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Tree branch: check. Assorted lightweight seed-bearing fruits and nuts: check. Other seeds: check. Water bottle, for when she has to veer away from the river: check.
Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
imeanforever
imeanforever
Promise goes and reads that thread. It is that lovely Internetty mix of cruft and content. She writes People who are not villains have a legitimate reason not to want me to know their names. Since mortals re-use names a lot, every villain whose name I learn puts other mortals with similar or identical names at risk. I wouldn't misuse a random person's name, but random people in general shouldn't have to trust me like that.
A "verified cape" tag has appeared next to her name. Well, this is her weird custom computer, maybe the software can sense that somehow.
A "verified cape" tag has appeared next to her name. Well, this is her weird custom computer, maybe the software can sense that somehow.
wormcan
It's a relatively active board, and since a new cape started talking it gets responses quickly. One person is asking how she got Bakuda's name, another comments that all future references to Promise on the VS boards are definitely going to have to include New Wave on her side at least, another volunteers to give her the name of someone who knows someone who probably knows Skidmark. Two people start arguing back and forth about whether her reference to "mortals" means Promise isn't or if she's just strange.
One or two commenters are even reassured by her being ethical about manes.
One or two commenters are even reassured by her being ethical about manes.
imeanforever
I got Bakuda's name from another ABB cape who was already in custody at the time. Please do not send me unsolicited names.
I am not a mortal. I am a fairy.
I am not a mortal. I am a fairy.
wormcan
That firmly cements her in the just strange category for most of the public. Some make the obvious connection. You're not connected with Glaistig Uaine, are you? Last time a cape described herself that way she was basically evil Eidolon.
The name redaction might make that post incomprehensible, but the general sense of it is shared by some of the ones around it.
The name redaction might make that post incomprehensible, but the general sense of it is shared by some of the ones around it.
imeanforever
I don't have either of those proper nouns in my safe list so I'm just seeing numbers ("096773" and "133468"), which probably means I've never heard of them. When I say I'm a fairy I mean I am an immortal winged sapient creature from Fairyland, and I am not and have never been a human. I can't speculate on why 096773 might call herself a fairy; I'm told that no one matching my description of fairies has been encountered before.
wormcan
Apparently 096773 is the third or fourth most powerful known parahuman and calls herself the fairy queen. Mass murderer currently sitting in the Birdcage, and for all anyone knows she is capable of leaving if she wants to. Everyone is very glad to know they aren't chatting with another 096773.
But most of the responses are about fairies and Fairyland: how did she get here, can she go back, can other people go there, how immortal, are there more of her. For mow most are taking it roughly like that one cape in Chicago who calls himself a wizard: no need to believe Promise, but that doesn't mean they can't be curious.
But most of the responses are about fairies and Fairyland: how did she get here, can she go back, can other people go there, how immortal, are there more of her. For mow most are taking it roughly like that one cape in Chicago who calls himself a wizard: no need to believe Promise, but that doesn't mean they can't be curious.
imeanforever
She got here by accident. She can go back; she certainly doesn't live here. Other people should definitely not go there because most fairies have at least some of her powers and are not really big on the whole being nice to mortals thing. She is pretty sure she is totally immortal but she can still be injured like anyone else and doesn't like it so she'd rather not undergo any tests. The kind of fairy she in particular is is called a "leaflet", and there are more leaflets (although she hasn't personally met any others; they aren't that common) and many more fairies in general.
wormcan
There are more of them? And evil? I think I'm going to start going by [013208] full-time now.
Other people want to know about Fairyland's society and population and physics and will basically never run out of questions until she stops giving information. Interspersed are requests for her to shut down particular villains, requests for her not to prioritize other ones, and people of varying degrees of impoliteness asking why she hasn't already.
Other people want to know about Fairyland's society and population and physics and will basically never run out of questions until she stops giving information. Interspersed are requests for her to shut down particular villains, requests for her not to prioritize other ones, and people of varying degrees of impoliteness asking why she hasn't already.
imeanforever
Promise doesn't know very much about physics and doesn't want to discuss society (beyond: "I live alone, in a tree; I go to a library sometimes; Fairyland is not anywhere near as densely populated as your world"). She will however talk about the geography and flora insofar as it doesn't venture into those other topics.
She reminds everyone that she only sees numbers when they type names, personal or cape, and therefore cannot do anything about any of their requests because she does not know who they are talking about and she's not going to circumvent her own security measures to find out.
She reminds everyone that she only sees numbers when they type names, personal or cape, and therefore cannot do anything about any of their requests because she does not know who they are talking about and she's not going to circumvent her own security measures to find out.
wormcan
The end result is people being broadly the correct amount of scared of Fairyland, along with a general norm of not trying to come up with ways around the proper noun filter. (Not that everyone follows it, but even they usually test with names of places instead of people.) The geography, in particular the non-roundness of the location, gets some of the posters excited about how gravity must be different there, but most of the PHO denizens are more interested in her career as a cape.
imeanforever
Promise considers the wisdom of actually listing supervillains (several) and rogues (one) and PRT directors (one) who are currently her vassals. She considers the wisdom of this action inadequate. I think I'll let people who know more about information security than I do tell you what I've been up to or not as the case may be. I don't think of myself as having a 'career' as a cape, though. That seems like a very mortal concept. I just want to be helpful and pick up useful things while I'm here.
wormcan
The evasion is one they're familiar with from other verified capes. Few press that point.
Er, so we're clear, 'useful things' doesn't include mortals, does it? If fairies in general aren't worried about ethics....
Really? You've seen how careful she is about names.
I'm just saying, what're the odds we get the single decent one. For all we know she's just holding out until she can get the Triumvirate or something.
Er, so we're clear, 'useful things' doesn't include mortals, does it? If fairies in general aren't worried about ethics....
Really? You've seen how careful she is about names.
I'm just saying, what're the odds we get the single decent one. For all we know she's just holding out until she can get the Triumvirate or something.
imeanforever
Useful things like Tinkertech and the concept of the internet, people. Although if someone wants to take the question of whether I could collect whoever the Triumvirate are with various sets of who I'm rumored to already have to the "versus" forum that would be kind of entertaining.
wormcan
It comes down squarely on the side of the Triumvirate, minus a few diehard fans, but then again they are the continent's most powerful heroes. Apparently saying "but 133468" is a bit of a conversation stopper that sees quite a lot of use here. (Of the other two members, one is extremely fast, almost impossible to injure, and capable of decidedly unlaserlike lasers. Promise recognizes the description of the other as an Alexandria package. Presumably she's an unusually effective one.)
The Internet people have correctly guessed that Promise can control all three ABB capes, and Lung is considered a very heavy hitter, They often pretend for the sake of argument that Promise has collected all Brockton Bay's parahumans with public identities first, which allows for a slightly less one-sided fight. (They have no idea about Canary or Nilbog. Nor do they count the entire rosters of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, Wards, and the Empire Eighty-Eight, any of which she could collect by ordering the Director.) On the other hand, 133468.
The dissenters have resorted to saying that she might be able to control Scion or Endbringers. Others concede that yes, if she could that would indeed win the fight, but they don't expect that to work.
The Internet people have correctly guessed that Promise can control all three ABB capes, and Lung is considered a very heavy hitter, They often pretend for the sake of argument that Promise has collected all Brockton Bay's parahumans with public identities first, which allows for a slightly less one-sided fight. (They have no idea about Canary or Nilbog. Nor do they count the entire rosters of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, Wards, and the Empire Eighty-Eight, any of which she could collect by ordering the Director.) On the other hand, 133468.
The dissenters have resorted to saying that she might be able to control Scion or Endbringers. Others concede that yes, if she could that would indeed win the fight, but they don't expect that to work.
imeanforever
She mentions that as far as she can reasonably tell she can't control Endbringers; that or someone named them before they came by any names now standard for their use. If anybody knows how to make one eat a berry she'd be happy to tell them to stop Endbringing. She doesn't know about this 099128 character mentioned in the same breath; she's run into descriptions and isn't the consensus that he's basically just a particularly effective, eccentric parahuman? But she hasn't tried. He is also a string of numbers.
wormcan
099128 doesn't act particularly human, para- or otherwise, but it's not like there are many other things he might be. Eccentric parahuman is the only credible guess. The fact that he's by far the most powerful is the relevant thing for this thread. The other response to Promise's comment is a string of replies to the effect of Berries work too? [099128] help us all."
wormcan
Since this is the VS thread, the people who hang around it immediately turn to the obvious.
Does someone have to force them to eat it? What if someone blows a hole through one and the berry is inside when it heals?
Does someone have to force them to eat it? What if someone blows a hole through one and the berry is inside when it heals?
imeanforever
Promise departs the VS thread and goes to answer some questions about whether she will upload pretty photographs of Fairyland. (Answer: ...she doesn't see why not, she supposes, but she doesn't have a camera. Unless her confusing phone object is a camera? It may also be a camera and she will figure that out.)
wormcan
The confusing phone object is also a camera. She can safely say she'll take pictures. (The commenters take her not knowing as proof that she either really is from off Earth or just dedicated to pretending.)
The activity in the thread about Promise has jumped now that she joined. She can't possibly answer all of them, but there are questions and speculation on everything from sorcery to shipping.
The activity in the thread about Promise has jumped now that she joined. She can't possibly answer all of them, but there are questions and speculation on everything from sorcery to shipping.
imeanforever
Once Promise figures out what shipping is she says I would prefer not to be shipped.
She's not very detailed about sorcery either, except to say that while she appreciates the convenience to mortals of electric lighting she prefers to do her own.
She nips through the gate chain to get a picture of the rainbow lava flows. It takes several tries to get a non-blurry result. Then she has to figure out how to put it on the internet. Someone on this forum will probably help her with that.
wormcan
People on the Internet are disproportionately likely to know how to put a photo on the Internet. It's a great photo, not something that people see often on Earth, and as a bonus there are gradually more people acting like they never doubted her about Fairyland.
imeanforever
Well, isn't that nice.
Maybe she will start a "photos of Fairyland" blog. Someone should tell her how to do that.
Maybe she will start a "photos of Fairyland" blog. Someone should tell her how to do that.