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Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Reader mode
TanaNari said:
A/N- Chevy gets a chapter. And a randomly rolled name.
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I like it. Did you roll on a table of angel names?
TanaNari said:
Really? Fother Mucker. The dice have deemed his new name 'Nelson'.
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Nooo! I like Archangel Chevalier!

Ack said:
Hey, what's wrong with Chevalier using his middle name by preference? That's the preference of my brother and my sister.
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... oh, that's okay then.

/adventures in catching up
 
I really don't want to get involved in this argument I seem to have sparked... But it's the internet!
dasstan said:
It's not her fault. Say it with me. It's not her fault. Slow mo it. Iiitttsss nooot heeeerr ffaaauulllt.
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Ehhh, it is. Not even 'kind of' is. You mention that she can't turn her power off, but she can. She can suppress it completely, or at least tune it down to the point that it's not noticeable. She just doesn't care enough to keep it down. She's the source of the aura, the only one in control of the aura, and willingly allowing it to do whatever she makes it feel like it should do, whether that be 'love me!' or 'fear me!'. That leaves her at fault.

She might not be the only one to blame for this, when you factor in the lack of control her parents/relatives tried to get her to have along with placing some of the blame onto shard conflict generation/mindfucks/whatever, but she is definitely at fault for it. You can even blame Amy for it, slightly, since she never brought it up (which is kind of understandable, but still leaves it as an unsolved problem).

You're definitely right that the way she used her aura was not actively malicious though (at least not towards those she considered friends or family).

Ack said:
Actually, to be precise, Vicky is almost the exact opposite of a rapist.
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I believe most people consider it mind rape, more than regular rape? I mean, that's always how I looked at the various arguments, the unwanted and forced modification of someone's thoughts/feelings/sexual orientation. Are there people actually claiming she did otherwise?
 
Daunmi said:
I believe most people consider it mind rape, more than regular rape? I mean, that's always how I looked at the various arguments, the unwanted and forced modification of someone's thoughts/feelings/sexual orientation. Are there people actually claiming she did otherwise?
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Given that a) what she did to Amy was not deliberate, and b) she was ultimately the one who suffered in the end ... it was not rape. After all, that requires some level of intent.

Did she fuck with Amy's head? Sure. Did she intend to? No. Is unintentional mind fuckery the same as mind rape? I don't think so.

Did she suffer as a result of what she did? HELL yes.

Does the Vicky in this fic deserve any sort of censure? That's another question altogether.

She's doing her best to be a good person. Yes, she's actively pursuing Chevalier, but he's not overly displeased by the attention. If she gave up and went away, he'd probably be vaguely disappointed.

To put it another way; if she just waited for him to make the next move, she'd be waiting forever. Even though he is attracted to her.

And yes, she is getting to know him, what he likes and dislikes, and he's doing the same with her. If/when they do become a couple, a) it'll be no surprise to anyone, and b) they'll be comfortable with one another.
 
Didn't her entire family think that they were immune? Why would she hold back? Suppressing her aura takes effort. Wildbow stated that she is incapable of turning it off, just turning it down. Something about how on a scale it only goes from B to G (Glory!).
 
GiftofLove said:
Didn't her entire family think that they were immune? Why would she hold back? Suppressing her aura takes effort. Wildbow stated that she is incapable of turning it off, just turning it down. Something about how on a scale it only goes from B to G (Glory!).
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If they thought they were immune, they were delusional. They could feel it.

I don't remember anything about whether or not it could actually be turned off coming up in Worm, but as for suppressing it, well, that's still up to her to do, and she regularly didn't.

Ack said:
Given that a) what she did to Amy was not deliberate
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I didn't deliberately run my car into you, I just couldn't be bothered putting my foot on the breaks when the lights changed.

Ack said:
b) she was ultimately the one who suffered in the end
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Amy, on the other hand, didn't suffer at all? This is kind of a bad thing for you to point out, when I think about it, since you mentioned in Hope Comes to Brockton Bay that things probably would have been smoothed over easier if GG had both listened to Amy, and let her fix her mistake like she wanted to right then and there. Victoria never tried to fix what her aura did to people (although I'm pretty sure that was more a matter of her (or anyone) not knowing that she'd done anything in the first place). I'm not sure how much I should debate this, since I do, personally, consider Victoria's final fate to be her own fault.

*edit* I should probably clarify here that, yes, I know you aren't your characters or your stories, and you're welcome to have opinions that are different from what you write. Kind of comes across like I'm saying you don't otherwise...

Ack said:
Is unintentional mind fuckery the same as mind rape?
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Hmm, I lack the words for this.

It's the same thing. But it's not the same issue? I know what I mean, but I don't think I can explain it, so whatever.

Ack said:
She's doing her best to be a good person.
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I don't see how she's doing anything different then before. She's going around acting however she wants, whilst being asked to stop.

Ack said:
Yes, she's actively pursuing Chevalier, but he's not overly displeased by the attention. If she gave up and went away, he'd probably be vaguely disappointed.
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He mentioned harassment, and if he wanted to argue it he'd win. He's asked her to stop multiple times, it's behavior that's not appropriate for the workplace, it's potentially disruptive, and she's ignoring all that. We're all animals, and just because we feel some sort of attraction to someone, and would be disappointed if someone took our eye candy away, doesn't mean we actually care for them. And even if he does like her to some degree, even if she does know exactly what that degree is, there's still the point that she's just ignoring him every time he asks her to stop.

If you know your wife is horny and desperate, but she tells you no for whatever reason, too bad.

Ack said:
To put it another way; if she just waited for him to make the next move, she'd be waiting forever. Even though he is attracted to her.
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Which sounds like he knows he isn't attracted enough to her to really care.
 
Daunmi said:
I don't see how she's doing anything different then before. She's going around acting however she wants, whilst being asked to stop.


He mentioned harassment, and if he wanted to argue it he'd win. He's asked her to stop multiple times, it's behavior that's not appropriate for the workplace, it's potentially disruptive, and she's ignoring all that. We're all animals, and just because we feel some sort of attraction to someone, and would be disappointed if someone took our eye candy away, doesn't mean we actually care for them. And even if he does like her to some degree, even if she does know exactly what that degree is, there's still the point that she's just ignoring him every time he asks her to stop.

If you know your wife is horny and desperate, but she tells you no for whatever reason, too bad.


Which sounds like he knows he isn't attracted enough to her to really care.
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"Y'know, some people would call what you're doing sexual harassment," I quipped back. I tried to sound displeased, and to a small degree I even was. Unfortunately the fact of the matter was I did enjoy the attention. More than I wanted to admit, which led to the other problem. Vicky knew that I liked it, and made it abundantly clear that she'd keep going until I changed my mind. Either by reciprocating her attention, or actually losing interest in her in the first place. Frankly, it was devolving into a contest of wills.
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Note the bolding. From this, we can gather that:

1) Chevalier is a naturally reserved person, who nonetheless enjoys the attention she is showing him.
2) He is actually interested in her. He just doesn't want to admit it (see above, re: reserved).
3) Vicky knows that he's attracted to her.
4) If he stopped being interested in her, she would stop pushing.

All he says to her in this snip about her behaviour is to not do it in front of the cameras. Which she agrees to.

I still fail to see the problem.
 
Daunmi said:
Ehhh, it is. Not even 'kind of' is. You mention that she can't turn her power off, but she can. She can suppress it completely, or at least tune it down to the point that it's not noticeable. She just doesn't care enough to keep it down. She's the source of the aura, the only one in control of the aura, and willingly allowing it to do whatever she makes it feel like it should do, whether that be 'love me!' or 'fear me!'. That leaves her at fault.

She might not be the only one to blame for this, when you factor in the lack of control her parents/relatives tried to get her to have along with placing some of the blame onto shard conflict generation/mindfucks/whatever, but she is definitely at fault for it. You can even blame Amy for it, slightly, since she never brought it up (which is kind of understandable, but still leaves it as an unsolved problem).

You're definitely right that the way she used her aura was not actively malicious though (at least not towards those she considered friends or family).
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I'm seeing a comparison to Ranma 1/2. when Akane walks in on him in the bath at the start and is thus seen naked seems comparable to Vicky's aura having long-term effects. a negative reaction is perfectly reasonable.
the problem is that you're kinda going beyond just blaming Ranma into blaming him for not having his eyes covered at all times -which is totally something he could do and which would have avoided the offence.
you can blame someone on the basis that there's something they could've done to avoid the current situation. just don't expect to ever be acknowledged as right, if you do.

Vicky's aura is pretty similar to Tattletale's info gathering; like GiftofLove said, it doesn't have a permanent or even a temporary off switch.
for her to not influence people would require constant concentration. it'd be like always stepping forward with a specific foot... or perhaps alternating them (for today, you'll start on your right foot. tomorrow, every time you step forward it'll be with your left foot).
if she'd known from the start or if it were obvious than that there were permanent effects, she might by the start of canon have been able to give herself the OCD that'd be required:
'class is over -is my aura off?'
'diner looks good -is my aura off?'
'hey, there's amy -is my aura off?'
'oooh! a nazi to fight! -is my aura off?'
'damn that landing looked awesome -is my aura off?'

it'd be doable, sure, but it'd be difficult to do reliably and seemingly pointless. as far as she's aware, it's kinda like First Impressions in the worm CYOA - just on opportunity to seem effortlessly awesome.
and with Amy saying she's immune, it certainly seems like repeat applications are specifically not layering the effect. so based on evidence she has, it'd actually be a pretty good idea for her to do things like hang around the wards, protectorate and PRT, blaring her aura at full so that they could build up a resistance and not get caught by surprise in a fight.
 
jaelin910 said:
I'm seeing a comparison to Ranma 1/2. when Akane walks in on him in the bath at the start and is thus seen naked seems comparable to Vicky's aura having long-term effects. a negative reaction is perfectly reasonable.
the problem is that you're kinda going beyond just blaming Ranma into blaming him for not having his eyes covered at all times -which is totally something he could do and which would have avoided the offence.
you can blame someone on the basis that there's something they could've done to avoid the current situation. just don't expect to ever be acknowledged as right, if you do.

Vicky's aura is pretty similar to Tattletale's info gathering; like GiftofLove said, it doesn't have a permanent or even a temporary off switch.
for her to not influence people would require constant concentration. it'd be like always stepping forward with a specific foot... or perhaps alternating them (for today, you'll start on your right foot. tomorrow, every time you step forward it'll be with your left foot).
if she'd known from the start or if it were obvious than that there were permanent effects, she might by the start of canon have been able to give herself the OCD that'd be required:
'class is over -is my aura off?'
'diner looks good -is my aura off?'
'hey, there's amy -is my aura off?'
'oooh! a nazi to fight! -is my aura off?'
'damn that landing looked awesome -is my aura off?'

it'd be doable, sure, but it'd be difficult to do reliably and seemingly pointless. as far as she's aware, it's kinda like First Impressions in the worm CYOA - just on opportunity to seem effortlessly awesome.
and with Amy saying she's immune, it certainly seems like repeat applications are specifically not layering the effect. so based on evidence she has, it'd actually be a pretty good idea for her to do things like hang around the wards, protectorate and PRT, blaring her aura at full so that they could build up a resistance and not get caught by surprise in a fight.
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Word of God says she literally can't turn it off. She can dial it back, but it's always there.
 
Girador said:
While I do agree with you on this one could we get a cite so as to help end the argument? I'd look myself but this just a quick post while I get discharged from the hospital.
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Wildbow said:
WyldCard4 said:
Aura: What exactly is her aura classified as? Personally I have classified it as a low level Stranger power, as I believe you once told me it is not a Master power. Stranger seems to fit best, as it alters the perceptions of her enemies.

How much control does Victoria have over her aura? Can she dial it up and down to stronger or weaker effects? What is her maximum and minimum level?
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Shaker, not stranger.

She can dial it up and down. See interlude 2 and Yamada's interlude.

Minimum level is B, max level is G.
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More WoG here.
 
dasstan said:
More WoG here.
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I note that Wildbow doesn't actually tell us what B and G mean.

Also, point of note? Wildbow sucks at math. This is a thing. I pointed out (via an intermediary) about how Sophia was six months younger than Taylor, and was told that apparently she wasn't supposed to be. Also, he ended up altering the date on Anne-Rose's headstone because I had to point out that otherwise, Taylor had been bullied for a full year longer.

So this is why he's vague about some things. Also, keeping stuff back for the next Worm story.
 
I wonder what's going happen to the Emperor's Game of Thrones-esque plan now that Lily has outed her identity and what his counter-plan will be for her defiance.
 
Snake/Eater said:
I wonder what's going happen to the Emperor's Game of Thrones-esque plan now that Lily has outed her identity and what his counter-plan will be for her defiance.
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Step One: Bend Over.
Step Two: Take it.
Step Three: Return to Step One.

Like... really. She's even more famous than she was before, she's an integral part of the portal system, she just avenged Japan. To go against her and Pantheon would be the height of folly.
 
dasstan said:
Step One: Bend Over.
Step Two: Take it.
Step Three: Return to Step One.

Like... really. She's even more famous than she was before, she's an integral part of the portal system, she just avenged Japan. To go against her and Pantheon would be the height of folly.
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His family has held on to the Chrysanthemum Throne for a millenia and a half,he's only managed to regain control of his nation for at least a decade.he's not going to allow from his perspective a little girl to destroy his family's legacy(reason be damn:D).
 
Amelia, Ch 300- Theo
Amelia, Ch 300- Theo


"Over there," Missy gestured at a building near the shore that got hit harder than most. At least earthquakes and flooding were things the civilians in this area knew how to deal with. After the terror of the Endbringer's attack wore down, it became a matter of establishing supplies and aid. In many ways, this went down in history as the least damage Leviathan had ever managed to do. If you ignored the trillion dollars in property damage, at least. Only a handful of poorly constructed buildings even collapsed, and very few places were facing refugee crisis.


"What floor," I asked my girlfriend.


"What?" She paused for a second. "Oh, sorry. Seven. Maybe eight."


"Are you feeling okay?" I asked.


"Sorry, just tired," she answered. "I'll take a breather while you're up there."


I glanced at my HUD clock. It was three in the morning. Later, for us, since we were on east coast time. "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes," I agreed, tugging on Macula's reins.


He took flight, then hovered where I needed him to. Some practical part of me found the flying horse thing to be wasteful. It would be be much more efficient with, say, a hover car. Another part of me was more than a little embarrassed. A man riding a flying horse, kinda made me feel silly. But Riley put effort and care into these creatures, and that meant a lot to me. Plus, silly or not, I got to be a knight on a flying horse. That was pretty cool.


I formed a sword and slashed the emergency exit door. It came open without any difficulty, and I stepped inside. "Anyone here?" I shouted. "I'm with Pantheon. We're here to get you to safety!"


My scanning tech led me to the men's bathroom. Not where I'd pick to hide under the circumstances, but whatever. "Fair warning, I'm coming in," I shouted into the bathroom. It was one of the ones that didn't have doors. Instead opting for a sort of hallway and inner wall setup for privacy.


The trio opted to hide in the stalls when I walked in. "Y'know, usually people are a little more eager to be rescued," I spoke. "I get that you're scared. I would be, too, in your shoes. But I'm here to help. This building isn't going to hold forever." As if to punctuate my point, there was another aftershock. They'd come so regularly, a dozen or two an hour, that I stopped noticing them.


One of the people in a stall let out a high pitched shriek.


"Dammit, Gary," a woman in another stall exclaimed.


"Oh, get over it Sheila, he already knows we're here," the person I now knew as a man named Gary who shrieked like Riley when we watched horror movies. I suspected she overplayed her reactions because it gave her an excuse to cuddle with me.


The third stall's door opened, and another man stepped out. He was in a Janitor's outfit. Made sense, it was around eight in the evening here when Leviathan struck. "Dumb plan to begin with," the janitor stage whispered. I read his name. Stanly. I blamed my upbringing for the surprise I felt in seeing an obviously hispanic man with the name of 'Stanly'.


I didn't say anything about his opinion of the plan. I also neglected to ask who was the bigger idiot. The idiot, or the idiots who listened to that idiot. It would have been unprofessional.


"As I said, sir, I'm here to get you out of the building. It's actually pretty decent out there, the roads are passable so we can get you to a hospital if you need it. Or even home. Busses and cabs are out in force." Part of the Governor's emergency planning, apparently.


"Well, at least that's good news," he responded. "Guess I need to look for a new job."


He isn't wrong. I watched the doors open up. A naturally tan man and woman in fairly nice, if currently bedraggled clothes. Office workers staying here late, perhaps? Something seemed a little off about them, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's because they look a little younger than I expect of office workers.


"The emergency cleanup crews will be in tomorrow and hard at work for the next few months," I informed the man. "I'm not sure about the details, but there are people who spend their entire careers moving from one Endbringer attack to the next doing repairs. So I have to believe the pay's decent."


"Sounds depressing as hell," the man concluded.


"Probably," I agreed. "Come on, I'll show you three the way out."


"Lead the way, my man," the janitor responded cheerfully.


I took us to where Macula was waiting by the emergency exit that no longer led anywhere but to a seven story drop. The people stopped and stared at him. "Like him?" I asked a bit self consciously. "My girlfriend made it for me." One of them, at least.


"You're not expecting us to ride on that thing?" the woman, Shiela, asked.


"It'd be faster," I responded. "But he doesn't like strangers much."


I stepped up to the edge of the fire escape, and focused on my power. Metal manifested from nowhere, forming a staircase to the ground. Because I didn't have to care about various construction issues, I simply made it a single long set of stairs.


"That's quite the trick," Stanly smiled. "Perfectly safe, right?"


"Almost as hard to break as the Endbringers, sir," I responded. "You're in absolutely no danger of it collapsing." To prove my point, I walked out on to the platform. I'd extended legs to keep it anchored to the ground, although that wasn't strictly necessary.


The man stepped out, cautiously at first. Then he jumped on it a couple times. "That's one hell of a trick, kid," he laughed, then looked back at the other two. "C'mon, it's probably safer than that building."


The pair followed, and they started down the stairs. I stood at the top. Holding something this complex together took a lot of concentration. I climbed on to Macula and let the metal vanish back into wherever it came from.


By the time I got back down, Missy was slumped on top of Calysta. Her horse folded its wings over her protectively, but otherwise didn't do much when I approached. It would have been more responsive if I wasn't a friend. Riley's constructs did have more or less horselike instincts in them, a distrust of strangers was part of that. I shook Missy's shoulder.


"Hey sleepy head, we're heading home now."


She didn't respond. "Missy?" Oh no. I shook her harder, but got no response to that, either. "Aceso?" I activated the com.


"What's wrong?" Riley asked immediately.


"Missy's unconscious," I told her. I was already laying her back, but going through the first aid training and medical memory set. Still, I felt more comfortable having Riley in charge. Even the best doctor was nothing compared to Riley's tinkering skills. Of more immediate concern, getting through Missy's armor wasn't something I could do easily. "I'm not sure what happened."


"Understood," Riley answered. She'd be patching into the armor's diagnostic systems. She spoke to me, more for my benefit than anything. "Heartrate is normal, breathing's normal, no sign of recent contact with what might be a Master/Stranger effect." She paused for a second. "Oh, I think I found the problem. She's not in any danger, but you need to bring her back to Avalon base, okay? I'll get the equipment ready."


"Alright," I agreed. I glanced over at the trio I'd just rescued. "Umm... are you okay to be left here?"


"Nah, it's cool," the janitor responded. "My van's right over there. I'll drive home."


"Same," Sheila answered. "Well, car. We can look after ourselves."


"Okay, thanks. And sorry about this." I didn't wait for their responses, instead guiding Macula up, and leading Calysta along with. Shunt drives were built so that if someone was holding another set of armor when they shunted, both would go with. Or, in this case, a chain of four would come along. I shunted, which brought Macula, which took Calysta, which took Missy.


Our emergency base on Avalon wasn't much to look at. Really just a med lab grown in the pocket of land we owned in the territory. One of the ways zoning laws worked on the planet, there was always a space of around a quarter mile that was required to be left undeveloped and under Imperial control every twenty miles or so. This way, we always had somewhere as a staging platform for emergencies like this one. A good thing, too, in this case. Our California was easily the most populated place on Avalon right now, so there was a number of buildings surrounding a conspicuously empty field and a single large building.


If you discounted the dozens of zerg spread across the landscape, at least. Nearby home owners had gawked for a while, but that was hours ago and they were mostly back in bed. A long night for everyone.


We touched down on the roof, where Riley, Emma and Zach were already waiting. Judging by the cloud of bugs, it wasn't just them. Emma and Zach were already getting Missy off her horse by the time I got to her. Missy wasn't that large, but our armor systems added at least another couple hundred pounds of weight. More, depending on the suit in question.


I got under Missy and held her, bridal style. Three hundred pounds was quite a bit of weight to try and carry, but a bit of antigrav and she was light as a feather.


Luckily, we were on top of the medical segment of the building, and putting Missy into one of the pods was easy enough. Fortunately, they were designed to work with the armor system, so we didn't have to cut Missy out of her suit.


"I thought you said she was fine," I asked Riley.


"She is," Riley confirmed. "But that doesn't mean we don't want to be thorough. And she needs a good night's rest. The healing pods are great for cat naps. Eight hours of sleep in an hour or less, guaranteed."


"They are," Emma agreed. "I mean, for other people. I catch Riley and Trevor in them all the time, and Rey has a spare installed in his lab. I swear, if we could build a two-seater, then Taylor and Amelia would probably climb into one and never come out again. Not like they actually need to be present to use their powers."


"So what's wrong with Missy?" I asked.


"Oh, that's easy," Riley started.


================


A/N- I demand rampant speculation for this chapter!
 
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TanaNari said:
"So what's wrong with Missy?" I asked.


"Oh, that's easy," Riley started.


================


A/N- I demand rampant speculation for this chapter!
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Riley: "Theo, you're pregnant."

Theo: "Fine, but what does that have to do with Missy being unconscious?"

Riley: "Missy is your daughter from the future."

Theo: "I understand time-travel, and that makes no sense."

Riley: "It's because her soul is in two places now that you're carrying her fetus."

Theo: "Riley, you know souls aren't real. You told me about the machines you built to catch souls and how none of them ever worked."

Riley: "Fine, fine. It's really because--"

Taylor: "Sorry to interrupt, but there's another new Endbringer. You all have one minute to suit up."
 
The most obvious answer is that Missy's preggers

However TanaNari likes fucking with us so it's probably not that simple

However TanaNari knows we know he likes fucking with us and is liable to make Missy preggers just to fuck with us

However it's unlikely that he'll make it that simple

Therefore we can conclude that Missy is pregnant with Riley's lab-babies.
 
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