Chapter 18: 14 Debut

I might have signed up for an argument with forum mods at an hour so late it might technically count as early, but seeing Garment literally pull herself together in response made it worth the trouble. I just had to figure out how she had managed to cause this many problems in a few hours.

As I loaded her posting history I felt the Celestial Forge pull the Vehicle constellation towards me and connect to one of the smaller motes called Fingers of Silver. It was essentially reverse engineering on steroids and would let me understand and copy the inner workings of any technology I could get my hands on. Well, provided it was actual technology and not something facilitated by parahuman powers. More advanced tinker tech would be difficult to analyze, but with my other technical powers and my Laboratorium it would be considerably easier.

That was something to deal with later. For now I had to try to sort out this mess. I started by looking through Garments posting history. There was a lot of it. It looked like she had been posting pretty much continuously since I had set up the account. There was a delay between posts, but that seemed to be based on typing speed and her ability to find content and navigate between forums. Other than that she just hadn't stopped.

Looking at some of her earlier posts they seemed to be met with bemusement and the odd positive comment or question. The problems started when she began posting on more active forums or people tried to engage her directly. PHO was a great site, but the quote/reply set up wasn't as good as it could have been. On an active thread someone would question Garment, then there would be a half dozen posts before she would be able to reply. This led to the reply being misconstrued, which would lead to Garment correcting herself, once again after a pile of posts that changed the tone of the conversation and turned would have been a fairly reasonable reply to something either nonsensical or provocative.

Things got worse in private messages. Garment did not like using more than one word replies, so when people started messaging her directly the conversations usually went badly. Early stuff seemed lighthearted enough with people engaging on fashion topics and asking for single word evaluations, but when people started with serious questions and just got the same there were a few meltdowns, both in her PMs and in the threads.

That was around the time the warnings started. There were accusations of her being a bot or just trolling, and her efforts to counter them were as hampered as any other part of her communication. Eventually the mods stepped in. She had actually gotten some people riled up to the point where threads were locked or specific rules were put in place. Following that there were direct messages that she hadn't been able to answer sufficiently, followed by the ban.

It was exactly the kind of shit storm I had been worried about, though Garment had managed to pull it off in record time. I felt a little guilty since I had been dead to the world while Garment had been trying desperately to defend herself. Also I had been fully merged with a computer at the time. I had at least passive awareness that Garment was still posting, but I hadn't paid attention to exactly what was happening. It wasn't a question of respecting privacy, I had dumped her into the deep end and left her to sink upon her failure to swim.

The worst part was knowing there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to patch this up. I didn't have a lot of experience with online forums but I knew this kind of thing was pretty much poison for a new member. At this point anyone who didn't think she was a bot probably assumed she was trolling the board with a disposable account.

I looked over at Garment's nervous movements. She was actually wringing her gloves as she watched me go through her posting history. I gave her the most reassuring smile I could manage and started typing in the reply field.

GarmentGloves:

Hello, this is Garment's friend. I want to express her apology for what happened on the forum. Garment has significant communication difficulties and didn't intend to cause any disruption. I have reviewed her posting history and I believe she was sincerely trying to follow the forum guidelines and moderator instructions but was unable to effectively convey her intent.

I helped Garment set up her account earlier tonight and did not check on her until she informed me of the current situation. I should have been more attentive of her actions to prevent something like this from happening so I would like to offer my own apology as well.

This forum and online interaction has become a very important outlet for Garment. She was extremely distraught by the sudden suspension and the permanent ban from topics she is passionate about. If there is any way to alleviate the restrictions I assure you I will work with Garment to help ensure there is no repeat of tonight's events. Thank you for your consideration.

P.S. The following message is all Garment was able to compose before she came to me for help.

I M SORRY

I couldn't bring myself to delete Garment's typing. I just hope it doesn't come across as manipulative. With the message sent I sat with Garment as we watched her inbox. I had heard about how vigilant the mods on this forum are, so there was a good chance of getting a ruling even this late at night. The fact that they had consolidated so many violations against Garment rather than leave things for a later ruling shows that.

Sitting there refreshing the page made the minutes seem like hours. Finally a message appeared in the inbox. Garment froze in anticipation as I loaded it.

Tin_Mother:

Thank you for your sincere appeal. I would like to express my sympathy for your situation. Unfortunately given the number of complaints filed and a lack of supporting evidence I have no choice but to uphold the ban. Upon the end of the two week period I will be willing to revisit the possibility of access to some of the permanently banned boards subject to moderator review.

I let out a breath. That was about as bad as I feared. Garment slumped beside me, almost deflating. I skimmed through the list of infractions and warnings again and reviewed the specific complaints. This was a mess. There was basically no chance of getting this resolved with what I could communicate through personal messages.

My eyes fell on the laptop's built in camera, then swung over to Garment. That was an idea. Was it a good idea? Who the hell knew, it was nearly four in the morning and I'd spent most of the night thinking like a computer.

Okay, seriously consider this. It would resolve this issue. It would get Garment back on the forum, if not completely unbanned than at least engaged. And it would effectively give PHO a cape account, and those were always popular.

Downsides? It would mean announcing a 'cape' to the world. That would attract attention, but nothing as bad as what I had done for myself. Also, announcing like this would spare Garment any association with the baggage I'd built up for my own debut.

"Garment, if there was a way to fix this, but it would mean a lot more attention and scrutiny, would you be okay with that?" She immediately perked up. Oh yeah, asking Garment if she was alright with attention was kind of a no brainer. Was I okay with this? It would let Garment be her own person, and that was important. Besides, it was Garment.

Additionally, I was getting an uncertain but somewhat positive impression from my passenger regarding Tin_Mother. Not enough to completely bank on, but definitely no warning signs. I wondered if the rumors about tinkers working as mods for PHO carried any weight. The reaction wasn't the deciding factor, but it provided a comforting level of reassurance. I opened the message and started composing a reply.

GarmentGloves:

Thank you for your sympathy. If we were able to present evidence of the reason behind Garment's communication problems would that be enough to reconsider the ban?

Tin_Mother:

That would depend heavily on the nature of the evidence. Please don't feel the need to share any private or medically confidential information over this matter.

I looked to Garment and got an encouraging and hopeful gesture.

GarmentGloves:

If you could temporarily remove the ban Garment would like to post a video explaining her situation.

Tin_Mother:

I am willing to unblock a single board. Please note if this privilege is abused your ban may be extended permanently.

Garment put a glove on my shoulder as I typed the reply.

GarmentGloves:

Thank you. Please unblock General ► Cape Culture ►Cape Introductions

Tin_Mother:

One moment.

There was a period of interminable waiting before the next message arrived.

Tin_Mother:

Your connection is reasonably secure. Please continue. Note that abuse of the Cape Introductions board can result in permanent suspension of account.

Well, that was slightly concerning. Maybe what they say about PHO moderators lived up to the hype.

A short time later I was sitting with Garment in front of the freshly loaded and unlocked board hosting a newly posted thread and the first one from GarmentGloves. Despite everything I had done to check things and make sure the transfer went through properly Garment was still a bundle of nerves. She probably would be until she saw the video on the site.

I navigated to the first and only post and loaded the video, which was the full sum of the post's contents. The video began to play, showing the limited resolution and framerate of the built in webcam. I could have managed so much better, to the tune of a tiny 4k 60fps video camera churned out with a minute's effort from my nano forge. That would have been too much. This was going to attract enough attention without Garment suddenly having access to movie studio level equipment. The webcam was recognizable as such and gave the production the improvised edge that lent sincerity to this situation.

It was the same reason this had been shot in front of the wall of my apartment rather than in a custom built set inside my workshop. My powers may have been able to assemble the ideal environment for this purpose, but in this case the ideal environment was one that didn't look over-produced. That hadn't stopped Garment from dressing it up slightly with some suspended drapes bordering the shot. They nicely framed the image of Garment as she stood in her evening dress and white opera gloves and waved at the camera. She made some conciliatory gestures that had an apologetic air to them. Then she raised a glove and fabric began to float around her.

I had insisted that she not show her manifestation of any supplies. Explaining the mechanism would get confusing and lead people to believe she could freely produce her materials. It was easier to avoid a misconception than try to correct one.

Even without her spinning cloth out of thin air the display was breathtaking. Everything had been prepared around her so as needed thread and cloth flew up to be integrated into her work with perfect surgical precision. Garment had embraced the opportunity for her debut with a level of flair I had never seen from her before. There were elaborate flourishes, careful placement of materials to create elaborate patterns before they were integrated into the work, and even a certain rhythmic timing to the entire endeavor. It was like watching the seamstress equivalent of a master hibachi chef at work.

It wasn't just flash either. There was a certain pride displayed in what was she doing that you only got from master craftsmen. I could tell the times she slowed down her work to make it clear exactly what was happening, the type of stitch she was using, the paneling, the fabric compositions. It didn't come across perfectly due to the limits of the webcam. The resolution left a lot to be desired as did its ability to change focus. Still both the level of skill at work and the sense of pride in the act was conveyed loud and clear.

Everything came together with the grandeur of an orchestrated finale. Disparate pieces were aligned and joined with perfect seams, details fell into place, and the entire item went from a complex and confusing assembly to a finished piece of clothing in an instant. All the tiny bits of workmanship from the entire process unified into a single beautiful finished product.

Garment had made a jacket. It was one of those formal looking half jacket things that go with evening dresses. There was probably a proper term for it, but I was still largely fashion illiterate. It was white with an elaborate border and embroidery. The sleeves were short enough to not quite reach the tops of Garment's gloves in their opera form and she was able to smoothly slip into the coat. It fit perfectly with the rest of her outfit, matching the color pallet, style, and level of formality.

Most importantly the boarder coloring and embroidery matched the pallet of the PHO forums. It was blatant pandering, but that was exactly the point of this endeavor. PHO wasn't exactly a force in the cape world, but it was an important source of information and a representation of public perception. More than a few news articles pulled directly from the PHO wiki and the forums were largely considered the best feedback medium for the general public. Making a good first impression here would be important if Garment was going to be able to operate as her own cape.

The next part of the video was the important part that would explain this mess. Garment bent down out of frame and picked up one of the spare laptops. I had loaded it with a word processor with large font that was easily visible even with the limitations of the webcam. With great seriousness she began picking through the keyboard for individual keys.

H...E...L...L...O

Garment once again had to search through the keyboard to find the letter L after she had just typed it. After the word was complete she stared at the keyboard, considered things carefully, and then finally found the spacebar. Following that she began typing again.

P...H...O

The level of pride and excitement upon finishing her message was borderline unbelievable. She turned and presented the laptop screen to the camera and enthusiastically waved as the video concluded. So there it was, Garment's debut to cape society. She had beat me out, officially, and I needed to come up with something soon if I didn't want to end up with that greed demon cape name.

This would have repercussions, but I could deal with them. I would deal with them. It was clear she needed more points of contact than I could manage, and operating through what was regarded as the most secure forum in the world was a good place to start.

I felt the Celestial Forge again, this time bringing the Knowledge constellation within reach. The mote I connected with was an odd one. It was a cluster of twelve motes each the size of the smallest ones in the constellation and each representing a different category of information. The entire cluster was called Skills and the one I was able to link to was Physics. It provided an incredible comprehensive understanding of not just conventional physics but high level principles of gravity, matter & energy, and even quantum phenomena.

Like with many of my skills I wondered if some of these high level aspects were actually part of the universe or if they were facilitated by my power. This didn't provide any new technology, but applications of the principles opened up everything from faster than light communication and travel, advanced holography, force fields, weapon systems, instant matter assembly, and even effective teleportation. It would take some work to sort out the engineering, but there was an incredible wealth of potential here.

It also provided a solid grounding in research and analysis. It wasn't just knowledge, it was an understanding of how those principles were discovered and how to analyze new unknown phenomena. That was a boon both to my other technical skills and any efforts for analysis of other technology or parahuman effects.

An announcement from Garment's inbox broke me out of my contemplation, revealing another message from the moderator. I quickly opened it.

Tin_Mother:

Thank you for that sincere and impressive introduction. I do not have the authority to remove all aspects of Garment's ban at this time but I will maintain her access to the Cape Introduction thread. With your permission, and based on her posting history I will open a cape discussion thread in the Brocton Bay Capes board. Also, while there is no obligation and this will not influence your appeal status, I would appreciate it if you could answer some questions about Garment's situation and your relationship with her. Capes in a vulnerable situation, particularly those with non-human features or limitations are often subject to exploitation. It would be beneficial if I could head off any community fears around this subject.

I looked over at Garment. It wasn't a full reversal, but it was something, and probably a path towards getting her access back. Also, the mod seemed to be coming from a place of genuine concern, which was encouraging. At my questioning look Garment gave a gesture of consent and I started drafting a reply.

GarmantGloves:

It's my intention to keep Garment as safe and happy as possible. I would be willing to field any questions that would not compromise her security or privacy.

Tin_Mother:

Thank you. How did you first meet Garment?

Well, I should stick as close to the truth as possible. It's not like weirder things didn't happen in this world.

GarmantGloves:

She appeared outside of where I work. Then she insulted my fashion sense and everything I was wearing.

Garment actually seemed proud of herself when I typed that.

Since then I have tried to provide her with material for her projects and access to safe forms of communication. She is both passionate and highly skilled regarding clothing and fashion principles and I've done my best to facilitate her.

Tin_Mother:

When she appeared did Garment have any level of memory loss? Additionally does she have a mark resembling a stylized U or C anywhere on her body?

She was checking about Case 53s. I remembered reading that actual proper Case 53 capes were much less common than parahumans with altered features, but the terms were used almost interchangeably by the public.

GarmentGloves:

Garment hasn't demonstrated any desire to share information about her past. I don't know if this is related to her memory, communication difficulties, or if it is simply not a concern for her. I am not aware of her having any markings of the type you described or otherwise.

Tin_Mother:

Thank you. Finally, with the skill level she was able to demonstrate there will certainly be people attempting to contact Garment regarding business prospects. Given concerns over exploitation I would like to temporarily block incoming private messages to this account and provide you with some material on guidelines and programs for capes with Rogue classifications.

Additionally, I feel I should ask if you believe you are able to provide the necessary support for Garment given the issues she has demonstrated. I can put you in contact with organizations specializing in assistance for parahumans in similar situations.

Well, it was nice of her not to come out and accuse me of taking advantage of Garment. Still, independent operation and Rogue status would be a good fit for Garment, and there would be a flood of PMs for any confirmed cape. I should take her up on the first offer at least.

GarmentGloves:

I believe it would be good to block PMs until Garment has established a plan for how she wishes to proceed with her cape status and business policies. I will be working with Garment to address the issues that led to tonight's misunderstanding and don't believe any additional support will be necessary, but thank you for your offer.

Tin_Mother:

Acknowledged. Please contact me if you need any support. I will be happy to direct you to the relevant agencies and organizations.

I leaned back and let out a breath. Beside me Garment was a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

"I think it will be alright. PHO loves cape interactions. They'll definitely roll back the restrictions once this gets out. We just have to give them some time."

I failed to suppress a yawn as Garment made anxious gestures towards the computer. That reminded me.

"Let me see what I can do with this laptop. There's no reason for you to be stuck with a retail model anymore."

Once again I was struck between being objectively impressed by the technological advancement of my upgrades and how frustrating it was to be unable to build what I knew I was capable of, instead reduced to realigning human computational frameworks.

Okay, that's it. I'm starting that jar retroactively. Four quarters in it and maybe then I'll be able to get a handle on this.

The point was that despite the quality of what I could build I was still working with technological architecture of a conventional nature, the species which built that technology not being relevant to this line of thinking. Shifting to optical processing would be a big step up, particularly with what my latest batch of knowledge allowed me to do with isolinear circuitry. The problem was none of that would directly interface with the technology what-is-common-in-this-world so I'd have to build everything from scratch. The best option would be working with multidimensional processors, but that wasn't possible without at least trace amounts of cybertonium for key junctions.

At this point I couldn't even build a proper datatrax. The new laptop's storage drive could barely hold half a petabyte of rapid access flash memory, and that wasn't even getting into the compromises I'd had to make in terms of processing power or battery life. I was able to make up for some of it with hybridization builds, but I honestly felt bad handing this over.

Garment had been waiting patiently as I worked, doing her best to conceal her anxiety over the situation in general and her laptop in particular. The forge missed another connection to the Knowledge constellation as I put the finishing design touches on the computer. Bling of War let me personalize it to Garment's style and Decadence ensured the workmanship was impeccable. Her reaction to the engraved and filigreed computer casing was the most positive I'd seen since this mess began.

Now came the hard part, attempting to give Garment a typing lesson. I started with basic finger placement and a keyboard guide, but that got nowhere. She would still check each letter before typing it and seemed to have trouble remembering placements with respect to her fingers. Online typing guides and mnemonic devices proved useless and just resulted in frustration as Garment struggled to decipher them.

That was when I decided to get creative. Unfortunately creative doesn't mean effective. I thought I was being clever with the modified keyboard that had cloth swatches on the keys for telekinetic manipulation. All that resulted in was avoiding the time for the key to be pressed by a glove instead of telekinesis. The search time was exactly as bad. I didn't understand how she could read language and understand speech but had so much trouble with writing. Then again I had no idea how she sensed the world or what her thought process was like. The results of these efforts were proving there was a much more significant barrier than I had anticipated.

The cloth type keyboard didn't help. A color coded keyboard didn't help. A customized alphabetical layout didn't help. I was about ready to try putting together some kind of visual alphabet like you find on the walls of a kindergarten, only with fashion concepts instead of pictures of farm animals when I realized I'd been approaching this the wrong way.

I could try to work with Garment to overcome whatever was causing this through her own effort and with supporting equipment, but what she really needed was help. The easiest thing to set up would be an autocomplete, but those could easily go wrong and I didn't ever want to risk a repeat of tonight. She needed an assistant and fortunately I had just began development of a data management program.

The laptop was cobbled together crap, but it should be able to run a truncated fork of my data management and survey program. It would have the benefit of allowing development in linguistic skills while providing more support than any autocomplete would be capable of. Anyway, Garment deserved an assistant.

I left Garment to admire the aesthetics of her laptop and moved to my computational throne. Once again the world fell away and I was part of the computer system. I reached out to the partition where my Survey and Fleet programs were engaged in their optimization and development routine and opened my mind to it.

Suddenly I was standing by a river on a bright summer day. I could feel the humidity in the air, the slight breeze blowing off the water, and the sunlight dappled between occasional clouds. In the distance the iconic shape of the Eifel tower rose over the city of Paris. I could see boats on the river and pedestrians milling around, taking in the weather. And in the distance the beginning of a symphony of engine sounds.

An entire pack of vehicles peeled past me at clearly unsafe speeds. It was a mix of sports cars, roadsters, six types of motorcycles and what looked like a small hovercraft trailing behind. They wove around each other and the obstacles of the road in a bid to claim the lead before swerving down a side street leaving nothing but the sounds of their engines and the screech of tires.

I pulled back from the surface level of the simulation and examined the code beneath it. Fleet was simultaneously piloting multiple vehicles through an environment being generated in real time by Survey. The entire city wasn't modeled, just areas relevant to the track with the visuals of the rest of the landscape approximated based on internet research and iterative simulations. Factors like road surface, visibility, directional glare, air resistance, even wind and humidity were being calculated. From Fleets side the program was simulating multiple vehicles at the same time while also piloting them through the course and responding to changes in conditions. It looked like the different vehicles were approximated from available specifications with their performance extrapolated using the data from the day's drive.

Both programs were working in competition, but were also collaborating to a greater deal than I expected. Pretty much the full sensor records of the day being used as a true to life reference point for the simulations. The programs weren't really advanced enough to express any agency, but there was a desire for more practical data in order to improve their simulation development. I provided them with a timeline for the next probable excursions and some commentary on their simulation records, which already included a half dozen cities and six times as many vehicles.

The development was impressive, but it would soon reach the limit of their processing capabilities and be reduced to optimization cycles. That was regrettably by design since unrestrained A.I. was one of the biggest black list technologies out there. If it didn't bring down the Protectorate on my head it could easily draw the attention of the Endbringers. It meant I would have to do staged upgrades and guide both development and any copies to be generated rather than allow them free agency. At this point it was barely a concern as both programs were too primitive to handle anything beyond their initial parameters, and just barely that.

Still, the Survey program was functioning well and would be able to assist Garment much better than any level of autocorrect. I adjusted the objectives and created a truncated copy running in parallel with an update link to the core program. After a final review I disconnected from the interface and went to check on Garment.

She was idly playing with the assorted pieces of my planned costume redesign. With everything that had happened our joint project had completely slipped my mind. I made a note to make sure to follow up with that assembly but focused on introducing Garment to the new interface. There was still a bit of work to that. Survey had access to her entire posting history, including Youtube, Twitter, and PHO. Upon the first letter typed the program was able to start making suggestions. Unfortunately Garment had a bit of trouble indicating when the suggestion was correct. I ended up adding an extra button to the computer solely for the purpose of signaling the survey program. I watched Garment work on the new system. It was still painfully slow to start, but at least she didn't need to type the entire word before Survey was able to narrow down what she was going for.

I quickly checked PHO. The ban was still in place with the exception of the introductory thread. Despite the stupid hour that post had already seen some traffic.

"Alright, you should be safe sticking with this thread. Be careful and see how things go. I'm going to get some sleep."

Garment made a series of grateful gestures and waved me off as I left the Workshop to try to get some rest. When I opened the door to the entry way I saw that Garment had returned my mattress to the floor. I also saw that she had assembled a complete set of new bedlinens, pillows, and comforters that looked like they would be more appropriate in an imperial court. The opulence was in stark contrast with the fact that the entire assembly was sitting flat on the floor without even a bedframe holding it up.

I glanced back at Garment who broke her attention from the computer to make shooing gestures towards me. With a sigh I got changed and slipped into bed. The new sheets were smooth and unbelievably comfortable. It was like being embraced by clouds and I felt kinks in my back I had barely been aware of, likely the result of hours on that interface throne, begin to unspool themselves. The stress was just melting off me and I could feel the fog of blissful sleep settle over my mind.

Which was exactly when my watch alarm went off, signaling the time for my morning run.

I considered a lot of things as I lay in bed with my watch buzzing at me. I considered if my earlier commitment to an exercise routine was that well placed. I considered if this cape business was actually worth the trouble if it resulted in what was now three six o'clocks in the same day. I considered the existence of Noctus capes and the massive injustice they represented. I considered the various theoretical temporal manipulation technologies I was now aware of and whether a few extra hours of sleep on demand would be worth risking irreparable damage to the space time continuum. In my current mindset I was leaning heavily towards a yes on that last question.

Eventually the strength of routine overwhelmed all other objections and I peeled myself out of bed and into my workout clothes. Coffee, toast, run. The coffee and toast part took longer than it should have and involved considerably more coffee, but I got myself out the door.

I made it half way down the steps when I realized I had left my workshop open. Well, it wasn't that bad. Garment was there and I at least trusted Fleet to be able to intercept intruders at this point. Also the chances of a break in were fairly low given the look of the apartment and the presence of better targets in literally every direction. If I had sealed the workshop that would have cut off network access to everyone inside, meaning Garment would have had to move to the apartment and Fleet and Survey would lose access to reference data. It should be fine as long as I made this run fast.

That was actually the deciding factor in why I had chosen to stick to my schedule. I needed reference data for what my nanites did when I triggered a mass activation for transfer. Mass activations for transfers like the ones I'd forgotten to do through the night and before I left. Needed to watch out for that. It would be hard enough to assemble that nanite colony even if I adhered to a perfect schedule. Miss too many and that week could easily turn into months of work.

In order to get a good sense of how the nanites treated damage due to exercise I needed to perform an activation under a scanner following the harshest workout I could manage. That was why I was abandoning my usually measured pace in exchange for a speed usually reserved for cases of pursuit by large carnivorous predators. In short I was booking it like my life depended on it.

It nicely set me apart from all the happy Saturday joggers who looked so thrilled to be out in the stabbing sunlight of the hour of the damned. I don't like this time of day when I see it from the front. Coming at it from the back adds a whole other element of disgust. Thankfully my desperate blitz of a pace blew past the casual morning canter of those mad people.

I deliberately ignored any claps or cheers of approval that came my way. I don't need the endorsement of anyone who endures this time of day by choice.

I maintained the pace along the road to the bay, for the north leg of the Boardwalk, and nearly back to the midpoint before I crashed badly. It snuck up on me, but suddenly there was just nothing left in the tank. That ended with me half collapsed on a bench, soaked with sweat, and panting like my life depended on it.

Despite the less than noble posture it seemed if you were wearing nice workout clothes you were allowed to lounge on the Boardwalk while trying to figure out if your lugs had actually exploded, or just felt like they did. I even got some more of those encouraging looks from the early morning joggers. God I hated them. Stop being friendly! I'm not one of you!

It turned out to be something of a blessing that I was sitting down because the Celestial Forge circled around again, once again bringing the Size constellation into reach. My power connected to a similar mote to my previous one, but this was only two motes clustered rather than twelve. I had enough reach to secure connections with both of them at which point I found out exactly what they were and was very glad that I had not been sprinting at a mad pace when this hit me.

Certain motes had a kind of similar feel to them. For instance, any motes clustered together had a similar association. It was less common, but there were motes that weren't connected that had a sense of familiarity. Fingers of Silver and Bling of War had some association, but I had no idea what it was. My latest power had a similar relationship, but the nature of it was blindingly obvious.

The motes were called Science! Mechanics and Science! Engineering and they were the same kind of power as Master Builder. Where that power had been a civilization's worth of technology these two contained the theory and principles behind it. With these two powers I had a crazy mechanical society's equivalent of a PhD in both topics. The raw information had been hard to deal with. This power brought insight, nuance, and experience. There was less information but it was so much richer that I had to struggle to keep my mind straight. It made me long for the feeling of my neural interface and the sensation was made so much worse by the way my legs and lungs were currently screaming at me.

I did my best to push aside the perspectives that were making my current existence an unfamiliar sensation and focused on what I would be able to do with these powers. Master Builder had been an incredible ability, but I was limited to the applications of technology as it presented them. My new abilities gave insight into the theory and development behind that technology. I could actually come up with workarounds for some of the obstacles and resource constraints I'd been suffering under. It would be enough for me to develop my own new branch of applications rather than use standard configurations or jury rigged human technology.

Okay, not that I needed reminding here, but that's five quarters total for the jar. I committed to set it up as soon as I got back and worked to pull myself off the bench. Despite the difficult mental state I managed a stable jogging pace on the way back to my apartment. As I ran I reviewed the mental shifts I was dealing with. Previously I had danced around this issue with terms like inhuman mindset or mechanical perspective, but at this point there was no reason to be coy. This shit had come from robots.

I had the technology and science of an entire civilization of space age robots floating through my head. I didn't really know what to make of that. This was a serious step away from just having an abnormal tinker power. It was full on alien conspiracy stuff. Between the Celestial Forge and the reality of multiple universes that we all lived with it shouldn't be that hard to believe, but there's a big difference between something as a concept and having that something as part of your own personal experience. I did my best to hold on to the mantra of the Celestial Forge. Fiat backed. It just works. That would be a lot easier to accept if I wasn't trying to parse personal lived experience of a robotic existence at the moment.

I made it back to my apartment drenched in a layer of sweat that wasn't entirely due to the intensity of my workout. The first thing I did was dig out an old jar, currently holding various pens and small knickknacks. I dumped them into a random drawer and set the jar on the counter of the kitchenette. This might be an empty gesture, but I needed to keep an eye on this thing. One after another five quarters dropped into the jar. The act actually made me feel a little better about the whole situation.

I hoped I wouldn't run into any powers in the forge with worse mental effects than this, but some of those motes were terrifyingly powerful. Something that strong acting directly on my mind would have a serious impact no matter what my hopes were. I just had to deal with it. Already the new information was becoming less distracting. I didn't know about long term effects, but that's what the jar was for. That's right, I might have a cosmic power warping my mind in a way I couldn't control or understand, but I also have a jar of coins!

Sarcasm is damn essential for stress management and anyone who says otherwise is a filthy liar.

Before I moved to the Laboratorium to carry out the point of this whole endeavor I went to check on Garment. She was still typing on her laptop in the workshop, only now she would type two or three letters, check the screen, then press the approve button. It wasn't that much of an improvement, but it probably more than doubled her typing speed.

She jumped up when I entered and gestured me over. From the look of things she was alternating between her introduction thread on PHO and her twitter account, which had picked up a few hundred followers in the time I'd been gone. She excitedly directed me to a personal message announcing that her ban was under review and she should expect an update later in the day. Her account currently had an Unverified Cape tag on it, but another message explained that was tied to forum policies regarding public appearances.

Her discussion thread also seemed to be picking up steam. I checked on the first page.

Topic: Garment Discussion Thread

In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brocton Bay ► Capes ►

Tin_Mother (Original Poster) (Moderator)

Posted On Apr 16th 2011:

In response to the recent announcement post I have created this thread for discussion of the newly debuted cape, Garment. Confirmation efforts are still ongoing, but there is sufficient confidence in the details that have been provided to staff to justify opening this thread.

(Showing page 1 of 23)

►SackBagger

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Fake

►Great_Divide (Veteran Member)

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Who the hell would put that level of effort into faking a webcam quality video?

► SackBagger

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Ploy to get people to buy into it. You can tell by the reflections, the whole thing is CGI.

►Tumbles

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Isn't that the guy that was trolling boards all night?

►Noddy

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Girl, by the looks of things.

► SackBagger

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Neither, it's a fake.

►Great_Divide (Veteran Member)

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

So your theory is someone joined the forum, trolled in a very specific way in order to get banned, reached out to the mods for a single thread exception and then posted a specifically prepared video with what would take thousands of dollars in CGI all for the purposes of deceiving a bunch of cape forum yahoos?

This thread came from a mod and required a ban exemption for the post to be made. Something has happened behind the scenes here that's more complicated than someone pulling a lame prank.

►Forgotten Specter

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Cape Forum Yahoos Represent!

Seriously though, shouldn't it be Garment Gloves? Garmentgloves? How is that supposed to go?

►Great_Divide (Veteran Member)

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Garment comes from the Mod, so I'm guessing that's the cape name? Could be difference between screen name and hero name, or even first name last name. There's clearly been some PMs going on here.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 21, 22, 23

Rather than dig through twenty pages of similar material just I jumped to the end.

(Showing page 23 of 23)

►RowOver

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Holy Shit, Invisible Fashion Cape!

►BB_Fashionista

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

God, read the previous posts. It's not invisibility. At 2:34 you can see a piece of lint moving through where her head and body would be. It's either selective intangibility or some kind of telekinetic projection.

►Asian_American_Doll

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

It's probably Parian. She's just doing everything from off camera.

►BB_Fashionista

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

For fuck sake, not this again. For the hundredth time there's no way this is Parian. Parian doesn't make bias cut evening dresses in a modernization of Madeleine Vionnet's 1930's style. Parian hasn't touched bias cut since her first attempt got panned during New York Fashion Week back in September 2009. I don't know if you ever watched one of Parian streams but their techniques are completely different. The embroidery alone should tell you that.

I'm sick and tired of making this point. But maybe your right, Maybe Parian decided to create a new online identity and coordinate postings at the same time she was guest co-hosting on the Fashion East-North-East podcast. Maybe she set all this up, the ban, the mod appeal, the new identity despite the fact that it's grounds for having your main account suspended, because it's not like forum rules apply to capes. Maybe she did all this to premiere an actual innovative style and show she's finally moving in a new direction.

If seriously she did all that I could totally forgive her for the fact that her fall 2010 line was just the second bustle era with shorter hemlines and no color sense, but somehow I doubt it.

►Asian_American_Doll

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

God damn, can anyone on this forum mention Parian without BB_Fashionista having to write an essay in response? And you're crazy. The fall 2010 line was her best work to date and it's sad that you can't see that.

►Dingo_Day

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Guys, we're getting off topic. Can we talk about how crazy it is that Brockton Bay has more than one telekinetic fashion cape? What do they put in the water up there?

►BB_Fashionista

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

We certainly have more than one telekinetic cape, I'll give you that.

►Asian_American_Doll

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

Ladies and gentleman, a cheap shot from BB_Fashionista that doesn't read like they're being paid by the word. Will wonders never cease?

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)

Replied On Apr 16th 2011:

I'm getting tired of saying this, but move the Parian discussion to her own thread or take it to PMs. There will be no more warnings.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 21, 22, 23

Well, that got more heated than I anticipated, but cape debates are inevitable and have a tendency to fly off the rails. I quickly skimmed Garment's introduction thread. Fortunately with the video out there people seemed to be taking her one word replies in good humor. They weren't getting much detail, but anyone who complained about it got shouted down pretty fast. It was incredible how quickly the tone of a site changed, or at least the tone of the members willing to post on a cape's introduction thread.

I felt the Celestial Forge again and braced myself. Getting caught up on Garment's reception had nicely distracted me from the impact of my last power, but now everything was flooding back to me. As I watched the approaching constellation most of my concerns vanished. Toolkits. The constellation that had given me my workshop and Laboratorium. I didn't know how many workshop upgrades were in there as opposed to actual toolkits, but I was desperate for more work space. The only disheartening thing was how short my reach was after securing the last two powers.

Fortunately I managed to connect with something. Unfortunately it was the smallest mote in the constellation, possibly the smallest in the entire Celestial Forge. It was actually two motes, not related in any way, just bunched up to look like a normal mote. The toolkit constellation had finally given me some tools.

The first mote was called Diagnostic Tools. To my understanding it was a small set of scanners connected to a display screen that allowed diagnostic work on both simple and advanced technology. Nowhere near as good as my Laboratorium but infinitely more portable. I would have to examine it to determine the exact limits and how well it compared, but it presented opportunities in the field I just didn't have before and might even allow rapid, if superficial, analysis of tinker tech.

The second item was called Micromanipulators. These were a set of mechanical gloves that allowed precision work to the level a single micron. While I had been working a thousand times finer than that in my nanoforge these would let me extend high precision to every task I undertook, even those outside of a crafting and research environment. Once again, the limits and potential could only be guessed at before I had a chance to examine them, and unfortunately I had more pressing concerns.

"I've got to run some tests in the Laboratorium. Are you alright here?"

Garment gave me an affirmative gesture and bid me farewell. As a pleasant surprise so did the copy of Survey running on the laptop. It was an impressive amount of development, though dealing with forum posts would likely do that. I would need to spend more time monitoring both programs in the neural interface, but that was on a long list of projects I was working to tackle.

I did take enough time to check on the new arrivals. A pair of new lockers had been added to the entry way. One had a nearly industrial look to it and swung open to reveal a flat screen the size of my palm. There were various ports with cables attached to them that led to an array of scanners and probes. I would need to take a closer look to get a sense of the range and level of detail of its scans.

The next locker was sleek and futuristic, just a white metal panel recessed into the wall. Rather than swing open the panel slid apart with a smooth hydraulic motion. Inside were stands holding a pair of mechanical gloves that would extend to the elbow when worn. There was a dark layer of some synthetic material covered with metallic structures that looked almost skeletal. Around the wrists, knuckles, and elbows were bulges representing the clusters of precise servos and artificial muscles that provided the level of precision that the gloves were capable of. Once again, incredibly useful, but a project for later. The longer I left this examination the less accurate the data would be.

Actually, if I was being examined I'd need someone else to operate the scanner. I didn't want to tear Garment away from her laptop and frankly given her skill with a conventional keyboard I didn't trust her to operate a gothic computer shrine. Fleet had shown serious improvements and should be able to manage a basic series of operations at this point. I guided him out of the workshop and through the door to the Laboratorium.

I knew my Laboratorium didn't like magic. I knew my Laboratorium didn't like alien lifeforms. At this point I should be used to the idea of my Laboratorium randomly freaking out over stuff brought into it. Despite that I wasn't prepared for every skull in the cathedral sized room to start convulsing at the site of my motoroid walking inside.

Apparently the systems in the Laboratorium took issues with robots. Well, specifically artificially intelligent robots, or as the computers insisted on calling them, Abominable Intelligences. It was a level of panic I couldn't even override. Every computer in the room was going into lockdown and cutting itself off from connections like it was about to be infected by some invisible plague. Only the skulls remained operational and they were definitely not happy.

I couldn't understand it. I knew there were the equivalences of A.I. in some of the Laboratorium's systems. Ok, they were referred to as machine spirits, but they were a lot more advanced than Fleet. Why were they acceptable and not my driving program?

I had to dig into the documentation to figure out what was going on. By that I mean actual paper documentation. I didn't even know that existed, but apparently there was a hardcopy reference library included with the lab. The shelves were just usually covered with a series of murals depicting nine figures posing in heavy armor with advanced weapons. Eight men of various levels of gruffness, their armor a spectrum of colors, and one beautifully depicted woman with angel wings and golden armor. The entire assembly slid open to reveal a density of literature I hadn't encountered since the hell that was my second year engineering research project.

Fortunately the reference library had its own set of skulls. There was something about them that just conveyed a sense of librarian. There's a certain aura to that profession that can't be dispelled even when reduced to a skinless head suspended on a coil of servo cables. They somehow managed to convey both annoyance and helpfulness at the same time as they directed me to a volume that would put phone books to shame. Luckily they were also able to direct me to the relevant section.

In short, in order to get the place out of lockdown I needed to confirm the limits of the program's development to ensure that it was an upstanding automaton rather than some renegade A.I. out to devour all innocent circuitry that crossed its path. By the way, that was a direct quote. That task could be accomplished by verification of the programs resources, parameters, and hardware through an isolated terminal. Once that was passed I had to move on to the induction process.

Just to getting the green light from the analysis wasn't enough to appease my lab systems. No, there needed to be a specific ceremony before they would accept my motoroid's presence. Which is why I was watching a skull reverently attach a wax seal to a strip of inscribed parchment and mount it to my robot's chassis. It seemed like pointless showmanship, but once the blob of wax was stamped with that image of a two headed eagle every system in the room immediately relaxed. It was a seemingly arbitrary requirement and while I was worried about running into any more of these limitations I wasn't going to trudge through that entire library trying to figure out the arcane procedures for this place. Not until Bakuda was no longer a threat.

With the seal in place the skulls were more than happy to assist Fleet in operation of the Laboratorium's systems. I stood in one of the larger bays and ran a full activation of nanites as the scanners spun around me. The faint blue glow of the circuitry lines contrasted sharply with the eerie gloom of the room's ambient lighting. I ignored everything around me and focused on the effects of the activation.

The burning in my legs vanished almost immediately. The physical edge of my fatigue went along with it, though I was still mentally exhausted. I felt energy return to me as the machines worked. It was almost as if the effects of the run were being erased, which was actually my concern.

When I stopped noticing any more changes I let the nanites stand down and checked the sensor readings. There was a chance that I had just wiped out all the benefits of my morning exercise. If that was the case nanite extraction would get complicated and probably be limited to a single burst on rest days. Fortunately that couldn't be further from the case.

I scrolled through the sensor data and watched the work of the nanites. Given how advanced they were I shouldn't have been surprised, but it was still impressive to watch. They weren't just fixing damage, they were extrapolating natural recovery, including the benefits of exercise. The effects weren't being erased, they were being accelerated. I could probably do a week's worth of high intensity workouts in a single day, break them up with nanite repair sessions, and immediately get the full benefit of the exercise. It effectively truncated my training program.

There was also an alert from the historic analysis of the Laboratorium. It seemed the sensors had recorded a related phenomenon earlier. I drew up the record and immediately recognized the potential.

Life Fibers.

My brief contact with life fibers had been recorded by the Laboratorium's sensors. The manner in which they stressed the body was connected with my post workout condition. Essentially contact with life fibers counted as serious strain on the body's systems, but in a generally non-damaging way. With standard recovery periods it could function as accelerated physical conditioning. Except with my nanites I could reduce the recovery period to mere minutes. Repeated life fiber exposure could quickly bring me to peak human condition, potentially further given the symbiotic enhancement the fibers were capable of. I wouldn't even need to used them in the field, they could be my training regimen and condense weeks or months of work down to hours.

I suppressed a yawn as I considered the implications. There would be no more morning runs. I wouldn't have to bother with weight training. That planned calisthenics program could be abandoned. I'd have no need to run early in the day. Without having to carefully monitor my nutrition I could eat normally, saving time and money. I could abandon the planned expansions of my conditioning program. I wouldn't have to wake up early to fit cardio training into my schedule. I would have more desperately needed time for tinkering. I would be able to sleep in.

I looked to the stasis field where the spool of life fibers was suspended and started considering the best experimental procedure for this project. Fleet would be essential since robots didn't have any biology that would trigger or attract the fibers. With that I'd be able to devise a system of controlled exposure. If it worked the way the scans suggested then I'd be able to create a regime of brief exposure and recovery that would completely take the place of all of my physical development work.

When I had completed my preparations the final apparatus involved both myself and the motoroid in one of the larger bays with continually active sensors. The spool was locked down in an improvised vice with a carefully controlled length of life fibers strung between the robot's arms like a cat's cradle. It would provide a large area of contact while still being controlled enough to facilitate an abort if needed. I was preparing for contact using my forearm while ready for retreat in the event of any mishaps. The fibers had been completely inert during the setup procedure, but I remembered how they moved the last time I experimented with them.

The Celestial Forge missed a connection with the Magic constellation just as I was finishing preparations. I stifled a yawn and shook the cobwebs out of my head. Nanites were great for physical refreshment, but that did precisely jack for my mental state. I should probably get some sleep after this experiment was complete.

I considered my safety procedures. I had gotten my hyper alloy shin guard, so in the event of any kind of breach I would be safe until I can contain the fibers. I doubt that will be a problem since they're being restrained by my motoroid who's made of the same stuff. My nanites should be able to mitigate any bodily effects from contact with the life fibers. In an emergency the bay's stasis field controls were within arm's reach. The narrow field configuration would catch the motoroid but also immobilize the fibers.

I braced myself, checked the scanner inputs, and laid the back of my forearm against the mesh of fibers. The glow that burst from them dwarfed the emission seen during the previous experiment. It was actually painful to look at, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of power extending up my arm and into my body. It was electrifying and overwhelmed my senses.

That was probably why I didn't register the creak of metal until it was too late. There was a wrenching crash as the fibers snapped together, tearing the motoroid's limbs apart and ensnaring my entire arm. The sensation of energy and power I'd been struggling elevated to insane levels as they wrapped around me. With my entangled state the stasis controls were out of reach. Even if I could activate them they would do nothing to the portion of the fibers that had pulled away from the spool. I heard a warning beep from the terminal's biometrics and channeled all my focus to the activation of my nanites.

Blue lines clashed with red as more and more of the thread spun its way around my body, knocking me to the ground. Fleet struggled futilely with the shattered remains of the motoroid's arms in an effort to keep the spool contained. Even if the motoroid form wasn't crippled it was doubtful anything could be accomplished against them. The level of restraint necessary had been badly miscalculated. My analysis had been of the fibers in their dormant state. They were an entirely different beast when connected to a host.

The restoration effect of my nanites proved to be a double edged sword. It was preventing any serious harm from being caused by the fibers, but also creating an essentially infinite feast for the creature that had been trapped in hibernation for Lord knows how long. The result was a level of activity that dwarfed the reactions seen before and eclipsed even my most aggressive estimates. Steam started to fill the examination bay as sweat began to boil off my skin. My exercise clothing began to singe under the fibers grip, its enhanced durability no match for the exotic energies they were putting out. Anywhere fibers touched skin they glowed like a magnesium flare, sending waves of power through my muscles, but they were still useless against the strength of the threads. My body felt hot and cold and electrified all at the same time. Flesh bulged around the fibers as they pulled against both the strength of my reinforcement and the restorative power of my nanites.

The nanites were the only thing letting me survive this mess. Theoretically I could last as long as they held out, which thanks to their flagrant disregard for conservation of energy and mass would be until I could no longer direct them. So I was trapped here until I passed out at which point the fibers would drain me dry.

This had been a bad idea. It was inevitable really. No good ideas happened after 3:00am. I knew that before I got my powers, but it was only more evident now. Post-3:00am thinking had decided giving magic weapons to a teenage super villain was a great idea. Now post-3:00am thinking was responsible for an experiment with an alien parasite that amounted to sticking my arm into it to see what would happen. I needed to get serious about my sleep commitments if I was going to have any chance of surviving this cape thing.

My options for survival in the current situation weren't exactly plentiful, but I had one hope. In a desperate bid I attempted to stretch the limits of my nanite control and reached out to the fibers entrapping me.

It was similar to my healing effect, but much more directed. When I said the fibers were impossibly thin I wasn't kidding. The individual cells had a diameter that was barely recognizable on the nano scale. There was also an immediate restorative effect, so even if I could directly damage them with my nanites it would be instantly healed. But by propagating nanites through the structure of the fibers I could feel out the mass, including the complex energy discharges that passed for its cognitive processes. It took some work, but I was able to get a rough sense of what it was thinking, sort of.

Everything was instinctual, which was probably why I was able to piece it together. Any more complex thoughts would have been completely opaque. The drives were basic in the extreme. Connect. Feed. Grow. I couldn't do anything about the first or last directive, but I extended my nanites and focused on the restorative effects I'd theorized about with my own healing.

The tiny machines flowed between the fibers and worked to supplement the energy flows they were pulling from my body. It didn't loosen the grip, but the overwhelming surges of power flowing to and from my body dropped off and I could feel my head clear slightly. I got a sense of what might have been satisfaction from the fibers. It was difficult to understand and I wasn't sure they were complex enough for emotional reactions, or even capable of such. Still, the current situation had definitely dropped the level of aggression I was experiencing.

It struck me again just how complicated this creature was. It was obviously sentient and had the potential to become sapient. It had its own drives and desires and the capacity for both restraint and, theoretically, reason. If it developed enough communication might just be a possibility. Of course, that relied on me being able to get out of this mess without being devoured.

Suddenly, miraculously, the life fibers pulled themselves off my skin. I watched in amazement as the entire mass uncoiled itself from my body and lifted into the air. It still glowed faintly, but nothing like the blinding radiance from before. As it departed I felt the tumultuous energy go with it, leaving me panting and exhausted, but finally safe. I lay on the floor staring at the floating assembly of thread and wondered just what had brought my salvation. Then I saw the white gloves.

"Garment?"

I twisted to see Garment's form standing by the scanning bay gesturing casually at the massive alien parasite. The insane strength of the fibers seemed completely irrelevant to Garment's telekinesis as she absentmindedly examined the hovering creature. It appeared that it didn't matter what kind of force something could bring to bear. If it counted as sewing materials Garment could handle it.

"Garment." I panted and struggled to pull myself to my feet. She reached down to gently help me up without as much as a tremble from the contained fibers. "Garment, thank you." I glanced around. "How did you know what was happening?"

She gestured to the motoroid and then to her laptop, which was now sitting on one of the computer altars. Fleet and Survey. Of course they would be in communication. This was an excellent sign for their development. I really needed to check on that. I'd check later. Boy I was tired.

One of the skulls was reverently affixing a wax seal and scrap of parchment to the laptop's case while Fleet looked on with what could be construed as pride. Yes that was good. Seriously, I was really, really tired.

"Thank you Garment. That was very good. Uh, be careful with those. Fleet knows where they go." I looked at the damaged motoroid. I would have to fix that as well. Huh, I wonder if I would be able to stand on my own without Garment's support. Ok, that's a nope, definitely not happening. Thank you Garment. Nice catch.

"The fibers are important. If you could help me with them they could do a lot of good." She made a dismissive gesture of consent before pointing out my current state. The fibers had managed to burn dozens of lines through my workout clothes reducing them to shreds. The nanites had kept my body from ending up in a similar state, but weren't able to counter all of the effects from removing the fibers. My brain felt like a lead brick.

"Right, I need to deal with that. And a bunch of other stuff. I'll get to it." I felt my eyelids droop. "I'm just going to take a little nap first." And with that the Laboratorium and everyone in it faded from my senses as darkness swallowed me.

Jumpchain abilities this chapter:

Fingers of Silver (Macross) 200:

While other kids were building tinker-toy creations, you were fiddling with your dad's car and doing a better job than him. By purchasing this, meddling with machines and OverTechnology is as easy as breathing for you. By getting your hands on something, you can easily figure out how it works and how to copy its inner workings, provided that it wasn't just bullshit magic. The more advanced something is, the harder it may be... but with time and effort, you just might succeed.

Skills: Physics (Star Trek - TNG+DS9) 100:

How the universe works. The law of gravity, the conservation of matter & energy, quantum physics, etc. Remember though, there are dozens of creatures in this universe that defy the laws of human physics, so you may want to try and rewrite a few of these books while your here.

Science! Mechanics (Transformers) 100: Your programming is focused on either Mechanics, Medical, or a field of Science (Pick One), this gives you equivalent of a Cybertronian PHD in that field of study.

Science! Engineering (Transformers) 100: Your programming is focused on either Mechanics, Medical, or a field of Science (Pick One), this gives you equivalent of a Cybertronian PHD in that field of study.

Micromanipulators (A Certain Scientific Railgun) 50:

These rather delicate gloves were meant for scientific purposes. They're reinforced with small motors and electrically contracting artificial muscles to allow you to perform delicate work on the scale of one millionth of a meter. While they're definitely more suited to scientific experiments, they can be put to use in any situation that requires steady hands like aiming a rifle, conducting brain surgery, cooking, defusing a bomb, or even bypassing some redirection and shielding abilities.

Diagnostic Tools (Outlaw Star) 50:

A small data display with numerous connectors and scanners, capable of letting you know what is wrong with simple technology and what advanced technology that has been programmed into it.