I, Scion [Worm silly AU]

[Mr_John]

Ooh hey I didn't know QQ had a worm morality thread.

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Yeah, this guy has right of it. I shoulsnt have replied. If anyone wants to make a thread, go ahead, but we should stop here.

 

[ArisKatsaris]

Cauldron is guilty of all of one of those- human experimentation. They didn't kill, rape, kidnap or torture. Any people they took asked for it. Is the tactic of taking people about to die morally suspect? Yes, but they still agreed to it. T

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Well one of us is significantly misremembering the story, because the story which *I* remember had Cauldron kidnap hundreds of people from different universes, performing experiments on them against their will, some of which experiments killed them and others mutated them in horrible ways. Then they released some of these into Earth Bet, and others they kept indefinitely imprisoned in cells.

Is this not what happened? Do I need another reread? As for things like "rape", no they didn't do those things themselves, but they knowingly allowed them happen when it was completely within their powers to stop, and they didn't stop them for *reasons*, I imagine.

He wasn't treating her as a person- in fact, the way you quote the bit where he doesn't even think she has a soul later in the thread shows it pretty damn well. If anything, that makes him a bigot for deciding that because she doesn't have a meatbody, she can't have a soul/be a person

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The world is *filled* with people who think that "determinism" and "free will" are contradictory concepts -- that if we follow a deterministic algorithm, that would make us "soulless machines", whose existence is no more meaningful than the existence of a toaster oven or a pocket calculator. I only recently had an argument with such people in a different forum (http://www.ornery.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/6/16744.html)

Yes, all these people are indeed IDIOTS, but idiocy is not a moral fault. Call it "bigotry" if you want, in order to transform a piece of stupidity into a moral sin (because in today's world there's no sin worse than racism/bigotry, so basically there's no worse condemnation possible.).

Saint had absolutely no reason to think the world was in immediate danger

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You're misremembering the story, because the chapter I linked clearly shows them taking the imminent "end of the world" as Dinah predicted it into consideration -- and Saint is relieved that his shutdown of Dragon is followed by Dinah saying that the chances for the end of the world NOT happening have increased threefold.

The Endbringer bit is the 'Reader's privilege' you just denounced.

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Yes, that was my point. That's why I prefaced this with "If we're to use hindsight". My point is that using hindsight is *bad*, but if we're to use it, the Cauldron still doesn't come out looking good.

Constantly monitoring Dragons mind and mindraping her at his leisure doesn't count ofc. since she is clearly non-human.

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If he stupidly didn't consider Dragon a person, we *cannot* then treat her 'mindrape' or even her shutdown as a mortal sin on his part. In the moral universe that *he* thought he was inhabiting, she did NOT have the inherent value of a person.

Yes, Saint was stupid about that, but most of the world is ALWAYS stupid about issues of whether a deterministic algorithm can have sentience/self-awareness/moral relevance. People think that calling him a "bigot" somehow increases his sins, but of course such stupidity is a mitigating factor instead.

Moreover do keep in mind that my objection was more to having him treated more severely than Cauldron -- an organization which has committed *thousands* of worse crimes, and allowed tens of thousands more, because they don't care about anything if it doesn't contribute to stopping Scion.

If they considered killing Dragon even remotely beneficient to their cause, Cauldron would have killed her in an instant. Perhaps *then* some of you might dislike them.

 

[Mr_John]

Well one of us is significantly misremembering the story, because the story which *I* remember had Cauldron kidnap hundreds of people from different universes, performing experiments on them against their will, some of which experiments killed them and others mutated them in horrible ways. Then they released some of these into Earth Bet, and others they kept indefinitely imprisoned in cells.

Is this not what happened? Do I need another reread? As for things like "rape", no they didn't do those things themselves, but they knowingly allowed them happen when it was completely within their powers to stop, and they didn't stop them for *reasons*, I imagine.



The world is *filled* with people who think that "determinism" and "free will" are contradictory concepts -- that if we follow a deterministic algorithm, that would make us "soulless machines", whose existence is no more meaningful than the existence of a toaster oven or a pocket calculator. I only recently had an argument with such people in a different forum (http://www.ornery.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi/topic/6/16744.html)

Yes, all these people are indeed IDIOTS, but idiocy is not a moral fault. Call it "bigotry" if you want, in order to transform a piece of stupidity into a moral sin (because in today's world there's no sin worse than racism/bigotry, so basically there's no worse condemnation possible.).



You're misremembering the story, because the chapter I linked clearly shows them taking the imminent "end of the world" as Dinah predicted it into consideration -- and Saint is relieved that his shutdown of Dragon is followed by Dinah saying that the chances for the end of the world NOT happening have increased threefold.



Yes, that was my point. That's why I prefaced this with "If we're to use hindsight". My point is that using hindsight is *bad*, but if we're to use it, the Cauldron still doesn't come out looking good.



If he stupidly didn't consider Dragon a person, we *cannot* then treat her 'mindrape' or even her shutdown as a mortal sin on his part. In the moral universe that *he* thought he was inhabiting, she did NOT have the inherent value of a person.

Yes, Saint was stupid about that, but most of the world is ALWAYS stupid about issues of whether a deterministic algorithm can have sentience/self-awareness/moral relevance. People think that calling him a "bigot" somehow increases his sins, but of course such stupidity is a mitigating factor instead.

Moreover do keep in mind that my objection was more to having him treated more severely than Cauldron -- an organization which has committed *thousands* of worse crimes, and allowed tens of thousands more, because they don't care about anything if it doesn't contribute to stopping Scion.

If they considered killing Dragon even remotely beneficient to their cause, Cauldron would have killed her in an instant. Perhaps *then* some of you might dislike them.

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I'm done argueing. This isn't the thread for it.

 

[kinglugia]

ENOUGH.

 

[Ack]

ENOUGH.

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Yes. We're going around and around, and no-one is listening to anyone else.

And anyway, I changed the section of the story.

Done. Okay?

 

[ArisKatsaris]

My apologies for derailing the thread.

 

[Ack]

I, Scion

Part Three: Girlfriend Troubles


NOW?

I sighed. "No, sweetie. Not 'now' either. You can't just start harvesting shards. There are people using them."

My communication power with her reworked that into a single-word message, that she accepted … for a few moments.

RESTART?

"No, we can't wipe their minds and restart, either." I tried to explain. "I'm letting them be. Seeing what they get up to with their powers. Just making sure they aren't dicks to each other."

WAR?

"Not a war either," I added hastily. "An all-out parahuman war would not be a good thing. Not for the people, not for the world, not for you and me."

She assimilated that message, then peered at me.

WHY?

I grimaced. "Because … we shouldn't do it? Look, just because we've got between us more in the way of accumulated powers than every single parahuman, living and dead, doesn't mean we should do anything we like with them."

This time, she reacted to my message with confusion.

DOES.

I took a deep breath, even though I didn't really need to breathe any more.

Ever since I had accidentally revived Eden from her decades-long coma, I'd had to stay by her side in case she accidentally (or deliberately) set about harvesting her shards from those people they'd been given to. The 'harvesting', I gathered, would not be kind to the harvestee; given that the vast majority of Cauldron capes were involuntary, I didn't want to go there.

Ever since waking up, Eden had alternated between exploring the world (and commenting on how much of a mess I'd let it become) and pressing me to harvest everything and restart the whole "Hey, guess what! You got powers now!" deal. I felt like someone whose new girlfriend had just moved in and was criticising the way I kept up my apartment, the fact that I hadn't gone for that raise, and spent her time rearranging my DVD shelf because she was bored.

Except that the consequences of letting her do what she wanted went way beyond never being able to find your bootleg copy of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Yeah; that serious.

"Does. Not." I replied emphatically. "Look, there's more to the world than powers, and harvesting them when the time comes."

This time, her look at me clearly stated, 'okay, the engine is running but there's no-one behind the wheel'. I began to wonder if she was channelling my last girlfriend; she certainly had all the expressions down pat.

"Seriously," I told her. "I mean it. Instead of directing people to have more conflict, we could be having fun."

Her look at me was blank. It was like she'd looked up 'fun' on her internal directory and gotten an error message.

EXPLAIN.

"Right, okay. Let's see."

I thought fast. Physical challenges were right out. Skydiving – we could both fly. White-water rafting – we could freeze the water and stroll down the river. Gambling – we both had a variation on Path to Victory, even without the one that Contessa was using for her own ends now, which would render the whole 'random chance' thing laughable. And besides, what the hell would we use money for?

"Okay," I told her. "You modelled that body after the human body, right? Like I did?"

SHAPE.

"Ah, you just mimicked the shape, right. Okay, going to have to do more. Add more detail."

DETAIL?

"Yeah, detail. Anatomy. Bits and pieces. Taste buds. Other sensory bits. Here, I'll send you a map of what you need."

I sent it; she studied it. Her expression was not encouraging.

COMPLICATED.

"Yeah, but it's worth it." I had done extensive remodelling, ever since moving in. It had taken a bit of work to get it just right, but the effort was paying off now. I knew how to get the effects that I wanted in the bodies we were using.

She pointed out some aspects of the map I had sent her.

RIDICULOUS.

"Hey hey," I told her. "Don't knock it till you've tried it."

UNNECESSARY.

I sighed. "Seriously? I'm the one with decades of experience of this world, and you're telling me what's necessary? Look, sweetie, just give it a try. What can it hurt?"

She pondered that. It had to be difficult for her; she hadn't had an original thought in … well, forever. The Entities had done the same thing, over and over, ever since they started out. I was forcing her to actually think about things.

In the end, she looked at me.

AGREEMENT.

I gulped; the 'agreement' was that she would give it a try. If it didn't work out for her, then she'd discard the alterations, and I would have to help her sort the world out her way.

Yay.

"Fine," I told her. "Just don't skip anything. Not that bit, not that bit, and definitely not that bit."

UNNECESSARY.

"Yeah, you said that already. Do it anyway. For me. Please?"

A long pause.

REMODELLING.

I sighed in relief. "Good. Now, remember to breathe. You don't have to, but it feels good. You can even talk like this, instead of doing that one-word-with-a-thousand-inflections thing."

Her lips parted, and her brow furrowed in concentration. "Feels … strange." Her voice was low and melodious; good. It meant that she had installed the alterations correctly.

"Yeah, but it's easier this way to say something simple," I pointed out. "Now, are you ready to have fun?"

She took another breath. "Explain … fun."

I shook my head. "If you can explain it, you're not having fun. Come on."

She allowed me to take her hand, and we Doored over to one of my favourite cinemas. It was quiet at this time of day, and the line was short. I was content to wait, but Eden isn't the patient type.

"Are we … having fun … yet?"

"Not yet, sweetie," I explained. "We just have to get our tickets and go into the theatre."

"Why … waiting?"

I indicated the line in front of us. "Because they have to get their tickets and popcorn yet."

And then, the people in front of us were gone. That is, between one blink and the next.

I saw what she did, because, hey, we were both using bullshit magic space whale powers. But everyone else, including the goggling ticket attendant, just saw them disappear.

"Really?" I asked. "Did you have to do it that way?"

She looked at me smugly. I had no idea where she'd learned 'smug' from; I hoped like hell that she wasn't hanging around with Lisa. That could end in a disaster of unmitigated proportions.

"They have … tickets and … popcorn," she pointed out.

I sighed. "Okay, but don't do it again. All right?"

"All … right," she promised. Yeah, I knew what the other half of that statement was. Until I feel like doing it again.

The movie was a comedy, one that I'd seen before, and rather enjoyed. Eden stared at the screen.

"Flickering … pictures."

"Let your eyes work it out," I advised her. "Let it tell a story."

She subsided then, concentrating on the screen. As the comedy played out, she frowned a lot. I knew she was tapping into one power and another, picking up on pop culture references, figuring out what the movie meant.

Five minutes before the end of the movie, she began to laugh. She was still laughing helplessly as we got back out into the lobby.

"Funny," she gasped. "Watch … again?"

"We can always catch another movie," I suggested. "But I was thinking we could go and try something else."

Her expression regarding this was much more receptive; it seemed that laughter had a good effect on her.

It was probably the first time she had ever laughed. That was kind of sad.

<><>​

We sat outside a ski chalet in Switzerland; the air was crisp, although we didn't really notice. When you can handle powers that generate thousands of degrees, temperature really is just a scale of measurement.

In front of us, on the table, were mugs of hot cocoa. Between them was a large block of the best chocolate money could buy. Well, it would have been if I'd actually used money to buy it. I figured 'saving the world' equated to 'discount time'.

We watched the sun rise, and I sipped at my cocoa. She emulated me, then looked at the mug in surprise.

"Good," she murmured.

I nodded. "More to the world than powers, huh?" I suggested.

The look she gave me was speculative. "You know … more."

"I do," I agreed, and broke off a piece of the chocolate. "Try this."

I have to admit; I had cheated slightly. The map of her tastebuds I had given her to install was designed to react dramatically to chocolate.

Her eyes opened wide as the block melted in her mouth. She grabbed the chocolate and broke off more. "Good," she mumbled, her mouth full. "Good. Good."

I grinned at her as her eyes rolled back in bliss. She drank more cocoa, and ate more chocolate.

"Chocolate … is good," she declared at the end. "More?"

"We can have more," I agreed. "Or we can have it later, and do other stuff now."

"Other … fun stuff?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, we can do that too," I replied, pretending to be evasive. "If you want."

"Yes," she declared. "I … want."

"Excellent," I told her. "Let's go."

<><>​

The bed was … enormous. She lay upon it, beside me, her expression curious.

"What … are we doing … here?"

"Well, see," I explained, "there's one other thing we can do that's lots of fun. And it's only possible with that nervous system enhancement I gave you."

She raised one eyebrow. "Still think … silly and unnecessary."

"Let's see about that," I murmured, and reached out to stroke her cheek.

Her expression was uncertain. "What are … you doing?"

My hand wandered to other parts of her anatomy, and I leaned in to kiss her. At first, her lips were unresponsive, but she learned fast.

"Well, this part," I told her softly, "is called 'foreplay'."

I had to admit, she learned very fast indeed.

<><>​

Later, I would find that the earth had moved not only for myself and Eden, but for people up and down the west coast of the United States; a magnitude 4 earthquake had rippled right down the faultline, and then back up again. As it returned, it put everything back where it had been.

The Northern Lights had also gotten in on the act; they had become more and more intense as we went along, and by the time we were close to finishing, half the sky was rainbow coloured. And just to drive the metaphor home, half the active volcanoes in the world erupted at the same exact moment.

I suppose it's better than having your neighbours bang on the wall to get you to keep the noise down.

<><>​

After, we lay back on the huge mattress. She was silent, apparently lost in the night sky projected on the ceiling above us.

"Well, sweetie?" I asked. "Do you like having fun, human style?"

She rolled over toward me and into my arms.

"Oh yes," she murmured. "Oh yes." She kissed me. "Let's do it all again."

As she climbed on top, I lay back and sighed.

Saving the world. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.


The End

 

[kinglugia]

You. Fucked. Eden. Well done.

 

[seeing_octarine]

I like it. Only thing that takes me out of the story a little bit is the "category 4" earthquake. Aren't these things supposed to be measured with the Richter scale? Not *Andrew* Richter, but well, you know what I mean...

 

[kenhikaru]

I like it. Only thing that takes me out of the story a little bit is the "category 4" earthquake. Aren't these things supposed to be measured with the Richter scale? Not *Andrew* Richter, but well, you know what I mean...

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It's "Magnitude 4" for earthquakes. "Category 4" is for hurricanes, I believe.

 

[pepperjack]

Well, that's one way to handle a cock-up.

...

 

[Aleh]

Well, that's one way to handle a cock-up.

...

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Yes. It was certainly a way to end the story with a bang and an earth-shaking climax.

 

[Ack]

It's "Magnitude 4" for earthquakes. "Category 4" is for hurricanes, I believe.

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I think the terms are interchangeable. Hurricanes are measured on the Beaufort scale (and yes, we could put in a 'blow job' joke here somewhere) and earthquakes on the Richter scale. Category, magnitude, strength, power, whatever.

 

[LagrangePt]

I think the terms are interchangeable. Hurricanes are measured on the Beaufort scale (and yes, we could put in a 'blow job' joke here somewhere) and earthquakes on the Richter scale. Category, magnitude, strength, power, whatever.

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I've never heard category used for earhquakes - just tried typing "category earthquake" into google and all the results were about magnitude.

 

[Ack]

I've never heard category used for earhquakes - just tried typing "category earthquake" into google and all the results were about magnitude.

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Well, come to think of it, Richter scale is in multiples of ten, which is also what 'magnitude' means.

So yeah, probably a little too casual there.
Might just correct that.

 

[Aleh]

I think the terms are interchangeable. Hurricanes are measured on the Beaufort scale (and yes, we could put in a 'blow job' joke here somewhere) and earthquakes on the Richter scale. Category, magnitude, strength, power, whatever.

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I've never heard category used for earhquakes - just tried typing "category earthquake" into google and all the results were about magnitude.

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That, and earthquake magnitudes include decimals. There was a magnitude 4.9 earthquake in Afghanistan earlier today, for instance (found here, details here).

Edit: Just to be clear, the term "category" implies that the level of measurement involved is either nominal or ordinal, with some form of discreet categorization. Earthquake magnitudes, by contrast, are ratio measurements.

 

[Ack]

That, and earthquake magnitudes include decimals. There was a magnitude 4.9 earthquake in Afghanistan earlier today, for instance (found here, details here).

Edit: Just to be clear, the term "category" implies that the level of measurement involved is either nominal or ordinal, with some form of discreet categorization. Earthquake magnitudes, by contrast, are ratio measurements.

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Changed to 'magnitude'. Maybe I should have added a decimal zero in there.

Eh.

 

[doomlord9]

Changed to 'magnitude'. Maybe I should have added a decimal zero in there.

Eh.

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Perfectly even magnitude earthquakes very rare given the variability of the system so having it perfect down to 3 decimal places, recorded by Tinker gear, or maybe multiple aftershocks spelling out pillow talk in Morse Code or something like that would be even more amusing.

Just something to throw the fact that yes, they are that overpowered and bullshit that even their unconscious accidents are better than intentional parahuman efforts in everyone's faces.

 

[edale]

Well....Looks like Mike finally got his "Happy Ending."

 

[skychan]

she was wearing, for some reason, a French maid outfit.

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"A Supergirl costume?"

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And at that moment, in accordance with the universal rules of humour, the nozzles activated and filled the cell with containment foam.

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This serious of lines made the entire story worth reading. Just splendid.

And then from the finale

"Are we … having fun … yet?"

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Oh yes, a riff off of "Are we there yet?" Briliant.

 

[Ack]

Wondering if it would be funnier if the earthquake was magnitude 3.14159.

 

[doomlord9]

Wondering if it would be funnier if the earthquake was magnitude 3.14159.

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Well he did give her some nice pie in the end. Lots of cream and everything.

/poorly done innuendo that I couldn't not say

 

[Ack]

Well he did give her some nice pie in the end. Lots of cream and everything.

/poorly done innuendo that I couldn't not say

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So. Very. Wrong.

Also mildly disturbed that I got the point of the joke immediately.

 

[Snake/Eater]

Mike only saved one Earth,but out there in the dark reaches of reality itself...are maybe thousands of entities and they're going to be very pissed and confused that Scion and Eden are not doing their part to continue the cycle of their species.

 

[doomlord9]

So. Very. Wrong.

Also mildly disturbed that I got the point of the joke immediately.

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If you wanted to really baffle and insult the scientific community, and amusing the lonely nerds, have the magnitude as pie down to 10 decimal places(Bored Tinkers making overly sensitive equipment for reasons) but the faultline oozing out freshly whipped cream after the earth stops moving and the crack closes back up. Just to see which ones get it first.

My mind is amazingly dirty for this early in the morning. Working on that outline for NSW that has become way bigger and detailed than planned for the last couple days probably hasn't helped any.

 

[Ack]

If you wanted to really baffle and insult the scientific community, and amusing the lonely nerds, have the magnitude as pie down to 10 decimal places(Bored Tinkers making overly sensitive equipment for reasons) but the faultline oozing out freshly whipped cream after the earth stops moving and the crack closes back up. Just to see which ones get it first.

My mind is amazingly dirty for this early in the morning. Working on that outline for NSW that has become way bigger and detailed than planned for the last couple days probably hasn't helped any.

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Oh god.

The world's biggest ever dirty joke.

Hehehehe.

 

[doomlord9]

Oh god.

The world's biggest ever dirty joke.

Hehehehe.

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I can just see Armsmaster, pouring over the collected data, cross referencing and analyzing every scrap of information he comes across.

He sits back in his chair and ponders on the conclusion he comes to.

"I don't get it."

Dragon sighs and once again thanks Richter for designing her with infinite patience.

 

[Ack]

I can just see Armsmaster, pouring over the collected data, cross referencing and analyzing every scrap of information he comes across.

He sits back in his chair and ponders on the conclusion he comes to.

"I don't get it."

Dragon sighs and once again thanks Richter for designing her with infinite patience.

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"Colin. I've sent you a site you need to look at. Enter the phrase 'cream pie'. yes, now hit Enter."

*long horrified pause*

"Dragon, I think you sent me the wrong site by accident."

"No, no I did not."

*sound of Armsmaster's neurons frying, one by one*

 

[kinglugia]

Poor Tattletale XD

 

[Snake/Eater]

Poor Tattletale XD

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she stuck the gold mother of all TMI'S.....