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Amelia, Ch 132- Eidolon

"To those pathetic cowards who look upon the death of almost a billion people and consider it an opportunity," Gaea spoke for the cameras. Her passion was obvious, as was the threat in her voice. This was an ultimatum, and they were confident in their ability to enforce it. "Pantheon issues this warning: we consider any attempt to use the losses suffered in New Delhi for their personal gain to be a direct violation of the Endbringer truce. We will act accordingly."​

I almost sighed. I never was the passionate or charismatic one. That was Hero's job, and later it was Legend's. They had what it took to truly move the crowds, like Gaea on that stage. Idly, I wondered if I had that option. To my surprise, there even was an ability like that in my untouched repetoire: the power to know how to evoke powerful emotions in others through my words. Somewhere between 'master' and 'thinker' in its scope. I strongly considered accessing it, but instead I allowed it vanish into the well again. I rarely used pure Thinker powers, and I never touched Master powers at all.

It wasn't powerful enough to match Contessa's ability, and it could not have influenced Alexandria at all. So it would not have succeeded in convincing them to give me access to one or two more vials. Not much, in the scheme of things. Enough power that I could be there, could matter, for the deaths of the last two Endbringers. I wouldn't be the one to deliver the finishing blow, but I could save lives. I could ensure the next fight was not a disaster like New Delhi was.

"Contessa," Alexandria spoke. "When you said they were going to establish parahuman 'feudalism', I had expected it to be 'feudal'. This is closer to watching a fast forward of the colonization of the New World. They just took control of both Boston and Chicago in everything but name."

"All of our thinkers, Contessa included, expected them to stop expanding after Boston," Doctor Mother replied. She was, in her own way, living up to the 'mother' part of her title by protecting Contessa from Alexandria's criticism. She viewed the younger precog as a child of her own. I could admit a pang of envy at their relationship. "Khepri and Gaea both have authority, trust and control issues that should have made it impossible for them to maintain control over a larger territory, even given their incredible powers. They seem to be far more willing to delegate power than any of our models predicted."

Contessa finally spoke. "I believe it was the Simurgh's actions," she finally stated. "No power could have anticipated New Delhi."

"It makes sense," Doctor Mother replied. "I'm sure the experience was traumatizing enough to make them rethink their plans. Clearly this is also a response to the Protectorate's greatly weakened forces. Coupled with their sudden and unexpected willingness to cooperate with the PRT and Protectorate. I think we can assume they'll hold Chicago for the time being."

"New York, as well," Number Man volunteered.

"Pardon?" Doctor Mother asked.

"They've made... overtures... with the Adepts in Chicago," he stated. "I haven't divined all the details, but there was a payment of exactly one hundred thousand dollars from one of Pantheon's accounts. It's obviously part of a ploy to convert the Adepts. Likely a multistage plan."

"Why were the Adepts in Chicago, anyway?" Doctor Mother asked. "Aren't they East Coast?"

"Following the Teeth, it appears," he confirmed. "Same as Pantheon. Pantheon is moving to target the entire organization. Likely planning a pincer attack against their forces in both Boston and New York simultaneously."

Alexandria frowned. "The Butcher is one of the more powerful parahumans. One we had hoped would make a real impact against Scion. Do you think we should interfere to protect their organization?"

"We are better served allowing Pantheon to succeed. The Butcher has potential, but is hardly comparable to Pantheon's value," Doctor Mother responded. "Pantheon's strength isn't merely in its own parahumans, but in its ability to be a force multiplier to other parahumans. Your new equipment, for example. It is remarkable, both in terms of simplicity and ingenuity. It's possible you might be able to use it to be the next... what are they calling Atropos now?"

"Endslayer," Legend responded. "Alongside the other two Fates that operated their Moirai Cannon. But it's known that her power is what makes the weapon lethal, even to Endbringers."

"Yes," Doctor Mother agreed. "I think we agree that, as always, the death of Scion is the highest of our priorities. If Pantheon's actions ruin our experiment in parahuman feudal states, or cost us a few promising soldiers for the conflict... yet provides a stronger and better equipped force for the final battle, I see no reason to interfere with them."

There were nods all around.

I kept my own counsel on the subject. Force multipliers and power manipulation. Capable of upgrading even Alexandria. Could they do that for me?

....

Teleportation was one of the powers I was running low on, but it was better than using one of my horribly reduced number of flight options. I only had a handful of flying power that could also double as a defensive or offensive power. I had used the last of the truly good ones in the battle against the Simurgh. Telekinesis over glass. Remarkable in its elegance. Pity I lost it during the firestorm.

Strangely, I felt incredible during it. The fear, the panic, the certainty of death. I had tapped deeper into my well than ever before. Granting me a boost to my strength that had almost restored me to the power of my early days. It was slipping already, of course. But it was slipping slowly. I had, perhaps, another month or two, if I was conservative. I needed to be conservative.

I appeared inside Pantheon's base. My current power simply placed me next to the person whose face I envisioned. In this case: Gaea. One of the weakest teleport options I still had available. It required I knew the target's actual, and recent, facial features, which took time and concentration, perhaps even a scrying power, to achieve. It also didn't allow me to bring others with me. Of no value against the Endbringers or Scion, I could afford to surrender it forever.

A girl screamed, and before I could speak I was encased in a living mass. Strange, it didn't triggered my defensive power. Oh. They weren't planning to actually harm me. I could have broken free with trivial ease. I chose not to. The tree moved and shifted around me, giving me some space, and light allowed me to see my sealed prison. I blinked.

A video screen formed inside, near my face. "You have a lot of balls teleporting into our bedr-" she paused. "Eidolon?"

"Hello, Khepri," I didn't bother smiling. One of the things I wasn't very good at. Others could make smiles look charming or friendly or even seductive. I just looked stupid and awkward. She looked over to her side and was saying something I couldn't hear. I felt the presence of an energy trying to interact with me. It was something of a booster to my confidence that it failed.

"Okay, how do we know it's you?" She asked.

"If I demonstrate a power that lets me escape and is nothing like the others you've witnessed?" I suggested. "Is that acceptable?"

She nodded. The plant material around me disintegrated into dust. A dessication power, again worthless against Endbringers or Scion. Also the source of my current energy sensing abilities. I stepped out and dusted myself off.

Khepri stood defensively in front of Gaea. Both were out of costume. Neither girl was especially striking in their appearance, and I could imagine passing a hundred not unlike them without looking twice. Except for their eyes and the energy that danced between them. These two had will and presence well beyond their ages. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I hadn't expected you in bed so early. It's only five here, right?"

"It's been a long few days," Khepri responded. She'd started to relax. "To what do we owe the visit?"

"I can trust your confidentiality, I presume," I asked.

They didn't quite look at each other, but somehow they communicated their agreement before Khepri spoke. "What you tell us stays between us," she said.

"I was impressed with your work with Alexandria," I stated. That was certainly true. I took a deep breath to steady myself for what I was about to admit. "I was hoping to discuss a... problem... I am having. One that you might be able to fix. Or at least delay for a while."

They frowned in unison. A bizarre form of visual stereo. "Go on," Khepri volunteered. I was still busy trying to figure out what my power was trying to tell me about these girls when another voice came from the doorway.

"Holy fuck," another girl's voice muttered. "He's losing his powers."

Amelia, Ch 133

"Holy fuck," Lisa muttered from our doorway. "He's losing his powers." ShockDread.

Eidolon managed to look annoyed through his mask. "Yes, that is the problem I was going to ask about," he admitted.

"That's bad," Lisa stated. "Like, that's really fucking bad."

He sighed and nodded. "I know," he agreed.

"No, I mean, you're basically the go-to hero. Sure, Alexandria can hold her own, and there are couple others. Pantheon's equipment can make a few more come close to good enough to really matter against the Endbringers in a drag out brawl," she rambled. "But that's only close to good enough. Without you... we're fucked. You are the only reason we were able to hold the Simurgh long enough to finish her. It'll be the same with the rest of them. We need you if we want to finish this. And we really want to finish this."

"I assume that means you're willing to help, then," he stated.

"Let's go to the labs," Lisa said. "Hope you don't mind spending time in the basement. I was beginning to expect that Alexandria was going to cry or run screaming when she was down there. Did she tell you any stories?"

"No, she said it was pretty standard," Eidolon answered. "Gaea used her power for a scan, some tests were done, and you grew everything in a vat overnight."

Lisa smiled her foxlike smile. "Then it'll be a surprise."

"Lisa, stop terrifying our guests," Taylor muttered, sounding tired. "You and I know the worst thing that happened to Alexandria was when she had to get dressed after Zach did his thing, and she had a warning and privacy screen for that."

Eidolon, who had been moving to leave the room, froze. RealizationHumiliation. "She left that part out," he admitted.

"It was a power interaction test," I offered. "Zach has an ability to teleport people. It reacts oddly to certain powers. We wanted to see if it would work through her power's stasis effect, for a number of reasons. Turns out, it does."

"I suppose I probably shouldn't tell her I know about that," he chuckled.

"I've contacted our Tinkers," Taylor said, changing the subject. "It'll be a couple minutes."

"Okay," Eidolon agreed, as we left into our living area.

"Dude," Zach said from the living room, looking at Eidolon. "Theo, you owe me twenty bucks."

"And you owe me two hundred," Lisa reminded him.

"Can I get an autograph?" Zach asked.

"I suppose," Eidolon agreed, smiling. Zach ran off to his room.

Theo stood up and walked over to our guest. "It's an honor to meet you, sir," he said as he held out his hand.

"Thank you," Eidolon shook it. "It's nice to meet fans. Especially ones that are heroes in their own right."

Theo almost blushed at the compliment. "I haven't done much to be called a hero, sir."

"You saved lives," Eidolon insisted. "More than that, you did it by stepping in front of a weapon meant to kill Endbringers. And even after being practically cut in half by that weapon, you kept concentrating long enough to save everyone in the shelter. In what way are you not a hero?"

"Told you so!" Riley crowed triumphantly from the stairway to her labs. "You saved my Big Sister and Missy and everyone from being cooked. That makes you a hero, and now you have to accept it because Eidolon hangs out with all the best heroes, so he'd know."

Theo smiled and actually, finally, did blush under the praise and attention. Eidolon, on the other hand, frowned a little. And then, so did Lisa. That was a question I needed to ask later. Badly.

"Don't worry," Eidolon offered. "I'm not really good at accepting praise, either. For me, it's always been about the legacy. Knowing that I help make things better, that I'm building something that's greater than myself. That's always been my motivation, at least. You do get used to the praise and attention, eventually. But some people will never like that sort of thing."

He's a completely different kind of person than Alexandria, I thought. Inspirational, really. I guess if you spend enough time around Legend, you learn a thing or two. I glanced over at Lisa, she was still watching and observing. Less a fox now, more hawk. Definitely acting hawklike.

"Lab's ready," Riley stated. "I've got a few initial ideas, but this could take some time."

By now, Zach had managed to rush out, holding a jewel case. In his other hand, he had a pen. He handed the pen to Eidolon, and extracted a sheet of paper- more like a blank card than anything- and offered it to him.

Eidolon looked at it and smiled. "So, you got to Alexandria and Dragon first?" He clicked the pen and signed his name. "Haven't bothered asking your team for theirs?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, kinda seems weird to try that. I mean: have you ever asked Alexandria or Legend for theirs?"

"You have a point," he granted. "So, are we ready?"

"Yup," Riley answered cheerfully. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to study you up close!"

I cringed, but Eidolon took it in stride. "I'm sure," he said. "Hope you won't be insulted when I say that I would have done everything in my power to stop you, before. Your actions in New Delhi changed my mind. You risked everything by showing yourself there."

Riley looked down, unable to find words for it. "Thank you," she said, softly. This might be the first time anyone praised Riley for doing something truly heroic, I realized. I resolved then to make sure she heard it more often. I could feel Taylor's emotional response, the recognition that Eidolon was right. Too subtle to influence my emotions over the link, but enough that I at least knew the feelings were there. I reached over and grasped her hand.

Riley sprinted down into the basement, cleary determined to do her absolute best to help the arguably most powerful parahuman in the world. Eidolon and the rest of us followed at a more subdued pace, including Theo. Who wasn't usually interested in visiting the labs.

"Alright, first, symptoms time," Riley said, pulling out a couple instruments. "Have a seat and tell me what the problem is."

"Simply put," Eidolon answered. "I'm running out of powers. There was a time, early in my career, when I could access any power I wanted and expect it to be at full strength in seconds. Now it can take several minutes for a truly strong power to finish charging, and the maximum charge now is less than ever before."

"Could be physiological," Riley suggested. "Overuse of powers causing deterioration of the Pollentia or Gemma. I've seen it before. Never in a... uh... parahuman with unmodified powers." She went silent. And I thought back to the nightmares she set on me. Murder Rat, especially. Those women were still alive after what she'd done to them.

"I'll try," I suggested. "Faster for me to run the scan than anyone." I reached my hand out, and Eidolon took off his glove to make contact. I frowned. "I... I'm not seeing anything," I said after a couple seconds. "You counter my powers. Almost exactly like Weld."

"Interesting," Riley answered, then she looked at her instruments. "Would you mind using your power? Something minor, and do it as slowly as you can. The more time we have to observe your powers, the more data I can collect."

"Okay," Eidolon agreed.

Riley watched the screens for a minute. "Save file, E.I. One," she instructed her computer. Sometimes I wondered about the logic of using nothing but vocal command systems only, but Riley insisted it was more secure that way. "Hey, Osiris, can you see if your power detects him?"

"Okay," Zach agreed, and he was the next one to make contact with Eidolon. "Umm... no?" Zach answered, sounding confused. "I'm getting nothing at all. It's weird."

"What does that mean?" Eidolon asked. "I might be able to offer insights. I felt both of you trying to influence me, and you're not the first who've tried."

"Well, my power only works on living things," I answered. "The only exceptions we know of would be a number of non-organic Case 53s, people under the influence of Clockblocker's ability to freeze time, and now, you."

"I can't effect Theo's power, while it's active," Zach replied. "I can't effect Atropos' bolts when her power's controlling them. Or Clock's frozen objects. I, umm... I also made contact with Simurgh enough times to know I can't read Endbringers, either. It's not just because she's too heavy. I still know I'm in contact with something, if it's too heavy. My power tells me "

"Okay," Eidolon answered. "Sounds like they're both Thinker powers at their core. I've long ago learned I'm immune to Thinker powers. Precogs included."

"Would you mind using your power? Something minor, and do it as slowly as you can. The more time we have to observe your powers, the more data I can collect." Riley asked.

Eidolon looked confused. "Riley," I started. "You already had him do that."

"Did I?" she asked. "Funny, I don't recall. Computer, name most recent saved file."

"E I One," the machine intoned in Clarice's voice.

"Taboo," Lisa responded. "His power is Taboo."

Amelia, Ch 134- Emma

"Thanks, Emma," Dennis said. I was sitting on the chair I'd built and leaning back against my wall, holding my cell to my ear. "I'm sorry about this, but I don't really have much choice. You know why I have to do this. They need everything they can get."

"It's fine," I confirmed. "Everything's changed after..." I paused. The words 'New Delhi' didn't need to be spoken. Anyone on the planet would know what I meant.

"Yeah," he said. "You could still, y'know, come with?"

I sighed, closing my eyes. "We've had this conversation, Dennis, I can't."

"You can and you know it," he said. "Fuck, you have every reason to walk away. They treat you like garbage and you know it."

I cringed. It wasn't quite true, but it was still a nerve to be struck. Taylor avoided so much as looking at me where possible. Zach actively pretended I didn't exist, to the point of absurdity at times. I expected that, from both of them. I deserved it, even.

None of the others would really talk to me at all. At most I could hope for polite indifference, like from Rey, Crystal and Theo. They weren't unkind to me, they just didn't have a lot to say to me. At worst, they avoided me. The way Amelia and pretty much all of the others did. They were, one way or another, Taylor's friends. They may have accepted that Taylor didn't want them to do anything to hurt me, but that didn't mean they needed to be nice to me, either. Congratulations, Taylor, you won in the end.

Riley was the one that hurt. Her relationship with Amelia had been improving, slowly but surely, and with that she seemed to be... afraid to be too friendly with me. That, plus her friendship with Missy. The two of them were like sisters.

I had a friend like that once.

Yeah, that hurt. Riley was the one I was most connected to. What does it say about me that Bonesaw is the person I miss most? Her, I trusted with everything. I let her modify me in ways that I did not, could not, understand. Still didn't fully understand, even with my powers. I was her favorite project for a while. Her co-conspirator. The one she went to for advice in dealing with tricky situations and dilemmas where there were no easy answers. Now I was, at most, her lab partner. I'd been all but forgotten. It is amazing how much that hurts.

"Emma?" Dennis prompted.

"Sorry, just thinking," I replied. Dennis cares about me. "I'm sorry, I have to stay."

"You don't," he insisted. "You know it's not healthy. There are other options. You can join the Wards, they love Tinkers. You've seen how much Kid Win gets for some of his inventions. You're a better tinker than he is, you could pretty much write your own check."

I smiled. Can't fault him for trying. "You just want me to have a suggestive and vaguely offensive code name. Like 'Ice Box' or something." I teased.

He laughed, even if it was a little forced. "See, you're already a natural."

"No, what I'm doing here is far too important," I insisted. He hated it when I pulled that card. The Endslayer project. The augmented weapons systems. Clockblocker even got some customized weapons. Basically the standard package, plus nearly indestructible strings that he could use to freeze things at range. Both of us knew it wasn't the real reason for me to stay, however.

"After they're dealt with, then?" Dennis prompted.

"Maybe." No. "I was thinking I'd join the Guild. Y'know, work directly with Dragon. What kind of tinker could pass up on something like that, right?" I'm sorry, Dennis. Going with you isn't even my second choice.

I knew it should be my first. He was there for me when I needed it the most. I just didn't have the feelings he obviously had for me. I probably never would. He was transferring to Boston, and from there who knew? Almost certainly, he wouldn't be there, or in New York, by spring. He would find someone who could love him, and he'd forget about me. Everyone would be happier that way.

"Yeah," Dennis admitted. "I could see you working alongside Dragon and Defiant. Being one of the world's best Tinkers."

"Emma," my dad shouted from downstairs. "It's time for supper."

"Gotta go," I said, both grateful and annoyed. "The 'rents are still on about that whole 'dinner's a family meal, everyone eats at the table' thing. As if that's going to make much of a difference in anything. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Okay," Dennis answered, not sounding especially happy about it. "I... I miss you."

"Miss you, too," I answered back, not really meaning it.

By the time I got downstairs, my parents had managed to be at the table. It was, as always, uncomfortable. Mom and dad went out of their way to pretend nothing at all had changed. They knew everything I'd done, but pretended I was the same child as before. I came back from fucking New Delhi, and they called it a road trip. Where I got a sunburn. Yeah, first and second degree burns across almost eighty percent of my body. That was a 'sunburn' now.

Turns out, my hair is considered alive by my power, so it regrew itself along with the rest of my regeneration. Small favor, at best. Also meant I would have exactly the same hair style for the rest of my life, because it restored itself to this no matter what I did to it.

You're one of the ones that came back, I reminded myself, a mantra in my head. You survived. No one can say you're weak, not after that.

"How's your job going, dear?" Mom asked. I cringed. That's what they called Pantheon, now. My 'job'. Like modeling was, before.

"It's fine," I answered. "We're pretty stable right now, so I'm using the downtime to apply for my GED."

"That's good," dad nodded. "You were always a smart girl, you should just skip the rest of highschool and go right to college."

No I wasn't, I repressed the urge to scream. Taylor was the smart one. I was average at best. Sure, I'm smart now. My powers plugged about forty bonus IQ points into my brain even without considering the Tinker and Breaker parts of my power. Of course, they had to pretend I was always smart so they could pretend nothing happened. Just like dad was ignoring the real reason I couldn't go back to highschool.

"I'm not going to go to college," I said. Their looks of disapproval was almost palpable. I backpedaled on instinct alone. "For a year or two. The job's a hassle, and I could use the break. It's been a pretty stressful year."

"Okay, dear," mom agreed. Of course she did. They'd been treating me like a Fabergé egg ever since... ever since I was attacked by the ABB. Why would I ever have expected them to stop now? And when did I start to hate them for it?

"That makes sense," dad conceded. "You should at least sign up for a couple classes at the community college, just to stay in the habit. They say people lose two months of school over summer break. You need to stay sharp."

My power includes near perfect memory. "I'll be sure to do that," I agreed.

I forced myself to eat. I didn't need food, anymore. My digestive system still worked fine, which more a hassle than anything, but my actual desire to eat was nonexistent. I had no sense of taste or smell, and I did not experience hunger. I couldn't starve to death, or even lose weight, because my regeneration pulled mass out of nowhere to undo damage. It did so slowly, granted. Took over a day to recover from Taylor breaking my nose and cheek. I still hadn't fully healed my injuries after New Delhi, over a week later. But eating was both useless and without pleasure for me.

I tried to explain this, but mom said that I was spending too much time around too-skinny models, and insisted I didn't have to starve myself to be pretty.

I was grateful for the silence that having food in our mouths brought. The less I have to talk to them, the better, I had come to realize. It was a nice meal, I had to admit. Pork chops, fresh vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. If I could have gotten away with it, I might have snuck my share out and given it to someone who could appreciate it. I was halfway through the meal, my phone rang.

Dad looked at me. "Sorry," I apologized. "It's... work. I have to take it."

At least dad appreciated that much. Being a lawyer meant he understood the concept of demanding jobs and the occasional irregular hours.

I stepped away from the table and answered. "Emma speaking."

"Got another important customer," Lisa informed me. "Need you pretty much ten minutes ago."

"I understand," I answered, then hung up the phone. 'Customer' in this case usually meant a unique powerset we really wanted to study. Not exactly an impossible code to break, but then, no code was impossible to break. It was easier just to keep the details so vague that even the person receiving the information didn't know anything important. I looked at my parents. "Sorry, it's an emergency. Promise I'll make it up to you later."

"That's fine," dad said. "You have adult responsibilities now."

"You should invite some of your friends from work over for dinner," mom suggested. "It's been so long since I've talked to Taylor, it'd be nice to see how she's grown."

I resisted the impulse to ask her what alternate reality she thought we were living in. "No promises," I said. "Most of them live the job 24/7. Don't even have time enough to visit with their own families." I rushed upstairs to get into my armor. The flight system, more than anything, was why I needed it now. Although its ability to regulate my hybrid state and buy me extra time at full power would be useful if they needed my power.

They never call me unless they need my power.

"Taboo?" Eidolon asked. ApprehensionSurprise.

"That's the term we use for certain memory effects that powers can cause," Lisa replied. "It's... sort of like a universal stranger power, like how parahumans black out when someone nearby has a Trigger Event. And how precogs can't sense Endbringers or, well, you. And Scion." HesitanceConcern. I frowned. I know it's Eidolon, but should be be volunteering all this information?

"So a new name for an old idea," he nodded. SuspenseRelief. "I've seen some studies done on that. Like how it's impossible to predict a trigger event until after it occurs. If you just so happen to be using precog on an individual before their trigger, their predicted future will often be completely different afterward."

"Interesting," Lisa said. "We didn't know about that. Another piece to the puzzle."

"Don't feel bad," Eidolon shrugged. "People have been studying the phenomena almost as long as powers have existed. You do have one thing on them: Taboo is much more elegant than the alphabet soup the scientists on that job have managed to come up with. I'll have to pass calling it 'Taboo' along to others. Much better than Induced Parahuman Memory Loss Phenomena."

"Wow," Zach replied. "So, science has managed to just completely run out of good acronyms at this point, huh?"

AnnoyanceImpatience. "Emma's finally here," Taylor spoke up. "Told her we're in the lab, didn't say who we had with us. We're pretty well shielded against Thinkers down here, so there's still a pretty good chance no one knows you're here."

"That's appreciated," Eidolon replied. "If it makes you feel any better, my power says this remains a private conversation."

Lisa nodded. "Actually, it does, thanks."

I felt Emma's presence through my power. Her biosuit, like all of them except Parian's, was designed to link into the Yggdrasil on contact. And with that, I got the still strange sense of Emma's biochemistry. It was no less bizarre today than the first time. Half organic, half... something else. Something my power didn't consider alive. I opened a more direct path for her, and she was coming down the newly created staircase in mere moments. It vanished behind her.

She smiled and waved "Hey guys, what's the..." she paused when she spotted Eidolon. "Oh, oh wow. Was not expecting that."

"I remember you," Eidolon spoke. "You're the girl that figured out sonic powers work against Endbringers."

"Yeah, that's me," she agreed. "I remember you, too." I glanced over at Taylor. ConfusedAmused. I didn't know Emma very well, but right now she was acting more awkward than Taylor and I used to.

"That was brilliant, what you did," Eidolon stated. "I don't think I would have thought of something like that, combining two relatively weak powers into something that could do that much damage."

"Well..." she smiled at the praise. "It's something Pantheon taught me. Awesome power combos seems to be our specialty." AnnoyedTerritorial. I focused on that sense for a second. Oh, Emma saying 'our' when referring to Pantheon. At this point, it was certainly true enough. Emma exemplified the concept of power combinations.

"Yes, well, I may need to learn how to do that more often in the future," Eidolon stated.

"You should see this," Riley stated, pointing at her computer. "It's a recording of Eidolon using his power."

"Okay," Emma agreed, going over to the computer and watching the screen while we waited silently. "The powers are dying out," she said finally.

"That's my problem, yes," he acknowledged again.

"No. I mean all of them," she said. "Or ours, at least. The Case 53s. The artificial triggers."

"What?" Eidolon asked.

"My power was one of the most recent," she said. "And each new one's going to be weaker than the last. The reason I turned out as powerful as I did is because my power saps energy from the environment around me. Constantly, and more when I absolutely need it. That lets me recharge what is otherwise a pretty much dead battery."

"You said the artificial capes," Eidolon asked. "This doesn't apply to the natural shards then?"

"Doesn't appear to," she answered, still looking at the monitor. "Mind you, we haven't exactly tested everyone. Those with-"

"You know more about this," Lisa interrupted. "You're not surprised. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. You know why the powers are dwindling. You know where they come from. What the Passengers are, don't you?"

He nodded. "We call them 'Agents'," he answered. "They're... it's going to sound crazy..."

"Omnidimensional planet sized space whale virus gods that are also basically incomprehensibly powerful supercomputers that know magic, somehow?" Zach volunteered. "Yeah, we've managed to figure out the basics, at least."

Eidolon blinked. "That helps a lot, actually. I suppose the next part is that there are only two of them, and we call them Entities. Each Agent, what you call Passengers, is a piece of the whole in the same way a cell is a piece of a person. A given Agent is huge, bigger than this city, probably. The Entities themselves? We don't know... our best estimate is that they are individually more massive than our entire solar system. Although they exist in dozens, if not hundreds, of realities at a time. Their actual footprint in any given one is probably no larger than our moon."

"The Trigger Vision!" Emma exclaimed. "I know the rest of you can't remember them, but that's what I saw when I got my powers!"

Eidolon sighed. "Yeah, them," he acknowledged. "I don't remember my vision, either. Some of our members do. It's rare, but some people, usually people with thinker powers like perfect memory or no need to sleep anymore, can still envision them. A handful we have on record, two of which are natural triggers, the rest are, as you said, artificial."

"Good information to have," Lisa nodded. "Now how did you get the ability to make capes?"

"We're... harvesting one's corpse," Eidolon answered. More or less admitting a key role in this the conspiracy. "We don't know how or why, but one of them was wounded when landing. Or perhaps they were never meant to land at all. There's a lot of guesswork as to just how the Entities work. We're pretty sure it didn't intend to leave itself so vulnerable that it could be killed by the natives of that world. At the same time, we know very little about their life cycle. It's possible that one of them does need to die as part of their reproduction."

"It's common enough for organisms on earth," Riley answered. "Viral life, insects, even sexual reproduction looks like death and rebirth from the perspective of the individual cells involved."

Eidolon nodded. "So, is this enough information? Do you think you can help?"

"Yes, actually," Emma answered. ReliefConcernCuriosity. "It will take us a little while, but I think we can. Your energy readings aren't that unique. Not much different than my own when I change states. Of course, you're using a lot more power than I am. Our Passengers are still alive, sort of. Still drawing power, just not as much of it. Not enough. We can make you something a lot like my armor system, meant to store and shunt energy to the passenger slowly. It's not perfect, and the way you consume energy means, well, it's going to take weeks of charging just to give you an hour of maximum output."

"So you're saying I am going to have to go powerless between the Endbringer battles," Eidolon stated. "If I want to remain valid during them."

"Yes," Emma agreed. "Maybe you can use your powers continuously if you have access to a truly astronomical sum of available energy, but we're talking really, absurdly, vast amounts of power."

Eidolon nodded. "I see."

"We'll need one thing before I agree to parting with that kind of tech," Lisa insisted. "Do you know why the Entities are here? Their end goal?" I briefly considered pointing out to Lisa that she didn't make these kinds of calls. That was up to me and Taylor. But I did want to hear the answer to that question. I could discuss Lisa's presumptions in private.

"If you're right, and the artificial powers dying, our hope of finding a recipe capable of solving the problem for us is functionally dead," He sighed. "You girls might be the only ones who can stop this, so I'm going to trust you. When you called them viruses? That's true on a literal level. They arrive on a world and spread their Agents across the planet. They then merge, for reasons we're unsure of, with the dominant species. Drive their hosts to irrational behavior and violence, or at least they do that to humans. We're unsure if that's intentional or a side effect, we don't know if that's what they do on every planet they find. And, at the end of the cycle, when they're done breeding, they consume all the matter and energy available. Killing the world. Killing every version of the world in every possible iteration of reality. That's where they get the mass and energy to reproduce and form more members of their species from."

"Fuck," Lisa mumbled. "We were hoping they were just parasites. Feeding on some kind of psychic energy or something. Shit. Of course not! It would be insane to expect humans to supply that kind of power. They're not using us as food. They're using us as... as... some kind of intermediary agent."

"A biological mechanism to sort viability of a given strain," Riley volunteered. "To ensure only the best genetic material, or whatever they have as an equivalent, is used in the next generation. Every natural species that can reproduce sexually has such mechanisms."

"Wait... so... you're saying that humans are basically their version of lube?" Zach muttered. DisgustAnnoyance. "Alright, well, there goes my appetite for the next five or six years."

"How about bees used for pollinating flowers?" Emma suggested. ComfortIrritation. "A lot less squick that way. They give us resources, in the form of powers. And in exchange we run around, what, field testing them? An organic debug system? We fight, and that lets them evolve? They must be in love with us, then."

"And at the end of it all, when they've determined what 'genetics' are best for them, they consume everything and use that raw material to create copies of each Passenger that was considered viable. Probably with a series of deviations in it to ensure diversity in the offspring," Riley finished.

"So... we now know what the Passengers are," Lisa concluded. "What else do we need to know?"

"We haven't found a way to break into any of the dimensions that contain Agents," Eidolon informed us. "Seems they're locked off, somehow. A power that they don't give out. One of the ones were desperately hoping to find by accident when we started harvesting the dead Entity. We also know that the Entities use a sort of avatar to interact with their host. We don't know why they do that, either."

"Scion," Lisa's voice was a whisper. "The Entity, the source of powers, it's Scion."