[Interlude: Lily]
It isn't every day you get saved by an angel.
I mean, I'd been airlifted before. All the wards had; we even had drills for it, but while Legend was Legend, he was also very much a he. Also married, which was arguably more important, even if it was a non-issue because that'd have been very unprofessional even if he was an unattached lady, who looked anything at all like that one piece of fan-art I-
-Anyway! Sudden rescue by a beautiful stranger!
And… wow, beautiful really was understating it. I'd met beautiful capes before. Even in our local roster- Well, Prism's costume was tight. And while Astrologer was… Astrologer, the woman was fit-
-No wait! Stop being distracted, you useless lesbian brain! There were more important things to focus on than the fact the pretty cape was wearing a very tight crop top and short skirt as a costume!
Like the fact she'd just played pinball with the Butcher. Then, while doing so, had dropped me off blocks away in Central Park with a bunch of Adepts, several of which were injured.
"I've been relocated along with the Adepts," I said, touching my ear piece. "New location… Central Park, maybe? We've got injured, I'm moving to assist."
"Tracking your location," Shelter said from the other side of the radio. "Yeah, it looks like Central Park. I'm directing Ursa towards you, she's closest."
"Acknowledged," I said as I rushed up to the most visibly injured member of the Adepts, 'Thirteenth Hour', formerly the ward Standstill.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The burnt blonde cursed. Normally, I actually kind of liked seeing her. Yeah, things were kind of tense with her having defected to 'the enemy', but the Adepts were barely villains. They didn't keep 'territory', didn't pull big heists, their biggest money draw was basically crowdfunding. If it wasn't for things like the NEPEA law, they probably wouldn't even be villains.
Though they were still the competition.
"Try to keep calm," I said to the burnt 'villain' as I dropped down and fished out my first aid kit. I was honestly kind of shocked she was still conscious. I wasn't sure how badly burnt she was, just that she wasn't bursting from the seams… yet, anyway. Burns took a while for the injury to really show how bad it was. Her skin was reddish, but not really red. That was probably a good sign?
I mean, I really hoped so. She had really nice skin most of the time, and showed a lot more of it than most- Which I really shouldn't be paying attention to, both because villain, and because now was not the time!
"I've got some topical anesthetic. It'll help with the pain." at least I hoped it would.
"Fuck you!" she cursed. "I mean… Fuck! Fucking Butcher. Just… do whatever. That fucking bum bitch! Flaming fucking psycho pyro-bitch cunt! Fucking cunt, Cunt, CUUUUUNT!" she belted out at full volume, as she laid on the ground.
I winced. I had a first aid kit on me, of course, but something told me the mild topical numbing agent I had in it wasn't going to do the job. "Backup should be on the way-"
"Fuck your backup," she cursed. "FUCK," she hissed, and I was pretty sure it was more general frustration making her curse then actual disagreement. At the least she wasn't trying to actively push me away or get me in her gaze?
The other Adepts were also hanging nearby, but not making any particularly resistant action. Butcher was everyone's enemy.
"I hope that flying cheerleader bitch rips the fucking turbo-cunt in half!" Thirteenth Hour cursed as I covered what looked like the worst of her burns with whatever I could squeeze out of the tube. On the bright side, it only seemed to have gotten on one side of her, even if that was a lot of skin that was burned.
"I really hope she doesn't." I replied. The Butcher with that kind of speed? She was bad enough with the ability to teleport. Tossing flight and even more Brute muscle was just adding insult to injury.
But that wasn't… that likely, was it? The other cape, The 'cheerleader's' teammate, maybe? Seemed to know who the Butcher was at least.
Oh, this could be really bad. Someone had to warn them!
"Alright, I'm out. Anyone know where we can get water?" I asked. "Clean water!" I added, realizing there was a lake nearby that would probably hurt more than help if used for treatment.
"Incoming," one of the Adepts said, and I quickly followed his gaze up.
And caught sight of the two, unfamiliar capes from earlier, and oh wow those were pretty legs. I hadn't noticed when I'd been busy looking at her face and well- She also had a very nice shirt. I wondered what the S stood for.
For purely professional reasons of course! …Also some less than professional reasons as well. I knew I shouldn't, but I was weak.
The pair touched down, the man a lot faster than the lady. "You alright?" he asked me, before turning to look at Thirteenth hour.
"We've got a few injured here," she said. "Sorry, who are you? You were saying it before, but well.'
"Butcher, yeah," he said, and I felt a moment of panic strike through me before he clarified. "I mean the Butcher showed up. Call me Tarn. Kamen Rider Tarn," he said, giving a two-fingered salute from the side of his head, vertical, not horizontal. Which was familiar, even if I couldn't place which military that signaled.
"Right, gunna help with this, just lay back and try to relax," he said to Thirteenth Hour.
"Fuck you," she responded, though notably with less hostility than she had even to me, which… ouch. But maybe she was just more tired now?
"I already applied Benzocaine," I said, listing the official brand of the anesthetic I had used. It was important to know that when medical treatment was involved- but he wasn't reaching for any medical kit, or even kneeling down.
No, instead he was… Posing?
"May you find(Let thy pain)succor under my grace(and wariness fade)" he chanted out while doing a sort of tai-chi like motion. His voice overlapped over himself at least twice, making it really hard to understand him, but by the end of it he reached out and 'tapped' the air, and things… Changed?
I shifted my arbalest I'd been keeping slung under my shoulder, "What was that?"
"Healing shaker field," he responded. "It has a master component that discourages violence. Discourage, not control, no other effects," he added, which is more worrying.
"That's illegal," I said, and I honestly wasn't sure if I was accusing him or warning him.
"That might be, but a Kamen Rider rides for justice, even when the law disagrees," he said in a corny line. "Speaking of which. We're kidnapping you to give you a bunch of illegal tinkertech and ice cream."
What. "What?"
The cute parahuman immediately flew over and punched him in the shoulder, "Do you have to put it that way?"
"Flechette! Do you need assistance?" Shelter called out from my earpiece.
"Hey! I'd let her go if she actually asked," Tarn said to his teammate, at the same time before turning towards me. "Okay, we better book now, unless you object?"
"I think I'm okay," I said, touching at my earpiece.
"Great!" The new cape said, "Supergirl, you're her ride," he said
"Fine," the blonde woman in the short skirt said before scooping me up and into the air faster than I could react, again. Which was kind of humiliating because I had super reflexes of my own.
"Let me-" I started, only to immediately reconsider as we shot a dozen stories into the sky.
"You okay?" she asked, and I felt part of my brain melt as those sky blue eyes peered into mine with concern.
"I… uh…" what the hell was I supposed to do right now!?
"Pick your favorite ice cream place," The third whee- her teammate suggested as he flew up beside us, holding something in his hands.
"Oddfellows?" I said, deciding to just go with it.
"Flechette!?" Shelter asked.
"You said you'd be handing over tinkertech?" I said out loud, hoping Shelter would get the idea.
"That's apparently the plan," Supergirl said, looking over annoyed at the self professed vigilante. (villain? Technically if they were breaking the law they were a villain regardless of their intent.)
I was a little unsure what to do. The situation was advancing fast; I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried, but at the same time, this could be a real opportunity? 'Supergirl' wasn't restraining me and they didn't actually seem hostile. I mean who would actually kidnap a ward in Legend's City?
"Think a portable version of what I used down there," the more armored (Tinker?) of the pair elaborated, if only to highlight that. Healing tech? Even if the lab just spirited it away forever- "-also something that'll make you immortal."
"What?" I repeated.
"Flechette I can't track you. Are you sure you're okay?" Shelter asked.
"Supergirl! You know where Oddfellows is?" Tarn asked the other cape.
"I can give directions!" I called out. "One four one eighth avenue," I said clearly to all three people listening.
"Got it," The cute girl who was, unfortunately, probably (technically?) a villain, if by association, said.
And then we were moving. Not as fast as before thankfully. I could actually see where we were going, but definitely faster than anyone but Legend had ever carried me before.
I tried to keep track of what was happening around me, as Shelter chimed in again.
"Flechette, if you're in trouble cough twice," they suggested.
"Situation… uncertain?" I tried, before looking at the girl apologetically.
"It's alright," The cute girl said. "We're not really kidnapping you. We just didn't want to hand over the tech where all the others were," she explained.
"Oh, right, that makes sense," I said. "Uh… did you get that?"
"You're the eyes in the field," Shelter said.
"We… do seem to be heading for the ice cream store?" I tried. "Correction, we're dropping towards it."
"The Masking effect should stop once I let go of you," Said the… I was shifting her back to Vigilante, maybe even Independent hero? I hoped? Letting me go once we touched down, and stepping back to demonstrate.
"I've got your GPS back," Shelter confirmed. "Ursa Aurora's too far away… There's a PRT squad in the area. I'm requesting they head in your direction."
"Poke," The male of the duo said, reaching out to my shoulder with an extended finger.
I rolled away before he made contact, "Please don't."
He seemed to huff for a moment, before holding out… a wrist watch? "Here."
I blinked, "Uh…"
"Tinkertech," he said. "It's masked as a normal watch. Even works as one, but as long as you specifically are wearing it, it'll also generate a field that will let you regenerate from anything," he explained.
That was…
"I shouldn't have to say this, but do not put on the watch," Shelter stressed.
"Of course you're probably going to have to test it a whole bunch back at protectorate HQ. But, there you go. Instant, if conditional, immortality. Enjoy," he said with a wave of his hand.
"Ahem?" Supergirl commented.
"Eh, start ordering and I'll make sure the other one's properly calibrated," he said, reaching to the side into a pure black portal that opened in front of his hand, and withdrawing a… Something, that was boxy and reminded me vaguely of one of those old plug in modems, or maybe a wifi router. "I forgot about the Butcher. Can't include all the original defensive measures on the off chance they kill themselves on them, so I need to tweak it."
Definitely a Tinker then.
Supergirl rolled her eyes. "Come on… Tell me what flavors here are good?" she asked with a smile.
I uh… "Sure?" I said, trying to remember what the playbook said about situations like this? Was it try and distract the unknowns? Because I was opting into it being trying to distract the unknowns!
…Alright, even I knew that was pathetic. I really, really needed to find a girlfriend.
"...Try and keep them talking, the PRT Van's two minutes away," Shelter advised.
Plan distract the cute blonde was a go!
Chapter 5: Establishing a New NormalPart 1
Thank fuck for Haste and teenage hormones. Well, that and Mask. That combination made it possible to finish up the 'box of Blessing' before the Fuzz showed up. Without it, I'd be worried about someone recording me, or watching from some camera.
Still kind of awkward when we had to book it after a bunch of troopers showed up.
"I didn't even get to try my Coconut Caramel Chip! I even had my helmet set up with an illusionary mouthguard so I could inexplicably eat through it," I explained to my captive audience.
Needless to say, we got away, and the trip back to Brockton Bay had otherwise been fairly uneventful.
We were currently back in the extradimensional base. Penny, Brian and one of the Lisas were with us, while the other Lisa and A2 were dealing with Coil's base.
Penny, for her part, looked absolutely devastated by proxy at hearing about the loss of my ice cream. "Not even a single bite?"
"Lick," corrected the remaining Lisa, though I wasn't entirely sure which one it was, because she'd switched to a new set of 'civis'. A baggy blue shirt with painters pants, flats, and her hair up in a bun.
"Nope, not a one" I confirmed. "Legend is one of the few capes who could actually keep up with us, so we only really had time for Supergirl to say something heroic yet cheeky, before we blasted out of there at full speed," I explained.
The red haired gynoid nodded along, "At least you secured your retreat!"
"You realize they're going to grab the watch the moment she gets back to base right?" Lisa asked me.
"Oh definitely," I confirmed. "I'm just hoping they actually test the thing before they either destructively analyze it, or lock it away in some box forever."
"You think they will?" Brian asked.
"The PRT does use captured kit now and then," I reminded him. "They don't like to do it. Bad optics, but in the original timeline they used captured tinkertech explosives in the next Endbringer fight. And those were both made by a villain, and way out of their understanding on how they worked."
"The Rig's forcefield is also made by a villain," Lisa admitted. "Though Uppercrust barely counts as one. The PRT's actually got several ongoing contracts with him."
"And that sort of 'Not a problem, but technically a villain' status is roughly what I'm shooting for," I replied.
Supergirl frowned, "I'm not sure I like being called a villain even technically."
"It is a bit disheartening," Penny agreed.
"It's necessary," Lisa said. "Things are more polarized in the Bay than normal, but even on a national level it's really hard to be a hero and stay independent. They won't give you any slack for things like collateral unless you're a legacy brand like New Wave, or you have enough money behind you that they have to worry about a defamation suit."
"Oh!" Penny perked up. "What about 'Rogues'. I found them on your internet!"
"Same thing," Lisa replied. "Don't make a mistake. The Protectorate's the same as any other gang. You're either with them or against them. The only difference is that they're government sponsored, and have a lot more rules than the competition."
"That's a pretty pessimistic view," Supergirl argued.
"Not entirely wrong though," I said with a frown. "I can't think of a rogue who actually remained independent. Eventually someone tries to pressgang them, and pretty quickly they find themselves either needing backup, or resorting to stuff that can also get them labeled a villain."
"It can work out in some places," Tattletale admitted. "But not here. And not if you're going to jump into cape fights," she said, giving me a somewhat chastising look.
I shrugged.
Supergirl slumped back, looking over at Lisa and Brian, "Don't take this the wrong way, but your world kind of sucks."
"We know," both replied, Brian with a resigned sigh, Lisa with a mischievous smile.
"Is working with the local authorities not an option?" Penny asked, and from her tone and posture, it was more a genuine inquiry rather than a passive aggressive 'why aren't we doing this?'
"No can do," I said with a shake of my head. "The local government is effectively subverted. The cape side of its law enforcement is deliberately hobbled in some ways to better back the goals of a conspiracy."
"Cauldron," Lisa said with a frown.
"'The Cooking Club' outside," I said. "They've got extra-sensory eavesdroppers, 'Thinkers' by the local nomenclature, who pick up on things that might reveal more about their existence than they want. They can also easily pick out the best point to make such info breaches 'disappear'. Mask shields us from their view, but not anyone who overhears us, or that we talk to. Adding a few divides will help keep bystanders from ending up shot in an alley out of a portal from a parallel Earth."
"Jesus Christ," Brian cursed, covering his mouth with his hand as he rubbed at his jaw, probably while wondering for the hundredth time just how he got involved in this mess.
"And they're not the only ones tweaking things to stir up conflict," I commented. "Teacher's been pulling crap despite being locked away in the Birdcage. Heartbreaker has at least a few thralls in government. I shouldn't have to mention what 'The Hopekiller' has been slipping past containment. Jack Slash has a thinker/master power even he doesn't know about fucking with every superpowered head native to the world."
I paused for a moment as I realized what else I needed to bring up, unpleasant as it was,
"Though, speaking of superpowers…" I trailed off looking at the local supers.
"Have I mentioned how much I love having an off button for my powers?" Lisa interjected.
"Yeah that," I said. "Brian, you're probably going to forget this unless you put a lot of effort into remembering it," I stressed to the already overloaded man.
Naturally he did not like hearing that. "Do I even want to know?" he asked.
"Powers fuck with your head," Lisa interjected, looking over to Kara and Penny as she did, so they also knew to follow along. "There's obvious cases like me and Bitch, whose brain was rewired to socialize with dogs instead of humans. But even capes that seem normal get subtle tweaks. Losing a train of thought here, a distracting memory there…"
"Which is something that could be a serious problem once titans start showing up," I mused.
"Great," Brian grossed. "So what, my own power is going to make me forget that it makes me forget stuff?"
"You can power through it," Lisa assured him. "The influence is subtle. They need us thinking independently to use us for data mining after all. You just need to.. Be careful of any sudden impulses."
"Which is easier said than done," I mused.
"And all the local metahumans are like this?" Kara asked for confirmation.
"Pretty much," Lisa grinned. "And boy do powers like prodding people into fights! It's why you rarely see really big gangs. Once they get more than half a dozen or so, they factionalize within a group. Once you get more than two dozen? Unless something power related is involved, it's almost impossible to keep them under the same roof. Some groups are officially bigger of course, The Protectorate, The Elite, big cults like The Fallen, but they're more a bunch of allied groups that generally operate independently of one another."
"That's a tendency though, not a rule," I quickly added. And Lisa didn't deny it.
"That would drastically limit people's ability to coordinate for large-scale efforts," Penny noted, looking concerned about that.
"Yep," I confirmed. "Which is probably a feature, not a bug of the design."
"But we're getting off topic," Lisa said. "What are you going to do when they take the watch, if they don't give it back to Flechette?" She asked me. "You have to realize that'll drive another wedge between her and the Protectorate, particularly when she sees them making use of the other item."
I shrugged. "Give her another one? I mean I could make a tattoo or implant based version, but she's not likely to go for that," I said.
The Tattoo version could also be problematic. I'd experimented a bit with them, but in practice they'd proven surprisingly easy to damage for an active combatant. They also had issues that when anything disrupted the skin's composition, like shapeshifting, phasing, or even adding too much more body mass, they could get… wonky, in often hard to predict ways.
Despite my personal aesthetics for magic item creation's implications, the runic arrays of magic items weren't circuitry. However, that just meant that things could as often go strange as they simply 'break' when damaged. Some malfunctions, particularly in the 'power draw' segment could go nasty.
Lisa raised an eyebrow, "You don't want to recruit her? She's not exactly a zealot to the cause. We could probably win her over even without mentioning anything big."
"Oh, I'd be all for bringing her on if she wants to join," I replied. "We should try and keep a line of communication in case she does," I added. "However.... This is not the same situation as it was with the Warlords of Brockton Bay. We can provide opportunities, but we can't aggressively poach. We're going to need a reputation that people on both sides of the line will be able to work with. If we poach directly from the Protectorate, that's going to be a lot harder."
Lisa looked ready to argue the point for a moment… then dropped it. "Okay, fair enough. But don't expect me to go all goody goody. I'm not doing photo ops, and expect any speeches I make to leave at least one person crying for their therapist," she outlined.
"Your terms are acceptable," I agreed at once. "Someone with 'Sherlock' as a cape name shouldn't be expected to be polite or personable anyway."
Her eyes widened, "I didn't even think of that! I can get away with talking so much shit if they think I'm just playing up… Oh, this is going to be fun."
Kara looked at her fellow blonde as they devolved into a mischievous plot, before glancing my way. "I think you might have created a monster."
"More… let them off their leash?" I said with a shrug.
Lisa flipped both of us off.
"I feel as if I am missing some important context," Penny said, looking somewhat lost at being left out.
"Don't worry," I assured her. "We'll get you caught up quick enough… Though, that reminds me. I need to set up a time accelerator in one of these rooms for high speed research." I'd set up something similar in what Greg had jokingly called my 'cultivation chamber' back in Hellsalem's lot. It was useful when I'd first dipped into developing an Overmagic 'the hard way'.
"Oh, would you like a list of suitable locations? I've already examined the facilities and mapped out all the rooms!" Penny said enthusiastically.
"Sure," I said. "Since I missed out on ice cream, I'll whip up some coffee and snacks, so we can make a proper planning session of it."
"So, is that it?" Brian asked. "No other world shaking revelations to drop?" he asked.
"Not off the top of my head," I admitted. "We can talk costume stuff if you want, but we should probably get Alec and Rachel in on that first."
"Fine," he agreed. "In that case, I'm going to head home. I need time to think about all of this."
"I'll make sure your paycheck comes in on time," Lisa reassured. "You won't have to worry about that at least."
"Coffee for the road?" I asked him. "Or whatever really. I'd offer to drop you off, but you're the one with the van."
Brian waved us off, and headed back out through the door, back into the madness of Earth Bet.
So with that I got up to go start making snacks for the planning session.
And naturally right as I did, Lisa decided to interject. "Right!" she beamed mischievously "Now that we're done with all the serious stuff… When are we starting the orgy?"
I nearly slipped on the spot as I turned to face her.
Kara snorted.
Penny blinked innocently, "Orgy?"
"Making coffee now!" I said as I beat a quick retreat to the kitchen.
Which was a rather large mistake, in hindsight.
Part 2
The good news was that the base actually had a kitchen up to Company standard. Not that the Company actually had much of a universal standard, using as much reappropriated goods as it did manufactured ones- but it was still a good kitchen. Particularly given the base's 'covert-military-chic' aesthetic. Which meant it didn't take me long to navigate it to whip up a very quick snack menu.
Realizing, unfortunately, that my retreat had left both the enemy time to strategize, and left so far neutral powers at potential risk of subversion, I prioritized speed, but not so much that it was obvious I was rushing back.
So… Coffee. Hot water, a dozen instant tea bags, crackers, and some rapidly sliced up fruits and meats. Standard snack tray. I may have used the 'flurry' aspect of Fist to cut the slices quickly.
Doubling back to the room, I heard ominous sounds of female giggling. Which was… probably not a bad sign! Nope! Not at all! Even though I didn't take any of the girls inside as much of the giggling type, and that there was a very small range of subjects that could get them all on the same wavelength so fast, since most of them had just met each other.
Not concerning in the slightest!
"Welcome back," Lisa said with a canary eating grin. "Done preparing yourself."
Supergirl snorted, and Penny giggled.
"I'm done with making snacks," I said, setting the trays down, or directing them in one case.
Featherfall was useful for more than just personal flight after all. The stabilization aspects also near-eliminated the risk of spillage. Though the key word there was near.
"You know given your earlier flirting, I didn't expect you to be so shy," Lisa continued to tease.
"I'm particularly curious about exploring sexual intercourse as well!" Penny announced completely unabashedly.
I blinked, "You corrupted the Cinnamon roll," I said, turning to look at the terrible villainess. "I was gone for less than five minutes."
Supergirl snorted again.
"You baked cinnamon rolls!?" Penny asked enthusiastically.
"Oh I'm sure he wouldn't mind putting a few buns into ovens if we ask nicely enough," Kara said, entirely straight faced.
This time Lisa was the one to nearly burst out laughing. Almost falling over from the sheer effort of it.
"Haha," I laughed in monotone. "Don't think I don't get what you're doing," I said to the local… or more likely clone of the local?
"O-oh," She got out between chuckles. "And what's that?" she asked challengingly.
"I'm not the blushing virgin here," I accused.
I really should have expected this to be honest. Lisa had a habit of starting shit when she felt uncomfortable. Social fight or flight, with the switch duct taped onto 'fight'. A habit that had gotten her into several dangerous games of chicken in the past.
"Fuck you," she shot back.
"Well, yes, that does seem to be your stated plan," I teased. "More seriously… No orgies. Well, not yet."
Penny seemed to droop. "Oh."
"Oh look, now you're the one disappointing the cinnamon roll," Lisa shot back.
I sighed, turning to the red haired gynoid. "Penny. I'm sorry. I really am. You're a beautiful woman, and I would love to spend my night in your arms. But I'm not quite emotionally ready for a full on orgy with a bunch of unfamiliar faces right now."
"Oh, no, it's fine," she said, then hiccuped. "Oh! I'm sorry, there seems to be a problem with my atmospheric processing!" she said hiccuping again as she tried to laugh it off..
Yeah, not buying it. "Would you settle for a date?" I asked her.
"A date!?" she asked, eyes lighting up.
"What- wait, no cutting in line!" Lisa complained.
I rolled my eyes, "Did you actually want an orgy? Or was it something you just suggested because it's funny?" I asked her.
"I dunno, the occasional orgy can be fun," Kara said, leading to both of us turning to face her. "What? Superheroing is a stressful job," she said.
"Which isn't you saying you've been in one before," Tattletale accused, then frowned. "Or wasn't for that reason?"
The other blonde shrugged. "It was pretty obvious what was happening to Krypton a few days before the core finally blew," she said. "And people reacted like they always do when they think they're doomed. It was a wild few days before dad was suddenly putting me into a home made stasis pod, launching me out into space."
Oh… shit, that was grim.
"Not exactly happy memories then?" I asked.
"Did kind of spoil the experience," she admitted. "Not exactly traumatized by the idea or anything, but I'd honestly prefer the dinner and date option. At least at first," she agreed.
"Well great," Lisa sighed. "Now I feel like a dick. Fine. The orgy can wait until later," she said, effectively admitting defeat.
"Oh!" Penny perked up. "You could join us on our dinner date! That much should be fine at least?" she said, turning to look at me eagerly.
"I don't mind that," I agreed. "Though I'll warn you now, the only restaurant I know about in town is Fugly Bobs. Which I am admittedly still pretty curious about."
It annoyed me that we'd barely gotten to our seats before we had to rush right back out. I still hadn't even gotten a single bite of that delicious grease… Well not how it was supposed to be enjoyed.
"They're not bad," the local, or rather 'local' admitted. "Health and safety standards are a lot better than you'd expect from a place that literally markets itself on being a greasy burger joint."
"I've been to a few places like that," Kara said, sounding approving. "Is the pie good?"
"As in dessert pie and not meat pie?" Lisa asked. "It's decent. They do make it, but recooked frozen, not fresh made. The draw isn't the dessert, it's the burgers," she explained.
"That sounds lovely!" Penny said. "When do we go? Oh! Do I need a new dress?" she asked looking down at her outfit.
Which… huh. "That… might be a good idea?" I admitted. "You went out with that as a 'hero' after all. The bright orange hair is already going to be pretty distinct."
"I can help with that," Kara said before Lisa could.
"You would definitely be the expert," I agree, looking at Lisa. "She and her cousin get away with secret identities… without wearing masks. It's kinda crazy."
"Is that possible?" Penny asked.
"I've seen people pull it off." I confirmed. Ironically enough, mostly by actors playing Kara's cousin. The 'Transformation' scene done by Christopher Reeve was most people's go to example, but even Henry Cavil had once walked down Time's Square without anyone recognizing him… While he was wearing a Superman T-shirt, while pausing several times, in front of the giant billboard of him, that was advertising him as Superman in a movie.
"People seriously underestimated what a few subtle changes in posture could really do," I explained. "Or how much glasses could change a face… or a change in hair style or color," I said, glancing between Lisa and Kara.
"That's more an advanced trick," Kara agreed. "Though if you could magic us up something?" she asked.
"Something that can do a palette swap? Easily done," I agreed. "I can even weave it into an outfit that'll double as low profile body armor."
Penny made excited sounds.
"Last place you were in was pretty shit, huh?" Lisa asked.
"Worse than this place," I agreed. Twenty five of us walked in. Three of us walked out, carrying a fourth. And with what state we were in when we'd crossed the finish line… It was arguably more two and a half of us walked out carrying what was left of a fourth.
But I'd get them back. All I needed to do was save the world. How hard could that be?
"Right," I said, grabbing an apple slice and deciding to focus on happier things. "So, design party. We'll add outfits to the list. But first, which room can we set up as a bootleg hyperbolic time chamber. Penny, you said you memorized the layout?" I asked her.
"I did!" she confirmed.
"Great," I nodded. "We also need to take stock of what useful devices and features this place has. I know it's going to have advanced power generation," functionally limitless electricity was easy to do when you didn't have to mask it. Even then with The Company's records it was pretty easy to make a 'believable' power plant for most worlds, like a geothermal tap, or early designed fusion reactor. "The Kitchen also had some advanced appliances."
That caught Lisa's attention, "How advanced?"
"Magitech microwave that actually cooks evenly and doesn't leave food soggy," I listed as one. "Self-cleaning coffee machine. Ten second washer dryer. No Federation food replicator, but they did put in a 'mystery MRE' box. Those can be fun if you want something random," I admitted, then paused. "Just never eat the veggie-omelet. Even futuretech and literal magic apparently could not save the 'vomlet'."
Kara winced, while Lisa outright grimaced. Penny however, "vomlet?"
"The egg never preserves properly," I explained. "Well not the vegi-version. They've got something approximating egg for the steak and egg, egg and ham, and egg fried spoo- that's the blue one with the alien lettering. But yeah, if it's got vegi-omlet in it, avoid or discard."
"We have alien food?" Kara asked, curious.
"Some," I agreed. "The Stove is the same model as the one I had back home, and that was a pre-geth Quarian design. It's got a nifty, self updating holographic cook-book that'll walk you though stuff if you prompt it." Actually, I suspected it was the Oven from my old apartment. Though I was surprised that was the cheaper option. Well, unless it was done for some other reason. It could also be some form of physiological prodding, 'reminding me of home' or someone's idea of a dumb joke.
"Food wise, we've got extradimensional coffee," I added. "I opted for MAX, which is a pretty mundane, if very good blend. It comes from another reality's version of Japan." Thank you, surprisingly high market demand from the Hachiman collective. "If you want something more exotic, we've also got caf, which is something that isn't technically coffee, but has a similar kick. Taste is a little weaker, but it kicks harder in terms of caffeine content," I warned. "We've also got Lucifer's black blood, which does not, in fact, include any actual blood, but is grown in hell. It'll keep you up for a full day straight…. But will keep you up for a full day straight. Sleep is not an option once that stuff is in your system," I cautioned.
"Good to know," Kara said, bemused by us having demonic coffee.
"We also got some celestial teas, if those are more your brand, but consult me before you brew any, some are… potent," I warned. "They can also make you a bit fight happy."
"The celestial tea?" Lisa asked.
"Yep," I confirmed. "It's a hypersensitivity thing. You know how normal tea has antioxidants and all that? Celestial tea often has anti-corruptants. They can make you oversensitive to bad vibes for a while, particularly external ones imposed by others."
"So being less corrupt makes you more violent? That sounds… wrong" Kara said, not liking the logic.
"That's because you're thinking about the wrong kind of corruption," I clarified. "You're thinking stuff like political, or moral corruption. This is that, but also things like social influence, situational nuance, even personal experience. Purity is a big thing. A powerful thing, particularly mystically speaking, but it's not always a good thing, and near always encourages binary thinking, even when it really shouldn't. There's a reason angels do not do well on Earth. They're not built to handle even 'minor' sins, like white lies, wandering eyes, either disobeying or obeying illegal orders, without going full fire and brimstone."
It was also one of the major reasons Cultivators were so thin skinned. Well that and their generally massive egos.
The Kryptonian's eyes lit up in recognition. "I remember hearing a few stories like that from Zatara… something about a haunted tank?"
"That'd be a decent example," I agreed, thinking back at DC references to that.
"Neat," Lisa interjected. "So the tea makes you crazy?"
"It's more that it decays your tolerance for things a bit. Well, until, ironically you start to build up a tolerance to it. Which isn't hard. It's just spiritually influenced tea after all, not an outright potion or elixir. The effect is muted, enough to notice, but not life changing and largely temporary. Like the caffeine rush of strong coffee."
"So it makes you a jerk for a little while. What's the upside?" Lisa asked.
"It's not…" I sighed. "The 'punchyness' Is just a side effect, not a primary purpose. It's got useful meditational purposes, also handy if you're feeling 'gross' and want to purge yourself of some of that. It also has a mild curse reducing effect, which is probably why they stocked it for me specifically," I said tapping the meat of my bad leg. "Tastes pretty good too. You could outright call the flavor heavenly."
"That sounds like it could be an interesting experience," chimed in Penny, ever the optimist. "Is there any other supernatural substances available to us?"
"Probably tons," I said. "Which is the issue. We don't know everything the base has yet. It is supposed to have all the necessities for a comfortable life for each of us, but given the diverse anatomies involved with everyone here, I can't be sure of what that involves," I explained, keeping my expression as serious as I could.
"What, like, someone trying to lift a brute rated weight?" Lisa asked, looking over at Supergirl.
"Or someone confusing Penny and A2's maintenance equipment," I said. "I shouldn't have to point out how that could get messy."
"Oh! I can point out what I use… probably," Penny said helpfully.
"And someone can eventually drag A2 around to see if she recognizes anything," Lisa agreed. "I might be able to guess. My power seems to be able to recognize most of this stuff."
"You realize you just volunteered to check everything right?" Kara asked her.
"I know," she groaned. "Other me's helping with that," she stated firmly.
"We can all help," I suggested. "There's other concerns though. 'Live with' doesn't necessarily mean that it'll cover all our actual operational needs. Maintenance will likely be covered for example, but what about equipment? Medical complications? A2's fusion systems run on pure water, but electronics in Penny's world run off of Dust. I'll bet a lot of her components are forged with it as well, right?" I asked the Remnant native.
"Most of them," the gynoid in question admitted, suddenly looking rather concerned about that fact.
"Right," I nodded. "-and before you get worried, I can handle that with magic, but I'd feel a lot more secure if it turns out we have a company issue Dust synthesizer or the like to help out with that, in case I'm taken out before I can teach anyone the magic to help with that."
"Something like that would be splendid!" Penny agreed at once. "Could we make magic lessons part of our date?" she asked eagerly.
I blinked, "Sure?" I said, feeling my lips twitch upward a bit, "Though I'll warn you now. Full on mastery of magic takes a lot of time and effort. We're talking a year per cantrip. Though, more like a third of that to get the bare minimum of what you need."
Penny squealed, while Lisa narrowed her eyes at me for a moment, then rolled them. Penny enthusiastically saying, "Then we should get started as quickly as possible!"
Lisa's reply was less enthusiastic, "Sure. Might as well strike while the iron's hot."
"I will be making more items to let you use them that way for higher levels," I reminded/informed the body. "But, yeah, there are serious advantages to being able to cast the Cantrips directly… Like being able to enchant your own magic items."
"Fun," the blonde said dryly, though I sensed she wasn't entirely sarcastic about it. Just mostly.
Not that Penny noticed, "Isn't it!" she beamed. "I have my own magic as a Maiden, but…" she trailed off for a moment looking lost. "Getting it this way is better," she asserted.
"Well, it'll be a fun thing to practice in your spare time at least," I replied. "I've got some tips I can offer-"
"Could I get in on this?" Kara asked.
"Sure," I agreed at once. "If you two don't mind?" I asked them.
"The more the merrier," Penny agreed at once.
"Maybe we should drag in A2 and the other me?" Lisa- Alisa said.
"Sounds like a good- Heeey" I frowned at her. "Don't think, I don't realize what you're doing."
"Whatever is that Sir?" Lisa said, batting her eyes. "Though I should ask, does magic school come with a uniform?" she teased.
"Haha," I replied. "Keep that up, and I will take you up on that invitation," I warned her.
She stuck her tongue out in response.
I rolled my eyes. "Okay. So, first find and plot out the whole time room thing. Then we find A2 and plan out date night. After that, base exploration, or whatever personal projects we've got running. Sound like a plan?"
"Works for me!" Kara agreed.
Lisa shrugged, not complaining or offering an alternative.
"Sounds like a plan!" Penny agreed. "Should I outline what I've already discovered of the base now?"
"Sure," I responded, and to my surprise she actually proceeded to fire up a holographic map from the big central 'table' we'd all be working around.
"As you can see here, the base is composed of five distinct levels, with no external access…" she began to outline, shifting to full military briefing mode.
I sat back and paid attention as best I could, not at all distracted by the fact I had just agreed to go on a date… multiple dates even. For the first time in over half a year.
Fuck. Okay, mission focused, end of the world preparation stuff first. I could tackle the scary stuff after that.
Part 3
Luckily, it didn't take too long to find a location I could turn into a magitech tinkering room. And, by that, I meant we found the magitech tinkering room.
"Huh," I said, examining the toolset on the table, lifting up a soldering wand.
"So, you think this will do the job?" Kara asked.
"Oh it'll do alright this is…. This is nice. Really nice. I've never actually had a professional rig like this before. I've always had to jury rig my own lab," I explained.
I'd mostly used a mixture of engraving and metalworking tools, but often found myself limited when trying to do something like carve runes into or out of tougher metals, like tungsten. For all its fabled hardness, the metal was brittle which made carving it a bitch, but all my precision tools were made for softer alloys.
Some of these, though? Diamond edged engraving knives with replaceable heads, a shielded chemistry basin with attachable taps that could be swung over the main worktable. So many clamps, most of which had firm, multi jointed 'arms' that could be connected to the table and either locked in place, set to 'float' or moved with a single switch on the joints?
And that wasn't touching the exotic stuff. A, entirely magically inert, tech-based stasis field. Adjustable local gravity anchor, Q-flux scoped internal engraver. All that was missing was the pym particle size shifter.
"If anything, I'm the weak element here," I admitted. "I haven't had a chance to play with kit like this since they let me into one of the fancy labs back in basic training. I don't have the right habits to use half of this stuff."
But it'd learn. Oh boy would I learn.
"Hey!" Lisa called out from outside the room. "Check this out, Penny's room has a-MUFFuFUaA!"
"Hahaha!! Nothing special or embarrassing over here! HeeCuUP!" Penny shouted back before hiccuping. "Just keep focusing on whatever it is you're looking at!"
Kara and I looked at each other for a moment, before I turned to address the open door. "A quick reminder ladies. We are likely stuck together until something kills us in a way we can't be revived from, and I plan on making that a very narrow group of things!"
The muffled sounds of argument were my reply.
"I'll go check on them," Kara assured. "You get to work setting up your time thingies."
"Thank you for that," I replied, before I went ahead, and put all these shiny new tools to use doing exactly that.
Enchanting really was an interesting process. I hadn't originally felt that way. I meant, I did a lot of it. The Cantrip Contract was great for spitting out high effect items quickly, at least once you got a grandmastery or two. There were even a few cantrips that could directly spit out magic items directly, one of which I had mastered complete with Overmagic. It was too useful a tool to pass up.
But that was what enchanting had been for me, a tool. The process with my 'style' of magic was simple enough. Grab a spark of magic from the cantrip within me, bind it to an item, wire in the appropriate interface for use, keys, conditions, restrictions, and done. I didn't even need to custom make an item to hold the cantrip, I could literally enchant a penny picked off the street.
Hell, I had enchanted a penny off the street before.
But, and there was a key but there… That didn't have to be the end of it. Even if the power of each enchanted item came solely from its enchantment, form could aid function. A curved or pistol grip made it a lot easier to aim a Firebolt than a wand or staff. I could lock the trigger behind Mage Armor to rubbing it, tapping it, or saying a magic word yeah, but I could also give it a more elaborate interface like a dial pad that could deploy the spell in is many variations as I cared to plug in… or I guess as many combination of numbers as could be dialed.
And as I explored that, I found other tricks. You could infuse enchantments into existing items with no visible change, yeah, but they were fragile. Anything that'd damage the 'existence' of the item as it was could dislodge the enchantment. This could be basic damage, though how much (or little) varied a lot depending greatly on the item enchanted. A great example being a gun running out of bullets or something else running out batteries. A dead cell phone was functionally an entirely different thing to a live one as an example.
That's where the runes came in, a trick I'd picked up from Gabriel. They worked as an anchoring point.
No, more than anchors, it was more that the runes worked like a channel for the enchantment, anchoring its mechanics, normally ethereal, into the material. By doing that, not only did it much more firmly anchor the enchantment, it also let me modify its functions after actually enchanting it. That's part of why I made the Rider Belts the way I did, with plug and play functions so I could modify the projected armor and integrate the manifested attached Cantrip cards directly.
Which connected to another trick. Linking enchantments together. Each item had to be distinct, a sword was not a 'sheath' wasn't even a 'handguard' or a 'blade', as long as you were willing to work each piece, and make sure they were willing to play nice with each other, linking the interface so one triggered the other in a sequence, or was even triggered by the effects of other cantrips. A Life Bubble that activated when it detected the flight effects of Featherfall for example, or more elaborately, an Alter Object that reacted to the disruptions of a Minor Illusion that would be caused by even a non-magically active human interacting with them.
I still hadn't managed an interface that could match the raw malleability of a directly cast cantrip. There was just too big of a disconnect, and it was impossible to account for every possible contingency or situation that might require some variation. Moreover trying would probably leave an even clunkier interface than the dial pad with a hundred million number combos. Not the easiest thing to use. But I could still manage some impressive stuff if I wanted.
And it was fun! Satisfying, even. Artistic expression made practical. Like making murderbots to set upon your enemies out of legos.
But yeah, side tangent. Point was, it often paid to put in that little bit of extra effort to actually make or modify what stuff you were enchanting. To personalize and attach the little bobbles so the less mystically inclined could use it.
Well, the ones that could actually memorize operational instructions anyway. For everyone else there were big red buttons.
Or rather in this case, large, clearly marked dials, 30 to -30, 5 to -5, on and off. Those were the simple ones. Field area controls, those were a bit more complex, same with the time hop selection options, though I'd made sure in both cases to have a nice big 'reset' button next to them, I'd also set a hard limit on the 'hop' function when set to repeat, both for the number of repeats and to exclude the actual device, incase someone got trapped outside of time.
Well, someone we didn't want trapped. If there was someone we did want trapped, I could either build another, more purpose built device for that, or they could just keep twisting the dial for repeats back when it got close to ticking down. It'd probably depend on how long we'd need to hold them.
Hopefully, that sort of situation wouldn't crop up, but you could never be entirely sure someone wouldn't manage to sneak into your base-
"What'cha working on?" Lisa, or rather one of them asked.
-Case in point.
"Local relative time adjustment device," I explained, glancing back at her. "Back from dealing with the local authorities?"
"Ugh," she stuck her tongue out. "Armsy was as inquisitive as ever. Almost blew a lid and tried to arrest me once he realized his kit was giving him junk data. Does he ever get better?"
"Yep, but not before a lot of really bad stuff," I said. "Not sure his character development is worth it."
She snorted at that. "You're lucky, I know you're not some psycho who thinks this is all fictional," she chastised. "So… Time control? When do we get that?" she said, gesturing down to her belt.
"Pretty soon actually," I replied. "Just need to do some refinement on the interface… which isn't even half of what's going to go into flight," I grimaced.
"Wha- really?" she said, head snapping up. "Well… that's disappointing," she huffed while crossing her arms.
"Oh, I'll figure out something," I assured her. "But I'll warn you, the best analogue control set up I know involves a lot of posing. You basically adopt the superman position and pretend you have invisible handlebars," I said, reaching up in demonstration.
She looked contemplative, "That's not too bad..."
"I probably also have to put a regulator in for low altitude flight," I added. "Most people do not have the reflexes to zip around at two hundred and fifty miles per hour even without bringing a third dimension into the equation."
"That's fair," she consented. "Even you cheat when you're doing that," she pointed out.
"Like a trust fund baby on a college exam," I confirmed. "But I can only directly pass so much of that cheating on to you. At least quickly. A lot of it is skill. Just skill I picked up with various performance enhancers," I warned her.
"Thinkers are bullshit," she snorted. "Well that's fun. Where's other me and the rest?"
"Getting ready for our date," I said. "Speaking of which. I need dress ideas from you. Not literally a dress unless you're feeling fancy by the way. Fugly bobs, magic lessons, and Alisa will likely try to press for an Orgy, since she already tried to spark one off without you."
"She did!?" Elisa, the native Lisa, asked in raw surprise, before mentally recalculating, frowning, then outright scowling, "That bitch."
"She probably knew I was going to shoot it down. Or was banking on Kara doing it," I elaborated. Which would have been exactly the sort of miscalculation Lisa was known for making. There was a reason, despite her protests, she often did better work in the field. Her power was a lot more effective with 'live data', and as a result she often missed things in the planning phase.
Case in point, Lisa seemed rather unsure of my tactical appraisal. "Yeah, I'm sure she did…" she frowned. "To be honest… I'm not sure if I'm up for an Orgy. I kinda expected you to push for a 'Tattletale sandwich'... Which you're now thinking about," she said looking at me in a flat annoyed tone.
I shrugged. "I mean… yeah?"
She rolled her eyes. "Still that's…" she frowned. "Was she expecting to be shot down? Why would she- mmmm." she frowned.
"The Date is happening," I clarified. "Now that you're here we're going to hunt down A2 as well. Then I'm playing tailor. Probably a few more introductions, then awkwardness, food and magic, mostly of the literal kind."
She considered it for a moment, then nodded, "Sure, you know what? Sounds fun. Sides, some of these upgrades you've handed out probably need the added protein."
"Couldn't hurt," I agreed, glad that things had actually gone pretty smoothly with this Lisa.
"Also for the dress," she said. "Let's go with a deep green, try to match the eyes… And I'll let you decide exactly how much cleavage it shows," she teased, leaning forward.
Gah- this… ugh, I was not ready to get back into the dating scene.
Part 4
With both Lisas, Kara, and Penny secured, and my workshop now ready to work in, all that was left was tracking down A2 and actually implementing plan 'Date Night'.
That went…. Well finding A2 was easy enough, the issue was.
"What do you mean by 'a dinner date'?" the former YoRHa Android asked. "You mean we schedule when we're having dinner here? Don't bother, all I need is water."
Apparently, A2 didn't know what a date was, outside of 'a date on the calendar'.
"Oh! Don't worry, I can explain!" Penny said enthusiastically. "A 'date', is a sort of social scouting operation between potential romantic partners, where they engage in a number of traditional recreational activities, while familiarizing themselves with each other to gauge their suitability for long term partnership!"
I'd be impressed she managed that all in one breath, but I suspected she just might be cheating. Instead I chose to be impressed by just how suitable a description that was, given A2's cultural background.
Case in point, the Android showed no sign of confusion. She did however show notable signs of dismissal and annoyance, "Why bother? We're stuck together already right? If you want to fuck, we can just fuck."
"Thank you," Both Lisas chimed in, in synch, shooting each other a glare at that, before likewise both choosing to drop it.
I still wasn't sure if I found that scary or weirdly hot. Or weirdly hot because it was kind of scary.
Penny gave a look similar to a kicked puppy, "It's supposed to be fun…"
"There are benefits," I spoke up immediately. "It's a good chance to get to know one another. Communicate personal goals, likes, dislikes, set boundaries, even just get used to one another. None of us really know one another. Even I don't actually know that much about all of you. Not really, and I'm blatantly cheating."
A2 considered it for a moment, "Fine. If you think it's important. I'm not promising I'm going to stick around if I think it's pointless though."
Penny let out a rather enthusiastic squee at that. "Ooooh! We need to find her a dress?"
"Dress?" A2 asked, sounding even less enthused. "What kind of dress?"
"A dress isn't strictly necessary," I elaborated. "Civi's however, are."
"And what the fuck are Civis?" A2 asked further, progressively more annoyed at having her ignorance of what was effectively an entirely alien culture shoved in her face.
"It's short for civilians, or in this case, civilian clothing. Non-combatants," I explained quickly to make up for my confusing statement. "Basically. You need to wear something that'll blend in with the locals, so we don't draw too much attention."
One of the Lisa's snorted, "Good luck with that."
A2 nearly growled at this point, "And what the fuck is that supposed to mean!?"
"Oh relax," said the other Lisa with an eyeroll. Elisa, the local one specifically, I noted. "You're a ten out of ten with bright white hair down to your hips, and the sort of perpetual scowl that'll make an alarming amount of people think 'step on me'. Yep. That's the one," she replied.
"Oh forget this," The YoRHa android replied, brushing past everyone as she stomped off back into the base.
"I can get her," Kara offered once more.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "I've barely spoken five words with A2 since she woke up here. I owe her explanations for a lot more than just this."
"You sure, Boss?" Elisa asked dryly. "You've already got a lot of stuff on your plate."
"Is… the date canceled as well now?" Penny asked, looking alarmed and already subconsciously bracing for emotional impact.
"No, that's still on. Don't worry," I assured her, flashing a smile. "Don't forget, unlike most people I can actually make myself more time when I need it. You just focus on picking out what sort of dress you want. Remember, casual not formal, and if you can, try and find some way to show me a picture or something of it that I can use as a template. I'm not a mindreader," Yet.
Penny beamed, "Can do!"
With a last glance to the others confirming there were no other protests, I blurred into the near still world of Haste once more.
And it was a Good thing I did, A2 had been making ground at speed. I caught up to her in the stairwell, down the hall past one of the meeting rooms, down to what was presumably whatever sunroom she'd been looking through earlier.
She was in the middle of dropping right down the middle of the empty space between, having bypassed the stairs entirely, because of course she did. Even excluding video game logic, she was more than strong enough to make a jump like that, had inertia control systems to make sure she could land without risking damage to herself or the facility… it was faster to just drop. At least for 'short' distances like this.
Thankfully because of how Haste interacted with the world, I could easily catch up by simply dropping faster, even if I needed to slow down with Featherfall to match the landing.
She noticed, and even as she landed and I began to dial back up to reasonable relative speeds, she was scowling, "What do you want!? Is this 'Date' thing now an order?" she asked.
"It's not, you don't have to go," I said. "But I do want to talk," I said assertively.
Being confrontational like this wasn't really my nature. Normally, if someone wanted space, I was happy to give it to them. But some people… Some people would only accept a helping hand, after it had already reached out and grabbed theirs, regardless of them shying away. Even if doing so normally would hurt a lot more than it helped.
The tricky part was knowing who they were, and just when you had to do that. Even with my 'cheat sheet' of meta knowledge, I wasn't entirely sure which end of the coin this would land.
"Haven't we had enough talking for today?" she snapped at me, pushing past to keep walking, though thankfully walking, not sprinting at post olympic speeds.
"No," I replied, following in step. "Not nearly enough. Not before I sent you out on a job. Or asked you to dive head first into this weird, backwards, human filled world," I said.
She snorted, still clearly pissed, though it got her to start shifting tracks on why she was pissed at least, "I'm not some delicate flower!"
"No, you did great," I admitted. "But it was still a dick thing for me to ask. And I'm sorry I had to do that."
"You're sorry?" she asked, pausing to turn to face me, seemingly flabbergasted I had the gaul to even say that.
"I am," I said, stopping beside her "And that's not hollow words. I don't want to ask a big favor, bring you into a big weird fucking confusing mess, then ask you for another one. So instead… How about we touch base?" I asked her.
"...What?" she asked, and finally, I seemed to have shorted out her rage with enough confusion.
"You've got questions right?" I asked her. "I do too. You probably know that I know your story, but like I said, I don't know the details. I don't even know most of it. I know there was a mess in Pearl Harbor where YoRHa betrayed you-."
Her fingers clenched hard enough to pop her knuckles.
"-But I don't know what happened there. I only know a bunch of general maybes around the end. The end of YoRHa, the machine's huge launch platform and Ark, 2B, 9S. The Machine village and what was done to it. I don't even know what happened with Pascal." That was the downside of 'video game' verse, lots of possibilities, few 'definites', particularly ones with multiple ends.
"So you basically don't know anything," she said, and now… now her tone was a lot less angry. Annoyed, yeah, still a little bit angry, but now… less, maybe even a bit sympathetic, or at least whimsical.
But only a bit. And I knew that bit would vanish with a single wrong word. "I know some," I said. "I knew you were the sort of person I could count on to help me with my mission. Help me save this world."
"Save the speech," she scowled, then started walking again. "I'm already in this thing. I'm not going to let a fucking world die," she added in a softer, but clearly annoyed tone.
"Okay, then," I said. "How about instead I say something else?" I asked, following again.
She shot me a glare, then looked ahead, not rising to the bait.
"What, no questions?" I asked her. "Fine. Okay about one last thing then… You want the chance to punch me directly in the face for dragging you into this mess?" I asked her. "In a way that won't kill me that is."
She stopped, and turned to face me. "What?"
"Spar with me," I asked her.
"You're human," she said.
"And what. That makes you wanna punch me less?" I asked her, dubious about that. A2 had the same personality template as 2B… and even 2B, who was younger, seemingly less bitter, and jaded, had mused about how much she'd love to take a shot at the creators who had 'abandoned' them.
"I… It means you're squishy you idiot," she started, to say something, before chickening out to basic tsundere defense.
"I've thrown down with beings that can cross football fields in a blink and out punch freight trains," I argued. "I'll be fine. This is about you."
"What about me!?" she asked defensively.
"Exactly," I said. "A2… You're not scaring me off. I wanted you here. I want you," I said directly, stepping forward.
She took a half step back, surprised by the aggression. "What? To play house, or do a 'date' or whatever with the others? Like I said, if you want to fuck just-."
"Yes, to play house," I said.
That wasn't what she expected. "What?" she asked.
"I want you to 'play house'," I said. "To fight, and help sure, but also… to… I'm doing a shit job explaining this. I probably shouldn't even be saying this outright. A2," I said to her. "The default recruitment offer to me was to get 2B. She's a popular option. Beautiful, capable, obedient," I listed off. "You're just as beautiful, even more capable, but you are not obedient."
"And you wanted that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because you never gave up," I said. "Your world, your understanding of life, shattered again and again. Your purpose was ripped from you repeatedly… and you kept going," I said. "Moreover. Regardless of how bitter you seem, how foul you talk. You never stopped caring either. And that's what I want."
"You want me to… care?" she asked, looking at me like I was insane. "I don't know what story you read, but you've got it completely wrong-."
"You're not the only one whose world ended," I interjected. "And I'm not wrong. Even with the uncertainties, I can list a dozen or more ways you showed just how much you do care. Even when it hurts."
A myriad of feelings crossed her face before she defaulted with the one that made most sense, which was, of course, anger. "It's not a fucking good thing!"
"Maybe…. But it's something I find respectable," I said. "It's… strength. The kind of strength I envy," I admitted to her, looking away myself. "So… did you want to spar or not?" I asked her.
For a moment she kept walking silently, as I continued to follow in step, until…
"When and where?" she asked. "Also, you better be ready to deliver on that."