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Post by The Astronomer on Nov 2, 2015 20:59:19 GMT
"Well... we've made great strides in robotics, but noone's ever been comfortable with the idea of putting a proper AI into a killing machine. Japan tried it during the war, and it worked pretty well up until the Martians started using their weirder gifts. No imagination, you see. Griswold's suggesting a 'best of both world' solution. Human imagination combined with 21st century firepower. And I believe he can do it. He's got a cyborg rat that never sleeps, never gets lost, and still loves the smell of cheese. Banner though..."
Stapleton had that 'mad scientist' look in his eye. 'If he can crack the Source, he'll change what it means to be human. Hell, he'll make humanity obsolete overnight. We won't be replaced by Starborn... we'll become Starborn. Telepathy, flight, even precognition... who needs Robocop when you have Thor?"
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Post by Alexander Chronos VI on Nov 3, 2015 4:49:29 GMT
Chronos displayed the faintest hint of a smile then, as if he has just remembered an inside joke. Clearly he took no small amusement in being lumped in with the humans, despite the fact he was superior in power to most Starborn. That was the most useful aspect of his unique gift really, the genetic lottery he had one, allowing him to write his own fate. He had all the benefits of being Starborn without any of the unfortunate social stigma, only because he was able to appear too old and established in the city's history to ever be suspected.
"That is certainly one solution to the Starborn problem." he mused aloud, though internally thought it was a viable solution to the "human problem." Why wait for the ponderous progress of social change when he could make the minority the majority overnight; a passive genocide rather than the more traditional one he had thought would become necessary? Certainly some of his brothers and sisters would be sacrificed in the illicit experimentation, but it would be for the greater good. "As always, thank you for your candor, doctor."
"Would you be interested in attending the lecture tomorrow evening?" he inquired. "I find myself with a spare ticket and can think of few that might appreciate the subject matter as much as yourself."
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Post by The Astronomer on Nov 3, 2015 6:19:49 GMT
He frowned. "I met Willingham once. I was still at the University when I approached him with an idea. It was something... worldchanging. He gave me that Germanic sneer and said he hoped I never actually graduated, because I'd be the worst thing to happen to physics since Oppenheimer. Yorick Vaughn and his employers appreciated my talents, but in the end, your father outbid Trustwell."
He waved off the question. "Besides, I know it'll be just be moralizing on his part. He thinks we damned ourselves by using wormhole tech, and that the Starborn are the new Jews and must be saved. Now if Ogami were there... that man has vision. Honest to God vision, the sort that would make Moses shit his pants. Banner bootlegs all his lectures, and translates them from the original Japanese."
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Post by Alexander Chronos VI on Nov 3, 2015 21:12:43 GMT
"A simple 'no' would have sufficed." he replied, not unkindly, though absorbed every detail of the tale. He was not looking forward to a lecture from a man who viewed his kind with pity. It was always the smartest, like this Willingham, that were the most misguided. He had stumbled upon the right metaphor but the wrong rolls. The Starborn were the master race in this equation, with humans as the inferior stock to be pitied. "I will donate the ticket to the science department at Chronos University. I am sure someone will be grateful for it."
"One more thing before you go Arthur. I met a young woman recently that will at be the event. Lovely thing, but I find my sinuses react violently to her perfume. Do you think the boys in R&D could whip me something up by tomorrow evening?" he asked, tone leisurely, though his eyes made clear this was a priority.
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Post by The Astronomer on Nov 4, 2015 6:18:12 GMT
Arthur rolled his eyes upward in his skull, accessing his mind palace, or more accurately, his mind arsenal. A moment later, he produced a pen and notepad. With a few scribbles, he produced a chemical formula that meant nothing to Chronos. "Trichloric mannitol benzine. Designed to help soldiers locate dangerous fumes by smell without actually succumbing to them. Should finish the compound in a few hours. I'll have it sent up with instructions for dosage."
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Post by Alexander Chronos VI on Nov 4, 2015 6:53:20 GMT
"That will be all then, Arthur." he dismissed the scientist.
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