Null-Space

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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Tue Feb 26, 2019 7:19 pm

"Yeah, but he's also hanging out with Sam and the Wolf Gang."
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Tue Feb 26, 2019 7:21 pm

"I don't think they've marked him, quite yet.

He's the school's property, not theirs. You're doing X-Man things; that has to take precedence, right? Like, sure, I could use a classroom for a meetup of, I dunno, a poker tournament or something, and that would be OK...but if a professor needed it for a class, they'd kick me right out, right?"
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Tue Feb 26, 2019 7:55 pm

"I mean, I'm doing X-Men things but maybe not official X-Men things...?"
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Nailah Weaver
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High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Tue Feb 26, 2019 7:57 pm

"Hrm. That is more of an issue, there.

Then again, he was quite happy being Onyx's super-suit for a while back in the olden days, so he likely won't make a fuss about it. ASHLIE might, though, and the Wolves might, as well. That is a bit of a pickle," he mused, leaning back as he thought some more.
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Wed Feb 27, 2019 4:50 pm

"So just don't tell anybody is what I'm hearing here."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:16 pm

"Mmm.

Oh! Duh," the boy said, slapping his forehead. "You just need a passcode."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 4:27 pm

"Passcode? Like a trigger word for a sleeper agent?"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:31 pm

"Yeah, exactly! All kinds of super spy shit! So secret, even he wont know about it until you want him to. A secret weapon.

Like, you saw what happened at the start of the fight, right? How he started smelling like licorice and had Viv go barelling after him? That was activated by a passcode; I set up a couple of things when I plugged him into my laptop. Let's see...

I didn't turn off his ability to feel shame, but I did stop that feeling from blocking his speech and made him more likely to voice his thoughts, for one. I'm hoping that makes him happier; he'll have to vocalize what he wants, which is the only way to get it. Maybe he'll finally get his wish and have Tereza rip him limb from limb. At any rate, it should make him more fun; you can get him to say all kinds of funny shit by asking him questions.

I also put in a subroutine for when he talks to ASHLIE, which I can't wait to see in action...that one is less for his benefit than it is for mine, but hey.

We could whip up something for you! Codename Jade, superspy!"

The boy reached over and shut off the tub, rising out of it and stretching.
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:39 pm

"Oh man... an utility-belt that can be whatever I need it to be! I'll be unstoppable!" she grins.
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:47 pm

"You're damn right," the boy said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Let's just whip up some Willcode and get you set up."

The boy sat down at his laptop and cracked his knuckles performatively.

"Right. There's a couple ways to do this, so we'll need to make some decisions," he said, opening up a text document and typing in a bunch of confusing junk.

"First thing's first -- you'll need an activation and deactivation phrase. Something you wouldn't expect someone else to randomly say and trigger it by accident. Or, I suppose, we could do something else -- poke him on the nose twice and step on his left foot, things like that."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:54 pm

"Nah, a phrase is good." she says, sitting up straighter on the bed to look at what Null is typing. "Like a 'Avengers Assemble!' but for me. Something sphinxy and cool. Like a catch-phrase but for jumping into action."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:59 pm

"If it's sphinxy, we're probably talking about some lone complicated riddle thing," the boy teased. "Maybe not good in a combat scenario.

My Sam set this up something like this for my daughter once, when she was very little. That was a sing-song rhyme, long enough where I could interrupt her if it was a bad time. We also put a caveat in there where it could only be triggered when I was at home, to avoid, like, someone zapping my brain in the middle of a mission -- you don't want your X-Team leader suddenly craving a tea party with Sir Stuffingtons the Bear when you're fighting the Inhumans.

Is there, like a poem you like? Or song lyrics or something? Or a TV show, some kind of 'Power of Greyskull!' thing?"
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:55 pm

"Less complicated riddle, more Power of Grayskull for sure. Song lyric's a good idea. Lemme think..." she says, pulling out her phone and scrolling through her music, humming a couple bars of a song here and there, testing the flow in her head. She goes through a couple until she gets to something she likes. "Ooh! Yes, this'll work." She jumps up from the bed and strikes a pose with her fists on her hips.

"Through the dark, through the door, through where no one's been before!"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:59 pm

"You are a nerd, gotcha," the boy said, typing that in. "Same lyric to wake him back up, then? I mean, there's no reason to do a different one other than panache."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:04 pm

"Oh shut up. You're just jealous of my flair." she says, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Will.

"Let's go with... 'Come alive, come alive!' to wake him up."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:13 pm

The pillow hit the boy in the back of the head.

"Yikes! I'm gonna dock his IQ by ten points for that," he joked, pretending to type something in.

Here's another question: do you want him to be Will when he's under the suggestions? That is, do you want this crime-fighting package to just be an addition to standard Will that you can open and close with the command words, or do you want it to temporary replace it?

When we did this for Robin, we became Princess Alundra Heathrington, ruler of the Kingdom of Uxbridge. When it happens to Bruce Banner, he becomes The Hulk. You don't need to do either of that; it can just be Vanilla Will who just 'remembers' that he's part of your crime-fighting gear."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:30 pm

"He can stay Will. And hey, sounds like we solved your name problem too, Princess Heathrington."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 pm

The boy shot Nailah a look. "I think I'll leave that particular identity to the other guy, ~thank~ you very much.

So, your codewords there basically create a memory pocket, as it were. Anything that happens in the pocket will be remembered when you say the first phrase, and forgotten when you say the second.

You want him to stay Will -- though if you want to customize how he looks, you can do that over here," he said, tapping at the laptop. "You can also do that on the fly, because I am assuming you're going to want commands? To get him to shift into various things? And do you want him to default to your utility belt, like you said, or would you like him to be a guy in a pouch on your belt, or a sidekick who runs alongside you and can shift into various things as you need them? I definitely would keep him sentient and able to act outside your commands, because you can't always see everything."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:49 pm

"Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. That's actually a pretty good idea! Can you turn him into an animal side-kick? That'd be awesome!"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:55 pm

"I sure could! Animals aren't his strongsuit, but we can hardcode that in. C'mon over here," he said, sliding out another chair for Nailah. "And let's change him around some."

The editor that popped open looked suspiciously like The Sims, but I'm sure it was a perfectly legal original idea as opposed to a shoddy knock-off.
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:38 pm

Nailah hops into the chair and looks at the screen Null's working with.

"How the... Your power is whack as heck."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:40 pm

"Yeah, let me put it this way -- he's an idiot. This here shouldn't do anything, but he's dumb enough to accept it as reality. Clay's malleable, right? Well, so is his mind. Generally speaking.

There are tricks we've learned to help prevent that, but I think I got most of 'em," the boy grinned, ignoring the fact that Sam got him during the fight. "So, that makes him perfect for filling any role you might need."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:57 pm

"I think the word you're looking for is impressionable." she chuckles.

"Okay, so can you turn him into a cute animal sidekick? But not, like, a regular animal, something more out there. Like a cute monster! You know, fluffy but with claws, that kinda thing?"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:59 pm

"I'm not much of an artist, but I'll see what we can do," the boy said, opening up a Google search and looking for things.

"Like, a cutesy cartoon mascot thing? Do you just want a Pokemon here, or a magical girl pet or something? Or something more like, escaped from an alien zoo?"
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:03 pm

"I'm thinking more like magical girl pet... Ooh, ooh! There, click on that one!" she says, pointing at a drawing of some kinda of owl-cat-hybrid. "Bird-cat! That's perfect!"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:06 pm

"If you want a bird-cat, I could just turn him into your identical twin," the boy teased, dragging the picture Nailah chose into the editor.

"You wanted fluffy and not feathery, right?" the boy said, messing around with some sliders "Fluffy and a little plump, but with claws and...let's say one fang?"
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:22 pm

"Yes! Well, maybe a smidge less fluff, but the rest is great!"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:25 pm

"I'm also going to make him bouncy, so you can throw him at things and get sweet multi-bounce hits, even if you don't have him shift into something useful. And so it won't matter if you slip and sit on him or something," the boy said, typing things in. "And green, of course -- it's kind of our 'thing', though you can change that on the fly to more stealthy or appropriate things as necessary. Just setting up the default form here."

Null paused, tapping his teeth. "You want him to talk like a Pokemon, too? Nah, that'd probably get annoying. I could make him talk all cutesy like an anime -- you know, 'Willy senses danger!' and things like that, if that works for your comical sidekick."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:19 pm

"Green's fine, I guess. But for the love of god, don't make him talk. He's supposed to be a cool owl-cat, not comic relief."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:27 pm

"Heh, no speech when in animal mascot form. Easier done than said," the boy said, typing some more stuff in. "If you prefer another color, I suppose we could go, what, pink and rose gold? Does that match your outfit? Gotta accessorize. Maybe give him a nice bow or something, at least when you're not squishing him.

Since he won't be able to talk, I'll give him a nice high-pitched squawk to warn you of dangers. It'll make it hard to communicate with him, but he'll be able to understand YOU, just fine. And because he can understand you, you'll be able to have him shift into things as you need them. A simple "Will: Grappling Hook, Now!" or whatever should do it, yeah? I'd also recommend dedicating a pouch to shove him in when you need to go into places quietly; "Will: Tiny Blob, Now!" will probably be enough to fit him in to your fanny pack or whatever it is you're planning on using."

He paused. "You go by Sphinx when you're out there, right? Will's not a great code-name for a bird-owl thing. Nor is John Dough or whatever we were tagged with, and Plasticine takes too long to say in battle. You want to give him a codename or a nickname? Just keeping it as Will is fine, but you're all about style, so, you know. Easy enough to change while we're finalizing all this."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:07 pm

"Okay first of all, it's an utility-belt with pouches, not a fanny-pack, ya dolt. And Will's fine. He did earn that name and I can't think of anything particularly clever right now."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:09 pm

"Earned it my ass," the boy grumbled, but he finished typing up.

"Alright. Was there anything else you needed him to be able to do? Or something else you need from him? We can always change things later if need be, but, you know. Easier to get things right the first time," he said, flipping the screen around to point at Nailah so she could see her future furry flabby friend.
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:12 pm

"No, as long as he'll be able to figure out the obvious things like hookshot or flashlight and so on I'll be fine."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:14 pm

"Yeah, he's pretty adaptable. If you get too complicated, he might have a different picture of what you have than YOU do, but you can eventually train him to be perfect, I'm sure."

Null plugged in a USB stick, waited a minute, and then popped it out again.

"Alright. The code package is in here. All YOU need to do now is stick this in Will, and it should automatically boot itself in. Easy peasy, no muss no fuss."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:30 pm

"Huh, that is easy." she says, taking the USB stick and looking at Null for a moment. "Now I just gotta get him by himself. Wait... Does he have a room or are you both still staying here?"
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:32 pm

"He's been sleeping in the supply closet across the hall, at least for now,' the boy shrugged. "I assume he's comfortable with that, or more comfortable than he would be confronting someone about his situation."
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:14 pm

"Doesn't sound comfy, but then I'm not a shapeshifter."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:58 pm

"I think he's suspicious of comfy. Like it will all be taken away if he's not vigilant. "
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Re: Null-Space

Postby Nailah Weaver » Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:05 pm

"That's kinda sad..."
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Nailah Weaver
Student
 
High Concept: Fledgling Hero
Aspect: Naive Sphinxling
Aspect: Shattered Precognition

Re: Null-Space

Postby Null » Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:07 pm

"It's paranoid, is what it is. "
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