Hold It In (RWBY/Transistor)

[Blonddude42]

...It's gonna be some kind of drug isn't it. Something like the "emotional dampener" that occasionally gets brought up as something thought up in the Great War Era in fanfics. Massive cost savings by removing the threat of Grimm attacks. Might even have other boons to it too. Makes sense that it would be worthless in a happy camp since the threat would already be so minor and in one ready for open rebellion it would either start the revolt or draw enough Grimm in that it wouldn't matter.

Assuming it works as they intend though.

 

[ADeshantis]

Geier is patently unlikable while managing to remind me of actual people I have the misfortune of knowing instead of being a ridiculous strawmen. I appreciate the effort that took.

I'm betting Creme puts him headfirst through a wall.

 

[Silversun17]

Rather then pod peopling we night just gsther video evidence of the slave labor then launch a military assult. Ironwood would laugh in the jackass's face when he demands Atlas step in.

 

[ADeshantis]

Military assault rather understates the shock factor of having the walls come alive and become decidedly hostile to you.

 

[Adeen Dragon]

I'm a bit curious what the plan is; shut off the power unless dust quotas are met?

I understand short sighted plans getting passed to turn a higher quarterly profit, but this is a 40 year old plan that apparently is theoretically polished to perfection. I'm expecting something like: "feed Fanus to Grim in exchange for dust" or something equally absurd and horrible.

 

[KNM]

...It's gonna be some kind of drug isn't it. Something like the "emotional dampener" that occasionally gets brought up as something thought up in the Great War Era in fanfics. Massive cost savings by removing the threat of Grimm attacks. Might even have other boons to it too. Makes sense that it would be worthless in a happy camp since the threat would already be so minor and in one ready for open rebellion it would either start the revolt or draw enough Grimm in that it wouldn't matter.

Assuming it works as they intend though.

Click to shrink...

That actually makes sense. Some drug made on Remnant that turns people into emotionless meat robots that'll work til they die sounds exactly like the kind of thing RL corporations would do if they have the means and can get away with it, which in-story the SDC had both.

Rather than make people happy, they just get rid of any emotion all together. Very logical deduction.

Never would've thought of that.

 

[SneakyWalrus]

Every time you think the SDC can't get any worse. Well, it's moments like these that make me crave the moment we can pull the wonderful meme of:

Jacques Schnee: "You can't just bankrupt the entire Dust mining monopoly by collapsing economy through cheap, safe, mass Dust Production! You'll ruin our company!

Cloudbank Solutions: "haha, Process go Brrr."

 

[Bob Saget]

It's stuff like this, against the background that Salem probably has logically coherent dominoes/plans ready and waiting to tear down all four Kingdoms in this AU, that makes me want to just send process cells to the four corners of the globe to accelerate its planetwide coverage.

And I'd argue for that course of action if it weren't for the fact that the Process's social development is more important than its process-ing speed. Both for its own sake and for the planet's.

 

[KNM]

Yeah, it's a countdown until the Process can be trusted to have learned enough about human morality

 

[FeepingCreature]

Hmm, that it wouldn't work on a place at the edge of revolution implies it has to be at least somewhat voluntary, which excludes my first guess, mind control devices. Drugs are possible, I guess.

Edit: That said, I don't get how the SDC think they can get away with what is, to all appearances, looking to be Color War 2.0: Faunus Edition.

 

[Mordiggian]

I was trying to think up what could have them reacting this way, and I'm thinking the idiots might be considering keeping some Apathy Grimm around.
Basically the same as the emotion suppressing drug idea, except even cheaper! And much more dangerous. Plus the idea is cannon from volume 4, where a farmer decided that would be a great way to not have to pay his workers... until the entire town starved to death unable to get out of bed.

Edit: Now that I've refreshed my memory on the Apathy a bit more, I'm fairly confident this is what Geier is planning. Apathy are supposed to be fairly docile while not in a pack and thus one of the easiest Grimm to capture/contain (which likely works in Salem's favor when idiots try to do that while researching Grimm). Only a one time cost to install a cage in the worker's sleeping area, and the workers no longer have the energy to complain. Then he can enforce harsher conditions, worse food, cut all the corners he wants without any fear of a revolt, and just needs to have people experiment to find the right balance of exposure to the Apathy's screams/aura (which can affect people through solid stone) to have efficient workers. And the emotion deadening effect will make sure the workers stay just short of being miserable, thus cutting costs by attracting less Grimm! (Except for other Apathy...)

 

[zeromass]

I was trying to think up what could have them reacting this way, and I'm thinking the idiots might be considering keeping some Apathy Grimm around.
Basically the same as the emotion suppressing drug idea, except even cheaper! And much more dangerous. Plus the idea is cannon from volume 4, where a farmer decided that would be a great way to not have to pay his workers... until the entire town starved to death unable to get out of bed.

Edit: Now that I've refreshed my memory on the Apathy a bit more, I'm fairly confident this is what Geier is planning. Apathy are supposed to be fairly docile while not in a pack and thus one of the easiest Grimm to capture/contain (which likely works in Salem's favor when idiots try to do that while researching Grimm). Only a one time cost to install a cage in the worker's sleeping area, and the workers no longer have the energy to complain. Then he can enforce harsher conditions, worse food, cut all the corners he wants without any fear of a revolt, and just needs to have people experiment to find the right balance of exposure to the Apathy's screams/aura (which can affect people through solid stone) to have efficient workers. And the emotion deadening effect will make sure the workers stay just short of being miserable, thus cutting costs attracting less Grimm! (Except for other Apathy...)

Click to shrink...

I want to say nobody is stupid enough to try that but I know I would be wrong

 

[Pyrotech51]

Simple. Take every bit of humane treatment away because it "costs too much money" and turn the "employees" from people in debt working in functional but strict conditions to literal slave labor to cut costs and improve production.

Nevermind that it'll literally lead to more controversy and bad press, mass deaths from overworked and ill slaves, slave revolts, grimm attacks from the negativity and more. Which will be even more expensive to deal with than just treating their workers humanely.

Basically, think every heartless, evil business man stereotype you can think of, and put them in charge of a literal megacorp on a death world with monsters attracted to negativity with all the lack of common sense and self preservation that implies.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Grier here reads like an incredibly short sighted member of the upper management team in a business that just had a great idea for saving on costs and making more money... Only he's completely skipped over the objections of everyone underneath him who sees the massive holes in his idea and the issues that will cause it to start costing them massively in terms of actual output.


It reminds me of a story where a new manager (instated after a company was acquired by a larger one) decided that the number of unused holidays was a major issue since the company needed to buy them back at the overtime rate, and that one of the programmers being paid more than the others who had been around just as long was poor business sense so he needed to go....

Except for the fact that he didn't look at the fact that the employees were happy to work the extra hours in return for the higher pay, that the company could bill their clients at a rate higher than the overtime pay when they were working, and that that one programmer... Was the in house expert on an unusual programming language and critical to them maintaining a contract with their biggest client.

Apparently the acquired company collapsed and went under 6 months later...

 

[Dragonmaster150]

It's been a rough couple of months. I'd rather not get into details, all told, it's not worth worrying about now.

The worst is over, I'm no longer spending every single day performing intense physical labour for no reward, now it's just a matter of figuring out if I wasn't writing because I ended every day sore and tired, or if I'm in the middle of a hilariously inconveniently-timed major depressive episode.

Click to shrink...

I feel like this year in general has just been rough on everyone. I was so glad when school started up again because it meant that I didn't need to be at my job full time any more. Now I feel like I have time to do more than just sleep when I get home... or I did until midterm season hit anyway.

Still, it's good to see you're doing better now. I'll be praying for you.

Welcome back

- snip -

Click to shrink...

Well well well, now isn't this plot thread interesting.

Edit:

I unironically, hope this interlude is supposed to be the beginning of the quest line that results in the Process devouring and impersonating Geier and the rest of the corrupt SDC higher ups. Jaune's little AI godling needs some practice emulating biomatter and helping humanity afterall. Pulling a kill and switch on the SDC board of directors lets them do both

Click to shrink...

Somehow, I feel like if Weiss knew what was going on she might almost approve the Process taking over too. After all, if it ever got out that the SDC is willing to do things like that, whether they're using the Apathy as has been suggested by others or not, the company's reputation would probably take a pretty big dive, especially in Vale.

 

[SilentMech]

I was trying to think up what could have them reacting this way, and I'm thinking the idiots might be considering keeping some Apathy Grimm around.
Basically the same as the emotion suppressing drug idea, except even cheaper! And much more dangerous. Plus the idea is cannon from volume 4, where a farmer decided that would be a great way to not have to pay his workers... until the entire town starved to death unable to get out of bed.

Edit: Now that I've refreshed my memory on the Apathy a bit more, I'm fairly confident this is what Geier is planning. Apathy are supposed to be fairly docile while not in a pack and thus one of the easiest Grimm to capture/contain (which likely works in Salem's favor when idiots try to do that while researching Grimm). Only a one time cost to install a cage in the worker's sleeping area, and the workers no longer have the energy to complain. Then he can enforce harsher conditions, worse food, cut all the corners he wants without any fear of a revolt, and just needs to have people experiment to find the right balance of exposure to the Apathy's screams/aura (which can affect people through solid stone) to have efficient workers. And the emotion deadening effect will make sure the workers stay just short of being miserable, thus cutting costs by attracting less Grimm! (Except for other Apathy...)

Click to shrink...

That actually makes sense and horrifies me at the same time. Bets on how many of them wind up used per building are one as a starting point just to make up a standard design set with up to two being the limit. Of course they won't put one in the admin building, then it might effect people! If you don't read that sarcastically, you aren't corporate enough to approve the plan, which is good.

 

[Walliseatscheese]

I guess it's time to see what it would cost to buy out all of SDC's DICs.

 

[Impetus]

Ultimately, we have the Process: We can fix pretty much any problem humankind (peoplekind?) has, including these labour camps. We can easily bankrupt SDC, and we can also get Ozpin's support quite easily if the SDC are going to resort to Apathy usage on workers (and considering how old the plan is I think Apathy grimm are way more likely than anything else).

At the moment we don't want to overthrow the economy for the sake of preserving livelihoods, but we can most certainly make an exception for the SDC, and any other company who does their best to make the lives of people a living hell.

 

[JayTar]

So when I was reading the interlude some parts of it felt familiar and it was bothering me so I went back through the updates and well, it turns out the stuff in this interlude is not coming from nowhere at all.
Back during the White Fang attack with Weiss:

So, Schnee, what do you know about your family's gulag business?

No, wait, don't say anything, your face tells me everything.

You probably know them as 'SDC debt-internment facilities.'

Theeeere's the lightbulb.

Ya see, we all know about people having to pay insane interest on any fees they incur in Schnee colonies, but these places are for the people who were already in debt when they come to work for the SDC. The only way they get away with offering those rates to their employees is by offering them to everyone. And some poor sap always needs quick money. A dimwit lover, desperate to impress his girl, a pregnant maid, a fresh widow with mouths to feed...

Usury, corporatised. It should disgust you.

Click to shrink...

I think they were mentioned elsewhere too, but I can't find it at the moment.

 

[CaesriusPolybius]

Simple. Take every bit of humane treatment away because it "costs too much money" and turn the "employees" from people in debt working in functional but strict conditions to literal slave labor to cut costs and improve production.

Nevermind that it'll literally lead to more controversy and bad press, mass deaths from overworked and ill slaves, slave revolts, grimm attacks from the negativity and more. Which will be even more expensive to deal with than just treating their workers humanely.

Basically, think every heartless, evil business man stereotype you can think of, and put them in charge of a literal megacorp on a death world with monsters attracted to negativity with all the lack of common sense and self preservation that implies.

Edit:.

I unironically, hope this interlude is supposed to be the beginning of the quest line that results in the Process devouring and impersonating Geier and the rest of the corrupt SDC higher ups. Jaune's little AI godling needs some practice emulating biomatter and helping humanity afterall. Pulling a kill and switch on the SDC board of directors lets them do both.

Click to shrink...

Thaaaaat's probably a bad thing to teach the process is acceptable. Tempting, but not a good thing to teach them.

I want to say nobody is stupid enough to try that but I know I would be wrong

Click to shrink...

Never underestimate the stupidity of corporate management, they'll surprise and depress you every time.

 

[aimlessPolymath]

So when I was reading the interlude some parts of it felt familiar and it was bothering me so I went back through the updates and well, it turns out the stuff in this interlude is not coming from nowhere at all.
Back during the White Fang attack with Weiss:

I think they were mentioned elsewhere too, but I can't find it at the moment.

Click to shrink...

Also mentioned during the date with Penny.

"No, Liv, we were not paid in company scrip. Well, our mine didn't, I can't speak for any others. No, in a way, it's actually worse- when you live on an SDC mine, that's fairly isolated from the rest of the world, as Dust mines are, and you need a bank branch to take money out so you can pay for your living arrangements, clothing, and so on. Now, as you know, the SDC does own its own banking service."

"It does."

"Well, that's your only option on an SDC mine. They set you up with an account in the local branch when you sign on, and then they put money in and take it out just as needed. Now see, the killer there is fees. There's a fee for everything- there's an overdraft fee, there are transaction fees, there's fees for paying your bills late, something that inevitably happens because they spread your payments out just enough that you can't always guarantee you'll have enough money to pay everything between paychecks- and all of them have interest."

"Really?"

"Yes, really, insane amounts of interest, almost on par with those, payday loan companies you see advertised on TV all the time- they're never huge fees, 250 Lien here or there, but when you throw on ridiculous, 750%, 1,000% APR clauses, it just breeds, until you're stuck paying off interest until... well, until you've paid off your debt a dozen times over. I know there are still people in those mines who've been paying off the same 250 Lien fee for going on ten years now. And they can't just leave to find a better paying job, either, because, well, it's in their contract. 'If the signee has any outstanding debts, they cannot leave their employment with the company.'"

"Heavens. That can't be legal, can it?"

"It is, though. I've sought legal counsel on the matter, and the contract is nigh-ironclad. Under Valish and Atlesian law, they can keep these people a-as indentured servants!"

"Only Valish and Atlesian law? Not Mistrali?"

"I've yet to contact a Mistrali lawyer on the matter, but I can't say I hold any hope on the matter."

"... Hrm. Well, I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Thank you for coming on the show, Mr Rowan, and I truly hope you find a way to help those still in the mines."

"I hope so too."

Click to shrink...

 

[hamof]

I feel like the reason it's take 40 years for this plan to be approved isn't because it's been refined by think tanks over that time, but rather because everyone who ever had it suggested to them before was like "No, that's dumb, we're not doing that"

 

[Blonddude42]

You know, I like the Apathy Grimm idea more than the drug one. Would be more cost effective than drugs since there would only be the ongoing cost of containing the Apathy rather than administration of repeated doses. And thus be more likely to have someone implement it.

Although the inevitable drop to productivity seems like it would hit before significant savings from reduced threat of Grimm, so even with short term profit motive companies are incentivized to pursue it seems like a bad idea.

...well I guess if labor laws are closer to the 20th century it could be made to work, but it seems that they aren't. They'd have to work longer hours to meet quota, but that would mean overtime pay.

 

[RoninSword]

I think they were mentioned elsewhere too, but I can't find it at the moment.

Click to shrink...

Blue and Bracket listened to a radio broadcast that was interviewing a former 'employee' of a SDC mine. It was in a spoiler so I don't think you can sue the search function but it was in the chapter where they first speak to Penny I believe.

 

[ADeshantis]

Imagine the sheer scorched earth potential when the Bullhead lands, and the Process informs Jaune that it's detected Grimm in the mine.

This stupid Geier idiot is almost certainly going to be there to try and keep them from finding anything beyond apathetic miners and he's going to fail miserably because Jaune might have a lot of privacy filters but as far as I'm aware they don't really apply to Grimm so the second he walks near wherever it is he's going to know about it.

Our boy is a bit on the soft spoken side but we've seen him go full on This Shall Not Stand before and he coded a god into existence.

This gon be gud.

Edit: Apropos of nothing, I just realized that Nora is on a team with an honest to God Mekboy. I give it approximately a 0% chance that Magnhild isn't rokkit powered by the end of the semester.

 

[RoninSword]

Doesn't she already use the grenade launchers blast to act as a speed boost of her hammer?