blasto, meet official opinions on self-replicating minions

[peterxy]

The PRT catches wind of a strange increase in disappeared domestic animals in the downtown area. Given that the people who live there are the rich and powerful, this is clearly a problem that needs to be investigated and solved immediately. The PRT, of course, agrees that this is of utmost importance, and not just because of precedent about mass abductions of pets, of course not, why would you think that, they are so very worried about Fido, even Scion recognizes the merits of rescuing lost pets.

(Lorica's asked to maybe keep a few more eyes there than she has been.)

Comments

[peterxy]

Apparently Purity, Crusader, Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Krieg, Cricket, Night, and Fog are in the building, isn't that interesting? Also very peculiar how no one called the Protectorate about this, almost as if this building might not be just your regular old civilian building.

In any case, even if the Empire are villains, killing them would break the unwritten rules of the cape community. Besides unforeseen circumstances seem to crop up pretty terribly often when these monkeys are involved, and you never know what they could have evolved in the meantime. Using fire: definitely not allowed. Too much risk.

[thinkering]

The bots attempt to form a three-dimensional perimeter and shoo civilians from neighboring buildings while they can still pretty much go down the street on foot. Maybe the monkeys (and the E88) should be contained with foam on the various exits?

[mxglam]

That sounds like a swell idea! Glam provides imaginary foam sprayers and pops in a couple of copies under their own control so they can help along, too. They need to be transmitted a visual of their copies so they can go into the building and see if they can't contain the monkeys more directly.

[thinkering]

The bot can handle that no problem.

[mxglam]

Good! So the copies go inside and start foaming monkeys and-

-that sets them off. Before the bots and copies can cover more than a couple of exits and windows, monkeys explode out of every exit and non-exit like an angry hive. Several of them, it appears, have evolved wings, and are carrying some less fortunate hybrids in all directions away from the building.

[thinkering]

"Auntie Em," Lorica indulges herself; the comm doesn't transmit it. "Glam, I need population and if you can't sustain it I need kamikaze bots."

[mxglam]

"On it, make sure they beep really loudly if even one of them disappears. What do you want on them?" they ask, already making a couple here and there where people aren't looking and then where people are looking 'cause at this point it's pretty much a given that Glam works remotely to anyone who's been paying attention.

[thinkering]

"Narrow flamethrowers that only burn organics if you can swing that, and infinite foam supplies."

[mxglam]

"Of course I can swing that," they say with much more confidence than they feel.

And the monkeys keep coming, there are so many of them, but Glam is onto you, Glam is making so many bots.

[thinkering]

And the bots chase monkeys and set them the fuck on fire, ready to foam anything other than monkeys that catches; and bots are trying to contain the ones that are still in the building; and bots are directing evacuees to MOVE IT.

[peterxy]

Evacuees are moving it but there's panic and disorder, they have not been trained about evacuation to free from hybrid monkeys.

The bots set one of the flying monkeys on fire, and it catches. The monkey it's holding doesn't, and disentangles itself from the flying one, and falls onto its death-

Wait, nope, not its death, it cracks on the concrete and vines start growing from it, and those vines are now roots and it's starting to grow a tree-

And of course, similar fates befall any other monkeys the bots don't manage to strictly incinerate before they hit the ground.

[thinkering]

The bots start ganging up on the monkeys to make sure they're ash and not - seeds. Bots set fire to the tree.

[mxglam]

But the monkeys just keep coming there are so many of them, good thing Glam's making lots of bots, rig-

BEEP

Suddenly a little more than half the bots Glam has made disappear simultaneously, not in a predictable pattern except for "not the ones Glam was looking at that exact moment."

[thinkering]

"Suicide run bots!" Lorica says. "Shaped flame charges with bot chassis, keep them coming, they'll wreck themselves as fast as you can make 'em." The shoulderbot indicates where they need to be.

[mxglam]

Glam makes them!

[thinkering]

They promptly sacrifice themselves for the cause!

[acanofworms]

Not exactly too little, too late, but too little, too late. Even some monkeys that are burnt down manage to grow into large enough trees that they smother the fire.

That's around the time Armsmaster arrives on his bike with Drupe, a couple of PRT vans only about two minutes behind him. "Contain them," Armsmaster practically hisses to Drupe as he uses his Halberd as a grappling hook to get into the building.

[alicornucopia]

Drupe does his best, although not before glaring behind his mask at Armsmaster for hissing. Rude.

[peterxy]

Drupe will find it simultaneously easier and harder to control these hybrids: they have more plant matter than animal in them, but they're also stronger and more capable of resisting his control. Still, he manages to reduce and eventually stop the outflow of flying monkeys if he keeps concentration.

The Protectorate has pressed full panic mode now, however, with two dozen trees growing downtown in many different places, and monkeys protecting them from the kamikaze-bots. The higher-ups have called New Wave, who will be joining the fight shortly, and Glimmer, Silica, and Velocity are to come at once.

PRT officers have sectioned off the area and are busy evacuating civilians from all nearby buildings, and some of the downtown air raid sirens are sounding so they can evacuate their buildings and go to Endbringer shelters. The higher-ups message Lorica and tell her if she can find a way to burn that building down without damaging the other ones and making sure Armsmaster and the villains aren't in it she should do it.

[thinkering]

Lorica promptly solicits from Glam more foambots. She coats adjacent buildings in a protective layer of foam and sends in Lorica-copies to evac E88, comms Armsmaster to be ready to get out on her signal.

[mxglam]

Foambots: are provided.

The Empire's in bad shape. Purity's mostly unharmed but she's definitely outnumbered. With Drupe's help slowing monkeys and vines down she's managing to get the upper hand but it's slow going. Hookwolf isn't having a whole lot of success, and has been trying to escape for a while now. Crusader's pretty much okay, if exhausted from using so many duplicates. Stormtiger, Krieg, and Cricket are having Lots Of Trouble doing anything other than surviving, and even Fog's only still Fog-shaped because that's better than being a human. Only Night's been met with undeniable success, though both of them return to human form when Lorica directs them outside.

Evacuation starts but is slow.

[thinkering]

Lorica-copies are willing to fly villains out of the conflagration-to-be if necessary to get the place empty stat.

[alicornucopia]

Here come Miss Militia and Windflower.

[mxglam]

"Lorica, don't burn the thing, I have an idea," Glam says into the comm for everyone to hear. "Windflower, if we manage to evac everyone, I could conjure a containment thing around the building and you could poison everything. Think you could do it?"

[thinkering]

"Yeah," says Windflower. "I can poison the heck out of everything if it's contained real good. ...Can it be see-through so you can have copies in with me in case something doesn't die?"

"Of course they can," Lorica says.