Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

sephlington · Feb 16, 2015

Divabot said:
OTOH, Earth Bet is a shithole and civilisation is collapsing. I think a non-negligible proportion of people will be interested in a new option.

Yeah, potential for God-Empress to go bat-shit crazy and kill everyone is better than guaranteed nigh-unstoppable monsters that regularly go around killing as many people as they can, as destructively as they can. If I was living on Bet with the Endbringers, I'd take Avalon as the better option.

Snake/Eater · Feb 16, 2015

for this chapter,i'm posting the song "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by the "Tears for Fears" as covered by Lorde,

and for all you Becky/Lisa shippers.....Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster" as covered by Young Beautiful in a Hurry

[

edale said:
The Transporter.

THANKS Edale, The Transporter is a awesome nickname for Eric,now i wish somebody did a omake thats a homage to the movies...

Peanuckle · Feb 16, 2015

I'd probably go to whatever world America colonized. The place has been having a lot of problems what with Endbringers and parahumans, but it's still the best nation around IMO. A fresh new world is just the sort of release valve they need.

Snake/Eater · Feb 16, 2015

Peanuckle said:
I'd probably go to whatever world America colonized. The place has been having a lot of problems what with Endbringers and parahumans, but it's still the best nation around. A fresh new world is just the sort of release valve they need.

it would still have more problems then what Avalon can prevent,and a american colonized world would only be american in name only.they have just put all of the problems and made it worst if they're following laws that don't apply to a new world,that release valve could become a explosion.

moontheir4 · Feb 16, 2015

I'd imagine that the bulk of their colonists would come from ~~third world~~ industrially-impaired? countries. In worm they seem to be more acclimated to warlords. Pantheon is too damn powerful to fuck with and have a reputation that doesn't involve crimes against humanity (just nature).

Trying to think here. South America is run by cartels. Africa is divvied up by warlords. The former USSR has been soundly borked since the collapse of the union. Anyone in Southeast Asia who isn't in the CUI soon will be. Not sure about the middle east, other than Behemoth smote the oil fields. I can see how people from most of these regions might choose something not run by their current government, though.

edale · Feb 16, 2015

TanaNari said:
OffendedDispleased. Well, at least he's being honest. ReluctantAgreement.

OK, I understand this is Taylia bond -> Amelia's thought -> Taylia bond, but the problem I see here is I can't figure out how this flows without the thoughts being transmitted over the bond as well. And if that's the case, the implications are...staggering to say the least.

TanaNari said:
"In exchange, you were given an earth of your own?" he asked. "Some might view that as conspicuous consumption, as all other organizations who received a colony world were national governments. In addition, you were recognized as a nation when you agreed to this project." One of the hard questions we'd requested be asked.

OK, I looked up the definition of conspicuous consumption, since I'm unfamiliar with the term, but I just can't see how it fits here; are you sure you didn't mean to use a different term?

TanaNari said:
A/N- Seriously though. No fucking with Avalon. It fucks back. And it's a lot bigger than you.

It fucks you back like a shikima demon from La Blue Girl (if you don't know what that is, looking it up is definitely NSFW).

Oh and Snake/Eater, do you still think 'Big Sister' doesn't quite fit for Taylor? Because I saw this development, and the resulting debate, coming way back then, lol.

Oh and you could always call Sabah 'The Tailor' just for the lulz.

cosoco · Feb 16, 2015

edale said:
OK, I understand this is Taylia bond -> Amelia's thought -> Taylia bond, but the problem I see here is I can't figure out how this flows without the thoughts being transmitted over the bond as well. And if that's the case, the implications are...staggering to say the least.

Amy thinks something, which causes an emotion, and the emotion flows over the link clearly enough that Taylor can decode the thought that produced it.

edale said:
OK, I looked up the definition of conspicuous consumption, since I'm unfamiliar with the term, but I just can't see how it fits here; are you sure you didn't mean to use a different term?

There are a limited number of worlds. Avalon currently has about a dozen people, but has one planet to themselves. Some of the national governments haven't gotten a world. Some people might argue that that's unfair.

dasstan · Feb 16, 2015

cosoco said:
Some people might argue that that's unfair.

Some people should be reminded of the ancient wisdom of the playground: Finders, keepers.

daimahou · Feb 16, 2015

cosoco said:
There are a limited number of worlds. Avalon currently has about a dozen people, but has one planet to themselves. Some people might argue that that's unfair.

IIRC, the number of dimensions on this side of the fence is 10^80 even if only 20% of that is habitable that is still a lot of space for Earth Bet's population.

And they won't be needing another Earth for quite a while.

Sheaman3773 · Feb 16, 2015

Daunmi said:
Someone has to explain to me the point of the threadmark thingy. Is it just a replacement for having the first post in the thread be the contents or is there some other functionality involved?

At the moment, it's a replacement/supplement for the first post, not to mention would allow easy access to the index from every page.

With the added features they've mentioned working on over at SV, it would automatically generate an index/table of contents and have Previous/Next buttons on each chapter, without the OP having to do any more than name the threadmark.

Ack said:
Also in 245, with the emotion/thoughts/emotion mixup, perhaps if you put them on different lines?

No, I'm pretty sure it's intentional, so that--

TanaNari said:
OffendedDispleased. Well, at least he's being honest. ReluctantAgreement.

Yeah, here. It's another sign that Taylia has advanced.

The blurring continues!

tordg · Feb 16, 2015

cosoco said:
Amy thinks something, which causes an emotion, and the emotion flows over the link clearly enough that Taylor can decode the thought that produced it.

I imagine Taylor received something like DisagreementRespect.

Beyogi · Feb 16, 2015

cosoco said:
Amy thinks something, which causes an emotion, and the emotion flows over the link clearly enough that Taylor can decode the thought that produced it.

There are a limited number of worlds. Avalon currently has about a dozen people, but has one planet to themselves. Some of the national governments haven't gotten a world. Some people might argue that that's unfair.

You forgot the first rule of realist international politics: Might makes right.

Quite simply, everyone with half a brain cell is going to be too happy about the fact that Pantheon doesn't "Regime Change" them, like a certain real world Hegemon likes to do, to be envious of the fact that Pantheon has their own planet now.

TanaNari · Feb 16, 2015

Amelia, Ch 248

"The entire biosphere?" Vickory asked.

"For all intents and purposes," Taylor responded. "Our powers don't have upper limits on mass. As long as it's a single life form, Amelia can control all of it. As long as it's within my range and is an arthropod, I can control all of that. There aren't a lot of places on earth where bugs and spiders aren't found. On Avalon, there are even fewer. We can defend our entire planet pretty much in real time."

"That is rather intimidating," Vickery admitted.

"It also deserves noting that alongside our ability to defend ourselves and our colonists, Avalon is a truly fresh start," I added. "Our government and history is truly new, lacking in wars and nationalism and ugly history. Founded with a mixture of nationalities, ideals and beliefs. We are welcoming of everyone, as long as they aren't going to hurt others."

We had our tag team system on full auto by this point. Taylor was the one who talked about the mechanical realities, the dangers and how we'd respond to them. The stereotypically 'masculine' side of our partnership. I was the one who offered the possibilities and ideologies. The hopes we offered the future. The more 'feminine' side. It suited us both pretty well.

"I see you have given this a great deal of consideration," Vickery replied. "So, let's try the opposite angle. What do you consider the greatest weakness of your colony world compared to the others?"

I paused. Fuck, hadn't thought of that one. Luckily Taylor reacted quickly enough. "In general? I'd say the lack of establishment. Other nations will be able to recruit their own best and brightest to oversee their colonial development. Industrial records such as where to find mineral deposits that should be in the same locations in their earth as they were on Bet. From that angle, we're very much at a disadvantage. Hopefully we'll be able to find enough talented individuals hoping for an unfettered world to work with to offset this weakness."

We already have, I added silently. Namely, Dragon. She already has almost six hundred of her employees on Avalon. And, of course, Accord. Who was happily doing his part and being rewarded thoroughly for it.

"Economy," I added, having picked my answer. "We will have our own national currency, but for the first year or so it will be backed by Pantheon's personal wealth. We are, essentially, promising to buy our own currency in exchange for the American Dollar. It won't remain that way for very long, but it will be the starting basis."

"What of those who point to your power of clairaudience as a violation of privacy?" Vickery asked next. "You would make an impressive form of Big Brother. Or sister, in this case."

Taylor sighed. "Honestly? I don't like it any more than anyone else does. I'm very good at not paying attention to my power's senses. Considering that many species of insect are scavengers feeding on dead animals and offal, you can imagine how glad I am for that. Admittedly, my promise that I don't want to spy on people won't change the fact that I certainly could. Hopefully being honest will earn some trust."

"We are hoping that the benefits of living in a world without starvation or war or any significant amount of crime will be enough to let people put aside that fear," I offered. "Or true equality between people in a way that's never been seen on Bet. If not those things, then the advantages of our Thinker and Tinker designed legal, economic and education systems should add up as well. It's amazing what a nation can afford to do for its people when it doesn't need to spend its money on soldiers and tanks. We will get our fair share of colonists. More as time goes on and it becomes clear how effective our system really is."

Pity we lost Japan when Lily decided she couldn't go through with the marriage. I didn't blame her at all, but it would have been convenient. On the plus side, Dragon was planning to change her citizenship almost immediately.

"With all this talk of colonies and colony worlds," Vickery mused. "Has there been discussions of opening gateways to inhabited worlds?"

"The subject's come up," I acknowledged. "The possibility of Aleph, at the very least, is very high. They are similar enough to Bet that there wouldn't be a difficult cultural barrier to overcome, and their world is facing notable overpopulation issues. It also helps that we've been able to communicate with them for quite some time, now. However, that is a matter of international discussion between Aleph and Bet. Avalon will participate in those discussions, of course."

"It will likely be years before we do so," Taylor added. "There is the risk that any worlds we open gateways to might face the dangers of Endbringer attacks. Whatever value there might be in physical interaction between Aleph and Bet, it's clearly not worth the risk of unleashing the Endbringers on defenseless worlds. At least Bet has heroes that can fight the monsters."

"This is clearly a complex issue that deserves a lot of consideration before any final answers are decided," Vickery agreed. "Care to share any of your thoughts on what interplanetary policy you plan to support?"

"Sure," I agreed. "We are strongly in favor of inviting Aleph into the colonization program. As well as six other worlds we've discovered where history diverged within the last fifty years or so. One actually diverges from Aleph at the point where Bet made contact with one, but not the other. We're less enthusiastic about a number of other worlds. In at least one example, Europe never developed into a colonial power and the natives are the only people of their analogue of America. We paid attention during history and will oppose any plan to open that world, or the others like it, which diverged from our own centuries ago."

"In fact, as a good rule of thumb," Taylor jumped in. "I imagine a policy of only opening to planets which are at least in the information age of their development will be the standard. And, most likely, we will include other policies like only opening a channel of communication at first. Much the way we currently have with Aleph, until we get to know each other and allow them to adjust to our differences. We might find some worlds we never choose to access. There are hundreds of developed worlds out there, and each will require its own unique approach."

"I imagine we might need a new naming convention for all these earths," Vickery replied with a grin.

"Luckily, that problem isn't ours to worry about," I agreed.

....

"This has been Stan Vickory, on location in Avalon."

"It is an interesting proposition," one of the political analysis types stated, looking at the tape. Some economics professor from Harvard or something, I was barely paying attention. "They're not wrong that they will get their colonists. If nothing else, the parahuman populations of much of the world would be lured by the promise of equality.

"That's true, but how long could you expect such a system to last?" A woman asked. PRT of some type. "It's being run by a bunch of teenage girls."

"If you read Avalon's constitution, they run almost nothing," another woman corrected. "The Empresses have very little responsibility or power outside of their function as military leaders and international diplomacy. We've seen their work through Pantheon. I think they've proven they can handle themselves in those arenas."

"How long has this been going on?" I sighed.

"About three hours," Lisa replied, switching to a channel that was in Spanish. Sure enough, there was our interview going again, complete with subtitles. "Good news is, we're pretty well liked in the yuppie crowd. Bad news is, they're not likely to move in the first place. Our political freedom acts are interesting a lot of possible colonists overseas, but it's not like it's easy to collect those. China's threatening war if we don't give them a world of their own." DisgustContempt.

"China can fuck itself," Taylor muttered. "They want to start a war, I'll be happy to finish it."

"It's actually working in our favor. A lot of their neighbors are afraid of being invaded if we give them a portal, so their refugees are likely to see us as the primary option for colonization. Our offer of semi independent states has also drawn interest from subjugated cultures such as the Native American tribal groups. I'm uncertain how that'll work out in the long run. Right now it's a whole lot of 'we like what they're trying to do, but we'll wait and see how it looks later before we commit'. We'l have to wait until the first colony worlds start collapsing."

"I really don't like how our entire plan revolves around profiting from the suffering of innocent people," I muttered. AgreementDismay.

"Can't be helped," Lisa dismissed. "If people weren't suffering, we wouldn't even need to build a colony world. We could just keep Avalon as a nice, empty field full of Zerg for us and industrial complexes for Dragon. We could pack the planet with enough ordinance to peel the topsoil off of another planet if we needed to. But we don't. Because we want to be nice and share our sandbox with others."

"I thought we went public with Avalon so we could hide Mashu," I replied.

"Hey, I said we let others have our sandbox," she smirked. "I never said anything about us not finding another one. Besides, we paid out our fucking ass for that one.

========================

A/N- I believe someone said something about an omake after Avalon goes public?

Snake/Eater · Feb 16, 2015

TanaNari said:
"I thought we went public with Avalon so we could hide Mashu," I replied.

whaaaaaaat...........a twist.

pepperjack · Feb 16, 2015

My concern about moving to Avalon* would be the far future. What happens to that world once Gaia and Khepri pass away? Will my grandchildren need to pick up en masse and invade another planet to escape their dying homeworld?

TanaNari said:
Even today, were we to remove the Yggdrasil from this planet, it would quickly return to an uninhabitable state."

... looking at this again, I suppose Yggdrasil would need to be actively removed for that scenario to come about, though, and as I recall it's pretty hardy. Perhaps it would be fine.

Still, all that vaunted military security goes up in a puff of smoke once the Empresses die. They would either need to put backup measures in place, or else just... arrange to never die. Which they can totally do.

*among many others which have already been mentioned, of course

Slayer Anderson · Feb 16, 2015

TanaNari said:
A/N- I believe someone said something about an omake after Avalon goes public?

I...honestly don't think that was me, but have one anyway!

Colonists:

Across the table was spread a number of folders, mostly in stacks. The sheer number gave Amelia and Taylor pause as they stepped into the room, staring at a slightly-disheveled Lisa, who was evidently engrossed in reading a selection from one of the manilla packets and chuckling under her breath. As the two Empresses sat, though, the blonde looked up from her work and gave them her trade-marked grin.

"You remember those meetings we have every now and then where you each feel like you need a stiff drink?" Lisa grinned wider, "this is going to be one of those."

Amelia groaned while Taylor merely massaged her forehead.

"How bad?" Taylor asked, readying herself for the worst.

"Honestly?" Lisa asked, "not so much 'bad' as just...'damn humanity is weird.' Also, some people have absolutely no shame."

"Oh boy," Amelia stated blandly. "Well, let's get this started. What are we looking at in terms of prospective colonists?"

"Do you want the 'easy no' groups first?" Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or should we just go ahead and get to the ones that merit actual consideration?"

Taylor and Amelia shared a glance.

"Call me morbidly curious, but who is actually asking that we can turn down so easily? We're not being that picky." Taylor question gave birth to a particularly nasty-looking grin on Lisa's face.

"Well, applications for immigration to Avalon have mostly come in two forms," Lisa explained. "On the one side, we've got individuals who want to move either alone or in family units and settle a private plot of land. Most of these are either going to be poor, disenfranchised minorities, or the types of people who hate their country enough that they want to move, but are too lazy to actually jump through the hoops into a foreign state."

"Okay," Amelia nodded, "Like Taylor said, we're not that picky. As long as they aren't...crazy for lack of a better term, I don't think we're in a position to turn down too many people."

"No," Lisa replied, "we're not. These individuals...or small groups, may be a little irritating superficially, but they don't have any real problems besides just being dissatisfied with their current life. The only negative outcome I can see is if they try to start up a populist revolution or something against the 'oppressive monarchs' and even that...not too much of a problem with your powersets. No, the problem is primarily with the larger groups that want to immigrate...barring the occasional individual with actual mental problems."

"What kind of groups?" Taylor asked, narrowing her eyes, "and how large are we talking?"

"Low hundreds to hundreds of thousands," Lisa responded. "These are the groups which have enough structure and consideration for our government structure that they've applied to move in and set up as a country unto themselves."

Taylor blinked. "Really, who would...what kind of group has that level of membership that would be that devoted..." She frowned as an ugly picture began to form in her mind.

"They're not all cults," Lisa said, stopping her friend's line of thought. "Well, for a given value of 'cult' I suppose. This is where we can easily refuse certain groups. For instance, several Ku Klux Klan groups sent in an application for territory, as did Gesellschaft. Admittedly, part of me wants to set their private fiefdoms up next to each other and watch the fireworks."

Amelia put her face in her hands. "What."

Taylor shook her head. "No, Lisa. Not just no, but Hell No."

"I know, I know," Lisa snickered, "but you've got to admit, it's a funny thought. Anyway, then there are some actual cults. For instance, there are numerous apocalyptic groups who want to set up shop on Avalon to take advantage of our stance on religious and lifestyle freedom. Most of these have had problems with the American government before on some level...owning large stocks of firearms, not allowing members to leave when they attempt to, forms of brainwashing and sexual abuse...the list goes on. There are a few that might, might mind you, be feasible, but mostly they're going in the 'no' column."

Taylor groaned. "Spectacular. I hope they're not all this bad."

"Not at all," Lisa smiled. "We actually have several opportunities for good PR here and there. For instance, I've got a few tentative applications from various Native American groups who wanted to see if it was possible to settle areas analogous to their original holdings before European or American colonization."

"An easy 'yes,'" Amelia nodded. "I'm not entirely sure why you just didn't make the choices without us, Lisa. You seem to have it well-enough in hand."

Lisa grinned teasingly. "I'm not one of the 'Empresses.'" Amelia and Taylor's face soured at the reminder. "These need approval at highest levels of our government. Plus, I haven't gotten to the funny ones yet."

"Funny ones?" Amelia asked warily. "Funny strange or funny haha?"

"Yes," Lisa smirked.

Taylor sighed. "Okay, since you obviously need someone to ask the question...what do you mean by 'funny ones?'"

Lisa threw down a large manilla folder, "This is Nova Roma, or 'New Rome.' It's a...well, it's something between a recreational organization, a private club, and a historical reenactment group...and they pretend to be a country on the side while they're at it."

Taylor blinked, "I'm sorry...what?"

"They mint their own coins, give citizenship, and hold gatherings of those citizens which are all aimed at recreating the Roman way of life," Lisa explained. "Honestly, this is kind of the sweet spot for colonists, at least in terms of what we're looking for. People crazy enough to jump through a portal to another world, but almost all of them have some level of technical skill or higher education. They'd, obviously, want an area analogous to the Italian peninsula for initial colonization."

Amelia was shaking her head as she looked over the papers. "So...they just want to pretend to be Rome? That's it? What about...didn't Romans practice slavery?"

Lisa nodded. "Good catch, but they're amenable to changing certain practices in the name of actually forming their own country. They do seem pretty firm on maintaining the Roman religion as their official state religion, though."
It took a moment for the penny to drop.

"No." Amelia stated firmly. "No. Nonononono, fuck no. We agreed on this, Lisa! We're not portraying ourselves as Gods!"

"Doesn't that run contrary to the whole 'religious freedom' thing we have set up on Avalon?" Taylor asked, slightly less worried than her partner.

"Nova Roma endorses religious freedom, but they maintain the religious rights of the original Rome as a way to keep alive cultural heritage," Lisa explained. "No one would actually worship us, but they would invoke some of our...pseudonyms during celebrations. Functionally, though, you'd both be something of God-Empresses on the official government of Nova Roma."

"Isn't Khepri...Egyptian, rather than Roman?" Taylor asked, frowning.

"Well," Lisa shrugged, "considering what the term 'Pantheon' actually refers to and the fact that Egypt was, at one point, a Roman colony, they're more than happy to include you, Taylor, as well as Amelia in their...worship."

Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache. "Yay?"

Lisa chuckled. "Honestly? I'm pretty sure most of that section of their application for immigration is tongue-in-cheek. Don't get me wrong, it's all one-hundred-percent true, but they aren't going to be pushing for seriousness in this respect."

"Put in the maybe pile," Amelia decided, receiving a nod from Taylor.

Lisa shrugged. "That's actually just the start of some of the weirder ones. We've got the...Society for Creative Anachronisms who were thinking about moving in, then there's the...Aerican Empire. I'm not entirely sure if they're serious about this or treating it as a huge joke. My best guess is both." She paused here, shuffling folders around.

"The Aerican Empire?" Taylor asked, cocking her head.

Lisa grinned, sliding out a folder. "They fall into this weird category of polity known as 'micronations.' Basically, most are a joke, but some are fairly serious groups that are attempting to become recognized international states. By some definitions, Nova Roma falls under the same category, but the Aerican Empire is...strange, even by their standards. They claim territory on other planets, some of which are imaginary, they have a state religion that worships a talking penguin who reigns over gaming as well as the smiley-face logo..."

"Lisa?" Amelia interrupted.

"Hmm?" The blonde asked, amusing herself with the contents of the folder.

"You were right. I do feel like a drink," Amelia sighed.

Alterego9 · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
My concern about moving to Avalon* would be the far future. What happens to that world once Gaia and Khepri pass away? Will my grandchildren need to pick up en masse and invade another planet to escape their dying homeworld?

I don't see why they would choose to pass away, especially because of the reasons you just outlined. They haave too much responsibility to do that.

It's not even a matter of actively turning themselves immortal, even now they are already immortal by the virtue of regular parahuman health checks and brain uploads.

Hexed999 · Feb 16, 2015

Ok, so Mashu is in wikipedia as "a great cedar mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey to Dilmun after leaving the Cedar Forest, a forest of ten thousand leagues span" so no real hints there

. I think the only thing that it tells us is that TanaNari is implying that it's a giant forest they're using to hide their armies in maybe?

Alterego9 said:
I don't see why they would choose to pass away, especially because of the reasons you just outlined. They haave too much responsibility to do that.

It's not even a matter of actively turning themselves immortal, even now they are immortal by the virtue of regular parahuman health checks and brain uploads.

They'd have to go public with it to reassure anyone about it. Frankly that might cause more issues then it would solve as "Immortal God Empresses" is maybe not who you want to be a subject of, especially when they've got Omniscient and all-powerful down to a T

TanaNari said:
A/N- I believe someone said something about an omake after Avalon goes public?

Give me an hour or so

pepperjack · Feb 16, 2015

Alterego9 said:
I don't see why they would choose to pass away, especially because of the reasons you just outlined. They haave too much responsibility to do that.

It was kind of a stream-of-consciousness post, yeah. The top of my post hadn't thought about the bottom yet.

I will point out that the vast majority of potential colonists doesn't necessarily know the extent to which immortality is already in Pantheon's grasp. That's actually been a plot point, as you may recall.

Alterego9 · Feb 16, 2015

insignia33 said:
They'd have to go public with it to reassure anyone about it. Frankly that might cause more issues then it would solve as "Immortal God Empresses" is maybe not who you want to be a subject of, especially when they've got Omniscient and all-powerful down to a T

I'm not even sure if they realize how immortal they are.

In the Konshu battle, they made a comment about how since Zach is still aging, he is in danger of dying in a time bubble, which doesn't make a lot lot of sense, since "dying of old age" is not really a thing, it's just a series of possible illnesses that's frequency increases after a certain peak condition.

Maybe that just referred to his inability to heal from gradually gained damages (could he be perma-killed with slow-acting poison?), but if not, and they still think of "aging" as a thing rather than as a series of disorders like any other, they might not even realize that they have already eliminated it just by regular healings, and be under the assumption that they will eventually have to make to call on whether to replace their feeble octogenarian bodies.

Flammy · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
My concern about moving to Avalon* would be the far future. What happens to that world once Gaia and Khepri pass away? Will my grandchildren need to pick up en masse and invade another planet to escape their dying homeworld?

With Gaia's de-aging abilities, we already have confirmed immortality. Between that and the backups, they are pretty well set for the 'aging and accidental death' type events. I see biggest danger to them personally is Valefor-like master abilities that can be overcome in the medium or long term but given a few minutes/hours of override could do near 100% damage...

Snake/Eater · Feb 16, 2015

Alterego9 said:
Maybe that just referred to his inability to heal from gradually gained disorders, but if not, and they still think of "aging" as a thing rather than as a series of disorders, they might not even realize that they have already eliminated it just by regular healings, and be under the assumption that they will eventually have to make to call on whether to replace their feeble octogenarian bodies.

your bringing up a comment i made weeks ago that i called schroeder's Zach,what happens to Zach if he ages to the point he's going to die of natural causes,there are over 2 dozen out comes to this.can anyone guess what they are?

on a unrelated note here are the cast nicknames of Amelia,

Missy is the Geometry (love)Veteran
Zach is still the Prince Of The Universe(there can only be one)
Theo is The Fullmetal Sentinel
Eric is ~~the Rebel Anomaly~~ THE TRANSPORTER(hot Italian male single-larity) thanks Edale
Amelia is THE BOSS
Taylor is BIG SISTER
Riley is the Mad Combat Medic(or Valiant Doctor) (she even has brave Companions)
Clarice is The Mushroom Princess
Sabah is the Fashion Rogue or being Tailor(is suffering) i'm expecting a tinker tailor soldier spy omake or a joke.
Lily is the OVERkill Archer(being Archer is suffering)
Lisa is The Intel Queen
Rey is the Wacky Doctor (for now but it seems he's going to need a new nickname)
Trevor is the Only Sane Tinker(he is the first and hopefully not the last)
Vicky is the Fighting Wildcard (BORN TO BE WILD)
Crystal is The Heart of Pantheon
Thomas Calvert is The DEVIL
Emma is the Scrappy Engineer(still needs something better)

dasstan · Feb 16, 2015

Snake/Eater said:
whaaaaaaat...........a twist.

That's sarcasm, right?

Slayer Anderson said:
d chuckling under

her breath. As the two Empresses sat, though, the blonde looked up from her work and gave them her trade-marked grin.

Linebreak.

Alterego9 said:
In the Konshu battle, they made a comment about how since Zach is still aging, he is in danger of dying in a time bubble, which doesn't make a lot lot of sense, since "dying of old age" is not really a thing, it's just a series of possible illnesses that's frequency increases after a certain peak condition.

Maybe that just referred to his inability to heal from gradually gained disorders, but if not, and they still think of "aging" as a thing rather than as a series of disorders, they might not even realize that they have already eliminated it just by regular healings, and be under the assumption that they will eventually have to make to call on whether to replace their feeble octogenarian bodies.

Between the fact that Riley figured out how to injure Zach, and that Emma was able to duplicate the feat, I'm almost positive that Zach's mortality is really no big deal. TanaNari does a lot of behind the scenes development, so it's entirely possible that the Zach issue has already been dealt with.

Also, between brain uploads, computer-to-brain interfaces, Riley and her Merry Band of Tinkers, Defiant the cyborg, and Dragon the Wundertinker, death for the empresses isn't really a threat. Honestly, the bigger threat (not counting Scion himself), is the shards running out of energy... and even that already has a stopgap solution.

I'm kind of waiting for Dragon, Pantheon and Rapture to come up with a continuous brain state copying device/implant.

GiftofLove · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
My concern about moving to Avalon* would be the far future. What happens to that world once Gaia and Khepri pass away? Will my grandchildren need to pick up en masse and invade another planet to escape their dying homeworld?

... looking at this again, I suppose Yggdrasil would need to be actively removed for that scenario to come about, though, and as I recall it's pretty hardy. Perhaps it would be fine.

Still, all that vaunted military security goes up in a puff of smoke once the Empresses die. They would either need to put backup measures in place, or else just... arrange to never die. Which they can totally do.

*among many others which have already been mentioned, of course

Transhumanism. With the mind transfer tech, Riley, Dragon, and Amelia immortality is a stone's throw away.

Or they could get Riley to design a biocomputer based on their genetics to run the powers. Possibilities are rife.

pepperjack · Feb 16, 2015

GiftofLove said:
Transhumanism. With the mind transfer tech, Riley, Dragon, and Amelia immortality is a stone's throw away.

Or they could get Riley to design a biocomputer based on their genetics to run the powers. Possibilities are rife.

This is the kind of thing the Endbringers usually put a stop to, if the story of Sphere is anything to do by.

Please note: I am not suggesting that Leviathan or Behemoth could stop this train at this point even if they tried.

Beyogi · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
This is the kind of thing the Endbringers usually put a stop to, if the story of Sphere is anything to do by.

They'd have to get to their dimensions for it. And considering that Pantheon has just another backup location that Eidolon knows nothing about it's rather unlikely that the Endbringers can get to all their backups.
Hell, trying to destroy their backups would reduce the number of people that can reasonably be assumed to be in command of the Endbringers down a lot. Maybe even enough that only Eidolon remains. Because there can't be that many people who they told about their immortality and who have a powerset that might allow them to command endbringers.

GiftofLove · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
This is the kind of thing the Endbringers usually put a stop to, if the story of Sphere is anything to do by.

Please note: I am not suggesting that Leviathan or Behemoth could stop this train at this point even if they tried.

The Endbringers go where Eidolon goes, right? Otherwise Aleph would be a smoking crater. Remember that they exist for Eidolon to test himself against, not everyone else.

I really doubt he wants to live on Avalon considering the low conflict there. Probably he'll be instrumental in one of the other colony worlds destabalizing.

As soon as that happens though, Thinkers are going to start noticing a trend. Eidolon goes somewhere - suddenly Endbringers!

dasstan · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
This is the kind of thing the Endbringers usually put a stop to, if the story of Sphere is anything to do by.

Please note: I am not suggesting that Leviathan or Behemoth could stop this train at this point even if they tried.

The endbringer that gave the marching orders removed herself from the situation. At this point, I believe the Endbringers are being governed by Eidolon's subconscious desires, with no Simurgh to direct them towards a good end.

Fouredged · Feb 16, 2015

pepperjack said:
My concern about moving to Avalon* would be the far future. What happens to that world once Gaia and Khepri pass away?

Well, is there any reason to expect this to actually happen at this point? Functional immortality should be enough of a reality for their tech to catch up with their abilities before they decide to finally die.

pepperjack · Feb 16, 2015

Fouredged said:
Well, is there any reason to expect this to actually happen at this point? Functional immortality should be enough of a reality for their tech to catch up with their abilities before they decide to finally die.

pepperjack said:
I will point out that the vast majority of potential colonists doesn't necessarily know the extent to which immortality is already in Pantheon's grasp. That's actually been a plot point, as you may recall.

Beyogi said:
They'd have to get to their dimensions for it.

pepperjack said:
Please note: I am not suggesting that Leviathan or Behemoth could stop this train at this point even if they tried.

Nice discussion, though.

Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

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