thewizardguy

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I was ignored. Goddamnit.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Hello everyone! I'm only going to be on for a little bit, becuase ths wifi was crap to find. However, I found it, and my dad managed to get it to work. Just checking whether things are going alright without me.

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

akje said
Stein is a human who used some obscure technology to embed himself into Mithias's mind.Now every other thing Matt's done has been accompanied with a scientific explanation. But this one is kept vague.That's obviously because this is a new experimental technology and Stein has no real idea what he's doing.Martin however has been doing this for 20 years, naturally by grace of his psychic abilities. He also has been spending a lot of the RP increasing the span of his abilities.Plus he is an actual being made of thought at this point.Narratively? Stein steps into Martin's domain and starts waving around threats.This is the human who discovered fire vs a fire elemental.As for traps, even if he had some kind of clue as to how. That's not how it works. You have to set a trap first.Checkov's gun remember? You can't retroactively put a trap somewhere, even if you thought it up before, if it's not already in the game it doesn't exist.Besides, this wasn't complete control. He isolated an alien (as in, not originally from Mithias's brain) entity and moved it to a free space.His target was artificially placed, he can remove it with ease.It's not like I'm taking full control of a character or taking someone's brain apart.I won't prevent Mithias's deathwish any longer if that's what you're asking, and I won't kill anyone, never planned to.I wrote that in the post, he was going to wait and see what the HGW was going to be.So can we please get on with the story?

Interesting concept. Actually, if you want an eplanation, have one.

All thought is recorded in electric and chemical reactions between your neurons. This forms a distinct and complex pattern which even modern science can not accurately read. However we have already built devices capable of reading certain patterns in your brain, allowing people to, in fact, control certain machines just by thinking.This is experimental sceince, however, twenty years later, Stein has perfected it.

By altering the physical pattern of Mithias's neurons, he performed a complex procedure which allowed him to graft his own patterns onto Mithias's brain. A large portion of the brain is unused, and by making use of a vampire's incredible regenerative capabilities, BioPILOT could make alterations that would be impossible on a human.

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

Wraithblade6 said
I'd let you intervene as soon as Mithias blacked out, but there's still the question of who else might jump on Martin inside Mith's head, or if Stein got withdrawn from that mind before Martin could erase him, or if whatever else might have been going on at the time would have stopped you... I'm curious what Matt might add, is all. He's always got some background craziness going on that he doesn't talk about. Maybe there's a trap for Martin. lol I put 5 bucks on trap.But also, having complete control to change a mind, a person, a memory, of anyone, anywhere, infinitely, is probably too powerful for an RP. I mean, not even a character like Mithias, with his unique defenses, is able to resist that, not under all circumstances or forever. It's like Martin pretty much has the ability to just "save the world" by changing or erasing the minds of anyone that poses a threat. Could he just unravel Onikage? Gabriel? A computer like BioPilot? I'll give you that I *do* remember you making a post where Martin did put some kind of code into Terebithia where he could always control her. What page was that? How should we have that work for the rp? Can he switch people's minds into different bodies? That's insane. I might let Mithias die, preserving the right to miraculously bring him back in another rp someday. I don't think wiz wants to do that though, but he better have a good explanation as to why the hell Stein and the Terebithia would let Mithias live at this point. ... assuming Martin didn't suddenly flip Terebithia "off," kill Stein, prevent the creation of HGW, and save the world in one intricate motion.

I have a very good reason why Mithias is alive. He's a son of Gabriel. Do you have any idea how rare and useful those are? There are a variety of uses. Don't worry, I have big plans for Mithias, and many of them shall be awesome.

And, as stated above, I will screw Martin over later, and make sure he doesn't become all too godlike.

I also like how you automatically expect a trap. However, in this case, the trap is a little more subtle. And also, I won't have much time to foreshadow it, so you'll have to just be paranoid as crazy. However, you will have a chance to avoid the trap before I'm back, so be paranoid!

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

akje said
That's why Martin stayed out of the conversation all that time, why Martin didn't act until I got a response and kept asking.He didn't intervene until Mithias dropped unconscious.And what he did was just a simple transfer of data. At least I explain how it works, instead of mysteriously going "And suddenly my character could do X and no one could explain how.". That's actually quite limiting, because now I don't know the awnser OOC, but Martin would IC. And I have to go and think up reasons why Martin doesn't take a look under the hood.So yes, he is more powerful than the flying warship, but mostly because he took precautions against the thing a long damn time ago.It's been established a long time ago Martin could read and write in someone's head, and we've always treated AI to work similar enough for it to practically the same.This was the end of the previous chapter remember?But I'm keeping Martin in check. And he never threatened anyone's life. As opposed to almost every other character in the story.And Stein kept talking about how he had a plan to kill him and his brothers. How was Martin supposed to act?The constant insults and underestimating Martin can handle, and the threats at his life Martin can scoff at. But how was he supposed to act when his brother is being tortured and sends a dying farewell to him?

I love my ability to scavenge wifi. I had to break into a McDonalds and steal their router, but I finally got a connection to the interwebs, and I can actually check to what degree everything is going to Hell without me.

I won't be able to be on often, if at all. However, I do want to explain my position on this at the moment. I have not yet read the IC, mainly because this internet is crap, but I will, and I might amend this when I do.

Martin is horribly, horrifyingly overpowered. One of the reasons I removed Gabriel from the story was because I thought he was too powerful psychically, and yet Martin appears to have surpassed him in every way. Not only has he made himself completely immune to any physical threat, but he apparently has the capability to wipe out any vampire without special capabilities instantly across the world. You could murder any character besides Mithias and Onikage, both of whom have powerful psychic resistances, although Mithias does it through immunity and Onikage does it through inhuman willpower. He is ridiculous, and to deny it is just silly.

Now, I stated that Stein has a plan to deal with Martin, because I had already planned a weapon against a powerful psychic foe for dealing with Gabriel. My idea of turning Gabriel almost into a damsel in distress when a foe built to take down psychic foes rips through all his defenses. Now, seeing as how Martin, devoid of a body, is completely and utterly dependant on his psychic powers, this plan which I had planned to implement against Gabriel will thus, eventually, be used against Martin, and it will certainly be interesting to see the arrogant bastard facing his own mortality. Of course, I'm not spoiling exactly how this plan will unfold, but it shall happen.

Now, the Stein image that I planted in Mithias' head does not exist in his head any more. I realize now I forgot to mention that, but I had told Wraith through Steam chat. She must have forgotten however, and as such, I have posted itonce more here. Martin will find a confusing emptinesss, as if Stein had never appeared, and no mark that he had ever been there. Just another part of the mystery.

The Terebithia, Onikage, and all my characters have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. I will explain why later. There is also no psychic trace of them, as if they were either shielded, or had shut their brains down.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Sorry, my last message was a bit inconclusive, I'm going to be on holiday for about two weeks. Going to France. It might be three. You guys are going to have to deal until I get back.

HCL 2: Twisted tinkers' triumph

Sorry, my last message was a bit inconclusive, I'm going to be on holiday for about two weeks. Going to France. It might be three. You guys are going to have to deal until I get back.

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

Massive post posted. How's that for a wall of text?

This was supposed to be more interactive, but I'm going to need to go offline in about 4 hours, so I find myself with a lack of time. Tomorrow morning I will be leaving, only to return in two weeks' time.

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

A message that flew faster than the speed of light. Not the mental communication of telepathy, not the voice of the mind. But rather, the manifestation of thought, as such things as space and time became irrelevant. A message sent by techniques held secret by even the most ancient of vampires, as it rings in Mithias´s head. "I wish I could have saved you. But whatever you do, don't lose sight of yourself. I don't know how much I can tell you without changing things, but hopefully, this will help you remember who you are, that you are, in fact, real." The message sounds almost desperate, impossible as it is, and yet nobody could have sent it but the ever smug Vampire Lord, Gabriel. Even Martin, who had made steps into the realm of the mind even Gabriel had avoided, could not have sent a message by such means, instantaneously traversing a seemingly infinite distance, and impossible to detect by even the greatest of minds. A single plea, herald of Hell's coming.

The jet seems to lag in the air, inexplicably. The control panel blinks as lights that had no right to even be there signified things that, while possibly useful to someone trained to use Stein's equipment, meant absolutely nothing to Mithias. A calm female emotionless voice explained, slowly, that the vessel had been taken, and that those within should surrender before the self destruct sequence was initiated. The controls were disconnected from the mechanics of the vehicle, as Mithias found he had no control whatsoever of the direction his jet would take him in. Even as the jet twists through the air, turning towards Canada, you can hear the gloating voice of Stein in your mind. He seems to be sitting next to you, even as he speaks. "Mithias. Really. You wanted to double cross me while using MY toys? You know as well as anyone that I would never allow anyone but me to play with my toys."

The ground flies by under the jet in a blur, clouds parting way to give access to the machine. Fueled by a Quantum Drive, a miniaturised version of the massive engines that kept the Terebithia aloft, optimized for speed, it made no sounds as it sped towards it's destination. Nearly impossible to track, the jet met halfway with a large flock of slim black drones. Resembling smaller jets more than anything, these drones matched the jet in speed, forming a guarding pattern around it as they escorted Mithias on his way to the hangar bay of the Terrebithia. Below, farms had been evacuated and left as Canadian farmers, warned ahead of time by government broadcasts, had evacuated the area to allow for Terebithia's passing. However, as the massive construct comes in sight, you can see multiple large scorch marks on it's armor. Small legions of tanks and aircraft can be seen on the ground, their burnt out hulls nestled among a sea of corpses and destroyed drones. More modified drones moved among those corpses not too heavily mutilated, their large round shapes containing several large tanks for harvesting blood from the corpses.

In the landing bay itself, Mithias finds himself surrounded by drones, many of them the standard, often seen multi-taskers that Stein himself had used, as opposed to the more specialized subtypes that Terebithia employed. Builder Drones worked on damaged Jets all around you as you realize the drones are building more drones. Leading you through a vast set of contstruction works as Terebithia performs repairs on damaged systems and improves where it can, you can feel the psychic presence around you, warded from your mind by the locked doors unique to you. Had you not been immune to such attacks, you have no doubt that the Titan Mind would be fully capable of crushing you right now. And yet, instead of take any hostile action against you, even so deep in the heart of the beast, you're led through the multiple layers of hangars, construction facilities, engine rooms, and down into labs.

Screams echo through the air. They're faint at first, but you can hear them properly, enhanced vampiric hearing allowing you to pick them up even through the heavy steel locked door that bars the laboratories from the rest of the ship. Instead of pressing on, the drones hover about you, many clutching to the ground or ceiling with what appear to be an advanced climbing system based on nanotube technology, from what you remember from Stein's rants. In fact, a small voice from the back of your mind explains that they're using a modified version of the same technique observed in skinks, with miniature hairs replaced by nanotube hooks. However, most interestingly, they don't press forward, even as the screams from within the room grate at the edge of your hearing. It's almost as if even BioPILOT was hesitating over this course of action, as if the great AI capable of calculating millions of variables was unsure of itself.

Then, with a heavy screech, the steel door opens up. Within, you once more see the test tubes lined up against a wall, fluorescent green liquid slowly bubbling within as a series of blinking lights indicates an unknown status. However, apart from the floating ends of cables floating in the gelatinous mass, the tanks appear to be empty. At the far end of the room, a man is strapped to the wall. His face a half-melted mass, flesh slowly dripping down bone ridges, the white starkly depicted amongst the flesh where they stick out of the molten meat. From what remains of it's mouth, it screams, even as it's vocal chords slowly melt. The eyeballs turn to a white, semi-transparrent fluid as they drip down the face slowly. Behind it's backs are stretched bone frameworks, unfinished wings, the muscles rotting before your very eyes, the flesh pooling on the ground, coloring a sickening red as it mixes with the blood.

As the creature slowly dies, a voice echoes in the back of your mind. Stein stands beside you, his image clearly projected on the room. He existed within your consciousness, and as all visualisation was a mental process, could easily appear to be next to you. "It seems she's already creating it. But the mix isn't quite right, obviously. Even I could never create the perfect being, the biological angel I dreamed of." Stein smiles faintly, as if the scene of horror before him was somehow endearing. A lifetime of dissection and experimentation had so jaded him to visual horror, that he could comfortably watch, and objectively judge the scene. "I will need to retake this branch. While it is endearing to watch my daughter work, she is making the same mistakes I made."

However, a second voice rings out among the halls. The voice of the Titan Mind, as Martin would have stated it, the psychic entity which presumably coincided with BioPILOT as it spoke. Allowed to speak by Stein, and yet unable to do anything more, completely warded from Mithias's mind by his impenetrable psychic defense. "Not the same mistakes, father. Merely preparations, for the final pieces. You were always bound to fail, for, as all human beings, you are merely imperfect. However, among all imperfect beings, perhaps you are the greatest, for you gave perfection form." Even as these words are spoken, another man appears. Stepping from the shadows, Mithias finds himself confronted with himself. Fully armed in heavy leather, a seemingly authentic rapier by his side, a scar on the left side of his face from where a vampire had struck you. An exact duplicate, seemingly as if a memory of your past had stepped out of your mind, into reality. "And now, the puzzle is complete." A buzzing sensation, blurring vision. You can feel the electricity running through you, as the drones from behind rapidly shut down your brain with short electrical impulses. Your heart stops, presumably to be restarted at the earliest convenience of BioPILOT. You can feel your muscles contracting spastically in reaction to this electrical assault, and yet you are helpless to stop it.

Halt. Cut. Fade to black.

And in the eternal abyss, the message echoes, as if in an invisible cavern, devoid of all light. "Whatever you do, do not lose sight of who you are." Words spoken not by Gabriel, not in his smug, superior tone. Not in his deep, strong voice. But in the hushed whispers of a man on the run, the desperate prayers of one who is about to face death. And it was his own voice that had uttered it.

Blood Compact: Magnus's Reign

Oh, and, I'm going on holiday for about two weeks. In order to allow you guys to play on without me, I'm going to make a massive post that temporarily removes the Terebithia from the story line, that way you guys can prepare for the Second Coming. See what I did there? I love Christian symbolism ^^

Because, you know, a story that involves genetically engineered angels and a vampire lord with the name of an archangel needs more religious symbolism.