Editing Corona Pollentia (section)

===Power Removal===
For most surgeons, lobotomizing the Corona in criminals is impractical for two reasons outside of ethical concerns: the location and shape of the Corona can vary depending on the powers and how they work, and the obvious difficulty of gaining expertise in this area.<ref>She ran her fingers over my exposed scalp, massaging it, as if she were feeling the shape of my head.  “The size, shape and location of the Corona and the Gemma changes from parahuman to parahuman, but it tends to sit between the frontal and the parietal lobe.  Beneath the ‘crown’ of the head, if you will.  They can’t really lobotomize the Corona in criminals.  Some of that’s because the location and shape of the Corona depends on the powers and how they work, and trial and error doesn’t work with the scary bad guys who can melt flesh or breathe lasers.” - [[Snare 13.9]]</ref> According to the experienced [[Bonesaw]], surgically removing the Corona of a powered individual does not remove their powers. The powers still work on the own: they just become instinctive and uncontrollable for the individual instead.<ref name="13.9 eUncontrollable">And the other reason you can’t just carve out the Corona?  If you do, the powers still work on their own.  The person just can’t control them.  It becomes instinctive, instead.” - [[Snare 13.9]]</ref> However, she does believe she can perform surgery on one's Corona to temporarily disable their powers.<ref>She tilted my head back and felt around the edges of my mask, trying to find the part where she could pull it off.   “I’m ''really'' good at figuring out where the Corona and the Gemma are.  I can even guess most of the time, if I know what powers the person has.  And I can pry it wide open, make it so the powers can’t be turned off, or I can temporarily disable it, or modify it.  The powder I blew into your face?  It has the same prions I put in the darts I shot your friends with.  Cripples the Gemma, but it leaves your powers intact.  Can’t experiment with your abilities if I’ve fried your whole Corona Pollentia, right?  Right.” - [[Snare 13.9]]</ref>

As a possible countermeasure for clients that renege on their deal with [[Cauldron]], [[Doctor Mother]] claims they have an in-house cape that can allow them to remove powers if necessary.<ref>“What kind of countermeasures?  Would you kill me?”<br><br>“We try to avoid murder in the course of doing business, not just because of the moral issues, but because it draws attention.  For leaks, our usual procedure is to discredit the individual in question and deploy our in-house division of parahumans to drive them into hiding, remove their powers or both.”<br>[...]<br>“We’ll see.  In terms of cost, Cauldron requires that the client pay two-thirds of the total amount in advance, and pay the rest over a six year period or ''default''.”<br><br>“Meaning you employ those countermeasures you talked about.”<br><br>“Revoking your powers in the worst case scenario, yes.”<br><br>“Is that revoking of powers a part of the process of however you give people the powers, or is it something that one of your in-house capes does?”<br><br>The Doctor was typing on the computer.  Without taking her eyes from the screen, she said, “The latter.  You don’t need to worry about someone using a loophole or flaw in the process to take away your abilities.” - [[Interlude 12.5]]</ref> [[Wildbow]] speculates her claim is real because of [[the Slug]]: as an example, he can choose to edit the brain of an affected individual so that a spoken key word or phrase will permanently take away their connection to their powers, i.e., individual loses their powers for good. He can also set a spoken key word or phrase that temporarily removes that individual's powers.<ref name="discord eBrains">'''Wildbow:''' Reneging on Cauldron favors - probably a firm reminder.  Very firm if it's ~that~ against the spirit of the deal.   "What we gave you we can take away.  There's a new cape in this city with a key word or phrase that will temporarily take away your connection to your power.  They now have license to use it if they run into you, and they'll retain that license until you make it up to us.  If you don't shape up and follow through on your commitments, you will lose those powers permanently, and we'll tell your enemies where you are, should you try to run."<br><br>'''Jicker:''' harsh, but fair<br><br>'''Forgery:''' Huh, I didn't expect their first response being an empty threat like "We can say a word and your power disappears".<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Empty?<br><br>'''Forgery:''' Wait, can Cauldron powers be removed with a single word?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' If the person has been slugged.<br>[...]<br>'''Forgery:''' I thought Slug was just the amnesia maker?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Slug edits brains.  Took away memories, set in blocks, set up the Nemesis weakpoints... - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref><ref>When characters start willfully disengaging from the commitments made to Cauldron, then Cauldron is liable to start applying heavier pressure.  They maintain the ability to drop the hammer on the player - a visit from Contessa or Number Man, but they would always prefer to get people back on course, instead.  We might see scenarios like…<br>[...]
* “We always knew you would be hard to manage, so we took precautions,” the voice says on the phone.  “While you were unconscious after getting your powers, we implanted a key phrase in your head.  One of our agents in the city now has that phrase, and they can use it to turn off your power at an inopportune time.  What we gave you we can take away.”  The threat becomes one of the powers being turned off for good. - [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D8y2aVXfuk35S-54ycdoaz0qQeFHHIBMoJbQGOBYG90 WD Cauldron]</ref><ref>'''Jicker:''' if Cauldron is investing in these capes, it's better to get them back on track if possible<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' It's better<br><br>'''Jicker:''' at least, that was my line of thinking<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' But if they're being total asshats with no sign of redemption, or if there's risk they blab, remove. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref>

An unpowered [[Taylor]] speculated sometime after [[Contessa]] disabled her with two bullets to the head that her power was removed after this disabling by either [[Cauldron]]'s in-house cape or brain surgery done via Contessa, [[Bonesaw]], or [[Panacea]].<ref>Her hand touched her forehead, and she felt a pair of soft spots, each barely wider across than a dime.  She ran her hand over her short hair.  She didn’t know how it had happened, but she could guess.  Bullets to disable her, surgery to seal her power away.<br><br>Cauldron, apparently, did have a means of locking powers away.  Or maybe it was Contessa, doing the work, or perhaps she’d simply been kept alive, carted to Panacea or Bonesaw, who could fix things up.<br><br>But dwelling on those things wasn’t healthy, and it was pointless in the end.  She’d likely never get a serious answer.  She only had the two dimples or holes in her skull, the sole apparent casualty of some kind of brain surgery. - [[Interlude: End]]</ref> However, it should be noted that [[the Irregulars]] already killed [[the Slug]]<ref>There were cheers.  I looked at my phone, and I could see the weirdly pretty man.  Chains stretched out from the armless, legless figure’s stumps, extending to the high ceiling and the floor, suspending him fifteen or so feet in the air.  Dead, or close enough it barely mattered.<br><br>I could also make out Mantellum, at the center of the crowd.  He stood beneath the guy they’d strung up, blood running off of the shroud that seemed to flow from his back and the edges of his face.  His expression was hard to read, but the fact that he seemed to be luxuriating in the blood rather than avoiding it… it didn’t put him in my good books.<br><br>“''It looks like we’ve got a full-on riot here'',” Imp commented.  “''Armless dude’s good as dead, they’re splitting up the crowd, so anyone that’s not inside the circle has a few guys who can deal with the ghost janitor''.” - [[Venom 29.5]]</ref> and that Bonesaw stated earlier that removing the Corona does not remove powers.<ref name="13.9 eUncontrollable" /> Indeed, [[Wildbow]] only confirms that Taylor is gone.<ref>'''ViVaVl29:''' Dropped ward a couple months ago. Just want to know do we ever definitively find out Taylor’s situation?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' In Glow-Worm, it's stated outright that she's gone. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/f9k816/comment/fis6jmq/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3| Comment] by Wildbow on Reddit</ref><ref name= WildRedWeave/> He also intended to make Taylor's ending ambiguous:<ref name= WildRedWeave/><ref>'''Blonk:''' Isn't Taylor living on Earth Alphe? She went to meet her alt-mom and everything.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Afterlife<br>[...]<br>Or coma.<br>[...]<br>Or alive but severely brain damaged and hallucinating.<br>[...]<br>Or alive but on Aleph.<br><br>'''Kite:''' and here I thought this whole time Contessa was just super nice and fixed it for her<br>[...]<br>but she was talking her out back and shooting her old yeller style and...<br>is it fair to assume Wildbow is trolling us<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' It's intentionally vague, and is whichever option you're least happy with, Kite. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> he has described interpretations where Taylor is in a coma<ref name= WildRedWeave/> or deceased.<ref>'''iamnotokaywitthis:''' If, say, Taylor Hebert popped up in the City post-GM, how would the world react?<br><br>On one hand, she forcefully subverted thousands of parahumans to combat Scion. She's a Master, and Canary got sent to the Birdcage just for being one. She sacrificed lives like chess pieces for the greater good. On the other hand, it's fucking Scion, and Taylor managed to beat him, saving countless lives.<br><br>If Taylor were to show up in the City, would the Wardens consider her hero or villain?<br><br>'''Wildbow:'''  "Look at this corpse, two bullets in the head. How tragic. Too bad the face is unrecognizable with the exit wounds. Crime's getting so bad in the city these days. I'll call the coroner, you want to order lunch?" - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/ylofvm/comment/iuzs6gk/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3| Comment] by Wildbow on Reddit</ref><ref name= WildRedWeave>'''Wildbow:''' The conclusion is Taylor in a coma, trapped in her own head, with no voluntary control over her body. This is what Contessa meant when she said that Taylor would decide whether she found peace or didn't.<br><br>It's why Tattletale said she'd look after Taylor, and why she wanted to drive the point home for relative strangers who were there as guests. It's why Alec was there, and why her dad was alive, when he had every reason to be dead.<br><br>Brain surgery with a bullet isn't really possible, come on. The real ending is that Taylor is effectively dead but not dead, and has to live with the consequences of her decisions, in a pseudo-afterlife. This ties into the themes of the story. Powerlessness and consequences.<br><br>Intending to make this clearer in the rewrite. Floored me that it didn't come across for most.<br>[...]<br><small>/just kidding. Or am I?</small><br>[...]<br>The ending is what you want/need it to be. I meant it to be ambiguous, it missed the mark.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' I personally find it rather amusing that some people have gotten on Worm's case for having a 'happy ending', when the main character died.<br><br>Done. Gone from this world. Mourned. Finally getting to meet the loved ones she lost. Left to deliberations over her actions in her former life, and the suffering or peace she's due, depending on the final decisions.<br><br>Maybe it says something about the tone of the story that the main character getting taken out of action is a happy ending.<br>[...]<br>AKA: finished, gone from the world, mourned, reuniting with lost loved ones, facing a final judgement that will see if she finds peace or torment waiting for her there.<br><br>Some readers interpret it as literal death (and Tattletale was saying Dinah needed to be convinced that she was responsible or partially responsible), with Taylor in the literal afterlife. Some see it as a metaphorical death. But it's a kind of death nonetheless. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit / on OG Myth-Weavers, archived on [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/17534385 Spacebattles]</ref>