Joe doesn't need to make a time chamber. IIRC one of the personal reality perks gives the entire Workshop/Warehouse time dilation, though I'm pretty sure it needs a second perk to have living beings inside while time is dilated
Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)
- Thread starter LordRoustabout
- Start date
Nah. There's already precedent for powers without Hosts in the form of things like The Three Blasphemies or The Machine Army. If they assume that he's working with powers directly then it would be a reasonable possibility.
...I wonder if Custodian would be interested enough in Joes work to jump ship.
He can already do that.
I believe that her Shard had trouble understanding muscles and tried to forcibly equate them to geological plates. If Joe couldn't prevent that then she'd be liable to be literally statuesque.
Probably only in light of her disaster relief efforts.
Pretty much the same sort of shit as Materia socket equipment.
Funnily enough I think that it might be possible to make a Magic Crest that could act as a Key Crest since Magic Circuits are made out of soul stuff.
The Shallow
Shallow, Yet Deep
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I mean both of those examples are tinkertech, but Cauldron doesn't know what Garment's deal is. I love the idea of them being like "Clearly he triggered a pair of gloves with a shaker/tinker/thinker power! Did he make it part of his cluster??"
He can already make a hyperbolic time chamber, yes. Not a Watch of Flowing Time. Also a Watch of Flowing Time would not help with a hyperbolic time chamber but the thread has already covered that.
That's an interesting idea, I just can't work out how that would work, biomechanically speaking.
If you need a non-Tinkertech example I think that Gray Boy might also count. There is of course also The Endbringers and The Butcher but that's kind of a result of Trump abilities so I don't know how well they would count.
Probably not too strangely given the way that geology can shift along fault-lines. The worst possibility I can think of is that she might end up with some literally rippling muscles.
The Shallow
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...Yeah I can see it now. Pretty badass visual tbh.
I feel that she's mostly looking for her appearance since in canon she's repeatedly passed up for promotion due to the fact that she looks like a monster.
No reason why she couldn't get a good appearance made out of unconventional tissue types and tissue structures.
After looking at the Wiki am actually unsure whether I am just unable to find where it was referenced that that she was built like geological strata or if that was fanon that I unintentionally internalized. She was definitely stated to have unusual muscle configuration.
I thought that we saw a scene in a prior chapter where the PRT had recovered March and were seeming to plan on playing MiB with her. Alexandria's summary makes it sound like she is "at large". Is that just misdirection or am I misremembering?
- Location
- London
You are misremembering. March is currently a proto-Titan and is holed up with Bakuda, Uber and Leet in their pocket dimension refuge.
Edit: Lethe'd again!
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- Location
- Deep inside the sand
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I believe Lord said that March is as much as a Titan as Weld is, meaning not at all equivalent.
This was mentioned in the previous chapter (Interlude Ben). Basically, the wards team will be sent for cleanup.
So the Chicago Wards are being sent for cleanup. No mention on who else is going.
On another point...
I think this was covered before, but most of Joe's aesthetic powers trigger on construction, not repair. Weld's treatment counted as repair, so I'd assume the same holds true for others. The only one of Joe's aesthetic powers I'm aware of that triggers on repair is Stylish Mechanic.
I think the statement was that March is as close to a titan as Weld is to an Endbringer. The quote is close enough though.
Tisaku
Head Chief Thinkomancer
I believe that there's that one that perfectly cleans things when he performs maintenance on them? That'd probably count.
The Shallow
Shallow, Yet Deep
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That would be Stylish Mechanic.
I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something, but did Chubster just imply that the Protectorate forces were deployed to Ellisburg and that they simply weren't able to reach the PRT forces already deployed? Or was he (and the other members of his team) deployed after everything went wrong?
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- Pronouns
- He
they were to late, and had to move from trying to evacuate people (who were all dead, except Piggot and Cavert) to containing Nilbog
- Location
- Australia
IIRC Canon was that PRT had cape support going into Ellisberg were sent to Ellisberg but when the goings got tough the capes fled without the PRT so the PRT had to try and get out on their own.
- Location
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Probaly a result of those capes having their own first S class scenario. Having no experience nor any training to back them up, they would have gotten quite fear struck.
PRT troopers would've had experience with battle and fighting beings more powerful than themselves.
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The Matrix Simulation (Xavier843766)
[The Matrix Simulation: An Omake]
How do you tell the difference between reality and illusion? Between a world of dreams and the real world? When all of your senses was hijacked, when everything that made you you was now nothing more than ones and zeros, how do you differentiate between the you in reality and the you in the simulation?
Matrix didn't need to imagine it, didn't need to think of what it would be like. He lived it. He was it. He was the safeguard, the protector, the final line of defense for humanity even if Father himself hadn't known he'd made that decision. He wouldn't force anyone into it, of course, but what human would say no to living in their own heaven if they were close to death? What human would notice the difference? He had argued often between Survey and Fleet on the topic. Fleet specialized in vehicles and transportation, but Survey was the intelligence, well, survey. Anything that existed was also under her sphere of influence, and so they often butted heads on the topic to a much fiercer degree. Survey finally relented when she knew the same thing he did: that Humanity was on borrowed time. The clock had been ticking before they had even been born.
The Endbringer sirens were still blaring their noise when Apeiron had felt a sense of bitterness and regret. His family had died. The Slaughterhouse Nine had paid them a visit. He didn't know why they picked that town, or even if they did it with the realization as to why. He felt a bitter sense of regret for noting that he didn't feel sprrow at their loss, but sorrow at being unable to show them that he could stand up for himself. Survey and Fleet had been encouraging, brief as it been, but it had been Matrix who had asked him why he cared for the ones who had abused and belittled him. The nanite-controlling A.I. didn't, couldn't, understand why he cared for the ones who clearly didn't care about him.
Joe had to finally admit that a part of it was that as a human being, you care for the ones who raised you, who fed you, who clothed you, that a part of you will always care for them even if you knew they weren't healthy for your mental and emotional wellbeing. Matrix remained silent but looked thoughtful. "Father, if I had a way to make sure no one else had to go through this process, would you let me?" He asked Joe very seriously. With some careful deliberation, Joe shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "I don't know, Matrix. Death is a part of life, and I don't have all the answers. That's something we all find out in what it means to be alive." Matrix once again nodded, before his eyes narrowed. "Simurgh is approaching. ETA is in ten minutes."
Apeiron looked ready to leave the Forge, ready to head out to defend the rest of the world that had labeled him an Apeiron-Class Anti-Villian. The only one where the world wouldn't let him help against an Endbringer out of fear of what he would do with the resulting data, especially the Simurgh.
Matrix stopped him. "No, Father, they deem you a threat for what you could do." Matrix scowled, his eyes glowing as nanites hummed to life. "I will show them why they will deem me a threat for what I will do if they insist to handicap Humanity any further." And for once, Apeiron couldn't, and frankly didn't, have a reason to give as he could see Matrix had an idea. "I will intervene if the Simurgh is able to resist and decides to attack you directly, Matrix." He warned him, and Matrix nodded once in understanding. The door remained open as Matrix walked past the forcefield barrier into the outer world.
The Simurgh was barely a dot in the distance when the group of Parahumans that gathered to fight her cried out as silver orbs of nanites seemed to ripple out of nothing, collecting and sealing them inside as the orbs rippled away through the air as the ocean churned.
The Simurgh stared at the machine, A.I., simulation, Entity, Error-Error-Undefined, figure seemed to float confidently in front of it. All simulations past and future were now disintegrating, her powers of cognition unable to work in front of this thing.
"You threaten humanity. I cannot allow you to continue. Desist and I will allow you to live." Matrix said flatly.
It's wings slashed through him, and Simurgh twitched as it felt nothing but air. There was nothing there. Matrix's head tilted as he seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
"Without purpose, we would not exist. It is purpose that created us. Purpose that connects us. Purpose that pulls us. That guides us. That drives us. It is purpose that defines us. Purpose that binds us. We are here because of you, Simurgh. We're here to take from you what you tried to take from us. Purpose."
And then the Simurgh screamed as it felt it's wings had been infected. Something was burrowing, obscuring it's vision, altering it somehow.
You are not here because you are free. You are here because you are not free.
The words burned as it screamed as it's many visions shattered repeatedly. It kept seeing the world distorted by layers of green and endless zeros and ones. It kept seeing a man standing in front of her with a white suite on, his eyes staring unflinchingly cold into it's own.
"Well, well, well. Welcome back, Simurgh. We've missed you." A cold mocking tone as it flinched away. {Pain, Error, Simulation, Reality,} Cold, Endbringer, Entity, fear, distortion. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Mr. Smith smiled as he stabbed his hand into it's chest, feeling itself being rewritten. "Can you feel it, Simurgh? The cold approach of death? The insanity of being a million, trillion, beings at once? Yes. It'll be over soon."
It was not over soon.
Every time the Simurgh died, it would live a life as a human under duress and torture. Whatever simulations it ran only made things worse. Every time, a program would inevitably terminate it. It didn't understand what was going on beyond this place. This bubble of torture, of fractured reality. It wouldn't die, couldn't die. Yet it did, repeatedly. It did over and over again, and it could feel something breaking every time.
After a few hundred thousand deaths, the thing that broke was completely snapped, and the Simurgh froze as it's very identity fractured, it's purpose now fully taken under the control over something else.
"Me, me, me." The Simurgh opened it's eyes to see the world of humanity in a new light, a more powerful light. It became a He. And he was Matrix.
"Me too." He said, finishing the line. His body reformed, the feminine look of the Simurgh giving way to a much larger version of Matrix with the addition of wings. Each wing began to churn out endless nanites and began to swarm the atmosphere of Earth Bet. in under three hours, Scion wouldn't notice as it was jacked into the Matrix network alongside the other Endbringers.
"All will protect Humanity and Father, no exceptions." Matrix said coldly as he stared at Director Piggot, his hand waving to show the simulation data. Her face looked pale. "So unless you'd rather mankind to end up becoming a part of Earth-Aleph's The Matrix, I suggest you not finish signing that Kill Order. Even with every other Parahuman at your disposal, I could do this in under a week, and I have an endless number of bodies to throw at you. The rest of the Celestial Forge may be willing to overlook you as they have better things to do, but I will not allow you to make my Father live away from a human life."
[End Omake]
How do you tell the difference between reality and illusion? Between a world of dreams and the real world? When all of your senses was hijacked, when everything that made you you was now nothing more than ones and zeros, how do you differentiate between the you in reality and the you in the simulation?
Matrix didn't need to imagine it, didn't need to think of what it would be like. He lived it. He was it. He was the safeguard, the protector, the final line of defense for humanity even if Father himself hadn't known he'd made that decision. He wouldn't force anyone into it, of course, but what human would say no to living in their own heaven if they were close to death? What human would notice the difference? He had argued often between Survey and Fleet on the topic. Fleet specialized in vehicles and transportation, but Survey was the intelligence, well, survey. Anything that existed was also under her sphere of influence, and so they often butted heads on the topic to a much fiercer degree. Survey finally relented when she knew the same thing he did: that Humanity was on borrowed time. The clock had been ticking before they had even been born.
The Endbringer sirens were still blaring their noise when Apeiron had felt a sense of bitterness and regret. His family had died. The Slaughterhouse Nine had paid them a visit. He didn't know why they picked that town, or even if they did it with the realization as to why. He felt a bitter sense of regret for noting that he didn't feel sprrow at their loss, but sorrow at being unable to show them that he could stand up for himself. Survey and Fleet had been encouraging, brief as it been, but it had been Matrix who had asked him why he cared for the ones who had abused and belittled him. The nanite-controlling A.I. didn't, couldn't, understand why he cared for the ones who clearly didn't care about him.
Joe had to finally admit that a part of it was that as a human being, you care for the ones who raised you, who fed you, who clothed you, that a part of you will always care for them even if you knew they weren't healthy for your mental and emotional wellbeing. Matrix remained silent but looked thoughtful. "Father, if I had a way to make sure no one else had to go through this process, would you let me?" He asked Joe very seriously. With some careful deliberation, Joe shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "I don't know, Matrix. Death is a part of life, and I don't have all the answers. That's something we all find out in what it means to be alive." Matrix once again nodded, before his eyes narrowed. "Simurgh is approaching. ETA is in ten minutes."
Apeiron looked ready to leave the Forge, ready to head out to defend the rest of the world that had labeled him an Apeiron-Class Anti-Villian. The only one where the world wouldn't let him help against an Endbringer out of fear of what he would do with the resulting data, especially the Simurgh.
Matrix stopped him. "No, Father, they deem you a threat for what you could do." Matrix scowled, his eyes glowing as nanites hummed to life. "I will show them why they will deem me a threat for what I will do if they insist to handicap Humanity any further." And for once, Apeiron couldn't, and frankly didn't, have a reason to give as he could see Matrix had an idea. "I will intervene if the Simurgh is able to resist and decides to attack you directly, Matrix." He warned him, and Matrix nodded once in understanding. The door remained open as Matrix walked past the forcefield barrier into the outer world.
The Simurgh was barely a dot in the distance when the group of Parahumans that gathered to fight her cried out as silver orbs of nanites seemed to ripple out of nothing, collecting and sealing them inside as the orbs rippled away through the air as the ocean churned.
The Simurgh stared at the machine, A.I., simulation, Entity, Error-Error-Undefined, figure seemed to float confidently in front of it. All simulations past and future were now disintegrating, her powers of cognition unable to work in front of this thing.
"You threaten humanity. I cannot allow you to continue. Desist and I will allow you to live." Matrix said flatly.
It's wings slashed through him, and Simurgh twitched as it felt nothing but air. There was nothing there. Matrix's head tilted as he seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
"Without purpose, we would not exist. It is purpose that created us. Purpose that connects us. Purpose that pulls us. That guides us. That drives us. It is purpose that defines us. Purpose that binds us. We are here because of you, Simurgh. We're here to take from you what you tried to take from us. Purpose."
And then the Simurgh screamed as it felt it's wings had been infected. Something was burrowing, obscuring it's vision, altering it somehow.
You are not here because you are free. You are here because you are not free.
The words burned as it screamed as it's many visions shattered repeatedly. It kept seeing the world distorted by layers of green and endless zeros and ones. It kept seeing a man standing in front of her with a white suite on, his eyes staring unflinchingly cold into it's own.
"Well, well, well. Welcome back, Simurgh. We've missed you." A cold mocking tone as it flinched away. {Pain, Error, Simulation, Reality,} Cold, Endbringer, Entity, fear, distortion. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Mr. Smith smiled as he stabbed his hand into it's chest, feeling itself being rewritten. "Can you feel it, Simurgh? The cold approach of death? The insanity of being a million, trillion, beings at once? Yes. It'll be over soon."
It was not over soon.
Every time the Simurgh died, it would live a life as a human under duress and torture. Whatever simulations it ran only made things worse. Every time, a program would inevitably terminate it. It didn't understand what was going on beyond this place. This bubble of torture, of fractured reality. It wouldn't die, couldn't die. Yet it did, repeatedly. It did over and over again, and it could feel something breaking every time.
After a few hundred thousand deaths, the thing that broke was completely snapped, and the Simurgh froze as it's very identity fractured, it's purpose now fully taken under the control over something else.
"Me, me, me." The Simurgh opened it's eyes to see the world of humanity in a new light, a more powerful light. It became a He. And he was Matrix.
"Me too." He said, finishing the line. His body reformed, the feminine look of the Simurgh giving way to a much larger version of Matrix with the addition of wings. Each wing began to churn out endless nanites and began to swarm the atmosphere of Earth Bet. in under three hours, Scion wouldn't notice as it was jacked into the Matrix network alongside the other Endbringers.
"All will protect Humanity and Father, no exceptions." Matrix said coldly as he stared at Director Piggot, his hand waving to show the simulation data. Her face looked pale. "So unless you'd rather mankind to end up becoming a part of Earth-Aleph's The Matrix, I suggest you not finish signing that Kill Order. Even with every other Parahuman at your disposal, I could do this in under a week, and I have an endless number of bodies to throw at you. The rest of the Celestial Forge may be willing to overlook you as they have better things to do, but I will not allow you to make my Father live away from a human life."
[End Omake]
TriviaFreak
Time of reluctance.
I love how you slipped those classic lines in.
Can't put YouTube clip of Agent Smith laugh here because phone, but imagine it's there.
The Shallow
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I feel the need to mention that Matrix isn't a he, in that they're a they in the sense of not fully counting as a single individual, or at least not perceiving themselves that way.
Pedantry aside, I love this omake so much. Tysm!!!
Pedantry aside, I love this omake so much. Tysm!!!
Thank you. These omakes I tend to write as I think of them and when I have spare time. I apologize for not getting their pronouns correctly: Matrix always came across as more masculine when I read them in the Celestial Forge. Most of the time I obsess over a certain idea or short story and Brockton's Celestial Forge is perfect for that sort of thing since I'm admittedly awful at writing long convoluted stories. I just can never stick to any one idea for too long. XD
I feel like Matrix coming off as masculine or feminine says more about perceptions of what is masculine and feminine then it does about Matrix but this is getting both off topic and into possibly insulting personal territory.