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

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 5, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
17th January 2000
23:47 GMT -5

"Lord Mammon." Colonel Frank Cromwell looks mildly puzzled at my arrival. "Good to see you again."

They didn't even bother putting a full squad in their gate room when I signalled that I wanted to visit. I wonder if I should be insulted.

Eh, presumably they trust you enough to consider you an ally now. Consider it a compliment. Also, good to see Frank back in action after his little temporal fuckabout. No lasting effects, I hope.

"Colonel, this is a little urgent, and I suggest that you send someone to wake up General Hammond."

He doesn't look impressed. "You mind telling me why?"

One drawback of Americans compared to Jaffa. They want to ask questions, where a Jaffa would already be running.

"I have been notified by SG One that Sokar was assassinated and that Apophis has taken over his domain. My Queen then tasked me with assassinating him. I spent several days getting into position only to find out that he wasn't on Delmak any longer."

Cromwell frowns. "Then where is he?"

Yes, having him in the wind is bad for everyone.

"He's just found out that his son -whom he trusted to rule his core territory is his absence- has been captured and is being held on Tollana. Sokar's Jaffa have gone over to him and they've brought their fleet with them. He's heading there now. I haven't seen Tollana myself, but based on records-."

Mammon upon learning that: [Internal Screaming!] (Soon to be external screaming.)

He half-turns. "Go wake the General up!"

"Thank you." I smile at him. "So, uh. How have you been?"

Remember, Mammon rescued him from the temporal fuckabout he was trapped in, in this story. I think?

"I'm experiencing the passage of time normally, which is nice."

"No sign of radiation damage or stress fractures?"

Being that close to a Black Hole probably made him a scientific curiosity for a bit.

He shakes his head. "Not according to Doctor Fraiser. I suppose I was only there for a few seconds, effectively."

"Quite true, but I find it's always best to check how those things work in practice. Just curious, but do you think that a robot duplicate of you would be interested in working for me?"

Honestly, asking around the SGC teams might actually get a few willing to 'donate' their templates.

He regards me levelly, without much expression. "No. I think he'd be pissed about having to leave his whole family behind."

"Ah." I nod. "Worth knowing."

"I'm grateful, but I'm not betray-my-country-and-leave-my-whole-life-behind grateful."

...That's fair.

"I understand. I would have expected otherwise. Though should the worst come to the worst and the Earth be invaded, I would be delighted to shelter as many of your soldiers -and your families- as could make it through the gate."

He looks uncertain for a moment, then decides to accept it in the spirit in which it was intended. "I'll be sure to pass that on."

Though I doubt many would be able to make it through the gate...

17th January 2000
23:59 GMT -5

I'm just glad that he didn't go home for the night.

"And you're sure that's where he's taking his fleet."

Given the things that happen to SGC, Hammond probably has a camp bed hidden in his office.

I shrug. "That's what the Jaffa I spoke to on Delmak said."

"And how many ships does he have?"

'Yes'. Let's go with 'Yes.'

"He took one flagship and six other Ha'tak with him from Delmak's system defence fleet. But all of Sokar's domain swore allegiance to him; he may well have picked up other ships after leaving."

General Hammond nods tiredly. "And you think that's enough to shoot his way through whatever defences the Tollan have protecting their homeworld."

Well, depends on what they can throw at them.

"It might be. But if there's no rush, I imagine that he'd settle for throwing asteroids at the planet from out of their effective range. Apophis isn't an idiot."

"Thank you for letting us know, but I'm not sure what you expect us to do about it."

Prometheus is still a ways from being flight-ready...

"My Queen has assigned me the task of assassinating Apophis. That would be a good deal easier if I was on Tollana. And of course I would very much like to make diplomatic contact with them myself."

He thinks for a moment. "And what is your Queen's intention toward Klorel?"

Mammon wants that sweet, sweet super-tech, eh?

"We would like the goa'uld back. You can keep Skaara."

"For what reason do you want him? You told us that Bastet wanted Apophis and Heru'ur to keep fighting each other."

Plans change. Especially when supposedly primitive worlds manage to kick the ass of a System lord...

"My Queen's intent is to use him as a puppet ruler for his father's domains, crush Heru'ur and bring an end to the current period of chaotic warfare."

"With herself as Supreme System Lord."

Bah, too much hassle.

"No, no. Her alliance with System Lord Kali would make that quite unpalatable. Just… Joint first amongst equals. And I wish to emphasise that the people mostly getting the sharp end of the fighting at the moment are the human populations of the worlds being fought over. The United States of America isn't in any position to uplift the human populations of this galaxy. My Queen on the other hand is."

And with all those armies, she'll have the power to make it stick, hopefully.

"Do you have some way of stopping Apophis's fleet?"

I smirk confidently, letting my eyes flare. "I'm a god."

Also a Lantern, not that he's telling anyone that.

He glares at me, unamused.

"I intend to get onto the hull of his flagship and put a large shaped charge onto the hull of the pel'tac, get out of the way and then detonate it once I'm sure that he's there."

Nothing says 'Hello, fuck you' like a jet of plasma.

He shakes his head. "How? If you use a ship he'll detect it."

"I thought I'd steal something stealthy from the Tollans themselves, use that, and then put it back before anyone noticed. Phasing would make killing one man trivially easy."

Good way to cover up his full capabilities.

"Then what happens to his fleet?"

"Don't know. How good an actor is Skaara?"

I would hazard 'poor'.

"Not good enough to pretend to be Klorel."

"Good enough to assign command to First Prime Roboneil and then retire to his quarters?"

Hmm... Could work, could work.

General Hammond considers the suggestion. "After being a host for so long, I doubt it. Not without time to prepare. And our understanding of how to remove goa'uld isn't good enough to guarantee that Klorel was gone."

"Mine is, but, very well. Why do the Tollan even want Klorel?"

Definitely good to know why, just in case they have plans for an execution or something.

"They're debating the morality of freeing Skaara."

I frown. "I.. don't understand. I have a use for Klorel, but why wouldn't they just kill him if they can do it without harming Skaara."

Why indeed.

Off to my left, Colonel Cromwell can't quite suppress a smile.

"They.. have a procedure to follow."

...Goddammit.

"Oh." I nod. "They're one of those civilisations. No wonder they lost their original homeworld." I stand up abruptly. "Well, come on. No sense in delaying further. The sooner I'm in place the sooner Apophis gets his."

General Hammond frowns. "Gets his what?"

What's coming to him. What he deserves. Whatever you prefer him to receive. A kick in the balls would be nice, except it would hurt the host more...

"Huh." I frown back. "I never really considered it. His just deserts, presumably."

He nods, then turns to Colonel Cromwell. "Colonel, take Lord Mammon through the gate and give him every assistance. Killing Apophis would make all our lives a good deal easier."

Hopefully the Tollan see it the same way.

"Yes sir."

I smile at him. "Thank you. Oh, but while I'm here… You haven't been able to get that legal opinion updated, have you?"

Something from his previous visit? Presumably something about Goa'uld hosts?

Good to see him coordinating with various allies on these things. Too often he goes about things the Goa'uld way. Now, let's hope the Tollan don't have their heads too far up their asses on this and let him cook. I foresee some arguments at first, until he convinces them otherwise. And hopefully get some contracts going for tech trading...

Mr Zoat · Dec 5, 2024

"So... Let me get this straight. Your neighbours -who were much more primitive than you both technologically and culturally- exhausted themselves in war. And you decided that they could be trusted with a superweapon? Why didn't you just invade and conquer them while they were weak? It would cost you little, and you could impose your uplift upon them without them being able to do anything stupid."

Me said:
if they can do it without harming Skaara."

Thank me, corrected.

Darko · Dec 5, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"So... Let me get this straight. Your neighbours -who were much more primitive than you both technologically and culturally- exhausted themselves in war. And you decided that they could be trusted with a superweapon

Well it wasn't really a weapon, just a power source.

Mr Zoat said:
Why didn't you just invade and conquer them while they were weak?

Because the Tollan aren't conquerors or warmongers.

Mr Zoat said:
t would cost you little

Aside from potentially changing their culture in a potentially disturbing way that could also potentially see them become similar to the Aschen if they think that the ends justify the means.

Mr Zoat said:
and you could impose your uplift upon them without them being able to do anything stupid."

Aside from them rebelling against their new Tollan overlords, since you know, most people don't like being conquered, and using anything the Tollan teach them against them.

Old Knife · Dec 5, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"So... Let me get this straight. Your neighbours -who were much more primitive than you both technologically and culturally- exhausted themselves in war. And you decided that they could be trusted with a superweapon? Why didn't you just invade and conquer them while they were weak? It would cost you little, and you could impose your uplift upon them without them being able to do anything stupid."

Thank me, corrected.

But muh cultural diversity!

CTrees · Dec 5, 2024

Darko said:
Well it wasn't really a weapon, just a power source.

From a certain perspective, there's not much difference. Remember the lesson of the Man-Kzin war: A reaction drive is a weapon effective in proportion to its efficiency. The same idea applies to other advanced power sources, at least of the sort the Tollan provided, as demonstrated by the fact that a less advanced civilization sufficiently weaponized it.

Doccer · Dec 5, 2024

Unfortunately Stargateverse has a theme of technological advanced societies being either malicious conquerors or neutered pacifists.

CTrees · Dec 5, 2024

That theming is probably a result of the narrative need for 1) consistent enemies to fight, and 2) Earth to be relevant on the galactic stage. From a screenwriting perspective, that forces most of the advanced civilizations to into one of those two camps if they weren't nearly extinct, because otherwise, why would they need SG-1? The Asgard are the big counterexample, though "we're occupied fighting the replicators" or "the terms of the protected planet treaty forbid intervention" kept them from dominating the plot. The Serrakin are probably a counterexample? Though they were only in a handful of episodes.

It's the same problem as "adults are either useless or villains" in series with child protagonists.

hkim · Dec 5, 2024

As he's a Texan loud and proud, I'm nearly certain General Hammond would be familiar with "he'll get his".

Silveraith · Dec 5, 2024

Arimai said:
No. The Tollana took pity on their resource wars and in exchange for a cessation of their wars gave them the Tollanan vacuum energy technology. They dummkopfs proceeded to weaponize them and actually used them on each other triggering all the dormant supervolcanoes.

Where is this stated? Supervolcanoes on another planet wouldn't affect the Tollan world; the Stargate Wikia states that the power source shifted the orbits of both planets killing everyone.

Tollan (people)

The Tollan are a race of humans from the uninhabitable planet Tollan in the Milky Way galaxy, who later settled on Tollana before it was devastated, forcing once more the Tollan into exile. Once an advanced civilization who possessed massive technological superiority with a highly stubborn sense...

stargate.fandom.com

The Tollan are a secluded race as many in the Curia believe strongly in an isolationist lifestyle. Their highest law states that they cannot share technology with a less advanced race. This law came about when the Tollan, after finding there was another inhabited world, Sarita, in their solar system, gave them a power source to help them. The people of Sarita used the technology to wage war and in doing so destroyed their planet, shifting the orbital path of Tollan. They were forced to evacuate their people to a planet which they named Tollana. (SG1: "Enigma", "Pretense", "Between Two Fire")

Mr Zoat · Dec 5, 2024

hkim said:
As he's a Texan loud and proud, I'm nearly certain General Hammond would be familiar with "he'll get his".

With an alien, it's best to be clear.

Arimai · Dec 5, 2024

Silveraith said:
Where is this stated? Supervolcanoes on another planet wouldn't affect the Tollan world; the Stargate Wikia states that the power source shifted the orbits of both planets killing everyone.

On screen. The planet's tectonic plates went active and the continents shattered as well as the orbit shifting

Silveraith · Dec 5, 2024

Arimai said:
On screen. The planet's tectonic plates went active and the continents shattered as well as the orbit shifting

No, I think you're mistake about the order of events. Forceful orbital shifts causing tectonic activity and the usual natural disasters; your original post made it very much seem like the supervolcano was the only issue.

Arimai · Dec 5, 2024

Silveraith said:
No, I think you're mistake about the order of events. Forceful orbital shifts causing tectonic activity and the usual natural disasters; your original post made it very much seem like the supervolcano was the only issue.

Not what I meant to imply. I meant to say the volcanoes are one of the consequences to the explosion that destabilized the planetary orbit. And that the Tollanians mistake was trusting a warring planet to keep their word the moment their energy worries were solved and the Tollan went home.

Meanwhile it was Kumbaya on the surface until one day they decided they had enough secret ICBMs to saturate their enemies. Unfortunately for them their enemies were just as paranoid and got their Second Strike off.

_The_Bomb · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I nod inside my armour. "Sir." Put the directional magic sensor back on the 'want' pile. Maybe my next generation of power armour should be magic based?

Or, better yet, some hybrid of magic, technology, and divinity!

I bet you Hephaestaean could give your current loadout some massive upgrades!

I mean, some of the stuff would probably only work on Earth, but I bet you he could make you a seperate suit for space that is noticeably better than what you currently have.

Prince Charon · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I smile at him. "Thank you. Oh, but while I'm here… You haven't been able to get that legal opinion updated, have you?"

They've certainly had enough time to, so the question is whether it was enough of a priority to be done.

Mr Zoat · Dec 6, 2024

1st May 2013
14:22 GMT -5

It's been a while since I've been down here. The subterranean part of the LexCorp building where I first met Enginehead. I wouldn't say that it's unrecognisable, exactly, but I think that some modifications were made after we bulldozed through the place fighting the Young Offenders.

Certainly, there wasn't a team of A.I. specialists and network engineers down here last time.

"…reinitialise based on an earlier backup." A stereotypical scientist in LexCorp overalls gestures at a partially disassembled server rack. "But with a system like this-."

"Don't be absurd." A surprisingly muscular man with a neatly trimmed goatee shakes his head with a dismissive huff. "All that will do is destabilise the network completely."

The scientist looks at him with a frown. "What exactly are your qualifications for working on this? Who even are you?"

He squares up to the smaller man. "I'm a better-." Something appears to occur to him as I get closer. "I see. Yes, I suppose-." He relaxes, making a point of slumping his shoulders in a way I've seen Superman do when in Clark Kent mode. "I'm sorry. Enginehead is a friend of mine. My concern for his health has left me with a short temper."

"Alright." The other man shrugs. "But I'm one of the world's leading experts on A.I. and I've got not idea who you are. And I've read everything on A.I. that's ever been published."

"Doctor Joel Cochin." He smiles, holding out his right hand. "LexCorp Special Projects. We don't publish much."

The scientist frowns a little, but shakes his hand anyway. "You're an A.I. specialist?"

"Technically, I'm a xenotechnology specialist. But since every alien civilisation we've encountered has used computer systems more advanced than ours, I've developed more than a passing familiarity with the subject. Of course…" He half-turns as Mr. Luthor and I approach. "I imagine that Orange Lantern's familiarity with alien technology outstrips mine by an order of magnitude."

I nod. "Yes, but only as a user. I'm sure that your understanding of how they actually work outstrips mine."

That's a little irritating. If I'd realised that someone on Mr. Luthor's staff was enlightened then I'd have tried recruiting them. Or at least hired them to help me with training. As it is, someone working in something called 'Special Projects' has probably been involved in enough dodgy things that would make me cautious to employ him; nothing about being enlightened requires you to be a good person.

Case in point: me.

Dr. Cochin hesitates, thinking his reply over before giving it. "Perhaps. Has Mister Luthor explained the problem to you?"

Mr. Luthor gives his team an encouraging smile. "I thought that I would leave that to specialists."

The scientist nods. "This is Enginehead's main server. Where his mind-. No, that's not right. It's his brain; the physical structure plays too big a part in how he thinks for us to just say that he exist on it."

"Okay, makes sense so far."

"And because he isn't a being of pure data, he can't just… Extend himself into the internet, or… Any of that other science fiction nonsense."

The silent 'as far as we know' looms large over that sentence.

"So what happened on the twenty eighth?"

"In order to improve efficiency, Enginehead has… Terminals, with ultra-high bandwidth connections to his servers, at several LexCorp facilities. Anywhere that needs high-volume data processing, basically. And that obviously includes Market Analysis. The gang who broke in had some very sophisticated anti A.I. devices…"

He looks over at another desk where various pieces of computer equipment are laid out.

"And a device that… We think was supposed to download data from Enginehead's core consciousness."

"What else could it be?"

"It could be attempted murder. Like pouring acid on someone's brain."

"And why can't you tell?"

He points to-. Ah.

Blackened, burned and melted. Parts of the board are still there, and the slag that used to be something electronics-related.

"A self-destruct?"

"It could just have been a blowtorch. Though according to the police, none of the attackers had one on them when they were arrested."

Hm. "Plasma weapons?"

He considers the defunct device, then shrugs. Dr. Cochin on the other hand shakes his head. "No. Plasma bolts tend to spall on impact as the plasma breaches containment. Those are too focused. The lack of thermite residue suggests a blowtorch more than a self-destruct device to me, but there are ways to avoid leaving evidence."

"And then there's the possibility that this was planted."

"Oh?" Mr. Luthor raises his right eyebrow. "That seems like an unusual step. Is there something about this 'Anarky' we should be aware of?"

"Intense morality, intense conviction, contemptuous of vice… He'd be a good superhero -or cult leader- if he had a little more worldly experience. I was watching him before the Anti-Life attack, but he wasn't showing any signs of… Doing anything like this. Child superheroes who aren't aping their elders are very rare."

"I hope you don't consider kidnapping Enginehead to be a heroic act, Orange Lantern."

"That depends on what he was trying to achieve. And exactly what he'd caught LexCorp doing that set him off."

"And what do you mean by that?"

I raise my eyebrows, very slightly.

He shrugs, very slightly.

"Let us say that a person with absolutely no trust in authority found evidence that a… LexCorp employee, was doing something deeply immoral, if not outright illegal. For a normal person, the thing to do would be to take that information to the police, the press, or that employee's superior. But for someone who doesn't trust the authorities and is courageous and has a strong moral conviction, the thing to do is to take action themselves. I don't know what Enginehead knew-. Knows, but if you're looking for a motive, that's where I'd start. If no demands have been issued..?"

I raise my eyebrows fully, and he shakes his head.

"Then I suggest an internal review. None of what I know about him suggests that he'd be after money or scientific data, or that he'd attack someone he didn't consider morally culpable for something."

"I take it you were investigating the case already?"

I nod. "He performed a ritual to destroy his own written history, and that of the attackers. I suspect that he arranged for the attack as a distraction. Or because the equipment was too heavy for him to manage by himself. I've got some magicians trying to come up with a way to use it to track him."

"And Enginehead?" I shrug. "Your best guess?"

"He's intelligent, but 'intelligent child' intelligent, not 'genius' intelligent. There probably is a way to hack Enginehead like this conventionally, but my guess…" I wave my runestone over the equipment, and-.

Ah.

We look at the weak glow.

"Is magic."

Neruz · Dec 6, 2024

Arimai said:
No. The Tollana took pity on their resource wars and in exchange for a cessation of their wars gave them the Tollanan vacuum energy technology. They dummkopfs proceeded to weaponize them and actually used them on each other triggering all the dormant supervolcanoes.

Is that something from one of the books? Because I went and re-watched Enigma and in it the Tollan very clearly state that when they developed space technology they discovered Sarita was inhabited, and then when the Saritans had 'become advanced enough' they shared 'an unlimited energy source' with the Saritans. Within a single year the Saritans had gone to war and used the technology to develop weapons with which they destroyed their world so utterly that the shockwave of its destruction pushed Tollana out of orbit, and that's why the Tollan refuse to give anyone their technology ever again.

Arimai said:
Not what I meant to imply. I meant to say the volcanoes are one of the consequences to the explosion that destabilized the planetary orbit. And that the Tollanians mistake was trusting a warring planet to keep their word the moment their energy worries were solved and the Tollan went home.

Meanwhile it was Kumbaya on the surface until one day they decided they had enough secret ICBMs to saturate their enemies. Unfortunately for them their enemies were just as paranoid and got their Second Strike off.

I am almost certain you are getting Sarita mixed up with a different world, possibly Euronda, because none of this was stated in the episode.

Darko · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Doctor Joel Cochin."

Was wondering what the hell was happening since we got two orange enlightened.

The guy copied Paul's powers.

Mr Zoat said:
"He's intelligent, but 'intelligent child' intelligent, not 'genius' intelligent

I think "genius intelligent" applies more.

Ngamer11 · Dec 6, 2024

Just looked up Joel Cochin, and realized this is the same guy who helped kidnap the President in the Renegade timeline, Paragon, who can copy the abilities and weaknesses of everyone around him and is affiliated with or a member of SHADE. Hopefully this is just a coincidence and nothing comes from this meeting.

Ardy · Dec 6, 2024

I wonder if Cochin spontaneously started reevaluating his life when Illustres walked into range

Lord Ernest · Dec 6, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
Just looked up Joel Cochin, and realized this is the same guy who helped kidnap the President in the Renegade timeline, Paragon, who can copy the abilities and weaknesses of everyone around him and is affiliated with or a member of SHADE. Hopefully this is just a coincidence and nothing comes from this meeting.

I remembered the same and then noticed the change in his quote marks, so it seems he copied the Illustres' Enlightenment once they were in range. Which is honestly fascinating, it would imply his abilities can copy even related powers.

At the same time, if he's affiliated with Lex then I don't think he would be allied with SHADE here.

_The_Bomb · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Assuming that Savage wasn't talking out of his arse, maybe he thinks us competing with them makes everyone stronger. Maybe he's worried that they might miss one or two of their targets, then the survivors would… Take the gloves off.

Mr Zoat said:
"They wanna run some tests… Make sure I'm not gunna explode or nothin'." Tora's eyes widen, and her head whips around to stare at him. "Whu-? Oh, no, no, that was just Guardian Kontross gettin' his dress in a twist 'cause they didn't plan fer this."

Mr Zoat said:
I know. I think half

Mr Zoat said:
Environmental shield back to full. I think it was Rogal Dorn who said 'sleep well in the camp of your allies, but always keep your bolter within arm's reach'. I don't seriously think that the Great Ten are going to act against me, but it doesn't hurt to take reasonable precautions. I once more follow Colonel Fang as he leads the way into the administrative part of the building. I get a few curious looks, but I imagine that they're somewhat used to odd-looking people around here.

Here are some dead links @Mr Zoat

Signaller · Dec 6, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
Just looked up Joel Cochin, and realized this is the same guy who helped kidnap the President in the Renegade timeline, Paragon, who can copy the abilities and weaknesses of everyone around him and is affiliated with or a member of SHADE. Hopefully this is just a coincidence and nothing comes from this meeting.

Huh, how/why does enlightenment count as an ability for this purpose?

Z000 · Dec 6, 2024

Signaller said:
Huh, how/why does enlightenment count as an ability for this purpose?

it does since it a spiritually awakening that allow the person who gain it to do wacky thing because they understood how such thing work at the conceptual level

but it also alter the way you think so whoever this guy is is gonna be reevaluating his decision right now mentally as he now understood his internal desire much more closely

Stsword · Dec 6, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
Just looked up Joel Cochin, and realized this is the same guy who helped kidnap the President in the Renegade timeline, Paragon, who can copy the abilities and weaknesses of everyone around him and is affiliated with or a member of SHADE. Hopefully this is just a coincidence and nothing comes from this meeting.

Well in this fic he gets weaknesses, that's not how it works in the comics, he just has the weakness of being dependent on other people in the comics.

For example in his first appearance he used Firestorm's powers to make kryptonite, which weakened Superman. It only weakened him in so far as that made Superman weaker, so his power focused on Wonder Woman, who was now the strongest person in the area, but the Kryptonite meant nothing to him directly.

Or in his second appearance, Superman defeated him by luring him to the frozen north and threatening to use his red sun watch to take away his own powers. "If you don't surrender I'll use my watch to suppress my powers and we both freeze to death."

Signaller said:
Huh, does enlightenment count as an ability for this purpose?

His power works on every ability. If he was in a room with a champion boxer, chess grandmaster, and an Olympic swimmer, he'd also be a champion level boxer, chess grandmaster, and Olympic level swimmer. Well more so, because his powers add to his innate competencies instead of replacing them.

Like Marvel's Mimic, always being the most competent person on every subject in every room he entered left him arrogant and isolated.

Presuming he's being sincere here, having an AI to interact with would be the first time he's able to have a conversation with someone without feeling like he's dealing with the world's slowest checkout clerk while in a hurry at the grocery store.

Someguy Somewhere · Dec 6, 2024

Hmm...well he duplicates innate powers iirc....while OL's enlightenment and emotion sensitive visions are inherent to his now metahuman status post ....snakeification? He wouldn't get any of the ring abilities....would be rather neat to see if he got near a mathusian what would happen, but I'd hazard a guess they'd have a way of detecting what ever aspect of this fellow's abilities have the 'scan and duplicate' aspect.

Darko · Dec 6, 2024

Lord Ernest said:
At the same time, if he's affiliated with Lex then I don't think he would be allied with SHADE here.

Hey, you never know.

He might be working two jobs to make extra money.

Stsword said:
Presuming he's being sincere here, having an AI to interact with would be the first time he's able to have a conversation with someone without feeling like he's dealing with the world's slowest checkout clerk while in a hurry at the grocery store.

His powers apparently don't work on inorganic beings, so yeah. Any time he talked with Enginehead, he couldn't copy him, so he wouldn't feel superior.

Someguy Somewhere said:
He wouldn't get any of the ring abilities..

No, but he may just be able to take the ring from Paul.

He gains the powers and skills of those he copies, but they're apparently stronger, so he may be more enlightened than Paul and may be able to desire the ring to come to him.

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
1st May 2013
14:22 GMT -5

It's been a while since I've been down here. The subterranean part of the LexCorp building where I first met Enginehead. I wouldn't say that it's unrecognisable, exactly, but I think that some modifications were made after we bulldozed through the place fighting the Young Offenders.

Certainly, there wasn't a team of A.I. specialists and network engineers down here last time.

No doubt a major part of the remodelling was reinforced armoured shells around all the important stuff. Wouldn't do to lose a critical server because a wall gave way from a super-tough person being tossed through it...

"…reinitialise based on an earlier backup." A stereotypical scientist in LexCorp overalls gestures at a partially disassembled server rack. "But with a system like this-."

"Don't be absurd." A surprisingly muscular man with a neatly trimmed goatee shakes his head with a dismissive huff. "All that will do is destabilise the network completely."

Well, this guy is definitely some kind of metahuman. Or possibly just a gym-rat science dude.

The scientist looks at him with a frown. "What exactly are your qualifications for working on this? Who even are you?"

He squares up to the smaller man. "I'm a better-." Something appears to occur to him as I get closer. "I see. Yes, I suppose-." He relaxes, making a point of slumping his shoulders in a way I've seen Superman do when in Clark Kent mode. "I'm sorry. Enginehead is a friend of mine. My concern for his health has left me with a short temper."

...Did he just copy Enlightenment? Oh, that's a bit worrying.

"Alright." The other man shrugs. "But I'm one of the world's leading experts on A.I. and I've got not idea who you are. And I've read everything on A.I. that's ever been published."

"Doctor Joel Cochin." He smiles, holding out his right hand. "LexCorp Special Projects. We don't publish much."

Ah, I see. A power-copier with a focus on skills and knowledge? Which at this point makes him literally the smartest guy in the room.

The scientist frowns a little, but shakes his hand anyway. "You're an A.I. specialist?"

"Technically, I'm a xenotechnology specialist. But since every alien civilisation we've encountered has used computer systems more advanced than ours, I've developed more than a passing familiarity with the subject. Of course…" He half-turns as Mr. Luthor and I approach. "I imagine that Orange Lantern's familiarity with alien technology outstrips mine by an order of magnitude."

Hopefully he's not running around in long underwear, trouncing perceived 'fools' yet. Thankfully, he can't copy technology functions directly.

I nod. "Yes, but only as a user. I'm sure that your understanding of how they actually work outstrips mine."

That's a little irritating. If I'd realised that someone on Mr. Luthor's staff was enlightened then I'd have tried recruiting them. Or at least hired them to help me with training. As it is, someone working in something called 'Special Projects' has probably been involved in enough dodgy things that would make me cautious to employ him; nothing about being enlightened requires you to be a good person.

The problem is, he's only enlightened as long as you're nearby. Probably makes more sense to keep him in a lab with lots of smart people around for him to tap than tossing him into deep space all on his own.

Case in point: me.

Dr. Cochin hesitates, thinking his reply over before giving it. "Perhaps. Has Mister Luthor explained the problem to you?"

At least OL is self-aware about how much his thinking is altered. Even if he's okay with it...

Mr. Luthor gives his team an encouraging smile. "I thought that I would leave that to specialists."

The scientist nods. "This is Enginehead's main server. Where his mind-. No, that's not right. It's his brain; the physical structure plays too big a part in how he thinks for us to just say that he exist on it."

So he is something of a 'Quantum Blue Box' system, tied to his original spec for his current runtime. Kind of like EDI in Mass Effect, you know?

"Okay, makes sense so far."

"And because he isn't a being of pure data, he can't just… Extend himself into the internet, or… Any of that other science fiction nonsense."

Not easily, presumably. And doing so would require fundamental changes to his architecture.

The silent 'as far as we know' looms large over that sentence.

"So what happened on the twenty eighth?"

Yes, best guesses, gentlemen. This being a very uncertain field of study...

"In order to improve efficiency, Enginehead has… Terminals, with ultra-high bandwidth connections to his servers, at several LexCorp facilities. Anywhere that needs high-volume data processing, basically. And that obviously includes Market Analysis. The gang who broke in had some very sophisticated anti A.I. devices…"

So they tried to hack him remotely. Safer than hitting his core system, but less reliable.

He looks over at another desk where various pieces of computer equipment are laid out.

"And a device that… We think was supposed to download data from Enginehead's core consciousness."

That would be a worry, especially if it was more cut-paste than copy-paste...

"What else could it be?"

"It could be attempted murder. Like pouring acid on someone's brain."

...Well, that's a nasty image to put forwards.

"And why can't you tell?"

He points to-. Ah.

Blackened, burned and melted. Parts of the board are still there, and the slag that used to be something electronics-related.

No doubt Anarky's work. He got what he needed, and destroyed the tool.

"A self-destruct?"

"It could just have been a blowtorch. Though according to the police, none of the attackers had one on them when they were arrested."

Hm. "Plasma weapons?"

I'd hope that the plasma gunners weren't being that indiscriminate with their fire around a possible target.

He considers the defunct device, then shrugs. Dr. Cochin on the other hand shakes his head. "No. Plasma bolts tend to spall on impact as the plasma breaches containment. Those are too focused. The lack of thermite residue suggests a blowtorch more than a self-destruct device to me, but there are ways to avoid leaving evidence."

'Spall' means to fragment when a projectile striking a harder object, by the way. Plasmafied metal and plastic everywhere, at speed.

"And then there's the possibility that this was planted."

"Oh?" Mr. Luthor raises his right eyebrow. "That seems like an unusual step. Is there something about this 'Anarky' we should be aware of?"

So he left a fake one plugged in while he stole the original? Damn clever.

"Intense morality, intense conviction, contemptuous of vice… He'd be a good superhero -or cult leader- if he had a little more worldly experience. I was watching him before the Anti-Life attack, but he wasn't showing any signs of… Doing anything like this. Child superheroes who aren't aping their elders are very rare."

Best not to mention he was on your short list of replacement Ring wielders. Just as Luthor was. Don't want to feed that ego.

"I hope you don't consider kidnapping Enginehead to be a heroic act, Orange Lantern."

"That depends on what he was trying to achieve. And exactly what he'd caught LexCorp doing that set him off."

Ah, childish morality. You're either a paragon of good or an evil, evil scumbag. And Anarky's definitely got his threshold cranked way towards the cynical end.

"And what do you mean by that?"

I raise my eyebrows, very slightly.

He shrugs, very slightly.

Can we skip the games, gents? Be frank, Lex.

"Let us say that a person with absolutely no trust in authority found evidence that a… LexCorp employee, was doing something deeply immoral, if not outright illegal. For a normal person, the thing to do would be to take that information to the police, the press, or that employee's superior. But for someone who doesn't trust the authorities and is courageous and has a strong moral conviction, the thing to do is to take action themselves. I don't know what Enginehead knew-. Knows, but if you're looking for a motive, that's where I'd start. If no demands have been issued..?"

...What are the chances he learned about Lex's thing with the Light? And all the crap tied to that? Probably something far less significant, but not impossible.

I raise my eyebrows fully, and he shakes his head.

"Then I suggest an internal review. None of what I know about him suggests that he'd be after money or scientific data, or that he'd attack someone he didn't consider morally culpable for something."

To be fair, the trick is working out what he did want.

"I take it you were investigating the case already?"

I nod. "He performed a ritual to destroy his own written history, and that of the attackers. I suspect that he arranged for the attack as a distraction. Or because the equipment was too heavy for him to manage by himself. I've got some magicians trying to come up with a way to use it to track him."

Pretty clear he pulled some sneaky shit. Crazy level of pre-planning. Full Batman tier.

"And Enginehead?" I shrug. "Your best guess?"

"He's intelligent, but 'intelligent child' intelligent, not 'genius' intelligent. There probably is a way to hack Enginehead like this conventionally, but my guess…" I wave my runestone over the equipment, and-.

Probably a good thing he hasn't got more than an elementary school education yet.

Ah.

We look at the weak glow.

"Is magic."

Oh, boy. He's going to end up full Doctor Doom-style, isn't he? Marrying science and sorcery in a masterful blending?

I wonder how annoyed Lex is feeling right now, to know his people got outsmarted by a nine-year-old? A nine-year-old with a very depressingly monochromatic view of the world. Can't help but wonder if he might see something of himself in the boy. At any rate, let's hope Enginehead isn't too badly damaged by this whole ordeal.

Sockmonkey · Dec 6, 2024

CTrees said:
From a certain perspective, there's not much difference. Remember the lesson of the Man-Kzin war: A reaction drive is a weapon effective in proportion to its efficiency. The same idea applies to other advanced power sources, at least of the sort the Tollan provided, as demonstrated by the fact that a less advanced civilization sufficiently weaponized it.

Or as Schlock Mercenary put it: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun."

WereDragon · Dec 6, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Doctor Joel Cochin."

The skill thief. Would be interesting to see if he is able to hold onto the Enlightenment after Paul leaves. And how profoundly even a brief exposure would impact his long term thought process.

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

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

Connoisseur.

Not too sore, are you?

Chasing the ring

Versed in the lewd.

Chasing the ring

Know what you're doing yet?

Argent Phantasm

Dedicated ragequitter

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Argent Phantasm

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Know what you're doing yet?

Just zis guy, you know?

Dedicated ragequitter

HISSSSSS!

Connoisseur.

Experienced.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

At the End...

Know what you're doing yet?

Know what you're doing yet?

If this is trash, then find me in the dumpster

Versed in the lewd.

The Critical Fumbler

Connoisseur.

Veteran Lurker

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Bookwyrm

Users who are viewing this thread