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Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Reader mode
TanaNari said:
Emma does have organic material. Her skeletal structure and muscle tissue are more or less still human. Her skin is human. All of it is only being kept alive by virtue of Bullshit Space Whale (TM), but it's human.

The nervous system and brain fall under much the same umbrella as Weld. Really, the only differences between the two is she's crystalline instead of metallic, and she has a fleshy outer layer for purely cosmetic purposes.

And it's really hard to do anything "irreparable" to Emma without flat out killing her. Bullshit Space Whale (TM), remember?
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Does she have zero tactile sense at all? I remember not having a clear understanding of it the last time it came up in the story. Shard handling her grip and other pressure senses? If she has any awareness at all, I wonder if someone could master her into believing she feels the appropriate response to whatever some is doing to her. Hell, even if she doesn't, they might be able to program her to believe she's feelin' dem feels as long as she's aware of the intention. I suppose you'd want to put in some safeties or something, though.
 
Coruscant Knave said:
Does she have zero tactile sense at all? I remember not having a clear understanding of it the last time it came up in the story. Shard handling her grip and other pressure senses? If she has any awareness at all, I wonder if someone could master her into believing she feels the appropriate response to whatever some is doing to her. Hell, even if she doesn't, they might be able to program her to believe she's feelin' dem feels as long as she's aware of the intention. I suppose you'd want to put in some safeties or something, though.
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Ask how Dragon does it.

You know, if she does.

Robot girl bonding~
 
doomlord9 said:
And? You know Dragon's even younger than Emma is.
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AIs are persons, but they're not humans, and cannot and should not be judged by human social mores.

Dragon forgot more porn before the start of 2006 than even Zach has read in his entire lifetime. She's more than mature enough to handle a long-term sexual relationship with a 32-year-old. Emma... is not.
 
Snake/Eater said:
i found some juicy Jack Bauer fact memes, and i'm going to replace his name with character from from this story because they actually match. Jack Bauer Facts

#1062 3.43 Jack Bauer Lisa doesn't need a translator, torture sounds the same in every language.
#2727 3.46 Jack Bauer Missy sleeps with a night light because the dark is afraid of Jack Bauer her girlfriend.
#2115 3.44 Jack Bauer Riley is the only reason why Waldo is hiding.
#3591 3.60 if Jack Bauer Taylor was a Spartan in the movie 300, the movie would be called 1.
#55 3.34 If Jack Bauer Contessa was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers Taylor , and she had a gun with 2 bullets, she'd shoot Taylor twice...:D
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Nah if Taylor was a Spartan in the movie it would be called 1 million and be about the terror of your dumbass king refusing to give up invading that fucking scary place.
 
SwiftRosenthal said:
'Human' is a species category. Only Homo sapiens sapiens may apply.

'Person' is a societal category. If someone is capable of asking whether or not they're a person, the answer is almost always yes.
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Its if someone is capable of asking whether they are a person without being explicitly told to do it, the answer is almost always yes, if you repeated that line enough time around a parrot it would begin to ask it itself.
 
Given their stated interest in arts and academics, I would think they'd want a sport that actively incorporated those.

Perhaps in the vein of competition shows like Face Off, Project Runway, Chopped, or So You Think You Can Dance.

Or maybe even those old Nickelodeon gameshows where they asked you trivia questions while you did an obstacle course.

As cool as pegasus racing is... it actually has nothing to do with art OR academics.


Edit: I can actually see Chopped being big on Avalon. "Here, have random ingredients and try making food from them." "It's just like when I first got here!"
 
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Wait... native life that are all named with thing/thing nomiculture... Learning to harness parahuman powers in controllable and repeatable ways... A focus on harmony and balance...

Avalon turns into the world of Avatar with benders being stabilized shard powers.
 
doomlord9 said:
The same theoretical way to let Amelia and Taylor enjoy sex without changing either of their orientations.

A remote controlled body of the preferred type.

Yeah it'd technically be having sex with a plant/mushroom but since when has something as trivial as that gotten in the way of them doing what they want to do?
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At least as regards Amelia/Taylor, I cannot stress how bad an idea this would probably be. As someone who is wired female but was born with male genitalia, intercourse with the wrong equipment is nowhere near as sexy as it sounds at best, and more probably somewhat unpleasant and ooky.(Unless Amelia is some flavour of genderqueer.) Honestly, my suspicion is that it'd be another mini-calamity in the making.

Which... makes it seem oddly more likely it's going to happen, I guess.

In the more general case, I suspect that it'd more trouble than it's worth for many cases. The brain contains its very own map of the nervous system and any sensory deviation from that map is likely to cause dissonance and a feeling that something is wrong. (See phantom limb syndrome and gender dysphoria.) My best guess is that the suits/remotes avoid this by having their own onboard neural map, and the operators are appropriately distanced from any sensations so as not to create dissonance. And, considering these are combat suits, this is a good thing - you don't *want* to incapacitate operators when a suit is torn in half, and cutting down on any subsequent PTSD can only be a good thing. But this distancing would be distinctly bad for something like sex, and the neural remapping that the operator would need to undergo - basically having multiple mental maps of their body that they could switch between - would be tricky, especially considering I imagine this wouldn't be something found in nature that they could copy.

In Emma's specific case, of course, this would be further complicated by the fact that her *power* was the thing that remapped her neural map, so they probably wouldn't be able to muck around with it using technology in any case.
 
SwiftRosenthal said:
'Human' is a species category. Only Homo sapiens sapiens may apply.

'Person' is a societal category. If someone is capable of asking whether or not they're a person, the answer is almost always yes.
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That's clear and obvious, I meant I thought you were talking about Dragon when you made the age comment.
 
One thing that I hadn't realised before was that they'd managed to develop things like purely organic anti-grav systems that they'd managed to code for genetically. (Since they can apparently now breed pegasi, unless I've misunderstood something.) IIRC way back when they were first developing things like the zerg and the pegasi, there was mention of the fact that they'd need cybernetically grafted systems to handle that kind of thing, so this is a definite advance that apparently I'd completely missed.

Of course - depending on various factors - this has the potential to lead to hideous new exploits for Amelia. Frex, if the organic anti-grav system is, in fact, an artificial grav system that they're using to partially cancel out Earth's gravity rather than something that 'just' reduces the local gravitational incline, she could use this to manufacture gravity guns on the fly, either dramatically increasing the gravity in an area to crush anything in it, or shooting something away from the Earth at a great velocity, frex an Endbringer in the direction of the Sun.

Also - what other weird tech systems can they now manufacture organically?
 
It doesn't seem like raising all of their money from fuel sales instead of taxation is a good idea.
1) It distorts the market. There will be businesses that aren't profitable that would be if fuel were free.
2) If someone develops a competing bio-organism for producing oil, the government will be left without a source of revenue.
TanaNari said:
"You'll still have plenty of room for selling fuel on Avalon," Danny spoke up. "It seems to me these animals probably won't be capable of hauling freight or operating as industrial or construction equipment. That's a pretty significant base."


"Well, we could," I admitted. "Antigravity makes actual weight fairly trivial.
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Avalon could start a federal mail service that used cloned mail-trucks, biological antigrav and AI to make extremely cheap deliveries.
 
cosoco said:
It doesn't seem like raising all of their money from fuel sales instead of taxation is a good idea.
1) It distorts the market. There will be businesses that aren't profitable that would be if fuel were free.
2) If someone develops a competing bio-organism for producing oil, the government will be left without a source of revenue.
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Yeah. However, confusing government with a type of business is a pretty normal mistake for a teen to make.

At some point, maybe they'll meet an intelligent economist.

cosoco said:
Avalon could start a federal mail service that used cloned mail-trucks, biological antigrav and AI to make extremely cheap deliveries.
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Flying Pony Express.
 
Amelia, Ch 341- Taylor
  • Threadmarks
    • Amelia, Ch 341- Taylor


    "Honestly, Boston's been wonderful. They'd probably move me out if they could, but I plan to stay for the foreseeable future," Sarah stated. I tried not to flinch. The reasons she stayed could be summed up as that's where Dad found work.


    ConcernSupportAcceptanceRequest. That would be Amelia trying to convince me to be okay with their relationship, which was clearly getting more serious as time moved forward. I wanted to be okay with that, I really did. But at the same time I kinda didn't.


    Sarah took a bite of her food. "Oh, wow, this tastes amazing. Kind of like a sweet potato, but with a tangy kick to it. I don't know how to describe it, but it's really good."


    "Yeah, I'd never have guessed this was a vegetarian meal," Mark agreed between bites. "Man, I wish real salmon tasted this good. So I've been thinking of asking for a transfer, myself. Don't get me wrong, the vacation's been great, but I'm starting to get bored. Crystal, what's your opinion on things along the West Coast?"


    "Well, Miss Militia just took over in San Fran," Crystal replied. "If you can handle a no nonsense boss, she could really use the help. I think it's starting to upset her that Alexandria or one of my people have to drop in twice a week to deal with something or another."


    "Why not New York or Pittsburgh?" Vicky suggested. "They're still understaffed. Or... well, keep this to this room alone, but there's talk of me moving to Baltimore. Only for a little while, until the crime rate starts to drop. A few of the villains I chased out of Philly moved there. You get that transfer and we'll go smack villains around together until maybe they get the message and stop being criminals. It'll be fun."


    "That sounds great," Mark agreed. "I don't think Armstrong will mind. They've been pushing him to get rid of a few of his people since things are running so smoothly. He's been refusing on grounds that it would disrupt the team composition. But I'm a newbie, so he won't lose any sleep over losing me to keep some of his favorites. Maybe I'll even help the ol' egghead out by setting up a few transfer conditions he'll like. Can't hurt to have a Director that owes me a favor or two down the line, right?"


    "Probably not," Sarah agreed. "Hmm, maybe I'll make a discreet inquiry next time I talk to him."


    "Couldn't hurt," He looked over at Sarah. "Really, he should count himself lucky that you don't officially work for the Protectorate, so they can't transfer you. His Wards program is currently the envy of the whole region thanks to you. You've always had a way with kids."


    AnnoyanceLossRegret. I clenched Amelia's hand. I wasn't sure what brought that feeling on, but I was here for her nonetheless.


    "It's really not like I have to do much," Sarah responded, looking a little abashed. "Fact of the matter is, Weld and Clockblocker do most of the work. They have that team running like a well oiled machine. Or as much as you can hope for in a team full of restless hormonal teenagers."


    "Speaking of well oiled," Vicky added with a knowing smirk. "There's rumors all over PHO that the two of them are dating."


    SurpriseSuspicionAnnoyance. It took me a humiliating couple seconds to figure out what Amelia was thinking. She's right. There was at least an eighty percent chance that it was Zach who started those rumors. We'd need to talk to that boy about his online pranks sometime soon.


    "Honestly, Vicky, you already know that's just a stupid rumor," Sarah reprimanded her niece. "You tried using your healing ability on Weld, so you even know why. And Clock's got his heart set on 'the one that got away', who I'm fairly certain is a girl."


    "Yeah, seriously, cuz," Crystal added. "What did poor Clock ever do to you? Y'know, except for that time he slipped glue into Gallant's armor. Or that time he spent a month using unbelievably stupid pickup lines on you. Or that time when he spent the next month using equally stupid pickup lines on Dean. Or when he photoshopped that picture to make it look like you were checking out Shadow Stalker's ass. Clearly he is as innocent as a baby and you're just being needlessly vindictive."


    Huh, maybe Zach wasn't responsible for that one.


    "Okay, Crystal," Sarah chuckled. "I think you've made your point. But in all seriousness, he's done a lot of growing up this year. Try not to judge him too harshly on his behavior, when he's trying so hard now."


    "I'm just glad things are stable enough that people can focus on transfers, politics and rumors" Mark added. "There was a time there after New Delhi that we were afraid the whole country was going to collapse into supervillain fueled anarchy. Can't speak for the rest of the country, but the East Coast is more stable now than it's been any time in the last decade. And it looks like it's going to stay that way with the colony world generating jobs. Nice and peaceful."


    "That's an understatement," Dad added. "Maybe I'm just biased, being used to the mess that was Brockton Bay, but I never would have imagined a city the size of Boston could be cleaned up so easily. I get that a lot of it is because there are actual jobs in Boston, especially with the new colony portal in the city. I'm actually having trouble finding enough people to keep up with the demand."


    "The rest is mainly because of Accord and Butcher," Sarah informed. "They created a weird sort of stability that kept other supervillains from bothering the city. When Butcher was destroyed," ConcernLoss. "and the other major player changed sides, that left the city with a clean slate, an people like it that way. The first villain who tries to step in will be the only villain in the city facing down all of the heroes at once. Someone like Lung might be able to get away with it, but there aren't a lot of people with that kind of power."


    "And if anyone like that does show up, Pantheon's right next door to make them regret it," Mark added. PrideEmbarrassment. "No one wants to start a fight with Endslayers and Immortal Empresses."


    "That's just a bluff, though," Carol reminded. "One that won't last. Eventually people are going to come to the realization that Amy and Taylor can't actually intervene with anything on Bet, outside of the Endbringer conflicts."


    "That's why the rest of us, the ones who haven't taken citizenship on Avalon, have to be so vigilant," Crystal chimed in. "Let everyone believe that the reason our heavy hitters stay out of the fight is because they're not needed, or too busy dealing with more important issues like preparing for the next Endbringer. It's a fragile kind of peace, but it still peace. Certainly better than what we had before."


    "Not that fragile," Vicky insisted. "Anyone wants to break the peace, and I'll break them into pieces. Then post photos of them online as a warning to anyone else stupid enough to try and start shit."


    "So, firecracker, how have things been for you?" Mark asked. I was admittedly a bit relieved to have the conversation turn away from Avalon for once. We lived it constantly, every day, and while I loved what we were achieving, it would be nice to take a break from it once in a while.


    "Oh, you know me, Dad," Vicky smiled. "Forever lucky in life and love."


    "Love, huh?" Mark regarded his daughter. "So, when do I meet this new boy in your life?"


    "You already have," Carol informed, sounding less than pleased. "Your daughter is dating the current head of the Protectorate. Who, as I'm sure you're quite aware, is both twenty years her senior and functionally your commanding officer."


    Carol's passive aggressive bitchiness took the wind out of Mark's sails admirably, and he frowned. DistasteSchadenfreudeGuilt. "Well, I can't say I was expecting that. How long have you two been seeing each other? Is it serious?"


    "Oh, nothing serious, we've only been dating since two days ago," Vicky responded cheerfully. "But I have a good feeling about things." Does nothing ever faze her? Then again, she lived with Carol even longer than Amelia did, she's probably really good at shrugging off anything that her mother can throw at her.


    In a way, it made Vicky part of the group with the rest of us. Carol hated that Amelia and I were dating, she hated that Dad and Sarah were dating, she hated that Mark had 'left her' for the Protectorate, and that Crystal had left New Wave for Pantheon. Really, I'd feel bad for her if she wasn't such an unbelievable bitch about everything.


    "You never struck me as the type to go for older men," Mark spoke up diplomatically after a minute. He clearly wasn't thrilled about this turn of events, either.


    "I'm honestly not," Vicky responded. "Things just sorta happened, y'know?"


    "After she stalked him for three months," Crystal chimed in.


    "I did not stalk him," Vicky argued at her cousin. "And even if you could misconstrue my actions as stalking, it would only have been for about two and a half months. You're just jealous because you're the only person at this table who's single." I caught it as Mark and Carol glanced at each other nervously for a half second.


    "What the hell was that?" Victoria asked. Evidently she noticed, too, with one of her various senses. It's not like she was lacking for options.


    Carol sighed. "We didn't want to say anything, not until it was finalized."


    "We're legally separated," Mark stated.


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


    A/N- Man. This is a FUN dinner. And by "fun" I mean "there's a reason I don't go to my family reunions."
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • TanaNari said:
    Carol sighed. "We didn't want to say anything, not until it was finalized."


    "We're legally separated," Mark stated.
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    That's.... not entirely unreasonable. Is there really a difference between being legally separated and being don't-live-or-interact-with-each-other separated? They're basically just saying that things didn't work out, kept not working out, and they are putting to paper something that has already happened.

    I get that it is different when its your actual parents saying that stuff, I just feel like it shouldn't be quite as big a shocker to anyone.
     
    Spetz N9ne said:
    That's.... not entirely unreasonable. Is there really a difference between being legally separated and being don't-live-or-interact-with-each-other separated?
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    It's the exact same difference as the one between living-together-with-kids and married.

    It's a legal declaration of future expectations.
     
    I can't help but feel that Carol and Mark really should have planned this better - hoping that an inconvenient truth won't come up at an inopportune moment is something of a non-viable strategy when you've got a Thinker in the family. (Granted, this tactic only gets hilariously bad if you invite Lisa to your family dinner.)

    Still, live and learn, and hopefully they'll all learn to lead with that kind of news. Or maybe announce it ahead of time.
     
    TanaNari said:
    "What the hell was that?" Victoria asked. Evidently she noticed, too, with one of her various senses. It's not like she was lacking for options.


    Carol sighed. "We didn't want to say anything, not until it was finalized."


    "We're legally separated," Mark stated.
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    For the want of nail,if Zach had been there he would have said....
    Zach: Check plz!
    Cue,1 hour the restaurant is trashed.
    Zach: I guess this is going on your tab.
    Amelia::(
     
    Snake/Eater said:
    For the want of nail,if Zach had been there he would have said....
    Zach: Check plz!
    Cue,1 hour the restaurant is trashed.
    Zach: I guess this is going on your tab.
    Amelia::(
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    "We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was. Better, stronger, faster."

    "... Wow, neeerd."
     
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