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

[Darko]

And thus, Paul accidentally seduces yet another woman.

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Now I can't get the image of her cutting him open to examine his insides while they have sex out of my head, all of this is with Paul's consent of course and he is using his ring to stay alive.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

8th April
21:23 GMT

"…summary, but I need to know which of my ideas you want me to put into operation because none of them can be implemented quickly."

Kal-El looks dubious. "Didn't you tell me that Amalak wanted to kill every surviving kryptonian in the universe?"

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Oh, yeah. That might make it awkward if he's working in Earth space. Short of desire-washing him.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Naturally, I'd try and talk him down from that position first. I'm hoping that Jor-El or Har-Zod have genetic records of life on his homeworld I can offer him in trade. And I've got scans of the Citadel's cloning technology which he almost certainly doesn't have. But while I'll know almost immediately whether he's genuinely prepared to call off his vendetta the only way I'd be able to prevent him acting on it once I tell him that you're here is by altering his mind or killing him."

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Yep. If he can't look past his old hate, it's going to take altering his desires to stop him... Even beign able to work to restore his homeworld's ecology is not likely to cool his head.

"Katar?" King Orin looks over to the Honourable Member for Thanagar. "What will Thanagar do when they hear about this?"

"Nothing. Whatever future plans my government might have regarding its relationship to Earth, the ClusterCorp isn't an entity our government considers a threat. Until they start selling things produced on Earth to our enemies I can't think of a reason for the Thanagarian government to intervene."

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Huh. They're staying hands-off? The Hawks' reports must have convinced them Earth is too crazy to mess with openly.

In a way, I'm pleased that all of the Justice League members here are wearing their wards. But as always, it does make my life just a little harder. His answer is reasonable and it would be difficult for Thanagar to take any action quickly even if they wanted to. But I don't know for sure.

"And if Earth hired the Blades of Alstair to run our security?"

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Which would be quite the side-trip, given they're operating in Vega primarily... Sixty-plus light years, wasn't it? That's quite the commute.

His eyes dart to me for a second before fixing on King Orin.

"I would strongly suggest not recommending them to the UN."

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Heh. Too much? Hopefully that's not a political opinion.

Batman doesn't look up from his copy of the Orange Lantern Corps Code of Conduct.

"How does the Orange Lantern Corps define 'Competent Authority'."

"It doesn't. The rule exists to encourage cooperation wherever practical without compelling it, because for the most part we trust our Lanterns with their rings and there are all sorts of situations where it's convenient to ignore people."

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...That feels like a major oversight. I expect it'll quickly get amended due to what happens here. Obvious Rules Patch for the win.

I carefully avoid making eye contact with anyone in particular when I say that line.

"There isn't any body on Earth with the authority to determine interstellar trade policy, and Manga Khan has set up shop in territory that he could 'reasonably' claim isn't owned by anyone. That implies but doesn't prove that he's actually paying attention to our Code of Conduct. If the Security Council votes itself the authority to regulate interstellar trade and all members ratify the decision, he might pay attention to it."

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After all, it might get in the way of his bottom line.

Batman freezes the relevant sections on three holographic screens.

"And if he doesn't?"

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Expulsion from the Corps, at a minimum, I would hope?

"He has to refrain from using his power ring, or he gets ejected from the Corps. And that's a decision I can make without referring it to Dox."

Though I probably shouldn't make it without referring it to Dox.

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Yeah, you don't need Dox yelling at you again for ruining more experiments...

King Orin nods. "But that wouldn't make him leave."

"Correct. And it would probably result in Dox appointing someone else."

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Hopefully someone less obsessive about profit.

"Such as?"

"Anyone with strong avarice and a sense of mission. Amalak would be an appropriate, as he wants to create stability and to recreate his species. Lex Luthor is similarly well motivated."

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Now wouldn't that be a butterfly from hell? Orange Lantern Lex Luthor, without needing the War of Light.

Kal-El's eyes narrow.

"Luthor?"

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Admittedly, I wonder if he could control himself enough to avoid attacking Superman. Imagine if Supes kept getting harassed by minor orange constructs whenever he came too close to LexCorp Tower? And Lex apologising that sometimes his ring gets a little confused about the difference between subconscious and conscious desires.

"I considered him myself prior to him deciding to double down on the Light. He has many worthwhile character traits, the undesirable ones just outweigh them. Dox told me that he is experimenting to see what sort of person makes the best Orange Lantern. I don't know who he'll pick next, and chances are he doesn't yet know either. And of course doing nothing is an option because now that we're reasonably confident that Manga Khan isn't a military threat dealing with this isn't our j-."

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Ah, OL? I though you were trying to play hands-off here?

I blink.

"Sorry, isn't your job. I'm happy to enact any of my proposed solutions, though I reiterate that doing nothing is very much an option. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

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That's better.

King Orin shakes his head.

"No. I think you've done enough."

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I'm impressed he didn't sigh and rub his throbbing headache.

And in a remarkable display of self control I don't stick my tongue out at him.

"Thank you. On the subject we were discussing before we were so rudely interrupted, do you actually want to run a 'remain' campaign?"

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I assume the other Leaguers present know about the Venturian situation...

"Does it matter?"

"It's the difference between them running the referendum in two months or next week."

"… Yes, I will."

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That's putting a lot of trust that the Venturian people will listen to his offers... But when the alternative is possibly military action...

I nod politely.

"I will inform King Cyprian. I imagine that you can liaise with him via Venturia's ex-senators, who.. are still in Poseidonis, to sort out the particulars."

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I imagine their situation is complicated...

Apparently, they're under house arrest. With Poseidonis backing Ptra and Venturia backing Cyprian something like that was inevitable. But there's no need for me to underline it.

I raise my right hand to my forehead.

"I will bid you all a good evening."

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I'm sure there'll be discussion once he's gone, mostly on the topic of complications...

I step out

8th April
20:27 GMT -1

and reappear just outside of King Cyprian's private quarters, next to the charmed circle set aside for magic teleportation.

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Sensible. No need to set off the alarms again.

The duty magician recognises me immediately.

"Orange Lantern. What news?"

"King Orin opted to run the campaign, though I suspect that it's just a delaying tactic."

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Ultimately, it comes down to what the Venturian people want...

She nods.

"Do you wish to be escorted to the king?"

"No, there's.. no need. Please just pass the message on. No need for an immediate reply."

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Yay, playing messenger boy. The pleasure of being a mostly neutral party.

"As you require."

"Thank you."

I raise-.

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Just a flying visit...

"Would you..? Object to me recording your teleportation? My mentor was one of those who aided you against the eye creature, and his description made it sound fascinating."

"Not a problem at all. Actually, if you want to study it in detail I'm happy to make room in my schedule."

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Do remember to make it clear that you're taken, OL. Don't want to tick off Jade...

"I-. Yes! That would be splendid."

I smile at her.

"I will be fascinated to hear what you discover."

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Boy, that conversation could sound so wrong to the right ears...

Well, the Manga Khan situation is picking up. I wonder what the League's ultimate plan will be. Ideally, it's up to the UN to have the final say... After all, this is only the second act... Hopefully it won't come down to Face-punching...

 

[RichardWhereat]

"The on-duty magician recognises", I think.

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Nope, that was right.

 

[Z3r0Sama]

That mention of Amalak and the cloning facilities reminded me about Karsta. How's that going in the Grayven tl?

 

[Handlewithcare]

The politics are getting kinda tangled.

Nice to see that even Paul isn't immune to that hazard.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Think it should be 'be appropriate' or 'be an appropriate candidate' instead of 'be an appropriate'.

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Thank you, corrected.

"The on-duty magician recognises", I think.

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I think that either is fine.

That mention of Amalak and the cloning facilities reminded me about Karsta. How's that going in the Grayven tl?

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A woman who never wanted children now has hundreds.

 

[cookiemontser]

I don't get why Dox just wouldn't send someone reliable and suited to do the job? Can anyone explain this point to me? What's with sending Manga Khan, or the possibility of Dox appointing Amalak or Lex Luthor for the job? Is the Orange Lanter Corps so hard up on unbiased and suitable candidates that it has to resort to this? Or maybe explain why Dox has been antagonised to the point where he's sending someone who clearly priortises his own self-interest over his mission.

 

[Darko]

I don't get why Dox just wouldn't send someone reliable and suited to do the job? Can anyone explain this point to me? What's with sending Manga Khan, or the possibility of Dox appointing Amalak or Lex Luthor for the job? Is the Orange Lanter Corps so hard up on unbiased and suitable candidates that it has to resort to this? Or maybe explain why Dox has been antagonised to the point where he's sending someone who clearly priortises his own self-interest over his mission.

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Jevek, a Controller, mentioned that they were having problems finding people that can safely use orange rings.

 

[Z3r0Sama]

A woman who never wanted children now has hundreds.

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Also, woman created to defend kyrpton is safeguarding the future of the Kryptonian species. A job she loves to hate or hates to love?

 

[Mr Zoat]

I don't get why Dox just wouldn't send someone reliable and suited to do the job? Can anyone explain this point to me? What's with sending Manga Khan, or the possibility of Dox appointing Amalak or Lex Luthor for the job? Is the Orange Lantern Corps so hard up on unbiased and suitable candidates that it has to resort to this? Or maybe explain why Dox has been antagonised to the point where he's sending someone who clearly prioritises his own self-interest over his mission.

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As inconvenient as it is for the SI, Earth and ClusterCorp is a low risk way of trying this approach out. In addition, the SI expected it to take months for them to arrive because that's how long it takes for other people to travel from Maltus to Earth. ClusterCorp was much closer.

 

[Senevri]

before we were so rudely interrupted

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Channeling Mojo Jojo, probably not a good sign.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Channeling Mojo Jojo, probably not a good sign.

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It is a powerful hard thing, to please all of the people all of the time.

 

[SirKaid]

It's a balancing act, finding people with enough crazy to use a ring and enough sane to use it effectively. The SI cheats because of his orange enlightenment, but having the illustres recruit everyone isn't sustainable. Dox needs to be able to recruit on his own; this is good research on if Manga Khan is the right mix

 

[moralrelativity]

"Would you..? Object to me recording your teleportation? My mentor was one of those who aided you against the eye creature, and his description made it sound fascinating."

"Not a problem at all. Actually, if you want to study it in detail I'm happy to make room in my schedule."

"I-. Yes! That would be splendid."

I smile at her.

"I will be fascinated to hear what you discover."

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OL, do you really want others to learn how it's done?!?

 

[Idkusername]

OL, do you really want others to learn how it's done?!?

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Knowledge does not imply ability. She'd need an orange ring to simply attempt it, then enough skill to actually be able to access the Hornden, then she'd have to somehow miraculously retain her sanity, find somewhere to exist, and then do that.

 

[moralrelativity]

Knowledge does not imply ability. She'd need an orange ring to simply attempt it, then enough skill to actually be able to access the Hornden, then she'd have to somehow miraculously retain her sanity, find somewhere to exist, and then do that.

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Sure. But two thoughts on why it still might be a bad idea:
(1) learning how it works might allow some shortcuts in the process to be found, and
(2) learning how it works is still the first step in mastering it and perhaps that's not something that random NPCs shouldn't be allowed to know.
Doesn't the evil overlord list say something about guarding your sources of power?

 

[Senevri]

It is a powerful hard thing, to please all of the people all of the time.

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Educational.
Also, This. And now all is referenced.

 

[AidanMorgan]

A woman who never wanted children now has hundreds.

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I miss the Funny rating.

 

[Lubaf]

For the unaware: There's a job in most militaries and police forces, the duty officer, whose job it is, essentially, to be the guy on the front desk for the unit, station, base, or what-have-you. Frequently, there's a duty officer for a subdepartment that grows big enough; for example, a homicide division would have one to take messages for the detectives, or there's one for the Navy Base's motor pool. There are even subdivisions of this, for example I've seen "desk duty officer" who mainly mans the front desk, or a "phone duty officer", who answers the phones.

It's a position of at least some authority, thus the need to be an officer (usually, in the military, an NCO). If you've ever heard a cop show talk about a "desk Sargent", that's a police desk duty officer.

Presumably, a "duty mage" is just a Duty Officer, but they respond to magic-related non-emergencies.

Thanks
Luc "Sometimes Has To Play Captain Obvious Because Somebody Else Is Playing Commander Oblivious" French

 

[Pinklestia]

Would you..? Object to me recording your teleportation? My mentor was one of those who aided you against the eye creature, and his description made it sound fascinating."

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Using Elemental planes as a shortcut tends to end horribly unless you know what you are doing.

See this?

This right here is why I prefer Grayven.

In a similar situation Grayven would have told right away about the mind altering consequences and other possible consequences.

Hence why he doesn't let anyone that doesn't directly work for him and is awakened use Apokolips tech and nowadays that's basically reduced to armor and a few melee weapons because he doesn't trust it. Not after the whole deal with Father Box.

 

[BlueMangoAdea]

Using Elemental planes as a shortcut tends to end horribly unless you know what you are doing.

See this?

This right here is why I prefer Grayven.

In a similar situation Grayven would have told right away about the mind altering consequences and other possible consequences.

Hence why he doesn't let anyone that doesn't directly work for him and is awakened use Apokolips tech and nowadays that's basically reduced to armor and a few melee weapons because he doesn't trust it. Not after the whole deal with Father Box.

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? She said that she'd record it, presumably so that they can study it. Given that they are magical researchers, I think they'd probably follow their safety practices, so I don't see anything too risky with this?

 

[WereDragon]

8th April
21:23 GMT

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Think I have nailed down what annoys me about this arc.
OL's big thing is fixing problems and being proactive. Now he is faced with a problem that he caused and is doing everything he can to avoid fixing it. Even the proposals he gives in this update are all ways to facilitate someone else fixing the problem.

A secondary issue is OL ignoring his own problem: That being that the galactic enforcement organisation he created is starting to go off the rails.

As inconvenient as it is for the SI, Earth and ClusterCorp is a low risk way of trying this approach out. In addition, the SI expected it to take months for them to arrive because that's how long it takes for other people to travel from Maltus to Earth. ClusterCorp was much closer.

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If Dox thinks Earth is low risk then he isn't remotely as smart as he thinks he is. There are multiple individuals and organisations on Earth that could make immense nuisances on a vast scale if sufficiently roused.
He can't even claim ignorance as this is the planet that required a general mobilisation of the entire OLC, giant snake included, when something big went down.
If nothing else the fact that they are sourcing their mages from the place should make it a priority to handle with care.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Using Elemental planes as a shortcut tends to end horribly unless you know what you are doing.

See this?

This right here is why I prefer Grayven.

In a similar situation Grayven would have told right away about the mind altering consequences and other possible consequences.

Hence why he doesn't let anyone that doesn't directly work for him and is awakened use Apokolips tech and nowadays that's basically reduced to armor and a few melee weapons because he doesn't trust it. Not after the whole deal with Father Box.

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She's just gathering data. She would eventually be shown things like that anyway, but had an opportunity to get some primary data herself. She probably won't understand enough of what she's seeing to do much with it, but it's not as if amateur astronomers add to the total of human knowledge by looking at Jupiter.

Think I have nailed down what annoys me about this arc.
OL's big thing is fixing problems and being proactive. Now he is faced with a problem that he caused and is doing everything he can to avoid fixing it. Even the proposals he gives in this update are all ways to facilitate someone else fixing the problem.

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The SI's big thing is social improvement. As he said to Mr Luthor, he doesn't want things like this to be pawned off on superheroes when there are other bodies that should be dealing with them. If he deals with it, then that's exactly what will have happened and will probably continue to happen.

 

[Darko]

Using Elemental planes as a shortcut tends to end horribly unless you know what you are doing.

See this?

This right here is why I prefer Grayven.

In a similar situation Grayven would have told right away about the mind altering consequences and other possible consequences.

Hence why he doesn't let anyone that doesn't directly work for him and is awakened use Apokolips tech and nowadays that's basically reduced to armor and a few melee weapons because he doesn't trust it. Not after the whole deal with Father Box.

Click to shrink...

? She said that she'd record it, presumably so that they can study it. Given that they are magical researchers, I think they'd probably follow their safety practices, so I don't see anything too risky with this?

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He also told Cyprian when he requested some mages that there can be dangers for those that are not used to traveling through elemental planes and he needs ones who can survive it, so I'm pretty sure she's not going to try and go through the Honden right away, but is just interested in seeing it from afar.

Think I have nailed down what annoys me about this arc.
OL's big thing is fixing problems and being proactive. Now he is faced with a problem that he caused and is doing everything he can to avoid fixing it. Even the proposals he gives in this update are all ways to facilitate someone else fixing the problem.

A secondary issue is OL ignoring his own problem: That being that the galactic enforcement organisation he created is starting to go off the rails.

If Dox thinks Earth is low risk then he isn't remotely as smart as he thinks he is. There are multiple individuals and organisations on Earth that could make immense nuisances on a vast scale if sufficiently roused.
He can't even claim ignorance as this is the planet that required a general mobilisation of the entire OLC, giant snake included, when something big went down.
If nothing else the fact that they are sourcing their mages from the place should make it a priority to handle with care.

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Paul doesn't want to solve every single problem for the people of the Earth when they can solve it themselves. He basically told reporters that it would be like wiping the ass of a fully grown adult when they don't have any handicaps, physical or mental.

Yes he's pawning this of to other people because he thinks they should solve it and stop relying on superheroes to deal with issues they should have had created solutions and plans for decades ago.

Even if he somehow orders Khan to stop what he is doing how would that stop other aliens from trying to do business with Earth?

They could see that ClusterCorp tried to do business and failed, but they may try to do that themselves and OL can't order them to stop because what they are doing is not illegal even if it disrupts societies, hell ClusterCorp could also try this again but just have someone other than Manga do it, as I don't think he's the overall leader of the entire Corp, but just a high ranking member.

The OLC also isn't so much as going of the rails as it is encountering some bumps in the road. They are still a fairly young organization, only a few months, not even a year, old, so it is expected that not all things will go smoothly, even if the leader of the organization is a supergenius who grew up on a planet of supergeniuses.

Earth also doesn't really have anything to threaten the OLC.

They don't have a fleet of ships, or really any ships aside from the one Starman used, to threaten the Corps with, they don't have any diplomatic contacts with other alien powers, aside from some very weak ones to Mars and maybe Thanagar, so they can't complain to them for help.

Yes they have a lot of superheroes, but that won't mean much against a organization containing thousands of ring wielders that lack the restrictions the GLC have against killing, and the most of those metahumans can't do anything against a power ring wielder since there aren't that many high tier metas on the planet.

The only organization that can pose some problems to them is the Justice League and they are more akin to a nuisance at most.

Several of their members are just highly trained humans with no powers, or powers that can easily be defended against, and while others are highly powerful they are just individuals and a few, or even just one well prepared lantern, can take them down. OL was able to take down the League by himself and while others may not find it so easy they can still do it and the worst damage the League can inflict on the OLC is the equivalent of a broken finger nail.

The Angels also have a habit of not interfering even when the situation would seem to warrant their attention, the demonic invasion of Fawcett City, and they may also be trying to not interfere too much as the last time they did that was under the manipulation of a being that was pretending to be their god, so Dox could feel safe that they won't do anything. While their ships can fly in space they may not be able to do combat with them in space as Angels are probably more used to doing the fighting on a planet or another plane of reality, so they may not have experience with space combat, unlike the OLC which can have members that have seen combat in space for most of their life.

While the OLC may be getting their mages from Earth at the moments they aren't the only place where magical traditions exist, even if the other places aren't as well developed.

Euphorix comes to mind. Remember their Queen was a member of the Omega Men who helped Blake, Kom and Kori kill the Psions, so maybe Dox can have Kori or Kom make contact with her and come to an agreement that she provide them with mages and teach the people of the eyeball planet magic and in exchange he helps her maintain her rule, as she hasn't ruled all that much and there may be people trying to oppose her.

They are also getting their mages from Venturia, which has had virtually no contact with the rest of the world for decades, so it's unlikely to be disrupted.

 

[Pinklestia]

She's just gathering data.

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Are you or not living in a superhero setting?

If the answer is yes then may I remind you at the invisible primate with power armor?

 

[Darko]

Are you or not living in a superhero setting?

If the answer is yes then may I remind you at the invisible primate with power armor?

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While on occasion some things may occur as if they were in a comic book setting that doesn't mean they always will.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Are you or not living in a superhero setting?

If the answer is yes then may I remind you at the invisible primate with power armor?

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Then she'll die, and everyone else will learn a valuable lesson.

 

[Pinklestia]

Then she'll die, and everyone else will learn a valuable lesson.

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And Oh El could have prevented her death but did not, because he doesn't care to give warnings like Grayven would have.

 

[Idkusername]

Sure. But two thoughts on why it still might be a bad idea:
(1) learning how it works might allow some shortcuts in the process to be found, and
(2) learning how it works is still the first step in mastering it and perhaps that's not something that random NPCs shouldn't be allowed to know.
Doesn't the evil overlord list say something about guarding your sources of power?

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Yes, but OL isn't an evil overlord, he is the schizo-tech and magic revolution guy.

And Oh El could have prevented her death but did not, because he doesn't care to give warnings like Grayven would have.

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Your suggestion is analogous to telling a nuclear scientist that he shouldn't pursue his field because the radiation from experiments will kill him. She is an expert in her field, we can assume that she knows what she is doing.

Edited for politeness.

 

[Darko]

And Oh El could have prevented her death but did not, because he doesn't care to give warnings like Grayven would have.

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She may already know it is dangerous as OL told Cyprian he needs those that can withstand traveling through purely magical realms, plus she may be smart enough to not go through a portal into the Honden without making extremely extensive preparations.

She already showed a fascination with it so she may have tried to do it on her own and could have done something worse even if OL warned her she may not have cared about his warnings, seeing him as a newbie at magic while she is a master, even though he has experience traveling through it.