Rise of Khepri

Rise of Khepri Conflict: Date: June 2013 Location:
Outcome
Taylor becomes Khepri
Participants
Khepri Tattletale Panacea Lung Marquis Cinderhands Spruce
Event Navigation
Previous: Oil Rig Battle
Concurrent: Gold Morning
Next:

The Rise of Khepri is an event taking place during Gold Morning. It focuses on the rise in power of Taylor Hebert after her Corona pollentia is modified by Panacea.

Prelude

Following the raid on Cauldron's West African base, Taylor was given more information on how second triggers worked and how powers changed and evolved. <ref name="DoctorMother">“We did. I can tell you about them, or I can answer your questions. What information do you desire, Weaver? What insights on the entity could win this for us?”

I swallowed.

“Second Triggers,” I said. - Excerpt from Venom 29.7</ref>

This leads Taylor to consider the idea of removing restrictions that help regulate powers in her brain, in the hopes of gaining an advantage in the fight against Scion. She asks Bonesaw for help,<ref name="ShardSpeech">“Second triggers are about knocking down walls,” I said. My eyes fell on Bonesaw. “Removing restrictions the entity put in place. If this part of the brain is a part that the entity shaped to help regulate powers on our end, then I need you to de-regulate.” - Excerpt from Venom 29.9</ref> but Panacea decides to help instead, arguing she can do a cleaner job herself. <ref name="PanaceaArgument"> “I’m inexperienced, yeah,” Panacea said. “But even inexperienced, I think I can do a cleaner job than you. And Tattletale’s less likely to catch on if you aren’t sawing Taylor’s skull open. - Excerpt from Venom 29.9</ref>

As a result of the procedure the range of Taylor's powers drops to 16 feet,<ref name="Tattletale"> “Sixteen feet,” Tattletale said, her voice quiet. “Fifteen point nine-eight feet, to be exact, but we can ballpark it.” - Excerpt from Speck 30.1</ref> but she gains the ability to control parahumans within that range. She loses the ability to vocally communicate,<ref name="Marquis"> “Ah,” Marquis said. “Shame. A communication problem makes it harder to gauge how much we can trust her.” -Excerpt from Speck 30.1</ref> and as time goes on more and more of her personality becomes subsumed by her shard.

Events

In the immediate aftermath Marquis tries to contain Taylor and send her away to a different world, until the time that the fight with Scion is complete. <ref name="MarquisCompromise">“Weaver is an unknown quantity. We’ll leave her here, as safe as anyone on any Earth is, and we conclude this fight against Scion, win or lose. When all’s said and done, we come back and we see what we can do for her.” - Excerpt from Speck 30.1</ref>

Taylor manages to break free and goes on to fight Scion and experiment with her powers using capes that fall under her control in the course of the fight.

She meets Glaistig Uaine and receives advice on practicing her capabilities<ref name="GlaistigPractice"> “If you want to get a full understanding of your new capabilities, you must figure that out on your own,” she said. “Practice, and it will soon be second nature.” - Excerpt from Speck 30.2 </ref>, and the necessity of choosing an anchor in the face of gaining power and losing identity. <ref name="Gu"> “You will need a tether, an anchor. It can be an idea, a physical thing, a place, a person, a goal. Right now, it will not seem so important, but it will. When all is said and done, you will either be dead, and this thing will be a comfort to you in your last moments, or you will be powerful, and it will be all you have left. Decide what you will hold on to.” - Excerpt from Speck 30.1</ref>

She begins targeting specific parahumans that are able to assist her task, starting with Doormaker and Clairvoyant,<ref name="Doormaker"> With my power, I seized control of Doormaker and the Clairvoyant. The pair stood, holding hands. - Excerpt from Speck 30.1</ref> subsuming Teacher's students, the Yàngbǎn, and any still incarcerated prisoners in the Birdcage.

Looking through the available worlds she captures every available cape she can find. Including breaching into Earth Shin and the capes there. The known exceptions were Sleeper,<ref name="Sleeper"> Sleeper. I could see him, sitting on a lawn chair on a balcony, reading a book out loud to himself.

More trouble than he was worth. I let him be. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4</ref> Teacher and Contessa.

Finally she confronts and captures the group actively fighting Scion, starting with Glaistig Uaine and moving on to the rest of the defending force. <ref name='Heroes'>Then, group by group, I captured the rest of the defending force. Some resisted, some predicted the attack, but it was a foregone conclusion. I had enough soldiers, enough tools at my disposal, that nothing here really stood in my way. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4 </ref>

Aftermath

With all the available forces aligned, Taylor — or as she would later be known as, Khepri<ref name="30.4">This was it. Finally, everyone was working together. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4</ref> — turns her full attention to Scion.<ref>Ah, I removed a line I never liked. - Wildbow on Reddit about removing the line "I turned my attention to Scion."</ref>

Trivia

• Just as with her surrender to the PRT, Taylor again shows her willingness to make important decisions without consulting those closest to her.

References

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