#chapter intro

Alright, folks! Interlude 15, round three!

So, whose eyeballs will we be gazing through today?

[insert obligatory Traveler suggestion here] (Genesis, perhaps, possibly having qualms with her and Trickster’s involvement in Coil’s plan to eliminate Skitter, if she knows about that?)

The mayor, perhaps? Coil does need this done, presumably, so the trap part of the mission (i.e. the part where we’d most want to be in Taylor’s head) likely comes after they’ve accomplished the main goal. It’d be pretty interesting to see this from the perspective of the man they’re supposed to intimidate.

If that’s the case, I should note that I probably know the mayor’s name, unless there’s been a change of office since February. Roy Christner, may have an assistant named Joanna Walsh. I don’t recall if either of those names have been mentioned in the story yet (Christner’s name may have been mentioned in relation to Danny’s ferry issue. Blog search doesn’t find either surname, but it has also just now been reinforcing that it’s unreliable.), but they did slip through in a piece of fanart once.

Howdy!

So. Taylor’s gotten herself Flechetted.

The only reason I can take Flechette seriously as a threat to Taylor is her ability to ignore Taylor’s armor, and the fact that she’s already gotten in a good hit on her. It means Taylor is starting this fight, if she chooses to fight, at disadvantage, and one of her usual advantages in fights that involve her body (it’s not every character you have to use that qualifier for) is nullified.

Taylor still has her bugs, but Flechette is in a position where she can threaten to deal more damage if she sees even the slightest movement of the bugs in the room.

And then there’s Parian, whom we should seriously not underestimate, though she might be more reluctant to fight here.

We’ve also got Ballistic knocking on the door with the odd car or two, thus far unaware that Taylor is stuck in here.

This is a pretty solid setup, leaving Taylor in a tricky situation without having to make her opponents particularly powerful in order to make it feel tricky.

I do think talking is likely to be the way out - continuing the previous chapter’s illustration of Taylor trying to do Tattletale’s thing - but it might come to blows anyway. Uh, further blows.

Howdy! It’s me again!

Last time, *LOUD SHIP HORN NOISE*

This time... morning after, perhaps checking on Taylor’s territory?

Howdy! Let’s go walk into a trap. Or check on Taylor’s territory. Or both.

Something about this chapter header seems familiar.

So, we’re back in Interlude territory. Damn, this Arc is hard to speculate on with the regular chapters, and then you add a whole bunch of Interludes? Which have historically been very hard to speculate on before I start?

Fair enough.

I’m gonna try anyway. So, who are we likely to get this time?

I’ve suggested this for several previous Interludes already, but I think it’s reasonable to bring up the Travelers again. They are very possibly going to be important when we start properly going up against Coil (which might be next Arc rather than this one), and their internal affairs - what we know of them - connect well with the previous chapter’s focus on communication and openness.

Relatedly, their situation is relevant to what I’ve supposed might be the story concept or theme of this Arc, with regards to groups falling apart due to internal conflict. The Travelers are very fragile in that sense, sticking together only because of some shared history and a promise.

I’ve wanted a Traveler Interlude for a while now, but right now the case for that actually coming up (if not in this Interlude, then in another one soon) is stronger that ever.

If we do get a Traveler Interlude, I suspect it’ll be Ballistic. Not counting the two Travelers behind the scenes, he’s the one we know the least, and for some reason I’ve gotten the impression that he might be the one who’d be most affected if he were to learn the 325 (which I believe belongs to Trickster, the second most likely Traveler to get an Interlude).

Otherwise... Maybe we could have an Interlude from the perspective of someone who runs into Armsmaster? That seems much less thematically consistent with the rest of the Arc, but I kinda just want an update on him. At least enough to tell whether he survived the Nine or not. (This is wishful thinking, of course. It’s probably better to wait until he floats back into relevance anyway.)

Come, little children, I’ll take thee away, into a land of enchantment... and also parahumans.

So, last time, Coil snared Taylor and Lisa into a rough spot. Today, we’re probably seeing whether Brian was right about his power not being able to fully replicate Victor’s past the immediate use. Judging by the way his power acted when he was tapping into Taylor’s, I think he was right, but we’ll have to see what happens.

Taylor, though, might be somewhat distracted by the news she just got from Lisa. She’ll probably spend a fair bit of this chapter considering her course of action, I think, though I don’t think she’s going to throw Lisa under the bus.

That is, if we don’t skip right to Taylor walking into the trap and having to figure out a way to get out of it without letting on that she knew about it from Lisa.