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Skitterdoc 2077

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@SpiraSpira
Does Taylor know about Gemini Bodies yet?

That might be a good path for to pursue?

I don't know much about them though, could Taylor operate Multiple Bodies? Or are Gemini's more of a pick between Bodies, as in only one Body active at a time?
 
OneWhoHasAwakene said:
Just have Scion suicide and the Endbringer go asleep due to PLOT. Move the focus to parahumans and their effect on the world instead of worrying about Scion and the Endbringers and ruin the rest of the fic. Really ask yourself what you like most about the setting of Worm. I doubt most people will be answering Scion or the Endbringers.
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In a bizarre twist of fate, Emma Barnes poured juice on his head and told him "Take that, you worm" which made him fly off crying into the sun.

Cauldron is perplexed.
 
TheOmnimercurial said:
could Taylor operate Multiple Bodies? Or are Gemini's more of a pick between Bodies, as in only one Body active at a time?
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Multiple bodies, simultaneously run, all with your aims & objectives, is more a Queen Administrator trick...

Also, it makes life hard for the author. :)

If Taylor uploads 'herself', in a way that can run on multiple platforms, and merge separate experience back into her organic self...

I'm... unsure what her shard-let would think of that. Taylor might have to work pretty hard in presenting/developing this 'trick' to get help with the project.

Growing multiple bodies is likely to be trivial, once she gets a usable 'fast clone tank', and then she might have to fight, a bit, so they are as stable as natural grown bodies would be. Biological stasis should be easy. Loading memories/experiences into the biological bits is... likely to be tricky. But, ultimately do-able.

So, if she wants a clone army of vat-grown ninja, no problem! :)

(Just need some time, and the bio-mass. :) )

((You would not, of course, call this the 'Skitter 9000'. :) ))


There might be dangers in building fast-cloning tanks... What do you do if, after the first test run, with, say a pig as the subject, you open it up and find a blue-haired, red-eyed, teenage girl instead...

Yeah, she'd have to have a full, intellectual, mind print, 'loaded', or it'll be... boring. The lack of any emotional affect, though... And, of course, she'd only be slightly superhuman, and've no AT-field generation capability. :)

Late-NGE story Rei:
* Biokinesis
* Bio-fusion
* Force-field generation
* Levitation
* Regeneration

:)
 
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ilalthal said:
Ok, I got to ask.

Why does Taylor think she needs credentials to be a back ally doctor? Ripper isn't really a "certified" position.

I mean, she even got her gear from a ripper that she noticed was some guy with his credential revoked on the run from a bunch a crimes in Europe.
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We know Taylor being a tinker is built different (heh), but normally anyone who didn't actually study medicine, and specifically surgery, is likely to kill you, it's that simple.

As far as the general public knows, a ripper who didn't go to school for surgery is a deathtrap. And the 'market' is likely self regulating-- after enough people die in situations like that, there's gonna be a huge stigma. That's why Fingers was a M.D.-- because unethical behavior or revoked credentials is one thing, but never having credentials at all is another.

And even when you do everything right, people die sometimes. Those that they leave behind are upset. And you don't want to be in the position of telling them you only learned surgery off the internet, that isn't going to end well.

We know OOC that her power makes it almost impossible for her to fail, but IC Taylor isn't someone who would assume that, and it's not something she could use to justify herself if someone died due to factors beyond her control. So she's very hesitant to say things like "I'm a great ripperdoc" even if 99 out of 100 times she's already better than the certified ones are.
 
klassekatze said:
We know Taylor being a tinker is built different (heh), but normally anyone who didn't actually study medicine, and specifically surgery, is likely to kill you, it's that simple.

As far as the general public knows, a ripper who didn't go to school for surgery is a deathtrap. And the 'market' is likely self regulating-- after enough people die in situations like that, there's gonna be a huge stigma. That's why Fingers was a M.D.-- because unethical behavior or revoked credentials is one thing, but never having credentials at all is another.

And even when you do everything right, people die sometimes. Those that they leave behind are upset. And you don't want to be in the position of telling them you only learned surgery off the internet, that isn't going to end well.

We know OOC that her power makes it almost impossible for her to fail, but IC Taylor isn't someone who would assume that, and it's not something she could use to justify herself if someone died due to factors beyond her control. So she's very hesitant to say things like "I'm a great ripperdoc" even if 99 out of 100 times she's already better than the certified ones are.
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He was under a false name.

His revoked credentials were for a person he is pretending not to be. He can't use those.

Meaning he was just some guy with medical equipment and some seed money.

Look at the ripper clinics in game. Most of them look pretty sleazy. Hell, one literally has a giant gaping hole covered with some shitty tarp. Being a ripperdoc does not have high standards.
 
ilalthal said:
He was under a false name.

His revoked credentials were for a person he is pretending not to be. He can't use those.
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First, he can if he needs to. If things go wrong, he can reveal that information. Second, he probably had false credentials as well. Third, the people that matter - such as Wakako - likely knew his real name and that he had education.

Even then, would you say that his business was going great? Look at the clientele he got. He plainly claims to V that he uses garbage because the customers he gets could not otherwise afford repairs or replacements at all. Sure, he's likely gouging them where he can, but it's still probably true that he gets desperate and poor people. Not slumming corpos and successful mercs.

ilalthal said:
Most of them look pretty sleazy. [...] Being a ripperdoc does not have high standards.
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Ah, yes, like Vik. Look at his sleazy little clinic, clearly proof of low standards. By, y'know, 2023 aesthetic.

Of course, if you're a fan of entropism (a 2077 aesthetic), a dim garage with industrial lights and the exam chair as a centerpiece isn't sleazy, it could even be called downright fashionable.

Look, let's be clear in case I wasn't. I'm not saying Taylor literally can't just say "I'm a doc now" and make some money. I'm saying there are reasons she wouldn't want to. Ethics, reputation, liability (insurances etc), money (ability to accept insurance as payment), etc. And some of these things would be negatively effected by her jumping the gun.
 
klassekatze said:
First, he can if he needs to. If things go wrong, he can reveal that information. Second, he probably had false credentials as well. Third, the people that matter - such as Wakako - likely knew his real name and that he had education.

Even then, would you say that his business was going great? Look at the clientele he got. He plainly claims to V that he uses garbage because the customers he gets could not otherwise afford repairs or replacements at all. Sure, he's likely gouging them where he can, but it's still probably true that he gets desperate and poor people. Not slumming corpos and successful mercs.


Ah, yes, like Vik. Look at his sleazy little clinic, clearly proof of low standards. By, y'know, 2023 aesthetic.

Of course, if you're a fan of entropism (a 2077 aesthetic), a dim garage with industrial lights and the exam chair as a centerpiece isn't sleazy, it could even be called downright fashionable.

Look, let's be clear in case I wasn't. I'm not saying Taylor literally can't just say "I'm a doc now" and make some money. I'm saying there are reasons she wouldn't want to. Ethics, reputation, liability (insurances etc), money (ability to accept insurance as payment), etc. And some of these things would be negatively effected by her jumping the gun.
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Not sure if she's looked at it from this angle, but there's also some good reasons not to be a ripper in her current setup at all, and to use the lack of accreditation as an excuse to deflect attention.

Right now she's convenient for the community, but not in as notable a way as being a ripper.

Rippers are easy to get ahold of but really good ones aren't; especially ones that would do things that match the aboveboard clinic level of care Taylor would be inclined towards.

The tyger claws probably wouldn't start with the hard sell, but they would be a lot more invested in keeping her available and doing things that benefit them in areas they care about. Which could make her life complicated to say the least.
 
klassekatze said:
First, he can if he needs to. If things go wrong, he can reveal that information. Second, he probably had false credentials as well. Third, the people that matter - such as Wakako - likely knew his real name and that he had education.

Even then, would you say that his business was going great? Look at the clientele he got. He plainly claims to V that he uses garbage because the customers he gets could not otherwise afford repairs or replacements at all. Sure, he's likely gouging them where he can, but it's still probably true that he gets desperate and poor people. Not slumming corpos and successful mercs.


Ah, yes, like Vik. Look at his sleazy little clinic, clearly proof of low standards. By, y'know, 2023 aesthetic.

Of course, if you're a fan of entropism (a 2077 aesthetic), a dim garage with industrial lights and the exam chair as a centerpiece isn't sleazy, it could even be called downright fashionable.

Look, let's be clear in case I wasn't. I'm not saying Taylor literally can't just say "I'm a doc now" and make some money. I'm saying there are reasons she wouldn't want to. Ethics, reputation, liability (insurances etc), money (ability to accept insurance as payment), etc. And some of these things would be negatively effected by her jumping the gun.
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Ripper docs... Insured?


:rofl:


Thats fucking hilarious.
 
ilalthal said:
Ripper docs... Insured?
:rofl:
Thats fucking hilarious.
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And why not? :p

All jokes aside, what do you think insurance is? There's something or other that's really unlikely to happen, but if it does, it'd fuck you. So somebody takes a cut of money on the promise that if that unlikely shit happens, they'll bail you out.

No doubt there are plenty of rippers who have nothing like that. No doubt a fair share of them end up in a dumpster after shit goes sideways and they can't make it right with eddies.

It's easy to look at the name and think ripperdoc = always trash, but if that was so men like Vik wouldn't want to be called that.

edit:

Honestly you seem to have decided for yourself that ripperdocs must be sloppy uneducated gonks. I'm just going to quote from the wiki here.

"There are many Ripperdocs that operate legally, but some are known to conduct illicit deals, such as installing illegal military-grade cyberware for the right price."

Ripperdocs couldn't operate legally if being a ripperdoc was synonymous with being uncredentialed; if that were the case, the legal ones would be called something else. And nobody would want to pay to get credentialed unless those credentials were of value-- unless it improved their ability to make money.

I'll just leave it at that, we're going nowhere fast here.
 
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klassekatze said:
And why not? :p

All jokes aside, what do you think insurance is? There's something or other that's really unlikely to happen, but if it does, it'd fuck you. So somebody takes a cut of money on the promise that if that unlikely shit happens, they'll bail you out.

No doubt there are plenty of rippers who have nothing like that. No doubt a fair share of them end up in a dumpster after shit goes sideways and they can't make it right with eddies.

It's easy to look at the name and think ripperdoc = always trash, but if that was so men like Vik wouldn't want to be called that.

edit:

Honestly you seem to have decided for yourself that ripperdocs must be sloppy uneducated gonks. I'm just going to quote from the wiki here.

"There are many Ripperdocs that operate legally, but some are known to conduct illicit deals, such as installing illegal military-grade cyberware for the right price."

Ripperdocs couldn't operate legally if being a ripperdoc was synonymous with being uncredentialed; if that were the case, the legal ones would be called something else. And nobody would want to pay to get credentialed unless those credentials were of value-- unless it improved their ability to make money.

I'll just leave it at that, we're going nowhere fast here.
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Dude, my point has never been that rippers can't be skilled.

It's that Rippers operate outside the law in a world where the law is whatever the corps say it is.

Expecting the local drug dealer to be a licenced pharmacist is silly.
 
ilalthal said:
Expecting the local drug dealer to be a licenced pharmacist is silly.
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Expectation by whom?

Taylor is already a drug dealer. Correct me if I'm wrong, though, we're talking about cutting people open. I don't know about you, but for me, it's not about whether I "expect" rippers to have licenses-- it's about how I'm just plain not gonna go to one that isn't. Not if I can afford different.

Taylor could totally draw in people who can't afford better, but last I checked she wasn't really hurting for money. She's on a blazing fast track to exactly where she wants to be, which is probably gonna look like the nice clinics she herself goes to if she needs someone to work on her. She's not hurting for eddies and she doesn't need the drama.
 
klassekatze said:
Expectation by whom?

Taylor is already a drug dealer. Correct me if I'm wrong, though, we're talking about cutting people open. I don't know about you, but for me, it's not about whether I "expect" rippers to have licenses-- it's about how I'm just plain not gonna go to one that isn't. Not if I can afford different.

Taylor could totally draw in people who can't afford better, but last I checked she wasn't really hurting for money. She's on a blazing fast track to exactly where she wants to be, which is probably gonna look like the nice clinics she herself goes to if she needs someone to work on her. She's not hurting for eddies and she doesn't need the drama.
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Thats a matter of the street cred I mentioned earlier that she has already been establishing. She has been actively proving her competence.

Also, The nice clinics and general destination of her career path is some sort of corporate controled clinic, a destination she hasn't really thought through with an exceptionally toxic work environment that may come back to haunt her.
 
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ilalthal said:
Thats a matter of the street cred I mentioned earlier that she has already been establishing. She has been actively proving her competence.

Also, The nice clinics and general destination of her career path is some sort of corporate controled clinic, a destination she hasn't really thought through with an exceptionally toxic work environment that may come back to haunt her.
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*shrug*

As far as toxicity, that really depends. I don't think it would be all that toxic-- assuming she's being a ripperdoc, not working the ER or something.

Think about it - in the cubicles anybody below you can steal your job, and your boss is jockeying for a promotion based on your work. But clinics don't really work like that, esp not for docs. A nurse can't make you look bad and steal your doctor job as a result. And your boss if you have one can't do much to affect your workflow-- patient comes in, you see patient, you treat them, they pay. You can't hurry or skimp or it'll cost the clinic way more, long run. You can't be overworked for same reasons.

But TBH kind of assume she'd operate her own clinic anyhow. In which case nobody can be toxic to her, she is the one who toxics! :o
 
klassekatze said:
First, he can if he needs to. If things go wrong, he can reveal that information. Second, he probably had false credentials as well. Third, the people that matter - such as Wakako - likely knew his real name and that he had education.

Even then, would you say that his business was going great? Look at the clientele he got. He plainly claims to V that he uses garbage because the customers he gets could not otherwise afford repairs or replacements at all. Sure, he's likely gouging them where he can, but it's still probably true that he gets desperate and poor people. Not slumming corpos and successful mercs.


Ah, yes, like Vik. Look at his sleazy little clinic, clearly proof of low standards. By, y'know, 2023 aesthetic.

Of course, if you're a fan of entropism (a 2077 aesthetic), a dim garage with industrial lights and the exam chair as a centerpiece isn't sleazy, it could even be called downright fashionable.

Look, let's be clear in case I wasn't. I'm not saying Taylor literally can't just say "I'm a doc now" and make some money. I'm saying there are reasons she wouldn't want to. Ethics, reputation, liability (insurances etc), money (ability to accept insurance as payment), etc. And some of these things would be negatively effected by her jumping the gun.
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in addition to the above, Taylor needs to know the lingo and techniques of this world. Even if she can make a new heart-lung from shoestring and an airconditioner she can't say "I'm a Tinker, bro!" She needs to retain her cover or the movers and shakers will send her to a lab to be analyzed. As long as she's just a very talented med student with stolen high grade equipment from her parents she's relatively safe.

Shardlet also wants to learn the medical techniques of this world. She was created to try out and acquire biological knowledge. Even if Scion surveyed the entirety of medical knowledge on Earth Bet and adjacent worlds this world is unsurveyed and it's database is unique. Taylor and her Shardlet learned some information from reverse engineering of bio and cyberware they encountered but the theoretical database the university offers is more comprehensive.

Shardlet is in power saving mode. The more tinkered Taylor solutions are the more costly they are. It's better if Taylor can build plausible cyberware on her own.
 
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Birdwing said:
"The Lizards from Alpha Centari!!!" - that one choom in Watson
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There are a number of possible responses to this...

"Lizards. It had to be Lizards, didn't it?"

OR

"Tell me it wasn't Lizards. I can't see any Lizards. There's... one behind me, isn't there? Please tell me she isn't smirking."

OR

" 'Alpha Centari'? That's one of those 'It's just a jump to the left', places, isn't it?"

OR

"Panic! Everybody panic! There's nothing else to do!"

OR

(mumbled) "I am wearing clean underwear, aren't I?"

:)

Never Smile at a Crocodile

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDC_04gB_Os
 
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ilalthal said:
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If you're caught (or suspected of) performing illegal surgeries you get blocked from attending med school:

Its the risk to her future Med Degree that's stopping her. (Even if she didn't want the actual paper, her time in Med school and beyond would open quite a few doors and give her have access to better tools, info, sources, finances, augments and the ability to order almost everything, her greedy little heart could desire without having to jump through hoops, or setting off all kinds of flags.)


ilalthal said:
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Could see her spend some time working at or with Dr. Taylor, but why would her destination be a Corpo clinic?

She's self-made, and throughout the story she actively avoids anything with strings, debt, and longterm contracts in anyway or form.
 
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Dakkah said:
If you're caught (or suspected of) performing illegal surgeries you get blocked from attending med school:
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I'm not so sure about being literally blocked. Corruption cuts both ways, and anything is possible with enough money.

But it would definitely put a hamper on her career either way. Because the more valuable the customer or employer, the more likely they are to pay a infobroker or fixer to check anybody they might do business with, much less have cutting them open.

Nobody else knows she is a tinker, so from their perspective, if she hawked ripper services before going to a school that justified her ability, that would forever mark her as someone who seemingly put eddies before the well being of her patients.
 
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