#outofwaffles

Please excuse my formatting and listing the quotes/taunts and all that, it is what I was doing to try and keep the rambling of ideas somewhat neat and easier to reference quickly while writing. (Kind of want to include some of them if possible)

Overall Plot/Goal: To escape the Project facility and become independent/Free of its influence.

The Projects:

Trace Factor: Each new Project Initiate has a greater degree of Programming/Cybernetic modification and overall potential influence to be broken prior to achieving true Freedom than the Project before them. (Note Ekko is a special case given his time controlling capabilities keeping his mind intact as he is used to conflicting memories/impulses) And in certain cases (as with Fiora and Katarina’s Protocols) uses an enhanced/upgraded version of previous ability software.

Ekko

Trace: 8

Word is: Freedom

Ashe musing: He will alter our odds

Taunt (Friendly): How many lives have you given for the cause?

2) I’m counting on you to get us in kid.

3) May the odds ever be in our favor.

Taunt (Enemy): You’re on the wrong side kid.

2) You’re smarter than this.

3)You might want to stay down this time.

Unique Protocol: Freedom: He awakens the dormant personalities/memories of others and works constantly against hacking through the limiters set in place by their programming. Also referred to as Rewind/Rewound Protocol. The affects are permanent for the most part.

A/N: While this enables them TO Remember, the given Project’s mind would not be ready to fully adapt to everything all of a sudden, which causes them to have memory bleeding moments similar to Yi as seen in Overdrive. To what degree they bleed in memories depends upon the given Project along with a few other factors. (If in Combat, Leona’s presence, stress level and so on)

TLDR: Ekko’s power is basically an equivalent to the Red pill of the Matrix. He wakes them up, what they do afterwards is up to them.

Plot/Relevance:

1) Ekko underlying purpose: Saving a prototype Project Jinx. The technology used took away insanity at the price of her humanity and personality. Struggles with the moral consequences of tapping into her violent urges for the sake of attempting to restore her personality. Questions if it is right to release a destructive force back onto the world for the sake of his own memory of who and what she used to be. (As well as some romantic feelings because added inner turmoil and it being my OTP <3)

2) Plays Operator Matrix style for the beginning of the story until Ashe has awoken, regained control over her abilities and recruited Katarina after making some form of contact with the first group of escaped Projects.

3) Will briefly entertain the idea of betrayal for Jinx’s sake due to misinformation and desperation for a way to restore her at the cost of the others. 

4) Progressive hacking moment at the beginning or end of each chapter with a series of check marks and Xs, the last one being the pink X of Jinx’s consciousness and visor.(Though this is not revealed until end of story) Each setback Ashe and co. have turns a check mark to an X. (This is what he is checking constantly on his holo datapad/communication thing  as seen in game after he first spawns.) (Watch the first few seconds of the spotlight X to see what I mean)

5) His rewind to others is a surge of unparalleled “warmth” that rekindles the fragmented soul’s desire to repair itself, accept the new form it is in, and continue to grow and fuel the essence that their abilities make use of.

Ashe

Trace: 7

Word is: Unity

Ashe musing: In Unity we find Humanity

Taunt (Friendly Projects): Remember and rise up!

Taunt (General enemy projects): Your upgrades won’t save you!

Taunt (Enemy (Clone of normal Ashe): Ugh… Did I ever dress like that?

Taunt (Enemy (Prototype Project Ashe): What are you?

2) You must be Bad Ashe~.

3) Good. Bad. I’m the one with the bow.

4) May the best me win.

Taunt (Enemy Mecha): I thought you’d be taller.

Unique Protocol: Unity: Exudes an aura of charisma that (with the assistance of subtle protocols/viruses installed through physical (and eye) contact when her hood is down) overrides most inhibitions of those that follow her. This makes them more willing to do things they would otherwise be against (though not to the extent of mind control-they CAN resist if it strongly against their own personal code) as well as work together for a unified, mutually beneficial purpose.

A/N: I wanted to incorporate Ashe’s charisma and experience as a Queen and leader, as well as give a deeper meaning of why she puts her hood up and down, while the other Projects pretty much have their visor things on at all times.   

Plot/Relevance:

1) Ashe will be the main character/perspective for the story with the other projects (mainly Ekko and Katarina) revolving around her.

2)Brief training session and first person perspective for her to get used to her new body.

3) Constantly compares that the haze of the programming is akin to feeling lost in a blinding snowstorm. Eventually she gets used to the “cold” of the data encryption and learns how to negate/normalize it in others to her own “temperature” (though hers is always initially “colder” than others except for Zed who truly is all but machine) to put them on the same wavelength in a way, forming a link between them, hence her Unity protocol.

4) The “temperature” of the programming represents how much emotion/personality/memory is actively suppressed at the given time.

Other: Her drone is named Avarosa. Ekko occasionally sends it firmware upgrades/general enhancements.

Katarina

Trace: 9

Word is: Ambition

Ashe musing: We all bare the scars of our actions

Taunt (Friendly): I knew there was hope for you.

2) Look sharp.

3) Joining us was the right decision. You’ll see...

Taunt (Enemy): You weren’t the only one scarred by this conflict.

2)Your blades won’t save you.

3) It’s never too late.

Unique Protocol: Ambition: Similar to Fiora’s Challenge, it allows Katarina to overclock her overall performance in intense situations. However it only activates if she has something to gain or otherwise improve her own standing and thus will not cause her to actively put herself in otherwise suicidal situations for the sake of completion. (Classified in the Project Database as Challenge 2.0)

A/N: I wanted to give some reason for banter/internal conflict (and potential ship moments with Ashe <3) for Katarina against the leaders trying to control her sinister nature, as well as incorporating the idea that with each new Project, the technique used would render the given initiate stronger than his or her predecessors.

Plot/Relevance:

1) Eventual fluff/romance with Ashe, the extent can be segmented into bonus chapters possibly.

During first encounter fight, Ashe desperately uses her bow to go into melee and counters a killing blow while knocking Katarina off balance, causing her to straddle Ashe’s hips. Ashe uses touch to enact Ekko’s freedom protocol on her, but possibly goes a bit farther than needed with a kiss. Ekko watches the scene and comments on their relationship-encourages it for increased emotional output/stimulation to help resist the project programming influence.

2) Was initially recruited by Zed as an assistant to help him carry out the directive given by the Zaunnite scientists controlling him.

3) Due to the nature of Ambition, she constantly clashes with Ashe over decisions and her role as leader. Though when given the opportunity to do so with both Ashe and Leona knocked out, she lacks the potency that Ashe possesses to be as effective overall. Which she begrudgingly admits after the battle to a recovering Ashe in private.

 Yi

Trace: 1

Word is: Harmony

Ashe musing: A perfect anomaly

Taunt (Friendly): I’m glad you’re on our side.

2) Don’t think you are Yi. Know you are!

3) There is more to life than order.

Taunt (Enemy): There’s still good in you. I know it.

2) Remember who you were.

3) Your spirit is stronger than their programming.

Unique Protocol: Harmony: Actions (damage output and defensive capabilities) are almost always equalized resulting in his competency on during offensive and defensive situations vs other specialized Projects and he is least affected by bursts of either programming or human essence.

A/N: In an effort to try and keep things balanced and seeing how he has (given the experience of Overdrive) experience keeping memories in check and finding his center, I wanted him to have an emphasis on achieving a level of balance we all know he never will have in game. ;)

Plot/Relevance:

1) One of the original group of projects who starter to rebel. Activates Overdrive several times throughout combat, with the last one at the end causing him to short out and go into a coma.

Lucian

Trace: 3

Word is: Vengeance

Ashe musing: Our enemies require corrective action

Taunt (Friendly): We’re your family now.

2) We’ll make them pay. Together.

3) We’ve all lost people we care about. It’s up to us to make sure no more are taken.

Taunt (Enemy): Senna would be ashamed of what you’ve become.

2) Purify thyself.

3) You’re better than this.

Unique Protocol: Vengeance: Increased damage to traitors, mechs, and Zaunnite Programmers. Significantly decreased damage when betraying others himself.

A/N: Not much to say for this one, just trying to keep his power aligned with his perspective/general outlook.

Plot/Relevance:

1) Constantly plagued with worry that even if he falls in battle, he would not be able to join Senna in the afterlife.

2) Is almost turned traitor along with Ekko for the promise of a reversal of the project process by Viktor-if only to become as realistically just human as possible before his death. But in the end realizes the folly in such thoughts-especially since Senna is still trapped by Thresh.

Fiora

Trace: 6

Word is: Challenge

Ashe musing: We must act with precision

Taunt (Friendly): Don’t let your pride get you into trouble.

2) Your code will get you killed one day if you aren’t careful.

3) Your skill is an asset to the cause.

Taunt (Enemy):You once fought for honor.

2)You sacrificed your honor for power.

3) I demand satisfaction.

Unique Protocol: Challenge: She can overclock her abilities and defy her own programming restrictions for a time if she detects doing so will allow her to complete a new challenge. What a “Challenge” truly is can be debatable, but it can and more often will put her in harms way unnecessarily. (Hence Ashe’s comment on her Code getting her killed)

A/N: My first attempt to try and give a power with both potential huge advantages and drawbacks depending on the situation. (Also convenient for plot purposes yes :P)

Plot/Relevance:

1) Was the first Project to rebel-if only due to how her mind was rewired. She was only able to do so because of the great Challenge doing so presented at the time.

2) Her almost single minded thought process to find and overcome the most daunting challenges she can find leads to her near death by Zed’s hands when challenged to a duel while already grievously injured due to overwhelming security mechs in the facility.

Yasou

Trace: 4

Word is: Truth

Ashe musing: We are on the right path

Taunt (Friendly Mine): Try not to short yourself out with drinking next time.

Taunt (Enemy):They warned me not to trust you.

2) You disgrace yourself once again.

3) Once a traitor. Always a traitor.

Unique Protocol: Truth {Traitor}: Detection of lies and an innate ability to detect the correct path through mazes and disable hidden traps. {And tendency to switch to opposing sides at inopportune moments. The duration of the switch depends on how long belonging to the opposing faction will be most beneficial to him.}

A/N: While it may be cliché to purposefully plan him to be a traitor, I wanted to do because A) I just hate Yasou in general :P B) That IS a element of his lore (true traitor or not) if you care about the official Lore (which I don’t but still thought it was a convenient touch) and most importantly C) To not make Zed so OP/plot convenient that he can get away from the other projects every time no matter what their tactics (especially with Ekko’s rewinds on their side) So a quick Wind wall is all he needs to do if nothing else.

Plot/Relevance:

1) One of the first group of rebel projects, he is initially friendly (due to managing to get drunk) unlike all others but turns traitor due to a hidden virus/protocol at the end to help Zed who would have otherwise been finished off. While even he cannot recall if he had been a traitor in a previous life, the programming ingrained him to be a traitor regardless as the Zaun scientists attempted to add extra protocols to increase his potency and to tap into that significantly impact full part of his essence. He is eventually neutralized and put into a stasis until they can eventually determine his true loyalty if anything.

Zed

Trace: 5

Word is: Power

Ashe musing: A shadow of a man

Taunt (Friendly): A weapon just needs the right hand to wield it.

2) With you on our side, their days are numbered.

3) Our greatest enemy is now our greatest asset.

Taunt (Enemy): You gave up everything you were, and it still wasn’t enough.

2) You are but a shadow of a man.

3) It’s too late.

Unique Protocol: Power: He has an unrivaled amount of power available, both in capability and in sheer reserve amount, at his disposal. This effectively allows him to pose a threat against overwhelming numbers and odds through his ability to create as many shadows as necessary. However doing so causes each shadow to be at a fraction of the typical power. And so while he can be a threat to a group of any size an ability, he is not as truly a lethal opponent to anyone beyond a sole fighter.

A/N: Trying to balance out how he can take on multiple other Projects and skill sets at once is difficult. He is the one I am most concerned about.

Plot/Relevance:

Primary antagonist for most of the story, launches several sneak attacks throughout the complex as Ashe and co. try to escape. Ekko eventually manages to infect him with the Rewind/Freedom Protocol to make him fight for them, though the effects are only temporary. His visor and abilities turn from red to green during that time.

Leona

Trace: 2

Word is: Protection

Ashe musing: She remembers sunlight

Taunt (Friendly): The light in our darkness.

2) If anything ever happens to me, it’s up yo you to finish this.

3)You inspire us all.

Taunt (Enemy): Come back from the shadows.

2) Don’t let them snuff out your light.

3) You were the best of us. Once.

Unique Protocol: Protection: Her mere presence drastically increases the mental defenses of her allies through a passive aura of warmth from the channeled essence of Sunlight within herself. Upon focusing the ability, she can summon a beam of energy to short circuit mechs with raw human essence while disabling and disorienting Project enemies. Against normal humans (Zaunnite Scientists) it acts as a flash bang.

A/N: Her powers are pretty self explanatory and stick to her roll as a support, so I am happy with her though of course feedback is welcome.

Plot/Relevance:

1) Is the second in command of the resistance group, a pillar of strength and confidant for Ashe to rely upon as she struggles with the hardship of leadership against overwhelming odds. Her connection to the warmth of the sun allows her to warm what remains of their human essence, causing them to gain increase resistance to Programming.