Five…
FIVE THOUSAND!?!!
They… They brought over 5,000 bars of copper for the armor.
I'm SOOOOO glad I haven't put on the 3x armor yet, because I immediately gave it to them.
Dr. Armstrong even said it probably won't be 5000 again, but said he thought he could probably find another 3-4000 if I gave him a month, so that's a done deal as far as I'm concerned.
A full armor set is 24 ingots.
A 3x set is 72 ingots.
I can make 69 3x copper armor sets with this!
I needed 6.
432 ingots.
wat.
…
Well, suffice it to say that I made 7, 3x copper armors for the team.
Actually, I made 3 each, since 3x Armor is default, but it seems I can kind of loophole my way into enchanting.
So they each got an:
"Armor 3, Maneuverability 1"
"Armor 1, Maneuverability 3"
"Armor 2, Maneuverability 2"
set of armor.
I left what set they wear to engagements up to them.
Which really seems to mean that it's up to Raymond, but they all agreed that's "what I meant," so I went with it.
I also made a set for myself, but since I should just be reborn if I'm killed as a Phoenix, then I figure I'll just transform in any danger.
Still, there's a chance it'll come up, so I made myself a "Armor 1, Maneuverability 3" set.
And I made Vista an "Armor 2, Maneuverability 2" set, since I'm like 90% sure it's better than her current body armor.
Though I'm not sure how she'll get it past PR with it being a dark orange and her whole thing being Green and Gold.
Still, she wanted one and she got it.
And I've got 3,344 ingots left!
…
I also asked if I should give them the Dwarven Rings, but they agreed about the wraith thing.
But Raymond did end up "Reserving" 1 of my slots for items to be determined.
Saundra and Alex think it would be easier to take down Uber and Leet if they went in with items the two would easily recognize, so their now in charge of finding 2 of those.
While Raymond wants to see if he can find some kind of "AOE healing item," so he's gonna look into that.
I guess we'll see.
…
But, now that I know what a 900cp roll is like, I think I'm gonna hold off for a while.
I'm gonna need to roll in a few weeks for the Scientists, so hopefully I'll get something big then, but if not, then I'm gonna try to build up.
Because cool as this is, I really figured I'd have some kind of outright magic, or alchemy, or something to be working on by now.
What with it being called the Celestial Grimoire and all.
But instead, every roll but Libriomancy and Fuinjutsu has been pretty firmly limited.
But I have no clue how to increase my Libriomancy slots, or abilities, and Fuinjutsu is apparently just a lifetime of practice.
So here's to hoping my next big roll is like "Up to 2nd Level Spells from DnD" or some books from one of those "anyone can learn it" magic systems like Earthsea's True Names or the Applied Mathematics of The Laundry Files… Like ReplyReport Reactions:noka133, S1m0nWr1t3, LogicExtreme11 and 4 othersOblationDec 4, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 27: Interlude: Emily Piggot - Part 1 of 3 - The Who View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 4, 2025Add bookmark#30It would be a lie to say that Emily Piggot disliked capes.
Nobody born after The First Hero's appearance could really be said to dislike all capes, not watching as Scion spent 35 years tirelessly going from person to person (and cat), saving lives and halting disasters.
No, what Emily dislikes is People.
If there was one thing taught early in the Pikettsen Household, it was that there's no such thing as kindness.
Space and a few years studying psychology have shown her how neglecting a child can often be as damaging as outright abusing them.
But at the time, she simply thought that her family was teaching her a valuable lesson.
Nobody acts for the sake of acting.
Every kindness is an expectation, and every sneer a test.
So, upon being kicked out on her 18th birthday. (No surprise by then.)
She sought to make a place for herself.
Where she wouldn't be reliant on the " kindness " of others to make it.
Of course, as an 18-year-old with little savings and no way to finish high school without a place to stay, she picked the obvious path and enlisted in the Army…
Or tried to.
It would seem the Army would rather take the 31-year-old guy who was 5'7 and weighed 300 pounds that entered ahead of her.
Then it would an athletic woman in the peak of her life who was only 5'1… on her toes.
Still, not all was lost.
She might not meet army standards (which is a thing they apparently gained at some point), but the recruiter pointed her to the Parahuman Response Team.
Who in 1988 could barely be said to exist, much less have any kind of standard for recruits, so she was brought in.
Her story for the next 13 years wasn't that different from many.
Misogyny led to spite, led to her putting in more hours and more effort, until by 2000 she had finished a Bachelor's in History of Law and been made a Senior Lieutenant in the by then much better-organized PRT.
Still, at 5 feet tall, she didn't have much field effectiveness she could afford to lose, so at 31, age was starting to become a factor, and she had begun questioning what her next step would be.
It was likely she wouldn't make it much further than being a Strike Commander for a year or two, but there were plenty of places a former Strike Commander could go, both in the PRT and not.
And then Ellisburg happened.
A combination of bad luck, incompetence, and the unclear hierarchy of having two ostensibly separate organizations tasked to deal with Parahuman matters simultaneously.
The initial response was an absolute mess.
A single PRT squad and a Ward were sent on what was thought of as a milk run to deal with some distress calls about a changer in some little town near Lake Ontario.
The absolutely panicked call for aid that was sent a few hours later, however, had gotten people moving.
That the unknown cape had been known to have killed at least dozens of people, not to mention a Ward.
And all they had to go off was the description of a "weird goblin man," and the troopers' panicked report about a Human-Master who could turn corpses into minions.
And into that were going 120 PRT Troopers under the Command of Strike Commander Morituri and herself.
Along with a bewilderingly separate 40 troopers, possibly led by the 6th Cape to use the moniker "Victor."
Though his "orders," such as they were, had mostly been summed up as "keep civilians out of the way and don't start shooting until the fighting starts."
Not that it mattered.
For all the memorials and genuine heroes of the day, including the other cape present, Ultimus, who would go on to save at least 30 lives, including Emily's own.
Victor was still the stupidest and most pointless death she'd ever seen.
Who just shakes the hand of an unknown cape, one who'd just killed a ward, no less?
A brand new Goblin, that's who.
Still, while she got out of Ellisburg and managed to bring a few dozen troopers and civilians with her, she didn't exactly manage to do it on her feet.
And while she would eventually make a nearly full recovery, she had essentially managed to hit middle age, 8 years early.
Still, she had been made Strike Commander a few years early, and would manage to keep the position at least as long as it took to either kill Rinkie or, failing that, to push him far enough north that the future quarantine zone would be free to use the more interesting munitions, rather than keeping it PC for the civvies living a few miles away.
So, 9 months later, with a body as good as it was ever going to be again, and a career that looked to be the same, she convinced her superiors to let her make that damn stupid challenge.
Still, it worked.
The Goblins had gone as mad as expected after Rinkie's death, but they had also been stuck, since Rinkie had managed to transport most of them over to René-Levasseur Island by then, in preparation to establish his little "kingdom."
So in the end, the containment zone did exist, if only for a year to make damn sure they'd gotten the last of Rinkie's monstrosities.
But that had left the PRT with something of a pickle.
Her.
Emily had a damn impressive record, even before all that Kingslayer nonsense, but at the same time, she had almost no training in anything but fieldwork and a body that had 2 years at best before she started failing the minimum requirements for said fieldwork.
Still, she wasn't an idiot, so Emily had taken the 19 months she had as a strike commander to quietly work through a master's degree through correspondence.
Which meant, in theory, she met the minimum standards of a Sub-Director.
She was over 30, highly educated, and with provable experience in both law enforcement and parahuman affairs.
Her record was impressive enough, and she's heard that Knoxville, Tennessee, had gone nearly a year without a Sub-Director.
Even if Sub-Director is where careers in the PRT go to die, they also weren't limited by short-sighted political BS like the Full-Directorships, so it wouldn't lose the Blue-Bloods anything to fob her off onto one.
Except… That's not what happened.
Not sure if she was being set up to fail or had genuinely impressed someone important, Emily suddenly found herself as the Deputy Director of the City of Chicago.
Suddenly, she was in charge of the day-to-day affairs for the PRT's largest branch in terms of numbers.
So, she did what she always does.
Pushed through on spite.
And over the course of a few years, she found out that she was once again correct to depend on her Spite.
In particular, Director Taggue was apparently thankful to have not needed to add another quarantine zone to his already overburdened workload and so had been championing her as a future Full-Director.
But, as she lacked the political networking, or old money generally required, they'd intentionally given her a Deputy-Directorship intended to be too much for her.
But. It. Wasn't.
So, in the year 2008, Emily Piggot, who'd been a nobody High-School Dropout 20 years previously, was now one of the 50 Full-Heads of the PRT and put in charge of the protection of the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, and told to do it with a headquarters smack in the middle of the worst clusterfuck of a city on the East Coast.
Well, spite had taken her this far… Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, noka133, S1m0nWr1t3 and 4 othersOblationDec 4, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 28: Interlude: Emily Piggot - Part 2 of 3 - The Why View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 4, 2025Add bookmark#32The problem with Saga Byrne is that Emily genuinely can't find her problem.
First starting in the tense atmosphere of her childhood home, Emily had learned how to build a basic model of people around her.
When this model was detailed enough, they would never surprise her, as had eventually happened with her parents.
And contrary to what people thought, the few times she had attempted to explain this, it had nothing to do with being rational, or even just mapping out the topics where a person would be irrational.
That was basic social dynamics, to the point that small children were expected to do it instinctively.
The closest Emily had ever come to someone understanding her was when talking to an Old Fisherman who often helped the rather strange PRT branch in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The way he talked about navigating the Ocean.
A man who couldn't even drive (legally anyway) due to his poor eyesight, but would frequently navigate hundreds of miles by boat.
So even if she couldn't easily explain it, she knew that it worked, and she knew when a person was near the edge.
Not necessarily in a mental health way.
God knew Emily was in no place to judge on that account.
There were plenty of Ways to describe it: "Possessed of Humours," "Fey-Touched," "Mask of Sanity," "Lucid eccentric."
And Emily's favorite, from that old fisherman: "Still waters, dark depths."
But regardless of how you put it, Capes all had it.
Oh, it's not just capes, they weren't even the majority of people in the world who were like that.
But every cape whom Emily had talked to for more than a few minutes would start to show the signs, and in all but a single case, those signs had been confirmed as she got to know that cape further.
Except for Saga Tara Byrne.
Oh, not all capes were as obvious, or as close to that edge.
It was clear that Miss Militia had been deliberately moving away from the edge for decades, though that sort of thing made its own kind of mark on a person.
On the other end, there were the more confusing cases like Battery, who almost seemed to be the exception until she pieced together a bit of her past as Elene Galvani and realized that she was probably the worst of the lot.
Emily wasn't sure what kind of crazy-reckless thing Elene had managed to talk herself into within the two months she was unaccounted for, but whatever it was had seemingly scared her enough to have been on a similar, if faster version of Hanna's path to Sanity ever since.
So it's been quite the upheaval to continue to interact with Saga and to keep finding… nothing.
…
Honestly, the custody thing had mostly happened without her intervention.
Grant Renoch, the Deputy Director who was in charge of The Bay's PRT on a practical level, had jumped at the chance for the city to get its first PRT Ward, and had some hopes of eventually transitioning the city into the Texas model, with Protectorate-Wards being the exception rather than the rule.
She personally doubts he'll manage it with two of the first Wards in the city and Legend nearby. Not to mention, as decent an administrator as Grant was, he was no Accord in terms of planning.
Still, what was meant as a temporary arrangement while she officially investigated the girl's report of abuse turned into a permanent thing before she was able to confirm it was a simple case of misplaced priorities.
Given the tendency of recent triggers to feel a burning need to exercise their powers right away, Hanna had essentially led Saga to believe that she was required to work until exhaustion in power testing, rather than being encouraged to experiment in a safe environment until she felt satisfied.
Still, she was a PRT Ward now, and the protectorate was fully aware that Emily had no fault in that particular decision.
Plus, it's not as if this would bring no benefit to the Protectorate either.
There are certain resources earmarked for PRT-Wards specifically, which can be utilized by any Ward so long as there is at least one PRT Ward nearby that is using them as well.
Emily was actually quite proud of the tutoring scheme she'd worked out for those with kids near Saga's age.
Particularly in how little it required her to utilize her legal bullshitting skills.
Hell, from a paperwork perspective, she'd essentially stated the truth.
Saga was the excuse, Employee and Trooper Morale was the purpose.
But PRT-Wards are rare enough in New England that any excuse to keep one around, even going as far as bribing a Protectorate member with expensive, advanced tutoring for his son, would seemingly be accepted.
…
But that gets back to the girl herself.
She had gone into that explanation halfway expecting some kind of blow-up or sulking. It wouldn't even be strange out of a non-parahuman 11-year-old…
But nothing.
She didn't quite pick up on all the nuances of the situation.
If nothing else, Emily's pretty sure the bribing of Dauntless went completely over her head.
But she was fine with it.
Seems to have figured out that it would help the PRT so long as she went along with it, which would in turn make the PRT more lenient with her, so she would.
Perfectly. Reasonable.
What??
…
The fact that terms like "Most potential since Eidolon" are being bandied about for a kid that all of Emily's instincts are telling her isn't a parahuman is just icing on the cake.
…
The only real silver lining with the situation is that her instinct for capes didn't make her disposed to them, and they had often noticed.
But, well, there's a reason "Mask of Sanity" is one of the ways to describe that type of person.
Even Hannah or Elene were a bit too close to the edge for Emily to ever completely relax around them.
In the same way that having one of those ice-cold killers like Tom Calvyrt around always managed to leave her tense.
So whatever was up with the girl, as far as her instincts for people go, she is just what she seems to be.
An 11-year-old girl with a knotted mess of mental issues and more power than is healthy for an adult.
Not exactly the picture of stability, but also not someone Emily is worried would snap without the kind of External pressure that, as her guardian, Emily is meant to pick up on and navigate her past.
…
Plus, it doesn't hurt that by appearances alone, they could easily be mother and daughter, as blonds with Scandinavian roots who are about 30 years apart in age.
She might have simplified it to Piggot after moving out, but she was born a Pikettsen after all.
…
Though the situation with splitting up two sisters was a bit unfortunate, she didn't like the idea of forcing Saga near Assault more than necessary, for more than the usual reasons, now.
Whereas anyone with a brain can see the benefits of encouraging the bonding between the Shaker 9 and one of the Bay's two most stable parahumans.
Which obviously means it's only a matter of time before Armsmaster attempts to interfere.
But there was no sense borrowing future headaches.
For now, the situation is stable, and she was as close to happy as she ever got with the recent developments.
Spoiler: A/N Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, noka133, S1m0nWr1t3 and 4 othersOblationDec 4, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 29: Interlude: Emily Piggot - Part 3 of 3 - The What (Takes place on February 7th and 14th, 2011) View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 4, 2025Add bookmark#33As she gives the go-ahead for Saga to utilize her power once again, Emily contemplates the numerous different offers for resource exchange in regards to her.
From Hero's generous offer to hold off officially thanking Saga for that Ring all the local nerds are so excited about, until the Bay is in need of a PR boost or a Show of Force.
To the more dubious offers, like the half-generous-offer and half-dangerous-threat from Glenn Chambers to take over Saga's PR and Marketing strategies, personally.
To the mildly unnerving fact that her weekly summaries of the girl's development had recently begun making their way to the president's desk…
This whole guardianship thing was turning out to be exactly as complicated as Emily expected.
But the strange part was how few of those complications came from Saga herself.
Functionally, none, if you count her power as a separate source of tension, like Emily has been.
The closest thing the girl had done to annoying was the plan to take down Uber and Leet, but unlike her initial concerns, Saga seemed completely content to wait weeks for any initial action, and for any significant actions afterward to functionally be PRT operations with her brought along as mascot.
But even then, it was less a headache due to Saga herself, and more due to needing to balance the egos of her Security Team, who would insist on heading the project along with the not-so-subtle encouragement she was getting from multiple fronts to offer up "Phoenix" as the at least nominal "Head" of the operation.
Absolutely ludicrous, but PR wants "The Next Eidolon" to start building a reputation, and too much pressure is coming from too many directions for Emily to do anything but keep an eye on things herself to make sure the rest of the operation is as professional as possible.
Plus, though she does her best to leave the day-to-day stuff to Grant, it's true enough that every other city in her jurisdiction would have long since assigned at least a handful of staff permanently to such a long-term group as Uber and Leet, even if action against them might get delayed repeatedly.
But, as far as anyone could tell, other than coming up on the analyst's normal rotations of local capes, nobody had spent significant time investigating the duo after their first year of activity.
A state of affairs that would be horrendously embarrassing if any of their tinkertech ever malfunctioned in a particularly harmful way, and caused a scandal for not having already taken them down.
Something that the reports generated by Saga's team were painting as not only an inevitability but one that seemed to be increasing in likelihood every time they poked their heads out of their hole.
…
Oh, and it seemed everyone was in agreement about the first of the two rolls today, she should probably read it to make sure."
Battlecat - Masters of the Universe - 100cp
"You may create or import an animal companion to be given a battle form. By default, they will be an Eternian tiger or panther. They will be able to change into a form capable of carrying you into battle. Their physical prowess, when transformed, will make them quite effective in melee as well. Even if they could not before, they will now be capable of human speech in both their battle and normal forms.
-50cp to apply to personal Animal Form.
Cost: 150cp
Bank: 550cp"
Well, that's not so bad.
A bit unclear on what "battle form" would even be for a bird. But making her Changer state bigger shouldn't hurt anything, so she gives the final approval, as Saga's guardian.
Not that the girl seems to understand that's why.
As if Emily would normally have more than the occasional interaction with local wards, even the so far hypothetical PRT-Wards.
She stands back to work through a bit of paperwork as the new form is tested, and is genuinely surprised with the rest to have discovered the apparent telepathy this has granted her.
Still, only communicating with those touching her, and only in the larger or smaller bird forms, isn't that bad.
Though Dragon's insistence that the process didn't involve sound transmission of any detectable type was slightly worrying, as she was rather under the impression that genuine telepathy was considered impossible.
But, it's not as if Emily couldn't have told them all about Saga's strangeness for a cape from day one, so she let the discussion pass her by, as did Saga.
Eventually, Dragon picked up on the girl's wandering attention and prompted the last roll of the day:
Basic Spellbooks - Durmstrang Institute - 200cp
" The basic set of instructional textbooks for beginner Mages, with a preference for magic of Eastern European origin, and for setting the foundations for later education on, and defending against the Dark Arts.
-100cp for Books inventory attunement. ("Magical Tutorial Mode" rather than physical texts.)
-100cp for Magical Focus inventory attunement. (Inventory now generates temporary magical focuses of average strength and potency for any type of magic you have access to.)
Bank: 400cp
Cost: 400cp"
Saga wasn't looking pleased at the possibility of being told to deny this one, given how she's glaring down that scientist, so Dragon told her the final decision was "hers," and I nodded when she looked at me.
So it seems we'll just need to keep an eye out for "the foundations [of] the Dark Arts."
…
A few days later, Emily watched as Vista further cemented her reputation as "the cute one" by visibly trying to act mature and "set an example" at the PR event as Gallant held his pretty solid poker face and Glory Girl flat out cooed at Vista.
Saga, of course, managed an actual aura of maturity by calmly allowing herself to be tugged along in her sister's wake and occasionally sitting on someone's shoulder in smaller bird form for photos.
While Emily was no great expert in PR, she did understand the reasoning behind it, and she'd certainly had more onerous PR duties than answering some questions as some Wards and Glory Girl wandered around for photographs.
The closest thing to a disruption came when a teen-aged couple sauntered up to get a picture with Gallant, and Glory Girl started leaking her master-aura for a moment.
But Gallant said something, and she pulled it back in.
Worrying, but good to confirm who the girl saw as allies, given that the only ones to seemingly react negatively were the two teens.
…
Pulling Gallant aside later didn't provide much explanation beyond "explaining her anger would tread heavily on the Unwritten rules."
Though he did elaborate:
"Normally, I wouldn't even say this much, but showing up like that was close enough to the line that I think its simple turnabout, but I really shouldn't say more."
Well, it seems we've got rough physical descriptions of all the Undersiders now.
For PRT records, if nothing else.
Not a wild leap from "someone that would make a new wave member angry on sight" to "two of the 4 teen villains recently discovered to be working for Coil."
Along with the appearance of Hellhound and Hijack being on public record.
Showing up like that was a stupid move, but what else can be expected from a group that manages the headache trifecta of gang thugs, capes, and teenagers?
She almost wished Coil luck, needing to deal with that particular time-bomb of a team.
More reason to stop looking a gift horse in the mouth with Saga, Emily supposes...
Spoiler: A/N Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, noka133, S1m0nWr1t3 and 4 othersOblationDec 4, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 30: Firewatch – Operation Uber & Leet Cleanup - 2/28/2011 View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#34Spoiler: Note, for the purposes of this chapter:
Firewatch – Operation Uber & Leet CleanupAfter-action report transcript(PRT Archive sting, faint static)
Raymond: Little Boss, this is my after-action report for Operation Leet Cleanup. Intel flagged tonight as a fresh recruitment push for Uber and Leet's next stream. Primary targets: Uber and Leet, expected but unconfirmed. Secondary: regular logistics crew, seven known. Unknown number of new part-timers being briefed. Field test on copper armor, heavier dark blue variant, and cloaking vials.
(Video angle: Phoenix at ops desk, her words typed out, flat)
Little Boss: Firewatch. Primaries unseen. Seven regulars, spread. New recruits tonight. Number unknown. One regular likely briefing them. Force only if armed. Fast, clean. Zero continues. Cloaks: one use, three mins.
(Bodycams power on: light rain, copper HUD border faint)
Raymond: We moved at 2200. Raven led in dark blue heavy armor—slower, but could tank anything short of a bolt from the big guns. Rain muffled approach; HUD held stable except brief static.
(Meryl's cam: storage corridor, crates stamped "U&L LIVE")
Raymond: First regular dockworker spotted near loading bay. Holding a controller-looking tinkertech prop—probably for show. He turned, dropped it fast when Meryl stepped forward.
Meryl (steady): PRT. Hands visible. Step back, slow.
(Dockworker complies, breath fast)
Raymond: Raven zip-tied him clean. Tinkertech looked like a foam controller—harmless, but logged for evidence.
(Otacon's cam: narrow office corridor, second dockworker adjusting headset rig)
Raymond: Second worker had a cheap VR mask. Likely for the stream set dressing. Didn't resist; backed into Otacon's field of view, hands up quick.
Otacon (calm): Down on your knees. Stay still.
(Worker nods, drops headset)
(Quiet's cam: server room, low hum; third dockworker near tower case covered in U&L stickers)
Raymond: Third tried to shuffle drives into a bag. Quiet stepped in, hand near baton but didn't draw.
Quiet (flat): Step away. Hands high.
(Worker pauses, steps back, muttering)
Raymond: Drives stayed; evidence kept intact.
(Solidus's cam: back hallway; fourth dockworker with gauntlet prop, plastic lights flickering)
Raymond: Fourth one had a fake power glove, tinkertech but no charge pack. Tried to look tough; Solidus moved in fast.
Solidus: Off. Hands open.
(Worker obeys; glove hits ground, small spark)
Raymond: No fight. Just nerves.
(Vulcan Raven's cam: fifth dockworker in corner of main warehouse, tinkering with something like a cheap "power-up" prop)
Raymond: He didn't notice Raven until too late. Raven's shadow alone got him to freeze. Zip-tied him quick; no resistance.
(Meryl's cam: sixth dockworker by crates, old "Game Over" light panel under arm)
Meryl (firm): Drop it. Hands behind head.
(Worker sighs, complies)
Raymond: Six regulars detained. Props logged: harmless, mostly plastic with LEDs. No weapons confirmed.
(HUD update: "SECONDARY TARGETS DETAINED: 6")
(Liquid's cam: big central room; about ten nervous part-timers in casual clothes, half-listening to a regular minion speaking fast)
Raymond: Found the recruits. Number unknown going in; turned out to be ten. Regular minion with headset was hyping them up, promising livestream clout and quick money. Saw him gesture toward us, telling them to "rush the door if it opens."
Liquid (quiet, codec): They're wired up. Might try it.
Raymond: Ordered hold; no weapons sighted yet. Solidus moved in cloaked to flank.
Big Boss (Raymond): Confirm cloak timer. Wait on my go.
Otacon: Timer ready. Solidus in place, left rear.
(Solidus's cam: shimmer in air; breath fogs slightly)
Raymond: Cloak held about two-forty-five clean before shimmer edges. Long enough to position behind them unseen.
(Minion raises voice: "They're coming! If we rush, we can get out—don't freeze!")
Raymond: Four part-timers stepped forward, shaky but ready. Liquid shifted left; risk of being cornered.
Big Boss: Solidus—now.
(Solidus drops out of cloaking mid-stride; part-timers jump back)
Solidus (controlled): Hands up. All of you. Now.
(Room freezes. Two bolt for side door; rest drop hands, step back)
Raymond: Regular minion tried to run too—Raven stepped through crates, cut him off without a hit. Eight surrendered on the spot; two fled into storage, caught later by Meryl and Quiet near exit.
(HUD: "TERTIARY TARGETS SCATTERED OR DETAINED: 10 | PRIMARY TARGETS NOT PRESENT")
Raymond: Uber and Leet never showed. Evidence suggests they planned to arrive later or supervise remote. Otacon dumped sponsor lists and IP logs; upload successful.
(Codec beep)
Big Boss: Little Boss, site secure. Primaries absent. Upload done.
Little Boss: Good. Fast. No shots?
Raymond: None fired. Props harmless, but still logged. Raven's heavy dark blue took baton and crate hits; zero damage. Copper plates stopped bruises; stayed mobile. Cloak vials worked; shimmer visible near end, never too early.
Phoenix: Noted. Dragon edits footage. Keep short.
(HUD scroll: "MISSION COMPLETE | CONTINUES USED: 0 | MISSION RANK: B")
(Rooftop cam, team grouped under drizzle)
Liquid (quiet): Primaries slipped us.
Solidus: We'll get them next run.
Liquid: And no continues.
Raymond: Phoenix, thanks for gear. Kept us and them safe. End of report.
(Black screen)
PROPERTY OF PRT ARCHIVES – FIREWATCH
FIREWATCH WILL RETURN - PRESS X TO CONTINUE
(Post-credits codec hiss)
Solidus (low): They learn quick.
Liquid (quiet): So do we.
(Legal card)
METAL GEAR: UBER & LEET OPS | FIREWATCH RAID After-action report by Raymond to Phoenix. Seven regular minions detained. Ten new recruits scattered or caught. Primary targets Uber & Leet absent. Props harmless; video evidence secured. Armor and cloaks tested in field. No lethal force used. Video edit and archive by Dragon of the Guild. #Firewatch #UberAndLeet #MetalGearOps #PRTHeroes
(Video ends)
I got a roll that became the bane of my existence lately:
Gold Pouch - The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - 100cp
"Gold! You've struck gold! You now have 100 gold coins and will gain an additional 15 per day, but don't go spending it all in one… Or actually feel free to do just that, after all, these coins are rather small.
Still, 15 gold is enough to buy you a night's stay and a bowl of stew at any inn in Skyrim, at least.
Cost: 100cp
Bank: 900cp"
Ok, I guess we get to find out what an efficiency 3 gold pickaxe does with real-world physics.
Diamond would be better, or netherite, but since I'm nearly certain I'd get in trouble for selling the coins, and they're too small for much else, I can basically just treat them as nuggets.
But I'd 100% get in trouble if I sold the ingot, especially after Dragon made such a big deal about the diamonds.
I mean, apparently the diamond block completely solved whatever problem was causing her artificial diamonds to explode, so I'm not getting any more from that direction.
So, for the moment, if I need an obstacle broken at speed, then 3x gold tools seem to be the way to go.
And yes, I do know I'm skipping the obvious thing, but unfortunately for me, the golden apple is the problem.
I mean, not the one I made, that got sent off for testing the moment after I showed it to Emily.
Oh, I'm sure the golden apple will be awesome, but the problem is how its regen is simultaneously insane and kinda trash with Panacea in the same city.
Over the course of 5 seconds, it restores 20% of health.
In a videogame, that's fine, but in real life, that's insane.
Because it's not 20% of the way to being cured of whatever.
It's as if you could measure the distance between perfectly healthy and dead, it gets you 20% of that distance closer to perfectly healthy, and in only 5 seconds.
But it's got a downside.
It instantly grants you 20% of health back or gets you to 120% if you're at 100% already somehow (not how real life works, but technically possible).
… For 2 minutes, then it just as instantly reverts.
Basically, whoever eats it is, unless they're REALLY messed up, going to suddenly be not just fully healthy, but a little bit better… for 2 minutes, then their injuries suddenly come back, mostly healed, but not completely, especially after the awful feeling of having the 2 minutes end.
Basically, the golden apple is a miracle cure… that'll get me sued the first time I offer one to anyone outside the PRT.
But if I offer them more than a little, even within the PRT, then people WILL find out and they WILL demand the miracle cure.
So… golden tools it is.
I hope the scientists like the golden apple they got, because I'm done.
I'll try to build up a few for emergencies, but I don't want to deal with the headache of treating these like the potions.
No wonder Amy looks so tired all the time. Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, LogicExtreme11, noka133 and 5 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 32: Wednesday, March 2nd View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#36In happier news, the video is doing well.
Like really well.
Like really, really well!
Ok, I'll stop.
But I didn't really think twice about Dragon's offer to edit the footage at the time.
I mean, I did want it to be seen, Firewatch put too much effort into researching not just Uber and Leets operations and Dockworks connections, but their psychology.
So they idea of doing a Video game-themed takedown of Uber and Leets operations, and to upload the video on the Birthday of a beloved video game character.
It was Genius.
Even Emily approved, though she was mostly focused on making sure Firewatch stuck to the parts of PRT protocols that are actually important and not just for the red tape.
But the thing about Dragon is that, as personable as she is, she's also a big deal.
Specifically, a Big Deal who's that nice to A LOT of people.
Meaning, when her name is on something, people know.
But most of what her name is on is Tinkertech or Normal-tech, which is made from studying Tinkertech.
But on the rare occasion when her name ends up on something else…
Suddenly, people are popping out of the woodwork to praise and promote that thing.
I mean, Glenn Chambers, "The Fixer" himself, has apparently been put in charge of the Firewatch PR… somehow.
Like, I'm pretty sure their still mostly my bodyguards and like, part-time with the PRT at best.
But now Glenn and Raymond… talk, I guess.
And the roll today just riled that all up even more:
Bollywood Hot - Buffy and Angel - 200cp
"You are very appealing, even by Bollywood standards.
No matter what, you look damn good. Nothing supernatural, but for some reason, you always seem to give your best face.
Your bedhead looks like it took a specialist hair designer hours to perfect, and when you actually put effort into it, it's as if you'd just walked off a Bollywood runway.
Cost 200cp
Bank 900cp"
Honestly, I can't really see much difference.
Not in an arrogant way, just that I basically look like I always did, except there's this undefined air of "intentional" about my appearance that makes things seem better.
Like I'm not just wearing whatever was around, but I am actually making a statement of some kind with my mismatch of clothing.
I'm not sure how mismatched Hero merch is a statement, but since PR has a basically endless supply of the stuff, it might as well be one of the silent perks of working for the PRT that you can get really good clothing on the cheap if you're willing to Demo Hero merch from PR.
So, PRT Troopers tend to be pretty colorful out of uniform, funny enough.
I always imagined Bluejeans and Bomber Jackets, not Legend Blazers and Accord pants.
And now Phoenix Jackets, thanks to Glenn Chambers.
My only concession was that they make one in that not-quite-tinkertech material and send it to my sister.
A bit of Payback for all the Vista Murch that's been passed off over the years.
But if it's got some armor to it, she'll never outright refuse it.
So she'll wear it.
She'll wear MY murch, and the cycle will be complete.
At least Glenn seems to grok my reasoning, and promised to personally make sure her's would be the best.
He must have an older sibling. Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, LogicExtreme11, noka133 and 5 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 33: Saturday, March 5th View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#37Ok, I don't know how Glenn made something this great this fast, but Missy's jacket is actually really awesome.
Oh, and I'm an idiot.
She doesn't wear her armor everywhere; I just see Vista instead of her.
I realized when she put the jacket on… over her costume.
Or actually kind of inside it a bit.
Which works well enough for when we're in public, but means I'll never know if it's Sister time or Cape time.
I have emotions about this.
But emotions are icky and powers aren't, so come on, big money:
Ancient Whip - The Legend of Zelda Series - 50cp
" An ancient treasure from the Era of the Sky, the end of it has an orb of light that grabs tightly to whatever the user desires. It is also possible to hang on poles, branches, and other things with the whip and swing in the air with it. This whip can extend to reach up to fifteen feet, and can be used for a number of other purposes, should one be clever enough.
Cost: 50cp
Bank: 800cp"
…
Ok, so not BIG money, but still.
A bit of testing with the science types shows… well, exactly what the description said.
I point it at something up to 15 feet away, it shoots out, and whichever of us is lighter gets pulled towards the other until I let go or hit the reset switch.
It's basic tinkertech.
Though it does interact with my 3x copper armor weirdly.
The armor is a bit cumbersome, but not that bad.
But when I'm wearing it, especially the full set, the grappling hook treats me like I'm 3x heavier than I should be.
Still not an issue for the grappling hook idea, since the hook doesn't count the individual brick or wall it hits, but the whole building.
But with people, it could work as a way to disorient them, if one of the Firewatch in their modified copper armor can grab even someone big and pull them over like a ragdoll.
…
I'm glad the cycle has become complete, and that I've realized the thing with Missy/Vista, but the issue is that Glenn did such a good job that Missy seems to genuinely like the jacket, and got all glompy when I went over to Battery's apartment to give it to her.
It kinda defeats the point if it's not embarrassing to be wearing her little sister's merch.
Still, the jacket is genuinely cool, so I just played along as if it were always meant as a late birthday gift.
Something to welcome her into teenagerhood.
...
Oh, and Battery was nice too, but Assault still freaks me out.
Though it was nice to explain why I flinch when he goes towards me, which he seemed to get.
Missy (and I'm like 80% sure it was Missy not Vista) was all intense about how "The Director" was being, but I just told her Emily is chill.
They all looked at me at that, but the thing is, she's 100% honest.
If she says something, she means exactly what she said, no backhanded BS, no changing her mind, then flipping out when called on it, nothing.
She says words and means them.
It's nice.
Assalt did mention a rumor that she hates capes, but I just explained my theory that she thinks we're all borderline crazy people who like looking over the edges of cliffs, and asked him if he thought she was wrong?
But mostly Missy just glomped me, and thanked me for her (genuinely great-looking) birthday jacket.
I know the Gift-Shop ones will be simpler, but I'm honestly pretty hyped to see what Glenn comes up with, given how random my powers are so far.
Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, LogicExtreme11, noka133 and 5 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 34: Monday, March 7th View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#38Psijic Robes - Elder Scrolls Online - 100cp
" The monks of the Psijic Order are often considered as the greatest group of mages in all of Tamriel, and their standard uniform reflects that. Created from a rare kind of magical silk, these yellow robes may not be the best for protection, but it does greatly increase both your magicka pool as well as the rate at which your magicka replenishes.
-100cp to create a magicka pool of average breadth and depth.
Cost: 200cp
Bank: 900cp"
That took WAY longer than it should have.
For something called the "Celestial Grimoire," it's been weirdly hesitant to give me actual magic to play with, and as fun as it's been to get the memories of my clone working through the Harry Potter Magic tutorials, it's also frustrating how quickly it exhausts me.
But at least I have a good reason as to why, now.
I wasn't casting from my mana pool or magical core or whatever, I must have been casting straight from physical and Mental energies, since I learned how as part of knowing how to make (and charge up) the Storage and Explosive tags.
Well, now I can really get to cooking with gasoline.
I made 20 tags today, and barely felt it.
Plus, since me and the Clone on the storage island share a Mana pool, I just had her put on the full robes set (as goofy as it looks), and now my pool is at 180% and I assume my regen rate is the same.
…
Well, it seems like cooking with Gasoline wasn't the answer.
In my head, I figured I'd live out my dreams of becoming the world's most valuable cape by repairing old tinkertech with my hand-wavy magical "Reparo" skills.
But I completely blanked on the whole "complicated technology needs to be specifically designed to work with magic" idea.
Still, it's not actually any more broken than it was before, and Dragon is apparently really interested in just how "hand wavey" my spell was.
I mean, it finished bricking a piece of Leet tech.
But before that, it did what looked like a whole bunch of fine control telocanesis, and some crazier stuff to make parts become un-exploded.
So Dragon had me go around reparo-ing things.
Turns out I can go up to about cars in tech level before it becomes a problem.
Dragon says cars with integrated computers might be an issue, but people nowadays buy cars more based on gas mileage, and if the parts can be replaced without involving the dubious world of international shipping, so computerised cars are super rare.
She kind of half-heartedly tried to talk me out of going around Reparo-ing cars, but agreed when I mentioned how much of a PR boost it could be.
…
I don't get why Vista hates PR so much.
It's crazy, but the more you do, the more you're allowed to do, and in the meantime, the PR department is so starved for actual volunteers (rather than Volen-tolds) that they'll organise just about anything.
Up to and including figuring out the paperwork for zapping 20 to 30 people's cars with tinkertech magic this Friday.
I made them figure out the legality of that, and organise it in just a few days, and somehow they end up thinking of me as (and I quote) "Best Girl" just because I offered and idea and promised to actually do it myself, rather than being practically dragged into doing something generic, like a murch signing. Like ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, LogicExtreme11, noka133 and 5 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks 35: Friday, March 11th View contentOblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#39So I guess there's the downside of only giving the PR people a week. I reparo-ed like 60 cars, over the course of like 5 hours, and we all politely pretended 40 of them weren't PRT and protectorate employees, with the rest being reporters and the sort of people who actually read the PR posts on PHO.
I mean, Battery literally drove up at one point with Vista in the car.
The reporters didn't seem to notice, so I assume they were both out of costume, but really, they could've just asked.
It was so strange pretending not to see anything interesting about a robot and a ward driving up to my little PR-Repair shop.
Oh, yeah, they gave me a little cosplay auto mechanic outfit to wear.
Kinda silly, but they didn't need to be so shocked when I put it on.
I mean, the Phoenix outfit is practically cosplay already, so I don't know why I'd mind a different one.
Anyways, I did it, it took most of the day, and in the meantime, I've built up some decent credit with the PR people, and hopefully the Protectorate entirely, since I'm pretty sure this'll count towards their required monthly PR duties too.
Though it did end up being called a bit early due to some concerns about problems out of the immigrant community or the ABB.
Since it turns out some Shaker attacked Japan, and ended up flooding the city of Sendai.
Which sucks because that was one of their really big and still kind of safe cities.
I guess there's talk of Imperial involvement, though the Chinese are insisting it was just a natural earthquake.
But come on, if you're gonna lie, at least try to come up with a better excuse than "it just happened."
…
After that, I had another video call with a Case 53.
I've been doing this every so often since January, so they can find out what they looked like before their powers.
I'm not sure what the scientists are doing, but so far I've always been doing it in the science room with the scientists involved in this a lot more prone to taking over each other (and me) and arguing over the most mundane details.
Did I need a 30-minute lecture on hair types and the difference between 2C and 3A specifically?
No.
Were Sanguine and I forced to sit through one before I could go back to describing him?
Yes.
This time, it was a Protectorate member called Gentle Giant who was surprised to discover he was? Is? Whatever, he's black to my eyes.
I don't know why that's surprising.
Pictures of him show what looks like a mossy statue of a giant guy, like one of the Greek gods, where he's meant to be larger than life.
But the facial features are all the same, as with the black kid I see in the video call.
Dragon says it's confirmation bias, but I think if someone had asked me to paint the statue before I got powers, I'd have guessed dark skin and black hair.
Anyways, Gentle Giant seemed interested when I mentioned my theory of him being Greek, since he looks like a Greek statue and Greece is close enough to Africa that he could have ancestors from there and still be from Greece himself.
The scientists were getting upset and tried to cut off the talk, so I just went to my room and asked Dragon for his contact so I could message him from my tablet.
I don't get why their so upset, though.
It's not like any of them have ever figured out the identity of a Case-53.
Might as well make one up based on available details rather than insisting a nice guy like Gentle Giant just remain unknowing forever.
And it could totally fit.
He's a black guy who got powers by turning into a giant mossy Greek-style statue.
But I'M the problem for suggesting that he's probably from the Mediterranean.
The thing is, Case 53's have all been really nice, and their literally the only other capes who look like normal people to me, so insisting they're not just making up an identity, when 40 years of research has never once found one of their original ones, just seems needlessly skummy.
Anyways, Gentle Giant lived up to his name, and although he's already got a first name, he did mention wanting to find a Greek or Egyptian last name, which seems smart.
Also, I wrote up an email and sent it off to Dragon, Emily, and Dr. Armstrong, and Weld asking if I could just talk to case 53's on my tablet from now on.
Since the scientists seem to be more interested in them as things than as people, and don't like that, I disagree.
…
Oh, and thanks to the latest roll, I'm a meme now!
Roc's Cape - The Legend of Zelda Series - 100cp
" A beautiful cape crafted from silk and bird feathers. It has been enchanted to vastly increase the wearer's jumping capabilities. Additionally, you gain a bit of affinity for wind while wearing it, allowing you to stay in the air for longer than seems plausible.
-0cp changed to match Phoenix coloring.
Cost: 100cp
Bank: 800cp"
I'm a cape with a cape!
There aren't many of us nowadays, despite the name.
But this one lets me do parkour in human form, and that's pretty cool on its own, but I really love this roll for how well it synergizes with my Pheniox form, and I can tell it is, since it adds in some white feathers to that from when I transform while wearing it.
I can't wait to show Fox this and the battle form once he gets back from his latest expedition!
…
It was kind of late, but I ended up flying for a while anyway, since the cloak just makes it so easy.
And since I was in such a good mood, I also flew up to Boon Island so I'd have someplace really remote in case I needed to get someone out of the way at some point.
Plus, the exhilaration of teleporting 25 miles, doubling my distance, made the point feel even more solid in my memory.