Power’s Pink Price - Chapter 080

Okay, that’s going to be a wrinkle for evac, but not too bad.  I get on the coms, “Sounds like our target’s headquarters ripped out of the station as a ship; gutsy, as I doubt the station will take that lying down… bunker down and stay where you are; I’ll meet you with Cowbird, we evac you all like we got you in; and meet up at the rendezvous point after.”

“Ten-four,” huh, where did Linda get that old police radio jargon in THIS setting?  No matter, she confirmed that’s what she’ll do, so… good to go.

I bypass immunities, so One Step Beyond doesn’t bother my casting of Circle Dance; I spam that as I lead Cowbird out, still disintegrating everything in my path.  I wonder how long it’ll take to get the pink dust out of my gear?  Ugh.  SO MANY WALLS.  Along the way, I spy their reactor room… and hit it with Greater Remove Radioactivity, just to annoy them.  It renders nuclear reactors permanently inert, you see… should leave them sitting ducks for the station.  And in my case, it also turns the reactor pink, with decorations of over-endowed human women.  Whatever. I keep going, and hear the ship’s engines shut down shortly thereafter.  Yeah… no power means no thrust… heh.  Also no shields, and no weapons; life support generally has backup storage good for days, and armor will do that too, but still… heh, they’re toast.

I get back to the other team quickly enough, give Euler a quick invisible grope, take a moment to blast anything that looks like it might be a camera, open up my Keyhome entry to the network, and watch as they walk through… someone has to close the door, that can only be done properly from the outside. Which I do once everyone is safe.

I then activate my own internal Drift engine, plot a course, and head to the rendezvous point; Eox. As I am currently eighth level, I have a Drift engine rating of four. After I plot my course… one and a half days; not bad at all.  It gives me time to deal with my headache… laptop please, Patricia.

“Certainly,” she summons it as I drift through the Drift, much faster than I've previously gone.

Ah, level nine.  Thirty points for Freelancer, a feat, another entry from Light Body Technique, and some considerable advancement on my meatsuit.

So to start… okay, the halo is annoying, so I grab Overmind Psionics from the Legendary Medium's Overmind spirit; it grants me Psionic powers, swappable daily, using spell slots instead of power points… and gets me a manifester level of my caster level, which should be a considerable upgrade for Patricia's powerstone form, as it means I get to use my full level for her abilities; it makes her smarter and more durable.

“And it also makes my physical existence slightly more stable,” Patricia sounds pleased.

That it does. I'm not spending an actual feat on you just yet, though.

“Spoilsport.”

Absolutely. I think I can also fix the distance issue with a spell, although it means you'll be stuck with a single form.

“Do tell….”

After we're done here; I have to get rid of the headache, after all.

“True. We need to keep growing.”

Right… next up… ah, a young, drunk, degenerate Time Flayer would be CR 9, and still have Immunity to Temporal Magic… which, despite the name, applies to all time-related effects. Which is good, as I don't want to be wiped from existence if someone goes back in time and kills me before I got them angry. Of course, it also means I can use the Teleport Through Time spell in relative safety.

For the last of those… hmm. Ah, I don't want to be trapped, so: A Drunk Young Vortex Dragon would be CR 9, and have Galactic Emissary: It cuts Starflight times in half, but more importantly, grants immunity to anything that would bar extra dimensional travel; I’ll always be able to teleport. Well, once I don't need to worry about corrupting…

“Blessing!” my pink partner objects.

… whatever… my little daughter further. And hey; maybe it will apply to the Excuba's Spaceflight and Slip Drive as well; they are forms of Starflight, after all.

As for the feat… hmm. Oh, I did want to find out how that Mystic was doing it… he was a Dreamer… ah.  There it is: Sixth level ability, Dream Manifestation. Spend a resolve point as a full action to bring a dream into being, which manifests as the effects of a spell, limited by the level I can cast.  Yikes.  I'm seldom using Resolve Points anyway, and can recharge them via Hero Points gained via the Heroic Fortune spell, so that will give me access to… literally any spell.  That's… hoo.  Yeah, nabbing that by spending the feat on Extra JP.

My Eidolon progresses… a new hit die, two evolution points, five max attacks now, and the Multiattack feat. Hmm. I don't do much melee fighting, so I'm not going to make use of lots of attacks… so I'll just boost skills again.

Skills advance, saves advance, hit points advance, stamina points advance, more spells… again, my focus is on Immediate Action effects; anything longer than that I can have for free as a Swift action.  A few other odds and ends… there we go.

I review my choices one last time, commit… and my headache goes away. That's better. I re-plot my Drift course… yes, I'm traveling much faster now: Nice.

Travel is uneventful - I have a very high end form of invisibility, after all, which I maintain for the trip - so it's fifteen hours of boredom. The views are nice, don't get me wrong… but there's nothing to break them up.  It's just Patricia and me, flying through a colorful void.

“So what's your solution to the distance problem?” my pink partner asks into my head along the way.

Ah, that, “The Polymorph Any Object spell,” I explain… verbally-ish; there’s no air to carry sound, but there's nobody else around, so I may as well, “Most Polymorph spells in Pathfinder only boost or penalize statistics; they don't make them from scratch…”

“Which is why Shapechange doesn't break that one mile limit, yes; a non-ability plus a number is still a non-ability… but Polymorph Any Object will grant scores where they don't exist. Aha. Makes sense… but that does put me in a fixed shape.”

“Of my choosing, yes.” I pause, “Say, Patricia, how is it you only know some of my plans and stuff?”

“Oh, that,” she starts, “I have access to what's in your head, but that’s not the same as knowing. As much as I am a PART of you, I'm not YOU.  I can get to the stuff you don't block, but I have to… ‘look it up’, so to speak.  And if you want to keep something from me, you do.  So the Polymorph Any Object plan? Not mine to know.”

Huh.

“It would work similarly the other way,” she adds in my head, “although I wouldn't be able to stop you from getting to the stuff you want; you're in charge.”

“Hmm…” I consider, “and tell me: What proportion of your memory does NOT have you acting in some way as a lure for men so you can feed on them?”

“Oh, a surprisingly large…” she starts.

“Or the actual act of feeding,” I amend.

“Oh, um. Maybe ten or twenty years worth per…” she trails off.

“Per what unit?” I insist.

She gives a sheepish reply, “...millennium.”

I shake my head, “Yeah, I don't care for those odds, thanks. I'll just ask.”

“Suit yourself.”

Eventually, of course, we reach Eox, and it's time to switch back to the real world.  I concentrate and… there it is… in all it's ugliness.  See, Eox is a mostly dead world.  At one point, it was a lush, green planet… but a weapon of war they employed to shatter another world - an INHABITED world - set their own atmosphere on fire.  What little air is left is toxic, radioactive, and thin, with most of the inhabitants turning to undeath to survive. They import dead bodies to increase their population… and have the newly animated undead serve as virtual slaves for centuries before they're properly citizens… provided they survive the grueling servitude.

Still… they're not Evil. The Eternal Convocation does not engage in nor encourage wanton cruelty… well, other than the bloody reality shows, but those aren't staffed by slaves… but the rulers are amoral and ruthlessly pragmatic.

So why'd I pick it? Because it doesn't even slightly match any possible psychological profile that might match me as a good choice, that's why. It's an awful place that should probably be nuked from orbit… but it's a place to regroup that isn't hostile to us.

“Yet,” Patricia adds, “that could change.”

I pause a moment, and cast Spawn Screen on myself; it's a second level spell from Spell Compendium, and prevents the affected subjects from rising as undead should they be killed by something that creates spawn.  I mean, I don't plan to die, but I'm not so full of myself as to think it can't happen.  So if it does… I'd prefer to be raised by my own power, despite the chest problem, than to become an undead slave on Eox.

Okay, that's going to be a wrinkle for evac, but not too bad. I get on the coms, Sounds like our target's headquarters ripped out of the station as a ship; gutsy, as I doubt the station will take that lying down bunker down and stay where you are; I'll meet you with Cowbird, we evac you all like we got you in; and meet up at the rendezvous point after. Ten-four, huh, where did Linda get that old police radio jargon in THIS setting? No matter, she confirmed that's what she'll do, so good to go. I bypass immunities, so One Step Beyond doesn't bother my casting of Circle Dance; I spam that as I lead Cowbird out, still disintegrating everything in my path. I wonder how long it'll take to get the pink dust out of my gear? Ugh. SO MANY WALLS. Along the way, I spy their reactor room and hit it with Greater Remove Radioactivity, just to annoy them. It renders nuclear reactors permanently inert, you see should leave them sitting ducks for the station. And in my case, it also turns the reactor pink, with decorations of over-endowed human women. Whatever. I keep going, and hear the ship's engines shut down shortly thereafter. Yeah no power means no thrust heh. Also no shields, and no weapons; life support generally has backup storage good for days, and armor will do that too, but still heh, they're toast. I get back to the other team quickly enough, give Euler a quick invisible grope, take a moment to blast anything that looks like it might be a camera, open up my Keyhome entry to the network, and watch as they walk through someone has to close the door, that can only be done properly from the outside. Which I do once everyone is safe. I then activate my own internal Drift engine, plot a course, and head to the rendezvous point; Eox. As I am currently eighth level, I have a Drift engine rating of four. After I plot my course one and a half days; not bad at all. It gives me time to deal with my headache laptop please, Patricia. Certainly, she summons it as I drift through the Drift, much faster than I've previously gone. Spoiler Ah, level nine. Thirty points for Freelancer, a feat, another entry from Light Body Technique, and some considerable advancement on my meatsuit. So to start okay, the halo is annoying, so I grab Overmind Psionics from the Legendary Medium's Overmind spirit; it grants me Psionic powers, swappable daily, using spell slots instead of power points and gets me a manifester level of my caster level, which should be a considerable upgrade for Patricia's powerstone form, as it means I get to use my full level for her abilities; it makes her smarter and more durable. And it also makes my physical existence slightly more stable, Patricia sounds pleased. That it does. I'm not spending an actual feat on you just yet, though. Spoilsport. Absolutely. I think I can also fix the distance issue with a spell, although it means you'll be stuck with a single form. Do tell. After we're done here; I have to get rid of the headache, after all. True. We need to keep growing. Right next up ah, a young, drunk, degenerate Time Flayer would be CR 9, and still have Immunity to Temporal Magic which, despite the name, applies to all time-related effects. Which is good, as I don't want to be wiped from existence if someone goes back in time and kills me before I got them angry. Of course, it also means I can use the Teleport Through Time spell in relative safety. For the last of those hmm. Ah, I don't want to be trapped, so: A Drunk Young Vortex Dragon would be CR 9, and have Galactic Emissary: It cuts Starflight times in half, but more importantly, grants immunity to anything that would bar extra dimensional travel; I'll always be able to teleport. Well, once I don't need to worry about corrupting Blessing! my pink partner objects. whatever my little daughter further. And hey; maybe it will apply to the Excuba's Spaceflight and Slip Drive as well; they are forms of Starflight, after all. As for the feat hmm. Oh, I did want to find out how that Mystic was doing it he was a Dreamer ah. There it is: Sixth level ability, Dream Manifestation. Spend a resolve point as a full action to bring a dream into being, which manifests as the effects of a spell, limited by the level I can cast. Yikes. I'm seldom using Resolve Points anyway, and can recharge them via Hero Points gained via the Heroic Fortune spell, so that will give me access to literally any spell. That's hoo. Yeah, nabbing that by spending the feat on Extra JP. My Eidolon progresses a new hit die, two evolution points, five max attacks now, and the Multiattack feat. Hmm. I don't do much melee fighting, so I'm not going to make use of lots of attacks so I'll just boost skills again. Skills advance, saves advance, hit points advance, stamina points advance, more spells again, my focus is on Immediate Action effects; anything longer than that I can have for free as a Swift action. A few other odds and ends there we go. collapse I review my choices one last time, commit and my headache goes away. That's better. I re-plot my Drift course yes, I'm traveling much faster now: Nice. Travel is uneventful - I have a very high end form of invisibility, after all, which I maintain for the trip - so it's fifteen hours of boredom. The views are nice, don't get me wrong but there's nothing to break them up. It's just Patricia and me, flying through a colorful void. So what's your solution to the distance problem? my pink partner asks into my head along the way. Ah, that, The Polymorph Any Object spell, I explain verbally-ish; there's no air to carry sound, but there's nobody else around, so I may as well, Most Polymorph spells in Pathfinder only boost or penalize statistics; they don't make them from scratch Which is why Shapechange doesn't break that one mile limit, yes; a non-ability plus a number is still a non-ability but Polymorph Any Object will grant scores where they don't exist. Aha. Makes sense but that does put me in a fixed shape. Of my choosing, yes. I pause, Say, Patricia, how is it you only know some of my plans and stuff? Oh, that, she starts, I have access to what's in your head, but that's not the same as knowing. As much as I am a PART of you, I'm not YOU. I can get to the stuff you don't block, but I have to look it up', so to speak. And if you want to keep something from me, you do. So the Polymorph Any Object plan? Not mine to know. Huh. It would work similarly the other way, she adds in my head, although I wouldn't be able to stop you from getting to the stuff you want; you're in charge. Hmm I consider, and tell me: What proportion of your memory does NOT have you acting in some way as a lure for men so you can feed on them? Oh, a surprisingly large she starts. Or the actual act of feeding, I amend. Oh, um. Maybe ten or twenty years worth per she trails off. Per what unit? I insist. She gives a sheepish reply, ...millennium. I shake my head, Yeah, I don't care for those odds, thanks. I'll just ask. Suit yourself. Eventually, of course, we reach Eox, and it's time to switch back to the real world. I concentrate and there it is in all it's ugliness. See, Eox is a mostly dead world. At one point, it was a lush, green planet but a weapon of war they employed to shatter another world - an INHABITED world - set their own atmosphere on fire. What little air is left is toxic, radioactive, and thin, with most of the inhabitants turning to undeath to survive. They import dead bodies to increase their population and have the newly animated undead serve as virtual slaves for centuries before they're properly citizens provided they survive the grueling servitude. Still they're not Evil. The Eternal Convocation does not engage in nor encourage wanton cruelty well, other than the bloody reality shows, but those aren't staffed by slaves but the rulers are amoral and ruthlessly pragmatic. So why'd I pick it? Because it doesn't even slightly match any possible psychological profile that might match me as a good choice, that's why. It's an awful place that should probably be nuked from orbit but it's a place to regroup that isn't hostile to us. Yet, Patricia adds, that could change. I pause a moment, and cast Spawn Screen on myself; it's a second level spell from Spell Compendium, and prevents the affected subjects from rising as undead should they be killed by something that creates spawn. I mean, I don't plan to die, but I'm not so full of myself as to think it can't happen. So if it does I'd prefer to be raised by my own power, despite the chest problem, than to become an undead slave on Eox.