August 30, 2018 Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

“Right. A few more things that are bugging me. Can I use your brain?”

“I don’t know, it’s kinda stuck in my head. Maybe you could borrow it if we got Bonesaw to help? …Sorry, that’s a touchy subject for you.”

“Go ahead.”

a-head

“Legend’s fighting Siberian here. It feels wrong. He’s working to pin her down, slow her movements as much as he can. I know he’s probably buying time, trying to wear her other self out, but why not a place with flatter terrain? Why not a place where there’ll be less cover for her and less collateral damage? I know Siberian goes where she wants, and if her other self is in the shelter, that’s probably a big reason she came, but-”

There’s clearly some relevance to this, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how. It doesn’t help that my brain defaults to, well, “Siberian goes where she wants”. That’s reason enough for my head.

“Your gut is saying something’s off.”

“My gut is saying something’s off.”

“Okay. I’d guess the Protectorate have more of a plan than the one firebombing.”

Ahh, so that’s how they figure this out, rather than through experience. So is Legend trying to get Siberian back into the blast zone, or just trying to stay out of it himself?

“They’re going to do it again?”

“No. The first one, going by what you’ve said and what I’ve picked up, hasn’t done much for our side. It’s going to be something else.”

It’s gonna be similar, but way more effective for dealing with things like Siberian. Maybe. Would a time stop work on what might be a tangible hole in reality?

August 30, 2018 Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

The truck was empty?

Maybe he’s squeezed into the glove compartment.

With my bugs, I drew out words in mid-air high above me, informing Legend: ‘TRUCK EMPTY – SIBERIAN BLUFF.’

Yes, good. Keep up the communication. I appreciate that.

Had she assessed what Legend was doing, turned it around on him? If her real self was somewhere safe, somewhere with food and water, that meant Legend would lose any battle of attrition, if that’s what he was aiming for.

Also it’s just straight up a good move to get the real body out of the battle.

I couldn’t think of another reason her creator would leave the safety of the truck.

Not too many paragraphs ago: “Added to that, being in that truck as Siberian leaped around couldn’t be fun.”

And hey, if somewhere else is safer… And it’d be theoretically possible for the truck to slip out of Siberian’s grip for long enough to kill the real body.

Hovering over the library, I got my phone out and dialed.

“Tattletale?”

Whenever Taylor’s phone comes into play, it’s usually a good chance it’s to contact or be contacted by Lisa.

“Sup?”

“Legend’s fighting Siberian here, but the maker isn’t in the truck. I think he’s in the vault with Jack and Bonesaw.”

A reasonable conclusion. (I kinda got that implication at the mention of “food and water”, but forgot to mention it.)

“Someone’s sealed over this door with a heavy pad of metal, because Leviathan or someone tore it down. My gut’s telling me the Nine didn’t gather inside and weld it shut behind them, but I can’t ignore the possibility that Bonesaw’s spiders did it. One in twenty chance, I’d guess? We’ll know in about thirty seconds, after Sundancer burns through.”

Hmm. Looks like the broken door is more of a liability than an opportunity for the Undertravelers.

And yes, that was Leviathan’s fault.

But why would the people running the shelter weld the door shut rather than replace the door entirely? Lack of budget and resources, perhaps, and a preference for the former door to act as a wall rather than a broken entrance if the shelter should be needed again before they could fix it?

August 30, 2018 Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

The driver’s seat was empty. I sent the bugs into the back. Nothing.

What.

…

Did he die in there, from all the tossing around, without it causing the monochrome to disappear?

Hm, except it would take more time for the stench of death to set in enough to attract bugs, if it’s not just the stench of uncleanliness. Also, that doesn’t explain why the body’s gone.

It could be a decoy truck meant to draw the heroes away from the real body, but a) it’d require Siberian to find an identical truck in the crater or during a moment out of sight of Legend, b) Siberian is at a disadvantage because of holding onto the truck, and c) the real body could probably have slipped away by now if he’s not handicapped by injuries, so why would she still be carrying the truck?

Hmm. I suppose the first point could be circumvented if it’s a decoy but not a separate truck. What if the real body was still in the crater when she jumped out with the truck? That does sound like a huge risk to take, considering the major hero presence on site, including some who were specifically targeting the real body. Maybe she did have a moment out of sight of Legend on the way here and dropped the real body off then?

As for b), it’s not a huge disadvantage, especially if the truck is actually empty, and for c), her having reason to drop the truck sooner rather than later is very much dependent on point b).

August 30, 2018 Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

I kept my distance from the fight as I directed Atlas toward the library. With my bugs, I was able to more or less follow the fight. I couldn’t touch Siberian directly, but I could sense where Legend was directing his attacks, and how he was positioning himself.

Makes sense.

I continued to do what I could to help Legend, sending bugs at Siberian in the hopes of distracting her or finding some way into that truck. They searched the windows but failed to find a gap. Some crawled into the exhaust, others into the undercarriage-

Hm? Did you find something? 😮

She fell into a trench as Legend leveled another series of blasts at her, and the movement of the truck coupled with Siberian’s power and its rough texture murdered a solid ninety-percent of the bugs I’d used.

Shit.