Chapter 3: Itadakimasu!
* Elsewhere *
The Voice of the World wasn't sentient or sapient.
It adapted and developed but stopped short of either condition.
New data came in that was outside the set parameters. More data.
The Voice of the World continued to adapt in the absence of its creator.
* Brockton Bay *
Taylor had left the school behind and now beheld a true test of her abilities.
"Are you ready for this, Great Sage?" asked Taylor aloud.
[Prepared. Running continuing analysis of interference on Track 5. Running continuing analysis of extradimensional transmission node recovered from individual Sophia Hess on Track 4. Tracks 1-3 ready to begin analysis of acquired materials.]
The car wrecking yard on Rorschach Alley showed every sign of being abandoned for years. Old battered cars were the lowest layer, what the place had been used for back when it was actually a working business. People had been throwing broken appliances and furniture on top of it all after everything had come apart.
"Okay," said Taylor, from her position at the rear gate. While holding up one arm and pointing her hand at the mass of the yard she took a deep breath before speaking. "Nothing alive on the menu. Activate Unique Skill: Predator!"
Taylor's hand blurred into something that looked like a whirlwind and things began flying from the yard into that funnel before vanishing.
Car wrecks in various stages of decay, refrigerators, washer, dryer, old computer, tires, an air conditioner - all vanishing into the blur which moved around as Taylor waved her hand about.
A VERY startled stray dog went running away with only a ruffling of its fur to show for it.
Sofa, old mattress, dining table, chair, chair, chair, set of power armor, end table, drug stash, really old wrecked car...
Taylor dropped the effect. "Wait. What? Was that... some kind of armor suit?"
[Analyzing. Suit is made of several metallic alloys. It appears to be designed for a humanoid wearer.]
"It looks like one of those video game things that L33t or Uber would wear," said Taylor after looking over the image that Great Sage had sent.
[Continuing to analyze. Materials acquired.]
Taylor nodded. Great Sage sounded satisfied. "Well. If you've got research materials, then I've got homework and I've got to figure out what we're going to do about this current situation. I mean - do I go out and do the Hero stuff, or do I find another way to deal with the Trio and school? I need to know what options are on the table. Maybe I could go hero and get transferred to another school. Immaculata or Arcadia sound like they'd be a lot better than Winslow."
[Acquisition of data would seem indicated.]
"Glad you agree," admitted Taylor. It was nice to have someone to talk to again.
[Transportation seems required. Sufficient analysis of vehicles to reconstitute one from the remains of six others.]
"I don't know how to drive," said Taylor. "And there's probably laws against that sort of thing." Taylor thought for a few moments. "What about that power armor? I don't think there are laws against that sort of thing."
[Insufficient analysis for repairs. Initial analysis indicates cascade of malfunctions terminating in failure of primary systems in spontaneous combustion event.]
"Definitely something of L33t's design then," noted Taylor.
[Analysis of undersuit materials completed. Acquired: Synthetic Spider Silk. Acquired: Flexwire. Acquired: Biosensor Monitors. Acquired: Shock Padding. Continuing analysis.]
"That sounds useful," said Taylor. "Sounds like you're having fun."
[Affirmative.]
"I'm going to try Mimic to get home," decided Taylor as she looked over the mostly-empty scrapyard. "What forms do I have?"
[Baseform: Slime. Human Mimicry. Giant Spider.]
"That's it?" asked Taylor. "What about the analysis of the Trio? Can I look like them?"
[Humanform already set as modified-Taylor. Alteration of base humanform possible. Full consumption also necessary for adding additional forms.]
"Oh." Taylor thought for a few moments. "I have to actually eat something to gain a new form. You have to get detailed information, right?"
[Affirmative. Full genetic duplication not currently available.]
"Gotcha. Right." Taylor sighed. "How about if I eat a few pigeons to construct a bird form?"
[Mass limitations make flight difficult without significant modifications.]
"Oh, right. Physics. I'd probably need to grab someone with flight abilities for you to analyze that." Taylor shifted to her little blue slime form. "Let's see how I can move around. Bouncing isn't very fast. What if I..." A tentacle lashed out from the blue blob, stuck to a wall, then the bulk of the slime flowed to the far point. "That isn't very fast either. Faster than bouncing though."
Taylor lash-traveled for another two blocks as she thought about it. "What if I take in a large amount of air, then forcibly expel it... no that sounds like travel by fart, doesn't it?"
A lash went out, grabbed a very startled pigeon, and pulled it in.
"Yech," said Taylor. "I didn't realize how filthy they were."
[Analysis complete. Many design inefficiencies noted.]
"Yeah, that was something I heard in Biology. Evolution goes for the 'good enough' and stops," agreed Taylor.
[Working. Further sampling required.]
"Let me try the fart travel method, this is a big gap," said Taylor, beginning to suck in a lot of air.
That was a window-rattling boom a moment later and a blue blob wahoo-ing as she sailed across a street.
[Acquired Skill: Air Pressure Propulsion. Acquired Skill: Wind Blast.]
"A bit louder than I like, maybe if I change things so..." Taylor said before shooting halfway across a drainage canal. "Oh frak."
(SPLASH!)
A few moments later she was skimming across the top of the water at high speed.
[Acquired Skill: Water Pressure Propulsion. Acquired Skill: Water Movement. Combined Skill: Water Blade.]
[Acquired Skills Water Pressure Propulsion, Water Movement, and Water Blade evolve to Extra Skill: Water Manipulation.]
"Hydrokinesis? Coastal city so that's handy."
(Hissss!)
"A snake? In January? Oh, the water's warm here so that's probably why. WATER BLADE!"
The crescent of pressurized water cut through the snake, the half-inch of concrete of the canal there, and at least six inches of dirt on the other side.
"Okay. I need to be careful using that on people," mused slime-Taylor. "You know, snake is supposed to be tasty but I can't actually taste anything if I eat it this way."
[Acquired Water Moccasin Snake data.]
[Acquired Venom Data.]
[Acquired Tremorsense.]
[Acquired Thermal Sense.]
"Whoa," said Taylor. "So I can get powers from eating things. I kind knew that but it's different seeing it. I wonder what else there is for me to munch on? Maybe a side-trip to the ocean? No, best I get home and plan a full day of chomping fish."
A bat was sleeping in an overhang and quickly found its rest disturbed. Then it was gone.
[Acquired Common Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fucus) data.]
[Acquired Echolocation.]
[Evolution: Tremorsense + Thermal Sense + Echolocation + Acute Hearing. Radar Sense Acquired.]
"Whoa. Three hundred sixty degrees and I can kind of tell density of objects from this. This'll be handy to avoid ambushes in school," realized Taylor. "Good going, Great Sage."
[Affirmative.] Great Sage sounded a bit smug.
Back to lash-travel to get some height, which seemed easier now. Taylor was mostly content with this.
* Sophia *
Sophia quickly made her way to the roof where she'd stashed her costume. A little patrol and off to the Wards room where she could knock out her homework and put down those losers. She had a fair amount of frustration to work out after all. Especially with all the whispers and rumors involving her.
The teacher hadn't squealed, but apparently someone had gone into the classroom after she'd left and found the pill bottle she'd thrown against the wall.
Nobody was brave enough to accuse her to her face, of course.
She turned on her power to reach through the ventilation grille for her costume.
(CLANG!) "SONNOVA-"
Sophia shook her hand. Then tried again, this time without slamming her fingers into a metal vent. Nothing.
"What?" asked Sophia. She reached again for her power. Nothing.
"What?!" repeated Sophia, trying again, concentrating so hard her teeth felt as if they were going to break against each other.
"WHAT?!" yelled Sophia as she once again was unable to turn shadowy.
* Taylor *
[Acquired Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) data.]
[Acquired Light Armor]
[Combining Light Armor (Crab) with Synthetic Spider Silk and Armor Panels from Power Armor.]
[Acquired Body Armor ability.]
"Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy," said the blue slime as she made her way across a rooftop. "Huh. Spider silk. I wonder."
A drop of chemically produced glue, a strand of synthetic spider web, an air blast to shoot the wad of sticky with the line across the street. Reel it in. "WHOA! I can webshoot! How fast can I do this?"
(Whip! Thwap! Reel! Repeat!)
"Spider-slime, spider-slime, does like a spider in half the time! Spins a web, any size. Avoids the bullies, win a prize. Look out! Here comes the spider-slime. Bowww bowww bowww!" sang the little blue blob as it went through the commercial area before getting to where the buildings were much smaller and then finally to residential areas.
(SPLAT!)
[Acquired Common Centipede data.]
[Paralysis Bite acquired.]
[Venom data added to database.]
There was a brief pause after cleaning up some trash atop her own house's roof.
[Analysis of three types of glue, two types of epoxy - complete. Combining with data of spider thread.]
[Acquired Skill: Sticky Thread. Acquired Skill: Monofilament Thread.]
"Yeah, probably want to be very sparing with that last one, have to be very careful. I'm pretty sure slicing crooks up would cause me some legal problems." Taylor thought about it. "Yeah, maybe if it were someone who has one of those 'kill on sight' orders you hear about."
[Wind Blast + Echolocation = Extra Skill: Ultrasonic Blast]
[Venom data + Wind Blast = Extra Skill: Poisonous Breath]
[Paralysis Bite + Wind Blast = Extra Skill: Paralysis Breath]
"All right, you just continue to digest all that juicy data," Taylor told Great Sage.
After all, her biggest challenge was before her. What to tell her father, or if she should.
