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Spectre: Shades of Grey
Chapter 5 A Comics Retcon Story |
I'd led the GL Kyle a merry chase, with lots of laughing — on my part — and swearing on his. But I finally stopped playing and led him to where I wanted him to be.
I was hovering over the building that housed the company known as Logistic Solutions and just stared at it as he swooped in with a crow of victory. “Got you now!”
Whatever he threw at me, I just batted aside. I don't know how I did it, I just did. Can any of you really explain how your nervous system works? Or how You breathe? I just did it, and looked at him.
“Fun and games are over for now, Kyle.” I waved to the building below us. All that was to get you here.”
He was still shocked that I just casually shrugged off what he thought was one of his best tricks, and shook his head. “Why?'
“Look.” I invited while waving a hand at the building.
“It's a fairly modern building, probably does something with tech given where it is, but so what? Why would I be interested in that?”
“Look inside.” I answered and pointed to a specific part of the structure. “In that part, and underground, there are at least three levels below ground.”
He did. I watched his expressions go from annoyed to surprised, to shocked, to rage.
“No Kyle.” I put a hand on his arm to keep him from charging inside and wrecking things. “That won't be enough.”
“But, that's — that's...”
“I know.” I told him softly. “I feel the same way.”
“That needs to be stopped!” He almost shouted and it took all I could do to keep us invisible for a moment, to contain his outrage, and rage. “That is...”
“Unspeakable, I know.” I kept my hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze. “Given my nature I want to go in there and just kill every one of the ones involved with that human trafficking.
“But I can't.” I went on. “This is just one place, Kyle. They have more, doing things like this and worse. If you or I went in there and tore things up, arrested or killed people, the organization behind them would just set up somewhere else. Somewhere we don't know about.
“I need to find them all, Kyle. The money people, the brains behind this monstrous thing, the force that drives it. This is my only link to that and much as I want, NEED to go in and kill someone for what they're doing, as much as I need to release the poor souls they've ravaged, if I don't find the source none of that will do any good. They'll just start up again somewhere else.”
He reached out a finger and touched my cheek, pulling it back with a glistening gem of moisture in it. He looked at that, then at me and shook his head. “You're crying.”
“Surprised?” I asked bitterly. “Part of me is still human, you know.”
“Yes, I am.” He answered but didn't seem to be mocking me. “You have a reputation that would make people think you don't feel anything.”
“Oh, I feel.” I shot back. “That's part of my own particular Hell. I found one of their 'products'. Almost by accident a while back. The only thing I could do for the poor woman was give her enough will to overcome her programming and that damned chip so she could blow her head off. When that was over I screamed at God, the gods, heaven, whatever I could think of to rant at.
“Kyle, I have to find the source of this, and stamp it out.” I told him while staring into his eyes. “I have to.”
“Yeah, I see that.” He nodded with a sigh. “You're one contradiction after another, you know that? One time you're this merciless killing machine, another you're a giggling, maddening tease, not to mention having power that is enough to scare me when I think about it, and now I find that you actually can care about people.”
“Welcome to the real world, Kyle.” I sighed. “Everyone is full of contradictions.”
“Yeah, I guess you're right on that one.” He shrugged then looked back down at the building we were watching. “I have resources you don't. I'll do some digging and let you know what I find. But I want to be in on the end of it.”
“You will be.” I moved in to give him a hug, just a hug, nothing else. “Thank you.”
“But all I can do is arrest them if I'm involved.” He warned. “The Law won't allow me to kill anyone.”
“That's fine.” I smiled at him. “You do the Law stuff and leave the nasty things to me.”
“I can't just stand by and let you kill people, you know.”
“Who said I was going to kill them?” I said with a bleak expression on my face.
Taking another look at what was being done to innocents in parts of that place, he shuddered. “Maybe killing them would be a mercy, at that.”
“I can do Mercy.” I shrugged, then shook my head. “But not for these people. They need to suffer what they've inflicted on others.”
“Yeah.” Kyle let out a breath. “I guess if you aren't killing them, I could — sort of — look away.”
“Oh, don't worry.” I grimly told him. “These people are going to live for a long time.”
He shuddered at that thought. “No one deserves that.”
“Payment in kind.” I shrugged. “Part of me doesn't like that much at all. But that is what I do, after all.”
“What are you, Spectre?”
“My name is Diana.” I answered and managed to give him a smile even if it was a bit weak. “What I am? Well, I'm a Fury reborn. One of the mythological ones. Or at least her avatar on Earth.”
“I guess that explains some things.” He admitted.
“If you figure it out, let me know.” I had to chuckle.
“I've been trying to corral a force of nature here.” He grumbled.
Oh, don't let that stop you.” I managed to grin. “You chasing me has been the most fun I've had in a long time.”
“Oh yeah.” He actually laughed a little there. “In spite of the cussing, and everything else, chasing you has been fun. You stretch me, make me really work. But to be honest, the kisses and other things are a pretty good incentive to keep at it, too.”
“I thought you were holding back when I did that kind of thing.” I patted his cheek then let my hand rest on it for a moment. “You're a good man, Kyle Raynor. Just a bit crude at times.”
“I'm a guy.” He shrugged. “We fart in bed, belch, sit in front of the television watching other guys beat each other to a pulp in what people call games, and tend to be insensitive. You have your things that people have problems dealing with, I have mine.”
“Good point.” I admitted, since I knew what he was talking about first hand but wasn't about to tell him I'd been a guy not so long ago, too. “So now what do we do?”
“I'll use my resources to help you on this one, I'll be in touch when I find something.”
“Just don't charge into my bedroom or anything.” I winked. “We'd never get anything done if you did that.
“Seriously, I'll give you an email address where you can reach me and trust me it isn't hackable unless you have supernatural powers.”
'Spectre.com? He shook his head once he read the email I'd written out and handed to him.
“A friend's idea, actually.” I shrugged. “But that goes somewhere that isn't physical. I don't think you'd like what you found there if you traced it, by the way. It isn't a nice place.”
“Whatever.” He shook his head then gave me a grin. “Are you still going to tease me into chasing you?”
“Oh, yeah.” I nodded. “Everyone needs to have some fun, after all.”
“What happens if, when, I catch you?”
“Use your imagination, big boy.” I grinned.
“Okay, done deal.” He nodded. “You want chased, I'll chase you.”
“You're not a jerk at all, are you?” I patted his cheek then kissed it. “It's all an act.”
“Got an image, just like you do.” He grumbled.
“Ohh, I can see more to this thing between us than I first thought there'd be here.” I laughed.
“Probably.” He shrugged. “But only if you let me catch you once in awhile, you know.”
“Smart man.” I kissed his cheek again.
Wow, I'd just taken a potential enemy and turned him into a friend, mostly. The with benefits thing? Later.
More importantly, I had another powerful ally.
Yeah, I know I teased him, belittled him, made promises I might or might not keep in the interpersonal aspect of things, but face facts here. Having a real live Green Lantern on your side and working on something you want to happen is no small thing.
The people doing these chips were going to go down. Hard.
And I fully intended to stamp out the tech that made the damned things possible in spite of the good the things could potentially do. Sometimes, humanity just isn't ready for something. Much as I hated the idea, I thought this was one of those times.
“Hey, Lena.” I said as I materialized in her sanctum then noticed the other person there She had been kind of hiding in the shadows, like that would have kept me from seeing her . “Hi Doris.”
Giganta walked out of the shadows, grew to about twelve feet high ( that was all the room would allow without her breaking the roof and bluntly questioned. “Why should we trust anything you do, Spectre?”
“My name is Diana.” I answered and shrugged. “If you've been following what I do, you know I don't lie to people. Why would I start with you?”
“I've looked at the files Lena has hacked from that place you sent her.” Doris answered without answering. “What the Hell have you got my girlfriend into here?”
“Delores times ten.” I shot back. “What? You think I'm going to expose anyone to that kind of thing without needing to do it?
“I really had to have those systems hacked.” I whispered. “People who don't deserve it are suffering and people who should suffer are getting away with it. I need to know all I can about that so I can stop it.”
“You, alone?” Doris questioned, then amended that. “Oh, I know you're some fearsome retribution from Hell or something, but even some supernatural entity couldn't stop that kind of thing alone. As I said, I've read those files.”
“I know.” I nodded and sat down, then changed into my Deena form. That took Doris by surprise and I just grinned at her. “I'm human, too, at times. And yes, I know I won't be able to do this alone, so I'm finding people who can see past the vigilante aspect of my other self and will help me do this. Trust me, I've seen the results of what these people can do, in the poor victim's minds. So what are you going to do with knowing what you've seen on those files, Doris?
“Try and arrest me?” I asked tiredly. “Or help me stamp this abomination out?”
“If you had to ask that,” she shook her head, “You haven't been watching me that closely.”
“Yes I have.” I grinned and shrugged. “But I had to have you tell me. Even if it was in that roundabout way. We have other allies now, too, for this, by the way.”
“We need to get rid of these chips, and the person or people who are making them.” Doris looked at me and added. “By they way, you're human form is really cute.”
“I know, I know.” I waved that off. “I won't tell you what I do for a living in this form, but trust me, I know. Now, as for allies on this...
“Phoenix?” Doris gave me a look that was telling me she was having trouble believing that, then added, “And a Green Lantern?”
“Phoenix came to me.” I answered. “And offered her help. I had to kind of tease the Green Lantern into following me so I could show him.”
Both Doris and Lena looked at me, then considered how I looked in my specter form and both of them chuckled.
“Bet that was fun.” Doris grinned.
“Oh yeah.” I grinned back.
“And?” Lena questioned.
“Now I have him looking into things, too.” I shrugged. “So between you and him, we should have a pretty complete picture of what we're after pretty soon.”
“Oh, I know that.” Lena gave me a look usually reserved for total idiots. “But are you going to let the poor guy catch you?”
“Oh.” I gave her a weak grin and a sort of shrug. “In time. He is really hot. But that isn't the subject here, my personal life isn't important given what we're looking at, you know.”
“Good point.” Lena nodded. “So now what?”
“I have a link with another one they've changed.” I sighed. “As much as I would like to release that poor soul, I need 'her' to link to other things that are important.”
I'd gone back to my Spectre form when I said that, and Lena still moved up and hugged me. “None of this is going to be easy, Diana. You can send her soul somewhere it can heal later, can't you?”
“Yes.” I shuddered and just let her hug me. “But the longer she is the way she is, the harder it will be to fix that, even once she's dead and her — his soul is free.”
“Much as I hate saying this.” Doris put in and moved in to join the hug. “I think she, he, wouldn't mind if the people who did that to him were punished, and the ability to do that again was wiped out so it wouldn't show up again until the race is ready to use it for people's good all the time.”
“But he'll be going through a Hell that you can't imagine in the meantime.” I whispered, then shuddered again. “And I could release him/her from that now. I was in the mind of another one like her, and hers. I just want to go in and kill people for that.
“But I can't.” I looked at both of them without flinching. “I have to learn all I can about this, and find where they get the bio-metal, and who is financing all of it. If I don't do that, this will will just resurface somewhere else when their present operation is taken down. And I hate myself for that.
“But if if do what I feel I should, they'll just start again somewhere else if I take out the facilities I've already seen.”
“Don't ever think you're not human.” Doris moved back and looked at me without even a little fear. “No matter what you are now — Diana, Deena, whoever you are — you haven't lost your humanity, I can see that now. When the time comes, you'll have my help, for what that's worth.”
“Thanks.” I let out a sigh and had to marvel that my Spectre form could even do that. “I — we — are going to take this bunch down, and eradicate their source for that damned bio-metal if I have to find some way to obliterate it to the point where normal humans won't be able to reach it for generations.”
“Yeah.” Doris nodded.
“A nuke would work for that.” Lena put in helpfully.
“Mitsuko.” I appeared to the poor soul in my scary form.
“What?” She pulled back, as expected and there was real fear in her eyes. “You that vigilante police look for!”
“Yes, I am.” I answered and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, she had been doing dishes when I appeared, and shook my head. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
“You bad thing!” She countered. “You kill people!”
“Yes I do.” I told her then shook my head. “But only really bad ones. You have nothing to fear from me. I don't harm innocents, and your are one of those. I'm here to help, but I need your help to do that.”
You no help!” She shot back and looked so lost when she said that. “No one able to help.”
“I can if you'll let me.” I said, and just sat there, letting her get used to the fact that an almost ghost with red eyes was sitting in her kitchen. “I want to, and I can help you.”
“No!” She shot back. “No one help, no one know. I Mitsuko, now and forever!”
“I know.” I countered. “I know what was done to you, what you went through, and why you're like you are now. I can free you, but I need your help if I'm going to do that. I want to stop what happened to you, Mitsuko, and make sure it doesn't happen again to others. But I need your help to do that.”
“What help I give?” She asked and I could feel as well as see the misery in her entire being as she said that. “It hurt to even think of things I not be now. It hurt bad.”
“I can ease that.” I told her and reached into her poor battered mind to deflect some of the impulses from that chip and made those a physical reality. “But you can't let others know I've done or am doing that. Can you go on awhile longer as you are?”
“I think so.” She tiredly answered. “I sex toy, housewife, soon to be mother. Not much time. I afraid.”
“Are you pregnant?”
“Yes!” she spat out. “I have baby in seven months! Not hurt my baby!”
“Never that.” I reached across the table to touch her cheek. “Your baby is safe from me, and from the people working with me. All we want to do is keep what happened to you from happening to others. For that I need to watch things through your eyes. Will you let me do that? I won't change you any more than you have been, but seeing things through your eyes and perceptions would help a lot in ending all this, at least you could help save others from what you've gone through.”
“I do that.” She nodded while protectively cradling her belly. “Just not hurt baby.”
“No, dear.” I sighed and stroked her cheek again. “I'll defend your baby with my life, such as it is.”
“Then I help.” She actually sat straighter and looked me in the eye. “This thing must stop. Not good. Not good at all.”
I know, I know.” I told her, hurting for what she was, and envious for what she would become in seven months. “I'll stop it. I promise.”
“Promise...” She looked at me and tilted her head. “Husband promise all time, no follow up, you different. I see that. I help.”
If you ever want or need a definition for courage, just look at Mitsuko. I felt small when I left her, and a little dirty for using her the way I was going to do. But she hadn't flinched over that, just so long as no one hurt her baby.
I went to my private place. I cried and I felt a sense of wonder at the same time.
Mitsuko had more strength of character and soul than I thought I could raise under her circumstances.
And that humbled me more than anything I'd ever come across in any of my lives.
Comments
What can I say?
Spectre/Diana/Deena is doing the smart thing, assembling a team that can get the job done, each one bringing the ability to find and retrieve a piece of the puzzle. I could talk about that, but I'd rather make a comment on the very last part of this chapter. It was sad, even making me cry. But like Diana, I'm humbled. I'm humbled because I know that the Mitsukos of the world really do exist. No, not some chip-ridden former man, but people of any sex, any gender, who put the welfare of all before their personal welfare. Thank you, whoever you are.
Karen J.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
I agree with Karen_J and also wonder
In the Miss Mars story the biometal caused irreversible tissue damage after six months or so yet here they think they can have the woman carry to term.
So have they found a fix, a long-term workaround and could that be exploited to restore the victims to a degree? IE if it no longer is toxic could it be used to reprogram away the programming they were given and let their old memories and ways of thinking return? As to physical restoration, depends on how much surgery, transplantation and genetic manipulation was done to them. As to their mental health ...
Hum? What if they did this to an dormant meta? Perhaps someone who would class as a techno path? Could that backfire on the bastards?
And where did she get a fertile female reproductive system from? Did they kill a born woman to get it? As unethical as they are that would be a snap to them. Is it a lab grown womb and an implanted egg? IE are any of the genetics the former man's?
I agree, Specter must wait and assemble a team and the info to take the bad guys and gals out completely including all the data, prototypes, materials and so on. Nothing must survive. That might even require the deaths and incineration of all the victims IF the device could be reversed engineered by dissecting them. At least she could give them a merciful death.
I'd say Miss Mars is her next ally or should be brought in soon. And perhaps Catwoman with her tech abilities?
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Viability time?
Well, it is tech after all, and who is to say if they have not found a way to increase the lifespan of a controlled person. Dolores was infected with arguably the gen 1 version of biometal control ( they were in R&D stage I believe. ) My impression is that the current tech is gen 2 or maybe even 3.
So yes, I do not see why a changed person can't stay viable for 9 months.
Kim
Such bravery
Maggie is a wonder at bringing out the moment and the end of this chapter is stark and magnificent for describing human courage at its zenith.
Crikey.
Kim
Thank you.
That's what I wanted to show in this chapter. Not all heroes in this universe are Metas.
Maggie
Mitsuko
what courage. She is a better person than I, I fear.
Dorothycolleen
Again, you tell a great story.
I want to cry, laugh and cheer. The Spectre's vengence will be an awful and amazing thing, I just hope it comes soon.
Wren
I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this.
So I've been following this story for awhile now, and I started thinking about where this advanced technology could come from, because it seems pretty obvious it's not native to Earth.
So I went back and carefully read this story and the Miss Mars story, and I really hope I'm wrong about this, but is there any chance that this is Apokoliptan technology?
I know, you probably won't answer that, but I had to throw it out there. Great work, and seeing Doris and Lena together again makes me realize how long it's been since I've updated Big Trouble.
I better get back to work!
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause-of-effect...but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly...timey-wimey...stuff.
I don't know about Maggie's version, but
Bear in mind that at the time I wrote Out of The Ashes, Lilith's intention for the retcon was to explore metahumans emerging into today's world. Jade was a deus ex machina to get the ball rolling, but hers was supposed to be the only alien technology. I guess that rule has slipped :)
My intent in Out of the Ashes was to leave the chip's origin open-ended, but definitely still human. The Crime Cartel was a small part of Intergang, which in the comics was a front for Darkseid, true. I wanted a criminal organization that would be a challenge to the metas, with tech that made them worthy adversaries. But strictly human.
I'd prefer the origin of the Barbie chip never be strictly cast in stone, so that other authors can run with it if they choose -- and I'm honored Maggie is doing so! -- but there's nothing in Dolores' chip that couldn't be explained by the biometal and human genius. And humanity's capacity for evil. Isn't that one of the most sinister aspects of the chip, that humans could do this to other humans?
Here is the request I posted in the comments at the end of Out of The Ashes (wow, there were a LOT of comments, it took a while to find :) )
1) The chips are eventually totally eradicated. This means that you could create/discover a chip or two in your story, but they don't ever hit the market or become widespread. They all have to be discovered and destroyed.
2) Please don't create a trivial cure for the BRB chip. If it becomes as inconvenient as fixing an ingrown toenail, it's not evil any more, it's just inconvenient, and where's the tragedy and drama in that? Let it remain evil. Remember, it was deliberately created to be difficult to remove without killing the victim.
3) The source of the chips is never explicitly determined. I may or may not choose to reveal that, but I would like to reserve that privilege for myself.
(To clarify point 3 -- the source of the chip's technology is never explicity determined.)
Creating biometal is just a little more complicated that creating any other high-tech alloy. You can destroy a foundry, but the knowledge of how to create the alloy is still around. Biometal is in the retcon universe to stay, as a technology, and can pop up when an author sees fit, but the individual sources can be found and destroyed.
As I say, Maggie may take it someplace else, that's her perogative.
P.S. I'm really enjoying the story, Maggie!
Alien tech and evil humans and stuff...
I am not at all surprised about the evil of humanity. We have a long history of brutality, and no race or country can take all the blame. It goes from Cain and Abel to the nastyness before the flood to crucifiction to the holocost to slavery and human sacrifice throughout the ages. It's only in the past hundred years or so that war was anything but rape, pillage, torture, enslave, and burn. The Geneva Convention was, I believe, one of the turning points. Now, what was once considered routine is now considered an atrocity. We no longer have crowds with picnic lunches watching crucifictions or other executions for entertainment. Still, there are many pockets of evil -- some in criminal organizations, some in certain countries, and some individuals. As horrid as it is, the 'Barby Chip' doesn't surprise me at all.
Alien technology... the Blue Bug is definitely alien technology. Biometal might be, too -- whether introduced on purpose or discovered in some ruins or a crashed spacecraft.
Great story, Maggie! Interestingly enough, I can really relate with Spectre -- including her punishment and her reluctance. I'm not much for vengeance, but pragmatically, there is a place for deterrence.
Of two minds for keeping Biometal viable
... versus having the knowledge of its making wiped out from the mind. I wonder if Jennifer Kale could whip up enough power, maybe with help to obliterate the knowledge of its existence?
Well, why? Granted it is a great prod and a flash point for any story, the problem is that it is so depressing. People will abuse such a substance. Man as a species is not 'pure' enough to be entrusted with its use despite the good things it can do, say for cripples or brain damage. Every time this pops up again it just is a reminder of how corrupt humanity can be because it is quite believable that such a thing can happen and every time it comes up, lives will inevitably be damaged. Unless of course there is a way of neutralizing it if discovered by a certain time period. Unless that is possible there is only one way out and it is to kill them or to have them kill themselves.
Kim
Destruction
Thank you for this awesome story.
I just hope the specter will come over these bastards soon and will obliterate them once and for all. This is just eww, but I fear I can imagine some people doing something cruel like this biometal control device to other people.
I just hope technology like this one won't be invented during my lifetime.
Similar technology...
If the biometal didn't self-destruct, it wouldn't be a huge deal to reprogram the chips. The victims could be rescued. Also, the technology could be used to treat everything from Down's syndrome to OCD to autism. It would also make a dandy way to interface with a computer and sensor systems. Imagine being able to drive a car or pilot a ship with light-speed reflexes while having a 360 degree view of the area in visible, ultraviolet, infrared, radar, sonar, terahertz waves... you get the idea.
The slippery slope would be where people consider rehabilitating criminals with the stuff.
But... we are working on neural interfaces, and we are advancing computer technology at a rapid pace. We will probably see a cure to blindness and paralysis in our lifetimes. Also, imagine a 'second life' type of on-line community with full sensory input. You could have the body of your dreams while interacting with others in the community.
Spectre: Shades of Grey Chapter 5
I am wondering whether or not Mitsuko's extended time carrying the child will result in two metas: the Mother and Child?
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Well, there are parallels between Diana and the chip slaves.
Good chapter.
I am surprised that you have not really covered the parallels between Diana and the chip slaves. Just like the chips changed the chip slaves, Tisiphone turned Diana into a woman against her will. Tisiphone forcibly changed her personality. And she has forced Diana to commit horrible crimes, not just murder.
The icing on this sick cake being that Tisiphone has even forced Diana into the sex trade as a prostitute. Where the chip slaves are sex slaves as well.
If you think about it, the parallels are absolutely scary.
Given that Tisiphone is of the Greek pantheon, she would probably give the excuse that it is different for her, and vengeance trumps what is right and good, showing her hypocrisy in this whole situation.
Maggie, I hope you do eventually cover this. And I look forward to you next chapter.
There are also some major differences too.
Diana's previous incarnation WAS given a choice to accept the role of the Spectre (he didn't know what it entailed, but he was given tge option to say no). Second, Deena isn't really a 'sex slave.' She has other options for jobs, but prefers the pay and actually enjoys it a little (once she got over her hang ups). Tisiphone isn't forcing Deena to be a prostitute. She also doesn't try to control Diana's thoughts. Finally, Tisiphone actually cares about Diana's well-being and doesn't harm innocents. She encouraged Diana to find companionship and live as a human being when she can. Tisiphone's a long ways away from the slavers.
I will admit that there are parallels and that Tisiphone's reasons for creating the Spectre (and making her female) are somewhat dubious. But the slavers are on such a higher plane of evil that they can't see Tisiphone with a telescope.
Also, major breakage of the fourth wall with the Batman and Catwoman reference in a universe where both exist yet have never met face to face. Then again, considering Diana's position as extra-planar/dimensional being, and Kyle's mysterious dual existence as two separate people (one a GL, the other a comic artist), it's far from surprising. If anyone can do it, they can.
Looking forward to more Maggie.
Similarities...
If you take a very shallow view, there are similarities. If you take a better look, the differences are vast.
There are people who believe that killing in self-defense is just as bad as stabbing someone and taking his wallet. I keep seeing people with the attitude that defending yourself drags yourself down to the level of the attacker. I reject that paradigm.
As HyperPacer pointed out, Tisiphone recruited Spectre. She didn't enslave her. Also, she cares about Spectre -- something that can't be said about the slavers. She gave Spectre a purpose and a mission that seeks to make the world better, rather than just providing gratification for someone.
Motivation is everything. Love is everything. In the end, Spectre is charged with a difficult task. She is still her own person. She is driven by duty, not force or conditioning. Like your average policeman or soldier, she finds part of her job to be difficult or distasteful, but recognizes the necessity and does it anyhow.
Actually...
Actually Tisiphone did enslave Diana. Tisiphone found Diana imprisoned, dead and trapped between two worlds. For Diana it was either continued imprisonment or be Tisiphone's slave. That is not a real choose.
This is all about feeding Tisiphone's lust for vengeance. That is what is boils down to.
The only real difference is Tisiphone understands the concept of "the carrot and the stick".
Is it?
Check Out of the Ashes again. Search for phrase - "Good Kitten". And tell me they don't understand the concept of "the carrot and the stick", if you believe so.
And who was it that imprisoned Diana, or so you say? Was it Tisiphone? No. As it is, comparing a third party offering an alternative to an alternative-less first party, and comparing a second party completely destroying any alternatives of the first party and then some, ought to produce significant difference.
In short, I do not agree with you.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Umm...
Given how the CRU is, I had overlooked that when making the Batman/Catwoman reference. I've changed it now. Thanks for pointing that out, by the way.
Maggie
Very disturbing, but also
Very disturbing, but also there seems to be a certain kind of closure to this arc on the Barbie chips, where we get to see the deed being done, and relishing it the process.
As far as Alien tech... I haven't seen anything to think this can't be accomplished by today's or the very near future's standards regarding the chip. The complete genetic sex change is what I'm wondering about. While a little out there in realistic terms, all it would take would be a "breakthrough" in science to make it happen. It's happened before, just not on something in so grand a scale.
~Lili
Blog: http://lilithlangtree.tglibrary.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lilith_langtree
~Lili
Write the story that you most desperately want to read.
It's a little sad, really...
...that this is the best use these morons can think of for the technology in question. Which is why I started to wonder about it's origins being a little more sinister than merely the product of human genius. It's not necessary to know the source to enjoy the story, but it does raise some questions.
One of the problems I've had with my own stories is that I can't seem to craft a good villain. The idea of taking superpowers and using them purely for the 'evulz' is alien to me. And a twisted psychopath who gains powers wouldn't be a recurring villain like they are in the comics- the Retcon heroes are more like real people. If someone like The Joker appeared, they wouldn't get tossed into Arkham time and again- it wouldn't be long before someone was pushed too far and would apply a 'final' solution.
Here though, we have the ultimate recurring villain. Nameless, faceless, and twisted to the core. No superpowers required, they're just ordinary people, for the most part, perverting the miracles of tomorrow's science for base desires.
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause-of-effect...but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly...timey-wimey...stuff.
I have a similar problem.
I've tried to write a few different comic-type villains, but I can never do "For the Evulz" either without making a flat, uninteresting character. I have succeeded once or twice, but the moment I try making the character more complex it becomes exponentially more difficult. I can make crazy characters, selfish characters, enraged characters, and ones who do horrible things for good reasons, but outright evil is difficult... mainly because outright evil doesn't make much sense to me without there existing a psychological disorder like Sadism or the character having some very severe trauma in their life. These guys just don't make any f***ing sense to me. They don't seem to have motives except money, lust, and giggles.
Anyway, I have to agree. Their use of this technology is rather pathetic considering what it COULD be used for. Although, considering how morally bankrupt they are, that's probably a good thing...
Where do you draw the line
I would have to consider outright evil to be a psychological disorder, maybe even a physiological one. There is a lot we don't know about how the brain works. But where do we draw the line? If everything nasty and evil is found to be physiological or psychological, do we abandon holding people responsible for their actions entirely.
That's been my problem with the whole 'not guilty by reason of insanity' plea/ruling in the U.S. courts. Be it speeding through a school zone with children present, to murdering someone for the $15 in their wallet or purse, all these people are 'crazy' or 'insane'. The criminal says they are not guilty be reason of insanity, well - DUH! Of course you are insane, you murdered someone! Does it really matter if you shot your wife because you thought she was cheating on you, or you were trying to hold up a bank and shot the guard? NO! You killed someone, you pay the price. There are only two questions in my mind: 1) Did you in fact commit or conspire to commit a crime resulting in the death of an person, and 2) Was the death in fact justified. "I woke up and this man was coming at me with a large knife and being afraid for my safety I took my gun from under the pillow and shot him."
Truly evil people are amoral. They may also be sadists, park in handicapped parking spaces and kick dogs. Pick the symptoms you want your evil character to display.
Karen J.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Villains
Try going at it from the point of view of a psychopath. A sociopath simply doesn't care what happens to other people, or how they feel. If he can get away with it, he'll kill someone just to get a buck. There are a number of dictators, government officials, and business leaders who have that mind set. They pragmatically do whatever it takes to get ahead, and don't give a second thought to the pain that they cause others. Friends are tools to be used. Caring for someone is a weakness that must be avoided at all cost.
When you can't understand the concept of pain in others, or just don't give a rip, using something like the Barbie Chip just makes good sense.
To step it up a notch, make your character actually enjoy the pain of others. While he may pragmatically choose a means to an end, he will prefer the means that causes the most pain in others when given the choice.
Everyone likes to win. The pitcher tries to throw the ball so that the batter can't hit it, and the batter tries to hit it. With healthy competition, both parties have fun, and no real harm is done. A psychopath, on the other hand, sees causing misery as part of the game. Success is destroying the opposition in any way possible -- the more painful, the better. You can win the game by one run (to continue the baseball comparison,) but a grand-slam home run or a no-hitter is so much better.
Everyone is the Hero of their own tale.
Aside from those with sociopathic/obsessive mental disorders, the greatest evils the world has ever seen have all been committed by people who believed themselves to be doing GOOD.
Therefore, the most insidious villain is the one who in their own eyes is a hero and can't understand why the other heroes aren't on their side.
Interesting example... during the last few months of WWII, the Germans convinced themselves that the Western allies would join with them to push the soviets back into Russia. They couldn't understand how the U.S., UK, and the others could be allied with Stalin. (Strangely enough, this is exactly what happened after the war, with West Germany becoming the front line of the Cold War for the next 40 years.)
So write your villain as a protagonist, but twist something... make something that is otherwise good into a threat that only they can see, and they will do anything to combat that threat.
-sb
Coordinated
Educational
Network for
Talents and
Emergent
Resources
Coordinated
Educational
Network for
Talents and
Emergent
Resources
Choices
The person who is now Diana had choices, nobody said one of the choices had to be good. Sometimes the choices you have are between bad and worse. Not only is that life, it's also kind of the norm for the old gods. Anybody want to try and force full disclosure on Tisiphone? If so, tell me how that works for you please. Should I ever meet her, all you'll get from me is a lot of curtsies and "Yes ma'ams".
Thanks for such a high quality of writing, Maggie! This is about the only series story I even keep up with right now. Most of the rest is more choosing between bad choices and worse. But everytime I see another chapter of this tale I click it open immediately!
Karen J.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
I love the open heart to heart talk
between her and Kyle, it shows understanding from him that's supposed to be a GL trait and soul from her and vulnerability. Loved the ending too, that's a brave little Japanese girl you wrote there.
Bailey Summers
Sad
That ending to the chapter is just so...so sad.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Sad? Yes. But,
It was also intended to show how strong the human spirit can be. And yes, Mitsuko will be an ongoing character in this story.
And the scene does an
And the scene does an excellent job in showing how strong the human spirit can be. I think part of the saddness is that right now there isn't much the Spectre can or will do to free Mitsuko and her baby, both genuine innocents in all of this.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."