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Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on January 5, 2011; 3:52 PM EST:
Wow!
Talk about quite the premier onto the cape scene here in the Bay!
Around lunchtime, the known cape rogues March and Homer (see here and here for their back stories) appeared on the Boardwalk, moving to attack Parian while she was entertaining some children from Lord's Port Elementary. Smartly, our lady of puppets moved to get the fight away from the kids, hiding in a nearby alley, where her attackers moved to trap her.
And then…
Oh, God, and THEN…!
If you ever read about the Plagues of Egypt, we now have a cape in the bay who can MATCH that!
Just as Glory Girl (with Panacea) arrived on the scene to save Parian, a HUGE swarm of multiple types of insects surged out of EVERYWHERE to take March and Homer down with a nice offering of wasp and hornet stings!
Even better, just as Assault and Battery came onto the scene, said swarm then assumed FEMALE HUMANOID form!
And said swarm could SPEAK like a normal person…even if the sound was QUITE unnerving to hear!
And then…
This swarm — whom Glory Girl addressed with the cape name "Skitter" — then proceeded to verbally TEAR STRIPS off March and Homer for threatening CHILDREN!
When questioned by our wonderful dating(?) team, Skitter confessed that she was a Master/Thinker combo, confined "only" to insects and other such creatures; she even sounded as if she was relieved that her powers didn't extend beyond that.
None the less, no one died, Parian was healed by Panacea, two idiots known to have constantly harassed the Wards in New York such as Fléchette (read here to understand more) are off the streets and the Bay has a clearly new heroic cape.
What a day!
► Miss Muppet (Verified Cape) (Verified Puppet Artist) (At Ground Zero: Brockton Bay)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:54 PM EST:
To Skitter: Thank you so much for saving me. Honestly, I don't know what got into March to make her attack me like that!
To everyone else: Shows are cancelled for the rest of the week as I must repair a LOT of puppets from today's incident.
► Lord's Port Elementary School (Official Staff Account)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:55 PM EST:
To Miss Muppet: Take your time, Ms. Parian. Glad to see you're safe and well. Good to see March and Homer taken off the streets as well.
To Skitter: Thank you for saving Ms. Parian. The kids want to meet you and thank you themselves.
► Point_Me_at_the_Sky (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:55 PM EST:
Skitter's new in town, folks. She's just getting settled in. Give her a bit and she'll be swarming mooks quite soon.
► Goldline
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:56 PM EST:
Saw the takedown. Unlike Bagrat, I'm seriously scared of insects, especially with numbers like THAT.
Still, I'm happy that Parian was saved. She's one of the nicer capes out there and doesn't deserve any grief.
► HotterLass
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:58 PM EST:
Amazing control of so many different bugs! She's a definite Master/Thinker; thank God she can't do beyond those!
► GoodGoo
Replied on January 5, 2011; 3:59 PM EST:
Considering how much March wants to kill a nice girl like Fléchette (rumours about both being the victims of the same cluster trigger are out there), seeing the bitch brought down like THAT was quite cathartic! Skitter rocks!
► Nyrus
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:00 PM EST:
We've got a new overlord — or overlady! — in town!
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:02 PM EST:
Thanks, but no thanks on the "overlady" idea, Nyrus. Doesn't fit me.
► Grapejoint (Brockton Bay Docks)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:03 PM EST:
Um…hey, mods! Is this her?
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:04 PM EST:
She registered as such.
To CleverGirl95: To get a "verified" tag, please PM a video of you using your powers.
End of Page. 1, - 7, 8, 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:05 PM EST:
To Tin Mother: You'll be sent one soon enough. Clothes got wrecked in the wash, so I need a new uniform.
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:05 PM EST:
Well, well! Looks like a new hero has arrived to bug the villains of Brockton Bay!
(And no, I'm clearly not joking)
Seriously though, a power of this may seem like it's not that incredible.
As HotterLass effectively indicated, Miss Skitter is a definite Master/Thinker.
If used right, who knows what it could be capable of?
I've a STRONG feeling that even the toughest parahuman in the Bay will have trouble against Miss Skitter.
►All_Seeing_Eye
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:06 PM EST:
So speaks the Wise Lone Sage. What do you know, Doctor?
► Volan
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:06 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: So, what did you do to earn the attention of DOCTOR DEATH of all people?! Threatening March with being turned into instant flesh-slush isn't a good thing, you know!
► Grapejoint (Brockton Bay Docks)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:06 PM EST:
Skitter didn't do a damn thing to THREATEN March and Homer, Volan! All she said was that she'd love to see the Doctor use that necrosis of hers on the stupid bunny girl if the good Doctor had been in town.
► Palshife
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:06 PM EST:
Wait! Wait! Skitter mentioned the UNDERTAKER, too! Holy cow! Two top reality warpers from You Know Where taking interest in one simple cape?!
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:07 PM EST:
(Whistles innocently)
► BFG1104 (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:07 PM EST:
Oh, good grief, people! Say the planet's name! YIZIBA!
We're not like idiots from other planets who can't stand the idea of a planet of METAHUMANS being close by!
► Day_Hunter
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:07 PM EST:
Oh, fuck me! The DOCTOR'S in Brockton Bay now?! RUN FOR THE HILLS!
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:08 PM EST:
To Day_Hunter: I've no intention of visiting the Bay anytime soon. Too busy on the West Coast here.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 - 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:08 PM EST:
To Raer'buo_Erba: Doctor Renaissance, would you PLEASE stop trolling people like that!
► Day_Hunter
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:08 PM EST:
Yeah, I was talking about Doctor Death, not you, Doc! You're one of the nicer metas from Yiziba, not the lady with the literal lethal touch!
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:09 PM EST:
(Whistles innocently)
►CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:10 PM EST:
To Raer'buo_Erba: "Verified Dimensional Traveller"?
►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:10 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: That's Doctor Renaissance, Ms. Skitter. He's a hyper-genius polymath, like a Thinker/Tinker combo, both at Level THIRTY on the PRT scale.
Did you have that type of scale back home?
Oh, welcome to the Bay! Glad to see another heroic cape in town.
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:10 PM EST:
Control yourself, Void.
► BFG1104 (Veteran Member)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:11 PM EST:
Void, controlling himself? That'll be the day!
►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:11 PM EST:
Oi, I resemble that remark!
►CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:11 PM EST:
What…?
Thinker/Tinker THIRTY?!
The scale only went to 15+ back home!
A rating THAT high indicates a total loss of a sense of humanity in a cape.
►All_Seeing_Eye
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:11 PM:
To Raer'buo_Erba: Meanie!
(Sticks out tongue)
To CleverGirl95: Gifted Metahumans get the bonus of being able to SAFELY access the memories of up to TWENTY SEPARATE LIFETIMES of experience from their past-selves on Yiziba when the Gifting happens, when the powers are fused into a person.
Don't worry. Even if he is a bit of a troll and a MAJOR otaku from what I've seen to him, Doctor Renaissance is one of the sanest people to wear a battle suit to come out of Tariko Katabarbe's overall casting drive since before 9/11.
Parahumans get broken by their trigger events.
Metahumans avoid that or get fixed when they get Gifted.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, - 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► KnowMe
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:12 PM EST:
Well, if Doctor Renaissance can come over to offer Skitter some help in adjusting in, that's good. With what people have said he's been doing since he took the Wondercolts in California under his wing, he could show Skitter lots of stuff.
►CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:12 PM EST:
And the "(Verified Dimensional Traveller)" tag?
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:13 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: Shortly after my Gifting, I accessed a dimensional transportation device one of my past incarnations made.
Ever hear of the saying, "What's fiction in one place is fact in another?"
I've seen that sort of thing in my travels; in doing that, I've followed the example of a magical metahuman friend of mine in Japan who honoured her grandfather's 'magical quest' to visit various dimensions to learn other things.
Before you ask, yes, I'm pretty much aware of what your multiverse was like thanks to the kimfombeke; you should know from Doctor Death and the Undertaker what that word means. I'd be more than happy to answer loads of questions you might have, but you just got into our multiverse late last night Bay time.
Rest up, relax, get your sense of balance back.
You've earned the break from the fight scenes. After helping put the kimfombeke down, you damn hell deserve a break.
► Litronie_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Quadrumvirate of Yiziba) (Not a Heel This Time Around) (In The Book)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:14 PM EST:
What Doctor Renaissance just said, CleverGirl95!
To all the norms: As the Doc just indicated, Skitter did all in the Great Show a big solid, so we're helping her as she recovers from a MOAFS-like situation.
To the moron squads in Brockton Bay: Touch her, I pay you a visit.
You don't want that to happen.
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:14 PM EST:
To everyone who might scream about what Doctor Death just said: She's ALLOWED to make such warnings on PHO!
And I'd heed her advice if I were you. Even with the little I know, Skitter's been through a lot before she came here.
► KnowMe
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:15 PM EST:
See, CleverGirl95? You've got lots of friends in the Bay!
Still, with what's just been said here, that's two S-class metahumans (or however it's rated in the International SpecWar Treaty) taking interest in one girl, with one more keeping a weather eye on things!
Cape or no, that's weird.
To Litronie_Erba/Raer'buo_Erba: What do you guys mean by 'kimfombeke', anyway?
►The Real Panacea (Verified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:15 PM EST:
To KnowMe: From what Vicky and I learned when we met Skitter earlier today, it's VERY BAD FUCKING NEWS.
Believe me, this is shit that even someone like Doctor Death would have issues with.
This is a threat that even the War Hawks would have issues with! Way beyond Battle of Toronto levels of danger!
Something you'd need either Infinity, the Weaver or Oblivion to help with.
►All_Seeing_Eye
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:15 PM EST:
What?
►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:16 PM EST:
Oh, my God! What the hell happened?!
► Volan
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:16 PM EST:
So speaks the Archangel of Mortality…
Wait! What?!
(rereads the Doctor's and Panacea's words)
Fuck me! A MOAFS-level cape fight?!
Good question, Void! What the hell happened, CleverGirl95?!
End of Page. 1, - 3, 4, 5, - 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► Ruodeuto (Verified Metahuman) (Not In The WWE)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:16 PM EST:
As you people might have guessed by now if you read what Doctor Renaissance just wrote, Skitter's a Haywire victim from a pure-parahuman version of Earth. She helped kill one of the creatures who gives powers to parahumans via trigger events. We call them kimfombeke ("worm leech") and consider them even lower than the average run of death cheaters that Doctor Death and the Grimm love to go after all the time. Every parahuman who's gone through a trigger event knows what I'm talking about; they're the worm-like things they imagine seeing when the empowerment happens.
That's the type of solid that anyone on Yiziba respects.
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:17 PM EST:
Damn! You're making me blush, sir!
► Volan
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:17 PM EST:
Holy shit! A Haywire victim?! Damn, Skitter, welcome to our multiverse!
► Grapejoint (Brockton Bay Docks)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:17 PM EST:
And welcome to Brockton Bay, Miss Skitter! You looking to get Gifted as well? Anyone else from Yiziba involved in this?
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:17 PM EST:
Suiki and Küchenchefin are also involved. Suiki helped pull me out of the Dark Gaol on Yiziba when the Undertaker found me; Lord Rjazán' put me there after I was ejected from my multiverse. Küchenchefin is helping me adjust to living here full-time.
Wow! Can't believe so much is so OPEN here!
► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:17 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: Woo-hoo! New lady hero cape in the Bay! Are you Wards age?! Did you have Wards back home?!
To Raer'buo_Erba: Could you get Tariko to come visit the Bay, please? I want to talk to her!
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:18 PM EST:
Vista, you know the rules! You don't BEG any Yizibajohei, even adopted ones like Ms. Katabarbe.
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:18 PM EST:
Ma'am, please! Don't punish Vista for asking to have Tariko come visit her. She has her reasons.
To Vista: I'll mention you to Tariko as soon as I can.
To everyone in the Bay: Don't worry about Skitter. Let her settle in and get her feet under her again. I'm sure once she has a better sense of her situation, she'll be more than willing to answer more questions about what she's gone through.
► Morning_Wisdom (Verified Red Dragon)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:18 PM EST:
So, a new hero has arrived in this great hive of scum and villainy (quoting Master Obi-Wan Kenobi).
I sense by the words written here, CleverGirl95, that you've come from a very horrible place.
May you know peace and harmony here as you seek out your destiny.
I join all the good people here in expressing my delight on seeing that another guardian has arrived to help Brockton Bay.
If only you had been here sooner, Miss Skitter…
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:18 PM EST:
To Morning_Wisdom: When you have time, I'd want to chat with you in private.
End of Page. 1, - 4, 5, 6, - 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► Morning_Wisdom (Verified Red Dragon)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:19 PM EST:
I'm more than free now, Sensei.
► Litronie_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Quadrumvirate of Yiziba) (Not a Heel This Time Around) (In The Book)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:19 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: I'm briefing my bosses about you right now, Skitter. I'll see you later tonight or tomorrow.
Again, to the idiots in the Bay: LEAVE HER ALONE!
► Point_Me_at_the_Sky (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:19 PM EST:
To Litronie_Erba: Oi, Doc! Mom told me to tell you to back off and leave Amy alone!
►The Real Panacea (Verified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:19 PM EST:
Ignore Carol, Doctor. She doesn't speak for me.
►New Wave Central (Official Account)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:20 PM EST:
VICTORIA! Stop writing those sorts of things on PHO!
You're going to have some explaining to do, young lady!
As for you, AMY, you're not going anywhere.
To Tin Mother: Please tag Amy's account properly.
► Tin Mother (Moderator)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:20 PM EST:
Doctor Death speaks with FEDERAL authority, Brandish. You've no right to demand that.
Panacea requested that all links to New Wave be removed from PHO. The Doctor backed up that request, so it was honoured.
Keep this up and I will have your account suspended.
► Morning_Wisdom (Verified Red Dragon)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:20 PM EST:
(Shakes head) And they call themselves "heroes"?
Even with the mistakes she makes, Glory Girl does try her best.
And Panacea-sensei's efforts speak for themselves.
► Litronie_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Quadrumvirate of Yiziba) (Not a Heel This Time Around) (In The Book)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:20 PM EST:
Counsellor Dallon, you are in NO POSITION to order either myself OR Amelia considering what you did that brought her into your house in the first place.
That WILL be reversed.
Be a pain to me and I'll be happy to ask Oblivion to step in and deal with you, PERMANENTLY.
Yoenu'u (Verified Metahuman) (Quadrumvirate of Yiziba) (The One True Showstopper) (In The Book)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:20 PM EST:
Be happy to shut that yapping umale up, Doctor.
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:21 PM EST:
To Litronie_Erba & Yoenu'u: I'm available to help if you need it. Amelia deserves to be treated much better than I've heard she has been so far from the new friends I've made after coming here.
To New Wave Central: Since Tin Mother confirmed it, I know who I'm writing to, Brandish. I ALSO know of your counterparts in my universe. What happened to Panacea there sounds VERY similar to what happened to Amelia here.
End of Page. 1, - 5, 6, 7, - 9
Topic: New Insect-Theme Cape Saves Parian
In: Boards ► USA ► Massachusetts ► Brockton Bay
► Raer'buo_Erba (Verified Metahuman) (Verified Hyper-Genius) (Verified Researcher) (Verified Dimensional Traveller)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:21 PM EST:
Indeed, it's the same, CleverGirl95.
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:21 PM EST:
Thank you, Doctor.
My warning stands, Brandish. Save your fights for the courtroom. Let Amelia live her life! I REFUSE to see her driven so deep into depression that she'll snap and become a danger to people.
► Volan
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:21 PM EST:
Damn! Was it really that bad back home?
► FlippinMad
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:22 PM EST:
Can't you even go back home, Miss Skitter?
► CleverGirl95 (Unverified Cape)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:22 PM EST:
To FlippinMad: Nothing to go back to, so I'm stuck here. That's how devastating those things can be if they're not stopped.
To Volan: Much more secretive of people's civilian IDs and histories; this little stripping down of a certain hypocrite — And NO, Brandish! Evil is NOT genetic! — would never happen back home.
We called this concept the "Unwritten Rules" there.
What happened to Panacea back home would NEVER have been allowed when I started out as a cape two years ago my time.
To everyone: I'd be happy to tell more, but I need to get my feet under me. Happy to help Parian keep safe; she's neutral and that should be respected. Never mind those two lunatics going crazy around defenceless children. No one should allow that.
► Grapejoint (Brockton Bay Docks)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:23 PM EST:
Agreed.
► American Caesar
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:23 PM EST:
Agreed. And welcome to the Bay, Miss Skitter. Your actions speak well of you.
► Miss Muppet (Verified Cape) (Verified Puppet Artist) (At Ground Zero: Brockton Bay)
Replied on January 5, 2011; 4:25 PM EST:
To CleverGirl95: If you need help, please contact me.
Private messages from Parian (Verified Cape):
January 5, 2011; 4:26 PM EST
Skitter:
Thanks for the offer, but my current hosts are sourcing special materials for my new costume. I have rather strict needs.
Parian:
I do deal with all forms of cloth.
Skitter:
Do you have access to Darwin's bark spider dragline silk? Or even black widow dragline silk?
Parian:
Never dealt with those types of materials. You really go for the insect theme, don't you.
Skitter:
My standard costume was built with function over form in mind. It's a good way to stay alive. Still, if I can, I'll come visit you. My current hosts did provide me some clothes, but I need a complete wardrobe, including foundation clothing.
Parian:
What…?
Oh…OH! Right!
Mr. Calaway mentioned you were a Haywire case.
Skitter:
Oh, God! I'm SO glad that's so easily accepted here!
As I said on the main boards, Doctor Death, the Undertaker, Suiki and Küchenchefin are helping me.
I'm currently with Sharon Blake's observation group north of downtown.
Parian:
Oh, that's good! Know all about the Avalonians and all the adopted Yizibajohei who help them. Had to get a body swap?
Skitter:
Before I got dumped into the Dark Gaol by Lord Rjazán', my last "fight scene" (as our friends from Yiziba call it) was past MOAFS stage (that's what Margo Black said). I was a total wreck when Mr. Calaway and Hinako found me.
Is "MOAFS" the right term to use for planet-wide fights? What does that mean, anyway?
Parian:
MOAFS: Mother of All Fight Scenes. Planet-scale cape fight.
Don't ask me how to say it in Yizibajohei, though.
Did you have a Brockton Bay where you come from?
Skitter:
Brockton Bay dockyard girl, born and bred. I even knew my universe's version of you.
Parian:
Wow! Small multiverse! Please, when we chat here, call me Ṣabāḥ!
Skitter:
Taylor Hebert. Pleased to meet you, Ṣabāḥ.
Parian:
Taylor?! Professor Annette Hebert's daughter?
Skitter:
Same. I know there's a local version of me in a coma at Brockton Bay General Hospital. No one's told me what happened save that the jerks from the Gold Moon Society were involved.
Parian:
Don't know many details myself. I do take correspondence courses from UMBB on my spare time, so I know our you's mother as she teaches English literature. Do you want me to pass on to the professor and her husband about you?
Skitter:
Er…hold off on that. I don't want to hurt them by accident…and the chances are there that your universe's Taylor could recover.
Parian:
The one time I asked Amy Lavere about that, she doubts there's much left of our Taylor in her brain. Even if Amy doesn't try to play around with brain tissue — it's a no-brainer to guess why — she could at least tell that. No doubt, it involves high doses of ebony mesonium. One must have the powers of Special Agent Black or Mr. Calaway to fight off the influence of THAT stuff.
Skitter:
Just getting introduced to mesonium and what it can do. Looks like I need to do more research.
Parian:
LOL! Listen, would you be up for a visit? I know where Sharon's team lives and I can bring stuff over to start your wardrobe.
Skitter:
Ṣabāḥ, please! I don't want to impose!
Parian:
You saved not just me but Lily as well! Oh, does Fléchette exist back home?
Skitter:
I know my version of Lily as well…and yes, both you and Lily make such a CUTE couple!
Parian:
Flatterer! Be there at 6:00.
Skitter:
I'll warn Sharon.
Brockton Bay, not far from Sharon Blake's residence, Wednesday 5 January, 4:32 PM…
The woman known more commonly on Parahumans Online as "FlippinMad" allowed a curious trill to escape her as she scanned what was on her phone screen, she calmly walking down the street in the general direction of one of the known locations that had been used by alien-born observers of Terran culture for decades. Dressed somewhat in fashion for this time of year, she easily navigated around the small splotches of ice on the sidewalk with the ease of an experience gymnast, a neutral look on her face. Despite the show of obliviousness which would see her marked as a potential target for whatever reason had she been deep within the territories of some of the more violent gangs — especially the gang that effectively murdered the only child of the undisputed ruler of the dockyards; the Gold Moon Society held a considerable amount of the city closer to the shoreline, though sufficiently away from the tourist traps of Lord's Market and the Boardwalk which were constantly patrolled by the local Protectorate — the beautiful brunette with the ice cold blue eyes wasn't the least bit worried about anyone trying to attack her.
Being what she was, Madison Clements — her real designation was a string of seventy characters in a language which couldn't be easily translated into any Terran tongue — could realistically take down any potential normal attacker.
Even a non-Brute level cape wouldn't find her easy prey by any stretch of the imagination.
In terms more common among people who could be called either "technosexual" or "technophile", Madison was a gynoid. A human-shaped artificial construct that, even up close and VERY personal, was completely indistinguishable from the standard normal-born (or magical-born or metahuman-born) baseline human; it took a very invasive form of examination to reveal what she was to outsiders. An adopted member of the one OTHER alien race who had members living in the Bay (not to mention scattered in small groups over practically every country and territory of Earth), she hadn't been created in the same way as others of her kind, which was both a relief and a downer in her eyes. Relief in a way that she felt WAY safer than she would have as a normal "flesh-bag" human in a hazardous place like Brockton Bay, where a disproportionate number of parahumans seemed to lurk around every corner. Downer in that she was literally frozen in time at about sixteen years of age, which would provoke a ton of unnecessary questions when she legally came of age and wanted to partake in more adult rituals such as drinking.
Fortunately, the several hundred free Shōzoki — as people called those like Madison — currently resident in this part of Massachusetts had formed an informal, under-the-table alliance with the nearly thousand Avalonian bioroids now resident in the Bay and effectively free of any oversight from their "masters" on Phentax Two over fifty light-years away from Earth.
Being in a city that had been the scene of two devastating fights between the Liberty Legion (on the Allied side) and the Übermenschen Gruppe (on the Axis side) during the Second World War — known also as the "First Metahuman War" to cape aficionados and historians worldwide; to magicals, that time period corresponded to the "Wars of Liberation", with the European side often called "Grindelwald's War" and the Pacific side known as "Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation" — had many benefits.
Chief of which was the fact that, as far as any Avalonian who had a touch of technopathic powers along with their normal touch-telepathy and non-tactile empathic senses could tell — even using their "inner eye" that could mentally perceive the speculated metaphysical backscatter energy of the Big Bang itself; such a thing was known to them as Te'a ("That Which Is Above mortal understanding") — when the "replica" of Madison Clements had been created, the very SOUL of the real Madison was shifted over in a technological variation of the ability to perform tre'cha ("passing on") any Avalonian could do if death was imminent.
Under normal circumstances, when a Shōzoki seed probe targeted someone to serve as a template for an android/gynoid to use as a potential infiltration unit — somewhat akin to what the name character of the various Terminator movies could do — only the memories of the template were copied and programmed in, not the actual energy (along with whatever metaphysical and spiritual forces that allowed a living being to have a unique soul) then surging through the person's brain tissue.
Here in the Bay, with all the free mesonium atoms scattered throughout the environment…
Madison perked as her sharp hearing picked up the sound of footfalls echoing from an alley just ahead of her to the left.
Oh, joy, echoed deep in her central processors. Another idiot Darwin Award winner…
While being friends with one of the Wards was nice — it had been child's play for Madison to determine what Sophia Hess was also beyond being one of the top track stars attending Winslow High; shame that the civil rights morons got so pissed at Shadow Stalker's doing America proud by putting broadhead bolts into the arms and legs of neo-Nazi freaks — there were times that even a relatively "normal" girl in the Bay needed to get some exercise and work off some frustrations on a deserving target…
She yelped — quite naturally, Madison mused to herself with a sense of pride — as the thug waiting to ambush such a pretty girl snared her free arm and pulled her into the alley; no doubt, he had taken the time to make his mark and ensure that no passing patrol vehicle would ruin a good snatch-and-grab. As she stumbled, she quickly tapped a control on her phone screen to send out a silent SOS via text message; the machine had been modified by one of her fellow Shōzoki, a bright programmer even before becoming an android, who specialized in merging the technology of their adopted people seamlessly into that of their native race. As that happened, the self-defence elements of her internal housekeeping programming were quick to adjust the motor controls of her arms and legs so that she would be ready to retaliate once her current attacker gave her the right opening to use…
«Hey, stupid!»
Madison jolted as that vaguely female voice — such nearly drowned out with the mixture of buzzing and other noises one would associate with insects and other such tiny creatures — tickled her audio sensors before she looked deeper into the alley.
As had her would-be attacker. "Oh, fuck me…!" the middle-aged man wearing some sort of gang-type clothing — though the colour pattern on his jacket didn't match any of the known groups common in the Bay — eeped on seeing something that came straight out of the classic movie The Ten Commandments, or the more recent Disney animation film The Prince of Egypt.
"Wow…!" Madison breathed out in awe.
Within her computer mind, factoids were quickly compiled for analysis:
[Twenty-seven separate species of arthropods in swarm, divided into six separate clades.]
[Offensive capabilities concentrated on Vespula maculifrons (eastern yellowjacket) and Dolichovespula maculata (bald-faced hornet), both species possessing potentially fatal doses of venom in their stingers.]
[Obscuring capabilities produced by copious amounts of Musca domestica (housefly), Periplaneta americana (American cockroach) and Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito). Mosquitos useable as vector attacks by annoyance bites into a target's skin. Flies and cockroaches can be used to dispose of corpses should conflict go terminal.]
[Attacker does not realize this is Haywire victim parahuman 'Skitter', though can sense attack is parahuman in origin.]
"BACK OFF, YOU STUPID CAPE…WH-WHATEVER Y-YOU ARE…!"
Madison calmly dropped her head away from his snaring her in a headlock, she immediately rolling on the ground — fortunately somewhat clean even if she would have to wash her clothes tonight — thus giving the Bay's newest cape a clear field of fire.
Naturally, the newcomer — who was physically many yards away — took advantage of same…
Sharon Blake's residence, 5:42 PM…
"What…?"
Taylor Hebert had NOT expected to encounter something like THIS once she began to research what her new home dimension — and this dimension's version of Brockton Bay — was like.
Encountering a humanoid-like race of effective DESIGNER CLONES was one thing. Avalonians could be created either with unique DNA strands to make someone virtually unique…or — as was done with her — using DNA cloned from another person.
Despite the powers — not to mention a lifespan potential that extended several CENTURIES; the oldest of the current generation of Avalonians now resident in the Phentax system were still alive, well past their one hundredth birthday given that the bioroid factory was discovered on the twelfth world of that system around the Earth year 1883 — it would be quite easy for any normal person on Earth to accept a Terran-form Avalonian (or Terran-turned-Avalonian in Taylor's case) with ease.
But THIS…!
"Are the Dragonslayers active here?!" she then demanded.
Salome Jenkins was one of the physically "younger" of this group of Avalonian "assistant observers" under Sharon Blake's guidance. A Terran-form Avalonian created at the physical age of six years old nearly a decade before, her identity marked her as the orphaned child of one of the all-too-many victims of the Empire Eighty-eight's rampages through the Bay; in accessible government records, the group's elder mother was Salome's legal guardian due to the absence of relatives living nearby. Now a sophomore at Winslow High School, the dark-skinned girl with the angular looks, dark eyes and Jheri-cut black hair was friends with this universe's version of Sophia Hess. While not on the track team despite her lithe body, Salome pretty much did what other bioroids modelled after visible minorities did in the Bay and kept their heads down in the face of the rather loud and obnoxious white supremacist presence here. She had just come back from intercepting this universe's version of Madison Clements, who had been attacked by a thief skulking in an alleyway four blocks from here, one that Taylor was quick to intercept; the two women had given their statements to the event to the local police who responded promptly — after all, a white teenage girl had been assaulted a considerable distance from the known territory of the Gold Moon Society — and even if such was certainly NOT official policy, the police force often did focus more on crimes against whites in the Bay than elsewhere.
Much to the disgust of many whites living in the Bay.
After all, hadn't America smashed Nazi Germany into the Stone Age over sixty years before?
"Ugh! Dragonslayers! Hopefully, the War Hawks will get them one of these days!" Madison — who had, at Salome's prompting, opened a panel on her lower arm to reveal what sort of technological marvel she was — groaned out.
Taylor blinked several times, her eyes reflecting how lost she currently felt. "Believe me, people like Mads here are quite alright, Thoughtmistress," Salome stated with a reassuring grin, she then squeezing the brunette's other arm in support. As Madison smiled in return, the bioroid added, "Yes, there are those Shōzoki — that's what you call them; the planet's name is Shōzoran, about five-fifty light-years inspin from here — who are a potential danger since they're mentally linked to a controlling AI back home who doesn't care for 'rogues' running about on 'primitive' worlds (especially worlds with high numbers of metahumans like we have) who could, if they get the chance, cause a major revolution back home, which this thing doesn't want."
"Yizibajohei call them 'cameras-in-the-sky' if you haven't heard the term from Mr. Calaway or Special Agent Black," Madison added. "Do you have the Terminator series where you come from, Taylor?"
A groan escaped the insect mistress. "Something like Skynet, you mean."
"Exactly," the brunette said as she allowed the panel on her arm to seal up again, leaving not even a crease to indicate that she was nothing more than your normal teenage girl. Sitting down at the chair beside Taylor's work desk, she shrugged. "Crazy as it would sound to you, we can thank those Nazi metas who charged through the Bay back during Big Mistake Number Two. Their getting butchered pumped out a shit ton of mesonium into the soil of the city, which latches onto people's minds like you wouldn't believe. It's what saved my life and my parents' lives when that seed probe landed in our back yard."
"What does the government do about this, then?" Taylor wondered. "I've been scanning PHO since I got the PADD from Salome's friends here, but I haven't read anything about a race of free AIs running about the planet. I've seen rumours that indicates there's a Stargate on this planet somewhere — and I'll bet said Stargate's at Cheyenne Mountain over in Colorado — but nothing about a race that resembles the Replicators…" — she caught herself as Madison winced — "…sorry."
"How do you know about Stargate Command?" Salome perked.
"Movie named Stargate that came out on Earth Aleph in 1994 that made its way to Bet. Television series called Stargate SG-1 followed, with sequels coming after that." Taylor then gaped. "Oh, please don't tell me the Goa'uld are here?!"
"To people from Yiziba, the lar'beke; 'snake leech' is what that means," Salome explained as she relaxed on the bed beside her newly-adopted spiritual sister. "They're the second known group of aliens who tried to conquer the planet five thousand years ago to seize the Great Crystal of Power; that's when the first version of Thoughtmaster-prime Calaway emerged."
"And they almost got eaten to extinction when the second version of Doctor Destructo — the 'healer of destruction' as that one's known on Yiziba — created a massive army of synthetic warriors to fight those things," Madison added.
That made Taylor blink. "People EAT those things?!"
"Believe it or not, our 'masters' make it a habit to eat the prim'ta if they're caught, either from a Jaffa or a normal 'Tau'ri' host," Salome noted with an evil smirk. "Drives the System Lords up the wall whenever they probe into this part of the galaxy."
"Oh, yeah!" Madison said with a snicker. "And if one of the 'Orak'nou' catches them…!"
"'Orak'nou'?" Taylor asked.
"'Unspeakable devil'. It's what those things call Yizibajohei as a whole," Salome translated.
A somewhat dazed nod answered them. "So, the SGC is active at Cheyenne Mountain making first contact with the scattered once-Goa'uld colonies of humans and Jaffa? And they're keeping it secret to prevent panic, right?"
"Right," Madison affirmed before waving to herself, a wry smile crossing her face. "Same with the whole thing concerning adopted Shōzoki like my parents and me. We've had the Terminator movies and all other sorts of shit displaying 'rampant AIs trying to destroy humanity' for ages now. And there's the whole thing with Captain Richter up in Canada, too…"
Taylor's jaw dropped. "DRAGON's here?!"
The other girls nodded. "She's 'Tin Mother' — among other usernames — on PHO, Thoughtmistress," Salome provided. "Created as a bodiless AI by one Sergeant Andrew Richter from Deer Lake in Newfoundland, late of the Blue Puttees…"
"'Blue Puttees'?"
"Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the local Army reserve infantry unit," Salome explained. "Anyhow, Thoughtmaster Richter creates this AI, then gets targeted by Teacher — and yes, he's running around somewhere out there, too! — who sends in Saint and his friends to capture the AI so he could use it for himself. Thoughtmaster Richter gets killed, but the fight draws in attention from the Specialized Warfare Regiment's local defence unit, not to mention the scientist who was the first to find a Shōzoki seed probe on Earth, one that landed near the regiment's home base on Ellesmere Island after World War Two." As Taylor nodded in understanding — she knew her own version of Dragon given that they had worked together after Taylor had been rebranded as Weaver and began working out of Chicago, so she had a good idea who Andrew Richter was — the dark-skinned bioroid added, "So, once the Dragonslayers were sent packing with their tails between their legs, Professor Andrews — that's the name of the man who first learned of the Shōzoki, Professor George Andrews — took Dragon under his own wing, gave her a gynoid body that allowed her to live her own life, then when the chance came, got her a body swap into making her an Avalonian."
"She's part of one of the geek squads in the SWR; don't know which one, though," Madison added. "Of course, Saint and his idiots know the whole story about the Avalonians, the Shōzoki and the Yizibajohei; since Teacher can't control them, he normally makes the fools go out to try to make a 'big reveal' about the many 'alien invaders' on the planet."
"Which ironically isn't far from the truth," Taylor muttered.
The brunette gynoid made a rocking motion with her head. "Well, in a sense, yeah, I can agree with that. We're lucky that the Niphentaxians are so addicted to Earth culture, they just WON'T do anything to change things here. According to some bioroids I've talked to over private chat, a good hunk of 'masters' serving as observers here have totally gone native; even if you see the points on their ears, their behaviour is so simon-pure Terran, people wouldn't notice. And a good hunk of them don't care to see Avalonians enslaved; they're secret followers of the man who discovered the bioroid factory all those years ago, a guy named Ganzo dai-Louc. The few that do make noise, like idiots who show up here in the Bay to 'fix' the 'dumb robots' running 'rogue' here…" — here, she waved to Salome in emphasis — "…get a knife in the back from someone soon enough."
"And there are the 'gatherer' androids and gynoids who try to force 'rogues' like Mads here under Mother's control; that's Shōzoran's version of Skynet," Salome added, thumbing her classmate. "But they can only act if the background mesonium radiation isn't high, which it IS here in the Bay. Elsewhere, it depends if there are parahuman Tinkers or metahuman technokinetics or hyper-genius polymaths around who could cut in and free whoever get's 'enslaved'…"
"Thoughtmistress Taylor!" the voice of the elder mother echoed from downstairs. "Thoughtmistress Ṣabāḥ is here to see you! So are Healer Amelia, her sister and Thoughtmaster Dean!"
Taylor sighed. "Right…"
To Be Continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
Some of the usernames in the PHO chat appearing here have appeared in some of my favourite fanfics. A nod of thanks to those writers whose ability to create realistic online board chat comments really impresses. In addition, a nod of thanks to Dr. Tempo for contributing a couple choice entries in said chat; note that he is the creator of one Isaac Thomas (Doctor Renaissance), who has appeared in many of the stories in this series. As an aside, the issue with Isaac concerning the Camelot Wondercolts is covered in the side story Friendship Is Yizibajohei, co-written and inspired by Dr. Tempo.
One term needing an explanation: The Yizibajohei insult umale (literally "same") is quite commonly used to describe two situations. First is a situation where people of a specific race share the same metahuman abilities; Earth wand-magicals (the Harry Potter type) would be rated as umale. Second is a broader term indicating that a group of people share the same common values to such a degree that any sort of dissent is seen as criminal or treasonous or heretical. Something as simple as school uniforms as worn in Japan is seen as umale on Yiziba. Put frankly, with the drive for free individualism that propelled the Dawn of Power two millennia ago, reverting to the time when things were so same is something to be avoided like the plague!
The Shōzoki first appeared in my lemon fanfic series The Galatea Syndrome from before the Millennium.
The Übermenschen Gruppe ("Group of Supermen") is my take off on the concept of Axis Amerika that was introduced years ago in the pages of All-Star Squadron. In my attempts at writing fanfiction stories involving the Wizarding World (like the Icemaidens series or The Seventh Shipgirl), I made mention of Tsukuyomi's War of Liberation as the common name applied to the battles against Japanese and Allied magicals in the time of the Second World War; the namesake of said fight, Yomigawa Tsukiko AKA Lady Tsukuyomi, first appeared in The Seventh Shipgirl and her story is noted on in Magic and Canada.
Concerning the Goa'uld from Stargate SG-1, I based terms they use in my stories (if not canon to the series) on either a re-interpretation of said terms or something based out of Coptic, which is a known language descendant of ancient Egyptian.
Professor (also Lieutenant Colonel) George Andrews is my first true villainous character, though he's more neutral here. I base him on Vincent Price's interpretation of Doctor Goldfoot from the like-named movies which premiered in the 1960s.