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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
"That sounds like the kind of thing I'd never get back from even if you did pull off killing her. No return signal she can't fake, probably. And Mars is at least a planet.
There's really no way out of this, is there. As long as I'm being stuck out here, you better at least make me an entire Taj Mahal or something."
There's really no way out of this, is there. As long as I'm being stuck out here, you better at least make me an entire Taj Mahal or something."
from_scratch
Cam spends the rest of the flight designing the summoner's arcology to spec and working out what sort of food supply he'd find most agreeable and so on. Cam lands. He makes the arcology, hands the summoner a copy of the blueprint he used for a map, and then says the internet connection will be online when Cam gets back to Earth to set up the far end.
Cam doesn't go straight back to Earth.
When he's about halfway there he pauses to make Endbringer bits in a sort of exploded diagram.
He wants to know what they're made of.
Cam doesn't go straight back to Earth.
When he's about halfway there he pauses to make Endbringer bits in a sort of exploded diagram.
He wants to know what they're made of.
whole_new_can
Endbringers are, apparently, made of Endbringer. Every piece, whether it be the outer skin of the Simurgh or the thick non-blood of Leviathan, has a crystalline structure like sharp-edged snowflakes. No cells at all. (It has exactly the same structure regardless of how closely he looks, and Cam has very good microscopes.)
The monsters have no internal organs. What they do have is layers. The flesh gets progressively tougher from the skin down to a core, and even the outer layers are relatively indestructible compared to what they have any right to be. Between the lack of vital organs and the Endbringers' known regenerative abilities, the entire visible body is probably just some combination of armor and decoration.
The monsters have no internal organs. What they do have is layers. The flesh gets progressively tougher from the skin down to a core, and even the outer layers are relatively indestructible compared to what they have any right to be. Between the lack of vital organs and the Endbringers' known regenerative abilities, the entire visible body is probably just some combination of armor and decoration.
from_scratch
He goes through his chemistry notes to see if anything would like to energetically dissolve this stuff.
wormcan
No silver bullet reacts unusually with pieces of Endbringer. It's pretty inert. The stuff can be destroyed by anything that would usually be destructive, but it gets exponentially harder to damage closer to the cores.
from_scratch
Well, he's in interplanetary space. How does a bit of core react to a pinhole singularity, surrounded by enough magnets of the sort that handles his home garbage disposal to prevent it from running off and eating asteroids?
wormcan
Nothing much happens. The bit of core falls inward, appears to stop just before reaching the event horizon as per normal, and doesn't even spaghettify.
from_scratch
What the hell is this stuff?
Cam tries more things - intense heat, more fun with chemistry. At one point he puts a bit of core in his mouth and bites it hard enough to chip a tooth if it won't go.
Cam tries more things - intense heat, more fun with chemistry. At one point he puts a bit of core in his mouth and bites it hard enough to chip a tooth if it won't go.
wormcan
It doesn't go, but that's no surprise. He can only provide so much force, and this material already shrugged off worse. Nothing has any perceptible effect on the pieces of Endbringer core. At least the tooth doesn't chip unless he wants it to. Two can play at the indestructibility game.
from_scratch
Great.
Cam flies back to Japan. He writes up all his findings on the way, notifies the Prime Minister that he thinks he's contained the problem, puts up his experimental results on the Internet, and gets back to what he was doing.
Cam flies back to Japan. He writes up all his findings on the way, notifies the Prime Minister that he thinks he's contained the problem, puts up his experimental results on the Internet, and gets back to what he was doing.
wormcan
Where the cores are is one thing everyone's glad to know. Especially in the case of the Simurgh; apparently her humanoid body is nothing more than a decoy. The level of indestructibility they're up against, less so. Publicizing that might very well decrease defensive turnout. (No one tries to de-publicize it. Can't stop the signal.)
from_scratch
Cam makes sure there's an email address available for anyone who's thoroughly investigating the research to let people suggest things.
wormcan
Not a lot of suggestions, but some people would like pieces of Endbringer for testing against promising powers. Quite a few groups would like that, in fact.
wormcan
Lots of people want this. It ranges from parahuman teams with members who might be able to damage it down through industrial applications of indestructibility and people who just want a piece because it's cool. This last group is universally frowned upon as having offensively poor taste.
The Protectorate asks for the most samples, of course; the enormous North American hero team has the most comprehensive access to allied capes. They strongly recommend that Cam either be selective about sending it only to heroes or be very clear that use of this material falls under the Endbringer truce. There could be any number of powers capable of using this resource as a stoppable force multiplier. But the truce is regarded as inviolable; if Cam declares that this is only to be used against Endbringers and the Protectorate publicly agrees then other groups will follow.
The Protectorate asks for the most samples, of course; the enormous North American hero team has the most comprehensive access to allied capes. They strongly recommend that Cam either be selective about sending it only to heroes or be very clear that use of this material falls under the Endbringer truce. There could be any number of powers capable of using this resource as a stoppable force multiplier. But the truce is regarded as inviolable; if Cam declares that this is only to be used against Endbringers and the Protectorate publicly agrees then other groups will follow.
from_scratch
People who just want a piece can have it for obscene amounts of money! And, yes, Endbringer truce. The website is now emblazoned with this assertion.
wormcan
The thing about obscene amounts of money is that materials costs tend to go down when there are powers that can duplicate things.
...most things. The results of the testing are disappointing. Aside from being physically indestructible against as much pressure as anyone can bring to bear, the cores are also immune to direct use of most powers. Bad news for the people who want Cam to not be the only source of this stuff, and really bad news for those who want the Endbringers destroyed. A few capes with relevant abilities still manage to get rich selling non-core layers.
It's especially in demand among tinkers, some of whom have started moving to Japan. On purpose.
...most things. The results of the testing are disappointing. Aside from being physically indestructible against as much pressure as anyone can bring to bear, the cores are also immune to direct use of most powers. Bad news for the people who want Cam to not be the only source of this stuff, and really bad news for those who want the Endbringers destroyed. A few capes with relevant abilities still manage to get rich selling non-core layers.
It's especially in demand among tinkers, some of whom have started moving to Japan. On purpose.
from_scratch
Why, hello, Tinkers. If Cam likes your projects you get all the parts you want, doesn't that sound nice?
wormcan
Well, the word got around, they said this deal is insane, man. Suddenly there are more tinkers relocating, though it's limited to those willing to conform to Cam's stated opinions about the projects he likes. Tokyo doesn't quite become a cape city again overnight—there's only one of Cam and he can only supply esoteric materials so fast—but there's a lot of competition for his attention. Non-tinker parahumans have less of an immediate motive to move, but capes tend to congregate wherever capes already are. They'll follow.
The Japanese citizenry is not happy about this. Their disapproval translates to much stricter control of capes than there is in Europe or America, where fighting in the streets is normal, or Russia where a parahuman organization effectively runs the place. But it turns out it's hard to keep capes in line, so Tokyo winds up with the same kind of villain problem that other cape cities have, if on a smaller scale.
The Japanese citizenry is not happy about this. Their disapproval translates to much stricter control of capes than there is in Europe or America, where fighting in the streets is normal, or Russia where a parahuman organization effectively runs the place. But it turns out it's hard to keep capes in line, so Tokyo winds up with the same kind of villain problem that other cape cities have, if on a smaller scale.
from_scratch
Oh dear. That won't do at all.
Does anyone of importance have a problem with Cam unmasking villains with his scary powers, finding them at home, drugging them, and handing them over to the authorities?
Does anyone of importance have a problem with Cam unmasking villains with his scary powers, finding them at home, drugging them, and handing them over to the authorities?
wormcan
Nope, not at all. It'll go a long way toward improving toleration of parahumans.
(It does stem the flow of new capes. Cam is relatively predictable as to whom he'll unmask, but few are willing to take the risk that they'll get on his bad side somehow. Fewer new capes is hardly a problem, as most relevant people see it.)
(It does stem the flow of new capes. Cam is relatively predictable as to whom he'll unmask, but few are willing to take the risk that they'll get on his bad side somehow. Fewer new capes is hardly a problem, as most relevant people see it.)
wormcan
On which subject, Cam receives an email from one of his government contacts. Some shipping company wants in on the distribution—well, a lot of them do, but this one seems unusually prosocial and good to contract with—and a representative would like to meet with Cam to streamline the sending things overseas as much as possible.