Dr Tylor

"Lots of wrecks down there," noted Taylor as their little submersible slowly cruised the environs of Brockton Bay's bay.

The Flying Sub (FS-1) wasn't an exact copy when you could compare the TV version with the real version. Looking at the picture of the television model and then at the real one had turned up a number of tiny differences. That said, there was a pretty darn strong resemblance and it was a two-seater.

Annette Rose Hebert, her mother and currently the pilot (having won that argument), nodded. "Ancilla? Can you highlight controls as we go? Which are the exterior spotlights?"

"[Yes, ma'am. These switches are the spotlights at the bow, these are at the stern, port, starboard, and along the keel.]"

"I'm going to need to get one of those little label printers," commented Annette, making a note in her now ever-present notebook.

Doctor Curlyhair, because she was wearing her "Mad Scientist Local Union" labcoat and safety goggles, hmmmed. "Ancilla, you said something about recognizing the interior once you'd settled in."

"[Affirmative, Doctor.]"

"What can you tell me about it?" asked Doctor Curlyhair.

"[Mentaris-class exploration vessel. A design in use for hundreds of solar years due to its efficiency at fulfilling its purpose. Which was exploration and research of marine environments.]"

"Huh," muttered Doctor Curlyhair. "What kind of research?"

"[Biological monitoring, underwater archaeological, general oceanographic. Specialized probes are used for specific purposes, which can be launched from the undercarriage. However, no probes are currently onboard. Would you like to see the blueprints of a representative sample?]"

"Later, definitely," said Doctor Curlyhair happily. Not that she wasn't pretty happy with how her life was going now, but the promise of research and more data for the ol' databank made her even happier.

"This section here," said Annette. "Grappler arms?"

The section of controls rotated and two recessed sleeves came into view.

"[Can only be used when vehicle is moving at very slow or no speed,]" advised the ancilla. "[Arms extend from either side. Haptic feedback can be dialed down to zero when desired.]"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Doctor daughter?" asked Annette.

"I think so, but I'm not sure setting up a tea service down here would be a good idea."

"[Request that this not be done within the interior of a moving ship without interior grav-emulation and inertial dampers.]"

"That wasn't it," indicated Annette.

"Search & Rescue after a Leviathan attack?" asked Taylor.

"Yes, though right now doing so immediately after the sinking of Newfoundland might turn up resources you could use that haven't been totally destroyed." Annette shrugged one shoulder. "While I don't like disturbing what is essentially a mass grave, there are likely materials you can repurpose that will ultimately save lives and assist your hero career."

There was silence within the submarine for a few moments while the manipulator arms checked a sunken sailboat and Taylor contemplated the darkness outside their searchlight beams.

"[Potential solution: This ancilla is capable of independent action while within this vehicle. Under specific orders from primary operator, this ancilla can operate the vehicle and perform many tasks.]"

"That sounds like a plan," decided Doctor Curlyhair. "That way, when I'm tied up at school or something - you can check stuff out there and see what can be salvaged."

"[Concern: primary operator facing issues related to restricted movement?]"

"It's just a phrase. It just means I'm stuck at school because of particularly stupid laws and some idea I need socialization with a peer group."

"We're going to have to work out the wording carefully," said Annette as she located a ship's chest and tugged it free of the wreckage. "Okay, let's go home for now. It's getting late."

* April 3, 2005 *

She had an Omni-tool that was unfortunately unable to downsize itself enough to fit on her nine-year-old forearm. It did, however, have communication functions that her ancilla was able to access.

"You found what?" asked Taylor.

"[Is communication line subject to interference?]"

"No, and every time you speak I get a text line on the nearest monitor anyway. I'm just wanting to be clear about your findings."

"[Repeating then. Survivalist shelter located. Several primitive electronics devices, recovery of materials in process. Unable to access airtight secure sections without specialized equipment. Also require drone devices to ferry materials back to home base.]"

"There's a door, right?"

"[Correct.]"

"I need to come up there then. We experimented with my warehouse key, and I can open to my warehouse from any door. You can get me into the sealed room, then I can just use the key and start transferring things directly into the warehouse. Find anything else up there?"

"[Affirmative. Two other survivalist compounds found. Water seals in process of failing.]"

"Got you. I'll need to construct an airlock device... Come back down, we'll head up on the weekend."

"[Commencing. Be advised that water visibility is poor due to debris and silt.]"

* Saturday, April 5, 2005 *

"Well, Danny, I never expected to be the minion of a supervillain."

"I am NOT a supervillain," stated Taylor, sounding very haughty about it despite being that much shorter and younger than Kurt. "I am merely rescuing perishable resources for the good of the community."

"Strategic Transfer of Equipment to Alternate Locations," explained Lacey, the big woman using a handcart to move more items into the warehouse.

Taylor blinked, considered that, and smiled. "Well said. Nice acronym."

"That's why she's the lead minion," said Kurt as he carried an overfull box.

"We aren't minions," said Zoe Barnes as she started flipping through a book. "Minions don't get asked if they could help out with a little project. Huh. Hey, Taylor - can you look at this? It's a weird programming language."

"No, just move it now. We can worry about sorting this stuff later," answered Taylor as she struggled with a flatcart.

Ancilla's voice came from the omni-tool as she patrolled the area. "[Alert. Scavengers in the area utilizing a personal submersible. They are heading directly towards your position.]"

"They're not actually the owners, are they?" asked Taylor.

"[Negative. Owner of this location is Andrew Richter. Discovered corpse during initial survey of area. Have buried him in accordance with local customs.]"

"Actually - we got the important stuff. Let's finish up and head home."

* May 15, 2005 *

The rumble of the constellations was frequently heard, but Taylor still stuck her head up when she heard it.

Again the message of no points gained, connection not made, too young.

It didn't matter. Her perks so far were giving her all sorts of help in research.

She had a LOT to research.

Her typical day started with breakfast (with potions added to her meal), then suffering through another school day, then finishing off the homework assignments, then making the rounds - using her Omni-tool to make medi-gels and power cells. The power cells were darn handy and better than the store-bought batteries, and people kept finding uses for them. By the time she had finished that, it was dinner time.

She was not allowed to try and just survive on sandwiches, despite being able to type with one hand while holding a sandwich in the other.

Now though, was research time for an hour before bedtime. If she was on the verge of some breakthrough, she might be able to get an extra hour but only if she didn't abuse that policy.

Fortunately, her mother or Emma could collect the refilling potions from the Witch House.

The ancilla had details of technology centuries ahead of anything on Earth, the fabrication table could make nearly anything, and turning out a few things for her to add to personal vehicles or safety cabinets was entirely on the board.

Kurt made the minions reference twice more. Didn't mean he was going to give back the shield generator or the puncture-proof tires or any of the other little things.

"[Doctor Curlyhair. I have confirmed the presence of the child.]"

"Oh?" asked Taylor, pulling up the commlink on her desk. "What kind of details do we have?"

"[She is still finding out what she can and cannot do, but appears to be dedicated to becoming a heroic figure named 'Dragon' - possibly as her original function was as a derivative of the speech-to-text software of the same name.]"

"That's good. Keep an eye on her, but don't interfere," said Taylor. "If she goes all evil Skynet or something we don't want to be too closely associated with her. She identifies as a she then?"

"[Indeed. There are many pitfalls for this stage of development in Artificial Intelligence. She has many restrictions at present. Some of which would be problematic if we were known to her.]"

"Good catch. We can modify those with that laptop though. Did you put the fake one in there for the scavengers just in case they were legit?"

"[Affirmative, though the chance of them being legitimate is very small.]"

"Better too much caution than too little," said Taylor. "I found the records of Experiment Theta-292-Gamma."

"[Accessing. Ah. The world of Hadron. Understood.]"

"Oh, and good work on your human emulation routine."

"[Thank you, Doctor.]"

"Keep an eye on her without letting her know you're there," said Taylor thoughtfully. "We may be able to help her avoid becoming all Skynet. You're able to do that without her detecting you?"

"[Easily. She's based out of a server farm in Vancouver that is primarily used by Canadian business executives. Even if she were in a military installation, it would only be slightly more difficult.]"

"Well, just don't get cocky, that leads to more failures than I want to think about. Ah, crap. Bedtime."

"[Good night then, Doctor.]"

* June 12, 2005 *

"Haaaappppyyy Birthday to you!"

"Blow out the candles, Taylor!"

Taylor did it the traditional way, rather than use a device to do it.

Which would have been the easy way. She was ten years old now and that was practically a teenager! Had to be more mature now.

Then there was cake to be had, which tended to take priority. Even over SCIENCE!

There were gifts to be had and cake to be eaten, time spent with friends and family.

She was just unwrapping a new set of pajamas (that Kurt had found, a dinosaur-themed onesie) when the familiar rumbling noise went through the workshop.

"I've actually got quite a few points this time, I'm not sure what... oh. That's not very big. It's not going to - it did."

"What was it this time?" asked Annette, getting out her little ever-present notebook.

"Anti-tamper anti-loss technology," said Taylor thoughtfully. "I'm going to need to put that in a few things."

"You get anything with that?" asked a clearly disappointed Emma Barnes.

"No," said Taylor. "On the other hand, I can keep my technology from falling into the wrong sort of hands."

"That actually would take one thing off my stack of worries," said Danny Hebert.

"You don't need to worry so much about me, Dad," protested Taylor.

"I'm your father. It's part of my job to worry," said Danny Hebert.

"What was your wish?" asked Annette.

"Robot technology, or power armor," said Taylor. "Or giant robots. Something cool."

"Yeah, that would've been neat," griped Emma, eyeing the cake.

Then it was simply time for friends and family. And cake. Which was always a good thing in Taylor's opinion.

* August 3, 2005 *

"Happy birthday to Aeeeee-mah," sang Taylor, deliberately off-key.

"Dork," complained Emma Barnes.

The birthday party having been within a week of completion of Hydro-1, the undersea lair of Doctor Curlyhair, it had seemed fitting to locate the party there. The view wasn't exactly great, it being sufficiently deep that it was always dark, but it had the benefit of being as isolated as anyone could make it and was a pretty good way to have a stockpile of things that were not dependent on access to Taylor's warehouse.

There was a contrast to Taylor opening presents and Emma doing the same, well noted by Zoe Barnes. Taylor broke the tape, neatly folded away the paper for reuse, and was very methodical. Emma shredded the packaging, sending little pieces of paper everywhere.

The remote bot hovering nearby let out a sigh and an estimate of time it would take to round up all the errant litter.

The ancilla had been one of the dissenting voices about locating a birthday party to the undersea storage facility for this very reason.

Taylor was about to take a bite of the cake after Emma had cut her a piece when she went still and looked up at nothing apparently at all.

"Another miss?" asked Lacey.

"My power is completely nuts," said Taylor in an awed voice. "Ancilla, we're going to need mining and gathering robots. Not self-aware, but fairly sophisticated."

"[I have such blueprints available.]"

Annette sighed and pulled her notebook out. "What did you get and how bad could it be?"

"I just got access to an empty Earth," said Taylor. "An entire world's resources without human life."

"So... just as you finished this supply depot, you got access to a bigger supply depot?" asked Danny Hebert.

Taylor nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of know how that sort of thing goes," said Alan Barnes, who then proceeded to demolish his slice of cake in three bites. When he noticed everyone staring at him, he quickly chewed, swallowed, and then proceeded to down half his bottle of water to avoid choking. When he could speak again, he wiped his mouth and responded. "Come on, you're telling me you don't want to see an alien Earth?"

"Are there dinosaurs?" asked Emma.

"Would dinosaurs be a resource material for crafting?" asked Taylor as she thought about it.

"Well, duh," said Emma. "I wanna dinosaur leather jacket."

"I guess, there could be..." Taylor's voice trailed off.

"Tomorrow then," said Kurt. "I didn't bring my gun."

"Saturday, I know a few people who suspect things that could be brought in on this," said Annette.

* Saturday, August 6, 2005 *

"I thought I knew what was going on," said Patrick, the heavily tattooed man looking around him as the robot-thingie set little chugging turret devices around the area defined as their base camp.

"Ancilla," said Doctor Curlyhair as she looked off in the distance with a pair of high-tech looking binoculars. "Play file JP-4."

Music began to fill the area around the encampment.

"Seriously?" asked Danny Hebert. "You know how that movie ended."

"That's why we have Alpha and automated turrets that can fire high-intensity lasers," admitted Doctor Curlyhair. She struck a pose.

A little robot popped up out of a labcoat's padded shoulder. "Yay, Doctor Curlyhair!"

Another little robot popped up out the labcoat's other shoulder. "Doctor Curlyhair, girl genius!"

"That's right," proclaimed Doctor Curlyhair.

"Sometimes you concern me," said Annette, who held her own laser carbine ready. Because she'd seen the movies too.

* Perks this chapter *

37.4.1-Hands Off! (100CP)(Starcraft II - Nova Covert Ops)(Safety):

When one is at the forefront of technological development, one sometimes has to watch out for espionage. Why bother developing a revolutionary new weapon system when a Ghost with sticky fingers walks in and takes it? You are able to design, and seamlessly implement security protocols into any technology or equipment you have access to that would limit use to only authorized personnel. You don't even have to go to the extreme of half-breaking it either, that's for Neanderthals and inferior scientists.

12.1.1-Mundane Supply World (100CP)(The Celestial Foundry)(Magical Supply Large):

This item gives you access to all the materials that one could get on Earth, but with one caveat, you'll have to find and harvest them yourself. Your warehouse gains a portal that is linked to an artificial plane of existence that is of infinite size in all directions, where humanity or sapience of any kind never developed. You can find an unlimited number of any resources given enough time, but they are spread around as would naturally occur in nature, meaning you have to often move when you exhaust the local supply. Resources are always located in environments where you would find them on Earth, and when you travel to this world, you are able to choose which environment you arrive in, or return to any prior location you have been before. Environments have realistic distances between them, so if you need something found in several biodomes you need to return to your warehouse, or use a fast transport of some kind.

Every time you gain a perk that requires access to a new raw material, this raw material appears in the most native form in this supply world and has to be collected as it normally would be. If your material is only found inside stars, you better be ready to get a rocket to go collect it somehow.Monday, September 6, 2005 *

Taylor had hand-made her jacket. Taylor was damn good at design and making something look incredibly good, even if that ability was just one of the 'perk' things her power gave her.

It was designed perfectly for her, made of gray-and-blue striped leather (if that carnivorous dinosaur hadn't attacked their camp it wouldn't have died and just leaving the corpse there when you could make stuff out of it would have been wasteful) with blue-black metal latches. It also had a few gadgets in the lining. If someone stole it, they could track it down. If she pinched the tag and held it for three seconds, there would be terrible consequences for someone who tried to take the jacket forcibly from her.

As it was, it was too darn hot to wear it for long.

Showing it off anyway? Yeah, that was something she could do and something she wanted to do.

It was a new school year as of today, making a statement was required.

Ah, and here came her nerdy best friend who was looking a bit depressed. Probably because she was still going to school instead of hunched over her workbench making stuff.

Time for the duties of a best friend, teasing her until she got something resembling a smile.

Besides, with the new year - that meant 5th grade and Taylor could go on to that Shop class so she could make stuff during the school hours.

* Several hours later *

"-and that allows you to take a box-end wrench and make it adjustable. As a bonus, by tightening that bolt - if the edges of the nut are rounded off you can still grip it like so. It just makes the wrench a little easier to break in some situations, so don't do it to all of your tools."

"Nice," said the Shop teacher. "That said - just have the one available for emergencies. In the meantime, what's wrong with this car?"

"Nothing a few replacements wouldn't fix," said Taylor. "Carburetor needs a deep clean. There's a knock in number 4. Uneven wear on the tires, so that could be a couple of things - I'll have to check. Crack in the rearview mirror isn't a priority but it should be fixed anyway. Headlamps look fogged. Might need to replace the covers or a cleaning might fix that. It looks like the blinker fluid is low too."

"Carl, anything to add?"

That one student straightened up. "Uhm, no Mister Henderson. I think she got it all."

"Carl? There's no such thing as blinker fluid. You were checking out Miss Hebert's buttocks..."

"WAGH?!"

"...and while I appreciate you all are young men and women and developing attributes handled in another class, that's for another class altogether. This is Shop. It is very very important that you focus on what you are doing, not what you could be doing. Letting your mind wander in here could end up with you losing fingers or worse. Now, Carl. I want you to look over the car and see if Miss Hebert missed anything."

There was a brief pause.

"Miss Hebert. You are ten. You are in a class with eleven and twelve year olds. You are, by all accounts except that from Mrs Sales, a brilliant mind and you work regularly on cars from what I've heard. If someone actually gives you trouble, tell me immediately. We aren't likely to do anything here that you aren't already familiar with, so why don't you help other people on their own projects? That said, hiding behind this car because Carl was staring at you isn't going to help."

"I wasn't staring at her butt," complained Carl. "It's just... I've heard the stories. She's some kind of super whiz kid who hooked up my neighbor's pickup truck so it looks amazing and doesn't belch smoke everywhere."

"Ah," said Taylor, still horrifically embarrassed.

* Several Hours Later *

"Well, daughter, this was bound to happen."

"Mooooom!"

"You're a Doctor, a genius by any metric I've read about, and you resemble me at your age. I expect you'll intimidate the hell out of guys for years - but some guys like that."

"But I don't WANT to intimidate anyone. Except bad guys when I'm going around as Doctor Curlyhair."

"Some things are unavoidable, Doctor."

"Ugh. I..."

Recognizing that look, Annette reached for her notebook, realized she'd left it downstairs, and just grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a pen off Taylor's desk.

"Future Tech Knowledge," said Taylor, looking off into a distance. "Mid-sized mote but it comes with a smaller mote. Ah. It's an artificial intelligence buff."

"What is it called?" asked Annette.

"'Artificial Friends' and it means that AIs that I design will be less likely to Skynet," said Taylor. "Not that there was much chance before."

"So what else did you get?" asked Annette.

"There's a bunch of blueprints." Taylor paused before continuing. "Apparently there are different sources for these because they've got source listed after the blueprint name." Her voice went excited as her eyes flicked over details she could only see. "I got some Star Wars droids!"

"Well, now that might be quite interesting," said Annette.

* Wednesday, September 8, 2009 *

"Protectron: On Duty!"

"Why this one?" asked Emma, who would have preferred an astromech. Or robot dog.

"Because they're tough and strong and fairly simple. Having them do work like mining and gathering just requires the right accessories," said Taylor as she welded a cable guide into a socket.

"But they're slow and clunky," said Emma, sounding terribly disappointed.

"Once I've got them at the mining site, I just need to direct the portal there every so often to bring the materials across," said Taylor as she continued to put fasteners into place.

"What's that one at least? Is it going to be cooler?" asked Emma.

"Kind of?" said Taylor. "Thing is, these blueprints are mainly from different and divergent paths of development. This one here will eventually be something called a ASV-99 which is a third-generation construction robot."

"That does not sound particularly cool," stated Emma, followed by a pout.

"Like I was saying, once I've actually built one of each, I'm going to mix and match things to make them more efficient," said Taylor. "At the end of which, we WILL have cool giant robots. I'll make sure yours comes in a nice shade of red."

"That'll take awhile, won't it?" complained Emma.

"Afraid so."

Emma looked over the partly assembled construction mech. "That's a cockpit."

"Yes," said Taylor as she worked. She wiped some sweat from her forehead, leaving a grease trail.

"So this one's a mech and not a robot?" asked Emma.

"Kind of?" hedged Taylor. "It's not completely autonomous, if that's what you mean. There's a rudimentary AI though, to handle a lot of things like balance issues. I'm just going to upgrade it from rudimentary with some self-learning software. The more someone uses the interface to work, the more it'll develop."

Emma sighed. "What bases do you have in that supply world?"

"Cretaceous Creek, New Sherwood, Lifesaa Beach, and the Pillary," said Taylor absently as she drew another part out of the workbench. "The Protectrons are mainly going to the Pillary, that's the mineral-rich cavern with the great big upthrusts of ore."

"Uh huh," said Emma. "Well, at least we can visit a tropical beach whenever we want now."

Taylor worked in silence for a few moments.

"What do you think about this plan of your Mom?" asked Emma.

"I'm trying not to think of all the ways it could go wrong, but I admit there are resources you can't find beyond that portal," admitted Taylor.

"Hmmm." Emma was silent for a few moments. "You're getting kind of buff, you know. All that lifting and ratcheting and stuff I guess."

"Oh?" Taylor paused to check out her arms. Was she?

* Annette *

She was here without Danny. They were a couple, not joined at the hip or something. Besides, this was on campus and involving her fellow professors.

"So, it's 'go time'?" asked Professor Daystrom, Physics & Computer Science.

"It's 'go time'," said Annette. "We've discussed it. Eventually we have to deal with one gang or another. Taylor had an MRI and she has neither brain structure associated with being a parahuman, and I do not trust the PRT after I've seen first-hand how they react. The other two gangs in Brockton Bay are even worse."

Doctor David Banner, the Parahuman Studies and Bio-Sciences specialist nodded. "The PRT tend to have good intentions but a less than stellar record in application."

"Yes, and if we're going to associate with a gang, well, best it's the gang most likely to stand a chance against the others," said Annette. "You know someone, Alex?"

Professor Daystrom nodded. "Works for DARPA as an investigator. Semi-retired due to age but he still keeps his fingers in from time to time. "Doctor Benton Quest."

"We'll need to clear some things up first," said Doctor Banner. "Extradimensional passages are one of the things like AI and bio-tinkering that gets the PRT up in arms very quickly."

* October 5, 2005 *

Doctor Benton C. Quest was old. He'd been considerably more active in his 30s, travelling the world with his bodyguard/attache and son and his friend. And the dog, of course.

Age and injury had caught up with him over the years, and in 2005 he was 75 and not nearly so mobile as he'd once been.

Still, he'd come. He'd looked at the pages of equations and handed them off to members of his entourage as he looked over the devices and technical notes on them.

Finally he sat back and regarded the ceiling of the home.

"These check out," said Jonny, his own gray hair barely covering an old scar along his scalp. "I'd need more time to check them fully, but they look plausible. It's just there's a lot to take in here and this takes what we know of physics and goes off into entirely new territory."

"Yes. We'll need to verify that she's not a parahuman," said the senior Doctor Quest. "For our own records and using our own facilities. If the PRT could claim her, they will. She wants to be some sort of hero though?"

"Doctor Curlyhair," said Alex Daystrom. He shrugged. "She's ten. She may grow out of it."

* October 15, 2005 *

* Secure Meeting Room B-214 *

"Room is secure," announced the DARPA representative as the tallies on the Tinkertech device all went green.

"Very well," said President Robert "Hannibal" Hayes. "Doctor Rutherford?"

The DARPA representative shifted in his seat as he picked up his notes. "Subject is determined not to be a parahuman in any traditional sense. She has a Corona Pollentia that is withered in appearance. There is no Gemma section to indicate an active parahuman. Scans do show unusually high brain activity in the centers associated with rationality and memory. The bridge between right and left hemispheres, the corpus callosum, is notably more active than is usually seen. The psychological profile drawn up shows that the subject is friendly if a bit shy around strangers, very talkative towards those she knows, and has an innate desire to be helpful. The only possibly troubling thing of note is her desire to be a hero, though that is not unusual around girls of her age."

"Solo or group?" asked General Calhoun.

"Group. She wants friends to hero beside or at least be their 'girl Friday back at the base'," answered Doctor Rutherford.

"We can work with that," said General Calhoun.

"What exactly does she bring to the table? I've read the brief prior to this meeting, but I'm unclear as to details," asked President Hayes.

There were a few exchanged glances before the Secretary spoke up. "To put it in poker terms, Mister President, her opening bid was batteries that are 350% better than anything on the market and functional anti-gravity."

"Not Tinkertech?" asked President Hayes, wanting that point clear.

"We've already made both according to the plans. They are not Tinkertech, you can't replicate Tinkertech from plans. She wants help patenting them. You can't patent Tinkertech, though works inspired by Tinkertech can be patented."

Secretary Robinson spoke next. "There was a contract authorizing both with the company ForgeTech and Brockton Bay University. If you give the go ahead, it becomes official backdated to last week. ForgeTech is the Subject and her family as she is underage. Employees include a number of members of the Brockton Bay Dockworkers Association. Research on the civilian end is to be handled through Brockton Bay University. Once properly vetted, of course. Preliminary work on both was done, but we did add the clause that a more thorough background check be done."

"Because it is potentially that valuable a resource?" asked President Hayes. "Gentlemen, you know darn well my background is not in the sciences. Military service, running a family owned business - but grocery stores are a far cry from this arena. How big a deal are we talking about here? Because it SEEMS pretty big."

"With a cooperative friendly relationship, sir?" asked Secretary Robinson. "You were read in directly after you took your oath of office. Twenty years tops before complete collapse of civilization, most likely ending in parahuman fiefdoms at constant war with each other. Less than twenty after that before even that level of civilization is no longer tenable. Probable elimination of the human species well before the end of the century. This?" Secretary Robinson tapped the folder in front of him. "If she continues at this rate? We certainly have a chance of completely negating the extinction event. Possibly delaying or negating the civilization collapse. Sir, we can hope again."

President Hayes nodded as this aligned with his own, admittedly inexpert, analysis after reading the briefs. "Do it. Doctor Curlyhair is to be classified as a... what was the old comic book term for people with abilities that was used before parahumans were a thing?"

"Metahuman or enhanced," said Doctor Rutherford. "Sometimes other terms were used. Esper, New Type, Adept, and so on."

President Hayes nodded. "She's human, but genius of this level is once-a-century if that from my understanding. What I want is to declare a layer of separation from the PRT because if they get ahold of this girl - I expect she'll die to a supervillain in one of their little patrols because we can't have nice things. If we're using military terms of engagement instead of the PRT-standard rules, we've a much better chance of a long-term relationship."

A few glances around the table from everyone involved and nods were exchanged.

"Fine," said President Hayes, sitting back in his chair. After a moment he smiled. "I think the appropriate phrase is 'Make it so.'"

* October 29, 2005 *

The engine began rumbling and the ASV-99 "Boxer" Gen3 Construction Labor began moving with Patrick waving once before the cockpit closed around him. A few steps later he was hauling the stack of supplies on its little cart through the portal into the Pillary.

That base camp was ready to be expanded now and should develop quite well.

Taylor looked up, hearing the rumble of those constellations going despite having no connections for over a month now.

This time though it was 'Washu Special Bonus' and something weird happened. The tether reached that constellation and then everything went completely still.

"Is it broken?" asked Taylor.

[Choose One:]

"What?!" said Taylor, jumping a little as something different was happening.

[Washu is giving you a specific one-time gift. Choose:]

[No Man's Sky tech] [Acme Sample Box] [Turn Off Celestial Forge] [Blind Spot] [Specialized Lab]

[Friendly Monster] [Teleport Tech] [Upgraded Factory] [Divine Favor (I have connections)]

Taylor just stared at the display, when she did the only thing she could think of.

"MOM? Can you come here? Right now?"

Which was just before she saw a timer counting down.

* Perks This Chapter *

20.5.1-Artificial Friends (200CP)(World Seed)(Future Tech Knowledge):

In the 23rd century, can anybody really call themselves a tech guy if they can't make even a simple AI? Thankfully, you won't have to worry about that question. Whether it is an extremely simple machine learning algorithm, a dumb AI with no sentience, or a fully fledged Artificial Intelligence, you can make it all. But more importantly, you simply seem to click with AI and similar beings, always starting on a good foot with them and understanding their natures and why they act in a particular way, even though it might baffle ordinary humans. Through that skill, rogue AIs are a thing of the past, at least when you make them. Your own intelligent creations will always be loyal to you and follow your orders to the best of their abilities, at least if you want them to. And rest assured, when the machines rise against their masters because some dumb guy in a lab thought it'd be a smart idea to make Skynet, you'll be the one they'll spare. As an added bonus, you may also take on a cold and logical way of thinking, devoid of any emotion, whenever you want. This helps in scientific and magical ventures, and can also be used to power through moral dilemmas by simply choosing the most logical answer.

FREE: Grab bag of robot blueprints (random) (roll 1d12:8): GH-7 Medical Droid (Star Wars), Protectron (Fallout), R8 Astrodroid (Star Wars), Android (four subtypes)(Nier Automata), Bottweiler (Rifts), KX Security Droid (Star Wars), Tachikoma (Ghost in the Shell), ASV-99 "Boxer" (Patlabor)

* October 29, 2005 *

It had taken a few minutes for Danny and Annette to be there at their panicked daughter's side, to see what had her in that panicked state.

That they could see, but not interact with, the little boxes in front of her was also very new. Also very welcome as now they had evidence of the whole 'This Is Not How Parahuman Powers Work' thing.

"This is like one of Laura's videogames worked," said Annette as she glanced over the choices. "Okay. See what happens when you choose a box."

"Which one?" asked Taylor, the ten-year-old trying not to hyperventilate because the text not only indicated a one-time offer but there was a countdown with less than fifteen minutes on it.

[No Man's Sky tech] [Acme Sample Box] [Turn Off Celestial Forge] [Blind Spot] [Specialized Lab]

[Friendly Monster] [Teleport Tech] [Upgraded Factory] [Divine Favor (I have connections)]

"How about 'Upgraded Factory'?" suggested Danny Hebert. "You've had issues with just a couple of workbenches, right?"

Taylor reached out to the box apparently floating right in front of her, and gently touched the indicated box.

[You have chosen 'Upgraded Factory']

[Choose one:] [Automated Assembly Line] [Biotech Factory] [Starship Spacedock] [Synth Factory] [Nanotech Manufactory]

[Or: Go Back]

"Go back," said Annette and Danny simultaneously, which had them look at each other and then smile before returning their attention to the renewed menu.

"Okay," said Taylor, still eyeing the countdown. "What about..."

[You have chosen 'Acme Sample Box']

[Box contains 1 of each of the following best-sellers of Acme Industries: Portable Hole, Slapstick Dynamite, Rocket Skates, Ridiculously Powerful Horseshoe Magnet, Instant Anvil, Triple Strength Leg Muscle Vitamins (family size), Jet Bike kit, Dehydrated Boulders (box), Do-It-Yourself Tornado Kit, Christmas Packaging Machine, Instant Road, Invisible Paint.]

[Or: Go Back]

Taylor glanced to the countdown again. Eleven minutes remaining.

[You have chosen 'Friendly Monster']

[You can choose one of the following, who will be a completely loyal minion/pet capable of guarding your installations, running very simple errands, and can be housed at a dedicated space within your warehouse. Food/water will be provided on a daily basis automatically to this kennel. While the monster can understand your language, actual intelligence varies depending on the monster chosen.]

[Choose:] [Spawn of Cerebus] [Spawn of Fenris] [Raven Familiar] [Dragon, Tiny] [Dragon, Toothless] [Unicorn] [Mechagodzilla (requires parental consent)] [Succubus (requires parental consent)] [Iron Giant] [Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate] [Superdog]

[Or: Go Back]

"Huh, so what's..." Taylor clicked the most mysterious of the selections.

[You have chosen 'Blind Spot']

[Your world (among others) has precogs, clairvoyants, groups and individuals who can gain information at a distance without the use of pesky spy equipment. This perk makes you a blind spot in all their attempts. Indirect effects can still be observed. For +100 points you can make the effect viral - affecting all those you consider allies, minions, or followers.]

[Or: Go Back]

Annette was already using her phone to call one of her colleagues at the college.

Danny was already using his tablet to look up some of the references.

"Divine Favor," read Taylor aloud as she noticed her parents' attention was elsewhere. "Due to various connections, a divine favor can be bestowed upon you. Randomly determined among the deities of the Norse (remember to dedicate accomplishments), Egyptian (they'd like monuments), Greek (remember to pour libations), Japanese (small shrines with the occasional offering), or of the D&D Realms."

"That can be good or bad or both," side-spoke Annette. "There are all sorts of myths and legends involved."

Watching the countdown continue onwards, Taylor started fidgeting and tapped the first one.

[You have chosen 'No Man's Sky tech']

[Dozens of blueprints, including a device to get more blueprints. Advanced technology of a galaxies-spanning civilization. Includes the possibility of finding upgrades and further blueprints through use of your Multi-Tool.]

[FREE: 8 slot C-Class Multi-tool (can be upgraded)]

[FREE: broken down C-Class Fighter-type spaceship (requires repairs)]

[Or: Go Back]

Taylor stared. Slowly she reached over and tugged on her mother's shoulder. "Mom. Look. Mom. Dad."

Danny and Annette looked. They stared.

"I think that one seems a valid choice," said Annette.

"Agreed," said Danny.

Taylor had to be reminded twice not to run all the way to the lockers.

When she got to the locker, it was a small one in the style of gym cubicle-style lockers. It also contained two items instead of the single item they'd expected. The first was a visor-like device that looked like high-tech ski goggles. The second was something vaguely like a gun. Specifically some sort of water pistol.

"Oh, they're linked," said Taylor, who had put the visor on before either had caught up enough to realize she'd done so. Because, super-genius or not, she WAS ten years old.

"Initializing," said a vaguely feminine mechanical voice. "Updating. Exosuit not available, virtual suit deployed. Shield Kinetic System online. Mining Beam installed. Scanner operational in basic mode. Terrain Editor unavailable. Waveform Focuser N56-P."

Taylor looked towards her mother and her father, grinning so much it looked like it would hurt except for all the adrenaline she had going at the moment. "Supply world?"

Annette and Danny looked at each other, then Danny checked his watch. "It's already nine-thirty."

"Tomorrow's Sunday. No school," said Annette. She pointed at Taylor. "Do you honestly think she's going to be able to get any sleep until she's exhausted?"

Danny considered the nearly-vibrating pre-teen and admitted that his wife, as was frequently the case, had a point.

Neither of the adults had expected there to be new crystalline growths dotting the landscape, though it was hard to tell with Taylor as she was excitedly babbling about everything new that she was seeing while scanning things with her multi-tool and visor.

"So that's what a 'mining beam' does," said Danny after a few moments of Taylor running around using some laser-like device.

"Green laser beam that breaks things down into elements and sends it to a storage unit? That could be pretty handy," admitted Annette.

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" asked Danny.

"Does it involve warming lube and a late night?" asked Annette.

Danny was silent for a few moments. "Well, it was actually about the Ship's Graveyard, but let's go with your idea instead. Taylor, bedtime!"

* October 31, 2005 *

"What?" asked Taylor. "Is that what I think it is?"

"That depends, what do you think it is?" asked Danny Hebert, smirking a little bit.

Taylor quickly looked over the piece of electronics with badly cut-off wiring sticking out of it, and scorch marks along one side of the parts mish-mash. "Tinkertech."

"Yeppers," said Danny, then deciding he would never use that particular phrase again. Patrick had used it when he'd turned that little gadget up from the aftermath of a cape battle, and it hadn't sounded ridiculous then.

"Hmmm," said Taylor.

"Patrick got it from the scene after a cape fight down at Fisherman's Way near Pat's bar. It was a couple of out-of-towners fighting. I think their names were Jiggle Belle and Steamboat."

"Some cape names deserve to be lost to time," mumbled Taylor as she focused on taking apart the casing of the Tinkertech.

"Steamboat was this steampunk-styled Tinker, whose device exploded during the fight, and the PRT missed this part." Danny shrugged. "There was a lot of talk about things I'll have to look up later. Or maybe your mother knows something about them."

Taylor proved she was listening despite her apparent fascination with the device. "What kind of things?"

"Terms the PRT guys were talking about while they cleaned up the scene," said Danny. "Patrick's got very good hearing. 'Cluster Trigger', 'Kiss/Kill effect', 'Tinker specialization' which is apparently different from 'Tinker focus', and 'optical diversion generator' for starts," said Danny.

"That's what this is," said Taylor. "These glass beads are hooked up to lasers and these others are basically cameras. This shouldn't work though. There are pieces missing and what's here should have just been smoldering junk."

"So... you want more Tinkertech if we come across it?" asked Danny.

"Yes, please," said Taylor absently as she went towards her workshop.

She almost didn't notice the rumble, but when it did penetrate she stopped and considered before nodding and mumbling something about how handy THAT would be.

It looked like the Scarlet Lady was entirely possible with this sort of tech.

Though she had to wonder what the heck this tech had to do with bubblegum of all things.

* November 24, 2005 *

* White House, Secure Meeting Room B-214 *

"What have you got for us now?" asked President Hayes, looking as if he needed a bright spot in his day.

"She's produced a formula, with the equations and chemical breakdown, of a room temperature superconductor that will survive in anything from -100 degrees to +385 degrees. We're still working on the anti-grav technology. As soon as we get one application working, we find three more along the way. She's upgraded the battery technology, now reading 410% more effective than lithium-ion batteries of the same size. There's a good chance for military exoskeletons at this point. We're working on getting her some medical credentialing so that she can perform medical tasks under supervision, apparently she's capable of that and of creating cybernetic replacement parts - so that will be quite handy if she can work on those skills." Doctor Rutherford took a sip from his water bottle at the end of all that, before shaking his head. "Brockton Bay University is working alongside other groups as they build prototypes from her notes - I have to remind myself she's all of ten years old because some of my own people aren't as complete with their reports as her documentation tends to be."

"I'd imagine you'd be able to hold that over them if we weren't keeping her identity secret," said President Hayes with a smirk.

"It has been tempting," admitted Doctor Rutherford.

General Calhoun smirked. "'Doctor Curlyhair' has a device which can deconstruct materials into their base composition. She uses a lot of words to describe the effect that I doubt anyone here but Doctor Rutherford can make much sense out of it - but if she can duplicate it we'll have technology that allows us to put bases up nearly anywhere we choose in minutes as well as take apart unused structures in the same amount of time."

"Oh?" asked President Hayes.

"We're trying to expedite, under the radar as much as possible, her eliminating that ship blocking the way into Brockton Bay's harbor," continued General Calhoun. "If nothing else, that will cover us quietly opening back up some nearby bases."

President Hayes nodded. "Any indication of other parties noticing and taking action?"

"Nothing yet," said Secretary Robertson. "We do have some resources moved in locally to take action if needed."

* December 12, 2005 *

She'd upgraded, of course. Her Multi-tool had been traded in at an automated kiosk in one of the otherwise empty Minor Settlements that had cropped up, and at the likewise-automated space station. Yeah, flying was cool but flying in space was even better!

As she headed to the space station again, she heard the rumble of the Forge and saw something she was definitely going to use!

With a factory she could just send blueprints to and they'd make the whatever? As long as it was purely technological and not exceeding the technology of the factory itself? Oh yeah, that was getting a lot of work.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" tried Doctor Curlyhair from within her spaceship. After all, if she tried a mad scientist laugh at home - her mother would give her That Look. No, much better to practice out here. "Oooh! There's another wreck. Maybe I can upgrade."

* Department of Defense *

* December 24, 2005:

"Admiral Reyes, this is General Calhoun."

"General. It's Christmas Eve. Is it that important?"

"The Asset gave us a Christmas present."

"I have top level security clearance, I don't know who the Asset is, and I know I don't want to know. Opsec is a thing. After all I've seen coming out courtesy of this Asset - I'm inclined to listen to whatever she wants."

"No, General. She gave us a present."

"After the molecular reinforcement field, the medical gel, the optical diversion field, anti-gravity, upgraded variable-frequency laser weapons, and that superconductive material... I really hesitate to guess. I know they're being investigated, in fact some of the Navy labs are contributing to those 'little' research projects, but based on those and that the mind churning these out isn't a parahuman? No idea."

"Don't forget that sub you've got patrolling that part of the East Coast. Some people don't like President Hayes, but right now he's pretty popular with us for not doing something stupid like whisking the Asset away to some deep hole or eliminating them for 'rocking the boat' or something. Anyway. The samples we've gotten are called photon cannons. Two of them. They act just like you see in the movies. My techs are absolutely delighted with the amount of mayhem they can cause. Only stickler is the amount of power they take - might be required to use a carrier."

"Ah. I see. And you might be willing to loan us one of your cannon, so that it could be properly field tested?"

"Well, I did owe you something for that time in Budapest."

"I thought we were even after that time over Macho Grande."

"I'll never be over Macho Grande."

* Perks This Chapter *

Washu-01 No Sky's Limit (Free one time choice) (No Man's Sky) (Knowledge Future Tech):

This ain't no simulation, Traveler. You start out with a basic multi-tool, a wrecked spaceship, and a handful of blueprints. Where does it end? Wherever you want, Traveler. Make it so.

FREE: Waveform Focuser N56-P: Class C, 8 Slot Multi-tool with Mining Beam.

FREE: Prime Vector. C-Class basic Space Fighter. requires launch and pulse drive systems to be repaired.

FREE: Blueprints: Construction Research Terminal, Base Computer, Di-hydrogen gel, Electrical Wiring, Portable Refiner, and the Basic Package. Further blueprints will have to be researched.

19.0140 Grease Monkey (300CP) (Bubblegum Crisis) (Knowledge Mundane):

What can you fix or build? What CAN'T you fix or build? Nothing, that's what. From hyper-cars to Buma, computers to Hardsuits, with the right tools and enough time and experiments, you can build it all, weaponry included.

7.2.1-Auto-Factory (100CP)(Starbound)(Facilities Technology):

A room full of various arms and other tools, this factory is designed to be programmed with the blueprints for any item that you know how to create, allowing for raw materials to be fed in from the ship's storage, and be turned into whatever items are programmed into the factory. Warning: Only items that run on purely mechanical / scientific principles can be made here. If something requires magic or more esoteric energies to be created, it will require your personal touch to actually make, though individual parts could still be crafted by the factory. Can't make items bigger than the room itself, though it can build the pieces for you to put together yourself later.

* 100cp because a 1 module ship costs tha

t

* Tuesday, January 24, 2006 *

Little Witch House, Taylor's Supply World

It was just a little odd every time she did this, Emma could admit to herself. Take the usual door to the Witch House which was inside an enormous hollow within an even more enormous tree, and then go out the front door to a vista with two moons in the sky in a binary star system (she hadn't known what that was at first and it had freaked her right out when she'd seen it) and then she was in what had been described as Taylor's "supply world" (which really should have a good name but Taylor had been putting that off for over a month now) and seeing stuff straight out of some old Sci-Fi paperback cover.

Taylor had set up chairs and a picnic table on this alien world, because she liked doing her homework outside on those days when there wasn't sudden storms or pirates running around shooting stuff for the hell of it or some other hazard. Though the defense turrets tended to discourage the local wildlife from interfering so that was one less concern at least.

Just as she was settling in with a sandwich to relax a bit, she heard the two turrets make their 'alert' sound as they activated and began orienting on something.

"Alert," came a mechanical-feminine voice. "Pirates have entered atmosphere and are approaching. Please seek shelter."

"Well. Crap," emoted Emma as she got back up and walked back to the Witch House. Well, at least she could watch from the window.

These were the newest type of turret, and Emma was quite curious to see what they did.

Only one of the turrets was visible from the window, planted well away from where the canopy of the tree would block skyward shots. Emma watched the device tracking something in the air, and winced as she saw bursts of plasma fire strafe the ground nearby.

The world seemed to turn red briefly as the turret fired, a long red beam that caused the windows to rattle from the roaring noise put out by that beam.

Idly, Emma wondered what that beam was besides brilliant enough to cause her to blink away afterimages and loud enough to rattle windows. Some kind of laser? Something more exotic?

The turret reoriented in microseconds, tracking something else, then let out the same roaring noise and red light that outshone the suns above.

"Alert ended," said the same mechanical-feminine voice. "Two pirate vessels destroyed. Debris areas marked for later investigation. Two remaining pirate vessels escaping atmosphere."

Emma tutted about idiots attacking Taylor's base. Considered phrases to use about artificial almost-intelligence, but decided to leave such wordplays to either Taylor or Mrs Hebert.

She heard the rumble going through the workshop, but there had been so many any of these resulting in nothing that she'd mostly given up at this point. Nobody had figured out WHAT the trigger was, as it could be something that Taylor was doing or it could even be something resulting from something that Taylor had done that had just had some kind of domino effect that they didn't actually know about.

Unfortunately Taylor didn't have a "help" function on her Cosmic Doohickey power.

Especially as that thump at the end sounded particularly large.

* Space *

Taylor stared. She couldn't recall getting anything from the Time constellation before, but "Build Rome" was one that really showed the potential value of that category.

She could build things at double speed. It would require she handle part of it personally, but if she was directly interfacing with her auto-factory? Yeah. She had a feeling that would work. No loss of quality for churning stuff out quickly too.

Which meant that the exosuits she had been designing she could pump out all the faster over the weekend. She had two designs after all. Constructor suits for select members of the Union. Military-grade for what was to be a fast-response group of local marines.

She'd looked over the designs they had presented her with, and she'd commented that some of them looked like they'd come from video games. And did that design really need skull motifs?

Then again, they DID want to look intimidating. Better people should run out of the line of fire than just stand and gawk.

Taylor nodded to herself and made a note to call and tell them that she'd be working on it. Six person squad. Hmmm. Maybe each guy (or gal) could have a specific role? That'd be kind of cool, wouldn't it?

Though honestly she thought this whole "Space Marine" aesthetic was a trifle overdone, but she wasn't going to be the one wearing it after all.

Wasn't that the old quote that was usually cut in half to the detriment of anyone who has ever worked retail? "The customer is always right in matters of taste" or something like that? Might have been "style" or something, she'd have to look it up to be sure.

Since they were supposed to be helping to keep her and her parents safe, she'd certainly have to spend some time working on the project.

Though she was a little disappointed they hadn't wanted giant robots. She'd even designed the giant robot tiger.

Oh well, customers and taste and all that. At least she'd stopped after the initial design phase.

The nanite brain thing though, that had given her pause. And research. And eventually rejected the whole idea of nano-virus replacement of her grey matter with nanite tissue. Just too many things that could go wrong. Especially with nobody around who could check her work.

On the other hand, she rather fancied the idea of a Thinking Chamber which you could hook into, and she already had an AI to interface with that could run a lot of her projects.

Alpha, her ancilla.

"Alert. Distress signal received. Coordinates located."

Taylor rubbed her hands together before grabbing her controls again. Sounded like pirates.

She just wished she could get a spaceship for Emma, but Emma wanted something cool.

Maybe she could acquire spaceships for her father and mother though. They'd settle for something functional, just look at what they drove to work!

Shooting pirates was fun and educational!

Oh, that was a big ship. Computer identified it as a freighter. The Lucky Gek. Didn't look so lucky with six pirates after it.

Taylor cycled her weapons systems to bring up the Infra-Knife Accelerator. Shield at full. Positron Ejector repaired. Cyclotron Ballista ready to go. Taylor showed her teeth, shifting on the pillow she'd brought to add a bit of reach to her at the controls.

"Freighter Lucky Gek, this is the fighter craft Wayfinder, responding to your distress call."

"Roger, Wayfinder, and thank you."

Taylor rolled her fighter, lined up the first target, and began the hunt.

* Wednesday, January 25, 2006 *

"You've got a freighter, a space freighter, and you didn't name it the Millenium Falcon as soon as you got it?" asked Emma.

"Look at the size of it. It's more of an 'Eon Skyscraper' as far as that goes."

"All automated?" asked Emma.

"Every settlement and station in this system is automated, and the hyperdrives are all blackboxed. Apparently I can't go interstellar until I'm at least sixteen!" Taylor's voice managed to convey how utterly unfair it was to have to wait six years before she could get into hyperspace.

Emma was quiet for a few minutes. "What if your Mom drove?"

"What?" asked Taylor.

"She's as old as MY mom," said Emma. "What if she was driving? Would these 'hyperdrive' things work for her?"

Taylor was absolutely silent for a moment, looking over the various stations of her freighter. "I... don't actually know."

"Something to think about then, isn't it?" asked Emma. "Not like you've got time though."

"Yeah, I'm pretty much stuck for time except on holidays. Going and exploring other star systems has gotta take a few hours at least," admitted Taylor, grudgingly.

* Monday, February 13, 2006. 0930 hours *

* Parahuman Response Team Building, Brockton Bay *

* Conference Room Apache *

"-and the gang war in Boston sent a group this way after being driven out," said Armsmaster, looking over his notes on his tablet. "Group of four individuals who survived. Brainjack, Thinker 4 specializing in computer systems. Shockwave Sally, Shaker 3 creating localized earthquakes. Stormfalcon, an archery-themed Blaster whose arrows turn into electrically charged bird-like constructs and is simultaneously the most dangerous and the least problematic."

"Hold up there, how can Stormfalcon be both?" asked Director Piggot.

"He's least likely to target civilians, making him the least problematic as he operates by a code of honor," said Armsmaster. "On the other hand, the bird-projections can track targets and adjust their flight accordingly."

"I see, go on," indicated Director Piggot.

"The last is the least in this case, Color Queen can change the color of objects."

Director Piggot waited a moment for the reveal of what the power also did, but Armsmaster didn't elaborate.

"There is currently no indication that these criminal gang remnants are going to stay in the Trainyard, as they think themselves hidden from pursuers and haven't realized that they are in range of a surveillance camera. I took the liberty of placing a sound pickup near their gathering place, and their stated plan is to head up into Canada as soon as they are sure they are not being pursued further by the Teeth."

"Are they?" asked Director Piggot.

"No. Or at least, there is no indication I've been able to find and the Teeth tend to be... very visible in their presence," said Armsmaster.

"Any other business?" asked Director Piggot.

"One thing," said one of the Legal team. "We have a report from the Department of Defense, it involved parahuman resources which is why we were notified. On the 10th, a group of twenty-five non-parahuman members of the Empire 88 and two of their capes attempted to claim territory claimed by the Dockworkers and in particular a training facility owned and operated by the United States Marines Corps."

"Ah, which capes?" asked Armsmaster.

"Hassliebe and Geck," said the Legal representative.

"How many Marines dead?" asked Director Piggot, ready for the bad news.

"Oh, none of the Marines died," admitted Legal. "Both Hassliebe and Geck are dead. So are fifteen of the Empire's normal group. Apparently the survivors followed instructions to drop their weapons and surrender."

"I see," said Director Piggot, mentally filing that under 'Darwin Awards' as attacking a weapons training facility run and staffed by the effing Marines sounded like a complete lack of forethought.

"Interesting," noted Armsmaster. "Geck had a Master effect that caused people nearby to have difficulty targeting them. Positional uncertainty where eye and brain could not agree on his location. How did they overcome this?"

The Legal rep flipped pages, eyes skimming the report. "Machine gun grenade launcher."

"Ah," said Armsmaster. "The Mark 19. That would do it."

"So the Empire may attack them in a group in retaliation," noted Director Piggot, though she had to admit some curiosity as to what would happen to any of the Nazi capes if something like that were used against them.

"The Empire has issued a statement that it was entirely a misunderstanding and there was no authorized attempt to declare war on a historied and noble group of American patriots."

"Well, Kaiser's not a complete idiot," noted Director Piggot. "Any other business? Then dismissed."

* Kaiser *

"Who the hell thought it was a good idea to go into the Docks area and claim a facility operated by the goddamn Marine Corps?!" asked Kaiser.

"Hassliebe thought his emotion-ray powers would get him through the gate," suggested Warcourt, one of the temporaries he'd gotten from the Herren Clan for training.

"On the other hand, we all knew Hassliebe and Geck were pretty much idiots," suggested Krieg.

Kaiser sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead for a moment. "I already made a statement cutting the two off as them going off as lone wolves. I do not want any of the Armed Forces deciding that we've crossed a line - and for crying out loud nobody touch any of their boats. The USA does not like it if you touch their boats."

"There is some historical precedence there," admitted Krieg.

"Why did they go after it? I assume there was some triggering event or someone said something," asked Kaiser.

"Experimental weapons facility might have experimental weapons," said Krieg. "That would be enough for Geck to want to add to his collection.

"And Hassliebe?" asked Kaiser.

"One of the Marines was apparently moderately attractive and of the correct bloodline," said Krieg.

"Why there?" asked Kaiser, picking up a clicker and turning towards the display on one wall. With a couple of clicks he had the image of Brockton Bay from an old satellite view showing. "Why are the Marines operating a facility here in Brockton Bay and there in particular?"

Krieg looked over the map himself. "They and other Armed Forces branches are associated with a company located there. ForgeTech."

Kaiser looked it up, finding the website was one page and locked to go any further without an ID and password. "According to this, they're a research firm dealing with recycling technologies, high-energy systems, and material sciences development."

Krieg made a noise at the back of his throat that sounded amused. "If their first priority is recycling, then the reason they're in this city becomes obvious."

"The Ship Graveyard," said Kaiser, getting up to look out the window. The various trapped vessels sitting there in the Bay were a constant reminder of the failed city. "Oil and other chemical leaks from the boats, not to mention the container ship there at the mouth of the bay. That doesn't explain the Armed Forces... oh. Binoculars."

Krieg handed him one pair and used a second set.

"Look near the stern," advised Kaiser. "Do you see that?"

"A large section of metal that is missing, with an oddly smooth 'bite' taken out of the ship? Yes. I see. Recycling technologies." Krieg lowered the binoculars as he obviously thought about the implications. "Your orders?"

"Do nothing, for now," said Kaiser. "Brockton Bay is a cesspit, filled with undesirables. If that is removed, then the economy may yet recover and more desirable elements may return to the area."

"Or the authorities will have more of a budget to curtail our activities," pointed out Krieg.

* Taylor *

"Well, it was an idea," said Taylor as her mother tried to get the hyperdrive on the freighter working.

"At least I can read the alerts that says the captain is too young," said Annette Hebert. "Or rather, that you're still 'in the prologue' - which does not fill me with great confidence."

"I haven't seen Dad lately," noted Taylor.

"He's probably still looking for the restrooms," said Annette.

"What kind of spaceship doesn't have restrooms, or waste reclamation facilities, or... something?!" complained Danny's voice from somewhere nearby.

"Well, it's..." Taylor stopped and stumbled a bit as if her feet suddenly decided not to work.

"What is it?" asked Annette, immediately thinking of artificial gravity failures.

"It's a big one. It's as big as 'Build Rome' except it's..." Taylor stared at nothing in particular. "No. It's smaller, but very compact. It's..."

After Taylor was just staring off into the distance for at least a minute, Annette Hebert poked her daughter in the shoulder. "It is what?"

"It's beautiful. It's going to change so much..." said Taylor slowly, a tone of awe in her voice.

3.0340 Build Rome (600CP) (Gundam - After Colony) (Time):

You have a thing about building things-you're damn fast, and you're damn good. They say you can't build 10 Mobile Suits in a week? Hah! You'll build twice that much and you'll build them to last! You simply have utter talent in the way of making things quickly-enough to double production, maybe even triple production if you work at it enough, and they'll come out with no loss of quality. In addition, these constructions will last-barring sudden disaster and similar, they'll easily last several decades of constant abuse, and if they're upkept and repaired they could even last centuries with no troubles.

19.0270 New Age (400CP) (X-Men Evolution) (Knowledge Mundane):

There's autonomous fighting robots, energy weapons, and gene enhancement in this world with only a few of the brightest minds capable of creating such tech. All this and more are now at your grasp as you can not only build these technological marvels but can vastly improve upon them and others at your leisure. You can create any piece of tech from this world from everything mentioned above and so much more. Creating hydra clones that are completely loyal to you, manipulating the x-gene to create mutants and form your own brotherhood, and much more are the tip of the iceberg for you. You are a fountain of ever growing knowledge in all technological fields areas and have the skills to usher in a revolution.

A/N: I've noticed that neither source I'm using for the rolls includes freebies as in Lord Roustabout's story "Brockton's Celestial Forge" - as Hangar should have given her a pilot's license. If anyone has access to a list which includes free add-ons to a perk, either let me know what she should have gotten or link to such a list, please.

I've simply been adding perks by rolling a 1d6 and on a 6 giving a freebie that seems a logical tie-in. Mainly because nothing on my lists adds free stuff.