Worm Loops

by gbear605

This is not her first time here. Nor will it be her last. Innortal-style time loops in the Worm verse.

2. Chapter 2

1.12 cont (Rex)

"Oh come on Clockblocker it's not that bad."

"Yes, Taylor, yes it is. You are made of bugs. And have been freely turning yourself back and forth between the two states whenever you feel like it."

"I have not. And look, I've got a fully bio-adjustable body. That has to count for something."

"why would that matter?"

A huff of exasperation. "Look, normal size. Now their big. Now their huge. Tiny again. Now I have two sets. Now their gigantic, and back to normal. Get the picture?"

"That would be fascinating. But there's one little problem. THEY ARE MADE OF BUGS! Bugs still kind of freak me out. You know this. I know this. Everyone who's spent a loop awake knows this."

"This is my first time and I know this. Also, Clocky is right. Seeing you build yourself like that has killed my desire for female companionship for the foreseeable future."

"Thank you for illustrating my point Regent. Skitter, I hope you realize Imp is going to try to murder you when she learns about this."

"Fine, be that way! I'll go hang out with people that aren't such weak stomached wimps."

"Dissolving into a pile of wasps is not going to strengthen your argument!" Clockblocker shouted as Skitter flew that portion of her body away. "So Alec, my old friend, what are you watching?"

"Gladiator movies."

Regent and Clockblocker locked eyes.

"Turkish prison time?"

Clockblocker walked over to Regent. The two stared into each others eyes.

"You didn't say that, did you?" They spoke at the same time.

"Dammit! Will you two just kiss already?!" Aisha yelled in frustration, dropping her powers as she was once again denied the chance to watch Alec make out with one his male teammates. Excluding her brother of course. Even with the loops, that would still be far too awkward.

"…" The pair looked over to Aisha. They looked back toward the other. A shared understanding passed between them.

"Nope. Can't be sure it isn't secretly made of bugs."

---

2.1 (RedshirtZombie)

I pushed the door open, and looked at what my loop memories said were my minions for the night. Eager faces - some pale, some dark, some tattoo-covered, and one looking like they got pulled out of a business meeting. Thing is, I can recognize my armoring technique at a glance, and each piece of clothing here- even the suit - was clearly spider silk, and the weaponry being wielded was better quality than what Joe Norm would expect a bunch of thugs to carry.

Loop memories wanted me to start a morale-boosting speech about taking out an E88 gang, but this alleyway was too familiar. Because I knew it, from every loop I'd started here- I was just used to seeing it from a different perspective. Instincts had swarms pulling in instantly, even past the body-layer this version of me already had, but I knew the best option for these people would be to preemptively call, "Everybody clear out!" as I looked upwards.

Above, a body vaulted the edge of one building, clearly intending to land in the midst of the crowd. I knew who it was, even before I got a good look.

Lung snorted, as he stood up from his landing, the nearest minion chest-high to him. "Bit late for that, I'm afraid."

This is going to suck.

---

2.2 (Inara Seraph)

The right time, at the right place- The Most Powerful Man in the World was all too happy to introduce me to Scion once he realized I was serious about believing him, and even more serious about wanting to meet Scion.

Once the Golden Idiot showed his face, I prepared myself for a nice demoralizing speech. This had actually taken quite a few loops to perfect- oftentimes Scion would just ignore me, and there was seemingly no rhyme nor reason to what he decided to listen to.

"Why are you still here? The cycle is broken- you have no reason to exist. Disappear."

Scion turned his head slowly in my direction. I tapped my foot impatiently, already feeling bored. Saving the world lost its charm a long time ago. But I wanted to do stuff in civilization this time around, and that required an intact world- I was just going about it the most efficient way I knew. "..."

Suddenly, without warning, Scion lept into the sky with a mighty leap and exploded in a shower of golden light, leaving not a trace behind. Those that witnessed it happen could only stare in mute shock.

I snorted derisively. "I can't believe he falls for it every time. Idiot."

"Y-you! You killed him!" the hobo shouted at me, not fully comprehending what had just happened.

I rolled my eyes. "Good thing too, he's a fucking psycho." I didn't feel bad at all insulting him. I'd tried to be friends with him multiple loops, tagging along on all his little 'saving people' excursions and even joining him in exterminating the human race a couple times. The problem was, he was just too fucking stupid. It was like trying to be genuine friends with a toddler- the relationship was inherently unequal.

"But what about the Endbringers? Without Scion.. we'll never make it," he said, dejected.

I smirked, then tapped the communications device on my ear. "See, I knew you'd ask that- Hey, Eidolon, you hear me?"

"I- I can't believe it. It was really that easy all along?" He still hadn't gotten over his shock.

"Right, so that should be sufficient proof that my other claims aren't just bullshit."

"Yes.. yes, I think we need to talk."

Every. Single. Time. He never believes me at first. Even after I solve Cauldron's number one problem for them, he still has the balls to doubt me. Ass. Well, that's not fair- Eidolon's a pretty cool guy once he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders. But until he 'bonds' with his Endbringer bros, I have to put up with his personality.

"Like I said. They exist to help you become stronger. As long as they're fulfilling that requirement, they'll remain dormant."

The plan was simple- Doormaker finds a nice, uninhabited world for him to play in, and then he and the Endbringers beat the shit out of each other. The problem is it requires Eidolon to get over his stupid goddamned martyr complex and really take on the High Priest mantle, as GU would say.

"Have a little faith. Your powers won't fail you- you'll come back alive, I promise."

I could see him being convinced by my words- or at least, convinced enough to see if my words had something behind them. He walked through the portal with a look of determination on his face.

World = Saved. Now, I can finally work on what I really wanted to do this loop.

"You stupid or something?" a skeptical man said. He looked dubiously at the ramshackle stand I'd set up in Brockton Bay's public square. On the top in scribbled handwriting it read:

Free Powers

"Nope," I said cheerily. "Just say the word and you're a parahuman. It's easy."

The look of disbelief in his eyes didn't fade. He shook his head. "You're fucking crazy."

I continued to stare at him, waiting for him to finish. He hesitated a moment, before continuing, "..and I'm even crazier for thinking you can do anything."

He sighed heavily, then drew himself up. "Alright, then. Do it."

I waved my arms in a useless, but demonstrative, gesture. "Done."

The customary entity vision overloaded his brain and I waited for it to subside. My shard had so much experience and not enough people considered 'close' to me that it couldn't birth new shards fast enough. It had taken a long time for me to figure out how to directly manipulate what my shard did- but once I'd won the cooperation of my shard on the matter, it had become much easier. I just had to accept that the shard had, maybe not a sentient mind behind it, but something coming close.

The first thing I always did was tell it to stop that don't make my Dad a parahuman, because it always tried to do that. I'd done that a couple loops, and it inevitably made my dad miserable- I wasn't going to do that to him. I loved my dad, sort of, but I wasn't close to him- wasn't close to anybody, and the only reason it tried to do that was because we were related by blood.

So now, I was gifting random strangers with powers to document just what they manifested as. I was interested to see what sort of variety of powers my shard could grant. Almost always, they were Master powers, but sometimes there were oddities like that guy who could control vectors, which made him ridiculously powerful as a front-line combatant and pretty much invincible.

"Whoa.." he said.

"Told you. Easy."

"Haha.. hahaha! This is great!"

Hmm.. control over plants, I guess? At least, that's what I'm deducing from the way he's making all the grass grow ten feet tall. "Oi, stop that, idiot." I made him de-grow everything back to normal.

He looked sheepish, but quickly transitioned into thanking me profusely for giving him the chance to take control of his life, etc, etc- yeah, do whatever you want with them. Don't care.

The next guy lined up, glowering at me. "How do I know you didn't stage that bit with him, eh?"

I gave him a look that said, Are you fucking kidding me? that pretty adequately summed up my thoughts on his question. "Why would I bother? Or is the concept of -free powers- not penetrating your mind properly?"

He hmmm'd thoughtfully but stood rooted to the spot, not moving away. I sighed impatiently. "Do you want powers or not?"

"Fine."

One satisfied customer later, I added another note to my list o' Admin powers: control of wind currents. The guy could fly, that was pretty neat.

A few dozen customers later and the PRT decided to drop in to ask just what the hell was going on.

"What's going on here?"

I motioned to the sign. "Exactly what it looks like."

Then I looked at him speculatively. He was an officer, but not a parahuman. I could fix that. "Say, you want powers? I could do your whole department."

To cut a long story short, Brockton Bay soon was populated by 98% parahumans. That was a fun loop.

---

2.3 (Inara Seraph)

All the pieces are in place. I'll get to see her.. soon.

"How's it going, Nilbog, Bonesaw?"

They glare balefully in my direction. If they could, they'd kill me a thousand times over. But they can't- they're powerless. They wouldn't be capable of anything if I didn't need their minds intact. I could use their bodies like puppets, but to use their art in the complicated way I want them to- I can't lift that information from their brains. They have to do it. All it took was a little.. persuasion.

"It's done," Bonesaw says through gritted teeth. She shivers. I'd had her working on it for days with Nilbog- who isn't the most pleasant of partners to work with.

I look at their handiwork. It's the spitting image of my mother, lying motionless on an operating table. It's not really my mother.. not yet. I needed to recall something more arcane to bring her to life as more than a brainless zombie. That was where my other piece came in.

"Come here," I command, but the phrase is redundant. She can't say anything, nor can she refuse my orders. I know I could never persuade her to do anything, so I have to do it like this.

She pulls from the aether the ghost I'm searching for- and thrusts it into the corpse. I wait with baited breath.

"Your turn, Panacea."

She steps forward with dull eyes. Though she's not under my direct control, the fight went out of her a long time ago. She obeys my commands dutifully, reaching out to my mother, and correcting any imperfections that arise.

My mother stirs. My heart beats faster as recognition dawns in her eyes when she sees me. I can tell immediately that it's really her. Finally, a true success.

"Welcome home, mom."

---

2.4 (Ridiculously Average Guy)

My eyes snap open.

Something was different. Different...but not necessarily wrong. Decades of repetition mean that any slight variation between iterations is extremely noticeable. Meaning this could be anything from a bug that normally isn't there, to Armageddon.

I listen, I hear-

An unfamiliar step.

Indistinct humming.

Ah. It was a break-in.

For the average person, somebody breaking into their house in the middle of the night would be terrifying.

I don't panic. Even at my base-line I would have figured out where the assailant was and taken them down. Maybe even without waking-up dad.

Now? I'm not sure I really can panic anymore, the loops had seen to that. After about a century in, I had basically lost all fear responses. Only thing left was a dull curiosity.

So, instead I speculate. Trying to guess who it could be.

I'd been prepping, and planning, but I hadn't actually fought anybody this loop. Well, anybody but low level merchants.

I had to train up my body if I was going to be able to do anything really useful, and this was an early loop. Nearly a whole year before I would get my powers. I shouldn't even be a blip on the radar.

More importantly, how had whoever this was managed to track down my real identity? Hmm, best to ask them directly.

Idly, I began planning my take down.

Things would be slightly more complicated, as I was currently pre-trigger, but I would still be able to take them down non-lethally. I'd pre-trapped the doorway, but (having a father who walked in occasionally) it was a distraction at best.

It seemed I would need more firepower.

In the leisurely half-second it took me to grab a butterknife and pepper spray from under the pillow, I mused on what I must have changed that caused a base-memory was a tad hazy, but I was certain this hadn't happened before.

Meh, either way, I'll know by the end of the night.

I just have to-

At that point I finally realized what the burglar was humming…the mission impossible theme.

That point was also when the person stepped inside and-

Was tangled in the yarn bolo.

Which forced the door closed behind them.

Which tripped them forward onto the scattered legos, and d4's.

Finally, having their head land on a stretch pillow.

I really liked the stretch pillow. It kept head wounds from happening, so there wouldn't be any blood on the floor. And, as an added bonus, it was thick enough to muffle pained screams!

At this point I'm already on the persons back, pushing their midriff further into the pointy bits, and have the butter knife at their throat. The pepper spray is just in case.

"Come on! Who the hell booby traps their room?!" She whines.

Oh. "Hi Imp."

---

2.5 (Slayer Anderson)

I looked through my notes again. I wanted to be sure I did this right. The alternative didn't bear thinking about. The...permanence of this wasn't something I came in contact with much anymore. It was weird to be so worried about something after so long, strange in a way that reminded me how much the loops had affected me. My mind. My outlook. Nothing had 'mattered' for...a very long time, not since I realized the loops wouldn't be ending anytime soon, at least.

I shook my head and looked back to the display screen once again.

I didn't want to screw this up...again. Last time, when I'd tried to get Amy and Victoria to remember the 'Prime Loop'...they had only remembered the time I'd masqueraded as 'Jitterbug,' a mad, dance and prank-themed villain.

That had been...fun...and embarrassing.

Of course, that wasn't even broaching the time I'd accidentally made Vista remember one of her 'evil loops.' I'd probably never be able to look at her the same way again, not after seeing her depose Jack Slash and lead the Slaughterhouse 9 to team up with the Three Blasphemies.

Both of those loops had ended...badly.

I shook my head again, clearing my thoughts.

The Norns...the Goddesses in charge of the past, present, and future...they had explained everything. I'd spent...decades, at least, learning from Skuld over and over again, trying to get the barest grip on my capabilities as...

I closed my eyes.

Khepri.

That was what they'd called me the first time I'd gone to war against Scion. It was the name of an ancient Egyptian deity. I wondered if it was prophecy, sometimes. Maybe it was just some mad coincidence, maybe it was just serendipity? In the end, after everything I'd learned in...Heaven, after the time I'd spent with Hild in Hell, I'd accepted it.

I was Skitter.

I was Weaver.

...and I was Khepri.

Goddess First Class, Unlimited License...although that was a bit of a misnomer. There hadn't been anything like me...ever, as far as the Norns knew. I was somewhere between divine and mortal, stuck in a kind of limbo with powers far beyond most humans, but not quite up to my weight class in the titles I held. I was also unaffiliated with either Heaven or Hell, something which was almost equally unheard of. I was a free agent, outside of the doublet system, and without any kinds of 'rules' or restraints on any powers I had or would develop.

Belldandy and Hild had made it clear that either Hell or Heaven would be happy to have me, of course.

I wasn't planning on making that choice any time soon, though, if ever.

...still, that didn't change how thankful I was to Skuld for explaining how some of the permission changes worked in the Yggdrasil system. This was technically beyond my current ability, but Mara had slipped me a few under the table hints to certain hacks she used when 'bending' the rules. A glowing tablet of light hovered in front of me as I concentrated on double-check my changes. With everything set up properly, or at least to the best of my current ability, I closed out the windows and waited.

I didn't have to wait long.

Lisa and Alec were first. Even knowing their real names, they'd always be Lisa and Alec to me. They'd been napping, taking their time to sleep in after a job we'd pulled the night before. They were both looking around with a mixture of shock, alarm, and disbelief.

I sipped my cup of espresso quietly.

There were perks to having your own pocket dimension...deific realm...whatever. The perk I was enjoying most currently? Coffee anytime I wanted it.

"Okay...not that I'm complaining, but...didn't I just bite the big one? I mean...taunting Behemoth isn't something you walk away from," Alex said dubiously, poking at his own flesh as if he were expecting it to give way.

Lisa looked...scared. Alarmed. Relieved. Suspicious.

Then her eyes met mine and I saw the recognition, the understanding.

"This is real," Lisa stated. Not asked.

I nodded.

"...how?" This time, it was a question. Her voice was small, tiny even. She was scared...of me.

I couldn't blame her.

I was pretty terrified of myself, too, some days.

"Long story," I sighed, taking my time as I sipped my drink. "I'd rather wait for the others, if that's okay? I'm going to be explaining things at least twice, as it is. More than that, right now..."

Lisa let out a shuddering breath, then dropped into the sofa.

"Yeah," she said, her face pale as she nodded. "I just...you're using that name. When we met, after you took down Lung...this time. You introduced yourself as Khepri. I didn't think...if you survived..."

I gave her a smile...though it was so bitter, sad, and wry it probably looked like anything but a happy expression. "It's...grown on me."

If it was possible, Lisa paled further. "Shit."

Alec, his expression unsure, had been watching the byplay silently, expectantly. Then, suddenly, he was bowled over by a mass of teenage girl that was suddenly just there, out of nowhere. When they landed, Aisha had Alec by the shirt, kissing him with a feverish passion. Pulling back, I saw something glistening in her eyes as she cocked back her fist and punched her boyfriend in the face.

"Don't you-ever-do anything like that again, you stupid, heroic, asshole!" Aisha practically screamed in his face.

Brian stepped into the room more slowly, looking around wonderingly.

We looked at each other, my own face wearing a tired smile and the easy confidence eternity had crafted within me. Brain's expression was uncomfortable, understandable really, given he remembered what we'd been through together.

"This...isn't a dream?" He asked cautiously, turning to look at Lisa.

"I think..." Lisa said slowly, "Taylor did something. It's real."

"Okay," Brain said, slowly allowing the facts of the situation to dawn on him before sitting down carefully on the sofa beside Lisa.

Then there was a pair of lips on mine.

Reflexes caught me before I could realize what was happening and by the time I noticed I decided it was too late to care. My tongue caught Aisha's, pressing her deeper against me. One more breathless moment and the younger girl pulled away, panting heavily. I snorted, "Not bad, you need to work on your technique, though."

The Undersiders, including Rachel now, stared at me.

"I-just, thanks," Aisha mumbled, her cheeks flushed as she realized what she'd done, then she pulled her cocky grin out. "I didn't realize you had it in you, bug girl. My bro teach you that?"

I shrugged with an easy-going smile. "Actually, I learned that from Aegis."

Another blank tone of silence.

I sighed, "I guess I should explain, then?"

"Yeah, that might be nice," Alec nodded.

"Okay," I took a deep breath. "Alec died during the fight against Behemoth, so just for completeness' sake, I think I should pick up the story there. So, to make a long, monumental clusterfuck of a story short, here's what happened..."

…

"...and then they made me their queen. That was last loop, though, so everything's back to normal now, only I've finally worked it out to where you guys can remember everything, which is great because I was going a little...crazy, without anyone to talk to."

There was a deafening silence, so total in it's emptiness of sound that I mentally checked whether or not I'd hit the 'mute' button on reality.

...I really wondered who had designed this interface.

Oh, wait. Reality interface...god damnit.

"Oh-okay," Lisa coughed, leaning down over the table to place her head in her hands. "I...Christ. Taylor...I don't even...you're telling us you're a goddess. Do you know how fucked up that sounds? How impossible? I'm not saying I don't believe you, but..."

I shrugged.

What could you say after explaining something like that.

I ordered my thoughts and tried. "To...well, not put too fine a point on it, but...you don't have to. Unless you ask me to rescind your privileges and stop you from remembering, you will believe me. Eventually."

What was it Alexandria had said, long long ago? Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse. Inevitable. Wasn't that how she how she put it?

The universe had a sick sense of humor sometimes.

More silence.

"Well," Alec said suddenly, "That's cool, then. Who's up for pizza?"

"No," Brain declared. "Alec, you don't get to dismiss this like everything else. This is...I can't really understand how big this is, it's that big."

"So?" Alec shrugged. "Dork sounds like she's got it under control and we're basically immortal now. I don't know about you, but that's pretty awesome. Besides, there was this game I was half-way done with before Behemoth killed me, and I'd really like to finish it."

I couldn't help it.

The giggles started slowly, bubbling up from deep within and bursting forth in a sound so hysterical and mad, the Undersiders stiffened, each freezing in an instinctual reaction to something dangerous. After a few long minutes, I managed to get myself under control, slowing the laughter till it was merely a rumbling chuckle. Wiping tears from my eyes, I exhaled long and hard, an honest smile on my face for the first time in...years. A lot of years.

"Alec," I said, my tone much lighter, "never, ever change. Please."

Heartbreaker's son turned away, an uncomfortable expression on his face that some might have mistaken for a smile. As someone he might actually call a friend, I ignored it.

"I really needed that," I continued. "Wow, that felt good. Thanks."

"Well, now that we've discovered exactly how close our closeted hero is from completely bonkers," Tattletale said with a forced calm, trying to look as though she wasn't watching me closely. "What do we do now?"

"Whatever you want," I answered honestly. "I've picked up...a lot of hobbies. Some for fun, others for something to do, some...well, because nothing sticks around, some of my hobbies are a little...weird."

"Oh?" Aisha asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like what? Dating the Wards? I bet you've done pretty much everything," she commented with a salacious grin. "How many orgies?"

I rolled my eyes as Tattletale blanched. "Believe it or not? Sex does get boring...eventually, and I only tend to date when I really, really bored. But no, I was talking about things like studying science or painting or," I made an ambiguous motion with my hands. "You know."

"Taylor," Tattletale asked carefully, her posture wary, "You never said, but...how long have you been looping?"

I paused, then thought.

There was probably some setting in my interface that could tell me, but I honestly didn't want to get into that area without a lot more experience. "Long enough to understand Tinker-tech without it being a power?" I asked, frowning. "Long enough to paint a masterpiece copy of a Van Gogh and switch it out with a museum's original? Long enough to consider spray-painting the Simurgh a fun vacation?"

I think I'd stunned them again.

I shrugged, "Time-wise? I'm not really sure, not anymore at least. I lost count after a few hundred years...and that was...a long, long time ago."

"So...what do we do now?" Brian asked, though it didn't seem he was actually addressing anyone in particular.

"Well..." I considered. "I'm going to relax this loop, and probably answer a lot of questions, maybe kill Coil if he pushes it. He usually does." I thought for a moment. "Next loop I'm planning to join the Wards again and bring them and the junior members of New Wave into the loops. Then I'll probably let everyone run through a few loops with all their memories...after that I'll start randomizing them so that some of you will be awake and some won't. It'll make things a bit more interesting."

"Oh," Brian stated, nodding. "Okay...why? I mean, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm going to be...well, 'vacation' isn't quite right, but I'm going to be opting in to some fused loops and replacement loops in the greater Yggdrasil system so that I can get some more experience and have a bit of training as an Admin on the side." I explained further. "That means you'll probably be working around a prime loop iteration of myself without any extra memories or skills, but that won't be for at least a century. I want to give you guys some time to settle in at least."

"You want us to be anchors," Lisa said in realization.

The others stiffened in surprise.

"Kind of," I answered, slightly uncomfortable with the issue. "Our world...it doesn't work like the 'normal' loops because I'm actually administrating several...thousand? Million?...worlds without any sort of help. I get a little wiggle room because I'm not really 'mortal,' but if I'm not going to be around...so I want to make sure there are enough of you to maintain reality. If I only picked a few of you, the metaphysical weight would probably snap your psyches...by the time I got back, you'd be making the Slaughterhouse 9 look sane. By the way, this isn't me saying you have to, but I'd feel a lot better if I had some people to come back to, people that remember me, every time I get back from Yggdrasil."

"...what would we do?" Rachael asked, speaking for the first time, her gaze intent.

"Whatever you want," I repeated. "You can take care of your dogs...or try to conquer the world. Tattletale could figure out how to beat Dragon at chess...or just prank call Contessa for the next decade. Imp, you could deface the White House or master the electric guitar. Grue could meditate and gain enlightenment or...well, you get the idea."

"Wait," Alec grinned, "Do me too dork, make it a challenge."

I snorted. "How about trying to beat me at the body-snatching game? Or maybe form the world's largest conga line?"

Alec cracked his knuckles. "Okay, I'm impressed. Think I can get the Triumvarate in front?"

I grinned widely, reaching into my own personal pocket dimension and pulling out my digital photo album, tapping open a specific picture and sliding the hardened piece of tinker-tech over to my friend. "If I can do that? I'm pretty sure anything goes."

Alec's jaw dropped. "Is that...Eidolon and Bonesaw? How the Hell?"

Aisha took one loop at the picture and collapsed into helpless laughter.

Lisa twitched. "Why...is he wearing the dress?"

"I got bored. Besides, it was a beautiful ceremony. Very touching. I think I have the video on there too." Alec could not be stopped from opening and leafing through my photo album, leaving him howling on the floor with his girlfriend in short order. I luxuriated in the feeling of...well, not 'normalcy,' but it was certainly a lot closer to it than I'd been for a while.

...

I sighed as I pulled myself out of the simulation. I knew this was necessary, but it still hurt to be able to talk to them like that and then have the illusion ripped away. Still, the training was paying off. Lisa was looping with some regularity now. I was able to get Brain, too, every now and then. Alec and Rachael were very much hit or miss, sadly.

"So how'd I do?" I asked.

Skuld looked up from the pane of colored glass floating in front of her, a slight smile on her face. "Well, you didn't turn everyone into squid-people like last session."

I winced.

"But...you still messed up on a few of the minor fixes. It wasn't anything obvious, but the way you set up their loop memories is going to see some long-term interference with what you call 'passengers.' You wouldn't see it for a few millennia, but eventually they would turn into something similar to your 'Khepri.'"

I winced again, harder.

"Now, I'm going to assign you a little homework over the next course of your loops," Skuld continued. "I've uploaded it to your training guide. Remember to do them all in 'simulation mode.' You really don't want to start messing with reality at your level of experience. Safe Mode, like the loops, can only fix so much damage after all."

I sighed. Homework. I was a Goddess (kind of), and I still got homework.

Silently, I yearned for the halcyon days of my high school computer class.

At least then I didn't have to calculate multi-dimensional code in my head.

---

2.6 (Slayer Anderson)

Tattletale was Awake. She remembered.

I didn't consider that a bad thing, by itself. I was still working out the 'kinks' of how to get my friends 'looping' with me. Skuld and Mara had given me hints and pointers, but...

"Tattletale, are you sure about this? I mean..." Grue's voice came in clear through my bugs and I winced as Tattletale answered him.

"Grue, you weren't there. You didn't see what she did. She's some kind of adaptive trump that used a time-based power to come back and finish the job she started. We have to take her out now, before she starts developing her powers again," Lisa explained, her voice cold and harsh.

So, yes, I'd accomplished the goal of getting one of my friends 'looping.' The problem? She only remembered the prior loop...where I had tried on the evil overlord mantle again.

Tattletale had been one of the few to 'escape my grasp' and start up a rebellion. It had been a fun game of cat and mouse that provided years of entertainment.

Then she killed me in a wild gambit that took her life as well.

And now she was hell-bent on stopping me before I could topple my first local government and consolidate power.

"There she is!" A man cried through his radio. I winced, finding the sniper ensconced on a rooftop. One of Coil's men. Great.

Urd said there'd be loops like this.

---

2.7 (Inara Seraph)

I don't understand. Is this Scion's final gambit? Reset everything to the beginning, give himself another chance? But.. nobody else seems to remember. People would definitely remember the world ending. Scion is still in his saving people stage- if he was the one who reset things, wouldn't he immediately start his apocalypse? He could be biding his time. It's impossible to know right now.

My shard still bears Panacea's alterations, despite the fact that I've returned to my teenage self. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Even if I'd eventually succeeded in stopping Scion, it wasn't worth the damage I'd done. If I could've done something different, I would have.

I didn't expect to be able to make good on that promise.

The first thing I'd have to do is disappear. Even if I felt guilty leaving my dad behind all alone, the fate of the world took precedence.

I didn't make a plan, I just left. I wouldn't have been able to blend in as my past self anyway. It might've been preferable to fashion myself a costume- but I found I didn't care about secret identities as much anymore. I didn't need to hide behind a mask. I'd done without for years.

The second thing.. this was trickier. What was I concerned about back then? Coil was the first man I killed- but he doesn't matter, not in the grand scheme of things. Jack Slash was the man who instigated the apocalypse, but all the precogs of Cauldron showed that the apocalypse was going to happen sooner or later regardless. Killing him would only buy time.

But I needed time. Time to figure out just why the world had gone and reset on me. If this was a shard at work, it was some kind of fucking crazy-ass shard. All things considered, I wasn't.. unhappy, with the way things had turned out, when you consider what I'd had to work with. I may have regretted things, but I could deal with the fallout. After all, things could've gone so much worse.

In round two, all bets were off. The world could end quicker than it did last time.

Despite myself, I felt a small inkling of.. anticipation. The chance to save the world again. I'd been lost once everything was over. I would never do anything half as grand as what I'd already done. Not so, not anymore.

Time to go hunting the hunters.

---

1.11 cont (Rex)

In the Library:

Subject: Re:Bug

See you at three. I'll bring a friend.

I smiled. The first alteration this loop to the usual introductory chat message. Time to log off and head over. I do wonder what dear Tattletale's reaction will be. My loop experience and mental training helped make me mostly immune to Tattletale's powers when I knew what to expect, though most of the time I only used it to prevent her from figuring out stuff about the loops. That was a long and difficult conversation I had had far to many times.

Subject: Re:Bug

Wait, what?

Oh, this was fun. So rare to get that out of Tattletale. I debated teasing her further by asking to move the meeting point to the Underloft, but decided against it. So I simply posted a smiley face and logged off. Now I just needed to grab Simu- I mean, Sam, and head over.

I froze. Crap, I had selected this internet café using the Zion anti-precog protocalls. I don't think Sam had a phone number, and if she did I didn't know it. This wouldn't make a good first impression on the group. I thought hard for a minute before realizing the obvious solution. The next time I meet Sam, I would tell her that she should meet me in this café on this day at, I checked my phone, 12:05.

"I have acquired a cell phone since our last meeting." I looked up into Sam's eyes. Well, into Sam's shades. She was wearing dark glasses and holding a straight white cane. She was dressed in tight blue jeans, a canary yellow shirt and a red jacket.

"You're pretending to be blind?" I asked quietly as we walked out of the Library.

"I am blind." She responded as we continued on our way. She didn't do a very good job acting the part I thought. Her steps were entirely to confident. "I will be telling them that my precog and other extra-sensory abilities remove many of the difficulties of my disability. Tell me to meet you." The last was a spoken in a very terse voice.

"I need you to meet me at the internet café on third street on April 12th at 12:05." I didn't expect her to seem so upset about it. It isn't like me not telling her would have been that much of a temporal paradox.

At the meeting:

I went in costume to the meeting, as did Sam. Although her idea of a costume was to take the silk bandana I had given her, apply a bit of dye to give it an outline of a set of eyes, and split her walking cane into a pair of Escrima fighting sticks. Since she was supposed to be new and not exactly a frontline fighter, I figured it was good enough until I managed to finish her outfit. With a much larger range and much greater experience, I could finish a basic outfit within a day or so. We climbed up to my second favorite rooftop in Brockton.

"And she arrives," Tattletale crowed, "Pay up."

Regent's scowl deepened for a second, and he fished in his pocket for a wad of bills, which he forked over to Tattletale.

"You bet on whether I would show up?" I filled in my line.

"We bet on whether you would come in costume," Tattletale told me. Then, more to Regent than to me, she said, "and I won."

"Again," Regent muttered.

My partner made a slight coughing noise. I reached into my pocket and handed her a dollar coin.

"Remind me why I ever bet against you?" I asked with false annoyance.

"Because I give you 100 to 1 odds in your favor?" Sam replied with faked smug satisfaction.

"You bet on who would win our bet?" Regent asked, clearly confused.

"On what the bet was." I replied. "If it had been on anything besides costumes it would have counted as my win." I snorted. "Precogs."

After that little bit of theater, Sam's introduction went well. She was introduced as the person who had said I would be able to stop a gang war if I went to where Lung was last night. Brian was a bit hesitant, but Tattletale and Regent convinced him that more members and more information gathering ability was for the best.

It was time to go to the loft. I loved the loft!

---

2.8 (RedshirtZombie)

"So, Leviathan versus Godzilla - who would win?"

It was a 'game' the Undersiders had developed - with Skitter's quasi-looping to provide data, and Tattletale's analysis abilities, the facts coud be crunched out to define a result more certain than casual nerd flaming. However, it didn't always work out.

"I can't call in loopers with their normal abilities, remember?"

Tattletale blinked, and stared at Skitter. "No, no, not as in 'let Godzilla in for a loop - that wasn't what you meant. Okay, explain."

"Apparently, one of the loopers can somehow call him into local reality. And only him."

"Godzilla? There's a summon for that," said Regent.

"Really, sis?" said Glory Girl, staring at Panacea, and her new 'pet'.

"Well, I was going to wait for a chance to make it follow Cauldron members around, but it makes a good shoulder warmer for now."

"You do know that being videotaped with that will damage New Wave's rep, right? Not to mention the legal issues."

"True, but I intend to have it elsewhere when that happens," Panacea said as she offered the psuedo-Incubator a treat. "After all, not every gift is nice."

Elsewhere in the world, Scion sneezed. Its latest attempt at understanding humanity concluded and failed, it promptly went to look for its human.

---

2.9 (sasahara17)

"Are you guys sure about this? We're pranking Taylor. TAYLOR."

"So? We do it to each other all the time. Why shouldn't she get pranked once or twice, especially in a Vanilla loop as boring as this one?"

"Yes, but… you do remember there was a time when everyone was shit scared of crossing her right? Rule number 1 of Worm Loops, 'Never cross Taylor Hebert'?"

"Of course! I'd never forget Rule 1. In fact, all we're doing is letting other people know about it!"

"Yes but…"

"I'm just saying Taylor's a memetic badass no matter what she does. It's part of who she is. Once she gets going, sooner or later everyone is going to know her name. All we're doing is giving her a little head start in building this reputation in this loop."

"Yes, but…"

"Grue, Grue, Grue… listen to me. Even Lung and Contessa agreed with the plan. Hell, THE Simurgh was the one who came up with it! Everyone must learn to fear the Hebert. Half the problems in Brockton, hell half the problems on Earth BET, could be avoided if people just learned to leave her well enough alone."

"…you do realize her inevitable revenge prank for this will totally make us all wish we were never born, right?"

"Totally. Now are we doing this thing or not?"

When the Undersiders showed up in force at the PRT HQ, nobody knew what was going to happen next. The notorious, yet elusive, gang of teenage super-villains were famous for being smart, savvy, and never being one to pick a fight they couldn't win. If they dared march up to the headquarters of the very organization that was hunting them like this in broad daylight, their either were very stupid, or they had something up their sleeves.

Considering that these kids were supposed to be pretty damn smart and Piggot wasn't an optimist, she figured she'd act as if the latter was the case until proven otherwise. So, even though the teenage super-villain team had been completely surrounded by everything on site and then some, the mean and women of the PRT were still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And it did, with a simple statement.

"We're turning ourselves in. We have discussed the matter among ourselves in great, and have decided that we want to reform ourselves and become heroes!" Tattletale announced.

"It was either that or Bees." Regent quipped.

Safe to say, Tattletale and Regent's declarations were so outrageous that no one could come up with a reply. After a few moments making sure that no one

"We have seen the error of our ways," Tattletale clarified, "Queen of the Swarm, Taylor Hebert, has shown us the path of justice and righteousness..."

"By scaring us straight with Bees," Regent interrupted helpfully, "Don't mess with bees."

"They were hornets. Japanese Giant Hornets in fact," Grue corrected his friend in a manner of fact tone. "Thirty to forty people die every year from Giant Hornet Stings, so they're much more dangerous that mere bees."

"Details, details. They're flying insects with stingers that come at you in a swarm. Same concept."

"AS I WAS SAYING before I was rudely interrupted," Tattletale said sharply to shut up the sideshow, before turning back to address the PRT, "A superheroine named Taylor Hebert stormed our base last night, sat us all down while covering us in Black Widows, and convinced us to turn over a new leaf. Or else Bees. So here we are."

The general consensus of the crowd's reaction could be pretty much summed up under a single word.

"What." Piggot accidentally said into her megaphone, broadcasting her surprise to everyone in earshot.

Fortunately for her, Piggot wasn't the only one taken off guard by the sudden twist. Around her, fellow PRT agents and the few members of the Wards that had been hastily summoned as reinforcements are muttering among themselves in confusion, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"What, Hebert? How…" Stalker began, but eventually stopped when all words failed her.

"Taylor Hebert? Well this explains everything. Yep, this has her fingerprints all over it all right," Clockblocker shrugged in a manner of fatly. "Figured she'd pull something like this."

"Yeah. Threatened them into submission. That's her M.O. all right." Kid Win nodded in agreement.

"You two know this Taylor?" Aegis asked his teammates.

"Of course! You don't?" Clockblocker raised a skeptical eyebrow at his teammates. "Taylor Motherfucking Hebert the deadliest motherfucker on the Bay. Even Lung is scared of her!"

"Geez, guys, we're Wards. Were supposed to know about this kind of stuff." Kid Win tsked.

"This is a joke right? This has to be a joke." Vista mumbled to herself, watching the Undersiders helpfully and willingly submitted themselves to PRT officers, who looked about as awkward as they felt.

And that was then the call about the Anz Bad Boys came in…

Defiant, well Armsmaster at the moment, had to actually stop himself rolling his eyes as the other members of the Protectorate ran around the smoldering ruin that used to be a warehouse. While this would normally be the concern of the fire department, said warehouse also used to belong to the notorious criminal gang, the Azn Bad Boys, and used to be stocked to the brim with contraband.

Dozens of law enforcement and emergency vehicles surrounded the area as police and paramedics rushed in to deal with this disaster. Surprisingly, aside from three casualties, no one was actually hurt – from what reports from the members of the gang who had been unable to flee the scene before the authorities showed up in force had told paramedics someone a sent giant spider robots with, among other things, stun guns to storm the building. The parahuman members of the gang were incapacitated almost right off the bat, and by the time they came to it was all they could do but to flee the scene before the building collapsed into flames.

The culpurit?

"I, Taylor Hebert, have brought down justice upon the Azn Bad Boys and have slain the villains known as Lung, Oni Lee and Bakuda. To all evildoers of Brockton Bay, fear me!" Miss Militia read the letter that had been left behind in the wreckage aloud. "Well, she's not subtle, that's for sure."

"She never is. That girl always leaves behind a trail of destruction wherever she goes." Colin sighed offhandedly as he picked his way through the wreckage. To those not in the know, he would have looked like he was searching for evidence that would be used in the ensuing investigation.

In truth, he was just making sure that Dragon's new 'spider bots' didn't leave anything behind that would give away the deception. His girlfriend was good, but she literally threw those spider bots together in twenty four hours and might have made an error in her haste. So far so good though.

"You know this Hebert?" Miss Militia said, clearly surprised.

…Which was an understandable sentiment, since up until yesterday, Taylor Hebert was just an ordinary girl with crippling self-esteem issues. Now? Now she was an looping anchor that really needed her comeuppance after all the times she'd poked fun at his relationship with Dragon!

"From what Dragon's told me, she's one of the smartest people on the planet," Colin explained in his entirely too serious, manner of fact tone, "With an intellect like that, there is are very few who can match her wit."

"So those spider bots were hers?"

"Taylor Hebert does seem to employ an insect motif," Colin shrugged, allowing his friend to draw her own conclusions. "Did you find Lung or his lieutenants?"

Miss Militia shook her head sadly. "Oni Lee is injured, currently in our custody, while Bakuda is currently in intensive care at Brockton Bay General and is in a vegetative state. As for Lung… the biggest part we found of Lung was his arm. He's missing, presumed… dead."

Looks like Lung pulled off his part successfully then, faking his own demise while incapacitating both Oni Lee and Bakuda. Seems like he took down Bakuda a lot harder than he did Oni Lee though.

"While I have no love for criminals and murderers, we're going to have to take Miss Hebert in for questioning," Colin declared. "Vigilante behavior like this can't be tolerated. We'll have to storm her house before she knows we're coming."

"…are you sure about this?" The uncertainty and fear in Miss Milita's voice was very clear. "Whoever this is, she took down Lung and the rest of the Azn Bad Boys, by herself… in one night no less. Perhaps we should… talk to her first?"

Colin really had to stop the urge to laugh. The plan was working already.

---

2.7 cont (Inara Seraph)

For a group that cheerfully takes part in mass murder and has whole alerts and evacuation procedures dedicated to them, the Slaughterhouse Nine were remarkably slippery. Jack had, somehow, been able to figure out that something dangerous was on his trail. He still had to engage his the usual shenanigans to keep his group happy- but his attacks were looking more and more like hit and runs.

If I hadn't already been inured to the sight of human suffering, seeing the remains of whatever town they visited would've shocked me. It only spurred me on harder. In the planning phase I'd been focused on all the deaths from the apocalypse, but I'd momentarily forgotten that Jack was a blight on human civilization regardless. Nobody would be sad to see him gone.

I finally had to accept I wasn't going to catch them by myself- I needed to recruit some help. To that end, I visited the nearest city and 'borrowed' a couple precogs. Neither was all that powerful, not even close to what Dinah could do, but they would be enough to forecast the next S9 attack if I used them in tandem.. so I hoped.

I caught my break, plugged into the news-feeds and desperately wishing I had access to Protectorate resources, and sprung into action, leaving the bewildered thinkers behind. For the actual take-down, I needed no help. My powers were anti-S-class personnel weapons of the highest order. My range was still annoyingly small, but I could work around that.

I put something else on my list. I needed to visit Panacea. I should've done it before I left Brockton Bay, but it was too late now. She would never modify my brain willingly- she only did it the first time around under threat of apocalypse, but I could just force her to do it. I had the feeling her first modification that let to my current incarnation of powers was something of a rush job anyway- if I gave her another, fresh look she might be able to make improvements.

In the midst of a killing spree, finding the Slaugherhouse Nine was as simple as following the bodies. Crawler was smashing buildings, crushing anyone unfortunate enough to still be aside, Mannequin was hunting down any stragglers, but I couldn't spot any of the others out in the open.

I waited. They would congregate before they left, and that's when I would strike. It was unfortunate that so many would die in the interim, but I would save more lives in the long run by biding my time. When everything was finished, I followed after Crawler.

They met on a remote highway near a parked van. My approach became immediately obvious once I was forced to follow in the open. Crawler gleefully ran forward to smash me to pieces, and I raised a hand to stop him.

He stopped.

Then he turned around, and advanced on his comrades. I followed behind him into range, ensnaring Mannequin next and leaving him prone for Crawler to decimate. I had Crawler destroy every little piece of him so that nothing remained.

I didn't need Crawler anymore. With him serving as my vanguard, I captured everyone- Bonesaw, Jack, Shatterbird, Siberian, Burnscar.. Hatchet Face? Wasn't he the one who disrupted powers? In that case.. oh, dear.

"Well, that was a close one," Jack commented.

I staggered back a couple steps, eyes wide in horror. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm so stupid. Cherish doesn't join until later. My eyes darted left and right, desperately hoping for an escape route to present itself.

Jack scrutinized me from where stood some twenty feet in front of me. He seemed to be puzzling over something. Bonesaw glared at me from his side, and the other members were content to wait for Jack's lead.

Finally, he shrugged. "Normally, I'd congratulate you on such an efficient kill- but I can see that you wouldn't fit in our merry band of misfits." He glanced at Bonesaw. "You have something in mind for her?"

Bonesaw nodded enthusiastically. Then she frowned. "She killed Manny. How'd she kill Manny?" She looked at me speculatively. "I can't wait to find out!"

An ominous premonition led me to hastily extract a knife from my pocket. I drew it across my throat, desperately hoping to die before Bonesaw could interfere. I collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Through my rapidly fading consciousness, I could hear cheerful words coming as if from far away. "Ah, ah, ah! You're not allowed to die until I say so!"

---

1.11 cont (Rex)

At home:

"Did you know that your new friend is a sociopath that's faking her emotions based on what her precog says gives the best results?" Lisa asked me in a whisper.

"Did you know that Regent is a sociopath that's faking his emotions based on what he thinks the response of a normal person should be?" I whispered back. Lisa's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Sam told me. She also assured me that she would develop actual emotional depth over the course of our acquaintance, and that Regent would as well. Though I'm not sure if she was actually telling the truth about that."

"She believes she was." Lisa replied as she examined Sam and Regent playing some sort of cooperative shooting game on the couch. "Two recovering sociopaths on a couch. You could make a tv show." I paused for a moment, considering how well the two of them had been getting along and the possible plotlines for such a show. Note to self: see about making an Endbringer reality show at some point. In the meantime…

"We must insure that they never breed. The results would be to disturbing to allow."

On the job:

I finished my speech about the properties of the black widow spider. With how many times I had robbed this bank before, I could stretch my introductory monologue to cover the entirety of the event. However, this time I kept it short and sweet.

As soon as I finished, Sam, or rather, Delphi since she was in costume, marched over to a brown hair customer and pulled her to her feet. I wasn't sure why she was grabbing Panacea, but would gladly avoid the nausea caused by her interference. I removed all the bugs I had allowed to touch her skin.

"Impromtu therapy session for the sake of the future, coming through." She announced as she guided Amy into a backroom. I rolled my eyes and followed her after making sure the rest of my charges knew I could still sense them even if I wasn't in the room. I could talk Amy through most of her issues with me in a single sitting, at least enough to get her to agree to a second, more clandestine, meeting. This would be the first time I'd done it with such a rough introduction though.

Let's see, avoiding Tattletale's attack on Amy's sanity, made sure Dinah was attending the Protectorate event outside of town. Make sure to avoid traumatizing any of the Wards and almost all of the negative repercussions of the Bank attack would be avoided. As annoying as it could be at times, being in an endless loop was certainly useful for this sort of thing. I was like a super Coil, infinite chances to get things right. Ooh, note that idea down for a later cycle. Replace Coil without anyone noticing, that should take awhile to do correctly.

---

2.10 (Gideon_NZ)

Some of the Many Deaths of Taylor Hebert

or "How Taylor learned to always dodge left"

Lung:

I saw Lung prepare to send a burst of flame towards the roof and I dodged right.

- and was incinerated in a burst of unbelievable pain. Of course the physical pain was nothing compared to the embarrassment and frustration I felt falling at the first hurdle. I was better than this! Note to self: Next time, dodge left.

Dogs:

Rachel stormed up to the top floor of the loft, whistling to her dogs. I was ready this time around and dodged the first lunge. But Rachel had more than one dog and when the second one slowed me down, the first grabbed my arm from behind and started shaking.

"Oh, Shit!" shouted Lisa.

I looked down at the rapidly spreading red stain. Already it covered half of my chest. I guess the dog must have hit an artery. Note to self: Next time dodge left! It took a few seconds for Lisa to convince Rachel to call off her dogs. I slumped to the floor. Maybe I should learn the whistles Rachel used to control her dogs? That sounded useful. Lisa did what she could but I had lost too much blood. Better luck next time Lisa.

Merchants:

I jumped up onto the stage to grab Charlotte and save her from the crowd and only then remembered that I had originally followed Lisa's plan and used one of the soldiers to grab her. I froze, but it wasn't enough. The front lines of the crowd saw what I was trying to do and screamed their anger and bloodlust. I tried to scramble back but the crowd was on all sides of the stage. Note to self: dodging left doesn't help if you are surrounded. I heard a gunshot but I wasn't lucky enough to be fatally wounded. As I was slowly beaten to death by the crowd (well it felt slow at the time!) I had time to regret the reduced self preservation instincts and impatience that I was picking up over my many recent deaths.

Shadow Stalker:

I tracked Shadow Stalker through my swarm as I led her towards the ambush location where the rest of the undersiders waited. I had to be careful not to let too many bugs pass through her shadow form but if I used mostly lighter bugs I could still tell where she was by the slight disturbance in the air currents as she passed nearby. I stopped near the electrified fence and pretended to be looking through my bag of loot. Sophia noticed the fence at the last moment and adjusted her trajectory, turning her tackle into a clumsy collision. I let her pin me beneath her and looked up at her as she drew a sharpened bolt. "So how does it feel to know you are about to die alone, like a bitch, Bug girl?" She asked.

"Look behind you and ask again" I said. She sneered at me but then started when Regents voice rang out.

"Yeah, ya shoulda looked." He drawled as he approached with his taser at the ready. Just as he reached out Sophia flung her left hand out like she was throwing a knife.

"Dodge left, Regent!" I shouted. But it was a fake out, and Sophia used the opportunity to phase the bolt in her right hand through the neck of my costume and into my throat.

As I choked on my own blood I made a note to bring more bees next time. And teach Regent to dodge left.

Coil:

"And this is Skitter." Lisa said

I looked over to Coil as his attention turned towards me. He calmly drew his pistol. I tried to dodge left but Grue was a solid weight I couldn't move. I started to turn right but Coil shot me between the eyes.

Huh, I guess he did bother to ask Dinah about me that morning.

It hurt like a bitch too, like being head butted by Glory Girl, but my mask held. I had the feeling he was raising an eyebrow behind his mask.

"Finish her" he said to someone behind me.

I was still reeling from the first shot so any dodging was out of the question and I had left a gap in the back of my mask for my hair. I heard a truncated bang.

Alexandria:

I stared at her hatefully as she outlined her ultimatum. Tragg smirked at me from behind her back. I decided to try something new.

"Hey Quinn?" I said to my lawyer. You are recording this right, like I asked?"

"Yes Taylor" he replied.

I turned back to Alexandria. So who wants to hear the inside scoop on Cauldron? It all started when Contessa and Doctor Mother…"

I learned that death comes pretty quick when Alexandria puts her fist through your skull.

Tragg:

"Aaarrrggh!" I screamed. For some reason my anger seemed closer to the surface this loop and I finally had an acceptable target. I concentrated most of my attention on Alexandria as the larger threat but I still sent enough black widows and other spiders at Tragg to ruin his forever. I was shoving more spiders down Alexandria's throat when I noticed Tragg's gun was pointed right at me. Hadn't my shard handled tying his gun down with silk this time around? Maybe my own shard was working against me!

I dived right but the shackles brought me up short and Tragg took the shot. I kinda admired how steady his hand was while spiders infested his eyes and other orifices but it was still frustrating to have to start again because he blew my brain all over the fancy suit of my lawyer. Note to self: dodge left and supervise my shard more closely.

S9:

I looked at Riley treating the wounded. It wasn't her fault but every time I looked at her I remembered. I remembered so many times when Jack had outsmarted me, or I made some tiny mistake and she had tortured me far beyond the point of death. I turned away and focused again on building my army. At least the S9 didn't catch me so often now that I had learned to always dodge left.

---

2.11 (Auks)

It was, Aisha reflected, going to be one of those loops.

"The Protectorate Field Headquarters offshore of Brockton Bay, was attacked and captured by next generation Mercenaries being led by members of the Undersiders. They're demanding that the government recognize their sovereignty over Brockton Bay and they say if their demands are not met within 24 hours they'll launch a nuclear weapon."

"You'll have two mission objectives:"

"First, your to rescue PRT Director James Tagg and the President of Faceti Glenn Chambers. Both are being held as hostages."

"Secondly, you're to investigate whether or not the terrorists have the ability to make a nuclear strike, and stop them if they do."

"You know Leet, I have no idea whatever it is your referencing."

On the other end of the microphone, Leet sputtered. "Oh, come on. This is Metal Gear Solid! It's a classic! Tactical Steath action! It's like- like-"

"Something I've never played?"

"GAHHHHH!"

After waiting a few minutes for the sputtering to die down, Aisha asked the obvious question. "How are you going to get me there anyway?"

Well, We'll approach the Platform by sub-"

Yeah, I kind of noticed that part. What happens after that?"

"We'll launch a one-man SDV"

"A what?"

"A Swimmer Delivery Vehicle."

"I still don't know what that is."

"Look, just open the little door on your left and climb in."

"You know, this looks a lot like a torpedo tube. Are you planning to shoot me out of a torpedo?"

"It's an SDV! It's perfectly safe. Anyway, after the SDV gets as close as it can, dispose of it. From there on, you'll have to swim."

"Uh, that's going to kind of be a problem. I don't really know how to swim."

"GAHHHH!"

Definitely going to be one of those loops. Why did she have to lose that bet with Uber? She could have been on the Oil Rig with the rest of the Undersiders but nooooo.

Stupid bet.

---

2.12 (Inara Seraph)

I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling in the late hours of the evening. I'd been forced to do a bit of a reevaluation of.. everything, in the time I'd spent under Bonesaw's 'care' and the couple days in this new world since I looped again. And wasn't that mind-boggling- as soon as I truly died, I came back right to the beginning, again. Was this purgatory or some kind of bizarre afterlife?

Back in my original world- and I couldn't help but see these two additional worlds as simply very good copies- Khepri had been a globally feared supervillain on par with Endbringers. I could enslave entire nations. I put the S9 to shame. I must've bought into my own hype a little too much.

Because it was a rush job that had led to my demise- I was too focused on the overarching plan, and not enough on the immediate goal. I had viewed the S9 as a mere speed-bump on the way to victory. The S9 were a bit more than a speed-bump, and I should know. I definitely wouldn't forget it now.

I used to pride myself on preparing for every possible contingency and then a few that should've been impossible. Now that I was 'Taylor Hebert' again I thought it was about time I returned to being.. crafty. Yes, my powers lent themselves to overwhelming force- but I could use it in other ways as well.

I said goodbye to my dad-clone and marched off to school.. or rather, to the interstate bus route. I had a good memory for the trail I had followed last time- and if they took the same path again, I would be able to track down the S9 faster than I did last time.

I just needed to make a few.. preparations, first.

–

I stood sentinel in the desert with my teleporter minion's hand grasped in mine. On his other side was a young clairvoyant girl I'd stumbled upon by chance. We were in rural Iowa, what most would call 'The Middle of Nowhere.' I saw a town far, far on the horizon. It was only visible because the land was so flat. I stayed a safe distance away.

I had a tinker device in my other hand. If I'd learned anything as a cape, it was that a Tinker that was fully prepared for you was the worst possible enemy anyone could face. In this case, I was extra-prepared- I knew where the S9 would strike before they did. I hoped that my preparations had been stealthy enough not to tip Jack off.

The clairvoyant's heartbeat sped up. Something was happening- I looked where she was looking, and I could see what she saw. The S9 had arrived- Shatterbird was singing her song. Once I counted everyone- Jack, Hatchet, Burnscar, Mannequin, Siberian, Bonesaw, Shatterbird, Crawler- I pressed the Big Red Button.

The town exploded.

Bakuda was an insane bitch, but she knew how to make a bomb. The mushroom cloud expanded high into the sky, and I could feel the wind pick up even where we stood miles away. There would be no radiation from the blast, but the town that was there would have to be erased from the maps, because it was simply gone once the smoke cleared.

Was this the best method? Probably not. The best method would have me know that they're all dead. The problem was that I didn't want to go anywhere near them if I had to. I was completely sure Crawler would survive the blast, and Mannequin might even be able to, but the rest would have no chance. Whatever safeguards Bonesaw had in place didn't protect against complete annihilation.

I high-fived my minions. It was awkward because I was the one manipulating both parts of the gesture, but I felt like doing it anyway. They were really boring to be around if I didn't make them emulate actual people a little bit.

In the spirit of caution, I would assume every single one of them survived the blast somehow. I would keep my ear out for further S9 sightings, just in case. Still, I was happy. I could move on to more important things now. It was time to go back home- I needed a portal to another dimension, and I knew just how to make one.

---

1.11 cont (Rex)

"You sure I should call him here? I could send him elsewhere." Sam asked as we reclined on the roof of what usually became my supervillain lair. It had such beautiful sunsets. "I can not stop him from attacking somewhere, but I can steer him well away from us."

"Call him up, that Protectorate base really spoils my view." A blank look. I think it was supposed to be disapproving. "Joking, joking. But I've done loops without a Leviathan attack, they're usually even more difficult."

"Endbringer attacks after my arrival were arranged for the highest probability of continuation after what you know as Golden Morning." Sam shrugged. "In addition to your own contributions, Leviathan provided crucial distraction against the enemy. The placement of Foil and Golem were also important, but those can be accomplished with other methods."

"You're the reason none of my ideas to kill Leviathan never worked, aren't you?" A nod from my friend. "Even when I managed to get the Golden Git to show up early and then not interfere Leviathan escaped in some way that I hadn't managed to close off or just went somewhere else." Dammit. And I had worked so hard on most of those ideas. I figured that the Simurgh had been protecting the other Endbringers from me when they deviated from previous patterns without basis of any current action on my part, but I hadn't thought her efforts went quite so far. "I already made my decision, and you aren't being persuasive enough to change my mind. What's the point of this conversation?"

"You just declared the target of the next Endbringer attack. You have been able to do it for a long time now, all I have done is cut out the middle man. You know this city is going to be wrecked, and hundreds are going to die and you do not care." She pointlessly turned her head to look in my direction. Guilt? Was that her angle? To try and make me feel guilty for the Endbringers, for what happens in a single loop?

Of course I didn't care. Why would I? They would all be fine next loop, in the same danger, leaving me with the same choices. I hadn't managed to prevent every human death in a loop, but I came damn close. Zion dealt with before his rampage, Slaughterhouse 9 slain or imprisoned, Cauldron defused, Dragon unchained, Panacea working to her full capacity, Eidolon dead and the Endbringers in dormancy. Humanity was entering a golden age, space travel was looking very viable, we had hundreds of dimensions to expand across, aging wasn't a problem, everyone had a healing factor, there was no war and little crime, everything was as perfect as I could possibly imagine. And it didn't matter even a little bit. I hit the time limit, and I woke up in a filth filled locker. I had gone mad, killed and hurt so many people, finally been put down like a dog. It hadn't mattered either. That was so very long ago. And no one could remember it except me. All the ones that lived when I saved them, or died when I killed them. They were back exactly the way they were within a few years. So why would I care? How could I manage to love anything which never changed?

I'm sorry.

A voice, a memory. Not mine. She was in my brain. My shields slammed up and I swung to face her.

She was small, and crouched over. Curled up in a tiny ball. Turned away from me to stare out at the city. "I find myself preferring that the subjects of this city remain alive despite the increased difficulty of the scenario with that provision. You are fond of many of the subjects in question and you are the person most similar to myself. I wanted to know how you dealt with it."

"And?"

"You are not."

I snorted. This was pathetic. The Simurgh was one of my biggest obstacles over the loops. I'm not sure why I thought I could fool myself into being friends with her. It's all just a big mind game to make sure I don't mess up the rest of her plans. Fine, I could play too. I was older, more experienced, and had plenty of tricks she'd never have had a chance to see. I just use them based off of Zion, and it'd be simple enough to deal with her. It'd worked before and it'd work again. And if I was losing, well it wouldn't be the first time I killed myself.

"Leviathan, May 15th. It might be best if you didn't show up to that pre-fight meeting, considering the number of your enemies that will be present." I hop off the roof and slide down the water pipe on the side. It'd taken me years to get that trick down, but it was so terribly convenient. I stalked off, ignoring the rattle of the Simurgh's clumsy attempts to follow after me. I pulled out my cell phone and checked my Zion app. Couldn't let her know where I was going to sleep tonight.

Dammit, and I had been having such a good time.

---

2.13 (Inara Seraph)

I reach out to my hive. It's wondrous how they move and how they operate. Controlled chaos, that's how I would describe it. There's so much activity, from the lowest drone to the massive star-base I'm currently residing in. So many- and yet each of them hold a place in my mind.

It's amazing. I would do anything to make this loop last forever. I know it will end eventually.. but I fully intend to bask in the harmony of the Borg for as long as possible. I couldn't have asked for a better vacation loop.

..My well-developed sense of paranoia kicks in. Something will go wrong, I just know it- and the first candidate for suspicion is the possibility that I'm not the only one Awake here. I'm not even close to the oldest looper around, and if there are other loopers here.. I'll have to be extra-wary. I am, after all, on the side of the boogeymen of this universe.

I'd taken to soliciting information from other loopers whenever I got the chance to learn more about loopers they'd encountered. A random anecdote could very well end up saving me a lot of grief down the road.

I run my augmented arm down the length of a wall-panel. I was already considering what technology I could bring back home with me. The only real roadblocks were some of the more esoteric materials that might not even exist on my Earth. Still, I should be able to make it work. There are so few things left for me to do in my home universe, but exploring space- that's something I haven't done yet.

I stop. There's a tinny staccato noise coming from somewhere behind me. I turn to face it, and there's a flash of light. A man dressed in a Starfleet uniform appears in front of me. It's command red, with four pips to denote Captain rank. Before I can open my mouth to question him, he starts talking.

"First of all, and I'd like to get this out of the way because I know it's going to bug some of the people out there, when we say the Q are omnipotent, we're lying." He spoke in a playful tone of voice, one that suggested that he was perpetually laughing at a joke only he knew.

I tilt my head curiously. Information on the elusive 'Q' flows into my consciousness from the relevant databases. This one in particular had frequented the Federation multiple times previously. "To whom are you referring?" I ask.

"Nobody, my dear, nobody. As I was saying- I can't do anything about these loops. I do happen to know the details of what's going on- more than my other Q associates, at any rate, but I'm powerless to do anything about it," he explains.

I blink slowly. The information is completely unsolicited and out of nowhere, but it's not the strangest thing that's ever happened to me. "I.. see. Well, I can't say I'm disappointed. I don't expect the universe to do me any favors."

He gives me an uncomfortably scrutinizing look. "Wow, you're gloomy. What universe are you from again?"

"Uh-" I begin, only to be interrupted.

"Ohhh, that one. Hah!" He lets out a short bark of laughter. I narrow my eyes at him, wondering if some sort of insult is implied.

He clears his throat. "Anyways. For us, this is really just business as usual. Time as you mortals understand it doesn't exist for the Q. When the loops finally end, we'll be exactly the same as we were when they started." The last sentence is spoken with a barely detectable hint of bitterness.

"I'm.. sorry?" I end my words on a questioning lilt.

He waves off my apology. "No, no, no need to apologize. It's why I like watching you humans skitter about."

I consider asking him more about the loops. I want that information desperately.. but I'm not confident at all about the trustworthiness of the being in front of me. Everything about him screams that he's a trickster- any information from him has a very good chance of being misleading or outright false.

He doesn't appear inclined to stay any longer than necessary. He most likely came here with a specific purpose in mind, and now that it's finished, he's going to leave. I know that if he can appear in the heart of Borg space undetected, there's nothing I can do to keep him here. I resign myself to silence.

If anything, his smile widens. "Well, go on then! Assimilate the universe or whatever it is you do. Ta-ta!" He waves goodbye, then disappears in a blink of light.

That was very strange. I put it in the back of my mind. It wasn't something I could figure out without more information. I would devote some drones to figuring it out, but I would focus the majority of my attention elsewhere.

Something he said comes back to me. Assimilate the universe.. that sounds like fun, actually.

I smile.

---

1.11 cont (Rex)

Apology:

"That's a lot of tea."

"I need to enhance my current social standing in regards to Taylor Hebert. I believe that if I rely on my precognitive abilities to do so that any gains will be temporary and substandard."

"Someone finally noticed how much you use your powers to manipulate them, huh?"

"You will not be able to get the reactions your power needs by insulting me Tattletale. The restrictions I have applied to myself apply only to Taylor for the subject of reconciliation. Also, I have been working to minimize the amount of manipulation that I perform in regards to our team. We had a rather long talk about it in a scenario where I selected long term gains that carried the cost of short term losses to an unacceptable degree."

"Fine, so what's with all the tea?"

"Subject displays responses that correlate with pleasure when consuming this category of beverage. I, uh, I need you to figure out which one is her favorite. I have never bought tea before. I did not realize that there would be so many flavors."

"Taylor seemed really angry about whatever it is you guys fought about. Do you really think that a couple of cups of tea is going to be a big enough apology?"

"You are aware of my difficulties with experiencing and understanding emotions. Is this gesture insufficient?"

"It's an okay start, but you are probably going to need to come up with some alternatives."

"… Do you think that consulting Dinah Alcott would count as cheating?"

"What are you doing?" A slurred voice, stopped from being suspicious only by dint of its grogginess. I looked over at the blond girl standing at the door way of the kitchen.

"Just throwing out some tea. I think it's past its expiration date." It was disturbingly easy to talk my way into spending a few nights at Missy Biron's house. A girl lost and alone after dark, enough for one night if she clams up and doesn't talk about her situation. Respect towards Missy and a willingness to help around the house, friendly relations. A quick wave of the hand and some muttered words while Vista is in the bathroom, a standing parental invite and a mother that isn't so depressive for a day or so. The force truly was a useful tool, even if I did struggle with being a grey Jedi rather than sliding towards the extremes.

… Was I being to dismissive of other people? Casual manipulation like what I had done to the Biron's would have disgusted me in my first life. The idea of it happening to me or one of the other Anchors still filled me with revulsion. At some point I had stopped treating the people around me as thinking, feeling beings rather than a series of inputs and outputs to be maneuvered as I desired. It wouldn't do me any good to get emotionally invested in the development of a non-looper, it would simply go away to quickly. But perhaps

"You're doing that thing again." Missy's broke through my musings. She strode over to the refrigerator and grabbed the milk carton. She waved off my apology for waking her as she prepared her breakfast. "We don't buy that type of tea, and I don't remember you bringing it with you."

The second reason to be respectful towards Vista, she was quite smart. A memory sharp enough to know all the types of tea in the house despite the fact that she doesn't drink any, and a sense of paranoia refined enough to search my backpack while I was in the shower. Not the best at subterfuge though, there were enough pockets on the backpack I had brought that I hadn't opened in front of her to store several times the tea I was dumping. But I let that pass, she was after all correct.

"A friend left it outside for me last night. I'll look into how she knew I was here later today and make sure she doesn't do it again." Was the Simurgh attempting to cut off my routes for avoiding her? I hadn't told anyone her secret so far because I didn't want to spend a loop in maximum quarantine. But if she pushed to far in her attempts to corral me then I would inform on her and arrange for someone to kill me.

"Your friend gave you expired tea?" Vista takes a chair on the opposite side of the table from me. She has added an apple to her morning breakfast today, conveniently giving her an excuse to have a knife while eating cereal. I don't think she even realizes how often she moves herself to the best combat positioning she can manage. It wasn't a threat or an insult or anything along those lines, just an expression of her powers. I didn't look both ways when crossing the street, Rachel preferred dogs, and Missy unconsciously gravitates to the position best suited for tearing you limb from limb. She is an absolute terror to face in combat when she gets older, even if my abilities do provide me with a hard counter to most of her tactics.

"It's not actually expired." I sigh as I turn my attention back to the sink, giving her a full view of my back and putting my dominant hand next to a wall. It's all about spacing with her. "We got in a fight before I came here." I anticipate her concerns and dismiss them before they can form. "It's an emotional conflict, not a physical one. You don't have to worry about her doing anything crazy to you, even if she is coming off as a little stalkerish. But I think the tea was supposed to be an apology."

"Hmm" Vista hummed non-committedly as she sipped her Orange juice. I felt sorry for depriving her of her morning caffeine fix, but she didn't want me to ask any questions about how a thirteen year old became such a caffeine junkie. So grumpy mornings for her until I made my excuses for the day and cleared out were the new norm. "You'll be headed out on your morning run soon?" Speak of the devil and he will appear. That was Missy speak for 'get the hell out off the way so I can get my fix and deal with the rest of the idiots in this city.' Truly, being on and off roommates for a few hundred years did wonders for interpersonal communication. Pity so much of it was one way.

"Yes, actually. I plan to sleep at home tonight, so don't be worried if I don't show up."

I finish dumping the tea and gather up the overnight bag I had left near the front door. A book and a hairbrush carelessly left in the house would give me an excuse to come back if my anti-Simurgh measures directed me to sleep here again. Though perhaps I should expand my options a bit if she could track me down this easily. I left with a cheery wave and started jogging towards the boardwalk.

The Protectorate fundraiser was due in a less than a week. I would have to decide whether I wanted to be on a team with Sam in the mix by then. Otherwise I would quite rapidly end up as a ward member in Chicago after Tattletale and Regent managed to avoid capture despite the information I gave Armsmaster. Sam would add an unknown variable to the mix, but I had a good enough grasp of Brockton Bay and the Protectorate to avoid any move she might make short of revealing herself. I pulled out a secondary phone, one that hopefully was hidden from Sam's abilities considering I had bought it based on Zion's movements, and checked the co-ordinates. I slid the phone away and pulled out my primary phone. A quick text set the stage for our next confrontation.

'Meet me on rooftop at lunch.'

I really need to talk to my therapist as soon as she comes to town. It'll take a couple of sessions to get her up to speed, but after that she still manages to be fairly helpful.

---

2.13 cont (Inara Seraph)

"Greetings, Federation vessel. I am the Borg Queen."

"I don't expect any of you to listen to what I'm about to say, but I feel it is at least worth the effort to try."

"There are two very simple options here. One, you continue fighting to the bitter end. You might win, but you might lose. Two, you surrender."

"As I'm sure you know, surrender doesn't mean death. It means assimilation. To some of you, I'm sure you think these terms are synonymous with each other. They're not."

"Let me tell you about assimilation. Once you connect to the hive-mind, you will understand why drones disconnected from the hive are desperate to return. It's not brainwashing, mental conditioning, or anything of the sort. It really is amazing."

"You, yourself- you have unique thoughts and feelings. That doesn't change just because you are assimilated into a greater whole. You may think that you become insignificant- but you do not. Without each individual drone contributing their knowledge, their emotions, their dreams- the collective would not exist."

"Am I callously throwing away lives when I sacrifice a Cube for a larger objective? No, I'm not. I don't even have to order them to do it. The collective understands sacrifice. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"It's not the hell you might be imagining. You will never be lonely ever again- if you are sad, the collective will raise your spirits. If you are depressed, the collective will rekindle your passion."

"Please, consider surrender. I don't wish to destroy lives unnecessarily."

Our existing doctrine states that we don't assimilate species that do not offer anything worthy of assimilation. I reject that. If we're going to assimilate the universe, we're assimilating everything. Even if they're just cavemen, when we're done with them, they'll be Borg cavemen.

Manpower is manpower- within the hive-mind, there are no incompetents. If I want to build a universe-spanning empire, I'll need a population in the quintillions or more. The amazing thing about the Borg is that there is no such thing as a 'civilian population.' All Borg are theoretically capable of everything. Why stop at a hundred thousand ships when I can have billions? I will make the previous Borg swarm seem like a trickle before I'm done.

I abolish another 'tradition'- no more transmitting 'You will be assimilated.' It just gives them time to react. Instead, we're going to bum-rush our targets. I estimate our success rate will rise by at least a percent.

The Borg are sorely lacking in stealth capabilities, despite a wide range of technologies we have assimilated that can perform that function. I dedicate many drone engineers toward designing a new model of Borg ship, one with a cloaking device and designed for quick hit and run operations.

I decide that it will called the Borg Doughnut and shaped accordingly.

---

2.14 (Zulaq)

It had taken dozens of loops for her to get everything lined up just right. Figuring out how to hack one of the most secure networks on the planet strained even her loop-given skills, and learning how to alter the data just so, so that what she wanted to do flew under the radar, even harder.

But it had paid off.

Lung was lounging on his Laz-E-Boy reading a book. It had been a long day, he'd sent men out to hustle some of the Merchant middle men who had wandered into his territory, managed to take another block from the E88 after beating Stormtiger, and dealt with an annoying wanabe superhero attacking his men's knitting circle thinking it was a drug factory. All in all, her just wanted to sit down, relax and take a breather.

Which is why he was incredibly annoyed by someone knocking on his apartment door.

With a frown on his face, he got up and opened the door, growled, "Go away!" at the woman dressed in a business suit, and sunglasses, on the other side, and slammed the door.

Crossing the room again, he picked up his book and sat back in his Laz-E-Boy. He was just at the part where the Dragon and the Princess-.

He was interrupted by a knocking at his door again.

Snarling, he got up again went over and pulled the door open again. "I said, 'Go away!'", he yelled at the woman on the other side.

The woman arched an eyebrow over her sunglasses. "I'm afraid I can't do that." she told him in a level voice, "I'm here to discuss business with you."

"Take it somewhere else," Lung ordered, "I don't have time for salespeople."

The woman smirked. "I'm not a salesperson. I'm here to talk with you about your business; namely your failure to pay taxes on your income."

"What?" Lung asked flatly.

"You see, I'm with the IRS, PV Division."

"What?" Lung repeated.

"The Internal Revenue Service?" The woman answered with a slight frown. "I know you are an immigrant, and as such not necessarily up to date with the various government acronyms, but surely you've heard of us?"

"No, I meant what's the PV Division." Lung explained, feeling somewhat off balance.

"Why Parahuman Villain Division, naturally" the woman had an empty smile on her face now, "What other division would you fall under Mr. Lung?"

"I didn't even know that there was a Parahuman-specific division of the IRS."

"Of course there would be! Dealing with double identities can make filing taxes most complicated, so we set up an entire office to make things easier on our not-so-normal citizens." The woman's empty smile was still on her face, and it was creeping Lung out, "As for why we would approach you? Well, we've been monitoring your business ventures here in the United States, and we couldn't help but notice your failure to pay your taxes on their income. Naturally, we would like to discuss the matter with you before drastic measures are needed."

"Drastic measures?"

"Why we would seek restitution, in whatever manner we deemed appropriate." The woman's smile became a bit more real, "In your case, bees."

Lung snorted, "I'm supposed to be afraid of bees?"

"Thank you for doing business with us Mr. Lung. I do hope you have a pleasant day." Taylor spoke to the quivering mass of man and bees on the apartment floor with a smile on her face, a contact signed in Lung's blood in her hands. With a thought she made the bees leave. "It was a pleasure."

An indecipherable noise came from the man on the ground. Taylor was certain it was something along the lines of 'For me too,' or maybe 'Make it stop.'

Straightening her suit, Taylor walked out of the apartment. The look on Lung's face had totally been worth all the preparation she had put into this loop.

Now she just needed to decide her next target. Maybe it was time for Cauldron to face the music?

---

1.11 cont (Rex)

Interlude: First Friend

April 8th, 2011. 12:24 p.m. Brockton Bay time.

She floats in the upper atmosphere, collecting and collating data. The Task is primary, she collects data to better fulfill the Task. Continuation of the self is secondary, she collates the received knowledge and acts towards the routes that produce the best probability of her continuation. The Task is simple to fulfill, she and her brothers were created with abilities far in excess of the requirements for the Task. Continuation is more difficult, in addition to the efforts of the creator and the rest of the subjects, she faces a far greater threat in the actions of the obstacle. She is blind to its actions and can only plan based around context. Fortunately, the obstacle is not subtle, and thus leaves large effects upon its surroundings. She has developed a plan that has a high probability of removing the obstacle and allowing her continuation.

The plan requires constant refinement and readjustment, it is complicated and requires many events to happen in just the right way. The maintenance of the plan takes up far more of her time and attention than fulfillment of the Task. She is currently in orbit over the city known by the subjects as Chicago. The pieces are in place, and remain on acceptable trajectories for when the girl arrives. All is going according to plan.

Everything changes.

It was sudden and without warning. There was no apparent cause. The future was vastly different and She suddenly possessed vision of a past that could not have possibly happened. Her physical aspect did not waver, not a single feather wobbled out of place, but inside her mind was in the midst of a storm.

She must regain control. If there is new data then it must be understood if she is to inact the plan. First she will review the new past. It appears identical until the moment of this date. Afterwards it progresses along the lines of the plan. She is somehow using her postcognition to view the future. She devotes herself to a full study of the memories. She sees the fruition of her plan, albeit with a few interesting last minute adjustments. Then there is a brief, infinitesimal darkness. Then she is here.

The past is understood. It's origin is unknown, but it can be used for the fulfillment of the Task and the for the sake of continuation. The future has been changed by her acquisition of this information. It is time to inspect the future and design the optimal outcome. She begins with the furthest possible point that can be viewed. Fifteen years, she is in her hibernation state then blackness.

Sub-optimal. This complete loss of vision does not occur even in timelines where she would cease to function. Such complete loss of vision implies the entirety of the planet and surrounding objects will cease to exist. Her plans and actions must be adjusted. She investigates a different possibility. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Every possible future she can find ends suddenly. She can not identify the source of the attack.

This must be corrected. If the world is destroyed then she can not fulfill the Task. She must fulfill the Task! The task is… the task is… The task is not important.

At this, she does stop in her movements. The Simurgh floats, immobile. The task had been the driving element of her existence for its entirety. Even in the future past it had driven her actions. If the task was no longer imperative, and then continuation was also irrelevant. There was no point in any further action. This would most probably relate in the destruction of every conceivable point in her observable range being destroyed in approximately two years.

She resumed her previous path, there was no reason not to continue on the route. She desired more information even if it would not be used for any purpose. She looked forward into the future and inspected what was to come. Little was done in relation to her, except for one small craft that approached her and flung pink dye packets upon her physical aspect. She didn't understand. She looked closer at the craft in idle curiosity. It was piloted by the girl. The centerpiece of the plan. How interesting. She decided to investigate further into this action.

As she slowly traced the lines of probability to the darkness, she was struck by confusion. The girl was undertaking actions highly outside of her personality model. She required more information. She adjusted her course towards Brockton Bay. Then she reached the point of destruction in her scrying. For the first time see received information beyond that point. It was garbled and hard to decipher, but was filled with great warmth and a sense of fulfillment beyond anything she had ever experienced.

It was decided, she would seek to experience that sensation. Now it was only necessary to figure out how to do so.

Assuming the form of one of the subjects was an interesting experience. She had constructed a decoy body out of gathered particles and used her telekinesis to manipulate the water vapor in order to hide her body from visual detection. With the decoy in place, and her physical self safely concealed underneath a nearby mountain she was free to deploy an artificially constructed human body to interact with the girl.

Initial contact went well as did contact with the girl's, Taylor's, teammates. She navigated conversational interaction by searching short term probabilities for the desired results. The idea of developing a full set of human emotions presented an interesting challenge. She decided to become as human as possible, it promised sensations of equal strength to the new goal.

The manipulator was an interesting subject. Her physical self engaged in combative simulations while she studied his past and future. He possessed stunted emotional capability relative to other people. He would provide a good guide to the starting stages of her own emotional development, though he would hopefully be surpassed. The Simurgh smiled. Progress was being made.

The discussion with the healer had gone well. The idea of solving problems by talking about emotional states was fascinating. It was the exact opposite of her usual methods and therefore worth pursuing. She had read it was important for developing minds to be exposed to a wide variety of stimulus.

She had come to the conclusion that despite her age she still qualified as a child in many aspects. Therefore she would seek to advance herself. It was also important to have models for the child to emulate. She had already found a male subject of emulation in Regent but still required a female mentorship relation. Dragon was considered due to her role in watching over her normal body and high level of previous interaction, but was discarded because of distance and lack of close interaction. In the end, the best choice was clearly Taylor.

Taylor knew the truth behind Sam and accepted both aspects. She had survived many instances of multiversal destruction and tended to have a positive effect on the world. Taylor Hebert was clearly the best mother figure that the Simurgh could have. It even made sense considering Taylor was apparently the central focus of the events that had led to Sam's creation. Emulation of her should provide good results for future growth. Perhaps she should begin experimenting in first person pronouns? When Taylor recounted her experiences she described them with herself as the center of the events, rather than as simply another factor of the events.

She, or rather, I was distracted from my decision by feeling a strong impulse wash over me. One of the brothers had been called to fulfill the task. A quick discussion between the three of them was conducted. Her brothers were still committed to the task. In the original plan, the water focused brother would come to this city.

I did not want this city attacked. I had important things in this city and would be sad if they were destroyed. She prepared a manipulation of water to direct her brother to a different target, but I paused. Taylor had expressed a plan to stick relatively close to the original path that had been observed in the memories of my previous self. I should discuss this matter with Taylor.

...

Well, that did not proceed optimally.

I enacted an apologetic gesture. It appears to have been received well, she has agreed to meet me and seek a resolution. As the child figure I have done something that has upset the maternal party. It is my understanding that the child will receive a set of restrictions from the guardian and after a short time the offense will be forgotten and balance will be restored.

It is unusual that she chose to remove herself from my presence for three days before seeking resolution, but perhaps denying me her presence was meant as punishment? I certainly didn't enjoy it.

I resolved myself to accept whatever retribution that Taylor chose to extract from me. I valued our connection higher than anything else in this world, so as long as she would remain with me all of the outcomes that I had glimpsed would be acceptable.

---

2.15 (Ridiculously Average Guy)

"...you've got to be kidding me." Said Armsmaster.

"Nope." I replied. We'd done something a little catastrophic last loop, and well...the results spoke for themselves. "It's not like you got the worst of it, I'm literally made of chainsaws." I said shifting my hand into a small one.

"Only when you want to be." He retorted. "I other other hand, am a f! $ing priest!" Armsmaster near screamed, thrusting his headphones at me. "And why the HELL AM I LISTENING TO YAKETY SAX ON A LOOP!".

"Oh, so that's what it was." I said, rubbing my eye distractedly. The transplant seemed to go without any problems, but it still itched occasionally. "I was wondering why you never shared."

He twitched, then took a deep breath, muttering something about crazy spider Chainsaw girls. I ignored him. "More importantly, what is wrong with the moon?".

"What do you mean?" I said as I glanced up, it looked normal to me that the smile on it's face might have been a tad crazier. "...It has a face."

"That's just how the moon works here, it's kind of a weird world."