“Which makes me wonder all of a sudden how he found us,” Trickster added.

So far, the Slaughterhouse members have all seemed to have fairly good intel on their targets.

And they have someone who’s good at finding people, so there’s that too.

Coil shook his head, “One thing at a time.  If he is here because he’s seeking someone who could harm him, the only individuals on site who would be capable are Sundancer and your Noelle.”

Hm, interesting. I do suppose “solar heat” isn’t a damage source you come across often, and whatever is actually happening to Noelle seems new and unknown.

That gave the three teenagers pause.

“Noelle?  But who even knows about Noelle, except-”

…Tattletale?

Coil raised his hand to silence Trickster.  “Pet, the chance that Crawler would seek out Noelle first, given the opportunity?”

Oh yeah, good call.

She felt the images filter out until she was looking at a pattern of scenarios.  The vague shape of the hulking figure, the open vault door.  The images snapped into two groups, one vastly larger than the other.

“Ninety three point four percent.”

Damn.

…but is it to let her damage him, or to recruit her? Or both?

Trickster added, “I read up on these guys after you mentioned them the other night.  Crawler eventually becomes immune to whatever was hurting him, and he’s that much less human, afterward.  He wants to get hurt, wants to further his transformation, like a crazed masochist or someone with a death wish.

Hm, makes sense. If you’ve got a power like this and you like it, or just want to become more powerful, it’s reasonable to a crazed mind to want to hasten it.

By now, he’s probably immune to slashing damage, at the very least, and quite likely other forms of physical attacks. Probably lasers too, having likely been up against the Triumvirate repeatedly like Siberian.

Throws himself into suicidal situations and then comes out stronger.  Which may be why he’s here.  The soldiers?”

Trickster might be right, though there is still the recruitment plot.

Then again, maybe this isn’t about recruitment so much as stealing a valuable resource: Dinah.

And if the Slaughterhouse Nine have both Bitch and Dinah, that might be reason enough for the remainder of the Undersiders to want to do something, and for Coil to support that desire. Though he’s smart enough to know that the Undersiders still don’t have that much of a chance, so he might not approve of following through on it.

Coil shook his head, “He’s immune to conventional ammunition and explosives, and most likely to most unconventional forms of ammunition and explosives as well.  The laser attachments might have some small effect, but not enough to draw him here.”

Hm, good point. I mean I did say he’s probably immune to lasers just before Trickster suggested that he was here for them.

“What’s going on?” Trickster asked.

“My pet has graciously informed us that Crawler of the Slaughterhouse Nine is less than thirty minutes away from entering this complex and murdering us all.  Suggestions outside of the obvious would be appreciated.”

Can’t accuse him of not being straightforward.

And now you gotta think outside the box.

“Trickster and I could go and try to stop him,” Sundancer suggested.

“Outside of the obvious, Sundancer.  I’ve asked my pet.  You try that and we’re all more likely to die.”

For some reason. Maybe Crawler gets stronger the more you hit him?

Also apparently Crawler is a him.

“Why?”

“He’s a regenerator,” Coil answered, sounding irritated at having to explain, “And he regenerates exceedingly quickly.  More to the point, he has the added advantage that any part that grows back is stronger than it was before, typically with extra features, growths and increased durability to render him more resistant to whatever hurt him or give him other capabilities.

Ahhh. So for example, you cut off his arm, it might grow back with spikes or a pincer.

That is if he still has anything that can still be considered an arm. Taylor’s narration in 10.6 said he didn’t appear to be humanoid, and it kinda sounds like these changes might be permanent.

These adjustments are not only permanent, but he’s been working on it for some time.”

Ah, yes, they are.

The soldiers that were at ease in the lower area of the base jumped to action, grabbing weapons and protective wear.

So, uh… wasn’t this one of the things the numbers just indicated they should *not* do? Did Coil just get so fed up with the bad chances that he went “screw the numbers”?

It wasn’t going to make a difference.  The numbers weren’t changing enough.  But he was already upset, so she didn’t tell him that.

I suppose his influence could theoretically make it worth a shot, but it doesn’t seem like it’s doing that in practice.

So does he have another reality where he didn’t mobilize the troops?

Trickster, Oliver and Sundancer appeared, running along the metal catwalk.  Sundancer had her mask off, and her permed blond hair was damp against her scalp with sweat.

And the Travelers, for that matter.

Are the soldiers going to use the purple beams, and Coil and Dinah going to leave the premises, just to fill out the bad idea bingo card?

Also, Oliver? Ballistic?

Oliver was in casual clothing, like Trickster.  He was good looking, his features chiseled.  Athletically built.  Trickster wasn’t.  He had a hook nose and long hair that didn’t suit him, but she knew he was smart, and she would have guessed it even if she didn’t know, just going by the way he looked at stuff.

Yeah, Trickster’s a guy who seems to know what he’s doing.

“Thirty Nine point one-”

“If I deploy the Travelers that are on site at the moment?”

“Thirty point-”

Things are really not looking good for the prospects of fighting back doing any good.

Is this related to why Hookwolf wouldn’t want to attack them?

He pushed his monitor off his desk in a fit of anger.  It crashed to the floor, pieces of screen rolling and sliding onto the rug at one end of the room.

Hey, if you’re gonna destroy property in frustration, try to do it in an alternate world, like with your little funtimes. That way you get the satisfaction of destroying property without actually ending up with destroyed property.

Striding around the desk, he seized her by the arm and pulled her out of his office.

“Candy.  Please,” she said, whispering.

I think Coil has other priorities right now, Dinah.

“No.”

Gripping her wrist so hard it hurt, he drew her into the main area of his underground complex.

Where are you going? Some high security room?

“Get battle ready!” Coil shouted.  It was so out of character for him to shout.  “Threat incoming!”

Out of character is serious business, as the ancient Tropese saying goes.

“No,” he said, with more ferocity than she had expected.  “Pitter isn’t here to administer it, and won’t be until this situation is over.  Listen.  Chance that we survive Crawler’s attack if my soldiers use the laser attachments I’ve provided?  The purple beams?”

Ah, okay, so he’s narrowed it down to Crawler. Time to find out what the hell their deal is!

Crawler?  It took her a second to get her mental footing.  Coil was using his power.  She wasn’t sure how it worked, but she could always tell when he was doing it because the numbers always started changing all at once, and he knew things he couldn’t.

I do wonder how he found out for sure it was Crawler in his other reality.

He’d know about things and numbers she might have told him, except she didn’t remember telling him.

Coil is basically save scumming the Q&A sessions, sort of, as we saw in his Interlude.

He stood from his desk.  “How?”

“Blood or darkness.  Don’t know.”

Troublesome.

“The chance I die in the next thirty minutes?”

She thought, and felt the mosaic shift into a new configuration.  Coil’s face predominated each tiny scene, active, speaking and alive in some, unmoving or dead in the others. “Forty two point seven zero nine percent for the worlds where I don’t die.  Don’t know about the worlds where I’d die first.”

Hm, so whoever (probably today’s Slaughterhouse member) or whatever is the cause of this, they/it does not only target Dinah.

“And, say, Mr. Pitter?  The chance he dies?”

“Forty point-”  She stopped as Coil raised a hand.

Yeah, we don’t need all the decimals, we already got the point.

“So whatever it is, it happens here, and involves everyone here.  Chance of survival if we leave?”

“Ten point six six four-”

Oh jeez, leaving is way worse than staying.

“No.  Chance the average person in the city lives if we leave?”

That’s an odd question. Are you thinking Shatterbird or someone else with a large radius is the culprit?

“Ninety-nine point-”

“So we’re targets.  It’s not an attack on the city.  If we mobilize the squads?  To one decimal place?”

Oh, okay, it does makes sense to ask about when you put it like that.

“Forty-eight point one percent chance I survive, forty-nine point nine percent chance you survive.”

So oddly enough, they seem to have the best survival chances if they stay put and don’t mobilize anyone to defend them. It’s like the threat in question would get pissed at them for trying to fight back, or something.

Also, I suppose the fact that it’s so unpredictable whether they’ll live or die points to Bonesaw.

Heh, if that’s the case, I love the irony of picking someone with the power of prediction as the POV character for a chapter about someone whose main characterization so far is “unpredictable”.

He hung up.

“Coil?”

“What is it, pet?”

“Forty-four point two zero three eight three percent chance I die in the next half-hour.”

Straight to the point. Nice.

Also, at least she didn’t launch into the full sequence of 20 decimals, as hilarious as it would be to see that typed out in words here.

Actually, you know what, I want to see that, I’m gonna make it happen.

(Wait, shit, it’s increased, like she described, so I don’t have the updated 20-decimal version to go with. Oh well, let’s use the old one.)

Dinah: “Forty-four point zero three four eight five one nine two seven…”

Coil: “Pet–”

Dinah:

“…four six three zero seven…”

Coil:

“That’s enough decimals, p–”

Dinah:

“…nine five

five

six five nine percent chance I die in the next half-hour.”

Coil:

“Oh, fina– wait what?”