3 Months Earlier
This was dumb. It didn't make any sense.
Powers were bullshit.
Water swirled above my palm, pulsing with each of my thoughts.
There were so many molecules involved in basic fluid mechanics. Even 1 liter of water. 1000 grams. Not even a third of what a gallon of milk would be. To simply conceptualize and compute the movement of each molecule would take the strongest supercomputer in the world 6.34 years. That is, a non-tinker tech computer. The strongest supercomputer could process 10^18 flops of data at once, but the motion of 55.5 moles of water with each mole containing 6.023 times 10^23 molecules, with 6 degrees of freedom, was too many operations. Even a tinkertech computer would struggle to make the computation.
And yet I could do it without thinking. Every single molecule of the water swirling above my palm was in my absolute control.
There's no way that I somehow gained the intelligence and brain power stronger than any human before. I'd tried to reread my circuits textbook, and that shit still looked like hieroglyphics.
So something else was at work here. I'd heard of power sets that also give the cape a small thinker rating, but this was bullshit of a higher magnitude.
There had to be something else.
A small whisper at the back of my mind agreed with me. It was faint, like a voice whispering across a room with a dozen fans in between us. I couldn't make out any words, just a small trace that it was actually there.
That same voice seemed stronger when I experimented with my powers.
The flow of the water particles seemed to work smoother, more efficiently, when I tried to give into that voice. Let it gain small control.
It was weird to explain what doling out control felt like. It was as if I was piloting a plane, but the autopilot would jump in at small intervals to twist one flap 1 or two degrees up to avoid a headwind. I would have done fine on my own, I would have gotten to my destination. But with the adjustments, there was no wasted movement. There was pure efficiency.
So there had to be something else at work here.
And it wasn't really a voice. It was thoughts, images, ideas. New ways to use my powers.
Sometimes it was trying to teach me to tear the water out of someone's veins in the most efficient way, to pull their organs from their mouth.
Other times it was telling me how much water was needed in a house plant to make it grow optimally.
Powers were weird.
It's like the voice wanted me to experiment with them. To learn. To grow.
And I guess I agreed there.
Powers were fun, and this one seemed pretty versatile.
I'd always been interested in researching powers. They were something unique to this world, after all. Or at least a society of them. Earth Aleph had a much smaller cape community, and it didn't affect their world as much. But here, capes were everything. They were on cereal boxes, billboards, even underwear. I swear the news only had 1 or 2 things everyday that didn't involve capes.
Plus powers were so interesting. Did Glory Girl get her powers as a genetic offset of her parents? Or was it being environmentally close to those capes? There were cases of capes sprouting up with similar or countering powersets to the capes nearby.
And tinkers. What was up with that? Pulling out technology from the future.
Bullshit.
With the state of the world, Endbringers and shitty Protectorate and all that, who's to say there will be a future? And future technology would require futuristic power sources. They would need different parts specifically made to tailor that tech. There had to be some power manipulation where they imbued certain items with wacky bullshit to make garbage they would find in a scrap yard into a freeze ray.
I guess that's why tinkers with access to making everything perfectly were the best ones. Tinkers with funding were fucking dangerous. Dragon probably made everything the way she needed to, and then imbued her parts with tinker bullshit, making her tech the best on the planet.
I feel like everything I've been told my whole life is just some half-assed lie made up by the Protectorate.
Which begs the question. Why?
I understand why they would hide the mechanics behind trigger events. Mine was shitty, and I never expected it to give me powers.
After all, powers are the last thing on your mind when you're thirty feet underwater in ice cold temperatures chained to a cinder block.
If people knew that extremely high stress situations led to trigger events, people would try dumb shit all the time to try and get powers. Or at least do more dumb shit than usual.
People would probably jump from buildings hoping they would gain a flying power halfway down, or drop themselves into a vat of acid to gain acid powers.
That at least, I could understand. And maybe there was some kind of mental block in that situation anyway. Expectations might interfere with whatever gave you powers in the first place.
I wonder if it had anything to do with that weird far away voice that gives me advice. Thoughts for later.
But that's not even the tip of the iceberg of the Protectorate's incompetence.
They catch dangerous villains all the time, and yet those same villains are then rampaging the streets again a week later. Prison escorts seem to get hijacked more often than they actually made it to their destination.
Now as much as I'd like to believe in people's incompetence, as it is really fun, I'm going to do a thought experiment. Because there's no fucking way that every single person in the Protectorate and PRT are this damn incompetent. I like to think that most of them are stupid, but things would be different if even one smart person had made it in.
Look at the end result. Pretend it was the intended outcome, and see who benefits.
The villains go free. But the Protectorate weren't guarding the transport. So the PRT takes the fall, and their heroes still look like heroes. Then the heroes can catch them again, and gain more clout. But the villains never get to the birdcage. At least the non-dangerous ones. The ones that don't randomly hurt civilians. Or at least not on purpose. The dangerous ones actually get cape escorts. Or at least, escorts that aren't fucking pushovers.
So they treat it like a game of cops and robbers. No real consequences as long as nobody gets hurt. Then you have more capes for a potential Endbringer attack?
No that can't be it. The local capes hardly ever make a difference in an Endbringer attack. It's just trying to survive while hoping the Triumvirate can ward the fucker off until Scion arrives. Or hoping Eidolon gets his head out of his ass and pulls out a new bullshit power that actually makes a difference.
So having a few extra villains who might not even show up wouldn't be enough incentive to keep them around.
So who the fuck was trying to keep this many capes around. And why?
I felt a small feeling of dread coming from deep within me.
Some shady organization trying to amass capes for some unknown reason? But they aren't keeping them organized. They aren't just making the Protectorate grow, they also want the villains around. Unless they need the non dangerous villains to stick around so they can keep growing the Protectorate? Wards can actually get into confrontations with smaller villain teams. Then they can grow and actually learn how to use their powers for more dangerous confrontations they'll get into when they're older.
A lightbulb lit up in my brain.
Oh shit.
The Protectorate doesn't endanger civilians. Villains do.
And that causes trigger events.
So the safer villains get to stay around because they help make more capes as well as not kill existing ones, giving them real world practice for more dangerous threats.
Either reason probably wouldn't be enough on its own, but both contribute to the hypothesis of something or someone wanting as many capes as possible.
Okay.
New thought experiment.
If I was going to be part of a shady shadow organization, why would I amass capes?
To take over the world?
No, if you have any actual dangerous motives then the Triumvirate comes to deal with you.
And invincibility, bullshit reality laser, and every single fucking power possible is not something you can really prepare to deal with.
Besides, taking over the world is something that sounds cool but doesn't really work in practice. You would need enough loyal subordinates to control every single area the way you want it, it would be far too much upkeep to maintain unless you had some crazy administrator power. And you'd have to worry about the fact that someone might trigger with the perfect power to counter yours. And you don't get to the point of ruling the world without using your power in a way that shows people what it is. At least unless you got really creative. Maybe if you...
Okay I'm getting off topic here. Potential world takeover plots are fun but I can do that later.
So they wouldn't be trying to take over the world.
I imagine whatever they are doing has to be damn important. They've influenced or controlled either the entire Protectorate, or enough of it to suit their aims. The whole butterfinger thing with villains isn't just specific to Brockton Bay. It happens everywhere.
And manipulating that many people would be a lot of work. And not to mention time consuming.
They wouldn't do that shit for free. Or even for a small reward. This had to be justified. That they're doing what they're doing for something they believe. There's either some end goal they're working towards, or some cause they're fighting for.
But the cause and motive probably aren't things I can logic myself into. There's too many variables, too many unknowns.
So I'll stick with what I can work with.
If I was going to have a shady organization that could stick its fingers into all the pies, what would it be comprised of?
If you were going to have such a spread out organization, you would need some bullshit thinker or master power.
Maybe a master power with lingering influence? Like Teacher.
Except since Teacher, people have been a lot more careful of masters. There are master/stranger protocols in every single Protectorate location. Did Teacher have to refresh his influences on his subjects? Or did they stay forever? Food for thought.
It's possible, but bullshit thinker power seems more likely. For now I'll weigh it 80:20 for thinker power vs master power.
A thinker power lets you bypass master stranger protocols, because you would actually just convince the people to do what you wanted in a way that they would want it too.
And a bullshit thinker power would help you literally every step of the way.
I wonder if at that point it would become too much of a crutch. But every power has its limitations.
Except looking at Alexandria, Eidolon, Legend, even capes like Dragon, makes me wonder if that's true.
My own power is pretty bullshit.
And I can only get better at using it.
So working with the fact that there is a potentially bullshit level thinker power out there, what would I need to do.
Would they be able to detect if I started trying to find them? Or at least confirm their existence?
I guess I'll avoid sticking pictures to a wall with thumb tacks with strings in between for now.
I'll just keep them in my head, and hope their thinker power can't detect that.
Okay, so master power is only at 20%, but a bullshit master power with a small likelihood is still enough of a danger. I need precautions.
I can't really enact master stranger protocols on myself.
Maybe set certain passcodes in my head that I can also put reminders around the house for? That way if I see a keyword in my handwriting that I don't remember, I'll know if my memory has been tampered with.
But would they be able to see my memories of setting the keywords? Of where I put them?
God powers are such bullshit.
I'll table master precautions for another day.
My brain hurts now.
I guess the supercomputing software my power gives me only helps me with my power.
Okay so I'll lay out all that I know.
1. Powers are bullshit.
2. Potential shady organization that is in control?
3. Even a possibility of such an organization means I need countermeasures.
And where I need to go from here.
1. Experiment with powers
Pretty obvious. I want to get better with my powers anyway. Getting stronger with my powers makes sense no matter what I choose to do after.
2. Start looking for more clues about shady organization
Should I join the Protectorate? Try and find clues from the inside? It would really limit my movement options afterward, they probably have really strict rules.
Or I could start my own team. Try and build up rep and build something that would help but do better than the Protectorate. Show the world how incompetent they are.
Or I could make a villain team. Tear the current system apart at its roots. This would probably warrant Triumvirate response. That would be bad. Maybe once I figure out more creative ways to use my power.
Fuck this I'm going to bed. Too much thinking for one day.
Two Months Later
Wow.
When I thought my power was bullshit before, oh my god I was so wrong.
I've experimented a lot with my powers over these last two months. In my own house of course.
No fucking way I'm going out into the real world to deal with potential thinker and master powers. I will not make the mistake of dying before I'm powerful.
Currently, I've amassed enough power to go out into the real world.
But with potential shady organizations, I'm going to make a plan first.
But for now, back to my bullshit power.
So water manipulation right? Well if you break it down to its basics, that's basically being able to move combined H2 and Oxygen molecules. What does that mean? I get total control over these two elements, but only when they're arranged in a certain way? That doesn't make sense.
Shatterbird, for example. Supposedly she can control all silica materials. So she makes glass explode and has fine control over sand and glass.
So she gets control over crystallized Silica in the form of sand, and non crystallized Silica in the form of glass?
But if she could control crystallized Silica, she'd also have control over gravel, clay, granite, and many other materials. Controlling crystallized Silica means she should also be able to control silicon carbine and silicone. For fucks sake there's Silica in our tendons, skin, bone, cartilage, even our blood vessels.
Why is Shatterbird not the most powerful cape on the planet?
Silica is the combination of Silicon and O2 ions, and yet she can only control it in sand and glass.
Her power should be a hell of a lot more refined and versatile. So is it a mental limitation? Did her power really limit her to those two materials? Or is it more complicated than that. Her power was supposed to be refined Silica control, but cross referenced its own data with the data in her brain to land on solely sand and glass.
That she could be doing more, but is held back by a conceptual limitation that was either self imposed by her, or made by whatever gives her powers.
To avoid confusion, I'm going to call it a Trainer.
Like a Gym Trainer. Someone who helps you understand the exercises you're doing, what they're doing for your body, and why you should be doing them.
Of course a lot of people go to the gym and never use a Trainer. Instead they figure that shit out on their own. Some of them succeed with this method, others fail.
My Trainer has been very helpful with my power. I figured the best method of growing both in strength and versatility was to combine strengths.
I'm already a very creative and talented person, but utilizing another source, one that understands what my power is on a fundamental level, is simply too useful to pass up.
And control over those molecules, what does that mean?
Well heat is basically just how excited a molecule is. How fast it's vibrating.
So by slowing that excitement down, the water will freeze into ice. Increasing the excitement means the bonds heat up and loosen up their bond structure, evaporating.
I've experimented a lot with the range and capability I have over all of this.
I can now bring the excitement of a molecule all the way down.
Absolute zero.
The coldest ice that will exist. That can exist.
Ice gets harder the colder it gets. Once I got below 100 degrees celsius, nothing I had could scratch the ice anymore.
Absolute zero is negative 273.15 degrees celsius.
It will make for good armor.
Of course heating the water into gas and still retaining control is also bullshit.
But I believe I've amassed enough defensive and offensive power to not worry about dying early in the field.
My passenger and I have also theorized about potential reinforcement in my organs, maybe down to the last cell, but I don't think that will be necessary yet.
For now, I'll have to come up with a plan.
To start, I need my goals.
1. Gain power and respect
Power is already attained, but I will continue to amass it. My range of control is only about two blocks, which I can't seem to expand no matter what I try. My fine control on the other hand, is something I can improve. At first I could control just a small orb of water in my hand. Now I can control an entire pool of water, manipulating it however I see fit. My power wasn't built for such titanic amounts of data and commands, but it can learn and grow just as I can. Respect will have to be through the city. But every hero needs a villain to make a story. And I do see villains I could potentially defeat in Brockton Bay. Even some worldwide. But I don't think it'll be enough. New Wave was nothing but a crackpot group of wannabe heroes until they brought in Marquis. Lung might be enough to get me the respect of the Bay, but I want to respect of the world.
2. Throw the established system into question
Investigating all of this on my own would be a lot of work. Not to mention dangerous. Most shady organizations working in the background tend to be good at disappearing people. People that ask too many questions. People that get too close. So I would make sure to establish I was not somebody to mess with, and I was not getting close. If I had enough respect and power, they wouldn't be willing to try and take me off the board unless it really seemed I was on their trail. Not that I wouldn't be careful anyway. But if I threw around enough doubt that other people started looking on their own, or people with suspicions were more willing to speak up, well I could pay careful attention to if they got disappeared and what they were looking into when it happened. That way I could get closer to them without actually risking myself.
3. Build a new system
This was a tough one. I knew I didn't like the current system. It lets villains get away with way too much. It was the reason I got my powers, after all. Building a new system would be incredibly difficult, and I would need help. I'd likely have to make my own hero team. But it came with the same problems of taking over the world. Everywhere where I wanted things to be different were places I'd need to watch, or have people I trusted watch. To make sure things run smoothly. Not to mention putting a new system into place was a struggle to begin with.
4. Kill the Endbringers
Keep in mind these are all just goals I want to accomplish. They aren't necessarily in order of how I want to achieve them, or in order of importance. Because this one is pretty important. Endbringers kill millions of people every year, and hundreds of capes. Maybe that's the end goal of the shady organization. To try and get as many people to trigger as possible and hope somebody gets the power to kill Endbringers. Personally I think they'd have better luck killing them if we just convinced Scion to try harder. He seems like he's not even trying when fighting them, like this is a chore to him. But I suppose that's what happens when you're humanities' strongest cape. I would probably lose some of my humanity too, if I was that powerful.
5. Kill the Slaughterhouse 9
I'll probably try and tackle all of the S class threats at some point. But Nilbog and Sleeper aren't actively hurting people right now. They are. Not that I really need to save all those people. I just want to be the person to kill them. A test. A challenge. Easiest way to earn respect was to kill the strongest guy in the room. I'm pretty sure Siberian actually counted as that in this fucked up world.
6. Build a team
Pretty similar to 3, or at least not mutually exclusive. I can manage most things on my own, but having a high tier thinker or precog would be nice. With my powers I likely qualify as a high level Brute, Mover, Striker, Blaster, and Shaker. I can also use my powers to pretend that I'm a high powered Changer or Breaker. So a high tier Stranger would also be a welcome addition. Subterfuge hasn't even been one of my strong suits. Too bad I can't hear through my powers. Maybe I can try and mess with how sound travels through the air, and see if I can make my voice or other voices travel through air channels. Thoughts for later.
7. Make a Restaurant
Not really as important as the others. But if I get a restaurant made for me, I could come in at any time for free food. That would be a god send. I changed my mind. This one is as important as the others.
My stomach rumbled.
Maybe even more important.
Okay, so my goals are set for now. I can always switch them up later or update them, but getting my thoughts and motivations laid out in front of me is good for thinking.
Now I have to try and come up with a plan that lets me do all of those things and in an optimal fashion.
I'll get into more specifics as I get closer to them, but it seems like this makes the most sense for me.
Phase 1
Establish new players in the city. Hero and villain. Set the stage for future things. Gain power.
These are first steps to anything I want to do later, after all.
For now I'll have my hero persona be Cryoblade. A cape with ice powers, able to manipulate and move any existing ice around. If it ever comes to it, I'll likely state I can turn water to ice, but only with touch. That would explain how I make my blades and armor, as well as make sure nobody got within touching distance of me. There are plenty of odd striker powers out there, and so long as they think I can freeze them with just a touch, they won't come close.
For now Cryoblade will be an independent hero. I might need to join up with the Protectorate to see if I can get any info from the inside, but that can always be done later. With my powers, they will likely try to be recruiting me anytime I'm near. Joining up would significantly impact my time table. I'd need to go out on pointless patrols and attend countless meetings. Just the idea makes me stray further from the Protectorate. But joining would also let me find the players who would make the most resistance to my plan. Players who could be taken out.
As for potential Villains.
I'm thinking of some kind of wind villain that can suck the breath out of your lungs. I could just fill their lungs with pure Hydrogen so their breaths would be meaningless, or just make a vacuum and suck all the air out.
I never did want to kill anybody. But the bastards that gave me these powers might be a good start. It's not like there aren't people who deserve to be killed in this city. There's an entire clan of Nazi's, for one.
I'll likely come up with some other villains later. I have stray ideas about some powerful Changer that is just a massive monster made of water, or a potential villain made of Hydrogen Peroxide to burn people out from the inside. Maybe I'll have the acidic persona be a hired assassin?
I'll have to pick my targets carefully. That is, in the way that there isn't a pattern to them. But I don't plan on killing civilians or street thugs. I'll be killing the rot in the city, capturing them by day and smiting them out by night.
Phase 1 will be pretty busy.
Phase 2 will take a much more active role.
Make a more active role in both the hero and villain circles. I'll likely make a PHO account, get it verified, and try making more waves in the community.
I'll have a much more active presence in cape politics and Brockton Bay in general.
Phase 2 and Phase 1 will happen simultaneously as I continue to set myself up in the cape world.
Then I'll move on to the next phases. No need to put it all out there yet though. You never know what random thinker could be potentially picking up on your thoughts.
For now I'll keep practicing the different elements of my powers.
Target practice with flying blades of ice is surprisingly fun.