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Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by TanaNari, Jan 10, 2015.

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  1. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    Full disclosure: I don't really care for Sabah. That said, do we really need to retread more of the same stuff from a different perspective? I didn't mind Lisa's pov when it was done, mostly because she's one of the perfect characters fornon-hamfisted info dumps. Sabah's kind of meh in that regard.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2015
  2. edale

    edale Versed in the lewd.

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    It's not rereading the same stuff from a different perspective, Sabah and Lily were never in the same room in what we saw past few chapters. It's simply 2 chapters happening simultaneously, don't tell me you've never seen THAT before.
     
  3. DeAnno

    DeAnno Power over Versatility

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    I got the impression from canon that Sabah was kind of toxic and possibly emotionally abusive, so seeing this chapter play out the way it did really wasn't a surprise. It's funny how some of the people that can seem least screwed up by their passengers on the surface are some of the more twisted parahumans around, when you look close enough.
     
  4. Coruscant Knave

    Coruscant Knave 'Twas love that did this to you.

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    The other side is their relationship was already straining, and now one half of it has suddenly become damaged and needs her partner to validate and commit to make her pain worthwhile. That's a tall order and very scary, especially when Sabah wasn't ready to commit to more than they had, even if she wanted it and was upset that Lilly wasn't devoting herself to her more.
     
  5. Beyogi

    Beyogi I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    This was kinda cool. How she realized her daughter was playing in the big leagues. I mean that's kinda like a daughter of a local politician talking about the US president coming over for a christmas party...
     
  6. Threadmarks: Amelia, Ch 238- Sabah
    TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Amelia, Ch 238- Sabah


    "Will she be okay?" I asked Rapture. She functionally stood guard while Emma handled the medical checkup. They refused to let me into the medical room while they checked on her and did whatever it was that they had to do. The older woman had almost a foot of height over me naturally, and her power armor added a pretty significant advantage on top of that. But in Tapestry, I don't think she could have stopped me from pushing past her.


    "Hard to say for certain," Rapture replied. "Physically you don't have to worry. There's nothing short of death that this group can't cure." The woman hesitated for a second. "Wait? Death, too? How dead? Oh my. How did they pull that off?"


    I hesitated. Should I tell her? Would that give away anything serious? We still have Bonesaw.


    Rapture's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."


    How much did she figure out just like that? I fidgeted. She's worse than Lisa.


    "Listen," she spoke. "I'm sorry. I can't help noticing things., it's a natural part of my power. I try not to, and I try to pretend I didn't when I do. In your case, I feel like I have to speak up. Is someone forcing you to do something uncomfortable?"


    Forcing? "No," I answered. That much was true.


    "If you're worried about upsetting the rest of your team, I promise I'll be discreet" she offered.


    She's going to figure out everything at this rate. "No," I looked away from her. "It's not that." Wait? Why would she think I was being forced to? I didn't like having Riley on the team, I hated how she got away with all the horrible things she's done. Even now I would occasionally think about how she took apart the people who had come to me for safety, and how badly I failed them. But I understood it why they kept her. The zerg alone were proof enough of how good an idea it was. I didn't like it, hated it even, but it was a good idea. "No one forces me to do anything." I was shocked at the anger in my voice.


    That seemed to mollify Rapture. "I understand," she answered. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. I'll let it go, but remember that I'm here to help if you want to talk about it."


    "Thanks," I tried to force a smile. I couldn't help but be suspicious. Rey trusted her, but then he was a supervillain before he took this job. There was just something about the woman that set my paranoia off. She's much more dangerous than she pretends to be. I stood there in silence, resting and allowing my armor's reinforcements to keep me upright, instead of my tired legs. I'd wait here until they let me in.


    Eventually the door opened, and Emma stepped out. "I've run all the medical tests. She's fairly healthy, although there's some atrophy in several muscle groups and signs of partial malnutrition."


    "Malnutrition?" Rapture asked. "I thought you said the armor would sustain her indefinitely."


    "It can," she argued. "But we kinda found a design flaw. Eating the exact same thing for months at a time causes appetite loss. We'll work on that."


    "Months?" I asked. God, Lily. "How long was she in there for?"


    "According to her armor's internal clock?" Emma replied. "One hundred and ninety seven days. Which brings us to the big problem."


    "The psychological trauma," Rapture finished.


    "What... what should I expect?" I asked. Please, Lily, be okay.


    "In Lily's specific case," the woman answered. "Difficulty with common, even gradeschool level, tasks, such as basic arithmetic and reading comprehension. That should be minor and wear off quickly. More of a concern will be the emotional problems. Poor impulse control and emotional outbursts. Since she wasn't in extreme isolation, and had the opportunity to focus on a task, most of the time this will be minor. The real risk is in how she spent her time in isolation. Using her power almost constantly, and destructively. There's a risk of her lashing out violently. Ordinarily, that wouldn't amount to much in the long run. But her powers..."


    With her powers, if she touches your clothes, she could reduce most of your body to nothing in a second or two. "Lily can kill Endbringers with a spool of string," I concluded.


    "Yes," Rapture responded. "She won't as long as you and others stay calm around her. Give her time to decompress. Recovery from the worst symptoms should be quick. Isolation is not an inherently traumatic experience in a case such as this one. She will have to relearn normal interaction. There will of course be personality changes, a change of diet and habits. Expect her to throw out all her music in favor of something else. She'll probably be, well, 'clingy' if the easiest way to describe it. Emotionally needy."


    That's not a surprise, or anything new. When we got together, she said she was't good at being alone. Really, it was me more than any other reason that she joined Pantheon to begin with. "I understand," I agreed. I got her into this mess.


    ....


    Lily was practically my siamese twin these last couple days. The first night after she finally woke up was nothing but us staying in my room. She seemed afraid of going back to her own, strangely enough. We ordered pizza and she ate enough to make herself physically ill. Then she ate some more, although a bit more carefully.

    We listened to my music, which was nice. My music was from my own culture, of course. It's what I grew up on. Lily prefered pop and metal. Rapture was right, her music tastes had changed completely.


    I spent that day not letting her know that Khonsu still hadn't been driven off. Fortunately, it didn't take long. Sometime after I had fallen asleep holding Lily in the dark, that first night after she'd recovered. She didn't sleep that night, and I woke up to her exercising naked in my living room. She had roses and a box of chocolates rush delivered for me. She cried when she explained that she ate all the chocolates.


    I only found out later that she didn't put her clothes on when she answered the door for the delivery man.


    That day was full of laughably childish behavior and delightfully uninhibited sex. Most of it in the shower. She cried, again, when we got in the shower and refused to leave even after the water went cold. She fell asleep around five in the evening and was still asleep when I got up.


    And now? Now dragged me out on a date on Christmas eve.


    "How did you manage to find a place open now?" I asked her. The restaurant was lovely. Clearly going for a culturally authentic Japanese feel. I really didn't know enough to say whether they succeeded, but the place was beautiful and the food was wonderful. I might have preferred it be a little less authentic. Sitting on the ground for a meal felt less like 'restaurant' and more like 'life in the dorms'.


    Lily smiled. "One of the perks of a large immigrant population. You can always find a family business where the family practices a different set of holidays." She's only been in this city for six months and already she knows it better than I do after three years.


    "I guess that's true," I took another bite of my fried rice. It was good. Over the past few months with Lily I'd worked to get use to the idea of rice dishes that weren't spicy enough to make the Americans cry. Totally worth it.


    We went back to our apartments after. I could get a real place now, I thought to myself. Hell, with my share of the reward money for the Simurgh's death, I could afford my own city block. But I'd come to like it here, and being close to both school and work was really convenient. It was wonderful knowing that I didn't need the job, too. Almost as liberating as knowing that now my costumes were about the art, not the mechanical benefits. The grown-in-a-vat battle suits were the combat armor of choice these days. I sold high quality custom clothes.


    Lily nibbled on my neck and pulled me toward her room. I gave my door a glance. I have so many projects to work on, I thought to myself. I was planning to catch up during Christmas break, but then Khonsu happened. My customers would be understanding of some delay. It was an Endbringer attack, after all. But Lily was consuming almost every part of my life right now. She pressed herself up against me and moaned softly. I should try to explain to her that I still have to worry about work.


    I remembered Rapture's advice to be patient with her, that she'll get over this in time. I relented and let Lily pull me into her place, kissing her hard as I forgot about work for a while. Lily was appreciative as ever, and we wound up exhausted on her bed, with her idly brushing my hair.


    "I love you," she whispered, kissing my shoulder. I hesitated. Love. Was that what this was? I was jealous when I found out about her arranged marriage. That hurt, even though we had promised each other that were were both people who didn't believe in marriage. We made promises when this started, to allow each other space. Now she was breaking those promises. Taking more and more of my time and energy. Demanding my attention in so many different ways. In a way, I didn't really mind it. I enjoyed being with her. I should tell her I love her.


    Too late now, it'd just sound like I was saying it out of obligation. Easier to pretend I didn't hear her. Thankfully, she did't say anything, didn't make a scene of it. I sat up after a while and made my way to the bathroom, stopping in front of the mirror to straighten up my hair. Dammit, Sabah, what are you doing? You should talk to her. Explain.


    She's not ready for that. She still needs time to recover. Fuck, I need time to figure things before I try to say anything. I splashed some water on my face and ran a comb through my hair. I wasn't a fan of how boringly flat my hair was, but it did make it easy to care for.


    By the time I left the bathroom, Lily had started her exercise routine. She hadn't bothered to get dressed. Rapture didn't mention exhibitionism as a side effect. "I... I have work I need to get done," I told her.


    She stopped and looked at me. Her lips quivered a little. She wants me to invite her back, I realized. It'll just distract me. "I'll see you in the morning," I offered.


    "Okay," she forced a smile. "See you in the morning."


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

    A/N- Well. Turned out decently enough.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2015
  7. Sheaman3773

    Sheaman3773 (Unverified Writer)

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    XD He really is good at this sort of thing. Which wouldn't be expected if he was essentially a social recluse--or at least disconnected from people--before his trigger like I recall Lisa observing...
    Wow, repress more, why don't you?
    The first part seemed a bit choppy, though it got better as it went on. Brought up because in conjunction with the below:
    The "Not" is really, really choppy. I get that you're probably trying the same technique as the "Zach. Go. Plow. Emma." line above, but it doesn't work in this situation, imo. It's just one word, in the middle of the line. Emphasis via italics or bolding would have worked better, I think.
    /snerk Gee, I wonder who?
    wear off*
    At first, I thought that this was why Sabah had left that "fateful" night. She wouldn't be able to have a real conversation with her without risking Lily lashing out, and with her power...
    Eh? I guess I also forgot how the suit can keep them alive for that long. I had some vague impression of it basically intravenously pumping in nutrients, using BS tinkertech to avoid damage to the veins over time.
    Exhibitionism...or just not wanting to feel clothes on her skin, not after so long in that suit.
    ...dammit, Sabah. This was the perfect opportunity for you to be dominant while still fulfilling her needs! Just tie her to a chair while gagged, so she can watch without getting in the way! Or have her be your mannequin, guiding her limbs with your threads! Something! Gah.
     
  8. TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Thanks. It's good to see when the little touches like that one get noticed. These are my second favorite kinds of comments.

    My first favorite is when someone realizes something that was mentioned a number of chapters back and are like "Ooh! I just noticed!"

    More like gallows humor. "Glass nap" as a substitute for "dirt nap" which is a euphemism for death.

    It's *meant* to be choppy. It's suppose to represent speaking in a choppy fashion. If you're having that much trouble visualizing it in your head, try speaking it out loud.

    It was explained to you literally two chapters ago.

    You recall incorrectly.

    Yeup. Nothing in there about social problems. At least not of the "recluse" variety.
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2015
  9. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    I think you failed a reading check. They mean two different things.
     
  10. nebelmann

    nebelmann Making the rounds.

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    Wow Sabah just... wow. Your girlfriend spend half year in hell and you give her less than a week for recover. That is so generous of you!
     
  11. cosoco

    cosoco Not too sore, are you?

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    discreet
    preferred it a little
    I just realized something. Assuming she was in for 197 days, and her food was 9 calories per gram, that means that either she was carrying around 43 kilograms of food, or the suit was recycling... waste material. That might've played a role in the loss of appetite.
     
  12. Masterjaxx

    Masterjaxx Masters, Jaxx Masters

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    The suit might have been eating local vegetation and recombining it into something she could digest.
     
  13. .IronSun.

    .IronSun. Verified Legitimate Business Man

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    Your girlfriend just dropped th LOVE bomb for the first time and you have no idea wether it's real or because she's fucked in the head. Was this how she felt before? Will she change her mind if she ever gets better? Am I her partner or an emotional crutch? You'd choke too.

    Sabah has no frame of referrance for their relationship because she refused to define it or allow Lily to in any way, and now it's biting her in the ass. I have mountains of pity for Lily and absolutely none for Sabah.
     
  14. Sheaman3773

    Sheaman3773 (Unverified Writer)

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    When I said the first part, I meant the first sentence fragment. "Lily's not." The rest is fine, I got that. The first fragment didn't sound like it fit, unless it ended with a -- to indicate that she was cut off or changed her mind rather than that she was just making a super-short sentence.
    Oh, the straw? Again, fair enough, I guess.


    Now's when I point out how many Worm stories alone I'm reading, let alone RL stuff, so it's hard to remember all of the details for all of them :p
    Alas, a recurring flaw of mine with this story, it seems.
    Ah, in that case, you may consider it an incorrect extrapolation. Recluse wasn't the right word, but there's a plethora of examples where physical frailty led to being shunned or disconnected from ones peers. The overcompensation being how outgoing he was being, now that the illness was no longer an issue. His early behavior was pretty consistent with someone not really knowing how to deal with people, too, though he's obviously gotten better about it. I do recall (though this might be misremembered too ) him explaining why he acted the way he did in a conversation with Crystal, though, but even that one felt like "now that I have a chance to, I'm going to live it up." Which implies that he couldn't or didn't before. Though after rereading it...


    ...now that makes me think of Erica, more than /check thirty chapters later. Argh.

    Even with Erica, it implies this behavior is new, since Leviathan, and his trigger. But not that he didn't necessarily socialize very much before.

    /ponder



    Also, your index is missing everything between 85 and 175. Probably because the chapters are still cheek-to-jowl at that point, but it did make it harder to find the chapter I was looking for.
     
    Snake/Eater and Divabot like this.
  15. Peanuckle

    Peanuckle Versed in the lewd.

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    I can see how the constant attention would get wearying. It's a very different relationship from the one Sabah wanted, where she was in control. Now Lily is demanding things and making decisions for the both of them, which hits Sabah's trigger issues.

    Not saying that Lily is wrong to do so, but Sabah is broken in a different way from her, and now they don't fit together quite as well as they used to. They'll have to re-learn it, and there's gonna be a lot of hurt in the meantime. Hopefully they pull through.
     
  16. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    I think there's a bit of resentment on Sabahs part that it took being stuck in a time warp was the only way Lily was able to drop "The love bomb" on her. in canon they probably had like 2 years to get a little pass this problem,but now Lily has responsibilities that Sabah doesn't have a say over.i know some survivors of Sabah's situation never come back from it whole,they are always anxious and always comparing other people unreasonably to their abusers.add in the shards hostile influence...it would be like metaphorically staying to watch a volcano erupt at ground zero. I've seen what happens when they finally erupt and the memory of that crap never leaves you.because it's terrifying and heartbreaking.

    here's a song to with this chapter.this is Adele's "Turning Tables"because it goes with Sabah's thoughts and actions.i don't know if this song is completely appropriate to be honest.maybe someone with better taste in music will find something better.because this song is really a bigger downer then a giant comet heading to earth.for lily she's hard to get the right song for but i always get this mental image of her being a Juggalo....that would make a great omake."Lily the Juggalo's daily adventures and errors":D
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2015
    TanaNari likes this.
  17. edale

    edale Versed in the lewd.

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    Oh! Does that mean I can take credit for this line? Cause that's pure gold!

    And the "How dead?" line... Yea, definitely reminded me of Miracle Max.
    things.[/QUOTE]
    Sabah found out when she saw the blood from the projectile nose-bleed on the wall next to their door.
    Yeap, definitely misread that....at least I was only 1 letter off, lol.
     
    Faraway-R, TanaNari, dasstan and 5 others like this.
  18. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    ... Sabah, you need to talk to Rapture. You really do.

    Before you end up having a talk from Lisa or Vicky.
     
  19. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    it wouldn't be that accurate,if he called himself "The Matrix" then it would be a give-away to what he can do.
     
  20. edale

    edale Versed in the lewd.

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    And now you're just trolling.
     
  21. Daunmi

    Daunmi Shun the sun, night so nice

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    'I think I'll revive an argument that only settled down the other day. Even if everyone, this topic, and canon has already proven me wrong.

    I'm sure it'll be fun.'

    FTFY
     
  22. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    I'll' stop bringing up Coil and his magic computer simulator power...but i still get the last laugh..
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2015
  23. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    Seriously, the joke is no longer funny and engaging in trolling is just dickish behavior. And not even in the fun kind of TanaNari brand dickish behavior.
     
  24. Threadmarks: Amelia, Ch 239-Becky
    TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Amelia, Ch 239-Becky


    These halls are far too impersonal, I decide as I walked through the corridors of Cauldron. Contessa was, of course, already aware I was here, and waiting alongside Doctor Mother.


    "Good morning," the elder of Cauldron's leadership spoke. It was late afternoon by my personal clock, but Cauldron's base was located in Europe, and that's where both Contessa and Doctor Mother were from, so they went by that schedule despite a mostly American focus of effort and resources. Despite the fact that both of them kept to an American sleep pattern, for that matter. I'd suspect them of being snobbish, except I knew these two, and neither had it in them. The answer was likely part of Contessa's path.


    "Good morning," I agreed. "I have the latest report on Chevalier's new armor design. It shows a great deal of promise. Possibly of the anti-Scion variety."


    "You're kidding me," Doctor Mother exclaimed. Even Contessa showed signs of surprise, which managed to surprise me. She's not infallible, that much I already knew. Her power has shown some critical flaws lately.


    "Pantheon believes it's the best defensive design ever built, at least," I informed them. "Functionally as durable as Khonsu. Plus a few other features. Legend and I gave it a stress test and we were unable to cause detectable damage. The jury's still out on whether it's a legitimate defense against Scion, but it's certainly a powerful weapon to use against him. More than that, they hope his power and the data they got off of Khonsu's teleportation will let us find our way into Scion's personal dimension."


    "I must admit, the plan to set Pantheon on the goal of killing Scion has proven more fruitful than I expected," Doctor Mother praised. "If nothing else, halting the collapse of civilization into anarchy is a remarkable achievement unto itself."


    One which we hadn't believed was possible, I added silently. We followed Contessa's path. We accepted the inevitability of defeat, placing our priority on saving the world. More saving every other world than Bet. We treated that world as the battlefield. I had to wonder about everything that I'd done in the last decade. All the choices I'd made. What would I have done differently, knowing what we now know?


    "Yes," I agreed, and the word didn't carry my thoughts or accusations. The next question did, if subtly. "Why did we never harness Endbringer tissue?"


    It was Number Man that answered the question. Another parallel between us and Pantheon, recruiting Slaughterhouse Nine members. "We didn't see the benefits," he answered simply. "We know that the Endbringers, for all their power, are strictly inferior to Scion in every appreciable way. Even if we had an army of them, they wouldn't be able to defeat Scion. It was, and in many ways still is, a better use of our time to devote our efforts to the formula. Discovering a power without limits is still our best hope."


    Right, Scion, the crux of the problem.


    "The more I view recent results, the more I come to believe power interactions and synergies are the tool that will let us beat Scion," I spoke. It wasn't really a debate, Cauldron and the Protectorate were already dedicating resources in that direction. So were most of the foreign cape groups. The Entities had, understandably, created blocks on powers to keep any given parahuman from having too much power. But the synergies were, somehow, exempt from those blocks. Far stronger than any individual power could hope to be.


    Contessa, of all people, spoke next. "My power can't see them," she finally admitted. "They're part of the Taboo. It makes finding paths difficult." She's scared, I realized. Or she wants me to believe she's scared. Possibly both. It made sense, Pantheon was surrounded by so many power interactions, precog blocks, and Taboo research subjects that every time they did something new, it completely altered our models. Only the Alcott girl seemed able to provide useful predictions around them. As their currect activities had nationwide impacts on an almost daily basis, it made Contessa unreliable.


    "It might also be the reason Endbringers and Eidolon are immune to precognition," Doctor Mother spoke. "Pantheon's theories about the Endbringers as a complex power interaction would explain a great many things."


    And David's power, if looked at as hundreds of powers interacting simultaneously, would be similarly protected. The theory made sense. "I see," I agreed. "While we're on the subject, I've been invited to Pantheon's base for a Christmas party."


    "I trust you accepted," Doctor Mother replied. She sees it as an opportunity, of course. Learning more about Pantheon, its plans, and its inner workings, would only be beneficial to Cauldron in the long run.


    "Naturally," I agreed. I left out that my reasons were as much personal as business. "I don't imagine I'll learn much, however. I don't intend to try. Their primary Thinker is the one who discovered power interactions in the first place. If I go in with espionage as an intention, I'll almost certainly be discovered." If I would, she never would have invited me in the first place, I knew. She's trusting me.


    Doctor Mother simply nodded. "Wise precaution. Is there any other business?" she asked.


    "None of import," I answered.


    ....


    I came to their home by flight, in full costume, only to be moderately surprised by photographers taking pictures and video footage. It's five in the afternoon on Christmas day, significantly below zero, and there they were out in force. I certainly had to respect their work ethic. Enough to even stop and give them a sound bite or two. I landed more or less equidistant to all of them and waited. A few started asking questions immediately, I simply rose my hand up. "Wait for the others," I instructed. They listened well enough. The secret to dealing with reporters was a lot like dealing with politicians. And, for that matter, men. As long as they knew you'd give them what they wanted, they'd do almost anything you asked.


    I was impressed, however, at how easily they took it in stride. No one attempted to pester me into talking 'early', and usually there'd be at least one who didn't accept waiting as an option. Pantheon has them well trained.


    Eventually everyone got into position. "Alright," I pointed at the crew that had arrived first. "Your question."


    "Allen Shin, Channel eleven," he introduced himself. "Why are you here at Pantheon's headquarters? Is there an emergency?"


    "Not at all," I answered calmly. "This is a personal visit."


    "Personal? Care to elaborate?" another reporter asked.


    "They invited me to their Christmas dinner," I answered. They didn't seem particularly convinced, so I continued. "As you might imagine, I've gotten to know a few members of Pantheon fairly well during the Endbringer conflicts and other events. It's no secret that they built the weapons you've seen me use. I consider them to be colleagues, and some of them to be friends, so I accepted their invite. Even if that ruins my reputation as an incurable workaholic."


    "Which ones do you consider friends?" another prompted. "Any that might be more than friends?"


    Damn gossip rags. "I think it'd be more fun to say nothing and let you speculate," I answered. You will no matter what I say or do. This way I'm in on the joke. "Now if you'll pardon me, I have some friends to visit. Have a Merry Christmas."


    I turned and went inside, ignoring further questions. There was nothing more of value to talk about anyway. Either it'd be more gossip questions that I wouldn't dignify with an answer, or they'd start to ask business related questions. If those were going to be answered at all, it would be in a controlled environment with the national organizations, not a cute little photo op with the local press. They know I am here, let them speculate about everything else.


    The entrance to their building was practically a living maze, and the biological lighting created the otherworldly feel that I'd grown to enjoy in my rare visits. Almost the opposite of Cauldon's sterile corridors and labs. The building even smelled alive. My senses weren't truly any better than human, but my ability to process what those senses told me was significantly better, and I trained myself to exploit that. The earthy nature of the scent was much like that of a forest, but lacking in the decaying leaf scent that most people came to associate with the woods. Either way, it was relaxing.


    By the time I got through the passage, I found a handful of Pantheon's members waiting to greet me. Victoria, Atropos and one other. Janus, their transgendered member. My power would have had an easy time recognizing that, even if it wasn't obvious from other information. I read the hostility in their positioning. Right, they're annoyed about the events in Indianapolis.


    "Good evening," I spoke. "I owe you an apology."


    "Your power tell you that?" Victoria asked. "Good. It means we can beat your Thinker power. Don't worry, we get what you did and why. Social positioning. Manipulation. Cloak and dagger bullshit. Sorta one of those facts of life around here. I just want you to know that if you do anything that hurts my family. Well, look at us, tell me what your power's telling you."


    She stood with complete confidence, there was no hesitation or fear in her language, or Atropos'. The new member was still faking it, though not bluffing so much as afraid of doing what he knew he could do. "You can kill me," I stated. "With Atropos, that comes as no surprise, but your combat precognition is showing other methods. Any one of the three of you has at least one weapon I probably won't survive."


    "Pretty much," Victoria agreed. "We're on the same page, then."


    "You don't have to worry," I offered. "I never intended to try anything like that at this party." I read her language even as she read mine. Her power wasn't like Minerva's, it was inferior in most ways. Such as divining motivations. Emotion detection had its advantages, certainly, but without years of training it wouldn't reveal the causes or reasoning behind an emotion. She'd just know I wasn't lying, which was enough for this.


    "Alright," she finally replied, going from slightly menacing to carefree teenager in a heartbeat. "Dinner's at six, there was suppose to be an open bar but then Amy had to ruin it by inviting our parents. Have fun, try not to roll your eyes at all the old people trying to get your autograph without asking for it. I'm trying to talk Lisa and Rapture into a game of super poker later tonight. You're invited."


    She walked back into the hall where the talking was coming from. I opted to follow. I spotted Minerva quickly enough. The short blond was talking with a younger girl with brown hair. She glanced up at me, and the other girl turned her head to look. Dinah Alcott, I recognized now. But I was already having a conversation with Minerva.


    Her eyes flickered for a half second toward Victoria and the other two. They gave you a hard time? Sorry about that.


    I relaxed my body language slightly. It's okay, no harm done.


    Her face tensed slightly. I'll talk to them later.


    I let the briefest sign of concern cross my face. No, I'd rather you didn't. It's unnecessary.


    Her head tilted just a fraction. If you're certain.


    I smiled, and strode into the room like I owned it. I'm certain.


    Most of Pantheon itself had met me enough times that there wasn't any celebrity worship amongst them, but there were others. Khepri's father I was quite certain had never seen me in person, though I memorized his profile as I did all the other people directly connected to the group. I'd met Gaea's family during the Leviathan attack on Brockton Bay, but only briefly. I had long ago gotten used to the reactions others had of me, but here it amused me. Your daughters have achieved more in six months than I have in a decade, it's not me you should be in awe of.


    Minerva's grin widened.


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

    A/N- This chapter was fun for me to write.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2015
  25. doomlord9

    doomlord9 Experienced.

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    Super Thinker Poker....it's going to take 5 hours to get through a single hand, isn't it?
     
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  26. Flammy

    Flammy Gone for Good

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    Really good chapter, love the 'conversation' between Lisa and Alexandria.

    Is she ever actually called 'Becky' in canon?
     
  27. VeTac

    VeTac Bored

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    I know you know what I know, but do you know what I know that she knows? And does she know what I know that you know that I know.
     
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  28. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    if you add in Vicky they can play Three-player chess the thinker edition ,it would be the bloodiest vicious game of chess in history.
     
  29. abyssmal_kismet

    abyssmal_kismet Experienced.

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  30. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    doesn't Vista have a thinker aspect to her power,after all she is the Geometry Veteran,she might actually have a shot at keeping the others on their toes in the chess match.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2015
    Rapey_Lemons and TanaNari like this.
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