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withercat-writes · 5 years

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To Lose It All

So I got inspired, prepare for angst and Flux Buddies Spoilers, done in my usual rambling style! Its based on the idea I had on what if Blackrock was after Flux Buddies! Ao3 Link

Lalna was never the same after that fateful moment in Mother’s dimension, he wasn’t sure where The Doctor had dumped him to scold him, not that Lalna remembered anything really from this time, every moment from leaving that dimension was a blur, all he knew was eventually he found his way back to the others. He never let himself get close to them though, building a new base and locking himself away. The others tried to get close, to talk to him, to get him to at least acknowledge them more then mildly, none succeeded, Lalna didn’t want to risk getting attached again. He never tried to get back to the tower, Lalnable could live there for all he cared, better away from him then nearby anyways. Hopefully Tiddles had long since ran away from the maniac.

He knew Nano told him to be good, to be better then this, but he just couldn’t find it in him to care. It’s not like she could see, she was gone, poof, vanished, no respawn, someplace Lalna may never be allowed to reach, and with that fact in mind, it could be so hard to care. So he tinkered away, building and making mild pleasantries at Xephos who just wouldn’t leave him alone. He found himself quicker to violence, though it both sickened him, and intrigued him how little he cared anymore about the pain of others, he did his best to resist this sure, but sometimes the apathy would claw at his heart, and he’d go looking for a scrap to just feel something.

Soon his hands had him build that same weapon that killed Nano, and a faint wonderance past in his mind, would if he detonated, would his respawn fail? He couldn’t bring himself to test it, but he could never bring himself to take it out of his inventory either. So there it sat, before eventually the apathy clawed too much and he went out to look for a scrap, and saw Sjin. Everyone knew what happened next, the two got too heated, literally, fire burning all around. Lalna couldn’t stop, the adrenaline like wine to a dehydrated soul. It kept getting worse, explosions and death. He saw Rythian eyes wide in shock as one of Sjin's arrows plunged his throat, before another shot through his head, killing him instantly, he felt nothing to it. He saw Zoey take an arrow through the heart through the corner of his eye, and he felt nothing to it as well.

And why should he care anyways? They’d just respawn, they’d be fine, no worse for wear, maybe a bit annoyed, but who cares about that. There was no real consequences for them dying, they wouldn’t suffer, wouldn’t truly die, so why would death matter? They’d still be here, like Nano should have been, but she wasn’t. Nano wouldn’t be proud, but she was gone, so why care about that either. He wished they would permanently die for a moment, so they could never realize the curse they were all under.

He set down the explosives and set them off, retreating back a bit, he wasn’t fully ready to die, natural aversions to that and all that. It unfortunately did not kill him, and soon he noticed Sjin in his base and he rushed to fix the damage, he wasn’t trying to blow up literally everything, fucking Sjin! He was too late though, and the world turned white, and he couldn’t stop the smile.

Alas, he woke up all the same, a new world yes, but he knew it was just more of the same, he clutched the sapphire in his pocket tight as he couldn’t stop a few tears. He got back to work though, building up a castle, throwing himself into his machines. No one cared beyond a few dirty looks about the end of the past world, and why should they? Everything that mattered was fine, they were alive, unharmed, with infinite potential, instead of gone, lost, dead. Everyone still had there friends, and loved ones, the lucky bastards.

He isolated himself once more in his castle, he decided this time to craft it to remind him of the first base with Nano, to hopefully inspire some emotion as he kept to himself again. This time no one cared about this isolation, it seems they’d finally given up on him, and he grew further into apathy, he learned Rythian wanted revenge, he shrugged it off, okay whatever why should he care? Then he learned about Zoeya.

Then rage bubbled in his chest for the first time in months.

How DARE he do this, how dare he come to face him for revenge with an apprentice that FELL FROM THE SKY, with an apprentice with a CHEERFUL GO LUCKY ATTITUDE, an apprentice EAGER TO LEARN, an apprentice with UNIQUENESS and OPTIMISM, and still SASS. Really the only way Rythian could have made it worse is if he gave her a sapphire, he shuddered at the thought, hand clutching her sapphire again.

How dare he get revenge with someone that reminded him so much of Nano. Revenge he could ignore? But this? THIS?? This was an insult, a grave cruel insult! To rub it in his face that Rythian has what he lost, that Rythian could do it so much fucking better, what a joke, what a piece of shit! He threw himself into his research, fine, it had been too long since he felt anything anyways, and rage and sadism was something familiar. A part of him wondered if this is the kind of thing that created Lalnable, Lalna crushed those thoughts, no, he was better then that, he would always be better then that.

He ignored every warning, buried himself even more in his castle. Came up with the ingenious forcefield idea. Then he waited, and waited, but the first one at his door was not an angry mage, but a girl, so fiery for a second he saw Nano. He blinked it off though and gave her the warmest smile he could, he wished he could say something new bubbled in his chest, but they didn’t the now well known rage and sadism just souring more, as he thinks about what could have been as he pretended everything was alright for her. The dinosaur he just kinda, ignored for the most part, gave him the creeps.

He was surprised when he heard she and Rythian got into a spat though, ha, he’d never have thrown Nano out for being a technomage, really Rythian was terrible, an awful mentor, couldn’t even give his apprentice the attention and knowledge she clearly needs, and just LETS HER SUFFER and SLOWLY FADE, doing NOTHING TO STOP, because he's a COWARD. What a terrible mage, a terrible friend. Truly Zoey deserved better. Not that he’d really be a better choice, he could pretend, but he knew they’d end up crawling back together, it’s not like anything could keep him and Nano from each other for long. Even if Zoey deserved better.

He cheerfully dodged her interests and set about crafting a gun, a gun for a dinosaur, hm past Lalna would have been thrilled, the dinosaur also seemed a bit familiar but hey what does he know. He acted how he knew he was supposed to act, cheerful if a bit distrusting, he didn’t want to drive her away after all, she’d be safe in his castle, plus it’d rub it in Rythian’s face, oh the hate Rythian would feel at the thought that stupid flux mad scientist, the dangerous warped scientist who broke respawn, was doing a better job protecting her then he could, ha.

He handed over his laser to her, that, he didn’t know why, he did never use it though, so he didn’t really think it over, it was, kinda nice talking to someone, but he knew it wouldn’t last, besides he preferred to be alone, alone was safer for everyone. It was almost easy to forget he was explaining things to a stranger, not to Nano as he talked about his forcefield, but he didn’t forget, he couldn’t forget. So he just kept playing his part.

This went on for a few hours, but soon, his moment of true reckoning began, and Rythian had fallen into his forcefield trap. He hoped this would be short, that he could get Rythian away before he truly gave into his anger, his one mercy, Nano would be proud. That changed, though, when he started talking, and his anger grew into a full blown rage in his chest.

Retribution????? Justice????? What a laugh! Everyone was fine, no one lost anything real, nothing tangible, what Rythian were you upset that you lost a few pieces of wood?? Pathetic. He kept his cool though, nothing would be achieved if he lost his top, worst of all Rythian might just start pitying him instead, and augh he hated pity.

He bantered with him, shoved it off on Sjin, and he knew Rythian was buying it, buying his faux calm. He internally aughed as he kept going, if no one else cares Rythian, that means that maybe they understand things more, that maybe you’re just a mad man screaming about a loss of a base, that everyone’s long past. He couldn’t resist name-dropping Zoey.

Oh how Rythian’s face just fell, oh yes it felt good, a sadistic glee curling in his chest, the pain in his eyes. Rythian always thought his eyes were guarded but it was so easy to pry them open into pure emotion. Rythian truly did understand nothing about this world, about respawn, about being a mentor, and about love. He wasn’t even the one who killed him, Sjin did that.

He rubbed his face as Rythian just kept going on and on about murder, bullshit that was. Utter bullshit, he’d only murdered one person and that wasn’t Rythian that’s for sure, Rythian dared to equate his minor inconvenience of respawn to what happened to her? Bastard. Murder no one comes back from, murder permanetly erases people. If Rythian had been murdered, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening.

Rythian hurled accusations of him, accusations of evil, of planned cruelty, of going down the same path, all from what? A force field designed to keep a clearly vengeance driven mage away? The fact he had a castle? Really at this point Lalna was pretty sure at this point everything he would ever do to Rythian, could easily be ruled self defense. He let himself smile, good, the nuke was already planted anyways, he got bored and it was too easy, sure he hadn’t armed it yet, it originally was supposed to be an empty threat but he could do that later. He brought it up, see how far enraged he could make this mage, a new project really, an experiment, and he was a scientist after all, sure it had been a bit, but he was.almost curious.

Smirking he went on and on about how he just needed insurance, that he can’t get rid of it, and loved the horror in his eyes, sure he couldn’t really feel emotions, hadn’t for what, a year now? Making others feel them though he found? Was pretty close of a substitute though, he liked that substitute, made him feel warmer, he poked fun at a mage fish take, and watched Rythian desperately try and make his way out, how silly, how fun, it felt good to have control, as he ignored Rythian’s edgy talk about trust.

Seeing Rythians face at the comment about him eating grass, he rushed in for the kill, talking about how he didn't know how he’d get Rythian food, not that food mattered either, a lack of food wouldn’t kill him, he knew that one personally, not eating would hinder you greatly, but alas, you’d live. Food was just one of many luxuries in this world, enjoying the horrified and sick look Rythian gave him, a face one would only make at one truly evil, that was wrong though, Rythian didn’t understand evil. Never met evil, he was just a child, a child whose mad his sandcastle got kicked, never felt true heartbreak, spoken to any truly rotten, he was just, too big for his britches. He wandered off, planning to return in a few hours, he hoped Rythian had noticed it was easy to shut off the forcefield, it was never meant to be permanent after all, like he said, talk, in safety of forcefield, that was all.

He rubbed his face but couldn’t stop a mad grin when he found Rythian gone a few hours later, escaped, seemed he knew more about tech then he let on, good, it’d be too easy if he just let himself be caught forever, that’d be boring, no that’s not what he wanted. He’d make Rythian understand Retribution and Justice, he’d make him learn what it means to lose it all, what it means to truly feel pain and sorrow and loss. To truly understand. He felt so good reveling in Rythian's emotions, he wanted more! He wanted to truly be the scientist he knows he is and finally research into what breaks apart respawn, what sets a skeleton’s arrow apart from an explosion to kill Mother.

Alas poor Zoey though, she didn’t deserve what he was planning, to be in pain, to understand what he feels. This wasn’t about her though, and Nano didn’t deserve what Mother planned either. The fiery ones just always seemed to be the ones to burn out the fastest, what a shame, this story would not have no happy ending, his didn’t, and Rythian wasn’t allowed his either, and maybe it’d prompt the endermage to teleport him to hell.

Lalna couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next as he put on his favorite sapphire necklace.

#Rythian #Lalna #Flux Buddies #Blackrock Chronicles #Suicide Ideation #Flux Buddies Spoilers #Zoeya #Yogscast

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journeysintowebcomics · 6 years

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Worm Liveblog #47

UPDATE 47: Tinker

Last time Clockblocker and the rest were breaking down under the weight of the situation in Brockton Bay and under their own personal problems. It was all interrupted when news about three rather gruesome crime scenes appeared, and they found corpses I’ll refrain from describing out of a ‘Read More’. So let’s continue!

Clockblocker, Flechette and Weld had their chapters, now it’s Kid Win’s turn. He opens it with some self-deprecation.

I’m a tinker. I’m supposed to be smart.

I don’t think being a tinker automatically means you’re smart. What do people say in times like these...high stats in intelligence, low stats in wisdom? Besides, it’s not like what Kid Win realized is something most people would realize at once: Ballistic and Sundancer are holding back. Even though right now they’re pelting Vista with concrete and making everyone almost burn, they’re holding back. Kid Win knows those two have the potential to be even more dangerous.

I wonder, though, does this mean Trickster and Genesis are holding back too? Trickster...well, he can’t hold back, his power doesn’t get stronger or weaker. Genesis, though, maybe she is holding back.

The revelation didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, it was just the opposite. If these guys got desperate or panicked, they might stop being so polite about it.

Their goal here is to get away, which is something the Wards won’t allow. Villains are villains, after all. As I see it, either one side wins, or this escalates. Everyone is lucky the corpses haven’t been burned to cinders or crushed under rubble.

Trickster and Genesis are not doing great, they’re fighting against Clockblocker and Weld. Clockblocker is working hard to counter Genesis and maybe it’s working. Hm. You better defeat them quickly, Wards, you never know what’ll happen next.

Kid Win describes his gun with a lot of technobabble. I didn’t understand most of it, even though he compared it to Purity and Dauntless’ powers. When told in laymen’s terminology it was easier to understand, although now I’m wondering how exactly such gun works. It’s almost like something out of a sci-fi story. I suppose that’s to be expected of the stuff tinkers make.

I can make something like this, which is brilliant, then I go and dismantle my fricking hoverboard to get parts for a project I never even finish. Idiot.

Ah, that’s what he was calling himself an idiot for. Maybe a hoverboard would have been of help right now, yeah!

Glory Girl is pummeling Ballistic as much as she can, and he tosses her upwards. Since, you know, his power involves launching stuff with a lot of strength, you can imagine how that went. Flechette is doing much better than Glory Girl, pinning Sundancer to a wall thanks to her darts, and that went unnoticed to Trickster, much to Kid Win’s surprise. Quick, buddy, deduce something!

So he can only teleport what he sees?

I suppose so? Because teleporting stuff he can’t see would involve some hyperawareness or omniscience about the place, and it doesn’t seem to me like that’s a skill he has. Maybe he’ll be able to teleport Sundancer soon, that way she won’t be pinned to the wall anymore. Still, this gives Kid Win an idea. He uses his own body to block the gun he’s shooting and where he’s shooting. It doesn’t work. Not only his gun is swapped, he’s also teleported onto Genesis, who continues being hit with everything Weld has. It’s a good thing this is a projection and not Genesis herself, getting his by a pickaxe would hurt a lot!

Kid Win’s lasers pierce through the projection, and he’s clueless as to why. I suppose that confirms that yeah, they’re not aware of the nature of Genesis’ power! They have a few things right, but others still catch them off-guard. Ballistic is injured and limps towards Sundancer, freeing her and throwing all the darts onto Weld’s face.

You know, I think this is turning into me narrating everything that’s going on. That’s not the most enticing read, is it? Talking about fights while liveblogging is seriously difficult!

Trickster’s teleportations had placed the enemy’s group in the interior of the building, with the Wards surrounding them.

Well, depending on how many things Trickster can teleport at once, this either is good, or is bad. Good because then he could teleport his team so they’re surrounding the Wards, and then take advantage of momentary confusion to run away. Although...that wouldn’t work very well, because Shadow Stalker is still a bit away, and Glory Girl may arrive anytime back from the stratosphere.

It starts drizzling, and Trickster comments that may wash away some of the evidence. He’s not wrong, it could, but that’s not a concern because what can the Wards do about that? Cover the building with Clockblocker’s time-frozen paper and replace it every time it unfreezes? Okay, that may work, but my point is, it’s not like they have many options about what to do to stop the bodies from getting wet.

Not that it matters. Trickster does almost what I said he could do, except that instead of teleporting his team with the Wards, he moved the corpses. Goodbye to the possibility of keeping crime scenes intact! Also...augh. It must be really gross to be placed in the manacles and wires where corpses used to be just a moment ago. And Kid Win shoots himself in the back when he is teleported. Amazing how the Wards’ slight advantage fell apart in matter of seconds.

Vista is actually in a lot of danger here. The wires could strangle her or cut her neck.

“Trickster!” Sundancer cried out, horrified.

This woman has standards! I still remember how horrified she was at Taylor’s methods, here she is horrified at Trickster’s action. It’s always nice to see someone’s standards aren’t just applied to some people. It doesn’t stop her from running away, and I can’t blame her. A lot of people would flee instead of staying to fix that, especially because staying would mean getting caught.

Shadow Stalker shoves Trickster face-first onto a puddle, and Vista is still falling. What to do, Kid Win? Help Shadow Stalker or help Vista? The choice seems kind of obvious to me, but to you—

Vista. Shadow Stalker would say she could handle herself. Made a point of trying to.

Exactly! Good choice. Besides, Shadow Stalker isn’t the one in deadly danger right now. Now that he decided that, Kid Win manages to free Vista from the wires, while Sundancer throws her sun into water, getting steam to cover everything. Aaaaaand they’re gone. The Travelers got away. Well that sure was a fight, and there was no clear winner. Overall I’d say the Wards won, though? They manage to injure a couple of the Travelers, that has to count for something.

The bodies are placed on the floor, there’s nothing left to do than wait for the crime scene crew. Well, that and muse about his life. It’s backstory time.

He was dumb, easily distracted, prone to leaving his projects unfinished, and it was moments like this that this knowledge hit him particularly hard. His dad had made him get tested, and the doctors had labeled him with ADD and dyscalculia. He held to the opinion that the ADD diagnosis was way overused – he liked to think that he was just a daydreamer, prone to getting lost in his thoughts.

I had to google what the word ‘dyscalculia’ meant. Looks like it’s a difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic – I suppose it was that, the word itself said so. Kid Win has difficulty concentrating into one project and he needs computers to make the necessary calculations for him. True, he is a tinker and that has helped a bit, but disorders are going to hinder even a parahuman.

The PRT staff insisted he was exceptional with antigrav and guns, had it even marked in his file, but he knew it wasn’t so true. He finished his guns because they were simple, in their own way. It was easy enough to take three half-finished gun projects and mash them together. Create something with multiple settings, even. As far as he was aware, he was the only Tinker in the PRT’s records that didn’t have a defined specialty, gimmick or trick. He was increasingly worried that his special talent as a tinker was being able to occasionally make something despite his learning disability. Which would suck, if it were true.

Man, that makes me feel so bad for Kid Win...that must be really tough, especially if he compares himself to what other tinkers do. Armsmaster was a tinker, and since they’re both heroes, surely he was aware of what Armsmaster did. Having nearby someone who is, hm, “better” – in Kid Win’s opinion – can’t have helped his self-esteem. This all also explains why he was chastising himself so much about having dismantled his hoverboard. I understand now...

Actually, the hoverboard was one of the few projects he managed to finish despite not being a gun, but he ended dismantling it to get pieces for a harness with turrets that’d fire projectiles depending on what gun it has holstered. That sounds...kind of risky, with a lot of possibilities for friendly fire.

The idea and motivation driving the action had been good: he was graduating the Wards in a little while, he’d be expected to change his name and adjust his methods, because an adult calling himself Kid Win was lame.

Man Win is not much better, buddy, hah! Okay, no, in all seriousness, I think he was going to get a new name based on that invention. The problem is that he encountered an obstacle and gave up for the time being. The only thing he has made that’s real useful, in his opinion, is the cannon that was confiscated. That must have stung! Yep, it did. I almost want to tell him to stay positive, that there’ll be more chances of doing something as great as that or even better, despite his disorders. There’s something about his plight that’s rather sympathetic to me, yeah...

Since the PRT are coming to deal with this, the Wards can leave. End scene, to the next!

The Protectorate will deal with this matter. Yeah, they may be better qualified to deal with this...powers or not, a bunch of kids aren’t the best team to work with corpses and investigations, no matter what dozens of mystery novels and games tell you. That’s not how life works. That doesn’t stop them from talking about it, of course, theorizing what’s going on.

Vista leaned forward, “Maybe a serial killer?”

It’d have to be a rather prolific killer, and working very fast, to boot. I still say there are three.

Uh, looks like there’s something they know and I don’t? They think there are nine different killers, but isn’t that a bit...hm, well, if it was any story other than Worm, I’d think it’s unlikely, but in Worm I can’t ignore the possibility. Still...nine at once?

“The Slaughterhouse Nine,” Clockblocker leaned back in his seat, groaning, “Fuck, that’d be all we needed.”

Huh. Okay, let me see if I got this straight: there’s a group of nine killers who are known enough to even have a name and cause dread in the Wards. Apparently they also arrive soon after an Endbringer event.

...

Brockton Bay can’t catch a break.

Leaving that aside, that group name was mentioned before, right? I’m pretty sure I read it before in Worm. I’ll go check myself where the mention was, I remember where it is. Besides, I’m having a pretty good idea now what it’s all about.

They stop talking about it because there’s nothing for them to do about a group that may or may not be related to what happened – oh, they totally did it. Knowing Mr. Wildbow, it was them. Organize the patrols and stuff. Flechette goes with Vista, Clockblocker and Weld will go later, Shadow Stalker has the late night shift...and Kid Win has a special missing.

“Special duty, tonight,” Weld smiled, “You’re recruiting.”

“Recruiting?”

“There’s a kid calling himself Chariot. Been racing around the city with a powered suit that lets him move a hundred miles an hour. Assault finally caught up with him last night, brought him into custody. Wound up calling the kid’s mom, got him to agree to talk to our recruiter. You. You’ll be meeting the kid in his home.”

I see! So, if Skitter hadn’t, you know, done all she did, she may have been brought into the Wards this same way? By first being brought into custody, then Dad Hebert being informed of what happened and she maybe getting drafted into the Wards? I wonder how that would have gone...not that Taylor would have been happy to be in the same group than Sophia freaking Hess. Those developments would be a ticking time bomb.

“Why me?”

“Shared interests. You’re both tinkers. You have the best idea of how he thinks.”

Iiiiii don’t think that’s a good idea. Kid Win already feels useless, if another tinker is brought to the Wards and ends being much more, uh, “useful”, let’s say, then Kid Win will feel even worse. On the other hand, the team can’t just leave aside a potentially useful new teammate just because someone feels uncomfortable. This is a conundrum I can’t see ending well, if my thoughts about Kid Win’s self-esteem are correct.

Looks like they weren’t. He is feeling something, but he’s unsure what it is. Since it wasn’t immediate fear, he may take this all better than I expected!

Now that the duties have been assigned, there’s leadership stuff for Weld to do, like scold the teammates for the lack of communication they have. Flechette and Parian encountered a situation. So for that, he’s going to move some stuff around so there’s time for more meetings where they can talk.

...welp. Weld really has the best intentions but he simply can’t stop irritating Clockblocker. At least this time there was no snappy reply or frustrated chastisement so...progress?

The building where Chariot lives is kind of disgusting, it seems. The way Mr. Wildbow describes it and its inhabitants make it sound like part of the slums was piled up to form a tower, and it’s not like all that is caused by water damage. The apartment where Chariot lives has been cleaned, although not very well.

When Chariot enters and sits down to talk, he’s asked how much interest he has in joining the Wards.

“Just to give me an idea, on a scale of one to ten, how interested are you, in maybe joining the Wards?”

“Ten’s high?”

“Ten’s a lot of interest.”

“Four.”

That’s a rather low amount. Maybe he just isn’t interested in joining the Wards and wants to be a rogue? It doesn’t seem like he’s particularly interested in being a villain. His mom wants him to join the Wards, and you know how some teens can be, they can get quite rebellious. Salvage the situation, Kid Win!

“It’s good money, with room for better money. Especially for a tinker like you or me.”

Appeal at his wishes to build stuff. That could work! If he’s really invested to be a tinker, I mean. Without tools, it’d be much more difficult to work on anything.

Kid Win paused. This is like looking into a mirror to a year and a half ago.

Is that a good sign? If this is how Kid Win behaved in the past, then he could do the same they did to recruit him – if they recruited him, I mean. I suppose there’s always a chance he approached the Wards willingly, but it’s unlikely. He wouldn’t be saying this is like a mirror if he had strolled into the Protectorate building to ask to be a Ward!

To show Chariot the fun of having money for materials, Kid Win takes out a compact disc and disarms it, showing some nifty components. All that was for a camera. The mother isn’t impressed, I kind of am, and Chariot is rather impressed. Hook, line and sinker?

Apparently not, but he’s slowly inching in the right direction! And it gets even closer than Kid Win mentions there’s money to be earned. Hah! If everything else fails, mention money. What a law of the world.

The mother has the decency of being worried for Chariot’s life, and yeah, it’s no secret he is going to be risking his life. The thing is that either he joins the Wards, or someone else will recruit him. Tinkers are useful, they’d be a great asset almost anywhere. I see! So that’s why the Protectorate wanted the Wards to recruit him! So a villain gang or something like that didn’t have the chance to add him to their team. Well that’s a good enough reason!

What a stubborn kid...not that it’s strange. An unusual situation doesn’t always bring up the best traits you have.

Something struck Kid Win as off about the reply. What was it? It was out of tune with the flow of the conversation, didn’t quite match up with Kid Win’s own experiences being recruited. Maybe it sounded forced? But why would Chariot fake reluctance?

Ooooor it could be that! Apparently this Chariot kid is pretending to be less interested than he actually is, and it’s not like he’s pretending to be humble or anything like that. There are shenanigans afoot? He also gets defensive, this is off enough for Kid Win to want to leave, so he just gives a business card and tells him to call if he changes his mind. Huh...

Something is off, so Kid Win uses the hovering camera to spy for a moment. Chariot goes straight to the computer, writes some notes about the components Kid Win showed him, and sends an email – a very suspicious email.

To: [email protected]

Guy from wards came. I’m in.

Hahaha, oh man! Confirmed, he’s into something shady. Sending a message to an encrypted email and saying stuff like ‘I’m in’? You don’t say ‘I’m in’ when referring to another group unless you’re infiltrating them. Chariot is bad news. I wonder who contacted Chariot, though? Not Hookwolf’s gang, not Purity’s gang. Chariot is from Hispanic origins, after all. That leaves...pretty much everyone else. I think it’s unlikely the Merchants would care about infiltrating someone. Coil...maybe he would want to get a spy into the Wards, eh. The Travelers are a no, Faultline’s crew...unlikely. I can’t think of anyone else. I don’t know if I should blame Coil, I suppose I should wait until more information is revealed.

This is the kind of thing that needs to be told to everyone, so Kid Win arranges a meeting with Piggot to discuss what to do. Rescind the offer? Would that look suspicious? Well I suppose I’ll see next time.

Next update: next time

#worm #worm liveblog #liveblog #book liveblog #story liveblog

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