this is crazy

[from_scratch]

Cam is watching a new recording of Atriama, tail swishing in the gap in his couch, and doesn't stop to pause the show when he feels a summons go by.

Comments

[wormcan]

"Endbringer core is in high demand at the moment. That's probably going to be short-lived; there are only so many who have something to try. Miraculous cures and other technology will be more typical. And you've been supplying tinkers with what they need, but have you tried copying their results?"

[from_scratch]

"Not yet. I'm not sure it'll work, because it seems like it maaaaay run on magic, and so far all the tinker tech I have met falls into at least one of the categories 'I don't know why I'd want even one of it', 'if something went wrong in the duplication the materials involved mean I would accidentally nuke Tokyo', or 'glaring intellectual property conflicts I don't want to touch'. Do you have candidates?"

[wormcan]

"There are things I'd suggest, but not being a tinker myself I can't speak to the materials question. Maybe after getting in touch with some of the creators."

[from_scratch]

"I'd appreciate that! I would like to see whether or not it runs on magic."

[wormcan]

"It sounds like you mean that literally. Do you expect your power to interact with it differently in either case?"

[from_scratch]

"I can make things that run on physics. I cannot make things with persistent non-physics-behaving properties of any kind. No fountain of youth, no philosopher's stone, no ring of Gyges, etcetera."

[wormcan]

"Powers in general do seem to ignore physics, and tinker products are probably no exception. But if it works, it could be incredibly important. I'll see what I can do."

[from_scratch]

"Thanks!"

[wormcan]

"Well, there is a lot in this for us as well as everyone else, to be honest." But it goes on the list of things to try.

[from_scratch]

"Oh, yes, I understand. I thank you anyway. Anything else to discuss?"

[wormcan]

"I don't believe so. We'll be in touch when the receiving ends are set up."

[from_scratch]

"Great, I'll look forward to that." Shoo, person, Cam has shit to do.

[wormcan]

Person shoos.

It's not very long before they're ready for the first attempt, with some precise distance measurements and a parachute design. The first attempt may as well be a cargo entirely of Endbringer material, since if anything goes wrong it's not exactly fragile.

[from_scratch]

As long as it has someplace appropriate to go and everything's in order, sure. Cargo of Endbringer bits.

[wormcan]

Arriving stationary relative to Cam turns mean indestructible objects moving at over five hundred miles an hour in San Francisco. Luckily, it doesn't. No one is too surprised when physics doesn't insist very hard. Powers don't have to make sense.

After a perfectly safe arrival, long-distance conjuration definitively works.

[from_scratch]

Hooray.

[wormcan]

"If you'd like to try some tinker products," his contact says, "this should be a safe test." It's a six-inch camera drone, which when activated levitates at about head height.

"The tinker is one we've worked with before. He says nothing in here would be dangerous if copied."

[from_scratch]

Cam makes one.

[wormcan]

It levitates at about head height. Nothing exciting happens at all.

"Perfect! Now that we know it works, you can try more of them, or larger scale devices.
You could be the best tinker since Dragon if you wanted to."

[from_scratch]

"I'm not a real Tinker, but yes, thanks for the test! I've got a list."

Cam has a list. He goes down his list.

[wormcan]

And the list now includes quite a few suggestions from overseas. Large-scale force fields to help protect port cities in case of Leviathan feature prominently. How OTP got the rights to make copies of those, even in limited numbers, is anyone's guess, but every city wants one.

[from_scratch]

Cam is not going to be too fussed about patent rights here.

[wormcan]

"That sounds like a good way to get tinkers to not show you their products in the first place," says Vega.

[from_scratch]

"They don't have to show them to me up close, they just have to use them in any way that makes them look appealing to anybody who is willing to tell me about them," Cam says. "If any Tinkers come to me after the money they were previously not making by selling these things either, I'll pay them, I have been known to produce things of interest to Tinkers. This plan is not flawless but it seems better than 'try to negotiate with a lot of parahumans who have every reason to waste my time jacking up their prices every time I want to make some tech'."

[wormcan]

"And a lot of tinkers would take you up on that. Others are more possessive, and keep in mind that tinkers are uniquely well positioned to make things unusable by anyone but the creator. You'd get most of the tech you can shake a stick at, certainly, but also the fear of every tinker and the enmity of plenty."