I don't see anyone putting on a heavy trench coat under Mexican sunshine. Don't hold your breath.
Think of the scriff vectors as three hands on a clock, with you at the center post. Now note that the three hands can be moved somewhat independently--they're more like needles on a compass, but that they are attracted to three different poles. Now put it in three dimensions--remember, if Sarah lies down, everything shifts ninety degrees, and what was to the side before is now to the top, at least until you are heavy enough that gravity has more force than buoyancy (which has by now happened, so when she lies down, "up" changes directions while you're turned sideways, or possibly upside down, depending on what position you were in initially--why do you think babies kick so much?).
As far as the timeline, I think I'm moving you through it faster than I moved the last guy. You'll be born soon enough--provided you don't keep stalling with questions at every phase.
At this point, though, movement is getting restricted. You are longer than the container in which you are housed, and when you stretch a limb or your neck you have to push against the wall and stretch it. This is sometimes answered by something pushing back from the other side of the wall, and that familiar voice you've decided is your mother talking sweetly to you, as if your decision to stretch you leg was an effort to communicate with her.
--M. J. Young
I don't see anyone putting on a heavy trench coat under Mexican sunshine. Don't hold your breath.
If I recall, it also protected against heat. Keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Of course, Sarah probably wouldn't have figured that out yet. OK, so not the trench coat, one of the jumpsuits. Even my tee shirt. (What? A pregnant woman wouldn't sleep in a huge tee shirt? She would probably think that the scent it has is that of her adult son. Would probably take comfort in it too.) Or just answer me on what would happen to the scriff senses. Come on!!
This is sometimes answered by something pushing back from the other side of the wall, and that familiar voice you've decided is your mother talking sweetly to you, as if your decision to stretch you leg was an effort to communicate with her.
Now I wish I had tried harder to learn Morse code. Oh well, she probably doesn't know it either.
Well, keep growing and keep listening. And yes, even if all I hear from now on is meaningless day-to-day babble, I'm still listening. I might have that skill up a point or two by the time I'm born.
(Doing Therapy)
A lot of that meaningless day to day babble is in Spanish, which as I understand you don't--understand, that is.
But the enclosure is getting tighter, and every once in a while it squeezes. This is very uncomfortable, and at least the first time or two that it happens you kick back almost reflexively. It also seems that the squeezing is pushing your head down, which is the largest part of your body, making the space at the top too small for it so you'll turn over.
--M. J. Young
Concerning your scriff questions, if you are completely surrounded by one scriff-infected object, one of two things would happen.
- It might be as it is when you wear your own clothes: they become part of your immediate presence, and cease to be detected at all.
- It might be that being so surrounded means you sense your things in all directions, and it blots out any other scriff vectors (because if two objects are on the same vector they merge into one).
But the enclosure is getting tighter, and every once in a while it squeezes.
So that's what they mean by contractions. Keep listening.
And regarding the scriff question, yes I'm satisfied. Why was that such a difficult thing to answer?
You gather from the snippets of information you collect that your mother is very nearly ready to give birth, and is heading to New Mexico so you will be born in the United States at an American hospital.
Those contractions, as you rightly call them, are coming more frequently, and they are very uncomfortable pushing against your head. As you flinch from them, you find yourself being inverted, moved upside down. You can fight this, pushing yourself upright, but it really is more comfortable having the pressure squeeze your legs than your head. Either way, you're bunched up in a tight ball at this point, and can't stretch out without great effort.
There is a feeling in one direction, which is usually toward your back, of something like a pillow. It seems gradually to inflate and grow harder over the course of several hours until it is impinging on your space; then it abruptly deflates in seconds, vanishing entirely, and then over several hours repeats the cycle.
I try not to answer questions that are not relevant to current situations because I don't want to be committed to the consequences of those answers later. If the answer does not need to be decided now, deciding it now only makes things more difficult.
--M. J. Young
You can fight this, pushing yourself upright, but it really is more comfortable having the pressure squeeze your legs than your head.
I wouldn't even try to fight it. If anything, I'd go with it. I know where and what I am now, and if this is what mommy wants me to do, I'm not going to resist. I was wondering how that happened.
There is a feeling in one direction, which is usually toward your back, of something like a pillow. It seems gradually to inflate and grow harder over the course of several hours until it is impinging on your space; then it abruptly deflates in seconds, vanishing entirely, and then over several hours repeats the cycle.
Her bladder maybe?
I try not to answer questions that are not relevant to current situations because I don't want to be committed to the consequences of those answers later.
I understand. It was just driving me nuts. I would have expected her to examine the trench coat in particular a lot more closely. It's some kind of material she's never seen before. The resistance thinks something is coming for her. Wouldn't it be prudent to send body armor? It's even got a place inside to carry the shotgun, and the shotgun was there when she got it. I would have thought she would examine that and determine what it was capable of doing. If a knife didn't go through it, maybe a bullet wouldn't either, is what I would be thinking.
MJ, I have a personal favor to ask. I hope it's not too much. My birthday really is on Saturday. It would just mean the world to me if he was born on my birthday. I don't know why, it just would. Would it be too much to ask for you to come back and answer the birth post on Saturday? I realize this would be slighting the other players if you only answered me, but consider it a special birthday present. Please??????
(Doing Therapy)
Two
I must assume that time travel is going to come into this story at some point, likely several points. I'll go with a 2@1 understanding of the temporal theory. How does that work? If I actually know the answer to the time travel issue, I say it, if not, it gets rolled for to see if my character can figure it out where I can't? If I verse before Reese gets sent, this world gets put into an infinity loop. I'll be gone though. How does that work?
If I actually know the answer to the time travel issue, I say it, if not, it gets rolled for to see if my character can figure it out where I can't?
Probably you don't get the roll, and here's why: your character hasn't learned anything about time travel theory since versing out, right? Anything your character knows on the subject, you should know, too. If anything, you should have to roll to see if your character thinks of something you know for sure - but that's mean and a little dumb, so we usually don't do that.
Of course, I'm not your ref, but that's the ruling I would expect.
If I verse before Reese gets sent, this world gets put into an infinity loop. I'll be gone though. How does that work?
Wait and see? I highly doubt MJ will answer this for you, especially in light of the fact that your character - having learned time travel theory in a universe where Multiverser(R) did not exist - has absolutely no way of knowing.
And really, isn't it better to have aspects of the scenario you don't know? Hello, fear of death!
Good points Scott. I just hope I can take Sarah with me as an associate. As I understand Zygote, I'll eventually turn back into me and not be her son anymore. Remember how hot Linda Hamilton was in T2? Need I say more?
(Doing Therapy)
Two
Scott, what I was saying is that the roll would be made if I couldn't think of the answer, but perhaps my character could. Yes, I have the same knowledge of the theory, however, we have different viewpoints. Perhaps he saw something which inspired him to think about it differently than I did. Something I had not seen. No matter how good the ref is, there's no way the player and character can have exactly the same information. The smallest thing can inspire some pretty heavy thought. He might have seen a tee shirt someone was wearing which inspired him to think about the problem differently than I did. The roll against my 2@1 score would be to see if he could figure out the problem that I couldn't, based on his different knowledge.
(Doing Therapy)
Since you're not fighting, you find yourself turned upside down, your head pushed into a snug space where it barely fits. The pressures on your legs keep coming periodically, but you think they're getting more frequent and more forceful.
Suddenly the environment around you changes. There is a sound from the primary voice, like a gasp or cry, and the pressure drops significantly, and you have a very different feeling against your skin--the liquid in which you have been cushioned seems to have drained away.
You are tossed sideways--the entire compartment is shifted, so that your body is at an angle partly but not directly above your head.
You now hear your heart pounding--but oddly, it is like it's being amplified, filling the space beyond the walls. The pressure is coming more frequently and more forcefully, starting at your feet and pushing down until it squeezes around your shoulders. Your chin is pressed down on your chest, and the pressure from above is making the space below tighter, like pushing your head into a sock.
You really miss that water; this is a lot less comfortable than that was.
You are moving down into that lower space, which is a very tight fit.
Abruptly there is a sharp biting on the top of your head--you can't reach the top of your head anyway, because your arms aren't that long, but even so you could never get them past your temples with the tight elastic-like grip surrounding you, which has come down your forehead and is now pressing on the bridge of your nose.
Your heartbeat is no longer pounding outside; instead, there is a rapid electronic beep.
There are a lot of voices shouting at each other, but your ears are being squeezed and the sounds are badly muffled, and you're a bit preoccupied at the moment. When the pressure hits, the beeping slows a bit, and then as it releases it accelerates. The pressure seems to go for a long time--a hundred beeps sometimes.
Periodically something touches your head near the point of the bite, and then vanishes. This is usually followed by some voice calling out a number with the word "station". The primary voice is doing a lot of very loud unintelligible groaning and screaming, and you're being shaken around some in the process in addition to everything else that's going on.
Your head has passed through a narrow space, but now the tube seems to be warped, forcing it to turn to your left; your chin is being pulled up, your head forced backwards, and your shoulders are still locked at the other angle.
This seems to have been going for hours.
You clearly hear the word, "Push", and the pressure hits again. Suddenly there is a splash of cold on your face, and a brilliant blaze of light. Your shoulders turn; your head turns back to meet them. Something is being done to you that you can't see in the glare, and now you are dangling by your ankles, water pouring out of your nose and mouth.
--M. J. Young
Start crying.
When they hand me to Sarah, attempt to speak the word "SkyNet". I don't know if my body is developed well enough to speak yet, but I do know that part of the reason a baby can't speak is that they don't know the language. Maybe I can speak. Try to say "SkyNet". What does Sarah do?
(Doing Therapy)
Two
I have got to find a way to communicate with Sarah. That's second to none. If I can't speak, and I probably can't write either. I don't know how long we're planning to stay here at the hospital, so this might be irrelevant for a while. Try to find anything with letters on it. Blocks, refrigerator magnet letters, anything with which I could spell words. If I can get my hands on a writing utensil, try to write. It would be difficult, but if it was at least legible that would work. Even if it is (literally) a baby's scrawl. I have got to communicate with her.
If we happen to go through a store and I see anything like magnet letters or blocks, try to cry and point to get Sarah to buy them. Writing or spelling would be my priority if I can't yet speak.
(Doing Therapy)
Good boy; you've saved yourself a stinging slap on your naked bottom, and won yourself high Apgar scores for breathing.Start crying.
They wipe you down with a towel and land you atop a woman's breasts close enough that your eyes naturally focus on her face. You can see nothing else--everything is either too close or too far for you to focus, but her face is exactly where your eyes can see it.
You open your mouth, and hear yourself say "Gauauauauauaud". As yet you don't seem to know how to operate your tongue, how to control your throat, how to move your jaw; and you have no teeth.
"Isn't he adorable?" the woman says. "Hello, John; I have so much to tell you, I can hardly wait. You are a very special little boy. I want you to know that." While she's saying this, she's counting your fingers and toes; you feel her hands going over them methodically.
"We have to take him now, Miss Conner. The pediatrician needs to examine him, and then he'll be in the nursery. We'll get you settled in a room, and then we'll bring him to you in time for feeding."
You get scooped up, washed in lukewarm water, wrapped in a towel, and a stretchy knit cap is pulled over your head. You are then placed in a clear plastic box with a flat padded white bottom, which is warmer inside than the air in the room was, and you have a sense of motion. The world beyond is a blur, but you can see your own hand--a tiny form on the end of a tiny arm with very small thin fingers.
--M. J. Young
Good boy; you've saved yourself a stinging slap on your naked bottom, and won yourself high Apgar scores for breathing.
What's an Apgar score?
They wipe you down with a towel and land you atop a woman's breasts close enough that your eyes naturally focus on her face. You can see nothing else--everything is either too close or too far for you to focus, but her face is exactly where your eyes can see it.
It's Linda Hamilton right? I hope she breastfeeds.....
You open your mouth, and hear yourself say "Gauauauauauaud". As yet you don't seem to know how to operate your tongue, how to control your throat, how to move your jaw; and you have no teeth.
About what I expected. Besides, if I did say SkyNet, she would probably drop me.
Well, I'm not going to cry anymore. I'll be the quietest kid in there. Oh that's gonna drive me nuts. See what happens now. Is there a TV or radio in there that I can hear? Perhaps the staff have one on for themselves? I hope I can hear something which will tell me where and when I am. What do people talk about? I am still practicing the psionic super hearing to pick up information. Have I gotten any skill marks in that?
"Well what if, what if I make a fudgie? Well, I just won't. I just won't, that's all. I just won't. BLAST!! I just did."
Stewie Griffin
(Doing Therapy)
Two
Am I still getting any points for the isometric exercise program?
Can I practice other psionic skills? I know that the @1 skills work, my character doesn't. If I can practice them to find out which ones will work here that would be cool. I just want to stay botch-proof if possible. I'm not sure which would be worse, versing out like this or versing out in traction. Actually this would, as it wouldn't heal in the next world. So practice psionic skills until I find out that the @1 skills work. Hey, I'm trying not to use OOC information. Letting my character find out. That's gotta be worth something!!! (Said with a laugh)
(Doing Therapy)
Three
The psionic skills that I want to get really good at are psionic healing and psionic force shields. Those should be obvious, considering what's awaiting me. I'll be practicing those a lot more than most.
You can't shoot through a psionic force shield, but could you raise it with a 2 inch hole in it? Just thinking out loud. If it had a 2 inch hole in it, I could shoot through, but anyone else would be hard-pressed to hit that spot, including a Terminator. And even if they do, I've still got the trench coat.
(Doing Therapy)
Apgar scores are a series of I think 5 numbers, I think from 0 to 3, by which infants are rated. They cover primarily color and breathing, and a good loud scream is a favorable score, particularly if they don't have to induce it. They do a quick rating within the first minute and another five minutes later, and high numbers suggest more stable respiratory and circulatory systems and a higher chance of survival. It was joked back then that this was your first test, and you wanted to do well in it because nursery schools took your Apgars seriously in their admissions process.
You have been practicing the psionic intensified senses enough to improve some. There is almost nothing to hear in here except when one of the dozen other babies cries or one of the nurses in attendance moves around the room or talks with them. At one point, though, the door opens, and you hear "...in Alburquerque with the five o'clock news for Tuesday March 13th, 1984." Someone is saying, "Shut that..." as the door closes. The next time it opens all you hear is music, something from a 1980's top forty station.
You can practice all the psionic skills, going through the mental motions, but I can't tell you what works unless you formally "try" them.
--M. J. Young
At one point, though, the door opens, and you hear "...in Alburquerque with the five o'clock news for Tuesday March 13th, 1984." Someone is saying, "Shut that..." as the door closes. The next time it opens all you hear is music, something from a 1980's top forty station.
John Connor's birthday was in February 1985. The T-1000 pulls it up on the police computer. (And the pathetic thing is that I know that) The second movie was set in 1995, he was 10 years old. I guess the writers realized that no one would follow a 12 year old into battle, so they pushed the war back. But since I'm not the John Connor from the movies, I'll let it slide this time. (Laughing) Ah the 80s had the best music.
You can practice all the psionic skills, going through the mental motions, but I can't tell you what works unless you formally "try" them.
The thing is I know it's flatlined and that only the @1 skills will work. My Character doesn't know that. I don't need you to tell me that. My Character does. My character is going to be practicing all of his psionic skills. He will know that it worked. I don't need to be told. That was just so he could find out.
When's feeding time? I'm looking forward to a breastfeeding from Miss Hamilton.
Two
I'm just trying to be clear. My character is in a safe, relaxed environment. He knows that TK pulse and Mind reading almost always work. He doesn't know what else almost always works. I'm giving him a chance to find out which ones work. If I just always used the @1 skills, that's playing on out of character knowledge. This way, my character will know. How can he practice psionic healing? Well, I'm sure he took at least some kind of injuries during the birth, normal and nothing to worry about. It would have healed on its own in a few days, now it will just be a lot faster. Maybe a GE roll on if I happen to have a force shield up when the nurse comes to get me. It could be kind of interesting.
(Doing Therapy)
I think MJ's point is that if you want to learn something, the outcome matters, and if the outcome matters, you need to roll for the skill, and if you need to roll for the skill, you could botch, and if you could botch, it matters which skill you do first and what you're trying to do when you try it and all that good stuff. And you are trying to learn something: you're trying to learn which skills work.
That's why he can't just say, "this works, that doesn't," and move on.
I think he's also saying that you can practice them without doing them, but that if you don't do them, your character won't know for sure what works. He'll correct me if I'm wrong about that, I'm sure.
In response to Scott:
And you are trying to learn something: you're trying to learn which skills work.
I didn't realize that would make it roll-worthy. In the first world, I lifted ladies' skirts as practice. MJ didn't tell me "The red skirt went up and the blue skirt stayed down." My character on the other hand saw it happen, and wouldn't need to be told. I assumed this could be the same kind of thing. I don't need to know what skills work. I figured this would be an excellent time to practice and see what would work.
That's why he can't just say, "this works, that doesn't," and move on.
I don't need him to say anything. My character would observe it happening. Since I already know what would work, I know what my character would see happening. Thus, no need for a roll. It makes sense to me. Your call MJ.
Or if I were practicing my TK pulse with the hope of getting Sarah's attention. I would think the TK pulses would be practice and whether or not it got Sarah's attention would either be an intuition check for Sarah or a GE roll. We'll let MJ decide.
Note to self: We're not going to destroy Cyberdyne, we're going to buy stock in it. Let SkyNet fund the resistance. I want Miles Dyson working for us.
Note to referee: Kyle Reese had a brother named Derek Reese. Younger in the book, older in the TV show. I wouldn't mind meeting him. I'd REALLY like to have a T-800 protector.... Come up with your own Terminators if you want. The T-1000 doesn't have to come back, it could be the T-1100 and it does whatever MJ says it does. This could be FUN!!!! Take what I say and make it your own.
(Doing Therapy)
Oddly I don't know anyone who thinks that the music of the eighties was good.
I've got the dates for the first Terminator film as 1984, and the second as 1997, with John being 13, which means he had to be born in 1984; I've retained your date of birth because it doesn't matter that much and between us one of us should remember it.
Your character does not know what skills work and what skills do not. He cannot get that knowledge from practicing, for whatever reason. Period.
You can run through your skills and try them all; I'll even let you do batches of them in the same post. But practice will never reveal what works under the bias.
I don't need him to say anything. My character would observe it happening.
Yes, you do need me to say something.
Right now your character can see anything that is between six and fifteen inches directly in front of his eyes, and nothing else. Quite apart from that, if you want to practice your psionic skills, you must say that you are going to "practice" something in particular, and I will tell you what you learn--which is always that you learn nothing, because you can't learn anything without rolling for the skill. As to the skirts, well, yes, once you knew it worked you could do it as practice without rolling. Right now, you do not know what works. Thus if you say, "I'm going to practice my TK pulse" I will tell you that you went through the mental motions as you remember them, but you don't know what happened. If you say "I'm going to practice my TK pulse by attempting to move the hair of the nurses when they pick me up," I will have to roll for whether you succeed in moving the hair, at least until you do so at least once or twice (so you know the first was not a mistake), and then I can shift it to unrolled practice mode. But this is a new world, and therefore by default a new situation in which you have to learn whether old skills work.
In the nursery, someone rolls you onto your back and starts examining you--stethescope against your bare chest and belly in several places. He pulls your legs straight, bends them up, brings them straight in front of you; he touches your palm, and your fingers close without your decision to close them. He takes both hands, presses them against your chest, then pulls them toward himself until the elbows are straight, then outward like a crucifix, then above your head, and then releases them. He picks you up under the armpits and brushes your feet against the sheet; they start pedaling as if trying to walk. He sets you back down, brings the stethescope back to your chest, and bumps you in several places with the tip of his finger while listening. In all this he makes notes. Then he leaves.
A while later a nurse starts rolling your container out. (This is a different one from the one in which you were placed in the delivery room. It has clear plastic walls has tall as your head is when you are lying down, but no top.) She changes your diaper, and wraps you in a blanket. She talks at you in a sing-song voice, all about what a good boy you are and how you're going to go see mommy and are you hungry and are you warm enough.
Your arms and legs are contained in the blanket and the container starts rolling again. The world is a blur of light and darkness, and the voice drones on with more irrelevant talk except that at one point it shifts to a normal sound. "I have the Conner boy; you get Hernandez, and I'll be back to help with Jones and Chang." Then she's back to the sing-song voice, which is rather soothing.
Then her voice gets a bit louder. "Miss Conner? It's time to feed your baby. Has someone showed you how to do that? O.K., then. There is a bottle of water here, too, so you should give that to him after he eats, to make sure he gets enough fluids."
There is a television on somewhere, but apparently not in this room. Some kind of network drama seems to be playing.
A pair of hands grabs you, and that familiar face of the woman you saw in the delivery room swims into view out of the blur. She smiles. "Hello, John," she says. "Let's see if we can do this."
She carries you somewhere and moves around quite a bit; it's like being on a slow rollercoaster for a moment. Then she tucks you into the crook of her arm, and shifts your head to where her bare nipple has just emerged, and with her other hand positions it against your mouth.
Quite without any thought from you, the contact of the nipple on your lips causes your mouth to start moving in an action which seems to be designed for suction. However, nothing comes out.
She curses, then says, "You didn't hear that. Where's that bell?"
In a moment the other voice speaks through some kind of electronic amplification. "Do you need help?"
"Nothing's coming out," your mother says. "I'm doing everything right, but it's not coming."
"Don't be upset," the other voice says. "Your milk just hasn't let down yet. Give him the formula for now, and you can try again in four hours."
The nipple vanishes behind a hospital gown, and you go for another ride. When it ends, something else touches your lip, and it automatically starts sucking, and something sweet and creamy starts flooding your mouth. Your throat swallows it, and for a moment you're worried about the interaction between breathing and drinking, but your reflexes seem to be handling it adequately.
You realize how very hungry you were as the liquid meal hits your stomach.
--M. J. Young
I've got the dates for the first Terminator film as 1984, and the second as 1997, with John being 13, which means he had to be born in 1984; I've retained your date of birth because it doesn't matter that much and between us one of us should remember it.
And you're partly right and partly mistaken. Reese arrives on the date of May 12 1984. He impregnates Sarah 2 days later, and the baby is born in February 1985. The T-1000 pulls up the information on the police computer if you feel the need to verify it. The date of the second film is a matter of dispute. It's supposed to be 1995, with John 10 years old. If it was 1997, that would mean that Judgment day was at most months away. The third movie screwed up the time line. You're not the one making the mistake, the movie producers did. However, all of this is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to my story. (Emphasizing) I'm not THAT John Connor. I'm a different John Connor. I know Terminator, I don't know THIS VERSION of it. You say I was born March 13 1984. If that's the day I was born, that's the day I was born. However, the John Connor in the movie was born in February 1985. I'm not disputing the game. I'm just trying to wow you with my vast array of Terminator trivia. Not disputing the game, disputing your knowledge of the movie. I'm not in the movie, I'm in an entirely different, but similar, scenario. I don't expect everything to match up to my knowledge, and would be kind of disappointed if it did. Like I keep saying, take what I say and make it your own.
Oddly I don't know anyone who thinks that the music of the eighties was good.
Well, you do now. So I'm nobody huh? (joking)
Go on with my day.
(Doing Therapy)
Two
SkyNet had control over a limited number of factories, where those early machine gun tanks and the early fliers were built. After it nuked the world, it used those factories not only to build weapons, but construction robots and maintenance droids. With those, it built more factories where it built better stuff. SkyNet's resources were fairly limited. At least as limited as the humans' resources, in terms of raw materials, that is. The humans could use or adapt most of SkyNet's weapons and gear to use themselves. The only resource SkyNet could get from the humans was their own bodies. (Let that sink in for a second.) It also didn't consider the human reproductive cycle, and how quickly and how often humans engage in the act of reproduction when they are scared out of their minds. Although it took the human offspring six to eight years to have any kind of battle effectiveness, the humans were still reproducing far faster than SkyNet anticipated. (Didn't you ever wonder how it started?) SkyNet thought the answer would be to "out breed" the humans, and so made lots and lots of really weak units. Those tanks and fliers, while formidable, were still pretty easily dispatched. As the war progressed, SkyNet realized fewer, stronger units were the answer. That really big flier and the Goliath robot in Salvation? Rare. Waste of resources. (And I read about both of them online before I versed, so that information is still inside my head.) It's trying to find the balance between number of units, strength of units, and resources required to build the unit. So, progressively fewer, progressively stronger machines. Why build 50 T-100s with a 1 to 1 kill ratio when you can use the same resources to build 5 T-800s with a 200 to 1 kill ratio?
That's the story from the book. Means nothing here, but that's the story from the book.
(Doing Therapy)
Three
Even the movies, novelizations and the TV show aren't consistent with each other. In the novel, Kyle was the older brother (21 I think) and Derek was a teenager. In the TV show, Derek was 7 years older than Kyle. If they can't even get it straight, why should I expect you to? (laughing) Just make it similar enough to be cool.
(Doing Therapy)
Remember how you were always falling asleep? Well, it happens again. Of course, it's very comfortable to be snuggled between the crook of a woman's arm and her breasts, and you don't have to think about sucking and swallowing because your mouth does that part automatically as long as you're even a bit awake, so your eyes keep closing--you keep forcing them open, to look at this face that you understand is your mother, but they keep drooping closed again.
And when you awaken, you are on the rolling table with the plastic sides in the room with all the other tables with plastic sides. One of the other babies is crying. Someone is talking in a soothing voice, but not near you.
--M. J. Young
Keep doing whatever babies do.
When I'm alone and no one is around who can hear me, try to talk to myself. See if I can make this mouth of mine say anything coherent.
You didn't say much about what I said regarding the details of the scenario. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on this. What I know is all fiction. This is the reality. Not the other way around. Take what I say and make it your own. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that.
(Doing Therapy)
I think I have sufficient details to make the story work. Thanks, though.
You can gurgle a bit and make a vowel sound that shifts a bit, but you have no control of articulation with tongue, gums, glottis, or other body parts, nor can you effectively control the shape of your mouth or your lips, or even entirely whether your mouth is open or closed.
--M. J. Young
I think I have sufficient details to make the story work. Thanks, though.
Well, I'll trow out details from time to time. I'm sure Sarah would be interested in what I know, even if it is fiction. Take these details and make them your own. Just trust me, there's a lot of things about Terminator that you don't know. What I know can only make it better. Maybe you will be here one night wracking your brain for an idea, and remember that I told Sarah about the Silverfish walking landmine (which I will tell Sarah about) and you will decide to put me up against one. It's hard to NOT get me to talk about this. I really hope you weren't serious about this being a bad idea if I keep throwing out details. The details I throw out are for you to use for the story. If they don't get used, they don't get used, but they will be thrown out to use.
I guess the moment of truth has arrived. Attempt TK pulse, psionic healing (I'm sure I took SOME injuries in the birth) and psionic force shield. The fact that those are all @1 is incidental. (Really, it is.) TK pulse has been reliable all along, and I know he's really hoping he can raise force shields and heal damage on the spot, considering what's coming.
(Doing Therapy)
Two
Regarding what to TK pulse. There's got to be a wrist band or a leg band (probably a leg band, so the kid can't chew it) That would be in my field of vision, I'd think. See if I can hit that. Or can I hit myself with the pulse? Pulse my own hand. What does that do? I've never pulsed myself before, could that be a new use? Just curious.
Can the force shield be seen when it's raised? Can I see it and no one else can? Or is it completely invisible? I'd try to raise a bell-jar shield around my body. That's a new use, I'm certain.
The psionic healing. How do you do new uses for that? The learning roll was healing injuries in a fight. Would these be different enough for that?
Thinking out loud. Could you use the force shield to cut? Lay it horizontally so somebody runs into it at the throat and is decapitated? That could be an interesting trick to try.
How "Thick" is the force shield? I've raised it before, so I have seen it. Is it paper thin, like a razor blade, or does it have thickness to it? If it's thin, you could do all kinds of tricks with it. Raise it vertically underneath someone who is falling. Like falling onto a razor blade. Raise it horizontally and catch them. You probably can't move it (or can you?) but if you could get them to run into a psionic razor's edge.... Can you control the shape of it? Make a blade out of it. Psionic spikes at the bottom of the pit. Gonna have to find out. Even if it's thick sideways, that could do some serious blunt-force trauma if they run into it hard enough. Modify the shield.
A lot of this is thinking out loud, some of it is questions I know you can't answer. Some of them are answerable. Answer at your discretion. Can you imprison someone else in the force shield? Trap the T-1000 in it. He couldn't liquid metal is way out from under that. Could you encapsulate something with it? If you could move it, (TK pulse the force shield?) you could move someone from one side of a room to the other. Can you raise it so that you could walk on it? A psionic bridge, perhaps? What kinds of shapes can you put it in? A psionic ladder? A psionic sliding board? A whole psionic playground? What can this force shield do????
If you can walk on it, and if it's thin enough to cut, this would be like the ultimate Swiss Army knife. A force of energy you can put in any size or shape. You could make stairs, a ladder, always have a place to sit, make a bridge across a canyon. You'd probably have to run pretty quick though. Make it in the shape of an arrowhead. Someone's chasing you? They get impaled on something which isn't there. This has the potential to be awesome.
(Doing Therapy)
There's not much in here with you, but you manage to shift the blanket that's covering you.
You also sweep your body with a healing touch that takes away the sting of the innumerable scrapes and bruises you got during the birth.
You fail to raise the shield.
*****
Concerning the shield, it tends to shimmer like a distortion in the air, not exactly like light and not exactly like the refraction created by heat rising from pavement, but something similar to both. Anyone, including you, can see it equally well, but it's also easy to overlook and to look through. As to its thickness, you have no information concerning that. It might be that it does not even exist from that direction. In any case, it creates a sheet of force which is directional. With some difficulty, you can bend the sheet to face more than one direction, such as curving it into a dome overhead or a wall that extends to your sides.
As to your other questions, 1) you will have to experiment to find out and 2) it may be that there are things Lauren could do with her powerful and well practiced shields that you cannot do with your completely new amateur ones without a lot of practice.
There is no evidence that the shield can do anything but stop incoming kinetic attacks. It might even be that for the attacker it is like hitting a pillow or a marshmallow, that it is something soft and yielding that cannot be penetrated. It is (specifically) not a weapon. As for other uses (bridges, ramps), that is something that might be determined by experimentation--if you get it to work in this world.
--M. J. Young
I got nothing better to do. Try to raise a flat shield. I didn't realize the bell jar shape would penalize the chance of success. Since I have nothing better to do, keep rolling until I make it.
It is (specifically) not a weapon
So it's designed against being used as a weapon, or do I just have to figure out how to use it as one?
It might even be that for the attacker it is like hitting a pillow or a marshmallow, that it is something soft and yielding that cannot be penetrated.
I ran into one that Lauren threw up. I would know if it was or not. Is it?
You didn't say anything about TK pulsing my own hand. If I can raise my hand to my face to suck on the thumb, I can raise it in front of my face to TK pulse it. What happens when I do that?
Once I get the shield up, consider that and TK pulse in practice mode. I'll throw pulses at the blanket or at my hand, and raise the shield every now and then when I'm pretty sure no one is watching. When I learn to walk, I'm gonna keep a thumbtack in my shoe so I can practice the psionic healing all the time.
(Doing Therapy)
And you still don't, so don't let it influence your decisions.I didn't realize the bell jar shape would penalize the chance of success.
So it's designed against being used as a weapon, or do I just have to figure out how to use it as one?
It might even be that for the attacker it is like hitting a pillow or a marshmallow, that it is something soft and yielding that cannot be penetrated.
I ran into one that Lauren threw up. I would know if it was or not. Is it?
You do not recall what that shield felt like, only that it stopped you.
The problem here is simple: a force object that causes slicing damage is a P10@5 skill; one that causes blunt force trauma is a P10@4; even one that can be used to push and/or trip a target is P10@2. The only thing this P10@1 object can do, therefore, is block attacks; if you attempt to make it do something more or other than block attacks, I have to rule that it fails, because the bias for a force object that causes injury to targets is higher.
You probably can use this skill, or variations of it, in many of the ways you've described--ramps, platforms, possibly climbing surfaces--but you cannot use it as a weapon, period. If someone crashes into it, it is possible that he might take damage--but it is probable in that case that you would also take damage, as a force sufficient enough to damage the attacker would be sufficient to move the shield.
You attempt to create a force shield, and hear a loud crash nearby. People start scrambling; a baby is crying.
"What happened here?" a man says. "This light looks like it simply exploded, or that someone smashed it with something."
"No one was in here, sir," a girl answers, "except the babies."
"Get that child out of there; and clean up the glass, before someone gets hurt."
There is a lot of shuffling around.
You listed your hand as the last of the possible target objects; I went with an earlier one, partly because I know that you can't TK yourself unless you have the bias level of levitation.
--M. J. Young
It's after midnight April 1, and I hath returneth.
even one that can be used to push and/or trip a target is P10@2.
So I can't raise a shield that's one inch by 2 feet, six inches off the ground and hope someone trips over it? Or even a six inch high shield and hope someone trips over it? That doesn't make much sense.
Do I realize that the explosion was caused by my botch? I might think it was a coincidence. That I failed to raise the shield at the same time something got knocked over or something. If I realize that was my botch, then stop and desist immediately. I'm endangering children. If I don't realize it was caused by my botch, try again to raise a flat shield.
Two
I've got a completely new body, so that means everything listed under BOD is gone, right? No lazy eye, no plate in my leg, no scar on my hand, is that correct? You revert back to your original form after a verse or two, correct? Can I keep this body? It sounds like it's much better than the one I had.
So I can't raise a shield that's one inch by 2 feet, six inches off the ground and hope someone trips over it? Or even a six inch high shield and hope someone trips over it? That doesn't make much sense.
I won't say that no one will ever trip over your shield. I do have to say that you cannot use it that way intentionally. Obviously you can put a suitcase on the floor and hope someone trips over it, and someone might; but the suitcase is not an effective weapon for tripping someone, and most people will see it and avoid it. The shield is transparent but not necessarily invisible--the function of invisibility is a function of relative success, so only an extremely high successful roll will get you near invisibility, and otherwise it's like putting a sheet of warped Plexiglas in the way: it can be seen and avoided. Trippers are different.
It cannot be said that you "know" that you caused the accident. What you know is that at the very moment you attempted to raise the shield, something happened, you did not get the shield, and something nearby was smashed. It would be a reasonable deduction that you caused it, but it is not a certainty.
Let's put some examples to it.
The ball was pitched to you, and you hit it, and it flew out over left field and disappeared. An instant later there was the crash of glass breaking coming from the direction of the house just beyond left field. You don't know with certainty that your baseball broke one of their windows, but it's a reasonable bet. You are probably not quite as certain in this case as you would be in that case.
You were driving down a highway lined on both sides with forest, and you tossed a lit cigarette out of the car window. That night you turn on the news and find that late in the afternoon firefighters began fighting a blaze in those woods, and the beginning of that fire was unknown but that it started somewhere near the highway. You don't know with certainty that your cigarette started the fire, but it's certainly a possibility. You are probably more certain in this case than you would be in that one.
So that means you are less certain that you broke whatever broke than you would be that your baseball broke the window, but more certain that you broke whatever broke than you would be that your cigarette started the forest fire.
How does that impact your choices?
The body question is entirely premature.
--M. J. Young
I figured you would just make a (simple? bonused?) intuition roll on whether or not I figured it out.
I better stop trying that.
What are the scriff vectors doing?
What else is happening?
Two
From now on, in lieu of asking the dread question "What's his name?" I'm going to ask "What do I call you?" This is not asking for their name, this is asking for how I should refer to the character so that the referee knows to whom I am referring. Kind of like how I called the blacksmith "Mr. Smith" The character's occupation is in the name. (That and you said his name was John, and I REALLY hate my name!!!) I didn't realize that the names were so difficult to keep track of until I saw that firefighter list you wrote for Osevens. So, I'll ask "What do I call you?" and if I should call the person "Mr. Weapons Dealer Guy" like I did in TerraNova, then that's what you say as his name.
The scriff vectors seem to be pretty stationary, except when you move. You do work out one of them, though: your mother is wearing one of your diamond rings on her left ring finger, and one of the vectors tracks with the motion of her left hand. The other two only move when you do, and mostly stay pretty consistent relative to each other.
You get examined periodically by unfamiliar people medical garb, nursed (fed) by your mother both from breast and bottle, sometimes something like milk and sometimes something like sugar water, and your diaper gets changed pretty much every time you're awake. Your mother looks very tired but rather happy, and she continues to talk to you when you are there, about how important you are and how you're going to make a big difference to the future, but also about what a beautiful baby boy you are.
--M. J. Young