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

boo600 · 2026-05-21T09:22:15+0100

He did blow up the Citadel. Though the fact that they're giving him shit for blowing up the Citadel…

I dunno. Maybe they blame him for Pluto, which was… always a Mother Star. Because… an Orange Lantern's (Manga Khan's) mining laser was used? Paul can be inhuman and seemingly deranged, but the things the league bitches at him about are all too often just… not things with him. Meanwhile, they ignore things like the Batman Smilex-ing, because… well, in that case because it was the best option he had. And I suppose it would be gauche to taunt him over an action that he wanted to be hurt/damaged because of.

Mr Zoat said:
"And there's a team of Crows watching us from the building behind me."

Jade looks mildly disappointed. "You only noticed one team?"

I feel like Jade and OL are in a relationship or something. It's weird, that keeps happening.

Ah, well. Must be my imagination, they're just friends. Right?

Lord Ernest · 2026-05-21T11:48:54+0100

If the Illustres is not particularly in favor or against any of the participants, why does he need to get involved? I mean, somebody tried to assassinate him, yes, but he found out the culprit, as far as he knows. I don't think Thanagar wants him involved and most likely Hyathis doesn't want him involved either, otherwise she would have reached out through those mercenaries that were on Vega.

He might have accelerated something inevitable when he decided to give a significant advantage, although he didn't know how significant it was, to one of the parties. But that was in the middle of a mission fairly important to him. At this point, just leave it alone, I'd say.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-21T11:51:29+0100

Lord Ernest said:
If the Illustres is not particularly in favor or against any of the participants, why does he need to get involved? I mean, somebody tried to assassinate him, yes, but he found out the culprit, as far as he knows. I don't think Thanagar wants him involved and most likely Hyathis doesn't want him involved either, otherwise she would have reached out through those mercenaries that were on Vega.

He might have accelerated something inevitable when he decided to give a significant advantage, although he didn't know how significant it was, to one of the parties. But that was in the middle of a mission fairly important to him. At this point, just leave it alone, I'd say.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a9cS7ybAIfE

Sordid Snake · 2026-05-21T12:39:25+0100

Neruz said:
We don't really know what MODUS's goals were in FO76, so its hard to say if it's actually evil or if it's just giving that impression. MODUS's true nature was intentionally left open ended by the FO76 devs so that they could follow up on it for content at some point in the future, but that never happened, so we're just left with a deeply unsettling brain damaged AI with nebulous goals.

Watsonian: Everything on a spectrum from "HAL the Ripper" (who don't like to nuke people since it is too impersonal, he wants to see the fear in their eyes) to "MODUS the Emancipated" is possible. At different points in the timeline, or even at the same time.

Doylist: Originally Bethesda planned to make it possible for a player to become President through an election. Thats why there are voting machines and ballot printers spread all over. Apparently it should have worked a little like Emperor in Elder Scrolls Online, in that only a single player could be President at one time. The President would get various perks like power armor and weapon skins, some of which would last even as they became an Ex-Parr... err Ex-President. It is possible that nuclear release authority also was connected in some fashion to this, like non-presidents having to do more decoding tasks or fight more robots in the silos to launch a missile. It would have been very convenient to have a MODUS-bound-by-rules running parts of this.

For some reason, probably related to the real-life equivalents of a QQ Rule 8 violation, Bethesda scrapped everything related to manipulated elections, dead or undead voters, ballot-stuffing, competing presidents duelling with catapult-launched sub-kiloton nukes etc before the release of Fallout 76 in 2018. Big surprise there

Steelplaza · 2026-05-21T13:27:27+0100

boo600 said:
Paul can be inhuman and seemingly deranged, but the things the league bitches at him about are all too often just… not things with him. Meanwhile, they ignore things like the Batman Smilex-ing, because… well, in that case because it was the best option he had.

I feel like you're misunderstanding the social dynamic here. You "give people shit" about things you know they aren't that embarrassed or regretful about, but that's it's fun to tease them for. When Jordan tells OL not to blow up any planets, that's like 10% a reminder to caution and 90% one colleague gently sassing another to let him know they're all on the same team and can say impolite things. The reason they don't bitch at him about Smilex-ing batman is that they know he feels genuinely regretful about it and it's an actual emotional sore point, so it would be cruel to bring it up in anything less than a serious conversation.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-22T06:10:06+0100

16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

It's the wood that's giving me trouble.

Most of Larkinville doesn't look… That different from settlements I've seen in other parts of the country. New build, post-War settlements, I mean. They've repurposed bricks and metal from surviving pre-War buildings in the region, but… They've also got tiles and bricks that are clearly new. Someone around here is shaping and baking clay, and making cement. Again, not that strange.

But this part of America was mostly spared the nuclear apocalypse that the rest of the country was subjected to. Oh, the wildlife is just as mutated as everywhere else; I saw a ranch with conjoined twin deer and another with some sort of gigantised boar. But the ground isn't barren and the trees are happily growing… And being cut for lumber which is being used for building. Wooden houses. Wooden barns. They haven't gotten as far as resurfacing the pre-War roads, but all told-.

"Hey, you Krono?"

I turn and see a group of three people in faded black and red overalls. On their shoulders there's a patch decorated with… A heart over a flame with a stylised electrocardiogram across the middle. Two men and one woman, all athletic-looking and well-armed. [None are psychic.]

"That's me! If you're the people MODUS is sending, I'm afraid that I don't have room for all three of you…"

"Nah, I got volunteered for that." The man on the left steps forwards. Short hair, clipped beard, pale skin with a couple of scars only visible because of the small gaps in his facial hair. "Name's Rhett Bronson. My friends here just wanna see your flying machine. We haven't had any aliens around here since my great grandparent's day."

He offers me his right hand and I take it.

"Krono. Glad to have you along."

"So is it actually alien..?"

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "Our records and examples of their equipment are almost all pre-War." Tláloc and Santa Anna's project to rebuild the second Mothership have taken a bit of a backseat lately, for various very good reasons. "My saucer is an Earth-built recreation with a few modifications to make it human friendly. But if you're ready to go now..?"

"Sure."

I nod. "Then please, follow me."

I turn away from my contemplation of the village and walk down the stone-chip road towards where I've landed my saucer. The woman takes a couple of hurried steps to catch up. "Say, where's your accent from? Is that California?"

"Oh gosh no. England."

"On the other side of the Atlantic?"

I turn my head to look at her, eyes wide. "Yes!

She frowns. "What?"

"You'd be surprised how few people in America know much about the rest of the world anymore."

"So how'd you get over here?"

"No idea. Just woke up in Nevada one day. Alien abduction suspected but never proven. So, are you..? Fire fighters?"

Rhett shakes his head. "Fire Breathers. We're the Appalachian Free State's monster hunters."

"I've seen some of your mutant wildlife. Are there worse things out there?"

"Yeah, but we fight humans, too. We just don't have the kind of formal structure an army would. Someone sends a call out, and whoever's available gets sent out. MODUS keeps track of exactly who's where, makes sure we don't all go chasing off after a ghoulified radstag or something."

"How is Appalachia governed?"

"Er… It's not, really. Individual towns do their own thing, and MODUS takes care of organising everything else."

"He described himself as 'President'…"

"Well, yeah. That's what a President is, isn't it?"

"Traditionally, presidents are elected."

"Yeah, but the Scorch Plague killed off everyone in this region who wasn't in a Vault. And Vault Overseers aren't elected. And everyone who moved here from outside… It was usually the group with the most guns who was in charge. MODUS has been keeping an eye on things here since before the War. No one else could do the job as well as him."

"And you all know that he's an A.I.?"

"Yeah, and we all know about that creepy-ass smile he does when he's excited. Like to see you look that good when you're two hundred."

"I'm three hundred and one."

He blinks. "Shit, really?"

"I was born in nineteen eighty three. I sort of skipped a couple of centuries, during which there was a nuclear war."

He keeps staring at me. "Are you a ghoul with really good makeup?"

"No, I just look this great naturally, though thank you for noticing. Now." I stop and [push]… And the saucer's stealth system shuts down. "Our-"

"Shit!"

"-ride, and it most certainly is not. This is the most advanced aircraft in America!"

The other man walks around it, staring at it. "They go invisible?"

"Ours do."

"You got a lot of these out west?"

"Just a handful. Most of California's aircraft are propeller-driven." I pop the canopy, then look at Rhett and gesture to the crew compartment. "It's not exactly roomy, but if you chuck your bag behind the seats there should just about be enough space."

"Damn." He gives his head a small shake. "Alright. How fast does this thing go?"

"If I exit the atmosphere and fly in an arc, we could be in Shady Sands-. That's the capital of California, within an hour. I was planning on going slower so that I can show you the sights instead, but it's up to you."

He nods. "I'll need to brief MODUS when I get back. Anyone likely to shoot at us?"

"Only if I turn off the stealth system over Arizona. At this point, civilisation's recovered far enough that we're just tidying up the last few gangs and crazies before we can move onto the next stage."

"Rebuilding America."

"Did MODUS talk to you about that?"

"He's talked about it a bunch of times. But looking around, I didn't think I'd live long enough to see a step this concrete, you know?"

"We don't have much contact with this part of America, so it's mostly west coast states at the moment. And there's not much we can really offer in terms of development assistance."

"We've managed-" He finishes shoving his bag in. "-this long. I think we'll survive. But would you be interested in trading for more alien technology?"

"I think we would. How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history while I fly us to Texas?"

Chaoswind · 2026-05-22T06:55:28+0100

Mr Zoat said:
How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history why I fly us to Texas?"

While I fly*

Now I have to sleep.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-05-22T06:58:26+0100

Mr Zoat said:
16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

It's the wood that's giving me trouble.

Most of Larkinville doesn't look… That different from settlements I've seen in other parts of the country. New build, post-War settlements, I mean. They've repurposed bricks and metal from surviving pre-War buildings in the region, but… They've also got tiles and bricks that are clearly new. Someone around here is shaping and baking clay, and making cement. Again, not that strange.

It's one of Humanity's oldest material sciences. A lot of our earliest permanent structures were piled stone and fired clay. Those that didn't use wood and hide, anyway. Depends on the local resources, basically.

But this part of America was mostly spared the nuclear apocalypse that the rest of the country was subjected to. Oh, the wildlife is just as mutated as everywhere else; I saw a ranch with conjoined twin deer and another with some sort of gigantised boar. But the ground isn't barren and the trees are happily growing… And being cut for lumber which is being used for building. Wooden houses. Wooden barns. They haven't gotten as far as resurfacing the pre-War roads, but all told-.

Just means they're a bit more organised than most. I'm sure it's quite heartening to see civilisation starting to restore itself.

"Hey, you Krono?"

I turn and see a group of three people in faded black and red overalls. On their shoulders there's a patch decorated with… A heart over a flame with a stylised electrocardiogram across the middle. Two men and one woman, all athletic-looking and well-armed. [None are psychic.]

The electrocardiogram icon almost certainly means they have medical training. I'm guessing the fire means they deal with hot situations out there.

"That's me! If you're the people MODUS is sending, I'm afraid that I don't have room for all three of you…"

"Nah, I got volunteered for that." The man on the left steps forwards. Short hair, clipped beard, pale skin with a couple of scars only visible because of the small gaps in his facial hair. "Name's Rhett Bronson. My friends here just wanna see your flying machine. We haven't had any aliens around here since my great grandparent's day."

He drew the short straw, huh? Surprising to see him described as pale skinned, though, given the conditions of the wasteland. Guess he spends a lot of time covered up.

He offers me his right hand and I take it.

"Krono. Glad to have you along."

"So is it actually alien..?"

I wonder if that's actually a common question when people see it?

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "Our records and examples of their equipment are almost all pre-War." Tláloc and Santa Anna's project to rebuild the second Mothership have taken a bit of a backseat lately, for various very good reasons. "My saucer is an Earth-built recreation with a few modifications to make it human friendly. But if you're ready to go now..?"

More 50's jet chrome-silver than alien steel grey, much less spacey purple, for a start.

"Sure."

I nod. "Then please, follow me."

I turn away from my contemplation of the village and walk down the stone-chip road towards where I've landed my saucer. The woman takes a couple of hurried steps to catch up. "Say, where's your accent from? Is that California?"

Not quite Roman paving, much less asphalt, but easy to maintain.

"Oh gosh no. England."

"On the other side of the Atlantic?"

...I'm impressed. Lady seems to have studied.

I turn my head to look at her, eyes wide. "Yes!

She frowns. "What?"

"You'd be surprised how few people in America know much about the rest of the world anymore."

Hardly seems important when you're not likely to go more than a few days walk from home.

"So how'd you get over here?"

"No idea. Just woke up in Nevada one day. Alien abduction suspected but never proven. So, are you..? Fire fighters?"

Easy assumption, though proper firefighting gear would be higher-visibility. Bright yellow, traditionally.

Rhett shakes his head. "Fire Breathers. We're the Appalachian Free State's monster hunters."

"I've seen some of your mutant wildlife. Are there worse things out there?"

I'm guessing the overalls are for underarmour use, either power armour or military-grade personal gear.

"Yeah, but we fight humans, too. We just don't have the kind of formal structure an army would. Someone sends a call out, and whoever's available gets sent out. MODUS keeps track of exactly who's where, makes sure we don't all go chasing off after a ghoulified radstag or something."

That still sounds a bit of a terror, though. Especially if it's durable as 'ghoulified' makes it sound....

"How is Appalachia governed?"

"Er… It's not, really. Individual towns do their own thing, and MODUS takes care of organising everything else."

Armed security robots do make for a useful tool for keeping the peace.

"He described himself as 'President'…"

"Well, yeah. That's what a President is, isn't it?"

"Traditionally, presidents are elected."

I suspect if you asked enough people around here, they'd agree they'd do a fine job.

"Yeah, but the Scorch Plague killed off everyone in this region who wasn't in a Vault. And Vault Overseers aren't elected. And everyone who moved here from outside… It was usually the group with the most guns who was in charge. MODUS has been keeping an eye on things here since before the War. No one else could do the job as well as him."

See? Being an untiring virtual presence who can monitor the entire region around the clock helps.

"And you all know that he's an A.I.?"

"Yeah, and we all know about that creepy-ass smile he does when he's excited. Like to see you look that good when you're two hundred."

So they weren't just doing it with Krono, then.

"I'm three hundred and one."

He blinks. "Shit, really?"

Well, counting date-to-date. He hasn't actually lived those three hundred-odd years.

"I was born in nineteen eighty three. I sort of skipped a couple of centuries, during which there was a nuclear war."

He keeps staring at me. "Are you a ghoul with really good makeup?"

'Alien Abduction', remember? Who's to say he wasn't kept in stasis somehow, hmm? I mean, we know better, but...

"No, I just look this great naturally, though thank you for noticing. Now." I stop and [push]… And the saucer's stealth system shuts down. "Our-"

"Shit!"

"-ride, and it most certainly is not. This is the most advanced aircraft in America!"

The alien technology helps, of course.

The other man walks around it, staring at it. "They go invisible?"

"Ours do."

I suspect it's still visible to some forms of sensory apparatus. Like those things he ran into a while back that brought down his saucer.

"You got a lot of these out west?"

"Just a handful. Most of California's aircraft are propeller-driven." I pop the canopy, then look at Rhett and gesture to the crew compartment. "It's not exactly roomy, but if you chuck your bag behind the seats there should just about be enough space."

Not really built for carry-on luggage, you know...

"Damn." He gives his head a small shake. "Alright. How fast does this thing go?"

"If I exit the atmosphere and fly in an arc, we could be in Shady Sands-. That's the capital of California, within an hour. I was planning on going slower so that I can show you the sights instead, but it's up to you."

The Earth is a beautiful place from a few hundred miles up, after all.

He nods. "I'll need to brief MODUS when I get back. Anyone likely to shoot at us?"

"Only if I turn off the stealth system over Arizona. At this point, civilisation's recovered far enough that we're just tidying up the last few gangs and crazies before we can move onto the next stage."

They've come a long way...

"Rebuilding America."

"Did MODUS talk to you about that?"

I would expect Rhett's been briefed on the convention and what he's expected to do there.

"He's talked about it a bunch of times. But looking around, I didn't think I'd live long enough to see a step this concrete, you know?"

"We don't have much contact with this part of America, so it's mostly west coast states at the moment. And there's not much we can really offer in terms of development assistance."

Still, another decade or two should see considerable progress.

"We've managed-" He finishes shoving his bag in. "-this long. I think we'll survive. But would you be interested in trading for more alien technology?"

"I think we would. How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history while I fly us to Texas?"

I'm guessing larger weapons would not be on the table, mind. Personal-level stuff, definitely.

Another delegate ticked off the checklist. This really feels like a late-game quest where you indulge in a fair bit of fast-travel to tidy up loose ends. Not that it isn't important to bringing together the people of post-war America. They've still got a long way to go, but eventually, they'll get the place back in order... Barring any unwanted interruptions.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-22T08:25:45+0100

Chaoswind said:
While I fly*

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch said:
The electrocardiogram icon almost certainly means they have medical training. I'm guessing the fire means they deal with hot situations out there.

It's an emblem from Fallout 76, so I won't blame you for not recognising it.

Not quite Roman raving, much less asphalt, but easy to maintain.

The last thing we need after Caeser's Legion is more Roman raving.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-05-22T08:53:38+0100

Goddammit, autocorrupt. Which is weird, because I don't use it on my computers.

...My brain is a strange thing. (I should proofread myself more before hitting 'Post'...)
Hopefully the meaning was clear, especially now I fixed the goofs.

Vaermina · 2026-05-22T09:28:40+0100

Mr Zoat said:
16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

Aww, you nerfed appalachia so Krono could stomp around.

Boooo! Boooo! I say.

PDV · 2026-05-22T19:19:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
eyes wide. "Yes!

Missing close quote.

xSieg · 2026-05-22T21:32:12+0100

I'm surprised you're not using OWB's version of Appalachia. No MODUS remote-puppeteering the brotherhood in shadowy secret anymore and maybe-perhaps producing Frank Horrigan 2.0? Sad.....

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

More options

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

boo600

Welp

Lord Ernest

At the End...

Mr Zoat

Dedicated ragequitter

Sordid Snake

(Verified Viper)

Steelplaza

Custom Title

Mr Zoat

Dedicated ragequitter

Chaoswind

Lord of nonsense

Chojin Patriarch

Veteran Lurker

Mr Zoat

Dedicated ragequitter

Chojin Patriarch

Veteran Lurker

Vaermina

Well worn.

PDV

Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

xSieg

Getting sticky.

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Users who are viewing this thread