Conflux.'s page

"Well. I might definitely miss the first few game nights. Especially since I don't have portals. There's a lot of grids I won't be on. I will check in though. WitPro only gets so creative in their problem solving."

Her gaze slides over to Shin. "You though. You I'm not gonna call if I can even slightly help it. One of my missions will not be the reason a retired centenarian has to strap on his teeth or whatever your morning routine looks like."

"So," she kisses Shin on the cheek, then Caio. "Until whenever later is."

She holds one of Percy's great scaly paws in both of her hands, gripping tight enough to leave squamous imprints on her palms.

Goodbye.

Connie's brows immediately knit in anger. "Don't f#%%ing coddle me, Perce. I want to try more than I want to go."

Connie tries to fake a smile. "I can try to do a finale."

Connie smiles weakly as the decorations and food appear. "Hmm, think my just-as-friends group date is gonna be hella pissed I stood them up?"

Watching the happy couples pair up doesn't really do a lot to improve her mood, but she sticks it out for as long as she can manage.

She hasn't smoked anything in 5 years and a relevant tattooing, but more than almost anything in the world she wants to breathe in Shin's s~*+ty secondhand crap on a roof. She wants a closeness so tight it hurts someone, she wants the people she hurts worst to be the ones who deserve it, she wants to just take revenge instead of trying to find justice, she wants to actually want what's best and right instead of carefully plotting a course to it Every. Single. Time. She wants to feel safe; she wants to feel safe and be right. She doesn't want to watch her father walk away.

She wants staying here with them to be the right way to make any of that happen.

And s*&*, even without diving into the muck, not like I deserve him either...

But she doesn't want to just leave Percy as alone as he feared he might one day find himself.

When the music ebbs she pulls him aside. "Hey bud. I... I think I'm gonna go. For a while. I need to clear my head, and blaze a trail and do a walkabout, and I think I especially need to get the f~!@ away from Halcyon for a minute. And I think.... S%%% it's so weird knowing that you know I can't lie - makes it much harder to just play things off I think it umm... You remember what I promised you at Christmas, right? So you know that this isn't a goodbye goodbye. Even if I got hit by a bus outside, a spelleating bus that could get through my wards, obvi, I would still harass you for years. [smaller]Not as many as if I didn't die well before I expect to, but... Whatever, you get it? You get it."

She blinks hard and looks up past the crest of Percy's horns.

"So that's my big plan of how I'm gonna get out of here without saying goodbye to you. Got any ideas for the other two? 'Cause right now I'm thinking just ask for forgiveness."

Connie weighs her options for a moment, then cuts back in to Shin. "Well, and for what it's worth, I think that this should be regarded as like 90%+ manipulation, according to her, Heartache didn't do it at random. It was a gig on behalf of Dusk. Guess he wasn't exactly over you. If she wasn't just lying for fun and/or profit. Again, serious possibility."

Connie gives Shin a withering sigh. "Bud, you just gotta set more attainable goals. Or like, if this was a capture mission for a bunch of people, you gotta say that up front instead of 'we're trying to get information and extract a shnoooky-ookums.' 'Cause like... we did that.

"Don't get a win and then declare defeat."

"Sure we can. Plenty of time to finish now..."

Freed of the need for haste, Connie seals off her earlier work, then whips out a sharpie and leaves some notes for those following after.

Unleash: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 6) + 1 = 11

*Two weeks of stability
*Two weeks of slow-falling
*If deconstruction is required, begin by removing the marked strut
*Begin removal by whiting out the following sigil

Connie begins stringing together a charm of togetherness to keep the tower as a united concept, but it's moving a bit too fast for her...

"Hey I need a quick assist on the tower. Just keep it still for a two-count and we should be fine."

Defend: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 2) + 3 = 6 If Teamed I'll add it back and expose myself to danger

Connie doesn't quite sidle her way over to wear Heartache is hiding, but does her best not to attract undue attention as she warns her would-be paramour.

"Hii, I'm Connie. Hi. Wow. Look, uh, Villain Ray Cyrus? You gotta get out of here. Your whole deal works unbelievably more when you actually have the drop on everyone, and let's face it, this is a s@#! long term scheme anyways. The basic plan is to get a bunch of angsty teens to do superpowered merc-work because their rational self interest and good OpSec will keep them on side and useful, right? So leaning on the rationality and OpSec of teenagers? I mean at best, you've got a bunch of amoral super powered whackadoo coworkers who will flip on you and the whole project in a systole if the price is right or the deal's good enough. That's what you want to be in charge of babysitting? There's just no payday that good. Especially since she's got you training your own replacement, or I guess having to figure out a way to discreetly make the superfluous psychic a Dead Kennedy. You're already watching for that though, right? 'Cause the other kids' pay just has to beat like, the Gap, and I'm sure you're not here for that cheap... But that means you've gotta know they're looking for a time to replace you, right? And there's a whole lot of psychic potential that's going into free agency with all the cult breakups."

Connie shrugs elaborately as she apparently gives career advice to a support strut.

"I'm just saying, even if it seemed like a good idea earlier, this is no longer quiet and profitable and under the radar. Why not just get out of here before you have to deal with Matrix or Ordnance or Gothic or... I mean you're seeing the odds of this continuing to pay out dwindle, right? After all, you've gotta know 'When to Hold 'em.' Wait s+!@ that's the chicken guy... Whatever, probably there's a cooperate-y way out of this with everyone else, but honestly? You could probably just give ye olde two beats notice."

Persuade: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 3) + 3 = 7

"Girl, you can fully have him. All I ever wanted from the boy was friendship and to use him for his body a little. Bonus points if it made other people not want me. So that's like... Three for two? Since the third one was a bonus?"

I'll burn a Vulnerability hold to clear Guilty
Gadget Unleash: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 4) + 3 = 11 Changing the area by making psi powers visible to her.

Connie slaps on some specially attuned goggles and looks for the psi waves. "It's not like I don't respect the mental stuff, obviously I do, but there are certain advantages of it that I think you get too accustomed to..."

"Aww, I liked it, O Fearless Leader! It was evocative! Do you want to try other infrastructure names?"

"Girl please, I've been covered in spiders..."

"I want you to know that I hope this embarrasses me much less than other people in the room." Connie reaches into a pouch in her jacket and pulls out a pom. Rustling it proficiently she grins broadly. "Anyone who doesn't want extra illusions in your head, lemme hear it: Panther Pride!

"No, seriously. You have to say the words."

Connie bends her legs up towards her wrist and stretches out her toes towards one of the charms on her wrist. With the charm clutched tight between her big toe and the next, she carefully extends her pinky toe and wiggles the next one down in a precise rhythm. As she does this she blinks along in time:
blink-blink-blink
Blink Blink Blink
blink-blink-blink

A pop of light pushes against eyelids and eardrums, and suddenly Connie's chair, gag, and shackles are five feet to the left, and she and the effects she walked in with are five feet to the right. She falls on her butt with a quiet wince, but is already smirking as she rises.

"Sooo Ken-doll, Special K, Snookiepoo, now that it's clear that this isn't going the way your boss was planning, how committed are you to this bit? No lie, I'm not particularly invested in reforming you, and I don't mind a bit of a tension-y villain rival if it doesn't work, but lemme give it half a shot: You're really happy letting someone boss you around? Just for money? Aren't you self-sufficient? Aren't you... Kenough?"

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Why do they have a trap from Muppets Most Wanted?

Superior: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 4) + 3 = 12

Connie briefly considers trying to just limber her way through, but decides not to rest on her cheer ego, and instead produces a matched pair of mirrors to help her safely cut beams she wasn't certain of, bouncing the light back to keep the circuits live with her trademark precision.

"A reasonable division of labors. If you want her calm though, R. should definitely be there though."

"Full on razzle dazzle is possible, but I don't hate the idea of preserving resources if you've got a functional plan."

Savior: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4) + 3 = 9 Mark Angry unless Teamed.

Absolutely f+@~ing ridiculous that I still have to like, tug at someone's cape like a kid to get a ride. They could just offer!

Unless they did :-p

Superior: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 5) + 3 = 13

[smaller]"Don't sweat it big guy." Connie folds up a magazine cover into a paper airplane, sigils already scrawled on the underside, and throws it off to the side. "Everyone knows the cameras love my boy Tiv." And sure enough, the cameras unfocus and follow.

Spend a Team, gain a Team

Danger Zone: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (1, 5) - 1 = 5

With the speed born of a truly ill-considered entrance, Connie arcs up and into... well maybe not the 28th floor, but something!

"Stalling and annoying people is pretty much my jam, but I don't mind making friends with the servers."

Connie raises her hand sardonically. "Any reason to assume Valence will have some sudden medical emergency if he's depowered?"

"I've told her about the concerns, but feel free; just make sure you check."

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait. Come on! We can't keep just going with the pattern of me pointing out a problem, everyone agreeing and then moving on to other s+~$ instead of actually doing something! Whet? How you doing with this?"

"Huh. Okay. So, very aware that this slots into the 'Connie's paranoid and possibly delusional' category, so by miles the most important thing is for you, Whetstone, to just check up on the discrepancy I identified and told you a pretty good idea of where to find. As long as that simple double-check is happening, then this next part is a lot less important.

"But uhh, Shin. How would you feel about hanging out and letting me take a peek at some subconscious reactions?"

"...Shin, you are aware that now I can set things on fire substantially with my mind, right?! The point isn't that Gothic didn't talk using lips tongue, teeth, palate, and/or larynx. The point is that the count of heroic meetings between them that Whetstone has from Whippoorwill doesn't match the count that I have from Gothic.

"I have outlined why I suspected that that might be the case; I have gathered supporting evidence that that is the case; I have once again presented my suspicions directly and indirectly. Whetstone? I'm not even asking for access to what I would need to check, just please take me f%&!ing seriously. I have a lot of reputations, but crying wolf is very much not one of them."

"Really feel like after the first two times I uncovered a successful villainous plot to compromise Whip, I'd be getting a little more benefit of the doubt... Oh, but you know what might help to check things against?"

She holds up her own phone, already open to a chat.

"Gothic only saw Whippoorwill once since she cleared her, at The Crab thing; they didn't talk."

"That wasn't his initial goal, but let's face it, he's where he is because he works from weird angles and doesn't miss opportunities. And I don't think there's been time for Cortex to sleeper agent Whip. That's why I started being annoying about it again - long enough for evidence to exist, not long enough for her to kill me unless she deep down kinda wants to, which is why I'm often kinda careful with her anyways, but here's a sample script that doesn't raise red flags:

"There are plenty of particulars I might not have exactly right, or even at-all right. This is mostly deduction, monitoring Whip's public activities, monitoring her shifting responses to me, and having a fairly good working knowledge of thinking around internal mental blocks. At it's core though, I'm just working from what I would do with his power set and opportunities, and you know, goals."

Connie nods, still sitting quite still, but her nod showing more and more energy behind it.

"So, what I told Whippoorwill to check was whether there were any discrepancies between the carrier and device data of anything she has that sends messages. Because if I were Cortex, and I knew I had access to Whip for a very, very short window, then compromising her devices would be the simplest way to open that window again.

"Returning to the timeline, like you said, Whip went to go see Gothic to make sure she wasn't under any other compulsions - and at that point she wasn't. But Gothic probably didn't do any in depth scans while the Alliance and the Herald were having the team up for that Giant Enemy Crab last month, right? Do you think that she did the other two times Whip met with Gothic privately? Do you think it's possible that when she messaged Gothic or Gothic messaged her to set up those meets, that she was wrong about who she was talking to?"

Connie looks obscenely pleased with herself, then blinks a lot and smiles incredibly unconvincingly. "Hey, I'm trying a thing where I pretend to respect people for whom I have substantially less respect than the average more than I actually do, without lying of course, but... look can we just pretend I said nice things about Imagerie while pointing out her many, many directly related failures on this topic? There are three main categories of her failures which of course do have sub-examples, and hopefully you've spotted them too or else I'm really gonna have to slow this conversation down... she added respectfully?? Sorry I said that last part out loud."

Her fake-ass smile turns especially pained. "Anyways? Leaving aside Imagerie's complete failure to handle anything like what we're talking about without having it specifically pointed out to her despite assumedly having many merits, lemme paint a picture for you:

"The meeting is scheduled; you whammy her."

She pauses. "This is what we all agree happened, right? This is the whammying that went undetected except that I clocked it in a few subjects and deduced that it would apply to Whip?

"Unless he can get Whip to set up those meets herself. So, Whetstone, I know that Whippoorwill went to go see Gothic to make sure nothing else had happened. Did she go to you? I told her something to check but every time I've brought it up, she's only deflected to date."

"Ah, well nope. I mean, if you do have a way to do that then great, but I assume that's better handled by Gothic or a different, competent psychic, and I wouldn't bother you over it."

She smiles and leans in, but doesn't rise.

"But what makes Cortex so nasty isn't his raw power, it's his nastiness, and his smarts. So that's why I want to confirm a few things about Whippoorwill's actions. I assume as her guy in the chair you're kept up to date on her team-ups and things like the Cortex compulsion that was already uncovered. So, as far as you know, did Whippoorwill go to see Gothic to get debugged? And how many times has she teamed up or met with Gothic since then?"

She holds up an old-fashioned candy stick. "Butterscotch while you check?"

Connie waves one hand excitedly, but remains seated. "Hiya Whet, I'm Connie, borrowing Shin's credibility to get confirmation on some stuff. So, what has Whip told you about her run-in(s) with Cortex?"

Early Morning
Bone Guy: No further action. Report suspicious activity.
Mm. Should change that
Connie: Might have to take a sick day on that chief, but anything weird and I'll speak up

Private Thread
Connie: Weird stuff reminds me - Have you noticed Skyler being REALLY lovey dovey recently?
Connie: (No nickname for her 'cause I'm serious)
Connie: She was acting HELLA weird about her hair
Connie: btw, if she gave you a hairjob or something, I do not want you to tell me about it
Connie: with words

Different Private Thread
Connie: Hey labbie
Connie: had a little trip to the hospital so I'm gonna be out a few days
Connie: but I've got my phone and everything
Probably Definitely Faetite: read

"Great, lemme just get in there and add my own stuff." Connie whips out a marker that's already been linked to one of her wands, and starts carefully examining the pot, making quick marks where she'll need to anchor any additional prophylactic wards...

And looking to see how exactly Fae sussed all this out..

"If you play back the tape that's actually not what I said, but I get your meaning. Let's start with the pressure cooker for now."

***
A bit later
Femtite: I better get some rest before school. I’ll keep you posted.
Connie: hey quick hypothetical
Connie: say chastity makes a wizard of oz joke
Connie: and you yourself could be Dorothy
Connie: does it occur to you to get a dog?

"Interesting, I would've expected Oz to be the Great and Powerful for you. Well. If you should bump into Faetite, please extend that to her- Sorry, did you say you would get an entire dog if I needed you to? Girl, there's lab partners and then there's whatever that is."

"Oh, I'm not trying to get you in trouble or start a fight or anything, but you are Faetite, right? And this is (with the benefit of the doubt) a chance for you to get to know the humans of the larger world now around you? To see how your alternate grew up? Possibly meet Conflux/Connie the Great and Terrible? Your mother and her alt both seem on board with lasting enmity, but you weren't part of that conversation, so I'm perfectly willing to assume for the present that you might not be here to be my enemy. Especially since we're Lab Partners."

She quickly skims through the notes in the tablet. "Oh, do you have a pressure cooker at home? Even an Instant Pot? That would make a shockingly good base for what we're trying to do..."

"It wouldn't be name brand, obv, but the whole point of it is to provide containment, heat, and pressure - and once you solve containment, you really just need precision and measurement when it comes to the heat and pressure. I haven't made the tools for that yet, but it's not as though there's not plenty of inspiration already available... Oh, and 'first week back?' We're doing that? Even as lab partners? What some possibly consider a nigh-sacred bond?"

***

Lunch

"Uhhh I think you took away the wrong lessons from my little sermon on beards and the acquisition thereof. Why do you need beards at the dance anyways? Just don't give each other a corsage or a smooch in front of her parents? Or if the dance isn't a safe place to be visibly girlfriends, maybe just don't be visibly girlfriends there? I recommend ditching. Or doing a platonic hang. Beards don't solve any of your actual problems here."

--------------------------------------------------------

Session 12: Everyone Faces Heartbreak
--------------------------------------------------------

Halcyon Prep

The halls of Halcyon Prep have become adorned in pinks and lavenders as Valentine's Day fast approaches. Large painted banners announce the Valentine's dance, proudly declaring it to be a Sadie Hawkins-style event wherein the ladies are expected to ask their dates to the dance instead of the gents.

Those who have been to Hal-Prep in previous years know that this is a bit of a twist on what has usually been a standard, seasonal-obligative dance. event. For the members of First Class who had been unexpectedly absent for the last couple days, they find themselves behind the curve both academically and socially. While they receive excuses for their absences from official channels, there is no such thing for the missed social interactions.

Connie

Being super smart means that a few days' worth of missed classes require only a modicum of attention in class and the skimming of a few pages. Unfortunately, it also means getting stuck with whoever the teacher assigns you in AP chem projects. Which happens to be one of the new students, Fae Miller.

The purple-tipped girl regards her with mismatched eyes. "Hello there," she says with a smirk. "Lucky me; everyone in the class wanted to be your lab partner, which meant the teacher gave you to me. Said you could 'bring me up to speed.'"

She steps aside to reveal her current experiment. "I thought we could demonstrate the heterogeneous catalytic conversion of CO2 to CH3OH. What do you think?" A quick glance shows that Fae has taken several steps in the project. "Do you need me to explain?"

"Not broadly. Are you hoping to demonstrate the efficiency of a catalyst that we're already aware of? Or is this a push the boundaries of human knowledge kinda thing? Oh, I also don't have a Monel Parr reactor in this pair of pants, but depending on the volume we're attempting to produce, we might be able to scrape something extracurricular together..."

***

Lunch

It's not a Spirit day, so no one at the table is in their uniforms, but there are still school colors to be seen on each of the cheerleaders, even if to count Connie in that number you have to include where her bra shows through the artful holes in her crop top, which implores Femtite and any other readers to 'spill ur GUTS'.

"...Look, if it helps, I was debatably doing conditioning exercises the whole time I was running through the- Oh hey. Chastity, Maeve what's up?"

Connie carefully seals away the d20 in one of her hermetic Ziplocs, and reaches under Quincy's shoulders to haul him to his feet, and get up under his weight.

"Q, if you'd gotten out-out, we wouldn't be talking. I don't know where you're going from there, but first I have to haul your matrix-pod ass to an ICU. Say I'm your favorite sister for saving your life. If you wind up somewhere bad or you need help you can call me. Or Abe probably"

"...if that’s the case, I’m sure he’s very proud of his sister."

Connie blinks in stunned disbelief, but doesn't bother replying.

When Quincy too offers someone else's pride, she holds up a finger for silence, asking Caio for updates on Kyana, listening to hear if anyone else was hurt.

Her mouth thins, and she stomps over to Quincy to spit in his face.

"F**! you. F@%! you and your pathetic god complex. You f%%!ing snake oil-peddling bandaid-pushing narcissist, don't you f+@*ing talk to me about abusing my power. Just because I don't pretend to have free solutions doesn't mean I'm some sort of f$%$ing miser. I help people, you unbelievable s*&%. And when I do it it isn't a thinly veiled cry for help to justify my life since I'm not Daddy's favorite anymore.

"F@~~ you. Do you even understand the f@~!ing harm that Miracle Solutions cause? For those you were even trying to help?"

"Ohh. Got it. Because some people agreed to the immersion, it doesn't matter that random people were getting caught up in it?

"Let me be clear. I am aware that this place was a fun game for many people. That is not remotely on the scale of 'so I will tap into dangerous magicks for it.' Clearly Quincy felt differently, but that's hardly the first time we've disagreed. Regardless, in the time frame provided, with no lives at stake, even to stall bears unacceptable risks for the reward of... an upscaled mead hobby? Honestly this is such a f~&$ing stupid conversation. It's a game that's putting people's lives at risk when they never tried to play in the first place. That's enough reason to pull the plug, but guess what - it's falling apart anyways, making sure that has as little collateral damage as possible is the only path that makes a damn lick of sense to me."

Thanks for forcing me to say this to the people who were actually having fun though. Really cool.

"I'll cut the world adrift soon; the Woods should survive. If Quincy wants to use those as the basis of some re-creation then he's an idiot, but the possibility exists. Maybe you'll get to play with him again."

Turning her focus back to the world, Connie fills the woods with portents and omens. For those with the eyes to see it, the world itself cries out in warning that soon all else will be at an end, and to make what preparations must be done.

Unleash: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 4) + 1 = 7 I'll find out how this is temporary or unstable

"Oh, s#@*. Sorry. Thought it was clear. Yeah the world is collapsing because Dear Old Dad (and Feya) stuck a siphon into it. They're draining it dry so that it stops, y'know, drawing people into a magical world against their will to potentially vanish forever/die when this shoddily made power trip inevitably breaks down/no one's willing to sit in the Golden Throne. They're (probably mostly him) also reclaiming a worrying amount of Quincy's power *plus* probably a good chunk of whatever else is being put into it in the bargain. Benevolence is questionable, despite what I'm sure is obscenely good media coverage.

"If we get her out I will talk to Kyana, but I can't talk to a hero in the game as myself. Might be able to whip up a herald or something? This is because we all think she's an egg though, right? Can't imagine I'd be tapped for comforting bystander duty otherwise."

There are several odd sounding deep breaths before Connie speaks and Bug-Eye starts auto-reversing again.

"Wow. I assumed you just hadn't kept it safe enough, or maybe that he'd bartered for some of his own.

F*#+! Whatever . Okay. Well. At least we're not presently in conflict with the Fey Courts, so this was merely a tremendous opportunity gifted to dangerous free agents for funsies. Bonus points for Faetite being around though. Just brilliant f$~@ing timing. F#*! it. I'm not going to war over this f$@@ing nightmare factory. Umby? Couscous? Ready to blow this popsicle stand??"

"Eicho, timmad-" **Reversed Sigh** "-Okay. If everyone else's out, grab Kyana, throw her directly into a support group or onto a good therapist's couch, and stop pouring more power straight into Dad's siphon. The only other place up is the Fey Wood, which appears to be drawing on another source of power probably because Q didn't build this place with anything like the safeguards needed to protect a prize like it's turned into. Probably it's not incidental, but even back here behind the screen it doesn't look like anything's happening, so I'm just marking the signature for the next time it shows up. Everyone else ready to go?"

Is he getting sloppy? Or just trusting that neither Q or I will turn this whole thing into a poison pill while he's still slurping it down, and that no one else will come up with the idea... Mm. Well. A thought for later?

Okay, while Harrowguard feels remotely intact I've just gotta trust Percy and Caio... Means I need to figure out what exactly she's up to...

Assess: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 3) + 3 = 12 What here is the biggest threat?
What here could I use to stabilize a portion of Q-World?