LP:EQO Songbird Scroll

 Song Scroll dove towards the forest, and Blue Yonder followed. They flew just barely above the tops of the trees, avoiding the occasional branch.

"Seek!" Blue Yonder yelled, and rose violently up into the white puffy clouds. It was one of the last glorious warm days of Harvest Fall.

She flew in the clouds, trying to hide from Song Scroll while still heading towards Canterlot. Poking her head out from the bottom of the cloud, she saw Song Scroll approaching, and then they crashed, tumbling through the damp cloud.

She recovered, descending to watch as a hill slowly rose up out of the forest until it ended at a mighty cliff face. 

"Speed," Song Scroll shouted back at her and they were racing again.

They descended closer to the ground as they approached Canterlot and then landed and approached the shopping district on foot.

"There's a couple of stores that sell music players. Maybe we should look at the Electronics hobby shops too if you want to modify something to make your karaoke."

"You seem pretty excited," she commented.

"I kinda became the default electronics girl in town because the studio needed so much stuff. And we watch movies at my shop too, so I had to do more electronics stuff to support that. I don't mind but it's not my favorite. Having someone else who enjoys this stuff, that's cool."

"Hobby electronics was kinda behind the times in the before. Only a true wizard would chose that kind of thing. Everything was already ready made, but here, I mean I guess karaoke could just be a start."

At the music electronics store, Song Scroll showed her the square discs songs could be stored on. Song Scroll put 6 to 8 songs on her discs, but it depended on how long the songs were.

"I might need your help recording some songs -- songs that don't exist here. I want to make Hobby bluffs versions of them of course," she said, amused.

"That's my kind of jam!" Song Scroll shouted. 

The musician was more excited after that, coming up with thoughts about translating songs and helping with building Yonder's first equipment setup.

♫Talking about my Ho-b-by-thon♫

"Not quite right, but close," Song Scroll said. "Let me try another one."

"This one's my favorite," Scroll replied.

♫I said, "Yep, what a concept, I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change"♫

"Yeah All-Star is pretty cool, there's a few of the verses I haven't sang yet that need changing, but mostly it just fits."

I took a simple cheat tablet from the Device store, and then added peripherals to feed the audio from the tablet to the new speakers that I'd bought. But the main thing I needed to make it all work, was software. I also wanted to do some kind of cool lighting that would flash and change with the song, plus it gave me more excuses to learn electronics hobby stuff. I had to have the books I would need sent by mail, because we already had to much to carry back.

All in all, I had to take out a 2000 bit loan, which had me all nervous, because I knew what loans did to people in the before. and I didn't want too much pressure, even though I was excited now.

Song Scroll talked me down. 

"Remember this part of All Star?"

I had been singing new parts of the song as we waited for the Pony express, and Song Scroll sang her favorite.

So, what's wrong with taking the backstreets?
You'll never know if you don't go (go!)
You'll never shine if you don't glow

"Who do I talk to if I can't make a payment, and what's the interest rate?" I asked. Honestly Song Scroll probably didn't know but she could put me in the right direction.

"Celestia runs all the loans, so she'll keep in touch with you about your progress. But if it doesn't work, you just return the items you purchased, what's left of them at least. There's no payments until you're ready to pay off the whole loan. I paid off mine last year, and it was 15000 bits," Scroll said.

The Pony express was a quiet train, I was able to store my new purchases in an unused train car, and they were off.

"I think All Star is the first song I want to record, Ponies are going to love this! You'll never shine if you don't glow, that's like the Pony anthem right there! Thanks Blue!"

"No problem Scroll. Let's see what I can figure out. Maybe in 3 weeks I'll have a really clunky goofy setup, but we can try it. If you see Joy or White Rose before me, bring up the idea of having a testing night."

* * 

"Hey Mayor!" Song Scroll said as she entered his office, practicing hopping and gliding every other step. She finished the apple fritter and wiped her mouth.

"Hey, you're pretty happy. What's up?"

"I've got some new songs I want to record. I'm really excited about one of them, but I want to give a writing credit to Blue Yonder on them. Can you do that Copyright magic again. Once I'm done in the studio."

"Sure thing Scroll. So our newcomer's got more of an artistic bent than I thought."

"You'll see. Just wait."

* *

Joy Thespian tended to be louder than most ponies, but every thespian knew that when the play started, it was time to be silent. She ran the recording equipment in silence, watching Songbird Scroll sing the new Hobby Bluffs smash hit.

She liked to help scroll wherever she could. She added in the piano accompaniment, while Scroll wrote the vocal part and the drums.

They didn't have any live piano or drums, it was all electronically created by the software Scroll had purchased and tweaked.

Mixing songs was a new skill for her, and she and Scroll would probably go back and forth on how to do it.

It was like Christmas in Spooky Fall. She never would have guessed Blue Yonder would have joined their little performance night or become good friends with Scroll so quickly. She obviously had her own specialty, they all did, but still enjoyed helping out and getting excited about the same stuff she and Songbird Scroll got excited about. 

"How was that take?" Scroll asked.

"I like it. I liked all of them," Joy said. "I think that would is one of the best. Do you want to have Blue perform the song too and compare your performances?"

"I'll see if Blue's done with her work today."

Blue Yonder had rented a shop on 2nd street, just a block away from the studio.

Scroll took off her headphones and stepped away from the recording area. "I'll send her a Pear text."

Pear Computers were used all over the place in Equestria, although some people liked the Robo-social brand.

** 

Silver Metal was a young stallion with skills in metallurgy and welding.

He watched me like a hawk as I carefully welded the two circuit boards together. I wouldn't be doing any heavy duty welding, just light electronics stuff, so I didn't need some of the more advanced training, but I now had my goggles and lab coat just to keep me safe. 

I had to go back and get a full audio-production set of a equipment. I don't think Scroll realized I needed to take in the singer's audio input and then process it together with the non-vocal tracks of the song, that was in addition to getting the lyrics so I could display them on the tablet.

There would be a lot of settings to adjust in the audio in part of the device. This would not be a portable karaoke device, not for now. It would be something I could carry with a hand cart.

When I got done welding the extra logic board to the primary board, I put away my goggles and looked over to my Pear pad. There was a flashing message alert.

Something from Songbird Scroll.

I turned back to Silver Metal. He hadn't got his cutiemark yet, but he was sure to get it soon, I thought.

"How did I do?"

"Great job Blue, I'll come back tomorrow and you can practice a bit more."

Although the Karaoke machine was my major project and would keep me busy for a while, I decided to make my shop broader than that. I would get bored of just doing music all the time. 

I spent all morning studying my Audio Production and Signals Processing textbooks, and yesterday I spent a few hours reading some more Fundaments of E&M: Equestrian edition.

Some of physics was a bit different here, but a lot of the high level stuff was the same, the building blocks Celestia used were different. There was no quantum mechanics here, the high level reality of E&M was recreated through a different mechanism. I guess that would be in the later textbooks.

It was already 1 o'clock and I hadn't even had breakfast other than a quick bagel. There was so much to do and learn, and I really wanted to get a prototype of the Karaoke machine done, but I still wanted the backing tracks together with voice, so that meant more difficulty for my first project.

I decided to go meet Scroll and Joy at Scroll's studio and record a version of All Star. Might as well take a break anyway.

My head was still so full of project details that I forgot where I was going for a while and I had to turn around when I almost went back to the apartments on accident.

And then I bumped into Saber Artist.

* *

What the heck had happened to Blue Yonder, in the past few days. He had seen Songbird Scroll and some of the other ponies get obsessed with a new project, but Blue took it to a new level. 

She was still thinking about the project and not where she was walking he guessed. 

She was carrying two textbooks and didn't even really realize it, when they crashed. Blue had veered off, not realizing she passed Scroll's studio, and then wham, we crashed.

"Oh, high Saber. Uh, I've been really busy and my brain is just still moving even when I step out of the office. I have dreams at night where I think I've left a programmable board in a half-configured state, like I forgot to set half of the pins. Then I wake up and realize I'm having vivid dreams about my work again."

"You don't have to get everything done by some deadline, Blue. This is the time of year to slow down, take a deep breath. We've got some funny stuff planned for Halloween, don't stress."

"Well, I was going to record a song. Scroll's already done her version but she wanted to hear mine to compare. I don't know if she wants anyone else to hear it yet, but I can see."

"Let me ask Songbird Scroll, if she doesn't mind sure."

After Songbird Scroll said it was OK, Saber followed Blue Yonder inside. He hadn't seen Scroll's studio since it was being built. There were some locals that tried to steal Scroll's supplies.

Not the townspeople, but some pesky raccoons. Scroll had done a lot of upgrades.

Blue nervously talked to Joy and Scroll for a few minutes and then went into the recording booth.

Working nights did have it's privileges, as when the three mares wanted to go out for drinks to relax and try again tomorrow, he could come along. Of course, Hopricot was practically the place to be for the musically inclined. They had just opened when he followed Yonder, Scroll and Joy inside.

"I just took the words to the song, Blue gave them to me, I should have had her give me the notes too, the eighth notes and all that threw it off. That's OK though, I thought the song couldn't get any better. It's even catchier now."

Joy responded, "The way we say things is always key. Can't wait till we can all try it with karaoke."

"I'm so excited to make that happen, but I'm taking a break from the project this afternoon. I got a little overboard between reading my textbooks and working through lunch with Silver Metal."

LP:EQO Settling In

 I woke up Wednesday morning, soaring out of my balcony, headed down to the post office.

When I read the note that came with my giraffe fruit tree clipping I was a bit disappointed.

It was too late in the season. I needed to keep the sapling in a pot in my apartment until spring. I guess that wasn’t too bad.

I carefully brought the pot in and put it by the window to get some sun. I gave it a bit of water before going out for some flying practice. I wish I could meet those three funny fillies and go silly flying again. 

Whatever I’ll be silly by myself.

I approached my farm site by a silly indirect path flying looping paths climbing up to the highest white clouds and diving into the small Hobby lake before shivering and drying off as I spiraled and shimmies to the site.

Today I just took a stick, marking out some idea of how I wanted to organize my farm. I didn’t want to grow just one thing, I wanted to collect several oddball things to grow.

With only one giraffe sapling to start it would take a long time to get many of those trees growing around here. Giraffe fruit would stay a rare delicacy for now.

I marked off other orchard areas and veggie and fruit area for bushy fruits and veggies. Potatoes too, I blocked off a section just for that. I blocked off some other sections.  

I knew the dirt markings would be worn out over winter so I sketched the best representation I could have the lines I had made.

I would have Mr. Slumber come and cut down some of the trees that were in the way.

***

Just a Peach’s farm was beautiful. All the fruit had already been picked but I fly a couple laps around the orchard admiring the view,

I had never tried peach juice before coming to Hobby Bluffs but it was mixed with a bit of apple juice to give it a tart contrast. It was Very tasty.

I wanted to join up with the gardening, but Saber Artist and Cheery Tinsel convinced me to play capture the flag. Sodaglug made all the soft drinks in town out of his shop, and he was running the game.

This was one of my favorite games as a kid and even without being able to fly I did really well scoring 3 captures and rescuing our flag once.

We had dinner in Mrs. Peaches house. It was a nice place and the food was lovely too.

My before bed routine was to go out for a refreshing flight before bed, then brush my teeth, get into comfy clothes and get under the blankets and doze off.

Just one thing, I now had a silly habit of chatting with Saber in bed.

My tablet was old but easy to use in bed. And he had a lot of long boring hours at the police station.

Saber Artist: I gotta run, there’s some wild animals getting too close to town.

I should have fallen asleep, but I stayed up wait,

Saber Artist: back. Don’t know if you’re still awake.

Blue Yonder: I’m up, I’ll sleep in a bit kinda can’t wait till next spring to start my farm for real. What does everyone do all winter to keep busy?

Saber Artist: The mud winter season is the worst but before that the winter solstice is a big fun time to relax, bake and cook up awesome meals.

It’s nice to have some time of the year where you can wear the sweater auntie got you and stay inside with hot cocoa.

You should see the drinks people make up too.

Blue Yonder: fresh snow is nice too. The clear crisp air of a cold morning. I guess I don’t have to spend three months in classes without seeing anyone. 

Before, we always had a great solstice, but after that my family left and it was lonely. I had a student last year who I chatted with a bit. He was into games too. 

There was a game in the before where you could design your own village or town. Or maybe build a great big castle or pyramid. Most people used it to fight monsters , but i liked to build.

We talked about that game and some others. Otherwise I didn’t see anyone for 3-4 months except my coworkers, and students. 

I used to be excited about my thesis, but it was all about revising it so the boring parts.

Saber Artist: sounds awful, but I still say I want to be a student. You should teach a class.

Anyway, I miss my parents and shield bay sometimes but I love this little town. We’ve got to plan next month’s hobbythons. Any ideas?”

Blue Yonder: it’s not main activity worthy but I think I’ve modified a game from before that would be fun. It’s a game but also you have to play a character as part of the game. It’s also kinda a mystery game.

There’s villagers, some of them can do something special at night to investigate. And then there’s one or two clowns that want to pull a prank on the town.

The clowns try to pretend they are a villager, and make people think someone else is a clown. And you take a card that determines clown or villager. 

I want to be clown first, but I’m not going to tell anyone else. Then I can demonstrate how a good clown should be sneaky. It takes like 5 minutes per game so we could play a lot and laugh in between.

In the version before, we got so loud and carried away, but the clowns were werewolves. I don’t want to scare anyone with werewolves.

Oh I’m excited for thespian club on Mondays. I met Joy on Monday, and Song Scroll was there: we had a lot of fun.

 

Saber Artist: you should have dinner with me and auntie next week. 

Blue Yonder: sounds good.

*

The next week excitement was really building for the End of Summer festival.

Song Scroll and I helped fly up to the top of flag poles and put banners up on Monday.

 Pops Corn needed some help getting ready at his cornfields. They were pretty huge.

“Leave the ones the birds are picking over they can have em. I’ve gotta get the butter from Mrs. Moomoo. The corn butter station is key!”

Butterscotch showed up after a couple of hours. I had gathered up a row and a half of corn.

“Hey have you seen corn candy before? I’ve got some recipes. Or Caramel corn. That’s more Mrs. Corn’s thing though. But it’s so good.”

Pops showed back up after they were halfway done with the field. Both of them were exhausted but they kept cracking jokes to each other.

“I only asked for one row. This here Pops can do the rest. I’ll bring some over to you Butterscotch. And Blue Yonder, you just holler this spring and we’ll come help you get set up.”

Butterscotch agreed to go to Hopricot with me and then Saber Artist showed up so we had a nice group for the performing night.

“You know what Mr. apricot needs?” I said after a few drinks. 

Song Scroll clicked her glass, “what’s that?”

“A karaoke machine!”

“Hmm. What is that?”

Saber Artist asked, “is this one of those things?”

“It’s a machine and you can pick from a ton of songs and I will put the words up on the screen so you can sing. And it includes the music, everything except the singing part so you can sing along.

It’s so much fun, do a duet or just challenge friends to do sillier songs.

Oh, or Rock Band. Is there anyone in town who sells electronics?”

“No one makes that stuff in town, most people just go to Canterlot, there’s the big stores there.”

“I need to save up some bits,” I grinned. Ideas a plenty.

“Maybe you’ll end up being a townie instead of a farmer.”

“After I claimed that field and everything?”

“Honey?” Song Scroll said. “I tried everything before I opened my music studio. I was going to be a farmer, a shopkeeper. Maybe a brewer. A toy maker. I went on a phase where I wanted to be like Butterscotch. It’s ok to spend some time figured out whatever it is that’s you.

You can still help people out and try other things, it’s good to the community to bring your own thing in.”

“I want to go patrolling with Saber artist again.”

Saber was singing, Shield City Guards, we make it right. All the cadets say hi! All the cadets say go… stop.

“Totally get it. This karaoke thing? Look into that.”

“Oh and I forgot, I didn’t show you the Pegasus challenge! Tomorrow!”

***

I walked down Main Street with Saber Artist. The small shops continued for a couple of blocks.

"I'm going to try both. I'm not going to let go of the farming idea, but Song Scroll has really encouraged me to try to explore and find my thing," I said.

"You can have more than one. Sherriff, fencing aficionado. Did you know, when I was a kid I wanted to be a mail pony?"

Writing Prompt of the Day: 8/19/2025

Prompt: [WP] You're the lawyer for a new supervillain facing a laundry list of charges. After reviewing the footage and other evidence, you're pretty sure you've got a strong case that they were acting in self-defense.

Original Post

Brainstorming

It would be funny if the supervillain really is a bad guy, but because of the circumstance, he has a legitimate case that it's self-defense.

If law enforcement are trying to arrest him, then it's not self-defense, so vigilantes would be suggestive. Maybe a heavily armed militia or something like that, which would force the villain to respond forcefully to save his life and therefore cause a lot of damage that leads to many charges against him.

Who is our lawyer character, what is he like. Do supervillains have established law firms, or they just use any firm that will work with them? Is our supervillain wealthy as a result of his activities, or more of an angry but lower SES figure?

How did the supervillain gain powers. Was it like Worm, where there is some horrible event in his backstory that caused him to gain powers. Was it technological (did he develop a supervillain suit or meha or something?)

Writing

"1 count of Supervillainy, 1 count of terrorist acts, 1 count of 1st degree murder, 2 counts of 2nd degree murder, 22 counts of assault and battery, 1 count of arson and 1 count of felony criminal mischief."

If anyone still used the fax, it was the prosecutor's office, Lewis decided. Reading the counts for the firm's new client was sobering. 

The street fight in Lewiston had been national news for days. The political valences kept the story afloat. Republicans sympathized with the local milita group and despised the supervillain. Democrats despised the militia members. No one was on Minion Summoner's side, except now he was legally required to be.

The odd thing was, their client was a rather new supervillain, and he wasn't being charged for the prior bank robbery the week before. Lewis suspected there wasn't a lot of evidence in that case. The running battle that started in the post office was on security cameras and cell phones and every form of recording device known to man.

What was released to the public was only a segment of the combined footage available. Lewis went back to his desk, reviewing the notes he had already taken.

Minion Summoner was not known to be living in the area. By the Superhumans Act of 2029, all Superhumans are allowed to use an alias, which can only be changed by application to the Superhumans Bureau. They are not required to provide their real name, except in rare cases. 

So there's no guarantee that Minion Summoner wasn't from around the area, but there was no match with recent school or DMV records. He had started abbreviating the client's alias to MS just for his own sanity.

Lewiston city police had called in County and State troopers, and it was state authorities that compiled the consolidated footage of the violence. 

Lewis rewinded the footage to the start. Lisa had already joked that he must be from Lewiston. He grew up an hour west, but he was familiar with the downtown area (as much as a small rural town could be said to have a downtown).

It was fortunate for MS that he was in costume when picking up mail from his post office box. On the other hand, his mere presence in costume could be read as a threatening act. There was case law that should establish that the mere presence of a constumed superhuman cannot be considered assault and does not justify a terroristic act charge by itself.

Anyway, playing the footage, he watched as a local civillian came out of the main office and into the area with the mailboxes. After glancing at MS, the local ran out the door into the street.

MS carried one letter towards the door, throwing a pile of junk mail into the garbage bin.

The feed switched to outside. James Donaghy, the local which had ran outside, was a member of the Northmen Militia Network. He was outside yelling. 

Lewis kept the feed on mute because it was full of profanity.

Pausing the video, Lewis reviewed what was already known. Donaghy had been planning to meet with two other miltia members at the nearby diner for breakfast. It was saturday morning.

Lewis followed the war in Ukraine, learning the phrase Open Source Intelligence or OSINT. There was an analogy in law enforcement. Social media posts were compiled about the situation, and so he knew that Donaghy had yelled to the boys in the dinner, asking them to come "take down" Minion Summoner. His words were obsenity-laden, so Lewis didn't linger on them.

He unpaused the feed. It wasn't just his two friends responding, but a half dozen more locals as well. Many of them were already pulling out concealed weapons but others were running to their vehicles off-screen to get other weapons.

The camera providing this part of the footage seemed to be across the street from the post office, and there's a clear shot of MS exiting. 

Lewis reviewed the transcript of the events in question, as he played the feed on mute. Donaghy first threatens MS and demands he get on the ground, and then adds slurs against multiple minorities (despite MS's ethnicity being unknown).

MS doesn't respond. The transcripts mention it takes roughly 30 seconds for MS to summon his minions, with more time required for the later ones.

Toby Heisner, the first of Donaghy's militia buddies, arrives with his AR-15 and points it at MS.

There's a standoff for a few moments longer, Donaghy turns to walk back towards the diner.

MS's first summon appears in front of MS. In various discussions online he's found the first summon is often called Street Thug or Private. Most people think MS has some way to empower or increase his summons' abilities as well.

The situation seems to be de-escalating, when suddenly Heisner shoots the Private. The legal status of attacking Superhuman summons is extremely fuzzy, so that will be something Lewis needs to research.

Private seems stunned for a moment, meanwhile MS pulls his iconic shotgun out of hammerspace. 

This is when the situation becomes extremely chaotic.

MS fired bean bag rounds at Heisner. Donaghy and multiple other individuals fire on MS and Private. Private begins to return fire.

MS and Private withdraw into the post office.

A patron in the post office tries to tackle MS, and Private defends MS, subduing the inside attacker.

One of MS's super-powers is to instantly change between different shotgun rounds. He changes to slugshot to defend the entry door of the post office. 

He's also focusing on summoning Sergeant, his second summons. Private secures the rest of the post office.

Militia members and other combatants try to rush the post office, but there's a jam up as the post office door is heavy and the way in is narrow. MS takes down those entering, but stays inside.

Sergeant arrives. He is a skilled soldier that also can organize and lead the other summons. The militia can't get into the post office and MS either can't or doesn't want to go out yet.

The transcripts mentions Lewiston police requesting backup from county. According to the transcript, police didn't charge into the situation, instead trying to establish a wide cordon.

The camera switches to outside the post office where medical is being forced to stay back. Civillians are trying to carrying the wounded to the ambulances. There's not an effective police cordon yet as a car full of militia members enters the block.

The militia tries to setup 'tactical', which is two guys with sniper rifles and a third with a full-auto rifle. It's clear that these guys have never been trained in real small unit tactics.

MS, Private, Sergeant and Specialist break out into the street. Specialist has a variety of tech equipment and a small drone. The camera feed goes white as Specialist's drone drops a flashbang. MS's team moves as an organized unit, moving down the street.

Donaghy responds first, yelling at the snipers to fire. He and Heisner pursue, shooting at MS. Sergeant fires back. Heisner is hit. 

Donaghy finds cover and MS continues to retreat. That's when Tough Justice crashed into MS. MS's fourth summon PsyOps arrived, and Specialist fired a flash bang in Tough Justice's face. It was enough for MS to slip behind the protection of Sergeant and Private.

MS drops his shotgun, taking a knife from his pocket. When prepared, he is actually able to resist blows from Tough Justice, and with the help of his crew, fight back.

Emboldened by Tough Justice's arrival, Donaghy reforms the locals and tries to help the superhero.

PsyOps seems almost like a supervillain herself. Possessing a fear aura (Lewis never would have imagined saying those words before), she terrifies the locals into stepping back, and Tough Justice is stunned long enough to take multiple shots from MS's summons. He goes down.

MS's team drops out of camera range shortly after, as they slip away. 

The feed switches to Donaghy, whose arranged something more like a posse than a police response. 

The transcript mentions that police forces on the local, county and state level were ordered to stand down until superhuman help could arrive. Unforunately, Lewiston is hours away from the nearest Superhuman Bureau office.

After Tough Justice is knocked out, there won't be a superhuman response for three more hours.

When self-defense becomes large scale like this, it becomes very fuzzy and tenous as a case. But it does seem like MS was acting in self-defense. The situation never was lead or organized by the police, so the State can't argue it was resisting arrest. They will argue that Donaghy and the others were themselves acting in self-defense, but they acted first.

Lewis thought there was a chance for not guilty because of self-defense. But he wanted to review the remaining footage.

The feed skips the next three hours, in which the police finally gain control of the scene around the post office, and Donaghy and the 'posse' leave. News helicopters arrive later, and with that the next footage.

Helicopter footage shows a group of armed men in faux body armor firing full auto weapons at a small house on the other side of the street.

The next camera is from a police dash cam as police apprehend Donaghy and the others for attacking the home they mistakenly thought was MS's.

The rest of the feed is sporadic. MS seemed to be camping out west of town. Multiple cases of individuals attacking MS and reciprocations by MS. Eventually MS keeps his summons active at all hours.

 It's still unclear if he lived out there permantly, or had a house in town that he didn't want to show his face at. 

The final documentation with Minion Summoner is the paperwork when he turned himself in at the Lansing Superhero Bureau offices.

At the very least, there's a good change of getting a Not Guilty on most of these charges. There's no evidence at all for first degree murder. That one can get thrown out immediately. 

After all the shooting back and forth, two people died, both from close range shotgun fire at the post office, when the ambulances weren't allowed to come close.

There are legal issues at stake that were completely new to him, and they would need to hire another paralegal or two for this case, but Lewis thought they could win.

Seifersociety - A Princess' Tale 1

Example Snapshots

A Princess' Tale - 8 - 10 YR - Intro Snapshot

Profile: Samantha Ammae
Parents: Social-Focused VRs (mother), Martial-Arts Focused VRs (father). 
VR Base Tags: Girl-Coded, Social, Heroic
Special Tags: Martial Arts

Expository (text):

Sam receives a pink envelope in the mail addressed to Samantha Ammae-Wyndham. Odd. The name is hand-written in a golden cursive ink.

The envelope peels open as soon as she started trying to open it. The letter is written on small, delicate paper, with pink frills on the edge of the page.

Samantha,

It must come as quite a surprise, that you would receive such a letter. The Wyndham Regency controls only a small fief, but has been controlled by a Wyndham princess for 500 years. The Regency staff are all experienced in running the estate and managing finances, but they still seek the shinig star of a new princess to guide them through her radiance, into a new era of greatness.

The previous princess has taken a new position in lands far from the Wyndham Regency, and thus as her third-cousin twice removed, you were next in line for the position. Please feel free to get your affairs in order, and then travel to south Amalesia, to the village of Haven (the train route through the Abbasid mountains is quite lovely).

Choice: The train can only take on a few sets of clothes and one memento or special item from home. Please choose which item to bring with you:

>1: Comfy Pink Slippers
>2: Chibi Seifer Pendant Necklace
>3: Teddy Bear

~

Samantha's standard class ticket was taken and she received a First Plus class ticket with room service instead. Picking out her favorite outfit and pajamas, she had loaded onto the train and been stunned by the train car she was in.

The steady pulsing sound of the train had become mere background noise. She sat up in the gorgeus queen size bed with a pink floral design comforter.

Opening the window shades, she saw a view of rolling hills, bridges and in the distance, a village. There were a few houses, picturesque and quite small out this far. 

The sun was shining, though she saw puddles and dripping water from trees and houses, as it had rained hard the night before on the train.

She closed the shades, getting dressed. Her green dress didn't seem so fancy compared to what she imagnied princesses wore. Hopefully they could go clothes shopping.

She put her pajamas and comfy slippers back in her suitcase and went to brush her teeth and wash her face. By the time she was down, the room service staff had came by and brought her a small breakfast. Orange juice and a piece of french toast with scrambled eggs.

The orange juice was sour after brushing her teeth, but she put everything neetly on the train when she was done eating, and then looked out at the village coming into view.

Before long, the train car stopped with a sudden jolt, and she stood by the sliding door, waiting for the train staff to open her car.

Wide steps descended to where the train cars arrived and left from. There was an extensive curved part of the track to allow trains to turn around. With her green and black suitcase and tiny red purse, she began walking up the steps into the train terminal, if it could be called one. 

There were plenty of people waiting for the arrivals, but she spotted a man in a white suit, black bow-tie and top hat.

"Ms. Ammae-Wyndham, I presume?" he asked, and then took off his hat and bowed.

"Yes sir, well that's what the letter said," she said.

"Excellent. Emery at your service. We've got a car ready outside."

Emery lead the way out of the train station. Some passengers and those received them proceeded on foot, others going to the nearby parking area.

A younger man pulled up next to Sam and Emery. The vehicle was old-style from several decades prior, but it almost looked like the fancy carriages of old. The car had gold trim and a boxy wooden design.

Sam sat in the back, while Emery joined the young driver up front.

"I'll be your driver, just ask if you need transportation, your highness."

Emery clarified, "Martin is my son. Our old driver retired a few years ago. There's also our mechanic and treasurer amongst the manservants, and you'll meet the ladies of the estate soon."

Despite the apparently old vehicle, it was a quiet and fairly quick ride through the village and up to the estate.

Wyndham estate was a country sort of place, with extensive gardens, and an avid hunting grounds. The forest grew particularly dense west of the estate, and brushed up against the estate grounds in many places. They passed through the gardens and a particularly abundant orchard with apple and cherry trees and berry bushes.

The garage was quite a contrast to the sights and smells of the estate. Oil and gasoline were in the air, and an old man was checking the tires on a red convertible on the other side of the garage.

"Have a great day," Martin said, staying in the car as she left with Emery. The garage was detached but close by to the grand steps which lead to the main floor of the manor.

"I'm usually inside, greeting arrivals," Martin said, as he pushed the knocker on the door back and let it ring out in a sweet harmony as it thudded against the door.

"Well hello!" said a middle-aged lady dressed in white. "I'm Evelyn, first maid here at the Wyndham manor. There rest of the staff are getting things ready. Come on in."

"I'll leave you with Evelyn," Martin said, and went past the foyer into the manor.

Evelyn lead her into a beautiful enclosed porch which they called then sun room. 

"You'll be taking some of your lunches here, if you're at the estate," Evelyn said.

The round glass table was decorated with a yellow geometrical table cloth. There were flower pots along the edge of the room facing the window. 

She had a salad for lunch, with lots of tomato and cheese and a vinegarette dressing. It tided her over.

The sunroom looked out towards the prettiest cluster of bird feeders she had seen, and part of the garden. There were several hummingbirds fluttering near the feeders. 

Evelyn had stepped away for a few minutes, and when she came back she commented. "They're lucky Daisy's staying with Bryan."

She wasn't sure who Daisy was but Evelyn clarified. 

"Daisy was the prior Princess's dog. She was such a delightful dog, and beloved by the staff here that Princess Antoinette decided it would be best for Daisy to stay here. We wanted to give you a chance to meet Daisy, so we decided to wait and keep her with Bryan until you get settled in."

"What kind of dog is Daisy?" she asked.

"She's a corgi. Her parents were busy cattle herders. She's definitely not afraid to herd other animals and even people sometimes."

"Well that's cool. Bring her over whenever."

"With that settled, there's a couple of things I want to show you in your room."

The hallways of the manor seemed to be wide, as they went past three or four doors and then Evelyn turned left into another hallway.

She looked to the right, Sam saw a dining room and an open doorway into the kitchen. She didn't get much of a glimpse of the kitchen itself.

Her mother had already taught Sam how to do some basic cooking. If she wanted to cook up some quick noodles or something she'd like to know where to find everything.

She caught up with Evelyn, who was standing with a key ring outside a large door, made of perfectly smooth and unwarped oak. She found the key, turn it in the gleaming brass lock mechanism, and then opened the door.

"We've kept the Princess room closed and lock since we finished refreshing it with a new look."

A black curtain ran across the opposite wall. It was quite dark for the middle of the day, until Evelyn turned on the lights, of course.

It wasn't a window that the curtain blocked, but a glass door set in the middle of a wall that was all glass. Part of the floor to ceiling glass was frosted, blocking people from viewing the sun themed bed set.

The comforter was yellow with white and yellow flowers and a smiling sun. On one side of the bed was a small dresser with an organizer for her personal effects and a silver bell alarm clock with a traditional hour and minute hand showing the time.

On the other side of the bed there was a beautifully designed chocolate colored jewelry cabinet. There were many seperate drawers and a top section which likely had a mirror.

"There's a lot of shopping to be done, but what I wanted to show you is in your study."

It wasn't really a seperate room, but a cleared out area with a desk, wood filing cabinet and a cabinet with paper, pens and other supplies. She had a Princess stamp!

Evelyn showed her the cabinet and stamp wordlessly and then turned to the desk. There was a leather organizer, with bold bright green text on it's front. 

Schedule Binder - Princess Samantha Ammae-Wyndham

Evelyn opened the binder on the desktop. Sam stood next to her, peering to take a look.

"This is your scheduler. There's a holder just inside your door where I'll put this binder each morning. I'll add in anything big that's coming up through the week, but otherwise it's just daily. As you can see there's just a few things for today."

Sam looked at the crisp weighty piece of off white paper in the binder.

12:30 - 13:00  Open Princess Room, Orientation  (Evelyn)

13:00 - 15:00  Meet Clothiers, Measurements, Choices  (Village Clothiers)

15:00 - 16:00  Meet Jeweler (Jeweler Chamniss)

16:00 - 18:00  Personal Time, Clean up for Dinner  

18:00 - 20:00  Dinner with Staff, Notables

"Just a few things, huh?" Sam said.

"It will be a bit busy while we're getting you settled in. There's a lot of learning to do, for you and for us. Finding a style of your own is critical to being a Princess."

~+~

She was a bit on a small and short side, for a Princess. But the clothiers, representatives from three seperate stores in town, were excited to work with different sizes and materials. Princess Antoinette had been quite tall. Sam's mom always thought she didn't go outside enough, and blamed her pale complexion on that.

The previous princess had left a few pieces of jewelery behind, but at least the ring that she had worn was too big for Sam. 

She answered the fancy jeweler as best she good. He spoke carefully and seemed so unusually polite and almost decadent in his manners. He favored more colorful precious gems rather than just diamond, though he would often put a smaller diamond against a larger sapphire, emerald or ruby, set in the purest gold. He had pictures of some of his creations. They were beautiful, it seemed too indulgent to be something she was going to wear.

The reality of becoming a Princess was still not sinking in. Not until she arrived for dinner.

Her dress was delicate and layered, yellow again, as something of a summer theme, with a silver clasp holding her braided her in place. She had met another of her personal servants who would help her with taking care of her hair and some of the more difficult outfits.

All of the staff members were there, as well as the Mayor and Police chief. They were all standing when she got there.

The crystal chandelier above the center of the table was breaktaking. She sat at the head of the table, and then everyone around her applauded. The mayor sat to her right and another new faced to her left. The rest of the seats seemed to be chosen freely. 

The man to her left introduced himself. "Bryan Daniels. I arrived here a month ago, it seemed like a nice place to rest and retire. I've been a martial arts instructor and ran gyms all over the continent."

"Very nice. I'll have to ask you about that later," Sam said. She had studied a bit of karate, taking a weekly class for years.

The mayor's name was Joe, he seemed pretty cordial with the Estate staff. 

"Our town wouldn't be what it is now, without the Estate. We even get some visitors from the next county over who enjoy our shops."

Everyone tried to get Sam's attention but they were polite about it, so she ended up talking to other staff members. Evelyn, Martin and Marie at least she had spoken with.

She would have a dedicated tutor for academic subjects to help her. But finally, as they were finishing the cottage cheese salad, she talked some more with Bryan.

"Yes, I'll be your fitness instructor, and if you want to continue martial arts, I'd like to teach you there as well. We'll have to find a style that exploits what you now, and that I can teach."

"I was told there might be opportunities for me later, if I continue with my class, so I've kept it up. I definitely want to learn more than just the Karate forms I was taught before. I mean, with being a princess, my priorities might change, we'll see how I fit into things."

They had Chicken Kiev with a baked potato and Asparagus for the main course. It was her first time trying wine. It wasn't too bad, and just a small glass along with her water was enough. They all gave a toast, then they insisted that she speak a few words, just for the people in town.

"Well, I'm pretty new to all of this. Uhm - But I'm certainly interested in getting to know the people of Wyndham, and shops, crafts and hobbies, whatever you like to do. Special occasions, that kind of thing. I hope we can learn and grow together."

The Matho-Dungeon Settlement Sphere, Part 7

I wasn't in a local jail when I woke up sometime later.

Bandages, I had a some big bandages, and an IV, and my room didn't look like any jail or prison.

Sterile walls with nothing on them. An actual door with door handle.

"Relax," a man in a black suit coat and red tie said. He was bald, with a clipboard in his hand. "Your life isn't over. As a precaution, we have temporarily instituted the Case Delta 9, which prevents any Dungeon doors from opening for you.

"Any math you try more advanced that the Novitiate level, will elude you somehow. I am James Mckinnon of the National Security Talent and Threat Monitoring Center. I evaluate prodigies to see if their skills may be able to benefit this country, or if they are a threat to the nation.

"Any more stunts like that Earthquake will land you on the mandatory kill list, and I won't have any power to chance that. Some would like to see you made a political monkey already, but we desperately need help to pass Journeyman O-3.

"As you've seen already, the nature of the Dungeon's ranking system changes over time. Novitiates get the cool and kid friendly belts system. We didn't design the system, we just trained kids to associate black belts with cool."

"Initiates are sea life, as you've seen, and algebra and geometry enter the picture. Despite my initial peg on you, our sensors detected a level 6 geometric anomaly with an associated unknown maths sensor reading. Your weapon to take out a monster was somehow unknown and geometric."

"Now before I grill you on this mathematical weaponry, I want to give you the carrot. If you pass through this process to my satisfaction and my superior's satisfaction, you will receive room and board in the NSTTMC Talent Housing System. You will have access to continue your pursuit through the dungeons, but with a disciplined, threat and response understanding of appropriate firepower.

"You will receive pay, and be able to acquire some civillian goods, but 50% of your pay will be garnished to pay for the damage you have done to both Novitiate and Initiate dungeons, until that full amount is paid,"  the man said. "How do you feel about that?"

I sighed in relief, couldn't really think about the long term, my brain wasn't thinking in an advanced mode. "Relieved that I can still take on the dungeons. I'd like to learn from your best too."

James said, "Until you reach Journeyman E-1, you won't be able to associate with the other members of our Talent team. Forgive me, but that is the rule that President Phearson put done. Your progress through the rest of Initiate dungeons and Apprentice dungeons will allow us to evaluate your value as a national asset.

"But lets back up. I'm sure you know the alternatives here. Please, give us an account of what lead to the Geometric Unknown anomaly."

I described my progress through the system, being a Dolphin stage initiate, taking on the Trolls and Kobolds, getting the perfect score, writing down the sides of a regular n-gon, and then the fateful hyper-volume question.

"I'm going to reduce the drip on this, so I can have your full faculties to answer in detail," said Agent James.

After another half hour, in which the Agent went to get coffee and confer with superiors, he came back in. "If you did try to attack with your unknown mixture, this building more take damage, but we are prepare, and you would lose your chance to take on the dungeon."

"I won't say any mathematics without permission, I swear," I said, just wanting to get back to my dungeons in peace.

"What would you call the mathematics you used in the Anomalous question?" James asked.

"Multi-dimensional geometry (beyond 3 dimensions). Arbitrary dimensional geometry. Multivariate Integral Calculus. Multiple Integrals."

"If you reach Journeyman E-1, we'll have you show your work in a damped sealed chamber."

I pondered why they considered some multiple integrals to be so dangerous. It's just the proper choice of bounds of integration across an indefinite number of integral signs. And the Gamma function once you see the generalization.

"Senors just read a buildup of Unknown, please stand down.," James shouted.

."Sorry," I said. "Can you give me a summary of safety practices with your department. What kind of things are dangerous? Is even the thoughts in my mind dangerous?"

"Our advanced personalized sensor suite detects mathematical thoughts before they can be spoken or written. We used this with those we classify as a danger, or those who are still unknown, like yourself. We have many wards full of mathematicians, who are, as you say, break glass in case of emergency. If they start thinking mathematical thoughts, we administer sedatives.

"Unfortunately, a mathematical mind deprived of opportunity to think about math becomes atrophed after a few months. Fortunately, this renders these dangerous individuals safe after a six month stay in the retention wing of NSTTMC.

"Just thinking mathematics is not dangerous, but please do not think about Unknown level mathematics without prior approval. It makes us think you are a terrorist.

"In practice, as an operative, you will operate on a 4 stage model. Stage 1 is general purpose mathematics. You may use these in planning sessions and to keep track of metrics on mission success.

"Stage 2 is general combat mathematics. These are allowed for use when in a dungeon in combat. Stage 3 is pre-authorized mathematics. Each type of stage 3 mathematics is covered by a specific code word. If our planning department determines it is needed, they will brief you for usage of the restricted mathematics for a specific mission component.

"You must be qualified for use of all Stage 3 mathematics. Since these mathematics can't be taught without grave risks, you must already know them to be cleared.

"Stage 4 is restricted mathematics. You may never use Stage 4 mathematics. All unknown and unclassified mathematics is considered Stage 4 until reclassification."

 I didn't consider myself a mathematician. I was a recreational mathematician on Earth, with memories of college courses, especially calculus and numerical analysis.

I let my mind clear of math, when I saw James tense up again.

"Did you have other questions, or information I need to go through?" I asked. "I'm willing to cooperate. I don't want to lose mathematics, even if I can't use it freely."

"Our neural brain sensor needs to be calibrated, it seems. Your thought patterns can raise to a level 3 warning in an instant. This neural sensor is also how we evaluate our people's capability and additional stage 3 codes. Each person has their own stage 3 codes, which we subdivide based on the sensors.

"I will ask you to start slowly, with basic arithmetic, and then gradually think of new mathematical knowledge you contain, until you can't think of anything else."

James nodded to me.

I thought of basic arithmetic, not the structure which brought its similarity, but just addition problems with single digits.

Subtraction, then arithmetic with 0 and 1. Multiplication. Division.

"Stage 2" James said.

I thought about algebraic properties of linear functions.

"Too much, Edmond. Stage 2."

I solved x + 2 = 4. 2 x = 7. I observed angle and parallel lines. Scaling and reflecting. 3 digit arithmetic.

"Stage 3. Classification #1"

I thought about linear functions again, and their generalization in linear algebra. Vectors. Eigenvalues.

"There's a least 3 codes. Take 1 thing at a time."

So I tediously directed my thoughts until I was thinking on only one little piece of linear algebra at a time.

The same proceeded with calculus, and trigonometry, seperating them into dozens upon dozens of little code worded pieces.

"Stage 4. Thoughts only!"

I thought on the type of integrals involved to calculate the hypervolume of n dimensional unit balls again.

Circumference of a radius n circle is 2 pi n. To get the area of the ball, Integrate circumference(n) dn from n = 0 to r.

Int_0_r 2 pi n dn = [pi n^2] : 0_r = pi r^2



I racked my brain thinking of how to derive the nth dimensional unit ball volume in the general case.

You could integrate it radiating out from the center, or across a hyperplane slice, but I was struggling with exactly the details.

Integral of the Sqrt(1-x^2) had an arcsin in it. Polar coordinates, how to generalize to more than 3 dimensions. There were lots of u substitutions, and working out anti-derivatives.


"Stage 5," James said.

"You didn't mention Stage 5 before," I said.

"Stage 5, the highest encountered Stage of mathmetics amongst the Dungeon denizens. No one has reached Stage 5 on our sensors. Stage 5."

I went for mathematics that I barely understood on an only recreational level.

There's an isomorphism between the hands of a clock and the group of numbers under addition mod 12. An isomorphism implies we can do clock math on the clock face, then make the translation to the mod group, or translate to the mod group, do the arithmetic and translate back.

 You can establish an isomorphism between a mod 86400 and a stacked set of clock hands, or a set of tied together hours mod, minutes mod and seconds mod groups.

 Or you can devolve your mod 60 group into two mod 2 groups, a mod 3 group and a mod 5 group. So the structure of groups available matches the structure of primes.

On a certain level, the groups themselves form an isomorphism of the natural numbers, with the operator of multiplication.

"That's stage 4," said James. "Try for Stage 5."

Flip it on its head. What do I know especially well?

We can sometimes have a functional analogy to squares and square roots. A functional square is the composition of a function from R -> R (firstly, but also C -> C, R^n -> R^n), with itself

Fsqr of e^x is e^e^x.
But what is the Fsqrt? It would be the function f(x) such that f o f (x) = e^x
No standard function fits.

The Fsqrt of any linear function is another linear function.

if g(x) = a x + b

f(x) = c x + d
f o f (x) = c (c x + d) + d = c^2 x + cd + d
c^2 = a
cd + d = b

c = sqrt(a)

(sqrt(a) + 1) d = b
d = b / (sqrt(a)  + 1)

g(x) = sqrt(a) x + b / (sqrt(a) + 1)

Any monomial has another monomial as its functional sqrt, in a similar fashion.

f(x) = d x ^ c
g(x) = b x^a

d (d x^c) ^ c = d d^c x^(c^2)

d d^c = b
c^2 = a

c = sqrt(a)
d d ^ sqrt(a) = b
log(d) + sqrt(a) log(d) = log(b)

(sqrt(a) + 1) log(d) = log(b)
log(d) = log(b) / (sqrt(a) + 1))
d = e^(log(b) / (sqrt(a) + 1))

g(x) = b^(1/ (sqrt(a) + 1)) ^ sqrt(a)
or
g(x) = b ^ (sqrt(a) / (sqrt(a) + 1))

x is its own functional square root, but so is -x, and 1/x, and any other function which is its own inverse.

 More generally, we can look at Taylor series.
Any function where f(0) = 0 is easier to work with, because the constant term makes the expansions tough if it is non-zero.

Formal series actually, because we don't care too much about convergence properties yet.

if f(x) = a0+a1 x + a2 x^2 + ...

if a0 is not 0, we can say b0 = 0, because b0 doesn't contribute to any later terms then, and b0 = 0, so the constant term of the iterated expression is 0.

g(x) = b0+b1 x + b2 x^2 + ...

g(g(x)) = b0 + b1 (b0 + b1 x + b2 x^2 ...) + b2 (b0 + b1 x+ b2 x^2 + ...) ^2 + ...

if b0 is non-zero, we can get all powers from each subterm, by taking some number of x^0 parts.
If b0 is zero, then the linear subterm must only have coefficients of 1 or higher, the quadratic subterm is quadratic or higher and so on.

b0 = a0 = 0

g(g(x) [partial] = b1 (b1 x + b2 x^2 + ...) + b2 (b1 x + b2 x^2 + ...) ^ 2 + ...
g(g(x) [linear] = b1^2 x
g(g(x) [quad] = b1 b2 x^2 + b2 b1^2 x^2

and so on.

Only finitely many terms can contribute, so in theory we can gradually and eventually solve for every coefficient of g(x).

Now if f(x) = e^x - 1, a0 = 0. a1 = 1, a2 = 1/2!, a3 = 1/3!, etc. The b0 calculations would then give us successive approximations of (e^x -1) fsqrt.

James finally spoke up, "Ok that's enough. Our Monster outbreak scale sensor spiked at 7 kilo-amperes."

A true professional mathematician could blow these guys minds away. I was primarily a programmer. Curry-Howard Isomorphism meant from a certain point of view, you could call what I did mathematical, but practically it wasn't. I was familiar with tools that used the Homotopy Type Theory, familiar in the sense of being just barely past a novice in them.

"Localized spike. 73 kilo-amperes. Give your brain a rest, Edmond."

I relaxed, leaning back in the chair I was strapped to.

 "I'll be back. There's some negotiations to be had."


<> o <> o <>

Name: Edmond Bauer

Ranking Status: Initiate (Stingray)

Sphere Ranking: 66,855,273rd (of ~121,000,000) (45%)

Lives: 29

Race: Elothean

Race: Streak 3 - Skip three enemies with full rewards for every eleven you defeat without getting defeated.

Class: N/A

Class Bonuses: None Unlocked


Tracking:

Algebra (stingray)
Geometry (Lanternshark)


<> o <> o <> o


Dungeon doors were shifting to provide access to the Initiate geometry doors.

"Edmond Bauer has the potential unlock new realms of safe scientific inquiry and technical advancements. The dungeon has always provided us with new wonders when we have plumbed its depths before. When Charles Hillary was the first to reach Journeyman E-1, our civilization was brought into new light, as we learned the principles of electricity  When our team reached O-1, modern life was possible. O-5 and beyond beckons, gentlemen," Jim said to the other gathered members of the NSTTMC.

"The Case Analysis is our best bet. If Edmond can restrain himself an achieve a 90 or above, I'm willing to overlook his past discrepancies," said Jim's supervisor.

"Past potentials have rarely scored that high. It’s difficult, if you have the capacity, to go through that.”

“Let’s brief him, and then start.”

< program start: Algebra stingray>

~

The start of the algebra plan was 5 eels making him do substitution of variables with fractional values.

Without paper it took a little thinking but it wasn’t bad. He was only allowed tier 2 attacks in algebra while doing these algebra sections.

Next there was mixed set of problems, some evaluations, laughably easy square roots, and recurrence relations that seems way too advantageous until I realized they were just linear equations presented in a funny way.

I got a chalkboard for these next problems:

$4a+5=2+3.25a$

4a = -3 + 3.25 a

0.75 a = -3

3a = -12

A=-4

$2-\frac{1}{2}n=3n+16$2,

4




 BBB 


M

-14=7/2 n

n=-4

$2d+4=10+2.5d$

-6=0.5 d

D=-12

$16-3p=\frac{2}{3}p+$5

-3 2/3 p = -11

11 p = 33

P=3

16,
2

 

JIM: “Remember your restrictions in the challenge dungeon.”

Little baby sharks charged at me as o wrote on the chalkboard.

“23x = 3x + 60 -> x = 3

Minor impact.

x^2-a^2 = (x-a) (x + a)

Bigger

Let’s not go too big.

X^2+13x-30 = 0 : (x+15)(x-2)= 0

I stuck to quadratics and big lineare and advanced to electric eel immediately.