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Cam is watching a new recording of Atriama, tail swishing in the gap in his couch, and doesn't stop to pause the show when he feels a summons go by.
wormcan
"On their way. Look up."
Two capes fly down until they're level with Cam. "You're the one who found Crawler?"
Two capes fly down until they're level with Cam. "You're the one who found Crawler?"
from_scratch
"Yup." Cam hands them a thing. "Face recognition drones and Crawler's trackers and more immediately relevant trackers I make will report to this, you want spares?"
wormcan
"Definitely.
We're spread pretty thin, but there are more on the way.
When Crawler starts moving again, do you think you could hold him still for a clear shot?"
We're spread pretty thin, but there are more on the way.
When Crawler starts moving again, do you think you could hold him still for a clear shot?"
from_scratch
"I can immobilize him for a few seconds at a time, but I'm not sure your shots will do any better than mine. Do you have a reasonable testing ground for me to make a mindless copy of him to shoot at?"
wormcan
"Mindless copy? Um, probably. Be a bit awkward if it turns out to be hard to get rid of, though."
"I'll show you a space," the other one says. "And you can copy tinker tech, right?"
"I'll show you a space," the other one says. "And you can copy tinker tech, right?"
from_scratch
"Yes I can. And the mindless one I can launch into space if it's awkward to have around, it won't wiggle out of a ship."
wormcan
"Good. Tinkers always have things saved up for emergencies, like in our case I think Flambe had some kind of energy weapon that might hurt the big guy. But if you can make tinker tech, it might add up to something that actually works enough."
She starts leading the way toward a reasonable testing ground.
She starts leading the way toward a reasonable testing ground.
from_scratch
"I thought of something I didn't try while I was chasing him to his hole in the ground, but I'd rather not bother him with it if it won't help, hence the testing."
Flap flap.
Flap flap.
wormcan
Flying, flying, landing. Several capes are nearby, ready to test.
"Here we go. Mind, even if this does work it might get vetoed. If the real Crawler probably can't be held still long enough, or something."
"Here we go. Mind, even if this does work it might get vetoed. If the real Crawler probably can't be held still long enough, or something."
from_scratch
"Real Crawler can be held still for several seconds but mostly under layers of stuff." Cam makes a basement dweller Crawler.
wormcan
"But he can regenerate in less than that."
One of the capes, a Ward, points what looks like a staff topped with a crescent at the mindless lump of monster. There is a whoomph and the air shimmers as a wave radiates toward the Crawler. It eats through the armor and into the body, but over the next few seconds it becomes ineffective and the vaporized pieces grow back. "Grand. Not fast enough. Who's next?"
One of the capes, a Ward, points what looks like a staff topped with a crescent at the mindless lump of monster. There is a whoomph and the air shimmers as a wave radiates toward the Crawler. It eats through the armor and into the body, but over the next few seconds it becomes ineffective and the vaporized pieces grow back. "Grand. Not fast enough. Who's next?"
from_scratch
"Me."
Cam tries interpolating the basement dweller Crawler with water at as fine a resolution as he can manage without a microscope.
Cam tries interpolating the basement dweller Crawler with water at as fine a resolution as he can manage without a microscope.
wormcan
Suddenly all the tissues in the Crawler copy are not quite adjacent to whatever they're meant to be connected to. The body sags downward, but then the regeneration kicks in.
wormcan
"No, that's good. It means he's not immune to whatever you did yet, and hopefully being hit with enough things can overwhelm the regeneration.
Remember I said a lot of tinkers have firepower stored away for emergencies? I talked to the Director, he talked to the other Directors, and now I've got a list."
Remember I said a lot of tinkers have firepower stored away for emergencies? I talked to the Director, he talked to the other Directors, and now I've got a list."
wormcan
There's a list. The tinkers, what they've come up with that might work on Crawler, what kind of a weapon it is, and how to use it for the things that are more complicated than point and shoot. The really complicated things got left off, regardless of how effective they might be. Past a certain point it'd be unsafe for anyone else to use it.
wormcan
And there are copies. Lots of copies, as there are a lot of Protectorate teams and everyone wants to be at least a little prepared for a firepower-requiring emergency. Often that involves tinkers.
Thus armed, the capes and their PRT backup form a firing squad. "Anything else you wanted to try?"
Thus armed, the capes and their PRT backup form a firing squad. "Anything else you wanted to try?"
wormcan
"Try that first. That sounds like if it works it might work completely, and it's easier to get you a clear shot than to get everyone a clear shot."
from_scratch
"Okay. Stand back, you don't want bits to hit you in the face."
When everyone's out of the way Cam fits a truly uncomfortable quantity of compressed air in Crawler's various interior cavities, not interpolating, just filling to bursting.
When everyone's out of the way Cam fits a truly uncomfortable quantity of compressed air in Crawler's various interior cavities, not interpolating, just filling to bursting.
wormcan
Pressure, even from the inside, is apparently something Crawler has experienced before. The air whooshes out, and the mindless copy doesn't seem to care.
from_scratch
Well, caring wasn't what Cam was after.
"I could take it into space and chuck it into a black hole but I'm not willing to do that on a planet and don't have a great way to get the real one of him to space. You guys are up."
"I could take it into space and chuck it into a black hole but I'm not willing to do that on a planet and don't have a great way to get the real one of him to space. You guys are up."
wormcan
"All right. Three...two...one..."
No one knows in any detail what the weapons they're holding do, but they do know how to make them do it. The Crawler copy goes up in a flash of everything. It ranges from white flash to gray blur. It can be seen regenerating, but by the time the copy can adapt to everything it's already almost gone.
"It...seems like it worked. No margin of error, though. How well can you hold Crawler down?"
No one knows in any detail what the weapons they're holding do, but they do know how to make them do it. The Crawler copy goes up in a flash of everything. It ranges from white flash to gray blur. It can be seen regenerating, but by the time the copy can adapt to everything it's already almost gone.
"It...seems like it worked. No margin of error, though. How well can you hold Crawler down?"