Comic 1174 - Try Combat #11
Posted on 8th Feb 2019, 10:44 PM
in Like a Bullet from Behind
Average Rating: 5 (3 votes) /
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Author Notes:
You also send a mental message to Liz, asking if she might want to get in on this, as well. Having someone that typically stays at the base be able to use the ritual could be helpful, in the event that the bunker gets attacked.
"I'll see what it does, first," Liz replies. "I'm not as eager to blindly mutilate myself as the rest of you."
You also ask Pierce if he wants to try it. You can imitate his drawings on Michelle to put the symbols on him.
Michelle chuckles slightly. "Heck, you and Finch might be the only people here that can use the ritual right. The rest of us are mutants, came outta a tube, or... is Blondie."
"I could give it an attempt, I suppose," Pierce says with something approaching a smile. He pulls back his robes so you can draw the symbols on him, as well.
Fuse finishes trading up the watches. As the smoke clears, what's left is... a stopwatch. Sort of.
He picks it up, turning it over in his hand. It's much larger and bulkier than a normal stopwatch, with several small screens and a multitude of dials and buttons. "I have no idea what I'm looking at," Fuse mutters.
Once Caius is resting and Dr. Finch has returned to the lab, you have Mini Mine wander back to Bunker A (with some help from Fuse). You suggest testing the leech on your homunculus, rather than on a... uh... real person.
"Not a bad idea," Dr. Finch replies. He opens one of the lab's cabinets, and pulls out a glass container. Inside is... well, you can't really compare it exactly to anything from this world. The closest thing it resembles is a big leech, or maybe one of those fish that cleans the muck off the inside of a tank.
Dr. Finch sets the container down... and steps back.
You have your miniature you carefully undo the lid... and reach for the creature.
It immediately recoils and--with far more agility than you anticipated from something so sluggish looking--leaps out of its container.
"Holy shit!," Fuse shouts. He rushes forward, ready to light the alien on fire--
but it's fast. Very fast.
It pulls itself rapidly across the floor, straight at Dr. Finch. He yells, trying to avoid it--but the creature snakes its way up his pant leg, scaling the inside of his lab coat in an instant. It stops when it reaches the back of his head.
Dr. Finch visibly winces, almost reaching for the creature but not quite getting there. "Gah! It's..."
He pauses. He stares at his hands as he opens and closes his fists.
"...Oh, that is very strange."
You ask if Dr. Finch is okay.
...But you're not sure he hears you.
"You alright?," Fuse asks.
"It... only hurt for a moment," Dr. Finch finally says. He continues idly moving his hands around, watching them the entire time.
"The hell's it doing?," Fuse asks.
"There's..." Dr. Finch hesitates, "I'm experiencing a bit of a lag. I... believe I may already know how this creature operates. Mine, if you wouldn't mind--force me to do something."
You try to make Dr. Finch put his hands in his pockets.
You try--and fail.
You can still feel and see through him, but your commands aren't working. There's also... something going on with his neural signals, but you can't quite gauge what just yet. You normally communicate 'telepathically' by making people think to themselves what you want to say--but if you can't make Dr. Finch think anything, your communication is going to be very one sided.
"Mine's trying," Liz says. "She says it's not letting her give you any orders."
Dr. Finch nods. "I'm very... focused right now. I'm terrified, but my inner monologue isn't deviating much--and I know myself well enough to know that I should be panicking more."
"So like..." Fuse shrugs, "it's eating your intrusive thoughts, or what?"
"It's filtering my brain activity," Dr. Finch replies. "Mine is is is... unable to command me while the creature is attached--I believe it's monitoring the origins and... and and possibly weighing the usefulness of anything that passes through my mind."
"You said attached," Liz points out. "Is... that thing...?"
"It it it has... has some manner of mouth, yes," Dr. Finch states. "It is very much in my head in some fashion. If I'm correct, though, the process is also producing some..." He resumes watching his hands as he touches the counter.
"Lag?," Fuse repeats.
"Yes," Dr. Finch affirms. "It may be checking each thought individually as the signals fire off, which is adversely affecting my reflexes. I can only act as quickly as it can filter, which is... not precisely the speed of thought."
"Is all that enhanced focus helping you figure this out," Liz begins to ask, "or is it informing you of all this?" She sounds... slightly stressed, the entire situation--in close proximity, with just the three of them in the room--clearly testing her.
"That..." Dr. Finch points at Liz, "that is the sort of question I'd probably be asking myself, normally. I'm not very fond of the way it's funneling my stream of thought."
"You're not sure what it's stopping you from thinking about," Fuse suggests.
Dr. Finch nods. "Right. Precisely that. I... feel as though it's picking and choosing. Prioritizing. If it can differentiate my thoughts from those of an outside source, then it is very much an excellent defense against the Many, however... I wouldn't want to wear it any longer than necessary."
...So how is it removed?
"Yeah," Fuse says out loud for you, "how do we get it off?"
"Also an excellent question," Dr. Finch states. "I'm... not too sure I'd like to try and force it."
"Stop thinking," Liz says flatly, but a little hurriedly. "Fuse, get ready with the container."
"I... what?" Dr. Finch adjusts his glasses. "You know it's not as simple as that. Have you ever tried not to think? It it it just causes you to--"
"Leopold Finch," Liz says more sternly. It's almost a hiss. "I swear to god. Stop... thinking. Now."
Dr. Finch immediately closes his mouth, and straightens up. Fuse slinks over and grabs the clear container from the floor.
The room is very quiet.
...When suddenly, silently, the creature darts back down from Dr. Finch and bolts across the floor. You have Mini Mine throw herself in the leech's path, slowing it just enough for Fuse to bring the container down on it. Carefully, and with a bit of diversion, he manages to get the lid back on.
"It has to be able to detect thought," Liz states. "It completely ignored the... golem."
"So you just..." Fuse starts to smirk, just for a moment. "...What, thought really hard?"
"Basically," Liz confirms.
Dr. Finch spends a moment feeling at the back of his head. There's no bite marks, blood, or anything of the sort--but the creature was definitely attached somehow. You ask if he's alright.
"Yes, I believe so," he replies--and confirms that you can give him commands again, since he can hear you. "It feels a bit sore... slightly numb now, but I'm thinking properly again."
Dr. Finch looks up, as though a realization has suddenly struck him. "You know my name."
Liz turns and stares, blankly, at Dr. Finch. She doesn't say anything, just lets the rest of the realization follow. His expression sinks.
"...Thale knows my name." His hand drops from the back of his head. He swallows roughly, his gaze wandering across the lab before returning to Liz. "...Wait. That-- then-- Elizabeth, how much does he know about me? Shirai almost... I... there's people, if he wanted to--"
"He's not," Liz says bluntly.
"I have relatives--"
"He's not," Liz repeats in the exact same cadence. "He considered it. He ruled it out as an option. He's not going to take your family hostage."
"...Why wouldn't he, though?," Fuse asks. "That sounds exactly like the kind of shit Thale would--"
"He's not going to," Liz interjects one more time. It's just slightly harsher, her head snapping around to make eye contact with Fuse.
A tense silence sweeps the room.
You ask for Liz to come out to Ilworth so you can start testing out Combat #11.
She doesn't say anything, just turns and walks out of the lab. Fuse points two fingers at his eyes, then one out at... nothing in particular--you suspect he's signalling you to press the issue further.
After a pause, though, he turns back to Dr. Finch. "...So wait, your name is Leopold?"
After some door rearrangements and a little bit of walking, you, Michelle, Pierce, and Liz meet up in Ilworth. On the way there, you also send Edgar, your raven that recently returned to the city, toward the address the tradesmen gave you.
While Pierce helps Michelle memorize the verbal portion of the spell, you're left alone with Liz.
It isn't long before Liz speaks up, without you really needing to prompt her.
"You were listening in on the lab. Correct?" She stays focused on Pierce and Michelle, refusing to look directly at you. "That's what you do. Now you want me to clarify what I said, because that's also what you do."
Well...
Liz sighs.
"Patton started looking into you, Michelle, and Dr. Finch after the hospital incident. Or rather, he began having his people look into you. He determined that you don't know the rest of your family well enough for them to make substantial leverage. Dr. Finch's relationship with his family is reportedly strained, and Patton..."
Liz pauses.
Hesitates.
"It's Patton. Given the grounds on which Dr. Finch's marriage ended, and with word being what it is on his last interactions with the other members of his family, Thale believes that IF he took the family hostage..."
Again, hesitance, far more than you're used to seeing from Liz.
"...He doesn't believe Dr. Finch would care. I'm convinced now that that's not accurate, that's just what Thale's broken, dehumanized mind put together with the facts provided. He's a monster staring at spreadsheets, he doesn't know how people actually are. The point is that Thale doesn't consider it worth the effort. His inaccurate, detached image of Dr. Finch is that of a man so objective and scientific that if it came to it, he wouldn't take any unnecessary risks--not to save his ex-wife. It would be a waste of time to try and use her against someone that doesn't care about her. I can't just... say that to Dr. Finch."
The idea that someone could look at the details of Dr. Finch's former marriage--that someone did look at it, and concluded that if his ex-wife was in danger, Dr. Finch simply wouldn't care... yeah, that might hurt his feelings a bit. That's... kind of a harsh call on his character.
Is that why Liz didn't clear it up before? She didn't want to hurt Dr. Finch's feelings...? That's more sympathetic than--
"Shut up," Liz interrupts. "Just... ugh. Stop. I don't need you to pat me on the head and commend me for functioning like a real person. I know. Yes. His family is safe, you know that for certain now. Move on."
She dramatically rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and loudly sighs. Yowza, the triple whammy.
"Okay," Pierce states as he steps back, "we should be ready to proceed."
Michelle begins the incantation. It's longer and more elaborate than any spell you've done before, and Michelle sometimes pauses to keep herself on track--but eventually, the lines Pierce drew on her begin to glow.
Nothing happens, at first
but then she begins to change.
Skin tightens as mass swells from inside her body. Her veins multiply and visibly pulse outward. Bone breaks through her kneecaps and bursts out her hands. Her face peels back as her skull elongates into something more bestial. Musculature attempts, at first, to push into her prosthetic arms--before seemingly giving up, and settling for growing an entirely new set of arms. The alien cybernetics are pushed back toward her bulging spine, the now vestigial limbs just... hanging there, contorted.
At no point does Michelle look or sound like she's in any pain, but the noises she does make are... not human-like. Her voice steadily builds to something more like a lion or a bear might make--then a plethora of them, multiple voices growling and groaning in sync with one another. She breaks out of her clothes quickly as her body continues to grow and distort. She's forced forward and over as her weight redistributes toward her front.
Multiple sets of eyes dart about in every direction before fixating on you.
Liz quietly steps a little more firmly behind you. Pierce tenses up but stands his ground.
Michelle sniffs at the air... grunting, and huffing, inching forward. She walks on all fours, dragging herself with her massive claws the way an ape would--though, her long legs don't seem to accommodate that posture all that well.
You're... not entirely sure she can talk in this form.
I do wonder if this transformation will do the same thing if Finch or Fuse attempted it, or if it'll look and have different effects
Also, the leech, sounds like it can be a weapon as much as it's a defensive measure, so I wonder if we attached it to a psionic creature, if that creature CAN'T use its mind attack anymore, hmm
Either way, I think we can upgrade this thing by blooding it, or even better, blood it and somehow replicate its techniques to give everyone who we blooded some mind shields
That is if eldritch blood would even work on this thing in the first place. (but let's try it anyway, just either inject it through a container, or bring the jar and mini into an isolated chamber, and have mini inject a syringe full of our blood into it
EDIT: sadly, just saw this now, but I meant MiniMine, not regular Mine, I call her just mini for short, our homunculus I mean
(Edit: -1 to using the leech on Mine or the Many.
While I don't think it would be able to affect Mine through the blood, (and therefore not everyone else too) I don't like the idea of putting it on her directly until we understand more about it. Like, is it sentient? Does it have goals of its own?
Likewise, we have no reason to believe that it would stop the Many from using its telepathy, since those thoughts do originate from itself, and we don't know what makes the leech chose one thought or another to not let through when they do come from the host itself.
Also, if it senses though, we would never get it back from a mass of brains. Which is even more problematic if it does have an agenda of its own. It might be able to hijack the Many (or Mine).
-1 to using leach on Mine - not sure this is a clever idea.
+1 to using leach on The Many as a weapon - how to attach it without issue would be problematic though.
I think Liz is already making great progress simply in recognizing that sort of thing and communicating it to us. She'll get there with the others soon enough, and she'll improve at being more subtle simply with practice engaging in normal conversation. Pushing too hard all at once isn't ideal, like how you can injure yourself if you lift weights that are too heavy for you, but if you work up gradually to them, you won't get hurt.
We should probably tell Finch something about what she knows about Thale's reasoning, too, so he understands that his family really *is* safe, but we can word it in such a way that we make it clear that it doesn't mean anything bad about Finch-- it just shows that Thale really has no clue how people work, and is yet another example of him underestimating us.
Also yeesh, Combat #11 sure is... a thing.
So uh, let's... make sure Michelle can still hear us in there, both voice-wise and subvocalizing-into-her-head-wise. Maybe ask her to do two different motions to confirm one and then the other. Also very much confirm that she's okay? if she can communicate that somehow.
Then I guess we can start working on what she can *do* in that form. Presumably it wears off after a certain amount of time. We need to determine how long that time is, but in the meantime, let's do some things that wouldn't cause Michelle harm if her form shifted back in the middle of it. See how fast she can move, have her attack the air a bit, and also have her peek into a building to see if all those eyes help her see in low light.
Also, let's have someone fetch some clothes for her, for when she changes back.
That said, she might feel overloaded at the moment and we should ask her if she wants some quiet space to process for a bit first. If she does, hold off most of the conversation until tomorrow besides an ask-first hug or a "You did great, we're so glad to have you on our team". "Emotional bombardment/overload" seems like a risk here, and it's not really what we're going for.
That little leech can Move. Should test it with the host on level to check for any differences. Name suggestion: Fuzzer.
Relegate that transformation to a last resort. Don't want to be giving anyone (Jury, Thale, others) any ideas about what we can really do with this ritual but it Is a good fall back if we need some monster dead Now with Mine otherwise occupied.
Time to do some mental and physical testing of it: See if telepathic communication still works, go to town on the nearest wrecked car, make one deliberate small cut on an arm, then change back to determine what carries over. Spare clothes will be handy in the event of requiring a snap transformation.
+1 to finding out of her extra eyes come with extra visual capabilities - can she see infrared, in the dark, soundwaves, etc?
+1 to the obvious "can Michelle still communicate via the blood" that we're all suggesting.
We need to do some testing and experimenting - she's going to need to figure out how to move with something resembling speed, and we'll have to see what sort of agility she's got - Caius defeated his cage fight opponent because he didn't have sufficient agility to peel off Caius when it became important to do so. I suspect she's more or less indestructible as far as her flesh & bone parts go, but those eyes might be weak points.
I'm wondering if we can adjust Meat-Michelle's form to give her back the ability to speak - I suspect that all of the extra Michelle is still Michelle's actual body, just magic-roided to an extreme, so we might be able to tweak her face to be somewhat speech-capable again - just because the ritual was based on the Red, doesn't mean that it couldn't be adjusted to be more useful. While we're adjusting things, we can see if the summonable bone armor can be integrated after the fact - more defense on any of the softer bits couldn't hurt.
There may be more from me in the future - right now I'm just all kinds of stunned at Michelle's transformation (although she did get to keep her hair!)
ifwhen this is all over they might be worth looking up.Second, I'd want to try an blood the leech, but I'm hesitant for one reason: what if the mental link through the Blood counts as thought-food for the leech?
Third, I'm sure Michelle can't speak while in the combat form, but she'd definitely be able to hear us in the Blood. Let Michelle go ahead and try out the form herself, and be ready if she needs anything.
In the meanwhile, should examine Michelle's new combat form. Looks rather consistent, and might learn something to make future creations quite a bit less patchwork in appearance.
Calmly approach Michelle, try to assess her emotional state. Is she embarrassed? Angry? Scared?
I think we should ask Finch and Fuse to start on electronic warfare devices with the Juries if they haven't already. That leech is really nimble, isn't it? It might make a good design for future blood creatures.
This will answer multiple questions:
1. Can she still understand in this form (if she makes any significant response)
2. How it has affected emotions (would she retain the good humor to know that this form would be fun to see attempting the Macarana)
3. How much does she retain physical coordination (how well she does the Macarana)
But could everyone here imagine how we'd be reacting if we had no context at all as to what to expect?