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Vespa

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Mr_Rose said:
Occam's razor. If it's actually alien biology, it's not, in fact, an insect. If it isn't an insect, then why does it look exactly like not just earth insects generally, but a specific type with known characteristics that it appears to be imitating? That level of coincidence naturally occurring is actually less likely, in a world with parahumans at least, than powers-related bull.
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True I hadn't considered that but then neither do they. Instead they deem it unlikely because the biology was impossible. Something they really shouldn't dismiss consider parahumans.

Honestly your answer is probably correct I was just annoyed they were focusing on something that while making sense to us doesn't in-universe with there more limited context on parahuman's origins.
 
CastleTrime said:
True I hadn't considered that but then neither do they. Instead they deem it unlikely because the biology was impossible. Something they really shouldn't dismiss consider parahumans.

Honestly your answer is probably correct I was just annoyed they were focusing on something that while making sense to us doesn't in-universe with there more limited context on parahuman's origins.
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Interworld portal technology, as far as the vast majority of people know, is extremely rare and very controlled. So it's not unreasonable to think that this possibility is quite low probability, especially since the insect they're gaping at is a completely recognizable earth life form according to expert opinion. It's much, much too large to exist according to current scientific understanding, which almost inevitably suggests to them that Parahuman powers are involved.

When in doubt, A Parahuman Did It.

And, don't forget, they're the Parahuman Response Team. They have a very obvious institutional bias to reaching for a Parahuman explanation whenever they run into something they haven't seen before, and in all honesty that's usually the answer. In this case it is the answer, of course, but not quite in the way they're thinking... :)

It would require some sort of power-based action to have an insect that big, basically. It would require a completely different power-based action to bring something like that to their world and still require a power-based action to allow it to survive, unless it's running on completely different principles (It is but they don't have any way to know that at the moment.) The simpler explanation is to go with the option that only one power-based action is involved, rather than two.

Note they didn't reject it out of hand, they just moved it to the lowest probability end of the list of possible reasons. There are more likely causes based on prior experience...

Also I had to stop writing that scene eventually and couldn't really justify an exhaustive list of every single possible idea they might have had. That meeting went on forever! :D
 
Do you have anything to add, Glen? Pigot asked Chambers, who had raised his hand.
Yes. For the duration of the crisis, in order to avoid rumors and a fall in reputation, as well as to mask any unfavorable accidents harmful to the PR, I suggest changing the uniform. At a minimum, the pants should be brown.
Too late - Clockblocker whispered - It's too late.
---------------
Hmm, when Taylor saved the girl and kicked the E88, she wasn't in full uniform, but the size of a dog (if my memory serves me right). Now the PRT will find the victim (the case has been registered with the police), interrogate her and find out the size of the Vespa. What will the PRT decide? That the Vespa is still growing, or maybe they'll think that the nest already exists and that it was a scout?
And why didn't Emily ask the academic how they feed? He could have told them an interesting story about a Vespa nest being hunted by a pack
 
There's also the part of squirting the venom that wasn't mentioned ...
 
And looks like Piggot's Nilbog trauma is beginning to act up.
And Question; Has Taylor gotten any of the particular powerful Crabs yet? did a quick look up and there's the Coconut Crab, and for punching strength there's the Mantis Shrimp which ducking Boils Water when it punches
 
Ace Dreamer said:
Interesting that this Amy is prepared to mess with brains, on some level... She couldn't stop anxiety attacks otherwise... Her care for Missy, who she considers a friend, is a good sign.
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She didn't - she's just manipulating the rest of Vista's body to reduce the chemicals that are involved in the anxiety attack, and produce sedatives which counter it. She's put people to sleep before, same basic thing. Amy's brain issue is with directly manipulating/rearanging/changing neurons, not with drugging people into varying states of unconciousness, which honestly can be done entirely by altering the biology in your left arm with her powers.

STokun said:
Hmm, when Taylor saved the girl and kicked the E88, she wasn't in full uniform, but the size of a dog (if my memory serves me right). Now the PRT will find the victim (the case has been registered with the police), interrogate her and find out the size of the Vespa. What will the PRT decide? That the Vespa is still growing, or maybe they'll think that the nest already exists and that it was a scout?
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The problem there is they'd have to rely on the testimony of someone who was in a panic state before encountering the fuckoffhuge hornet, and frankly in a MORE paniced state afterwards, because dammit that's the biggest hornet I've ever seen. Paniced people don't always remember things clearly, and the size of the reported insect could be anywhere between the real size and "bigger than me!" - The PRT would take any reported size from that with very due skepticism.
 
I've been wondering... what was vista doing out there alone? i don't think she would patrol alone simply because shadowstalker does it. And vista just dosn't seem the type. Now if she stumbled across a mass killing i could see her doing her best to stop it no matter what the rules says.
 
Puidwen said:
I've been wondering... what was vista doing out there alone? i don't think she would patrol alone simply because shadowstalker does it. And vista just dosn't seem the type. Now if she stumbled across a mass killing i could see her doing her best to stop it no matter what the rules says.
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Vista in canon goes on solo patrols due to frustration at not being allowed to "do anything useful", and in canon fought hookwolf and nearly got gutted in the process - and did her own dam stitches because she didn't want to look like a baby in front of the other wards by letting a doctor do it. This action on Vista's behalf is very very Vista.
 
Shaper: Whom the FUCK is having more fun twisting biology than I am?! I have the worst host ever! (Urges Host to stalk the Hornet NOW)

Administrator: I have literally no idea what I'm doing or even how I'm doing it, but goddamn isn't it the most fun I've ever had. I have the best host ever! (Gives Host random ideas due to their near zero experience)
 
mp3.1415player said:
It would require some sort of power-based action to have an insect that big, basically. It would require a completely different power-based action to bring something like that to their world and still require a power-based action to allow it to survive, unless it's running on completely different principles (It is but they don't have any way to know that at the moment.)
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Is it? It seems to be exactly their number 2 explanation: a terrifying changer form.

It happens to be a terrifying changer form of an additionally alarmingly flexible changer with more powers besides, which they don't speculate about but have no reason to because doing so is outside the scope of the available data.
 
Aineko said:
Is it? It seems to be exactly their number 2 explanation: a terrifying changer form.

It happens to be a terrifying changer form of an additionally alarmingly flexible changer with more powers besides, which they don't speculate about but have no reason to because doing so is outside the scope of the available data.
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Which is why that IS number two on the list :)
 
BigFan10 said:
And looks like Piggot's Nilbog trauma is beginning to act up.
And Question; Has Taylor gotten any of the particular powerful Crabs yet? did a quick look up and there's the Coconut Crab, and for punching strength there's the Mantis Shrimp which ducking Boils Water when it punches
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Most of the really fun stuff are either in tropical or arctic waters, not the temperate waters around the U.S.A. Plus, the really FUN crabs tend to come from the Pacific, not the Atlantic...
 
mp3.1415player said:
The sapient nature is also quite unusual. Fascinating indeed.
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Ahh academics. Totally different viewpoint.
mp3.1415player said:
Academics, she reminded herself.
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Yup. They're a weird and odd breed.
mp3.1415player said:
Technical impossibilities that nevertheless exist appear to fall more into your organization's remit.
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Heh. Sometimes they even get things right for normal people.
 
poit123 said:
She didn't - she's just manipulating the rest of Vista's body to reduce the chemicals that are involved in the anxiety attack, and produce sedatives which counter it. She's put people to sleep before, same basic thing. Amy's brain issue is with directly manipulating/rearanging/changing neurons, not with drugging people into varying states of unconciousness, which honestly can be done entirely by altering the biology in your left arm with her powers.
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Neuro biochemicals are specifically mentioned. And, there's this thing called the blood-brain barrier, which stops biochemicals from elsewhere in the body from effecting the brain. (Recent research suggests its work is a bit more subtle than previous thought.)

Yes, an anxiety attack, which involves adrenaline/epinephrine, mess with the glands (atop the kidneys) which produce it. Want sleep? Put the right dose of sedatives in the bloodstream. Want natural sleep? Probably want to mess directly with the brain.

But, what Amy did to Missy didn't directly rearrange neurons, more altered their biochemical state. Still, possibly getting closer to messing with brains than canon Amy would be willing to?

---

I'm wondering if Taylor got a bud off Queen Shaper, rather than a direct connection to her? If so, would that mean QS wouldn't be getting the [DATA] Taylor is producing, the bud would instead? If so, how fast might that bud be growing?

Crippled QA (which is canon) might be rather poor at the shard networking logic, at the moment? Might not spot 'Princess Shaper'?
(We can suspect canon QA heals/self-repairs quite a lot due to the load Taylor puts on her?)
 
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Every time I read a chapter of this, all I can think about is Orb Weaver from The Weaver's Web, and the mix of envy and derision she would have towards this Taylor, who has the perfect powerset for pulling off the Orb Weaver scheme and yet just limits herself to punching people and making fun bugs so far
 
mp3.1415player said:
Also I had to stop writing that scene eventually and couldn't really justify an exhaustive list of every single possible idea they might have had. That meeting went on forever! :D
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Well, Ant-man, Yellow Jacket, The Wasp, from MCU and "Honey, I scrunk the kids!!!", are also good contenders, you know.
If that kinda shit, hasn't happend yet, then the Shards are quite foolish.

So really, a tinker dun it, seems quite logical, nea?
 
Aineko said:
Of course, you know it doesn't actually do that, so it's weird to describe it that way.

Sedatives are not normally introduced intracranially.
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Yes. It's... more complicated. That's why the Wikipedia link is there.

Rhyne said:
Every time I read a chapter of this, all I can think about is Orb Weaver from The Weaver's Web, and the mix of envy and derision she would have towards this Taylor, who has the perfect powerset for pulling off the Orb Weaver scheme and yet just limits herself to punching people and making fun bugs so far
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Will point out - this Taylor is only just getting started...
 
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mp3.1415player said:
Which is why that IS number two on the list :)
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Honestly, it should be number 1, but they seem to have injected a very blatant 'what we'd prefer' bias. Changers have to be more common than radical Case 53s, right? (Going from Worm...I don't think we can go from Worm because there are barely any Changers and only a couple non-humanoid Case 53s - assuming they misclassify Echidna as one - both of whom retain human heads.)

Also, maybe not thought it through. A Changer who turns into a giant wasp also turns into not a giant wasp. A Case 53 who just is a giant wasp is always a giant wasp.
 
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