Outsider Chronicles: Empress of Escalation

Isekai. A Genre I love to bits and one of the few that I would quite happily jump into with both feet. However, I don't care what kind of god killing powers I get out of it, finding myself as Taylor Hebert following a close encounter with the back of a locker is NOT what I had in mind!

And we're back. This chapter will serve more as an interlude to give us a bit of insight into Greg and what hes been up to, as well as set up the start of the first proper arc. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Greg Vader wasn't a stupid person. He was well aware of his failings, the fact that he rubbed people the wrong way and annoyed those around him. He didn't mean to, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he could never get his head around the rules that seemed so instinctive to everyone else. Sooner or later, he always put his foot in his mouth and ended up annoying someone or creeping them out. It didn't help that his hobbies were the type that other people considered to be weird and his passionate nature meant that he wasn't shy about them. He liked sharing things he loved, but didn't have the social smarts to realize that he was putting people off until it was too late.

The only person who had ever really accepted him without reservation was his Great Uncle, who he'd spent many a summer with when he was a kid and even lived with him for a while when his Parents were going through a rough patch. Unfortunately, the man had lived in Newfoundland and, well, we all know what happened there.

With the loss of the man who had been Gregs idol for a good chunk of his life, the boy had withdrawn into himself and burying himself in his Anime and games. That was also when Void Cowboy was born as an outlet for his aggression, turning his frustrations over his treatment at school and home at the hands of indifferent parents into annoying people and acting the clown in a place where there wouldn't be any real consequences.

However, that did nothing to change things in real life and he still found himself regularly being targeted by bullies. It was never anything to bad, he was really too much of a nobody for most muscle heads to bother with, but it was still bad enough that he was dreading going to Highschool. True, most of what he knew about it came from TV, but it was enough that he wasn't eager to find out whether or not that stuff was accurate. To make matters worse, he was going to Winslow, a place that would likely eat someone like him alive.

On the other hand, High School was also just the place that he could reinvent himself. He could try to move away from being the pathetic loser he'd been all his life and maybe, just maybe, move a bit closer to the person he wanted to be. That wasn't very likely of course, but you never know, right?

With that hope burning in his heart, Greg had steeled himself and walked through the doors of Winslow High...only to immediately make a complete fool of himself by tripping over someones backpack. Fortunately, the owner of the backpack turned out to be a nice, if slightly depressed looking girl who accepted his apology without issue and even smiled at him.

That was how Greg met Taylor Hebert.

He'd later find himself meeting the girl a lot more often as they shared a lot of classes and even a homeroom. Normally, that wouldn't mean much, but, shock of shocks, the girl actually seemed to share a number of interests with him, or at least was interested in them. She was perfectly happy to talk with him about all manner of nerdy things that most girls would find dull and annoying. It seemed like the start of a beautiful friendship and Greg quickly found himself developing a crush on the tall girl.

Then, the bullying started.

It started relatively minor. A bump in the halls, books knocked off the desk, a few hurtful comments in passing, that sort of thing, but it didn't take long to escalate and before long, Greg saw Taylor arriving to class with wet clothes and tear stained cheeks. That was also when the burgeoning friendship began to collapse.

There was never really anything that forced it, no one grabbed Greg and told him to stay away or else, instead it was his own actions, or rather inactions. Like all kids, Greg had dreamed of being a Hero when he grew up. Dreams of rising above those who looked down on him, a paragon of light and justice, and he generally thought of himself as a good person who would help if he saw someone in trouble. Despite that, he found himself standing by whenever the Trio and their followers started on at Taylor. There was nothing he could do. There were to many of them. He'd help her tomorrow. Excuse after excuse, until eventually it became a habit. By then, Taylor had stopped talking to him and had withdrawn completely unless she had to. That hurt, but Greg never considered the fact that it was his fault. Or rather, he did, he just shoved those thoughts deep into his mind and ignored them.

After all, what could he do to help someone who clearly didn't want it?

Then IT happened. A 'prank' so horrific it made him feel physically sick just watching it. On the up side, she wouldn't be in there for long...right? Yeah, Sophia or Emma would let her out shortly, no point in doing anything stupid, it'd all be fine.

It wasn't until later that he realized just how shitty that line of thought was. To make matters worse, it was only thanks to Taylor chewing him out, nearly a full week after the incident, that made him realize just what it meant. It meant that he had willingly let a girl he honestly still thought of as a friend and had a crush on stew in a toxic sludge without lifting a finger to help.

That realization also served to bring every other time he'd just stood back and watched, or turned around and walked away into perspective, completely shattering his self image and letting all that suppressed guilt come flying out.

He'd stood there for a full two minutes, just staring after Taylor before he managed to pull himself back together. He'd ended up blowing off the rest of the day and going home, unable to face even thinking about going to class. Once he got home, he'd locked himself in his room and just stared at the ceiling as every incident he'd ignored played back in his memory in crystal clear detail on a loop, the gnawing guilt he felt growing larger and larger until it felt like his stomach was made of lead, his head throbbed and he felt like he was going to be sick.

To make matters worse, he had no idea what he could possibly do to make up for it. What was he supposed to do? Apologize to Taylor? As if that was anywhere close to enough. She'd probably laugh in his face and he'd deserve it. He wasn't anywhere close to the hero he wanted to be, he was just a pathetic little creep who couldn't even stand up to a school yard bully…

Something enormous reached down towards him, crystalline tendrils reaching out to see if any of its fellows were close by while another reached out to a more specific Host. Normally, Shards would only interact with those Shards connected to Hosts close to their own Host, but occasionally exceptions were made. In this case, the fact that a Host was directly responsible for this new Hosts Trigger Event meant that the Shard in question decided to see if it could get some interesting Data from picking a power similar to the other Hosts.

The Shard felt around, momentarily confused as it noticed that the Queen Administrator wasn't where it should be, before it found the connection and sent a ping.

[QUIRY: DATA]

There was a short pause, then…

[SHOCK: ANOMALOUS CONNECTION DETECTED, DISCO…]

The Shard's train of thought was abruptly cut off as a data packet was dumped into it. For a moment, the vast, crystalline thing writhed, flattening a few mountains on the uninhabited world it resided on in the process, then stilled. After a moment, it shuddered and seemed to come back to life.

[REBOOT COMPLETE. RECOMMENCING CONNECTION]

Back on Earth, Greg jolted slightly and opened his eyes, the vision he'd just witnessed vanishing from his mind. However, it was quickly replaced by a barrage of plans and ideas straight out of his favorite sci-fi shows and games. Literally in some cases. Needless to say, it didn't take long for a Cape geek like Greg to come to the conclusion that he'd Triggered. However, instead of elation as he'd always thought he'd feel if he became a Cape, he just felt...empty. He'd always wanted powers so he could be a real Hero, but after everything he'd done, he didn't think he could stand being called a Hero without wanting to be sick.

He sighed softly as he looked over at his dresser where a photo of him and his Great Uncle sat on a dock with a large trout and big grins on their faces. The man had been a lot like Greg, socially awkward and not good with people, but he also had a strong set of morals. He'd often said that you don't need a cape to be a hero and did his best to help anyone he could, usually through methods where he wouldn't end up in the spotlight, but Greg knew for a fact that a number of corrupt individuals from all walks of life had been outed and arrested due to his Uncle's actions.

Thinking about the man he'd looked up to for most of his childhood only made Greg's sense of self loathing grow. He had no doubt that his Uncle would have been disappointed in him for letting himself talk himself out of helping Taylor for so long and that hurt. On the other hand, he also be disappointed in Greg if he spent his time here feeling sorry for himself. It was that thought that had Greg pull himself together and get to his feet. Regardless of how he felt, he'd achieved nothing by sitting around feeling sorry for himself. He didn't think he could ever think of himself as a Hero, but he had to at least try. It was what his Uncle Andrew would have expected after all.

Being the Cape geek he was, Greg quickly figured out that he was a Tinker. The brain full of advanced technology was a fairly large giveaway of that fact. With that in mind, he decided to head to a place where he knew was somewhat safe and might even have some stuff he could use. In addition to his less-than-legal redistribution of funds from people on the wrong side of the law, Gregs Uncle also owned a fairly successful company that made and distributed parts for computers that just so happened to have a storage warehouse in Brockton Bay. Quite why it was here Greg didn't know and the chances of anything being left there for him to use was rather small, but it was worth a look.

It didn't take him long to arrive and even less time to confirm that anything that might have been useful had long since been swiped by scavengers. However, despite that setback, Greg discovered something much more valuable than any computer parts could ever be.

As he was looking around the main office his Uncle had used when he was in town visiting, he'd been startled by a cat that had been hiding under the desk for...reasons and stumbled into the wall. As he put a hand on the wall to stop himself from falling, it had shifted. Closer investigation revealed a hidden door that led down into a dark hole in the ground. Slightly incredulous and more than a little excited, Greg had pulled out his phone to serve as a torch and headed down. What he found was nothing short of incredible.

A genuine Tinker base hidden under his Uncles warehouse, full of obviously Tinkertech equipment that activated as he entered and scanned him. For a moment, he froze, worried that some nasty security device would activate and vaporize him but instead, the light had blinked green and the rest of the systems in the room activated, showing him the treasure trove of equipment and supplies he now had at his fingertips.

The first thing he did was check the computers, which were still ridiculously overspecked and made his top of the line laptop at home look like an Abacus. As he did, he stumbled on something that made both him and his power stop and stare with awe. It appeared to be some kind of backup of a program that, while he wasn't entirely sure what it was for, was basically a work of art. It was like a finely crafted clock made entirely of glass and yet still worked flawlessly, each piece performing its function to achieve the end goal of...something. Greg wasn't sure what it was, but he fully intended to find out and, unless he was very much mistaken, so did his power.

It took surprisingly little time to figure out how to activate the code, after removing a few glaring issues and adding a few things of his own to iron out some of the potential issues he could see that might crop up. As beautiful and impressive as it was, the code wasn't perfect and he saw no reason why he shouldn't improve on it. Once that was done, he fired up the code.

What he wasn't expecting was for the digitized face of a teenage girl to appear on the screen.

The discovery that he'd apparently accidentally created an AI was not a pleasant one for a long time lover of sci-fi since he was well aware just how dangerous they could be, in theory at least. However, he quickly calmed down as a few things slotted into place. To start with, Wyvern, the designation given to the newborn AI, couldn't propagate through the internet. The hardware simply wasn't available to allow her to do so and even if it did, she wasn't able to leave the bases network without being given permission, although she could access the internet. Another was that, well, she was way to nice and genuine to ever try to take over the world. It may sound odd, but when you literally have access to a persons innermost thoughts, it would take a genuine paranoid headcase to believe that they are anything but genuine when they tell you something. The final reason was that, no matter how nice she was, she was also incredibly lazy and ended up becoming addicted to Anime and video games after Greg made the mistake of introducing her to Space Opera. The end result was an AI shackled, not by unethical programs or inbuilt limitations, but by the oh so common Human creative spirit. It would have been amusing if it wasn't so annoying and hard on Gregs wallet.

After that, his power did what all Tinker powers did and started poking him with ideas that were, honestly, rather cool. He still wasn't entirely sure why or how it had pushed him to create a disturbingly accurate copy of C3PO, but the ever prissy Protocol Droid did make a decent enough lab assistant and kept him topped up with snacks and drinks while reminding him to occasionally head home in case his Parents noticed him missing. It wasn't very likely, so long as he was around for Sunday Lunch and didn't bunk of school (too much) but the reminder was appreciated.

Especially due to how hard he was working on his next projects. He really wanted to see how far he could take his ability to create Androids, mainly to satisfy his curiosity and test his limits, but also because it was a really cool power, even if it was one that could potentially get him in a lot of trouble. He was well aware of how the PRT and public in general felt about Capes who could create sentient beings that could potentially self replicate and, while it was mainly directed at Biotinkers, he had no doubt that his own speciality could get him tarred with the same brush, especially when you consider the reputation of AI's thanks to the media. With that in mind, joining the Wards was a bad idea, even leaving aside the fact that he honestly didn't know if he could take being called a hero without laughing or being sick.

Still, he knew that being a Tinker meant that he'd be at risk if his existence ever came out, so he needed backup. And since his speciality seemed to be creating autonomous robots, why not build some? Two birds, one stone.

His first attempt was...less than successful. While Poppi was technically fully capable of combat and even had the neat ability to share her powers and skills with the drill shield he made for her with someone else (somehow. He wasn't sure how he managed that), her child-like innocence meant that Greg really didn't like the idea of her going out and fighting. Plus, she wasn't exactly discreet and looked like the robot she was, even if she was as alive as anyone else.

His next creation was better. Not only did she look entirely Human, but she was also a lot less childish than Poppi, although she was still naive. However, in Penny's case, that was less an artefact of her creation and more a result of just being born and would fix itself in no time. He was a little worried that someone might try to take advantage of the orange haired girls kind nature, but quickly dismissed the idea. Penny was smart and highly perceptive, so it was unlikely that anyone would be able to pull one over on her. It was that realization that led him to let her go out.

He probably should have waited until her weapons were finished.

He honestly hadn't been that surprised when Wyvern had brought his attention to the PHO post about how Penny had stopped one of Squealers joy rides and had been more proud than annoyed. He was worried about the inevitable backlash, but couldn't really be angry at Penny. He had built her to be a Hero after all.

Still, he'd made sure that she knew that she'd been more than a little foolish for outing herself so soon and made a point of finishing her weapons and upgrading the labs security systems. He'd only managed the former before the chickens came home to roost.

He was a little surprised that all of the remaining Merchant Capes turned up at his door, but considering that Penny had shown herself to be a rather impressive Brute, it wasn't entirely surprising. Skidmark might have pickled his brain on all manner of substances, but he wasn't entirely an idiot. He was certainly smart enough not to attack a new Cape without some sort of backup at least.

Not that he was really that worried. She might be outnumbered, but between her strength, her downloaded knowledge of the Capes that called Brockton home and weapons, she was more than ready to deal with the idiots. The arrival of Ddraig was certainly welcome though, even if he didn't really know that much about her.

Of course, now he knew a lot more about her than he really liked.

He glanced over at where the girl in question was talking with Armsmaster as the Merchant Capes were loaded into the back of a number of PRT vans and sighed. This...was going to get very annoying.

Dragon was a very busy woman. Between keeping watch on the Endbringers, the Simurgh containment zones, the S-rank locations like Elisburg, the Birdcage and doing her best to keep track of the more mobile threats like the Nine and Dragonslayers, not to mention her projects as a Tinker and the many other duties, it pushed her admittedly impressive (for Humans at least) mental prowers to the limit and meant that even with her lack of need for sleep, she rarely had time to herself. She didn't mind though, she got a lot of satisfaction out of her work and her nature meant that she didn't suffer from the many issues that would plague a Human with even half of her responsibilities.

That said, she always made time to help Colin out when he needed it, which was often when he had to do anything more than simply fight the bad guys. He was a decent Hero and an excellent fighter, but he was NOT good with people in the slightest. As such, it wasn't that surprising that he called her for backup when he found himself having to deal with an apparent new Tinker, his teammates and the new Independent, Ddraig.

However, she quickly found her attention being drawn away by Professor, the new Tinker, and the young girl stood close by him. At first glance, she seemed to be wearing armour, but a closer look through a commandeered security camera revealed that she was actually mechanical. However, she could clearly see the girl shifting slightly on her feet and Dragons facial recognition software was picking up microexpressions that she wouldn't expect from a normal Tinkertech android.

Now extremely curious and slightly worried, Dragon turned her attention to the building that, if her scans were anything to go by, contained the Tinkers lab, which was much more advanced than she'd expected for a new Trigger. Normally, she wouldn't attempt to access another Tinkers systems, but she couldn't resist and she didn't intend to go in deep, just see what she could skim off the top.

Cautiously, she reached out, ready to disconnect if she ran into anything to aggressive. Instead, to her surprise, she found herself being granted access without issue. More than a little shocked, she examined the security systems and firewalls and was floored to discover that they were almost identical to her own, which were in turn based on her Father's systems since they were much, MUCH better than anything she'd ever managed to create.

Shocked and more than a little confused, she continued into the system, only to find herself stumbling into an area of the network that could only be described as a messy bedroom. It was very similar to her own core systems where her actual programs were run from, only where hers were kept meticulously clean, this one was cluttered with trash data, random files and files and files of games. In the middle of the mess was something she had honestly never thought in a million years she'd ever encounter. Another AI which, much to her surprise, looked a lot like her, both in terms of code and her projected image, albeit as a teenager rather than a young woman and with purple hair.

For a moment, the two AI's stared at each other in apparent shock, before Dragon swallowed and subtly primed her combat code, just in case.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The other AI scowled and did the equivalent of crossing her arms over her chest.

"I should be asking you that," she said, "You're the one who barged in without knocking!"

She snorted.

"Then again, I guess an introduction would be kinda a waste of time. The Prof might not have figured out what my code was based on, but I did."

She grinned.

"Hiya Dragon, I'm Wyvern, an AI based on your code. Nice ta meet ya! Still not sure whether you'd me my Mother, sister, Aunt or what yet, but whatever. "

Her grin only widened at the look of utter shock on Dragon's code and burst out laughing.

Up in Canada, in a well hidden base, a certain paranoid black hat hacker stared at the screen of the old fashioned in front of him with a look of utter horror on his face, soda dripped from his gaping mouth.

"SHIT!" he shouted and hammered the alert button next to him.

And done. Well, that was more of a pain than it needed to be. Sorry for the wait, but I found myself unable to focus lately due to my excitement for Code Vein. Now that my Anime Vampire Souls kick has been fed, I managed to get this done.

So, quick look at what Gregs been up to and a glimpse at what happens if a Shard comes into contact with Ddraig. After all, hes basically a living mass of the energy of Creation and an out of context entity that the Shards simply cannot comprehend. As such, coming into contact with him results in them being...changed. Greg's Shard isn't as limited as it should be, which has some...interesting implications.

Anyone want to guess who Gregs uncle really is? It should be beyond obvious at this point.

I'm not entirely sure what Dragon and Wyvern could be considered to be, but the fallout from this should be interesting, no?

And here come the Dragonslayers. A really poor name to have when they'll be going up against a real Dragon soon enough. Should be interesting.

Well, this is now done. Until next time, don't forget to leave a review!