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Stranger Than Fiction (Worm Tinker of Fiction SI) by Throwaway1971
Books » Private Rated: M, English, Romance, Words: 110k+, Favs: 105, Follows: 131, Published: Dec 24, 2023
5Chapter 6: Sixth Page
Resistance I'm not too familiar with, beyond some of the basics, so that's something I'll need to look into. Halo, however, I'm more familiar with, and the MC would need to roll at least twice to get enough tech to pull off teleportation with any degree of accuracy, since the UNCS (the first techbase unlocked via a Halo speciality) wouldn't have the tech needed for teleportation/personal slipspace travel. A second techbase would be needed (Covenant, Forerunners, Precursors (with each being progressively more accurate and advanced)) to get that capability, and the Covenant would be limited to a kind of 'to-and-from-beacon' style of setup.
Still, teleporting combiner mechs just makes me nostalgic for Power Rangers, and I've now got this idea of a bunch of teleporting Engels combining during the middle of an Endbringer battle, before literally punting said Endbringer out of the city they'd just attacked.
Disclaimer: I own Jackshit.
AN: Ok, so, I know I said that I wanted to put a chapter out at the end of February, but, well, shit happened and I've been caught up with training for this new job I'm on. Things have been a bit hectic since then, and I've spent most days coming back and just collapsing into bed afterwards, so not much progress being made. However, I've finally done it! The chapter is now complete, and longer than I originally thought it would be, since one of the sections grew legs, arms and a swarm of heads, but it's done and I'm reasonably happy with how it turned out... Maybe...
Still, hope you lot enjoy!
XXX
With thoughts and plans whirling around inside my brain, I wasted no more time as I left my apartment, heading down to the docks, and my workshop. Mental commands raced ahead of me, fired along the lines of the Ceph Hivemind and translated into actions by the swarm of Minds that now inhabited it. By the time I arrived at my workshop, preparations were already well underway, both on the ground level and in the Ceph-dominated basement below. Even as I stepped into the main level of my workshop, I was already seeing the initial results of those preparations as Worker-Drones skittered around the Workshop and one of the adjacent buildings, having carved a passage through the brickwork.
Marching in orderly streams of moving bodies, the Worker-Drones went back and forth between the two buildings as they carried out their tasks. Some split off from the greater streams as I watched, skittering up walls and joining more of their kin as they worked along the edges of my main workshop. Looking over at one such group, I watched as they carved occult symbols along the edges of where the floor met the walls as others followed along, going over each symbol and filling it with a layer of white paint. It was a series of actions, I knew, were being mimicked by other groups of Worker-Drones, in both the newly opened adjacent building and in the Ceph Cavern below, spitting up the cavern up into smaller sections.
On its own, such things were just a bit of odd decoration, to be sure. However, with a bit more work, they would serve well as the anchors for the multiple sets of Wards I planned to cast over my domain, shielding it from unwelcome eyes, unwelcome visitors, and unwelcome violence.
Elsewhere, in the adjacent building, preparations were being made by other groups of Worker-Drones for the creation of a Consecrated Arcane Space, carving and painting symbols. Candles were set on stands along sides bowls, ready for sticks of burning incense to be set upon them. Shelves were added to the walls as old furnishings were carried away to be recycled, jars of herbs and more incense were placed upon them. Various needles, jars of ink and cans of paint were laid out on tables, set aside for any number of magic items. Wiring, Nodes and hardened Nano-spores were threaded through walls as the defences of my workshop were extended over to cover my new, soon-to-be Arcane studio. Armor plates were implanted into the walls as retractable turrets were installed into hidden compartments in the walls and ceiling, all flash-constructed by upgraded Ceph Assembly Vats.
All of these things and a dozen other tasks were carried out simultaneously by an army of Worker-Drones without pause or interruption, without a single misstep or mistake, all directed by a singular will. A grand working that should have taken weeks of careful work an preparation, carried out by a single person, done in a few hours by a horde of tireless hands in a marathon of action.
And through it all, I watched and observed from the chair in my office space as a constant stream of reports were forwarded to me through the Typhon Hivemind, keeping me appraised of their progress. Even then, other parts of my mind worked to assimilate the databases of CT-based magics I'd made, working to integrate them more fully into my own mind to allow total comprehension and understanding. My body ran on automatic, directed by SECOND, as it wove through the required training exercises and tutorials to fully familiarise itself with the techniques required. Direct implantation of reflexes allowed the creation of the needed pseudo-muscle memory that every trained sorcerer gained throughout their training, turning a course of training that normally took years and years, into the work of a few hours. By the time I was finished, the Worker-Drones had also completed their own work on my Arcane studio, having put the last finishing touches in place as a large ritual circle was assembled for a later date.
With everything in place, I left my seat and moved through to the new Arcane studio, eyes roving over the completed assembly of tools and trinkets that, each one being required for one thing or another. As I moved, my form shifted, going from casual clothes to a plain, ritual robe that covered my entire body. In truth, the change in appearance wasn't needed, but I felt it was appropriate for what was to come, knowing that it would not cause any difficulties after discovering an interesting quirk of CT-based magics. Namely, that it cared more for the mental and spiritual aspect of things, rather than the purely physical ones.
Sure, the physical aspects were still important, but were easily overlooked as long as they met certain conditions. In this case, augmentations and alterations to a caster's body could be overlooked by the ritual as long as the caster considered them to be part of 'them.' For example, a new cybernetic arm would prevent someone from taking part in a ritual, but, with some time and acclimation, the divide would disappear and allow a caster with a cybernetic arm to use rituals once more.
An interesting quirk, to be sure, but something I could investigate later as I turned my focus to more immediate things. Stepping into the centre of my Arcane studio, ready to turn it into a fully Consecrated Arcane Space, my body slipped into position as words started flowing from my lips. A chant built up at a low, but constant volume as I pulled at the well of energy within me, feeling it for the first time, but drawing upon it with a practiced ease that I shouldn't have had, not without decades of practice. It was a feeling I'd have to get used to, but one that I'd get plenty of practice doing so. After all, there were many more rituals to come, and more Wards to build, if I wanted everything to be in place for my next discussion with the Lawson sisters.
XXX
Sunday morning came all too quickly, barely giving me enough time to put the last of my preparations in place. By the time dawn came, and the sun started to rise further and further into the sky, the entirety of my support base and infrastructure had been shrouded in Wards. It was a grand work, composed of just about every kind of Ward that was present in my knowledge of Cthulhutech, providing protection from physical attack and observation, from influence of Outsiders and the arrival of things from Beyond. Some of it, admittedly, might not have been needed. However, given the limited amount of information I actually had on the true nature of the Entities, I figured it was better to have, and not need, rather than the opposite.
Honestly, the hardest part had been trying to figure out a way to find harvest enough Rauch to be able to empower all the Wards I'd been putting up over the course of the night. At least, without resorting to some of the more... Unpleasant methods of gathering large amounts of Rauch in as short a time as possible, such as using a X'an-Tuum Violator to rape nine women, either natural or cloned, to death and harvest the Rauch that way. Either that, or multiple ritual sacrifices of Humans, or large amounts of animals, for an equivalent amount of Rauch. Neither option being all that pleasant to consider, and making the method I'd discovered by accident, after using up most of my own reserves, all the better for it.
Turns out, that little quirk CT-based magics had about caring for the mental and spiritual aspect of beings, rather than the physical ones, went a lot further than I'd initially believed. As a result, Ceph Minds could use CT-based magics, along with having very deep reserves of Rauch to go along with that, despite being creatures composed entirely out of thought and energy, unless they desired otherwise. With that discovery, massive blocks of Carbonado had been assembled and turned into Rauch Wells, before being filled by the Ceph Minds, providing more than enough power to complete all the rituals I'd desired, and then some, as several Ceph Minds took an interest in the various forms of magic I had access to. Minutes after I'd finished the last Ward, they had already started working together to construct their own spells and sorceries, adding to the number of topics I was getting reports on as they mapped out arcane formula for spell compositions, ritual components and Warding diagrams.
And that was without mentioning some of their ideas for the integration of magic and technology, beyond just the examples of Arcanotechnology from Cthulhutech.
Unfortunately, most of those possibilities would have to remain as exactly that, possibilities, at least for the time being. For many, it was out of a sense of practicality, as they either required massive amounts of equipment, making them difficult to hide, or operated in such a way that made them easy to notice or locate. Resources were also another issue to consider, since I'd need to divert a hell of a lot of my resource income to even consider building some of the proposed constructs. However, the few that weren't so... Impractical, were already starting to see wide-scale use and integrating into the ever-growing number of Ceph Drones and mechanisms. Already, I'd been seeing the results of such proposals over the course the previous night: I'd seen Molecular Divider applied to mining tools, increasing the ease and efficiency with which materials were being gathered; Mock Teleportation systems being put into place, creating vacuum tunnels to increase movement speeds; Elemental Sight spell-caster arrays being employed alongside more 'mundane' sensor organs, and a dozen more besides.
Altogether, it added up to a steady stream of improvements that kept pushing the efficiency and productivity of the Typhon-Ceph ever higher, something I certainly appreciated as reports and new statistics were gathered by SECOND in the back of my head. Even from just a quick glance, the numbers were promising and projections were already showing that the investment into the new systems was going to be worth it a dozen times over. That knowledge was more than enough to put me in a good mood as I turned the corner and walked down the new street, senses, sensors and spells all expanding outwards, bringing my final destination into view well before I actually reached it.
I'd agreed to meet the Lawson sisters the previous day, to discuss the nature of their employment and how I'd actually give them a clean slate, free of their currently ever-present fear of being found and dragged back to their creator. However, aside from a time and a general area, the Lawson sisters had refused to give anything more specific than that. Whether they did it as part of some kind of test, or they had been planning to find me once I showed up at the agreed upon area, I didn't know, and didn't really care. Not that it really mattered, since any chance the girls had of hiding from me were effectively zero from the start, making it easy to spot them as I walked off to one side of the Boardwalk, towards one of the many side alleys that lined the streets leading up to it. A smart move, all things considered, since the Boardwalk Enforcers took a dim view to people just hanging around, especially if they were homeless. And, from what I'd seen and heard online, they had a very vague definition of what classified as 'homeless.'
Through my collection of sensory systems, I remained aware of the world around me as I slipped into the alley, completely aware that no one had been looking in my direction, or could see me through a mirrored surface. Quick, quiet steps carried me down the alley with ease as my eyes idly glanced around the alley, taking in details even as I a VR overlay highlighted the Lawson sisters as an impish idea crystallized.
"Morning, ladies." The words were spoke slightly louder than necessary, but still quiet enough that no one outside the alley would be able to hear them, and resulting in both Lawson sisters jumping in slight fright. They covered it well, having been looking the other way as I approached, but, even through the think and loose layers of clothing, I could see their shoulders stiffen for just an instant before forcibly relaxing themselves once more. Smiling, I watched both sisters turn to me, heads hidden under hoods and slight smiles plastered onto faces in order to disguise their own surprise.
"Nathan." Miranda began, taking a step out from between the two dumpsters that she and her sister had been hiding behind. "Have any trouble finding us?"
"No problems on my end of things, even if the buses seem to be running a bit slow today. How about yourselves? Any problems on your end of things?" I answered and questioned in turn, leaning against one dumpster as I peered into the space between them. Between the two dumpsters that had previously concealed the Lawson sisters, were a collection of various bags that ranged from duffel bags, to hiking backpacks, to large satchels stuffed to the bursting point "I'm assuming that this is all your stuff, right?"
"None that we weren't expecting, and were able to deal with on the way here." Miranda responded easily, her voiced filled with an easy confidence that, if it was anyone else, I'm sure it could have been called arrogance. Still, she paused for a moment as she glanced over at her sister, who was hovering a bit further back, as they shared a silent conversation before continuing. "And yes, this is everything that we absolutely need, for the time being, at least."
"We've also got a few other things we can collect and relocate later on, assuming that everything pans out, but weren't worth the time and effort to bring all the way out here otherwise." Oriana added coolly, the implied message coming across loud and clear, and bringing a slight smile to my face. Pragmatism was a useful thing, and something I could definitely appreciate, especially since neither sister seemed to let the hope they felt get in the way of planning for the worst, and preparing contingencies to that effect.
"Fair enough." I agreed, nodding my acknowledgement of both statements as I glanced back over to the pile of bags as I scanned through them, cataloguing their contents as lists scrolled through my mind's eye. Clothes, food, survival equipment and money were present in every bag, ensuring that, if the worst came to pass, the girls would be able to survive with the contents of even a single bag. It might not be pleasant, to say the least, but it was definitely better than nothing, which I was reasonably sure was the thought process the two of the had gone for; Better to be alive and free, than in chains and dragged back to their 'father,' or worse.
"So, then, shall we be off?" I asked, taking my eyes away from the bags as I looked back to the sisters. "There's a lot to cover and, while I'm doubtful that someone might overhear us talking back here, I'd rather not take any chances."
"Agreed." Miranda responded as Oriana nodded her own agreement as the latter turned back to the pile of bags, already picking one up and shrugging it on to her shoulders. "How far, and how secure?"
"It's in the upper Docks, so a bus or taxi could have us there in half an hour, to get close, and then walk the rest of the way. Longer, if you want to walk there through the streets, or back alleys. Either way, cameras won't be an issue, at least for the time being." I answered easily, running the numbers through my head even as I was handed a mountaineer's backpack to hang from my shoulders, followed by a duffle bag over one shoulder and a satchel over the other. "And I'd say the place I've got in mind is probably the most secure location in the entire city, at this point."
"Bus then, less chance of us being spotted if we're just another set of faces in the crowd." Miranda stated, getting a nod from Oriana, as they finished picking up the remaining bags, splitting them between the two designer beings, who carried them without any difficulty. As they did so, I felt SECOND shifting gears in my mind, accessing camera networks and bus schedules as it mapped out an ideal route to get from point A to point B. In nanoseconds, SECOND ran through a dozen permutations of potential routes before settling on a single one, even as it kept a half dozen others as potential back-up routes. A map expanded within my mind, the most efficient route showing up as a line of red in my vision even as details scrolled through my vision.
"Then we'd best get going." I remarked, drawing the attention of both sisters as I started moving, having already checked the bags I'd been handed before they'd been lifted from the ground. "There's a bus station two streets over, and the next bus is running behind, so if we can get there before it arrives, that should shave a bit of time off the trip and take us most of the way. From there, we can probably walk the rest of the way without too much trouble."
"Are you expecting trouble?" Oriana observed, her tone mildly curious, but seemed unsurprised by the possibility as we started moving, moving out of the alley junction and back onto the streets. I nodded my head ever so slightly.
"I'm hoping that we don't run into anything, but I'd prefer to hope for the best, but plan for the worst." I answered in return, speaking the answer for questions both spoken and unspoken as Oriana nodded in reply, a slight smile on her face, seemingly happy with what she had heard. At the same time, Miranda remained quiet, merely observing as they both followed me, into the early morning streets as we headed for the bus station I'd mentioned. Even as we did so, SECOND was giving me a constant update on the bus' position as we moved, projecting a timer into the corner of my vision as the seconds ticked by as a second one tracked our own progress.
We had plenty of time.
XXX
Following along behind Nathan, Miranda idly counted her steps as they progressed deeper and deeper into the abandoned Docks of Brockton Bay. And, truth be told, 'abandoned' was probably putting it lightly, in her opinion. 'Dead,' as Nathan had put it, was looking more and more like the word of choice, given just how quiet and utterly still the area of the Docks they were in was. Even as the sun rose higher into the sky, the various alleys that snaked between condemned warehouses remained hauntingly empty, even as the air filled with the sounds of distant traffic that only grew quieter as they moved onwards. All around them, she could hear the wind howling softly as it squeezed through the narrow lanes between buildings, along with the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore.
"So..." Oriana spoke up with a slightly impish smile, breaking the silence between them for the first time since they'd been in the bus, talking about nothing. "How much further is it to this 'safe house' of yours, Boss?"
Miranda smiled in slight amusement at that, glad for the break in the pseudo-silence that had filled the space around them, along with the distraction from the seemingly endless array of grey walls that surrounded them. Turning to look over his shoulder, Nathan smile in turn, seemingly equally amused by the choice of address as Miranda was, no matter how factual it was, or might soon be.
"Not far now, just around the corner and to the next junction." Nathan replied simply, surprising both Lawson sisters as they turned the corner in question. Immediately, Miranda felt one of her eyebrows rise as she glanced around for any sign of a potential safe house, only to see smashed windows, destroyed doors and blocked doorways that led to nowhere. To all the world, it looked like yet another junction in the Docks, a meeting point of narrow alleys that snaked between crumbling buildings, however, Miranda supposed, that was probably the point. If a hidden safe house looked out of place, in comparison to its surroundings, then it wasn't really hidden, and wasn't worth the time or effort to maintain.
Strolling up to the junction, Miranda felt her entire body jump back to high alert without prompting, eyes roving over grey walls as she mentally traced back the path they'd taken to reach this point in the Docks, visualising each step as they stopped in the middle of the junction. Idly, Miranda glanced down one alley connected to the junction, eyes sliding over lines of grey concrete and broken glass for as far as the eye could see. A pseudo-silence filled the air for a moment, dominated by the soft howling of the wind as it sped between warehouse-sized blocks of decaying brickwork, filling the air with a feeling of tension that Nathan didn't even seem to notice, only to be broken a second later.
"Ok, so, we're here..." Oriana remarked dryly, arms gesturing around to reinforce her comment as she turned to Nathan, who looked back at her over one shoulder, mirth plastered across his face. "Now what?"
"'Now?'" Nathan repeated humorously, a knowing glint flickering through his eyes as he continued, regarding both sisters easily over one shoulder. "Now, I'd suggest staying calm and relaxed. This will only take a moment."
"Wait, whaAAAA!?" Oriana started, the words catching both of them off guard and, for a single moment, cause Miranda to fear the worst, only for those thoughts to be cut off the next moment. Suddenly, purple energy seemed to ooze out of thin air and encircle them, filling the space around them as Oriana's voice rose in pitch as their feet left the ground, only for the sound of her scream to resonate oddly around them, like it was hitting an invisible bubble, keeping it contained. Instinctively, limbs flailed around, trying to keep her steady as they rose into the air, only find movement difficult, as though they were submerged in thick mud. Noting that down, Miranda watched as the world shot past them, feeling no effects of the motion as they flew through an alley, directly towards the first floor of a semi-distant warehouse.
Watching the warehouse approach at high speed, and with her heart beating a mile a minute at the back of her throat, Miranda thought she was going to die, reduced to a red smear or body parts against concrete and glass. Thankfully, such thoughts were quickly proven to be unfounded as one of the still-intact windows seemed to fold inwards, revealing an entirely different environment than had previously been seen through it. An instant later, they were through, coming to an abrupt halt as they were lowered to the ground before that same purple energy seemed to dissipate into nothingness, the window, or hatch, closing behind them as it went. At the same time, the purple energy holding her and her sister tight fell away, leaving both of them with no support as their feet touched the floor.
Miranda only barely managed to land on her feet and keep her balance, knees locked with a mixture of tension and adrenaline as her heart thundered in her ear, eyes shooting over every detail of her new surroundings as her hands hovered over pockets filled with hidden weapons. Her sister, Oriana, on the other hand, was less fortunate. Her balance, already disrupted during the initial moments of their... Translocation, wasn't prepared for when the field disappeared. Out of position to land, she hit the ground with a heavy thump, an indignant squawk accompanying the sound, and causing a sense of bemusement to bubble up, breaking the tension that had surrounded them in the aftermath of their entry to, what Miranda concluded, Nathan's safe house. With that thought, she found herself turning to man in question, a slight smirk gracing her face as she felt her heart slow down, muscles loosening even as she remained alert, just in case.
"'Staying calm and relaxed', huh?" She inquired dryly, getting a snort in return.
"Would you have preferred it if I had said 'try not to scream', or something like that?" Nathan remarked in turn, having turned and offered a hand to Oriana, who accepted it as she was hauled to her feet, a deadpan look on her face.
"A bit more warning would have been nice. Or even being told what was about to happen, for that matter." Oriana remarked flatly, getting a smile in return.
"And ruin the surprise?" Nathan shot back easily as he picked up one of the bags Oriana had dropped, hanging it from one shoulder as he regarded the both of them. "More seriously, that's actually the only way into this place, since all the ground level entrances are sealed shut. Plus, would you have believed me, if I told you without experiencing it first?"
"... Fair." Miranda allowed as she accepted that, yes, she probably wouldn't have been a believer, had the last few seconds not happened. For her part, Oriana offered no words, beyond a few grumbled sounds under her breath, but the acceptance of his words were plain to see in her body language.
"Thought so, still, sorry about the surprise. And for the fall, Oriana." Nathan remarked sincerely as he turned, heading for a set of stairs that seemed to lead deeper into the building. "Anyways, come on. This place is as secure as I've been able to make it, but that doesn't mean that we can't find somewhere more comfortable to talk than the entry hall."
Sharing a glance with Oriana, who had stopped grumbling at the apology from their potential benefactor, they followed along behind him as they advanced to the stair case, only to pause for a moment as the rest of the building's interior came into view. Looking down on the ground floor from the top of the stairs, the first thought that crossed her mind at what she saw was 'Tinker workshop.' Dozens of machines were clustered around the open chamber, ranging in design as they hummed and whirled with life and action. In one cluster, she saw squat, blocky constructs hum with activity as tubing pulsing with the same purple energy that had previously entrapped her connected them to a pile of stacked tori. Thick bundles of cables connected them to slabs of obsidian studded with blinking lights, each one almost touching the ceiling as they encircled an orb held in a framework of cables and pipes as space seemed to ever-so-slight distort around it. A dozen benches threaded through the entire space, some utterly immaculate while others lay with tools scattered across them, with half-assembled devices laying in organised chaos across them.
Along the ground, segmented silver roots, for lack of a better term, pulsed with red light as they snaked across the entire workshop, seemingly connecting to everything in a complex web, even climbing the walls in some places as her eyes followed them up one wall and down another. On the way up, her eye caught sight of strings of silver symbols engraved into the walls, walls much thicker and more reinforced than the outer appearances might indicate. Her eyes followed one string of symbols as it traced around the edges of the wall, interlocking with other lines as it constructed a complex pattern that seemed to run across every wall, the ceiling and the floor. Miranda didn't even want to think how long that had taken to complete, but, given that it was part of a Tinker's workshop, Nathan's workshop, she was willing to bet that it wasn't there just because it looked pretty.
"Hey!? You guys coming?!" The shout jolted her out of her observations, snapping her around to look at Nathan, already halfway across the ground floor, smiling back at them and heading for a cluster of desks arranged in a closed circle, each surface shimmering like polished onyx as she tracked it. Glancing over to her sister, she raised an eyebrow in a silent question, one answered as Oriana offered a lazy shrug in return, an unspoken answer in its own right, causing Miranda to sigh very slightly as she took the first step down the flight of stairs. They both knew they were already well beyond the point of no return, and it wasn't like they had any other options worth a damn.
Cautiously, they stepped down the flight of stairs before advancing through the workshop, careful not to touch any of the wires, cables and tubes that littered the ground, not wanting to take the chance of disrupting something that could have potentially... Messy consequences. As they reached the office-space Nathan had already reached, they carefully set their bags down in the pile he'd already started as he offered them two spare office chairs he'd pulled out from behind a spare desk. Taking the invitation, Miranda took one chair and did her best not to melt into it, no longer propping herself up after going through the adrenaline high of what Nathan apparently thought was a good alternative to a door. As they did so, Miranda caught sight of Nathan turning to his own desk and tapping on the surface of the glass-smooth desk. Suddenly, she was forcing herself back to full attention as the sounds of the surrounding workshop disappeared into a silence so loud, it was almost deafening.
"Alright, so the Quiet Screen might not be needed, but old habits die hard." Nathan remarked, breaking the silence as he turned back to them as he offered a crooked grin, seeing Miranda's raised eyebrow and Oriana's curious glances as he continued. "Anyone who could spy on us in here is either a top tier God or a ghost, especially since this place already had Quiet Screens built into the walls, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially with what we're going to be discussing here."
"Oh?" Miranda asked, keeping a cool expression as her mind raced through the implications of that, trying to figure out what he meant. "And what will we be discussing? I thought we were here to talk about our employment options?"
"We are, but some of that requires background and context, things that touch on a few topics best not spoken about where anyone might overhear. And even then, given what some of the things said topics are capable of, even that can be... Tricky to properly gauge." Nathan intoned seriously, his expression betraying nothing, and everything, showing both Lawson sisters just how serious he was. "Admittedly, telling either of you isn't really required, but, considering both of you have decided to work for me, and what I'm doing for you, I figured it would be best if I was upfront and truthful about this. Though, if you don't want to hear about this, say now, 'cause there is no way to put this Genie back in the bottle."
"... Why?" Neither sister said anything for a time, sharing a look between them as an entire conversation was held between them with looks and slight shifts in expression and body language. Eventually, however, they broke the silence between them as Oriana asked the most important question, packed with implications and meaning, all in a single word.
"'Why?'" Nathan repeated questioningly, eyebrow raising as Miranda nodded in confirmation. "Well, I suppose that, at the end of the day, it all comes down to trust. I want to be able to trust the both of you, and for you to trust me, and withholding information is not conductive to that, especially if revealed at the wrong time, or by an opposing party."
"Makes sense." Miranda commented, seeing how that kind of compartmentalization could have negative effects on the trust of individuals, especially if they were supposed to be working as part of a team. Admittedly, such methods did have their uses, but that always depended on the situation and the context of their usage, such as within an intelligence gathering organization.
"So, with that in mind, do you still want to know what's at the bottom of this rabbit hole, regardless of how insane it might sound or seem?" Nathan questioned, glancing between the two of them. This time, neither sister looked at the other, they'd already made their decision, hearing his reasoning had just made it all the easier.
"We've already come this far, no point backing down now." Oriana commented with a wry grin, Miranda nodding in agreement. Trust and loyalty were two-way streets, and it had gone a long way to reinforce that they had made the right choice, if Nathan was willing to extend his trust to them, in exchange for theirs. Give and take were required, and he clearly knew that just as well as they did, not demanding that they trust him straight off the bat.
"Fair, but don't say I didn't warn you." The man in question remarked, leaning back in his chair slightly as he seemed to marshal his thoughts before he began. "Well, the first thing you should know is that I'm not a native of this dimension."
"Like Earth Aleph?" Miranda asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to process this new information, but getting a nod from Nathan as both sisters leaned forwards in their own chairs, already interested in what he had to say, but even more so now.
"To an extent, but yes. For the time being, let's call my home dimension Earth... Tav? Yeah, Earth Tav. Anyway, Earth Tav didn't have Parahumans, never had them, no Scion or Endbringers, or anything like that. Human conflict, we had that in spades, but the only supers that existed were those in comic books and fiction. Aside from that, we were also at least a decade ahead of Earth Bet and Earth Aleph, since the year was 2021, rather than 2010." Nathan explained, painting a picture with broad strokes that was filled with implications, leaving both sisters wondering what such a world would look like, beyond the immediate lack of super-powered brawls across the world. "However, when I got yanked from Earth Tav, I also got a power of my own when I was dropped off in some back alley here in Brockton Bay, which also doesn't exist back on Earth Tav. This power could best be described as a form of Tinker power, but with a number of differences, the key one being that it changes."
"Changes? How does that work? I mean, aren't Tinker specialties basically, ya'know, fixed?" Oriana inquired, getting a nod from Nathan.
"They are, but my guess is that whatever put me here, since I doubt random chance played a part in it, decided to go a different route. From what I have been able to figure out, my power basically gives me access to parts of, or the entirety of, various techbases from civilizations that I'd previous thought were works of fiction. Or, perhaps, it is better to say that I was only aware of them through works of fiction, since Chaos theory seems to be an actuality, along with the multiverse theory." Nathan remarked, causing Miranda to frown slightly, seeing the beginnings of a lead-up to something as she picked out the important term.
"'Chaos Theory?'" Miranda repeated inquiringly, chin in hand as she considered what was being said, and the implications and connotations of it all.
"I'm probably using the wrong name for it, but the best way to think about it in this context is that, if you can imagine something happening, or existing, then it probably does, somewhere in the totality of Creation, if you search hard, and long, enough. A good metaphor for it would be the whole thing about giving a typewriter to a thousand monkeys and, eventually, they'd reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare." Nathan explained as Miranda started connecting the dots in her mind, only for her eyes to suddenly fly wide as she snapped up to look directly at Nathan. To her side, she heard Oriana suck in a breath as she made the same connections a second later.
"That... Are you saying that Earth Bet was one of those 'works of fiction' that was on Earth Tav?" Miranda asked, her voice almost hesitant as she voiced the words aloud. Even then, they sounded strange coming from her own mouth, crazed in some respects, but were the only conclusion that she could imagine Nathan was leading them to.
"It was called 'Worm,' and it followed the life and struggles of a Parahuman that hasn't triggered yet, and shouldn't until some point in early January. It covers a number of events based around Brockton Bay, since they live here, along with a number of other perspectives that also reveal a lot of what happens behind the curtain, out of sight from the public, along with a large amount of the backroom dealings that take place." Nathan explained, his voice gentle as the two sisters listened, trying to restructure their world views around this new information. Information that stated, quite flatly, that someone could be reading about their existence from the pages of a book.
The only thing preventing her from going into a full-on panic was the knowledge that, at the end of the day, it didn't matter. When everything was said and done, it didn't matter whether or not her life was, quite literally, an open book to some random stranger in a some distant universe. Taking calming breaths, Miranda turned to her sister and reached a hand across, taking her hand as fingers locked around one another in a death grip, knowing that they were here, that they had each other, and that was enough for them. At the very least, it would have probably taken an act of god, kind of like whatever brought Nathan here, to even put her in a situation remotely similar to his own, something she doubted was very likely to happen any time soon. A fact that helped immensely as it helped calm down the raging thoughts and feelings coursing through her.
"... You said that... That 'Worm' revealed a lot of things happening behind the curtain, right? What kind of things?" Oriana asked, her heartbeat having calmed down as she spoke, still hesitant from this new knowledge, but recovering, assimilating it into her world view. Nathan hummed thoughtfully hearing her question, saying nothing for a second as he glanced up at the ceiling.
"... The source of Parahuman Powers, the puppet masters of the PRT and Protectorate, where Case fifty-threes come from, what caused the Endbringers to appear, and a few other things beyond that." Nathan listed, counting them off on his fingers as he did so. "All of which, I was planning to tell you two about, to ensure we were all working from the same page."
"Ok..." Miranda said, having collected her thoughts, taking a breath to centre herself as she came to the conclusion that this talk, at the very least, was going to be one revelation after another, so it was probably best to get them over with as soon as possible. Like ripping off a bandage, rather than slowly peeling it off. "So... Care to go through those? Since I assume you ordered them that way for a reason?"
"I did, and yes, there was a reason." Nathan confirmed easily enough, nodding with her observation. Waving a hand between them, the Lawson sisters watched as a holographic image faded into being, showing an image of the Earth and the moon frozen between them.
"For starters, Parahuman Powers are a lot more complex than just two growths in the brain giving people superpowers. Those growths are, in actuality, connection points for the things that are the true source of Parahuman powers, called Shards." At those words, and a gesture, something new appeared next to the holographic Earth and moon, looking like a giant mass of glittering crystal that seemed to shift and change as they watched, folding in on itself in ways that definitely went against normal physics. Looking at it, Miranda idly wondered if the scale was one-to-one, as she watched it float in orbit around the holographic Earth, nearly as big as the Moon it orbited besides.
"In simple terms, a Shard is basically a giant, semi-naturally evolved, optical super-computer formed from a bio-crystalline, computational substrate capable of using multi-dimensional interactions to create certain phenomena, such as Parahuman Powers. Individually, each Shard tends to specialise in certain phenomena or purposes, which is why different Parahumans have different powers, with the exception of multi-generational families of Parahumans, who gain 'buds' of their parent's Shards when they trigger, and gain similar powers as a result." Nathan explained further as both Lawson sisters drank it in, still watching the glittering mass of crystal as he spoke. "However, the connection between Shard and Parahuman, or Host, if you want their term, isn't just limited to Powers. Shards use that same connection to induce certain behaviours in Hosts, heightening aggression and a tendency to mostly lean towards the fight side of a fight-or-flight response, along with conditioning their Hosts to want to use their abilities. There is more to it than that, but that's the overview of what they call a 'conflict drive.' As for the Shards themselves, they can vary just as much as the people they connect to, with some of them being the equivalent of idiot-savants, while others can be very personable, or even reflections of their Hosts."
"Ok... But that still leaves the question of why they're doing this?" Oriana remarked, speaking during a lull in the conversation as her brows furrowed in thought, turning from the image of the Shard back to Nathan. "Also, you said they were called 'Shards,' right? What are they Shards of?"
"In reverse order..." Nathan began as he gestured to the hologram, causing it to zoom out, moving faster and faster as the Earth became a single speck of blue in a sea of black. Suddenly, as the hologram stopped, something new appeared in above the speck that was Earth, and it was massive. Looking up at it as it hovered above both Lawson sisters, Miranda couldn't help feeling very small seeing the form of two monolithic creatures coiled around one another, moving through space as dust seemed to flicker between them. However, after a moment, Miranda realised that it wasn't dust that was moving between them, as her eyes snapped back to the barely visible one hovering next to the holographic Earth and Moon.
Shards, was the slightly hysterical thought that ran through her mind, trillions upon trillions of Shards. Looking closer, Miranda started seeing the gaps, the slight divides that spoke of where one Shard ended and another began. The entire thing was made from Shards...
"That, is one of the sources of Shards, at least, in this Galaxy." Nathan began, gesturing to the colossal... Thing that now hovered above them. "It's called an Entity, though, that's just what it was referred to in Worm, so I honestly don't know what they call themselves. They are giant collective beings, with one Shard asserting dominance over the rest, to create a super-massive whole, while that core Shard forms the primary intelligence, or personality, of the Entity in question. Now, normally, they look a lot smaller than this, since they generally scatter themselves across dozens of dimensions, but this should give a rough idea of just how massive they are."
"Right now, there are two of them floating around countless alternative Earths, with a third that met them on the way to this Galaxy before splitting off from them to head for Andromeda. Of the two over Earth, one of them is basically brain-dead, or close enough to it that it makes no difference, while the other is currently stuck in a depression loop after triggering a Human emulation, and is now trying to fix that by rescuing cats from trees." Nathan remarked, his voice flickering into sarcasm at the end as Miranda felt her eyes snap back to Nathan once more, wide with horror.
"No..." She trailed off, hoping what he was saying wasn't true, only for him to nod in confirmation.
"Yes. Scion is the currently active Entity on the planet, whose real name is actually Zion, since the person that heard him speak misheard what he actually said. He's also known under the title of the Warrior, while his mate, who is currently a vegetable, was known as Eden, the Thinker." Nathan revealed, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms, looking back up at the holographic Entity above them, only to look back at them, his expression thoughtful as he rubbed his chin.
"As for why they're doing this?" Nathan began. "That comes back to them. See, the Entity's feed on energy, in virtually any form you'd care to name, but energy in any single universe is a finite resource, and once it's been spent, you can't really get it back. To avoid starving to death, they basically want to shatter Entropy, breaking Thermodynamics in the process, and create some form of infinite energy source to allow them to live forever. And to do that, they created this thing they call 'The Cycle.' Through this cycle, they travel to new worlds with intelligent life that meets certain specifications, give them restricted access to their Shard's capabilities, and use those Hosts as lab rats to gather new data. The Hosts learn new ways to use these limited powers, which are learned by the Shards in turn. And so it goes, for centuries, sometimes for even longer, but the result is the same. In the end, whatever civilization may have existed before they arrived has been destroyed, reducing the native people of a world to stone-age, Host-led tribes, or worse. At that point, when the Entities feel that there is nothing left to learn, they recall their Shards... And then they detonate the planet that had once been their Petri Dish. They detonate every iteration of that world, across every dimension they can access, removing any trace of it from existence and using the resulting energy release to procreate, spawning a dozen new Shards forged from the knowledge culled from the now-destroyed Host civilization before moving on, ready to repeat the cycle once more."
"... That's..." Miranda honestly didn't know what to say to that, looking back up at the illustration of the Entity that hovered above them, absently wondering just how many civilizations must have died to give birth to it, to allow it to grow to such size.
"How long?" Oriana asked quietly, also lost for words as she looked up at the creature as well.
"Back on Earth Tav, I read that a single cycle was supposed to last about three centuries, but in Worm? The end of the cycle was triggered about five or six years from now, in an event called Golden Morning, by Jack Slash." Nathan answered, continuing on as he saw their disbelieving eyes at the mention of the notorious serial killer. "His main power isn't actually projecting the edge of a blade, that's just a side trick. His real ability is that he can, on some level, access the Shards of other Parahumans to know exactly how they think, exactly what levers to pull and what buttons to press to get the response he wants. It's also the same thing that's kept him alive for so long, ensuring that he's always just out of reach every time a Parahuman makes another attempt to kill him."
"I... Alright, so the world is on a doomsday counter? I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that things don't get much better with the rest of the information you've got for us, right?" Oriana half-asked and half-demanded, a mirthless snort was her answer as Nathan looked at her with a crooked grin as he gestured, causing the hologram to disappear instantly.
"Not even close." Nathan remarked dryly as Oriana slouched back in her seat, a mumbled 'great, just great' carrying through the air as Nathan continued. "For starters, the PRT and Protectorate are both sock-puppets for a group called Cauldron, who, supposedly, are trying to prevent Golden Morning from happening. They were responsible for the founding of both groups, along with the creation of the Triumvirate, with two of that group acting as the main leadership of Cauldron. Along with that, they've got access to a Portal-maker and Clairvoyant who both have global and inter-dimensional range. And, to top it all off, they have a troubleshooter called Contessa, who's power they named 'Path to Victory,' and it does just that, showing the exact steps required to achieve victory, with only Eidolon, the Endbringers and the Entities themselves being blind spots to her. Of course, with the majority of their upper leadership being made up of Hosts, along with their main troubleshooter-oracle that they heavily rely on to tell them what to do... And, well, let's just say that they don't do a very good job of things."
"And the Case fifty-threes? Since we seem to be still going in order?" Miranda inquired, half-curious and half-dreading the answer, already seeing a pattern to these revelations that promised none of them would be good.
"The Case fifty-threes are test subjects, experimented on by Cauldron before either being released into the world after getting their memories erased, or locked up in a cell and left to rot just in case they might be 'useful' later." Nathan stated simply. "Contessa was the one responsible for Eden being turned into a brain-dead vegetable, but it created what Cauldron calls the 'Garden of Flesh.' It's one of Cauldron's greatest resources, since it's basically Eden's core Shard, and they've been harvesting samples from it to create vials that can turn Humans into Hosts. They've been preying on desperate people who were at Death's door, using them as test subjects to find out what samples, or combination of samples, worked best to stabilise the vials and prevent the drinker from becoming a Case fifty-three in turn, rather than a Vial-Cape. After that, the vials get sold through one of several sites they've setup to generate more funds, or favors, for Cauldron to use, either on Earth Bet or elsewhere."
"And how common are these 'Vial-Capes?'" Came the question, one that Miranda knew by now she wasn't going to like the answer to.
"There are about four Vial-Capes in Brockton Bay right now: Gallant, Battery, Triumph and Coil. Another one by the name of Trainwreck should show up in the Bay at some point, but I don't know when off the top of my head. Aside from them, Hero and the entire Triumvirate are Vial-Capes, that singer going by Bad Canary, Accord's Ambassador, aside from Accord himself, are all Vial-Capes, and Shatterbird and the Siberian are both Vial-Capes, as was Grey Boy before he died." Nathan counted off, causing Miranda to lean down and pinch the bridge of her nose, a headache starting to form. "And that's without mentioning the Nemesis Program they've got going on, which, if I remember right, is supposed to create brainwashed villains tailored for specific 'clients' to make them appear more heroic, or something like that."
"Dear God..." Oriana moaned melodramatically as she threw her head back, hands clamped over her eyes. "And these are the people that are trying to stop the end of the world? What the hell are they even thinking? Or are they not, and just letting that troubleshooter's Shard do all the thinking for them? Hell, do they even have a plan?"
"Not really. Far as I know, they're basically throwing shit at a wall and desperately hoping something sticks, either by producing a silver bullet, or by following the plotline of some bronze-age heroic saga, by arming as many Greeks as they can with bronze swords and sending them charging up the slope of mount Olympus to try and kill the Gods." Nathan remarked, shaking his head at the thought, and drawing a groan from Oriana once more.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what about the Endbringers? Is that as bad as the rest?" Oriana asked, peeking an eye through her fingers as she watched Nathan shake his head once more, and causing Miranda's headache to spike higher.
"The Endbringers are basically siege engines built by the Thinker, twenty in total, as far as I know, and the three that are currently active are sandbagging to hell and back. Eidolon activated them 'cause the guy was having a mid-life crisis about not being the Hero, or something like that. As a result, they got turned on by his need for 'worthy opponents,' and the rest, as they say, is history." Was the short explanation.
"So, in short, everything's fucked and everyone that thinks their making things better or trying to find a solution is actually making things worse, unknowingly or otherwise. Great, just great..." Miranda summarized the information they'd just been exposed to, knowing that they'd asked for it, and had no room to complain. Miranda didn't even doubt the impossibility of some of it, as it seemed to be internally consistent enough to not be some kind of elaborate falsehood. Sitting back up as she massaged the pain away, she looked at Nathan as she smoothed her expression, removing the traces of her pained grimace after the last piece of information had been imparted to them.
"I assume all this is related to why you wanted our help?" Miranda asked Nathan directly, getting a nod in return.
"To an extent, yes." He agreed. "While the techbases I've been able to access thus far have allowed me to create several helpers, I can only use them in certain ways, due to how they think. For instance, while they can be stealthy, they are about as subtle as a flaming brick to the face. Likewise, while they are hyper-intelligent, that doesn't stop them from being rather dumb at times. Altogether, it makes them very good for gathering resources, research, construction projects and open warfare, but things outside of those are still, very much, works in progress, which would require time..."
"And time is going to be in short supply." Miranda completed, the words of Napoleon Bonaparte ringing through her mind as a grimace crossed her face.
"Well, if we need more time, then wouldn't killing Jack Slash give us that in spades? I mean, you did say that the bastard kicked off Golden Morning five years from now, rather than centuries down the line, right?" Oriana commented, getting a shake of the head from Nathan in denial.
"It's not just a matter of time, but one of scale as well." Nathan explained. "Zion doesn't exist in just one massive clump, but as several groupings of Shards scattered across multiple dimensions. Not to mention the fact that, even if those universes could be found, accessed and locked down to prevent the Shards from just hopping to another dimension, you'd still be looking at the prospect of a battle against hordes of planet-sized creatures, each of which being armed with abilities that are to restrained Endbringers, what unrestrained Endbringers are to baseline Humans. And to be able to actually fight them on anything approaching an even footing would require time; time to gather resources and information; time to research and prototype new weapons; time to make preparations; time to train personnel; all of it would take time. Not to mention that, the more I change things from the 'Original' timeline, the less reliable any potential future event in it becomes."
"Meaning that, what could be reliable, actionable information right now, could be next to worthless by this time next week if you make too many changes, or enough big changes." Miranda noted with a considering hum.
"So we've got a doomsday timer that we've got no idea when it will reach zero, a growing uncertainty about future events, and multiple potentially hostile opposing factions, since Cauldron, from the sound of it, is basically an Entity sock-puppet, the PRT and Protectorate are Cauldron sock-puppets, and the Entities themselves. Great, just great." Oriana opined, leaning down to rub her brow for a moment. "I take it that just letting things play out isn't an option?"
"Nope. Earth Bet basically gets reduced to the stone age, with the survivors being scattered across multiple dimensions in enclaves that are barely a step above refugee camps. Zion gets bullied into suicide and self-destructs, but only the Zion Shard itself does so, the rest of the Thinker and the Warrior's Shards are left untouched and it only takes them a few years to realise that the top spot is available. At that point, you've basically got Hosts being turned into Endbringers as the Shards start a free-for-all amongst themselves for the top spot to form a new Entity around themselves." Nathan explained, getting a groan from Oriana, who, by now, was thoroughly disillusioned with the prospects for the future, as was Miranda, considering how bleak it seemed. "Though, we can go into more detail about things at a later time, since, I think, we've diverged a fair bit from what we'd originally intended to discuss today. Namely, how to prevent your genetic-progenitor from finding you and trying to yank you back under his control."
"Please." Miranda agreed readily, a change in topic being more than welcome, especially since it meant learning how they could escape the grasp of Henry Lawson. As if in agreement, Oriana leaned back in her chair, slumping in it and releasing a sigh of relief, seemingly glad to be moving away from the topic of cultural doom and ongoing stupidity.
"Alright then." Nathan began, clapping his hands together. "So, the way I see things, we've got three options that could work to prevent Mr. Lawson from hunting you two down ever again. Well, four options, but that fourth one wouldn't really work since, given Mr. Lawson's potential resources, he'd probably notice if we just had you two registered as survivors of some S-class event under new names, like I did. So, that leaves the other three. The first option is probably the most basic, that effectively amounts to an advanced form of plastic surgery to change how you two appear in every aspect, including things like retina-scans and fingerprints, combined with a series of retro-viral packages to change your gene-profile. The entire process would take around twelve hours on the outside, and, after that, it would be up to you two if you wanted to stay off the grid or re-register with the government."
"Definitely something to consider." Miranda noted, already weighing up the pros and cons of doing just that, glancing at Nathan as she did so. "Though, why did you chose to register with them? Wouldn't staying off the grid have made things easier for you to focus all your resources on dealing with the Entities?"
"True enough." Nathan acknowledged easily enough, nodding his agreement as he glanced upwards in thought before continuing on, a sardonic smirk slipping on to his face. "But honestly? Part of the reason I registered with the government was so that I could actually get a place to stay, even if it was just a crappy apartment in the ass-end of Brockton Bay. Sure as hell beats sleeping in run-down warehouses, worrying about whether or not one of the gangs is going to find me while I'm sleeping and... Well, I'm sure you can guess, especially since I was still starting out at that point."
"Fair." Miranda agreed, seeing at what he was hinting at even as her sister offered a grimace of her own, both knowing that particular fear quite well, and not blaming him for looking for a way to avoid it. And that was without considering that Nathan was a Tinker-equivalent, and what most gangs would have done to try and 'retain' his services for themselves. Knowing that, she decided not to pry into whatever the reasons he might have had, at least, not at the moment. "The second option would be?"
"Full-on Posthumanism, effectively. Turning the both of you into something like me." Nathan answered, getting a pair of raised eyebrows in turn as he elaborated further.
"And that would be?" Oriana inquired cautiously as Nathan raised a hand that, in an instant, flowed until each finger had turned into a talon of silver as long as their forearms that flexed on seamless joints. The transformation was so smooth and unexpected that both sisters jolted backwards in their seats, suddenly very aware of how their first encounter with Nathan could have had... Terminal, consequences.
"I'm basically a Nanomorph, a being made almost entirely out of various forms of nano-tech, with full control over the structure of my own biology, appearance and mental architecture. It's also part of how I've been able to avoid any suspicion of being a Tinker, along with all the other measures I've taken, since I can split supply runs up and have a different face for each section." As he spoke, Nathan demonstrated exactly that, his form shifting with an flowing, uncanny motion that saw him transform into several distinctly different individuals, even transforming into a copy of Oriana for a moment, before settling back into his original form. "Though, if you want to go that route, it would take significantly longer. Around a day to fabricate the needed equipment for the both of you, since I don't keep a stockpile of, what could be considered, Supersoldier-in-a-can devices just lying around. The process itself would take another three days, and you'd be unconscious for the entirety of it."
"Tempting, very tempting..." Miranda offered truthfully as her mind ran wild with implications and possibilities, based on what she'd just seen, Nathan's purposeful choice of words and her initial meeting with the man across from her. At a minimum, she was willing to bet that he had enhanced senses, reaction times and thought process speeds, augmented strength and speed, on top of the shape-shifting that he'd just showcased. And that was without considering the possibility of whatever in-built weapons he might have tucked away inside himself, or the nightmare fuel potential that came from whatever nanotechnologies he might have hidden away for a rainy day. At this point, Miranda wouldn't be surprised if Nathan was capable of releasing a full-on 'Grey Goo' nano-weapon at the drop of a hat.
"I'd probably use something a bit stronger than just 'tempting,' Miri, since I doubt a lot of people would be able to go up against a pissed-off T-1000 and live to tell about it. At least, not without a lot of heavy firepower and bodies to throw into that grinder." Oriana opined with a slight smirk, getting a snort of amusement from her, even if Miranda thought that was probably understating things a bit, since Nathan was probably a hell of a lot more lethal than the Liquid Metal Terminator in question.
"True, but Parahumans, Hosts, would still be a potential threat, even more so for the high-tier ones." Miranda countered, getting a half-shrug from Oriana in turn.
"Well, yeah. But, as you just said, their high-tier for a reason. And even then, they're still baseline Humans under all the powers and costumes." Oriana answered back, getting a nod from Nathan in agreement.
"Most Hosts are one-trick ponies, when you get down to things, with some of the really good ones learning how to leverage their abilities in unexpected ways." Injected the Posthuman sitting across from them. "However, even with those powers and whatever tricks they might have figured out to pull with them, most Hosts aren't bulletproof to begin with, and even the ones that are still suffer from the same weakness ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time."
"Oh? And that would be?" Miranda questioned, slightly curious what about Nathan's insight into this matter.
"They still need to breathe, something that even Alexandria needs to worry about, since she was killed in the 'Original' timeline by an Arthropod Controller who, literally, drowned her in insects." There was silence for a moment as those words were processed by the Lawson sisters, only to be broken a moment later as Oriana exploded into a fit of giggles as the sheer disparity of powers sunk in.
"Seriously?! Why the hell hasn't anyone thought of that before?!" Oriana sputtered out between peals of hilarity, struggling to remain seated, but failing as she collapsed to the ground. Turning away from her fallen sister, Miranda glanced towards Nathan, curious herself.
"A mixture of propaganda and Cauldron's troubleshooter working behind the scenes." Nathan explained with a half-shrug. "They've worked hard to ensure that baseline Humans think they're powerless against any Host, regardless of their actual capabilities, even when a vast majority of them can be dealt with via acute lead poisoning. The whole idea that only 'Parahumans can deal with Parahumans' is a status quo they want enforced, if only because they think that more Hosts would be useful against the Entities. It's also part of the reason why the Birdcage exists, rather than simply giving those same powerful Parahumans the Death Penalty. As for their troubleshooter, she can run multiple Paths concurrently, some with multiple, continuous objectives, such as ensuring the survival of certain individuals or groups..."
"Like Cauldron's leadership?"At Miranda's question, Nathan nodded.
"To some extent or another, yeah." Nathan remarked easily enough as Oriana climbed back into her chair, having gotten her giggles under control as she did so. "I mean, the perfect example that comes to mind would be Jack Slash himself, the guy can only project blades and influence other Hosts, but normal Humans don't have that disadvantage and he can only stab what he can see, or notice. A sniper, with a high-powered rifle should have been able to kill that fucker years ago from kilometres away, along with a few of their other members, but that's never happened. Hell, even a hunting rifle or a shotgun loaded with Deer slugs would have done the job, but even those have been getting rarer to see, outside of Parahuman gangs, or large-scale criminal organisations."
"Is that really that weird to you?" Miranda asked next, getting another nod.
"Back on Earth Tav, Americans were big on their right to bear arms. A few token attempts to incorporate gun control laws into their legislation have been made over the years, but they've basically amounted to nothing, not that I'm an expert on that kind of thing. The NRA and other gun or weapon-related groups had entrenched themselves too deeply into things, and had the means to prevent anything more serious from getting voted in. Never mind the fact that, in some parts of America, there were more guns than there were people." Nathan explained as Miranda considered it, making notes to do her own research into the subject. "The fact that those same groups no longer exist on Earth Bet, and that no one seems to be raising a fuss over laws that may 'impinge on their Constitutional Rights,' or something like that, really stands out to me."
"Ok, while this is all very interesting, I think that maybe, just maybe, we've gone a bit off topic with this again, don't you think?" Oriana commented with a slight grin, causing Miranda to nod as well, suddenly realising that they really had gotten off topic for the second time, even if it had been an interesting divergence from the original topic. "Anyway, you said that you had three options for us to consider, right? The first one being really fancy plastic surgery, the second one being a total body upgrade into a T-1000. So, that just leaves what's behind door number three?"
"Behind door number three, we've got a magic ritual." Nathan remarked, getting raised eyebrows in return.
"A 'magic ritual?' Really?" Miranda asked skeptically, not sure what to make of such a thing, even with what else she'd heard since they'd all sat down and the conversation had begun. In response, Nathan just shrugged.
"If it helps you, then you can just think of it as a fifth fundamental force of the universe, one that resonates with certain actions and symbols to produce phenomena beyond what should happen in the natural world. Mind you, with a description like that, you may as well call it magic, since even the techbase that gave me access to it didn't really fully understand all the ins and outs of it." Nathan answered, getting a raised eyebrow from the older Lawson sister.
"Ok, putting aside the whole thing about magic being real and just taking your word for it, for a moment, what exactly does this ritual do? I mean, the first two options you gave us were already pretty impressive and would have worked just fine, especially the second one, but what makes this one so good?" Oriana voiced, stepping in before Miranda could start probing for more information about this 'magic.'
"The ritual is called 'Craft the Labyrinthian Identity,' and it does exactly that. When used, it allows a user to effectively erase themselves from any and all records, physical or electronic, along with the memories of those effected to some extent, while also creating new records for up to ten new identities that they can create from a single ritual. Along with that, the user can construct each new identity however they wish, to whatever level of detail they wish, including what they've done and what they own. Admittedly, the ritual can't just create wealth or items from nothing, but it can transfer ownership of things, just about anything, from one person to another." Nathan explained, and the sheer possibilities with this one ritual left Miranda shell-shocked as ideas and memories ran through her brain. Turning, she looked over at her sister to see the same expression of shock plastered across Oriana's features, wide-eyed and jaw slightly loose as neither of them could fully grasp just what had been said for a moment, before pulling themselves back under control.
"... When you say anything...?" Oriana inquired as Nathan picked up what was being asked.
"Anything that counts as an object and can be owned, people don't count, obviously. Adoption is a bit of a grey area, since you might be able to get the adoption papers transferred to you, but that might require a bit of testing to figure out."
"So things like cars, apartments, yachts and houses...?" At Oriana's question, Nathan smiled and nodded.
"Up for grabs."
"What about bank accounts, safety deposit boxes and company shares? Or company positions? Memberships?" Miranda added, ideas flowing as she dredged up memories from years prior, back when she and Oriana were still under the thumb of Henry Lawson, but had seen much. Confidential information and things that would probably never see the light of day, originally being useless information that they couldn't even use, not having even the most basic level of access as that would have made it too easy for them to be tracked down. Now however, with this ritual, suddenly those same pieces of information became a lot more useful, and valuable. Out of the corner of her eye, Oriana's face brightened as she connected the dots, seeing what Miranda was getting at as Nathan offered a half-shrug in reply.
"Bank accounts, safety deposit boxes and company shares can all be shifted to new identities. Positions might be doable, though I can't say off the top of me head one way or another, same thing for memberships." Hearing that, Miranda paused for a moment to consider what that meant for her and her sister, possibilities once more running rampant through her mind before deciding on a course of action.
"Alright, given what you've already told us, and that we've accepted, I'm willing to give 'magic' the benefit of the doubt, at least for the moment. Now, this ritual, what would be required for it to work, exactly?" Miranda asked, Oriana nodding in the corner of her vision, both seemingly thinking the same thing, in terms of their options as Nathan gave a considering hum.
"Fair enough, and you'll probably get plenty of proof in the future." Remarked the Posthuman with a grin. "As for the ritual? There's a number of conditions that are required to make it work. To start with, you're going to need to create a document with what we've already covered, a full list of who your new identity is, what they've done and what they have. You can construct up to ten identities in a single go, but that's for one person per ritual, so I'd need to do one ritual for each of you. Aside from that, all the ritual participants have to have fasted for two days prior to the start of the ritual, which will take two days on its own, have been freshly bathed without perfumes, deodorants or artificial products, and conduct the ritual naked."
"Naked? Really?" Oriana inquired, seemingly amused by it as the corners of her lips twitched upwards. "You sure it isn't that you just want to see us in our birthday suits?"
"Positive." Nathan remarked with a snort of amusement, good humor plain on his face as he continued. "But, in all seriousness, it is an actual part of the magic, since it works with metaphysical constructs and requires 'you' to be free of anything that might negatively affect the ritual, such as clothes, which would only be exempt if they were literally part of you, and would thus count as 'you.' Same thing applies for things like augments, like what I've gone through; As long as you consider them part of 'you,' they're safe and you can go through a ritual without fear of them causing it to fail."
"Ok, that makes about as much sense as anything else you've said since we've come into this madhouse, but sure, let's go with that." Oriana remarked dryly, before turning to Miranda. "So, what do you think, Miri? Think number three is worth a shot?"
Taking a moment to consider the question, Miranda weighed the pros and cons of it, trusting someone that just presented them with a massive load of impossible information, even if it was internally consistent and thought-provoking, versus the possibility that he was telling them a load of bullshit. In all honesty, a part of Miranda hoped that he was telling the truth, a far larger than the jaded part of her that whispered that this was a mistake, a trap, that Nathan was lying to them. He'd given them a hope back in his apartment, one she wished was true just as much as Oriana, if only so that they could stop running, stop hiding, stop looking over their shoulder and praying that someone wasn't chasing them. It was a gamble, but, at this point, did they have anything left but gambles to make?
"Alright..." Miranda started with a growing smile, leaning back in her seat as she sat up, hands clasped in her lap as lessons from a lifetime ago came back to her with the same ease as breathing. "We'll go for option number three. Though, before we get to that, perhaps we could revisit our original discussion from yesterday in a bit more depth, now that we've cleared the air a bit?"
Nathan smiled in kind.
XXX
It had been a gamble, multiple gambles, in fact, telling the Lawson sisters as much as I had, but it had just paid off in the biggest ways possible.
Throughout the course of our conversation, I'd fully expected for either a certain Mad-Hatter and her club-mates or Golden Sock-Puppet to either step through a portal or come crashing through the ceiling, respectively. The fact that neither event had happened was a relief in of itself, and, I hoped, demonstrating that the Wards and protections I'd put in place worked, allowing certain taboo subjects to be discussed without fear of interruption. Admittedly, it was an assumption that such was the case, that they couldn't see or detect what was happening under my Wards, rather than seeing what was happening and choosing not to act, to just give me a length of rope to hang myself with, but there wasn't any way for me to test that.
Currently, at least.
If I could gain access to the databases of some Thinker-type Shards, then I might be able to know for sure, but I was hesitant to do so. Fragile One, the only Shard I'd hacked into at this point, was not a very high bar by Shard standards, going by the data I had acquired from it. Constructed from the leftovers from a previous Cycle, and this being its first Cycle it neither knew much, nor did it have much in the way of experience. By the same metric, most other Shards were probably constructed whole cloth, as far as I knew, with specific functions in mind, such as Thinker-related Shards, never mind Noble Shards like Queen Administrator or Shaper. Still, for the time being, I'd take what I could get and slowly, carefully, working my way up until I felt confident trying my luck at getting access to the data they horded so jealously amongst themselves.
However, Shards and Mad-Hatters aside, my conversation with the Lawson sisters had been a gamble in a number of other ways, primarily related with the information I'd dumped on them. The fact that they'd been willing to give me the benefit of the doubt had been a godsend, never mind that they'd also been willing to take my word about magic and the like. At least, for the time being, according to their own Eidos that I'd watched through my Elemental Sight. Through that, I saw that they were still skeptical of what I'd said, of what I'd shown them, but were willing to give me a chance to provide some measure of proof to back up my claims, with a slight, desperate, hope that I actually could back them up to a degree. At least in regards to the ritual I'd offered them.
I mean, in hindsight, it was rather easy to see why they'd hope that such a thing was real: A chance to have a fresh start with a flawless new identity with all the paperwork, no way to track down their old identities and to take some of dear old dad's things as a combination reimbursement for their troubles, and a final 'screw you' to a man that probably wouldn't even recognise or remember them after the ritual was cast? Hell to the fuck yes, they wanted that to be true, to be real, especially if it meant an end to always being on the run, fearful that they might be found and dragged back to their father, or killed outright for what they were, for just being born as the result of genetic engineering. It was a fact that was reflected in their thoughts throughout the result of our talks, dominating them with the same desperate hope that worked to smoother logic and restraint, only stopped through sheer force of will and grit.
They wanted desperately for me to be telling the truth, but refused to appear desperate even as we discussed terms of employment and pay; Refused to appear vulnerable in front of me even as the cynical part of them whispered that it was all lies, falsehoods and traps to ensnare them. All these things and more were reflected on their Information Bodies, their Eidos, and were plain for me to see as words had been exchanged and terms were agreed upon. Clauses were included, conditions set to ensure that the two gene-engineered sisters wouldn't feel trapped in anyway, and ensuring that, if the ritual failed to work to their satisfactions, they were free to leave, under the condition that they didn't spread what they'd learned around.
Desperation could make a person dangerous, just as it could make them vulnerable. The fact that I was willing to acknowledge that, still give the Lawson sisters an escape clause, and not hold their use of the 'Craft the Labyrinthian Identity' ritual as being conditional of their employment had actually worked in my favor as our talks came to an end. Even if they still remained skeptical, yet hopeful, of the nature of magic and all its various capabilities, that gesture had earned me a bit more of their trust by not taking advantage of just how desperate they really were. It was a gesture that had left them smiling at the end of our talks, bodies relaxed in a way that, I was reasonably sure, they hadn't been in a long time as I'd led them to where they could stay, at least for the time being, anyway.
Even now, hours after our negotiations had ended, both sisters sat through in the rooms I'd renovated for them with gentle smiles sculpted onto their lips as they sat around a paper-covered table, freshly fabricated from Ceph Assembly Vats just like every other pieces of furniture and furnishing in their new, pseudo-apartment. Through a dozen sensor-organs and Casting Assistant Devices, I watched and listened from the other side of the warehouse-complex as they talked, chatted, argued and dredged up near-ancient memories, but never once lost those smiles in the process. The fact that they'd even unpacked some of their bags and supplies was a statement in and of itself, one that I planned to ensure wasn't falsely placed. As such, as they planned out their new identities with a meticulous attention to detail, I worked away at projects and directing a small swarm of Ceph Worker-Drones towards the purposes I had in mind.
Already, things were in motion and some of those projects were beginning to bear fruit as reports flickered into existence at the edge of my mind. Data flowed as new variables were calculated and inserted into vast databases of information that was constantly being compiled and added to. Resources were gathered as spaces were repurposed again and again as expansion took place, spreading roots of hardened Nano-spores further as they undermined other buildings, creating new areas of the Ceph Cavern. Infrastructure was build and formed, instantly given orders and set loose as Assembly Vats went to work alongside all manner of alien constructs as I watched it all happening through a million eyes, filtered through thousands of Minds that continued to grow.
The Final Battle may have been some time away, but preparations were well underway and would keep on going until that fateful day, when the swords were finally pulled from their sheaths and raised for war.
XXX
Hivemind Typhon observed the two altered members of [Designation: Humanity] as they continued their discourse within the housing space provided by the Alpha, both as a collective gestalt of minds and as individual minds scrutinizing every detail from a thousand different angles. Already, data was being collected, analysed and disseminated throughout the Minds that constituted the Hivemind, ongoing discussions continued as more information was provided as the pros and cons of these two new beings were considered.
The Alpha had already declared these two altered members of [Designation: Humanity] to be members of the Hivemind, and under its protection, and so it was to be. Further, their altered nature showed them to be improvements over baseline members of [Designation: Humanity, produced via their ineffective reproductive systems. Simulations had been run and rerun a dozen times, showing the impressive array of improvements carried out on both [Designation: Miranda Lawson] and [Designation: Oriana Lawson] prior to their gestation. As such, their inclusion to the Hivemind made logical sense, as it would allow the Alpha to produce more Worker-Drones of [Designation: Humanity] from a higher baseline than those produced via the normal baseline members of [Designation: Humanity]. The reproductive process involved would still be inefficient in the extreme, but could be improved, both in the current iteration and in future iterative-generations. The inclusion of [Designation: Parahumanity] in the creation of new Worker-Drones of [Designation: Alt-Humanity-Iteration-01] would only make future iterative-generations stronger still.
However, in order for such actions to be undertaken, both [Designation: Miranda Lawson] and [Designation: Oriana Lawson] would have to be integrated into the Hivemind, under the command of the Alpha, as it should be. Along with that, their inability to follow the commands of the Alpha would need to be addressed, and any malfunctioning wetware would need to be repairs so as to remove the fault. Further improvements could also be carried out, removing inefficiencies and increasing the capabilities that both [Designation: Miranda Lawson] and [Designation: Oriana Lawson] could offer in the pursuit of improvements and further evolution for the greater Hive.
For the Alpha and the Hivemind.
XXX
AN: Alright, at last, a new chapter is done and the next one can begin! God knows when that'll be finished, but it begins! Still, hope you all liked this new chapter and, as always, feel free to give suggestions, feedback and comments as the story progresses.
Cheers!
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