internet, meet [insert title of glam's webseries]

[mxglam]

To Glam's continued delight, more kissing sessions happen on the following days (when they're feeling like a boy). They haven't met her parents as her official boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever yet, and don't mind it too much.

News about Purity's escape surprises exactly no one, but the Protectorate's reputation suffers a blow because of the attack; after all, the heroes were beaten on their home turf. The PHO forums are abuzz, though rumors of Glam's death at the hands of Hookwolf (probably started by same) prove largely unfounded.

And Glam really should get to their webisodes and start building a steadier rep. And that's (one of the reasons) why they're in Lorica's workshop a few days later.

"So what should I do? I haven't posted anything since Purity, should probably make this more of a habit."

Comments

[thinkering]

"Good question! Email sent. We'll see."

[msglam]

"Let's see, other ideas... I wonder what kinds of powers my copies can actually have."

[thinkering]

"Breaker stuff, obviously, what else have you done so far?"

[msglam]

"Vanilla Brutes, I simulated this one Mover-Blaster by giving it boots that shot energy blasts but I bet I could've done that without the boots. Teekay of stuff I make, telepathy with each other..."

[thinkering]

"I'll just - have the bot compile a list of some known powers and run you through them next time you're under?"

[msglam]

"That sounds reasonable. There are a few we can rule out, though. Stuff like what Windflower can do, for instance."

[thinkering]

"...Well, not necessarily. I mean, I wouldn't want to test that one without having a plan for doing anything useful with her power, but you can do wind, and you can do things with lasting effects even if the stuff itself disappears."

[msglam]

"I was thinking mostly that airborne poisons sound like they can be easily squinted away, but, hmm, maybe not, actually."

[thinkering]

"Oh, yeah, Windflower's stuff has colors but that's not functional except to let teammates know which one it is."

[msglam]

"Does it feel like anything?"

[thinkering]

"I've never been poisoned but I assume the damage feels unpleasant. I haven't heard anyone say it smells like anything?"

[msglam]

"Hm, then yeah, maybe the squinting wouldn't kick in until damage was done."

[thinkering]

"But of powers you could copy Windflower's got limited utility - you are known to have some trouble controlling lethality..."

[msglam]

"...yeah. Although, I mean, I don't think it's actually public? But in any case, yeah, not going there."

[thinkering]

"Poor Windflower. She's really hard to deploy as a hero but she's too easy to defend against to make it as a villain even if she wanted to slaughter the occasional city block and there's no really good civilian applications - even if she went into extermination you don't want her stuff lingering any more than you want standard pesticides."

[msglam]

"Yeah," she sighs. "I wonder why she's even here. Why not just be a civilian, why use her power at all?"

[thinkering]

"I've never asked. It's not quite as personal a question as 'what was your trigger event' but it's up there."

[msglam]

"Mmhm. I mean, she can now be used at all, with the contact darts, which is better than before, I guess, but still."

[thinkering]

"She's useful in some situations; not every opponent is a person we need to take alive. Especially since you can outfit people with gas masks. But it's definitely awkward. Maybe she's here because she needs a team to handle more than like three kinds of situation."

[msglam]

"Well, I mean, if she's gonna be a cape at all then yeah, but I think if I had her power I'd probably just try to quietly pretend I didn't have it."

[thinkering]

"Maybe she can't."

[msglam]

"Her power's voluntary, isn't it?"

[thinkering]

"Yes, but I meant for some kind of social reason."

[msglam]

"Oh. Like what?"

[thinkering]

"I don't know, I've never met her folks."