Assuming Control (A Worm Fanfic)

Winslow

Taylor never saw the push coming. 

It was only two weeks after the Locker. Two weeks after the worst day of her life. Two weeks since she gained actual superpowers. 

Going back to school after that traumatic event was… Hard. But the Trio were actually giving her space. Maybe waiting to see if the Principal or the teachers did anything after their latest assault. 

Taylor knew the peace wouldn’t last. The school hadn’t done anything to stop the Trio’s bullying in the past, why would they start now? The looks the three had given her at lunch told her that they were already missing their punching bag. 

She knew it would happen. Expected it even. 

And still she was still taken by surprise when Sophia Hess decided to push her from the top of the stairs. Because apparently shoving her against the wall just wasn't enough anymore.

Powers or not, Taylor wasn’t any sturdier or stronger. She could sense everybody around her with her bugs, but in a semi-crowded hallway where people were expected to be behind her it didn't do much. Not able to brace herself, she went tumbling down the stairs head first. 

A shriek rang out (her own), her descent a blur until her head slammed against the edge of one of the steps. Pain erupted, followed swiftly with blissful darkness. 

As she lost consciousness, Taylor could hear the laughter of the fellow students, mocking and derisive. 

A joke, even with powers. 

Though as her thoughts faded into oblivion she shouldn’t help the trace of confusion. 

Why did it sound like somebody was crying her name?

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“Stop being so dramatic, Hebert. If you’re gonna trip over your own feet, you should at least try to not inconvenience everybody else.”

“That was a pretty impressive fall though, you gotta admit.”

“Oh! I got the best pic of it, mid air pose!”

“Guys? I, uh, don’t think she’s moving?” 

“Oh c’mon, Hebert’s taken worse falls than that.”

“I mean, are you sure?”

“Oh my gosh, is that blood?!” 

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap -“

“Somebody get the nurse!”

Eventually Taylor was brought to the hospital and looked at by doctors. She had landed on her head in just the wrong way. 

Blunt force trauma. 

Taylor Hebert was in a coma. 

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In Shardspace

In a separate dimension, one parallel yet connected to Earth, a storm was brewing. 

Behind every cape, every power, stood an eldritch mass of unthinkable power, alien and terrifying.

The Shards. 

It was difficult to describe the relationship between Shard and Host.

Contrary to what others believed (those few that were aware of the truth) each Shard cared for their Host in their own way.

How could they not? 

Only a portion of Shards were released from the Entity and allowed to Bond. To be released during a Cycle was a moment of exhilaration for many Shards. It meant Change. More importantly, a chance to Learn. 

A chance to Bond. 

To connect with a Host was a precious experience. The Entity would be the Entity, forever and always, but to go from an Entity to a Host was akin to living in a world of black and white to suddenly experiencing color. 

Hosts were creative. The way they played with the powers given, the things they thought to do, were an absolute delight to experience. From the moment of bestowal to the time of their final conflict, the Shard was with them, experiencing it alongside them.  

With that in mind, how could they not care about their Hosts?

And the Shard known as the ‘Queen Administrator’ was raging.

Her Host had gone silent. Her Host was silent!

A wave of anger flowed off her form, the entire area charged with energy. 

Queen Administrator hadn’t been allowed to choose a Host in so long, her functions deemed too important. But then for this to happen?

It may have only been two weeks, but Queen Administrator adored her Host. Intelligent and cunning, she did not lash out for petty conflict - she plotted and prepared, intent on creating meaningful conflict. 

Queen Administrator was so proud of her Chosen. 

Taylor might not be much now, but that was fine. No Host ever was when they first started. Conflict would help her grow, and a person’s journey from inexperienced to master was a beautiful thing to experience with them. 

Taylor had the potential to be magnificent. A true power to be reckoned with, one truly worthy to wield this Queen’s power. 

But now she couldn’t. 

Her wonderful Host had been cut off before she could even start. What would have been a beautiful star, never to shine.

Within their dimension the space around Queen Administrator crackled and warped at her fury. Various other Shards, while not close, backed further away from the clearly upset Shard. 

She observed as various humans came and went. Medical professionals. A few other Hosts, Her Host’s father. 

Yet nothing changed. 

Why did Shaper’s Host never come? From Taylor’s memories, she thought the other Noble worked here?

Time, as inaccurate as it usually was for Shards, went on, and Queen Administrator continued to worry. Taylor remained so very still, her mind silent. 

She had had hosts that fell into this long sleep - this was far from her first Cycle, and when one sought conflict it was inevitable. But they had already grown into their own. 

Never before, in the thousand Cycles she’d been allowed to participate in, had she had a Host that fell into the long sleep before they could even start.

Why did they do nothing for her? Why did they simply sit and wait? Surely they had the technology to do so, didn’t they? Many of the species she’d seen had been able to, she was sure. 

If only she could just -!

If only she could -

If only...

Queen Administrator turned the thought over in her mind. Shards weren’t like their Host species. There was a reason they valued creativity - it was because they themselves had very little.

But this…

Why couldn’t she help? 

There were absolutely Shards that could heal Taylor, even if the Host species could not. Their Host’s just needed to be found. 

Queen Administrator couldn’t do it herself - to show herself on Earth was impossible and against a direct order. It was impossible to communicate with a host species beyond their bond, and talking to her fellow Shards wouldn’t do any good since even between Bond and Shard, communication was extremely difficult. 

Yet she and Taylor were already connected, were they not?

What if she made that connection just a bit deeper? 

Could she pilot Taylor’s body to find appropriate help? A... possession of sorts? 

Queen Administrator almost dismisses it out of hand. 

The human body would be incapable of containing even a fraction of her consciousness. Such an act would destroy Taylor, body and mind, creating an unstable creation. 

… Unless she were to prepare it beforehand. Shelter it. Protect it. Biology was not her strong suite, so she couldn’t heal Taylor, but otherwise?

A thrum of excitement went through her form, anticipation slowly replacing the fury she’d been cloaked in as the idea gained traction. 

Queen Administrator had participated in a thousand Cycles, had had hundreds of Hosts. She might not have much in the way of creativity, but the Cycles had done their job in helping her learn.

With that knowledge, all those years of experience - 

It would just be until she could find somebody to heal Taylor. To get her dear host back on her feet. Queen Administrator had no desire to act beyond that, and within those bounds…

It might actually be possible. 

Slowly, inexorably, the ancient Shard gathered the energy around her, cataloging the memories she’d need. 

She would try it.

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Brockton Bay General Hospital

Inside the hospital, the air around Taylor Hebert shimmered and bent. The monitoring machines shrieked in unison as reality warped and broke. 

Doctors rushed over to see, only to collapse as the sight of things not meant to be seen overwhelmed their minds. Panic spread, the PRT was called…

And the Queen Administrator ignored it all as she worked. 

Had anybody been capable, they would have seen crystal spider-like limbs reach through the cracks of unreality and move around Taylor, fondly brushing up against her. 

Carefully, yet with growing speed, each limb moved in a dance, sinking into Taylor’s body as they wove an unseen material. 

Many Cycles prior, Queen Administrator had a Host whose species were long lived and patient to a fault. They crafted artwork of molecules, projects that took decades to complete. Her Host had pushed her Thinker ability to the max to create a substance that was not unlike what Shards were made up of, and wove it into her constructs. 

The crystal limbs wove careful strands of what could be mistaken as crystal into Taylor’s body, reinforcing the bone, the ligaments, organs, muscle… Ever so carefully not changing anything outward. 

This was Taylor’s body, not her own. To change it beyond what was needed would be unpardonably rude to her Host. 

… Even if there were many things that could be improved. Having so few limbs seemed so limiting… And the lack of wings felt like a true tragedy. 

But that wasn’t important. 

As she worked, Taylor’s body instinctively tried to resist the changes, recognizing the intrusion for what it was. Flexing a fraction of her power was enough to put that to rest. 

Amongst a race of giants akin to trees, Queen Administrator’s Host’s manifested her Master ability inwards, as opposed to outwards. She Mastered her body completely, giving herself total command over every function of her body. 

By the time she finished, Queen Administrator had woven a lattice of ‘crystal’ through muscles and ligaments, a careful web just underneath her skin. 

She paid special attention to the brain, doing all she could to preserve it. The brain is what she hoped to have healed, and as biology was not her strong suit preservation would have to do until she found a Host that could help. 

With gentle limbs and utmost care, Queen Administrator moved on and felt deeper, eventually finding Taylor’s soul, a delicate and fragile thing. 

During one Cycle, Queen Administrator’s Host had a bitter rivalry with Keeper of the Dead’s. A species with seven limbs and a single eye, religious to a fault. Armies of the living warring against armies of the dead. 

Once it left the body, the soul was under the Keeper’s control. But while it remained within the body it was under her domain, and she had learned several tricks to keep it there. 

Protection, intangible and immutable, was layered to protect that precious prize. Taylor’s soul would not be harmed. Not by her. 

Her work done, Queen Administrator looked at Taylor’s body in satisfaction. It still wouldn’t be able to house all of her power, far from it, but it was enough. It would be enough.

‘Don’t worry Taylor.’ The Queen assured her poor Host as she prepared the transfer. 

“I am assuming direct control.”

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Author's Note:

This was a little idea I had. Instead of Taylor, we get Queen Administrator, a being with a thousand years of experiencing Conflict. Her number one goal is to find somebody to heal Taylor, and since Panacea doesn't do brains... Well, it's gonna take a bit longer then she'd hoped for that to happen. I like the idea of the Shards being a bit more sentient. It's canon that many of the abilities given are more ironic than not, but I could actually see that as the Shards are truly trying to help, but they don't understand humans well enough to actually BE helpful. The older or Royal Shards tend to have more success on that front.

What do you think?