It had, in fact, taken Rylia multiple late nights to sort through the possibilities in the ‘Help’ section of the Omniversal Marketplace for good options. In part, that was because she hadn’t looked at that section in fine detail previously and had badly underestimated the options within it as a result. There were very literally tens of thousands of people whose contract could be purchased through the Marketplace, from dozens of apparently-not-entirely-fictional realities.
Almost invariably there were multiple versions of each person, too.
She wasn’t quite sure what that meant in regards to the overall multiverse. She supposed if you took the Marvel or DC view of such a thing, it made sense that there were multiple versions of each universe. Which likely explained the ‘Omniversal’ label on the Marketplace System, come to think of it. She’d originally just pictured that as a fancy way of saying ‘multiversal,’ but now she was very much thinking that ‘Omni’ was used instead precisely because there were many possible iterations of each universe. What that said about her current reality was something she consciously decided not to think about very hard, as it was likely to either cause migraines or an existential panic of some sort.
Best just accept it and move on, dealing with a single galaxy’s crisis was enough for her, thanks.
The sheer quantity of possible individuals, added to the fact there were often variants of them, had caused Rylia a serious case of choice paralysis. It would have been even worse if she’d had more Karma Points to work with. For better or worse, though, she’d accrued only a limited number of those so far. She’d gained a fairly solid amount for buying out and remaking in a fair fashion several hundred indenture contracts, and some more for setting her hiring policies the way they were. Yet, she still really only had enough for a single mid-tier summons.
Tiers weren’t actually how the Marketplace listed things. The system just went with straight point value calculations that took into account a, as far as Rylia could tell, stupidly huge number of factors. Big factors, just as two examples, were length of a person’s loyalty contract and what sort of roles the individuals had selected being okay with. You could, in fact, sort for individuals who were totally okay with being dropped into your harem. Since contracts with the Omniversal Market were entirely voluntary, though, versions of various people that were okay with that sort of thing were few and far between. That very rarity worked out to a supply and demand restriction that upped the cost of the handful of variants who were okay with it.
Likewise, the longer the ‘enforced loyalty’ of the contract was set to last, the more Karma currency it would cost you too. On top of that, of course, were layers of ‘usefulness.’ The number of skills someone had and the amount of power they could bring to bear being just two of dozens of factors. There were versions of individuals like Supergirl, for example, but they were almost all hilariously far outside of Rylia’s price range. There actually was a Kara Zor’El that was just barely within her price range, and had even made her short list, but it was a depowered version. Meaning it was her technical skills and brains you were getting, not someone who could punch a Reaper in the face and make the Reaper cry for mommy with that one hit.
The entire algorithm was hideously complex, and Rylia had needed a way to mentally sort things more simply for her own sanity. She’d created little mental boxes she labeled ‘Tiers’ in the process, a total of four, and divided people of interest into her own sorting system. The highest, most costly tier was Tier 4, which Rylia wasn’t even close to being able to afford. It contained people like a fully powered and experienced Power Girl, one who had also been running her own corporation for decades. In other words, someone who brought the combination of Raw Power and Diverse Skills into a single gloriously endowed package.
Continuing to use variants of Kryptonians for the sake of clarity, a young Supergirl with all the power but none of the experience and minimal relevant skills would be a Tier 3. The version of Kara Zor’El that had made Rylia’s short list, who lacked power but had very solid technical and scientific skills, was a Tier 2. A depowered rando Kryptonian clone with no knowledge of Kyrpton’s science to fall back on would be a Tier 1. That, of course, assumed they were all the same contract duration and general level of willingness in what they had signed up for. If that version of Kara she’d had on her short list had signed herself up for the harem lifestyle, she’d have been elevated at least one tier by default.
Rylia could afford a single Tier 2, so long as she didn’t push the boundaries of that tier too far.
Even applying that limit to her search, there had still remained multiple versions of thousands of individuals, and she’d needed to come up with additional ways to sort them. The first and easiest few filters had been making sure they had a ‘Heroic’ aligned nature, weren’t a personality type that would clash with hers (There were compatibility filters! How that worked, she really didn’t want to think about. Hopefully horoscopes and star signs were not involved…), and had at least a five-year contract. Those additional filters had pared the list down some, but not nearly enough, and Rylia had wrestled for days with sorting out what she actually needed and who fit the bill.
Eventually, with lots of agonizing, she’d produced a short list of individuals who had both skills she needed and the ability to look out for themselves. The fact that she’d still had so many options she could be a bit capricious and sort by details like ‘attractive female’ wasn’t lost on her, but she wasn’t going to apologize for it! She’d needed to pare down the list farther somehow, so why not make her working environment more visually pleasant?!
In the end, she’d winnowed her way through top candidates for several different roles. Science and Engineering help, Business help, Public Relations, Spycraft expertise, Bodyguard duty, and even Archaeologists, since that last group could be put to the task of proving the Reapers were real early. Versions of Lara Croft, Sage, and that depowered Kara Zor’El had all made the final short list.
In the end, however, the one she’d chosen was a version of Momo Yaoyorozu.
No, the reason why wasn’t her boobs! If it had just been that, Miss Croft probably would have won. Rylia wasn’t that shallow! No matter what anyone else said!
All kidding aside, the specific version of Momo that she’d selected did a better job of covering multiple bases than anyone else that had made it onto her final list. Sage had been the final major competition in that light, but some of Sage’s best points were being adequately handled by droid support for the moment. Had Rylia been more critically in need of counter-intelligence help, Sage would have come out on top. As it was, with her still mostly flying under the radar as a promising business owner in a non-offensive tech sector, a few R-series droids with slicer modules could handle info security for the time being.
Of course, if the version of Miss Yaoyorozu she’d selected had been just a teenage superhero, even one with a Quirk that was extremely broken in its own way, she’d never have come anywhere close to that final shortlist. While the ability to turn greasy hamburgers into exotic materials was ‘much broken, pls no nerf,’ resources weren’t Rylia’s current bottle neck. No, the version of Momo that had made the shortlist wasn’t a teenager at all…
**********************
Name: Momo Yayorozu
Age: 25
Quirk: Creation
Contract Duration: 5 Years
**********************
This wasn’t a teenage Momo at all. No, this was a Momo Yaoyorozu who had, in fact, become a Pro Hero, performed excellently in that role, then retired and went into the family business. Well, semi-retired, anyway. From what Rylia had been able to guess from context buried in a more detailed description, it wasn’t actually normal for Pro Heroes in that reality to continue past their prime. Only perhaps a quarter of them made it to thirty without dropping out of the profession for one reason or another. Deaths, injuries, lack of popularity, or simple burnout. All seemed like likely possibilities.
In the case of Miss Yaoyorozu, it had been other responsibilities that had drawn her away from the life of a Pro Hero. Japan had apparently been hit rather harder by a much more violent war between All for One and the Heroes in her reality than the one which had shown up on a television screen. From the few details included in this Momo’s profile, mop up operations and recreating stability in the aftermath of what amounted to two small wars? That had taken several years, during which Momo had been an active Heroine.
Virtually as soon as things had stabilized, however, the now-older Momo had realized that she could do far more good by leading Yaoyorozu Industries during the rebuilding efforts than she could punching villains in the face. There were lots of people who could punch villains in the face, after all. Finding an honest CEO that genuinely wanted to help, rather than milking every disaster for profit, though? Yeah, that was sadly a fair bit rarer.
So Momo had semi-retired and taken the reins of her family’s holdings, bringing them to new heights even as she turned much of their focus onto helping with the rebuilding of Japan. Rylia didn’t know just what she’d gotten from the Omniversal Marketplace for her side of things, those details were private to the contracted ‘help.’ Whatever it was must have been extremely effective, though, as the date of her deal with the System coincided with a major upswing in Japan’s recovery. Momo had been granted five years after the deal to stay in her world and put things on track…and now she owed five years of indenture to the Omniversal Market in exchange.
Whether or not she stayed, after those five years were up, was considerably more up in the air. It would be up to Rylia to convince her to do so. But, given the woman’s fundamentally Heroic nature and the stakes for the Mass Effect galaxy, she figured she had a good shot. Besides, even if she didn’t stay, the skills she had would help Rylia position herself far better by the time Momo’s contract was up.
After all, this Momo was an international business mogul, whose company was large enough that her position as CEO was almost as much politics as it was business. She had the business chops, the press relations experience, the political handling skills, and a dozen other things that Rylia badly needed. Things that a mere knowledge upload couldn’t give you a feel for. Add in several levels of multiclassing into Heroic Badass, meaning she would also be physical protection? Oh, and just for grins, further add in the ability to produce exotic materials on a whim? Yep, she check marked an entire sea of boxes within the list of areas Rylia needed loyal coverage for.
Also, she did have really nice tits.
What? It may not have been the deciding factor, but it was still true! Better yet, there was some really interesting tidbits in the personal information sections! Like the fact that she’d only ever had a single significant other, due to being crazy busy, and that S.O. was Jirou! Bi-sexuality and relative innocence confirmed! Rylia was hoping to have some fun with that part, too. Though she wouldn’t push it if the woman wasn’t interested, of course.
Now, how exactly did buying ‘Help’ from the Marketplace even work, anyway…
… … …
The answer to that question turned out to be fairly simple, complete with one of the only honest-to-God tutorials she’d seen since first having the Marketplace shoved into her brain. She supposed, given that this involved a sentient being, whoever was behind the System decided it required an in-depth tutorial to ensure you didn’t fuck things up. Embarrassingly, the tutorial did highlight a number of things she hadn’t considered. Both things that the System did cover, like required immunizations for the safety in your local reality, and things that it didn’t cover, like the need for an official ID and background. Not to mention clothing, a place to stay, and other basic necessities.
Honestly, she was fairly glad to see that the System required you to think a bunch of things through and check off that you’d taken care of them, before your first time purchasing from the ‘Help’ section. She was certain it had saved both her and her soon-to-be companion/minion from a number of stupid mistakes or oversights. It had also, unfortunately, meant a couple of additional days had passed as Rylia sorted everything out.
She’d acquired some slicer-equipped R3-series droids, something she’d been slightly reluctant to do previously as they unquestionably broke the Citadel Space AI laws. Unlike her guard droids, analysis droids, and even her personal bodyguard droid, the R-series were considered so good precisely because Industrial Automation had pushed boundaries with them. They were far too capable of self-actualization for their code to be considered anything but a fully sapient AI.
Or, at least, they could develop into that.
They didn’t start that way, which was what had allowed them to be considered Class 2 droids. Regular data-wipes could prevent them from developing that seed of potential into a fully sapient artificial intelligence, but many people grew attached and didn’t bother. Meaning that the entire R-Series apparently had a reputation. One that was mostly positive. Though, admittedly, a few had gone on to commit war crimes…
She was going to have to keep an eye on that. Even if she’d felt their role was needed and probably wouldn’t push them towards the path of war crimes. Probably. There were admittedly a lot of traumatizing things out there on the extranet.
As for the exact model she’d chosen, Rylia had gone with the R3, in particular, as it had been built as a military upgrade to the R2 design, with a significant processing power boost. While they’d retained the ability to plug into a starfighter like the R2 series, they were truly meant for supporting capital ships, capable of hundreds of tasks at once. This multi-tasking ability made the small team of four R3s she’d purchased honestly a little overkill for both building up her own corporate info security and hacking into the records of the Systems Alliance to add a detailed background for Momo. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
Having them work in tandem with a JN-66 loaded with criminal investigation software, ordered to make a background that wouldn’t trip flags if someone looked deeply into it, produced an identity that was extremely solid. Not perfect, as someone who went to the trouble of trying to track down anyone who’d actually met Momo would find nothing, of course. Yet, even that had been partially accounted for by her background detailing Momo having spent recent years in the Terminus Systems. Which would both make verification hard and help account for her combat skills. Anyone living out there that didn’t know the basics of how to look out for themselves was a fool.
Usually, a dead one. If they were very, very lucky.
With her carefully hidden and thoroughly secured bunker/lab/workshop, dug out below the former scrapyard, now housing hideously illegal AIs hard at work, Rylia had handled a bunch of the other details personally. A luxury condo just below her own penthouse, clothes that would fit the measurements provided by the System, human-appropriate foods not laced with eezo like many Asari dishes were, and so on. Only the basics for each category, really. Enough for Momo to get by until they went shopping for her, assuming the Creation Quirk holder didn’t just make a bunch of stuff she was familiar with.
After finally being able to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s, it turned out the that ‘summoning’ itself was pretty anti-climactic. She put through her ‘order,’ a door shimmered into existence with a 24-hour timer, and when that timer hit zero it opened up and out walked the stacked and statuesque form of Momo Yaoyorozu. Despite an apparent confidence in her movements and set of her eyes, something about the younger woman betrayed that she was more than a little nervous.
Well, that wouldn’t do!
Grinning brightly and focusing on the Extrovert Energy of Rylia instead of the Introvert nature of Hazel, she stepped forward with a hand held out, even as the door faded away.
“Hello! I’m Rylia T’naai! Your new boss, for now, I guess! Though exactly how that will work out is something we can discuss once you’re up to speed. After all, I’m not exactly sure what you were told when coming here, but you’re a pretty long way from Earth!”
Rylia had chosen English, knowing from her profile that Momo spoke it fluently. The girl wouldn’t have a translator implant yet, after all. Thankfully, while it wasn’t as natural to Rylia as Thessian Standard, she’d actually known English properly even before Hazel had merged with her. Early translation efforts with humanity had been a little dubious, and Rylia had scored points with her simps by learning English, which was still one of the two most dominant languages of Earth and the official language of the Systems Alliance.
It really could do with being stated again, that Rylia T’naai had been (and technically still was) a first order genius. Learning a language just to make her streaming business targeting humans hit a wider audience had been a casual choice she’d knocked out in a couple of weeks. Seriously, the majority of her that was still Hazel really enjoyed the perk of being dropped into the head of a genuine genius. Her human self hadn’t been a slouch by any means, easily in the near-genius levels of intelligence in her own right. But Rylia was an entirely different flavor of monster in that regard, and their merger had left that intelligence fully intact.
Back in the moment, however, Momo appeared relieved at the familiar gesture of a handshake. It might not be the thing in Japan, where bowing was the customary greeting, but she’d clearly dealt with enough international business that she didn’t hesitate to take Rylia’s hand and give it a firm-but-carefully-measured shake.
“Ah…I’m sure you already know, but for the sake of politeness, I’m Yaoyorozu Momo. As for what I was told? Almost nothing beyond your name and the fact that this was, and I quote, ‘a sci-fi setting under threat of multi-species organic annihilation.’”
Rylia raised her eyebrows, painted on as they were.
“Yikes! That’s not much at all! But that’s okay. You’re the first ‘Help’ I’ve ever gotten from the System, so I assumed from the start it would be unsafe to assume anything. I’ve got plenty of information collected to help you get up to speed! As well as a way to speed that up somewhat via a brain uploader that can give you some history and other context. For now, though, I’ll give you the basics, starting with…”
Having put entirely too much thought into making a good impression with this meeting, Rylia reached over and tapped the button that would turn one wall of her penthouse transparent. She, as a budding business power, had of course acquired a penthouse suite in one of the major arcologies of the planet. Built along a towering set of cliffs, the view out over the alien ocean was gorgeous.
“…Welcoming you to the planet of Nevos! A six-hundred-year-plus old Asari colony world that’s a bit out on the frontier, but still within Asari space. Asari, by the by, are my species. Don’t fret, humans do exist in this reality and are part of the galactic community. They are, admittedly, the newest species to have joined the collection of governments that make up Citadel Space. It’s currently 2167CE, by the by. Quirks never happened with humanity here, so development continued without the disruption of that mess, and humans are a smallish but growing interstellar power. They only made First Contact, with a short conflict with the Turians, around ten years ago.”
Momo was gaping like a fish, which was way more adorable than it should be. Still, Rylia would try to take it a little slower, as she’d clearly shattered the poor girl’s worldview just a little.
“Right! I’ve got some excellent tea here we can talk over! I had to be careful to get a human friendly blend, but hopefully you’ll like it! I can give you a basic rundown of the situation and why I wanted your help, and we can generally get to know one another!”
Momo looked just a little overwhelmed as Rylia shooed her into one of the gloriously comfy leather chairs she’d set up to overlook the view, and darted off to get that tea…
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: Hopefully I didn't get too much into the weeds on the summoning. Future summons won't go into detail, but with this first one some baseline bits needed to be established.
A/N 2: For those unaware, who was summoned was selected by poll. Rylia currently needs pretty much everything, so it was a bit of a case of 'no bad choices' so long as she went with someone competent in their field.