witch's cape, not hat

[characterquarry]

Grendyne groans and starts pulling on her boots when the alarm goes off. Again. She quick-marches to the broom hangar, sits on her machine and is handed a plethora of loaded weapons by attentive corporals.

"Two flyers in one day? They're getting way too common."

"It's worse," the commander informs them, "South Karlsland got hit with three at once. We're taking Lytee's express and sleeping there. You can sit out if you absolutely need to, but Freya's still recovering so we could use you as a comms relay."

"No, I'll come. I just reserve the right to complain about it."

The 42nd United Forces Witch Wing takes off and assembles into a perfect synchronized formation as Lytee charges her teleport power.



...This is not South Karlsland wilderness.

[note: halfway through this thread I created a unique account for Grendyne. Do not be alarmed by the change in account. -Rockeye]

Comments

[witchwatcher]

"Sure. I might have to leave suddenly, I've got contracts for emergency healing out. Teleporting is much faster than an ambulance. But we can just pick up again later if that happens."

[wormcan]

"For now, though, you still need the memory and emotion alterations. This'll take a bit longer than the scans did."

[witchwatcher]

"They won't be a device that I might lose or break? Convenient. Unless they can break me."

[wormcan]

"I call it an implant 'cause it works better with literal ones, but it turns out people object to having chips in their heads no matter how many medical degrees I tell them I have. You can get most of the same effect without that, though. Don't even have to put you under. Just don't teleport out part way through having your brain messed with."

The thing that does the messing with is a chair half-surrounded by so much machinery it's almost a small room in its own right. It's all white and ovoid and the visual impression is like nothing so much as a giant egg.

[witchwatcher]

She sets her thing down and settles into the chair without comment. Tinkertech is tinkertech.

[wormcan]

A band settles around her forehead, keeping it in the same approximate place. "I'm leaving the unnecessary sound effects off this time. If you're wondering if the Deneuralyzer is doing anything, it is." There's no visible sign of whether it's doing anything. For all Gren can see, Cranial could be playing Galaga at the controls and expecting her customer not to notice.

[witchwatcher]

Gren idly considers trying to alter her Siberian-projections, but it's a very specific pattern, doing something weird involving physics she doesn't really understand. It wouldn't work if she changed something, in all likelihood.

[wormcan]

It takes about forty minutes before the tinker announces "Done."

"Next up, instant tech education.
You sure you didn't want the free practice with anything else too? Languages, martial arts, piano? The kind of things where you'd have to prove you're eighteen first?"

[witchwatcher]

"Is there a martial art that's good for dodging, or for striker powers that just have to touch to win? This world's version of Suomic and Ostkav might be nice, in terms of languages. Spanish too. As to the last thing, no. Just no. It'd be creepy to learn that from machines."

[wormcan]

"Spanish and Finnish, and I don't know what Ostkav is.
For martial arts, baritsu is a good one for avoiding contact. Slipping through and leaving the opponent clawing the air and all that. Works as well as any for landing touches too, if you're the striker involved."

[witchwatcher]

"Baritsu it is, then. Ostkav... I don't think it actually has a counterpart, here. The nation of Ostmark is a dozen or more countries in this world. Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine. Nevermind."

[wormcan]

"Just the three skills then. Five thou each and two hours of letting me copy techniques?"

[witchwatcher]

"Deal."

[wormcan]

It's just information being downloaded, but it feels like Gren is experiencing learning the things as normal except sped up several thousand times. It somehow makes learning languages not boring. She gets three "I Know Kung Fu" moments in less than half an hour.

[witchwatcher]

It's also just a little bit scary how easily the grey mush that is her can be changed so deeply. At least she's only getting things she asked for changed, Heartbreaker wouldn't be so considerate.

She's in a thoughtful mood today, huh?

The two hours of demonstrating techniques so Cranial can copy them will go by subjectively quickly as Gren considers her new knowledge.

[wormcan]

And after Copycat pays the rest of the money, it'll be a successful dubiously legal business deal.

[witchwatcher]

After she takes care of some outstanding jobs, it's time to pay an invisible visit to Brockton Bay to see if the Undersiders are being evil, and to try to find Coil again.

[wormcan]

The Undersiders have effectively taken over the city. All other gangs have been driven out, and confrontations with the heroes usually end with the villains escaping without serious injury on either side. (Assuming serious injury is defined not to include pain. Skitter can be merciless when she's fighting to end a fight.) The Merchants went down easily, the mercenary groups have largely moved on, and the solo villains aren't much of a threat.

As far as anyone knows, the Undersiders are mostly not extorting protection money or selling drugs or taking advantage of being the only major villains at all. How exactly this is profitable for them is an open question, but at least controlling a city is good for their reputation.


If Coil is still in the city, there's no sign of him. His soldiers put up some resistance, but seem to have either fled or defected to Tattletale.

[witchwatcher]

Hm. Well, she's never been good at tracking. If Coil has melted into the shadows he can stay there.

Copycat would like to know whether Dinah Alcott is still alright, though, and maybe visit her.

[significantfigures]

Dinah is all right, or at least as close as one can get when one is like twelve and coming out of that kind of drug withdrawal. She has been selling predictions to the Protectorate and being cossetted by her parents and is perfectly happy to receive a visit from Gren, for a rather solemn value of perfectly happy.

[witchwatcher]

It's been a while and Gren is mostly just resentful of Coil and not having much in the way of ongoing symptoms. But Dinah was under him for quite a lot longer.

Copycat can give her a jolt of well-being from one of her healing powers when she visits, because why not? She names a time and lets Dinah pick the place.

[significantfigures]

They could go get ice cream. Ice cream is nice.

[witchwatcher]

Yeah, ice cream is nice.

One of the many sensory powers she likes to keep half-active whenever she's out and about is Skitter's bug-sense. They're not in her territory, but if the terrifying swarm queen comes by Copycat will probably notice.

Gren shows up in street clothes, though her mask is in the messenger bag at her side just in case. She finds Dinah easily. "Hullo, Dinah. How's freedom treating you?"

[significantfigures]

"It's - better," Dinah says. "My parents are still... strongly reacting... to everything but I'm glad to be out. How've you been?"

[witchwatcher]

"I'm doing well, on average. There's lots of stuff to see on this Earth, so I've been wandering a lot. My mom's still on Earth Gimel so I haven't seen her much recently, but that's kinda traditional for Witches. The wandering, not the entirely new world."