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

[Nervaqus987]

You know... I really do wonder if he's ever going to bother to ask the Guardians why they don't use Willworld to do what he is... Because there's gotta be a really good reason for it...

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Eh, the Guardians themselves might use it when they need to get somewhere in a hurry.

They just usually don't have be anywhere in a hurry because they people to do that for them.

 

[Ngamer11]

"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."

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Sounds like there's a story behind that. Mr Zoat, can we get some Word of Zoat on what it is that she's referring to?

"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."

"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?"

"S-oooof…"

Thaddeus freezes. Georgia grins.

"T."

"Hah! Proven wrong by Father."

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Finally, he sees that social science is still a science. Maybe he'll wise up and actually read up on that like his sister has.

"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."

"Oh please." / "Oh please."

"Three, two, one."

We step out

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I have no idea what this could result in, and I'm excited to see what that result will be.

That Step Out is either going to do nothing or completely fuck them up, isn't it?

I wonder what will happen if one of the Silvanas tries to understand magic one day.

Also, aren't Beautifica and Magnus the control group? Super intellect plus social and gorgeous?

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At the very least, Dr. Sivana Sr. is well versed in magic. I'm unsure if any of his children actually studied it like he did, though I wouldn't be surprised if Jr and Georgia have a good grasp on general knowledge and applications for magic.

 

[Joelseph14]

Wow I cannot wait to see how they react to the Avarice dimension or interact with Dox

 

[Mr Zoat]

Maybe it's getting Relic's attention, cause he's from the New 52 and we all know Zoat loves that.

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Why can't I hate you to death?

Thank you for the updoot.

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Are you Canadian?

Sounds like there's a story behind that. Mr Zoat, can we get some Word of Zoat on what it is that she's referring to?

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I didn't have a specific individual in mind, but that's basicaly what William Magnus did.

 

[inck]

hope georgia ends up with dox.
i like those two together.

 

[BlueMangoAdea]

Why can't I hate you to death?

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Because you are not a red lantern on Earth Prime.

 

[Darko]

I didn't have a specific individual in mind, but that's basicaly what William Magnus did

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I think you're talking about Platinum.

And funny coincidence, but I remember that in Life Ore Death the author had William Magnus actually be Magnificus Sivana.

Apparently he got so tired of his family, the villainous side at least, that he created a new identity for himself.

 

[Rafin]

Georgia is probably my favorite currently relevant side character.

 

[Idkusername]

Are you Canadian?

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It's just niche internet slang. Replace the emphasised syllable with 'oo', and voila! Update becomes updoot, rude becomes rood, etc.

 

[Old Knife]

You know... I really do wonder if he's ever going to bother to ask the Guardians why they don't use Willworld to do what he is... Because there's gotta be a really good reason for it...

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Because while Will affects minds the least. It also imposes itself on you much more easily. Hence why the Guardians use to more easily command their lanterns?
Avarice is by nature selfish and thus won't affect you unless someone else specifically wants it.
At least when jumping into the said plane of emotion.
Pure conjecture by the way.

 

[Pinklestia]

You know... I really do wonder if he's ever going to bother to ask the Guardians why they don't use Willworld to do what he is... Because there's gotta be a really good reason for it...

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Mental contamination is a thing, not everyone is a demigod of insert X.

Also really he could just use portals instead. Is not that's that hard, And is also technically safer.

 

[TodaBruh]

Are you Canadian?

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No? What lead to such a conclusion?
It's a reference to Prinnies in Disgaea.

 

[Stsword]

I think you're talking about Platinum.

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Which is divergent from the usual sources actually.

Originally they were sapient because of sunspots messing up their responsometers, so actually having personalities was a complete accident.

Then the Metal Men were actual people accidentally sucked into robot bodies, not that I like that particular retcon.

And then the responsometers were actually alchemy and the Metal Men's personalities are in fact the personalities of those metals.

So in none of them did he actually program Platinum to be romantically obsessed with him.

Not that people in the comics haven't thought otherwise, like Will Magnus' brother David.

Gods and Monsters Will Magnus who built Platinum to replace his dead wife Tina is the exception to the rule.

 

[Hell's Razer]

Anything you can't cope with is your problem.

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Love the shout-out to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 

[Lord Ernest]

I don't see the problem with building your own robot girlfriend (or robot wife, as the case may be) if you're smart enough to do it. It's just masturbation but super fancy. If people with money and the desire for it can buy sex toys, then you can build your own robot harem if you're smart enough for it, that's my position.

 

[BlueMangoAdea]

I don't see the problem with building your own robot girlfriend (or robot wife, as the case may be) if you're smart enough to do it. It's just masturbation but super fancy. If people with money and the desire for it can buy sex toys, then you can build your own robot harem if you're smart enough for it, that's my position.

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Might be a bit morally dubious if your robot girlfriend is sapient.

 

[Mr Zoat]

No? What lead to such a conclusion?

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[TodaBruh]

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Um..... The vide is broken.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Um..... The vide is broken.

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Try this one.

 

[TodaBruh]

Try this one.

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Kek. This is hilarious!
When people speaking my native language learn English they tend to do so with funny accents too.
I would probably be as funny if you heard me speak.

 

[Clell65619]

Or a robot prostitute.
.

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Now, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but why would anyone build a robot he/she had to pay?

Even young horny mad scientists have some common sense... Unless of course, he got off on saying things like 'your credits are on the holographic nightstand'. It takes all kinds, even, (or perhaps especially) in mad science.

 

[King of Frost]

I've probably said it before, but while I know exactly what Georgia actually looks like, for some odd reason I always picture this version of her as a more stereotypically nerdy looking Kamala Khan. And I genuinely have no idea why.

 

[Darko]

Now, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but why would anyone build a robot he/she had to pay?

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There's just some things you don't do with a robot girlfriend.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

Why can't I hate you to death?

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I take it, it isn't relic then?

 

[Cuchulin]

Because Canada...

is easy to mock and I really like the song.

 

[DrThoth]

Will we see any more national personifications in the story, or engage with the ones we have now more like Uncle Sam? Britain's national personification might have drastically changed in the Renegade timeline thanks to all the shake-ups, possibly akin to a person recovering from an infection. It would be interesting to see a more benevolent version of consciously creating embodiments like Captain Nazi (and someone in the Renegade timeline should really get on tracking down the Spear of Destiny).

 

[Mr Zoat]

24th August 2012
13:48 GMT

and reappear in the asylum. I let go of the smoking frames and turn to look at them both.

"You alright?"

"Huh." / "Huh."

Neither Sivana Spawn are.. focusing on their environment, but neither are showing the sort of orange mess that I'd expect from someone who had uncontrolled exposure to the Honden.

"Georgia? Thaddeus? What did you see?"

"The system is supposed to keep us in an isolated spiritual loop, preventing external contamination." Georgia blinks spasmodically behind her glasses. "But it didn't prevent you from changing the medium."

"So you saw yourself as a network of your own desires? That could be very useful for training purposes. Can you make more?"

"Ah, yeah, but, no." Thaddeus shakes his head as he starts to come out of whatever it was that he experienced. "They would need to come from somewhere with a high level of thaumic activity. Otherwise they would just…" He strokes his chin. "Actually, I'm not sure what would happen to them. I think that they would just be erased, but it's possible that they would become a permanent part of someone else's desire network."

"Or something else entirely. We just don't have enough experimental data to know."

"And you're not going experiment on compelled subjects to get it, are you?"

"Not on Earth!"

"Georgia."

"Or any of your territory. Mother taught us not to destroy each other's laboratory equipment, and we've decided to extend that immunity to you."

"That's very considerate of you." Thaddeus takes a glass rod out of his lab coat and pokes part of his frame, which falls off and shatters on the ground. "Was that expected?"

"It's within the predicted range." They unstrap themselves and drop out of their frames. "But we would not be here if we did not think that we would learn something."

They both draw devices that look like a cross between a phaser and a hairdryer, waving the nozzles around while looking carefully at the readout.

"The stock room!" / "Secure storage?"

Thaddeus frowns at Georgia's uncertainty.

"What? It's obvious this is where they keep the test subjects."

"Does that sound like something a superhero would do?"

"A utilitarian superhero. It makes sense. If they're crazy anyway, test them to try and stop it happening to the others!"

"Hm."

"Hm."

They both turn and look at me.

"Well?" / "Well?"

"It's our asylum. For some reason, when I tried to think where to bring you, this is the first place I thought of."

"See?" Thaddeus waves his probe at his sister. "Test subjects."

"He didn't mean 'because it brought us closer to his test subjects'. He was implying that he believes that we should be inmates."

Thaddeus frowns.

"If we were, would we still have access to the other inmates?"

"No. The cells are individual. The inmates are dangerous to themselves and each other, and the two of you are far more dangerous than they are."

They both preen.

"Given that they're disarmed and bound. Ah, it probably won't matter, but you're both carrying some sort of defensive equipment, right?"

Thaddeus frowns, his face a picture of frustrated incomprehension. Georgia settles for rolling her eyes.

"Yes, we're 'carrying'. We even have concealed carry permits."

"You're armed legally?"

"No, of course not. Unless we were in Texas; did you know that they removed all weapon ownership restrictions during the Sheeda invasion? You can buy a Davy Crockett there now. Own one, anyway. I don't think anyone's actually selling."

"I did hear about that."

Private weapon ownership has become a lot more common since their invasion. Europe's resisting, naturally. Politicians there point out that conventional firearms didn't do much to Sheeda Lowborn due to them being invisible most of the time, and never did anything to their Highborn. As such, arming the civilian population wouldn't have improved their ability to fight and might have either caused the Sheeda to kill them rather than trying to capture them, or have made things harder for the police and military. And… Yes, they do have a point. I'm not hypocritical enough to say that private citizens shouldn't be armed, but the fact that there isn't any sort of training requirement in the US still makes me uncomfortable.

In the less… 'Staid' parts of the world, the governments had no chance against the overwhelming need of their citizens to protect themselves. Russia tried training people as army auxiliaries but there were just too many. They ended up with a network of state-sponsored gun clubs. China put the political commissars in each region in charge of organising People's Militia training, and it's actually quite a popular development with older communist party members. In other places people have been arming themselves as best they can, often in defiance of local law.

I could mass produce enough high-end infantry weapons to allow people to fight off most aliens in Sector 2814. But the problem is that weapons like that would also let them fight other humans. I don't know if I'm worrying needlessly; America and Russia hated each other for decades without nuking each other. Would a few million cold guns make Earth a more dangerous place to live when we've had the ability to scour it of life since the sixties and not used it? Or… Would the problem come from the fact that the people carrying them wouldn't be citizens of the two most powerful countries on Earth but rather decidedly less powerful places? A few countries with a lot to lose, versus two hundred countries without much to lose?

I thought that I squared that circle by getting hold of a L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet. Recruit a few hundred humans, let them gain seniority, and let them handle it. But basically everyone who applied was a government agent.

"But since you're interested, you can review our existing research and -if you want- speak to the patients."

"Are we allowed-" Georgia wiggles her sensor at me. "-to take our own readings?"

"With the permission of their physician."

Seventeen Lanterns in here at the moment. Only two who went full-Larfleeze, but we're dubious about the others ever returning to active duty. Just getting them to the point where they don't need to be contained any more would be a good start.

"And then can we see the weapons?" Thaddeus looks hopeful. "You know that's what we're best at, right?"

"Certainly. We've even got an alien mad scientist here for you to test yourselves against."

"Heh." Thaddeus shakes his head. "As if it would be a test."

 

[hance1986]

"So you saw yourself as a network of you own desires? That could be very useful for training purposes. Can you make more?"

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your

"And you're not going experiment of compelled subjects to get it, are you?"

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on

"Give that they're disarmed and bound. Ah, it probably won't matter, but you're both carrying some sort of defensive equipment, right?"

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Given

America and Russia hated each other for decades without nuking each other. Would a few million cold guns make Earth a more dangerous place to live when we've had the ability to scour it of live since the sixties and not used it?

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life

 

[DrThoth]

Now that the Sheeda aren't an issue, setting the Sivanas against the Reach, particularly in countering their technologies, could be pretty cool.

I forget if I asked this, but I assume by this point the Sivanas have arcanotech protection, so Paragon can't just brand them. I would imagine Tangseid would have done anything he could to get the Sivanas in his universe working for him, assuming they're around there (a scary thought, but one I'd be fascinated to see a segment on).

 

[Handlewithcare]

Thaddeus and Georgia are fun, but you also constantly get the feeling of two subcritical uranium masses wizzing around the room at speed.

I can see both sides of the debate: it makes absolute sense that people want to feel more secure after an event like this. I suppose bunker building and selling has picked up sharply too?

But the europeaen argument that hand guns were useless anyway makes perfect sense too.

Might I suggest a compromise off Paul offering everyone shield technology instead of weapons?

From citiy sized ones all the way down to personal ones?

That should help both psychologically and practically the next time someone attacks.