A different kind of whale (Worm/FGO-based Gamer) Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 1-2 [Base Building]

January 1st 

The New Years’ Day continued to force Outis to adapt as everything big being closed meant libraries, with their public computers, were closed too. Bereft of phone or easy internet access, Outis was left hunting for internet cafes… none of which were on the Boardwalk, unfortunately. One of the Boardwalk enforcers, fortunately, knew of a few smaller internet cafes which made a tidy profit purely on being open full time. All of them were also located in the Downtown.

“Should be safe. Villains rarely start shit immediately after holidays and it’s close to PRT HQ, so there’s also that.” The burly man assured her. “Worst that happens is a trooper trying to bug you into signing up.”

“Seems like there is some rest for the wicked.” Assassin chuckled, shaking her head softly, “Thanks a lot, have a good day!”

Aside from the nazi infestation, Brockton Bay was turning out to be a pretty pleasant place.

___________________________________________________________________________

The cafe she eventually found was, indeed, small. A row of eight computers with just enough space between the boards separating them to not feel claustrophobic. On the plus side, for potential patrons, the owner offered snacks and drinks for relatively cheap. Going by some of the stuff installed on the computer Outis got, definitely leeching off the gamers doing stuff out of house.

None of her business, though. She was here to find out about the Endbringers and the world situation in general.

… 

… … 

 … … … 

An implacable, energy manipulating juggernaut. A, frankly absurd, hydrokinetic beast. And, the cherry on top, a precognitive telekinetic with some sort of mass mind-rape and love of domino effect.

“Fuck.” Outis groaned softly as she leaned back on her chair. It wasn’t that the superhumans were managing to keep them in check, the damn things were playing with their food. Taking turns, making themselves easy targets, being ‘driven off’ with just superficial damage. On the bright side, it meant she had plenty of time to get ready. However, the moment she started showing her hand to them, the kiddie gloves would come off and she had no clue how strong they truly were.

At least she could safely assume Da’at or whatever force was backing her up kept her out of sight of the Simurgh, simply because otherwise she’d have been crushed immediately from across the planet. How strong a protection against the super precog she truly had, however, was up in the air. ‘Partner?’

[...]

[Depending on the precise nature of the enemy’s precognition. Luck. Relative lack of data on variables composing you. Gacha.]

Right, the Luck Parameter, while doing what you’d expect, was also about defying what was ‘supposed’ to happen. That would be good for catching the bird flatfooted, but if it triggered too often Outis would get focused down on as a spanner in the works. Generally, it looked like she’d want to strike a balancing act between not displaying too much of what she and her Servants could do outside of scry-spoofing Bounded Fields and keeping on pulling new nonsense out of her perky ass. Chromatic Card upgrades, Servant Skill unlocks, new Servants altogether.

…Hm, would Liz’s castle nature as something that kept things inside facilitate a Bounded Field like that? She’d have to check when she swapped to Violet Caster.

Beyond that, well, there was a very salient detail mentioned in her research of the terrible trio. Scion. The first and most powerful superhero of Earth Bet. An expressionless golden man who didn’t talk, didn’t understand task priorities and generally seemed completely clueless about how humanity did while trying to be helpful. Definitely a very lost, vaguely friendly alien like the Olympians. Pity that this wasn’t the Age of Gods and humanity couldn’t just faith-blast him into a proper deity.

Just. Fuck. She knew this wouldn’t be an easy job, but goddamn. Why did it have to be precogs?

In dire need of distraction, Outis was provided for by the internet once again. Either due to the kind of clientele the cafe attracted or to make things easier on some regular, the computer she got had an internet forum as a default page set up. A parahuman-centric forum, luckily enough, with ‘local’ sub forums baked in for checking in on the exact city’s cape scene one was interested in. And, because this was apparently the world she now lived in, there was an ‘Endbringer tracker’ thread banner stuck just below the header.

She couldn’t help but give that a quick peek. Thankfully, it seemed all the Endbringers were far away and not acting oddly as far as everyone could tell, so that was a weight off her chest. Now, time to see what was going on in the Brockton Bay subforum.

The top pinned thread was the official PRT news feed. Immediately below, Protectorate ‘recruitment’ thread, a quick check inside revealed a pinned post revealing all the benefits of joining, especially for underage parahumans. Tellingly, the third pinned thread was an ‘official’ rogue thread, with one of the tags for it being ‘red tape bullshit’.

From a skim there, she found out that ‘rogue’ in Earth Bet meant ‘I don’t want anything to do with this fucked up game of cops and robbers, I have a business to run’ instead of ‘rogues’ gallery’. Neat, although there didn’t seem to be many in the Bay. A clothier by Parian, a streamer duo by Uber&Leet and a few small timers who seemed just about ready to pick up sticks and move out of the city the moment they could afford to. Apparently when the rich parts of town were infested by nazis, it was something of a headache to run a business without playing sympathiser. So unless they got successful enough to set up shop in the Boardwalk, their only other neutral ground alternative was Lord’s Street Market which would gouge them anything from 50 to 250 bucks a day for a tiny stall.

She did give a look at all the benefits that the Protectorate crowed about, but… honestly, it just fell flatter than her when she had the Throne of Heroes on speed dial. Sure, the Servants were kinda gimped starting out, but Liz alone already gave her the option to conjure a whole-ass castle without even being a Caster. Summon someone like Hohenheim and literally anyone with Golden Rule and all her money and supplies problems would vanish.

Still, something twinged her while reading the benefits. A feel-good line about inspiring the public and the next generation to heroism. Some quick googling and, sure enough, the government capes were stuck doing PR events every other week, and that wasn’t counting ‘patrols’ only really meant to show the colours and sign autographs. That and the sheer amount of red tape and paperwork that would no doubt be part and parcel of being government affiliated put the last nail in the coffin of joining them.

Not that she hadn’t had the corpse already all laid out when she realised she was basically a whole faction of her own right once she got going.

Another pertinent point repeated in rogues’ thread was an almost desperate plea for any newbies to avoid attempting to get ‘street cred’ by taking on the villainous capes, even the independent ones. Did powers mainly manifest in teenagers? This warning and the emphasis the whitehats put on trying to recruit underage capes pointed to it.

…Then again, if a stressed the fuck out salaryman got superpowers, he may be inclined to go on a bit of a power trip too. Teenagers didn’t have a monopoly on dumbassery.

A bit more research didn’t turn up much info on the age ratios, at least not without slogging through meandering statistical papers from years ago and she couldn’t be arsed, but what it did tell her was that indies hounding for street cred were rare. Or rather, ones who stuck around as independents after their first night out and thus got actually noticed as such were. Not only was the distinction between villain, violent vigilante and mercenary particularly hazy, but villainous capes had the tendency to quickly get absorbed by the gangs or actually get caught by the heroes and had no one to bail them out (and if a suspiciously similarly powered hero seemed to debut soon after in another city, no one in mainstream media questioned it). Additionally, the mortality statistics for parahumans trying to play independent heroes were just depressing. The only ones who were notable in Brockton Bay were New Wave, who in the past championed ‘no secret identities for full accountability’ cause and seemed to have some success taking down one of the most powerful gangs in Bay, only to seemingly drop the activity when one of the founding members got murdered in her home.

In Brockton Bay, the most notable independent villains were Trainwreck, Skidmark, Squealer and Mush. The first was noted to hang around the Trainyard and generally amuse himself by occasionally taking on heroes and being a low-key menace but was otherwise content to sit in his corner minding his own business. Skidmark, Squealer and Mush were primarily drug dealers but realistically doing whatever crime they could think of, with the former two understood to be an item. While they seemed to command some level of authority and obedience of the other ‘unaffiliated’ drug dealers, they held no territory beyond a known meeting place in an abandoned lighthouse and didn’t really have any consistent pattern to their activities. As such, no one was quite ready to call them an actual gang. Still, all four were in the ‘business’ for long enough it was agreed they had the brains to make it work and as such, a newbie only getting a hang of their powers would most likely get taken to the cleaners.

Well, hopefully Trainwreck wouldn’t be too grumpy about a merc setting up shop in the yard. Even if he was, though, she’d rather upset a completely solo indie than encroach on the territory of a proper gang.

___________________________________________________________________________

If Boardwalk and Downtown were illusions of Brockton Bay still being a somewhat prosperous, healthy city, the closer one travelled through the Docks towards the Trainyard, the more the facade fell off to reveal the post-industrial depression. Abandoned buildings, mostly factory buildings and associated housing, abandoned markets, all broken down and overgrown with plant life. Trash, abandoned appliances and wrecked cars littering the streets. An entire district serving as the city's trash heap. The Trainyard itself was fenced off, even if the fence wouldn’t stop a motivated teen, let alone any flavour of superhuman, full of abandoned, rusty boxcars and more trash. Only some of the train tracks were cleared and looked to be actually maintained, even if the station itself seemed as abandoned as the rest of the area.

About the best place to summon Liz in. It was clean and had plenty of room, so the Countess hopefully wouldn’t raise too much of a fuss. All it took was a twist of her hand and the card popped out from her fingers like she was a street magician. A flick, and it had embedded itself in the ground in front of her, melting into the concrete as a summoning circle spread like an ink stain. Then, it began glowing pure white, before seven orbs rose into the air and began spinning in a circle, their glow turning rainbow for a moment before they coalesced at the centre into a pillar of pink light.

Then, the pillar dispersed, revealing Elizabeth in all of her five foot nothing, midget glory. The meaty, long tail flicked lazily around before snapping with a crack in the air as the teen Servant struck the butt of her spear against the ground, looking around the abandoned station with thinly veiled disdain before she focused her attention on Outis. She clicked her tongue and put her hand on her hip.

“So… you’re the new manager, huh? Not quite sold on the whole ‘start up indie studio’ vibe you’ve got going here, but I suppose that’ll just make my career even more dazzling in its success?”

“Just about. Gotta keep a low profile while we set everything up for your debut, after all.” Outis said with a crooked grin as she effortlessly slid into the role presented to her, bandana already down around her neck so her Servant could see her face, “Other idols may need to get a few unofficial appearances before the big debut to build up some hype, but you? We just need to line up the venue and time right.”

The dragon girl nodded happily along, making a pleased noise as her lips curved into a smile. “Good, good! Nice to know my manager knows a thing or two about the business. Since you seem to know what you’re doing and I am obviously not ready for my debut, I assume there’s a reason we’re having this chat? Even if the exact choice of locale…” She trailed off, even as she dismissed her spear in a shower of pink particle effect and crossed her arms across her chest, looking at Outis expectantly.

“Yes, it leaves something to be desired, but it was the only option short of going into the woods if we wanted to avoid busybodies.” The Assassin chuckled helplessly, splaying her hands as if to say ‘what can you do?’, “Mostly, I wanted to consult you on the matter of our studio. I can turn just about any empty building in this city into a humble one without anyone the wiser, but if you’d like to use Territory Creation instead, then this here Trainyard and the woods further north are the only places where nobody will notice before it is time for your debut.”

That actually caused Elizabeth to perk up. “Oh, you want to use Csejte? Really? My previous manager wasn’t keen on the idea, not much space in the first place, he said, and out on the tour we were constantly on the move so there was no point to put it up fully. To think I would have an opportunity…” The girl babbled with a happily carefree smile. “Sure, sure, go ahead! Once you’ve got the living quarters and amenities set up, feel free to call me up regardless, I’ve missed a bed fit for me. And the wardrobe, and…”

‘So precious.’ It was a relief that at least this incarnation of her didn’t have any baggage tied to the castle. Outis couldn’t help but smile, posture and tone both relaxing into something light and friendly, Liz’s cheer was infectious. Truly, she had what it took to be an idol, “Yeah, I expect we will be mainly operating in Brockton Bay for a long while, so no reason not to get comfortable.”

After all, her most likely backer was the Counter Force, which meant Outis wasn’t dropped off here on a whim. The city had to be very important for whatever the Force was scheming. If there was a need to move further afield, Da’at would let her know with a quest, she was sure.

“Then, sure, you’ve got my permission to use the card-me to set up the castle. No hurry to power it up, though, if I understand the system correctly, it’s not like you’ll get much benefit from my skills that you couldn’t get just from ordering me around in the first place.” Elizabeth nodded once she got out of daydreaming about noble comforts. “Do keep me out and about when possible, kay, manager? Gotta keep rehearsing for the debut.”

“Will do. Hardly fair to be living it up in your castle if I only summon you for business.” Outis chuckled, only not sketching out a shallow bow because it was best not to give Liz ideas. Same reason she wasn’t calling her ‘Countess’ or ‘my lady’. “Have a good sleep, I will call you again once everything is up and running.”

After all, Da’at didn’t scrub away the ego of carded Servants like Pandora’s Box, simply lulled them into a deep sleep. With that, and a flex of mental command, Elizabeth burst into a cloud of glittering, pink particles which coalesced back in Outis’ hand as the dragoness’ Servant Card. A roll of her fingers and it was gone, shifted back into Da’at’s storage.

[Now that the introductions are out of the way and you have had time to digest previous information, it is time for everyone’s favourite.]

[More data!]

[Now that you’ve manifested a Servant from the card, it’s time to introduce a new system.]

[Command Seals.]

[This one is fairly simple. You’ve got three charges refreshing at a rate of one a day, at midnight. A charge can be spent on any Servant member of your party to perform Full Heal, Charge Up or Summon. Alternatively, you can use all three to perform Full Party Restore.]

[Full Heal is, I hope, self-explanatory. Charge Up allows for a Servant to fully restore their energy reserves immediately. Summon allows for the Servant to teleport to your side if you have the need for them and they are beyond your immediate reach.]

[Full Party Restore combines the effects of full Heal and Charge Up and covers the entire party.]

[As your Bond with Servants reaches a high enough level, Command Seals will unlock additional functions.]

[Furthermore, a parahuman you’ve reached a sufficiently high Bond with will be able to receive benefits of Command Seals as a member of your Party as well.]

[Speaking of Bonds, you've managed to diplomance your way to Level 1 with Elizabeth.]

[Keep the pace up and things are bound to get interesting.]

‘Can I use them on myself? Summon won’t do anything, obviously, but Charge and Heal…’ Outis trailed off, an unholy grin on her face at the prospect of the absolute chicanery she could get up to with that on tap. Idly, she astralized her gloves, admiring the brilliant red pattern tattooed on the back of her left hand. A large X, with four thin lines connecting the whole thing like a DNA helix for all it resembled a chainlink.

If she giggled like a schoolgirl, that was between her and the ghosts of whoever had jumped onto the tracks.

[Affirmative.]

[Note that Command Seal functions can be substituted with Saint Quartz expenditure.]

[The system is suspiciously Pay-2-Win, isn’t it?]

‘At least I can make money the fun way.’ Assassin chuckled as she let her gloves fade back in, taking off northwards. Time to see if she could get away with the full castle hiding in the forest without the commute being a pain in the ass. ‘...Probably the whole reason it accepts money. Forces me to get out there and do things. Anyways, how much Quartz a pop?’

[One per Command Seal being substituted for.]

‘Huh, just ten bucks for– you know what, I’m not going to complain. Too busy planning how to get an entire castle set up… before…’ Outis’ mental voice trailed off as she kicked off another roof, shooting through the air like an arrow, ‘Fuck, I may have to sandbag to not tip off the bird. At least until I get the notice-me-nots and anti-scrying up and running in full. Maybe if I start with the perimeter walls and set the Bounded Fields on them first of all? And don’t use Quartz in their place unless I well and truly have to. Best case scenario, she doesn’t even know about Command Seals for the longest time, worst case scenario, she at least thinks it’s only one restored per 24 hours.’

Plus, well, it’d be a good litmus test for how attentive the damn thing was. If she got targeted the moment the castle was fully up, she knew she was fucked and had to start spamming Servants. However, she doubted it would be so bad. She just had to trust her backer was the Counter Force and so she would be afforded enough time to set up or at least given some warning if she was about to get checkmated on turn two. Well then, time to hit the forest and start on accomplishing the power fantasy of owning land and property.

It wasn’t even that far away from the station, just some hundred, maybe hundred fifty metres from the outer edge. Well, the proper location would probably be a bit deeper in, just in case. Navigating the derelict trainyard wasn’t even particularly hard, plenty of space and the parts of the train cars were torn up for copper and other materials over time. On her way out, Outis spotted the hulking, crude armoured form of Trainwreck making rounds through the place. The parahuman walked slowly and languidly, without a clear destination but obviously attentive to his surroundings. Despite how haphazard it looked, his gear was also surprisingly silent and the movements were smooth and effortless.

Da’at helpfully classified the man as a [Caster].

Outis may chat him up later, see if he was down for a no-strings-attached sparring session. It would be fun AND hopefully unlock the Caster grinding fields. Ah, well, thoughts for later. Right now she needed to find a good spot for Hungary’s most infamous castle.

___________________________________________________________________________

It was getting late by the time Outis found a spot she liked, her Hand swapped to Indigo Assassin, Elizabeth and Violet Caster. Switching Installs was an… interesting experience, no doubt exacerbated by Liz’s additional bits. Perhaps a change from Chromatic Card to a ‘proper’ Servant was to blame as well, as Indigo faded away from Outis’ features, her hoodie and sweats replaced in a gust of wind and flutter of cloth by a black dress. She only belatedly realised that said dress only had a couple of straps covering her chest and quickly chose to focus on trying to figure out what the spikes on the boots were even meant to do. Thankfully, she was properly distracted soon enough, as she was treated to the sensation of her tailbone bursting from her back and horns extruding from her skull. The fingers took the cake, though, even over having a brand new limb. They were the same rigid material as her horns, no muscle or bone, yet they bent just as easily.

A quick check with Da’at showed that the only thing she didn’t inherit from Elizabeth was the colour palette, so she had black hair rather than bright pink. It actually worked with the purple of the horns and the colours of the dress, even if her grey eyes left a bit to be desired. Still, less time contemplating her looks and the possibility of a minor Mystic Code to properly match coloration and hairstyle, more doing magic construction work.

With a deep rumble and a wellspring of pink light (which the trees and afternoon sun blessedly hid away), the walls slowly arose. Muted white stone to protect and, perhaps more importantly, delineate the boundary between the Outside World and her domain. While the castle itself was the domain of Elizabeth’s Territory Creation, the Bounded Fields planned for it were not, and thus, it necessitated another quick swap. Inhuman features vanished and black bled away into violet as an oversized trenchcoat and almost comically large, stereotypical witch’s hat were placed over Outis together with a flat faceplate she could somehow see and breathe through. At least the sweater, cargo pants and boots underneath it all were well fitted, and she did like the feeling of swimming in her clothes. Swishy sleeves were good civilization.

The next portion was, despite the mysticism involved in putting up the anti-scrying and general detection avoidance fields, fairly tedious. She had to walk alongside those walls, circling her new domain, slowly carving in the anchor-symbols with flicks of her wand and flashes of violet light. Then, there was the fact that this portion of the work actually felt more tiring than the summoning of the walls. A difference in MAG and Territory Creation ranks, most likely. Which probably meant that she would need to burn up a Command Seal or two just to finish setting things up, what with weaving the second layer of magical energy to form the Fields. She didn’t know what the fuck Elizabeth’s previous Master was on about in regards to the castle being too small, the perimeter wall was huge. Granted, it had to accommodate gardens and grounds, but still.

She shook her head, taking a few steps away from the white stone. A flick of her wrist transmuted a ring of rock from the dirt, which she quickly etched and loaded with a far smaller version of what she was building. Only barely large enough to lay down spread eagle in, the layers of scry-spoofing and notice-me-nots would hopefully mask her usage of Command Seals to recharge while finishing the work on the perimeter wall. It didn’t cost her much and every card counted to stack the deck. Heh.

It took a Command Seal, a whole lot of walking and wand-waving and more cooling charms than she cared to count (overheated Magic Circuits sucked smegma covered donkey dick), but soon enough she was done. The pictograms flashed vivid violet and something almost like heat haze shrouded the castle’s outer perimeter before fading out of visibility. She treated herself to a long chug of ice cold conjured water (by wit of the cup being made of ice) and a good sprawl on the grass before sighing and picking herself back up.

A flash of violet turned pink and it was once more time to keep raising Csejte.

Slowly, a round tower rose, blue-grey walls and deep purple tiled roof, breaking through the forest ceiling and imposing over the land. Next, the main keep, with a smaller clocktower attached to it, square and sprawling, a truly luxurious space. Another, smaller tower connected to the keep, before it was done. All in the span of hours, as the night fell and the windows of the keep lit up with the lights within its corridors.

Good to know it came refurbished. Now, time to give everything an once over before she went and saw what all the hype was about with those beds.

Immediately past the wrought iron gates of the perimeter wall, there’s an actual, honest to god stable. Although judging by the silence and the (lack of) smell, currently empty of horses. Still, something to take note of. There were other buildings dotting the castle grounds here and there, but otherwise, the space in front of the castle proper seemed to be empty right now.

As for the keep itself… The doors swung open on their own, ominous creak and all. The corridors were bright enough, although with plenty of shadows around, walls lined up with tapestries of family history and coats of arms, with the occasional suit of armour holding a weapon tucked into an alcove. Also, ghosts. Well, the technical terms would be Wraiths, Outis supposed, but semantics. Ghosts of the household, mostly maids and caretakers, in this portion of the keep, it seemed. They parted way before Outis, pale, colourless silhouettes as they were. Just enough detail to them to recognise their gender and maybe a detail of the face, or the hairstyle, bowing their heads for her as they milled about. Perfectly harmless to the lady of the castle.

Kindly ignore the glints of steel in their skirts. Those were for unruly guests.

Outis entered the great hall on the way to Elizabeth’s solar, which was an entire tower in and of itself. The hall cut an impressive sight, three stories high, with rows of columns on the sides of the room casting great shadows while the fire in the hearth to the side roared merrily, smoke rising towards the ceiling where it was dispersed outside through discreet vents. Two rows of tables run along the length of the hall, close to the walls, leaving the middle empty. Then, on the dais at the opposite end from Outis, another table, put horizontally to others, shorter, fit to comfortably seat about seven people, with middle chair being meticulously carved with draconic imaginary, a shield hanging above it painted rich crimson with three silver teeth coming from one side of it. Behind that chair, there was another door, the one leading to the solar.

Thanks to Install, Outis also knew the hall was designed with acoustics in mind, to make the sound carry from the lady’s throne clearly all the way across. There was a temptation to sit on the throne and try those acoustics for herself, but this was Elizabeth’s home. It would be beyond rude. Besides, she was more interested in the solar’s bed right now. Draconic blood propping her up right now or not, today had been a rollercoaster and she was ready to crash.

Across the hall, up the dais and through the doors, then most likely up the stairs. At least the decor didn’t have much in the way of the bright shade of pink Elizabeth’s mana and the woman herself seemed to favour. It did feel like the first three floors of the solar were there mostly to elevate Elizabeth’s personal quarters above the rabble servants, mostly looking to store an assortment of junk that otherwise didn’t quite fit the impression the rest of the keep wanted to give on its singular rooms. Then, on the fourth floor, a quick look inside revealed an office, while the fifth room an obvious recreation room, with musical instruments and unfinished paintings.

Finally, the sixth room, at the very top, turned out to be a fully furnished bedroom, with massive king size bed taking the centre of it, with heart-shaped pillows and light-red curtains, surrounded by mirrors and wardrobes under the walls, with a single, lonely chair by the window. And… were those three layers of mattresses?

Someone might’ve been just a little spoiled and thus got a skewed perception of comfort.

Not that it made Outis any less eager to faceplant into it. Unlike the throne, this was fine. Solars were often shared with important enough guests, the Install’s knowledge whispered into her brain. That was really all she needed to jump right in and let this rollercoaster of a day catch up with her.

[Consciousness fading. Initiating Emergency Uninstall.]