Chapter 14
AN: Warning: Biotinkering at the end of the chapter.
Friday 28 May 2010
Lauren just got a great idea! Instead of waiting until she joined the wards before approaching Canary, in the hope she would agree to form a parahuman singing group together, she could instead just make a name for herself on Viewtube. She already had most of the equipment for it, with the tinkertech microphone that automatically uploaded high quality recordings made in her joint tinker fugue with Kyla. Making a Viewtube video itself also was not that difficult, as Lauren only needed to make a nice background picture and could just directly add the audio file from her phone as the corresponding audio. The most important thing for her was to not forget to reference all the songs she was singing, as she didn't trust her own songwriting capabilities enough to make them on her own and forgetting to reference them might anger their original singers.
After spending some time thinking about the songs she should be singing, Lauren decided to start with a few of Bad Canary's calmer songs, out of solidarity with the other singing parahuman. Afterwards, Lauren would probably move on to non-parahuman singers who sang the type of songs that would be positively affected by her calming aura. She might even sing some psalms or other church songs, as they would definitely profit from her calming aura.
Having decided her first song, Anti-insomnia, Lauren looked up its lyrics and started practicing. Even though her power had made her sing better, she still needed to learn the lyrics of the song and their tone by heart.
Halfway during her Practice, Tia and Kyla came in.
"O wow Lauren, your voice is so beautiful! Did you get a singing power or something?"
Lauren remembered she hadn't told her siblings about her singing skills, although they did know about the calming aura part of that power.
"That's right! It's actually part of the calming aura power though. My voice now has a calming effect when I'm singing, and for some reason I know instinctively how to sing. Actually, I'm going to make a Viewtube video where I'm singing one of Canary's songs. I'm curious whether people will like it."
"Ooh, you should do that! You will certainly get an enormous amount of views"
"That's so cool big sis, can we help?"
Lauren was happy to see her sisters so enthausiastic. However, she couldn't think of anything they could help her with, unless maybe ...
"I already have the microphone from our tinker session to record my audio, however, I still need some background picture as just showing an image of Canary or something generic won't do. Do you girls have any ideas?"
"Big sis, couldn't you just make a picture of you using one of your powers? Your forcefield clones and ice statue power both look pretty cool."
"Yes Lauren, like Kyla says. Make a picture of one or two of your forcefield clones, or maybe even film them singing. I can grab Cameron's enormous Bad Canary poster for the background."
That might actually be a good idea. Lauren was already planning to reveal that she was a cape on Viewtube, as her calming song would clearly not be natural. Why not double up on that?
In the end, Lauren was convinced to make a picture of two of her forcefield clones next to Cameron's poster. Taking the picture took somewhat longer as Kyla was annoyed by the 'worthless specs' of Lauren's camera. Before Lauren could say anything, Kyla had grabbed her already half-tinkertech phone and ran to the garage. Within a few minutes, Lauren's half-tinkertech phone had changed into a mostly tinkertech phone, although now with a ridiculously good camera. As a side effect, Lauren had to create a few new forcefield clones in order to clean up Kyla's mess before her parents came home.
After a few pictures were made, with different poses for the clones, Lauren let her sisters pick out the best one while she continued memorizing the lyrics.
The audio recording still ended up taking half a dozen tries. Half of those were due to Lauren forgetting the lyrics, and the other half due to Kyla not sitting still and remaining silent. However, after giving Kyla the choice between leaving and keeping her mouth closed, Lauren finally managed to create a good recording.
Editing together the video took less effort than expected, as a Viewtube tutorial had explained everything clearly.
However, just before uploading the video, Lauren realized she was doing something stupid. She had almost uploaded the video that showed her as a cape on her personal Viewtube account, which was also coupled to her PHO account and gaming accounts. It wouldn't out her immediately, but it would make it impossible to game or post on PHO anonymously. Lauren quickly fixed that mistake by creating a new Viewtube profile, using her forcefield clone as profile pic. As username, she went with the unoriginal 'Power-Singer', which was not that special, but was very clear.
Now she had an appropriate account, she added a description to the video where she mentioned the calming effect that her voice had on the listeners, and that is was deemed completely safe by the PRT in power testing. Additionally, she mentioned that she was open to requests for other songs, as long as the calming effect would not clash with the song's genre. Then, under cheers of Tia and Kyla, she finally uploaded the video.
As Lauren was afraid people might not find her video in between all the other music videos on Viewtube, she made a new PHO account under the same name and started to advertise her video on the PHO boards. She was a parahuman after all, so advertising in a parahuman board should be fine.
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Topic: Calming music videos
In: Boards Places America Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)
Power-Singer (Original Poster) (Unverified Cape)
Posted on May 28, 2010:
Hi everyone!
I'm a new cape with a power that improves my singing skills and gives my songs a calming effect. This effect has been tested by the PRT and was confirmed to be completely harmless. I strongly suspect that it also inhabits the effects of ADHD and ADD, which would help people with them to do their homework and other repetitive tasks. I just made my first Viewtube video where I'm singing Canary's song 'Anti-Insomnia'. Please give it a try and leave some feedback if possible. Suggestions for other songs I should sing in the future are also appreciated.
Here is a link to the video: [LINK]
(Showing page 1 of 1)
Sillyboy123
Replied on May 28, 2010:
Holy shit! Your voice is angelic! Please continue making these video's!
BBCapefan149
Replied on May 28, 2010:
I recognize those forcefield girls. Are you the cape who walked up to the PRT building this Saturday in mercenary-like gear with ice-blue hands? Link to the corresponding thread here: [LINK]
Lurking_Panter
Replied on May 28, 2010:
These might have been the most relaxing minutes of my live. Your voice and calming powers are ridiculous! Please continue making these video's!
ExplosionChild
Replied on May 28, 2010:
Uhhm guys? Why are you watching a video that is confirmed to master people! Can someone from the PRT please confirm it is safe or else immediately lock this thread!
XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 28, 2010:
That cover picture is hot! Are those forcefield girls naked?
User received an infraction for this post: Power-Singer is clearly underage, please leave your lewd comments elsewhere.
Within a few minutes, Lauren already got five reactions on the Brockton Bay board, although one of which was from the infamous Void Cowboy and so didn't count. She also posted a similar post on the general American board but hadn't checked there. What surprised Lauren was that there was already a thread on her cape persona. She clicked on the link and tried to see what other people were writing about her.
Topic: New cape enters PRT Building
In: Boards Places America Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)(The Guy in the Know)
Posted on May 22, 2010:
So, one of my friends was walking close to the PRT building when he saw this [LINK].
That's right, there is yet another new cape in Brockton Bay! However, this one luckily doesn't seem to be a villain, as he or she peacefully walked to the PRT building and entered it after a quick discussion with the guards. [LINK] [LINK] Here are more pics of the cape walking down the street and talking to the PRT troopers.
From what I can see on these pictures, the cape seems to be a young teenager. However, the helmet makes it hard to determine their gender. Their powers seem to be a combination of humanoid force field projection and some sort of icy breaker state.
EDIT 1 (May 23, 2010): The cape hasn't been seen leaving the building, so I suspect that the PRT brought them home. Additionally, my PRT contacts are suspiciously quiet about this cape. As there was also no wards patrol spotted yesterday evening, it leads me to believe this cape is joining the wards. However, if that is the case, we won't receive confirmation until their public debut.
EDIT 2 (May 24, 2010): Our mystery cape is confirmed to be a girl by the PRT, so please stop insinuating she is a pervert!
(Showing page 1 of 4)
MrBear
Replied on May 22, 2010:
The forcefields are all in the shape of teenage girls. So either the cape is a girl and the forcefields look like her, or he is a pervert boy likes to surround himself with fake girls. With the mercenary look, I suspect the second one.
XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 22, 2010:
O wow, why don't I have a power that lets me surround myself with cute forcefield girls? I'm so jealous!
…
What the hell?! Why were people thinking she was a boy? And a pervert at that? Lauren was now very glad she made her music video that proved once and for all that she was a girl and not a freaking boy pervert.
"Big sis, why are you so angry?"
Oh, Lauren almost forgot Kyla and Tia were still here.
"Some people were writing weird stuff about me. They were saying that my cape persona is a pervert boy!"
Tia started laughing at that, but Kyla gave a questioning look.
"Lauren, what is a pervert?"
Oh shit, Kyla was too young to explain that. Uhm, how had mom and dad explained such stuff to her?
"Kyla, a pervert is a bad person who wants to do bad things to people of the opposite gender."
Ugh, this sounded so ridiculously cringey. Hopefully, this would be enough.
Luckily for Lauren, this was the moment her father came home, which saved her from this awkward conversation. However, during dinner, this gave her another awkward conversation after her sisters had happily told him what they had done this afternoon.
"Lauren, could you please tell me why you thought it was a good idea to make a Viewtube video of yourself using obvious parahuman powers without even bothering to inform the PRT about this?!"
Before Lauren could think of a suitable answer, her father continued his tirade.
"If you wanted to do this, you could have just waited two weeks until your public debut, which would have allowed you to made such a video with your official cape persona and support from the PRT itself! I know for a fact that the PR people would have loved such an idea, and would have been happy to help you do it with your official cape persona!"
"Uhh, I didn't think the PRT would help me at the time?"
"You could have at least informed me about it, then I would have told you to wait and inform the PR people tomorrow. Now those same PR people will probably have to work damage control, as people will be asking why the new ward did this on her own instead of with our support."
Lauren didn't like that her father was angry at her, but what he said made sense. Lauren knew that heroes were more focused on PR than on actual heroing, and making Viewtube singing video's would almost certainly be good PR for them.
"Can you show me the video now? I want to know what level of problems we have to deal with. I hope you didn't try to advertise it on PHO or something like that, then they might still be able to deal with this before it becomes well known."
Lauren blushed a little here. "I might have advertised it a bit on PHO. And maybe on multiple boards."
Her father groaned. "Well, there goes the possibility of keeping it quiet. Can you at least show me how many views you have?"
Lauren grabbed her computer, looked up the video and …
"What?!"
And saw that her hastily made music video had already 50.000 views, thousands of likes, and hundreds of comments. How the hell had that happened?!
"So dad, I think keeping this quiet might have become impossible."
Dad's face had become a weird mix of anger, disappointment, proudness and wonder.
"Okay, I'll call Renick now, in case he doesn't know already. I expect you will get loads of PR lessons tomorrow."
It turned out Renick knew about Lauren's song already, and he was not amused. Her father said that an emergency meeting between him and the Brockton Bay PR officers had been called to deal with the situation. Even the director of public image, Glenn Chambers, was going to attend the meeting online. Lauren didn't know what they were going to decide there, but she was definitely not looking forward to tomorrow.
That evening, after managing to convince her father that punishment was unnecessary with liberal use of her negotiation powers, Lauren decided to grab some new powers. The powers she grabbed this morning were short lived and not useful. However, the two she grabbed now were certainly interesting.
Power type: Breaker/Trump/Striker/Tinker/Stranger/Blaster
Threat level: 4
Duration: 4 minutes
Synchronization: 3%
Wiki article: Bruce Reid (doctor)
Power: Tinker speciality: Artificial powers. Host is able to surgically alter people so that they gain the ability to use certain powers (Specifically, Striker, Blaster or Stranger powers). The alterations are done using materials that end up fusing with the subject. Host can only make 3 of these alterations in total (one per power type, although she has a bit of freedom with the exact power). If she makes another one, than the first person she gave powers will lose their powers.
Power type: Trump/Thinker
Threat level: 3
Duration: (12 minutes) - PERMANENT
Synchronization: 100%
Wiki article: Ingersoll, Ontario
Power: Host is able to sense milk and products made from milk like cheese within a radius of 100 feet. This also includes breast milk, which allows her to sense any female that recently had a child, and people who have consumed such products within the last few hours. Additionally, host can imbue milk and milk products within her range with a power inhibiting effect, which will severely weaken the powers of anyone who drinks or eats them. This can also directly be done on milk products in people's stomachs for instantaneous effect, although the it will last shorter due to the milk already breaking down. The power inhibiting effect generally lasts for a few hours (the same time as Lauren can sense the milk in people before it breaks down) and does not work on Host herself. At full synchronization, when Host drinks or eats the power inhibiting milk products, her own powers get strengthened instead (with a 50% or so increase in range or power).
Lauren immediately summoned a clone in Tia's room as her real body ran downstairs and said: "Hey Tia, if you want to have powers too, please come immediately to the garage!". Lauren had only time to give a single power to a single person, and Tia was the best choice for it. William was too young, Kyla already had powers, Cameron was smarter than some thinkers, and her dad and stepmom would probably spend the precious minutes nagging about safety and shit. Tia was also the only one of her siblings without the potential to trigger, so this might be the only way for her to get powers. Her sister, although she seemed a bit concerned, accepted and ran downstairs too.
Lauren already set her clones to work in the garage. There were almost no useful materials left, but her phone would provide the required high quality materials. Dad noticed her running downstairs, but he had seen her tinker multiple times already, so he ignored it and continued watching television.
When Lauren entered the garage she quickly got to work. After all, she both had to create the device that would give Tia powers as well as something to make her temporarily unconscious within 2 minutes. One of her clones grabbed a knife from the kitchen while another grabbed a few additional gloves from the clothing rack in the hall to allow more clones to do precise tasks.
Tia entered the garage as Lauren and six of her clones were frantically working at a table. Lauren created an additional clone to talk to her.
"So Tia, I unfortunately have this power for only 4 minutes, so we have to do this quick. I'm going to add a device to your body that will give you powers. However in order to do that, I need you to go to sleep, as I will have to cut into your belly, and I do not want you to feel pain. Please say it now if you want to get out."
Tia flinched at the mention of cutting. However, she remained determined: "No Lauren, I want to continue. You and Kyla both have powers, and I will not turn down the opportunity to join you as a hero!"
Lauren, now feeling confident she was making the right decision, grabbed the special improvised stunner and used it on Tia. The stunner was only a one time-use item, but had the advantage of temporary numbing the pain receptors in the victim's body. Tia shook for a moment before she fell unconscious into the hands of a force field clone. Two other clones helped to grab Tia and placed her on the table. Lauren then grabbed the knife and cut open Tia's belly. Lauren repressed the irrational urge to scream as blood started to flow out of the large wound and grabbed the now finished piece of tinkertech. She pushed the tinkertech device into Tia's belly, which caused the wound to bleed even more. However, once the device was in Tia's belly, it started to unravel. A silvery fluid, reminiscent of Lauren's tinkertech heel, started to flow through the wound until it was all filled up. Once it solidified, it left a very visible silvery scar on Tia's body.
It was this moment that Lauren's mind cleared up. As she realized what she had done, she started screaming and felt bile come up her throat. What the hell had she done? Her freaking power made her mutilate poor Tia!
Power type: Mover
Threat level: 1
Duration: 4 minutes
Synchronization: 96%
Wiki article: Heartbeat City
Power: Lauren speed is enhanced when she hears music. The louder the music, the quicker she is able to move.
Cameron was the first person to come in. When he saw Tia lying on the table with blood all over the place, he screamed "Tia!" and ran to check her over. As soon as he was convinced that Tia was going to make it, he turned around to look at Lauren. When he saw the knife in Lauren's hands, his face became red in fury, hurt, and betrayal. It was painful for Lauren just to look at the face of her brother.
"Lauren, you bitch! Why the hell were you mutilating my twin sister?!"
Rather than waiting for an answer, Cameron ran towards her. Lauren's up to now unknown power warned her for an incoming punch to her face. She could easily have avoided it and grabbed her brother, but she chose not to. She deserved everything Cameron was going to hurt her with.
However, the expected punch never came. Instead, Lauren heard the sound of a body hitting the ground and started to see a suspiciously familiar vision.
AN: I was planning to wrap up the chapter when I got that surgery power. Expect the whole next chapter to be about dealing with the fallout of everything that happened here.