Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 398- Ayane


Heat radiated off Victoria's body and breath. The analytical part of my brain, the part that had three different Thinkers giving a feed of information that could be sustained for days off my current resources, told me her skin should not be that hot. A fever of close to fifty Celsuis. Parahumans break all the rules, of course, but this was unnatural and unhealthy. That part of my brain was not what I was paying attention to. She was hot and she was inches away from me at all times. Her power actively nullifying mine was, if anything, a greater turn on. Something just barely out of my reach and ever so tantalizing.


The whirl of scents continued around me, but only that one mattered. It was an anchor, my anchor. I looked at her face, longing to touch it, but she was playing a dominance game right now. To get what I want, I have to submit completely. "I'll be good."


Khepri cleared her throat. "Okay, now that all of that is out of the way. Let's get down to business. The power enhancing armor you asked for. We've completed it. There's been a minor sacrifice of ancillary features to make room, but that is almost always the case."


I was unable to speak. Between the promise of the armor, and the effect the woman next to me, I couldn't find my voice. I simply nodded. Dragon- or her robot body that was entirely immune to my power- walked up to me, carrying a scale plated set of red colored armor that was as good as a holy artifact to me.


"There is, however, a question of the level of power we can grant you. Avalon and its allies have access, in one way or another, to almost fifty percent of all parahumans on the planet. With more a possibility in the future. Including a great many of the dead. Given sufficient motivation, we can bring that access up to over ninety percent. The question is how much we want to give you."


I still could only sit there and nod dumbly, letting Dragon help me put on the armor. It had a banded style, reminding me a little of samurai armor or an armadillo's shell. The generic suit I was wearing grew around it and melded into it. My visual display changed, showing a whole new set of features. I shuddered as suckers like that of an octopus stuck to my arms and legs. They didn't tug, merely stayed there like an awkward kiss. Then the power hit me.


I knew how to know things, how to choose skills and use them, total mastery for limited periods of time. Another power giving me awareness of fine detail, perfect memory, and boosted thinking speeds. A weak to medium grade set of flight, energy blasts, and a forcefield. No individual power all that good, but they were impressive in a group. And a power to destroy all inorganic material on touch. It's the same taste as the woman caring for the incredibly powerful girl in the back. All told, it was a versatile set of powers.


I shuddered and nearly collapsed, to be caught by Victoria. The scent from the others ranged from aroused to embarrassed for me. And as the fog cleared, my powers much more satisfied than usual, I could think through them enough to be humiliated. At the same time, all of these combined abilities were nothing compared to Victoria's scent alone, and she wasn't even the fifth most powerful source in this room. I found myself yearning still for the contact of other, more potent, powers. I was just less overwhelmed than before.


"That's a basic package," Khepri informed. "We have others. We felt it was good to start you off with a series of Thinker powers to help you harness the other abilities better. Your armor contains four organic cartridges that are fed by the Yggdrasil and rapidly produce the equivalent of saliva."


"You said something about being expected to work for the others?" Is this what Pantheon's going to be about? This is like pushing drugs. I prayed not, if only because I knew I was too weak to resist if given the opportunity. I've already debased myself much more shamefully for far less than the power they are offering.


Gaea took over for Khepri. "It's more a matter of trust than anything. Some of these powers are terrifying, mitigated only by the fact that they're held by individuals who are otherwise vulnerable or need multiple people to work effectively. To place all of it in the hands of one person is a really big risk."

Gaea stopped and Khepri picked up where she left off. "We are choosing to trust you, but there are limits to the risks we can justify. We have made contact with many of our allies, and they're willing to provide even more options." Khepri finished. "Dragon already has one of the stronger samples, one we can agree to right now. The child responsible for creating the interdimensional doorways. The question we have to ask first is if you'll suffer the side effects of debilitating powers. Labyrinth's power causes hallucinations and trouble interacting with the world. To call her autistic would be a misnomer, but isn't entirely wrong. We're hoping the set of Thinker powers you currently have will be enough to protect you from that influence."


"If it works, if you can use her power safely and create the gateways for us. It will let us cure her. Give her a chance at a normal life." Gaea's power wafted over, a sense of guilt and responsibility with an undercurrent of hope. It made sense, if they were using a mentally disabled child for her powers when they could cure her. "And if you can use her power without her limitations, we could accelerate timetables, do in days what has been taking us weeks."


That's not too big a deal. Easy to agree to. "I only get influenced by a power when I'm actively using it. Even if it has side effects, they'll only be a problem during power use." Gaea's scent had desperation in it, even. Several others did as well. They all share a secret. A huge secret. They're priming me for it.


The man in the armor whose power scared mine spoke up. "I am Chevalier, representing the Protectorate's interests in this matter. If you plan to accept Labyrinth's power, you'll need to agree to maintaining the United Nations arrangements on portal creation. There are a series of regulations in what is and is not acceptable use of the portal creation power. You must obey all of them."


This would give me a chance to work with Lily some more. Her power was intoxicating. I still had some of it in reserve. "I can agree to that. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hide the fact that I have that power. People knowing what I can really do is worrying." I smiled, the scents of relief. A little bit of, if not trust, than at least the idea that I can show some discretion.


Dragon extended her hand out to me. "If I may? I'll show you how to access the power feeds."


"Umm, sure."


She put a hand on my elbow and gently lifted it up, placing her hand on the plating under my ribcage. A quick push and twist resulted in the panel folding forward. There were slim silver strips of metal. She pulled one out, and replaced it with one she was holding, then folded it back in place. "It's designed for fast switching between powers if you need it. The nature of your power to store abilities over time makes that less useful for you than it might otherwise be."


The new power, replacing the matter destroyer's, was intense and hard for me to understand. The flavor of the girl in the back. Of fantasy made reality and reality made fantasy. I could see why it was so overwhelming to the poor girl. The difference was, I was used to being overwhelmed, and I had decades of experience with how reality worked. I could control this power far better than she did. Certainly easier than controlling my own.


"We wanted to use the same dimensional storage tech we use for our other suits with space limitations. Dozens of powers to swap between with three or four words. But that's highly destructive to organic material, so we have to do it manually," Hecate added. "Speaking of, we have backups for the backups for everything we're going to give you. So, don't be too worried to see one destroyed in a fight."


Victoria laughed. "Not that you're going to lose any fights any time soon. We're going to be loading you up with all the best combat packages we can get our hands on."


Dragon still stood close to me. "First let's talk about the Tinker package. Some of them are unique to dead Tinkers. Including a bombmaker known as Bakuda. Her technology appeared to be a legitimate threat to Leviathan. We never got to study the devices as much as we'd like. Same with Professor Haywire, a dimensional technology specialist and Andrew Richter, a computer programming Tinker. You'll be expected to work closely with our own Tinkers on a semi regular basis on a number of important projects." She looked over at the Empresses, and I could smell their concern and anticipation.


"Don't overwhelm her too soon. She's still got a long day ahead of her." Victoria's voice was like velvet. "Let's let Chevalier cover the next part of the shiny package of options she'll be getting."


"It's an open secret that Avalon's main forces can't openly operate on Bet without causing an international incident. The Endbringer weapons and Dragon's battle suits are only available during Endbringer scale emergencies or United Nations approval. Now that Eidolon has command of the Endbringers, he is similarly blacklisted. This was short sighted given the number of other Class S threats in the world. Such as Sleeper, the Blasphemies, and Ash Beast. In addition to certain large paramilitary organizations such as the terrorists that took Earth Khyber." Or, the Yangban, as everyone knows and no one says. "The Protectorate is willing to offer samples from a series of powerful capes, in exchange for your agreement to participate in all Class S conflicts alongside the Protectorate."


Victoria's hand caressed the back of my neck and the sensation was enough to make my toes curl. "It gets better. You and I and a few others are gonna join a mercenary team and go Nazi hunting later. You should see what the Germans are offering to put a foot up the Gesellschaft's collective ass. And if we happen to come back with a few blood spatters on our costumes." She shrugged. "That just means more options, right?"


"Victoria, I think you're enjoying this too much."


"Sorry, sis." The blonde stepped back a little. I was both relieved and disappointed.


Chevalier waited a moment then continued. "We have a series of parahumans to offer. A teleporter known as Strider, with the ability to teleport anyone in his line of sight with him to anywhere else on the planet. No restrictions or errors. This includes teleporting to people he only knows from a photograph. Five parahumans with powers that let them store and release energy later. Assault, Battery, Stormfront, Dazzler and Falling Star. All are powerful parahumans in their own right and we're hoping their energy powers will extend to allowing you to enhance your other powers."


He took a breath, then continued. "We also have a parahuman known as White Hat, who can summon ghostly duplicates of himself with copies of his costume and simple equipment. It's a long shot, but perhaps those duplicates could use other powers you're harnessing at the same time. Again, on the contingency that you are always to show up for every Class S threat registered."


Victoria leaned in close. "I'll be there, too. We can both use my power. It'll be like we're twins."


I gulped and nodded hurriedly. I even trusted myself not to regret the decision after I was back to my right mind. The ability to put myself, my team, and my country in position as one of the leading forces on the planet. It was something I'd dreamed of for decades. "I can agree to that.


Khepri spoke up. "So it's clear, we will have kill switches and failsafes. If we need to, we can take that armor away, and all the power it gives you. I say that out of honesty, and because of the next part of this. Vicky, it's time."


She stepped toward me again. "Well, I promised if you were good I'd give you a taste."


"I- in front of everyone? Your sister?" My stomach clenched in delighted anticipation. The part of of me that was sated enough to think clearly wept in disgust.


She shrugged. "I don't see why not." She held her right hand up, then traced her left hand across her arm, cutting open her wrist with her nail, then laughed loudly. "Oh, come on, how could any of you actually expect I was gonna do the other thing?" She held out her hand. "You said it works with any fluid, right?"


Another time, another place, a different state of mind, things might have played out differently. But I'd been teased and stimulated and given just enough to not lose my mind for the whole conversation. I gripped her hand and her arm, and latched my mouth on the wound she made on herself, sucking greedily.


Her powers snapped into my mind. Incredible combat senses, the best I'd ever had. Analysis of biology and weaknesses, touch range electrical powers. A shapeshifting power that granted super strength, self healing, and a breaker state. None of which I could harness, which was fine. I had my own regeneration and strength, this just meant using her power wouldn't count as being used at 'full strength', so I could get more time from it.


The font of power stopped, as she regenerated the injury. "Okay, I think that's enough. Now you need to focus on using my power. Scan the biology of those around here. It should be instinctual for you to tell if they're telling the truth or lying. If not, well, that's what Uber's power is for."


I breathed, shuddering at the after effects of absorbing her power. Never before have I been given so much, so soon, and it left me exhausted. I looked out at the others in the group, analyzing their health and physical condition. Now I knew Dragon wasn't real. Another I had to assume was a cyborg in his suit, less than half organic. The gaps and cybernetics built into the various armor suits were clear to my vision.


Khepri took a breath. "For all the powers we're giving you access to, there's the ones we're not. Or, at least, not yet. Powers such as Glaistig Uaine, Atropos."


I hope no one realizes I have that one already. The surge in reaction from Victoria made it clear that she figured it out. Fuck. "I don't mean to interupt, but I already have some of her power. Not a lot. But enough for a few good attacks."


There was a surge of concern and anger, backed from my natural Thinker power, Victoria's, and the attention to detail Thinker. Khepri quickly ignored it. "Thank you for being honest with us. The point remains, there are better powers, we can make you stronger. And one day, we're going to have to. At a point starting in less than a year, there is a chance for a legitimate world ending crisis. That chance slowly increases over time until, in less than fourteen years, it will have inevitably occured. We know what it is. The more people find out what the threat is, the greater the odds of it happening early, the more lives are lost, so we must keep you in suspense."


Every word she's saying is true. Not a single person here doesn't already know what it is, except for the ones protecting Labyrinth, and even they know of it already. Missing only the detail of what it is.


Khepri kept speaking, and I only kept track thanks to the perfect memory Thinker power in my collection. "It doesn't just extend to Bet and the other worlds we're colonizing. It covers every version of Earth in every reality. We're trusting you with a lot of responsibility. You're one of the few real hopes we have of saving every world. We need you."


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A/N- And THAT is how you minmax power pools. Also- this chapter is almost 3k words. Fuck. Don't expect a second today.