September spoiler questions. (Patreon)

Alright, I have one week left before I send in Fallen Hero: Retribution to CoG for their edit round. So if the answers are short, that's because my mind is busy. Soon I will have more time to get back and do a lot of cool stuff on here!

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Could Argent sense Sidesteps computerchip if she focused, even if it's off?

Yes.

Spoilers: will we get to know Ortega's immediate reaction to MC getting broken out of HQ by Mortum? Would he already make the connection to Mortum like with the puppet, or would there be a worry that the SD showed up like MC said they would?

I am not sure yet! I need to think about it.

With Ortega's bday coming up, any chances we'll be able to tell them Sidestep's actual age if the regene reveal's happened? I know they're in their 30s in every way that counts but I still think it'd be hilarious to see Ortega's reaction.

I dunno yet. It might come up once they start talking more about Farm stuff.

If Argent attacks Step in the elevator scene, Ortega's reaction is something like "disappointed, but not surprised". Has Argent attacked allies/civillians out of the blue like this before? Has she attacked any of the Rangers? 

Ortega is the one who knows the most about Argent's control issues, even if they don't know the full truth. Argent have had issues in the past, and Ortega has covered for them. And the other way around.

Spoilers In the next book are we be able to change step's appearance again? Especially cuz in some routes step is hiding from the rangers

Oh yes. That is planned.

If we don't release the Catastrofiend in Retri, will we still have the chance to meet it again in future books? 

How could I resist? It is still there, in stasis.

SPOILER: in the endings where the MC crashes but jumps into the puppet, is the Regene cat out of the bag to the Rangers? Since the SD in now on Step's trail, I wondered how many other people are in the known.

The cat is out of the bag, yes.

Spoiler: Did Ortega when they first mistakenly started thinking Step was HG lost sibling did they try to steer Step in a direction away from HG and crime or did they ever consider Sidestep as some kind of leverage against HG?

Not leverage. Because by the time Ortega finally saw Sidestep's face and started to add things up, they were already friends. So Ortega tried to steer Sidestep towards hero side.

Being a regene was there ever anything Sidestep did (behaviour/said) that made Oretga, Anathema, Steel etc think that was odd or strange?

So many things! Sidestep was inherently very weird at the start, but Anathema got it.

Alpha Spoilers Argent is missing a good few chunks of flesh, but how does the underlying bone structure look? Does she have all her bones, but are those also largely replaced by nanovores?

Nope, she's missing bones as well, especially in the hands and feet.

Alpha Spoils What’s the relationship between Umbral and his girlfriend like? Does he know she’s got flirtatious relationships like Jake?

Umbral has no luck with women. He did not know that.

How long has Hollow Ground been possibly causing earthquakes?

Somewhere around the turn of the century.

Alpha Spoilers: What would an X-Ray of Lady Argent look like? Points of interest?

Whatever she wanted it to look like.

^on that note: what segments are the nanovores augmenting/supporting or posing as entirely? is it a constant or ever-changing kind of symbiosis? if she loses more of herself during fights or events, how do they go about replacing or fixing? are there any telltale signs that’s she’s losing/lost more of herself? 

The major bits are focused on hands and feet, that's why the most through transformations happen there. Also, eyes. And skin.

Okay wait part 2 to my question!! cw medical, body horror Do they act as her blood/bloodstream? When they function as her eyes are they connecting directly with her ocular system or in eating that, is it her technopathy that’s connecting the image they’re presenting to her? Also what’s with their little Predator triple dot look when they’re in charge? If they change the appearance of her limbs like when she does the sword and such, are they also morphing her bone? Does she need to actively recall human anatomy or do they do that for her?

The eyes are usable only because of Argent's technopathy. Ironically, she can see through her skin, on a basic level. The nanovores forming her eyes are specialists at this point, rather different from the rest. They can translate their surroundings a lot better. The triple points are what would amount to the "brains" of the nanoswarm, the central hive focus points. Yes, not every nanovore is the same since Argent started to interact with them. And Argent really needs to focus to get the proper shape with the nanovores.

Alpha spoilers: With the nanovores being partly in argent's throat, have they affected her voice at all?

Yes, they have. Her tongue is all nanovores.

Would Steel know how to get Step out of their armor in an emergency situation or would they have to crack it open like HG

Steel would most likely be able to figure it out.

What did the Special Directive do to review or monitor the implantation of memories into the AI chip with regard to bias in how concepts were introduced? Was there an acceptable, quantifiable, threshold of unavoidable bias from the holder of the original memories?

Oh those memories were monitored, cleaned and sanitized. It was the most important part of the Re-Gene process, and a lot more predictable than the boosting. This was what the core was for.

Would any memories have been added with the intent of providing a specific bias favourable toward the SD? Would it have been possible to intentionally slip in biases that the SD would not have wanted under the radar?

Yes to the first one. Loyalty and obedience were focused on. It would not gave been possible to slip in biases, this was very controlled.

What were Blaze’s and Zephyr’s childhoods like? What about Locus and Porphyry’s?

I don't know yet, I haven't detailed them like that.

How did Hollow Ground get a hold of the regenerator?

They did not, someone was selling it at the auction they held.

Alpha Spoilers What the hell does Chen trust Blaze with?? The man can tackle you out the window and burn himself out while fighting.

Doesn't mean he can't keep his mouth shut and give good advice.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much is Argent creating expectations about her romantic relationship with Sidestep? 1 being "Only friends who kiss" and 10 being "Imagining the wedding dress and them in a house with white picket fences"

That depends entirely on the Sidestep, but she is demi, so it will take time.

How did Mortum obtain the footage of shroud and ace?

Contacts in San Francisco.

Spoilers How would things have changed had Ortega seen Sidestep's face from the start? Would they still genuinely have wanted to befriend them/flirt with them? Or would Ortega have tried to use them for their own revenge agenda against HG? 

That is a tough call. I honestly don't know. The thing is, if they had seen Sidestep's face from the start, then they would have slotted them into the bad guy folder. Someone to be used. Perhaps that would have changed once they got to know Sidestep, but who knows?