Day 1, Wednesday January 5th 2011
My power hates me.
All the while I was in the hospital, all it did was give me a list of thirty seven tasks to complete, and the very first one mocked my deepest pain.
Make a Friend
The rest vary between easy to difficult to impossible to cryptic. Some seem to be almost trivially easy. That's why I'm staring down our garage - trying to work up the will to complete a few of this insane list of tasks and see what happens.
Pick Up a Tool
Pick Up an Implement
Go to a Workbench
I had already tried picking up a pen and pencil with no luck. I guess it didn't want a writing implement. But my dad has a workbench in the garage. Certainly something on it must qualify as a tool. I eye the many tools on the workbench, and settle on a wrench. After one last breath I step forward to pick it up.
Spoiler: Research & Development Center (100 CP)Research & Development Center (100CP): The R&D center is integral to the Initiative's colonization efforts in the Heleus cluster. There is one in every settlement. As you increase the amount of information you discover, the more you will be able to progress and discover in the Research section. And Development allows a user to build any object that you have the blueprints/plans for and resources to make it. If you have a ship, you can choose to integrate this into the ship. While the R&D center is initially limited to making things that are man portable, with the appropriate upgrades, that may change. After all, Remnant Vaults have such interesting technology... Post Jump, you can choose to have the R&D center be integrated with your warehouse, have it be placed somewhere mid jump, or even have it be connected to a robot of some sort for mobile crafting purposes.
Spoiler: Chemical Synthesizer (100 CP)Chemical Synthesizer (100CP): This microwave sized machine is truly a wonder of modern science, able to synthesize any non-magical chemical known to man in up to 12 oz batches. Synthesizing a chemical takes roughly an hour and works via a small Tablet interface.
I start at a shift in reality as a boxlike device suddenly appears on the workbench as the Go to a Workbench and Pick Up a Tool tasks both completed. I'd be annoyed if it wasn't so damned useful. A device that can produce twelve ounces of any chemical in an hour. I go to the touch screen and set it to make twelve ounces of pure gold. Then I go on to pick up every other item on the workbench in hopes of finding one that was considered an implement. None of them work.
Then I get to examining my power, and I realize there is supposed to be something else. A research and development center. But it isn't here. I don't know offhand where it would be. I am distracted from that search by the chemical synthesizer completing my first lump of gold.
Spoiler: Material Limitations (100 CP)Material Limitations (100CP): Even with the advanced technology commonplace on Earth nowadays, material limitations haven't changed. Or rather, you could say that they've gotten even worse. After all, how are you going to store antimatter if you have only steel at hand? Luckily, you won't ever have problems finding the materials you need. Whether you'll stumble upon them while searching through a scrapyard, or find just the right people who can get you that obscure alloy you need, nothing will stop you from building whatever you want besides your own skill. Well, if you're keeping it reasonable, at least.
The chance of you finding what you're searching for decreases exponentially with the material's "strength" and rarity, and increases by how much you know about said material, scientifically, and how good your technology skills are. So while a regular schmuck would probably never find Adamantium, someone who could reproduce it themselves in only a few years would have much, much better chances. So if you're in a situation where it is impossible to get what you want with what you know and where you are right now? Then you'll have to get to work yourself. Good riddance then that you can eventually reproduce any material or alloy that you have seen, though for extremely advanced ones it might take an unreasonable amount of time and skill.
And that is the Make Something task completing. I should have seen that one coming. It is interesting that the first two were more of objects, and this is the ability to find what I need to make stuff. With that ability, I am drawn to the possibility of earning more of these rewards from my power, so I look for more tasks that I could complete. I find three that might be complete-able with a single project.
Make Something Without Power Tools
Make Something Out of Metal
Create a Work of Art
I just need to make something artistic out of metal without using power tools. You might think that would be difficult, but if you use the right starting materials, it's not so hard. I choose to turn an old wire coat hanger into something artistic using a pair of pliers. I settle on a star shape design for this artistic piece.
Craftsman (100CP): You have a talent for creating things requiring wood as well as selecting the best wood for the job at hand. Creation times are halved for each purchase of this knack and the results are always visually impressive if you so wish.
Spoiler: Smith (100 CP)Smith (100CP): You have a particular talent for creating anything a blacksmith/armorsmith/weaponsmith might create. Any such object is half again as durable as it would otherwise be. Creation times are halved and your natural talent increases with each purchase of this knack.
Spoiler: Artistic License (100 CP)Artistic License (100CP): You know what a gun or spear made from the body parts of a strange monster looks like? Not that great, more often than not. Luckily, now you are able to make things that you create look really cool, almost like they were made from something else entirely. No matter what materials you used, you can somehow manage to make it look good. Alternatively, maybe you want to make a simple steel sword look menacing or unnatural.
And there are those three tasks completing. My star hanger turned out better than I thought it would. I'm not sure if that is luck or my new ability making it look cool. I hang it up in the garage, and go back to the house. I'm going to need to do some research, both into how to sell gold, as well as what other tasks I could unlock.
Gold was easy to research. Gold was going for almost $1600 per troy ounce, and each troy ounce was a little less than the normal ounces my Chemical Synthesizer produced. Although, why did it use ounces at all? Shouldn't it use the metric system? Most of science does. So each ingot of gold was worth over $17 thousand dollars. I had a potentially life-changing amount of money, if I could find a way to sell it. But I started getting a sinking feeling. That was too much. That was going to be suspicious if I did it myself or if I somehow got my dad to do it. Not to mention most gold bars would be imprinted with identifiers. Lacking those would be extra suspicious. I will have to come up with a safer plan to make a little money.
That left me with a deep look at my power. Now it was telling me this:
Code: Make a Friend
Get In a Fight
Examine Velocity
Get a License
Toolkits: Mundane Unlocked
Pick Up an Implement
Facilities: Mundane Unlocked
Make a MI
Supplies: Mundane Small Scale Unlocked
Pick Up a MI
Claim a Garage
Slay a Dragon
Search a Reference Library
Read a M Book
Examine a MT Design
Learn a New Skill
Memorize the Periodic Table
Disassemble Something
Go to School
Examine Five Pieces of Tinkertech
Make an Extraordinary Consumable
Examine Parian's Fashions
Earn Three MAs
Combine T and M
Make an Elixer
Crafting: Artisan Unlocked
Crafting: Metallurgy Unlocked
Assemble a Circuit Board
Cast a Spell
Make Three MIs and Three TIs
Quality: Appearance Unlocked
Examine Five Designs
Break One of your Inventions
Examine Armsmaster's Tinkertech
Examine Trainwreck's Tinkertech
Have an Accident
Make Something Big
I was going to skip past the idea that my power wants me to have a friend for the moment. Get in a fight sounds like a terrible idea. I want to become a hero, so I'm sure I'll get into a fight eventually. But going out and picking a fight with someone just to unlock a power seems... villainous. I can hold off on that.
Examine Velocity is slightly ambiguous. It could mean that I need to understand the concept of velocity. Or it could mean I need to look at the protectorate hero Velocity. Either of those interpretations would be similar to other tasks I had. And either of them could vary from simple to near impossible. Getting a license is also vague. There are many kinds of licenses. I suppose the simplest kind would be a driver's license, but I wouldn't turn sixteen for several months.
Then comes my first completed task: Toolkits: Mundane Unlocked. I'm not sure what to make of that. It seems to imply that there might be more. The chemical synthesizer is a tool that seems to be part of the mundane toolkits that I had unlocked. It is a fantastic tool, but certainly not the only one. And the others seemed to correspond. Facilities: Mundane gave me that R&D center that I end up finding in the basement that is useless until I find some designs. Supplies: Mundane Small Scale gives me the material limitations ability. Crafting: Artisan gives me the woodworking power (which was a little weird since I made something out of metal to get it). Crafting: Metallurgy gives me the metalworking power, which makes sense. Quality: Appearance gives me the ability to make inventions look cool. All together, it seems like I am pretty much a tinker with a specialty in metal materials maybe.
Nothing I have found had counted as an implement, so I have no idea what kind of thing to look for to complete that task. Then there are a couple tasks about MIs. I don't know what MIs are, so I couldn't do that.
Claiming a garage seems like it might be possible. As a tinker, having a lab to tinker in sounded like a good idea. I would want to find something relatively close to home, but still abandoned. Hopefully to the point that nobody would notice me coming and going. That would take searching.
Slaying a dragon is not going to happen. I can only think of two dragons. The local dragon, Lung, is scary enough that fighting him would be suicide. Even Leviathan couldn't slay him. The other is Dragon, and she is an international hero with the Guild, so I don't want to slay her. Not that I could, she would be as tough as Lung with all her resources.
Search a reference library seems like a reasonably easy task. I could try the local library's reference section. If that isn't good enough, the local university has a dedicated research library I could try to talk my way into. I would love to combine that with reading a M book, but I have no idea what M means. Similarly, I had no idea what a MT design is.
Then there is a streak of very approachable tasks. Learning a new skill is vague, but doable. Memorizing the periodic table is specific and doable, if a little time consuming. Disassembling something also seems like it would be pretty easy. I take a few minutes to root around in the basement and find an old toaster oven in the basement. Going to school seems simple on its face. But I'm not looking forward to going back to that place. I'll gladly take my week-long break before approaching that one.
Examining Five Pieces of Tinkertech seems difficult to approach for now. Maybe once I am established as a hero I could ask to see Gallant's tech. I don't know what an extraordinary consumable is, but it certainly wasn't ordinary, so it probably isn't something I could make yet.
Examining Parian's fashions seems possible. I'll do some research and see if I can tell when she will next make an appearance. I don't think she has a website like Uber and Leet, but there was probably a PHO thread dedicated to tracking her.
I don't know what MAs were, so I do not know how to earn them. I also don't know what T or M is, so I can't combine them. I don't know what my power thinks elixirs are, so I don't know how to approach that one. Cast a spell also seems ridiculous, like my power was saying that magic existed. But assembling a circuit board sounded like something I could at least look into. And yet another task references T and M, this time as TI and MI, I only assume they are referring to the same things.
Examining five designs might be possible. It doesn't say they have to be tinkertech, so maybe I can look through architectural blueprints or old patents for that. I make a note to do that when I go to the library. Breaking an invention seems easy, even if it hurts a little to break something I had put effort into. Still, my star hanger wouldn't be too much of a loss. I'm just not sure if it counts as an invention since it is a purely decorative piece. It would be a pity to ruin it and not even get credit for the task.
Then there were two tasks to examine tinkertech. Armsmaster's and Trainwreck's. I don't know why those two, but none of the other tinkers in the city. No Kid Win, Gallant, Squealer, or Leet. I'll have to keep an eye out for opportunities for those. Trainwreck will probably be harder than Armsmaster because Armsmaster at least makes public appearances. I don't even know who Trainwreck is.
Have an accident... sounds like a horrible suggestion. I'm sure I'll have an accident eventually, but that sounds like something to avoid. And the last task is to make something big. While big would be a bit more difficult, it wouldn't be impossible. But it would also attract attention, and I definitely don't want attention yet. Not till I've got myself a set of armor and a weapon at least.
And plans for armor were already coming into my head. I could make armor. It wouldn't be tinkertech powered armor. But it would be steel to encase my body. The problem is while I know I have the skill to make the armor, I don't have a forge to make it with. And while I have the skill at metalworking, that skill was not limited to metals. Any good suit of plate needed under-layers of leather and padding, and the skill I had gotten included everything to make those too. But that just led to more tools I was lacking, like tanning vats and awls. Of course I should have another option. The Research and Development Center should be capable of fabricating anything I have the plans and resources for. The chemical synthesizer should be able to create mundane materials, I just need the plans.
So that leaves my to-do list as: Capestalk Velocity, Parian, Armsmaster, and Trainwreck. Do research on abandoned garages for possible tinker lab locations. Go to the library and look up designs and circuit boards. Disassemble the toaster. Make element flash cards. Learn to juggle. Try to program a design into my R&D center.
I spend a frustrating couple of hours trying to program a design for a knife into the R&D center. It does not work well. The center doesn't need to know how I would create it. It needs to know how it should create it. And the processes are nowhere near similar. I can't just give it dimensions and tell it to go. That wouldn't heat treat the metal or remove the stresses on it. The way the center makes things is more like the chemical synthesizer than a smith shaping metal. Similarly, I don't know what the parameters it needs even mean. Frustrated, I give up on that and move on to another task.
The element flash cards take a lot of time and cards, but it's simple enough. There are more than two pieces of information to collate, so I fold each card in two so I can have one visible side and three hidden sides. Then I put the element's name, symbol, atomic number, and position on the different sides. Then I settle down to studying. Tomorrow I'll get my dad to take me to the library.Last edited: 5/1/2026 Award ReplyReport282Harper's Fairy5/1/2026Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Day 2, Thursday January 6th 2011 View contentHarper's Fairy6/1/2026Add bookmark#8Day 2, Thursday January 6th 2011
I wake up to an interesting message from my power.
+100CP Perk rolled, field not yet unlocked. Insufficient CP. 100CP banked
+100CP Perk rolled, field not yet unlocked. Insufficient CP. 200CP banked
I don't quite know what that means. But it sounds like I need to unlock more categories to get more neat powers. It also seems like I will earn more powers over time. Which is good. As it is now, I was probably a mediocre tinker. If the things I get from the other unlocks work together, that would make me a pretty good tinker. If I can earn perks outside of the unlocks I could turn into the best tinker in the world. Eventually. Once I figure out how to create a few designs for my R&D center to fabricate.
Of course, being a powerful tinker comes with its own problems. Like how do I ensure that I don't get forcibly recruited by a gang? I don't want to end up churning out ray guns or whatever for Kaiser. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I were to end up supporting such a racist screed, even unwillingly. I desperately need somebody I can trust. While I'm sure my dad loves me, I don't think he can be trusted. I can't trust him to react productively to knowing about Emma's bullying, so there's no reason to think I can trust him to react productively to me being a cape.
I wish I could just magically whip up friends like Emma does, but I can't. I don't have her looks or charm or money. Actually, on second thought, I DO have money. I just have trouble using it.
I manage to convince Dad to take me to the library on his way in to work. I promise to call him when I want to go home. I have a backpack full of homework and a sack lunch. I hope to be there most of the day.
They don't want patrons to spend more than one consecutive hour on the computer to give other people the chance to use them, so I figure I'd start there. There are no lines this early in the day, but I figure I'll be making multiple rounds on the computer.
First up I do a few computer searches for physical books for later. Much faster than using the card catalog. Then I surf over to PHO. There are threads for news on each major cape. There aren't any scheduled events for Velocity in the next few weeks. Parian is supposed to attend a business opening Saturday after next. I luck out with Armsmaster. He is supposed to make an appearance at the mall this very evening. Which actually poses a different problem - one of how I am going to talk my dad into letting me go there tonight. I do a little research on places in the mall until I come up with something that I think might work.
The last cape I'm supposed to stalk is Trainwreck, and there I run into a problem. There is no thread for him. So I can't learn who he or she is. I end up posting on the Brockton cape scene thread a question asking if anyone had heard of a tinker named Trainwreck. I figure I'll check back on that later and see if I got any replies.
All that eats up my first hour of computer time so I move on to some physical books. I move over to the reference section to start looking for designs.
Spoiler: Inert Ceph Technology (100CP)Inert Ceph Technology (100CP): Within this small vial is a delicate sample of a Ceph commander unit, once active but now 'dead'. The nanomachinery is still active at some level, but it acts without intelligence nor connection to the Ceph hivemind, making it relatively safe to handle. It's not exactly a gold mine of every possible Ceph technology, but studying it can yield tremendous advances.
I just barely feel a small vial appear in my pocket. I instinctively know that I now possess alien nanotechnology, but I don't know all the secrets locked inside it. I hope my R&D center can help me out with that, but that will have to wait. The field I unlocked is Databases: Mundane. That gives me some hope that R&D can salvage some information out of it. And it also gives me hope that this isn't a world-eating self-replicating nanobot.
Getting back to the reason I am going to the reference section, I manage to find a book on Tesla that includes many of his patent designs. I browse through eagerly.
Spoiler: Survey (100CP)Survey (100CP): A simple little survey that, when filled out, reveals the ideal weapon parameters for any given individual. The default length is 239 questions, but the survey becomes longer and more comprehensive as your crafting skills and resources become more diverse. As long as a person fills out the survey truthfully (and they are compelled to do so when faced with this version), the resulting weapon will be a truly one-of-a-kind tool perfectly matched to their personality and fighting style.
The fifth patent design gives me a new power that has no relation to anything I was reading about. Sometimes, these things do seem very random. The field is called Qualities: Design, so I suppose both the requirement and the perk relate vaguely to that theme.
I put away the book on Tesla and start looking for the other books I wanted. A basic primer on electronics, for one. I need to assemble a circuit board. Since I also need to disassemble something, I'm thinking I might be able to get away with disassembling a circuit board and then immediately reassembling it. But to do that, I need to know how to do that. Some quick reading gives me a bunch of safety precautions, but the actual skill of it seems fairly simple - put piece in hole, apply heat and solder. Which pieces go in which holes can be handled by keeping the things the same as when I disassemble it. I'm fairly sure I saw a soldering iron on the workbench in the garage (not that I knew what it was at the time). I could only guess that there has to be some solder somewhere to go with it. If not, I'll have to buy some. That can be a project for tomorrow.
I start a pile of books to check out with the basic electronics primer that I found. I add to it with a book on juggling. That should count as a new skill. I decide to disguise my actual interests with some camouflage books. I add in the Silmarillion in hopes it will give me some blacksmithing inspiration. And a biography of Joan d'Arc for the same reason.
Then it's time for round two on the computer. Searching for garages in my neighborhood isn't terribly helpful. I find a real estate listing service, but not the type of abandoned garages I would be looking for. I do spend some time researching lawyers. The cape law firm with the most effective reputation seems to be Gursky, Ederer, & Calle. I jot down their number on a piece of paper. Then I'm off to researching the local gangs.
I already know the basics since I live in Brockton Bay, but I refresh myself on the current rosters and the minor players. The Empire has a scary deep roster. The ABB still has the powerhouse duo of Lung and Oni Lee. The Merchants are disgusting, but still a threat. And there is always Uber & Leet, Coil, Circus, Grue, and a few others.
Then I go outside to eat my sack lunch. I take the opportunity to make a call to the law firm to set an appointment for the next day. I also call my dad to let him know I'm still okay and researching at the library. He had sorta demanded status updates in order to agree to drive me to the library today.
After that I go back into the library to work on my homework. The library has copies of the school textbooks that they do not lend out. Which is useful in this instance as a way to convince my dad to let me spend time here. But I have homework, and it does have to get done.
Once I finish, I practice with my flash cards and read the entire juggling book. Then I go back to the computer one more time. I need to check if there was any response to my earlier post. There are a few responses, but they were all indicated having never heard of anyone called Trainwreck. I take a few minutes to look up more valuable materials that I could synthesize, and there were a lot of suggestions. Some stupid or dangerous. Most wildly rarer and thus more impractical than simple gold. Once I get a reputation as a supplier I might be able to increase my income significantly, but that would have to wait.
At about three I call my dad again and ask him to pick me up. Once he shows up, I ask him if we could go out to a steakhouse for dinner that night. He balks about the price initially, but comes around in short order. The steakhouse is in the same mall that Armsmaster will be at. I volunteer to make the reservation.
Dad leaves me at home and tells me to rest until dinner. He has to get back to work. The first thing I do is go to the basement to get the R&D center working on the Ceph nanotech that I got that morning. The analysis starts up, and the center starts happily churning away at the scientific data.
While I'm down there, I collect the old VCR I wanted to take apart. I lay out butcher paper on the workbench in the garage. I trace out pieces, and label each screw as I remove it from the case. I take off the casing and start taking apart the internal pieces. Once I get each of the components out of the case, the disassembly task triggers.
Spoiler: Crazed Physician (100CP)Crazed Physician (100CP): Amongst the many sciences and paths you know, aside from the usual Ominous Cackling, you... Can actually patch people up easily. As a Crazed Physician, you can use the plainest tools on hand to mend any variety of wounds and injuries. As well, you know the human anatomy down to the last blood vessel, and can learn the anatomy of any other creature you dissect more easily.
I take apart a VCR and learn meatball surgery? How does that make any sense? The field is called Knowledge: Reverse Engineering, but that perk doesn't have anything to do with reverse engineering. Well, maybe it does if you squint at it funny. Still, this is a good power. I can heal people with this. It may appear a little Bonesaw-like, but I can mend wounds and injuries. And the knowledge of anatomy is extremely detailed. I can use that to fight more effectively. Or to train more effectively. Plus I've unlocked more fields, so I should have a better chance to earn more powers overnight.
The disassembly hadn't required that I take each of the components off of a circuit board. As I begin trying to do so, I'm very thankful it didn't. Removing the little cylinders and pill things is simple enough since they only have two legs each, so you can melt the solder on one and bend it up. But the little black chips have a dozen legs or so. And you can't melt the solder one at a time, you have to melt it all before it will come out. It really needs more soldering irons and hands than I have. Or better tools than what I have.
And as careful as I was trying to be, that leads to the inevitable. I try to pull on a chip while I still have the soldering iron on it and end up burning the side of my finger.
Spoiler: Hands Off! (100CP)Hands Off! (100CP): When one is at the forefront of technological development, one sometimes has to watch out for espionage. Why bother developing a revolutionary new weapon system when a Ghost with sticky fingers walks in and takes it? You are able to design, and seamlessly implement security protocols into any technology or equipment you have access to that would limit use to authorized personnel. You don't even have to go to the extreme of half-breaking it either, that's for neanderthals and inferior scientists.
I suck on my finger to numb the pain and take a look at my new ability. It actually sounds like a really nice perk. Nobody else can use my tech unless I build it for them. It's part of the Quality: Safety field. Which I suppose goes with having an accident. But the ability itself seems to prevent theft rather than add safety. Although I suppose having your own tech used against you would be unsafe.
I take a break from unsoldering to fiddle with my chemical synthesizer and R&D center to apply my new ability to them. It doesn't even take that much effort. Mostly just a few lines of code and a few small parts that I miraculously know exactly how to tell the R&D center how to make. Now nobody else can benefit from my golden goose.
I make sure to call dad at work and remind him to come home so we can go to dinner. I make sure we're going to arrive plenty early and try to juggle some balled up socks. He only shows up a few minutes late, and we get going to the mall. I check in for our reservation and we get a pager, but it's going to be a wait for a table since we're early. I convince my dad to walk the mall with me. Down at the other end there's a crowd. Armsmaster is speaking to a crowd. It looks like Assault and Triumph are with him. My father and I wander over. He seems to find the speech interesting.
I find my interest drawn to a smaller crowd off to the side where the Armscycle is parked. I join that crowd and slowly circle around the tinkertech marvel of sleek design. This should be it... My perk does not unlock. Is this not Armsmaster's tinkertech? Or do I need a closer look? It says examine. So rather than just looking at it, I really take in the details. I try to figure out what everything does. It takes a slow methodical look at every part of the vehicle before my perk triggers.
Spoiler: Savant (100CP)Savant (100CP): There is some area of endeavor in which you are truly brilliant. This could be Waldo's talent for cooking, a particular sport, music, or any other real world skillset. You have the talent to be among the very best in the world, if you put in the work, and will achieve that status in far less time than most. This perk can be purchased multiple times. This perk has been purchased once and applied to motorcycle riding.
Spoiler: Theme Song (0CP)Theme Song (0CP): You have your very own theme song that will play at the start of every jump. The song will be one that you enjoy, and you can play it at will, with full control over the volume. You can even decide if anyone beside you can hear the song. You can also play any piece of music you have ever heard. This playlist updates as you encounter new music.
That is yet another perk that doesn't seem to relate to what I was doing to get it. But it's still another unlock. The field is Quality: Efficiency, but I don't see how the perk makes anything more efficient except learning. And I don't think the area it was applied to would be what I would choose. I'm lucky the theme song doesn't start playing immediately. I play it for myself once and I do enjoy it, but I have to wonder if I would have liked it or if my power made me like it.
Dad finds me staring at the tinkertech motorcycle. "We didn't come here for the steak, did we?"
"No." I stop my theme song in my own head.
"Did you actually want to go to the steakhouse?"
"Not especially. Did you want to eat somewhere else?"
"It's too bad that I got all hungry for it anticipating it this afternoon." We start heading back to the restaurant. "I didn't know you were still obsessed with Armsmaster."
"It's not Armsmaster, really. It's just that motorcycle."
"You like motorcycles? Since when?"
"It's a pretty recent interest." Like two minutes old.
"I'm glad you're interested in something."
Dinner was nice, if a little pricey. I felt guilty about that. I just got out of the hospital, which I'm sure is going to cost a bundle only to ask for an expensive dinner out. Hopefully I can see the lawyer tomorrow to monetize my gold. Then I need to figure out a way to get some of that money to Dad.
Back at home I don't want to risk tinkering while Dad is around, so I go to my room and practice juggling, and review my flash cards.
Day 3, Friday January 7th 2011
I wake up hoping to see some earned perks, and I am not disappointed.
+100CP Perk rolled, field not yet unlocked. Cost 300CP/300CP, lock in ability? Y/N
I debate how to answer. I don't know what it will do either way, so I decide to give it a try and think
YES.
Cybernetics perk locked in. Will be purchased upon unlock of Knowledge: Future Tech. 0CP banked
+100CP Perk rolled, field Quality: Efficiency unlocked. Perk Efficient Electricity purchased for 100 CP.
0CP banked
Spoiler: Efficient Electricity (100CP)Efficient Electricity (100CP): Energy. Computers, being devices able to calculate AI paths while simultaneously rendering graphics for players to see, use a decent amount of it.
Thankfully, you seem to be extra skilled in the area of computer electronics, able to make devices that not only use smaller amounts of energy for the same work, but are also more resilient than the average gaming device, able to handle electrical surges far better than most.
+100CP Perk rolled, field not yet unlocked. Insufficient CP.
100CP banked
Well that's extra neat. I got another power. It makes computers use less power, and that should help. But the bonus is that it comes with skill in the area of electronics, which should help me with my assembling a circuit board task. And it's a good thing I got to see Armsmaster last night, because otherwise Efficient Electricity would still have been locked.
I resolve right now that since I'm going to be a hero, I need to get into shape. So I decide to start running each morning. I go out and run around the block. After a single lap I'm already dragging, but the goal is to push myself, so I go around one more time. The second lap takes a lot longer and once I get back I feel terrible. I go inside and get myself some breakfast and barely resist the urge to crash on the couch after that exercise. When my dad gets out of the shower he asks where I was and I tell him I went for a run. He doesn't like it. He says I'm pushing myself too hard. He also says it's not safe out there. He doesn't forbid me from running, but I can tell he's tempted to. I avoid the situation by leaving to take a shower.
Once dad has gone off to work I go down to the basement and check on the R&D center. It has come up with a very bulky power armor based on the Ceph nanotech. It showed up with the materials to create it, but if I want it to be able to continue manufacturing things for me, I'll have to keep its supplies stocked. The chemical synthesizer can easily make iron, cadmium, fluorite or lithium. I'm pretty sure that Omni-Gel could be made by the synthesizer if I could figure out exactly what it was. I'll need to scan it at some point. Element zero is also going to be a problem, but it looks like the Ceph-based power armor doesn't use any of that. The center is working on a leaner, more efficient power armor. And it has the basis for anti-gravity and ice or energy based weaponry. It's also working on an energy shield that is pretty good protection against firearms, but not terribly effective against energy weapons, melee, or explosions. I debate telling it to manufacture the bulky suit to have something tinkery to wear to meet the cape lawyer, but it would attract more attention than is worth it.
I go to the garage to work on that circuit board and the skill boost from efficient electricity is a massive help. I manage to get the ICs out. Also, I know that they're not called chip things, but ICs, which is short for integrated circuits. I manage to take everything out, and then get it all installed back into the board in a little over an hour.
Spoiler: Tool King (100CP)Tool King (100CP): Starting with a cartload of random junk and ending with high-quality ammunition or power cells, cutting-edge improvements to power armor, overcharged laser weaponry or even entirely new kinds of science is practically trivial for the average Fallout protagonist- yet their talents pale compared to yours. This Perk grants you immediate access to pretty much any kind of crafting shown in the Fallout series: from Hand Loader to Science! and Chemist to Robotics Expert, if it somehow involves building things out of other things (from guns to ammo to even entire buildings), youve got it - including perfectly memorized designs for the kind of components and tools you might need, like the Robotics Workbench or Nuka-Cola Mixer station. In fact, youre good enough that youll never make mistakes while doing this type of crafting (assuming someone doesn't start shooting at you or some such), and youll be perfectly aware of where you were in the process if you do find yourself interrupted and have to continue later on.
The field is Crafting: Technological, which makes sense. This power is strange. It is all a very roughshod, improvised technology. It could craft weapon and armor modifications, but I could already do that with the R&D center. Very few actual weapons or armors, though. It does have a variety of ammo, grenades, chemicals, and even foods that could be crafted. I decide to try making one of the chemicals, the stimpack. It should be a simple healing item. It requires two units of antiseptic, a blood pack, and some steel. I had several ingots of steel ready. I take the antiseptic that we keep in the bathroom, and draw a ziplock bag of my own blood for the blood pack. For medical purposes, it wouldn't work as well as an official blood bag, but this type of tech was all about scrounging improvised materials, so it should work just fine. Crazed Physician gave me plenty of skill to pull off a simple blood draw. A few seconds of effort turns those things into a stimpack.
Spoiler: Alchemic Prodigy (100CP)Alchemic Prodigy (100CP): One of the most profitable and respected professions in Tamriel, a good alchemist can find lucrative work just about anywhere on Nirn, from Necrom to Stros M'Kai. Aside from a good bit of experience in identifying herbs that can be used for medicinal (or malign) creations, you have enough experience to work with up to Rank Five solvents and oils (Purified Water and Pitch Vile respectively), with a whole decade to learn more. Healing potions, portions to bolster physical attributes, or even debilitating poisons can not only be produced, but with adequate testing you can even begin to mix and match their effects by combining the right ingredients.
And now my power is getting silly. It seems to be saying that Alchemy is a thing because the field is Skills: Alchemy. It seems most of the recipes involve combining several herbs. But the field does contain an elixir, so I resolve to build up to that to unlock the Make an Elixir task. But to do that I need to have some ingredients. Unfortunately, there aren't many places in the city to pick wildflowers. And even fewer places to find rare mushrooms.
It is time to leave to meet with the lawyer. I bring along my backpack with my juggling book and the biography and flash cards for entertainment. I have a black hoodie to change into for the meeting. Not that it's that different from the gray hoodie I'm wearing. I also have gloves, a bandanna and pair of sunglasses, and my cubes of synthesized gold and other things. I give my dad a call at work so he won't worry and try to call home to find me missing.
I walk to the bus stop and find some flowers that could work for the alchemy skill that I have. I pick a couple and hide them in the pocket of my backpack. I read the biography while waiting for the bus, then when it comes I switch to the flash cards to practice my elements. I get off about a block from the lawyer's office. I duck into an alley for a moment to change hoodies and put on my glasses and bandanna. Then I walk into the office.
"Can I help you?"
"I have an eleven o'clock appointment with Mister Gursky."
"Please take a seat. There's water in the cooler if you are thirsty." The secretary doesn't seem to be bothered at all by my masking. I guess it's to be expected for a cape lawyer. It's probably the worst mask she had ever seen.
I spend some time going through my flash cards. I get a drink of water in a little paper cup eventually too. But before long I get called in.
"Mister Gursky will see you now."
"Hello. Come in." Gursky is an overweight man of middling height. He wears a suit without the coat buttoned. I enter his office and sit down. "In your call, you said you were looking for someone to act as an agent for you? You realize our services don't come cheap?"
"I can afford to pay. Well, not with cash."
"Do you have a dollar?"
"Yes."
"Please hand it to me. It's a formality, but if I accept a retainer or even a down payment on a retainer, I am your attorney and covered by privilege."
I fish out the four quarters I had planned to use for bus fare home and handed them to him. He writes out a receipt for the dollar and hands it to me. "There goes my bus fare."
"The first thing I am going to suggest is that you do NOT tell me if you are a cape. Since you have expressed interest in a business relationship, I can tell you that everything gets more complicated if we know something is the product of a parahuman. NEPEA-5 and all. So, with attorney privilege invoked and you advised of that, how do you plan to pay us?"
"Um. Gold." I pull out a cube of gold. It's pretty much one inch on a side.
"Okay then. That should work nicely." He licks his lips.
"I've ensured nobody else can make that."
"That's a very wise precaution. Not something I would ask about. Would you be able to provide further gold over the course of our relationship?"
"Yes." I pull out a couple more cubes to put in front of him. I also pulled out my other cubes. "And other precious materials. Silver. Platinum. Diamond."
He eyes the other cubes. The metals gleam, but the diamond looks particularly uninteresting. It's a cube 1.8 inches on a side, which is way bigger than any natural diamond. But it isn't cut with facets, so it doesn't glimmer like you would expect a diamond. It looks more like a polished cube of glass.
"Careful with the edges, they're sharp." I had given myself basically a paper-cut putting it in my backpack.
He picks up a tumbler from his liquor tray and traces the edge of the diamond against it causing a score. Then he breaks off the scored piece and traces it against the side of the diamond. No mark. He takes a deep breath.
"Okay. I see why you need an agent. These would be particularly hard to sell without leading back to you. I'll need to do some research as to the valuation of these items, but we should be able to sell them for you for a portion of the proceeds. For a deal like this, we'd prefer to make it a percentage rather than a fixed fee to assure you that we are just as committed to getting the best sale price as you would be. I'll put together a contract for us to act as your sales agent. So... that would potentially be a large amount of money for you. Would you be interested in any other services?"
"Yeah. There are a few things I'd like. I want a garage to work in. But I don't want it to be traced back to me."
"Okay. That might pose a problem since property deeds are public record. But there might be a way around that. I'll look into it. Anything else?"
"Um. I'd like an opportunity to examine a few pieces of tinkertech, if that would be possible."
"That may be something we could arrange. Is broken tinkertech okay or does it have to be intact?"
"I don't know. We could try broken. I also might like to meet Velocity and Parian, but I might be able to do that on my own. Any way you... Can a cape... hypothetically get a driver's license? I'm asking for a friend."
He smiles. "Good question. There is a way for a cape to get a driver's license, but it requires registering with the PRT as an affiliate. They cannot check age, but PRT backed licenses may have addenda for driving assist devices or speed limiters for those suspected to be too young to drive responsibly. Being able to demonstrate proficiency usually prevents those limitations. Needless to say, such licenses can only be used while in costume. If you would like, I can have one of our associates assist your 'friend' in registering with the PRT."
"Let me think on it. Um... is there anything you can do about problems with peers at school?"
"That's not my usual field. And it may require some knowledge of your official identity. But before you veto anything, let me have an associate look into options. A transfer might be difficult, but maybe home schooling could be an option. Anything else?"
"Um... not that I can think of right now."
"Okay. Let me tell you what I'm going to do right now. I'm going to get in touch with some acquaintances who specialize in commodities to get an estimate of the value of these things and make sure any contract I put together is up to snuff. I'm going to write up that contract, and give you a receipt for any cubes you leave with us. I'm going to look into local garages that might be possible to obtain discreetly. I'll make some inquiries as to borrowing some tinkertech. And I'll have an associate look into schooling options."
"It'll take me a little time to do the research and print a contract. Since it's coming up on lunchtime, I'm going to treat you to lunch. Here's the menu for the place we're going to order from. Just let my secretary know what you want. Hopefully by the time you're done eating I'll have the sales contract ready to sign. Okay so far?"
"Yeah, no, this has been great, thanks."
"Great. Now I need to ask you a few questions. Since this firm makes every attempt to be cape accessible, we try to structure our contracts without identities. Are you okay with giving your finger or toe print to confirm identity?" I nodded. "Great. What should we call you in the contract? We could go fully stupid legalese and use the party of the first part, but that stuff even gets on lawyers' nerves."
"It can be any name?" He nods. I tried to come up with a good name. I thought about who to name myself after. I considered my mom, but that would be too close to home. I thought about inventors. It was probably efficient electricity influencing me, but my mind went to Thomas Edison. But that would be a bit too obvious. So would Nikola Tesla. But perhaps combining the two. "Um... how about Nicole Thomas?"
"Seems a fine name to me. Okay Nicole, nice to meet you. One last question, how can we get in touch with you? Do you have a cell phone?
"Uh, no."
"Okay. I'll recommend you get one. Prepaid is fine if you don't want to spend a lot of time talking on it. Just having the communication channel is important. Plus there's safety from being able to call the police if you are in trouble."
"Okay."
He leaves me in his office. I order a salad type thing from the Mediterranean place they are ordering from, mostly because I think one of the greens looks like something I could use in my alchemy. I sit and read until the food arrives. The salad itself is a little disappointing, but I do pull out the greens and stash them with the flowers in my backpack. As I eat, I go through my flash cards again. I am getting better at the elements. I am already up to about 80% right.
Mr. Gursky comes back when I am mostly finished with my food. He has a stack of papers. We end up agreeing on a 25% cut for sales services, I suspect mostly because he wanted to keep me happy because that would be a lot of money. He is only able to take two cubes of gold and one of silver at a time because his insurance wouldn't cover any more than that. Two gold cubes would still be worth over twenty five thousand dollars to my account. I suddenly felt very wealthy.
I ask about having an associate help my friend register with the PRT. The lawyer is happy to arrange it. He asks what cape name my friend would be going by and I am lost. I am not good with names. But I did notice my next flash card was #46. After a moment of thought, I concluded that was a good enough name so I said "Palladium".
Mr. Gursky has one last surprise for me. He offers me a hundred dollar advance on the first gold sale. He even counts it out as a fifty (which he suggests I use to buy a phone), two twenties, a five, four ones, and four quarters. I relax, because that means I'm not short on bus fare to get home. Plus I could slip a little cash to my dad to make up for dinner last night.
I browse a home botany (weed) store in a plaza down the block from the lawyer's office. I purchase a couple things that might be usable for potions. I stop by the cellphone store in the same plaza to buy a phone. Dad might get mad, but Mr. Gursky did have a point. If I went out as a hero and caught some bad guys, what would I do? Wander around looking for a payphone so I could get the cops to haul them in? Communications are important. I give the lawyer's office a call to let them know "Nicole Thomas's" new cell phone number. But I don't want to be caught with it, so I make sure I set it to silent on the bus and turn it off completely before I get home. I'll just check it for messages each morning.
Back at home I call dad up. Just to make sure he doesn't worry. I decide to brew my first potion with the ingredients I had found. Fortunately, I can turn two of them into something. It's basically a potion to restore stamina. Not a big deal. I use the kitchen to brew it up.
Spoiler: Magic Style: Arc of Embodiment (100CP)Magic Style: Arc of Embodiment (100CP): Arc of Embodiment is a form of Lost Magic that allows the caster to materialize, and subsequently use to their every whim, anything they can imagine. Any of their creations give them great versatility both in and out of combat. They can range anywhere from everyday objects and weapons to more complex creations, even living ones, or even simple images of whatever may be on the user's mind. These creations are also given special properties that goes accordingly to what they are. It has been stated that there are several limits and conditions to this Magic, one of which is that the Magic cannot conjure living creatures.
Spoiler: Magic (0CP)Magic (0CP): Ethernano is the source of energy. It's what allows us all to accomplish the act known as Magic, casting spells and the like. Not everyone has the ability to use magic but you're one of those lucky ones. Before we go on, the most important thing to know about magic in this world is that it is more than just a source of energy like what you get from food and more than just a power that you study and practice with to use in battle like a gun or martial arts. It is a part of you, ebbing and flowing as you do. When your heart soars and your soul burns hot, your magic will answer with a leap and a bound in might. Intense emotions can colour and enhance magical power, sometimes to massive extents, and no emotion is greater than love. Both friendship and romance, the magic of this world responds in purest form to these emotions and what makes you feel them. Some say that this might even be the true source of all magic in the world, the love that let us come so far.
Spoiler: Magic Power: Rank 1 (0CP)Magic Power: Rank 1 (0CP): You have the innate potential to be a Mage and to use Magic, that's for certain. But not all Wizards are equal to each other. The amount of Magical Power you have and can use is different for every person. It can be trained and improved over time but that'll take effort and time. It is important to note that, in general, magical power generally translates into physical power, though it is unclear whether this is a natural boost or the effect of basic and easy to learn enhancement magic that most mages make use of.
The average for any combat capable Wizard. You're certainly able to fight and no normal humans likely to stand up to you at first but you'll be tired after a few minutes and don't expect to be blowing up houses.
Wow. I just don't know what to say. I thought I understood my power. I thought my chemical synthesizer was an awesome power. Then I brew one potion and find out magic is real and I have it. I am only given a small amount of talent with that magic and I only get one spell. But that one spell is reality warping.
The field is called Skills: Magic, and apparently elixir counted any potion. But with this power I would not have been disappointed if I had to climb the entire alchemy ladder to get it. The spell is called Arc of Embodiment. And its applications are endless. I can make an image, summon a beast, make a weapon or wings, or conjure up an entire building. I may not be strong enough for the more advanced uses, but even minor uses can be amazing. I have but to will it and I can have a forge with which to blacksmith or a post-apocalyptic style power armor crafting rack with which to enhance my as yet nonexistent power armor.
I have to try it at least once, so I imagine a blacksmithing hammer in my hand and reach for the Ethernano. And suddenly my hand holds a hammer.
Spoiler: Cult of the Gun (100CP)Cult of the Gun (100CP): What makes The Gungeon work? Magic. Duh. But, it's a specific type of magic; Gun magic, magic that makes objects more gun-like, or that accentuates the gun-like traits of non-gun objects. Unrestrained, it can turn a gun-like non-gun object, like a mailbox, into a gun, granting it a projectile and a firing method. The Gungeon does this passively, but you know how to direct this ability and use it to your advantage, taking any kind of object, and making it into a, "gun," complete with the same perks that any gun-like object might gain. It's still fairly uncontrolled, with little if any say on your part as to what kind of weapon you get. How else do you explain, "guns," explosive bananas; a bee hive that fires bees(duh); a camera that deals room-wide damage, knockback, and slowing; a guzheng that fires arrows when played; a pillow that fires zippers and stuns nearby enemies when reloaded; a crate that fires anvils; or a compressed air tank that fires homing sharks?
And that is just silly. I learn magic and get the one spell to rule them all, but I learn to make enchanted items and all I can do is absurd firearms? Nothing about this power makes any sense. The field is called Crafting: Magical Items.
And now I'm wondering if the MI some of my tasks referred to was Magic Items. So I look around and find the old broken toaster that I had considered taking apart before I tried killing two birds with one VCR. I pick it up and wish it to become more gunlike. And it does.
Spoiler: Alchemy Workshop (100CP)Alchemy Workshop (100CP): Built into a wagon, this full scale workshop allows for scientific research in the field, and provides all the tools the aspiring researcher needs to learn about the world they are in. Just don't blow yourself up or blind anyone, ok?
Spoiler: No Fly Bys (0CP)No Fly Bys (0CP): The world is orchestrated by a very location and situation fitting musical score. You may turn this off and on at will.
Spoiler: Tech Wizard (100CP)Tech Wizard (100CP): You're really good with machines. You just sort of understand how they work, better than most. But not just regular machinery, no. You've learned how magitech works too, to a certain extent. COMPs are incredibly powerful tools, allowing users to summon demons, learn magic, go beyond normal human limits and fight on the same level as demons. You can't build one yet, but you've figured out how they work, and even how to modify the coding to a certain extent. Won't the Shomonkai be surprised to find out they're no longer safe from their own toys?
Spoiler: COMP (0 CP)COMP (0 CP): This is what will keep you alive in this Jump. Allow me to give you a walkthrough: Formerly innocent game devices, Naoya has transformed them into machines that channel the power of the Demon Summoning Program, directly from Babel itself. The COMP comes with a number of features: Demon summoning and control; skill cracking, which allows you to steal powers and abilities from enemies you defeat, though some cannot be cracked; An email service, which can't operate during the day (For service space) but CAN send the Laplace Mail, which lists out all the important events of the day - Including people's deaths. There is also the Devil Auction, where you can purchase demons, the Cathedral of Shadows, in order to fuse demons, and the demon compendium, in order to re-summon demons you have bought or fused in the past, for a fee. All transactions are made in Macca, the currency of Hell, which can be earned by fighting demons. The final and most important feature is the Harmonizer: Without this, humans would be powerless against demons. Essentially, it weakens the powers of demons, while empowering the defenses and attacks of humans. So it's pretty essential.
So MI does refer to Magical Item. I have now unlocked Facilities: Magical and Skills: Magitech. And there's now a wagon in our garage. That is going to cause some problems sooner or later. I might have to look into speeding up the process of getting a garage. Also I can summon demons with the COMP that showed up in my hands. Demons and devils sound like bad news. Not something I want to play around with. I vow never to use the COMP. The soundtrack is some rather pleasant violin music. But I thought I had another task about MIs. I check my list and then put down the toast cannon and pick it back up.
Spoiler: Sack of the Maker (100CP)Sack of the Maker (100CP): Medium sized, this bag contains an assortment of random ores and metals for you to work with, from cheap iron to Tauru ore which is one of the hardest known ores around, the quality and quantity of these materials will vary from day to day and sometime will drop some really precious minerals. It refills once a day so don't get shy at using them.
Spoiler: Status Plate (0CP)Status Plate (0CP): a 10x5 cm card (yours come with scroll option) that lists all your powers, abilities and perks. It also serves as an identification card in this world. If you want to, you can choose what powers can be displayed in the card, to avoid too many questions from others. If stolen or lost you will find it again in your pocket or warehouse an hour later.
The power is a small supply of random metals. The extra power is a convenient reminder, but kind of redundant with my power journal. And that was the unlock for Supplies: Magical Small Scale. I'm getting to the point where I think I can predict these fields for the most part. And I've only unlocked half the categories. Returning to the world from being lost in thought, I empty out the bag so it can refill itself. It's full of random metal bits, most of which are not terribly valuable. But at least it gives more than 12 ounces of steel at a time, so I can waste less time synthesizing that.
It feels like I've been falling down a rabbit hole of perk unlocks here. I've gotten some good stuff, but it's probably time to take a step back. I still need to read a M Book. Presuming the M is magic, that unlock makes sense. Unfortunately, I don't have any of those yet. Earn three MAs is sitting at two of three, so maybe it's magical aptitudes or something. I am at one of three in each of MIs and TIs. I'm going to presume that TIs are something like technological items. I guess the circuit board I put together counted there. I suppose it does run on much less power now. Which would make a MT design probably Magitech.
Of course, there are still a bunch of tasks I could do. I am still trying to memorize the periodic table and learn to juggle. I still need to encounter Velocity, Parian, and Trainwreck. Going to school was simple and would happen next week. I'd get into a fight as a cape eventually. Plus I could break one of my inventions, although I would prefer to do that on something that I can replicate. If I had some good designs, I might be able to make two more magic items and two more technological items. Or I could make random garbage to fulfill the task, but if I'm a tinker, I want to actually tinker, not churn out schlock for a scavenger hunt.
The lawyer is working on the garage, and once I have that I might be able to make something big. The lawyer also might be able to help with getting a license, and examining four more pieces of tinkertech. Then there were the tasks that I didn't have a path toward at the moment. Make a friend, pick up an implement, slay a dragon, read a (magic) book, examine a magitech design, and earn one more magical aptitude.
But the immediate problem is that my dad is going to come home and he might see a new wagon that has mysteriously taken up residence in our garage. He usually parks his truck in the driveway, but there's no guarantee he won't pull into the garage. The January weather is pretty harsh, and snow would mean he would want to park in the garage. Brockton Bay does have unusually mild weather for the region. I watch the weather report, and it looks like it isn't going to snow tonight. But that's no guarantee Dad will know that. Maybe if I intercept him outside I can control that situation. I look for an excuse to be outside waiting for him and I see the broken step on the front porch. If only I had any carpentry skills… that I've actually had since yesterday. I root through the garage and find a plank of wood to replace the rotten one. I take a hammer and a saw and a box of nails. Then it's just a little straightforward home carpentry.
The soundtrack gets old faster than I would have thought so I will that power off. I let that project sit so I can be working on it when dad comes home. I put some dinner on. Vegetable stew, because Tool King reminded me of it, but NOT using the Tool King recipe which uses carrots, mutant tomato/potato monstrosities and dirty water. Instead I use tap water, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion with seasonings like a normal person cooking. While it simmers, I practice juggling, which seems to be half practicing picking up the balls that I drop. Eventually I stop doing that and just conjure up three floating hands that will pick the balls up for me. No reason not to work on developing my magic while I work on juggling.
I call dad at work again to ask when he is coming home (ostensibly to have the stew ready then) and make sure I'm outside finishing up the front step when he does. He parks in the driveway and asks me what I'm doing. I tell him I'm fixing the step, but he's wondering why I'm doing that so long past dark. It is the middle of winter and gets dark early. I stammer and said I didn't realize how long it would take. He seems to appreciate the effort, but thinks I'm pushing too hard. I tell him I'm just bored sitting at home. He asks if I want to go back to school early, but I shudder at the mere notion.
The stew is okay. Dad gives me some pepper spray he picked up. Says if I'm going to go running, I should at least have something to protect myself. I probably don't need it since I can turn almost literally anything into a gun, but I suppose it's nice to have an option that wouldn't out me as a cape immediately.
I spend the evening practicing juggling, and eventually manage to fall into the rhythm of the tosses and get a good streak going. I must pass whatever threshold there is because suddenly
Spoiler: Medicine (100CP)Medicine (100CP): You have the skills of a surgeon, first-responder and pharmacist, all roughly bundled together with a lot of hands-on experience with the worst injuries the wasteland has to offer. Your hands are steady, your focus unperturbed by the sight and stench of gore and viscera, and you have the precise and quick reflexes necessary to swat a fly with a scalpel. You also have a fair bit of experience with slightly inhuman and mutated physiology, and are very quick to pick up on new techniques and tools.
You also have the Medic and Civilian equipment package and one purchase of Money for free.
Spoiler: Medic equipment package (0CP)Medic equipment package (0CP): One clean blood-and-dirt-repellent jumpsuit, facemask, kit equivalent to a modern first responder's kit. Assorted drugs and painkillers, and a few roughly bound texts on mutant and human care.
Spoiler: Civilian equipment package (0CP)Civilian equipment package (0CP): Cramped room in the Scrapyard, basic household belongings, clothing, one Heirloom Weapon for free. If you are employed, attached is enough space to setup a workshop, clinic, studio or whatnot.
Spoiler: Money (0CP)Money (0CP): It isn't much, but it's a start. You have enough to last a few weeks if you're thrifty. Each purchase doubles this amount.
So now I'm an EMT and surgeon with an appropriate EMT kit. This time my skills are slightly post-modern, rather than being from the Victorian era. At least I have a good grounding in sterile technique now. And this power comes with about two hundred dollars for no good reason. The field it unlocked is called Knowledge: Abilities and Skills.
I try juggling again and my hands seem faster. It just doesn't seem as hard as it was a few seconds ago. I wonder if it was intentional that this perk improves what I was just doing. Probably not, most of the other perks seem pretty random to me. I read a little and go through my flash cards again before bed.
AN: In the first draft, Taylor did not receive a COMP for free with Tech Wizard. Why? Because the COMP is "Free for all backgrounds" and Taylor does not have a background. I've since become a little more lenient on free perks, so I edited it back in with an explanation that she just doesn't want to fall in with demons and devils, so she isn't going to use it.