Finders Keepers

[all_too_familiar]

Sometimes witches have powers before they turn. But this is rare, uncommon.

More often, a potential witch displays almost nothing out of the ordinary at all. Just, say, a little more skill with people, a little more natural charisma. An extra dose of something that could almost be called luck, if one were paying attention and on the lookout for witches.

There is one such maybe-potential, right over there. He's not from around here, but he is fluent in Italian and French and German and he professes that English is his first language and laughs when people call him a liar because of his perfect accent. He might not be the most powerful, but a polyglot witch could be useful for something. And who knows, maybe there's more to it.

Maybe someone would care to find out.

Comments

[taste_tester]

"Huh," she says. "Turkey. Oh, I like this, I like it a lot. Any way in particular you were hoping to make it jump?"

[all_too_familiar]

...

She copied his power.

Okay. That's fine. She's absolutely fucking terrifying, but that's fine.

"It can't tell the difference between vampires and humans at all, I'd like to figure out a way to tell with just my power. That's the major one that bothers me, but otherwise it just feels like it's - not accurate enough. A bit unfocused, maybe."

[taste_tester]

"It found you me - it could not have done better, you came to the right place - and you can't make it find 'eidetic memory'?"

[all_too_familiar]

"Nope. Tried. It doesn't like it, I think it feels too impersonal for it? And a while back I was looking for someone that could help with freezing organs and it got very bizarre on me. I don't know why, or how to have it be accurate instead of bizarre."

[taste_tester]

"Ooh, bizarre how?"

[all_too_familiar]

"Well, it sent me after people who had fruit preservation as a hobby, one that preserves leaves in books, and then a taxidermist - and then I managed to get it to focus on preserving bodies instead of items and got funerary workers and hospice workers and a dentist."

[taste_tester]

"Hmmm."

She starts trying variants. 'Someone who will never forget it if we meet'? 'Someone potentially dangerous'? 'Someone who really fucking knows what pain feels like'?

[all_too_familiar]

The first gets nothing, the second gets an answer but it's not vampires only, the third does the same but with different subjects. Blair is included in both the second and third. It might be possible to have multiple 'searches' out at once, but the power doesn't seem to have that ability.

[taste_tester]

"I think you could find vampires if you could get it to do intersections," she concludes. "I can't make it do something like that until you've managed it. What happens if you try?"

[all_too_familiar]

"It switches to an entirely new search, though I can get a bit of mileage out of being very specific. I'd like intersections, though."

[taste_tester]

"What are some things it finds most easily?"

[all_too_familiar]

"Major personality traits, hobbies. It seems to like doing things that people care about, and only shows me people with certain jobs if they actually care about the job."

[taste_tester]

Addy tries to find mated vampires.

[all_too_familiar]

Bingo. Vampires only.

But then, that's not all vampires, is it.

[taste_tester]

No, it's not... but trying to get complete exhaustive assessments out of this power seems like it's not playing to its strengths.

Capacity to be a mated vampire?

[all_too_familiar]

Well that seems similar to a 'search all,' catching humans and vampires both, though Addy herself is not included.

[taste_tester]

It didn't reject the search entirely, though. Come on, picky picky, proximal capacity to be a mated vampire. It's okay if it excludes Addy. She knows where she is.

[all_too_familiar]

That one just gets rejected.

[taste_tester]

"Your witchcraft is an obstinate little beastie," she says. "You might've had better results if I'd got to you earlier on in its development..."

Fear of/respect for the Volturi, how about that?

[all_too_familiar]

"I'm a fairly young vampire, just over two years old. How early's best?"

It'll do fear/respect of a government entity, but doesn't seem to understand the Volturi as a concept.

[taste_tester]

"Earlier the better. Although working with newborns isn't anybody's idea of a fun time."

He's got to have already tried this, but: what does she get if she filters for extreme, desperate, high-intensity passion for comestibles?

[all_too_familiar]

...

That's interesting. The search goes through, but it definitely doesn't get all vampires, and it picks up humans, too. Addy and Blair are not on the vampire list.

[taste_tester]

"Oh, this silly thing grades on a curve," Addy says.

[all_too_familiar]

Blair blinks.

"... That explains some things."

[taste_tester]

"Yes. Can you get it to stop? Or at least pick whether you're looking through the remedial or the honors?"