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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. mathpotato

    mathpotato Know what you're doing yet?

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    Hair also sometimes darkens as you get older, she may be bleaching it to keep it a lighter blonde.
     
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  2. rdfox

    rdfox Know what you're doing yet?

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    This. I had sandy blond hair when I was young (I still have photos and, from my first barbershop haircut, a lock of hair showing me to be almost pure yellow hair when I was 5-6 years old), but by the time I graduated from high school, my hair was decidedly brown. Now, twenty-five years later, it's essentially black (except for those stray colorless ones I refuse to admit are starting to appear)...
     
  3. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Based on the conversation she had with renegade she seemed to be dyeing her hair to be blonde from her natural color, which is most likely black like her mother and sister.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2020
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  4. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    ...

    Artemis has multiple sisters?
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2020
  5. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
  6. Sorrow

    Sorrow Getting sticky.

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    So, they've been there at least 200 years. Huh.

    And I'm calling it right now! The DNA source is Kryptonian! Don't know if it's Kon's or Kal's or another's, though.
     
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  7. LostPath

    LostPath Getting out there.

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    It would likely be either Kal Kent's or Prime Superman's. Prime Superman being veeeeery different from Superman Prime.
     
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  8. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Well, guess that answers that... Mr Zoat! To the editmobile!
     
  9. Gantradies

    Gantradies Not too sore, are you?

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    you are home, we- feel happy, hurt?~
    excellent taste Zoat- even if that song's one hell of an earworm is a tune that keeps playing in your head, baby,baby yeah. just plastic....

    ....so safe... and nothing..to worry about...
    ....ha
    ....ha
    ....FUNNY!

    how do you say INSANE?
     
  10. Gantradies

    Gantradies Not too sore, are you?

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    ahem "thank you, corrected"
     
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  11. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
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  12. Threadmarks: Summer's End (part 16)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Where We
    Stand


    The Vat Lord of Caergwaed puts a block of chitin into a reader device and then places his hands on the work station, sigils lighting up as he uses magic to read the contents.

    "It's in the block?"

    The Vat Lord nods at Artemis's inquiry.

    "It's a standard sample container. It's designed to exclude external contaminants, but given the age of the sample it should have long since spoiled. But in fact…"

    An illusion image appears… That's not human DNA. I… Don't even think that's DNA. I'm… Passingly familiar with genetic encoding which uses other chemicals, but nothing like to the level I'd need to be for what I'm seeing to actually make sense to me.

    "As you can see, this sample is undamaged. Pure. Even after all this time."

    Artemis looks at it, then looks at me. I shrug, and she peers at the image instead.

    "Do you know what sort of… Thing this molecule would create?"

    "No. I could begin work on a specialist vat to grow it, if that is your wish."

    "This… Thing killed the most powerful superheroes in the galaxy when the galaxy was full-sized. Let's not create another one."

    I take a closer look, but…

    Ping.

    Really?

    "Vat Lord, my Mother Box recognises parts of this."

    "Well, yes, my lord. These segments here and here-" Several parts are illuminated. "-exist in every creature on Earth. In myself, other Highborn, Lowborn, our beasts, even the material of the ground. All of us."

    The work station glows and a series of example cell structures appear, each showing the segments in their own structures in the cell. Other parts of the cell vary greatly; this is a cross section of Sheeda-life.

    "Our every cell contains structures specifically designed to grow and maintain it. This discovery implies that either this… Creature is a more developed form of Sheeda, or that we were created as derivatives of it."

    Artemis regards him levelly. "Meaning?"

    "It's not my personal specialty, but there are wards which can be created from the blood of one's foe which will function perfectly against the donor's spells. It is known amongst Vat Masters that creatures without this component will fail to develop correctly, but the component itself is generally regarded as being purely inert. And… Biologically, it is. But perhaps there is some magic unknown to us where having this… Shields us."

    I nod. "Like the visovoric effect which drains everything which is unprotected."

    "Perhaps. Certainly, I cannot think of anything else that could explain this state of affairs."

    "Design a small creature without it. I will shield it with my New God abilities so that we can study the precise effect."

    "Very well, that is simple to achieve."

    Artemis points at the illusion. "Could those work in a human body?"

    "Yes, certainly. Though not without… Problems. You have met our recycling units?"

    The zombie children. But if they are as… Human as they can be… "And if you wanted to create…" Artemis and I share a glance. "Something… Intelligent, as similar to a human as possible, that could contain that genetic sample and still be alive?"

    "I have never seen unaltered human flesh. The Harvest Dreadnoughts convert it into a more useable format before returning to the Land of Summer's End."

    Artemis slightly raises her right hand. "Grayven, do I have human DNA?"

    "Sort of. If you're planning on offering it for analysis it probably wouldn't work. Don’t worry, you can still get pregnant and donate blood without it killing anyone." Huh. "Uh. Actually, don't donate blood."

    "What?"

    "It won't hurt anyone, but it might give them temporary New God powers or something, and that would be confusing. But, yeah, we can't provide material for human comparative testing."

    She nods, then frowns. "'We'?"

    "My mother's from Earth. We don't know where, or what her name was, but this is her planet of origin. Did you think I didn't have any human biological traits?"

    "Oh. Yeah, okay. Vat Lord, is this material in the mists as well?"

    "Most certainly. Microbes in the water droplets contain the exact same segments."

    "So-."

    "My lady, you are not Sheeda. I am not… Sure you understand what a significant finding this is?"

    I raise my eyebrows.

    "I'm not sure you do, either. I'll wager you a pint of my blood that Sheeda were created by the final generation of humans specifically to be able to survive the draining effect of the Vampire Sun."

    He shakes his head. "I will not take that bet. It sounds all too likely."

    "That doesn't… Bother you?"

    "Not really. I think everyone who would have been bothered by it either left with the Queen or died in the war. For myself… I have reached the pinnacle of my career, and I have nothing to look forward to but a gradual reduction in my capacity to create novel forms of life. But if you are successful… I will be unbound, free to create as I will. Purely from a self-interested point of view, the choice is an easy one."

    Hm…

    "When we're finished here, I may have a role for you. I know some people involved in the 'novel life form' business." I shake my head. "Can you use this sample to create a better ward?"

    "Certainly. I would first have to find a way to reproduce a pure sample. And then there would be… Limitations. The creature sustaining it would effectively only exist to sustain the sample, though that would be quite sufficient for sorcerous purposes. For a sojourn to the Vampire Sun… Additional design work would be needed. A great deal of design work."

    I nod. "You have the resources of the Sheeda civilisation." I smile at Artemis. "Chances that the thing that killed the Justice Legion is having a kip in the sun because the only thing left that it can feed on is warded against it?"

    "Would the ward work if it just flew here?" Artemis makes eye contact with both of us. "I mean, it's a sun. If the tissue was blocking its draining spell, why wouldn't it just come here in person?"

    The Vat Lord gestures to the room. "For much the same reason that we Harrow the past. There is nothing here. If the Vampire Sun can sustain itself upon us, then it will do so for as long as it can. It has no alternative."

    "So that's not the sun-sun?"

    I shrug. "Could be. Might not be. Might be… I mean, it was originally humanoid. It might have flown into the sun for fuel, and be draining Earth as a bonus. Either way, we need a creature that can survive the sun and this thing's draining. And an organic bleed torsion generator. Probably easiest if I have my people work on the generator while yours work on the rest."

    Artemis nods. "I agree. With the Vat Lord having oversight of everything?"

    I nod. "He's the best on the planet. Meanwhile… You and I have about a thousand and one meetings to sit in on."

    Artemis nods, and we both step away as the Vat Lord deactivates the station and peers longingly at the sample container.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2020
  13. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    maybe 'Our very cells' or 'every one of our cells'

    To be fair even New Gods that have only New God parents look like humans, so it's understandable why no one would figure out he was half human.

    'reached'
     
  14. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Googling 'visovoric' doesn't give any results, and Latin to English translation gives 'seeing' for 'viso' which doesn't seem right. Maybe it should be 'vito' to indicate life?
     
  15. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    No. 'Vis' is energy, and there are a couple of occurrences of 'visovore' on the internet.
     
  16. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    I'm not sure I follow.

    Why does this sample logicaly lead to those conclusions?

    The assumption is that this gene variant works like a blood spell, shielding against the draining spells caster.

    But the vampiric effect could have a thousand other reasons and the gene sequence simply shields against it.

    It's good that Grayven wants to do further tests because that seems like a large jump to conclusions.

    Also, if that thing truly does live in the sun the universe may have been shrunken in order to contain it. Creating access to the bleed might be a very bad idea then.
     
  17. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    How.. mundane, for something that old. This is like finding a chunk of rock with bits of the first lifeforms to evolve on Earth, in terms of timescale, you'd think there would be more ceremony to this...

    The fact that is hasn't spoiled at all is.. worrying at the least. Evidently, whatever this was, or is, it doesn't suffer from the limitations of mortal flesh...

    So, not kryptonian. He'd have recognised that, given his part in Karsta's new generation of Kryptonians. That at least eliminates things like Superman Prime.

    Even an expert like him couldn't know that from one chunk of DNA. But... The only way to actually know...

    Yeah, let's be careful about this. For all you know, using this sample could make whatever's causing the Vampire Sun effect to come looking for it...

    Translation: "Well, that's peculiar..."

    ...Fascinating. Something she's encountered in Grayven's service, or something from whatever general database all Mother Boxes share? Either way, that means it's known to New Genesis...

    So, this is something...This sequence is what makes them Sheeda? Presumably, the Columbians inherited it from Melmoth's 'attentions' back in the day, too. So it's likely what makes them capable of becoming Grundymen...

    Whatever it is, it's clearly vital to the fact that they can stay alive. Presumably people like Sivana, captives from the past, pick it up in food and water, allowing them partial resistance...

    That drain is ignoring Sheeda life-forms.. because it considers them to be friends. It is a bloody biological IFF system! Holy shit!

    So, a tiny bug or the like. This should be fascinating to examine.

    Make a hybrid, like Kon? Assuming it doesn't end up literally tearing itself apart due to incompatibility...

    He'd need a sample of human flesh, first. I doubt anyone in this room qualifies, except maybe Artemis.

    Oh, she's quick. Comes from decades of experience, I guess.

    Heh. I love that that's a risk. Has Grayven even investigated that? I mean, he's assuming it could be safe. Comic-book logic, after all. I mean, She-hulk got her powers from a blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner. She could easily have developed gamma-powered cancer, but nope: Big green amazon powers.

    Well, easy mistake to make, what with New Gods generally being perfect humans, barring the few freakshow types.

    And As I posited earlier, actual captives end up ingesting them from food and water. Hence Sivana's survival, if not comfort, during his visit.

    I'm betting... Something on par with discovering your deity is really real, and they really do live up to your expectations of them?

    A last generation of scientists, finding a way to spit in the eye of the creature killing their world? Yeah, I can see that.

    If it didn't, he wouldn't be alive.

    Heh. Nice to see someone with big dreams. You'd hardly expect it in Sheeda culture...

    Ooh, putting him in touch with Doctor Cranius and the U-Men? That'll put the cat amongst the pigeons...

    And it assumes that there's nothing left for it to feed on? Grayven and Artemis are kind of shielded by their New God nature, but when he had that moment of despair... Could be whatever it is is starting to wake up, perhaps?

    Why try and mess with a good thing? That'd be like killing the goose that laid the golden egg...

    Division of labour to allow focus. Just make sure they remember to make them compatible. Don't want a generator that fries the thing it's supposed to power, or has the wrong size attachments...

    The joy of actually ruling things. Paperwork and meetings.

    Yeah, might pay off to keep an eye on this guy, just in case. Because that's how you get supervillains, in most cases.

    This puts a whole new spin on the nature of Sheeda technology. And might explain why conventional tech gets targetted. No 'safe' ward to protect it...Now you've got me looking forwards to seeing just what the hell this thing is...
     
  18. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Don't forget the Sheeda Sivana ate.

    I think that even if she didn't stay there for decades she would have picked it up.

    And nerds around the world rejoiced for they had one more big breasted amazonian woman to masturbate to, along with Wonder Woman, Starfire etc.

    Like Sleeze.

    Another disturbing looking New Gods I remember was this group called the Court of Apokalips that had a lot of freaky looking New Gods in it.

    One guy was just a giant head.

    Now I wanna see him be transformed into a bug thing, well more of a bug thing, like Rusty was for pissing in God's eye.

    Can't believe they cancelled that show. Really hope they bring it back.

    They probably do have big dreams, but those include killing a whole lot of innocents.

    If this guy worked when Gloriana was around then he's technically already a supervillain, seeing as he would have worked to maintain an empire who primarily wants to hurt people.
     
  19. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    Clearly this strange non-human material comes from Plastic Man.
    I mean which other member of the league could be expected to survive billions of years? Though calling this fragmented state “surviving” would be misleading.
     
  20. cerberus beasty

    cerberus beasty Making the rounds.

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    might explain the tiny universe, the thing in the sun eats everything that is not itself including the SPACE in the universe.
     
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  21. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    This particular flock of pigeons are quite capable of taking this particular cat apart for study.

    Except for the fact that these "golden eggs" probably taste like tofu and have a nutritional value slightly greater than a stack of celery would to a human (on account of the warding mitigating the drain effect). The only reason it nibbles on them instead of devouring them completely is because it has no alternative.

    They just said it came from the Vamp-Ra. Unless you think that Plastic Man evolved into Vamp-Ra! That makes even more sense than Mickey Mouse theory! Well done!
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
  22. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

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    Tofu can taste great! It depends on how you cook them, imo.
     
  23. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    I'll have to take your word on that but even your favourite thing in the world will get old super fast if you eat just that and nothing else.

    My point is Vamp-Ra is in the same position Matt Daemon's character from 'the Martian' was. Sheeda are its' potatoes. Sun is its' slowly but certainly breaking down homebase. Except there's no rescue coming.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
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  24. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    It's weird that the Vat Lord, being such an important person (maybe the third most important in the universe from our protagonist's point of view) doesn't get asked for and referred to by his name.
     
  25. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    "It's Vat Lord."

    "Sorry. Couldn't quite catch that."

    "I said my name is 'Vat Lord' okay! My parents thought it was funny. I just added the article to make it sound like a title."
     
  26. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Maybe 'contains'
     
  27. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  28. iamnuff

    iamnuff Connoisseur.

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    The vats are one of the most important parts of sheeda civilization, and he's the best there is at using them.

    If I were him, I'd be sure to constantly remind everyone that I was irreplaceable too. Just so they don't forget.
     
  29. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    How did I manage to accidentally forget to read my comics and serials for two days? o_O

    You're getting better with these! :D

    My dyslexia made this even better. I read it in this order:

    Dust rains down on me. I give myself an eight.

    And a chunk of coral finishes cracking off and falls to the ground just behind me.

    ... Maybe an eight point five.

    Okay, Loki.

    Either "ward cooks" or "wards cook"

    of
     
  30. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
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