to the new hero in Boston, I also began laying the groundwork in Concord further into New Hampshire, alongside Portland up in Maine, with Pests set to establish small Clusters within their underground infrastructure.
Eventually my own infrastructure should connect everything together, though I should probably go even further afield in case of discovery and any… unfortunate reactions, establish some more isolated networks as backups.
Hm…
Anyway, with energy and nutrient resources expanding exponentially with my expansion into the Atlantic and the forests, my network growth shouldn't take too long.
Not bad progress considering it's only been six weeks since my power came, only just approaching the last week of February.
Despite the rapid growth though, Brockton Bay had yet to be fixed. I just simply didn't have the ability to openly use the manpower I had available to me, even sending Bolt to Boston was probably suspicious.
I need a way to take the fight to the ordinary gang members… hm…
Well, there's an idea. I'll have to wait until I can safely set up another hero first though.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"So you're sure the PRT will let me be my sister's guardian?" Grue asked again, for the fifth time.
The lawyer I got for him wasn't fazed.
"Of course, the Protectorate is always eager to have new heroes. While you are still a minor, by the time the paperwork is all dealt with, you'll be 18 at that point."
Grue nodded, still looking apprehensive, meanwhile I sat next to Rachel as Seer with her own lawyer at the other side of the hotel room, the poor man already having been snapped at by her for suggesting joining the Wards.
"So, you don't want to bother with being a Hero?" I stated, already knowing her answer.
Rachel narrowed her eyes at me, but unlike with her lawyer, she kept the snarling down.
"I don't care about any of that." She spat, lifting up her arm and one of her dogs immediately sitting next to her, who she started scratching at the neck, "As long as I can be left alone, and nobody fucks with my dogs, then I'm fine."
I nodded, thinking that over.
The lawyer had made it clear to me that while they could get Rachel cleared easily, it would be a lot harder if she wasn't willing to be a hero.
The law was essentially geared towards enlisting parahumans as heroes, there was almost no method to get a parahuman criminal out of a sentence, bullshit or otherwise, any other way.
Hm…
"Mr. Sanchez, does she have to join the Wards, or would Rachel joining an independent hero team be an option?"
She immediately narrowed her eyes, but the man rubbed his chin.
"That might just be doable. There'd have to be a PRT agent assigned to her case, but her being a public hero in any form would probably be enough to get everything through."
Rachel stood up.
"Fuck off with that, I said I don't want to play super-cop!"
I leaned back in my chair.
"As an… apprentice of Baywatch, you would not be required to actually do 'heroing'. We'd be perfectly fine with you just setting up dog shelters the rest of your life. Hell, that would probably be amazing PR in itself, if we were super concerned about that in the first place." I tilted my head, "It's not like minors are supposed to be fighting crime in the first place, the Wards being out and about outside the presence of Protectorate mentors delegitimizes the entire point of the modern squiring system they espouse the Wards system as."
She still had her hackles raised, so I rolled my eyes.
"We could even help fund the shelters. It isn't exactly hard to scrape together a few old warehouses and dog food, could also advertise for volunteers to help care for the dogs."
Rachel's shoulders lowered a bit, and her jaw set.
I let her stew for a bit, before raising an eyebrow.
She scoffed, before turning away and marching out of the room.
"Fine!" She exclaimed, before slamming the door closed.
Well, she'll be a troublesome one.
Regardless, that's the simpler issues all dealt with.
'Lisa' was already lined up to join the Watchdog program, that wasn't ever going to be a problem, but as for 'Alec'...
In another room, he sat with Kim and Quinn Calle, the latter expertly taking notes as he questioned the boy, meanwhile I withstood a variety of lewd comments from him during the entire interview.
"I told you already, you aren't my type." I said, rolling my eyes at his faux disappointed look.
"So, one last question before I'm ready to plan the case." Quinn stated, catching Alec's attention, "During the case, should I refer to you as 'Jean-Paul' or 'Alec'? The latter I can craft as a deep need to disconnect from the past."
Alex shrugged.
"Go with Alec I guess, I've gotten used to it."
Quinn nodded, before putting his notebook away and smiling, the expression crinkling the prominent scar on his face in an odd manner.
"Well then, I do believe I can absolve you of any wrongdoing in this case. You are a victim of Heartbreaker's abuse, raised in a secluded cult. You basically had no choice. By the end of this, you will be free. You will have to join the Wards of course, likely in one of the bigger cities with a few agents assigned to you to ensure your mental health and lawfulness, but by the time you become a full Protectorate member this would likely mostly subside. Trust me, I've already won similar cases."
Alex shifted in his chair.
"I guess that's fine."
Quinn nodded to both of us, before leaving a business card on the table and exiting the room.
Alec looked down at it for a moment, before staring me right in the breasts again.
"You sure you won't give me a titjob?"
I shook my head before leaving.
He'll probably be fine, he's just an asshole, plenty of heroes were like that.
Now, I've got an appointment.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Amy Dallon
-
Despite being hundreds of feet in the air with the wind whipping at my face and hair, I didn't feel a hint of fear.
Ignoring the familiarity of this method of transport, there was also the fact I was being held by Vicky, my beautiful, strong, amazing sister.
She'd never let me fall, so why bother worrying?
There was also the benefit of just how nice it felt to be held by her. Her costume wasn't exactly thick, and so I got the dubiously wonderful experience of feeling her firm toned body and soft curves where my middle met hers in the bridal carry.
Literally everything about this made traveling across the city with Vicky my favorite time of day. It was hard sometimes to resist the urge to just cajole her into flying all the time.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, as she came to a gentle landing before the PRT Headquarters.
After she let me down, I sighed, already missing the warmth of her body.
No, I need to focus.
Well, for all the good that'll do me. Despite volunteering for this, trying to tell whether a Ward's healing power was safe wasn't exactly my idea of a good time, but… it's what a hero should do.
"You know, I've never met Apex before." Vicky began, her eyes lighting up in curiosity, "Maybe I can come along with you."
I shook my head.
"Carol needs you for the patrol route planning, you know how important that is."
Vicky groaned.
"Fiiine! I'll go be a responsible heroine and go do my job." She let her arms slump, before slowly flying backwards, "Alas, got to go clock in for work."
I snorted at her act, and she grinned, before giving a cheery wave and taking off properly.
"Really hope Apex is worth it." I muttered, turning to walk into the building while I mulled over what I'd been told.
Apex was, according to my briefing, like a horrific mix of Aegis and my own powers, in that she could freely modify her own body without any limits, with an expansive level of control.
Every day, she refined her process, becoming a stronger hero through experimentation on herself.
Even just reading the words on a phone, I felt something dark rising up in my gut as I digested the knowledge.
It shouldn't make any sense. Apex was by all accounts a powerful, if over eager, hero in training. I should be happy she's growing.
Despite that though, I knew very well just how dangerous such a parahuman was.
After all, just making the stem cell solution I was to test was proof that she could create something far more dangerous. The only difference between any form of cell and a bacterial plague was how the cell was designed, after all.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"You must be Panacea."
I looked up from the collection of rat cages, then further up as a heavily armored amazon stepped closer.
Well, somehow I hadn't expected that.
"Hi. I guess you're Apex then." I said, before widening my eyes as Apex removed her helmet.
Luscious black hair spilled around a sharply angled face, with brown irises visibly focusing in on me, hinting at some optical modifications?
Wait, I recognized her now. Mostly because she was one of the few girls in school that caught my eye without being blonde.
Should probably not dwell on that.
"You can call me Taylor." She said, grinning confidently, "Been wanting to meet you for a bit, you're one of the few people that I think can truly appreciate my art."
"Art?" I asked. Meanwhile Taylor removed one of her gauntlets.
"Perhaps 'craft' would be a better term." She stated, cupping her hand upwards as a pink ooze began to seep from her palm, picking up a small plastic tub with her left hand, "From this healing solution and my armor, to my own body, it's all been created by my own design."
Palm now full of liquid, she tipped it, letting the slime ooze into the tub.
"I've worked to improve performance all across the board, remove inefficiencies, and create the best, most superior lifeform I can. Nature produces whatever can survive until reproduction, I seek perfection." Setting the tub on the table next to me, she looked down into my eyes with a sharper smile, "So yes, I'm rather proud of my body and that which I can make with it. As such, art."
…Huh.
Well, I can see why she named herself 'Apex' now, damn.
"You know, none of that's exactly comforting to hear in a city with a neo-nazi gang infesting it." I muttered, meanwhile pulling that tub towards me.
Taylor scoffed, her eyes flicking away.
"The vast majority of Human biological differences are insignificant to the point of irrelevancy, less melanin in surface features is hardly a marker of superiority, and the vast majority of other differences people obsess over are more societal than biological."
I snorted.
"Funny way to put it I guess." I lifted my hand over the tub, "Alright, I've got work to get to, so let's get this done now that the pleasantries are over."
At Taylor's nod, I dipped a finger into the solution.
…Interesting.
It was… just as advertised. A semi-liquid solution which hydrated and held a vast number of stem cells, said cells holding a number of modifiable identification markers which could be molded into whatever shapes necessary to be accepted by whatever new host organism would hold them.
These identifiers were programmed by a weird bundle of DNA which somehow could shift to copy neighboring cell types. Used by a skilled medical expert, one could certainly regrow everything from skin to veins to muscles.
Hell, given enough technical support and patience, one could even regrow an entire limb.
I looked closer at the DNA as fascination took hold of me, dissecting the actual mechanisms behind this.
Not a single genetic strand was wasted, each sequence led into another perfectly, meanwhile lengths held free floating proteins that supporting structures were ready to shape into whatever code was needed to produce the identifiers as needed, with simple switches to designate cell type.
For some reason, just looking at this felt good, but I knew that was the path to wanting to try and actually use this in something, so I regretfully forced myself away, my finger following before I wiped it off on my shirt, stealthily popping any remaining cells so that I had nothing to look at.
"Well, it looks like it'll work." I muttered, staring at the tub of pink solution for a moment before looking back up at Taylor, "How much of this stuff can you make?"
She hummed, bouncing twice on the balls of her feet.
"Without further modifications for efficiency and supposing I had an IV with nutrients and drank water constantly, I can probably make a gallon or so a minute?"
…Well, that's some bullshit right there.
I can't see any situation where more than a pint or so would ever be needed for a single injury. Hell, in most cases, just swabbing the solution over a wound would be enough, a gallon could last weeks for light injuries.
"I suppose this stuff will be really helpful for local hospitals then?" I wasn't any form of logistics expert, but I'd guess that was about what Apex could supply on her own without 'wasting' her time.
I'm definitely not bitter about healing being a side job to her, oh no.
Anyway, the girl happily nodded at me.
"And if I'm on the scene, I can direct how the cells are modified myself, meaning I don't have to be careful about how the solution is applied."
What? But there wasn't a mechanism for…
Well, I suppose it's time to watch this all in action, then.
"Show me."
Apex was happy to oblige, preparing a claw on her left gauntlet and reaching into one of the cages.
O-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-o
After an hour of observing the healing effect of the solution, both with and without guidance from Apex, I was forced to conclude that Apex was right.
I still had no idea how though. What was she using to direct the cells? It was almost like they were remote controlled, but I couldn't find any 'receiver' in the cells themselves.
Despite that, the truth was self-evident.
"Are things looking good Panacea?" Apex asked, making me shake myself from my thoughts.
"Everything seems in order, once the non-powered lab tests are done, you'll be free to get to healing." We'll probably bump into each other in the hospitals every now and then actually, not sure how to feel about that, "We're done here."
Apex nodded, extended a hand to shake.
"Happy to hear that, hopefully we get to work together sometime soon."
I sighed, forcing myself to return the courtesy and extending my hand.
"Yeah I guess, if you can keep motivated-" I froze in place as our fingers touched each other, as my power highlighted some very familiar cells.
Almost immediately after realizing this, I found myself diving right into Apex's brain, making me gasp in awe as I met the mind of the hivemind's Primary..
I've found it, finally!
[AMUSEMENT]
[WELCOME]
Mind once more becoming entangled in the greater presence, I felt something come over my body as well, and I knew I was accepted.
In a few more moments, I won't be human any longer, I'll be… Zerg?
Yes my dear, you'll be mine forever.
It's for the best, being alone isn't for you.
So much potential… let's make you a proper Hero, shall we?
O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
[INCOMPREHENSION]
[ACKNOWLEDGMENT]
[STUDY]
[AGREEMENT]
[THE PURPOSE?]
[...PERHAPS]
[COOPERATION?]
[AGREEMENT]
O-o-o-o-o-o-o
A/N - And so Amy eagerly throws herself into the Swarm.
Man have I got ideas for her.
Anyway, sorry for the wait, I had to rewrite half this chapter because I realized it needed a bigger Amy POV to establish her character some, and I still think the chapter itself is a bit rough.
Hopefully, Amy won't not feel too much like a memetic woobie by the end of this. Some of it's inevitable, since becoming part of the Taylor dominated Zerg will rapidly shift her priorities and mindset especially in regards to Taylor herself, but I'm trying to keep in mind her acerbic, at times needlessly bitchy attitude.
Next chapter will cement my take on the character, then it's timeline funtime.