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

[Vaermina]

30th April 2258
19:28 G.M.T. -5

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As funny as this, this really isn't painting Matthew in a good light given his ring should have been able to detect both that she's a telepath and that her records are fake.

 

[Jankl]

As funny as this, this really isn't painting Matthew in a good light given his ring should have been able to detect both that she's a telepath and that her records are fake.

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Only if he bothered checking. But he seems to consider it the wrong choice to scan Kelsey. And he doesn't really have any reason to be suspicious of her anyway, not that he would notice them.

We agreed to meet here at half past seven, and I don't think that scanning for Kelsey would be a good idea, either in terms of my increasingly implausible deniability or in terms of building a healthy relationship. But if I misunderstood and she's expecting me to pick her-

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[Vaermina]

Only if he bothered checking. But he seems to consider it the wrong choice to scan Kelsey. And he doesn't really have any reason to be suspicious of her anyway, not that he would notice them.

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The whole "has no reason to be suspicious of her anyway" falls apart given his knowledge that he's in a semi-dystopian future.

And his knowledge that he's a publicly known figure.

And his knowledge that he's rich.

 

[Jankl]

The whole "has no reason to be suspicious of her anyway" falls apart given his knowledge that he's in a semi-dystopian future.

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Heh, this is Paul we are talking about you know. He can be really oblivious sometimes.

 

[Signaller]

The Reach really don't want the Green Lantern Corps getting involved. They're pretty sure they can outlast NEMO, but they honestly don't think they could survive a mass mobilisation by the Green Lantern Corps, who must be taking notice of the Orange Lantern Corps working in concert with a conventional fleet subservient to them. Their worst case scenario is the Guardians calling in millions of years worth of debts and invoking a mass galactic mobilisation against them. So while they're making 'for sale' versions of the weapons they are definitely not actually selling them, because they know that the moment they do, they Guardians are going to say 'alright then' and decide that the treaty is void.

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a) Do we, the Reach, or you, know what the guns, or for that matter the yellow crystals, do when aimed at someone with inherent Glow abilities, e.g. a Maltusian?
b) Are you following the rule of thumb in regular DC that there are something like 7000-7500 active Green Lanterns (including trainees, Honour Guard, Illustres, Corpse etc) at any given time? And how does that compare to the present number of Orange lanterns? We already know there's one each red and blue, two yellows plus deputies, a handful of Anti-Green and Pink rings, and an unknown quantity of indigo and black rings.

 

[boo600]

On the matter of the anti-construct guns, this is a story of vast expanse and scope. There's bound to be the occasional dropped plot threads or ideas that Zoat decides not to follow up on in favor of something better.

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On this we agree. Though the level of set-up and follow through, as well as the sheer scale of this particular thread, based around the Main Character's main enemy (at the moment), mean that - while it can be removed later - it really does need a reason. This isn't "I promised Holly I'd see her for pizza," this is something that shapes the future of the galaxy. Worse, it already had a major on-screen deployment; there needs to be a reason that it isn't used again. (Even internal reach "well it didn't work" would be enough for them not using it themselves... but they need a reason to not outfit the galaxy with these weapons, turning every system into the Vega system.

Maybe Dox got his hands on one, studied it for a few hours, and then came up with some subtle adjustment to construct creation that got pushed out to all the OL and GL rings and now the guns don't work anymore. Alternately, maybe the guns require some special unobtainium material and can't be produced in large numbers. There's other explanations I'm sure.

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The first is better than the second.

1. Dox is not a power ring specialist. More importantly, the Guardians/Controllers are right there. Now, the Rings haven't been altered in a very long time; it implies that it's difficult to do, and given that it functions by shutting down the rings/constructs, it probably can't be just dealt with via shield. It drains power? It's like Osmosis; high concentration to low. Still, this is probably the better option - have the Controllers have rolled out an update, with the Guardians not having bothered beforehand (after Hal encountered him) because Jack Chance is one person. Say the constructs automatically vibrate in a way that disrupts it, whatever, it's all hypertech. Fuck Jack Chance in particular for trying to sell out the galaxy for a buck.

2. The Reach already outfitted an entire fleet with hundreds of these guns; they can clearly mass-manufacture them.


Having it be something that they rolled out a software update against, that just took time for even the Controllers to figure out (thus preventing Paul from getting it before fighting the fleet) works. Especially if it was a lucky break and not something expected, justifying Dox not immediately saying "I contacted Hinon, and she says she'll have this dealt with in a week."
Or perhaps the Guardians were already working on it since Chance shut down Jordan in a fight, and it actually took a long time plus a bit of work to get them to share info with the Controllers.

 

[Darko]

The whole "has no reason to be suspicious of her anyway" falls apart given his knowledge that he's in a semi-dystopian future.

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The Earth isn't really the usual depiction of dystopian.

Sure, the likes of Psi Corp are creepy as fuck, but aside from that, the world isn't much different than the past.

Which is depressing.

And his knowledge that he's a publicly known figure.

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Is he though?

Some people may know that he's with a Minbari, but they may just think that he's a tour guide.

And his knowledge that he's rich.

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And is that fact common knowledge to the average person, which Paul would consider Kelsey to be?

 

[Vaermina]

The Earth isn't really the usual depiction of dystopian.

Sure, the likes of Psi Corp are creepy as fuck, but aside from that, the world isn't much different than the past.

Which is depressing.

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"The Earth isn't a dystopia so long as you ignore the extremist mind police and everything connected to them" isn't really the good argument you think it is.

Is he though?

Some people may know that he's with a Minbari, but they may just think that he's a tour guide.

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Yes, because the interweb exists.

And is that fact common knowledge to the average person, which Paul would consider Kelsey to be?

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That sort of problem isn't a case where it has to be "common" knowledge, it's a case where it has to be "publicly available" knowledge.

And it is.

 

[Ardy]

…meaning that the Reach can sell anti-lantern weapons to everyone, as that's within the letter of the treaty?

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Yeah, that's exactly the problem that zoat somehow made worse for himself with his answer. The reach can and WOULD sell those anti-construct guns as fast as they could (which is very), because it weakens the GLC and it's allowed in the treaty that's stopping the corps from attacking them

 

[Mr Zoat]

…meaning that the Reach can sell anti-lantern weapons to everyone, as that's within the letter of the treaty?

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Anti-construct weapons turning up in the hands of various pirate groups doesn't break the treaty. The Reach provably providing them does. But the Reach are good at not providing evidence.

I can only recall "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Boys" off the top of my head.

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The Boys is based on the comic series. Babylon 5 is live action.

On the matter of the anti-construct guns, this is a story of vast expanse and scope. There's bound to be the occasional dropped plot threads or ideas that Zoat decides not to follow up on in favor of something better. I agree with the people saying that if you want to close out the thread, just find some reason the guns are ineffective or didn't scale. Maybe Dox got his hands on one, studied it for a few hours, and then came up with some subtle adjustment to construct creation that got pushed out to all the OL and GL rings and now the guns don't work anymore. Alternately, maybe the guns require some special unobtainium material and can't be produced in large numbers. There's other explanations I'm sure.

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No, I'm keeping them.

a) Do we, the Reach, or you, know what the guns, or for that matter the yellow crystals, do when aimed at someone with inherent Glow abilities, e.g. a Maltusian?

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I haven't reached a firm decision.

b) Are you following the rule of thumb in regular DC that there are something like 7000-7500 active Green Lanterns (including trainees, Honour Guard, Illustres, Corpse etc) at any given time?

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I'm starting with 'two per Sector' so it's probably about twice that.

And how does that compare to the present number of Orange lanterns?

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There are more Green Lanterns, but Orange Lanterns are very focused.

 

[Ardy]

Anti-construct weapons turning up in the hands of various pirate groups doesn't break the treaty. The Reach provably providing them does. But the Reach are good at not providing evidence.

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You should change the SI's comment, and your own, about them doing exactly that without breaking the treaty