Stripper With a System - Summons Poll! (Patreon)

Alright, folks! Those of you who read the Author's Notes from the Stripper With a System update, might have noted me mentioning I'd be doing another summons poll soon. Specifically, Rylia and Co are nearing the point that they are intending to replace the Shadow Broker. Yes, that is annoyingly cliché for ME fanfics. Unfortunately, it also makes too much sense for them to do for me to just ignore it. So, just this once, I have to ignore my instincts to violate or subvert any and all fanfic clichés T-T.

Anyway! The position of Shadow Broker is someone that Rylia is going to want a summons for, since their contract prevents at least direct betrayal, and they'll be from outside the local power structure. I've come up with some options on who could be her choice. To be honest, I came up with too many options and had to work to pare them back to a reasonable number...

Options:

1) Motoko Kusangi (Ghost in the Shell)

When this Motoko's version of Aramkai wasn't quite quick enough to keep the government from burning Motoko, she took an option they didn't know existed to escape reality entirely. Her deal with the Marketplace, in addition to getting her out of her home reality, has upgraded her full-body prosthetic to a self-healing gynoid body of similar-but-greater ability.

A master hacker, perhaps better even than the Laughing Man in some ways, she also has a lifetime of both military and counter insurgency experience. Not just a skilled combatant and hacker, she also has a vast pool of knowledge about how the underworld works, and an extremely solid grasp of how 'ghosts' work as well. In addition to being a fantastic possible manager for a network like the Broker's, that latter bit of knowledge might just help against the Reapers.

She will not be likely to jump into a relationship quickly, but she is bisexual, and was in a polycule canonically. Which means there are good odds in the longer run...

2) Lucyna Kushinada (Cyberpunk)

This Lucy, from post Edgerunners, found somewhere much farther away than the Moon to escape to. Compared to the world she's from, Mass Effect seems like a Paradise, even with the Reaper threat on the horizon. After all, not even Noveria or Illium match the dystopian hellscape of Night City!

In addition to incredible levels of hacking ability, able to realistically keep ahead of even most AI, Lucy has a lot to offer. Of the entire list, she has by far the greatest familiarity with merc work and the myriad other underworld operations of someone like the Shadow Broker. She's been the merc, hacker, thief, assassin and more, after all. Yet, she retrains a fundamental desire for something better that would see her refining the Broker network into a force for good.

She's still getting over David right now, but that doesn't mean she might not be interested in some fun later on, and is certainly going to be intrigued by a line of sex toys that surpass even most of what Night City had to offer...

3) Teressa Richter/Dragon (Worm)

Best Girl of the Wormverse, given a new lease on life! This version of Dragon made a deal with the Omniversal Marketplace to make herself a real girl! While retaining her full capacity as an AI, she now inhabits a self-healing gynoid body effectively indistinguishable from human with at the Mass Effect tech level.

She does not retain her Shard power/connection, but is still incredibly capable, and no longer suffers the restrictions her creator put on her. To say that she's the multitasker is still probably not giving her enough credit. Also, she dumped that Armsmaster/Defiant guy. He was a dick. Whether or not that means she's ready for a new relationship or not, even she isn't certain. Though exploring her new body's full capabilities might well interest her...

4) Sage (Marvel Comics)

Teresia Karisik, better known as Sage, is a mutant whose brain functions operate similar to a computer. Something which grants her perfect memory and incredible analysis capaciiy She also has considerable skill as a spy, and solid telepathic abilities. An extremely skilled hacker with some engineering skills, in a lot of ways, she's practically tailor made for a role like the Shadow Broker. She even has some previous experience in operating an underworld organization from her time serving as Charles Xaiver's spy in the Hellfire Club...

Special Note: Sage's personality is such that she will not, under any circumstances, be paired with Rylia in a relationship. She's never been paired long-term with anyone in Marvel (that I know of), for a good reason. She pretty much doesn't do the whole relationship thing at all.

5) Bruce Wayne (DC)

Gasp A male summons! This would be (obviously from the image) an older Bruce Wayne who has already passed on the mantle of Batman, yet retains all his knowledge and mental agility. A voice of raw experience, incredibly skilled at mentoring heroes, dealing with the underworld, and facing world-or-galaxy-ending disasters. Needless to say, he'd be an incredible fit for managing the Broker Network.

While he obviously wouldn't be a relationship type option, he would also be an extremely good mentor-figure for the team of erratic misfits Rylia is assembling. Able to be the voice of experience to reign in and help direct their efforts.

Also, his never-ending exasperation with some of Rylia's methods would likely be pretty funny. Sure, he played the playboy when he was younger. But, really Rylia, you built a sex toy empire and plan to conquer a good chunk of galaxy in order to save it?!