Tag Archives: Sydney

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 14

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Within seconds of that conversation, I’d landed and so had not only Daniel and Izzy, but we’d also been joined by Sean, Dayton, Camille, Sydney, Vaughn, and Haley. Jaclyn had already been on the ground, of course.

Cassie, Julie, and Rachel all opted to stay on the roofs of the buildings around Justice Fist’s base. It wasn’t a bad idea. For all we knew, Jody had signaled for help. Someone needed to be in position to act.

Upon landing (Justice Fist seemed to have metal woven into their costumes), Dayton looked around the yard and said, “Wow. What a mess.” Continue reading Jody: Part 14 →

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 10

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“That… fits,” I replied. “Do you think his shield is natural or the product of technology? Because if he’s blocking you, that’s something I can’t do.”

Daniel nodded, “I know. With you, a telepath can get in, but then they’re hit by waves of madness. Getting out with sanity intact is the bigger challenge. His telepathic shield might be a device. It feels too consistent to be natural. Even with a strong natural shield, there’s an ebb and flow. You feel like it’s moving. This feels solid, but the hints of madness-inducing interference pulsing through it feel natural.”

Izzy shook her head, “How did we not notice this before? Didn’t your dad put in his Stapledon block?” Continue reading Jody: Part 10 →

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 9

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This spot wasn’t too bad as mushroom goo went. While near downtown, it was on the edges. Best practices for superhero bases amounted to giving them some distance from nearby civilian buildings to avoid collateral damage when attacked and to make it obvious when someone was approaching.

Justice Fist’s base adhered to that as best a building in the middle of a city could.

With money from Futuremen Capital, they’d bought most of a small city block that used to hold an old warehouse, demolished the warehouse, and put up a squat, circular tower that I’d once heard Vaughn refer to as the “Justice Penis.”

I’d laughed because my sense of humor hadn’t emerged from adolescence either. Continue reading Jody: Part 9 →

Arc 13.6.5: Courtesy

Courtesy: Part 9

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Could the mushroom zombies replace Arete’s missing parts or access his memory? The latter option would represent a major security leak both for the Defenders and the Nine.

It didn’t seem likely, but if it was possible, I didn’t like it. From what I’d seen of it, even acting collectively the zombies weren’t very smart, but if they could integrate Arete in, maybe they could be. Plus, what if they could reproduce his powers in the mushroom zombies?

We needed to end this, but we’d have to figure out where to hit it. We’d destroyed the “brain.” We’d need to figure out where the backup was or if it could operate as some kind of swarm without a center. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 9 →

Arc 13.5.0: Simple Choices

Simple Choices: Part 7

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Well, at least the call was over. It wasn’t as if I hated Sean at this point, but I didn’t love unpredictability and if Sean had been turned by the Dominators, it would definitely be a surprise.

On the other hand, if they turned him and asked about me, they’d know our history. If they knew that, they’d know that he’s not someone I’d trust without question, making him a bad choice for betrayal. Still, if they could get him and couldn’t get anyone closer, they’d use him.

The screen went blank and Haley and I looked at each other. Continue reading Simple Choices: Part 7 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 13

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As much as Sean wanted to argue, he knew better. He’d said so himself, “Yeah. You’re making it sound like you’re leaving.”

Mindstryke tapped the rollup screen and the end farthest from him rolled into the shape of a cylinder. Then the cylinder shrunk enough to fit into the pouch on his belt. “I am. The group of you need to talk about this and make a decision. This is your team and I’m not on it. You need to start making big decisions as a group and with this one you’ve at least got a few hours to think about it.” Continue reading The Power: Part 13 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 12

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Jody looked up from the rollup screen on the table, “That name does not ring a fucking bell.”

Shaking his head, Dayton said, “I don’t know who that is either.”

Sean felt sure he’d heard the name before, but he couldn’t say where or when.

Sydney spoke up while he was still thinking, “Nick’s mentioned him. We were talking one time about the Cabal and he mentioned that Martin Magnus was someone he still hadn’t figured out.” Continue reading The Power: Part 12 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 11

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With a brief hesitation, Sydney nodded, adding, “I sent it to the League’s server. You should be able to just pull it up.”

Before Sean could think, he found himself already talking, “Wait, you recorded us and put the video on the League’s server. That’s private! It’s none of their business—”

Interrupting him, she said, “It’s on my private folder on their server. I’m not sharing it with everybody—just Mindstryke. And I let the AI watch too because he was going to whether or not I said he could anyway. Besides, he said he’d help.” Continue reading The Power: Part 11 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 10

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For a little while, no one said anything. Then a door opened at the end of the hall and Sydney walked into the room, blond hair bouncing on her shoulders.

She looked over at Sean, “I can’t believe that guy was real, and then how the lawyers were like ‘yeah, I know he’s crazy, but what can you do’?”

Sean blinked, “You heard all of that from your room?”

Shaking her head, she pulled out her phone, “I bugged the room.” Continue reading The Power: Part 10 →

Arc 11.1.5: The Power

The Power: Part 8

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“Are you kidding? It’s like,” he looked at the time on his comm device, “11:23 am? They’re almost three hours early. What’s going on?”

Sydney scowled, “I don’t know. Do you want me to ask them?”

He shook his head, “No, but this is a complete pain in the ass. What the hell is wrong with these guys? They didn’t do this last time.”

Looking up from the screen and down the hall in what he guessed was the direction of the living room, Sydney said, “You’re repeating yourself. Just get back here, okay?” Continue reading The Power: Part 8 →