Brockton Bay Central Library was quite the distance from my house. Not unmanageable by any means but still took a good half an hour. The building itself showed its age, with brick and mortar foundations and a weathered look outside. Walking into the building, there weren't many people inside. Outside of the librarian, I counted only three other people as I made my way to the desktops.
The Toybox website was a simple webpage. Its logo was displayed prominently on the front page, with a few links detailing its services, purpose, and an email to contact for business enquiries. Clicking on the services tab, there wasn't much there as well. A vague statement about gaining the help of 'one of our valued tinkers' was on there, along with some brief descriptions of their major tinkers that didn't say anything that wasn't already public knowledge.
That… can't be right? The great tinker collective used a business email to communicate with prospective clients and recruitment? I leaned back in my chair as I stared at the email. Creating a throwaway email address, I sent a message that briefly described my respect for Toybox's work and asked if I could have a discussion.
The Celestial Forge spun up again and reached for one of the 19 Constellations. Spinning off, it grabbed onto the Tech Constellation. One of the lower ones which meant that the tendril's length was… still as long as it was before. Great. But the Star I received was pretty good. In fact, I would probably put it up there with 'Hammer Jammer'.
The perk was Scientific Specialization. I could choose a field and I'll become ludicrously good at it. Not to the point where I'd be a once-in-a-century genius though. More like an extremely good specialist. But as far as I could tell, this choice was permanent. And I would regret it dearly if I picked something stupid for my specialization.
There was also an orbiting star which provided what was the best bonus I could ask for. Forget my Specialization, and compared to Lingua-Technis, this one was actually useful to me right now.
'True Hero Potential' was a godsend. Any of my physical attributes could be improved with training and combat including my skills with a single weapon up to a Hero's level. Which was easily superhuman levels. I was getting slightly giddy with the mental image, creating a blur with afterimages, producing shockwaves with sword swings. Though this was all potential, it did mean that I wasn't completely helpless in combat until I lucked myself into a power suit perk.
I placed that aside for now, making a mental note to find a gym to start training. Turning my attention back to Scientific Specialization, I tried to think of a good focus. My first thought was Engineering. Literally just a boost to how good I could design and make stuff. But I immediately dismissed it. There was pretty much no point to pick it since the Celestial Forge already had several Constellations dedicated to purely crafting and designing things better. It would be a good early boost but made redundant later.
So I shifted my thoughts to more esoteric subjects. Biotechnology was an idea but there was a Constellation for that… There was nothing about how specific or vague this 'field' could be so it would be better if it was as vague as I could possibly make it. Imagine if I put 'Science' in general and got a boost to any form of science I conducted.
Yea, it didn't work.
I racked my head for a little longer. I could pick magic sciences as well like Necromancy but that wasn't really useful without like magic to do the necromancy with. So I was unfortunately stuck with the usual mundane options. Eventually, I settled on one specific option that came into my head. "Material Science." I muttered.
Material science was both for the discovery of new materials as well as researching their properties. The discovery bit didn't matter too much since I knew for a fact that the Forge had access to the creation of new materials and an entire Constellation dedicated to just giving me shit to work with. But testing their properties would always be useful as well as the sub-discipline 'Material engineering' which helped find different applications of existing materials.
And it covered several other disciplines like chemistry, physics, engineering, and even biology for biomaterials. So it gave me a boost in those areas as well. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for coming up with such an ingenious option.
A few minutes later, an email was sent back.
Too long, didn't read. It basically said that they were busy and couldn't accommodate my request. I blinked. No fucking way. I must have missed something somewhere. There must be some hidden contact or weird ARG-esque coding that hid their actual email. I couldn't actually be waiting 3-4 business days for a reply.
Picking apart the website, I started delving into all sorts of obscure places. Inspect Element became my very best friend as I looked at image addresses, the page code, class ids. Literally combing through the HTML code with a fine tooth comb. Savant's Understanding was putting in double time as I pulled out some clues from the pages.
Small bits and pieces of information, some odd id names, random but also weirdly consistent image addresses, a specific hex code for text colour of all things? All these things that I would otherwise overlook were pieced together with Savant's Understanding. There was definitely something there… I just had to turn it into something that I could use.
A few minutes of fiddling around with a variety of ciphers, and bashing my head against the metaphorical wall, I finally figured it out. I just had to stick the entire thing into the page address. I pressed my face into my hands and suppressed the urge to groan. Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to put aside how much time I wasted on the fucking Vigenère cipher.
Well, at least that was all over.
The final webpage looked a lot different compared to the rest of the site. It kinda reminded me of the PHO private messaging function, except with a few small differences that told me we were still on the Toybox website. Typing a simple hello, I hit enter and waited for a response. A few moments later, a message came back.
"This is Cranial. What can I do for you?" I blinked at the message. No confirmation that I was indeed talking to the tinker in question? I furrowed my eyebrows. I was going to feel like a right idiot if it turned out to be some sort of sting operation by some other group to capture tinkers. Though if it was Toybox, I doubted anyone would be fine if there was someone besmirching their name like that.
After seeing that I didn't reply, a second message popped up with an image attachment. It was a piece of paper with the date on it with the Toybox name and a flourished signature of 'Cranial'. As well as a gloved hand on the top right. Hurriedly closing it, I took a brief glance around to see that no one was around me before I continued.
"Do you believe me now?" I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but I swear I felt some sass. It was probably just me.
"Thanks for alleviating my concern…" I typed. It still doesn't eliminate the fear of getting absolutely pranked but it was good enough. "I was wondering what it would take to join Toybox?"
"Hm…" The first message came up. Not… exactly what I wanted to see. "Toybox doesn't have many restrictions on its members. We'll have to dispatch someone to verify that you're a tinker first, and ensure that you aren't a spy. But once that's over, we'll happily welcome you in."
"Is there any information about the membership that I should know?" I knew that members had to share technology and 33% of all sales through Toybox but I wanted to get the full picture. Cranial provided a brief answer, mostly hitting on the major points of my upcoming relationship. If another Toybox tinker requested my help, I was expected to do so, barring exceptional circumstances like an Endbringer attack or while I was in a crisis situation.
A cut of any sales, if I wanted to sell items, would be taken for upkeep of Toybox. And Toybox would send any requests that they think would fit my tech to me and act as an intermediary between me and any client.
They would also provide living space within Toybox's space itself if needed. Though otherwise, I would have to contact them to set up a Dodge portal whenever I wanted to enter. New members had to go through a trial period before they got access to Dodge's devices. Unfortunately, but I didn't mind it too much. I would prefer being in my own Forge. Once I got that perk.
And besides, Leet who was the biggest danger to me right now was in PRT custody. Until he got out, I should be safe. And really. How long could it possibly take for me to get a workshop power? I grimaced. Currently the rate I was getting powers from the Forge was a whopping 3 attachments out of 8. A 37.5% attachment rate not to mention the 50 possible Constellations it could attach to… Suddenly, I regretted trying to calculate how likely I was.
Well, I think I will be fine for now. Possibly. Hopefully. Turning my attention back to the conversation, Loremaster didn't help since this wasn't really an argument. But it did help pick out vague details that I could ask for clarification. After a few minutes of back and forth, I was satisfied with the knowledge I acquired.
"I think that's agreeable. However, I must know some last few things." I typed into the chat. "How easily could I split from Toybox once I established myself?"
"Very easily. Toybox is a place for tinkers to join without the risk of forced recruitment or staying on the run from both heroes and villains. It would be hypocritical to force our members to stay if they wish to leave." Cranial's reply came much quicker, like she simply was repeating this from memory. "Just fill out a retirement form and submit it. You may leave by the same hour or at the end of the day."
"Ah okay." I nodded. That was good to know. "When should I expect your group's arrival?"
"8pm." Came the reply. An address was also attached, displaying a warehouse at the Docks. Not too far from the Dockworkers' Union building. I breathed a soft sigh of relief that I didn't decide to use my personal laptop to contact their website. After a minute passed, the web page instantly closed. Blinking, I tried going back to the same address but it simply threw up a 404 error. Looking through the clues, all of them had also been changed and the design altered. I guess that conversation was over. Sighing, I cleared the browser cache then shut the computer down.
I had about an hour and a half to kill. And my stomach rumbled. Oh right, I hadn't eaten since this… no not even that. I hadn't eaten since I dropped into this world. Guess, I know what I was doing right now.
Fugly's was my eventual choice. A greasy, heart attack-inducing store that my body was probably not going to be happy processing food from. My memories did provide a rather detailed experience, courtesy of Savant's near-perfect recall. But memories could never really replicate actually experiencing it.
The buns were crispy yet wet, the meat was dripping with grease and actually sliding off the buns. I had to use the wrapper to make sure it didn't fall off entirely. There were also some pickles, cheese and lettuce for all the good they would do. Taking a bite, my mouth was flooded with more oil than I would ever thought could even fit into a single burger.
Coughing, I took a swig from the not-Coke I had bought as well and leaned back in my chair. One bite and I already needed to recover. Holy shit.
Anyway, while I was hyping myself up for the next bite, I glanced over to the news on a wall-mounted TV. A PRT spokesperson was giving the final overview of the mall attack this morning. Which didn't say anything that wasn't already speculated or known. A massive amount of shit was also stolen. From camera footage, Uber and the zombies stuck some sort of teleporting tag which sent the item away. I ran through my memories to confirm, yep, that did happen. I just didn't really pay attention to it since I was looking for my movements running around the mall. Some injuries but no casualties, Uber escaped but Leet was captured.
Not… entirely surprising given that I stripped the man and handcuffed his arms and legs. But they didn't give any details about who captured him. Just saying that an 'unknown vigilante' subdued the tinker. Nor the state he was in when he was. He then continued to ask for this vigilante to come to the PRT and told us that if you had powers, don't go gallivanting around solo.
Which was fair. I guess.
The Celestial Forge reached out to the Magical Database Constellation. For a moment I was excited since a magic database often meant some sort of library right? And I doubted it would just spawn a library in the middle of my room or something. So I would get a pocket space to work in, right? Right??
But I remembered what I was working with.
The Forge reached for, and I kid you not, the second highest Star available. Why? Why would you do this to me, you absolute fucking monster.
I pressed the back of my wrist into my eyes, making sure I didn't slather oil over my face. "What the fuck, dude…" Removing them, I took a deep breath to calm myself down. 'The Celestial Forge isn't sentient.' I don't think so anyway. 'It cannot actively fuck with you.' I repeated those two sentences in my heart until my heart rate was back to normal.
"Bastard." I muttered. At the very least, the energy beam the Forge used to awaken Stars was getting to a frankly absurd length. From a brief glance, maybe around half? Maybe a little less should be available to me next time it woke up. I mean, what were the chances that the Forge missed again?
The news moved onto other details. Asking about the PRT's response to the attack, what they were planning to do in response. All things that I didn't really care about. I heard a few words like 'increasing patrol' and 'dealing with parahuman crime' but we all knew those were fancy words. The director would rather keep the plates resting against the door than even try to open it and change the status quo.
Taking my second bite, it wasn't any better than the first. In fact, I think it was worse since I was barely chewing it anymore. It was slippery enough that it just slid down my throat. Not sure if that was supposed to be a good thing. Taking a deep breath, I steeled my will, drawing upon all my Solar memories to force me to finish the meal I bought.
Thank god Fugly had a sink to wash my hands in. The wimpy paper towels they provided couldn't make a dent in the greasy feeling that clung to my fingers. With dinner and probably tomorrow's breakfast out of the way, I wondered what I should be doing next. I should probably bring my taser to Cranial meet up…
I tried to think of some other notable events that happened in January but came up woefully short. The best I could vaguely come up with was Dinah's trigger but that just simply happened somewhere before April 2011. Literally so as long as it was before April since there were mentions of her involuntarily answering questions with probabilities.
There wasn't much point for planning long-term. Outside of vaguely defined goals like 'Kill Zion', or 'Defeat Endbringers', the specifics of any plan literally couldn't matter since the Forge was seemingly random on which perk it would be giving me. Perhaps the next perk I got would be some stupidly overpowered ability like Noble Phantasm forging or something that would throw half my plans out the window.
Actually, was there a Noble Phantasm forging skill? Not quite… But I could get close…. I could get really fucking close.
Ah well. I'd still rather have a private workshop.
So join up with Cranial… Leverage Toybox for resources while fulfilling my obligations… Then… introduce myself as a new tinker? Oh right, I needed to introduce myself as something that wasn't my own name. For a mad inventor type… I was half-tempted to pick the name of an actual inventor. Though I was sure it would piss off a bunch of people, especially if I handed my stuff to villains.
Something else then. Moriarty? He was a mathematician firstly, and secondly he wasn't really an inventor either. Maybe for someone more like Coil? Hiding in the shadows and orchestrating the events like a conductor. Daedalus? It felt a bit too mythological for tasers and robot arms. I leaned back in my chair.
Maybe not a name. Gears? Eins. The first? Though there were Nazis here which would have a poor connotation. Great, now I have that idea stuck in my head. The mad inventor being the first and so named 'One'. I pulled out my phone and quickly scrolled through a bunch of different languages for the word.
Erstein. The German word for 'first', erste, mashed with 'eins'. The fact that it sounded similar to Einstein was completely coincidental but would definitely rile some people up. Eh, whatever. What could they do about it? Complain until I changed it? Checking the availability of the name, only brought back a small city in France.
Irrelevant then. Erstein it was!
That and it would completely throw people off wouldn't it? I wondered for a moment if it was a good or bad thing. And decided that it didn't matter. I wasn't going to come up with another name now.
"A penny for your thoughts?" A blonde girl sat opposite me. Frowning, I thought for a moment that it was Crystal again. But that couldn't be right. A smattering of freckles over her nose and dirty blonde hair rather than bright blonde. It took a moment, but I got her identity. The one person that I'd rather not meet right now.
"Unfortunately, I'm all out." I joked with a smile.
Lisa Wilbourne. Tattletale. Why the fuck was she here? This… probably wasn't pure coincidence like with Crystal. Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if she figured out that I didn't have any meals from whatever footage she saw on stream and staked out Fugly's until I came. I wasn't too concerned though. The stream didn't feature too many of my antics, like beating Leet or inspecting his tinkertech.
Just from the stream, she shouldn't know that I had powers.
"What do you want?" I asked in a relatively neutral voice. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly control every part of my body down to the atom to starve her power out of information. My Solar memories did have some ways to keep calm in chaotic combat situations, but it wasn't perfect against her power. "It's not every day that a cute girl sits down opposite me for no reason."
"You're the one in Uber and Leet stream right?" She asked with a slight grin on her face. "The one who figured out that he couldn't split his zombies?"
I nodded. "I didn't think anyone would recognize me." I rubbed my jaw. "To be honest, I thought I'd be mobbed a bit more afterwards." Frowning slightly, I shot a glance around the store. "Should I sign an autograph for you?"
Somehow I felt like I was fencing against her on a tightrope. Both of us knew that the other knew that they knew, but also simultaneously not willing to break that illusion. We tried our best to probe for information about the other, while keeping as many cards as we could close to our chest. Even a single wrong step might allow the other to take control of the conversation. Well mostly for Lisa to take control. I didn't have a super special Thinker power to let me talk better.
"It's fine." She shook her head. "I'm curious. How did you figure out that Leet couldn't split his zombies from a single action?" A direct thrust, aiming to catch me off-guard and stumble.
"Lucky guess I suppose. I was in the zone, y'know? All cylinders firing in perfect sync. I couldn't tell you how I reached that conclusion. But it worked out in the end." I shrugged. Glancing at her eyes, I could practically see her mind whirring away as she used her powers on me. Perhaps she was figuring out my powers? A Thinker ability? She wouldn't be horribly wrong. "And I suppose it's best that we introduce ourselves as well, right? I'm Nathan." I extended a hand over.
"Lisa." Her hand reached over and we shook.
The conversation between us continued back and forth. Each question was a probing strike aiming to try and draw out as much information as she could. It moved from my time in the mall to more personal things. 'What was my job?' 'Do you have any hobbies?' And I tried my best to defend against it as best as I could. Short answers, vague statements. Lisa replied as well with some information, but I didn't quite care for it right now.
I was hanging on for dear life as blocked a question and sent it straight back to Lisa. It wasn't like I couldn't lie to her, it was that her power made it easier to tell if I was. "Travelling? No, I don't travel. Lived here in Brockton for all my life. How about you?"
"Same here unfortunately." Lisa lied as well. This was actually really tiring to keep up. I was trying my best to figure out why she was here as well, with a little help from Loremaster. Perhaps Coil had access to the mall's surveillance footage, asked Lisa to review it, and stumbled upon me in the process. She had seen me in the stream so something. Maybe she was watching the stream and I caught her attention?
Or maybe, this was truly a coincidence, and Lisa was just sitting by her lonesome while using her powers on everyone until she encountered me. Who fucking knew? Not me. She wasn't pushing too hard to figure out my ability or personal life. Did she not care for my details? Or that she didn't need to know since she could easily find out later. No subtle push towards cape drama or the life of a cape so recruitment probably wasn't it. Plus it would be a pretty flagrant violation of the Unwritten Rules. From Loremaster, it indicated curiosity as the main driving reason why she was here so I guess it was fairly safe.
I shot a glance at my phone. 7pm. The time it would take to go back home, grab a mask and go to the meeting place would take a little under an hour, barring some exceptional delay. Smiling, I smacked my palms against my legs and stood up. "It was very nice to meet you, Lisa." I said with a smile. "But I have to go now. Perhaps we can continue this another time?"
"Sure." Lisa replied. "When would be a good day for you?"
"I'm actually a bit busy…" I muttered. "How about this? I'll call you when I get some time off and we'll meet then."
A tense pause passed between us as Lisa stared up at me. I could practically see the gears in her mind whirring away as she tried to figure out what I was up to. Eventually, it passed and she relented. Grabbing my phone, she quickly entered her number before passing it back to me. "Thanks. I'll see you later then." I waved goodbye as I left for my bike. Hopping on, I swiftly made my way back home, ensuring that I took a little longer to throw off any stalkers.
I was also pretty certain she had my phone number now by looking at the oil pattern on the screen. But let's not worry about that for now.
Grabbing my taser, I slipped on the inside of my coat before grimacing at how prominent it looked and shoving it into a bag instead. After a moment's deliberation, I shoved in two books as well to hide its silhouette. I also changed out into thicker winter gear, with a scarf and hoodie and used Painted On to make it a little easier to move around in. Exiting the building, I made my way to the bus stop instead and took the route to the closest station.
The bus ride was fairly boring. I was half-expecting Lisa to step on but unfortunately my dreams of being stalked by a mentally unstable blonde were dashed. Stepping off the bus, I made my way down the street. Occasionally I saw a group of workers hanging out but it was an uneventful walk to the warehouse in question.
The Celestial Forge threw out a length of energy, this time hitting one of the higher Stars in the Magitech Skills Constellation. In fact, this was one of the highest stars I had ever gotten so far. Energy was rapidly pulled from its tendril before it finally burst and stabilized. There was a little bit left, but probably not enough for any high Stars for a while.
The perk in question was called 'Machine Madness'. So as long as I understood how a supernatural effect worked, I could create a device or being?? I had to pause my reading there. Excuse me. Being? Like a person? Android? Biological superweapon? I had to take a moment. That seemed terrifying.
I could make Android waifus that replicated the abilities and powers of any superhero or villain I wanted… That sounded awfully familiar though…
Putting that can of worms aside, I kept reading it. The fundamental method to generate such an effect might change going from whatever it was to technology, but the result would bear no difference to any observer. Well, if that was the case… Shards worked on effectively hyperscience. Science that was so goddamn out of humanity's wheelhouse that it just looks like magic.
If I could say, look at Taylor's method of control, and she did have some form of medium to control insects since Leet created something to fuck with it, could I potentially just create towers to uber boost her range? That's mildly terrifying. And possibly turn her catatonic with the sheer amount of information being driven into her brain. Well… maybe not since the Shard was technically handling it, we would have to see first.
Actually, I didn't have to study it, did I? As long as I knew generally how a supernatural effect worked, I could create something to replicate it. So could I replicate Zion's Stilling? It was the nullification of any wavelengths and… I stopped myself there. Let's not delve down that rabbit hole just yet.
Taking a deep breath, I hoped I didn't draw Simurgh's eyes to me. Though I still didn't know how the Forge interacted with precognition abilities. I really didn't want to test it since the moment there was a discrepancy between what was predicted, and what actually happened, I had a feeling that the Shards would rectify that. And screwing myself out of a potential trump card seemed like a terrible idea.
Wait, would I have screwed– No, but I hadn't displayed any of the Forge's power in front of any Shard.
Putting that aside, could I replicate her post-cognition/precognition? It was basically a Laplace Demon right? Looking into the past to predict the future? If there was a way to replicate it, there would also be a method to disrupt it as well, no?
Well, Machine Madness didn't exactly give me a 'no'. Blocking precognitive effects wasn't just 'take the precog effect and reverse it', I had to specifically disrupt how they were predicting the future. For Simurgh, I was pretty sure her precognition came from her postcognition if I interpreted her text correctly.
So the best way would be feeding her wrong information about me. Which would work all the way until she realized what was going wrong and used models to simulate me instead. Though it would always be playing catch-up with my actual powers. Which felt like I somehow circled back to somehow.
Maybe I shouldn't worry about precogs so much if I kept reaching the exact same fucking conclusion all the time.
A hand tapped my shoulder. "You're the one who contacted us?" A feminine voice asked me. Blinking, I looked over to a shorter girl wearing a full costume, with brown hair done into a ponytail. A set of goggles sat on her face, with a laboratory coat that definitely had some amount of tech built in since it didn't move like cloth would. Still, the costume hugged her figure quite well, showing off some of her curves.
So this was Cranial? I didn't know what I expected. As far as I could recall, and it was a lot, there weren't any descriptions of her appearance. Mainly because she was dead when she appeared due to the Slaughterhouse Nine. I guess the 'mad scientist' angle wasn't exactly a unique concept.
"Um, yeah." I nodded. "Actually, I didn't ask about the whole recruitment process, did I? So how's this going to go… Do I need to show off my tinker skills or something?" I furrowed my brows as I asked.
Cranial tapped the door behind her. "Step in. I'll explain everything inside."
The door was incredibly plain and looked like any other door that might exist on the side of a warehouse. However, when I walked in, I stepped out into a workshop of some kind. A good selection of simple machining tools lined one wall, as well as a table of tools and a cabinet of raw materials and some components. Dodge's work, obviously. Glancing behind me, Cranial took a seat by the side.
"To answer your question, there's really only one way to join Toybox." She clapped her hands together. "Prove that you're a tinker." She gestured across the room. Sitting by the door, she crossed her legs.
"No time limit?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Nope. So don't worry about it. If you need any specific material, don't. Our recruitment budget doesn't cover it." She said with a laugh.
Well… if that was the case. I walked over to the cabinet and started looking through what I could work with. No rope so there goes my grappling gun idea. But… I cracked a slight smile underneath my scarf. I could definitely make my goggles with the items here. Popping my knuckles, I started pulling materials off the shelf.
New Perks:
-Scientific Specialization (Monster Girl Quest) (100 CP) (Focus: Material Sciences)
There is one type of field in which you excel. Pick a focus, it can be necromancy, engineering, or even a focus on a certain type of monster species. Within that field you get a fairly large boost to your research. Those who specialize in necromancy will have a talent similar to that of the Croix family, whereas someone specialized in Alraune could become much better at developing plants. Make your name in scientific arts.
-True Hero Potential (Monster Girl Quest) (Free)**
You sure are gifted aren't you? You now have the potential that Luka and Heinrich possessed in their prime. With training and combat experience; your strength, speed, stamina, durability, magical power, and skill in one weapon of your choice will increase, culminating in their level of power. If you are a Mamano you can inflict Critical Ecstasy during your time here but only in this world. Both Mamano and Humans start off about as strong as a level 1 before perks or previous jumps are factored in.
-Machine Madness (Dragon Ball GT) (400CP)
So much of the universe relies on Ki to grant them power or natural biological abilities. Why pursue scientific perfection when you're already able to claim to be perfect? Why NOT pursue scientific perfection? Despite the lack of need, you buried yourself into science and found ways to use technology to match mysticism. So long as you have a good understanding of how a supernatural effect or technique or ability works, you are able to replicate it through technology, creating a device or being capable of performing that effect or technique or ability. The method, resources, cost and so on may change to fit the new medium but the ultimate result will be as if you had used that magical spell yourself...just through the lens of beautiful, beautiful science.