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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. Threadmarks: Maladaptive (part 7)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    22nd July 2012
    11:42 GMT -6


    "…kinda electrical fellah."

    Earl frowns, and because his brain actually encodes information as closely as possible to how human brains do he genuinely is straining to remember. Sometimes the schematic flows just aren't strong enough. The scientists that created him might not have had the sheer individual brilliance of Dr. Morrow, but when it comes to making something that thinks like a human they achieved far more.

    "Kilger? Could take over machines like this."

    "Kilg%re. Though… We're not sure if that's its name, or just a random series of letters it typed in before it really understood human language."

    "Kilgore?"

    "Kilg%re."

    "Ah?" He shrugs. "If'n you say so."

    "Kilg%re exists in two forms. He can sustain himself in a diffuse plasma medium, or he can install himself on a robotic platform. The Green Lanterns told me how to detect his plasma form, so I can check for that myself. I can't reliably detect a robotic platform if he's using the right sort of sensor baffles, but that form uses relatively mundane means to connect to the technology he takes over and that I can detect."

    "And in both cases, he can only control electrical components. Not mechanical ones. He can't control car steering when there's no electric actuator, and the car it happened to was hydraulic."

    Earl frowns as we walk into the factory floor, the sounds from the working production line clearly audible.

    "Could he control me?"

    "I'm not sure. I'd guess 'yes', but he's never tried to control something that could resist intelligently before. I'd guess that if you used electromagnetic shielding around all of your electronic systems then you should be alright, but you'd be better off not testing it."

    "It's just something a fellah like me has to worry about."

    "There's one Kilg%re. There are dozens of telepaths, and you're immune to all of them."

    "That so? Well, lucky me."

    Ted waves when he spots us, the phone staying at his ear for a moment before he lowers it and waves.

    "Hey, Earl."

    "Howdy, Ted."

    "I thought you were trying to go easy on the stereotypical Texan stuff?"

    "Tried. But ah started twitching, and ah'd rather avoid giving off 'killer robot' vibes if ah don't have to."

    "Yeah, that sounds like something to avoid." He turns to the side and points to the assembly robots. "There they are. Feel free to do whatever you need. We're insured for accidental damage."

    "They're your robots." Earl walks right up to the barrier guarding the assembly line. "Fellahs, you got this one chance to explain what y'all doing. If'n y'all don't, things are going to get a mite personal."

    The robots keep doing their thing.

    "Three. Two. Okay, that's how you want it."

    Earl pulls up his right sleeve a little way, his fingers extending in segments as his metal interior becomes visible. He extends his right arm, which gradually loses its human shape and it reaches for the closest robot arm.

    "How about you and me have a heart to heart?"

    His fingers touch the base of the robot arm and then burrow inside, his eyes flickering as he makes a connection.

    "You okay there, Earl?"

    "It's… It's a tricky critter. No. Stop." The arm stops, then shudders. "Ahhh." It stops again, and then the arms next to it stop as well.

    "Mister Dukeston?"

    "Ah don't rightly think ah'm getting more than y'all are seeing. Commands are coming in, and ah'm not rightly sure where they're coming from. All ah can-"

    His left leg shakes, extending slightly.

    "-see is ooooh."

    "Mister Dukeston. Say you're alright, or I'll sever your connection."

    "Ah'm okay!" His mouth doesn't move as he says it, and his face is stretching slightly. "Some varmint jus' tried giving me a little-" His leg snaps back to its normal length. "-surprise, is all."

    "Can you give me more information than 'varmint'?"

    "Feel's like when I tried talkin' East Coast. Only worse. Ain't got no idea where-. Egh."

    His clothes rip as his arms and legs extend and his chest expands. He manages to keep his head steady, but the rest of him is trembling.

    "Well, this is just plain embarrassing."

    "Mister Dukeston, you're not exactly filling me with confidence in your ability to maintain control."

    "It jus' hit the 'extend' button. It's like a puppy nibbling on your finger."

    "Are you getting any sort of impression of the mind behind it?"

    "Don't feel like any kinda mind at all. Seems like… This is just an impression, y'hear?"

    "I hear."

    "Something that wants to work real hard but doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing. It ain't attacking me so much as poking, seeing if'n there's anything it should do."

    "That pretty much rules out Kilg%re. Nifty body like yours, he'd be right in there."

    "What'd you say this place was for?"

    "It used to make golf carts. I think it was boats before that."

    Earl shakes his head and returns his attention to the robots. "You fellahs think carrying on like this is going to make a golf cart? Y'all can't weld thin air."

    The arms which were still in motion slow to a stop. Earl gives it a moment, then clunks back down to human proportions before drawing back his fingers and giving them a shake.

    "Guess you just have to know how to talk to them."

    "Which raises the question of what was doing the listening." I run an orange beam over him, repairing his clothing and skin. He nods in gratitude. "Can you tell us any more?"

    He shakes his head. "Would if I could, partner. Best ah could tell you was that there was a whole lotta drive but no one in the driver's seat. Y'all got any other robots or suchlike you want me to have a word with?"

    "No, but there's someone else I need to check in with, and they may be able to help you with your other problem."
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2021
  2. gustyeagle

    gustyeagle Know what you're doing yet?

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    how the hell is this pronounced?
     
  3. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'Morrow had'

    Yeah, I don't think pronouncing this is something a lot of people can do.

    'form'

    'of him'

    'confidence'

    'attacking'

    Looks like I was wrong about Kilgore, and that's how I'm going to write him from now on, so maybe it is the Metal.
     
  4. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    I don't think it is supposed to be pronounced.
     
  5. iamnuff

    iamnuff Connoisseur.

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    "Killgore"
    That's what Earl heard OL say, anyway.
     
  6. DiceArt

    DiceArt Not too sore, are you?

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    This is seeming more and more like The Metal is awakening.
     
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  7. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    Do you think Zoat would use something from nu52, though?
     
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  8. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

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    Clearly, the best way to pronounce Kilg%re is "kil-guh-percent-re".
     
  9. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    He has used characters from the n52 from time to time, like some of the Lanterns, so he may have chosen to do a story on the Metal.

    That, or this is just some obscure comic thing that showed up before the n52 and we can't find it.

    Which given Zoat, is highly likely.
     
  10. Idkusername

    Idkusername Versed in the lewd.

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    It’s possibly keyboardsmash, of course it isn’t meant to be pronounced.
     
  11. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  12. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    While technically Post flashpoint, the existence of the Metal could be extrapolated from Swamp Thing's vertigo cosmology.

    In Swamp Thing, it was explained that all the elemental kingdoms are fragments of the Singularity which was everything before the Big Bang.

    Therefore everything in the universe belongs to at least one elemental kingdom.

    Plus while traveling the universe, for example, Swamp Thing made a technoorganic body on a technoorganic planet- Technis.

    Oh and funny that Zoat said that there are no telepaths that could bother Duke-

    The KGB had a project to create tele-technopath- the Turing Project.

    Not that Zoat is required to use Echo, of course, but I thought that was funny.
     
  13. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Indeed. Red Tornado and his siblings may be lifelike, but even they aren't imperfect. Even the infiltrator types have perfect memories, and perfectly precise reflexes and movements. Morrow was a little too obsessed with mechanical perfection, ultimately.

    For the record, I would pronounce that with a sort of throat-clearing noise for the '%'... So: Kill-<ghuhu>-or.

    A sound no human throat is meant to pronounce. Half the point of it using that as its descriptor, methinks. A big middle finger to 'stupid fleshies!'

    So, Wires and plugs. The old-fashioned way. Kingdoms help whatever-this-is if Kilg%re learns of it...

    Which raises interesting questions. Say, the interaction between Killg%re and other advanced synthetics like the Reds or an Amazo... The latter would be a scary idea. Hopefully It's limited to non-sentient automata...

    Yeah, don't want him getting erased by a bitchy little applet. We like Earl. Kilg%re sounds too Chuuni. Heck, It would probably approve of the comparison...

    Advantage of thinking with a non-meat brain structure. Technopaths, on the other hand... Much rarer, but much more dangerous.

    Checking in on projects back home, or getting more info on this factory? Either way, good to see he's keeping busy while he waits.

    With a name like Earl Dukeston, the Duke of Oil? That's like asking OL to be less... Well, OL.

    Definitely don't want the Inspector Gadget-alike to seem a little worked up. Seriously, he seems down-home nice, but you have to remember, extending limbs and above-human strength...

    Well, that's downright rude. Admittedly, do they have any kind of audio hardware beside emergency klaxons? That might get in the way of meaty vocalising.

    Man... A realistic, modern take on Inspector Gadget really would be potentially awesome... Not the kid's show kind, but an honestly mature version... And not the 12-year-old's idea of 'tits, blood and swearing' mature, either...

    Are we going to need a mini-EMP here, or are we good, Earl?

    Oh, that's not a good sign... Sure, the automata have stopped... But is it because he asked, or because whatever-it-is is in him now?

    Giving him quite the lean, eh?

    Is he about to do a 'Moonwalker' here? Because it sure sounds like he is. What's a 'Moonwalker', you ask? Remember at the end of the plot of that Micheal Jackson movie, where he turns into a giant robot, then a spaceship? Yeah.

    Did he try a Bronx accent, a 'Joisey' or a Boston? Either way, I doubt his vocoder was happy with him...

    Sounds like something's poking all the settings, trying to work out what 'button' does what...

    That's... Quite the image. And more and more, I settle on the Nascent Elemental angle...

    Given that you're the closest thing to an expert right now, anything will do.

    The problem is if someone works out how to take advantage of that... Like, say, our bot Kilg%re. Last thing you want is whatever-this-is getting the idea of 'kill all humans' into its'.. uh, 'head'.

    And a chunk of the thread is disappointed... For now.

    Sounds like it's left. Just like with the car. And presumably every other thing it's inhabited...

    Nascent Elemental. A Kingdom in the process of forming, seeking an Embodiment, an Avatar or a Parliament to give it perspective and purpose... In any case, it may be being shaped by each touch of consciousness it receives...

    Let me Guess? Construct Morrow? Because other than Professor Ivo and Doctor Magnus, there's not a lot of experts in Synthetic Intelligences...

    Hey, at least the plant's stopped. So mission accomplished on that part. Now, the question becomes finding out what this whatever-it-is actually is. Presumably OL has the same disdain for the you-know-what as our author, so he probably wouldn't consider the possibility of the Metal... At any rate, we'll probably find out more as this unfolds. I can't wait to see...
     
  14. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    If he becomes less OL then a lot of people will probably be spared headaches.

    There was this Worm fic on SB called Technology will win the day, in which the SI watched an Inspector Gadget show that had him be a Tinker.

    Apparently it dealt with a lot serious issues like the economy of a country collapsing.

    Though the SI just references it.

    This isn't something that's exclusive to children.

    Have you seen the majority of Garth Ennis' work?

    Tits, blood and swearing seems to be what he considers to be mature and real.

    I did not know this, yet I believe it has happened.

    Even if he doesn't have negative feelings towards the n52 he may still not know anything about the Metal.

    OL comes from the year 2013, the Metal was something that happened in the 2014 Swamp Thing comics.
     
  15. gustyeagle

    gustyeagle Know what you're doing yet?

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    Yeah, but ol clearly corrected him when he said that and Zoat generally uses strange anti-photetic spellings of words.basically just like farming
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2021
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  16. Sockmonkey

    Sockmonkey I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Maybe the unpronounceable bit of the name is supposed to be a sort of statick-y sound?
     
  17. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

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    Hm... is Animal Vegetable Mineral man somehow part of all three of the Green the Red and the Metal then? It’d be interesting to see what Zoat can do with him.
     
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  18. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    If he is then he would be connected to the Melt, not the Metal.

    The Metal is responsible for machines and technology, while the Melt covers things like minerals and rocks.
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2021
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  19. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    The two aren't mutually exclusive, though. They'd share any machinery built out of minerals and rocks.

    Air/Water/Fire/Earth/Plant Elemental Swamp Thing built Anton Arcane a new human body by virtue, apparently, of humans being essentially bags of mineral water, to paraphrase Star Trek.
     
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  20. SaltyWaffles

    SaltyWaffles I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I don't think it's The Metal. I think it's a newborn god (well, in the sense that it's like a puppy--eager to work, but it doesn't really know what it should be doing). Which is cute, but the episode title worries me.
     
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  21. Xelloss

    Xelloss Know what you're doing yet?

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    its

    Also, writing a message here on a phone is hell.
     
  22. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    BURN THE MIDGET COMPUTERS!
     
  23. cereal_lurker

    cereal_lurker Getting sticky.

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    It's obviously pronounced "Kilg%re."

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2021
  24. Steelplaza

    Steelplaza Custom Title

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    It's not a religious fucking prohibition! I understand Zoat didn't like a lot of the nu52 stuff, but it was ten years ago at this point, and it's been effectively over for five years, even if (as usual in comics) some ideas writers like best managed to hang around. Since then characters have been reinterpreted and remixed and had new writers take their swing.

    There's no particular reason to draw a line in the sand in 2011 and say, "All the ridiculous bad writing prior to this point I'll pick and sort through to use bits I like, but all the ridiculous bad writing after this point I'm going to treat as irreversibly contaminating any ideas I might like." The idea of "the Metal" might have been used in the last decade, but that doesn't particularly make it a nu52 idea. It's just another DC comics concept, floating around like all the others.
     
  25. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    This isn't about reason.
     
  26. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    Just what mouth-sounds is Paul making here and how did they differ from Earl's enough for him to feel the need to correct him?

    In the past you used to portray such things phonetically, like how Paul gets called "Oh El" instead of "OL".
     
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  27. Maxx Crowley

    Maxx Crowley I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Also guns. Don't forget guns.

    And an unending need to point out how stupid he thinks super heros are. Usually by having them beat up and/or killed by Guys with Guns.
     
  28. Zig

    Zig Not too sore, are you?

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    "Kilger? Could take over machines like this."

    "Kilg%re. "

    "Kilgore?"

    "Kilg%re."

    "How are you doing that with your mouth?"

    "Never f%cking mind how I'm doing it"
     
  29. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    Either "this once" or "this one chance" would be okay here.
     
  30. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    It's a joke. Don't think too hard about it.
    I stopped doing that because the opinion of the majority of commenters was that it was annoying.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
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