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Through the Living Heir

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  1. Through the Living Heir
    Chord accompanied him, acting as an ordinary music box - interspersed with giggles. Rebus nodded. “That would be just fine.” “Very true.” Wow, that day passed very quickly - I can believe the sun is setting again. “Of course! I can do lots of different things - what kinds of capabilities do you want? I could work in the same thing that lets me make the walls look like a horizon if you wanted camouflage, for instance. And of course there’s the question of whether you’re willing to connect your nerves to the tattoos - it lets you have mental control over them, but many people are understandably squeamish.” “Certainly.” Rebus constructed a new one for him. “Feel free to take all the time you’d like writing down what you can do and what you want to do.” Because I’m going to bed - I have a swim meet early tomorrow morning.
  2. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus wasn’t actually sure anyone needed bothering. “Let’s see… I can’t think of people who both exist and also aren’t being bothered by one of us. If you can try to get Asher and Pyk either working for me or fighting against me, even tangentially, that’ll work. Oh, and I have some objects you can plant for me as you travel, preferably once per planet - they’ll self replicate if you touch them to a rock and say replicate, so you shouldn’t run out, and can get others to do the same. And I’ll of course call you if someone actually fun to mess with needs messing with. Is there anything you would want in return?”
  3. Through the Living Heir
    Well, if the rules are the same as in Aladdin, I’ve got my list: Wish 1. I wish to know, correctly, accessibly, unambiguously, and irrevocably, the consequence of any wish I may plan to say, allowing me to avert a wish which I have not worded to the effect I desire. I can then use this gift to phrase any further wishes better. Wish 2. [better phrasing of the above wish, probably - the buffer overflow problem especially could take some fixing] Wish 3. I wish to know, on sight, whether I can trust each person I look at, and at what bribe from others or sacrifice required they would betray me because of. Then, I pass around the lamp to all my new friends I know I can trust, using my knowledge of the consequences of wishes to help them make wishes to benefit us and society. Each of us get three wishes - so depending upon how many selfless people I can find that may be a lot of wishes. Wish N-1. I wish for [Heir] to become a genie. (Or if you can only wish yourself into being a genie, do that with your last wish, but leave someone else’s last wish for the below) Wish N. I wish for the first genie to be free, on the condition that their actions are benevolent or neutral, and that they keep their abilities and immortality. Now I’m a genie! Guess what - my friends all get more wishes! The second to last will turn another of them into a genie, and the last will free me. Rinse and repeat, potentially gathering more selfless people as we go, and we get an astronomical number of wishes. And since we’re all genies, we’re all immortal and can fly, and maybe still grant wishes. I don’t know if the magical sky boiler allows turning people into magical sky boilers (or genies for that matter), but I’m in. (Still looking for loopholes, though)
  4. Through the Living Heir
    “There’s legitimately no catch. My self-interest is all in the pitch - I happen to live here, so undermining the people defending it makes very little sense. You could fight me with the training I’m giving you. You’d still likely lose, but it’d be better than how you’d fare now. And of course the Ennullers can’t very well delete me from existence if I’m in a partnership with them.” As usual, Rebus was telling the truth - and unambiguously, for once. Chord sat there for a moment. “I can sing, you know. It’s one of the advantages to being a music box.” Rebus was at the door, as perhaps would have been expected. “Hello! You are Mr. Whitlock, I presume. May I come in?” Rebus nodded, noticing that crimson red and jade green contrasted quite well. Well, I also legitimately had no idea what Symbol looked like, so… “Oh, yes, tattoos! If I recall correctly, in the vision you had both Nullite and nanomachines, but here we’ve got an opportunity to customize them with more thought that whatever Meat possibly did to produce something that close to coherent.” He waved a hand and the walls changed into floating schematics in the very specific computer green, a gridded horizon extending off into the distance. “Don’t walk into those, by the way. At the moment they’re still walls.” Rebus nodded. “Alright - I’ve got enough room at this point to give you two - and Cricket and Rose - rooms to talk in. Actual training areas aren’t functional yet, but we should start by going over your current capabilities and some skills you definitely want.”
  5. Through the Living Heir
    Well, Chord couldn’t see from in the machine, anyway… “Great! I’ll tell-“ the doorbell rang “-him. Huh. That was fast.” Rebus thought the sunset was quite beautiful, now that he knew what it looked like. Symbol hasn’t been described in a while. Rebus thought as much. He’d still be strange, but would probably be less unfamiliar with time. And he might become less of a Narrator with time as well, though as the planet showed that wouldn’t make it much harder to kill people with a thought. Rebus put his hands up to show he wasn’t carrying any weapons, though again that wouldn’t make it much harder to kill people with a thought (Shoe would, though). “Hello Shoe, Beosta. I’ve been trying to form an organization that now that I think about it needs a name. Anyway, the people I recruit - which I hope includes you two - get some training and then promise to fight anyone trying to destroy or conquer the Thread.” Rebus mixed together the picture and what Symbol had said, continuing to admire the sunrise. “I’m putting together a headquarters now.” “In order for that to happen, you’d have to be extremely self-defeating yet still manage to be the greatest thread to the Thread - and because of the way protagonists work, yourself - then save everyone from you. We could split the burden and have one person earn Protagonist and one earn Antagonist, but at that point it’s easier to just destroy them rather than risking them falling into the wrong hands. Even then, I did consider the idea - or permanently forging the Blades together - but I decided that the person may end up as a Tragic Hero instead, which does not do what you want.” “Well, that’s excellent, but teleporters are almost always of use. Also, what? Anyway, Plotblades are magical weapons which impose patterns of fiction onto reality. One of them is Antagonist - in order to get it, you must already antagonize people, but once you have it you become a better Antagonist, with plot armor and all. I’m trying to earn it so that someone likely to kill me can’t, which means I need to cause problems.”
  6. Through the Living Heir
    They likely could. Rebus walked over to Shoe and Beosta, though the party was starting to end. Honestly, sure.
  7. Through the Living Heir
    They could work - Rebus was trying to avoid redundancy because non-unique combatants become less important, and hence less effective. If Shoe has a different style from Cricket, though, having two Ennullers won’t be a problem. “Well, either I train you to use your powers better and you help take down people trying to destroy the universe - I like the universe, you see, as I live here - or I give you a few toys - mega-lasers, grey goo, and a teleporter - and you can go wreck havoc because I asked you to. That one takes more explanation - do you know what Plotblades are?” “Great! Where do you want to meet to hammer out details? And can I stay with Snow?” “Yeah. I wish I could see the sunrise - not just a sunrise that might be kinda like what other people are imagining.” Rebus deliberated, then turned the walls opaque. After a moment of darkness, they were in a small room with a few chairs - minimalist, monochrome, and futuristic, as is typical from Rebus.
  8. Through the Living Heir
    “My name is Rebus. I’m here to recruit you - for what depends upon if you destroy for its own sake, or for a purpose.” “I think creativity and ingenuity are needed - supposedly you’re the best for this job.” Rebus looked thoughtful. “Not truly.” “The reason we’re up here is that the nanomachines don’t have a way to tell the difference between inorganic substances without slowing down a lot. But I suppose I can set up a barrier and take us down.” The platform began to descend, and the air took on a blurry look for a moment as the utility fog got into place, clearing again once it was set. Heir was fine - he’d written the first part, thought of the description saying never mind, and then in a flight of fancy personified it. “A Protagonist and an Antagonist each can exist without the other, but should someone significant oppose them they shall then possess the other Plotblade. But here, there’s a great unbalance between good and evil - should one of the few evil people truly dominate the Thread’s plot, they earn Antagonist, and then numerous heroes all scramble for Protagonist. Only one can have it, and if none rise above the others nobody receives it, and everyone is defeated - except the last person, who becomes the Protagonist, probably wins, and is left as the last remaining person in the Thread. Or perhaps not, but I consider it too much of a risk to ignore.”
  9. Through the Living Heir
    Chord giggled again. “You have know idea - I think I’m a personality emulation interfacing with the player here via nanotech. A speaker would be far easier, but the man has a flair for the dramatic. Anyway, I’m here to offer you a job, since apparently you’re the best in the business when it comes to building things out of Nullite. I haven’t really been told what the job is or the hours or payment or anything - I dunno, maybe it’s secret or something? But yeah, it involves Nullite, and probably nanotech.” Rebus sat down next to her, looking at the gardens once again in silence. That was understandable. At least she had something to stand on now - though considering the fact that she’d just seen the material melt rocks, that wasn’t a good idea. “You can stand now, by the way - the platform can’t replicate.” Oh. Never mind. You Authors, never telling me anything. “And I did check to make sure there weren’t any people around here - this is probably the best way, unless you want me importing atmosphere.” Nothing to say for yourself - either of you? I might go on strike or something! You wouldn’t want that, now would you?
  10. Through the Living Heir
    Briefly, I think. Though that’s not really the kind of candidate Rebus has been looking for - Narrators, as he said earlier, are almost too strong, and don’t need much training (at least not the same kind of training). Someone more akin to Asher’s power level is more of his goal, though Asher specifically is doing things. Actually… At the party, Rebus walked up to Cade. Chord started up again. “That’s me! I was sent to bring a message to Mr. Whitlock.” “It truly does - though I think the party effectively ended already, considering that there are only conversations rather than wandering.” The tower built itself up and made a small platform the two of them could stand on. The hole below them started to close, nanomachines flattening out the area the tower had been taken from. More grey spread outwards, rocks seeming to melt and trees simply sinking below the surface.
  11. Through the Living Heir
    “If you are wondering, no, I don’t want you to do it. But an Antagonist could kill any person but the Protagonist, and if there isn’t one, they could kill everyone, all in one go. That’s very alarming.”
  12. Through the Living Heir
    “I am, frankly, quite worried about Antagonist. And sadly, the best way I can think of to remove the threat of it is to have someone earn, then destroy it.” Chord surreptitiously became more jammed, for Snow’s sake. Rebus wasn’t sure where to go from there. Normally he’d use a break in the conversation to advance his own interests, but that didn’t feel right. The grey ground began to evaporate in the center, trees tumbling into a growing hole and being shredded by utility fog - though in the center a tower was growing upwards towards the two of them.
  13. Through the Living Heir
    I first read that as “Cricket had used portal cuts in the past. His Author remarked conversationally, though only when angry.” Well, there were more tricks to learn, and portal cuts were quite good for nonlethal disarmament as well as teleporting people in half. “I’m actively putting together a training ground. In the meantime, I have some thoughts to talk over with you - I think you understand the decisions I must make better than most.”
  14. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus had plenty of tricks like it - just wait until he explained portal cuts. “No, though if I recall correctly during her trial someone told her that Narrators believe themselves to be in a fictional world. If she asks, I’ll still only offer Watsonian reasons for the uniqueness factor - because there are several.”
  15. Through the Living Heir
    “Tam and Bat are… busy. And Narrators have a tendency to break things, plot-wise- though if one is really needed I can do it.” Rebus shrugged. “I’m aiming more for people who have lots of potential but need training to use it - Tam honestly fits that definition, though I doubt she’ll take my advice on how to be a Narrator. For instance, you’re over-reliant on straightforward attacks, and use your Ennulling - as far as I have seen - only for bolts of energy, while using your portals only for mobility. Though I’m not sure you’ve actually used Savior Complex in a fight yet, it is not the mere sword its previous owner used it as. Imagine someone corrupted by withergeists, wanting to destroy everything. Rather than stab them with your Blade, hand it to them, nicely, and stay alive until it can kick in. Suddenly you have an opponent who wants only to save people, allowing you to purge them of Chaotic Darkness at your leisure and reclaim the Blade. I’m not trying to train people who are already omnipotent - I want people with tools far beyond what they use them for, and I’ll get them up to fully utilizing each of the few things at their disposal. And turn them into super-soldiers, of course - mundane combat is always still important.”
  16. Through the Living Heir
    “No. I haven’t - and I don’t think I can. A Narrator could do it - I could probably do it - but I wouldn’t really be a squirrel, you know?” Rebus nodded in approval. “You two are the first ones I thought of. As for more candidates, I’ll have to choose carefully. If you’re familiar with the rules of stories, there’s a concept known as “conservation of ninjutsu”; when having more people with similar capabilities on a side causes them to be less effective individually. For instance, if you’re fighting one, say, withergeist, it can be a fairly difficult fight. But if you go up against a dozen withergeists, you’ll find that each individual withergeist is suddenly far easier to kill, and the battle is only slightly harder than the last one. Having names, personalities, unique powers, and different Authors all typically make someone far harder to kill. It’ll also allow a variety of different skills, which even discounting plot-based planning is very useful. I’ll look around the party, and maybe contact some Authors.” @SpiritOfWrath, @Hawks, @Through The Living Glass, and anyone who happens to be reading this, do you have characters you want Rebus to give special ops training to? It’s a good use for stagnated characters or ones who need a power boost, and the (legitimately, for once) only cost is pledging to fight people actively attempting to destroy the Thread, with reasonable exceptions for inability and unavailability.
  17. Through the Living Heir
    Chord laughed again, and Snow could see that the ridges shifted as the cylinder spun, changing so that new sounds would be played each revolution. “Well, that’s how a large portion of the Thread is structured, it seems. Do you think my Author knew quite what the Ordered Chaos was supposed to be when I made it?” Narration is what she’s scared of? Rebus thought, Even when she’s hundreds of feet in the air and I’m not even using any? Even after she’s danced, carefree, with an Ennuller? Below them, a small patch of grey was spreading outwards, visible between the trees. “Well, I have now. Have you?” “I do. You’re a highly skilled fighter not using your full potential and your personality matches well with this sort of organization rather than the Wall itself. Rose, likewise, has untapped skill and matches this sort of task.”
  18. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus removed Taeidin’s perception of the Thread, and handed him a flat rectangle, somewhere between paper and plastic. “Here’s my card. If you need me, there’s contact information on the back.” Chord approximated a giggle. “Hi! You say that a lot. I have a name now, that’s fun!” Rebus didn’t think so, unless it happened to be relevant. Sometimes new characters would, since their personalities wouldn’t be hammered out - though honestly his Author didn’t give even the characters who were supposed to have them fleshed out backstories. “My apologies - I suppose I’m so used to floating I forgot how disconcerting it can be. You’ll have a proper floor under you in a moment, though you will not want to be down there while I’m making it.” Rebus held a finger up to his mouth, and blew on it, sending what looked like a speck of dust up into the air. It wafted down to the ground, effectively impossible to keep track of from that distance. Or at least it would have, if Rebus hadn’t put it out of its misery long before it hit the ground. It wasn’t like it would have lasted long even if it hadn’t had its wing broken.
  19. Through the Living Heir
    In fact, since they’d existed for a long time, continuity was on their side. That being said, the parts of thermodynamics most people broke weren’t usually the same that Rebus did. Even Narration was supposedly free energy that made an open system. The young man seemed pretty average. Dressed in 21st century hiking clothes, he was fairly tall, with brown hair, light skin, and glasses. He’d glance at his phone on occasion, as if he was getting countless notifications and wanted to make sure none were urgent. Actually, he seemed much more normal than the party guests around him.
  20. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus supposed that was true. In fact, he would have some problems if it did. Rebus thought that an “Author” would know that the books themselves had not been the information medium. “I don’t have one. Do you think Chord is a good name?” Rebus smiled at her, then looked out at the gardens again. “Great! Come with me.” Since Rose would still also be where she was, Rebus teleported the two of them. They floated above a forest, mountains on the horizon. No people were to be seen. Is that ow ow, or o wow?
  21. Through the Living Heir
    “Personality? I wasn’t intending to attack you. Regardless, I already have a plan. I may follow your advice and include more foreshadowing, but I suspect this is not the stage I need help with. I will contact you again, if you are needed. Good day.” Rebus pivoted and strode away, for the very reasons Xanther had laid out. “Hi again!” The cylinder played. “I do follow through with my promises.” “When the Dreamsmith returns, or when someone else steps up. But the power boost I can give should suffice for the moment.” Nope, he’s not that skilled. Rebus had expected as much (interestingly, that seemed to represent a thermodynamics violation, since as soon as a threshold was crossed more energy than that took seemed to have been applied). “Well, much of the time knowing what he means is unnecessary. In this case, he was supposed to have been hurled, but hurtled instead, hence being made to parkour through typos - he says it’s my fault.” Rebus closed his eyes, and released a wave of something. Before it could be seen in detail, though, time had stopped and everything was words. All the Thread’s posts, in real time, were visible in real time to the two of them. Rebus liked this turn of events.
  22. Through the Living Heir
    Contained, yes. He’d do some damage, though, and probably AI-box experiment his way out unless they tried to kill him. No, it was not. Rebus sent the compass drone into the Dark field, wondering what would happen. Just in time, Rebus remembered that violence was not allowed at the party. He compartmentalized his frustration, though perhaps once the party was over he could show the man what he could really do. “Visible isn’t something I can provide. All I have are words on a page, unfortunately… So I need better weapons, different substance. And I need plans, preparation.” The cylinder started up again. “Hello. I don’t think you’re Mr. - or is it Dr. Whitlock, but I’d be glad to talk to you.” Rebus smiled. It was a weird thing to be happy about, but it did make him happy. “And I don’t have a reason to betray you, either. Honestly, even if I did I probably wouldn’t. Because I like you.” “The weapon the Dreamsmith made me - don’t worry, by the way, he’ll come back eventually. It lets me do things with concepts, but to break my word might make me magically untrustworthy or even unable to speak.” I shall go to sleep now. See you tomorrow!
  23. Through the Living Heir
    “I do pretend. Even I barely know whether I’m a good person or a bad person underneath. And the only way for me to truly fail is to die.” The grooves had more give than the ones his father made, almost as though they might move around. When he let the cylinder run, in a mostly comprehensible chord it said “Mr. Whitlock?”, then seized up. “Because you’re the only person who understands me and hasn’t tried to betray me. That count for so much.” “It’s true. Narrators usually get to pick their names, so I decided to make a joke about Abstract’s effects on me.” Yeah, it was Inversion, but a witch doctor (if I recall) said it had the same effects as Mordite. Yup, except Rebus doesn’t bleed. Him ending up as a Fallen, though, is quite honestly an alarming prospect, given the fact that he can unleash grey goo (or worse, controlled self-replicating nanomachines that also build weapons). That was useful, though it would be much more so if Hacob wasn’t missing.
  24. Through the Living Heir
    Rebus raised an eyebrow. Not quite - this is one of the roller things that goes in it. “I would. Part of me would need to stay behind and protect us, but I would take away my Thread Awareness and come with you.” Rebus didn’t know what portion of his speech she was talking about, but it was all true. “Science-fiction-y would be my middle name, if it wasn’t already Honesty.” Rebus grinned.
  25. Through the Living Heir
    Tam briefly got goosebumps, just because. Rebus grinned viciously. “Ominous is so much better than menacing…” On the doorstep was a little grey cylinder, with small ridges in patterns. It looked like the ones his dad had be making… “I know who you are. You’re Symbol. You may be a reflection, but you are not a shadow. You’re like me, but you’re also different - and that’s what I like about you. You’re gaining quirks and behaviors, even history, without any need for taking away your knowledge. You’re already feeling pain - pain that is my fault, in a way - and you’re removing it because it hurts. I don’t want you to be someone else, I want you to be you! But if you want to change, I’ll let you. I’ll help you, and I may even come with you.” Rebus gave a sad smile. See below for Rose. Rebus separated time so they could have several parallel conversations. “Well, my idea I wanted to talk about is a special ops team dedicated to saving the Thread from any threat to it as a whole. I have a lot of technology, and I can give it out and provide training, both with my technology and any power members already have. After that, the members would be able to do with their new equipment and skills as the see fit - even fight against me if they wanted to - but in the case of a true threat, they’d be obligated to assist. I’ve already corresponded with the Ennullers as a freelance group, and I thought that you two would be excellent for a test group - perhaps five in all.”
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