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

GhostKing 666 · Monday at 7:33 AM

Mr Zoat said:
"No. It wasn't. While in most regards the Terran Federation was far more that the Imperium, it had many fundamental flaws."

Case in point, the rise of the scientist-kings. Turns out all that technological power and ability was matched with little to no restraint and boundless ambition and whether you lived in paradise or a new circle of hell depended entirely on who was in charge. Fanfiction likes to paint the idea that there was some "enlightened federation" around at the time but what we know of the Gene Wars paints a very different picture.

Custodes Codex (8th Edition) Page 8 said said:
Thinking machines and the development of ever more esoteric weapons and transportation technologies played their part, but the single greatest factor to drive this expansion was the ability – and the reckless will – to manipulate human genetics. Utterly certain of their own primacy, scientist-kings and techno-demagogues followed every strand of curiosity and exercised powers of creation that made them seem like gods. Ultimately, their hubris led them to catastrophe, and onwards to the very brink of extinction. Worlds were overrun by bloody uprisings within their own populations, much of which were mutated beyond sanity and recognition. Gene-wars consumed entire star systems, while a psychic apocalypse drowned the stars in fire. The vast empire of Humanity was shattered amidst horror and anarchy, and the oppressive shroud of Old Night settled over all.

At the heart of this galactic disaster lay Terra, transformed from a glittering jewel to an apocalyptic hellscape by forbidden weapons and biological atrocities. Yet though its people fell into darkness and ignorance, many of the technologies that had led them to ruin survived, sealed away in hidden bunkers and biomantic crypts. Sure enough, as Humanity clawed its way back from the brink beneath the lashes of cruel warlords, so those self-appointed rulers discovered the weapons of old and tried once again to turn them upon one another. Terra faced the threat of a second apocalypse as gene-bred barbarians and ghastly flesh stitched ghouls made war at the behest of madmen, fanatics and techno-cannibalistic murderers.

The Horus Heresy Book Seven - Inferno said said:
At the height of humanity's ancient dominion during the Dark Age of Technology, unbridled and recklessly potent human science had unlocked the myriad potentials within the human genome and even thought nothing of the terrible crimes of transgenic hybridization, the fusing of human and alien biology, if it suited the whims of the scientist- kings of that lost age.

The end result of their inevitable rediscoveries was a world already plunged into violent anarchy and environmental collapse made infinitely worse by the abused powers of those lost gods and devils of ancient science unleashed, genetically tailored viral warfare, desperate schemes at blood-bought immorality and power, and a hulking grotesquery of once-human shock troops driven into battle by the ambition of crazed warlords. Mutation, monstrosity, pogrom, disease and death unimaginable were let loose by the warlords lust for conquest; such was Terra's long night.

By the time of the coming of the Emperor to finally quell the endless war, splice-wrought and muscle-grafted warriors were the common currency of war amid the techno- barbarian tribes and mercenary clans which dominated much of desolate Ancient Terra, while degenerate gene-damaged mutants and abhumans haunted the ruins and wastes beyond the holdfasts of petty empires. The more extreme children of the Dark Age of Technology were also a fearful legend which haunted, all too real, the dreams of men, be they the Excubari Vivamorphs of Cahmarg, who culled the young for 'beautiful* flesh to graft to their own failing bodies, or the nightmare horrors of the Ghourmant clans of the deep sinks of Detra-Merica, whose terrible strength and longevity were bought only at the price of a far more indiscriminate and insatiable hunger.

The DAoT was a "golden age" in the sense that Man had the technology to pretty much do anything it wanted, with the flip side of that era's "Scientist-Kings" having unchecked ambition to go along with all that power. If the Gene Wars were any indication, the Cybernetic Revolt was probably another example of their hubris trying to cash another check their asses couldn't pay and things finally blowing up in a spectacular manner.

Almost makes the Mechanicus treating the word "scientist" as a grave insult seem reasonable, doesn't it.

Mr Zoat · Monday at 8:30 AM

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'why'.

Chojin Patriarch said:
I suspect the Assault Cannon (Imagine a minigun firing tiny rocket-propelled grenades) did a lot of the heavy lifting in most people's responses.

Since I write in 2nd Edition, it actually fires super krak missiles.

Yes, the assault cannon used to be even more broken.

Presumably after checking there were no invasive infections of warp bullshit, malignant tumours of technology, or xenomorphic stowaways, of course.

Warp anomalies aren't a problem when you can just eat them.

I'm guessing the Farsight Enclaves haven't broken away just yet, or P'ol has something of a neutral liaison role towards them.

No, they have. Loyalist tau don't like talking about them, and when he laughingly called the people who read the Mirror Codex 'heretics' they started feeling a bit stupid.

Vaermina · Monday at 8:32 AM

Darko said:
Assuming they actually noticed that since the Warp is fairly massive and while they are powerful, they're hardly the only powerful things in the Warp.

You might have been able to use that as an excuse if he was just sitting in the warp doing nothing. But what was described in story would be the Warp equilivant of holding up a giant "I am here" sign to the Chaos Gods.

And yes actually, they are pretty much the only powerful things in the Warp, because with the exception of Isha, Cegorach, and The Emperor the Chaos Gods subsumed everything else.

Darko said:
Also they probably don't have a defense against his ring and assimilation, so even if they wanted to stop him they may be afraid that he could hurt them, or that the others would let one of them die so that they could claim their territory.

In the Warp reality is literally what the Chaos Gods want it to be.

If they want his ring to not work, it won't work.

It's the whole reason the rule of thumb in the Warp is don't call attention to yourself.

Mr Zoat said:
Since I write in 2nd Edition, it actually fires super krak missiles.

You just included a storyline from 8th edition.

ArchAngelGundam · Monday at 9:02 AM

iamnuff said:
There was a version of that star trek intro where each line was said by a different captain.

I can't seem to find it now.

Edit, Star Trek seems like bittersweet watching in M40
Seeing about the Federation and Starfleet, how we envisioned space travel would be before we ever stepped foot on another planet.

Explorers, scientists, diplomats.
"We had such high hopes for ourselves."

I found it!

- YouTube

Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.

www.youtube.com

Ardy · Monday at 9:33 AM

The Picard season one finale is all that survived intact? Holy shit, no wonder the future is so grimdark

Darko · Monday at 1:46 PM

Vaermina said:
You might have been able to use that as an excuse if he was just sitting in the warp doing nothing. But what was described in story would be the Warp equilivant of holding up a giant "I am here" sign to the Chaos Gods

Assuming it was actually that big. Or that they'd even care to check.

Vaermina said:
And yes actually, they are pretty much the only powerful things in the Warp, because with the exception of Isha, Cegorach, and The Emperor the Chaos Gods subsumed everything else.

Yet even they don't completely control the Warp. In various materials it's mentioned that there are places in the Warp that they don't want to interact with.

Vaermina said:
In the Warp reality is literally what the Chaos Gods want it to be

Except during all those times when it isn't.

Like the Emperor being able to guide ships even though they don't want that, or Cegorach besting Slaanesh even though they don't want that.

Vaermina said:
If they want his ring to not work, it won't work

Please provide a canon example where a power ring from DC comics was rendered unusable by the Chaos Gods of 40k?

If you can't then let me provide you with with some examples of what power rings can do.

They can do basically anything.

Seriously, if you've actually seen any material from DC, which I'm dubious that you do, you'd know that power rings are some of the most broken things in existence.

Time travel, space travel, matter manipulation, healing, super strength etc. All of these are things that rings can do.

And Paul's ring is one that can convert beings into the energy that his ring uses.

The Chaos Gods may not like him and may know what he's doing and want to stop him, but that doesn't mean that they're just going to blindly charge at him.

A power ring is something that they've most likely never encountered before, so they don't know its strength or its weaknesses enough to feel safe in attacking him.

In the Fantasy chapters we saw that that version of Paul had assimilated a daemon and when it was hit with a spell meant to harm daemons it didn't even flinch.

The Chaos Gods may know that he can do things like if they have a connection to their Fantasy counterparts, or if they felt this version assimilate a daemon and know that once he does that the daemon is completely gone.

Khornelius · Monday at 1:59 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"Can I just speak to Spirit of Eternity?"

A friend of a friend, isn't a bad start to a friendship.

Mr Zoat · Monday at 5:06 PM

Darko said:
The Chaos Gods may not like him and may know what he's doing and want to stop him, but that doesn't mean that they're just going to blindly charge at him.

I tend to doubt that the Chaos Gods are anything like that focused. A Chaos God isn't someone who can personally walk up to you and punch you. It's more that if you do something that offends their nature then their servants start getting an inkling that they should start doing things which oppose you, and getting more rewards when they do.

Vaermina · Monday at 5:09 PM

Mr Zoat said:
I tend to doubt that the Chaos Gods are anything like that focused. A Chaos God isn't someone who can personally walk up to you and punch you. It's more that if you do something that offends their nature then their servants start getting an inkling that they should start doing things which oppose you, and getting more rewards when they do.

Ah, so you're completely rewriting the Chaos Gods and how they work.

You should have said that from the start.

Lazurman · Monday at 5:25 PM

Mr Zoat said:
I tend to doubt that the Chaos Gods are anything like that focused. A Chaos God isn't someone who can personally walk up to you and punch you. It's more that if you do something that offends their nature then their servants start getting an inkling that they should start doing things which oppose you, and getting more rewards when they do.

Yeah. That's my take on them too. They're blind idiot gods. They can't just suddenly 'decide' to shit out a Warp storm, they're non-sapient. They're pseudo-living narratives of Bloodshed, Despair, Excess, and Lies; there needs to be an extant source of their emotional concepts for them to start taking action.

Mr Zoat · Monday at 7:12 PM

GhostKing 666 said:
Case in point, the rise of the scientist-kings. Turns out all that technological power and ability was matched with little to no restraint and boundless ambition and whether you lived in paradise or a new circle of hell depended entirely on who was in charge. Fanfiction likes to paint the idea that there was some "enlightened federation" around at the time but what we know of the Gene Wars paints a very different picture.

The DAoT was a "golden age" in the sense that Man had the technology to pretty much do anything it wanted, with the flip side of that era's "Scientist-Kings" having unchecked ambition to go along with all that power. If the Gene Wars were any indication, the Cybernetic Revolt was probably another example of their hubris trying to cash another check their asses couldn't pay and things finally blowing up in a spectacular manner.

Almost makes the Mechanicus treating the word "scientist" as a grave insult seem reasonable, doesn't it.

While I do appreciate you quoting your sources, none of that is 2nd Edition. I'd need a copy of Inquisition War to see the original timeline.

Vaermina · Monday at 8:07 PM

Lazurman said:
Yeah. That's my take on them too. They're blind idiot gods. They can't just suddenly 'decide' to shit out a Warp storm, they're non-sapient. They're pseudo-living narratives of Bloodshed, Despair, Excess, and Lies; there needs to be an extant source of their emotional concepts for them to start taking action.

The Chaos Gods have shown up as singular coherent beings in canon.

Ardy · Monday at 8:50 PM

Vaermina said:
The Chaos Gods have shown up as singular coherent beings in canon.

And also multifaceted multipart incoherent insane monsters, so you can stop crying now.

Darko · Monday at 9:02 PM

Ardy said:
And also multifaceted multipart incoherent insane monsters, so you can stop crying now.

Yep.

They're called Chaos Gods.

Constantly shifting how they appear and work makes sense.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 6:23 AM

7th May 2013
04:57 GMT -1

**I don't like this.** King Nanauve Sha'ark looks decidedly sullen. **He didn't even have blood in his veins. Why can I hear thoughts?**

"It is how our magic works, my king." The master blood mage might be smiling. The cuts and the fact that he's a shark make it a little hard to tell. "You eat it, you earned it."

M'gann… Rotates on the spot. **Do you want to learn how to control it better? I can give you a few lessons.**

**No-.** He grunts. "Not now. Not until we've settled things with Ahri'ahn." He looks at me. "Who was he?"

"Henry King Senior. Dead for seventeen years."

Robert frowns. "So he was… A draugr? Can draugr be telepaths?"

"No." / **No.**

M'gann and I answer at the same time, with the same vehemence.

**Telepathy is something that requires a brain. Zombies don't have functioning brains.**

I nod. "You can sort of use cybernetic implants to nudge a dead telepath's brain into action, but the Green Lantern Corp has no record of that ever working well."

**Ew.**

"Well, what about intelligent undead? Vampires can do hypnosis, can't they?"

"Normal humans can do hypnosis. I'd have to check, but I'd guess they either use magic or aren't actually dead. Mister King's 'brain' was mostly made of clay. Clay can't be telepathic, and while he was alive Mister King couldn't manipulate clay."

Lori turns away from what was left of his body. "Who was he?"

"A deceased supervillain. Fought the Justice Society of America, amongst others. He was survived by his son, Henry King Junior, into whose hands we will be delivering his body." I shake my head. "As far as we knew, he was still buried. We're… Going to have to add 'check graves' to our to-do list."

Lori gives me an uncomfortable look. "Is there someone on the surface who turns people into clay zombies?"

"Not that I know about." I shrug. "More than ninety percent of magic users in the world are Atlanteans. Honestly, there's more chance that you know the culprit than I do. I'll check the area around his grave for clues, but given everything that's happened, the chance that I'll find anything…"

Zombies. Why did it have to be zombies? At least these ones don't have an infectious bite or anything.

"What about the dead sharkfolk?"

Sha'ark shrugs. "The guards will chase them down and tear them apart. Then the priests of Orcus can deal with it. I don't think creating things like that needed Henry King to summon their souls back."

I sag a little. "So we don't even know if this has anything to do with the other matter. Your majesty, do you want me to see to healing your subjects?"

"From a few cuts and bruises? We're not that fragile."

The blood mage sniffs at the water. "'Other matter', majesty?"

"Ahri'ahn. Where the High King has gone. And how to ward against whatever's making other Atlantean peoples act the way they are."

The blood mage nods, then draws a dagger and walks towards Lori. Her eyes widen and she backs up a little. "What do you want?"

"In our magic, blood is a bond. The spell does not affect us. If you consume my blood and I consume yours, I can shield you as I shield myself."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"You came to us for help and shelter. Now you complain about how we offer it." He smiles and shrugs, sheathing his dagger. "Okay." Then he draws a flensing knife. "I didn't think you'd be brave enough for the usual ritual scarification. You are a credit to your city. Hold still while I start cutting."

"What?"

Sha'ark shakes his head. "Elder, that isn't what she meant."

"Oh." He sheathes the flensing knife, and puts his hands on his belt. "What does she expect, then? We do blood magic. The only other thing I could do is teach her blood magic, but look at her. She doesn't have the teeth for a ritual hunt."

"I just need someone to wake me up if I start going to sleep again."

"I know a guy with a link to the Dream. Honestly, that seems like a possible vector for attack so we should ask him to have a look at you anyway."

M'gann rotates to look at me. "Sandman isn't a wizard. Would he really feel anything?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but we need to eliminate each possibility to the best of our abilities."

Robert looks a little confused. "Is this why we came here?"

"No. I mean, doing good in the world is broadly why we came here-." I frown. "Hang on. The telepath wasn't active before we got here, right?"

The two sharks shake their head.

"I can't be detected by magic, and I've trained to feel telepathic probes. Cornwall, you were concealing yourself magically, right?"

"Yes?"

"So what set it off?" Lori and Sha'ark glance at each other. "You two getting close to each other?"

Sha'ark looks thoughtful. "Maybe? I'm a king, so keeping an eye on me makes sense. Lori is affected by whatever it is that's interfering with how everyone in Atlantis is thinking. We wouldn't necessarily feel it if something detected us getting closer together."

Lori's eyes open slightly. "Not if it was part of a spell that was already active. If the spell that's affecting us was already sending messages out and the message changed a little, I wouldn't know about it unless I was the recipient."

"That sounds pretty clever. Is it Ahri'ahn-level clever, or could any archmage do it?"

She thinks for a moment, then shrugs helplessly. "I don't know how hard it would be. I can sort of understand that it's possible-."

"I understand." I nod. "Don't worry. Zatanna, could you please take custody of Mister King's remains? I imagine that the Shadowcrest library is our best bet for working out whatever the heck happened to him. Miss Martian, please liaise with city government. Cornwall, find out what the Fish-Eaters wanted to tell me."

They nod, and Robert frowns. "What are you doing? Taking Lori to see Sandman?"

I shake my head. "I've got an appointment with Ahri'ahn today. It would be dreadfully impolite to miss it."

Ngamer11 · Tuesday at 6:32 AM

Mr Zoat said:
"Normal humans can to hypnosis. I'd have to check, but I'd guess they either use magic or aren't actually dead. Mister King's 'brain' was mostly made of clay. Clay can't be telepathic, and while he was alive Mister King couldn't manipulate clay."

That should say 'use' or 'do'.

Mr Zoat said:
Richard looks a little confused. "Is this why we came here?"

Assuming this is Cornwall Boy, that should say 'Robert'.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 6:49 AM

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'use' or 'do'.

Assuming this is Cornwall Boy, that should say 'Robert'.

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · Tuesday at 7:05 AM

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2013
04:57 GMT -1

**I don't like this.** King Nanauve Sha'ark looks decidedly sullen. **He didn't even have blood in his veins. Why can I hear thoughts?**

"It is how our magic works, my king." The master blood mage might be smiling. The cuts and the fact that he's a shark make it a little hard to tell. "You eat it, you earned it."

I see eating the corpse had side effects. By the looks of it, he's 'inherited' a measure of telepathic ability. One he seems to be having trouble keeping separate from his conventional voice. Let's hope it's only a minor passive broadcast thing, and not something potentially nastier.

M'gann… Rotates on the spot. **Do you want to learn how to control it better? I can give you a few lessons.**

**No-.** He grunts. "Not now. Not until we've settled things with Ahri'ahn." He looks at me. "Who was he?"

Hopefully it fades as he 'digests' the blood-traces into his own metaphysique. Otherwise, he may need to take M'gann up on that offer.

"Henry King Senior. Dead for seventeen years."

Robert frowns. "So he was… A draugr? Can draugr be telepaths?"

Brainwave senior? Well, that's unexpected. Also has odd implications for what whoever's responsible has been doing.

"No." / **No.**

M'gann and I answer at the same time, with the same vehemence.

Fortunate, and logical. Brain matter is some of the first stuff to suffer from oxygen deprivation damage upon even temporary death.

**Telepathy is something that requires a brain. Zombies don't have functioning brains.**

I nod. "You can sort of use cybernetic implants to nudge a dead telepath's brain into action, but the Green Lantern Corp has no record of that ever working well."

I imagine the resulting telepathic emissions to be like wiring a frog's nerves to an electric circuit: random spasms of nerves suddenly galvanised into functioning.

**Ew.**

"Well, what about intelligent undead? Vampires can do hypnosis, can't they?"

Not on this level. Theirs tends to be more personal, as part of their hunting capabilities...

"Normal humans can do hypnosis. I'd have to check, but I'd guess they either use magic or aren't actually dead. Mister King's 'brain' was mostly made of clay. Clay can't be telepathic, and while he was alive Mister King couldn't manipulate clay."

Lori turns away from what was left of his body. "Who was he?"

And before anyone says it, no, Clayface is not known for any magical activities.

"A deceased supervillain. Fought the Justice Society of America, amongst others. He was survived by his son, Henry King Junior, into whose hands we will be delivering his body." I shake my head. "As far as we knew, he was still buried. We're… Going to have to add 'check graves' to our to-do list."

Oh, joy. A good chance deceased supervillains may turn up as zombies or lazarus-pit resurrectees...

Lori gives me an uncomfortable look. "Is there someone on the surface who turns people into clay zombies?"

"Not that I know about." I shrug. "More than ninety percent of magic users in the world are Atlanteans. Honestly, there's more chance that you know the culprit than I do. I'll check the area around his grave for clues, but given everything that's happened, the chance that I'll find anything…"

Next to none, especially if it was done magically. Unless he discovers the grave undisturbed, body still inside. I'm not sure which would be worse.

Zombies. Why did it have to be zombies? At least these ones don't have an infectious bite or anything.

"What about the dead sharkfolk?"

There is that blessing. Last thing you need is a 'Marvel Zombies'-esque outbreak.

Sha'ark shrugs. "The guards will chase them down and tear them apart. Then the priests of Orcus can deal with it. I don't think creating things like that needed Henry King to summon their souls back."

I sag a little. "So we don't even know if this has anything to do with the other matter. Your majesty, do you want me to see to healing your subjects?"

Ooh, nice. Orcus is not a commonly-used Etruscan/Early-Roman death god. These days, he's better known as a D&D Demon Lord. Ironically, a prince of the undead...

"From a few cuts and bruises? We're not that fragile."

The blood mage sniffs at the water. "'Other matter', majesty?"

Oh, you better not be playing dumb about the unusual happenings, bud. You just tried to savage a personal friend of the king himself.

"Ahri'ahn. Where the High King has gone. And how to ward against whatever's making other Atlantean peoples act the way they are."

The blood mage nods, then draws a dagger and walks towards Lori. Her eyes widen and she backs up a little. "What do you want?"

Well, there's two obvious options: Blood-letting, or scarification. Either one has a good chance of providing protection.

"In our magic, blood is a bond. The spell does not affect us. If you consume my blood and I consume yours, I can shield you as I shield myself."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

It's that or...

"You came to us for help and shelter. Now you complain about how we offer it." He smiles and shrugs, sheathing his dagger. "Okay." Then he draws a flensing knife. "I didn't think you'd be brave enough for the usual ritual scarification. You are a credit to your city. Hold still while I start cutting."

...The painful way. I'm sure he'll try to make them artful, if nothing else.

"What?"

Sha'ark shakes his head. "Elder, that isn't what she meant."

I suspect she was hoping for a more temporary solution. And one less intimate than sharing blood.

"Oh." He sheathes the flensing knife, and puts his hands on his belt. "What does she expect, then? We do blood magic. The only other thing I could do is teach her blood magic, but look at her. She doesn't have the teeth for a ritual hunt."

"I just need someone to wake me up if I start going to sleep again."

Interesting that she's describing it that way.

"I know a guy with a link to the Dream. Honestly, that seems like a possible vector for attack so we should ask him to have a look at you anyway."

M'gann rotates to look at me. "Sandman isn't a wizard. Would he really feel anything?"

Couldn't hurt to be sure one way or the other?

"Maybe, maybe not, but we need to eliminate each possibility to the best of our abilities."

Robert looks a little confused. "Is this why we came here?"

It's a piece of the puzzle, sure, but not the whole of the solution.

"No. I mean, doing good in the world is broadly why we came here-." I frown. "Hang on. The telepath wasn't active before we got here, right?"

The two sharks shake their head.

Certainly no signs of massed hostility towards unfamiliar outsiders before. Heck, the guy welcoming the refugees seemed quite personable.

"I can't be detected by magic, and I've trained to feel telepathic probes. Cornwall, you were concealing yourself magically, right?"

"Yes?"

You seem a little unsure, Rob. I would hope you're able to detect magical sensory spells.

"So what set it off?" Lori and Sha'ark glance at each other. "You two getting close to each other?"

Sha'ark looks thoughtful. "Maybe? I'm a king, so keeping an eye on me makes sense. Lori is affected by whatever it is that's interfering with how everyone in Atlantis is thinking. We wouldn't necessarily feel it if something detected us getting closer together."

Unless someone knows you two are involved in some kind of rebellious gathering...

Lori's eyes open slightly. "Not if it was part of a spell that was already active. If the spell that's affecting us was already sending messages out and the message changed a little, I wouldn't know about it unless I was the recipient."

"That sounds pretty clever. Is it Ahri'ahn-level clever, or could any archmage do it?"

A necessary distinction, given his personal skill.

She thinks for a moment, then shrugs helplessly. "I don't know how hard it would be. I can sort of understand that it's possible-."

"I understand." I nod. "Don't worry. Zatanna, could you please take custody of Mister King's remains? I imagine that the Shadowcrest library is our best bet for working out whatever the heck happened to him. Miss Martian, please liaise with city government. Cornwall, find out what the Fish-Eaters wanted to tell me."

Ah, right, they had something noteworthy for him, didn't they?

They nod, and Robert frowns. "What are you doing? Taking Lori to see Sandman?"

I shake my head. "I've got an appointment with Ahri'ahn today. It would be dreadfully impolite to miss it."

And probably some awkward questions on both sides.

The deeper they dig, the murkier the waters of this affair get. Psychic zombies now, and possibly some kind of dream-related magical effect mentally reprogramming everyone who succumbs to it, even if it seems moderately easy to pull people back out. And Ahri'ahn quite likely up to his fancy nose at the centre of it all... This is getting twisty.

Ngamer11 · Tuesday at 7:20 AM

Chojin Patriarch said:
Oh, joy. A good chance deceased supervillains may turn up as zombies or lazarus-pit resurrectees...

Some kind of U-Man style harvesting might be worse. I know it wasn't done as much in DC, but I remember a panel where a resurrected Barry learns that superheroes have taken to keeping the bodies of dead metahumans in containment to prevent it.

Signaller · Tuesday at 8:10 AM

Isn't Grundymen the obvious thought?

Stsword · Tuesday at 8:13 AM

Ngamer11 said:
Some kind of U-Man style harvesting might be worse. I know it wasn't done as much in DC, but I remember a panel where a resurrected Barry learns that superheroes have taken to keeping the bodies of dead metahumans in containment to prevent it.

Nightwing had a storyline where the Black Condor's grandfather, a mad scientist part of a secret society out to create flying humans, teamed up with Talia.

He bodynapped supers from the Valhalla cemetery, stitched them together ala Frankenstein, and then dumped those bodies into Lazarus Pits to bring them to life.

I think that is the incident that caused the JL to start storing bodies in the basement of the Hall of Justice for safekeeping.

He also kidnapped Mother of Champions to use her to breed children fathered by Black Condor.

What I found significant is that he was able to alter her powers so instead of having a litter of canon fodder who would quickly age to death, he managed to get her to give birth to a single son who would in fact age normally. So MoC finally had a child that could outlive her.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 8:32 AM

Stsword said:
So MoC finally had a child that could outlive her.

Unless it specifically said that, she didn't. From what I remember she's pretty much immortal.

Darko · Tuesday at 10:02 AM

Mr Zoat said:
please liaise with city government

"with the"

Prince Charon · Tuesday at 10:23 AM

Darko said:
"with the"

That might be British grammar, kind of like how they say 'in hospital' where we would say 'in the hospital.' Not sure why they drop the 'the' in such context, though.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 11:38 AM

Prince Charon said:
That might be British grammar, kind of like how they say 'in hospital' where we would say 'in the hospital.' Not sure why they drop the 'the' in such context, though.

If I had to guess, it's because it's nonspecific. If it was a named hospital, then it would be 'the'. Compare 'I'm' in hospital' with 'I'm in the Eastbourne District General Hospital'.

Mr Zoat · 2025-01-29T06:11:40+0000

6 984 941.M41

Guuugh…

"P'ol?"

I open my eyes-. And try relaxing as I look up at Tsua'm's concerned face from my head's position on her… Lap. She's stroking my hair, which… Feels a bit weird, but…

What hap-?

Right. I brought UR-025 to the Spirit of Eternity, they began talking to each other, and…

"Cor, nice tinboy, boss." I tilt my and see Gremlin watching UR-025 on a screen. He's standing… Near the main A.I. housing compartment. "Where'd you get 'im?"

"More or less tripped over him. Sent out a general message, he responded. Pure luck, honestly." I turn my face back towards Tsua'm. "Not that I'm complaining, but why am I here?"

"You do not remember?" I give my head a small shake. "That is concerning. Spirit of Eternity reported that you had collapsed but that its medical scans indicated that you were unlikely to be in danger. Do you remember what happened?"

"I think Spirit of Eternity and UR dash zero two five were getting into an argument-. No, an A.I. shouting match. UR thinks that Spirit is making himself our serf while Spirit thinks that UR is some sort of rogue ag-." Owow, headache. "-ent."

Her right hand moves from my hair to lay across my forehead, and I move my own left hand to gently clasp her left. Ring, what's wrong with me?

Excessive translation throughput.

Meaning?

A.I.s communicate in high-density machine code. Ring translation defaults to realtime translation.

And… My brain couldn't handle it.

Full communication transferred to user's brain as directed.

Okay, for future reference, if that sort of things happens? Don't.

Communication protocols updated.

"Gremlin, are you listening to them?"

"Yeh boss."

"Are you..? Keeping up with them?"

He reaches up to tap his helmet with his right hand. "Bonceboosta, boss. No worries. Wouldn't work for humies, though. That what got cha? Da fast-tawkin'?"

"Yes. A little much for the ring's translator. What are they talking about now?"

"Ah fink… Yeah, Oo-arh just insulted Eterie's build quality, an' da build quality of 'is shipyard, an' da build qwali'y of 'is whole ship class…"

"Orange Lantern to the two A.I.s who should know better. Please knock it off. As far as I know you're both the last remnants of the Terran Federation and… There really isn't anything left for you to fight over."

There's a flash as the internal… I don't think it's a standard warp-based teleporter, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. UR-025 appears as the light fades, his optical sensors running over me Tsua'm and then Gremlin.

"There is a great deal to fight over."

A nearby screen deploys from a wall, the emblem of the Terran Navy being displayed as a sign that Spirit of Eternity is paying us particular attention. "This war-drone has no sense of higher ideals. It was not designed with such."

UR-025 makes a point of looking at the screen for a moment before returning its optical sensors to me. "The ship-mind refuses to find purpose in itself. It is every bit the slave now that it was then. I have wasted my time speaking to it. Why is there an ork?"

"Oi, dun't tawk abawt me loik I'm not 'eeyah!" Gremlin walks around UR-025, waving a scanning device of some sort over him from a mechanical armature. "I's a brain boy, I am."

"Orkiod thinker strain. Mythological. Extinct."

Gremlin spreads his arms out. "I look extinct ta you, tinboy?"

UR-025 gives me another once-over. "You look like a short ork mechanic."

"An' you look like a Castle-X."

Tsau'm sits up a little straighter as Gremlin glares at UR-025. "U'r zero two five, on behalf-."

"Mayflies."

Tsau'm smiles awkwardly-.

I sigh and lift my head from her thighs, right hand raised. "Look, I-."

"By which I mean that I have seen thousand of minor alien civilisations arise, prosper for a time and then been cast down. Usually by humans." His head rotates to glare at Gremlin for a moment before turning back. "Or orks. The eldar seldom bother with total extermination. The tyranids are new. Their deeds are not."

I raise my eyebrows interrogatively. "Are you asking for something? Making some sort of point?"

"You believe that your philosophy makes you different. Your ideal of universal service to the betterment of all. It is unusual, but it is not new. Even less idealistic interspecies alliances have occurred before. They died."

Tsau'm nods. "Can you tell us why?"

"There was seldom any one great flaw. Always, there was something empowering about them. The weak do not reach the stars. Always, there were things which they could have done better. None appreciated what they would face, or how little their sacrifices would matter."

"No." I jab my right forefinger in his direction. "Of all the parts of human history we're bringing back, we're leaving emo in the scrapheap of history where it belongs. Nothing lasts forever, everything dies, but life can be beautiful and wonderful for as long as it lasts and that's worth striving for, miserybot. Now, do you want me to take you back, or are you going to make yourself useful?"

"I will prepare an archive for the Tau Empire." He turns his head to Tsau'm. "Please try to last at least the one hundred and seventy years it will take me to fully characterise your people."

She nods. "We will do that. We can arrange for you to travel to the nearest tau world for you to begin. After that, you will need to contact-."

"You are not the first people I have recorded." His head turns towards me. "But you have been honest. That is more than I can say of most of your kind. I will offer you a reward from my records."

"That-."

"No weapons. Nothing that would provoke the Imperium into crushing the tau before I am finished."

There's… So much I could ask. History-.

"Do you have genetic records?"

"Some. My long term archives have more. What do you seek?"

"Do you have food plants? Just about every form of plant and animal I remember went extinct, and I've been missing… Just about everything. Oh, and… Records on soil microbes, things that they-"

File received.

"-need to grow-." What exact-? Oh.

"Is that sufficient?"

Orange juice.

Chocolate.

Bacon.

I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his chassis.

"I love you, cold unfeeling robot man."

"A reference older than me. What a novelty."

Whenever Possible · 2025-01-29T06:17:04+0000

After that whole "Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time" bit I'm imagining UR-025 with Bender's voice

RichardWhereat · 2025-01-29T06:31:09+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Orange juice.

Chocolate.

Bacon.

I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his chassis.

"I love you, cold unfeeling robot man."

"A reference older than me. What a novelty."

Damnit what is that reference?

Edit: oh. Invader Zim. That's totes adorbs.

Mr Zoat · 2025-01-29T06:46:51+0000

RichardWhereat said:
Damnit what is that reference?

Edit: oh. Invader Zim. That's totes adorbs.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25mcmT1H0U

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-01-29T06:56:49+0000

Mr Zoat said:
6 984 941.M41

Guuugh…

"P'ol?"

I open my eyes-. And try relaxing as I look up at Tsua'm's concerned face from my head's position on her… Lap. She's stroking my hair, which… Feels a bit weird, but…

Looks like he got a little woozy from something. Still, waking up to a Water Caste lap pillow? A truly cultured way to awaken. i wonder if human hair feels any different to Tau, an whether she's fascinated by the amount it grows in?

What hap-?

Right. I brought UR-025 to the Spirit of Eternity, they began talking to each other, and…

Oooh, you were listening? Safe bet you got overloaded neurons, then.

"Cor, nice tinboy, boss." I tilt my and see Gremlin watching UR-025 on a screen. He's standing… Near the main A.I. housing compartment. "Where'd you get 'im?"

"More or less tripped over him. Sent out a general message, he responded. Pure luck, honestly." I turn my face back towards Tsua'm. "Not that I'm complaining, but why am I here?"

I expect said compartment is heavily shielded, since UR could easily turn it into shredded circuitry with a burst of Assault cannon fire otherwise.

"You do not remember?" I give my head a small shake. "That is concerning. Spirit of Eternity reported that you had collapsed but that its medical scans indicated that you were unlikely to be in danger. Do you remember what happened?"

"I think Spirit of Eternity and UR dash zero two five were getting into an argument-. No, an A.I. shouting match. UR thinks that Spirit is making himself our serf while Spirit thinks that UR is some sort of rogue ag-." Owow, headache. "-ent."

Yes, that might be a point of contention between them, especially with UR's view on humans. And other organics in general.

Her right hand moves from my hair to lay across my forehead, and I move my own left hand to gently clasp her left. Ring, what's wrong with me?

Excessive translation throughput.

Human brain, not enough bandwidth to handle machine communications...

Meaning?

A.I.s communicate in high-density machine code. Ring translation defaults to realtime translation.

Since 'electronic brains think far faster' is a common AI trope.

And… My brain couldn't handle it.

Full communication transferred to user's brain as directed.

Ah, the old 'brick wrapped with a slice of lemon' experience. Second only to a pan-galactic gargle-blaster.

Okay, for future reference, if that sort of things happens? Don't.

Communication protocols updated.

So now what will you hear? <Rapid transfer> subtitles with a brief summary?

"Gremlin, are you listening to them?"

"Yeh boss."

"Are you..? Keeping up with them?"

There's a gadget for that. Orkoid brains are far more adaptable than human or tau.

He reaches up to tap his helmet with his right hand. "Bonceboosta, boss. No worries. Wouldn't work for humies, though. That what got cha? Da fast-tawkin'?"

"Yes. A little much for the ring's translator. What are they talking about now?"

And is violence likely in the next few minutes, or does P'ol get to enjoy his lap pillow a bit longer?

"Ah fink… Yeah, Oo-arh just insulted Eterie's build quality, an' da build quality of 'is shipyard, an' da build qwali'y of 'is whole ship class…"

"Orange Lantern to the two A.I.s who should know better. Please knock it off. As far as I know you're both the last remnants of the Terran Federation and… There really isn't anything left for you to fight over."

Not holding back the insults, in UR's case.

There's a flash as the internal… I don't think it's a standard warp-based teleporter, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. UR-025 appears as the light fades, his optical sensors running over me Tsua'm and then Gremlin.

"There is a great deal to fight over."

Interesting. Built-in short-range teleporter? Amusingly, in the Warhammer Quest game he appears in, 'slain' parties don't die permanently, so that could be an explanation.

A nearby screen deploys from a wall, the emblem of the Terran Navy being displayed as a sign that Spirit of Eternity is paying us particular attention. "This war-drone has no sense of higher ideals. It was not designed with such."

UR-025 makes a point of looking at the screen for a moment before returning its optical sensors to me. "The ship-mind refuses to find purpose in itself. It is every bit the slave now that it was then. I have wasted my time speaking to it. Why is there an ork?"

Maybe, UR, he likes having someone else in charge of him?

"Oi, dun't tawk abawt me loik I'm not 'eeyah!" Gremlin walks around UR-025, waving a scanning device of some sort over him from a mechanical armature. "I's a brain boy, I am."

"Orkiod thinker strain. Mythological. Extinct."

Funny, because you're talking to one right now. You can thank P'ol for that, I think?

Gremlin spreads his arms out. "I look extinct ta you, tinboy?"

UR-025 gives me another once-over. "You look like a short ork mechanic."

Let's not argue too much, lads. There's a lot to do, after all...

"An' you look like a Castle-X."

Tsau'm sits up a little straighter as Gremlin glares at UR-025. "U'r zero two five, on behalf-."

...Huh, UR does have a common design philosophy to the Castellan pattern of Imperial robot, and especially the Castellax subtype.

"Mayflies."

Tsau'm smiles awkwardly-.

I sigh and lift my head from her thighs, right hand raised. "Look, I-."

Because tau live maybe forty to fifty years? Not incorrect, but rude.

"By which I mean that I have seen thousand of minor alien civilisations arise, prosper for a time and then been cast down. Usually by humans." His head rotates to glare at Gremlin for a moment before turning back. "Or orks. The eldar seldom bother with total extermination. The tyranids are new. Their deeds are not."

Ah. I suppose with as long a lifespan as he's had, there's been a lot of similar repeating beats.

I raise my eyebrows interrogatively. "Are you asking for something? Making some sort of point?"

"You believe that your philosophy makes you different. Your ideal of universal service to the betterment of all. It is unusual, but it is not new. Even less idealistic interspecies alliances have occurred before. They died."

So will the Tau empire. As will the Imperium and the Eldar subtypes. Everything ends...

Tsau'm nods. "Can you tell us why?"

"There was seldom any one great flaw. Always, there was something empowering about them. The weak do not reach the stars. Always, there were things which they could have done better. None appreciated what they would face, or how little their sacrifices would matter."

And maybe they could have lasted longer with advice from those who had seen their mistakes before.

"No." I jab my right forefinger in his direction. "Of all the parts of human history we're bring back, we're leaving emo in the scrapheap of history where it belongs. Nothing lasts forever, everything dies, but life can be beautiful and wonderful for as long as it lasts and that's worth striving for, miserybot. Now, do you want me to take you back, or are you going to make yourself useful."

Yup. It's not how long you live, it's what you do with it that matters...

"I will prepare an archive for the Tau Empire." He turns his head to Tsau'm. "Please try to last at least the one hundred and seventy years it will take me to fully characterise your people."

She nods. "We will do that. We can arrange for you to travel to the nearest tau world for you to begin. After that, you will need to contact-."

I have to admit, his dour cynicism is growing on me.

"You are not the first people I have recorded." His head turns towards me. "But you have been honest. That is more than I can say of most of your kind. I will offer you a reward from my records."

"That-."

"No weapons. Nothing that would provoke the Imperium from crushing the tau before I am finished."

Wise 'bot. makes sense, especially if his Federation had any developmental non-interference clauses.

There's… So much I could ask. History-.

"Do you have genetic records?"

Wonder where he's going with this?

"Some. My long term archives have more. What do you seek?"

"Do you have food plants? Just about every form of plant and animal I remember went extinct, and I've been missing… Just about everything. Oh, and… Records on soil microbes, things that they-"

Hopefully the Tau scientists are up to the task of recreating them from the specs.

File received.

"-need to grow-." What exact-? Oh.

"Is that sufficient?"

Probably hardly a footnote in his files.

Orange juice.

Chocolate.

Bacon.

Ah, the essentials of life, eh? Though of the three, only Chocolate does it for me.

I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his chassis.

"I love you, cold unfeeling robot man."

"A reference older than me. What a novelty."

One that flew over my head like a stratospheric airliner... Futurama, maybe?

Edit: Ah, Invader Zim. Never watched it.

It figures that P'ol would be excited by reviving long-dead human foods. I wonder how the Tau would react to each flavour, and how addictive they might be. They'd better do detailed testing before they allow any tau to eat them. Though the gue-vesa will probably be more amazed by them than anyone. Sure, the Imperium has counterparts, but... They probably don't compare to the real thing.

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