Editing Victoria Dallon (section)

====The Wretch====
[[File:Wretch by scarfgirl.png|thumb|Illustration by [https://scarfgirl.deviantart.com/ Scarfgirl]]]

Following [[Gold Morning]], Victoria's forcefield is stuck to her previous form, before Amy corrected it, causing it to extend beyond the bounds of her body in the shape of her mutated form.<ref name="II1.7 e1">Not a second trigger.  I was well aware of that.  When I’d first had my forcefield, it hadn’t protected my costume.  I had two theories as to why.<br/><br/>The first theory was that I’d grown, and the boundaries that the forcefield used to define ‘me’ had changed.  I’d breathe out, breathe in, gain a pound here, lose a pound there, and it would adjust for the maximum bounds.  It didn’t explain how my skirt was often protected, but I’d mused on that too, that my legs moved, my hair had been long at one point, I’d been shorter…<br/><br/>I’d been that, the forcefield had adjusted, and that was the new upper bound of what I was, forever with me.<br/><br/>It felt thin, as theories went.<br/><br/>The second theory was that it was the Manton effect, that broad-as-bells term for the built in protections and limitations of the power.  The theory was that the built-in protections of the power only protected what I saw as a part of me, and it had taken some time before the costume was that much a part of my identity.<br/><br/>That ''that'' was me, now, as much as the costume I wore. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2017/11/28/daybreak-1-6/ Excerpt] from [[Daybreak 1.7]]</ref> She referred to this phantom-memory forcefield as the 'Wretch', since the extended and misaligned forcefield expressed a degree of independence.<ref>[[Flare 2.4]]</ref><ref>[[Glare 3.3]]</ref><ref>[[Shade 4.3]]</ref> Victoria had to be mindful about it, so as not to wreck surroundings accidentally. However, in some situations, she was able to position it to protect other people.

After sustaining a big hit, the delays for bringing the Wretch back up will be longer than usual.<ref>I backed off.  Sustaining big hits like I had killed the Wretch’s stamina, made delays longer for a while after.  I had to trust they had things handled.  They had Wardens with them. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/07/20/dying-15-5/ Excerpt] from [[Dying 15.5]]</ref>

Eventually Wretch learns to manipulate objects without instantly destroying them. It was able to arm itself with improvised weapons and guns during [[the Attack on Teacher's Compound]], and later throw objects with a great effect.<ref>[[From Within 16.4]]</ref>

After her [[Journey to the Shardspace]], Victoria gained near perfect control of her forcefield. She was able to use it with impressive dexterity, doing things like braiding her hair, carrying a cell phone and picking up a team mate without harming them. She is capable of moving her forcefield independently of herself, adding some rotational power to her arsenal.<ref>I moved the forcefield, with movements of my hand and with my own control over it.  To give it spin, so it hurtled around me.  The force of limbs and irregular shapes cutting through the air actually made flying forward harder, slowing me down.  Titan Eve was creating a wall of hard gas in anticipation of the impact.  I was going to have to deal with that too. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/11/26/radiation-18-4/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.4]]</ref> This can be used as a crude fan in situations involving gas.<ref>Dance with me, I thought.  I made my forcefield spin once again.  I could see the impact of the rotation and hands slicing against air on the gas around me, and maneuvered to use it, hands turning to be flat against the wind and fan it more, driving gas toward Titan Oberon, our most immediate threat. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/11/26/radiation-18-4/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.4]]</ref>

When [[the Firmament]] was damaged in the fight against the [[Titans]], the shape of her forcefield changed once again, decreasing in 3 times. Now with less arms and legs, her forcefield is at a halfway point between its original form and its full wretch form. She also started getting<!--more?--> sensory information through it.<ref>“My forcefield shrank three sizes,” I said.<br/>[...]<br/>Using my forcefield hands to pinch metal together, curl ragged edges, and straighten what was bent, I simultaneously figured out the new limits of my forcefield.  The reach of the arms, the number and position of them.<br/><br/>My forcefield had long hair.  Longer than I was used to.  Less arms, less legs.  Like it was halfway between where my old forcefield had been and where ‘the Wretch’ had been.<br/>[...]<br/>I felt the forcefield’s hair slip over a bare forcefield shoulder. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/01/04/infrared-19-3/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.3]]</ref>

In its new form, the Wretch has less arms but the remaining arms are closer to each other, better enabling Victoria to move things around. She can use her forcefield's fingernails to cut things in combat.<ref>The hands on this form were closer together, instead of being spaced out across a larger body.  I had two less, but it was far easier to pass something from one hand to the other, especially with all the hands being in areas around the torso.<br/><br/>My last ‘fragile one’ hadn’t had a torso, so much.<br/><br/>The fifth one was slow in coming at me.  I didn’t flinch as it lunged for my head, then stopped where it was at.<br/><br/>At my bidding, fingernails ran down the length of its body, head to the stinger it thrust out blindly, and two hands pulled the cut open, practically bisecting it.  Crushed and twisted apart, one by one, the other wasps fell to either side of me. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/01/21/infrared-19-6/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.6]]</ref>

Following the emergency healing from [[Chris Elman]], Victoria loses fine control over the forcefield yet again.<ref>I could feel the forcefield moving, despite my wishes.  Reaching out, heads moving, mouths opening.  The periodic arm was swung, hard enough to audibly cut through the air.<br/><br/>Not as restless as it had been, but this was almost worse. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/02/02/infrared-19-7/ Excerpt] from [[Infrared 19.7]]</ref>

This lack of control does not last long, as she comes to terms with her shard and gains full control over her forcefield. Victoria is now capable of selectively creating arms and mouths and other parts of her forcefield, without being forced to unleash the entire thing at once.<ref>[[Last 20.1]]</ref> By invoking memories of the time that Amy had turned her into a flesh coffin, Victoria is capable of emerging from inside her forcefield and having it act independently of herself.<ref>The scream latched onto the memory.  Me, wrapped in a cocoon of stray dogs, cats, bugs.  The cocoon had become a coffin, encapsulating me, after Crawler had eaten into me with acid.<br/><br/>But that coffin had opened.  Ribs with flesh strung between them had parted, revealing me within.<br/><br/>I held onto that image, pushing out, trying to capture it.<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>“I need you to get me in there!” Sveta called out to me.<br/><br/>“Okay, but- I don’t have my forcefield.”<br/><br/>She gave me a confused look.  Then a golden beam stabbed out, striking the shield the Simurgh was using to protect herself, until Byron pierced it with a spike of stone.  She connected the dots, looking back over her shoulder.<br/><br/>The Fragile One was there, visible in the shadows of dust.  Chest open, ribs splayed, a hole big enough for me to move through.  Her arms were extended, gripping the gun Dragon had given me, aiming it. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/03/last-20-3/ Excerpt] from [[Last 20.3]]</ref> In doing so, she is still capable of using her flight and her aura, but is no longer protected physically.