History Fanfic / NobodyEverToldMe

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The larger tikilings routinely use the sewers and storm drains to travel around Brockton Bay unseen.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The larger tikilings routinely use these, as well as storm drains, to travel around Brockton Bay unseen.

** Taylor, being a good example of BetterWithNonHumanCompany, is usually too busy tinkering to deal with people and isn’t all that good with them, being blunt and leaving interactions somewhat stilted. She usually delegates the task of negotiating with others to Toddle, who despite not being human, is much better at diplomacy than she is.

** Weaver is TheStoic, being really quiet and to the point, handling negotiations in a business-like and professional manner, with very few tells as to what she’s really thinking. By contrast, Cheshire and Grue are more relaxed and normal in their behavior, as well as friendlier and easier to read.

* CrapsackWorld: In this setting, self-replicating threats like Nilbog and the Machine Army are not truly contained and are causing catastrophic environmental damage. Food prices are spiking and hoarding is an issue. Not to mention how according to Blasto, the government seems likely to become a MutantDraftBoard in the future to coerce capes into stabilizing the country.
* DoingResearch: An occasional method of getting information in the quest, serving as an ExpositionDump for the questers. A tikiling browses the web for information related to relevant topics, usually other parahuman groups or the setting in general, and the questers usually make decisions based upon what they learned.

* EvilPowerVacuum: The aftermath of the Court Raid ends in one of these: [[spoiler: Marquis kills the Butcher, then himself, turning his youngest daughter into the next Butcher and leaving both gangs leaderless. The Court loses all of their capes and is functionally destroyed, while the Teeth [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere flee the city]] until the newest Butcher settles down. This leaves Dragon as the only group left to takeover and defend the newly abandoned territories from other gangs.]]

* InsectoidAliens: The general appearance of Tiki and the tikilings. They tend to resemble various types of arthropods like prawns and crabs, while some develop insect wings, create hive-like nests with their saliva, and have queen-like females that lay eggs.

* ItCanThink: Tikilings are more than capable of intelligent thought. The general reaction from others that realize this is varying degrees of OhCrap.

** Toddle’s optimized shapeshifting trait can create some interesting forms. [[spoiler: The first one he designs to combat the new Butcher is covered in small eyes and venomous spines, with a body made of layered flesh and steel. His second form for reconnaissance resembles a half organic and glass eyeball, with hundreds of telescopic eyes within and tiny wings to make it slowly fly.]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The route that most of the [[spoiler: Teeth, sans Bitch]] take in the aftermath of the Court Raid.

Currently ongoing and updates frequently.

* AlternateUniverse: While the quest takes place in Brockton Bay and many of the characters are similar to canon, several major changes have had a major ripple effect on how everything turned out:
** Marquis was never imprisoned and his gang is still around. He also never lost Amy and has another child.
** The Teeth never left Brockton Bay, and their roster includes several other canon capes.
** Iron Rain never died and took over her gang in a bloody coup.
** Blasto was once a member of the Elite, but parted ways with them and became a villain in Brockton Bay instead of Boston.
** The Elite are now a hero team in Brockton Bay.
** [[spoiler: Dragon, the heroine, killed the Slaughterhouse Nine way earlier, and neutralized their threat.]]
** [[spoiler: Dragon was later revealed to be an AI, and shut down out of fear by the heroes.]]
** The Triumvirate is made up of Legend, Alexandria, and a Thinker named Herald.
** [[spoiler:There’s no mention of Endbringers or Scion…whatever that means has been left unsaid.]]

* AdvancingWallOfDoom: There are several self-replicating threats in this world that are treated like this, from [[MotherIfAThousandYoung Nilbog]], to the [[AIIsACrapshoot Machine Army]], and the [[HostileTerraforming Blasphemies]]. The heroes and government agencies in charge of dealing with them are capable of delaying these S-class threats, but the way that people talk about it, it seems like a forgone conclusion that they will eventually overwhelm and kill everything.

** [[spoiler: Tiki’s visions reveal that the Tikilings are based upon actual aliens from a previous cycle.]]

* PlotTriggeringDeath: The first week of the quest begins slowly with getting to know Taylor & the setting, gathering resources, and waiting for new tikilings to hatch. Then it really kicks off after [[spoiler: Amelia Lavere/Red Queen invade Taylor’s home and is killed in self-defense]]. This forces a huge change in the status quo for both Taylor and Brockton Bay, forcing her to start her hero career way earlier than expected and setting off a gang war.
* RefugeInAudacity: After being forced to leave her home with nothing but her costume to wear, Taylor decides that she needs to go shopping for some new clothes…while wearing her BioArmor out in broad daylight. Tiki, who at that point is the size of a large dog and has multiple arms, also decides to tag along on her shopping trip to make sure that she doesn’t get into trouble…and to help carry her bags.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Averted. Taylor and Tiki have occasional run-ins with the top brass of villain gangs before ever meeting their underlings or mooks. In fact the very first cape that Taylor (as Tiamat) and the tikilings fight against is [[spoiler: Red Queen]].

** Taylor, being a good example of BetterWithNonHumanCompany, is usually too busy to deal with people and isn’t all that good with them, being blunt and leaving their interactions somewhat stilted. She usually delegates the task of dealing with others to Toddle, who despite not being human, is much better at negotiating than she is.
** The Butcher is usually busy strategizing and running the Teeth, that and being TheDreaded puts people on edge. Reaver is the go to in negotiations and is pretty chipper all the time.
** Weaver is TheStoic, being really quiet and to the point, handling negotiations in a business-like and professional manner, with very few tells as to what she’s really thinking. By contrast, Cheshire and Grue are more relaxed and normal in their behavior and easier to read.

* CrapsackWorld: In this setting, self replicating threats like Nilbog and the Machine Army are not truly contained and are causing catastrophic environmental damage. Food prices are spiking and hoarding is an issue. Not to mention how according to Blasto, the government seems likely to become a MutantDraftBoard in the future to coerce capes into stabilizing the country.

* RefugeInAudacity:
** After being forced to leave her home with nothing but her costume to wear, Taylor decides that she needs to go shopping for some new clothes…while wearing her BioArmor out in broad daylight. Tiki, who at that point is the size of a large dog and has multiple arms, also decides to tag along on her shopping trip to make sure that she doesn’t get into trouble…and to help carry her bags.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The larger Tikilings routinely use these, as well as storm drains, to travel around Brockton Bay unseen.

** To a less personal extent, Nilbog and his creatures are set up as one for Taylor and the Tikilings based on how he set the bar for how dangerous a biotinker can be and how the public reacts to such capes. Interestingly, the Tikilings have an instinctive hatred towards Nilbog’s creatures, though the reason why hasn’t been revealed.
* BeneathNotice: Between hiding from vengeful enemies and heroes over biotinker fears, Dragon tries to maintain a low profile at all times. More often than not, things like patrols and errands are carried out by stealthier Tikilings like [[PuppeteerParasite Nervous]] or [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Toddle]].
* BizarreAlienBiology: The Tikilings. Their standard form look like arthropods with four legs and two forearms that end in pincers, but are actually microscopic colony organisms in that shape. They have to eat biomass to grow, but don’t need to eat for survival. Their individual traits cause mutations that deviate from their standard biology.
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Early on, Taylor receives a visit to her house from [[spoiler: Amelia/Red Queen, one of her bullies that caused her trigger event, to force her to join the Court]]. It results in the latter’s death and forces Taylor and the Tikilings on the run.

* TheCaper: In their first big act against [[spoiler: Blastgerm]], Dragon sets up surveillance for a few days and manages to sneak a Tikiling into a tinker lab in the hopes of gaining something useful. The outcome? [[spoiler: A completely cleared out lab; all the tinkertech of two tinkers, one of the mentioned tinkers, and even the furniture out of pettiness.]]

* DoingResearch: An occasional method of getting information in the quest, serving as an ExpositionDump for the questers. A Tikiling browses the web for information related to relevant topics, usually other parahuman groups or the setting in general, and the questers usually make decisions based upon what they learned.

* InsectoidAliens: The general appearance of Tiki and the Tikilings. They tend to resemble various types of arthropods like prawns and crabs, while some develop insect wings, create hive-like nests with their saliva, and have queen-like females that lay eggs.

** Taylor’s Tinker ability revolves around creating the alien-like Tikilings. The reagent that she creates for her tinkering grows eyes and tentacles that occasionally lash out at her. [[DissonantSerenity She doesn’t even notice]].

* PlotTriggeringDeath: The first week of the quest begins slowly with getting to know Taylor & the setting, gathering resources, and waiting for new Tikilings to hatch. Then it really kicks off after [[spoiler: Amelia Lavere/Red Queen is killed in self-defense]]. This forces a huge change in the status quo for both Taylor and Brockton Bay, forcing her to start her hero career way earlier than expected and setting off a gang war.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Averted. More often than not, Taylor and Tiki have run-ins with the top brass of villain gangs before ever meeting their underlings or mooks. In fact the very first cape that Taylor (as Tiamat) and the Tikilings fight against is [[spoiler: Red Queen]].
* TheStakeout: What the Tikilings usually do as an espionage action against other groups.
* VariantPowerCopying: Taylor has the ability to extract and crystallize the essence of a power from samples of a parahuman’s power or genetic material. These trait crystals can then be used to give the Tikilings new traits. Examples include [[HealingFactor Regeneration]] from a bone sliver created by Wildling and [[{{Planimal}} Photosynthesis]] from one of Blasto’s creatures.
* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: As a tinker quest, resource management is a major factor for getting things done:
** Biomass is required to feed the Tikilings so they can grow and evolve. Later, it is used by Egglayers as a requirement for making eggs. This is usually provided by hunting animals or produced by certain traits.
** Reagent is a strange tinker brew that only Taylor can create that serves as the catalyst for most of her advanced projects, like improving her biosuit or the Tikilings and even creating new eggs from scratch.

** Supplies are raw materials for creating and improving other devices like Taylor’s computer or the workshop in general.

** One of Taylor’s biggest fears is that the Protectorate will kill Tiki and the other Tikilings for being a biotinkered beings, despite him being incredibly moral and intelligent. Considering what happened to [[spoiler: Dragon]], this is a legitimate concern.

* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate: This dynamic shows up quite often between cape groups:

** Weaver is really quiet and to the point, handling negotiations in a business-like and professional manner, with very few tells as to what she’s really thinking. By contrast, Cheshire and Grue are more relaxed and normal in their behavior and easier to read.

** Taylor, being a good example of BetterWithNonHumanCompany, is usually too busy to deal with people and isn’t all that good with them, being blunt and leaving their interactions somewhat stilted. She usually delegates the task of dealing with others to Toddle, who ironically isn’t human, is better suited for negotiating than she is.

** Biomass is required to feed the Tikilings so they can grow and evolve. This is usually provided by hunting animals or produced by traits.
** Reagent is a strange tinker brew that only Taylor can create that serves as the catalyst for most of her advanced projects, like improving her biosuit or the Tikilings.

* DoingResearch: An occasional method of getting information in the quest. A Tikiling browses the web for information related to topics, usually other parahumans or the setting in general, and the players usually make decisions based upon what they learned.

* TheFamine: While it hasn’t been elaborated on yet, there are hints that Earth Bet, or at least the U.S., is suffering from one of these with mentions of food scarcity and grocery price hikes. The Elite are also major food producers, however they haven’t been able to make as much in recent times.

* {{Archenemy}}:

* LetsYouAndHimFight: The initial strategy that Tiki pushes for dealing with the gangs. Rather than dealing with them directly, Dragon should sit back and let the Court and the Teeth tear each other apart…[[spoiler:they don’t stay neutral for long.]]

** Taylor’s Tinker ability revolves around creating the alien-like Tikilings. The reagent that she creates for her tinkering grows eyes and tentacles that occasionally lash out at her. She doesn’t even notice.

** After Tiki’s Growth trait kicks in, [[spoiler:he loses all semblance of his prior arthropod shape and becomes a building sized mass of flesh, tentacles and eyes.]]

* DesignerBabies: All Tikiling eggs are extremely modifiable prior to hatching. Whereas Taylor has to spend reagent to implant/swap traits with live Tikilings, eggs are primarily made of reagent, making the process easier and free.
* [[DisappearedDad Disappeared Mom]]: Annette Hebert left Danny sometime before the start of the story after he [[spoiler: joined the Court.]]

** To a less personal extent, Nilbog and his creatures are set up as one for the Taylor and the Tikilings based on how he set the bar for how dangerous a biotinker can be and how the public reacts to such capes. Interestingly, the Tikilings have an instinctive hatred towards Nilbog’s creatures, though the reason why hasn’t been revealed.

* {{Archenemy}}: The Court is this for Taylor. They are the reason for her family falling apart, [[spoiler: and her trigger was caused by Amelia/Red Queen.]]
** To a less personal extent, Nilbog is set up as one for Dragon based on how he set the bar for how dangerous a biotinker can be and how the public reacts to such capes. Interestingly, the Tikilings have an instinctive hatred towards Nilbog’s creatures, though the reason why hasn’t been revealed.

** Toddle’s optimized shapeshifting forms;[[spoiler: the first one he designs to combat the new Butcher is covered in eyes and venomous spines with layers of flesh and steel. His second form for reconnaissance resembles a half organic and glass orb with hundreds of telescopic eyes and tiny wings to make it slowly fly.]]

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Averted. More often than not, Taylor and Tiki have run-ins with the top brass of villain gangs before ever meeting their underlings or mooks. In fact the very first cape battle that Taylor (as Tiamat) and the Tikilings fight against is [[spoiler: Red Queen]].

** This is one of Taylor’s biggest fears is that the Protectorate will kill Tiki and the other Tikilings for being a biotinkered beings, despite him being incredibly moral and intelligent. Considering what happened to [[spoiler: Dragon]], this is a legitimate concern.

* {{ArchEnemy}}: The Court is this for Taylor. They are the reason for her family falling apart, [[spoiler: and her trigger was caused by Amelia/Red Queen.]]

* {{Archenemy}}: The Court is this for Taylor. They are the reason for her family falling apart, [[spoiler: and her trigger was caused by Amelia/Red Queen.]]

This story is a quest, set in an alternate universe, where you take the role of Tiki, a newborn tinkertech creature created by Taylor Hebert. Despite being newly born, you quickly discover that your very existence is considered extremely dangerous, and puts you and your mother in a precarious situation; If you are discovered by the heroes, they will certainly imprison her and destroy you and your siblings. If you are discovered by the villains, they will certainly press gang her and turn you and your siblings into a disposable army. You get to decide what happens next.