Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[doomlord9]

Correction, an Omni-Dimensional Sunbeam weapon.

Because the only thing more overkill than using a star as fuel for a beam weapon is using 10^50 stars as fuel for a weapon all at the same time at the same target in the same beam.

 

[dasstan]

... In 3,000 years, the next Entities will take a gander towards the Milky Way, see the multidimensional, galaxy spanning Confederation of Human States (lead by the Empire of Avalon, of course) and Nope right along to somewhere else.

Assuming they don't run out of power first (and with the naked singularity tech backed by years and years of Dragon and Co's refinement, they won't), I would fully expect them to have figured out symbiosis with the passengers by that point.

 

[cosoco]

<I am still your Emperor, Uncle,> the boy cut him off, then looked back to us. <There must be one stipulation.>

Click to shrink...

They're infighting during negotiations. I get the feeling that these two don't get along that well.

...now that I think about it, the Uncle will lose power within a decade unless the current Emperor dies under mysterious circumstances.

... In 3,000 years, the next Entities will take a gander towards the Milky Way, see the multidimensional, galaxy spanning Confederation of Human States (lead by the Empire of Avalon, of course) and Nope right along to somewhere else.

Click to shrink...

You can't leave an exponentially-growing enemy alone. I think they'd have decent chances if they stopped playing around and opened the fight with their planet-buster attacks. Of course, by then, the Empire would have time to analyse the Entities and mass-manufacture anti-Entity weapons. Given that the Empire would have mind-state backups of their citizens distributed across the galaxy, it would be difficult to permanently kill any of them. I think it would be a pretty even fight.

Maybe that's what the cycle needs to prevent the entities from turning on each other: a common enemy.

 

[dasstan]

You can't leave an exponentially-growing enemy alone. I think they'd have decent chances if they stopped playing around and opened the fight with their planet-buster attacks. Of course, by then, the Empire would have time to analyse the Entities and mass-manufacture anti-Entity weapons. Given that the Empire would have mind-state backups of their citizens distributed across the galaxy, it would be difficult to permanently kill any of them. I think it would be a pretty even fight.

Maybe that's what the cycle needs to prevent the entities from turning on each other: a common enemy.

Click to shrink...

I'd read it. Maybe when TanaNari is done with this fic, someone can take the reigns for an authorized sequel?

 

[Snake/Eater]

Maybe that's what the cycle needs to prevent the entities from turning on each other: a common enemy.

Click to shrink...

The entities will not dare to attack humanity,because we would just need one weapon to use as a threat.....a multidimensional wormhole weapon.i call it Ragnarök

Spoiler: Wormhole weapon

....one way or the other....The Empire will have Peace in their time.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 306


"So Japan's Boy Emperor is a parahuman," I sighed. "Well, makes an awful lot of sense when you think about it. I knew that kid was too smart. So where does that leave us in the long run?"


"Depends on things I don't know," Lisa replied. "If I could get a real look at him, in person, then I can use my powers to figure out more details. The most likely is he's some kind of Changer who killed and replaced the prince. Thinker or Stranger secondaries that let him, or maybe even her, maintain the ruse despite there being any number of possible ways for the plot to go wrong."


DisgustAnger. "In which case, we're faced with ousting the imposter, and losing what is nominally an ally," Taylor concluded. "And with it our clean, easy foothold with Japan. All of which is only assuming we're right and the officials believe us. I doubt the Regent would cooperate with us at all."


"He's in on the plot," Lisa responded. "Either as another parahuman, or more likely a purely normal ally. My guess is the assassination attempt succeeded better than anyone ever realized. Either the impostors were part of it, or took advantage of the chaos to get themselves into position. It's also possible other government leaders recruited them to play at being the royal family as part of some attempt to maintain morale with Japan's populace.


"Well, that's a little better," I sighed.


"And last, but certainly not least," Lisa continued. "There's the chance that he is the actual heir apparent, and he triggered with a skill or knowledge based Thinker power during the attack. Something like Victor or Uber. Maybe like me or Alexandria without the brute backup. Possibly even a precog of some type. Something that let him escape the assassins and is now informing his decisions. The Regent would, of course, be aware of this. It wouldn't be the first time a Thinker power has strongly influenced the mind of a parahuman. But there's too many unknowns."


"I think I like that one," I nodded. "What are the odds that's the actual truth?"


"Better than the Fairy Queen joining the triumvirate?" Lisa responded. "Seriously, I don't have the appropriate information to work with. All answers are equally valid until I can examine him in person. Which isn't likely to happen. So my power's of pretty much zero help. Maybe if I try some shenanigans with Dinah's power, but her answers start to get unreliable when we ask questions like 'if we use a power to do x, will y happen?'. Especially when it comes to power interactions, which this would be if he has Stranger powers or uses a Thinker power to resist mine. I suspect it's some part of the Taboo, but have no way of confirming that."


"So we have no way of knowing, and all methods of finding out are going to be conspicuous or unreliable," Taylor sighed.


"Maybe we can get a blood sample with a mosquito or something?" I suggested. "Run it through Riley's genetics tech and see if that gives us any clues."


"It's better than nothing," Lisa agreed. "But they'll probably have some way of trying to make that fail. No way of knowing what kind of parahuman defenses they have going for them. We still have to answer what we do if we do find proof he's a fraud."


FrustrationDistasteResignation. "We're going to do nothing, aren't we?" Taylor asked.


"It's the smartest plan," Lisa responded. "The kid, no matter who or what he is, is in a position that barely even qualifies him as a symbolic figurehead. He'd have more political power as an elected official. He'd have more political power as whatever Japan calls the mayor of a city."


"He may also be guilty of multiple murders and at least one or two major conspiracies. Plus treason," Taylor argued.


"Sort of the Coil scenario," Lisa responded. "Plus or minus the enslavement. The kid is in a position where he's capable of doing a lot of good. He's unnaturally smart, he's confident he has allies strong enough to get his plans through in other areas. And he's committed to achieving good things, if only for his own self interest. If it turns out the worst of our suspicions are correct, he's no worse than Accord. And blowing this secret leaves us in a much worse position when it comes to both Japan and China. Probably won't matter too much in the Scion scheme of things, but..."


"But at best it's a distraction that might slow down our preparations against the end of the world," I supplied.


"Exactly," Lisa agreed. "We should put him in the same general bubble as Cauldron and The Elite. Not people we like, but not making themselves part of the problem. So we can tolerate their presence. Because we have to."


"Don't have much choice, do we?" I asked. "If we did have the evidence we needed. If our mission was successful. If everything went perfect, removing him would not go well for our interests in Japan. We'd alienate a lot of the people we're trying hardest to recruit. There is nothing good that comes from this except removing one more villain."


"Pretty much," Lisa confirmed.


Why are the right decisions and the good decisions never the same? SupportRegretComfort. "Do we approach the fake Emperor with this knowledge?" I asked. "Or share it with Lily, since she'll be the one who meets the kid?"


"He already knows," Lisa responded. "Or knew I'd figure something out. Like I said, some kind of Thinker or Stranger. Possibly precog. It's why he gave such a convenient excuse to keep Lily away from the rest of the royalty, so we wouldn't fear her being compromised or threatened. I know, to you it looked like a standard enough chat, but there was a conversation within a conversation in the background. He's giving us everything we want, if we simply agree to let him have what he wants."


SuspicionConcern. "What does he want?" Taylor asked.


"A life of luxury with absolutely no need to do honest work a single day in his life," Lisa responded. "Or something along those lines, at least. He's currently wealthy, and people are at least willing to pretend he's powerful. And with his parahuman abilities, he can do a lot more with the position than is traditionally possible. He has what he wants, right now he just wants to make sure he keeps it. This strongly implied alliance with Pantheon gives him security. Especially from China. And that's what sold him, us being an implicit shield against China."


"Which was one of our implied bartering chips in the first place," I responded. "We came in with a really strong offer, asking only for a 'symbolic gesture with no legitimate power' and stuff we were going to get anyway. No surprise it was snapped up."


"He also sensed that we wouldn't improve on the offer," Lisa added. "It was this or turning us down and letting us wait until they changed their minds. Depending on how his power works, he's at least a four, and I'm assuming seven or better until I have more information."


"And the longer they delayed it, the more it'd look like they were forced into it," Taylor responded. "He had to see that, as well. That agreeing to this right away makes it look like it's meant to look, as high an honor as Japan can give, to the one that killed Leviathan."


"Speaking of," Lisa added. "I'll probably throw out a few ideas to Japan and see what sticks to the wall. A parade in Lily's honor is a given, no doubt. We'd likely have to agree to that one even if we didn't want it. Leviathan's death a national holiday, they likely won't even blink at that. Whatever Japan's equivalent to the Medal of Honor or Knighthood happens to be. Point is, she needs to have more title than just 'Princess'. And a couple military honors to go alongside that gay pride sticker in her costume would be an ideal outcome, here."


"We should probably come up with a medal system of our own, huh?" Taylor remarked. "I mean, we are Avalon's military, right? Shouldn't we have award ceremonies for the big stuff? Endbringer fights at the very least."


"Yeah," Lisa agreed. "I'll throw the idea past Accord, he'll love everything about it. So do one of you want to tell Lily the good news, or shall I?"


"I'll do it," I volunteered. "Haven't had a chance to talk to her in a while, anyway. But let's save it until tomorrow. I'm tired."


"Can do," Lisa smiled. "I've got some last minute things to throw by Dragon, and I'll send a memo to Accord asking him for suggestions on a medals. It'll be lowest priority, but I imagine he'll get to it pretty quickly. Feel free to resume your quickie after I leave."


She bolted for the door. I could have stopped her with ease, but what would be the point?


"She spends too much time around Zach," Taylor muttered.


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


A/N- And no one guessed at all.

 

[Diller]

I noted the kids behavior but I just assumed he was smart.

 

[moontheir4]

A/N- And no one guessed at all.

Click to shrink...

Well, it was much less obvious than "Avalon forces will defend their portal. Now Japan isn't completely defenseless against the inevitable CUI invasion." I didn't really see the need for a deeper cause.

 

[Silvercrystal]

Just because I didn't comment doesn't mean I didn't see it, or think of it. or I didn't actually think of it.

 

[Zarohk]

Calvert's Elite as they were called by the PRT in general. At the same time, being second in command here was still a better position in terms of prestige than being a Director in most parts of the country would be.

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

A/N- Just in case you were wondering what Miss Militia was up to. Or Coil, for that matter.

... Surely there was at least two people out there who wanted this chapter.

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As for a reward, he's got a tough job that requires he move around fairly often, but he's also in charge of an elite military unit that has come to bare his name, making him a major celebrity in the PRT. And he got to make Ellisburg his bitch, so I doubt he cares much either way. Nothing as therapeutic as kicking the shit out of something that gave you PTSD after all.

Click to shrink...

It's amazing how even Coil is living the dream. Sure it's intense, hard work, but I have no doubt that his current role is almost exactly what he was hoping for with his own smaller schemes. Sure, there's no precog tied up in his basement, and he doesn't get to flex his power as much (or at all?) but he definitely got the power, authority, and respect that he was aiming for. It's funny how all of Amelia is about characters getting some of what they want, and then realizing that the have to keep moving forward in life, and there's always more to see and do.

 

[Zarohk]

the Queen of England has far more power in Canada than you do in Japan. We probably have more power in Canada than you have in Japan.

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"What does he want?" Taylor asked.

"A life of luxury with absolutely no need to do honest work a single day in his life," Lisa responded.

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

A/N- And no one guessed at all.

Click to shrink...

It's funny, if I didn't know better I would think that the Imposter-Emperor was one of Heartbreaker's kids, what with the mentions of Canada in the last chapter (possibly as foreshadowing?), and since his/her motivation is the exact same as Regent's. Would be an interesting, if not completely unexpected twist. After all, it was already show that one of Heartbreaker's kids had the power to essentially possess people. (Also, I'm deliberately not using the term "Heartbroken", because to me that's the people that Imp freed by killing Heartbreaker, who decided to follow her around. Speaking of which, I wonder what Brian's up to.)

 

[dasstan]

A/N- And no one guessed at all.

Click to shrink...

I thought that he was a parahuman, but I didn't consider the possibility of him being an imposter. Like, at all.

 

[Divabot]

Isn't assassination and usurpation a perfectly ordinary and accepted path to a throne? It will attract objectors, of course, but they're part of the process of proving oneself. Real aristocrats ride in with swords.

 

[Snake/Eater]

how odd The heir apparent doesn't want power?

 

[gatewaewanderer]

They're overlooking something pretty important. Namely, what Lily will do. I couldn't figure out if she'll be told about their knowledge of the young Emperor being a Parahuman, and their guesses on how that came about / what it means, so 2 possible paths there, with more forks from each path. They don't tell Lily, she figures out on her own or finds evidence much later pointing at the Emperor being a Parahuman, she could go to the boy himself about it... and be silenced somehow and the whole implodes / explodes, or go to her bosses and be told they knew but chose not to do anything about it, and her response... That ties into what she'll do if they tell her before she figures it out or finds clues of something being wrong herself. This is a country that pretty much considers her a national hero, and she's finding out that its leader might be an impostor who killed the Emperor but they can't figure it out without destroying what they're after in allying with Japan.

With the other situations where Lily et. al. have been secrets and been asked to keep them, her hands were tied and she couldn't do anything about them, even the situations where Pantheon as a whole would like to be able to do something about the situations ( can't remember which secrets Lily's in on at this point, there's a fair few, though at least Cauldron, the Endmaker, and Scion. ) I think this secret might be one too many, and in a way too close to home. She's going to want to do something. Besides, have they considered this might not be a way for China to get agents into Avalon to get their Portal technology?

 

[Snake/Eater]

that could be why they wanted lily to marry into the royal family,to kill to 4 birds with one stone.

1. to get Lily pregnant with the next successor,then the boy-emperor "dies of a bad case of bad luck"
2. they regain legitimacy of the royal bloodline.
3. they gain political power because of lily being the mother of emperor.
4. they gain a chance a to declare War on other Colonial worlds,when the Lily-emperor is of age and avalon has no say what they do.

they must be trying a new strategy.

 

[UltimateGrr]

how odd The heir apparent doesn't want power?

Click to shrink...

What power? The position is a that of a figurehead. Taylor's pretty sure she has more political power in countries she's not even a citizen of than the Japanese Emperor has in his own. Lisa even points out the average mayor has more power than the throne. All you get is paparazzi and standards of décor you have to follow. Far better to just be the heir and not have to deal with nearly as much stuff.

@gatewae you're assuming Lily is going to even care about the Emperor at all. She has what she wanted out of the deal (helping the Japanese people), and while she's hot headed, the whole "what exactly can we do and not make things worse?" question is going to deflate her pretty quick. Not to say they can't revisit the issue later since nobody is happy about this, but ultimately the imposter is largely powerless to do any thing given the constraints he has to work with under the law, and gave them what they wanted.

And someone quoted me earlier about the brass in the PRT not caring about Coil being compromised by Pantheon. Considering Lisa is personal friends with Alexandria, most of what Coil would get told is stuff they already knew about ahead of time. And with Alexandria being one of the few who know Coil is Calvert, and already knows Calvert works for Pantheon, it's not like he'd be told stuff they didn't want Pantheon to know about.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 307- Glen


"Hey, GL, morning status report?" Crystal asked. I liked Crystal, she treated me more like the reality of what I was than the others. Where they acted like I was a normal person they just couldn't see, she didn't. She just treated me like I was an extension of the environment. Or, more, the environment was an extension of me. It made me feel more respected that way.


"Nothing big," I responded. "Sabah brought a couple girls in last night."


"Two?" Crystal asked. "Well, that's a new one. They stayed out of the secure areas, I trust."


"Yeah," I confirmed. "Y'know, one of these lady friends of hers is going to plaster her identity all over the newspapers one of these days."


"I don't think she cares," Crystal responded. "But I'll talk to her about this behavior. I get the post breakup fling thing. Been there, done that, felt like a slut afterwards, never doing it again. But this is taking it a little further than it really needs to go. Actually, I'll probably consult Rapture about it, first. My shitty pop psych senses are tingling, and I think this needs a more delicate touch than Lisa's."


Her eyes didn't twitch around trying to find the invisible source of my voice, instead casually focussing on the report she had in hand. It had taken me four months to figure out how to speak to people again, how to force the air in my controlled territory to rub against itself in a semblance of a human voice. Over the course of a year, I'd gotten good enough at it that I could make people swear it came from an actual set of lungs, not a delicate process of mixing together artificial wind in an extremely complex fashion.


"Why do you treat me like that?" I asked.


"Like what?" Now she looked up.


"Like I'm on the phone or something, instead of in the room with you," I prompted. "It's weird, no one else does that."


"Umm, sorry," she responded. "I've spent a lot of time working with someone who has a power a lot like yours. Taylor's power, I know everyone thinks of it as her controlling swarms of bugs, but it's really quite a bit more than that. She doesn't command her swarm, she is the swarm. Her feelings are their feelings, her thoughts are their thoughts. It's just easier to think of her as already being everywhere, and that habit kinda extended to you."


"Except she has a range measured in city blocks, instead of just a small building," I muttered. "Even without her fiancée extending her power across an entire planet. Those two kinda makes me feel inadequate."


"There's always someone stronger," Crystal agreed. "That's how I feel fighting alongside Legend and Eidolon. Legend's all my powers only way better. And Eidolon is, well, good luck competing with that."


And then there's Scion, I added in my head. "So you don't look for me because you're used to working with Taylor," I changed the subject back.


"Pretty much," she agreed. "That and I'm used to talking to her. She almost never looks at the person she's talking to. She doesn't need to, she has her power and can see better through it than through her eyes. It's creepy as hell, if we're being honest. I can try to break the habit if you like."


"Nah, it's cool," I responded. "Honestly, I think I kinda like it. Like what I am is normal, instead of being freaked out about it."


"Well, if there's one benefit to living with Amy, Taylor and," she hesitated a couple seconds. "The others. It's that eventually there's not much left in the world that can freak you out. As long as you stay respectful of our privacy, I'm good."


"Thanks for the vote of confidence, chief," I muttered. Honestly, I'd played peeping tom a handful of times, especially in the first year or two I had my memories. Just because I wouldn't do it now didn't make me innocent.


....


Wow, Boost was so completely right, I decided. This Hecate chick is a total babe. Dubstep did his best to avoid looking at her too intently. The guy was chronically shy, probably the source of his Trigger, although he didn't tell and we didn't ask.


"Thanks for seeing us," I spoke. I had to imagine Boost tried to get in her pants the dumbest way imaginable. Because it was impossible to imagine he tried any other way. So I resolved myself to be extra polite today. "You really think you'll be able to enhance our powers?"


"Harnessing your power," the other girl, Aceso, corrected. "Enhancing powers is possible, but dangerous. Like any other drug, if you want to receive the high, you'll have to suffer the crash that comes after. What we're doing here is building equipment that will respond to your powers better than you can get just by improvising with what the environment gives you. Think of it as the difference between using PCP, and using a baseball bat."


I'd seen the occasional violent drug reaction, and I wasn't sure if a baseball bat would be enough to beat someone on that stuff. But the analogy made sense. "So you can harness our power, then?" I asked.


"Dubstep's power, with ease," Hecate answered. "He amplifies and manipulates sonic energy. At bare minimum, we can give him an armor similar to Radiant or Predator that exploits his power as a fuel source for various high end weapons. Hopefully his power follows more unique mechanics that we can use to do some really interesting stuff. Possibly even anti-Endbringer grade amplification."


"I've already named it Echo," Aceso informed cheerfully.


There is something really strange about her, I realized. I reached out with my power, touching her armor. I felt... I could get closer. The Manton Effect that kept me from direct contact with living things more advanced than a plant simply wasn't there. "You're a robot," I spoke, and immediately regretted it.


"Changeling," Aceso responded. "A lot like the M7s the PRT is starting to use. How could you tell?"


"No Manton Effect," I answered. At least she didn't seem upset that I figured it out.


"But that's impossible!" Hecate declared. "She has a Manton effect, because she was built using Endbringer... material... holy fuck, your power's like Chevalier's... you can directly effect Endbringers."


Aceso started giggling, and even clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She declared happily. "I've gotta call up Rey. He's going to love you so much that he'll want to marry you."


"Yeah, after making him dress up in a Simmie Suit," Hecate laughed.


"I... don't think I want to do that," I cut in. The fuck is a Simmie Suit? All I know is I'm terrified and slightly disgusted right now.


"Don't worry, we can do a lot better than that," Aceso dismissed. "Your powerset is much more valuable working with cloned material from Khonsu. How would you like the full Alexandria package plus shapeshifting plus forcefields plus a potential Endslayer combination?"


"Endslayer combination?" Yeah, okay, that would be fucking badass as hell. "You can do that?"


"It's theoretically possible," Hecate agreed. "Unlikely, but possible. You could use your armor to get physical contact with the Endbringer, and then take possession of its body. I have to imagine they're shielded against that some way, but maybe not. The new ones, especially, are specializing in defending against attackers like Atropos. In the process, they're sacrificing a lot of their offensive firepower and leaving themselves vulnerable in other areas. I bet if we use you in conjunction with Shaman and Rosary, we'd at least be able to subdue an Endbringer long enough to kill them some other way. Maybe use you to expose the core so it can be destroyed more easily."


"We're going to call it Fractal and it's going to be beautiful and I bet if I tried I can even get it to generate the Taboo effect and be immune to precogs," Aceso rambled on excitedly.


This is her idea of giving my power a baseball bat? Christ, what would the drug be like? "Is she always like that?" I quietly asked Hecate.


"It's a Tinker thing," she responded. "This is actually pretty mild, comparatively."


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


A/N- GL gets a chapter. Also: Other Stuff.

 

[Ack]

Well.

That came out of left field.

Kudos.

(Referencing previous chapter. Latest one is cool too).

 

[pepperjack]

you can directly effect Endbringers.

Click to shrink...

Unless he can use his power to manifest Enbringers, you probably meant "directly affect."

But yes, nice Crystal/Tinkers chapter. Didn't see this one coming.

Edit: forgot to mention the most important part, offscreen Sabah sexings. Join Pantheon: you get your money for nothing and your chicks for free!

 

[GiftofLove]

Um, aren't they hiding the fact that Aceso is a tinker?

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

"Exactly," Lisa agreed. "We should put him in the same general bubble as Cauldron and The Elite. Not people we like, but not making themselves part of the problem. So we can tolerate their presence. Because we have to."

Click to shrink...

Has Avalon hosted a Nolanverse Batman movie weekend recently?

 

[Slayer Anderson]

Um, aren't they hiding the fact that Aceso is a tinker?

Click to shrink...

At this point it's mostly moot how much people find out about Aceso/Riley. Avalon is unassailable in ways that boggle the mind.

They'd lose some PR if people make the connection, but if Riley gave a heartfelt speech on national television about how she was working hard to makeup for her crimes and they explained her contributions to the anti-Endbringer effort, *most* people would let the subject drop...as long as Riley stays on her best behavior.

 

[GiftofLove]

At this point it's mostly moot how much people find out about Aceso/Riley. Avalon is unassailable in ways that boggle the mind.

They'd lose some PR if people make the connection, but if Riley gave a heartfelt speech on national television about how she was working hard to makeup for her crimes and they explained her contributions to the anti-Endbringer effort, *most* people would let the subject drop...as long as Riley stays on her best behavior.

Click to shrink...

This is a very loose comparison, but would you forgive Hitler? Even if he were a cute little girl? The slaughterhouse are the boogeyman of this world, Bonesaw in particular.

 

[GiftofLove]

Sure they'll have to grin and bear it, but it will hurt their colonization efforts massively. As well as their trust with other nations.

 

[The Unicorn]

The slaughterhouse are the boogeyman of this world, Bonesaw in particular.

Click to shrink...

No they aren't. Most people never heard of the Slaughterhouse 9. There are probably even many people in Earth Beit's US (where the S9 operated) that never heard of them.

 

[TanaNari]

Guys. There's a pretty big jump between "hey, Clarice is a tinker building robots that look like people out of Endbringer parts" and "hey, look, Bonesaw." That's nowhere near Bonesaw's known specialty.


I mean, no one's mistaken Emma for Bonesaw. Or Trevor. Or Rey. Or Dragon. Or the people working for Dragon.


... Or maybe there's some hilarious conspiracy theories on PHO which do... most of which were started by Zach's sock puppets...

 

[Snake/Eater]

the sleeper is the Parahuman boogeyman of earth bet,i here a song for when he awakes and starts killing everybody...

Spoiler: the sleeper awakes

 

[GiftofLove]

No they aren't. Most people never heard of the Slaughterhouse 9. There are probably even many people in Earth Beit's US (where the S9 operated) that never heard of them.

Click to shrink...

Excuse me, I forgot that the U.S. isn't the entire world. My American Pride must be acting up again.

 

[cosoco]

The Manton Effect that kept me from direct contact with living things more advanced than a plant simply wasn't there.

Click to shrink...

I was going to ask if his power also extended to people's underwear, but you've already answered that.

Good to know.

Hecata

Click to shrink...

Hecate

"Except she has a range measured in city blocks, instead of just a small building," I muttered. "Even without her fiancée extending her power across an entire planet. Those two kinda makes me feel inadequate."

Click to shrink...

Taylia makes everyone else feel inadequate.

"Well, if there's one benefit to living with Amy, Taylor and," she hesitated a couple seconds. "The others.

Click to shrink...

Smooth.

This is a very loose comparison, but would you forgive Hitler? Even if he were a cute little girl? The slaughterhouse are the boogeyman of this world, Bonesaw in particular.

Click to shrink...

I really doubt that Riley has killed as many people as Hitler. Even if you assume she's killed 100,000 people, that only makes her 8 millihitlers.

And, y'know, Hitler wasn't useful to anyone.