Editing Contessa (section)

==Abilities and Powers==
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https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnq1km/
Wildbow:
Bad citation, that.

In context, that's a awareness-power nullifier on the scene.

MunitionsFrenzy

Not referring to the "fog" part, but the subsequent part where the path isn't achieved despite it being calculated. The fog was described as being all-or-nothing with regard to her power ("She could see normally, but the effect on her powers was absolute. It was impossible to make out any steps that moved within the fog."), and that's consistently how it was portrayed, so if she can see the path in that situation and still can't achieve it, that's not the fog's fault.

(And claiming otherwise now doesn't fix it. Unless you go back and rewrite that part, feats > WoG. :P )

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Wildbow: 
Her power can't account for variables inside the fog, so it's a flawed calculation.


Can fight those who manipulate reality.
<ref name=Luck>
'''Torrieltar:'''How do you think Path to Victory would interact with probability manipulators? Fate manipulators? Plot manipulators? Mind readers?<br><br>

'''Wildbow:''' I'd argue the weakness in all four cases is in the manipulator/reader side of things. The human/conscious/functional element of it is the weak point, like the human element of any computer security is the easiest point of access. Anticipate the person/person's objectives and beat them to the punch.<br><br>

Generally speaking, mind readers are ''more'' vulnerable to her (see four words reference in OP, [[Wikipedia:Superman: Red Son|'why don't you put the world in a bottle, superman?']]), her power can keep up with and anticipate the changes to fate and probability, and a plot manipulator might be able to win, but would depend on particulars. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>

-->Contessa's power allows her to see the adaptable steps<ref>She could see each individual step, looking forward to see what it entailed. She could see it evolve as time passed, accounting for her starting it later.</ref> she needs to take to succeed at nearly any given task and execute them perfectly.<ref name="24.2">[[Crushed 24.2]]</ref><ref name="29.x"/> Its applications include combat, communication, social situations, Cauldron's long-term plans, and how to set conditions for [[trigger event]]s.<ref>[[Venom 29.7]]</ref> Through a series of questions (see below) she is able to use it to the utmost. Though almost unparalleled in power even it has limits or restrictions. (see below)

She can default to following the path, letting her Shard take over.<ref name=auto>'''Torrieltar:''' Path to Victory comes with a sort of autopilot, right? Do we know what kind of limits that has? If, for example, a telepath was inflicting what would normally be debilitating psychological pain, would Path to Victory's autopilot help to power through that?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Autopilot yes (defaulting control to shard with faster-than-human processing), if her body remained functional then she'd basically move forward in a haze of PtVness. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> Thus putting herself out of range for many powers.

When trying to persuade someone it gives her the savoir faire necessary to succeed.

Her power does not allow her to [[Tinker]] rather it gives her the ability to handle tinkertech while avoiding misfires<ref>One point to Foxtail on relevant quotes. Closest answer, really. Tinkering may be real science, but it's real science conducted by digging deep into shard senses and networks. Contessa can do this to an extent, but not to the point that she could just go full Tinker-9001. - [https://redd.it/4669zs tinker material]</ref> and lets her damage or subvert it just enough for it to do what she wants.<ref>Whatever she was doing was working. When I switched my view away from the map and to Kenzie's diagram of the facility's infrastructure, I could see that Kenzie was making headway. I could see some messages between her and the computer console Contessa was at.<br><br>
 
 :''I cannot work with tinkertech or tinker code but I can give you the boot passwords to the server terminals. Old data is still on the systems, heavily encrypted.''
 
 :''i reset & access old system archetecture in at boot lvl???''
 
 :''Yes.''
 
 :''d- ! _ ! d-'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/07/27 Excerpt] from [[Dying 15.7]]</ref><ref>In the midst of the Kulshedra, I could sense moving air currents. A woman emerged from thin air, from a place cooler than the interior of the ship. The civilians we'd rescued shrieked and backed away from her. She didn't respond, barely reacted. Someone with long, dark hair and a suit. She fixed her cuffs, then moved with purpose.<br><br>But I found myself less fixated on her than on her surroundings. Oddly enough, I could feel a different structure behind the woman, a hallway.<br>[...]<br>Satyr didn't speak. He glanced at the ship. He couldn't see from the angle he'd approached, but the woman inside had pulled the lever, and the door at the back was slowly closing.<br>[...]<br>"Kul-," I gasped out.<br><br>The woman turned and walked up to the ruined nose of the craft, and began threading wires together. She didn't even flinch as sparks flared between them. She was measured, even patient, as she worked at fixing the panel. When she was done, she tapped something out on the broken, unlit touch panel.<br><br>"Kulshedra, shut down," I managed.<br><br>''"Restate request."''<br><br>The pillar rose from the top of the box, freeing the upper part of the box's door.<br><br>"Kulshedra, contact Dragon," I tried.<br><br>''"Dragon is currently unable to reply."''<br><br>"Contact Chevalier."<br><br>''"Calling."''<br><br>The woman tapped out another code, and the clamps on the bottom came open, freeing the bottom.<br><br>Yet another code typed out, and the system spoke, "Type two safety override accepted."<br><br>The woman in the ship struck a single button. The A.I. spoke, "Call ended."<br><br>"Kulshedra, call Chevalier," I repeated.<br><br>Nothing.<br><br>The woman inside typed out a final code, and the door of the box opened, releasing Pretender.<br><br>And then she spoke, and I could hear through the bugs that surrounded her. "The Doctor will see you now."<br><br>"Right-o," Pretender said. "Gotta be better than the Birdcage."<br><br>They stepped through the gateway that led to the cool, air-conditioned hallway, and then they were gone, the butterflies in the hallway no longer in my reach.<br><br>I felt my blood pumping, roaring in my ears. "They got him. They collected Pretender."<br><br>"Who?"<br><br>"Her. The shooter's partner. Cauldron." I clenched my fist. "Rime's down. We have to help her."<br>[...]<br>Arbiter looked from her phone to Prefab. "Dragon collapsed just before this began. She was meeting a Las Vegas Rogue."<br><br>"Yeah," I said. I thought of the woman who'd been so handy with the computer. The censor, the bogeyman. They'd taken out Rime, no doubt because she could have sealed the box behind a wall of ice.<br><br>Yet they hadn't taken out Prefab, who could have done much the same thing.<br><br>Every step of the way, every action perfect. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/05/28 Excerpt] from [[Drone 23.2]]</ref>

As Path to Victory is [[All-or-Nothing]],<ref name=AorN>'''Torrieltar:''' How fast can Path to Victory react to unforeseen changes?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' All changes are foreseen, as a rule. Can't cite anything, but there's a line that sorta appears in the story, where you run into the perfects (perfect defense, perfect offense) and stuff gets fucky - and the rule of thumb is that 'unless your ability beats -everything-, it doesn't beat this'. For processing power Contessa's ability would be on this level (as with Flechette's Sting, Clockblocker's inviolability, Siberian's invulnerability). - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> the typical [[precognitive]] cannot interfere with her power.<ref name="24.2 eNotConfused">"Right, that wasn't my second question. What I want to know is why the hell you haven't used a power like yours to figure out how to beat the Endbringers."<br><br>"My power is a form of precognition," she said. "Unlike most such powers, other precognitive abilities do not confuse it. That said, there are certain individuals it does not work against, the Endbringers included."<br><br>"Why?" Tecton asked.<br><br>"No way to know for sure," she said, "But we have theories. The first is that they have a built-in immunity, something their origins granted them." - [[Crushed 24.2]]</ref><ref name="24.4 c1">'''hitherbydragons:''' Only, Contessa isn't actually going to do all of these things: it's just that she'll do those things _in the world where the Simurgh is doing that plan._ So her power becomes a shape, a shadow, over the set of futures that the Simurgh can build. And normally vice versa, except that Contessa's power apparently wins.<br>[...]<br>'''wildbow:''' That is pretty much exactly right. - Comment by Wildbow on [[Crushed 24.4]]</ref><!--https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/crushed-24-4/#comment-28596--> Contessa is also a blind spot for precognitives (e.g, [[Shamrock]],<ref>Shamrock was busy giving Spitfire a tracheotomy. A fedora filled with slime was plastered to the younger girl's face, and she was struggling weakly. Shamrock's own face was covered in blood from nose to chin, and her efforts to administer the tracheotomy were limited as the fingers of one hand were bent at awkward angles.<br>[...]<br>Shamrock let Faultline take over, positioning the clear plastic tube that was sticking into the hole in Spitfire's throat. She had to spit blood out of her mouth before speaking, "No. I don't know. She came in here and took us apart in twenty seconds. We didn't touch her."<br>[...]<br>"Super speed? Super strength?" Faultline asked.<br><br>"No. Don't think," Shamrock spat blood onto the floor. She tried to stand and failed, put one hand to her leg. "Nothing I could see."<br>[...]<br>The bloodstained piece of paper had a message on the underside.<br>
:Final warning.
:-c
- [[Interlude 18.f]]</ref><ref>"Super speed? Super strength?" Faultline asked.<br><br>"No. Don't think," Shamrock spat blood onto the floor. She tried to stand and failed, put one hand to her leg. "Nothing I could see."<br><br>"A thinker power. Precognition? No, that wouldn't work with your power. Fuck!" - [[Interlude 18.f]]</ref> [[Dinah]],<ref>Dinah Alcott was speaking, sounding annoyed or upset. She wore a nice suit-dress with a wild pattern to it, and a similarly patterned cloth as a blindfold. "You can't trust her. I've run the numbers, I can't see past her but I can see everything around her, and I can at least see things that have yet to happen that are right behind her point of influence, understand?"<br><br>"Barely," Miss Militia said.<br><br>"Not at all," Gary said. He was a big guy, one hand wrapped around one fist. He looked entirely out of place, like a grown man with a fear of kids sitting in a kindergarten. - [[From Within 16.2]]</ref><ref>"I made no mistakes. I wasn't reckless. I was careful and she woke up, blinded me, and slapped everything I was setting up out of my hands, and she did it for a reason. And in every one of those eventualities I talked about? She makes it through. She's there, after all the blind spots pass, and she leaves us to our fates, for as long as we still exist in any sense." - [[From Within 16.3]]</ref> [[the Simurgh]]<ref name="II18.z eSilence">The silver woman was silent, but the silence spoke volumes. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref><ref name="II18.z eSmile">Finally, she decided to cede ground. To look for the answer why. Though the silver woman couldn't reach her, couldn't ''see'' her, a smile crept over the silver face, and wings stretched wider. She had somehow sensed the surrender. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref>). She cannot be predicted easily with the typical [[Thinker]] danger sense: [[Goddess]] could only feel a directionless threat and inevitable doom when Contessa sent her to [[Earth Shin]].<ref>"So it happens," Tattletale said, with a grin. "With only a select group of top Wardens and major players really tracking what really happened. But we were talking the woman in blue. She got powers and was relocated to Earth Shin before she could... grow to full potential. Relocated by a certain secretive agency."<br><br>"Cauldron," Sveta said.<br><br>"Yep. She proceeded to take over earth Shin, with all other parahumans acting as her lieutenants. ''All'' other parahumans on that world, mind. No exceptions. Which the organization deemed fine, because they got to keep her in their back pocket, even while they couldn't control her. She is, or was, a grab-bag, she found a way to pull free of her cluster, and she came out of it with a set of powers that would each be world-class on their own." - [[Pitch 6.8]]</ref><ref>Goddess shook her head, but she didn't offer anything specific that would clarify matters. I felt my heartbeat accelerate some, just from seeing her this concerned.<br><br>"I've felt this directionless threat before," she said. "It was after I came into my power, before I'd exercised it and learned its limits. Someone came for me. A monster, but the bitch looked ''human''. She sent me to Shin. To give this feeling a name... it's inevitability. A doom through a nearly complete and total lack of options."<br><br>"Inevitable doom, affecting this whole world?" Rain asked. "Hollow?"<br><br>"Hollow, with a bloody aftertaste. I've never felt a hollow doom before," Goddess said. "Maybe one of you has. Figure this out, now." - [[Gleaming 9.12]]</ref>

===Questions===
To get the most out of her power she asks herself various questions at the start of each day,<ref name="Que">'''Torrieltar:''' How hard is it to trick Contessa into asking her Path to Victory the wrong question?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Theoretically possible/doable. But if you're doing it by any measure that's blatant, you're working against the vast, fast processing engine that is her shard. Given time, she pre-asks about deception, mind control, AoE and other obstacles her power wouldn't effectively fight against. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> and various questions before a mission to ensure success.<ref>'''RazorSmile:'''It's not rocket surgery. A sufficiently wide and dense area-effect attack will either kill her, force her to leave or, if her power has that much range, keep her from showing up in the first place.<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Unless she, before she headed out the door, posed herself the scenario:<br>Contessa: "What do I need to do to come back successful from this mission?"<br>(Psst. Don't walk into the sufficiently wide, sufficiently dense area-effect attack. Here's a workaround).<br>"Goodie." - [https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?690769-Worm-thread-Gimel-Tinker-Taylor-Weaver-Worm&p=16869771#post16869771 Wildbow on RPG.net]</ref> This lets her keep to the path to defeat Zion and provides her with protection against masters and strangers.<ref>People began preparing to leave, gathering stuff together.<br><br>"No," I could overhear Contessa saying, "I ask myself several questions before I go anywhere, and one pertains to strangers. Stay behind."<br><br>Imp appeared next to her. She walked back to us with a very dejected appearance. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/extinction-27-2/ Excerpt] from [[Extinction 27.2]]</ref>

Her power also provides her with excellent information gathering abilities provided the right questions are asked.<ref name="II15.7 eExplain">"I can't defeat [Teacher], spare as many of your allies' lives as possible, and save the lives of people in the city. Not as I or my power understand circumstances, and my power understands everything outside of the blind spots that are Teacher, Valkyrie, the Simurgh, and two broken triggers that authorities aren't aware happened."<br>[...]<br>Imp groaned. "You're making me look awful here. I promised these guys one hundred percent victory."<br><br>"If you'd found me sooner, then I could have."<br><br>"How do you know all of this if you were in a coma?" Sveta asked. "The Simurgh, who's where, what Custodian is doing?"<br><br>"I'm finding it out as I explain it to you. I asked my power for the path to provide the explanation I need to give, that serves the purpose of filling me in on present circumstance. When you talk among yourselves, I'm asking my usual questions."<br><br>"Like how you can avoid being fucked over by a Stranger or Master in the next day or whatever," Imp said.<br><br>"Essentially." - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/07/27 Excerpt] from [[Dying 15.7]]</ref>

===Vulnerabilities===
Contessa still needs food, rest, and sleep, or she would have to lean on her power for more minute details, making it harder for her to run background processes and long simulations.<ref>She needed food, rest, sleep, showers, or she'd have to lean on her power for more minute details, and doing that made it harder to run background processes, and long simulations." - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref> More specifically, if she did not take care of herself and became physically weaker, her power would break things down into a series of derivative steps to be more precise about minute details that contribute to a specific end result.<ref>"It's not instant?" Sveta asked. "We studied her and we were sure it was instant."<br><br>"It's instant but it's ''harder''," Five told her. "If she didn't take care of herself and became weaker, then the power would break things down into a series of derivative steps."<br><br>"Hypothetically, if she was fighting someone like Alexandria," I said, "And she had the flu, hadn't slept... she'd drop a few percentage points in execution, but she'd have a fifty step process instead of a fifteen step process?"<br><br>"She wouldn't drop by any percentage points," Sveta said. "If she's fighting, she's at one hundred percent. She would beat Alexandria."<br><br>"But there would be fifty steps, or a hundred," Five said. "To be more precise about foot placement, breathing, and every other detail that contributed to a specific end result. More so with simulations." - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref> When fatigued, Contessa needs to devote more resources to staying on task;<ref>The early part of the fight was supposed to be the crucial part, where we did as much damage as possible. I could liken it to how Contessa got fatigued and needed to devote more resources to staying on task, but again, ''always'', this Endbringer that wasn't brutish and noisy, not feral and animal-like, but graceful. - [[Last 20.1]]</ref> [[Cauldron]] collected people from multiple worlds instead of one world to draw less notice and reduce the labor for her.<ref>"Not in a statistically significant way. Cauldron kept it up even after the numbers came in. It drew less notice to take five people from a thousand worlds than to take them all from one world. If we're talking about Contessa... it reduced the labor for her. - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref>

Contessa's power does not protect her against [[Wikipedia:Human error|human error]] as it is theoretically possible to trick her into asking the wrong question.<ref name="Que"/> However, given time, she asks questions beforehand about deception, mind control, area of effect, and other obstacles her power wouldn't effectively fight against; this significantly reduces the likelihood of being tricked.<ref name="Que"/> She also asks questions to protect her against [[Stranger]]s, [[Master]]s, [[Thinker]]s, and attacks against all corners.<ref>"She has to ask questions to guard against strangers, masters, thinkers, and attacks against all corners. - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref> That said, if Contessa does not take care of herself and gets worn down enough, there is a risk that she forgets to ask these questions or falls ill.<ref>"She has to ask questions to guard against strangers, masters, thinkers, and attacks against all corners. If she gets worn down, there is also a risk she forgets, or she gets ill."<br><br>"Did that happen?" Sveta asked.<br><br>"Early on." - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref> She could also ask the wrong questions or hear the wrong things, where 'wrong' is something that takes her off of the course she was on and is a relative wrong, not a moral wrong.<ref>"What's the worst case scenario? Why is this a weak point?" I asked.<br><br>"That she asks the wrong questions, or hears the wrong things," Five said.<br><br>"Define wrong," Sveta said.<br><br>"Something that takes her off of the course she was on. Relative wrong, not moral wrong," Five said, looking at her. "Sending one of my brothers to contact Citrine and the Number Man, not anticipating that her friend might be killed as a consequence, when there would have been other ways to distract Teacher."<br><br>Sveta nodded. - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref>

[[Jack Slash#Vulnerabilities|Without outside interference]], [[Jack Slash#Shard|Jack Slash's secondary power]] prevents her from killing him.<ref>Jack beats Citrine, Siberian, Grey Boy (until interfered with by outside sources), Number Man and arguably Contessa. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/32xu26/list_of_capes/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref><ref name=Tie>'''Torrieltar:''' Has Contessa ever fought combat precogs before (strong ones, more along the lines of atium than the Force)? If so, what was the result?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Limited examples in story. I have stated in word of god that she's trumped/matched by Jack Slash, but that's a unique case and not really combat precog so much as shard-one-upmanship. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref><ref>If you take away his top-levelpass vs. capes then that ''breaks'' verisimilitude; there's no other way someone hasn't come up with giving Number Man or someone like Number Man a sniper rifle, or summoning minions, or siccing Contessa on him. If it came down to luck he wouldn't still be around.<br><br>Jack serves the story by conveying that there ''have'' to be greater forces moving and limiting the pieces because he really has no right to keep existing without something else playing its part. He's a lead-in to the introduction of those forces. The fact he's not compelling as an individual is a big part of his character, and the reveal of how the broader Broadcast power works exposes this.<br><br>Was he handled perfectly? No, it was my first full-length story and with that in mind, it wasn't only both a marathon and a sprint at the same time but it was a marathon and a sprint at the same time by someone who'd never done either of those things. I really wish people would relax a bit. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!--https://redd.it/lrflao-->

====Blind Spots====
Just before [[Eden]]'s ultimate defeat, she restricted Contessa's power to prevent it from showing Contessa the [[Entities]]' deepest secrets.<ref name="II18.z eCrash">And the forward-looking eye, so generously given to the pair, was dropped in the rush, dropped in a stumble and crashing fall. Instructions were given in the parting. "Don't go too far, little Eye. You may see everything, but close yourself before you show them where we're weak. Don't show them our deepest secrets!"<br><br>It was picked up by a primitive, who looked through it and saw the pair. It approached the pair, a blade in hand, and the eye closed tight.<br><br>But another primitive saw, and another hand guided the knife home.<br><br>A betrayal, mechanical and undeniable. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref> Thus, Contessa has blind spots that she cannot directly use her power on: the Entities themselves,<ref>The being raised its head. She could see its eyes open in recognition.<br><br>''It's teaching itself how to act like we act. Even this.''<br><br>She raised her arm, knife held with the point down.<br><br>And the gray fog descended on her mind, blinding her. A barrier, a blind spot, a future she could no longer see. Had it set the limitation more firmly in place?<br><br>The godling smiled. It ''knew'', because the power she was using was the same power it had used to glimpse the future, to find that ''particular'' future where it had the world divided, drowned in conflict.<br><br>As far as the godling was concerned, she was blind, as helpless as anyone else. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref><ref>"There is one more of these things somewhere out there."<br><br>Yet she could reach out with her power to try to look for it, and all she could see was the fog. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref> the [[Endbringers]],<ref name="24.2 eNotConfused"/> [[Eidolon]],<ref>He'd come to see her as a fixture. Harder, now. She couldn't give him the answer he wanted. For better or worse, he was another of her blind spots. - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref><ref>She hadn't said a word, but she usually didn't. It had taken him some time to understand why.<br><br>Had the Doctor chosen, Contessa could have handled the entire discussion. She would have won the argument. Had she so chosen, she could well have framed it so that he walked away happy, content with the situation.<br><br>Yes, he was a blind spot for her, but she knew him well enough to construct a sufficiently 'David-like' model in her head, to come up with the right answers for every question and statement. But he would have known. He knew what she did and how she operated, and it would have colored everything.<br><br>With the blind spot surrounding him, she couldn't refine her path to victory enough that she could make him walk away happy and content with the situation, to the point that he ''stayed'' happy, stayed oblivious to what she'd done.<br><br>So he would come to resent her. - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref> and [[shardspace]].<ref>There were a few capes who she couldn't get past, and some were explicit, ones that were officially on the record, like how Teacher's doorway to the source of powers had blocked her vision. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/10/29/sundown-17-9/ Excerpt] from [[Sundown 17.9]]</ref><ref>"If you ask ''here''-" Tattletale said.<br>[...]<br>"I think if you ask and find out specific answers, you'll screw up Contessa's odds and spoil things. Don't ask for..." Tattletale trailed off.<br><br>''For the particulars about the option we took?'' - [[From Within 16.12]]</ref> [[Trigger event]]s are also a blind spot;<ref>The Doctor spoke, "I should have listened to her sooner, but there are too many blind spots around this situation. The Endbringers, the End of the World, the formulas. Things she can't see. I held on, told myself I wouldn't cut you off until we had another Simurgh attack, to ensure you could minimize the damage, that you'd be able to recuperate and adjust for at least a few months before she showed up again." - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref><ref>"It's not worth the risk. We'd be risking another Manton situation."<br><br>"With Contessa's ability, though?"<br><br>"It didn't allow us to know about or prevent the Siberian from coming into existence. It's a blind spot. If we ''must'' take risks, then we need to be smart about it, ensure we limit it to the risks we ''need'' to take. Gambling on creating deviances, outside cases or others." - [[Interlude 27.x]]</ref> she cannot predict their outcomes.<ref>Fortuna started to step forward to help, but her power told her it was too late.<br><br>Couldn't see the outcomes, couldn't counteract the outcomes. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref>

As of the [[Attack on Teacher]], she also has [[Teacher]], [[Valkyrie]], and two [[broken trigger]]s as blind spots.<ref name="II15.7 eExplain"/> Note that Contessa directly pathed Teacher<ref>"A problem?" the wizard asked.<br><br>''Path: identifying strangers and deception.''<br><br>Her eye moved to the man in the horned helmet, then, after a pause, to the wizard.<br><br>"I'm not entirely sure. Teacher, is it?"<br><br>The wizard nodded. "The Protectorate is just on the other side of the portal, collecting Satyr's teammates, Nix and Spur. If you could be discreet, it would be appreciated." - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref> and Glaistig Uaine<ref>Cauldron permitted Gray Boy because he was the closest thing to a weapon they had against Scion since Eidolon. When the S9 started picking up and more parahumans started getting removed from the fiend than Gray Boy was theoretically worth, they moved in. Manuevering Glaistig Uaine into taking him over, so the power would still be in play. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref><!--https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13172170--> in the past. At some point, they presumably turned into blind spots when their behind-the-scenes network in [[shardspace]] became sufficiently complex.<ref>Other cases of the network being in play include Teacher setting up his own temporary networks of a narrow niche of shard (thinker/tinker shards), or Glaistig Uaine co-opting other networks and making them subordinate (ripping out the entire package and making it a ghost she can load/unload). - Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!--https://redd.it/nt15eg--> For example, Teacher was no longer a blind spot after [[Victoria Dallon]] reset his thrall network in shardspace.<ref>"She's got Teacher, so he's out of the picture?"<br><br>"You dealt the knockout blow. Reset his thrall network, took away the addictive impulses of being under his sway. His thralls took him hostage and kept him while fending off inquiries from Cheit government. Custodian and Ingenue are still in the wind, one of them literally"<br><br>''One off the mental checklist.'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/10/29/sundown-17-9/ Excerpt] from [[Sundown 17.9]]</ref>

She can still somewhat predict the actions of blind spots by considering a hypothetical situation.<ref>"I wasn't the only person who was blind at that point in time," Contessa said. "Right now? To answer your question, I'm unable to see Teacher, but I know enough to simulate him. I can't see the full cost or casualties of his endgame, but I can simulate those too."<br><br>"Simulate," Precipice said.<br><br>"Determine the outcome based on all known information and outside context."<br><br>"So you could be wrong."<br><br>"It is very rare, and even more rare that it matters enough to throw things into disarray. For right now, I have to tell you I can't do as you ask." - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/07/27 Excerpt] from [[Dying 15.7]]</ref><ref name="29.x"/><ref name="I27">[[Interlude 27.x|27.x (Interlude, Eidolon)‏‎]]</ref>

[[Shard]]-derived sensory powers cannot perceive [[Mantellum]] (i.e., he blinds shards);<ref>Mantellum	'''Case 53. Blocks out sensory aspects of powers progressively more with proximity.'''	Irregulars - Parahuman List, bolded edit by Wildbow</ref><!--https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pgn9rgYutpBqJg1lSBP3NHnq9WK4ToLq9K4ys_I4cRc/edit--><ref>'''ReekRhymesWithWeak: ''' Edit: Can we also have clarification on whether Mantellum could beat Cherish or not?<br><br>'''Wildbow: ''' Mantellum operates in a different way than Hatchet Face, blocking all power use into or out of his radius. It becomes a contest of strength. Make your decision accordingly. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref><!--https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/32y8lk/comment/cqfwj5i/--><ref name="Reddit eBlindShards">'''Torrieltar:''' How do you nullify a power in Wormverse? Would any old power nullifier from another universe work, or does it need to be done in a specific way? Similarly, what would it take to duplicate a Wormverse power?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Depends, really. Mantellum was a power nullifier who basically blinded shards. He arguably wouldn't have any effect on a sensory power that wasn't a Worm power. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Conversation] with Wildbow on Reddit</ref> he and anyone in his radius are a blind spot.<ref>Fog approached. A wall of it, moving down the corridor. She could see normally, but the effect on her powers was absolute. It was impossible to make out any steps that moved within the fog.<br>[...]<br>She ducked. "-have a perception blocker, beware."<br>[...]<br>"Cornered. They've got a thinker, I think, they planned this ahead of time, knowing I wouldn't pick up on their presence."<br>[...]<br>This 'Mantellum' had been close enough that he should have been able to block her power. He hadn't.<br><br>Because he'd been on the other side of the portal. The power didn't cross dimensional boundaries.<br><br>She'd been lucky. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/12 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 29]]</ref> Contessa herself is also a blind spot to her power.<ref name="II17.y eOwnBlindSpot"/><ref name="II19.5 eOwnBlindSpot"/>

Contessa's power does not range well beyond [[Earth]], so flying into [[space]] and bombarding the planet would do fine against her.<ref>'''Torrieltar:''' Path to Victory can predict things from alternate dimensions as well, right? How about pocket dimensions? Places outside the universe? Other layers of reality?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Powers don't generally range well beyond Earth's atmosphere - a conceit of setting. So flying into the empty darkness of space and bombarding the planet would do fine vs. PtV. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> Her power is probably unable to account for metaphysical stuff outside of the [[Contessa#Shard|shard]]'s realm of expertise.<ref>'''Jakkubus:''' First, thanks for an interesting and in-depth write-up.<br><br>Second, you got me curious about fate and probability manipulators. How could she beat someone who can bend probability in their favour or even rewrite causality/fate? Also can PtV account for metaphysical and conceptual stuff?<br><br>'''Wildbow:''' Probably can't account for metaphysical stuff outside of the shard's realm of expertise. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnr64k/ Wildbow on Reddit]</ref>

===Titan Fortuna===
Upon her becoming Titan Fortuna, her power changes to quickly being able to create and envision thousands of possible futures, along with the steps needed to achieve them, within seconds for any single goal she requests. She can read the details of all of them when she wills, in order to see the other details of the futures where her goal is fulfilled so to choose which one is the most favourable, then select one future Path to work towards. If both the Titan and the human Host use the power in-tandem and work together, they can concoct possible future Paths even quicker than normal.

However, the future Paths she comes up with are not every possible future, merely the ones her power's processing ability has calculated. As such, what Paths there are is dependant on this calculating ability, such as how long is spent on coming up with futures for a single goal and the aid that the Host can supply in thinking power and processing ability.<ref name ="Rad 18.z">[[Radiation 18.z]]</ref>

As a [[Titan]], Fortuna only has her host, Contessa, as a blind spot.<ref name="II19.5 eOwnBlindSpot">"It's not what I did," Rain said, rubbing at his eyes. "It's what I said. I sent a message, to the only person that Titan Fortuna can't see." - [[Infrared 19.5]]</ref> For example, she can directly path [[Endbringers]] such as [[the Simurgh]].<ref name="II20.a eGuide">The Simurgh lay prone within the storm that was the Sleeper. Unmoving. That hadn't been him. That had been Dauntless, acting with the benefit of Titan Fortuna's sight, guiding the direction of the blast.<br><br>The storm crackled, boiled, popped, the colors taking on a rainbow sheen that somehow felt it shouldn't make sense with the way the colors unfolded.<br><br>That would be enough to take her out of the picture. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2020/03/28/last-20-a/ Excerpt] from [[Last 20.a]]</ref> However, Fortuna still needs time to spread her range of influence; despite being vastly more powerful than the Simurgh, Fortuna was initially on the backfoot during their precog duel because she just became a Titan and was starting from scratch. In comparison, the Simurgh spent two years preparing for her fight against the Titan and was already close to achieving her goals.<ref name="II18.z strength">''We began this fight when you broke, child'', the Titan Fortuna thought, trying to communicate to the battered kernel of human consciousness within herself.<br><br>''She began this two years ago, when Gold Morning occurred. It doesn't matter that we have a hundred times her strength. She's within paces of the finish line, and she's no stupid rabbit racing a tortise. Nearly every action she could take brings her closer to a checkmate.'' - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref>

Several interdimensional cracks manifested around the [[Titan]] after [[The Ice Breaks|the ice broke]].<ref name="II17.y eOwnBlindSpot">She watched cracks spread further.<br><br>The cracks found their next launching off point. A woman with awareness extending ''everywhere''. Each line of awareness was a weak point, like lines scored into rock before that rock was cracked. The cracks stretched easily along those efficient lines.<br><br>The woman in the suit, now locked in place, caught by her own well of power.<br><br>''Because she's her own blind spot, like Withdrawal said, much as any of us are blind to our own selves''.<br><br>She was too interconnected. Her power tied to too many things too constantly, and that power formed bridges. Connected everything, in a way. - [[Interlude 17.y II]]</ref><ref>Where enough different strikes intersected enough times, that which lay within broke away, falling back to reveal something else on the other side. The Cheit portal was the biggest case of it. The border between Gimel and Cheit broke away, and as it did, buildings from that other Earth were revealed, intersecting with facets and slices of Gimel. Some small, some vast.<br>[...]<br>Near the portal, at the worst of it, more was falling away. Gimel revealed Cheit, Cheit revealed Gimel, and when both fell away, there was a landscape of black crystal that seemed to connect to this new titan.<br>[...]<br>At the center of that new manifestation of cracks and destruction, a purple bubble with a triangular point extended down. The icon, a stylized woman in a fedora with tie, minimalist face, marked it as Contessa. The purple served to label her as a special case. - [[Interlude 17.y II]]</ref> Fortuna would use these cracks in her paths;<ref>''Step one: hold the cracks back, until the right moment,'' the Titan Fortuna and the child Fortuna thought in concert. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref> however, as these cracks opened to [[shardspace]], a nearby [[Simurgh]] could now potentially interfere with the information Fortuna was trying to transmit to her network.<ref name="II18.9 eInterfere"/> More specifically, the Simurgh's signal over time could "tamper" with paths being investigated by the Titan so that they appear to be in the [[Endbringer]]'s favor.<ref>But she had to ask: how long had the sheet been there? Had the answers been tampered with? Were there details that needed investigating?<br><br>She could check of course. The answer to that question was on the sheet. But in the time it took to find it, there could be more tampering, more details changed.<br><br>She already had the answer, that the silver woman had tampered. But where? She checked, and she found the answers.<br>[...]<br>Every route she investigated was seeded with false data, poisoned fruit, and patches of shadow that lay over the path, the far side of those patches ruled over by the silver woman. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref> That said, once Fortuna asked her host for help and worked in concert to quickly execute a path without investigating it too much, the Simurgh could not tamper with it, forcing the Endbringer to leave.<ref name="II18.z eQuick">The Titan Fortuna reached out to the child Fortuna deep within herself, and spoke with a certainty the child knew well. If they did not win here, ''now'', they would be enslaved.<br><br>The child refused to be a slave again. The Titan refused to be a slave for other reasons. But they were able to think and act in concert.<br><br>''A path''. One that most likely ended in a desirable outcome. To investigate too much would leave it on the table long enough for the silver woman to get silver fingerprints on it.<br>[...]<br>As if sensing the resolution, the silver woman turned and levitated herself away. Ceding the battle, or taking her own initial steps. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref>

===[[Shard]]===
Originally derived from [[Abaddon]] after he gave it to [[Eden]],<ref>She stood utterly alone and completely still. For all intents and purposes, she was the only one of her kind.<br><br>Before any of this, all of this, she had been the forward-looking eye of something greater and grander, a lonely being in and of itself. That great and grand thing had crossed paths with a pair of others.<br><br>''Take my eye'', it had said. ''Take my wings. Take my teeth. Take my ability to step between worlds''.<br><br>The pair, in turn, had made their own offerings, as much as they were in a hurry. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref><ref>"Is there any insight about ''this''?" I asked, and I lifted a foot, stomping on the black crystal. The echo was loud and eerie, reverberating off the walls. "Why is this crystal black and not red?"<br>[...]<br>A creature that moved like Cradle's agent had, slithering in and out of space, parts of it distorting and seeming to exist apart from the broader entity, until it slithered further in our world. Like a great snake crossed with a whale, crossed with an optical illusion, writ in black crystal, and shedding a constant trail of dust behind it. It was only visible as it passed by a sun, and the edges of it caught the light of that sun.<br>[...]<br>"Show us the point in time this thing..." I stomped on the black crystal, "...encountered the thing that destroyed much of the world back in June of two thousand and thirteen."<br><br>We watched as two creatures, similar to the slithering black thing, things that ''had'' been depicted in the portraits and paintings that people had tried to draw from memory, slithered through space. They were larger than some moons and planets.<br><br>The 'view' followed the black thing, and the background of stars pulsed with images, abstract and vast. - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref><ref>The pair continued to flow in and out of reality, swimming through space like a fish slipping in and out of air at the water's surface. They met with the black thing, which mashed itself into one of the two.<br><br>For lack of a better way of putting it, I would have said they limped away from the interaction, black bleeding into red and vice-versa.<br>[...]<br>The 'view' stayed with the red one that had absorbed some of the black.<br><br>Followed it to Earth, and it was obvious from the motion of planets that the scene was being sped up.<br><br>We watched as it tumbled into a rough crash landing on a barren version of our Earth. Everything went black.<br><br>"She's not a part of the rest of us?" I asked.<br><br>"There were a few like that, that stood out," Number Five said. "None were viable." - [[Infrared 19.8]]</ref> Contessa's power is the result of collecting [[List of Shards#The Eye|the Eye]] after Eden crash landed onto [[Earths#Eden's World|an Earth]].<ref name="II18.z eCrash"/> The [[Entities]] use the Eye as a defense mechanism<ref name="reddit eDefenseMechanism">Her shard is, on its own, a defense mechanism for world-destroying god-viruses. Scion, who has the same PtV, reacts to being shot at from behind while he's focused on another course of action.<br><br>Contessa is, by default, 'on'. This is why I said elsewhere that her being limited by human speed of thought is overstated. She is, by default, carrying out a course of action that sees her surviving until the end of the world, with criteria A through Z met, and her shard is gathering and utilizing information to see this through, at a rate that's best placed as 'unless you're unbeatable, it's probably faster' (see elsewhere in the thread). - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!--https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/comment/dbntw21 , https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/29824546--> to protect themselves from outside threats and problems.<ref name="reddit eOutsideContext">The answer is in-story in a roundabout way. Her power is direct from Eden (Entity #2) and is what the entities use to protect themselves from outside threats and obstacles. Unlike the vast majority of other powers, when it was collected (not given/handed out) it wasn't done so willingly, and thus wasn't given all of the weaknesses that keep powers from being used to interfere with the entities, shards, and life cycle. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref><!--https://www.reddit.com/r/whowouldwin/comments/5jmo6d/featured_character_contessa/dbnru59 , https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/29824546--> Because Eden did not willingly hand out this [[shard]], it was not originally given the weaknesses that prevent it from interfering with the Entities and the [[Cycle]].<ref name="reddit eOutsideContext"/> Thus, the Eye was helpless to stop Contessa from using it against Eden.<ref name="II18.z eCrash"/>

Like Contessa, [[List of Shards#The Eye|the Eye]] also has issues with needing direction.<ref name="II18.z eQuick"/> The [[shard]] only started a plan to form a complete [[shard network]] and then end [[the Cycle]] early (i.e., scatter resulting offspring to other planets)<ref>"Let's assume they have clear goals. The Simurgh wants... ''that''. Whatever that was. Humanity under her sway, her with Titans, Endbringers, and an army of capes brought back from the dead to protect her. Titan Fortuna wants to bring about the end of our world so their species can try their hand at replicating. Both have similar endpoints. But those are just that. Endpoints. What happens after the end?"<br><br>"The world is enslaved, or the world blows up," Byron said.<br><br>"Immediately?"<br><br>"The slavery, it seems like. The world blowing up... don't know." - [[Infrared 19.10]]</ref><ref>This whole plan, the idea was to give them exactly what they wanted. The Simurgh wanted a fight, wanted conflict, everyone on the planet pushing themselves to the limit, testing a system she'd set in motion.<br><br>Well, she'd got that. Contained to this one facility. With ''her'' as our primary enemy, more than each other.<br><br>Now Fortuna wanted to end the world. We needed to help her do that. If we balked, if we stopped... we lost. Hesitation when parrying an incoming strike was death. My early sparring with Manpower had taught me that much. It was especially true when your opponent was a hundred times stronger than you, if not stronger. - [[Last 20.8]]</ref><ref name="II18.z ePlanning"/><ref>"It's Gimel's apocalypse," Antares said. "Everything the agents were set up to do after Scion won or rounded up this cycle, they're doing it now. Cast aside the humans, accumulate raw power, then use that power to blow it all up and cast fragments of themselves in every direction."<br>[...]<br>Antares cut in, "Nobody interrupted anything. We disrupted it. They're staggering forward instead of doing this in a clean way. Processes conflict, they can't organize, so they'll just steal energy and materials from ''us'', wiping us out, then destroy what's left when they try and probably fail to make a coordinated exit. We threw a wrench in the works, but the machine is still trudging forward, smoking and doing a lot of damage in the meantime." - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/11/12/interlude-17-z-sundown/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 17.z II]]</ref> after Contessa became a [[Titan]].<ref name="II18.z strength"/>

According to [[Scion]], Contessa's [[shard]] is not [[Shard#Dead & Damaged Shards|dead]].<ref name="26.x eNotDead">It looked at the female, and it saw a shard that wasn't its own, but wasn't dead.<br><br> Puzzling. - [[Interlude 26]]</ref> Indeed, [[List of Shards#The Eye|the Eye]] is alive and still somewhat connected to [[Abaddon]] even after [[Gold Morning]],<ref>Every other gift lay dead and disconnected, fruit on the branches of a dead tree, with little in the way of parting words or guidance. Every other connection to the Loner was gone. The Pair too distant to reach.<br><br>Even now, as she grows large enough to look from horizon to horizon, and reaches out to clasp hands with others, make promises and alliances, she is alone, the only one of her kind still truly alive and open-eyed.<br><br>The mightiest of all, perhaps. Faced with a seed of a dead fruit from a withered branch on a tree that no longer existed. A silver woman, tiny by comparison, wreathed in wings. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/12/21/interlude-18-z-radiation/ Excerpt] from [[Radiation 18.z]]</ref> presumably because [[Eden]] was in the process of integrating the shard before she crash-landed and lost it.<ref name="29.x"/>