dasstan
:)
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They're inviting the Japanese people on Earth-Bet to take over Earth-Avalon's Japan. Since the Earth-Bet Japan is A) Missing an island, and B) A third world country.
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Divabot
KILL ALL THE HUMANS
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Slayer Anderson
Orthodox Heretic
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<Looks at PHO Interlude>
<Looks at Goverment Argument that happened a few pages back that he is partially responsible for starting>
...
Talk about Tamato in the Mirror, holy shit.
<Looks at Goverment Argument that happened a few pages back that he is partially responsible for starting>
...
Talk about Tamato in the Mirror, holy shit.
Abcde
Making the rounds.
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To be fair, I like to think that our forum discussion are post-Pantheon-Reeducation to PHO's pre-Pantheon-Reeducation. It makes me feel like a more perfect being and allows me to pretend that our conversations are significantly more enlightened than PHO's.
All praise our overlords.
All praise our overlords.
Hexed999
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Fixed, thanks
Hexed999
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Pantheon-Reeducation is a myth. Our benevolent leaders just think that every member of the public should have certain skills, that's all.
Beyogi
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Rejoice, with a majority population of Japanese Avalon will soon become Avalonu.
Daunmi
Shun the sun, night so nice
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Considering that my shift the other night involved speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving without wearing a seat belt, illegal parking, and driving the wrong way down one way streets... all multiple times?
But on the other hand, was all in the middle of the night and was only when no one else was around at all (because I'll risk my life, not other's thank you very much)?
Wonder how that'd be taken...
It really shouldn't be. They should come out with it.
"Our school system consists of uploading lessons, then letting the kids put the knowledge into practice under the teacher's care. All students graduate at 18 (or whatever age you want to advertise) with practiced knowledge in various university level courses they are free to choose from."
That's pretty damn good publicity, as long as you can get people to accept that you're not brainwashing their kids.
So actually, it's terrible, and never going to happen. Stupid paranoid people.
evildice
(emotionally stable clown posse)
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In a post-scarcity society, casual harmless crimes may not be necessary.
With AI assistance, traffic regulations may not be necessary.
There may be no international copyrights recognized.
And, most importantly, since catching and investigating criminals is so easy, it might not be necessary to carry over the huge apparatus we have constructed for catching criminals in smaller crimes and then "bootstrapping" investigation into the bigger crimes -- so no more need to pull someone over for having a headlight out, when what you really want is the drugs in their trunk. You can just ask for a DrugBug™ fly-over. (Well, if there are even cops, which there might not be.)
With AI assistance, traffic regulations may not be necessary.
There may be no international copyrights recognized.
And, most importantly, since catching and investigating criminals is so easy, it might not be necessary to carry over the huge apparatus we have constructed for catching criminals in smaller crimes and then "bootstrapping" investigation into the bigger crimes -- so no more need to pull someone over for having a headlight out, when what you really want is the drugs in their trunk. You can just ask for a DrugBug™ fly-over. (Well, if there are even cops, which there might not be.)
ECCM
Know what you're doing yet?
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More like アバロン , A-ba-ron.
If this wasn't a fix fic, I'd expect this whole "constitutional monarchy run by adolescents" thing to go Lord-of-the-Flies-ish real fast. Looking forward to seeing how this story deals with the political side of things. Putting Accord in the driver seat of Avalon's political and socio-economic development is probably for the best.
1282748472
Know what you're doing yet?
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Ya'know, I was going to say that such an obvious and massive power imbalance couldn't last the test of time, because the second or third generation of capes once Khepri and Gaia die would have an easy time taking over. Then I remembered that they don't necessarily ever have to die. Khepi, Gaia and Minerva can be a timeless, immortal Triumvirate ruling over their world-planet. Hey, here's a line: Avalon: Free Food and Housing Forever. Citizenship Guarantees Immorality. Suddenly, 30 million immigrants. Fuck, I'd up sticks and go.
Cyclone
Disciple of Zor
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1282748472
Know what you're doing yet?
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And the shard thing, they want conflict mostly just to force new and creative uses out of powers right? Like the bug girl making swarm clones or clockblocker cutting things in half with timestop wires and so on. I think a suitably violent arena would sufficiently stimulate that. Especially seeing as you could have death matches. Hear me out, with the copying tech there are two schools of thought: that one is a copy and another the original, or that there are two originals. Let the people who think there are two originals opt in to have death matches if they so choose. Maybe only 20% of people think like that, so they're the only ones who consent to it. I think the shards would loooove that, so much data.
Burnscar though? She's majorly fucked, terrible luck of the draw. Birdcage I'm afraid. Not a perfect system. Maybe Gaia can fix some like her? Maybe she can't.There can't be a large number of parahumans that fucked in the head though. Fuck, parahumans are a pretty tiny segment of the population. There's only a few thousand in all the worlds. My plan's more about making sure they don't hurt other people or get in the way than it is about treating them fairly. It just so happens that treating them fairly and absurdly generously seems like the best way to keep most of them contributing and not killing people/crime lording it up.
Aside from that, the Khepri Policing System gives a country kinda a massive advantage. I mean, How long is any criminal going to last after committing a crime? 5 minutes? Even Parahumans, only 10% have something that can handle her bugs, and she has zerglings and Garganta as well. So that pares it down to maybe 1% who can survive Khepri for an hour, at which point the rest of Pantheon arrives. I'm thinking there would literally be no such thing as successful crime over there, it's just crazy.
Daunmi
Shun the sun, night so nice
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Apparently we're already working our way to that (link that's both great and a bit depressing at the same time). We don't need you Dragon!
I know. I was simply pointing out that, without the fear of brainwashing, being able to implant massive amounts of education would be a good thing. I then pointed out that everyone else would simply assume they were brainwashing, because anything that messes with people's minds is always treated like that, in stories and out.
As for language?
Don't insult people online.
Whilst I can't remember the exact quote, the author described the story as something like a grim-dark-ish fix fic. So both can happen.
Yay?
You can't really do this... sort of. Entropy is a thing. There is only so much of everything to go around, even with shardhacks and a completely fresh world for Amelia to work with. Sooner or later minerals and nutrients will be gone.
Admittedly, they can prolong the hell out of this, but granting everyone immortality would result in a never ending exponential population increase, unless you go all one-child-policy (NO DEBATES ABOUT THIS PLEASE) which will upset a lot of people's sense of freedom.
Also, I'm pretty sure TanaNari mentioned that the shards are going to die out in 300 years or so (I may be remembering the wrong story, and if so I'm sorry), so that's even less time. Again, this may be modified (ala energy siphoning suit for Eidolon), but it's still a limit.
The downside to your reasoning is that, unfortunately, people are perfectly happy to do crazy things. The upside is that it's likely to be incredibly minor crimes (by people who think that the crime wont matter) and incredibly major ones (by people who think they'll get away with it because 'Rar, I'm strong and powerful and I can take them!') that get committed, whilst the standard day to day crime that we're used to in real life is just obviously out.
Maybe. If I'm being hopeful, anyway.
Hexed999
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Dude, I wasn't insulting you, I was asking because I thought a joke went completely over your head.
1282748472
Know what you're doing yet?
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Can't do it indefinitely, can definitely do it for a very long time. According to multiverse theory there are an effectively infinite number of possible worlds. Okay, so there's probably not an infinite number, but there's gotta be at least 10,000 dead worlds they can terraform. That buys them a loooot of time to think of an answer. After that, mining 10,000 worlds worth of asteroids, then enclosing 10,000 worlds in dyson spheres for total use of solar power, then interstellar travel. That ought to pad them out a thousand years or so of time. If they can't figure out how to replicate shard tech by then with Dragon and her merry band of super power AI working on in, then frankly they don't deserve it. Hell, with sufficient energy resources don't actually ever run out, they just get spread about. Copper atoms don't leave the planet, so with sufficient energy and sufficient efficiency you can just find them again and put them back in one place. Those worlds should never be dead again. Also, I think it's that new shards stop landing in 300 years or so.
Right, people still commit crimes, but only a few times each before they get caught. There are no serial offenders, no career criminals, no Hookwolfs killing 10 people a year without going to jail, no real gangs. Some number of (frankly doomed) people still commit crimes, but the actual amount of damage each does is massively reduced because they get caught so quick. Fancy sticking numbers on how low violent crime would be? Because I'm thinking a 90% reduction at least.
dasstan
:)
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They now have a naked singularity machine. Any argument that worries about energy generation can be thrown out the window.
The Shadowmind
Connoisseur.
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Worm is a finite multiverse. I think it was 10^83 in number so still hella-big.
Navrin
Experienced.
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That's how many "universes" the Entities have access to. The total number might readily be effectively infinite and increasing by an almost infinite amount every Planck second.
It is probable that those within Earth Bet only have access to a tiny fraction of those until Zion is dead given the dimensional hedges the entities put up, but that would still be more than enough for basically every purpose for a very, VERY long time. Those hedges would probably cease to exist after the shards responsible die, at the probable latest.
It is probable that those within Earth Bet only have access to a tiny fraction of those until Zion is dead given the dimensional hedges the entities put up, but that would still be more than enough for basically every purpose for a very, VERY long time. Those hedges would probably cease to exist after the shards responsible die, at the probable latest.
Abcde
Making the rounds.
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Daunmi is a perpetually expanding population really a bad thing? For starters, the observed trend is that high quality of life means few children. I won't comment on how a post-scarcity, post-labor society would interact with that trend, because I cannot know.
BUT!
The point of a post-scarcity society is that it is able to indefinitely expand its resources and production to meet new demand. This is believed to be more or less possible with the resources inside our galaxy, even our solar system, for a long time. Assuming that the aforementioned population trend continues, and that people are smart enough to recycle resources.
Add in multidimensional supply. And, really, Jackercracks is seriously underestimating this. Both in numbers (10,000? Don't make me laugh.) and because dead worlds are DEAD. You don't need the EPA, topsoil, aquifers, aesthetics. You don't need to be careful. You don't have to consider the consequences of, well, mining the "Earth" 's core with tinker tech. Hell, you could hire MM to nuke the bottom of a borehole repeatedly. Might not work out too well, nukes are generally stupid in all cases, but the point is that you can RAVAGE these places for raw material and nobody is going to give a damn.
I love the EPA. Their job is extremely important. But if nobody needed to do that job in the first place because there was no problem that it was needed to solve, it would make a lot of things a lot cheaper.
edit: forgot to conclude things. Basically, having more sentients, humans or otherwise is really cool, and with Pantheon's/Dragon's/Cauldron's bullshit, it's indefinitely sustainable.
BUT!
The point of a post-scarcity society is that it is able to indefinitely expand its resources and production to meet new demand. This is believed to be more or less possible with the resources inside our galaxy, even our solar system, for a long time. Assuming that the aforementioned population trend continues, and that people are smart enough to recycle resources.
Add in multidimensional supply. And, really, Jackercracks is seriously underestimating this. Both in numbers (10,000? Don't make me laugh.) and because dead worlds are DEAD. You don't need the EPA, topsoil, aquifers, aesthetics. You don't need to be careful. You don't have to consider the consequences of, well, mining the "Earth" 's core with tinker tech. Hell, you could hire MM to nuke the bottom of a borehole repeatedly. Might not work out too well, nukes are generally stupid in all cases, but the point is that you can RAVAGE these places for raw material and nobody is going to give a damn.
I love the EPA. Their job is extremely important. But if nobody needed to do that job in the first place because there was no problem that it was needed to solve, it would make a lot of things a lot cheaper.
edit: forgot to conclude things. Basically, having more sentients, humans or otherwise is really cool, and with Pantheon's/Dragon's/Cauldron's bullshit, it's indefinitely sustainable.
Ch 223- Melanie
TanaNari
Verified Dick
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Amelia, Ch 223- Melanie
"So, how's Pantheon's toy treating you?" I asked Newter as he lounged in one of the private booths. Recently he'd been acting a little unusual, as evidenced by the lack of attractive girls who were often too young to purchase alcohol. He of course never did anything untoward to them, and in fact made them sign wavers before allowing them to recreationally try his drug. I was initially hesitant to allow him to do that at all, but he had proven discreet and it tended to draw in men wealthy enough to pay good money, and girls attractive enough to get wealthy men (or women) to pay good money.
Remarkably enough, it actually reduced the other recreational drugs making their way into my club. Or at least it did, before Pantheon put the kibosh on that market entirely. Every few weeks, some fucker would still bring some date rape drug in here. They were given the option of being taken out back, beaten by a couple of the bouncers, and then given to the police. Or taken out back and left for Khepri to deal with. I almost felt sorry for the bastards who chose option two. Almost.
"Oh, the usual," he answered, lounging back with his wine glass. I knew from experience that it wasn't wine. Likely a clear soda, possibly sparkling water. He always said it was a waste of good booze, since his powers meant he couldn't get intoxicated. "My IQ's gone up a few more points, I'd be in the top five percent of non-parahumans except," he gestured by spreading his arms and then bending his hands inwards. "My reaction speed and hand-eye coordination deserves its own thinker rating, with both hands. And I keep having those dreams about the mildew room."
"It's something, at least," I replied. Not long after Newter started the treatment, he began having the vivid lucid dreams about a room with a mildewy smell, but he couldn't see or hear or touch anything, he was simply in the dark with the smell. We asked Yum Kaax about that, and he said something about smell being the sense most strongly tied to memory. Nothing was certain.
"Everything we were promised and more," he agreed, with his usual cheer.
But not the one thing we were hoping for, I frowned. "Sounds like we should consider having all of us use it," I replied. We had tried it on Elle, but that failed to show results. Patheon's tinker theorized it was because her power caused the problem. The neural regeneration tech could repair any biological and even a lot of psychological disorders, but much like Case 53s regenerating their bodies back to their nonhuman state if someone like Gaea repairs them, the ones that altered the mind wouldn't allow that mind to be altered back. Elle could never be normal unless her power was removed.
"Couldn't hurt," he replied, then took another swallow of his drink. "Anyway, I'm feeling a bit peckish. Can you let the doorman know to expect a couple pizzas in an hour or so?"
"Will do," I agreed as I turned and left. It was an obvious dismissal, and I tried to respect my employees' wishes when it didn't interfere with the job. Newter wished to be left alone to gorge himself on junk food. We all had our ways of coping.
....
Elle was staring at the wall, slowly running her hand across it. As she did so, the Yggdrasil's dark teal coloration would shift, changing color and texture at random. Over the course of hours, it would fade back to its original color. Pantheon had given us a special house for her, and any of us, to stay in. Being alive, the Yggdrasil was resistant to alteration Elle's power. Not completely, for reasons no one quite understood, but it was enough that the girl could safely stay in this home without any risk to herself, us, or the property. Any damage caused by her power's 'friction' against unchanged Yggdrasil would regrow quickly.
Emily was attempting to feed the girl while she played. Mashed potatoes and peas. Something she could eat safely if she forgot to chew, which could happen on a bad day. Pantheon talked about permanent power removal, I reminded myself. Elle might be able to be restored to normal, at the cost of her powers. I pushed that thought back. We needed her, no one else could provide the dimensional gates. And those gates, the safe havens they represented, were what was going to give humanity a real hope for the future.
I didn't believe Pantheon could end the Endbringers. They got the Simurgh, somehow. Maybe they could even kill Leviathan and Behemoth, but Barghest was custom designed to beat Pantheon, that was obvious to everyone that was actually paying attention. All the replacements would be as well. The only real solution was to get off of Bet. Find worlds where there might be some hope in the future. If an Endbringer crosses into another dimension, seal it off and leave them trapped inside. It was a cruel sort of math. Sacrificing a world, maybe a million people, so that the rest of us could have a future. But it was our only real hope.
"Good morning, Elle," I said as tenderly as I could. She didn't respond at all, hadn't seemed to hear me at all. I hadn't expected that she would. I'm sorry, Elle, you have to be one of the sacrifices. As she absently swallowed her food, I examined her art. Crudely drawn, but angry seeming stick figures and faces. Some held objects that may have been sticks, or perhaps guns. Bars, cages and chains were strewn about. Strangely, those were done in disturbing detail, each link painstakingly drawn. Another aspect of the damage her power had done to her.
"So, Tattletale just called," I informed Emily. I don't care what she calls herself, she'll always be Tattletale to me. "Our negotiations are locked in and agreed upon. "There's still stupid arguments over where to establish portals, and the order of priority, and other shit that the talking heads won't finish until Christmas or the next Endbringer fight, whichever happens first. And then suddenly everything will be solved in a couple days and they'll all announce success and then go give each other congratulatory handj-" I remembered the little girl in the room. "shakes in the back room."
"I still don't know how you managed to negotiate pay of two million dollars a portal during an international mandate that the Sanctuary Initiative was a humanitarian aid project and to remain completely nonprofit," Emily smirked. "Seriously, are you sure you don't have a Master or Thinker power?"
"Simple," I answered. "I didn't negotiate for the portals. I negotiated for security."
"Security?" She asked. "Oooh, I think I get it. There's all kinds of dangerous people out there who might want to capture or kill the portal makers. You'll need to provide bodyguards and parahuman protection over us during the trip and the stay in hotels. You could probably make that a lot more expensive than a couple million a pop."
"Right on the money," I confirmed. "Plus or minus a few other details. I let them talk me down from three, just so they could feel like they won something. It's not like they won't profit from this. New land, new people, new taxes. It's only fair we get our part of the pie." And to ensure that Elle gets the best care for the rest of her life, we owe her so much more than that.
"Unlike Pantheon, we're not getting a shiny new planet of our own."
"Wait," she blinked. "They're asking for a planet!?" she stressed the last word hard enough that it even got Elle to glance over at her, though only for a second before she returned to her art.
"I bet it'll end up being more than one," I shrugged. "Remember how they were talking about Gaea's dead playground world when we did that first portal?"
"Yeah," her eyes widened. "That place was a wasteland. Like. A billion nuclear bombs level wasteland. They fixed it?"
"Yup," I answered. "Safe for humans. Or will be in a month or two. They're arguing that it's not private exploitation of a Sanctuary world, because their Avalon. That's what they named it, by the way. Could never have supported life without them."
"Think it'll work?" she asked.
"Oh, absolutely," I agreed. "They need it too much to say no. Besides, the experimental tunnel showed there are hundreds of habitable worlds without any humans. Selling something that was never theirs and they couldn't use anyway? Easiest price in the world to pay. It's the next two parts that are going to make them drag their feet, and that won't take much longer."
"Please dish," Emily leaned toward me, while Elle continued to work her art.
"First," I started. "Think about it. They've got one dead world. There are easily dozens of others in similar states. They can keep claiming those without making many waves. Maybe they'll make a token gesture and give away half their salvaged planets. By the time we run out of acceptable options, Pantheon will have five times as many worlds as their next two competitors combined."
"Shit," she agreed.
"Second," I finished. "They're not negotiating over the planet. That's a given. What they want is recognition from the international community that they are a country. In short, Pantheon's members are one rubber stamp away from being one of the most powerful nations on earth. Seems fair to me that we walk away from this with about thirty mil each, give or take."
"You're not getting paid enough," she informed me.
"I know."
"So, how's Pantheon's toy treating you?" I asked Newter as he lounged in one of the private booths. Recently he'd been acting a little unusual, as evidenced by the lack of attractive girls who were often too young to purchase alcohol. He of course never did anything untoward to them, and in fact made them sign wavers before allowing them to recreationally try his drug. I was initially hesitant to allow him to do that at all, but he had proven discreet and it tended to draw in men wealthy enough to pay good money, and girls attractive enough to get wealthy men (or women) to pay good money.
Remarkably enough, it actually reduced the other recreational drugs making their way into my club. Or at least it did, before Pantheon put the kibosh on that market entirely. Every few weeks, some fucker would still bring some date rape drug in here. They were given the option of being taken out back, beaten by a couple of the bouncers, and then given to the police. Or taken out back and left for Khepri to deal with. I almost felt sorry for the bastards who chose option two. Almost.
"Oh, the usual," he answered, lounging back with his wine glass. I knew from experience that it wasn't wine. Likely a clear soda, possibly sparkling water. He always said it was a waste of good booze, since his powers meant he couldn't get intoxicated. "My IQ's gone up a few more points, I'd be in the top five percent of non-parahumans except," he gestured by spreading his arms and then bending his hands inwards. "My reaction speed and hand-eye coordination deserves its own thinker rating, with both hands. And I keep having those dreams about the mildew room."
"It's something, at least," I replied. Not long after Newter started the treatment, he began having the vivid lucid dreams about a room with a mildewy smell, but he couldn't see or hear or touch anything, he was simply in the dark with the smell. We asked Yum Kaax about that, and he said something about smell being the sense most strongly tied to memory. Nothing was certain.
"Everything we were promised and more," he agreed, with his usual cheer.
But not the one thing we were hoping for, I frowned. "Sounds like we should consider having all of us use it," I replied. We had tried it on Elle, but that failed to show results. Patheon's tinker theorized it was because her power caused the problem. The neural regeneration tech could repair any biological and even a lot of psychological disorders, but much like Case 53s regenerating their bodies back to their nonhuman state if someone like Gaea repairs them, the ones that altered the mind wouldn't allow that mind to be altered back. Elle could never be normal unless her power was removed.
"Couldn't hurt," he replied, then took another swallow of his drink. "Anyway, I'm feeling a bit peckish. Can you let the doorman know to expect a couple pizzas in an hour or so?"
"Will do," I agreed as I turned and left. It was an obvious dismissal, and I tried to respect my employees' wishes when it didn't interfere with the job. Newter wished to be left alone to gorge himself on junk food. We all had our ways of coping.
....
Elle was staring at the wall, slowly running her hand across it. As she did so, the Yggdrasil's dark teal coloration would shift, changing color and texture at random. Over the course of hours, it would fade back to its original color. Pantheon had given us a special house for her, and any of us, to stay in. Being alive, the Yggdrasil was resistant to alteration Elle's power. Not completely, for reasons no one quite understood, but it was enough that the girl could safely stay in this home without any risk to herself, us, or the property. Any damage caused by her power's 'friction' against unchanged Yggdrasil would regrow quickly.
Emily was attempting to feed the girl while she played. Mashed potatoes and peas. Something she could eat safely if she forgot to chew, which could happen on a bad day. Pantheon talked about permanent power removal, I reminded myself. Elle might be able to be restored to normal, at the cost of her powers. I pushed that thought back. We needed her, no one else could provide the dimensional gates. And those gates, the safe havens they represented, were what was going to give humanity a real hope for the future.
I didn't believe Pantheon could end the Endbringers. They got the Simurgh, somehow. Maybe they could even kill Leviathan and Behemoth, but Barghest was custom designed to beat Pantheon, that was obvious to everyone that was actually paying attention. All the replacements would be as well. The only real solution was to get off of Bet. Find worlds where there might be some hope in the future. If an Endbringer crosses into another dimension, seal it off and leave them trapped inside. It was a cruel sort of math. Sacrificing a world, maybe a million people, so that the rest of us could have a future. But it was our only real hope.
"Good morning, Elle," I said as tenderly as I could. She didn't respond at all, hadn't seemed to hear me at all. I hadn't expected that she would. I'm sorry, Elle, you have to be one of the sacrifices. As she absently swallowed her food, I examined her art. Crudely drawn, but angry seeming stick figures and faces. Some held objects that may have been sticks, or perhaps guns. Bars, cages and chains were strewn about. Strangely, those were done in disturbing detail, each link painstakingly drawn. Another aspect of the damage her power had done to her.
"So, Tattletale just called," I informed Emily. I don't care what she calls herself, she'll always be Tattletale to me. "Our negotiations are locked in and agreed upon. "There's still stupid arguments over where to establish portals, and the order of priority, and other shit that the talking heads won't finish until Christmas or the next Endbringer fight, whichever happens first. And then suddenly everything will be solved in a couple days and they'll all announce success and then go give each other congratulatory handj-" I remembered the little girl in the room. "shakes in the back room."
"I still don't know how you managed to negotiate pay of two million dollars a portal during an international mandate that the Sanctuary Initiative was a humanitarian aid project and to remain completely nonprofit," Emily smirked. "Seriously, are you sure you don't have a Master or Thinker power?"
"Simple," I answered. "I didn't negotiate for the portals. I negotiated for security."
"Security?" She asked. "Oooh, I think I get it. There's all kinds of dangerous people out there who might want to capture or kill the portal makers. You'll need to provide bodyguards and parahuman protection over us during the trip and the stay in hotels. You could probably make that a lot more expensive than a couple million a pop."
"Right on the money," I confirmed. "Plus or minus a few other details. I let them talk me down from three, just so they could feel like they won something. It's not like they won't profit from this. New land, new people, new taxes. It's only fair we get our part of the pie." And to ensure that Elle gets the best care for the rest of her life, we owe her so much more than that.
"Unlike Pantheon, we're not getting a shiny new planet of our own."
"Wait," she blinked. "They're asking for a planet!?" she stressed the last word hard enough that it even got Elle to glance over at her, though only for a second before she returned to her art.
"I bet it'll end up being more than one," I shrugged. "Remember how they were talking about Gaea's dead playground world when we did that first portal?"
"Yeah," her eyes widened. "That place was a wasteland. Like. A billion nuclear bombs level wasteland. They fixed it?"
"Yup," I answered. "Safe for humans. Or will be in a month or two. They're arguing that it's not private exploitation of a Sanctuary world, because their Avalon. That's what they named it, by the way. Could never have supported life without them."
"Think it'll work?" she asked.
"Oh, absolutely," I agreed. "They need it too much to say no. Besides, the experimental tunnel showed there are hundreds of habitable worlds without any humans. Selling something that was never theirs and they couldn't use anyway? Easiest price in the world to pay. It's the next two parts that are going to make them drag their feet, and that won't take much longer."
"Please dish," Emily leaned toward me, while Elle continued to work her art.
"First," I started. "Think about it. They've got one dead world. There are easily dozens of others in similar states. They can keep claiming those without making many waves. Maybe they'll make a token gesture and give away half their salvaged planets. By the time we run out of acceptable options, Pantheon will have five times as many worlds as their next two competitors combined."
"Shit," she agreed.
"Second," I finished. "They're not negotiating over the planet. That's a given. What they want is recognition from the international community that they are a country. In short, Pantheon's members are one rubber stamp away from being one of the most powerful nations on earth. Seems fair to me that we walk away from this with about thirty mil each, give or take."
"You're not getting paid enough," she informed me.
"I know."
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Volkogluk
Getting out there.
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o_0
Ummm... Intentional ? Or a typo ?
Slayer Anderson
Orthodox Heretic
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The answer is simple, Faultline.
After this deal is over and nets you your 30 mil, renegotiate with Pantheon for your continued services, get a planet of your own and become the new sub-Empress to Pantheon's Federated Monarchy.
This is why Faultline hates Lisa, isn't it? Because of stunts like 'become your own country?' It's far beyond 'crazy enough to work,' but it's working anyway. She's gotta be pissed about that.
After this deal is over and nets you your 30 mil, renegotiate with Pantheon for your continued services, get a planet of your own and become the new sub-Empress to Pantheon's Federated Monarchy.
This is why Faultline hates Lisa, isn't it? Because of stunts like 'become your own country?' It's far beyond 'crazy enough to work,' but it's working anyway. She's gotta be pissed about that.
cosoco
Not too sore, are you?
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There's plenty of space on Earth. If the issue could be settled by providing an alternate 139 sq miles in a similar climate, it would have been solved already. People care about whether it's the original* one, or one on Earth Avalon.
* Ignoring the fact that Earth Aleph has an identical one too, of course.
That doesn't seem like a very good idea. What if they just invade and seize all of the devices you use to jump between dimensions?
You'd be imposing some colonial government? Why? This seems like an abuse waiting to happen.
You don't need to use the lie detectors to enforce every crime. You can restrict the questioning to felonies. Prosecutorial discretion and perfect lie detectors are not mutually exclusive.
Okay, but why is the penalty for pirating things so high? Because there are millions of pirates, and you're highly unlikely to get caught. If everyone who pirates something is guaranteed to be caught in a month, you can just set the fine for piracy to the value of the work. Then, every month, you send out payments to those creators from the fines you've collected. Done.
It's not clear that Avalon would have contract law. Their member states would have contract law, sure. But let's talk about the contracts Avalon would have:
1) contracts between the Avalon government and Earth-Bet businesses to supply something
2) treaties between member states
3) international contracts between two corporations in two different member states.
I HAVE THE CONCH!
In Vorkosigan Saga, the government of Beta Colony mandates contraceptive implants for all women and hermaphrodites. If you want to have a child, you need to take a written test and get a permit. Because of this, there are virtually no unwanted children or children put up for adoption. They do this because they're on a desert planet with very little water, and they need to limit the population.
In one of the books, a female character remarks that all societies have some sort of population control. Before contraceptive implants existed (in Vorkosigan Saga), this was done by controlling the sexual lives of women, and afterwards, it was done more directly.
dasstan
:)
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"So, you throw all your garbage in a volcano?"
"Yup."
"And you named it the Great Tattlehole?"
"Yup."
Peanuckle
Versed in the lewd.
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Is that story also a social critique, or was this played straight? Because birth-control has almost always been laden on the woman when there are similar options for men.
It still might. Powerful as they are, Pantheon is mostly teenage girls (and one adult male who spends half his time stoned and the other half Tinkering). None of them are particularly good models of emotional maturity.