Path to Victory

I murmured to myself, "Steps to killing Leviathan."

 

My mind suddenly was filled with what I'd need to do. I'd had a visit with Contessa earlier in the day; I had my suspicions that whatever happened with Leviathan would be a trigger of some kind for Scion. If it was, then I was going to need every benefit that I could get to save the world.

 

***

 

"Steps to killing Leviathan while looking cool," I said after a moment.

 

It wasn't really all that different, just a little added panache.

 

"Steps to killing Leviathan while minimizing the loss of life to Brockton Bay and elsewhere."

 

Contessa couldn't Path the Endbringers or Scion, and without killing her, I couldn't go a great deal beyond what she could do. However, I possessed enough other Thinker abilities by now that her ability could use those to help figure out a path. It wasn't perfect, and if I'd had fewer abilities, it would have taken so many steps as to have been impossible. It would never be as good against an Endbringer as it would against a normal person, but it didn't have to be.

 

All it had to do was give me the general idea, and I could turn that into victory if I worked hard enough. My own ability to analyze data had already given me some ideas; Contessa's power just confirmed them for me.

 

***

 

Test