1. Well, a description of the main Protectorate building slash my base and lab would be kinda, you know, critical. Shouldn't it be? Am I supposed to view surroundings as a blank grey fog? Also fucking yes I want you to describe everything I walk by. It might come in handy! You never know when you'd need a brick that happens to be nearby.
Let me double-check that you really want to say this. Because if you do, I am going to take you literally.
2. Basically. Well, make a small speech detailing what I've made and take a sprint before I use it so as to compare it.
Alright then.
(...It's times like this that I wish there were more Tinkers as main characters in
Worm. Or more heroes.)
You run into Director Mason on the way to the demonstration area and decide to get the quick introductory stuff out of the way.
"Greetings, Director. I think that my latest invention has finally reached a workable state."
Tabitha removes two containers of the stimulant, one to hand to an assistant so the formula can be tested by others for toxicity and such, and one to actually use on herself.
"This is a stimulant at heart, with some other chemicals that I've explained in the documentation. The end result: A serum that grants temporary super-speed."
By this time, you have reached the demonstration area. You inject the serum and everything slows down just a bit. You start sprinting; it feels like you are going about 25 miles per hour, but given the altered perception of time you're probably closer to 40. You slow down after a bit, and continue jogging until the serum wears off. Panting, you return to the Director.
"Data?"
"Top speed sixty-nine miles per hour, with speeds above fifty maintained for two minutes fourteen seconds. Maintained speeds above forty klicks per hour for a further two minutes and seven seconds, speeds above thirty miles per hour for one minute twenty-two seconds, speeds above ten miles per hour for another minute and three--"
"I get the idea. Unfortunately, we can't know if this is from fatigue or a degradation of the effects from the data alone. Tabitha? Did your tests indicate a significant drop in effectiveness of the serum over time?"
[16
+1]
Tabitha catches her breath and says, "No. The effects typically dropped to nil within five to ten minutes, varying with physical exertion, heat, and of course dosage. Extreme exertion causes a significant drop in the time that the serum is effective for, and as typical the formulas are tailored for one person's biochemistry, with duration around 10 to 30% lower for other individuals. Whatever the duration, assuming a roughly constant level of physical activity, the effect maintains roughly 85 to 90% of its total effect until the last tenth of the duration."
The Director nods. "Thank you. I don't suppose you've cross-tested it with other chemicals yet?"
"Not yet, no."
"Alright. Thank you for this. We'll check the documentation, and we expect some basic cross-testing soon, but I think this serum can pretty much be called approved."
Continuing his short flight flows into the wall of the tunnel before bouncing straight back out to impale her companion and enter the wall behind him before quickly flowing up and dropping from the ceiling to take another stab at gardener.
[12]
[18+2v14]
The companion is taken down in one blow.
[5
-2v16]
Gardener grows a simple, if somewhat sharp, sapling out of a wall, but Steven is too fast.
[18+3v6]
He drops Gardener with a single blow as well.
((Question to those who've read all of Worm - is Taylor ever beaten?
And I don't mean killed or whatever - main character and all - but I'm on 16.11 and I'm kinda starting to lose interest in reading because I know that no matter what the threat, whether it be the (spoiler) or the 9 (spoilers) or the 7 (spoilers) she's always going to win out somehow. Does she ever just flat out lose a scenario, barring something like an Endbringer?))
Define "lose".
Yes, she eventually gets captured by the PRT.
But, I'd say that she loses a lot more than you realize. She is fundamentally trying to be good; have you noticed by now how she's beating herself up for not only her failures, but her successes that didn't work out so well? That should tell you something.
And there are actually some consequences that carry over, although you might not have noticed because you're focused on Panacea and the like stepping in. The big one is the brain damage she suffered from the one concussion, which never does get healed and has recently been blamed for...I forget exactly what, but I think her more reckless behavior.
((She gets torn in half at one point.))
For a certain definition of "tear," yes.
But since she gets remade after the battle, I don't think Xantalos would count that any more than getting her back broken in the Leviathan fight.
((Quick question for Cado: Does Canada mostly use the Metric System or mostly the Imperial System?))
