#chapter i12b

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“The connotations are horrible!  No!  You’re not allowed to change the intent of my name like that!”

And the dual meaning of Battery’s name is explicitly designed to bug her.

This is quite an interesting development, honestly, and I kind of love it. Though I feel so sorry for Battery.

“Fine, fine.  Point taken.  Puppy.”

Battery looked at Legend, “Can I maybe get a raise, for putting up with this?”

Hehe.

Seems fair to me.

The leader of the Protectorate folded his arms.  “Something can be arranged.”

■

I like Legend.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

I was asked my thoughts on this by @krixwell-liveblogs, and it got long enough that I decided to just make a post about it.

It’s a fair criticism, but I find the story is more about Midoriya’s spirit, the qualities that made All Might CHOOSE him.  It shows All Might’s priorities in choosing a successor; he’s willing to resign himself to finding a philosophically good enough person with a quirk to take his power, but the moment he finds a philosophically perfect person who hasn’t got any powers of his own he drops all his plans and goes with him instead.  As a result, the story isn’t some broad parable about how anyone can be a hero, it’s an examination of the kind of person the local Superman equivalent values–kind, hard-working, unwilling to flinch from danger when others are in trouble.  Heroic, basically.  And he finds that not among the superpowered populace, but amongst the powerless minority that society so often kicks aside, neglects, and generally treats as an embarrassing sideshow.

The whole comic, in fact, has a theme, and it’s not “anyone can be a hero”–it’s “heroes need to be heroic.”  Stain’s a lunatic, but he’s a lunatic with a good point who just takes it too far–and his point is that people are getting into heroism because it’s now just another job, not because they actually want to help anyone.  It keeps coming back to that point, in fact; the Vigilantes side-story has unsanctioned heroism versus government-sanctioned nine-to-fivers as its central philosophical conflict, and actually itself examines a quirkless hero in the course of things.

This is not to say that people are inherently bad for getting into saving people because it pays the bills; in fact, people like Ochako are explicitly called out as being good people despite their simplistic, relatively self-serving motivations, but while the hero industry in the present day of MHA Japan still largely self-selects for Good People, alarming anomalies like Endeavor are popping up at an increasing rate.  Like the American police system, people are starting to enter a job meant to protect people because they instead want to have power–power over the weak, over history, or just in the eyes of the public.  One of my favorite bits of subtle character development is how utterly horrified Bakugou is by Endeavor after he learns Todoroki’s backstory; he verrrryyyyy slowly starts becoming more like Midoriya and All Might, though he still has a long way to go.  One of my dream scenarios is Bakugou getting to spend time with Endeavor until he loses his shit and attacks the bastard.

If you want a similar story about a powerless hero who stays powerless, I’d recommend the very fun webcomic PS238–though that one’s about an elementary school for the kids of that universe’s supers.  I haven’t kept up with it recently, but I enjoyed it immensely.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Yeah.”  This Nemesis program… how many prominent heroes or villains were out there that had faked or staged confrontations like that?

Hm, guess it was the former.

At least that seems to be “Jamie”’s assumption.

“Hmm.  Nothing else springs to mind as our packages go.  When we design an additional feature or program, we tend to aim it at our more wealthy customers.”

Fair enough.

“You guys are doing lots of testing.  Could I do something like help with that?  Or something outside of these packages and programs?”

I’m not sure that’s a good idea, but it’s creative, at least.

“Perhaps.”

“I’m serious, I’m hard-working, and I stick to my guns.”

What do keys have to do with this?

“It’s our tendency to require that any client be prepared to perform one unspecified favor for us at a later date.  Usually a simple task or a week of service.

...interesting. They’ve got plenty of people with powers out there who are ready to do things for them without question. That’s... ominous.

It serves as a way to cover our bases without revealing too much in respect to our operations.”

“Very Godfather.  Do these favors mean doing anything illegal?”

Oh yeah, I suppose that’d be a concern.

“Sometimes.  But no, often it is a request to meet someone, to pass on a message, or help manage an information leak, a show of force to scare someone who is poking too deep.”

Countermeasures.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Battery!” Legend called out, “Stop him!”

Wait.

Why are Battery and Legend both here - and apparently Assault too, judging by my accident earlier? Where is here? Is Madcap so much of a priority that they called in capes from multiple local teams, including one of the Triumvirate?

She held on, concentrating.  She let a deep breath pass through her lips.

Sticking one foot out in front of him, Madcap changed directions, heading straight through the wall.  Plaster exploded around him.

Hey, Madcap, did you hear about this cool new invention the tinkers made? It’s called a “door”.

She released her power, and for just seconds, she was strong, she was almost invincible, and above all else, she was fast.  She ran forward, plunging through two walls in her pursuit.  Emerging from the second wall, she came within a few feet of Madcap.

Hey, Jamie, did you hear about this cool new inv

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Leviathan's actually been a recurring summon/boss since Final Fantasy 2, all the way back in 1988. Fun fact: Behemoth is also a recurring summon/boss and Simurghs are recurring small enemies.

Huh, that’s neat!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Wildbow did start out with a buffer of prewritten chapters. I think when he started he had arc 1 written, and arc 2 mostly written. However he ended up burning through the buffer pretty quickly. He used up the last of it some time during arc 6 or 7. Since then, most his chapters were written the day they were posted. Despite this, he's manged to go 6.5 years without ever missing one of his regular Tue/Sat updates.

Damn.

No wonder he had some choice words about my early schedule. This is clearly a guy who’s good at sticking to his own while still producing high-quality content.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Meaning you employ those countermeasures you talked about.”

Probably, yeah. The one about removing the power seems especially appropriate in the case of a default.

“Revoking your powers in the worst case scenario, yes.”

“Is that revoking of powers a part of the process of however you give people the powers, or is it something that one of your in-house capes does?”

Thank you, “Jamie”, for asking all the good questions and being an excellent audience surrogate. I appreciate it. :)

The Doctor was typing on the computer.  Without taking her eyes from the screen, she said, “The latter.  You don’t need to worry about someone using a loophole or flaw in the process to take away your abilities.”

I didn’t even consider that. But yeah, good to know.

So they’ve got someone who’s kind of like Hatchet Face, but whose power-blocking effect is permanent. It sounds like it works on any cape, too.

It’s probably a striker power, just to keep it from being too overpowered.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Too true.”

“Finally, after about a year of court appearances and one minor appeal they managed to squeeze in there, it was decided.  The pair was supposed to go to the Birdcage.  Except someone broke them out.”

We do know Ramrod did eventually end up there, at least, after Lung, Bakuda and Paige.

Unless of course there’s some bullshit going on with the Ramrod in the Birdcage being fake or something.

“I think I’m beginning to understand.”

Jamie gnawed on her lip for a second.  Just thinking about it pissed her off.  “His name is Madcap, and he’s a mercenary that specializes in breaking people out of jail.

Hm. I guess either they predicted they would get caught, there’s a fourth person who would want Ramrod and Fleece out, or Madcap was a personal friend of the pair or otherwise had personal interest in getting them out.

Sometimes even when they’re in the convoy on the way to the Birdcage.  And it’s just… wrong.  It’s not the way things should work.  Months or years of investigation, good police and good heroes risking their lives to finally catch someone and arrest them, a year of trial, and all it takes is one fucking asshole with powers to free them?”

Yeeah.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

I’d go crazy in here.  There’s no personality to this place.

Yeah, there’s being professional, and then there’s being too professional.

Stranger still was the lack of dust.  Since her arrival, Jamie hadn’t seen anyone but the Doctor.  How did the Doctor keep everything so clean?

Maybe they’ve got superpowered cleaners.

“Have a seat.”

Jamie sat in one of the plastic chairs.

“I like to talk and establish expectations before we begin.  You should know that almost every aspect of this experience can be tailored to your tastes.  Cauldron’s usual routine, however, is to arrange one face to face meeting.

I guess that would be this one.

We’ll discuss your budget, your situation and goals, and then we’ll peruse a catalog to find something that fits your budget and will hopefully give you the results you desire.  There is a two month waiting period, during which time I will assign you some testing, some regarding your physical condition, other tests for psychological reasons.”

It seems like a pretty solid system.

“Psychological?  Is that to make sure I won’t flip out and go villain when I get powers?”

I don’t think so. Cauldron doesn’t seem to care about that so much as the powers potentially reacting badly with a brain that’s not quite right. What did they call it again? A d... *searches* Deviation scenario, that’s the thing.

“That is not a concern.  Though your question seems to indicate that you hope to be a hero?”  The Doctor made it a half-question, half-statement.

Yep. Flat out don’t care.

And it seems like she’s evading the intent behind the question.

Jamie’s brow furrowed.  “Wait, so you give powers to people who want to be villains?”

“We give powers to anyone who pays.  Rest assured, if you wish to end this meeting now because of a pang of conscience, we can see you returned to the barn shortly.”

They go after the money, just like a certain other group narratively associated with them.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Remember after Gregor's interlude, when you said "This Interlude’s focus character was chosen by poll - it could’ve easily been someone with no connection to Ʊpsilon, in which case Wildbow would presumably not introduce the concept at this point. That makes me wonder if Ʊpsilon is actually relevant to Taylor’s story, the story we follow outside the Interludes, in any way other than as backstory for parts of Faultline’s crew."? I think it's finally safe to say how funny that bit seemed to us.

Yeah, as of Arc 11, they’ve started having some increased relevance, and now they’ve set up one of the heroes of Brockton Bay as a helper for two of the Slaughterhouse Nine, which is quite possibly going to put Battery in the Undertravelers’ way against her will.

Cauldron is still more of a background agent, not very directly relevant to Skitter in particular beyond Skitter vaguely knowing about them, but I know well how much of a difference background agents who act through others and only insert their influence in small doses where its needed for their purposes can make. If you’re not careful, they’ll make you all

...though Cauldron, so far, seems more interested in business than some master plan.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

The burning scraps drifted to the road around her, but she only felt cold.

Every action had its consequence.

Hah, I knew we’d eventually call back to that line!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

She covered more distance with the start-stop motion of charging and running than she did just running, but it made for a halting progress where Assault simply continued forward.

This is a thing I like about Worm’s individualized powers. Effectively, they’re both speedsters, but their speed works in very different ways and you can see that on the way they move.

He made some headway on her.  She knew he’d stop at some vantage point to wait for her.

As she stopped to charge, she felt a tingle from her hand.

...magic invisible ink?

Or maybe a paper cellphone of sorts?

The note?

She spent the energy of a charge, but she didn’t run.  Again, that tingle.  She used her ability to manipulate electromagnetic energy and focused it on the note as she smoothed it out.

Ah, right, I suppose that makes sense with her electric aesthetic. And since Cauldron knows her power, they can make ink that only shows when that power is used on it.

A pattern emerged: simple black lettering.  A second after they’d appeared, the paper started to smoke.

Of course, they still don’t want it to end up in the wrong hands after she reads it.

She had only a few seconds to read and process the message before the paper ignited.

Siberian and Shatterbird are to escape the city, and our business with you will be done. Thank you.  – c.

Well, fuck. That’s actively helping the villains escape justice.

Y’know, I wonder if the customer from the second favor is someone we know. I doubt it’s Shatterbird, though - she seems to have been in the game for a while, longer than two years.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Battery’s phone vibrated.  She excused herself from the librarian’s company and checked the display.

Customer wants product hand delivered by known parahuman.  Package waiting in your apartment.  Second task.  -c

Ah, okay, I guess it really wasn’t the favors she was thinking about earlier. Unless she was feeling bad in advance.

And hey, this seems innocent enough. Might be a bit awkward if it turns out the customer wants to be a villain, though.

Cauldron had sent it to the phone the Protectorate gave her?  To a number that only the Protectorate had?  Did that mean something?

...huh.

I suppose they may somehow have access to PRT files. The Doctor didn’t have any trouble looking up Madcap’s classification and rating, so that seems likely already.

She deleted the message.  It would be easy enough to handle.  If the recipient wound up being a villain at a future date, she’d stop them, put them away.  This would just be a delivery.

Fair.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“…And caught out little suck-a-thumb. Snip!  Snap!  Snip!  The scissors go; And Conrad cries out – Oh! Oh! Oh!…”

Is this Assault reading nursery rhymes?

I really hope this is Assault reading nursery rhymes.

Assault read from the book of poems, and every one of the ninety kids that sat around him were leaning forward, eyes wide.

yessss

“He’s so good with kids,” the librarian murmured.

Ahahaha!

Either he’s really not and this is ironic because of how wrong they are, or he actually is and it’s ironic because Battery’s plan backfired and Assault had an unexpected side to his character. Either way, I love it.

“Of course he is,” Battery said.  Maybe there was a hint of bitterness in her voice, because the librarian gave her a funny look.

This is beautiful.

She plastered a fake smile on her face to assuage the woman’s doubts.

“…both his thumbs are off at last!”  Assault finished.

So, uh.

Did this nursery rhyme just tell the story of a kid cutting his thumbs off with scissors?

Yikes.

The kids squealed in delighted horror.

Pain in the ass, she thought.  If I were reading that one they’d all be crying.

That’s... probably not a good thing, but on the other hand it might imprint on them the value of scissor safety?

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Then think of something else.  Anything.”

Battery sipped on her coffee.  “Anything?  Armsmaster was looking for volunteers for some unpaid work at one of the primary schools.  I already said I’d do it.”

Do you really want to expose school children to this douche?

Also, sounds like we’re still in the past.

“You do all of that crap,” Assault rolled his eyes.  “It’d be admirable if you weren’t trying so ridiculously hard at it.  It’s like you’re trying to make up for some wrong you think you’ve committed.”

Dude, I think that wrong might be you.

Battery frowned a little.

The grin dropped from Assault’s face.  “Hey, seriously?”

Hm. Does he actually have a side that genuinely cares?

She shook her head.  “No.  No wrong committed, real or imagined.”

Of course, it could also be the Cauldron favors. Either thing works.

“But the way you looked just now-”

She interrupted him.  “If you come on this errand with me and do part of the speech for the kids, I’ll maybe consider possibly going out with you for lunch someday.”

Heh, nice.

“When?” “30th of February sound good to you?”

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Come on.  Give me a chance.  Let me know what it takes to get one night of your company.  Tell me to bring you a star in the palm of my hand, or slay a dreaded Endbringer, and I’ll get it done.”

Watch out, there, buddy, you almost managed to sound romantic there for a second!

“You’d just find some loophole and bring me a plastic star or kill an Endbringer in a video game, which would only give you an excuse to harass me further.”

...Endbringers as video game bosses. It sounds like that’s a thing!

I love that.

I wonder if some real video game bosses were designed differently because of the Endbringers. Apocalypsis Aquarius is boss music for a Leviathan of some kind, right? Maybe that boss, in a future Wormverse version of Final Fantasy XV (in a future where the ~2013 threat didn’t cause the game to not be released), would be designed to be more like the Leviathan that’s actually attacking places in their real life?