- Location
- Australia
Well, actually, right now she's gotten Panacea back on side and healing, albeit temporarily, while she explores options. A phone call to her dad? Cheap at the price.
Hostage Situation [Worm AU Fanfic]
- Thread starter Ack
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm panacea (worm)
JamesB
You needed worthy opponents.
- Location
- Kansas
I've always felt Amy criminally underutilized her abilities. Largely, I lay the blame for this at Carol's feet.
Using her full biokinesis, it wouldn't have been too hard for her to make various "cure in a bottle" type serums to heal people. Diabetes: here's a serum that will fix your pancreas. Cancer: here's a serum that resets the growth rate of cells to normal. With these two alone, she's cleared out the oncology ward of many hospitals. The major things that would be left are trauma/ER type things, and most of the time, normal doctors are more than skilled enough for these. Just doing these frees up a very significant amount of her time. Of course, this is presuming that her shard lets these "cure in a bottle" serums actually work.
Using her full biokinesis, it wouldn't have been too hard for her to make various "cure in a bottle" type serums to heal people. Diabetes: here's a serum that will fix your pancreas. Cancer: here's a serum that resets the growth rate of cells to normal. With these two alone, she's cleared out the oncology ward of many hospitals. The major things that would be left are trauma/ER type things, and most of the time, normal doctors are more than skilled enough for these. Just doing these frees up a very significant amount of her time. Of course, this is presuming that her shard lets these "cure in a bottle" serums actually work.
- Location
- Australia
Probably not. It would need to be a bacteria or something similar that isn't going to mutate or otherwise change. Also, one that can affect anyone, regardless of what their genetic makeup is, what other bacteria or viruses they have running around in their systems, etc.
Yeah, but she's not talking about asking him, she's talking about seeing it herself.
I have to wonder what Brandish thinks of this. It's never clear exactly in canon what she does as someone who is in private practice, specializes in criminal law, but so clearly doesn't have the temperament to be a defense attorney... but the government systematically denying people their right to appeal by lying to the public ought to be an interesting revelation.
Panacea also shouldn't have agreed so easily. Agreeing to this completely destroys her - she can't ever go to the public with her demands, because making those demands carries an implicit claim that they are possible to be met, which violates the agreement. She can now, presumably, be put in jail for ever telling anyone why she's stopped healing people. Even if she didn't realize this, someone in the room should have - no-one spoke up, this means everyone is against her.
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Khaos
Baguette, wine and cheese
I'm not convinced, there's are underlying reasons why she wants her father released, like a lack of love from her adoptive family, a somewhat romanticised/embellished image of what her father may have been, some self esteem issues that makes her think she isn't a good person and so on. Amy isn't a person who lacks hooks to make her doubt her own decisions.
That makes plenty of avenues of attack to convince her to do otherwise, even in a totally non underhanded fashion. Go underhanded and you one could just have a fake Marquis in prison conversing with her.
Hell, make her think that the PRT won't cave no matter what and eat the loss for a few months, and maybe she'll even return to healing on her own. After all, she isn't the only healer cape even if she is by far the most efficient. It's not like Amy is suddenly insensitive to external pressure or that she's absolutely without any compassion.
And if the PRT is shown to cave under pressure, that is if the cover for freeing Marquis isn't perfect, then terrorism would be seen as a plausible way to liberate villains. That has to heavily weigh in the decision against freeing Marquis. Whether this hurts more or less than losing Panacea is highly debatable.
In any case, "any social-fu will fail" is only applicable is Amy's motivation is "Ensure my father's freedom from the Birdcage" because "Ensure my father's freedom from the Birdcage" because "Ensure my father's freedom from the Birdcage". No underlying reason, no other personality trait to exploit, no nothing.
And if Cauldron really want to be a dick, there's always Pretender.
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What cover? If the fact that they can release him is a secret, they have to cover up the fact that they released him, not just why.
JamesB
You needed worthy opponents.
- Location
- Kansas
That's easy. He's given a new identity. Panacea uses her abilities to change his face/body/fingerprints and he's unrecognizable. The setup is similar to being in the witness protection program. Considering that overall no information comes from the Birdcage except through Dragon (and Saint...), no one has to know. Of course, if they go through with this, expect Saint to attempt to spring Teacher out using the same mechanism.
Khaos
Baguette, wine and cheese
That's exactly what I mean.
I'm really confused as to how Amy thinks she can downplay his actions with the "he was a supervillian and lots of supervillians do bad things" line, if someone murders a person we don't say "oh well, he's a murderer and lots of murderers do bad things" and think that makes it any better. Supervillian is a bad quality in and of itself, it doesn't need to be qualified with how especially brutal or honourable they were in order to make a judgement.
- Location
- Australia
Amy might not witness the situation where Marquis is accused of doing something. If he says one thing, and a PRT/law officer claims something else, then you have to pick who's telling the truth. If he claims railroading, the Chief Director is saying, anyone can claim that.
What, the Brandish who isn't in the room?
No, she can't say "I know it's possible to get him out." She can say "I want him out."
She does realise, however, that she was manipulated directly into agreeing. Of course, RCB had smoothed the way first.
So what do you do after the first week?
Here's the thing. If you have something that someone else wants, and they've only got one thing that you want, you can hold out all day long. Social-fu only works if you listen.
She's been subjected to external pressure for the last ten years of her life. Particularly so, for the last three. And she is actually starting dislike healing. She's had a guilt complex for the longest time, but now? Not so much. Each day she can convince herself "I don't have to" is another day that it's easier just to ... not.
One of the things RCB will be talking to people like Contessa about.
I can clearly state that "NO social-fu will lead me to betray my friends." I will, in fact, punch in the face anyone who tries.
All you have to do is not listen.
What are they gonna do? Knock her out or kill her first? First is hard, second is kinda final. Because if Pretender tries to take her over while she's awake ... yeah, sucks to be him.
A good compromise is where both sides go away unsatisfied.
RCB did the opposite.
- Location
- Australia
He's her father. He's also the only parental figure that ever really cared for her. She wants her him back.
Khaos
Baguette, wine and cheese
You don't get anything if you don't listen, goodbye.
The point is that you could/can have made Panacea think the PRT is willing to eat her loss.
I've heard that before, but in my experience a good compromise is one where both sides walk away willing to live with it. (And with an understanding that no one "won" the compromise.)
If everyone is unsatisfied it means you're likely to have the same problem crop up again in short order .. because the unsatisfied people are going to want to "fix things." If one side "won," then the problems will crop up faster.
.. but that's just me ..
On a side note, one thing that I'm rather curious to see (and that Amy shouldn't see) is how the Powers That Be respond to Amy's assertion that Carol is an abusive parent. There's a lot they could do on that front to "social-fu" Panacea and prevent more problems from cropping up later. That could mean getting Carol into therapy, getting Amy into therapy, finding a new home for Amy, and so on. There are a lot of possibilities there.
.. possibilities they can control to try and shape Panacea's goals and personality, long term ..
(Thinkers are a go!)
- Location
- Australia
Yeah, but they can still try to convince you not to want the thing that you want. It's not guaranteed that it won't work, because you have reasons for wanting it rather than it being an absolute immutable truth of your character.
Khaos
Baguette, wine and cheese
Sure, but that's not going to advance her goal of freeing MArquis, which is what she wants.
fallendruid
Tripped
- Location
- Southwestern US
I stand by my basic thought: The correct response for the PRT in this situation is to say 'I'm very sorry to hear that, Miss Lavere. Your services have been very valuable to us in the past, and we're sorry to see you go. Have a good day.'
Of course, then the story doesn't go much of anywhere, so.
Of course, then the story doesn't go much of anywhere, so.
- Location
- Kansas
If Jack Slash, one of the social-fu gurus didn't have his broadcast slash and his posy of murder-hobos, the standard response to him would be to slam the door on this face.
He is most dangerous when he can force someone to listen, and while most people in Worm would likely know that listening to him is a bad idea, the indestructible, cannibalistic cat-girl standing behind you isn't a very good second option. Basically when Jack wants to talk, he kind of has a default threat going: listen to me, or Siberian eats you, Bonesaw plays with you, etc...
So explain to me how the PRT, with everything that implies, and the Protectorate, with everything that implies, can sell to the public having fired the best healer on the planet without even having tried to negotiate with her? Or at least convince her that what she's proposing is a monumentally bad idea?
False logic. She was never an employee of theirs in the first place.
- Location
- Kansas
When has the public or media ever cared about a silly thing like Logic?
fallendruid
Tripped
- Location
- Southwestern US
Fired? She quit. Not that she was ever employed in any legal sense. She's a volunteer, at best, a voluntold (by Carol) at worst.
I'm not saying that they wouldn't try to convince her of why it's a monumentally bad idea, but as Ack said, she is intractable. So, yes. Have a nice day. There's the door. Your services have been valued for the past two years, but we've made it twenty without you.
Why would they need to sell it to the public? They don't employ Panacea. New Wave - or Panacea - employs her. It's on them. Not on the PRT. The Brockton Bay Brigade fucked up when they captured Marquis? That's rough. PRT is not responsible, though the situation is being investigated for possible criminal actions in Marquis' detainment, as well as the adoption of Miss Lavere.
As soon as Panacea goes to the press, it -becomes- blackmail - regardless of whatever pretty words Panacea tries to use to cover it. She has something she thinks will damage the PRT's reputation. If they bow to her wishes, she won't do anything with it. If they don't, she goes to the media. That's the -definition- of blackmail.
Most people here seem to be relying on the idea that fear of media/public pressure will force the PRT to submit to Panacea's will. That's blackmail.
Given the situation, they can likely toss the usual extortion charge on top, then add in racketeering because of the connections to organized crime.
I'm not saying that they wouldn't try to convince her of why it's a monumentally bad idea, but as Ack said, she is intractable. So, yes. Have a nice day. There's the door. Your services have been valued for the past two years, but we've made it twenty without you.
Why would they need to sell it to the public? They don't employ Panacea. New Wave - or Panacea - employs her. It's on them. Not on the PRT. The Brockton Bay Brigade fucked up when they captured Marquis? That's rough. PRT is not responsible, though the situation is being investigated for possible criminal actions in Marquis' detainment, as well as the adoption of Miss Lavere.
As soon as Panacea goes to the press, it -becomes- blackmail - regardless of whatever pretty words Panacea tries to use to cover it. She has something she thinks will damage the PRT's reputation. If they bow to her wishes, she won't do anything with it. If they don't, she goes to the media. That's the -definition- of blackmail.
Most people here seem to be relying on the idea that fear of media/public pressure will force the PRT to submit to Panacea's will. That's blackmail.
Given the situation, they can likely toss the usual extortion charge on top, then add in racketeering because of the connections to organized crime.
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- Location
- Australia
Actually, no.
As she said, she's not going to make it public if they aren't.
Extortion won't work because she's not offering any sort of threat. She's doing nothing.
And nor will racketeering, because even if Marquis was a crime boss, he isn't now, and there is no crime involved.
I get that, and it's understandable that she'd be selfish in that way but I don't get why selfishness necessitates such obviously flawed points, she has the leverage, she doesn't need to bullshit about her motivations or her understanding of her father in order to get him out.