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

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I'd say that the Enclave relocating from the west coast to the east coast was dumb. There's no reason why there couldn't have been a Enclave-loyal company in the DC area since the War.

    The East Coast Brotherhood was a dumb concept, which they doubled down on in 76.
    Every single Canadian died. Not of anything in particular, they just sort of stopped living.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  2. Silverias

    Silverias Know what you're doing yet?

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    This is totally true. Hell, having some sort of sleeper cell in DC that woke up as a last contingency because the oil rig blew would have been more interesting than just "We're from the West Coast."

    East Coast Brotherhood, if they were gonna do it, needed to be WAY less important to the main plot, and the "Outcasts" should have been a much bigger deal. Hell, a whole fallout game could be made out of "The Lyons brotherhood and the outcasts are at war and normal people without plasma weaponry are stuck in the middle."

    You could have issues where the "Humanitarian" Lyons brotherhood still murders every ghoul they see, or talk about how, as much as they try to help people, it always seems to have an authoritarian bend.

    You could take Squire Maxson out back behind the woodshed and beat some fucking sense into him before he becomes a problem.

    Having the Lyons brotherhood just be "The Brotherhood but Good" and the Outcasts be "Basically the actual brotherhood but with absolutely zero fleshing out." means that they're both superfluous to the game that could have had a billion other opportunities with Washington DC.

    What contingencies did the government leave behind? What did the alphabet agencies do after the bombs fell? Hell, even Project Purity wasn't an AWFUL idea, an industrial-strength water purifier works as a callback to Fallout 1 without any changes necessary.

    Imagine Tribals worshipping Lincoln, A vault made up entirely of Government-affiliated families, Ghoul senators!

    So many options!

    ----

    And Again, I say all this as a fan of Fallout 3. I can't play NV without TTW anymore.
     
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  3. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Tale of Two Wastelands, in case anyone else was confused.
     
  4. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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  5. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    Australia could learn a thing or two from the US when it comes to naming things after Britain. Every time I see the name of Perth it bothers me that it isn’t called New Perth.
     
  6. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    That's not Fallout, it's just a general problem with how Zoat writes.

    IE he has the bad habit of adding stuff that wasn't previously canon to the universe, but then not adapting the canon universe to those new historical facts.
     
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  7. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    There are definitely places that are outright named Camden, Gloucester, London, Lancaster, and Berlin. Though I feel a few of these places aren't pronounced anything like they are in Britain. But my favorite 'named after something European' is definitely King of Prussia.

    Though honestly I have never heard of the British Perth but I have heard of the Australian one. I suppose it's the effect of stuff like how New Jersey is probably better known than Jersey, and same with New York versus York.
     
  8. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    To be fair, even some Scots haven’t heard of Perth, even though it was the capital 500 years ago. When I applied for my first job, my boss thought that coming from Perth meant I’d need a visa. Also, I’ve just looked it up and it turns out that the USA actually does have a town called Perth, and they forgot the ‘New’ as well, so I’d retract my earlier respect for US naming practices even if you hadn’t given a bunch of other examples.
     
  9. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    It probably helps that our famous ones do have a 'New' in front of it, and the other ones really aren't famous.
     
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  10. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    I mean yes, they missed the perfect opportunity to name the town Perth 2: Electric Boogaloo. Total waste.
     
  11. ForeverShogo

    ForeverShogo Not too sore, are you?

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    From what I remember, there was actually a point super early in the development of Fallout 3 that had it so that the Enclave was meant to be the good guy faction trying to rebuild Washington, DC. The idea was going to be that the genocidal madmen got wiped when the the Oil Rig blew up, so all that was left were the guys who wanted to be more sensible in how they went about trying to restore America. Then at some point they decided to arbitrarily throw in the Brotherhood and, well, I'm sure many of us are familiar where that ended up. (I think the conflict between Autumn and Eden over whether or not the modified FEV plan should be enacted was a carryover of those initial ideas.)

    It's not really so unbelievable to have various Enclave cells as one contingency plan or another, but the way Bethesda mindlessly recycles things to the point that there was some Appalachia Brotherhood of Steel in the early days of the Brotherhood all because some other soldiers had a long range radio and decided to mindlessly copy some motherfuckers on the opposite end of the country . . . It's just such a desperate reach.
     
  12. Someguy Somewhere

    Someguy Somewhere The Critical Fumbler

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    Perth Ontario is a lovely town that is no where near Perth County, which isn't even in the same province as the village of Perth-Andover.

    Gonna say we Canadians have a problem with that one too.
     
  13. Threadmarks: Fallout: Iowa (part 10)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    5th November 2282
    12:34 CDT


    "No this fucking armour isn't EMP proof! Fuck!"

    I keep applying electrokinetic force to the mechanoid, hoping that-.

    Chnk!

    That's the shield arm gone-.

    Chnk!

    That's the gun arm and I feel it as it tries to self-destruct. And… There: a weak flash of surprise when it can't.

    "How long does it take to reboot?"

    "What the fuck do you mean 'reboot'?"

    "It means-."

    "My control systems are fried! Until they're replaced, I'm walking manually!"

    Something… Shifts in the mechanoid's internals-. A mechanical self destruct? Seriously? Okay, okay, telekinesis, hold it-.

    Agh, this actually… Hurts…

    "New California Republic soldiers move their armour without servo assistance."

    "Then their mammas were bull fuckers and they're born half-brahmin!" His armour shudders slightly as he tries to move. "Fuck!"

    Trying to keep my eyes on the struggling mechanoid, I turn my head away slightly towards the direction of the ambush party.

    "If anyone wants to come and help us out here, that would be really helpful!"

    Iverson jogs out of cover, stowing his gauss rifle and taking a pair of bolt cutters off his equipment harness. "Hoines still alive?"

    "Yeah, I'm still alive. Get Cruz over here to change my tubes over!"

    "No can do, Private." Iverson places the head of the bolt cutters against the mechanoid's cranial armour and snips. "Everyone's on overwatch, in case more of this asshole's friends turn up."

    I nod. "I believe that I was able to prevent it signalling anyone, but that's probably wise."

    "I can't believe this shit. I'm putting in for T-51. I'm putting in for T-51."

    Clipclipclipclipclank.

    "You don't mean that, Private." Iverson lifts the bolt cutters away to get a look at the hole, then shakes the bolt cutter at it. "Good enough?"

    I point to the place I can feel the mechanical destruct system. "Here. I can only do so many things at once."

    "Shoulda brought something from the machine shop. Hm."

    I shake my head. "They don't have enough power tools to send them on field missions."

    "Okay, howsabout that?"

    Clunk.

    The metal screams as I telekinetically pull out the small ratchet connected to the suicide charge and toss it aside.

    "Whow!" Iverson jerks his head towards it. "Careful with that!"

    "That was just the trigger. The explosive…" I pull the hole a little wider, then… There we go. "This, won't do a thing without the trigger, but just in case…"

    I release the remains of the robot and use my telekinesis to hurl the explosive across the ruins.

    Iverson nods. "Done?"

    "The mechanoid is fully disarmed and can't self-terminate. And-" A brief application of telekinetic force on those vacuum tubes. "-it can't communicate with its friends."

    "Good." Iverson stows his bolt cutters and draws his gauss rifle, moving to the ready position. "Commence with the mind fuckery. Cruz!"

    Alright. Let's see what they've done to you…

    Some interference from the armour, but it's nothing that I can't work around. First thing to do…

    **Is there anyone-**

    **Alarmalarmalarm!**

    **-there. I see that there is.**

    **Alert cohort! Alert network!**

    **Why don't you just calm down?**

    **A-ah… Yes. Mood reset.**

    From which I learn that they have moods.

    **Do you have a name?**

    **Patrol Unit Gamma Seven One Four Two Nine Stroke G.**

    **Were you ever called anything else?**

    **Unit was unnamed during construction.**

    And that's a problem. It's talking to me as if it were responding to demands for information. A human being spoken to like this by a hostile force will shout and threaten. Even if I enforced a calm frame of mind, they wouldn't just give information like that. That suggests an AI that was never intended to receive a communication that it wasn't supposed to respond to fully and openly. It isn't even asking me for a password, and a robobrain would do that reflexively.

    **Provide construction location.**

    **Not found.**

    It doesn't have the coordinates stored-. Actually…

    I reach past its consciousness and into its mind, seeing out of its perspective and feeling with its conceptual models. Ah, they're not programmed with an objective, just a series of complex behaviours. They could be seeded and left to their own devices, and it was just our bad luck that we were driving past them. There's a… Report back protocol, and unlike walking back to its home base that location is far likely to have massed automated defences. There's a damage alert, but that just changes the behaviour of nearby units. There's clearly no urgency for whoever's sending these out to pick them up. The self destruct thing isn't just an extreme security measure, they're absolutely fine just tossing the materials away. That's remarkably profligate in this day and age, certainly not something a tech-savvy raider would do.

    I push back and back, looking for either early recordings or early memories. And I immediately discover that these things essentially sleepwalk unless something sends them into combat mode. They just pick their way through the dust and ruins without really being aware of anything, and as a result there's nothing to separate the memories or join together the more detailed memories that are actually there.

    Where is…

    No, that's an early test activation on a… Conveyor. An actual automated factory. I skip through several similar memories and I don't see a single person-.

    That one. That one was a little… Different. The same walls… Looks a little like a Vault, but Vault-Tec wasn't shy about selling to just about anyone so that doesn't necessarily mean that it was a Vault-vault.

    Show me more. Show me-.

    **No. No. I do not want to.**

    Yes!

    **["…crazy it's actually happening."

    "I'm just glad that we didn't waste our money on this place. It seems kinda small."

    "This shelter isn't designed for habitation, madam. All residents will be placed in suspended animation until the all clear is given."

    "How long will that be?"

    "From your perspective, madam, no time at all."
    ]**

    And the mechanoid and I both start screaming.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2022
  14. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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  15. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    think -> thing
     
  16. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Yikes. Automated people to robot conversion?

    Let me guess, more Enclave sadistic bullshit?
     
  17. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Well, it's definitely not happy about being interfered with. But seriously, they skimped on the power armour shielding? I mean, tactical EMP and nuclear weapons aren't so uncommon that they wouldn't have some protection, would they? Or was poor Hoines just unlucky enough to cop it in a weak spot? :oops:

    Hopefully with generator intact. Waste not want not, after all.

    An actual emotion? Interesting. So they're not just biological calculators.

    Expecting too much of their tech, Krono.

    An entirely mechanical CPU, huh. Or at least tube-based. Must make reprogramming an exercise in engineering rather than computing science.

    Wow, their designer was thorough. And paranoid. o_O They really anticipated someone managing to disable the code-based destruct functions?

    Now, now. I'm sure some of them look a little bovine, but that's probably just the result of minor mutations.

    "Ha, looks like the mutie isn't all powerful, huh, boys?"
    "Uh, Sarge, he does like like he's in trouble, though. And Hoines is down..."
    "...Fine, get moving."

    The joy of their tech, I guess. Wonder what would happen if they had to ditch the spare tubes, or they got damaged...

    So, be quick about this part, then.

    Whatever that means, it's a safe bet it's easier work than this. Or at least he sees it as such...

    The joy of teamwork!

    And the jostling might well cause Krono's telekinetic hold to slip loose. That would be no fun for anyone.

    Not entirely safe now, but less likely to spontaneously explode on them...

    Yeah, however large the self-destruct charge is - And I'm guessing it's large - you don't want it anywhere near people you can at least tolerate.

    Krono might need a minute for his head to stop aching, after that workout.

    Time for a trip into the inner self...

    Pity they don't have the time to haul it home and carve open the braincase.

    Well, that's not a good sign.

    And it's seriously panicking. Time to exude some diplomatic charm, Krono.

    A feature I bet some people wish they could have in the real world...

    Let's just call you G-G for now, shall we?

    Hmm... Does that mean the brain is artificially grown, or just that it has no memories of having been human? Deeper digging is needed, methinks.

    Sloppy informational security. But if the maker assumed there was no chance of someone hacking into or otherwise suborning a unit...

    Presumably not needed for its operational parameters.

    So, wherever they're being made has extensive stockpiles of resources, is actively mining, or taking them from salvage...

    Man, what kind of existence would that be... Brief flashes of waking, and seeing nothing but death and destruction...

    Perhaps their maker broke open a Vault, and is using those within as resources?

    Actual perception of self? That's extra worrying.

    :confused: Oh, this is gonna be bad, isn't it?

    ...I'm guessing that was a common plan amongst Vaults.

    Craaaap. Someone is using human resources... Literally.

    Yeah, kind of expected that.

    Well, then. The things you stumble across in the Wasteland as a protagonist, huh, Krono? I'm guessing the maker of these Battle-bots just went from 'minor annoyance' to the Ohio colony to 'major threat'. At the least, it doesn't look like they'll be able to come to a peaceful conclusion. I don't see any AI capable of this seeing people as anything more than reluctant materials waiting to be optimised.
     
  18. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    What, did a human mind get loaded into a computer for the robot’s operating system? And then after that the robot was brainwashed? I assume these are the same robots which had brains buried in their chests.


    None of this explains how that not-Vault is wasteful with these robots though. Did someone get a material synthesizer (or whatever the generic term is for a futuristic printer)?
     
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  19. PepeTheFrog

    PepeTheFrog Not too sore, are you?

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    Is that the PC of Fallout 4? I'm trying to remember their lines from when they were put into suspended animation but I think someone might have cannibalized the Vault Dwellers in suspended animation for these modified Robo-Brains.
    Edit: Nevermind. Just remembered that the Vault Dwellers of Vault 111 were lied to about being put to sleep and thought they were being "decontaminated".
     
  20. ForeverShogo

    ForeverShogo Not too sore, are you?

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    To be fair, the armor the NCR Heavies wore had a lot of the internals and servos ripped out of it. So not only was it at least somewhat lighter, but the servos themselves are probably providing a level of resistance that the "we're too stupid to use this properly" NCR didn't have to deal with.

    Because the fact that regular ass raiders can make use of power armor in Fallout 4 really makes the NCR look that much worse in the field of power armor locomotion.
     
  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    If it was the Enclave, the Enclave guys with him would be a lot happier about it.
    Fallout 4 used that frame system to explain why it was so easy, and their armour for some reason needs constant battery replacements.
     
  22. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    I think the explanation was that all of the batteries are nearly dead after 200 years. Presumably a fresh battery would power the armour for a long time.
    I’m not sure exactly what you should change, but there is definitely something wrong with this sentence.
     
  23. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    That makes sense.
     
  24. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    Really, it should be 'King in Prussia,' but it's not surprising if the person who named the inn that the town was named for didn't know that.
     
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  25. AngelicKnight.

    AngelicKnight. Lewd demon of negotiable affection

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    Yep, if I recall correctly, there's a great video by Austin from game theory who calculates how long the batteries would last and it works out roughly accurate.
    T-51 refers to a model of power armor, one of the more advanced pre war models. Not the most advanced model, but the most advanced model to see mass production if I recall correctly.
    A couple vaults gave used cryogenics before, most notably Vault 111, but it wasn't a common approach.

    Mostly it's live unfrozen people locked in giant shelters with everything they would need to survive for however long that vault needs to stay shut.


    Shame about the whole... Vault experiment thing ruining that potential.
     
  26. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    It was named after an inn built in 1719 by Welsh Quakers to honor King Frederick II, so you're not wrong.
     
  27. Doccer

    Doccer I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    how's about
     
  28. Someguy Somewhere

    Someguy Somewhere The Critical Fumbler

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    I think that's on purpose.
     
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  29. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Pretty sure this is Zoat's completely non-canon version of the Institute.
     
  30. jasonh23761

    jasonh23761 Not too sore, are you?

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    As a proud citizen of the NCR, I resemble that remark. But real talk though, trying to drive that armor through muscle power alone without the servos stripped out would be absolutely brutal.

    As an aside, I thought at least part of the reason for the poor quality of the NCR's Power Armor arsenal was that most of it was battlefield salvage torn from dead Brotherhood soldiers. It's incredibly frustrating with how little we know about the NCR-Brotherhood war beyond the fact the Brotherhood apparently irradiated the NCR gold reserve and the NCR managed to overrrun several BoS bunkers to the point where the defenders detonated self destruct mechanisms, as per Mr House.

    Then again, up until the last hour or so of their questline, the Fallout 4 Brotherhood was my favorite canon iteration. I'm still sad we never got to see Elder Sarah Lyons and her iteration of the chapter.

    [​IMG]
     
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