Contracts 2
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Lisa wasn't alone when she arrived at the base. I took a quick look at the clock to make sure it was two pm. Sveta was with her, which didn't surprise me at all, as was Brian, which I hadn't expected.
"Hello, you three," I said as I cleaned my hands. Behind me T waved, then went back to wiring a beacon. "I didn't think you'd be coming, Brian."
"Well, I had something to deliver," he replied, putting the sports bag he'd been holding on the table. "Your share of the Bank Job, fresh from our employer."
Curious, I opened the bag to find it more than halfway filled with bills of every denomination. "How…" I started, eyes wide. "How much money is in there?"
"A little more than five hundred thousand dollars," Lisa answered.
That was more than ten times my father's annual salary. More than twelve times. More than the payout from the PRT, even. "For me and Sveta? That's a lot."
Brian smiled. "That's only for you. Sveta already has her share."
My eyes somehow managed to go wider, and I turned to the Changer. I noticed just then that she was wearing a backpack which I hadn't seen on her before. "I… I didn't get a bigger share than the others, right?" I asked, falling back into my chair.
"Nope, equal shares for everyone," Lisa explained with a grin. "We made one million and eighty three thousand from the bank itself, and with the boss' two for one deal we end up with three million and two hundred forty nine thousand dollars." She pointed to the bag. "That's a sixth of it right there, in cash."
I didn't know what to say for a moment. "Well… thank you," I finally replied.
"No, thank you," Brian countered. "With the work you did, we had the easiest and safest time we could at the bank. You deserve your share. And you deserve it again for your work yesterday. Catching Bakuda was the main goal, and without you she'd have escaped. Not to mention that I feel safer knowing that, whatever else Lung manages to do, the Mad Bomber won't be making any more explosives."
"You also have my thanks for yesterday," I said, smiling back. "You could have made my job a lot harder if you hadn't reacted the way you did."
Lisa advanced a little, curious. I expected her to ask what I meant, but Sveta was the one who spoke up, "What do you mean by that?"
I pointed to the Undersider's leader while answering Sveta's question. "Brian here caught on to my plan instantly. The first blast of shadow he threw at me was hollow, so apart from the darkness I had no issue, and the second was similar to those he'd use when giving me a 'lane' to travel, with the free inch at the bottom. Basically, he made it so that I could go forward as if I wasn't affected."
Lisa smirked. "Very nice. And how did you manage to have Alec react like he did? With the things he said afterwards, I'm pretty sure you didn't inform him about Slenderman."
"I wouldn't mind knowing as well." The leader of the Undersiders stated as Sveta also nodded in interest.
"I didn't tell him. Remember when Alec said he had issues with people with abnormal bodies?" She nodded, so I turned my arms and legs into tentacles. I kept the bottom ones in my pants and shoes, simulating normal legs, and rose from my chair. "That's what I did. He's used to controlling single limbs, and suddenly I had dozens. It isn't much of an issue keeping your balance when you have more legs than an octopus."
Brian released a booming laugh, Lisa started cackling, and even Sveta chuckled a little. "All warfare is based on deception," he quoted. "Thank you. The reaction he had, it was perfect."
"My pleasure."
"How about we get to the meat of this meeting?" Lisa asked.
I looked at her. "Which is?"
"Powers, of course," Lisa replied with her usual grin. "You hit two capes yesterday, so that's at least two more powers."
"Three, actually," I pointed out. "The new ABB cape was a bronze aura."
"I remember that term from the power lists you gave us, but I have to say I have no clue what it means," Brian spoke.
I inclined my head toward Lisa, indicating that she could answer this one. "Up to now, Taylor has seen two different types of auras around parahumans. White ones are more common, but there are some bronze auras," the Thinker explained.
"How common?" Brian asked.
"Remember the list?" He nodded. "Everyone not specified bronze is a white aura."
Brian focused, clearly trying to remember. "Pretty much everyone, then."
Lisa nodded. "Yes. People with bronze auras are different. Their powers are different, and they have an extra power which the others don't seem to need." She turned to me. "Let me guess, your third power is Human, correct?"
"Correct," I said, nodding. Sveta came closer, clearly interested in the conversation.
"Human?" Brian asked. "Why only some and not everyone?"
"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that all known monstrous capes, like Gregor and Newter, have bronze auras," Lisa continued her explanation. "Our current theory is that there's someone out there giving out powers, maybe even selling them, but whatever method they're using has side effects. They somehow add the Human power to try to balance things out, and even then it doesn't always work."
"It would also explain why the ABB suddenly had a new cape, and with exactly the power that gang needed," I added.
"What was her power, actually?" Sveta asked.
"Now that I have it, I call her power Perception. In her, it manifested as a trio of floating spheres with images in them. I didn't pick out exactly what was on them, but the one time I saw her use her power she was gazing into one of them very intently."
"Clairvoyance," Lisa replied. "Like a crystal ball. I'm ninety percent sure that's it. There were probably some restrictions or constraints about what she could see, but it explains clearly why the Alliance had been having such a hard time going on the offensive. She saw them preparing their attacks hours in advance, so by the time they got there everything was gone." She had a knowing smile on her face by now.
Brian thought for a while. "Makes sense. Better than a spy, at least. I don't see someone working for the ABB managing to infiltrate the E88, and Coil seems above having things such as spies in his ranks somehow, probably due to his power."
"So Perception, Human, and…" Sveta asked.
"Another Tinker," I finished.
Lisa counted on her fingers. "That's eight, seven if you have Shadow and Tentacle combined. How do you manage that?"
"For short periods of time, I can use my zone," I explained. "But in this case I just combined more powers; both Tinkers meld properly, and Perception fits with Area."
"Which brings you back to five, right." Lisa smiled at me. "What do they do?"
"So far, I've only figured out the Area and Perception combo. When combined, I can mentally select an area and apply my power to it. Within that zone, I know everything."
Everyone's eyes went wide. "Everything?!" Lisa cried out.
"Everything physical and material. I know every item's dimensions, quantity, position…" I thought of something and rose. "Actually, let me test something." I went to the place where I had a small fridge and cupboards. "Brian, mind throwing your shadow over me and the area around me? No draining."
He nodded and did so, which confirmed what I'd thought.
"How are you doing that?" Brian said, surprised. Lisa looked on in interest as I came out of the darkness with a glass of Coke.
"She didn't have any issue getting herself a drink while inside my darkness," Brian explained.
I smiled. "I know everything about my area, so I can easily navigate and do things even if my senses are blocked." I then took a sip.
"That's pretty powerful," Sveta pointed out.
"It has some disadvantages." I said, and pointedly did not elaborate. Knowing where every speck of dirt was, how clean your teeth actually were, and every single germ in a zone wasn't something one liked knowing. Knowing the taste and texture of everything was also an ability I could do without. I had taken two showers since this morning, and I still didn't feel clean.
"Ok…" Brain said after a moment of silence. "When are you planning to test your other powers?"
"Right now actually," I answered, bending down to draw a zone under my chair. I'd already split Area and Perception, if only to cancel my previous power. I was starting to get used to the headaches by now. As soon as the zone was done and empowered, I split every single one of my sparks, putting me at eight. "I need to drop a power, preferably Human, so testing it with others is necessary."
"With the results you had last time, I don't mind," Brian said, and the two girls beside me nodded.
I turned to Lisa. "Anything you'd like me to try first?"
"I'm most interested in Perception, obviously," she said.
"Perception it is." I focused on it, and found it was already activated, and telling me something. 'Three' it said in the back of my mind, in a manner similar to how my power knew about other powers under my father's ability.
Why three? I thought.
I looked around, glanced at Sveta, Brian, and Lisa in turn, then behind me toward the workshop. Still the number was the same.
Then something came to mind. "Everyone, close your eyes."
They did, and instantly the number fell to zero. Asking them to open their eyes one by one made the number rise similarly. Focusing a little gave me an idea of the direction and distance.
"Got it. It tells me who's looking at me, how many and in what direction they are."
"That's not very powerful," Sveta replied. "Especially with how much better it was with Area."
I nodded in agreement. I had the feeling I was missing something. I focused on one of the directions, Lisa's, and found something like an on or off switch there. I flicked it.
"Hey!" Lisa cried out. "Where did you go?"
Brian looked at her bizarrely. "She hasn't moved, Lisa."
I smiled at that. This had so much potential for pranking. I focused on the other two directions and switched them off too.
"Hey!" Brian repeated as I must have seemed to vanish from his sight just as he turned back toward me. Sveta only smiled, having figured out what the power did.
Further tests revealed more. I could make it so that I was naturally invisible to everyone when I came into their line of sight, basically putting a default 'on' to every switch. On the other hand, my power only dealt with sight, not any other sense, and didn't affect cameras or people through them. Worse, getting too close to someone cancelled the effect for that person. Still, there was so much that could be done with this.
"I'm keeping this one," I said, and saw Lisa pout at the side. I wasn't surprised to learn that she'd been interested in this spark; I was pretty sure it would combine effectively with her own, and be quite powerful. I'd probably test this with her alone later.
"So, Human now," Sveta said, clearly curious. This was unsurprising, since she had a copy of that exact spark.
I nodded and put all my attention on it. It was also already active, but this one said nothing. It seemed to do nothing also, since I found no switch or way of affecting it.
"So?" Lisa asked after a minute of waiting.
"I got nothing," I admitted. "It's on, but it doesn't seem to do anything. No slider, no switch, nothing."
Both Lisa and Sveta stared at me for a moment.
"Nothing also," Lisa said. "You seem perfectly normal. I don't even get the fact that you have a power active."
"That's the only thing I get," Sveta added. "Human is active, and does something, but I can't tell what."
"You're going to get rid of it, I suppose?" Brian said.
"If I can," I replied. "Mind if I tried it with your powers?"
Human ended up working with both of their sparks, each having a very similar effect. It limited their powers to human beings, but made them more effective at what they did. In Brian, it basically shut down all of his target's senses, and he could use it on multiple people. We suspected, but didn't test, that the draining effect was also increased. On Lisa's side, it made her power more effective at reading humans in general and less prone to inducing headaches, but removed every ability outside of that.
Both of them declined on keeping Human. Brian preferred his cloud of darkness, and I concurred, while Lisa wasn't going to go without her password cracking abilities. As such, I turned to Sveta.
"Me?" she asked. "But I already have it."
"Won't know until we try," I said. "I currently have two tinkers, and they mix perfectly well. Since I'm pretty sure your Changer ability is coming from Human, having two might give you more control over it. Or maybe a new related ability." I smiled. "With what it is, I doubt it could turn you into something other than a human."
She was silent and immobile for a moment before she nodded, giving me her hand. I took it and drew out her three-part power, then stopped as I noticed something.
Her powers had grown.
Originally, her three powers together equaled one of mine, while now they were bigger. Not as much as two normal powers combined, but somewhere around one and a third to one and a half. Still, I pushed that fact to the back of my mind and grafted the new Human to her trio. As expected, it went without issue. I then pushed it back to her.
"Done, and no problem," I announced.
Sveta tried doing some changes to her appearance then, and Lisa confirmed; it was going faster. Where before it took around a minute to make a complete change, now it barely took a few seconds.
"Any negative effects?" I asked.
The changer tested every one of her powers in turn, and none seemed affected. "None that I can see."
"Perfect!" I said.
"We have a winner!" Lisa announced from her place at the table. Brian simply smiled.
"Now what?" Sveta asked.
"Now we can…" I started, only for my alarm to ring. I turned to the clock which said four thirty.
Time to get home, I thought.
"Your time to go, right?" Brian asked.
I nodded and finished my soda. "I'd stay, but my father has probably seen the videos by now and will have some questions." I realized something. "Actually, you never said where the videos came from," I asked Lisa.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm guessing Coil. It fits his modus operandi, and I'm pretty sure he has moles of some sort inside the PRT, as he tends to be very well informed about their comings and goings."
"So the PRT got to the footage first?" I asked.
She nodded. "The videos are from normal security cameras judging by the video quality, and we did tell them where we found the pair on our note."
I said goodbye to Sveta and T, who were staying, and walked out with Brian and Lisa. "So, what will happen now?" I said, clearly indicating the state of the city.
"Well, I'll inform the Alliance of who their 'spy' was, in case Coil doesn't already know, and the attacks on the ABB will restart. This time, they're finished. Lung alone isn't enough to ensure their survival, and with the Protectorate taking part, he's bound to get caught sooner or later. Only way this doesn't happen is if he skips town." She put her hands on both mine and Brian's shoulders. "We did good, guys. Another gang in Brockton Bay is done for. The Undersiders are that much closer to the top!"
I smiled at that. If the Undersiders were the worst this city had to offer, this place was sure to get better.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
[Dragon]
My usual checks and verifications went through: no movement from any of the Endbringers, the Ash Beast was still four days away from anyplace populated, the Sleeper was quiet, there were no new reports from Ellisburg, and the Slaughterhouse Nine were seemingly silent for the moment. Rumor had it that they were in the process of testing a new member, which usually meant they wouldn't be moving for a few days, not that anyone knew exactly where they were at the moment. The rest of the S-rank threats beyond the big names were similarly inactive.
A-rank threats showed more action, but nothing requiring an intervention. Black Piper's location was still unknown, but based on previous patterns he would be hiding for at least the next two weeks. Bloodthirst hadn't been seen in the last month, and probably wouldn't be seen for at least two more. The Seattle Protectorate was on his trail, and didn't need my presence.
The Baumann Parahuman Center, better known as the Birdcage, was calm. There had been only a single new inmate, Hansel, in the past month, and he hadn't lasted longer than a day, regardless of what I'd tried. It was well known that the man attacked children, and like the more regular prisons, the inmates had taken justice in their own hands. It hadn't helped that the children of some of the inmates already present had been part of the man's rampage. The AI I had put there to manage the place had no outstanding issues for me to look at.
I could focus on other projects.
Tinkering-wise, there wasn't much. I was still waiting for five shipments of components required to finish my latest suit. I could always do another pass to see if there were improvements I could make, but that could wait.
Instead, I immersed myself in Protectorate news, information and reports.
Again, there wasn't much. There was always a dip in hero/villain confrontations in the days preceding the expected arrival of an Endbringer, at least since someone had theorized that these S-class threats were attracted by violence and destruction.
That fact only made Brockton Bay seem worse by comparison.
Brockton Bay had always been a cape-heavy city, even in the early days of parahumans. I suspected this was due to the city's less than flourishing economy, a high ordinary crime rate that predated even capes, and powerful drug commerce tied to the then easy shipping. The fall of said shipping and the incident that created the Boat Graveyard certainly did not help.
All of these could have caused trigger events.
I was happy that Bakuda was no longer a threat, but I unfortunately was one of the few that didn't feel some form of apprehension at the way the mad Tinker had been captured. The Protectorate disliked being shown up, and having the cause of the recent problems delivered to one's door by a group of criminals was galling. The information attached was even worse, because it meant that the PRT had been sitting less than a kilometre from the source of this problem, and had found nothing for all of their effort.
But the worst part, for sure, was that the footage the PRT had recovered from Bakuda's lair had been leaked to the public at large by persons unknown. Not all of it, in fact only a minimal portion of the total footage recovered, but the final and most important part was now all but spread all over the net.
I had been the one to recover the footage on the night of the capture, since the fact that I didn't sleep meant I could always be on call, and I'd made sure to wipe all traces of the videos outside the PRT servers. It was from there that it got sent out.
And the PRT had no clue how it had been done.
Currently, the main suspect in this data theft was the villain known as Coil, but if it was him who did it, the Brockton Bay Parahuman Response Team was infiltrated with more moles than were currently known. Coil had three known informants in the PRT, and none of them had clearance, let alone physical access, to this data. Only the higher-ups and the analysts could currently touch said footage, which was unavailable remotely, and all of them were accounted for and beyond reproach.
I loaded the entirety of the data into a custom program of my own devising, made to enhance video by combining multiple angles of the same footage in a 3D gestalt that was customized to my own senses. This still took some time, so I made another check of my responsibilities.
No change since the last sweep.
Once the data was collated, I went over the entire fight with a fine-toothed comb. This was the first time the Undersiders were known to have engaged in an actual battle with a group of similar strength, and there was much information to be found. Especially since they'd added two new members since the last time they had been caught on camera.
The group was quite effective considering their lack of direct offensive capabilities. Hellhound and her dogs were still an important part of the attack, but the loss of two didn't seem to change the rhythm of the battle.
I had my own database of cape information, and I added point after point, linking the relevant parts of the video.
Grue's darkness being affected by Labyrinth (Shaker) and Faultline (Striker). Noted.
Regent keeping Newter down by twisting his limb. Noted.
New cape 1, shadow form Mover: Noted (temporary codename: UnderShadow).
New cape 2, Brute, reactions indicate some form of Thinker or extrasensory abilities. Noted (temporary codename: UnderBrute).
At the time of the interruption, I estimated a 73% percent chance of an Undersider victory within eight minutes.
Then he came in, the current bugbear of the PRT and the main subject of conversation on the parahuman Internet forums.
Slenderman.
He was why I'd gone through all this effort. He was the most talked-about cape on the net due to the events in Brockton Bay and the videos tied to him, and hundreds of theories each less likely than the last had been spawned and fed by the Parahumans Online Forums. I kept track of everything that was happening there in case something new came up, but the current theories were so out there that there wasn't anything useful in them.
The video of the Faultline/Undersider battle was the second longest recording of Slenderman, and the one where he moved the most. The fact was, the PRT and I had very little concrete data on this cape, and anything my systems could flag was one more detail that would enable us to pierce through his mystery. I personally wasn't even sure he was a man. Coming from the point of view of a being who didn't have a physical gender, I disliked using male or female without proof.
The program didn't take very long before generating a message.
Error! Non-human body type!
Along with that warning were a number of video frames. Slenderman's lower body was highlighted throughout, and a normal human skeleton was superimposed over each image.
The bones of the skeleton didn't match with Slenderman's movements.
Checking closer, it was even visible to the naked eye if one knew where to look. The Trump's legs were too fluid, and sometimes they didn't bend at the knee as a human's would. Checking step by step, I noticed that while he imitated a human frame most of the time, rare frames showed that this was simply him masquerading under an illusion of normalcy. He didn't need to walk as a human did, since he apparently wasn't.
I went through everything the program reported, but it was useless. I'd built the program with the human frame in mind, and now it had to be recalibrated if I wanted to draw valid data.
One step forward, ten steps back, I sighed electronically.
I'd hoped that going over the battle might have helped me decide one way or another regarding my dilemma, but all it did was raise more questions.
Still, I went through the battle over and over again, and as time went by I became more and more certain that both the Undersiders and Faultline had been in no real danger from Slenderman. He'd moved at a sedate walking pace, not hurrying, and hadn't expended any effort in trying to catch either of the two groups. He'd even ignored the two that had attacked, continuing forward relentlessly toward either Hellhound or Grue. I suspected that this entire show was a message for one of them, probably Grue as the leader of the gang.
Connecting back to the traffic cameras and going over that night's data only confirmed those facts. Faultline was seen escaping without pursuit, but Slenderman appeared outside, in the shadow of a lamppost, right beside the Undersiders as they escaped. Like Slenderman had done when he'd demolished Victor's house, this was his way of making things clear, of giving a warning.
I felt a bit better at that. Slenderman was suspected to have knocked out half a dozen ABB gang members, making this the first time he was implicated in an attack on a non-cape with some form of proof rather than hearsay. Maybe they had been in the same room as Bakuda and the other ABB cape, or maybe they had interfered in some other way with Slenderman's message. Still, they had been simply knocked out, with little injury done to any of them.
There was still no proof that Slenderman was a danger to the general public.
I now had a choice. I could either do nothing and have someone suffer for a simple mistake, or I could take a risk and try to save a poor soul.
I chose.
I transferred my consciousness to one of my spare bodies, this one not a powersuit. It was actually a backup server I'd built and launched into space by myself, a satellite of my own. I'd been afraid the Simurgh might have taken offense, but she hadn't reacted any more than she did when commercial satellites were launched.
This was my haven when my creator's rules were impeding me. While this place did nothing to let me create AI, it freed me from the rules of the land. I was in space, and this land had no rules except mine.
Unfortunately, I couldn't do everything from here. Even with Tinkertech, there was still enough lag from earth to space that I couldn't use this server to pilot one of my suits, but it was enough to let me talk with people without being restricted by human laws.
I connected.
Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.
You are currently logged in, Morris_Elk
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
[Sveta]
Eleven in the morning, I thought, looking at the clock. Time to go.
I logged out of the online game I'd been playing. It had come recommended by Void Cowboy before I'd left the institute, and I used to have a horrible time playing it due to my lack of control over my body. Now, I was approaching an eighty-five percent win rate. A few more days like this and I'd be able to join him in the Hero League.
It didn't hurt that my danger sense also applied when playing a game.
I waved to T as I passed her on my way down the stairs, and she returned the gesture. Most people wouldn't be able to see the difference between her and Taylor, but I'd gotten used to her tells. It had taken a while, but I could now recognize the details. T tended to be more confident than Taylor, more sure of herself. Somewhat careless, also, and she liked Tinkering even more than her source did.
I was surprised to find Taylor and Lisa at the table as I made my way out. Taylor's presence wasn't anything abnormal, but it was rare to see the Undersider Thinker before the afternoon started.
"Morning Lisa," I said, and she turned to me and eyed me. It was bizarre, as if she could see right through me. "I'm surprised to find you here this early."
"I promised her she could try my new ability, Perception," Taylor replied as Lisa continued looking around. "Both with and without her original power."
I nodded. "And what does it do?"
"It allows me to selectively not perceive stuff, and see what is behind or inside," Lisa explained.
"Something like X-ray vision, you mean?"
"Pretty much." Lisa shrugged. "And even better, both powers combined give me much the same as if I had the two separately. I can pick up cues from Perception and deduce things with it. I can see muscles tensing and the like, so with some time training I might finally be able to read attacks properly."
"Quite useful," I said.
Lisa turned to Taylor with puppy-dog eyes. "Can I keep it? Please?" she begged.
"No." Taylor crossed her arms, trying for a glare. It didn't work that well, even I could see her lips trying to curl into a smile, and if I spotted it Lisa already knew it. "I might lend it to you a few times however, if you're a good enough girl," she said, playing along.
Of course, that was all Lisa wanted. She jumped and hugged Taylor with all her might. "Yay! Thanks, mommy!" she said in a clearly fake kiddish voice.
Taylor rolled her eyes in exasperation, then turned to me. "You leaving, Sveta?"
I simply nodded.
"Are you going to pick something up?" Taylor asked.
"No, but I might later," I replied. "I'm going to try and meet Gregor and Newter at the Palanquin."
Taylor's face instantly turned serious. "Are you sure this is a good idea? We fought them not two days ago, and they were protecting Bakuda for who knows how long."
"She's not in any danger," Lisa said, disentangling from the Trump. "Faultline's a mercenary, so she doesn't fight unless there's money on the line. And even then, she doesn't kill, ever."
Taylor looked down at Lisa. "Doesn't kill? She and her group were basically protecting a serial bomber who caused the deaths of hundreds all over the city."
"And I'm pretty sure she didn't plan for that when she signed her contract. And after that, what could she have done?"
"Break her contract, for one," Taylor replied, arms crossed again.
"That could have killed her team, in case you didn't know," Lisa explained. "Heroes are not the ones who tend to hire mercenaries like Faultline, villains are. And a reputation as a betrayer means a huge drop in business. Sure, it was a bad move accepting the contract in retrospect, but once she'd signed she was pretty much screwed. Fighting us was actually the best possible case; they might have been losing, but prospective employers will know that they'll fight until the end. They only retreated before Slenderman, and there aren't many capes that would go and face that, especially with two of their number already down."
Taylor clearly wasn't convinced. "People would hire someone who protected a mad bomber?"
"In Brockton Bay, probably not, but outside the city, sure. In a way, this proved that they would do the job no matter what plans their buyer has, which is a selling point for some people," Lisa continued. "They won't be popular around here for some time, but that won't mean much outside the city. They will certainly make sure to leave Brockton Bay for a while, to let tempers calm down."
"All the more reason to go now," I said. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. My power will warn me of dangers anyway, and I intend to listen to it." Not that I've ever ignored it.
Taylor was silent for a moment, then sighed. "It's your choice," she finally said, still unhappy about my decision. "I'm not going to stop you. Just be careful, ok?"
I nodded. "Catch you later."
She smiled sadly. "Stay safe."
With the number of patrols I'd done, Brockton Bay was well known to me by now, and the walk to the Palanquin passed quickly. It helped that neither Taylor's place nor the Palanquin were involved in the Alliance/ABB war going on. The battles were still continuing, but this time it was the Alliance that had the advantage. Lung had shown himself a couple of times, but he alone wasn't enough to stem the tide, not with E88's heavy hitters concentrating on keeping him busy. He would eventually reach a point where he was unbeatable, sure, but by that time the ABB troops had lost and the place was levelled. The E88 would then escape, mostly thanks to Purity's suppressive fire, leaving the ABB leader alone in the ruins of his former holdings.
I didn't go through the main doors of the Palanquin, of course. It was much too early for them to be open, so I went through the alley and knocked on a side door, where a cook answered.
"I'd like to speak to Gregor and Newter, please," I said.
Said cook looked at me for a few moments, then nodded and closed the door. I had to wait for a few more minutes before it opened once again, and this time Gregor was there.
"You are much younger than the ladies who usually find themselves attracted to my friend Newter, miss," the bald Case 53 said with his accented voice. "How can I be of help to you?"
I looked at him and filtered through various dangers just to be sure, and nothing came up if I didn't start a fight. I then pointed to my cheek and forced my body back into my original shape.
I didn't have long to wait before Gregor reacted, moving back to let me enter. "Please come inside, miss. I see we need to have a conversation."
It wasn't long before I was seated in a booth on the second floor with both Case 53 before me, along with Faultline herself who remained standing. "What is your name, miss?" Gregor asked.
I used my power to be sure, but there was no danger in telling my real name. "Sveta."
Faultline raised an eyebrow at that, and opened a folder on the table. She brought out a file, one with a picture of me in my previous condition, taken while I was at the institute. "This Sveta?" she replied showing me the picture.
I nodded.
"There's some resemblance with the face on the photo, sure, but Gregor told me about the little trick you did downstairs," the leader of the crew said. "How do we know you're not trying to fool us?"
I'd expected that. "I can answer any question you want."
"Where were you found?" she asked.
"Madison, during the Simurgh attack. First thing I remember is falling from high up in the city, and my body landing by itself."
"No memory before that?"
"None."
"What happened then?" Gregor said.
"I didn't have control over my body, not even the little bit I managed later. There were people running around and the Simurgh screaming in my head. My limbs, they moved by themselves, ripping apart whoever came in range, and carrying me to hunt the ones escaping." I grimaced. I didn't like remembering that day, which hadn't faded a bit since then. "At the time, I was convinced I was having a nightmare, and tried over and over to force myself back awake. I closed my eyes to what was happening, and tried to ignore everything. In the end, my body tried breaking out of the city limits, and the PRT fought me at the wall. The machine guns they used were useless, but one of the men I squeezed to death had a foam dispenser at his back, and it sprayed all over me as it broke. That held me down enough for capture, and the next day I was in a containment facility."
I'd not noticed, but Faultline had been going over my file while I was talking, looking for discrepancies. "Good enough," she finally said. "How come you no longer look like that?"
"I would like to know also," Gregor added.
"No kidding," Newter confirmed.
"I…" Red. I mentally changed what I'd been about to say, and the color faded. "My powers changed for some reason. I wasn't a Changer originally, and when I became one I returned to a human form."
"How?!" Newter replied, moving closer.
I shook my head. "I was asleep when it happened." The truth, technically. "When I woke, I was back in a human body, and escaped the asylum as soon as I could."
Faultline sighed. "What do you know about people like you? Do you have any idea how you ended up looking like this?" She showed the picture to make her question clear.
"I don't remember anything," I started. "But some friends of mine and I came up with a few guesses based on the information we had." I'd call Tattletale's deductions more than guesses, but that's what they were in large part. "Powers like mine aren't natural, we think. There's either someone or a group who are giving people powers, and the ones like us…"
"Case 53s," Faultline interjected.
I nodded. "We Case 53s were the test subjects. They've been trying different things, trying to figure out something that works reliably," I thought for a second. "That's pretty much all I have."
The three members of the crew looked at each other and nodded. "Well, that at least confirms what I have," the leader said. "We have a lead on more, but that's just about all we have at the moment. Now, another question: are you looking for work?"
I was surprised for an instant, so Faultline continued. "The crew here is always recruiting, and not everyone is comfortable around Newter and Gregor here. We pay well, and we could use your abilities. We're even looking for who created the Case 53s, which I'm pretty sure you're curious about. So what do you say about joining us in checking it out?"
I saw Gregor and Newter lean forward in anticipation, but I unfortunately had to decline. "I'm sorry. I'm already part of another group."
They were still polite after that, but the meeting wound down quickly. Gregor walked me back out the building. "Goodbye, little Sveta," he said as I walked out. "Know we will accept you if you change your mind. Best of luck to you."
"You too, Gregor." I couldn't be angry with them, even if I'd fought them earlier this week. Gregor had been polite and even somewhat charming, while Newter just seemed like a big kid. Lisa had been right, as usual. For them, it had simply been a job, and there were no hard feelings. I did wonder however what Lisa had done to earn Faultline's ire.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
I wasn't logged into PHO for a minute before I received a private message.
Morris_Elk: Are you available?
That was unexpected, I thought. While Morris_Elk seemed to be always connected, he hadn't sent a single message in the past few weeks. Still, I had no issue with talking to him.
Wyrmmidon: Sure.
Morris_Elk: Could I ask you for a favor?
I do owe him, I thought. More than once, too.
Wyrmmidon: Ask away.
Morris_Elk: I saw what happened to you, and the post you made in the visit request thread.
Morris_Elk: Slenderman was the cause of your change, correct?
I instantly pushed away from the screen at that. I'd gotten the fact earlier that someone could guess what happened to me because of the post I made, and that was the reason why I was ok with deleting my account. I verified again, and my post was still gone from that thread.
I went back to my messages, and stared hard at the screen. Not red. Not traps, not trying to get Slenderman's identity, not fishing for information. I had to go back to the visit thread just to make sure my power was still working (it was).
Wyrmmidon: I can't confirm or deny anything.
That was the best I could answer.
Morris_Elk: But you are in Brockton Bay, correct?
Morris_Elk: I've tracked your IP to the city. Not to a specific address, of course, just enough to be sure.
Facing a master hacker is dangerous, I realized. Still, there was no red in my sight.
Wyrmmidon: What if I am?
Morris_Elk: I have a job for you, then.
Morris_Elk: I am looking for a way to contact Slenderman.
Morris_Elk: If he is still interested in helping charitable causes, I might have something for him.
Morris_Elk: [link].
Wyrmmidon: Why come to me?
Morris_Elk: He was at least interested enough by your case to help you.
Morris_Elk: He might be more likely to listen to you, for whatever reason.
I checked the link, read it through twice to make sure.
Wyrmmidon: Why this?
Morris_Elk: I've been following the trial, and it's a farce.
Morris_Elk: They aren't really putting her on trial, but rather going after all Masters through her.
Morris_Elk: It disgusts me.
Wyrmmidon: And how would Slenderman stealing her power help?
Morris_Elk: The punishment for capes is the Birdcage in cases like this.
Morris_Elk: Once you're in, there are no appeals.
Morris_Elk: But I've verified, and the place is the Parahuman Containment Center.
Morris_Elk: Non-capes cannot be interned there.
Morris_Elk: Without her power, she'd end up in a regular jail, where she could appeal or request a retrial.
I didn't say anything. This wasn't a decision I could make, not by myself. I ran down the stairs and dashed into the workshop. T was there but not Taylor, and I needed both in a case like this.
So I sent a text message and waited. That was all I could do for now.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.
You are currently logged in, Vae_Victis
You are viewing:
• Threads you have replied to
• AND Threads that have new replies
• OR private message conversations with new replies
• Thread OP is displayed.
• Twenty-five posts per page
• Last twenty-five messages in private message history.
• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.
You have two infractions and one warning. You were last banned on September 03, 2010. Your probationary status expired 55 days ago, on March 11, 2011.
Topic: Brockton Bay Cape scene Thread 43
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay
Avacyiel (Original Poster)
Posted on April 17th, 2011:
Next thread is up. Recent events are the reappearance of Lung, mass ABB bombing, and looting in the city. Latest news say the all schools in BB will be closed until further notice.
Anyone have more information?
(Showing page 37 of 38)
► MadHornet52
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
So we have the Undersiders fighting the mercenary Faultline and her crew when Slenderman shows up. Faultline's group doesn't even seem to think about it, they turn tail and run immediately. The Undersiders seem to at least try to stop him before having to run. My point is, counting Bakuda and that new ABB cape, They had Slenderman outnumbered 13 to 1 and they ran.
► OldWarBeast
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Has anyone got a list of the people Slenderman has hit? Considering that Oni-Lee was killed I'm wondering if the effect of losing powers is instant or done over time. If it's the later Fualtline is probably in some trouble now.
Edit: Wait, is that Bakuda?! Damn, I knew Faultline were mercenaries but I didn't think they would stoop so low as to being accomplice to mass-murdering of civilians!
► Catgirl Cosmo
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Hey hey, they are mercs. Maybe they were hired by Lung or something, they might have been stuck in teh contract. Mercs can't just up and leave if the going gets rough or the Boss's pet Tinker goes batshit.
That's a one way road to no one hiring you.
► OldWarBeast
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
That doesn't really matter though does it? The PRT, lazy ass's that they are, take mass-murder of civilians very seriously. Not to mention most of the E88 is still alive.
If it was a choice between cancelling a contract and being hunted down and either being Birdcaged or killed I know what I would pick.
But Y'know, hindsight 20/20, etc.
At the very least they will probably try and skip town. Try that is, they aren't no S9 (assholes).
► UmbrellaLake
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
So the ABB took some lumps, but I think Faultline and the Undersiders just got dissed. Slenderman could totally have taken their powers, but he just gives no shits about them.
► The_Highest
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Okay, so does anyone know who that other ABB girl cape was? And what she could do? It's not like she could do it anymore, so it's not like it's a secret worth keeping anymore.
► MadHornet52
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Waitwhat!! Faultline was PROTECTING Bakuda???? That's insane!! She'd have every cape in the city after her team.
EDIT _ After thinking about it a minute, I can see Faultline working with Slenderman to take out Bakuda. As soon as Slendy shows up with Bakuda in tow, Faultline and her entire group take off leaving the Undersiders to face the Devil. Smart. (Brrr)
► ImportantIdiot
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
We don't know what happened to Shadow Stalker, less so that she was attacked. For all we know, she could have retired because of some family situation or just moved away and they are giving her time to adjust to protect her secret identity. I really don't know from where all this "Slenderman attacked a Ward" discussion came about, the only evidence is that Shadow Stalker stopped showing up.
► GreenJeans
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I seriously don't get why this guy is such a big deal! Why are capes freaking out about him? It isn't like most of them didn't spend the majority of their lives as regular Joe's.
► Explode_Horses
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
@GreenJeans
Because he's scary as s***!
► AR234B
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Guys, why are we focusing only on Slenderman? He wasn't the only addition. Do anyone knows the two unidentified capes with the Undersiders? I don't think we have ever seen those before. Were they part of the bank heist or are new additions? And why were the Undersiders fighting the ABB and Faultline's Crew there. I doubt that they just happened to stumble into them so close to the PRT, much less decided to fight them just because. The Undersiders are not known to go looking for trouble, they're the 'Masters of Escape' not the 'Masters of Brawling'.
► Undead Gust
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
You have to give props to the two new kids the Undersiders have. Trying to punch out Cthulhu is a pretty ballsy move. They failed horribly, but you have to give them props none the less.
► Realist
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
If there's one nice thing about Slenderman, it's that if you aren't a cape, you don't have to worry about him going after you. He's a parahuman-only problem.
► PainKiller
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Yeah, but if he grabs the wrong capes, shit gets worse for everyone. No one wants another superpowered gang war because some jumped up freak in a suit decides he's gonna eat Kaiser and totally destabilize the current power structure.
► Realist
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
True. It's also possible that he could work his way up the totem pole and leave Kaiser for last.
► kittyball
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Bit late for that, Lung is the only cape the ABB has left, the Merchants are gone, and the E88 has had two of their capes chomped. The villains are already on notice.
► Kreig's Flail
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Is that he doesn't go after capes, or is it just that the non-capes he goes after slip through the cracks of the many missing persons cases that crop up every year? Hell, we don't even know when he actually got his powers/materialized/budded off from Y'Golonac/
► CheeseWasp
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
@Krieg's Flail
Or... maybe one of their enemies did it?
Logic: Skidmark posting this video would have been pretty much political suicide as far as the BB gangs go. Ergo, he didn't post it. Instead, somebody (Coil or Kaiser - Lung's not that subtle) caught the video by accident and decided to cement Skidmark's being out of the gang scene.
► Nue
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I'm not sure, but I think we might be seeing the first Slenderman attack with survivors, here.
Faultline's crew are mercenaries, right? Maybe an enterprising reporter can hire them to give an interview?
► Kreig's Flail
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
not saying Skidmark and Squealer are the ones that posted it, just that they were apparently paranoid enough to have a camera filming them while they slept (or maybe the camera was part of some other system, who really knows with tinkers) and that had they not been so we would likely never have found out about the Slenderman until maybe Oni-Lee and we would have had far less to go on.
What I'm saying is that we have no idea how long he's been active or how many victims he has.
► NowhereNearU (Double R)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
@ Nue. Not quite the first one with survivors. There were pretty solid rumors of him striking at Triple E. There were explosions, but nobody died.
► Platy+
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
@Nue: I don't remember there ever being casualties during a Slenderman attack. IIRC, only Oni Lee died in an "unfortunate accident", which probably was a Slenderman attack.
► Nue
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Sorry for being mistaken. I remembered the capes attacked kind of dropping off the planet as far as activity goes, and assumed. My bad.
Say, didn't the Myths suggest that Slenderman will continue to appear in the area of those who remember him? It might be wise to keep an eye on the Undersiders and Faultline's group. Especially that one Undersider that tried to punch Slenderman.
► steampowered
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Dude, the internet. Everyone remembers.
► lrcglrcg
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Othala and Victor were pretty competent villains right? And Slenderman snuck up on them while they were asleep, while they were in their own home. He did the same to Squealer and Skidmark. (though they aren't so competent) He also went after Oni Lee at night, probably while he slept. (yes, yes, I'm assuming)
Given that he can go anywhere, knows when your asleep, and knows if you've been bad or good, are there any villains in BB sleeping without guards anymore?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 36, 37, 38
(Showing page 38 of 38)
► WeAreTheChampignonsReplied on May 2nd, 2011:
Welp...
I wake up and there's this.
-Scary-ass video
-Whole lotta speculation
-Whole lotta shitposting (PHO Y U SO PHO)
-Sothoth being rational and thoughtful, as usual Sothoth
My Thinker 0 power (also known as "common sense") tells me that now would be a good time to take a vacation somewhere far away.
I heard Nome is nice this time of year.
► MisterSock-Puppet (Confirmed Cape)Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Guys. Lets cut down on the irrelevant speculation, panic mongering, and baseless slender.
► DurenasReplied on May 2nd, 2011:
What kind of cape name is MisterSock-Puppet?
► HadesReplied on May 2nd, 2011:
Obviously someone with a Master power, he probably creates a proxy construct and acts through it.
► Uber (confirmed cape)
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Well well, hasn't life in the Bay got interesting. Some capes are terrified of the Slenderman but those are guys who define themselves by their powers - me and Leet are defined by our style. I won't say I'm sleeping like a baby behind my bevy of beautiful bodyguardettes but I'm confident that if Tall, Dark and Creepy comes calling we've got some fun surprises for him.
Meanwhile, place your bets ladies and gentlemen! Who will the Slenderman try for next:
Lung?
Kaiser?
Purity, to further the eternal battle between light and dark?
Coil, if he even has a power to lose?
Faultline, Bakuda's henchwoman?
The Undersiders?
Armsmaster, he's not a villain but he is a dick?
or the most dangerous game of all, i.e. me?
My money is on the Undersiders - they fought back and then they got away.
► NowhereNearU (Double R)
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
You could probably try and make a show where Slenderman is supposed to be the antagonist. I'm sure he'll be right there when it starts, just say when and where. [/sarcasm mode]
*This user has received a 1-day ban for inciting criminal and/or reckless behavior. Do not do it again.*
-Tin Mother
► CraniumSunnySideUP
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
I would so watch this! Maybe it could happen? You could go out to the docs or one of the major abandoned building by there and do a horror/thriller/survival episode?
Set it all up before hand and advertise I can't Imagine slendy would be able to turn down something like this...Achance to scare people. I mean why else have the tentacles?
You could call his name a few times or something and he could just show up or maybe...
You could donate some of the money to a charity and it might not end up causing Slendy to do anything to insane from the whole taunting thing...
A charity for kids might work according to some of the Aleph mythos and that laughing stuff he likes kids...
Wonder if we could actually get him to talk?
If He doesn't show I'm sure there could be a good show anyway.
What kind of game though? I mean horror obviously but do we want it to be based survival (as in how long), a set endpoint for quests or on the collection of items (pages of a book or something)?? I know base it on Amnesia Dark Descent!
I haven't seen you guys do anything like that yet!
*This user has received a 7-day ban for inciting criminal and/or reckless behavior. Do not do it again. Especially when I just told someone else you replied to*
-Tin Mother
► Uber (verified cape)
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Hey now! Don't cite for incitin', cos it's me that you're slightin' if ya think that my fightin's determined by write in.
Not on this board anyway.
► Some_of_us_live_here
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
So slenderman is scary to capes? Good!! A load of thenm could do with being scared of something and there's plenty that should lose there powers. If he wants to dress up like an internet era kid on haloween fine by me. I'll even act frightened
My problem with Slenderman is he was to soft on Bakuda. After he took her powers he should have hung her from a lampost. I lost 2 friends, lost my business and got maimed by her f***ing spree. And Faultline, all that shit about she's amerc not another gangster and shes in bed with that scum. Someone should burn out her f***ing club then hunt her and her freaks don like dogs. I'd do it myself but I've only got 1 foot now!!
*This user has received a 14-day ban for inciting criminal and/or reckless behavior. Do not do it again. Especially when I just told someone else two posts above you. Next person is getting a 1 month ban. You have all been warned.*
-Tin Mother
► Dragish
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
What is with the wank on Slenderman? Sure he has done some impressive things but when you get down to the nity gritty feats, they don't seem to be that impressive when you compare them to other parahumans. I would rather face him then fight Legend for instance. He is just the cape of the moment with his moves. We have yet to see him really fight anyone. Almost all his wins are straight up ambushes, for all we know he has no staying power.
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Really? ^^ A snake doesn't need staying power to kill a lion, And if YOU are a cape, then I really don't get you. You CAN escape Legend ( there are ways, like staying inside a crowd, or making him unable to home in on you ) but how are you going to fight a freaking teleporter that only needs ONE touch to FOREVER depower you...
► Zohtct
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
@Dragish
I'd like to point out Oni Lee. How long did that fight last? Might have started as a straight up ambush, but...
► Dragish
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
@FigmentWolf
My point that you seemed to have missed was for all the gushing that is being done to him, he is not as impressive as is being made out.
Sure hes a scary bastard with a crazy ablity, but the field is not as empty as is being made out. One touch and out? did you forget the whole situation with Oni Lee? I think it might take more then just a touch to depower someone. Would I want to see him in a dark alley hell no, but I could say the same for many a cape. He is just another cape.
@Zohtct
We don't know how long that fight lasted, since all we have left is the aftermath. For all I know Slenderman got in a good first shot and the whole rest of the battle was just waiting out Oni as he bleed to death
► HoboKnife
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Oni Lee has the same kind of horror-movie feel to him. He appears from nowhere and kills without warning. I bet Slenderman wanted that niche all to himself.
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
@ Dragish
Oni Lee is a very bad example. A fight between two teleporters is not the same as an attempt by a teleporter to touch some one without that crazy movement capability. Most of that damage is probably done by Oni Lee attempting to get rid of his opponent in a game of deadly tag. No other incident of Slenderman attack ( as far as I know ) has that much collateral damage, while it kinda fits with Oni Lee's MO.
► Lantalia
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
Hey Slendy! If you need $20 dollars, it's totally yours, no need to stalk me for it, no need to take my (nonexistent) powers. We're cool, right Slendy?
► PsychoPoet
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
When in Doubt,
Turn about,
proceed to Run,
To grab your gun,
Now maybe it's because I (likely) have the Atlantic between me and this "Slenderman", or maybe it's due to the less strict gun laws since the Temple Meads attack(1) meaning I have my Webley & Scott .32 ACP Self-loading Pistol. I'm a little less frightened of some weird cape like some of you scaredy cats, so unless this "Slenderman" actually does something more than: Taking down a Tinker who only makes Bombs, some random cape, the Merchants, Possibly Oni Lee and maybe Shadow Stalker(2) then can we please talk about more Relevant things?
Like say The Cape Regulation Party over here in not so merry old England?
(1) For all you who have forgotten the attack nearly five years ago when Detonate turned every Pigeon at the Bristol Temple Meads into biological bombs causing hundreds to die? You know the one that all of you bastards have forgotten about?
(2) Again as others have said Proof please instead of random speculation.
*Please stop spamming other threads, I understand from several of your posts that you had family at Temple Meads but repeatedly bringing it up in multiple different threads is a violation of the rules. Stay on topic and please don't also bring your politics into it as well. You are on thin ice as it is. Stop.*
-Tin Mother
► Questionmark_Period
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
First Slenderman, now Candlejack? Who knows who will be targeted nex
...
Heh, just kidding. But did anyone consider that Slendy hid his tentacles, right up until he came across two Japaneese ABB girls?
At least they weren't wearing schoolgirl outfits at the time...
► LoyalKoopa71
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
From what I've been able to tell, Slenderman's been staying in the Brockton Bay area and has only gone after criminals with powers. My question is what happens when the Bay runs out of criminals to keep Slendy occupied? Will it go to another city or will it go after the wards and Protectorate?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 36, 37, 38
Topic: Slenderman Thread 9
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)
Tamestaff (Original Poster)
Posted on April 29th, 2011:
The newest cape boogieman, worse than Hatchet Face ever was. Continuing from [here].
Incidents:
-Merchants Video: [Link]
-Victor & Othala Video: [Link]
-Oni Lee Article (No video): [Link]
-Undersiders & Faultline Videos: [Link 1], [Link 2], [Link 3]
(Showing page 95 of 97)
► Holy Prophet
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Dude, stop- Slender ain't no Demon and it doesn't prove your god. Space Whales- Seriously?
Go sit down before you hurt yourself.
► kittyball
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
What do you mean "baseless speculation"? I gave the basis right in the post!
*This user has received a 1-day ban for arguing with a moderator.*
- Wyrm_Engineer
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
@ lrcglrcg
Omg... You are not thinking that he is... No, no way ! But, on the other hand.... OMG, IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW ! Slenderman is ( dun dun DUUUN ) SANTA !!!
I should probably go get some sleep now. On the other hand, darkness.
Nah.
► Questionmark_Period
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Yes, of course!
Slender Claus visits the houses of capes, riding in his non-euclidean sleigh pulled by seven tentacle monsters - with the one in the front having a glowing [REDACTED].
If you are a naughty cape, he turns off your powers.
If you are a nice cape, he tosses you an Asian girl.
Because why not?
Happy holidays, and have a Merry [REDACTED]!
► Zohtct
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
THE VIDEOS ARE FAKE! THE ENTIRE THING WAS SCRIPTED! SCRIPTED I TELL YA!
Now I'm gonna go sleep with the lights on. Forever. For no reason...
► [][]Redacted[][]
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I for one welcome our new tentacle equipped overlord!
► Catgirl Cosmo
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Woah.
Just, woah.
That thing is scary.
Wonder if it's like an Endbringer.
► ImportantIdiot
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Seriously, stop with the endbringer talk. Endbringers are a serious matter and there is no reason to think Slenderman has anything to do with them. Joking about that is of bad taste. Also, there is nothing to say that the guy could break into the Birdcage and based on the fact that he is targeting villains there is no reason to think that he would go for the already captured ones or that he could. Yes, he is a power suppressor, brute teleporter and probably shape shifter but we don't know how strong of a teleporter he is and if that were all it took to break out then it wouldn't be as effective as it is.
► Monster Sack (unconfirmed cape)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Does anyone else think this Slenderman might be a projection.
Maybe somebody in the city triggered an doesn't even know they did.
Slenderman might be someone's dream of vengeance on the crooks.
► Pothar
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
So Slenderman is an Aleph Myth right? And it just so happens that when Haywire opens that portal, Slendy appears a few decades later?
Coincidence? I think not.
Edit: Assuming it is a parahuman, how crazy would it be for anyone to trigger with the exact same powers as him? Something doesn't add up.....
► ???
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
... My god. I just figured it out it all makes sense!
Stories about Slender man have been around for years right? Both here and Aleph? Kidnapping kids who are never seen again? I was thinking about this when another question popped into my head that fit disturbingly well... Where do Case 53's come from? Their monstrous appearance and inability to remember?
HE CHANGED THOSE KIDS INTO MONSTERS LIKE HIM!
*This user has received an infraction for this post; Case 53s are unfortunate victims not monsters*
- Wyrm_Engineer
► Riftthetypodemon
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
!!!! I figured it out. SLenderman is obviously a top secret PRT weapon. Think about it, we know Armsmaster is a top level tier and ShadowStalker vanished just before Slender started showing up with his shadowy BS. Obviously Shadowstalker has been tricked out with a Tinkertech suit designed to seal cape powers and sent out as 'slenderman' for a secret War on the gangs of Brockton Bay!
► SwissRod
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I think you all have it wrong. Clearly, Slendy is the world's first Para-animal. It's just an Octopus in a suit. Nothing to worry about
But here's another theory. Shadow Stalker hasn't been seen recently because she became Slenderman.
Perhaps she triggered a second time (somehow) and in addition to gaining new powers, her form turned monstrous.
So she wanders the streets, trying to hold the last vestiges of her fading sanity together as she continues battling criminals and villains the only way she can now.
In any case, it's all pure speculation now.
Maybe with time and more evidence, we'll find out who or what Slendy really is.
My money is on two hyper-intelligent mice in a robot suit.
► Rifttypodemon
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
DUde your half right but I'm telling you its a PRT black ops unit that has secretly made cape sealing technology. We all know Shadow Stalker wasn't bright and shiny enough for the Wards so they recruited her to do the dirty work against the villians of Brockton bay.
► Durenas
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Seriously? That's all you got? You might as well say it's Alexandria. Or Scion. Go home, dude.
► Little Green Man (Unverified Cape)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Slenderman is obviously Scion counterpart. Scion had appeared - and people had started to get powers. OK, we do not see him near trigger event - but who knows what his range is? And now Slenderman appeared - and capes are losing their powers. He is just either holding back or is not experienced that's why he had to touch to do it for now. But he is evolving. Also Scion is all glowing - Slenderman is all dark. Clearly, we are going to see Doomsday battle between Scion and Slenderman in the near future.
► Gnoalak
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
He's a chicken I tell you, a giant chicken!
► Order in Chaos (Veteran Lurker)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I hate to say it, but the giant chicken theory seems to have the best evidence backing it.
That aside, what do we know?
•Targets mostly-villains. ◦What about rogues and vigilantes? BB is a parahuman heavy city, but not all are Protectorate/Wards or gangers. Is anyone tracking all the independents, could he be picking them off as low hanging fruit?
◦Have there been any confirmed responses from the "please visit" threads? I know there've been a bunch of deletions, but that could be normal mod activity.
[sarcasm]Is Slenderman a PHO mod?!?[/sarcasm]
•Turns powers off, possibly/probably permanently. ◦Maybe reverses the process that causes powers in the first place?
◦Could be some kind of healing/regeneration ability, restoring people to baseline human?
■Powers track back to the whatsit thingumae in the brain, do his targets still have that?
◦Is the power negation a primary or secondary effect? Does he go out to shutdown capes or is the shutdown incidental?
•Power resistance.
◦Could be a trump, could be a brute, could be tinkertech. Could argue for other mechanisms too, maybe something like Vista's space manipulation, he just redirects everything away instead of full out no-selling it?
•Scary/creepy as hell.
◦Is that cause or effect? Is he inherently scary or is it because of what he does and how he does it? Did he start out this scary or did everyone build him up and now he's just using it to his advantage?
◦Is he getting scarier over time? Is he getting stronger over time?
■He just took out two capes, and ten more ran made a tactical withdrawal rather than confront him. How many people can walk into a cape fight and have both sides bail?
On the subject of cause and effect, is he Slenderman because he is/has powers identical to the Aleph urban legend, or is he just cashing in based on superficial resemblance and thereby inheriting a ton of cred and using it for more mind games?
► Guildfan#2415
All this talk about Slenderman,pfah it is sooooooooooo Obvious that the thing we call Slenderman is just a projection made by a parahuman who is customising it as he learns about that stupid aleph nonsense myth,I mean yes this projection seals Parahuman powers but that's all that's special about it.
► Catgirl Cosmo
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
It's not nonsense
It's based off of a 16th century german myth
► Guildfan#2415
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
It is nonsense:it was made up a lot later and all the so called"proofs"are false made by some Aleph nerds.Heh,next you are going to tell me that the greek and viking gods were parahumans
► PsychoPoet
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
And Parahuman powers have only been proven to have existed since Scion appeared on May 20th 1982. There is less in Heaven and Earth, Wild Mass Guesser, than dreamt of in your philosophy. We have no evidence of powers before 1982 on our Earth. So a German myth from the 1500s is as applicable as saying Scion is a god again. Go back to Wild Mass Guessing and babble there. Maybe you can also say "Slenderman" is a Time Lord as well?
► Malice
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Slenderman is obviously Eidolon. Think about it; have you ever seen them together at the same time? The only other Trump that strong is in the Bird Cage.
► Sothoth
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
In case of being observed by cameras that would mean that they either don't count, or he's teleporting between individual frames. The first possibility tells us something about his/her/its Manton limitations, and the second might be indicative of his/her/its reaction times (possibly giving him/her/it a mover/thinker rating for enhanced reaction times).
Wasn't there a cape in Brockton Bay who transformed into some sorta monster when no one was looking at... her, I think? Night, I think the name was. Could her/his shaped form be observed by cameras? Wiki is unhelpful. The point is, however, that abilities with "can be used when no one is watching" modifiers aren't exactly unknown.
►Ruler
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
*sigh*
No, you tinfoil hats, if Slenderman is getting stronger it's either because he's similar to Lung and get's stronger based on unknown criteria, or he get's stronger whenever he uses his power null touch, making him sort of like Dauntless, or, more likely, he's just getting used to his powers and learning more about how to use them.
And stop with the damn jokes about the fake myth, Slenderman didn't start doing any of this shit until we started that stupid in joke, given there are VILLAINS on here, he probably saw you bring up the fake myth from Aleph and decided to play it up. It's not like there aren't thousands of other capes who decided to play up a theme like a troupe of ham actors, like those Adept psycho's in New York.
This isn't the kind of crap you can joke about, go to Creative Writing or Cape Theories if you want to fuck around.
*This user has received an infraction for flaming language.*
- Wyrm_Engineer
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 94, 95, 96, 97
(Showing page 96 of 97)
► ProtosShota
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
You people, I swear. What's more likely, "teleporting between frames" or video editing software?
► Kreig's Flail
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Forget all this talk of power stealing and morality, there is a far greater issue here: Where the hell did he get such a sharp looking suit, and if he made it himself then what do I have to fork over to get one? I've seen CEO's with less well-cut suits and with those proportions tailoring it would be hell.
► The_Celestial_Monster
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
So with every appearance this guy becomes more like the Slenderman mythos, ethier by Trump ability or Tinker bullshit?
Placing bets on next power, mind fuckery to the point of bloody noses or pyrokensis. Which will it be!? Place your bets here!
Edit: 1000th post!
► SinisterMister
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
No need to involve weird dimensional shenanigans. We're all talking about Slenderman because we all know about Slenderman via ongoing contact with Earth Aleph. 'Slenderman' is obviously a cape who saw the same movie as everyone else, and based their costumed persona on the character.
Maybe they triggered while watching the movie. Maybe they triggered, did an online search of their new powerset, learned of the character that way, and decided to use the fictional identity as their cape persona.
Also, to kittyball, there is absolutely no need to subscribe some sort of power stealing Trump ability to Slenderman. Neighbors heard children laughing at the Victor/Othala site? Must be a Tinker (because Slenderman couldn't possibly own an MP3 player ). Slenderman didn't exhibit tentacle limbs when targeting Skidmark/Squealer or Victor/Othala? Those must be new (couldn't possibly be because Slendy needed a few weeks to learn how to use his new, non-human physiology in a potential combat situation ).
I am getting tired of people on this forum slapping all sorts of nonsensical power tags on parahumans. This power theft debate is just as stupid as the time that Taggart tried applying a rating of 2 in all categories to that one girl with the Master power.
So enough with the senseless speculation. Slenderman's power nullifying attack is a Striker/Trump effect. The teleporting is a Mover power with unknown range and limitations. The tentacles are a Changer manifestation. His immunity to firearms is either a Brute or Breaker power. I'm leaning towards Breaker since he can also apparently ignore some Parahuman powers even at range (Regent waved his scepter, but his TK did nothing. Grue threw his sleepytime darkness twice to no effect). I've already speculated that he may have a Thinker ability to recognize the presence of capes, since he attacked most of them in private.
These most recent videos do, I think, support my evidence based Thinker theory (as opposed to the rampant wild speculation that usually happens on these boards) that the more capes you have in an area, the easier it is for Slenderman to find them. Note that every verified attack except for Oni Lee has happened near a concentration of capes (and he likely counted as a 'concentration of capes' all on his own).
The media has already identified the site of the most recent videos as being within a few blocks of the PRT building. I bet they've got capes going in an out of the place at all hours. But Slenderman isn't stupid, he's not just going to rush the Protectorate/Wards/E88/etc. with a Striker power. Thus, paradoxically, numbers may both protect Capes from him while also drawing him to them.
I believe he was prowling around the PRT base, looking for Parahumans to follow to isolated areas, and wound up running across the Undersiders/Faultline/ABB battle when the sheer concentration of active parahumans made the place light up like a Christmas tree to his Thinker senses. Note how Slenderman walked into the most recent video carrying Bakuda and that other (presumably parahuman) ABB member. He waited until they were alone and then he pounced. Classic guerilla tactics/ambush predator behavior.
The only anomalous point of data was Slenderman then choosing to confront the Undersider/Faultline combatants. Why did he do that? If they'd all turned on him at once, he could have been in trouble. Did his possible Thinker ability let him know that several were already down? Did his victory over Bakuda and her friend embolden him? Does neutralizing other parahumans affect him mentally, like a drug?
► HagbardCeline
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Here's a fun thought for y'all: forget Endbringers, what if Slendy gets his mitts on Scion?
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Awesome post there, Sinister ! Would have given more likes, if only could.
I disagree with you on only one point there, I don't think we have enough data to assume he is drawn to large quantities of capes. After all, so far he only had hit to couples of villains that we know of. Wouldn't it be easier for him to continue hanging on E88 territory? MANY more capes there. Or at wherever Faultline's crew is located. Or hell, even Arcadia would be a better target for scouting for collection of capes. We don't know yet of a single Slenderman attack on a hero, which is another reason I don't think he was just hanging at PRT vicinity looking for capes. ( + don't forget, E88 has more capes then the entire PRT building even HAS .)
I think it's more likely he does his homework, follows them a bit, and strikes when they are not expecting it ( it's hard to find some one less prepared for a fight, then when that person is asleep in their own home in the hands of their mate, after all. )
Sooo, anyways, I think it's same chances he has some sort of stranger ability. That would fit well with the mythos thing, allow him to have a semblance of normal life ( otherwise I don't know how he can manage to not be noticed around all the time, with the tentacles and all.) AND allow him to find and follow villain capes.
I know my theory is not based on stone cold facts, but hey, it explains staff, and Stranger powers are hard to get evidence for anyway, that's the whole point.
► Narved
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I wonder if Slendy has something to do with those Chinese fellows whose name i can't even remotely remember. After all there are some rather spooky rumours around those guys and i wouldn't see them being above using foreign capes as test subjects for their new toy.
► NowhereNearU (Double R)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
If he's the real deal, he's teleporting when nobody's looking at him. Kinda like Schroedinger, he's either somewhere where you can see him, or in any place you don't see him. It's just convenient that humans don't see in the dark.
► Unreal_Fraction
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
What if Slenderman is a Trump with the power to have every power people think he has, and we're making him stronger by speculating?
► Charis
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Y'all have seen too many horror flicks and conspiracy thrillers. Occam's razor, people.
Slendy has a body count of what, one? So obviously not an Endbringer. Given that he's so far only targeted villains, he is obviously some kind of vigilante cape. He looks scary, maybe on purpose, maybe because his powers messed up his appearance. That doesn't make him a monster any more than any other Case 53 cape.
As for his powers, he's probably some kind of biotinker. An opposite-Panacea who can do brains or maybe Bonesaw-lite. He's not "sealing" or "stealing" powers. All he has to do is wipe out their Corona Gemma and poof! - one permanently depowered cape. He's probably still learning about his powers, which is why he didn't have tentacles before and developed it later. His tinker suit also makes sense in the same way that Bonesaw has those robo-spiders.
► Fabul (Unconfirmed non-cape)
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Could be worse. We could have a cape imitating one of the various slasher franchises, from either Aleph or our own world.
► Catgirl Cosmo
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Naw. That makes far too much sense. Thing that people forget about Slendy is that he's Pre-divergence. Slenderman first appeared late 1700s in Germany. There he was known as eiather the Tall Man or the Thin Man. His legends have popped up all across Europe over time, and I think a few times in Asia and Africa.
He prob walked and finally hit land in BB.
He's an old god. And he's tired of Scion getting all the attention and whatnot and is putting these Parahumans who have appeared following Scion in there place. Then he will reveal his own Super Humans, all those little kids he's taken over the ages, given new and terrifiying abilities.
► LoyalKoopa71
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I'm just going to hope Slenderman stays away from Texas.
► Unknown Shadow
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Honestly the changes we see in Slenderman might be a result of it/he/she being a Trump.
Think about it, the "powers" Slenderman has access to might scale according to some kind of "danger sense" similar to how Lung grows stronger the longer he stays in battle.
So the greater the danger it encounters the more options it has. That might be why it generally attacks "from the shadows" as it were. Whoever or whatever Slenderman is knows that it takes time to "ramp up" and is planning accordingly.
The bit with the Undersiders and Faultline's crew is because it had already reached a "higher level" due to taking care of Bakuda and that other cape.
► Abcllc
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Thinking on this brings up a few ideas on just what Slenderman is.
1). A parahuman with multiple powers that likes to mind fuck victims.
A]. the mythos is based off them.
B]. they tailored their powers some how to be like the mythos
C]. their a creeper that got luck to have powers just like Slenderman plus power sealing.
2). A tinker that likes to fuck with people.
3). A mass hallucination that is imprinting on film.
4). Enough people believed in Slenderman and now he's real.
5). Some kind of projection.
6). bunch of squirrels in a suit.
7). bunch of octopus in a suit.
8). I DON'T KNOW!
As you can see there are a lot of possibilities its only a matter of time till we receive more clues and evidence as to the behavior and methods of the Slenderman, now can anyone add any other possibility as to just what the cape community is dealing with.
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
You ARE crazy, Kitty. ) First targets were asleep, so just rude to wake them up by laughing. And, as we seen there wss no need for tentacles with Victor and Othala. And for all we know he/she/it used the "Tentacles of Force Intrusion" spell on Oni Lee anyways.
► The_Highest
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Dudes, I think I've figured out Slenderman's teleport thing! It's based on light level! He always attacks when it's dark, but in this last video, it's not very dark! And he doesn't do any teleporting except that one time when Grue hit him with darkness!
So obviously, like any good horror movie, keep to places where it's bright and you're safe. Until he cuts the power. Then you're boned.
► Pandora Protector
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
All of 'Slenderman' shtick is obviously tinkertech bullshit. I'll bet you anything it's just a crazy tinker who've read too much shitty horror stories and is now on some ill-thought out crusade.
Appearing out of nowhere? Tinkerteleport. Things done on camera? Tinkerhacking and tinkerphotoshop. Children's laughter? You don't even need to be a tinker to buy speakers. Tentacles? Tinkermechadendrites. Apparent loss of powers in victims? Tinkertech that does something to the brain that they forget how to use them or something, probably possible to relearn at any time. Or something else, it's a fucking tinker no one know how that shit works.
I'm telling you, it's just a crazy tinker with a horror-fetish, attempting to psyche you lot out. The saddest part is it seems to be working.
Fucking tinkers.
*This user has received an infraction for flaming language. Your hatred of tinkers has no place even in a theory discussion*
- Wyrm_Engineer
► Day_Hunter
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
OK, that was.... scary. I mean, at first I thought this was just some new cape testing out their powers on targets nobody would miss. Now though, I'm not so sure. Because this is fitting the Mythos to a T. Hell, all we need is him asking for 20 bucks at this rate.
Of course, one thing that worries me is the way he seems to be playing up the drama now. I mean, 3 separate cameras with mics and the whole schebang? Either he's embarking on psychological warfare now, or he's got a ego bigger then most politicians.
► LoyalKoopa71
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Somehow I doubt that Slenderman is fueled by the power of belief. The power of fear is much more likely.
► SirTINal
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Don't you people see???
Slenderman is getting stronger!!!
Evidence:
1st Video: at 3:17 see, there's clear damage to the suit
2nd Video: at 0:21 you can see the guy shooting at him, and no damage
Also notice the lack of tentacles in the first two videos, now suddenly he has them?!?! The more people believe in him the stronger he gets, you need to stop posting about him!
► Melroj
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
I'm just glad that Slenderman is going after villains. I don't want to imagine what it would be like the other way around.
I had a nightmare about Slenderman joining the S9.
► Sothoth.
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Someone should check the list of known Earth Aleph parahumans. Slenderman is Aleph myth, right? So, it's most logical to assume that he/she/it (oh, Scion, please don't be Aleph Endbringer!) is originally from there. Has anyone contacted people who started the myths back on Aleph? Did anyone check if they were (former/potential) capes? Not that they'd tell, normally, but I bet the government could check. They do so for professional athletes, right?
► FigmentWolf
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Any1 read Earth Aleph fiction novels Night Watch by Lukyanenko ? Cause Slenderman horribly reminds me of The Mirror from there, the Meta Mage that comes when a power balance is shifted too much towards Light or Dark, and who's power level depends on his opposition.
I mean it fits, no ? Look at the hero/villain ratio of BB. And it certainly looks like Slenderman changes, the more opposition he has. Look at his appearance hystory with this theory in mind.
If it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it probably IS a duck, instead of a Nillbog treated chicken. I mean some other theories in here, come on ?! Spawn of Chtulhu ? Get a grip, people...
► Beetlebrox
Replied on May 1st, 2011:
Hasn't anyone realised that this thing started on Aleph? Slenderman can travel through dimensions. How is this not an S-class threat?
Just glad I'm not a cape.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 95, 96, 97
(Showing page 97 of 97)
► PsychoPoet
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
And we get more baseless, unfounded, speculation made of bullshit. PHO Never Changes. Now, "Slenderman" is just a creepy careful capable cape. Not a god, not a demon, just someone new. So unless we have evidence then can we go another couple of pages without made up bullshit?
I know this is PHO, site of the infamous Birdcage Breakout Hoax that caused a banhammer nuke to be dropped in the heart of PHO, but can we please have some actual well grounded debate with actual facts? Please.
► Hero_of_Time (Verified Cape)
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
@PsychoPoet
No, Slenderman isn't human. Take a look at the limb movements - he's boneless. Maybe he's a Changer, but I find it hard to believe that he's that and a power-removing Trump too. Simplest explanation - he's some kind of eldritch monstrosity straight from the pit of Hell. We're boned.
► Psycho Poet
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
He is Slender,
On a Bender,
He seals powers,
To get flowers.
Or in this case random speculation from PHO members. Some of whom really need to have a reading comprehension test. As pissing of the mods? To quote another rhyme of mine from CrWr:
Do not trouble the Mods,
As while they are really not Gods,
Their powers are quite Grand,
And can make you be Banned.
We are really going around in circles. We have a scary vid after two other vids and a little bit of rumour. For gods sake guys we know more about the Undersiders than "Slenderman." We just have a creepy cape going after villains. He's just likely a new vigilante man abomination scaring the ever lasting crap out of the BB underworld.
He is not some cosmic horror. He is not a projection. He is not a super Aleph-cape or a escaped experiment or the fear of all capes losing their powers. The "Slenderman" is a living, breathing cape. And as I look at BB I know one thing: that the remaining villains are certainly going to try and fix that.
As do you really thing Lung is going to take this lying down? He might have gone after Oni Lee, but Bakuda and that random new cape? And do you think Kaiser is going to take the loss of Othala and Victor with grace as well? And with the Merchants being basically destroyed it means every other villain will be worried about what he is going to do.
"Slenderman" is just one cape. He at the very least has an entire city of villains against him. The PRT are also going to want him, not dead but likely under their thumb. And out of town villains are going to be looking and wondering what happens if Slenderman takes out every Villain in BB.
The story of "Slenderman" will not end well. But not like in the Aleph myths, this is not an Eldritch Abomination who will bring BB to ruin. This is one vigilante trying to use their powers to clean up one of the worst cities with Cape violence in the whole US. Possibly the world.
"Slenderman" will be the one having the unhappy ending most likely. And seeing his previous targets that makes me sad, another cape who wanted to make the world a better place broken and destroyed by the horrible world we live in. So while you speculate and have idiotic fun I'm going to start to mourn.
As one person can't change a single city, let alone the world. If "Slenderman" was to work with the PRT then maybe the ending would be different. But it won't. This story has played out thousands of times over the years. Some young Cape crops up, tries to change things and dies.
So please, stop with the pointless crap and likely the stupid Vs. threads you are going to make. And show this new cape a little respect.
► Catgirl Cosmo
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
No. No.
@PsychoPoet
No. I refuse to believe a single person cannot make a difference. Especially not someone like this Slenderman. I refuse to believe that even a non-powered person cannot make a difference in the world. Look at BB.
The Merchants are done for, druggies and whores no longer walk the dark allyways of that city. That is progress.
Two Nazis no longer have the power or will to kill and maim and hurt those who are different. That is progress.
A demon and a mad bomber are gone, no longer threatening the people of that city. That is progress.
Slenderman is just like Panacea. Cleaning up the Cancers and sicknesses of the world, one infection at a time.
Just like Panacea it is a long, tiring, near thankless job that this being (whoever or whatever he is) is doing.
My greatest fears are not his death or defeat. They are the two greatest threats that face Panacea herself.
Too much too fast - Burning out would be horrible for either of them. Slender at the least has the ability to rest when it needs to. That poor girl at the Hospital needs to be kept there overnight every now and then and forced to rest
And looking into the Abyss - seeing the horrors of the world *shudder* I've seen my share, and I know that to a degree those same horrors have looked back into me. If that were to happen to either of these upstanding people...
I need say no more.
Goddess Rest their souls and may they have long and happy futures ahead of them.
► PsychoPoet
Replied on May 2nd, 2011:
One Word: Hero. I'd like to pretend we were still in the golden age, that we can win against all that is out there. But we are not. We are in our Götterdämmerung, Our Twilight of the "Gods". The way things are going ... even every combined cape hero or villain will not be enough to hold back the tide.
As to quote Tolkien to give you an idea on my feelings on the matter:
Wight's Chant said:
Cold be hand and heart and bone,
and cold be sleep under stone:
nevermore to wake on stony bed,
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead.
In the black wind the stars shall die,
and still on gold here let them lie,
till the dark lord lifts his hand
over dead sea and withered land.
If the entire planet can't make a difference, if every Parahuman with whatever bullshit power they have at their disposal then what can one cape do? One Vigilante against an entire city? In reality there is no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel. All things come to dust and our time is nearly over.
... I'm going to go listen to something uplifting. As I've depressed myself again. Trust me when I say this, I would like "Slenderman"* to be the start of the turning of the tide. I would love for us to start to slowly crawl back the world. But right now with an Endbringer going to pop up soon ...
Well The U.K. is an island about the same size as Japan was before Leviathan attacked. If he wants to ...
*I'm putting his name in quotation marks as I just can't take it seriously.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 94, 95, 96, 97
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
I looked away from the screen. I knew I shouldn't look at those threads, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to figure it, to know where everything had gone wrong in my life.
I felt like I'd never had any control over my destiny. I should have; I'd been one of the privileged few, the ones who didn't break and simply hung on so hard that something deep answered. That should have been my ticket to glory, only it had only been a railroad to mediocrity. I barely had a few weeks where I was free, then the world fought back and leashed me. I tried my best to manage my chains and my freedom at the same time, and for a while it worked. Then he came.
Slenderman.
I still had no clue when he'd gotten to me, probably in my sleep like the Merchants, but everything went wrong then. I had to endure days of repetitive testing, hours in isolation, until the fuckers from the PRT dropped me like a hot potato. Straight here, in the Southern Boston Corrective Center, and still without my powers.
It chafed.
Here, the people in power decidedly hated me. I tried to put them in their place like I'd done before, but found out that there were people higher than me on the totem pole, and that, while I was in shape, there were other inmates here that could break me like a twig. I went through enough days in the infirmary to know. With my power, I'd have made short work of them, but now without it I was at the bottom of the pecking order.
Looking at the theories thread on the forum was the worst, but I couldn't help but do it. Watching people discuss him like he was a god or a demon made me want to yell at them, scream that he was just another man, preying on people. I nearly posted those words a dozen times, but I knew my Internet access was watched, and I'd been told that I couldn't contact anyone outside. Each time, I held back, and left things as they were.
Then came the latest Slenderman video.
There wasn't a word for how I felt. Seeing the Undersiders healthy and even growing twisted my insides and made me wear down my teeth as I forced myself not to yell. I had to hold myself on the arms of my chair when I saw them escape. They were villains and they were free; I'd been a hero and I was chained like a dog. I held on to my hate, afraid that I'd start crying if I let go. There wasn't a word in the dictonary for how I felt; it was beyond words, beyond everything. I put my hands on the side of the screen and pushed, as if I could somehow reach into the screen and strangle them.
I don't know how long I stood like that. It felt like hours, but it couldn't be. My anger left me suddenly, and I tried holding back my tears. A realization came crashing through my mind, and I had an epiphany.
I was never going to be leaving this place.
They, the guards, the inmates, the world... They would break me. The person who would leave this place wouldn't be me.
I, Sophia Hess, would never be free.
I crumbled in my chair and weakly forced my hand up toward the screen, as if I could grab back what I had just lost. My face was wet, and I could hear the laughter of the other inmates behind me. They'd wanted that, to see me weak, to see me cry, and I hadn't given them the pleasure.
And now I'd lost.
I just wanted the be free! I yelled inside, as if it would change something. Was that too much to ask, really?!
I saw double for an instant, as if my eyes had suddenly crossed. It took me a moment for the disorientation to pass before I felt it in my mind, in my soul, in my entire self, like something had just connected and I had been made whole.
For an instant, I remembered a similiar feeling, and then that moment was gone. I didn't want to shatter that feeling that I could feel rising inside of me. I didn't want this moment to not be what I thought it was.
Hope.
I wanted to laugh and cry, but fuck that, I had more important things to do. I could feel it in me, and I knew, I knew beyond a doubt that I could be free once more.
I reached out one last time, touching the screen lovingly for once, and then I was gone.