It's a long discussion, with plenty of joke suggestions and just jokes in general, but eventually, it all comes down to two sets of colors.
On the one hand, black and purple would look pretty nice. Red and black would, of course, work perfectly fine, but the damn nazis ruined the colors for everyone else, a fact that is much bemoaned during this meeting.
Unltimately, though, overwhelming support gathers for grey and blue, as a way to play to the graveyard theme the gang had been going for for some time now.
Should also be easy enough to faciliate, with Kate joking she might get Henley to source some 'Crypt Scarves' one of these days.
Alright, first off, time to go set your souls up for the night. Desummoning Phillip and Kirion, you exchange a quick series of queries with Kate to figure out where she had the newest delivery of unmissed people you'd asked for stashed, then begin maing your way over to the storeroom in question.
On the way, you mentally ask Yoshi how things are going with the turrets, though he is apparently still in the testing stage of several components. According to him, it just isn't that easy to keep the thing small enough to be deployed stealthily when folded up while also having it be actually useful in unfolded mode, especially not with the materials you have available to feed into the manufactories without ruinous costs involved.
You tell him to keep at it.
He screams at you via thought exchange, which is actually mildly more impressive than it sounds.
You also mention he'd best throw together the blueprint for the laser pistol you designed together and share an applicable set of knowledge with Lea to have her work on it further.
He begins a rant about research standards you promptly ignore as you enter the room filled with a row of people, some of them half-conscious, all of them tied up nicely.
A quick count tells you the girls Kate sent fishing caught an even dozen of homeless people, from the looks of it. Summoning both Nolan and the Imitator, you give them a look.
"Get to work. You know the drill."
Leaving the now two mad doctors to their work, you, instead, turn towards far more pleasant tasks, such as taking your sister out for an evening at the nearest art gallery.
What? Just because you're perfectly fine with torturing people to death and back doesn't mean you particularly have a thing for it. You just have it done if it's expedient, after all.
Anyways, it isn't long before you're back in your new room and looking up a nice place to take her out to, though you're not exactly spoiled for choice in terms of places within city limits.
Brockton's a shithole, news at eleven.
Still, the Forsberg gallery has an exhibit on... urgh, modern art right now.
You briefly play with the thought of just doing an art marathon and sneakily replacing all exhibits with proper art of some kind... though if you do, it'll have to wait until after today, you need a solution now.
Ah well, at least the two of you can be art snobs all over the place for the time being. Thus, you set about putting on a nice suit as you begin telepathing at Sarah. Hopefully she isn't too busy at the moment...
Tipping the driver a fifty as you get out, you take Sarah's hand and begin your entrance to the gallery.
"You know, when I found out you're still alive, I never expected we'd ever do something like this together."
True enough, and it's not like you could've ever taken your siblings to galleries of some sort before, either. Your parents would have never been okay with it, considering the entrance fees wasted money.
Such a... bold opinion, coming from wastes of skin, really.
Still, you're here now, and there's no time like the present to make up for lost time. Not like either of you is as... limited, in that department as mostly everyone else.
Immortality has its perks, to say the least.
Coming inside and paying for two tickets, you pass Sarah hers and in you go.
What follows is a tour of one of the trashiest galleries you've ever seen, a fact you're none too shy about exclaiming (it is also the first gallery you've ever seen from the inside in person, though you look classy enough people wouldn't guess).
You also make some polite conversation all around, mostly talking with Sarah just loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to be offensive, about what these wastes of canvas remind each of you the most, though the occasional chat with other visitors just spending some time does factor into it.
Overall, you gotta say this isn't really what you'd call a nice gallery by any means. Oh, the basic layout is decent enough, make no mistake, and if they were actually exhibiting actual art, you suppose you could even enjoy a visit.
Thing is though, even a cursory examination shows what this place really is. A gathering place for the wealthy and connected that are living in the Bay for one reason or another to come and pretend the world isn't literally falling to pieces around them, both in general and Brockton Bay specifically.
You'd call it pathetic, but you get it. You really do. There's not much of anything these guys could really do to change that the world's a shitheap on the way down the drain, in the end.
Sure, they're rich, they have a little more influence over their surroundings than most others, but, y'know, money doesn't really help against things like the gangs, if anything, it just gets them hard. Nor can they do anything to stop the many disastrous things happening day in and out, the S9, the Endbringers... why not have their little safe havens and pretend?
You'll still look down on them, just because you can, but you won't hold it against them. Not to mention people's expressions as you and Sarah loudly talk about how the artist was obviously depicting him taking a shit and not flushing, you could even still see the oval form of the toilet seat, in a picture they were just politely admiring.
This is surprisingly fun.
Alright, so, standing in the Men's bathroom, you have only so much time until someone inevitably comes inside, armed with nothing more than a permanent marker and a lipstick.
Man, getting contrasts to work peoperly will be a complete bitch.
Well, this wasn't easy, truth be told. You're working with very limited resources and time here, after all. Then again, perhaps doing just that is the best part about doing this.
If you have to get inventive, after all, you just have to get inventive. That means trying things out, innovating, doing things you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
Case in point, with a lot of smudging by hand and thanks to your inhuman precision, it didn't take you all too long to figure this out just right. Only two actual colors, and not the best suited for applying to a bathroom wall, those, but you think you can be quite satisfied with the end result.
Looking at the picture conveys a sense of foreboding awe to anyone facing the wall it is on, as though the red moon in the middle of it was perhaps an unimaginably large creature, just waiting to be born and swallow the world whole.
Or at least that's what you'd describe it as, anyways.
Leaving the bathroom and promising Sarah you'll buy her a new lipstick to replace the one you nearly completely used up (she wasn't planning on actually taking it back anyways, it's been used on a bathroom wall after all, which is fair), you hold out your arm for her to hook into, leading her out of the gallery at a sedate pace and firing off a few last snobbish comments here and there.
Overall, this was a lot of fun, and the two of you get back into the cab that was waiting for you to return to one of the underground garages with a secret way into the base.
Parting ways with Sarah once you're both back underground, you go on ahead and summon your compass minion, thinking through how to formulate what you're looking for.
"I want you to look for a highly skilled programmer with no family or close friends that would care about him going missing, outside of Crypt territory but within Brockton Bay, and not employed by any law enforcement agency or subcontractor that operates with law enforcement.
What do you got for me?"
Wordlessly, the scowling soul points upwards at a low angle, meaning you'll have to traverse a decent amount of the city. Memorizing where he's pointing at, you dismiss him and go shadow.
Time to get to work.
It takes a bit of doing, as well as repeated resummoning of your waypointer atop various roofs and inside dirty alleyways, but eventually, you make your way onto the roof of what you suspect to be the place your target lives.
Using your shadow transformation to sneak inside unnoticed, you soon arrive in a dark apartment filled with cables and assorted hardware.
Inside the bedroom, you find a slightly overweight guy in his underpants, typing away with sausage-like fingers. Now, what to do?
Rematerializing outside his field of view, you clear your throat audibly, making him jerk and twist around.
"W-who ar-"
"Shut up and get in mah belly." Backing up your words, you grab onto him and pull him towards you, your jaw closing around his neck in spite of his panicked flailing, drinking his life and his soul in equal measure.
Let's be honest here, his expression was hilarious.
Bevin was always... lacking. He had a head for maths, but that was all he had going for himself. Bullied as a nerd nearly from the cradle, he quickly got used to being the social outcast of any group he could have found anyways, so why bother?
That's how he simply took refuge in another world. the internet had the advantage of being nearly completely anonymous, and nobody could mock him for his double chin inside, nor would people see his buckteeth or have to hear his lisp.
And it wasn't as though he'd ever actually have to set foot outside anyways; plenty of ways for a shut-in nerd to make money on the net if they knew how, and at least his skills could be useful there.
Yeah, it wasn't perfect, and his greatest joy was and remained his gigantic porn collection, but hey, he'd still say he had a good thing going for himself.
Until one day, suddenly...
Grabbing onto the sweaty, dead body, you transformed, turning both yourself and said body into shadow. What came afterwards was an annoyingly long trek back home, even with your elevated speed due to being a shadow, but hey, still better than braving traffic, that's for sure.
Throwing him into your room for a moment, you come out to speak to Kate, only to be interrupted by her almsot as soon as you do.
"Hey Kate, I'm ba-"
"No time, shit's be happening!" Well, alright then. Going entirely serious, you nod at her.
"Alright, what's up?"
"So, one of the homeless you had tortured triggered, killed another one in the process. They've been sedated by your minions for the time being, won't be an issue for a bit. More importantly, we got a bunch of E88 capes tearing shit up in our 'official' territory, and we gotta react somehow, preferrably before the Prots show up to make an even bigger mess."
Well shit, and here you were already getting used to the idea of taking this shit slowly.
"Okay, here's the plan. First off, Sarah stays here to deal with that new trigger, make sure those sedatives keep working and mindfuck them in case they don't. While doing that, she'll use Coil's soul to support us via telepathy."
"I thought you had the sucker's soul?"
"Nah, I gave it to her after turning her and all. Just to free up a summoning slot for me, if nothing else.
Meanwhile, me, Spitfire, Okita and Gash will drive drive there with Sherrel and you and Nora lead the girls in a bunch of mundane cars, clear up the mooks before they can become a problem, then swing around to help with the capes.
Before that, though, I'll be dropping by Engineering, throw together a quick weapon upgrade for the two of you I've been working on, have my minions figure out how to assemble a sword or something for Okita, a few simple blank masks for anyone that needs one, that kinda thing."
"Sounds good. I'll make the calls I can, you do your telepathy shtick?"
"Already on it." These are your last words before you go shadow and hightail it to the Engineering Bay. Time to really get some use out of that instantaneous assembly thing Yoshi has going on while you make the calls required.
It takes a moment to describe the way to Engineering for Okita, but soon enough bot you and her are standing in the workshop, joined by the two souls you'd chosen for this task.
Luckily, the two guns are nearly inconsequential to assemble, being put to the side in favor of the actually hard part of all this. Namely, getting your insane bloodsword soul and Yoshi to cooperate for long enough to create a sword to Okita's specifications.
"Look, I can cheat the process to make it nearly instant, but it'll always be substandard compared to a properly smithed or machind blade. My power doesn't work that well with mono-part construction, it tends to treat a shunk of steel as a chunk of steel, so messing around with workarounds via the manufacs is already the best I can do on the fly!"
"HERESY! BETRAYAL!"
"I just want something with a little heft..."
As you said, the hard part. Still, it takes a few minutes as Yoshi programs as much metallurgy as the manufactory can physically do as it is into it and has a weapon printed out. Okita mentions the plastic feels weird for the grip, but goes along with it after Yoshi promises he'll get her a better grip made of ergonomical rubber later on.
In the time it took for all of this to happen, all your people have already assembled in the base's internal parking lot, so there's not much more for you to do than address them really quickly before it's time you drove off.
"Alright, everyone." You speak up in front of the uncloaked invisivan, Sherrel already inside and ready to go. "Looks like the nazis fell for one of our traps, now we get to make a huge stink out of them fucking around on our turf. Fuck them all up, I don't care whether they're dead or not after we're done with them, just as long as everyone can see them being beaten like the little bitches they are!"
To general approval and the odd shouted "Fuck yeah!" from your people, you jump in and nod to Sherrel, just after making sure Gash is indeed present and ready for battle.
Can't ever be too sure with these things, really.
The drive through the city is perhaps a little too wild, Sherrel really giving it her all and the van truly tricked out and consisting nearly entirely of tinkertech by now, though her top-notch driving skills let her navigate through traffic and city streets with ease even while invisible.
"Alright, I think I have them on radar."
You can't help but to ask. "Wait a sec, this thing has radar?"
"Yup, not too great normally, but it's great for picking up on groups of people, and few of those are moving around at this time of the night, even in places like this. So, gimme a moment to finetune the infrared cams and we'll have eyes on these guys while we wait for the others to catch up."
Tinkers, you note at this moment, are fucking bullshit. Especially if that laser minigun on top is going to pull its weight.
It doesn't take long for her to tune her tinkertech bullshit up, and you have the night's opposition on screen.
Said opposition seems to mainly consist of a bunch of skinheads going around spraying over your gang tags. As you're watching through an empty warehouse (and yeah, this is some real bullshit), they keep on progressing down the street.
"Any bets the capes are among this group?" You gesture towards a small group of people walking a little seperate from the bulk of other nazis.
"No bets, boss. So, how do we wanna play this? The others should arrive in a minute or two."
Looking around at what you have to work with, you begin to plan. Okita, Emily (Spitfire), Gash and yourself are in the van, along with Squealer who you're certainly not planning to have step foot outside this thing.
En route are Kate and Nora along with an easy two dozen of your girls armed with laser muskets, though you may plan around them arriving at a time of your choosing if you want to.
"Alright, first off, summoning a few things. Is there enough space back there for three people?"
"There would be if we put 'Gash' into the trunk. Seriously I don't even." Ah, it seems Emily has spent the whole drive being creeped out by your little undead creation.
"Alright, alright, Gash, you get over there, open the sliding door and wait for instructions. Now, time to get the minions ready."
Breathing out the Buffer, Imitator and that one lightning mage you recall eating back in Thule. Having the second one of those imitate the former, you then use them to empower everyone in the vehicle, as well as cautioning them to do the same for everyone else on your side once they can.
"Next off, I'm going in closer to have a look in person, make sure the capes really are who we think they are, that kinda thing. Keep in touch via telepathy in case anything happens."
"Alright, good luck out there." Sherrel says as she opens the door.
"Sorry, but I don't really need good luck. That's what all the powers are for." Slipping a kiss on her cheek, you shadow and get out there. Time to roll.
Staying well out of sight and clinging to and climbing walls, you safely make your way over to and above the group of gangbangers at work polluting your turf.
You had to look twice on the way over, but yes, that seperate group really does seem to be the capes that were sighted earlier, and yes, that super scarred chick with said scars clearly visible all over her body is Cricket in underwear.
What the fuck. Like, seriously. You don't even.
Still, these guys are pretty clearly doing this to provoke you into reacting, openly insulting you by claiming territory you had clearly marked as yours. The course they are taking also tells you a lot; they're working along a street leading deeper into your turf, clearly not intending to actually hold it or anything.
No, all they're doing is snubbing you to see how you react with a strong forward team just in case you go full psycho, them having the best chance to get out alive if something unexpected were to happen.
Coming back to the van to share the plan you're constructing with its current occupants, you transform back once you've made it inside the door only visible if someone squeezed between the van and the alley wall.
"Okay, confirmed the capes are in that group. Also, Cricket's in her underwear for some reason."
"What."
"What."
What. Did. You. Do. This. Time?
I didn't do anything, Sarah! She was like when I arrived!
Oh god, it's spreading!
Ignoring Sarah's strange reaction for now, you proceed with the plan meeting taking place halfway inside your head.
"So, I'm gonna take lightning boy over here I summoned up to the roof to shoot lightning from above, then I take on Hookwolf. Pretty sure at least one of my tricks should fuck him up. Meanwhile, I want Spitfire to transform and provide air support from above wherever necessary while Gash takes on Cricket and Okita fights Stormtiger, maybe with a little help from Sherrel.
Speaking of which, Sherrel, you, kate and Nora are on mook duty. I'd prefer it if the capes didn't bite it, but the mooks really should know better than to even be here.
Any questions?"
None forthcoming. Looks like everyone's just waiting to go, then.
Alright guys, I'm coming out to distract them for a bit, trashtalk a little, you get the idea.
Deshadowing around the corner and stepping around it, your face naturally turned into shadow beforehand, you are quite bemused when the whole little progression of bad fashion sense grinds to a halt, the three capes coming forwards a bit with Stormtiger and Cricket arraying themselves a step behind Hookwolf.
"Well, whadda'ya know, the faggot finally came outta his hole."
Oh, he did not just-
"Oh, for fuck's sake- How often do I have to tell kaiser I'm not into guys? Seriously, get him to stop sending me invitations into that club of his. Also, why the fuck is cricket dressed like she just jumped outta some bondage flick?"
You made sure to speak loud and clear, and that sure shut the peanut gallery up something fierce, huh?
"You really want to feel some pain, huh, you little fuck?"
"Oh bitch please, is it some sorta Axis tradition to just attack the absolute worst target at some point?"
"Hah! As if you-"
"Oh wait, sorry. I forgot. You guys aren't even real nazis. Sure sucks you didn't even get that right, huh?"
Hookwolf looks to be positively steaming at this point. Guy should really learn to chill, though you suppose that's just what happens when everyone you talk to is too afraid of being murderblendered to talk back for too long.
"Bitch, I'mma cut you!"
"I was just thinking this, but you really should learn to chill at some point."
The pre-fight banter ends at this point, as Hookwolf grows into a mass of serrated blades and launches himself at you.
Now.
You, of course, deftly sidestep his charge, and though he immediately turns and tries to follow up, you keep a step ahead of him. You do note, though, that he's visibly holding back, not going as big as he should be and taking his time.
Analyzing you.
Too bad for him, though, that you brought friends, isn't it?
Moments later, pandemonium breaks out all across the street. The girls storm the open ground, the initial volley of charged up laser shots taking down easily half of them, literally melting through their bulk.
The survivors scream and point guns, but more red beams come flying, with little cover to be found. You don't expect them to be making it for much longer.
While this is going on, lightning boy starts bombarding the ground near the capes, driving them apart from one another and creating the perfect opening for the other combatants to engage safely. Which they do, naturally, Okita jumping out of an alley sword first and Gash following after her, tentacles whipping out as it homes in on Cricket.
Okita lands first, unsurprisingly, her initial velocity scoring a bleeding wound across the arm Stormtiger raised the moment he realized what was coming, before carefully swinging her sword in a two-handed grip in an effort to further wound him.
Stormtiger, in turn, uses his aerokinesis to fight back, but any of those air claws of his get battered aside before they can fully form with almost comtemptuous ease, forcing him to just use roughly directed blasts of wind to defend himself.
With predictable results, as the cuts and bruises he is starting to accumulate show.
Cricket, on the other hand, is being completely stomped by Gash. The tentacle abomination is whipping out in all directions, and as it turns out, her enhanced reflexes aren't worth jack shit against attacks so numerous she just can't dodge or deflect them all.
The bone spikes at the end of the tentacles don't make it easier for her, either, and before long, she's just trying to run away, the static coming out of her voicebox getting a little louder over time.
Spitfire, you spy from the corner of your eye, is just flying up above as an owl right now, trying to see if there's anywhere she has to step in.
Also, man, your cognitive changes are great. You could pick up on all of this fast enough you haven't really given Hooky over here a chance to murder you... at least until the grinding of metal coming from him becomes too loud to hear stuff from over there clearly, anyways.
Time to deal with this the hard way.
"What, prissy I revealed the existence of that furry-only gay club of yours?"
"Nah, but you will be sorry 'bout it anyways by the time I'm through with you."
Preparing for his next charge, you stealthily turn one hand's fingers into claws and lightly press them against your palm, letting a small handful of blood spill out before reverting, preparing for what comes next.
Grinning at him conspicuously, you begin to talk, knowing he won't not be attacking. The opening both too obvious and too genuine to ignore.
Freeze this thing so it may not move!
Unfortunately, you're a step too slow this time, and while you jump away quick enough to avoid his initial charge, he deploys his power fully for just a moment to change directions before returning to his smaller form as he rushes at you once again.
Scouring your right arm and the blood you had been hiding. Not that that's all too much of an issue, really, given he went ahead and got a load of your blood all over himself like that.
Something in your grin must've shown a bit of what you were thinking, Hookwolf jumping back to get some distance and observe whatever you're doing.
...Too bad, so sad, he's still within your range, and while your hemokinesis is a bit slow and a bit imprecise, it doesn't matter with what you're doing already nearly completely done for you.
Not the way you'd planned it, but hey, if it works, it just works.
Thus you just gave the blood covering his own side a little nudge to creep into his metal-limbed form. "Whassup, puppy? Feeling a little sickly?"
A snort resounds from him, echoing oddly due to his whole thing.
"Bit under the weather. May just need a little exercise to get back in the game, though."
"What, Kaiser forget to walk you? No wonder you're pissing in my backyard, then."
As you speak, you lightly push yourself up off the ground, disabling gravity and floating up above him.
"Sorry, it looked so shitty I thought it was a doggy toilet. Can't blame me, look at the place!"
"Still, kinda irresponsible of him to let you out with this weather. Feel the bite of winter in your bones!"
Before he really has the time to follow up on that jump you can see him tensing up for, you complete your spell, rapidly reducing the temperature of his organic bits.
He laughs in response.
"Really, that all you got? C'mon, where's that bravado from earlier?"
"That bravado has gone out to my little friends all over the place."
Seeing you not moving to attack again, he takes a quick look around, only to curse as he sees a bunch of corpses all over the place, an annoyed-looking Okita lightly punching Stormtiger who is trying his best to limp away from her and Cricket having long run, a trace of blood leading off into the night and dripping off of Gash's tentacles all that is left of her.
"Well shit."
"Alright, Hooky, two ways we can do this. You either fuck off with your tail 'tween your legs, and we can do this song and dance again some other time, maybe go a little further, escalate a little harder, or else we can do this right now, all the way, and if you're lucky, there'll be enough of you left after we're done for the suits to mop up."
"Nah thanks, we're outta here. Got what we came for, anyways." Turning away from you, Hookwolf explodes into his full wolf form, running off and scooping up Stormtiger on the way. Okita reflexively cuts off a chunk of blades from his leg as he does so, but it doesn't particularly slow him down.
Kate clears her throat. "So... that went, well?"
"Eh, well enough. Not much we could've really gained from this in the first place. Okay, everyone, load up the bodies and shit. No way are we just leaving them here, we can always recycle."
"Well, that went pretty well. Threw the nazis out the hard way, none of us died, sent a message, all that good shit. Now all of you fuck off and get a drink or something while I go keep this gig from exploding."
The mooks seem to have taken your impromptu little speech well, some raising their fists in the air, others nodding along. A few even pull out a bottle of beer from somewhere, raising it towards you before opening it.
You won't question that. You'll just, move on along.
Alright, Sarah, so what do we got in terms of that new trigger?
So, I 'talked' to the bloodbags while you were gone and didn't need me, and here's what happened the best I could figure out.
First, one of these guys looks like he blacks out for a moment, next thing they know, he starts to seize up in his bindings. Nothing unusual in situations like this, I mean, hell, I've seen it happen often enough while I was playing with imprisoned soldiers.
Thing is, it didn't stop there. This guy just kept on going, pulling as hard as he could, until eventually, after half an hour?
The man just tears out of his fetters, bounces in a random direction and bursts one of the women's head apart by accident, just bumped into it, boom.
At that point, Nolan, was it? Throws out a hand, a weirdly-colored cloud comes out and our new trigger goes right to la-la-land. Been keeping watch ever since, but he didn't wake up, though he's started to stir a time or two.
Huh. Any details on the exact mechanics of the power?
Some kinda kinetic manipulation, I'd say. Take momentum applied to him, save it up and go boom. Any idea on what you wanna do with this guy when he wakes up?
Alright, you keep watch over this guy, I'm coming over to thrall him right now. Once he wakes up, we can 'convinve' him his place is in the crypts.
Doing as you told Sarah, you idly make your way over towards the storeroom all this happened in, not even bothering to use your shadow power.
You have the time.
Once there, you drag a chair over to where your special patient is sleeping, Sarah already present and feet laid onto the desk used to store the sleeping man of the hour.
The others are just lying on the ground, some awake, some sleeping the best they can, bound as they are. You don't pay them any mind for now.
"Hey Sarah. So, what's new in general lately?"
As you strike up a conversation with her, you use your claws to open up a cut and beging thralling. You're getting pretty used to this by now, actually, and thanks to the way this stuff works, you don't even have to worry about accidentally drowning him or making him swallow- all automatic.
Really convenient.
While talking with Sarah, the topic of the bloodbags in the room comes up. And yes, both of you openly refer to them like that, a fact that isn't lost on them, judging by their amusing wriggling.
Still, you summon Nolan, have him report on what he got out of them with Sarah counterchecking everything he says just by using her power on them at the same time. It's an amusing little game you're playing, but eventually you run out of happy meals to count off, so you just tell Nolan to 'Doll 'em all up'.
The wriggling intensifies.
It isn't too much longer until your patient wakes up just moments after the procedure completes (funny timing, that, huh?), grimacing at the taste in his mouth, before he freezes up as he becomes aware of the two of you sitting there.
"Hello there, Jeremy. And yes, we know your name. We now everything about you."
It is here that Sarah takes over, your plan to tag-team this guy in full blast.
"We know you used to be a mechanic down at the docks, and we know how and why you were laid off."
Her power's just SO useful at times.
"We know how much you hated what happened to the place... and how much you'd like to actually have a proper job again, one that pays your bills."
"We know you never joined up with a gang because you'd like to think you're an honest man doing honest work when you can-"
"-and how empty that sentiment rang to you, freezing and starving out in the streets."
"All it was was an excuse-"
"-didn't want to risk it all, not that desperate-"
"-not quite yet anyways."
Speaking in unison, the two of you stare him down with a grin on your faces.
""Question is, how much of that has changed now?""
"I- power. I'm a cape."
"And you're hired."
"You- you're the ones that brougth me down here, aren't you? Why would I ever join you?"
"Because your power makes you too hard to confine while we convinve you otherwise, meaning it's either that or death. On the plus side, look, you're still better off than the other fuckers that got captured... or the one whose head you exploded."
Realizing he could get up, Jeremy raised his upper body, looking in the direction you indicated... only to violently shudder at what he sees. Wonder why?
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do this? Why bring people down here, why t-torture them?"
"Because we have to to live. Because we can. Take your pick."
He just looks at you.
"Have to eat people, you see. Drink their blood, to be precise. We could just keep on killing, but that's neither reliable nor sustainable in the long run. So we need alternatives. So... the blooddolls."
"Why... urgh, why are their hands like... that?"
"Easiest way to make sure they don't escape. Over time, they'll get used to not being able to move, but until then, this much will do."
"You still haven't given us an answer. Do you want to work for us... or suffer worse fates?"
"Fuck. Fuck it, yes. I'll do what you want me to. Just... just don't make me look at them."
You share a smug look with Sarah. This whole psychic siblings routine is pretty sweet.
Leaving the little room behind for now (and mentally remarking that maybe people should just use the actual damn dungeons for this next time), you bid Sarah farewell for now and go over what you should be doing next.
Definitely going to have Yoshi keep on working in Engineering, for once. Summoning him, you're immediately put off by the way he scratches the back of his head.
"Yoshi. What happened."
"Uh, hey there, boss! So, uh, you see, funny story, actually."
"I'm waiting."
"So, you may not know this, but me and a few of the others inside you decided to go around a bit, start exploring the place, you know? Just something to actually do in there."
"Yes, yes, I really don't care that much. Go on."
"And then, well, while we were on a little expedition away from the ruins, to see if there's anything in the wilderness of note, I kinda fell into that weird red river of blood we found. Just, you know, on accident.
Only, then the blood started to bubble and foam, and before I knew it, I was thrown outta there, the whole landscape changed all at once to be really creepy, and this weird monster lady congratulated me on becoming 'true'."
...Okay.
"...Okay."
Next thing you know, you're inside yourself. You have to take a look at this.
It isn't long until you're sitting on your throne, looking over any changes that showed up since you last surveyed your inner realm. Said changes aren't too hard to find- a whole swath of forest has turned inexplicably 'darker', the trees now throwing shade deeper than they should, their leaves filled with dark, almost black veins, similarly dark and thorny vegetation dominating the landscape suddenly covered all over in snow
In the middle of it? The river of blood Yoshi told you about.
It seems to be running from a nearby maountain range, down into the small lake of blood right next to the fruit tree you've taken to visiting daily. Spying a maid body already making its way towards a particularly wide part of it, you get up off your throne and hold out a hand for the attending Maid.
"To the river. I need to take a closer look."
"As the Master commands."
With a deferential bow, you stand before a different body, already nearby her obvious objective. Stepping over, you look a little closer at the river, only to take a step back again as it begins frothing and churning, a figure rising from deep below, deeper than you'd think should be possible for it, a light drizzle of more blood raining down all of a sudden, though none of it mars the snow all around.
"Greetings, mylord. How can this humble Siren be of aid to you?"
"Why, would you happen to have a sword for me, oh lady of the lake?"
"No swords in this river, I'm afriad, mylord."
"In that case, what exactly does the river do?"
One thing you'd learned by now, the autonomous creatures in this place tend to know about the place they're spawned in, and some are even helpful and can tell you a little about this inner world of yours.
"The river of souls allows mylord to... re-use... certain inhabitants of his domain. They must be brought here, to the crossing of spirits, to be submerged in the blood pf rebirth.
Only two may enter, and only one may leave, but that one is two."
So, some sort of... fusion facility? Throw two souls in, get one with traits of both out again?
"What happened, then, to the soul that fell inside before? You called it 'true'."
"Why, yes, mylord, the brave explorer fell into the rapturous waters... but he fell in alone. He should have left as he entered, and yet, he became purer. Or, more pure than before, which should not be possible. Mylord's efforts already prified him such that he became true, in a sense.
Yet, as the river churned and spurned, something changed inside him, turning his purity such as though he attained it before coming to inhibit thyne realm. One can only guess; mayhaps it had to do with his twinned self already present?"
So... she has no idea why Yoshi changed, he shouldn't have, she supposes it may have to do with him being reincarnated or something. Gotcha.
"So... What exactly does happen to any two souls I have brought into the river?"
"The two become one that is two. Their memories and abilities are shared and divided, the trappings of power stripped and remade if true. They will lose what made them themselves, but they will gain from each other. However, one that is two may not be made more once more; the imbalance would destroy them."
Put differently, you can expect their personality, morality and all that jazz to be the average between both, as well as their skills. You suppose making sure said skills overlap would be great for keeping them useful, then, if they'd otherwise lose half of theose if you're interpreting this right. Any 'true' souls would lose their power, but gain a fusion between theirs and the other soul's, if both got one.
Also, no infinite fusion to make disgustingly powerful oversouls, it seems. Too bad.
Leaving your inner world for the time being after bidding the Siren farewell, you come face to face with Yoshi again.
"Alright, I took a look, got a grip on the situation. It's just another facility you somehow managed to activate by being reincarnated and falling inside. Don't worry about it. Or if any of the other souls around disappear, only to be replaced by others sharing similarities with them."
Yoshi shivers for some reason as you smile. You have no idea why, though.
None at all.
You know... maybe we overdid it." What is Yoshi yabbing about now?
"How so?"
"Just, these things look like they'd be complete overkill for just about any situation they could be realistically used in."
"No such thing as overkill. Also we still have to test the designs outside before we can be sure they actually work, so you go over the maths one more time while I redo the prototype frame."
Mumbling to himself, he got to work.
Good minion. Also, good design the both of you were finishing up on.
Veeery good design. The fact that the inherent modularity and efficiency of design allows for a more compact carrying mode is just a cherry on top.
Done with the design for the time being, you don't leave your inner palace just yet. Instead, you leave Yoshi behind as you approach the Maid body in attendance.
"To the dungeons, please."
"As you command, master."
A quick set of commands later, one of those pedos Sarah fed to you is dragged, kicking and screaming, into a torture chamber. You're kind of warming up to this whole facility, really.
Next stop, though, the river. Time to try this whole fusion thing out.
The Maid makes organizing things like this far too easy, you think to yourself as the two souls you were planning to experiment with are brought before you. The pair of twins you ate way back when during your little warehouse massacre look around fearfully, not that anyone but them cares.
"Alright, into the creepy river of blood you go. Don't worry, you'll come out again... after a fashion."
Not calming in the slightest, they nevertheless have no choice but to follow your commands, and so after the Siren emerges and guides them into their respective places, walking atop the surface of the blood seemingly still all of a sudden, only to drop with high-pitched screams, the blood churning and boiling where they fell.
The effect spreads all over the river, until the Siren approaches the middle of her dwelling, reaching downwards and pulling up a woman covered in blood, breathing heavily.
"Congratulations on being reborn as one."
The next moment, she chucks her out, letting you approach and take a closer look.
The young woman looks exceedingly similar to the twins she was made of, only a little more... perfect. As though someone took the basic blueprint of their faces and ironed out some of the imperfections.
"We... ugh, my head... I'm... alive?"
"So to say, yes. As I may have mentioned."
Alright, time to return to what you had going on, after all. Leaving the soul palace for the time being, you begin organizing what soul minions you want doing what at this time.
Meaning, Phillip is sent to go have a talk with Kate or whoever she wants to push this onto instead to determine where you'd best concentrate turret placement before going back to his group of students.
Meanwhile, Minilitia gets to go and familiarize himself with the laser weaponry you're about to make Yoshi create based on your design so far, in addition to continuing those shooting lessons of his- a few of the girls asked you to have him do those again every now and then just so anyone that needs the practice amongst them has an opportunity to practice.
Lastly, Yoshi's with you once you're in Engineering, after a little errand to make sure your broadcasting room for later is prepared and ready. It is, unsurprisingly, as the girls likely just put everything you had in your old broadcasting room back in the warehouse into the room and arranged it similarly, but it never hurts to make sure.
Thus, off you go to make Yoshi do things while you think about how to do them.
"Alright, so this is the basic blueprint me and Yoshi over here came up with and improved upon earlier, but don't mind that, I'm just putting this here so we can work on it later.
For now, let's get to work on some nice little turrets, shall we?"
"Boss, you put a miniature fusion reactor inside a gun!"
"Yes Lea, I did, and it is glorious. In fact, that's what Yoshi is assembling with the manufactory right now for testing purposes. But as I said, nevermind that. Turrets. Now."
"Okay, I'm going to be honest here, I like the outward look you came up with."
"Duh. We all know you're more technically oriented than anything else. Though the changes to the scanning and power generation you already worked into them are pretty great, don't get me wrong. As it is, we can even camouflage them, provided we set them up just right."
"The upgrade to their autonomous systems was long overdue, though. I mean, it'd be a miracle if these things wouldn't kill random people on the regular."
"The punchline is, I stole the whole original design wholesale from a parallel Earth as is, and it was widely used before global nuclear warfare fucked everything up everywhere. These turrets presumably did kill swathes of civilians on the regular."
It takes a while as both you and Yoshi work away before he resumes the conversation.
"Why'd you want me to install the solar panels anyways? The turrets need hardly any energy, especially with me removing all the pointles movement. I'm normally a proponent of green energy, don't get me wrong, but even the base design had enough battery capacity to last for, what, a century or two?"
"Patience. I have plans for this baby."
"Hey boys, mind helping me unload the steel over here?"
""Coming.""
"You seriously went and used the exact same design as for the guns, just scaled up with the new housing you also designed."
"Hey, it just works."
"Boooossssss! Miniature fusion reactors! More of them! What part of that sounded like a good idea?"
"The part where it means practically infinite laser shots fired at anything I don't want in my territory, as well as a much more impressive self-destruct in case anyone tries to fiddle with it, just as soon as Yoshi is done with his part of this design."
"Oh, I was done two minutes ago, it wasn't hard or anything. I'm just marveling at how bad of an idea this is going to be."
"Oh, shut it. If everyone listened to naysayers like you two, we'd never get anything done, and neither would we get a glorious sea of lasers ready and waiting for anyone I dislike."
"Alright, improved the precision and recognition capabilities of the things. Should reduce material wastage significantly."
"It was getting kinda stale having to clean them out and find a way to re-use stuff they couldn't find a use for every other day."
"Oh, you two should have seen the first prototype in action, when I made it and filled it with literal junk."
Why are they looking at you all aghast?
"Anyways, I made sure the modular design will stop stalling every time you switch needed construction modules around. The machine can use several modules at once, now. Should also help assembling a wider range of products."
"Okay, so I went over everything with a fine-toothed comb, and I believe we can apply a bunch of stuff we already threw into the other laser weapons onto the concept of the laser musket and call it a day."
"Are you really fine with just... doing that? I think we can do better."
"Oh? Any concrete ideas, then?"
"Did you forget who you're talking to? Energy science is somewhat of a hobby of mine, you might recall. For starters, we can easily replace all the capacitors with a much more efficient design that takes up less space, so we can have more of them without increasing the weapon's size like a bloated landwhale in a fast-food place.
While I do that, the two of you can go ahead and fiddle with a few beam modulators to give the weapon more options. And... I hesitate to say this, but maybe change around the design a bit, I dunno. Just give me a little time to work."
The end result of your design work looks pretty nice as it rolls out of the manufactory, actually much better overall than you'd expected.
Of course, it is at this moment that you take a moment to think about exactly how long you spent tinkering down here.
"Oh, it's night already? Didn't realize."
"Boss, I had lunch and dinner right in front of you."
"Oh, wait, I remember that. Just totally forgot to keep an eye on the clock. About time I got eat a snack myself."
And thus you are off to the bloodbag pens for the day.
Hey, how's it going with your power? Any improvements?
Eh, it's happenin', just slowly.
Leaving Minilitia be for the time being, you first return to the workshop from your little feeding time, ready to continue working on your turret project just a little longer.
"Alright, everyone, I don't have much time, but we can keep on going just a little longer, I'm sure."
"Won't hear me complainin', boss. I love this work."
"Okay, this is just complete bullshit."
"How so?"
"You installed a series of little motors that let an automated turret press itself flat onto any surface and move around corners. What part of that is not bullshit?"
"Hey, it was the best I could think of to camouflage the things. So long as it works, it's a good solution."
A short telepathic exchange with Phillip later, you desummon him only to summon your little experiment in exchange. Said experiement seems to prefer being called 'Shay', apparently a combination of both of her previous names.
Yoshi seems to be mildly horrified by the implications revealed to him after a bit of conversation between everyone present, though you don't pay it any mind. More important things to do, to be honest.
"Okay, so I want those manufactories to be running nonstop to produce these turrets. I'm fairly alright with using them as they are. Afterwards, feel free to do whatever you want, test out Shay's new power, whatever. I'm busy for the time being."
Now then... off you go start up a little stream, huh?
So... here you go, the tweet suit you have just for this occasion is lying at the ready, and such it is that Abel once again hits the floorboards, ladies and gentlemen! Of course, he can't do so without his lovely assistants, Mr. Mustache and Little Shadowface!
Haah... Maybe you're having a little too much fun with this. Still, better to get it out of your system ahead of time, what with Abel being who he is, after all.
So, a last quick check to make sure everything's in place, laptop's at the ready and just out of sight... wonderful.
Now then, time to show these degenerates their place.
"Hello again, my dear degenerates. It seems we are about to embark on yet another distasteful episode of Abel's Art Stream." You sigh.
"As it was not announced beforehand, I expect to have somewhat lower participation than last time, though that is very much fine with me. I fear extended contact with you lot may be detrimental to my mental health, nevermind I already had to quarantine you all onto the internet as a precautionary measure."
As you speak, you begin drawing, idly spinning the pen a little as you work through outlining your subject.
"Now, I'm afraid I may have gone a little rusty on this, but let's just start and see what happens, shall we? Not like anything I could come up with would be worse than what your twisted little heads do all the time anyways."
Complete lies, of course. You could never get rusty.
With another sigh, you switch to responding to comments as you keep on sketching, already considering what colors to use.
"And no, I have not become better at this since last time, despite the better quality of my work. I have simply stopped holding back, as I have come to the conclusion that you all are simply so hopelessly horny and twisted, you like anything I draw with tits.
No, I don't particularly remember any fights with any empire or anything of the sort. I did take out some trash yesterday night, which is unusual for me, I know, but alas, nothing exciting happened on the occasion.
Also, yes, that is a very bouncy butt I am drawing. Incredible observational skill there, dear little commenter sausage."
Luckily, it isn't too long until the first picture of the night is done, and you show it off to the camera for a moment.
"Now then, with your bizarrely insatiable thirst for behinds sated for the moment, what does the poll tell me to draw next?"
Looking over at your little laptop, you give out the most out-upon sigh yet. "Truly insatiable degenerates..." Shaking your head, you nevertheless begin measuring out the proportions of the picture. HealingHand42 was at it again, if you're any judge.
"You know, for all that certain parties may or may not have blatantly created a mass of accounts to vote with, you have to at least admire their tenacity. On both sides. Really, it takes some deep-seated issues to go this far over what amounts to the naked drawing of persons that may or may not exist."
Honestly, the part of this one you're the most proud of is the sky. That is one beautiful background. Still, now for the details on the focus...
"Incidentally, remember that any and all likeness to any and all real person slash persons is purely coincidental. Please, feel free to direct any complaints and or concerns to my number once you finish rubbing away at yourself. Oh wait, that is never going to happen!"
Man, you sure are glad your enhancements let you come across just the way you want to. You'd never get this extremely dry tone just right otherwise. Still, before long, you finish coloring and shading the picture you had in mind.
"Well, there you have it. One hell of a way to sunbathe, I suppose. Not her fault if anyone peeks, right? Looking at you, you filthy savages."
You blink one or twice under your shadowed face, then gently lay a hand across your eyes. "I see my brother's early forays into exhibitionism have turned you all into worthless animals in heat. I shouldn't be surprised, mayhaps, but yet I am. What a strange conundrum; losing me that last speck of respect I had for you all I didn't even know existed."
Picking up your pen, you begin sketching. "You see, normally, I would ask you to leave my brother out of this, but he did kill me, the fatherless bastard, so screw him. I'm doing this. Incidentally, any gentlemen watching, if indeed you deserve to be addressed such, somewhat of a contradiction, I know, but still, do not blame me when your wives and or girlfriends leave you over this. You have been warned."
Now, unfortunately, you don't make a habit of staring at yourself in the mirror, so you don't have an exact visual memory to basically copy onto paper, but hey, you can deal.
"...Actually, why is it always capes? Do you all suffer from neurological defects that prevent your tiny minds from any sort of creativity? Certainly would explain a lot about you all, I suppose."
This time's piece of art is fairly simplistic, so it doesn't take you overlong to finish up on it.
"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, one naked dude. I'm sure you're all very happy."
"Well now, would you look at that. The degenerates can learn. Though the theme is rather... wide, wouldn't you say?"
Looking at the blank paper, you measure out your vision. "I'm going to need a lot of green for this. Lovely color."
And there you go, sketching out the vaguely insectile form of your latest and, for the time being, last subject.
"You see, if you're going to give me blanket permission to do as I please, you better not complain about the results here, you hear?"
It is a stark contrast to what you have drawn so far, though you yourself do think it's pretty nice. A foreboding background, cables and ducts leading everywhere and a fluid base for the subject to stand in.
And the subject, of course. Insectile, as you'd mentioned, and covered with what is clearly a layer of armor. Honestly, those would be a biotinker's wet dream.
"After all, can't stop artistic expression once it's taken ahold of you, wouldn't you all agree?"
The only femininity in the picture comes from the clear female endowment of the figure standing inside the green fluid, as well as her posture.
You can express a lot through body language, and the arm (among four) held protectively across her chest, as well as the one hesitantly moving to cover her crotch?
That says a lot.
Interlude: In The Eyes Of Others
Emily breathed out long and hard, already hearing the words about to come out of Renick's mouth.
The sound of urgent steps was familiar enough at this point.
"What is it this time?"
"The porn stream, ma'am."
"Of course it's the fucking porn stream. Fuck this, get me a beer before we watch."
"I'll call the medics to hook up your dialysis machine ahead of time, ma'am."
Amy made sure the closet she was hiding in was closed tightly as she feverishly waited for her crappy mobile to show her what she wanted to see.
Confirming the stream she was waiting for was the one currently going on, she took a deep breath while thinking through how to get home as fast as possible.
Contessa was confused for a moment, before the path changed to guide her back onto Earth Bet to access the internet. Typing in a particular address, she frowned as she saw what happened.
"As it was not announced beforehand, I expect to have somewhat lower participation than last time, though that is very much fine with me. I fear extended contact with you lot may be detrimental to my mental health, nevermind I already had to quarantine you all onto the internet as a precautionary measure."
Settling down to watch what would happen next, she held in a sigh at the sight of a big butt being drawn.
She should've expected as much.
Dennis laid in bed, thinking deeply, when social media exploded about another 'Cain Stream', as they were now called, had begun.
Officially, he wasn't supposed to watch those after administering the Cure to his father just as soon as people on the internet said it worked, but hey, the guy spread the cure to cancer.
He figured he owed him to at least watch what he was doing.
"Now, I'm afraid I may have gone a little rusty on this, but let's just start and see what happens, shall we? Not like anything I could come up with would be worse than what your twisted little heads do all the time anyways."
Of course, it helped that the constant waves of sarcastic humour were hilarious, and hey, who'd say no to watching porn?
"No, I don't particularly remember any fights with any empire or anything of the sort. I did take out some trash yesterday night, which is unusual for me, I know, but alas, nothing exciting happened on the occasion."
Max balled his fists, deliberately keeping his expression in check as he watched on.
The motherfucker was taunting them!
"Also, yes, that is a very bouncy butt I am drawing. Incredible observational skill there, dear little commenter sausage."
Ethan nudged Robin in the side, a clearly audible grin accompanying his voice.
"Never thought they'd pay us to attend to porn emergencies, but I ain't complaining, eh?"
Colin, a stick up his ass like usual, just frowned at him as his dear wifey slapped him across the head.
"He's been upgraded in threat ranking after that Yangban stunt, of course we have to be on call when he streams. Imagine him nailing another batch of corpses on another wall and nobody finding them all night."
"Oh yeah, about that, we got any confirmation about whether those were actual Yangban yet?"
Colin finally opened his mouth at that.
"Autopsies have shown they were all parahumans. It is near impossible to be sure they actually belonged to the organization, but signs point towards yes, from them all being of chinese descent to no reports about them existing on american soil. Could be illegal cape immigrants, of course, but I doubt it."
Huh. Wasn't that interestin'...
Storming inside, Amy booted up her computer while making sure she kept abreast of what was happening right then and there.
"Now then, with your bizarrely insatiable thirst for behinds sated for the moment, what does the poll tell me to draw next?"
That behind was indeed glorious, but she had something else specific in mind.
She didn't waste time making it known, either.
Missy was still busy formulating her post to try and get some of that sweet Cain booty when suddenly, a new option was posted into the poll and immediately flooded with votes.
What is this? Some delusional Glory Girl fan? Butt out, you shit, I've been waiting for this long enough!
Amy snarled at the intense upsurge in countervotes.
This little shit thinks they can come and randomly make this a male art channel!?
She'd been regretting not pushing for this last time, she wouldn't just let herself be defeated now! HealingHand No Jutsu! Art Of 42 Accounts!
Missy pouted.
"You know, for all that certain parties may or may not have blatantly created a mass of accounts to vote with, you have to at least admire their tenacity. On both sides. Really, it takes some deep-seated issues to go this far over what amounts to the naked drawing of persons that may or may not exist."
She wouldn't dispute that she may have gotten a little... childish, just then, but it wasn't her fault! HealingHand42 was to blame! The fucker kept on spamming new accounts and taunting her over it!
Didn't help that no matter what she did, she couldn't scrounge up enough votes to counter them by speaking up about it.
This was fucking bullshit.
Victoria blushed as if her life depended on it. This was so embarrassing!
"Incidentally, remember that any and all likeness to any and all real person slash persons is purely coincidental. Please, feel free to direct any complaints and or concerns to my number once you finish rubbing away at yourself. Oh wait, that is never going to happen!"
Not helping it, 'Abel'! Just the thought of people the world over seeing her- seeing this, was mortifying without you mentioning a sizeable amount of them would actually masturbate to it!
Not to mention that picture was surprisingly accurate, too!
"Well, there you have it. One hell of a way to sunbathe, I suppose. Not her fault if anyone peeks, right? Looking at you, you filthy savages."
Oh god. She'd just be... here, burying her head in her pillow and trying not to think of going to school tomorrow.
"I see my brother's early forays into exhibitionism have turned you all into worthless animals in heat."
Victoria perked up.
"Well, there you have it. One hell of a way to sunbathe, I suppose. Not her fault if anyone peeks, right? Looking at you, you filthy savages."
Oh yes, oooh fucking yes. Amy would gladly be a filthy savage for this sight. Oh fucking yes.
She'd be throwing off her pants, but those went halfway through the drawing process. This was completely worth it.
She'd pay ten times this much without second thought. As she burned the picture into her retina the best she could, only one last thought went through her mind.
So fucking worth it.
Carol seethed, watching this filth despite her better judgement.
"You see, normally, I would ask you to leave my brother out of this, but he did kill me, the fatherless bastard, so screw him. I'm doing this. Incidentally, any gentlemen watching, if indeed you deserve to be addressed such, somewhat of a contradiction, I know, but still, do not blame me when your wives and or girlfriends leave you over this. You have been warned."
This disgusting piece of shit went and drew her daughter naked. She still couldn't quite fathom just how her sister stayed this calm despite the same thing happening to her daughter, but she'd be damned if she let him get through with this.
He'd added a disclaimer, casual and not up to par as it might be, so legally, she wouldn't be able to do much about this. That just meant she'd need to pursue him as a hero.
Evidence of the man's crimes was publically available, after all. There was no way she would let this stand.
"...Actually, why is it always capes? Do you all suffer from neurological defects that prevent your tiny minds from any sort of creativity? Certainly would explain a lot about you all, I suppose."
Shawn watched with dawning horror as the madman actually sketched himself naked, on camera, shared literally globally, after what he did with that cancer cure of his.
Oh Scion, they'd have him sitting in a room describing what he saw when he met the man and compare it to this in addition to analysis of his facecam, weren't they?
Sophia grunted as she watched the villain in the video draw himself naked for some reason. She'd been pretty confused when Emma, instead of texting her back, told her to immediately look up this stream because apparently, everyone was watching it right now.
She remembered being told about the streams, as well as which ones to watch out for, and she doubted the porny one was going to contain any vital intel, but it never hurt to make sure.
So it came that, instead of spending time on her secret patrol, she spent it sitting on a rooftop watching a man in a tweed suit draw himself naked. Big loss for the world, yes, yes.
A very tasty picture, though.
Kate toasted Nora, receiving the same in return.
They both knew just how close that drawing was to the truth, and it amused them greatly.
Sarah just sat in the corner, grumpily staring at the screen they were watching it all on.
"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, one naked dude. I'm sure you're all very happy."
Oh fucking yes, Missy was indeed very, very happy.
Dinah giggled, safely hidden underneath her bedsheets. She had such great luck, staying up on just the same day this was happening.
Her giggling intensified, to the point she tried to keep her mouth closed, lest she be heard. He drew his own penis!
Taylor hummed thoughtfully, afraid the sound of the computer running would wake up her dad.
"After all, can't stop artistic expression once it's taken ahold of you, wouldn't you all agree?"
That was indeed a very attractive monster-woman-thing he was drawing. Honestly, that form kind of reminded her of-
She tapped her finger. Would she be able to work some of that design into her costume?
Well, only one way to find out. At least she would have some nice new pics to think about while she drafted it out, she supposed.
That picture of a naked Cain was delicious, if nothing else.
Rebecca sat in her chair, leafing through the pile of documents before her.
"This... both gives us answers, and asks many more questions."
David chuckled. "Such a deep and insightful porn production he's running, huh?"
"This is no joking matter. He is clearly aware of our involvement in Brockton bay's situation, and I doubt Coil's disappearance is a coincidence, either. He has clearly decided to take the Terminus Project into his own hands."
"You see, if you're going to give me blanket permission to do as I please, you better not complain about the results here, you hear?" Doctor Mother mouthed, frowning as she kept on reading over reports and analyses.
"Some of this certainly works towards confirmation of the ascended parahuman theory, though I'm still more of a fan of the entity hunter one."
Rebecca sighed. David was normally uninterested in matters like these, but everything they discussed about Cain seemed to cause him no end of amusement, something he wasn't shy about expressing.
Exasperating her to no end.
Dauntless groaned. They really did it. They put him into a room to stare at pictures of a naked man for hours on end.
It detected yet another large-scale wave of cognition-disrupting change.
It urged the others to hurry.
Carefully putting away your pencils and washing your brushes, you take a moment to clean up after your stream in general.
That went pretty well, you'd say. Next off, time to go see Nora.
Nora, as it turns out, is on the way to her own room, so the two of you arrange to meet there telepathically.
Settling in once she arrives, moments after you, Nora and you comfortably sit on the sofa in her living room.
"Actually, do you have any idea how the hell we ever managed to get all this furniture down here? I remember the place being pretty barren before we took over."
"Oh, that was Kate deciding we needed it and proceeding to arrange for a discreet delivery of lots of stuff. I believe we still have a storeroom or two full of furniture for anyone to take."
"Heh. Why am I not surprised. Kate's taken to her role surprisingly well, all told. I totally expected her to shoot someone twice over by now, just out of frustration."
"Mhm. It's a nice place to live down here, thanks to her. You know, sometimes I imagine how it would've been if Vault 111 was like this place, living inside it with my old family..."
"Don't worry. We'll find out what happened to your son. I was actually thinking about heading right back into your home-dimension whenever I can again."
"Oh, that's nice. Though... I really will miss plumbing over there. Any chance you could just pull some of that out of your sleeve?"
You chuckle. "Not currently, no. Though hey, I'll see what I can do. If we're going to keep on going there and building things up, we may as well do it right."
Pulling out a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine, Nora pours both of you a glass.
"To modern conveniences."
"To convenience."
The two of you clink your glasses together and take a sip.
The small talk and slow consumption of wine continues on for a little while, the mood slowly turning from mostly serious and a little jovial over towards more... relaxed.
And by relaxed you mean you're gently massaging along Nora's thigh with the hand not occupied with your wineglass.
"Mhmm... You know Gabe, some might assume you have ulterior motives here..."
"And what about you?"
"Oh, I know you have ulterior motives. Just too bad those are never your only motives, isn't it?" As she speaks, she lays her own free hand across your thigh, beginning to stroke along it.
Looking her deep in the eyes, you change your hand's position, sliding along her back and slowly, but surely inching towards her ass.
"My, and what might you do about it?"
"Have ulterior motives right back, of course."
With that, she slips her hand down your pants and shifts to fondling your rapidly hardening dick. You, naturally, counter by putting your glass of wine to the side and employing both hands to molest Nora all over, meeting her lips with yours in a slow and sensual makeout session.
It doesn't take the two of you long to begin losing clothes.
Logistical considerations play a major role in the further planning and execution of this engagement. Or, to put it into better words, it takes a few minutes for Nora to straddle your lap and grind herself against you as you undress each other.
Unclasping her bra and throwing it off to the side after sliding her top over her shoulders, Nora thrusts her chest into your face.
"C'mon, you know you want to suckle on them."
Snorting a little, you nevertheless do as you're asked, nibbling on her nipples in turns as your hands begin working on dragging down her jeans, her arms thrown around your back as she enjoys your ministrations.
Chuckling a little, Nora keeps on talking. "You know, this reminds me of Shaun a little... Just a little though." As she wiggles out of her pants, throwing them off her legs, her panty-clad waist closes around your lap.
Giving her left nipple a last lick, you remove your mouth from it with a kiss and use the moment as you switch nipples to speak. "Then let's make sure I remind you of him as little as possible."
The wine obviously had an effect on her, you don't think she'd ever talk about this otherwise, but hey, judging by her triumphantly getting your dick out of your pants, the time for talking has about ended anyways.
"Oh, this bad boy here sure is a change of topic." Stroking your cock, she clings to you tightly, rubbing her panties along it and letting you feel the wetness spreading on their surface.
Kneading her plump butt a little, you hook your fingers into said panties.
"Mhm... Go ahead." She says, breathlessly.
Slowly you pull the last obstruction out of the way, around her pleasantly filling butt and down her legs, revealing her pussy with a well-groomed, small triangle of pubic hair pointing towards it.
It's kind of cute, actually. Though, much as you could admire her pussy for hours if you had the time, you have priorities.
Priorities such as filling that pussy, and look, Nora's already grinding it against a neatly available cock.
Lifting herself up a little, Nora looks into your eyes as the tip of your dick comes to rest against her entrance, lightly pushing her lips apart.
She drops. All the way down.
"Hnggh... Hahh... I've been missing this feeling, Gabriel. I love it. I love the way your cock feels inside me."
"What a coincidence, I love it, too."
Actually laughing a little, Nora puts her arms behind you to stabilize herself as she begins pumping away, bouncing on your cock and gyrating her hips just a little on every thrust.
"C'mon... Make mommy feel good again." She asks as she palms one of her breasts, lifting it a little to stay level with your face.
"With pleasure." You smile up at her.
Lavishly licking and sucking on her breast isn't easy with the constant movement as Nora really rides you now, but you give it your all nevertheless, being rewarded with pleased moans and encouragements whispered from her mouth.
It isn't long before she comes, accelerating to nearly blistering speeds and screaming "I'm coming I'm coming I'm coming!" Your hands keep on roaming her body throughout, and you go on ahead and come with her, filling her womb with your seed.
"I wonder... wonder how it'd feel like to be pregnant again. Does that make me a bad woman?" She asks as she rests with your entire length inside her and kissing her womb after her climax with surprising vulnerability in her voice.
"It doesn't. Not at all." You whisper back. "Besides, we can't have children until I turn you, anyways. So just enjoy the guilt-free sex until you're sure you want more children."
"Would you do that? Would-" She chokes off a bit, gathering herself for a moment. "Would you give me children?"
"Anything you want, Nora. Anything you want. I'd give you as many children as you want."
Overcome with emotion, Nora kisses you in a storm of passion, cutting off anything more you could've said.
Eventually, though, she runs out of air, and has to let up off your tongue.
"Speaking of which, though, time for round two?"
She has to outright giggle at the sly smile on your face.
It is over two hours later that Nora runs out of steam, peacefully sleeping in your arms. You, of course, carefully put her to bed inside the bedroom you briefly glanced during your little sex-marathon, though you didn't actually have sex inside, funnily enough.
With her lightly snoring away (the sound's kinda cute, actually, though hell if you won't tease her over it), you quitely exit her little apartment on base, thoughts already turning towards what to do next.
Well, for starters, you did go out of your way to design those turrets, may as well get those set up, providing the manufactories have been doing their work.
Unfortunately, the scene that greets you when you arrive at Engineering isn't that of rows and rows of folded turret awaiting deployment, however.
Instead, you find one manufactory with smoke wafting out of the intake port, as well as 'ERROR' messages flashing across the screen usually used to tell it what to do. This may need fixing, however it happened- the things are meant to be able to function under pretty much any normal conditions.
Somewhat more concerning, however, is the next manufactory in line, currently being taken apart by a feverish Sherrel, despite Lea and Yoshi's attempts to restrain her. As you watch, she is casually flinging Lea off of herself with one arm while the other one is pulling on a steel beam.
You sigh. Why can't things ever be simple around here?
It takes yourself intervening, plucking Sherrel up and carrying her some distance from the manufactory while constantly whispering soothing words to her to snap her out of her fugue.
"Oh-Ohhh, my head... Whad... What was I doing?"
"You were in a fugue. Tried to do something with the manufactories. Remember what happened?"
"Ugh... Yeah, yeah. I think I was trying to make one of the manufactories assemble parts of the engine out of smaller parts I was building, but then it started flashing error messages, so I had to fix it with parts of the other one. Shit!"
She jerks in your grasp, so you let move freely for the time being, now that she's regained her senses.
"Fuck, I completely totalled this sweet baby. I'm so sorry, Gabe!"
You chuckle as you answer. "Don't worry, Sherrel. I bet we can fix both of these up pretty quickly. And when I say 'we', I mainly mean Yoshi."
The enslaved minion, now that the two of you are coming over close enough to be heard by him and Lea, just sighs.
"Alright, everyone, so I was planning to set up those turrets tonight, but with the current state of the manufactories we had producing them, that ain't happening. Thus, time to see about fixing them up.
First off, Yoshi, you're on the disassembled one. Shouldn't take too long to fix with your powers. Meanwhile, the rest of us will get on taking the other one apart and get all the tinkertech out so it won't randomly break down later."
Nobody has any complaints about your plan, and so it goes.
It takes you the rest of the night, but the modular insides as well as your perfect knowledge of the schematics making up the manufactories let you go through the whole machine step by step relatively trivially.
Still an annoying delay, but at least you could fix it without larger issues.
Sarah sat atop her little throne, watching as that bastard calvert got beaten to death once again inside her palace.
Really, his unceasing cries of pain were a great stress relief at times she sorely needed some, especially with how her brother acted around her. Really, didn't he ever stop to think about the signals she was sending?
Didn't help he regularly and enthusiastically boned Kate and Nora both, either. Her power was still a little wonky when it came to him every now and then, but it worked just fine on the others now.
Still, she really needed to do something about the, frankly. troubling things the snake had told her after thorough interrogation. She'd opted to wait on announcing them until she, Kate or Henley managed to find enough hints towards them being true in the sea of paperwork that was the acquisition of Coil's assets, but... well, they'd found some of his notes regarding his 'benefactors' over the weekend, so that would likely happen soon.
Really, tales of powers being up for sale alone would be enough to intrigue everyone, but Gabe was overworking himself as it is, so it may as well wait for the next weekly meeting they decided to instate.
In the meantime, she'd be back on reading through paperwork herself, roaming through mountains of legalese to make sure Calvert hadn't hidden any more unpleasant surprises just to spite anyone trying to do exactly what they were doing- if they hadn't been careful, the first of such traps would've seen them exposed to Watchdog within hours.
Heh. Served him right what she was doing to him now. "Alright, everyone, back to raping him now."
Just because she was doing paperwork didn't mean she couldn't keep on fueling herself with spite and schadenfreude, either.
Kate grumbled to herself as she read through Sarah's mail. Several documents needed to be looked over again, meaning they went off to Henley, though she herself also had a significant amount of reading and checking to do herself.
Honestly, taking over the powerbase the insane Thinker had assembled for himself was almost more trouble than it was worth it at this point. Almost.
Their tidy earnings kept her opinion in check, as it were.
Still, was it too much to ask to just have him have a list of his assets lying around somewhere on his personal computer, with any traps he'd inserted clearly marked? It would, actually, they would've immediately discarded it as the obvious misdirection it would have been, but still.
At least Gabe's sister wasn't bugging her about searching through the main computer anymore, enough notes and details found by now to make the tall tales about cape illuminati the bastard's soul told her plausible.
She absolutely couldn't wait to be done with this shit and just having Henley do any further paperwork required so she'd be back to doing what she loved.
That is, Gabe. And shooting things, for that matter. Scion, but if she wasn't up for both of that.
Henley moved with mechanical precision, signing what needed to be signed, reading what needed to be read, and handing off what needed to be handed off.
Without the enhancements his new boss had given him, he'd never be able to work at this pace, not to mention his reduced need for rest meant longer office hours.
He wasn't exactly... enthused about that last one, but needs must. Similarly, he wasn't quite over the way he'd been hired on, but at least his new position in life allowed him to takle the reigns of his own actions much more directly than ever before.
Also, his new looks were a definite plus.
"Kerry, would you get these over to Kate, then be a dear and make sure Engineering hasn't used up everything and forgot to notify us again?"
"Will do, chief. While I'm at it, want me to remind Kate she needs to send someone to have a 'talk' with the people at fortress Construction?"
"Sure, can't hurt. the sooner we get them to shut up and do as they're told, the better."
Ahh, competent help. Seriously, Kerry was a godsend, especially with their current situation. It was amazing not being the only person in the accounting department actually doing their job anymore.
Skidmark may have been many things, but a decent organizer wasn't among them. Just one more reason to prefer his new job, he supposed.
Anyways, back into the grind. Only two hundred documents to go through before dinnertime.
Addy quitely giggled to herself as she waited for the newest mixture to finish hardening. It was finally done; her new attempt at refining the concept of buffout was ready for testing.
Nell eyed her suspiciously from where she was taking notes on how the chemicals were behaving.
"You're being creepy, Cuppy. Anything wrong?"
"Don't call me Cuppy! That's even worse than Cupcake! Also, it's done. Finally."
"Oh, really? Suppose all those experiments weren't just you playing around, after all. How're we gonna test this stuff?"
"How do you think?" Not waiting for an answer, Addy threw the experimental mixture into her mouth and began chewing.
"Oh you gotta be kid- C'mon, Addy, we talked about this. You can't just sample the stuff you brew up! Spit it out!"
"Nevah!"
Shaking off the hands seeking to open her mouth, Addy slammed a foot into the ground and moved halfway out of the laboratory.
"The fuck?"
"It works! It works! Muahahaha! And it doesn't even have the mental side effects exhibited in rare cases!"
"You mean to say you're not about to flip out and demolish anything in reach?"
"That was one time!"
Meh. At least she'd had enough time to finally get her new baby ready. Yay for automated production!
"Alright, here ya go. If you need any of the good stuff, though, don't forget the location moves every few days, so you'll have to either hurry or ask someone when you need to 'freshen up'."
"Got it, got it. Not like anyone'd say no to some of the good tinker shit."
Frank nodded at his customer as he left. New leadership may take a tigher grip, sure, but they got things well in hand either way. He couldn't just do his own thing anymore, but the new rules weren't too big of an issue to solve, and in exchange they got some sweet deals with their wares still.
Fiddling out a joint, he carefully ignited it and got to smokin'. Nothing better than some light recreational use to forget the cold evening air, after all. And where he'd have been careful about taking his own stock once upon a time, regardless of what the other idiots with the Merchants said?
Now he just had to ask for a dose of addictol at the end of the week and he'd be right as rain. Really, everyone workin' for the gang got a weekly dose on request, and it sure was fucking worth it to join up for that alone. Even with the scary tinkertech weapons the chicks handing that shit out waved around on the regular.
Long use tended to blunt the high, making you take more, but with the good shit the bosses were handin' out? Every hit could be like the first one.
He could think of worse reasons to make his money this way.
Jade checked her musket over one last time before they rolled out. She had no idea how the thing actually worked, but that wasn't any excuse to skimp on what maintenance she could do.
"You ready?" Mariam asked.
"Always."
Emerging into the cargo bay, the two of them first saw the pair of good ol' vans the gang had first been using for purposes just like this, though they ignored them in favor of the larger vehicle further in currently being loaded with crate after crate of guns and ammunition.
Quickly joining in on the loading efforts, they naturally used the slaves projections they'd been given to hurry things along, shortly embarking on their day trip to Boston.
Selling weapons, as it turned out, became vastly more profitable when all they really needed was a bunch of metal to throw into the crazy machines the boss had cooked up to mass-produce them on command. Similarly, their buyers were pleasantly impressed at their ability to meet pretty much any demands in terms of the usual hardware of the business, so they were in the position to figure out a lot about where and how the actual handoffs were to happen.
Honestly, the largest issue they were having was that they could only transport so much 'hardware' at once, though Sherrel told a few of them she was working on something to help that along.
Sherrel smiled as she continued welding the metal plates together. Honestly, the idea of a plate of metal would have people imagine she didn't really need to do this herself, but those people obviously had no idea about tinkertech.
This may be a plate of metal, but it needed to be prepared just right, with indents in the correct form and just the right texture across the inside. This baby was going to hook up to a bunch of parts, and she couldn't have any of them malfunction, could she?
Smooching what was going to become the door of a tinkertech vehicle perhaps best described as an eighteen-wheeler from hell, with the firepower to back that up and underwater as well as brief flight capabilities mainly intended to maneuvre its bulk easier, she began giggling as she fit it into the frame.
Lea grinned as she laid the finishing touches on what would become her very own little magnum opus... for now, anyways. Carefully inserting her hand into the glove compartment, she made sure it fit snugly before pulling it out again.
Really, the bio-mechanical sensors the turrets used to differentiate friend from foe were ingenious, but they had the potential to be so much more! Such as her little baby here.
It wasn't that much of a step-up to simply have the mechanism assist in aiming somehow; the challenge had been integrating the sensors in such a way that they could actually be used to do it. Hence, the Aim-Assist Glove, courtesy her hers truly.
Simple in theory and as simple as possible in execution, the glove adhered to the hand of the person using it and, through the use of one of the sensors rebuilt to be a little more compact, automatically adjusted aim when shooting.
She could actually strip out quite a few components when she realized she didn't need it to differentiate people, just to point out where to shoot to kill stuff it was aiming at. Harder was the challenge of letting it independently confirm what weapon was being used as well as how it shot, though a quick and dirty transplant had it work through a smart VI that could 'learn' weapons as it was being used.
Thanks again, Yoshi.
Now all she needed was to find enough space to add a grappling hook and it would be ready for testing! Mhmm... Kate would probably be happy about a new toy to play with, even if it didn't blow up things itself. It still helped in blowing things up, so it should be alright as a present.
Brian took out his phone, the call having come in right as he was coming out of the gym.
"Hey Brian. Got a new job for the gang."
"Nice to hear from you too, Lisa. How've you been doing?"
"Hah. Yeah, nice to see you, too. Been pretty busy checking over paperwork to make sure our old boss didn't leave behind any nasty surprises. Spoiler: He did."
"Ouch. Your power been giving you trouble?" As he spoke, he casually made sure he wasn't being overheard, of course, which he wasn't. Still never hurt to make sure.
"Nah, I'm not being overworked on that front anymore, at least. My bro's pretty good about that. Anyways, new job. Jobs, to be precise. We've been discussing things, and we decided to start needling the Empire on several fronts.
We're also perfectly clear Bitch will keep on going after Hookwolf's operations sooner or later, so she may as well do it with backup. Literally all we need to do is trash a bunch of their places and run if a cape shows up. Shouldn't be too difficult."
"Uh-huh. And how much of that was you convincing your brother to do this as a way to keep Bitch in line?"
"Surprisingly little, actually. Anyways, see you at the usual place tomorrow and we can hash this out as a team. Just letting you know ahead of time so you aren't surprised. See ya then!"
"See you then." He answered before hanging up. To be honest, the way Lisa was semi-permanently either happy or high-strung was creeping him out a little, though he supposed having a family member you thought dead spontaneously return into your life was bound to turn said life upside down.
Huh. He was having the strangest sense of deja-vu.
Probably nothing, though.
For the average civilian, nothing much had changed in terms of the brooding gang warfare boiling inside the cauldron of Brockton Bay for decades now. That said, homeless or those of low income started to move into the areas surrounding the old trainyard, where a few apartment buildings were open and usually less than filled, to say the least.
The Lord's Street Crypts had taken a chunk of the city, but there was a reason the Merchants had set their eyes on it before being either murdered or assimilated... most of it was defunct and in ruins for a reason, after all, and nobody part of real society lived in either the trainyard or the industrial areas and old, unused warehouses near the boat graveyard.
Still, what it didn't have in terms of direct economic impact, the new gang more than made up for in terms of reputation. A few weeks had passed ever since the reputed leader had stepped up to the scene, and already he was known for first curing cancer worldwide in one fell swoop, then killing a team of foreign capes and nailing them onto a wall as both a statement and a work of art.
For those that would consider graffiti art, anyways.
A wolf yipped and growled.
A group of dogs barked and yipped in response.
They then cuddled.
Alec took a look at his mobile, the message he'd received telling him to be in a certain place at a certain time at some point tomorrow.
He just shrugged and went back to gaming.
Aisha walked down the featureless corridor, going out of her way not to bump into the people walking through it.
Her power had allowed her to follow her brother rather easily, and she soon found this place just through trying to find out exactly who had made that 'trade' with her 'mother'.
She never expected to find an underground complex chock full of gangsters and tinkertech, but she sure wasn't going to complain. That it was apparently the home of the new king of the internet, as far as the locals were concerned, anyways, didn't hurt, either.
She'd spent the last few days just exploring it, living off of the occasional snacks she found lying in meeting rooms and...
Okay, so she may have gotten a little lost. Shit happened, and she couldn't exactly ask anyone about the way out, now could she?
She'd even actually do it if she found some damn way to turn off her power, too.
Eating the last of your fruit, you have the Maid port you over to the river. Time, you suppose, to continue fusing souls and seeing what comes out.
It's weirdly fun, actually.
Thus, casually choosing two of the mage souls you obtained bacn in Thule, you have them thrown in, ignoring their protestations and/or pathetic screeching in favor of standing ready to observe the result.
What emerges as a thrown projectile (the Siren is having far too much fun with this) is a young man shaking the blood out of his hair.
"Call us... Raffington."
"Sure, sure, whatever."
With your daily stuff done for the day, you exit your inner world and once more go through your current soul loadout.
Phillip had best keep in training those kids and getting them used to following orders, while Minilitia may as well go out on patrols or whatever- just anything to show presence until you've tricked out your territory with loads and loads of turrets.
Shapeshifting turrets that shoot lasers. Holy hell, your ingenuity knows no bounds.
Ahem, but yes, him on that, that leaves Yoshi... though you don't exactly plan to keep on working on the various designs swirling through your head...
He'll just have to see what he can do in Engineering, you suppose. Next on the list after sending them off, time to refine souls.
After a disappointingly short time spent watching the fused soul scream and twitch soundlessly, you reabsorb it when it doesn't reveal any interesting new powers and instead go on ahead to twist the minds of your somewhat more freely thinking minions instead.
First stop. Emily's room!
"Hey Emily. You have a little time?"
"Oh, uh, sure, take a seat. I'll go grab the pastries."
"Mhm. They're pretty good, actually. Where do you get them from?"
"Oh, from that one guy on base, Ethan. He's really big on baking stuff."
Huh. You hadn't seen that one gay guy in a while. Nice to hear he's doing well.
"Sooo... Why'd you wanna talk?"
"Oh, I can't come by for a casual chat?" Smiling at her sputtering for a moment, you continue. "Jokes aside, I wanted to see how you're doing. That fight against the Empire was the first time you really went out with others as a group, and I'm a little worried about how you're taking things."
Sitting down with a small plate with assorted pastries, she grabs for a slice of apple cake and takes a bite while holding up a finger. Giving her the moment to formulate her words, you take a piece of cake yourself.
They really are pretty good, after all.
"...Would it be strange if I said I didn't feel bad about the way those people died? Like, I was there, flying above everything that happened, watching... And I'm only a little worried about the whole thing. I'd always have thought people dying just like that would bother me a lot more."
"They were nazis that came into our territory to kill our people just to see how we would react. Honestly I would be more surprised if you felt guilty about it."
"Really? I would've thought just seeing people die would be a bigger deal. Though maybe I shouldn't be surprised, given who I'm talking to."
Hey, at least she's smiling. A little.
"Oh please, that whole thing about how all life has value and how even if you hate someone killing them feels wrong? That is mostly good sounding bullshit people put in stories. Killing isn't hard, it's incredibly easy, and getting used to it is even easier. With a target as deserving as literal fucking nazis? Yeah you're not gonna feel much guilt over it without being a borderline saint."
"Huh. Guess I'll just trust your wisdon, oh wise one."
"Hey, I actually do know a thing or two about psychology. Used to take a few courses on it back in college."
"Really? What was that like?"
"Well, first thing you gotta keep in mind? Forget all those stories telling you about how college life is supposed to be..."
It is a decent while later that the conversation hits a natural break point and you excuse yourself, though you're fairly sure your stories and perspective have changed what she was thinking about before you came, at least a little bit.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Oh, no need to be so formal, Brian. I didn't call you here for any official business. I just knew you were going to come by for that business I set Sarah to, so I took the opportunity to have a little talk with you. Siddown, relax."
The two of you sit down, though you note the young man sitting across you is still tensing up. Looks like he's terribly nervous and/or high-strung.
Terrible way to talk, that. Time to calm him down a little.
"So, I'm trying to do this whole 'responsible boss' thing, and part of that is that I make a point of talking to my employees every now and then, get to know them, you know the drill.
For starters, how've you been doing? Or your sister, for that matter?"
