With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Bigking321 · 2026-04-06T07:11:06+0100

Sigh...

Nice job time traveler. Using future knowledge without taking into account that you even existing here makes your future knowledge unreliable.

Plus assuming you know everything because some people told you stories.

Boo.

GigaVanguard · 2026-04-06T07:14:17+0100

Bigking321 said:
Sigh...

Nice job time traveler. Using future knowledge without taking into account that you even existing here makes your future knowledge unreliable.

Plus assuming you know everything because some people told you stories.

Boo.

Making wild leaps of logic with very little evidence other than your own intuition and immediately jumping to violence while whole-heartedly assuming you're in the right and have the full picture? She's a proud and proper X-man, born and raised

Vaermina · 2026-04-06T07:43:59+0100

Bigking321 said:
Sigh...

Nice job time traveler. Using future knowledge without taking into account that you even existing here makes your future knowledge unreliable.

Plus assuming you know everything because some people told you stories.

Boo.

If he's based on Sentinel tenchology she's actually right because its a closed timeloop sort of thing with it being based on trojan filled sentinel technology from the future.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-04-06T08:00:31+0100

Mr Zoat said:
16th June 2012
19:38 EST

Huh.

I stare up at Aaron's face, which… Okay, he doesn't show emotion much, but I think that… Works, for me-. Him, works for him. One of his hands is around my back and the other's holding mine because someone decided that a war robot needed to know classical dance and he's looking at me-.

Heh, sometimes you need to relax by cutting a rug. No, Aaron, not with a laser!

But I could see this being part of Doctor Stack's socialisation training. I'm sure Aaron can also do a dashing round of Disco moves, given the Doctor's age.

And then the music changes to modern dance music, and he looks away, towards the speakers.

"My training doesn't include modern dance. Do you wish to… Improvise?"

Please don't. For all we know, you'll start dancing like Commander Shepard. And we all know how bad he/she/they dances.

"No, that's-. That's okay. Let's go get a drink or somethin'."

Because I'm getting a little hot. I dunno if Aaron's really all that attractive or it's just something about actually being able to touch him-.

Hopefully it's not because of a cooling issue in Aaron's systems. Given that the X-Series don't necessarily seem to have been intended to wear clothes...

"I could probably access the sound system if you prefer-."

I take a step back and tug him towards the drinks table. "Not a good idea. Forge put it together."

For reference: Forge. To sum up: Spontaneous invention of extremely advanced tech. Also a native American Shaman.

"And I should not disrespect your classmate by altering his work?"

"No, he seems like the kinda guy who'd add anti-robot defenses."

Certainly would expect anti-hacking defences, if he'd thought to include it.

"The perhaps I should attempt to gain access later. It could be useful training."

"They could be lasers."

"In that case, it could be extremely useful training."

Maybe you could consult with Forge, ask him about training devices. I'm sure he'd be very interested in you.

We reach the table, and there's Mr. Summers keeping an eye on things-. Aaron's staring at his glasses-. Oh God.

"I was not aware of there being other-."

"Mister Summers isn't a robot. He just needs those glasses to stop his eye blasts. He can't turn it off otherwise."

Not a teenage Scott, then, like 'X-Men: Evolution'. Haven't seen this show, so...

"Ah. Cyclops. Yes. My briefing files only show him in costume. I'm afraid that my own 'optical blasts' are only dangerous to small insects."

"Be pretty useful out in the country." I take a cup and ladle punch into it-. "Oh. Do you drink?"

"I don't need to, but I can go through the motions in order to blend in. Would that be helpful?"

I shudder to imagine how he empties whatever container he stores consumed material in. At least he isn't at the 'My robot brain needs beer.' stage.

I look around-. Oh, here we go. "Let's go with 'yes'." I offer him the ladle and brace myself-. He ignores the ladle and reaches out with his right hand-. And two of his fingers… Telescope out, one going into the punch bowl and the other into a cup. There's a… Really quiet pumping? Noise? And the cup starts to fill up.

Okay, that's kind of gross. He's sticking his fingers in the bowl... I know they're gonna be clean-ish, but still, the look of it.

"Ah."

"W-what are you doing?"

"Some of my preparatory material suggested that it was common to add alcohol to prom punch bowls. I thought it would be wise to check."

...Actually a sensible precaution. Especially when members of the party involve people with superpowers.

"Have they?"

"Yes."

And they managed it under Cyclops' piercing gaze? I'm almost impressed.

Then how come Mr. Logan hasn't caught it? He-. He's not here today, because Uncle Steve invited him bowling.

"How much? Do we need to-."

Aw, that's amusing. The two old soldiers hanging out.

"A single cup per hour is unlikely to result in significant intoxication." He-. He squirts the punch out of the finger pointed into the cup, then picks it up once it's full. "Would you like to investigate?"

"No. I don't want-"

Still gross. Hopefully no-one noticed that.

"Anne Marie."

"-trouble. Hey Rachel."

Oh, this is gonna be fun. One of the strongest telepaths on Earth in any era?

Rachel Summers. Looks like a young Jean Grey, because she's her time travelling daughter from the future. Looks good, actually has a useful power, treats everyone like she owns us because apparently that's a thing in the future and has some sort of problem with me. And Calvin, who likes hanging out with her because he likes hanging around powerful people so he can copy them and barely talks to me because duh. And Kitty, who's actually okay. Usually. But now she's giving Aaron weird looks. Actually, they're all doing that.

Plus Mimic and... I assume she's going by Shadowcat, skipping the earlier, sillier codenames.

Great.

Rachel puts her hands on her hips. "Who is this?"

Ah, she's playing the role of queen bitch of the school, huh?

Aaron faces her, and I try and work out what I've done to provoke full-bitch mode. "He-."

"Her name is Anne Marie. She goes to school here."

Thank goodness for his awkward social skills. That non-sequitur might have disrupted her train of thought nicely.

Huh? Oh, he-. He didn't think she was actually-.

"Who are you?"

Remember, Anne-Marie, he has limited social experience, mostly with older men who he already knows and have predictable social quirks.

"I am Anne Marie's date. Hello. It is interesting to meet you all."

Here comes the bitch-face… "Your name."

Please use the human name, please use the human name...

"Aaron Stack. And you are Rachel Summers-."

"I don't know who you are." She's really glaring. "Why don't I know who you are?"

Ah, yes. His robot brain is immune to telepathy.

"I am being home schooled-."

"I'm a time traveller. I heard Mom and Dad's stories about everyone they used to know. They never mentioned you."

Girl, you do realise their stories aren't all-knowing and all complete? AS varied their experience with the super-powered community, they can't have met everyone.

"Ah."

"Well?"

"It's a good job that Kang didn't know of your existence. He would certainly have prioritised you over Captain America."

Fortunately, Avengers villains don't generally poke their nose in X-Men business, and vice-versa.

"And I can't read your mind, and from the way Rogue's grabbing your hand I guess you're immune to her power too."

"I am full of very useful devices."

Ah, yes, the Imposter...

Calvin's head jerks like he's just realised something. "Forge? Why are you-?"

Calvin-. His whole face come off! It sort of folds to the side, and there's bare metal and circuits underneath! He's feeling his head with his hands and trying to work out what's happening-.

Which is pretty much what the X-Series look like under the skin. Best seen with Earth-X Machine-Man.

Aaron actually frowns. "X-Fifty? I was told that you were-"

Rachel scowls. "Machine-Man."

Ah, you've heard of him. And evidently nothing good.

"-destroyed. And I am increasingly uncomfortable with the dichotomy implied by the hyphenated-."

Rachel's skin flickers as she thrusts out her arms, and Aaron gets thrown across the room!

And here comes the superpowered fight. Not a villain, but everyone involved has kind of walked the line.

I stare at her. "What are you-?!"

Mr. Summers strides towards us. "Rachel, what do you think you're-?"

Little slow there, Slim.

"He's a Sentinel! An infiltrator!"

Mr. Summers sighs, because I know she's had outbursts like this before. "Rachel, he's clearly not a giant robot! You can't-!"

Oh, right. There was a period in the comics when Aaron did have Sentinel technology in him.

"That was uncomfortable." Aaron comes upright, pushing aside a couple of guys who went over to check on him as his… Arms and legs extending, and his hands popping open into giant claws! I didn't know he could do that-! But I guess if he's a combat robot, he'd have to have weapons. "And now I am forced to interpret this as a combat situation."

Please don't. I'm sure your tuxedo has taken enough damage as it is.

Guess it wouldn't be a school for gifted youngsters without some kind of misunderstanding when someone new shows up. You know, the whole 'Welcome to the X-Men <name>, hope you survive the experience!' gag. Not that I expect him to become a team member. But perhaps he could benefit from some outside schooling...

BR549 · 2026-04-06T08:03:19+0100

Ah, Rachel, dear?

You just speed-ran 'fucking around'.

Do prepare for a thorough 'finding out'.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-04-06T08:03:46+0100

Vaermina said:
If he's based on Sentinel tenchology she's actually right because its a closed timeloop sort of thing with it being based on trojan filled sentinel technology from the future.

Paul would have checked for that sort of thing, and made sure that any bits of sentinel tech don't come back to bite everyone in the ass.

Besides, not all sentinels are evil. There's a few examples I can think of who turned against their programming and helped the X-Men.

Cuchulin · 2026-04-06T08:08:34+0100

CrazyNoVa said:
Besides, not all sentinels are evil. There's a few examples I can think of who turned against their programming and helped the X-Men.

A VERY small number.

BR549 · 2026-04-06T08:12:40+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
Not a teenage Scott, then, like 'X-Men: Evolution'. Haven't seen this show, so...

Apparently Wolverine and the X-Men Scott has a somewhat military style.

Aw, that's amusing. The two old soldiers hanging out.

More than just fellow old soliders, old war-buddies here, given comments between Paul and Steve when Cap thawed out in the first (proper) installment of Earth-8096's OL.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-06T09:30:48+0100

Ngamer11 said:
Threadmark should say 'Meanwhile on Earth 8096'.

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · 2026-04-06T10:01:14+0100

Mr Zoat said:
The perhaps I should

"Then perhaps"

Mr Zoat said:
look around-. Oh, here we go. "Let's go with 'yes'." I offer him the ladle and brace myself-. He ignores the ladle and reaches out with his right hand-. And two of his fingers… Telescope out, one going into the punch bowl and the other into a cup. There's a… Really quiet pumping? Noise? And the cup starts to fill up

Now I'm picturing the aliens peeing from their fingers in Scary Movie.

Mr Zoat said:
Then how come Mr. Logan hasn't caught it

He may have put it there.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-06T10:31:54+0100

Darko said:
"Then perhaps"

Thank you, corrected.

WereDragon · 2026-04-06T10:34:42+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Why don't I know who you are?"

A lack of omniscience seems to be the fundamental problem.
Secondary problems include: Thinking you know everything, teenage arrogance and general stupidity.

Big question is whether Aaron has the good sense (and good tactics) to immediately call in backup or if Paul will only learn about this when the fleeing bystanders are noticed.

Duke Long · 2026-04-06T10:45:20+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"No. I don't want-"

'ah'? Or is her accent situational? Not sure if there are any other potential accent corrections in this chapter.

Mr Zoat said:
"I am full of very useful devices."

The fuck kinda device is doing that? Hahaha.

Attention Counting · 2026-04-06T13:13:31+0100

Cuchulin said:
A VERY small number.

The operational word there was "few" for a reason.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-06T13:21:01+0100

Duke Long said:
'ah'? Or is her accent situational? Not sure if there are any other potential accent corrections in this chapter.

Thank you, corrected.

Stsword · 2026-04-06T14:44:40+0100

Vaermina said:
If he's based on Sentinel tenchology she's actually right because its a closed timeloop sort of thing with it being based on trojan filled sentinel technology from the future.

While Zoat can certainly do what he likes, and has, traditionally Machine Man wasn't based on Sentinel technology.

He did however become infected with Sentinel nanites like the human Prime Sentinels in his 1999 series X-51.

So presuming that Rachel isn't being robophobic here, it's possible she's reacting to something that didn't happen yet and thanks to time travel might not even happen after all.

For anyone curious, while infected he was attacking mutants on sight, chose to self destruct rather than risk losing control to the Sentinel programming, but then managed to fight the Sentinel programming (It manifested as Bastion) in the center of his mind in a fight to the death.

And then the Celestials picked him up (Who are also the Monolith aliens from 2001 a Space Odyssey) and everyone forgot about his Sentinal nanites, including, I suspect, the Marvel writers.

NightmareWarden · 2026-04-06T15:23:00+0100

It's been 11 minutes since this date started, based on the timestamp here and the last update. Wow, Rogue doesn't get to enjoy anything. Poor Aaron, so much for "worried and excited." There's gotta be hints of his new feelings in this chapter, what he thinks about this interruption, but what those might be…?

Jankl · 2026-04-06T18:11:28+0100

Are there any Universes with an SI Paul and a native version of Paul around?

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-06T18:15:32+0100

Jankl said:
Are there any Universes with an SI Paul and a native version of Paul around?

No.

Vaermina · 2026-04-06T21:47:31+0100

CrazyNoVa said:
Paul would have checked for that sort of thing, and made sure that any bits of sentinel tech don't come back to bite everyone in the ass.

Besides, not all sentinels are evil. There's a few examples I can think of who turned against their programming and helped the X-Men.

How would he have done that when Marvel Tech high ends far far above anything a Power Ring can detect?

CrazyNoVa · 2026-04-06T21:51:48+0100

Vaermina said:
How would he have done that when Marvel Tech high ends far far above anything a Power Ring can detect?

Not sentinel tech. Sentinel tech is human-made, and far, FAR less advanced than Malthusian tech.

Darko · 2026-04-06T22:42:51+0100

Vaermina said:
How would he have done that when Marvel Tech high ends far far above anything a Power Ring can detect?

Since when?

If it's Celestial or Galactus tech then he may not be able to scan it.

Anything else is fair game and would be easy to scan.

The only thing he hasn't been able to scan is Doom, and that was probably because he was using magic.

Vaermina · 2026-04-06T22:56:30+0100

CrazyNoVa said:
Not sentinel tech. Sentinel tech is human-made, and far, FAR less advanced than Malthusian tech.

Sentinel tech is a paradox, it exists because in the far future it was sent back in time to build itself.

Darko said:
Since when?

If it's Celestial or Galactus tech then he may not be able to scan it.

Anything else is fair game and would be easy to scan.

The only thing he hasn't been able to scan is Doom, and that was probably because he was using magic.

Since 1966 when AIM created it's first Cosmic Cube.

Silveraith · 2026-04-07T02:39:05+0100

I don't think it's ever been mentioned in the story and after 13-odd years of reading I wouldn't be surprised if I've just forgotten, but has Gorilla City or any of the characters from there, have they ever made an appearance or been mentioned?

Darko · 2026-04-07T04:17:15+0100

Vaermina said:
Sentinel tech is a paradox, it exists because in the far future it was sent back in time to build itself.

And why would that somehow stop Paul from scanning it?

Vaermina said:
Since 1966 when AIM created it's first Cosmic Cube.

And everything else they've made has been less advanced.

Heck, we've seen other versions copy tech that's either as advanced or more advanced than what we see in Marvel, so not sure why you'd think this version would have difficulty.

Silveraith said:
I don't think it's ever been mentioned in the story and after 13-odd years of reading I wouldn't be surprised if I've just forgotten, but has Gorilla City or any of the characters from there, have they ever made an appearance or been mentioned?

Grodd did show up in the Renegade side.

He killed Mallah during Renegade's destruction of the original Light.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-04-07T06:20:54+0100

Vaermina said:
Sentinel tech is a paradox, it exists because in the far future it was sent back in time to build itself.

Even then, it would still be far less advanced. Sure, Sentinel tech may hail from decades, centuries or even millenia into the future, but that would still be nothing compared to Malthusian tech, which has had several billions of years to evolve. Thus, even a basic power ring would be much more advanced than even the most complex sentinel tech.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-07T06:22:47+0100

16th June 2012
19:43 EST

Rachel points at the drinks table and then swings her arm forwards, and the table flies off-.

Are we really going to do this?

"Um." Kitty come up alongside me as Aaron's… Weird extendo-limbs undulate around the thrown table. "You're dating a robot? Did Forge-?"

Aaron points his fingers and there's a pff noise, and then Rachel's eyes widen and her hands come up as a bunch of… Darts? Stop in the air in front of her.

"No, he got built in some government place. My Dad knows his dad. Probably some kinda superhero thang."

"Alright, that's enough." Mr. Summers walks forwards. His fists are clenched, but his hands aren't going anywhere near his visor. "Rachel, stand down now. Aaron, those better have been tranquilisers."

"And we're not dating… Exactly. He's just one of, like, two guys mah age in the whole world ah c'n touch."

Rachel's glaring at Mr. Summers something fierce. I don't know what Aaron's supposed to have done in her messed up future, but it looks like it stuck in her head real hard. "He was the first infiltrator Trask designed! Apocalypse liked them so much-."

I lay my hand on her neck, and there's a quiet sort of gasp-shudder at my power takes hold. And then-.

Uh. I've got better at this. Not that I want to. Using my power always gave me a look at what sort of person I was draining. Like it copied everything they were thinking about right onto my brain. Sometimes I couldn't remember who I was, whatever they were thinking about making me do exactly what they were planning on doing. But I know Rachel's anger at her Dad for being a fool or the Sentinel prototype for existing-

I take my hand off her, and Mr. Summers catches her as she collapses. "Thank you, Anne Marie."

-aren't mine, so I try forcing my body to stay in calm-mode instead of going into anger-mode like it wants to. And I don't see what Rachel saw, but I can remember the jury-rigged robots the Human Liberation Front sent after any mutants they could find because they didn't differentiate between Apocalypse's followers and the mutants fighting against him. I remember that there were robots who were intelligent, robots who organised and directed the others…

Several of them looked like Aaron.

Hand-!

I jerk my head around as Kitty lays her hand on my shoulder, because she knows that I don't like using my power, and what happens when I use it. I'm just glad that Rachel's mostly telekinetic; getting everyone else's thoughts as well as hers would be too much.

Aaron's walking over, his arms and legs retracting back to normal size. Looks like he's not getting his tuxedo deposit back-.

"So is he..?" Kitty leans in closer. "'Feature-complete'?"

"Huh?" What does she-? Oh. "Ah-! Ah don't know that!"

Kitty smirks. "Let me know when you find out."

"Ah might not-." Aaron stops near Mr. Scott. "Hey Aaron." I step away from Kitty, who's obviously trying to be a bad influence "You okay?"

He.. does a sort of half-smile thing, and I'm worried that his face got damaged or something. "It is nothing that half an hour with a buffing wheel won't fix. And, yes."

He is-?

He turns to Mr. Summers, who's manoeuvring Rachel into a bridal carry position so he can take her out and dump her somewhere. "They were sedatives."

"Good. I'm.. sorry about her behavior. She had a rough childhood."

He tilts his head slightly to the side. "She mentioned 'Trask'. Would that be Mister Bolivar Trask?"

"Yes. According to her, he's working on a plan to build giant mutant-killing robots. Do you know him?"

"I met him yesterday. He was quite eager to learn about my design. I have not received any 'Sentinel'-related updates, but it is not impossible that he could create his own variant of my own X series as part of his anti-mutant force. Fortunately, other than myself, all other X series androids so far produced have been insanely violent. Using them in that manner would be ill-advised, at best."

"That's… Good to know."

"And in any case, he may be reconsidering his trajectory. I am not an expert in human behavior, but it appeared that Orange Lantern was quite persuasive when he attempted to convince him to take another approach. Would you like me to help you with Rachel?"

"No, that's part of my job. What do you mean, 'another approach'?"

"He pointed out that none of Kang the Conqueror's followers had the x-gene, and as such any fears about a future x-gene aristocracy oppressing humans without the x-gene were unfounded."

"That's… Interesting, but the sort of person who builds giant anti-mutant robots tends not to be all that rational about it."

"Yes." Aaron nods. "Building a multifunction robot is far more rational, and there is little that can be achieved by a giant robot that can't be achieved by a human-sized robot with an aerial drone."

"Ah, if you say so." Mr. Summers looks at the mess Rachel made. "Would you mind-?"

Aaron nods. "I will tidy up. Anne Marie?"

"Ah, yeah." I follow him over to the table, which like a lot of the furniture in the mansion looks old. And solid.

Aaron reaches down and turns it over like it weighs nothing. "I understand that having drained Rachel Summers, you have temporarily acquired her power."

"Yeah, but ah ain't bin trained how to use it. Ah don't wanna make more of a mess."

"That is probably wise." He.. extends his arms again and picks up the table, twisting it right side up before walking it back to where it started. "How well do you think that I handled that situation?"

"Pretty good. No way y'all coulda known Rachel wuz gunna go psycho on you."

"I had considered that I might experience hostility for being a robot. I did not predict that I might experience hostility for-" He sets the table down, and looks at the punch covering the floor. "-the actions of a completely different type of robot. Do you know where the janitor's closet is?"

"Y'all don't have a built in mop?"

"I was built for combat and infiltration, not sanitation. I only know how to clean at all because Father makes me clean my quarters."

"Hey, ah, dude?" Calvin comes over-. His face is still hanging off.

"X Fifty? You are far calmer than you were during our last meeting. I approve of your new attitude, particularly given how our motherboards are identical and your insult made no sense."

"No, my name's Mim-. Calvin. Ah. I copied your powers, and now I can't get my face back on."

"Ah. There's a trick to it." Aaron raises his hands towards Calvin. "With your permission?"

"Sure."

Aaron pushes Calvin's face back into place, then sort of shoves it up until there's a click, then takes his hands away. This time it stays there.

"Ah. You are not X Fifty."

"No. And thanks. Now I'm going to get as far away from you as possible so that I can stop using your power." He steps back, looking really awkward. "You.. guys.. have a good night."

Well, this was weird. But I guess we're learning about each other.

I gesture down the hall. "Closet's this way."

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-07T06:25:17+0100

Silveraith said:
I don't think it's ever been mentioned in the story and after 13-odd years of reading I wouldn't be surprised if I've just forgotten, but has Gorilla City or any of the characters from there, have they ever made an appearance or been mentioned?

The Earth 16 version of Gorilla City was The Brain's neuro-science research centre where they made intelligent gorillas. The team smashed it up in the first year and freed them.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-04-07T06:29:22+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"So is he..?" Kitty leans in closer. "'Feature-complete'?"

"Huh?" What does she-? Oh. "Ah-! Ah don't know that!"

Kitty smirks. "Let me know when you find out."

Oh, great. You just know Kitty's gonna ask Paul about getting Aaron some special equipment.

Weapon X? More like Weapon XXX.

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

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