Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 351


"I've found a possible solution to the problem," Alexandria stated. "I don't think anyone's going to like it, however."


SuspicionWorry. "Won't cost us anything to hear the idea," Taylor responded.


"We know a parahuman that's likely capable of finding the solution for us," she continued. Her eyes turned toward Chevalier, though from the angle we were standing, he wouldn't be able to notice it. "She is, however, quite insane. A very young parahuman, and one that perpetuates the stereotypes that Triggering young increases power."


HorrorTrepidation. Oh! Oh. Fuck. We need a way to remove Chevalier before she arrives, if we choose to use her at all. "What powers does she have?" I already knew the answer to that was 'a lot of them', but it was a smart question to ask in front of Chevalier.


"A Thinker ability that grants unique understanding of powers," Alexandria answered. "She's been using it to help Eidolon optimize his abilities. They've formed something of a rapport with each other, "


"So, basically, we're calling in Eidolon and hoping he has a power that can deal with this mess?" Lisa added, following whatever script she was pulling off of Alexandria, and I was convinced they had something going on that we couldn't tap into any more than they could tap into Taylia.


"That would be the most likely result, yes," Alexandria agreed. "If nothing else, it's an alternative to waiting and hoping your Tinkers can find a way to undo the Gordian Knot that is this power interaction. I must admit I'm getting concerned about the duration of this event."


PatienceIdeaConfidence. I fought the urge to look over at Taylor and ask her what she was planning.


"It's true," Lisa agreed. "The other interactions tend to fade pretty quickly, leaving only their side effects behind. Nothing that continues to use power, at least. That thing out there is made of pure energy. A prismatic forcefield. It has to be consuming a lot of energy."


"Y'know sis," I startled at Vicky's voice right next to my ear. "If I didn't know better, I'd suspect you staged this whole thing just to get out of our little family dinner. Anyway, I'm done with my test run. The thing's pretty stationary, but it gets grabby if you get close. So, y'know, enter at your own risk."


"No weak points?" Taylor asked.


"Doesn't register as alive," she answered, stepping around me. "Definitely one of Anima's constructs gone horribly wrong. And I can confirm there's a lot of people still alive in that mess. Anima's one of them, so's Sabah and Dubstep. I never was able to directly sense GL, but he's probably in there somewhere, too. A lot of injured, and I do mean a lot of injured. When you said this was some kind of drug complex, you may have forgotten to mention there were at least a hundred people in there. Seriously, how the hell do you hide a base that size this close to LA?"


Lisa facepalmed. "They didn't. Fuck. They were using a pocket dimension that they could pick up and move from one location to another. Which probably got folded into the power interaction along with everything else. The fixing process just got a metric fuckton more difficult."


ConcernFear. "Umm, Lisa, I just thought of something horrible," Taylor muttered. "What happens if Scion sees this? This seems like the kind of thing that he'd put a stop to if he noticed, and we're already pushing our luck with the portals and dimensional viewing technology."


"Scion related blackout currently located in the western Egypt region," Dragon informed us.


"Doesn't matter anyway," Lisa responded. "He's as statistically likely to show up here as any other part of the planet in any given second."


"Well, that's wonderful," Vicky responded. "So, my job's as done as it's going to get without me getting into cuddle range of that thing. How long's it going to take for the Tinkers to get their stuff done so we can heal the injured and arrest people?"


"Hours," Lisa answered. "Maybe days."


"Yuck, can't you speed that up?"


"We're going to have Eidolon come in to handle it," Lisa responded.


"Makes sense to me," Vicky agreed cheerfully, walking over to Chevalier. "When it doubt, phone the guy with the 'I win everything' button. So I'mma go before he shows up. No offense to the rest of you, but he's so unfairly bullshit that it actually gives me a headache to look at him." She grabbed Chevalier's hand. "C'mon, you're taking me out for dinner. I'm in the mood for something that only qualifies as food by technicality."


Chevalier just looked at her. "Victoria, I do have a job to do."


"With exception to the Tinkers, none of us are actually doing anything at all right now," she responded. "Standing around waiting for Eidolon to show up isn't a job."


"Unless you're with the paparazzi!" Lisa cut in.


"Hush, you," Victoria glared at her. "Besides, won't take too long. Just zip over to the city, visit what promises to be a very shocked drive-through, brush the smog off our suits, and be back before the grease has a chance to cool."


Chevalier looked like he was about to say something, then stopped. EmbarrassmentDiscomfort.


"She's not wrong," Alexandria responded. "We're accomplishing very little, and I understand that not all of us have the benefit of not needing to worry about eating or sleeping, you might as well take a short break while we wait here."


"Awesome!" Vicky exclaimed.


"I didn't agree to anything," Chevalier replied.


"Yeah, but you were about to," she smiled, wrapping her arm around his as she looked over at me. "Don't worry, Ames, I promise to bring you back something laden with cholesterol and salt. All that healthy eating just isn't good for you."


I just gave the poor guy the 'and you're dating her?' look. Vicky stuck her tongue out at me, right before her helmet folded itself back around her head and she took off, pulling her new boyfriend along with her. Huh, I should probably find out what his actual name is one of these days. Or maybe what his face actually looks like.


"By the way, her price for being awesome and saving our collective asses is two and a half unnamed favors to be determined the next time she feels bored," Taylor stated dryly. "Amelia, you're exempt because of your attention to detail when upgrading Chevalier."


"And a half?" I asked. What did she mean by attention to detail.


"It was three, Vicky used half of one to make Taylor say that," Lisa explained. "And you'll be happier if you don't ask the next question. Or that one."


"As fascinating as this is, we don't have a great deal of time," Alexandria interrupted, saving me the mental exercise of trying to figure out if Lisa actually knew what the third question would have been, since I didn't. "I'm sending the go ahead, they're ready. It'll be more convenient for everyone to meet them on Bet."


She didn't wait for confirmation, simply shunting over immediately. I glanced over at Taylor, who nodded and followed suit. Lisa, Dragon and I were next.


We hadn't been there more than a few seconds when a panel of bright artificial light appeared out of nowhere, and two people stepped through. Eidolon's green costume was instantly recognizable. After all, I was the one who created the bulk of it, then Emma and Riley converted it from modified plant into a bizarre power modifying cyborg. The girl next to him looked to be around Dinah or Riley's age, and wore a cloak of the same green as Eidolon's. But her costume was highlighted with black and gold trim in arcane patterns, in contrast to his white and silver.


The girl didn't bother looking at us, simply staring forward at the roiling mass of shimmering light and limbs. "Ah, yes, I see what you mean," she stated, her words echoed melodically by a chorus of voices. "The faeries craft a memorial of the the Stillborn Queen."


"A memorial?" Lisa asked. "You mean like a statue of her image?"


"Correct, Negotiator," the girl responded. She is not a girl, she's a woman in her forties who chooses the appearance of a child. A mass murderer and possibly the most powerful and dangerous human being on the planet. "They yearn for the return of what they've lost, and for the dance to continue. In their loneliness, they grow a garden to honor Her."


"The Passengers don't have feelings," Lisa argued. "They can't experience yearning."


Glaistig Uaine looked away from the rainbow field of body parts, toward Lisa. Eidolon placed a hand on her shoulder. She paused, then looked up at him before returning to the view we were all facing. "You place too much faith in your faerie's limited wisdom, Negotiator. It is quick and clever, but not of the royalty. A hummingbird that imagines itself worthy to fly with alongside the eagle."


Lisa stared daggers at the Faerie Queen, but bit her tongue. Possibly even literally.


"Is there a way to remove the memorial?" Taylor asked. HesitationCaution. "It's putting all of the faeries at risk."


Glaistig Uaine watched for a minute longer before speaking. "Yes, Queen Administrator," she confirmed. "The faeries act without proper consideration of their actions, you are wise to be concerned." SurprisePrideConsternation.


I didn't understand why Taylor was surprised that she had what Glaistig Uaine considered a 'royal court' power. Her Passenger was capable of incredible things, after all. Planetwide communications and processing of information. If I was royalty, then she certainly was as well.


As I was considering this, the air around her shimmered, and my stomach clenched when I recognized the shade she manifested. A hulking, hideous man that caused my stomach to clench. ProtectiveSupportLove. It was that parahuman Bonesaw came after me with when she forced me to heal Mark's brain. The one with the field that stopped powers from working.


We were caught within the field, and I felt my powers dim. Strangely enough, they didn't fully collapse, I still had my senses. Taylor as well, and that meant Taylia withstood the aura. I felt a little bit of pride and a lot of personal confidence because our combat suits weren't altered by the field at all.


Glaistig Uaine gestured, and her ghost moved forward. Where he moved, the light disipated, like smoke blown away by a strong wind. The earth beneath cracked into gravel or churned into dust and sand, depending on what it started as. The outer edgest of the field started to shrink as well, melting away as the features of the body rushed inward to fill the hole in its center, only to meet with the same fate as everything else.


"I do believe our task here is done," Glaistig Uaine stated after the last of the color vanished. Her shade vanished. "I was promised the corpse of the charioteer as recompense for my time."


"Of course," Eidolon agreed. The first thing he'd said during this. "Doormaker, to B272."


The panel of light dimmed and changed to a blue color instead of harsh white, and the girl stepped through. Eidolon himself stayed behind, and walked over to Alexandria.


Taylor thought quicker than I did, and several shadowcats shunted over within moments of the doorway closing, then started running in toward the destroyed epicenter. "Healers on standby, we have wounded and prisoners to worry about," Taylor commanded. "Tinkers and Thinkers with changeling models, shunt them over. I'm already establishing relays. Try to find the source of the dimensional barrier."


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A/N- This is one of those chapters where smart readers will notice a lot of very important things.