"You know, if we'd just flown, we could have been there by now."
Thaddeus leans around his monitor, frowning at me.
"Of course we could. But what would we have learned from doing that?"
Sooo much data. Oh, I see... They want to greediport, don't they? Yes, that's going to end in
Science!... And maybe tears (for everyone else.) And explosions.
Georgia nods. "It's not as if we aren't perfectly capable of building starships or long-range teleportation machines."
"But… If you can do all that, why do you want to come?"
Because they can only learn so much on Earth? Honestly, if he didn't give them a ride, they'd probably have turned up one day in their own ship.
"Oh, we haven't ever been able to study qwa-matter. We don't know how it works."
Thaddeus shoots her an annoyed glance. "Yet."
"I thought that went without saying."
Ah, siblings. Especially
twins. Though the idea of a Sivana with Qwa Matter? I find myself wondering if the Weaponers will be amazed, horrified, or
both.
"I can't promise that Vril Dox won't be busy."
Georgia… Makes a curious spluttering… Quacking noise, prompting Thaddeus to frown.
"It... It's not like I'm going
just to see him or anything!"
"Then why are you blushing? ...
Tsundere."
"Do you really just want to talk to the coluan? If you want a pet there's a whole planet of them going free."
"Vril Dox is the first man within a socially acceptable age divergence who can match my intellect and interests without being biologically related to me." She looks at me. "I mean that in the nicest way possible. You're not a moron, you're just… Simpler minded."
Ah, something of a
crush on the cool older science guy. Oh, sure,
she'll insist it's purely intellectual... I wonder what Dox will make of it...
"Oh, I know Dox is far more intelligent than me. That's why I picked him for the job. But, really?"
"There's a certain type of young male super scientist who prefers to build their own partner. Or mind control some cheerleader they fixated on."
Then they're doing too much thinking with the
wrong head. Case in point:
Hiro Okamura, who made, among other thigns, gynoid duplicates of most teen female heroes.
She clenches her right fist and raises it to her left shoulder, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in as she does so. Then she breathes out, pushing her fist away from her and opening her eyes.
"It makes it very difficult to meet someone."
Not one for callow youth, eh? At least, not one without both brains and brawn?
"Bah. My sharp intellect thrusteth sure. My intelligence is as the intelligence of ten because my science is pure."
"Yes, and with an attitude like that you're going to stay pure for a while. Father was lucky to find someone like Mother."
In other words, don't expect to be passing on your superior Sivana genes anytime soon.
"And I appreciate being born, but I still cannot help but think that an exo-womb would be more efficient."
"Pregnancy hormones help mother-child bonding." I shrug. "Even most species that have high quality exo-wombs tend not to use them all that much except when there's a high risk of medical problems."
Those that don't have
other methods of reproduction, like the egg-layers he saved previously. Or the Spider Guild, who don't have much of that parental attachment thing period.
"Emotional problems. I've build emotional inhibitors. They work fine."
"Um." I glance at Georgia. "When you said 'build their own or mind control a cheerleader'..?"
Is OL going to have to step in somewhere?
She frowns, then looks at her brother- "Oh!" -and shudders slightly. "No. I'm not sure if it's a matter of standards exactly-"
"It was too."
Too good for a sexbot, Tad? Or couldn't you work out the
specifics?
"-but Junior never did anything like that. Though that might have been we were pre-pubescent when we left normal school."
"But you were several years ahead."
Wasted no time getting into the realm of pure science, eh?
"Yes, but that aspect of it didn't really register. My own hormones hadn't really kicked in yet."
"What about the possum chap?"
"Well yes, I was aware of the social aspect. But all of my other knowledge was theoretical."
Well, getting practical knowledge would be a bit impractical. And kind of
squicky.
"I still say exo-wombs are more efficient."
"You-? You're both aware that Doctor Sivana selected your genes-."
"With the aim of making us as brilliant as possible." Thaddeus turns his attention back to his checks. "Of course we are. We checked his work."
There's more to life than
just science, you know...
"Lies! Heresy most foul!"
"Yes, but part of that for him was the socialisation aspect. You were supposed to have a less easy time getting along with people compared to your older siblings and so not have an alternative to science."
"And?"
"That's social science, isn't it?"
Huh. That's one way to look at it...
"S-oooof…"
Thaddeus freezes. Georgia grins.
No taking it back now, kiddo. Though I'd be worried if his eyebrow starts twitching...
"T."
"Hah! Proven wrong by Father."
While the good doctor isn't dead, this MCU quote still fits: "Dead for almost twenty years...
Still taking me to school..." Ah, Thaddeus, you renaissance man of Science, you.
"Where is the control group? Hm? He can't possibly know if it actually had an impact without comparing us to other children just as intelligent but with differing levels of social skill and inclination"
Ooh.
Damn right! That's bad mad science. Though the implications if him having
done so...
Yikes.
"Wouldn't he have known that?"
Both their heads jerk in my direction, frowning.
And of course all three of them can imagine
just that scenario.
Thaddeus shakes his head. "Father wouldn't have created other children. He's always taking parenting very seriously."
"No, not… I'm not saying that I think you have other sibling because, yes, that would be out of character. But he was already in contact Doctor Love. If he was trying to study the social side, he could just have tampered with a few genes in someone else's children."
Not hard to confirm. Take a look at the upper ranges of young geniuses a year or two older than the twins. Do a quick genetic scan.
Georgia frowns. "That does sound a little like him. But why hasn't he-?" She nods. "If we spoke to them then it would interfere with the experiment."
"If it's still running. He didn't keep track of the Beresfords, did he? If he's already reached a conclusion, he's not going to do anything to actually help the other subjects, is he?"
That's
Thomas and
Tuppence Terror, if anyone's forgotten. Also of note while checking their YJ wiki entry:
Onslaught. Hmm...
"No. Hm." Georgia nods. "I don't think he would. We can ask him when we get back. Junior, have you completed your checks?"
"Yes."
Oh, yes.
Someone's ready to shelf this line of conversation...
"Good." Georgia flips a series of switches, then nods in satisfaction. "Ready here."
"Alright." I float over and put a hand on each power frame… Thing. "Please bear in mind that we're passing through a realm of pure avarice. Anything you can't cope with is your problem."
This will be interesting in so many ways. This'll be the first time he's taken someone through the Honden with purely
scientific protection, rather than mystical.
"Oh please." / "Oh please."
"Three, two, one."
We step out
Saying it again: This will either end in
Science! or Explosions.
