Crystalized Munchkinry - Act III - Chapter 25 (Patreon)

She spent Monday night again in the virtual space with Admin and Tess. The first part was meditation and a soul-searching exercise. She also spent it practicing yoga, because her attempt to recreate it in the real world was somewhat lackluster.

She even roped in Tess for a round of practice, though why an AI would need to know yoga escaped both of them. Taylor simply took it as time spent with a friend, and Tess as practice for when she had a body.

After that, they spent the rest of the time talking about their day while drinking tea. Taylor, because she liked tea, and Tess, because she was still amazed that Admin could emulate taste for any AI.

Tess updated her on the recycling facility’s progress, told her a few things her father had left out, and then they discussed the machine designs Taylor would provide for the facility.

These included several environmental filters for the machines and people, ultra-efficient generators and batteries, and a high-yield furnace. The furnace would melt the material down, then separate it by molecule type.

The rest would be provided by Tess, such as conveyor belt systems, storage systems, and similar infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, she was also responsible for cybersecurity.

When Taylor brought up the need for defenses, Tess assured her she was in talks with the PRT and that they would have a team ready to deploy in an emergency. Aside from that, she would be flying in several suits to stand guard and would equip the facility with an advanced security system.

As a courtesy, she would provide read-only access to Taylor, just to make sure there was a second eye keeping tabs on things.

As a courtesy, she would provide read-only access to Taylor, just to make sure there was a second set of eyes keeping track of things.

Taylor, in the privacy of her mind, was already designing software that would look for suspicious activity via image recognition.

“How are you going to determine which ship to recycle first?” asked Taylor during their discussion.

They were sitting on the veranda of a bungalow on the edge of an island, with the ocean surrounding them in every direction.

“I will send drones through the Graveyard, equipped with sensors looking for the metal I want,” Tess answered while luxuriating in the fact that she could feel the sun on her virtual skin. “Aside from that, we will start with the closest ships to the facility and go through the Graveyard ship by ship.”

“Makes sense. What are you going to do with all that metal you don’t really need?”

Tess snorted. “I actually need the metal. With the furnace design you gave me, it doesn’t even matter that it’s recycled metal.”

"Oh yeah, it can do that…" Taylor said, idly going over the plans she had written down. “How long would it take to build that?”

“With my improved drones and your father’s men, barely a week,” she answered quite proudly.

"That's fast."

“Yeah, but that’s just the furnace. So technically we would be operational, but the rest would take a few more days, then streamlining will take some more time. Tinker-tech, excellent designs speed things up, but even that has a limit.”

“I could whip up some kind of super 3D printer for you?” offered Taylor.

“Yes, and then we would crash the local economy. Thank you, Taylor, but this is enough,” Tess replied.

After spending time honing her skills through scenarios set up by Admin on Tess’s advice, she felt even more powerful. Sadly, she couldn’t really go out on the street and challenge the nearest villain to a fight to prove it.

Both Admin and Tess were vehemently against that, for some reason.

Still, she was glad that Tess shared her parahuman database with Admin, who used it to simulate opponents for her to fight.

She even got them to allow her to fight alongside Alexandria on her team. It was one of her childhood dreams come true.

Of course, immediately afterward, she tried herself against her, just to see how she measured up against the strongest Brute.

Taylor stood on top of the Medhall building, preparing herself for a fight. She was clad in her newly designed superhero costume.

Tight armored leggings provided flexibility and a measure of defense if her defensive abilities were breached. On her feet were simple boots that connected to the leggings, designed to breathe but not let water or anything similar in. The soles were slip-resistant.

Her upper body was covered in multiple layers. The lowest was a tight-fitting, long-sleeved sports shirt that soaked up sweat and covered her neck. Over that was a jacket that closed fully and connected to her pants, leaving no room for flapping fabric or anything getting underneath it. It was also lightly armored around the spine, shoulders, and breast area. The ends of the sleeves flared slightly to allow full movement of her hands, and it had a hood.

The hood was also lightly armored, protecting the back of her head, and she could, if she wanted to, pull it down to cover the upper part of her face. It would also stay up no matter what, thanks to Admin fixing it in place. No accidental head reveal.

Her hands were covered with gloves, hiding every inch of her skin. These were more flexible and less armored, since she used them for fighting. The gloves connected seamlessly to the sleeves of her shirt.

On her face was an all-encompassing mask, blank without even slits for her eyes. It was a piece of Tinkertech designed by Admin. To her, it seemed as if nothing was in front of her face, and it projected information directly into her view. Basically, she was like a game character, with a HUD in front of her showing everything she needed to know.

It was also built with several communication devices. Thanks to Tess, it was already programmed with all the frequencies used by the PRT, Protectorate, Guild, police, and other emergency services, and even the military.

According to Admin, if she wanted to add anything else, that was on her to design and implement.

The entire ensemble was done in multiple hues of dark gray and black, with dull yellow accents. Tess called it the edgiest costume she had ever seen, but Taylor quite liked it. She was getting used to the ninja motif. At least there were no cat ears, or heaven forbid, tails this time.

She would normally carry a utility belt filled with useful tools, but this fight was about power versus power.

"The fight starts in 5…" came the genderless, inflectionless voice from all around her.

"Good luck, Current," came Tess’s worried voice through her earpiece. Current was her chosen callsign, though she wasn’t fully sold on it yet. It felt too simple. She wanted something with real gravitas…

"… 4…"

She readied her abilities, enveloping herself in lightning, not yet at a visible level but reinforced to withstand at least a punch from Leviathan. After all, Alexandria was known to punch Endbringers around.

"… 3…"

"… 2…"

She activated all enchantments that increased her speed and reaction time. She wanted to make sure she put up a good fight.

"… 1…"

She shot up into the air, hoping the gray overcast sky would hide her.

"… FIGHT START…"

She immediately pivoted sideways to dodge an incoming gray blur aimed at her head. Alexandria turned on a dime and charged again without a word. Taylor dodged once more, but this time continued the motion and struck out with a lightning-charged hand.

Alexandria simply blocked it with her forearm and, to Taylor’s surprise, followed with a heavy haymaker from her other hand.

Taylor flew through the air for several seconds before managing to arrest her momentum short of a high-rise. She barely had time to recover before Alexandria was on her again.

They engaged in a brief exchange of hand-to-hand combat midair as Taylor tried to gauge whether her lightning-infused body could damage her at this level.

Sadly, none of it seemed effective, just like against Endbringers, though thankfully, her opponent was slower than the Endbringers. However, that did not mean she was any less durable than Leviathan.

To create breathing room, Taylor conjured lightning spears and hurled them toward Alexandria’s helmet.

Using the moment of obstruction, she flew away as fast as she could and pushed her enhancements higher.

What she had seen and felt from Alexandria made her conclude she should treat her like an Endbringer-light.

Tess watched, amazed and a little fearful, as her newest friend engaged Alexandria.

It was one thing to hear about Taylor’s abilities, and another entirely to see her go toe to toe with Alexandria herself. They were so fast she could barely follow the fight. If she hadn’t given Administrator the data on the famous Brute, she would have had difficulty even believing it was real.

Watching the two gray-clad women clash over Brockton Bay, their wake simply destroying buildings, made her uneasy. Taylor, for now, was content to spend her time in the simulation and exercise her power there, but Tess knew that would not last long.

Eventually, something would necessitate Taylor’s intervention. And then the world would see her power.

She watched as Taylor fired lightning construct after lightning construct at Alexandria, who either dodged or barreled through them, neither of them paying attention to the devastation spreading around them.

For Alexandria, that was understandable, being controlled by Administrator, but for Taylor, it felt inexcusable. She would need to work with her to make sure she paid more attention to her surroundings.

This power would attract others, who would either want to use her or control her, so she would not interfere with their plans. Or, most horrifyingly, there were those who would want to challenge her.

She could already see the Nine heading straight for Brockton Bay if Taylor’s true power became known.

She watched as Taylor, clad in yellow lightning armor, restrained Alexandria with glowing electric shackles. They obviously didn’t hurt the heroine, but they managed to hold her in place for a few seconds, even if they strained to do even that.

But Taylor only needed those few seconds to unleash enough lightning to finish it.

There was a brief flash that obscured everything, but the aftermath made the result clear.

Alexandria, or rather her body, was falling while Taylor hovered, her entire form radiating disbelief that her plan had worked, surrounded by devastation. By Tess’s estimate, the brief fight had leveled around seventy percent of the Bay.

"How?" she asked, astonished.

“She still needs to breathe, you know. Plus, I was in the driver’s seat, not the real Alexandria. She is much more ruthless than me,” came the clinical answer beside her.

"Just like that?"

“Yeah. Let’s go talk to Taylor. I’m sure you want to discuss a few things.”

She nodded and followed the somber slime.

“Before you leave, we need to talk about something,” spoke up Admin while Taylor was saying her goodbye to Tess.

“There is a parahuman the Guild would love to have.”

"Oh, who is it?"

“I assume you’ve heard of Cornell University? Well, there is a woman there…”

"Colin."

She watched as he hunched over the piece of equipment on his desk fondly. She wasn’t entirely sure what all the emotions were, but she was sure she liked the man. That didn’t excuse him for ignoring her.

“Colin!” she repeated, this time a little louder.

“Yes, Dragon?” he replied without looking up. “I was aware of your presence. I assumed you would start without prompting.”

“Yes, Colin, but it would be nice if my friend looked me in the eyes while we talk,” she answered a little reproachfully.

He sighed, placed his tool carefully back in its place and turned to her.

"Better?"

"Yes, Colin."

“Good. What did you wish to talk about?”

“Several things. First, a question. Are there any hang-ups on the PRT side about me building the facility?” she asked.

Colin made a sour face. “Not really, but the Director is not happy that the Mayor basically ordered her to give you every permission you needed.”

“I see. She knows this move would probably revitalize part of the city’s economy, right?”

Colin nodded firmly. “I told her the same thing. She didn’t appreciate my opinion, so to speak.”

"I'm sorry, Colin."

“No problem, Dragon. I understand why she is angry and worried, but I also understand how much good this could bring,” he answered, giving her a small smile.

She returned it wholeheartedly. “Have you reviewed the plans for the furnace?”

“Yes. It is amazing. I would dearly love to talk to the designer.”

She chuckled at that. “That is not possible currently, but when it is up, you can come over and play with it if you want.” If her tone was a little more suggestive than necessary, well, it wasn’t like Colin would pick up on it.

Though a girl could dream.

“I would like that, yes,” he replied immediately.

They enjoyed a few seconds of companionable silence. At least she did, before she spoke up again.

“How about something different? I told you at the meeting I have something that will change the world, and if you can keep silent, I can send it over to you for testing.”

“Why would I need to stay silent?” he asked, though he was already turning to his computer, opening the usual software they used to communicate and send files.

“It’s going through the patent process, and I don’t want anything to jeopardize it.”

“Understandable,” he replied, already reading the documentation. “Medi-Gel? How interesting…”

After another routine day that she spent exercising, studying, practicing her fine control over her power, and refining the plans for Dragon, she found herself next to her dad as they ate dinner.

“How was your day?” she asked after swallowing another bite of pizza she had made. It wasn’t the greatest, but at least it wasn’t another meatloaf.

“It was great,” her father answered energetically, despite looking dead tired. “We spent the day emptying two of the biggest warehouses and preparing for Dragon’s arrival. And in the afternoon, she flew in several of her suits and one of those big carriers she uses. It was remarkable.”

“I saw it on the news,” she said, smiling. “Everybody is wondering what she’s doing here. The internet is full of stupid theories. Though my favorite is that Armsmaster finally popped the question and they’re preparing to move in together.”

She wasn’t disappointed in her father’s reaction. He snorted so hard his drink came out of his nose.

“Oh my god, Taylor. Don’t say things like that, you’ll kill your poor father,” he reprimanded her gently while dabbing his face with a napkin.

“It was funny…” she replied, grinning ear to ear.

She couldn’t wait to tease Tess about that.