September 4, 2010
"You remembered?!"
That outburst got everyone's attention. It wasn't every day you saw Miss Militia gasp dramatically and leap out of her chair. Director Piggot arched an eyebrow. "Remembered what?"
"That!" Miss Militia pointed at the drawing Armsmaster had projected upon the conference room wall. It was a crude illustration, full of scattered dots and hazy scribbles, but at the center she could make out two sinuous shapes entwined around each other. "There was only one in my vision, but I knew it was alive—bigger, more real than anything I'd ever seen. Was it like that for you too?"
Armsmaster gaped at her. "It—it was exactly like that. When did you...?"
"The day I got my powers. I've always remembered, but no one else does. That's why I never told you. You wouldn't have believed it." Her voice was choked with emotion. "Wow. It's...it's a load off, finally talking about this."
"Rather the opposite for me." Armsmaster said drily. "Well, there's Dragon's theory debunked. But why on earth do you remember? What's so special about you?"
Someone with less experience handling him might have taken offense, but Miss Militia merely shrugged. "No idea. I don't sleep, if that means anything."
"Neither does Dragon, and she had no idea about this." Armsmaster shook his head. "Never mind. I don't suppose you have any inkling what it was, either?"
Miss Militia shrugged again. "At the time, I thought it some sort of guardian angel. I..well, I won't share the details, but getting powers literally saved my life."
Armsmaster scratched at his beard. "Strange. Andrew Mather said the exact opposite. The incarnation of Satan, was how I believe he put it."
"Yeah. No offense," Dauntless tilted his head at the drawing. "but that looks more like something from Lovecraft than an angel."
"You never saw those pictures of biblically accurate angels?" Assault chimed in. He and Battery had joined remotely on this Saturday morning, and his voice sounded unusually chipper despite the heavy subject matter. No one particularly wanted to imagine what they had been up to previously. "Hey...so if we all saw this, and forgot, does that mean we've technically been Mastered this whole time?"
Velocity twitched. "That's going to keep me up at night."
"You've all passed M/S protocols before, so I'm sure you're as sane as capes can be." Piggot interrupted tartly. "This remains a secret, understood? The Sciontologists and Fallen are bad enough. We don't need a—a giant worm cult on top of that." There was a chorus of nods. "In other news, Director Armstrong just sent me an update on our ex-Gray Boy victim. Andrew Mather has been given the placeholder cape name of 'Witch Hunter'—"
"That's not ominous at all." Assault said sarcastically.
Piggot shot him a glare. "They've confirmed his parahuman detection power. Which, by the way, seems to work on photos and videos too." Most of the gathered heroes winced. That just about smashed the unwritten rules to smithereens. Given his demonstrated attitude towards capes, there was a good chance of Witch Hunter living up to his name if set free. "Additionally, he seems able to anticipate when someone's about to enter his cell, indicating likely short-term precognition. Provisional rating is Thinker 4, though he's been deemed mentally unfit for formal power testing. Armstrong's going to put his best psychiatrist on the case, but who knows. If things don't improve he's bound for Philadelphia."
The Parahuman Asylum. A pall fell over the room. "Well, better there than in a loop." Assault said, looking on the bright side.
"True." Piggot stopped to massage her temples. "You know what? In hindsight, it seems very obvious something like this would happen."
When she put it like that, it did feel obvious. Triggers were caused by trauma, and few things were more traumatic than being tortured in a time loop for decades on end. Armsmaster stiffened in his seat. "I had reason to believe Blank's power would block a trigger." he said defensively. "And Watchdog didn't flag this as a risk—"
"Aren't trigger events usually a Thinker blind spot?" Battery pointed out.
"Thinkers." Piggot muttered darkly. "What are they good for? Honestly, we're lucky Witch Hunter turned out as sane as he did. How long until we get a Nilbog scenario instead?"
"Blank could nullify their powers." said Armsmaster.
"And then what? He stays near them forever, or until the Kill Order comes down? Assuming there's not another loophole in his power we don't know about, and they don't just attack him normally." The Director had many objections. "Excuse me for not wanting to rely on a single cape as the point of failure. Especially when said cape has had powers for two weeks."
Miss Militia shifted uneasily. "Even so. It seems cruel just to leave them there."
"Did I say we should?" snapped Piggot. "We need a better procedure, is all. I trust there's enough collective brainpower in this room to think of some."
Armsmaster nodded curtly. "I'll get to work on it."
"Good. You do that, and I'll handle the politics." A one-off test could be hashed out between the Directors of Boston and Brockton Bay, but that wouldn't scale to a systematic nation-wide program. "The Chief Director will have be informed..."
The Chief Director flipped through the report. She spent only a single second per page, her perfect memory etching their contents indelibly into her brain. When she was done, she leaned back in her chair. Well. This had been one of the more interesting things to cross her desk lately.
Given what she knew, it was obvious the vision represented Scion and his counterpart. She didn't remember it herself, although some such as Eidolon did. Armsmaster and Dragon wouldn't simply drop this line of inquiry—too much stubbornness and scientific curiosity for that—though without the necessary context she also doubted they'd get near the truth. Still, to be safe, she endorsed Emily Piggot's decision to classify the report.
They'd dodged a bullet with the Weld incident, although Contessa would surely have intervened had there been a real risk to operational security. She assumed so, anyways. Thankfully, the test result was discouraging enough that there wouldn't be many volunteers for a repeat. Again though, for safety's sake she added a line to Blank's file strictly prohibiting any further interaction with Case 53s.
Then there was the matter of Gray Boy's victims. That was a name she'd not thought of in a long time. One of their early mistakes, an empty vessel puppeteered by his power. There weren't as many victims as people thought; he'd only been active five years before the Fairy Queen claimed him, and the Nine spent a lot of time lying low. Two hundred twenty-six in total, forty-five of them capes. Still, too many powers had been lost forever, or so she'd thought. Could they really get them all back just like that, and more besides? New triggers, double triggers, second triggers swelling their ranks...the thought was tantalizing.
Or, if they weren't careful, the result could be another Quarantine Site. Two hundred twenty-six lottery tickets. Two hundred twenty-six games of Russian roulette. Perhaps she ought to consult the Number Man's opinion on this.
And finally, there was the matter of the new Ward at the center of it all. Now, there were tons of capes in the multiverse who would potentially be useful at the final battle. Most of them were strong enough to take care of themselves, but this one? If he ran into a deranged drug addict while walking on the street today, that might be it for him. And of course he had to be in Brockton Bay of all places. Two eggs in one basket was hardly ideal. The Chief Director toyed with the idea of pushing for a transfer to a safer department, but she had a feeling Piggot would fight it tooth and nail. A power that unnerved capes and was harmless to normal people perfectly suited that woman's prejudices.
Reading his file, though, gave her another idea for a test. Rebecca Costa-Brown did not use her colleague's time lightly, but this should be very quick. She spoke three words. "Door to Contessa."
Most people didn't have the ability to open portals directly to their co-workers, but if they did they would certainly consider it rude to drop in without warning. There was always the risk of finding them on the toilet or in some other inconvenient situation. Not so here. Given Contessa's power, it was virtually impossible to ever catch her at a bad time.
On the wall of her cushy D.C. office, a hole in reality opened up. There was a sun-baked desert on the other side. Where on Earth (or which Earth) it was, she couldn't tell. A woman in a fedora was staring directly out, as if she'd been expecting the call. She probably had.
Rebecca didn't waste time with pleasantries. "There's a new cape called Blank, in the Brockton Bay Wards. Can you path him?"
Contessa blinked. There was a slightly longer lag than usual before she replied. "...no."
"...I see." Rebecca replied after a similar pause. The hole closed.
That was both useful and incredibly irritating. What did four beings of near god-like power and the world's mightiest mortal have in common with a boy who could be killed by a regular pistol? Cauldron wasn't in the habit of having Contessa run paths to keep all the valuable capes alive—there were enough that it would take a hundred of her—but in this case it wasn't even an option. Rebecca would've been tempted to stash him the secret basement for safekeeping, except that his power would wreak havoc on HQ and he likely couldn't pass through a portal anyways.
There was someone in Brockton Bay who owed favors, and she resolved to pass on a message. It was all she could do. Otherwise, whether he lived or died was up to him.
September 6, 2010
Coil was working late when he heard something rustle behind him.
Even though intellectually, he knew he couldn't be irreversibly killed in this state, his head still whipped around on instinct. At first glance, absolutely nothing seemed amiss. It was only when he focused that he noticed the innocuous envelope, sitting on top of a metal crate.
That was concerning. He was deep underground in his shiny new base, secure behind multiple layers of armed guards and heavy steel doors. Not to mention that he was facing the only entrance to the room, and most certainly would have noticed anyone come in. This, clearly, was no ordinary letter. For a moment he hesitated to touch it, wondering if it perhaps contained anthrax, a Tinkertech bomb, or a Tinkertech anthrax bomb. Then he reasoned that he had been planning to drop this timeline soon anyways, so there was nothing to fear.
Coil picked up the envelope. His stomach churned when he noticed the lowercase 'c' written on the back.
In his other timeline, Thomas Calvert woke up in his home bedroom. The very same letter was sitting on his nightstand.
Damn showoffs. Was using the mailbox beneath them? Realizing that there was no avoiding this, he mentally braced himself and tore the envelope open.
Leave Blank alive.
In return, we are willing to reduce your debt by two days of service.
Thank you. -c
What?
Topic: New Ward unveiled (Blank)
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Teams ► Wards
White Fairy (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on September 6, 2010
Monday morning newsflash, PRT ENE just announced we're getting a new Ward. His name's Blank, pic here. Full press release here.
Honestly, a lot of PR filler and not a lot of details. Apparently he might not be patrolling? That's how I interpret them saying they're still "working out how he can best protect the community" and we should "stay posted for updates on public appearances."
Also, this bit at the end: "For their safety, the PRT strongly advises Case 53s and other capes with unusual physiologies to avoid approaching him at all times."
I've literally never seen a warning like this. Thoughts?
Chilldrizzle
Replied on September 6, 2010
Wait, his cape name is literally Blank?
I thought some intern had screwed up and released the generic 'new Ward' announcement by mistake, until I read the Case 53 thing.
FlippinMad
Replied on September 6, 2010
Yeah, name could use some work. Dig the mirror helmet though! Cool and a little creepy at the same time.
bothad (New Member)
Replied on September 6, 2010
Is he not getting a press conference?
White Fairy (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Replied on September 6, 2010
Eh, there isn't always one (Shadow Stalker didn't do one when she joined either). Sometimes the PRT prefers to keep recruitment low-key, like if the cape has a history or their personality isn't suited for cameras.
Also, they might still be scarred from Clockblocker's press conference.
bothad (New Member)
Replied on September 6, 2010
so he could be an ex-villain? Or just an asshole?
TheRealTAH
Replied on September 6, 2010
Introverts and shy people exist, you know.
Hey Blank, if you read this, I'm glad we have another hero at least. Good luck.
(Showing page 2 of 11)
NotANewt (Unverified non-newt)
Replied on September 6, 2010
Hold up, what does he do to Case 53s? I need answers! Like, are we talking bad power interaction or is he just super racist? This is kind of freaking me out, guys.
(asking for a friend here)
Clockblocker (Verified cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on September 6, 2010
Don't know about the Case 53 thing but pretty sure he's not racist. Blank's kind of serious, but still a bro.
Oh, hey there Newter. You want to apologize for spitting on me last month?
NotANewt (Unverified non-newt)
Replied on September 6, 2010
I'm not Newter! Like I said, I'm asking for a friend.
Clockblocker (Verified cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on September 6, 2010
Asking for Gregor, then. Got it.
Weld (Verified Cape) (Boston Wards)
Replied on September 6, 2010
I can speak to this. If Blank doesn't want the details of his power known I'll respect that, but I do advise taking the warning seriously. He seems nice enough, but he could've easily killed me if he'd wanted to.
Us 53s have to look for each other, even if you're a villain.
NotANewt (Unverified non-newt)
Replied on September 6, 2010
welp, that's not ominous at all.
Also, still not Newter!
(Showing page 7 of 11)
skipper98
Replied on September 6, 2010
If he's not patrolling I'm guessing his power isn't something useful for fights. Non-combat Thinker is the obvious one, not sure how that fits in with the Case 53 thing though.
SavageArrow (Veteran Member)
Replied on September 6, 2010
That emblem on his costume's a null symbol, that plus the name makes me think power nullifier. A lot of Case 53s rely on their power to survive so that could be dangerous for them?
Laser Augment
Replied on September 6, 2010
So a Hatchet Face package? That's got to be awkward to fit on a team.
XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on September 6, 2010
Nah, too obvious. Besides, they didn't say he wouldn't be patrolling, just that he wouldn't make public appearances. Maybe's he's got a Stranger power! Or he's a Master who erases your memory, except Case 53s already had their memories erased so they get super erased.
Crap, now I'm scared.
Laser Augment
Replied on September 6, 2010
God damn it, Void.
In theory, Coil didn't have to do a damn thing.
The letter had merely told him to leave the new Ward alive, not go out of his way to ensure his survival. His plan was a long way from the point where he'd feel confident enough to start bumping off government-backed heroes, anyways. If the kid got killed by someone else in the meantime, it wasn't his problem and Cauldron couldn't reasonably blame him.
In practice, the whole affair gnawed at his guts like corrosive acid. New Wards were a dime a dozen; what was Cauldron's interest in this one specifically? Was he one of theirs, too? And why was he in Brockton Bay? Coil had heard rumors of the Nemesis program, of one cape being programmed to be the perfect punching bag for another. Would those bastards screw him over after all he'd given them? Letting a villain scheme for years and come so close to victory, only for a shiny new hero to snatch glory from under his nose—it was diabolical!
No, he was a Ward, so he would've been at most ten years old when Thomas Calvert drank the vial. That, at least, made Coil feel more confident he wasn't the patsy of some Simurgh-esque long con. Thus, he rolled up his sleeves to do what he excelled at—gather information. Spinning up a throwaway timeline, he connected to the PRT ENE servers using the credentials he'd tortured out of Deputy Director Renick in a world no one else remembered. Coil reminded himself to do it again at the end of the month when the current codes expired. The poor man had no idea how many times he'd been waterboarded or had his fingers chopped off.
With his stolen security clearance he was easily able to access the Wards' dossiers, and what he saw confounded him. First of all, the boy was from a poor immigrant family; it was highly unlikely he had the resources to purchase a vial. Second, even if that was a cover story, Trump nullification was a decidedly odd power to buy. It had no applications that would help build wealth or influence, or do anything besides fight other capes. And if that had been his intention, the lack of any secondary power left glaring weaknesses for a would-be hero.
So no, he was far more likely to be a natural trigger. But then, why? Sadly, certain relevant tidbits like his name and detailed power analysis were locked behind Director-level clearance, and Piggot was much harder to crack than her deputy. Coil had tried before. She always died before talking—and that was if she didn't get the drop on him and bring the timeline to an abrupt end.
A decade as a desk jockey hadn't cured her of being a paranoid, stubborn bitch. Coil had to grudgingly admire that. He collapsed the current timeline, having gotten what he could out of it. It wouldn't do to leave any digital traces for the PRT to find, not when all he needed was stored in his head.
Thankfully, he was a resourceful man. He sent a message to one of his agents, who was moonlighting as an Arcadia High School janitor. Given how many capes attended that school, it behooved him to keep an eye on it. His orders were to simply observe for any unfamiliar faces interacting with the known capes. As it was a low-risk mission, he elected not to dedicate a timeline to it.
That afternoon, he had just selected a timeline where the Undersiders successfully robbed a jeweler when he noticed the reply. It was timestamped an hour ago, and he briefly wondered how he'd missed it before reading the message. Apparently, his man had seen an Asian boy eating lunch with the Wards and New Wave. Furthermore, that same boy had been seen leaving the school together with Dean Stansfield, who he knew to be the Ward Gallant. Cross-referencing the attached photo against school and public records, he had a name and an address.
Zhou Zhiqiang. 520 Fleet Street, Apartment 803. Jackpot. If only the heroes knew how flimsy the unwritten rules really were.
In the dead of night, he used his throwaway timeline to break into the Zhou family's apartment.
The results were nothing like he'd expected. Oh, they'd made it in easily enough; the complex was full of PRT agents, and a few of those were on his payroll. His squad of mercenaries broke down the apartment door without much consideration for stealth. He had no intention of keeping this timeline, and they knew better than to question his orders, even seemingly suicidal ones. Blank's parents, both unarmed civilians, were easily captured in their sleep.
Unfortunately, of the Ward himself there was no sign. There was an empty room with a bed that appeared to have been slept in, and cursory inspection revealed his costume stashed in a backpack. The bedroom window was shut tight, and besides they were on the eighth floor. It was plausible that they'd gotten unlucky and Blank simply wasn't at home, either sleeping over or out on a clandestine patrol.
Except when he'd questioned the parents on it, they hadn't gone for any such plausible excuse. Instead, they had repeatedly insisted they didn't have a son at all. They struck him as far too frightened and bewildered to be lying, especially when the lie was so patently absurd. Blank's file mentioned nothing of a Master/Stranger power, but it was possible he'd hidden some stuff from the PRT. Coil certainly would've in his place.
So, he did what any sensible person would do. He loudly demanded that Blank show himself, else he would execute his mother. This accomplished nothing except causing the father to curse them loudly in Chinese. Coil shot Blank's mother, then the father too for good measure (the man's screaming had grated on his nerves). Still nothing happened. By now, he could hear footsteps and shouting from loyal PRT agents rushing to respond. Ruing the unproductive night, he shut down the timeline.
Willing to sacrifice his own parents to save his skin, check. What a hero. Not that Coil was judging; he would've done the same thing, after all.
September 9, 2010
Back to the drawing board. Maybe a less aggressive approach would avoid triggering...whatever that had been. As it happened, he had a Thursday morning meeting at PRT HQ in his guise as a consultant. He called to reschedule the meeting, citing a personal matter that had arisen at the last moment. His excuse was accepted without complaint, and his meeting was bumped to the afternoon when the Wards would be on duty. Perfect.
Around 1 PM, he parked his humble Prius in the PRT garage and entered through the visitors' lobby. In his other timeline he was still at home, just in case anything catastrophic happened here. He happened to pass Gallant in the hallway, giving the young hero a wave and a winning smile. Otherwise, he saw nothing interesting on the way to his meeting, but that was fine. Then he suffered through an hour-long meeting with Deputy Director Renick regarding the refurbishment and expansion of the Endbringer shelter network. It was excruciatingly boring bean-counting talk, and Coil navigated through it largely on autopilot.
To make himself feel better, he toyed with the idea of cutting a few extra fingers off at their next torture session.
"Well, Mr. Calvert, a pleasure." Renick said, happily oblivious as he escorted Coil out into the lobby. "I appreciate your help, as always. So does the Director."
That was absolute horseshit. Piggot would gladly shoot Thomas Calvert in the face if she could find a legal justification for doing so. Still, he smiled and shook Renick's hand. "Likewise." Then he started to walk away, before turning back as if an idle thought had just crossed his mind. "Oh! I hear you got a new Ward this week. Is he in, by any chance? I'd like to give that brave young man my personal regards, if it's not too much trouble."
Renick frowned. "Who? We haven't had anyone join this week."
"What—" Coil sputtered, momentarily lost for words. "Then who's that?" He pointed to the pictures of the Wards on prominent display in the lobby. At the very end was a boy in a mirrored helmet and gray armor.
"I...I don't know." Renick blinked. "Perhaps one of Clockblocker's jokes?"
"...perhaps. Well, I'll see you later." Coil walked briskly to his car and drove away. He was a block from PRT HQ before he finally began to process things. What the hell? Seriously, what the hell? He took a deep breath. As bizarre that had been, he should probably keep this timeline, shouldn't he? It would be suspicious to miss the meeting after he'd rescheduled it, and he hadn't put a foot remotely wrong throughout. Not his fault Blank was apparently a psychopath who'd thought it would be funny to put the Deputy Director under a Stranger effect. Holy shit, kid, learn some restraint. Making up his mind, he selected—
ERROR 500
UNCAUGHT SIMULATIONPLAYBACKINTERRUPTEDEXCEPTION THROWN AT LINE 4623413434...
—he was in the hallway, smiling at Gallant as the Ward approached. There was another cape with him, clad all in gray with a mirror for a face—
In the mirror, Coil saw Thomas Calvert's face turn from false cheer to shock. Blank was here, in the flesh. And—he had been in his car, how had he ended up back at PRT HQ? He tried to split timelines, but nothing happened. Where he normally felt the reassuring presence of his second self there was only cold emptiness. Right, power nullifier. He felt naked, naked and alone in a way he had rarely been since Ellisburg.
"Sir? Are you all right?" asked Gallant.
Shaking out of the stupor, Coil forced another smile. "I'm fine, thank you. Just...lost in thought." He brushed past the Wards as quickly as he could, hoping they would be willing to forget that moment of weakness. It was an immense relief once he could split timelines again.
In one timeline, Coil drew his gun, turned, and unloaded a full clip into the now-empty space next to Gallant. There was no indication his bullets had hit anything at all. Gallant shouted in surprise, and launched a ball of energy at him. Despite the sudden sensation of pants-wetting terror, he had the presence of mind to drop the timeline.
In the other, Coil kept walking down the hall, further and further away. The watch on his wrist caught his eye, and he realized with a jolt it read just past 1 PM. Whatever power interaction that had been, it had cast him not only a block through space but a full hour back in time.
He shuddered internally. Increasingly, he felt that being in the same building—or same city—as that abomination was inimical to his well-being. Yet Cauldron's warning aside, it seemed he wouldn't be able to so much as touch Blank unless he cast aside the safety blanket of his power. It wasn't at all the sort of problem he was accustomed to solving, and, at least for now, Coil found that he didn't know what to do.
Then he realized he'd have to attend the Endbringer shelter meeting again. Fuck.
"Huh. That was weird." said Dean.
"Who was that?" ZQ asked.
"His name's Thomas Calvert. He owns a construction company." Dean swiped his badge to enter the staircase to the Wards base. No one had ever gotten around to un-Tinkering the elevator in the end, since it was a lot of work for one guy and ZQ didn't mind taking the stairs. Dean had taken to accompanying him every day, out of solidarity. "I've seen him at parties a couple times. He's usually so, uh, calm." That was one way to put it. Calvert smiled and laughed like a normal man, but every time Dean looked at him he saw cold calculation, occasional sadism, and above all greed. Admittedly, that combination wasn't unusual among the city's business elite. Max Anders, to name one, was much the same. "And today—boom, shocked! Just like that."
"I thought your power didn't work so close to me."
Dean chuckled. "I didn't need powers to tell that. It was like how I reacted when I met you..." he trailed off.
ZQ cottoned on immediately. The guy might not talk much, but he was no dummy. "You think he's a cape?"
"That's...unproven." Dean said carefully. This conversation was treading on the edge of the unwritten rules. If Calvert were merely a businessman who'd had the misfortune to trigger, trying to live a normal life, outing him would be heavily frowned on. On the other hand, a villain using his civilian identity to help his cape crimes would be considered fair game. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to flag it to the higher ups. Even if he is, he's probably small time anyways. Can't exactly see him being Kaiser, you know?"
"I don't know." ZQ said drily. "Kaiser always wears full armor, doesn't he?"
Dean laughed. In his mind's eye, he pictured Kaiser shouting "white power!", then removing his helmet to reveal a black man underneath. He could just about imagine the funny array of colors the watching Nazis would turn.
Topic: Gray Boy loop broken!
In: Boards News Events America
Minuteman (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on September 9, 2010
Okay, this is going to sound wild, so bear with me.
I'm based in Norfolk County MA (south of Boston) and the sheriff's department just put out this statement. So for context, one of our towns (Dover) got hit by the S9 back in '90, and it's been abandoned since. This was when they had Gray Boy, and he looped someone in the local church.
The cops still patrol once a week to check for squatters/gangs. The church has been locked up since forever, but yesterday they noticed someone broke the chains. Looks like a really clean cut, maybe Tinkertech? Pic
Anyways, cops go in, and turns out the loop and victim are just gone! Pic, and report on what was there before (warning for nightmare fuel). You can still see the marks where they nailed the poor bastard to the wall, yeesh.
Soooo...this seems like kind of a big deal?
HeartShapedBox
Replied on September 9, 2010
You don't say! Where's a Guy in the Know when you need him?
Summoning circle for Bagrat, you know anything about this?
bballsuperstarz (New Member)
Replied on September 9, 2010
Wow. Happy for the victim and his family. Wish we knew what happened to him, but no matter what I think it's safe to say he's actually in a better place now.
Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied on September 9, 2010
holy shit!
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Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied on September 9, 2010
So I tried poking some of my contacts in the Boston PRT. Nothing concrete, a lot "can neither confirm nor deny" vibes, but if I had to bet I'd say they were involved somehow.
Kind of frustrating but I get it, it's the Nine. Gray Boy's long gone, but they might target whoever's touching his old stuff. Or not, who knows what goes on in their heads. I imagine the victim will have to go into witness protection or something similar, assuming he's even functional.
Twenty years in there. God, I can't imagine what that does mentally.
TrashKing
Replied on September 9, 2010
Even if they can't name names, isn't it kind of weird they're not taking credit at all?
I mean, this is the PRT we're talking about.
jakeL (Veteran Member)
The only reason I can think of is that now that one's been broken, people will expect whoever it is to get them all.
Except maybe they can't. Maybe there's something special about this loop, or it takes some single-use Tinkertech device that's super resource intensive. Better to keep things vague and avoid a backlash.
TrashKing
Replied on September 9, 2010
That's a depressing thought. Really hope whoever it is can keep going.
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MaxLevelArtificer
Replied on September 9, 2010
Still think Dragon's the most likely candidate by far. Given all the crazy stuff she builds I can buy that she'd be able to build something to a break a loop, given time/resources.
Seems a lot more likely than someone just getting the perfect power to counter Gray Boy's. Closest I can think of is Clockblocker in BB, but IIRC he can't even break his own freeze.
Lolitup
Replied on September 9, 2010
Isn't Dragon's power to repro what others build, or am I misremembering? If so the core functionality had to come from some other Tinker.
Laser Augment
Replied on September 9, 2010
Speaking of Brockton Bay, we've got Leet up here. Prevailing theory is that he can build anything once but only once, and I don't recall him doing anything with time loops.
Fuck me, if Leet actually broke a Gray Boy loop I'm going to have to reconsider my life. Also just now realizing Leet/Dragon would be an incredible team if he didn't suck so bad, sigh.
XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on September 9, 2010
Wait, I thought of something! We just got a new Ward in BB, his costume's gray and totally covers his face. Literally a gray boy.
Maybe that's why they don't want the public to see him! He's a Gray Boy clone, or the real one come back to redeem himself as a hero!
User received an infraction for this post: do not accuse random capes of being Gray Boy with no evidence. I can't believe I had to type that sentence.
Laser Augment
Replied on September 9, 2010
God damn it, Void.
"Aw man, someone touched Gray Boy's old stuff!" Bonesaw whined. "Geez! People have no respect for art these days, those phil—philippines?"
"Philistines, my dear." Jack Slash corrected her. "The Philippines are a country in Asia." Or rather they had been, until Leviathan hit Manila in '06. Now they were an archipelago of scattered islands, ruled by an ever-changing assortment of brutal warlords. Sounded fun. Jack would've been interested in visiting, if spending months in a boat didn't sound awfully boring. How would he smuggle Crawler onto a boat, anyways?
Bonesaw's lip quivered. "Oh. Sorry for being stupid. I'll remember next time, I promise." Then, like a light switch flipping, her cheerful persona reasserted itself. "Anyways, it's rude! Are we going to do something, Jack?"
The rest of the gang didn't react to her words, but Jack could tell they were waiting to see what he would say. The metaphorical scent of anticipation hung over their remote cabin, along with the literal scent of blood. Siberian bit into her Girl Scout cookie with a loud crunch; unlike the boring sort boring people bought, it was made from real Girl Scouts. Jack thought for a second, then yawned ostentatiously. "Nope."
"Nope?" Bonesaw's eyes widened, clearly not having expected that. The others didn't seem to care—except for Mannequin, whose featureless face turned towards Jack as if glaring.
"It took the heroes twenty years to save a gibbering lunatic, big deal. We do better than that every week." Jack said dismissively. "Besides, Gray Boy's long gone. I'm the only one left who remembers him, that sweet little boy." he mimed wiping away a faux tear. "No, no, I've got to let him go. If Gray Boy didn't want people touching his stuff, I say he shouldn't have gotten himself killed. Skill issue." Mannequin held his gaze for another heartbeat, then looked away. Alan was still smart enough to understand the concept of utilitarianism. Let a few people be saved, to kill more people in the long run.
It was a plausible smokescreen for the real reason. Jack Slash was a man who prided himself on excellent instincts. He didn't need much detail to develop a gut feeling about a situation—whether it was better faced head on or avoided—and more often than not he was proven right. Not so spectacular a skill as creating zombie apocalypses or tearing Triumvirate members in half, admittedly, but it sure was helpful for keeping his murdering ass alive.
That was why the mysterious bane of Gray Boy loops puzzled him so. When he checked his gut about that, he felt nothing at all.
Our boy is starting to get noticed in the world, and it only took 30k words. For Cauldron, he falls into the bucket of powers that would be nice to have for The End, but they're not about to drop everything and make Contessa his personal bodyguard/plot device (which, for once, wouldn't even work). I don't think anyone (including Alexandria and Hero apparently) is important enough for that. Certainly fits into their theme of focusing on the whole and treating individuals as expendable.
Classic Coil, you tell him to keep someone alive and he goes and shoots their parents. Gaming out that power interaction almost gave me a Thinker headache. The salient factors are 1. canonically Coil's power only simulates 2 timelines and then autopilots him through one. 2. Blank's shard refuses to let Thinker shards perceive any info about its host, forcing Coil's shard to "fill in the blank" (no pun intended). Don't read too much into the bit with Dean, I just felt like Coil's reaction would be hard to miss for anyone with basic observational skills. I reserve the right to handwave something in order to stop his cover from being blown.
Jack may be unaware of his second power, but he has to realize his gut instincts are pretty good, right? So the Slaughterhouse Nine won't be going be after our protagonist, for a change. In fact they won't be seen again for...a long time. Maybe never, depending on long I can keep this up.