Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest

[King crimson]

So I'm going to probably close the vote in like 20 or so minutes. Then I will get to work on the Vertigo event. I'm also going to put up a vote on whether or not you want Ivo's funeral to be an event or not.

 

[Negation]

Well, Ivo is our Nobel Laureate, we should do him proper honors for his contribution to Science even if he was a terrible people person.

We'd also need to seal his labs and restrict access to everything until we have personally gone through them.

 

[King crimson]

And the vote is now closed. I hope to get the Vertigo events first part up today but it is more likely that it'll get done by tomorrow.

 

[Simon_Jester]

The Metropolitan Clan, Ch. 36


Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, M.D.​

The Transcontinental Railroad

Even after retaking personal control of the M&O, Leland found himself embroiled in a series of costly commercial rivalries as he sought to expand the railroad network. While his gifts as an inventor were undeniable, Leland wasn't the political and corporate operator his father was. And he had a long, bitter memory for a rival. The combination was to prove difficult for him.

The first such rival of his to arise- after Garrett- was Thomas Durant, in connection with the Crédit Mobilier scheme. Shortly before his death, Lucius Luthor had made arrangements tying him to what would in July 1862 be chartered as the Union Pacific Rail Road corporation. Leland, at the time obsessively preoccupied with improving the operating mechanism of the Luthor gun, absentmindedly signed up for a significant though far from dominant share in the company. The UPRR's goal was to build a railroad line over 1700 miles of plains, mountains, and deserts, starting from Omaha in the Nebraska Territory and linking up with the Central Pacific railway starting from California.

The UPRR was inevitably going to be a long-term investment for everyone involved. It would pass for almost its entire length through wilderness and the territory of potentially hostile Indian tribes. There would be little or no demand for freight along much of the line at first, and it could be many years before the railroad became profitable. This made financing the line a considerable challenge. And it was all the more challenging to assure shareholders- or the management- of any reasonable return on investment.

Thomas Durant, however, was a man perfectly capable of assuring anyone of anything, so long as it benefited him personally.

Durant engaged heavily in stock manipulations in the early years of the UP's construction, influencing the price of stock in other Western railroads near the Mississippi River by strategically making announcements that the UPRR would connect to them, and profiting heavily as a result. Meanwhile he pressured Eastern financiers to borrow money from him to purchase shares in the company themselves.

During his trips East, Durant also lobbied Congress to amend the Pacific Railroad Act to include even more generous grants of federal land to the railroad companies than Lucius Luthor had already gotten into the original Act. This was successful; by 1871, the total area of federal lands given over to the railroads had exceeded 175 million acres, a combined territory larger than the state of Texas. Furthermore, Durant ensured that he would be paid by Congress for every mile of track the UPRR laid. This was to prove a costly decision on the part of the federal government.

Given that there was a massive war on at the time, the government paid little attention to Durant's activities- or his route map. By war's end, Durant had indeed laid a great deal of track… in a series of enormous U-shapes across the landscape, reaching no more than forty miles from his line's starting point. Furthermore, Durant enhanced his personal fortune with a massive smuggling operation, being a major buyer of Confederate cotton during the war, with the aid of U.S. army general Grenville Dodge, who in turn used a share of the smuggling money to fund his spy networks in Confederate territory..

But none of these schemes and manipulations would draw Leland Luthor's ire.

Crédit Mobilier

Some months after John Garrett's ouster in April 1866, Leland directed his right-hand man, Jack Graves, to make a survey of the Union Pacific Railroad. Graves had investigated the UPRR once before, in May of 1863. Graves would probably have detected foul play had he arrived much later; if nothing else, the giant horseshoes of railroad track would not have escaped him. But at that point, the signs of Durant's trickery were more subtle, and Graves was a busy man setting up intelligence networks during the Civil War. Like most representatives of Durant's backers- and the nation as a whole- he simply did not have time to perform a deep investigation of the operation.

Now the matter was very different. To be sure, Durant had realized his 'horseshoe' gimmick could not be sustained and begun to lay track in some semblance of a straight line towards his intended destination. But many other aspects of the construction raised awkward questions. In particular, Graves began to take note of the interesting connection between the Union Pacific and its chief construction contractor, Crédit Mobilier.

Crédit Mobilier, a construction firm that entirely coincidentally shared the name of a very reputable French bank that it had no commercial ties to whatsoever, charged the Union Pacific high fees to reflect the difficulties of constructing the line through remote wilderness and in the face of Indian attacks. And further investigation on Leland Luthor's part, and a few quiet words with Maryland congressmen beholden to him and his father, revealed a troubling anomaly. Namely, that the boards of directors of the Union Pacific Rail Road and Crédit Mobilier of America consisted entirely of the same men.

At the time, this sort of 'interlocking directorate' was legal, but not the sort of behavior apt to attract good feeling from Congress- a matter which Durant had tried to resolve by spending a few million dollars bribing assorted Congressmen to overlook the fact that Crédit Mobilier was nothing but a conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

The government had been paying dearly for every mile of track laid- nearly twice as much as the line actually cost to construct- thanks to Durant's gambit. Durant and his associates, secretly convinced that the UPRR would never be profitable, had resolved to make as much money out of the construction phase as possible, and creating a shell company to handle the construction at inflated prices was the core of their plans. Crédit Mobilier would overcharge the UPRR, the railroad would shrug and pass the bills on to Congress, and the public would pay the balance.

However, an audit of the Union Pacific's books would have proven nothing. The Union Pacific had provided detailed invoices to the government, with not a dollar unaccounted for. The railroad was simply covering contracts duly drawn up by Crédit Mobilier officers, agreed upon by Union Pacific officers,

Namely, that the officers of the UPRR and Crédit Mobilier were the same persons.

Leland was furious. Stories differ on whether he was angry that Durant had risked the completion of the project on such a blatant scam, or whether he was simply offended that Durant had not seen fit to offer him a cut of the proceeds. However, his reaction is a matter of historic record:

He undertook a private investigation, and took the matter to Congress.

Political chaos would ensue.

 

[King crimson]

The Metropolitan Clan, Ch. 36


Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, M.D.​

The Transcontinental Railroad

Even after retaking personal control of the M&O, Leland found himself embroiled in a series of costly commercial rivalries as he sought to expand the railroad network. While his gifts as an inventor were undeniable, Leland wasn't the political and corporate operator his father was. And he had a long, bitter memory for a rival. The combination was to prove difficult for him.

The first such rival of his to arise- after Garrett- was Thomas Durant, in connection with the Crédit Mobilier scheme. Shortly before his death, Lucius Luthor had made arrangements tying him to what would in July 1862 be chartered as the Union Pacific Rail Road corporation. Leland, at the time obsessively preoccupied with improving the operating mechanism of the Luthor gun, absentmindedly signed up for a significant though far from dominant share in the company. The UPRR's goal was to build a railroad line over 1700 miles of plains, mountains, and deserts, starting from Omaha in the Nebraska Territory and linking up with the Central Pacific railway starting from California.

The UPRR was inevitably going to be a long-term investment for everyone involved. It would pass for almost its entire length through wilderness and the territory of potentially hostile Indian tribes. There would be little or no demand for freight along much of the line at first, and it could be many years before the railroad became profitable. This made financing the line a considerable challenge. And it was all the more challenging to assure shareholders- or the management- of any reasonable return on investment.

Thomas Durant, however, was a man perfectly capable of assuring anyone of anything, so long as it benefited him personally.

Durant engaged heavily in stock manipulations in the early years of the UP's construction, influencing the price of stock in other Western railroads near the Mississippi River by strategically making announcements that the UPRR would connect to them, and profiting heavily as a result. Meanwhile he pressured Eastern financiers to borrow money from him to purchase shares in the company themselves.

During his trips East, Durant also lobbied Congress to amend the Pacific Railroad Act to include even more generous grants of federal land to the railroad companies than Lucius Luthor had already gotten into the original Act. This was successful; by 1871, the total area of federal lands given over to the railroads had exceeded 175 million acres, a combined territory larger than the state of Texas. Furthermore, Durant ensured that he would be paid by Congress for every mile of track the UPRR laid. This was to prove a costly decision on the part of the federal government.

Given that there was a massive war on at the time, the government paid little attention to Durant's activities- or his route map. By war's end, Durant had indeed laid a great deal of track… in a series of enormous U-shapes across the landscape, reaching no more than forty miles from his line's starting point. Furthermore, Durant enhanced his personal fortune with a massive smuggling operation, being a major buyer of Confederate cotton during the war, with the aid of U.S. army general Grenville Dodge, who in turn used a share of the smuggling money to fund his spy networks in Confederate territory..

But none of these schemes and manipulations would draw Leland Luthor's ire.

Crédit Mobilier

Some months after John Garrett's ouster in April 1866, Leland directed his right-hand man, Jack Graves, to make a survey of the Union Pacific Railroad. Graves had investigated the UPRR once before, in May of 1863. Graves would probably have detected foul play had he arrived much later; if nothing else, the giant horseshoes of railroad track would not have escaped him. But at that point, the signs of Durant's trickery were more subtle, and Graves was a busy man setting up intelligence networks during the Civil War. Like most representatives of Durant's backers- and the nation as a whole- he simply did not have time to perform a deep investigation of the operation.

Now the matter was very different. To be sure, Durant had realized his 'horseshoe' gimmick could not be sustained and begun to lay track in some semblance of a straight line towards his intended destination. But many other aspects of the construction raised awkward questions. In particular, Graves began to take note of the interesting connection between the Union Pacific and its chief construction contractor, Crédit Mobilier.

Crédit Mobilier, a construction firm that entirely coincidentally shared the name of a very reputable French bank that it had no commercial ties to whatsoever, charged the Union Pacific high fees to reflect the difficulties of constructing the line through remote wilderness and in the face of Indian attacks. And further investigation on Leland Luthor's part, and a few quiet words with Maryland congressmen beholden to him and his father, revealed a troubling anomaly. Namely, that the boards of directors of the Union Pacific Rail Road and Crédit Mobilier of America consisted entirely of the same men.

At the time, this sort of 'interlocking directorate' was legal, but not the sort of behavior apt to attract good feeling from Congress- a matter which Durant had tried to resolve by spending a few million dollars bribing assorted Congressmen to overlook the fact that Crédit Mobilier was nothing but a conspiracy to defraud the federal government.

The government had been paying dearly for every mile of track laid- nearly twice as much as the line actually cost to construct- thanks to Durant's gambit. Durant and his associates, secretly convinced that the UPRR would never be profitable, had resolved to make as much money out of the construction phase as possible, and creating a shell company to handle the construction at inflated prices was the core of their plans. Crédit Mobilier would overcharge the UPRR, the railroad would shrug and pass the bills on to Congress, and the public would pay the balance.

However, an audit of the Union Pacific's books would have proven nothing. The Union Pacific had provided detailed invoices to the government, with not a dollar unaccounted for. The railroad was simply covering contracts duly drawn up by Crédit Mobilier officers, agreed upon by Union Pacific officers,

Namely, that the officers of the UPRR and Crédit Mobilier were the same persons.

Leland was furious. Stories differ on whether he was angry that Durant had risked the completion of the project on such a blatant scam, or whether he was simply offended that Durant had not seen fit to offer him a cut of the proceeds. However, his reaction is a matter of historic record:

He undertook a private investigation, and took the matter to Congress.

Political chaos would ensue.

Click to shrink...

Ah another Metropolitan Clan omake. I have a few comments to make though as I read it.

And he had a long, bitter memory for a rival.

Click to shrink...

I'm not quite sure on the phrasing here as it seems to imply his rival was a bitter memory. Is it just a turn of phrase I'm unfamiliar with or was there some weirdness in parsing what you wanted to say here.

Now that I've gotten my one nitpick out of the way I can talk about the piece itself. Can I say that monetary manipulations and scams are one of my favorite pieces of history to learn about? Like no joke I find this stuff fascinating. As such this was a fun thing to read. Durant's no John Blunt but his simple scheme is a lot of fun to read about. Of course with the reckoning soon to come we'll soon be seeing his downfall.

As always the piece was competently written and moved the plot forward in an interesting direction. Leland even with very little growth on his own as a character (the evolution of his character stopped after the death of his father more or less) is a ton of fun to read about. He is like a bull and you constantly see people try to maneuver around him only to get gored when they underestimate how tireless he is. I really like his dynamic and it might sound a bit weird but he honestly reminds me of a social Doomsday (both are implacable forces of rage and destruction who have to be maneuvered around rather than confronted directly. There are differences as well but I find the similarity striking). A lot of the past Luthor's reflect Lex in some way so it's interesting to see Leland as a sort of Lex/Doomsday hybrid if he were an antagonist. My musings might be a bit incoherent but I hope they do provide something interesting to look at

Simon Jester has earned another 500 exp

 

[Reader of all]

You know the deal with the doma actually works out in our favor we can put cassandra and jynx there so they can socialize with other kids and hopefully the teachers the doma hired are better able to teach jynx than her previous tutor. Also @King crimson we turn the school into a boarding school?

 

[King crimson]

You know the deal with the doma actually works out in our favor we can put cassandra and jynx there so they can socialize with other kids and hopefully the teachers the doma hired are better able to teach jynx than her previous tutor. Also @King crimson we turn the school into a boarding school?

Click to shrink...

The school is going to be have on campus housing built into it automatically. Living at the school would not be mandatory but it would be highly recommended.

 

[Negation]

You know the deal with the doma actually works out in our favor we can put cassandra and jynx there so they can socialize with other kids and hopefully the teachers the doma hired are better able to teach jynx than her previous tutor. Also @King crimson we turn the school into a boarding school?

Click to shrink...

A boarding school....... please. We are Lex Luthor, we can do better than imitating Gotham Academy. We just have to NOT turn it into H.I.V.E.

 

[Raukeon]

So what should our action plans look like for next turn? I know we're going to need some or boosting actions but what else does everyone want to do?

Click to shrink...

Well, we have 19 actions or so. I think we should find room for:

Martial:

Something to make ourselves and our base a harder target. My favorite is
[ ] Train up LexCorp forces DC 20.

But these are also options
[ ] Train up the police DC 10
[ ] Hire more LexCorp security forces DC 18
[ ] Fortify Metropolis DC 22

Getting our forces better weapons is also low DC, but I don't think it's what they most need right now. We need numbers and competence before that.


Diplomacy:

[ ] Have a meeting with Vicki Vale DC 20
Lois is gonna be merciless with us. We need Vicky to write something to counter the consequences.

[ ] Recruit competent assistants DC 55 or [ ] Recruit Managers and Executives DC 65
These should give us Hero Units with high Diplomacy and/or Stewardship. Likely high coop scores with Lex to, giving us more actions per turn. And we need to expand LexCorp to better combat Wayne Enterprises.

As a bonus, having more people taking care of things in LexCorp for Lex should logically free some of his time, so maybe that's the way to get Lex to be assigned to more than one action.

[ ] Give bonuses to employees DC 0. A good complement to the DIR to ensure employee loyalty and keep them close-lipped when pesky reporters come calling.

[ ] Head to the Oblivion Bar DC 0. This one is a maybe, in case we can fit it. I think we should be more knowledgeable of the Magic World. It's an advantage we have over most our competitors and enemies, but we're still too green in the matter.

Stewardship:

[ ] Hire more workers DC 12
Low DC, and again, we need to expand LexCorp

[ ] Design and produce spy drones DC 10
Improving our Intrigue network

[ ] Begin producing news DC 35
Making our version of events the first and loudest out there is a very powerful weapon. And it'd look better if we do it before Superman appears.

[ ] Build housing for LexCorp employees DC 4
Low DC, LexCorp expansion, and employee loyalty boost.

Intrigue:

The DC of most Intrigue actions is way too high. Further proof we need more resources to spy on people. Still, this one might be interesting:

[ ] Install signal jammers in LexCorp Tower DC 48

Although there's an action to improve jammers that maybe should be taken first.

Learning:

[ ] Learn about military strategy DC 14
[ ] Improve spacefaring plane DC 12

Not only low DCs, but also very useful. Spaceships is our biggest project. And if we keep dealing with the Army, Bane, and facing things like Intergang, military strategy can help us.

[ ] Learn more about computers DC 56 (DC 36 if Felicity assigned)
I really, really, want to surpass Kord. And it may help us improve the supercomputer.

[ ] Improve wards DC 19
It has already saved us from big trouble and is a defense many can't handle. Plus the DC is okay. We can improve them.

 

[ebolasos]

Well, we have 19 actions or so. I think we should find room for:

Martial:

Something to make ourselves and our base a harder target. My favorite is
[ ] Train up LexCorp forces DC 20.

But these are also options
[ ] Train up the police DC 10
[ ] Hire more LexCorp security forces DC 18
[ ] Fortify Metropolis DC 22

Getting our forces better weapons is also low DC, but I don't think it's what they most need right now. We need numbers and competence before that.


Diplomacy:

[ ] Have a meeting with Vicki Vale DC 20
Lois is gonna be merciless with us. We need Vicky to write something to counter the consequences.

[ ] Recruit competent assistants DC 55 or [ ] Recruit Managers and Executives DC 65
These should give us Hero Units with high Diplomacy and/or Stewardship. Likely high coop scores with Lex to, giving us more actions per turn. And we need to expand LexCorp to better combat Wayne Enterprises.

As a bonus, having more people taking care of things in LexCorp for Lex should logically free some of his time, so maybe that's the way to get Lex to be assigned to more tha one action.

[ ] Give bonuses to employees DC 0. A good complement to the DIR to ensure employee loyalty and keep them close-lipped when pesky reporters come calling.

[ ] Head to the Oblivion Bar DC 0. This one is a maybe, in case we can fit it. I think we should be more knowledgeable of the Magic World. It's an advantage we have over most our competitors and enemies, but we're still too green in the matter.

Stewardship:

[ ] Hire more workers DC 12
Low DC, and again, we need to expand LexCorp

[ ] Design and produce spy drones DC 10
Improving our Intrigue network

[ ] Begin producing news DC 35
Making our version of events the first and loudest out there is a very powerful weapon. And it'd look better if we do it before Superman appears.

[ ] Build housing for LexCorp employees DC 4
Low DC, LexCorp expansion, and employee loyalty boost.

Intrigue:

The DC of most Intrigue actions is way too high. Further proof we need more resources to spy on people. Still, this one might be interesting:

[ ] Install signal jammers in LexCorp Tower DC 48

Although there's an action to improve jammers that maybe should be taken first.

Learning:

[ ] Learn about military strategy DC 14
[ ] Improve spacefaring plane DC 12

Not only low DCs, but also very useful. Spaceships is our biggest project. And if we keep dealing with the Army, Bane, and facing things like Intergang, military strategy can help us.

[ ] Learn more about computers DC 56 (DC 36 if Felicity assigned)
I really, really, want to surpass Kord. And it may help us improve the supercomputer.

[ ] Improve wards DC 19
It has already saved us from big trouble and is a defense many can't handle. Plus the DC is okay. We can improve them.

Click to shrink...

Just a question but why so many low dc actions? Are you hoping for some really good crits with well placed hero's?

Another thing is I think we'll need to do a bit more then just go to Vicky vale to help our reputation depending on much it tanks

A good option for that would be [ ] Lexpo
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the expo).
To remind the public that one mishap is nothing compared to the amazing tjings we come up with and will contiune to do so or
[ ] Have the police publicly endorse you
DC 0 (roll determines how effective the endorsement is) if we have the police endorse us saying trust lex Luther and lexcorp and have them show that their investigation showed the company was not at fault could also help immensely

The only risk with the second option is that might put lois onto the police and see if they have a connection to us if she gets suspicious.

 

[Lockheart]

There are some actions we have to take.

1) Something with Markovia (edit: Vlatava, sorry): we need to show the Count that we are serious. More the better.
2) Build a school action.
3) Improve weapons action. Both are for DOMA.
4)Attempt to manage the fallout of Ivo's death, the Accident and Lois's interview about it. Interview, press release or some charity would suffice.

What we would want is to find another robotics specialized hero unit.

Additionally, Oswald would want to continue developing children's television and Carol would need to spend some time on her own company. Pamela didn't do anything plant related for a long time. Children need education, and we need to find a new tutor for Jinx. Marie would grieve for some time.

There is also the mystery of phone monster and Cerise's coma.

 

[Simon_Jester]

I'm not quite sure on the phrasing here as it seems to imply his rival was a bitter memory. Is it just a turn of phrase I'm unfamiliar with or was there some weirdness in parsing what you wanted to say here.

Click to shrink...

It's a turn of phrase you're unfamiliar with. In "long, bitter memory for a rival," the word 'for' is used to describe the purpose to which his memory is put, rather than to say that the first item is a substitute for the second.

You're thinking of constructions like:
"Metallo has kryptonite for a heart."

I'm using something more like:
"Plastic Man has a talent for goofy jokes."

This isn't meant to imply that Plastic Man's goofy jokes have been replaced with talent the way that Metallo's heart has been replaced with kryptonite. It's meant to imply that Plastic Man has a talent, and that the talent in question is put to the purpose of making goofy jokes.

Now that I've gotten my one nitpick out of the way I can talk about the piece itself. Can I say that monetary manipulations and scams are one of my favorite pieces of history to learn about? Like no joke I find this stuff fascinating. As such this was a fun thing to read. Durant's no John Blunt but his simple scheme is a lot of fun to read about.

Click to shrink...

In a head-to-head competition I'd say they actually stack up similarly. John Blunt's primary technique was "bribe legislators" plus a lot of insider trading, whereas Durant's primary technique was "fraudulent redirection of assets" plus a lot of bribing legislators. I didn't go into all the shit Durant got up to, but allowing for the fact that he had different tools at his disposal and different priorities, I'd say he was competitive with John Blunt.

The real problem here is that I'm no Extra History scriptwriter. ;P

As always the piece was competently written and moved the plot forward in an interesting direction. Leland even with very little growth on his own as a character (the evolution of his character stopped after the death of his father more or less)

Click to shrink...

Part of the reason it seems that way is that we're zooming back out to a very distant perspective written ~100 years after he dies. Under the hood, Leland is recovering a good deal of the subtlety he had about approaching problems before the Civil War when he was his father's subordinate and often being thrown at Stewardship/Diplomacy/Intrigue tasks to round out his statline.

The one thing about him that doesn't evolve at all is that he just plain will not let things go. It took Liselle to stop him ranting about how the former Confederates ought to be hung from lampposts, for example, even after the war was over and when this was making him seem creepy and problematic to the people around him.

is a ton of fun to read about. He is like a bull and you constantly see people try to maneuver around him only to get gored when they underestimate how tireless he is. I really like his dynamic and it might sound a bit weird but he honestly reminds me of a social Doomsday (both are implacable forces of rage and destruction who have to be maneuvered around rather than confronted directly. There are differences as well but I find the similarity striking). A lot of the past Luthor's reflect Lex in some way so it's interesting to see Leland as a sort of Lex/Doomsday hybrid if he were an antagonist. My musings might be a bit incoherent but I hope they do provide something interesting to look at

Click to shrink...

The main difference is that outside the one area where he's truly comic book level dangerous (inventing steampunk weaponry), Leland's easier to stop head-to-head.

Garrett tried to beat him by being a better railroad manager (and outmaneuvering him, yes) and it would probably have worked if not for Leland's support network. Durant's running into problems because his scheme is built on not getting caught, combined with him making sure Congress doesn't have an incentive to catch him. And, well, Leland isn't done running into enemies.

 

[Raukeon]

Just a question but why so many low dc actions? Are you hoping for some really good grits with well placed hero's?

Click to shrink...

Now that you mention it, we could do that. But I imagined it the other way around. Having enough actions that can be taken heroless, so that we can assign them to more critical actions, such as the hiring actions, or if we decide to try and ally with Avruskin, or investigate Cerise.
There's also the fact that, while low DC, they're honestly useful. LexCorp needs to be as big and economically powerful as we can make it, specially now that Bruce Wayne has taken command of Wayne Enterprises and they're becoming a stronger competitor. Gaining more workers and making them happy with LexCorp is a bit part of that.
Finally, IMO, part of the reason they're low DC is because they're basic things to do. For example, the spy drones action. We just don't have a spying network, other than the satellites we just launched. That's why most intrigue actions are so high.

Another thing is I think we'll need to do a bit more then just go to Vicky vale to help our reputation depending on much it tanks

Click to shrink...

That's possible, but everything helps and an interview with Vicky Vale is a good first step. I also want to drag her more into our orbit because when we create our news branch she could be a convenient hire.

A good option for that would be [ ] Lexpo
DC 0 (the higher the roll the better the expo).
To remind the public that one mishap is nothing compared to the amazing tjings we come up with and will contiune to do so or

Click to shrink...

I also want to do the Lexpo, but as someone posted, and I agree, doing it when Superman is about to debut (which he'll do in turn 20) is not the right timing as we run a very high risk of him overshadowing it.

 

[Raukeon]

@King crimson Here's a bit of silliness.

Operation Sappiness​

Jinx grinned as she hid behind some plants and waited for the show to begin. "This is gonna be soooo awesome," she thought. Quite right too, if her plan worked, not only would she have completely outdone herself, but she'd also have achieved a feat no one had ever accomplished. She'd have managed to prank Lex Luthor!

Although she was thankful to the man for taking her out of the streets, she was also very annoyed with him for making her study and stick her with that bore of a teacher. And she also wanted some revenge for his part in her punishment. Like, geez, what was so wrong about swearing? And fine, Jinx had gotten Cassie involved in shenanigans, and he was Cassie's old man so he didn't like Cassie being involved in shenanigans, and Jinx could understand that. Hell, it was even nice of him. But it had all been innocent fun! Cassie would have been just fine!

Seriously, Jinx liked the brat and wouldn't do anything that hurt her. That the adults thought she would… hurt. A bit. And it made her angry. And when someone made Jinx angry, they deserved to be pranked!

She'd show them how wrong they were, too, when they saw Cassie coming out of this prank smelling like roses. Tricking her into participating had been a bit more difficult this time. Jinx had had to think fast and get clever in how she worded questions. But in the end Cassie was still too gullible. A tiiiny voice in Jinx's ear had protested that it wasn't nice to trick someone who was now a friend, but she had shushed it. Didn't true friends share important projects? Face things arm-in-arm when it mattered the most? This prank did matter. To Jinx, at least. So it was just natural that Cassie helped her like a true friend.

And honestly, Cassie couldn't go through life being so gullible. She had to wise up and notice when someone was bullshitting her. Better if the experience came from her good friend Jinx, who had planned everything so that there were no consequences, than from someone who truly took advantage of her for something bad.

Yeah, she was doing her friend Cassie a favor here. Two, in fact, since if all went according to plan, the brat would get something nice of all this.

The noise of the door of the meeting room when opening drew her attention. Her target came out first, followed by some of his close advisors. "Just perfect," she thought, her grin widening as a small form rushed into view.

********************​

Cassandra had recently learnt something very important. As important as words.

Sometimes Jinx didn't want to do anything other than lie on the sofa and watch something on the TV. She grumbled a lot about being barred from 'the good stuff' and being allowed to see only 'PG-13 trash', but she also said it was better than nothing, and Cassandra could tell she often enjoyed what she watched. At those times, Cassandra kept her company and entertained herself with a Rubik's cube or some other puzzle. Even after learning words and understanding what films and series were, what they were showing, and why people watched them, they were of little interest to Cassandra. She still preferred to play games. Besides, some things in films and series were still simply weird.

However, one day, Jinx began watching a new series that caught Cassandra's attention, because the main characters were a father and a daughter that had just moved to a new place. Cassandra had never seen what other daughters did with their fathers, so even if it was just pretend, she felt curious.

Jinx hadn't appreciated her curiosity. Whenever Cassandra had a question about what the characters were doing and why, the older girl just told her to ask Father. She decided to keep at it, though. She often managed to convince Jinx when she insisted.

"Wha-what are t-they d-doing now-ow?" she asked as she saw the daughter come close to her father and put her arms around him, then him doing the same. "A-are they go-gonna wre-wrestle?" She had never been taught such a hold in her combat lessons. It looked like a very bad one, so maybe that was why.

Jinx snorted, and Cassandra saw in the language of her friend's body that she'd finally decided to just answer. "No, silly, they're not wrestling. It's called a hug."

"Hu-hug. Hu-u-ug. Hu-ug," said Cassandra, testing the new word. "Wh-why are t-they d-doing a hu-hug?"

"Ugh, it's… it's just how it works. They're family, it's what they do. The guy was feeling shitty, and his daughter wanted him to feel happy, so she went and gave him a hug and now, poof, he feels all warm and nice. That's it." She frowned. "How come you know nothing about it, anyway? I thought you learnt everything with your father."

Cassandra shook her head. "Fa-ther s-still has-asn't t-taught me about-ut th-that." He'd do it eventually, she knew, but if it was a way to make Father happy, it was important for her to know as soon as possible. Surely, Father would like if Cassandra learned something important on her own. "D-do fa-thers rea-ally f-feel ha-happy whe-en th-their dau-aughters do th-that?"

Jinx stared at Cassandra for a while, like people did when they were thinking a lot. Then she smiled like she did when she taught Cassandra the Word-that-Father-absolutely-forbade-her-from-saying-again-or-Cassandra-would-never-have-another-sweet.

"Oh, yes, they do. Definitely. It's very important. Very. Your father should have taught you, but he surely didn't even think about it." She stood up, speaking faster and faster. "No worries, I'll help you. I think you should learn it as soon as possible and give your father lots of hugs. They feel very nice. And you'll be showing him that he's very important to you."

Cassandra cocked her head. "We-we-ird. Y-you're b-both saying-ying the t-truth and l-lying. And your-ur f-face l-looks l-like when-en y-you t-taught me t-to s-say-"

Jinx interrupted her. "No! Not at all! What? You believe this is like that time?"

Cassandra nodded, and Jinx huffed. "Well, tell you what. Let's go ask around and see what people think."

They did so, and whenever Jinx asked a question of one of the workers in the tower, they answered yes. Yes, hugs felt nice. Yes, they made people feel better. Yes, daughters did that with their fathers. Yes, good daughters specially. Yes, her father should have taught her about them already. And yes, when a man was a father for the first time it was very likely he'd miss things no matter how smart he was because it was all new to him. Cassandra could see that both their bodies and voices said the same, so she was reassured she should do as Jinx said.

Her friend showed her more films and series and Cassandra studied hugs diligently. There were different techniques and complementary actions, but they were easy to learn. Jinx also coached her in choosing the ones better suited to use on Father.

Now Cassandra was ready to show off her progress to Father. He had just returned today from a trip, but she still hadn't seen him because she was in lessons with her new lady teacher. Jinx had said one of the best situations to use a hug was when the father had been away for a while. So Cassandra was gonna do her best.

She stood some distance away so she could accelerate to optimal speed, and as soon as Father came out through the door she took off. No one was able to block her and she crashed softly against Father's body, throwing her arms around him. Then she looked up at him, smiled and delivered the sentence Jinx had made her rehearse.

"We-wel-welcome b-back, dad-dy. I l-l-love y-you!"

Yes! Her execution had been flawless!

********************​

When Lex Luthor had spotted his daughter rushing towards him, he had let her do, figuring she was eager to show him something she had learnt. As it turned out, he had both been right and made a mistake.

He prided himself of never losing his composure, no matter the situation, but this had been something completely outside of his life parameters and experience. It was a testament to how shocked he was that it took him a couple seconds to stop looking at Cassandra as if she was an alien lifeform and think of an appropriate response that benefited him as much as possible.

He put an arm around her. "I'm glad to see you too, Cassandra," he said with a small smile for the audience. As he did, he wondered if he had managed to wipe his deer-caught-on-headlights look in time for it to be missed. The sound of female laugh told him no.

"D-did I d-do g-good, Fa-ther?"

"Yes, Cassandra, very good. You're a very good girl." She beamed at that.

"Aw, I remember when Carla used to do that. She was just as cute. Why did she have to stop?" The voice of Carl Draper was heard, and Lex finally directed his attention to his entourage. Most of them were looking away, doing what they could to hide their mirth, while Carl looked on with puppy eyes and Roxanne laughed shamelessly. Lex wasn't given to curse, but he allowed himself a mental one. He'd have to do damage control. Starting now.

"Don't you have work to do, ladies and gentlemen? Because if your workload is so light I should reduce your paychecks to match. And remember, I have the means to observe that you don't pad it," he told them in a stern tone. Hopefully, the reminder of the DIR would make them think twice before talking about this incident, but he'd surely need to take further measures.

The employees scampered away, leaving Lex alone with his daughter.

"Wha-what d-did th-they d-do f-for y-you to be an-angry at th-them, Fa-ther?" She asked.

"It's an adult matter, Cassandra. I'll handle it personally. You don't need to worry about it."

Cassandra nodded. "Y-you are cle-clea-arly un-untra-ained in hu-ugs, Fa-ther. Sh-should w-we p-practice th-them t-toge-ther?"

Lex stared at her in thought. "Come with me, Cassandra. Let's chat for a bit, you and I." As she fell into step with him, Lex called out. "Jinx! One, plants don't shake, nor do they laugh. Two, if you want to pull a stunt, learn to hide your tracks better. And three, we'll have a long, serious, and very interesting conversation about behavior later."

Lex and his daughter walked away, leaving behind a stream of inventive curses coming out from the plants.

 

[Rovos]

so i just caught back up after a while and i have to ask why did we let Ivo die? annoyance? his bad habits? like i feel like some people will take it badly (marie). i mean we do have his brain scans which we can use to put him in a robot

 

[Torgamous]

We were going to have to kill him eventually and after he blew up a street with antimatter was as good a time as any.

 

[King crimson]

@King crimson Here's a bit of silliness.

Operation Sappiness​

Jinx grinned as she hid behind some plants and waited for the show to begin. "This is gonna be soooo awesome," she thought. Quite right too, if her plan worked, not only would she have completely outdone herself, but she'd also have achieved a feat no one had ever accomplished. She'd have managed to prank Lex Luthor!

Although she was thankful to the man for taking her out of the streets, she was also very annoyed with him for making her study and stick her with that bore of a teacher. And she also wanted some revenge for his part in her punishment. Like, geez, what was so wrong about swearing? And fine, Jinx had gotten Cassie involved in shenanigans, and he was Cassie's daddy so he didn't like Cassie being involved in shenanigans, and Jinx could understand that. Hell, it was even nice of him. But it had all been innocent fun! Cassie would have been just fine!

Seriously, Jinx liked the brat and wouldn't do anything that hurt her. That the adults thought she would… hurt. A bit. And it made her angry. And when someone made Jinx angry, they deserved to be pranked!

She'd show them how wrong they were, too, when they saw Cassie coming out of this prank smelling like roses. Tricking her into participating had been a bit more difficult this time. Jinx had had to think fast and get clever in how she worded questions. But in the end Cassie was still too gullible. A tiiiny voice in Jinx's ear had protested that it wasn't nice to trick someone who was now a friend, but she had shushed it. Didn't true friends share important projects? Face things arm-in-arm when it mattered the most? This prank did matter. To Jinx, at least. So it was just natural that Cassie helped her like a true friend.

And honestly, Cassie couldn't go through life being so gullible. She had to wise up and notice when someone was bullshitting her. Better if the experience came from her good friend Jinx, who had planned everything so that there were no consequences, than from someone who truly took advantage of her for something bad.

Yeah, she was doing her friend Cassie a favor here. Two, in fact, since if all went according to plan, the brat would get something nice of all this.

The noise of the door of the meeting room when opening drew her attention. Her target came out first, followed by some of his close advisors. "Just perfect," she thought, her grin widening as a small form rushed into view.

********************​

Cassandra had recently learnt something very important. As important as words.

Sometimes Jinx didn't want to do anything other than lie on the sofa and watch something on the TV. She grumbled a lot about being barred from 'the good stuff' and being allowed to see only 'PG-13 trash', but she also said it was better than nothing, and Cassandra could tell she often enjoyed what she watched. At those times, Cassandra made her company and entertained herself with a Rubik's cube or some other puzzle. Even after learning words and understanding what films and series were, what they were showing, and why people watched them, they were of little interest to Cassandra. She still preferred to play games. Besides, some things in films and series were still simply weird.

However, one day, Jinx began watching a new series that caught Cassandra's attention, because the main characters were a father and a daughter that had just moved to a new place. Cassandra had never seen what other daughters did with their fathers, so even if it was just pretend, she felt curious.

Jinx hadn't appreciated her curiosity. Whenever Cassandra had a question about what the characters were doing and why, the older girl just told her to ask Father. She decided to keep at it, though. She often managed to convince Jinx when she insisted.

"Wha-what are t-they d-doing now-ow?" she asked as she saw the daughter come close to her father and put her arms around him, then him doing the same. "A-are they go-gonna wre-wrestle?" She had never been taught such a hold in her combat lessons. It looked like a very bad one, so maybe that was why.

Jinx snorted, and Cassandra saw in the language of her friend's body that she'd finally decided to just answer. "No, silly, they're not wrestling. It's called a hug."

"Hu-hug. Hu-u-ug. Hu-ug," said Cassandra, testing the new word. "Wh-why are t-they d-doing a hu-hug?"

"Ugh, it's… it's just how it works. They're family, it's what they do. The guy was feeling shitty, and his daughter wanted him to feel happy, so she went and gave him a hug and now, poof, he feels all warm and nice. That's it." She frowned. "How come you know nothing about it, anyway? I thought you learnt everything with your father."

Cassandra shook her head. "Fa-ther s-still has-asn't t-taught me about-ut th-that." He'd do it eventually, she knew, but if it was a way to make Father happy, it was important for her to know as soon as possible. Surely, Father would like if Cassandra learned something important on her own. "D-do fa-thers rea-ally f-feel ha-happy whe-en th-their dau-aughters do th-that?"

Jinx stared at Cassandra for a while, like people did when they were thinking a lot. Then she smiled like she did when she taught Cassandra the Word-that-Father-absolutely-forbade-her-from-saying again-or-Cassandra-would-never-have-another-sweet.

"Oh, yes, they do. Definitely. It's very important. Very. Your father should have taught you, but he surely didn't even think about it." She stood up, speaking faster and faster. "No worries, I'll help you. I think you should learn it as soon as possible and give your father lots of hugs. They feel very nice. And you'll be showing him that he's very important to you."

Cassandra cocked her head. "We-we-ird. Y-you're b-both saying-ying the t-truth and l-lying. And your-ur f-face l-looks l-like when-en y-you t-taught me t-to s-say-"

Jinx interrupted her. "No! Not at all! What? You believe this is like that time?"

Cassandra nodded, and Jinx huffed. "Well, tell you what. Let's go ask around and see what people think."

They did so, and whenever Jinx asked a question of one of the workers in the tower, they answered yes. Yes, hugs felt nice. Yes, they made people feel better. Yes, daughters did that with their fathers. Yes, good daughters specially. Yes, her father should have taught her about them already. And yes, when a man was a father for the first time it was very likely he'd miss things no matter how smart he was because it was all new to him. Cassandra could see that both their bodies and voices said the same, so she was reassured she should do as Jinx said.

Her friend showed her more films and series and Cassandra studied hugs diligently. There were different techniques and complementary actions, but they were easy to learn. Jinx also coached her in choosing the ones better suited to use on Father.

Now Cassandra was ready to show off her progress to Father. He had just returned today from a trip, but she still hadn't seen him because she was in lessons with her new lady teacher. Jinx had said one of the best situations to use a hug was when the father had been away for a while. So Cassandra was gonna do her best.

She stood some distance away so she could accelerate to optimal speed, and as soon as Father came out through the door she took off. No one was able to block her and she crashed softly against Father's body, throwing her arms around him. Then she looked up at him, smiled and delivered the sentence Jinx had made her rehearse.

"We-wel-welcome b-back, dad-dy. I l-l-love y-you!"

Yes! Her execution had been flawless!

********************

When Lex Luthor had spotted his daughter rushing towards him, he had let her do, figuring she was eager to show him something she had learnt. As it turned out, he had both been right and made a mistake.

He prided himself of never losing his composure, no matter the situation, but this had been something completely outside of his life parameters and experience. It was a testament to how shocked he was that it took him a couple seconds to stop looking at Cassandra as if she was an alien lifeform and think of an appropriate response that benefited him as much as possible.

He put an arm around her. "I'm glad to see you too, Cassandra," he said with a small smile for the audience. As he did, he wondered if he had managed to wipe his deer-caught-on-headlights look in time for it to be missed. The sound of female laugh told him no.

"D-did I d-do g-good, Fa-ther?"

"Yes, Cassandra, very good. You're a very good girl." She beamed at that.

"Aw, I remember when Carla used to do that. She was just as cute. Why did she have to stop?" The voice of Carl Draper was heard, and Lex finally directed his attention to his entourage. Most of them were looking away, doing what they could to hide their mirth, while Carl looked on with puppy eyes and Roxanne laughed shamelessly. Lex wasn't given to curse, but he allowed himself a mental one. He'd have to do damage control. Starting now.

"Don't you have work to do, ladies and gentlemen? Because if your workload is so light I should reduce your paychecks to match. And remember, I have the means to observe that you don't pad it," he told them in a stern tone. Hopefully, the reminder of the DIR would make them think twice before talking about this incident, but he'd surely need to take further measures.

The employees scampered away, leaving Lex alone with his daughter.

"Wha-what d-did th-they d-do f-for y-you to be an-angry at th-them, Fa-ther?" She asked.

"It's an adult matter, Cassandra. I'll handle it personally. You don't need to worry about it."

Cassandra nodded. "Y-you are cle-clea-arly un-untra-ained in hu-ugs, Fa-ther. Sh-should w-we p-practice th-them t-toge-ther?"

Lex stared at her in thought. "Come with me, Cassandra. Let's chat for a bit, you and I." As she fell into step with him, Lex called out. "Jinx! One, plants don't shake, nor do they laugh. Two, if you want to pull a stunt, learn to hide your tracks better. And three, we'll have a long, serious, and very interesting conversation about behavior later."

Lex and his daughter walked away, leaving behind a stream of inventive curses coming out from the plants.

Click to shrink...

Well I finally got around to reading this.

Cassie's daddy

Click to shrink...

This is a bit weird in my mind as I don't think Jinx would use daddy here (Jinx is about fourteen right now and was not close at all to any parental units for a very long time).

With that out of the way I'm going to talk about the omake itself. This was nice. It was heartwarming to read. The shifting perspectives work well to convey a larger message. You've earned 500 exp

 

[Rovos]

We were going to have to kill him eventually and after he blew up a street with antimatter was as good a time as any.

Click to shrink...

pretty sure it was his lab not a street

 

[Torgamous]

His lab was under a street. Caved it in.

 

[Rovos]

i mean my thing is that he is still very usefull but at least we have his brain scan to make a robo ivo

edit and after we get more brain tech we might be able to set limitation in him or in his robo body to keep him in check better while stil having his super intellect

 

[Torgamous]

His usefulness was taken into account. You can read the discussion yourself if you like.

 

[Rovos]

do we have plans to make a robo Ivo becouse that feels like a good use of resources a robo ivo would be easyer to manage and set limets on while still having a super genious to also work on amazo and other such projects and it's also good for Marie who actually like Ivo and such

edit like he wouldn't have to constantly work on Amazo since he isn't going to die and it's just a make a better body for myself thing

 

[NMS]

i mean my thing is that he is still very usefull but at least we have his brain scan to make a robo ivo

edit and after we get more brain tech we might be able to set limitation in him or in his robo body to keep him in check better while stil having his super intellect

Click to shrink...

We don't know about that brain scan in-character, so King Crimson won't confirm or deny if it got destroyed in the explosion.

 

[HavocOrder0999]

What I think helped push people to allow Ivo to die was that his failures now come with large consequences to us due to how close to endgame he was, and that this failure in particular undid some progress by adding more steps to complete A.M.A.Z.O. and caused a crisis we need to deal with in regards to the explosion. We got antimatter out of his final action, but with the ever increasing DC we would need to assign two or three additional heroes each turn to keep making progress. That coupled with his attitude and need to focus only on his project or suffer Co-op penalties made him volatile and a liability, so with all the crazy we now need to deal with he was cut loose.

@King crimson may I ask what Ivo's thoughts would have been in regards to this incident? Would he have just waved it off and just kept focusing on Amazo or would he have accepted some blame for making antimatter and not properly informing anyone about it?

 

[Mr.W]

Hey guys. Ivo's not gone permanently. He's only dead as long as we allow him to stay in that condition.

We can always research Necromancy and bring him back to life.