Story Wednesday May 23, 2018

[The Old Hack 2,448]

http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2502

[partner555 170]

Once more, Arthur shows how reasonable he can be with all the information he has.

[Scotty 1,061]

Well that answers why the sleep spell wouldn't be easily resisted.

Also, Arthur's apparently afraid of Nanase, or maybe the fear has to do with her relation to Mama Kitsune and Noriko?

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 minute ago, Scotty said:

Also, Arthur's apparently afraid of Nanase, or maybe the fear has to do with her relation to Mama Kitsune and Noriko?

Maybe more like the havoc she would cause while looking.

Incidentally, I called it with the security cameras, rather to my satisfaction. It would have felt really stupid if the place didn't have any.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

But this does confirm that Arthur is actually reading the Agency files on at least some of the Maine Eight.

I wonder how much time has passed since they were at the werehouse?

And are they at the regional FBI headquarters or an "undisclosed location"?

[hkmaly 490]

29 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

32 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Also, Arthur's apparently afraid of Nanase, or maybe the fear has to do with her relation to Mama Kitsune and Noriko?

Maybe more like the havoc she would cause while looking.

My take: He is AFRAID of Noriko ... which makes him not take the havoc her niece might cause lightly.

33 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Well that answers why the sleep spell wouldn't be easily resisted.

There must be pretty powerful magic on that building ... but probably worth it.

31 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Incidentally, I called it with the security cameras, rather to my satisfaction. It would have felt really stupid if the place didn't have any.

And if they have some with remote connection ability, they might even noticed the crater before agent Wolf felt into it.

BTW, we didn't SAW it but seems I was right with agent Cranium and agent Wolf still being on short list of people who can respond to situation like this. Hmmm ... we saw three doors on parking lot ... does it mean three people (in addition to Arthur)? Or did we missed some door? Or multiple people used same door?

2 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

But this does confirm that Arthur is actually reading the Agency files on at least some of the Maine Eight.

He would be rather stupid not to, to paraphrase what The Old Hack said about cameras

Ellen and Nanase "meddling teenagers" probably got quite famous, they were involved in several accidents just recently ... and their personal connection to former head of paranormal made him former head of paranormal.

7 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I wonder how much time has passed since they were at the werehouse?

And how much havoc Nanase managed to cause already?

8 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

And are they at the regional FBI headquarters or an "undisclosed location"?

I'm sure the answer is "yes".

Note the lack of windows.

Hmmmm ... why would second life be related to Ellen hating sleep magic? It turned out well, didn't it?

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

3 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Hmmmm ... why would second life be related to Ellen hating sleep magic? It turned out well, didn't it?

I could think of a number of reasons why Ellen might resent that event as well, chief of which was that Nioi pulled that one on her without her informed consent.

[Stature 96]

For ethics and formality, an interrogation room is fine. They have to be knocked out after this, then. Yeesh, sweet dreams much?

Moreover, given the twists and turn of events, Nanase would not be as worried as Mama Kitsune in Sister II. Or not... Anger now included... 

Everything is repeating itself from before.

[Scotty 1,061]

Just now, hkmaly said:

BTW, we didn't SAW it but seems I was right with agent Cranium and agent Wolf still being on short list of people who can respond to situation like this. Hmmm ... we saw three doors on parking lot ... does it mean three people (in addition to Arthur)? Or did we missed some door? Or multiple people used same door?

Maybe Commander Jaguar came along for some extra muscle?

Would Edward have been called in to assist? I'm sure that would be an awkward conversation: "Mr. Verres. I require your expertise at the PTTblahblahblah for possible damage control after your son/daughter managed to unleash Magic completely." I would guess that Arthur would rather not get into that just yet.

[Don Edwards 548]

4 hours ago, Stature said:

For ethics and formality, an interrogation room is fine. They have to be knocked out after this, then.

If they are confident that none of the kids are capable of learning how to do magic portals just by going through one once, then they don't need to put them back to sleep. They can open a portal back to the parking lot, out in the hallway (out of sight of the kids) then lead them out and through it.

Even if one or more of the trio DO figure out how to make portals, that won't necessarily be sufficient for them to make a portal back to this facility. They may need to know where it is, or have special information to get past a magical shield, or...

[Alwaysnewguy 26]

10 hours ago, Scotty said:

Well that answers why the sleep spell wouldn't be easily resisted.

Also, Arthur's apparently afraid of Nanase, or maybe the fear has to do with her relation to Mama Kitsune and Noriko?

I'd bet on the fact that when Ellen says that Nanase would demolish half the state looking for her, she's barely exaggerating, and Arthur knows it.

10 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I wonder how much time has passed since they were at the werehouse?

I don't know, but I hope it didn't bite them. Turning into a house every full moon sounds inconvenient.

[mlooney 3,417]

The question left on the table right now is where is Kevin?  Was he affected by the sleep spell?  Or did he hid away in Ashley / Mittens clothing? 

[Scotty 1,061]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

The question left on the table right now is where is Kevin?  Was he affected by the sleep spell?  Or did he hid away in Ashley / Mittens clothing? 

I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin would be able to teleport to Ashley at any given moment if DGB hasn't returned him to an inert form or something.

[hkmaly 490]

13 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

16 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Hmmmm ... why would second life be related to Ellen hating sleep magic? It turned out well, didn't it?

I could think of a number of reasons why Ellen might resent that event as well, chief of which was that Nioi pulled that one on her without her informed consent.

It wouldn't surprise me if Ellen might resent that "nosebeep". However, I don't think she would resent the dreams itself.

10 hours ago, Scotty said:

16 hours ago, hkmaly said:

BTW, we didn't SAW it but seems I was right with agent Cranium and agent Wolf still being on short list of people who can respond to situation like this. Hmmm ... we saw three doors on parking lot ... does it mean three people (in addition to Arthur)? Or did we missed some door? Or multiple people used same door?

Maybe Commander Jaguar came along for some extra muscle?

That's who I was thinking about, yes ... personally, I don't think he will be called in situations involving magic. But that depends on how many agents DGB has ...

10 hours ago, Scotty said:

Would Edward have been called in to assist? I'm sure that would be an awkward conversation: "Mr. Verres. I require your expertise at the PTTblahblahblah for possible damage control after your son/daughter managed to unleash Magic completely." I would guess that Arthur would rather not get into that just yet.

Totally expects Arthur saying "daughter" and Edward being confused.

But yes, while Edward is probably one of best wizards they have, he is not officially expected to work with them AND explaining him the situation might be too awkward. Unless ... hey, maybe they may call him if they have some reason to suspect diplomacy will be needed.

7 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

12 hours ago, Stature said:

For ethics and formality, an interrogation room is fine. They have to be knocked out after this, then.

If they are confident that none of the kids are capable of learning how to do magic portals just by going through one once, then they don't need to put them back to sleep. They can open a portal back to the parking lot, out in the hallway (out of sight of the kids) then lead them out and through it.

Even if one or more of the trio DO figure out how to make portals, that won't necessarily be sufficient for them to make a portal back to this facility. They may need to know where it is, or have special information to get past a magical shield, or...

Just putting bag over their heads might suffice , question is what regulations call for. They may have internal rules requiring making them sleep again, no matter how superfluous would that be.

(Hmmm ... Tedd probably WOULD be able to learn how to make portals just by seeing creating one. It's unlikely to tell him where he is, however. Meanwhile, if Elliot still has his phone, he can transform to Cheerleadra and test how magically enhanced GPS works there ...)

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

3 hours ago, mlooney said:

The question left on the table right now is where is Kevin?  Was he affected by the sleep spell?  Or did he hid away in Ashley / Mittens clothing? 

I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin would be able to teleport to Ashley at any given moment if DGB hasn't returned him to an inert form or something.

I'm pretty sure Kevin can't be affected by spells working on PEOPLE. So, yes, I expect him being hidden in Ashley's clothing.

Although that option of him being able to teleport to Ashley is also interesting.

Or both. I mean, he did hide in Ashley's clothes. They searched her, found him and put him on table. When they wanted to analyse what happened with him, he wasn't on the table anymore ... was hidden in Ashley's clothes again.

 

[showler 14]

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin would be able to teleport to Ashley at any given funny moment if DGB hasn't returned him to an inert form or something.

Made a slight alteration.  Hope you don't mind.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

5 hours ago, hkmaly said:

It wouldn't surprise me if Ellen might resent that "nosebeep". However, I don't think she would resent the dreams itself.

Hrm. What is your reasoning behind that? I am genuinely curious. I think you may be right but I am not sure how you arrive at that conclusion. Personally I feel that it might go either way. Suddenly having a lot of strange memories mixed in with those you already have would be a... very strange experience that I do not think I am capable of actually envisioning. *scratches head*

[Scotty 1,061]

5 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Totally expects Arthur saying "daughter" and Edward being confused.

I had it in mind that Arthur would actually say "son/daughter" because he himself would still be confused about it. Tedd never clarified it.

 

5 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Although that option of him being able to teleport to Ashley is also interesting.

Evidence of teleportation, granted, it could have limited range, but...

5 hours ago, hkmaly said:

When they wanted to analyse what happened with him, he wasn't on the table anymore ... was hidden in Ashley's clothes again.

Quite possible he popped out of sight briefly and waited till they were about to take Ashley through the portal and then teleported into her coat, fancy maneuvering but possible.

[hkmaly 490]

14 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

20 hours ago, hkmaly said:

It wouldn't surprise me if Ellen might resent that "nosebeep". However, I don't think she would resent the dreams itself.

Hrm. What is your reasoning behind that? I am genuinely curious. I think you may be right but I am not sure how you arrive at that conclusion.

Compared to her reaction to FIRST batch of memories, she seem to enjoy the singing and specifically said she doesn't know about the evil part.

14 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Suddenly having a lot of strange memories mixed in with those you already have would be a... very strange experience that I do not think I am capable of actually envisioning.

Note that those memories felt more real than Elliot's to her and felt valid as her own (with that one exception).

It feels like the memory transplant was VERY good and included convincing the target to like it. Which feels even more evil, but it's probably healthier for Ellen AND it means she's unlikely to resent those dreams.

On the other hand, Ellen is deliberately trying to differ from Elliot. Maybe she wouldn't need magical convincing to jump at this opportunity.

14 hours ago, Scotty said:

20 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Totally expects Arthur saying "daughter" and Edward being confused.

I had it in mind that Arthur would actually say "son/daughter" because he himself would still be confused about it.

Depends in how good is Arthur with pronouncing punctuation.

14 hours ago, Scotty said:

20 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Although that option of him being able to teleport to Ashley is also interesting.

Evidence of teleportation, granted, it could have limited range, but...

Good point, that did looked as teleportation. And when combined with hiding in clothes, he wouldn't NEED long range.

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

46 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Compared to her reaction to FIRST batch of memories, she seem to enjoy the singing and specifically said she doesn't know about the evil part.

Ah yes! That makes total sense.

46 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

It feels like the memory transplant was VERY good and included convincing the target to like it. Which feels even more evil, but it's probably healthier for Ellen AND it means she's unlikely to resent those dreams.

To be frank, that is a big reason I am so creeped out by it, but you are of course right in that Ellen herself would not resent it as much either emotionally or intellectually. Darn it, I so dislike Nioi. I know it is mostly irrational but I can't help it.

[hkmaly 490]

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

To be frank, that is a big reason I am so creeped out by it, but you are of course right in that Ellen herself would not resent it as much either emotionally or intellectually.

Yes. As far as we know, Ellen turned out ok, but there are two scary set of questions (which I suspect we already talked about):

1) Where are the limits of this method regarding how extreme memories can you insert? Is there some failsafe which makes memories not agreeing with your personality seem more like dream, or can you be even programmed to kill yourself or others that way? Even without malice, how serious trauma can you induce?

The fact that Ellen felt guild over something she would probably never do (although for reason not related to why she felt the guild) is not exactly encouraging ...

(And, in fact, Nioi might've used same or similar spell which she or other Lord Tedd's subordinates DID used to program killers. And, who knows, maybe it was even FOR GOOD, if their world is sufficiently messed up.)

2) Did Ellen turned ok because Nioi is that good and thoroughly checked the memories and/or the second life Ellen ... or was she just lucky? (Well, both of them actually.)

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Darn it, I so dislike Nioi. I know it is mostly irrational but I can't help it.

I like her, but in similar way I like several other girls I wouldn't want to be on same continent with without very good shields.

Lina Inverse comes to mind, for example ...

[The Old Hack 2,448]

4 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Yes. As far as we know, Ellen turned out ok, but there are two scary set of questions (which I suspect we already talked about):

They have come up before. Nioi has long been a contentious figure on previous incarnations of these forums.

4 hours ago, hkmaly said:

I like her, but in similar way I like several other girls I wouldn't want to be on same continent with without very good shields.

Lina Inverse comes to mind, for example ...

Hoo boy, yes. Or Cameron from Sarah Connor Chronicles.

[hkmaly 490]

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

Or Cameron from Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Cameron can be made safe with right programming.

River Tam, meanwhile ... ok, I only saw Serenity and few episodes, so I'm not entirely sure about her, but I suspect she's harder to reprogram.

Another examples: Seras Victoria. Jean "Phoenix" Grey-Summers. Lyta Alexander.

Note that Nioi is probably weaker than those ... but may still be the same kind of girl, and after all, main 8 are ALSO weaker than whoever the other girls stand against or were with.

(I don't think Dan would go there ... but based on what he shown so far, I can totally see her killing someone and be like "What's the problem? You never killed anyone? I've lost count ...")

[The Old Hack 2,448]

20 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Cameron can be made safe with right programming.

...that was the problem. She couldn't be after a certain incident where she was badly damaged. From time to time she would with little warning revert to her original programming, which was to kill John Connor without regard to the damage she did underway. By the time the series was unfortunately cancelled, they had yet to permanently resolve that particular problem.

I agree with your other examples, mind. I suspect we could make quite a long list if we tried. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy readily spring to mind just to name two.

[hkmaly 490]

6 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

...that was the problem. She couldn't be after a certain incident where she was badly damaged. From time to time she would with little warning revert to her original programming, which was to kill John Connor without regard to the damage she did underway. By the time the series was unfortunately cancelled, they had yet to permanently resolve that particular problem.

She might need some replacement spare parts.

6 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I agree with your other examples, mind. I suspect we could make quite a long list if we tried. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy readily spring to mind just to name two.

Those were antagonists. I was deliberately listing protagonists, because you are at least supposed to be on their side and I think that's what Dan plans with Nioi. Of course, there are cases where you genuinely root for antagonist, not speaking about fact you may like someone despite wishing her to fail.

Oooh, another example: Andromeda Ascendant, also known as XMC-10-284. Or KOS-MOS. ... yes, we can definitely go far with this.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

3 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Those were antagonists. I was deliberately listing protagonists, because you are at least supposed to be on their side and I think that's what Dan plans with Nioi.

Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't get that. I just tried to find examples of likeable characters that nonetheless weren't safe to be in the vicinity of.