Scale 5.14
Bryce Kiley
2010, December 25: Brockton Bay, NH, USA
I woke up feeling rested and energized. Dad was big into the "Christmas is family time" camp so we did as he would have demanded and spent the morning exchanging gifts.
The Kiley family was gathered in the living room around our coffee table. We'd loaded up on hot chocolate and snacks before engaging in the Christmas tradition.
My only regret was that SAINT couldn't be here. Of course, I'd given him his gift early, but I would've loved to have him with me anyway. One day.
Mom got me a lovely scarf, gloves, and earmuffs set. It was polar bear-themed and the fingers of the gloves could be pulled back so I could tap away on my phone without taking the gloves off. It was nice, thoughtful, and made Sierra's gift look like a cup of instant noodles.
Because it was.
Her box was big enough to barely fit in the trunk of her car. Inside was… another box… and another… Until finally, when I gave it up as a bad job, she pressed a button and Metallica's "Master of Puppets" came from the bottom of the box.
"You sure you wanna give up, bro? I could just take it back," she said with a devious smirk.
I looked at her, then at the box. I sighed and got back to unwrapping her gift. "You know, gifts aren't supposed to be chores."
"Let's call it a test of character."
"Not supposed to be that, either."
"Big sister privileges. It's my job to teach you life lessons, right, mom?"
Mom giggled and watched from the sofa. "Leave me out of this, you two."
I opened another box. And then yet another, smaller box. "How many times did you wrap this thing?"
"You're getting closer, Bryce," Sisi encouragegd.
Finally, I beheld a box that wasn't much larger than my hands. I unwrapped it as the song continued to play, only to find a bowl of instant noodles.
I turned it over to find a small speaker taped to the bottom of the cup. It was half of a pair, the pair I'd gotten her for her birthday several months back. I glared at my sister.
She took one look at my face and fell into a giggling fit. She laughed so hard that she tipped over out of her chair. "Hehehehehe!"
"Really, Sisi?" I deadpanned.
"It's my job-hehehe-as your big sister-hehe, oh, god, that look on your face!"
"You're a horrible human being. I gave you this speaker and you're using it to play a prank on me? This violates the sacred laws of siblinghood."
It took her several tries to collect herself, but she managed with a mighty effort. "Ahem, as your big sister, I believe it is my job to teach you life lessons."
"And pray tell, what life lessons was I supposed to learn from this?"
"That life is full of disappointments. Sometimes, the box of chocolates is empty, Bryce."
I turned to mom. "Can I not give her her gift? I feel like this is grounds for gift forfeiture."
Mom looked at Sierra disapprovingly. "Sierra, please tell me you have an actual gift for your brother."
"Alright, alright, I've had my fun. Give me one sec, Bryce." Sierra stood and set her mug of hot chocolate down on the coffee table before heading upstairs. Several seconds later, she returned with a more normal-sized box. "Here, your real gift."
"No tricks?" I asked with exaggerated caution.
"Nope. You'll like it, I promise." I unwrapped it to find a pair of books, one on conventional music theory and another on sound editing. Sierra tapped the latter. "I know you've been getting into this sort of thing and I figured you could use those. There's also a CD in the back cover of that one that has recordings from a six week lecture series on this."
"I love it."
"I don't know if the recordings are any good though. I mean, I have a friend who's majoring in music and he helped me pick it out, but who knows?"
"I'm sure it's fine, sis. Thanks."
"Good," she said primly. "Now, what'd you get us?"
I rolled my eyes but handed the gifts over. I finally got around to making mom and Sierra their own shield generators, not that I could tell them that.
They each got fancy keychains with force field generators lodged within. I thought about some other accessory, like a bracelet or necklace, but both my sister and mother had modest collections they liked to switch out every few days. Meanwhile, they'd rather cut off their thumbs than leave their keys behind.
Giving them passive shields was something I'd been meaning to do for a while now. With my material concerns largely dealt with, there was no reason not to protect my family.
Well, there was the issue of the shield triggering. It'd out me to them, and out them as related to a powerful tinker to whoever was around. I'd much rather have that happen than have to bury my family though so I'd cross that bridge when it became relevant.
I once again reconsidered telling them, or at least Sierra. I was still reluctant to drag her into this life, but if she knew, then she could be kitted out with far more effective defensive gear. Now that Sabah knew, perhaps soon…
X
After a lovely morning with my family, I headed out to the Gullrest.
Despicable Me was an unexpectedly versatile setting, with superspies and villains galore. I'd already tinkered with some cookie-bots and made myself a freeze ray as well as a taser.
Sometime this month, I planned to integrate the gadgets into my pokenav so I wouldn't be fully unarmed even in my civilian life. The specialization was amazing for that sort of "my lip balm is a deadly weapon" kind of thing. More or less anything that could be made could also be condensed into seemingly mundane objects.
But today, I had other plans. I'd invited both Sabah and Amy out so they could meet each other. They'd been talking online for several days now and Amy agreed to at least let Sabah try to copy her power.
"Wow… This place is… a bit of a fixer-upper," Sabah said as she looked around the outside of my ship. I had to ferry them both one by one. She made to lean on a railing before seeing the rust and grime and thinking better of it.
"It's supposed to look like a dump," Amy said as she puffed away on a cigarette. "Would you have thought this is where Creed has his lab?"
"You make a good point. Hello, I'm Sabah. We talked online."
"Yup. Let's go inside. I know where Bryce keeps his snacks." I rolled my eyes as Amy led Sabah into the ship. She walked straight, then left, then down two flights of stairs before turning around.
"Are… Are we lost?" Sabah asked nervously.
"Yes, she is," I said.
"No, we're not," Amy replied at the same time. She glared at me in a huff. "We're not!"
"Hey, no shade, Ames. The ship's huge. Did you know the cargo hold alone has twelve thousand square feet of space?" I asked with a calm smile, as if butter wouldn't melt in my mouth. "I mean, most of it's underwater of course, but that doesn't mean it's all flooded."
"Shut up…"
"Alright, fine. It's Christmas. I won't tease you too much," I said, waving them towards a hallway. "Come on, the lab's this way."
I listened in as we walked. Hearing the two dance around each other was as entertaining as any show on TV these days. Amy was painfully awkward; her social circle amounted to Vicky, me, and maybe our lunch table if you squinted.
Sabah was better of course, being older and not as much of a social cripple. But whatever advantage she might have had in the conversation was lost by the virtue of her being in the position of the interviewee. She needed Amy's permission to take on her power and Sabah clearly wasn't sure what Amy was looking for.
That was obvious. After all, Amy didn't know what Amy was looking for either. Saying she'd vet Sabah's character was easy. Actually doing it? Now that was a different matter.
"This is my lab," I said as we entered the cargo hold. "It's seen quite the glow-up since I claimed the place. How about we sit down and have snacks? You two can start talking about what you want out of this over food and drinks."
Seeing as they had no better ideas, they agreed.
I set out four plates of food, spiced cider and a random assortment of mystery-fruits. Now that Sabah was in my lab, I didn't see the point in hiding SAINT's existence from her.
Seeing the extra plate, Amy pulled out a ziplock baggie filled with larger-than-usual peanuts. She said wryly, "You know, I feel like a drug dealer."
"You are," I said shamelessly. "You make and distribute consumable product. That's the definition of a drug dealer."
"Shut up. SAINT deserves it."
"He does."
"Who's SAINT?" Sabah asked.
SAINT popped out of my helmet with a happy trill. He made a beeline towards his plate. "Pory. Porygon."
"That is SAINT," I said with a smile. "He is the Sophisticated Artificially Intelligent Numerative Technopath, SAINT for short. He is my creation, but also my partner."
"An AI? Isn't that super illegal?"
"Lots of things I do are illegal. As you can see, he can transition freely between the digital and physical worlds. He's a lot more than just an AI."
"Huh…"
"He's fine," Amy defended my pokemon. "Bryce isn't an idiot… most of the time. SAINT's the best part of joining this team."
"Well, if you're both saying it's okay, then alright. How did you make SAINT though? I don't think anything I inherited from you can do that."
I took a sip of my drink with a smug smile. "He's from a previous specialization. He's my partner and personal assistant."
"I kinda want a personal assistant of my own now…"
"Later. In the meantime, I think you two should finish your conversation. Maybe figure out exactly what you can and can't copy from Amy's power, Sabah."
"You're right." Sabah slid over a bracelet. "Amy, I get that you're very nervous about letting someone else copy your power, but I promise I'll use it responsibly. If you ever want to stop lending me your power, all you have to do is take off the bracelet."
"I know, but what if something happens? I get that Bryce trusts you, but what if you get mastered? I wouldn't know to take off the bracelet until it's too late."
"That's a risk with everyone," I pointed out. "If there is ever a hostile master, they likely wouldn't even know to look for Sabah. Odds are, they'd go after you, not her."
"I guess… No biotinkering. At all."
"We don't even know if that part of your power will carry over," Sabah said gently. "But yes, I promise. I think I've used Bryce's tinker power responsibly so far."
"What have you made?"
"My lipstick is also a taser and my watch can launch tranquilizer darts. They're for self-defense, just in case I get caught out and can't call for help."
"That's… reasonable…" Amy trailed off. She'd run out of reasons to object. "Okay, I'm not opposed to lending you my power, but you need to test out the limits right here, while we're watching."
"That's fine. We planned on that anyway. If something goes wrong, I'll have both of you to help me fix it."
"Good." Amy took the bracelet. She eyed it with suspicion. I watched carefully as Amy put on the bracelet. "It… I don't feel any different. There was a mental 'click,' but beyond that…"
"That was how it felt for me, too," I said. I pulled off my gloves and took Sabah's hand. "Alright, what can you tell me about my biology, Sabs?"
And so, we began a long two hours of power testing. We tested everything we could, both on random produce in my snack drawer and another rat I'd acquired from the Graveyard.
In the end, we found out two important details:
First, Sabah's ability to analyze biology was just as advanced as Amy's. It made sense upon reflection. This aspect of her power was just Queen Shaper telling Amy's wetware about all the things the Shard observed. Everything else was built on this, and so could be considered the most foundational aspect of Amy's power.
She was able to discern the details of the augmentations I'd made to myself. She also had no problem analyzing the rat or the onion. If anything, the sheer depth of information she received intimidated her because unlike engineering, she had zero background in biology.
Second, everything else Sabah could do sucked compared to Amy. It took Sabah a solid five minutes to heal a light cut on my arm. Anything more severe had to be tested on the rat, just to be safe.
From what we gathered, Sabah was able to heal various cancers and other diseases. She could even reinforce the DNA of the rat to eliminate the likelihood of such diseases from arising again. However, the pace was so slow that had Amy not stepped in, she likely would have been holding the rat until dinner, if not until dawn tomorrow.
"Okay, I'll wear the bracelet," Amy said with obvious relief.
"I promise, no biotinkering at all," Sabah repeated. "Really, I'm a fashion designer first, engineer second, and biologist a very distant third. I'd rather not have to use this power at all, but if someone I know ever gets hurt, I want to at least know what's wrong."
"That's fair. And I'm sorry. I know I've been really anal about this."
"It's cool. You're Panacea. I understand that you're under a ton of pressure. And hey, who knows? If I ever get more established, maybe I can help you at the hospital like Bryce does sometimes."
"I'd like that," Amy said, accepting the olive branch. "Prognosis is just as important as treatment. Just let me know when you show up and I'll vouch for you."
"Okay, now that that's settled," Sabah turned to me. Her big, almond eyes were practically sparkling in the light. "Costume. You said you had my costume ready."
"Fashion designer first, huh?" I said chuckling. Still, I got up and pulled out her clothes from the closet. "I made just one set but I can make more when you finalize the design."
"Really? It won't be a ton of work?"
"I have your measurements saved on a file somewhere. I literally just need to upload the right script."
"Ooh, nice. Oh, did you have a chance to make a magic needle for me?"
"Seastone, and yes. I also made a set of shears so you can actually make things out of the Gera fiber I gave you. Take a spool of loose thread too while you're at it. As requested, your belt buckle is an integrated shield and cloaking module. It's got a button on top. I know the shoes are bulkier than you'd wanted, but they're so you can walk on water to come visit the lab."
"You're awesome, Bryce," she said. She picked up each article of clothing and examined them with an experienced eye. She then took out a notebook and began to jot down notes. "I'll make sure I'm not followed when I drop by again."
"Please do. I also made you a business purse and expanded the space inside so you can keep your tech away from your brothers."
"This looks like a lot. I promise I'll pay you back."
"You can't afford this. I mean, no offense, but you literally can't afford this kind of quality costume or tinkertech. Very few people in the world could. Just consider it a Christmas gift, yeah?"
"But still…"
"If you really want to pay me back, come help me accelerate my pipeline once in a while. SAINT's amazing, but having someone share my specialization would be a godsend."
"I will. We can make whatever you want together when I'm not busy with college." She soon turned to her costume and was lost to the world.
I wasn't done with my gifts though. I turned to Amy. "So, while Sabah makes finishing touches on her costume, let's talk about that favor you owe me."
Amy perked up at that. She saw me pick up a locked strongbox from deep in one of my supply closets. "The biotinkering project that can give powers through food? Is that it?"
"Yup. They're called devil fruits. Artificial zoans if you want to be pedantic."
"Gimmie," she demanded, arms outstretched.
"You're just like Sabah."
"Don't care. Gimmie."
"Later. Hear the explanation first."
"But… But… Biology…" she whined, mostly for the giggles.
"Nope, bad Amy. A responsible biotinker listens to instructions before engaging in potentially destructive experiments."
"Don't quote ethics at me. That's supposed to be my job."
"So follow your own advice. Besides, the strongbox is made of seastone and the lock changes passwords every attempt. It's even got a retina scanner."
"You know those can be faked right?"
I chuckled and pulled out one of my contacts. The twinkle eye zeroed in on the scanner like a crosshair. "Sure they can, but only if they know about the gravity child serum and the twinkle eye in the first place."
"Okay, yeah, fair point. I'm just… excited. I've never even thought of a power-granting fruit before."
"Understandable. It's exciting stuff. Anyway, what I have before me is an unadjusted artificial zoan. Basically, you can think of it as a mass of stem cells that has yet to decide what it wants to be."
"And how does it decide what it wants to be? Is it alive?"
"No, it's not. Maybe 'decide' was a poor choice of words. I mean that we are the ones who, umm… flavor it? Yeah, sure, why not? We can make it penguin-flavored, giraffe-flavored, rhino-flavored, or whatever else we want."
"That sounds disgusting. And fascinating," she whispered in shock at her own reaction. "What have you done to me?"
"I've set you free," I said, holding out my arms as if in holy benediction.
"Whatever. So this fruit will give whoever eats it the power to transform into that animal?"
"Yup. More specifically, this will give the consumer both an animal form and a hybrid form, kind of like a werewolf."
"Okay, and this is all controllable?"
"It is, mostly. You don't get to turn into a were-whatever without consequences. This means that the zoan user will inherit some of the instincts and impulses of the animal in question. This can be problematic if that animal has a strong hunting instinct."
"Wait, hold on," Amy paused. "This isn't going to make someone literally crave human flesh, is it?"
"No, but if, for example, we make a tiger zoan, the consumer might find it hard to back down from a fight and might potentially get carried away, using more force than they'd otherwise intend."
"That… I'm pretty sure tigers don't actually go around picking fights."
"Think more conceptually. Tigers are associated with courage and nobility, but also with more negative attributes like violence and ferocity."
"I don't know about this, Bryce. This sounds super dangerous. Anything we can't quantify should be avoided."
I nodded understandingly. She wasn't wrong. All the proof I needed could be found in Impel Down. Losing control, losing the battle to your "inner beast," was a very real possibility for a zoan user.
"And that's why I haven't touched this yet," I said with deadly seriousness. "Zoans are dangerous, but also represent incredible potential. Imagine a team of brutes, all as strong as Lung or the Nazi twins at their best. Imagine that they all have absurd changer abilities like flight, camouflage, or venom."
"Yeah, that sounds like you're going to have to go cull half of them because they lost control and the heroes can't handle them," Amy deadpanned. "You're not really selling the safety aspect to me."
"Which is why we stick to non-predatory animals. Even then, we should only offer these to very specific individuals after they've been properly vetted for upstanding character and strength of will."
"I don't know, Bryce. Those things aren't really qualities we can quantify. But… But I promised to at least take a look at all your projects. Alright, open it up. Gimmie."
"One last thing: The fruit imparts an inherited weakness to water. If ever a zoan user is submerged up to their waist, they will lose their power and become completely immobile. This would likely include their more conventional cape powers as well."
"How does that work? Plenty of animals are perfectly fine in the water, even if they're not strictly aquatic. Is it genetic?"
"Maybe in part, but I've so far been unable to remove this weakness."
"Hmm… I'll see what I can do."
Author's Note
Oh, look, a cliffhanger. Is it still a cliffhanger if it's just a conversation? We'll cover the devil fruit and the rest of this conversation NEXT TIME, ON DRAGON BALL Z!!!
Animal Fact: The hagfish can generate up to five liters of mucus in moments. The substance is made from mucus and proteins and expands with the water. It can suffocate predators and gunk up their gills.
Hagfish can be eaten. And, of course, it's primarily eaten in Korea and Japan, because our two countries are in competition to see which of us can put the dumbest thing from the ocean in our mouths and still technically call it food.
Nah, for real though, hagfish is said to be good for the skin. No clue if that's actually true. And no, we don't eat the slime.
Thank you to everyone who paid for my groceries. I have a Patreon and Kofi with dozens of chapters written across my various stories. If you'd like to read ahead, receive more frequent updates, vote in monthly polls or even commission a chapter directly, check them out.