Quarter-baked theory I thought of while writing up the Arc Thoughts:

What if Noelle’s situation has something to do with Taylor’s occasionally heightened abilities? I mean, if Leviathan could detect it from afar, that implies there’s something to detect, such as an energy of some kind. Maybe that energy, when it peaks, interacts with Taylor’s power somehow?

I don’t know, I guess I’m just throwing stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks.

For now, even with the safeguard of his other realities, he would do nothing he couldn’t explain away if he had to.  He wouldn’t entertain himself with anybody he couldn’t replace.  Mr. Pitter?  Replaceable. 

Possibly morbid, but fair.

No such thing as being too paranoid, after all.

…nice use of bookends. Kiiinda wanted to know what Coil was going to have not done, but I guess that’s better left to the reader’s imagination anyway.

“Yes sir,” the reply sounded.

He was on the brink of achieving his goals.  It would be a laughable tragedy, to get this close, only to have his power fail him, to accidentally choose the wrong reality, or to have his other self killed by accident or malicious intent, forcing him to live with the ramifications of these idle amusements.

I guess that answers the question of what happens if one Coil dies. The Coil that doesn’t die is forced to live the reality he’s in.

Or at least, that’s what Coil thinks would happen, if he hasn’t experienced it before.

For now, he wouldn’t touch his pet, nor any of his powered subordinates.  Not when he was this close.

Fair enough.

A click of what appeared to be a part of his desktop wallpaper made his bottommost drawer pop open.

Sneaky!

Mr. Pitter entered the room.  “Sir?”

One reality: “My pet needs her ‘candy’, a low dosage, please.”

The mundane reality…

The other: Another click of his computer mouse, remotely locking the doors.  Mr. Pitter turned, alarmed, tested the door.

And the off-the-wall one.

He canceled the reality where he stood at his pet’s bedside, found himself still at the computer.  Best to leave the world where his pet wasn’t so tired, in case he wanted to ask more questions that morning.

…I guess that’s one way to cheat himself to infinite questions. Coil is a genie’s nightmare.

The worlds he created weren’t real.  They were little more than an especially vivid, accurate dream.

Sure, keep telling yourself that.

To enjoy a whole separate world, free of any consequences beyond the ones he wanted?  It would be unreasonable if he didn’t indulge in it.  Anyone would, given the chance.

This, however, I can get behind.

These entertainments kept him centered, utterly calm.  He needed that, after the irritation of dealing with the Travelers’ girl.

He touched a button on his phone, “Mr. Pitter?  My office.”

He hasn’t actually told us what those entertainments tend to entail. I have a feeling we’re about to find out. Maybe one reality’s version of Coil will have a normal conversation with Mr. Pitter, whereas the other one does something completely off-the-wall to watch Pitter’s reaction?

Note that “doing something completely off-the-wall” could run the entire range from making silly faces to appearing bare to firing Pitter to murdering Pitter to silly walking, depending on what Coil secretly enjoys and how much Wildbow wants to reinforce that this man is not what he seems at first glance.

His plan was succeeding, though it had been delayed slightly by recent circumstances.  Potential enemies were divided or reduced in numbers, the city all the more vulnerable to being seized.  Victory was so close he could taste it.

Things really do seem to be going Coil’s way.

Perhaps worthy of a celebration.  Coil maintained his own vices.  It would be unfair to expect more of himself, when he had the unique talent he did.

Hah, nice. Coil is in the unique situation that he can do pretty much whatever he wants without consequences, without spending any time doing it, and without anyone but himself knowing he did it.

Why not use that to celebrate from time to time?

It had certainly been an expensive talent.  Even with his ability to game the markets in a way that clairvoyants and precognitives couldn’t detect, it had taken him years to pay it off.

Huh.

I doubt Coil is going to celebrate with some stock market gaming, so I guess this is more about how he got the resources to do what he does.

A maddening, frustrating endeavor, when he had already been thinking of plans he wanted to set in motion, having to postpone them.  And he still owed a favor, even now, up to a week’s services.  He couldn’t be sure if he was powerful and secure enough to fight back if they demanded too expensive a price, or too much of his time at a point critical to his plan.

That’s a bit unfortunate when you’ve got some big stuff going on, yeah.

Something to ask Tattletale about, perhaps, when he introduced her and Noelle.

Absolutely.

“It feels bad.  Wanting the candy so much, knowing I’m going to want the candy, seeing it like I do.  It builds up.”

Aw 😦 Poor little addict.

Seven percent lower.  At what point did earning their loyalty fail to be worth the resources he was investing?

I guess he’s just gonna ignore Dinah’s complaints, and probably ask one more question, about the Travelers’ usefulness.

“Knowing I’ll get sick if I don’t get it, being able to see it, what it’s like, the getting sick, and as it gets closer to happening, higher percentages, it feels more real, so clear a picture it’s almost as bad as getting sick for real.  Even if there’s only a nine point two-”

Oh jeez, she meant that kind of “seeing it like [she] does”! Fuck, that really sucks.

“You’ll get some to tide you over in a bit, pet,” Coil interrupted her, in as reassuring a tone as he could manage.

Just one more question, huh?

It was impossible to conceal all of his irritation at being disturbed from his thoughts, but she was distracted enough by her own problems that she likely didn’t notice.

His plan was succeeding, though it had been delayed slightly by recent circumstances.  

Alright, maybe not right now.

And yeah, the city being thrashed by a kaiju tends to be a bit of a setback.

It was hard to ignore the reality, that Leviathan, from the time he arrived, had gradually moved closer and closer to this location, where the girl had already been ensconced.  The Travelers had even picked up on that, called him, worried.

Oh, damn.

Another possibility: What Noelle is going through doesn’t make her a “fellow” to the Endbringer’s, but a target. A threat, maybe, someone to get rid of before she reaches maximum potential.

A full seven percent lower than it had been before the Endbringer attack.  Had a crucial individual died or left the city?

That could be it.

Also I feel like it’s worth noting that both of these numbers are with Tattletale’s help… unless maybe that’s what causes the difference? Maybe there’s a significantly lower chance of Tattletale actually helping out after seeing Dinah and/or going through the whole thing with Taylor?

Or was his running theory correct?  Was there a reason Leviathan had come here, beyond the chance to attack a city already under siege?

Are you saying there’s a connection between what’s happening to Noelle and Levvy’s attack? As in, whatever caused Noelle’s… whatever it is being the same thing that caused Leviathan to come?

Or maybe Noelle’s issue in itself drew Leviathan? Is Noelle turning into a fourth Endbringer, even? Though we know Leviathan was never human, which is a bit of a stick through that wheel.