-trajectory. agreement.-

[from_scratch]

"Hasn't everyone heard of Kithabel? I live in Africa, not under a rock," Cam tells Tattletale. "You, on the other hand, are new to me."

Comments

[from_scratch]

"Cauldron's records are consistent with what you've said, but you are random people who walked out of a portal in the middle of a rainforest to talk to me and know stuff that I certainly didn't tell you, so do you have any further reason for me to think that Kithabel wasn't a parahuman either or that she needs rescuing or that the entities are bad news in spite of how repulsive their principal opponent appears to have been? I assume if I go talk to ex-Cauldron people they'll be wiped of relevant memories. Which it looks like they had the technology for in-house, if not that precisely."

[whole_new_can]

"Being well informed is literally my superpower, give me some credit. Proof's easy. Make a scale model of the last planet they visited, then one of what it was like when they left."

[from_scratch]

"Huh, that's a really good idea." Little desktop size planet before and after picture...

[wormcan]

It's a planet. Rocky instead of gas, smaller oceans than Earth has. Nothing visible at this scale to mark it as obviously populated. But the after picture can't be created.

[from_scratch]

Cam tries the planet before that.

[wormcan]

Same story. A non-Earth planet, and there is no after picture.

[from_scratch]

"Okay. This is a problem. Do we have a better plan or avenue for creating a plan than the Butcher basement dweller loading me up on powers and hoping I'm really, really indestructible plan."

[wormcan]

"Not unless you've got some way to make copies that actively use their powers," Faultline answers. "Or get Glaistig Uaine on our side."

[from_scratch]

"I have no madwoman-recruitment skills. Do you have a backup plan of any kind if I am not that indestructible and something awful happens? Third non-parahuman or something?"

[whole_new_can]

"The backup plan is we use two six five on Labyrinth. And recruit someone else who can be destructive enough once there, unless you can supply a doomsday device of course."

[from_scratch]

"For plan A are we thinking I just drop a black hole on it?"

[wormcan]

"Yep. Can't be too sure. And Scion next, but he's the less dangerous of the two."

[from_scratch]

"Do you happen to know where the connection to the passengers is located, so I can try to kill it if I don't like the results but I'm still functional?"

[wormcan]

"The organ in the brain? It's different in each parahuman. The rest of it is off in some other dimension that powers are specifically blocked from."

[from_scratch]

"Actually," says Cam, "since I seem to be able to create things in other dimensions, I wonder if I can just do that, like, from here, or some more expendable vantage point. No parahuman anything, just me and knowing where to aim and a black hole."

[whole_new_can]

"It's the knowing where to aim that's the hard part. Once that works you could, but getting Kithabel out first would be good for a couple of reasons."

[from_scratch]

"What happened to her, anyway?"

[wormcan]

"We don't know. If she's even still alive it's because they want her to be. I think you should just kill the planet and not take any extra risks."

[from_scratch]

"So how would we be getting her out...?"

[whole_new_can]

"When we came to find you I would have said we knock her out, run, and hope whatever they've done to contain her goes away when the entities are dead. But if you're going to try being the Butcher....

When you were skimming Cauldron's notes did you run across a description of Contessa?"

[from_scratch]

"Yes, but I notice her power was supposed to be 'I win' and she did not win."

[whole_new_can]

"Because the entity messed with her power before they killed it. Couldn't be infallible against entities or Endbringers. You can copy the version from before that."

[from_scratch]

"I also notice that her power was supposed to be 'I win' but did not turn out to be 'I make my attempt to win in a remotely ethically palatable way' and I am not sure to what extent she was able to tweak that and simply didn't bother."

[whole_new_can]

"That one I don't know either."

"I know better than to ask what's the worst that could happen, but it'd have to be pretty bad to not be worth it. We could use some infallibility right now. Or you could always just make the black holes from here."

[from_scratch]

"I could if I knew where to put them. Is it the same place the passengers wind up? That one I seem to have divined by copying alone."